James Baquet

Battles can be tricky. In addition to considering the size of the opposing force, the tactics used, the weaponry available, and so on, a canny commander must also think about the weather and the terrain.

Case in point: the Battle of Solway Moss, which took place in November 1542 between Scottish forces representing King James V and the English army of his uncle King Henry VIII.

Henry, as is widely known, had broken with the Roman Catholic Church when the Pope denied him the right to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who had not borne Henry a son (though their daughter became Mary I of England upon the death of Mary’s brother — Edward VI — and earned herself the sobriquet “Bloody Mary” for her persecution of Protestants).

Anyway, the avuncular Henry had urged his nephew James to leave the Catholic Church behind, which James considered heresy.

Of course, there was much more to this than religion. Henry was attempting to strengthen the Scottish-English alliance, a goal which was neatly accomplished when James V’s grandson, James VI of Scotland (who was a great-great-grandson of Henry VIII’s father Henry VII) became James I of England, paving the way for the United Kingdom.

In attempting to settle things with James V, Henry called for a tête-à-tête at York, which James refused to attend. Enraged at the insult, Henry sent English troops on a raid into Scotland. James raised an army to invade England in retaliation.

The Scots vastly outnumbered the English, fielding perhaps 15,000-18,000 men against 3,000 Englishmen. There was, however, some confusion in command, with various lords claiming to be in charge. They crossed the border into England, and found themselves trapped between a river and a peat bog, the “moss” of the battle’s name.

Stricken by the defeat, James V took to his bed, further racked by the news that his wife had given birth to a daughter instead of the hoped-for son. He died a broken man three weeks later, leaving his six-day-old daughter to inherit the throne as Mary, Queen of Scots (not to be confused with Bloody Mary).

Vocabulary:

Which words above mean:

1. nickname

2. tortured, ruined

3. an act of revenge

4. false religious belief

5. phrase used to introduce an example

6. clever, shrewd

7. adjective form for “uncle”

8. a kind of swamp

9. “head to head,” a personal meeting

10. the shape of the land