Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/754

 A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK be gathered from the Wentworth Papers."* Somerleyton House was more than once occupied by the Parliamentary troops. Upon the 14th day of March, 1642, being Tuesday, Colonel Cromwell's troop and Captain Fountain with his troop and divers others to the number of 140, came to Somer- leyton Hall in the morning, and there they quartered that night and a great part of them all Wednesday and Thursday till afternoon. I 5. d. Valuing the quartering of 100 men — because some of them went away in the morning — for two days as abovesaid, at id. the man, comes to . . 368 Item, their horses eat in that time — as by good proof is made manifest — 35 comb of oats : the price of them 5^. the comb, comes to. . . 8150 Item, their horses eat and stroyed off the chamber and out of the barns at least 4 comb of wheat besides rye : the price of such wheat then, at least ids. the comb, comes to .........340 Item, their horses eat and stroyed at least 3 loads of grey peas in the straw, all which were very well worth. . . . . . . . 4 O O Item, they shot out of the sacks and gave to their horses 9 bushels of barley : then being 2s, the bushel comes to. . . . . . . 0180 Sum of this free quarter .......... ;{^20 3 8 Besides at least 5 loads of good hard-land hay, eaten and stroyed, worth ^^5 at least. For goods, horses and arms seized or taken thus we inform and account : — The 15th day of March 1642 Colonel Cromwell's quarter-master took away from Somerley- ton Hall, the house of Sir John Wentworth, Knight, six muskets worth 20x. the musket, which comes to £b ; and their bandeliers and two rests valued at 6j. 8(/. ; and one fowling-piece well worth 22J., and 12 head-pieces valued at 91. the piece, comes to ^5 8x. So the total of these arms comes to ;f 12 i6f. %d. More, at the same time, from the same place, was taken, but by whom we know not ; in gold ;^i6o. Suffolk was assessed for the maintenance of the army at ^1,250, Soldiers were quartered freely upon the townships, where they pillaged the shops of their stock-in-trade, and gave no recompense."' The inhabitants of Somer- leyton were compelled to maintain eight foot soldiers at a payment of 5J. a week for each. The volunteer soldiers of the trained bands were called up weekly for exercise, providing their own arms, matches, powder, and bullets.^'" At the close of the century the records of social life in Suffolk regain once more their peaceful character. From the Friston Papers may be gathered interesting glimpses of the almost paternal relations existing between the large landowners and the townspeople, who are their tenants. Sir Henry Johnson and his son-in-law and successor in the estate, Lord Strafford, are consulted on every imaginable subject, from the supply of ordnance for the defence of Aldeburgh,'*^ to the troubles of an aged fisherwoman almost seventy years old ; '*' or the disposal of brandy casks blown ashore after being sunk by smugglers with bags of stones ; "' they appoint a new school- master at a salary of j/^14 a year to succeed another whose wife has an alehouse 20 miles distant from Aldeburgh, and who is in consequence too often absent from his post ; ^^ they lend the newspapers for perusal at the same ' White Lion,' on condition that they are kept clean and returned every 178 Suckling, op. cit. ii, 48. '"• Ibid, ii, 67. '*' Ibid, ii, 50. "• Add. MSS. 22249, fol- 45- '" Ibid. fol. 106. '^ Ibid. fol. 97. '" Ibid. fol. 69. 674