Douglas

Douglas

Clan Douglas of Berwick, Scotland. First recorded when William de Dufglas who, between 1175 and 1199, witnessed a charter by the Bishop of Glasgow to monks of Kelso. Sir William de Douglas, the third laird, had two sons who fought against the Norsemen at the Battle of Largs in 1263. William Douglas ‘The Hardy’ was governor of Berwick, and was taken prisoner by the English, being released when he recognised Edward I as overlord of Scotland. He later joined William Wallace and was captured again, dying in England in 1302. eldest son and heir styled as ‘Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale’. Other branches include the Earls of Morton and the Marquesses of Queensbury, who gave their name to the rules of boxing. The Douglas-Hamiltons are the heirs male of the house of Douglas but are barred, under Lyon Court rules, from matriculating as chiefs because of their hyphenated surname.

Arms: Quarterly, 1st azure, a lion rampant argent, crowned with an Imperial Crown or, (Earldom of Galloway); 2nd, Or, a lion rampant gules, armed and langued azure, surmounted of a ribbon in bend sable (Abernethy); 3rd, Argent, three piles gules (for Wishart of Brechin); 4th, Or a fess checky azure and argent, surmounted of a bend sable, charged with three buckles of the field (Stewart of Bonkill); overall, on an escutcheon argent, a man’s heart ensigned of an Imperial Crown proper and on a chief azure, three stars of the field. (Douglas).

Crest: A salamander vert, encircled with flames of fire proper.

Motto: Jamais arriere (Never behind).

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