Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 3.djvu/87

Rh however, observing a knight of his own company to be surrounded by a body of Moors, who had suddenly rallied, " Alas!" said he, "yonder worthy knight shall perish, but for present help;" and with the few who now attended him, amounting to no more than ten men, he turned hastily, to attempt his rescue. He soon found himself hard pressed by the numbers who thronged upon him. Taking from his neck the silver casquet which contained the heart of Bruce, he threw it before him among the thickest of the enemy, saying, "Now pass thou onward before us, as thou wert wont, and I will follow thee or die." Douglas, and almost the whole of the brave men who fought by his side, were here slain. His body and the casquet containing the embalmed heart of Bruce were found together upon the field; and were, by his surviving companions, conveyed with great care and reverence into Scotland. The remains of Douglas were deposited in the family vault at St Bride's chapel, and the heart of Bruce solemnly interred by Moray, the regent, under the high altar in Melrose Abbey.

So perished, almost in the prime of his life, the gallant, and, as his grateful countrymen long affectionately termed him, "the good Sir James Douglas," having survived little more than one year, the demise of his royal master. His death was soon after followed by that of Randolph; with whom might be said to close the race of illustrious men who had rendered the epoch of Scotland's renovation and independence so remarkable.

DOUGLAS,, fourth earl of Morton, and regent of Scotland, was the second son of Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich, (younger brother of Archibald, sixth earl of Angus, and a grandson of the fifth, or great earl, styled Bell-the-cat.) The matrimonial connexion of the sixth earl of Angus with Margaret of England, the widow of James IV., brought the whole of this great family into an intimate alliance with Henry VIII., that princess' brother.

During the reign of James V. as an adult sovereign, most of them lived in banishment in England; and it was only after his death in 1542, that they reappeared in the country. Whether the earl of Morton spent his early years at the English court is not known; but it is related by at least one historical writer, that he travelled during his youth in Italy. Immediately after the return of the family from banishment, he is found mingling deeply in those intrigues which Angus and others carried on, for the purpose of promoting the progress of the reformed religion, along with the match between Henry's son and the infant queen Mary. He seems to have followed in the wake of his father Sir George, who was a prime agent of king Henry; and who, in April, 1543, engaged, with others, to deliver up the lowland part of Scotland to the English monarch. Previous to this period, the future regent had been married to Elizabeth Douglas, third daughter of James, third earl of Morton, who was induced to bequeath his title and all his estates to this fortunate son-in-law, conjointly with his wife. In virtue of this grant, the subject of our memoir was invested with the title of Master of Morton. It is somewhat remarkable, that on the very day when the English ambassador informed his prince of the traitorous engagement of Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich, his son, the Master of Morton, had a royal charter confirming the above splendid grant. This must have been obtained from the fears of the governor, Arran, against whom all the Douglases were working. In November following, the Master is found holding out the donjon or principal tower of his father-in-law's castle of Dalkeith, against Arran; but, being destitute of victuals and artillery, he was obliged to give it up, on the condition of retiring with all his effects untouched. Nothing more is learned of this remarkable personage till 1553, when he succeeded his