Sir Archibald Douglas
Encyclopedia
Sir Archibald Douglas was a Scottish
noble, Guardian of Scotland
and military leader. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman" (Old Scots:Loser), but this may be a reference to his great-nephew Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas.
, and his wife, Eleanor de Lovaine. Douglas was also half-brother of "the Good" Sir James Douglas
, King Robert the Bruce
's deputy.
Douglas is first heard of in 1320 when he received a charter of land at Morebattle
in Roxburghshire
and Kirkandrews in Dumfriesshire
from King Robert. In 1324, he was recorded as being granted the lands of Rattray
and Crimond
in Buchan
and the lands of Conveth
, Kincardineshire
, already being possession of Cavers
in Roxburghshire, Drumlanrig
and Terregles
in Dumfriesshire, and the lands of West Calder
in Midlothian
. By the time of his death, he was also in possession of Liddesdale
.
History then keeps quiet about Douglas except whilst serving under his older brother, James, in the 1327 campaign in Weardale, where his foragers "auoint curry apoi tot levesche de Doresme"- overran nearly all the Bishopric of Durham
. (Scalacronica
)
During the Second War of Scottish Independence
, Edward Baliol, son of King John of Scotland
, had invaded Scotland with the backing of Edward III of England
, inflicting a defeat on the Scots at the Battle of Dupplin Moor
. Douglas served under the dubious leadership of Patrick V, Earl of Dunbar leader of the second army that aimed to crush the smaller Balliol force. Following the rout of the Earl of Mar
's force Dunbar did not engage the disinherited but retreated allowing Edward Balliol to be crowned at Scone. Following this battle, and as a sweetener to the English, Edward Baliol agreed to cede the county, town and castle of Berwick to England in perpetuity. However Douglas led a Bruce loyalist defeat on Balliol at the Battle of Annan
, forcing him to flee back to England.
. However, a temporary truce was declared with the stipulation that if not relieved within a set time, Sir Alexander Seton, the governor, would deliver the castle to the English. Douglas raised an army to relieve the beleaguered defenders of Berwick. As a feint to draw the English away he invaded Northumberland
, but was forced to return to Berwick when the English refused to be lured. On 19 July, Edward's army took positions at the summit of Halidon Hill
, a summit some mile and a half north of the town with commanding views of the surrounding country. Douglas' numerically superior force was compelled to attack up the slope and were slaughtered by the English archer
s, a prelude, perhaps, to the battles of Crécy and Agincourt
. The English won the field with little loss of life, however by the close of the fight, countless Scots common soldiery, five Scots Earls and the Guardian Douglas lay dead. The following day Berwick capitulated.
Archibald was succeeded by his son, William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas
.
. They had three children.
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
noble, Guardian of Scotland
Guardian of Scotland
The Guardians of Scotland were the de facto heads of state of Scotland during the First Interregnum of 1290–1292, and the Second Interregnum of 1296–1306...
and military leader. He is sometimes given the epithet "Tyneman" (Old Scots:Loser), but this may be a reference to his great-nephew Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas.
Early life
The younger son of Sir William "le Hardi" Douglas, the Governor of the castle at Berwick-upon-TweedBerwick Castle
Berwick Castle is a ruined castle in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England.The castle was founded in the 12th century by the Scottish King David I. In 1296-8, the English King Edward I had the castle rebuilt and the town fortified, before it was returned to Scotland...
, and his wife, Eleanor de Lovaine. Douglas was also half-brother of "the Good" Sir James Douglas
James Douglas, Lord of Douglas
Sir James Douglas , , was a Scottish soldier and knight who fought in the Scottish Wars of Independence.-Early life:...
, King Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
's deputy.
Douglas is first heard of in 1320 when he received a charter of land at Morebattle
Morebattle
Morebattle is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the B6401, seven miles south of Kelso, Scottish Borders, beside the Kale Water, a tributary of the River Teviot.The nearby Linton Loch was drained in the 19th century to improve agriculture....
in Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire
Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh is a registration county of Scotland. It borders Dumfries to the west, Selkirk to the north-west, and Berwick to the north. To the south-east it borders Cumbria and Northumberland in England.It was named after the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
and Kirkandrews in Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries is a registration county of Scotland. The lieutenancy area of Dumfries has similar boundaries.Until 1975 it was a county. Its county town was Dumfries...
from King Robert. In 1324, he was recorded as being granted the lands of Rattray
Rattray, Aberdeenshire
Rattray , had been settled as far back as 4000 BC and was named a Royal Burgh in 1563 by Mary, Queen of Scots, "to put an end to the disputes about superiority over it between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll"...
and Crimond
Crimond
Crimond is a village in the northeast of Scotland, located nine miles northwest of the port of Peterhead and just over two miles from the coast.- Local area :...
in Buchan
Buchan
Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...
and the lands of Conveth
Laurencekirk
Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of Kincardineshire, modern county of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, just off the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen main road. It is the largest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school; Mearns Academy, which was awarded the...
, Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire
The County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...
, already being possession of Cavers
Cavers (parish)
Cavers is a parish in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, in the former South Roxburghshire, south-west of HawickThe name means "enclosure".Currently, the Church of Scotland Parish comprises Cavers and Kirkton linked with Hawick....
in Roxburghshire, Drumlanrig
Drumlanrig Castle
Drumlanrig Castle sits on the Queensberry Estate in Scotland's Dumfries and Galloway.The Castle is the Dumfriesshire family home to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry...
and Terregles
Terregles
Terregles is a village and parish near Dumfries, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire.The name Terregles is said to be a corruption of Brythonic Tir-eglwys...
in Dumfriesshire, and the lands of West Calder
West Calder
West Calder is a village in West Lothian, Scotland, located 4 miles west of Livingston. The village was an important centre for the oil shale economy in the 19th and 20th Centuries. West Calder has its own railway station. It is also has the most northerly centre of the Dogs Trust, closely followed...
in Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
. By the time of his death, he was also in possession of Liddesdale
Liddesdale
Liddesdale, the valley of the Liddel Water, in the County of Roxburgh, southern Scotland, extends in a south-westerly direction from the vicinity of Peel Fell to the River Esk, a distance of...
.
History then keeps quiet about Douglas except whilst serving under his older brother, James, in the 1327 campaign in Weardale, where his foragers "auoint curry apoi tot levesche de Doresme"- overran nearly all the Bishopric of Durham
Diocese of Durham
The Diocese of Durham is a Church of England diocese, based in Durham, and covering the historic County Durham . It was created in AD 1000 to replace the Diocese of Lindisfarne...
. (Scalacronica
Scalacronica
Scalacronica is a Scottish chronicle written in Anglo-Norman by the knight Sir Thomas Gray of Heaton in Northumberland, while he was imprisoned by the Scots at Edinburgh after an ambush in 1355...
)
Second War of Independence
Following the death of King Robert I and his brother's crusade with the dead king's heart, Douglas once again becomes of note. He was made guardian of the kingdom since he was "the principal adviser in...the confounding of the king" as much as he was heir to his brothers influence after Murray's capture. Archibald's success in local raids though, did not prepare him for full scale conflict.During the Second War of Scottish Independence
Second War of Scottish Independence
The Second War of Scottish Independence was the second cluster of a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries....
, Edward Baliol, son of King John of Scotland
John of Scotland
John Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
, had invaded Scotland with the backing of Edward III of England
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, inflicting a defeat on the Scots at the Battle of Dupplin Moor
Battle of Dupplin Moor
The Battle of Dupplin Moor was fought between supporters of the infant David II, the son of Robert the Bruce, and rebels supporting the Balliol claim in 1332. It was a significant battle of the Second War of Scottish Independence.-Background:...
. Douglas served under the dubious leadership of Patrick V, Earl of Dunbar leader of the second army that aimed to crush the smaller Balliol force. Following the rout of the Earl of Mar
Domhnall II, Earl of Mar
Domhnall II of Mar was Regent of Scotland for just over a week during the minority of David II....
's force Dunbar did not engage the disinherited but retreated allowing Edward Balliol to be crowned at Scone. Following this battle, and as a sweetener to the English, Edward Baliol agreed to cede the county, town and castle of Berwick to England in perpetuity. However Douglas led a Bruce loyalist defeat on Balliol at the Battle of Annan
Battle of Annan
The Battle of Annan, known in the sources as the Camisade of Annan took place on December 16, 1332. It took place at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. In it the Bruce loyalist supporters of King David II of Scotland surprised Edward Balliol and his supporters while they were in bed, and...
, forcing him to flee back to England.
Battle of Halidon Hill
Edward III himself came north to command his army, and laid siege to BerwickBerwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick-upon-Tweed or simply Berwick is a town in the county of Northumberland and is the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed. It is situated 2.5 miles south of the Scottish border....
. However, a temporary truce was declared with the stipulation that if not relieved within a set time, Sir Alexander Seton, the governor, would deliver the castle to the English. Douglas raised an army to relieve the beleaguered defenders of Berwick. As a feint to draw the English away he invaded Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
, but was forced to return to Berwick when the English refused to be lured. On 19 July, Edward's army took positions at the summit of Halidon Hill
Battle of Halidon Hill
The Battle of Halidon Hill was fought during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated on unfavourable terrain while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.-The Disinherited:...
, a summit some mile and a half north of the town with commanding views of the surrounding country. Douglas' numerically superior force was compelled to attack up the slope and were slaughtered by the English archer
English longbow
The English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, is a powerful type of medieval longbow about 6 ft long used by the English and Welsh for hunting and as a weapon in medieval warfare...
s, a prelude, perhaps, to the battles of Crécy and Agincourt
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt was a major English victory against a numerically superior French army in the Hundred Years' War. The battle occurred on Friday, 25 October 1415 , near modern-day Azincourt, in northern France...
. The English won the field with little loss of life, however by the close of the fight, countless Scots common soldiery, five Scots Earls and the Guardian Douglas lay dead. The following day Berwick capitulated.
Archibald was succeeded by his son, William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas
William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas
William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas was a Scottish magnate.-Early Life:William Douglas was the son of Sir Archibald Douglas and Beatrice Lindsay, and nephew of "Sir James the Good", Robert the Bruce's trusted deputy...
.
Marriage and issue
Sir Archibald Douglas married Beatrice Lindsay, daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay of Crawford, an ancestor of the Earls of CrawfordEarl of Crawford
The title Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll.The title has a very complex history...
. They had three children.
- John Douglas (d.b. 1342 in the retinue of David II of ScotlandDavid II of ScotlandDavid II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...
in France) - William Douglas, 1st Earl of DouglasWilliam Douglas, 1st Earl of DouglasWilliam Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas was a Scottish magnate.-Early Life:William Douglas was the son of Sir Archibald Douglas and Beatrice Lindsay, and nephew of "Sir James the Good", Robert the Bruce's trusted deputy...
- Eleanor Douglas married five times
- Alexander, Earl of Carrick, natural son of Edward BruceEdward BruceEdward the Bruce , sometimes modernised Edward of Bruce, was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland, who supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued his own claim in Ireland. He was proclaimed High King of Ireland, but was eventually defeated and killed in...
, King of Ireland (k. 1333, Battle of Halidon HillBattle of Halidon HillThe Battle of Halidon Hill was fought during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated on unfavourable terrain while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.-The Disinherited:...
) - Sir James de Sandilands, ancestor of the Lords of TorphichenLord TorphichenLord Torphichen is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by Queen Mary in 1564 for Sir James Sandilands , with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. Sandilands had previously served as Preceptor of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta in Scotland, and...
(d.b. 1358) - Sir William Tours of Dalry (d.b. 1368)
- Sir Duncan Wallace of SundrumCoyltonCoylton is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located east of Ayr, and west of Drongan, on the A70. Sundrum Castle Holiday Park is located to the west of the village, in the grounds of Sundrum Castle, which partly dates to the 13th century...
(d.b. 1376) - Sir Patrick Hepburn of HailesHailes CastleHailes Castle is a mainly 14th century castle about a mile and a half south west of East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland. This castle, which has a fine riverside setting, belonged to the Hepburn family during the most important centuries of its existence....
, ancestor of the Earls of BothwellEarl of BothwellThe title Earl of Bothwell has been created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. It was then created for Francis Stewart in 1587...