Battle of Solway Moss

The Battle of Solway Moss was fought on 24 November 1542 during renewed Anglo-Scottish hostility. A Scottish force operating near the western border encountered English troops and suffered a disorderly defeat in which many Scots were captured.

The reverse intensified the crisis surrounding James V, who died in December 1542, leaving his infant daughter Mary as queen. The resulting minority opened a prolonged contest over Scotland’s government, religion and relations with Henry VIII’s England.

Steven Veerapen’s The Abbey Close is set against this military crisis and follows the fictional Simon Danforth in Paisley as war, church politics and murder converge. The battle and the political tensions are historical; Danforth and the mystery plot are fictional.