An Historic 9 Bore English Flintlock Fowling-piece - Duke of Douglas
AN HISTORIC 9 BORE ENGLISH FLINTLOCK FOWLING-PIECE PRESENTED
BY WILLIAM, MARQUESS OF LOTHIAN TO ARCHIBALD DOUGLAS, THIRD
MARQUESS AND FIRST DUKE OF DOUGLAS (1694-1761), BY JOHN SMART,
LONDON, CIRCA 1710
with three-stage barrel fitted with
moulded silver fore-sight, chiselled with an inscription over
the median, signed 'John Smart Londini' over the breech,
engraved with a band of foliage and stamped with the
barrelsmith's mark, and London view and proof marks, engraved
grooved breech tang (the barrel and tang with light pitting),
signed rounded lock, refaced steel with moulded front, figured
walnut full stock, carved with a moulding in low relief over the
fore-end, about the rear ramrod-pipe and with an apron about the
tang (minor bruising), brass mounts comprising side-plate
pierced with scrolling foliage terminating in a dragon's head,
trigger-guard with moulded bow and acanthus terminals,
butt-plate with pronounced heel and attenuated moulded acanthus
tang, escutcheon engraved with the owners arms and motto beneath
a Ducal coronet, and three moulded ramrod-pipes, and horn-tipped
wooden ramrod
106cm; 41 3/4in barrel
Provenance
Archibald Douglas, third Marquess and first Duke of
Douglas (1694-1761)
The crest and motto is that of Douglas. The
inscription on the median reads ' Ex Dono Nobilissimi Gulielmi
Marchionis De Lothian '
The recipient of this fowling-piece,
Archibald Douglas, third Marquess and first Duke of Douglas (1694-1761),
was the youngest and only surviving son of James second Marquess of
Douglas. He was left under the care of tutors at the young age of six,
following his father's death. They obtained for him the title the Duke
of Douglas by patent from Queen Anne on the 10th of April 1703, which
also conferred on him the titles of Marquess of Angus, Earl of Angus and
Aberneathy, Viscount of Jedburgh Forest, and Lord Douglas of Boncle,
Preston, and Roberton. His estates were erected into a dukedom and, as
they were encumbered, the queen conferred on him two pensions of£400
and£500 per annum. When the Act of Union was passed in 1707, protest was
made on his behalf that the treaty should not be to the prejudice of his
hereditary privileges, which included giving the first vote in
Parliament, carrying the crown on state occasions and leading the van in
battle. At the close of the last Scottish Parliament, Douglas bore the
crown from the Parliament house to the castle of Edinburgh, where the
regalia were deposited. During the rebellion of 1715, he raised a
regiment in support of the reigning house. He was appointed Lord
Lieutenant of Forfarshire. At the battle of Sherriff Muir he was present
on the staff of the Duke of Argyle and charged at the head of the
cavalry as a volunteer. He maintained his loyalty also in 1745, though
on that occasion his castle was occupied by the highlanders and
sustained considerable damage. In 1725 in a fit of jealousy he killed
his cousin Captain John Ker while his own guest at Douglas Castle and
was obliged to conceal himself in Holland for a time. In addition to
this he was considered eccentric by many and for some time his sanity
was questioned. He died at Edinburgh on 21st July 1761, one of his dying
requests being that he should be buried in the bowling green at Douglas.
He was however interred in a vault in the parish church. Upon his death
the Douglas titles passed to the Dukes of Hamilton and the chiefship of
Douglas remains vacant, as the potential claimants retain compound
surnames, which is unacceptable by the rules of clan succession.
The donor of the gun, William Kerr second Marquess of Lothian
(1662? -1722) was the oldest son of Robert first Marquess and grandson
of the third Earl of Lothian. He was Colonel of the Seventh Regiment of
Dragoons on the first of October 1696 and a stout adherent of the border
revolution. On his father's death the 15th February 1703 he became
Marquess and was created a Knight of the Thistle in 1705. In common with
his fellow Scottish peer, Archibald Douglas he was a staunch supporter
of the union. He obtained the command of the Third Foot Guards on 25th
April 1707 with the rank of Lieutenant General in 1708. He was deprived
of his regiment on a change of administration in 1713 but afterwards
became Major General on the North British Staff. Macky, the court spy in
the time of Queen Anne, described him as follows "He hath abundance of
fire, and may prove himself a man of business when he applies himself
that way; laughs at all revealed religion yet sets up for a pillar of
presbytery, and proves the surest card in their pack, being very zealous
though not devout; he is brave in his person loves his country and his
bottle, a thorough libertine, very handsome, black, with a fine eye,
forty-five years old". He died at London on 28th February 1722. Taken
from the Dictionary of National Biography.
The present gun is closely related to one depicted in Richard
Waitt's portrait of Kenneth, Lord Duffus, circa 1712, in the Scottish
National Portrait Gallery. Another, by the Scottish maker James Stuart
and dated 1703, was formerly in the R. T. Gwyn Collection, sold
Christie's King Street 24th April 2001, lot 41, (£32,900 including
premium). John Smart was admitted into the Gunmaker's Company in 1705
and presented his proof piece in 1707. He is recorded in Norfolk Street,
Strand circa 1715. The present gun, with its distinctive curvature to
its stock in keeping with the two cited above and other Scottish long
guns of the late 16th to late 17th Centuries, was evidently commissioned
from his Scottish client.
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
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