Investigations of a Dog

The word “Ironsides” is variously associated with Oliver Cromwell, his cavalry regiment, and even English Civil War cavalry in general. The consensus now seems to be that “Old Ironsides” was originally a nickname of Cromwell himself (I’m not sure why he was called that or when it started). It seems likely that “Ironsides” later spread to his regiment, then to all the cavalry under his command as Lieutenant-General of horse, then to parliamentarian cavalry in general, then to civil war cavalry in general. For example, “Ironsides” was used as the title of John Tincey’s book about civil war cavalry.

There was another folk etymology which suggested that Cromwell’s cavalry were known as “Ironsides” because they wore heavy armour. In the classic Cromwell’s Army, C. H. Firth took down T. S. Baldock for repeating the myth that Cromwell’s cavalry were heavily armoured cuirassiers in contrast to Prince Rupert’s supposedly unarmoured light cavalry. As Firth says, the vast majority of cavalry on both sides during the First Civil War were equipped as arquebusiers, and no new research in the last hundred years or so has changed that. I had assumed that the myth belonged to the 19th century but today I discovered that it was much older.

Mercurius Politicus posted about The Perfect Politician, a biography of Cromwell published in February 1660 (you can probably tell from the title that it isn’t exactly unbiased!). I downloaded it from EEBO to see what it had to say about Cromwell’s military career in the First Civil War. The first 40 years of his life are skimmed over in the first paragraph and the author soon cuts to the exciting bits (this is the kind of biography I like), starting with the Long Parliament. On page 3 we get to the start of the war:

No sooner had the Drum and Trumpet summoned the Nation to Arms, but Cromwel was alarmed, who (tam Marte quam Mercurio) neglecting the softness of a Sedentary, betook himself to a Martial employment, and immediately raised a Troop of Horse for Parliament among his neighbours, at his own charge.

I’m not sure whether it was raised entirely at his own charge, but Cromwell was captain of a troop of arquebusiers in Essex’s army in 1642. The following year he left to become a colonel of horse in the new Eastern Association army, taking his troop with him to form the nucleus of a new regiment. This is covered on page 5:

Being thus blest with a Troop, he augments his Strength, making it up a thousand Horse; whose Riders being stout and valiant, he took a course to preserve, by Arming them cap-a-pe, after the manner of the German Crabats: whence in those days he was commonly stiled Iron-sides.

Cromwell’s regiment was over 1,000 strong by 1644, but it didn’t achieve this strength from the start as some troops weren’t formed until later in the year. What’s really interesting here is the next bit. This is the very myth that Baldock repeated: that Cromwell’s men were heavy armoured cuirassiers (”cap-a-pe” means “from head to foot” and usually implied full, or at least three-quarter, plate armour). Even more interesting is the suggestion that it was because of this that Cromwell himself was nicknamed “Ironsides”.

I was initially surprised that this misunderstanding could have occurred so soon after the events, but maybe I shouldn’t have been. The more I think about it, the more I realise that it’s naive to think that the closer in time a source is to the events it describes the more accurate it must be. Just look the things lazy journalists write about computer games right now! The Perfect Politician was written 17 years after Cromwell’s regiment was formed, which is actually quite a long time. Long enough for memories to get vague and myths to grow up.

The author, known only as L. S., might have written other pamphlets in the early 1640s (there are a couple of other possibles on EEBO) but with such a pseudonym it’s difficult to tell if the author was actually the same person. Mercurius Politicus is interested in identifying the author of The Perfect Politician and came out with a couple of possibilities based on the custom of pseudonymous authors using the last letters of their names. I now think it’s unlikely to be Nathaniel Fiennes, just because I can’t imagine him making a mistake about the armour of Cromwell’s troopers. Fiennes was a captain of horse in Essex’s army at the same time as Cromwell, and would almost certainly have known the difference between arquebusiers and cuirassiers. The only regiment known to be fully composed of cuirassiers was Haselrigge’s lobsters, and they attracted a lot of comment, presumably because they were so unusual.

On the other hand, maybe Fiennes did believe that Cromwell’s men were cuirassiers. It could be a false memory, or perhaps he never actually saw Cromwell’s Eastern Association regiment. He was in Bristol at the time when Cromwell was raising his regiment, and following his surrender and court martial he retired from public life (the DNB speculates that he might have gone overseas some time between 1643 and 1645). The Perfect Politician suggests that Cromwell didn’t arm his men as cuirassiers until he raised a regiment, which implies 1643 at the earliest. Or maybe the author had some reason for using the myth without necessarily believing that it was true. Maybe it just makes a good story.

Now I want to know more about this myth. Can it be found earlier? Was it common in civil war tracts? When was Cromwell first called “Ironsides”, what was the real reason for it, and when did people start suggesting other reasons?There’s plenty of scope for more research here if only I had the time. They say that Myspace is addictive, but if you’re interested in 17th century England, EEBO is potentially more addictive!

1. Charles Harding Firth, Cromwell’s Army (Methuen: London, 1962).
2. Henry Fletcher and William Raybould, The perfect politician, or, A full view of the life and action (military and civil) of O. Cromwel whereunto is added his character, and a compleat catalogue of all the honours conferr’d by him on several persons. (London : Printed by J. Cottrel, for William Roybould … and Henry Fletcher …, 1660., 1660).
3. John Tincey, Ironsides (Osprey Publishing, March 2002).