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“The Gear Rout”: The Cornish Rising of 1648 and the Second Civil War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2017

Mark Stoyle
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Extract

In July 1648 John Bond, Master of the Savoy, delivered a thanksgiving sermon to the House of Commons, in which he praised God for the series of victories that the New Model Army had recently won in many parts of England and Wales. The tangled, multi-layered conflict known to posterity as the Second Civil War was still raging, rebel forces were holding out in Colchester and the Scottish army of the Engagement was marching south, but Bond—anxious to buoy up the Army’s allies and to cast down the spirits of its enemies—did everything he could to emphasise the universality of the recent successes. “The garment of gladnesse reacheth all over…the Land,” he declaimed, “the robe [of victory] reacheth from…Northumberland in the North, to…Sussex in the South…[and] from Dover…in the East, to Pensands, the utmost part of Cornwall, in the West.” Bond’s reference to Penzance would have struck a chord with many of his listeners, for accounts of an insurgent defeat in the little Cornish town had been read out in the House some weeks before. Yet, from that day to this, the rising at Penzance—and indeed the entire “Western dimension” of the Second Civil War have been largely forgotten.

Type
1999 Presidential Address of the North American Conference on British Studies
Information
Albion , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , Spring 2000 , pp. 37 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 2000

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Footnotes

1

I am most grateful to G. W. Bernard, Lord St. Levan, Michael J. Moore, Philip Payton, and R. E. Stoyle for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. It was first presented at St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall, in May 1999.

References

2 Bond, John, Eschol, Or Grapes Among Thorns (13 July 1648), p. 24; and Journal of the House of Commons [hereafter cited as CJ], 5, p. 576Google Scholar.

3 See, for example, Gardiner, Samuel R., History of the Great Civil War,> 4 vols. (1901), 4: 145Google Scholar.

4 Ashton, Robert, Counter-Revolution: The Second Civil War and its Origins (1994), pp. 363, 425-29Google Scholar.

5 See Coate, Mary, Cornwall in the Great Civil War and Interregnum (Oxford, 1933), pp. 237–41Google Scholar; and Whetter, James C. A., “Anthony Gubbs of Penzance: Sufferer in the Parliamentary Cause,” Old Cornwall 7 (1967-72): 160–69Google Scholar.

6 See, for example, Everitt, Alan, The Community of Kent and the Great Rebellion (1966), pp. 219–20, 228–30Google Scholar and ch. 7; Roots, Ivan, The Great Rebellion (1988), p. 127Google Scholar; Underdown, David, Pride’s Purge: Politics in the Puritan Revolution (Oxford, 1971), pp. 94, 98Google Scholar; Morrill, John, The Revolt of the Provinces: Conservatives and Radicals in the English Civil War (1976), pp. 126–28; idem, “Introduction,” in idem, ed., Reactions to the English Civil War (1986), p. 25Google Scholar; and Kenyon, John, The Civil Wars of England (1988), p. 179Google Scholar.

7 See Lyndon, Brian, “Essex and the King’s Cause in 1648,” Historical Journal 29 (1986): 17-19, 27-28, 37–38Google Scholar; Lyndon, Brian, “The South and the Start of the Second Civil War,” History 71 (1986): 400, 405, 407Google Scholar; and, more generally, Ashton, Counter-Revolution.

8 Waller, On, see Dictionary of National Biography; Adair, John, Roundhead General: The Campaigns of Sir William Waller (1997), pp. 4, 11Google Scholar; and Stoyle, Mark, From Deliverance to Destruction: Rebellion and Civil War in an English City (Exeter, 1996), pp. 128–35Google Scholar.

9 See Journal of the House of Lords [hereafter cited as LJ], 10, p. 268; and Bodleian Library, Oxford [hereafter cited as Bod.], Tanner Mss, 57, No. 69, f. 127.

10 Stoyle, Mark, Loyalty and Locality: Popular Allegiance in Devon during the English Civil War (Exeter, 1994), pp. 232–38Google Scholar, and ch. 3.

11 See Coate, Cornwall, pp. 221-24; Roberts, Stephen K., Recovery and Restoration in an English County: Devon Local Administration, 1646-70 (Exeter, 1985), pp. 1–11Google Scholar; and Ashton, , Counter-Revo-lution, pp. 120–21Google Scholar.

12 Firth, C. H. and Rait, R. S., eds., Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 2 vols. (1978), 1: 1053Google Scholar; Bod., Clarendon Mss, 30, f.273.

13 Bod., Tanner Mss, 57, f.127; Devon Record Office, Exeter, Exeter Chamber Act Book, 1/9 (1647-55), f.8.

14 Plymouth continued to keep Waller’s troops at arm’s length for some months, see Historical Manuscripts Commission [hereafter cited as HMC], 13th report, appendix 1, Portland Mss, 1, p. 466.

15 On Poyer’s Rising, see Ashton, , Counter-Revolution, esp. pp. 416–22; Gaunt, Peter, A Nation under Siege: The Civil War in Wales (London, 1991), pp.66–71Google Scholar; and Phillips, J. R., Memoirs of the Civil War in Wales and the Marches, 2 vols. (1874), 1: 392–402 and 2: 344–357Google Scholar.

16 Calendar of State Papers, Domestic [hereafter cited as CSPD], 1648-49, p. 37; and Calendar of State Papers, Venetian [hereafter cited as CSPV], 1647-52, p. 52.

17 Gardiner, Samuel R., ed., Hamilton Papers (Camden Society, New Series 27, 1880), p. 171Google Scholar.

18 Ibid., p. 181; and Morrill, John, “Mutiny and Discontent in English Provincial Armies, 1645-47,” in idem, ed., The Nature of the English Revolution (1993), pp. 336, 343, 345, 350–51Google Scholar.

19 British Library, London, Thomason Tracts [hereafter cited as E.]; 436 (10), The Perfect Weekly Account, 12-19 April 1648; CSPV, 1647-52, p. 55.

20 CJ, 5, pp. 525, 536; Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington DC [hereafter cited as FSL], XD.483, Bennett Mss, Nos 12, 15; and E.436 (10).

21 Gardiner, , Hamilton Papers, p. 183Google Scholar.

22 CJ, 5, pp. 533, 536; Abbott, W. C., The Writings and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, 2 vols. (Cambridge, Mass., 1937), 1: 597Google Scholar.

23 For Bennett, see Coate, , Cornwall, passim; Coate, Mary, “An Original Diary of Colonel Robert Bennett of Hexworthy,” Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries [hereafter cited as DCNQ] 18 (1934-35): 251–59Google Scholar; and Underdown, Pride’s Purge, pp. 308-09. For his command of the western garrisons, see Bod., Mss J. Walker, C. 10, f.9. Photocopies of Bennett’s papers may be consulted at the Cornish Record Office in Truro (Bennett Mss, FS3/47). I am most grateful to Mr. Colin Edwards for this information.

24 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 15

25 Ibid., no. 16.

26 Bod., Tanner Mss, 57, no. 69, f.127r.

27 Worth, R. N., ed., The Buller Papers (Plymouth, 1895) [hereafter cited as Buller], pp. 101–02Google Scholar.

28 Bod., Tanner Mss, 57, no. 69, ff. 127r-128r.

29 Ibid., f. 129; and LJ, 10, pp. 269-72. The dispute at Exeter has attracted far more attention than the Cornish rising, see Cotton, R. W. and Woollcombe, H., eds., Gleanings from the Municipal Records… of Exeter (Exeter, 1877), pp. 134–37Google Scholar; Coate, Mary, “Exeter in the Civil War and Interregnum,” DCNQ, 18 (1934-35): 350Google Scholar; Underdown, Pride’s Purge, p. 92; Roberts, Recovery and Restoration, p. 12; and Ashton, Counter-Revolution, pp. 66-67.

30 Buller, p. 104; E.445 (28), A Letter from the Isle of Wight, (1 June 1648) [hereafter cited as A Utter], pp. 3-4; and Public Record Office, London [hereafter cited as PRO], SP 23, 149, ff.587-88.

31 E.522 (31), Perfect Occurrences of Parliament, 19-26 May 1648; and A Letter, p. 3.

32 PRO, SP 23, 149, ff.587-88.

33 PRO, SP 19, 148, f.5; FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20.

34 E.444 (9), The Moderate Intelligencer, 18-25 May 1648 (my italics). See also E.445 (4), The Desires of the Countie of Surrey, 27 May 1648; and PRO, SP 23, 149, f.588.

35 A Letter, p. 4.

36 CJ, 5, p. 606.

37 See Buller, pp. 102, 108; A Letter, p. 4; and Bod., J. Walker Mss, C. 10, f.97.

38 A Letter, p. 4; FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 18.

39 Ibid, no. 20.

40 For the rebels’ numbers, see A Letter, p. 4; E.522 (31); and Buller, p. 105.

41 A Letter, p. 5.

42 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20; Buller, p. 105.

43 Ibid. Other sources give similar figures for casualties, but suggest that the fight was rather shorter. See E.522 (23), Perfect Occurrences of Parliament, 26 May to 3 June 1648; A Letter, p. 4; John Keast, The Travels of Peter Mundy (Truro, 1984), p. 85 and Cornish Record Office, Truro [hereafter cited as CRO], DD.EN 2469 (Daniel Mss), f. 50.

44 Buller, p. 105; and Cultum, David H., “Society and Economy in West Cornwall, 1588-1750”, 2 vols. (Ph.D thesis, University of Exeter, 1994), 1: 5.Google Scholar

45 CRO, DD, EN 2469, ff. 41, 50.

46 British Library, Egerton Mss, 2657 (Borlase’s Parochial History of Cornwall), f. 14; A Letter, pp. 5-6; Buller, p. 105; PRO, SP 23, 149, f.588.

47 A Letter, p. 5.

48 Ibid.

49 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 19.

50 For the previous history of “the Dennis,” see Vyvyan, Courtenay, “Defence of the Helford River, 1643-46” Journal of the Royal Institute of Cornwall 18, pt. 1 (1910): 62–102.Google Scholar

51 A Letter, pp. 5-6.

52 Ibid., p. 6.

53 Polwhele, R., The History of Cornwall, 6 vols. (1803-08, reprinted Dorking, 1978), 4: 101.Google Scholar

54 Ibid; and Vyvyan, “Helford River,” pp. 67-68. See also Sprigge, Joshua, Anglia Rediviva: England’s Recovery (1647), p. 231Google Scholar.

55 Polwhele, History of Cornwall, 4: 101; Buller, p. 105.

56 A Letter, p. 6; Bond, Eschol, p. 31.

57 Buller, p. 107.

58 Walker, John, An Attempt Towards Recovering an Accompt of the Numbers and Sufferings of the Clergy (1714), p. 240.Google Scholar

59 Buller, pp. 103-06; CJ, 5, p. 576; Rushworth, John, ed., Historical Collections of Private Passages of State (1721), 8: 1131Google Scholar; FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20.

60 Coate, Cornwall, pp. 238-39.

61 Buller, p. 102. For the previous military careers of the two Arundells, Basset, Harris, Jonathan Trelawney and Trevanion, see Newman, P. R., Royalist Officers in England and Wales. 1642-60 (1981), pp. 6-7, 18, 177, 376, 377.Google Scholar

62 For Bogans, see Polwhele, Cornwall, p. 101; M. A. E. Green, ed., Calendar of the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents, 1643-60, 5 vols. (1882-92), [hereafter cited as CCC], 4: 2549; and Vyvyan, “Helford River,” p. 80.

63 For Christopher Grosse, see Rushworth, Historical Collections, 8: 1306; Coate, Cornwall, p. 239 (this account confuses Christopher with his father, Thomas); FSL, Bennett Mss, numbers 20, 28 and 45; Buller, pp. 104-07; British Library, Harleian Mss, 6804, ff.197-98; and CCC, 1, p. 487 and 4, p. 2980.

64 For these individuals, see A Letter, p. 3; FSL, Bennett Mss, numbers 20-21; Buller, pp. 104, 107; Whetter, “Gubbs,” pp. 162-63; and CCC, 2: 1935 and 4: 2866.

65 For Blight, see Buller, p. 104; CCC, 4, p. 2731; and Stuart Reid, Officers and Regiments of the Royalist Army (Leigh on Sea, n.d.), p. 47. For Pendarves, see FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 21; CCC, 2, p. 1327; and Reid, Officers, p. 3.

66 Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 477. See also Lyndon, “Essex,” pp. 26-28.

67 For Glover, see FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 19; and Keast, Peter Mundy, p. 85.

68 For Flavell, see FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 19; Walker, , Sufferings of the Clergy, pp. 240–41Google Scholar; Courtney, M. A., Folklore and Legends of Cornwall (Exeter, 1989), pp. 95–96Google Scholar; and Harvey, E. G., Mullyon: Its History, Scenery and Antiquities (Truro, 1875), p. 6.Google Scholar

69 Walker, Sufferings of the Clergy, pp. 240-41.

70 For the importance of royalist soldiers in the disturbances elsewhere, see Ashton, Counter-Revolution, pp. 348, 456, 464.

71 For Pierce, see A Letter, p. 4; for Collins, see Newman, Royalist Officers, p. 78; and Mark Stoyle, “Sir Richard Grenville’s Creatures: The New Cornish Tenia, 1644-46,” Cornish Studies 4 (1996):. 39.

72 Vyvyan, “Helford River,” pp. 80, 74; A Letter, p. 6; PRO, SP 23, 149, f.587.

73 Buller, p. 104; PRO, SP 23, 149, ff.587-88.

74 See, for example, Everitt, Kent, p. 229; Lyndon, “Essex,” p. 29; and idem, “Second Civil War,” p. 400.

75 Bod., Tanner Mss, 57, f.127r.

76 See Lewis, T. T., ed., Letters of the Lady Brilliana Harley (Camden Society, Old Series, 58, 1854), p. 167Google Scholar; Lindley, Keith, Popular Politics and Religion in Civil War London (1997), p. 211Google Scholar; Underdown, David, Revel, Riot and Rebellion: Popular Politics and Culture in England, 1603-60 (Oxford, 1985), p. 177.Google Scholar

77 A Letter, p. 5.

78 Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 376.

79 See, for example, Coate, Cornwall, p. 241; and Gentles, Ian, The New Model Army in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1645-53 (Oxford, 1994), p. 246Google Scholar.

80 See Bod., Tanner Mss, 57, f.556.

81 See Buller, p. 102; Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 417; E.436 (14), Colonel Powell and Colonel Poyers Letter, 20 April 1648; and E.435 (9), The Declaration of Colonel Poyer and Colonel Powell, 10 April 1648.

82 Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 450.

83 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20.

84 Ibid.; and Bod., J. Walker Mss, C. 10, f.9.

85 See Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 399; and Everitt, Kent, p. 260.

86 A Letter, p. 3.

87 CRO, Arundell Mss, AM/15/153; Taylor, John, Wanderings to See the Wonders of the West (1649), p. 17Google Scholar; and FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 21.

88 Buller, p. 103.

89 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20.

90 Underdown, Revel, Riot and Rebellion, pp. 225-26, 230; and Fletcher, Anthony, A County Community in Peace and War: Sussex, 1600-1660 (1975), p. 273.Google Scholar

91 Morrill, Revolt of the Provinces, p. 130.

92 Buller, p. 103.

93 E.445 (4), The Desires of the County of Surrey, 27 May 1648; Harvey, Mullyon, p. 29, and FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 21.

94 See Stoyle, M. J., “Pagans or Paragons? Images of the Cornish during the English Civil War,” English Historical Review 111, 441 (April 1996)Google Scholar; and Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 221.

95 BL, Add. Mss 33, 420, (William Scawen’s “Antiquities Cornu-brittanic”), f.123r.

96 Stoyle, “Pagans or Paragons,” pp. 322-23; Stoyle, Mark, “Cornish Rebellions, 1497-1648,” History Today (May 1997)Google Scholar; and Stoyle, Mark, “The Dissidence of Despair: Rebellion and Identity in early modern Cornwall,” Journal of British Studies 38, 4 (October 1999): 423–44.Google Scholar

97 E.522 (32), A Perfect Diurnali, 22-29 May 1648.

98 E.436 (14), Colonel Powell and Colonel Poyers Letters.

99 Buller, p. 103.

100 Stoyle, M. J., “The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel: Sir Richard Grenville and Cornish Particularism 1644-46,” Historical Research 71, 174 (February 1998): 31–51.Google Scholar

101 Keast, Peter Mundy, p. 85.

102 Fuller, Thomas, The History of the Worthies of England, 2 vols. (London, 1811), 1: 209.Google Scholar

103 FSL, Bennett Mss, no. 20; Ashton, Counter-Revolution, p. 241; and Underdown, David, Somerset in the Civil War and Interregnum (Newton Abbot, 1973), p. 91.Google Scholar

104 Lyndon, “Essex,” pp. 18, 26-29.

105 Tucker, Norman, North Wales in the Civil War (Wrexham, 1992), pp. 131–46Google Scholar; and Stoyle, , Loyalty and Locality, pp. 238–40.Google Scholar