- Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas
Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas, (b. before 1540 - d. after 1587) was also Parson of
Glasgow , a Senator of theCollege of Justice , Ambassador to QueenElizabeth I of England , and a notorious intriguer.Archibald Douglas was Parson of
Douglas, Lanarkshire , prior to15 January 1561/2 on which day he was awarded the Third of theBenefice s for that parsonage. He was appointed to the College of Justice on13 November 1565 as an Extraordinary Lord in place ofAdam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney .Accused with his brother,
William Douglas of Whittinghame , of involvement in the conspiracy to murderDavid Riccio , he was obliged to retire to France for some time. But the husband ofMary, Queen of Scots ,Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , secured his return to Scotland, where Douglas then successfully negotiated the pardons of the other conspirators, gazetted on25 December 1566 .He then entered into the intrigues of
James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell and his confederates for the assassination of Darnley, and acted as the agent between them and theEarl of Morton , and, according to the on-the-scaffold confession of his servant Binney or Binning, was actually present atKirk o' Field on the night of the murder (9/10 February 1567 ). In the confusion of the hour Douglas lost his shoes, which he had removed, which were found in the morning and known to be his. No pursuit was however, at that time, instituted against him.On
2 June 1568 , he was raised to a Lord Ordinary in theCollege of Justice in place ofJohn Leslie, Bishop of Ross .He was then sent by Regent, the
Earl of Lennox to theEarl of Sussex in September 1570 to congratulate him on his victory over the Border friends of the Queen, and to negotiate support for the Regent's authority. It was thought to be shortly afterwards that he obtained the Parsonage of Glasgow, with some difficulty as theKirk at first felt him unqualified to enjoy that benefice. In January 1572, however, the requisite sanction was obtained, and he is found to be in receipt of the Thirds ofBenefice s forNewlands, Glasgow thereafter.In April 1572 he was found to be assisting the party of
Mary, Queen of Scots who then heldEdinburgh Castle , by conveying to The Grange four out of five thousand Crowns which had been sent to her by theDuke of Alva . He was at the same time accused of conspiring for the death of theEarl of Morton , and was warded (held under house arrest) atStirling Castle (another source saysLoch Leven Castle ).He appears to have lived, if not in prison, at least in privacy, during the Regency of Morton, but was, on
11 November 1578 , restored to his former place on the bench, following a request letter from KingJames VI to that effect. On31 December , however, he was denounced to thePrivy Council of Scotland as guilty of Darnley's murder, and orders were given for his arrest. But having been forewarned by his kinsman George Douglas ofLongniddry , he fled from his wife's tower-house atMorham to England. Queen Elizabeth first agreed to have him returned upon the guarantee of "unsuspect judges and other persons on the assise", but this guarantee could not be given so he remained for the time being in England.On
28 November 1581 , he was forfeited by Act of Parliament for the murder of Lord Darnley, which, they argued, was proved by his flight to England, and the evidence of his servant Binney or Binning, who had, in June 1581, already been executed for the same crime.Owing to the influence of his friend, the Master of Gray, he returned on a safe-conduct to Scotland, arriving in Edinburgh on
15 April 1586 . His (nominal) trial took place on26 May , (reported at length in Pitcairn's "Criminal Trials"). He was acquitted. There was great uproar. To make matters worse he was then appointed byJames VI his personal Ambassador to Elizabeth 1st, a post he took up in September. While in that post it is said that he assisted the Master of Gray, William Keith, and Sir Robert Melville of Murdocairny to move Elizabeth towards clemency for Mary Queen of Scots, although Dalrymple disputes this. He was at length dismissed from this post, being succeeded by Sir Robert Melville.After this nothing much appears to be known of him. It is possible he may have died. However, a Mr.Archibald Douglas, Archdeacon of Glasgow (in that post prior to November 1596), is mentioned in the Privy Council Registers on
28 October 1598 , and again on4 December 1599 , but it is not known if this is the same person.Archibald Douglas married, about 1578, (as her third husband) Jane (d. before August 1599), daughter of
Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Earl of Bothwell .References
*"An Historical Account of the Senators of the College of Justice of Scotland", by Sir David Dalrymple of Hailes, Bt., re-edited and republished Edinburgh, 1849, pps: 125-128.
*"The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland", edited by David Masson, LL.D., Edinburgh, 1881, volumes IV (1585-1592), and V (1592-1599).
*"The Scots Peerage", by SirJames Balfour Paul , vol.II, Edinburgh, 1905, p.169.
*"The Seven Ages of an East Lothian Parish - Whittingehame", by Marshall B Lang, Edinburgh, 1929, p.139.
*"The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices", edited by James Kirk,Oxford University Press , 1995, p.506. ISBN 0-19-726125-6
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