. in Sor&et. 



By J. S. UDAL, F.R. Hist. Soc. (of the 

 Inner Temple). 



FEW years ago there was an interesting dis- 

 cussion in the pages of " Notes and Queries"* as 

 to what old houses now exist in the country that 

 formed hiding-places for Charles II. between the 

 battle of Worcester (3rd September, 1G51) and 

 the time when the king at last effected his escape 

 from Brighthelmstone on the 15th of the following October. 



At that time I put forward the claims of the old Manor House 

 at Pilsdon to rank as one of those entitled to the honourable 

 distinction of having sheltered the Royal fugitive, basing the 

 claim upon the tradition I had heard that the King had paid a visit 

 to the old house, at that time the property of those staunch 

 royalists, the Wyndhams. 



A year or so afterwards, my claim for Pilsdon having been 

 challenged by a correspondent in " Notes and Queries," I went 

 more deeply into the question of Charles II. 's wanderings in 

 Dorsetshire, and, after consulting the principal authorities upon 

 the subject, I was constrained to admit that the claim I had put 

 forth rested upon tradition only, though I expressed a hope at 

 the time that I had shown (for the reasons given in my paper) a 



6th series, vols. v. and viii. passim. 



