William Douglas , 1st Earl of Douglas William Douglas , 1st Earl of Douglas ( c . 1327 – 1384 ) was a Scottish magnate . Early life . William Douglas was the son of Sir Archibald Douglas and Beatrice Lindsay , and nephew of " Sir James the Good " , Robert the Bruce ' s trusted deputy . From the time of his father ' s death at Halidon Hill , he is described as being a ward of his kinsman and godfather , William Douglas , Knight of Liddesdale and was educated in France . In 1342 , under pressure from Liddesdale , his uncle Hugh the Dull resigned the Lordship of Douglas to him , though Liddesdale rapaciously administered his estates while it was in his ward - ship , and assumed direct ownership of some of the Douglas territories . Douglas returned to Scotland , upon reaching his majority in 1348 , and immediately started to put his house in order . In 1346 - 47 following the Battle of Neville ' s Cross , King David II , and other nobility , including Liddesdale , were held captive by the English . Edward Baliol used the opportunity to ravage the whole of the south of Scotland . Douglas gathered his men and drove the English out from his ancestral lands of Douglasdale . Douglas went in the style of his uncle , the Good Sir James , and for the following few years waged guerrilla war against the English in the Ettrick Forest and Jedforest s . Douglas next became one of the commissioners to negotiate with the English for the release of David II of Scotland . Death of the Knight of Liddesdale . In 1353 , Edward Baliol was ensconced at Buittle in his ancestral territories in Galloway . Douglas led a raid there to eject him due to Baliol ' s forfeiture of those lands that had been made over to Sir James Douglas in 1324 . Following this raid , returning through the Forest , Douglas came across Liddesdale hunting on what Douglas viewed as his desmesne . This was the match that lit the fuse of years of resentment over Liddesdale ' s assumption of the Douglas patrimony , notwithstanding Liddesdale ' s murder of Sir Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie which John of Fordun gives as a reason for the enmity between the men . Liddesdale , once in high standing with the Crown , had fallen into disfavour following his murder of Ramsay and another Knight , Sir David de Barclay . Douglas set upon Liddesdale and killed him . In February 1354 , William of Douglas received a new charter from King David bestowing all the lands held by his uncle Sir James , his father Sir Archibald , and Liddesdale itself . War with England and Battle of Poitiers . In 1355 the truce with England expired and Douglas with the Earl of Dunbar and March , whose lands had been ravaged , decided to take Norham Castle in retaliation . One of Douglas ' captains , Sir William Ramsay of Dalhousie , was instructed to despoil the lands around Norham and burn the town in an effort to entice the garrison out to battle . Ramsay did so and the English under the castle ' s constable , Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton and Lord Dacre , gave chase . Douglas and March meanwhile were encamped seven miles away in woodland to the south of Duns , when Ramsay had reached them . The English pursuers were ambushed by the Scots force , and completely overwhelmed . Following this Battle of Nesbit Moor , Douglas and March joined with the Earl of Angus in making an assault upon Berwick , but the Scots had to retire from there before the advancing army of Edward III . King Edward laid waste to the Lothians in an event that would be known as the " Burnt Candlemas " . His supply lines were overstretched , and following the sinking of his fleet , and the Scots scorched earth policy , Edward had to turn homewards , but not before being ambushed and nearly taken by Lord Douglas ' s men outside Melrose . Following Edward ' s retreat into England , Douglas arranged a truce with William de Bohun , 1st Earl of Northampton that would last until Michaelmas . He also arranged a Safe conduct to visit the captive King David . Following this Douglas crossed with a large following to France and took up arms with Jean le Bon against Edward of Woodstock , the Black Prince . Douglas was present at the Battle of Poitiers where he was knighted by the French King . Douglas fought in the King ' s own Battle , but when the fight seemed over Douglas was dragged by his men from the melee . Froissart states that " . . . the Earl Douglas of Scotland , who fought a season valiantly , but when he saw the discomfiture he departed and saved himself ; for in no wise would he be taken by the Englishmen , he would rather there be slain " . After the defeat there Douglas escaped , but left a number of his men either slain or captive , including his first cousin latterly the 3rd Earl of Douglas , Archibald the Grim . Douglas returned to Scotland by mid Autumn , and was involved in peace negotiations with the English , one aspect of the treaty was the creation of March Wardens of which Douglas was one . Under the auspice of this office , Douglas seized Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale from the English in response to their depredations on Eskdale . Douglas was part of the parliament that met at Berwick in 1357 , which finalised the release of King David through the Treaty of Berwick , Douglas himself being one of the securities for his release . Earl of Douglas and Mar . Douglas was created Earl of Douglas on the 26th January 1358 . In 1364 , he joined David II in seeking a treaty with England which would have written off Scotland ' s debt to England in return for depriving his nephew , Robert the Steward , formerly an ally of Douglas , of the succession . Edward III ' s son , Lionel of Antwerp , would have taken the Scottish throne , although the independence of Scotland was to be guaranteed , and a special clause provided for the restoration of the English estates of the Douglas family . The plan never succeeded and , on the accession of Robert II , Douglas was nevertheless reconciled and appointed Justiciar South of the Forth in 1372 . The last years of his life were spent in making and repelling border raids . He died at Douglas in May 1384 . Marriage and Issue . William , Earl of Douglas married in 1357 , Margaret , Countess of Mar and had two children : The Earl of Douglas also fathered an illegitimate son by his wife ' s sister - in - law , Margaret Stewart , widow of Thomas , Earl of Mar and Countess of Angus in her own right : References . Sources .