August Ormond fled the country and took service with the Pretender, having first made sure that Jacobite feeling was strong in the West of England and having taken measures—efficient as he thought—to secure the adhesion of Bristol and Exeter.
In October, 1715, the Pretender organized an expedition against England and collected some ships at St. Malo under the command of Ormond. After two unsuccessful attempts this expedition set sail, and Ormond is said to have landed "somewhere near Plymouth."
My object in writing these short notes is to discuss the evidence and to see if any correspondent of D. &. C. N &. Q. can tell us whether Ormond ever did actually land, and, if so, where; so that an episode in the history of Devonshire may be chronicled in more accurate detail.
The well known histories of Devonshire make no mention of Ormond's expedition, but Mr. Baring Gould in his "Little Guide" to Devonshire says: "In 1714 (sic) James Butler, Duke of Ormond landed in Devon at the end of October at the head of a few men … but the cautious men of Devon waited to see which way 'the cat jumped,' and the Duke disappointed and alarmed re-embarked. It is interesting to note that a ballad relative to the attempt remains among the people and is still sung."
Now "1714" must obviously be a misprint, as Ormond had not then been impeached and on October 9, 1714, he was actually named of the Privy Council of Ireland.
Professor A. W. Ward in the Dictionary of National Biography (viii., 64), says: "Ormond sailed for the neighbourhood of Plymouth .… but on his arrival he was soon convinced of the futility of this expedition and speedily sailed back to France."
Lady Elliott Drake in The Family and Heirs of Sir Francis Drake (ii., 199), says: "The scheme of some Devonshire Jacobites to seize Plymouth was disconcerted and although the Duke of Ormond landed on the coast with a few officers, they found no men to command and made haste to depart."
The various histories of the period, if they mention the expedition at all, say that Ormond landed in Devonshire somewhere near Plymouth. They all evidently draw their description from "A Letter to Sir William Windham by
