sh invaders,
came by sea, took Leith, burned Edinburgh, and ravaged the Lothians.
Lennox attempted to give up Dumbarton to the English, but his treachery
was discovered and he fled to England, where he married Margaret, the
daughter of Angus and niece of Henry VIII, by whom he became, in 1545,
the father of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, who thus stood within the
possibility of succession, in his own right, to both kingdoms. Angus and
his brother, Sir George Douglas, seized the opportunity given them by
the misery caused by the English atrocities to make a move against Arran
and Beaton, and seized the person of the queen-mother. But their success
was brought to an end by the meeting of a Parliament, summoned by Arran,
in December, 1544, and the Douglases were reconciled and restored to
their estates, deeming this the most profitable step for themselves.
Their breach with Henry was widened by the events of the next two
months. A body of Englishmen, under Sir Ralph Eure, defeated Arran at
Melrose, and desecrated the abbey, the sepulchre of the Douglas family.
In revenge, Angus, along with Arran, fell upon the English at Ancrum
Moor in Roxburghshire, and inflicted on them a total defeat. This was
followed by a second invasion of Hertford (this time by land). He
ravaged the borders in merciless fashion. A counter-invasion by an army
of Scots and French auxiliaries had proved futile owing to the
incompetence or the treachery of Angus, who almost immediately returned
to the English side. About the same time a descendant of the Lord of the
Isles whom James IV had crushed made an agreement with Henry, but was of
little use to his cause. Beaton, after some successful fighting on the
borders, in the end of 1545, went to St. Andrews in the beginning of
1546. On the 1st March, George Wishart, who had been condemned on a
charge of heresy, was hanged, and his body was burned at the stake. On
May 29th the more fierce section of the Protestant party took their
revenge by murdering the great cardinal in cold blood. We are not here
concerned with Beaton's private character or with his treatment of
heretics. His public actions, as far as foreign relations are concerned,
are marked by a consistent patriotic aim. He represented the long line
of Scottish churchmen who had striven to maintain the integrity of the
kingdom and the alliance with France. He had shown great ability and
tact, and in politics he had been much more honest than his oppone