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Carney & Wehofer Family
Genealogy Pages
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 Abt 1276 - 1330 (~ 54 years)
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| Name |
James "The Good" DOUGLAS [1] |
| Prefix |
Sir |
| Suffix |
of Lothian |
| Nickname |
The Good |
| Born |
Abt 1276 |
Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland  [1] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Cause of Death |
[2] |
| died in the Battle of Teba |
| FamilySearch ID |
L6KK-BW5 |
| Land |
[2] |
| Grants of the land were made to Sir James Douglas by Robert Bruce due to his many brave exploits. |
| MilitaryService |
[2] |
| as Chief Lieutenant to Robert the Bruce |
| MilitaryService |
[2] |
| as General of the Wars of Independence |
| Title |
[2] |
| 2nd Earl of Galloway |
| Title |
[2] |
| 2nd Lord of Douglas Castle |
| Name |
James DOUGLAS [2] |
| Name |
James of Loudon [2] |
| Name |
The Good |
| Residence |
Hermiston, Lothian, Scotland [2] |
| _UID |
97FCB966F31C4D7EA61C5D5C0B37E0648D6B |
| Buried |
1330 |
Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom [2] |
| Died |
25 Aug 1330 |
Battle Of Teba, Teba, Malaga, Spain [1, 2] |
| Person ID |
I26333 |
Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
2 Jan 2023 |
| Father |
Sir William "Le Hardi" DOUGLAS, of Hermiston, b. 1243, Douglas Castle, Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom , d. 24 Jan 1299, Tower of London, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom (Age 56 years) |
| Mother |
Elizabeth STEWART, of Crawford, b. 1250, Dundonald Castle, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland , d. 1289, Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland (Age 39 years) |
| Family ID |
F536728968 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 2 |
Joan ARMSTRONG, of Blackness, b. 1278, Scotland , d. 1337, Scotland (Age 59 years) |
| Married |
Abt 1304 |
Midlothian, Scotland [2] |
| Children |
| | 1. Sir John DOUGLAS, of Lothian, b. 1303, Douglas Castle, Lanarkshire, Scotland , d. 25 Jan 1350, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland (Age 47 years) |
| | 2. Elizabeth DOUGLAS, b. 1305, Loudoun, Ayrshire, Scotland , d. Nov 1357, Linton, Roxburghshire, Scotland (Age 52 years) |
| | 3. William DOUGLAS, b. 1305, Douglas Castle, Lanarkshire, Scotland , d. 19 Jul 1333, Halidon Hill, Berwick On Tweed, Northumberland, England (Age 28 years) |
| | 4. Margaret DOUGLAS, b. 1306, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland , d. Yes, date unknown |
| | 5. Lady Joanna DOUGLAS, of Yester, b. 1323, Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland , d. 23 Feb 1398, Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland (Age 75 years) |
| | 6. Earl Archibald "The Grim" DOUGLAS, b. 1328, Hermiston, Midlothian, Scotland , d. 24 Dec 1400, Threave Castle, Dumfries, Scotland (Age 72 years) |
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| Last Modified |
2 Jan 2023 |
| Family ID |
F536728964 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Sir James Douglas (also known as Good Sir James and the Black Douglas) (c. 1286 ? 25 August 1330[1]) was a Scottish knight and feudal lord. He was one of the chief commanders during the Wars of Scottish Independence.
Early life
He was the eldest son of Sir William Douglas, known as "le Hardi" or "the bold", who had been the first noble supporter of William Wallace (the elder Douglas died circa 1298, a prisoner in the Tower of London).[2] His mother was Elizabeth Stewart, the daughter of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, who died circa 1287 or early 1288. His father remarried in late 1288 so Douglas' birth had to be prior to that; however, the destruction of records in Scotland makes an exact date or even year impossible to pinpoint.
Douglas was sent to France for safety in the early days of the Wars of Independence, and was educated in Paris. There he met William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, who took him as a squire. He returned to Scotland with Lamberton. His lands had been seized and awarded to Robert Clifford. Lamberton presented him at the occupying English court to petition for the return of his land shortly after the capture of Stirling Castle in 1304, but when Edward I of England heard whose son he was he grew angry and Douglas was forced to depart.[3]
Alliance with Bruce
For Douglas, who now faced life as a landless outcast on the fringes of feudal society, the return of his ancestral estates was to become an overriding obsession, inevitably impacting on his political allegiances. In John Barbour's rhyming chronicle, The Brus, as much a paean to the young knight as the hero king, Douglas makes his feelings plain to Lamberton;
Sir, you see,
How the English tyrant forcibly
Has dispossessed me of my land
And you are made to understand
That the earl of Carrick claims to be
The rightful king of this country.
The English, since he slew that man,
Are keen to catch him if they can;
And they would seize his lands as well
And yet with him I faith would dwell!
Now, therefore, if it be your will,
With him will I take good or ill.
Through him I hope my land to win
Despite the Clifford and his kin.
? The Brus, John Barbour
This was a particularly dramatic moment in Scottish history: Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick had played a role in the slaying of John Comyn, a leading Scottish rival, on 6 February 1306 at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries. Bruce, having wounded Comyn with his dagger, rushed from the church and encountered his attendants outside. Bruce told them what had happened and said, "I must be off, for I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn,"[2] "Doubt?" Sir Roger de Kirkpatrick of Closeburn answered, "I mak sikker," ("I'll make sure," or "I make sure") and rushing into the church, finishing Comyn.[2]Bruce immediately claimed the crown of Scotland, in defiance of the English king. Less than seven weeks after the killing in Dumfries, Bruce was crowned King on 25 March. It was while he was on his way to Glasgow to meet with Bishop Wishart, and then to Scone, the traditional site of Scottish coronations, that he was met by Douglas, riding on a horse borrowed from Bishop Lamberton. The site is traditionally believed to be the summit of a hill in Dumfries and Galloway, that is now known as the Crown of Scotland. Douglas explained his circumstances and immediately offered his services;
And thus began their friendship true
That no mischance could e'er undo
Nor lessen while they were alive.
Their friendship more and more would thrive.
? The Brus, John Barbour
Douglas was set to share in Bruce's early misfortunes, being present at the defeats at Methven and Battle of Dalrigh. But for both men these setbacks were to provide a valuable lesson in tactics: limitations in both resources and equipment meant that the Scots would always be at a disadvantage in conventional medieval warfare. By the time the war was renewed in the spring of 1307 they had learnt the value of guerrilla warfare ? known at the time as "secret war" ? using fast moving, lightly equipped and agile forces to maximum effect against an enemy often locked into static defensive positions.
The Douglas Larder
All that remains of the house that stood on the site of Douglas Castle is this seventeenth-century tower which was spared demolition in 1938.
Douglas's actions for most of 1307 and early 1308, although confined for the most part to his native Douglasdale, were essential to keeping the enemy in the South and freeing Bruce to campaign in the north. He soon created a formidable reputation for himself as a soldier and a tactician. While Bruce was campaigning in the north against his domestic enemies, Douglas used the cover of Selkirk Forest to mount highly effective mobile attacks against the enemy. He also showed himself to be utterly ruthless, particularly in his relentless attacks on the English garrison in his own Douglas Castle, the most famous of which quickly passed into popular history. Barbour dates this incident to Palm Sunday 1307, which fell on 19 March.[4] Some question whether this date is too early as Bruce and his small army were not yet established in south-west Scotland, suggesting Palm Sunday 1308 ? 17 April ? as a more accurate date. However, as Barbour states that at the time of the Douglas Larder the Scots were not yet established in south-west Scotland and indeed that Douglas was the only one of Bruce's men anywhere in the area, there is reason to think that Barbour's date is probably correct. Barbour says that the Larder was the first act toward becoming established in that part of Scotland.[5][6]
With the help of local farmer Thomas Dickson, a former vassal of his father, Douglas and his small troop were hidden until the morning of Palm Sunday, when the garrison left the battlements to attend the local church. Gathering local support, he entered the church and the war-cry "Douglas! Douglas!" went up for the first time. Some of the English soldiers were killed and others taken prisoner. The prisoners were taken to the castle, now largely empty. All the stores were piled together in the cellar, the wine casks burst open and the wood used for fuel. The prisoners were then beheaded and placed on top of the pile, which was set alight. Before departing, the wells were poisoned with salt and the carcasses of dead horses. The local people soon gave the whole gruesome episode the name "the Douglas Larder." As an example of frightfulness in war, it was meant to leave a lasting impression, not least upon the men who came to replace their dead colleagues. Further attacks followed by the man now known to the English as "The blak Dowglas", a sinister and murderous force "mair fell than wes ony devill in hell."[7]
In August 1308, Douglas met the king for a joint attack on the MacDougalls of Lorn, kinsmen of the Comyns, the climax to Bruce's campaign in the north. Two years before, the Macdougalls had intercepted and mauled the royal army at the Battle of Dalrigh. Now they awaited the arrival of their opponents in the narrow Pass of Brander, between Ben Cruachan and Loch Awe in Argyllshire. While Bruce pinned down the enemy in a frontal advance through the pass, Douglas, completely unobserved, led a party of loyal Highlanders further up the mountain, launching a surprise attack from the rear. Soon the Battle of Pass of Brander turned into a rout. Returning south soon after, Douglas joined with Edward Bruce, the king's brother, in a successful assault on Rutherglen castle near Glasgow, going on to a further campaign in Galloway.[8]
Roxburgh Falls
In the years that followed Douglas was given time to enhance his skills as a soldier. Edward II came north with an army in 1310 in fruitless pursuit of an enemy that simply refused to be pinned down. The frustrations this obviously caused are detailed in the Vita Edwardi Secundi, a contemporary English chronicle;
The king entered Scotland with his army but not a rebel was to be found...At that time Robert Bruce, who lurked continually in hiding, did them all the injury he could. One day, when some English and Welsh, always ready for plunder, had gone out on a raid, accompanied by many horsemen from the army, Robert Bruce's men, who had been concealed in caves and woodland, made a serious attack on our men...From such ambushes our men suffered heavy losses. For Robert Bruce, knowing himself unequal to the king of England in strength or fortune, decided it would be better to resist our king by secret warfare rather than dispute his right in open battle.
Edward was even moved to write to the Pope in impotent fury, complaining that "Robert Bruce and his accomplices, when lately we went into parts of Scotland to repress their rebellion, concealed themselves in secret places after the manner of foxes."
In the years before 1314 the English presence in Scotland was reduced to a few significant strongholds. There were both strengths and weaknesses in this. The Scots had no heavy equipment or the means of attacking castles by conventional means. However, this inevitably produced a degree of complacency in garrisons provisioned enough to withstand a blockade. In dealing with this problem the Scots responded in the manner of foxes; and among the more cunning of their exploits was Douglas' capture of the powerful fortress at Roxburgh. His tactic, though simple, was brilliantly effective. On the night of 19/20 February 1314 ? Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday ? several dark shapes were seen beneath the battlements and mistakenly assumed to be cattle. Douglas had ordered his men to cover themselves with their cloaks and crawl towards the castle on their hands and knees. With most of the garrison celebrating just prior to the fast of Lent, scaling hooks with rope ladders attached were thrown up the walls. Taken by complete surprise the defenders were overwhelmed in a short space of time. Roxburgh Castle, among the best in the land, was slighted or destroyed in accordance with Bruce's policy of den
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| Sources |
- [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for John Douglas, person ID G6W1-5D8. (Reliability: 3).
- [S1160] FamilySearch Family Tree (http://www.familysearch.org), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ((http://www.familysearch.org)), accessed 2 Jan 2023), entry for James "The Good" DOUGLAS, person ID L6KK-BW5. (Reliability: 3).
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