Alphred (Bishop of Crediton), Simon Ash, Herbert Ashly or Astley (Dean of Norwich), and Hugh Atwell. 2. That the Dictionary mentions no Devonshire Celebrity overlooked or neglected by Prince. 3. That the Dictionary mentions four members of the wellknown Devonshire family of Acland, as well as four others, possibly natives of the county, who have all died since the publication of Prince's Worthies. 4. That Baldwin Ackland, William Adams, and Samuel Badcock were natives of Devonshire; that Sir Thomas Dyke Acland was not a native of this county; that Alphred, Bishop of Crediton, and James, Lord Audley were probably not natives; and that the remaining eleven must be regarded as uncertainties, though some of them belonged to Devonshire families. 5. That a grain of salt will be very useful when reading Prince and the Dictionary. THE SIEGE ACCOUNTS OF PLYMOUTH. BY R. N. WORTH, F.G.S. (Read at Seaton, July, 1885.) THE most important episode of the Civil War between Charles I. and his Parliament, so far as the West of England was concerned, was the siege of Plymouth. When every other town in Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset had fallen into Royalist hands; when the Parliament retained in the county of Dorset but the sturdy little seaport of Lyme, Plymouth remained staunch and unconquerable, the keystone of liberty throughout the West. Even when it was least capable of aggression it absorbed the energies of a Royalist army, and thus it exercised an influence which has never been rightly estimated by the general historian, upon the issue of the great struggle. From the first attack in the autumn of 1642 until the final victory in the spring of 1646, lasted the siege of Plymouth-rather a series of sieges and blockades-and for successful endurance and long protracted conflict it has no parallel in the whole annals of the Civil War. But it is. not my purpose to fight this ancient battle over again. The full story of the siege I have told elsewhere, and my present object is simply to direct attention to a record in the archives of the Plymouth Corporation which I believe to be unique in its character-the Accounts of the Committee by whom the defence of the town was conducted during the last twelve months of the operations. This remarkable document throws a flood of light upon the manner in which the besieged carried on their operations. The names of those who were chiefly concerned in the defence are given; the names of the masons and carpenters who erected and repaired the fortifications, and of all the tradesmen who were employed by the Committee, are fully entered; the shifts resorted to when money was scarce and supplies ran low are *Trans. Plym. Inst. v. 250-311. duly set forth; not a single detail of receipt or expenditure, be it of the most trivial character, is omitted. In short, the Accounts give such a view of the inner conduct of the defence as could be gleaned from no record less detailed or less authoritative, and they consequently possess great historical value. I propose therefore to present an analysis of them in such a way that their general character may be clearly understood, and their more important features illustrated. With this object I have, both in the receipt and expenditure, copied some of the earlier portions in full; and have subsequently extracted the more interesting or important items only, since a large proportion of the entries are of periodical recurrence. We begin thus-1644 is really 1645, the year not beginning then until March 25: Publiq Receiptes 1644 Sr John Bampfeilde Collo James Kerr Justinian Peard Maior Francis Goodolphyn, Esqr| Chri Saverye Esqr John Caws Marcht Thomas Ceelye Mar Hen Rexford Clicus -Comes Moneyes An acc° of such sumes as haue beene sent hither & reed by the order of the Rht Honoble the Comittee of Lods and Comons for the safetie of Plym° & of such sumes as haue been taken upp heere and Chardged on the said Comittee for the paymt of the Garrison as followeth : Imps recd from John Hogge Comaunder of the . 0239 16 01 . 0200 00 00 This account commences on the first of March, and the remaining receipts for the month are: Nicholas Foorde £40, bills made payable to Walter Deeble; Peter Kekewich £100, bills payable to Stephen Trevill and Charles Vaughan; Nicholas Eveleigh £129 6s. 2d., bills payable to Walter Deeble and Wm. Gunstone; Thomas Short £50, bills payable to Wm. Williamson; Mrs. Anne Prinne £80, bills payable to Ralph Triplett; Mrs. Alice Miller £60, bills payable to Ralph Triplett; Brian Rogers £80, for Customs; John Trehawke £100, bills payable to Richard Lant; Thomas Short £50, bills payable to Wm. Williamson; Justinian Peard mayor £50, " by him disbursed for ye pure necessitie of the garrison," to be repaid out of the next supply by the Treasurer; on the same condition Sir John Bampfeilde £50, John Caws £50, Robert Gubbes £50, John Paige £50, Stephen Trevill £50, Thomas Crampporne £25; John Gubbes £22 and Andrew Trevill £16, for sale of coals; Richard Goodyeare £40 "for ye 5th of Customes by him recd according to an ordinance of pliatt for the releife of Plymo;" Wm. Chamlett £200, bills payable to himself or his assigns ten days after sight; Nicholas Opie £50 for the pure necessitie of the garrison to be repaid at the next supply; on the same conditionBartholomew Nicholls £30, Christopher Bearden £50, Christopher Ceilye £30, John Carter £30, the "ladye allice Buller" £149 5s. 8d., Thomas Crampporne £15, Nathan Searle £20, Edward Caunter £10, Robert Westawaye £10, Robert Glowne £5, James Harris £10, William Berry £10, Laurence Beele £15, Joseph Tilye £10; Peter Kekewich £100, bills payable to Stephen Trevill & Charles Vaughan; on condition of payment at next supply-Johane Bitterlye widdow £6, Phillip Clarke £20, John Nicholson £5, John Humphry £10, Capt. John Hoop £15, Frances Roe of Stonehouse £15, John Lawrye £20, James Priddis £10, Henry Peterson £5, Phillip Francis by Caleb Brookinge £12, Richard Frier £10, Arthur Roe £10, Robt. Brendon £10, Abraham Jennens £25, John Paige £10, Agnes Edgecombe widow £15, Elizabeth Rowse of Stonehouse £10, Abraham Rowe £40, George Pawlinge £10, Johane Baker £10; Anne Prinne £60, bills payable to Ralph Triplett; on condition as above-Thomas Short £30, Alice Miller £25, Nicholas Bennett £30, Philip Durant £10, Hugh Cornish £20, Henry Webb £18. Then we have in April-Henry Peterson £5, John Masters £5, Capt. Nicholas Roope & Humphry Gayer, £34 15s.; £11 4s. for money gained on 37 cwt. 3 qrs. 5 lb. of cheese "taken of Mr Peter Kekewich at 20s p C & put of att 288;" Christopher Yeabsley £40 6s. 6d. "Itm recd of John Gubbes & xpofer Reede in 1o 039s 8 of rice at 3d p 010 19 00." This last entry is April 4th, and makes the total receipt to that date £4926 12s. 5d. On that day a fresh supply came. Captain Richard Willoughby of the Globe brought £2000, which paid the debts and left a balance of £646 17s. 4d.; there was also received out of the Happy Entrance, Captain William Somester, £2000. Before the month was out, however, money had to be borrowed as before. Richard Woods, of Meethinge, alias Newhaven, lent £120, for which bills were given, and the inhabitants much as before. Colonel Birch spent £2 7s. 8d. on his regiment; Richard Hamer and Mark Cheesewright provided boots for the troops to the value of £47 14s. Many of the lenders are the same, but there also occur the names of Wm. Geffery £5, John Paige jun. £20, Mrs. Thomasine Simons £30, John Maddocke £5, Joseph Eyly £5, Richard Spurwell £5, Mrs. Margaret Martin £20, Mary Polstagge £5, Elizabeth Rowe £5, Humphry Thomas £8, John Humphry £10, John Aires, £140, Richard Wheeler £60, John Masters of Stonehouse £5, Wm. Smith £60, Johane Bennett £80, Nicholas Edgecombe £30, Samuel Macye £5, John Hele £50, John Allin £20, Ellioner Lepper widow £5; Vice Admiral John Batten for the "urgent occasions " of the garrison £500, bills made payable to "Thomas Smith esq Lime St London;" John Pears £10, Elizabeth Pike widow £10, William Warren £20, Johanna Baker £5, Jacob Searle £10, Thomas Parker (?) of Yeole £100, Capt. Henry Hatsell £50, Thomas Caunter £10, Robert Cresse £3, Edward Capell and Thomas Baylye £180, Richard Clapp £5, Robert Frantun £100, Richard Collins £50, Benjamin Barcombe £70, Richard Pearson £10. This brought the committee up to the 5th of June, when they had £2000 out of the Susan and Eliza, Francis Copeland, commander; but they had run so short in the interim, and had to borrow so much, that by the 12th June their funds were once more exhausted, and borrowing recommenced. New names now are very scarce, the committee falling back without compunction on all their old friends who happened to be available. There occur, however, John Seaman £23, Thomas Short £37, John French £10, Thomas Caunter £10, William Margerum £450, Richard Hill £90, Francis Founes £20, Anthony Skinner £30, Daniel Margeon £22. On the 4th of July another £2000 came by the Prudence, |