I do not propose to consider the Continental mercenary question, or even the thousands of troops, some English, some Irish, brought over from Ireland, but rather to focus attention on those natives of Great Britain who fought in England & Wales south of the line from Liverpool to the Wash.
The most staunch Royalist areas were Cornwall and Wales, with the exception of Pembrokeshire (known locally as 'the little England beyond Wales'). Welshmen seem to have provided the backbone of the King's and Rupert's Field forces from Edgehill onwards. Large numbers of recruits were raised by Gerrard and Lord Herbert in south Wales and were gathered at Shrewsbury and Chester in the North and centre. Even in the marches much Welsh was spoken. Neremiah Wharton says of Hereford that 'many here speak Welsh.'
In the South West Hopton's army had a backbone of Cornishmen who's Celtic language was far more prevalent than today. When you consider all the above it makes you wonder about the ENGLISH Civil War.
More Notes
Back to English Civil War Notes&Queries No. 3 Table of Contents
Back to English Civil War Times List of Issues
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1984 by Partizan Press
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com