Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Douglas,_Lord_of_Liddesdale

Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale (circa. 1300-k.1353) was also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry. He was a Scottish nobleman and soldier active during the Second War of Scottish Independence.

Family

Douglas' father, James Douglas of Lothian, a minor landowner in the Lothians was a second cousin of the Good Sir James Douglas, a hero of the First War of Scottish Independence. At some point circa. 1323, Douglas succeeded to his small desmesnes. Circa. 1327 he became godfather to his third cousin William, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, and nephew of the "Good Sir James". Douglas was to hold minor positions of state and is not much heard of until 1332.

Second War of Scottish Independence

Robert the Bruce died in 1329 and also "The Good Sir James" on Crusade in 1330, Bruce's son David II was a child. Edward III of England had just attained his majority and was known to resent his father, Edward II's disgrace at the hands of the Scots, and his own supposed humiliation when forced to sign the Treaty of Northampton in 1328, at just sixteen years old.

The Disinherited and Baliol

A party known as the Disinherited (senior Anglo-Scottish Nobles on the losing side after Bannockburn) successfully lured Edward Baliol, son of former King John of Scotland from France in 1331, with the aim of restoring him to the throne and their privileges. Throughout the winter and spring of 1332 the Disinherited led by a veteran campaigner Henry de Beaumont and Baliol, with tacit support, but outward neutrality from Edward III, were gathering supplies and men for the invasion of Scotland. The last of the old guard Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, Bruce's nephew died in July and the leadership crisis in Scotland made it ripe for the picking. In violation of the Treaty of Northampton, which forbade any military incursions across the Border, Baliol's forces set sail from the Yorkshire coast and landed at Kinghorn in Fife, and marched to meet the forces of David Bruce. The Battle of Dupplin Moor, was a decisive defeat for the defenders and Baliol was crowned King of Scots on 24 September. Baliol had little support in his new kingdom, except in his ancestral lands in Galloway. Baliol and his army marched across the Lowlands, and was being slowly eroded by guerrilla tactics learnt only twenty years previously. Baliol was ambushed at the Battle of Annan on 16 December 1332. Baliol's brother Henry is said to have died in the skirmish, and it is the first time that William Douglas is recorded in battle, and Baliol himself had to flee south ignominiously.

Open War

In 1333, Edward dropped all pretence of neutrality, repudiated the Treaty of Northampton, and attacked Scottish Berwick-upon-Tweed, Douglas' kinsman Sir Archibald Douglas, now Guardian of Scotland, rushed to meet the English host and battle commenced at Halidon Hill. A crushing defeat for the Scots, Sir Archibald was killed, William, the young Lord of Douglas also. Hordes of valuable hostages taken. Young King David II, Douglas' Godson William Douglas and his brother John Douglas escaped to France. However, Edward chose to restore Baliol to Scotland and retreated south. The supporters of King David elected two new guardians of the realm, John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, Bruce's great-nephew and Robert Stewart, High Steward of Scotland and Bruce's grandson. In 1335 Edward decide to take matters into his own hands again and entered Scotland with a force large enough to occupy the whole south of the country, taking Edinburgh castle and heavily rebuilding and refortifying it.

Retaliation

William Douglas had been captured earlier in 1333, at an action known as the Battle of Dornock, and so escaped the carnage that had wiped out or captured the leading men of the nation at Halidon Hill. Upon his release in 1334, he started raiding Galloway under the command of John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, capturing Guy II, Count of Namur at the Battle of Boroughmuir. After Randolph's capture and without his support Douglas started building his own power base. Douglas returned to his lands in Lothian and as he had a pitiful amount of tenantry to draw upon, he organised a company of men that would follow him based on his martial prowess. "The armed bands led by Douglas, his contemporary Alexander Ramsay and others lived 'in poverty' and 'like shadows', fighting a guerrilla war against the English....Ramsay based his followers in a network of caves at Hawthorndean in Midlothian, while Douglas, operated from lairs in the [Ettrick] Forest or the Pentland Hills, was wounded twice and risked capture ambushing larger English forces. But these leaders engaging in small-scale warfare were the only active opponents of the English in the South." Later historians and chroniclers would praise Douglas and his guerrillas as "schools of Knighthood", earning him the epithet Flower of Chivalry just as they had praised the his relative the Good Sir James for his guerrilla tactics in the First War of Independence.

Rise to Pre-eminence in the South

As mentioned previously Douglas did not have a large tenantry base to work with himself, so the majority of the men that led his companies were bound by kinship, and their adherents. In his native Lothian, Douglas' clear leadership won over local gentry and their followings, but throughout the rest of the south it was Douglas' military successes that won him great support. He became known as the "Flail of the English and Wall of the Scots". Douglas was starting to be viewed in much the same way as his illustrious cousin "The Good Sir James" had been a generation before.

Culblean

In September 1335, the rump of the Bruce party, gathered at Dumbarton Castle and re-elected as Guardian of the realm, Sir Andrew Murray, son of William Wallace's lieutenant and his namesake. A month later Murray's forces met with the English pro-Baliol forces under David de Strathbogie at Culblean, in Aberdeenshire. Murray's army divided into two with Douglas' leading the forward unit. When he saw Strathbogie arrayed for battle Douglas halted, as if hesitating in the face of the enemy's preparedness. This had the desired effect and Strathbogie led his men in a downhill charge; but their ranks began to break on reaching a burn, and Douglas ordered a counter-charge. Sir Andrew with the rearguard immediately launched an assault on the enemy's exposed flank. The charge was so fierce that the bushes in the way were all born down. Pinned down in front and attacked from the side, Strathbogie's army broke. Unable to escape, and refusing to surrender, Strathbogie stood with his back to an oak tree and was killed in a last stand with a small group of followers, including Walter and Thomas Comyn. The battle of Culblean, though by no means the largest confrontation in the conflict was pivotal in the fortunes of the followers of David Bruce, and heavily demoralised the forces of Baliol.

Control of the Borders and Capture of Hermitage Castle

In the later 1330s Douglas continued to consolidate his powerbase in Southern Scotland using the Great Forest of Ettrick as cover to mount increasingly punishing raids upon the English, as had "The Good Sir James" before him.

William Douglas seized control of Liddesdale from the English in 1337 and captured the following year, Hermitage Castle the key fortress in Liddesdale and over much of the Border country. Hermitage had been a royal castle under the Bruce, having been forfeited by Sir William de Soulis in 1320. It had been captured during the English invasion and granted to the Englishman Sir Ralph de Neville.

Capture of Edinburgh Castle

By 1341, such was Douglas' burgeoning experience and ability, that he was able to recapture the heavily defended Castle of Edinburgh, in English hands since the invasion of 1335. A repeat of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray's daring recapture in 1314 where they scaled the Castle-rock was impossible as a result of Edward's new fortifications. Douglas had to come up a new strategy. In fact he went for a very old one, that of the Trojan Horse. The garrison of the castle in constant need of supplies and fodder for their beasts and horses, used various local merchants for that purpose. Douglas and his lieutenants dressed as merchants, and acquired some hay wains, in which they concealed their warriors. On gaining entry to the castle the final wagon stopped to bar the gates from closing. Douglas' men poured from the wagons and through the open gates came the citizenry of Edinburgh to slaughter the English defenders, throwing many off the Castle-rock.

Control of Edinburgh gave Douglas the power and influence to control all of Southern Scotland from Dumfries to the Merse. However, his legal position was tenuous and had to be maintained by force. While his predecessor "The Good Sir James", had been tied by bonds of personal friendship and loyalty to The Bruce, there were no such links between the exiled David II and the remaining Guardian, Robert Stewart. William received no support militarily and no preference in the issuing of charters of land from Robert. To ensure that his efforts to secure his pre-eminence were not in vain, Douglas decided to visit King David in France in an attempt to forge a friendship between them.

Return of David II

In 1339, Douglas visited the King at Château Gaillard on the Seine, 50 miles North-West of Paris. Douglas returned from France with a party of French Knights and Crossbowmen and the promise of Royal favour in return for helping arrange and prepare the way for the King's return to Scotland.

In July 1342 Douglas was granted the Earldom of Atholl, which had been retained by the crown for some years. He was only to hold the earldom for a matter of months, before being compelled to resign title to King David's uncle, the High Steward of Scotland Robert Stewart (later Robert II of Scotland). In September of the same year, perhaps in recognition of his loss of the earldom, King David granted the forfeited lands of Sir James Lovell, in Eskdale and Ewesdale, to Douglas. Later in 1342, Douglas was again in legal wrangling with the Steward, being compelled to resign lands he held in wardship for the young Lord of Douglas, to him. The charter for these lands, in Douglas' powerbase of Liddesdale was considered defective, because Sir Archibald, the guardian had granted the lands to himself during king David's minority.

Murder of Ramsay

Douglas and his compatriot Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie had a keen rivalry between them, which was exacerbated into jealousy, by a duel which took place in December 1341. Douglas had challenged by Henry, Earl of Derby at Roxburgh. Douglas, by virtue of his lance breaking on his first tilt, and the damage to his hand thereof could not carry on with the joust. A tournament was arranged between the chivary of both nations, to reach a more satisfatory outcome. Douglas, had still not recovered the use of his hand, so the Scottish knights were led by Sir Alexander Ramsay and won successfully against the English. Ramsay's success here, and his later capture of Roxburgh Castle at Easter 1342, of which Douglas was the titular Constable, Douglas perceived as a deadly insult. Following the return of King David, the King deprived Douglas' of his offices of Constable of Roxburgh and Sheriff of Teviotdale, and bestowed them on Ramsay.

Possibly because of these or possibly for other reasons, Douglas led a large force of men to Hawick where Ramsay was holding court. Douglas' men seized the Ramsay, tied him to a mule and removed him to Hermitage Castle. Ramsay was thrown into the oubliette there, and was starved to death, lingering for up to seventeen days without food or water.

However, after intervention by the Stewart, Douglas was back in the King's favour and restored to his previous offices by late 1342.

Neville's Cross

Main article: Battle of Neville's Cross http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Neville%27s_Cross

In 1346, the greater part of the English army of Edward III were away at war fighting against the French. The French were desperate for the English to be diverted and called upon King David II of Scotland to attack the English northern border. King David gladly obliged and sallied forth into England with 20,000 men who wrecked and plundered parts of Cumberland and Northumberland before entering Durham where they made camp at Bearpark to the west of the city. The Scots were divided into three factions under the respective commands of King David, the Earl of Moray and Sir William Douglas. On 17 October, Sir William Douglas allowed his men to go on a rampage throughout Durham straying as far south as Ferryhill where to their surprise they encountered part of an English army of some 15,000 which pursued them north. Under the leadership of Sir Ralph Neville and supported by the men of Thomas Rokeby and Lord Percy, the English were successful in this initial encounter and a number of Scots lost their lives. Moving north the real battle took place on the Red Hills in the vicinity of a stone cross called Neville's Cross (which existed before the battle). The Scottish forces were overwhelmed.

King David fled the field as had Robert Stewart and the Patrick, Earl of March. Wounded, King David was subsequently captured. Eventually he was ransomed after being held prisoner by the English for eleven years.

Death

Sir William was murdered in 1353 by his kinsman, William, 1st Earl of Douglas, and the family possessions passed to the son of his younger brother, Sir John Douglas, who had been assassinated, by order of Sir David Barclay, between 1346 and 1350.

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1st and last Earl of Atholl, so created 18 July 1341, though he resigned the title soon afterwards in favour of Robert Stewart of Liddesdale, grandson of Robert I of Scotland; acquired the feudal Lordship of Dalkeith from the Grahams, also the territorial Barony of Aberdour, Fife, and lands in Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Eskdale, and Ewesdale which had been forfeited by the Soulis's and Lovel's and which he entailed 1351 on his nephews (younger brother John's sons); known as the "Flower of Chivalry"; allegedly m? 1st? Margaret sister and coheir of John Graham of Dalkeith and Abercorn; married? 2nd? Elizabeth (married 2nd 4th Lord (Baron) Dacre) and dspm Aug 1353, killed by his relative William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas. [Burke's Peerage]

Jim Weber cites "The Great Historic Families of Scotland" by James Taylor for the following: "Lord of Liddesdale

" ... the Knight of Liddesdale, also known in history by the title of 'The Flower of Chivalry.' ... He was the lawful son of Sir James Doulgas of Loudon, and came into possession of the lands of Liddesdale through his marriage with Margaret, daughter of Sir John Graham of Abercorn. He took a distinguished part in the expulsion of Baliol and his English partisans from Scotland, after the young King David Bruce had taken refuge in France. He was unfortunately taken prisoner in 1332 in an encounter with an English force at Lochmaben, and was confined in iron fetters by the orders of Edward III himself. He was detained two years in captivity, and was released only on paying a large ransom.

"On his return to Scotland the Knight of Liddesdale exerted himself more energetically than ever to expel the English invaders and to vindicate the independence of his country. He took part in the conflict with the Earl of Athole at the Forest of Kilblane, in which that powerful but rapacious and unpatriotic noble was defeated and killed. He captured and demolished the Castles of Dunnotar, Kinclaven, and Laurieston, which had been garrisoned by the English. He encountered, near Crichton, the Lords Marchers of England, who had come to the relief of Edinburgh Castle, then besieged by the Regent, and drove them across the Tweed, but was himself severely wounded in the contest. He expelled the enemy from Teviotdale, captured Sir John Stirling at the head of five hundred men-at-arms, intercepted a convoy of provisions on its way to Hermitage, and succeeded in reducing that fortress; defeated Roland de Vaux, a celebrated warrior in the English interest, and in a fierce and repeatedly renewed engagement with Sir Lawrence Abernethy, a Scotsman who had espoused the cause of Edward Baliol, he succeeded at the fifth encounter in capturing that knight and dispersing his followers. In 1339 he was sent to solicit assistance from the French Court, and brought back with him from France five ships of war, having on board a body of men-at-arms under the command of an experienced French officer, who contributed largely to the reduction of Perth, at that time held by the English. Shortly after he succeeded, by a dexterous stratagem, in recoving the Castle of Edinburgh. He tarnished his laurels, however, and his reputation, but cruel murder of his friend and companion in arms, Sir Alexander Ramsay. Such was the weakness of the Government at this time, that King David was obliged not only to pardon the savage murderer, but to bestow upon him the office on account of which he had perpetrated the atrocious crime. The assassination of David de Berkeley shortly after, at the instigation of Douglas, is supposed to have been connected with a plot for the restoration of Baliol to the throne. It is certain that Edward at this time appointed commissioners with full powers 'to treat of and to conclude a treaty with William Douglas, to receive him into our faith, peace, and amity, and to secure him a reward; and that Douglas accepted the terms which they offfered. But, for some unknown cause, the conspiracy was laid aside for some time.

"The Knight of Liddesdale commanded the right wing of the Scottish army at the battle of Neville's Cross (17th October, 1346), and was taken prisoner along with his sovereign. He was induced to purchase his liberty at the expense of his loyalty and honour, and promised to transfer to the English monarch that allegience which he owed to his own sovereign. He bound himself by a secret treaty to allow the English to pass unmolested through his estates at all times and for all purposes; neigher openly nor secretly to give counsel or aid to his own country, or to any other nation, against the King of England; and to keep on foot a body of men for his service. In return for this treasonable compact he was liberated from prison, and received from Edward a grant of the territory of Liddesdale and the Castle of Hermitage, and some possessions in Annandale. But his treachery was discovered and his intrigues baffled by his kinsman, William, first Earl of Douglas, by whom, shortly after his return to Scotland, he was waylaid and slain while he was hunting in Ettrick Forest. Some contemprary writers ascribe this deed to revenge for the murder of Sir Alexander Ramsay and Sir David Berkeley, which, however, does not appear at all probable. Others affirm that it was owing to domestic jealousy, and Hume of Godscroft has preseved a single stanza of a ballad composed on the murder of Douglas which conveys this impression: --'The Countess of Douglas out of her bower she came, And loudly then did she call: It is for the lord of Liddesdale That I let the tears down fall.'

"It is probable, however, that the treachery of Douglas to his country, and his attempt to deprive his kinsman and chief of his patrimonial inheritance, led to his violent end."

Sources:

  1. Type: Web Site

     Author: Jim Weber

     Title: The Phillips, Weber, Kirk & Staggs Famlies

     URL: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id

     Date: Sep 19, 2010

     Detail: Jim Weber cites numerous sources for his data. See his posting for details. 

• ______
• 'Sir William Douglas1
• 'M, d. August 1353
• Father Sir James Douglas d. b 20 Apr 1323
• Mother Joan d. a 1337
• ' Sir William Douglas married Elizabeth Maxwell, daughter of John Maxwell; Her 1st husband.1 Sir William Douglas was born at of Liddesdale, Scotland.1 He died in August 1353; Killed by William, 1st Earl Douglas.1
• 'Family Elizabeth Maxwell d. b 1 Jan 1370
• Child
  • ◦Mary Douglas1 d. b 30 Jun 1367
• Citations
• 1.[S147] Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 1938 ed., by Sir Bernard Burke, p., 1787.
• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p1320.htm#...
• ________________
• 'Sir William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale (circa. 1300-k.1353) was also known as the Knight of Liddesdale and the Flower of Chivalry.[1] He was a Scottish nobleman and soldier during the Second War of Scottish Independence.
• Family
• 'Douglas' father, James Douglas of Lothian, a minor landowner in the Lothians was a second cousin of the Good Sir James Douglas, a hero of the First War of Scottish Independence. At some point circa. 1323, Douglas succeeded to his small desmesnes. Circa. 1327 he became godfather to his third cousin Archibald, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, and nephew of the "Good Sir James". Douglas was to hold minor positions of state and is not much heard of until 1332.
• Second War of Scottish Independence
• Robert the Bruce died in 1329 and also "The Good Sir James" on Crusade in 1330, Bruce's son David II was an infant. Edward III of England had just attained his majority and was known to resent his father, Edward II's disgrace at the hands of the Scots, and his own supposed humiliation when forced to sign the Treaty of Northampton in 1328, at just sixteen years old.
• The Disinherited and Baliol
• A party known as the Disinherited (senior Anglo-Scottish Nobles on the losing side after Bannockburn) successfully lured Edward Baliol, son of former King John of Scotland from France in 1331, with the aim of restoring him to the throne and their privileges. Throughout the winter and spring of 1332 the Disinherited led by a veteran campaigner Henry de Beaumont and Baliol, with tacit support, but outward neutrality from Edward III, were gathering supplies and men for the invasion of Scotland. The last of the old guard Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, Bruce's nephew died in July and the leadership crisis in Scotland made it ripe for the picking. In violation of the Treaty of Northampton, which forbade any military incursions across the Border, Baliol's forces set sail from the Yorkshire coast and landed at Kinghorn in Fife, and marched to meet the forces of David Bruce. The Battle of Dupplin Moor, was a decisive defeat for the defenders and Baliol was crowned King of Scots on the 24th of September. Baliol had little support in his new kingdom, except in his ancestral lands in Galloway. Baliol and his army marched across the Lowlands, and was being slowly eroded by guerrilla tactics learnt only twenty years previously. Baliol was ambushed at the Battle of Annan on the 16th December 1332. Baliol's brother Henry is said to have died in the skirmish, and it is the first time that William Douglas is recorded in battle, and Baliol himself had to flee south ignominiously.
• Open War,
• 'In 1333, Edward dropped all pretence of neutrality, repudiated the Treaty of Northampton, and attacked Scottish Berwick-upon-Tweed, Douglas' kinsman Sir Archibald Douglas, now Guardian of Scotland, rushed to meet the English host and battle commenced at Halidon Hill. A crushing defeat for the Scots, Sir Archibald was killed, William, the young Lord of Douglas also. Hordes of valuable hostages taken. Young King David II, Douglas' Godson William Douglas and his brother John Douglas escaped to France. However, Edward chose to restore Baliol to Scotland and retreated south. The supporters of King David elected two new guardians of the realm, John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, Bruce's great-nephew and Robert Stewart, High Steward of Scotland and Bruce's grandson. In 1335 Edward decide to take matters into his own hands again and entered Scotland with a force large enough to occupy the whole south of the country, taking Edinburgh castle and heavily rebuilding and refortifying it.
• Retaliation
• 'William Douglas had been captured earlier in 1333, at an action known as the Battle of Dornock, and so escaped the carnage that had wiped out or captured the leading men of the nation at Halidon Hill. Upon his release in 1334, he started raiding Galloway under the command of John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, capturing Guy II, Count of Namur at the Battle of Boroughmuir. After Randolph's capture and without his support Douglas started building his own power base. Douglas returned to his lands in Lothian and as he had a pitiful amount of tenantry to draw upon, he organised a company of men that would follow him based on his martial prowess. "The armed bands led by Douglas, his contemporary Alexander Ramsay and others lived 'in poverty' and 'like shadows', fighting a guerrilla war against the English....Ramsay based his followers in a network of caves at Hawthorndean in Midlothian, while Douglas, operated from lairs in the [Ettrick] Forest or the Pentland Hills, was wounded twice and risked capture ambushing larger English forces. But these leaders engaging in small-scale warfare were the only active opponents of the English in the South."[2] Later historians and chroniclers would praise Douglas and his guerrillas as "schools of Knighthood", earning him the epithet Flower of Chivalry just as they had praised the his relative the Good Sir James for his guerrilla tactics in the First War of Independence.
• Rise to Pre-eminence in the South
• 'As mentioned previously Douglas did not have a large tenantry base to work with himself, so the majority of the men that led his companies were bound by kinship, and their adherents. In his native Lothian, Douglas' clear leadership won over local gentry and their followings, but throughout the rest of the south it was Douglas' military successes that won him great support. He became known as the "Flail of the English and Wall of the Scots". Douglas was starting to be viewed in much the same way as his illustrious cousin "The Good Sir James" had been a generation before.
• Culblean
• In September 1335, the rump of the Bruce party, gathered at Dumbarton Castle and re-elected as Guardian of the realm, Sir Andrew Murray, son of William Wallace's lieutenant and his namesake. A month later Murray's forces met with the English pro-Baliol forces under David de Strathbogie at Culblean, in Aberdeenshire. Murray's army divided into two with Douglas' leading the forward unit. When he saw Strathbogie arrayed for battle Douglas halted, as if hesitating in the face of the enemy's preparedness. This had the desired effect and Strathbogie led his men in a downhill charge; but their ranks began to break on reaching a burn, and Douglas ordered a counter-charge. Sir Andrew with the rearguard immediately launched an assault on the enemy's exposed flank. The charge was so fierce that the bushes in the way were all born down. Pinned down in front and attacked from the side, Strathbogie's army broke. Unable to escape, and refusing to surrender, Strathbogie stood with his back to an oak tree and was killed in a last stand with a small group of followers, including Walter and Thomas Comyn. The battle of Culblean, though by no means the largest confrontation in the conflict was pivotal in the fortunes of the followers of David Bruce, and heavily demoralised the forces of Baliol.
• Control of the Borders and Capture of Hermitage Castle
• 'In the later 1330s Douglas continued to consolidate his powerbase in Southern Scotland using the Great Forest of Ettrick as cover to mount increasingly punishing raids upon the English, as had "The Good Sir James" before him. The English still held Roxburgh Castle, and the ever hard pressed Borderers, who were 'encouraged' under duress to 'return to the Kings's faith', regarded the Lothian-based Douglas as yet another warlord rather than a Freedom fighter, imposing his will by raid and enforced leadership.
• Earlier Sir Archibald Douglas had laid waste to Galloway, Edward Baliol's patrimony and had seized Liddesdale to prevent access to and from England. Archibald claimed the Lordship thereof by Force Majeure, rather than by legal means. William Douglas did the same, seizing control of Liddesdale in 1337 and capturing the following year, Hermitage Castle the key fortress in Liddesdale and over much of the Border country. Hermitage had been a royal castle under the Bruce, having been forfeited by Sir William de Soulis in 1320. It was captured during the Baliol invasion and granted to the Englishman Sir Ralph de Neville.
• Capture of Edinburgh Castle
• 'By 1341, such was Douglas' burgeoning experience and ability, that he was able to recapture the heavily defended Castle of Edinburgh, in English hands since the invasion of 1335. A repeat of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray's daring recapture in 1314 where they scaled the Castle-rock was impossible as a result of Edward's new fortifications. Douglas had to come up a new strategy. In fact he went for a very old one, that of the Trojan Horse. The garrison of the castle in constant need of supplies and fodder for their beasts and horses, used various local merchants for that purpose. Douglas and his lieutenants dressed as merchants, and acquired some hay wains, in which they concealed their warriors. On gaining entry to the castle the final wagon stopped to bar the gates from closing. Douglas' men poured from the wagons and through the open gates came the citizenry of Edinburgh to slaughter the English defenders, throwing many off the Castle-rock.
• 'Control of Edinburgh gave Douglas the power and influence to control all of Southern Scotland from Dumfries to the Merse. However, his legal position was tenuous and had to be maintained by force. While his predecessor "The Good Sir James", had been tied by bonds of personal friendship and loyalty to The Bruce, there were no such links between the exiled David II and the remaining Guardian, Robert Stewart. William received no support militarily and no preference in the issuing of charters of land from Robert. To ensure that his efforts to secure his pre-eminence were not in vain, Douglas decided to visit King David in France in an attempt to forge a friendship between them.
• Return of David II
• 'In 1339, Douglas visited the King at Château Gaillard on the Seine, 50 miles North-West of Paris. Douglas returned from France with a party of French Knights and Crossbowmen and the promise of Royal favour in return for helping arrange and prepare the way for the King's return to Scotland.
• 'In July 1342 Douglas was granted the Earldom of Atholl, which had been retained by the crown for some years. He was only to hold the earldom for a matter of months, before being compelled to resign title to King David's uncle, the High Steward of Scotland Robert Stewart (later Robert II of Scotland. In September of the same year, perhaps in recognition of his loss of the earldom, King David granted the forfeited lands of Sir James Lovell, in Eskdale and Ewesdale, to Douglas.[3] Later in 1342, Douglas was again in legal wrangling with the Steward, being compelled to resign lands he held in wardship for the young Lord of Douglas, to him. The charter for these lands, in Douglas' powerbase of Liddesdale was considered defective, because Sir Archibald, the guardian had granted the lands to himself during king David's minority.[4]
• Murder of Ramsay
• 'Douglas and his compatriot Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie had a keen rivalry between them, which was exacerbated into jealousy, by a duel which took place in December 1341.[5] Douglas had challenged by Henry, Earl of Derby at Roxburgh. Douglas, by virtue of his lance breaking on his first tilt, and the damge to his hand thereof could not carry on with the joust. A tournament was arranged between the chivary of both nations, to reach a more satisfatory outcome. Douglas, had still not recovered the use of his hand, so the Scottish knights were led by Sir Alexander Ramsay and won successfully against the English. Ramsay's success here, and his later capture of Roxburgh Castle at Easter 1342, of which Douglas was the titular Constable, Douglas percieved as a deadly insult. Following the return of King David, Douglas was further affronted when the King deprived Douglas' of his offices of Constable of Roxburgh and Sheriff of Teviotdale, and bestowed them on Ramsay.
• 'The incensed Douglas and a large force of men arrived at Hawick, where Ramsay was holding court. Douglas' men immediately seized the unfortunate Ramsay, tied him to a mule and removed him to Hermitage Castle. Ramsay was thrown into the Oubliette there, and was starved to death, lingering for up to seventeen days without food or water.[6]
• 'However, after intervention by the Steward, Douglas was back in the King's favour and restored to his previous offices by late 1342.
• Neville's Cross
• 'In 1346, the greater part of the English army of Edward III were away at war fighting against the French. The French were desperate for the English to be diverted and called upon King David II of Scotland to attack the English northern border. King David gladly obliged and sallied forth into England with 20,000 men who wrecked and plundered parts of Cumberland and Northumberland before entering Durham where they made camp at Bearpark to the west of the city. The Scots were divided into three factions under the respective commands of King David, the Earl of Moray and Sir William Douglas. On the 17th October, the men of Sir William Douglas went on a rampage throughout Durham straying as far south as Ferryhill where to their surprise they encountered part of an English army of some 15,000 which pursued them north. Under the leadership of Sir Ralph Neville and supported by the men of Thomas Rokeby and Lord Percy, the English were successful in this initial encounter and a number of Scots lost their lives. Moving north the real battle took place on the Red Hills in the vicinity of a stone cross called Neville's Cross (which existed before the battle). Arrows were fired, axes began hacking, swords were thrust and as the bloodbath continued the indication was that the Scots were going to lose. David, the Scottish king fled from the scene. He had been wounded and was subsequently captured. Eventually a fee was agreed for the return of King David to Scotland and he was released.
• Death
• 'Sir William was murdered in 1353 by his kinsman, William, 1st Earl of Douglas, and the family possessions passed to the son of his younger brother, Sir John Douglas, who had been assassinated, by order of Sir David Barclay, between 1346 aand 1350.
• Notes
• 1.^ David Hume of Godscroft, History of the house of Douglas & Angus pp. 90-116, esp. p.104
• 2.^ Brown, The Black Douglases chap.2 p.37
• 3.^ Records of the Parliament of Scotland, 22nd September 1341 [1]
• 4.^ Records of the Parliament of Scotland,14th February 1342
• 5.^ Maxwell, vol II, p218
• 6.^ Maxwell, vol I, pp218-220
• References
• The History of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus, Hume of Godscroft. Mortimer and MacLeod, Aberdeen 1820
• The Black Douglases, Michael Brown. Tuckwell Press, East Linton. 1998
• Records of the Parliament of Scotland, [2] University of St Andrew's.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Douglas,_Lord_of_Liddesdale
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_IV,_Lord_of_Douglas

William, Lord of Douglas (died 1333) was a short-lived Scottish nobleman, the son of Sir James Douglas and an unknown mother. Little is known of Lord Douglas's life which, after his father's death in Spain in 1330, he spent under the guardianship of Sir Archibald Douglas.

There are records of transactions occurring in the exchequer accounts of the Lord Chamberlain of Scotland in 1331 that refer to Willelmus dominus de Duglas. There is also a record of a complaint by the monks of Coldingham Priory to David II against the Lord of Douglas and his uncle Sir Archibald, in respect of certain manorial lands at Swinton, Berwickshire. In this the monks claimed that the lands had been given to Lord Douglas' father, Sir James, illegally and with prejudice against the priory at Coldingham.

William of Douglas accompanied his uncle, who had been appointed Guardian of the Realm, to the battlefield of Halidon Hill. There, with his uncle, six belted earls and countless knights and commoners, he was slain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halidon_Hill

He died unmarried and a minor. The title and privileges of the Lordship of Douglas passed to another uncle, Hugh "the Dull", a Canon of Glasgow and parson of Roxburgh who turned much of the Douglas patrimony over to his cousin William Douglas of Lothian.

In 1778, excavations at the Auld Kirk at North Berwick uncovered the matrix of the seal of William, Lord Douglas. This seal stamp shows the first representation of the heart of Bruce in Douglas heraldry, and shows that it was assumed immediately after the death of Sir James Douglas.

http://genealogy.kirkpatrickaustralian.com/archives//getperson.php?...

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 21 2016, 19:45:06 UTC