Transcribed from the 1862 R. Mason edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

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DAVID MORGAN,
THE WELSH JACOBITE;

A CONTRIBUTION TO

THE HISTORY OF JACOBITISM

IN WALES.

BY
WILLIAM LLEWELLIN, F.G.S., F.G.H.S.,
&c., &c., &c.

Reprinted from the “Cambrian Journal,” 1861.

TENBY:
PRINTED BY R. MASON, HIGH STREET.
1862.

DAVID MORGAN,
THE WELSH JACOBITE.

“Although my lands are fair and wide,
Its here no longer I must bide;
Yet my last hoof, and horn, and hide,
I’ll gie to bonnie Charlie.

“Although my heart is unco sair,
And lies fu’ lowly in its lair,
Yet the last drap of blude that’s there,
I’ll gie for bonnie Charlie.”

Jacobite Ballad.

One of the most romantic and spirit-stirring episodes in English History is that presented to us by the last effort of the partisans of the expelled House of Stuart to place the representative of the exiled family on the throne of his ancestors.

The Rebellion of 1745 has been acknowledged universally to have been remarkable for the interesting incidents, and romantic adventures, to which it gave rise; and the annals of history do not furnish examples of greater personal sacrifices, more exalted heroism, and chivalrous devotion, than were exhibited during that momentous struggle.

In these peaceful times, and blessed with institutions that afford the fullest security for the preservation of our civil and religious liberties, it is difficult to conceive the stormy struggles to which the country was subjected, in the efforts of our forefathers, amid contending factions, to secure and maintain the liberties which we now enjoy, and to hand them down to us unimpaired. Still more difficult is it to realize the fact, that very little more than a century has passed since this country was the scene of a fierce civil war, in which members of the same family were arrayed against each other in hostile conflict, and, during the progress of which, and of the ruthless and vindictive executions that followed it, the bravest blood of Britain,—that of the devoted, though mistaken, adherents of the Stuarts,—was poured out like water on their native soil.

The circumstances out of which this great conflict originated may be thus briefly detailed. The continued infraction of the laws by a systematic indifference to every principle of legality, the violation of the liberties of the people, the brutal cruelty and senseless obstinacy, the persistent determination to deprive the Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches of their rights and privileges, and to restore the domination of the Roman Catholic Church, which characterized the proceedings of James II. during his short and most unhappy reign, completely alienated the affections of his subjects, and eventually led the best and greatest men of the country to seek the aid of the Prince of Orange, afterwards William III., against the tyranny and oppression to which they were subjected.

The flight of the King, and the successful accomplishment, and glorious results of the Revolution of 1688, speedily followed that movement, and the stable and permanent advantages, and constitutional reforms, that subsequently had their origin in the Bill of Rights, were thus secured to us.

While experiencing those manifold benefits, and realizing the blessed results of the solid guarantees for the maintenance and extension of their liberties, that sprung out of the expulsion of James II., and when there were numbers of living men, who had not only been witnesses, but were also victims of his oppression and misrule, it is passing strange that such a feeling should have existed among any considerable body of the people as could have rendered possible the Rebellions of 1715 and 1745, and have enlisted in favour of the Stuarts, and enrolled among their enthusiastic adherents, many men of high position, and extensive territorial possessions. But, though at the period of the outbreak of 1715, only 27 years had elapsed, and not more than 57 years had passed, when the Rebellion of 1745 occurred, since the Revolution, the resentment, the sense of wrong, and the many painful impressions produced on the public mind by the occurrences of James II.’s fated and luckless reign, though not wholly effaced, had unquestionably been very considerably subdued and obliterated. The sons and grandsons of the brave and devoted Cavaliers, who fought and bled for their King in the bloody fields of Naseby and Worcester, and who sacrificed wealth and life in the royalist cause, clung tenaciously to the recollections associated with those unhappy days, and still sympathised with the fallen fortunes of the Stuarts.

A considerable amount of discontent also existed in the country, occasioned by the impolitic and unseemly preference shown by the two first Georges for their Hanoverian subjects, which partiality, natural as it may have been, was, in a King of England, excessively indiscreet, and, by its undisguised, and even occasionally ostentatious manifestations, calculated to excite among his subjects feelings of considerable dissatisfaction and discontent. Those monarchs were likewise known to possess a very imperfect acquaintance, which they made no efforts to extend, with the language, laws, and constitution of England; and, prior to the outbreak of the last Rebellion, in 1745, the unpopularity of George II. had become so decided as to render it extremely probable that a movement, well conceived and skilfully carried out, for the restoration of the old dynasty, might be successful. For, throughout the country, and even in London, the people appear to have formed a highly favourable estimate of the Pretender, (of whom zealous Jacobites had spread the most glowing accounts,) and to have entertained a higher regard for his personal character than they felt for that of George. Indeed, had there not existed the apprehension that, with their restoration, the hereditary passion for arbitrary power that had ever characterized the Stuarts would once more have manifested itself, there were few patriotic Englishmen who would not gladly have given their adherence to them, and so have relieved themselves of a dynasty that had not from the first been particularly popular, and that was then very generally regarded with contempt and dislike.

The restoration of the Stuarts, although not actively promoted by the majority of the people, was not, however, regarded with any feelings approaching abhorrence, nor did they even extend to very serious dislike. Several of the most distinguished noblemen and gentlemen were already zealous Jacobites, while many more regarded the movements and conspiracies in favour of the Stuarts either with favour or indifference.

The relations that existed between the great landowners and their tenants and dependents so largely partook, even at that comparatively recent period, of the spirit and characteristics of the feudal system, that few of the territorial families would have experienced much difficulty in gathering together, and bringing into the field, very formidable bodies of armed retainers, in behalf of any cause which they had espoused, and desired to uphold. This, however, was more especially the case in Scotland and Wales.

In the latter country, as in Scotland, the Jacobites were very numerous, and the loyalty that had been the characteristic of the Welsh people in the troubled times of the great Rebellion, and which made Wales almost the last rallying place of the unhappy Charles Stuart, and his devoted followers, still existed among the Welsh people, and rendered them ready to undergo the greatest personal sacrifices, or to encounter any perils, in upholding the cause of his unfortunate descendant. [7]

Had Charles Stuart followed the counsels that were freely urged upon him during the ill-judged retreat from Derby, and marched his forces into Wales, it is probable that a formidable rising would have occurred in that country, and that, if not ultimately successful, the struggle would have been greatly prolonged, and have proved of a still more serious and sanguinary character.

But, had that course been adopted, and failure ensued, several of the great Welsh landed proprietors would have been involved in the ruin that overtook so many of the leading Scottish Jacobites, and their heads would most assuredly have fallen on the scaffold. As it was, the Duke of Beaufort, with hereditary devotion to the Stuarts, and Sir Watkin Wynn, were so seriously compromised as to place them for a time in considerable danger.

The infamous Secretary Murray, of Broughton, revealed the whole of the particulars of the Jacobite intrigues and conspiracies that had existed since the year 1740, and made such criminatory statements, with respect to the complicity of the Duke, and Sir Watkin, as clearly proved their active participation in the plots that had preceded and led to the Rebellion. The law, however, required that, in cases of treason, two witnesses should depose to the facts on which the charge was founded; and it was consequently found impracticable to proceed against them on Murray’s traitorous testimony. It is, moreover, suspected that the king and the government felt indisposed to have them impeached, fearing that the prosecution of men so powerful and influential might give rise to serious disturbances, and cause a further outbreak of a still more dangerous character than that which had been so recently suppressed.

In addition to the Duke of Beaufort, and Sir Watkin Wynn, many of the leading noblemen and gentlemen, throughout North and South Wales, were intimately associated with the intrigues of the Jacobites. Among those most deeply involved, and who made the greatest sacrifices for the cause of the Stuarts, was William, Marquis of Powis, who followed James II. into France, and was by him created Duke of Powis, and so designated at the Court of St. Germain’s. The fourth daughter of this nobleman, Lady Winifred Herbert, became the wife of the Earl of Nithsdale; and the remarkable devotion and heroic courage with which she devised, and successfully accomplished, the escape of her beloved husband, when left for execution, entitle her to an exalted place among the heroines of Wales.

The Earl had been one of the most prominent leaders of the Rebellion in 1715; and, after its suppression, was apprehended, tried, and sentenced to death. His devoted wife exhausted every effort to obtain his pardon, and sought, by the most strenuous and piteous appeals, to move the King to mercy. Finding, however, that her prayers and entreaties were disregarded, and that no other hope remained to her, this dauntless woman, undismayed by difficulties and dangers before which most hearts would have quailed, and sank into despair, wrought out a most heroic scheme for effecting the escape of the Earl from the Tower, and had the inexpressible happiness of releasing him from his prison, and placing him far beyond the reach of his pursuers. In doing this, her own safety, and even life, were seriously imperilled; but, by the interposition of influential individuals attached to the Court, a merciful view was taken of her case, and she was eventually permitted to pass over to the continent, to rejoin the husband she had saved. To Welshmen it will be a gratifying fact that, associated with her in those efforts to preserve the Earl from the scaffold, and all essential to her success, were her “dear Evans,” a maid or companion, and a Mrs. Morgan, both of whom appear to have been faithful Welsh dependents of the family of Powis, and wholly devoted to the Countess.

Though the precise extent of his complicity have escaped my inquiries, and I have failed to obtain clear evidence on the subject, I find it generally asserted, throughout the district in which he resided, that the great landed proprietor, Mr. Lewis, of the Van, Caerphilly,—“Ysguier Lewis gwych o’r Van,”—from whom the Marquis of Bute, and the Baroness Windsor, inherit their great estates in Glamorganshire, was discovered to have participated in one of the numerous plots for the restoration of the Stuarts, and to have had a fine imposed upon him of £10,000. Such a sum in those days would have been accounted a large one; and to procure it, a large extent of land, in the vicinity of Merthyr-Tydfil, (then a humble village containing less than a dozen houses,) and elsewhere, had to be sold; and it is said that, among the properties that were then disposed of, were the Court, Mardy, and other estates, that have subsequently proved of very great value.

The uncompromising Jacobite feeling of one of the old Welsh proprietors is displayed in an anecdote that has been related of Sir Charles Kemys, of Cefn Mabley. It is said of him that, during his travels on the continent, he paid a visit to Hanover, and was treated with marked regard by the Elector; and, it is supposed, that he owed that distinction to the lessons which he gave to the Court and Sovereign in the British accomplishments of drinking and smoking tobacco. Shortly after his elevation to the throne of England, George expressed a strong desire to see his former friend, Sir Charles Kemys, and, as he persisted in the wish, he was informed by the courtiers that Sir Charles was not well affected to the present dynasty. “Poo! Poo!” said the King, “tell him he must come up, I long to smoke a pipe with him.” This command having been conveyed to Sir Charles, he is said to have declined the invitation in those terms,—“I should be happy to smoke a pipe with him as Elector of Hanover, but I can’t think of it as King of England.” [9]

The traditions that still linger among the Welsh hills show that Jacobite principles were not confined to the landowners, but also prevailed among the farmers and peasants. Of those traditionary stories, one is told of an old Welsh farmer, residing at a farm called Pen Craig Fargoed, in the parish of Gelligare, Glamorganshire, and who appears to have been a devoted adherent of the Stuarts. A witty fellow in the neighbourhood, rather remarkable for his acuteness, and, withal, somewhat addicted to rhyming, to meet some pressing necessity, had borrowed a guinea from his neighbour, “yr hên bapist,” and, on meeting him subsequently, without having the power to repay him the loan, with the view of propitiating him, addressed him in the following terms, and, it is said, greatly pleased him, and obtained all the indulgence that he sought:—

“Tri ffeth ’rwy yn ei archi,
Cael echwyn am y guni,
A chael Pretendwr ar y faink
A chael bath Ffraink y dali.”

Which, for the benefit of those unacquainted with the Welsh language, may be thus translated:—

“Three things do I desire,
To have indulgence for the guinea;
And have the Pretender on the throne;
And have French money to pay with.”

In North Wales the Jacobites appear to have been numerous and powerful. A social meeting that existed very recently, if it does not still exist, at Wrexham, and known as the “Cycle,” was originally a secret assembly of the Jacobites, established in Denbighshire, for the object of upholding and promoting the pretensions of the young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward, to the throne of this country. The rules of this society, to which the signatures of several of its leading members were appended, were published, about thirty years back, in the Cambrian Quarterly Journal; [10] and, as that work possessed a limited circulation, and has now become scarce, its reproduction may interest many persons to whom it would otherwise be unknown. This list of the names of the members is one of the earliest known. More recent ones are stated to have been drawn up in the form of a round robin; which, it is suspected, was adopted to prevent the possibility of either of the members being proceeded against as the principal of an assembly that was clearly of a treasonable character.

“We, whose names are underwritten, do promise at ye time and place to our names respectively affixed, and to observe the rules following, viz.

Imprs. Every member of this society shall, for default of his appearance, submit to be censur’d, and shall thereupon be censur’d by the judgmt of the society.

2ndly. Every member yt cannot come shall be obliged to send notice of his non-appearance by 12 of the clock at noon, together with his reason in writing, otherwise his plea shall not excuse him, if within the compass of fifteen miles from the place of meeting.

3rdly. Each member obliges himself to have dinner upon the table by 12 o clock [11] at noon, from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and, from Lady-day till Michaelmas, at 1 of the clock.

4thly. The respective masters of the places of meeting oblige themselves to take down in writing each default, and to deliver in the same at the general meeting.

5thly. Every member shall keep a copy of these articles by him, to prevent plea of mistake.

6thly. It is agreed yt a general meeting shall be held by all ye subscribers at the house of Daniel Porter, Junr. holden in Wrexham, on the 1st day of May, 1724, by 11 of ye clock in the forenoon, and there to dine; and to determine upon all points relating to and according to the sense and meaning of those articles.

1723 (Signed)

Thos. Puleston, May 21st (eldest son of Sir Roger Puleston, of Emral).
Rich. Clayton, June 11th.
Eubule Lloyd, (of Penyllan,) July 2nd.
Robtt. Ellis, July 23rd.
W. Wms. Wynn, (of Wynnstay,) Augt. 13th
Jno. Puleston, (of Pickhill,) Sep. 3rd.
Thos. Eyton, (of Leeswood,) Sep. 24th.
Wm. Edwards, Oct. 15th
Thomas Holland, Nov. 6th.
Ken Eyton, (of Eyton,) Nov. 26th.
Phil. Egerton, (of Oulton,) Dec. 17th.
Jno. Robinson, (of Gwersyllt,) Jany. 8th.
Geo. Shackerly, (of Gwersyllt,) Jany. 29th.
Robt. Davies, (of Gwyssany,) Feb. 19th.
John Puleston, (of Hafod y Wern,) March 13th.
Broughton Whitehall, (of Broughton,) April 3rd.
Wm. Hanmer, April 24th, 1724.”

In the second volume of the same Journal, [12] a tale was published anonymously, that exhibited considerable ability, and was especially interesting from the circumstance of its introducing the hero, Meredith Alynton, to the members of the Cycle Club, that was supposed to have assembled for one of its meetings at Wynnstay, the princely residence of Sir Watkin Wynn. In the description of this scene, the author has very agreeably and skilfully blended fact with fiction, and has introduced into this portion of the tale two remarkably interesting songs, that are stated to have been veritable Jacobite relics, and which were then printed for the first time. It is believed that they were written specially for the Cycle Club; and, at the time of their publication, the MSS. had been in the possession of Owen Ellis, Esq., a descendant of one of the original members of the Club, and his ancestors, for upwards of a century. As those songs are curious, and very little known, they are here reprinted.