William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale

William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, was a Scottish soldier and border lord active during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Known as the Knight of Liddesdale, he fought both English forces and rival Scottish factions.

His shifting loyalties, captivity and violent feuds made him a controversial figure. He was killed in 1353 by his kinsman William Douglas, later 1st Earl of Douglas, during a struggle for regional dominance.

In Nigel Tranter’s Flowers of Chivalry, Foremost among them are William Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, celebrated as the Flower of Chivalry, and Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie. In J.R. Tomlin’s The Douglas Bastard, the illegitimate Archibald Douglas returns from exile and enters the household of William Douglas of Liddesdale, determined to prove that his birth need not define his future. Squire service, shifting alliances and repeated military disasters expose Archibald to the violence of the Second War of Scottish Independence. In J.R. Tomlin’s Trust and Treason, the army of David II has been shattered at Neville’s Cross, the king and William Douglas of Liddesdale are English prisoners, and much of southern Scotland lies exposed.