The walls were immediately
reported upon, and a letter sent from Berwick to this new Governor, with a
report to this effect: 'The walls of Berwick are in great need of repair,
and also the Bridge, which has been shaken by the passage of ordnance and
warlike stores and victuals, and would not serve again in like case. We beg
an order to the Bridge Master and Surveyor to view and amend the walls, for
the longer the decay the greater will be the charge. A new alarum Bell is
wanted for the day Watch Tower, to warn not only the garrison but
inhabitants to rise on any sudden fray; the old one being riven so that the
sound cannot be well heard.' The same alarm, that had so often disturbed the
garrison, began to creep over it. An attack of the Scots was expected. Lord
Eure, on the 13th July, wrote to Somerset: 'A number of galleys have passed
toward Scotland. They have landed at Eyemouth and Coldingham, and have
joined the Governor of Scotland and the Scotch army. I think the town is
threatened; but I trust to be able to defend it till assistance comes. I
desire instructions.' Then he added, as a postscript, They have again
left Eyemouth, and gone northward. The Scotch army is at Melrose, Selkirk,
Peebles. I will watch them further'.
The Scots were irrepressible.
Hammered and beaten as they were, yet they rose again to battle; and now
they were beginning to put on a bolder form, for they were assisted by their
old ally the French. The prospect of the marriage of the Dauphin to the
Queen of Scots forced the French King to send men and money to the Scots to
enable them to oppose the common enemy.
The Protector evidently
thought the Scots could be beaten and the country subdued by one fell blow,
so he hastened north to strike it. The muster was at Berwick. On the 30th of
August he arrived in the town along with Sir Nicholas Strellie, the Captain
there, and met his army of 20,000 men. Order was given next day for everyone
to provide himself with four days' victuals, to be carried forth with him in
carts. On Friday, the 2nd of September, all, save the Council, left Berwick,
and encamped two flight-shots from the town. The same day, the Earl of
Warwick and Sir R. Sadler arrived from Newcastle, and went to the army. On
Sunday, the 4th, the Protector left Berwick, and joined the camp at Reston.
The army went on by the Peathes and Dunbar, and fought shortly afterwards
the disastrous and disgraceful battle of Pinkie, where the Scots lost
dignity as well as honour. Somerset returned by Soutra Hill, going on by
Berwick into England. He had enough work there to keep his hands and his
head busy; so Scotland was left, after that battle, to manage its own
aflairs. Lord Shrewsbury* whom Somerset left behind in charge, very soon
followed him southwards, and left Lord Grey of Wilton to keep the northern
kingdom in check. In 1548 there was a good deal of fighting around
Haddington, and wounded English soldiers were brought to Berwick: and now we
have another instance of the utter demoralization of this district. Hear
John Brend again: 'The poor soldiers that came back from Haddington and
other places are shut out of their houses, unprovided with victuals, and die
for want of relief on the streets, against the good order of all towns and
against all justice.'
['State Papers' of Edward
VI., 1548. The Berwickians had early begun to act
against all justice, as witness this story, July, 1316: Harquin, King of
Norway, acknowledges the receipt of Edward II.'s letter, setting forth the
complaint of the Burgesses of Berwick, that the Norwegians had taken a ship
belonging to them in the Norwegian port of "Delwykum." To this he answered
that certain merchants of Berwick, being in a port of his kingdom called "Widahel,"
invited of his knight, President of that province, then engaged there about
his business, under peace and friendship, with 10 other lords, nobles of his
kingdom, to dine with them on board their vessel; and the said knight,
together with the noblemen, unconscious of any evil, nor having the least
suspicion, went to dine, totally unarmed, and trusting themselves entirely
to their faithfulness, he sent home all their men and servants, to save the
merchants and sailors the expense of entertaining them. But the merchants
and sailors, satellites of Satan, and ministers of the devil, thirsting to
shed innocent blood, turned the joy of the feast into the wickedness of
homicide, threw boiling water and burning cinders upon them for the second
dish, and some of the sailors, being fraudulently and secretly armed with
daggers, knives, and swords, rushed upon them when they were so scalded and
stupyfied, cruelly killing them. And because the kindred of that knight and
other nobles and their heirs and wives complained grievously that a crime so
enormous and cruel should remain unpunished, the King of Norway permitted
the ship to be taken within his dominion by the relatives and heirs of the
murdered persons, the cause afterwards justifying their capture.']
It was in 1549—when the
garrison was at its worst, when the town was in so disgraceful a condition
that the dead and dying were uncared for—that John Knox appeared in Berwick
as a preacher. He had been liberated from the French galleys in this year.
He passed into England, was engaged by the Privy Council to preach, and was
located in Berwick for the next two years. Here, in the old parish church,
he preached to the white-and-green-coated soldiers of King Edward. Here, for
the first time, they heard a ' Gospeller/ who was as much a 'good soldier'
as the best of them—a redoubted man of war, who feared not the face of man—a
warrior 'clothed in the whole armour of God' —a master of all his weapons—a
preacher who seemed to have a special call to be an evangelist to soldiers;
for the language he liked best, and the figures of speech he made use of,
were those of soldiership and of battle. And what was the effect of his
influence upon poor Berwick? Let himself speak: ' I ashame not, madam [the
Scottish Queen], further to affirm that God so blessed my weak labours that
in Berwick (where commonly before there used to be slaughter, by reason of
quarrelJs that used to arise amongst soldiers), there was a great quietness
all the time I remained there, as there is this day in Edinburgh.'!
Wonderful change! We have no doubt that these two years of faithful
preaching left an enduring effect upon the town. We shall see traces of it
not only in the quietness and Christianity of the people, but in their
tendency to dissent, which has characterized them to this day. In 1551, he
left Berwick for Newcastle.
The dread of a French attack
upon Berwick began more and more to prevail. The alarm was raised by Dr.
Wotton and Sir John Mason, the French correspondents of the English
Government. Wotton, in February, 1549, wrote that it was said Berwick, which
they reckoned easy to be won, was to be besieged the first thing next year.
The Council wrote to Mason that they had heard from the Captain and Bowes
that the Governor (ArranJ) was at Edinburgh with all the French troops in
Scotland, and the complement of five or six Scottish ships, for the purpose,
as was reported, of going to the Border to punish certain thieves in
Liddesdale, but, in reality, as the Captain of Berwick was informed, to make
a sudden attack upon that town. Of this they had apprized Lansac, the French
ambassador, who was immediately to despatch a messenger to Scotland to
prevent hostilities. Another point of fear was the old sore of Edrington.
The English had held it since the beginning of the war. They now returned it
to the Scots, and allowed them to fish in the Tweed, a right they had tried
to wrest from them.
The Earl of Northumberland,
created anew in this short reign, obtained the appointment of Warden of the
East Marches. He visited and inspected Berwick; but the part he was playing
in the State demanded his presence in London, and he, with a salary of
£1,000, left his duties to be performed by deputy. As the defence of Berwick
was weak, he, while Warden, ordered a new fort to be erected at a great
expense—a fort of four ramparts to strengthen the walls towards the sea.
This was the large stone fort, the ruins of which are still to be seen in
the fields near the Bell Tower. It is not mentioned in Henry VIII.'s minute
survey, which speaks of an earthern rampart in its place. In Edward's reign
vast sums were spent on the fortifications of the town—as much as £6,000 in
one year. The old walls were very soon after this abandoned, and there was
no other stone fort upon which such sums could have been expended. The two
countries were nominally at peace, but it was certainly nothing more than an
armed armistice. Henry, Marquis of Dorset, had acted as a deputy for
Northumberland when Sir Nicholas Strellie was Captain. The Marquis evidently
was not satisfied with his appointment to this northern post. In a despatch
he uses strong, and not at all complimentary language. He wrote to Secretary
Cecil in 1551: Thanks for your furtherance of my suit to Council, to whom I
have written for money to relieve the poor garrisons here on their
lamentable complaints. I long to hear from you, as they that inhabit hell
would gladly hear how they do that be in heaven/
Sir Nicholas, determined to
bring the town into better order, issued a number of articles for its better
government, which are here inserted on account of their general interest.
They are dated 1552:
'(1) That all patent officers
be resident, and do not depart without special licence.
'(2) That English ships be
restrained from trading to Scotland, but that all goods be bought, sold, and
customed at Berwick, according to statute of Edward IV.,
as the English trading direct to Scotland prevents the Scots trading
to Berwick as formerly.
'(3) That Holy Island be made
a fishing town, and all the fish brought to Berwick, which would occasion
trade thither, and increase the number of mariners.
'(4) That the Captain,
Council, and garrison choose a burgess to Parliament as done in Calais,
since the burgesses chosen by the Freemen little regard the profit of the
soldiers. That the freemen be compelled to make up their Tolbooth, which
should be the council-house and their prisons, the want of which hinders
justice.
'(5) That they be compelled
to pave their streets, which are so foul that on alarm the soldiers cannot
pass through to repair the walls.
'(6) That the Captain and
Council join with the Mayor to set the market prices of victuals, and that
soldiers be allowed to buy them at first hand.
'(7) That a southern man, as
likely to be more impartial, one learned in the laws, be appointed recorder,
justice being hindered for want of one who can give counsel; and that for
his living he may have one week's fishing in the Tweed, which would be a
small burden amongst the freemen.
'(8) That the Tithes of
Bamboroughshire may be restored for victualling the castle of Berwick, they
having lately been demised by the Court of Augmentation to gentlemen who
sell the grain to market, so that the Captain has to make his provision in
Berwick, which the inhabitants think to be a hindrance.
'(9) That the statutes of the
town be set forth by Parliament. The statutes which he mentions were a large
number of statutes which were existing at this time for the government of
the town, and which will be referred to at some length when the year 1560
comes under discussion.
The new fort, now built,
became an object of great care. Alexander Brett was appointed Porter of it,
as the person holding that post was unfit for the task. Alexander Ridgeway,
Surveyor of the Town, was ordered to increase the workmen to 500 in number,
who might, in a case of necessity, be set in the new fort, which was
undoubtedly of the greatest importance against any attack from the north. At
this era a grievance came to the surface, which assumed alarming proportions
in after-times. Lord John Conyers, a Deputy-Governor of Berwick, reported
that Richard Saunders, a captain, had sneaked away without paying his debts.
He owed six or seven score pounds. In the future history of the garrison
this will be seen to be a very small beginning of the losses which the
inhabitants had to suffer at the hands of the garrison and soldiers.
This was still a lamentable
time on the Borders. Raids were continuing, but the English, having become
tired of quarrelling with the Scots, and so desirous of a new field of
warfare, began to quarrel among themselves. The first of these quarrels took
place in 1557. In 1554, Giles Heron, who was related to the Herons of Ford,
became Treasurer of Berwick. At this crisis the estate of Ford became a
matter of dispute. George Heron, of Chipchase, claimed it as heir by entail.
Thomas Carr claimed it by right of his wife Elizabeth, who was heir of Sir
William Heron. The Carrs were in possession on the 28th April* (March), when
John Dyxon, one of the constables of Berwick, and fourteen of the garrison,
took forcible possession of the Castle of Ford on behalf of Heron. In doing
this they expelled five men (Carr's brother being one of them), and three
women-servants. On the Sunday morning following, Ralph Grey, of Chillingham,
Robert Barrow, Mayor of Berwick, and Giles Heron, Treasurer, and thirty
others, proceeded to the castle to secure it against the Carrs. They were
met under the castle walls by a small band of six or seven men, headed by
Robert Carr (he who had been ousted on the previous day). Here a skirmish
took place, in which the Mayor of Berwick was killed, and the Treasurer of
Berwick and one or two more of the company somewhat hurt and wounded. The
result is thus set forth: Considering the enemy of Scotland we heve, God
knoweth, lytle neede of anye April is in Raine; but the account in the
'Talbot Papers,' which was written for the Government, is dated April 3rd,
so that the occurrence must have taken place in March. cyville or domestyque
division or dissension amonges ourselves. To ascertain your Lordshipps what
wee thinks this hundreth yeres fore passed, never hapened there so perilous
a sede of malicefuU dissention and hatred to be sowen in this countrey as is
presentlye inplanting and like to take rote if the same be not hastely met
withal and prevented by grudges and hatred growing about the premises almost
throughout the hole contre, the most part of general thereof being divided
into two partes. In this year Lord Eure was Governor of Town and Castle,
and, dissatisfied with the pay to his poor garrison of horsemen, he wrote
for an increase on the following grounds: ' Each man has only iijd. or iijd.
ob. by the day, wherewith they are not hable to sarve upon the occaysons as
appeareth in said supplication. All other horsemen have xiid. by the day,
and ther contre neabors have ixd., and yet their service is more chargeable
than any of them/ He proceeded to acquaint the Queen with various
shortcomings on the part of her officers in Berwick: 'Thomas Carey is
Marshall of the Horse, and has had no training for the same, and he wishes
Carey removed, and another fit man put in his place. Sir R. Ellerker,
Chamberlain, has not used his office since before the wars began (1542), and
long before. Allan Bellington, the Treasurer, is now absent; and Sir John
Selby, the Head Porter, is not in his office to sarve, as he ought to be.'
This was an awkward position
for Berwick: not a single official in his place for any sudden emergency,
not even for payment of the soldiers under them. Eure adds a postscript to
his letter:
'This last night we did send
Ix horsemen fourthe at the Postronne of the Castell who hath set fyer to the
town called Haydon Crawe, viij myles from Barwyk, ther set upon them lyke
the nombre of xzz Scottsmen. They hurt two of the Souldeours horses, and in
that encountre the Scotts had the overthrowe, two of them slayn and others
hurt: the Souldeours brought one prisoner, 18 nowte, and two naggs to Barwyk,
done in the night' (and therefore only mentioned in a postscript, as if the
burning of Auchencrow was scarcely worth serious notice).
Halidon Hill was this year
(1558) the scene of a skirmish. After the fortress of the Caw Mills had been
won back to the north, and while the garrison was alarmed at the continual
incursions of the Scots, there were a few of the Berwick garrison stationed
on the top of the hill to guard some of the inhabitants, cutting and winning
their hay. The enemy having been absent for a day or two, the garrison were
enjoying some sports, when the French from Eyemouth suddenly attacked them;
there was severe fighting for four hours. After Sir James Crofts came up
from Berwick, the French were driven back to Eyemouth with considerable
loss. About the same time Eure challenged Kirkaldy, a cousin of Kirkaldy of
Grange; but, on account of the degrees being unequal, Ralph, brother of Lord
Eure, undertook the combat. A day was fixed, and on the side of Halidon Hill
they met, when Eure was wounded and defeated.
The people of these times had
certainly hardship enough to bear from such causes as we have stated, but
little can we apprehend the full force of it; and as little can we now
realize the suffering that was entailed when changes in prices took place so
violently as those that follow. In 1557, before harvest, wheat was sold in
London at 53s. 4& per qr.; after harvest, at 5s. per qr. Malt, before
harvest, at 44s.; after it, at 6s. 8d. Beans and rye, similarly at 40s. and
3s. 4d.; so that the penny wheat loaf, that weighed in London last year 11
oz. Troy, now weighed 56 oz. In the country wheat sold for 4s. and malt for
4s. 8d. In some places one pound of candles bought a bushel of rye—4d. The
good old times disappear before facts.
We now pass on to consider
the most important period that remains of our history. So much matter,
illustrating these next fifty years, exists, that it will be difficult to
condense it without omitting much that is interesting.
The first item is a
characteristic raid, as if to indicate the nature of Queen Elizabeth's reign
and the terrible inroads that were to disfigure it:
'December 21st, 1588. On St.
Thomas Day at night Lord Evers sent 500 footmen from Berwick with the
horsemen to burn the mill of Heymouth. There were 30 of the best horsemen
sent to burn a toun five miles beyond Heymouth. At their raising of fire we
gave attempt to the mill. So it was done. Fourteen Frenchmen kept the mill.
The moon did shine very light; they mistrusted nothing, it was so light, and
kept evil watch that we were at the mill door before we were descried. The
Frenchmen ran out at the back door and through the water. There were 10 of
them taken. The miller, divers Scots and naggs gotten. The mill was turved
and would not burn well. There was much corn burned and two houses by the
mill. The horsemen burned the town
they went to, well, and
burned much corn, brought away cattle, naggs, sheep and divers prisoners.
They took 2 horsemen riding from Heymouth to Coldingham with the fray. This
done, we were at Berwick before 4 o'clock of the morning. As I was writing
this letter the Scots burned a town called Hord) within cannon shot of
Berwick, at 11 o'clock in the night.'
Note, the 'turved' roof of
Heymouth Mill did not burn handsomely; it would have been better had they
met with more such turf!
There was sterner work before
the English army than this skirmishing with the Borderers. The Reformation
was beginning to make its power felt on the politics of the time. From the
'State Papers,' on December 1st, 1558, a few days after Elizabeth's ascent
to the throne, we learn that great dangers were apprehended from a change of
religion. The dangers are clearly shown, the remedies pointed out. In what
did these dangers consist? France, Spain, and Scotland were leagued
together, and were Catholic in religion. The marriage of Mary Queen of Scots
with the French Dauphin might give the French undue influence in Scotch
affairs, if it did not promote them to be the virtual rulers of that
kingdom. On the other hand, the English Queen was Protestant, and believed
by the Roman Catholics of the world to be the illegitimate Queen of England.
At that time, these considerations caused much uneasiness in the minds of
England's greatest statesmen. What must they do? Their first impulse was to
fortify Berwick, to hurry soldiers thither, lancers and horsemen, for the
safety of the frontiers.
The Queen determined, in the
first place, to please the Governor. She increased his pay and granted him
100 horsemen as his personal escort. John Abingdon, Surveyor-General of
Victuals in Berwick, was ordered to victual the town for 4,000 men from
March to July, and for 5,000 from July to October 31st. Cecil determined to
put the most efficient man in the realm into the post of Captain of the
Border town, since it was a place of so great importance. Fifteen hundred
labourers were sent hither in March to build up and finish the
fortifications and put the place in order. Then the Council discussed
whether an offensive or defensive war was the most expedient at the present
crisis. The latter mode was adopted. One reason given was that the English
soldiers were not considered equal to those of foreign nations, which were
so well armed and disciplined. No invasion of England was feared "so long as
Berwick lie upon their backs." It was not likely, the Council thought, that
any number of foreign troops would come into Scotland except to besiege
Berwick, while that town was able to withstand a siege from the Scots, if
unaided. The importance of the place, they said, required that it be well
fortified and victualled for 4,000 men, and that 2,500 be ready to reinforce
the town on the first raising of the enemy's power; and those, with the
soldiers already in town and the chosen artificers and pioneers, will make
up a force of 6,000 men. Every inhabitant should provide victuals for his
family for two months. Timber should be put into the town for the new
fortifications. Faggots both of wood and broom should be provided, also
tents. On the English side (that is, from the Scremerston heights) the town
was exposed to a besieging army whose cannon would beat into every street
and along the rampier, and would demolish the bakehouses, brewhouses, and
storehouses. To obviate this hazard, the Lord-Lieutenant (Norfolk) should
have authority to ltvy a power to encamp on the English side of the hill,
over against Berwick, which would be provisioned from Holy Island, These
were the ideas that floated in the heads of Elizabeth's great statesmen on
the first rumours of the danger, Cecil, early in the next year, penetrated
further into the matter, and discovered a new method of accomplishing his
designs. He learned that many of the Scots were little inclined to Roman
Catholicism, and he immediately conceived the idea of dissociating Scotland
from the French alliance, and thus materially lessening the danger to
England. A general armistice was arranged, and the treaty Chateau Cambresis
was proclaimed April 2nd, 1559. France, England, and Scotland were embraced
in it. The treaty between England and Scotland was signed at Upsetlington in
the Church of St. Mary there, and it was afterwards confirmed in the Church
at Norham. It gave a breathing-time to these nations. Cecil meanwhile
pursued his purpose. The Queen Dowager of Scotland, Mary of Lorraine, at
first favourable to the Reformers, in the end declared open war against
them. The Reforming leaders leagued themselves together under the name of
the * Lords of the Congregation/ Elizabeth's plan was to conciliate this
party, and join issue with it against France and the Queen Dowager. The
French came in great numbers to the assistance of Mary, and the English were
sent in formidable array to assist the Scotch. The siege of Leith was the
consequence, where the Lords of the Congregation were eventually successful.
The French retired, and Scotland was again relieved, because freed at once
from the oppression of the French and from the threatened annexation to that
country.
While that siege was forming,
Berwick was made the base of operations, and became a most important point
to hold, and to hold with tenacity. Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant-General
of the whole country north of the Trent; Lord Eure was made Captain of the
Town and Castle; Sir James Crofts acted as Captain under Eure. Men and money
were hurried up, and the whole town and district put into a complete state
of defence. The old fortifications, however, were in great decay, and it
seems that early in the year 1559 their renewal was determined upon. To this
fact we shall now turn our attention. The old fortifications that were now
about to be demolished and superseded by the present walls, were begun by
Edward I.; at least, the ditch outside the old wall was dug by him ; the
wall was built by Edward II., and heightened and
strengthened by Bruce about 1320. The accompanying plan will show the
circuit of the old wall, and the many towers by which it was guarded. The
earthen embankment behind, faced with another wall, formed the 'Countermore.'
The old wall began at the Scots Gate, where the northern entrance to the
castle left the main road ; it followed round by the Bell Tower, and along
the line of the old wall that is still visible, till we reach the present
wall at the Brass Mount. There it bent outwards at right angles, and
continued through the present stanks or ska ting-ground, and kept in a
south-easterly direction till it reached the old earthen bulwark in the next
enclosure (the south) ; then, running more to the south-west, it came to a
termination near to the present Malthouse on the Pier Road. This wall in
Henry VIII.'s time was 22 feet high. In it were nineteen towers, the
entrance to which was through the Countermore, by a narrow passage boarded
on the sides and 'overheled' with timber. This passage was about 30 feet in
length. Once inside the tower, a staircase or ladder led to the top, where,
in recent times, cannon were placed. At first, arrow loopholes would alone
pierce these towers. When Henry's survey was taken, the great majority of
the towers, if not all, were in sore decay. The overheling in each case was
rotten and falling down ; the walls were weak, and some so frail that the
weight of a single cannon would have crushed them. The curtains were
ruinous, and for more than a century curtains and towers had cost a great
amount of money in order to maintain them in proper repair. These walls had
been strengthened by the New Fort in the fields near the Bell Tower, begun
in the reign of Edward and finished in that of Mary, and by the New Fort on
the Sands erected at the corner near the present Drum Flagstaff. Now, under
Elizabeth's government the old wall was abandoned, and a new system of
fortifications introduced which enclosed a much smaller space than formerly.
The engineers and captains of Berwick determined on introducing a system of
defence which consisted of bastions and demi-bastions at intervals in the
line, and curtains between them riveted with a broad bank of earth. The guns
on the flanks of the bastions could be so placed as to sweep the line of the
intermediate curtain. Outside the wall of the curtain, as well as round the
bastions, there was a ditch 200 feet in width, and in the midst of this
another ditch 12 feet broad and 8 feet deep, kept always full of water. A
further detailed account is unnecessary; the accompanying plan will fully
explain the whole system Norfolk came to Berwick and reported on the
possibility of making Berwick impregnable. He says to Cecil:
'I wol not trouble you with
anythinge but myn own fancies and opynions conceyved oppon the sight of
Barwicke ; of which, tho that my experience and understanding is quytt
unliable to judge yet for my promise sake unto you before my departure from
London, I could do not lesse but wryte thes few lynes unto you as a
Declaration of my Remembrance thereof. First, for the situation of Barwicke
I assure you I fynde it by nature marvelous unapte for to be fortified
without great payne, travaille and industry, of which that which is already
begonne of the works I fyned greate dylygence, and as it is supposed by
wiser than I, here with so lytell chardge coulde bringe to passe; in which I
think Mr. Lee hath doon his part.* He goes on to say, «If Barwick is lost,
ere we should geate it agayn yt wold cost many a broken hcdd. Ther is on
thing moore in question, the which when Sir James Crofts and men of great
experience, here and other where, dare not give their opynyon, you will not
merveile tho I advise nothinge therein, but only wishe that if there be any
about the cowrte or other where, that hath more skill than other in
fortification, he shuld rather be sent hither whereby his opynyon might be
harde in so weightie a cause, which is disputable, and with so good reasons
on both sides, I mean whether it be more expedient to have that side of the
old toun next to the haven cutt away, wherein consisteth all the Queen's
storehouses and the best houses in the toun, or else to fortify the old
wall, and by that means to save all the houses. But the reasons on both
sides are so great that I can judge nothing. The tyme of the year draweth so
fast on, that on wey must needs be agreed uppon, wherein you know what is
best to be done. Sir R. Lee will call upon you, who knows the whole matter.
I am your singular friend; therefore I scribble these folyshe fantasies,
being so unskilful in so weightie a cause.'
From this time (January,
1560), for another year at least, there was great difficulty in settling the
proper circuit of the walls, especially in the part towards the water. The
land side was well established at this date, as we learn from the following
account of the progress of the fortifications at Berwick arranged under
these heads:
'(1) The Great Mount next
above Cowgate (Brass Mount).
'(2) The curtain from that
Mount to the East Mount, passing by Cowgate from the south end of this Great
Mount, running to the New ditch cut overthwart to the sea (Covered Way).
'(3) The East Mount (Windmill
Mount).
'(4) The curtain from the
East Mount to the Mount of St. Nicholas Ward Corner.
'(5) The Mount at St.
Nicholas Ward Corner being but half-built (King's Mount).
'(6) The curtain from the
North-East Mount (Brass Mount) back toward the North Mount, called by some
the Middle Mount (Cumberland Mount).
Memo.—That here in the
curtain must be made the gate. [While these lines are being written, there
is a great dispute going on about opening a gate at this very place (1887).]
'(7) The North, or Middle
Mount.
*(8) The curtain toward the
West Mount; here.must be the Mary Gate.
•(9) The West Mount, alias
Roaring Meg.'
On the map of the old and new
fortifications the line of these notices can easily be traced. Dispute is
only possible on the water-line. Before this was settled, Lee, Crofts, and
Norfolk reported, and Portenary, an Italian, was brought to view the
situation and report. In the end the Ness was left altogether outside the
wall, and the town was enclosed from Roaring Meg round the present line to
Hunsdon's or King's Mount, and, then, from the latter mount a wall was built
across the town to the 'Cattewell' on Hide Hill, and thence to the Old
Bridge Gate. Some houses were purchased in Ravensdown to allow this wall to
cross; and Bun-ell's Tower, on Hide Hill, was purchased for £160 for the
same reason. This was a tower of defence as well as a dwelling-house.
Having explained the line of
fortification, we shall now resume our narrative. On the peace with the
Scots being agreed upon, a proclamation was made in Scotland, and Crofts was
instructed by the Queen to proclaim this peace on the same day in Berwick.
She commended Crofts at this time for his determination to cass some
soldiers on this peaceful turn of affairs, as a means of saving her
treasure; and, being in good humour, she further lauded him for pardoning a
robber who had confessed his crime in hope of life. Knox appeared again upon
the scene, as anxious to visit his poor and despised flock in Berwick,
Newcastle, and other parts in the North.' He sent to Cecil to ask license
for this visit, and added: 'I hope in God it shall not hurt the commonwealth
of England that such license is granted unto me.' The license was not
granted at this time.
It is curious to note how the
health of the officers on duty in Berwick was affected with the *
unagreeable' air of this town. Crofts was then in bed with an extreme cold.
He has been ill and sick, he says, for two years past with this l
unagreeable air.' We have noticed Surrey's complaints; and again Sussex, a
few years after, reported in the same strain. Balsome and Oxenbridge, two of
the ministers of Puritan times, complained bitterly of the same thing. A
very characteristic reference to this cold place is contained in a letter
from Sir John Brende to Cecil, dated May 3rd, 1559. He says: 'A number of
soldiers have been discharged, and when discharged very few were desirous to
tarry; and those appointed to tarry remained against their will,
notwithstanding their liberal pay; as every one is so desirous to return
from the sourness of this northern air. This has been the cause, more than
anything else, why we have so often lost the footing or possession we have
had in Scotland; for, after men had continued there any time, it was thought
sufficient reward of service if they got leave to return home. And so the
captains left their charge to the deputies, the deputies to men of less
sufficiency, and they to others, till it came into Scotch hands again.' This
is assuredly the most novel plea upon record—viz., that the independence of
Scotland is in a large measure the result of the sourness of this northern
air, that still afflicts our town. The officials complained of bad victuals
as well as bad air. The unseasonable victuals have undoubtedly been the
casting away of many a poor man. For the Fish that came late in Lent he did
what he could for the saving of the Queen's treasure, by increasing one day
more in the week for fish, and observed the like in his own house.
Nevertheless, the complaint of the poor men, and beholding the misery they
were brought to by the naughtiness of the fish, he caused the victuals to be
examined, and the good to be separated from the bad. At one time they (the
victuallers) laid aside of 'naughty fish' 33 lasts (396 barrels) of
herrings, white and red, besides butter and cheese ; and yet the victualler,
to save the Queen's purse, made the poor garrison eat this naughty stuff one
day in the week more than the law required. Sir R. Lee, Surveyor, complained
in the summer of his men on the fortifications being very sore decayed by
reason of their being fed, for the most part, with herrings. It was
astonishing how any workmen stayed here to do the work; for meat was bad,
air was sour, and money was wanting altogether. Sir R. Lee reported to the
Council: 'There has been no pay for two and a half months, so that the men
have neither shirts nor shoes, nor money to buy fresh meat when sick, nor to
bring them home when discharged. It grieves him to see the multitude exclaim
daily of their wants'. What more pitiable picture could be drawn than that
of men shoeless and shirtless, living in sour air, and having nothing to eat
but naughty red or white herrings, bad butter, and worse cheese? Probably a
good deal of this wretchedness and misery was brought upon the poor men
through the greed of their superiors and officials. For instance, next year
Norfolk reported that old Inglebie, the Treasurer, made much ado about
parting with his office, on account of the gain made in it being so sweet.
Sweetness to him was starvation and death to others. Norfolk further wrote
to the Queen that, since her Majesty desired him to scribble his opinions to
her on anything that chanced to interest, he has heard that the Berwick
bands were aforetime in good order; but now the abominable robbery of her
garrison of Berwick has infected her country bands. The garrison was first
encouraged to robbery by the insatiable pilling and polling of her Captain
Crofts, who has used himself so suspiciously in this last service as, having
the choice of sending him up or staying him here, he durst none other than
the former for his disordinate doings. He can prove all he has touched
concerning Crofts.
This peculation and
greediness were common to all the officials. Complaints were very severe,
and exposure was continual.
Cecil and Knox, during the
summer of 1559, did all in their power to cement the different Protestant
parties, so that an unbroken front might be presented to the other side.
Towards this desirable object Knox wrote to Cecil, ' That he thinks a
learned and godly man ought to be appointed to Berwick to preach, also
within Scotland; and he doubts not but he will retain the friends of the
East Borders. If the hearts of the Borderers of both parts can be united
together, then victory will be easy.' There was no unsoundness in the
argument, but as a matter of fact the Borderers, especially south of the
Tweed, had a strong leaning to Popery, which continued for years, and hence
the victory was neither soon nor easy. On the 1st of August, license having
now been obtained, Knox came to Berwick, by Holy Island, to consult with the
Queen's authorities, if they would not allow him to go south. He landed
secretly, and came as he thought unknown; but those strong and unmistakable
features of his were too well known to pass unrecognised, and it was soon
noised abroad that he was in Berwick. Crofts kept him close in the castle;
and, having learned all he could of the desires of the Protestants, he
allowed him to depart, when the report of the meeting was sent to London.
Nothing came of Knox's work till the spring of the next year, when his
labours were crowned by the Treaty of Berwick, signed on February 27th,
1660, in which the Protestants of both countries allied themselves against
their common enemies, the Papists of Scotland and England, as well as of
France and Spain. Meanwhile, early in the autumn, Sadler was sent to Berwick
to assist in keeping order, and to hurry on the works there. Along with
Crofts he wrote to the Queen, that she should send some of the nobility to
view the walls.
'They are worth the seeing:
they are fair, and likely to be strong.' They hoped she would make as much
haste with what remained to be done as she had with what had been finished.
They concluded their letter in true courtier fashion:
'We pray God to preserve your
Majesty to the years of Nestor/ The supplies required for the fortifications
were wondrously varied. Money was needed, but likewise 'furniture,' such as
ropes, canvas, hand-saws, copper-nails, tacks for labels, clout-nails,
tallow, rosin, turpentine, linseed-oil, pitch, tar, cresset-lights, links,
tallow-candles, elm-timber, naves, felloes, 'exeltrees,' 'handspects,'
chests for bows and arrows, harquebuts, and dags. Berwick now became the
centre of increased activity. The French were actually fortifying Leith,
and, if successful, Berwick would be the next point of attack. It was on
October 21st, 1559, that Throgmorton first heard of the French operations at
Leith; and, on the Queen being informed by him, everything was done that was
possible to keep an open way from Berwick to the northern capital. As the
seat of the crafty and courteous Crofts and Sadler, it was the meeting-place
of commissioners from Scotland and of messengers from the English Queen.
Money was required by the Lords of the Congregation, and this was to be sent
from Berwick. On November 4th, 1559, the Laird of Ormeston was sent to Leith
with £1,000 to assist the Lords to attack the French and raise the siege.
But Ormeston was arrested on the road by the infamous Bothwell, robbed of
his treasure, and badly wounded. The treasure was carried safely to Dunbar;
and now there is a characteristic note from Sadler to Randolph: 'If anything
should be said about this money, they must say it was Ormeston's and not
Elizabeth's.' Who, even in that age, could be hoodwinked by so transparent a
story? In the same underhand fashion, Cecil wrote that Sadler may send on
four trusty captains from Berwick to assist the Scots; but their names must
be changed, and they must take powder with them on horseback, as was once
before sent from Berwick to Haddington. The Queen was now getting anxious
about Berwick and about Scotland. More men and money were promised, and
great anxiety was now observable in every department; the garrison was
increased. There were now 17 captains, 16 petty-captains, 60 officers, 159
horsemen, 4 clerks, 65 great guides, 671 armed men, 1,198 harquebusiers:
total, 2,190, at a monthly charge of £2,447 12s. 8d.
The French were at Eyemouth.
The Queen was afraid lest they should get a firm footing there, and urged
that it was against the treaty to have 500 men so near Berwick, and that
'this cannot be borne/ She promised to send on immediately 4,000 men to the
Borders; victuals and armour to follow, that the whole French invasion may
be nipped in the bud.' Winter, her Admiral on the East Coast, was ordered to
approach with 14 ships, leave some victual at Tynemouth, at Holy Island, and
at Berwick; and if he could enter the Frith of Forth, he was to do so. This
must be done in his own name, and not in the name of the Queen. Norfolk
acted as leader of the forces, with the daily fee of £6 13s. 4d. Treasure
was sent on in quantity; and everything showed that the Queen had risen to
the emergency, and that this difficulty would be immediately surmounted.
But, on almost the very last day of the year, Elizabeth undid it all. She
wrote to Throgmorton on 30th of December that all this armament sent on to
Berwick was not to aid the Scots, but simply to defend her own country. In
the early spring the Scotch Commissioners came to it, and there, with Sadler
and Norfolk, a treaty was concluded, which put an end to this hesitancy. The
Queen therein agreed to help with men and money the Scotch Protestant Lords
against the Queen-Dowager of the French. In pursuance of this treaty, Lord
Grey led 8,000 soldiers and 700 pioneers into Scotland, to help to raise the
siege of Leith. On April 20th he wrote back for further supplies to Norfolk,
who immediately sent on from a powder-mill at Berwick, recently erected, '4
grand barrells of corn-powder,' and, from the storehouse, he despatched
3,000 spades, and in this manner the army did its work, assisted from
Berwick as the base of operations. At this crisis, Valentyne Brown succeeded
Inglebie as Treasurer, and George Bowes, Marshal, received knighthood from
Norfolk, who was laid aside for the present, from the sourness of the air,
with a 'quinsey under the ear'. He was testy with this trouble, and so he
wrote to Cecil: c For God's sake, whenever you send us more money, let it be
sent in gold or new silver. This last you sent us was in pence, twopences,
and old testoons.' Surely a burdensome and a very expensive manner of
sending a few thousand pounds. For instance, these £22,000 were sent on from
London to Berwick, 268 miles, in three carts, taking sixteen days, twelve
men, sixteen post-horses, and two guides and constables to watch it at
night. In all, £86 18s. 8d. was required for this charge. The whole
cavalcade went on to Stirling, where the Lords were, and where the great
part of the Scotch army was posted. For this extension of the journey, six
post horses were required for two days, and the further charge was £35 13s.
Altogether, from London to Stirling, this transference of £22,000 cost £122
11s. 8d. No sooner was this substantial aid sent on to Scotland than the war
was over, and the siege of Leith abandoned. The Queen-Mother returned to
Edinburgh Castle, and almost immediately thereafter ceased from troubling
the world or its affairs any more. The English army was recalled, Norfolk's
appointment revoked, and Sir Francis Leek appointed to succeed him in
Berwick. Let us look for a moment at the excitement and the stir that must
have been in the town during these summer months, when this warlike action
prevailed. During June £137 us. 4d. was required for wages for one clerk of
the bakehouse, one overseer, two furnace-men, twenty-two bakers, one clerk
of the brewhouse, one overseer, twenty-six brewers, one keeper of the water,
three millers, one clerk of the granaries, ten keepers or turners of grain,
three keepers of oxen and sheep, one basket-maker, two carters, five women
dighters of corn, one overseer of coopers, thirty coopers, one clerk of the
eatery, one clerk of the butter and cheese, three purveyors, and one porter.
More than one hundred people connected with this work alone were thus all,
or nearly all, thrown idle on this new turn of affairs.
A calm succeeded this storm
when men's minds had time for reflection. The reflection in the case of the
Berwick Treasurer and soldiers was not stimulating. It was found that the
Queen was due £29,000 to the soldiers, and £11,000 of this the Treasurer
must be paid, for the poor fellows were out of apparel and furniture. A
large amount of this money was due to Berwick merchants and Government
officials. By dint of pressure, the money was at last obtained from
headquarters, after which the garrison was greatly diminished, and matters
were righted again. In this time of quiet we learn more about the walls.
Houses were viewed that it would be necessary to purchase to make room for
the fortifications, and the debate was again resumed whether the lower part
of the town should be included in the new fortifications. A very serious
dispute arose whether the new wall should not extend down to the fort on the
shore, and then follow round the coast-line till it returned to the King's
Mount; whether the 'Snook' should be walled in. These disputes became so
serious that nearly all operations were stopped for a time. The money spent
upon the walls during the last seven months ending the 14th September was
£34,242 16s.; and, for the winter months, if the work went on, it was
calculated that the amount would be £13,264 10s. 8d.
Now the Queen, influenced by
this time of peace, ordered Sir R. Lee, Surveyor, to begin to take down the
old wall by the Bell Tower so far only as stone was needed for filling in
the new wall. The face-stone of the new wall had been partly laid, but
filling-stone was scarce. Lee, however, was to be careful not to lower the
old wall too much till the new one was sufficiently strong. The balancing
point here was rather a critical affair. The difficulty lay in watching the
walls in this transition state. Sir Francis Leek, Deputy Governor, wrote to
Cecil to say—
'That now (end of August,
1560) a great part of the earth from the Snook to St. Mary Gate (at the
castle) is already taken away, and a good part of the vamures [barriers]
between the Bell Tower and St Mary Gate is already removed, so that in
divers places the passages for the watch is not two feet broad. There is no
small doubt how the watch shall be continued during the winter, when the
wind is so extreme as it is here. But to make the position as strong as we
can, shall cause the greatest part of the garrison assembled in the green to
aid the castle, or to repel any attempt between the Bell Tower and the
castle ; another part to assemble on the watch to aid the Cowgate; a third
part near the new fort (on the sands) to answer all attempts between it and
the bridge where stands the Marshall's bands.'
This was laid down as the
order for the watch until the walls were sufficiently built to afford
protection.
Since the siege of Leitht was
past and the garrison was idle, great difficulty was experienced in keeping
order amongst the men. Leek wrote: 'Fighting must be stopped by the cutting
off some member—a hand, or something like that. The Mayor and constables
would the old orders of Berwick and Calais were printed, and one table put
on parchment or metal and fixed on the "Towle Boothe," that every soldier
may know his duty.' The Mayor further complained that imprisonment with
severe punishment is of little avail; the soldiers cross over to Tweedmouth
and daily fight.' Another complained that some captains had 300 men and
others but fifty, and had enough to do to live. They could not get silk
clothes and fine shoes, and other things, which must of necessity be
occupied by captains. All these were of such extreme price that no captain
could keep up appearances according to his station, nor even afford a horse
to ride abroad upon. This inequality of privilege led to quarrelling among
officers. A dispute has arisen Leek says, between John Bennet, Master of the
Ordnance, and John Fleming, Master Gunner, of Berwick, about the governing
of the fifty gunners appointed to remain here. "It seems both smell gains to
arise in that way." Many robberies were reported now in Northumberland, but
none of the garrison can be discovered as implicated. The garrison, I fear,
are fonder of thieving than of sermon-hearing.' Leek complained in a
postscript: 'The preacher is almost weary. He cannot bring Mr. Somerset nor
Mr. Read to hear a sermon.' He is most loath to trouble him with the use and
abuse of the old ordinary garrison, yet there are more than enough of them
murderers and thieves. Prays Cecil to send a captain who shall see good
order taken, else the disease of this town is incurable.
