Lion, or
Great Lion was commanded by Robert Barton and later by his nephew John Barton. Captured by the English off the Kent coast in March 1547. In the 1530s this ship had been captured from the English navy and passed into the hands of
James V of Scotland. The
Lion was part of the fleet that James V took to France in 1536 and brought back
Madeleine of Valois in 1537. Known as
Great Lion, she and
Salamander were fitted with 15 large wheeled guns and 10 smaller wheeled guns in May 1540, for the king's voyage to Orkney in June. John Barton sailed to Dieppe with
Great Lion and
Salamander in June 1541, and had their 27 guns cleaned and the latter ship re-rigged. In December 1542,
Mary Willoughby,
Salamander and
Lion blockaded the London merchant ship
Antony of Bruges in a creek on the coast of Brittany near
'Poldavy Haven.' In March and April 1544,
Lion was prepared for a voyage to France with ambassadors.
David Lindsay of the Mount,
David Paniter, Sir John Campbell of Lundy, and Marco Grimani, Patriarch of Aquileia were rumoured to be passengers.
Hertford noted this was a prize not to be missed, and the
Master of Morton wrote to him pointing out the opportunity to capture friend and foe, including his own father. She sailed on 7 April 1544, evading capture. The
Mary Willoughby,
Lyon,
Andrew, and three French-built ships menaced the quay of Bridlington on 19 September 1544. In October 1546, Florence Corntoun spent £305 repairing the
Lion. Captain William Forstar was compensated with £540 for his expenses during 1544 fighting the war of
Rough Wooing; £483 for repairs in March 1545; £708 for a voyage to the isles in June 1545; and £346 for recent works in dry-dock described as;to Williame Forstar quhilk he debursit upoun the calfating, dok casting, putting in of the under lute of the said Lyoun, and outred of hir to the Raid (attack)." From October 1546, with other Scottish warships she was disrupting the English wine trade by blockading
Bordeaux and
La Rochelle. In March 1547, she took a broadside from
Andrew Dudley's
Pansy off Dover which burst her
orlop. She was lost off
Harwich or
Yarmouth during the salvage operation.
Odet de Selve, the French ambassador in London gained a detailed account from Nicolas d'Arfeville, a French painter and cartographer. Dudley was 30 miles from Yarmouth when he saw
Great Lion, with
Lioness,
Mary Gallant and another unnamed Scottish ship on Tuesday 7 March 1547.
Great Lion was overwhelmed by superior firepower, and the others surrendered, excepting the unnamed ship. The badly damaged
Lion was lost while being towed to Yarmouth when she grounded on a sandbank. Those on board were brought as prisoners to the
Tower of London, and at least one notable passenger was killed in the firefight.
Mary, Queen of Scots sued for the release of one passenger, the diplomat Thomas Erskine
Commendator of Dryburgh.
Lioness; during the Scottish lifetime of
Great Lion there appears to have been another ship called
Lion in the Scots navy. This was probably
Lioness, described by de Selve as of similar size to
Mary Gallant, between 100 and 300 tons. ==The private
Lion of Leith and privateer==