The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses Black Arrow" appeared in "Young Folks" (October 1883): The Battle of Shoreby, a fictitious battle that is the main event of Book 5, is modelled after the First Battle of St Albans in the Wars of the Roses. This battle in history as in the novel was a victory for the House of York. The presence of an abbey church in Shoreby is reminiscent of the abbey church of Tewkesbury to which the Lancastrians fled for sanctuary after the battle on 4 May 1471. In the "prologue" Stevenson intimates that the Tunstall of "The Black Arrow" is a real place:
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages era after the wars of independence circulated around attempts to resolve problems of entrenched localism in these regions. It was in the later medieval era that the borders of Scotland reached approximately their modern extent. The Isle of Man fell under English control in the 14th century, despite several attempts to restore Scottish authority. The English were able to annexe a large slice of the lowlands under Edward III, but these losses were gradually regained, particularly while England was preoccupied with the Wars of the Roses (1455–85). In 1468 the last great acquisition of Scottish territory occurred when James III