The Leaguer of Lathom by W. Harrison Ainsworth

Very striking was the appearance of the town, as beheld on that morning from the summit of the church-tower.

Outside the walls on the south, near Alport Lodge, above which floated the royal banner, a battery had been reared by the Earl of Derby, the large guns of which commanded the centre of Deansgate. Behind this battery several companies of infantry were drawn up; while a formidable display of well-equipped cavalry was likewise made.

But the spectators of this scene were chiefly interested by a party of horsemen who were slowly making the circuit of the fortifications.

At the head of the troop was the Earl of Derby, easily to be distinguished by his war-horse and accoutrements. He was attended by Sir Thomas Tyldesley, Sir Edward Mosley, Sir Alexander Radcliffe, Sir Gilbert Gerard, Mr. Farrington of Worden, Mr. Roger Nowell of Read, Mr. Windebank, Mr. Prestwich of Hulme, and several other gentlemen of distinction, who made a goodly show. Each had an officer with him. Captain Standish acted as Lord Derby’s aide-de-camp.

Though the party rode slowly on, not a shot was fired from the walls, orders having been given by the governor of the town to await the attack of the enemy. Various small parties of horsemen were galloping round the fortifications.

The spectacle presented by the besieging force stationed in Salford was not so striking as that offered by the troops in Alport Park, but the preparations for attack were equally formidable.

A battery of five large pieces of ordnance had been reared at the foot of the bridge. Several troops of musketeers were stationed in the gardens on the banks of the river. Others could likewise be seen at the open windows of the houses, and a few had climbed the roofs, and ensconced themselves behind the tall stacks of chimneys.

After carefully noting all the preparations of the besiegers both in Alport Park and Salford, and giving some instructions to the musketeers, Rosworm descended from the church-tower.

As he issued into the churchyard, he perceived a large body of men, completely armed, who must have entered the town during the night, since he had not seen them before.

On inquiry, he learnt they were tenants of Mr. Ralph Assheton of Middleton, and commanded by Captain Robert Bradshaw from Bolton.

Shortly afterwards Colonel Holland made his appearance with Colonel Egerton, Colonel Robert Duckenfield, Captain John Booth, Captain Birch, and Sergeant-Major Radcliffe of Radcliffe Hall, who had the command of the town forces.

A war council was then held on the spot by these leaders, assisted by Rosworm, at which it was decided that Captain Bradshaw, with his company of a hundred and fifty men, should take up a position in Deansgate against the battery raised by the Earl of Derby near Alport Lodge; that Market-street Lane should be guarded by Major Radcliffe, the Mill Gate by Captain Booth, and Shude Hill by Captain Birch. The defence of the bridge was entrusted to Colonel Rosworm, who undertook to prevent the enemy from crossing it.

These arrangements concluded, Captain Bradshaw marched off to take up his perilous position in Deansgate, and Major Radcliffe proceeded to Radcliffe Hall to collect his men, but Captain Booth and Captain Birch were still conferring with Colonel Holland and Rosworm, when two divines, as their clerical garb proclaimed them, entered the churchyard.

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Warden Heyrick and Mr. Bourne

ONE of these was the Reverend Richard Heyrick, warden of the Collegiate Church.

His deportment and features indicated a proud and overbearing character. He had become extremely popular among the Puritanical faction in the town by his determined enmity to the Papists, and his opposition to all the movements of the Royalists.

Warden Heyrick was a man of great eloquence, and unsparing in his denunciations of Papacy, as an extract from one of his intolerant exhortations will suffice to show. “Whence is it, men and brethren,” he exclaimed, “that Popery so far prevails at this day—that Popery so much increases among us? I beseech you that are armed with authority go to the utmost of your authority! You that have power to punish, punish! to indict, indict! to present, present! Let not Papists rest in peace, in security by you! If the chiefest and greatest men of a parish be Papists, their children, their servants, their tenants, their poor neighbours, their rich kindred and friends, are all in danger by them. My lord will have his followers as well of his vices as of his person. If he leave his friend at the church door, he turns not back without his attendants. If his honour please to be idolatrous, they will wait on him to mass. You that keep back the sword from doing justice when Heaven calls for it, you may yourselves die by the sword, and the blood of all that perish by your neglect shall lie upon your heads. Crudelitas pro Christo pietas est. Cruelty for Christ is godliness.”