I've looked high and I've looked low but all I've found on this subject was that a very large Scottish army of 20,000 men under Alexander Leslie lived in the Counties Northumberland and Durham for about a year following the Battle of Newburn and extorted the King of England under the Treaty of Ripon as a way to keep leverage for Parliament to be called to sign the Treaty of London in 1641, and that there was some looting.
But what was the local reaction to this army? Were they friendly, hostile, or apathetic? Were the Scots billeted in and amongst the English or did they keep very separate military camps? Newcastle's population alone would have doubled or even tripled if the Scottish camp followers were in any significant number. And during this time period of heightened politicking was there significant propagandizing via pamphlets or otherwise on either side? I also read somewhere a brief mention that the Northern English Churches of Scotland may have been founded due to this time period, is there definitive proof of that somewhere?
Thanks much!
Crikey what a fascinating question, sorry I don't have answers but am currently happily lost down a rabbit hole.
I wonder if you could search old court or assizes records for the areas where the Scottish troops were billeted.
I wonder if there are any local documents in the towns and villages. Was initially thinking of Warkworth especially as it has such an unchanged layout with plots of land still the same as they were in medieval times, burgages. If there was pillaging and thieving of crops and farm animals, there may be records of argy bargy between those pesky Scots and the locals.
Would church records offer any clues, deaths and marriages between the locals and Scots.
It might be worth contacting historians of the castles in the area to see if there are any archives mentioning support or feuds with the two groups. Particularly thinking of Alnwick which has been in the same family for centuries.
I'm pretty sure the locals wouldn't have been happy as an extra 20k soldiers would have put a strain on local resources both food and wood for fires. The locals may have benefitted too if they could sell excess produce. The 1640 harvest seems just above average ( i think ) according to W. G. Hoskins.
I would think this meant that people had to be extra vigilant to protect themselves from bored troops marauding around. I wonder if local gentry had to stump up the cost for more bailiffs and reeves etc. and would those costs been squeezed out of the tenants?
There was a bit of plague about as The Bills of Mortality recorded, about 11,000 dead between 1640 and 46.
Good luck with your research.