the depths of Ettrick Forest, he was set upon and slain at a place called Galford, by a band of armed men employed for that purpose by Lord William himself. The causes of such a deed—which in the estimation of the church was nothing less than spiritual parricide, on account of the religious relationship of the parties—can scarcely be found in the contending interests of the rivals, and the mutual injuries that had passed between them; and therefore it was alleged that the "Flower of Chivalry," whose morals were those of too many knights of the period, had seduced the affections of Lord William's wife, and was thus requited for his crime. Such was the report of the time, and Fordun has quoted the following verse from an ancient ballad upon the subject:—
"The Countess of Douglas out of her bower she came,
And loudly there did she call,
'It is for the lord of Liddesdale
That I let the tears down fall.'"
The body, on being found, was carried to Linden Kirk, a chapel in Ettrick Forest, and afterwards interred in Melrose Abbey. But by his murder of Ramsay, as well as his subsequent treason, Sir William Douglas had obliterated the recollection of his great and gallant deeds, so that he died unregretted, and was soon forgot.
DOUGLAS, Sir William, was the illegitimate son of Sir Archibald, lord of Galloway, commonly called the Black Douglas; but in those days the bend sinister upon the shield of one who was otherwise a good knight and true, was not attended with the opprobrium that branded it in earlier or later periods. Of all the heroes of the illustrious house from which he sprung, Sir William appears to have been the most amiable; while in deeds of arms, although his career was cut short at an early period, he equalled the greatest of his name. His personal advantages, in an age when these were of highest account, corresponded with his reputation; for he was not only of a beautiful countenance, but a tall, commanding form; while his strength was such that few could cope with him on equal terms. His manners also were so gentle and engaging, that he was as much the delight of his friends as he was the terror of his enemies.[1] He was a young warrior, in short, whom Homer would have selected as his hero, or early Greece have exalted into a demigod. As his career was to be so brief, it was early commenced; for we find, that while still very young, he was distinguished not only by his personal feats of valour, but his abilities as a leader, so that in his many skirmishes with the English he was generally successful, even when the latter were greatly superior in numbers. Nor were the charms of romance wanting to complete his history. Robert II., his sovereign, had a beautiful daughter, called Egidia, who was sought in marriage not only by the noblest of her father's court, but by the king of France, who, in the true fashion of chivalry, had fallen in love with her from the descriptions of his knights that had visited Scotland as auxiliaries, and who privately sent a painter thither, that he might obtain her picture. But to the highest nobility, and even to royalty itself, Egidia preferred the landless and illegitimate, but
- ↑ John de Fordun thus sums up his qualities, both corporeal and mental:—"Hic homo niger colore; non multum carnosus, sed ossosus; forma giganteus, erectus et procerus, strenuus et affabilis, dulcis et amabilis, liberalis et lætus, fidus et facetus." The fidelity of this description may be relied upon, from the fact that de Fordun speaks of Sir William as one of his contemporaries.
