Marquess of Dumfriesshire Earl of Buccleuch Earl of Dalkeith Earl of Doncaster Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar Viscount of Nith, Tortholwald and Ross Baron Scott of Tindale Lord Scott of Buccleuch Lord Scott of Whitchester and Eskdaill Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock
The substantial origin of the ducal house of the Scotts of Buccleuch dates back to the large grants of lands in Scotland to Sir Walter Scott of Kirkurd and Buccleuch, a border chief, by King James II, in consequence of the fall of the 8th Earl of Douglas (1452), but the family traced their descent back to a Sir Richard le Scott (1240–1285). Sir Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch (died 1552) distinguished himself at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (1547). His great-grandson Sir Walter was created Lord Scott of Buccleuch in 1606.[2]
Other subsidiary titles associated with the Dukedom of Buccleuch are: Earl of Buccleuch (1619), Earl of Dalkeith (1663) and Lord Scott of Whitchester and Eskdaill (1619) (all in the Peerage of Scotland). The Duke also holds the two subsidiary titles of the attainted Dukedom of Monmouth, namely Earl of Doncaster (1663) and Baron Scott of Tindale (1663) (both in the Peerage of England), and several subsidiary titles associated with the Dukedom of Queensberry, namely Marquess of Dumfriesshire (1683), Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar (1682), Viscount of Nith, Tortholwald and Ross (1682) and Lord Douglas of Kilmount, Middlebie and Dornock (1682) (all in the Peerage of Scotland). The Earldom of Doncaster and Barony of Scott of Tindale had been forfeit at the time of the first Duke's attainder, but the titles were restored to the 2nd Duke of Buccleuch in 1742. Until 1835, the Dukes also held lands in the West Riding of Yorkshire and the ancient title of Lord of Bowland. The Duke of Buccleuch is the hereditary chief of Clan Scott.[3] The holder is one of only five people in the UK to hold two or more different dukedoms, the others being the Duke of Cornwall, Rothesay, and Cambridge (all currently held by the Prince of Wales), the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the Duke of Argyll (who holds two dukedoms named Argyll), and the Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon.
The courtesy title used by the Duke's eldest son and heir is Earl of Dalkeith; and that of Lord Dalkeith's eldest son and heir is Lord Eskdaill.
The novelist Sir Walter Scott, Bart., was directly descended of the Lords of Buccleuch. His family history, fancifully interpreted, is the main subject of much of The Lay of the Last Minstrel.
The current Duke of Buccleuch, Richard Scott, the 10th Duke, is one of the largest private landowners in Scotland with some 200,000 acres (over 80,000 hectares)[4][5] and chairman of the Buccleuch Group, a holding company with interests in commercial property, rural affairs, food, and beverages. The title originally comes from a holding in the Scottish Borders, near Selkirk.
The family seats are Bowhill House, three miles from Selkirk, representing the Scott line; Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway, representing the Douglas line; and Boughton House in Northamptonshire, England, representing the Montagu line. These three houses are still lived in by the family and are also open to the public. The family also owns Dalkeith Palace in Midlothian, which is let, and has owned several other country houses and castles in the past. Its historic London residence was Montagu House, Whitehall, now demolished and replaced by the Ministry of Defence.
William Montagu Douglas Scott, The Earl of Dalkeith, who became the 7th Duke of Buccleuch was elected President of St. Andrew's Ambulance Association in 1908. The Presidency of the Association (now St Andrew's First Aid) has been held by the Buccleuch family from that date.
Most of the Dukes of Buccleuch (the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th) are buried in the Buccleuch Memorial Chapel in St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Dalkeith, Midlothian. The 2nd Duke (died 1751) is buried in Eton College Chapel. The most recent Dukes (the 8th and 9th) are buried among the ruins of Melrose Abbey in Melrose.[6]
Dukes of Buccleuch are invariably granted the honour of Knight of the Order of the Thistle.[7]
The heir apparent is the present holder's son Walter John Francis Montagu Douglas Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (b. 1984)
The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son, Willoughby Ralph Montagu Douglas Scott, Lord Eskdaill (b. 2016)
Line of succession (simplified)
Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch, 7th Duke of Queensberry (1806–1884)
William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch, 8th Duke of Queensberry (1831–1914)
John Montagu Douglas Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch, 9th Duke of Queensberry (1864–1935)
Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch, 10th Duke of Queensberry (1894–1973)
John Montagu Douglas Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch, 11th Duke of Queensberry (1923–2007)
Richard Montagu Douglas Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch, 12th Duke of Queensberry (b. 1954)
(1). Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (b. 1984)
(2). Willoughby Montagu Douglas Scott, Lord Eskdaill (b. 2016)
(3). Lord Charles David Peter Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 1987)
(4). Rufus Peter Francis Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 2017)
(5). Wilfred Richard Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 2019)
(6). Lord William Henry John Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 1957)
(7). Lord Damian Torquil Francis Charles Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 1970)
(8). Alexander Edward James Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 2002)
(9). Orlando John Sebastian Montagu Douglas Scott (b. 2009)
Quarterly: 1st grandquarter for the Earldom of Doncaster: the arms of King Charles II debruised by a Baton Sinister Argent; 2nd grandquarter for the Dukedom of Argyll: quarterly, 1st and 4th: Gyronny of eight Or and Sable (Campbell); 2nd and 3rd: Argent a Lymphad sails furled Sable flags and pennons flying Gules and oars in action of the second (Lorne); 3rd grandquarter for the Dukedom of Queensberry: quarterly, 1st and 4th: Argent a Heart Gules crowned with an Imperial Crown Or on a Chief Azure three Mullets of the field (Douglas); 2nd and 3rd, Azure a Bend between six Cross Crosslets fitchée Or (Mar); the whole of this grandquarter within a Bordure Or charged with a double Tressure flory-counter-flory Gules; 4th grandquarter for the Dukedom of Montagu: quarterly, 1st: Argent three Fusils conjoined in fess Gules a Bordure Sable (Montagu); 2nd: Or an Eagle displayed Vert beaked and membered Gules (Monthermer); 3rd: Sable a Lion rampant Argent on a Canton of the last a Cross Gules (Churchill); 4th: Argent a Chevron Gules between three Caps of Maintenance their fronts turned to the sinister Azure furred Ermine (Brudenell); over the grandquarters at the fess point an Inescutcheon Or on a Bend Azure a Mullet of six points between two Crescents of the field (Scott).
Supporters
On either side a Female Figure proper habited from the waist downwards in a Kirtle Azure gathered up at the knees the arms and bosom uncovered around the shoulders a Flowing Mantle as before suspended by the exterior hand girdle and sandals Gules and her head adorned with a Plume of three Ostrich Feathers Argent
William Douglas 1637–1695 1st Duke of Queensberry, Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, 3rd Earl of Queensberry
Lady Catherine Douglas
James Douglas 1639–1708 1st Baronet of Kelhead
Dukedoms of Monmouth and Buccleuch (1st creation) and earldoms of Buccleuch and Doncaster forfeit, 1663
James Douglas 1662–1711 2nd Duke of Queensberry, 1st Duke of Dover and Marquess of Beverley, 2nd Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar
James Douglas 1697–1715 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar
Charles Douglas 1698–1778 3rd Duke of Queensberry, 2nd Duke of Dover and Marquess of Beverley, 4th Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Earl of Solway
Charles Douglas 1726–1756 styled Earl of Drumlanrig
William Douglas 1724–1810 4th Duke of Queensberry, 5th Marquess of Queensberry, Marquess of Dumfriesshire, and Earl of Drumlanrig and Sanquhar, Earl of March
Henry Scott 1746–1812 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and Earl of Dalkeith, 5th Duke of Queensberry
Sholto Francis Guy Douglas b. 1967 styled Viscount Drumlanrig
Lord Torquil Oberon Tobias Douglas b. 1978
Walter John Francis Montagu Douglas Scott b. 1984 styled Earl of Dalkeith
Willoughby Ralph Montagu Douglas Scott b. 2016 Lord Eskdaill
In media
Nick Carraway, the narrator of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, says his family has "a tradition that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch", but then points out that this is not true.
^Mosley, Charles, ed. (1999). "Buccleuch and Queensberry". Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Vol. 1 (106th ed.). Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. pp. 409–412. ISBN2-940085-02-1.
^Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "Buccleuch and Queensberry". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's Ltd. pp. 692–697. ISBN978-1-999767-0-5-1.
^James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry, a homicidal maniac, was excluded from the line of succession to the Dukedoms of Queensberry and Dover when his father — the 2nd Duke of Queensberry — surrendered all of his titles except the Marquessate and its subsidiary titles back to the Crown and obtained a new grant with the same precedence for the surrendered titles that altered the succession to his second son and then the heirs male and female of the 1st Earl of Queensberry. The succession of the Marquessate continued in remainder to the heirs male of the 1st Earl of Queensberry.
![Ancestral Scott arms: Or on a bend azure a mullet of six points between two crescents of the field[10]](File:Arms_of_the_house_of_Scott_of_Buccleuch.svg)
