"On y^e 3d of Sept., in y^e morning, Cromwell took Colonel Lindsey, his
intimate friend, and first Capt. of his regiment, to a wood side not
far from y^e army, and bid him alight and follow him into that wood, &
take particular notice of what he saw & heard.
"After they had both alighted & secured their horses, & walked some
small way into the wood, Lindsey began to turn pale, & to be seiz'd
with horrour, from some unknown cause; upon wch Cromwell askt him how
he did, or how he felt himself. He answered, that he was in such a
trembling & consternation that he never felt y^e like in all y^e
conflicts and battles he had been engaged in: But wether it proceeded
from the gloomyness of y^e place, or y^e temperament of his body, he
knew not. 'How now?' said Cromwell. 'What! trowbled with vapours? Come
forward, man.' They had not gon above 20 yards before Lindsey on a
sudden stood still and cry'd out, by all that's good he was seized with
such unaccountable terrours & astonishment that it was impossible for
him to stir one step further. Upon which Cromwell call'd him
faint-hearted fool, & bid him stand there & observe or be witness: and
then advancing to some distance from him, he met with a grave elderly
man, with a roll of parchment in his hand, who deliver'd it to
Cromwell, who eagerly perused it. Lindsey, a little recover'd from his
fear, heard severall loud words betwixt them: particularly Cromwell
said, 'This is but for seven year. I was to have it for 21, and it must
and shall be so.' The other told him positively it could not be for
above seven; upon which Cromwell cry'd with a great fierceness, it shd
be, however, for 14 year; but the other person plorily declared it
could not possibly be for any longer time: and if he woud not take it
so, there was others that woud accept of it: Upon which Cromwell at
last took y^e parchment, and returning to Lindsey with great joy in his
countenance, he cry'd, 'Now, Lindsey, the battle's our own: I long to
be engag'd.' Returning out of the wood, they rode to y^e army. Cromwell
with a resolution to engage as soon as possible, & y^e other with a
design of leaving y^e army as soon. After y^e first charge Lindsey
deserted his post, and rode away with all possible speed, day and
night, till he came into y^e county of Norfolk, to y^e house of an
intimate friend, and minister of that parish: Cromwell, as soon as he
mist him, sent all ways after him, with a promise of a great reward to
any that w'd bring him alive or dead.
"Thus far y^e narrative of Lindsey himself; but something further is to
be remembered to complete & confirm y^e story.
"When Mr. Thorowgood saw his friend Lindsey come into his yard, his
horse and himself just tired, in a sort of amaze he said, 'How, now,
Colonel; we hear there is like to be a battle shortly. What! fled from
your colours?' 'A battle!' said y^e other; 'yes, there has bin a
battle, and I am sure y^e King is beaten. If ever I strike a stroke for
Cromwell again, may I perish eternally, for I am sure he has made a
league with y^e Devil, and he will have him in due time.' Then,
desiring his protection from Cromwell's inquisitors, he went in &
related y^e whole story, and all the circumstances, concluding with
these remarkable words, That Cromwell w'd certainly die that day seven
year that the battle was fought.
"The strangeness of his relation caused Mr. Thorowgood to order his son
John, then about 12 years of age, to write it in full length in his
common place book, & to take it from Lindsey's own mouth. This common
place book, and likewise y^e same story writen in other books, I am
sure is still preserv'd in y^e family of y^e Thorowgoods: But how far
Lindsey is to be believed, & how far y^e story is to be accounted
incredible, is left to y^e reader's faith and judgment, & not to any
determination of our own."
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Gig Hill_ (Vol. iii., p. 222.).--Perhaps your correspondent is mistaken in
saying that "there is no indication of anything in the land to warrant the
name." At least, the very fact of its being a hill is suspicious. If I
could venture to affront you with a pun, I should say, that it seems to me
very natural that the _top_ of a hill should look like a _gig_. Mercy on
us! do words wear out so fast? Why, I have not reached three-score, and did
not I "whip my gig" when I was an "infant"?--not an infant born in a remote
province, sucking in archaism with my mother's milk, playing with heirloom
toys, and calling them by obsolete names, but a smart little cockney, born
and bred in the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, where, no doubt, there were
gig-whipping brats plenty. In the crowded state of your columns, you would
not thank me for enlarging on the top-_hic_, or I should really feel
disposed to enter into a dissertation on the nature and characteristic
differences of whipping-tops, humming-tops, peg-tops, and gigs. As to the
latter, it certainly occurs to me, now that the question is raised, that I
have not seen such a thing for a long time; though I fancy _gigs_ lying in
the shop-windows, as they did at a period when I was more likely to observe
them; and if they have become so far forgotten, it may be worth while, for
the sake of Shakspeare, to say that they were generally (as far as I
remember always) made of horn; and therefore, when Holofernes says "Go,
whip thy gig" (which means just the same as Mr. Oldbuck's "Sew your
sampler, monkey!"), Moth replies, "Lend me your _horn_ to make one, and I
will whip about your infamy _circum circa_; a gig of a cuckold's horn!" It
is enough to add that the gig was made of the tip of the horn, and looked,
while spinning, like an inverted extinguisher. It was hollow, but my
impression is that there was sometimes lead at the bottom of the inside.
Even with the ballast, it was a ticklish, volatile, kickety thing, much
more difficult to set up and to keep up than the sober whipping-top, and
bearing somewhat the same relation to one in bulk and motion, {284} that a
ship's gig may do to herself, or a gig on land to a coach. As to Gig Hill,
however, unless it has a conical top, some other explanation must be
sought.