History of the Fylde of LancashirePorter, John (Writer on the Fylde of Lancashire)
History
History of the Fylde of Lancashire
Porter, John (Writer on the Fylde of Lancashire)
Lancashire (England) -- History
Prince Charles Edward, the son of the former Pretender, landed in the
Hebrides, in 1745, with a well-officered force of two thousand men, and
after defeating Sir John Cope, seized the city of Edinburgh and commenced
his march southwards. Crossing the border, he passed through Lancashire,
and arrived at Preston with an army barely six thousand strong. At
Preston he met with an enthusiastic welcome, the church bells were rung,
and loud cheers greeted the proclamation of his father, the Chevalier,
as king of Great Britain and Ireland. His sojourn in the town was brief,
and on the 27th of November the rebel troops set out for Manchester,
inspirited by the lively strains of “The King shall have his own again.”
Arriving at that city, they continued their march towards Derby, where,
on receiving the news that the Duke of Cumberland was at Lichfield on his
way to intercept them, Prince Charles Edward hastened to beat a retreat,
and on the 12th of December re-passed through the streets of Preston, the
wearied feet of his followers keeping time to the doleful but appropriate
air of “Hie the Charlie home again.”
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
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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