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Douglas, William, 1st earl of Douglas and Mar

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, William, 1st earl of Douglas and Mar, 1327?–1384, Scottish nobleman; nephew of Sir James de Douglas, lord of Douglas. About 1348 he returned to Scotland from France and recaptured the Dougl...

Selkirk, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Alexander sĕlˈkərk [key], 1676–1721, Scottish sailor whose adventures suggested to Daniel Defoe the story of Robinson Crusoe (1719). In 1704, as a sailing master, Selkirk quarreled with ...

Douglas, Archibald, 8th earl of Angus

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Archibald, 8th earl of Angus, 1555–88, Scottish nobleman; grandnephew of Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus. During the regency (1572–78) of his uncle, James Douglas, 4th earl of Morton...

Douglas, Gawin

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Gawin or Gavin gäˈwĭn, găvˈĭn [key], 1474?–1522, Scottish poet and churchman; son of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Angus. He is considered one of the great medieval Scottish poets. D...

Morton, James Douglas, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Morton, James Douglas, 4th earl of, d. 1581, Scottish nobleman. A nephew of Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, he married Elizabeth Douglas, from whose father he inherited (1553) the earldom of Mor...

Murray, Thomas Randolph, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Murray or Moray, Thomas Randolph, 1st earl of both: mûrˈē [key], d. 1332, Scottish nobleman; nephew of Robert I. He joined Robert's revolt against Edward I of England in 1306 but was captured at th...

Ormonde, James Butler, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Ormonde, James Butler, 5th earl of, 1420–61, Irish nobleman. He was knighted in his youth by Henry VI of England and was created earl of Wiltshire in 1449. He succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde in ...

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