154 given to the castle. When, at the beating of reveille, some of the souldiers, that had bene on the watch all night, were going downe into the towne to refresh themselves, they were no sooner out of the castle- gates but some of the enemie's musketeers discharg'd upon them, and they hasting back, gott in with such care that the enemy was prevented of their designe of falling in with them. They brought a strong alarum into the castle, where the governor coming forth, was exceedingly vext to find that his men were, so many of them, contrary to his command, wanting in their qumte•·s; but it was no time to be angrie, but to applie himselfe to doe what was possible to preserve the place; wherefore he immed iately dispatcht messengers, by a private sally-port, to Leicester and Derby, to desire their assistance, either to come and helpe bealc the cnemie out of the towne, or to lend him some foote to hclpe kcepe the castle, in which there was but fourscore men, and never a lieftenant nor any head officer but his brothe•·, nor so much as a surgeon among them. Assoone as the governor had dispatcht his messengers he went up to the towers, and from thence pl ay'd his ordinance into the towne, which seldome fail'd of execution upon the enemie; but there was an old church, call'd SL Nicholas Church, whose steeple so commanded the platforme that the men could not play the ordinance without woolpacks before them. from this church the bullets play' cl so thick into the outward castle yard, that they could not passe from one gate to the other, nor relieve the guards, but with very greate hazard; and one weake old man was shot the first day, who, for want of a surgeon, bled to death before they could carry him up to the governor's wife, who a t that time supplied that want as well as she could; but at night the govemor and his men dug a trench betweene the two gates, through which they afterwards better secur'd their passage. In the meane tin~e the cavalliers that came from Newark, being about six hundred, fell to ransack and plunder all the honest men's houses in the towne, and the cavalliers
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