The Black Douglas - key Scottish commander at the Battle of Bannockburn, 1314

The tomb of Sir James Douglas. After his death fighting the Moslems while on Crusade in Spain, Douglas’s bones were packed into a casket and carried back to Scotland by Sir William Keith of Galston, who had missed the fatal battle due to an earlier injury. They were deposited in this tomb in St Bride’s Kirk in Douglas, Lanarkshire, the seat of the Douglas family.

The fourth division of the Scottish army was officially commanded by Walter the Steward, but in reality was led by Sir James Douglas. Walter was the hereditary High Steward of Scotland, an exalted position that made him the king’s representative whenever the king himself was absent. Walter was, however, barely in his teens so Bruce ensured that he had Douglas to keep an eye on things.

Sir James Douglas was widely known as Black Douglas due to his mass of unruly black hair and murderous nature. He was 29 or 30 at the time of the battle and a highly experienced commander. In 1304 he had sought an accommodation with Edward I of England, but Edward rebuffed him due to the fact that Douglas’s father, Sir William Douglas, had been the first Scottish knight to back William Wallace. When Robert Bruce claimed the crown in 1306, Douglas hurried to join him and remained loyal ever after.

Douglas fought at the Battle of Methven, thereafter taking to guerrilla warfare with skill and passion. His most notorious incident came on Palm Sunday 1307 when he attacked the English garrison of Douglas Castle while they were in church. Dozens were killed in the church, the rest dragged outside to have their heads hacked off. On 19 February 1314 Douglas captured Roxburgh Castle, one of the strongest in Scotland, by a ruse. He had his men dress up as cattle, then move slowly towards the walls after nightfall. Once at the foot of the walls, the men dropped their disguises, threw up ladders and were over the walls in seconds. The garrison was slaughtered and the castle burned. Douglas then received the summons from Bruce to come to Stirling, arriving in time to take part in the Battle of Bannockburn.

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