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of Sture, written in 1507, where he says that the King of
Denmark had hired “ swart tall folck,” a very great
number of men of Scotland, who were to arrive at
Copenhagen about the time of Mid-Lent (“ Midfasta ”).1
The earliest Scottish legionaries fighting for Sweden
were hitherto assumed to be those that the great
Gus-tavus engaged at the time of the Thirty Years’ War on
the Continent (1618-48). This is a mistake. Scottish
soldiers formed part of the army of Sweden as early as
1563. On the 30th of July King Eric XIV. writes to
Master Mårten to raise 2000 men in Scotland.2 A certain
officer, David Schotus, is repeatedly mentioned, and in a
letter of October 8 th of the same year—unfortunately
much defaced—the Scots—Skottare—are mentioned. Nor
were these levies restricted to foot and horsemen. Eric
also tried to enlist Scottish sailors. We find a certain
document, dated 12th September 1565, issued to a mysterious
Captain N. N. Schotus, which contains full powers to
engage one hundred “ Scotos rei nauticæ peritos in
regnum Sueciæ adducturos.”3
Remembering that to sketch the lives of those at the head
of great political or military movements only is doing but
a small part of a historian’s work, and that the historian
must descend a step lower and inquire after the fate of the
many, we have tried to arrange our material so as to be able
not only to give the reader the names of the leaders of these
1 Handlingar rörande. Sk. Historia, xx. 168.
2 Eric’s Registratur, Riks A. In the same letter ships and mariners
were mentioned.
3 Already in 1534 Gustavus Vasa writes with regard to a Scottish
sea-captain, who had offered his services to one Severin Kill, and commands
him with all eagerness to accept the offer, also to be prepared to pay
down a certain sum to him in case he might be willing “ to enlist any men
on our behoof,” adding that the dangers of war were always threatening.
Gustav’s Registratur, ix. 148.
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