The Leith siege

[St Andrew]

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=778812007

Unearthed map tells of unlikely allies in Leith siege
GEORGE MAIR

AN ancient map has led to the discovery of the first physical evidence of a 16th-century siege in which Scots and English fought side by side.

Joint forces surrounded Leith, where French had holed up in the dying months of the Auld Alliance.


The Siege of Leith was a key point in history, as the Scots and English had been enemies for centuries, while the French and Scots were supposed to have been allies.

The siege, in which the French surrendered on June 6, 1560, led to the Treaty of Edinburgh and the eventual fall of the Catholic Church in Scotland as well as the end of the Auld Alliance.

Archaelogists led by Glasgow University's Dr Tony Pollard say the map led them to the first physical evidence of the siege at excavations in Pilrig Park and on Leith Links.

The map - at a scale of "eightye paces to ane ynche" and sketched the day after the French surrender - is thought to have been drawn up by an English cartographer. It was found in the archives of Petworth House, in Sussex.

The breakthrough came when it was superimposed on a modern Edinburgh street map to pinpoint exactly where Scots and English built their siege works.

It helped the archaeologists unearth part of Somerset's Battery - an artillery fort from the siege - battery walls, as well as a blacksmith's forge and several pieces of pottery from the time.

Dr Pollard, who heads the Centre for Battlefield Archaelogy at Glasgow University, said: "The accuracy of the map was astonishing."

[Wolfetone Hibee]

The Scots who helped English troops in that siege were traitors as our Queen Mary neither sanctioned the attack or ratified the treaty. The French troops stationed there and on inchkeith in the Forth were there to protect us against the English and their attempts to enforce reformation on us (which eventually came about solely because John Knox wanted to get his grubby mits on a prominent landowners 16.5 year old daughter, a landowner who benefited greatly from the redistribution of church lands post reformation).

By all accounts it was an impressive artillery fort though, based on Spanish designs, who were the leaders in fortification until surpassed by France's Vauban in the 17th century.

I missed that article dude cheers for posting it, i'm away again as I'm not supposed to be here and the Budweiser tap in the crags is calling...............