_MY NEW HOME._
"The eleventh of May was a joyful day,
When Taunton got relief;
Which turned our sorrow into joy,
And eased us of our grief.
"The Taunton men were valiant then
In keeping of the town,
While many of those who were our foes
Lay gasping on the ground.
"When Colonel Massey, of the same,
Did understand aright,
He, like a man of courage bold,
Prepared himself to fight.
"With that our soldiers one and all
Cast up their caps, and cried,
'What need we fear what man can do,
Since God is on our side?'
"Long time did Goring lie encamped
Against fair Taunton Town;
He made a vow to starve us out,
And batter our castle down.
"Within our castle did remain
(A garrison so strong)
Those likely lads which did unto
Our Parliament belong.
"Before daylight appeared in view,
The news to them was come
That Goring and his cursèd crew
Were all dispersed and gone.
"But who can tell what joy was there,
And what content of mind
Was put into the hearts of those
Who'd been so long confined?
"Our bread was fourteenpence per pound,
And all things sold full dear;
Which made our soldiers make short meals
And pinch themselves full near.
"Our beer was eighteenpence per quart
(As for a truth was told),
And butter eighteenpence per pound
To Christians there was sold.
"The Cavaliers dispersed with fear,
And forced were to run,
On the eleventh of May, by break of day,
Ere rising of the sun."
It was with the words of this song, chanted by a number of voices in
the street below, that I was awakened upon the first morning of my
residence in my new home.
I had slept profoundly, despite the excitements of my arrival; and when
I awoke suddenly, roused by the sound of this unfamiliar chant, it took
me some moments to recollect where I was, and to convince myself that I
was not dreaming still. The moment that memory returned to me I sprang
out of bed, and putting my head out of the open window, tried to obtain
a view of the singers below.
But this I was unable to do, as I might have known had I taken pains to
consider. My room was high up in the quaint old inn, which even in my
youth was accounted an old house. It looked upon the court-yard behind,
where the stables lay, and where hostlers were already passing to and
fro. I remembered well that I had observed this last night, and that I
had also remarked with satisfaction how my window was provided with a
little wooden balcony, of which the house had many. It was in an angle
of the building above the stables, and not in the main block of the
house where the guests were lodged. Near at hand, and at right angles,
rose the walls of another house, which I could see was not a part of
the inn. It did not look so old, and it was more like a gentleman's
private residence, I thought. All the windows were close curtained, and
I could not gather anything as to the character of its inhabitants. It
seemed passing strange to me then that houses should be thus locked
together; and I was calculating with what ease I could make shift by
the aid of a water-pipe to get in at the window of this house were it
left open, and possess myself of anything the room contained, when the
sound of an impatient neigh from the yard below warned me that time
was getting on, and that Blackbird was probably still unfed (for I had
warned the men not to go to him at first, save in my presence), and
that he was asking for his breakfast as plainly as though he could
utter human speech.
I, too, was in a great hurry to be up and doing, and to see some of
the wonders of the town of which I was in future to be a resident. In
a few moments I was dressed (words of the song below still floating up
to me clearly enough, and getting fixed in my memory, as all words with
rhyme and rhythm have a trick of doing), and was ready to try to find
my way down the curious stairways and along the intricate passages I
had traversed last night under the guidance of my cousin Meg. It was
not so easy as I expected, but as yet nobody in that part of the house
was stirring. It was still very early, for all that the sun was shining
brightly; and I had Blackbird fed, and was ready and eager to be out in
the streets before there was any sign of my uncle or aunt to be seen.
However, my impatience was too great to be stayed by any thought of
a rebuke later, and plunging under the archway which led from the
street to the yard, I found myself in the open space where East Street
and Fore Street join, and looked about me with a lively curiosity,
wondering where I should go and what I should do.
The singers were no longer in sight; they had passed on, and the wide
streets were almost empty. But as I stood looking admiringly about me,
a boy of about my own age came swinging along with a parcel under his
arm, whistling the very tune I had heard set to the words I have just
quoted.
I looked curiously at him, and he returned my glance with interest.
No doubt he was familiar with most of the faces of the towns-folk in
these parts, and wondered who I was. Perhaps my crooked back attracted
his notice, but I did not think of that then, and noting that he half
paused as though not unwilling to speak, I wished him good-morning, and
he returned the salutation.
There was something so bright and friendly in his smile as he did so
that I found courage to say, "Are you going somewhere? May I go with
you?"
"Why, yes, if you like," he answered readily. "I am going to my work. I
am apprenticed to Master Simpson of High Street. If you know aught of
Taunton, doubtless you have heard of him."
"But I do not. I only came hither yester-e'en with mine uncle. I am
nephew to John Snowe of the Three Cups yonder. I am to dwell with him,
and go to the Free School here. I would fain know all I can of Taunton
Town. It is a right fair city. I like it well."
"And you have come on a good day!" cried my new friend, with
brightening eyes. "To-night, so soon as the sun be down, we shall light
a great bonfire in Paul's Fields, and all the town will be there to
see. Ah! I would I had lived in the days when Taunton Town held for
the Parliament against King Charles! But it may be even yet that we
may some of us live to see fine doings and hard fighting; for if the
King dies before his brother, and the Papist Duke of York sits upon the
throne--"
The lad paused as if struck by the magnitude of the thought within him,
and I glanced round to be sure we were not overheard, and asked with
keen interest, "Well, and what then?"
"Why, then, methinks there would be hard blows struck for the rightful
heir, the young Duke of Monmouth," answered the boy, with sparkling
eyes. "All Taunton and the West Country would rise for him, as they
rose for the rights of the nation against the King's father. The
poltroons of London may lick the dust before a Papist usurper, but not
we of the free West Country! We will know the reason why before we bow
to a Papist, be he never so much the King's brother!"
The boldness of this boy astonished me greatly, and also his evident
comprehension of the burning questions of the day, with which I myself
was but imperfectly acquainted. My heart always warmed within me at any
mention of the Duke of Monmouth, and I eagerly plunged into the story
of my own miraculous cure at the hands of his Grace--a tale to which my
companion listened with kindling eyes.
"Marry, but thou shalt come with me and tell it to my master!" he said,
as I ended. "If proof were lacking, there it is; for none save a lawful
King or his lawful heir can cure the King's Evil. There will be a ready
welcome for thee at Master Simpson's. He is one that is bound heart and
soul to the cause of the Duke."
"And what is thy name?" I asked, as I willingly allowed myself to be
led whither my comrade would.
"Will Wiseman is my name, and I be apprenticed to Master Simpson, as I
have said. I dwell beneath his roof; but yester-eve I visited my aunt
in the North Street, and tarried with her till dawn. Thou sayest thou
art nephew to Master Snowe of the Three Cups? He is a good man, one of
our Capital Burgesses; and we take it he would be stanch to the good
cause if the time should come for men to declare themselves."
I was considerably impressed by Will's way of talking. It was as though
he were living in a world of which I knew almost nothing; as though he
were looking forward to something definite and expected, whilst to me
the future was absolutely blank and vague. I felt my ignorance so great
that I did not know so much as how to frame questions; but I was saved
the trouble of doing this partly from the eager talk of my companion,
partly from our speedy arrival at our destination. For soon after
we had passed the bend in High Street, where it turns sharp to the
right toward Shuttern, Will paused before a door with a right goodly
sign hanging above it; and after obtaining entrance, began quickly
taking down the shutters, in which office I gave him what assistance I
could, so that soon the bright light of morning was streaming into the
interior of the shop.
So soon as this was the case I stood open-mouthed in admiration and
wonder, for I had never seen so goodly a shop in all my life before.
Master Simpson must be a man of much substance--so much I could see at
a glance--and his wares were beautiful to the eye and delicate to the
touch. There were bales of costly silk set in a mighty pyramid in one
place; and cloths and lawns, and the good serge manufactured in Taunton
Town, disposed with a simple eye to effect, in due order along shelves
and in the large window. And besides all these things, there was an
inner shop, visible through an archway, in which I saw a sight that
made my mouth water; for there were shelves, guarded by wire doors,
in which hundreds of books were arranged in tempting order--books new
and books old--a sight that drew me like a magnet, so that I forgot
Will and his work, forgot the strangeness of the house and my lack of
manners, and went straight to the book-cases and began reading the
names of the volumes one by one, speaking them half aloud without
knowing it.
I was aroused by feeling a strong hand laid upon my shoulder, and by
the sound of a friendly voice in my ear.
"Hey, but we have a scholar here, in good sooth! So thou art nephew to
good Master Snowe, Will tells me; and hast been touched for King's Evil
by our gracious Duke? Now, boy, tell me all about that, and how the
cure was made, and I will give thee a book for thy pains; for it may be
that this cure of thine shall be a notable thing in the annals of the
day that be coming."
The speaker was plainly the master of the house and shop. He was
soberly habited, as became his condition in life; but he had a strong
face as well as a strong hand and voice, and I felt drawn towards him I
scarce knew why, and told him my tale very gladly, with the story of my
own brief and uneventful life to boot.
He listened with attention, nodding his head the while. Heaven forgive
me if I did amiss. I had no thought to deceive him or others, but I
spoke no word of the man of herbs and potions, nor of the ointments I
had been using for my wounds ere ever the Duke's hand touched me. In
good sooth, I had scarce ever thought of him and his simples since.
Never for a moment did I believe that these had had anything to do
with my cure. It is only long since, when I have heard from others how
in nature there be such marvellous cures for human ills to be found
by those who have skill and faith to seek them aright, that I have
wondered if perchance it was the herb baths and ointments, and not the
touch of the Duke's white hand, that made me whole and sound. But in
those days no such thought ever came to me. I had well-nigh forgotten
the kind old man with his long beard, and of him I spoke no word;
only telling how weak and ill I was and had been from childhood, and
how soon after I had besought the Duke to touch me I became sound and
whole, and had no return of the Evil, which none but such a one as he
could cure.
Master Simpson heard me with great satisfaction, and kept his word
right generously, making me the proud and happy possessor of a small
copy of "Æsop's Fables," with the Latin on one side of the page and
the English on the other--a treasure that in those days was even more
costly than it has become now, and which in spite of its shabby binding
was looked upon as of exceeding worth.
"Thou hadst better learn the Latin tongue, an thou hast the chance at
the Free School," said Master Simpson. "Learning is a grand thing, and
will be a mighty power in the days to come. Learn all thou canst, boy,
when thou art young. The time may come when thou wilt not have the
leisure; make the most of that leisure now."
I was well disposed to carry out that sage advice, being greedy after
knowledge, and I almost longed to run away then and there to study my
book, and see if I could make out aught of the strange Latin words.
Even the possession of such a book made me feel almost a scholar. But
I could not refuse the invitation of Master Simpson to come and take
breakfast with him, albeit my uncle and aunt might well be wondering
what had become of me. But, as I reflected, the hostlers would tell him
I had risen and gone abroad, and upon this festive holiday I did not
think I should be chidden for my early walk.
Behind the shop was a pleasant parlour, and behind that again a
kitchen, from whence a savoury odour proceeded. It gave one an appetite
even to scent it, and I was nothing loath to follow the mercer into
that same kitchen, where a goodly fire burned on the hearth, and a
merry-faced young maiden was flitting about setting trenchers on the
table, and humming a gay ditty the while. She made a reverence as we
came in, and her father (for she was none other than the master's
daughter) gave her a blessing; after which he turned him to a portly
dame who was taking a steaming pot from the fire, and bid her
good-morn, telling her my name and state, and how I was come to Taunton
to make a scholar of myself.
From the likeness which showed itself between the pair before me, I
felt assured that they must be brother and sister, as was indeed the
case. Master Simpson was a widower, but his sister kept house for him,
and played a mother's part to the young Eliza, who gave her almost a
daughter's love. It was pleasant to see so much affection between those
of a household, for at home, albeit we all loved each other well, it
was not our fashion to show it; wherefore it seemed pretty to me to
watch the sly caresses which Eliza would bestow upon her father, or
the way in which Mistress Susan's glance softened when she addressed
herself to the maid.
Will Wiseman and a young man who served in the shop, but who spoke no
word and gave himself only to making a right royal meal, sat at table
with us, though somewhat apart; and ever and anon Will would put in a
word when his master turned to him with a question. He plainly heard
and gave heed to everything that passed, with a keen intelligence that
was shown in the glance of his eye and in the ready way in which his
words came when he had occasion to speak. I took a great liking to Will
from the first moment of our acquaintance, and everything I noted about
him increased the good-will I bore him.
We had a merry meal, and I told the story of my cure yet once again
that day. Lizzie's eyes brightened at the tale (Eliza was always called
Lizzie both at home and abroad, since it appeared that there were many
Elizas in the town, and confusion apt to arise), and she clasped her
hands together and cried,--
"Faith, but Miss Blake will greatly rejoice to hear this! I will tell
her forthwith, and I warrant me I shall be high in favour all the
day for the same story. Good Dicon, thou wilt be a rare favourite in
Taunton Town an thou dost uphold here the rights of our well-loved
Duke!"
"Hist, lassie!" answered her father, yet smiling nevertheless. "It
behoves us to talk with care even in Taunton Town. Let not such words
be heard by the Rev. Mr. Axe, nor still less by Mr. Blewer. The Duke
hath his foes as well as his friends within the town. We must not hurt
a good cause by over-zeal ere the right moment comes."
Lizzie laughed, and asked with a pretty, saucy air who would trouble to
take note of the words of such an obscure maiden as herself; and then
she looked at the clock and sprang up, and said she must even go, or
she should be late, and Miss Blake would chide. And I then learned that
Miss Blake was the mistress of the school where this maiden went daily
for instruction, and moreover that it stood adjoining my uncle's inn,
and must indeed be the house I had been wondering about in looking from
my windows on awakening this very morning.
So on understanding this much, I sprang up and asked leave to escort
pretty Lizzie to her school; and soon we were walking along the
garlanded streets, and she was telling me how greatly Miss Blake and
Mrs. Musgrave loved the Duke, and how dear his cause was to the hearts
of the people of Taunton. I also learned that Miss Blake and Mrs.
Musgrave were two ladies of virtue and learning, and that they had each
kept a school for girls in the beginning, but had now joined these two
seminaries into one. Miss Blake took the younger maidens, and Mrs.
Musgrave the elder ones; and my companion chattered so fast about her
companions, telling me their names, ages, and accomplishments with such
fluency, that I was quite bewildered; and the only item of information
which I retained in my head was that there was one, Mary Mead, a
youthful heiress, some years older than any of her companions, who
had been educated by Mrs. Musgrave, and still remained in her charge,
although since she was now of marriageable age it was likely that her
condition in life would speedily be changed.
We parted the best of friends at the door of the seminary, where some
other maidens were assembling, who looked curiously upon me as I took
off my cap and made my best bow to them all. The door of the school was
a few paces round the corner, and the house was of fine proportions.
I well understood as I looked at it--Lizzie and her companions having
now disappeared within--how it was that my room over our stable
buildings approached so nigh to it. I felt a good deal of interest in
the close vicinity of these bright-faced town maidens, who seemed so
different from the country girls I had lived amongst hitherto. Not that
I would disparage mine own sisters and their friends; but there were
a brightness and ease of manner and readiness of wit amongst these
damsels which dazzled and captivated me, and which I had never seen at
home.
When I got back to the inn, I found breakfast well-nigh done; but I
received no chiding for my absence, especially when I said whither
I had been and with whom. Master Simpson was plainly a notable man
of good repute in Taunton, and a friend of mine uncle's to boot. My
uncle, too, was pleased at the gift of the book which I had received,
arguing that Master Simpson must have thought well of my scholarship. I
read him two or three of the fables; whereat he laughed not a little,
and bid me hold myself in readiness to amuse his guests therewith on
another occasion.
I was not to go to school till the following week, and to-day I had
leave to wander whither I would, to see what I could and what I most
desired, and enjoy the merry-making of the town.
My cousin Meg, a fine buxom lass of nigh upon twenty summers, was all
agog to go with me; and I was proud enough to have such a companion. So
after I had helped her with her dishes and so forth, being skilled in
many feminine tasks through helping my mother at home when she and the
girls were pressed, she donned her holiday gown and gayest hood--and
well she became them both, as I failed not to tell her--and I put on my
best clothes, which seemed to me fine enough even if somewhat lacking
in the grace and fashion I saw in some of the towns-folk of the better
sort; and forth we sallied to see the sights of the town, and to enjoy
any revelry that might be going.
The best of the merry-making would be towards evening, when the shops
would close, and the apprentices and shopmen be free to join; but even
now there was plenty to see and to admire. The fine proportions of the
streets and public buildings filled me with a great wonder; and when we
dived down a passage past Huish's Almshouse, and came out in front of
St. Mary's Church, I stood still and silent in speechless admiration,
marvelling at its wondrous beauty and lofty dignity, and asking of
myself whether St. Paul's itself in fair London town could be as goodly
a sight.
It so chanced that service was going on, and nothing would serve me but
that I must go in and hear what it was like. Meg was willing enough to
gratify me: for from being bred a dissenter, like the majority of the
towns-folk, she attended the services of the dissenting flock in Paul's
Meeting Sunday by Sunday; and the offices of the Establishment, which
she was wont to hear stigmatized as "Popish," were quite unfamiliar to
her, and had therefore a certain fascination.
There were two clergymen taking part in the service; and when we were
in the street again, Meg said to me (interrupting my raptures about the
architectural beauties of the place),--
"He with the grey hair peeping from beneath his wig is Mr. Axe. He
is much beloved in Taunton, although men say that he is an enemy
to the Duke of Monmouth, and tells men freely that he can never be
lawful King, but that if the King dies childless, as seems like, we
must submit to see the Duke of York upon the throne--a thing which is
abhorrent to the minds of many. Yet in spite of this he is loved and
trusted. But the other, Mr. Blewer, is hated and feared. I scarce know
why we all think so ill of him, but he hath a cruel face and an evil
eye; and some say that he is the bitter foe of all who follow not the
teachings of the Established Church, whilst there be others who call
him a Papist at heart, and say that when the Duke of York is King (if
ever such a day comes, which Heaven forbid!) he will show what manner
of man he is, and evil will fall upon many in Taunton through him."
"He has a bad face and a cruel mouth," I answered, having studied
his face with a sense of reluctant fascination for which I could
not account as I knelt in the church. Could it have been that some
presentiment of his cruelty stole over me even then? I know not how
that may be, but I do know that though my hair is now grey, and though
I have lived beyond the allotted span of man's days, I cannot even now
think of that miscreant without a tingling of the blood in my veins
such as I seldom experience for aught besides.
That day was a notable one in my life, although it seems like a dream
now. I looked upon the outside of many a noble building--St. James's
Church; Paul's Meeting, which I was to worship in for a time; the
Castle; the Free School, which I was to know right well erelong; and
the Almshouses, which had been erected by the charitable in bygone
years for the benefit of the aged poor.
The town was all bedecked with flags and garlands, and the bands of
singers went about chanting their ditties, receiving rewards from
many of the richer and more prosperous of the towns-folk, as well as
the humbler, who were all so devoted to the cause of what they termed
"liberty and right."
In the evening there was a grand bonfire in Paul's Field, and another
in Priory Fields at the other extremity of the town.
Will Wiseman and I joined forces, and rushed from one to the other,
getting an excellent view of both; and we danced around the fire with
the best of them, and hooted for the Duke of York and the Pope, and
shouted for the King and the Duke of Monmouth, until at last we had no
voice left wherewith to shout more. When the embers burned low, and the
sheriff's officer came to bid the people disperse, we went reluctantly
home with the crowd, talking in friendly whispers of the glorious days
that perhaps were coming, when we should be able to show the metal
of which we were made, and almost ready to wish for the excitements
and horrors of another civil war, if only we might bear a share in its
glory and its danger.
We had heard so many stories from the bystanders who did remember those
days, that our blood was fired, and we ardently longed for a repetition
of such exciting events.
Well, we were destined to see something of bloodshed before many years
had passed over our heads, and one of us was to shed his blood--as he
sincerely longed at that moment to do, but whether in the fashion that
came about it is not for me to say here.
And so ended my first eventful day in Taunton Town.