Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 32.djvu/102

Langdale by Anne, daughter of Michael Wharton of Beverley Park (, Extinct Peerage, 1883, p. 314). He was knighted by Charles I at Whitehall on 5 Feb. 1827-8 (, Book of Knights, p. 188). His family were Roman catholics, and are returned as still recusants in the list of 1715 (, List of Roman Catholics, &c. ed. 1862, p. 599). In 1639 he opposed the levy of ship-money on Yorkshire. 'I hear,' writes Strafford, 'my old friend Sir Marmaduke Langdale appears in the head of this business; that gentlemen I fear carries an itch about with him, that will never let him take rest, till at one time or other he happen to be thoroughly clawed indeed' (Strafford Letters, ii. 308; cf. Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1640, p. 222). Nevertheless, when the civil war began, Langdale, no doubt because of the severity of the parliament against catholics, adopted the king's cause with the greatest devotion. He was sent by the Yorkshire royalists in September 1642 to the Earl of Newcastle, to engage him to march into Yorkshire to their assistance, and was one of the committee appointed to arrange terms with him (Life of the Duke of Newcastle, ed. Firth, pp. 333, 336). About February 1643 he raised a regiment of foot in the East Riding, but he was chiefly distinguished as a cavalry commander (, Memoirs, ed. Parsons, p. 93). Newcastle employed him as an intermediary in his successful attempt to gain over the Huthams, and in his unsuccessful overtures to Colonel Hutchinson (, Studies and Illustrations of the Great Rebellion, p. 553; Life of Colonel Hutchinson, ed. Firth, i. 377). Rebels, he wrote to Hutchinson, might be successful for a time, but generally had cause to repent in the end, and neither the law of the land nor any religion publicly professed in England allowed subjects to time up arms against their natural prince. 'I will go on,' he concluded, 'in that wny that I doubt not shall gain the king his right forth of the usurper's hand wherever I find it.' When the Scots army invaded England, Langdale defeated their cavalry at Corbridge, Northumberland, 19 Feb. 1844 (Life of the Duke of Newcastle, p. 350;, v. 614). At Marston Moor he probably fought on the left wing with the northern horse under the command of General Goring. After the battle this division retreated through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, to Chester, and were defeated on the way at Ormskirk (21 Aug.) and Malpas (26 Aug.), Langdale commanding in both actions (Civil War Tracts of Lancashire, ed. Ormerod, p. 204;, Civil War in Wales, ii. 200). He joined the king's main army at the beginning of November 1644, just after the second battle of Newbury (, Historical Discourses, p. 116). Langdale's northern horsemen were anxious to return to the relief of their friends. 'I beseech your highness,' wrote Langdale to Rupert, 'let not our countrymen upbraid us with ungratefulness in deserting them, but rather give us leave to try what we can do; it will be some satisfaction to us that we die amongst them in revenge of their quarrells' (12 Jan. 1645; Rupert MSS.) Langdale was allowed to try, marched north, defeated Colonel Rossiter at Melton Mowbray on 25 Feb., and raised the siege of Pontefract on 1 March (Surtees Society Miscellanea, 1801, 'Siege of Pontefract,' p. 14;, Prince Rupert, iii. 68; Mercurius Aulicus, 8 March 1645). This was his most brilliant piece of soldiership during the war. He rejoined the king's army at Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, on 8 May 1645, and took part in the capture of Leicester (Diary of Richard Symonds, p. 168). At the battle of Naseby (14 June 1645) Langdale commanded the king's left wing, but after a gallant resistance it was completely broken by Cromwell (, Anglia Rediviva, p. 39). He was equally unfortunate in his encounter with Major-general Poynts at Rowton Heath, near Chester (, p. 242;, pp. 130, 139). On 13 Oct. Langdale and some fifteen hundred horse, under the command of Lord Digby, started from Newark to join Montrose in Scotland, but were defeated on 15 Oct. at Sherburn in Yorkshire. Langdale in antique fashion made a speech to his soldiers before the fight, telling them that some people 'scandalised their gallantry for the loss of Naseby field,' and that now was the time to redeem their reputation. A second defeat from Sir John Browne at Carlisle sands completely scattered the little army, and Langdale, Digby, and a few officers 'fled over to the Isle of Man in a cock-boat' (, Burning Bush, pp. 297, 308; Clarendon MSS. 1992, 2003), He landed in France in May 1646 (, Memorials of the Civil War, i. 33).

On the approach of the second civil war Langdale was despatched to Scotland with a commission from Charles II, directing him to observe the orders of the Earls of Lauderdale and Lanark (February 1648;, Lives of the Hamiltons, 1852, p. 426). On 28 April he surprised Berwick, quickly raised a body of northern royalists, and published a 'Declaration for the King' (, Great Civil War, iii. 370). Lambert, who commanded the parliamentary forces in the north, forced him to retire into Carlisle, and he joined the Scots with three