Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas, called "The Grim"; born c1325; fought alongside his cousin the 2nd Earl of Douglas at Battle of Poitiers against the English 19 Sep 1356; Lord Warden of the Marches 1368-1400; married c23 July 1362 Lady Joan, only child of Maurice Moray, 1st Earl of Strathearn of the Feb 1343/4 creation, and widow of Sir Thomas Moray, feudal Lord of Bothwell, and died between 24 Dec 1400 and 9 Feb 1400/1. [Burke's Peerage]
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Sir Archibald Douglas, "The Grim," 3rd Earl of Douglas, who was the illegitimate son of Sir James Douglas, Lord of Galloway. Known to the Scots as "good Sir James" and to the English as "The Black Douglas," he was, with Wallace and Bruce, one of the three great heroes of Scottish Independence. [Magna Charta Sureties]
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Archibald the Grim built Threave Castle in the mid 1300's.
Click here for <a href="http://www.darkisle.com/contrib/threave/cthreave.html">Photo of Threave Castle</a> (use browser back arrow to return)
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Copied from "Douglas Family" by Mark Freeman, freepages.genalogy.rootsweb.com/~markfreeman/douglas.html:
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" .. surnamed the 'Grim,' from his swart complexion and stern expression of countenance. Before he succeeded to the earldom he fought with great gallantry in the wars of both France and England. In 1356 he accompanied William, Earl of Douglas, to France, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Poitiers (13th September), but made his escape through a dexterous strategem of Sir William Ramsay of Colluthie. In 1378 he inflicted a signal defeat, near Melrose, of a body of English spearmen and archers under Sir Thomas Musgrave. Before the battle he knighted on the field two of the King's sons, who were under his banner, along with his own son. The conflict was keenly contested, but was quickly decided. Douglas, according to his general custom, as Froissart mentions, when he found the fight becoming hot, dismounted, and wielding a large two-handled sword, made such havoc among the enemy that they gave way on all sides. Great numbers were slain, and Musgrave and his son, with many other knights and squires, were taken prisoners. After the Earl became the head of the family, he was regarded as the most powerful subject in the kingdom He was noted for his courage, firmness, and sagacity, and not less for his pride. Hume of Godscroft says, 'He was a man nothing inferior to any of his predecessors in any kind of virtue. In piety he was singular through his whole life, and most religious according to those times! He founded the Collegiate Church of Bothwell, a part of which still remains to attest its former magnificence. Godscroft affirms that the Earl had a mind free from all ambition, but his conduct in regard to the marriage of his daughter Marjory to Daivd, Duke of Rothesay, the heir-apparent to the throne, shows that he was scarcely entitled to that eulogium. The Prince was affianced to the daughter of the Earl of March; but Douglas, jealous of the aggrandisement of a rival noble, by the offer of a much more splendid dowry prevailed upon Albany, the King's brother, to get that contract set aside, on the plea that the sanction of the Estates had not been given to it, and to wed Rothesay to Marjory Douglas. The result of this dishonourable transaction was highly injurious to the happiness of the Prince, and the peace of the country. Notwithstanding, the influence of the Earl was on the whole beneficial during the feeble reign of Robert III; and when he and the Queen-mother, Anabella Drummond, and the venerable Bishop Traill of St. Andrews, all died, A.D. 1400, within a short time of each other, according to Fordun it was commonly said throughout the kingdom that the glory and honesty of Scotland was buried with these three noble persons."
The Great Historic Families of Scotland, James Taylor