"It only remains to sum up what appears to be actually proved as to the first member of the Douglas family, though the question of origin, it is to be feared, must remain in obscurity. The evidence adduced is to the effect that William of Douglas, father of Archibald and Brice of Douglas and their brothers, was a near relation of Freskin of Kerdal, a laird in Moray; that the cognisance of the Douglases, three stars in chief, was similar to that borne by a descendant of Freskin of Kerdal; and the Douglases and the Freskins (afterwards the family of Moray) were, at an early period, neighbouring proprietors in the south of Scotland, and that the two families were also in Morayshire together; and further, that the traditional ancestor of the family of Douglas is asserted to have fought against Donald Bane, while the first historical Douglas was actually contemporary with the rebel of that name who was slain in Morayshire." William of Douglas, the first historical Douglas, was succeeded by Archibald, and he had also a younger son Andrew, grandfather of the Black Knight of Liddesdale and ancestor of the line of Morton. Archibald again was succeeded by Sir William of Douglas, who was the father of Hugh and of Sir William "le Hardi." During these three generations the Douglases increased much in possessions and influence, Bishop Brice apparently being of much service to his family. Brice was evidently a prelate of much weight in his day; and though he did not escape from the tongue of slander, which charged him with unlawfully accumulating money, and that he lavished it upon "wenches, by keeping company with whom he was evil spoken of," he was canonised after his death. But as a prophet has no honour in his own country, so St Bricius does not seem to have been held in special estimation by his own kin, who continued, from the earliest records we have of them, to range themselves under the special protection of St Bryde. In William "le Hardi and his son the "Good Sir James," we are able to recognise clearly those qualities which were soon to raise the Douglases to the highest rank of Scottish nobility, and to place them in a position in which they overshadowed even the Crown itself. Their assumption of the popular cause in the war of Scottish Independence, the sacrifices which they made in the contest with the English, and the large share which Sir James had in securing the throne for Bruce, naturally marked out the Douglas as the first subject for honour and consideration. The two suffered severely at the hands of the English invaders. William the Hardi had, at an early stage of his career, provoked the enmity of Edward by carrying off and marrying an English widow heiress, Eleanor of Lovain, who had been wife of Ferrers, Lord of Groby, and who had come to Scotland to secure her dowry out of estates of which her late husband had been possessed in that kingdom. She was not, however, his first wife, for the Good Sir James's mother was a daughter of Alexander the High Steward. We cannot follow the fortunes of "le Hardi" and his son through the long wars of their generation. Are not their exploits written in the pages of Blind Harry and Barbour? Mr Fraser's less romantic narrative detracts nothing from the renown of these two heroes. deserves to be noted that though Sir James, as Bruce's first soldier, could doubtless have obtained vast estates from the lands which had been confiscated to the Crown by Edward's partisans, yet Douglas It bore no personal titles save those which indicated inheritance of his own paternal lordship and the simple knighthood conferred upon him in presence of the whole Scottish army arrayed at Bannockburn. This moderation, however, he did not bequeath to his posterity. Bower is right. A nickname in a family is easily revived, but in spite of its reverses the career of the Douglas Duke of Touraine was as a whole too brilliant to have of itself originated the epithet. The names of the different Douglases were so often in the mouths of minstrels and ballad-mongers, that the frequent confusions which Mr. Fraser has now cleared away are perfectly explicable. Under William, who was created the first Earl of Douglas in 1358, we are conscious that the house of Douglas has now become a pre Mr Fraser introduces to us a new Douglas, hitherto unrecognised in history, in the person of William Lord of Douglas, a son of the Good Sir James; but the evidence of his succession is quite satisfactorily established. This clears up some historical difficulties which have arisen from confounding William ponderating power in Scotland, of Douglas with the Knight of Liddesdale, who was a son of Sir James Douglas of Lothian. William, however, enjoyed his lordship for only three years, and fell at Halidon under the banner of his uncle Archibald, who was there taken prisoner. In his seal is displayed a shield on which is a fess surmounted by three mullets in chief, and in base for the first time we meet with the famous bloody heart, which seems thus to have been introduced into the Douglas arms immediately after the Good Sir James's death. On the death of William, without issue, and probably unmarried, Hugh, brother of the Good Sir James, succeeded to the lordship. He was an ecclesiastic and unmarried, and resigned, after a tenure of eleven years, in favour of his nephew William, son of that Archibald who had been Warden of Scotland and had fallen at Halidon. Archibald was the first "Tineman," or loser of the family-a name which attached itself with even more fatal associations to Archibald the fourth Earl of Douglas. Mr Fraser is disposed to think that the epithet should be only applied to the latter. But we are inclined to believe that and is in a position to push its "He torians who have referred to this subject." neither pure nor patriotic. entered," says Mr. Fraser, "into a solemn agreement with the King of England to be his servant, and to permit the English to pass through his lands at all times without hindrance, in return for which he was set at liberty, with a grant of the lands of Liddesdale and Hermitage Castle, &c., to be held of the English King." But the Scotts were rapidly winning back the country, and the Knight's treasonable plans were held in check. His death was a sad one, as he was slain by his pupil and godson, William of Douglas, while hunting in Ettrick Forest. The old legend assigns jealousy as the cause of quarrel, and an old ballad supports the story: This view is strengthened by the fact that the Knight's death was followed by a royal grant of Liddesdale to William of Douglas. To view his character as a whole, the "Flower of Chivalry" comes out the least satisfactorily of all his generation of Black Douglases. William soon after fought at Poitiers on the French side, and was knighted by the luckless King John. He was one of the three great lords selected as hostages for King David II., and succeeded in having the restoration of his English estates secured to him by the treaty between the two countries. At the death of David he stood in a position to be a formidable "The Countesse of Douglas out of her opponent to the succession of the Stewart. Wyntown indeed asserts that William was preparing to advance his claims, based on an alleged descent from the Comyns and Baliols; but Mr Fraser points out so many inconsistencies in the chronicler's narrative, that we have no hesitation in dismissing the statement. If the Douglases did ever aim at royal power in Scotland, it was after this period, at a time when their rivalry with the Crown became more keenly accented. The Stewart and Douglas had been in the closest alliance, and the latter's accession to the throne was speedily followed by a contract of marriage between the heir of Douglas and the Princess Isabel. He continued to be the bulwark of the country against the English, and his last service was to again clear Liddesdale from their occupation. By his marriage with Margaret of Mar he succeeded to that earldom on the death of her brother Thomas, the last male of the line of ancient Earls. In connection with the vexed ques tion about the ranking of that earldom, it is of interest to quote Mr Fraser's remarks with regard to the position held by the Earl of Douglas : "The Earldom of Mar, as possessed by Thomas Earl of Mar, was in the time of King Robert II. the premier earldom of Scotland. The dignity of Earl of Douglas was then the most modern dignity with the rank of Earl, and William Earl of Douglas was the first Earl of his family, having been created on 26th January 1357-58. When he received the conjoined titles of Douglas and Mar on the death of Thomas Earl of Mar, he had only been sixteen years Earl of Douglas, yet on every occasion his title of Douglas is invariably placed before that of Mar. He styles himself Earl of Douglas and Mar; his widow also after his death placed the title of Mar after that of Douglas, styling herself Countess of Douglas and Mar, and the same course was followed in Crown charters by the King. The dignity of Earl of Doug las could not have been placed before that of Earl of Mar if Earl William had been entitled in right of his wife to be ranked as and to bear the style of the first Earl of the kingdom. Both of the Earls of Douglas and Mar, William and James, father and son, sealed the legal deeds granted by them with their armorial seals, having Douglas in the first and fourth quarters and Mar in the subsidiary second and third, thus again plainly showing that the title of Mar, as possessed by William Earl of Douglas, was junior to his recently created dignity of Douglas." William's successor was the hero of Otterburn, and as he died without legitimate issue, the Earldoms of Mar and Douglas parted company-the latter going to Archibald, the grim Lord of Galloway. Earl James was not more than thirty when he fell, but he had crowded many exploits into a short life; and his successful raids across the Border excited the en thusiasm of Scottish chivalry, and the deep enmity of "Hotspur," who saw his domains ravaged and his fame eclipsed by the young Earl. An expedition into England on a grand scale having been organised by the Scottish nobles in 1388, Douglas harried the country up to the walls, Durham, and then returned to assail Newcastle. In a hand-to-hand encounter before the walls, Douglas is said to have worsted Hotspur, and to have carried off his pennon. It was when the Scots had broken up the siege, and were encamped at Otterburn, on their way home, that the famous encounter took place, which is celebrated in the ballad of "Chevy Chase.” In the night-time Henry and Ralph Percy broke upon the Scottish camp at Otterburn Douglas had not time to have his so unexpectedly that armour fastened, and the "Earl of Moray fought all night without his helmet.' Douglas was soon in the thickest of the fight, armed with a mace or battle-axe, "lyke a hardy Hector," says Froissart, 66 wyllynge alone to conquer the felde, and to dyscomfyte his enemyes." Unrecognised in the mêlée, he received three spearwounds at once, and a blow on the head from an axe as he was falling. body was recovered when the English were driven back; and, says Mr Fraser, "the scene which followed is one of the most affecting in the annals of chivalry: " His "When asked how he did, the dying Earl replied, Right evil; yet, thank God, but few of my ancestors have died in their beds. I am dying, for my heart grows faint, but I pray you to revenge me. Raise my banner which lyeth near me on the ground; show my state neither to friend nor foe, lest mine enemies rejoice, and my friends be discomfited." "He torians who have referred to this subject." neither pure nor patriotic. entered," says Mr. Fraser, "into a solemn agreement with the King of England to be his servant, and to permit the English to pass through his lands at all times without hindrance, in return for which he was set at liberty, with a grant of the lands of Liddesdale and Hermitage Castle, &c., to be held of the English King." But the Scotts were rapidly winning back the country, and the Knight's treasonable plans were held in check. His death was a sad one, as he was slain by his pupil and godson, William of Douglas, while hunting in Ettrick Forest. The old legend assigns jealousy as the cause of quarrel, and an old ballad supports the story: This view is strengthened by the fact that the Knight's death was followed by a royal grant of Liddesdale to William of Douglas. To view his character as a whole, the "Flower of Chivalry" comes out the least satisfactorily of all his generation of Black Douglases. William soon after fought at Poitiers on the French side, and was knighted by the luckless King John. He was one of the three great lords selected as hostages for King David II., and succeeded in having the restoration of his English estates secured to him by the treaty between the two countries. At the death of David he stood in a position to be a formidable "The Countesse of Douglas out of her opponent to the succession of the boure she came, And loudly there did call, It is for the Lord of Liddesdale That I let these tears down fall." But there was no Countess of Douglas at that time, and if there is anything in the ballad it must point to a rivalry for Margaret of Mar, whom Douglas married a few years after. Fordoun assigns the cause of the Knight's death as revenge for the murders of Sir Alexander Ramsay and Sir David Berkley, and mutual enmities stirred up by ambition. The last suggestion is probably the real motive, and Mr Fraser thus amplifies Fordoun's statement:— "The probability is, that the true cause of the deed was that both men laid claim to the same lands, and that Douglas, meeting his rival hunting and trespassing on his territory, challenged him, and the Knight was killed in the encounter. That both Douglas and his kinsman laid claim to the same territory has never hitherto been clearly understood by the his Stewart. Wyntown indeed asserts that William was preparing to advance his claims, based on an alleged descent from the Comyns and Baliols; but Mr Fraser points out so many inconsistencies in the chronicler's narrative, that we have no hesitation in dismissing the statement. If the Douglases did ever aim at royal power in Scotland, it was after this period, at a time when their rivalry with the Crown became more keenly accented. The Stewart and Douglas had been in the closest alliance, and the latter's accession to the throne was speedily followed by a contract of marriage between the heir of Douglas and the Princess Isabel. He continued to be the bulwark of the country against the English, and his last service was to again clear Liddesdale from their occupation. By his marriage with Margaret of Mar he succeeded to that earldom on the death of her brother Thomas, the last male of the line of ancient Earls. In connection with the vexed ques |