James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581, aged 65) was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he won the civil war that had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of Scots. However, he came to an unfortunate end, executed by means of the Maiden, a predecessor of the guillotine, which he himself was said to have introduced to Scotland.

James Douglas was the second son of Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich, Master of Angus, and Elizabeth Douglas, daughter David Douglas of Pittendreich. He wrote that he was over 61 years old in March 1578, so was probably born around 1516. Before 1543 he married Elizabeth, daughter of James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Morton. In 1553 James Douglas succeeded to the title and estates of his father-in-law, including Dalkeith House in Midlothian, and Aberdour Castle in Fife. Elizabeth Douglas and her two elder sisters, who were married to Regent Arran and Lord Maxwell, suffered from mental ill-health. Their children either did not survive to adulthood, or in the case of three daughters were declared legally incompetent in 1581. James also had five illegitimate children

At the start of war of the Rough Wooing, James and his brother David communicated with Henry VIII of England on the possibility of their surrendering Tantallon Castle to the English army that burnt Edinburgh in 1544. However, four years later he defended Dalkeith Palace against the English and was captured in June 1548, "sore hurt on the thigh [in those times often a euphemism for the male genitalia]" and taken as a hostage to England. After the Treaty of Boulogne brought peace, in 1550 James returned from captivity in England and was exchanged for the English soldier John Luttrell, and began to use his title of "Earl of Morton."

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