General Notes

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, as which created 26 Jan 1357/8; of age by 1348; present Battle of Poitiers 1356 where wounded fighting alongside the French against the English; married probably just prior to 13 Nov 1357 Margaret, Countess of Mar in her own right, and adopted her Earldom of Mar as his own by 21 June 1374; died May 1384.  The 1st Earl also had illegitimate issue by Margaret Stewart, Countess of Angus in her own right.  [Burke's Peerage]

Built Tantallon Castle about 1350.

Click here for <a href="http://www.darkisle.com/contrib/tantallon/ctantallon.html">Photo of Tantallon 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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"On the death of his brother-in-law [Thomas Stewart] he obtained possession of the historical earldom of Mar and transmitted it, along with his own hereditary titles and estates, to his son James, the hero of Otterburn, 'the dead man that won a fight' one of the most renowned in Scottish history. The Douglas estates were inherited by Archibald 'the Grim,' the kinsman of Earl James, while the earldom of Mar passed to his sister, Isabella, wife of Sir Malcolm Drummond, brother of Annabella, Queen of Scotland, wife of Robert III.

Though he is often shown as having married Margaret of Mar, daughter of Donald of Mar, that is questionable. He had illegitimate children with Margaret Stewart, whose father was Earl of Mar, but she was Countess of Angus (having inherited this title from her brother). Widely varying dates of birth for the legitimate children make it possible that he was, in fact, married twice.

" ... son of the Regent who fell at Halidon Hill, and nephew of the 'Good Sir James,' returned from France, where he had been bred to arms, soon after the battle of Neville's Cross and the captivity of the Scottish king, and, with the hereditary valour and energy of his house, succeeded in expelling the English from Douglasdale, and in the course of time from Ettrick Forest, Tweeddale, and Teviotdale. He was created Earl of Douglas by King David in 1357. He faithfully supported the cause of national independence, and even went so far as to unite with the Steward and the Earl of March in a formal bond to compel David to change his counsellors and to give up his intrigues for altering the succession to the crown in favour of one of the sons of the English king. He made a pilgramage to the shrine of St. Thomas-a-Becket in the year 1363; but, unlike some others of the great Scottish barons, who made such pilgramages a pretext for treasonable intrigues with the English Government, Douglas continued steadfast in his adherence of his country's cause, and resolutely opposed the atempts of the unworthy son of Robert Bruce to betray it to the enemy. On the accession of Robert II, the son of the Steward and Marjory Bruce, the Earl of Douglas unexpectedly put forth pretensions to the crown, but abandoned them on finding that they were not likely to meet with public support. As a reward for the promptitude of his submission, the King's eldest daughter was promised in marriage to his eldest son, and the Earl himself was appointed Justicular of Scotland south of the Forth, and Warden of the East Marches. This great noble, one of the best of his race, died in 1384 at an advance age. He was succeeded by his eldest son by his wife the Countess of Mar."
The Great Historic Families of Scotland, James Taylor