Cleanse the Causeway

The skirmish was the result of enmity between the House of Hamilton and the "Red" Angus line of the House of Douglas who were locked in a struggle for supremacy since the death of King James IV. James' death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513 had created a power vacuum in the Kingdom of Scotland. Scotland at this time was under the regency of Angus' rival, John Stewart, Duke of Albany, but he had been detained in France since 1516. In his absence, a council of senior nobles and clergy were to share power; which included Arran and Angus. Albany (who was born in France to a French mother) also added a French ally to the council as a more neutral party, Antoine d'Arcy or De la Bastie. d'Arcy was murdered in September 1517 by members of the Home family with whom he had a feud and this implicated their allies the Douglases and by extension Angus. The murder of a French noble sparked a diplomatic incident and in response the council voted to place Arran as their leader Margaret in response attempted to use her influence with her brother King Henry VIII, the absent Regent Albany and her husband's rival Arran to improve her situation. Arran, at the head of the Hamiltons, was determined to stop his rival Angus from gaining control over King James V however Arran had sided with the Leith merchants, supported by Robert Barton. Barton was a shipowner of considerable political influence and cited a privilege granted to him by James IV that allowed him to avoid abiding by import and export customs. By ignoring the rights of the Edinburgh burgesses, Arran lost their support and instead they supported the side of Angus during the skirmish. ==The Skirmish==

Arran had entered Edinburgh at the head of his retinue of around 500 armed footmen and had based himself at the house of James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow at the foot of Blackfriars Wynd in the east of the city, An alternative version of events states that it was Arran who had the barricades erected, to trap the Douglases in the city so they could be surprised, attacked individually and be unable to flee. A bloody street battle ensued in which the Douglases took the upper hand and with a cry of "Cleanse the Causeway to 80 of their number being killed and the "wounded began to cumber the causeway in every direction". Towards the end of the action, 800 more Douglases arrived under the leadership of Angus' brother William Douglas, Prior of Coldingham. Arran himself and his illegitimate son James Hamilton of Finnart managed to fight their way out of the mêlée and escape down one of the steep, narrow closes on the north of the High Street to the marshy edges of the Nor Loch. Here they found a collier's horse which they stole and both waded upon it across the shallows of the loch to the parkland beyond where they made their escape. At the end of the action, the Douglases were in control of Edinburgh and Angus sent trumpeters around the city offering quarter to any remaining Hamiltons on condition that they leave the city, which some 800 apparently did. ==Aftermath==

Amongst the Hamilton dead was John, Master of Montgomery and son of Hugh Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Eglinton. The Archbishop of Glasgow fled to his church at Blackfriars where he was apprehended from behind the altar by the victorious Douglases, but was spared upon the intervention of Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld and allowed to flee on foot to Linlithgow, 16 miles distant. In revenge for their loss the Hamiltons besieged Dean Castle in Kilmarnock which was held by a Douglas ally, Robert Boyd, but were unable to capture it. A tit-for-tat struggle continued between the Douglases and Hamiltons until Regent Albany returned from France the following year and retook control of Scotland and its young king. Albany quickly put Angus on charges of High Treason and had him exiled to France. Arran was returned to the regency council in 1522 under Albany, and in 1524 he and Margaret were able to oust Albany and have the 12 year old James proclaimed as adult ruler. In 1525, Angus returned with the backing of Henry VIII of England and was able to forcefully have himself readmitted to the council of regency, take control of King James, and hold him virtual prisoner and rule on his behalf. The power struggles that followed would result in an unlikely alliance between Angus and Arran, and it was the latter who would lead the victorious pro-Angus forces at the Battle of Linlithgow Bridge in 1526 against the pro-Margaret force under John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. ==References==