Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 50, 2012

The Dunkeld Lectern is a mediaeval lectern which was one of the most prized possessions of St Stephen's Church, St Albans. The 150 kg brass reading desk stood approximately 1.6 metres high and took the form of a large eagle with outspread wings with the bird perched on an orb supported by a turned shaft - an eagle lectern. Engraved on the orb was a Latin inscription - Georgius Creichton Episcopus Dunkeldensis. George Crichton (or "Creichton") was abbot at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh from 1515 to 1522, and it is believed that he was presented the lectern to the Abbey on being made Bishop of Dunkeld by Pope Alexander VI, but was subsequently plundered by the English invaders, subsequently lost (and recovered) in the English Civil War before being stolen by a group of Scottish nationalists. On both occasions the lectern was hidden in a grave. It remains the subject of dispute.

In the autumn of 1543 Scotland and England signed two agreements which are often referred to as "The Treaties of Greenwich". The first guaranteed peace between the two countries for a fixed period of time and the second affirmed that an arranged marriage would take place between Prince Edward of England, the son of Henry VIII, and Mary, Queen of Scots, soon after her tenth birthday. At the beginning of 1544 the relationship between England and Scotland began to worsen as it had done so many times before. The Scots reneged on the treaties which drove Henry VIII into a fury. His response was swift and brutal. He directed the commander-in-chief of the English army, the Earl of Hertford to "...put all to fyre and sworde, burne Edinborough town...[so it] may remayn forever a perpetuel memory of the vengeance of God...for their [the Scots] faulsehode and disloyailtye...over throwe the castle, sack Holyrod house". In May 1544, the English army arrived by boat to destroy Edinburgh. The army landed near the port of Leith from whence it marched on Edinburgh. The invaders pillaged and laid waste the town, and the surrounding areas and villages, excepting only the castle. They destroyed Holyrood Abbey and carried off much of its property as plunder. Henry hoped his aggression would force the Scots to accept the marriage treaty.