ANST - FW: Musing on August 6th -- Maggie and Enola

[j'lynn yeates]

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- -----Original Message-----
From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2000 01:15
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on August 6th -- Maggie and Enola


Dear Folk,

On this day, August 6th, Margaret -- the widow of a King killed by
her
brother who was a King, daughter of a King, mother of a King --
married
an Earl.

Margaret Tudor was the first daughter born to Henry VII and Elizabeth
of York on November 29, 1489. Her brother became Henry VIII. When she
was almost fourteen she married James IV of Scotland. Henry VII had
designs upon the land of the bagpipes and this marriage seemed well
suited for both. Okay, nobody asked Margaret. She was miserable up
there. She really needed a sunlamp or something.

James IV had defeated his father, James III at Sauchieburn and
crowned
king at the age of 15. He was the only Stuart King of the 15th
century
to not need a regent. Kings died of a sudden in the brawny north
country. However, James IV later learned he had been tricked into
going
into battle against his father. In order to repent, young Jimmie wore
a
large iron belt around his waist.

When his brother-in-law, Henry VIII, came to the throne of England in
1509. James IV tried to be nice. However, Hank VIII decided to war
with
France in 1513. Just so happened that Scotland had an alliance with
France. This put James in an awkward position, whom should he
support?
He made overtures to Henry but was brusquely told that Henry 'owned'
Scotland, Jimmie and his boys decided to cross into England and do
some
scolding of the English.

King James issued summonses to the feudal force all over the land to
gather Edinburgh. It is a stretch  to believe that a hundred thousand
men in fighting condition assembled there. First of all, we have seen
how the Scots rarely rallied behind any king; second, the cause of
invading England was no longer a very popular one. The Scots
remembered
Wallace and what happened to him. All contemporary testimonies do try
to show how downright good a public speaker Jimmie was. He was bray
and
brawny and only in his twenties.

There were stories about figures like Tim the Enchanter from Monty
Python appearing to Jimmie when he was in church. That prophet warned
Jimmie not to go south. The weird dude then seemed to vanish. A
ghostly
visitor appeared in Edinburgh which read from a role of names of
folks
assembled. Every name called was later found to be one of those slain
on the battle field.

The army entered England in August 1513, and encamped in the
neighborhood of the Till and Tweed rivers. The Castle of Norham was
attacked and easily taken, strong as it was, by such a force,
plentifully supported with artillery - and the small Castle of Werk
followed.

The Earl of Surrey was leading the English army and James arranged to
meet him in a set piece battle on September 9, 1513. The Scots took
up
a good position on Flodden Edge where James refused to move from
before
the appointed time for battle, even though he could have attacked the
English as they moved to cut off his supply line. In terms of numbers
both sides were about equal but the English cannon and equipment was
better than the Scots equivalent. The English teased James into
giving
up his position and charging down the hill they occupied into a boggy
area. There the Scots army was badly defeated, James and his son
Alexander died as well as nine earls and 13 barons, and 10,000
rank-and-file troops.

It was up to Margaret now. When James IV died, Margaret's infant son
became James V. It was because of this union that England and
Scotland
would be united under one crown 100 years later at the death of
Elizabeth I in 1603. Great, she was a widow to a great king but also
sister to the murdering butcher who killed him. She had to do
something
to protect herself and her young son, the last of his line. The new
King of Scotland, James V, was a seventeen month old baby when his
father died.

On August 6, 1514 she married Douglas, Archibald, Earl of Angus VI.
James V grew to hate his stepfather, Archy Douglas. Between 1525 and
1528 Douglas practically held James a prisoner. His education was
limited to the time that William Dunbar could spend with him but
after
the age of twelve he received no official education at all. The royal
couple were even made to flee to England when the Scots decided that
Margaret was not a very good mom.

Douglas eventually died and left James V, now 16, rule by himself. He
was well liked by the common folk. He married a French gal named Mary
de Guise. Yes, that family. They produced a very important child,
Mary
Stuart who became Mary Queen of Scots. You might remember her son
James
VI became James I King of England. James V sickened and died at the
age
of 30. His mom, Margaret Tudor, passed on a few years earlier on
October 18, 1541.

I cannot, in good conscience, let today go by without mentioning that
it marks the anniversary of the first bomb dropped in the first
atomic
war. On this day, August 6, 1945, James Tibbets flying a plane he
named
after his mother, Enola Gay, dropped an "implosion devise" nicknamed
"Fat Man" on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb killed about
140,000 people – mostly very old, very young, and women folk. Three
days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on
Nagasaki,
killing 70,000 people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending
World
War II. Although the reasons for both these bomb drops and the
ensuing
slaughter have been hotly debated, modern evidence points to a desire
to impress the Soviets with the US might.

What have we learned from this? Moms sometimes marry so pretty yucky
step-fathers for reasons their sons will never understand? Sometimes
folks will trick you into fighting folks you should be loving
instead?
Hold the high ground and ignore the taunts of the enemy? How about
the
age of mass slaughter did not end in the 1500s?

If ye amind ta send these wee messages to others and  yer right
leifed
to do so, well ye may but leave my name and sig attached.

Praying with all my heart we do learn from these bloody lessons,
Ducking and covering,
J.  Ellsworth Weaver

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats

(Health Physicist, Historian, Poet, Astrologer, Fool for many)


=====
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http://www.thereadersvine.com/~Jennifer_deTocqueville/sebastiansmusing
s.html

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