JAMES DOUGLAS, 9TH EARL (and last)

This article appears in Volume V08, Page 444 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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JAMES DOUGLAS, 9TH EARL (and last) , denounced his brother's murderers and took up arms, but was obliged by the desertion of his allies to submit. He obtained a papal dispensation to marry his brother's widow, in order to keep the family estates together. He intrigued with the English court, and in 1455 rebelled once more. Meanwhile another branch of the Douglas family, known as the Red Douglas, had risen into importance (see ANGUS, EARLS OF), and George Douglas, 4th

earl

EARL

of Angus (d. 1463),

great

GREAT

-grandson of the 1st

earl

EARL

of Douglas, took sides with the king against his kinsmen. James Douglas, again deserted by his

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

allies, fled to England, and his three brothers, Ormond, Moray and Balvany, were defeated by Angus at Arkinholm on the Esk. Moray was killed, Ormond taken prisoner and executed, while Balvany escaped to England. Their last stronghold, the Thrieve in Galloway, fell, and the lands of the Douglases were declared forfeit, and were divided among their rivals, the lordship of Douglas falling to the Red Douglas, 4th earl of Angus. In England the earl of Douglas intrigued against his native land; he was employed by

Edward

EDWARD

IV. in 1461 to negotiate a league with the western highlanders against the Scottish kingdom. In 1484 he was taken prisoner while raiding southern

Scotland

, and was relegated to the abbey of Lindores, where he died in 1488.
The title of Douglas was restored in 1633 when WILLIAM, 11th earl of Angus (1589-1660), was created 1ST MARQUESS OF DOUGLAS by Charles I. In 1645 he joined Montrose at Philiphaugh, and was imprisoned in 1646 at Edinburgh Castle, only obtaining his release by signing the Covenant. His eldest son, Archibald, created earl of Ormond, Lord Bothwell and Hartside, in 1651, predeceased his father; Lord James Douglas (c. 1617-1645) and his half-brother, Lord George Douglas (c. 1636-1692), created earl of Dumbarton in 1675, successively commanded a Scots regiment' in the French service. William (1635-1694), created earl of

Selkirk

in 1646, became 3rd duke of Hamilton after his

marriage

MARRIAGE

(1656) with Anne, duchess of Hamilton in her own right. By the failure of heirs in the elder branches of the family the dukes of Hamilton (q.v.) became heirs-male of the

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

of Douglas.

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