Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

When the enemy had thus besieged us, he began to make his approaches, and raised a battery upon the Windmill Hill, as the way lies to Heslington; plants upon it five pieces of cannon and plays continually into the town, they come nearer to us and takes the suburbs without Waingate [Walmgate] Bar, plants two pieces in the street against the bar, another at the Dovecoat within a stone’s cast of the bar; then he works underground close by the bar, and makes his mines in two places. Likewise Manchester, who had his quarters about Clifton and Heworth, was not less active, but makes his approaches, works his mines under St Mary’s Tower without Bootham Bar, and raised a battery against the manor wall that lied to the orchard. He begins to play with his cannon and throws down piece of the wall. We fall to work and make it up with earth and sods. At noon they spring the mine under St Mary’s Tower, and blows up one part of it, which falling outwards made the access more easy. Then some at the breach, some with ladders, gets up and enters, near 500. Sir Philip Byron, that had the guard at the place, leading up some men, was unfortunately killed as he opened the doors into the bowling green whither the enemy was gotten; but the difficulty was not much, we soon beat them out again, having taken 200 prisoners and killed many of them, as might be seen in the bowling green, orchard and garden. The Scots were all the while busy about the mine, and we as busy in countermining, but at length both give over being hindered by water.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

A Parliamentary report on the following day:

On Monday morning, some of our soldiers betwixt nine and ten a clock, approaching towards the place where the tower stood, heard in the rubbish a very doleful cry, some calling, Help, help; others Water, water. Their lamentable complaints moved our men to resolve their relief: so they digged one out dead in the rubbish and brought two alive; but from the town, such fierce opposition was made by the merciless enemy against our soldiers while they were labouring to save their friends’ lives, that they were compelled to leave many poor distressed ones dying in the dust. Upon Wednesday or Thursday we obtained an hour’s time to bury our dead (Ashe 1644).

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Original

When the enemy had thus besieged us, he began to make his approaches, and raised a battery upon the Windmill Hill, as the way lies to Heslington; plants upon it five pieces of cannon and plays continually into the town, they come nearer to us and takes the suburbs without Waingate [Walmgate] Bar, plants two pieces in the street against the bar, another at the Dovecoat within a stone’s cast of the bar; then he works under ground close by the bar, and makes his mines in two several places; likewise Manchester, who had his quarters about Clifton and Huworth, was not less active, but makes his approaches, works his mines under St. Mary’s Tower without Bootham Bar, and raised a battery against the manor wall that lied to the orchard; he begins to play with his cannon and throws down piece of the wall. We fall to work and make it up with earth and sods; this happened in the morning: at noon they spring the mine under St. Mary’s Tower, and blows up one part of it, which falling outwards made the access more easy; then some at the breach, some with ladders, gets up and enters, near 500.

Sir Philip Biron that had the guard at the place, leading up some men was unfortunately killed as he opened the doors into the bowling green whither the enemy was gotten; but the difficulty was not much, we soon beat them out again, having taken 200 prisoners and killed many of them, as might be seen in the bowling green, orchard and garden; the Scots were all the while busy about the mine, and we as busy in countermining, but at length both give over being hindered by water; they had beaten down the top of the bar as low as the gate, which we had barricaded up with earth, and besides had made a traverse against it, and pulled down some houses near the gate: sallies we made few or none, having only Middlegate [Micklegate] Bar open, and a little sally port at Monk Bar, where we once made a sally out against Manchester’s men. Our horse guards would be pikering [pickering, robbing corpses?], and now and then killing, and taking of the Scots, and among them one Bellintine, a major, whom they made great moan for; some redoubts they took by storm, as one in Bishopfields, and another on a windmill hill towards Bishopthorpe. But this was no great loss more than the killing of the men; for but one they kept, the other they slighted, and we still send to the fields to keep our cows and horses: but our provisions still wasted and would have an end without we had relief.

462 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• 📌Bishopthorpe (6) ·
• Bootham (1) ·
• Byron (Biron), Philip (1615-44) (1) ·
• Cannon (3) ·
• Cavalier (17) ·
• Clifton, York (5) ·
• Covenanters (4) ·
• English Civil War (1642-1651) (27), a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of religious freedom ·
• First English Civil War (18), August 1642-June 1646 ·
• Heslington (4) ·
• Heworth, York (4) ·
• Marygate (1) ·
• Micklegate (7) ·
• Montagu, Edward (1602-71) (2), 2nd Earl of Manchester, important Parliamentary commander in the First English Civil War and for a time Cromwell's superior ·
• Roundhead (20) ·
• Scotland (37) ·
• Siege (2) ·
• Slingsby, Henry (1602-58) (3), 1st Baronet, landowner, politician and soldier, MP at various times 1625-42, supported the Royalist cause, executed for conspiring to restore Charles II ·
• Tunnel warfare (1) ·
• 📌Walmgate (4), street in central York, fish and cattle market in the Middle Ages, saw action during the 1644 siege of York, considerable clearance in the 20th century ·
• Windmill (4) ·
• 📌York Castle (36) ·
• York city walls (9) ·

All tags.

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