Province of Moray
However Moray continued to be a base for rebellions by the Meic Uilleims, the descendants of the last mormaer William fitz Duncan, until the last of the line was killed in 1230.
[3] While there is no direct evidence of the provinces having these names,[4] it is possible that the phrase "ros (headland) of Fortriu" may underlie the place-name Fortrose, referring to nearby Chanonry Point.
[6] The boundaries of Moray were explicitly documented in the charter of Robert the Bruce that granted the recreated earldom to Thomas Randolph in 1312.
[11] Before the early 13th century Moray was not considered part of "Scotland" (Latin: Scotia, Old Irish: Alba) which was thought to extend only between the Firth of Forth and the River Spey.
[20] Forres appears to have been the major political centre of Moray during this period,[24] a status it probably inherited after the destruction of Burghead Fort by Vikings in the 9th century,[27] and which may be commemorated by the monumental carved Sueno's Stone that survives on the outskirts of the modern town.
[28] The rulers of Moray appear to have controlled the more easterly provinces of Buchan and Mar until the 12th century,[29] but the extent of their power to the north is unclear.
Njal's Saga was not written as a historical guide for details outside Iceland or Scandinavia and the text is notoriously unreliable.
Macbeth married Gilla Comgain's widow Gruoch, a princess of the mac Alpin dynasty, and became king of Scots in 1040, after defeating and killing Duncan I of Scotland (Donnchad ua Mail Choluim) in battle.
Later sources suggest that MacBeth had a claim to the Scottish throne through his mother, but his Gaelic pedigree, on record only two generations after his death, traces his descent through his father Findlaech, and grandfather Ruaidri, from the house of Loarn, Kings of Dál Riata.
[6] The pedigree of Macbeth from the Loarn kings of Dál Riata offers a clue to the origins of his dynasty in Moray.
Malcolm MacHeth, who rebelled against David I, but was later made Earl of Ross may have been related to the old rulers of Moray, as may also have been the mysterious Wimund.
Despite the expulsion of its line of rulers, Moray continued to be referred to in the early 13th century as a land separate to Scotia.
The Gaelic notes in the Book of Deer dating from the mid 12th century offer a glimpse of the holding of land and the ordering of society in Moray.
[6] The actions of the crown's royal government during the century after 1130 seemed to create differences between the upland regions of the province and the coastal districts of the Laich of Moray, between the River Spey and Inverness.
The crown's existing estates were concentrated in these coastal regions and between 1130 and 1230 the kings established sheriffdoms or shires centred on Inverness, Nairn, Forres and Elgin, providing a framework for royal authority in the province.
Leaders such as Wimund, the son of the Earl of Angus and the MacWilliam family were able to raise allies from the Gaelic uplands of Moray which led to warfare in the region from the 1140s to the 1220s.
The interior of the province from the Great Glen to Strathbogie was divided between six or more families, the greatest of which, at this time was the Clan Comyn lords of Badenoch and Lochaber.
The province was forced to submit to Edward I of England in 1303 and Robert I of Scotland therefore clearly recognised the significance of Moray for the security of his realm.
[6] Thomas's son John Randolph was killed in 1346, leaving no heir and the other noble families including the Comyns, Strathbogies and Morays had all disappeared from or left the province by between 1300 and 1350.
With the absence of noble leaders, power fell to lesser figures who functioned in kin-based groups such as the Clan Donnachaidh of Atholl and the Chattan Confederation which centred on Badenoch.
