Agnews of Lochnaw

66 THE FIRST HEREDITARY SHERIFF. [ 1 44-8.
" The tomb is in the form of an arch, with all parts most
beautifully carved ; on the middle of the arch is the heart, the
Douglas's arms, guarded by three chalices set crossways, with a
star near each.
"On the wall is inscribed ' a Taide de Dieu;' and at some
distance beneath, ' Hie jacet D-na Margareta, regis Scotise filio
quodam, Comitessa de Douglas, D-na Gallovidiae et Vallis
Annandise.'
" In the front of the tomb are nine shields, containing as
many arms." 1
The duchess's son, the fifth Earl of Douglas, had died in
1439, leaving three children — William, the sixth earl, and
David his brother, who were both assassinated when under age in
the Castle of Edinburgh. Also the Lady Margaret, famous as
the * Fair Maid of Galloway," whose great-uncle, the Earl of
Avondale, known as " James the Gross," then became seventh
Earl of Douglas ; and he dying in 1443, the " Fair Maid " mar-
ried her cousin William, the eighth Earl.
The Lady Margaret was heiress of the Lordship of Galloway,
and by this marriage the House of Douglas became more power-
ful than ever. The eighth earl had not only to obtain a papal
dispensation to legalise his marriage, but had first to repudiate
a wife he had previously wedded.
Time passed on, and very early in life (about 1448), the
young Laird of Lochnaw was married to a daughter of his
father's early friend and neighbour, Thomas M'Dowall of
Garthland.
The Douglases recommenced their oppressions, and Lochnaw
was no longer exempted from their attacks ; for particulars of
this we have only the authority of local tradition, and that in a
somewhat vague form. It is said that a party of Douglases was
closely besieging Lochnaw, and as they were pressing the attack,
a band of M'Ewans, a stalwart race who had lately arrived from
the Highlands, opportunely came to the rescue, and, taking the
Douglases in the rear, obliged them to fly. They took many
1 Pennant's Tour in Scotland.