Mormaer Beth is a name of a

Mormaer In early Middle Ages, medieval Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, a mormaer was the Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the Kings of Scots, King of Scots, and the senior of a ''Toísech'' (chi ...

mentioned in an unreliable charter granted to

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of th ...

Priory, later

Scone Abbey Scone Abbey (originally Scone Priory) was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long bel ...

, by king

Alexander I of Scotland Alexander I (medieval Gaelic: ''Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim''; modern Gaelic: ''Alasdair mac Mhaol Chaluim''; c. 1078 – 23 April 1124), posthumously nicknamed The Fierce, was the King of Scotland from 1107 to his death. He succeeded his brothe ...

. The charter (Lawrie XXXVI) says, merely, ''Beth comes'' (i.e. ''Mormaer Beth''). This could be a mistake for ''Heth'', a form often used for the Gaelic name ''Áed'', or perhaps ''MacBethad'', or even a real name as ''Beth'', meaning life. Alternatively, the name may have been made up by either the scribe or his overseer. The only reason for associating Beth with

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

is that he appears first in the witness list, an honour often but certainly not always given to the

Mormaers of Fife The Earl of Fife or Mormaer of Fife was the ruler of the province of Fife in medieval Scotland, which encompassed the modern counties of Fife and Kinross. Due to their royal ancestry, the earls of Fife were the highest ranking nobles in the r ...

amongst the other Scottish Mormaers. It is more probable that Beth this is the same person as Áed, either

Mormaer of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...

Mormaer of Ross The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland. Origins and transfers In the early Middle Ages, Ross was part of the vast earldom of Moray. It seems to have been made a separate earldom in the mid 12th ...

, attested in two early charters of

David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland (di ...

. Áed disappears from the record ca. 1130. His identification as the ancestor of the

MacHeths __NOTOC__ The MacHeths were a Celtic kindred who raised several rebellions against the kings of Scotland in the 12th and 13th centuries. Their origins have long been debated. Origins The main controversy concerning the MacHeths is their origin. ...

is uncertain. Conflation with

Ethelred of Scotland Ethelred (died c. 1093 ''Edelret mac Maíl Coluim'' or ''Æthelred Margotsson'') was the son of King Malcolm III of Scotland (Gaelic Máel Coluim III) and his wife Margaret of Wessex, the third oldest of the latter and the probable sixth oldest o ...

is spurious, and based on the unlikely idea that Ethelred ever was Mormaer of Fife.

Bibliography

*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 *Lawrie, Sir Archibald C., ''Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153'', (Glasgow, 1905), no. XXXVI, pp. 28–31, pp. 283–84 *Duncan, A.A.M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. *McDonald, R. Andrew, ''Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266.'' Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003. * Oram, Richard, ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland.'' Tempus, Stroud, 2004. {{ISBN, 0-7524-2825-X Mormaers