THE SIEGE OF PLYMOUTH. 269 
6th and the 16th of November nothing of note occurred except a 
foraging sally at Thornhill, which ended in the capture of Major 
Leyton, because, as in the assault on Knackersknowle, the party 
pushed forward too far. The Lipson end of the line was the first 
attacked. The deep valley, however, prevented the Cavaliers from 
raising their battery (which opened on the 18th November) near 
enough to do much damage. Though the townsfolk were by this 
time both united and determined, they were not thoroughly purged 
of the leaven of malignity. Three notorious ‘‘malignants’’ were 
among them—FEllis Carteret, sailor; Henry Pike, vintner; and 
Moses Collins, attorney. Carteret endeavoured to induce Roger 
Kemborn, chief gunner of -Maudlyn Work, to blow it up. Kem- 
born revealed the plot, ‘‘God not suffering his conscience to rest 
until he did;”’ and Carteret was apprehended. Pike and Collins 
fled to the enemy. 
Sunday, the 3rd of December, 1643, is one of the most memor- 
able days in the history of Plymouth. -Never stood the town in 
such peril. Its fate trembled in the balance; and if train-bands 
and soldiers had not alike done their duty, the Parliament would 
have lost its last stronghold in the West. There was a small 
breastwork at Laira Point, just at the junction of what then was 
Lipson Creek with the Laira. It was but an entrenched outpost 
with three cannon, and in itself of little strength. Low tide fell 
during the dark hours of the morning of the 3rd December, and 
| Lipson Creek, save the middle channel, was dry. Guided by Pike 
and Collis, 400 musketeers crossed the mud, wading the stream 
a little below the mill; and following down the western shore 
under cover of the precipitous banks, surprised the guard at the 
Point. It then wanted three hours to sunrise. The guard were 
not so completely surprised but that the alarm was given to the 
garrison; and at daybreak, 150 horse and 300 musketeers. fell in 
above Tothill to repel the attack. The ridge concealed them from 
the main body of the besiegers; but as they were in full view of 
Mount Stamford, a warning shot fired thence aroused Prince 
Maurice “and ‘‘all the gallantry of his army,” who immediately 
advanced in full strength from Compton and Egg Buckland down 
Lipson Valley, under cover of their ordnance and sheltered by a 
hedge, to the support of their forlorn hope. Speed as they would, 
the Roundheads were before them; and by the time they arrived, 
a hot conflict was onward near the Point. The besiegers’ supports 
