[MR] Wikipedia: Battle of the Herrings

Garth Groff via Atlantia atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Sun Feb 12 03:55:01 PST 2017


Noble Friends, Including Fellow Scots:

Today in 1429, the "Battle of the Herrings" was fought between English 
and combined French/Scottish forces during the Hundred Years War. The 
colorful name of this fight comes from the cargo in the English supply 
caravan, barrels of Herrings: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Herrings .

The battle is unusual in that the English commander, Sir John Fastolf, 
circled his wagons into a defensive lager or ring, as was later so often 
portrayed in cowboy movies. It probably wasn't the first time this was 
done, being a pretty obvious defensive tactic, but it is one of the 
early noted instances. The English, chiefly using longbows and 
crossbows, were able to beat back the attack with small loss. The French 
cavalry withdrew after a token charge, leaving the unsupported Scottish 
infantry to attack (possibly as a matter of honor, according to some 
commentaries). The lightly armored Scots took heavy casualties. Sir John 
Stewart of Darnley, the Constable of the Scottish Army, was killed in 
the fighting.

Sir John Fastolf was one of the most interesting personalities in this 
phase of the Hundred Years War. He was a courageous soldier, a wily 
commander, but is unfortunately closely identified with Shakespeare's 
drunken buffoon Falstaff. Fastolf was also patron to the Paston family, 
and some of his estate passed to them (possibly by legal hocus-pokus): 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fastolf .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot



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