Clan MacDuff
Encyclopedia
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
armigerous clan
Armigerous clan
An armigerous clan is a Scottish clan, family or name which is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon and once had a chief who bore undifferenced arms, but does not have a chief currently recognized as such by Lyon Court...
, which is registered with Lyon Court, though currently without a chief. Moncreiffe
Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk
Sir Rupert Iain Kay Moncreiffe of that Ilk, 11th Baronet, CVO, QC was a British officer of arms and genealogist. He used various forms of his name: His columns for Books and Bookmen wete signed Iain Moncreiffe; Royal Highness is by Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Bt.; Simple Heraldry is by...
wrote that the Clan MacDuff was the premier clan among the Scottish Gaels. The early chiefs of Clan MacDuff were the Earls of Fife
Earl of Fife
The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife referred to the Gaelic comital lordship of Fife which existed in Scotland until the early 15th century....
. Today the Earls of Wemyss are thought to be the descendants in the male line of Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fife
Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fife
Mormaer Gille Míchéil, is the second man we know for certain to have been Mormaer of Fife from 1130 to 1133, although it is unlikely he actually was the second. He had at least one son, called Aed...
, thought to be one of the first Clan MacDuff chiefs.
History
Earl of Fife
The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife referred to the Gaelic comital lordship of Fife which existed in Scotland until the early 15th century....
or Mormaerdom of Fife. The direct male line of the Mormaer failed in 1353 after Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
took Donnchadh IV
Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife
Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife [Duncan IV] was sometime Guardian of Scotland, and ruled Fife until his death. He was the last of the native Scottish rulers of that province....
prisoner in England. His aunt, Isabella
Isabella, Countess of Fife
Isabella of Fife was Countess of Fife from 1363 until she resigned the title in 1371. She was the daughter of Donnchadh IV, Earl of Fife, by his wife Mary de Monthermer ....
, later gave the title to Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany , a member of the Scottish royal house, served as Regent to three different Scottish monarchs...
and Regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
of Scotland. In 1425 the earldom was absorbed into the crown, notwithstanding the clan retained it status as first among clans.
The title of The Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
returned with William Duff, 1st Earl Fife
William Duff, 1st Earl Fife
William Duff, 1st Earl Fife was a Scottish peer.The son of William Duff of Dipple, in 1719 he married Janet Ogilvie, daughter of James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater. She died in 1720 and in 1723 he married Jean Grant, daughter of Sir James Grant, Bt...
and Viscount Macduff in 1759. Later Alexander Duff, 6th Earl of Fife and 1st Duke of Fife
Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife KG, KT, GCVO, PC, VD , styled Viscount Macduff between 1857 and 1879 and known as The Earl Fife between 1879 and 1889, was a British Peer who married Princess Louise of Wales, the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Alexandra of...
, married Princess Louise of Wales
Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife
The Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife was the third child and the eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark...
(later Princess Royal), daughter of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
).
The direct line of the ancient house is in dispute and supposedly continued in Wemyss
Wemyss
Wemyss can refer to:Places*Wemyss Bay, a large village in Inverclyde, Scotland**Wemyss Bay railway station**Castle Wemyss, a demolished mansion in Wemyss Bay, Scotland*East Wemyss, Fife, Scotland*West Wemyss, Fife, Scotland...
, and moreover, in the northern territories, families of Clan Duff emerged with no proof of royal descent. For this reason of non-proof of headship, MacDuff is still Armigerous
Armigerous clan
An armigerous clan is a Scottish clan, family or name which is registered with the Court of the Lord Lyon and once had a chief who bore undifferenced arms, but does not have a chief currently recognized as such by Lyon Court...
.
Law of Clan MacDuff
Clan Macduff is the first Scottish clan to be recognized as a clan by the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, by legislation dated November 1384.
The Earl of Fife
Earl of Fife
The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife referred to the Gaelic comital lordship of Fife which existed in Scotland until the early 15th century....
and the Abbot of Abernethy were both "Capitals of Law of the Clan MacDuff". The law protected all murderers within ninth degree of kin to the Earl of Fife, as they could claim sanctuary at the Cross of MacDuff near Abernethy, and could find remission by paying compensation to the victims family.
The chiefs of the clan had the right to enthrone the King on the Stone of Destiny
Stone of Scone
The Stone of Scone , also known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and later the monarchs of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom...
. When the Stone of Destiny was taken to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
by Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, Robert I of Scotland
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
had himself crowned King of Scots a second time, in order to be crowned by a member of clan MacDuff, the Earl of Fife's sister.
In 1425 the last Earl of Fife, Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, was beheaded. The Clan MacDuff hereditary right of bearing the Crown of Scotland
Crown of Scotland
The Crown of Scotland is the crown used at the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland. Remade in its current form for King James V of Scotland in 1540, the crown is part of the Honours of Scotland, the oldest set of Crown Jewels in the United Kingdom...
then passed to the Lord Abernethy
Lord Abernethy
The Lord of Abernethy was from the 12th century to the 14th century the hereditary holder of the church and lands of the Scottish monastery at Abernethy. It gradually evolved alongside the title Abbot of Abernethy, displacing that term in extant sources by the end of the 13th century...
. The current Lord Abernethy, and as consequence bearer of the Scottish Crown, is Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton
Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton
Alexander Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton and 13th Duke of Brandon , styled Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale from birth till 2010, is a Scottish nobleman and the Premier Peer of Scotland.-Life and education:...
.
Clan profile
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- Gaelic Name: MacDhuibh.
- Origin of Name: Dubh (GaelicScottish Gaelic languageScottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
) (Black). - Motto: Deus juvat (LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) (God assists). - Clan badgeClan badgeA clan badge, sometimes called a plant badge, is a badge or emblem, usually a sprig of a specific plant, that is used to identify a member of a particular Scottish clan. They are usually worn in a bonnet behind the Scottish crest badge, or attached at the shoulder of a lady's tartan sash...
: Red whortleberry (Lingonberry)., or BoxwoodBuxusBuxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood .... - Lands: FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, LothianLothianLothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
, Strathbran and StrathbogieStrathbogieStrathbogie may refer to:* Strathbogie, the old name of Huntly in Scotland, and the strath to the south of it.* Strathbogie, Victoria, Australia* Shire of Strathbogie, Victoria, Australia* Strathbogie Ranges, Victoria, Australia...
. - Clan pipe music: MacDuff's Lament