Gartnait of Buchan is the first

mormaer In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

to be known by name. He was married to a woman named Ete (or Ite), the daughter of a Gille Míchéil, whom he appears alongside in a grant to

Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

recorded in the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

Notes on the

Book of Deer The ''Book of Deer'' () (Cambridge University Library, MS. Ii.6.32) is a 10th-century Latin Gospel Book with early 12th-century additions in Latin, Old Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It contains the earliest surviving Gaelic writing from Scotland ...

. This is surely Gille Míchéil,

mormaer 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 re ...

. The same source tells us that Gartnait was the son of Cainnech, although it does not tell us if this Cainnech had previously been mormaer. He had a daughter Éva, whom he married to Colbán, his successor.

Bibliography

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500-1286'', 2 Vols (Edinburgh, 1922) * Roberts, John L., ''Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland in the Middle Ages'', (Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 49–50

References

External links

Gaelic Notes on the Book of Deer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchan, Gartnait, Earl of, Nobility from Aberdeenshire 12th-century mormaers Mormaers of Buchan 1130s deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain