James (4th Earl of Morton) Douglas^{[1, 2]}

1520 - 1581  (61 years)

• Name	James (4th Earl of Morton) Douglas  [3]
  Birth	1520
  Gender	Male
  Death	2 Jun 1581	Beheaded For The Murder Of Lord Darnley. Edinburgh, Scotland
  Burial	Greyfriars Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland
  	He was executed on the 2nd of June 1581. . His corpse remained on the Scaffold for the following day, until it was taken for burial in a Common grave at Greyfriars Kirkyard. His head however remained on a spike outside the Tolbooth of Edinburgh for eighteen months until it was ordered to be reunited with his body in December 1582. Although Morton's final resting place is allegedly marked with a small sandstone post incised only with the initials "J.E.M." for James Earl of Morton, this is simply a Victorian marker for a lair edge, twisted in meaning for convenience. Logically, were a marker allowed (which was not permitted for executed criminals) firstly it would more logically read "J.D.", and secondly it would have been cleared away in 1595 when all stones were removed from Greyfriars.
  Person ID	I5419	First tree
  Last Modified	6 Aug 2023

  
  

  Father	Sir George (of Pittendreich) Douglas   d. Aug 1552
  Mother	Elizabeth (of Morton) Douglas   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F24606	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Elizabeth (Countess of Morton) Douglas,   b. Abt 1528, Of Pittendriech, Near Lasswade, Midlothian, Scotland d. Abt 1574 (Age 46 years)
  Marriage	Abt Mar 1543
  Family ID	F1940	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2013

  
  

  Family 2	(Mistress) Cullen   d. Yes, date unknown
  Marriage	Bef Apr 1572	Not Married.
  Children	1. Archibald (of Pittendreich) Douglas,   b. 1556, Pittendriech, Near Lasswade, Midlothian, Scotland d. Yes, date unknown   2. James (Prior of Pluscardine) Douglas,   b. Abt 1558   d. Yes, date unknown   3. George (of Parkhead) Douglas,   b. Abt 1546, Pittendriech, Near Lasswade, Midlothian, Scotland d. Yes, date unknown   4. William (of Mosshouses) Douglas   d. Bef Nov 1605   5. 2 further Daughters Douglas,   b. Abt 1570   d. Yes, date unknown   6. Lady Elizabeth Douglas,   b. Abt 1570   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1941	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2013

  
  

• Notes

  Titles: Master of Morton 4th Earl of Morton 1542-1567 Regent of Scotland For some time, as a child, James was known as James INNES. [ancestry.com] Great Britain, Portraits of Illustrious Personages, 1502-1852 Illustrious Personages of Great Britain, with Biographical and Historical Memoirs, Vol. 2 James Douglas, Fourth Earl of Morton. "...He was trusted to the care James of a trusty person of inferior rank; Assumed the name of INNES; and as he approached manhooh...

  
  

• Sources

  [S2030] Hamish Maclaren. [S2521] Robert A. Green, Sr. [S2643] Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell, Book - A History of the House of Douglas from the Earliest Times Down to the Legislative Union of England & Scotland, (Freemantle & Co. 217 Piccadilly W., 1902 Original, 2 volume set, property of Hon. Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple 1888- vg), v.1 p.246-265, 271-285, v.2 p.124,129 (Reliability: 3).