1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Douglas (Scotland)

DOUGLAS, a village of Lanarkshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 1206. It is situated on Douglas water, 3 m. from Douglas station on the branch line from Carstairs to Ayr, 11 m. by road S.S.W. of Lanark. It is a place of ancient aspect, bearing evident signs of decay, but possesses peculiar interest as the original home of the great Douglas family. Of the old castle, Scott’s Castle Dangerous, only a tower exists. The stronghold repeatedly changed hands during the wars waged against Edward I. for the independence of Scotland. The modern castle is the seat of the earl of Home. Only the choir and spire remain of the 12th-century church of St Bride, the patron saint of the Douglases. The vault beneath the choir was, until 1761, the burial-place of the family, and it contains a silver case said to hold the ashes of the heart of the “good Sir James” (1286–1330). In 1879 the choir was restored and the tombs (including that of Sir James Douglas) repaired. David Hackston of Rathillet, the Covenanter, is stated to have been captured in the village (in a house still standing) after the battle of Aird’s Moss in 1680. On the hill of Auchensaugh (1286 ft.), 21/2 m. S.E., the Cameronians assembled in 1712 to renew the Solemn League and Covenant. This gathering, the “Auchensaugh Wark,” as it was called, led up to the secession of the Reformed Presbyterians from the Kirk.