Chapter X: Part 10

But, as well as the lavish decoration of the rood-screen and loft, which has just been described, there was very frequently some special colouring and embellishment of those parts of the church in more immediate proximity to it. The roof of the nave often has the eastern bay alone painted, as at Rainham (Kent), or that part more gorgeous than the rest, as at Southwold, where all the roof seems to have been coloured; but the eastern bay of the nave above the rood-loft has been most highly decorated with angels, with scrolls, and the implements of the Passion. In a very large number of churches was a representation of “The Doom,” or “Day of Judgment,” the most frequent place for this being over the chancel arch. “The final separation of the Church Triumphant from everything that defileth was almost invariably represented by the Great Doom painted in fresco over the rood-screen.” At Trinity Church, Coventry, and many other places mentioned by Keyser, this still exists.[108] Over the chancel arch in _Caythorpe Church_ is a rude representation of the Last Judgment, with the Archangel Michael weighing souls, and at _Swaton_ were paintings above and on each side of the chancel arch of scenes from the life of our Lord. “The Doom” also appears on a set of panels above the chancel arch at Mitcheldean, Gloucestershire, and at St. Michael’s, St. Albans; the Day of Judgment, with the crucified Saviour in the centre, is partly over the chancel arch and partly on a panel filling in the head of the arch. A somewhat similar condition has been noticed above at _Cotes_, and over the rood-loft in Snetterton Church, Norfolk, is a defaced panel-painting of the Day of Judgment. (Pugin gives a view of a similar arrangement at Arnes, near Bergen, now destroyed, I believe.) The most notable of these is the one at Wenhaston, Suffolk, discovered in 1892. This piece of panelling blocked off the chancel (there being no chancel-arch) above the rood-beam, and measured 17 feet 3 inches by 8 feet 6 inches. The position of the crucifix is clearly seen, and the spaces left for the figures of St. Mary and St. John on either side. In the triforium at Gloucester Cathedral is preserved another “Doom” on panel.

Along the upper edge of the rood-screen or rood-loft would be placed basins and spikes for candles, which would be lighted on special occasions. Hence comes the name of “candlebeam,” as before mentioned, and Gibbons[109] has given seven wills which illustrate this: _e.g._ Thomas Hadstoke leaves “To the Crucifix light in the Roode-lofte xx_d._ in Hycchyn church,” Thomas Buck to the “Rode lighte viij_d._ in Dorney Church,” William Gybbons to “the rode light” in Hamilden Church, and Thomas Fissher of Wooborn,“To thre lightes upon the rode beame vj_d._” (probably one for the rood and one each for St. Mary and St. John). Also, in the continuation of that history of _Crowland_ which passes by the name of Ingulph’s, we read as follows (1413): “In the Chapel of the blessed Mary, which had been previously prepared on the south side of the church, he (Brother Simon Eresby) most devoutly erected at his own expense two perks, which were becomingly prepared for the arrangement of the wax tapers thereon, together with a screen of considerable height, which terminated the said chapel below.” By the royal injunctions of 1538, no candles, tapers, or images of wax were thenceforth to be set before any image or picture, “but onelie the light that commonly goeth about the crosse of the church by the rood-loft,” &c.

Then, in connection with the parish church rood-screen and rood-loft, there was an altar or altars. A favourite position for these, when the width of the church allowed, was on either side of the central door of the screen, against the western face of the screen. Those at Ranworth have been mentioned already; at Patricio, in South Wales, are two stone altars, one placed on each side (beneath the rood-loft) of the entrance into the chancel, westward of and against the screen supporting the loft. On either side of the entrance into the apse of Peterchurch, Herefordshire, is a stone altar—probably the rood-screen altars; on the western side of the stone screen of St. Mary Berkeley, on the north, an altar to St. Mary the Virgin, the piscina of which remains; on the south, one to St. Andrew. At _Limber Magna_ the steps to the rood-loft are quite perfect, and exactly under where the rood-loft was placed there is on both sides the trace of what looks like a piscina, but no marks of any altar-slab have been discovered. At _St. James’, Castle Bytham_, at the restoration in 1900, were found at the east end of the nave, on either side of the chancel arch, remains of shallow, semi-circular-headed recesses, bearing traces of coloured decoration, forming the reredoses of the two small altars. At _Winthorpe_, close to the rood-screen, on the south side, is an aumbry, most probably for use in connection with an altar on the western front of the screen. Below the rood-loft staircase at _Colsterworth_ is a little aumbry. In the base of a pier close by the rood-loft staircase at _Barkston_ is a small hollow, possibly intended as a piscina or stoup for the service of a rood-altar. Mention has been made of an altar on the rood-loft of the perished screen at _Grantham_. At _Frampton_ a beautiful little quatrefoil window, just under the roof at the south end of the rood-loft, has been opened out, as well as a hole in the wall beneath it, probably for an office book.

The fate of the roods and rood-lofts has been mentioned above; since those days much damage has been done to the screens which were left, by actual destruction, accident, ignorance, and neglect. Fortunately, in the last thirty years opinion has got educated somewhat, and many of the old screens have been restored, repaired, and (where necessary) replaced, while new ones, designed by the first architects of the day, are furnishing our churches. “Le bon temps viendra” for screens, and indeed has already come in part.

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In domestic chapels of any size it is not unusual to find a chancel screen, as at The Mote, Ightham, figured by J. H. Parker. Also, in not a few instances, the western part of the chapel thus shut off has been divided into two storeys, the upper chamber being for the use of the lord and his family, the lower one for the domestics. This arrangement, according to J. H. Parker, continued to be usual in the fifteenth century, and even later, as at East Hendred, Berks, at Studley Priory and at Godstow Nunnery, in Oxfordshire. The chapel at Markenfield Hall, Yorkshire, has also been an example of the same. At East Hendred, the screen to both upper and lower chambers still exists; at Berkeley Castle the screen in front of the upper chamber is original, though altered, that of the lower one is modern. Here, as not infrequently, there is a fireplace in the upper chamber. At Chibburn, Northumberland, and at Trecarrel House, Cornwall, the same arrangement has prevailed. “In Hawarden Castle, Flintshire (said the same authority), the chapel is very small, and must have been merely a private oratory, or, as seems more probable, the chancel or sacrarium only, separated by a screen from the principal chamber in the keep, and with also a ‘squint’ or opening from the passage in the thickness of the wall, to enable persons thus placed to see the elevation of the Host.”

In the _Chancery at Lincoln_, at the north end of what was the Hall (pulled down by Chancellor Maundeville in 1714), are three pointed doorways of fourteenth-century date, the easternmost of which leads to the buttery, the western one to the cellars, while the middle one leads up a flight of steps with a timber-framed plaster partition on each side, and at the top of these stairs a door on the right hand (easterly, therefore) leads into a room which almost certainly was the chapel. On the eastern side of the partition is a screen of three double bays, open from the middle upwards, with contemporary ironwork. In the opposite side of the partition are two double loops, all being probably, according to the late E. J. Willson, of Henry VIII.’s date.

In hospitals also, a somewhat similar arrangement obtained, the chapel being equal in height to two storeys, and separated from a room above and below by a screen. These rooms were dormitories, so that the sick could, as it were, attend service while they were in bed. In _Browne’s Hospital at Stamford_, the chapel is open to the roof, and on the ground floor it is separated at the west, from a common room once a dormitory, by a handsome oak screen with doors groined over on both sides. There are returned stalls on the east side thereof. In the ancient hospital at Chichester, the chapel consists of a sacrarium only, and is separated from the hall or principal chamber by an open screen with a curtain. In the almshouses, Sherborne, Dorset, is or has been a similar arrangement.

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NOTE.—Considerations of space, unfortunately, have prevented any allusion to Chantry Chapel Screens.

LINCOLNSHIRE AND THE GREAT CIVIL WAR

BY REV. EDWARD H. R. TATHAM, M.A.

In three successive centuries Lincolnshire has been the scene of civil disturbances, which were closely connected with the general history of the country. The rebellion against Edward IV. headed by Sir Robert Welles of Belleau, the “Lincolnshire Captain,” was closed by the defeat of his force of 30,000 men on March 12, 1470, near Empingham in Rutland. The rising at Louth and Horncastle, which followed on the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, was quelled within a fortnight; and the only lives lost were those of officials who were killed by the mob, and of the mob-leaders, who were promptly executed. But in the Great Civil War of the seventeenth century, Lincolnshire played a great part, though in ordinary English histories, and even in Clarendon, the struggle within its borders is passed over lightly. It was the debatable ground between the Royalism of the North and the stern Puritanism of the Eastern Association. “From the summer of 1643 to the summer of 1644,” says Lord Morley,[110] “the power of the northern army and the fate of London and the Parliamentary cause turned upon Lincolnshire, the borderland between Yorkshire and the stubborn counties to the south-east.” Here, in the first two years of the war, Cromwell found a favourable training-ground for his invincible Ironsides.

Before the war actually began, the temper of this county, as of some others, was rather hesitating and uncertain. It is doubtful whether, out of the twelve members for the shire and its boroughs, the proportion of ten to two against the King truly represented the popular feeling. Under the then existing system an altogether unfair preponderance was given to the towns, which returned ten out of the twelve members; and in London and the eastern towns Puritanism was for the moment all-powerful. The Militia Ordinance of Parliament, which brought matters to a crisis, and was doubtless an encroachment on the King’s prerogative, raised a constitutional question that few could understand. In March 1642, when the dispute on this point had reached an acute stage, a deputation from the Lincolnshire gentry in sympathy with the Parliament presented a petition to the King at Newark on his journey north, in which the question of the moment is not even mentioned. This petition simply prayed the King to reside near his Parliament and listen to their counsels; and in view of their determination to wield the power of the sword, it is not surprising that the King in his reply, delivered at York, asserted that Lincolnshire had been misled, and that he was being driven from his Parliament. The city of Lincoln, though it returned two reforming members, was probably not so Puritan as the other boroughs. It has been well pointed out[111] that a large number of the county gentry, many of whom were Royalists, then possessed houses in Lincoln; and their opinions would naturally be reflected among the tradesmen, who benefited by their presence. At this time the two sides were evenly matched among the members of the City Council; but the Mayor, John Beck, was a Parliamentarian, though his father, Robert, who preceded him in the office, belonged to the opposite camp.

A crisis was reached in April, when Sir John Hotham, the Governor of Hull, refused the King admittance to the town. In Lincoln, which had much trade with Hull, the King’s attempt upon that place was not viewed with favour; and on April 27, Parliament appointed a committee of the county members of both Houses (on which of course no Royalist sat) to carry out the Militia Ordinance in Lincolnshire. Francis, Lord Willoughby of Parham, a young noble of under thirty, with Presbyterian sympathies, had just been appointed Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and proceeded, with an alacrity which might well arouse the King’s suspicions, to call up the militia for training. He summoned the constables to meet him at Lincoln on May 31, and render an account of the arms in their district, and all but two or three responded; but he complains that the King’s proclamation forbidding the muster had been “officiously fixed” upon the door of the inn where the committee met. On June 6 he arranged to review the militia from Lincoln and the adjoining villages; and on the same morning received a letter by express messenger from the King at York, dated two days before, charging him upon his allegiance to take no further action, and warning him that if he did so, he would be proceeded against as a disturber of the public peace. Lord Willoughby’s answer, which he penned on the spot, is a curious mixture of humility and defiance. He alleges the opinions of certain eminent lawyers (which they afterwards disavowed) in favour of the legality of the ordinance, and trusts that, if he has offended, his “want of years” may excuse his “want of judgment.” “Nothing,” he says, “hath yet passed by my commands here, or ever shall, but what shall tend to the preservation of the peace of your kingdom.” And yet, within three months, he had accepted the command of a troop of horse in the Parliamentary army. The Mayor and Corporation attended the Lincoln muster; and about eighty of the hundred members of the trained band appeared. When the constable was asked to explain the absence of the remainder, he gave the excuse that they durst not venture down hill owing to the prevalence of plague in the lower city. The committee, however, attributed their non-appearance to the influence of the Royalist Recorder, Mr. Charles Dalison. Volunteers were obtained to supply their place; and at Boston the Lord-Lieutenant was met on arrival by 100 well-armed volunteers, who showed that they had profited by their self-imposed training. But other musters were not to pass off without incident. Lord Willoughby had taken the strong measure of removing William Booth of Killingholme from the command of a company in the Caistor contingent on account of his Royalist views. But Booth, though related to the Lord-Lieutenant, was not disposed to take his supersession tamely. On the day of the muster at Caistor he read the King’s proclamation against the ordinance to the soldiers at a tavern, and dissuaded them from showing their arms. He also said openly that things would never go on well “while King Pym governed,” and expressed a hope that King and Parliament would be separated. For this conduct he was put under arrest, and taken to Louth in custody. On his appearance before the committee next day at Horncastle, he was dismissed upon making submission; but he drew up a petition to the King, supported by an affidavit, protesting against the whole proceeding as illegal; and the King’s reply promised him full satisfaction if his statements were true. This petition was brought to the notice of the Commons by Sir Christopher Wray, one of the members for Grimsby, who disputed some of its allegations; and on his evidence, and that of others present at Caistor, the House found that Captain Booth “had abused His Majesty” with a petition that was “false, scandalous, and malicious.” This incident, though it had no further consequences, shows that a situation, in which King and Parliament were contradicting each other in rival proclamations, was rapidly becoming impossible.

Other events of the same fateful month of June illustrate this still more plainly. The King had appointed Robert Earl of Lindsey Lord-Lieutenant of the county, and directed the High Sheriff, Sir Edward Heron, not to suffer any stores of ammunition to pass out of his custody without an order from himself or Lord Lindsey. The latter ignored the direction of Parliament to bring in his patent of Lieutenancy, and was forthwith declared by the Lords a public enemy, and orders were issued for his apprehension (June 8). The Lincoln magazine, which lay in the outer Exchequer Gate opposite the Castle, was in the custody of the Mayor, and he, upon request, handed the key to Lord Willoughby, who placed a guard over it. The Mayor was at once summoned by the King to York to account for this, and for his refusal to read the King’s proclamation. The royal messenger was promptly put under arrest, and sent with the Mayor under a military escort to Parliament. But on reaching Grantham the messenger persuaded the Mayor to change his mind; they escaped from the guard and proceeded to York, where on June 17 the Mayor made his submission to the King. He received pardon on condition that he at once returned to Lincoln and published the proclamation, which he did. It does not appear whether Parliament called him to account for this; but on July 5 they made an order restraining the publication of royal proclamations, and on the 7th they declared that the King might not require the attendance of any of his subjects except such as were bound to him by special service. The King’s reply to this was to order the arrest of two Lincoln Aldermen for exercising the militia, and they were actually taken in custody to Beverley, but afterwards released under Habeas Corpus. Meanwhile, on June 19, Lord Willoughby reported to Parliament that he had completed his inspection of the county militia, at which “very few or none” failed to appear. He reports them deficient in arms, but this defect he proposed to supply from the magazine at Hull. With his report he forwarded a copy of an address signed by “many thousand hands” of the gentry freeholders, &c., of Lincolnshire; it was of a rather colourless complexion, but protested against any separation of King and Parliament. On the 24th he received fresh orders from the King to desist from his proceedings “as he would answer the contrary at his utmost peril.” In forwarding this letter to Parliament Lord Willoughby complains that a certain captain from York (Edward Middlemore of Lusby) is trying to “aliene” the hearts of the county from Parliament, assuring the people that His Majesty would shortly come among them.

This report proved true, though Charles’s decision was somewhat sudden. After visiting Newark on July 12, he arrived at Lincoln on Wednesday, July 13, with the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Lindsey, and a numerous suite. His progress for the last four miles along the road was “a throng,” and the people rent the air with “peals of shouts and vocal acclamations,” such as “A King, a King!” The attendant gentry drew their swords, and the clergy, who attended to the number of two or three hundred, redoubled their gratulatory salutations with “_Vivat Rex!_” The Mayor and Corporation, with their Recorder and the trained bands, came out to meet the Sovereign, so that in the opinion of the local pamphleteer, “Wednesday was the funeral of the new militia.” In some large open space, which is not specified, Mr. Charles Dalison, the Recorder, made a speech of welcome to the King, in which he alluded to his promise to defend the established Protestant religion, and offered, on his own behalf and that of the civic body, their “persons, estates, and fortune.” The King in his reply, which was read by Sir John Monson, states as the object of his coming to assure the people of his intention to defend their religion, laws, and liberties, and to certify them that the pretended Militia Ordinance is unwarranted by his authority. If any should presume to execute it, he should treat them as actual rebels and in arms against himself. He speaks most bitterly of the action of Sir John Hotham in excluding him from Hull, but bids the people still their fear that their county will be the seat of war. “The seat of war will be only where persons rise in rebellion against me; that will not, I hope, be here, and then you shall be sure of my protection.” For that end he announces that he has appointed Commissioners of Array for the county, and promises to “live and die” in defence of their religion, and the just privilege and freedom of Parliament.

The King’s Commission of Array included a number of the loyal knights and gentry who had assembled to greet him—its principal members being the Earl of Lindsey and his son Montagu Lord Willoughby D’Eresby (already a baron in his own right), the Earl of Newcastle, Sir Francis Fane, and Sir Peregrine Bertie. On Thursday, July 14, a body of the gentry, headed by Lord Willoughby D’Eresby, sought an audience of the King, who was probably staying at Deloraine Court, and requested permission to form a regiment of horse within the county in support of his cause. In reply the King renewed his protest that he only desired their assistance in defence of their “religion, laws, interests, and the just rights of Parliament.” On the withdrawal of the deputation a written undertaking was drawn up, in which it was declared that Parliament, having put the kingdom “into a posture of war,” had given occasion to the signatories of the document to furnish a number of horse “for the defence of His Majesty’s person, the true Protestant religion, and the just rights of Parliament against all opposition whatsoever.” These horse were to be disposed of within the county for three months from the 20th July. The document was signed by seventy-five persons, who volunteered to contribute 172 horses; but the regiment was ultimately to consist of 400. Among the signatories were the Dean, Dr. Topham, promising four horses, the Precentor and the Chancellor three each, and the Archdeacon two. There were to be four captains of troops, who were probably Sir Peregrine Bertie, Dr. Farmery, Chancellor of the diocese, Mr. John Hussey, and the City Recorder, now Sir Charles Dalison, for on this visit the King conferred upon him the honour of knighthood.[112] On Friday, the 15th, the King left for York by way of Beverley, where he had arranged to meet a deputation from the two Houses.

But before his departure his chief supporters had met to decide on the terms of a petition to Parliament, which was described as from the baronets, knights, &c., of Lincolnshire. Among other suggestions it proposes—(1) That Hull be given up to the King; (2) that all forces be disbanded and the Militia Ordinance waived; (3) that Parliament issue no orders without the King’s consent; (4) that Church government as it stands be put in execution and a national synod summoned; (5) that the licentiousness of press and pulpit be restrained and tumultuous assemblies forbidden; and (6) that Parliament adjourn to some other place where the King can come. The signatories especially desire the retention of “the Protestant religion as now established among us.” This petition, it seems, was, after general discussion, drafted by the two lawyers, Sir John Monson and Sir Charles Dalison. Its proposals, although they have been described as “more bold and audacious than had hitherto been ventured upon by any county,”[113] differ little, except in being more moderate, from the conditions laid down by the King at Beverley the following week in replying to the two Houses. It was addressed to the House of Commons, and ought, of course, to have been presented by a member; but the only county member available, Mr. Gervase Holles, M.P. for Grimsby, had recently been “disabled” from sitting, and therefore the petition was addressed to the Speaker, and sent up by one of the serving-men of the High Sheriff. On Monday, July 18, the Speaker informed the House that he had received a letter from the Sheriff of Lincolnshire, enclosing a petition “of a very strange nature and language,” from divers gentlemen, “most of whom were papists.” This description, unless the term was then considered applicable to all members of the Church of England, was, in face of the wording of the petition, a flagrant abuse of language. A special committee was appointed the same day to consider the petition, and on the 21st reported that it was “false, scandalous, and malicious, and a high breach of the privilege of Parliament.” The High Sheriff was ordered to be sent for as a delinquent, and as he did not appear, a warrant for his arrest was issued on August 30.

Before the King left Lincoln, he had directed the Sheriff to search for concealed arms and to make himself master of all the county magazines. The Lincoln magazine had been secured by Lord Willoughby of Parham, who had wisely removed it before the King came. In many cases the local magazines were in the charge of the county gentry; and two of these—Sir Philip Tyrwhit of Stainfield and Sir William Pelham of Brocklesby—had declined to deliver them up to Lord Willoughby according to Parliament’s injunctions. The Sheriff now proceeded by warrant to search the houses of members of Parliament opposed to the King; and a store of muskets was seized at the house of Sir Edward Ayscough at South Kelsey and sent to the Bishop’s Palace. A warrant was also issued to seize Captain Lister of Coleby, who had accepted a commission in the Parliament’s forces; and he was taken by a troop of horse, who forced an entrance into his house, to the King at Nottingham. Shortly after, while the Sheriff was engaged in conveying a magazine to Lincoln, he was himself arrested by a superior force under Sir Anthony Irby, M.P. for Boston, and carried to London, where, being examined at the bar of the House on October 8 as to his late proceedings and his part in the petition, he was committed to the Tower on the charge of high treason. Here he remained for over three years, being unable to pay the fine of £2000 which was imposed upon him; but in 1645 he obtained his liberty under an exchange of prisoners.

If the Sheriff was arrested near the end of September (the date is uncertain), his taking a magazine to Lincoln would imply that the city remained Royalist for over two months after the King’s visit. Clarendon says that Charles passed through it once more about August 20, two days before he set up his standard at Nottingham, and that he helped himself to some of the arms of the Lincoln trained bands. Apparently the increasing certainty of war was doing much to cool the ardour of some of his supporters. The force which he had raised on his first visit was limited, no doubt by the stipulations of the more cautious, to three months’ service, and that only within the county. But his more eager partisans saw from the first that this would be useless, and presented a petition to him at York that Lincolnshire might co-operate with other counties in his support. This petition was published as a tract with a view to committing the subscribers of the undertaking to more extended service; but it was answered by a counter-tract,[114] in which the writer pleads the necessity for the formation of a regiment (1) to keep order in a time of slack government; (2) to protect the sea-coast against foreign invasion; and (3) to ward off incursions from soldiers in neighbouring counties. He states that Sir John Hotham’s Hull garrison had already committed acts of violence in the north of the county; but protests that those like-minded with himself were not “malignant, either against the King or Parliament.” A similar tract[115] of the same month expresses the views of those who, like the Corporation of Lincoln, after supporting the measures of Parliament, joined in the acclamations of welcome to the King. It declares that the commonalty of the county would “march with the King” and loyally obey his just commands; but if he should command them to “put anything in execution against the Parliament,” they would not only forbear themselves, but “hazard their lives” in opposing him. Of the reservations of these sitters on the fence Charles, at the time of his two visits, probably knew nothing; and when his presence was withdrawn, this party gradually gained the upper hand. We do not know the exact date of Lincoln’s second change of mind. While the King was in the neighbourhood, Lord Willoughby and his friends were content to lie low; but at the Michaelmas election of Mayor, that office was filled by William Marshall, a strong Parliamentarian, who probably carried the city with him.

The fen country about Boston was most devoted to the cause of Parliament. Even at the end of July a band of volunteers was diligently training in the fields near Boston; and that town, so “eminent in disloyalty,”[116] sent reinforcements to Sir John Hotham at Hull. On August 29 the Boston troops seized a Royalist sloop, which had put into a creek near Skegness with arms and stores—Sir William Ballingdon and ten other Cavaliers who were in charge being taken. The King’s party threatened revenge upon Boston, and King’s Lynn sent over for its defence five pieces of ordnance and 1000 volunteers, but no attempt was made upon the town. A month later (September 30) Lord Willoughby received orders from Parliament to arrest and bring to London sixteen of the Royalist gentry, who are described as “divers Popish and ill-affected persons, who have armed and assembled themselves within the city and county of Lincoln.” Of these all but three had been signatories of the Lincoln Petition in July; but many of them were out of reach, having armed their dependants and joined the King’s forces. Lord Willoughby was directed to disarm all “Popish recusants”; he was also to requisition tents, waggons, horses, &c., from all “dangerous and ill-affected persons, as well clergymen as others,” who had sent money and stores for the King. The Lord-Lieutenant’s exertions kept him so long in the county that he was too late for the battle of Edgehill (Sunday, October 23), in which he should have commanded a troop of horse. The general of the King’s army was at first a Lincolnshire peer, the Earl of Lindsey; but as Charles foolishly exempted Prince Rupert and the cavalry from his orders, he declined the position, telling his friends that he would lead his own regiment “and there find his death.” His forecast was too true, for he was mortally wounded and died the next day. A Lincolnshire knight, Sir Gervase Scrope of Cockerington, who commanded a troop by his side, received sixteen wounds and was left for dead upon the field from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday evening, when he was found by his son, tended by the famous Dr. William Harvey, and conveyed to Oxford, where he wonderfully recovered.

During the winter following this indecisive battle, the air was full of rumours of peace; but neither side was disposed to yield upon the real points at issue. On January 9, 1643, Parliament appointed Lord Willoughby Sergeant-Major-General for the county, and ordered the removal of the prisoners in Lincoln Castle to the Bishop’s Palace for greater security, placing the Castle in the keeping of the Earl of Lincoln. Early in the year a stand was made for the King in the heart of the Parliament’s country. The men of Crowland, who were royal tenants, set to work in January to fortify their watery stronghold. They were undeterred by a friendly warning sent them by Mr. Ram, the Puritan minister at Spalding; and, being unmolested for two months, they made a raid on March 25 upon the defenceless town of Spalding, and carried off their censor and two or three more as prisoners to Crowland. Mr. Ram, in his account of the proceedings, shows much ill-feeling towards his captors, and not without reason if his statements can be trusted. When the prisoners were brought into the place, all the people were gathered together to triumph over them, “which put me in mind of Samson’s entertainment when he was taken by the Philistines.” Mr. Ram has to admit that their “usage was indifferent good” during their five weeks’ imprisonment, but complains of some “insolencies” that were offered them. The chief officers of the garrison were Captain Stiles and a Captain Cromwell (one of Oliver’s cousins); but Parson Stiles of Crowland, a very zealous Royalist, himself held command on the western front. On April 13 some Parliamentary forces beleaguered the place, and the prisoners were carried to the point of attack and pinioned in the line of fire. This is said to have happened more than once, but they were not hit, although the bullets flew fast about their ears. Many of the garrison were armed with “hassock knives, long scythes, and such-like fennish weapons”; and a “great water, broad and deep,” surrounded the works, except where it was crossed by three approaches or banks. On the failure of the first attack, the besiegers retired; and the garrison assembled in the Abbey Church to return thanks for their success. But on April 25 a much larger force appeared under the command of Colonels King, Dodson, and Oliver Cromwell, and attacked the town on three sides. Heavy rains, which made the place unapproachable, delayed their success for the moment; but the assault was renewed on the 27th, and next day the garrison laid down their arms. It was scarcely worthy of Mr. Ram to accuse his foes of using “poisoned bullets”; no charge of the kind seems to have been preferred against the leaders, who “were clapt in prison” at Ipswich, Colchester, and other places.

Near the western border of the county the important fortress of Newark was held by Sir John Digby for the King; and it proved a thorn in the side of Parliament throughout the struggle. Early in February a combined attack upon it was made by the forces of Notts, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire; and, according to Mrs. Hutchinson,[117] this was only foiled by the suspiciously half-hearted conduct of one Ballard, who commanded the Lincolnshire contingent of 1000 men. He refused to follow up the first successes of the besiegers, and ordered a retreat when the other two counties were anxious to attack. We may perhaps see here an indication of the unwillingness of the Lincolnshire troops to take service beyond the borders of the county. Encouraged by this success, the Newark garrison, about a month later, decided to take the offensive. Among their number were some troops of horse commanded by Colonel Charles Cavendish, a brave cavalry officer and a general favourite. On March 22 he appeared before Grantham, which yielded to his summons; he took 360 prisoners (with officers) and three loads of ammunition. This exploit opened the way into the county for the King’s Commissioners of Array, who had spent an inactive winter at Newark. On April 4, with a military escort, they left that place for Stamford, and held another session on April 11 at Grantham. Here, while business was proceeding, a “rebel” force was reported to be approaching, and Colonel Cavendish drew out his troops and faced them half a mile from the town with the river between. The enemy, who had 800 horse and 200 dragoons (a kind of mounted infantry) were in superior strength; but Cavendish, leaving three troops to cover the town, crossed the Witham by a neighbouring bridge and forced the enemy to retreat. On Ancaster Heath, five miles from Grantham, they made a stand, dismounting their dragoons and drawing up the horse in three divisions. But on Cavendish charging with his best cavalry, the dragoons threw down their arms and begged for quarter. Thereupon the horse took to flight, and were pursued for six miles, over 300 prisoners with twelve officers being taken. The Royalist pamphleteer[118] says that they were commanded by Captain Hotham (son of Sir John), who had arrived at Lincoln the previous day from Yorkshire with four troops of “grey-coats,” and had boasted that he would surprise Grantham and capture the King’s Commission. If this were so, it can hardly be true (as stated) that Lord Willoughby of Parham was present and escaped only by the speed of his horse; for, as his rank was higher than Hotham’s, he would necessarily have been in command.

This skirmish probably had two important results. It hastened the arrival of Cromwell in West Lincolnshire, and it impelled Hotham, whose influence over his father was unbounded, to meditate treachery to the Parliament. On May 3 Cromwell, who had been scheming for a combined movement with Lord Grey of Groby and others against Newark, wrote from Stamford to the Lincoln Committee, entreating them to send their forces for that purpose to rendezvous at Grantham. But his efforts were fruitless. Lord Grey was anxious to protect Leicester, and the Lincoln troops were slow to move. Early in May Colonel Cavendish gained another small success near Grantham, surprising the “rebels” in their quarters and taking many prisoners; but within a week he suffered a reverse at the hands of Cromwell and his newly-trained cavalry, though they had but twelve troops to his twenty-five. The encounter took place on the Grantham and Newark road, and is thus described by Cromwell himself:—

“After we had stood a little above musket-shot, the one body
from the other, and the dragoons had fired on both sides for
the space of half an hour or more, they not advancing towards
us, we agreed to charge them. And advancing the body after
many shots on both sides, we came on with our troops at a
pretty round trot—they standing firm to receive us, and our
men charging fiercely upon them, by God’s providence they were
immediately routed and ran all away, and we had the execution
of them two or three miles. We took forty-five prisoners ...
and rescued many prisoners whom they had lately taken of ours,
and we took four or five of their colours.”[119]

One consequence of this fight seems to have been that Grantham, whose real sympathy had been shown by its electing two of the stoutest Puritan members, returned to its allegiance to Parliament. With some of the wisdom that is born of the event, Dr. Gardiner says that “the whole fortune of the Civil War was in this nameless skirmish.”[120] But the statement of a biographer of Cromwell,[121] in magnifying the victory, that “never again did the Newarkers range the country with impunity,” is plainly false. The “wasps’ nest” itself remained unattacked; and a month later (June 11) we find Cavendish and his men in Mid-Lincolnshire taking toll of the household stuff, deer, and cattle of Sir William Armyne, one of the Grantham members, and “damnifying him” to the extent of £500.[122] In the same month they had a brush with the enemy at Louth, where the parish register records the burial of “three strangers, being souldgeres slaine at a scrimish”; and perhaps this was the occasion when Sir Charles Bolle of Thorpe Hall, an ardent Cavalier, only escaped capture by hiding under the bridge near the gaol, over which the Roundhead troopers galloped in search of him.

Cromwell remained only about a fortnight near Grantham, and was then ordered to Nottingham to concert measures with the Midland commanders for the support of the Fairfaxes, who were hard pressed by the Earl of Newcastle in Yorkshire. He found a concealed traitor in the camp. Within four days of his defeat at Ancaster (April 15), young Captain Hotham had opened a correspondence with Newcastle, in the course of which he volunteered to betray Hull and Lincoln to the King. But he seems to have been a bad conspirator. When the news arrived of a small success of Sir T. Fairfax at Wakefield, he persuaded the other commanders to send Fairfax a message that their help would not now be needed. He began to correspond directly with the Queen, who arrived at Newark on June 16; but Cromwell and Colonel Hutchinson, who had long suspected him, procured an order for his arrest (June 18). He was committed to a guard for conveyance to London, but on the way succeeded in escaping to Lincoln, where he evidently had supporters, and whence he wrote to the Speaker to complain that Cromwell had employed an Anabaptist against him. On June 27 the Queen wrote to the King that she was delaying two days for the fulfilment of “young Hotham’s” promise to render up Hull and Lincoln; but, before the two days were over, the conspirator and his father were both arrested at Hull and sent up by sea to London, where they were executed on Tower Hill early the next year. Three days later (July 2) the attempt upon Lincoln was made, and completely failed. Two brothers named Purefoy, agents of the Hothams, introduced sixty Cavaliers disguised as “market-folk” into the city, where they were concealed in the Deanery. In the nick of time a letter from the Mayor of Hull caused the arrest of the Purefoys, but their accomplices sallied out and endeavoured to secure the magazine. However, the discharge of a cannon by an inexperienced countryman killed some of them, and the rest were dispersed or taken.

In the month then opening events followed thick and fast. On the last day of June the Fairfaxes were badly beaten at Adwalton Moor; and on July 4 Sir Thomas, whose wife had fallen into the enemy’s hands, arrived at Barton-on-Humber, hotly pursued and with the enemy in sight, but fortunately found a vessel to convey him into Hull. The way now lay open for the advance of Newcastle’s large force of over 6000 men into Lincolnshire. The town of Gainsborough, which was moderately fortified, had been occupied by the Earl of Kingston for the King. This nobleman had long hesitated which side to choose, and in the winter had openly declared that, when he joined either party, “let a cannon-ball divide me between them!” He had but just descended on the royal side of the fence, when Lord Willoughby of Parham, whose home was at Knaith, three miles from Gainsborough, surprised the town with a small force on July 20, and made him prisoner, though he fought till his house was in flames around him. Being a person of importance, he was at once put on board a pinnace and sent down the Trent to Hull for safe custody. On the way the boat was challenged by a Royalist party of horse; and upon his showing himself on deck, “a cannon-bullet,” in Mrs. Hutchinson’s words, “divided him in the middle, according to his own unhappy imprecation.”[123] Lord Willoughby’s position, however, was none too secure, for he was threatened not only by the advance of Newcastle, but by a strong body of the Newark troopers under Colonel Cavendish. Orders were therefore at once sent to Sir John Meldrum at Nottingham and to Cromwell in South Lincolnshire to join forces and advance to the relief of Gainsborough. Cromwell had just been gaining fresh laurels. He had forced a body of Cavaliers, who had taken Stamford, to retreat into Burleigh House, and there, after a single day’s siege (July 19), he received their unconditional surrender, and sent them under guard to be interned at Cambridge. A week later (July 26), by executing a forced march from Stamford, he joined the Nottingham troops at Grantham the same day, and a body from Lincoln at North Scarle on Thursday, and on Friday (28th) he encountered at Lea the mounted troops under Cavendish. Thereupon ensued a cavalry action, which, as described by himself,[124] severely tested the mettle of his newly-trained troops. The fight took place on a sandy plateau, overlooking a marshy tract of low land called the Humble Car. Up the steep ascent to the plateau, which was riddled with rabbit holes, and had to be gained in face of the enemy, the Lincolners led the van. After a hand-to-hand contest with the advanced guard, Cromwell routed them; but seeing a large body of horse under Cavendish in reserve, he kept back part of his men from the pursuit, and on Cavendish routing the Lincolners, charged him in the rear and forced him down the steep into a quagmire, where Captain James Berry slew him “with a thrust under his short ribs.” This description of the end of the dashing young leader does not sound too chivalrous, and to his own side his loss was great. His body was conveyed to Newark, where he was universally lamented.

After bringing a store of powder into Gainsborough, Cromwell drew out his force to reconnoitre from an adjoining hill, and suddenly found himself faced by the whole army of Newcastle. His foot regained the town with some loss; and the retreat of his few squadrons of horse, which were holding the enemy, was accomplished in masterly fashion by Major Whalley. As Cromwell’s horse could be of no service behind defensive works, he at once drew them off and retreated with such speed that his letter of the following Monday (31st) was dated from Huntingdon. After his departure Lord Willoughby made but a faint show of resistance, and surrendered the town on Sunday, the 30th. He had liberty to withdraw his men, but they were first disarmed—contrary, as he alleged, to the terms of surrender, though it is difficult to believe that such terms would be accepted by a far superior force. The Royalist prisoners, on being set free, began to plunder the town, in which they were joined by Newcastle’s soldiers against the express orders of their commander, who soon drew off his army, leaving Colonel St. George as governor of the place. Lord Willoughby retreated on Lincoln; but he decided that the defences of the city were too slight for successful resistance, and so retired to Boston, whence he wrote despairingly to Cromwell:—

“Since the business of Gainsborough the hearts of our men
have been so deaded that we have lost most of them by running
away.... If the enemy get this town, which is now very weak for
defence for want of men, I believe they will not be long out of
Norfolk and Suffolk.”

On receiving this letter Cromwell withdrew his cavalry from Stamford, and made Peterborough his headquarters; but he stationed some companies of foot at Spalding as a support to Boston. Lincoln was very soon occupied by the Cavaliers, who appointed Sir William Widdrington of Blankney governor, and made Richard Somerby mayor in place of Marshall. The troopers are said to have plundered the city, and tried to seize Mr. Reyner, the Sunday lecturer in St. Peter at Arches, but he escaped by the vestry window.

At this juncture, if Newcastle could have thrown his whole force upon the Associated Counties in concert with an advance of the King from the West after the capture of Bristol (July 26), the issue of the war might have been different. But his Yorkshire levies objected to leaving Hull unsubdued in their rear. So, after dallying unaccountably during August, he laid siege to that town on September 2—a fatal error, for it was impossible to reduce it by blockade, as the Parliament commanded the sea. On land, however, they were in woeful plight. The town of King’s Lynn, in the very heart of the Association, revolted against them in August; and the Earl of Manchester, newly appointed General of the Eastern Army, laid siege to it and took it on September 16. But all the commanders were in dire straits for money; and the reasons for adding Lincolnshire to the six Associated Counties by an ordinance of September 20 were probably in part financial. The weekly assessment for the county was fixed at £812, 10s., though in the following year this was raised to £1218. The cruelty of such a tax upon Royalists, who were perhaps secretly supplying the King with funds and yet had to pay this tax or suffer sequestration of their estates, is evident enough. Those landlords who were absent with the King did not escape, for the money was exacted from their tenants who were to deduct it from the rent. The ordinance was to be administered by a county committee sitting either at Lincoln or Boston, and consisting at first of 70, afterwards of 105 members. But the practical work was done by a “standing committee,” which might meet anywhere—five to be a quorum and fresh members to be summoned every fortnight.

At the date of this ordinance the hold of Parliament on the county was most insecure. But a change was at hand. News had come from Hull that the cavalry of Sir Thomas Fairfax was useless within the walls, and that their horses were dying from the brackish water. It was determined to bring this body of twenty-one troops across the Humber into Lincolnshire; and Cromwell, with Lord Willoughby, executed a daring march through the Wolds, then infested with Newarkers, to Barton, whither some of the cavalry were transported on September 18. But it seems to have been thought inadvisable to bring across the whole body in full view of the besieging army. On the 23rd both commanders were in Hull, bringing powder and provision for the garrison; and on the 26th the greater part of the cavalry were put on shipboard and landed, apparently the same evening, at Saltfleet Haven. At this old-world seaport there still stands a manor-house, then the property of Lord Lindsey, but somehow—by sequestration or otherwise—at the disposal of his kinsman of Parham, where Cromwell and Fairfax passed the night with their host. It is full of ancient furniture, and “Cromwell’s bed” is still pointed out to the credulous. With the dawn the troops were on the move, and had some difficulty in eluding a force of 5000 Cavaliers, who endeavoured to intercept them. At Louth, where Cromwell is said to have slept on the 27th, he would be joined by the contingent from Barton; and here, perhaps, a few troops were detached with Fairfax for scouting purposes round Horncastle. On the 28th Cromwell was in Boston, “weeping” that there was no money for his soldiers, and pushed on to Lynn to hasten the advance of Manchester and his infantry.