Henry Ray
While serving as Berwick Pursuivant, Henry Ray twice met secretly with Margaret Tudor, widow of James IV, at Holyroodhouse in 1537. As a herald in Scotland he wore the English royal arms upon his breast. She told him to change his apparel and put on a Scottish cloak and hat and meet her in a gallery in her lodging. [6] He witnessed James V and his French bride Madeleine of Valois arrive at Leith on Whitsun-Eve 19 May 1537. [7] Ray was Ralph Sadler's go-between in Scotland, and he even found his lodgings. In February 1540 Ray had to argue with the Provost of Edinburgh over a billet, and a servant of Margaret Tudor told his mistress, who told the king, who ordered the Bishop of Ross to move out and make room for the English party. [8]
Ray came to Stirling Castle at the end of May 1541 and delivered letters from Henry VIII to James V in the Chapel Royal. He sent messages to Margaret Tudor who sent him a gift of a black velvet doublet. In June, the king was sad for the loss of his two princes. He reported that workmen in Edinburgh Castle were making cannon and gunpowder. [9]
Ray went to Methven Castle to make inquiries after the death of Margaret Tudor in November 1541. He heard she died of a sudden palsy and had not made a will. She had asked her son James V to come to her from Falkland Palace but he was too late. She asked that James V should be good to her former husband the Earl of Angus and her daughter Margaret Douglas. When James V arrived at Methven he asked John Tennent and Oliver Sinclair to lock up her things for his use. She had 2,500 merks in ready money, which Ray considered a small sum. [10]
In March 1539, Henry Ray was in Edinburgh with the Lancaster Herald. The Duke of Norfolk sent Ray's news to Thomas Cromwell. Ray had heard a proclamation that all Scotsmen should be ready for war. A "secret friend" who was an associate of the banished Earl of Angus and an officer of the Scottish royal ordinance had told him that 16 great cannons or culverins and 60 smaller guns had been refurnished or newly made in Edinburgh Castle. All the guns would be ready 20 days after Easter. Ray had attended a sermon preached by a Friar to Mary of Guise in Linlithgow. His Scottish acquaintances told him that if England made peace with France, all three countries would be at peace. [11]
James V gave him £4-8s in June 1542. [12] On 25 November 1542 he left Edinburgh with Somerset Herald, Thomas Trahern, accompanied by the Scottish Dingwall Pursuivant. Two miles from Dunbar Somerset was murdered. Ray and Dingwall escaped and found a refuge at Innerwick Castle. The murderers were said to be two English veterans of the Pilgrimage of Grace, William Leche and John Prestman. [13]
In September 1543 he took Ralph's messages to Regent Arran at Stirling Castle during the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots. [14] The war of the Rough Wooing began between England and Scotland with Henry Ray's declaration in Edinburgh on 20 December 1543. [15] He was captured before the battle of Pinkie in 1544, but released and taken to Hume Castle, which was held for England by Edward Sutton, 4th Baron Dudley. [16]
Ray was rewarded £12 for delivering letters in Edinburgh in December 1551, £12 in January 1553 and £15 in February. [17] Later, Ray was detained by French troops at Dunbar on 4 April 1560 when he was bringing letters from Mary of Guise declining to end the Siege of Leith. [18] He was sometimes called Harry Berwick. [19] Gilbert Dethick wrote to him on 3 April 1565 to buy some salmon for a St George's Day feast, and addressed him as "Harry Ree, alias Barwicke Pursuivant at Armes". [20]
James V was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England. During his childhood Scotland was governed by regents, firstly by his mother until she remarried, and then by his second cousin, John Stewart, Duke of Albany. James's personal rule began in 1528 when he finally escaped the custody of his stepfather, Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus. His first action was to exile Angus and confiscate the lands of the Douglases.
Margaret Tudor was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to extend her regency. Margaret was the eldest daughter and second child of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of King Henry VIII of England. By her line, the House of Stuart eventually acceded to the throne of England, in addition to Scotland.
Mary of Guise, also called Mary of Lorraine, was Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. As the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, she was a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked mid-16th-century Scotland, ruling the kingdom as queen regent on behalf of her daughter from 1554 until her death in 1560.
Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, was the daughter of the Scottish queen dowager Margaret Tudor and her second husband Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus and thus the grand-daughter of Henry VII of England. She was the grand-mother of James VI and I.
The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces.
Sir Ralph Sadler or Sadleir PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI. Having signed the device settling the crown on Jane Grey in 1553, he was obliged to retire to his estates during the reign of Mary I. Sadler was restored to royal favour during the reign of Elizabeth I, serving as a Privy Councillor and once again participating in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 1568.
James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran (1537–1609) was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who opposed the French-dominated regency during the Scottish Reformation. He was the eldest son of James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, sometime regent of Scotland. He was of royal descent, and at times was third or fourth in succession to the Scottish crown; several royal marriages were proposed for him, but he eventually never married. He went to France with Mary, Queen of Scots, where he commanded the Scots Guards. After returning to Scotland, he became a leader of the Protestant party against Mary and her French supporters. However, he went insane in 1562 and was confined for the rest of his life.
Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus was a Scottish nobleman active during the reigns of James V and Mary, Queen of Scots. He was the son of George, Master of Angus, who was killed at the Battle of Flodden, and succeeded as Earl of Angus on the death of his grandfather, Archibald.
Sir Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton was an English nobleman and a follower of King Henry VIII of England. He is best known for his victory at Solway Moss on 24 November 1542 for which he was given a barony.
Thomas Dacre, 2nd Baron Dacre of Gilsland, KG was the son of Humphrey Dacre, 1st Baron Dacre of Gilsland and Mabel Parr, great-aunt of queen consort Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII of England. His mother was the daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal by his wife, Alice Tunstall.
Innerwick Castle is a ruined castle in East Lothian, Scotland, near the village of Innerwick, 5 miles (8.0 km) from Dunbar, on the Thornton Burn, and overlooking Thornton Glen.
The Rough Wooing, also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the Auld Alliance and prevent Scotland being used as a springboard for future invasion by France, partly to weaken Scotland, and partly to force the Scottish Parliament to confirm the existing marriage alliance between Mary, Queen of Scots, and the English heir apparent Edward, son of King Henry VIII, under the terms of the Treaty of Greenwich of July 1543. An invasion of France was also contemplated. Henry declared war in an attempt to force the Scottish Parliament to agree to the planned marriage between Edward, who was six years old at the start of the war, and the infant queen, thereby creating a new alliance between Scotland and England. Upon Edward's accession to the throne in 1547 at the age of nine, the war continued for a time under the direction of the Duke of Somerset, before Somerset's removal from power in 1549 and replacement by the Duke of Northumberland, who wished for a less costly foreign policy than his predecessor. It was the last major conflict between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
Sir Adam Otterburn of Auldhame and Redhall was a Scottish lawyer and diplomat. He was king's advocate to James V of Scotland and secretary to Mary of Guise and Regent Arran.
Thomas Trahern was Somerset Herald, an English officer of arms. His murder in Scotland, which may have been related to the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion, was a setback to Anglo-Scottish relations.
George Douglas of Pittendreich was a member of the powerful Red Douglas family who struggled for control of the young James V of Scotland in 1528. His second son became James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton and Regent of Scotland. Initially, George Douglas promoted the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Prince Edward of England. After war was declared between England and Scotland he worked for peace and to increase the power of Mary of Guise, the widow of James V.
Sir Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, also known as Greysteil, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier, who served as Treasurer of Scotland, and was three times Provost of Edinburgh.
The siege of St Andrews Castle (1546–1547) followed the killing of Cardinal David Beaton by a group of Protestants at St Andrews Castle. They remained in the castle and were besieged by the Governor of Scotland, Regent Arran. However, over 18 months the Scottish besieging forces made little impact, and the Castle finally surrendered to a French naval force after artillery bombardment. The Protestant garrison, including the preacher John Knox, were taken to France and used as galley slaves.
Alexander Crichton of Brunstane,, was a Scottish Protestant laird who advocated the murder of Cardinal David Beaton and supported the plan for the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Prince Edward of England. In contemporary letters and documents Alexander is known by variant spellings of "Brunstane," his territorial designation. The original House of Brunstane was near Penicuik, and another Crichton estate at Gilberstoun near Portobello, Edinburgh later became known as Brunstane.
Wark on Tweed Castle, sometimes referred to as Carham Castle, is a ruined motte-and-bailey castle at the West end of Wark on Tweed in Northumberland. The ruins are a Grade II* listed building.
James, Duke of Rothesay was the first of the two sons and three children born to King James V of Scotland and his second wife, Mary of Guise. From the moment of his birth James was Duke of Rothesay and heir apparent to the Scottish throne.
