General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Aed Beth /Heth/
REFN: 2085AN
Alias:<ALIA> Heth /Aethelred/
REFN: P2085
Earl of Moray, Lay Abbot of Dunkeld
Edelrad [son of Malcolm III], apparently Earl of Fife, who fl. early 12
th century and was also Abbot of Dunkeld; possibly the same person as Et
h. [Burke's Peerage, p. 2538]
Burke's Peerage, page 1058, on the Earldom of Fife, previous creations:
Fife, constituted one of the Mormaerships into which much of pre-1st Mille
nnium Scotland was divided. By the beginning of the 12th century the form
er Mormaer of Fife was beginning to be called Earl of Fife. The first of t
he new designation seems to have been Beth, who as either Earl of Fi
fe or Moray (more probably the former) is recorded as having been acti
ve in 1115. (The historic figure Macbeth was son of a Mormaer of Moray, a
nd since "Mac" means "son of" there may be a connection.) However, anoth
er figure referred to as Earl of Fife about the same time, that is to s
ay during the reign of David I (reigned 1124-1153), is a shadowy persona
ge called in contemporary documents either "Ed" or "Head" and identifi
ed by leading authorities with Edelread, son of Malcolm III (reigned 1058-
93). Yet a third Earl of Fife appears to have existed in the person of Con
stantine, who died in the late 1120's. (It is possible that "Ed/Head" w
as really Earl of Forthreve.
The first person to hold the Earldom of Fife on a hereditary basis may we
ll have been Gillemicel MacDuff, who died about the mid-1130's. Certain
ly the title remained in his family, passing almost always from fath
er to son, till 1353, when the 8th Earl's only child, Elizabeth or Isabe
l, became Countess of Fife. She married four times, each of her husbands b
eing known as Earl of Fife in right of his wife. She died without issue, h
aving made over the Earldom to her second husband's brother Robert Stewar
t, Earl of Menteith, her 2nd husband and he being second and third sons re
spectively of Robert II.
EARLDOM OF FIFE (SCT) (I)
Beth, who, as "Beth, Comes" was witness to the charter of Scone in 1115, m
ay not improbably be considered as Earl of Fife, though possibly as Ea
rl of Moray. There appears also to have been one "Ed [Edelrad?] Come
s" or "Head, Comes" in charters temp. David I, who probably was Edelrad (s
on of Malcolm III), Abbot of Dunkeld, and, according to some accounts, Ea
rl of Fife. This "Ed, Comes" was contemporary with Earl Beth and with Ea
rl Constantine, his successor. [Complete Peerage V:372]