Patrick Maclellan of Bombie

Patrick Maclellan of Bombie (d. c. 1450 Sheriff of Galloway, then the head of his family, and a staunch royalist declined an invitation to join William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, along with the Earls of Ross and Crawford and Ormond in a powerful alliance against the young King James II of Scotland.

By marriage to his cousin, Margaret Douglas (daughter of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas) William Douglas, a member of the 'Black Douglas' family thereby increased the powers vested in his family and estates to the point where he was the most powerful nobleman in the country. The alliance with the Earls of Ross and Crawford further strengthened his power base.

George Buchanan's version of events suggests that Maclellan had previously killed one of the Douglas family by whom he had been insulted, but it is generally understood that the cause of quarrel was Maclellan's refusal to join the alliance. The Earl of Douglas, outraged with this opposition to his plot, laid siege to Raeberry Castle (Maclellan's castle) and captured Sir Patrick Maclellan forcibly removing him to the fortress of Threave Castle, where Maclellan was held a prisoner.

Sir Patrick Grey, Maclellan’s uncle, held a high office at the Court, and so was able to obtain a letter from the King requiring the earl of Douglas to release his prisoner. Sir Patrick Grey carried the dispatch himself, appearing with the king's letter. William Douglas, suspecting its message, refused to open the dispatch until after Sir Patrick Grey had dined. Treachery was afoot however, in the Douglas camp. Having received such a shrewd guest as Grey, and anticipating his intentions, the earl ordered Maclellan to be immediately put to death.

When confronted by Grey, Douglas expressed regret that it was beyond his power to fully concede to the royal request, and, conducting Grey to the courtyard, where Sir Patrick Maclellan's body had fallen, he is reported to have said, 'Yonder, Sir Patrick, lies your sister’s son'.

Grey recognising the treachery withdrew from the site of his murdered nephew, and only after an exchange of words was Grey closely pursued 'till near Edinburgh', and escaped capture only by his skill as a horseman.

Sir Patrick Grey later had the pleasure reciprocating the invitation to dine with Douglas, on this occasion in the palace at Stirling, by direct invitation of the king. When Douglas refused to abandon the alliance, James stabbed him in the neck, and the king's attendants finished off the bloody deed throwing the mortal remains of the presumptuous earl from a window.

References

D0UGLASES vol. 1. 63, 64., and the Dumfries & Galloway Standard, November, 1891.