282 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, among whose family muniments 
the originals are : 
Robert Earle of Warwicke, Lord High Admiral of England, Ireland, and 
Wales, and Captain-Generall of his Maties Seas and Navy Royall. 
To ye Commander-in-Chiefe of Mount Edgecomb,—I doe hereby sommon 
you, in the name of the King and Parliament, forthwt® to render to mee 
Mount Edgecomb, now in yot keeping, for the use of his Mate and ye 
Parliamt wth all things in it. Els you may expect the rigour of warre, I 
being resolved otherwise to enforce yo™ speedy obedience. You are to 
retorne mee yo" answere by this Bearer, my Lieutennant. WaARWICKE. 
Aboord his Mat.’s ship the James, in Plimouth Sound, 30 July, 1644. 
The answer is as follows: 
NostE Earte or Waxrwicke,—Wheras you have sumoned me, in the 
name of the King and Parliament, to Render unto yot Lord?? the Howse 
Mountedgcombe; may ytt please yot Honner, I am heere intrusted to 
keepe the Howse for my Master, Coll! Edgcombe, till his returne: to whom, 
as I conceive, itt doth justly belonge. _ 
Your Humble Servant, Henry Bourne. 
Mountedgcombe, July the 30th, 1644. 
There is no need to recall the details of the disaster that befell 
Essex, the greatest blow, according to his own admission, that the 
Parliament had received.* The King and Prince Maurice marched 
after him. Richard Symonds, a Cavalier who was with the King, 
and whose diary we have, states that the jomt armies mustered 
10,000 foot, 5,000 horse, and 28 pieces of cannon. Essex was 
hemmed in at Boconnoc, the scene of Ruthven’s disaster. Sir 
William Balfour, with 2,300 horse, broke through the investing 
line, and reached Plymouth by Saltash; Skippon, with the foot, 
including the Plymouth contingent, surrendered. Essex, with 
Lord Robartes, Sir John Merrick, and a few others, escaped from 
Fowey in a small vessel, contemptuously termed a cock-boat by 
the Cavaliers, to Plymouth.t 
Every preparation was made at Plymouth to resist the coming 
attack of the Royalists, flushed with victory. Fortunately a 
quantity of supplies had been received which were originally 
intended for Gloucester. The breathing-time was brief. Skippon 
surrendered on the Ist September; by the 5th the King, with 
Maurice and Grenville, were at Tavistock, whence the latter sent 
* RusHwoxrrtH, p. 703. 
+ Essex speaks very highly of the conduct of the Plymouth horse under 
Capt. Reynolds.—Rusuwoxrtn, part 3, vol. ii. p. 703. 
