The Douglas Larder

In 1307, with the help of a local farmer, a former vassal of his father, Douglas and his small troop were hidden until the morning of Palm Sunday, when the garrison left the battlements to attend the local church.

Gathering local support they entered the church and the war-cry ‘Douglas!’ ‘Douglas!’ went up for the first time. Some of the English soldiers were killed and others taken prisoner. The prisoners were taken to the castle, now largely empty. All the stores were piled together in the cellar; the wine casks burst open and the wood used for fuel. The prisoners were then beheaded and placed on top of the pile, which was set alight. Before departing the wells were poisoned with salt and the carcases of dead horses.

The local people soon gave the whole gruesome episode the name of the ‘Douglas Larder’. As an example of frightfulness in war it was meant to leave a lasting impression, not least upon the men who came to replace their dead colleagues. Further attacks followed by a man now known to the English as the ‘Blak Dowglas’, a sinister and murderous force ‘mair fell than wes ony devill in hell’. It would seem in this that Douglas was an early practitioner of psychological warfare, as well as guerilla warfare, in his knowledge that fear alone could do much of the work of a successful commander.