Keep Your Powder Dry

For more Yorkshire 'related stuff' you can find  West Yorkshire  here ,  South Yorkshire  here , and  East Riding  here . For sites of interest in York, and the Marston Moor battlefield see here ; Skipton Castle see here , and Knaresborough Castle here . All Saints Church  in Ripley (Harrogate way, not the one in Derbyshire) was used by the Parliamentarians as a billet for their soldiers who were pursuing fleeing Royalists from Marston Moor. A number were captured and executed against the walls of the church which still bears the scars of musket balls. Inside the Church they added graffiti  "no pompe nor pride let God be honoured" to the tomb of Sir William Ingilby (1546-1618). Interestingly Sir William's children are both claimed to have fought at Marston Moor: Sir William (junior) was a Royalist cavalry officer, and his sister Jane is supposed to have disguised herself as a man wearing full armour in order to take the field. After the Battle Sir...

A somewhat dark and dour postcript to the Battle of Naseby. War is a dreadful thing, amongst all of the horrific things that human inflicts upon other human in the name of 'war' there are some events that stand out as atrocities:   o ne such atrocity took place in the aftermath of the battle of Naseby.  There are many atrocities attributed to one side or the other during the Civil Wars, but when you look into most of these atrocities, hard evidence can be hard to find to support the hyperbole of the pamphleteers. An oft recycled pamphlet image of an atrocity: originally used for an event in the south west, then Leicester, then York . The events that befell the Royalist baggage train after Naseby are fairly unique in that both sides report pretty much the same story, and a 1660 Petition to Charles II supports the story. Naseby is  all but lost and panicking Royalist troops start fleeing north towards Market Harborough, and the baggage train flees too. Anyone who has ever w...

As is becoming traditional on International Women's Day we take a look at the part that women played during the Wars. This year, the KeepYourPowderDry spotlight shines upon the many spies of the Civil Wars. Many of the spies that we know about were women and servants, as they were 'invisible'. One only has to think of how Charles II, a man of distinctive complexion and height, became 'invisible' by becoming the man servant of Jane Lane when fleeing from Worcester. Our first spy is Elizabeth Alkin , Elizabeth, nicknamed Parliament Joan, (c. 1600–1655?). She was the wife of Francis Alkin, who was hanged as a spy in Oxford by royalist forces. Alkin's activities are known largely from her surviving petitions for payment and relief and from references in contemporary newsbooks. Employed from the beginning of the civil war as a spy by the Earl of Essex, Sir William Waller, and Thomas Fairfax, in 1645 and 1647 Alkin received payments from the committee for the advance...

No Monday post this week; in celebration of International Womens' Day let us investigate some more women of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. But first, a little about the title of this post... The longest post title on the blog award goes to this one, courtesy of His Majesty Charles I.  In 1643, a draft proclamation was drawn up, setting out required standards of behaviour for Charles I’s army. It included a hand-written memo in the margin from the king stating: ‘lett no woman presume to counterfeit her sex by wearing mans apparall under payne of the severest punishment.’ For balance, I toyed with a different title, courtesy of Old Knoll  'a youth of so fair countenance'. So far, on the blog, we have already met some strong women:  Captain Frances Dalziel/Dalyell/Dalzell (alias Mrs Pierson) ; Trooper Jane of Ripley Castle; and  the Countess of Derby resolutely defending Lathom House. It's about time we met some more... Cromwell's ' youth of so fair countenance ...

When I planned my Army of Montrose, it was, as in real life, quite cavalry light. A unit of lancers and a unit of harquebusiers (for the Gordon Horse). But... well I fell down a rabbit hole... and, discovered the intriguing story of Captain Frances Dalyell alias Mrs Pierson. Well, once I knew about her, it just had to be done a Frances in 15mm. It was intended to be the final Montrose unit to be painted, unfortunately I was in headswapping mode and needed to scratch that itch. So here they are. Captain Frances Dalyell, alias Mrs Pierson, was reputedly the illegitimate daughter of the Earl of Carnwath. There are many contemporary tales of women dressing as men and serving in the Wars, so many that Charles had a draft proclamation drawn up, setting out required standards of behaviour for Charles I’s army. It included a hand-written memo in the margin from the king himself stating "lett no woman presume to counterfeit her sex by wearing mans apparall under payne of the severest punis...

Every so often a little snippet of information turns into a day of book diving and visiting some of the more esoteric corners of the world wide web.  Ballads such as  The Valiant Commander with his Resolute Lady  tell us of women wearing men's clothes and taking up arms; and, there are many myths and legends of women donning men's clothes to fight in the wars - but is this fact or fiction? The lot of camp followers and the women working as spies is relatively well documented (in C17th terms that is!) but did women cross dress and actually get to the sharp pointy end of things?  Professor Mark Stoyle of Southampton University investigated, and wrote a paper on the subject (I)n 1643, a draft proclamation was drawn up, setting out required standards of behaviour for Charles I’s army. It included a hand-written memo in the margin from the king himself stating ‘lett no woman presume to counterfeit her sex by wearing mans apparall under payne of the severest punishmen...

Part two of the Prince Rupert travelogue sees him venture through Lancashire towards York, and ultimately the battle of Marston Moor. For ease of writing south of the Mersey is 'Cheshire', north of the Mersey is 'Lancashire'. After crossing the Mersey, Rupert bypassed Manchester as it was too well defended, instead storming Bolton. Immediately after Storming Stockport his army camped on Barlow Moor in what is now Didsbury. A plaque on Didsbury Library marks the spot. Rupert attacked Bolton on the 28th of May three days after taking Stockport. The loss of Stockport led to the Parliamentarian forces besieging Lathom House to retreat to Bolton. The attack started in pouring rain, the 4000 defenders repulsing the Royalist attacks. A fresh attack led by the  Earl of Derby broke the defensive line. James Stanley, Earl of Derby Two of the Royalist regiments of foot had returned from fighting in Ireland, and during the initial attack a number of their men were cap...