General Notes

REFN: 3876AN
REFN: P3877
... Bishop of Dunkeld, was the third son of Earl Archibald, and at an
early age was presented to the rectory of Hawick. Some time before the
year 1509 he was appointed by James IV Provost of the Collegiate Church
of St . Giles, Edinburgh. A few months after the Battle of Flodden he was
nominated by the Queen-Dowager, Archbishop of St. Andrews, in the room of
the King's s on, Alexander Stewart, who fell in that disastrous conflict.
He was fiercely opposed, however, by Hepburn, Prior of St. Andrwes, who
had obtained a grant of the benefice from the Pope, and Douglas withdrew
in disgust from the unsee mly contest. In the following year he was
appointed by the Queen to the See o f Dunkeld, and obtained a papal bull
in his favour. But he was imprisoned for more than a year, on the charge
of having violated the laws of the realm by procuring bulls from Rome.
After his release, a rival candidate, the brother of the Earl of Athole,
attempted to keep possession of the episcopal palace a nd cathedral by
force of arms. Douglas in the end obtained possession of the See without
the effusion of blood, and discharged the duties of the office wi th most
exemplary diligence and fidelity. He was distinguished also for his a cts
of charity and munificence, and his efforts to preserve the peace of the
country. He made a praiseworthy but unavailing attempt to mediate between
t he rival factions of the Douglases and Hamiltons before the famous
skirmish o f 'Clear the Causey,' in Edinburgh, 30th April, 1520. At the
request of Angus , his nephew, he waited upon Archbishop Beaton, the
Chancellor, whose niece A rran, the head of the Hamiltons, had married,
and entreated that prelate, bot h as a churchman and as the official
conservator of the laws of the realm, to act as a peacemaker. Beaton,
however, had actually prepared for the encounte r by putting on a coat of
mail under his linen rochet; and in answer to the a ppeal of Douglas he
said, 'Upon my conscience I know nothing of the matter,' at the same time
striking his hand upon his breast, which caused the armour t o return a
rattling sound. 'My lord,' replied Douglas, with merited sarcasm, 'your
sonscience clatters' (tells tales). After this pointed rebuke he hasten ed
back to his nephew and told him that he must do his best to defend
himse lf with arms. 'For me,' he added, 'I will go to my chamber and pray
for you.' The conflict terminated in the complete defeat of the
Hamiltons, who were th e aggressors, and Archibishop Beaton, who took
refuge in the church of the Bl ackfriars' monastery, was assaulted by the
victorious party, and would have b een slain on the spot but for the
prompt interposition of the Bishop of Dunke ld.
"In 1521, however, the party of Angus was worsted, and Bishop Douglas,
a long with his nephew, was obliged to take refuge at the English court,
where he was hospitabley entertained, and enjoyed the society of Polydore
Virgil an d other eminent scholars. The dominanat party in Scotland, on
the 21st of Feb ruary, 1522, denounced the Bishop as a traitor,
sequestered the revenues of h is cathedral, and wrote to the Pope,
beseeching his Holiness to beware of nom inating the traitor Gawain
Douglas to the Archbishopric of St. Andrews, which had again become
vacant. The Bishop was in consequence cited to appear at Ro me, but before
he could obey the summons he suddenly died of the plague at Lo ndon.
"Bishop Douglas left behind him various poems of considerable merit. His
chief original work is an elaborate and quaint allegory entitled 'King
Har t,' intended to represent the progress of human life. It is ingenious,
but he avy and full of alliteration. The longest of his original
compositions is 'Th e Palace of Honour,' which displays much learning and
versatility of fancy, b ut is marred by incongruous passages, and tedious
and confused descriptions. His translation of Virgil's 'AEneid,' which
was