During some background reading for a holiday in Cheshire last year, I came across the following extract in 'A Portrait of Cheshire' David Bethcll (1979) concerning the Bartomley massacre of Christmas 1644:

'and on Saturday they came to Bartomley; as they marched they set upon the Church, which had in it about twenty neighbours, that had gone in for safety; but the Lord Byron's troop and Connought, a major to Colonel Sneyd, set upon them and won the church; the men fled into the steeple, but the enemy burning the forms, rushes, mats, etc made such a smoke, that being almost stifled, they called for quarter, which was granted by Connought; but when they had them in their power, they stripped them all naked, and most cruelly murdered twelve of them, contrary to the laws of arms, nature and nations. Connought cut the throat of Mr John Fowler a hopeful young man, and a minor, and only three of them escaped miraculously the rest being cruelly wounded. Christmas day and the day after they plundered Bartomley, Crewe, Hadington, and Sandbach of goods and cloathes, and stripped naked both men and women'

Unfortunately no source was given and I have been unable to locate it since. What interested me in this extract was the mention of Col Sneyd, not a name I recognised from any lists of officers returning from Ireland that I had seen.

Reference to 'Officers & Regiments' quickly produced a Major Connought listed under Sir Robert Byron. But this officer is not from the original I.O. list, but only noted as 'at Bartomley' which implies that the name came from some variation of the above quote. Col Sneyd proved more interesting. Col Ralph Snead commanded a regiment of Horse which would appear from it's admittedly few listed officers to have been raised in Cheshire and Staffordshire, and would therefore presumably have been part of Lord Capall's old command. Stuart Reid's only note as to its service record is its reported presence near Uttoxeter in April 1644 otherwise describing the unit as 'rather obscure'. Snead's Major was one John Connock a name that sounds sufficiently like Connought to account for the error.

As I said earlier I have been unable to identify the source of the quote, but if anyone out there can help it would not only expand, all be it inglonously, the war record ot Col Snead's Horse but also clean a little of the Parliamentarian propaganda surrounding Charles' "Irish" foot. John Connock went on to command a regiment of Foot that seems to be even more obscure than Snead's Horse.