A Decent Obscurity.

With peace, the events of 1643 passed into history. Apart from Clarendon's "History" there were no additions to the historiography of the event until the second half of the nineteenth century, when there was a sudden revival of interest. It is difficult to account for this, but there is a trace of a clue in a chapter heading of Prof. Asa Briggs' book "Victorian Cities" - 'Birmingham: The Making of a Civic Gospel'. Although this chapter deals with the development of the City in an economic and political fashion, is it unreasonable to suppose that with this development, there also came a desire to manufacture a history? The various accounts set out to glorify the part played by the townspeople, and this they do quite well, even if they do raise to the status of a major encounter, what was little more than a skirmish.

Chief among these glorifications of history is the account of J.A. Langford. In the account of the Battle itself, use was made of a phrase of Hutton's: "the sturdy sons of freedom" - a phrase the dramatic tone of which serves to heighten the effect of the account. One could quote numerous examples on this train of thought, but one more will serve to illustrate the point. In 1899, Lavinia Benbow wrote "The Old Oak House: a tale of the Seventeenth Century". It is very Victorian in style, written in 'polite' English, full of well-formed sentences, and perfectly grammatical dialogue. Rhetorical questions abound, and the next quotation may serve to illustrate both the style of the book and the dramatic writing of this event. As Prince Rupert marched away, leaving Birming-ham in flames, Miss Benbow wrote thus of the townspeople:
"They had fought hard for liberty, for all they believed to be right, and their effort seemed worse than vain. But was it in vain? Not so !"

A second curiosity is that song which is appended below; "The Armourers' Widow". Although there is no evidence that this is original, there is no reason to doubt "Tan's" honesty, or the pedigree of the song.

In twentieth century historical writing, there have been brief references, generally in connection with other subjects. Gill, in the standard two-volume history of the city, devoted a slight account of the battle; the Victoria County History provides a brief reference; but beyond that - it is a forgotten subject. S.R.Gardiner, in his great account, provides no mention of the event: nor does Peter Young deem it worthy of attention in his recent book on Edgehill, although the King's baggage train was plundered in Birmingham on the march from Shrewsbury to Kineton.

The situation now is one of complete neglect - it is as if the events of the Battle of Birmingham had never happened. And, perhaps, "a decent obscurity" is a better fate than nineteenth-century glorification, for what was, after all, only "A Civil War Incident".