Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde

the Battle of Sark Fought in 1448, a century after the Wars of Independence, the Battle of Sark was the final pitched battle between Scotland and England in the period of the Hundred Years War. The background to the battle was a brief period of relative peace between England and Scotland, abruptly brought to an end in late 1448 by the decision of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland to invade Scotland with a force reported to be around 6,000 men and a plan to ransack the lands of the Douglas family.

He made camp in the area adjacent to modern Gretna in Dumfries and Galloway and dispatched scouting and raiding parties to the surrounding area.

Northumberland’s army was met by a Scottish force of 4,000 men led by Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde and Sir John Wallace, of Craigie Castle.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14677899.forgotten-battle-of-sa...

Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde (died 1455) was a Scottish Soldier and nobleman, a member of the powerful Black Douglases.

He was the fourth son of James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas and his wife Beatrice Lindsay, daughter of Henry II Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. He was a younger brother of William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray and older to John Douglas, Lord of Balvenie.

Life

He was created Earl of Ormonde before 1445 when he attended a meeting of the Parliament of Scotland, under that title. He received from his brother the 8th Earl, the lands of Rattray, Aberdour, and Crimond in Aberdeenshire, that of Dunsyre, Lanarkshire, and those of Ardmanach (Modern Redcastle, between Tore and Muir of Ord) and Ormonde, (modern day Avoch) in Invernesshire.

He led the Scots to victory at the Battle of Sark, against a scion of the old Douglas enemy, Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. Ormonde was left in control of the vast Douglas estates when his brother went on pilgrimage to Rome in 1450. Following the assassination of his eldest brother by the hand of the King, James II, Ormonde along with his brothers renounced their allegiance to the King and went into open rebellion.

The brothers, excepting the new 9th Earl, faced the Royal forces at the Battle of Arkinholm. The royal army led by a kinsman George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, defeated the Black Douglas brethren. Moray dying of his wounds, Balveny escaped, Ormonde, however was captured, tried and executed, his estates forfeit.

Issue

Ormonde had by an unknown wife, one child:

Hugh Douglas, became Dean of Brechin Cathedral

Biographical Summary

"Hugh Douglas, the fourth son of James, seventh Earl of Douglas, was created EARL OF ORMOND in or before 1445, in which year he sat in Parliament under that title. He got from his brother William, eighth Earl of Douglas, who had married the Fair Maid of Galloway, the lands of Ardmanach and others in Inverness-shire, including the 'hill' of Ormond, from which he took his title, besides Rattray, Aberdour, and Orimond in Aberdeenshire, and Dunsyre in Lanark. He took part in an expedition into Northumberland under his brother the Earl of Douglas, in July 1448, and he himself, along with Sir John Wallace of Cragy, defeated the English under Lord Percy, the son of the Duke of Northumberland, with great slaughter, 23 October 1449. Ormond is said to have been left in charge of the Douglas estates by his brother the Earl, when the latter went to Rome in November 1450. After the assassination of the Earl by the King in 1452, Ormond joined with his brother William in his defiance to the sovereign, and his seal was appended to the placard renouncing their allegiance, which was affixed by night to the door of the Parliament Hall. In 1454 he held the office of Sheriff of Lanarkshire, but in the following year he was, with his family, in open rebellion against the King. On their defeat by the royal forces under the Earl of Angus at Arkenholme, 1 May 1455, he was taken prisoner. He was then tried for high treason, found guilty, and executed, his estates being forfeited to the Crown.

The Earl was married, but the name of his wife is not known. They had a son Hugh, who became Dean of Brechin."

SOURCE: The Scots peerage, Vol. VI, page 585