Sir Andrew Wood of Largo (died 1515) was a Scottish

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and effici ...

. Beginning as a merchant in

Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...

, he was involved in national naval actions and rose to become

Lord High Admiral of Scotland The Lord High Admiral of Scotland was one of the Great Officers of State of the Kingdom of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707. The office was one of considerable power, also known as ''Royal Scottish Admiralty'', including command ...

. He was knighted c. 1495. He may have transported James III across the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

to escape the rebels in 1488. He superintended the rebuilding of

Dunbar Castle Dunbar Castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, situated in a prominent position overlooking the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian. Several fortifications were built successively on the site, near the English-Scotti ...

in 1497. One of Andrew's sons, John Wood was assassinated in 1570. Andrew Wood is the subject of the

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other t ...

'' The Admiral'' by

Nigel Tranter Nigel Tranter OBE (23 November 1909 – 9 January 2000) was a writer of a wide range of books on castles, particularly on themes of architecture and history. He also specialised in deeply researched historical novels that cover centuries of Sco ...

Naval career

Wood began his naval career as a

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

under James III (reigned 1460–1488), and flourished under

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

(reigned 1488–1513). By 1489 he owned the ''Flower'' and the ''Yellow Carvel'', both fighting ships, which fought and captured five English ships offshore near

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ...

. In response, the English launched a larger expedition the following year under Stephen Bull, which attacked Wood's ships in the

. The fight lasted two days (stopping only at night) and was watched by crowds in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Wood eventually triumphed, despite being outnumbered in ships and guns, and the English ships were captured. James IV knighted Wood following this battle, and allowed him to impress some of the captured English sailors, who later were put to work build the castle at Largo.Tranter, p. 119 Sir Andrew was the first Captain of James IV's

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade ...

, the ''

Great Michael ''Michael'', popularly known as ''Great Michael'', was a carrack or great ship of the Royal Scottish Navy. She was the largest ship built by King James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland fr ...

,'' which when constructed was the largest ship in Christendom.

Notes

References

* Sadler, John; ''Border Fury: England and Scotland at War 1296-1568'', UK: Pearson Education Ltd, 2005 *

Tranter, Nigel Nigel Tranter OBE (23 November 1909 – 9 January 2000) was a writer of a wide range of books on castles, particularly on themes of architecture and history. He also specialised in deeply researched historical novels that cover centuries of Sco ...

; ''The Story of Scotland,'', Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing, 1993 (first published 1987 by Routledge & Keagan Paul Ltd)
Clan Wood Society
Court of James IV of Scotland Lord High Admirals of Scotland Scottish knights Scottish sailors Privateers 1515 deaths Year of birth unknown 16th-century Scottish military personnel {{Scotland-bio-stub