UPon Tuesday the sixt of September, the Parliaments forces did rise from before Shirbourn, and went that night unto Yerrell a Town being four miles distant from Shirbourn; where we lay on Wednesday to refresh our selves, upon which day it pleased God to give us a great taste of his goodnesse, to the great shame and losse of the Enemie: About two of the clock in the af­ternoon there appeared a great body of their horse and foot upon a great hill within a little mile of the Town called Babell-hill, and so was it truly to them a Babel of Confusion. Upon which we presently put our selves in Array aswell as we could, to make good all the out-wayes, and guard the Magazine, which to do we found but very few men, and more Pikemen then Musquetiers, for the Musquetiers found themselves to be most imployed upon all oc­casions, and therfore they principally shifted away, and we sent out to that side where the Enemie ap­peared, [Page 4]three Troops of horse, and some Musque­tiers, they standing still at the top of the hill, bra­ving of us, and calling us Rogues and Round heads; our men went up the hill to charge them, Captain Ars­cogh one way, Captain Tomson another way, a little after him, and Captain Balfour a third, and our Mus­quetiers after as fast as we could; Aiscogh came up to them first, & charged one of the Troops through and through, and charged the second, but then was glad to wheel about; by that time Tomson came in to him, and upon the sight of him all the Enemies horse began to shog a little, and our two Troops coming to charge, they turned and ran away, dis­banded and routed, and ours followed upon the execution, and killed many of them, they think about eighteen or twenty, some very well habited, who seemed to be persons of qualitie, and their foot who had played upon our horse and foot co­ming up the hill, were left to our mercy, our foot and norse killing them, and they running away like dogs; He that commanded them was one Bamfield a Serjeant Major, who is taken prisoner, and with him about a score of his common Souldiers, the rest that commanded the foot are believed to be slain; amongst them one Hassey a Captain, for his Commission was found in his pocket, himself clad in plush, Balfoures Troop was forced to fetch a great compasse, for it is a very high hill, and ill way who could not come in soon enough; if the night had not come on and a very darke on, we had made a great execution amongst them, for their whole [Page 5]strength of horse was there, five or six Troops and most of their foot, Sir Ralph Hopton was there with his Troop, Captain Digby, and Sir Francis Hawley with theirs, and the Lord Paulet, Sir Iohn Paulet, Sir Iohn Stowell, Sir Thomas Lunsford, Colonell Asburne­ham, Sir Iohn Barteley, Colonell Lawdy, and Lieute­nant Colonell Lunsford were there: we do verily believe that some of them are come short of home, for they came in the night before the Moon rose with lanthorns and candles, and fetcht away the bodies of them of qualitie, we only found the next morning twenty or thirty of our men; there were but five lost in all, and a very few, not above three hurt, all but one of the slain, are of Captain Aiscoghs Troop, who hath shewed himself a very valiant yong-man; We desire to know what must be done with the prisoners, whom, till we receive order, we will take care shall be safely kept: Thus it hath pleased the good God of heaven, who is the great God of Battels to blesse us, whose name we cannot sufficiently magnifie for his goodnesse to us, bring­ing on the Enemy in their great jollity and strength, to be so shamefully defeated by a handfull of us, and those who were tired out with extraordinary sufferance of watching and cold; Blessed be his name for it.

THis day after our coming from Sheiburne, the Enemie did us the favour to come to Babell-hill which is a little off Yerrell, the Town where we lay, so newes was brought that the Enemie was come, and orders given that we should sound to horse, and then directions came to us from my Lord who should stay to guard the Town, and the rest should go, Pretty and Ducet was to stay, and the rest was to go; And truly Sir when we came to see them, every body did judge them to be at least a thousand, besides they were upon the top of a great hill, which was a [...] [...]xtream disadvantage to us; yet praised be God we got very well off, and indeed bet­ter then was expected by any body that did see what danger we were in, the way that I went was so narrow, that we did march but two a brest, and when we came to the topp almost, we had an Ambuscado of six Musquetiers of each side the way [Page 8]to entertain us, but they mist us all, and at the top of the hill there was young Stowell my fellow traveller with his Troop; so after we had changed two or three brase of Bullets together with a little slashing, they began to retire; No man can just­ly tell how many we slew of theirs because we dispers'd them so; but we were forced to retreat into the Lane, because there was no body to second me, and then came two Troops of fresh horse on us: I lost five of my own men, it was Gods great blessing we were not all cut off, but I trust in him that he hath preserved us for to do him more service: My men were very resolute and valiant, I thank God, as soon as we had charged we went up again, and they were all run away. This is all that I have to trouble you with at this present.

Dorchester the 9. of September.