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MOTTO
GOD ASSISTS |
CLAN TARTAN
MACDUFF |
Tradition holds that MacDuff were the Ancient Earls of Fife. In addition to the lands they held in the Lowlands, the Chiefs of Clan MacDuff had extensive possessions in the Highlands.
The name Duff is believed to be derived from the Celtic Dubh, which was given as a descriptive name to any Highlander who was dark-skinned; like Sir Walter Scott’s famous character, Roderick Dhu. The numerous families of Duff, therefore, who afterwards appeared in Aberdeen and Inverness, may not all have been descended from the original stock of the Thanes of Fife.
It is said that it was MacDuff, 1st Earl of Fife and namefather of the Clan, who vanquished MacBeth and restored Malcolm Canmore to the throne of Scotland. By tradition it was the privilege of the Chief of Clan MacDuff to crown the King of Scots.
The MacDuffs were the premier clan in mediaeval Scotland and their Chief, the Earl of Fife, accordingly bore a red lion on his Coat of Arms. The younger son of the 4th Earl, who died in 1139, was Hugh founder of the great Lowland family of Wemyss of Wemyss. Duncan, twelfth Earl of Fife, who was killed in 1353, was the last of the direct line of Thanes of Fife.
His daughter Isabella conveyed the property and title of the earldom to the third son of King Robert II, who afterwards became notorious in Scottish history as the first Duke of Albany. During the Duke’s lifetime the title of Earl of Fife was borne by his son Murdoch, and upon his execution by his cousin James I in 1425, the earldom at last became extinct.
Among distinguished people of the name of Duff has been the famous Indian missionary and publicist, Alexander Duff, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church in 1851, and one of the framers of the constitution of Calcutta University, who founded the Missinary Chair in the New College, Edinburgh, and was the first missionary professor.
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Clan Crest © Art Pewter Silver Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland |
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