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So You Want to Know About Royalist Armies?

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Finally! I hear some of you say. A Royalist Army reading list. Well, there's a problem. The Royalist Armies are nowhere near as well documented as the various Parliamentarian Armies.  Why is this the case? There are, potentially, several reasons. Parliament, at every level, consisted of committees who needed minutes, account books and audit trails. Parliament 'won' the Wars, so these records were transferred to what would eventually become The National Archives as State Papers. The records of the various Royalist Armies don't generally exist in The National Archives. Records tend to exist in the archives of the families of Royalist supporters, and are usually specific to the units that the family raised and equipped.  There may well be 'unknown' military records waiting to be discovered, but these records are not centrally held, and in many cases access is difficult or completely off limits.  Any researcher wanting to collate an "Old Robin's Foot" ...
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So You Want To Know About Scots Armies?

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As the Scots fought on both sides, and regularly changed allegiance it makes sense to just write one Scottish reading list. Regular readers (hello all 12 of you) may have noticed a bit of a shift to matters north of the wall. You'd be correct, and can expect quite a bit of Scottish content over the next few months. The 'regularly changed allegiance' bit of that sentence seems rather flippant, but in reality the Scots were looking after number 1. They wanted to protect the rights of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland and would support whomsoever they thought would guarantee those rights. We mustn't overlook those Scottish lords who appear to have harnessed the chaos of the wars to settle old scores, consolidate and extend their lands, and generally feather their own nests. Our starting point has to be Professor Furgol's "A Regimental History of the Covenanting Armies 1639-1651" (John Donald Publishers) .  Long out of print, copies do surface from time to t...
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The Scots Army and its Flags at Preston and Dunbar

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Today's post takes a look at a very exciting release from Partizan, that focuses on the flags of the Scottish Covenanters.  Regular readers may well spot a plethora of Scottish related posts over the rest of 2025 - guess where the ECWtravelogue is going on holiday this year... For transparency please note, whilst I do occasionally get sent books to review, I bought this volume with my own money. Nor do I get any commission for recommending any reading materials... which is a real shame... First some background... The Covenanting Armies continually changed its allegiances during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms to support whichever 'side' they thought would further their cause. This book focuses upon the period 1648-1650, where they threw their support behind Charles I, as Engagers, then behind Charles II after the Treaty of Breda. The Engagers had negotiated with the imprisoned Charles I who promised the Covenanters his support of the Presbyterian cause; this effectively star...
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Houses of Interest: Staffordshire

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The  ECW Travelogue turns its attention on Staffordshire. For some reason, rather than starting the entry at the bit of Staffs that is 'next door' to  Château KeepYourPowderDry I started with the corner of Staffs that was furthest away. The first entries look at the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester. Of course any post about Staffordshire requires, by law, pictures of Staffordshire slipware - this one by Thomas Toft; Potteries Museum, Hanley First up is Moseley Old Hall  on the outskirts of Wolverhampton, and is cared for by the National Trust. Moseley bills itself as "the home that saved a king" - considering the number of close calls that Charles had during his escape, this isn't really the unique selling point that you might expect it to be. I do wonder how many other houses, along the Monarch's Way could also make that claim? Built about 1600, the National Trust have recreated a seventeenth century garden on the estate. A rather s...
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