fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
1660), was a mercenary soldier.
Gwynne, a Welshman, was the grandson of Edward Gwynne, barrister-at-law. He was a retainer in the household of Charles I, and was employed in training the royal family in military exercises. He rose to be a captain in the King's Regiment of Guards. During the Civil War he seems to have distinguished himself by his personal courage and activity. After the king's execution he followed the fortunes of Charles II. Gwynne was with Montrose in his last unhappy attempt in 1650, and joined the forces of General John Middleton in 1654. When that enterprise also failed he served
James, Duke of York
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
, and was with him at the fight before
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Restoration, Gwynne seems to have been passed over and left to embarrassment, if not to want. He accordingly drew up a statement of the battles, skirmishes, and adventures in which he had exhibited his loyalty. The manuscript is a very neat one, and is preceded by several letters to persons of consequence whose interest the author was desirous of securing. Whether he proved successful or otherwise in his application is unknown. Many years later, the manuscript was presented to Sir Walter Scott by the Rev. John Grahame of Lifford, near
Strabane
Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...
, Ireland, into whose hands it had fallen by accident. Scott published it as ''Military Memoirs of the Great Civil War. Being the Military Memoirs of John Gwynne'', &c., 4to, Edinburgh, 1822. (Reprinted by the British Library in 2011. )