james v entered his majority in 1524. he did not share his father's interest in building a navy, relying on french gifts such as the "salamander", or captured ships like the english "mary willoughby". scotland's shipbuilding remained largely at the level of boat building and ship repairs and fell behind the low countries which led the way into semi-industrialised ship building. despite truces between england and scotland there were periodic outbreaks of commerce raiding in the 1530s with at least four of a known six men-at-war were royal naval vessels on the scottish side. james v built a new harbour at burntisland in 1542, called 'our lady port' or 'new haven,' described in 1544 as having three blockhouses with guns and a pier for great ships to lie in a dock. the chief use of naval power in his reign were a series of expeditions to the isles and france. in 1536 the king circumnavigated the isles, embarking at pittenween in fife and landing whithorn in galloway. later in the year he sailed from kirkcaldy with six ships including the 600 ton "mary willoughby", and arrived at dieppe to begin his courtship of his first wife madeleine of valois. after his marriage he sailed from le havre in the "mary willoughby" to leith with four great scottish ships and ten french. after the death of queen madeleine, john barton, in the "salamander" returned to france in 1538 to pick up the new prospective queen, mary of guise, with the "moriset" and "mary willoughby". in 1538 james v embarked on the newly equipped "salamander" at leith and accompanied by the "mary willoughby", the "great unicorn", the "little unicorn", the "lion" and twelve other ships sailed to kirkwall on orkney. then he went to lewis on the west, perhaps using the newly compiled charts from his first voyage known as alexander lindsay's rutter.