392 



NOTES AND QUERIES. C2n-« s. vi. m, Nor. 13. '68. 



next question which arises is, whether any ford 

 either bearing the name of Sandford, or to which 

 that appellation could reasonably be given, can 

 be proved to have ever been situated either upon 

 or in the neighbourhood of Bosworth Field. Now 

 I find from inquiries made of Mr. Brickwell of 

 Sutton Hall, and Mr. Abell of Sutton Chainell, 

 that the old road leading from Leicester to Ather- 

 stone, through the villages of Peckleton and Kirkby 

 Mallory, which has long since been diverted from 

 its course, but along which there is every reason 

 to believe that Richard advanced, when on his 

 march from the first-mentioned town upon Sun- 

 day, August 21, to meet his antagonist, used for- 

 merly, after skirting and partially traversing the 

 field of battle, to cross a ford still existing in the 

 memory of the present generation, and situated at 

 but a short distance from the north-western slope 

 of Ambien Hill. I find, too, that a part of the 

 comparatively modern highway between Sutton 

 Chainell and Shenton, which now passes over the 

 site of the same ford, and before reaching it be- 

 comes absolutely identical with the old Leicester 

 and Atherstone road, is called the Sandroad at the 

 present time. And lastly, I have been able to 

 ascertain that before the enclosure of the lordship 

 of Sutton, some sixty or seventy years ago, the 

 inhabitants of Shenton had possessed, from time 

 immemorial, the privilege of drawing sand free of 

 expense from the north side of Ambien Hill : 

 and that, in order to do this, they were neces- 

 sarily compelled frequently to pass and repass the 

 ford referred to. Mr. Rubley of Daddlington 

 Fields informs me that there is at least one person 

 still living in Shenton who well remembers that 

 his father was in the habit of largely availing him- 

 self of the privilege attached to his place of resi- 

 dence, and of crossing the neighbouring ford for 

 the purpose. I may add that the place is precisely 

 where we should expect to find it, on a considera- 

 tion of the x-elative positions occupied by the rival 

 armies. I think it would be difficult to obtain 

 more satisfactory evidence than this, although it is 

 possible that additional light may be thrown upon 

 the subject by farther investigation. Modern in- 

 dustry has materially altered the original features 

 of this memorable and interesting spot. The 

 stream, which once flooded the highway, is now 

 carried through a vaulted tunnel beneath it. The 

 ford has consequently disappeared, and its ancient 

 name has perhaps faded from the memory of the 

 existing generation. But any visitor to Bosworth 

 Field, who inquires for the Water Gate, may yet 

 stand on the ground pointed out as the scene of 

 the death of Richard IIL by the words of his rival 

 Henry VII. 



While on this subject I may state that the 

 Ordnance Map is not altogether to be relied upon 

 as a guide to the various localities connected with 

 the battle of Bosworth. The place called "Dickon's 



Nook," for example, is laid down on the virrong 

 side of the road between Sutton Chainell and 

 Daddlington, and at some distance from its real 

 position. It is also all but demonstrable that the 

 site not fir from the village of Stapleton, marked 

 as the " Encampment of Richard HI. on the eve 

 of Bosworth Field," was never occupied by the 

 army of that monarch. The latter error has, no 

 doubt, arisen from a too ready acceptance of a 

 statement in Mr. Hutton's work, that Richard left 

 Leicester on the I7th August, and was subse- 

 quently entrenched for three days at the Brad- 

 shaios, near Stapleton*; whereas it is certain, 

 both from the Croyland Historian and from the 

 Act of Attainder passed in 1485, that the king was 

 in Leicester on the morning of the day preceding 

 the battle. If any part of the royal force en- 

 camped on or near the Bradshaws, it was in all 

 probability the division under the separate com- 

 mand of Lord Stanley. James F. Hollikgs. 

 Leicester. 



CARLETON 8 MEMOIRS OF AN ENGLISH OFriCEE. 



Whilst these valuable Memoirs afford the best 

 exemplification of the vulvar adage, " Truth is 

 stranger than fiction," their author's unaffected 

 style of composition is scarcely less captivating 

 than his narrative. Boswell relates that Lord 

 Elliot once sent a copy of the work to Dr. John- 

 son, " who told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was 

 going to bed when it came, but was so pleased 

 with it, that he sat up till he read it through, and 

 found in it such an air of truth, that he could not 

 doubt its authenticity." The Memoirs profess to 

 be written by an English officer who accompanied 

 the Earl of Peterborough in his romantic expe- 

 dition to Spain, in 1705, for the purpose of placing 

 the Archduke Charles of Austria on the vacant 

 throne of that monarchy. They undoubtedly 

 contain the best contemporary account of that 

 eccentric nobleman's military achievements ; and 

 the modern historian of the War of Succession in 

 Spain, as well as the earl's most accomplished 

 biographer, have not scrupled, therefore, to bor- 

 row largely from their pages, thereby confirming 

 the judgment of the great oracle of Bolt Court. 

 Sir Walter Scott, too, in reprinting them in 1808, 

 together with an original introduction and notes, 

 tacitly admits them to be the genuine produc- 

 tion of one who really participated both in the 

 dangers and glory of Lord Peterborough's extra- 

 9rdinary campaign. Indeed, it is difficult to con- 

 ceive how a diligent student of the Blemoirs 

 could arrive at any other conclusion ; for they 



* The plan of the battle published in Nichols's Leices- 

 tershire, axid no doubt suggested by Mr. Hutton's i?os!rort/t 

 Field, also erroneously tixes the king's head-quarters near 

 Stapleton on the evening of the 21st of August. 



