James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry (2 November 1697 – 17 February 1715), known until 1711 as James Douglas, Earl of Drumlanrig, was a Scottish nobleman, eldest son to survive infancy (the second son) of James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry.
Stories describe him as an "imbecile", and violently insane, he was kept under lock and key from childhood at Queensberry House in Edinburgh, now part of the Scottish Parliament complex.[1]
It is reported that when the Act of Union was signed in 1707, the disruption from either the festivities or the riots resulted in his escape. Drumlanrig, then around ten years old, slaughtered a young scullion in the house's kitchen, roasting him alive on a spit, and began to eat him before he was discovered and apprehended.[2][3][4] He was afterwards known as 'The Cannibalistic Idiot', and the oven he used can still be seen in the Parliament's Allowances Office.
A charter of novodamus (i.e., de novo damus, "we grant anew"; a charter containing a clause by which a feudal superior re-bestows a former grant under a new set of conditions) had been made out for his father's titles, excepting the marquessate of Queensberry in 1706, to remove James Douglas from the succession. He died in 1715 and was buried on 17 February in Calverley churchyard.[5] His brother Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry succeeded him. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Douglas,_3rd_Marquess_of_Queensberry&action=edit*Maxwell, Sir Herbert.A History of the House of Douglas. Freemantle, London 1902
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Douglas |
Marquess of Queensberry 1711 – 1715 |
Succeeded by Charles Douglas |