The lords of Galloway consisted of a dynasty of heirs who were lords (or kings) and ladies who ruled over

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

in southwest Scotland, mainly during the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The Scottish monarch was seen as being similar to a

high king A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings, without the title of emperor. Similar titles include great king and king of kings. The high kings of history usually ruled over lands of cultural unity; thus ...

(''Ard-Righ'' in

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

). The lords of Galloway would have either paid tribute to the Scottish monarch, or at other times ignored him. The Lords 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 (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, such as Carrick, Upper Douglasdale and

Nithsdale Nithsdale (), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale (landform), dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost their administrat ...

. The area appears to have been the main bastion of

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

culture south of the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

in the

Kingdom of Galloway

Suibne mac Cináeda Suibne mac Cináeda (died 1034) was an eleventh-century ruler of the ''Gall Gaidheil'', a population of mixed Norsemen, Scandinavian and Gaels, Gaelic ethnicity. There is little known of Suibne as he is only attested in three sources that record ...

(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 Dynasty of Fergus appears to have continued until 1234 and the Laws of Galloway remained in force until 1426. It is thought that these laws originally derived their authority from the kings of Galloway. Contrary to some popular conceptions, there is no evidence that Galloway was ever part of the

Kingdom of Strathclyde Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...

. It does not logically follow from that that Galloway (west of the Nith at least) lay outside the traditional area claimed by the

Kingdom of Alba The Kingdom of Alba (; ) was the Kingdom of Scotland between the deaths of Donald II in 900 and of Alexander III in 1286. The latter's death led indirectly to an invasion of Scotland by Edward I of England in 1296 and the First War of Scotti ...

, Strathclyde's

successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th ...

in the area. Galloway, often defined as all of the area to the south and west of the Clyde and west of the

River Annan The River Annan is a river in south-west Scotland. It rises on Annanhead Hill and flows through the Devil's Beef Tub, Moffat and Lockerbie, reaching the sea at Annan, Dumfries and Galloway after about 40 miles. Name The etymology of the R ...

, acknowledged the kings of Scotland as Ard Rí or over-king when politic. The year before his death, Fergus resigned Galloway into the hands of King Mael Coluim IV of Scotland. Though it formed part of the northern mainland of Britain, Galloway was just as much a part of the Irish Sea; part of that Hiberno-Norse world of the Gall-Gaidhel lords of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and the

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

. The ex-King of Dublin and Man,

Echmarcach mac Ragnaill Echmarcach mac Ragnaill (died 1064/1065) was a dominant figure in the eleventh-century Irish Sea region. At his height, he reigned as king over Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin, the Kingdom of the Isles, Isles, and perhaps the Kingdom of the Rhinns, Rh ...

, had the title ''Rex Innarenn'' (possibly "

King of the Rhinns Na Renna, or the Kingdom of the Rhinns, was a Norse-Gaelic lordship which appears in 11th century records. The Rhinns () was a province in Medieval Scotland, and comprised, along with Farines, the later Wigtownshire. The ''Martyrology of Óengu ...

") attributed to him on his death in 1065. The western sections of Galloway had been firmly aligned with the Isle of Man, and Norse and Gaelic-Norse settlement names from the 10th and 11th centuries are spread all along the coastal lands of south-western "Scotland" and north-western "England".

Magnus III

In the late 11th century, the Norwegian King Magnus III Berrføtt ("Barefoot") led a campaign of subjugation in the Irish Sea area. In 1097, he sent his vassal, Ingimundr, to take control of the Kingdom of the Isles. However, when this man was killed, Magnus himself launched the first of his two invasions, the campaigns of 1098-1099 and of 1102-1103. In the former campaign, he took control of the

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...

of Scotland, and deposed King Lagmann of Man. (Incidentally, this campaign also brought him to Wales, where he killed the Earl of Chester and the Earl of Shrewsbury, who were at war with the Prince of Gwynedd.) In this campaign, Magnus almost certainly brought Galloway under his suzerainty too. Magnus, moreover, gained the recognition of these conquests from the then-king of

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

, Etgair mac Maíl Coluim. On his second campaign, Magnus went to Man, and with a huge fleet attacked Dublin and attempted to force the submission of Muircertach mac Toirrdelbach, the

Uí Briain The O'Brien dynasty (; ; genitive ''Uí Bhriain'' ) was an Irish Clan and noble house of Munster, founded in the 10th century by Brian Boru of the Dál gCais (Dalcassians). After becoming King of Munster, through conquest he established himse ...

King of

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

. The campaign resulted in an alliance between the two kings, and the arranged marriage of Magnus' son Siguðr to Muircertach's daughter Bjaðmunjo. The alliance mitigated the threat of

Domnall Ua Lochlainn Domhnall Ua Lochlainn (old spelling: Domnall Ua Lochlainn) (1048 – 10 February 1121), also known as Domhnall Mac Lochlainn (old spelling: Domnall Mac Lochlainn), was king of the Cenél Eogain, over-king of Ailech, and alleged High King o ...

, King of Ailech, bringing stability to the Irish Sea world, and security to Magnus' new Irish Sea "Empire." However, it all went wrong when Magnus was killed on his way back to Norway on a minor raid in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. Much of Magnus' work lay in ruins.

Fergusan Dynasty

Fergus of Galloway Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter o ...

took the throne of Galloway some time between 1110 and 1120. When he died in 1161 the year after taking canonical habit in Holyrood, according to the Chronicle of Holyrood, and resigning Galloway to Scotland’s King Mael Coluim IV, Galloway was left to his two sons, Uchtred and Gille Brigte (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, in a meeting between the kings of Scotland and England and the two sons of Uchtred and Gille Brigte, it was agreed that Uchtred's son

Lochlann In the modern Gaelic languages, () signifies Scandinavia or, more specifically, Norway. As such it is cognate with the Welsh name for Scandinavia, (). In both old Gaelic and old Welsh, such names literally mean 'land of lakes' or 'land of sw ...

(Roland) would take possession of the southern part of Galloway. Gilla Brigte's surviving son Donnchad (Duncan) was given the northern part, being made 1st Earl/Mormaer of Carrick. Lochlann married Helen, the daughter of Richard de Moreville,

Constable of Scotland The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the royal family.p60-61, Bruce, Alistair, Keepers of the Kingdo ...

, and inherited his father-in-law's title. Their son

Alan of Galloway Alan of Galloway (before 1199 – 1234) was a leading thirteenth-century Scottish magnate. As the hereditary Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland, he was one of the most influential men in the Kingdom of Scotland and Irish Sea zone. Ala ...

was the most powerful of the lords and upon his death in 1234, his holdings were divided between his three daughters and their husbands. However, an attempt was made, within Galloway, to establish Alan's illegitimate son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

as ruler, but this failed when King

Alexander II of Scotland Alexander II ( Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; nicknamed "the Peaceful" by modern historians; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined t ...

broke the line of rejected such claim for an illegitimate son to take over. In response,

Gille Ruadh Gille Ruadh was the Galwegian leader who led the revolt against King Alexander II of Scotland. His birth, death date and origins are all unknown. Upon the death of Alan, Lord of Galloway, in 1234, Galloway was left without a legitimate feudal ...

led a revolt against Alexander. The attempt failed resulting in Galloway being divided amongst Alan's three living daughters who were married to Anglo-Normans, Roger de Quincy (married to Ela), John de Balliol (married to Derborgaill) and William de Forz (married to Cairistiona). Galloway's period as an independent political entity eventually came to an end with John de Balliol delegated as Lord.

Douglas Lords

In 1369,

Archibald the Grim Archibald Douglas, Earl of Douglas and Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Douglas and Bothwell (c. 1330 – c. 24 December 1400), called Archibald the Grim or Black Archibald, was a late medieval Scottish nobleman. Archibald was the illegitimate son o ...

had been appointed Lord of Galloway by

David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, be ...

, "becaus he tuke git trawell to purge the cuntrey of Englis blude". Later he would construct his mighty fortress of Thrieve, near present-day

Castle Douglas Castle Douglas () is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ecclesiastical paris ...

. * Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway * Archibald Douglas Lord of Galloway * Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway * Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway

List of lords of Galloway

Notes

References

*''The Arms of the Realm and Ancient Local Principalities of Scotland'', Bartholomew 1983. {{Royal houses of Britain and Ireland

History of Galloway Feudalism in Scotland