From the
Scots Peerage1:
Sir James Douglas, Lord of Douglas, fondly known to his countrymen as the 'good Sir James' is one of the three heroes of Scottish Independence, the other two being Wallace and Bruce. Indeed in Barbour's Brus epic Sir James has a place scarcely second to the King himself, while his history is so interwoven with that of his country that it is difficult to separate the two, the rather as we know almost nothing of his personal life.
...
He was, it is said, of commanding stature, well formed, large-boned, and with broad shoulders ; his countenance was somewhat dark or swarthy, but frank and open, set off by locks of sable hue. Courteous in manner, wise in speech, though he spoke with a slight lisp, gentle in all his actions. Terrible in battle, and at all times an enemy to everything treacherous, dishonourable, or false. James Douglas was in France when his father died, and after a time he returned to Scotland, going first to William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews, who received him kindly, and he remained in the prelate's household for some time. After Edward had disdainfully refused to restore his lands to him, Douglas joined Bruce and became one of his most trusted allies, and from that time the two men were seldom apart.
...
King Edward I. died on 7 July 1307, and Bruce soon after set out on his campaign in the north of Scotland, while Douglas devoted himself to driving the English garrisons out of the border districts of Selkirk and Jedburgh, and he also made a third successful attack on his own castle, which he now razed to the ground. By the exertions of Douglas and others Scotland became so far freed from English control that Bruce was able, in March 1308-9, to hold his first Parliament, where Douglas was present. In February 1313 he captured the castle of Roxburgh by a somewhat grotesque stratagem. The battle of Bannockburn on 24 June 1314 settled the independence of Scotland, but even after that decisive conflict an intermittent warfare took place for many years. Sir James Douglas played his part in clearing and guarding the marches of the country with activity, prowess, and daring, and the dread of him was so great that English mothers used the name of the 'Black Douglas' to frighten their children with. Raids into England alternated with the more peaceful duties of attending Parliaments.
Footnotes
[1] The Scots Peerage, by Sir James Balfour Paul, Volume 3, Edinburgh (1906); Douglas, Earl of Douglas (pages 132-185)
