David's Tower — the great fourteenth-century tower on the northeast face of Edinburgh Castle built by David II — was the main target of Drury's English artillery in May 1573. The tower, though massive, had not been designed to withstand sixteenth-century artillery. After three days of sustained bombardment the tower collapsed, along with the Constable's Tower adjacent to it. The rubble partially filled the ditch below, making an improvised causeway that the besiegers could have used to assault. The fall of David's Tower was the moment the garrison knew the castle could not be held.
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