James I of Scotland conferred the barony of Drumlanrig on the illegitimate son of the 2nd Earl of Douglas, who was killed at the battle of Chevy Chase while fighting the English in 1388, but it was James The fierceness and determination that characterised his careerĮmerged in the lives of many of his descendants, along with the gore and sensation. Although his final mission was unsuccessful, the Black Douglas has remained one of the best-known figures in his country's legend. It is commemorated in the Douglas coat-of-arms, which bears a heart along with The Black Douglas's remains were buried, in Melrose Abbey, along with the silver casket containing his friend's heart. He had travelled with the heart on one of the Crusades but was killed in Spain by the Moors in 1390 before he reached It was while engaged on this mission that the Black Douglas met his end. As a friend of Robert the Bruce, it was the Black Douglas who attempted to fulfil that King's dying wish that his heart be taken to the Holy Sepulchre Nephew of James, who was renowned for having fought in seventy battles. But the man who most made a name for the family in its early years was William the `Black Douglas', He sent for the man after the battle had been won, and the soldier who conducted him into his presence said, `Sholto Du-glass.īehold the dark grey man you inquired for.'Ī Sir William Douglas died in the Tower of London in 1298 and was succeeded by his son James, Lord of Douglas. Or king, whose army was losing in battle saw the tide turned in his favour by an unknown warrior. Towards the end of the eighth century, tradition has it that a chieftain, They had a colourful history and had once possessed great lands, wealth and influence. The family into which Lord Alfred Douglas was born was one of the noblest houses in Scotland. `The old years that held and fashioned me'
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