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This day is History

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cheryllwith2ls:
What do you all think of posting a 'This day in history' post? Say, weekly? Please join in if you've found something interesting. It will be fun! :)

THIS DAY IN HISTORY - SEPT. 7TH

September 7 in Scottish History
On the 7th of September 1736, Captain Porteous was dragged from prison and lynched by an angry mob in Edinburgh. The "Porteous Riots" had erupted in April 1736, when Andrew Wilson, a smuggler, was hanged in the Grassmarket for robbing a customs officer. The public rioting that followed Wilson's death was quashed by the locally born John Porteous, when he ordered his troops to open fire on the angry crowd, killing and wounding up to 30 people. Porteous was sentenced to death but later reprieved, leading to the lynch mob descending in fury on the prison, enraged that Porteous's appeal had been successful, and that he'd escaped the fate that had been meted out to a common man. The angry growd stormed the Tolbooth, escorted Porteous to the Grassmarket, and hanged him from a dyer's pole. Incidents of the Porteous Riots are used by Walter Scott in "The Heart of Midlothian".

This day in 1836 saw the birth of Henry Campbell Bannerman, the British Prime Minister. Born in Glasgow and educated at Glasgow and Cambridge, Bannerman became the Liberal MP for Stirling in 1868, a position he held until his death. He climbed the parliamentary ranks, serving as Secretary for Ireland during Gladstone's administration in 1884 and entering the cabinet as Secretary for War in 1886, before becoming leader of the Liberal Party in 1899. Bannerman became Prime Minister in 1905 following Balfour's resignation, and led his party to a landslide victory in the 1906 general election. His brilliant cabinet included Asquith, Lloyd George, and Winston Churchill. Ill health forced Bannerman to hand over the leadership to Asquith, and he died two weeks later in 1908.

Stirling Thompson:
Great idea but sometimes these recurring threads can be difficult to keep up with, as with my jokes and poetry threads.
Stu

cheryllwith2ls:
Well, I'm just going to post something once a week. If you guys want to join in and add something, that would be great...if not, that's fine too.
And just FYI - I enjoy your poetry finds. :)
I may not always have something to say about them, but I do always read 'em.
Cheryll

Stirling Thompson:
The Battle of Flodden Field

On 9 September 1513 the Scots army, under King James IV, faced the English forces of King Henry VIII under the command of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. The battle was ferocious and bloody - men were felled by artillery, arrows, pikes, bills and swords. Around 14,000 men died, including James IV, the last British king to die in battle.

James IV was married to one of Henry VIII’s sisters - Margaret Tudor - but the Scots king, honouring the Auld Alliance with France, had invaded Northumberland to divert Henry’s troops from their campaign against the French. The Scots were joined by some French troops, and carried some French weapons.

James IV had superior numbers - around 35,000 to 40,000 men to the English force’s 26,000 - but the Scots force lacked experience and discipline.

The Bishop of Durham later told Thomas Wolsey, ‘...though the Scots fought sore and valiantly with their swords, yet they could not resist the bills that lighted so thick and sore upon them.’

The Scots were outmanoeuvred; part of the English force circled around their position. James IV charged into the midst of the battle - leading his men from the front - and was cut down within ‘a spear’s length’ of the Earl of Surrey.

About 4,000 of Henry VIII’s English force were killed while Scotland lost up to 10,000 men. Among the dead were King James IV and his son Alexander, as well as other nobles and churchmen. The bodies of thousands of dead and dying men littered the battlefield as night fell.

The Battle of Flodden Field was immortalised by Jean Elliott in her song ‘The Floo’ers o’ the Forest’:

...I've heard the lilting, at the yowe-milking,
Lassies a-lilting before dawn o' day;
But now they are moaning on ilka green loaning;
"The Flowers of the Forest are a' wede away.”

Stirling Thompson:
Oh yes, on this date in 1543, at the ripe old age of 9 months, Mary Stuart was crowned 'Queen of the Scots' in Stirling.

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