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Lord direct me what to doo ; and deare Ned pray for me, that the Lord may pre- 
serve me from my cruell and bloodthirsty enemies.” 
Upon the departure of Sir William Vavasour, Colonel Lingen, a zealous 
Royalist and opponent of the Harleys, took the command, but he had to withdraw 
on the 6th September, when authentic news came of the Royalist disaster at 
Gloucester. Poor Lady Brilliana, who was of a delicate constitution, and enfeebled 
by the troubles and anxieties of the siege, shortly after this took cold, and died 
after a few days’ illness. She left three sons and two daughters, all baptised at 
Brampton Bryan. Early in 1644 a fresh force, under the command of Sir Michael © 
Woodhouse, who had just taken Hopton Castle, attacked the Castle with superior 
skill. Dr. Wright, Sergeant Hackluit, and 70 men gallantly defended it as before, 
but the walls could not stand the artillery brought to bear upon them; and when 
the outworks had fallen, the garrison was compelled to surrender at mercy. A 
contemporary account tells us that the walls were battered even with the ground, 
leaving little else but cellars. The prisoners included Dr. Wright, Sergeant 
Hackluit, and Sir Robert Harley’s three younger children. What was done with 
the prisoners does not appear, except that they were afterwards in Shrewsbury in 
prison ; but the tide of success had turned, and the next year, after the battle of 
Naseby, Herefordshire was in the hands of the Parliament. A list of Sir Robert’s 
losses shows that they were assessed at £12,990. Parliament authorised him to 
recover this sum from Sir Henry Lingen; accordingly, Edward Harley (Sir 
Robert’s son) waited on him, and, as he was, for some reason, absent, saw his wife 
and enquired whether the numbers had been set down by her husband, and on 
receiving an answer in the affirmative, he returned the schedule, waiving all right 
and title to the estates, which were by it conferred upon him—a worthy son of a 
good mother, whose constant counsel to him had ever been to show a forgiving 
and generous spirit to their enemies. 
There are no traces of the original tower, but it may have stood on the western 
side, where some fragments of an old wall may be seen. The gateway, from traces 
of ball-flower ornament which still exist, may be assigned to the age of Edward 
III. Leland speaks of t!.is castle as a ‘‘ pyle.” The following extract is from a 
sermon preached at the funeral of Sir Robert Harley in 1657 :—‘‘ When after the 
wars Sir R. Harley returned into the country and came to see Brampton Bryan, 
he rode towards the castle gate, and seeing the ruins, put off his hat and said ‘‘ God 
hath brought great desolation on this place since last I saw it. I desire to say, 
the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the Name of 
the Lord ; in His good time He will raise it up again; when His house is built, 
God will, I trust build mine.’ And observe that he took good care to build this 
house or place of worship, aud let his own lie buried in its woeful ruins.” In the 
modern building was born Edward Harley, auditor of the inquest, to whose piety 
and public spirit Herefordshire is much indebted. Here, too, the first and most 
illustrious of the Earls of Oxford and Mortimer died in 1724, carrying with him to 
the grave a reputation which, to use the phrase of Clarendon, Vituperare ne 
inimici quidem possunt, nisi simul laudant. 
