James Douglas recovered his ancestral castle from English occupation by a ruse. On Palm Sunday 1307, while the garrison attended church, Douglas and his men seized the castle. The garrison was killed and their bodies thrown into the well along with salt, meal and ale — creating the Douglas Larder. The castle was then demolished rather than left standing. The episode established Douglass tactical methods and ferocity that would define his career. Douglas himself had grown up dispossessed and stateless; the recovery of his ancestral lands drove his fighting with exceptional personal motivation.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
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