37th arthouse newsletter

8/11/2019 37th Arthouse Newsletter

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WALLACES ARTHOUSE SCOTLAND

37th ARTHOUSE NEWSLETTER 31ST JULY 2013THE GREAT MICHAEL LAUNCHED AT NEWHAVEN 12TH OCTOBER 1511

I am very grateful to Professor Steve Murdoch, History Department, University of St Andrews.Scotland who has generously advised me of sources for information on The Scottish Maritimepast. It is not so easy for a curious dumpling like me to know where to begin !!As a result of Steves best advises I also encountered Norman Mac Dougalls book on JamesIV which is so enjoyable to read.

Professor Murdochs own researches are fascinating in his book The Terror of the Seas -Scottish Maritime Warfare 1513 - 1713. Just to hold it in my hands made me feel empowered !


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OK, Well,here we go - Christopher Columbus had his three ships - Santa Maria, Nina and thePinta as we learned in tedious history lessons when I was a boy.

Henry VIII had his Mary Rose. The Tudor ship that captured the world's imagination when shewas raised from the seabed in 1982 is the only sixteenth century warship on display anywherein the world and the brand new Museum built around her reunites her with many of her 19,000artefacts and crew.- sorry, no photos of the crew !!!

But we in Scotland had a BIGGERship called the MICHAEL- it was SO big that it was calledThe GREAT MICHAEL!! It was about twice the size of Henrys ship as we all learned proudly.In fact Scotland had three other sizable vessels - the Margaret (named after James IVs queen -

(sister to Henry VIII ), The Treasurer and The James.Where I live - Leith - had been an important harbour for ship building but when James IVdecided to build The Michael he built another port which had deeper water. That place is just acouple of miles along from Leith and was called The Novus Portus - or New Harbour - orNewhaven. It still exists today and has virtually the same charming harbour where one can takea sail around the local area.- i.e. the Forth Bridges and the islands of Inchcolm and Inchkeith.Below is an 18th century engraving of Newhaven but it has barely altered even today !


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While we know the names of a large number of Scottish ships belonging to James IV.stime, we cannot always distinguish the vessels of the king from those of other owners.A recent great writer of Scottish history, however, estimates that the navy of James atits best consisted of sixteen large ships and ten small ones. Such a large fleet of royalvessels shows us that, even although the king sometimes purchased ships fromabroad, his own dockyards must have been unusually busy.In fact they were alsobuilding ships for other kingdoms such was their high reputation for craftsmanship andquality ! The Margaret was perhaps the largest Scottish vessel (prior to The Michael);

but James was ambitious to possess ships still larger. From the difficulties encounteredby the ingenious Jacques Terrell, James master wright and chief naval designer, infloating the Margaret over the entrance of her dockyard at the Shore it was evidentthere was not sufficient depth of water to permit of the construction of larger vessels atLeith. But by men like James IV., Sir Andrew Wood, and the Bartons, this difficulty wassoon overcome. Little more than a mile farther west the depth of water at high tideswas much greater than at Leith, and there the king resolved to construct newdockyards for the building of larger ships, while he still retained those at Leith forconstructing vessels of normal size. This resolution had no sooner been arrived at thanwork was begun, and even before the Margaret was ready for sea, Newhaven was inprocess of formation.

The land on the west side of the Water of Leith, however, did not belong to the king. Itwas the property of the abbot and canons of Holyrood, and would require to bepurchased from them before any new harbour could be constructed there; but the royalships and shipyards had already cost so much that Sir Robert Barton, the cleverkeeper of the kings purse, had little money wherewith to indulge in any newexpenditure. But difficulties only appeared to be at once overcome; for the king gavethe abbot and canons a portion of his rich lands in and around Linlithgow for someacres of the grassy lands so long known as the Links of North Leith, of which all thatremains to-day is the Free Fishermens Park adjacent to the Whale Brae.In 1504 treesto the number of one hundred and sixty-three were purchased for the construction ofthe new village. The labourers employed in this work were lodged in a great pavilionbrought from Edinburgh Castle and erected on the grassy links until houses were built.But housing was pushed on rapidly, and Newhaven became quite a large village andthe seat of a considerable population, of whom many were French, some Flemings,and others Dutch. Mingled with these were a few Spaniards, Danes, and Portuguese.

As James, like his mother before him, was devoted to the Church, he early madeprovision for the spiritual welfare of his many shipwrights and other workmen atNewhaven. We find that the building of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin and St. Jameswas going on in 1505, and in little more than a year afterwards we see it open forservice and the king presenting it with a silver chalice or communion cup. The onlyremains of this chapel to be found in Newhaven to-day are the west gable of the navewhich stands on the right as you go down the Westmost Close, and its little Gods-Acrewhich forms a green enclosure adjacent in Main Street. Our ancestors in these oldtimes had a happy gift of putting much poetry into their place-names, and so, from thefact of their chapel being dedicated to the Virgin, Newhaven was commonly known bythe highly poetic name of Our Ladys Port of Grace.


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As the building of a fleet was an undertaking very dear to Jamess heart, we find him showingthe greatest interest in the construction of the New Haven by frequent visits to the works fromhis royal palaces at Holyrood and Linlithgow, and by encouraging the workmen with gifts of theinevitable "drink-silver," as in 1504, when he sent fourteen shillings by Sir Robert Barton to "themarinaris that settis up the bulwerk of the New Haven." Three years later, in 1507, the workswere still being extended, for in that year we find another bulwark erected and a new dockbeing excavated.No sooner was the first dock ready than shipbuilding began, and preparationswere made for the construction of a warship superior to any yet afloat. We find timber andother material for the "great schip," afterwards known to fame as the Great Michael, beingbrought from many quarters and stored in the Kings Wark on the Shore of Leith and atNewhaven. The Kings Wark is still placed in Leith today and is a goodish eating bar space.

Farther along The Shore is an entry called Timber Bush - a corruption of Timber Bourse - theFrench word for the Exchange. Here was a store of woods for the ship building and barrelmaking trades. aka whisky and wine containers.

This great ship seems to have been laid on the stocks about 1507, and her construction wascarried out under the superintendence of Sir Andrew Wood, perhaps the greatest of Jamessmany sea captains. In a poem addressed to the king himself by William Dunbar, the famousScots poet of that time, we have a brief but graphic word-picture of the stir and bustle thatreigned in the naval yards of Leith and Newhaven at this perioda word-picture undoubtedlysuggested by what he had so often seen at these places with his own eyes. In this poemDunbar talks of the".....................carpentaris/,Beildaris of barkis and ballingaris,/Masounis lyand upon the land/

And schipwrichtis hewand upone the strand."

To Lindsay of Pitscottie, in Fife, perhaps the most picturesque and attractive writer of Scotshistory, we owe much interesting information about the building of the Great Michael. Althoughdoubt has been thrown on many of the details of his graphic narrative, yet we must rememberthat Pitscottie was near neighbour to the Woods of Largo, and is therefore likely to have hadauthentic information about Sir Andrew and the great ship of which he was commander.Pitscottie, after the manner of the old balladists, tells us that the Great Michael was "a year anda day" in building; but that is only his picturesque Scots way of saying that she took a long timeto build, and we know from other sources that she must have been on the stocks for four yearsat least.During this long period James took the deepest interest in every detail of her

construction, and was therefore a frequent visitor to Newhaven, where his kindly considerationand attractive manner, as in Leith, soon won for him the devoted and affectionate loyalty of thewhole population. No accident to any of the workmen and no case of sickness among thevillagers ever failed to call forth his kindly sympathy and ready help. We find him givingfourteen shillings to "ane pure wyff becaus hir husband brak his leg at the kings werk and hadnathing to amend it with." One of his French shipwrights died and was buried in the littlechurchyard of St. Marys Chapel. The king not only paid all the expenses of the illness andburial, but also sent the widow back to her native Rouen to which she longed to return. Eventhe poor charwoman who kept the court that led to the works is not forgotten when she "isfallen seik." The kings courteous and kindly bearing encouraged even the humblest of hissubjects to approach him with freedom.


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Margaret Tudor Celebration of Marriage James IV

Margaret Tudorwas the daughter of Henry VII and sister of Henry VIII. She was only 12 yearsold when she was brought to Scotland from the English Court. James IV was 28 years old !!!!.Margaret's marriage to James IV foreshadowed the Union of the Crowns - their great-grandson,King James VI of Scotland, the child of Mary, Queen of Scots and Darnley, became King ofEngland and Ireland on the death of Margaret's fraternal niece, Elizabeth I of England.The marriage was completed by proxy on 25 January 1503 at Richmond Palace. Patrick, Earlof Bothwell, was proxy for the Scottish King and wore a gown of cloth-of-gold at the ceremonyin the Queen's great chamber. He was accompanied by the Archbishop of Glasgow andAndrew Forman, Postulate of Moray. The herald, John Young, reported that "right notable

jousts" followed the ceremony. Prizes were awarded the next morning and the tournamentcontinued another day. Margaret was now regarded as Queen of Scots. It has been noted bysome historians that her brother Henry, then a child, heir to the throne and Duke of York, threwa tantrum when he realised his sister, as a foreign queen, now held higher precedence in courtthan he.James IV was 15 when his father was assassinated. He had been an unwilling participant in theforces that had brought down his father, and was said to have worn an iron belt around hiswaist in penance. James was a Renaissance King who spoke several languages includingGaelic, English and French and was keen on arts and learning. Aberdeen University wasfounded, the printing press came to Scotland and education was made compulsory for baronsand wealthy landowners. He spent lavishly on the court and built new halls in Edinburgh andStirling castles. Edinburgh became the main burgh and centre of government and justice.He successfully settled major feuds between his nobles and between the Highland clans, andended the hold of the MacDonalds who had semi-independently ruled the Western Isles. Hesupported the Yorkist pretender Perkin Warbeck which provoked a military response from hisbrother in law, Henry VIII of England. However this was patched up in a truce of perpetualpeace in 1502. Sadly, the peace was not too perpetualBy 1513 Henry VIII was on the throne of England and fighting in France. Encouraged by LouisXII of France under the Auld Alliance James invaded England but the Scots were massacredby the English forces under the Earl of Surrey at the Battle of Flodden Field in Northumberlandon 9 September 1513. James was killed and his body was taken to London where its fate is

uncertain. There is a lovely haunting song The Floors o the Forest are aw wede away. It isreported that someone of every Scots family and from every part of Scotland was lost.


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Living in Leith it is an easily discovered fact that during the late 15th century, English ships werefrequent attackers into Leith, capturing merchant shipping as they wished. Because of this,James decided to build up his navy. He, with his alliance to France, was able to use Frenchsavvy in the design and construction of his ships. This led to James constructing one of thebiggest warships ever and eventually, one of the important navies in Europe. James navyconsisted of 38 ships of which 15 were certainly warships.As I have written before the largest of these was The Michael at 1000 tons.It was so vast the it

was often referred to as The Gret Schip !Work began in 1506 and there are many details to be found in the Treasurers Accounts such asthe costs of building and outfitting. The Michael was launched in 1511 and fitted and completedby 1512

It was said at the time that all the woods of Fife were used to build her. This was not entirelytrue as much of the wood came from other parts of Scotland,as well as France and The Balticcountries.Supposedly, there were many cargo loads of timber imported from Norway.

The four-masted Michael was home to 1000 marines, 300 sailors and 120 gunners when onduty.She is believed to have had Mons Meg (previously used at Threave Castle and now atEdinburgh Castle) amongst her guns, making her the warship with the largest calibre (22inches) gun ever, at that time.

The chronicler, Lindsay of Pitscottie gives the dimensions as 240 feet long and 35 feet in beam.The Michael was supposed to have been built with oak walls 10 feet thick. She displaced about1,000 tons, had four masts, carried 24 guns (purchased from Flanders) on the broadside, 1Basilisk forward and 2 aft then 30 smaller guns (later increased to 36 main guns.

Henry VIII was so jealous that he ordered the building of the 1,000 ton Henri Grace a Dieu -

later known as The Great Harry. The Michael was named after The Archangel Michael as shewas built with the intention of leading a crusade against the Ottoman Empire to reclaimPalestine for Christendom. The plans were changed for the commitments of The Auld Alliancewith France which required Scotland to go to war with England to divert England from her warwith Louis XII. around this time, all citizens of France were citizens of Scotland and vice versa.

There are several ideas as to what became of the Michael. After Flodden and the death ofJames, she was sold at a minimum price to France. It is said that she had to be docked inHonfleur as she was too big for Dieppe but it seems now accepted that she was allowed to rot inBrest. However all was not so sad for her memory as it is possible that she was part of theFrench fleet who attacked England that led to the sinking of the Mary Rose at the Battle of the

Solent on 19th Januar 1545.

WALLACES ARTHOUSE SCOTLAND 41/4 Constitution Street, Edinburgh, EH6 7BG, Scotland, UK email [email protected] tel - 0044 131 538 3320 - cell 0044 07941 343 714. www.wallacesarthousescotland.com
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