[MR] Wikipedia: Burning of Edinburgh, 1544

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1544, an English army burned Edinburg, Scotland. This was
the first major action in a campaign by Henry VIII called "the Rough
Wooing".

Thwarted in his attempts to regain territory in France, Henry VIII turned
his attention toward France's ally Scotland. He saw a back-door route to
conquest by proposing a marriage between the infant Mary, Queen of Scots,
and his young son Prince Edward. While initially supported by the Scottish
regent, the Earl of Arran, the marriage treaty was rejected by the Scottish
Parliament. This provoked Henry to order a punitive invasion of Scotland to
force the marriage.

A large sea-borne army was landed at Leith early in May, and began a
systematic campaign of looting and burning. The attack was largely
unopposed.  Edinburgh's provost (mayor) attempted to negotiate a surrender
of the city, but the Earl of Hertford (Edward Seymour) refused to accept
any terms, as he was under strict orders to burn the town. The gates were
breached on 6 May, and some buildings were burned. After more looting on 7
May, the rest of the town was torched.

In addition to Edinburgh, many towns, villages and castles in the Lothians
and along Scotland's east coast were also burned and looted. The
destruction continued until 18 May when the English left Scotland with
their booty. They also left without Mary, who had been moved north to the
relative safety of Dunkeld. Later Mary was spirited away to France for her
safety.

Edinburg was rebuilt much as it had been before the burning, but instead of
wooden houses, the buildings were of stone. I have read that stone was
mandated by law, but right now I can't find the references. In any case,
wooden or wood-framed buildings were/are very rare in Edinburgh.

Wikipedia offers a page with further details at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Edinburgh .

Vimeo offers a video tour of pre-burning Edinburgh based on maps and other
documents: https://vimeo.com/user40599170 . Vimeo also offers similar video
reconstructions of St. Andrews Cathedral and other Scottish sites. Their
site is well worth exploring.

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Keeping Merry Rose relevant and in business for 16 years!