446
NOTES AND QUERIES. [HP s. v. JUNE 9, im
unmarried 17 Dec., 1729, when a dispute
arose as to the possession of Starninerham
and other property between Catherine,
daughter of .Robert Michell by his third wife,
Theodosia Montagu, and her cousin, the
Rev. Theobald Michell, son of Walsingham
(claiming as heir-at-law) the latter remain-
ing eventually in possession by an amicable
arrangement. The Rev. T. Michell had a
younger brother John Michell, who appears
to have been a ne'er-do-weel ; and "Admiral
Onslow " in 1 797 married a Miss Michell, of
the same family.
If the Henry Michel of H. S. K.'s query was indeed descended from the Michells of Stammerham, his ancestor must have branched off before 1647, as I think that the foregoing statement will show that any possible male descendants after that date are accounted for. H.
POEM BY FIELDING In a small volume entitled 'Poems on Various Occasions,' by the Rev. Samuel Rogers, A.M., "Rector of Husband's Bos worth & of Brampton in Northamptonshire, and Chaplain to the Right Hon ble John, Earl Spencer," printed and published at Bath in 1782, is the short poem which I transcribe in full below. Whether it is genuine other readers of <N. & Q.' will be better qualified than I am to judge ; but it is not ungraceful, or un- worthy of the novelist, so I venture to intro- duce it to public notice, if it is as yet unprinted.
An Extempore in the Pump- Room, at Bath, by the late Henry Fielding, Esq.
To Miss H-land. Communicated by a Friend.
"Soon shall these bounteous springs thy wish bestow ; Soon in each feature sprightly health shall glow ; Thy eyes their fire regain ; thy limbs their grace ; And roses join the lilies in thy face. But say, sweet maid, what waters can remove The pangs of cold despair in hopeless love ? The deadly star that lights th' autumnal skies, Shines not so bright, so fatal as thy eyes ; The pains, which from their influence we endure, Not Brewster,* glory of his art, can cure.
- Brewster, M.D., translator of Persius.
N.B. The above piece is not printed in any edition of Fielding's Works. [Note by Rogers.]
H. K. ST. J. S.
CHEPSTOW CASTLE AND SIR NICHOLAS KEMEYS. The following account of the death of the Governor of the Castle, Sir Nicholas Kemeys, Bt., when captured by the Par- liamentarians in 1648, appeared in the columns of a Monmouthshire newspaper (to the best of my memory) some fourteen or fifteen years ago. I took a cutting at the
time, but subsequently lost it ; I had, how-
ever, the good fortune to light upon another
a few days ago in the possession of a relative,
and shall be obliged if you will kindly re-
print it, and so preserve it to future history.
I shall also be glad if any of your readers
can give me information as to the Mr. W. H.
Greene and Mrs. Bromedge mentioned :
" How Sir Nicholas Kemeys was Killed. Some most interesting particulars of the death of Sir Nicholas Kemeys. of Cefn Mably, the gallant Royalist who lost his life when Chepstow Castle was captured by Cromwell's troops on the 25th May, 1648, have just come to light, and are now here published for the first time. Sir Nicholas was a man of grand physical proportions, and of extra- ordinary strength. On one occasion a noted Cornish wrestler went to Cefn Mably, and begged the knight to join in a wrestling bout. Sir Nicholas consented, and in a moment throwing his antagonist on his back asked if he was satisfied. 'Not unless you will fling me over your park wall.' said the man. No sooner said than done. ' Now I should like to see if you can throw my donkey after me,' said the Cornishman. 'Very well,'" re- plied Sir Nicholas ; and in a trice he threw the animal over the wall to its owner. The Cornish- man then went his way discomfited, but rejoicing that he had had a tussle with the famous knight.
"Chepstow Castle was captured by the Par- liamentarians in October, 1645. Some time after a gentleman named Emanuel being in the castle, one night obtained possession of the keys, and, while the Roundhead garrison were sleeping let in Sir Nicholas Kemeys and a party of Royalists, who made prisoners of all in the place. Sir Nicholas held it till May, 1648, when, with only some eight score men, he gallantly withstood a siege by five regiments of Parliamentarians. A great breach was at last made in the walls on the side next to the town. When called on to surrender. Sir Nicholas demanded leave to march out with military honours. This was refused by Col. Ewer, who said the knight must beg for his life and no more. That was declined. Ewer promised that quarter should be given ; and as the handful of Royalists left, the Parliamentarians rushed in through the breach, and Sir Nicholas was slain. How this happened has been related to Mr. VV. H. Greene by Mrs. Bromedge, an elderly lady now residing at Bournemouth, a descendant of the ancient and illustrious family of Pritchard of Llanover.
" ' When I was a little girl,' says the lady, * the custodian of Chepstow Castle was Mrs. Margaret Williams, a venerable lady of exceedingly stately manners; and I spent much of my time with her. Whenever the Duke of Beaufort, the present Duke's grandfather, visited this fortress, she used to receive him with great ceremony. The great gates were flung wide open, that his Grace might enter in state. Dressed in heavy black silk, with a flowing train, she used to stand on a particular spot in the First Court of the Castle, and receive the Duke with a graceful reverence, to which his Grace replied by bowing almost to the ground. The position she chose was, she used^to tell, the identical spot on which Sir Nicholas Kemeys was murdered. He stood fronting the breach, nearly opposite what is now known as Martin's Tower,
