But these were practically forgotten,
the memories of them having been replaced in more modern times by events
connected with the Civil War and with the wanderings of "Prince
Charles," the fugitive King Charles II. What a weary and anxious time he
must have had during the nineteen days he spent in the county of Dorset,
in fear of his enemies and watching for a ship by which he could escape
from England, while soldiers were scouring the county to find him!
[Illustration: HOUSE WHERE KING CHARLES LODGED IN CHARMOUTH.]
He wrote a _Narrative_, in which some of his adventures were recorded,
and from which it appeared that after the Battle of Worcester and his
escape to Boscobel, where the oak tree in which he hid himself was still
to be seen, he disguised himself as a manservant and rode before a lady
named Mrs. Lane, in whose employ he was supposed to be, while Lord
Wilton rode on in front. They arrived at a place named Trent, a village
on the borders of Somerset and Dorset, and stayed at the house of Frank
Wyndham, whom Charles described in his _Narrative_ as a "very honest
man," and who concealed him in "an old well-contrived secret place."
When they arrived some of the soldiers from Worcester were in the
village, and Charles wrote that he heard "one trooper telling the people
that he had killed me, and that that was my buff coat he had on," and
the church bells were ringing and bonfires lighted to celebrate the
victory.
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