I've been telling you about Saint Thomas's Green in Haverfordwest, where the May and October fairs were held. Vagrants, hobboes, knife grinders, horse dealers and all manner of hobble de hoi made their way here twice a year in times gone by and we did, too, until it was moved.

Nearby is the Norman Church of Saint Thomas a Beckett where Emma, my elder daughter, was married twenty five years ago. My twin grandsons were also Christened here.

Itis in this Church that Lucy Walter and Charles Stuart, the future Charles 11, were said to have been married, when both were sixteen. This fact may seeminconsequential, but ifit is true, Lucy's descendants, the Buccleuchs, are the rightful heirs to the throne of England, through the bloodline of her son, James, Duke of Monmouth.

Let's go back.Lucy Walter wasbrought up in Roch Castle, eight miles from Haverfordwest, on theSaint David's road.John Evelyn, the diarist, described her as a 'beautiful, browne, bolde creature', after he had once shared a carriage with her. Apparently, hegave her the eye and sheheld his gaze, which unsettled him somewhat.

Although not of the aristocracy, Lucywas well connected. Elizabeth, her mother, was a cousinof Richard Vaughan, second Earl of Carbery, who lived in Golden Grove (Gelli Aur), Llandeilo. And it was here, in Golden Grove, that Lucy and the young Charles were said to have met when both were fourteen. Undoubtedly theymust have made a big impression on each other if they married two years later. (People married much younger then because theaverage lifespan was about forty years.)

Lucy and Charles's story begins during the 1640's whenCivil War ravished the country. This occurred because Charles 1, the young Charles's father, believed in the Divine Right of Kings. To him thismeant that he could rule without reference toParliament. Specifically, he did not need Parliaments's permission to raise taxes.

The country was divided. Whole families were split.Those who supported the the king were known as Royalists. Those who opposed him, led by Oliver Cromwell, were Parlamentarians or Roundheads.

Asad, bloody time arose. OnJuly, 1644 the Parliamentarians won a decisivevictory at Marston Moor and Oliver Cromwell took this victoryas a sign that he was justified inopposingthe King.

We'll carry on with the story tomorrow (it'll be a bit racier) but lest we get too bogged down in history, here is the type of dish Lucy's cook might have prepared. (It comes from an eighteenth century handwritten cookbook I own, which originated in the Stratford, Worcestershire area (Shakespeare country, in fact).

'A Pretty Dish Of Eggs': Crack some eggs into a small dish, being careful not to break the yolks. Lay one on another. Drop on them some warm butter. Season. Strew some breadcrumbs over. Put in hot oven till the whites are firm. Serve with a wreath of parsley around them.