James Douglas, 7th Baron Drumlanrig

Sir James Douglas, 7th of Drumlanrig, (d. 1578) was a Scottish nobleman.

Life

He was the son of Sir William Douglas, 6th of Drumlanrig (b. bef. 1484, k. 9 Sep 1513, Battle of Flodden) and Elizabeth Gordon of Lochinvar.

In 1526, he was one of the nobles who attempted to rescue King James V from the hands of the Earl of Angus, by whom he was kept in a state of thraldom.[1] For which efforts, and his loyalty to Queen Mary, he was knighted by the regent Arran, Duke of Chatelherault. In 1554 the Queen made him Warden of the West Marches, with full powers of justiciary, an office he stayed in for many years until retiring at an old age.[2]

In 1537, he gave the town of Hawick its charter. In 1551, Mary, Queen of Scots, gave him a pardon for coming with the Earl of Lennox to besiege James V of Scotland at Linlithgow Palace in September 1526. The young King was then held by the Earl of Angus. In August 1526, James V had included Drumlanrig in a pardon for those who assisted in the murder of Thomas MacLellan of Bombie in Edinburgh [3]

He subscribed the Book of Discipline on 27 January 1561, and was one of the confederated barons who marched against Queen Mary, in 1567, when she surrendered at Carberry Hill. He was with the forces under the Earl of Morton at Leith, in 1571, and engaged in some of the skirmishes with the queen's supporters, who held Edinburgh Castle. He was taken prisoner whilst on his way home and held captive in the castle.[4]

He was one of those who visited John Knox on his deathbed (1572), and died in 1578.

He had 18 children by 3 wives/mistresses and was succeeded by his grandson, James, himself the son of Sir William Douglas of Hawick.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Crabb, George (1833), Universal historical dictionary: or explanation of the names of persons and places in the departments of biblical, political and ecclesiastical history, mythology, heraldry, biography, bibliography, geography, and numismatics, Baldwin and Cradock
  2. ↑ Anderson, William (1863), The Scottish Nation, or the Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours and Biographical History of The People of Scotland
  3. ↑ HMC, 15th Report, Appendix part viii, Buccleuch & Queensberry, Drumlanrig Castle, (1897), pp.14-15, no.14, p.22 no. 34.
  4. ↑ Anderson, William (1863), The Scottish Nation, or the Surnames, Families, Literature, Honours and Biographical History of The People of Scotlandn
  5. ↑ The Douglas Archives