Deemster is the title of the two chief judges in the Isle of Man (q.v.). In Scotland, Dempster or Doomster was the name of an officer formerly attached to the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland, who pronounced the doom or sentence on condemned persons. The office was held along with that of executioner. See Scott's notes to Old Mortality and Heart of Midlothian.
Deemster
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 728–729
Source scan(s): p. 0739, p. 0740