Flodden Field 500 years after

The Battle of Flodden Field was one of the worst military and human disasters in Scottish history. Historians disagree (as is their wont) but there's a consensus that somewhere upwards of ten thousands Scots were killed in a brief time. Most of the aristocracy and the upper classes of the nation was wiped out in a couple of hours, along with their king, James IV. His death at 40 left the country, as so many times before, with a regency, as his son, James V was less than two years old. The English lost between 1,500 and 4,000 men.

Flodden Field today. The Scottish held the high ground of the ridge in front, which is to the south. The English had gone around and came against them from the northern, lower ridge whence the photo is taken.


Today the valley is drained and cultivated, but 500 years ago it was overgrown with scrubs and the bottom was boggy marshland. When the Scots discovered that they were cut off from their homeland by the English, they left their advantageous position, and started moving downhill. They won the first skirmish, and emboldened by this they sat off in great numbers. Once in the marshes they began to falter and the discipline needed to use the long spears the French had supplied them with, fell apart. The English could now hack away at will and their (in)famous longbows did the rest of the slaughter.


So this is pretty much where 10-20 thousand soldiers were killed, fighting in knee deep mud, with pikes, spears, arrows and I dare say their bare hands.


Today, there is nothing left of the horrors of five hundred years ago. The battle is a faint memory in a long and bloody history between two neighboring nations and in the words of that old Scottish tune, "the flowers of the forest are all withered away".