Battle of Ancrum Moor

The Battle of Ancrum Moor was fought during the War of the Rough Wooing in 1545. The Scottish victory put a temporary end to English depredations in the Scottish border and lowlands.

Background

As his reign drew to a close, King Henry VIII sought to secure the alliance of Scotland and the marriage of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots to his son Edward. He had the support of some Scots nobles who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Solway Moss and mixed diplomacy with the threat of force, but in December 1543, the Scottish Parliament, after much internal dissension, decided to reject Henry's overtures and instead renew the alliance with France.^[1]

Campaign

Henry's reaction was to launch a ruthless war against Scotland. This attempt to force Scotland into alliance was known as the "Rough Wooing". Henry ordered the Earl of Hertford, his Warden of the Marches, to devastate Edinburgh, Leith and many other towns. Hertford dutifully laid waste to much of southern Scotland in two expeditions in 1544.^[2]

The following year, an army under Sir Ralph Eure (alternatively spelt "Evers") continued to pillage in the borders. Perhaps their worst atrocity was the burning of Brumehous Tower with the lady of the house and her children and servants inside.^[3] Their activities forced an unlikely alliance of the Earl of Arran, Regent for the infant Mary, and the Earl of Angus. These two Scottish nobles had become bitter rivals many years before, and had even fought a pitched battle in the streets of Edinburgh in 1520. However, Angus's estates had been razed and family tombs vandalised by Hertford, and he learned that Eure had been granted some of his lands in the conquered Scottish borders by Henry. Angus observed that he would witness Eure's title deeds with a sharp pen, and in red ink.^[3]

The Scottish army consisted initially of between 300^[3] and 1,000^[4] "lances" under Angus, and a similar number of troops under George Leslie, 3rd Earl of Rothes. Arran may have brought some levies from Fife. They were joined by borderers under Scott of Buccleuch, whose lands had also suffered devastation at Eure's hands. Together, they moved to confront the English army near Jedburgh.

Battle

The English Army consisted of 3,000 German and Spanish mercenaries, 1,500 English borderers under Sir Brian Layton and 700 "assured" Scottish borderers.^[4] As they settled into an encampment under Gersit Law, a small Scottish force made a feint attack and then retreated southwest towards Palace Hill. Much of the English force followed in pursuit. As they crossed the top of Palace Hill and chased down the far side, they found that the whole Scottish army had been hidden on the far side of the hill.^[4] The Scots had the advantage of surprise, and of the setting sun which was behind them, dazzling the English, and of the westerly wind which blew gunpowder smoke from arquebuses and pistols towards the English.^[5]

A charge by Scottish pikemen drove the English back in disarray. The ground was too uneven for them to rally at the top of Palace Hill. As they tried again to rally on the eastern slope, the Scottish borderers with them chose to tear off the red crosses which signified their adherence to England and revert to their former allegiance.^[6] The English army broke and was forced to scatter through a hostile countryside.

Outcome

The English lost 800 men killed (including Eure and Layton) and 1,000 taken prisoner. This temporarily stopped their harrying of Scotland. News of the victory also induced Francis I of France to send troops to aid the Scots, although they achieved little.^[5]

The battlefield was subsequently named Lilliard Edge, in memory of a Scottish woman who took up arms against the English after her lover was killed by them, and who was killed in the battle.

The war came to an end shortly afterwards on the death of Henry VIII, only to break out again with perhaps even more violence when Hertford, now Protector Somerset ruling on behalf of Edward VI, sought to impose his own political and religious settlement on Scotland.

References

Sources

• Fraser, George MacDonald (1971). The Steel Bonnets. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-00-272746-3. 
• Mackie, R. L. A Short History of Scotland, 1962.
• Warner, Philip (1995). Famous Scottish Battles. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-487-3. 

External links

• borderreivers.co.uk
• The Scotsman