But Arran allowed the Parliament of Scotland to revoke an agreement made at Greenwich prompting Henry to declare war in December 1543.

These nobles were in touch with Henry VIII via Lennox's secretary Thomas Bishop and Angus's chaplain, Master John Penven.

[1] Henry VIII's Privy Council issued his instructions for the invasion force on 10 April 1544, and they were to:Put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh, so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God lightened upon [them] for their falsehood and disloyalty.

He had considered establishing an English garrison at Leith, within walls made of timber topped with turf, and fortifying Inchkeith but the Privy Council vetoed this plan.

Beaton's would-be kidnappers included James Kirkcaldy of Grange, Norman Leslie Master of Rothes, and John Charteris who offered to attempt to capture the Cardinal as he travelled in Fife.

[6] Any schemes more elaborate than a punitive raid on Edinburgh were shelved as Henry committed resources to the siege of Boulogne in France already planned for the summer.

Hertford and the treasure-ship (Ralph Sadler was treasurer) would follow with his ensign on the main-top mast of the Rose Lion with two night lights on the shrouds.

The Earl of Shrewsbury, captain of the rear-ward would fly the ensign on his mizzen mast, with a cresset light in the poop deck at night.

[12] The ships were, for the vanguard or forward; the Pauncy, Minion, Swallow, Gabian of Ipswich, John Evangelist, Galley Subtle, with the barque of Calais.

[15] An account of the episode was published later in 1544 in London as; The Late Expedition in Scotland made by the King's highness' army under the conduct of the Right Honourable the Earl of Hertford in 1544.

[16] A later account by Mary's secretary Claude Nau records the fleet burning St Mynettes on the north side of the Forth and taking fishing boats for landing-craft.

Hertford's own dispatch describes this as a half-hour fight, "right sharply handled on both parts", with Peter Meutas's hagbuters giving good service.

Hertford summoned Eure and the border horsemen with a brief note mentioning the lack of resistance, signed from the field on the west of Leith.

[25] Cardinal Beaton left the area on Monday, the date recorded in his accounts for hiring a guide between Corstorphine and Stirling, (a journey then more usually made by boat).

[26] According to Eustace Chapuys, on the same day the Cardinal's enemy Alexander Crichton of Brunstane tried to meet Hertford at Leith, but an English guard shot him with an arrow in the leg.

[28] William Stourton (later commander of the Newhaven fort at Ambleteuse) was left in charge of Leith on 6 May with 1,500 men while the main force approached Edinburgh itself.

The Scots could not retaliate due to heavy small arms fire and archery, during which Morris placed a cannon close to the gate.

Lord Hertford and his companions wrote that they watched Edinburgh burn from a hill beside the town and could hear "women and poor miserable creatures" crying out and blaming the Cardinal.

Hamilton's representatives also bought wine and empty barrels from James Rynd's wife on 8 May, mentioning that timber could be used the reinforce the castle walls.

Hertford, as the King's Lieutenant, knighted fifty-eight of his captains and his servant Thomas Fisher distributed three pounds and fifteen shillings amongst the men.

[37] Although Hertford's army entered the town with little resistance, the defenders of the castle led by the Captain, James Hamilton of Stenhouse kept up an artillery barrage, firing down the line of the Royal Mile.

The Clerk of the King's Works, Richard Lee, who was Captain of the Pioneers on this expedition and the Surveyor of Calais, William Burgate, declared the castle impregnable.

[38] One of the Castle gunners was Andrew Mansioun, a French carver who had made fittings for the Unicorn, the yacht of James V and furniture for the royal palaces.

[40] Repairs were made in July 1544, when two of the gunners, Tibault Roqueneau and Piers Schouffene (French or Flemish, originally employed at Dunbar Castle) were working to improve the gun emplacements with gabions.

Longleat House has a manuscript copy of a translation of Hector Boece's Chronicle of Scotland, taken by John Thynne, Hertford's steward, from Holyroodhouse on Wednesday 7 May 1544.

[50] News spread quickly throughout Europe, though Nicholas Wotton at Speyer had to show the importance of Edinburgh as the capital of Scotland using the chronicles of Hector Boece and John Mair.

"[55] After the English army left Scotland, Arran's regency was challenged at a council meeting in Stirling on 29 May 1544, and for a time Mary of Guise was acknowledged as Regent by her allies.

Tenure of the Edinburgh lands was complex with numbers of owners claiming incomes from sub-divided buildings, with some portions 'mortified' to the chaplains of altars.

At the end of the war, in September 1551 and February 1552 Parliament laid down guidelines for sharing the burden of costs for re-building the burnt lands and tenements "brint be the auld inimies of Ingland.

A book of 'conduct money' notes where the captains came from, e.g., Hugh Chomley from Cholmondeley, Cheshire with 100 men, paid for travelling 130 miles to Edinburgh and back, William Norris from Liverpool, John Markham from Cottham near Retford, Nottinghamshire.