Lord Alfred Douglas to him in an article on Wilde. Douglas was either plaintiff or defendant in several trials for civil or criminal libel. In 1913 he was charged with libelling his father-in-law. Also in 1913 he accused Arthur Ransome of libelling him in his book "Oscar Wilde: A Critical Study". He saw this trial as a weapon against his enemy Ross, not understanding that Ross would not be called to give evidence. The court found in Ransome's favour and Douglas was bankrupted by the failed libel suit. Ransome did remove the offending passages from the second edition of his book. In the
Hugh the Dull, Lord of Douglas Hugh the Dull, Lord of Douglas Hugh the Dull (1294 – between 1342 and 1346) was Lord of Douglas, a Scottish nobleman and cleric. The second son of William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, William Wallace's companion in arms, and Eleanor Ferrers. Hugh's elder brother was Sir James Douglas, a hero of the Wars of Independence, and his younger was Sir Archibald Douglas, Guardian of the realm, and Scots commander at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Hugh of Douglas is first heard of in 1296. Following the forfeiture of his father's English possessions, the two-year-old Hugh was taken into custody