was not accepted, and he, together with his wife, Mr. Granger, a neighbouring minister, and Mrs. Granger, was closely imprisoned, but not, so far as evidence shows, with any additional severity. The story, as accepted by Sir Walter Scott (Misc. Works, vii. 323–335), is that the jewels were entrusted by Mrs. Ogilvie to Mrs. Granger, and that she, under cover of a safe-conduct from Morgan, conveyed them away and handed them over to her husband, who buried them in the church. ‘This was done without the governor's knowledge, in order that, when obliged to surrender the castle, he might with truth declare he knew nothing of the time and manner of their removal.’ Deane's refusal to accept this subterfuge and his imprisonment of the Ogilvies and Grangers have furnished a theme for much popular indignation and exaggeration. It was said that Mrs. Ogilvie died of the hardships to which she was subjected, and that Granger and his wife were tortured with the boot (Lockhart, Life of Scott, v. 382). To apply the boot under such circumstances would not have been unusual in Scotland, but there is no evidence that Deane complied with the national custom in this respect. What is on evidence is that he gave great offence to the people, and especially to the ministers, by his resolute refusal to permit old women to be tortured or put to death as witches.
On 26 Nov. 1652 Deane's commission as general at sea was ordered to be renewed; so also was Blake's. Popham had died in August of the previous year, and the vacancy was now filled up by the appointment of Monck. The commission was a matter of routine, and there was probably no immediate intention of calling Deane away from Scotland, but on Blake's representation, after the untoward action off Dungeness on 30 Nov., both Deane and Monck were ordered to join the fleet as soon as possible (Minutes, C.O.S., 4 Dec. 1652). Deane received a grant of 400l. ‘for fitting him with necessary accommodation’ (3 Feb. 1652–3), and went on board the Triumph, in which Blake already had his flag. Thus closely associated with Blake, he took part in the battle off Portland, 18 Feb. 1652–1653, and in the subsequent pursuit of the Dutch fleet. In this obstinate battle the loss on both sides was very great. As Blake was incapacitated by his wound, the letter of 27 Feb., giving the official account of the battle, though signed by the three generals, was probably written by Deane. He and Monck were now left in command of the fleet, and hoisted their flag on board the Resolution.
To refit and prepare for new battles was the work of the next two months, and a great number of letters about this time, written by Deane, testify to the close attention he was paying to all the details which might insure efficiency; and, together with the correspondence of his earlier command, show the watchful care he had for the welfare and interests of those under his orders. ‘We want,’ he says, ‘an answer to the petition of the officers of the fleet and of the widows of the slain, as we are much importuned by them for some sort of subsistence, and can hardly put them off by telling them it is under consideration.’ Or again, that if possible ‘turning men over from one ship to another should be avoided, for it breedeth trouble and discontent;’ but that when necessary they should be paid their wages in money, for ‘a little bit of paper is soon lost’ (30 March 1653, Addit. MS. 22546, f. 103). Appeals of this kind were signed sometimes by Deane alone, sometimes by Popham and Deane, sometimes by Blake and Deane, sometimes by Deane and Monck, but always by Deane, so that we are permitted to believe that it was Deane who more especially provided for this part of the duty of commander-in-chief. And it is not only in these that we seem to trace Deane's hand. His signature is, in the same way, equally affixed to many rules and proposals for the better organisation of the naval service, then still in a very crude state. Lieutenants are to be capable seamen; none others will be appointed. Inducements must be offered to seamen; they should be entered for continuous service and kept on continuous pay, the same as soldiers (25 March 1653). A surgeon's mate should be borne in ships having complements of one hundred and fifty men or upwards; the care is too great for one man (30 March 1649). And these are only a few of the many points to which he and his ‘partners’ called attention. Other letters, referring to proposed changes in the victualling, in the ordnance stores, and to different matters of detail, with an exactness and intelligence widely different from mere routine, give force to the tradition that Deane had served at sea in his youth.
On 20 April 1653 Cromwell dissolved the parliament and usurped the supreme authority. It is a fair presumption that Deane was cognisant of the impending step, and that he assented to it, but the published ‘Declaration of the Generals at Sea and the Captains under their Command’ (Resolution, at Spithead, 22 April 1653), in the drawing up of which he had at least a large share, contains no word of approval or disapproval. ‘We have had,’ they say, ‘a very serious consideration of the great changes within this nation … and we find it set upon our spirits that we are called and entrusted by this na-
