In 1685 Peter Cock and his daughter Bridget sued John Rambo for breach of promise and for ruining Bridgett\u2019s reputation. The court testimony was sensational. Bridget\u2019s sister Catherine said that one winter night\u00a0she heard a noise about midnight, and a plank opened and John Rambo jumped down into the room and then came into the\u00a0bed where she was with her two sisters. It was pitch dark but they recognized him by his voice. He jumped into the bed. There was no room so Catherine and Margaret\u00a0got\u00a0out of the bed and left Bridget there, and they lay on the floor until daybreak.<\/p>\n
John asked Bridgett if she would have him. She answered no at first and then when he asked her again she said yes.\u00a0He swore “the devil take him if he would not marry her”. And in the morning he heaved himself\u00a0out of the bed and left.<\/p>\n
William Orion said that when Andrew Rambo was married to Peter Cock’s other daughter,\u00a0he\u00a0heard John Rambo, between the dwelling house and cow house, about midnight, say to Bridgett Cock, \u201cGod damme me my brother hath gott one sister and I will marrie tother.”<\/p>\n
And Lasse Cock, brother of Bridget, deposed that about the end of February last, his sister Bridget went to the mill with corn, and they saw John Rambo. Bridget said, “John Rambo you are going to cheat me\u201d, and he answered \u201cGod damme me I shall never marrie another woman but you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The jury found Rambo guilty. Bridget’s father\u00a0Peter was fined five shillings for swearing in court.<\/p>\n
But it did not work out quite as smoothly as that.\u00a0A year later they were back in court.<\/p>\n
In the meantime Bridget had borne a\u00a0child, which John\u00a0refused to maintain, and he was trying to marry another woman. Bridget sued him for 150 pounds damages. He claimed that he never offered to marry her. She produced the records of the earlier court.<\/p>\n
It would seem a cut-and-dry case in her favor. But Lawrence Hiddings, a neighbor of the Cock family in Kingsessing, testified that Bridget had\u00a0refused to let him have the child when he offered to maintain it, saying that it was more than he was able to do and that he did not have a nurse ready. The\u00a0 jury found for him.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
The ending is a surprise. John and Bridget married and had eleven children. They moved to West Jersey\u00a0where John became quite respectable\u2014a justice of the peace and delegate to the assembly. \u00a0Let’s hope that Bridget got what she wanted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In 1685 Peter Cock and his daughter Bridget sued John Rambo for breach of promise and for ruining Bridgett\u2019s reputation. The court testimony was sensational. Bridget\u2019s sister Catherine said that one winter night\u00a0she heard a noise about midnight, and a plank opened and John Rambo jumped down into the room and then came into the\u00a0bed … Continue reading John Rambo and the rough wooing<\/span>