Читать книгу History of the Fylde of Lancashire онлайн

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The battle on the moor of Culloden, in which the rebel army was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland, finally decided the fate of the House of Stuart, and after experiencing many hardships, Prince Charles Edward escaped across the channel into France. James, the son of Edward Tyldesley who took part in the insurrection of 1715, served in the army of the Young Pretender. During the excitement and alarm produced by these rebellions, silver spoons, tankards, and other household treasures, were deposited for safety in a farm house at Marton; cattle and other farm-stock were driven to Boonley, near Blackpool, whilst money and articles of jewelry were buried in the soil of Hound Hill in that town. The Scots who accompanied Prince Charles were so renowned for their voracious appetites that the householders of the Fylde prepared for their expected visit by laying in an abundant supply of eatables, hoping that a good repast, like a soft answer, would turn away wrath. Mr. Physic, of Poulton, was an exception to the general rule, and having barricaded his house, determined vigorously to resist any attack of the rebels either on his larder or his purse. Hotly pursued by the Duke of Cumberland in their retreat towards Scotland, the insurgents were quickly hurried through the country, but some of the stragglers found their way to Mains Hall, where they were liberally provided with food by Mrs. Hesketh. It is probable that these rebels formed part of the number of Highlanders, who were afterwards captured at Garstang, and that one of them was the bare-footed Scot who seized the boots of John Miller, of Layton, dragging them from his feet with the cool remark—“Hout mon, but I mon tak’ thy brogues.” William Hesketh, of Mains, had considered it prudent to secrete himself on the warren at Rossall until the excitement had subsided, as in some way or other he had been mixed up with the former outbreak, and wished to avoid any suspicion of having been implicated in this one also. At the sanguinary and decisive battle of Culloden, two notorious characters from Layton and Staining were present; one of them, named Leonard Warbreck, served in the capacity of hangman at the executions following the rebellion, whilst the other, James Kirkham, generally known as Black Kirkham, was a gallant soldier, remarkable for his giant-like size and immense strength. The country people near his home were wont to declare that, for a small wager, this warrior carried his horse and accoutrements round the cross at Wigan to the astonishment and admiration of the by-standers. One incident of these times, reflecting little credit on this neighbourhood, but which, as faithful recorders, we are bound to relate, was the journey of Henry Hardicar, of Little Poulton, to London, a distance of two hundred and thirty-three miles, all of which he travelled on foot, solely to gratify a morbid taste by witnessing the legal tragedies performed on Tower Hill. “I saw the lords heided” was his invariable answer to all inquiries as to the wonders he had seen in the metropolis. In this rising, as in the earlier one, the inhabitants of the Fylde evinced their prudence and good sense by remaining as nearly neutral as their allegiance to the reigning monarch would permit them. Those insurgents who found their way into the district were treated with kindness, but no encouragement was given them to prolong their stay, either by professions of sympathy or offers of assistance in their insurrectionary enterprise.