made the task of obtaining provisions exceedingly difficult. Had they
seen her taking food into her room, they would at once have suspected
that it was for her father, and that he was somewhere close at hand.
The only way in which she could get the food she required for him was
by slipping some of her dinner from her plate into her lap. This was
not an easy thing to do without being detected by some of her brothers
and sisters, of whom there were many at table, she being the eldest but
two of eighteen children. Once she feared that she had been
discovered. Her mother had given her a large helping of chicken,
knowing well that the greater portion of it would be taken that night
to Sir Patrick. One of Grizel's younger brothers had noticed the large
helping she had received, and was somewhat jealous that he had not been
served as liberally. A few moments later he glanced again at her
plate, and saw to his surprise that it was nearly empty.
With a brother's acknowledged right to make personal remarks, he loudly
called attention to the fact that Grizel had eaten nearly all her big
helping before anyone else had scarcely started. Lady Hume promptly
reprimanded the boy, and ordered him to confine his attention to his
own plate. The youngster made no further remarks concerning his
sister's appetite, but Grizel often found him glancing at her during
meals, and was in constant fear that he would detect her slipping the
food into her lap.
After giving her father the day's news of home and political events she
would start on her return journey, leaving Sir Patrick alone for
another twenty-four hours in his gruesome hiding-place. Many men would
have been driven out of their mind by a month's sojourn in a
skull-and-bone-littered tomb, but Sir Patrick was a man of high
spirits, and his daughter never once found him depressed. During a
previous imprisonment he had committed to memory Buchanan's translation
of the Psalms, and he obtained much comfort from repeating them while
in the Polwarth vault.
One day as he sat at his little table deep in thought he fancied that
he saw a skull lying on the floor move slightly. He watched it, and
saw to his surprise that it was undoubtedly moving. He was not
alarmed, but stretching out his cane turned over the skull and startled
a mouse from underneath it.
Grizel was determined that her father should not remain in the vault
longer than was absolutely necessary, and with the assistance of the
trusty Winter was preparing a hiding-place for him at the castle.
There was a room on the ground floor, the key of which was kept by
Grizel, and under this they dug a big hole with their bare hands,
fearing that the sound of a spade, if used, would be heard. Night
after night, when all but they two were asleep, they scratched out the
earth, and placed it on a sheet spread on the floor. Then, when their
night's work was done, they silently opened the window and emptied the
earth into the garden The hole in the floor they covered by placing a
bed over it.
At last, when Grizel's finger nails were worn almost completely away,
the subterranean hiding-place was finished, Winter placing in it a
large box which he had made for the purpose. Inside the box was a bed
and bedding, and fresh air was admitted through holes pierced in the
lid and sides. In this box Sir Patrick was to hide whenever the
soldiers searched the house.
But before telling her father that he could with safety return home
Grizel examined the underground room daily, to see that it was not
flooded. Feeling confident at last that the water would not percolate,
she told Sir Patrick of the hiding-place prepared for him, and during
the night he crept back to the castle.
When he had been there a week without anyone but Grizel, her mother,
and Winter knowing of his presence, the water burst through into the
subterranean room and flooded the box. Grizel was for a few minutes
terror-stricken, for if the soldiers paid another visit to the castle,
there would be nowhere for her father to hide, and he would be
captured. She hurried to him to advise him to return that night to the
vault; but being an active man he disliked the prospect of prolonged
idleness, and decided to make an attempt to escape to Holland, where
many of his political friends had already found safety.
Grizel now set to work to alter her father's clothes, so that he might
appear to be a man of humble station. Throughout the day and all
through the night she plied her needle, but her task was not finished
when the news reached the castle that Robert Baillie of Jerviswoode had
been executed at Edinburgh. Knowing that her father would meet a
similar fate if captured, she finished his disguise quickly, and urged
his instant flight. He acted on her advice, and had not been gone many
hours before the soldiers arrived and searched the castle thoroughly.
After some narrow escapes from being recognised and arrested Sir
Patrick arrived at London, and crossed to France, making his way thence
to Holland. But before he had been there long he was declared a rebel,
and his estates confiscated. Lady Hume and her children were turned
out of the castle, and found themselves almost penniless. Grizel and
her mother, financially assisted by some friends, journeyed to London,
to petition the Government for an allowance out of the confiscated
estates, and after much difficulty succeeded in obtaining a paltry
pittance of L150 a year.
Sir Patrick's hatred of the Stuarts was naturally increased by the
treatment his wife and children had received at their hands, and he
threw himself heart and soul into the conspiracy for invading England
and Scotland. He took part, under the Duke of Argyle, in the invasion
of Scotland, and on the failure of the enterprise remained in hiding
until he found an opportunity to escape to Ireland, and thence to
Holland _via_ France. Here Lady Hume, Grizel, and all the children but
one soon joined him.
Sir Patrick had very little money at this time, and Grizel was soon
sent back to Scotland to attend to some business on his behalf, and
collect money owing to him. She was also to bring back with her a
sister who had been left with friends in Scotland.
Grizel having performed the business entrusted to her, sailed for
Holland with her sister, but before they had been at sea many hours a
terrible storm arose, which, of course, considerably prolonged the
voyage. This would not have been a great hardship, had the captain
been an ordinary man. He happened to be a cowardly bully, and being
short of food for himself, he forcibly took from Grizel and her sister
the biscuits which they had brought aboard for their own use. These he
ate in their presence. But this was not the worst. Grizel had paid
for a cabin bed for herself and sister, but the captain appropriated
it, and they were compelled to sleep on the floor. However, they
arrived in safety at their destination, and Sir Patrick was exceedingly
pleased with the way in which Grizel had transacted his business.
The three years and a half which followed were comparatively uneventful
for the British exiles in Holland. Grizel devoted herself almost
entirely to domestic duties, for her father was too poor to keep
servants, and the only assistance she had was from a little girl who
was paid to come in daily to wash the plates and dishes. Every morning
she rose at six o'clock, and was busy until she retired to bed at
night. She washed and dressed the children, assisted her father in
teaching them, mended their clothes, and performed other duties which
it would be tedious to enumerate. The few hours during which she
managed to be free from domestic duties she devoted to practising music
and studying French and German.
Grizel was now a beautiful young woman, and her gentle manner and
sweetness made her a favourite of all with whom she came into contact.
Two Scotch exiles fell in love with her, but she declined their offers
of marriage, greatly to the surprise of her father, who did not know
that she was the promised wife of another man--George Baillie, son of
his old friend Robert Baillie. George and Grizel had known each other
for many years. George was visiting his father in prison at Edinburgh
when Grizel, to the surprise of both of them, slipped out from a dark
corner and delivered her father's letter.
The bravery of the little girl made a lasting impression on the boy,
and during the troublous years that followed he managed to see her on
several occasions. Each liked the other, and their liking changed to
love long before they were out of their teens. George's estates had
been confiscated, and he was serving as a private in the Prince of
Orange's Guards, where he had for his chum one of Grizel's brothers.
When off duty he was frequently at the Humes' house, and there, one
day, Grizel promised to become his wife. They kept their engagement a
secret, for Grizel did not wish it to be known until the good days,
which she was convinced were in store for Great Britain, arrived.
The good days came at last. The Prince of Orange's troops landed at
Torbay, and the last of the Stuart kings fled from the land he had
misruled. Honours were now conferred upon the men who had suffered at
the hands of Charles II. and James II. Sir Patrick Hume had his
estates restored to him, and was created Lord Polwarth. Six years
later he was made Earl of Marchmont and Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
The queen greatly admired Grizel, and asked her to become one of her
maids of honour, but she declined the offer, as George Baillie, whose
estate had been restored to him, wanted her to fulfil her promise. She
was quite willing to do so, and they were married on September 17, 1692.
In 1703 Lady Hume died. On her death-bed she looked at those standing
around her and asked anxiously 'Where is Grizel?' Grizel, who had been
standing back so that her beloved mother should not see her tears, came
forward at once. 'My dear Grizel,' Lady Hume said, holding her by the
hand, 'blessed be you above all, for a helpful child you have been to
me.'
Grizel's married life was exceedingly happy, and lasted for forty-six
years. She often declared that during those years she and her husband
never had the slightest quarrel or misunderstanding. Throughout her
married life she was indefatigable in good works for the poor, and she
continued her kindly deeds after her husband's death. The rebellion of
1745 caused much distress in her native land, and her money was given
freely to the ruined of both parties. Her own income had been greatly
reduced, as her impoverished tenants were unable to pay her, and soon
she found herself pressed for money. All that she had possessed had
been given to those in distress, and now, in her eighty-first year, she
was unable to pay for the common necessaries of life. She called
together the tradesmen, whom she had hitherto paid promptly, and told
them that she was now poor, and would have to remain so until her
tenants were prosperous enough to pay their rents. Perhaps they would
not be in a position to do so during her lifetime, and she left it to
them, the tradesmen, to decide whether or not they would continue to
serve her, and run the risk of not being paid. Unanimously and
promptly the tradesmen declared that, as heretofore, she should have
the best of their stock. Joanna Baillie gives their reply in the
following lines:--
No, noble dame! this must not be.
With heart as warm and hand as free
Still thee and thine we'll serve with pride,
As when fair fortune graced your side.
The best of all our stores afford
Shall daily smoke upon thy board;
And should'st thou never clear the score,
Heaven, for thy sake, will bless our store.
The tradesmen were paid eventually, but not by Lady Grizel Baillie, for
she died on December 6, 1746, before prosperity came to her tenants. A
long life had been given her, and she had spent it nobly exhibiting all
the good qualities which a woman should possess.
LUCY HUTCHINSON, A BRAVE WIFE
One morning in the spring of 1638 a large number of people had
assembled at a Richmond Church to witness the marriage of John
Hutchinson, eldest son of Sir Thomas Hutchinson, with Lucy Apsley, the
daughter of Sir Allen Apsley. The bride, who was only eighteen years
of age, was, according to her contemporaries, exceedingly beautiful and
very accomplished; her future husband was learned, well-bred and
handsome. Both had a host of friends, and thus it was that a large
crowd had gathered at the church to witness their marriage.
The time for the bride to arrive at the church had come; but she was
not there. Minutes passed, and soon a messenger arrived with the news
that the marriage would not take place that day. 'But why was it
postponed?' This was the question which the disappointed friends
asked, and the answer was soon forthcoming.
Lucy Apsley had been seized with small-pox on her wedding morning. In
those days small-pox was far more feared than it is at the present
time, and the crowd quickly dispersed, some of the people fearing that
the messenger who brought the bad news might also have brought the
dreaded disease.
For some time it was thought that Lucy Apsley would die from the
complaint, but she recovered. There were many people, however, who
declared that it would have been better if she had died, for the once
beautiful girl was now much disfigured, and the Society gossips
expressed their confidence that John Hutchinson would never marry her.
It was unjustifiable for these people to talk of John Hutchinson as if
he were a scoundrel, for he was a manly, honourable, young fellow, and
quite unlikely to refuse to marry Lucy Apsley because she had lost her
beauty. He told her that he was thankful to God for having spared her,
and urged her to marry him as soon as it was possible.
They were married at St. Andrew's Church, Holborn, on July 3, 1638, the
bride presenting such a shocking appearance that the clergyman who
performed the ceremony could not look at her a second time. It is
highly satisfactory to be able to say that in the course of time Lucy
Hutchinson regained some of her beauty; but the contemporary writer's
statement that she became as beautiful as ever she had been must be
received with a certain amount of doubt.
However, it is not for her beauty but for her bravery that Lucy
Hutchinson deserves to be remembered. When she had spent a few happy
years of married life, the troubles which ended in the execution of
Charles I. began. It was impossible for any man or woman to refrain
from siding with one or the other party in this momentous struggle, for
any person who claimed to be neutral would have been suspected by both
parties. Lucy Hutchinson's husband was of a studious disposition, and
had little taste for the frivolities and dissipation in which the
majority of men of his position indulged, and it is therefore not
surprising that, when it became necessary to take part in the struggle,
he determined to espouse the cause of the Parliamentary party.
This step caused Lucy Hutchinson some sorrow, for her brother and many
other members of her family were fighting for King Charles. However,
she felt that it was her duty to hold the same political opinions as
her husband, and she became a staunch Parliamentarian.
The Cavaliers, hearing that John Hutchinson had proclaimed sympathy
with the Roundheads, decided to take him prisoner immediately, but
warning of their intention reached him, and he fled to Leicestershire.
Lucy joined him at the earliest opportunity, but they had little peace,
for the Cavaliers were constantly in search of John Hutchinson.
After fleeing from place to place he arrived at Nottingham, soon after
the battle of Edgehill. The Cavaliers were on their way to take
possession of Nottingham, and John Hutchinson and others urged the
citizens to defend the town. The militia was organised, and John
Hutchinson was appointed a lieutenant-colonel.
Lucy Hutchinson was at this time living at their home at Owthorpe, but
her husband, thinking that she would be safer in Nottingham than alone
in a neighbourhood which abounded with Royalists, sent a troop of horse
to remove her by night. It was an adventurous journey, but was
accomplished safely. Finding that the citizens of Nottingham were
prepared to offer a determined resistance, the Cavaliers did not attack
the town, but passed on with the intention of returning later to
capture it.
The citizens of Nottingham, pleased with the energy shown by Colonel
Hutchinson, elected him Governor of Nottingham Castle. It was a high
post for a man only twenty-seven years of age, but Colonel Hutchinson
soon proved that he was well fitted for it The castle, although
standing in an excellent position, was in a dilapidated condition and
required much strengthening before it could be considered strong enough
to withstand a determined attack. The required alterations were
carried out under Colonel Hutchinson's supervision, and at length all
that was needed to withstand a siege was a stock of provisions and a
larger garrison. These, however, the governor could not obtain.
A period of waiting followed. Again and again the rumour spread that
the Cavaliers were approaching to capture the castle, but they did not
attack it. Their guns were heard in the distance, but for some reason
known only to themselves they did not deliver the long-expected
assault. Lucy Hutchinson had an unenviable time. Loving a peaceful,
domestic life, she was compelled to live in the midst of turmoil. She
saw to the feeding of the soldiers, a trying task considering that so
far the Parliamentary party had allowed her husband nothing whatever
towards defraying the cost of maintaining the garrison, and that the
stock of provisions was running low. Moreover she was often troubled
concerning the safety of her relatives. Her eldest brother, Sir Allen
Apsley, of whom she was exceedingly fond, was fighting gallantly for
the king, and believing that the Parliamentarians would triumph, she
feared that if he escaped death on the battle-field, it would only be
to suffer imprisonment and the confiscation of his estate.
At last, in 1644, the Earl of Newcastle sent a messenger to Colonel
Hutchinson calling upon him to surrender Nottingham Castle to the
Royalists, a demand that was promptly refused. 'If his lordship would
have that poor castle,' the colonel said to the messenger, 'he must
wade to it in blood.'
The messenger departed, and Colonel Hutchinson made preparations to
withstand a siege. Greatly to his surprise, however, the attempt on
the castle was not made, the Earl of Newcastle having been compelled to
march his forces to the assistance of Royalists in another part of the
country.
Before long, however, the citizens of Nottingham veered round to the
Royalist party, and decided to betray the town. One night they
secretly admitted 600 Cavaliers, commanded by Colonel Hutchinson's
cousin, Sir Richard Byron, and before daybreak the town was in their
hands. But not the castle. With only eighty men, Colonel Hutchinson
determined to hold it against the enemy until not a man remained alive.
His force should have been much larger, but many of his men had on the
previous evening quitted the castle without permission and entered the
town. While enjoying themselves the Cavaliers arrived and made them
prisoners.
Among the Parliamentarians who were taken prisoners in Nottingham were
the surgeons, and the defenders of the castle entered into the fight
with the unpleasant belief that if they were wounded there would be no
one to attend to their wounds.
They were mistaken. When the battle had been raging for some minutes,
and the wounded defenders were being removed from further danger, Lucy
Hutchinson came forward, and skilfully and tenderly dressed their
wounds. For five days, attending to the wounded was her chief duty,
and many a poor fellow's life was saved by her promptitude and skill.
One day, while resting from her labours, she saw three Royalists being
led away to the dungeon. They were wounded, and had been captured in
the latest assault on the castle. Seeing that they were wounded, Lucy
Hutchinson at once dressed their injuries, and while thus employed one
of her husband's officers angrily upbraided her for having pity on
them, concluding with the assertion that 'his soul abhorred to see this
favour to the enemies of God.'
'I've done nothing but my duty,' she replied. 'These are our enemies,
but they are also our fellow-creatures.'
For five days the little band of Roundheads held out against the strong
force of Cavaliers, and they were fully prepared for a long siege,
when, to their surprise, they saw the enemy beat a hurried retreat. In
a short time they knew the cause. A strong Parliamentary force was
advancing to the relief of Nottingham Castle.
For his good defence of the castle, Parliament ratified the appointment
made by the citizens, and promoted Colonel Hutchinson to be governor of
the town as well as of the castle.
Unable to obtain the castle by force of arms, the Royalists now tempted
Colonel Hutchinson, by offering him any terms he might name, if he
would surrender it and join their party. These attempts to suborn him
he ignored, and held the castle for the Parliamentary party until peace
was declared, and he was able to return with his wife and children to
his ruined home at Owthorpe. In the meanwhile, Lucy Hutchinson was
anxious concerning her brother, Sir Allen Apsley, who had held
Barnstaple for the king as gallantly as her husband had held Nottingham
Castle for the Parliament. He was a marked man, but Colonel Hutchinson
used his now great influence to obtain immunity from molestation for
the gallant Cavalier.
Until the death of Cromwell, Lucy Hutchinson and her husband lived very
happily with their children at their rebuilt Owthorpe home. But
immediately after that event troubles began. The Royalists, hoping to
bring about a restoration of monarchy, were eager to obtain arms, and
planned a raid on Owthorpe; but their designs were repeated to Lucy
Hutchinson by a boy who overheard the conspiracy, and when the robbers
arrived they were speedily put to flight.
As the prospects of a Restoration became greater, Lucy Hutchinson grew
alarmed for the safety of her husband, who was one of the men who had
signed the death-warrant of Charles I. The friends of the exiled king
had promised him pardon and preferment if he would become a Royalist,
but this he had firmly declined to do.
On May 29, 1660, Charles II. was restored to the throne, and little
mercy could be expected from him by those who had signed his father's
death-warrant. Some of Colonel Hutchinson's friends urged him to
follow Ingoldsby's example, and declare that Cromwell had held his hand
and compelled him to sign it, but he rejected this advice with the
greatest indignation.
In a terrible state of anxiety Lucy Hutchinson applied to her brother
for assistance and advice. Sir Allen Apsley was naturally in high
favour at court, where his gallant fight for Charles I. was well known,
and he was glad of an opportunity to help the brother-in-law who had
protected him in time of danger. Moreover, there was another reason
why he was anxious to help Colonel Hutchinson--he, Sir Allen, had
recently married his sister.
Sir Allen Apsley worked exceedingly hard to obtain his brother-in-law's
pardon, and at last he had the joy of telling his sister that her
husband's name was inserted in the Act of Oblivion, and his estates
unconditionally freed to him.
Great was Lucy Hutchinson's joy at the pardon of her husband, and she
looked forward to spending the remainder of their days in peace at
their beloved Owthorpe. Alas! this was not to be. There were many
Royalists who were highly displeased at Colonel Hutchinson's receiving
a pardon, and they determined to ruin him. Very conveniently they
discovered, or said that they had discovered, a Puritan plot for a
rising, and that Colonel Hutchinson was one of the conspirators. As
far as Colonel Hutchinson was concerned the story was utterly untrue,
but, nevertheless, on the strength of it, he was arrested for treason,
carried to London and placed in the Tower. After ten months in the
Tower, during which his wife visited him regularly, he was removed to
Sandown Castle, where, in a damp cell against the walls of which the
sea washed, he contracted ague. Lucy Hutchinson implored the governor
to be permitted to share her husband's prison, but he refused, and
treated both her and him with brutality.