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I don’t know very much about the English Civil War or the Stuart kings. I’d even pretty much have to guess which side were the Roundheads and which were the Cavaliers, though it’s a pretty easy guess. I just never studied this period - the problem with history is there is an awful lot of it and we just keep churning this shit out,
It might be a useful thing to study, to find out how a country can turn on itself and actually start killing each other over a divisive issue, even though just a decade before no one would have really predicted an issue. Might be a bit late actually. Not that I was ever going to be in a position to stop the Civil War part two.
But I love stories of great escapes (eg The Great Escape) and my interest was piqued when I read something about Charles II’s unlikely exodus after the battle of Worcester (didn’t know there had been a battle in Worcester before this) so I got a copy of
“To Catch a King” by Charles Spencer from off of the Lady Diana funeral.
It’s a good read and a fascinating story, though I am only about halfway through, so just on the first part of the actual escape (as there’s lots of background to catch up one, but everything is explained well enough so that someone who knows nothing about the period can get on board). There is little jeopardy in knowing whether the escape was successful - thanks for all the spoilers HISTORY. Also Charles went around calling himself Charles II so we know that he eventually became king and didn’t get murdered by puritans.
But it’s already clear that he was pretty damned lucky to not get caught and executed, so your heart is still in your mouth as you realise the monumental historical significance of his good luck. Had the opposing soldiers just looked in the oak tree that Charles was hiding in (it’s why so many pubs are called the Royal Oak) rather than just looking at it and then getting distracted, then who knows what the repercussions would have been. It’s like the film Sliding Doors, except not completely shit and in the other time line Charles II would not have got a chance to get off with John Hannah.
Would the royal family have returned had Charles not survived? To be honest I don’t really know why they returned with Charles (yet), so it’s possible that his brother might just have done the job instead. But it’s also very possible that he wouldn’t. And enough would have changed to radically change the future. Just cos some soldiers were too thick to realise that people can hid in trees (and presumably there are more scrapes to come).
All this happened only about 375 years ago and it’s amazing how much more brutal life was then and how much everything was driven by religion. People ended up hanged, drawn and quartered and one Royalist (Montrose I think) ended up with is head on the gates on one Scottish city and his arms and legs in four different city gates.
There’s a good comedy caper film in the ridiculously tall Prince Charles, unable to really shift his regal walk, trying to pass himself off as workman in a world where most men are half a foot shorter than him and there’s a thousand pound bounty on his head (not literally). He’s so utterly clueless compared to the highly organised New Model Army (not the band) and its cunning and clever generals, so it’s good to see incompetence and accident of birth triumph in this story. As much as I am not a particular fan of the Royals, the Roundheads sound like a right bunch of cunts and I am glad that the country didn’t end up being run by puritans. But if history teaches us anything, it’s rare to find leaders whose main concern is the people they govern and not themselves and their mates.
Good book though and nice to be reading in the sunshine at my in-laws house whilst other people mainly kept an eye on our children.
Though I did play football with my daughter and look for wiggly worms with my son. Things are returning to normal. Can’t believe it’s nearly May. Though I suppose we were lucky to have something to distract us during this third lockdown. It seems to have been the toughest one for most people, so I was lucky to get cancer so we had something else to think about.
Coming up on RHLSTP: next Wednesday should be interesting as my guest is Catie Wilkins (who lives in my house and who I think might fancy me), the Wednesday after is Mae Martin and then Felicity Ward and already booked for the live gigs at the Clapham Grand are Sarah Kendall, Johnny Vegas and Robin Askwith.
Details and ticket links here. More guests announced soon (I hope).
