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James Douglas, 2Nd Earl Of DouglasSir James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar (circa 1358 - 1388), functioned as an influential lord in Scotland. He married Lady Isabel Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland. In 1385 he made war on the English with the assistance of a French contingent under John de Vienne. He allowed the English to advance to Edinburgh, wisely refusing battle, and contented himself with a destructive counter-raid on Carlisle. Disputes soon arose between the allies, and the French returned home at the end of the year. In 1388 Douglas captured Hotspur Percy's pennon in a skirmish near Newcastle. Percy sought revenge in the Battle of Otterburn (August 1388), which ended in a victory for the Scots and the capture of Hotspur and his brother, though Douglas fell in the fight. The struggle, narrated by Froissart, forms the basis of the English and Scottish ballads: The Ballad of Chevy Chase and The Battle of Otterburn. Sir Philip Sidney "never heard the olde song of Percy and Douglas that I found not my heart mooved more than with a trumpet" (Apologie for Poetrie). The 2nd earl of Douglas left no legitimate male issue. His natural sons William and Archibald became the ancestors of the families of Douglas of Drumlanrig (see Marquess of Queensberry) and Douglas of Cavers. His sister Isabel became countess of Mar, inheriting the lands of Mar and his unentailed estates. The earldom and entailed estates of Douglas reverted by the patent of 1358 to Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas, called "The Grim " (circa 1328 - 1400), a natural son of the "good" Sir James Douglas.
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