chievements and consisting of vessels few
indeed, but of exceptional size and splendour, as great for their time
as the great Italian ironclads are for this, and like them springing
from something of the bravado as well as for the real uses of a rapidly
growing power. And there had been peace, save for that little passage of
arms on account of Perkin Warbeck, throughout all the reign of
James--peace to which the warlike Scots seem to have accustomed
themselves very pleasantly, notwithstanding that on the one side of the
Border as on the other there was nothing so popular as war between the
neighbour nations; but the exploits of Sir Andrew Wood with his _Yellow
Carvel_, and the _Great Michael_ lying there proudly on the Firth, ready
to sweep the seas, afforded compensation for the postponement of other
struggles.

It was in these circumstances that the negotiations for James's marriage
with the little Margaret, Princess Royal of England, and in every way,
as it turned out, a true Tudor, though then but an undeveloped child,
took place. The gallant young King, then seven or eight and twenty, in
the plenitude of his manhood, was not anxious for the bride of ten
persistently offered to him by her royal father; and the negotiations
lagged, and seemed to have gone on _a plusieurs reprises_ for several
years. But at length by the persistent efforts of Henry VII, who saw all
the advantages of the union, and no doubt also of councillors on the
Scots side, who felt that the continued prosperity of the country was
best secured by peace, it was brought about in 1504, when James must
have been just over thirty and Margaret was twelve--a very childish
bride, but probably precocious, and not too simple or ignorant, as
belonged to her violent Tudor blood. He "was married with her
solemnedlie by the advice of the nobilitie of England and Scotland, and
gatt great summes of money with her: and promise of peace and unity made
and ordained to stand between the two realms," says Pitscottie. The
great sums, however, seem problematical, as the dower of Margaret was
not a very large one, and the sacrifices made for her were
considerable--the town of Berwick being given up to England as one
preliminary step. The event, however, was one of incalculable importance
to both nations, securing as it did the eventual consolidation in one of
the realm of Great Britain, though nobody as yet foresaw that great
consequence that might follow. Along with the