As the guns roared out across the river Avon, some 16,000 Scots faced each other in battle, both sides believing they fought for God, Scotland and their King. By the evening, the great hall at the Palace would be ringing with the sounds of partying as the victors remembered the events of the day and blessed their survival.
3,000 would be killed or maimed. The fields around the bridge at Linlithgow would be running red, the nunnery at Manuel would be crammed with the dead and dying, the bloated corpses would be seen floating into the Forth. Men would have run themselves to death or be hewn down by pursuing horsemen.
The sons and brothers of those Scots that had fought and died side by side against the English at Flodden, now faced each other in a bitter conflict in the heart of their nation. At stake was no less than the throne of Scotland, to lose would mean to be tried for treason, lands confiscated, families exiled, execution.
This is the story of a forgotten battle marked only by crossed swords on a map and a pile of stones at the entrance to a housing estate. This is the story of the Heart and the Rose.