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The Douglases of Cosholme and Coscoogle: A Border Family’s Story
Set among the steep ravines and quiet uplands of Durisdeer parish, Old Cosholme House stands as one of the last tangible links to a branch of the Douglas family whose history is woven deeply into the landscape. The stone cottage—about fifty feet long and twenty feet wide—was inhabited until after the Second World War and still retains its two old fireplaces, one with a swinging iron for cooking pots. Today it stores farm equipment, but three people in the district were born and raised within its walls.
Built into the north gable is a marriage stone dated 1676, bearing the arms and initials of Robert Douglass of Cosholme and his wife Nicolas Johnston. The stone, along with several decorative fragments, was salvaged from the old castle of Cosholme when it was demolished many years ago. From the cottage, the ground falls sharply into the ravine of the Enterkine
Burn, and across the valley one can see Drumlanrig Castle, the ancestral seat of the Douglases of Drumlanrig. This view is fitting, for the Cosholme and Coscoogle Douglases were cadet branches of that great house, descended from Archibald Douglas, second son of William Douglas, 4th Lord Drumlanrig.
Kinship, Alliance, and Occasional Feud
For much of their history, relations between the Coscoogle Douglases and the Drumlanrig line were warm and mutually supportive. In 1574, Sir James Douglas of Drumlanrig referred to Robert Douglas of Coscoogle as his “serious friend and cousin,” and in 1578 the families were joined by marriage when William Douglas of Coscoogle wed a Jet Douglas of Drumlanrig.
Yet, as in many close-knit Border families, tensions sometimes flared. In 1627, the Drumlanrig Douglases sought to eliminate a man named Thomas Coupland, whom the Coscoogle family sheltered. Drumlanrig men attacked Coscoogle, forced entry, and killed Coupland. In the defence of the house, Robert Douglas of Cloyline, second son of Robert Douglas of Coscoogle, lost his right leg.
Two years later, in 1629, another dispute arose—this time over the right to harvest peats. Although the arrangement was meant to be amicable, tempers rose, a fight broke out, and several men were killed. The Coscoogle Douglases, however, did not come off the worse.
The family’s fortunes shifted again in the mid‑17th century. Archibald Douglas of Ingletson, second son of William Douglas of Coscoogle, died in 1636. His heir, Ronald, was succeeded by Bryan, who was initially cleared of charges of rebellion in 1637 but died around 1639 burdened by heavy debts and mismanagement. As a result, the lands of Coscoogle were sold, marking the end of the family’s tenure there. Sir William Douglas left one natural son, also named William, from whom the writer of the original account descends.
A House, a Landscape, and a Legacy
Old Cosholme House, with its marriage stone and its commanding view of Drumlanrig, remains a quiet witness to this history. Though modest in scale, it embodies centuries of family continuity, conflict, resilience, and adaptation. Its stones once sheltered generations who lived close to the land, defended their kin, and maintained ties—sometimes warm, sometimes strained—with their powerful Drumlanrig cousins.
For descendants today, the story of the Douglases of Cosholme and Coscoogle is more than a genealogical record. It is a reminder of the enduring presence of family in the landscape: the ravine of the Enterkine Burn, the distant silhouette of Drumlanrig Castle, and the carved stone of 1676 all speak to a lineage that remained rooted in its ancestral ground for centuries.
Notes:
• Families of Douglas of Dalveen and Douglas of
Cashogle.—Two other ancient families who had their estates and
residences in the parish of Durisdeer, were Douglas of Dalveen and
Douglas of Cashogle. They were both cadets of the house of Drumlanrig.
All these lands are now in the possession of the noble family of
Queensberry.
• xxx William the first Earl... Of this
William also are descended the houses of Coshogle. Pinyrie, Davein, and
others in Nithsdale for Archibald Douglas, the first of Coshogle, was
second son to this William of Drumlanrig, and was married to one Pringle
of the house of Galashiels, who bore to him twelve sons, and after his
death she was was married to one Carnel Wallace, and bore twelve more to
him also. Extract from The history of the house and race of
Douglas and Angus
There are only three other land-owners in the
parish; and their properties are small.
The New Statistical
Account of Scotland: Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton 1845
•
(4th Lord. of Drumlanrig) William, who was flain in the
battle of Kirkonel near Sanquar(1) against Alexander Duke of Albany, the King's
brother. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Crichton; Lord
Sanqua1f ancestor to the Countess and heiress of Dumfr1es, and by her
had three sons; James, his heir.—Robert, of whom were descended Douglas
of Cashogle and Dalony;—George, ancestor to Douglas of Pinerie; and
having also two daughters, Janet was married to William Lord Somerville,
and Margaret to Sir Robert Dalziel, ancestor to the Earl of Carnwath.
• William Douglas, 4th Lord Drumlanrig (d. 1484) and Elizabeth Crichton
had a son,
Archibald Douglas of Cashogle & Dalveen who married Christian
Johnstone. Their son,
Archibald Douglas of Cashogle (d. 1548) married and had
Hugh Douglas of Dalveen who died 1565 (?1556)
• Hew Douglas born
about 1523 in Dalvine Or Cowsowgill Dumfries Scotland
was the son of
Archibald Douglas 1502 - 1557 and Janet (Jonet) Napier 1503 - 1575
• The chronicler Ramage wrote that " within the
kirk of Durisdeer in
1556 the baron John Douglas, son of Archibald of Coshogle, had to appear after
the murder of Hugh Douglas of Dalveen, and there before the altar bare his sword
before and to the relatives of the dead man, in order to end a family feud. "
• James Pringle of Smailholm, Nviio succeeded him, and resided
in the baronial tower. He flourished in the reigns of James II. and,
III.; who he married is not Iionv knoNvn, or upon record, hut he left
two sous and oi.e daughter— David his heir, and William, ancestor of the
Pringles of Clifton, which appears by a charter of confirmation under
the great seal from King James IV. H'i/helmo Hop* Pringle de Smallholm
de lerris de Clifton in vice commilatu de Roxburgh, Sfc* confirmed
August 8, 1509.— His daughter Isabel, married first, Archibald Douglas
of Cashogle, son of William Douglas of Drumlanrig; and second, the
celebrated Cragy Wallace, as brave n man as Scotland ever produced ; she
had children by both. James Pringle of Smaillicilni died in the
beginning of the reign of James IV and was succeeded by his son,
• The death of the Earl of Angus in 1588, was ascribed to
Witchcraft, and one Barbary Naipar, in Edinburgh, wife to Archibald
Douglas of the house of Cashogle, was apprehended on suspicion:-Home of
Godscroft. Being pregnant, the sentence was apparently deferred and then
nobody insisted in persuing her and so she was set at liberty
• Norman Douglas of
Dundarroch's research, included here, shows that his ancestor, Douglas of Collieston,
is a descendant of Douglas of Cashogle; see
family tree [pdf]
Note:
1. This extract from The Peerage of England,
Scotland, and Ireland, Vol 2, 1790 seems to be inaccurate as the the
battle, now known as Lochmaben
Fair, was not 'near Sanquar' but
between Lochmaben and Carlisle.
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