Castles of the Black Douglases Quiz

Answer: Strathclyde

The English captured the castle in 1307, but James Douglas recaptured it on Palm Sunday, when most of the garrison had left the castle to attend mass. James had to re-capture the castle twice more, before he obeyed the King's policy and razed his own castle.

His reputation gave him the title "The Black Douglas" amongst the English. The remains of the old castle you see there now date from the 17th century.

Answer: Borders

James disguised his men as black oxen in order to capture Roxburgh Castle from the English in 1314. Black because it didn't show up in the dark, and there wasn't much light about on 19th of February when the attack took place. The castle's Governor, Sir Gylmyne de Fiennes, surrendered the next day, but died not long after, having had an arrow shot through both his cheeks during the battle.

Answer: Northumberland

William, Lord James Douglas' father, was keeper of this castle from 1294 when James was a boy, but was forced to surrender it to the English in 1296. His father died a prisoner in the Tower of London (1302). To avoid the troubles in Scotland, James was educated in Paris. James Douglas was to recapture the castle in 1318.

Answer: Andalusia

The fortress was originally built by the Romans and extended by the Arabs. In 1330, when the Scots were besieging the Moorish castle, the Moors pretended to retreat, and drew the Scottish contingent into an ambush. James and about 200 other Scots were on their way to the Holy Land with Robert the Bruce's heart. James Douglas was killed in battle and the castle was taken by the Castilian and Scottish forces soon after.

Answer: Dumfries and Galloway

The land was given to the first Earl of Douglas (nephew of James) by King David II in 1356, whose grandson Sir William de Douglas became the first Baron, and probably built the original castle. The castle was transformed between 1679 and 1698 into the grand building seen today.

Three ghosts supposedly haunt the castle. One is Lady Anne Douglas, another is a yellow monkey, while the third is a young women in a flowing dress.

Answer: Dumfries and Galloway

This was the main stronghold of the Black Douglases and built by the 3rd Earl, Archibald the Grim in 1369. An earlier castle had been sacked by Edward Bruce in 1307. The 9th and last Black Douglas Earl, lost the castle after a two month siege, to King James II in 1455, after the family fell out with the King, because King James had murdered the 8th Earl. An enjoyable castle to visit, as it's situated on an island.

Answer: Lothian

There has been a fortification on Edinburgh Rock since before history can remember. The famous incident that involved the 6th Earl of Douglas happened in St. David's Tower in 1440 at what was called the Black Diner. Accounts differ, but the Earl was executed for high treason in the presence of James II, using trumped-up charges masterminded by Sir Alexander Livingston and Sir William Crichton.

The Douglases then laid siege to the castle for nine months before it surrendered. St. David's Tower was ruined during the Lang Siege in 1573. Edinburgh Castle is the most besieged place in Britain, having been under siege at least 26 times.

Answer: Fife

One of the earliest castles in Scotland. In 1325 Robert the Bruce granted the castle to Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray. John Randolph the 3rd Earl (second son of Thomas) granted the land to William Douglas of Liddesdale in 1342. William Douglas, the first Earl of Douglas became Liddesdale's godson when he was born in 1327, but Liddesdale was murdered by him in 1353.

The castle then came into the hands of the Earls of Morton, descended from the original Black Douglas.

Answer: Strathclyde

The castle was originally built in the mid 13th century, by either Walter of Moray, or his son William 'The Rich' Moray. The Black Douglases got it after heiress of the Morays, Joanna, married Archibald "The Grim" Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas. The castle was forfeit in 1455 after the Douglases lost the Battle of Arkinholm to the King.

They also forfeited Hermitage Castle. Hermitage was given to Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus (a Red Douglas), who in 1492 swapped it with Bothwell Castle, so Hermitage was then owned by Patrick Hepburn, 2nd Lord Hailes.

Answer: Grampian

The original castle was built by the Comyns. After Queen Margaret died in 1290, there were six main contenders for the Scottish throne, one of whom was John "Red" Comyn. By 1306, the numbers had been reduced to two. Comyn's rival Robert the Bruce murdered him in Dumfries, before marching north to destroy the Comyns' lands, including sacking Balvenie Castle.

Bruce then gave the lands, and the Earldom of Moray, to his nephew Thomas Randolph. Legend has that Randolph was responsible for Robert the Bruce's heart being buried at Montrose Abbey. In 1362, the Black Douglases gained procession of the land in the same way as they did Bothwell: by marriage. It was John Douglas (brother of 9th Earl Douglas) who was living here when the castle was forfeited on 9th June 1554. It then passed to the Earls of Atholl, and other families, till William Duff (father to the 1st Earl of Fife) died in the castle in 1718, after which the castle was neglected. The 1st Earl of Fife then built a house nearby to live in, the Balvenie Distillery now stands where that house was built.