Burgh Muir - Military Use

Military Use

The burgh muir was the traditional Edinburgh location for military training and wappenshaws (district inspections of arms) held periodically in accordance with a 1548 Act of Parliament in the reign of James IV which "...decretyt and ordaynit that wapinschawingis be haldin be the lordis and baronys spirituale and temporale four tymis in the yere." It was also where troops were mustered, for example in 1384, and before the Lauder Bridge incident in 1482. A contingent also assembled here to fight the English army before the battle of Flodden in 1513, and again in 1523 and 1542.

In total, the Scottish Army rendezvoused on the muir on at least six occasions prior to invading England. Sir Alexander Lauder of Bruntsfield (along with his two brothers) and his descendant, also Sir Alexander Lauder of Bruntsfield, both died in battle serving the Crown at Flodden and Pinkie respectively; their lands passing to their heirs.

A stone built into the western boundary wall of the former Morningside Parish Church, known as the "Bore Stone" or "Hare Stone" (from Old Scots heir, meaning 'army') is popularly believed to be the stone which held the Royal Standard at the muster for Flodden on the muir in 1513. An accompanying plaque states that it was placed there by the owner of Greenhill House, Sir John Stuart Forbes of Pitsligo, in 1852. The story attached to its origin was established by Sir Walter Scott in his epic poem 'Marmion' (1808) which contains the lines, "The royal banner, floating wide:/The Staff, a pine tree strong and straight:/Pitched deeply in a massive stone/Which still in memory is shown." However, the identification of the stone in Morningside Road with this poetic statement was discredited in an essay published by Henry Paton in 1942. Firstly, the stone has no hole-socket for holding a pole. Secondly, the Royal Treasurer's Accounts for 1513 make it clear that the King left Edinburgh before his standard and other banners had been made ready, and that they were sent after him. The standard must therefore have been first raised at Ellem, near Duns in Berwickshire where the Scottish host assembled before marching into England. According to the historian William Maitland, writing in 1753, the stone was originally situated on the eastern side of the road "almost opposite to the south-eastern corner of the Park-wall of Tipperlin Lone", suggesting it was a boundary marker belonging to the since vanished village of Tipperlin which bordered that side of the road.