King James IV (2)
I was reporting on the last king to be a Gaelic-speaker – James IV. In
England, Henry VIII obtained the throne in 1509. He started to expand
the English navy. He built a great warship, the Mary Rose.
James IV, King of Scotland, also had great ambition, although Scotland
was small and poor in comparison with England. He was involved in a
crusade against the Ottoman Empire. He built the Great Michael. She was
named after the Archangel Michael. She was built in Newhaven near
Edinburgh. She was launched in 1512. She was twice the size of the Mary
Rose.
The Great Michael was made of oak. She had four masts and her hull was
extremely thick. She had more than fifty guns. She had a crew of three
hundred sailors and a thousand soldiers.
She was afloat for a year and a half when she was asked to go across
the English Channel. That was in order to attack English territories in
France. Scotland was in an auld alliance with France.
Just a month after that, James took an army with him, with thirty
thousand men in it, over the English border[s]. The two armies met each
other at Flodden in Northumberland. The English won the day. James was
killed.
When Henry VIII saw the plans for the Great Michael he ordered that an
even bigger warship be built in England. She was the Henry Grace à
Dieu, or ‘Great Harry’
And what happened to the Great Michael? Well, she was sold to the
French in 1514. She was renamed La Grande Nef d’Ecosse. Most historians
reckon that the French let her rot away in Brest in Brittany.
Rìgh Seumas IV (2)
Bha mi a’ dèanamh aithris air an rìgh mu dheireadh aig an robh Gàidhlig –
Seumas IV. Ann an Sasainn, fhuair Eanraig VIII an rìgh-chathair ann an còig
ceud deug is naoi (1509). Thòisich e air cabhlach Shasainn a leudachadh.
Thog e long-chogaidh mhòr, am Mary Rose.
Bha glòir-mhiann aig Rìgh na h-Alba, Seumas IV, cuideachd, ged a bha Alba
beag is bochd an coimeas ri Sasainn. Bha e ag iarraidh cabhlach mòr
nàiseanta a bhiodh an sàs ann an cogadh-croise an aghaidh Ìmpireachd nan
Ottoman. Thog e an Great Michael. Bha i air a h-ainmeachadh an
dèidh an Àrd-aingeil Mìcheal. Chaidh a togail ann an Newhaven faisg air Dùn
Èideann. Chaidh a cur air bhog ann an còig ceud deug is dhà-dheug (1512).
Bha i a dhà uiread na bu mhotha na am Mary Rose.
Bha an Great Michael air a togail de fhiodh daraich. Bha ceithir
crainn oirre agus bha a slige air leth tiugh. Bha còrr is caogad gunna
oirre. Bha sgiob’ aice de thrì cheud maraiche agus suas ri mìle saighdear.
Bha i air bhog airson bliadhna gu leth nuair a chaidh iarraidh oirre dhol
thar Caolas Shasainn. Bha sin airson ionnsaigh a thoirt air àiteachan a bha
le Sasainn anns an Fhraing. Bha Alba ann an seann chaidreabhas leis an
Fhraing.
Dìreach mìos an dèidh sin, thug Seumas leis armailt, le trithead mìle duine
innte, thar crìochan Shasainn. Thachair an dà armailt ri chèile aig Flodden
ann an Northumberland. Chaidh an latha leis na Sasannaich. Chaidh Seumas a
mharbhadh.
Nuair a chunnaic Eanraig VIII na planaichean airson a’ Ghreat Michael, dh’òrdaich e gum biodh long eadhon na bu mhotha
air a togail ann an Sasainn. B’ ise an Henry Grace à Dieu, no an
‘Great Harry’.
Agus dè thachair don Ghreat Michael? Uill, chaidh a reic do na Frangaich ann an còig ceud deug is ceithir-deug
(1514). Chaidh ainm ùr a chur oirre – La Grande Nef d’Ecosse.
Tha a’ chuid as motha de luchd-eachdraidh dhen bheachd gun do leig na
Frangaich leatha a dhol a dholaidh ann am Brest sa Bhreatainn Bhig.
