Contents
Charles II assisted in his escape by Jane Lane – Edward Ward – 1861
The Departure of Charles II from Bentley in Staffordshire, the House of Colonel Lane – Charles Landseer (1799 – 1879)
The Escape from Bridport, Dorset, of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester, September 1651 – Francis Newbery – 1924
Portrait of Jane Lane – Unknown artist – circa 1660
Jane Lane played an important part in the escape, accompanying Charles from Bentley Hall first to Old Leigh Court and then to Trent Manor. Some have suggested that they had a romantic relationship during their time together, although, it must be said, there were not many opportunities for privacy during those days. When they parted, it is quite possible that Jane and Charles thought that would be the last they saw of each other. However, fate had other ideas. When Charles was in France, news of a woman matching Jane’s description had helped Charles in his escape began to spread. Her life was now in danger and it was her turn to take on a disguise. She walked all the way to Yarmouth in Norfolk and escaped to France, where she was warmly welcomed by Charles.
In return for saving his life, Charles offered Jane many personal gifts over the years, including miniature portraits of himself, a lock of his hair, and a gold pocket watch, which had been a gift given to him by his father. The pair remained firm friends and even continued corresponding together when in 1652, Jane became a part of the household of Charles sister, Mary of Orange, in Holland. Following the Restoration of Charles as King in 1660, Jane was given a £1,000 a year pension for her services to the monarchy. The pair continued their friendly correspondence, even after Jane became Lady Fisher after her marriage to Sir Clement Fisher in December 1662, right up until Charles death in 1685.
Above is the portrait Jane commissioned this portrait of herself. In it she is depicted as holding the royal crown with a veil over it. representing her help in hiding the king from his enemies. But, in the picture’s top left-hand corner she had painted a scroll with a Latin legend upon it – and its meaning is far from obvious to the casual observer. The words are sic sic iuvat ire sub umbra and they are an almost precise quotation from Virgil’s Aeneid. In translation they read “thus, thus, it pleases me to go into the shadows”.
Is this the humble affirmation of a loyal servant who having played her part in the kings preservation, was thereafter content to retire into obscurity? Her correspondence with Charles during the 1650’s suggests otherwise. Then it was Jane who took initiatives to keep the relationship alive. Knowing Charles well enough to realise that, once out of sight could well mean out of mind, she obviously feared that, once he had made provision for her in his sisters household, he might forget her. She was determined not to let that happen.
The words Jane chose to quote from the Aeneid come at the dramatic climax of the story of Dido and Aeneas. The Trojan hero arrives in Carthage where Queen Dido falls passionately in love with him. She begs him to stay and share her throne but he secretly makes plans to sail away. She discovers his perfidy and failing to dissuade him, stabs herself and has her body placed on a funeral pyre. Her final words express her own resignation but also her curse upon her inconstant lover. As she plunges in the knife she exclaims, ‘thus thus, it pleases me to go into the shadows. Let the cruel Trojan’s eyes drink in these flames from over the ocean and let him take with him the ill omen of my death”. Is she then taking aim at Charles for some act of rejection, real or imagined? Or perhaps, she really does accept her status in the background. It is hard to know.