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A HISTORY OF RUTLAND completely independent of those surrounding it, and in the reign of Charles I the inhabitants petitioned the king to grant them a separate lord lieutenant.^** In the reign of Elizabeth the county remained undisturbed, save for the persecution of Catholic recusants and the search for priests and Jesuits.'*" A certificate of the musters of the county in 1569 gives the total number of ' able men ' as 300, of whom 100 were armed, as follows: — Horsemen 8, corslets 23, arquebuses 23, bows 23, bills 23."' The usual number of men demanded from Rutland on the occasion of a levy of troops was 50, e.g. in 1 59 1 for Normandy, in 1598 for Ireland, and in 1625 for service beyond the seas;"' but occasionally 100 had to be sent, as in 1599, for service in Ireland."^ In 1599 it was expected that 500 men could be raised in the county for 'the defence of her Majesty's person,' '" and a return of 1607-8 gives the number of ' able men ' as 1800, of whom 300 were armed ; there were 65 pioneers, 3 demi-lances, and 25 'high horses."^* A later return of 1629 gives 24 horse, including 4 lances and 20 light horse, and 183 armed foot, 59 being furnished with corslet and pike and 124 with muskets.^'* An odd incident in connexion with the levy of troops occurred in 1593, when the sheriffs and justices of the peace were deceived by an impostor calling himself ' Captain Bayton,' who raised money by means of a counter- feit commission to levy men and horses for the queen. The Privy Council gravely reproved them, marvelling that they, ' being men of discrecion, woulde suffer so great an abuse,' and ordering an inquiry to be made so that the im- postor might be apprehended and receive ' soche punyshement as this lewde abuse dothe deserve.' "^ No special levy was made on the county for troops at the crisis of the Spanish Armada. Next year, however, when Elizabeth raised a loan of ^75,000 from the leading men of each county, Rutland did its part. The sum originally assessed on the county was ^^500, but this was reduced to £27S-> ^^^ ^^^ ^^^' of contributors is as follows : Sir James Harington /^loo. Sir Andrew Noel and Kenelm Digby ,^50 each, and Francis Palmes, Roger Smith, John Hunt, Henry Herenden, Anthony Browne, Robert Brudenell, and George Sheffield £2^ each.'** Some years earlier Anthony Colley, of Glaston, who was asked to lend £^0, pleaded his inability in a petition'" transmitted to the Privy Council by the Earl of Huntingdon, which is an interesting revela- tion of the amount of public service done by a country gentleman of the i 6th century. Colley had over and above the land which he kept ' for the main- tenance of his house ' a net income of >r28. He had personally served twice in France, twice in Scotland, and three times in Ireland, besides furnishing men and horses ; his expense in providing an armed light horseman for service in suppressing the recent rebellion in the north being >C22. He had "' Ca/. S.P. Dom. 1648-9, p. 391. The petition is undated, but is assigned to the reign of Charles I. "^ See the article on 'Ecclesiastical History.' '" S.P. Dom. Eliz. Iviii, 15. "' ^cts ofP.C. xxi, 221 ; xxix, 96 ; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1625-6, p. 24. '" Jets ofP.C. xxix, 491. '" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xv, App. v, 106. '" MSS. of Lard Montagu ofBeaulieu (Hist. MSS. Com.), 81. '" S.P. Dom. Chas. I, cxlv, 98. It is not easy to reconcile the varying numbers given in these returns. The 1 800 given above must surely be erroneous. '" Acts of P.C. xxiv, 149. The meeting of the Privy Council which dealt with this was held on the appropriate date of I April. '" The Names of those Persons who subscribed . . . at the Time of the Spanish Armada (1886), 52. '" S.P. Dom. Eliz. Ixxiii, 13. 182