Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown

Last updated

Malcolm Fleming, Earl of Wigtown (died c. 1363) was the son of Robert Fleming, a Stewart vassal and holder of the lands of Fulwood and Cumbernauld, who died sometime before 1314. He was the "foster-father" of King David II of Scotland and became the first man to hold the title Earl of Wigtown.

Malcolm was given the barony of Kirkintilloch [1] forfeited from the Comyns by King Robert I of Scotland during the First War of Scottish Independence and received other lands in Lennox and Wigtownshire. Malcolm became Sheriff of Dumbarton and keeper of the castle thereafter.

Malcolm was on the defeated Bruce side at the Battle of Halidon Hill in July 1333, but managed to escape, and fled back to Dumbarton. He was partly responsible for sending the boy king, Robert's son David II from Dumbarton to exile in France. When David II returned to Scotland in 1341, David granted Malcolm much of western Galloway (Wigtownshire) and the burgh of Wigtown, and created for him the new title, "Earl of Wigtown". It was the first new earldom in Scotland for more than a century (the last was the earldom of Sutherland). Presumably the intention was to re-establish the power of the Bruce dynasty in the strongly Balliol province.

On 17 October 1346, Malcolm was captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross and imprisoned by Robert Bertram, sheriff of Northumberland, but escaped the following year to Scotland. Malcolm remained a favourite of David II. He married a woman called Marjorie, who became David II's nurse. He had four known children, one son and three daughters. Malcolm died in or sometime shortly before 1363, and was succeeded by his grandson Thomas, heir since 1351.

Malcolm's successor to the earldom of Wigtown, his grandson Thomas, had grave financial problems and was stripped of the rights of regality given to his grandfather. The recreation of the Lordship of Galloway for Archibald the Grim in 1369 posed some conceptual problems for the earldom, as it fell within the old territories of the lordship. Thomas found himself in grave financial difficulties and sold the earldom to Archibald in 1372.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert II of Scotland</span> King of Scots from 1371 to 1390

Robert II was King of Scots from 1371 to his death in 1390. The son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and Marjorie, daughter of King Robert the Bruce, he was the first monarch of the House of Stewart. Upon the death of his uncle David II, Robert succeeded to the throne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcudbrightshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Kirkcudbrightshire, or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975, the area has formed part of Dumfries and Galloway for local government purposes. Kirkcudbrightshire continues to be used as a registration county for land registration. A lower-tier district called Stewartry covered the majority of the historic county from 1975 to 1996. The area of Stewartry district is still used as a lieutenancy area. Dumfries and Galloway Council also has a Stewartry area committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloway</span> Region in southwestern Scotland

Galloway is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wigtownshire</span> Historic county in Scotland

Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has formed part of Dumfries and Galloway for local government purposes. Wigtownshire continues to be used as a territory for land registration, being a registration county. The historic county is all within the slightly larger Wigtown Area, which is one of the lieutenancy areas of Scotland and was used in local government as the Wigtown District from 1975 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Galloway</span> Title in the Peerage of Scotland

Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart. He had already been created Lord Garlies in the Peerage of Scotland in 1607, with remainder to the heirs male of his body succeeding to the estates of Garlies. This branch of the Stewart family were distant relatives of the Stewart Kings of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Carrick</span> Title applied to the ruler of Carrick

Earl of Carrick is the title applied to the ruler of Carrick, subsequently part of the Peerage of Scotland. The position came to be strongly associated with the Scottish crown when Robert the Bruce, who had inherited it from his maternal kin, became King of Scots in the early 14th century. Since the 15th century, the title of Earl of Carrick has automatically been held by the heir apparent to the throne, thus the current holder of the title is Prince William, Duke of Rothesay.

Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell was Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He rose to political prominence after supporting James IV against his father, and was proxy at the King's marriage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Douglas</span> Scottish title

This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, son of Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of Scotland. The Earldom was forfeited by James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, in 1455.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Wigtown</span> Two peerages of Scotland

The title of Earl of Wigtown was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. The first creation was in 1341 for Malcolm Fleming, and was surrendered in 1372, when the second Earl sold the Earldom and territory to Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway. The transfer was confirmed by Robert III later in the same year. The Douglas family, Earls of Douglas, held the Earldom of Wigtown for the next hundred years, until the attainder of the 9th Earl of Douglas in 1455.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumbarton Castle</span> Historic location in Dumbarton, Scotland

Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is 240 feet (73 m) high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardoness Castle</span> 15th-century tower house in Scotland

Cardoness Castle is a well-preserved 15th-century tower house just south west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland. It was originally owned by the MacCullochs of Myreton. They abandoned the castle in the late 17th century, following the execution of Sir Godfrey McCulloch for the murder of a Clan Gordon neighbour. It is now in the care of Historic Environment Scotland, and is a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick</span> Mormaer or Earl of Carrick

Donnchadh was a Gall-Gaidhil prince and Scottish magnate in what is now south-western Scotland, whose career stretched from the last quarter of the 12th century until his death in 1250. His father, Gille-Brighde of Galloway, and his uncle, Uhtred of Galloway, were the two rival sons of Fergus, Prince or Lord of Galloway. As a result of Gille-Brighde's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish monarch William the Lion, Donnchadh became a hostage of King Henry II of England. He probably remained in England for almost a decade before returning north on the death of his father. Although denied succession to all the lands of Galloway, he was granted lordship over Carrick in the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whithorn Priory</span> Monastery in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK

Whithorn Priory was a medieval Scottish monastery that also served as a cathedral, located at 6 Bruce Street in Whithorn, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Douglas, 3rd Earl of Douglas</span> Medieval Scottish nobleman from the House of Douglas

Archibald Douglas, Earl of Douglas and Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Douglas and Bothwell, called Archibald the Grim or Black Archibald, was a late medieval Scottish nobleman. Archibald was the bastard son of Sir James "the Black" Douglas, Robert I's trusted lieutenant, and an unknown mother. A first cousin of William 1st Earl of Douglas, he inherited the earldom of Douglas and its entailed estates as the third earl following the death without legitimate issue of James 2nd Earl of Douglas at the Battle of Otterburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas</span> Scottish nobleman

Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas was a Scottish nobleman and general during the Hundred Years' War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas</span> Scottish nobleman

William, 6th Earl of Douglas was a Scottish nobleman. In addition to his Earldom of Douglas, he was Earl of Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Lord of Bothwell, Selkirk and Ettrick Forest, Eskdale, Lauderdale, and Annandale in Scotland, and de jure Duke of Touraine, Count of Longueville, and Lord of Dun-le-roi in France. He was the eldest son of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas and Lady Eupheme Graham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan MacCulloch</span> Lowland Scottish clan

The origins of Clan MacCulloch are unknown, but there is a consensus that the family was one of the most ancient families of Galloway, Scotland, and a leading medieval family in that region. Despite the obscurity of the early history of the clan, the history and genealogies of the family are well documented in Walter Jameson McCulloch's History of the Galloway Families of McCulloch, which provides extensive footnotes for original Scottish charters, correspondence, and other primary source documentation. The latter provides family history for the following lines: Myretoun, Ardwell, Killasser, Torhouse, Drummorrell, Inshanks and Mule, Torhousekie, Cardiness, Barholm, Kirkclaugh, Auchengool, and Ardwall.

Thomas Fleming, Earl of Wigtown was the second person to hold the title earl of Wigtown. He was the grandson of the previous earl, Sir Malcolm Fleming, through the latter's only son John. His mother was a woman named Marjorie.

Adam de Lanark, O.P. was a 14th-century Scottish Dominican friar and prelate. Possibly from a Lanark burgess family, he was a Dominican and a priest by 1356, and by 1364 was styled Magister, indicating the completion of a long university education. He first appears in the sources, c. 1355/6 as a confessor of King David II of Scotland; he retained this royal position through the 1350s and into the 1360s; Adam received a number of English safe-conducts to visit King David, who for a time was a prisoner in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Fleming</span> Scottish clan

Clan Fleming is a Lowland Scottish clan and is officially recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. However, as the clan does not currently have a chief that is recognized by the Lord Lyon King of Arms it is therefore considered an armigerous clan.

References

  1. MacDonald, Hugh (1860). Rambles Round Glasgow (3rd ed.). Glasgow: John Smith. pp. 383–4.
Preceded by
New Creation
Earl of Wigtown
1341-x 1363
Succeeded by