KING-HUNTING: BOSCOBEL, MOSELEY, TRENT, AND HEALE

When the Civil War was raging, many a defeated cavalier owed
his preservation to the "priests' holes" and secret chambers
of the old Roman Catholic houses all over the country. Did not
Charles II. himself owe his life to the conveniences offered
at Boscobel, Moseley, Trent, and Heale? We have elsewhere[1]
gone minutely into the young king's hair-breadth adventures;
but the story is so closely connected with the present subject
that we must record something of his sojourn at these four old
houses, as from an historical point of view they are of exceptional
interest, if one but considers how the order of things would have
been changed had either of these hiding-places been discovered
at the time "his Sacred Majesty" occupied them. It is vain to
speculate upon the probabilities; still, there is no ignoring
the fact that had Charles been captured he would have shared
the fate of his father.

[Footnote 1: See _The Flight of the King_.]

[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE BENEATH "THE CHAPEL," BOSCOBEL, SALOP]

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO HIDING-PLACE IN "THE GARRET" OR "CHAPEL,"
BOSCOBEL]

[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE IN "THE SQUIRE'S BEDROOM," BOSCOBEL]

[Illustration: SECRET PANEL, TRENT HOUSE, SOMERSETSHIRE]

[Illustration: BOSCOBEL, SALOP]

[Illustration: HIDING-PLACE, TRENT HOUSE]

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO HIDING-PLACE, TRENT HOUSE]

[Illustration: TRENT HOUSE IN 1864]

[Illustration: HEALE HOUSE, WILTSHIRE]

After the defeat of Wigan, the gallant Earl of Derby sought refuge
at the isolated, wood-surrounded hunting-lodge of Boscobel, and
after remaining there concealed for two days, proceeded to Gatacre
Park, now rebuilt, but then and for long after famous for its
secret chambers. Here he remained hidden prior to the disastrous
battle of Worcester.

Upon the close of that eventful third of September, 1651, the
Earl, at the time that the King and his advisers knew not which
way to turn for safety, recounted his recent experiences, and
called attention to the loyalty of the brothers Penderel. It
was speedily resolved, therefore, to hasten northwards towards
Brewood Forest, upon the borders of Staffordshire and Salop.
"As soon as I was disguised," says Charles, "I took with me a
country fellow whose name was Richard Penderell.... He was a
Roman Catholic, and I chose to trust them [the Penderells] because
I knew they had hiding-holes for priests that I thought