Editing James IV of Scotland (section)

=== Military ===
[[File:Model of 'The Michael', Newhaven Primary School, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|upright|left|A model of the ''[[Great Michael|Michael]]'', the largest ship in the world when launched in 1511]]
[[File:Mons Meg, Medieval Bombard, Edinburgh, Scotland. Pic 01.jpg|thumb|[[Mons Meg]], which was used at the sieges of [[Dumbarton Castle]] in 1489 and [[Norham Castle]] in 1497]]

James IV took a close interest in the development of the [[Royal Scots Navy]], viewing a strong fleet as a means of protecting Scottish shipping, gaining international prestige, and providing him with an outlet to pursue foreign policies in alliance with either England or France. In the course of his reign, James commissioned or acquired a total of at least thirty-eight ships. His naval building programme was large, especially so for the ruler of a small kingdom. Naval spending was by far the greatest single item of royal expenditure in the later years of his reign.<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', p. 223.</ref> In the early years, the annual average spent on ships was about [[Pound Scots|£]]140 Scots. By the early 1510s it was £8,710.<ref name=doug228>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', p. 228.</ref>

In 1491, James determined to address the many attacks on Scottish shipping in the vicinity of the [[Firth of Forth]] from the English and other pirates. He erected fortresses at [[Largo, Fife|Largo]] and [[Inchgarvie]], and made extensive repairs to [[Dunbar Castle]], to defend the firth from hostile attacks.<ref name=doug227>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', p. 227.</ref> In 1493 James ordered every [[burgh]] to provide the Crown with a boat of 20 tons, and to conscript able men to crew them.<ref>Mackie, J.D., ''A History of Scotland'', p. 122.</ref> The forfeiture of the Lordship of the Isles was followed by James's naval expeditions to [[Argyll]] and the [[Hebrides]] in 1492–1495 and 1498, and in May 1502 James sent a fleet of five ships and 2,000 troops under the command of [[James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran]] to [[Denmark]] to aid his uncle, [[John, King of Denmark]], who had appealed to James for aid during the [[Dano-Swedish War (1501–1512)|Dano-Swedish War]].<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', p. 229.</ref> The expedition was a failure, arriving too late to help [[Christina of Saxony|Queen Christina]] hold [[Stockholm]].<ref>Dawson, Jane, ''Scotland Re-formed: 1488–1587'', p. 58.</ref> The Danish expedition seems to have concentrated James IV's mind on naval expansion: shipwrights and craftsmen were recruited from across Scotland, and from France, [[Flanders]], Denmark and [[Spain]]; timber for shipbuilding was felled in [[Lanarkshire]] and the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]] and imported from Norway and France. James was also responsible for the founding of new [[dockyards]] on the Forth at [[Newhaven, Edinburgh|Newhaven]] in 1504, and [[Airth|Pool of Airth]] in 1506. The king also wore the insignia of an [[Admiral]] — a [[whistle]] and a chain of gold.<ref name="Dawson, Jane p. 76">Dawson, Jane, ''Scotland Re-formed: 1488–1587'', p. 76.</ref>

The ''[[Scottish warship Margaret|Margaret]]'', built at [[Leith]] and launched in 1506, weighed around 600–700 tons, was armed with four [[Falconet (cannon)|falconets]], a [[cannon]] and twenty-one other guns, and cost the king an estimated £8,000 — more than a quarter of his annual income.<ref>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', p. 233.</ref> The [[carrack]] ''[[Great Michael]]'' was the largest warship of its time.<ref name=Smout1992p45>T. Christopher Smout, ''Scotland and the Sea'' (Edinburgh: Rowman and Littlefield, 1992), {{ISBN|0-85976-338-2}}, p. 45.</ref><ref name=dougnavy>Macdougall, Norman, ''James IV'', Tuckwell (1997); chapter "Royal Obsession: The Navy", pp. 223–246.</ref> Built at Newhaven and launched in 1511, it measured between {{convert|150|ft}} and {{convert|180|ft}} in length, weighed around 1,000 tons, and was supposed to have cost around £30,000.<ref name=dougnavy /> Armed with twenty-four bronze [[cannon]]s and three [[Basilisk (cannon)|basilisks]], it marked a shift in design as it was designed specifically to carry a main armament of heavy artillery.<ref name=Smout1992p45 /><ref name="S. Murdoch, 2010 pp. 33–34">S. Murdoch, ''The Terror of the Seas?: Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513–1713'' (Leiden: Brill, 2010), {{ISBN|90-04-18568-2}}, pp. 33–34.</ref> The navy's core of four large ships (the ''[[Treasurer (warship)|Treasurer]]'', the ''Margaret'', the ''James'' and the ''Michael'') were supported by a number of smaller craft and privately owned [[merchant ship]]s.<ref name="Dawson, Jane p. 76" />

Like his grandfather and father, James IV also took an enthusiastic interest in [[artillery]], and from early in his reign he added to James III's French train of artillery.<ref name="Dawson, Jane p. 75">Dawson, Jane, ''Scotland Re-formed: 1488–1587'', p. 75.</ref> In 1507 he shot some "great guns" at Holyrood Abbey with three of his gunners, and the following year it is recorded that he held shooting matches with hand [[culverin]]s in the great halls of Holyrood Palace and Stirling Castle. James also took a culverin to stalk deer in the park of Falkland Palace and shot at sea birds with one from a row boat off the [[Isle of May]].<ref>[[James Balfour Paul]], ''Accounts of the Treasurer'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. lxvii–lxxi, 115, 130.</ref> James IV imported guns, shot and powder from France, and in 1511 the royal gun foundry was moved from Stirling Castle to Edinburgh Castle, where Scots, Dutch, German, and French gunmakers worked under the master gunner, Robert Borthwick, in what was the earliest significant foundry for producing large bronze guns in the [[British Isles]].<ref name="Caldwell, p. 81">Caldwell, p. 81</ref><ref name="Dawson, Jane p. 75" /> Their output included guns for the ''Michael'', and the ''Seven Sisters'', a set of [[cannon]]s captured by the English at Flodden.<ref>Cruden, p. 209</ref> James's artillery also included arquebus à croc (mounted heavy [[arquebuses]]), [[hand culverin]]s and [[Falconet (cannon)|falconets]].<ref name="Caldwell, p. 81" /><ref name="Dawson, Jane p. 75" />