account of the re-capture. He said that an inside-man let in seven Scots, and at night an eighth man climbed in. These then overwhelmed the garrison. In Jean's account the man who climbed the wall was a Home, aged 60. Sutton was still a prisoner at the end of the war, and the Earl of Shrewsbury was asked to organise his release by the exchange of French hostages. Mariotta, Lady Home, sent the news to Mary of Guise on 28 December 1548 from Edinburgh. Regent Arran thanked John Hume of Cowdenknowes for his service recovering the castle. The English unsuccessfully attempted to recapture Hume in February 1549. Lady Home was once again installed in the castle in March 1549 and complained to Mary of Guise in March 1549 of the behaviour of the French and Spanish garrison obtaining credit from the villagers. When the English abandoned their fort at Lauder the guns there were dragged by oxen to Hume Castle. Mary of Guise ordered the people of Sherriffdom of Berwick and Lauderdale to provide 320 oxen to remove the guns from Hume in February 1558. The cannons were taken to the fort at Eyemouth. The castle was again besieged in April 1570 by the Earl of Sussex during his raid into Scotland. The defenders capitulated within twelve hours, in awe of his superior numbers and the firepower of "three battery pieces and two sakers" brought from Wark Castle. Regent Morton gave money to Agnes Gray, Lady Home, in the 1570s to keep the castle garrisoned for James VI. Downfall The 17th century saw the demise of Hume Castle as a habitable fortress. The Earls of Home had already established a new seat at The Hirsel by 1611. However, the castle finally succumbed to the forces of Cromwell in 1650 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. James, 3rd Earl of Home was a prominent member of the Kirk Party, and after Cromwell's successful investiture of Edinburgh Castle, he sent Colonel George Fenwick to beset the Earl's Castle with two regiments. Catherine Morrison, the Lady of Wedderburn, paid £6 to bring cannon to defend Hume. Colonel John Cockburn, the castle's Scottish governor, engaged in witty repartee with the Roundheads, but refused to deliver the castle. Colonel Cockburn feigned that he had no idea who Cromwell was and that the castle stood on a rock. He then sent a note to Fenwick