Sir William "Longleg" Douglas, 3rd Lord of Douglas

Sir William Douglas (c. 1220 – c. 1289), often called 'Longleg', was a Scottish knight and the son of Archibald, Lord of Douglas. Why or how he got the name 'Longleg' is unknown to me.

During the minority of King Alexander III (1249–1262), Scotland was embroiled in a fierce power struggle between two factions: one led by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, who championed Scottish nationalism, and the other by Alan Durward, the pro-English Justiciar of Scotia. Initially, Comyn’s faction dominated Alexander’s early reign. However, a meeting between the English and Scottish kings at Kelso in 1255 shifted the balance of power in favor of Durward’s faction. Both sides eventually convened a council of prominent magnates to establish a regency until Alexander reached adulthood. Among these magnates was the Lord of Douglas, who aligned himself with Durward’s party. This allegiance likely stemmed from Douglas’s interests in maintaining English royal favour, as he held the wealthy Manor of Fawdon in Northumberland through his marriage to Constance, in addition to his estates in Douglasdale.

David Hume of Godscroft, a fervent chronicler of the House of Douglas, claimed that Longleg married Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and had three children with her—a daughter and two sons. According to Hume, their daughter inherited the Earldom of Carrick. However, Marjorie later married Robert de Brus, the father of King Robert I of Scotland, making Hume’s account historically implausible.

Two of his sons, Hugh and another, are said to have fought at the Battle of Largs against the Norse in 1263. This might imply that there are more than two sons.

• Birth: c1200
• Death: about 1274 (or 1289?   James Balfour Paul (1906). Scots Peerage)
  
  Father: Sir Archibald, 2nd of Douglas of Hermiston) (d c1240)
  Mother: Margaret de Crawford b: ABT. 1195 in Crawford, Ayrshire, Scotland


It is not clear whether Sir William was twice married. Godscroft assigns to him a daughter of Alexander, Earl of Carrick, but this last personage is unknown to record. His wife, so far as is known, was Custancia or Constance, probably, though not certainly, of the family of Batail, from a member of which Sir William purchased a part of Fawdon in 1264

However, we show:

• Marriage 1 Martha (of Carrick) Bruce, who later married Robert the Bruce - Source: Godscroft
  Children
  1.  Hugh of Douglas - The indenture between Sir Hugh de Abernethy and Longlegs for his marriage to Marjory is the earliest charter of the Douglases which escaped destruction. It is dated 1274. His date of death is unknown.
  2.  William (le Hardi), 5th of Douglas
  3.  Willelma (of Douglas) Douglas
  
  Marriage 2 Constance of Batail, through whom he obtained the rich Manor of Fawdon in Northumberland. This marriage is assumed.

A further daughter, Margaret, mother unknown, is stated to have married Richard Keith, son of Sir Hervey de Keith, Earl Marischal of Scotland (in charge of the horses of the King of Scots).

Note:
•  Godscroft in his printed history states that William's wife was Martha, a sister of Alexander Earl of Carrick, and that by her he had two sons, Hugh and William. But in the manuscript copy of his work, he calls the name of William's wife, Isabel, sister of Alexander Earl of Carrick. And in addition to the two sons, gives a daughter called Isabel after her mother, and who is married to Sir William Oliphant of Aberdalgy Godscrofts story, however, is improbable from the fact that there is no Alexander Earl of Carrick at that date and in the pedigree of the Earls, which is well known, no daughter is said to have married William of Douglas. The only known wife of the latter was Constancia or Constance already referred to.

Hugh of whom nothing is known or recorded except the circumstances of his marriage and a traditional anecdote related by Godscroft. His contract of marriage with Marjory Abernethy, sister of Sir Hugh Abernethy, has been preserved. It was entered into in Edinburgh Castle on Palm Sunday, 6 April 1259, in presence of friends of both parties. The bridegroom was under age, and probably the bride also, and various provisions were made for their maintenance for four years, probably till Hugh Douglas attained majority.  Godscroft narrates another document, now lost, by which Sir William granted lands in Douglasdale to his son Hugh in fulfilment of the contract. Nothing further is on record of Hugh Douglas, and he completely disappears from the page of history. It is uncertain whether he succeeded to the estates of Douglas, but in any case he deceased before 1289, as in January of that year his brother William was in possession.  Hugh has been named as a participant at Largs - but this seems unlikely.

Willelma, who married William of Galbraith, son of Sir William of Galbraith, by a daughter of Sir John Comyn, grandfather of Sir John Comyn, one of the Guardians of Scotland. Sir John Comyn, who died about 1274 gave Dalsef to his daughter and son in law in free marriage. William Galbraith and Wilma Douglas had 4 daughters. The eldest of whom married a (de Catha) Keith and had issue a son, Bernard of Keith.
Joanna was the heiress of Dalserf, but died at Candlemas 1301, before her mother, who was in possession at her death about Christmas 1302.

Source

Sources for this article include:
•  Scots Peerage; James Balfour Paul (1906).
•  Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia; George Way and Romily Squire. (1994).
•  The Douglas book; Sir William Fraser.