Agnes Randolph 
Agnes was born about 1300 in Stranith, Dumfrieshire, Scotland. Agnes' father was Thomas Randolph and her mother was Isobel Stewart. Her paternal grandfather was Thomas Randolph and her paternal grandmother is Isabel Bruce; her maternal grandfather was John Stewart and her maternal grandmother is Margaret De Bonkyl. She had two brothers named Thomas and John. She was the oldest of the three children. She had two half-sisters named Mary and Margaret. She died after 1367.General Notes
REFN: 5441AN
Alias:<ALIA> Black /Agnes/
Black Agnes Randolph (Countess of Dunbar)
c.1300 - ?
Famed for her bravery in resisting the English siege of Dunbar Castle.
Da ughter of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray (d. 1332), and wife of
Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, she was known as Black Agnes because
of her dark hair. When the Earl of Salisbury gave siege to Dunbar Castle
for six months in 1338 , in the absence of her husband, Agnes took charge.
In response to a request to surrender, she is said to have said:
'Of Scotland's King I haud my house,
He pays me meat and fee,
And I will keep my guDe auld house,
While my house w ill keep me.'
She resisted the battering rams and provocatively dusted off the parapets
with a handkerchief where English cannon balls had caused damage. E ven
when her brother, who had been captured by the English, was brought
bef ore the walls, she retorted that, if her attackers killed him, that
would sim ply mean she became Earl of Moray!
Black Agnes Randolph
Two generations of he roic Scotswomen supported and suffered in the Bruce
cause, nearly all of them as nameless as their sons and husbands who did
likewise. They could all tak e heart from the example of Black Agnes
Randolph, Countess of Dunbar. Mistre ss of the strategic Dunbar Castle,
controlling the coastal route to Edinburgh , she took charge in 1337 when
the Earl of Salisbury besieged it.
The Englis h had a battering ram, 'the Sow', covered by a wooden roof.
Agnes had a large stone dropped through the roof, scattering the men
beneath. When her brothe r, in English custody, was brought in front of
the castle and threatened with death, she scorned them, saying if he
died, she would be the Earl of Moray.
On June 10, 1338, the English gave up and raised the seige.
David Ross, Scot land: History of a Nation, pg. 101(Edinburgh, 2000)
picture from The Book of History, Vol. IX pg. 3919 (London, 1914)
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Ancestor Pedigree Chart
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*There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated. See their page(s) for details (click name)
- b.~ 1170
- b.~ 1219 in Scotland
- b.~ 1175
- b.~ 1250 in Nithsdales, Scotland d.20 Jul 1332 in Musselburgh, Scotland
- b.~ 1222 in Scotland
- b.1286 in Stranith, Scotland d.20 Jul 1332 in Musselburgh, Scotland
- b.~ 1195 in Annandale, Dumfreishire, Scotland d.1245
- b.1210 in Annandale, Dumfrieshire, Scotland d.31 Mar 1295 in Loch Maben Castle, Dumfrieshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1192 in Huntingdon, England d.1252
- b.Jul 1243 in Annandale, Dumfrieshire, Scotland d.Mar 1304 in Palestine
- b.1180 in Hertford, Hertforshire, England d.25 Oct 1230 in Perres-Guirrec, Penrose, Brittany, France
- b.02 Nov 1226 in Tewksbury, Glouchestershire, England d.>10 Jul 1264 in Cleveland, Yorkshire, England
- b.09 Oct 1200 in Pembrokeshire, Wales d.17 Jan 1240 in Berkhamstead Castle, Hertfordshire, England
- b.1267 in Carrick, Galloway, Argyll, Scotland
- b.~ 1245 in Scotland
- b.~ 1300 in Stranith, Dumfrieshire, Scotland d.> 1367
- b.~ 1126 in Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland d.1204
- b.~ 1160 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland d.1241 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1130 in Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.1214 in Dundonald, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland d.1283 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1143 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland d.1207
- b.~ 1174 in Forfar, Angus-shire, Scotland
- b.1152 in Caithness, Scotland d.~ 1213
- b.~ 1245 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland d.22 Jul 1298 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1145 in Morven, Argyll, Scotland d.1210 in Bute, Argyll, Scotland
- b.~ 1190 in Bute, Scotland
- b.1215 in Isle of Bute, Scotland
- b.~ 1154 in Morven, Argyll, Scotland
- b.1195 in Isle of Man
- b.~ 1282 in Bonkyl, Scotland d.16 Jul 1351 in Kildrummy Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1126 in Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland d.1204
- b.~ 1160 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland d.1241 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1130 in Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.1214 in Dundonald, Kyle, Ayrshire, Scotland d.1283 in Dundonald Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1143 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland d.1207
- b.~ 1174 in Forfar, Angus-shire, Scotland
- b.1152 in Caithness, Scotland d.~ 1213
- b.~ 1249 in Bonkyl, Berwickshire, Scotland
- b.~ 1145 in Morven, Argyll, Scotland d.1210 in Bute, Argyll, Scotland
- b.~ 1190 in Bute, Scotland
- b.1215 in Isle of Bute, Scotland
- b.~ 1154 in Morven, Argyll, Scotland
- b.1195 in Isle of Man
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Agnes and Patrick were married in a religious ceremony on August 18th, 1320. They had four sons and two daughters, named Patrick, David, George, John, Agnes and Elizabeth.
Family Notes
REFNMR1691
REFNM2889
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Children
Agnes Dunbar
Agnes was born about 1339 in Dunbar Castle, East Lothian, Scotland. She died before October 1378.
George Dunbar
George was born in 1340 in Whitewich Castle, Leicestershire, England. He died before March 31st, 1420 in Dunbar Castle, East Lothian, Scotland.
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