Gillian Bagwell's Blog: www.theroyalmiracle.blogspot.com, page 5

October 9, 1651 - Colonel Gounter resorts to a Frenchman

Chichester CathedralColonel Gounter had spent all day on October 8 riding withLord Wilmot in a so far fruitless endeavor to find a ship for the king.  When he got home "betwixt one and twoe of theclock" on the morning of October 9, he "layd downe upon his bed; and after twoehoures rest, rose from bedd and went immediately to Chichester to meete hiskinsman, Captain Thomas Gounter … according to appointment.  From whome he received this accoumpt: thatboth he and his kinsman Mr. William Rishton, a loyall gentleman and one engagedall along in the warre under the Colonel's command, had endeavored all theycould, but without success.

"Then the Colonel bethought himselfe, and conceyved the nextand best expedient would be to treate with a French marchant, one that usuallytraded into France, and went to one Mr. Francis Mançel, a stranger thento the Colonel and only knowen unto him by name, as casually he had mett him withseverall other companies, pretending to give him a visitt and to be betteracquainted with him.  [Mançel] received himcourteously, and enterteined him with a bottle or twoe of his French wine andSpanish tobacco.

A 17th century Dutch merchant ship
Francis Mançel's business probably involved similar vessels.
"After a whyle, the Colonel broke the business to him,saying, 'I doe not only come to visit you, but must request one favour of you.'  He replyed, 'Anything in his power.'  Then the Colonel asked him if he couldfraught a barke; 'for,' said he, 'I have twoe speciall friends of mine, thathave been engaged in a duell; and there is mischief done, and I am obliged to getthem off if I can.'

A duel.  With mischief done."Hee doubted not but he could, att such a place attBrightemston in Sussex.  The Colonelprest him then to goe with him immediatly, and if he could effect the business,he would give him fifty pounds for his peynes. But it being slowe faire day there, and his partner out of the way, hecould not possibly untill the next day, and then, he promised him faithfully,he would goe with him and doe his best....

"Then the Colonel, whoe had promised the noble Lord Willmotan accoumpt at Mr. Hyde's house aforesaid once in 12 or 24 hours att thefurthest, repaired thither accordingly and told him all was done.  The noble Lord approved, and like the way wondrouswell.

"It being very late, and very darke and boistrous weather, theColonel took his leave.  His horse being allmostspent, borrowed a horse of his kinsman Mr. Hide, who lent him his faulknershorse, being, as it seems, the best he had then; which served to carrie himhome."

October 8, 1651 - Charles hides, others seek

Charles had returned to Mrs. Hyde's house on the afternoonof October 7 after visiting Stonehenge with Colonel Phelipps.  As he told Samuel Pepys many years later, "Iwent up into the hideing hole, that was very convenient and safe, and stayedthere all alone (Robin Phillipps then going away to Salisbury) some 4 or 5dayes, sometimes Mrs. Hide and sometimes her sister bringing me meat."
Charles II in about 1651According to the 1664 book Miraculum Basilicon or The Royal Miracle,  the hiding hole was "a certain private place,which they had made in the time of the Wars, to hide their Jewells, and otherGoods of greatest consequence."

Entrance to a hiding place in a summer house nearthe King's Arms
in Salisbury, said to have been used by Royalists during the Civil WarsMeanwhile, efforts continued to find him a boat.  Colonel Gounter "contenting himself with verylittle sleepe that night, rose very early the next morning, being Wednesday,the 8th of Octobre, as he had promised the Lord Wilmot, and rode toEmsworth, a place twoe miles from him and by the sea side, passing throughBoorne.  Hee tooke an old servant of hisformerly, John Day, a trustie man and verie loyall subject, whoe was related toseamen of very good accoumpt whoe with their barkes used to lye there.  But they being out of the way, could doe notgood there….

A dogger, or fishing trawler, the kind of boat that
Charles's friends were trying to find to carry him to safetyHaving failed to make any progress at Emsworth, Gounter setoff for home to report to Wilmot, "whoe had promised not to stirre till the Colonelcame; but being impatient of any delay, had left the Colonells house, soe thatthe Colonel met him within halfe a mile of it, and gave him an accoumpt of hismornings worke, that nothing could be done where he had been.

"The noble Lord and the Colonel rid on, and went toLangstone, a place by the sea, and where boates use.  As he was riding along, [Wilmot] putt hishand in his pocket and missed his money, for comming away in haste from theColonel's house, he had left it behind him in his bedd.  Immediatly, he sent his man Swan for it.  The Colonels ladye, hearing my Lord was gone,which shee much wondered att, had beene in his chamber and found the bedd open,and in the middle a black purse full of gold, which shee had secured and gaveit the man when he came for it."

Gold coin of reign of Charles IThe purse of money that Wilmot had left lying in his bed atRacton was the hundred pounds that Giles Strangways had given FrankWyndham for the king's use, and it would have been a disaster if Wilmot had left itsomeplace less secure.

When Gounter and Wilmot got to Langston, "we attempted allwee could, but in vain.  The noble Lordand the Colonel eate oisters there, and then they parted, the noble Lord to Mr.Hydes house aforesaid, there to expect the accoumpt of the Colonel'sproceedings, the Colonel home and immediately employed his kinsman CaptaineThomas Gounter … to inquire of severall other places and to meete the Colonelnext day att Chichester, to give him an accoumpt – all which the Colonelimparted that night to my Lord Willmot att Mr. Hyde's house at Hinton Daubneyaforesaid.

[image error] An oyster seller - oysters were cheap, plentiful
and popular in 17th century England"After supper, the Colonel took his leave of the Lord, itbeing a very dismall night for winde and raine, which made the Lord very muchto importune the Colonel to stay.  But herefused, replying that delayes were dangerous; and let the weather be what itwould, he had a sure guide.  The Coloneltouched att his owne house by the way, betwixt one and twoe of the clock thatnight."

October 7, 1651 - Heale House and Stonehenge

Now thatCharles was safely hidden at Heale House and expected to be on a boat to Francesoon, Juliana Coningsby and the Wyndhams' servant Henry Peters returned toTrent on October 7.  Charles waspretending to be Colonel Carliss's servant, but Mrs. Hyde thought that in orderto evade curious eyes, it would be better if they both left in the morning asif for good.  So, as Charles told SamuelPepys, "Robin Phillips and I tooke our Horses and went as farr as Stoneheng;and there we stayd looking upon the stones for sometyme."
StonehengeAccording toPhelips, they "rid about the Downes, and tooke a view of the wonder of thatcountry, Stoneheng, where they found that the King's Arithmaticke gave the lyeto that fabulous tale that those stones cannot be told [meaning counted] aliketwice together.  But this ariseing wasthe effect rather of convenience than curiositie, for that day being a faire atSalisbury, Mistris Hyde gave leave to all her servants to goe thither, whilestthe King, who went away in their sight with Coll. Phelipps in the morning,after his toure taken about the Downes, returned to Hele again that afternoonin theire absence."

Phelips hadto make contact with Colonel Gounter about Charles's passage, so "that sameafternoon [he] having safely delivered the King into the hands ofDr. Henchman in the field nere Hele, went that evening (leading the Horse theking rode on) to his most faythfull friend Mr. Jones his house at Newton-Tony."

Racton House, Col. Gounter's home, in 1789
from Alan Fea's The Flight of the KingMeanwhile,Lord Wilmot had already reached the home of Colonel Gounter at Racton  As Gounter recalled, "Betwixt eight and nineof the clock at night, the Colonel came home. Entering in att his doore, the Colonel'sladye mett him and told him there was in the parlour a Deavonshire gentlemansent by Mr. Hyde aforesaid about a reference 'which none besides yourselfe candecyde.'  At the Colonel's coming in, hefound his Devonshire gentleman setting at one end of the chimney, [his brother]Captaine Thomas Gounter att the other, and his lady (which was gone in before)in the middle.  The gentleman rose and salutedhim.


Col. Gounter in 1642"The Colonelpresently knew him to bee the Lord Wilmot. Which the noble Lord perceyving, tooke the Colonel aside to the windowe:'I see you know mee (said he); do not owne mee.'"  Throughout his journeys, Wilmot continued tobe surprised that people who knew him recognized him, even though he was not indisguise.

"After abottle of sack, which afforded some matter of discourse by reason of twoewasps, or rather hornets, which came out at the opening, a short collationbeing made readie as soon as could [be] … my Lords man, one Swan, comming in towaite, whispered his master in the eare and told him my Lord Wentworth's boyPonie was without, and wished him to be carefull, for feare the boy shouldknowe him."

Aftersupper, "the noble Lord and Colonel being alone, he broke the busines unto theColonel with these words, sighing: 'The King of England, my maister, yourmaister, and the maister of all good Englishman, is neere you, and in greatdistresse.  Can you helpe us to a boate?'The Colonel, looking very sadly, after some pause said, 'Is he well? Is hesafe?'  He said 'Yeas.'  The Colonel replyed, 'God be blessed."

Wilmot toldGounter that the plan when he had left Salisbury was that the king should bebrought to Gounter's house on Wednesday. Gounter was very willing to help, but told Wilmot "for all he lived soneere the sea, yet there was noe man living soe little acquainted with"seafaring men, but he would do all within his power. Interior of Racton House in 1789When he leftWilmot and went to his bedroom, he found that his wife was very suspicious.  She was sure that Wilmot was not the Mr.Barlow he claimed to be, and that his presence surely meant danger.  He tried to reassure her that all was welland she didn't need to worry, but she said "Shee was confident there was morein it then soe, and enough, shee doubted, to ruine him and all his family,' …breaking out into a very great passion of weeping."So, "theColonel … tooke a candle, pretending to goe into the next roome; but privately tomy Lord Wilmot."  He told Wilmot howupset his wife was and asked permission to let her know what was going on.  Wilmot agreed.  Gounter explained the situation and "wiped theteares of his ladyes eyes, whoe, smiling, said 'Goe on, and prosper.  Yet I feare you will hardly doe it.'"

Mrs. Hyde of Heale House
Back at Heale House, Charles was safelyensconced in a hiding hole, and no one but Mrs. Hyde and her sister knew he wasthere.

October 6, 1651 - from Trent to Salisbury

After a stay of ten days at Trent, following his originalstay of several days, Charles was finally ready to set out once again, hopingthat the newest plan to get him safely out of the country would succeed. 
At about ten o'clock on the morning of Monday, October 6, asAnne Wyndham wrote, "his majesty took leave of the old Lady Wyndham, thecolonel's lady [Anne herself], and family, not omitting the meanest of themthat had served him; but to the good old lady he vouchsafed more than ordinaryrespect, who accounted it her highest honour that she had three sons and onegrandchild slain in the defence of the father, and that she herself, in her oldage, had been instrumental in the protection of the son, both kings of England."Thus his sacred majesty, taking Mrs. Juliana Coningsbybehind him, attended by Colonel Robert Phelips and [Wyndham's servant] Peters,bad farewell to Trent, the ark in which God shut him up when the floods ofrebellion had covered the face of his dominion."

The party "went under the conduct of Coll. Phelipps inprivate ways," Phelips recounted, "(all that country being well known to him)nere 40 myles that day to the house of the Widdow Hyde at Hele, 3 myles distantfrom Salisbury, a very discreet gentlewoman. Hither was Dr. Henchman come before from Salisbury to provide for theirereception."Thomas Blount's Boscobel describes the journey.  "The travellers passed by Wincanton, and near the midst of that day's journey arrived at Mere, a little market town in Wiltshire, and dined at the George inn; the hoast, Mr. Christopher Phillips, whom the colone knew to be perfectly honest. [image error] The George Inn, Mere
from Alan Fea's The Flight of the King"The hoaste sat at the table with his majesty [Charles was once more pretending to be Will Jackson, this time a servant of Phelips], and ... told the colonel, for news, that he heard the men of Westminster (meaning the rebels), notwithstanding their victory at Worcester, were in a great maze, not knowing what was become of the king; but (says he) it is the most received opinion that he is come in a disguise to London, and many houses have been searched for him there: at which his majesty was observed to smile. Interior of the George Inn, Mere
from The Flight of the King"After dinner, mine hoast familiarly asked the king 'if he were a friend to Caesar?' to which his majesty answered, 'Yes.'  'Then,' said he, 'here's a health to King Charles,' in a glass of wine, which his majesty and the king both pledged....  And his majesty, since his happy return, has been pleased to ask 'What was become of his honest hoast at Mere?'"According to Alan Fea's 1908 The Flight of the King, "Once more upon their way, the road to Salisbury is in a direct line, nearly due east, but in the seventeenth century this part of the country was but little enclosed, so that the journey to Heale could be accomplished if necessary without hardly touching a village."In the evening they reached Heale House, on the banks of theAvon near Amesbury in Wiltshire. This was the home of Mary Hyde, widow ofLaurence Hyde, the eldest brother of Sir Robert Hyde, Justice of Common Pleas,and a cousin to Charles's chancellor Edward Hyde, and so a staunchly Royalistlady.  In 1680, Charles told Samuel Pepys, "I came into the Housejust as it was almost dark (with Robin Phillips only) not intending at first tomake myselfe knowne.  But just as Ialighted at the Doore, Mrs. Hide knew me, though she had never seen mee butonce in her life, and that was with the King my Father, in the Army, when wemarched by Salisbury some yeares before in the time of the Warr.  But she being a discreet Woman took noe noticeat that time of me, I passing only for a friend of Robin Phillips's, by whoseadvice I went thether.

Old fireplace at Heale House
from The Flight of the King"At supper there was with us Frederick Hyde, (since a Judge)and his sister in law a Widdow, Robin Phillips, my Selfe, and Dr. Henshaw(since Bishop of London) whome I had appointed to meet me there.

"While we were at supper I observed Mrs. Hyde and her BrotherFrederick to looke a little earnestly at me, which ledd me to beleive they mightknow me.  But I was not at all startledat it, it having been my purpose to lett her know who I was.  And accordingly after supper Mrs. Hyde cameto me, and I discovered my selfe to her, who told me shee had a very safe placeto hide me in, till we knew whether any ship was ready or noe.  But she sayd it was not safe for her to trustany Boddy but her selfe and her sister, and therefore advised me to take myHorse the next morning, and make as if I quitted the House, and returne againabout night.  For she would order it soe,that all her servants and everybody should be out of the House but her selfeand her sister, whose name I remember not."

A rapping Charles II!?

A rapping Charles II!?

Nell hits the streets in London!

The UK edition of The Darling Strumpet is not officially available until Thursday, but it seems to be in stock and availableto ship on Amazon.co.uk!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darling-Strumpet-Gillian-Bagwell/dp/1847562507/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_1

and Waterstones:

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=8291625

and Pick a Book!

http://www.pickabook.co.uk/9781847562500.aspx

Nell's London Debut - and my next book!

The U.K. edition of The Darling Strumpet will be released on August 4!  You can buy it at Waterstone's, WH Smith, WHS Travel, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Tesco, as well as independent bookstores and many on-line sites.  You can pre-order now from Amazon.co.uk - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darling-Strumpet-Gillian-Bagwell/dp/1847562507/ref=pd_rhf_p_img_3.

I'll be doing various guest posts and interviews on blogs - details to follow soon!

And I'm thrilled to say that my brilliant agent Kevan Lyon has just made the deal for my next book.  Working title is My Lady Bess, based on the life of Bess of Hardwick, 1527-1608, the formidable four-times widowed Tudor dynast who began life in genteel poverty and ended as the richest and most powerful woman in England after Queen Elizabeth; built Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall; and is the forebear of numerous noble lines including the Dukedoms of Devonshire, Norfolk, Somerset, and Newcastle, the Earls of Lincoln, Portsmouth, Kellie, and Pembroke, the Baron Waterpark, and the current royal family of Britain. 

Nell's going up in the world!

The Kindle edition of The Darling Strumpet is No. 750 in historical fiction on Amazon!
http://www.amazon.com/Darling-Strumpet-Captured-England-ebook/dp/B004FGMQRK/ref=sr_1_750?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1310095411&sr=1-750

And we're now up to 3664 hits on You Tube for the reading at the Historical Novel Society conference with Diana Gabaldon and C.C. Humphreys!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4wvYN6z7Jw

Nell Gwynn's London on You Tube

When I was in London most recently, in April, my good friend Alice Northgreaves helped me beyond all that could be asked of anyone by tramping around London with me to tape little video snippets at various sites associated with Nell's life and/or scenes from The Darling Strumpet.   I hadn't done anything with them yet, but since I managed to post my first You Tube video the other day - the HNS reading -  I have finally put up 6 or 8 little pieces.  Here's the link to one of them - Covent Garden and the church of St. Paul's Covent Garden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTY_zIIlN74

Diana Gabaldon blogs about The Darling Strumpet!

I have to say I'm thrilled that the talented, gracious, and hilarious Diana Gabaldon blogged about what she calls "the literary three-way" - her reading the narration while Chris Humphreys and I read Rochester and Nell, respectively, during the Saturday Night Sex Scene readings at the Historical Novel Society conference in San Diego a couple of weeks ago.  And she included a link to the video on You Tube - now up to about 2300 hits!  And it's making people buy the book - Nell's sales rankings on Amazon are soaring!  Thanks, Diana! 

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2011/06/a-literary-three-way/