Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, commanding the Marian garrison of Edinburgh Castle, periodically led sorties down the Canongate to dominate the lower town and harass the King's party besiegers. In one notable sortie in 1572 he drove King's men out of the Canongate and briefly held the lower part of the Royal Mile, demonstrating that the castle garrison remained aggressive and capable of offensive action two years into the siege. Kirkcaldy had been one of the foremost Scottish soldiers of his generation — the defender who had once killed the French commander at the siege of Leith — and he brought professional skill to the castle's defence.
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