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.”