Burning of Edinburgh (1544)
Encyclopedia
The Burning of Edinburgh in 1544 by an English sea-borne army was the first major action of the war of the Rough Wooing. A Scottish army observed the landing on 3 May 1544 but did not engage with the English force. The Provost of Edinburgh was compelled to allow the English to sack Leith
and Edinburgh
. However, the Scottish artillery within Edinburgh Castle
harassed the English forces, who had neither the time nor the resources to besiege the Castle. The English fleet sailed away loaded with captured goods, and with two ships that had belonged to James V of Scotland
. The soldiers returned by land burning other towns, villages and farmsteads along the way.
Henry VIII of England
had the ambition to unite the Kingdoms of Britain, or at least to have them pay him homage. He had contracted with the Regent Arran that Mary, Queen of Scots would marry his son, Prince Edward
. But Arran allowed the Parliament of Scotland
to revoke this agreement prompting Henry to declare war in December 1543, and now the Regent was making ground against his rebels who still supported the English marriage, such as the Earl of Lennox
, Earl of Glencairn, the Earl of Cassillis
and the Earl of Angus
. These nobles were in touch with Henry VIII via Lennox's secretary Thomas Bishop and Angus's chaplain, Master John Penven. Their letters to Henry VIII requested intervention, and in March he replied that a 'main army' was in preparation. Henry's Privy Council issued his instructions for the invasion force on 10 April 1544, and they were to;
, at this time called Lord Hertford was the King's Lieutenant of this Army Royal. He had considered establishing an English garrison at Leith
but the Privy Council vetoed this plan. Henry VIII had also asked him to destroy St Andrews
, but Lord Hertford pointed out the extra distance would be troublesome.
Hertford discussed with Privy Council the possibility of Scottish allies capturing Cardinal Beaton
during his invasion. Henry VIII believed that Beaton, a favourer of the Auld Alliance
with France, was particularly responsible for the rejection of the marriage plan. Beaton's would-be kidnappers included James Kirkcaldy of Grange
, Norman Leslie Master of Rothes
, and John Charteris who offered to attempt to capture the Cardinal as he travelled in Fife. Their second scheme was to attack Arbroath
while attention was focussed on Edinburgh. Time was too short to offer military support for these plans, but if those concerned would join in the destruction of Church property they would be offered asylum in England and £1000 to fund their action. Any schemes more elaborate than a punitive raid on Edinburgh were shelved as Henry VIII committed resources to the siege of Boulogne in France already planned for the summer.
and Gateshead
. In April 1544, Sir Christopher Morris reported to Lord Hertford that he had organised munitions for the invasion at Berwick upon Tweed. These included;
Edward Shelley (who was one of first English soldiers to be killed at the battle of Pinkie) reported that he had 40 thousand-weight of biscuit on April 20. At Berwick, Shelley had problems getting enough coal or wood for baking and brewing. He had to ask permission to impress more supplies and hold sales to rotate his stock. 4000 border horsemen waited at Berwick for Hertford's signal. At first it was planned that they would make a diversionary attack on Haddington
. Their commander Ralph Eure
had also asked for 1000 Yorkshire archers as reinforcement so that they could come to Edinburgh to support the landing. In the event, it was agreed that Hertford would summon Eure when he had disembarked his troops. When Eure's men arrived in Edinburgh they would get their pay.
were given on 28 April. All the ships were to be ready to weigh anchor at a favourable wind. The Lord Admiral, Viscount Lisle's flagship would fly the St George Cross on the fore-top mast and two top-lights at night. The ships of the 'vaward', the vanguard, would follow and anchor as near as possible. Hertford and the treasure-ship (Ralph Sadler
was treasurer) would follow with his ensign on the main-top mast
of the Rose Lion with two night lights on the shrouds
. The Earl of Shrewsbury
, captain of the rear-ward would fly the ensign on his mizzen mast, with a cresset light in the poop deck
at night. The other ships were not to show flags or lights. Any ship that was transporting base or double base guns was to mount them on the fore-deck for the landing.
were carried up the Royal Mile
from Holyroodhouse to the Castle and watched by his wardrobe servant Malcolm Gourlay. In the previous month an Edinburgh merchant James Johnston of Coates was paid £22 for going to "find out the Englishmen's purpose." The Burgh records are mostly missing for the year, so there is no detailed information on any defence measures provided by the town.
records the fleet burning St Mynettes on the north side of the Forth
and taking fishing boats for landing-craft. John Knox
gave an account of the landing from another Scottish viewpoint. The English fleet was sighted before noon on Saturday. Knox said that Cardinal Beaton
dismissed the threat and sat calmly at dinner. At 6pm there were 200 ships and an English pilot sounded the depths between Granton and Leith. Though experts could see this meant the English minded to land still there was no Scottish response. At daybreak on Sunday some of the smaller boats nosed onto land at Granton Crags
and the troops landed using these as piers for the larger boats. According to Knox, when around 10,000 men were landed unchallenged the Cardinal and Regent Arran left Edinburgh.
The English account is similar, but mentions the presence of five or six thousand horsemen and some foot soldiers, positioned to prevent the short march from Granton to Leith at a ford on the Water of Leith. The Cardinal was with this army but after a few shots and only a couple of casualties on either side, the Scots abandoned their position at the ford of a stream, leaving their eight cannon. (Lisle said two slings and three serpentines were placed to fire across the river, agreeing with Lee's plan). The Earls of Huntly
and Moray
also left the field. Hertford's own dispatch describes this as a half hour fight, "right sharply handled on both parts," with Peter Mewtas
's hagbuters
giving good service. The Admiral reported that Beaton stayed until he was in range of the handguns. He was wearing a frock of yellow velvet, cut and pulled out with white tinselled sarcenet. Another stand before Leith itself gave some resistance, but folded after three expert Scottish gunners were killed by arrows.
Hertford summoned Eure and the border horsemen with a brief note mentioning the lack of resistance, signed from the field on the west of Leith. The English then entered Leith unopposed, where they found two ships that had belonged to James V, the Salamander of Leith
and the Unicorn. Their overnight security was increased by the recently constructed defensive entrenchments. Next day, Monday 5 May, the larger English ships were able to unload the heavier artillery in the port. Cardinal Beaton left the area on Monday, the date recorded in his accounts for hiring a guide between Corstorphine
and Stirling
, (a journey then more usually made by boat).
The Earl of Angus
, George Douglas of Pittendreich
and Lord Maxwell
were in prison at Blackness Castle
because they supported the English alliance. Arran, Guise and the Cardinal now ordered their release so their supporters would help their cause. Maxwell later described that they were offered cash inducements, with incomes from church lands and pensions from the King of France
.
(later commander of the Newhaven fort at Ambleteuse
) was left in charge of Leith on 6 May with 1,500 men while the main force approached Edinburgh itself. They were met by the Provost Adam Otterburn
and two heralds. Otterburn offered to give up the keys of the town on conditions. Hertford refused to accept as he had no authority to bargain. Another English herald went to the Castle, and returned with the news that the Earl of Huntley and Lord Home
had brought 2000 horsemen to defend the town.
Christopher Morris was then ordered to bring his artillery up the Canongate to assault Edinburgh's Netherbow Gate. During this operation some of the English gunners were killed. The infantry attacked the gate and, according to the English narrative, pulled one of the Scottish artillery pieces through its gunloop. The Scots could not retaliate due to heavy small arms fire and archery, during which Morris placed a cannon close to the gate. After three or four rounds, the gate was breached and the English army stormed through killing 300 or 400 defenders. The Scottish exchequer accounts record that their heavy guns were withdrawn from the High Street into the Castle. At this point, according to a report sent to Charles V
, the English troops who were unused to urban warfare fought amongst each other, and William Howard
, brother of the Duke of Norfolk
, was hurt in the cheek by an English arrow. On the Royal Mile, the central main street of Edinburgh, the English were exposed to the artillery of the Castle. They attempted to place their cannon above the Butter-Tron, between Lawnmarket and Castlehill. A shot from the Castle dismounted one English cannon, and Hertford ordered it to be deliberately burst. At the end of that day, the English retired from the town to their camp at Leith after starting a number of fires.
On the 7 May, the fire-raising and looting continued, in the town and at Holyrood
, and the English force was joined by Ralph Eure's 4000 border horsemen. Nicholas Poyntz
was sent to burn Kinghorn
and villages on the north of the river Forth
. The fortress on the island of Inchgarvie
was captured and destroyed by Richard Brooke in the Galley Subtile on 6 May. (Hertford mentioned in his dispatch that it would have been useful to garrison Inchgarvie, but his orders from Henry VIII would not allow it.)
Christopher Morris shipped the larger artillery, the ships sailed, and on 14 May the harbour and piers of Leith were demolished. Hertford, as the King's Lieutenant, knighted fifty-eight of his captains and his servant Thomas Fisher distributed three pounds and fifteen shillings amongst the men. The army left Leith by land on 15 May, stopping to burn Seton Palace
and Haddington.
, who was Captain of the Pioneers on this expedition and the Surveyor of Calais, William Burgate, declared the castle impregnable.
One of the Castle gunners was Andrew Mansioun
, a French carver who had made fittings for the Unicorn, the yacht of James V and furniture for the royal palaces. His hand was injured when a cannon backfired, and in June 1544 he was given 44 shillings to pay for treatment.
In July 1544, two of the gunners, Tibault Roqueneau and Piers Schouffene, (French or Flemish, originally employed at Dunbar Castle
) were working to improve the gun emplacements with gabion
s. The fore-wall of the castle was strengthened and repaired from July. This work was completed between July and August 1546 by three masons and four workmen (called barrowmen in the accounts).
, removed from Holyrood Abbey
before the English soldiers fired the church. The lectern may have come into the possession of Sir Richard Lee
who made plans of Edinburgh and Leith and assessed the strength of Edinburgh Castle. Lee certainly took a brass font from Holyrood which he gave to St Albans Abbey. He had it engraved with an inscription claiming that it was used for the baptism of the Kings of Scotland. As a relic of the monarchy it was destroyed during the English civil war
. Longleat House has a manuscript copy of a translation of Hector Boece
's Chronicle of Scotland, taken by John Thynne
, Hertford's steward, from Holyroodhouse on Wednesday 7 May 1544.
Some of Hertford's muster lists survive at Longleat. These include the name of Sir William Norris of Liverpool. It has traditionally been asserted that carved panelling at his house of Speke Hall
came from the Palace of Holyroodhouse though this has been challenged on stylistic grounds. At Speke there were legal books including Bartolus sup. primi degestis veteris
, Venice (1499) and Panormitanus on the Decretals
, Lyon (1501), with Robert Estienne
's Bible (1532). William Norris wrote in each volume that they were won at Edinburgh on 8 May 1544. The books passed to the library of the Liverpool Athenaeum
in the 19th century. They were returned to Edinburgh in 2008 when the National Library of Scotland
bought the collection. Inscriptions show they belonged to the Abbot of Cambuskenneth
, who had a lodging on the south side of the Lawnmarket.
at Speyer
had to show the importance of Edinburgh as the capital of Scotland using the chronicles of Hector Boece
and John Mair
. However, apart from the physical destruction, a recent historian of the conflict Marcus Merriman
concluded that the army, "really did little of any long-term effect. Although Edinburgh was not again threatened by the war, rebuilding was a slow process. New buildings were built on the exact site of their predecessors. Tenure of the Edinburgh lands was complex with numbers of owners claiming incomes from sub-divided buildings, with some portions 'mortified' to the chaplains of altars. At the end of the war, in September 1551 and February 1552 Parliament laid down guidelines for sharing the burden of costs for re-building the burnt lands and tenements "brint be the auld inimies of Ingland."
On Sunday, 11 May, at Leith; The Lords Edward Clinton
, and John Conyers
, William Wroughton, Thomas Venables, Thomas Leigh alias Doctor
, Edward Darrell, John Luttrell
, George Bowes
, Ralph Bulmer
, Thomas Holcroft
, William Brereton, Hugh Cholmeley, Edward Warren, Brian Layton, Piers Legh
, John Constable, Edmund Trafford, Hugh Calvely, John Atherton, Thomas Gerrat, Richard Lee, Richard Cholmley, Thomas Waterton, William Vavasour, Richard Shirborne of Stoneyhurst, Peter Fretchwell, Thomas Cokayne, Robert Stapleton, Richard Egerton, Laurence Smyth, William Ratcliff, Thomas Maleveray, Robert Worseley, Thomas Talbott, Richard Holland, John Legh, Thomas Clerk, Anthony Nevill, Leonard Beckwith, John Jenninges, Thomas Holt.
On Tuesday, 13 May, at Leith; Charles Howard, George Blount, William Woodhowse, George Brereton, Errynge (Urian) Brereton
, Philip Egerton.
On Sunday, 18 May, at Butterden; William Damport, Ralph Leycester, Edmund Savage, John Massey, John Nevill
, Hugh Willoughby, Edward Warner, Peter Mewtas, Robert Constable, Humphrey Braidburne, Francis Hothome.
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. However, the Scottish artillery within Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
harassed the English forces, who had neither the time nor the resources to besiege the Castle. The English fleet sailed away loaded with captured goods, and with two ships that had belonged to James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
. The soldiers returned by land burning other towns, villages and farmsteads along the way.
The plan
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
had the ambition to unite the Kingdoms of Britain, or at least to have them pay him homage. He had contracted with the Regent Arran that Mary, Queen of Scots would marry his son, Prince Edward
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
. But Arran allowed the Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
to revoke this agreement prompting Henry to declare war in December 1543, and now the Regent was making ground against his rebels who still supported the English marriage, such as the Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox
Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland....
, Earl of Glencairn, the Earl of Cassillis
Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis
Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassilis.He succeeded to the titles of 5th Lord Kennedy and 3rd Earl of Cassillis in August 1527. On 6 February 1540/41 he had a charter of the Fief of Cassilis...
and the Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots...
. These nobles were in touch with Henry VIII via Lennox's secretary Thomas Bishop and Angus's chaplain, Master John Penven. Their letters to Henry VIII requested intervention, and in March he replied that a 'main army' was in preparation. Henry's Privy Council issued his instructions for the invasion force on 10 April 1544, and they were to;
"Put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh, so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God lightened upon (them) for their falsehood and disloyalty."Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
, at this time called Lord Hertford was the King's Lieutenant of this Army Royal. He had considered establishing an English garrison at Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
but the Privy Council vetoed this plan. Henry VIII had also asked him to destroy St Andrews
St Andrews
St Andrews is a university town and former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife in Scotland. The town is named after Saint Andrew the Apostle.St Andrews has a population of 16,680, making this the fifth largest settlement in Fife....
, but Lord Hertford pointed out the extra distance would be troublesome.
Hertford discussed with Privy Council the possibility of Scottish allies capturing Cardinal Beaton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
during his invasion. Henry VIII believed that Beaton, a favourer of the Auld Alliance
Auld Alliance
The Auld Alliance was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France. It played a significant role in the relations between Scotland, France and England from its beginning in 1295 until the 1560 Treaty of Edinburgh. The alliance was renewed by all the French and Scottish monarchs of that...
with France, was particularly responsible for the rejection of the marriage plan. Beaton's would-be kidnappers included James Kirkcaldy of Grange
James Kirkcaldy of Grange
James Kirkcaldy of Grange was a Fife laird and treasurer of Scotland.He married Janet Melville, aunt of Sir James Melville of Halhill. Their heir was William Kirkcaldy of Grange. His main property at the Grange was called Halyards Palace...
, Norman Leslie Master of Rothes
Norman Leslie (soldier)
Norman Leslie , was a 16th-century Scottish nobleman. The leader of the party who assassinated Cardinal Beaton, he was forced to flee Scotland, serving the monarchs of England and France...
, and John Charteris who offered to attempt to capture the Cardinal as he travelled in Fife. Their second scheme was to attack Arbroath
Arbroath
Arbroath or Aberbrothock is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785...
while attention was focussed on Edinburgh. Time was too short to offer military support for these plans, but if those concerned would join in the destruction of Church property they would be offered asylum in England and £1000 to fund their action. Any schemes more elaborate than a punitive raid on Edinburgh were shelved as Henry VIII committed resources to the siege of Boulogne in France already planned for the summer.
Supplies
The army assembled at Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
. In April 1544, Sir Christopher Morris reported to Lord Hertford that he had organised munitions for the invasion at Berwick upon Tweed. These included;
- 2 batard culverinCulverinA culverin was a relatively simple ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon, adapted for use by the French in the 15th century, and later adapted for naval use by the English in the late 16th century. The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance. The weapon had a...
s - 3 sakersSaker (cannon)The saker was a medium cannon slightly smaller than a culverin developed during the early 16th century and often used by the English. It was named after the Saker Falcon, a large falconry bird native to the Middle East....
- 8 falcons
- a falconetteFalconet (cannon)The falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the late 15th century. During the Middle Ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles, birds or beasts depending on their size. For example, a culverin would often feature snakes, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated...
- 4 carriages with two 'bases'Breech-loading swivel gunA breech-loading swivel gun was a particular type of swivel gun and a small breech-loading cannon invented in the 14th century. It was equipped with a swivel for easy rotation and was loaded by inserting a mug-shaped device called a chamber, pre-filled with gunpowder and projectiles...
on each - 3000 bows, 1000 ready strung in 60 chests
- 4000 sheaves of arrows in 80 chests
- 4 barrels of bow strings; described further as 40 grossGross (unit)A gross is equal to a dozen dozen, i.e. 12 × 12 = 144.It can be used in duodecimal counting. The use of gross likely originated from the fact that 144 can be counted on the fingers using the fingertips and first two joints of each finger when marked by the thumb of one hand. The other hand...
of 12 dozen, i.e., 5,760 strings - 480 Moorish pikesPike (weapon)A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
- 3000 BillsBill (weapon)The bill is a polearm weapon used by infantry in medieval Europe.The bill is similar in size, function and appearance to the halberd, differing mainly in the hooked blade form...
Edward Shelley (who was one of first English soldiers to be killed at the battle of Pinkie) reported that he had 40 thousand-weight of biscuit on April 20. At Berwick, Shelley had problems getting enough coal or wood for baking and brewing. He had to ask permission to impress more supplies and hold sales to rotate his stock. 4000 border horsemen waited at Berwick for Hertford's signal. At first it was planned that they would make a diversionary attack on Haddington
Haddington, East Lothian
The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th...
. Their commander Ralph Eure
William Eure, 1st Baron Eure
Sir William Eure of Witton was an English knight and soldier active on the Anglo-Scottish border. Henry VIII of England made him Baron Eure by patent in 1544. The surname is often written as 'Evers.' William was Governor of Berwick upon Tweed in 1539, Commander in the North in 1542, Warden of the...
had also asked for 1000 Yorkshire archers as reinforcement so that they could come to Edinburgh to support the landing. In the event, it was agreed that Hertford would summon Eure when he had disembarked his troops. When Eure's men arrived in Edinburgh they would get their pay.
Orders for the fleet
Orders for the fleet at TynemouthTynemouth
Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...
were given on 28 April. All the ships were to be ready to weigh anchor at a favourable wind. The Lord Admiral, Viscount Lisle's flagship would fly the St George Cross on the fore-top mast and two top-lights at night. The ships of the 'vaward', the vanguard, would follow and anchor as near as possible. Hertford and the treasure-ship (Ralph Sadler
Ralph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler, PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman of the 16th century, and served as a Secretary of State for King Henry VIII.-Background:...
was treasurer) would follow with his ensign on the main-top mast
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
of the Rose Lion with two night lights on the shrouds
Shroud (sailing)
On a sailboat, the shrouds are pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side. There is frequently more than one shroud on each side of the boat....
. The Earl of Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, 5th Earl of Waterford, 11th Baron Talbot KG was the son of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury and Anne Hastings....
, captain of the rear-ward would fly the ensign on his mizzen mast, with a cresset light in the poop deck
Poop deck
In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or "aft", part of the superstructure of a ship.The name originates from the French word for stern, la poupe, from Latin puppis...
at night. The other ships were not to show flags or lights. Any ship that was transporting base or double base guns was to mount them on the fore-deck for the landing.
Defence
On 23 April 1544, all east coast towns were warned to entrench their bounds to resist the English navy. Men from neighbouring counties were summoned to muster in Edinburgh on 5 May. Extra gunners were hired for Edinburgh Castle, and Regent Arran's goods and the royal tapestriesScottish Royal tapestry collection
The Scottish royal tapestry collection was a group of tapestry hangings assembled to decorate the palaces of sixteenth century kings and queens of Scotland....
were carried up the Royal Mile
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...
from Holyroodhouse to the Castle and watched by his wardrobe servant Malcolm Gourlay. In the previous month an Edinburgh merchant James Johnston of Coates was paid £22 for going to "find out the Englishmen's purpose." The Burgh records are mostly missing for the year, so there is no detailed information on any defence measures provided by the town.
The landing
An account of the episode was published later in 1544 in London as; The Late Expedition in Scotland made by the King's highness' army under the conduct of the Right Honourable the Earl of Hertford in 1544. A later account by Mary's secretary Claude NauClaude Nau
Claude Nau , full name Claude Nau de la Boisseliere, was a confidential secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots in England from 1575 to 1586....
records the fleet burning St Mynettes on the north side of the Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
and taking fishing boats for landing-craft. John Knox
John Knox
John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and a leader of the Protestant Reformation who brought reformation to the church in Scotland. He was educated at the University of St Andrews or possibly the University of Glasgow and was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in 1536...
gave an account of the landing from another Scottish viewpoint. The English fleet was sighted before noon on Saturday. Knox said that Cardinal Beaton
David Beaton
The Most Rev. Dr. David Cardinal Beaton was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation.-Career:...
dismissed the threat and sat calmly at dinner. At 6pm there were 200 ships and an English pilot sounded the depths between Granton and Leith. Though experts could see this meant the English minded to land still there was no Scottish response. At daybreak on Sunday some of the smaller boats nosed onto land at Granton Crags
Granton, Edinburgh
Granton is a district in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland. Granton forms part of Edinburgh's waterfront along the Firth of Forth and is, historically, an industrial area having a large harbour. Granton is part of Edinburgh's large scale waterfront regeneration programme.-Name:Granton first appears...
and the troops landed using these as piers for the larger boats. According to Knox, when around 10,000 men were landed unchallenged the Cardinal and Regent Arran left Edinburgh.
The English account is similar, but mentions the presence of five or six thousand horsemen and some foot soldiers, positioned to prevent the short march from Granton to Leith at a ford on the Water of Leith. The Cardinal was with this army but after a few shots and only a couple of casualties on either side, the Scots abandoned their position at the ford of a stream, leaving their eight cannon. (Lisle said two slings and three serpentines were placed to fire across the river, agreeing with Lee's plan). The Earls of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly
George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly was a Scottish nobleman.-Biography:He was the son of John Gordon, Lord Gordon, and Margaret Stewart, daughter of James IV. George Gordon inherited his earldom and estates in 1524 at age 10...
and Moray
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray (1501 creation)
James Stewart, Earl of Moray was the illegitimate son of James IV of Scotland and his mistress Janet Kennedy. He was created Earl of Moray in 1501, and was young enough to avoid fighting at the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. He went on to have a varied relationship with his...
also left the field. Hertford's own dispatch describes this as a half hour fight, "right sharply handled on both parts," with Peter Mewtas
Jane Meutas
Jane Meutas was an English lady of the Queen's privy chamber who became the wife of the courtier Peter Meutas Her name is sometimes given as Joan, and her maiden name was Astley. Her husband was knighted on May 18, 1544, when she became Lady Meutas...
's hagbuters
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
giving good service. The Admiral reported that Beaton stayed until he was in range of the handguns. He was wearing a frock of yellow velvet, cut and pulled out with white tinselled sarcenet. Another stand before Leith itself gave some resistance, but folded after three expert Scottish gunners were killed by arrows.
Hertford summoned Eure and the border horsemen with a brief note mentioning the lack of resistance, signed from the field on the west of Leith. The English then entered Leith unopposed, where they found two ships that had belonged to James V, the Salamander of Leith
Salamander of Leith
Salamander of Leith was a warship of the 16th-century Royal Scots Navy. She was a wedding present from Francis I of France to James V of Scotland....
and the Unicorn. Their overnight security was increased by the recently constructed defensive entrenchments. Next day, Monday 5 May, the larger English ships were able to unload the heavier artillery in the port. Cardinal Beaton left the area on Monday, the date recorded in his accounts for hiring a guide between Corstorphine
Corstorphine
Corstorphine was originally a village to the west of—and separate from—Edinburgh, Scotland, and is now a suburb of that city.Corstorphine retains a busy main street with many independent small shops, although a number have closed in recent years since the opening of several retail parks...
and Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
, (a journey then more usually made by boat).
The Earl of Angus
Earl of Angus
The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is currently held by the Duke of Hamilton.-Mormaers:...
, George Douglas of Pittendreich
George Douglas of Pittendreich
George Douglas of Pittendreich was a member of the powerful Douglas family who struggled for control of the young James V of Scotland in 1528. His second son became James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Regent of Scotland. Initially, George Douglas promoted the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and...
and Lord Maxwell
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell
Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell , A member of the council of Regency of the Kingdom of Scotland. Regent of the Isle of Arran and like his father before head of the clan Maxwell. A distinguished Scottish nobleman, politician, soldier and in 1513 Lord High Admiral...
were in prison at Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle
Blackness Castle is a 15th century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of...
because they supported the English alliance. Arran, Guise and the Cardinal now ordered their release so their supporters would help their cause. Maxwell later described that they were offered cash inducements, with incomes from church lands and pensions from the King of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
.
Edinburgh
William StourtonWilliam Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton
William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton was the son of Edward Stourton.He succeeded his father in 1535, and upon his death was succeeded by his son Charles.-References:...
(later commander of the Newhaven fort at Ambleteuse
Ambleteuse
Ambleteuse is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.-History:Ambleteuse began as a hamlet of a few huts in the middle of the dunes, from which the derisory name of “carcahuttes" was once given to its inhabitants by their neighbors at Audresselles...
) was left in charge of Leith on 6 May with 1,500 men while the main force approached Edinburgh itself. They were met by the Provost Adam Otterburn
Adam Otterburn
Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Reidhall was a Scottish lawyer and diplomat. He was king's advocate to James V of Scotland and secretary to Mary of Guise and Regent Arran.-Servant to James V:...
and two heralds. Otterburn offered to give up the keys of the town on conditions. Hertford refused to accept as he had no authority to bargain. Another English herald went to the Castle, and returned with the news that the Earl of Huntley and Lord Home
George Home, 4th Lord Home
George Home, 4th Lord Home was a Scottish nobleman. The son of Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home and his wife Nicola Ker, daughter of George Ker of Samuelston, he succeeded his brother, Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home, when he died on October 8, 1516....
had brought 2000 horsemen to defend the town.
Christopher Morris was then ordered to bring his artillery up the Canongate to assault Edinburgh's Netherbow Gate. During this operation some of the English gunners were killed. The infantry attacked the gate and, according to the English narrative, pulled one of the Scottish artillery pieces through its gunloop. The Scots could not retaliate due to heavy small arms fire and archery, during which Morris placed a cannon close to the gate. After three or four rounds, the gate was breached and the English army stormed through killing 300 or 400 defenders. The Scottish exchequer accounts record that their heavy guns were withdrawn from the High Street into the Castle. At this point, according to a report sent to Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, the English troops who were unused to urban warfare fought amongst each other, and William Howard
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham , was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his second wife, Agnes Tilney...
, brother of the Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...
, was hurt in the cheek by an English arrow. On the Royal Mile, the central main street of Edinburgh, the English were exposed to the artillery of the Castle. They attempted to place their cannon above the Butter-Tron, between Lawnmarket and Castlehill. A shot from the Castle dismounted one English cannon, and Hertford ordered it to be deliberately burst. At the end of that day, the English retired from the town to their camp at Leith after starting a number of fires.
On the 7 May, the fire-raising and looting continued, in the town and at Holyrood
Holyrood
Holyrood is an anglicisation of the Scots haly ruid . It may refer to:*Holyrood , relics of the True Cross on which Jesus died-Scotland:* Holyrood, Edinburgh, an area of Edinburgh...
, and the English force was joined by Ralph Eure's 4000 border horsemen. Nicholas Poyntz
Nicholas Poyntz
Sir Nicholas Poyntz was a prominent English courtier during the latter part of Henry VIII's reign. There is a portrait drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection and an oil portrait after the same artist based on the drawing in the National Portrait Gallery, London...
was sent to burn Kinghorn
Kinghorn
Kinghorn is a town in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth opposite Edinburgh...
and villages on the north of the river Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
. The fortress on the island of Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie
Inchgarvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. Its name comes from Innis Garbhach which is Scottish Gaelic for "rough island"...
was captured and destroyed by Richard Brooke in the Galley Subtile on 6 May. (Hertford mentioned in his dispatch that it would have been useful to garrison Inchgarvie, but his orders from Henry VIII would not allow it.)
Christopher Morris shipped the larger artillery, the ships sailed, and on 14 May the harbour and piers of Leith were demolished. Hertford, as the King's Lieutenant, knighted fifty-eight of his captains and his servant Thomas Fisher distributed three pounds and fifteen shillings amongst the men. The army left Leith by land on 15 May, stopping to burn Seton Palace
Seton Palace
Seton Palace was situated in East Lothian, a few miles south-east of Edinburgh near the town of Prestonpans. Often regarded as the most desirable Scottish residence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the palace was erected in the 15th century by George, 4th Lord Seton and was similar in...
and Haddington.
Edinburgh Castle
Although Hertford's army entered the town with little resistance, the defenders of the castle lead by the Captain, James Hamilton of Stenhouse kept up an artillery barrage, firing down the line of the Royal Mile. The Clerk of the King's Works, Richard LeeRichard Lee (engineer)
Sir Richard Lee was a military engineer in the service of Henry VIII of England, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was a commander of Henry VIII of England| and appointed surveyor of the King's works.-Surveyor of Calais:...
, who was Captain of the Pioneers on this expedition and the Surveyor of Calais, William Burgate, declared the castle impregnable.
One of the Castle gunners was Andrew Mansioun
Andrew Mansioun
Andrew Mansioun, or Mentioun or Manschone, was a French artist who worked at the court of James V of Scotland. He was the master carpenter of the Scottish artillery for Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI of Scotland.-Works:...
, a French carver who had made fittings for the Unicorn, the yacht of James V and furniture for the royal palaces. His hand was injured when a cannon backfired, and in June 1544 he was given 44 shillings to pay for treatment.
In July 1544, two of the gunners, Tibault Roqueneau and Piers Schouffene, (French or Flemish, originally employed at Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle
Dunbar Castle is the remnants of one of the most mighty fortresses in Scotland, situated over the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian.-Early history:...
) were working to improve the gun emplacements with gabion
Gabion
Gabions are cages, cylinders, or boxes filled with soil or sand that are used in civil engineering, road building, and military applications. For erosion control caged riprap is used. For dams or foundation construction, cylindrical metal structures are used...
s. The fore-wall of the castle was strengthened and repaired from July. This work was completed between July and August 1546 by three masons and four workmen (called barrowmen in the accounts).
Looting
Hertford estimated the value of goods in Leith at £10,000. This included a large stock of three grades of linen cloth from Brittany. The ships were loaded with property seized in Edinburgh and Leith. He also took the Salamander and Unicorn, loading them with 80,000 cannon balls for ballast from the King's Wark arsenal. One surviving captured item is the Dunkeld LecternDunkeld Lectern
The Dunkeld Lectern is a mediaeval lectern which was one of the most prized possessions of St Stephen's Church, St Albans. The 150 kg brass reading desk stood approximately 1.6 metres high and took the form of a large eagle with outspread wings with the bird perched on an orb supported...
, removed from Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by King David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded...
before the English soldiers fired the church. The lectern may have come into the possession of Sir Richard Lee
Richard Lee (engineer)
Sir Richard Lee was a military engineer in the service of Henry VIII of England, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. He was a commander of Henry VIII of England| and appointed surveyor of the King's works.-Surveyor of Calais:...
who made plans of Edinburgh and Leith and assessed the strength of Edinburgh Castle. Lee certainly took a brass font from Holyrood which he gave to St Albans Abbey. He had it engraved with an inscription claiming that it was used for the baptism of the Kings of Scotland. As a relic of the monarchy it was destroyed during the English civil war
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Longleat House has a manuscript copy of a translation of Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
's Chronicle of Scotland, taken by John Thynne
John Thynne
Sir John Thynne was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House and his descendants became Marquesses of Bath.-Early life:...
, Hertford's steward, from Holyroodhouse on Wednesday 7 May 1544.
Some of Hertford's muster lists survive at Longleat. These include the name of Sir William Norris of Liverpool. It has traditionally been asserted that carved panelling at his house of Speke Hall
Speke Hall
Speke Hall is a wood-framed wattle-and-daub Tudor manor house in Speke, Liverpool, England. It is one of the finest surviving examples of its kind.-History:...
came from the Palace of Holyroodhouse though this has been challenged on stylistic grounds. At Speke there were legal books including Bartolus sup. primi degestis veteris
Bartolus de Saxoferrato
Bartolus de Saxoferrato was an Italian law professor and one of the most prominent continental jurists of Medieval Roman Law. He belonged to the school known as the commentators or postglossators...
, Venice (1499) and Panormitanus on the Decretals
Panormitanus
Nicolò de' Tudeschi was an Italian Benedictine canonist.-Life:In 1400 he entered the Order of St...
, Lyon (1501), with Robert Estienne
Robert Estienne
Robert I Estienne , known as Robertus Stephanus in Latin and also referred to as Robert Stephens by 18th and 19th-century English writers, was a 16th century printer and classical scholar in Paris...
's Bible (1532). William Norris wrote in each volume that they were won at Edinburgh on 8 May 1544. The books passed to the library of the Liverpool Athenaeum
Liverpool Athenaeum
The Athenaeum originated as a gentlemen's club in Liverpool, England. It has been in continuous use since the end of the 18th century. The club was founded to ensure the up-to-date provision of newspapers and pamphlets, and to create a library for the use of the merchants and professional...
in the 19th century. They were returned to Edinburgh in 2008 when the National Library of Scotland
National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. It is based in a collection of buildings in Edinburgh city centre. The headquarters is on George IV Bridge, between the Old Town and the university quarter...
bought the collection. Inscriptions show they belonged to the Abbot of Cambuskenneth
Abbot of Cambuskenneth
The Abbot of Cambuskenneth or Abbot of Stirling was the head of the Arrouaisian monastic community of Cambuskenneth Abbey, near Stirling...
, who had a lodging on the south side of the Lawnmarket.
Burnt places
The returning English army burnt a number of settlements including;- Craigmillar CastleCraigmillar CastleCraigmillar Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated south-east of the city centre, on a low hill to the south of the modern suburb of Craigmillar. It was begun in the late 14th century by the Preston family, feudal barons of Craigmillar, and extended through the...
and village - Newbattle AbbeyNewbattle AbbeyNewbattle Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Newbattle in Midlothian, Scotland, which has subsequently become a stately home and then an educational institution.-Monastery:...
- Part of MusselburghMusselburghMusselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...
and the Chapel of Loretto - PrestonpansPrestonpansPrestonpans is a small town to the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the unitary council area of East Lothian. It has a population of 7,153 . It is the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans, and has a history dating back to the 11th century...
and CastlePreston TowerPreston Tower is a ruined L-plan keep in the ancient village of Prestonpans. It is situated within a few metres from two other historic houses, Hamilton House and Northfield House....
, three towers at Preston, Scottish BordersPreston, Scottish BordersPreston is a small village in the pre-1975 ancient county of Berwickshire, now an administrative area of the Scottish Borders region of Scotland....
; Seton PalaceSeton PalaceSeton Palace was situated in East Lothian, a few miles south-east of Edinburgh near the town of Prestonpans. Often regarded as the most desirable Scottish residence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the palace was erected in the 15th century by George, 4th Lord Seton and was similar in... - Haddington town, Friary, and Nunnery
- A castle of Oliver SinclairOliver SinclairSir Oliver Sinclair de Pitcairnis , , was a favourite courtier of James V of Scotland. A contemporary story tells that James V gave him the battle standard and command at the Battle of Solway Moss...
's - DunbarDunbarDunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
- Lauriston and its GrangeLauriston CastleLauriston Castle is a 16th century tower house with 19th century extensions overlooking the Firth of Forth, in Edinburgh, Scotland.-History:...
- DrylawDrylawDrylaw is a suburb in the north west of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland between Blackhall and Granton. Formerly the estate of Drylaw House, the home of the Loch family, the area became the site of a major housing scheme in the 1950s designed to rehouse the occupants in Leith. It is on the A902...
, Markle - Wester Craig, TraprainTraprain LawTraprain Law is a hill about 221m in elevation, located east of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the site of an oppidum or hill fort, which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha and must have been a veritable town...
- Enderleigh, Pele and townInverleithInverleith is an inner suburb in the northern part of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the fringes of the central region of the city. It is an affluent suburb. Its neighbours include Trinity to the north and the New Town to the south, with Canonmills at the south-east and Stockbridge at the south-west...
, Kirkland Hill, HatherwickInnerwickInnerwick is a coastal civil parish and small village, which lies in the east of East Lothian, from Dunbar and approximately from Edinburgh....
(sic) - Broughton, BeltonBolton, East LothianBolton is a hamlet and the third smallest parish in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately south of Haddington and east of Edinburgh, and is an entirely agricultural parish, long by about wide...
- Yester FellsYester CastleYester Castle is a ruined castle, located south east of the village of Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. The only remaining structure is the subterranean Goblin Ha' or Hobgoblin Ha' ...
, East BarnesBarnes CastleBarnes Castle is an unfinished castle, with a number of defensive banks, on the slope of the Garleton Hills, located north-east of Haddington and close to Athelstaneford in East Lothian, Scotland... - CrawnendCramondCramond is a seaside village now part of suburban Edinburgh, Scotland, located in the north-west corner of the city at the mouth of the River Almond where it enters the Firth of Forth....
, Bowland - DuddingstonDuddingstonDuddingston is a former village in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Holyrood Park.-Origins and etymology:The estate wherein Duddingston Village now lies was first recorded in lands granted to the Abbot of Kelso Abbey by David I of Scotland between 1136–47, and is described as stretching...
, Butterden, The Ficket - Stanhows (i.e., Seton House), Quickwood
- Blackburn, Beverton, Raunton (sic)Reston, Scottish BordersReston is a village located in the southeast of Scotland, in Berwickshire, Scottish Borders region. The village lies on the western bank of the Eye Water.- Location :...
- TranentTranentTranent is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is close to the A1 road and approximately east of Edinburgh. It is one of the oldest towns in East Lothian, and built on a gentle slope, about 300 feet above sea level.Population of the town is 9,917....
, Byldy (sic) and TowerBiel, East LothianBiel is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, UK, to the south of Dunbar, off the B6370 road. It is situated on the Biel Estate, close to Biel House...
, ShenstoneStentonStenton is a parish and village in East Lothian, Scotland. It is bounded on the north by parts of the parishes of Prestonkirk and Dunbar, on the east by Spott and on the west by Whittingehame. The name is said to be of Saxon derivation. In earlier times, when names were often written phonetically,...
(sic) - Places burnt by the fleet under the command of Nicholas PoyntzNicholas PoyntzSir Nicholas Poyntz was a prominent English courtier during the latter part of Henry VIII's reign. There is a portrait drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection and an oil portrait after the same artist based on the drawing in the National Portrait Gallery, London...
; KinghornKinghornKinghorn is a town in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth opposite Edinburgh...
, St Monans, South QueensferrySouth QueensferrySouth Queensferry , also called Queensferry, is a former Royal Burgh in West Lothian now part of the City of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located some ten miles to the north west of the city centre, on the shore of the Firth of Forth between the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge, approximately 8...
, a part of PittenweemPittenweemPittenweem is a small and secluded fishing village and civil parish tucked in the corner of Fife on the east coast of Scotland. According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 1,600. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,747....
, BurntislandBurntislandBurntisland is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland on the Firth of Forth. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 5,940....
Aftermath
News spread quickly throughout Europe, though Nicholas WottonNicholas Wotton
Nicholas Wotton was an English diplomat-Life:He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Nicholas Wotton, lord mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, and member of parliament for the city from 1406 to 1429.He early became vicar of Boughton Malherbe and of Sutton...
at Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
had to show the importance of Edinburgh as the capital of Scotland using the chronicles of Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
and John Mair
John Mair
John Mair was a Scottish philosopher, much admired in his day and an acknowledged influence on all the great thinkers of the time. He was a very renowned teacher and his works much collected and frequently republished across Europe...
. However, apart from the physical destruction, a recent historian of the conflict Marcus Merriman
Marcus Merriman
Marcus Merriman was an historian researching Anglo-Scottish relations in the 16th centuryand their European context.-Life:Merriman was born in Baltimore on the 3rd of May 1940. Educated at Bowdoin College Maine, he spent a year at Edinburgh University, then completed his PhD at the Institute of...
concluded that the army, "really did little of any long-term effect. Although Edinburgh was not again threatened by the war, rebuilding was a slow process. New buildings were built on the exact site of their predecessors. Tenure of the Edinburgh lands was complex with numbers of owners claiming incomes from sub-divided buildings, with some portions 'mortified' to the chaplains of altars. At the end of the war, in September 1551 and February 1552 Parliament laid down guidelines for sharing the burden of costs for re-building the burnt lands and tenements "brint be the auld inimies of Ingland."
Hertford's knights
Hertford, as the King's lieutenant knighted the following men;On Sunday, 11 May, at Leith; The Lords Edward Clinton
Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln
Edward Fiennes, 1st Earl of Lincoln, KG, also known as Edward Clinton was an English nobleman and Lord High Admiral.-Background:...
, and John Conyers
John Conyers, 3rd Baron Conyers
John Conyers, 3rd Baron Conyers was a British aristocrat, and the son of Christopher Conyers, 2nd Baron Conyers.-Personal life:...
, William Wroughton, Thomas Venables, Thomas Leigh alias Doctor
Thomas Legh (lawyer)
Sir Thomas Legh was an English jurist and diplomat, a principal agent of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries.-Life:...
, Edward Darrell, John Luttrell
John Luttrell (soldier)
Sir John Luttrell was an English soldier, diplomat, and courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He served under Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford in Scotland and France...
, George Bowes
George Bowes (1517-1556)
Sir George Bowes , was a commander in border warfare.Bowes was a posthumous son of Sir Ralph Bowes of Dalden, Streatlam, and South Cowton, and Elizabeth, daughter of Henry, lord Clifford. Cardinal Wolsey, then bishop of Durham, sold his 'ward, custody, and marriage' for 800l. to Sir William Bulmer...
, Ralph Bulmer
Ralph Bulmer (soldier)
Sir Ralph Bulmer of Wilton in Yorkshire , was an English knight and soldier active on the Scottish border and during the war of the Rough Wooing....
, Thomas Holcroft
Sir Thomas Holcroft
Sir Thomas Holcroft was a sixteenth-century English courtier and politician.He was born at Vale Royal, Cheshire, the son of John Holcroft and Margaret Massey...
, William Brereton, Hugh Cholmeley, Edward Warren, Brian Layton, Piers Legh
Leghs of Lyme
The Leghs of Lyme are a family who owned Lyme Park in Cheshire, England, from 1398 to 1946, when the house and estate were given to the National Trust. In the early days of the family there were variations of both the surname, and the usually-given forename. Variations of the surname include de...
, John Constable, Edmund Trafford, Hugh Calvely, John Atherton, Thomas Gerrat, Richard Lee, Richard Cholmley, Thomas Waterton, William Vavasour, Richard Shirborne of Stoneyhurst, Peter Fretchwell, Thomas Cokayne, Robert Stapleton, Richard Egerton, Laurence Smyth, William Ratcliff, Thomas Maleveray, Robert Worseley, Thomas Talbott, Richard Holland, John Legh, Thomas Clerk, Anthony Nevill, Leonard Beckwith, John Jenninges, Thomas Holt.
On Tuesday, 13 May, at Leith; Charles Howard, George Blount, William Woodhowse, George Brereton, Errynge (Urian) Brereton
Handforth
Handforth is a suburban area situated between Wilmslow, Heald Green, and Styal in Cheshire, England. Travelling south from Manchester, Handforth is the first place in Cheshire, although other areas nearer Manchester lie within the historic boundaries of the county.In the 1950s, two overspill...
, Philip Egerton.
On Sunday, 18 May, at Butterden; William Damport, Ralph Leycester, Edmund Savage, John Massey, John Nevill
John Nevill, 4th Baron Latimer
John Nevill or Neville, 4th Baron Latimer or Latymer was an English nobleman of the House of Neville.-Early life:...
, Hugh Willoughby, Edward Warner, Peter Mewtas, Robert Constable, Humphrey Braidburne, Francis Hothome.
External links
- Calderwood, David, The History of the Kirk of Scotland, vol.1, Wodrow Society (1842), see pp.176-178
- Laing, David, ed., 'John Knox's 'History of the Reformation', Books 1 & 2,' The Works of John Knox, vol. 1, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh (1846), see pp.119-123
- Thomson, Thomas, ed., John Lesley's History of Scotland, from the death of King James I in the year 1436 to 1561, Bannatyne Club (1830), see pp.180-188
- An English Garner, Tudor Tracts, London (1903), see pp.38-51, 'The Expedition into Scotland'
- Bain, Joseph, ed., Hamilton Papers, vol. 2, HM General Register House (1892)
- Historical Manuscripts Commission HMC: Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquis of Salisbury preserved at Hatfield House, vol.1 (1883), see pp.23-38
- Haynes, Samuel, ed., A Collection of State Papers,... from the year 1542 to 1570, ... now Remaining at Hatfield House, London (1740), see pp.19-36
- State Papers of Henry VIII, vol.5 part IV continued, London (1836), Scotland and the borders, 1534-1546
- National Library of Scotland: the 'Cambuskenneth Collection', books taken by William Norris of Liverpool in 1544
- British Library, London: the 1544 plan shows English soldiers (red-flags) facing the Scottish (black-flags) over the Water of LeithWater of LeithThe Water of Leith is the main river flowing through Edinburgh, Scotland, to the port of Leith where it flows into the sea via the Firth of Forth.It is long and rises in the Colzium Springs at Millstone Rig of the Pentland Hills...
near CanonmillsCanonmillsCanonmills is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south-east of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Inverleith.It lies in low-lying ground north of Edinburgh's New Town on ground that was uneconomic to connect to the higher New Town street levels....
, and the entry at Holyrood.
Further reading
- Balfour Paul, J, 'Edinburgh in 1544 and Hertford's invasion', Scottish Historical Review, vol.8 no.30, (1911), pp. 113–131
- Merriman, Marcus, 'The Assured Scots: Scottish collaborators with England during the Rough Wooing', Scottish Historical Review,vol.47 no.143 (April 1968), pp. 10–34.