A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



passed their comprehension, and the money and men for the fort at 

 Newport Pagnell had very often to be written for. This fort, the apex of 

 the eastern triangle, was in Bedfordshire on the Ouse, and was one of the 

 points by which the royal forces could break through to the east. The other 

 point for defence was near Wisbech, called the Horse Shoe Pass. On 

 1 4 February, 1644, Laurence Crawford was appointed general in command of 

 the eastern counties, and 3,000 men were sent from the county to Cambridge 

 to cover Waller's advance towards Oxford. On his defeat, 29 June, at 

 Cropredy, the county were told plainly that their harvest must wait, for if any- 

 thing happened to Waller's army it would be worse for them than the going 

 of their men out of the county. Two days later the news of Marston Moor 

 relieved the anxious committee, and the men were allowed to go about their 

 harvest, for they had testified to the committee that their hearts were zealously 

 set on the cause of God and their country. Soldiers were getting tired of 

 their trade and many deserted. 



The year 1645 was one f humiliation for the royalists, and the com- 

 mittee in Suffolk had trouble with their troops. At Bury * there was rioting 

 fomented by the royalists, who were plotting to get 2 Landguard Fort in their 

 hands. The chaplain there was a dangerous man, and Captain Sussex 

 Camock's loyalty to Parliament was more than suspect. News from Shrews- 

 bury warned the committee, and Captain Hunter on 17 May was ordered to 

 put himself with fifty men into the fort and to keep his instructions secret. 

 Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston was then commanded to make inquiries in the 

 county as to such as kept intelligence with the king's quarters. The result 

 of the inquiry went to prove that the fort had not been in real danger, and 

 Camock was set at liberty. The importance of Landguard Fort was felt by 

 Charles the next year, when he attempted to escape by the east coast and 

 could get no ship. With the king's surrender the war ended for a time, and 

 Suffolk delinquents escaped abroad in considerable numbers. 



In 1648 royalist insurrections blazed up over Suffolk. At Bury 3 rioting 

 began over the hoisting of a maypole and at once became serious. Next day 

 the streets were full of royalists shouting, 'For God and King Charles!', the 

 magazine and arms were seized and the Parliament men were chased out of the 

 town. Several troops of Colonel Whalley's horse were ordered to advance 

 against the town with the county forces, 4 and Sir William Playter and Sir 

 Thomas Barnardiston were sent down to negotiate, with orders that if the in- 

 habitants would surrender they were to promise them indemnity for all acts, 

 but if they would not make absolute submission then there was to be no 

 capitulation, and the commissioners were to let the rioters take their punish- 

 ment from Whalley's dragoons. Bury wisely yielded to mercy. Aldeburgh 

 was secured by Captain Johnson, and Lothingland and the Isle of Flegg by 

 Sir John Wentworth and Captain Robert Brewster. None of these measures 

 was premature, for one morning there arrived at Landguard Fort, 6 in a 

 small boat, the vice-admiral of the fleet with his wife and children, escaped 

 from his ship, which with the rest had declared for the king. During the 

 siege of Colchester by the Parliament the Suffolk levies were kept on the 



1 Cal ofS. P. Dom. 1644-5, p. 496. * Ibid. 1644-5, p. 484, passim. 



1 Ibid. 1648-9, 65 ; Rushworth, Hist. Coll. ed. 1708, vi, 396. 



4 Cal. o/S. P. Dom. 1648-9, 65. Ibid. 1648-9, 85. 



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