Lairds of Drumlanrig

James had married Angus’s sister Margaret. Their children carried the blood of both Douglas houses, and the families were tied together by marriage as well as name. But being family did not mean standing together when politics turned ugly.

By 1526, Angus had gained control of the young king. James V was about fourteen years old, old enough to understand that although he wore the crown, other men were deciding where he went, whom he saw, and how Scotland was governed.

Not everyone was willing to leave him there.

That summer, Walter Scott of Buccleuch gathered men in an attempt to take the king out of Douglas hands. James of Drumlanrig joined him.

It was an extraordinary position for James to find himself in. He was a Douglas riding against other Douglases, including the family of his own wife.