Rookwood (novel) of "Rookwood" and many more added in later editions. Of the other songs, some were sung by gypsies about love, some were hymns, and some were used to further the gothic setting. The name Rookwood alludes to the old Recusant (Roman Catholic) family of that name, most famous of whom was Ambrose Rookwood, executed in 1606 for his part in the Gunpowder Plot (the conspiracy which forms the theme of Ainsworth's 1841 novel "Guy Fawkes"). Ainsworth, perhaps consciously, paid a double homage to this family, in that his later historical romance "The Spendthrift" concerns an eighteenth-century heir of the Gage
Ambrose Cobbs will was probated January 15, 1656. His home-site was later sold to the Bolling family who used the name "Cobbs Hall" for their estate. A number of Ambrose Cobbs descendants migrated to Georgia in the later part of the 18th century founding a powerful dynasty which has continued to hold social and political influence into the 21st century. This prominent Georgia branch of the Cobbs family was founded by Thomas 'Old Tom' Cobbs and John Addison Cobbs, great-great grandsons of Ambrose through his son Robert. The two men would eventually drop the 'S' from their surname as would all their