This article first appeared in the March 1992 issue of Scottish Field. A fuller account of the reign of James IV is contained in Tranteržs novel, Chain of Destiny. This period of Scottish history is also the subject of one of Tranter'slater novels -- A Flame for the Fire .
JAMES the Fourth was, arguably, the best of the Stewart monarchs, a man of strong character, just, sufficiently kindly, and romantic. Coming after his feeble father James the Third, and before the less feeble but irresponsible James the Fifth, he made a good king, from 1488, when he was only fifteen, until 1513 -- that ominous date in Scotland's story. He was beloved by his people, not all that usual in our monarchs, and this love was demonstrated in no uncertain fashion that fatal year.
It was indeed his romantic tendency which, in the end, cost him and his realm so dear. James probably lived two centuries too late, and still saw himself as part of the age of chivalry, when the world had moved on from that conception, especially in international affairs. And there was nothing in the least chivalrous about Henry the Eighth, his opposite number in England.
Should Auld Alliance Be Forgot?
What happened was that Anne of Brittany, Queen of France, knowing James's romantic reputation, with Henry the Eighth determined on the conquest of Guienne, sent a scented glove to James -- a harking back to the days of knightly chivalry when the Queen of the Tournament presented her glove for champions to conduct duels to win -- also a ring from her own finger, requesting that 'her faithful knight on whom she implicitly relied, would advance, were it but three steps, into English ground, and there break a lance in her favour'.
This was the sort of challenge that James Stewart could by no means resist. He called Scotland to arms, to implement the requirements of the Auld Alliance. And while the nation was mustering, he sent a letter to Henry -- who incidentally was his brother-in-law, James having wed Margaret Tudor, Henry's sister, in the national interest -- saying that if he did not desist from invading France, he would have to deal with Scotland in just warfare. Henry replied that he would do his own pleasure and not James's bidding; and the die was cast.
The Scots assembled in great numbers, the largest army ever to invade England, probably, and marched South over the border, James leading in person, possibly as many as one-hundred-thousand men. Henry sent his shrewd and experienced general, the Earl of Surrey, North with a defending army, not quite so large but better trained in warfare.
James's chivalrous and romantic attitudes did not stop at invasion, although he did not go devastating the land as some of his nobles advised. He decided to wait for Surrey, so that they might meet on equal terms. And whilst waiting, for a full fortnight, he 'dallied' with Lady Heron at Ford Castle, an attractive female whose husband was actually a prisoner in Scotland. It is said that Lady Heron objected to the chain which James habitually wore around his loins to ever remind him of the part he had played in his feeble father's death at Sauchieburn battle, and he removed this and left it behind for the first and only time -- some declaring this to be the true cause of what followed.
At any rate, with Surrey approaching at last, the Scots took up a strong position on the hill-top above Flodden. But when the two armies faced each other, the chivalrous James felt that it was rather unfair for the English to have to climb the steep slope to get at him, so he gave the order to abandon the horses and advance down the hill to meet the enemy, thus throwing away all advantage. Moreover, Louis of France had sent a large supply of extra-long pikes for the Scots' use; these would have been a great help in any sort of hedgehog defence, but were a complete disaster for men on foot to carry whilst charging down hill, tripping them up, breaking and splintering, this whilst the renowned English bowmen poured in their lethal arrows from a safe distance.
We all know of the result. The Scots, however bravely they fought, suffered a terrible defeat, James himself dying on top of a vast heap of his slain subjects, in the most disastrous battle Scotland had ever suffered, which is saying something, folly indeed, a tragedy from which it took the nation long to recover.
If only James had ignored that glove, ring and plea from Anne of Brittany! He was aged only forty, a good and beloved monarch, and would no doubt have continued to rule a prosperous and contented nation for many a year. Instead he left a year-old son on the throne, a devastated people and a triumphant uncle for young James the Fifth in Henry. And the cream of Scotland died with the monarch. Disaster indeed . . .'The Flooers o' the forest were a' wede awae . . .'
The Auld Alliance of Scotland and France was in a way part of that chivalric tradition. The idea, of course, was to contain English aggressive intentions on both sides; if the English threatened Scotland, as so often they did, the French were to make diversionary moves in the South; and if it was France that was threatened, as also was frequent, then the Scots made warlike gestures in the North. This in fact worked better for the French than for the Scots -- and especially in 1513.