Further on the battle for Painswick in the Civil War, following on from last week’s post. Someone sent me a copy of a letter from the Royalist commander, Sir William Vavasour, on the taking of the town. Seventeenth century English spelling is evidently more an art than a science and time has eaten holes in the original, which it’s a short, sharp request for some more artillery to flush out Parliamentary troops still holed up in the town:
My Lo(rd)
We have taken Painswicke, with ye loss of some men and ........ of much ......... the Rebells have possessed themselves of many Howses, wch wilbe taken in by canon, it must thearefore delyver yr Lo(rd) to sende mee 20 ...arelle of powdre more, with some hande granadoes and if you please to send a mortier peece, I shalbe able to doe his ma(jes)tye ye better servise and yr Lo will much obleige by it.
Yr Lo most humble servant
Will Vavasour
Painswicke 29th March 1643
I beseach yr Lo sende som more canon bullets
Today Painswick, my local small town, is a more peaceful place – an old church, still bearing the scars of this battle, a picturesque churchyard famous for its yews and crumbling tombs, and streets of stone houses built on the prosperity of the Cotswold wool trade.
Painswick? A coincidence. My wife and I are staying for five days in nearby Bristol the first week in June and plan to visit Exeter, Wells, and Cheltenham. Maybe we should add Painswick to our itinerary. Interestingly, the Painswick Tourist Information calls itself “The Queen of the Cotswolds.”
ReplyDeleteTim,
DeleteI'd recommend a short stop in Painswick on the way to or from Cheltenham. It's an atmospheric place, a lesser known Cotswold town of some interest. And there's an interesting eighteenth century garden just outside the town if gardens are your thing:
http://www.rococogarden.org.uk/