Douglas (George), nephew of the regent Murray of Scotland, and grandson of the lady of Lochleven. George Douglas was devoted to Mary Queen of Scots.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).
Douglas and the Bloody Heart. The heart of Bruce was entrusted to Douglas to carry to Jerusalem. Landing in Spain, he stopped to aid the Castilians against the Moors, and in the heat of battle cast the "heart," enshrined in a golden coffer, into the very thickest of the foe, saying, "The heart or death!" On he dashed, fearless of danger, to regain the coffer, but perished in the attempt. The family thenceforth adopted the "bloody heart" as their armorial device.
Douglas Larder (The). When the "Good Sir James" Douglas, in 1306, took his castle by coup de main from the English, he caused all the barrels containing flour, meal, wheat, and malt to be knocked in pieces and their contents to be thrown on the floor; he then staved in all the hogsheads of wine and ale upon this mass. To this he flung the dead bodies slain and some dead horses. The English called this disgusting mass "The Douglas Larder." He then set fire to the castle and took refuge in the hills, for he said "he loved far better to hear the lark sing than the mouse cheep."
Wallace's Larder is a similar phrase. It is the dungeon of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, where Wallace had the dead bodies of the garrison thrown, surprised by him in the reign of Edward I.
Douloureuse Garde (La), a castle in Berwick-upon-Tweed, won by Sir Launcelot du Lac, in one of the most terrific adventures related in romance. In memory of this event, the name of the castle was changed into La Joyeuse Garde or La Garde Joyeuse.
Dousterswivel (Herman), a German schemer, who obtains money under the promise of finding hidden wealth by a divining rod.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).
The incident of looking for treasure in the church is copied from one which Lily mentions, who went with David Kamsay to search for hidden treasure in Westminster Abbey.—See Old and New London, i. 129.
Dove (Dr.), the hero of Southey's novel called The Doctor (1834).
Dove (Sir Benjamin), of Cropley Castle, Cornwall. A little, peaking, puling creature, desperately hen-pecked by a second wife; but madam overshot the mark, and the knight was roused to assert and maintain the mastery.