James Douglas


(2nd Earl of Douglas; Earl of Mar)

c.1358 - 1388

Inherited the Earldoms of Douglas and Mar from his father (1384). Douglas plotted against King David II (1324 - 71), who confronted him at Lanark. He went on to make a tentative bid for the Crown on David's death in 1371. He married Isabel, the daughter of King Robert II (1316 - 90), however, he fell at the Battle of Otterburn (also known as the Battle of Chevy Chase) leaving no legitimate children. When mortally wounded he gave instructions that his body should be hidden in a bracken bush so that his opponent (Henry Percy of Northumberland, Shakespeare's Hotspur) would not take advantage from his death. He was buried at Melrose Abbey. Douglas left one illegitimate son, William, 1st Lord of Drumlanrig, who gave rise to the Queensberry Douglases.


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