into the night, however, our
slumbers were disturbed by the rejoicings of the mob, who, having burned
the effigies of Lord Sunderland and of Gregory Alford, Mayor of Lyme,
continued to sing west-country songs and Puritan hymns into the small
hours of the morning.

Chapter XVII. Of the Gathering in the Market-square

The fair town in which we now found ourselves was, although Monmouth
had not yet reached it, the real centre of the rebellion. It was a
prosperous place, with a great woollen and kersey trade, which gave
occupation to as many as seven thousand inhabitants. It stood high,
therefore, amongst English boroughs, being inferior only to Bristol,
Norwich, Bath, Exeter, York, Worcester, and Nottingham amongst the
country towns. Taunton had long been famous not only for its own
resources and for the spirit of its inhabitants, but also for the
beautiful and highly cultivated country which spread around it, and gave
rise to a gallant breed of yeomen. From time immemorial the town had
been a rallying-point for the party of liberty, and for many years it
had leaned to the side of Republicanism in politics and of Puritanism
in religion. No place in the kingdom had fought more stoutly for
the Parliament, and though it had been twice besieged by Goring, the
burghers, headed by the brave Robert Blake, had fought so desperately,
that the Royalists had been compelled each time to retire discomfited.
On the second occasion the garrison had been reduced to dog's-flesh and
horse-flesh, but no word of surrender had come either from them or
their heroic commander, who was the same Blake under whom the old seaman
Solomon Sprent had fought against the Dutch. After the Restoration the
Privy Council had shown their recollection of the part played by the
Somersetshire town, by issuing a special order that the battlements
which fenced round the maiden stronghold should be destroyed. Thus,
at the time of which I speak, nothing but a line of ruins and a few
unsightly mounds represented the massive line of wall which had been
so bravely defended by the last generation of townsmen. There were not
wanting, however, many other relics of those stormy times. The houses on
the outskirts were still scarred and splintered from the effects of
the bombs and grenades of the Cavaliers. Indeed, the whole town bore a
grimly martial appearance, as though she were a veteran among boroughs
who had served in the past, and was not averse to seeing the fl