Sgurr has it! A
Duff changed
Down to
Macduff
In 1783 James
Duff, 2nd Earl of Fife, changed the name of the town of
Down (or
Doune) to
Macduff, reflecting his supposed descent from the medieval MacDuff Earls of Fife
The quote was from William Alexander's superb
Johnny Gibb of Gushetneuk, where Johnny in Chapter 2 visits Macduff and is appalled to find that the citizens have changed the name of Main Street to Duff Street in honour of their local patron/ landowner, the Earl of Fife ("the
Yarl o'
Fife")
And the violent conflict referred to Shakespeare's (largely fictitious)
Macbeth where, in the final scene, Macduff kills and then beheads Macbeth:
behold, where standsThe usurper's cursed headI somehow thought this one would last longer - was it the
Johnny Gibb quote or the reference to beheading that gave it away?
HMHT, yes I did wonder if the beheading reference would lead people down the Mary Queen of Scots path!
Over to Sgurr!