A HISTORY OF DORSET 



free themselves from the barbarous invaders,' which opportunity they forth- 

 with embraced.^ 



Meanvvfhile the Royal cause was losing Lyme also. On 23 May 

 Warwick, had appeared off the town,' to whose defence Blake,' afterwards 

 admiral of the Commonwealth, was heroically contributing. A few days 

 later Warwick wrote : ' the assistance of the ships saved the town ; ' * yet the 

 Prince, whose operations had lately been much hampered by the bickerings 

 of his own officers,'' was not compelled to give up the siege till 15 June. 

 That morning about 2 a.m. the garrison made a splendid sally. The admiral, 

 writing to the Commissioners of the Navy about the men of Lyme, reported 

 ' they have most valiantly defended themselves,' and the women behaved no 

 less gallantly.* 



Wareham, in spite of an attempt made upon it by Essex in June,' held 

 out for the king until early in August. Then Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper ' 

 and Colonel Sydenham ' with 1,200 horse and foot stormed the outworks, 

 whereupon the town surrendered upon articles. Most of the garrison were 

 sent into Ireland, Lord Inchiquin" having 'ordered his brother, Colonel 

 O'Brien," to come over to his assistance, which was the occasion of so easy a 

 surrender.' 



Dorset enjoyed a temporary immunity from war in the late summer of 

 this year (1644), during the western march of Essex, prior to his defeat at 

 Lostwithiel (31 August). The occupation of Weymouth in June had been 

 followed by the presence of the admiral in Portland Roads frustrating the 

 original plans for the queen's escape. ^^ The town was not without secret 

 Royalist sympathizers,^' and the admiral laboured to make the fortifications 

 more secure, utilizing some beginnings made by the Royalists on the Nothe 

 peninsula. He also proposed to build a fort on ' another hill on the 

 Weymouth side' (Jordan Hill .?), and to add ' three small bastions' to Sands- 

 foot Castle.^* Melcombe, he thought, ' being separated from the main by a 

 causey only, will be sufficiently secured by a work already raised on the 

 beach.' ^* He estimated the cost at jT 1,200, and the requisite number of men 

 at 500, ' to which, if 200 horse be added, they will not only secure these 

 towns, but also keep the county of Dorset thereabouts in awe.' The Parlia- 

 ment allocated these resources for the defence of the town, the Committee of 

 the West adding to them on their own account. By 18 September, ' the 

 citadel is almost complete,' but ' there is still much to do.' " 



' Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644, pp. 270-1. 



'Ibid. pp. 365, 371. Hugh Peters accompanied him on this naval expedition. He preached a 

 thanksgiving sermon at Lyme on its relief. 



' ' Journal of the Siege,' printed Roberts, Hist, of Lyme Re^s, 82-9. 



* Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644, May 30, p. 554. ' Ibid. 160. 



' Ibid. 535 ; Prince, lyortkia of Devon, 84. ' Rushworth, Collections, iii (ii), 7S4 ; Vicars, op. cit. 285. 



' Commons fount. 10 July, 1644. 



' Of Wynford Eagle, restored this month to the post of Governor of We}-mouth, which he had held before 

 the Royalist occupation. He was ' a gentleman of approved courage and industry, whose intention is to purge 

 the town of all malignants ' ; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644. 



'" Disappointed, Feb. 1644, in not obtaining the vacant Presidency of Munster, which was given to Lord 

 Portland, he changed sides on his return to Ireland, and fought for the Parliament. 



" Made Governor on the Royalist occupation the previous January ; see Christie's Z,/;^ of Shaftesbury, \, 60. 



" Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644, pp. 10, 133, 263, 278, 309, 555. " Ibid. 301. 



" Built by Henry \'11I (1539), when fortifying the south coast. 



" Cal. S. P. Dom. 1644, pp. 309, 310. 



'* Ibid. pp. 461, 489, 516. 



154 



