There is no record of Archibald Douglas’s part in the events between the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Neville’s Cross and the murder of William Douglas of Liddesdale. He likely took part in or witnessed most of the recorded events, and I stuck to what is known as closely as possible. Archie was definitely with William, Lord (later Earl) of Douglas in France at the Battle of Poitiers three years later, making it a reasonable assumption that he was with Douglas earlier in Scotland.
Not until the year following the Battle of Neville’s Cross did Douglas finally return to Scotland. I have always questioned why he did not return when all the other Scots who had been in exile returned home. A likely explanation seems to me to be fear of putting himself in the hands of his cousin of Liddesdale. He was an effective leader after his return.
The black plague hit England about a year before it hit Scotland. Stories by the English have said that a Scottish army in Scotland first contracted it in Scotland. However, no army was raised in Scotland that year, so that cannot be correct. Douglas’s forces were having some success at pushing the English out of Douglas’s lands, though, so I assume that is the ‘army’ they were referring to. Approximately one-third of Scots died that year and the following one. However, it had subsided in Scotland during the winter, probably because the Scottish winter was cold enough to kill the plague-carrying fleas.
The tournament I describe is fictional, but Scots enjoyed jousting, and a celebration of what must have seemed like an end to the plague seems plausible. Jousting was a very profitable sport for those who excelled in it. When Archie was briefly captured by the English a few years later, they mistook him for a great lord because of the richness of his armor. The most likely means for a landless knight to afford such armor was either from ransom on the battlefield or profits from jousting.
The only change I made in the events of the negotiations for King David’s release was condensing the time frame, but I did not change the events or the outcome. It is important to remember that he was only twenty-nine years old at the time and, of course, expected to have children, which would have made an English ‘heir’ a moot threat. That was a risk the Scots refused to take. The Scots in parliament told him that he must reject the proposal, or they would find a new king, an unusual threat for the period. It proved a wise decision since he had no children.
Liddesdale’s treason was not common knowledge in Scotland, even for quite some time after his death. This leads historians to assume that the Lord of Douglas did not know about it when he murdered Liddesdale. I find this reasoning flawed. Liddesdale had agreed that the English would be allowed to freely cross his lands, so his men had to be ordered not to attack them. I find it unlikely that someone, if not Archie, then someone else, would not have informed Douglas of this fact. Locally, it could hardly be kept secret.
Why would Liddesdale do such a thing after faithfully fighting for Scottish independence for so long during a period when Scotland’s victory looked highly unlikely? He is considered the great hero of the early years of the Second War of Scottish Independence, almost as great as his cousin, the Black Douglas. This has baffled many. I gave the best explanation I could come up with in the novel. King David was well treated, but that did not mean that other Scottish prisoners were. Many English had a special enmity toward the Douglases. Archie’s grandfather, the Black Douglases father, died in the Tower of London, probably starved to death. William, Lord of Douglas, is said to have sworn that he would never allow himself to be taken prisoner, and one can understand why.
For research, Walter Bower’s Scoticronicon is essential for this period, but the translation is difficult to find. Michael Penman’s David II is detailed and a great source of information. The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death is one of the better books I have read on the black death. I recommend The Black Douglases by Michael Brown for a good overview of the power, influence, and failings of the Douglases. Another important reference is John Froissart’s Chronicles of England, France, Spain, and the Adjoining Countries, which is particularly interesting to me since Froissart knew Archibald Douglas, having been his guest while traveling in Scotland. And, of course, I always have reference to the Scots Peerage. As usual, I recommend Fabulous Feasts for anyone interested in medieval food and meals. It contains menus and recipes and counters many myths concerning medieval dining.