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Commentary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Extract

Confusion prevailed in the city of Bristol on March 7, 1643. The appearance of so many armed men in the neighbourhood of course excited great ferment among the population. Fiennes, who had openly declared himself by other actions, kept his counsel and was not unprepared. He had been opposed to the Cavaliers in fight at Powick Bridge, Edgehill, and elsewhere, and now took his stand, in defiance of Royal authority, as governor for the Parliament. He had under him sufficient force to suppress a rising: his own regiment of cavalry at least, with such soldiers as Essex had left behind him, and volunteers who had placed themselves under him. We have seen Birch as their captain. Fro m the beginning of October many of the youths of the place, under the Parliamentary plea of acting for the King, were already expert in arms, the defences had been made up, and evidently there was no access but by the gates. Fiennes was therefore ready: and, as he had secret instructions from the Parliament, he skilfully anticipated the place and the time. Five in the morning was the appointed hour. There was an ancient bridge over the Avon, connecting the northern and southern parts; it stood upon four arches, and, like that at London over the Thames, was covered with houses.

Type
Military Memoir of Colonel John Birch
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1874

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References

page 38 note a [1642 in the MS., the year then ending on March 25.]

page 38 note b Note 1.

page 38 note c This bridge was only 19 feet in width, and had a chapel of the Virgin upon it 25 yards long and 7 wide, built in the reign of Edward III. The whole was demolished, and a new one erected, in 1768.

page 39 note a Among many papers found in the house of Robert Yeomans was one to the following effect: “All inhabitants of the Bridge, the High Street, and Corn Street, keep within your doores upon perill of your lives.” (Vicars, God in the Mount, 280.) The Bridgemen were the strongest Parliamentarians in the city. (A Full Declaration, &c. Londou, 1643.) We have no idea where Birch's residence might be, but it may be fairly inferred that his abode, or at least his store, was not there, as that was entirely plundered, which Roe would not have omitted to mention.—J. W.

page 39 note b Vicars, God in the Mount, 278.

page 39 note c According to Barrett (History of Bristol, 227) the disclosure was attributed to “some tattling females.” Roe has not said that the search and arrest were personally conducted by Birch, only that he had them in his custody within a short time after he received the information. The real actor was Captain Jeremie Buck, who made oath before the council of war of having seized Yeomana and twenty-three others at his house on 7th March at ten at night. The discrepancy of hours between this information, the statement of Vicars, and that of our narrative, is of little importance. (“The severall examinations of the treacherous conspirators,” &c. Husbands, May 25, 1643, King's pamphlets, Brit. Mus.) The character of Buck for wanton severity and cowardice well qualified him for such an undertaking. Mer. curius Rusticus, xvii. 156, “a busie mercer of Hampton-rode.” Bibl. Gloucestrensis, cl. 164. [A letter published in Seyer's Memoirs states that intelligence of the meeting at Yeomans's was given to the governor in council of war, where the writer was, about 1 (qu. 10?) o'clock; and that they sent Buck and 40 musketeers. Langrish says in a letter, “At ten at night we had intelligence that the malignants of the city had meetings in several houses thereof, namely, at one Yeoman's house: whereupon our Capt. Buck with some foot, and I with a party of horse, were sent thither; where we found 24 persons that stood upon their guards at the said Captain's entrance thereunto; but when they saw my party and said (sic) that I had sent for a canon to batter the house, they yielded, and laying down their arms I conveyed them all to the castle.” He also, and Capt. Goodier's soldiers, made the subsequent seizure at Boucher's house. No mention occurs of Birch, who may have been ordered to the castle to receive the prisoners.]

page 40 note a The Parliament ordered a thanksgiving througout the kingdom, to be held March 19. (Commons' Journals, March 14, 1642.)

page 41 note a Howell has described how those who really desired peace were affected amidst the confusion introduced by the cross-application of terms. “Never such an amphibious quarrel, both parties declaring themselves for the King and making use of his name in all their remonstrances to Justifie their actions. The affections and understandings of the people were never so confounded and puzzled, not knowing where to acquiesce by reason of such counter-commands. One side calls the resisting of royall commands Loyalty: the other terms loyalty the opposing of Parliamentary orders and ordinances.” England's Teares; Dodona's Grove, 161.

page 42 note a Seneca, Hercules Furens, iii. 739, et seqq.

page 43 note a See Bristol Tracts, passim. Vicars represents the population at Bristol as having acquiesced in their sufferings and execution, i. 284. Compare the account with that in Mercurius Rusticus, i. 174, et seqq. for both sides of the question.

page 43 note b He justified it by the command of his superiors, His Excellency the Lord General and the two Houses, from whom he had received thanks.—J. W.

page 43 note c Trial, 796.

page 43 note d In confidence of heart he was proved to have boasted at times that, should it be assailed, he would dispute every foot of ground with the enemy to the utmost; that it should be won from him by inches; tha t his flag should be his winding sheet; that he would keep the city or it should keep him, or he would lay his bones there. (Trial of N. Fiennes.)—J. W.

page 44 note a Young Edward Harley, the eldest son of Sir Robert Harley, was, with a younger brother, in this battle in the regiment of Sir Arthur Hesilrige: he lost the horse that his anxious mother Lady Brilliana had given him, and narrowly escaped there with his life. In a subsequent engagement on the Parliamentary side he received a ball in his body which he carried to his dying day. He was a much valued and respected friend of Colonel Birch; and is here mentioned as one to whom he looked up with no common reverence, and as a neighbour to whom he was greatly indebted when the Colonel settled in the county of Hereford in after years.—Lady B. Harley's Letters, ceii.

page 44 note b [He had been shot through the arm, and on the following morning dangerously hurt by the explosion of an ammunition-wagon.]

page 45 note a [Or rather Birch; for this is one of the passages where a vacant space in Roe's MS. has been filled in by him.]

page 45 note b Clarendon, vii.

page 45 note c The Two State Martyrs, 19.

page 45 note d Trial, 787, 794.

page 46 note a E. Warburton's Pr. Kupert, ii. 260.

page 46 note b Warburton, ii. 267. “Prince Rupert (as the governor saith) was very noble in doing his endeavour to prevent disorder, but could not prevail with the common soldiers.”—Kingdom's Weekly Intelligencer, Aug. 1 to 8, 1643.

page 47 note a The royal visit after this calamity is thus noticed in the Court Mercury.—The King was received at Bristol with great joy and triumph and acclamations. The town seemed on fire with bonfires, and the streets could hardly be passed for the throng of the people. The mayor and his brethren were commanded to keep to their houses till they had answered for the murder of the two martyred citizens. Merc. Aulicus, July 30.

page 47 note b Trial, ut antea.

page 47 note c [It appears from Seyer (Memoirs, ii. 298) that he gave an account of what he had witnessed in a tract entitled “The Tragedy of Bristol; published by Captain Birch, Mr. Powell, and other citizens of Bristol, friends to the Parliament.”]

page 48 note a Iter Carol. Sept. 15, 1645. Waller's Vindication, 45. The Scots used it; Clarendon, vi.

page 48 note b It is not generally known how strongly the King was urged and tempted by intelligence on which he thought he could depend. Rapin is of opinion that he was in the right to set about it. Rupert was earnestly pressed by communications from the City itself. MS. Correspondence, Brit. Mus. i. 85, 100, 106.

page 48 note c Note 2.

page 48 note d Clarendon, viii.

page 49 note a Hampden and his friends were not the only parties that made the attempt. Sir Edward Nicholas, writing to Thos. Bushell, esq., Dec. 21,1642, says: “there are 200 trunks sent aboarde shippes belowe London bridge, with warrant and order from Parliament that they shall not be opened or searched.” Nichols's Collectanea Topogr. et Genealogica, vol. v. p. 299.

page 49 note b The Parliament had long previous to this time given strict orders for searching carriers before they started from their inns in London. C. J. July 4, 19, 1642, et alibi.

page 49 note c April 4, Rapin, II. xxi. 473.

page 50 note a [The city of Worcester presented a petition to his Majesty that their trade consisted chiefly of clothing, but being unable to come to London they could not sell their goods or pay their assessments; thereupon they intreated permission to trade, which being granted, the clothiers and chapmen sent out their commodities, but were met by the King's forces, who robbed them of their goods on the road. Weekly Accompt, June 26, 1644.]

page 50 note b Certaine Informations, May 29 to June 5, 1643. He was thus furnished and attired:—He rode with a cloke-bag, containing his books, &c, had a riding coat, hanger, cane, and buckskin gloves, and was distinguished by a gold ring.

page 50 note c Speciall Passages, Dec. 1642.

page 50 note d Corbet, who was military chaplain to Massey, the governor of Gloucester, affirms that Waller had not “the reliques of an army.” Military Government, in Bibl. Glouc. 54. He came to London with about 100 men: Hesilrige with about 20. Parl. Scout, July 20–27, 1643. Second Intelligence.—How Hesilrige contrived his personal escape is a mystery that is unnecessary to look into. He had received a wound in the arm and a hurt in the ear, and been publicly prayed for in the metropolitan churches. True Relation, &c. Bibl. Glouc. 202.

page 51 note a [The following entries in Dugdale's Diary afford an amusing comparison: “July 13, Waller defeated at Roundway downe. — 25, Waller enters London triumphantly.”]

page 51 note b Speciall Passages, Aug. 27, 1643.

page 51 note c Vicars, God in the Mount, 93, 213. Places selected for general musterings of horse on different occasions were Tothill Fields, Moorfields, and the New Artillery Ground. C. J. July 5, 22, Nov. 14, 1642. In his eagerness to obtain recruits Waller himself did not disdain to go among the butchers of Newgate Market. Merc. Civicus, Aug. 8, 1643.

page 51 note d Ludlow's Memoirs, i. 112, 8vo edit.

page 52 note a Appendix I.

page 52 note b [It appears by the Perfect Diurnall, Oct. 16, 1644, that he estimated his loss on that occasion at “many thousands.”]

page 52 note c Scobell, 40. Ordinance, May 6, 1643.

page 52 note d The manner in which he was set forth by his admirers is thus expressed by Vicars, ut supra. “Sir Arthur Haslerig, a most pious patriot of his countrey, and a most worthie member of the House of Commons, and a most valiant and couragious commander in the late famous battell at Keinton.”—Vicars, in spite of his religious abuse, incorrectness of numbers, and other absurdities of party, is very valuable and useful in the features, tone, and temper of the metropolis.—J. W. [The expression employed by this writer renders it probable that patroit (in Roe's uncouth spelling) was the word so diligently obliterated by Birch in the original.]

page 53 note a [Instances, however, might be cited of generous feeling towards fallen adversaries. One, relating to Lord Brudenell, and specified in the petition of that nobleman to the Parliament, July 8, 1651, was originally intended for insertion in this Commentary; another connected with an allowance to the Countess of Nottingham appears in Whitelocke, May 21,1649.]

page 53 note b Clarendon, i. iii.

page 53 note c Memoirs, ii. 718.

page 54 note a “A sweet place,” says a Royalist officer who passed by and saw his deserted home.

page 54 note b If these statements should be thought to have borne too hardly on the character of this prominent actor in the drama, its singularity is certainly not contradicted by the expressions of his epitaph in the church of Noseley:—

Here lyes Sir Arthur Hesilrige, Baronet, Who injoyed his portion of this life In ye times of greatest civill troubles Yt ever this nation had. He was a lover of liberty, And faithfull to his country. He delighted in sober company; And departed this life 7th of January, In England's peaceable year, Anno Dom' 1660.

Nichols, from whom little escapes that can be learned by diligent investigation, will amply satisfy the inquirer. (History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, 2, ii. 743–753.)

page 54 note c Holies, Memoirs, 11.

page 55 note a Vindication, 14, 15.

page 55 note b [His commission as Lieutenant-Colonel nnder Hesilrige bears date September 2: yet he is repeatedly styled Captain in the Commons' Journals during October 1643.]

page 56 note a Note 3.

page 56 note b Appendix III.

page 56 note c Though Essex, or as he was called “Old Robin,” was the first of the leaders employed in this cause, Waller seems to have more thoroughly gained the affection of the new levies; and, indeed, on many accounts he deserved it.—J. W.

page 57 note a The rage for fighting among the Londoners was shown by the calculation that was made of enlisting 10,000 volunteers in the levy of 1642. C. J. July 9.—In 1647 the City had at their command no less than 18 regiments of foot, some of them 1,800 and 2,000 strong, “all compounded of as gallant men and as well provided for the field as any in the Christian world;” and might have had between 4 and 5 thousand horse, all mounted by reformado officers and gentlemen of quality. Waller's Vindication, 188.—J. W.

page 57 note b [An ordinance had been passed, Nov. 9, 1642, encouraging apprentices to enlist, securing them against their masters, and commanding the latter to receive them again without punishment for their absence after their public service should be ended.]

page 58 note a Letters of a Subaltern Officer, Archæologia, xxxv. 311.

page 58 note b Trevor, a Royalist, who passed through Worcester and saw it in the state in which they left it prior to the battle of Edge-hill, states the little power their officers had to repress their enormities. “In all this hurly-burly their general or officers durst manage no other instrument of correction in their hands but their hats.” Carte, Letters, i. 15.

page 59 note a Scobell, 39, 40.

page 60 note a Godwin, History of Commonwealth, iii. 491. Retrospective Review, ix. 1,6; xii. 2, 1.

page 60 note b The King's, Queen's, and Prince's revenues were ordered to be sequestered and collected by ordinance precisely at this time. Lords' Journals, Sept. 21.

page 62 note a Burnet, i. 547.

page 63 note a His share of the sequestered property as discoverer, according to the ordinance (Scobell, 50), would have amounted to one shilling in the pound, besides such gratuity for extraordinary service as the Parliament might think fit to allow him.

page 63 note b Trenchard was treasurer. Of the difficulties with which Waller had to contend, and the expense of his and other armaments, some notion may be formed from his own words of complaint against the Parliament: “In what condition I was maintained may be demonstrated by the treasurer Mr. John Trenchard his accompts, where it will appear that from the time of my setting forth unto my disbanding I never received full one hundred thousand pounds (an inconsiderable summe compared with what others had), and yet out of that stock I was fain to play the good husband, and to be at the charge to pay for part of my arms and ammunition.” Vindication, 16, 17.

page 63 note c Note 4.

page 64 note a C. J. loco. [“It is little knowne amongst us in the army that Sir W. Waller, being to march upon a hopefull designe, some of his commanders would not march without pay; whereupon such as refused, being 7 or 8 in number, he called them in, one by one, cashired them, and gave their commissions to their lieutenants, and put some of them in the gaole, and the rest were earnest suitors to be entertained againe, but could not prevaile.” Kingdome's Weekly Intelligencer, May 9 to 15, 1643. But as late as Feb. 13, 1644–5, Whitelocke informs us that “letters from Sir W. Waller intimated disobedience in some of the soldiers to march into the West, and desired further power,” which was granted: as the army had then received their pay, this writer considers that “here began their first unruliness.”]

page 64 note b Baines' MSS.

page 64 note c Lewis's Topograph. Diet, sub v. Farnham.

page 64 note d God in the Mount, i. 223.

page 65 note a Waller forced the gate with a petard, and it surrendered. Sir John Denham in retnrn for this mortification thus lampooned him for his rout at Koundway Down:—

Great William the Con—So fast did he run That he left half his name behind him.

It had been as unfortunate on the King's side to entrust the government of Farnham to Sir John Denham, the poet, as it was on the other side to confide Bristol to Nathaniel Fiennes, the lawyer. Neither of them proved fit to be trusted with important command.—J. W.

page 65 note b Experiences, MS.

page 65 note c C. J. Nov. 23, 1642.

page 66 note a Note 5.

page 66 note b See Note 17.

page 66 note c Experiences, MS.

page 67 note a Ant. Rep. ii. 5.

page 67 note b Note 6.

page 67 note c [In the Earl of Essex's army, a “Gentleman of the Arms” was allowed in every company of the foot, at 4d. extra per diem; and sixteen “Gentlemen of the Ordnance” for the whole of that branch of the service.—C. J. May 1 and 6, 1644.]

Who they were receives no explanation; they were perhaps intended as supernumeraries to fill up vacancies in the officers.—J. W.

page 68 note a [During the Protectorate, somewhat differently officered, 1,512l. Ant. Rep. ii. 5.]

page 68 note b Maijor Papers, I. British Museum.—[A cavalry regiment consisted usually of three or four troops. Cruso, Castrametation (1642), 10.—On the Royalist side, it was proposed, in May 1644, to allow the troopers in garrison at Woodstock Manor Is. per week, “which is but a little more than a third part of their pay.” Sir E. Walker's Papers, MSS. Harl. 6802, 147.—An estimate by Col. T. Blagge allowed 3s. 6d. for each soldier, hay and oats each 3s. per week. Ibid. 6804, 185.—The Earl of Manchester received 34,000l. per month for 14,000 men; the new modelled army of 21,000 was allowed 44,955l. The exactions of Fairfax on the city of Bath and hundred of Bathforum are shown by the records of the corporation to have been 90,000l. for six months, in addition to twelve months pay (amount not specified) granted previously!—Such is war.]

page 69 note a Whitelocke, 74.

page 69 note b Carte, MSS. Letters, Bibl. Bodl. EEEE, 36.

page 69 note c Note 7.

page 69 note d [This nobleman had served in the wars between the Poles and Turks: but if he brought away any military reputation, it was not increased by his achievements nearer home.]

page 70 note a Note 8.

page 70 note b Parl. Scout, Thursday, July 6, 1643.

page 71 note a [A somewhat similar instance of courtesy occurred when Prince Rupert drew off from Bristol on the failure of Yeomans's plot. The writer of a letter, who signs himself J. H., says that when the Prince sent to demand the bodies of two of his men killed by a shot from the town, “the trumpeter enquired for me, and said my Lord of Cleveland desired me to send him a pound of tobacco; but I being out of the way, Colonell Fines sent him one pound and Colonell Popham another.” (Seyer's Memoirs, ii. 367.) Lloyd tells us that he would take a hundred pipes a day, “first used to it in leagures.”]

page 71 note b Note 9.

page 71 note c It appears they were part of a picked, or what in modern times would be called a crack, regiment. The traces of its being repaired by enlistment or exchange are to be seen in the account of the night-march of Charles I. by the Rev. Vaughan Thomas (Oxford, 8vo.), where, at p. 25, are entries from the register of Yarnton, Jan. 14, 1643, to Jan. 31, 1644, of the burial of several of that regiment. It is also mentioned in Symonds's Diary, p. 160, as kept up under the name of Boles, and commanded by Sir George Lisle, whose lamented death at Colchester in 1648 nearly closed the military sufferings of the Cavaliers. Boles had been in Reading during the siege, and one of the party appointed to treat of the surrender.—Vicars, God in the Mount, 312. Several of the officers taken at Alton were retained prisoners till the April following, when they procured liberty to solicit an exchange. MSS. Papers of Sir Edw. Walker: MSS. Harl. 6802, 71.

page 72 note a [Dugdale says the town was gained Dec. 5, the castle Dec. 9. He fixes the surprise at Alton Dec. 14, a day later than Roe and the “Narration” published by the Parliament.]

page 72 note b [Clarendon observes that “the Lord Hopton sustained the loss of that regiment with extraordinary trouble of mind, and as a wound that would bleed inward.” History, viii.]

page 73 note a Note 10.

page 74 note a Young Soldier, 1642.

page 74 note b Note 11.

page 75 note a That of Sir Geryase Scroop, who received seventeen wounds at the battle of Edgehill, and lay two days and two nights among the slain, till discovered by the filial piety of his son.—Bulstrode, Memoirs, 85.

page 75 note b Note 12.

page 75 note c Campbell's Soldier's Dream.

page 76 note a Book viii.

page 76 note b L. J. Dec. 23, 1643.

page 76 note c Biographical Dictionary, article Cheynell.

page 76 note d Note 13.

page 77 note a L. J. Feb. 26, 1643—4.

page 77 note b Appendix VIII.

page 77 note c Appendix IX.

page 77 note d Hacket, Life of Williams, ii. 206. [The Commissioners of the county of Monmouth stipulated that there should be no free quarter allowed to the King's soldiers but for a night or two, marching: if the garrisons infringed this agreement, the contribution was to suffer abatement. July 18, 1645.—MSS. Harl. 6852.]

page 78 note a Merc. Aulic. Feb. 1643–4.

page 79 note a Appendix X.

page 80 note a [The various and perplexed relations of the great battle of Marston Moor are a well-known instance of this. Fairfax himself seems to hare had a singularly confused recollection of his own part in it. In his “Memorials” he expressly states that he commanded the right wing; in Fuller's “Worthies” (215, n.) he as distinctly asserts that he had command of the left.]

page 80 note b Note 14.

page 80 note c Note 15.

page 80 note d Note 16.

page 80 note e Note 17.

page 81 note a Note 18.

page 81 note b Experiences, MS.

page 82 note a Vicars, Parl. Chron. 191.

page 82 note b Life, i. 47.

page 83 note a [it was subsequently destroyed by fire on May Day, 1690.—Camden's Britannia, i. 138.]

page 83 note b Note 19.

page 83 note c “It was just with God for the punishment of my giving way to the plunder of the city of Winchester (whereof I was a freeman and sworne to maintain and procure the good thereof as far as I could) to permitt the demolition of my castle at Winchester.” Fourth fatherlike chastisement. Experiences, MS.—Rushworth, 3, ii. 655.

page 84 note a Rushworth, 3, ii. 656. Twenty thousand pounds were ordered to be raised for this purpose.—L. J. April 3, 1644.

page 84 note b Essex's army consisted of 10,500 men, April 8: 4,200 were ordered to join him, May 9. Waller had between 9,000 and 10,000, May 15. The King assembled 9,500, June 18, of whom about 6,000 accompanied him.—L.J.April 8. Rushworth, 3, ii. 667, 670; Clarendon, viii.; Hamper's Dugdale, 69; Carte's Ormonde, iii. 316; Vaughan's Night March of Charles I. 3.

page 84 note c The common sense of Whitelocke and others discovered this. “It was thought strange at that time that the Committee of both Kingdoms should at that distance take upon them to give particular orders for the services and march of their armies, and not rather leave it to the chief commanders that were upon the place; who, npon every motion of the enemy, might see reason to alter their counsels. This increased the jealousies of the Lord General and Waller, both gallant men; but the General thought himself undervalued and Waller too much exalted.” In like manner, during the resistance that Austria made to the First Napoleon, the efforts of her generals were too often thwarted and brought to nought by the Aulic Council at Vienna.

page 86 note a “I must tell you, he broke more bridges than 10,000l. will repaire.”—Arthur Trevor to M. of Ormonde, Jun e 29, 1644. Carte's Ormonde, iii. 318. Only Evesham Bridge is mentioned by Clarendon.

page 86 note b The motto of Worcester is “Floreat semper fldelis civitas.”

page 86 note c The King's army had partly lodged at Cropredy the night before the battle of Edgehill (Vicars, God in the Mount, 191): so that this little place had been accustomed to the tumult of armed men.—J. W.

page 87 note a [See Appendix XI.]

page 87 note b A similar advantage was taken by Frederic the Great at Leuthen and Eosbach, by Napoleon I. at Austerlitz, and Wellington at Salamanca; all of which succeeded. Waller after all did not miss his intent so widely as might be supposed. Lord Digby, writing to Prince Rupert, says, “it was ten thousand to one but our van and maine body had been cutt off from our reare, and all hazarded, had not my Lord of Cleveland charged them without order.”—Rupert's MS. Correspondence. [The Earl of Cleveland's word on this occasion was “Hand and Sword.”]

page 87 note c Devereux, ii. 418. Wemyss had been made Master Gunner of England, and for many years had received 300l. per annum. The guns were recently made at Lambeth, and he had been paid 2,000l. for them, as appeared by writings found in his pocket.—Merc. Aulicus, June 29, 1644. [Lieut.-Col. Sir Thomas Hooper was knighted in the field for his capture.—Symonds's Diary, 2.]

page 88 note a Devereux, i. 418. Essex's letter, July 15, 1644.

page 88 note b Carte's Ormonde, i. 71. He survived and tried to make amends for his fault by serving under Charles II. in the battle of Worcester.

page 88 note c Harte's Gustavus Adolphus, i. 196; ii. 42, notes. [Massey was said to be constructing them in Scotland, June, 1651. Whitelocke, 467.]

page 88 note d Experiences, MS.

page 89 note a MS. ut supra.

page 89 note b Clarendon, vii. Corbet, Bibl, Glouc. 57.

page 89 note c Rushworth, ut supra, 687.

page 90 note a His sentiments underwent a total change; but, like the self-condemning Fairfax, it was too late. Browne was afterwards envoy at the Court of Versailles for Charles II.

page 90 note b Note 20.

page 90 note c [Probably very soon after his arrival at Abingdon: for we find him nominated, July 7, one of the committee for the city of Bristol, for putting into execution the ordinances of the Parliament.—L. J. Roe seems to have forgotten this: it may perhaps be the cause of a slight alteration by Birch in the MS.: see p. 14. The battle of Cropredy had been fought June 29 or 30: see p. 13, note h.]

page 91 note a Epist. ii. 2.

page 91 note b Dec. 1. 1. ix.

page 92 note a These were the whole of the pikes and muskets, with 42 cannon, 1 mortar, 100 barrels of powder, and nearly all the carriages. Among them was a wagon-load of musket-arrows. These were employed for the purpose of shooting letters into towns, as at Gloucester during the siege. (Bibl. Glouc. 224.) Laugharne also shot an arrow into Cardigan Castle with a letter to give notice of his coming to its relief, about Feb. 6, 1644. (Whitelocke, 125.) Sir Jacob Astley had nearly been killed by one of them at Devizes: “A bearded arrow stuck into the ground betwixt his legs. He pluckt it out with both hands, and said, You rogues, you mist your aim.” (Gwynne, Military Memoirs, 39.) The editor of Gwynne, supposed to have been Sir Walter Scott, seems to have considered this arrow as shot from a bow, and remarks that the employment of the bow might have ceased from this time, though it was used by some of the remote Highlanders in the battles of Montrose. It may have been almost forgotten that the revival of archery was a favourite with Essex. It is always mentioned in the ancient Commissions of Array. He had probably had his eye upon this, when, early in the armament, he issued a precept (Rushworth, 3, ii. 370) for raising a company of archers, in which he calls the bow “honourable and ancient, heretofore found to be of good use in this kingdom;” but the attempt seems not to have been seconded. It did not, however, escape a notice and recommendation from the pulpit by John Green, M.A., a puritan, some time minister of Pencombe in the county of Hereford, preached on Nehemiah, i. 3, 4, before the House of Commons at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on the monthly fast, April 24, 1C44. [A “company of pikes with bows and arrows” were found by a Parliamentarian reconnaisance in the town of Hertford, Aug. 15, 1642. Perfect Diurnall of Proceedings in Hertfordshire, 3.—The suburbs of Chester were set on fire by arrows shot from the city. MS. Letter Book of Sir W. Brereton, ii. 74.—Arrows were used with considerable effect by the Cossacks after the battle of Friedland in 1807.]

page 92 note b Rushworth, 3, ii. 705.

page 93 note a Diary, 66, 67.

page 94 note a Col. Burch hath mustered his regiment of new levied forces at Knowles near Synnock (Sevenoaks) in Kent on Friday last, and gave them their armes, who are to march to Sir William Waller.—Perfect Occurrences, Sept. 2.

page 94 note b Symonds, 81.

page 95 note a Note 21.

page 95 note b [This was probably the assault of Jan. 16, 1644–5, when, according to Vicars, Greenvile got four outworks but was driven off. One of them was called Little Penny-come-quick (Merc. Brit.). In Perfect Occurrences, Jan. 15, 1644, it is stated that Col. Birch made a sally from Plymouth, and took many prisoners.]

page 95 note c Several of the Arundel family, Eoyalists, were employed in this Western contest. As to the sword which Birch thought worthy of being borne about him, it appears to have continued a favourite companion in subsequent time: for when the attempt under Penruddock and Grove took place at Salisbury in behalf of Charles II., 1654, the county of Hereford with many others threatened a general rising to restore him; horses and arms were seized, and suspected persons arrested. Among them was Colonel Birch, then resident at Whitbourne. Wroth Rogers was governor of Hereford, and reported to the Protector that possession had been taken of his person, and that he had been cast into prison. (Thurloe, State Papers, III. 264, March 17, 1654.) While his sword, which he refused to deliver up, was being taken from him, he said, with some indignation, “My sword is short, but it may be long enough within a while.” Berry, one of Cromwell's major-generals, paid him a visit in the following November, and released him from confinement. (Idem, iv. 237.) It is no violation of truth to believe in the wearing of this sword ten years after it had been surrendered to him.

page 95 note d The siege was finally raised January 12, 1645–6.—Sprigge, 165.

page 96 note a C. J. May 12, 1645. See also March 10, 1644–5, and May 9, 1645.

page 96 note b “So modestly,” says one version of the Parliamentary note, “that his desire was granted.” (Perfect Diurnall, Oct. 16.) He was not unversed in the mollia tempora fandi as well as the rougher passages of debate.

page 96 note c C.J. Oct. 16, 1644.

page 96 note d The whole of the composition of Henry Hudson, esquire, of London, as it stands in Dring's Catalogue, amounted to 3,700l.

page 97 note a The officer who then commanded there was Colonel John Barkstead, originally a goldsmith in London, distinguished by the zeal and ability with which he passed through his military promotion in the Parliamentary service. After signing the King's death-warrant he fled to the Continent, where he continued for a while in a sort of sanctuary at Hanau in Germany. Venturing from that free city into Holland, he was seized, and, with others of the regicides, executed at the Restoration, April 19, 1662.—Noble's Regicides, i. 87.

page 97 note b See in Appendix XII. an original letter containing an account of this battle. It is from the pen of Colonel Richard Norton, Cromwell's favourite “Dick Norton,” who was governor of Basingstoke, and witnessed the fight only as an amateur, but got engaged too far in assisting Ludlow, who was in danger. Norton in so doing was wounded. It is the more interesting, as Ludlow himself, who confesses his horse was shot, has taken no notice of his personal escape.—Memoirs, i. 131.

page 98 note a Baillie, the Presbyterian commissioner to the Parliament, wrote triumphantly to his Scotch friend on this striking reverse to the King. (Letters and Journals, ii. 35 et seq. ed. 1775). Baillie was not aware that at this very time those dissensions were brooding that ruined the Presbyterian cause.

page 98 note b Rushworth, 3, ii. 719.

page 98 note c [Roe's date, Oct. 30, seems wrong, as the battle was on the 27th.]

page 99 note a Dugdale, Baronage, ii. 472; Lloyd, Memoirs, 467.

page 99 note b This was a little after the time of his laying down his command, and before his appointment as Lord Chamberlain to Prince Charles on Nov. 5, 1644.

page 99 note c Warwick says that his lady was a Swede, and that both of them were afterwards ill-used by his countrymen.—Memoirs, 229.

page 99 note d History, viii.

page 100 note a Note 22.

page 100 note b Note 23.

page 100 note c When the last flash, the last hurrah, and, would it might be added, the last groan had ceased upon the field, a large cavalcade consisting of a party that had taken refuge in Donnington Castle issued forth to travel by cross road to Bath, whither his Majesty also was on his way.—J. W. [But see note c, p. 98.]

page 100 note d Note 24.

page 101 note a It may be invidious to point out another trait, at p. 11, in the affair at Winchester.

page 101 note b July, 1645.

page 102 note a [Sprigge, who does mention Birch here, states that the firing of granados and slugs of hot iron was commenced by the garrison themselves, on the part of the town already taken by Fairfax. Great damage appears to have been done. This barbarous procedure seems to have been not unusual. The Earl of Newcastle adopted it at Hull; the town of Bridgenorth was burnt by granados fired by the garrison after they had been forced into the castle.]

page 102 note b After a letter from Sir Thomas Fairfax to the House of Commons concerning the taking of Bridgwater, “The House then tooke into consideration the safety of the said towne, by appointing an honest, able, and faithfull gentleman to command the same; and, after some debate concerning it, the House ordered that Colonell Birtch shall be nominated, appointed, and constituted governour of the towne of Bridgwater.” Perfect Diurnall, Saturday, July 26, 1645.—J. W.

page 102 note c Fairfax took Col. Birch with him and a few others to view the works two days after sending in the summons.—Mercurius Britannicus, Sept. 8 to 15.

page 102 note d [Only one soldier, however, died of it.]

page 103 note a September 10, 1645.

page 103 note b The words of Cromwell in his despatch are these: “Col. Birch with his men, and the major-general's (Skippon's) regiment, entered with very good resolution where their post was, possessing the enemy's guns, and turning them upon them.” Rainsborough, after all, had the hardest task of all, at Prior's Hill Fort. Sprigge, 115.

page 104 note a “Prince Rupert is so much given to his ease and pleasure, that every man is disheartened that sees it. This city of Bristol is but a great house of baudry, and will ruine the King; and, by all I see, Prince Rupert is resolved to lye by it.” (Trevor to M. of Ormonde; Carte's Ormonde, iii. 354.) He was so unpopular at his marching away, that the country people called out “Give him no quarter.” The general himself attended him with the ladies two miles out from the city. (Sprigge, 111, 112.) Baker says that the people of the town would stand by him no longer. Chronicle, 499.

page 104 note b Note 25.

page 107 note a Corbet, Bibl. Glouc. 29.

page 109 note a Serjeant-Major Scudamore is mentioned in a letter from Thomas Bushell to Sir Francis Ottley as being at Shrewsbury after the battle of Edgehill at Christmas.—Collectanea Topographica, vi. Ottleiana, 22.

page 109 note b Ottleiana.

page 109 note c Harl. MSS. 986.

page 109 note d Merc. Aulicus, May 22, 1644.

page 110 note a [A party of considerable strength, containing a number of “padees” (horseboys attending the cavalry? see Derereux's Life of Essex, ii. 353),—and including “some horse and foot from Hereford,” the whole commanded by Sir William Vaughan, marched in the direction of Montgomery to the relief of Chester, about two months before the surprise of Hereford. It was reported that Scudamore sent a hasty message to recall them; but, if true, it was to no purpose. On the news of the capture of Hereford these forces, then at Whitchurch, “retreated to theire holds, all saue the Hereford men, who hane now noe garrison to retreat vnto, but curse their fortunes for leaueing Hereford to goe with Vaughan to releeue Chester, and loosing their owne, and are gone with him into Bridgnorth.”—MS. Letter-book of Sir W. Brereton, ii. 49; iii. 107.]

page 111 note a See Mrs. Stackhouse Acton's interesting Illustration of the Shropshire Garrisons.

page 111 note b Hopton MSS.

page 112 note a Note 26.

page 114 note a Canon Frome was left by the Scots as a parting gift to the Parliament. It annoyed Scudamore, who made an unsuccessful attempt to recover it by moans of a machine called a Sow—a revival of one of the contrivances of the middle ages. It was captured at Malvern. One of them had been employed by the Parliamentarians at the siege of Beeston Castle. (Brereton Correspondence, i. 308.) Two engines, a Boar and a Sow, had been used at the siege of Corfe Castle, May, 1643.—Merc. Rustic. 104.

page 116 note a ['Sir John Brydges being discontented for the burning of his house, and for some reproachful language given him by one of his Majestie's generals, upon the businesse of the Clubmen, and angry with me for not having something that he desired, which yet I could not give him, quits the King's quarters and goes to Gloucester, where and in the parts adjacent-residing some two or three months, and coming sometimes into Herefordshire in disguise, the hotter to lay his designe, at length goes up to London, and presents to the Committees of both Kingdoms propositions for the taking of Hereford by the way of stratagem, as he calls it. Hereupon order is given to Col. Birch, then Governour of Bath, to joyne his forces with Col. Morgan, Governour of Glocester, for the purposes aforesaid.”—Sir B. Scudamore's Defence.]

page 117 note a Note 27.

page 117 note b [It should have been noted on the MS. that some confusion exists as to the date of the capture of Hereford, and that neither the recollection of Eoe or Birch could be trusted in what might naturally have been thought so memorable an event. From Birch's interlineation on p. 27 the surprise is fixed on Dec. 17th; according to Roe's statement on p. 31 it took place on the 24th (obviously a week too late). The “New Tricke” and Vicars concur in specifying the 18th, which is no doubt correct.]

page 117 note c Appendix XVI.

page 118 note a Note 28.

page 118 note b Birch and Morgan's letter to the House of Lords. L.J. Dec. 22, 1645. [The townesmen have suffered by the souldier, by reason we entred it by force and that the enemy shot out of the windowes and in the streets the souldier was so inraged that we could not prevent them from plundering, which we indeavoured much to have done.—From a letter of Lord Byron's to Prince Rupert (Warburton, ii. 262) it appears that his men were very discontented, “in that they think they are sent away at this time to lose, their shares in the pillage of Bristol.”]

page 119 note a See No. XVII.

page 119 note b Note 29.

page 120 note a [Thence to Worcester, intending to proceed to the King at Oxford to excuse his conduct; but at Worcester he was imprisoned seven months, and, having fruitlessly endeavoured to obtain his trial by a court of war, he published a Defence, some extracts from which will be found appended to Note 29.]

page 120 note b [His regiment was also to be recruited, at his desire, to 1,200 men.]

page 121 note a [“Thus we may see that even after almost a conquest, yet they apprehended no safety; such are the issues and miseries of a civil war, that the victors are full of fears from those whom they have subdued; no quiet, no security. O let our prayers be to God, never to have such calamitous times again!”—Whitelocke, 219.]

page 121 note b Sequestr. Papers, sub voce Awbry, Series II. 2882, 593, as to the employment of the materials of his ruined house for this purpose.

page 38 note a He and his lady are buried at Stoke Edith.

page 124 note a This, one of the earliest achievements of merciless plundering, was put in practice by Captain Kyrle, a neighbour to the vicar and his family. He was an officer under the Earl of Stamford, but afterwards, as will appear, a Parliamentary colonel, and comrade of Birch. He had the unenviable distinction of being the first to disturb his defenceless neighbours in the adjoining parish of Goodrich.—Merc. Rustic. 71 et seqq.

page 125 note a Æneid, v. 754.

page 125 note b Scudamore MSS.

page 127 note a [He made a daring attempt in Jan. 1646, to intercept the return of the guard of a convoy that had been sent from Newnham through the Forest of Dean to Hereford, but failed in consequence of the non-appearance of the expected party.]

page 128 note a [From a letter dated at Hereford, and published in the Perfect Diurnall, March 16, 1645, it appears that Colonel Kyrle at Monmouth sent a party to join in this expedition.]

page 129 note a [In a letter published by Vicars (Burning Bush, 398) from one of Brereton's officers who was present, that commander and Morgan are alone mentioned.]

page 129 note b No portrait can be given more to the life than that of Sir Jacob Astley by an anonymous writer, who has left the share of our colonel in the action to the original description of Roe, and claims the servant of Major Hawksworth as the person to whom Sir Jacob Astley surrendered. It were injustice to the memory of this admirable veteran to qmit his prophetic words amid the Parliamentary soldiers on the field of battle: “Sir Jacob Ashley being taken captive, and wearyed in this fight, and being ancient (for old age's silver haires had quite covered over his head and beard), the souldiers brought him a drum to sit and rest himselfe upon; who being sate, he said (as was most credibly enformed) unto our souldiers, Gentlemen, yee may now sit downe and play, for you have done all your worke, if you fall not out among yourselves.”—Vicars, Burning Bush, 399.

page 129 note c Mercurius Civicus, Oct. 9–16, 1645, states that 20 garrisons of different sizes had been taken between April 20 and October 18. [The latter part of Roe's narrative is more hurried and less circumstantial than might have been expected. Possibly he may have been absent at that time; if so, the criticism in notea, p. 36, may be mistaken. This seems the more likely, as a circumstance at the siege of Ludlow reflected so much honour upon Birch that Roe would hardly have omitted it had it passed under his own observation. He sat down before the town April 24, 1646; on the 29th some forces from Raglan, Goodrich, and Madresfield faced him, but retired. Woodhouse, the governor, treated May 20; but Birch having left the siege, the Royalist refused to give up to any one else, and drove the Shropshire men out of the town with loss, so that Birch had to return to receive his surrender. This probably occasioned the envious feeling alluded to by Roe, p. 36.]

page 130 note a The boards were burned in the siege. Sir Richard Grenville got above 1,000 deal boards from the Commissioners of Devon to make huts for the soldiers.—Clarendon, ix.

page 131 note a Appendix XVIII.

page 131 note b Note 30.

page 131 note c [A kind of cheval-de-frise used in fortification.]

page 131 note d See tlie evidence of Nathaniel Collins upon oath.—Sequestration Papers.

page 131 note e March 21, 1646–6.

page 131 note f April 27, 1646.

page 132 note a Appendix XX.

page 132 note b Appendix XIX.

page 132 note c Note 31.

page 132 note a Appendix XX.

page 133 note a Preface.

page 136 note a [Thus far the labours of the original Editor were left nearly complete for the press. The remainder has been compiled chiefly from imperfect sketches and memoranda.]

page 137 note a There was a time when it was not merely the following of the Royal banner; but a word spoken almost in jest, or the indulgent kindness of a secret hour, the involuntary exchange of a dwelling to the Royal quarter, the discharge of a natural duty (as at Harewood), was sufficient to furnish the informer with a charge and constitute a delinquent.—J. W. [The case referred to seems to be that of John Browne of Harewood, in the county of Hereford, gent., who, being a minor and left destitute of the means of maintenance, was “forced to seek out his guardian and to go into the King's quarters, whereby he became a delinquent.” He bore arms as a Royalist, but subsequently was a Parliamentary soldier for three years, and petitioned on that account to be admitted to compound for his estate, and was fined at a tenth, 213l. 16s. 10d. (Sequestr. Papers, Series 2, v. 83.) The following is an instructive specimen of sequestration. When the Earl of Derby levied forces in Lancashire, John Rycroft of Haugh, in that county, husbandman, was summoned on pain of death to meet at a rendezvous, and for repairing thither and distributing a cheese among the soldiers he was sequestered, though he ever after lived in the Parliament's quarters, submitted to their committee, and took the Negative Oath and National Covenant. — Compos. Papers, Series 1, liii. 763.]

page 138 note a Letters of Lady Brilliana Harley, 168, 169, 203. A Koyalist party of Col. Price's regiment came from Brecknock in July, 1645, with intention to plunder the fair, but were anticipated by another party of Parliamentary soldiers who beat them back with loss, slew and took many prisoners.—Perfect Occurrences, Monday, July 28, 1645.

page 138 note b [He had been in prison till Oct. 1, 1646, when he petitioned to compound.—Sequestration Papers, Series 2, xxviii. 418.]

page 139 note a [The New Inn, or by its ancient name Croes Owain; Owen's Cross.]

page 139 note b See Domesday Book.

page 140 note a [Possibly a copy of the Report of the Council of War?]

page 142 note a White inkle-strings were to be the badge of the Cavaliers in Yeomans's plot at Bristol, and in Waller's plot in London (Vicars, God in the Mount, 278, 357.) White ribbons were also worn by the Wiltshire Clubmen. (Sprigge, 55.)

page 144 note a Proverbs xvi. 32.

page 145 note a [One of these documents granted by Lord Hopton hangs in a frame in the Council Room of the Corporation at Bath. Three others signed by Fairfax, Cromwell, and Lingen are given in Appendix No. XXI. The proviso in one case, and the alleged reason in another, deserve especial remark in forming an estimate of the condition of the country under the victorious army.]

page 149 note a [The reader will have observed that the former Major had at this time obtained the coloneley of the regiment. Birch's command was not immediately annulled on his entering the House; for the self-denying ordinance had fallen into disuse; but its provisions were re-enacted on June 10, and in consequence Humphreys succeeded to the command of the regiment; as Moore had already taken that of the castle on March 26.]

page 154 note a Colonel Edward Harley, as appears from another letter.

page 154 note b [Birch had occupied the Palace on the capture of Hereford. According to Wood (Athen. Oxon. ii. 623) he purchased but one half, Capt. Silas Taylor having the other; and the governor subsequently divided it into two dwelling-houses. On taking up his residence there he permitted the beggars, no doubt numerous at that time, to occupy the rooms of the Vicars Choral in the adjoining “College.”—Barksdale, Nympha Libethris, 60.]

page 154 note c Rawlinson MSS. Bibl. Bodl.

page 155 note a Note 33.

page 155 note b [His escape in this instance mast have been a narrow one. From the original depositions (Composition Papers, Ser. 1, xcvii., 481 et seqq.) it might be thought that Birch and his brother Samuel, the Major, attended Charles II. at Worcester on compulsion; but it was perhaps so arranged to save appearances. Unfortunately the papers are damaged by damp.]

page 156 note a Diary of Rev. Henry Newcome, edited by Thomas Heywood, Esq., F.S.A. (Chetham Society.)

page 156 note b [Massey, however, did not like him, as appears by a letter from him to Sir E. Hyde, March 16, 1659, in which, after speaking highly of the Harleys, he adds “only Mr. 909 is likely to prove a bad paymaster. I meane col. Birch, a vile man.”—Thurloe, vii. 855.]

page 156 note c [Thursday, Aug. 28. The battle was on Sept. 3.]

page 157 note a [Who called him, nevertheless, on one occasion, as Pepys (i. 465) tells us, “a false rogue.”]

page 157 note b [This and the subsequent letter, somewhat curtailed by Heywood, are here given as in the original.]

page 157 note c State Papers, iv. 237.

page 159 note a “The Herefordshire Visitation of 1683 describes John Birch, then living at Garnstone, near Weobley, as lord of the manors of Upper and Lower Ardwick and of Ordsall, in Lancashire, and as the son of Samuel Birch, of the family of Birch of Birch.”—Heywood, 203.

page 160 note a Note 34.