The rest, together with the titles, went to Archibald, son of Sir James, known to history as "The Black Douglas' and a friend of Robert the Bruce.  This enforced removal from the territorial struggles of the great feudal magnates perhaps helps to account for the fact that from 1388 the Drumlanrig line of the Douglases succeeded each other, father to son, for thirteen generations down to the death of Charles, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, in 1778.

Nevertheless, the family remained close to one element of Scottish politics; the Crown.  William himself stood by King James I, even whilst in exile in France, and was knighted by the King at his coronation in 1424.  His son, another William, was one of the hostages sent in redemption for the King.  When released, he too proved a vigorous supporter of the Crown in battle until his death in 1458.  His grandson was killed fighting in the royal army near Lochmaben in 1484 against the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Douglas. This conflict between the crown and the leading magnates is also revealed in the charter of James III of two years earlier which regranted the Baronies of Drumlanrig and Hawick to be held "in Chief of the crown, not of the Earl of Douglas, as Formerly".

James, 5th Lord Douglas, was married to Janet Scott of Buccleuch.  Their son William died on 9 September 1513 at the Battle of Flodden Field.  It stands as a black date at the beginning of a century which was to be full of violence and turmoil, complicated by the French presence and dominated for posterity by the saga of Mary Queen of Scots.  For the family at Drumlanrig this era was dominated by James Douglas. 

Born in 1498, James Douglas outlived even his own son, to die aged 80 in 1578.  Involved fruitlessly in the fight for control of the young James V, he fared better under French domination, being knighted by their Regent, the Duke of Chatelherault, and in 1553, was appointed guardian of the Western Marches.  Yet in 1567 he was taking part against Mary at Carberry.  In fact she included him in her list of "the hell houndis, bludy tyrantis without saulis or feir of God". 

His great-grandson entertained King James VI and I at Drumlanrig in 1617 in what was probably the second of the three castles which have stood on this site, fulfilling the old prophecy:

   "He who stands on the Hassock hill, shall rule all Nithsdale at his will".

Certainly the influence of the Douglases of Drumlanrig increased.  William was made Viscount of Drumlanrig, Lord Douglas of Hawick and Tiberis in 1628, and in June 1633 Earl of Queensberry.  The family fortunes declined temporarily, but the restoration of Charles II provided once again the right climate for their recovery.

William, 3rd Earl of Queensberry, who built the present Drumlanrig, was born in 1637.  A member of the Privy Council in 1667, he was made Justice General in June 1680 and then in rapid succession Lord High Treasurer of Scotland and Governor of Edinburgh Castle.  In November 1684 he was created first Duke of Queensberry.  In spite of his firm Episcopalian views he found favour with the increasingly Catholic Stuarts and became under them the most powerful man in Scotland.  A castle like Drumlanrig was not only worthy of his family's new stature, but it also appealed to his own artistic sensibilities.  So uneasy was he, however, over the cost incurred, that he wrote on the wrapper of the accounts: "The Deil pike out his een wha lookes herein".

Duke William died in 1695 and was succeeded by his son, James, remembered as "The Union Duke" for his role in the drawing up of the Act of Union in 1707.  He was a firm supporter of William of Orange and Queen Anne, but was more than a courtier; he was a man of considerable ability who saw the potential advantages for Scotland and made the most of his position as High Commissioner.  For his services to the Crown he was created Duke of Dover as well as Queensberry.

Charles, the 3rd Duke, who succeeded his father in 1711, seems to have been of a sympathetic and cultured nature, and an understanding consort to his brilliant wife, Katherine Hyde, the patroness of John Gay and sponsor of the latter's "Beggars Opera".  Both his sons predeceased him so that on his death in 1778 the title passed to his cousin William, Earl of March, the infamous "Old Q" who led a dissolute life in London at the expense of his Scottish estates.  It was thus particularly unfortunate that he lived to the great age of 85, dying only in 1810 without even leaving an heir.  The remnant of his fortune passed to his illegitimate daughter and financed what is now known as the Wallace Collection in London.

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch succeeded to the Dukedom of Queensberry and most of the lands through his grandmother Jane Douglas, daughter of the 1st Duke, who married Francis, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch.  Some of the titles which could only pass through the male line, such as those of Marquis of Queensberry and others associated with Drumlanrig, passed to a more distant relation, Sir Charles Douglas of Kelhead.

It was fortunate that Duke Henry's public spirited grandson, Walter Francis, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th of Queensberry, should have been such a vigorous agriculturist with a keenly developed economic sense, for he embarked on an ambitious programme of replanting woodlands devastated by "Old Q", and modernising farmsteads.  Thanks to him and to subsequent Dukes, Drumlanrig continues as the nucleus of a thriving rural estate.  The contents of the Castle have, however, been greatly enriched by the merger of the three families, of Montagu, Douglas and Scott in the 18th Century, and the closure of two residences, Montagu House and Dalkeith Palace in the 20th Century.

Drumlanrig's builder, William, the 1st Duke of Queensberry, might well have felt happier about his investment had he been able to visualise the striking contribution the Castle now makes to the cultural life of the country.

Read about the Douglas's Winged Heart