Directory.—George Bayley, butcher, Lea Hall; Benjamin Cox, shopkeeper; Joseph Darley, farmer, Woodhouses; Joseph Lowe, victualler, Summer House and Commercial Inn; Edmund Nicklin, shopkeeper; John Oatley, farmer, Woodhouses; Benjamin Southall, farmer, Boningale Farm; Mr. William Staples, huntsman, Summer House; George Taylor, Esq., Boningale Park; Thos. Taylor, farmer; James Thomas, victualler, The Horns Inn; Richard Wood, farmer, Whiston.
BOSCOBEL
an Extra Parochial Liberty in the Shiffnal division of the Brimstree hundred, is remarkable in history as a place in which King Charles II. concealed himself from his pursuers, after the unfortunate battle of Worcester. The liberty comprises two houses and 691a. 2r. 17p. of land, of which eighty acres are in woods, and is situated on the eastern verge of the county, adjoining Staffordshire, seven miles east from Shiffnal. The bold eminence upon which Boscobel is situated is most delightful, and is one of the finest tracts of table land in England; the scenery is most extensive, beautiful, and varied. Boscobel manor house is a spacious and ancient timbered mansion exhibiting a fine specimen of the domestic architecture of bygone days; part of it has been recently modernized and stuccoed, which gives it a light and handsome appearance. The house stands partly in Shropshire and partly in Staffordshire, and the southern portion now forms the summer residence of the Misses Evans, of Darley, near Derby. The dining room is spacious, and the walls are wainscotted with oak, exhibiting some fine carving; on the right of the entrance is shown the secret recess through which King Charles II. made his escape from the house to the oak tree when pursued by the infuriated rebels. There is a fine painting in this room of the youthful monarch, and in a side room is a beautifully executed painting of Oliver Cromwell. Although the interior of the mansion has been much improved and beautified from time to time, yet whatever relates to the concealment of the unfortunate Charles has been preserved with the greatest care. On ascending the staircase is seen the bed room and the secret recess where he took shelter from his pursuers, and which communicates with the garden by a trap-door. In the upper room is what is denominated the “sacred hole” from the circumstance of his majesty occasionally concealing himself there, the trap-door and step-ladder remain in their original state.
The following circumstances relating to this remarkable and interesting event are taken from various authorities:—His majesty, as soon as he perceived which way the victory at the disastrous battle of Worcester inclined, was not unmindful to provide for his own safety. He had during the battle performed all the offices both of a valiant man and a good commander, riding about incessantly to encourage his soldiers, and when he saw they began to fail he was heard to utter this pathetic expression, “Rather shoot me than let me live to see the sad consequences of this fatal day.” Many parties of horse were sent out through all the country after the flying troops. Few of the infantry escaped from the field alive, and but about three thousand horse, of whom one thousand were taken near Bewdley by Colonel Barton, and more by others in different places. In this fatal engagement the number of the slain was supposed to be three thousand, among whom were many of the nobility and gentlemen, and principal officers who supported the royal cause. The king lost a hundred and fifty-eight stand of colours, his standard bearer, his collar of S.S., his coach and horses, and other things of great value. His majesty after the battle was very narrowly searched for, and it was on his account that the greater diligence was employed in following and intercepting the routed Scots; but notwithstanding all the search and inquiry no news could be heard, nor could any one certainly tell what was become of him. When the enemy had forced the gate, all possible care was taken to secure his majesty, and for this purpose the Earl of Cleveland, Sir James Hamilton, and others, kept the enemy engaged in Sudbury street, while the king unpursued took his way with a body of horse through St. Martin’s gate about six o’clock in the evening. When he arrived at Brabon’s bridge, about half a mile from the town, he halted in order to advise with a few noblemen and gentlemen that were with him, and as there was not the slightest probability of being able to rally again, it was determined with all speed to make their way to Scotland. Having proceeded about half way to Presteign, the king was informed that a detachment of troops was in pursuit of him, on which he immediately changed his route to Shropshire, the Earl of Derby recommending Boscobel house as a place of temporary sanctuary. Mr. Giffard and Mr. Yates having been chosen as guides, they arrived at break of day, at a house called White Ladies, about half a mile from Boscobel. This house was formerly a monastery of Cistercian nuns, who from their habit were denominated the White Ladies, and this name, notwithstanding the abolition of the order, adhered to the house.
Here his majesty was committed to the care of the Pendrills, and for his better disguise, put on the green Kendal breeches and leathern doublet of Richard Pendrill. Lord Wilmot who performed the office of barber, cut the hair of the King in a most rustic manner, and caused his hands and face to be discoloured with the intention of giving him the appearance of a country labourer. His majesty thus transformed, with a wood bill in his hand assumed the character of a wood cutter, and was taken by a back road into a wood called Spring Coppice belonging to Boscobel House, by Richard Pendrill, who attended the King while the three other brothers of Richard were set to watch and give intelligence of any threatened danger. A short time after the King had left the house a party of horse came to search it; it was therefore thought the safest course for his majesty to remain in the wood all that day, although the rain fell in torrents. The King being in urgent want of refreshment, made his wishes known to Richard Pendrill, who accordingly applied to the wife of Francis Yates to provide some provision for a person in want and to carry it to an appointed place in Boscobel wood. She accordingly provided a dish of such fare as her cottage afforded, and taking a blanket with her, proceeded therewith to the wood. On her approaching the spot fixed upon she perceived the King, who being much surprised at the appearance of a woman, became apprehensive that she might possibly divulge the secret of his retreat, till demanding of the good woman if she could be faithful to a distressed cavalier, she answered “Yes Sire, I would rather die than discover you.” At night his majesty resolved to proceed into Wales, and take Richard Pendrill with him as his guide; they began their journey that night to Madeley, where lived a zealous royalist named Wolfe. The night was very dark and as they passed by Evelyn bridge, Richard permitting a gate to clap too loudly, brought out a miller at that place, and on his bidding them stand Richard ran through the water and the King followed by the sound of his calfskin breeches. The miller imagining that these persons were on the search was not less alarmed than they were, having then under his protection in the mill several fugitive loyalists who had escaped from the bloody field of Worcester. On their arrival at Madeley they proceeded to Wolfe’s house, but there being so many soldiers in the neighbourhood it was considered unsafe for them to remain in the house, and they found refuge in a hay-loft which was their bed till Friday night. It had been his majesty’s intention to pass the Severn and so proceed into Wales, but learning that all the passages over the river were strictly guarded and that all the ferry boats were stopped, they returned somewhat late on Friday night towards Boscobel. Colonel Carles, who when his majesty left Worcester was bravely combating the enemy in Sudbury street to favour the King’s escape, was now come to that place for refuge and relief. The Colonel who was well acquainted with the house and its inhabitants, having been born and educated not far off, was no sooner informed that the King was in the wood than he hastened with joy to present himself to his majesty. After mutual congratulations they proceeded to the house to refresh themselves, and then immediately retiring into the wood and finding a large oak whose branches afforded them a safe retreat, they ascended the tree, and with the help of cushions made a tolerable abode there till night. At night they betook themselves again to the house where his majesty thought proper for the future to trust himself while he remained in that part of the country, being much pleased with a secret corner which William Pendrill shewed him, where the Earl of Derby concealed himself after the misfortune of his defeat at Wigan. Being now in hopeful security he permitted William Pendrill to shave him and cut his hair short at the top, but leaving it long about the ears, as was the country mode in those days.
On Humphrey Pendrill going to Shiffnal to pay his share of the monthly tax, he was accosted at the house of Captain Broadway, by a colonel who had come hither to enquire after the search of the White Ladies. The colonel understanding that Humphrey lived near the place, put him to a strict examination, and after he had tried the effect of menaces to induce a confession, began to tempt him by the reward of the thousand pounds which was offered to the person that discovered his majesty; Humphrey’s discreet answers, however, rendered his dissembled ignorance the more unsuspected. On this being told to his majesty he was determined to leave Boscobel, and it was arranged that he should ride upon Humphrey Pendrill’s mill horse, for Humphrey was miller at the White Ladies Mill. The king mounted his steed on Monday evening and was attended by four of the Pendrills and their brother-in-law Francis Yates, who guarded him on the road with bills and pike staves. Humphrey led the horse by the bridle, and on his majesty complaining that it was the dullest jade he ever rode on, Humphrey made a witty apology for his steed by telling his majesty that it was no wonder he went so slow since he carried the weight of three kingdoms on his back. The King at this time was dressed in a leathern doublet and an old greasy hat, his hands and face being coloured with soot and walnut leaves. In this way they journeyed to Moseley in Staffordshire, and there found a place of safety in the house of Mr. Whitgrave, who had formerly been engaged in the king’s service, and being a suspected person his house was searched while the king was there, but the readiness of Mr. Whitgrave to let the soldiers enter, and his open deportment, gave the men so much satisfaction that they went away with little more than a bare enquiry. The White Ladies was also searched the same day, on the information of an ensign, and the proprietor strictly questioned about the king with a musket presented at his breast. He acknowledged that a large party had been there who had almost eaten him out of house and home, but the king he did not know from any other man, and no such person being there to be found, the searchers at last went away, storming that they had troubled themselves so much in vain, and the ensign was paid for his diligence with blows and contempt. The King on one occasion being concealed in a house belonging to Mrs. Jane Lane, his pursuers having some idea of his being there, came in a body to examine it, but on Mrs. Lane observing their approach she immediately clad the king in a rustic dress and put a slouched hat on his head, and on the entering of the soldiers Charles looked around, which the good old dame observing seized a basting ladle, and giving the king a sharp blow on the back exclaimed in apparent anger “And what do you stare at, you dog you; why don’t you mind what you’re about.” This reprimand furnished the King with a pretext for keeping his eyes towards the spit, by which means he escaped discovery.
His majesty having gratefully acknowledged the kindness of Mr. Whitgrave, went with Lord Wilmot to Colonel Lane’s, at Bentley, where shortly after he had an opportunity of being conveyed to Bristol, in order to embark for France. Miss Jane Lane procured a pass for herself and servant, to visit a pretended sister of hers who resided near to Bristol, and in the journey his majesty assumed the character of Miss Lane’s servant; Colonel Lascelles, Miss Lane’s relation, with his wife behind him, accompanied them; and Lord Wilmot, with a hawk in his hand, as if he had met them accidentally, and had occasion to travel that way. In passing through Broomsgrove they were obliged to employ a smith to shoe one of the horses; the conversation of the bystanders was of the battle of Worcester and the king’s escape. His majesty, amidst many conjectures, gave it as his decided opinion that the king had fled to Scotland, and lay concealed there. “I rather think,” replied the smith, “that he remains somewhere concealed in England, and how glad should I be if I knew where.” On the third day they arrived at the house of Mr. George Norton, of Leigh, about two miles from Bristol, where the king was introduced as the son of one of her father’s tenants, and on pretence of suddenly being attacked with fever, kept his bed, and was attended by Dr. George, who asked the sick man many questions about the king’s escape, and being told by his majesty that he did not wish to be troubled with such questions, declared that he could not help thinking that his patient was a sider with the roundheads. His majesty had not been long here before he was discovered by the butler, who had formerly been in the service of his royal father. This man, on the promise of close secrecy and loyalty, was entrusted by his majesty in several important services. From this place he proceeded amidst great dangers, experiencing unchanging fidelity, to Brighthelmston, in Sussex, when on the 15th of October, 1659, he took sail in a small coasting vessel, employed in the colliery trade, and being favoured with a prosperous gale they arrived in a short time at Feccam, a small sea port in Normandy, his majesty assisting himself to steer the vessel. From Feccam his majesty proceeded to Roan, and on the 30th October was met on his journey to Paris by his mother, the Queen Dowager of Great Britain, his brother the Duke of York, the Duke of Orleans, and other nobles of France, with a great retinue of English and French gentlemen.
On the restoration of King Charles, the family of the Pendrills, who consisted of five brothers, attended upon his majesty on the 13th of June, 1660, at Whitehall, when the king was pleased to remark that the simple rustic who serves his sovereign in the time of need to the extent of his ability, is as deserving of our commendation as the victorious leader of thousands. “Friend Richard,” rejoined the king, “thou wert my preserver and conductor—the bright star that shewed me my way to Bethlehem, for which kindness I will engrave thy memory in the tablet of a grateful heart;” and having requested Richard to state to the lords in attendance what passed when he quitted the oak at Boscobel, “Your majesty,” replied Richard, “must well remember that when brother Humphrey brought his old mill horse from White Ladies, not accoutered with knightly gear, but with a pitiful old saddle and bridle; not attended with royal guards, but only by half a dozen raw and undisciplined rustics, who had but little else but good will to defend your majesty; it was when your majesty mounted, and as we journeyed your majesty did most heartily complain of the jade you rode on, and said it was the dullest creature you ever met with, whereupon Humphrey remarked, ‘My liege, can you blame the horse to go heavily when he had the weight of three kingdoms on his back?’”
The royal oak before mentioned stood about 200 yards from the house, and was a flourishing tree, the branches of which were so richly covered with ivy that the soldiers who were in pursuit of the king, and who suspected him to be there, could not discover him. In the course of time the original oak was so mutilated by visitors that to preserve its remains the Fitzherberts erected a brick wall around it. The tree, however, has long been destroyed, and there is now standing on the site a flourishing oak, produced from an acorn of the old tree, for the preservation of which a lofty iron palisading surrounds it. The following inscription on a brass plate is affixed to the bole of the tree:—
“Felicissimam Arborem,
Quam in Asylum Potentissimi Regis Caroli II.,
Deus optimus maximus per quem Regis regnant
Hic crescere voluit
Tam in perpetuam rei tantæ memoriam,
Quam in specimen firmæ in Regis fidei.
Muro cinctum posteris commendant
Basilius et Jana Fitzherbert.
Quod Pietatis monumentum vestustate collapsum,
Paternarum vertutum Hieredes,
Et evitæ in Principes fidei amulatores.
In integrum restituerunt
Basilius et Eliza Fitzherbert,
iiii Cal Junii, A.H.S., MDCCLLXXXII.
Qua ex arbore Quercum hanc uti fertur ortam,
Ferreis his quæ hodie sunt repagulis.
Circummunivit
Ejusdam hujusce agri possesor,
Evdemque erga Regis animo prædita.”