during the Great Rebellion. 



293 



Scropes of Castlecombe, Hawkins of Hardenhuish, Howard of 

 Charlton, Cleeter of Clyffe Pypard, Eyre of Chalfield, and Goddard 

 of Swindon : but the name, which from the very first takes the 

 foremost place in almost every dauntless adventure of those san- 

 guinary days, and especially in those fierce struggles connected with 

 the town of Chippenham, is Sir James Long of Draycot. 



The head quarters of the Militia were at Devizes and Marl- 

 borough; both towns, like Chippenham, as yet open and defenceless. 

 Of the military force then existent in Wilts, a company of foot 

 mustered at Chippenham under John Hungerford ; and here also 

 were the barracks of a light horse brigade, under Sir George Ivy. 

 All the armed power in the county was under the dominion of the 

 Parliament, who set Sir E. Baynton in supreme command. He 

 posted himself at Devizes. But burning jealousies having arisen 

 between him and Hungerford, his fellow M.P., the town and 

 neighbourhood of Chippenham were long torn asunder by their 

 mortal feuds. At length Baynton struck a daring blow. At dead 

 of night, Lieut. Eyre, with six musqueteers, broke into Hungerford's 

 chamber in Malmesbury, arrested him in Baynton's name, and 

 had conveyed him some distance from the town, when the Malmes- 

 bury Militia overtook them, and released Hungerford. Baynton 

 himself arriving in Malmesbury a few hours after, was seized in 

 turn, put into custody, sent to London, and cashiered from all his 

 appointments in Wilts. 



Hungerford for awhile assumed the command of the Wiltshire 

 forces, making Devizes his head quarters. Cirencester and Malmes- 

 bury, however, had both yielded to Lord Digby, and as the King 

 was in effect also master of Chippenham, the royalists of Devizes 

 took courage and boldly refused Hungerford's exactions, till, in 

 fear of being enclosed in an unfriendly town, while the road was 

 still open, he retreated to Bath. 



There was from the first in Devizes a large body of resolute 

 loyalists, at the head of whom were Alderman Pierce, and Michael 

 Tidcombe, the lawyer. These men hesitated at no sacrifices of 

 property or labour in the King's cause. They boldly appropriated 

 a great chest of plate and large sums of money, collected by the 



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