Isle of Wight.] LANDING OF THE FRENCH. 131 that these detachments were beaten off to their sulting his pilots as to how they might be atown ships, with considerable loss. Henry at their approach ordered all the ships that were ready-not more than a hundred according to one account; only sixty sail according to another to get under weigh, and meet them. The fleet was commanded by Sir John Dudley, Baron of Lisle, Admiral of England in 1543. On their departure from Portsmouth Harbour, the English, like the French, had a catastrophe. The Mary Rose, one of the largest ships in the navy, carrying sixty guns, was overset by a sudden squall of wind; her lower deck ports being open, and within only sixteen inches of the water. Thus she filled and went down instantly; and her commander, Sir George Carew, and every man on board perished. A foot-note to Schomberg's "Naval Chronology" states that "some authors inform us that she was sunk in the action, and that the Great Harry nearly shared the same fate, but was towed into the harbour." King Henry had dined on board the Mary Rose that day, and had only returned to the shore a few hours before the accident. In the year 1835 some curious relics of this old ship were fished up; several guns of hoops and rings, the stone shot then in use, with portions of her timbers, being among the articles found. Schomberg ("Naval Chronology") states that the first mention of iron balls for cannon is distinctly made in 1550, when Boulogne was restored to France. It may be mentioned here, that it was in Henry's reign that the Royal Navy first became a distinct profession. The king fixed salaries to admirals, vice-admirals, captains, and seamen; and since then we have had a constant succession of officers in the service. Though greatly inferior in number, Dudley's fleet met that of D'Annebaut; but a very indecisive action ensued, as the, French did not seem to care much for coming to close quarters. The brunt of the action was borne by the Great Harry; and there were many sharp engagements between the galleys of Captain Paulin and some of the smaller vessels of the English, which M. du Bellay, a French writer, calls "rambarges," but which we name "pinnaces." These were light, long, and narrow craft, for sails and oars; and, being easily handled, were very effective in attacking the galleys, which they put to the rout. tacked, was told by them "that it was impossible, because the channel which led to the place where they lay was so narrow that scarcely four ships could sail abreast" (no very sufficient reason), "and that, besides, there was no venturing among those sands without pilots who knew them." Finding that the galleys failed to lure the larger ships out, and that they were beaten off by the smaller; on the land breeze rising, DAnnebaut closed in towards the Isle of Wight, and landed 2,000 troops in three different places, and several villages were burned and destroyed. One of the officers, Pietro Strozzi, a noble cavalier, banished from Italy in consequence of some quarrel with the House of Medici, and who subsequently served against the English in Scotland, and died a Marshal of France and Lord of Epernay, landed near a little fort, the guns of which had annoyed the galleys. On the approach of his force, it was precipitately abandoned; but his people killed a few of the retreating garrison, and burned all the houses about it. Another division, led by the Sieur de Tais, who was general of the infantry, and by the Baron de la Garde, landed without opposition; but had not penetrated far into the isle before the inhabitants gathered in arms, and made some head against them, taking possession of ground where they could attack the invaders with advantage, and where, when they chose to retire, they were safe from pursuit, unless the enemy followed in disorder, and exposed themselves to further loss. The Sieur de Tais, therefore, had to fall back. The Captains Marsay and Pierrebon, who led the third, were both wounded; and their party found it necessary to retreat to their boats, and pull off with all speed to the ships. Meantime, the other troops who had been left on board, incited by the flames of those villages which Strozzi had fired, and seeing no one on the adjacent shore, landed without leave, to enjoy a little pillage; but getting among some hilly ground were attacked by both horse and foot, and driven down to the beach. There they rallied, under protection of a fire from the ships; and, being reinforced, again advanced against the islanders, who in turn retreated, and broke down a bridge to prevent further pursuit (Southey's "Naval History"). The admiral now held council how to proceed. The skirmishing-for it was not a close engage- In this assembly it was proposed by one to force ment-continued for two days, with cannon, hack- a passage into Portsmouth Harbour, and destroy but, and bow, but the damage on both sides was the English fleet which still lay there." But the very trifling. The English fleet retired beyond or hazard of this enterprise was too great; and the within the sands, seeking to lure the larger French captains urged that by securing the Isle of Wight, vessels after them. Admiral d'Annebaut, on con- in the name of the King of France, it would eventually give them possession of Portsmouth. They could always be sure of a passage from the island either to Spain or Flanders; and the land itself could be cultivated, so as to feed any garrison they might think proper to leave there. "These," says Southey, quoting Du Bellay, "were great utilities, and worthy of profound consideration; but, on the other hand, the difficulties that occurred were not less considerable. The Sieurs de Tais and de Saint Remy, and others who were versed in 133 fleet could not depart till the works should be in a defensible state; but it was impossible for them to stay there so long, because they had no port to secure them from the winds, neither were they victualled for such a time. The rainy and stormy season was coming on, when the ships would be in danger; and the soldiers on shore would be exposed to the effects of the weather, without tents or covering of any kind. These arguments had such weight that even those who were for taking possession of the isle submitted to such matters, agreed in opinion that it would be necessary to erect their fortress at the same time, on the plans which had been deemed best suited to that purpose. The ground was semicircular in its form, and at the points of the semicircle two forts were required to defend the road and protect their own fleet; a third was necessary for lodging the troops. The cost of these works would be excessive. It would not be possible to complete them in less than three months, even if 6,000 pioneers were employed; and the place being, as it were, in the heart of the enemy, less than 6,000 soldiers ought not to be left there, but it was impossible to leave so many now, and retain enough for manning the ships. Nor were these the only objections. The them, and agreed that the intention must be deferred till the king's further pleasure could be known." "For my part," says Martin du Bellay, "without offe nce to the Sieurs de Tais and de Saint Remy, it appears to me that, considering the desire the king had to secure himself against his enemy, the King of England, and the means which he then possessed, an opportunity for so doing was at that time presented which will neither easily nor soon be found again." Admiral d'Annebaut now sailed towards Dover, and made occasional landings for the purpose of pillage; but so resolute and active was the resistance of the people, that the French suffered more loss than they inflicted. Meanwhile, Dudley, who had been reinforced at Portsmouth, joyfully received the king's orders once more to put forth to sea and attack the enemy. His own orders to his captains were, that when a convenient time came for engaging, "our vanward shall make with their vanward, if they have any; and if they be in one company, our vanward, taking the advantage of the wind, shall set upon the foremost rank, bringing them out of order, and our vice-admiral shall seek to board their vice-admiral; and every captain shall choose his equal as near as he may." "The last part of this order," says Creasy, in his "Invasions of England," "reminds us of one of Nelson's before going into action at Trafalgar 'No captain can do wrong who lays his ship alongside one of the enemy.' Sir John Dudley overtook the fleet of D'Annebaut between Brighton and Shoreham, and some manoeuvring ensued to gain the advantage of the wind. There were light airs and a nearly calm sea, which contributed greatly to the advantage of the French, who had so many row-galleys, and were independent of the wind. On the 15th of August some distant cannonading took place between the fleets; but next morning, when the wind had freshened, and given Dudley some hope of assailing them with advantage, he saw them in full retreat, as he expresses it, "sailing into the seawards." The previous day's encounter was called the battle of Brighton, or Brighthelmstone. For the injuries done at the Isle of Wight, Dudley retaliated by crossing the Channel and sacking the town of Tréport, on the coast of France; and thus the operations which had begun so ominously were so ominously were concluded honourably for England. CHAPTER XXIV. PINKIE, 1547. THE year 1547 found England and Scotland again | a letter to all the principal nobility, reminding them at war. In that year Henry VIII. died, leaving behind him a reputation very different from that which his earlier years presaged. He divorced his first wife upon the convenient plea of conscience, that he might marry one handsomer and younger. He murdered the second through satiety, and a growing passion for another. He married a third twenty-four hours after the execution of the second, who, happily for herself, died in a few months. He divorced the fourth, because she was less beautiful than her portrait. The fifth he beheaded, on very questionable evidence; and the sixth he would have burned at Smithfield as a heretic. And yet, by his will, "he earnestly begs the blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and the whole company of heaven, to pray to God continually for him" ("Acta Regia," Vol. III.). It was also enjoined by Henry's will that a marriage should take place, if possible, between . Edward VI. and the young Queen Mary of Scotland, then in her fourth year. But the Scottish people were all, save a few nobles in English pay, averse to such a measure; so the Protector Somerset soon evinced, by one of the very first acts of his Government, that he was resolved to carry Henry's dying wishes into effect. He determined to lead an army into the northern kingdom; and addressed of the league by which they had bound themselves to assist the deceased King of England in the accomplishment of his designs. These measures were very unwise, and only calculated to increase the rancour of the Scots, and bind them faster to France. The Earl of Arran, who was then Regent of Scotland, though a man naturally indolent, and of unsettled principles, exerted himself to create a vigorous union against the English. He became active in his military preparations; he laboured to strengthen the defences of the borders, and to have the people trained by wapinschaws to arms. He encouraged the equipment of privateers, as the only substitute for the national fleet which Dudley had destroyed in the last war; and he anxiously strove to soothe those sanguinary feuds by which the chiefs and barons wasted the strength of the country, and when there was peace abroad, involved it in all the horrors of war at home. In the summer of 1547 he established a line of beacons upon the hills near and along the coast of the German Ocean and the Firth of Forth, from St. Abb's Head to Linlithgow. Mounted sentinels were stationed to convey intelligence of any hostile appearance; and all persons were strictly forbidden to leave their residences or remove their goods, as it was resolved to defend Scotland at every hazard of life and blood. It was of this new and wanton war that the Earl of Huntly remarked in the Scottish Parliament that he "disliked not the match, but he hated the manner of wooing." Several acts of hostility preluded the battle to come. Hayward mentions that a small ship, called the Pansy, attacked at sea "the Lion, a principal ship of Scotland. The fight began afar off and slow, but when they approached it grew furious; but the Pansy so applied her shot that the Lion's oar-loop (deck) was broken, her sails and tackling torn, and, lastly, she was boarded and taken," but perished off Harwich, with all that were in her. Edward, Duke of Somerset, Protector of England during the minority of Edward VI., arrived at Newcastle on the 27th of August, at the head of 14,000 Englishmen, and many bands of foreign auxiliaries, trained and reckless soldiers, whose trade was war and rapine. He had with him 15 pieces of cannon, and 900 wagons laden with stores. Sir Francis Fleming was Master of the Ordnance, and had with him 1,500 pioneers, under Captain John Brem, to clear the way, for the Scottish roads were then rough and steep. Master William Patten, who accompanied this army as Judge-Marshal, has left | us a minute account of the campaign, and an accurate list of all the commanders in the Protector's army; to aid which were thirty ships of war, under Edward, Lord Clinton and Say, K.G. (afterwards High Admiral of England), and thirty-two transports, under Sir William Wodehouse, vice-admiral, came to anchor at the mouth of the Tyne. Patten's work, which is extremely scarce, is entitled "The Expedition into Scotland of the Most Worthy Fortunate Prince, Edward, Duke of Somerset, &c., made in the First Yere of his Maistie's Most Prosperous Reign, and set out by way of Diarie by W. Patten, London. Vivat Victor! Out of the Parsonage of St. Mary Hill, in London, this xxviii of January, 1548." Lord Grey of Wilton, Lieutenant of Boulogne, was High-Marshal and Captain-General of the Horse, who were all cap-à-pie, in full but light armour. Sir Ralph Vane commanded the men-at-arms and demi-lances, who were 4,000 strong. Sir Francis Bryan (in the following year Governor of Ireland) was captain of the light horse, 2,000 strong; Sir Thomas Darcy led King Edward VI.'s band of Gentlemen Pensioners. 135 Don Pedro de Gamboa led the mounted Spanish arquebusiers. These trained foreigners, who were accustomed to discipline, and had served in many wars, were the flower of Somerset's army. Many of them were veterans who had served at the siege of Rhey, in 1521, when fire-arms were first used by the Spaniards. Edward Shelly led the men-at-arms of Boulogne, who, like the mercenaries, were well trained, but were Englishmen, who had been long in garrison there, and were clad in blue doublets, slashed and faced with red, and some were entirely in the latter colour. Sir Ralph Sadler, the famous diplomatist, was the treasurer, and Sir James Wilford was provost-marshal of this army, which was in every way the best ordered that had ever entered Scotland. Scotland was at this time full of traitors; for there was found in the July of that year, in St. Andrew's, a register-book, containing the names of 200 Scottish nobles and barons who had secretly bound themselves to promote the designs of England. "The most prominent among these most infamous traitors," says a recent "History of Scotland," "were the Earls of Bothwell, Cassillis, and Marischal, Lord Kilmaurs, eldest son of the Earl of Glencairn, Lord Grey, and the notorious Sir George Douglas. Bothwell had promised to transfer his allegiance to the English Government, and to surrender to them his strong castle of Hermitage, on condition that he should receive the hand of the Duchess of Suffolk, aunt to the young English monarch. The Earls of Athol, Crawford, Errol, and Sutherland had been tampered with, and intimated their willingness to join the English faction, provided they were honestly entertained. Glencairn-a veteran in treachery and statecraft— had secretly made overtures to the Protector, offering to co-operate in the invasion of Scotland, with 2,000 of his vassals; assuring Somerset that, if furnished with money, he would hold the Regent in check till the arrival of the invading army." And it was under the auspices of titled miscreants such as these that the Scottish Commons, ever most loyal and true to their country, now prepared to defend her. Somerset entered Scotland on the 2nd of September, and marched along the shore of the German Sea, keeping in view of his fleet of sixty-four sail, which bore towards the Firth of Forth. Without opposition he reached a place called the Peaths, a tremendous ravine, now crossed by a bridge, Sir Peter Mewtas was commander of the German perhaps the greatest of its kind in Europe, as it is infantry, who were all clad in buff coats, pot 300 feet in length and 240 feet in height. "Abrupt, helmets, and gorgets, and were armed with arque-precipitous, and narrow, this ravine formed one of buse and sword. the great passes into Scotland; and, being of easy |