The corn and copsewood were now beaten with more care than
ever. At length a gaunt figure was discovered hidden in a ditch. The
pursuers sprang on their prey. Some of them were about to fire; but
Portman forbade all violence. The prisoner's dress was that of a
shepherd; his beard, prematurely grey, was of several days' growth.
He trembled greatly, and was unable to speak. Even those who had
often seen him were at first in doubt whether this were the
brilliant and graceful Monmouth. His pockets were searched by
Portman, and in them were found, among some raw pease gathered in
the rage of hunger, a watch, a purse of gold, a small treatise on
fortification, an album filled with songs, receipts, prayers, and
charms, and the George with which, many years before, King Charles
the Second had decorated his favourite son."--_Hist. Eng._, i. pp.
616-618. 2nd edition.
Now, this is all extremely admirable. It is a brilliant description of
an important historical incident. But on what precise spot did it take
place? One would like to endeavour to realise such an event at the very
place where it occurred, and the historian should enable us to do so. I
believe the spot is very well known, and that the traditions of the
neighbourhood upon the subject are still vivid. It was near Woodyate's
Inn, a well-known roadside inn, a few miles from Salisbury, on the road
to Blandford, that the Duke and his companions turned adrift their
horses.
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