We afterwards learnt that he
lay hidden in the hay-loft, not daring to return to his granny's,
lest he should be suspected of being a traitor to his kind; for our
lawless, untamed, discontented parish furnished a large quota to the
rioters, and he has since told me that though all seemed to know
what was about to be done, he did not hear it from any one in
particular.
It was no time to make light of a warning, but very difficult to
know what to do. Rural police were non-existent; there were no
soldiers nearer than Keynsham, and the Yeomanry were all in their
own homesteads. However, the captain of Griff's troop, Sir George
Eastwood, lived about three miles beyond Wattlesea, and had a good
many dependants in the corps, so it was resolved to send him a note
by the gardener, good James Ellis, a steady, resolute man, on
Emily's fast-trotting pony, while my father and Griff should hasten
to Hillside to warn the Fordyces, who were not unlikely to be able
to muster trustworthy defenders among their own people, and might
send the ladies to take shelter at Chantry House.
My mother's brave spirit disdained to detain an effective man for
her own protection, and the groom was to go to Hillside; he was in
the Yeomanry, and, like Griff, put on his uniform, while my father
had the Riot Act in his pocket. All the horses were thus absorbed,
but Chapman and the man-servant followed on foot.
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