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 A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

at Abernethy. It gradually evolved alongside the title Abbot of Abernethy, displacing that term in extant sources by the end of the 13th century. It was held by the descendants of

Gille Míchéil, Earl of Fife Gille may refer to: * Gille (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer * Gille (surname) *Gille dynasty, a royal house of Norway *The singular of Gilles The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They ...

. As Lord Abernethy, it is a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Hamilton and Brandon. The

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 ...

s and

Earls 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 ...

had enjoyed the privilege of crowning new

Kings of Scots The monarch of Scotland was the head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. According to tradition, Kenneth I MacAlpin () was the founder and first King of the Kingdom of Scotland (although he never held the title historically, being King of th ...

. Following the failure of the main MacDuff line, and after the execution of the Stewart Murdoch, Earl of Fife in 1425, the privilege fell back to the second line of MacDuffs, those of Abernethy. Through them this honour was regarded as passing to the Douglas

Earls of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

, notably at the coronation of James III in 1460 when

George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, Lord Douglas, Abernethy and Jedburgh Forest (c. 1427 – 12 March 1463)Alan R. Borthwick, 'Douglas, George, fourth earl of Angus (c.1417–1463)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University ...

proclaimed "There! Now that I have set it upon your Grace's head, let me see who will be so bold as to move it." This continuity has survived to the current era, most notably at the coronation of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1953, when the then Lord Abernethy and

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton bore and presented the

Crown of Scotland The Crown of Scotland (, ) is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland. It is the crown that was used at the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and it is the oldest surviving crown in the British Isles and among the oldest in Europe. A ...

to the Queen at

St. Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

. Hamilton's son the 15th Duke, and the 16th Duke performed similar duties at the opening of

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

s since 1999.

History

The abbots of Abernethy were descendants of

. The abbacy may have been held by Áed (called ''Hugo'' or ''Eggu'' and other Latinised forms), son of Gille Míchéil, but the abbacy is first attested when Áed's son Orm is confirmed in possession of it by King William of Scotland in the 1170s, in condition for making concessions favorable to the King's new monastic establishment at

Arbroath Abbey Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by William I of Scotland, King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecration, consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to th ...

.Barrow, "Reign of William the Lion", p. 80; McGladdery, "Abernethy family (per. c.1260–c.1465)". The title of Abbot disappears in the sources during the abbacy of Laurence, with the title of ''dominus'' predominating: * Orm de Abernethy (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1170s) * Laurence de Abernethy (fl. 1190s) * Hugh de Abernethy (d. 1291) * Alexander de Abernethy (d. c. 1315) Following the death of Alexander Abernethy, the title passed to his daughter Margaret who married John Stewart of Bonkyll, who assumed the title, as well as being granted the forfeited Earldom of Angus.

Douglas lords of Abernethy

His granddaughter

Margaret Stewart, 3rd Countess of Angus Margaret Stewart, Countess of Angus and Mar (died 1417) was Countess of Angus and Lady of Abernethy in her own right. Her father was Thomas Stewart, 2nd Earl of Angus. She was married to Thomas, Earl of Mar with whom she had no children. After ...

and Lady of Abernethy, had an illegitimate son by

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas (c. 1323 – 1 May 1384) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish nobleman, peer, magnate, and head of the Black Douglas family. Under his leadership, the Black Douglases continued their climb to pre-eminence i ...

. In a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

of 1389, Lady Angus transferred the titles of

Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

and the Lordships of Abernethy and Bonkyll to her child. *

George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus (1380–1403) was a Scottish nobleman and peer. Life He was born at Tantallon Castle, East Lothian, Scotland. He was the natural-illegitimate son of William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas and Margaret Ste ...

, Lord of Abernethy and Bonkyll (1380–1403), upon his betrothal to Princess Mary, daughter of

Robert III of Scotland Robert III ( – 4 April 1406), born John Stewart, was King of Scots from 1390 to his death in 1406. He was also High Steward of Scotland from 1371 to 1390 and held the titles of Earl of Atholl (1367–1390) and Earl of Carrick (1368–1390 ...

For further Lords of Abernethy please see: *

Duke of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Duke of Rothesay, Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the pr ...

Baronial title

Lord of Abernethy or Baron of Abernethy is also a separate, non-peerage title in the

Baronage of Scotland In Scotland, "baron" or "baroness" is a rank of the ancient nobility of the Baronage of Scotland, a hereditary Imperial, royal and noble ranks, title of honour, and refers to the holder of a barony, erected into a free barony by Crown Charter, ...

, formerly referred to as a

feudal barony A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely bee ...

. The status of Lord in the Baronage of Scotland was detached from land ownership by the

Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 5) was a land reform enforced by an act of the Scottish Parliament that was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2000, and received royal assent on 9 June 2000. Provisions Th ...

, which retained the title and dignity. Unlike other titles in the United Kingdom, these baronies can be assigned by grant or sale. Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, Lord of Abernethy succeeded to the title in 2008 by assignation.

Notes

References

* * 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., "The Reign of William the Lion", in Scotland and its Neighbours in the Middle Ages", (London, 1992), pp. 67–89 * Maxwell, Rt. Hon Sir Herbert. ''A History of the House of Douglas''. Freemantle, London, 1902 * McGladdery, C. A., "Abernethy family (per. c.1260–c.1465)", in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, accessed 11 August 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abernethy Extinct lordships of Parliament Noble titles created in 1233