To Catch a King by Charles Spencer

Author:Charles Spencer [Spencer, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2017-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

* The priest would keep the rag as a royal relic, and eventually sent it to a relative, a Mr Brithwayte, who venerated it.

PART THREE

A LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN

12

Heading for the Coast

It is constantly reported, and believed, that the Scots King is dead, and the late Queen of England is of the same belief, and doth mourn for him.

Weekly Intelligencer, September 1651

On Monday, 8 September the Weekly Intelligencer reported on Major General Harrison’s progress as he harvested Royalist fugitives while continuing his relentless hunt for the king: ‘After such a field of our enemies, which this great victory had mowed, and taken … about 10,000 of them, Major General Harrison hath since gleaned no less than fourteen hundred of them in one place, and letters this day advertise that some hundreds more have been gathered up in another, so that (some of the chiefest of them being made sacrifices for the establishment of the Commonwealth) we hope after this harvest, to enjoy many happy years of peace and plenty.’1

If that dream of a settled and prosperous future were to come true, it was essential that Charles be caught. While he remained unaccounted for, speculation was beginning to mount as to what might have happened to him. ‘It is this day reported,’ the Weekly Intelligencer pronounced, ‘that the Scots King attended but with twelve men, is fled back over Warrington Bridge, endeavouring to return by the same way by which he came; but such is the vigilance of Colonel Lilburne, that it will be almost impossible for him to escape; others are extremely confident, and will not be gainsaid but that he is fled toward North Wales, and being a lost man, will do his uttermost to get into the Isle of Man to make his moan there.’2

The next day, Mercurius Politicus noted how the English people had risen to help Harrison’s men in the apprehending of fleeing Scots: ‘That part of the enemy that took Preston Road for Lancaster, were overtaken by commanded parties of Major General Harrison … Not any of these scattered remnants can escape through, but have been stuck in the hands of the country people, by hundreds and fifties.’3

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.