The Cavalier’s Oath (Other Information)

The original, working title, of this book, was The Knight’s Oath.

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...the thump and tuck of the drums keeping the soldiers in step and the sharp notes of a fife playing a melody that was both jaunty and yet menacing. The tune they played was officially called ‘Sir Philip Lord’s March’ though Gideon had heard the men refer to it with the kind of jesting affection they held towards their commander and paymaster, as ‘The Schiavono’s Strut’.

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Saltpetre Men

Saltpetre (potassium nitrate) is an essential ingredient in gunpowder, making up about seventy-five per cent of it (the rest being charcoal and sulphur) and was also used in the making of slow match.

Although the production of saltpetre had been to a degree commercialised since Elizabethan times in England, the demand for it was such that in 1621 lucrative saltpetre contracts were issued which allowed their hired collectors to dig in barns, stables, behind alehouses or anywhere else where urine soaked soil might be found – even the floors of theatres.

In theory, private dwellings were exempted, but the amount of money to be made and the pressure of war led to houses of the poorer sort being exploited too. Those affected usually had little ability to protest as the owner of the local contract would inevitably be someone of power and wealth in the local community.

In 1646 Parliament passed an ordinance which allowed the saltpetre men to collect from anywhere.

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The painting referred to in this book.

If you want to view it please click on the picture frame below…