May 16 1560 sometime in May. The Siege of Leith, the entrance and port for Edinburgh, and loss of Alexander Lockhart, [ancestor of Miller, Simmons and Choate] brother of the Laird of Bar, saw the slaughter continue as defeat stared in the eyes of the French. “School of War” by Elizabethan writers. “War of the Insignia” by the French.

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This is the turning point in British history. Not only is it the end of the Auld Alliance with France and the completion of the Reformation in Scotland. This is the beginning of the United Kingdom.

The siege went on day after bloody day. Eventually the French troops were reduced to eating horsemeat. Confirmation of this was found in the last century with the discovery of a well at the foot of what is now Easter Road with the discovery of a well full of horse’s heads. By May 7^th all French meat was eaten.

The town itself was slowly being reduced to rubble. The East end of South Leith Church was destroyed and the Preceptory of St Anthony was a ruin as it’s tower was used to mount French cannon in order to gain altitude and to make the cannonballs go further. Which would have caused a serious problem but for the English and Scots heavy Bombardment which brought the tower down. What was to become the Foot of Leith Walk, Great Junction Street, The Sheriff Brae and Coal become a killing ground, and proof lies beneath our feet as to this day human remains, cannonballs, armour and the paraphernalia of war are dug up from time to time. Especially at what is now Leith Hospital.

Yet for all their privations with true French style, vowing never to surrender while a horse was left. The Cook of the Marshall Strozzi still produced twelve dishes a day but was eventually reduced to a quarter of a carrion horse, dressed with a few weeds from the town wall.

Map of 1902 showing Leith and Easter Road running south to north from Edinburgh mentioned in the description of the siege of 1560. The hatched railroad tracks, parallel to Easter Road, were built 3 centuries after the siege.

1568 Mary flees to England – 1568. Fearing for her life Mary crosses the Solway Firth to England to seek refuge from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England. Video: Timewatch: The Fateful Century. 1987.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/the_reformation/mary_flees_to_england/ (not a very well thought out plan, as Mary had claimed Elizabeth’s crown by carrying the English arms in Mary’s heraldry.)

After spending the night at Dundrennan Abbey, she crossed the Solway Firth into England by fishing boat on 16 May. She landed at Workington in Cumberland in the north of England and stayed overnight at Workington Hall. Wikipedia.

Map showing Workington where abdicated Queen Mary Stuart landed in England never to leave alive. The Solway Firth and River Dee are also marked with Kirkcudbright and Dalbeattie.

1643 Battle of Stratton, Cornwall

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1648 11 July Siege of Pembroke, Wales

Wikipedia.org

1719 – Island of Lewis receives 2 frigates from ST. Sebastian for Chevalier de St. George. the Marquis of Tullibardine, the Earl Marischal, and the Earl of Seaforth. (TG 73-430)

1763 James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, met Johnson for the first time. The pair became friends almost immediately. Johnson eventually nicknamed him “Bozzy”. The first conversation between Johnson and Boswell is quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson as follows: [Boswell:] “Mr. Johnson, I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it.”
[Johnson:] “That, Sir, I find, is what a very great many of your countrymen cannot help.

Auchinleck Crest: An ear of rye Proper Motto: PRETIOSUM QUOD UTILE [“What is useful is valuable”]

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1792 Lady Byron, Anne Isabella Noel Byron, born, 11^th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron (17 May 1792 – 16 May 1860) was the wife of the poet Lord Byron, [George Gordon Byron, 6^th Baron Byron] and mother of Ada Lovelace, the patron and co-worker of mathematician Charles Babbage. Wikipedia   Gordon

Anne Isabella Milbanke in 1812 by Charles Hayter.

1811 The Battle of Albuera, Spain, south-east of Badajoz. 3rd Dragoon Guards, from 1922 3^rd Carabiniers and now the Royal Scots Dragoons Guards. Portuguese Division: commanded by Major General Hamilton
1st Brigade: Tytler’s Britannica.

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commanded by Brigadier General Archibald Campbell.

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2nd Division: commanded by Major General Stewart.

French Chasseurs à Cheval : Battle of Albuera

1840 by mid-May, Mulliner and Wright had baptized eighty converts, and a branch was formed in Paisley by Church Apostle Orson Pratt. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

1843 Ramus, Illinois. Joseph Smith the Prophet, (clan Mack of Inverness, Malcolm King of Scots). In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase. Doctrine and Covenants 131

1854 The Siege of Sevastopol, Begins in September. Continues to 1855 The Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean War, Black Sea, ends in September. Scots Fusilier Guards, now the Scots Guards. 1^st Royal Regiment: now the Royal Scots. 42^nd Highlanders, The Black Watch. 6^th Dragoon Guards: later the 6^th Carabineers and now the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Royal Scots Greys: now the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. 71^st Highland Light Infantry, now the Royal Highland Fusiliers. 72^nd Highlanders: later the Seaforth Highlands, then the Queen’s Own Highlanders and now the Highlanders. 79^th Highlanders, the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders: later the Queen’s Own Highlanders and now the Highlanders. 90^th Regiment: later the Scottish Rifles; disbanded in 1966. 93^rd Regiment: now the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Colin 2^nd  Lord Campbell 1453, 1^st Earl Argyll 1457, Lord Justiciary of  Scotland on South of Forth 1460, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland 1483 (1433-1493). http://www.britishbattles.com/crimean-war/sevastopol.htm

British soldiers, wounded in the Crimea, arrive at Florence Nightingale’s hospital in Scutari. On 16th May 1855 General Canrobert resigned the command of the French Army and was replaced by General Pélissier.

1900 The Siege of Mafeking. The Boer War. 14^th October 1899 to 16^th May 1900. Mafeking lies on the railway north to Rhodesia in the Northern tip of Cape Colony in South Africa near to the Bechuanaland border. Colonel Robert Baden-Powell commander. Highland regiments in Natal devised aprons to conceal coloured kilts and sporrans. Baden-Powell went on to establish the world wide Boy Scout Movement, based on the youth corps he set up in Mafeking during the siege. Among besieged in Mafeking was Lady Sarah Wilson, aunt of Winston Churchill, in South Africa with her army officer husband. Lady Sarah is said to have been conducting spying activities against the Boers until arrested by General Snyman and exchanged for General Viljoen, held prisoner by Baden-Powell. For the rest of the siege Lady Sarah’s bunker was the social focus of the besieged town and she herself an active member of the garrison.

Lady Sarah Wilson during the Siege of Mafeking during the Second Boer War.

Lady Sarah Isabella Augusta Wilson (1865-1929), was the youngest daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7^th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane, aunt of Winston Spencer Churchill. Marlborough was born at Garboldisham Hall, Norfolk, the eldest son of George Spencer-Churchill, 6^th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Jane Stewart, daughter of Admiral George Stewart, 8^th Earl of Galloway. (Stewart, Cochrane, Forbes, Gordon, Lockhart, Kennedy, and Montgomery clans)

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2010 Scrooge McDuck’s Graduation Speech to Huey, Dewey, and Louie  (fictional clan McDuck) . ‘’First, avoid unsustainable debt, buy a used car, lower your car insurance. have a written budget. look up cheaper ways to grocery shop. watch TV on the cheap. have adequate life insurance. Never stop learning. make time for what ye love.”

2015 St. Andrews Society of the Eastern Shore is a social and benevolent organization which offers educational and charitable assistance to Scottish men and women, their descendants, and their widows or widowers.   The Scottish Games Association of Delaware, Inc.
Will Present the 55^th Annual Colonial Highland Gathering at Fair Hill Race Track, Fair Hill, Maryland

2016 Utah is ranked 2^nd highest (4.6% of the state population) among the 50 United States with the top percentages of Scottish residents (Wikipedia 26 March 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Americans#Scottish_Americans_by_state ).   How are the Scots in Utah doing?

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