| Notes |
- The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh
by Ellen Castelow
Isolated since his break from Rome and Catholic Europe, Henry VIII sought to secure his northern borders though an alliance with Scotland. Henry’s proposal involved the marriage of his son, Prince Edward to the young Scottish Queen Mary.
When the Scottish Parliament rejected Henry’s overtures, he sought to change their mind through a show of force …the so called ‘Rough Wooing’.
When Henry died in 1547, the Duke of Somerset (pictured at the top left of this article), uncle to the new King Edward VI, was now effectively ruling England as its Lord Protector. Like Henry, Somerset liked the idea of an alliance with Scotland but as previously, the Scots rejected the proposal as it would have meant them having to adopt the Reformation, thus breaking their links with the Papacy.
And so the Rough Wooing would continue, but this time it would get really rough!
Somerset gathered the English army at Berwick before marching his force of around 18,000 men north, along the east coast road to Edinburgh, closely supported by a fleet of 30 warships.
It fell to the Earl of Arran to organise the Scottish defences, who managed to muster an army estimated at 22,000 strong in response to the English invasion. Moving out of Edinburgh, Arran organised his troops on the west bank of the River Esk, blocking Somerset’s march on the Scottish capital. With the Firth of Forth to his left, he sited some of his artillery pieces out into the estuary to keep the English warships at bay.
The main action began on 10th September 1547 with a charge by the English cavalry which was driven off by the Scottish pikemen.
The artillery pieces from both sides were now brought into the action, including the canons from the English ships lying offshore. Battered now from three sides and unable to respond, the Scottish resistance began to crumble.
In the last pitched battle to be fought between English and Scottish armies, the English offered precious little mercy to the retreating Scots. Estimates claim Scottish losses at around 6,000, earning this epic defeat the title of ‘Black Saturday’.
As for the wooing, the infant Queen Mary was smuggled out of Scotland to France, where she would later marry Francis, Dauphin of France, in 1558.
May 11, 2018 - https://www.stewartsociety.org/history-of-the-stewarts.cfm?section=famous-stewarts&subcatid=17&histid=534
Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven (c. 1495 – 1552) was Master of the Scottish Artillery and last husband of Margaret Tudor, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York.
He was a son of Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Avondale and his wife Margaret Kennedy. His brother was Andrew Stewart, 1st Lord Ochiltree. Henry was a fifth-generation male-line descendant of Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany through his son Walter. He was thus a fourth cousin, twice removed of James IV of Scotland, first husband of Margaret Tudor.
Henry and Margaret Tudor were married on 3 March 1528. Margaret had divorced her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. She was already mother to James V of Scotland and Margaret Douglas from her previous marriages. This third marriage would produce another daughter, Dorothea Stewart, who died young. Reaction to the marriage was swift: Margaret and Henry were besieged at Stirling Castle by Lord Erskine, with the support of James V and her former husband, the Earl of Angus. Henry was imprisoned. However, after James V joined his mother at Stirling, Henry was created Lord Methven. Margaret made Methven captain of her castle of Newark in Ettrick.
After Margaret died in 1541, Methven was able to marry his mistress, Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl and Lady Janet Campbell. Her maternal grandparents were Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll and Elizabeth Stewart. Elizabeth was a daughter of John Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Margaret Montgomerie. Margaret was a daughter of Alexander Montgomerie, 1st Lord Montgomerie and Margaret Boyd.
Henry and Janet were parents to four children:
Henry Stewart, 2nd Lord Methven (d. 3 March 1572).
Dorothea Stewart. Married William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie.
Joan Stewart. Married Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll.
Margaret Stewart (d. 1 January 1627). Married Andrew Stuart, eldest son of Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Ochiltree. They were parents to Andrew Stuart, 1st Baron Castle Stuart.
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1497 - 1551 (54 years)
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