ABSTRACT
In September 1643 Parliament and the the Solemn League and Covenant, whereby more than 20,000 Scottish troops would enter the war against the King. Scottish involvement would force the royalists in the north to stand on the defensive and thus ease pressure on Parliament’s forces elsewhere in England. The northern royalist army had marked time since its failure to take Hull in September 1643, largely due to command indecision. By January 1644, invasion was imminent, and on the 18th the Scottish army gathered at Berwick. The marquess of Newcastle was faced with war on two fronts, and chose to leave Yorkshire to fend for itself, rightly seeing the Scots as his most immediate enemy.
