y more fighting than needs
must, our condition at that time not making it proper, the towns round
us being all in the enemy's hands, and the country but indifferently
pleased with us; however, we stood facing them till they thought fit
to march away. Thus we were supplied with horses enough to remount our
men, and pursued our first design of getting into Lancashire. As for
our prisoners, we let them off on foot.

But the country being by this time alarmed, and the rout of our army
everywhere known, we foresaw abundance of difficulties before us; we
were not strong enough to venture into any great towns, and we were
too many to be concealed in small ones. Upon this we resolved to halt
in a great wood about three miles beyond the place where we had the
last skirmish, and sent our scouts to discover the country, and learn
what they could, either of the enemy or of our friends.

Anybody may suppose we had but indifferent quarters here, either for
ourselves or for our horses; but, however, we made shift to lie here
two days and one night. In the interim I took upon me, with two more,
to go to Leeds to learn some news; we were disguised like country
ploughmen; the clothes we got at a farmer's house, which for that
particular occasion we plundered; and I cannot say no blood was shed
in a manner too rash, and which I could not have done at another time;
but our case was desperate, and the people too surly, and shot at us
out of the window, wounded one man and shot a horse, which we counted
as great a loss to us as a man, for our safety depended upon our
horses. Here we got clothes of all sorts, enough for both sexes, and
thus dressing myself up _au paysan,_ with a white cap on my head, and
a fork on my shoulder, and one of my comrades in the farmer's wife's
russet gown and petticoat, like a woman, the other with an old crutch
like a lame man, and all mounted on such horses as we had taken the
day before from the country, away we go to Leeds by three several
ways, and agreed to meet upon the bridge. My pretended country woman
acted her part to the life, though the party was a gentleman of good
quality, of the Earl of Worcester's family; and the cripple did as
well as he; but I thought myself very awkward in my dress, which made
me very shy, especially among the soldiers. We passed their sentinels
and guards at Leeds unobserved, and put up our horses at several
houses in the town, from whence we went up and down to make our
rem