Having won the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sought to bring Scotland also under his protectorate. When he eventually returned to England, leaving General George Monk in command, one of the Roundhead officers left behind was Colonel James Stansfield, who was made 'governor' of Haddingtonshire. Stansfield befriended two Haddingtonshire lairds whom he had captured at Dunbar, Patrick, Lord Elibank and George Hepburn of Monkrigg; and the three of them worked together to establishing cloth-mills at Haddington, making use of the great quantities of wool from the sheep-strewn Lammermuir Hills. This enterprise grew and acheived nationwide importance. But it also produced dramatic consequences and unforeseen developments for the trio.