Preston Fight; or, The Insurrection of 1715Ainsworth, William Harrison
General
Preston Fight; or, The Insurrection of 1715
Ainsworth, William Harrison
Jacobite Rebellion, 1715 -- Fiction
Their next march was to Kendal, where General Forster was quartered at
the house of Alderman Simpson, in Strickland Gate. It chanced that his
god-mother, Mrs. Bellingham, was staying there at the time, and hearing
this the general desired to pay his respects to her, but she refused
to see him. However, as he was going up-stairs to his room, she rushed
forth, and met him on the landing. Alarmed by the furious expression of
her countenance, Forster would have; turned back, but she commanded him
to stay.
Thinking to deprecate her wrath, the general expressed his great
pleasure at seeing her, and hoped she was quite well.
“Quite well!” she cried. “How can I be well when I'm driven almost out
of my senses by your shameful proceedings. Oh! Tom, Tom! never did I
think you would serve the Pretender!”
“I serve King James the Third, madam,” he replied. “And however
disagreeable it may be to you to hear it, I must say that I look upon
the Elector of Hanover as a usurper, and I shall do my best to drive him
from the kingdom.”
“You may try, but you'll never succeed,” cried Mrs. Bellingham, becoming
still more exasperated. “Now, I'll tell what you've lost by your folly.
I meant to leave you all my fortune; but you shan't have a penny. I'll
leave it all to Dorothy.”
“I'm sorry to have offended you, madam, but it can't be helped. I
scarcely think you can have heard of our great success at Penrith Fells,
or you wouldn't speak so disparagingly of us.”
“I've heard that you dispersed an army of peasants,” she rejoined,
contemptuously. “But when you face a regular army, the result will be
very different.”
“You are mistaken, madam,” he rejoined, beginning to feel angry himself,
for he saw Lord Derwentwater, Lord Widdrington, and Colonel Oxburgh
at the foot of the stairs, and felt sure they must be laughing at him.
“Before a month we shall be in London.”
“Yes,” she replied; “but you will be a prisoner. You and the rebel lords
will be safely lodged in the Tower, and if you come out, it will only be
to have your heads cut off. And you will richly deserve your fate.”
A good word may be said for the Highlanders. It was reported that the
muskets of the militia were concealed in the church, and a party of
these brave fellows went in search of them. They discovered no arms, but
they found the plate in the vestry, and left it untouched.
Next day, being Sunday, the insurgents marched early to Kirkby-Lonsdale.
Service was performed at the church in the afternoon by the Reverend Mr.
Patten, and as Lord Derwentwater and Lord Widdrington were standing
in the churchyard contemplating the beautiful view it commands of the
valley of the Lune, they were surprised by the unexpected appearance
of Lord Widdrington's brother, who had just returned from Lancaster,
whither he had been sent to prepare the inhabitants for the approach of
the insurgent force.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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