A HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE But early in 1643 Hereford was threatened by a new and formidable danger, for in March Sir WiUiam Waller came from the south into Glouces- tershire, and on the 24th dispersed or captured a Welsh force at Highnam sent by Lord Herbert to keep Gloucester under observation. In the begin- ning of April he marched from Gloucester with 2,000 men and four pieces of ordnance and beat up Monmouthshire. Forced to retreat by the appear- ance of Prince Maurice he again issued forth on 23 April with 2,500 men, and marched through Ross to Hereford, which he found insufHciently guarded and forced to surrender on the 25th.*" Several prominent loyalists fell into his hands, including Lord and Lady Scudamore, Fitzwilliam Con- ingsby, the sheriff, and two commissioners of array. Sir Walter Pye and Sir William Croft.*^^ The prisoners were sent to Gloucester, whence they were later transferred to Bristol.*^^ Scudamore was sent to London, where he passed nearly three years in prison.*^" The surrender caused great surprise at Oxford, the king's head quarters, and was attributed to treachery .^^^ Sir Richard Cave, who was in command of the royalist forces, was tried by court martial and honourably acquitted.**^^ By 27 April Waller had also occupied Leominster.*^^ Heavy contributions were laid on the city and the surrounding country chiefly under the pretext of obtaining the arrears due to Parliament,*^* but Waller was not strong enough to occupy the city perma- nently, and on 20 May he fell back on Gloucester. On 29 May he failed in an attempt on Worcester, and on 9 June marched into Somerset to oppose Hopton, leaving in Gloucester Lieutenant-Colonel Massey with only a single regiment. Thus Herefordshire was for a time relieved from imminent danger, while in July the victories of Hopton at Lansdown and Roundway Down finally removed all peril from the side of Gloucester. In the meantime the defence of the county was reorganized. Henry Lingen of Sutton Frene was appointed sheriff in place of Coningsby, and received a commission, dated 9 June, 1643, '° raise a regiment of a thousand men.**^^ As governor of Hereford Sir William Vavasour was appointed — an experienced, though not a fortunate, soldier. Relieved from apprehension of attack by Hopton's successes, Vavasour resolved to reduce Harley's castle of Brampton Bryan, which, though hitherto unmolested, had declined to acknowledge the king's authority. As has been already mentioned, Harley had fortified it at the commencement of the war. His wife Brilliana, daughter of Lord Conway, was in charge of the stronghold. On 26 July Vavasour wrote to Prince Rupert from Presteigne in Radnorshire, that he should be unable to realize half the contributions promised until he reduced Brampton Bryan. Accordingly he invested it on the same day, and when in August he proceeded to join Rupert in the neighbourhood of Gloucester he left Lingen to prosecute the siege. The investment continued seven weeks. Harley's live stock were driven off, his two parks and his warren '" A detailed account of the operations and surrender by Cave is printed in Duncumb, His(. ofHeref. i, 245 et seq. and in Webb, Memorials, i, 274—83. See also Ludlow, Memoirs (1894), i, 444.
- " Webb, Mem. i, 262. "' Mercurius Civicus, 11 to 18, 18 to 25 May, 1643.
"" Webb, Mem. i, 269. ^" A Continuation of certain Speciall Passages, 3 May ; Nicholas to Ormond, 3 May, Carte MS. E, 119.
- ^^ See ' The Judgement of the Court of Warre upon the Charge laid against Sir Richard Cave, for the
delivery up of Hereford,' reprinted in Webb, Mem. i, 283—4. «^ John Vicars, Pari. Chron. (1646), 315. "* Cf S.P. Dom. Chas. I, ccccxcviii, 108. "'Harl. MS. 6852. 390
