One thing must be remembered when delving back into Scottish history, and that is that one person often had more than one name, and that surnames as we use them didn't come into general use until quite late.
Shaw MacDuff who was Earl of Moray 1087-1124 had a son Shaw (Seach) who was known as Shaw Mac-An-Toiseach (Son of the Chief) soon to be known as Macintosh
His great-grandson Shaw Dubh (Duff) Macintosh (1202-1265) became 4th Chief of Macintosh after his uncle Fearchar (Farquhar) died and he took up the lease of Rothiemurcus.
Shaw Duff had a large family and his eldest son, Fearchar, became the 5th of Macintosh. However he referred to himself at the Chief of Clan Fhionnlaidh and is said to have used the name Finlay or McFinlay.
Fearchar's descendants used a number of names. His eldest son Angus (1268-1345) was known as Angus Macintosh and also Angus MacFearchar (Farquhar's son). He fought at Bannockburn. But four generations later some of his decendants changed their name to Shaw in honour of Shaw Mor Macintosh. A Fearchar Shaw, born about 1425, was the real ancestor of today's Farquharsons. His son Donald is known as the 1st Chief of Farquharson. Donald's eldest son was the famous Finlay Mor Farquharson, born about 1487 and killed at the Battle of Pinke in 1547. Many Finlay historians including me have been misled into thinking that somehow we are descended from Finlay Mor, but this is not so.
One of Shaw Duff's younger sons, born after 1268, dropped the name Macintosh and was known as Archibald Finlay. It is from him that we are all descended.
Now, as to our relationship to King Malcolm I, he was ruler of Alba from 943 until he was assassinated in 953.
His son Dubh (Duff) "The Black" was King of Alba from 962 until he was killed in 966. There is a theory, which seems fair to me, that his great-grandson was Duncan Macduff, 1st Earl of Fife (~1000-~1066) who was said by Hollinshead to have slain King Macbeth.
A great-granddaughter of Malcolm I, Donada, 2nd daughter of Malcolm II, married Findlaech MacRuardri (MacRory) who was Mormaer (chief) of Moray and who was slain by his nephews Malcolm and Gillicomgain in 1020. Findlaech and Donada had a son Maelbetha (Macbeth) MacFindlaech who was Mormaer of Moray from 1032 until 1040 and then King of Scotland from 1040 until he was slain by Macduff at Lumphanan on 15 August 1057. King Macbeth left no children and was succeeded for a few months by his stepson Lulach the Fool.
Naturally it is impossible to say, after more than a thousand years, whether this is all absolutely true. But I think it is likely to be about right. My info on the descendants of Archibald Finlay relies on the work of the American researchers Herald Franklin Stout and Albert Finley France, but many others have corroborated their results. Info on the kings of Scotland, their relationship to each other and their ancestry back to the Kingdom of Dalriada and beyond to Ireland, has come from many sites including the Queen's website and many other Scottish sources. I have done my best to make sense of it all.
All the info above, along with many supporting notes, and pictures in a number of cases, is in the CD-ROM "A Finlay Family History" which I produced earlier this year. Some of you have a copy already. If anyone else would like a copy, I am asking $US50 for it (which includes packing and postage). It has detailed of more than 4,500 Finlay relatives dead and alive, and also spells out our relationship to Scottish and English royalty, and famous characters like Robert de Brus etc.
If you are interested in obtaining the above history-contact Murray Finlay at : finlaym@mail.fastlink.com.au (Murray Finlay)
