Pinkie Battlefield Walk

The battle of Pinkie took place on Saturday, 10^th September, 1547. At this point in military history, handheld firearms were just coming into widespread use, and Pinkie was one of very few battles in which bows and arrows and firearms were both used. It is also the oldest of UK battlefields which has remained undeveloped, and so is very rewarding to visit. The political background is this:

King James V of Scotland died in 1542, just six days after his heir, Mary, was born. King Henry VIII of England saw this as an opportunity to unite the two kingdoms, by arranging a marriage between Mary and his own young son, Edward, who would succeed him as Edward VI. Diplomacy failed to bring this about, and Henry had already begun to back it up with force (the ‘Rough Wooing’) by the time he died, early in 1547. The Duke of Somerset, as Lord Protector, intended to complete the project by mounting an invasion with forces large enough to take and hold a substantial extent of territory in Scotland. The Scottish defence was organised by the Regent, the Earl of Arran.

 Start your walk from the so-called ‘Roman’ Bridge, 100 metres upstream (south) from the main bridge that carries the A1 over the River Esk in the middle of Musselburgh. Perhaps there was a bridge and ford here in Roman times, 2000 years ago, but the oldest parts of this structure are ‘only’ 700 years old. Until the A1 bridge – called the ‘Rennie’ bridge, after the engineer who designed it – was built, early in the 19th century, the Roman bridge was the only way of crossing the river between here and Dalkeith, and this was the main route from Edinburgh to England. The bridge has been altered and rebuilt many times – at the time of the battle, it had only two spans; the steps at each end replaced much longer ramp structures in the 19th century, when the Rennie bridge provided a better way for wheeled vehicles to cross.

The Esk was the last geographical obstacle that an invading army would have to overcome on its way to attack Edinburgh, and the Scottish army had set up a well-defended position on the high river banks to the west of the bridge. Walk up onto the bridge and look behind you and to the left to see where the army must have been encamped. In front, the spire of St Michael’s Church shows the top of the ridge at Inveresk. English artillery on that ridge  would have been able to bombard the Scottish army. It may have been to prevent this that the Scots advanced across the river and brought the English to battle on the plateau behind Inveresk. No doubt the horses and men crossed the river at many fords and shallow places along a wide front, but much of the artillery and other wheeled vehicles must have crossed this bridge.

You do the same, and then walk up Inveresk Road. Turn left at the end, and then ……..

……..take the first right, up this lane between the Bowling Club and the Grammar School, and then up the steps to the church and the churchyard. Walk up and through the graveyard to the right. There are several ways you can do this from near the top of the steps. New terraces have been added to the burial ground over the years.

 This is where the Romans built their fort, and if you walk to the end you will be able to see why -- the ground falls steeply away down to the River Esk, and from up here there is a commanding view to the west and south and up the Forth. To the left, in the middle distance, you can see the newly-opened campus of Queen Margaret University.

Walk back towards the church, and just before you get there you will see, on your left, a low grassy bank. When Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, he set up his headquarters for a time in Inveresk, and put an artillery battery on this mound……

 … so that they could bombard any forces approaching from the west, and crossing the Esk. From this position, you can see the mouth of the Esk. Before the battle of Pinkie, the English sailed at least one ship right up the river until she ran aground, and then used the artillery on board to bombard the Scottish troops in camp and as they advanced to the battle.

Walk past the church, but take a look at it as you pass. There has been a church on this site since the 6^th century, though the present building was only built in 1805. Stones from earlier buildings were often incorporated into later structures, and if you look carefully you will even see some masonry which has been handed down in this way from the ancient Roman fort. These Roman stones are recognisable by characteristic diagonal chisel marks.

Walk down the path out of the church gate, and turn left onto the road which runs through the middle of the village of Inveresk.

After 200 metres, another road joins from the left, where it has climbed steeply up Inveresk Brae. Carry on straight past the rows of grand 18^thcentury houses. In the medieval period, Inveresk was an important religious centre, and no doubt there was a substantial village here in 1547. Imagine the 30,000 Scottish troops, with their cavalry, and even some artillery, marching through these narrow lanes in battle order, knowing that they would be going into action as soon as they came within sight of the English army.

 At the end of the village is the entrance to Inveresk Lodge Garden – battle-averse members of the party might like to stroll in these pleasant gardens above the river Esk, and admire the aviary in the greenhouse while the military historians carry on to the battlefield……..

 
Near the last houses, you will find a stone marker for one of the turf-cutting sites for the Riding of the Marches ceremony. Across the fields, the level of the roofs of Edenhall Hospital shows you how steeply the ground falls away. This would have been a good place to station the left wing of the Scottish army, where attackers would have had to climb a steep slope to get at them.

Walk up onto the bridge over the railway line, and the field to the left and in front of you is thought to be where the Scottish army was drawn up. The ground in the middle distance, between here and the Wallyford houses, was boggy, and an English cavalry charge across this ground was unsuccessful. Then an attack by English infantry was supported not just by archers, but by Spanish mercenaries armed with some of the first handheld firearms to be used in battle. The Scottish battalions broke and fled towards Dalkeith (to the west – to your right) and back to the Esk. They were pursued by the English cavalry, and thousands were slaughtered. It was a total defeat for the Scots, but though the English occupied Haddington for a number of years after the battle, they did not succeed in uniting the kingdoms by marrying Mary to Edward. The Scots instead formed an alliance with France. Mary married the Dauphin of France, and after his death returned to Scotland as its Queen.

A later chapter in Mary’s unhappy story unrolled on the wooded slopes of Carberry Hill – in front of you, to the right of Fa’side Castle (the cream-coloured building on the sky line). Going to see this site would make a good walk for another day.

 

Now go back to the junction at Inveresk Lodge, and turn sharp right down Double Dykes. Just up here on the left, you will find a giant teddy bear, a giant cat, and….

 

…… a small steam train. Take the left fork just past the steam train, and walk past the gates of Inveresk allotments. You will come out at one corner of a cricket field. Walk across to the diagonally opposite corner (better walk round if there is a match on)…….

…… and you will find a stone which marks the place where the Duke of Somerset set up camp after the battle. Two small puzzles here:

• 9^th September was the day before the battle. On 9th September, the English camp was on the coast at Prestonpans. How did the wrong date come to be carved on this stone? 

• The carved letters you can see don’t look like the ones in the photograph. See if you can find out why.

 
From here, you can walk down the zig-zag sloping path in front of you to the lower level of Lewisvale Park, and exit past the bandstand, the tennis courts and the aviary to the gates in Newbigging opposite Musselburgh Grammar School and the Swimming Pool. Go down Newbigging (a dog-leg crossing at Inveresk Road/Pinkie Road) to the High Street.

Or, 30 metres to the right (East) of the memorial stone, you will find a steeper path which leads down to an adventure playground, and out into Park Lane. Turn left at Pinkie Road, and then right into Newbigging.

Either way, if you keep heading North you will work your way back to the Old Town Hall, in the middle of Musselburgh. Turn left here to take you back to your starting point – or, of course, you could turn right instead to find a certain famous icecream shop……….