Sholto Douglas was the mythical Progenitor of Clan Douglas

Clan Douglas

Clan Douglas is an ancient Scottish kindred from the Scottish Lowlands taking its name from Douglas, South Lanarkshire, and thence spreading through the Scottish Borderland, Angus, Lothian and beyond. The clan does not currently have a chief, therefore it is considered an armigerous clan.The...

, a powerful and warlike family in Medieval Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.
A Mythical battle took place: "in 767, between King Solvathius rightful king of Scotland and a pretender Donald Bane. The victory was so nearly Donald's when a certain noble man, disdaining to see so bad a cause have good successe, struck in for the king and turned the fortunes of the day. When the king inquired about the knight who had done such valuable service, somebody exclaimed "Sholto du glasse!"..."Behold the black gray man!".." (Ane Historie of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus, David Hume of Godscroft

David Hume of Godscroft

David Hume was a Scottish historian and political theorist, poet and controversialist, a major intellectual figure in Jacobean Scotland. He also spent a decade as pastor of a Protestant congregation in France.-Life:...

, Edinburgh 1646).

In the story of Sholto Douglas, his youngest son, William (or Guillelmo) Douglas is a commander of forces sent by the mythical Scottish king Achaius, to the court of Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 to aid him in his wars against Desiderius

Desiderius

Desiderius was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy...

, King of the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

. William Douglas is said to have settled in Piacenza

Piacenza

Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...

 where his descendants became powerful local magnates, and eventual leaders of the Guelf faction of that city.

Sources

• Godscroft, David Hume of
  David Hume of Godscroft
  David Hume was a Scottish historian and political theorist, poet and controversialist, a major intellectual figure in Jacobean Scotland. He also spent a decade as pastor of a Protestant congregation in France.-Life:...
  
  . Ane Historie of the House and Race of Douglas and Angus. Edinburgh 1646
• Maxwell, Sir Herbert. A History of the House of Douglas Vol.I. Freemantle & co., London, 1902