 Scottish chronicler John of Fordun (d. 1384) reasoned that the murder was revenge for the Knight's killing of Sir Alexander Ramsay and Sir David Barclay.Scottish historian David Hume of Godscroft (d. 1629) considered the murder an act of jealous rage, brought on by the Knight's attentions to the Countess of Douglas, a notion that had become the subject of a popular ballad.However, this is easily set aside by the fact that the Lord Douglas did not actually marry until 1357.