page_title: Siege of Leith
section_title: Preparations for the siege
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Leith / The Siege / Preparations for the siege
caption_attribution_description: English: Plan of Leith showing the French fortifications during the Siege of Leith in 1560
context_page_description: The Siege of Leith ended a twelve-year encampment of French troops at Leith, the port near Edinburgh, Scotland. The French troops arrived by invitation in 1548 and left in 1560 after an English force arrived to attempt to assist in removing them from Scotland. The town was not taken by force and the French troops finally left peacefully under the terms of a treaty signed by Scotland, England and France.
context_section_description: The French army continued to strengthen the fortifications of Leith during late 1559. The defences included eight projecting bastions, including Ramsay's Fort protecting the harbour, "Little london" at the north-east, and the Citadel at the north-west. Within the walls was a raised platform for guns, called a "cavalier" by the anonymous French journalist of the siege.
  At the end of January 1560, an English fleet, under the command of William Wynter, arrived in the Firth of Forth, having sailed north from the naval base at Queenborough Castle in the Thames Estuary. English diplomats claimed Wynter's arrival in the Firth was accidental, and Norfolk told Wynter to act as if he was a maverick with no commission. The ships were sent by William Cecil under the authority of Queen Elizabeth. On 2 February, a proclamation was issued in the name of the Queen of Scots to summon the men of Selkirk and Jedburgh to be ready to mobilise against the "wicked doings of the English ships" in Scottish waters, and the intended invasion of the Merse and East Lothian.
  After the Treaty of Berwick provided a framework for an English military incursion, the English made plans to bring the army and guns to Leith. Considering the weather and difficulties of the road into Scotland, on 8 February 1559 Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk and Lord Grey de Wilton wrote to the Lords of Congregation from Newcastle; "we find greate difficultie of the cariadge of the same by land at this tyme of the yere, as well by reason of the deepe and foule wayes between Barwick and Lythe, as also that for such a number of cariadges and draught horses as the same doth require can not be had in time, and therefore we suppose the same must of necessity be transported by sea, and the number of footmen also appointed for this journey to be set on land as near unto Lythe as may be convenientlie. And in that case, our horsemen to enter by land as soon as we have intelligence of the landing of our footmen."
  In the event, an army of around 6,000 English soldiers, under Lord Grey de Wilton marched from Berwick, arriving in early April to join up with the Scottish Lords. Passing through Dunglass and Lintonbriggs, the English army camped at Prestongrange on 4 April where the lighter artillery pieces for the siege were landed from ships at Aitchison's Haven. Just before this English army arrived, the French raided Glasgow and Linlithgow. The French garrison at Haddington had withdrawn to the prepared position at Leith, swelling the number of French troops there to an estimated 3,000.
  Meanwhile, Mary of Guise and her advisors stayed secure in Edinburgh Castle from 28 March 1560. The Keeper of the castle, John Erskine declared it neutral, and this was respected by both sides, and the castle played no part in the conflict. Before the English army arrived at Leith, the commander William Grey of Wilton considered that capturing the castle with the Queen Regent might be a better option. However, the Duke of Norfolk advised him against it, as their proper target was the French soldiery in Leith, not Erskine's Scottish garrison.
caption: 19th century plan showing the French fortifications of 1560
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