Part 29
Wee made noe more demurrs, but resolved to march the morrow morning: soe I ordered two of our vessels to set sayle leeward, to perswade them. We intended to stand on that side of them; the other ships to warpe as neere as they could, and play in them, while wee fell on the other side. Wee marcht as so’on as it was light, haveing two arches to goe being through a wood on the back side of them. About a quarter of a mile from their fort wee mett a party on a worke on a high hill, prepared to obstruct our goeing over the river, who onely gave us a fruitless volley, rann to their fort, and told them all the world was comeing. Wee clymed that hill with much adoe, refreshed our weariness and advanced. When wee came in sight of their fort, we found, to our exceeding joy, that the work on that side was not finished to that height, as that to the leeward. Wee ordered our business with our forlorne ladders and handgranades, and without any further dispute received their shott, and rann up to their flankers, which in a quarter of an hower wee gained. Many of them made shift to runn out of the works, and ours followed their chase about three or four miles, doeing execution. The seamen likewise seeing of them runn along the rocks, came out with their boats, and killed many of them.
In this fort, wee took about ten double barrels of powder, shott great store, six peices of ordnance, great store of provisions, wyne, brandy, salt, oyle, and other provisions for eight months, as they termed it. There was slayne about three hundred persons, diverse captaines, two priests, and their serjeant-major, about one hundred taken, and six captaines, which we have sent home; the king of Spayn’s standard and ten collours. The rest, especially the strangers, that are in the woods, must of necessity perish. Though this mercy was very great, yet our joy had some abatement, by the losse of capt. Wiseman, capt. Meers, capt. lieutenant Walker, capt. lieutenant Robinson, and ensign Ferror, men for their gallantry rather to be admired than comended, about some twenty-three private souldiers killed, and thirty-fower wounded, whereof some are since dead; some other of our officers slightly wounded with stones. Thus hath the Lord made knowne his salvation. His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. I have sent this short narration, because it comes by colonell Barry, who was an eye witness, and principal actor herein, and rest
Your honour’s faithful servant, EDW. DOYLEY.
Cagway in Jamaica the 12 July, 1658.
To the Colonel Barry, the first name mentioned in the list of Doyley’s first Council elected in 1661, reference has been made in the chapter dealing with Kingston.
In this action we can imagine that the soldiers played their part. William Burough, the steward-general, wrote home on July 15, 1659: “The ships in his Highness’s service here are the _Marston Moor_, _Grantham_, _Cagway_, _Blackmore_, _Hector_, _Pearl_ and _Dolphin_, with upwards of 650 men all in good health. Three were slain in their late expedition to Rio Novo. Their stay aboard was near six weeks, the soldiers about 700, who made a great hole in the stores.”
On the 16th he wrote:
This comes by the _Martin_ to communicate our good news which he desires may be kept from the press well knowing the Commander-in-Chief sends a fuller account. Several letters of private persons here have been inserted in the weekly prints “which is judged to be popularity and a matter of great offence here.” Has seen a great deal of bloody work in his time both by land and sea, but never saw any action carried on with so much cheerfulness as this was, the Commander-in-Chief, Colonel D’Oyley, telling the soldiers that a great deal of England’s glory lay at stake, and therefore hoped they would consider it and carry themselves accordingly, going himself from party to party, and following the rear of the forlorn in a very signal habit. His gallant behaviour was answered both by officers and soldiers with a silent cheerful obedience, and through God’s gracious goodness there was found such a joint unanimous willingness to the work that the truth is it was of God and it hath exceedingly endeared us one to another since we came here.
Doyley evidently had difficulty in beating round Port Morant, for he mentions incidentally (on another occasion) that the Nevis settlers there quartered 400 men for a week _en route_.
Among those who took part in the expedition was Captain Sibada, who had joined Penn’s fleet from Antigua, and acted as pilot of the flagship.
The army evidently had to do its work on short commons. Burough wrote home in November: “Stores almost spent, occasioned by entertainment of soldiers on board the fleets in two expeditions, one to Rio Nuevo with 700 men, equal to the number of the fleet for six weeks, and 300 men in the late expedition to find out the Spanish fleet, ten weeks. If they had not pinched the army the fleet and garrison on the island must have been starved.”
Hickeringill tells us that Doyley at Rio Novo made amends for the loss of British honour at Hispaniola:
to whom our Nation in some measures stands indebted for the Reprizal of the Honour at Rio Novo which was so shamefully Lost under the Debauch’d conduct of General Venables in Hispaniola: the Spaniards till then having so mean and despicable Thoughts of English Courage, that upon the Onset at Rio Novo they upbraided our Men with the opprobrious mention of Sancto Domingo, till the repeated Assay of their Valour, disicplin’d them into better manners.
For though the number of the Spanish Forces at Rio Novo doubled the English (being sent from Cuba to reinforce and settle the Island) and those strongly Entrenched, yet such was the enraged earnestness of the Soldiery to redeem their wounded Honours, that (regardless of all odds and disadvantages) they storm’d them in their Trenches with a resolution as undaunted as the success was prosperous. Hereby not only retrieving the Prestine Fame of their Country-men; but also hitherto frustrating all hopes in the Spaniards of further Attempts to regain the Island.
Sir Hans Sloane, in his account of his visit to the north side of Jamaica in 1688, says: “I went from St. _Anns_ towards St. _Georges_, where I crossed the river called _Rio Nuevo_. I saw the old _Spanish_ Fortifications, whither the Spaniards retreated and kept themselves till they were carried to _Cuba_, where they, for the most part, settled about a place called _St. Jago_. Colonel _Ballard_, who was present at the taking of the Island, assured me that the _Spaniards_ (who inhabited the Island to the number of Five thousand, with as many Blacks) retired to the North-side, where Seven hundred fortified themselves very well, but were beat in their Forts by so many _English_. The Governour was an old decrepid Man, who was brought to them in an _Hamaca_, his name was _Don Juan Ramires de Arellano Cavalero del Habito de S. Jago_. They held it out in this North-side for some time.”
In the beginning of the year 1660, Long tells us, Doyley was informed by the friendly negroes that his old opponent Sasi, unwilling to resign his pretensions to the government so long as he could maintain the least party or show of authority, was lying _perdu_ on the north side of the island. Doyley ordered out a detachment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Tyson, consisting of eighty officers and soldiers, and twenty-one of the revolted Spanish blacks; which, after a tedious march across the mountains, found Sasi in a swampy place, now part of =Shaw Park=, with one hundred and thirty-three men. Sasi himself was then old and infirm, but his second in command was an experienced soldier, who had served in Spain and had engaged in this new service in consideration of double pay, and a promise of succeeding to the chief command after the governor’s death.
The English advanced upon them with intrepidity, and at the first onset the Spanish lieutenant-general received a lance-wound, of which he died in two hours. On the loss of this able leader, upon whom all their hopes had been fixed, the whole of the little army was panic-stricken. Sasi was one of the first to retreat, and “ran so nimbly as to save himself from being taken.” Several, however, were made prisoners, and about fifty officers and soldiers slain on the part of the Spaniards, without any loss to the victorious side. The negroes were extremely active and dexterous in catching the fugitives. Long goes on to say:
The unfortunate old Governor, being now reduced to the last extremity, and studious only for the preservation of life, sent commissioners to treat on his behalf; and was permitted to retire to Cuba.
After this exploit the English proceeded to Chereiras Bay, where a vessel lay at anchor, which the Spaniards had formerly taken and employed to bring them monthly supplies of provision from Cuba, such as cassada-bread, sweet-meats, chocolate and other conveniences. The better to secure her from being surprised they kept several scouts at some distance from the shore, to reconnoitre the country, and give the alarm upon the approach of any enemy. Colonel Tyson had intelligence of this caution; and disposing his men on different ambuscades, found means to secure all the scouts one after another; after which he concerted his measures so well as to make himself master of the vessel, on board of which he found twenty officers and soldiers, who were all taken prisoners.
The few remaining Spaniards who had eluded the search of the English forces, embraced the first convenient opportunity of making their escape from the Island, leaving about thirty of their negro slaves behind, who secreted themselves in the mountains and afterwards entered into alliance with other unsubdued banditti.
It is to be regretted that Tyson, who acquitted himself so nobly on this occasion, shortly afterwards gave occasion to Doyley to have him shot, as has been described in the chapter dealing with St. Catherine.
In his account Bridges says that “The British troops pursued him [Sasi] to a little bay about eight miles to the westward of the ruins of Seville; thence he escaped in a Canoe and ended his days in the bosom of peace and Christianity, by retiring to a monastery in Spain.” The spot from whence he embarked still retains the name of =Runaway Bay=.
In Modyford’s “View” of 1664 there is no reference to St. Ann. It first appears in the same governor’s “Survey” of 1670; the other new parishes being St. George, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth and St. James.
The parish is said to have been named after Anne Hyde, wife of James Duke of York. If Roby is right in this, the correct spelling of the name of the parish would be St. Anne, as indeed Long and others spell it.
Not more than a mile to the west of St. Ann’s Bay is the site of the first capital of the island, =Sevilla Nueva=, or “Sevilla d’Oro,” as it was afterwards called. This town was founded by Juan d’Esquivel, the first Spanish governor of Jamaica, he having been commissioned and sent over by Diego Columbus (Christopher’s son), the hereditary viceroy of the New World, to establish a colony there. Esquivel arrived in Jamaica in November 1509, accompanied by a number of the viceroy’s friends. “Bringing with them the refinements of taste and the means of displaying it, they assisted in the foundation of Sevilla Nueva, whose fame long attested its superiority over every other town which has since been built here.” The town contained many buildings worthy of note, amongst which were a monastery, a cathedral, a theatre and many palaces. Sevilla did not long, however, continue the capital, having been abandoned for St. Jago de la Vega. The reason for the change is not quite agreed upon; some say that it was owing to the Spanish inhabitants of Sevilla having in their wars with the natives been suddenly and entirely cut off, and others assigned the desertion to “a visitation of innumerable ants” that destroyed all the provision grounds of the people and compelled them to find a home elsewhere. Bridges, however, attributes the abandonment to the depredations of the French filibusters, and states that “the northern coast of Jamaica afforded frequent spoils to this bold band of corsairs.”
No property in Jamaica has perhaps been handed down in the same family for so many years as =Cardiff Hall=. The first Blagrove to settle in Jamaica was a regicide. Land in St. Ann was early taken up—about 1665; and before the middle of the eighteenth century Cardiff Hall was a place of note. The earliest patent of land to a Blagrove of which a record has been discovered is to John Blagrove of 700 acres in St. James in 1689. On Orange Valley, near to Cardiff Hall, in the possession of the same owner, are the remains of a so-called Spanish residence; and, going further back, on “big pasture” is a series of Arawâk kitchen-middens of the usual type, from which a small modelled human head of greater naturalistic treatment than is usually met with was excavated in April 1914. Other middens are near this series, indicating a thick population in aboriginal times. It is conceivable that the residents were amongst the first to welcome Columbus on his landing at Dry Harbour, a few miles off. The present building of Cardiff Hall, which possesses more architectural features than most houses in the colony, of which the fine old mahogany staircase is not the least noticeable, probably dates from the middle of the eighteenth century. It displays details of a Renaissance character, such as a line of columns in the entrance hall, a three-light window in what was evidently the drawing room upstairs, and an ornamentation over the doorways dating from about the closing years of the century. The hospital and other buildings are also of a character superior to those usually met with. The first named has Corinthian pilasters of considerable beauty. Guns, too, that formerly protected the property from buccaneers, are still _in situ_. In front of the house is a vaulted chamber, half dug out of the rock, which is said to have been designed as a place of refuge in case of hurricane. It measures some 7 feet by 20 feet, and is 10 feet high, with walls some 2 feet thick. The house attracted the attention of Hakewill, who included it in his “Picturesque Tour” (1825), the drawings of which were made in 1820–1.
John Blagrove, who was proprietor shortly before Hakewill visited the island, was born at Cardiff Hall, but was sent, like the majority of planters’ sons in those days, at an early age to England. He received his education at Eton, and afterwards passed a considerable time in travelling. On his return to Jamaica he occasionally took an active part in the discussions which occurred in the House of Assembly, to which he was returned by his native parish, St. Ann, in 1787. The only member of the family to sit in the Assembly before him was his father, Thomas Blagrove, who had represented Hanover in 1755. He (Thomas Blagrove) died in that year, when only 21 years of age, leaving a widow and one son. He was buried at Maggotty.
During the Maroon war John Blagrove was most actively engaged, and shared in its privations and dangers. He, Hakewill tells us, bestowed the greatest attention to improvement of the breed of cattle on his several pens. He imported into the island some of the best-bred horses England ever produced, and his liberality and public spirit were rewarded by the high price which his stock, particularly his horses, always commanded. He was a successful competitor on many occasions for the cup given at the races held in the parish of St. Ann; in fact, his horses for the most part beat the whole field. The Blagrove stables were successful in other races as well. On the flat land by Runaway Bay the memory of the old private racecourses on which the horses were trained is still preserved in the names of three pastures. In Palache’s “Jamaica Stud Book” John Blagrove is recorded as having imported for racing purposes Lurcher, a bay colt, bred in 1789, and Buzzard, imported in 1809. For many years previous to his decease John Blagrove was resident in England. He died at Great Abshot, near Titchfield, in Hampshire, in 1824.
At this period, when the whole system of colonial slavery was being severely criticized, Blagrove was always considered by his slaves as a most kind and humane master. His will states:
And, lastly, to my loving people, denominated and recognized by Law as, and being in fact my slaves in Jamaica, but more estimated and considered by me and my family as tenants for life attached to the soil, I bequeath a dollar for every man, woman and child, as a small token of my regard for their faithful and affectionate service and willing labours to myself and family, being reciprocally bound in one general tie of master and servant in the prosperity of the land, from which we draw our mutual comforts and subsistence in our several relations (a tie and interest not practised on by the hired labourer of the day in the United Kingdom), the contrary of which doctrine is held only by the visionists of the puritanical order against the common feeling of mankind.
Henry John Blagrove sat for St. Ann for a short time in the middle of the nineteenth century. In the library of the Institute of Jamaica, which inherited the library of the House of Assembly, is a series of twenty-five bound volumes of the “St. Jago de la Vega Gazette,” ranging from 1791 to 1840, “presented to the Library of the Hon. House of Assembly of Jamaica by Henry John Blagrove, Esq. Representative in Assembly for the Parish of St. Ann. 1851.” He soon afterwards left the colony, never to return.
[Illustration:
CARDIFF HALL ]
The view by Hakewill is “taken from the great interior road, and represents, seen through the pimento grove, the south or entrance front of the house. On the right is the barbecue or plaister floor, on which the pimento is spread out to dry. The excellence of the house, the delightful variety of the grounds and the contiguity of the sea, render Cardiff Hall one of the most desirable residences in the island of Jamaica.”
A sketch of a photograph taken recently from the same point of view is shown on this page.
Near the house is a private burial-ground with five tombs. Three are unnamed; of the other two one is inscribed as follows:
Here lyeth the body of Thomas Williams, Esqr., who departed this life the 7th of June, 1746, aged 66 years.
Here lyeth the body of Mary Williams, who departed this life on April 14, 1753, aged....
The arms are those of the Williams of Herringstone, county Dorset. Argent a greyhound courant in fess between three Cornish choughs proper, a border engrailed gules charged with crosses pattée or and bezants alternately. Crest, a man’s arm couped at the elbow, habited sable charged with a cross pattée or the hand proper holding an oak branch vert, fructified gold. Neither the motto, _Nil Solidum_, nor the tinctures are given. The second tomb is inscribed:
In the memory of Peter Blagrove, Esq., son of John Blagrove, Esquire, and Ann, his wife. Born at Cardiff Hall in this parish, 21st May, 1789, and died there 10th August, 1812.
The wife’s name was Shakespeare.
The following account of this Peter Blagrove is taken from the “Jamaica Magazine” for 1812.
At Orange-Valley Pen, in St. Arm’s, on the 9th inst., aged 24 years, Peter Blagrove, Esq., third son of John Blagrove, of Cardiff Hall. In spite of the best medical skill and experience, he fell on the eighth day a victim to one of those insidious fevers so fatal to many young men from Europe. Detained with an elder brother in France, which he visited after the peace of 1802, for the purpose of gaining a knowledge of mankind, he endured, for seven years, an exile from his family and friends—which as it was inflicted on himself, and his unoffending countrymen, during a profound peace, will continue to stamp with infamy the despot and government that sanctioned it as long as the laws of nature and nations shall be understood. Impelled by his attachment to liberty and his country, he adopted the disguise of one of the meanest of the French peasants to effect his escape; and with a perseverance the most extraordinary, he encountered scenes and hardships to which his earlier years were not accustomed. Unappalled by the danger of the attempt such were the vigour of his mind and his resources, amidst the hazard of hourly detection, that for many months he eluded the vigilance of the most active police, employed by any barbarian; and, having traversed the greater parts of France, Switzerland and Germany he reached Trieste in safety, and soon after repaired to his native country.
Amongst evil-doers mentioned in Jamaica history, Lewis Hutchinson of =Edinburgh Castle= holds a high place. Some of the accounts of him are based on that given by Bridges in his “Annals of Jamaica”; others, more fantastical, on the imagination of their writers. But the following account taken down in 1897 by Miss A. E. Cork, from her great-aunt Miss Potenger, kindly contributed by the late Miss Robinson, of Trafalgar, St. Ann, is based on better tradition, and is more likely to be correct. Miss Cork is great-great-granddaughter of Dr. Hutton, mentioned in the narrative.
“About the year 1768 there lived at Edinburgh Castle, in the Pedro district of St. Ann, Jamaica, a desperado called Lewis Hutchinson. He owned the property on which he lived, and was said to have been a man of some education, but he was the terror of the neighbourhood, and it was not infrequent for a white man to disappear mysteriously, and it would then be said that Hutchinson had made away with him by shooting him as he passed the ‘Castle,’ which was furnished with loopholes and overlooked the road. But these stories were hard to verify, and such was the unsettled and lawless state of the Island in those days that people preferred to leave Hutchinson alone, rather than attempt to have him arrested.
“A few miles from Edinburgh Castle was Hutton Bonvil, or Bonneville Pen, as it is now called, which, with Lebanon Pen, adjoining, belonged to Dr. Jonathan Hutton, an Englishman. Dr. Hutton was a retired naval doctor, and also owned property in Lincolnshire, his native county. He spent his time between England and Jamaica, sometimes remaining in the latter place a year or two at a time.