William, eighth Earl of Douglas, who inherited all the
courage, ambition, and energy of his family, was born about the year
1425, and succeeded to the family title and estates in 1443. In the
following year he obtained from Rome a dispensation to marry his
kinswoman, Margaret Douglas, Lady of Galloway,
heiress of the victims of the
Black
Bull's Dinner —a union which was greatly
desired by his father. Thus the vast possessions of the family, which
had been divided on the death of the sixth Earl, were united in the
person of the eighth Earl. This increase of territory greatly augmented
the power of the Earl and of his formidable house.
He lost no time in
maturing and carrying out his plans for the restoration of the political
influence of his house, and securing that place in the administration of
public affairs which he considered due to his ancient family and
extensive estates. He first of all made his peace with the King,
professing unbounded attachment to his person and crown. James, who was
greatly delighted with his unexpected submission, made the Earl a member
of the Privy Council, and soon after conferred on him the office of
Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. ‘The raising of new and mean men was
the thing that he and his house did ever dislike very much,’ says Godscroft, a remark which, as Mr. Hannay observes, brings the Claudian
family to mind, and shows us how great power bred great haughtiness, and
the house became unfit to be quiet subjects. This feeling was, no doubt,
at the root of the Earl’s dislike to Livingston and Crichton. Through
his influence the former was deprived of his office; and Crichton,
towards whom he cherished a deadly hatred, was in a Parliament held at
Stirling, in 1445, found guilty of treason, and proclaimed a traitor and
his estates confiscated.
The influence of Douglas was now paramount. Three of his brothers were
raised to the peerage, who became, in turn, Bishop of Aberdeen, Earl of
Moray, Earl of Ormond and Lord of Balveny, and the chief offices in the administration were
filled with his creatures. Bishop Kennedy, of St. Andrews, a prelate of
great wisdom and integrity, set himself to thwart the designs of the
Earl on the independence of the Crown, and in consequence his estates
were laid waste with fire and sword by the partisans of the Earl.
A
treasonable league was formed between Douglas and the Earl of Crawford
and Alexander Ross, Lord of the Isles, which menaced both the safety of
the King and the peace of the country. The signal service which was
rendered at this period by Hugh, Earl of Ormond, a brother of Douglas,
in defeating, at
Sark, a powerful English army which had invaded
Scotland, tended not a little to strengthen the interest of the house.
But the arrogant and lawless behaviour of its head gradually alienated
the confidence and regard of the King.
Indignant at the diminution of
his influence, the Earl resolved to retire from the country for a
season, and went to the Jubilee at Rome, in 1450, ‘as his enemies did
interpret it,’ says Godscroft, ‘to show his greatness to foreign princes
and nations. There went with him in company a great number of noblemen
and gentlemen, such as the Lord Hamilton, Gray, Salton, Seton, Oliphant,
and Forbes; also Calder, Urquhart, Campbell, Fraser, Lauders of
Cromarty, Philorth, and Bass, knights, with many other gentlemen of
great account.’ At Paris the Earl was joined by his brother
James, his
successor in the earldom, who appears to have been at this time
prosecuting his studies at the University there. He was received by the
French Court with the respect due to his rank and the eminent services
to France of his grandfather and his uncle Earl Archibald; and even at
Rome his reputation and ostentatious magnificence seem to have attracted
no small notice.
During his absence the turbulent conduct of his vassals
disturbed the peace of the country and drew down upon them the vengeance
of the Government. The King marched in person to the Borders, demolished
Crag Douglas, a fortalice on the Yarrow, and inflicted summary
punishment on the offenders. On his return the Earl sent a submissive
message to the King, expressing his displeasure with the conduct of his
vassals during his absence, and his resolution to observe the laws and
to maintain order among his dependents. He was on this received into
favour; but there is good reason to believe that he speedily resumed his
treasonable designs, and that, while engaged as one of the Commissioners
in negotiating a truce with England, he entered into a secret intrigue
with the Yorkist faction against the authority of his sovereign.
Although the Earl had now been deprived of the office of
Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, James, unwilling to come to an open
rupture with his too-powerful subject, appointed him
Warden of the West
and Middle Marches, and confirmed to him and his descendants, by deed of
entail, the earldoms of Wigton and Douglas. But these acts of kindness,
which he probably regarded as indications of weakness and fear, only
emboldened the Earl to set at defiance both the restraints of law and
the authority of his sovereign. He attempted to assassinate his old
enemy Crichton, who had been restored to the Chancellorship; he hanged
Sir John Herries of Terregles(3), who had refused to become his ally, in
contempt of a positive order of the King requiring his release; and he
beheaded Maclellan of Bomby, in circumstances shockingly cruel and
aggravating(1). With an evident view to an open
insurrection against the royal authority, ‘he sought and persuaded all
men under his opinion and servitude, and in special the gentlemen of
Galloway, with Coile, Carrick, and Cunninghame, and all other parties
that were near adjacent unto him, desyreing them daylie to ride and goe
with him as his own household and servantis, and to assist him in all
thingis whatsomevir he had to doe, whether it was ryght or wrong, with
the King or against him.’
Matters were now evidently approaching a crisis; but the King was
anxious to avert an open rupture, for he was well aware that Douglas and
his two associates in a treasonable league could unitedly bring into the
field a force superior to that of the Crown. He resolved, therefore, by
the advice of Crichton and other experienced counsellors, to invite the
Earl to Court, in order that he might try the effect of a personal
remonstrance with him respecting his illegal and turbulent conduct.
Douglas accepted the invitation, but took the precaution to obtain a
letter of safe conduct under the great seal, and signed by the principal
nobles of the Court. Trusting to this security, he repaired to
Stirling with a small
retinue, and upon Shrove Tuesday (13th February, 1452) received and
accepted an invitation to dine at the royal table. He not only dined but
supped at the Court. After supper the King conducted his guest apart
into an inner room, and, informing him that he was aware of the league
he had made with the Earls of Crawford and Ross, entreated him to
withdraw from a confederacy which was both inconsistent with his
allegiance and dangerous to the peace of the country. Douglas refused,
however, to comply with the King’s request, and as James continued to
urge him more earnestly he became more haughty and dogged in his
refusal, and declared that he could not honourably renounce the
engagement which he had made with Ross and Crawford, nor would he do so
for any living man(2). The King, whose temper was naturally fiery and
impetuous, lost all self-command at this insolent defiance, and
passionately exclaiming, ‘If you will not break this league, I shall,’
drew his dagger and stabbed the Earl, first in the throat and then in
the lower part of the body. Sir Patrick Gray, who was present, and had
sworn to be revenged upon Douglas for the murder of his nephew, struck
him on the head with his battleaxe, and the rest of the nobles rushing
in stabbed the dying man in the most dastardly and disgraceful manner
with their daggers and knives. The dead body of the murdered noble,
pierced with twenty-six wounds, was cast out of the window into the open
court, where it was buried.
The Earl left no family.
Notes:
1. George Buchanan's version of events suggests
that Maclellan had previously killed one of the Douglas family by whom
he had been insulted, but it is generally understood that the cause of
quarrel was Maclellan's refusal to join the alliance. The Earl of
Douglas, outraged with this opposition to his plot, laid siege to
Raeberry Castle (MacLellan's Castle) and captured Sir Patrick Maclellan
forcibly removing him to the fortress of Threave Castle, where Maclellan was held a prisoner.
Lord Andrew Gray, Maclellan’s uncle, whose son, Sir Patrick Gray, held a
high office at the Court, was able to obtain a letter from King James
requesting the earl of Douglas to release his prisoner. Sir Patrick Gray
carried the dispatch himself, appearing with the king's letter. William
Douglas, suspecting its message, refused to open the dispatch until
after Sir Patrick Gray had dined. Treachery was afoot however, in the
Douglas camp. Having received such a shrewd guest as Gray, and
anticipating his intentions, the earl ordered Maclellan to be
immediately put to death.
Douglas then conducted Gray to the courtyard, where Sir Patrick
Maclellan's headless body lay. Gray retreated from the castle, almost
certainly Threave and not the much lesser castle of Douglas and escaped
capture only by his skill as a horseman.
2. A poem imagines the Earl's refusal...
'No, by the cross it may not be;
I've pledged my knightly word',
And like a thundercloud he scowled,
And half unsheathed his sword.
Then drew the King that jewelled glaive,
Which gore so oft had spilt
And in the haughty Douglas' heart
He sheathed it to the hilt.
3. Some
sources state that it was Sir Herbert Herries, John's brother, who was
taken and hanged by the Earl of Douglas. There is no sure
evidence.
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