MORTON, JAMES DOUGLAS, fourth Earl of (1530-81). Regent of Scotland. The second son of Sir George Douglas of Pittendrieeh, in 1553 he succeeded in right of his wife, Eliza beth, daughter of the third Earl of Douglas. to the title and estates of the earldom. early favored the cause of the Reformation, and in 1557 was one of the original lords of the congregation. Sworn a Privy Councilor in 1561, he was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, January 7, 1563. As one of the chief against Rizzi° (q.v.), he fled his associates to Engla nd. but obtained his pardon from the Queen. Though privy to the design for the murder of Darnley, on the marriage of the Queen to Bothwell he joined the confederacy of the nobles against her. After Mary's imprisonment in the Castle of Lochleven, he was restored to the ollice of High Chmwellor, of which he had been deprived, and constituted Lord High Ad miral of Scotland. On the death of the Earl of in October, 1572, he was elected Ilegent of the kingdom. His rule, chiefly directed toward
the benefit of the masses and toward the forma tion of a Protestant league with England, in anticipation of the union of the two kingdoms, made him obnoxious to many of the nobles, and as the young King. James VI., desired to assume the reins of government, Morton resigned the regency in Mareh, 1578. Two months later, how ever. he obtained possession of the Castle of Stirling, with the person of the King, and for a time recovered his authority. Intrigue. however, was active against him; he was accused of having participated in the murder of Darnley, and was beheaded at Edinburgh, .Tune 2, I :i51, bearing himself with dignity and composure, and maintaining his innocence of 'art and part' in the murder of the King's father. Consult; Crawford, Crown and State Officers of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1726) ; Fronde, History of Eng land, ch. lxiii. (London, 1581-82).