The title of Duke of Buccleuch (pronounced "Bucloo") was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for James Crofts, eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of England, who had married Anne Scott, Countess of Buccleuch. Anne was created Duchess in her own right along with her husband, so that the title was not affected by Monmouth's attainder in 1685. It passed on to his descendants, who have borne the surnames Scott or Montagu-Douglas-Scott. In 1810, the Duke of Buccleuch inherited the title of Duke of Queensberry, also in the Peerage of Scotland, thus separating that title from that of Marquess of Queensberry. Thus, the holder is one of the only four people to hold two or more different dukedoms, the others being the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, the Duke of Argyll (who holds two dukedoms named Argyll), and the Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Gordon.
The subsidiary titles associated with the Dukedom of Buccleuch are: Earl of Buccleuch (1619), Earl of Doncaster (1663), Earl of Dalkeith (1663), Lord Scott of Buccleuch (1606), Lord Scott of Whitechester and Eskdale (1619), and Baron Scott of Tyndale (1663). (All, except for the Earldom of Doncaster and the Barony of Scott of Tyndale, are in the peerage of Scotland.) The courtesy title used by the Duke's eldest son and heir is Earl of Dalkeith. The Earldom and Barony had been forfeit at the time of the first Duke's attainder, but the titles were restored to the second Duke of Buccleuch in 1742.
The current Duke of Buccleuch is the largest private landowner in Great Britain and chairman of the Buccleuch Group, a holding company with interests in commercial property, rural affairs, food, and beverages.
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his son and heir: Richard Walter John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (b. February 14 1954)
the Earl's son and heir: Walter John Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lord Eskdale (b. August 2 1984)