Colbán of Buchan is the second Mormaer

Mormaer

The title of Mormaer designates a regional or provincial ruler in the medieval Kingdom of the Scots. In theory, although not always in practice, a Mormaer was second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a toisech.-Origin:...

 of Buchan

Buchan

Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...

 to be known by name as Mormaer.

Colbán was not the son of his predecessor Gartnait

Gartnait, Earl of Buchan

Gartnait of Buchan is the first Mormaer of Buchan to be known by name as Mormaer. He was married to a woman named Ete , the daughter of a Gille Míchéil, whom he appears alongside in a grant to Deer recorded in the Gaelic Notes on the Book of Deer. This is surely Gille Míchéil, Mormaer of Fife...

. It is possible that Colbán came from another Buchan family, or even, as some have suggested, 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...

. He perhaps obtained Buchan by marrying the daughter of Gartnait, whose name is recorded as Éva. He had a son named Magnus, and another called Merleswain, who became known as Merleswain of Kennoway. Colbán was in the Scottish army that invaded England with King William I of Scotland, 1174.