Duffus (Freskin)

Who he is

Name

Hugh son of William son of Freskin (Hugh Freskin, Hugh de Moravia)

Title

Lord of Duffus and Strathbrock

Since

Not pinned (his father William was alive in the 1160s)

Born

Not pinned

Family

Grandson of Freskin, a Fleming who held Strathbrock in West Lothian and Duffus in Moray of David I. His son William becomes earl of Sutherland in the 1230s. The family takes the name 'of Moray' (de Moravia); a William de Moravia is sheriff of Inverness in 1204 (relationship not pinned).

Confidence

medium

Hugh acquired a great tract of Sutherland from the crown; the date is not pinned (between William's Caithness campaigns of 1196-1197 and about 1211). On 1 January 1200 Duffus and Strathbrock are certain; Sutherland is not.

Overlord

King William

What it holds

• Duffus, Roseisle, Inchkeil, Machir and Kintrae in Moray
• Strathbrock (Uphall) in West Lothian
• Sutherland: a grant whose date is not pinned (perhaps after 1196, perhaps about 1211)

How it was acquired

David I's grants to Freskin.

Allies and rivals

Royal servants against Harald Maddadsson and the MacWilliams.

How things stand that morning

Holds Duffus and Strathbrock.

Wealth

The Laich of Moray's grain. No figures.

Military

Duffus motte. No numbers.

Threats

• Raids from Ross and Caithness

Places of note

• Duffus: Motte and bailey of the Freskins

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Sutherland grant date is the open question.

On the map: Sutherland is not drawn for the Freskins: it lies within the contested earldom of Caithness this winter (see Caithness).

Primary sources for Scotland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Holyrood, Anonymous (canons of Holyrood, Edinburgh) (about 1150 to 1170, with later additions). Gives nothing for 1200: its original text ends in 1163 and the few additions stop before William the Lion's last decades. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
• History of English Affairs, William of Newburgh (about 1196 to 1198). Ends in 1198, so it gives no 1200 entries of its own; the Stanley continuation has only a line or two for 1200. Read online
• Saga of the Earls of Orkney, Anonymous (Icelandic) (about 1200 to 1230; surviving text mainly from Flateyjarbok, about 1390). The saga's last chapters are about Earl Harald Maddadsson, who in 1200 held Orkney under King Sverre of Norway and Caithness under William the Lion: his long rule, his quarrel with the Scottish king that cost him Caithness in 1196 to 1197, his recovery of it, and the maiming of Bishop John of Caithness and the king's revenge in 1201 to 1202. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Great Life of Saint Hugh of Lincoln, Adam of Eynsham (about 1210 to 1215). The last book is a day by day account of Hugh's final year by the chaplain who was with him: his dealings with John at the start of the reign, his journey to France and the Grande Chartreuse in 1200, his illness in London, his death at the Old Temple on 16 November 1200 and the funeral at Lincoln on 23 November attended by King John, William the Lion of Scotland, three archbishops and a crowd of bishops and earls. Read online

2 more in the sources library for The British Isles.