“One evening, during the hottest period of the cannonade, there came a musket ball in at the window of the withdrawing room, where my Lord used to entertain his friends with his pleasant discourses after dinners and suppers, which, glancing upon a little marble pillar of the window, from thence hit the Marquis upon the side of his head, and fell down flattened upon the table, which breaking the pillar in pieces, it made such a noise in the room, that his daughter-in-law, the Countess of Glamorgan, who stood in the same window, ran away as if the house had been falling down upon her head, crying out, ‘O Lord! O Lord!’ But at length, finding herself more afraid than hurt, she returned back again, no less excusing her--as she was pleased to call it--rudeness to her father, than acknowledging her fears to all the company. To whom the Marquis said, ‘Daughter, you had reason to run away, when your father was knocked on the head.’ Then pausing some little while, and turning the flattened bullet round with his finger, he further said, ‘Gentlemen, those who had a mind to flatter me, were wont to tell me that I had a _good head_ in my younger days; but, if I don’t flatter myself, I think I have a good head-piece in my old age, or else it would not have been _musket proof_.’” It shows how closely Raglan Castle was besieged, when on the 26th of May, about 11 o’clock at night, some of the Parliamentary soldiers could be drinking at a public house, but a little distance from the Castle, having alighted from their horses, and sent a scout to reconnoitre: who bringing them favourable news, they refreshed themselves at their ease. Meanwhile, having been observed, 60 or 80 horse were sent from Raglan to surprise them, and they succeeded in seizing three or four of their horses; but some of the Roundheads escaped in a cornfield, while most of their companions quickly mounted; some riding off were lost in the darkness, while the remainder, in a skirmish of half an hour, took two prisoners and rescued their lost horses. Many fruitless skirmishes appear to have been thus made; often as many as 150 horsemen rushing forth, only to return with the report of bootless labour.[83] On the part of the besiegers, Captain Hooper was employed to conduct the mining approaches, which were pushed forward with great vigour.