Mormaer of Moray

The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray (Middle Irish: Muireb or Moreb; Medieval Latin: Muref or Moravia; Modern Gaelic: Moireabh) was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin. The medieval lordship was in fact centred on both the lower Spey valley and around Inverness and the northern parts of the Great Glen, and probably originally included Buchan and Mar, as well as Ross.

History of Moray

Before 1130: Dynasty of Findláich to Óengus

In the century or two before 1130 the name Moray described a polity, far larger than the later county or district of the same name, which at its largest extended from Drumochter in the south to the Scandinavian held lands of Caithness and Sutherland in the north. Moray would also eventually cover from Buchan in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.

Njal's Saga, a Saga of the Icelanders mentions Mormaers and Kings in northern Scotland from the later 10th century, namely Jarl Melsnatr (Máel Snechtai) and King Melkofr (Máel Coluim) of "Scotland". Both date from the period 976 to 995. However no king named Máel Coluim reigned in Scotland in this period. Njal's Saga was not written as a historical guide for details outside Iceland or Scandinavia and the text is notoriously unreliable.

Moray

Moray (/ˈmʌri/ MUH-ree; Scottish Gaelic: Moireibh or Moireabh, Latin: Moravia) is one of the 32 Local Government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.

Between 1975 and 1996 Moray, with similar boundaries, was a district of the then Grampian Region.

Politics

The Moray council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the former Moray district of the two-tier Grampian Region, which replaced the old county of Moray in 1974, though it had different boundaries.

In Scottish independence referendum on 18 September 2014 Moray voted "no":

Parliamentary constituencies

In the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Westminster), the council area is covered the Moray (Westminster) constituency.

In the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), most of the council area is covered by the Moray (Holyrood) constituency, which is in the Highlands and Islands electoral region. The Keith area (most of the Keith and Cullen ward), however, is within the Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency, which is in the North East Scotland electoral region.

Elginshire (Parliament of Scotland constituency)

Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Elgin and Forres (later called Moray) elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.

From 1708 Elginshire was represented by one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Great Britain.

List of shire commissioners

References

See also

Moray (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Moray is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

The Moray constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney, Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The region covers most of Argyll and Bute council area, all of the Highland council area, most of the Moray council area, all of the Orkney Islands council area, all of the Shetland Islands council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Constituency boundaries and council area