Clan Douglas is an ancient clan or noble house from the Scottish Lowlands...
The Douglases were one of Scotland's most powerful families, and certainly the most prominent family in lowland Scotland during the Late Middle Ages, often holding the real power behind the throne of the Stewart Kings...
The heads of the House of Douglas held the titles of the Earl of Douglas (Black Douglases) and later the Earl of Angus (Red Douglases)
“Their very clan name, strictly considered, signifies “the black man””
“”Black Douglas" must at one time have been a term interchangeable with "a black man"
“Wherever you encounter the Black Douglas in history or tradition you will find he is a Black man"
SOURCE;
(David MacRitchie, "Ancient and Modern Britons. Vol.1"; p. 207; 1884)
The Earls of Douglas, chiefs of Clan Douglas, and their successors claimed descent from Sholto Douglas...
“Sholto Du Glas; in English, “Behold the black or swarthy-coloured man;” from which, the story goes, he was named Sholto the Douglas”
SOURCE;
(John Burke, “A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire: Volume 1”; 1833)
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