Henry Marsh is writing a series of poems on themes treated in the Great Tapestry of Scotland (now on display at the Scottish Parliament).
Here is an abridged version of his account of the tragic defeat and death of James IV, most glittering of the Stewart monarchs, 500 years ago today.
FLODDEN FIELD (September 9, 1513)
Four horsemen came, some say,
passed through their harvest -
September fields, mown limbs
and heads - took up the King
and laid him across a dun hackney.
Did they take him to his account?
For the flesh remained - the surcoat
slashed and bloody - his throat
agape - and round his waist the iron
chain, that penitential burden
for his father slain by Saughie Burn.
And Flodden Field was not without
other portents. As cannon had lumbered
at midnight through Edinburgh a voice
was heard by the Mercat Cross calling
the names of the future dead.
And his Queen pleading - the crown
might pass to their infant son
in a war he need not seek. Admired
among princes, would he hazard
their brilliant court on a venture?
He fought by the etiquette of chivalry,
followed his spearmen down Branxton Hill
through wind and rain, knee
deep in glaur. The burn ran red.
Ten thousand souls they gathered,
the horsemen at their harvest.
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