Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/151

 ^s.x.Auo.23,1902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

143

which a very good account appeared in the Dorset County Chronicle at the time.

Mr. Broadley then, apparently undeterred by the very lukewarm support that he appears to have received locally, proceeded to turn his attention and the funds of the somewhat slender subscription list towards carrying out the suggestions I had previously offered as to the four commemorative tablets to be erected at Ellesdon Farm, Monkton Wyld, where the king stayed a few hours on 22 September, 1651 ; the old inn at Charmouth, then known as the " Queen's Head," but now, and for some time past, as the manse for the Nonconformist minister at Charmouth, where the king stayed the evening and night of the>22nd, waiting in vain for the boat which was to convey him to France ; the old house in Bridport, then called the " George Inn," now a chemist's shop, where the royal party had their midday meal on the 23rd, and so narrowly escaped detection by the local ostler ; and the old inn at Broad Windsor, then known also as the "George," where the king spent that night, the one immediately preceding his return to Kent, having successfully evaded his pursuers at Bridport by turning down Lee Lane. All but the one at Bridport are now happily accomplished.

The tablets, which were of marble in a frame of Ham Hill stone, the inscription being in imperishable letters, were also the work of Mr. Milverton's hands. Those at Char- mouth and Monkton Wyld were the firsl to be erected, and, being only a mile or so distant from each other .were unveiled on the same day, Easter Monday last. For the account of the ceremony I may be allowed to

refer to one of the local papers the Bridpor News. It states :

"Those who were present at the unveiling of th< King Charles II. tablets at Charmouth and Ellesdoi Farm on Easter Monday had a most interesting anc a very delightful day. It was an ideal spring day and nature was budding out in all her vernal fresh ness. To [sic] those who have made themselve acquainted with the incidents associated with thi flight of the king through Dorset, the drive alon, the road from Bridport to Charmouth and Ellesdon Farm on that quiet sunny morning could hardly .have failed to contrast [sic] that happy condition o things with the state of anxiety which must hav possessed Charles when he and his companions rod nastily on the same road to Bridport on th 23rd Sept., 1651, with those hunting for his blooi before and behind him. The royal fugitive coul hardly have time or taste under the circumstance to admire the charming scenery through whic this old coach road passes. The pretty villages o Chideock and Charmouth seem to have the famon ' heights of Dorset ' standing sentinel over ther and guarding them from harm, and one would hay to travel a long way to find a more delightful pic

ure than presented by these villages as seen from ic hills descending into them. The RevT F. J. dorrish very kindly allowed visitors to pass through be old manse which he now occupies, and contem- late the room which Charles II. spent the night i, waiting for Limbry and his boat which never ame. From the window of this room an unob- tructed view of the beach may be obtained. It s a pity that the royal arms which were erected n the room have been covered over by builders nd paper-hangers. It is at the manse where the irst tablet was gracefully unveiled by Mrs. Simms, he revered mother of the rector (Rev. Spencer Simms). The drive from Charmouth to Ellesdon Tarm opens out vistas of a charming country. The Vale or Marshwood sweeps along far below the oadway on the right, and here and there some of he 'jstately homes of England ' may be seen looking iut from their wooded surroundings upon the Channel, glittering on the left, and the smiling /alleys. Ellesdon Farm, occupied by Mrs. Lar- jombe, is a delightful old house, an ideal haven of est, secluded from th.e public gaze in a little nook within a stone's throw 01 the highway. It was here the hunted king, barely of age, rested on the after- noon of the 22nd Sept.", and the tablet over the entrance, unveiled by Miss Simms, will perpetuate the fact to future generations, for the old house, with its granite cobble floors, is of such a substantial character that it will stand the ravages of time for a considerable period of time. The day was, in- deed, a memorable and an enjoyable one to those who took part in the proceedings, but, as Mr. Broad- ley suggested in his speech, these commemorations will not be complete until a fourth tablet is erected at the house now occupies by Mr. James Beach at Bridport, where the king rested, the premises being an hostelry at that time. '

Mr. Broadley, who again took a leading part in the proceedings, in an interesting address explained to those present the occasion for the ceremony, and shortly reviewed the circumstances of the king's stay at these two places, after which he sub- mitted for their inspection a very interesting and valuable collection of contemporary pro- clamations and broadsides, letters, portraits, medals, and medallions, which he had recently brought together.

On the following Friday (4 April) the third memorial tablet, at Broad windsor, was un- veiled by Mr. Perkins, the Mayor of Taunton. The same paper from which I have just quoted gives the following account of the proceed- ings :

"The third of the tablets erected in the district to commemorate the places of refuge of Charles II. during his wanderings in West Dorset when pursued by the Roundheads after the battle of Worcester was unveiled by the Mayor of Taunton (Mr. Perkins) on Friday. Like the others at the Manse, Charmouth, and at Ellesdon Farm, the tablet is of marble, framed with Ham Hill stone, and inscribed in imperishable letters. It is placed in the front wall of the cottage occupied by Mr. Charles Harrison, to the left of the entrance to the inn yard, which was undoubtedly at one time a part of the old ' George Inn,' where King Charles stayed