Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway
Scottish noble (d. c. 1474)
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Margaret Douglas, Countess of Douglas (c. 1427 – c. 1474), known as the Fair Maid of Galloway, was a Scottish noblewoman, and a member of the Black Douglas family toward the end of the family's position as a major power in Scotland.
Margaret Douglas | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1427 |
| Died | c. 1474 |
| Noble family | Black Douglas |
| Spouses | William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl |
| Father | Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas |
| Mother | Eupheme Graham |
Born c. 1427, she was the daughter of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, and Eupheme Graham, daughter of Patrick Graham, Earl of Strathearn and Euphemia Stewart, Countess of Strathearn.[1]
She acquired Galloway when her two brothers (one of whom was William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas) were murdered at the Black Dinner at Edinburgh Castle in 1440.[2]
Marriages
Margaret married her cousin William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas.[3] He was assassinated by King James II and his entourage. Margaret obtained a papal dispensation[4] to marry his brother and successor, James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, with the marriage intended to retain the Douglas estates.[5]
In 1455, her second husband rebelled against King James II, was exiled and attainted. Margaret separated from him[6] and petitioned the King to end her marriage.[4] She had no children by the Earls of Douglas.
She then married John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl,[7] who was half-brother to the King as the son of Joan Beaufort and her second husband James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorne.[8] They had three daughters:[9]
- Janet (Jean), wife of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly.[10]
- Elizabeth, wife of Andrew Gray, 2nd Lord Gray.[9][11]
- Christian, married Neil Stewart of Garth [11]
In fiction
She is a significant character in Black Douglas by Nigel Tranter, which is rather speculative about her relationship with the 8th and 9th Earls of Douglas.[12]
She is the protagonist and fictional author of Maid Margaret, a 1905 novel by Samuel Rutherford Crockett and also appears as an important character in his earlier novel The Black Douglas (1899).[13]