Thomas Crawford (Captain) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Captain Thomas Crawford (1530–1603) of Jordanhill

Jordanhill

Jordanhill is an affluent area of the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The area consists largely of terraced housing dating from the early to mid 20th century, with some detached and semi-detached homes and some modern apartments....

(an estate in the West End of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, part of which is now a college

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

and hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

near Victoria Park

Victoria Park, Glasgow

-Description:Victoria Park is set in western Glasgow, adjacent to the districts of Scotstoun, Whiteinch, Jordanhill and Broomhill. The park was created and named for Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1886. The main entrances to the park are from Westland Drive, Victoria Park Drive North, and Balshagray...

). He was a trusted confidant of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...

, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and a retainer of the Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox was the 4th Earl of Lennox, and leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox. His grandson was James VI of Scotland....

(Darnley's father). He famously planned the assault and led a small force of 150 men in 1571 that scaled the cliffs and embattlements to expel the castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

loyal to Catholic

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

Queen Mary from Dumbarton Castle

Dumbarton Castle

Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...

. Six years later, he became Provost

Provost (civil)

A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...

of Glasgow, establishing a bursary for a student at the university

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

and saving the cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral

The church commonly known as Glasgow Cathedral is the Church of Scotland High Kirk of Glasgow otherwise known as St. Mungo's Cathedral.The other cathedrals in Glasgow are:* The Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew...

from destruction.

Early Career

Thomas Crawford was born about 1530, a son of Lawrence Crawford of Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie is a small town of 7280 inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland...

. As youngest of six sons, his career options were open, and he became a professional soldier.

In 1547, he was at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh

The Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland on 10 September 1547, was part of the War of the Rough Wooing. It was the last pitched battle between Scottish and English armies, and is seen as the first modern battle in the British Isles...

, but had the misfortune of being taken prisoner, and was detained till ransomed. In 1550, he went to France and entered the service of King Henry II

Henry II of France

Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...

as one of the Gens d’Armes, under the command of the Earl of Arran.

Thomas Crawford acquired the land and title of Jordanhill

Jordanhill

from Bartholemew Montgomerie (the chaplain of Drumry

Drumry

Drumry is a district in the Scottish town of Clydebank, split into North and South Drumry by Drumry Road.It was named the second most deprived area in Scotland by the Scottish Executive.-External links:* *...

) following his return to Scotland from France with Mary, Queen of Scots in either 1560 or 1562. To secure this position, Crawford became a retainer of the 4th Earl of Lennox, grandfather of the future James VI. Ultimately, he became the Earl's deputy, second only to the Earl's Chamberlain, John Cunningham of Drumquhassle. He notability increased in 1569 following the murder of Queen Mary's husband, Lord Darnley

Lord Darnley

Lord Darnley is a title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament first created in 1356 and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. Outside the Peerage of Scotland, another Earldom of Darnley was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1729.The first baron was Sir John...

, by suspected agents of the Queen. William Maitland of Lethington

William Maitland of Lethington

Sir William Maitland of Lethington was a Scottish politician and reformer, and the eldest son of the poet Richard Maitland....

(and Sir James Balfour) were publicly accused of Darnley's murder by Crawford; Balfour escaped, but Lethington was imprisoned and was released by William Kirkcaldy of Grange

William Kirkcaldy of Grange

Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange , Scottish politician and general, was the eldest son of Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange , a member of an old Fife family...

, commander in Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

, which subsequently became the fortress of Mary's cause during the Lang Siege.

Assault on Dumbarton Castle

Crawford planned the assault and led a force of 150 men in the early hours of 2nd April 1571 that scaled the cliffs and embattlements to expel the castle

Castle

garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

loyal to Catholic

Catholicism

Queen Mary from Dumbarton Castle

Dumbarton Castle

.

In the enterprise he was assisted by John Cunningham of Drumquhassle, and Matthew Douglas of Mains

Douglas of Mains

The Douglases of Mains are a branch of the Clan Douglas, related to the Lords of Douglas through Archibald I, Lord of Douglas. The first Laird obtained land through marriage into the Galbraith family, which had been granted land in New Kilpatrick by Maldowen, Earl of Lennox...

, both also retainers of the Earl of Lennox. Drumquhassle had been fortunate in obtaining the assistance of a man named Robertson, a former warden of the castle, who knew every crag of the rock, "where it was best to climb, and where fewest ladders would serve." It seems that while in the service of the Governor, his wife was accused of theft and publicly flogged. This episode appears to have provoked Robertson to leave Queen's supporters in the castle and offer his services to the King's supporters, initially to Robert Douglas, who introduced him to Drumquassle.

A truce between supporters of the King and supporters of the Queen expired on 1st April 1571. On that day, Crawford set out from Glasgow after sunset with Robertson and a company of men. He had sent before him a few light horse to prevent intelligence by stopping all wayfarers, and about midnight he arrived at Dumbuck

Milton, West Dunbartonshire

Milton is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland.It lies about 1 mile east of Dumbarton, on the A82 Glasgow-Loch Lomond road and below the Overtoun Bridge....

, within a mile of the castle, where he was joined by Drumquhassle and Captain Hume.

Here he equipped the soldiers with ropes and scaling ladders. The night was foggy and the escalade

Escalade

Escalade is the act of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders, and was a prominent feature of siege warfare in medieval times...

relied upon stealth, because the number of ladders that could be employed was limited. On the first attempt, the ladders lost their hold while the soldiers were on them; and had the garrison been on the alert, the noise could have inevitably betrayed them. The attacking force listened, however, and no alarm was raised. On the second attempt, the ladders were fixed, and, their 'craws' or steel hooks this time catching firmly in the crevices. The leaders of the party then took hold of a small intermediate ledge, where an ash tree had struck its roots. Fixing the ropes to its branches, they speedily towed up the rest of their comrades. However, they were still only halfway to the base of the curtain wall

Curtain wall (fortification)

A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress.In earlier designs of castle the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult....

.

They planted their ladders again and began scaling the next stage. At this point, one of the soldiers in ascending was seized with a fit, in which he convulsively grasped the ladder so firmly that no one could either pass by him or remove him. Crawford's solution to this problem was to tie the unfortunate soldier to the ladder and turn it round (with the man suspended beneath it), so the passage was once more free. The party thus reached the bottom of the garrison wall, where the footing was narrow and precarious. Crawford's ensign and two other soldiers scaled the wall and slew the look-out, then came under attack by a further three guards until they were joined by the rest of the party.

The wall collapsed and afforded an open breach through which Crawford's men rushed in, shouting, "A Darnley, a Darnley!" (Crawford's watchword). It is uncertain whether the wall was breached on the North or West side of the castle. In any event, the Western peak of the rock was quickly gained, and the cannon there was captured and turned on the garrison who attempted no resistance, possibly due to excessive consumption the night before.

The castle governor (Fleming) managed to escape through the postern gate which opened upon the Clyde and reached Argyllshire.
Taken prisoner within the castle were several other key supporters of Queen Mary: these included John Hamilton, Archbishop of St Andrews, who was found with mail shirt and steel cap on, and Verac, the French ambassador, who was allowed to go free, but was susequently caught aiding the Queen's supporters in Edinburgh Castle. Lady Fleming, the wife of the governor, was also taken, but was permitted to go free, taking with her her plate and furniture. Hamilton was hanged within a matter of days. As important as the arrest of key people was the capture of documents, including some implicating Queen Mary with Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...

and the Ridolfi plot

Ridolfi plot

The Ridolfi plot was a plot in 1570 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. The plot was hatched and planned by Roberto di Ridolfi, an international banker who was able to travel between Brussels, Rome and Madrid to gather support without attracting...

.

An Act of Parliament was passed on 28 August 1571 in favour of "Johnne Cuningham of Drumquhassel, Matho Dowglas of Manys, Captain Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill, and others takeris of the Castell of Dumbartane," discharging them of any criminal or civil liabilities incurred in the recapture of the castle.

Subsequent Life

Two years later, he advised on operations to end the siege of Edinburgh Castle. This eliminated the final barrier to a reunification of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

under Queen Mary's son, Protestant King James

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, in 1573. His lineage became known as Crawford of Jordanhill, his estate in the present-day suburbs of Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, of which he was made provost in 1577. He was also the first person to provide a bursary out of his own wealth at Glasgow University

University of Glasgow

, (16 bolls of oatmeal from the mill at Partick

Partick

Partick is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch. Partick was a Police burgh from 1852 until 1912 when it was incorporated into the city.-History:...

) - an amount large enough to completely support one student.

It was while Crawford held the office of Provost that Glasgow Cathedral

Glasgow Cathedral

was threatened with destruction (as part of the religious unrest during the Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

). According to one story, it was Crawford who saved the medieval building. He is reported to have said to those who were eager for its demolition, and pressing him to give permission for their action:-

"I am for pu'ing doon the auld kirk, but no till we ha'e first built a new ane"

(I am in favour of pulling down the old church, but not until we have first built a new one).

Crawford retired to Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie

Kilbirnie is a small town of 7280 inhabitants situated in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland...

, where he died on January 3rd, 1603 and is entombed at Kilbirnie Auld Kirk. The family sold the estate in 1750.

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