Langside, battle of

views updated Jun 27 2018

Langside, battle of, 1568. On 2 May 1568 Mary, queen of Scots, imprisoned for nearly a year in Lochleven castle, made her escape and raised support. Marching west to join forces with the Hamiltons, her troops, under the earl of Argyll, confronted a smaller force under the regent, Moray, on 13 May near Glasgow. The issue was decided by a cavalry charge and Mary's supporters broke. She fled to the south-west and made her way to Carlisle, where she appealed for help to Elizabeth I of England. She never saw Scotland again.

J. A. Cannon