Battle site of Hadden Rigg (1542) -
Region: Lothian & Scottish Borders
Grass and stubble field cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Russel Wills - geograph.org.uk/p/5110153
Description:
When Henry VIII of England broke with the Church of Rome, he wanted his nephew, James V of Scotland, to follow his example. But when James refused to meet him at York to discuss this, Henry sent an army north to assert his rights as Overlord. When in 1542 a 3000 strong English army led by Robert Bowes, Warden of the East Marches, invaded, they were met by about 9000 Scots under George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, near Kelso and soundly defeated. Historians are still in doubt about the exact number of Huntly's troops.