whom a recent visit to London had convinced that the English capital, with its “beryl streamis pleasant ... where many a swan doth swim with wingis fair”, was “the flower of cities all”, wrote the well-known poem on the Union of the Thistle and the Rose to welcome this second English Margaret to Scotland.  But the time was not yet ripe for any real union of the Thistle and the Rose.  Peace continued till the death of Henry VII; but during these years England was never at war with France.  James threatened war with England in April, 1505, in the interests of the Duke of Gueldres; in 1508, he declined to give an understanding that he would not renew the old league with France, and he refused to be drawn, by Pope Julius II, into an attitude of opposition to that country.  Even before the death of Henry VII, in 1509, there were troubles with regard to the borders, and it was evident that the “perpetual peace” arranged by the treaty of marriage was a sheer impossibility.

Henry VIII succeeded to the throne of England in April, 1509; three years and five months later, in September, 1513, was fought the battle of Flodden.  The causes may soon be told.  They fall under three heads.  James and Henry were alike headstrong and impetuous, and they were alike ambitious of playing a considerable part in European affairs.  They were, moreover, brothers-in-law, and, in the division of the inheritance of Henry VII, the King of England had, with characteristic Tudor avarice, retained jewels and other property which had been left to his sister, the Queen of Scots.  In the second place, the ancient jealousies were again roused by disputes on the borders, and by naval warfare.  James had long been engaged in “the building of a fleet for the protection of our shores”; in 1511, he had built the Great Michael, for which, it was said, the woods of Fife had been wasted.  The Scottish fleet was frequently involved in quarrels with Henry’s ships, and in August, 1511, the English took two Scottish vessels, which they alleged to be pirates, and Andrew Barton was slain in the fighting.  James demanded redress, but, says Hall, “the King of England wrote with brotherly salutations to the King of Scots of the robberies and evil doings of Andrew Barton; and that it became not one prince to lay a breach of a league to another prince, in doing justice upon a pirate or thief".[60] These personal irritations and petty troubles might have proved harmless, and, had no European complications intervened, it is possible that there might have “from Fate’s dark book a leaf been torn”, the leaf which tells of Flodden Field.  But, in 1511, Julius II formed the Holy League against France, and by the end of the year it included Spain, Austria, and England.  The formation of a united Europe against the ancient ally of Scotland thoroughly alarmed James.  It was true that, at the moment, England was willing to be friendly; but, should France be subdued, whither might Scotland look for help in the future?  James