Luffness: Chapter 7

Medieval Luffness: Part Two

The Rough Wooing

Let us start this section with a 'Rough Guide' to Rough Wooing.

James V was succeed in 1542 by his infant daughter, Mary (1542-67). Henry VIII of England sought, the marriage of Mary to his young son, who later become Edward VI. Edward was the last Tudor child and his marriage to Mary would secure the Scottish crown and isolate the French from alliance with Scotland. This marriage would also stop a Catholic Stewart claim on the English throne if the Tudor line was to die out. It was agreed in the treatise of Greenwich in July 1543ⁱ that Mary would be betrothed before she was 10 and thereafter brought up in England. The Scottish Parliament in December 1543 rejected this and. Henry resorted to military pressure. He began a series of bloody raids into Scotland, which became known as the 'Rough Wooing'. These only drove the Scots into a closer alliance with France. Henry VIII died in January 1547 and was succeeded by his son Edward VI. Edward was still a young boy and therefore his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st duke of Somerset(c. 1500–52) was made Lord Protector of England during the the King's minority.

Somerset pursued the claim that Mary would marry Edward and this pursuit of alliance saw the English and Scottish armies meeting at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh on September 10^th 1547. Somerset led the English to victory in the last major battle between England and Scotland. This was the first time in Britain that gunpowder weapons proved decisive in the outcome of a battle; it was also the first time that artillery, infantry, cavalry and naval support had combined in an actionⁱⁱ.

Haddington

The English could not consolidate their victory at Pinkie and retreated. However, in the spring of 1548 they returned to Scotland with an army under Lord Grey of Wilton, Governor of Berwick. The English seized strong points in southern Scotland and began a very expensive scheme of building fortifications through out the south from which they could control the area. As part of this tactic they took the strategic town of Haddington and immediately fortified it.

We should remember that this would have been a horrific period of time to live in the south of Scotland with the English and assured Scots terrorising the area. Evidence of this campaign of intimidation can be found in the letters that were sent between Grey of Wilton and Somerset. At this time it was thought that the French invasion was imminent and Grey of Wilton was destroying any place that could prove useful to them; as he reported to Somerset on June 4^th 1548 ⁱⁱⁱ:

'....minding this night to destroy some places which might serve the Frenchmen on their coming...'^iv.

On the 9^th Grey wrote to Somerset to report the destruction that was being carried out along the coast from Musselburgh:

'As we left Muskulborough unburnt when Dalkeith was taken, I sent thither Francis Aslaby on the 7th, who burned the town and mills, and all the fisher villages near the sea, leaving untouched only the church upon the hill, driving also many beasts, to the utter ruin of that country'^v.

It was probably at this time that Luffness castle was slighted.

Aberlady: The Port of Haddington

At this point the English were able to resupply the fort at Haddington from the port at Aberlady. Thomas Fisher the Secretary to Somerset gave instructions for the English ships in the Firth of Forth to intercept ships in the Firth of Forth and to bring food or provisions to the port at Aberlady^vi. This was obviously happening as Grey of Wilton reported to Somerset that they were:

'...bringing victuals from Aberlady, biscuits and faggots on horseback..'^vii.

Therefore if the English were able to resupply from Aberlady then it must have meant that Luffness castle was either in their possession and protecting their landings or that it had already been put out of action and could form no threat to them. I think the latter is probably the case. However, Luffness castle was soon to see a new period of occupation and building work but this time it would be by the French.

The French and fort building

The Scots turned to their old ally France to counteract the English aggression. The French king, Henri II, demanded various strongholds including Dunbar, in return for sending troops. This was agreed at the Treaty of Haddington in 1548. It was agreed that the infant Mary would be sent to France to marry the Dauphin. Up to 10 000 French troops landed at Leith and a garrison of French took over Dunbar^viii.

Central to the French military campaign was the strengthening of existining Scottish strongholds and the construction of new ones in an attempt to counteract the effects of Somerset's own fort building policy. The French knew the significance of controling Aberlady Bay and how it could be used to land their ordnance or to hinder supplies to the English at Haddington^ix. They set about fortifying and modernising existing strongholds at Leith, Millhaven, Inchgarvie and the castles at Blackness and Stirling, while constructing new ones at Inveresk, Inchkeith, and Luffness^x. The French commander de Thermes was sent to Luffness castle in 1549 to built fortifications^xi.

When the Franco-Scottish force arrived in Haddington in June 1548 and assembled batteries around the town the English in the fort now faced being besieged. They fought on but were in hostile territory and found it more difficult to resupply the fort. This was partly due to the seige and partly due to what was happening in England and France. War in France and Scotland was draining the finances of England and a rebellion closer to home meant that Somerset the victor of the Battle of Pinkie was removed from his position as Protector; he would eventually be executed. The fort at Haddington held out until September 1549 but with increasing disease and starvation it had to be abandoned^xii.

The treaty of Boulogne in 1550 finally saw England and France make peace. The French also insisted that England would cease hostilities in Scotland. The terms for peace between Scotland and England were concluded in the Treaty of Norham in 1551, where England agreed to abandon it's position in Scotland^xiii.

Treaty

The treaties of Boulogne and Norham made England give up her strongholds in Scotland. Now that peace reigned in Scotland (although under a French Kings authority) Henri of France sought to reduce his expenditure^xiv.

As part of the cost saving exercise the Privy Council of Scotland proposed that certain forts be demolished Luffness being one of them:

'With a view to “sparing the King's expense in tyme of pece”, the Privy Council proposed that the forts at Inchcolm, Inchgarvie, Broughty(Balgillo), Montrose and Luffness (Aberlady) also be demolished.'^xv.

I think it is important that there is no confusion between the term 'castle' and 'fort' so that we do not infer that the Privy Council is suggesting that Luffness castle be demolished. I believe at this point in time it already was in a reduced state. I take the opinion that when they say 'fort' they mean the defensive structures that had been built or strengthened in the recent years. Take for example the other two forts then are mentioned here; Montrose and Broughty. Both of these had castles but Montrose was in ruins in 1488^xvi and Broughty didn't fall into decay until the 17^th century^xvii, so they could not be meaning the castles but the forts that had been built near or around them.

Thus the fort at Luffness was proably removed at this time as part of a cost saving exercise.

Some detail of this can be found in a historical report on Aberlady in which the author describes the end of the fort thus:

'In 1552 was ordained by the council that “the said fort of Aberlady [was] to be randerit and deliverit to Patrik Hepburne of Wauchtoun” so that it could be destroyed. The houses and mansion were not to be pulled down, and were instead to remain in Hepburn’s hands in the same manner as his forbears had held the same. Hepburn was charged with delivering the artillery and munitions which were in the fort to Dunbar.'^xviii.

Conclusion

I have laid out a story of the medieval castle of Luffness from the begining to it's destruction in the 16^th century. This I beleive occurred at some point between 1547 and the 1550s. As a medieval castle it had survived through the main castle building period but it was now a technology which was being surpassed by greater fire power and a new European approach to fort building.

Patrick Hepburn built the present tower house in the late 16th century to reflect the change in circumstances and and fashion in archietecture^{xix xx}.

References

i The Oxford Companion to British History (1 rev ed.), John Cannon

Publisher:Oxford University Press. Published to Oxford Reference: 2009. Current Online Version:2009 eISBN: 97801995676

ii Inventory of Historic Battlefields

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/battleofpinkie.pdf

iii The following letters can be found at: Edward VI: June 1548, Calendar of State Papers, Scotland: volume 1: 1547-63, Joseph Bain (editor), in British History Online, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43992&strquery=Haddington (accessed 17 June 2013).

iv 236. Grey of Wilton to Somerset. [June 4. 1548.]

v240. Grey of Wilton to Somerset. [June 9. 1548.]

vi262. Memorial for Thomas Fisher. [June 27. 1548.]

vii 251. Grey of Wilton to Somerset. [June 19.]

viii Castle Park, Dunbar: Two Thousand Years On A Fortified Headland, David Perry. Society of Antiquaries Of Scotland Monograph series: Number 16. ISBN 0 903903 14 8. Page 13.

ix 267. Grey of Wilton to Somerset. [June 30. 1548.]

x Mary of Guise in Scotland, 1548 – 1560: A Political Career, Pamela E. Ritchie, 2002, ISBN: 1 86232 184 1. Page 27.

xi http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/55031/details/luffness+house/

xii Mary of Guise in Scotland, 1548 – 1560: A Political Career, Pamela E. Ritchie, 2002, ISBN: 1 86232 184 1. Page 28.

xiii Mary of Guise in Scotland, 1548 – 1560: A Political Career, Pamela E. Ritchie, 2002, ISBN: 1 86232 184 1. Page 59.

xiv Potter (1984). II Documents concerning the Negotiation of the Anglo-French Treaty of March 1550. Camden Fourth Series, 29, pp 58-180. doi:10.1017/S0068690500001392.

xv Register of The Privy Council, I, pp. 90, 119

Quoted in Mary Of Guise in Scotland, 1548-1560, Pamela Ritchie, 2002,: page 39.

ISBN 1 86232 184 1

xvi http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/36242/details/montrose+fort+hill/

xvii http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/33391/details/dundee+broughty+ferry+broughty+castle/

xviii Historical report on Aberlady, Prepared by History Tomorrow (University of Stirling) for CFA Archaeology Ltd

xix http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/55029/details/luffness+house/

xx http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-6551-luffness-house-with-east-wing-stables-and-

Luffness: Chapter 6

Medieval Luffness: Part One

Introduction

This is the story of Luffness Castle which once stood guard over Aberlady Bay and whose remains now are incorporated into the late 16th century tower house of the same name. The life of the castle spanned the calamitous events that befell Scotland in her stormy relations with England in the middle ages. In fact Scotland's development as a kingdom took place against the background of her relations with her more powerful and populous neighbour, England. Trying to interpret what was going on at this time can be confused by later attempts to provide Scotland with a narrative which would promote a certain view of history. I imagine that time adds poetry to the battlefield but we shall see if we can find any reliable sources to give good foundation to our narrative. I will try to tell the story of its foundation, its role in the wider context, the people who owned it and the stories related to them and how it met its end.

However, although we are now into the historic era the number of reliable sources is still limited with many large gaps. This state of affairs came about due to a lack of care on behalf of past generations and the removal of documents from Scotland into the hands of Edward I and Oliver Cromwell. These records were only ever partially returned. In fact one ship in 1660 called the Elizabeth was returning a cargo of legal records to Scotland when she sunk; the cargo was lost foreverⁱ.

Foundation

To find the origins of Luffness Castle we have to go back almost 900 years to a time when no castle claimed this foreshore of the Forth.

The castle was built in the 11^th century by Gospatrick (aka: Cospatrick) the first Earl of Lothian. He was exiled from England by William I in about 1072, but through his relations with Malcolm III of Scotland he was granted most of Lothian. This was in return that he would bring the wild land of Lothian under Malcolm's ruleⁱⁱ. His time as Earl of Lothian came to an end in 1138 when he is believed to have been killed at the battle of the Standard, fought at Cowton Moor, north of Northallertonⁱⁱⁱ.

Although Gospatrick is credited with the building of the castle, it soon came into the possession of the Lindsay family. This came about when Randolph de Lindsay married Etheldreda, a granddaughter of the first earl^iv.

The Lindsays arrived in Scotland early in the twelfth century and benefited from King David's introduction of feudalism into Scotland and held territory in Haddingtonshire, Ayrshire and the large barony of Crawford in Lanarkshire^v.

In fact the first time we meet anyone using the word Luffness in a title is William de Lindsay, 'Baron of Luffness'. He died in about 1200 and his son David then used the title. David had five children and the title passed to the oldest son who was also called David. However, neither he or his three brothers had any offspring and their sister Alice became the heir^vi. She married an English Baron Sir Henry de Pinkeny, Knight^vii.

However, William had another son who was also called William but this side of the family do not have 'Luffness' in their titles, but it is through their descendants the the main Scottish line of the Lindsays are born^viii. It is from this line that we come to Sir David de Lindsay who married Margaret de Lindsay.

David the Carmelites and the Crusades

David may not have had the title but his story is one of the most often told in the history of Luffness. The oral tradition is that Sir David de Lindsay was killed on crusade. David met a Carmelite monk who he offered land at Luffness to establish a friary, if he agreed to embalm David's body and return it to Luffness.

An effigy of David dressed as a knight, can be found carved into the top of a tomb, at what remains of the friary in Luffness woods.

This is the version of the story as told to me but I have also heard it told that David met the monk while he was sailing back from the crusade. Other sources can add some dates and details to David's life and death such as Nigel Tranter who tells the story just like it is above but he has David dying in the Holy Land in 1264

'….of fever not of wounds.'^ix.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography tells us that David was a regent in 1255 and chamberlain the following year, and that he died on crusade in Egypt in 1279^x. However, the MacFarlane Clan website has him dying in Egypt on the crusade of Louis IX but in 1268^xi and his entry from the Scots Peerage says he joined the Crusade of St. Louis in 1268, and died in Egypt^xii.

No where in any of these sources do they mention his body returning from the crusades or the founding of a Carmelite monastery. Even in a book of the Lindsay family history written by one of his ancestors there is no mention of David's body being returned from the crusade; just that he died whilst on crusade^xiii.

It does make you wonder why a history of the Lindsay family would not include such an interesting story?

We can also see that there is some disagreement about the date of David's death. I suppose this is to be expected giving the lack of precise dating in the medieval period. If we follow this line of investigation it gives us a good example of the confusion that can surround dates in the different sources. For example, the crusades of Louis IX of France are known to have taken place between 1248 and 1254 for the first one and 1270 for the second. Both of these ended badly for Louis, on the first his army was surrounded in Egypt and he was made a prisoner; the second ended when disease ravaged his knights and caused his own death^xiv.

There is an East Lothian connection with the first of Louis' crusades in that the Scottish contingent was led by Earl Patrick of Dunbar, whose wife founded a hospital of Trinitarian brothers for the 'Redemption of Captives of the Infidel' at Dunbar^xv.

With this East Lothian link and the supposition that David died in Egypt it would mean that he must have gone on the first of Louis' crusades because the second only went as far as Tunis. Therefore we can deduce that he must have died no later than 1254.

However, there is a problem with this bit of detective work in that this would be quite anachronistic and would have stopped David being a regent in 1255! It is a tricky thing trying to get reliable dates in medieval Scotland.

The Friary

So having said all that can we find a record of David's gift to the Carmelite monk? We know that a Carmelite friary was established near Luffness Castle but how does this connect with the story of David^xvi.

Well, not much that I can find except that one of David's sons, who was called William, Lord of Symington, made an arrangement with Newbattle Abbey in 1293, that twenty pound stirling would be paid annually from his estate at Symington to Newbattle Abbey. This was for

'the salvation of his soul and lady Alice, his spouse, and for the soul of Sir David Lindsay, his father, and especially for the soul of Lady Margaret Lindsay, his mother....'.

The document goes on to tell how part of the money should be distributed on the feast day of Saint Andrew which includes

'And the distributors of the said money they may have on that day fifteen shillings for their labour and expenses, and they will feed on the day of the anniversary of Lady Margaret Lindsay, mother of Sir William, from one mark of the twenty pounds, if the brothers should solemnly celebrate for her soul on that day. Otherwise, the said mark should be distributed to other paupers, and on the same day they will feed the Carmelite friars of Luffness with a half mark, if they should solemnly celebrate on that day for the soul of Margaret.”^xvii.

Newbattle Abbey seems to have been one of their favourites for they also gave lands in Crawford and Stirling to Newbattle Abbey and freedom from toll in the port of Luffness^xviii.

I think we can conclude that David died whilst on crusade and that his family were in the habit of giving gifts to religious houses, as was the fashion for the nobility of that period. And what of the friars of Luffness? Well, we still don't know their exact origin but we do know they ended up with the effigy of a knight and a good feed at least once a year.

Bickerton's Tomb

Anyone who has spent time in the Aberlady area will know that the remains of the friary are known locally as Bickerton's Tomb. It seems a bit unfair that for all the Lindsay's gifts to the religious establishment the remains are now named after Bickerton. So where does the eponymous Bickerton fit into our story?

To get a good insight into Bickerton's connection with Luffness in the late 13^th century we need to go back to the other side of the Lindsay family, where Alice Lindsay heir to Luffness marryied the English Baron, Sir Henry de Pinkeny. This knight's grandson Robert de Pinkeny¹ caused a bit of a stir by leaving his belongings to the English king Edward I, even though his brother Henry was the rightful heir. In 1296 the earl of Surrey had to take the lands of Robert of Pinkeny, into the Kings hand, and make inquiry as to his heir; an inquistion was then held at Jedburgh. The details of this inquisition states that

'John of Bickerton held the castle of Luffness and three ploughgates and demesnes of the castle, worth £26 13s. 4d. of the tenement of Ballencrieff in capite of Robert; and 20 marks of the land of Binny in the county of Linlithgow, paying yearly to Robert 6d. Alexander Lindsay held a ploughgate of Robert in two parts of ‘le Cotis’ in the tenement of Ballencrieff, worth £4, paying 1d. as in his charter'.......Henry de Pinkeny, knight, Robert’s brother, is next heir and 30 years of age and more. They append their seals. .Firm dateNovember 1296'^xix.

This document describes Bickerton as holding the demesnes (which is a feudal term which basically means the land associated with a manor) in capite of Robert. This is a term in old English law meaning a tenure by which either person or land was held immediately of the king, or of his crown, either by knight-service, agricultural service or payment.

The ploughgate was a measurement of arable land used in the lowlands. It was equal to about 104 Scottish acres. It is thought to be the area that eight oxen were able to plough in one year^xx.

So we can see that by the end of the 13^th century Bickerton was farming 416 Scottish acres of Luffness and paying rent to Robert. However it is not for this deed that he is best known but for the dastardly deed of killing James Earl of Douglas.

The role of Bickerton as a villain

The oral tradition has it that when Bickerton held the castle at Luffness he was the armour bearer of James the Earl of Douglas. He left part of the Earls armour undone so that he could stab the Earl in the back during the battle of Otterburn. The Douglas' then exacted their revenge by murdering Bickerton outside the above mentioned Carmelite friary at Luffness. And that is why it is called Bickerton's Tomb. The stone effigy of a Knight being thought to be the eponymous Bickerton.

So, what can we find out about Bickerton's role in the battle of Otterburn?

John of Bickerton is at Luffness in 1296 but there is another 92 years to go before we get to 1388 and the battle of Otterburn. Unfortunately I can't find any references for any Bickertons appearing at Otterburn and apart from the the above version he does not appear in any of the more famous versions of the story. For example this is the most contempory version of the events of Otterburn:

'The Englishmen knew well they had borne one down to the earth, but they wist not who it was; for if they had known that it had been the earl Douglas, they had been thereof so joyful and so proud that the victory had been theirs. Nor also the Scots knew not of that adventure till the end of the battle; for if they had known it, they should have been so sore despaired and discouraged that they would have fled away. Thus as the earl Douglas was felled to the earth, he was stricken into the head with an axe, and another stroke through the thigh: the Englishmen passed forth and took no heed of him: they thought none otherwise but that they had slain a man of arms.'^xxi.

In most versions the Earl goes on to give a speech with his dying breath which stirs the almost defeated Scots onto victory.

Nor does he appear in either of the ballads said to be inspired by the battle; Chevy Chase or The Battle of Otterburne

Battle Of Otterbourne^xxii

20. He belted on his guid braid sword,

And to the field he ran;

But he forgot the helmet good,

That should have kept his brain.

21. When Percy wi the Douglas met,

I wat he was fu fain!

They swakked their swords, till sair they swat,

And the blood ran down like rain.

22. But Percy with his good broad sword,

That could so sharply wound,

Has wounded Douglas on the brow,

Till he fell to the ground.

I think I will leave the last word on the accusation that Bickerton killed Douglas to Sir Walter Scott '

'Indeed it seems to have no foundation, but the common desire of assigning some remote and extraordinary cause for the death of a great man.''^xxiii.

Therefore, if the king of romantic Scottish history doesn't think there is any truth in it, then I think that says a lot.

Bickerton goes to battle

However, that is not the end of the Bickertons and Luffness nor indeed their association with the Douglas', for they are found in the battle honours of the battle of Verneuil (1424). In this battle, which was part of the Hundred Years War, Scotland fought on the side of the French. The French were led by the earl of Buchan, recently made constable of France, and Archibald, Earl of Douglas. English archers repeated their success at Agincourt, nine years earlier. Buchan and Douglas were both killed^xxiv. Also in the ranks of the dead were four Bickerton's three of who were knights and their coat of arms appear in The Armorial de Berry which was written in 1445. The coat of arms (Illustration 1) is labelled as,

'Bickerton of Luffness'^xxv.

Illustration 1: The Bickerton coat of arms: PLATE X. (f° 160 V°) Ceulx de lufenness

Thus we see that the Bickertons still had some connection with Luffness. However, after 1445 the trail goes cold on the Bickertons, except for one reference from Nigel Tranter

'In time the Bickertons managed to buy the property from the Lindsay family. The Bickerton line ended with a daughter, who carried Luffness to to a Hepburn of Waughton. Sir Patrick Hepburn was the present laird of Luffness (1540s) his wife was the last of the Bickertons.'^xxvi.

The Hepburns were a large family but I cannot find any evidence that one of them married a Bickerton.

The Hepburns

There is however a different route for Luffness to pass to the Hepburns of Waughton: Alexander Lindsay who was the son of David who died on the crusade in Egypt had a daughter called Beatrice Lindsay and she gave birth to Eleanor Douglas the Countess of Carrick. This was one of the main ways for property to pass from one family to the other and Eleanor was no exception as she married five times. The last of these marriages was to one Sir Patrick Hepburn in 1376^xxvii.

The Hepburns seem to have held Luffness right through this final stage of the middle ages and documentary evidence exists in the form of charters:

Sir Patrick Hepburn of Waughton (& later Lufness) (died after February 1464) appears in charters of The Great Seal of Scotland in August 1439, January 1440, October 1450, and 1451 where he is confirmed in Luffness. In The Great Seal of Scotland a charter confirmed at Linlithgow on 2^ndAugust 1538, the King confirms upon Sir Patrick Hepburn, junior, of Waughton, and his wife his

'patrimonal lands, mill, manor and barony of Lufness in Haddingtonshire'.

There is also a charter confirmed at Holyrood house on 13^th May 1588 in which Sir Patrick is referred to as

‘..of Lufness and Waughton.’

A reconfirmation of Luffness to him appears in a charter of November 1618.^xxviii

For those that need more concrete evidence, there is a stone slab set into the floor of the friary which is inscribed with the name Kentigern Hepburn of Waughton, and is thought to date to about 1500^xxix.

So let me finish this stroll through the family history by connecting the end with the beginning. Our knight who died in Egypt; sir David de Lindsay, is none other than the nine times great grandfather of the second wife of James Hepburn^xxx, 1st Duke of Orkney (c. 1534 – 14 April 1578), better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell. He is best known for becoming the third husband of Mary Queen of Scots after he imprisoned her in Dunbar Castle.

If you think that sounds like a rough wooing, it was nothing compared to the tragic events that took place when her hand was first sought in marriage. In fact our next period has come to be known as the

'Rough Wooing'.
References

1 This is the same Robert de Pinkeny who claimed the Scottish throne in 1291 when it eventually went to John Bailliol.

iThe Oxford Companion to Scottish History, ISBN 0-19-211696-7. Page 311

iiTales and Traditions of Scottish Castles by Nigel Tranter. ISBN-10: 1906476748

iiiAndrew McDonald, ‘Gospatric, first earl of Lothian (d. 1138)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/50323, accessed 4 June 2013]

ivhttp://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I81817&tree=Nixon

vSonja Cameron, ‘Lindsay family of Barnweill, Crawford, and Glenesk (per. c.1250–c.1400)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54260, accessed 2 June 2013]

vihttp://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I81524&tree=Nixon

viihttp://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I64567&tree=Nixon

viiiSonja Cameron, ‘Lindsay family of Barnweill, Crawford, and Glenesk (per. c.1250–c.1400)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54260, accessed 2 June 2013]

ixThe Story of Scotland, Nigel Tranter, 1987; ISBN-10: 1897784074

xSonja Cameron, ‘Lindsay family of Barnweill, Crawford, and Glenesk (per. c.1250–c.1400)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54260, accessed 2 June 2013]

xihttp://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I5895&tree=CC

xiihttp://archive.org/stream/scotspeeragefoun03pauluoft/scotspeeragefoun03pauluoft_djvu.txt

xiiiLives of the Lindsays: or, A memoir of the houses of Crawford and Balcarres. By Alexander Crawford Lindsay Crawford (Earl of)1849. (http://books.google.co.uk)

xiv The Atlas of the Crusades, 1991, ISBN 0723003610. Page 96.

xv The Oxford Companion to Scottish History, ISBN 0-19-211696-7. Page 115

xvi http://www.johngraycentre.org/collections/getrecord/ELHER_MEL619

xvii PoMS, H4/20/62 (http://db.poms.ac.uk/record/source/6859/; accessed 05 June 2013)

xviii PoMS, no. 4284 (http://db.poms.ac.uk/record/person/4284/; accessed 05 June 2013)

xix PoMS, H4/38/26 (http://db.poms.ac.uk/record/source/8507/; accessed 24 January 2013)

xx Scotland: The Later Middle Ages, Ranald Nocholson, 1974, ISBN 06-495147-2

xxiFroissart, Jean; translated by John Bourchier, Lord Berners. The Chronicles of Froissart Page 93
Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=FroChro.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=4&division=div1

xxii http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/scottish/itfellab.htm

xxiii The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott: With a biography and his last additions and illustrations: Volume 1, 1883 Page 54.

xxiv A Dictionary of British History (1 rev ed.), John Cannon, Publisher: Oxford University Press, Print Publication Date: 2009, Print ISBN-13: 9780199550371, Published to Oxford Reference: 2009,Current Online Version: 2012

xxv PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 10, 1938.

THE ARMORIAL DE BERRY. (1445) (SCOTTISH SECTION.)

BY J. STORER CLOUSTON, O.B.E., F.S.A.ScoT.

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-352-1/dissemination/pdf/vol_072/72_084_114.pdf

xxvi Marchman by Nigel Tranter Publication Date: 3 July 1997 | ISBN-10: 0340659947 |

xxvii http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I8963&tree=Nixon

xxviii Clan Hepburn, HEPBURN of WAUGHTON,By G.M.S.Lauder-Frost, F.S.A.,(Scot).

http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/htol/hepburn4.html

xxix http://www.johngraycentre.org/collections/getrecord/ELHER_MEL619#sthash.EAc1UZe8.dpuf

xxx http://histfam.familysearch.org/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=I11388&secondpersonID=I10060&maxrels=15&disallowspouses=0&generations=15&tree=Nixon&primarypersonID=I11388

Luffness: Chapter 5

Early Historic Luffness

If we consider the end of the last ice age as a starting point and the present day as an end point, then by the time we enter the Dark Ages, we are more than 80% through our story. But we are only now getting into the beginnings of a written record and just starting to scratch the surface of history.

The term Dark Ages has gone out of fashion with historians. They now like to use the term Early Historic, to describe the period from AD 400 to 1000. This reflects the fact that although there were few written records for this period, there are some. These are mainly lists of kings and dates of battles, and just like the kings and battles, the lists themselves are often in conflict. The historian Moffatⁱ had this to say about the written records of the day:

'Much of the detail of the process of change is unknowable, lost in the memories of long dead bards or written in the forgotten chronicles of ancient monasteries. And what has survived to come down to us is often confused, contradictory, partial, lacking clarity of any sort or just plain mistaken.'.

Therefore it is still the archaeological evidence that sheds the most light on these dimly lit ages.

A Fledgling Nation

At the end of the last chapter we saw that the influence and power of the Romans had left Scotland and as their power waned there were always new invaders who would take advantage of the changing situation.

By the year 600 there were four different peoples that occupied the territory that would later become Scotland. These were the Picts, Scots, Britons, and Angles: and, although there were no definite boundaries; they occupied four separate regions: the Picts, descendants of differing iron age invaders and of late bronze age peoples, in the land from the Forth to the Pentland Firth; the Scots in Dalriada (roughly Argyll); the Britons in Strathclyde, Cumbria and Wales; and the Angles in Bernicia, the northern part of the Anglian kingdom stretching from the Humber to the Firth of Forthⁱⁱ.

To say that these tribes didn't get on together would be an understatement, in fact a lot of the time they were either warring with each other or between different groups within each tribe . Into this mix came the the Vikings in the late eighth century, who came to raid and pillage, to trade and eventually, to settle in Scotland. Orkney and Shetland and the north west of Scotland were dominated by the Vikings for hundreds of yearsⁱⁱⁱ.

So what was happening in Lothian at this time?

For most of the Early Historic period Lothian was under the influence of the Angles. They used the Humber as a river base to move northwards by sea, establishing themselves in such places as Bamburgh, St. Abb's Head and Dunbar. Then, driving inland they built up a kingdom from the Humber to the Forth^iv.

By 638^v the Angles had captured the Gododdin stronghold at Din Eidyn -(Edinburgh). The Gododdin were descendants of the Votadini who we last saw trading with the Romans and hoarding silver at Traprain.

Any expansion further nortwards was stopped when they were defeated by the Picts at the battle of Nechtansmere, the modern Dunnichen, near Forfar in 685^vi.

If we move on a few hundred years and many battles later to the middle of the ninth century we find Kenneth MacAlpin uniting the peoples to form a fledgling nation called Alba.

However, this new kingdom did not include Lothian which was still part of Northumbria and would continue to be so until Edgar, king of England gave Lothian to Kenneth II (the great grandson of Kenneth MacAlpin) in 973. Although there is some debate about the actual dates and when the final total acquisition of all the land between the Forth and the Tweed occurred, it is agreed that Malcolm II defeated the Northumbrians at the battle of Carham in 1018 to affirm this land as Scottish^vii.

So now we have an idea of the historical context we should see what evidence of the Early Historic has been found in the Luffness area.

The Lore of Luffness and Lothian

I suppose the event of greatest significance of this period which is attributed to East Lothian is probably the battle of Athelstaneford and the story of the saltire. This is a good example of the limit of the written record for the period and how myth can fill in the blanks.

Here is the story of the Battle of Athelstaneford taken from the official website of the Sottish Flag Trust:

'The Legend of the Saltire

The St Andrew's Cross or Saltire is Scotland's national flag. Tradition has it that the flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe and the Commonwealth, originated in a battle fought in East Lothian in the Dark Ages.

It is believed that the battle took place in the year 832AD. An army of Picts under Angus mac Fergus, High King of Alba, and aided by a contingent of Scots led by Eochaidh (Kenneth mac Alpin's grandfather) had been on a punitive raid into Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and were being pursued by a larger force of Angles and Saxons under one Athelstan.

The Albannach/Scots were caught and stood to face their pursuers in the area of Markle, near East Linton. This is to the north of the modern village of Athelstaneford (which was resited on higher ground in the 18th century), where the Peffer, which flows into the Firth of Forth at Aberlady, forms a wide vale. Being then wholly undrained, the Peffer presented a major obstacle to crossing, and the two armies came together at the ford near the present day farm of Prora (one of the field names there is still the Bloody Lands).

Fearing the outcome of the encounter, King Angus led prayers for deliverance, and was rewarded by seeing a cloud formation of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which St Andrew had been martyred) against a blue sky. The king vowed that if, with the saint's help, he gained the victory, then Andrew would thereafter be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots did win, and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland.

When Kenneth mac Alpin, who may have been present with his grandfather at the battle, later united Picts and Scots and named the entity Scotland, Andrew did indeed become the patron saint of the united realm. Kenneth mac Alpin, King of Scots and Picts, Ard-righ Albainn, was laid to rest on Iona in 860AD'^viii.

This is of course written under the heading of 'legend'; which is defined as A traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but unauthenticated fact^ix.

This definition describes the content of the story nicely; for it has many dates and names of people who do appear in what little we have of a written record for this time. Although a nice addition to this version is the presence of Kenneth MacAlpin, perhaps hiding behind a tree with a young William Wallace.

But like many legends this tale is considered by many to be fact, even if this is just in the outcome if not in detail; the fact that an outnumbered Scottish army was stirred onto victory by the appearance of a big white cross in the sky; the cross of St. Andrew. This left the English king beaten and St. Andrew as the patron saint of Scotland.

This is a rather patriotic interpretation but what can we find out about the battle if we do a little bit of research There is a lot of confusion about the battle and even the most basic of facts are debatable. Take for example the Scottish schools version moves the battle to almost one hundred years earlier;

'Tradition relates that in AD 735 the king of the Picts, 'Aengus MacFergus', with the support of 'Scots' from Dalriada, won a great battle against King Athelstane of the Northumbrians'^x.

The earlier date would at least put the battle in the what is thought to be the lifetime of Angus MacFergus (Oengus MacFergus) c. 690–761^xi, but we can not be certain about the identity of the leaders, the exact date, or even the site^xii.

For instance it is easy to confuse the unidentified king called Athelstan who was defeated at the battle with the well known king Athelstan who was the first king of all England and reigned between 925 and 939 AD. It is easy to date kings who leave artifacts such as coins but for Scottish leaders of the early historic period we can not be precise about dates. As we can see there is a large margin of error which could be up to 100 years. Therefore many lifetimes and peoples could overlap even if in fact they were never contemporaries.

We can find a different take on the Battle of Athelstaneford and the legend of the saltire from the National Archives of Scotland^xiii in which the relics of Saint Andrew play a role.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and the first disciple of Christ. He is believed to have been martyred by crucifixion on a diagonal cross in Patras (now part of Greece) in the year 60 AD. (The tradition that his cross was X-shaped goes back no further than the tenth century.^xiv). It is thought that his remains were removed to Constantinople about AD 357, but after Constantinople was sacked during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the relics at Constantinople were taken to the cathedral of St Andrew at Amalfi in Italy. By this time the monastery of Kilrymont (later St Andrews) in Fife claimed to possess three fingers of the saint's right hand, a part of one of his arms, one kneecap, and one of his teeth. St Andrews became a popular pilgrimage destination after miracles were attributed to the saint.

Another explanation for the relics became current by the 12th century. In this version the bishop of Patras (Saint Regulus) removed the relics about AD345, sailed beyond the Mediterranean and was shipwrecked at Kilrymont, where he was welcomed by Angus MacFergus who being grateful to Saint Andrew for his win at the Battle of Athelstaneford endowed the fledgling church with the lands around the bay where the saint had landed. Here we can see that the main action has moved to about four hundred years earlier than the other telling of it.

The Regulus legend was promoted by Scottish kings, nobles and churchmen from the 12th century onwards for political reasons. Scottish independence had come under threat from England since the late 11th century, and the Scottish Church was contesting a claim to primacy by the archbishop of York. Precedence and hierarchy were very important in the middle ages. By promoting the story of Saint Andrew's choice of Scotland in the 4th century, the Scots acquired a top-rank patron saint, a separate identity from England, and a date for the supposed foundation of the Scottish Church, pre-dating the conversion of England and Ireland to Christianity by several centuries.

From this version we can infer that the battle of Athelstaneford must have taken place before 345 for Angus Mac Fergus to be beholden to Saint Andrew. This would mean that there could be a 500 year margin of error in the dating of this battle.

This story illustrates how history can be interpreted and manipulated for political, economical or religious reasons and particularly by people who are searching for a firm foundation on which to build their own, or even a nations identity.

There is one other local connection with St. Andrew and that is that North Berwick owed much of its early importance to its location on the pilgrim route to the shrine of St. Andrew. Pilgrims could travel by boat from North Berwick and this would cut out what must have been a rather arduous route by land. A ferryboat can also be seen on the heraldic arms of North Berwick^xv.

Luffness and it's Vikings

Another story from the Early Historic that is often repeated but few authenticated facts are available: the Viking graves of Luffness. In fact the name Luffness is said to have its etymology from these very Vikings. I will let Nigel Tranter^xvi tell the story:

'Luffness had a strange genesis. A notorious Viking raider, Anlaf the Dane, had captured this Pictish fort four centuries before ( the book is set in 1214), and two of his party had fought each other, for some reason unknown, both being killed, one called Lofda. These had been buried beneath one fortlet flooring, and their their remains were still buried beneath the presentkee's stones, marked by little crosses- which they scarcely deserved, both being pagans. So Lofda's Ness or headland had become the name Luffness.'.

A small detail that can be added to this tale is^xvii:

'One of the graves lays a supposedly high ranked commander known as Lofda to Anlaf the Dane in his army, to whom the castles name Luffness is derived from. When his grave was dug up the skeleton remains uncovered that Lofda himself may have been a huge man being seven feet tall.'.

This is the usual story that is told about the Viking origin of Luffness with embellishments or not. However, this isn't to say that there is no truth in the story just that I can't find a reliable source for its origin. The story is told without reference to any documents (scarce during this time period) or archaeological evidence. The RCAHMS has a record (NT48SE 1.01) for stone slab graves found at Luffness :

'Two stone slabs 3ft 8 ins long, 1ft 9 ins broad and 5 ins thick lie in the kitchen garden of Luffness House. They are presumed to be covers of cists, of which three were found beneath the floor of the entrance hall of the House.

RCAHMS 1924, visited 1913'.

These finds were not dated and unfortunately the stone slabs could not be located on more recent visits in 1962 and 1975. However they do sound very similar to slabs that are described in another book by Nigel Tranter^xviii in which he states:

'Under the floor of the vaulted basement chamber now the entrance vestibule, are the graves of two Viking raiders....'.

Were they really Viking graves and if so what became of them?

In fact the RCAHMS has the details of 324 Viking related sites or finds in Scotland but only one (NT58NE 2.01) of these is in East Lothian. Unfortunately it is not our graves but a Viking comb (illustration 1)^xix. made from a piece of antler and found in Kirk Ports in North Berwick when they were doing the road widening in 1994^xx.

Illustration 1: This antler comb was found at North Berwick in East Lothian. It is a Scandinavian type, either brought with the first wave of Viking raiders or settlers, or perhaps imported by traders in the 9th or 10th century. The comb consists of plates of antler cut into teeth (now broken off), riveted together between two connecting plates on top. The corroding metal rivets are visible. The plate was decorated with an incised geometric design. Combs of this type were widely distributed in northern Europe during the Viking period, and their places of production and sources of antler are not certain. Some have elaborate decoration and cases.

Perhaps Nigel Tranter is the source of the Luffness Viking story? He spent most of his life writing about and probably studying Scottish history, he also lived at Luffness and knew the Hope family who own Luffness castle, so he could have had access to information that I'm not aware of.

Let us leave the this grey area behind and move onto the more tangible finds of the period.

The Early Historic Archaeological Evidence

The finds are shown in Table one:

RCAHMS SITE NUMBER	LOCATION OF FIND	SITE TYPE
NT48SE 185	Luffness	MOUNT, SWORD (COPPER)
NT48SE 146	Aberlady	PIN (COPPER)
NT48SE 31	Gullane Point	DAGGER (BRONZE)
NT48SE 12	Brand's Well, Gala Law	HOLY WELL (POSSIBLE)
NT48SE 17	Luffness	FOOD VESSEL

Table 1: The Early Historic Finds

The finds from the RCAHMS that are shown in the table have all been attributed to the Early Historic, but there isn't a lot to shout about. I suppose an object made of iron could well have corroded away to leave little trace. Brands Well (NT48SE 12) on Gala Law does show that this site has had a continual significance through out the different ages. I do not know who the eponymous Brand is but it is noted that it is the only spring of water on Gala Law, is possibly a holy well endowed at Gullane by David I. Note that David I lived from 1084-1153 which takes it into the medieval.

The National Museum of Scotland does have a few finds from the Early Historic which were found at Kilspindie Castle, Glebe Field, in Aberlady:

'The castle is of late sixteenth century date but metal detecting over several years has recovered a rich assemblage of artefacts, the quantity and concentration of which suggest that settlement in this field dates back to the Northumbrian period and possibly earlier. Finds from the Northumbrian period include a substantial assemblage of coins and metalwork far in excess of what might be expected from a series of stray finds.'.^xxi

A geophysics survey showed what could be evidence of:

'The remains of two timber halls (one overlying the other at right angles) of possible Anglian or earlier date; a series of ditch-defined enclosures of probable Anglian morphology; a roughly pear-shaped enclosure (within which there appears to be a double palisade line); and annular features which appear to be the footings of ring-groove houses.'^xxii.

The site is a scheduled monument and is of national importance:

'..because of its potential to add to our understanding of settlement in southern Scotland during the period of Northumbrian influence. The possibility of tracing the continuous development of settlement through the Northumbrian and medieval periods, without the overburden of subsequent buildings, makes this a site of considerable rarity and importance.'^xxiii.

It does make you wonder what other remains of national importance are slumbering under the layers of soil and sand which are yet to be revealed.

With that we conclude our brief overview of the the Early Historic. We leave Luffness as part of a fledgling nation and we shall see in the next chapter what role Luffness played in the next time period: the medieval.

References

i Moffat A., Before Scotland: The story of Scotland Before History, ISBN. 0500005133X: 2005, page 285

ii Scotland from the earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN 0-19-822453-2; Page 23

iii http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/britonsgaelsvikings/vikings/index.asp

iv Scotland from the earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN 0-19-822453-2; Page 26

v http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/britonsgaelsvikings/gododdin/index.asp

vi Scotland from the earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN 0-19-822453-2; Page 27

vii Scotland from the earliest times to 1603, W. Dickinson, A. Duncan , 1977, ISBN 0-19-822453-2; Page 27

viii http://www.scottishflagtrust.com/about-the-birthplace/the-legend

ix The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Eighth Edition, BCA: 1990

x http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/britonsgaelsvikings/athelstaneford/index.asp

xi The Oxford Companion to British History (1 rev ed.), eISBN: 9780199567638

xii A Portrait of The Lothians, Nigel Tranter, ISBN 0-7091-7467-5; 1979.

xiii http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/051124.asp

xiv The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions ISBN 0-19-866242-4: 1997

xv North Berwick, East Lothian: its archaeology revisited, D. Hall and D. Bowler, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries Scotland, 127 (1997), 659-675

xvi Sword of State, Nigel Tranter, ISBN 9780340696736: 1999

xvii http://castlesinscotland.net/luffness-castle/

xviii Tales and Traditions of Scottish castle, Nigel Tranter: ISBN-10: 1906476748: 2012

xix http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-099-674-C&scache=3wurpl7hmr&searchdb=scran&PHPSESSID=kq57s29vag9i29smf4800vf310

xx http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/88927/details/north+berwick+st+andrew+s+churchyard/

xxi http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2300:35:1365436626500669::NO::P35_SELECTED_MONUMENT:5997

xxii http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/55053/details/kilspindie+castle/

xxiii http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2300:35:1365436626500669::NO::P35_SELECTED_MONUMENT:5997