TheEarl of Fife orMormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties ofFife andKinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the realm, and had the right to crown theking of Scots.
Held by the MacDuff family until it passed by resignation to the Stewarts, the earldom ended on the forfeiture and execution ofMurdoch Stewart in 1425. The earldom was revived in 1759 with the style of Earl Fife forWilliam Duff, a descendant of the MacDuffs. His great-great-grandson, the6th Earl Fife, was made Earl of Fife in 1885 andDuke of Fife in 1889.
Themormaers of Fife, by the 12th century, had established themselves as the highest rankingnative nobles inScotland. They frequently held the office ofJusticiar of Scotia - highestbrithem in the land - and enjoyed the right of crowning thekings of the Scots. The Mormaer's function, as with other medieval Scottish lordships, was partly kin-based. Hence, in 1385, the Earl of Fife, seen as the successor of the same lordship, is calledcapitalis legis de Clenmcduffe (Lord of the Law of the Children of Macduff).
The deputy or complementary position to mormaer or earl of Fife was leadership as Chief (ceann) ofClan MacDuff (clann meic Duibh). There is little doubt that the style MacDuib, or Macduff, derives from the name of KingCináed III mac Duib, and ultimately from this man's father, KingDub (d. 966).[1] Compare, for instance, thatDomhnall, Lord of the Isles, signed a charter in 1408 asMacDomhnaill. The descendants of Cináed III adopted the name in the same way that the descendants ofBrian Bóruma mac Cennétig called themselvesUí Briain, although it does seem that at least initiallyMacDuff was a style reserved for the man who held the Mormaership of Fife.
Thechieftaincy of theclan was not always held by the mormaer, especially after the mormaerdom became subject to the laws of feudal primogeniture in the reign ofDonnchadh I. For example, at theBattle of Falkirk, it is the head of the clan who led the men of Fife, rather than the Mormaer.
The Macduff line continued without interruption until the time ofIsabella, the only child ofDonnchad (Duncan) IV, Earl of Fife, and his wife Mary de Monthermer. She succeeded her father assuo jure Countess of Fife on his death in 1358, making her one of the most eligible maidens in Scotland. She married four times, but all her husbands died within a few years of their marriage. In 1371 she was persuaded to nameRobert Stewart, Earl of Menteith (later Duke of Albany) as her heir, who was her brother-in-law by her second marriage toWalter Stewart. He thus succeeded her as twelfth Earl of Fife on her death in 1389. Duke Robert was succeeded as Duke of Albany, Earl of Fife, etc. by his sonMurdoch in 1420. Duke Murdoch was forfeited and executed in 1425, due to his father's part in the death of Prince David, Duke of Rothesay. Thus the earldom of Fife came to an end.
Seal ofScone Abbey, madec. 1250. The Earl of Fife's shield is shown at the bottom-left, displaying the early striped version
The arms of the earldom of Fife are "or, a lion rampant gules," that is, a red lion rampant on gold. These arms are testament to the earls' royal connection, as they differ from the king's arms only in the exclusion of the flowered border, or royal tressure; in fact it is possible that the royal arms are actually a differenced version of those of the earl.[2] The device of a lion is attested for the first time on the seal of the tenth earl, but had probably been used for a long time before this, though some early seals show a different shield, bearing pallets, or vertical stripes.[3]
The arms of the earl of Fife are the basis for the arms ofFife Council, which show a knight on horseback in full armorial regalia, his shield, helm and the caparison of his horse bedecked with red lions.[2] The Fife lion also appears in the first quarter of the duke of Fife's arms.[4]
The earldom of Fife was resurrected in 1759 forWilliam Duff, after he proved his descent from the original earls of Fife. This title was in thePeerage of Ireland, notwithstanding that Fife is in Scotland; the "of" was also excluded, as was "not unfrequently" the case in the Irish Peerage.[5]
In 1889, Duff married Queen Victoria's granddaughterPrincess Louise. Queen Victoria elevated him to the dignity ofDuke of Fife in the peerage of the United Kingdom.[7] In 1900, Queen Victoria created a second dukedom of Fife for him which could pass to his daughters and theirheirs male. After his death in 1912, the dukedom of Fife created in 1900 passed to his eldest daughter,Princess Alexandra, while his other titles, including the 1885 earldom of Fife and the 1889 dukedom of Fife, became extinct.
Alexander William George Duff 1849–1912 1st Duke of Fife (Scot), Duke of Fife (UK), Earl of Macduff, Earl of Fife (1885), Marquess of Macduff, 6th Earl Fife, Viscount Macduff, and Baron Braco, 2nd Baron Skene
Dukedom of Fife (Scot), Marquessate of Fife, Earldom Fife (1759), Earldom of Fife (1885), Viscountcy of Macduff, and Baronies of Braco and Skene extinct, 1912
Bannerman, John, "MacDuff of Fife," in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.)Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow, (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 20–38
Barrow, G. W. S.,Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland, (Edinburgh, 1988)
Barrow, G.W.S.Earl's of Fife in the 12th Century, (Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1952–53), pp. 51–61.
Lawrie, Sir Archibald C.,Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153, (Glasgow, 1905), no. XXXVI, pp. 28–31, pp. 283–84
Roberts, John L.,Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland and the Middle Ages, (Edinburgh, 1997)
