It is not my intention to trace the dazzling career of this
race of heroes, whose exploits were alike formidable to the English,
and to their sovereign.
The sun of Douglas set in blood. The murders of the sixth earl, and
his brother, in the castle of Edinburgh, were followed by that of
their successor, poignarded at Stirling by the hand of his prince. His
brother, Earl James, appears neither to have possessed the abilities
nor the ambition of his ancestors. He drew, indeed, against his
prince, the formidable sword of Douglas, but with a timid and
hesitating hand. Procrastination ruined his cause; and he was
deserted, at Abercorn, by the knight of Cadyow, chief of the
Hamiltons, and by his most active adherents, after they had
ineffectually exhorted him to commit [Sidenote: 1453] his fate to the
issue of a battle. The border chiefs, who longed for independence,
shewed little [Sidenote: 1455] inclination to follow the declining
fortunes of Douglas. On the contrary, the most powerful clans engaged
and defeated him, at Arkinholme, in Annandale, when, after a short
residence in England, he again endeavoured to gain a footing in his
native country[2]. The spoils of Douglas were liberally distributed
among his conquerors, and royal grants of his forfeited domains
effectually interested them in excluding his return.
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