William Eure , 1st Baron Eure William Eure , 1st Baron Eure ( c . 1483 – 1548 ) of Witton was an English knight and soldier active on the Anglo - Scottish border . Henry VIII of England made him Baron Eure by patent in 1544 . The surname is often written as " Evers " . William was Governor of Berwick upon Tweed in 1539 , Commander in the North in 1542 , Warden of the East March , and High Sheriff of Durham . During the Anglo - Scottish war called the Rough Wooing , Eure and his sons Henry and Ralph made numerous raids against towns and farms in the Scottish Borders . Family . William was the son of Ralph Eure and Muriel Hastings . He married Elizabeth Willoughby , a daughter of Christopher Willoughby , 10th Baron Willoughby de Eresby . Their children included Sir Ralph , Henry , who was Master of the Ordinance at Berwick , Margery , Muriel , and Anne . Ralph Eure , who was Warden of the Middle March , married Margery Bowes , daughter of Ralph Bowes of Streatlam Castle . Ralph Eure was killed at the Battle of Ancrum Moor in 1545 , and their son William Eure later inherited the title as 2nd Baron Eure . Ralph ' s daughter Frances married Robert Lambton of Lambton . Quiet on the border . Ralph Eure defended Scarborough Castle against the Pilgrimage of Grace for 20 days in 1536 with a garrison comprising only his household servants . After the rebellion was crushed , Henry VIII assumed for himself the Wardenship of the Scottish Marches : William Eure was deputy Warden of the East March . The Wardens were charged with keeping order on the border , dealing with encroachments from both sides and liasing with their opposite numbers . At first the border was quiet because James V of Scotland was in France seeking a bride . The situation did not deteriorate until at end of 1538 , when James V was settled with Mary of Guise . In November 1538 , James V came to Jedburgh and replaced his wardens of the East and Middle March . In December , Pope Paul III proclaimed his Bull of Excommunication against Henry VIII . William Eure and Thomas Wharton , deputy Warden of the West March had to complain to James V about the circulation of ballads against Henry which they said came from Scotland . Sir Christopher Morris , Master of the Royal Ordinance , invested William as Keeper and Captain of the Castle and town of Berwick upon Tweed in January 1539 , as the successor of Sir Thomas Clifford . Morris noted a great mulititude of ams and munitions , all ' sore decayed . Interlude at Linlithgow . One of William ' s letters gives the earliest description of the play " A Satire of the Three Estates " by David Lindsay of the Mount . William spoke to Sir Thomas Bellenden , who described a performance at Linlithgow Palace before James , Mary of Guise and his bishops and council on the feast of the Epiphany . As the play turned on the Reformation of the church , William obtained a more detailed description from a Scottish contact for Thomas Cromwell . Eure enclosed in his letter of 26 January 1540 the synopsis of the performance compiled by his spy , which corresponds with the later text of Lindsay ' s play . Eure said he had talked with Bellenden , a member of the council of James V of Scotland about the possibility of a Reformation of the ' spirituality ' in Scotland . The play at Linlithgow had shown the ' naughtiness ' of the church . Bellenden said after the play the King spoke to the churchmen in the audience asking them to reform their factions and manner of living , otherwise he would send six of them into England to his uncle , Henry VIII . Survey of Northumberland , 1541 . Beyond the regular duties of a border Warden , in 1541 William Eure was one of the commissioners appointed by Henry VIII to expel Scottish people from Northumberland following an Act of Parliament . In June he wrote to James V of Scotland complaining that his border subjects had began to pasture sheep and sow grain in England . In October they viewed the border along the river Tweed to the Ryden Burn ' s mouth and destroyed corn sown by Scots on English ground . The Scots drew away from the border thinking Eure ' s men were invaders . During this business , Eure held meetings at Alnwick and Etal . He hoped to induce men from Tynedale and Redesdale to avenge the murders of the Fenwick family by attacking the Scots in Liddesdale . By 4 November , he had found that there were a great number of Scottish householders , occupied as herdsmen , labourers or artisans , mostly without land , and they were evicted . Those too who held land or mills were replaced by English tenants . Many of the empty housing was not adequate for new English settlers , even if two houses were joined together . Other Scots were servants or apprenticed to English craftsmen , these were allowed to stay . Nevertheless , the use of Scottish apprentices would be discouraged in future . William noted the valued service of a Scottish armourer called Troilus Taylor and a mountain guide , Gilbert Cocklands , who had been employed leading raids into Scotland . He requested that these useful people be made denizens of England and pointed out their repatriation would have an unhappy result . William ' s commission also included a survey of the border fortresses east to Harbottle Castle and the river Coquet . Many of the old Pele tower s were in decay , and the owners lived in more convenient unfortified places ( " that was a great pity to see " ) . He had commanded the owners to put the fortified houses in good order . He next planned to survey the strongholds of the Middle March . Generally , he found the border peaceable enough . Trouble came from the " traitorous Scottish thieves of Liddesdale " or Henry ' s " evil subjects of Tynedale and Redesdale " who seemed to combine together rather than respect the peace of Henry VIII or James V of Scotland . After showing an armed presence at Hexham , Willam planned to meet up with his colleagues at Newcastle upon Tyne on 17 November 1541 to finalise the survey . The historian Maureen Meikle finds that Eure had encouraged Scottish artisans to settle in the Middle March . Rough Wooing . Sir William and his sons Henry and Ralph were active during the war of the Rough Wooing and were stationed at Berwick upon Tweed . William Eure sent Lord Hertford news of rumours he had heard from Scotsmen that the Matthew Stewart , 4th Earl of Lennox , Regent Arran and Mary of Guise had held meeting at Stirling Castle and would reconcile their differences . If their factions were united the Scots would be able to resist English ambitions to force the marriage of Mary , Queen of Scots and Prince Edward . The burning of Edinburgh . Hertford organised a major assault by sea on Edinburgh for May 1544 . William and Ralph Eure were to bring a diversionary force of March men to Haddington . Ralph asked Hertford for a re - inforcement of 1000 Yorkshire archers so that they could press forward from Haddington to be in sight of the landing place at Granton . In the event , it was agreed that Hertford would summon Eure when he had disembarked his troops in Edinburgh . ( When Eure ' s men arrived in Edinburgh they would get their pay ) . Hertford landed on Sunday 4 May 1544 , and sent for Eure . His letter reached Berwick on Monday at 2pm , and Eure ' s reply was received at Leith on Tuesday at 5pm . 4000 border horsemen arrived in Edinburgh on Wednesday 7 May . While the army was camped near Seton Palace , Lord Maxwell requested to speak to Ralph Eure but Hertford would not allow it . Instead , Maxwell was brought back to England . Assurances . On 7 June 1544 a number of Scottish borderers gave their oath to be " full part takers " with England . Ralph Eure , as Warden of the Middle March , was given three " pledges " or hostages for the fulfillment of the oath by 24 members of the Oliver family and their kinsmen . These were Dandy Oliver , Rinyan ( Ninian ) Oliver and Patty Oliver who were kept at Warkworth Castle . On the same day Ralph took four Nixon hostages for the loyalty of 35 Nixons , and four Crosiers for 50 of their family , and 3 hostages for the Hall family . In October 1544 , Ralph Eure gained the allegiance of Andrew Kerr of Ferniehurst and 40 followers of various names and the town of Jedburgh . Eure took 21 hostages , including a man for each family name . If the Scots failed to fulfill their contract of assurance the hostages could be exceuted . Jedburgh . On 9 June 1544 , Sir William and his colleagues met at Milfield near Wooler and decided to march on Jedburgh . The final plan had been proposed by Lord Hertford on 27 May 1544 and endorsed by the English Privy Council and Henry VIII , after Hertford had discussed the pros and cons of a more modest attack in March with Ralph Eure . An assault on Jedburgh had also been proposed as part of the major raid in May . Two days before the meeting at Milfield , Ralph Eure had written to Lord Hertford from Warkworth Castle , explaining that his father was ill ( " somewhat crossed " ) and reassuring Hertford that he could lead his father ' s East March men . Ralph asked Hertford to send his trumpeter for the Jedburgh raid . However , William seems to have led the raid . At Jedburgh , where he had heard there were seven cannon at the market - place , he divided his force into three . The Scottish defenders fled without engaging . Sir William burnt the Abbey , the Greyfriars and various bastle and fortified houses in the town . They captured 500 horses and seven cannon . On their way back to England , they burnt the Tower of Cailing Craig , Cessford Castle , Morebattle church , Otterburn , Cowboge and other places . Near to the English border , at Kirk Yetholm , they observed fires raised by a Scottish raiding party . Ralph Eure with Richard Bowes , Captain of Norham , and 500 men rode forward and captured or killed a number of Scots . Coldingham . Later in the month , Henry Eure and George Bowes captured Coldingham , where the Priory was defended by cannon , after a 5 hour battle . Subsequently , William Eure wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury that he had escorted the Italian military surveyor Archan ( Archangelo Arcano ) to Coldingham . The new Captain of Coldingham , George Bowes , said he could hold the place for 40 hours against the Scottish army if they brought two cannon . Ralph had reported to William that that Regent Arran with other Scottish lords were gathering an invasion force at Dunbar . Ralph also sent this news to Shrewsbury . The Lords of the Privy Council had already found Ralph ' s intelligence gathering useful , and in January they had authorised Shrewsbury to cover the sums that Ralph laid out for " compassing sundry exploits and intelligence . " Arran ' s host did move towards Coldingham , but Arran halted this advance before Sir William ' s force could engage him . Henry Eure , in July 1544 , joined George Bowes and raided Edrom , Preston , Patrick Hume ' s Tower and Duns . On 3 July , William Eure organised the burning of the Castle of Greenlaw . Ralph burnt the Barmkin of Ormiston and the church tower at Eckford . Muirhouse and Ancrum Moor . The Eure family continued these raids into November and again in 1545 . As a Scottish army mustered on the eastern border near Lauder , Ralph argued for an attack on Hawick . A raid to Melrose or Jedburgh lead to Ralph Eure ' s death at the battle of Ancrum Moor in February 1545 , his companions Basford and a Scotsman John Rutherford of Edgerston cut down beside him . Regent Arran was shown Ralph ' s body by a man called Vicar Ogle , and said ; God have mercy on him , for he was a fell cruel man and over cruel , which many a man and fatherless bairn might rue ; and , wellaway that ever such slaughter and bloodshedding should be amongst Christian men . " The defeat at Ancrum was blamed on Ralph ' s over - reliance on his wavering Scottish allies and his foolhardy courage . Robert Bowes was made Warden of the Middle March in his place . To avenge Ralph , Henry Eure and George Bowes went to Bowmont in Teviotdale and demolished two towers and burnt farmsteads belonging to the Laird of Molle ( Mow ) . In March 1548 Henry Eure reported his father ' s death to Lord Grey of Wilton . Henry ' s next duty was to make inquiries about a captured Lieutenant of Spanish mercenaries and an Italian who had escaped and fled to Scotland . Governance of Berwick . The diplomat Ralph Sadler reported to Thomas Wriothesley in April 1545 that William was not suitable to be Captain of the town of Berwick . Eure and Sir Cuthbert Ratcliff , Captain of the castle of Berwick ; were " men of honesty and meet to serve elsewhere , " but of no experience or knowledge for keeping a fortress . Eure had a long running dispute with Thomas Gower , the Marshall of Berwick ( father of Sir Thomas Gower , 1st Baronet ) Gower was summoned to attend the Privy Council in London and after failing to answer Eure ' s allegations , was sent to the Fleet Prison in June 1546 . The council also arbitrated between Eure and Cuthbert Ratcliffe over the rights of Berwick Castle to tithes and fishing , Eure have previously been the Captain . In May 1547 he was placed in charge of stores at Lindisfarne and asked to assist the fortification of the place according to the designs of William Ridgeway and Richard Lee , without diminishing the garrison at Berwick . After William Eure ' s death , although Grey of Wilton wrote to Somerset on Henry Eure ' s behalf for his father ' s offices , the Wardenship of the East March and Governorship of Berwick were given to Grey of Wilton himself . However , Ralph ' s son , William Eure , 2nd Baron Eure was later made Warden of the Middle March and Governor of Berwick . Another Ralph Eure , a brother of this William Eure , was killed in a duel fought with spears by William Kirkcaldy of Grange in 1557 .