ANTHONY PAYNE, CORNISH GIANT. 277 



but in the attacking position ; amidst them was Anthony Payne, 

 mounted on his cob Samson, rallying his troopers and terror- 

 ising the enemy, who fled. A monument was raised to 

 commemoiate the scene of the battle, but the owner of the field, 

 in later days, so resented the trespass on his land by sightseers, 

 that he demolished it ; and a tablet was affixed to the Manor 

 House at Stratton, the present Tree Inn, the inscription runs 

 thus — 



"In this place the rebell army, 



under the command of the Earl of Stamford, received 



a signal overthrow 



by the valor of Sir Beville Grenville 



and the Cornish forces, on Tuesday, 6th of May, 1643." 



At the next pitched battle of Lansdown, near Bath, the 

 forces of the King were defeated, and Sir Beville was killed. 

 Anthony Payne having mounted John G-renville, then a youth 

 of sixteen, on his father's horse, had led on the Grenville troops 

 to the fight. The carrying of the sad news to Lady Grace fell on 

 the faithful henchman, as did, too, the conveyance of the lifeless 

 body of his master to its final resting-place among the honoured 

 sires of his house, in the church of Kilkhampton, a village four 

 miles north of Stratton. There the monumental tablet states — 



" Here lies all that was mortal of the most noble and truly valiant 

 Sir Beville Grenville, of Stowe, in the County of Cornwall. " 



and then proceeds to relate his deeds, adding that he — 



" Was at length slain with many wounds, at the battle of 

 Lansdown, July 5th, 1643." 



The final victory of the Parliament, the execution of Charles 

 I, and the restoration of Charles II, soon followed. With 

 the return of monarchy came honours to the Grenville family, 

 who had assisted much in it. Sir John Grenville was created 

 Earl of Bath, and was made governor of the garrison at 

 Plymouth, and he then appointed Payne halberdier of the guns. 

 The King, who held Payne in great favour, made him a 

 yeoman of his guards, and Sir Godfrey Kneller, the court artist, 

 was employed to paint his portrait. That portrait, in his dress 

 as a yeoman of the guns — a situation which he held during His 

 Majesty's life — is the one which has now come into the possession 



