A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



lord in Nottinghamshire ' was the reward offered him. 1 Of Lord Newcastle's 

 share in these transactions it is difficult to judge. Certainly if Nottingham 

 could have been gained before the parliamentary forces under Sir John 

 Meldrum and Lord Willoughby could march south the county would have 

 formed a royalist wedge between north and east. Since Colonel Hutchinson 

 could not be won over the garrison at Newark made a desperate effort to take 

 both town and castle by storm in January, 1643-4. Fifteen hundred horse 

 and foot from the garrison joined with royalist forces from the surrounding 

 country, and about six o'clock in the morning of 1 6 January drew near the 

 town from either side and forced an entry, driving back the governor and 

 two foot companies into the castle. They then possessed themselves of 

 St. Peter's Church and the houses and ' street ends ' to prevent the garrison 

 from sallying out. The ordnance from the castle, however, ' made a lane among 

 them,' and the Parliamentary horse, seeing they could do no service mounted, 

 took their muskets, and served on foot, and so succeeded in beating back the 

 enemy. 8 ' In all this day's service,' Colonel Hutchinson wrote, ' we had not 

 any assistance from the townsmen besides those which have all this year been 

 in the castle with me, though I had twice summoned them to receive arms 

 for the defence of the town . . . but now I am in some hopes that they will 

 by this be brought to concur more cheerfully with me for their own defence 

 and that the cavaliers (though they have no cause to bray of this) will more 

 dearly buy their next entrance.' 8 In February, 16434, came an account, 

 again from the parliamentary side, of the most ' admirable and marvellous 

 deliverance ' of the town and castle from a plot of the king's ' base cormorants.' 

 Horses laden with straw were driven by thirty cavaliers, some ' in the habits 

 of plain country men, others of them like unto homely country women,' 

 from Newcastle towards Nottingham as though going to the market ; but 

 the ' supposed women ' were suspected, and the ' cousening cormorants ' 

 being detected were examined and tortured until they confessed a plot to 

 suddenly attack and kill the guard, and prepare the way for the horse and 

 foot that were following. Thus warned the Nottingham garrison issued out 

 and put the enemy to rout and retreat.* 



Meanwhile Sir John Meldrum and Lord Willoughby had marched \ 

 south, and by the middle of February the siege of Newark was begun. 6 By f 

 the middle of March the garrison was nearly starved out,' and so sure was i 

 Parliament of a speedy end to the siege that an order went from the Com- 

 mittee of Both Kingdoms to the earl of Manchester on 20 March that the 

 Nottingham and Derby forces were to return from Yorkshire to secure their 

 own counties, that the footmen of Lord Willoughby, then at Newark, should 

 go with Sir John Meldrum to Yorkshire, and his horse to the earl of Denbigh. 7 

 On the next day, 21 March, Prince Rupert, who when at Chester had 

 received orders from the king on 1 2 March to march to the relief of Newark, 



B. M. Pamphlets, E. p. 104. An interesting personal note comes into this letter since Mr. Hutchinson 

 tells his friend 'your sonnes are both well here in the castle, and I heare your wife is so in the country : 

 only I hear your goods and corne are plundered.' 



B. M. Pamphlets, 312. Gods' Ark overtopping the World's Waves, p. 163. * Ibid. p. 163. 



4 Ibid. Mrs. Hutchinson, op. cit. pp. 214-5. 5 See Cai. S. P. Dom. 1644, 23. 



' Yet Sir Edward Nicholas reported on 1 5 March that ' the rebels assaulted Newark in several places, but 

 were repulsed with loss of about 500 dead on the place, besides some of their ordnance, particularly the great 

 wars piece they took at Hull from my lord of Newcastle.' Ibid. p. C4-. 



ft 1 yp- * * J\ 



7 Ibid. p. 63. 



348 



