James Douglas, Earl of Morton, Regent of Scotland, engraved by
George Baird Shaw after an unknown artist (1844)

From: Sir Walter Scott, The Abbot (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1877)

James Douglas, Earl of Morton (d. 1581) was a principal actor in the murder of Mary Stuart's secretary David Rizzio and was later involved in the plot against Lord Darnley. He was chief advisor to the Regent Murray, becoming Regent after his death, and defeated Mary's forces at Langside after her escape from Lochleven Castle. In Scott's The Abbot he is portrayed as 'deep and dark' (ch. 3), the implacable and ruthless enemy of Mary and the Catholic cause. His military and political career are also described in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, First Series (1828). This engraving was first published in vol. V of the Abbotsford Edition of the Waverley Novels (Edinburgh: Cadell, 1844). It is based on an earlier engraving in Lodge's Portraits of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain.