90
James, the younger brother and successor of Earl Douglas, was neither
terrified by example nor overawed by authority. In 1454 he led the whole
followers of his family, and all the discontented of other chiefs, into ambitious
rebellion; but the king meeting them with the royal array on the Carron,
Earl Douglas became irresolute, Lord Hamilton deserted him, and his army
retired. The earl now found refuge in Annandale, and after a while sought
shelter in England. His three brothers, the Earls of Moray and Ormond
and Lord Balveny, retreated into the recesses of Ewisdale, whence they har-
rassed the adjacent parts of Dumfriesshire. But such rebellious outrages
could not be long endured. The chiefs of Dumfriesshire, aided by the
border leaders, attacked the Douglases at Arkinholm on the 1st of May,
1455, and completely routed their whole force. Archibald, Earl of Moray,
was slain and his head was sent to the king. Hugh, Earl of Ormond, was
taken prisoner, was tried for his treasons, and was executed for his crimes.
John, Lord Balveny, fled to the earl his brother in England (d).
The parliament of June, 1455, attainted the Douglases who had so greatly
offended both the prince and his people (e). Their lordships of Eskdale
and Annandale, with the castle of Lochmaben, became the property of the
crown by the attainder of Earl Douglas. Annandale, with its appendant
castle of Lochmaben, was granted by James II. to his second son, Alexander,
whom he created Earl of March and Lord of Annandale and Duke of
Albany (/). This infant prince, who grew up to be one of the wickedest of
men, and who, during the subsequent reign, became the greatest disturber of
Dumfriesshire and the state.
The reign of James III. had scarcely commenced when the famous king-
maker, the Earl of Warwick is said to have come to Dumfries, where he is
supposed to have met the no less famous Mary of Guildre, the dowager queen,
(d)  The battle of Arkinholm was fought on the site of the present town of Langholm.    The
Maxwells, the  Johnstons, the   Carlyles, the   Scots, the   Battisons, were   the   principal   clans  who
performed that great service to the State, by freeing Dumfriesshire from that outrageous family,
and the victors were amply rewarded  for their spirited conduct,    Johnston and Carlyle obtained
a  grant  of the  forty-pound  land  of  Pittenain  in   Clydesdale, for  taking  the  Earl   of   Ormond.
Godscroft, 203; Balfour's MS. in the Advocates' Library.    Sir Walter Scot, the progenitor  of the
Buccleuch family, thus acquired the lands  of Albingtoun,  Phareholm,   and Glengower, in   Upper
Clydesdale, for his valorous conduct;   and the Battisons  had  also  lands  for their share  in that
meritorious service.    Scotstarvit's MS. Calendar; Hay's Vindication, 69-70.
(e)  Acta Parl., ii. 42-3.
(f) Acta Parl., ii. 43. The Duke of Albany, as Lord of Annandale, granted leases of the customs
in this district during James III.'s reign. Acta Auditorum, 13. As lord of Annandale he quartered
the feudal arms of his lordship. Nisbet's Heraldry, ii. 83.