King Charles II spends a day hiding in an oak tree - September 6th, 1651

On this day in 1651, after fleeing for his life following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester, Charles II, the King of Scotland and rightful Kinf of England, took refuge in a tall oak tree.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show that uncovers the past, one day at a time.
My name is Gabe Bluisier, and one of my goals

(00:21):
with the show is to remind people that the world
of the past had just as many bizarre and unexpected
moments as the one we live in today. And here's
a story that shows exactly what I mean. It's the
time when the King of Scotland and future King of
England spent all day hiding in an oak tree. The

(00:47):
day was September six. After fleeing for his life following
his defeat at the Battle of Worcester, Charles the Second,
the King of Scotland and rightful King of England, took
refuge in a tall oak tree, where he remained until
the coast was clear. A few days earlier, on September three,

(01:08):
Oliver Cromwell and his Parliamentarian forces had won the final
battle of the English Civil War. When it was clear
the Royalists had lost, the twenty one year old Charles
the Second escaped the battlefield on horseback with some of
his most trusted men. They rode forty miles through the countryside,
until at last reaching the ruins of the White Ladies

(01:31):
Nunnery on the northern border of Shropshire. When they arrived,
Charles troops set about disguising him. They dressed him in
old clothes, cut his hair and smeared his face with soot.
It was a necessary measure because Cromwell had already dispatched
soldiers to hunt down the rogue King wanted. Posters quickly

(01:53):
appeared far and wide, and a one thousand pound reward
was issued for his capture. With the King's safe for
the time being, most of his friends departed to avoid
drawing attention to the group. Only Richard Penderrell remained with
Charles to help lead him through the woods. On September five,
the pair fled towards the River Severne, where they hoped

(02:15):
to cross into Wales and from their sail to the
relative safety of France. Unfortunately, they found that the Severn
was heavily guarded by Cromwell's patrols. Left with no way forward,
Charles and Richard were forced to turn back the way
they came. This time they headed for Boscobell House, a
remote hunting lodge about a mile away from the nunnery

(02:38):
where they had hidden the night before. When they arrived
at around three am on the morning of September six,
they were informed by Richard's brothers that the White Ladies
nunnery had already been raided by Cromwell's soldiers. Another Royalist
fugitive named Major William Carlos was also hiding out at Boscobell.

(03:00):
He suggested that it would be safer if Charles didn't
stay in the house. Instead, he recommended that the two
of them climb a bushy oak tree on the house grounds.
That way, they could see in all directions and keep
tabs on the enemy soldiers who would surely come looking
for them. Charles agreed, and at daybreak he and Carlos

(03:21):
climbed into a great oak tree about a hundred and
fifty yards from the house. The two men passed the
remainder of the day huddled close in the oaks thick branches.
They dined on beer and cheese, but for the most
part they stayed silent and kept watch on the woods below.
Some thirty years later, Charles recounted his experience, saying, quote,

(03:45):
while we were in the tree, we see soldiers going
up and down in the thickest of the wood, searching
for persons escaped, we seeing them now and then peeping
out of the woods. Despite the stress of their situation,
the exhausted Charles couldn't keep his eyes open. He reportedly

(04:05):
spent part of the day asleep in the arms of
Major Carlos, who made sure the sleeping king didn't give
away their position by falling out of the tree. That evening,
under cover of darkness, the two men climbed down and
returned to the house, where they enjoyed a chicken dinner together.
Charles spent the night in a small hidie hole under
the floor of a room in the attic. It was

(04:27):
a tight fit for the lanky king, but probably still
more comfortable than a tree branch. The next morning, Charles
is said to have helped fry some sliced mutton for breakfast.
We know this because years later Charles recalled his skill
with the frying pan with a great deal of pride,
and to be fair, he had been through a lot

(04:48):
by that point, so we'll just let him have it.
After this brief respite at Boscobell House, Charles continued his
life on the lamb for an additional six weeks, being
ushered from one safe house to another by those who
remained loyal to him. Then, at last, on the morning
of October fift Charles boarded a boat and made his

(05:09):
escape to France. Once there, he engaged in a very
long waiting game. It would be nearly ten years until
Cromwell died and it was finally safe for him to
return to England and reclaim his rightful throne. After Charles
the Second's return, the Penderell brothers were rewarded for their loyalty,

(05:30):
and the tree where the king hid became a popular
tourist destination known as the Royal Oak. Sadly, souvenir hunters
were a bit too eager and their bid to own
a piece of history. By seventeen twenty, so many pieces
of the tree had been hacked off and turned into
snuff boxes and other trinkets that almost none of it remained.

(05:53):
The oak tree that stands at Boscobell today is believed
to be a descendant of the original, which likely grew
from one of its acorns, but the trees offspring isn't
the only reminder of this pivotal event In British history today,
you'll also find plenty of pubs named the Royal Oak
and its honor. In fact, there are well over five

(06:15):
hundred Royal Oak pubs and counting. I'm Gay, Bluesier and
hopefully you now know a little more about history today
than you did yesterday. If you'd like, please follow us
on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at t D I HC Podcasts,
and if you have any comments or suggestions, you can

(06:35):
send them my way at this Day at i heart
media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show,
and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here
again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more

(06:56):
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