THE protestors who, in their own words, carried out a "siege" of Edinburgh Castle on Tuesday evening, were following in a long line of invaders who have tried, and sometimes succeeded, in occupying arguably the most famous building in Scotland.
Criminal proceedings are under way following the siege so there's not a lot we are allowed to say about them and what they did. Suffice to say they’re nutcases, but it was a cracking publicity stunt for whatever cause they were espousing – they didn’t seem very certain themselves - though of course all such intrusions to a Grade A Listed Building must be utterly deplored.
Laying siege to Edinburgh Castle was not a very original idea, however. Including the latest mob, there have been a total of at least 24 sieges of the castle.
David Caldwell’s ground-breaking research for Historic Environment Scotland in 2014 confirmed those recorded by the history books, and other sieges that were too far back to be counted, making it the most besieged building in the UK. That's if you don't count various football stadia surrounded by unhappy fans.
READ MORE: Police officer sustains minor injuries after protesters 'seize' Edinburgh Castle
It’s also the most besieged castle in Europe, apparently. The current layout of the castle owes its form to several sieges. Basically, various kings and governors added on defensive elements after sieges - the Half Moon Battery, for instance was built after the monumental King David’s Tower on the site collapsed during the Lang Siege of 1571-73.
A lot of sieges were by Scots, starting with Donald Ban in 1093 when King Malcolm Canmore was killed in battle and he succeeded in seizing the castle and the throne.
Most sieges were carried out by the English, however, with King Edward I of England one of the first to try his hand. With trebuchets and catapults – the Scots didn’t have any and thought he cheated - Longshanks successfully laid siege to the Castle in 1296 and occupied it, taking away Scotland’s original crown jewels and the royal archives which were lost. Longshanks was dead by the time of the next siege in 1314 when Thomas Randolph, the Earl of Moray, led a brilliant night raid that ousted the English garrison. Robert the Bruce promptly had the castle flattened so the English would never get it again.
Edward III of England had the castle rebuilt, but the Scots took it off the English in 1341, allowing King David II to return from exile. The Scottish kings often had to start, or fight off, sieges of the Castle for the next two centuries, and it was a civil war that saw the Lang Siege in 1571-73. That involved a very brave soldier, Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, holding the castle for the exiled Mary, Queen of Scots, before Regent Morton with the help of English troops finally captured it.
Oliver Cromwell and his forces besieged the castle for three months in 1650 before it surrendered, while the Covenanters and Jacobites also besieged it, the latter failing to take the Castle during their occupation of Edinburgh in 1745.
The latest siege will not see any more defensive developments, apart from maybe an extra soldier or two at the entrance. And as for all their prattling on about Magna Carta, Tuesday's intruders were definitely not on the scale of the barons who held England's King John to ransom at Runnymede in 1215.
They were also not even remotely like Longshanks or Cromwell. Now those two were completely nasty anti-Scottish swines. The "siege" of 2021 was just silly.
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