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Dear Oliver,
    It has been confirmed to me that Marre is Gaelic for Mar.
    From "The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens" by Mike Ashley "
(thank you Kevin)
The Earls of Mar go back to Findlaech or Finlay Moray 990-1020.  Moray was
one of 7 sub-kingdoms of the Picts. Beginning in the 9th century it was
rulled by a Mormaer or earl or sometimes they were called king.  It was
settled by descendants of Ainbcellah who retreated from the Great Glen
during the Viking raids.  They joined up with the northern Picts to opposed
the Scottish kingdom established by Kenneth MacAlpin in the 840s.   It
remained autonomous for 300 years.  Two of its rulers, Macbeth and Lulach,
actually ruled Scotland.  There is an incomplete list in this book plus a
chart.
   I assume you are just interested in what became of this dynasty by 1160??
In 1130 Angus MacHeth was king of Moray.   His father was Aed or Heth
(possibly the son of the mormaer of Ross and making him also the mormaer of
Ross)  married Mael Snechta's sister  and was elected mormaer.  Sometime
after Heth was defeated and deposed by Malcolm III in 1078.  Malcolm had
captured her and possibly forced her to marry Aed in order to make him a
vassal king in Moray.  But Aed could not be subdued and possibly killed
Lodmund grandson of Malcolm II in 1116 then maybe was killed in a
retaliatory attack.
    So his son Angus MacHeath became king until 1130.  He was the grandson
of Lulach and is known as the last independent ruler of Moray.  Kings
Alexander I and David I were harrassed by him but maybe Alexander I had an
illegitmate daughter by Angus' sister.  Angus' huge army  was defeated and
he killed at the battle of Strathcarro in 1130.   The rebel Malcolm macHeth
went into hiding in the Highlands but was captured and imprisoned in 1134
and then in Roxburgh Castle until 1157.  Malcolm could have been the brother
of Angus, or his son, or somehow related to King Alexander I.  He was
released and restored to the earldom of Ross.  King David then brought Moray
into his kingdom but the rebellion continued.   King Duncan II's, son
William, called himself earl of Moray after Angus' death and his son,
William also, married Angus' sister Graidh.   Their descendants and those of
Malcolm macHeath continued to rebel against the Scottish king until a final
battle in 1215 when Kenneth MacHeath and Donald MacWilliam were both killed
in battle.
  The MacHeaths were the ancestors of the Clan Mackay.
   As far as Margaret goes, the charts and narrative rarely mention females'
names.  Perhaps someone else knows of this Margaret.  Have you really traced
your ancestry back to this line that early?  There are a lot of maybes,
perhaps, and possible facts in that misty time.  Don't picture these people
or the Scottish kings living in castles.  I suspect the mormaer's like any
clan chief would have lived much as we see the home of young William Wallace
in Brave Heart 300 years later.   History survived and depended upon memory
and the retelling of the deeds because each retalliation of the Scottish
kings would have burned all the rebels' homes anything written to the ground
quite regularly.  They probably weren't too literate either.
     If you are descended from the Earls of Moray, remember that the name of
Moray has 50-100 different spellings.  I too have Morey/Maury/Morie, etc.
ancestors.
Laurel

----- Original Message -----
From: "Spirit One Email" <laurel@spiritone.com>
To: <sinclair@matrix.net>; <milamba@milamba.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2001 10:48 PM
Subject: Re: Sinclair family webiste


> >
> > I was searching for information about my family history and came across
> > these two names on your 'Sinclair' website (see below). I wonder if you
> > could tell me if you know who they were, what happened to the family
(only
> > these two generations have Marre as its surname), or where I can find
out.
> > The internet, apart from your site, has very little info about the
family,
> > and I'd be really grateful. Thanks so much.
> >
> >
> > Earl of Mar Marre
> > b. 1160
> >
> > Margaret Marre
> > b. 1190

> >Sincerely,
> >Oliver Marre
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________________
> > Send a cool gift with your E-Card
> > http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/
> >
> > [ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
> > [ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>


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