As the 500th anniversary of the battle of Flodden approaches, efforts are being made to recognise its importance
In a few days, a ceremony will be held at Branxton church, near Coldstream in Northumberland. Those gathered will commemorate Scots and English troops slain during one of the bloodiest acts of war ever fought in Britain: the battle of Flodden, which took place 500 years ago next week. Those killed included James IV of Scotland, the last king to die in battle on British soil.
The battle, which claimed the lives of 10,000 Scots and 4,000 English, re-arranged the political map of Europe, allowing England to promote its continental military campaigns without northerly distraction. Yet outside the Borders, it is little known today.
By contrast, Bannockburn has become a cornerstone of Scottish history and celebrations for its 700th anniversary – to be held shortly before next year's independence referendum – have received millions of pounds of grants from the Scottish government. No such funding has gone on commemorating Flodden, despite the numbers of Scots slain there.
"It has been a top-down, political decision to celebrate Bannockburn and invest in things like the battlefield's expensive new tourist centre. However, marking Flodden, a battle that was every bit as important for Scotland, has received no such support. Commemorating it has emerged from the community," said Alistair Bowden, project manager for Flodden 1513, a programme of events that will include battlefield walks, local exhibitions and the design of a new Flodden tartan.
In fact, Flodden defined Borders culture more than any other event, Bowden argued: "A classic example is seen at Selkirk, where 68 men set out to fight with James IV but only one returned, a man called Fletcher, who, exhausted and speechless, simply dropped the flag he was carrying in his despair at the slaughter he had witnessed.
"Every year, we recreate that event during Selkirk's Border Riding ceremony when a lone flag-carrier walks down the main street and then slowly lowers his standard in the town centre. The town is absolutely jam-packed when that ceremony is held."
Flodden was fought after the Stewart king, James IV, invaded England to help the French in their war against Henry VIII. An English army of 26,000 men, led by the Earl of Surrey, was dispatched to meet the Scots. The sides met on 9 September 1513. James gathered his 30,000-plus force on Branxton Hill, near Flodden, and began firing their cannon into the English below them. James's gunners were inexperienced, however, and most of their shot sailed over Surrey's men. By contrast, the English gunners were quick and accurate and soon inflicted considerable casualties.
James, clad in full armour and a gold and scarlet surcoat, then led his soldiers down Branxton Hill, in pouring rain, where they become stuck in the boggy ground. The Scots, equipped with clumsy 15ft pikes, were then cut to pieces by the English whose main weapon, the brown bill or halberd – a 5ft axe with a spike – was ideally suited to hand-to-hand combat.
James vainly tried to reach Surrey's banners in order to kill the English leader, but was cut down. "Pierced below the jaw by an arrow, his throat gashed by the unforgiving English bill, he fell dying, choking on his own gore," says historian Linda Porter in Crown of Thistles, her new biography of the Stewart lineage.
The defeat was a national disaster for Scotland. "Almost every Scottish family of note lost a father, brother, husband or son, sometimes all four," writes Porter. The nation's aspirations to become a European power were crushed, but the Scots did prevail in one sense. James's marriage to Margaret Tudor produced a lineage that eventually occupied the English throne in the form of James VI of Scotland (aka James I of England), though this was largely due to the fecundity of the Stewarts compared with the barren tendencies of the Tudors.
The battle has since faded from collective memories, with the exception of the Borders. Only the haunting lament The Fleurs (Flowers) of the Forest has endured, a song frequently played at public commemorations of national loss. (A solo bagpiper played a version at last year's national service to commemorate the life of Arctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott.)
"Our perception of Flodden has waxed and waned over the centuries," said Edinburgh University historian Gordon Pentland. "A hundred years ago it was marked by leading politicians because it was viewed as an unfortunate disagreement between two sides who later became united to a common cause, British unionism.
"Then came the slaughter of the first world war, which dwarfed even that of Flodden. For good measure, Walter Scott – who had turned public attention to Flodden in his great poem Marmion – fell out of popularity in the interwar years."
Similarly, unionism has become a cause that is under threat, particularly through the influence of the Scottish Nationalists.
The result is an event that is seen in some circles as an embarrassment to the cause of Scottish independence, though political considerations will have little to do with the Branxton church service on 10 September.
Among those attending will be the Duke of Norfolk, a descendant of the Earl of Surrey, and the Earl of Hume, whose 16th-century counterpart led a section of the Scottish army.
As one of those who will be leading the Branxton service, the Rev David Taverner, put it: "This is about bringing people together in understanding as opposed to keeping them apart."
For more information on commemorations, go to wwwflodden1513.com Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.
In a few days, a ceremony will be held at Branxton church, near Coldstream in Northumberland. Those gathered will commemorate Scots and English troops slain during one of the bloodiest acts of war ever fought in Britain: the battle of Flodden, which took place 500 years ago next week. Those killed included James IV of Scotland, the last king to die in battle on British soil.
The battle, which claimed the lives of 10,000 Scots and 4,000 English, re-arranged the political map of Europe, allowing England to promote its continental military campaigns without northerly distraction. Yet outside the Borders, it is little known today.
By contrast, Bannockburn has become a cornerstone of Scottish history and celebrations for its 700th anniversary – to be held shortly before next year's independence referendum – have received millions of pounds of grants from the Scottish government. No such funding has gone on commemorating Flodden, despite the numbers of Scots slain there.
"It has been a top-down, political decision to celebrate Bannockburn and invest in things like the battlefield's expensive new tourist centre. However, marking Flodden, a battle that was every bit as important for Scotland, has received no such support. Commemorating it has emerged from the community," said Alistair Bowden, project manager for Flodden 1513, a programme of events that will include battlefield walks, local exhibitions and the design of a new Flodden tartan.
In fact, Flodden defined Borders culture more than any other event, Bowden argued: "A classic example is seen at Selkirk, where 68 men set out to fight with James IV but only one returned, a man called Fletcher, who, exhausted and speechless, simply dropped the flag he was carrying in his despair at the slaughter he had witnessed.
"Every year, we recreate that event during Selkirk's Border Riding ceremony when a lone flag-carrier walks down the main street and then slowly lowers his standard in the town centre. The town is absolutely jam-packed when that ceremony is held."
Flodden was fought after the Stewart king, James IV, invaded England to help the French in their war against Henry VIII. An English army of 26,000 men, led by the Earl of Surrey, was dispatched to meet the Scots. The sides met on 9 September 1513. James gathered his 30,000-plus force on Branxton Hill, near Flodden, and began firing their cannon into the English below them. James's gunners were inexperienced, however, and most of their shot sailed over Surrey's men. By contrast, the English gunners were quick and accurate and soon inflicted considerable casualties.
James, clad in full armour and a gold and scarlet surcoat, then led his soldiers down Branxton Hill, in pouring rain, where they become stuck in the boggy ground. The Scots, equipped with clumsy 15ft pikes, were then cut to pieces by the English whose main weapon, the brown bill or halberd – a 5ft axe with a spike – was ideally suited to hand-to-hand combat.
James vainly tried to reach Surrey's banners in order to kill the English leader, but was cut down. "Pierced below the jaw by an arrow, his throat gashed by the unforgiving English bill, he fell dying, choking on his own gore," says historian Linda Porter in Crown of Thistles, her new biography of the Stewart lineage.
The defeat was a national disaster for Scotland. "Almost every Scottish family of note lost a father, brother, husband or son, sometimes all four," writes Porter. The nation's aspirations to become a European power were crushed, but the Scots did prevail in one sense. James's marriage to Margaret Tudor produced a lineage that eventually occupied the English throne in the form of James VI of Scotland (aka James I of England), though this was largely due to the fecundity of the Stewarts compared with the barren tendencies of the Tudors.
The battle has since faded from collective memories, with the exception of the Borders. Only the haunting lament The Fleurs (Flowers) of the Forest has endured, a song frequently played at public commemorations of national loss. (A solo bagpiper played a version at last year's national service to commemorate the life of Arctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott.)
"Our perception of Flodden has waxed and waned over the centuries," said Edinburgh University historian Gordon Pentland. "A hundred years ago it was marked by leading politicians because it was viewed as an unfortunate disagreement between two sides who later became united to a common cause, British unionism.
"Then came the slaughter of the first world war, which dwarfed even that of Flodden. For good measure, Walter Scott – who had turned public attention to Flodden in his great poem Marmion – fell out of popularity in the interwar years."
Similarly, unionism has become a cause that is under threat, particularly through the influence of the Scottish Nationalists.
The result is an event that is seen in some circles as an embarrassment to the cause of Scottish independence, though political considerations will have little to do with the Branxton church service on 10 September.
Among those attending will be the Duke of Norfolk, a descendant of the Earl of Surrey, and the Earl of Hume, whose 16th-century counterpart led a section of the Scottish army.
As one of those who will be leading the Branxton service, the Rev David Taverner, put it: "This is about bringing people together in understanding as opposed to keeping them apart."
For more information on commemorations, go to wwwflodden1513.com Reported by guardian.co.uk 7 hours ago.