12 
house as he and his company expected, he fired the barnes, 
stables, and outhouses, which caused a mighty smoke, and 
began to smother them much in the house, and to hinder 
their fight from acting as they did before, and now also their 
store of powder was wellnigh all spent ; hereupon, therefore, 
Mistris Purfrey herselfe, the mistris of the house, opened her 
doores, and issuing forth, fell upon her knees, and craved 
quarter for herselfe and her family onely ; whereupon it 
pleased the Lord to molifie the Princes heart towards her, 
who asked her what she would desire of him? She answered, 
her own life and the lyves of those that ware within with 
her, certifying him who and what number they were, and 
that onely her son-in-law, Mr. Abbott, and his three servants 
were ail the men or male kinde in the house, which did what 
was done; which when Prince Rupert heard, and understood 
for certain of the paucity of their number, and considered 
their brave valour and resolution, he admired and wondered 
at it, raised the gentlewoman from her knees, saluted her 
kindly (the greatest act of humanity, if not the onely, that 
ever I yet could heare he expressed to any honest English), 
and granted her request fully and freely, notwithstanding 
the slaughter of so many of his men, and some commanders 
as aforesaid, went into the house to see Mr. Abbott and the 
rest who had so bravely behaved themselves, whom when he 
saw, and that ’twas so indeed, he was much taken with their 
most notable valour, saved their lives, and house from plun- 
dering, saying to Mr. Abbott that he was worthie to bea 
chief commander in an armie, and proferred him such a place 
in his army if he would go with him, but he modestly refused 
it. However, here the said Prince fairly performed his 
promise, and would not suffer a pennyworth of his goods in 
the house to be taken from them, and so departed.” Such 
is the account given by Vicar’s of that “ Prince of plun- 
derers,” as he describes him, Prince Rupert. There were, as 
we shall see, other plunderers in the Parliamentary forces. 
The “ Iter Carolinum,” a diary by one of the Royal attendants 
as brief as the more ancient Jters of King John and Edward 
the Second, exhibits the movements of the King and his 
forces during the early part of the civil wars. It appears 
from this that the head quarters and rendezvous of the Royal 
forces were first at Nottingham, to which place the King 
went on the 16th of August, 1642. On the 18th of that 
month he went from thence to Leicester, and on the 19th to 
Stoneley Abbey, Sir Thomas Lee’s, where, if we may credit 
the diarist, he stayed three nights. He returned to Notting- 
