* * * * *
BY
WILLIAM LLEWELLIN, F.G.S., F.G.H.S.,
&c., &c., &c.
* * * * *
Reprinted from the “Cambrian Journal,” 1861.
* * * * *
TENBY:
PRINTED BY R. MASON, HIGH STREET.
1862.
* * * * *
DAVID MORGAN,
THE WELSH JACOBITE.
“Although my lands are fair and wide,
Its here no longer I must bide;
Yet my last hoof, and horn, and hide,
I’ll gie to bonnie Charlie.
“Although my heart is unco sair,
And lies fu’ lowly in its lair,
Yet the last drap of blude that’s there,
I’ll gie for bonnie Charlie.”
_Jacobite Ballad_.
ONE of the most romantic and spirit-stirring episodes in English History
is that presented to us by the last effort of the partisans of the
expelled House of Stuart to place the representative of the exiled family
on the throne of his ancestors.
The Rebellion of 1745 has been acknowledged universally to have been
remarkable for the interesting incidents, and romantic adventures, to
which it gave rise; and the annals of history do not furnish examples of
greater personal sacrifices, more exalted heroism, and chivalrous
devotion, than were exhibited during that momentous struggle.
In these peaceful times, and blessed with institutions that afford the
fullest security for the preservation of our civil and religious
liberties, it is difficult to conceive the stormy struggles to which the
country was subjected, in the efforts of our forefathers, amid contending
factions, to secure and maintain the liberties which we now enjoy, and to
hand them down to us unimpaired. Still more difficult is it to realize
the fact, that very little more than a century has passed since this
country was the scene of a fierce civil war, in which members of the same
family were arrayed against each other in hostile conflict, and, during
the progress of which, and of the ruthless and vindictive executions that
followed it, the bravest blood of Britain,—that of the devoted, though
mistaken, adherents of the Stuarts,—was poured out like water on their
native soil.
The circumstances out of which this great conflict originated may be thus
briefly detailed. The continued infraction of the laws by a systematic
indifference to every principle of legality, the violation of the
liberties of the people, the brutal cruelty and senseless obstinacy, the
persistent determination to deprive the Episcopal and Presbyterian
Churches of their rights and privileges, and to restore the domination of
the Roman Catholic Church, which characterized the proceedings of James
II. during his short and most unhappy reign, completely alienated the
affections of his subjects, and eventually led the best and greatest men
of the country to seek the aid of the Prince of Orange, afterwards
William III., against the tyranny and oppression to which they were
subjected.
The flight of the King, and the successful accomplishment, and glorious
results of the Revolution of 1688, speedily followed that movement, and
the stable and permanent advantages, and constitutional reforms, that
subsequently had their origin in the Bill of Rights, were thus secured to
us.
While experiencing those manifold benefits, and realizing the blessed
results of the solid guarantees for the maintenance and extension of
their liberties, that sprung out of the expulsion of James II., and when
there were numbers of living men, who had not only been witnesses, but
were also victims of his oppression and misrule, it is passing strange
that such a feeling should have existed among any considerable body of
the people as could have rendered possible the Rebellions of 1715 and
1745, and have enlisted in favour of the Stuarts, and enrolled among
their enthusiastic adherents, many men of high position, and extensive
territorial possessions. But, though at the period of the outbreak of
1715, only 27 years had elapsed, and not more than 57 years had passed,
when the Rebellion of 1745 occurred, since the Revolution, the
resentment, the sense of wrong, and the many painful impressions produced
on the public mind by the occurrences of James II.’s fated and luckless
reign, though not wholly effaced, had unquestionably been very
considerably subdued and obliterated. The sons and grandsons of the
brave and devoted Cavaliers, who fought and bled for their King in the
bloody fields of Naseby and Worcester, and who sacrificed wealth and life
in the royalist cause, clung tenaciously to the recollections associated
with those unhappy days, and still sympathised with the fallen fortunes
of the Stuarts.
A considerable amount of discontent also existed in the country,
occasioned by the impolitic and unseemly preference shown by the two
first Georges for their Hanoverian subjects, which partiality, natural as
it may have been, was, in a King of England, excessively indiscreet, and,
by its undisguised, and even occasionally ostentatious manifestations,
calculated to excite among his subjects feelings of considerable
dissatisfaction and discontent. Those monarchs were likewise known to
possess a very imperfect acquaintance, which they made no efforts to
extend, with the language, laws, and constitution of England; and, prior
to the outbreak of the last Rebellion, in 1745, the unpopularity of
George II. had become so decided as to render it extremely probable that
a movement, well conceived and skilfully carried out, for the restoration
of the old dynasty, might be successful. For, throughout the country,
and even in London, the people appear to have formed a highly favourable
estimate of the Pretender, (of whom zealous Jacobites had spread the most
glowing accounts,) and to have entertained a higher regard for his
personal character than they felt for that of George. Indeed, had there
not existed the apprehension that, with their restoration, the hereditary
passion for arbitrary power that had ever characterized the Stuarts would
once more have manifested itself, there were few patriotic Englishmen who
would not gladly have given their adherence to them, and so have relieved
themselves of a dynasty that had not from the first been particularly
popular, and that was then very generally regarded with contempt and
dislike.
The restoration of the Stuarts, although not actively promoted by the
majority of the people, was not, however, regarded with any feelings
approaching abhorrence, nor did they even extend to very serious dislike.
Several of the most distinguished noblemen and gentlemen were already
zealous Jacobites, while many more regarded the movements and
conspiracies in favour of the Stuarts either with favour or indifference.
The relations that existed between the great landowners and their tenants
and dependents so largely partook, even at that comparatively recent
period, of the spirit and characteristics of the feudal system, that few
of the territorial families would have experienced much difficulty in
gathering together, and bringing into the field, very formidable bodies
of armed retainers, in behalf of any cause which they had espoused, and
desired to uphold. This, however, was more especially the case in
Scotland and Wales.
In the latter country, as in Scotland, the Jacobites were very numerous,
and the loyalty that had been the characteristic of the Welsh people in
the troubled times of the great Rebellion, and which made Wales almost
the last rallying place of the unhappy Charles Stuart, and his devoted
followers, still existed among the Welsh people, and rendered them ready
to undergo the greatest personal sacrifices, or to encounter any perils,
in upholding the cause of his unfortunate descendant. {7}
Had Charles Stuart followed the counsels that were freely urged upon him
during the ill-judged retreat from Derby, and marched his forces into
Wales, it is probable that a formidable rising would have occurred in
that country, and that, if not ultimately successful, the struggle would
have been greatly prolonged, and have proved of a still more serious and
sanguinary character.
But, had that course been adopted, and failure ensued, several of the
great Welsh landed proprietors would have been involved in the ruin that
overtook so many of the leading Scottish Jacobites, and their heads would
most assuredly have fallen on the scaffold. As it was, the Duke of
Beaufort, with hereditary devotion to the Stuarts, and Sir Watkin Wynn,
were so seriously compromised as to place them for a time in considerable
danger.
The infamous Secretary Murray, of Broughton, revealed the whole of the
particulars of the Jacobite intrigues and conspiracies that had existed
since the year 1740, and made such criminatory statements, with respect
to the complicity of the Duke, and Sir Watkin, as clearly proved their
active participation in the plots that had preceded and led to the
Rebellion. The law, however, required that, in cases of treason, _two_
witnesses should depose to the facts on which the charge was founded; and
it was consequently found impracticable to proceed against them on
Murray’s traitorous testimony. It is, moreover, suspected that the king
and the government felt indisposed to have them impeached, fearing that
the prosecution of men so powerful and influential might give rise to
serious disturbances, and cause a further outbreak of a still more
dangerous character than that which had been so recently suppressed.
In addition to the Duke of Beaufort, and Sir Watkin Wynn, many of the
leading noblemen and gentlemen, throughout North and South Wales, were
intimately associated with the intrigues of the Jacobites. Among those
most deeply involved, and who made the greatest sacrifices for the cause
of the Stuarts, was William, Marquis of Powis, who followed James II.
into France, and was by him created Duke of Powis, and so designated at
the Court of St. Germain’s. The fourth daughter of this nobleman, Lady
Winifred Herbert, became the wife of the Earl of Nithsdale; and the
remarkable devotion and heroic courage with which she devised, and
successfully accomplished, the escape of her beloved husband, when left
for execution, entitle her to an exalted place among the heroines of
Wales.
The Earl had been one of the most prominent leaders of the Rebellion in
1715; and, after its suppression, was apprehended, tried, and sentenced
to death. His devoted wife exhausted every effort to obtain his pardon,
and sought, by the most strenuous and piteous appeals, to move the King
to mercy. Finding, however, that her prayers and entreaties were
disregarded, and that no other hope remained to her, this dauntless
woman, undismayed by difficulties and dangers before which most hearts
would have quailed, and sank into despair, wrought out a most heroic
scheme for effecting the escape of the Earl from the Tower, and had the
inexpressible happiness of releasing him from his prison, and placing him
far beyond the reach of his pursuers. In doing this, her own safety, and
even life, were seriously imperilled; but, by the interposition of
influential individuals attached to the Court, a merciful view was taken
of her case, and she was eventually permitted to pass over to the
continent, to rejoin the husband she had saved. To Welshmen it will be a
gratifying fact that, associated with her in those efforts to preserve
the Earl from the scaffold, and all essential to her success, were her
“dear Evans,” a maid or companion, and a Mrs. Morgan, both of whom appear
to have been faithful Welsh dependents of the family of Powis, and wholly
devoted to the Countess.
Though the precise extent of his complicity have escaped my inquiries,
and I have failed to obtain clear evidence on the subject, I find it
generally asserted, throughout the district in which he resided, that the
great landed proprietor, Mr. Lewis, of the Van, Caerphilly,—“Ysguier
Lewis gwych o’r Van,”—from whom the Marquis of Bute, and the Baroness
Windsor, inherit their great estates in Glamorganshire, was discovered to
have participated in one of the numerous plots for the restoration of the
Stuarts, and to have had a fine imposed upon him of £10,000. Such a sum
in those days would have been accounted a large one; and to procure it, a
large extent of land, in the vicinity of Merthyr-Tydfil, (then a humble
village containing less than a dozen houses,) and elsewhere, had to be
sold; and it is said that, among the properties that were then disposed
of, were the Court, Mardy, and other estates, that have subsequently
proved of very great value.
The uncompromising Jacobite feeling of one of the old Welsh proprietors
is displayed in an anecdote that has been related of Sir Charles Kemys,
of Cefn Mabley. It is said of him that, during his travels on the
continent, he paid a visit to Hanover, and was treated with marked regard
by the Elector; and, it is supposed, that he owed that distinction to the
lessons which he gave to the Court and Sovereign in the British
accomplishments of drinking and smoking tobacco. Shortly after his
elevation to the throne of England, George expressed a strong desire to
see his former friend, Sir Charles Kemys, and, as he persisted in the
wish, he was informed by the courtiers that Sir Charles was not well
affected to the present dynasty. “Poo! Poo!” said the King, “tell him
he must come up, I long to smoke a pipe with him.” This command having
been conveyed to Sir Charles, he is said to have declined the invitation
in those terms,—“I should be happy to smoke a pipe with him as Elector of
Hanover, but I can’t think of it as King of England.” {9}
The traditions that still linger among the Welsh hills show that Jacobite
principles were not confined to the landowners, but also prevailed among
the farmers and peasants. Of those traditionary stories, one is told of
an old Welsh farmer, residing at a farm called Pen Craig Fargoed, in the
parish of Gelligare, Glamorganshire, and who appears to have been a
devoted adherent of the Stuarts. A witty fellow in the neighbourhood,
rather remarkable for his acuteness, and, withal, somewhat addicted to
rhyming, to meet some pressing necessity, had borrowed a guinea from his
neighbour, “yr hên bapist,” and, on meeting him subsequently, without
having the power to repay him the loan, with the view of propitiating
him, addressed him in the following terms, and, it is said, greatly
pleased him, and obtained all the indulgence that he sought:—
“Tri ffeth ’rwy yn ei archi,
Cael echwyn am y guni,
A chael Pretendwr ar y faink
A chael bath Ffraink y dali.”
Which, for the benefit of those unacquainted with the Welsh language, may
be thus translated:—
“Three things do I desire,
To have indulgence for the guinea;
And have the Pretender on the throne;
And have French money to pay with.”
In North Wales the Jacobites appear to have been numerous and powerful.
A social meeting that existed very recently, if it does not still exist,
at Wrexham, and known as the “Cycle,” was originally a secret assembly of
the Jacobites, established in Denbighshire, for the object of upholding
and promoting the pretensions of the young Pretender, Prince Charles
Edward, to the throne of this country. The rules of this society, to
which the signatures of several of its leading members were appended,
were published, about thirty years back, in the _Cambrian Quarterly
Journal_; {10} and, as that work possessed a limited circulation, and has
now become scarce, its reproduction may interest many persons to whom it
would otherwise be unknown. This list of the names of the members is one
of the earliest known. More recent ones are stated to have been drawn up
in the form of a round robin; which, it is suspected, was adopted to
prevent the possibility of either of the members being proceeded against
as the principal of an assembly that was clearly of a treasonable
character.
“We, whose names are underwritten, do promise at ye time and place to
our names respectively affixed, and to observe the rules following,
viz.
Imprs. Every member of this society shall, for default of his
appearance, submit to be censur’d, and shall thereupon be censur’d by
the judgmt of the society.
2ndly. Every member yt cannot come shall be obliged to send notice
of his non-appearance by 12 of the clock at noon, together with his
reason in writing, otherwise his plea shall not excuse him, if within
the compass of fifteen miles from the place of meeting.
3rdly. Each member obliges himself to have dinner upon the table by
12 o clock {11} at noon, from Michaelmas to Lady-day, and, from
Lady-day till Michaelmas, at 1 of the clock.
4thly. The respective masters of the places of meeting oblige
themselves to take down in writing each default, and to deliver in
the same at the general meeting.
5thly. Every member shall keep a copy of these articles by him, to
prevent plea of mistake.
6thly. It is agreed yt a general meeting shall be held by all ye
subscribers at the house of Daniel Porter, Junr. holden in Wrexham,
on the 1st day of May, 1724, by 11 of ye clock in the forenoon, and
there to dine; and to determine upon all points relating to and
according to the sense and meaning of those articles.