Lords of Galloway
Encyclopedia
margin-top:10px; margin-bottom:10px;">  The Arms of the Realm and Ancient Local Principalities of Scotland |
The Lords, or Kings of Galloway ruled over Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
, in south west Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, for a large part of the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
.
Many regions of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, including Galloway and Moray
Mormaer of Moray
The Mormaerdom or Kingdom of Moray was a lordship in High Medieval Scotland that was destroyed by King David I of Scotland in 1130. It did not have the same territory as the modern local government council area of Moray, which is a much smaller area, around Elgin...
, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. The Scottish monarch was seen as being similar to a high king (Ard-Righ in Gaelic). The Kings of Galloway would have either paid tribute to the Scottish monarch, or at other times ignored him.
The Kings of Galloway are fairly well recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries, but the records are incomplete or conflicting at other times. Later on, the kings were known as "lords" at the Scottish court, and "kings" at home, finally becoming "Lords" in both arenas.
The boundaries of the Kingdom of Galloway were ill defined, and varied over time. During many periods Galloway was much larger than it is today, and took in parts of southern Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, such as Carrick
Carrick, Scotland
Carrick is a former comital district of Scotland which today forms part of South Ayrshire.-History:The word Carrick comes from the Gaelic word Carraig, meaning rock or rocky place. Maybole was the historic capital of Carrick. The county was eventually combined into Ayrshire which was divided...
, Upper Douglasdale and Nithsdale
Nithsdale
Nithsdale , also known by its anglicised gaelic name Strathnith or Stranit, is the valley of the River Nith in Scotland, and the name of the region...
. The area appears to have been the main bastion of Scottish Gaelic culture south of the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
in medieval times.
Suibne mac Cináeda (d.1034) is the first recorded king of the Gall-ghàidhil, the people of Galloway, although it is not until about 1138 that the succession is properly recorded. The line appears to have continued until 1234. King Fergus of Galloway
Fergus of Galloway
Fergus of Galloway was King, or Lord, of Galloway from an unknown date , until his death in 1161. He was the founder of that "sub-kingdom," the resurrector of the Bishopric of Whithorn, the patron of new abbeys , and much else besides...
seems to have been of Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
-Galwegian heritage, and may have been descended from earlier princes. He took the throne of Galloway some time between 1110 and 1120. When he died in 1161 Fergus left Galloway to his two sons, Uchtred
Uchtred, Lord of Galloway
Uchtred mac Fergusa was Lord of Galloway from 1161 to 1174, ruling jointly with his half-brother Gille Brigte...
and Gille Brigte
Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway
Gille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway , also known as Gillebrigte, Gille Brighde, Gilbridge, Gilbride, etc., and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was Lord of Galloway of Scotland...
(Gilbert). In 1174 Uchtred died after being brutally blinded and mutilated by his brother Gille Brigte and Gille Brigte's son, Máel Coluim (Malcolm). When Gilla Brigte died a few years later, it was Uchtred's son Lochlann
Lochlann, Lord of Galloway
Lochlann , also known by his French name Roland, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway....
(Roland) who took possession of Galloway. Gilla Brigte's surviving son Donnchad
Donnchadh, 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...
(Duncan) was made 1st Earl/Mormaer of Carrick
Earl of Carrick
The Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick in southwestern Scotland. The title emerged in 1186, when Donnchad, son of Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway, became Mormaer or Earl of Carrick in compensation for exclusion from the whole Lordship of Galloway...
.
Lochlann married Helen, the daughter of Richard de Moreville, Constable of Scotland, and inherited his father-in-law's title. Their son Alan was the most powerful of the lords, but on his death in 1234 he left only daughters. King Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...
broke the line of Galloway's lords by rejecting the claim of Alan's illegitimate son Thomas. In response Gille Ruadh
Gille Ruadh
Gille Ruadh was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. Also called Gilla Ruadh, Gilleroth, Gilrod, Gilroy, etc....
led a revolt against Alexander. This failed however, and Galloway was divided amongst the French husbands of Alan's three living daughters, Roger de Quincy
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester was a medieval nobleman who was prominent on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, as Earl of Winchester and Constable of Scotland....
(married to Ela
Helen of Galloway
Helen of Galloway was a daughter and co-heiress of Alan, Lord of Galloway and his first wife, a daughter of Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester. Helen was the first wife of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester . Although Helen was the first of Roger's three wives, his only descendants were three...
), John de Balliol (married to Derborgaill) and William de Forz
William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle
William III de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle played a conspicuous part in the reign of Henry III of England, notably in the Mad Parliament of 1258.He married:# Christina William III de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle (died 1260) (Latinised as de Fortibus) played a conspicuous part in the reign of Henry...
(married to Cairistiona).
The Laws of Galloway remained in force until 1426, and it is thought that these originally derived their authority from the kings of the area.
List of Lords of Galloway
- ?SuibneSuibne mac CináedaSuibne mac Cináeda , also known as Suibne son of Cinaeth in some works, was a king of the Norse-Gaels . His death is recorded by the Annals of Ulsterand the Annals of Tigernach in 1034....
- -
- ?EchmarcachEchmarcach mac RagnaillEchmarcach mac Ragnaill was the Gall-Gaidhel King of the Isles, Dublin , and much of Galloway. According to Seán Duffy he was either a grandson or great-grandson of Ivar of Waterford, but an alternative exists. Benjamin Hudson has contended Echmarcach was a grandson of Gofraid mac Arailt...
- -
- FergusFergus of GallowayFergus of Galloway was King, or Lord, of Galloway from an unknown date , until his death in 1161. He was the founder of that "sub-kingdom," the resurrector of the Bishopric of Whithorn, the patron of new abbeys , and much else besides...
- UchtredUchtred, Lord of GallowayUchtred mac Fergusa was Lord of Galloway from 1161 to 1174, ruling jointly with his half-brother Gille Brigte...
- Gille BrigteGille Brigte, Lord of GallowayGille Brigte or Gilla Brigte mac Fergusa of Galloway , also known as Gillebrigte, Gille Brighde, Gilbridge, Gilbride, etc., and most famously known in French sources as Gilbert, was Lord of Galloway of Scotland...
- LochlannLochlann, Lord of GallowayLochlann , also known by his French name Roland, was the son and successor of Uchtred, Lord of Galloway as the "Lord" or "sub-king" of eastern Galloway....
- AlanAlan, Lord of GallowayAlan Fitz Roland was the last of the MacFergus dynasty of quasi-independent Lords of Galloway. He was also hereditary Constable of Scotland.-Family:He was the son of Roland, or Lochlann, Lord of Galloway and Helen de Morville...
- ---
- -
- ---
- -
- ---
- ---
- Gilbert
- Roland
- ---
- d. 1034
- -
- d. 1065
- -
- d. 1161
- 1161–1174
- 1174–1185
- 1185–1200
- 1200–1234
Alan's heirs and loss of Independence
- Helen of GallowayHelen of GallowayHelen of Galloway was a daughter and co-heiress of Alan, Lord of Galloway and his first wife, a daughter of Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester. Helen was the first wife of Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester . Although Helen was the first of Roger's three wives, his only descendants were three...
(b.c1208) Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland, who married Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of WinchesterRoger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of WinchesterRoger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester was a medieval nobleman who was prominent on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, as Earl of Winchester and Constable of Scotland....
. - Dervorguilla of GallowayDervorguilla of GallowayDervorguilla of Galloway was a 'lady of substance' during the 13th century, wife from 1223 of John, 5th Baron de Balliol, and mother of the future king John I of Scotland. The name Dervorguilla or Devorgilla was a Latinization of the Gaelic Dearbhfhorghaill...
, who married John de Balliol, 5th feudal baron of Barnard Castle and founder of Balliol College, OxfordBalliol College, OxfordBalliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
. Their son became King John of ScotlandJohn of ScotlandJohn Balliol , known to the Scots as Toom Tabard , was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296.-Early life:Little of John's early life is known. He was born between 1248 and 1250 at an unknown location, possibilities include Galloway, Picardy and Barnard Castle, County Durham...
. - Christian of Galloway (d. 1246), who married William de Forz, Earl of Aumale, but had no issue.
Alan also had an illegitimate son, Thomas.
With Alan's death his holdings were divided between his three daughters and their husbands. A popular attempt was made within Galloway to establish his illegitimate son, Thomas, as ruler, but this failed, and Galloway's period as an independent political entity came to an end. John de Balliol was given the title, which merged with the crown on his ascension.
Douglas Lords
In 1369, Archibald the Grim, had been appointed Lord of Galloway by King David, "becaus he tuke git trawell to purge the cuntrey of Englis blude". Later he would construct his mighty fortress of ThrieveThreave Castle
Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, 2.5 km west of Castle Douglas, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland...
, near present day Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas , a town in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, lies in the eastern part of Galloway known as the Stewartry, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet.-History:...
.
- Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway
- Archibald Douglas Lord of Galloway
- Archibald Douglas, Lord of GallowayArchibald Douglas, 5th Earl of DouglasArchibald Douglas was a Scottish nobleman and General, son of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas and Margaret Stewart, eldest daughter of Robert III...
- Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of GallowayMargaret Douglas, Fair Maid of GallowayMargaret Douglas, Countess of Douglas known as the Fair Maid of Galloway was a Scottish noblewoman, a member of the Black Douglas family towards the end of the family's position as a major force in Scotland....