Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GLASGOW
sieged the palace or castle with the aid of cannon.
After the siege had lasted for ten L days, the garrison
agreed to surrender on condition of receiving quarter ;
but no sooner had they laid down their arms than all
were massacred, with the exception of two only who es-
caped. Lennox determined to revenge this treachery
and their loss by striking a desperate blow, and, having
associated with himself the Earl of Glencairn, at first
determined to march into Clydesdale, and there desolate
the lands of the Hamiltons by fire and sword. The
Regent, however, was timeously apprised of the scheme,
and resolved to counteract it by taking possession of
Glasgow. Glencairn was, however, beforehand with
him, and when Arran approached, the other had his
forces already drawn out, amounting to S00 men, partly
composed of his own vassals, and partly of the citizens
of Glasgow. The armies met at the ' Butts, ' the place
where the ' weaponshaw ' exercises were held, and now
the site of the old infantry barracks. The onset of
Glencairn was so furious that he beat back the first rank
upon the second and captured the Regent's cannon, but,
in the heat of the battle, while victory yet wavered,
Robert Boyd, of the Kilmarnock family, suddenly
arrived with a small party of horse and turned the
scale in Hamilton's favour, for Glencairn's men, think-
ing that a new army had come against them, fled
with great precipitation. Considering the comparatively
Email numbers engaged on both sides, the conflict must
have beea unusually sanguinary, for it is recorded that
300 men were slain or wounded on both sides, one of
Glencairn's sons being among the slain. ' The Regent
immediately entered the city, and in revenge for the
part the citizens had acted, gave the place up to plunder ;
and so completely was it harried that the very doors
and windows of many dwelling-houses were carried away,
in fact they only spared the city in so far as they did
not commit it to the flames.'
Glasgow is also closely connected with the decisive
event of the times — the Battle of Langside, 13 May
1568 — which, though it 'lasted but for three-fourths
of an hour,' and was, from 'the number engaged and
the nature of the contest,' more of the character of a
skirmish than anything else, was yet, from the con-
ditions under which it was fought, of a most decisive
character, settling the fate of Scotland, affecting the
future of England, and exerting an influence all over
Europe. The Regent Murray was holding a court of
Glasgow in the city when the startling intelligence
reached him of the Queen's escape from Lochleven and
of the assembling of her friends at Hamilton. 'The
news whereof being brought to Glasgow (which is only
8 miles distant), it was scarce at first believed ; but
within two hours or less, being assured, a strong altera-
tion might have been observed in the minds of those
who were attending. The reports of the Queen's forces
made divers slide away ; others sent quietly to beg
pardon for what thej' had done, resolving not to enter
in the cause farther, but to govern themselves as the
event should lead and direct them ; and there were not
a few who made open desertion, and not of the meaner
sort, amongst whom my Lord Boyd was specially noted,
and in the mouths of all men ; for that oeing very in-
ward with the Regent, and admitted to his most secret
counsels, when he saw matters like to turn he withdrew
himself and went to the Queen.' Though Murray was
surprised by the rapid and unexpected course of events,
which had not only rescued Mary from a prison but
placed her at the head of an army, he was not dis-
mayed ; and having gained a breathing time by listen-
ing . to overtures of accommodation from the Queen's
party, he in the meantime sent word to his own friends
and those of the young King, and was joined by the
Earls of Glencairn, Montrose, Mar, and Monteith, the
Lords Semple, Home, and Lindsay, by Kirkaldy of
Grange, a soldier of great ability and skill, and many
oilier gentlemen, in addition to a large body of the
ci;izens of Glasgow, which placed him at the head of an
army of upwards of 4000 men. With this force he
encamped on the Burgh Muir (which extended along
tiG4
GLASGOW
the E from the Green by Borrowfield towards the cathe-
dral), and there awaited the approach of the Queen's ,
forces, as it was believed that her followers intended to
place her Majesty in safety in the strong fortress of
Dumbarton, which was then held by Lord Fleming.
This was her own desire, as, once there, she hoped ' to
regain by degrees her influence over her nobility and
her people.' Murray was thus in a favourable position
for intercepting the Queen's troops had they proceeded
towards Dumbarton by the N bank of the Clyde ; but
news came that the royalists were marching W by the
S bank of the river, intending to cross at Renfrew,
and so reach the castle. Both sides were keenly
alive to the importance of occupying Langside Hill,
an eminence 1J mile S of Glasgow, and directly on
the line of Mary's march from Rutherglen ; but while
Murray promptly moved forward, his cavalry being
sent across the Clyde by a ford (each horseman with
a foot soldier behind him), and his infantry following
by the bridge, the Queen's forces were delayed by the
illness of their chief commander, the Earl of Argyll ;
and when, therefore, they reached Langside, they found
it already occupied by the Regent's cavalry and the
hagbutters they had carried with them, who, disposed
among the houses and along the hedges, poured a heavy
fire into the Queen's troops as they advanced. The
vanguard, however, confident in their numbers, pressed
on, but were exhausted by the time they reached the
top of the hill, and so but little fit to cope with Murray's
first line which there awaited them, and which was com-
posed of excellent pikemen. Notwithstanding this, the
fighting was severe, 'and Sir James Melvil [of Halhill,
who was present, and from whose account of the battle
all subsequent accounts have been derived] describes
the long pikes as so closely crossed and interlaced, that
when the soldiers behind discharged their pistols, and
threw them or the staves of their shattered weapons in
the faces of their enemies, they never reached the ground,
but remained lying on the spears.' The battle was
wavering, and Murray's right wing beginning to give
way, when Kirkald}' at the critical moment brought up
the reserves, and such was the impetuosity of the new
attack that the Queen's forces gave way, and the flight
immediately became general. Three hundred of her
followers perished, while the Regent's loss is set down
as one man. On seeing the rout of her army, Mary,
who had been watching the conflict from a hill near
Cathcart House, about 1J mile in the rear, fled in such
a state of terror that she never stopped till she reached
Sanquhar, 60 miles from the field of battle, thence going
on to Teeregles, and thence crossing over to England.
The Regent 'returned in great pomp to the city,
where, after going to church and thanking Almighty
God in a solemn manner for the victory, he was enter-
tained by the magistrates and a great many of the town
council very splendidly, suitable to his quality, at
which time the Regent expressed himself very affec-
tionately towards the city and citizens of Glasgow ; and
for their kind offices and assistance done to him and his
army, he promised to grant to the magistrates or any
incorporation in the city any favour they should rea-
sonably demand.' Several requests were in consequence
made and granted to the incorporations. The deacon
of the incorporation of bakers was at the time Matthew
Fauside, and he, being ' a very judicious and projecting
man, who had an extraordinary concern for the good
and advancement of the incorporations,' took occasion
to say that, as the mills at Partick, which were formerly
the property of the archbishop, now belonged to the
crown, and the tacksman exacted such exorbitant mul-
tures that it raised the price of bread to the community,
a grant of these mills to the corporation would be re-
garded as a public benefit ; and, moreover, the bakers,
were not altogether undeserving of favour in another
respect, as they had liberally supplied the army with
bread while it remained in the neighbourhood of Glas-
gow. Fauside's well-timed address had the desired
effect, and the five flour-mills at Partick, on the banks
of the Kelvin, are possessed by the incorporation of