It gradually evolved alongside the title Abbot of Abernethy, displacing that term in extant sources by the end of the 13th century.
As Lord Abernethy, it is a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Hamilton and Brandon.
The Mormaers and Earls of Fife had enjoyed the privilege of crowning new Kings of Scots.
"[1] This continuity has survived to the current era, most notably at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when the then Lord Abernethy and Angus, Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton bore and presented the Crown of Scotland to the Queen at St. Giles' Cathedral.
The abbacy may have been held by Áed (called Hugo or Eggu and other Latinised forms), son of Gille Míchéil,[2] 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.