 Possibly in recognition of his role as hostage on his behalf, he was granted the Barony of Hawick by his cousin Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas, in 1407.In 1412 he was back in Henry IV's Court to negotiate the release of James I of Scotland, who had been captured by the English when a boy 10 years earlier.The Douglas family had built its reputation on border warfare with the English, but this conflict had declined from the 1380s.