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The Seventeenth Century
Cavaliers and Roundheads
This book was first published in 1847.
This story begins in 1647 and ends with the Restoration in 1660. After Colonel Beverley was killed fighting for the King at the Battle of Naseby his four orphan children were looked after by their elderly aunt on the family estate of Arnwood in the New Forest. Arnwood is raided by the Roundheads and set on fire and the aunt is killed. It is commonly believed that Colonel Beverley's four children perished in the fire but this is not the case. The old forester, Jacob Armitage, smuggles them away to his cottage before the Roundheads reach Arnwood. Jacob believes - probably erroneously - that if the Roundheads discover that the children have escaped they will be hunted down and killed so, to protect them, he claims they are his grandchildren. As well as a cottage Jacob has a small plot of land with pigs, hens and a pony. Jacob is an old man but he aims to try to teach the children enough so that they will be able to fend for themselves if anything happens to him.
So begins a completely new way of life for the children. Jacob buys them peasant clothes and tells them that now they are living in a cottage they will no longer be called "Miss" and "Master." Thirteen year old Edward learns how to stalk and shoot deer. His twelve year old brother, Humphrey, learns about carpentry and farming. Jacob buys him some carpentry tools and, together with Edward, he learns how to tend the vegetables. There are wild cattle in the forest and Humphrey catches some with the result that they are able to have a dairy. As for the girls, eleven year old Alice learns how to cook, bake bread and churn butter and wash and sew. Little eight year old Edith helps Alice and collects the eggs.
Time passes. Old Jacob dies but by then the children are perfectly capable of running the farm by themselves. Humphrey expands the farm and manages to catch some of the New Forest ponies. The government send a kindly and moderate intendant, Mr Heatherston, to administer the New Forest. Edward earns his gratitude and protection when he saves his daughter, Patience, from a fire. Meanwhile, Humphrey finds a young gipsy, Pablo, in the pit he has dug to trap the wild cattle. Pablo is duly admitted into the family. There is adventure when Clara, the daughter of a cavalier major, is rescued from robbers.
Things never remain the same and Edward and the girls leave the New Forest. When Charles II becomes king the children are all now young adults and their future is arranged satisfactorily and sketched out for the reader.
This is primarily a tale of survival and of children growing up in unusual circumstances. Ideas have changed both since the time of the Civil War and also from the middle of the nineteenth century when this book was written and modern children, who are now very aware of animal welfare, may consider some of Humphrey's methods cruel, but despite this The Children of the New Forest remains a delightful and fascinating story. Unfortunately some of today's children may find it a little on the long side.
10+
This is the story of Ely - the girl who did a service for the King who loved small dogs.
The king in question is Charles II who loved and adored his own little dogs and who has given his name to a breed of small spaniel - the Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
Ely is a servant girl in an inn just outside Newmarket. She helps the King to find one of his dogs, which has been stolen. Even more important, in so doing she saves him from an assassination attempt.
This is a story of adventure and political intrigue. But it is also a story about dogs - a turnspit dog, also one of Charles II's little spaniels.
There are also details of seventeenth century domestic life - fetching water, thatching roofs, cleaning the pots with ashes, lighting a fire in the oven to heat it, and struggling to light a fire after it has gone out.
Newmarket is also brought to life - the busy market town, Warren Hill, the racecourse, the vast expanse of the Heath and the mysterious Devil's Dyke all under the sweeping East Anglian sky.
Finally this is a story about the strange Lady Eleanor and her "special powers," of witchhunts, and of the highwaymen of the Heath.
For older children and dog lovers of all ages.
10+
This book was first published in 1995. It is one of the Flashbacks series for children of seven to eleven. It is about 24,000 words long.
A stately home has been left to The Historical Society. Tom and Bridget's mother is helping to sort everything out. It is an enormous task and Tom and Bridget are roped in to help. They are sent up to the children's room in the attic.
In the attic is a family portrait of the Bassingbourn family painted in 1648. Tom and Bridget look at it and decide that the girl called Elinor looks fun. The next time they go to the attic Elinor steps out of the picture and joins them. She takes them downstairs and into the house - in her own time - and Tom and Bridget become involved in the affairs of the Bassingbourn family.
The grandmother is a Royalist but her son, John Bassingbourn, is a Parliamentarian. But his son Edmund, has defied his father and has gone to fight for Charles II. Edmund is wounded at the battle of Wocester and his friends want to bring him home to give him time to recover. But Bragshaw, the steward, has betrayed Edmund. Tom and Bridget join with Elinor to try to save her brother.
The story comes first but A Ghost-light in the Attic does manage to pack in a surprising amount of information about a large house at the time of the Civil War:- the clothes people wore, the food they ate, the kitchen, the formal garden. There are also interesting little snippets of information such as the fact that forks were just being introduced from foreign parts and that carpets were used as tablecloths and it was only in places like London that they were used for the floor.
A Ghost-Light in the Attic is an enjoyable book. It certainly held my attention.
This book is about 10,000 words long. It is for children of 7-11.
Eleven year old Will Symonds is now an orphan. His father has just been killed in the Battle of Worcester. Just before he died Will's father told him to go to his Aunt Martha in Bristol.
Roundhead officers are rampaging through Worcester looking for Royalist officers. Will hides in a stable at an inn. There he is surprised by a Royalist officer, who, on hearing that Will himself is a Royalist, asks him to saddle a horse while he goes to collect his things from the inn.
Will does so but, when the man comes back he is pursued by some Roundheads. As the officer is mounting the horse one of the Roundheads aims a musket at him. Will throws a stone and makes the Roundhead drop his musket. The Royalist, now safely in the saddle, pulls Will up behind him and they gallop away. As they do so the Roundhead calls out,
"Charles Stuart, so called 'King of England,' I arrest you in the name of Parliament."
It is Charles II Will is with.
There follows an account of Will and Charles hiding from the Roundheads. They stay in the houses of loyal Royalist supporters until, at last, Charles is able to board a ship for France.
Will Symonds is a fictional character but the events told in the book are based on documentary evidence and there is a note on the historical background.
English history at the time of the Civil War is very complicated but Charles Buchanan has kept things simple and has written an exciting story which should be easily understood by young readers.
In 1644 a Royalist army under the command
of Prince Maurice, the nephew of King Charles I, besieged the
little town of Lyme Regis. The King thought that Lyme would be
taken quite quickly and easily. But the townspeople built trenches
and earthworks and managed to repel any enemy raids. They also
withstood the attempts of the Royalists to cut off their supplies
by bombarding the small boats which rowed out to the large Parliamentary
ships which stood off Lyme harbour. Finally the Royalists tried
to burn Lyme by firing burning arrows at the thatched roofs of
the houses. When that failed the Royalists gave up and retreated.
The siege of Lyme Regis is well documented because we still have
the diary of Edward Drake who lived through the siege. It was
Charles I himself who called
Lyme "that rebellious town."
This book tells the story of the siege of Lyme from the viewpoint
of a thirteen-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy.
Ann and William Say lived on a farm in Somerset with their mother.
Their father had died and their elder brother Rufus had run away
to join the Royalist forces. Then a Parliamentary army came to
the farm and camped there for weeks. They killed the animals,
cut down the trees and used the furniture for firewood. When they
left Mrs Say decided to leave the wreck of the farm and take the
children to her brother's family in Lyme. They arrive just before
the siege of Lyme is about to begin. And that is where the story
begins too.
Everyone in Lyme has to help. Young as he is William has to help
man the Line. Ann helps in the hospital. Later she goes down to
the beach to help unload supplies. But she is adamant that that
is all she will do. She will not fight. If everyone refused then
the fighting would have to stop. But there comes a time when the
women have to take their places on the Line too. Will Ann be able
to stick to her convictions?
As for William he has even more difficult problems. When he sees
a man killed before his very eyes he really begins to understand
what war is about. Then he sees his brother Rufus among the Royalist
soldiers.
This book presents a very interesting little cameo of one particular
event in the English Civil War. As well as describing the events
it poses some deep questions on the very nature of war for young
readers. It is illustrated throughout with black and white sketches
and a rough sketch map of Lyme is included. The style and vocabulary
are just right for young readers.
8 -- 12
Out of Print
This is really a long short story.
When the Drums Beat is the story of a family divided by the Civil War. It is told from the viewpoint of the ten year old daughter of the family, Mary.
The Allen family live in Norton Court, a large farmhouse at the foot of the Malvern Hills. The father goes off to fight for the Parliamentarians but the eldest son joins the Royalist Army.
One day Mary is playing with her younger brother, Philip, and they make a discovery which is to be very important later. They discover a secret room.
Time passes. There is a battle near by and their father returns home wounded. Then an old servant reports that a band of Royalist horsemen have been seen riding towards the house. There is just time to hide Father in the secret room before Prince Rupert arrives. The elder son Stephen is in his retinue.
Mother, Mary and Philip mange to keep Father hidden and get food to him. But Mary suspects that Stephen has learned of their secret. She finds she is right when Prince Rupert and his party leave. But Stephen does not betray his father. Instead he tells Mary to tell Father,
"Say - in spite of everything - I am still his son."
The Civil War era is complicated and difficult era but young children can easily understand this story. This is because it is told from the viewpoint of young Mary - who does not understand everything.
Although short When the Drums Beat has its own contribution to make to the literature of the Civil War.
8-12