Captain Blood · Chapter
Kirke's Dragoons explained
Peter Blood and Jeremy Pitt arrive at Oglethorpe's farm to treat the wounded Lord Gildoy after the Battle of Sedgemoor.
What happens
Peter Blood and Jeremy Pitt arrive at Oglethorpe's farm to treat the wounded Lord Gildoy after the Battle of Sedgemoor. Captain Hobart of Kirke's dragoons invades the homestead, arrests Gildoy and Baynes, and discovers Pitt hiding. Blood cleverly invents a noble identity for Pitt to save him from summary execution, but Hobart remains threatening.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Injustice
Hobart's threat to hang rebels without trial contrasts with Blood's insistence on legal rights and trial by peers.
Rebellion and Authority
The clash between the defeated rebels and the king's dragoons highlights the brutal suppression of the Monmouth Rebellion.
Loyalty and Betrayal
Blood's quick thinking to protect Pitt shows loyalty to a friend, while Hobart's actions reflect the crown's betrayal of mercy.
Characters to notice
- Captain Peter Blood
Attends to Lord Gildoy's wounds and uses his wits to protect Jeremy Pitt from immediate hanging.
- Jeremy Pitt
Hides in a clothespress but is discovered by Hobart; Blood saves him by claiming he is Viscount Pitt.
- Lord Gildoy
Wounded rebel lord being treated by Blood; arrested and carried away despite his condition.
- Captain Hobart
Leads the dragoons, arrests Gildoy and Baynes, and threatens violence but is swayed by Blood's warnings about Gildoy's rank.
- Andrew Baynes
Master of the farm; arrested for harboring rebels.
- Mrs. Baynes
Wife of Baynes; terrified by the dragoons' intrusion.
Key passages
“It's a Christian country, this, and Christian men do not make war upon the wounded, nor upon those who harbour them.”
Blood naively believes that in a Christian land, the wounded and their helpers will be spared.
Blood's ironic comment underscores the brutality of the dragoons.
“Ye'll be remembering, Captain, that Lord Gildoy will have friends and relatives on the Tory side, who'll have something to say to Colonel Kirke if his lordship should be handled like a common felon.”
Blood warns Hobart that mistreating a nobleman like Gildoy could bring trouble from powerful Tory connections.
Blood uses social rank to protect his patient.