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
.
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". He 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
.
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. Their activities forced an unlikely alliance of two self-seeking Scottish nobles, the
Earl of Arran
, Regent for the infant Mary, and the
Earl of Angus
(whose estates had been razed and family tombs vandalised by Hertford). Joined by borderers under
Scott of Buccleuch
(who may have been the inspiration for their subsequent tactics), 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 Scottish borderers. 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 reached the top of Palace Hill, they were attacked by the whole Scottish army which had been hidden on the far side of the hill.
The Scots had the advantage of surprise, and of the setting sun which was behind them which dazzled the English, and of the westerly wind which blew gunpowder smoke from arquebuses and pistols towards the English.
The English, who were in some disarray, were forced back by the initial Scottish attack. They tried to rally on the slope of Palace Hill but the Scottish borderers with them now chose to revert to their former allegiance. The English army now 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.
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
- Philip Warner,
Famous Scottish Battles
, London: Leo Cooper, 1995. ISBN 0-85052-487-3
- R. L. Mackie,
A Short History of Scotland
, 1962.
External links