Assured Scots were Scottish people who pledged to support English plans for

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

to marry

Edward VI of England Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...

during the war of the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...

between 1543 and 1550. They took "assurances" and some received English pension money. Their motivations varied, and included favouring amity with England and their support for Protestant faith while Scotland was a Catholic country.

Prequel

In October 1542, a Scottish army was defeated at

battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Chu ...

near Longtown and Sandysike in England. A number of Scottish noblemen and lairds were captured. These gave assurances to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

, and many were released on licence and sent a substitute family member as a pledge or hostage into captivity in England, after undertaking to support English policy. In March 1544, Henry VIII sent a herald to demand the return to English captivity of a number of these Scottish nobles who were not acting in accord with his wishes.

Assured Scots

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...

died in December 1542, and he was succeeded by his baby daughter Mary. Scotland was ruled by

Regent Arran A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

. Henry VIII asked his border wardens to start taking assurances from Scots to be "taken as our friends" who would further the marriage between Edward and Mary early in 1543. Soon after, the marriage plan was accepted by Arran's government under the

Treaty of Greenwich The Treaty of Greenwich (also known as the Treaties of Greenwich) contained two agreements both signed on 1 July 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of En ...

. When this fell through, Henry VIII sent an army to burn Edinburgh in May 1544. The English border warden

William Eure Sir William Eure of Bradley was an English aristocrat and political intriguer. He was a son of William Eure, 2nd Baron Eure and Margaret Dymoke, and uncle of William Eure, 4th Baron Eure, two years his junior, with whom he must not be confused.. ...

took assurances from Scottish borderers in June. Some Scottish lairds made oaths to support England after the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...

in 1547. James Maitland wrote of his grandfather,

Richard Maitland Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington and Thirlstane (1496 – 1 August 1586) was a Senator of the College of Justice, an Ordinary Lord of Session from 1561 until 1584, and notable Scottish poet. He was served heir to his father, Sir William Mai ...

Lethington Lennoxlove House is a historic house set in woodlands half a mile south of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. The house comprises a 15th-century tower, originally known as Lethington Castle, and has been extended several times, principally in ...

, "most part of the Gentlemen of Lothian, Merse, and Teviotdale did assure, but my grandfather would not assure". An English commander,

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Ma ...

wrote of the "King's Pale" in Scotland, anticipating that

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour ...

would receive feudal rents from the occupied area of Southern Scotland, extending from

Dunglass Dunglass is a hamlet in East Lothian, Scotland, lying east of the Lammermuir Hills on the North Sea coast, within the parish of Oldhamstocks. It has a 15th-century collegiate church, now in the care of Historic Scotland. Dunglass is the birthpl ...

to Berwick, and Lauder to Dryburgh. Landowners would be replaced by a Scottish "assured man" or an English landlord who would "answer the king's majesty for the rents of the same". The names of around 950 assured Scots can be identified. Most lived in areas affected by the war, near the borders or Dundee, where

Broughty Castle Broughty Castle is a historic castle on the banks of the River Tay in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454, when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, received permission ...

held an English garrison. Notable assured Scots who were active during the war include;

Ninian Cockburn Ninian Cockburn (died 6 May 1579) was a Scottish soldier and officer of the Garde Écossaise, a company which guarded the French king. He had an ambiguous role in political relations between Scotland, France and England during the war of the Rough ...

; his older brother

John Cockburn of Ormiston John Cockburn, (d. 1583) laird of Ormiston, East Lothian, Scotland, was an early supporter of the Scottish Reformation. He was the eldest son of William Cockburn of Ormiston and Janet Somerville. John was usually called "Ormiston." During his lif ...

;

Alexander Crichton of Brunstane Alexander Crichton of Brunstane, (died before December 1558), was a Scottish Protestant laird who advocated the murder of Cardinal David Beaton and supported the plan for the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Prince Edward of England. In cont ...

; Michael and Henry Durham; Elizabeth Lamb, Prioress of St Bathans; Hugh Douglas of Longniddry; the Armstrongs of Mangerton; George Turnbull of

Bedrule Bedrule ( gd, Ruail Bheathaig) is a hamlet and civil parish in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. The hamlet lies on the east side of the Rule Water, which gave the village its name, about 4 miles w ...

; James Douglas of

Cavers Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...

; and others. Some assured Scots changed their minds and asked the Arran government for a pardon as the war progressed, and a remission of charges of treason was offered to assured Scots who came forward. English observers felt that the assured Scots were not value for money, especially as French troops were able to manoeuvre in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hi ...

and maintain the

siege of Haddington The sieges of Haddington were a series of sieges staged at the Royal Burgh of Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, as part of the War of the Rough Wooing, one of the last Anglo-Scottish Wars. Following Regent Arran's defeat at the battle of ...

without much hindrance. After a defeat at Haddington, Thomas Fisher, an English officer, wrote:

How had it been possible for such a power as the French and Almains ermanswere, not under 3,000 or above as is reported, to come in the night time through our Assured Men's towns from
Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is O ...
to Haddington? and never a one of them should hear either of them coming or passing, as they say they did not, or I as think, they would not, although in my judgement a good part of them knew full well of the intended enterprise; and if they did hear, or were privy thereunto, why had they not let it be known by some means to the captain of Haddington?

As the war came to end, only a few assured Scots were punished, some were forced into exile, but several were allowed to pay fines (compositions) for their remissions.

Protestant reformers and assurance

One Scottish religious reformer

Henry Balnaves Henry Balnaves (1512? – February 1570) was a Scottish politician, Lord Justice Clerk, and religious reformer. Biography Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, around 1512, he was educated at the University of St Andrews and on the continent, where he adopt ...

, drafted a form of an assurance bond in December 1546, which began:

God, the author and finisher of peace, beholding the long discord between the realms, has in our days appointed opportunity for union of the two in one empire by the blessed sacrament of matrimony between young Prince Edward of England and our Sovereign Lady Mary Queen of Scotland; and by consent of the Parliament of this realm, at their suit made by certain ambassadors sent to the said invincible Prince Henry, etc., an honorable treaty of peace and contract of marriage was confirmed under the Great Seal of the realm, but afterwards broken by the Governor and evil council, specially the Cardinal sometime of Saint Andrews

While some of the assured Scots were closely associated with Protestant reform, a majority were motivated by profit and the need to survive in the presence of an enemy.Marcus H. Merriman, 'The Assured Scots: Scottish Collaborators with England during the Rough Wooing', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 47:143 (1) (April 1968), pp. 30-4.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assured Scots Rough Wooing 16th century in England 16th century in Scotland England–Scotland relations Mary, Queen of Scots Edward VI