"Flavel was ejected from the pulpit in 1662 for nonconformity, but he continued to meet secretly with his parishoners in conventicles. On occasion, he would preach for them in the woods, especially on days of fasting and humiliation.

Once he even disguised himself as a woman on horseback in order to reach a secret meeting place where he preached and administered baptism. At another time, when pursued by authorities, he plunged his horse into the sea and managed to escape arrest by swimming through a rocky area to reach Slapton Sands." Joel R. Beeke and Randall J. Pederson in Meet the Puritans: With a Guide to Modern Reprints.