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and men who were afterwards sent to Stockholm as
prisoners to give an account of the affair. Only 70, or,
according to Riissow, 700 (!) Scots fled into Wesenberg,
and were received into the fortress with open arms, but
afterwards were sent to Moscow, since when nothing more
is heard of them.
Two facts impress themselves most strongly upon every
impartial reader of this sad tragedy: the utter incapacity
of the Swedish military leaders, and the cynical indifference
of the king. There was a sort of a trial held, but only
to incriminate the Scots. We read of no lists of the
killed and wounded being forwarded to Stockholm; we
read of no punishment dealt out to the Germans. The
great anxiety of the Government was apparently to keep
the awful truth to themselves.
After this sad end of the levy of 1573 we hear no
more of Scottish legionaries until we come to the year
1591. In the meantime the war against Russia had,
after an armistice, during which Sweden remained in
possession of her conquests, broken out afresh. Great
preparations were made during the summer of that year
to meet the country’s emergencies in the field. A certain
unwillingness, however, to levy new troops in Scotland
seems to have prevailed. In the letter which authorises
Duke Charles to raise 4000 foreign soldiers, the
significant addition occurs — preferably in the Netherlands
(“ eljest ”) ; so that we are left in doubt how many Scots, if
any, were among the number. It is certain, nevertheless,
that Captain Henry Lyell received orders to levy one
regiment of horse for service in Livland. He was to see
particularly to their horse material and to their equipment.1
The following Scottish officers are named in 1595 as
receiving their remaining pay: David Johnston, W.
1 Eighth of June. Riks A. Registr.
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