292 BATTLE OF FLODDEN 



in the way of international pacification had been expected 

 through this royal union ; but, as the sequel showed, expected 

 in vain. Towards the end of July 1513, the situation was 

 thus : Henry VIII. with a large army had crossed the sea 

 to Calais and laid siege to the French town Terouenne. 

 James IV., rankling in Edinburgh under the aforesaid griev- 

 ances, real or supposed, determined to take advantage of what 

 seemed such a highly favourable opportunity of redressing 

 them, the English King being on foreign soil, and his 

 dominions, it was believed, being comparatively defenceless. 

 The Tocsin of war, therefore, was sounded throughout Scotland, 

 and with such success that by August 17th a huge army 

 of Lowlanders and Borderers, Highlanders and Islanders, said 

 to be 100,000 in all, was assembled on the Borough Moor of 

 Edinburgh, eager to follow their leader, in what unmistakably 

 appeared to be a popular project. Still, even at the eleventh 

 hour, the exertions of many experienced nobles and statesmen, 

 headed by Queen Margaret, might have prevailed in the 

 interests of peace, had it not been for the appearance of the 

 man who held the torch which was destined to fire the train 

 with such fatal consequences. That man was a herald from 

 the Queen of France, who, in full dependence upon her Scottish 

 ally, sent him a valuable turquoise ring from her own finger, 

 and a letter intimating that if he was her true knight he 

 would not draw back from his noble and manly purpose, but 

 march, if it were only for her sake, three feet on to English 

 ground.' The French Queen's motive was quite clear. It 

 was in the interests of her husband and country. An invasion 

 of Henry VIII. 's dominions would create a diversion, no 

 doubt, and compel that monarch to quit French soil, or, at 

 the least, to detach part of his army as a reinforcement for 

 home defence. It would be understood how irresistibly a 

 message of that sort, fi-om an ally, who moreover was a queen 

 and a woman, must, in that age of chivalry, have appealed to 



2 It must be confessed that it is not clear whether the letter and 

 ring from the Queen of France — accomijanied, according to Pitscottie, 

 with 14,000 French crowns— were received by James before, or after, 

 the formation of the camp on the Borough Moor. Pitscottie seems 

 to think before. 



