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LANDING OF THE FRENCH NEAR…

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LANDING OF THE FRENCH NEAR FISHGUARD, FCNPBECEDENTED DISPLAY OF WELSH PATRIOTISM. tORD CAWDOR OBTAINS A BLOODLESS VICTORY. n:M:en's thoughts, in West Wales especially, days revert to the stirring times of a j^atury ago, when Trance and the French jgured large in the eyes of Europe. The •■I'ench Revolution had convulsed the Con- IL elit to its centre, ajut the form of Napoleon for some years ^pjSjtfUred above the political *torizon. In its earijanji Btages the movement hioh culminated in the Involution had won great deal of sympathy in other countries, Vreat Britain among them. When, however, seen that the leaders passed beyond the ^Jndaries of all reason, justice, and humanity sympathy of this country was largely Ienllted, and in a comparatively short time a ~^5ng reaction get in against the Revolutionists *11 their ways. The fate of Louis XVI. cruelties practised by the enemies of *5«uv'liy opened the eyes of Europe to the true attire of the French nPovement, and the jMions iearnt wisdom at the expense of France. oup years from the date of the Revolution j nSland and France were mortal enemies, sworn crush one another. The character of the adopted by Napoleon was early discerned kelson and the British Government, at j '0S6 head stood Pitt, and it became England's (< to thwart the ambitious schemes of the orftcan. The Frenchmen lived in a fool's ^"aditie, and believed that the spirit of discon- and revolt was abroad in this country, and it required but a little effort to fan the tir>'i 3 into an open flame. That such was the Qt~?y Pursued by the French in the last decade iria^i k ^utury is shown by the attempts they is n *° "^pture" the Irish in 179b, amd there «io ° reasonaWe doubt that the Fishguard inva- 5^0 part and parcel of that same policy, ■^hick ^or the raison d'etre of the expedition 8hire 8Uc^ a ru<^6 awakening to Pembroke- a,gQ the adjacent counties a round century Th Iuktd'6?^011 consisted of three frigates and rmnatm' appeared off the Pembrokeshire bear np towT1?1"3' 21- w€ro Qb8*1"^ to presently "act* Fishguard Bay, where they tPoinfe. The or ^°^°r near Carreg Gwastad ships belongs to of having first espied the sea captain, but OJ¡e Thomas Williams, a retired at Tratethixb. 4-t that time a farmer living the coast. The between St. David's and enips of war, ana tS^dog perceived they were f°rnis^*«h his glass could difi- KUsr,' thfey carried ^diers on board. As, 5KT tat colour, hi. fL lis sia-mi- p« n-un/ groused of any foul |k Paction, 00t»%nned on a closer arni. The new* j._ 11G time in giving the Bpeed to St. Davirf' with lightning finked to the nafeiys up tlie vessels sighted Fishgutetf tfce-jEbgrlid* flag honoured by a salute from the fort at that Jlaoe. The visitors immediately lowered the jaglish and hoisted -the French colours, and alii ?°ubts as to the nationality and purport of the vessels were at an end. Messengers were despatch,ed in all directions, and bonfires, as in 'V terr^e days of the Armada, were lit on the of Wales," and thus the newe was wi f6 • ^rcHn county to county in an incredibly ■' tune. Everything of value that could be v 'th*. at- stored away for safe keeping, and animals were driven inland. ^ade i ev^runo Wednesday the French ^omin pa^.a 6 ^or ^an<iing, a number of men follow^ °n ore day and the remainder the VithT1116 morn"ig—in aJ, about 1,400 men, fives'^w°r^fomeil> supposed to have been officers' but an nurnber of boats was serventem, Tie ga overw-eighed with cannon and T he f lon> which made a very bad beginning. *ho Via??- Was- one Tate, an Irishman, ftevr? ?• America, and joined the French *i-er() i}l onary party. Some 600 of the men l?anik ^m€^ soldiers; the remainder were mere Xlrd\and °ut-throats. «6jv an''vhile the authorities bestirred them- th +• lord-lientenant of Pembrokeshire adv ^j116 was Lord Mil ford, but owing to his ^ttafO.0 a^e wor'c devising means of ^ence devolved on Lord Cawdor, who 1ft,r,^1X supported by several officers—Colonel Jv1. Colonel Colby, Major Ackland, Colonel atlS'haJ:i, Colonel James, Colonal George otter an' governor of Fishguard Fort, and The troops consisted of the Caetle itilir1 Yeomanry Cavalry, the Cardiganshire •tati la> Cardiff Militia, whiich was then ^em^ro^e8hire; the Fishguard an<^ a ^ew" sailors under Lieutenants Th8 Perkins, in all about 750 men. 'ifchfvf +t"renc'1 general and his satellites estab- themselves at a neighbouring farm called j leaving the men to go prowling about of ^"ty. Trehowel just then was the scene feast, and the contents of the •slf-T a-n<^ c^'Har proved most to the ooTl^nvited guests. The lawful inmates, of eW^'e in terror, and sought refuge "We may insert the oonfents of a page or 'Old tu1 a diary kept for that year. It is an Moore's Almanac," and belonged to one .i*es Jones, of the parish of St. Marten's,) tow-i and county of Haverfordwest,! disriGrDai1'" The document was only recently j)j^vered, and if of special interest at tho oth^1'f. i'mct uro. The diarist records, amongst 7Tr £ things: — February 22. 1,400 French landed at Ier. nf '231'd, Went with Lord Cawdor's Cavalry, Tart igan ^1 ibtia,Fishguard and Pembroke and about 300 Haverfordwest Volun- ln the whole about 800 armed men, to ^e French, but did not come to battle, fat t coming on. Rendezvoused at Fishguard • 'ig^^ht art nine. 'h. At about two p.m. the French Bur- 41-JJJ ered. prisoners of war and laid down their Goodwick Sands, and marched into "P^Ordwest that night by twelve o'clock. v, A few prisoners, with five officers, an^ maro^ed off for "27h,1' F.iye sent off for^ England. Six hundred and. fifty-eight prisoners at Miliford for England. Mr. J. Thomas Wn and imprisoned for high treason; hope •j* shot if guilty." diarist makes an addendum to his ?Vll'rIn^ 24th: "24th. At the time of tha lati0Q the Frencfe, on a moderate calcu- WC, there were forty-three thousand men, an< °^ildren in and near Fishguard, *^n<j ^iioh there were at least eight thou- 1 ^"ned, viz., two thousand with fire armes, VVea^^r^ with pikes, picks, scythes, and other !?* disjointed thowsrh this information •'ititfo a°out all that is absolutely known of the u?UaI l'10l8e "t^iree days." Imagination, as 8 done its share in filling up the 80 that it is often difficult to draw a ^V°rthv eeri *SW7t "^d fiotdon. The most trust- contairi jCu.oun-t of the invasion, probably, is t ^d in the dispatches of Lord Milford Cawdor to the Duke of Portland, of State for the Home Department. ^°rd n 0ni Fishguard on February 24, 1797, "Al avvcior eays — ?^9rd>—In consequence of having formation on Wednesday night, at ° olook, that three ships of «. •aiali a luW«r anchored in i?a nftT!.Lv roadstead upon the coaat in v .^ediaf i 0Ur?l00d of this town, I proceeded Miiv a detachment of the Cardigan- ^Ueot "a and all the provincial force I could Place. I soon gained positive they had disembarked about 1,200 {?' B ^non. Upon the night setting n whom I found to be second 'n ^h a letter, in coiw»e- j. ^seJva. they determined to surrender Y down ?n.3Qne1'8 of war, and, accordingly, a* ;?1 anna this day at two o'clock. fthJi: this^ m oment infonn yonr Grace the of prisowfc buu beiiftve it to be their whole foroe. It is my intention to march them this night to Haverfordwest, where I shall make the best distribution in my power. The frigates, corvette, and the lugger got under way yesterday evening, and were this morning entirely out of eight. The fatigue we expe- rienced will, I trust, excuse me to your Grace fcr not giving a more particular detal; but iny desire to do justice to the officers and men I had the honour to command will induce me to attend your Grace with &e little delay as possible to state their merits, and at the same time to give you every information in my power on this sub- ject. The spirit and loyalty which has per- vaded all ranks throughout the country is infi- nitely beyond wha.t I can expresa.-I am, &o., CAWDOR." The last sentence in Lord Cawdor's letter is a. volume in itself, and gives us a. glimpse of the intense feeling and unbounded enthusiasm which seized the inhabitants of West Wales on learning the noewa of the invasion. They poured in scores and hundreds from all parts of the joint counties, prepared to fight for King and country. The roads leading towardu Fishguard were literally swarming with mem and women. The sturdy farmers and peasantry of the valleys of the Towy and the Cothi and the Gwen- draeth were there The valley of the Teifi and its tributaries and districts of the Aeron ajidj I GOODWICK SANDS AND TILLAGE. -I the Llethi were drained of their population. All West Wales moved en magse, making for one point-Fialiguard. There was not & flint gun or a fowling pioce, a musket or a firearm of any size or age left at home. Scythes were turned into swords and roaping-hooks into epears on this occasion. The whole com- munity constituted itself into an army to defend its native tiOll. A remarkable feature of the affair was the patriotism displayed by the fair sex. If anything, they displayed greater courage than the men; it is certain they ebowed a stronger desire for revenge. Their behaviour was perfectly Spartanlike, and greatly impressed the invaders. Whether the collapse of the enemy's undertaking was due t.> their appearance at Fishguard is more than one can say with certainty. But the story of the "whittles" adds to too romance of the event, and is indissolubly associated with it in the publio mind. It is about the prettiest anecdote in the history of expeditions, ancient or modern. The latest historian of the invasion puts it in this way: —La.rge numbers of the countrywomen had assembled on a hill com- manding an extensive prospect, including the French outpoet at Carnwnda, desiring, with the curiosity of their sex, to see PA much as possible of what was going forward. Most of the women wore their distinctive shawl, a scarlet whittle, this being the colour appro- priated by the daughters of Pembrokeshire, while their Cardiganshire sisters have adopted the white whittle. All of them at that time wore high black hthbs. Lord Cawdor* as he was riding about inspecting things m general, W»3 struck by the reseafblance of mass of these women to a body of Regulars, and he called upon the daughter's of OwAbris.ta fiM pttof of iheir potatotiien w nurd^ wwtote ti» enemy in i«goUir «r«r: Brt long MtuJdeA dip in the ground rendered them. invisible to the French, at which place, turning into a. side lane, they came again to the back of the hill whence they had started, and renewed their former course. It was done almost in the way in which these effects are managed in a theatre. General Tate acknowledged after- wards that -they had been taken for a regiment of Regulars, and the French troops utterly lost heart. There may be a basis of truth to the story: and some account for it in this way. One uf the most active leaders on the WeMi side was Captain William Davies, though his name is I A Welsh Girl of the Period. I not included with the officers. He was an old solditr who i-ad smelt powder at Bunker's Hill, and he was anxious to dispose the soldiers, as well aa the warriors of the scythes and billhooks, in such a manner as to create the greatest im- pression on tha French, thus inducing them to believe that the W dish force was much more numerous than it really was. A number of other anecdotes have been handed down by tradition, and they help to show that the event had its oomacal as well as its more serious side. The French visited some 30 or 40 houses, but in nearly every case the damage done was confined to the larder, the dairy, and the poultry yard. They displayed a marked fondness for ducks and geese, some of which, it is said, they cooked m butter and cream. A pathetio incident occurred at one farm-house, which supplied the Welsh poet "Ceiriog" with a subject for a very pretty long -"Y Baban Diwrnod Oed"-("The New- born Baby"). At this particular place.-the Cotta-there was a woman who had newly given •birth to a c!.ild. Just as a part)' of j rencn entered the house the husband flsd m terror, leaving his partner to face the enemy, vvnen. the French entered the woman's ohamwr sne held up her new-bom child as if to plead for ber helpless condition, an act which eo touched the marauders that they immediately retired, assuring the poor woman, that they MeOut her no harm. But they did not deal eo kindly as this with every member of the fair sex. A woman of the name of Mary Williams was shockingly maltreated by a number of ruffian*, and on trying to effect her eooape was shot and wounded. This caAe cO« something to the French Government, which was compelled to grant the woman a. pension of jB 40 a year during the remainder of her life- a. period of about 50 years. Where so much bad blood existed, it is strange that so few Iivell were sacrificed. It is not recorded that more than two or three were killed, and these deaiha were due to a private quarrel. How is it that the two sides didn't come to cloee quarters? is a question that is often asked. Various reasons are given for this, but it is impossible to speak with certainty. It must be remembered that the Frenchmen, immediately on landing, were betrayed by their own countrymen. The frigates and the laner sailed away, thus cutting off all escape in that The Royal Oak, Fishguard, WdCawdar a«tf big Offices* held Coypwl of Wo* direction. General Tate and his officers must have been disabused of the folly of thinking that the Welsh would join them in fighting the English. They were not prepared for a pro- longed struggle; had no provisions, aJid were badly supplied with arms and money. It is also olear that the general miscalculated the strength of the foroe at Lord Cawdor's com- mand, and had no confidence in his own men. Unfortunately for the French, they became de- moralised from the first. A few days pre- viously a Portuguese vessel, laden with kegs of wine, had been wrecked off Strumble Head, and in most houses there was wine in plenty, of which the Frenchmen drank until they were helplessly intoxicated. In such oircumstances it is no wonder that Tate propoeed a surrender of his entire foroe, on condition of being shipped at the Government's expense to France. On the other hand. Lord Oawdor was suffi- ciently keen-sighted to perceive the plight in which the foe stood and hesitated not to take advantage of it. "The superiority of the force urder my command, which is hourly increas- ing," wrote his lordship in reply to the French general, "must prevent my treating upon any other terms short of your surrendering your whole force prisoners of war." Prisoners of war they consequently became. The undertaking collapsed with a suddenness which must have been humiliating even to an army largely composed of convicts, suoh as Tate's was. The Frenchmen were distributed, some 700 in Haverfordwest Gaol and 500 in St. Mary's Church, while the remainder were found a place in the Town-hall and different store- houses in the town until they could be more conveniently disposed of. Tate and hie fellow- officers were conveyed to London, a task which appears to have been the moet difficult of any in connection with the whole affair, owing to the state of public feeling at the time The French invasion produced a.t least one love romance, which it is interesting to re-call. A large body of French prisoners in due course were oonsigned to Pembroke Prison, and it was there the episode here referred to occurred. Employed at the prison were two Welsh girls from the town, with whom two of the prisoners fell desperately in love, a passion which the girls seem to have fully reciprocated. These girls at length devised means to facilitate the escape of their lovere, as wet! as a number of other prisoners. They contrived to- supply unobserved their two Romeos with the shin bone of a horse. With this primitive implement the prisoners began to dig under the prison wall. the girls carrying out the burrowed earth in buckets, arousing no more suspicion than if they went on with their daily task. A way of escape waa at length effected, and about a hundred of the prisoners found their way towards the eea, the two faithful girls joining the baud. On the beach they found a. yacht, the possession of the vervm&n thoy had most reason to f «*r—Lord ^Hte'dbr. It w*» a small crafty and could only carry some twenty-five persons and the girls, who thus sailed away. A reward of JB500 was offered for. girls, alive or dead. In a few days portions of the yacht wtre washed ashore,, and it was geaerally believed that all on hoard had perished. This, however, was: not the case. After three days' sailing the escaped prisoners boarded a sloop, compelling the sailors to make for France, and Lord Cawdor's yacht was loft to her fate. Landing on French soil the lovers were married, and j at the restoration of peace one of the girls, with her husband, returned to Wales, and set up at Merthyr, where they opened a large inn. The Eleanor Martin of her maiden days had now beoomo a buxom French lady—Madame Roux.

SURRENDER DAY DEMONSTRATION.

CAPTURE OF BENIN. -

A TOWNSHIP DESTROYED.

BRIDGWATER TRAGEDY.

THE TRAIN MURDER* -

EXTRAORDINARY SEARCH FOR MYSTERIOUS…

MOTION TO COMMIT AN M.P.

MUNIFICENT GIFT TO THE NATION.

SCENE AT HOLLOWAY CHURCH.

THE FAMOUS CALLIOPE.

POISONED IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.