FYI September 10, 2017


1547 – The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the last full-scale military confrontation between England and Scotland, resulting in a decisive victory for the forces of Edward VI.
The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, sometimes known as the Battle of Pinkie,[5] took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, it was part of the conflict known as the Rough Wooing, and is considered to be the first modern battle in the British Isles. It was a catastrophic defeat for Scotland, where it became known as Black Saturday.[6]

Background
In the last years of his reign, King Henry VIII of England tried to secure an alliance with Scotland by the marriage of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, to his young son, the future Edward VI. When diplomacy failed, and Scotland was on the point of an alliance with France, he launched a war against Scotland that became known as the Rough Wooing. The war also had a religious aspect; the Scots refused to have Reformation imposed on them by England. During the battle, the Scots taunted the English soldiers as loons (persons of no consequence), tykes and heretics.[7] The Earl of Angus, who is said to have arrived “with [monks] ‘the professors of the Gospel,’ the heavy pikemen of the Lowlands, eight thousand strong,” was in the lead.[8]

When Henry died in 1547, Edward Seymour, maternal uncle of Edward VI, became Lord Protector and Duke of Somerset, with (initially) unchallenged power. He continued the policy of forcible alliance with Scotland by the marriage of Mary to Edward, and of imposing an Anglican Reformation on the Scottish Church. Early in September 1547, he led a well-equipped army into Scotland, supported by a large fleet.[9] The Earl of Arran, Scottish Regent at the time, was forewarned by letters from Adam Otterburn, his representative in London, who had observed English war preparations.[10]

Campaign
Somerset’s army was partly composed of the traditional county levies, summoned by Commissions of Array and armed with longbow and bill as they had been at the Battle of Flodden, thirty years before. However, Somerset also had several hundred German mercenary arquebusiers, a large and well-appointed artillery train, and 6,000 cavalry, including a contingent of Spanish and Italian mounted arquebusiers under Don Pedro de Gamboa.[11] The cavalry were commanded by Lord Grey of Wilton, as High Marshal of the Army, and the infantry by the Earl of Warwick, Lord Dacre of Gillesland, and Somerset himself.[11] William Patten, an officer of the English army, recorded its numbers as 16,800 fighting men and 1,400 “pioneers”.[2]

Somerset advanced along the east coast of Scotland to maintain contact with his fleet and thereby keep in supply. Scottish Border Reivers harassed his troops but could impose no major check to their advance.[12] Far to the west, a diversionary invasion of 5000 men was led by Thomas Wharton and the dissident Earl of Lennox on 8 September 1547. They took Castlemilk in Annandale and burnt Annan after a bitter struggle to capture its fortified church.[13]

To oppose the English south of Edinburgh, the Earl of Arran had levied a large army, consisting mainly of pikemen with contingents of Highland archers. Arran also had large numbers of guns, but these were apparently not as mobile or as well-served as Somerset’s. His cavalry consisted of only 2,000 lightly equipped riders under the Earl of Home, most of whom were potentially unreliable Borderers. His infantry and pikemen were commanded by the Earl of Angus, the Earl of Huntly and Arran himself.[14] According to Huntly, the Scottish army numbered 22,000 or 23,000 men, while an English source claimed that it comprised 36,000.[1]

Arran occupied the slopes on the west bank of the River Esk to bar Somerset’s progress. The Firth of Forth was on his left flank, and a large bog protected his right. Some fortifications were constructed in which cannon and arquebuses were mounted. Some guns pointed out into the Forth to keep English warships at a distance.[15]

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1904 – Honey Craven, American horse rider and manager (d. 2003)
Clarence Leo “Honey” Craven (September 10, 1904 – July 22, 2003), was an American equestrian, ringmaster and manager of the National Horse Show at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Devon Horse Show in Pennsylvania, and ringmaster at nearly every prominent horse show in the United States. He also managed the Eastern States Show, the Children’s Services Show and the North Shore Horse Show.

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Adults can change their circumstances; children cannot. Children are powerless, and in difficult situations they are the victims of every sorrow and mischance and rage around them, for children feel all of these things but without any of the ability that adults have to change them. Whatever can take a child beyond such circumstances, therefore, is an alleviation and a blessing.
 
 
 
 
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Zello
Zello walkie-talkie app

Zello is a free push-to-talk application for smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It’s lightweight, easy to use and extremely fast. Better yet, it’s free and will remain free for personal use.
 
 
 
 

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