# Mormaer Beth

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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Mormaer Beth''' is a name of a [Mormaer](/source/Mormaer) mentioned in an unreliable charter granted to [Scone](/source/Scone%2C_Perthshire) Priory, later [Scone Abbey](/source/Scone_Abbey), by king [Alexander I of Scotland](/source/Alexander_I_of_Scotland).

The charter (Lawrie XXXVI) says, merely, ''Beth comes'' (i.e. ''Mormaer Beth''). This could be a mistake for ''Heth'', a form often used for the Gaelic name ''Áed'', or perhaps ''MacBethad'', or even a real name as ''Beth'', meaning life. Alternatively, the name may have been made up by either the scribe or his overseer. The only reason for associating Beth with [Fife](/source/Fife) is that he appears first in the witness list, an honour often but certainly not always given to the [Mormaers of Fife](/source/Mormaer_of_Fife) amongst the other Scottish Mormaers.

It is more probable that Beth this is the same person as Áed, either [Mormaer of Moray](/source/Mormaer_of_Moray) or [Mormaer of Ross](/source/Mormaer_of_Ross), attested in two early charters of [David I](/source/David_I_of_Scotland). Áed disappears from the record ca. 1130. His identification as the ancestor of the [MacHeths](/source/MacHeths) is uncertain.

Conflation with [Ethelred of Scotland](/source/Ethelred_of_Scotland) is spurious, and based on the unlikely idea that Ethelred ever was Mormaer of Fife.

==Bibliography==
*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
*Lawrie, Sir Archibald C., ''Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153'', (Glasgow, 1905), no. XXXVI, pp. 28–31, pp. 283–84
*Duncan, A.A.M., ''The Kingship of the Scots 842–1292: Succession and Independence.'' Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7486-1626-8}}
*McDonald, R. Andrew, ''Outlaws of Medieval Scotland: Challenges to the Canmore Kings, 1058–1266.'' Tuckwell Press, East Linton, 2003. {{ISBN|1-86232-236-8}}
*[Oram, Richard](/source/Richard_Oram), ''David I: The King Who Made Scotland.'' Tempus, Stroud, 2004. {{ISBN|0-7524-2825-X}}

Category:Mormaers

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mormaer Beth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormaer_Beth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormaer_Beth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.