Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Montgomerie, John
MONTGOMERIE, Sir JOHN, ninth of Eaglesham and first of Eglinton and Ardrossan (d. 1398?), was the only son of Sir Alexander de Montgomerie, eighth of Eaglesham and first of Eglinton and Ardrossan, by a daughter of William, first earl of Douglas. The Montgomeries of Scotland trace their descent from Robert de Montgomerie (d. 1177), a supposed descendant of Roger of Montgomery (d. 1094) [q. v.], who was created Earl of Shrewsbury, and was father of Hugh, earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1098) [q. v.] Robert de Montgomerie accompanied Walter, son of Alan, first high steward of Scotland, from Wales to Scotland, and received from him the manor of Eaglesham, Renfrewshire.
Sir John Montgomerie, ninth of Eaglesham, succeeded his father about 1380, and by his marriage with Elizabeth de Eglinton, sole heiress of Sir Hugh de Eglinton of Eglinton, justiciary of Lothian in 1361, obtained the baronies of Eglinton and Ardrossan. In 1388 he accompanied his brother-in-law, Sir James Douglas, second earl of Douglas [q. v.], in an expedition to England. At the battle of Otterburn, where Douglas was slain, Montgomerie, according to the Scots version of the ballad on the battle, worsted Sir Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, the commander of the English, in single combat and took him prisoner. With the ransom of Percy he built at Eaglesham the castle of Polnoon, now in ruins, but long the chief seat of the Eglinton family. In 1391 Montgomerie, for service to the king and the Duke of Rothesay, received an annuity from the customs of Edinburgh and Linlithgow (Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, iii. 280 et seq.) He died about 1398, leaving three sons—Sir John, who succeeded him, and was father of Sir Alexander, first lord Montgomerie [q. v.]; Alexander of Bonnington, and Hugh, shot with an arrow through the heart at Otterburn.
[Froissart's Chronicles; ancient ballad on the battle of Otterburn; Exchequer Kolls of Scotland, vol. iii.; Sir William Fraser's Earls of Eglinton; Douglas's Scottish Peerage (Wood), i. 494.]