Law of Clan MacDuff
Clan Macduff is the first Scottish clan to be recognized as a clan by the Scottish Parliament, by legislation dated November 1384.
The Earl of Fife and the Abbot of Abernethy were both "Capitals of Law of the Clan MacDuff". The law protected all murderers within ninth degree of kin to the Earl of Fife, as they could claim sanctuary at the Cross of MacDuff near Abernethy, and could find remission by paying compensation to the victims family.
The chiefs of the clan had the right to enthrone the King on the Stone of Destiny. When the Stone of Destiny was taken to England by Edward I of England, Robert I of Scotland had himself crowned King of Scots a second time, in order to be crowned by a member of clan MacDuff, the Earl of Fife's sister.
In 1425 the last Earl of Fife, Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, was beheaded. The Clan MacDuff hereditary right of bearing the Crown of Scotland then passed to the Lord Abernethy. The current Lord Abernethy, and as consequence bearer of the Scottish Crown, is Alexander Douglas-Hamilton, 16th Duke of Hamilton.
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