594 ARTILLERY UNDER THE STUART KINDS, 1424-1625, 
in tlie possession of the English since the battle of Neville’s Cross, 
near Durham. Little is known of this siege, but it is on record that 
the warlike engines broke down when battering the walls of the 
beleaguered fortress and the siege was raised. A few months after 
this event, the King of Scots was basely assassinated and the Crown 
passed to his son, a boy of six years. When James II. arrived at 
years of discretion, he set himself the task of putting his kingdom 
into a proper state of defence. By his desire, Parliament took this 
weighty matter into consideration and, in 1456, declared that the King 
ought to make it a special request to some of the richest and most 
powerful barons— 
“ That they make carts of war ( f crakys of weir ’); and in each 
place two guns, each of which was to have two chambers 
( f chamerys ’), to be supplied with the proper warlike tackling 
( f graitli ’), and to be furnished also with a cunning man to shoot 
them. And if they have no skill in shooting with them at the 
time of passing the Act, it is hoped that they will make them¬ 
selves master of it before they are required to take the field 
against the enemy.” 1 2 
In 1460, James II., having espoused the cause of Henry YI. against 
the Yorkists, determined to march into England at the head of a large 
army. He opened the campaign by besieging the fortress of Roxburgh 
in person. A battery having been planted, the King went to examine 
the same. Of the cannon which composed this battery was one of the 
large Flemish guns imported into Scotland by James I. and is thus 
described :— 
“ It was constructed of longtitudinal bars of iron, fixed with 
iron hoops, which were made tight in a very rude manner by 
strong oaken wedges. This piece, from the ignorance of the 
engineer, had been overcharged and as the King stood near, 
intently observing the direction of the guns, it unfortunately 
exploded and struck the monarch with one of its massy wooden 
wedges in the body. The blow was followed by instant death, 
having fallen upon the mortal region of the groin and broken the 
thigh.” 3 
This lamentable occurrence was mourned throughout the army and 
the country. The nobles, in despatching a message to the court, 
desired the immediate presence in camp of the Queen and her eldest 
son, a boy of eight years. The late monarch’s widow, who was a high- 
minded and courageous lady, set out for the army on hearing the 
doleful news and brought the little King with her, whom she pre¬ 
sented to the barons. She requested that the siege might be continued 
at once. The presence in camp of the young King and his mother 
stimulated the leaders of the army, and the soldiers, to press the 
assault with the utmost vigour, and Roxburgh, which had been held 
for a hundred years by the English, was carried by storm. 
1 “ Acts of the Parliament of Scotland,” Vol. II., p. 45. 
2 Tytler’s “ History of Scotland ” (adit. 1866), Yol. IV., p. 150. 
