21:47
Faizan
Guy Fawkes is not the only person to try to overthrow the ruler of his day. He is also not the only one to fail and be sentenced to death. Another person set to suffer this fate is the Jacobean, William Maxwell, better known as Lord Nithsdale. His crime is to have supported and played a significant role in the Catholic led, Jacobite rebellion of 1715 that supports the Old Pretender's attempt to seize the throne back from its Protestant King for himself. The Jacobite forces initially have some successes but at the Battle of Preston in Lancashire they are soundly beaten. In the subsequent aftermath Lord Nithsdale is arrested on the 14th November of 1716 and moved to the Tower of London.
His future prospects look bleak. Rather forlornly he pleads guilty at his trial and begs the King for a pardon on the basis that he felt pressurized into joining the rebellion against his will. The King is in no mood for granting mercy and so in January 1717 he sentences him to death for high treason on 24 February. Such is the King's displeasure that Lord Nithsdale is ordered to suffer the indignity and horror of being hung, drawn and quartered.
In most instances this would be the end of the story as the prisoner reluctantly accepts that there is little they can do to change their fate. However what makes this story different is the dogged resolve of his wife, Winifred, the Countess of Nithsdale. She simply can not accept life without her husband and is prepared to go to any length to help him.
As soon as she hears the news about her husband she races from York to London. When her carriage gets stuck in snow she simply switches to horseback for the rest of the journey. Finally she arrives in London and immediately visits various Lords to encourage them to petition the King. It is all for waste though as the King disdainfully ignores the petition for Nithsdale and refuses to see her.
Undeterred Winifred and her servant Lady Nairne ride to St. James Palace. She is absolutely determined to meet the King and plead with him to save her husband. When she finally does meet him she throws herself at the feet of King George I, grasping the skirt of his coat and begs for her husband's life. It is at this point that his blue riband servants belatedly intervene. One grabs her by the waist whilst the other releases her grip on his coast. The King is not best pleased by this act. As far as he is concerned Lord Nithsdale has directly challenged his life and regal status so he feels no sympathy for him.
The situation is now dire and yet the indefatigable Winifred refuses to give up. In desperation she comes up with an all together more dangerous plan. On the evening of 23 February Lady Nithsdale visits her husband before his intended execution alongside her faithful friend, Mrs Morgan, her landlady, Mrs Mills and her maid Cecila Evans.
This is no ordinary visit for Winifred has concocted an elaborate plan to make use of visitor regulations to help her husband. The rules for visiting Lord Nithsdale's cell are that only two visitors at a time are allowed to enter it. However Winifred thinks up a way around this by making herself and her friends go back and forth into and out of the cell on the pretext that each will share some last intimate moments alone with the broken man. The aim is to confuse the guards as to who is inside and outside. She also takes the further precaution of plying the guards with money, drink and urging restraint on their part by stating that the petition has been passed in the Lord's favour in the Houses of Parliament.
His future prospects look bleak. Rather forlornly he pleads guilty at his trial and begs the King for a pardon on the basis that he felt pressurized into joining the rebellion against his will. The King is in no mood for granting mercy and so in January 1717 he sentences him to death for high treason on 24 February. Such is the King's displeasure that Lord Nithsdale is ordered to suffer the indignity and horror of being hung, drawn and quartered.
In most instances this would be the end of the story as the prisoner reluctantly accepts that there is little they can do to change their fate. However what makes this story different is the dogged resolve of his wife, Winifred, the Countess of Nithsdale. She simply can not accept life without her husband and is prepared to go to any length to help him.
As soon as she hears the news about her husband she races from York to London. When her carriage gets stuck in snow she simply switches to horseback for the rest of the journey. Finally she arrives in London and immediately visits various Lords to encourage them to petition the King. It is all for waste though as the King disdainfully ignores the petition for Nithsdale and refuses to see her.
Undeterred Winifred and her servant Lady Nairne ride to St. James Palace. She is absolutely determined to meet the King and plead with him to save her husband. When she finally does meet him she throws herself at the feet of King George I, grasping the skirt of his coat and begs for her husband's life. It is at this point that his blue riband servants belatedly intervene. One grabs her by the waist whilst the other releases her grip on his coast. The King is not best pleased by this act. As far as he is concerned Lord Nithsdale has directly challenged his life and regal status so he feels no sympathy for him.
The situation is now dire and yet the indefatigable Winifred refuses to give up. In desperation she comes up with an all together more dangerous plan. On the evening of 23 February Lady Nithsdale visits her husband before his intended execution alongside her faithful friend, Mrs Morgan, her landlady, Mrs Mills and her maid Cecila Evans.
This is no ordinary visit for Winifred has concocted an elaborate plan to make use of visitor regulations to help her husband. The rules for visiting Lord Nithsdale's cell are that only two visitors at a time are allowed to enter it. However Winifred thinks up a way around this by making herself and her friends go back and forth into and out of the cell on the pretext that each will share some last intimate moments alone with the broken man. The aim is to confuse the guards as to who is inside and outside. She also takes the further precaution of plying the guards with money, drink and urging restraint on their part by stating that the petition has been passed in the Lord's favour in the Houses of Parliament.
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