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| Author | Topic: hoptons in the west |
| Jay |
posted 8/3/08 7:24 PM
richard atkyns said this when he encounted hoptons pike during the campain in the west country; "the cornish foot could not well brook our horse...but they would many times let fly at us: these were the very est foot i ever saw, for marching and fighting; but so mutinous withal, that nothing but an alarm could keep them from falling foul of there officers. hrm we seem to be doing old ralphs men justice then... this is from the book the english civil war a peoples history by diane purkiss and is worth a read. bye bye |
| Dan |
posted 8/5/08 11:42 AM
The Diane Purkiss book has been reviewed by Gavin Robinson, the academic and blogger who kindly submitted the guest article for newsletter 100. I enjoyed the book myself although it is quite a thick volume. I remember reading somewhere (the foreword to Bellum Civile perhaps?) that Hopton's Cornish foot were mutinous pretty much all the time they weren't fighting the Roundheads. A bit of a problem for their officers: we must be a hundred times better behaved. Dan http://www.investigations.4-lom.com/2006/11/17/review-diane-purkiss-civil-war/ Investigations of a Dog: Diane Purkiss book review |
| Jay |
posted 8/6/08 7:27 PM
ooooh i missed that inteview. ty for link. |
| Stephen |
posted 8/10/08 11:29 AM
We must take the quote in full "...brook our horse(especially when drawn up upon corn.."!These were country people watching someones crops being trampled for no reason. They got mad! Later after Lansdown Atkyns adds "..the Cornish Foot knew not till then the service of Horse". So there was obviously rivalry between the composite forces and their different arms. Atkyns was a Gloucester Gentleman he probably considered the Cornish as barbaric (many only spoke Cornish). We also need to be very careful of the generic term "Cornish Foot" especially in its use since and Hoptons Foot were definetly not Cornish and at the time Atkyns wrote about were not even raised. They were essentially a Somerset Regiment - I doubt very much if they were more mutinous than any other unit - usually caused by lack of pay. Hopton was a strict soldier, David Lloyd reported Hopton's maxim as "Pay well, command well, hang well". This he certainly did, the later being carried out on mutinous troops at Hindon. If anything, other evidence points to Hoptons regiment as very soldierly which would befit their Colonel. |
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