Constantine, Earl of Fife - this is the Master Profile, but its relationships are a horrible mess. He does *not* belong with the MacEths of Moray, and his successor was *not* a "MacConstantine McDuff" but Gillemichael, who may have been a son or a younger brother (probably the latter, unless some high-level chicanery was practiced with the succession). Áed, Mórmaer of Moray is a Fictional Person to the extent that the name "Edelrad" has been (mis-)assigned to him. He is *certainly not* the same person as Ethelred, Abbot of Dunkeld. (Such scraps of information as we have about Ethelred, particularly the "original version" of his Lochleven charter, point strongly toward a religious vocation - and his mother would have made sure that it was orthodox. It is also likely that he did not survive his parents for very long.)
Constantine, Earl of Fife - an alternate construction with much guesswork but avoiding the Moray mess.
I'm also Curating his father's profile: NN, father of Constantine 'Dufagan' to try and prevent him being merged into any other lines.
I'm happy to maintain the posited line back to (Shakespeare's) "Macduff" as long as we put a Curator note on it indicating that there isn't proof; and as long as there isn't a competing theory.
(I will, however, start a Discussion from the MacDuff profile about the father - Presently indicated as Domnall, on Geni - I think there's a good argument for attributing him as a son of Giric, son of Cináed mac Duib.)
Gille Míchéil MacDuff, Earl of Fife as younger brother is only a mooted option. The others being that he is a son, or no direct relation to Constantine at all. It seems a good idea to choose one - and younger brother - is as good as any. I'll add a Curator note that this placement is only one among a number, if that works for everyone?
As to Constantine's presently indicated sons: NN, father of Constantine 'Dufagan' & MacConstantine MacDuff, Earl of Fife, Chief of Clan MacDuff - I'm not seeing any proof of this relationship at all.
If Gille Micheil was Constantine's younger brother and succeeded him, Constantine probably didn't *have* any sons. (No comment as to daughters, though.) The Macduffs seem to have been thoroughly "Normanized", by close exposure to the Normanized Dunkeld kings or by residence in Norman-controlled areas themselves, or both. (It is worth recalling that per tradition "Macduff" lammed it out of Scotland and spent an unspecified amount of time helping Malcolm III build his cause and his army.)
Hmm - Shakespeare's tradition tho - and he required a foil for the Macbeth character: there is no historical record to suggest that Macduff had anything to do with killing or overthrowing Macbeth: that was Siward.
Good point about no sons - however too many ifs to prove anything, including 'if' Gillemicheill is the younger brother.
Compare these two versions for the traditional descent.
1. Sir Robert Sibbald, The History, Ancient and Modern, of the Sheriffdoms of Fife and Kinross (1710, 1803)
http://www.geni.com/discussions/151727?msg=1058200
2. Alistair Norwich Tayler & Helen Agnes Henrietta Tayler, The Book of the Duffs (1914)
https://archive.org/stream/bookofduffs01tayl#page/n59/mode/2up
Ignore references to the Wemyss and Mackintosh families. Those have been disproved. And of course ignore Beatrice Banquo.
Thanks, Justin -that saves me copying your post from there to here.
I see where Dufugan come from as well.
I have - pending sources - removed NN, father of Constantine 'Dufagan' as son of Constantine; and also resolved the merge conflicts to remove the Earl Of Angus title (which appears to come from an erroneous conflation with Dubacan mac Indrechtaich, Mormaer of Oengus). See Discussion: http://www.geni.com/discussions/151795?msg=1058670
I started a new discussion to collect some of these traditional accounts.
http://www.geni.com/discussions/151798
I thought there was something from Dalyrymple, either David or James, but I can't find it now.
Thank you all for researching this. William McKinely Sr. (father to President McKinely) is my 3rd great uncle, older brother to my 3rd great grandmother Louisa McKinely. When I start moving backwards down the line, I ende at "MacDuff I King of Scotland". It appears there us some debate about this in your discussions. Nonetheless , it's all very interesting, especially with the possibility of King MacDuff being my distant great grandfather.
Tanya Bacci Benzan
Cambridge, MA