minde that this Ithancester was that OTHONA where a Band of the Fortenses with their Captaine in the declination of the Romane Empire kept their station or Guard under the Comes or Lieutenant of the Saxon-shore against the depredations of the Saxon Rovers For the altering of OTHONA to ITHANA is no hard straining and the situation thereof upon a Creeke into which many Rivers are discharged was for this purpose very fit and commodious and yet heere remaineth a huge ruine of a thicke Wall whereby many Romane Coines have beene found It seemeth not amisse to set downe how King Edward the Confessour graunted by a briefe Charter the keeping of this Hundred to Ranulph Peperking which I will willingly heere annex to the end that wee who sift every pricke and accent of the law may see the upright simplicity and plaine dealing of that age And thus goeth the tenour of it as it was taken forth of the Kings Records in the Exchequer but by often exemplifying and copying it out some words are mollified and made more familiar Iche Edward Koning Have given of my Forrest the keeping Of the Hundred of Chelmer and Dancing To Randolph Peperking and to his kindling With heorte and hinde doe and bocke Hare and Foxe Cat and Brocke Wild Fowell with his flocke Partrich Fesant hen and Fesant cocke With green and wilde stob and stocke To kepen and to yemen by all her might Both by day and eke by night And Hounds for to hold Good and swift and bolde Four Greahounds and six racches For Hare and Foxe and wild Cattes And therefore ich made him my booke Witnesse the Bishop Wolston And booke ylered many on And Swein of Essex our Brother And teken him many other And our Stiward Howelin That by sought me for him This was the plaine dealing trueth and simplicity of that age which used to make all their assurances whatsoever in a few lines and with a few gilt Crosses For before the comming in of the Normans as wee read in Ingulphus writings Obligatory were made firme with golden Crosses and other small signes or markes but the Normans began the making of such Bils and Obligations with a Print or Seale in wax set to with every ones speciall Signet under the expresse entituling of three or foure Witnesses Before time many houses and land thereto passed by grant and bargaine without script Charter or Deede onely with the Landlords sword or helmet with his horne or cup. Yea and many Tenements were demised with a spurre or horse-cury-combe with a bowe and some with an arrow In the Creeke of Blackwater which as I said closeth the North side of this Hundred and is stored with those dainty Oysters which wee call Walfleot Oysters their run two Rivers that water a great part of the Shire Chelmer and Froshwell The River Chelmer flowing out of the inner part of the country which is woody runneth downe first by Thaxted a little Mercate Towne seated very pleasantly upon an high rising hill also by Tiltey where Maurice Fitz-Gilbert founded in times past a small Abbay unto Estanues ad Turrim now Eston which noble Gentleman sirnamed De Lovaine inhabited as descended from Godfrey of Lovaine brother to Henry the Sixth of that name Duke of Brabant who being sent hither to keepe the Honor of Eye his posterity flourished among the Peeres of this Realme to the time of King Edward the Third when the heire generall was married into the house of Bourchier Thence it glideth downe to Dunmow of old time called Dunmawg and in the Tax booke of England Dunmaw a Towne pleasantly situate upon an hill with a prety gentle fall Where one Juga founded a Priory in the yeare 1111. But William Bainard of whom Juga held thus we finde it written in the private history of this Church the Village of little Dunmow by felony lost his Barony and King Henry the First gave it to Robert the sonne of Richard sonne to Gislebert Earle of Clare and to his heires with the honour of Bainards Castle in London which Robert at that time was King Henries Sewar These be the very words of the Author neither doe I thinke it lawfull for me to alter or reforme them otherwise than they are although there be in them some ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is a putting or mistaking of one time for another a thing that we meet with otherwhiles in the best Historiographers For there had not beene as then any Earle of Clare in the family of Clare Now let us for a while digresse and goe aside a little on either hand from the River Not farre from hence is Plaisy seated so called in French of Pleasing in times past named Estre the habitation both in the last yeeres of the English Saxons and also afterwards of the great Constables of England as witnesseth Ely booke At this towne the first William Mandevill Earle of Essex beganne a Castle and two Princes of great authority Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester and Earle of Essex who founded heere a College and Iohn Holland Earle of Huntingdon brother to King Richard the Second by the mothers side deprived of lost honorable title of Duke of Excester when they could not keepe a meane betweene froward stubbernesse and servile obsequiousnesse found thence their subversion For Thomas upon his rash and head-strong contumacy was on a sudden violently carryed from hence to Calice and there smothered and John for a seditious conspiracy was beheaded in this place by King Henry the Fourth that hee might seeme to have beene justly punished by way of satisfaction for the said Thomas of Woodstocke of whose death hee was thought to bee the principall practiser and procurer From thence passeth Chelmer downe not farre from Leez a little Abbay of old time founded by the Gernons which at this day is the chiefe seat of the Barons Rich who acknowledge themselves for this dignity beholden to Richard Rich a most wise and judicious person Lord Chancellor of England under King Edward the Sixth who in the first yeere of his raigne created him Baron Rich. A little beneath standeth Hatfield Peverell so denominated of Randulph Peverell the owner thereof who had to wife a Lady of incomparable beauty in those daies the daughter of Ingelricke a man of great nobility among the English-Saxons This Lady founded heere a College which now is in manner quite plucked downe and in a window of the Church whereof there remaineth still a small part lyeth entombed She bare unto her husband William Peverell Castellane of Dover Sir Payne Peverell Lord of Brun in the County of Cambridge and unto King William the Conquerour whose Paramore shee was William Peverell Lord of Nottingham But now returne we to Chelmer which by this time speedeth it selfe to Chelmerford commonly Chensford where by the distance of the place from CAMALODUNUM it may seeme that old CANONIUM sometimes stood This is a good bigge Towne situate in the
hasteneth toward VERLVCIO a most antient towne whereof the Emperor Antonine maketh mention in his Itinerarie which having not quite lost the name is called Werminster compounded of that old name and the English Saxon word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth a Monasterie In times past it enjoyed great immunities and freedomes For as wee reade in the Booke of King William the Great Nec geldavit nec hidata fuit that is It paid no tribute nor was rated by the Hide Now onely for a round Corn-market it is exceeding much frequented for hardly a man would believe what a mightie deale of Corne is weekely brought hither and quickly sold. But for remnants of Roman Antiquities I could discover none here onely on the East side are seene some trenches upon the hills and on the West a naturall round and high copt hill called Clay-hill Heere by beginneth North South and Eastward through the midst of the Shire the Plaines so wide and open that hardly a man can see from one side to another and doe limit the Horizon whereupon they are named The Plaines they are but rarely inhabited and had in late time a bad name for robberies there committed On the South side thereof there runne quietly two most still Rivers Willey-borne which Asserius nameth Guilou and Nadder commonly called Adder-bourne Wille-bourne rising at Werminster runneth neere Heitesburie or Hegtresburie an ancient mansion place of the Family of Hungerford but in the Church which hath beene Collegiate there is seene but one defaced monument of them The last Lord Hungerford created by King Henry the Eighth had his denomination of this place but enjoyed that honour a short while being condemned of a crime not to bee uttered Hence it hieth to Willy a Village some few miles distant over against it a very large warlike fence or hold and the same fortified with a deepe and duple Ditch the neighbour-dwellers call it Yanesburie Castle And by the forme and manner of making a man may easily know it was a Roman Campe. There are who verily thinke it was Vespasians Campe considering that hee being Lieutenant of the twentieth Legion under Claudius the Emperour subdued unto the Roman Empire two nations in this tract and they suppose that in the name Yanesburie there remaine some reliques still of Vespasians name Opposit to this on the other side the water is another lesse camp-place singly ditched called Dun-shat and about one mile and a halfe from Yanesburie another likewise with a single trench named Woldsbury I have noted the names as the country people tearme them that other may collect some matter thereby more than I can As for Nadder that springeth out of the South limit of the shire it creepeth with crooked windings like an Adder whereof it may seeme to have beene so called not farre from Wardour a proper fine Castle appertaining sometime to the Progenie surnamed Saint Martins But to say nothing of many owners betweene and amongst them of the Lord Brooke who repaired it and died at it now it belongeth to Thomas Arundell who being of late by King Iames created Baron Arundell of Wardour is worthy to be with praise remembred For that being a young Gentleman hee of a pious and godly mind undertaking a journey to serve in the warres against the Turkes sworne enemies of Christendome for his singular prowesse shewed at the winning of Strigonium in Hungarie deserved by honourable Charter from Rodolph the Second of that name Emperour to bee made a Count of the Empire the tenour of which Patent is thus For that hee had borne himselfe valiantly and manfully in the field and in assaults of Cities and Castles and shewing good proofe of valour in forcing of the water tower neere Strigonium tooke from the Turkes with his owne hand their Banner both himselfe and all and every one his children heires and issue whatsoever of both sexes descending from him lawfully either borne already or that ever shall from generation to generation bee borne wee have created made and named Counts and Countesses have endowed and adorned and with the title honour and dignitie of a Count imperiall Over against it lieth Hach a place at this day of small reckoning but which in the time of King Edward the First had his Lord Eustach de Hach summoned among the Peeres of the Realme for a Baron unto the high Court of Parliament And a few miles from thence is Hindon a quicke market and knowne for nothing else that I could see At the meeting of these two rivers Willey giveth his name to Wilton a place well watered and sometime the head towne of the whole Shire which thereof tooke the name In ancient times it was called Ellandunum for so we are enformed by the testimonie of old parchment records which have in expresse termes Weolsthan Earle of Ellandunum that is to say of Wilton and in another place that hee founded a little Monasterie at Ellandunum that is at Wilton By this name Ellan I am partly induced to thinke that this is the river Alan which Ptolomee mentioneth in this coast of the Countrey At this towne it was that in the yeare of our redemption 821. Egbert King of the West-Saxons obtained a victorie against Beor Wulf of Mercia but so mortall a battell it was to both parties that the river flowed commixt with the bloud of those who were allied in bloud and dissevered in faction At this towne also in the yeare of salvation 871. Aelfrid joyning battell with the Danes had the better hand at first but immediately the alternative fortune of war comming about hee was put to the worst and driven to retire In the Saxons time it flourished with the best in numbers of Inhabitants and King Eadgar as our Chronicles beare witnes beautified it with a Nunnery whereof he made his owne daughter Edith Prioresse But by the ancient Charter of Eadgar himselfe bearing date An. 874. it appeareth certainly to bee of more antiquitie For therein it is thus written The Monasterie which by King Edward my great Grandfathers Grandfather was founded in a well frequented and peopled place that by a knowne name is by the Inhabitants called Wilton And in the life of Saint Edward the Confessor we read thus Whiles S. Edward went in hand with the building of the Monasterie of S. Peter in Westminster Editha his wife began at Wilton where shee was brought up a Monastery princely built of stone in lieu of the Church made of timber following the Kings good affection with the like devotion of her owne And albeit Sueno the Dane spoiled this towne most grievously in the raging heate of hostilitie yet fell it not so greatly to decay untill the Bishops of Salisbury turned another way the common passage that lay before through it into the West countries For then by little and little it fell to ruine and is now as it were a small
that the knowledge of those tongues might by effectuall instruction be throughly learned And that Catholicke men having sufficient knowledge in those tongues should bee chosen twaine skilfull in every of those tongues For those who were to bee Professours in Oxford The same Councell ordained That the Prelats of England Scotland Ireland and Wales the Monasteries also the Chapters the Covents the Colledges exempt and not exempt and Persons of Churches should provide competent stipends Out of these words may bee observed both that Oxford was the chiefe place of Studies in England Scotland Ireland and Wales and also that those Schooles which we now adayes doe call Academies and Universities were aptly in old time named Studies as S. Hierom tearmed the Schooles of Gaul Studia Florentissima that is most flourishing Studies And as for the name of Vniversity it was taken up about the time of King Henry the Third for a Publike Schoole and if I bee not deceived in mine owne observations it was then in use not for the place but for the very body and society of Students as we reade in bookes of that age Vniversitas Magistrorum Oxoniae Vniversitas Magistrorum Cantabrigiae that is The Vniversity of Masters of Oxford c. But happily this may seeme beside my Text. Now by this time good and bountifull Patrons began to furnish the Citty within and the Suburbs without with most stately Colledges Halls and Schools and to endow them also with large Revenewes For the greatest part of the Vniversity was beforetime in the Suburbs without the North-gate In the reigne of King Henry the third Iohn Balliol of Barnards Castle in the Bishopricke of Durham who died in the yeere 1269. the father of Balliol King of Scots founded Balliol Colledge and so named it and streight after Walter Merton Bishop of Rochester translated the Colledge which hee had built in Surrey to Oxford in the yeere 1274. enriched it with Lands and Possessions naming it The house of Schollers of Merton but now it is called Merton Colledge And these two were the first endowed Colledges for Students in Christendome William Archdeacon of Durham repaired and enlarged with new building that worke of King Aelfred which now they call Vniversity Colledge At which time the Students for that they entertained somewhat coursely Otto the Popes Legate or Horse-leach rather sent out to sucke the English Clergies blood were excommunicate and with all indignities shamefully handled And in those dayes as Armachanus writeth there were counted here thirty thousand Students Under King Edward the Second Walter Stapledon Bishop of Exceter founded Exceter Colledge and Hart Hall and the King himselfe in imitation of him built the Colledge commonly called Oriall and S. Mary Hall At which time a convert Jew read an Hebrew Lecture here unto whom for a Stipend every one of the Clergy of Oxford for every Marke of his Ecclesiasticall living contributed a penny Afterward Queene Philip wife to King Edward the Third built Queenes Colledge and Simon Islip Archbishop of Canterbury Canterbury Colledge The Students then having the world at will and all things falling out to their hearts desire became insolent and being divided into factions under the names of Northren and Southren men strucke up the Alarum to intestine and unreasonable tumults among themselves Whereupon the Northren faction went their wayes to Stanford and beganne there to set up Schooles But some few yeeres after when Gods favour shining more lightsomely had scattered away the clouds of contention they returned from Stanford recalled by Proclamation directed to the High-sheriffe of Lincolneshire upon penalty to forfeit their bookes and the Kings displeasure And then it was ordained that no Oxford man should professe at Stanford to any prejudice or hinderance of Oxford Shortly after William Wickham Bishop of Winchester founded a magnificent Colledge which they call New-Colledge into which out of another Colledge of his at Winchester the best wits are yeerely transplanted And hee about the same by the tract of the Citty wall built a faire high wall embatled and turrited Also Richard Angervill Bishop of Durham surnamed Philobiblos that is Love booke furnished a Library for the publike use of Students His Successour Thomas Hatfield laied the foundation of Durham Colledge for Durham Monkes and Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincolne founded likewise Lincolne Colledge Also at the same time the Monkes of the order of Saint Bennet by a Chapter held among them laid their monies together and encreased Glocester Hall built before by I. Lord Gifford of Brimsfield for Monkes of Glocester wherein one or two Monkes out of every Covent of Benedictine Monkes were maintained at study who afterwards should professe good letters in their Abbaies unto which Glocester Hall Nicholas Wadham of Merifeld in the County of Somerset hath assigned a faire portion of lands and mony for the propagation of Religion and Learning which I note incidently by way of congratulation to our Age that there are yet some who graciously respect the advancement of good Learning About that time not to speake of the Chanons of Saint Frideswide and Osney or the Cistertian Monkes of Reilew there were erected fower faire Frieries and other religious houses where flourished also many profound Learned men In the age ensuing when Henry the Fifth reigned Henry Chicheley Archbishop of Canterbury built two and those very faire Colledges the one dedicated to the memory of All Soules and the other to Saint Bernard And there passed not many yeeres betweene when William Wainflet Bishop of Winchester founded Mary Magdalen Colledge for building rare and excellent for sight commodious and for walkes passing pleasant And at the very same time was built the Divinity Schoole so fine a peece of elegant worke that this of Xeuxis may justly bee ingraven upon it Invisurum facilius aliquem quà m imitaturum that is Sooner will one envy mee then set such another by me And Humfrey that good Duke of Glocester a singular Patron and a respective lover of learning encreased the Library over it with an hundred twenty nine most select Manuscript bookes which at his great charges he procured out of Italy But such was the private avarice of some in the giddy time of K. Edward the Sixt that they for small gaine envied the use thereof to Posterity Yet now againe God blesse and prosper it Sir Thomas Bodley a right worshipfull knight and a most worthy Nource-son of this Vniversity furnished richly in the same place a new Library with the best books of exquisite choice from all parts with great charges and studious care never sufficiently commended Whereby the Vniversity may once againe have a publike Store-house of knowledge and learning and himselfe deserveth the Glory that may flourish freshly in the memory of all Eternity And whereas by an ancient custome of the wisest men those were wont to be dedicated within such Libraries in gold silver or brasse by whose care they were
his Successours by abridging the number of Monkes for from threescore and tenne they brought them downe to forty flowed with riches and wealth in great abundance even unto our time and their festivall and solemne Holydayes they celebrated with so sumptuous provision and stately pompe that they wonne the prayse and prize from all the Abbaies in England whereupon a Poet also in that age wrote these verses not unproperly Pravisis aliis Eliensia festa videre Est quasi praevisa nocte videre diem See after others Ely feasts and surely thou wilt say That having seene the night before thou seest now the day The Church likewise which now began for age and long continuance to decay they built up by litle and litle and brought it to that ample statelinesse which now it hath For large it is high and faire but somewhat defaced by reason of Noblemens and Bishops tombes not without most shamefull indignity are broken downe And now in stead of that great Covent of Monks there are established a Deane Prebendaries a Grammar schoole wherein 24. children are maintained and taught Foure speciall things there are about this Church that the Common people talke much of The Lanterne on the very toppe thereof just over the Quire supported with eight pillars and raised upon them right artificially by Iohn Hothum the Bishop Vnder the Church towards the North standeth Saint Maries Chappell a singular fine peece of worke built by Simon Montacute Bishop On the South side there is an huge heape of earth cast up round of a great heigth which they call the Mount having had a wind mill upon it And lastly a Vine bearing fruit in great plenty which now is withered and gone These 4. a Monk of this place in times past knit up within this Rhyme Haec sunt Eliae Lanterna Capella Mariae Atque molendinum Nec non dans vinea vinum These things you may at Ely see The Lanterne Chapell of Saint Marie A Winde-mill mounted up on hie A Vine-yard yeelding Wine yeerely As for Ely it selfe it is a small Cittie nor greatly to bee counted of either for beauty or frequency and resort as having an unwholsome Aire by reason of the Fens round about although it be seated somewhat higher Neere to it is Downham where the Bishop hath his retyring House with a Parke neere to Downham is Cowney the ancientest seat of the Family surnamed for their habitation heere L'isle and De Insula and first planted here by Nigellus the second Bishop of Ely their Allies in the time of King Henry the First as is set downe in a Lieger Booke of Ely Chateries or Cheaterich is not farre hence Westward were Alwena a devout woman founded a Nunnery upon a coppid ground encompassed with Fens while her husband founded Ramsey But higher Northward amidst the Fennes there stood another Abbay of very great name called Thorney of thornes and bushes that grow thicke about it but in times past Ankerige of Ankers or Eremites living there solitarily where as we finde in Peterborough booke Sexvulph a devout and religious man built a Monastery with little Cels for Eremits Which being afterwards by the Danes throwne downe Aetbelwold Bishop of Winchester that he might promote the Monasticall profession reedified stored it with Monkes and compassed it round about with trees The place as writeth William of Malmesbury Representeth a very Paradise for that in pleasure and delight it resembleth Heaven it selfe in the very Marishes bearing Trees that for their streight talnesse and the same without knots strive to touch the Stars a Plaine is there as even as the Sea which with greene grasse allureth the eye so smooth and level that if any walke along the fields they shall finde nothing to stumble at There is not the least parcell of ground that lies waste and void there Here shall you finde the earth rising somewhere for Apple trees there shall you have a field set with Vines which either creepe upon the ground or mount on high upon poles to support them A mutuall strife there is betweene nature and husbandry that what the one forgetteth the other might supply and produce What will be said of the faire and beautifull buildings which it is a wonder to see how the ground amid those Fens and Marishes so firme and sound doth beare with sure and stedfast foundations A wonderfull solitary place is there afforded to Monkes for quiet life that so much the more constantly settle their mindes upon Heavenly things for that they see men very seldome and so are they seene in their state more mortified and lower brought A wonder it is to have a Woman seene there if come men thither there is rejoycing as at so many Angels In a word I may truly say that this Island is an Hostell of Chastity an harbour of Honesty and a Schoole or Colledge of Divine Philosophie Touching Wisbich the Bishop of Elies Castle about 13. miles off situate among the fennes and rivers and made of late a prison to keepe the Papists in hold I have nothing else to say but that this towne together with Walepole was in old time given by the owner thereof unto the monastery of Ely what time as he consecrated Alwin his little son there to live a monkes life that King William the First built a Castle there when the outlawed Lords made rodes out of this fenny country and that in the yeere of our salvation 1236. when the Ocean being disquieted with violent windes for two dayes continually together had beaten upon the shore made an exceeding wide breach and overwhelmed both land and people But the Castle of bricke that now is seene there Iohn Morton Bishop of Ely built within the rememberance of our great grandfathers who also drew as streight as a line in this fenny country a ditch which they call the Newleame for better conveyance and carriage by water that by this meanes the towne being well frequented might gaine the more and grow to wealth Which fell out quite contrary For it standeth now in no great steed and the neighbour inhabitants complaine that the course of Nen into the Sea by Clowcrosse is by this meanes altogether hindred and stopped The first Earle of Cambridge that I can finde was William the brother of Ranulph Earle of Chester as wee read in a patent or instrument of Alexander Bishop of Lincolne bearing date in the yeere 1139. Afterwards those of the royall blood in Scotland that were Earles of Huntingdon wee may thinke to have beene Earles of Cambridge also For that it appeareth certainly out of the Records of the realme that David Earle of Huntingdon received the third penny of the County or Earledome of Cambridge Long time after King Edward the Third advanced Sir Iohn of Henault brother to William the third Earle of Holland and of Henault to this honour for the love of Queene Philip his wife who was cosin to the said Iohn For
whose sake also when Iohn was revolted from him and tooke part with the French hee honoured with the same title William Marquesse of Iuliers the said Queene Philips sisters son After the death of these two Forainers King Edward the Third translated this dignity to his fifth sonne Edmund of Langley which after he had held foure yeeres my warrant I have out of an old manuscript being in the hands of that skilfull Antiquary Francis Thinn the Earle of Henault cosin to Queene Philip came into Parliament house put in a claime for his right and returned backe well contented The said Edmund of Langly afterwards Duke of Yorke had two sonnes Edward Duke of Yorke who for a certaine time held the Earldome of Cambridge and was slaine in the battell of Agin-court and Richard by the grace and favour of King Henry the Fifth and consent of his brother Edward was created Earle of Cambridge But when he ungratefull and ambitious man that hee was contrived the destruction of that good and noble Prince and so lost his head the title of Cambridge died the same day that he did or lurked at least wise among other titles of his sonne Richard who was afterwards Duke of Yorke and restored to his blood and estate as being cosin and heire to his Unkle Edward Duke of Yorke This Shire containeth Parishes 163. HVNTINGDON Comitatus qui pars fuir ICENORVM HUNTINGDON-SHIRE NExt unto Cambridge-shire lyeth HUNTINGDON-SHIRE in the Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã so situate that Southward it confineth upon Bedford-shire Westward upon Northamptonshire like as Northwards where by the River Avon it is parted and Eastward upon Cambridge-shire a Country good for corne and tillage and toward the East where it is fenny very rich and plentifull for the feeding of Cattaile elsewhere right pleasant by reason of rising hils and shady groves For the Inhabitants report that in ancient times it was throughout beset with woods and certaine it is that it was a Forest untill that king Henry the Second in the beginning of his raign disforested it as we find in an old perambulation all save Waybridge Sapple and Herthei which were Woods of the Lords demaine and remaine still forests The South part thereof the River Ouse that I have so often spoken of runneth by and bedecketh with flowers On which River among other of lesse note there stand some Townes of good note First after it hath left Bedford-shire and is entred into this County it visiteth Saint Neots commonly called Saint Needs so named of one Neotus a man both learned and holy who travailed all his life time in propagating of Christian Religion whose body was translated from Neotstok in Cornwall hither and in honour of him Alfrick converted the Palace of Earle Elfride unto a Monastery The which Dame Roisia Wife to Richard Lord of Clare shortly after the comming in of the Normas enriched with many faire Possessions But before it was named Ainulphsbury of one Ainulph likewise an holy and devout man which name continueth still also in one part of it A little beneath this at Aileweston a very small Village there are two little Springs the one fresh the other somewhat brackish of which the neighbours give out that this is good against scabs and leprosie the other against the dimnesse of the eye-sight From thence not farre Ouse passeth to Bugden a proper faire house of the Bishops of Lincolne and so by Hinchingbrok a religious house sometimes of Nuns whom King William the Conquerour translated hither from Eltesley in Cambridge-shire and now the dwelling house of the Cromwels knights commeth to Huntingdon in the English-Saxon tongue as Marianus reporteth ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the publique seale Huntersdune that is the hill or downe of hunters as Henry Archdeacon of this place who flourished 400. yeares since interpreteth it whence it used in their seale an hunter and Leland our Countriman alluding thereunto hath coined a new Latine word for it namely Venantodunum This is the chiefe Towne of all this Shire to which it hath given also the name farre excelling all the Townes about it the same Archdeacon saith as well for lightsome and pleasant situation as for the beauty and faire shew that it hath it selfe as well also for the vicinity of the Fennes as for great store of Deere and Fish In King Edward the Confessors time that I may note so much out of Domesday booke There were in this Borrough foure Ferlings that is Quarters or Wards In two of them were 116. Burgesses paying custome and gelt and under them 100. Bordarij in the other two 111. Burgesses for all customes and the Kings gelt It is seated upon the North-banke of Ouse somewhat high stretching out in length Northward adorned with foure Churches and it had a little Abbay founded by Maude the Empresse and Eustace Lovetoft the ruines whereof Eastward I have seene hard under the Towne By the River neere unto the Bridge which is faire built of stone the Mount and Plot of a Castle is to bee seene which in the yeare of our Redemption 917. King Edward the Elder built anew and David the Scotishman unto whom as an ancient Historiographer writeth King Stephen had given the Burrough of Huntingdon for an augmentation of his estate enlarged with many new buildings and Bulwarkes but in the end King Henry the Second both because it was a place of refuge for seditious Rebels and for that the Scots and the Saint Lizes had oftentimes raised quarrels and contention about it to cut off all occasions of strife laid it even with the ground when as hee provoked with their unreasonable variance swore an oath that neither they of Saint Lizes nor the Scottishmen should quarrell any more for it From these Castle hils where there is a goodly prospect a great way off a man may behold below a medow which they call Portsholme environed round about with the River Ouse the same very exceeding large and of all others that the Sunne ever shone upon most fresh and beautifull whereof in the Spring time this may be truly said Ver pingit vario gemmantia prata colore The pleasant Spring faire flowers doe yeeld Of divers colours in this field With such a delectable variety of gaye colours it pleaseth and contenteth the eye On the hither banke over against Huntingdon standeth the mother as it were thereof from whence it had his Originall called in Domesday booke Godmundcester and at this day Good-man-chester for Gormonchester A very great country Towne and of as great name for tillage situate in an open ground of a light mould and bending to the Sun Neither is there a Towne againe in all England that hath more stout and lusty husbandmen or more ploughs agoing For they make their boast that they have in former time received the Kings of England as they passed in their progresse this way with nine score ploughs brought forth in a rusticall kind
the eldest Daughter and hee built Saint Andrewes Church and the Castle at Northampton After him succeeded his sonne Simon the second who a long time was in suite about his mothers possessions with David King of Scots his mothers second husband and having sided with King Stephen in the yeere of our Lord 1152. departed this life with this testimoniall that went of him A Youth full fraught with all unlawfull wickednesse and as full of all unseemely lewdnesse His sonne Simon the third having gone to law with the Scots for his right to the Earldome of Huntingdon wasted all his estate and through the gracious goodnesse of King Henry the Second married the Daughter and Heire of Gilbert de Gaunt Earle of Lincolne and in the end having recovered the Earledome of Huntingdon and disseized the Scots dyed childelesse in the yeare 1185. Whereas some have lately set downe Sir Richard Gobion to have beene Earle of Northampton afterward I finde no warrant thereof either in Record or History Onely I finde that Sir Hugh Gobion was a Ringleader in that rebellious rable which held Northampton against king Henry the Third and that the inheritance of his house came shortly after by marriage to Butler of Woodhall and Turpin c. But this is most certaine that King Edward the Third created William de Bohun a man of approved valour Earle of Northampton and when his elder brother Humfrey de Bohun Earle of Hereford and of Essex High Constable also of England was not sufficient in that warlike age to beare that charge of the Constable he made him also High Constable of England After him his sonne Humfrey succeeding in the Earledome of Northampton as also in the Earledomes of Hereford and of Essex for that his Unckle dyed with issue begat two Daughters the one bestowed in marriage upon Thomas of Woodstocke the youngest sonne of King Edward the Third the other upon Henry of Lancaster Duke of Hereford who afterwards attained to the Crowne by the name of King Henry the Fourth The Daughter of the said Thomas of Woodstocke brought by her marriage this Title of Northampton with others into the Family of the Staffords But when they afterwards had lost their honours and dignities King Edward the Sixth honoured Sir William Parr Earle of Essex a most accomplished Courtier with the Title of Marquesse of Northampton who within our remembrance ended this life issuelesse And while I was writing and perusing this Worke our most sacred Soveraigne King James in the yeere of our Salvation 1603. upon one and the same day advanced Lord Henry Howard brother to the last Duke of Norfolke a man of rare and excellent wit and sweet fluent eloquence singularly adorned also with the best sciences prudent in counsell and provident withall to the state of Baron Howard of Marnehill and the right honourable name title stile and Dignity of Earle of Northampton There belong unto this Shire Parishes 326. LECESTRIAE COMITATVS SIVE Leicestershyre PARS OLIM CORITANORVM LEICESTER-SHIRE ON the North side of Northampton-shire boundeth LEICESTER-SHIRE called in that Booke wherein William the Conquerour set downe his Survey of England Ledecester-shire a champian Country likewise throughout bearing corne in great plenty but for the most part without Woods It hath bordering upon it on the East side both Rutland-shire and Lincoln-shire on the North Nottingham and Derby-shires and Warwick-shire on the West For the high Rode way made by the Romanes called Watling-streat directly running along the West skirt separateth it from Warwick-shire and on the South side as I noted even now lyeth Northampton-shire Through the middle part thereof passeth the River Soar taking his way toward the Trent but over the East-part a little River called Wreke gently wandereth which at length findeth his way into the foresaid Soar On the South side where it is divided on the one hand with the River Avon the lesse and on the other with the River Welland we meet with nothing worth relation unlesse it be on Wellands banke whiles he is yet but small and newly come from his head with Haverburgh commonly called Harborrow a Towne most celebrate heereabout for a Faire of Cattaile there kept and as for Carleton as one would say the husband-mens Towne that is not farre from it wherein I wote not whether it be worth the relating all in manner that are borne whether it bee by a peculiar property of the Soile or the water or else by some other secret operation of nature have an ill favoured untunable and harsh manner of speech fetching their words with very much adoe deepe from out of the throat with a certaine kinde of wharling That Romane streete way aforesaid the causey whereof being in some other places quite worne and eaten away heere most evidently sheweth itselfe passeth on directly as it were by a streight line Northward through the West side of this Province The very tract of which street I my selfe diligently traced and followed even from the Tamis to Wales purposely to seeke out Townes of ancient memory laugh you will perhaps at this my painfull and expencefull diligence as vainly curious neither could I repose my trust upon a more faithfull guide for the finding out of those said townes which Antonine the Emperour specifieth in his Itinerary This Street-way being past Dowbridge where it leaveth Northampton-shire behinde it is interrupted first with the River Swift that is indeed but slow although the name import swiftnesse which it maketh good onely in the Winter moneths The Bridge over it now called Bransford and Bensford Bridge which heere conjoyned in times past this way having been of long time broken downe hath beene the cause that so famous a way for a great while was the lesse frequented but now at the common charge of the country it is repaired Upon this way lyeth of the one side Westward Cester-Over but it is in Warwick-shire a place worth the naming were it but in regard of the Lord thereof Sir Foulke Grevill a right worshipfull and worthy knight although the very name it selfe may witnesse the antiquity for our ancestours added this word Cester to no other places but only cities On the other side of the way Eastward hard by water Swift which springeth neere Knaptoft the seat of the Turpins a knightly house descended from an heire of the Gobions lieth Misterton belonging to the ancient family of the Poulteneis who tooke that name of Poulteney a place now decaied within the said Lordship Neere to it is Lutterworth a Mercate Towne the possession in times past of the Verdons which onely sheweth a faire Church which hath beene encreased by the Feldings of knights degree and ancient gentry in this Shire That famous John Wickliffe was sometime Parson of this Church a man of a singular polite and well wrought wit most conversant also in the holy Scripture who for that he had sharpened the neb of his pen against the Popes authority the Church
in British called Castle Hean that is The Old Castle and in English The Old Towne A poore small Village now but this new name is a good proofe for the antiquity thereof for in both tongues it soundeth as much as an Old Castle or towne Next unto this Old Towne Alterynnis lieth in manner of a River-Island insulated within waters the seat in old time of that ancient family of the Sitsilts or Cecils knights whence my right honourable Patron accomplished with all the ornaments of vertue wisdome and Nobility Sir William Cecil Baron of Burghley and Lord high Treasurer of England derived his descent From hence Munow turning Eastward for a good space separateth this Country from Monmouth-shire and at Castle Map-harald or Harold Ewias is encreased with the River Dor. This Ewias Castle that I may speake out of K. William the First his Booke was repaired by Alured of Marleberg Afterwards it pertained to one Harold a Gentleman who in a Shield argent bare a Fesse Geules betweene three Estoiles Sable for his Armes of whom it beganne to bee called Harold Ewias but Sibyll his niece in the second degree and one of the heires by her marriage transferred it to the Lords of Tregoz froÌ whom it came at length to the Lords of Grandison descended out of Burgundie But of them elsewhere Now the said Dor which running downe froÌ the North by Snodhill a Castle and the Barony sometime of Robert Chandos where is a quary of excellent marble cutteth through the midst of the Vale which of the River the Britans call Diffrin Dore but the Englishmen that they might seeme to expresse the force of that word termed it the Gilden Vale which name it may by good right and justly have for the golden wealthy and pleasant fertility thereof For the hils that compasse it in on both sides are clad with woods under the woods lie corne fields on either hand and under those fields most gay and gallant medowes then runneth in the midst between them a most cleere and crystall River on which Robert Lord of Ewias placed a faire Monastery wherein most of the Nobility and Gentry of these parts were interred Part of this shire which from this Vale declineth and bendeth Eastward is now called Irchenfeld in Domesday Booke Archenfeld which as our Historians write was layed wast with fire and sword by the Danes in the yeere 715. at what time Camalac also a Britan Bishop was carried away prisoner In this part stood Kilpeck a Castle of great name and the seat it was of the noble Family of the Kilpecks who were as some say the Champions to the Kings of England in the first age of the Normans And I my selfe also will easily assent unto them In the Raigne of Edward the First there dwelt heere Sir Robert Wallerond whose nephew Alane Plugenet lived in the honourable state of a Baron In this Archenfeld likewise as wee reade in Domesday booke certaine revenewes by an old custome were assigned to one or two Priests on this condition that they should goe in Embassages for the Kings of England into Wales and to use the words out of the same booke The men of Archenfeld whensoever the Army marcheth forward against the enemy by a custome make the Avantgard and in the returne homeward the Rereward As Munow runneth along the lower part of this shire so Wy with a bending course cutteth over the middest upon which River in the very West limit Clifford Castle standeth which William Fitz Osborn Earle of Hereford built upon his owne West as it is in King William the Conquerours booke but Raulph de Todenay held it Afterward it seemeth to have come unto Walter the sonne of Richard Fitz Punt a Norman for he was sirnamed De Clifford and from him the right honorable family of the Earles of Cumberland doe truly deduce their descent But in the daies of King Edward the First John Giffard who married the heire of Walter L. Clifford had it in his hands Then Wy with a crooked and winding streame rolleth downe by Whitney which hath given name to a worshipfull Family and by Bradwardin Castle which gave both originall and name to that famous Thomas Bradwardin Archbishop of Canterbury who for his variety of knowledge and profound learning was in that age tearmed The Profound Doctour and so at length commeth to Hereford the head City of this Country How farre that little Region Archenfeld reached I know not but the affinity betweene these names Ereinuc Archenfeld the towne ARICONIUM of which Antonine in the description of this Tract maketh mention and Hareford or Hereford which now is the chiefe City of the Shire have by little and little induced mee to this opinion that I thinke every one of these was derived from ARICONIUM Yet doe I not thinke that Ariconium and Hereford were both one and the same but like as Basil in Germany chalenged unto it the name of Augusta Rauracorum and Baldach in Assyria the name of Babylon âor that as one had originall from the ruines of Babylon so the other from the ruines of Augusta even so this Hariford of ours for so the common people call it derived both name and beginning in mine opinion from his neighbour old ARICONIUM which hath at this day no shape or shew at all of a Towne as having beene by report shaken to peeces with earthquake Onely it reteineth still a shadow of the name being called Kenchester and sheweth to the beholders some ruines of walles which they tearme Kenchester walles about which are often digged up foure square paving stones of Checker worke British-brickes peeces of Romane money and other such like remaines of Antiquity But Hereford her daughter which more expressly resembleth the name thereof standeth Eastward scarce three Italian miles from it seated among most pleasant medowes and as plentifull corne fields compassed almost round about with Rivers on the North side and on the West with one that hath no name on the South side with Wy thath hastneth hither out of Wales It is thought to have shewed her head first what time as the Saxons Heptarchie was in the flower and prime built as some write by King Edward the Elder neither is there as farre as I have read any memory thereof more ancient For the Britans before the name of Hereford was knowne called the place Tresawith of Beech trees and Hereford of an Old way and the Saxons themselves ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ferns The greatest encrease if I be not deceived that it had came by Religion and by the Martyrdome of Ethelbert King of the East England Who when he wooed himselfe the daughter of Offa K. of the Mercians was villanously forlaid and murdered by the procurement of Quendred Offaes wife respecting more the countries of the East England than the honest and honorable match of her daughter which Ethelbert being registred in
will in short space be covered over with a stony barke and turne into stone as it hath beene often observed In the Territory there by Liquirice groweth in great abundance and a yellower and softer kinde of marle is there found passing good to make the ground fertile The Keeper or chiefe Ranger of the Forest adjoyning was in times past one Gamell whose posterity of their habitation at Screven assumed the name of Screven and from them descended the Slingsbey who received this Forestership of king Edward the First and to this day live here in great and good regard Nid having passed by these places not farre from Allerton the seat of a very ancient and famous family of the Malliveries who in old Deeds and Records are called Mali Leporarij goeth on a little way and then meeting Ouse augmenteth the streame of Ouse by his confluence As for Vre he also springing out of these Westerne hilles but on the other side of the Country in North-Ricding when by this name he hath watered the North part of the Shire a little before he commeth to Rippon serveth for the limite dividing the North and West Ridings one from another This Rippon in the Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã being placed betweene Vre and Skell a rill is beholden to religious Houses for all the dignity it had and especially to a Monastery built in the primitive Church of the English-Saxons by Wilfride Archbishop of Yorke and that with such arched and embowed Vaults with such floorings and stories of stone-worke with such turnings and windings in and out of Galleries so saith William of Malmesbury that it was wonderfull Which the Danes afterward being so violent and outrageous that they spared neither God nor man raced together with the Towne Yet flourished it againe repaired by meanes of Odo Archbishop of Canterbury who being a very great master of ceremoniall mysteries translated from hence to Canterbury the Reliques of Wilfride But since the Normans arrivall it prospered most when the Castles as one saith of Monkes beganne to bee built in greater number For then both the Towne grew famous partly under the chiefe Magistrate whom they call by an old Saxon word Wakeman as one would say Watchman and partly by their industry in clothing which at this day is much diminished and the Monastery likewise under the tuition and protection of the Archbishops of Yorke beganne marveilously to reflourish Besides a very faire Church was there also built at the charitable charges of the Noblemen and Gentry dwelling thereabout and of their owne Treasurer which with three high Spire-steeples doth welcome those that come to the towne and did as it were emulate in workemanship the wealthy Abbay of Fountaines built within the sight of it by Thurstin Archbishop of Yorke On the one side of this Church wee saw a little College of âinging men which Henry Bath Archbishop of Yorke erected on the other side a very great mount of earth called Hilshow cast up as they report by the Danes Within the Church Saint Wilfrides Needle was in our Grandfathers remembrance very famous A narrow hole this was in the Crowdes or close vaulted roome under the ground whereby womens honesty was tried For such as were chast did easily passe through but as many as had plaied false were miraculously I know not how held fast and could not creepe through The Abbay Fountaines aforesaid most pleasantly seated in a right plentifull Country and having Lead mines neere it had the originall from twelve precise Monkes of Yorke who fervently zealous to serve God in a more strict kinde of life forsooke their cloistures and addicted themselves to the ordinances of Saint Bernard For whom after they had reaped many Harvests of troubles Thurstine Archbishop of Yorke built this Abbay which was acknowledged an immediate daughter of Clarevalle and in a few yeeres became a mother to many others as Kirkstall Salley Meaux c. I have made more willingly mention of these because Saint Bernard in his Epistles so highly approved their life and discipline Not farre beneath there standeth by Vre a little Towne called Burrow bridge of the bridge that is made over the River which now is built very high and faire of stone worke but in King Edward the Second his time it seemeth to have beene of wood For wee reade that when the Nobles of England disquieted the King and troubled the State Humfrey Bohun Earle of Hereford in his going over it was at a chinke thereof thrust through the body about his groine by a souldier lying close under the Bridge Neere unto this Bridge Westward we saw in three divers little fields foure huge stones of Pyramidall forme but very rudely wrought set as it were in a streight and direct line The two Pyramides in the middest whereof the one was lately pulled downe by some that hoped though in vaine to finde treasure did almost touch one another the uttermore stand not farre off yet almost in equall distance from these on both sides Of these I have nothing else to say but that I am of opinion with some that they were Monuments of victory erected by the Romanes hard by the High Street that went this way For I willingly overpasse the fables of the common people who call them the Devils Bolts which they shot at ancient Cities and therewith overthrew them Yet will not I passe over this that very many and those learned men thinke they are not made of naturall stone indeed but compounded of pure sand lime vitriol whereof also they say there be certaine small graines within and some unctuous matter Of such a kinde there were in Rome cisternes so firmely compact of very strong lime and sand as Plinie writeth that they seemed to be naturall stones A little Eastward from this Bridge IS-URIUM BRIGANTUM an ancient City so called of the River Vre running by it flourished in ancient times but was rased to the very ground many ages past Neverthelesse the Village risen up neere the place giveth testimony of the Antiquity thereof for it is called Ealdburgh and Aldborrow But in that very plot of ground where the said City stood are now arable grounds and pastures so that scarce any footing thereof doth appeare Surely the very credite of Writers should have had much adoe to make us beleeve that this had beene IS-URIUM but that URE the Rivers name the Romane Coine daily digged up and the distance according to Antonines account betwixt this and Yorke warranted it For by that Vre which the Saxons afterward named Ouse because it hath entertained Ousburne a little River is gone sixteene Italian miles from hence hee runneth through the City EBORACUM or EBURACUM which Ptolomee in the second booke of his Great Construction calleth BRIGANTIUM if the said booke bee not corrupted because it was the chiefe City of the Brigantes Ninnius calleth it Caer Ebrauc the Britans Caer Effroc the Saxons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
that Towne where the King used to lye which Bede saith was situate neere unto the River Doroventio In which as hee also writeth Eumer that murderous Villaine thrust at Edwin King of Northumberland with a sword and had runne him through but that one of his men stepped betweene and saved the Kings life with the losse of his owne Yet could I never have said precisely which was the very place had not that most judicious Robert Marshall given me a light thereof For he gave me to understand that just at the very same distance from Yorke which I spake of there stands hard upon the River Darwent a little Towne named Auldby that is if you interprete the Saxon word The old Habitation where are extant yet in sight some tokens of Antiquity and upon a very high Hill neere unto the River the rubbish of an ancient Fortification so that it cannot chuse but to have beene the said City Derventio From hence glideth the River hard under Stanford-Bridge which also of the battaile there fought is called Battlebridge For at that Bridge Harald King of England after a great execution done upon the Danes flew in a pight field Harald Hardread King of Norway who with a Fleet of 200. saile grievously annoyed the Isle of Britaine and was now landed at Richall spoiling and wasting all in his way The King of England who having the honour of the field found among the spoiles such a masse of Gold as that twelve lusty young men had much adoe to carry it on their backes as Adam Bremensis recordeth This field was foughten scarce nine dayes before the arrivall of William Conquerour what time the dissolute and roiotous life of the Englishmen seemed to foretell their imminent overthrow and destruction But of this I have spoken before Derwent which when it is encreased with raine and as it were provoked to anger doth oftentimes contemne his bankes and surround the medowes lying about it passing from hence by Wreshil a proper and a strong Castle which Sir Thomas Percy Earle of Worcester built runneth amaine under Babthorpe which yeeldeth both name and habitation to a worshipfull Family of Knights degree and so at length dischargeth himselfe into Ouse Out of this stocke it was for let us not thinke much to tell of those who performed faithfull service to their Prince and Country that both father and sonne fighting together under the banner of King Henry the Sixth lost their lives in the Battaile of Saint Albans and were there buryed together with this Epitaph Cum patre Radulpho Babthorp jacet ecce Radulphus Filius hoc duro marmore pressus humo Henrici Sexti dapifer pater Armiger ejus Mors satis id docuit fidus uterque fuit c. Behold where two Raulph Babthorps both the sonne and father lye Under a stone of marble hard interr'd in this mould dry To Henry the Sixth the father Squire the Sonne he Sewer was Both true to Prince and for his sake they both their life did passe And now Ouse by this time carrying a fuller streame runneth neere Howden a Mercate Towne famous not so much for any beauty in it or great resort thereto as because it hath given name to a little Territory adjoyning called of it Howdenshire and had therein not long since a prety Collegiat Church of five Prebendaries unto which joyneth the Bishops house of Durrham who have great lands thereabout One of which namely Walter Skirlaw who flourished about the yeere of our Lord 1390. as we reade in the booke of Durrham built a very great and large steeple to this Church that if there happened by chance any inundation it might serve the inhabitants for a place of refuge to save themselves in And not farre from hence stands Metham which gave both sirname and habitation also to the ancient house of the Methams Now the River Ouse being very broad swift and roring besides out powreth his streame into the Frith or salt water ABUS For so calleth Ptolomee that arme of the Sea which the English Saxons and we tearme Humber whereof also the Country beyond it by a generall name was called Northumberland Both these names may seeme to have beene drawne with some little change from the British word Aber which among them signifieth the mouth of a River and I would thinke it was imposed upon this River by way of excellency because Ure or Ouse having entertained and lodged many Rivers carryeth them all with him along into this yea and other Rivers of right great name are emptied into it And verily it is one of the broadest armes of the sea and best stored with fish in all Britaine It riseth high as the Ocean at every tide floweth and when the same ebbeth and returneth backe it carryeth his owne streame and the currant of the Sea together most forcibly and with a mighty noise not without great danger of such as saile therein whence Necham writeth thus of it Fluctibus aequoreis nautis suspectior Humber Dedignans Urbes visere rura colit More fear'd of shipmen Humber streame than waves of sea so deepe Disdaining cities great to see neere country townes doth keepe And following the British History as if it had beene so called of a King of the Hunnes he addeth this moreover Hunnorum princeps ostendens terga Locrino Submersus nomen contulit Humbris aquae A Prince of Hunnes whiles that he shew'd his backe to Locrine brave Was drowned heere and so the name to Humber water gave Touching whom another Poet also Dum fugit obstat ei flumen submergitur illic Dèque suo tribuit nomine nomen aquae Whiles he turn'd backe and tooke his flight the River stopt the same There drown'd was he and then of him the water tooke the name Neither were there indeed any Cities seene to stand by this Arme of the Sea in Nechams daies but before and after there flourished one or two Cities in these places Under the Roman Empire not farre from the banke by Foulnesse a River of small account where Wighton a little Towne of Husbandry well inhabited is now seene stood as we may well thinke in old time DELGOVITIA and that I may not take hold of the distance from DERVENTIO for a proofe both the resemblance and the signification also of the name doe concurre For Delgwe in the British tongue signifieth The Statues or Images of the Heathen Gods and in a small Village adjoyning to this little Towne there was a Temple of Idols even in the Saxons time of exceeding great name and request which of those Heathen gods was then termed Godmundingham and now is called in the same sense Godmanham Neither doubt I but that even when the Britans flourished it was some famous Oracle much frequented when superstition spread and swaying among all Nations had wholly possessed the weake mindes of ignorant people But when Paulinus preached Christ unto Northumberland men Coy-fi who had beene a Pontife or
fortune to escape it selfe This was called The battaile of the Standard because the English keeping themselves close together about the standard received the first onset and shock of the Scotish endured it and at length put them to flight And this Standard as I have seene it pictured in ancient bookes was a mighty huge chariot supported with wheeles wherein was set a pole of a great height in manner of a mast and upon the very top thereof stood a crosse to bee seene and under the crosse hung a banner This when it was advanced was a token that every one should prepare himselfe to fight and it was reputed as an holy and sacred altar that each man was to defend with all power possible resembling the same for al the world that Carrocium of the Italians which might never be brought abroad but in the greatest extremitie and danger of the whole state Within this litle shire also Threske commonly called Thruske is worth to bee mentioned which had sometime a most strong Castle out of which Roger Mowbray displaied his banner of rebellion and called in the king of Scots to the overthrow of his owne native Country what time as King Henry the Second had rashly and inconsiderately digged as it were his owne grave by investing his sonne King in equall authority with himselfe But this rebellion was in the end quenched with bloud and this Castle quite dismantled so that beside a ditch and rampire I could see nothing there of a Castle Another firebrand also of rebellion flamed out heere in the Raigne of Henry the Seventh For when the unruly Commons tooke it most grievously that a light subsidie granted by the States of the Kingdome in Parliament was exacted of them and had driven away the Collectors thereof forthwith as it is commonly seene that Rashnesse speeding once well can never keepe a meane nor make an end they violently set upon Henry Percie Earle of Northumberland who was Lieutenant of these parts and slew him in this place and having John Egremond to be their leader tooke armes against their Country and their Prince but a few daies after they felt the smart of their lawlesse insolency grievously and justly as they had deserved Heere hard by are Soureby and Brakenbake belonging to a very ancient and right worshipfull family of the Lâscelles also more Southward Sezay sometime of the Darels from whence a great family branched and afterwards the Dawnies who for a long time flourished heere maintaining the degree and dignity of Knights right worthily The first and onely Earle of Yorke after William Mallet and one or two Estotevils of the Norman bloud who they say were Sheriffes by inheritance was Otho son to Henry Leo Duke of Bavar and Saxony by Maude the daughter of Henry the Second King of England who was afterwards proclaimed Emperour and stiled by the name of Otho the fourth From whose brother William another sonne of Maud are descended the Dukes of Brunswicke and Luneburgh in Germanie who for a token of this their kinred with the Kings of England give the same Armes that the first Kings of England of Norman bloud bare to wit two Leopards or Lions Or in a shield Gueles Long after King Richard the Second created Edmund of Langley fifth sonne of King Edward the Third Duke of Yorke who by a second daughter of Peter King of Castile and of Leon had two sonnes Edward the eldest in his fathers life time was first Earle of Cambridge afterwards Duke of Aumarle and in the end Duke of Yorke who manfully fighting in the battaile at Agincourt in France lost his life leaving no children and Richard his second sonne Earle of Cambridge who having marryed Anne sister of Edmund Mortimer whose grandmother likewise was the onely daughter of Leonell Duke of Clarence and practising to advance Edmund his wives brother to the royall dignity was streightwaies intercepted and beheaded as if hee had beene corrupted by the French to destroy King Henry the Fifth Sixteene yeeres after his sonne Richard was restored in bloud through the exceeding but unadvised favour of King Henry the Sixth as being sonne to Richard Earle of Cambridge brother to Edward Duke of Yorke and cozin also to Edmund Earle of March. And now being Duke of Yorke Earle of March and of Vlster Lord of Wigmore Clare Trim and Conaght hee bare himselfe so lofty that shortly hee made claime openly in Parliament against King Henry the Sixth as in his owne right for the Crowne which he had closely affected by indirect courses before in making complaints of the misgovernment of the State spreading seditious rumours scattering Libels abroad complotting secret Conspiracies and stirring up tumults yea and open Warres laying downe his Title thus as being the sonne of Anne Mortimer who came of Philip the daughter and sole heire of Leonel Duke of Clarence third sonne of King Edward the Third and therefore to be preferred by very good right in succession of the Kingdome before the children of John of Gaunt the fourth sonne of the said Edward the Third And when answere was made unto him that the Nobles of the Realme and the Duke himselfe had sworne Alleageance unto the King that the Kingdome by authority of Parliament had beene conferred and entailed upon Henry the Fourth and his heires that the Duke claiming his Title from the Duke of Clarence never tooke upon him the Armes of the Duke of Clarence that Henry the Fourth held the Crowne in right from King Henry the Third hee easily avoyded all these allegations namely that the said oath unto the King taken by mans law was in no wise to bee performed when as it tended to the suppression of the truth and right which stand by the Law of God That there was no need of Parliamentary authority to entaile the Crowne and Kingdome unto the Lancastrians neither would they themselves seeke for it so if they had stood upon any right thereunto As for the Armes of the Duke of Clarence which were his by right hee forbare of purpose to give them untill then like as hee did to claime his right to the Imperiall Crowne And as for the right or Title derived from king Henry the Third it was a meere ridiculous devise and manifest untruth to cloake the violent usurpation of Henry the Fourth and therefore condemned of all men Albeit these plees in the behalfe of the Duke of Yorke stood directly with law yet for remedy of imminent dangers the matter was ordered thus by the wisdome of the Parliament That Henry the Sixth should enjoy the right of the Kingdome for tearme of life onely and that Richard Duke of Yorke should be proclaimed heire apparant of the Kingdome he and his heires to succeed after him provided alwaies that neither of them should plot or practise ought to the destruction of the other Howbeit the Duke immediately was transported so headlong with ambition that hee went about to preoccupate and forestall
is such a fall but neerer unto Richmond where Swale rusheth rather than runneth as I have said with foaming waters meeting heere and there with rockes whereby his streame is interrupted and broken And wherefore should he call it the Towne neere unto Catarracta if there were not there a water-fall That it was in those daies a most famous City may be gathered out of Ptolomee because he tooke there an observation of the heavens position for in the second booke and 6. chapter of his Great Construction he describeth and setteth downe the 24. Parallele through Catarractonium in Britaine and maketh it to bee distant from the Aequator 57. degrees yet in his Geographicall Tables he defineth the longest day to be 18. Aequinoctiall houres so that by his owne calculation and account it is distant from the Aequator 58. degrees But at this day as said that Poet. Magnum nil nisi Nomen habet Nothing hath the same But onely a great name For it is but a small Village called Catarrick and Catarrick-bridge howbeit well knowne both by the situation thereof nere unto the High street way which the Romans made that here passeth over the river and also by the heapes of rubbish here and there dispersed which carry some shew of Antiquity especially about Kettercikswart and Burghale somewhat farther off from the Bridge and more Eastward hard by the river where we beheld a mighty Mount and foure Bulwarkes raised as it were with exceeding great labour up to a great height What sorrow it susteined in times past at the Picts and Saxons hands when with fire and sword they made foule havocke of all the Cities in Britaine I cannot certainly tell but it seemeth to have flourished after the Saxon Empire was established Although Bede in every place calleth it Vicum that is a Village untill that in the yeere 769. it was set on fire and burnt by Eanred or Beanred the Tyrant who pitifully mangled the Kingdome of Northumberland But both he streight after miserably perished by fire and Catarractoninum also beganne to revive againe out of the very ashes For in the 77. yeere after King Etheldred solemnized heere his marriage with the daughter of Offa King of the Mercians Notwithstanding it continued not long in good and flourishing estate for in that confusion immediately ensuing of the Danes who laied all waste it was quite destroied Swale driveth on with a long course not without some lets heere and there in his streame not farre from Hornby Castle belonging to the Family of Saint Quintin which afterwards came to the Cogniers and seeth nothing besides fresh pastures country houses and Villages unlesse it be Bedal standing by another River running into him which Bedal glorieth much of a Baron it had named Sir Brian Fitz-Alan who flourished in the daies of King Edward the First in regard of his worth and his ancient Nobility as descended from the Earles of Britaine and Richmond But for default of heires males the inheritance came by the daughters to Stapletons and the Greies of Rotherfeld By this time Swale having left Richmond-shire behinde commeth neerer unto Ure or Ouse where hee visiteth Topcliffe the chiefe seat of the Percies Marianus calleth it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who writeth that in the yeere of our Redemption 949. the States of Northumberland bound themselves there by an oath of Allegiance unto King Eldred the West-Saxon And at the very confluence of these Rivers standeth Mitton a small Village but remarkable by no small slaughter For the Scottish in the yeere 1319. when the pestilence had consumed in manner all the manhood of England having made an inrode thus farre robbing and ransacking all where they came soone discomfited and put to flight no small power of Priests and country people which the Archbishop of Yorke had led forth with banner displaied into the field But to returne backe againe to our matter From CATARACTONIUM the high street or Port way divided it selfe in twaine where it taketh Northward it leadeth by Caldwell and Aldburgh which betokeneth An old Burrough By what name it was knowne in ancient times I cannot easily guesse By the great ruines it should seeme to have beene some notable place and neere at hand there is seene a ditch by Stanwig a little Village that runneth eight miles in length betweene the River Tees and Swale Where the said High way goeth Northwestward about twelve miles off you meet with Bowes which also is written Bowgh now a little Village where in the ages aforegoing the Earles of Richmond had a prety Castelet a certaine custome called Thorough-toll and there Furcas i. power to hang. But that in old time it was called in Antonines Itinerary LAVATRAE and LEVATRAE both the account of distance and the site thereof by the High street which heere is evidently apparent by the ridge thereof doe easily prove But that which maketh much to confirme the antiquity of it is an ancient large Stone in the Church sometimes used by them for an altar stone with this inscription upon it to the honour of Hadrian the Emperour IMP. CAESARI DIVI TRAIANI PARTHICI Max. filio DIVI NERVAE NEPOTI TRAIANO Hadria NO AUG PONT MAXIM COS. I. P. P. COH IIII. F. IO. SEV This fragment also was there digged up NOL CAE FRONTINUS COH I. THRAC Whiles under Severus the Emperour Virius Lupus ruled as Lieutenant Generall and Propraetor of Britaine the first Cohort of the Thracians lay heere in Garison for whose sake he reedified the Bath or hote house as appeareth by this inscription which from hence hath beene translated to Cunnington unto the house of that right worshipfull and learned Sir Robert Cotton Knight DAE i. FORTUNAE VIRIUS LUPUS LEG AUG PR PR BALINEUM VI IGNIS EXUSTUM COH I. THRACUM RESTITUIT CURANTE VAL. FRONTONE PRAE F EQ ALAE VETTO Heere must I cause them to forgoe their errour who by this Inscription falsely copied forth whiles they read untruly BALINGIUM for BALINEUM are of opinion that the name of the place was BALINGIUM But if a man looke neerer to the words hee shall finde it most evidently engraven in the stone BALINEUM which word they used in old time as the learned know for BALNEUM that is A BATH or Hote-house who also are not ignorant that souldiers as well as others used ordinarily to bathe both for health and cleanlinesse as who every day before they did eate in that age were wont to bathe as also that such like bathing houses both publique and private were made every where with so great coste and superfluous excesse That he thought himselfe poore and a very begger who had not the walles of his bathing house resplendent with great and costly embossed Glasses In which Bathes men and women both washed one with another albeit this had oftentimes beene prohibited as well by the Imperiall lawes as the Synodall decrees In the declining estate of the Roman Empire the Company
Romane high-way goeth straight into the West by Whinfield a large Parke shaded with trees hard by BROVONIACUM standing twentie Italian miles or seventeene English miles from VERTERAE as Antonine hath set it who also hath called it Brovocum like as the book of Notices Broconiacum which specifieth that a companie or band of Defensors had here their abode The beautie and buildings of this towne although time hath consumed yet the name remaineth almost untouched for we call it Brogham Here the river Eimot flowing out of a great lake for a good space dividing this shire from Cumberland receiveth the river Loder into it neere unto the spring head whereof hard by Shape in times past Hepe a little monasterie built by Thomas the sonne of Gospatrick sonne of Orms there is a Well or Fountaine which after the manner of Euripus ebbeth and floweth many times in a day also there be huge stones in forme of Pyramides some 9. foot high and fourteene foot thick ranged directly as it were in a row for a mile in length with equall distance almost betweene which may seeme to have beene pitched and erected for to continue the memoriall of some act there atchieved but what the same was by the injurie of time it is quite forgotten Hard by Loder there is a place bearing the same name which like as Stricland neere unto it hath imparted their names to families of ancient gentrie and worship Somewhat above where Loder and Eimot meet in one chanell in the yeere of our Lord 1602. there was a stone gotten out of the ground erected in the honour of Constantine the Great with these words IMP. C. VAL. CONSTANTINO PIENT AUG When Eimot hath served a good while for a limit betweene this shire and Cumberland neere unto Isan-parles a rocke full well knowne unto the neighbour inhabitants whereunto nature hath left difficult passage and there framed sundry caves and thosefull of winding crankes a place of safe refuge in time of danger hee lodgeth himselfe after some few miles both with his owne streame and with the waters of other rivers also in Eden so soone as he hath entertained Blencarne a brook that boundeth this county on Cumberland side Neere unto which I have heard there be the strange ruines of an old Castle the people call them the hanging walls of Marcantoniby that is of Marke Antony as they would have it As for such as have borne the title of Westmorland the first Lord to my knowledge was Robert de Vipont who bare Guels sixe Annulets Or in his coat armour For King John gave unto him the balliwicke and revenues of Westmorland by the service of foure Knights whereupon the Cliffords his successors untill our daies held the office of the Sherifdome of Westmorland For Robert de Vipont the last of that name left behind him only two daughters Isabel wife to Roger Lord Clifford and Idonea married unto Sir Roger Leybourne Long time after K. Richard the second created Ralph Nevill of Raby the first Earle of Westmorland a man of the greatest and most ancient birth of English nobility as descended from Ucthred Earl of Northumberland whose heires successively by his former wife Margaret daughter to the Earle of Stafford flourished in that honour untill that Charles by his wilfull stomack and wicked conspiracy casting off his allegeance to Q. Elizabeth and covering treason under the mantle of religion most shamefully dishonoured that most noble house and foully steined his owne reputation by actuall rebellion in the yeere 1599. Whereupon hee fled into the Low countries led a miserable life and died as miserably The said first Earle to note so much incidently by his second wife Catharine daughter to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster had so faire issue and the name of Nevill thereby so greatly multiplied that almost at one and the same time there flourished out beside the Earle of Westmorland an Earle of Salisbury an Earle of Warwicke an Earle of Kent Marquesse Montacute a Duke of Bedford Lord Latimer and Lord Abergevenny all Nevils In this shire are conteined Parishes 26. CVMBRIA Sive CVMBERLANDIA Quae olim pars Brigantum CUMBER-LAND WEstward Northward from Westmorland lieth CUMBERLAND the utmost region this way of the realme of England as that which on the North side boundeth upon Scotland on the South side and the West the Irish sea beateth upon it and Eastward above Westmorland it butteth upon Northumberland It tooke the name of the inhabitants who were the true and naturall Britans and called themselves in their owne language Kumbri and Kambri For the Histories testifie that the Britans remained here a long time maugre the English Saxons howsoever they stormed thereat yea and Marianus himselfe recordeth as much who tearmed this countrey Cumbrorum terram that is Thâ land of the Cumbri or Britans to say nothing of the places that everie where here beare British names as Caer-Luel Caer-dronoc Pen-rith Pen-rodoc c. which most evidently declare the same and as cleerly prove mine assertion The country although it be somewhat with the coldest as lying farre North and seemeth as rough by reason of hills yet for the varietie thereof it smileth upon the beholders and giveth contentment to as many as travaile it For after the rockes bunching out the mountaines standing thicke together rich of metall mines and betweene them great meeres stored with all kindes of wilde foule you come to prettie hills good for pastorage and well replenished with flockes of sheepe beneath which againe you meet with goodly plaines spreading out a great way yeelding come sufficiently Besides all this the Ocean driving and dashing upon the shore affoordeth plentie of excellent good fish and upbraideth as it were the inhabitants thereabouts with their negligence for that they practise fishing no more than they doe The South part of this shire is called Copeland and Coupland for that it beareth up the head aloft with sharpe edged and pointed hills which the Britans tearme Copa or as others would have it named Copeland as one would say Coperland of rich mines of copper therein In this part at the very mouth of the river Duden whereby it is severed apart from Lancashire standeth Millum Castle belonging to the ancient house of the Hodlestones from whence as the shore fetcheth about with a bent Northward two rivers very commodiously enclose within them Ravenglasse a station or roade for ships where also as I have learned were to be âeene Roman inscriptions some will have it called in old time Aven-glasse as one would say the blew river and they talke much of King Eueling that here had his Court and royall palace One of these rivers named Eske springeth up at the foot of Hard-knot an high steepe mountaine in the top whereof were discovered of late huge stones and foundations of a castle not without great wonder considering it is so steep and upright that one can hardly ascend up to it
and doe still enjoy the same honour STRATH-NANERN THe utmost and farthest coast of all Britaine which with the front of the shore looketh full against the North point and hath the midst of the greater Beares taile which as Cardan was of opinion causeth translations of Empires just over head was inhabited as wee may see in Ptolomee by the CORNABII among whom he placeth the river NABEUS which names are of so neere affinitie that the nation may seeme to have drawne their denomination from the river that they dwelt by neither doth the moderne name Strath-Navera which signifieth the Valley by Navern jarre altogether in sound from them The country it selfe is for the soile nothing fertile and by reason of the sharpe and cold aire lesse inhabited and thereupon sore haunted and annoied with most cruell wolves Which in such violent rage not only set upon cattell to the exceeding great dammage of the inhabitants but also assaile men with great danger and not in this tract onely but in many other parts likewise of Scotland in so much as by vertue of an act of Parliament the Sheriffes and inhabitants in every countrey are commanded to goe forth thrice a yeere a hunting for to destroy the wolves and their whelpes But if in this so Northerly a countrey this be any comfort to speak of it hath of all Britain again the shortest night and the longest day For by reason of the position of heaven here distant from the Aequinoctiall line 59. degrees and fortie minutes the longest day containeth 18. houres and 25. scruples and the shortest night not above five houres and 45. scruples So that the Panegyrist is not true in this who made report in times past That the sunne in manner setteth not at all but passeth by and lightly glanceth upon the Horizon haply relying upon this authoritie of Tacitus for that the extreme points and plaine levels of the earth with their shade so low raised up no darknesse at all But more truely Plinie according to true reason where hee treateth of the longest dayes according to the inclination of the sunnes circle to the Horison The longest daies saith he in Italy are 15. houres in Britaine 17. where the light nights doe prove that undoubtedly by experience which reason forceth credibly that in Midsummer daies when the sunne approacheth neer to the Pole of the world the places of the earth under the Pole have day 6. months though the light having but a narrow compasse the night contrariwise when he is farre remote in middle winter In this utmost tract which Ptolomee extendeth out farre East whereas indeed it beareth full North for which Roger Bacon in his Geography taxed him long since where Tacitus said That an huge and enorme space of ground running still forward to the farthest point groweth narrow like a wedge There run out three Promontories mentioned by the old writers namely BERUBIUM now called Urdehead neere to Bernswale a village VIRVEDRUM now Dunsby otherwise named Duncansby which is thought to be the most remote promontorie of Britain ORCAS now named Howburn which Ptolomee setteth over against the Islands Orcades as the utmost of them all this also in Ptolomee is called TARVEDRUM and TARVISIUM and so named if my conjecture faile me not because it is the farthest end of Britaine for Tarvus in the British tongue hath a certaine signification of ending With which I accordingly will end this booke purposing to speake of the out-Isles Orcades Hebudes or Hebrides and of Shetland in their due place THus have I briefly run over Scotland and verily more briefly than the worth of so great a kingdom requireth neither doubt I but that some one or other will set it forth more at large and depaint it as I said with a more flourishing pensill in greater certainty and upon better knowledge when as our most mighty Monarch now openeth those remote places hitherto fore-closed from us Meane while if I have at any time dropt asleepe for the most watchfull may sometimes bee taken napping or if some errour in this unknowne tract hath misled mee from the truth as nothing is more rife and easie than errour I hope the courteous Reader will pardon it upon my acknowledgment and of his kindnesse recalling me from errour direct me in the right way to the truth HIBERNIAE IRELAND Anglis YVERDON BRITANNIS ERIN inâelis IERNA Orphaeo Arist. IRIS Diodoro Siculo IVVERNA Iuuelalj IOYERNIA Ptol. IRELAND AND THE SMALLER ILANDS IN THE BRITISH OCEAN THE BRITISH OCEAN NOw have I rather passed over than throughly surveied all BRITAIN namely those two most flourishing Kingdomes ENGLAND and SCOTLAND And whereas I am now to crosse the seas for IRELAND and the rest of the Isles if I premise some few lines touching the British sea I hope it shal not seem a crooked course or an extravagaÌt digression BRITAIN is encompassed round about with the vast open and main Ocean which ebbeth and floweth so violently with main tides that as Pytheas of Marsiles hath reported it swelleth 80. cubits about Britaine and St. Basile hath tearmed it Mare Magnum c. The great sea and dreadfull to Sailers yea and S. Ambrose wrote thus of it The great sea not adventured on by sailers nor attempted by Mariners is that which with a roaring and surging current environeth Britaine and reacheth into far remote parts and so hidden out of sight as that the fables have not yet come hither Certes this sea sometimes overfloweth the fields adjoining otherwhiles again it retireth leaveth all bare and that I may use the words of Plinie by reason of this open largenesse it feeleth more effectually the force and influence of the Moone exercising her power thereupon without impeachment and it floweth alwaies up within the land with such violence that it doth not onely drive back the streames of rivers but also either overtaketh and surpriseth beasts of the land or else leaveth behind it those of the sea For there have bin seen in everie age to the great astonishment of the beholders so many and so huge Seamonsters left on dry land on our shore that Horace sang this note not without good cause Belluosus qui remotis Obstrepit Oceanus Britannis The Ocean of sea-monsters fraight with store Upon the Britans farre remote doth roare And Juvenal in the like tune Quanto Delphino Balaena Britannica major As much as Whales full huge that use to breed In British Sea the Dolphins doe exceed And so great an adventure and exploit it was thought but to crosse only this our sea that Libanius the Grecian sophister in a Panegyâicall oration unto Constantinus Chlorus cried out in these words ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is This voiage into Britain seemed comparable to the greatest triumph And Julius Firmicus not that famous Astrologer but another that was a Christian in a little treatise of the errour of profane religions written unto the Emperours
inhabited it before Noahs flood Then that Bartholanus a Scythian came hither about three hundred yeeres after the said Noahs flood and fought right doughtie battels with giants That many yeeres after Nemethus a Scythian arrived here and forthwith was cast out by the Giants After this that Dela with certaine Grecians seized upon this Island and soone after that Gaothel with Scota his wife daughter to Pharaoh King of Egypt landed here and nominated after his wives name the Island Scotia and according to his owne name the language Gaothela and that about the time of the Israelites departure out of Egypt And the British historie reporteth how some few ages after Hiberus and Hermion Ever and Erimon the Irish writers terme them the sonnes of Milesius King of Spaine by the sufferance of Gurguntius King of the Britans planted colonies in this countrey after it had beene dispeopled by a pestilence My purpose is not either to averre these reports for true nor yet to refute them In such things as these let Antiquitie bee pardonable and enjoy a prerogative Surely as I doubt not but that this Island became inhabited even of old time when as man-kinde was spred over all quarters of the world so it is evident that the first inhabitants thereof passed thither out of our Britaine For to say nothing of an infinite number of British words in the Irish tongue together with the ancient names which favour of a British originall the natures of the people and their fashions as Tacitus saith differ not much from Britain of all ancient writers it is called A British Iland Diodorus Siculus termed Irin a part of Britaine and Ptolomee named the same BRITANNIA PARVA that is little Britaine as you may see if you list to compare his Geographickes with his book of Great Construction And the Epitome of Strabo calleth the inhabitants in plaine words BRITANS the old Geographers also named it The Britans Iland yea and Festus Aveienus sheweth this out of Dionysius Afer when he treateth of British Ilands in these verses Eminus hic aliae gelidi prope flabra Aquilonis Exuperant undas vasta cacumina tollunt Hae numero geminae pingues sola cespitis ampli Conditur occidui quà Rheni gurgitis unda Dira Britannorum sustentant agmina terris Here other Islands neere unto the chilling North winds blast The waves of sea surmount aloofe and shew their mountaines vast In number twaine their soile is fat their ground both large and wide What way the Western Rhene his gulfe and waters deepe doth hide These Lands fierce Britan troups maintaine and thereon they abide Neither is there any other countrey out of which by reason of the vicinitie they might passe over more commodiously into Ireland than out of Britaine from whence there is the like passage thither in respect of the space of sea betweene as is out of France into Britaine But afterwards when the Romanes had enlarged their Empire every way many there were no doubt who out of Spaine Gaule and Britaine withdrew themselves hither that they might shake off that intolerable yoke of the Romans slaverie Neither do some otherwise understand these words of Tacitus Ireland being situate in the middest betweene Spaine and Britanie lying also very fitly for the French sea would aptly have united to the great use advantage of the one and the other the strongest members of the Empire together the landing places and ports whereof by entercourse of trafficke were better known than those of Britain And albeit Iulius Agricola also kept with him a pettie King or Prince of Ireland who was driven thence by occasion of civill dissention that hee might have the more advantageous opportunitie thereby to invade the Island which he thought would be subdued and held with a legion and a small power of aide forces and was perswaded withall that the same would availe much for the affaires of Britaine in case the Roman forces were planted everie where and hope of libertie banished as it were farre out of sight yet wee read not that the Romans gave any attempt that way Notwithstanding some are verily perswaded that they assaied the conquest of it and doe gather the same hardly out of this place of Iuvenal Arma quid ultra Littora Iuvernae promovimus modò captas Orcadas minimâ contentos nocte Britannos Why warred we past Irish coasts and the Orkneis lately wonne Beyond the Britans eke that have least night and longest Sunne Yet the Panegyricall oration pronounced before Constantius the Emperour implieth that Ireland was under his government Britaine saith he is so recovered that even those nations also which join upon the coasts of the same Island are become subject and obedient unto your command Also we find written in the Chronicles of later historians that Ireland together with Britain and Thule at the division of the Empire fell unto Constantine the sonne of Constantine the Great And that very fond fable of Caesarea Noahs Niece carrieth before it the name of Caesars so as that therein may seeme covertly couched the comming of some Caesar into Ireland Howbeit I can hardly perswade my selfe to beleeve that this countrey at any time became subject to the Romans But a blessed and happie turne had it beene for Ireland if it had at any time beene under their subjection surely it had then beene reduced from barbarisme to civilitie For wheresoever the Romans were victors they brought them whom they conquered to civilitie neither verily in any place else throughout Europe was there any civilitie learning and elegance but where they ruled And very inconsiderately also they may seeme to have neglected this Island For from hence to the plague and spoile of Britaine brake out most dangerous enemies which Augustââ seemeth to have foreseene when he tooke so small care of Britaine for the danger which hee presaged to hover and approach from the nations round about adjoyning But when the Roman Empire began now to decay the nation of the Scots or Scythians for in times past as Strabo writeth all people Westward were tearmed Celto-Scythae grew mightie in Ireland and began to be renowned Furthermore under the Emperours Honorius and Arcadius it was inhabited by the Scottish nations as Orosius hath written Whereupon Claudian living in the same age wrote thus Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis Ierne Yce-frozen Ireland wept amaine To see the Scots on heaps lye slaine And in another place Totam cùm Scotus Hibernem Movit What time as Scots did make All Ireland armes to take For from hence it was that the Scots made their forcible invasions into Britaine and hither they were otherwhiles with great losses and overthrowes repulsed But whence they came into Ireland Ninnius a disciple of Elvodugus an author of good antiquitie shall enforme you by his own words who lived as himselfe witnesseth in the yeere 830. under Anaraugh King of Anglesey and Guineth or North-Wales For after he had related
The Saxons conquest Gildas The Saxons Manners Lib. 9 cap. 2. Originum The Saxons shores or coasts Comites littoris Saxonici * Sperabat for timebat * Baieux Saxones Baiocassini Lib. 8. Epist. ad Namantium * Ciuli * By hanging them indifferently one with another Lib. 2. Epist. 4â An horse the badge or cognisance of the Saxons These cerimonies Adam Bremensis ascribeth to the Saxons which Tacitus attributeth to the Suevians The Saxons Gods Wednesday Friday Tuesday * De temporibus Eoster a goddesse Herthus a goddesse Earth Thursday hath name from this Thor. * Ingenti Priapo A Monarchie alwaies in the Englishmens Heptarchie Lib. 2. cap. 5. â96 * Augustine the Englishmens Apostle Englishmen converted to the faith Lib. 2. cap. 1. * Englishmen * Hol-Deirââesse * Christ. The River Swale in York-shire Beda reporteth all this of Paulinus Archbishop of York and not of Augustine The Religion of the Englishmen The learning of Englishmen Britaine twice Schoole-mistris of France The flitting backe againe of Anglo-Saxons into Germanie England About the yeare 800. Theod. that is a Nation Epist. to Zacharie the Pope Porphyrius de Theolog. Phâ Ael âal c. Vlf. Ard Athel and Ethel Bert. Bald. Ken and Kin. Cuth Ead. Fred. Gisle Hold. Helm Hare and Here. Hild. Wiga Leod. Leof Mund. Rad Red and Rod. Ric. Sig. Stan. Wi. Willi. Wold The name of Britaine brought into use againe Da-hen Winccinga * Dââ The Religion of the Danes Hereupon peradventure we have our Thursday so called * Burnt offering Lib. 1. * Theophania The waste and spoile that the Danes made Dangelt * Or demame * Otherwise called Alured 1012. Cut in his coines The Danes afflicted England 200. yeares and reigne about 20. * Hardy-Knout Edward the Confessor * Of Canterbury Nordmanni Nord-lâudi Helââldus The booke of Sangall concerning the Acts of Charles the Great * Calvus * Crassus * Normandy Neustria * Rou. * The Foole. Bigod * Baptisme * Longa spata Dukes of Normandie * Domuâ regia Major * Or Tostre Normans 10â6 The Charter of William Conquerour The Historie of Saint Stephens Abbey at Cane in Normandie The Normans conquest * Hungarie A Comet Malcolm * Mil. Calumbus Filius Osberni * Andium * Pictonum * Cenomannorum * Bononiae * When daies and nights be of a length about the eleventh day of September * Durus Stanford bridge neere Yorke * 14. Octob. * Or heavie Axes Botescaâles The seale of William Conqueror * Normandy Domesday-booke * A Jurie of twelve * As touching the fact The warlike prowesse of the Normans Th. Fazel in the sixth book of the latter Decad. Chalcondilas In Pembroke shire Of consolation to Albina Nicephorus How countries are divided * Cap. 6. Britan Great and Small Britaine the Higher and the Lower Tripartite Britaine Dist. 80. cap. 1. * Chester Britaine in five parts Lib. 28. The Saxons Heptarchie or seven Kingdomes England divided into Shires or Counties * An Hide as some thinke is so much land as one plough can eare in one yeare as others thinke 4. yard-lands Aelfred he is named in pieces of Coine also Alured in our English Chronicles Hundreds Wapentaks Tithings and Lathes Leth. Shires The division of England according to the Lawes The manuscript booke of S. Edmund * Dâomesday booke Wales divided into Shires * or London 897. Math. Westmonast He flourished in the yeare 1070. * Mercia Sheriffe of the Shire Twelve men Justices of peace Justices of Assises England divided into Parishes Bishops Monasteries or Abbaies An hundred Priories of Monks Aliens King Henrie the Fift had dissolved before The King Bracton lib. 1. cap. 8. Seneca The Prince * Nobilis Caesar. * Caesar Nobilissimus * Dux Cornubiae natus * Lords A Duke * Dukes * Earles Sigonius Regni Italici lib. 5. Afterward a golden rod or verger was used Marquestes * An. 4. Henriâ 4. In paratitlis ad Codicem P. Pithaeus in Memorab Campaniae * An authenticall record of the Exchequer * or Maundevil Cincture of the sword * Penbrochiae in another place Count Palatine Pithaus Vicounts Barons In Parergis See Goldastus pag. 14. Lords About the yeere 580. Nâriots or Relevies Haply Mancusae that is 30. deniers Many Thanes in England in the Conquerours time Court-Barons Math. Paris pag. 1262. Baronage of England Bishops Barons Abbats Barons of the Parliament Matth. Paris Vavasors Signius Nobles of an inferiour ranke Knights Wherefore Knights be called in Latin Milites Solidarij Banerets * Fars 2. Pat. 15.8.3 m. 22. and 23. * Hominum ad vexillum * Hominum ad arma Knights of the Bathe Knights De moribus Germanorum Lib. 1. cap. 22. Epist. 94. * Beene dubbed Knight * Others say 100. * Complements * Ennoblishment * Nobilitationis * King or Queene * Priests In dorso Pat. 51. H. 3. Esquires * Esses Gentlemen Citizens Yeomen Parliament The Kings Court. Kings Bench. Common Pleas. Exchequer Iustices Itinerant Star-Chambe Court of ãâã Admirals Court Chancerie * Socratum that is the place of Judgement Epist. 6. lib. 11. Robert Fitz. Stephen who lived under Henry the Second Court of Requests Ecclesiasticall Courts See the Antiquitie of the British Church Court of the Arches Court of Audience Court of Faculties Vnder what Signe in heaven Britaine lieth The order or Method of the worke ensuing * Welch * Welchmen Ostidamnej Cossini Corn and Kern * Perâcopsca or Procopia * Bretaigne or Little Britaine Strabo Orewood Tinne Lib. 6. cap. 8. 9. * âo The Common wealth of Tinners L. Warden of the Stannary Cornish Diamonds Pilchards * Which peradventure be Gerres in Plinie Hurling Havillan in Architrenio Westerne people most strong and hardie * Tamer Those of the Tercieres â Bellerium or Antivestaeum Steort what iâ signifieth * Castellidi Lipantân * Mardi Mecha or the Red-sea * Mardi Mecha or the Red-sea S. Burien * Silly or Sorlings A Trophee Barons of Ticis * Marine Amber that is Ambrose stone S. Michaels mount Michelstow Laurence Noel Weapons of Brasse * Pyrrhecorax Cornish chough * A narrow passage betweene two creeks or armes of the Sea Mounts-bay Goldphin Hill The familie of the Godolphins Loo poole Menna Meneg Ocâânum The Liskard Voluba Falemouth * Brindiâ * Leland Pendinas Cenionis ostium Perin Glasnith Arwenak Carminow Rossiâ Lansladron In the time of Edward the First Foy The Mohuns Vzella Britans have not the letter â Vxellodunum in France How the havens in Cornwall come to be stopped up Leskerd Bodman The booke of Winchester Abbey S. Neots Doomesday * Doniert Prayer for the soule c. Wring-cheese Hurlers The river Loo S. Germans Trematon * De vallet Edge-Comâ Anthony S. Iies * In Aquilâânâm or North. S. Columbs Lhanheton Lib. 3. Philâpeinos of Wââliam Britââ who lived anno 117 * Swallow Castle Denis Padstow Tindagel The place of Arthurs Nativitie Architrenius Banners Tufa a Banner
said What ever vaine excesse affects what may mans need content Shall come from thee or else to thee from other lands be sent This plentifull abundance these goodly pleasures of Britain have perswaded some that those fortunate Islands wherein all things as Poets write do still flourish as in a perpetuall Spring tide were sometime heere with us For this doth one Isacius Tzetzes a Greek Author of no small credit affirme and our ancestours seeme to have believed the same as a certaine truth For what time as Pope Clement the sixth as wee read in Robert of Aevsburie had elected Lewis of Spaine to bee the Prince of those fortunate Islands and for to aid and assist him mustered souldiers in France and Italie our countrymen were verily perswaded That hee was chosen Prince of Britâine and that all the said preparation was for Britaine as one saith he of the fortunate Islands Yea and even those most prudent personages themselves our Legier Embassadours there with the Pope were so deeply setled in this opinion that forthwith they withdrew themselves from Rome and hastned with all speed into England there to certifie their countreymen and friends of the matter Neither will any man now judge otherwise who throughly knoweth the blessed estate and happie wealth of Britaine For Nature tooke a pleasure in the framing thereof and seemeth to have made it as a second world sequestred from the other to delight mankind withall yea and curiously depainted it of purpose as it were a certaine portraict to represent a singular beautie and for the ornament of the universall world with so gallant and glittering variety with so pleasant a shew are the beholders eies delighted which way soever they glance To say nothing of the Inhabitants whose bodies are of an excellent good constitution their demeanour right courteous their natures as gentle and their courage most hardie and valiant whose manhood by exploits atchieved both at home and abroad is famously renowned thorow the whole world But who were the most ancient and the very first Inhabitants of this Isle as also from whence this word Britan had the originall derivation sundry opinions one after another have risen and many we have seene who being uncertaine in this point have seemed to put downe the certaine resolution thereof Neither can we hope to attaine unto any certaintie heerein more than all other nations which setting those aside that have their originall avouched unto them out of holy Scripture as well as wee touching their point abide in great darkenesse errour and ignorance And how to speake truly can it otherwise be considering that the trueth after so many revolutions of ages and times could not chuse but be deepely hidden For the first inhabitours of countreys had other cares and thoughts to busie and trouble their heads than to deliver their beginnings unto posteritie And say they had been most willing so to do yet possibly could they not seeing their life was so uncivill so rude so full of warres and therefore void of all literature which keeping companie with a civill life by peace and repose is onely able to preserve the memorie of things and to make over the same to the succeeding ages Moreover the Druidae who being in the olde time the Priests of the Britans and Gaules were supposed to have knowne all that was past the Bardi that used to resound in song all valours and noble acts thought it not lawfull to write and booke any thing But admit they had recorded ought in so long continuance of time in so many and so great turnings and overturnings of States doubtlesse the same had beene utterly lost seeing that the very stones pyramides obelisks and other memorable monuments thought to be more durable than brasse have yeelded long agoe to the iniquitie of time Howbeit in the ages soone after following there wanted not such as desired gladly to supplie these defects and when they could not declare the trueth indeed yet at least way for delectation they laboured to bring foorth narrations devised of purpose with certaine pleasant varietie to give contentment and delivered their severall opinions each one after his owne conceit and capacitie touching the originall of Nations and their names Unto which as there were many who neglecting further search into the trueth quickly yeelded connivence so the most sort delighted with the sweetnesse of the Deviser as readily gave credence But to let passe all the rest one Geffrey Ap Arthur of Monmouth among us whom I would not pronounce in this behalfe liable to this suspicion in the raigne of K. Henrie the Second published an Historie of Britaine and that out of the British tongue as hee saith himselfe wherein he writeth That Brutus a Trojane borne the sonne of Silvius nephew of Ascanius and in a third degree nephew to that great Aeneas descended from supreame Jupiter for the goddesse Venus bare him whose birth cost his mother her life and who by chance slew his owne father in hunting a thing that the wise Magi had foretold fled his country and went into Greece where he delivered out of thraldome the progenie of Helenus K. Priamus sonne vanquished King Pandrasus wedded his daughter and accompanied with a remnant of Trojans fell upon the Island Leogetia where by the Oracle of Diana he was advised to goe into this Westerne Isle From thence through the Streights of Gebraltar where he escaped the Mer-maydes and afterward through the Tuskan sea hee came as farre as to Aquitaine in a pight battell defeated Golfarius the Pict King of Aquitaine together with twelve Princes of Gaul and after he had built the citie Tours as witnesseth Homer and made spoile of Gaule passed over sea into this Island inhabited of Giants whom when he had conquered together with Gogmagog the hugest of them all according to his owne name he called it Britaine in the yeare of the world 2855 before the first Olympiad 334. yeares and before the nativitie of Christ 1108. Thus farre Geffrey of Monmouth Yet others there bee that fetch the name of Britaine from some other causes Sir Thomas Eliot by degree a worshipfull Knight and a man of singular learning draweth it from the Greeke fountaine to wit ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a tearme that the Athenians gave to their publike Finances or Revenues Humfrey Lhuyd reputed by our countrymen for knowledge of Antiquitie to carrie after a sort with him all the credit and authoritie referreth it confidently to the British word PRID-CAIN that is to say a pure white forme Pomponius Laetus reporteth that the Britons out of Armorica in France gave it that name Goropius Becanus saith that the Danes sought heere to plant themselves and so named it BRIDANIA that is Free Dania Others derive it from PRVTENIA a region in Germanie Bodine supposeth that it tooke the name of BRETTA the Spanish word which signifieth Earth and Forcatulus of BRITHIN which as wee read in Athenaeus
Trojane King Priams sonne was the founder of the French Nation Hence they collect that when our country-men heard once how the French-men their neighbours drew their line from the Trojanes they thought it a foule dishonour that those should out-goe them in nobilitie of Stocke whom they matched every way in manhood and proesse Therfore that Geffrey Ap Arthur of Monmouth foure hundred yeares ago was the first as they thinke that to gratifie our Britans produced unto them this Brutus descended from the gods by birth also a Trojane to bee the author of the British Nation And before that time verily not one man as they say made any mention at all of the said Brutus They adde thus much moreover that about the same time the Scotish writers falsely devised Scota the Egyptian Pharaoes daughter to bee the Foundresse of their nation Then also it was that some misspending their wit and time yea and offring violent abuse unto the truth forged out of their owne braines for the Irish their Hiberus for the Danes their Danus for the Brabanders their Brabo for the Goths their Gothus and for the Saxons their Saxo as it were the Stock-fathers of the said nations But seeing that in this our age which hath escaped out of those darke mists of fatall ignorance the French have renounced their Francio as a counterfeit Progenitor Whereas the Frenchmen quoth Turnibus a right learned man stand highly upon their descent from the Trojanes they doe it in emulation of the Romans whom they seeing to beare themselves proud of that Pedigree and noble stocke would needs take unto themselves also the like reputation And for that the Scots such as be of the wiser sort have cast off their Scota and truth it selfe hath chased away Hiberus Danus Brabo and the rest of these counterfeit Demi-gods and Worthies of the same stampe Why the Britans should so much sticke unto their Brutus as the name-giver of their Island and to the Trojane originall they greatly wonder as who would say before the destruction of Troy which happened in the thousand yeare or there about after Noahs floud there had beene no Britaines heere and as if there had not lived many valorous men before Agamemnon Furthermore they avouch that very many out of the grave Senate of great Clerks by name Boccace Vives Hadr. Jânius Polydore Buchanan Vigneier Genebrard Molinaeus Bodine and other men of deepe judgement agree joyntly in one verdict and denie that ever there was any such in the world as this Brutus also that learned men of our owne country as many acknowledge him not but reject him as a meere counterfet Among whom they produce first John of Weathamsted Abbat of S. Albanes a most judicious man who in his Granarie wrote of this point long since in this manner According to other histories which in the judgment of some are of more credit the whole Discourse of this Brutus is rather Poeticall than historicall and for divers reasons built upon opinion more than truth indeede First because their is no where mention made in the Roman stories either of killing the father or of the said birth or yet of putting away the sonne Secondly for that after sundry authors Ascanius begat no such sonne who had for his proper name Sylvius for according unto them he begat but one onely sonne and that was Iulus from whom the house of Iulii afterwards tooke their beginning c. And thirdly Sylvius Posthumus whom perhaps Geffrey meaneth was the sonne of Aeneas by his wife Lavinia and hee begetting his sonne Aeneas in the eight and thirtieeh yeare of his reigne ended the course of his life by naturall death The Kingdome therefore now called England was not heeretofore as many will have it named Britaine of Brutus the sonne of Sylvius Wherefore it is in their opinion a vaine peice of worke and ridiculous enough to challenge noble bloud and yet to want a probable ground of their challenge For it is not manhood only that ennobleth a nation the mind it is also with perfect understanding and nothing else that gaineth gentilitie to a man And therefore Seneca writeth thus in his Epistles out of Plato That there is no King but hee came from slaves and no slave but hee descended of Kings Wherefore to conclude let this suffice the Britaines from the beginning of their Nobilitie that they bee couragious and valiant in fight that they subdue their enemies on every side and that they utterly refuse the yoke of servitude In a second rancke they place William of Newborough a writer of much greater authoritie who too too sharply charged Geffrey the Compiler of the British history for his untruth so soone as ever it came forth in these words A certaine writer quoth he in these our daies hath risen up who deviseth foolish fictions and tales of the Britaines and in a vaine humour of his owne extolleth them farre above the valorous Macedonians and Romans both he hath to name Geffrey and is surnamed Arthurius for that the tales of Arthur taken out of the Britaines old fables and augmented by inventions of his owne with a new colour of Latine speech laid over them hee hath invested into the goodly title of an Historie who also hath adventured farther and divulged under the name of authentike prophesies grounded upon an undoubted truth the deceitfull conjectures and foredeemings of one Merline whereunto hee added verily a great deale of his owne whiles hee did the same into Latine And a little after Moreover in his booke which he entituleth The Britans Historie how malapertly and shamelesly hee doth in manner nothing but lie there is no man that readeth the said booke can doubt unlesse hee have no knowledge at all of ancient histories For hee that hath not learned the truth of things indeede admitteth without discretion and judgement the vanitie of fables I forbeare to speake what great matter thaâ fellow hath forged of the Britans acts before the Empire and comming in of Julius Caesar or else being by others invented hath put them downe as authentike In somuch as Giraldus Cambrensis who both lived and wrote at the same time made no doubt to terme it The fabulous story of Geffrey Others there bee who in this narration of Brutus laugh at the foolish Topographie set downe by this Geffrey as also how falsly hee hath produced Homer as a witnesse yea and they would perswade us that it is wholly patched up of untunable discords and jarring absurdities They note besides that his writings together with his Merlins prophesies are among other books prohibited forbidden by the church of Rome to be published Some againe doe observe thus much how these thaâ most of all admire Brutus are very doubtfull and waver to and fro about their ãâã He say they that taketh upon him the name and person of Gildas and ãâ¦ã briefe glosâes to Ninius deviseth first that this Brutus was a Consul of Rome then that hee was
of Armorica in France from our Britans the societie of their tongues would easily confirme the same yea and much more easily than the authoritie of most sufficient Historiographers If therefore I shall prove that the ancient Gauls and our Britans used one and the selfe same language then the very truth will of force drive us to confesse that they had also the same beginning Neither passe I what Caesar hath written that the Gauls were of divers languages since that Strabo saith They differed only in dialect They did not all quoth hee every where use the same tongue but somewhat little though it were it varied But that the language of the old Gauls was all one with the British unlesse haply in varietie of dialect Caesar himselfe doth shew writing that the maner was of the French or Gauls who desired further knowledge in the discipline and learning of the Druides to goe over into Britaine unto our Druidae Now seeing that they had no use of bookes it stands to good reason that in teaching they spake the same tongue that the Gauls did Which Cornelius Tacitus more plainely affirmeth the British speech saith he and the French or Gaulish differ not much Whence it is that Beatus Rhenanus Gesner Hottoman Peter Daniel Picardus and all others that have subscribed and done honour to venerable antiquitie are all become of this opinion except some fewe who will have the Gauls to have spoken the German language But least any man herein should cast dust in our eies let us out of authors gather and conferre as many words as we can out of the old Gauls as it were ship-planks caught up from a shipwracke seeing that the said tongue is now even drowned under the waves of oblivion For very many words we shall see not hardly nor violently strained but passing easily and in manner without any wresting to agree with our British both in sound and sense Ausonius in this verse of his writing of a fountaine at Burdeaux Divona Seltarum lingua fons addite Divis Thou fountaine added to the Gods in Gaulish Divona hight witnesseth that Divona in the French language signifieth Gods fountaine Now doe our Britaines call God Dyw and a Fountaine Vonan of which is compounded Divonan and by the Latine Analogie and for the verse sake Divona That Jupiter whom the Greekes of Thunder call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the Latines Tonans that is Thunderer was worshiped of the Gaules under the name of Taranis there bee writers not a few that have reported But Taran with the Britaines betokeneth Thunder In which signification the Germans seeme to have named Jupiter Thonder For Jupiters day or Thursday they call Thonderdach which is as much as The Thunderers day The Gauls had another God by Lucane named Hesus and by Lactantius Heus whom also the Author of Queroli termed Annubis latrans that is Barking Annubis for that painted he was in the forme of a Dog and Huad with our welch Britaine 's betokeneth a Dog Most certaine it is that the Gauls worshipped Mercurie under the name of Teutates as the Inventors of Arts and guide of their journeys And Diw Taith in the British or Welch tongue is as much as the God of Travelling And that Plato in his Phaedrus and Philebus calleth Mercurie Theut I am not ignorant Howbeit I know there be some who will have Teutates to be the same that the Germans called Tuisco in Tacitus and is all one with Mars as also that we the of-spring of Germans name thereupon Mars day Tuisday Concerning these three Gods of the Gauls take with you if you please these three verses of Lucane Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diro Teutates horrensque feris altaribus Hesus Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae And they that use with cursed bloud their Idol-gods to please Teutates fell and Hesus grim whom nought else may appease But sacrifice of humane flesh and Taranis likewise Worship'd as curst Diana is just after Scythicke guise That the foule Spirits named Incubi were of the Gauls termed Dusii because they practise that filthy uncleannesse of theirs continually Saint Augustine and Isidorus both doe testifie But that which is continuall and daily the Britains still doe expresse by the word Duth Pomponius Mela writeth That the religious women attending upon a certaine God whom the Gauls worshipped counted holy votaries of perpetuall virginitie were called of the Gauls Senae or Lenae rather I would read if I durst For such consecrated Virgins whom now folke name Nuns the Britans as it is an old Glossarie termed Leanes whence a most ancient Nunnery Lean-minister now called Lemster drew the name The Gaules saith Polybius in their owne tongue called their mercenarie souldiers Gaessatae and at this day the Welsh-Britains doe call their hired servants Guessin Valiant men were as Servius saith named of the Gaules Gessi and Guassdewr among the Britains importeth the same that in Latin Vir fortis strenuus that is a valorous and hardie man Hitherto may bee referred Gessum which was a weapon proper to the Gaules as Pilum to the Romans and Framea to the Germans But of this anon As Phalanx was properly the Macedonians Legion so was Caterva peculiar to the Gauls as we may see in Vegetius Neither is this word grown out of use with the Britains who use to call a troupe Caturfa and war Kad and the strength of war which lieth in a Legion Kaderne yea and Caterna as is found in some Copies of Vegetius To this Kad may well be reduced Cateia which was a kind of warlike weapon among the Gauls as Isidorus reporteth Gessa a Gaulish weapon Servius doth interpret to be a mans speare whereunto the British Cethilou seemeth to come neere which Ninnius expoundeth to be as much as Stakes burnt at the end and a warlike seede or generation The Gauls whom Brennus marched with into Greece named in their owne language that order of Horse-fight which consisteth of three horses in a ranke as saith Pausanias Trimarcia For a horse they called Marca which in that very signification is meere and British For Tri signifieth three and March an horse Pausanias in the same booke recordeth that the Gauls termed their owne countryshields Thireos which even to this day the Britans name Tarian Caesar hath in his Journals or Day-bookes writen as Servius saith That he in Gaule being caught up of the enemy and armed as he was carried upon his horse backe one of his enemies that knew him chanced to meete him and insulting over him said Cedos Caesar which in the Gauls tongue is as much as Let goe Caesar now among the Britans Geduch betokeneth as much Rheda a Gaulish word is of the same signification saith Quintilian that Caruta that is a chariot or waggon among the Latins This word the British tongue doth
the Latins Minium in the name of Acliminius King Cinobelinus his sonne no man I hope will stand against mee Moreover Rufina that most learned British Lady tooke that name of the colour Rufus that is sad râd like as Albane the first martyr in Britaine of Albus that is White And if any one that is skilfull in the old British tongue would examine the rest of British names which in the ancient Writers are not past foure or five more in all wee may well suppose that he shall find in those names as few as they be some signification of a colour Neither must we omit this observation that the commonest names at this day among the Britans Gwin Du Goch Lhuid were imposed upon them from the white blacke red russet or tawny colour So that now it may bee thought no such wonder that the whole nation it selfe drew the denomination from painting considering verily that they in generall painted themselves and the very Inhabitants both in times past and also in these our daies imposed upon themselves their names of Colours But now to the matter if haply all this hath beene beside the matter This also is certaine that in stories a Britaine is called in the British tongue Brithon I care not for the note of aspiration seeing that the Britaine 's who as Chrysostome saith had a hissing or lisping pronuntiation delight in aspirations which the Latines have carefully avoided Now as Brito came of Brith so did Britannia also in my opinion Britannia saith Isidore tooke that name from a word of the owne nation For what time as the most ancient Greeks and these were they that first gave the Island that name sailing still along the shore as Eratosthenes saith either as rovers or as merchants travailed unto nations most remote and disjoyned farre asunder and learned either from the Inhabitants themselves or else of the Gaules who spake the same tongue that this nation was called Brith and Brithon then they unto the word BRITH added TANIA which as we find in the Greek Glossaries betokeneth in Greek a region and thereof they made a compound name ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is the Britons-land for which they have written false ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã But Lucretius and Caesar the first Latines that made mention thereof more truely Britannia That this is so I doe the more firmely believe because that besides our Britaine a man shall not find over the face of the whole earth above three countries of any account and largenesse which end in the termination TANIA and those verily lying in this west part of the world namely MAVRITANIA LVSITANIA and AQVITANIA Which names I doubt not but the Greeks made and delivered to the Latines as who first discovered and surveied these lands For of Mauri they framed Mauritania as one would say the countrey of the Mauri which the home-bred people of that land as Strabo witnesseth called Numidia of Lusus the sonne of Liber Lusitania as it were the land of Lusius and Aquitania perhaps ab aquis that is of waters as Ivo Carnotensis is of opinion being a region seated upon waters in which sense as Plinie writeth it was before time named Armorica that is coasting upon the sea As for Turditania and Bastitania names of smaller countries they may hereto also be reduced which likewise were in this westerne tract to wit in Spaine and may seeme to signifie as much as the regions of the Turdi and the Basti Neither is it a strange and new thing that a denomination should be compounded of a forrein and a Greek word put together Names are compounded saith Quintilian either of our own that is Latine and of a strange word put together as Biclinium that is a roome with two beds or two tables and contrariwise as Epitogium that is a garment worne upon a gowne Anticato that is a book written against Cato or of two forrein words joyned in one as Epirrhedium a kind of wagon And this maner of composition is most usuall in the names of countries Came not Ireland by composition of the Irish word Erin and the English word Land Did not Angleterre that is England grow together of an English and of a French word and did not Franclond for so our Saxons named Francia or France proceed from a French and Saxon word Came not Poleland likewise from a Polonian word which among them betokeneth a plaine and a Germane Lastly was not Danmarch compounded of a Danish word and the Duch March which signifieth a bound or limit But in so plaine and evident a matter I will not use any more words Neither have we cause to wonder at this Greeke addition TANIA seeing that S. Hierome in his questions upon Genesis proveth out of most ancient authors that the Greeks inhabited along the sea coasts and Isles of Europe throughout as far as to this our Island Let us read saith he Varroes bookes of Antiquities and those of Sisinius Capito as also the Greeke writer Phlegon with the rest of the great learned men and we shall see all the Islands well neere and all the sea coasts of the whole world yea and the lands neere unto the sea to have beene taken up with Greeke Inhabitants who as I said before from the mountaines Amanus and Taurus even to the British Ocean possessed all the parts along the sea side And verily that the Greeks arrived in this our region viewed and considered well the scite and nature thereof there will be no doubt and question made if we observe what Athenaeus hath written concerning Phileas Taurominites of whom more anon who was in Britaine in the clx yeare before Caesars comming if we call to remembrance the Altar with an Inscription Vnto Vlysses in Greek letters and lastly if we marke what Pytheas before the time of the Romans time hath delivered in writing as touching the distance of Thule from Britaine For who had ever discovered unto the Greeks Britaine Thule the Belgicke countries and their sea coasts especially if the Greeks ships had not entred the British and German Ocean yea and related the description thereof unto their Geographers Had Pytheas thinke you come to the knowledge of sixe daies sailing beyond Britaine unlesse some of the Greeks had shewed the same Who ever told them of Scandia Burgos and Nerigon out of which men may saile into Thule And these names seeme to have been better knowne unto the most ancient Greeks than either to Plinie or to any Roman Whereupon Mela testifieth That Thule was much mentioned and renowned in Greek letters and Plinie likewise writeth thus Britaine an Island famous in the monuments and records both of the Greeks and of us By this meanes therefore so many Greek words have crept into the British French withall into the Belgicke or low-Dutch language And if Lazarus Bayfius and Budaeus do make their vant and glory in this that their Frenchmen have beene of
course under sayle so long the Saylors forbare to eat They used a drinke made of barley and so doe wee at this day as Dioscorides writeth who nameth Curmi wrong for Kwrw for so the Britaines call that which we terme Ale Many of them together had but one wife among them as Eusebius recordeth in Evangelica Praeparatione 6. Plutarch reporteth That they lived one hundred and twenty yeares for that the cold and frozen countrey wherein they dwelt kept in their naturall heat But what those ancient times of cruell Tyrants were whereof Gildas writeth I know not unlesse he meaneth them that in this countrey tooke upon them the sway of government against the Romans and were at that time called Tyrants for soone after he addeth thus much out of S. Hierome Porphyrie raging in the East-parts as a mad dog against the Church annexed thus much to his furious and vaine stile Britaine saith he a Province plentifull of tyrants Neither will I speake of their ancient religion which is not verily to be counted religion but a most lamentable and confused Chaos of Superstitions For when Satan had drowned the true doctrine in thicke mists of darkenesse The ugly spectres of Britaine saith that Gildas were meere Diabolicall exceeding well neere in number those of Egypt whereof some we doe see within or without desert walles with deformed lineaments still carrying sterne and grim lookes after their wonted manner But whereas it is gathered that the Britaine 's were together with Hercules at the rape of Hesione and that out of these verses which they take to bee made by Cornelius Nepos whiles he describeth the marriage of Telamon and Hesione Et in aurea pocula fusi Invitant sese pateris plebs mista Britanni Mid cups of gold a medly sort thus lying all along Boll after Boll quaft lustily and Britans them among That is altogether poeticall and I can cleerely by good evidences as it were under hand and seale prove that the author thereof was not as the Germans would have it Cornelius Nepos but one Ioseph of Excester who hath made mention of our King Henrie the second and Thomas Archbishop of Canterburie Whether Ulysses entred thus farre whose arrivall in Caledonia a certaine altar engraven with Greeke letters as Solinus saith hath testified Brodaeus maketh doubt and I would judge that erected it was rather in the honour of Ulysses than by Ulysses himselfe although they avouch Ulysses to bee the very same Elizza that was Japhets sonne For apparant it is out of Histories and alreadie I have said as much that the most ancient Greeks undertooke long voyages by sea and land no marvell then it ought to seeme if their be also some names and monuments of theirs found in divers places And often times they derived those names not so much from their owne denominations as from Worthies who were held in as much reverence if not more among them as were either Confessors or Martyrs among Christians Like as therefore the names of Saint John Saint Dominicke Saint Francis and infinite other Saints departed are imposed upon new-found places so also that it hapned time out of mind with the Greeks who will denie but who among all the worthies made either more wandring voyages or of longer continuance at Sea than did Vlysses No marvell then if Sailers made vowes very often unto him above all others and unto those places where they arrived and landed did consecrate according to their vowes names from him Thus Vlyssippo upon the mouth of the river Tagus tooke the name and thus elsewhere other monuments of Vlisses Laertes and their companions which are not properly to be referred unto Vlysses as the founder but wee must think that by the Greeks who discovered strange and forraine coasts they were dedicated in the honour of that Worthy who of all others had travelled and seene most Whereas John Tzetzes in his Treatise intituled Varietie of Stories hath written that our British Kings bestowed upon that renowned Cato the elder who had perpetuall conflict with the manners of the Roman people certaine presents for his vertues sake let him make good and save his owne credit himselfe yet thus much all the world knoweth how that Writer is full fraught with fables Neither would I have you believe that Alexander the Great came out of the East Indies to Gades and so forward to Britaine howsoever Cedrenus maugre all other Historiographers writeth thus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is And from thence being come unto Phasis Gades and the British nation and having furnished himselfe with a thousand hulkes c. Of the same stampe is that also which Trithemius reporteth out of Hunnibald that King Bassianus put away his wife the King of the Orkneys daughter in the 284. yeare before the birth of Christ and thereupon he with the aid of the Britaines Kings made warre upon Bassianus Nor let any man thinke that Hanniball ever warred in Britaine because wee read thus in Polybius in the Eclogues of his tenth Booke ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Thus much in briefe now that Hanniball was enclosed within the streights of Britaine For the place is corrupt and for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã it should bee read ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as it is in Dio booke 42. For in both places there is a speech of the Brutii in Italie And yet I may not deny but that about this time the Greeks came to our Island For Atheraeus in describing out of Moschion a most ancient author that ship of Hiero at the hugenesse and workemanship whereof all men wondred reporteth that the maine mast thereof was with much adoe found by a certaine swineheard in the mountaines of Britaine and by Phileas Taurominites the Mechanick conveied into Sicilie But I feare lest the Criticks judge that the true reading here also should bee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and likewise understand it of the Brutian mountaine in Italy But it seemeth that the Britaine 's were entermingled with the Cimbri and the Gaules in those expeditions which were made into Italy and Greece For besides the name common to them both it is recorded in a most ancient British Booke entituled Triadum wherein mention is made of three mightie hosts leavied from among the Britans That a certaine forrain captaine leavied a marvellous puissant army from hence which having wasted a great part of Europe at the last sat him downe and abode hard by the Greekish sea meaning perhaps Gallatia That Brennus a King so famous in Greek and Latine writers both was a Britan there be that thinke they can easily prove For mine owne part thus much onely I know that his name is not yet growne out of use with the Britans who in their language call a King Brennin whether in honorable memory of him I dare not determine Certes that Britomarus the militare captaine among them of whom
of the Romans helpe For the people of Rome after that the Emperour Martial was by his souldiers killed being sore tired out with forraigne warres was not able to assist their friends with supply of accustomed aides Yet neverthelesse the Romanes having built a mightie peece of worke for the defence of the Countrey reaching betweene the confines from sea to sea where it was thought that the enemies would assaile the Inhabitants left the Land But no difficultie it was for the enemie fiercely bent and alwaies ready to wage warre especially where they deale with a nation feeble and unable to make warlike resistance to destroy the said worke Therefore hearing by report of the worthy and fortunate exploits atchieved by the Saxons they send an humble Embassage to require their helping hand and so the Embassadors having audience given them came forth and spake as followeth Most noble Saxons The poore and distressed Brets out-toiled and over-tired by the many incursions of their enemies hearing the fame of those victories which yee have valorously atchieved have sent us suppliants unto you craving that yee would not denie us your helpe and succour A large and spatious Land plentifull and abundant in all things they yeeld whollie to be at your devotion and command Hitherto have we lived liberally under the patronage and protection of the Romanes after the Romans we know none of more prowesse than your selves and therefore wee seeke for refuge under the wings of your valour So that we may by your puissant vertue and armes be found onely superiour to our enemies what service soever ye impose upon us willing we are to abide the same To this petition the Peeres and Nobles of the Saxons briefly made answere in this wise Know yee that the Saxons will be fast friends unto the Brets and prest at all times both to assist them in their necessitie and also to procure their wealth and commoditie With joy returne these Embassadours home and with this wished for tidings make their countrey-men more joyfull Hereupon according to promise an armie sent into Britaine and joyfully received in short time freeth the Land from the spoiling enemies and recovered the countrey unto the behoofe of the Inhabitants For the performance hereof required no great labour the enemies who had long since heard of the Saxons were terrified with the verie fame that was bruited of them so that their very presence drave them farre off For these were the nations that troubled the Brets namely Scots and Pehits against whom the Saxons whiles they maintaine warres received of the Brets all things necessary They abode therefore in that country a good while making use in civill sort of the Brets friendship reciprocally But so soone as the Chieftaines of the armie saw the countrey to be large and fertile and withall the hands of the Inhabitans slow to practise feats of armes and considered therewith that themselves and the greatest part of the Saxons had no certaine place to seat themselves in they send over to call unto them a greater power and more forces Thus having concluded peace with the Scots and Pehits they rise all together in common against the Brets drive them out of the countrey and divide the Land at their pleasure as if it were their owne Thus much Witichindus The originall and Etymologie of the Saxons like as of other nations not onely Monkes ignorant as they were in learned antiquitie but also latter Writers being men of some exact and exquisite judgment have enwrapped with forged and fained fables Some derive them and their name from Saxo the sonne of Negnon and brother of Vandalus others from their stonie nature some from the remaines of the Macedonian armie others of certaine knives whereupon was made that rhyme in Engelhusius Quippe brevis gladius apud illos Saxa vocatur Vnde tibi nomen Saxo traxisse putatur For Sax with them and Short-sword is the same From whence it 's thought the Saxon tooke his name But Crantzius deriveth them from the Catti in Germanie and that learned Capnio from the Phrygians Of these let every man follow which he liketh best For such conjectural opinions as these I will not labour to disproove Howbeit that conceit of the best learned Germans may seeme worthy of acceptance and to bee preferred before the rest who suppose that the Saxons descended from the Sacae a most noble Nation and of much worth in Asia and so called as one would say Sacosones that is the sonnes of the Sacae and that out of Scythia or Sarmaria Asiatica they came in companies by little and little together with the Getae Suevi Daci and others into Europe Neither is this opinion of theirs improbable which fetcheth the Saxons out of Asia wherein mankind was first created and multiplied for besides that Strabo writeth how those Sacae as before time the Cimerij made invasions into countreys which lay farre off and termed a part of Armenia after their owne name Sacacena Ptolomee also placeth the Sassones Suevians Massagetes and Daci in that part of Scythia and Cisner observeth that these Nations retained the same vicinitie or neighborhood in a manner in Europe which was among them in former times when they were in Asia Neither is it lesse probable that our Saxons descended from these Sacae or Sassones in Asia call them whether you will than the Germanes from those Germanes in Persia of whom Herodotus maketh mention which they themselves after a sort doe affirme by reason of the affinitie of their Language for that singular Scholer Ioseph Scaliger sheweth that these words Fader Moder Tutchter Band and such like are at this day found in the Persian tongue in the same sence as we use Father Mother Brother Daughter and Bond. But when the Saxons began first to bee of any name in the world they had their abode in Cimbrica Chersonesus which wee now call Denmarke wherein Ptolomee placeth them who was the first author as far as I find that mention them For we should not indeed read Saxones as it is in some bookes but more truly Axones in that verse of Lucan Longisque leves Axônes in armis And Axons in side armour light and nimble Out of this Cimbrica Chersonesus in the time of Dioclesian they with the Frankes their neighbours troubled our coasts and the seas with Piracie in so much as for the defence of the countrey and to repell them the Romanes made Carausius their Generall Afterwards they having passed over the river Albis part of them by little and little gat footing within the seat and territorie of the Suevians where now is the Dukedome of Saxonie and part of them bestowed themselves in Frisland and Holland which now the Frankes had quite forsaken For those Frankes who before time had inhabited those inmost Fennes of Frisland whereof some by overflowes and flouds are growne to be that sea which at this day they call Zuider-sea and possessed
see And on the other Hoc Anglis signo Regem fatearis eundem By this a King to Englishmen acknowledge him to be Moreover as William of Malmesburie doth report In imitation of Caesars policy who expelled the Germans lying hidden within that huge forrest Ardenna and by many asallie from thence annoying his armie not by the helpe of his owne Romans but by the Gaules his confederates to this end that whiles strangers and aliens killed one another himselfe might triumph with their bloud-shed the very same course I say did William take with the English men For against certaine of them who upon the first battell of that infortunate man Harold were fled into Denmarke and Ireland and returned with a puissant armie in the third yeere after he opposed meere English forces and an English generall permitting the Normans to sit still and keepe holiday foreseeing heereby and providing for his owne great easement whether of them soever should have the better Neither was he in this point frustrate of his purpose For the English having thus a prettie while skuffeled and skirmished one with another in the end rendred up the entire Victorie to the King without his paines taking And in another place Having undermined and quite overthrowne the power of the Laimen he provided by a sure and irrevocable edict to suffer no Monke or Clerke of the English Nation to endevour for to get any dignitie much disagreeing herein from the clemencie and gentlenesse of King Cnuto in times past who gave unto those that he conquered all their honours entire And hence it came to passe that when hee was once dead the naturall Inhabitants of the countrey upon light occasions fell to driving out of strangers and recovered unto themselves their ancient right and freedome When he had brought this to passe above all things hee laboured to turne away the storme of the Danish wars that hung over his head and to purchase peace though it were with round sums of mony Wherein he used Adelbert Archbishop of Hamburgh as his Instrument For Adam Bremensis writeth thus Betweene Suen and the Bastard there was continuall strife about England although our Bishop being greased in the hand with Williams bribes would have concluded a firme peace betwixt the Kings Which may seeme also to have beene established for since that time England was never any whit afraid of the Danes And William verily betooke himselfe wholly to the defence and maintenance of his Imperiall dignitie and to governe the state by excellent lawes For as Gervase of Tilburie writeth When the renowned Conqueror of England King William had subdued the farther coasts of this Island under his dominion and throughly tamed the stomacks and hearts of rebels by terrible examples lest that from thenceforth they should licentiously run into errour and commit trespasse he determined to reduce his subjects under the obedience of positive and written Lawes Having therefore all the lawes of England laid before him according to the Tripartite Division whereby they were distinguished that is to say Merchenlag Denelag and Westsex-enlag when hee had rejected some of them and allowed of others he adjoyned thereto those Lawes of Neustria beyond the seas which seemed most effectuall to preserve the peace of his Kingdome Afterwards as mine Author Ingulphus saith who flourished in those daies He commanded every Inhabitant of England to doe him homage and to sweare fealtie to him against all men He tooke the survey and description of the whole Land neither was there an Hide of England through but he knew both the value and the owner thereof there was neither plash nor place but set it was in the Kings Roll and the rent revenue and profit thereof the very tenure of possession and possessour himselfe was made knowne to the King according to the credit and true relation of certaine Taxers who being chosen out of every country did put downe in writing the territorie properly belonging thereto And this Roll was called the Roll of Winchester and by the Englishmen for the generalitie thereof because it contained fully and exactly all the tenements of the whole Land named Domesday I have beene more willing to make mention of this booke because it is to be cited alleaged often times hereafter which booke also it pleaseth me to name Gulielmi librum Censualem that is The Tax-booke of William Angliae Notitiam that is The Notice of England Angliae commentarios Censuales that is The Taxe Register or Sessing booke of England and Angliae Lustrum that is the Survey of England But whereas Polydore Virgill writeth how William that Conqueror first brought in the Triall or Iudgement of twelve men there is nothing more untrue For most certaine it is and apparant by the lawes of Etheldred that it was in use many yeares before Neither hath he any cause to terme it a terrible Iudgement For these 12. free-borne and lawfull men are duely by order empannelled and called forth of the Neighbourhood these are bound by oath to pronounce and deliver up their Verdict de facto they heare the counsell pleading in courts on both sides before the Bench or Tribunall and the disposition of witnesses then taking with them the evidences of both parties they are shut up together and kept from meat drinke and fire unlesse haply some one of them be in danger of death thereby so long untill they be all agreed of the fact which when they have pronounced before the Judge hee according to right and law giveth his definitive sentence For this manner of triall our most sage and wise Ancestours have thought the best to finde out the truth to avoid corruption and cut off all partialitie and affections Now as touching martiall prowesse how much the Normans excelled therein let others tell this may suffice for me to have said thus much that being planted among most warlike nations they alwaies saved themseves not by obsequious basenesse but by force of armes and founded most noble Kingdomes in England and Sicilie For Tancrede nephew unto Richard the second of that name Duke of Normandie and his posteritie atchieved brave exploits in Italie and having compelled the Sarazens to flie out of Sicilie erected a Kingdome there Whereupon the Sicilian Historiographer doth freely acknowledge that the Sicilians are beholden unto the Normans for that themselves remaine still in their native soile live in freedome and continue Christians Likewise in the holy Land their martiall prowesse hath been seen with singular commendation Hence it is also that Roger Hoveden writeth in these termes Bold France having made triall once of the Normans warfare durst not peepe out Fierce England being conquered yielded as captive unto them Rich Apulia falling to the lot of their possession flourished a fresh Famous Ierusalem and renowned Antioch were both subdued by them And ever since their comming England as well for martiall honour as civill behaviour hath among the most flourishing Kingdomes of
Christendome flourished with the best In so much as Englishmen were picked forth to guard the person of the Emperours of Constantinople For John the son of Alexius Comenus as our writer of Malmesburie reporteth having their fidelitie in great esteeme applied himselfe especially to their familiaritie commending their love unto his son after him and a long time since they were the Yeomen of the said Emperours guard called by Nicetes Choniata Inglini Bipenniferj that is English Halberdiers or Bill men and by Curopalata Barangi These attended upon the Emperour in every place carrying Polaxes or Halberds upon their shoulders which they tooke up and held upright whensoever the Emperour shewed himselfe from out his Closet and knocking then their Halberds one against another to make a clattering noise they in the English tongue praied for his long life As for that blot wherewith Chalcondilas hath besmutted our nation for having wives in common the truth it selfe washeth it cleane away and represseth the overlashing vanitie of the Grecian For as saith that most learned man and my singular good friend Ortelius in this very matter those things be not alwaies true which by every one are given out of all whatsoever Well these are the nations that seated themselves in Britaine whereof remaine the Britans Saxons or English men and Normans intermingled with them the Scots also in the North whereupon came the two Kingdomes in this Island to wit England and Scotland long time divided but most happily now in the most mightie Prince King Iames under one Imperiall Diademe conjoyned and united Touching the Flemings which flocked hither foure hundred yeares since and by permission of the Kings received a place in Wales to inhabit it is not requisite to speake of them now elsewhere I will treat of that matter But let us conclude this argument with Seneca By these it is manifest that nothing hath continued in the same place wherein it had the first beginning There is a daily stirring and mooving to and fro of mankind some change or other there is every day in so great a revolution of this world New foundations of Cities are laid New names of nations spring up whereas the old are either growne out of use or altered by the comming in of a mightier And considering that all these nations which have broken into Britaine were Northern as all the rest which about the same time over-ranne all Europe and afterwards Asia most truely from the authoritie of holy Scripture wrote Nicephorus Like as terrors oftentimes are sent from heaven by God upon men as lightning fire and tempestuous showers oftentimes from the earth as open gapings of the ground and Earthquakes often from the aire as whirlewinds and extraordinarie stormes so these terrours of the Northerne and Hyporborean parts God keepeth by him in store to send them forth for some punishment when and among whom it pleaseth him in his divine providence THE DIVISION OF BRITAINE NOw let us addresse our selves to the Division of Britaine Countries are divided by Geographers either Naturally according to the course of rivers and interpose of mountaines or Nationally according as the people inhabite them or Diversly and Civilly according to the wils and jurisdiction of Princes But forasmuch as wee shall treat here and there throughout the whole worke of the first and second kinds that third which is civill and politike seemeth properly pertinent to this place Which yet is overcast with so darke a mist through the iniquitie of former times that much easier it is in this case to confute what is false than to find out the truth Our Historiographers will needs have that division of Britaine to be most ancient whereby they divide it into Loegria Cambria and Albania that is to speake more plainely into England Wales and Scotland But I would think this division to be of a newer and later edition both because it is threefold for it seemeth to have risen of those three sorts of people English Welch and Scotish which last of all parted the Island among themselves and also for that such a partition is no where extant in approved Authors before our Geffery of Monmouth For the fable as the Criticks of our age doe thinke could not hang well together unlesse he the said Geffrey had devised three sonnes of Brutus to wit Locrine Camber and Albanact because so many Nations flourished heere when he lived Neither make they doubt but hee would have found out more children of Brutus if there had beene more nations distinct at the same time in Britaine The most ancient division of Britaine in the opinion of many learned men is that which is found in Ptolomee in the second booke of Mathematicall Construction where he threatneth the Parallels namely into Britaine the GREAT and the LESSE But by their leave as great learned men as they be they themselves shal see if it please them to examine throughly and exactly in that place the proportion of distance from the Aequator and compare the same with his Geographicall Descriptions that hee calleth this our Island there Britaine the GREAT and Ireland Britaine the LESSE Howbeit some of our later writers named the hither part of this Island toward the South GREAT and that farther part Northward the LESSE the Inhabitants whereof in times past were distinguished into MAIATAE and CALEDONII that is to say into the habitation of the Champian or Plaines and the Mountainers as now the Scots are divided into Hechtlandmen and Lawlandmen But for as much as the Romans cared not for that farther tract because as Appian saith it could not be profitable for them nor fruitfull having set downe their bounds not farre from Edenburgh at the first they made this hither part reduced already into a Province two-fold to wit the LOVVER and the HIGHER as it is gathered out of Dio. For the hither or neerer part of England together with Wales he termeth the HIGHER the farther and Northern part the LOVVER Which thing the very seats and abiding places of the Legions in Dio do prove The second Legion Augusta ich kept at Caerleon in Wales and the twentieth surnamed Victrix which remained at Chester or Deva he placeth in the Higher Britaine but the Sixth Legion Victrix that was resident at Yorke served as he writeth in the Lower Britaine This division I would suppose was made by the Emperour Severus because Herodian reporteth that hee after hee had vanquished Albinus Generall of the British forces who had usurped the Empire and therewith reformed and set in order the State of Britain divided the government of the Province in two parts betweene two Prefects or Governours After this the Romans did set out the Province of Britaine into three parts as is to be seen out of a manuscript of Sextus Rufus namely into MAXIMA CAESARIENSIS BRITANNIA PRIMA and BRITANNIA SECVNDA Which I take it I have found out by the Bishops and their ancient
Diocesses Lucius the Pope in Gratian insinuateth thus much that the Ecclesiasticall Iurisdictions of the Christians followed the Iurisdictions of the Roman Magistrates and that Archbishops had their Seas in those cities wherein the Romane Presidents in times past made their abode The Cities and places saith he in which Primats ought to sit and rule were appointed not by the Moderne but long before the comming of Christ to the Primats of which Cities c. the Gentile also appealed in matters of greater importance And in those verie cities after Christs comming the Apostles and their Successors placed Patriarks or Primats unto whom the affaires of the Bishops and greater causes ought to be preferred Whereas therefore Britaine had in old time three Archbishops to wit of London of Yorke and Caerleon in Southwales I suppose that the Province which now we call of Canterburie for thither the Sea of London was translated made BRITANNIA PRIMA Wales under the Citie of Caer Leon was BRITANNIA SECVNDA and the Province of York which then reached unto the Limit or Borders made MAXIMAA CAESARIENSIS In the age next ensuing when the forme of the Roman Empire was daily changing either through ambition that more men might attaine to places of honour or the warie forecast of the Emperours that the power of their Presidents which grew over great might be taken downe and abridged they divided Britaine into five parts to wit BRITANNIA PRIMA SECVNDA MAXIMA CAESARIENSIS VALENTIA FLAVIA CAESARIENSIS VALENTIA seemeth to have been the northerly part of Maxiââ Caesariensis which being usurped and held by the Picts and Scots Theodosius Generall under Valens the Emperour recovered out their hands and in honour of him named it Valentia which Marcellinus sheweth more plainly in these words The Province now recovered which was fallen into the enemies hands he restored to the former state in such sort as by his own procuring it had both a lawful governor was also afterwards called VALENTIA at the pleasure of the Prince Now that the son of this Theodosius who being created Emperour was named Flavius Theodosius and altered very many things in the Empire added Flavia we may very wel conjecture for that before the time of this Flavius wee read no where of BRITANNIA FLAVIA Wherefore to make up this matter in few words All the south coast which of one side lieth between the British sea and the river Thames with the Severn sea on the other side was called BRITANNIA PRIMA BRITANNIA SECVNDA was that which now is Wales FLAVIA CAESARIENSIS reacheth from Thames to Humber MAXIMA CAESARIENSIS from Humber to the river of Tine or the wall of Severus VALENTIA from Tine to the wall or rampier neere Edenburgh which the Scots call Gramesdike and was the utmost limit of the Roman Empire in this Island when this last division was in use And now I cannot chuse but note some want of judgement in certaine men who otherwise being very learned doe reckon Scotland in this account which some of them make to have beene Maxima Caesariensis and others Britannia Secunda As if forsooth the Romans neglected not that part of the Island lying under a cold climate and reckoned here those Provinces onely which they governed by Consular Lieutenants and Presidents for Maxima Caesariensis and Valentia were ruled by Consular Lieutenants Britannia Prima Secunda and Flavia by Presidents Now if any man would have me render a reason of this my division and accuse me as a false bounderer and surveior let him heare in briefe what hath induced mee to this opinion Having observed thus much that the Romans alwaies called those Provinces PRIMAS which lay nighest to Rome as Germania Prima Belgica Prima Lugdunensis Prima Aquitania Prima Panninia Prima all which lay neerer to Rome than those that were named Secundae and that these Primae were by the finer sort of writers termed Superiores or higher the Secundae Inferiores or Lower I resolved that the South-part of our Island and neerer to Rome was Britannia Prima By the same reason seeing the Provinces Secundae as they call them were more remote from Rome I supposed Wales was the Britannia Secunda Moreover having noted this also that in the decaying State of their Empire those Provinces onely had Consular Magistrates which lay against the enemies not onely in Gaule but also in Africke as appeareth in the booke of Notices also that in the said Booke Valentia with us and Maxima Caesariensis be accounted Consular Provinces I have judged them being next and exposed to the Scots and Picts to lie in those places which I have spoken of I can doe no other but guesse that Flavia Caesariensis here was in the midst betweene them all and in the very heart of England and so much the more confidently because that ancient writer Giraldus Cambrensis is just of the same opinion with me And thus much of the Divisions of Britaine under the Romans Afterwards when the Barbarians made invasion on every side and civill war daily increased among the Britans the Island as bereft of all life and vigour lay for a time languishing and forlorne without any shew at all of government But at length that part which inclineth to the North became two Kingdomes to wit of the Scots and the Picts and the Romans Pentarchie or five portions in this hither part became in processe of time the Heptarchie or seven Kingdomes of the Saxons For they divided the whole Province of the Romans setting Wales aside which the remnant of Britans possessed into seven Kingdomes that is to say Kent Southsex East-England Westsex Northumberland Eastsex and Mercia But what this Heptarchie of the English-Saxons was and what their names were in those daies in this chorographical table here adjoyned you may if you please behold Considering that in a Chorographicall Table or Map by reason of so narrow a roome those Regions or Counties which these Kingdomes contained could not well and handsomely bee described In this other Table heere rather than by heaping many words together I thinke good to propose and set downe the same that the Reader may once for all have a view of them The Saxons Heptarchie 1 The Kingdome of KENT contained the Countie of Kent 2 The Kingdom of SVSSEX or Southern Saxons contained the Counties of Suthsex Suthrey 3 The Kingdome of EAST-ENGLAND or East-Angles contained the Counties of Norfolke Suthfolke Cambridge shire with the Isle of Ely 4 The Kingdome of WESTSEX or West-Angles contained the Counties of Cornwall Devonshire Dorsetshire Somersetshire Wiltshire Southampton Berkshire 5 The Kingdome of NORTHVMBERLAND contained the Counties of Lancaster Yorke Durham Cumberland Westmorland Northumberland and the Countries of Scotland to Edenburgh-frith 6 The Kingdome of EAST-SEX or East-Saxons contained the Counties of Essex Middlesex and part of Hertfordshire 7 The Kingdome of MERCIA contained the Counties of Glocester shire Herefordshire Worcestershire Warwickshire Leicestershire Rotlandshire
their Charter or Patent We give and grant the Name Title State Stile Place Seat Preheminence Honour Authoritie and Dignitie of a Duke to N. and by the cincture of a Sword and imposition of a Cap and Coronet of gold upon his head as also by delivering unto him a verge of gold we doe really invest A MARQVESSE that is if you consider the very nature of the word a Governour of the Marches hath the next placec of honour after a Duke This Title came to us but of late daies and was not bestowed upon any one before the time of King Richard the Second For hee made his minion Robert Vere who was highly in his favour Marquesse of Dublin and then it began with us to be a title of honour Fâr before time those that governed the Marches were commonly called Lord Marchers and not Marquesses as now we terme them Henceforth they were created by the King by cincture of the Sword and the imposition of the Cap of honor and dignitie with the Coronet as also by delivery of a Charter or writing Neither will I think it much to relate here that which is found recorded in the Parliament Rols When Iohn de Beaufort from beeing Earle of Sommerset was by Richard the Second created Marquesse Dorset and afterwards by Henrie the Fourth deprived of that title what time as the Commons of England made humble suit in Parliament to the King that hee would restore unto him the title of Marquesse which he had lost he opposed himselfe against that petition and openly said That it was a new dignitie and altogether unknowne to his Ancestours and therefore hee neither craved it nor in any wise would accept of it Earles called in Latine Comites are ranged in the third place and may seeme to have come unto us from our Ancestours the Germans For they in times past as Cornelius Tacitus writeth had their Comites Who should alwaies give attendance upon their Princes and bee at hand in matters of counsell and authoritie But others thinke that they came from the Romans to us as also to the Franks or French For the Emperours when as the Empire was growne now to the full strength began to have about them a certaine privie Counsell which was called Caesaris Comitatus and then those whose counsell they used in warre and peace were termed Comites whence it is that in ancient Inscriptions wee find oftentimes COMITI IMPP. And in few yeares the name of Comes grew so rife that it was given to all Officers and Magistrates that observed or gave attendance upon the said sacred or privie Counsel or that came out of it and from hence afterward the name extended to all those which were the Provosts or Over-seers of any matters of state And Suidas defineth Comes to be The ruler of the people as Cuiacius hath taught us who also teacheth us that before Constantine the Great the name of Comes was not in use to signifie any honour But he when he altered the forme of the Roman Empire by new distinctions and endevored to oblige many unto him with his benefits and them to advance unto honour ordained first the title of Comes without any function or government at all to be a title of dignitie and this Comes had a certaine power and priviledge for to accompanie the Prince not only when hee went abroad but in his palace also in his privie chamber and secret roomes to have libertie likewise to be present at his Table and private speeches And hereupon it is that wee read thus in Epiphanius ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Who so obtained of the King the Dignitie of Comites At length to them which were beholden unto him for this honourable preferment hee granted other dignities with charge and againe upon those that were in place of Magistracie and executed any office of State either at home or abroad he bestowed that title of honour Comes Domesticorum L. Great Master of the Houshold Comes sacrarum largitionum L. High Treasurer Comes sacrae vestis Master of the Wardrobe Comes Stabuli Master of the Horse Comes Thesauri Treasurer Comes Orientis Lieutenant of the East Comes Britanniae Comes Africae c. Herehence it came that ever since the name of Comes imported Dignitie and authoritie or government at the first temporarie afterward for terme of life Moreover in processe of time when the Empire of the Romans became rent into many kingdomes this title yet was retained and our English-Saxons called them in Latine Comites and Consules whom in their owne language they named ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the very same the Danes termed in their tongue Eorlas that is Honourable as Ethelward writeth by which name somewhat mollified they are called of us at this day Earles And verily for a long time they were knowne by this name simply at length with addition also of the place over which they were put in authoritie Neither as yet descended this honour to the next heire by inheritance Where by the way thus much I note that the first hereditarie Earles in France were the Earles of Britaine But when William of Normandy had made conquest of this Land and seated himselfe in the absolute government of this Kingdome Earles began to bee Feudall Hereditarie and Patrimoniall that is By fee or Tenure by service by inheritance and by Lands who also as it appeareth in Doomesday-booke were simply without any addition at all named Earles as Comes Hugo Comes Alanus Comes Rogerus Earle Hugh Earle Alan Earle Roger c. Afterwards as wee may see in ancient Charters Earles were created with the name of a place joyned unto them and the third pennie of the Shire was assigned unto them As for example Mawd the Empresse daughter and heire to K. Henry the First created an Earle in these words as appeareth in the very Charter which I have I Mawd daughter of K. Henry and Ladie of the Englishmen doe give and grant unto Geffrey de Magnavil for his service to his heires after him by right of inheritance to be Earle of Essex to have the third pennie out of the Sheriffs Court issuing out of all pleas as an Earle should have through his Countie in all things And this is the most ancient Charter that hitherto I have seen of an Earles creation Likewise Henry the Second King of England her sonne created an Earle by these words Know yee that wee have made Hugh Bigod Earle of Norfolk to wit of the third pennie of Norwic and Norfolc as freely as any Earle of England holdeth his Countie Which words an old booke of Battaile Abbey expoundeth thus An usuall and ancient custome it was throughout all England that the Earles should have the third pennie to themselves of the Provinces whereof they tooke the name and were called Earles Semblably another booke without name more plainly The Shire or Countie hath the name of
Canutus are in the Normans tongue translated under the name of Baro and loe what the very words are Exercitualia verò c. That is Let the Heriots or Relevies be so moderate as that they may bee tolerable Of an Earle as decent it is eight horses foure with saddles and foure without saddles foure Helmets and foure shirts of male eight launces or speares and as many shields foure swords and withall 200. mauces of gold Of a Viron or Baron to the King who is next unto him foure horses two with saddles and two without saddles two swords foure speares and as many targets one helmet and one coate of mauile and with fifty mauces of gold Also in the first time of the Normans Valvasores and Thani were ranged in degree of honour next after Earles and Barons and the Valvasores of the better sort if wee may beleeve those that write de Feudis were the very same that now Barons are So that the name Baro may seeme to bee one of those which time by little and little hath mollified and made of better esteeme Neither was it as yet a terme of great honor For in those daies some Earles had their Barons under them and I remember that I read in the ancient Constitutions and ordinances of the Frenchmen how there were under an Earle twelve Barons and as many Capitaines under a Baron And certaine it is that there be ancient Charters extant in which Earles since the comming in of the Normans wrote thus To all my Barons as well French as English Greeting c. Yea even Citizens of better note were called Barons For the Citizens of Warwick in Doomesday book were named Barones likewise Citizens of London and the Inhabitants of the Cinque-ports enjoyed the same name But some few yeares after like as at Rome in times past they chose Senators for their worth in wealth so were they with us counted Barons who held lands of their own by a whole Baronie that is 13. Knights Fees and a third part of one Knights Fee reckoning every fee as an old book witnesseth at 20. li. which make in all 400. marks For that was the value of one entire Baronie and they that had lands and revenues to this worth were wont to be summoned unto the Parliament And it seemed to bee a dignitie with a jurisdiction which the Court Barons as they terme them in some sort doe prove yea and the very multitude that was of these Barons perswaded me to thinke them to be Lords of this nature as that they might in some sort minister and execute justice within their circuit and seigniorie such as the Germans call Free-heires and especially if they had Castles of their owne For then they Jumped Just with the definition of that most famous Civilian Baldus who defineth him to be a Baron whosoever had a meere and subordinate rule in some castle by the grant of the Prince And all they as some would have it that held Baronies seeme to have claimed unto themselves this honor so that as divers learned in our lawes are of opinion a Baron and a Baronie a Count or Earle and a Countie a Duke and a Dutchie were Conjugata that is termes as one would say yoked together Certes in those daies Henrie the Third reckoned in England 150. Baronies And hereupon it is that in all the Charters and Histories of that age all noble men in manner be called Barons and verily that title then was right honorable and under the terme of Baronage all the superiour states of the kingdome as Dukes Marquesses Earles and Barons in some sort were comprised But it attained to the highest pitch of honor ever since that King Henrie the Third out of so great a number which was seditious and turbulent called the very best by writ or summon unto the high Court of Parliament For he out of a writer I speake of good antiquity after many troubles and enormous vexations betweene the King himselfe Simon of Mont-fort with other Barons raised after appeased did decree and ordaine that all those Earles and Barons of the Realme of England unto whom the King himselfe vouchsafed to direct his writs of Summons should come unto his Parliament and none others But that which he began a little before his death Edward the First and his successour constantly observed and continued Hereupon they onely were accounted Barons of the kingdom whom the Kings had cited by vertue of such writs of Summons as they terme them unto the Parliament And it is noted that the said prudent King Edward the First summoned alwaies those of ancient families that were most wise to his Parliaments but omitted their sonnes after their death if they were not answerable to their parents in understanding Barons were not created by Patent untill such time as King Richard the Second created Iohn Beauchamp de Holt Baron of Kiderminster by his letters Patent bearing date the eighth day of October in the eleventh yeare of his raigne Since that time the Kings by their Patâents and the putting on of the mantle or roabe of honour have given this honour And at this day this order of creating a Baron by letters Patent as also that other by writs of Summons are in use in which notwithstanding they are not stiled by the name of Baron but of Chevalier for the Common law doth not acknowledge Baron to be a name of dignity And they that be in this wise created are called Barons of the Parliament Barons of the Realme and Barons of honor for difference of them who yet according to that old forme of Barons be commonly called Barons as those of Burford of Walton and those who were Barons unto the Count-Palatines of Chester and Pembroch who were Barons in fee and by tenure These our Parliamentarie Barons carie not the bare name onely as those of France and Germanie but be all borne Peeres of the Realme of England Nobles Great States and Counsellors and called they are by the King in these words To treat of the high affaires of the kingdome and thereof to give their counsell They have also immunities and priviledges of their owne namely that in criminall causes they are not to have their triall but by a Iurie of their Peeres that they be not put to their oath but their protestation upon their Honor is sufficient that they be not empanelled upon a Iurie of twelve men for enquest de facto No supplicavit can be granted against them A Capias cannot be sued out against them Neither doth an Essoine lie against them with very many other which I leave unto Lawyers who are to handle these and such like Besides these the two Archbishops and all the Bishops of England be Barons also of the kingdome and Parliament even as in our Grandfathers daies these Abbats and Priors following The Abbat of Glastenburie The Abbat of S. Augustines in Canterbury The Abbat of S. Peter in
fore-token of justice having the knot of white silke made in forme of a crosse with an hood upon their left shoulder But of these complements which my purpose was not to prosecute in particular this may bee thought sufficient if not superfluous Now as touching those Knights who simply without any addition bee called Knights and howsoever they are in order ranged last yet by institution they be first and of greatest Antiquitie For as the Romans a gowned nation gave unto them that were entring into mans estate a virile and plaine gowne without welt or gard even so the Germans our Ancestors bestowed upon their young men whom they judged meet for to manage armes armour and weapons Which Cornelius Tacitus will informe you of in these words of his The manner was not for any one to take armes in hand before the State allowed him as sufficient for Martiall service And then in the very assembly of Counsell either some one of the Princes or the father of the young man or one of his kinsfolke furnish him with a shield and a javelin This with them standeth in stead of a virile gowne this is the first honour done to youth before this they seeme to bee but part of a private house but now within a while members of the Common-weale And seeing that such military young men they termed in their language as we in ours Knechts from them I deeme the originall both of name and institution also ought to be fetched This was the first and most simple manner of creating a Knight this the Lombards this the Frankes this our countrymen all descended out of Germanie in old time used Paulus Diaconus reporteth thus among the Lombards This is the Custome that the Kings sonne dineth not with his father unlesse hee receive Armes before from some King of a forraine nation The Annals of France record that the Kings of the Franks gave armes unto their sonnes and to others and girded them with a sword yea and our Aelfred as William of Malmesburie witnesseth when he dubbed Athelstan his nephew Knight being a child of great hope gave him a scarlet mantle a belt or girdle set with precious stones and a Saxon-sword with a golden scabberd Afterwards when as religion had possessed mens minds so as that they thought nothing well fortunately done but what came from Church-men our Ancestors a little before the Normans comming received the Sword at their hands And this Ingulphus who lived in those daies sheweth in these words He that was to be coÌsecrated unto lawfull warfare should the evening before with a contrite heart make confession of his sinnes unto the Bishop Abbat Monke or Priest and being absolved give himselfe to prayer and lodge all night in the Church and when hee was to heare divine service the morrow after offer his sword upon the Altar and after the Gospel the Priest was to puâ the sword first hallowed upon the Knights neck with his Benediction and so when hee had heard Masse againe and received the Sacrament he became a lawfull Knight Neither grew this custome out of use streight waies under the Normans For John of Sarisburie writeth in his Polycraticon thus A solemne Custome was taken up and used that the very day when any one was to be honoured with the girdle of knighthood hee should solemnly goe to Church and by laying and offering his Sword upon the Altar vow himselfe as it were by making a solemne profession to the service of the Altar that is to say promise perpetuall service and obsequious dutie unto the Lord. Peter also of Blois writeth thus At this day young Knights and souldiers receive their Swords from the Altar that they might professe themselves Sonnes of the Church and to have taken the Sword for defence of the poore for punishment and revenge of malefactors and delivery of their Country But in processe of time saith he it is turned cleane contrary For in these daies since they are become adorned with the Knights cincture presently they arise against the Annointed of the Lord and rage upon the patrimonie of Christ crucified And as for this ceremonie that they would be girt with a Sword it may seeme no doubt to have proceeded from the militarie discipline of the Romans because as they denied it unlawfull to fight with their enemie before they were bound to their militarie oath by a drawn sword even so our Forefathers thought they might not go to warfare lawfully before they were by this ceremonie lawfully authorised according to which wee reade that William Rufus King of England was dubbed Knight by Lanfranke the Archbishop But this custome by little and little grew to disuse since the time that the Normans as Ingulphus writeth laughed and scorned at it and in a Synode at Westminster An. 1102. a Canon passed That no Abbats should dubbe Knights which some notwithstanding expound thus That Abbats should grant no lands of the Church to be held by Knights service or in Knights fee or service Afterwards Kings were wont to send their sonnes unto the neighbour Princes to receive Knighthood at their hands thus was our K. Henrie the Second sent unto David King of the Scots and Malcolme King of Scots unto our Henry the Second and our Edward the first unto the King of Castile to take of them Militarie or Virile armes for these termes and phrases they used in that age for the creation of a Knight Then it was also that besides the sword and girdle gilt spurres were added for more ornament whereupon at this day they are called in Latin Equites aurati Moreover they had the priviledge to weare use a signet for before they were dubbed knights as I gather out of Abendon Booke it was not lawfull to use a seale Which writing quoth he Richard Earle of Chester purposed to signe with the seale of his mother Ermentrud considering that all Letters which he directed for as yet he had not taken the Militarie girdle were made up and closed within his mothers signet In the age ensuing knights as it may be well collected were made by their wealth and state of living For they which had a great knights Fee that is if wee may beleeve old records 680. akers of land claimed as their right the ornaments and badges of knighthood Nay rather under Henry the Third they were compelled after a sort to be knights as many as in revenues of their lands might dispend fifteen pounds by the yeare so as now it seemed a title of burden rather than of honour In the yeare 1256. there went out an edict from the King by vertue whereof commandement was given proclamation made throughout the Realme that whosoever had fifteen pounds in land and above should be dight in his armes and endowed with knighthood to the end that England as well as Italie might be strengthned with Chivalrie and they that would not or were not able to maintaine the honour
against the watch-Towre of Britaine For no other place of this Iland looketh directly to Spaine Upon it there standeth now a little village named S. Buriens in old time Eglis Buriens that is The Church of Buriena or Beriena consecrated to Buriena a religious Irish woman For this nation alwaies honoured Irish Saints as tutelar patrons of their owne so all their Towns in manner they have consecrated unto them This village King Athelstan as the report goeth granted to be a priviledged place or Sanctuarie what time as he arrived as Conquerour out of the Iles of Sylly True it is that he built heere a Church and that under William the Conquerour there was heere a Colledge of Chanons unto whom the territorie adjoyning belonged Neere unto this in a place which they call Biscaw Woune are to bee seene nineteene stones set in a round circle distant every one about twelve foote from the other and in the very center there is one pitched far higher and greater than the rest This was some Trophee or monument of victorie erected by the Romans as probably may bee conjectured under the later Emperours or else by Athelstan the Saxon when he had subdued the Cornish-men and brought them under his dominion As the shore fetcheth a compasse by little and little from hence Southward it letteth in a bay or creeke of the Sea in manner of a Crescent which they call Mounts-bay wherein as the common speech goeth the Ocean by rushing with a violent force drowned the land Vpon this lieth Mousehole in the British tongue Port Inis that is The Haven of the Iland For which Henry of Ticis a Baron in his time and Lord of Alwerton and Tiwernel in this Country obtained of King Edward the First the grant to have a market there Likewise there is seated upon this Bay Pen-sans that is The Cape or Head of Saints or as some thinke Sands a prety market Towne within a little whereof is that famous stone Main-Amber which being a great Rock advanced upon some other of meaner size with so equall a counterpeize a man may stir with the push of his finger but to remove it quite out of his place a great number of men are not able as also Merkin that is Iupiters market because Thursday anciently dedicated to Iupiters is their market day a dangerous rode for ships And in the very angle and corner it selfe S. Michaels mount which gave name unto the foresaid Bay sometime called Dinsol as wee find in the booke of Landaffe the Inhabitants name it Careg Cowse that is The hoary Crag or Rock the Saxons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Michaels place as Master Laurence Noel a man of good note for his singular learning and who was the first in our age that brought into ure againe and revived the language of our ancestours the Saxons which through disuse lay sorlet and buried in oblivion hath well observed This Rocke is of a good height and craggy compassed round about with water so oft as it is floud but at every ebbe joyned to the main-land so that they say of it It is land and Iland twice a day For which cause Iohn Earle of Oxford not many yeeres ago presuming upon the strength of the place chose it for his chiefest defence when he raised war against King Edward the Fourth and valiantly held the same but with no good successe For his souldiers being assailed by the Kings forces straight waies yeelded In the very top heereof within the Fortresse there was a Chappell consecrated to S. Michael the Archangell where William Earle of Cornwall and Moriton who by the bounteous gift of King William the First had great lands large possessions in this tract built a Cell for one or two monks who avouched that S. Michael appeared in that mount which apparition or the like the Italians challenge to their hill Garganus and the Frenchmen likewise to their Michaels mount in Normandie At the foote of this mountaine within the memorie of our Fathers whiles men were digging up of tin they found Spear-heads axes and swords of brasse wrapped in linnen such as were sometimes found within the forrest Hercinia in Germanie and not long since in our Wales For evident it is by the monuments of ancient Writers that the Greeks the Cimbrians and Britans used brazen weapons although the wounds given with brasse bee lesse hurtfull as in which mettall there is a medicinable vertue to heale according as Macrobius reporteth out of Aristotle But happily that age was not so cunning in devising meanes to mischiefe and murthers as ours is In the rocks underneath as also along the shore every where breedeth the Pyrrhecorax a kind of crow with bill and feet red and not as Plinie thought proper to the Alpes onely This bird the inhabitants have found to be an Incendiarie and theevish beside For oftentimes it secretly conveieth fire-sticks setting their houses a fire and as closely filcheth and hideth little peeces of money In this place the countrey is most narrow and groweth as it were into an Isthmus for it is scarse foure miles over from hence to the Severn or upper sea A little above this mount there openeth a Creeke of good bredth called of the mount Mountsbay a most safe rode and harbour for ships when the South and Southeast winds are aloft and bluster at a mid ebbe and returne of the Sea six or seven fathom deepe More toward the East ariseth Godolcan hill right famous for plentifull veines of tin they call it now Godolphin but much more renowned in regard of the Lords thereof bearing the same name who with their vertues have equalled the ancientnesse of that house and linage But that name in the Cornish language came of A white Aegle and this family hath anciently borne for their armes in a shield Gules an Aegle displaied Argent betweene three Flower-deluces of the same id est Argent likewise in a shield Gules From S. Michaels mount Southward immediatly there is thrust forth a bi-land or demi-Ile at the very entrie whereof Heilston sheweth it selfe called in their country language Hellas by reason of the salt water flowing thereto a Towne of great resort for their priviledge of marking and coinage of tin Under which by the confluence and meeting of many waters there is made a lake two miles in length named Loo poole divided from the Sea by a narrow banke running betweene which whensoever it is by the violence of waves broken thorow a wonderfull roring of waters is heard far and neere all over the countrey adjoining And not far from thence there is to be seene a militarie fense or rampier of a large compasse built of stones heaped together and laid without mortar they call it in their tongue Earth of which sort there be others heere and there raised as I verily beleeve in the Danish warre Neither is it unlike to
Somersetshire and Wiltshire on the West with Devonshire and some part of Somersetshire on the East with Hampshire so on the South part where it carrieth the greatest length it lieth all open to the Sea bearing upon the British Ocean as I said erewhile for fiftie miles together or much thereabout A fruitfull soile it is The North part thereof being overspred with woods and forrests from thence garnished with many a greene hill whereon feede flocks of sheepe in great number with pleasant pastures likewise and fruitfull vallies bearing come it hath a descent even to the very Sea shore which in my description I will follow as it leadeth me for that I can find no better order In the very entrance into this out of Denshire the first place that sheweth it selfe on this shore is Lime a little towne scituate upon a steepe hill so called of a small river of the same name running hard by which scarcely may challenge the name of a Port or Haven towne though it be frequented with fishermen and hath a rode under it called the Cobbe sufficiently defended from the force of winds with rocks and high trees In ancient bookes I can hardly find any mention thereof onely thus much I have read that King Kinwulfe in the yeare of our Lord 774. gave by these words the land of one Mansion unto the Church of Scireburne hard by the Wersterne banks of the river Lime not farre from the place where he hideth the course of his streame within the Sea to this end that for the said Church salt might be boyled to the sustaining of manifold necessities Neere thereunto the river Carr dischargeth it selfe into the Sea and there standeth Carmouth a little village where the bold roving Danes having good successe in sea-fights wonne two victories of the English first vanquished King Egbert in the yeare of Christ 831. and then eight yeares after King Aethelwolfe Then there is Burtport or more truly Birtport placed betweene two small rivers which there meete together In this towne in the daies of King Edward the Confessor there were reckoned one hundred and twenty houses but in William the Conquerors raigne as we find in his booke of Doomesday one hundred and no more In our time in respect of the soile yeilding the best hemp and skill of the people for making ropes and cables for ships it was provided by a speciall statute to remaine in force for a certaine set time that ropes for the Navie of England should be twisted no where else Neither is this place able to maintaine the name of an haven albeit in the mouth of the river being on both sides enclosed within little hilles nature seemes as it were of purpose to have begun an haven and requireth in some sort art and mans helpe to accomplish the same From hence the shore winding in and out shooteth far into the Sea and a banke called Chesil of sands heaped up thick together with a narrow frith betweene lieth in length for nine miles which the South-wind when it is up commonly cutteth asunder and disperseth but the Northerne wind bindeth and hardneth againe By this Banke or Sand-ridge Portland sometime an Island is now adjoyned to the main-land The reason of which name is altogether unknowne unlesse it were so called because it lyeth full against the Port Weymouth but it soundeth more neere unto the truth that this name was given it of one Port a noble Saxon who about the yeare of our Salvation 703. infested and sore annoied these coasts This Portland in the declining state of the Saxons Empire for before-time writers never spake of it felt as much as any other place from time to time the violent rage of the Danes But when the Danish warre was ended it fell to the possession of the Church of Winchester For at what time as Emme mother to King Edward the Confessor whose name was called in question and she charged for incontinencie with Aldwin Bishop of Winchester had gone bare-foot upon nine culters red hot in Winchester Church without harme an unusuall kind of triall in those daies and then called Ordalium and so cleered her selfe of that imputation that she made her chastitie by so great a miracle more famous to posteritie She for a memoriall thereof gave nine Lordships to the Church of Winchester and King Edward her sonne repenting that hee had so wrongfully brought his mothers name into question bestowed likewise upon the said Church this Island with other revenues It is in compasse scarce seven miles rising up about the sides with high rocks but lying flat and low in the midst Inhabited scatteringly heere and there plentifull enough of corne and good to feed sheepe but so scant of woods that in default of other fewell they make their fire with oxe and cow dung dried The Inhabitants of all English-men were the cunningest slingers and very often doe find among the weeds or reeds of the sea Isidis Plocamos that is Isis haire which as Plinie reporteth out of Iuba is a shrub growing in the Sea not unlike unto Corall without leafe cut it up it turneth into a black colour and if it fall it soone breaketh On the East-side it hath one onely Church and very few houses standing close thereto and on the North a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth which also defendeth the entrance into the haven of Weimouth A little towne this is upon the mouth of Wey a small river over against which on the other side of the banke standeth Melcomb surnamed Regis that is Kings Melcomb divided from the other onely by the haven betweene But the priviledges of the haven were awarded from them by sentence of the Parliament howbeit afterwards recovered These stood both sometimes proudly upon their owne severall priviledges and were in emulation one of another but now God turne it to the good of both many they are by Authoritie of Parliament incorporated into one body conjoyned of late by a bridge and growne very much greater and goodlier in buildings by sea-adventures than heeretofore From thence the shore stretcheth out directly along by the Isle of Purbeck as they call it which for a great part of it is an heath and forrest like indeed replenished with Deere both red and fallow having also veines of marble running scatteringly heere and there under the ground In the midst whereof there is an old large castle named Corf seated upon a great slaty hill which after a long combat with time somewhat yielded as overcome unto time untill of late it hath beene repaired and is a notable testimony and memoriall of a Stepmothers hatred For Aelfrith to make way for her owne sonne Etheldred to the Crowne when Edward her sonne in law King of England came to visit her in this castle from his disport of hunting set some villaines and hacksters to murther him and like a most wicked Stepdame fed her eies with his bloud For which
that they are deemed entire and solid marble The common saying is that Ambrosius Aurelianus or his brother Vther did reare them up by the art of Merlin that great Mathematician in memorie of those Britaine 's who by the treachery of Saxons were there slaine at a parley Whereupon Alexander Necââm a Poet of no great antiquitie in a poeticall fit but with no speciall grace and favour of Apollo having his instructions out of Geffreys British historie come out of these verses Nobilis est lapidum structura Chorea Gigantum Ars experta suum posse peregit opus Quod ne prodiret in lucem segniùs artem Se viresque suas consuluisse reor Hoc opus adscribit Merlino garrula fama Filia figmenti fabula vana refert Illa congerie fertur decorata fuisse Tellus quae mittit tot Palamedis aves Hinc tantum munus suscepit Hibernia gaudens Nam virtus lapidi cujlibet ampla satis Nam respersus aquis magnam transfundit in illa Vim queis curari sepiùs aeger eget Vther Pendragon molem transvexit ad Ambri Fines devicto victor ab hoste means O quot nobilium quot corpora sacra virorum Illic Hengesti proditione jacent Intercepta fuit gens inclita gens generosa Intercepta nimis credula cauta minùs Sed tunc enituit praeclari Consulâ Eldol Virtus qui letho septuaginto dedit The Giants Daunce a famous stone-worke stands Art did her best in bringing it to passe Vaine prating fame reports by Merlins hands In manner strange this worke effected was The stones men say in their land first did lie Whence Cranes in flockes so many use to flie From thence conveied as things of charie price The Irish soile received them with joy For why their vertue in a wondrous wise Oft cures the griefe that doth sicke folke annoy For waters cast and sprinckled on these stones Their vertue take and heale the grieved ones The noble Vther that Pendragon hight Them over seas to Ambresburie brought Returning thence where he by martiall might Had quel'd his foes in battell fiercely fought O worthy Wights how many on that plaine Of you lie dead by Hengists treason slaine The Britans brave that race of noble blood Entrap't by little heed and too much trust Were kild alas in parley as they stood Through faithlesse fraud of enemies unjust But Eldol Earle his manhood excellent Then shewed to death who seventie persons sent Others say that the Britaine 's erected this for a stately Sepulchre of the same Ambrose in the very place where hee was slaine by his enemies sword that hee might have of his countries cost such a piece of worke and tombe set over him as should forever be permanent as the Altar of his vertue and manhood True it is that mens bones have many times beene digged up heere and the village lying now on Avons side is called Ambresburie that is to say Ambrose his towne where certaine ancient Kings by the report of the British Historie lay interred And the booke called Euââgium saith that a Monasterie stood there of three hundred Monkes which one Gurmundus I wot not what Pagan and Barbarian spoiled and rifled In that place afterward Alfritha King Edgar his wife by repentance and some good deed to expiate and make satisfaction for murthering of King Edward her sonne in Law built a stately Nunnerie and endowed it with livings In which Queene Eleanor King Henrie the Thirds widdow renouncing all royall pompe and princely state devoted her selfe unto God among other holy Nuns The said Ambrose Aurelianus who gave name unto the place when the Romane Empire drew now to an end toske upon him the Imperiall purple Roabe in Britaine as saith Paulus Diaconus succoured his decaying countrey and the aide of that warlike Arthur repressed the violent rage of the enemies overthrew puissant armies consisting of the most couragious Nations of Germany and at the last in a battell fought upon this Plaine lost his life in the defence of his countrey Now seeing both Gildas and Bede do write that his Parents wore the purple Roabe and were slaine why may not I suppose him to be descended of that Constantine who in the Fourth Consulship of Theodosius the younger was elected Emperour heere in Britaine in hope of his luckie name and afterwards slaine at Arles I have heard that in the time of King Henrie the Eighth there was found neere this place a table of mettall as it had beene tinne and lead commixt inscribed with many letters but in so strange a Caracter that neither Sir Thomas Eliot nor master Lilye Schoole-master of Pauls could read it and therefore neglected it Had it beene preserved somewhat happily might have beene discovered as concerning Stonehenge which now lieth obscured Scarce foure miles from Ambresburie on this side Avon there is a Warren of hares commonly called Everlie Warren where there is great increase of hares for Gentlemen in the countrey there dwelling to disport themselves with game yet not such store as that the neighbour Inhabitants should require the helpe of souldiers in their defence against them as the men of the Isles Baleares sometime did by Plinies relation albeit they did likewise much harme heere unto the Corne fields and neere neighbour unto it is Lutgershall where stood sometimes as I read the Castle of Geffrey Fitz-Peter Lord chiefe Justice of England in his time and Earle of Essex a man of exceeding great wealth Not much higher is Wolshall which was the house of the Noble Familie of Seimoâ now Earle of Hertford or of Saint Maur to whom by marriage accrewed a great inheritance of the Estârmies in this tract who bare argent three Demy-Lions Gules and from the time of King Henrie the Second were by right of inheritance the Bailifes and Guardians of the Forrest of Savenac lying hard by which is of great name for plenty of good game and for a kind of Ferne there that yieldeth a most pleasant savour In remembrance whereof their Hunters âorne of a mightie bignesse and tipt with silver the Earle of Hertford keepeth unto this day as a monument of his progenitours More somewhat into the East the River Cunetio in the Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commonly Kenet ariseth neere unto a little Village of the same name which some would have to be that CVNETIO mentioned by Antoninus but the distance of both sides gain-saieth it Heere Selburie a round hill mounteth up aloft to a great height which by the forme of the hill it selfe and the outward settling of the earth beneath may seeme to have beene cast up by mans hand And many of that sort round and with sharpe tops are to bee seene in this tract Burrowes they call them and Barrowes raised happily in memoriall of Souldiers there slaine For bones are found in them and read I have how an usuall thing it was with the Northerne
nations that every souldier remaining alive after a foughten field should carry his head-piece full of earth toward the making of their fellowes tombes that were slaine Although I am of opinion rather that this of Selburie was set there in stead of a limit if not by the Romans then certainly by the Saxons Like as that fosse called Wodensdike considering that betweene the Mercians and the West-Saxons there was much bickering in this Shire many a time about their Marches and both Boetius and the Grammaticall Writers have made mention of such Mounts raised for bounds Within one mile of Selburie is Aiburie an up-landish village built in an old Campe as it seemeth but of no large compasse for it is environed with a faire trench and hath foure gappes as gates in two of the which stand huge Stones as jambes but so rude that they seeme rather naturall than artificiall of which sort there are some other in the said village This River Kenet runneth at the first Eastward through certaine open fields out of which there stand up aloft every where stones like rockes and off them a little village there is called Rockley among which there breaketh out sometimes at unawares water in manner of a streame or sudden Land-flood reputed the messenger as it were and forerunner of a dearth and is by the rusticall people of the countrey called Hunger-borne From hence Kenet holdeth on his course to a towne bearing his name called of Antoninus CVNETIO and is placed from Verlucio twenty miles At which distance just from thence that ancient towne called by a new name Marleborow in old time Marleberge standeth upon this river Cunetio now Kenet stretching out East and West on the pendant of an hill Whether this name Marleborow came in latter ages of Marga which in our language we call Marle and use in stead of dung to manure our grounds I am not ready to affirme Certes it lieth neere a chaulkey hill which our Ancestours before they borrowed this name Chaulke of the Latine word Calx named Marle But the Etymologie thereof that Alexander Necham in his Booke of divine wisedome hath coined and drawne from Merlins Tombe as appeareth by this Distichon of his making is ridiculous Merlini tumulus tibi Merlebrigia nomen Fecit testis erit Anglica lingua mihi O Merlebridge towne of Merlins Tombe thou had'st thy name Our English tongue will testifie with me the same The fatall end of this towne Cunetio and the name together and the estate thereof with the ancient memorie also from the comming in of the Saxons unto the Normans time is utterly vanished and gone for in all this space betweene our histories doe not so much as once name it But in the age next ensuing wee reade that Iohn surnamed Sine terra that is Without Land who afterwards was King of England had a Castle heere which when hee revolted from his brother King Richard the First Hubert Archbishop of Canterburie tooke by force and which afterwards was most famous by reason of a Parliament there holden wherein by a generall consent of the States of the Kingdome there assembled a law passed for the appeasing of all tumults commonly called the Satute of Marleborow But now being daunted by time there remaineth an heape of rammell and rubbish witnessing the ruines thereof and some few reliques of the walles remaine within the compasse of a drie ditch and an Inne there is adjoyning thereto which in stead of the Castle hath the signe of a Castle hanging out at it The Inhabitants of the place have nothing to make greater shew of than in the Church of Preshut hard by of a Christning Font as it seemeth of Touchstone or of Obsidian stone in which by their report certaine Princes I wot not who were in times past baptized and made Christians Neither verily can I conceale that which I have read that every Burger heere admitted is by an old order and custome among them to present unto the Major a brace of hounds for the hare a couple of white Capons and a white Bull. On the same River and the same side thereof is seated Ramsburie a prettie village having nothing now to commend it but pleasant meadowes about it howsoever in old time famous it was for the Bishops See there who had this Shire for their Diocesse but that seate being by Herman the Eighth Bishop laid unto that of Shirburne and at length as I said before translated to Saliburie carried away with it all the name and reputation of this place because at Ramesburie there was never any Covent of Clerkes nor ought for their maintenance From the other side of the River more Eastward Littlecot sheweth it selfe not long since a seate of the Darels a place worthy to bee remembred for the late Lord thereof Sir Iohn Popham who being the chiefe Iudge in the Kings Bench executed justice as I have said already against malefactors to his high praise and commendation And heereby runneth the limit betweene this Shire and Berkshire Thus farre forth have we taken a slight view and survey of Wilshire which as wee find in the Domesday booke and worth the noting it is paide unto the King tenne pounds for an Hawke twentie shillings for a strong Steed for hey one hundred shillings and five ores now what kind a piece of money and of what kind that Ore was I wot not but out of a Register of Burton Monasterie I have observed thus much that twentie Ores are worth two Markes of silver This province can reckon out of divers and sundry houses but few Earles besides those of Salisburie whom I have named before for to omit Weolsthan before the Normans Conquest it had none to my knowledge unto King Richard the Second his daies who preferred William le Scrope to that one honour But this mans good fortunes stood and fell together with his Prince For when the one was deposed the other lost his head After whom within short time succeeded Iames Butler Earle of Ormund advanced to that dignitie by King Henrie the Sixth Howbeit when the Lancastrians were downe the wind and hee was attainted his estate forfeited and Iohn Stafford a younger sonne of Humfrey Duke of Buckingham by the favour of King Edward the Fourth received this title whose sonne Edward succeeded him and died without issue The same honour afterwards King Henrie the Eighth bestowed upon Henrie Stafford of the same house of Buckingham who having enjoyed it a little while departed likewise and left no children behind him In the end the favour of the said King brought it into the family of the Bullens for Thomas Bullen Vicount Rochfort Sonne to one of the Daughters and coheires of Thomas Butler Earle of Ormund hee created Earle of Wilshire whose Daughter Anne the King tooke to wife A marriage this was to her selfe and her brother unhappie and deadly to her Parents wofull but
and exposed to the enemie King Henrie the Eighth began to strengthen it with forts for in that foreland or promontorie shooting farre into the sea From whence we have the shortest cut into the Isle of Wight hee built Hurst Castle which commandeth sea ward every way And more toward the East hee set up also another fortresse or blockhouse they name it Calshot Castle for Caldshore to defend the entrie of Southhampton Haven as more inwardly on the other are the two Castles of S. Andrew and Netly For heere the shores retiring as it were themselves a great way backe into the land and the Isle of Wight also butting full upon it doe make a very good harbour which Ptolomee calleth The mouth of the river Trisanton as I take it for Traith Anton that is Anton Bay For Ninnius an old writer giveth it almost the same name when he termeth it Trahannon mouth As for the river running into it at this day is called Test it was in the foregoing age as wee reade in the Saints lives named Terstan and in old time Ant or Anton as the townes standing upon it namely Ant port Andover and Hanton in some sort doe testifie So farre am I of pardon me from thinking that it tooke the name of one Hamon a Roman a name not used among Romans who should be there slaine And yet Geffrey of Monmouth telleth such a tale and a Poet likewise his follower who pretily maketh these verses of Hamon Ruit huc illucque ruentem Occupat Arviragus ejusque in margine ripae Amputat ense caput nomen tenet inde perempti Hammonis Portus longumque tenebit in aevum Whiles Hamon rusheth here and there within the thickest ranke Arviragus encountreth him and on the rivers banke With sword in hand strikes of his head the place of him thus slaine Thence forth is named Hamons-Haven and long shall so remaine But upon this Haven standeth South-hanpton a little Citie neeere unto which on the North-east there flourished in old time another of that name which may seeme to be Antonine his CLAVSENTVM by the distance of it as well on the one side from Ringwood as from Venta on the other And as Trisanton in the British language signifieth the Bay of Anton so Glausentum in the same tongue is as much as the Haven of Entum For I have heard that Claudh among the Britans is that which the Graecians call ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is a forced Haven made by digging and casting up the earth Now that this place was called Hanton and Henton no man needs to doubt seeing in that booke wherein King William the first made a survey of all England this whole shire is expressely named Hanscyre and in some places Hentscyre and the very towne it selfe for the South scituation of it Southâhanton What manner of towne that Clausentum was it is hard to say but seated it was in that place where the field is which now they call S. Maries and reached even to the Haven and may seeme also to have taken up the other banke or strand of the river For a little above at Bittern over against it Francis Mills a right honest gentleman there dwelling shewed unto me the rubbish old broken walls and trenches of an ancient castle which carrieth halfe a mile in compasse and at every tide is compassed for three parts of it with water a great breadth The Romane Emperors ancient coines now and then there digged up doe so evidently prove the antiquity thereof that if it were not the Castle of old Clausentum you would judge it to be one of those forts or fences which the Romans planted upon the South coast of the Ocean to represse as Gildas writeth the piracies and depredations of the Saxons When all became wasted by the Danish warres old Hanton also was left as a prey in the yeere of our Lord 980. to be sacked and rifled by them and King William the Conqueror in his time had in it but fourescore men and no more in his demaine But above 200. yeeres since when Edward the Third King of England and Philip Valois bustled for the very Kingdome of France it was fired by the French and burnt to the gound Out of the ashes whereof presently sprung the towne which now is to be seene but situate in a more commodious place betweene two rivers for number of houses and those faire built much renowned for rich Inhabitants concourse of merchants wealthy fenced round about with a double ditch strong wals and turrets standing thicke betweene and for defence of the Haven a right strong Castle it hath of square stone upon a Mount cast up to a great height built by King Richard the Second And afterward King Henrie the Sixt granted to the Major Balives and Burgesses that it should be a Countie by it selfe with other liberties Memorable is that of the most puissant Canutus King of England and of Denmarke by which he in this place repressed a flatterer who bare the King in hand that all things in the Realme were at his will and command He commanded saith Henrie of Huntingdon that his chaire should be set on the shore when the sea began to flow And then in the presence of many said he to the sea as it flowed Thou art part of my Dominion and the ground on which I sit is mine neither was there ever any that durst disobey my commandement and went away free and unpunished Wherefore I charge thee that thou come not upon my land neither that thou wet the clothes or body of thy Lord. But the sea according to his usuall course flowing still without any reverence of his person wet his feet Then he retiring backe said Let all the Inhabitants of the world know that vaine and frivolous is the power of Kings and that none is worthy the name of King but hee to whose command the heaven earth and sea by bond of an evelasting law are subject and obedient and never after that time set hee the crowne upon his head c. Of those two rivers betweene which this South anton standeth that in the West now called Test and in times past Anton as I suppose springing out of the forrest of Chate goeth first to Andover which in the Saxon language is ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is The passage or Ferry over And where in the yeare of our salvation 893. Aetheldred King of England when the Danes harried and spoiled his Kingdome on every side to the end that hee might at length refresh and cherish his weakened and wearied countries with sure and quiet peace inserted into his owne familie by way of adoption Aulaf the Dane which not withstanding soone after tooke small or none effect For this great honour done to the barbabrous Dane could not reclaime and stay his minde from rapine and spoyling still From thence it runneth downe and receiveth from the East a brooke passing by Bullingdon in whose parish is a
other publique huntings among the Romans For as the same Strabo writeth they were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is of a generous kind and framed naturally for hunting Whereupon Nemesianus wrote thus divisa Britannia mittit Veloces nostrique orbis venatibus aptos Though Britaine from this world of ours doth lie secluded farre Swift hounds it sends which for our game most fitly framed are Gratius also of their price and excellencie saith thus Quod freta si Morinûm dubiâ refluentia ponto Veneris atque ipsos libeat penetrare Britannos O quanta est merces quantum impendia supra If that to Calice-streights you goe Where tides uncertaine ebbe and flow And list to venture further more Crossing the seas to British shore What meede would come to quite your paines What overdeale beside of gaines Yea and that very dog with us which of the old name Agasaeus we call yet at this day a Gasehound those ancient Greekes both knew and also had in great price And this will Oppian in his first booke of his Cynegeticks tell you in these Greeke verses ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which Bodine turned into Latine thes Est etiam catuli species indagine clara Corpus huic breve magnifico sed corpore digna Picta Britannorum gens illos effera bello Nutrit Agasaeosque vocat vilissima forma Corporis ut credas parasitos esse latrantes And may be Englished in this wise Stout hounds there are and those of finders kind Of bodie small but doughtie for their deed The painted folke fierce Britans as we find Them Gasehounds call for they with them doe breed In making like house dogs or at a word To lickerous curs that craven at our bord Claudian also touching our Mastives writeth in this sort Magnaque taurorum fracturi colla Britanni And British mastives downe that puls Or breake the necks of sturdy bulls I have too far digressed about dogges yet hope a favourable pardon In this Citie as our owne Historiographers doe report in the time of the Romans was that Constans the Monke who by his father Constantine was first elect Caesar and afterwards Augustus that Constantine I say who upon hope of this name had assumed the Imperiall purple roabe that is usurped the Empire against Honorius For long since as Zosinus recordeth speaking of those times as well in villages as in Cities there were great colledges peopled as it were with Monks who before time ââying the light lived scattering heere and there among mountaines woods and forrests all solitary by themselues whereof also they were so called Now of this Colledge wherein the said Constans was those old broken walles which are seene of that thicknesse and strength at the West-gate of the Cathedrall Church may seeme to be the ruines and reliques But this imperiall Monke taken out from hence suffered soone after condigne punishment both for his fathers ambition and also for the contempt of his professed religion During the Heptarchie of the Saxons this Citie albeit once or twice it suffered much calamity and miserie yet it revived and recovered againe yea and became the seat royall of the West-Saxons Kings adorned with magnificent Churches and a Bishops See furnished likewise with six mint houses by King Aethelstane In the Normans time also it flourished very much and in it was erected an office for keeping of all publike records and evidences of the Realme In which prosperous estate it continued a long time but that once or twice it was defaced by misfortune of suddaine fires and in the civill war betweene Stephen and Maude about the Kingdome of England lacked by the unruly and insolent souldiers Whereupon Necham our countriman who lived in that age writeth thus Guintoniam titulis claram gazisque repletam Noverunt veterum tempora prisca patrum Sed tam sacra fames auri jam caecus habendi Vrbibus egregiis parcere nescit amor Our ancestours knew Winchester sometimes a goodly Towne In treasure rich and plentifull in name of great renowne But now for hunger after gold our men so greedy are That even such Cities excellent they know not how to spare But of these losses it recovered it selfe by the helpe of Edward the third who heere appointed the Mart for wooll and cloth which we commonly call the Staple What was the face and outward shew of this Citie in these foregoing times a man can hardly tell considering that as the said Necham writeth Flammis toties gens aliena dedit Hinc facies urbis toties mutata dolorem Praetendit casus nuntia vera sui So many times a nation strange Hath fir'd this towne and made such change That now her face and outward hue Her griefe bewray's and tels full true In these daies of ours it is indifferently well peopled and frequented having water plentie by reason of the River turned and conveighed divers waies into it lying somewhat in length from East to West and containeth about a mile and a halfe in circuit within the walls which open at sixe gates and have every one of them their suburbs reaching forth without a good way On the South side of the West gate there mounteth up an old Castle which oftentimes hath beene besieged but most sore and straightly above the rest what time as Mawd the Empresse held it against King Stephen and at length by a rumour given out that she was dead and causing her selfe to be caried out in a coffin like a course deceived the enemie As concerning that round table there hanging up against the wall which the common sort useth to gaze upon with great admiration as if it had beene King Arthurs table I have nothing to say but this That as a man which vieweth it well may easily perceive it is nothing so ancient as King Arthur For in latter times when for the exercise of armes and feates of warlike prowesse those runnings at tilt and martiall justlings or torneaments were much practised they used such tables least any contention or offence for prioritie of place should through ambition arise among Nobles and Knights assembled together And this was a custome of great antiquitie as it may seeme For the ancient Gaules as Athenaeus writeth were wont to sit about round tables and their Esquires stood at their backes holding their shields About the midst of the citie but more inclining to the South Kenelwalch King of the West-Saxons after the subversion of that Colledge of Monkes which flourished in the Romans time as William of Malmesburie saith First founded to the glory of God the fairest Church that was in those daies in which very place the posteritie afterwards in building of a Cathedrall seate for the Bishop although it were more stately than the first yet followed just in the very same steps In this See there have
sheweth But in these matters let Ninnius cleere his owne credit for stuffed hee hath that little booke with many a pretty lie Yet this I may be bold to affirme that it flourished in great honour about that time and I my selfe have lighted here upon very many peeces of the coine of Constantine the younger sonne to Constantine the Great which in their reverse have the portraict of an house with this Inscription PROVIDENTIA CAES. Now that this Constantius whom he maketh the builder of this Citie died at Mopsuestia in Cilicia and was interred in Constantinople in the Sepulchre of his Ancestors it is knowne for certaine and confessed Yet I will not denie but that hee might have in this citie a monument erected in honour and remembrance of him For many there were that had such monuments built about which the souldiers were wont yearely to just and keepe solemne turneaments in honour of the dead When the declining Roman Empire hastened to an end and barbarous nations began every where to waste and spoile the Provinces their Armies heere in Britaine fearing least the flame of this fire wherewith their next neighbours in France were consumed would catch hold of them set up and created Emperours to themselves first Marcus then Gratian whom they soone slew and last of all in the yeare after Christs birth 407 our Constantine for his names sake they forced wild he nild he to usurpe the Empire and to put on the Imperiall Purple robe in the citie Caer Segont as both Ninnius and Gervase of Canterburie do witnesse This Constantine putting to sea out of Britaine landed at Bologne in France and drew all the Roman armies even as farre as the Alpes to side and joyne with him in his warres Hee stoutly defended Valentia in France against the power of Honorius the Emperour the River Rhene which long before had beene neglected hee fortified with a garrison Upon the Alpes where any passage was hee built fortresses In Spaine under the conduct of his sonne Constans whom of a Monke he had declared Emperour he warred fortunately and afterwards having sent his letters unto Honorius and craved pardon for suffering the souldiers to put upon him the purple perforce whether hee would or no he accepted at his hands the Imperiall investure which hee freely gave him Whereupon being puffed up with pride after hee had passed the Alpes his mind was wholly set upon a journey to Rome But hearing that Alaricus the Gothe who had favoured his part was dead hee returned to Arles where hee setled his Imperiall seat caused the Citie to bee called Constantina and commanded the courts and assemblies of seven Provinces there to bee holden In the meane time Gerontius excited the souldiers against their Lord and when he had treacherously slaine his sonne Constans at Vienna in France besieged Constantine also himselfe within Arles But after that one Constantius sent by Honorius with a great armie made head against him Gerontius killed himselfe And Constantine being now streitly besieged and by reason of the unhappie successe of his men past all hope laid aside the Purple and his great estate entred into the Church became a Priest and straight-waies when Arles was yeilded up and hee carried into Italie was himselfe together with his sonne Julian unto whom he had given the title of Nobilissimus and his brother Sebastian beheaded Thus much briefly of these occurrents which before are discoursed more at large out of Zosimus Zosomenus Nicephorus Orosius and Olympiodorus to the end that Veritie may triumph over their vanitie who have besprinkled this story with most ridiculous and foolish lies of their owne devising Moreover in this citie our Historiographers write that our warlike Arthur was invested and crowned King But not long after it was razed quite either in the Saxons warres or when Adelwolph being offended with his brother King Edward upon a malicious mind together with the helpe of the Danish Rovers wasted this countrey even to Basing-stoke And now remaineth nothing save the wals which although they want their battlements Curtaine and coppe yet they seeme to have beene of a very great height For the earth is so growne up with the rubble that I could scarce with stouping low passe through an old posterne which they call Onions Hole These walles in some sort continue whole but that they be broken through in those places where the gates were and out of the very walles I saw grow oakes of that bignesse and those seeming as it were bredde with the very stones with such huge roots clasping one another a great way and spreading forth so mightie armes and boughes all abroad that it would make the beholders to wonder thereat These walles take in compasse about two Italian miles Whereupon haply the Saxons called this citie Selcester as one would say The great Citie for Sel may seeme to sound with them as much as Great seeing Asserius hath interpreted the Saxon word Selwood The Great wood And before the walles Westward where is a plaine there lieth a banke of a great length raised and cast up for a defence and fortification The scite of this old citie containeth about fourescore acres of ground within which being a soile ploughed up an tilled are divided into corne-fields with a little grove in the West-side but on the East neere unto the gappe in the wall there standeth a Farme-house and a pretty Church more lately built in which while I searched for ancient inscriptions I found nothing but onely in the windowes certaine armes to wit In a field sable seven Fusils argent in Bend likewise in a shield sables a Fesse between two Cheverns and in an Escutcheon Or an Eagle displaied with two heads gules This last I have heard say was the coat of the Blewets unto whom this land came about the Conquerours time The second belonged unto the ancient house of the Bainards of Leckham but the first to the Cusanz by whom from the Blewets it descended hereditarily to the said Bainards But in the raigne of William the Conquerour it was the possession of William de Ow a Norman who being accused of high treason and desirous to prove his innocencie by combat was overcome in fight and by commandement of King William Rufus had his two eies pluckt out of his head and lost both his genetals This is found by continuall observation as I have learned of the Inhabitants of this place that although the ground bee fertile and fruitfull enough yet in certaine places crossing one another the corne doth not thrive so well but commeth up much thinner then else where by which they suppose the streets of the citie went in old time There are heere daily digged up bricks such as wee call Britaine-bricks and great store of Roman coine which they terme Onions pennies For they dreame that this Onion was a Giant and dwelt in this citie There are digged up also many times inscriptions of
name of Sir Iohn Lisle of the Isle of Wight ATTREBATII AS in France so also in Britaine next adjoyning unto the Belgae are ATTREBATII which name being now altogether out of use the place which they inhabite is commonly called Barkshire For let this stand as granted seeing Cesar writeth the forrainers comming out of Gallia Belgica inhabited the sea coasts of Britaine and retained still the names of their countries that these our ATTREBATII ATTREBATES of Gaule who as Ptolomee recordeth held the maritime part of Gaule lying upon the river Sein and namely that very countrey which after a sort lieth full opposite and over against our Attrebatii It was not therefore without good cause if Cesar wrote that Comius Attrebatensis was of great authority in these countries namely among his owne countrimen and that after hee was by Cesar vanquished he fled hither what time as Frontinus writeth whiles his ships were grounded upon a shelfe he commanded his sailes to be hoised up and so disappointed Cesar who pursued him of his purpose who kenning a-farre-of his full sailes and supposing that with a good gale of forewind he sailed away gave over further pursuit Whence these Attrebatii were so called it resteth doubtfull For whereas some fetch the originall from Attrech which in the old Gauls tongue they would have to signifie a land of Bread I neither approve nor disprove their opinion Sufficient it may be for us to have shewed from whence they came into Britaine as for the derivation of their name let others search into it COMITATUS Bercheriâ vulgo Barkshyre qui olim sedes ATREBATVM BARKSHIRE THat countrie which we call Barkshire the late Latine writers terme Bercheria and was somtime by the English Saxons named ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which name Asserius Menevensis deriveth from a certaine wood called Berroc where grew good store of box others from a naked or bare oake for so much the name Beroke it selfe importeh unto which the Inhabitants in dangers and troublesome times of the commonwealth were wont in old time to resort there to consult about their publike affaires The North part hereof the river Isis which afterwards is called Tamisis that is the Tamis running with a winding channell full of reaches but carrying a very gentle streame doth pleasantly water it and first severeth it from Oxfordshire afterwards from Buckinghamshire The South side where it beareth toward Hantshire the river Kenet cutteth through untill it runnes into the Tamis In the West where it bordereth upon Wiltshire and carrieth the greatest breadth as also in the middle part rich it is of it selfe and full of commodities yeelding corne in plenty especially where it falleth lower to a valley which I wotte not from what shape of a white horse imagined to appeare in a whitish chalky hill they terme The vale of Whitehorse As for the East part that confineth with Surrie it groweth very barraine or at least wise the soile is lesse fertile as standing upon forrests and woods that take up a great ground in length and breadth In the West march thereof neere unto Isis standeth Farendon seated high famous now for a mercate there kept but in times past for a certaine Fort which Robert Earle of Glocester built against King Stephen who notwithstanding wonne it with bloudy assaults and laid it so levell with the ground that now it is not to bee seene But the plot of ground whereon it stood as we finde in the Chronicle of Waverley Abbay King Iohn in the yeere of our Lord 1202. prevented by divine inspiration granted with all the appurtenances to the building of an Abbay for the Cistercians order From hence the river having with a great turning compasse after much wrestling gotten out towards the North passeth a long hard by many villages of small reckoning till at length with a returne and disporting it selfe with winding branches and divisions he commeth to Abbendon a proper towne and populous called at first by the English Saxons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã then Abbandune no doubt of the Abbay rather then of one Abben I wote not what Irish Eremite as some have written A place this was as we finde in an old booke of Abbendon upon the plaine of an hill very faire and delectable to see too a little beyond the town which now is called Suniggewelle betweene two most pleasant rivelets which enclosing within them the place it selfe as it were a certaine nooke yeeld a delightsome sight to the beholders and a meete succour to the Inhabitants The very same was in times past called Sheovesham a Citie famous goodly to behold full of riches compassed about with most plentuous fields with greene medowes âpatious pastures and flockes of cattell spinning forth milke abundantly Hâere was the Kings seat hither resorted and assembled the people when soever there was any treaty about the chiefe and highest affaires of the kingdome But so soone as Cissa King of the West Saxons had built the Abbay it beganne by little and little to lay downe the old name and to be called Abbendon and Abbington that is Abbay-towne This Abbay had not long flourished when all of a sodaine in a tempestuous fury of the Danes it was subverted Yet soone after it was reared againe through the bounty of King Edgar and afterwards by the meanes travaile of the Norman Abbats grew by little and little to such magnificence that among all the Abbaies of Britaine for riches and statelinesse it would hardly give place to any Which the very rubble and ruines at this day doe testifie As for the towne albeit along time it had a great stay of the Abbay yet since the yeere of our salvation 1416. in which King Henrie the Fifth built Bridges over the River Isis or Ouse as witnesseth a verse written in a window of Saint Helens Church there and turned the Kings high way hither for to make a shorter passage it beganne to bee frequented and traded so that among all the townes of this shire it goes for the chiefe hath a Major in it and maketh great gaine by that steeped barly sprouting and chitting againe which the Greekes terme Byne and wee Malt sand besides hath a Crosse of singular workemanship in the mids of their mercate place which by report in the reigne of King Henrie the sixth the Brotherhood of Saint Crosse instituted by him did erect As Cissa founded this monasterie for Monkes so Cilla out of an old booke I speake the sister of King Cedwalla built the Nunnerie at Helnestowe neere the Tamis where her selfe was Ladie Abbasse over the Virgins who afterwards were translated to Witham And whiles the warre grew hote betweene Offa and Kinulphe when a Castle was there built the Nunnes retired themselves out of the way For after that Kinulph was overthrowne whatsoever lay under his jurisdiction from the towne of Wallengford in the South part from Ichenildstreete unto Essebury and
in the North side to the river Tamis King Offa usurped and seized into his owne hands Neere unto it Northwest lieth Lee which by the daughter of a certaine worshipfull Knight surnamed thereupon de Lee fell to the familie of Besiles and thereof it came to bee called Besiles Lee and from that house in right of marriage to Richard Fetiplace whose Progenitor Thomas brought some honor to his posterity by matching with Beatrice the base daughter of Iohn the first King of Portugall and widdow to Gilbert Lord Talbot of whom they are descended But now let us returne Hard by Abendon Ocke a little river that runneth by the South side of the towne over which in times past Sir Iohn of Saint Helenes Knight built a bridge gently falleth into Isis This Ocke springeth in that vale of Whitehorse scarce a mile or two from Kingston-Lisle in olde time the possession of Warin de Insulâ or Lisle a noble Baron From whom when as Sir Iohn Talbot the younger sonne of that renowned warrior Iohn Earle of Shrewsburie was descended by his mother hee was created by King Henrie the Sixth Lord Lisle like as Warin de Insula in times past in regard of the possession of this place as if that dignity were annexed thereto and afterwards Vicount Lisle by a Patent without any such regard This title through the gratious favor of Kings flourished still in his posterity one after another successively For breifly to knit up their succession When Sir Thomas Talbot sonne of the said Iohn departed this life without issue beeing deadly shot into the mouth with an arrow in a skirmish defending his possessions against the Lord Barkley Sir Edward Grey who had married his sister received the same at the hands of King Richard the third and left it to Iohn his sonne and successour Whose onely daughter and heire King Henrie the Eighth assured to Sir Charles Brandon and thereupon created him Vicount Lisle But when as shee died in tender yeeres before the marriage was solemnized hee also relinquished that title Which King Henrie afterward bestowed upon Sir Arthur Plantagenet base sonne to King Edward the fourth Who had wedded Elizabeth sister to Sir Iohn Grey Vicount Lisle and widdow of Edmund Dudley And when hee deceased without heires male the said King honoured therewith Sir Iohn Dudley sonne of Edmund by the same Elizabeth Grey who in the time of King Edward the sixth was created Duke of Northumberland and afterward attainted by Queene Marie His sonne Sir Ambrose Dudley beeing restored in bloud was by Queene Elizabeth on one and the selfe same day created Lord Lisle and Earle of Warwicke who ended his life issuelesse And now lately Sir Robert Sidney his sisters sonne was honoured with the stile of Vicoun Lisle by King Iames who had before created him beeing Chamberlaine to the Queene his wife Baron Sidney of Pensherst Then runneth the river Ocke aforesaid betweene Pusey which they that are named de Pusey hold it yet by the horn from their ancestors as given unto them in ancient time by K. Canutus the Dane and the two Dencheworths the one and the other where flourished for a long time two noble and auncient houses to wit de Hide at the one and Fetiplace at the other which families may seeme to have sprung out of one and the same stocke considering they both beare one and the same coat of armes Then entertaineth Ock a namelesse river which issueth out of the same vale at Wantage called in the English Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã where some time there was a Manour house of the Kings and the place wherein Aelfred that most noble and renowned King was borne and bred which at his death he bequeathed to Alfrith Long time after it became a mercate towne by the meanes and helpe of Sir Fulke Fitzwarin that most warlike Knight upon whom Roger Bigod Mareschall of England had bestowed it for his martiall prowesse and at this daie it acknowledgeth for Lords thereof the Bourchiers Earles of Bath descended from the race of the Fitzwarins of whose familie some were here buried Isis being departed once from Abbendon straight waies receiveth into it out of Oxfordshire the river Tame of which elsewhere and now by a compound word being called Tamisis first directeth his course to Sinodun an high hill and fenced with a deepe trench were stood for certaine in old time a fortresse of the Romanes for the ground being now broken up with the plough yeeldeth otherwhiles to the ploughmen store of Roman pieces of coine as tokens of antiquitie Under it at Bretwell there was a Castle if it were not that upon this hill which King Henry the Second wonne by force a little before that he made peace with King Stephen From hence Tamis holdeth on his way to the chiefe Citie in times past of the Attrebatians which Antonius termeth GALLEVA of Attrebats Ptolomee GALEVA but both of them through the carelessnesse of the Scriveners name it wrong for GALLENA and they likewise in their Greeke copies have thrust upon us ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for Gallena by transposition of letters I have thought it was so named in the British tongue as it were Guall hen that is The old rampier or fort Which name being still kept and Ford added thereto which is a shallow place in the river the Englishmen in old time called it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and we at this day shorter Wallengford In King Edward the Confessors time it was counted a Burgh and contained as we find in that Book wherein K. William the Frst tooke the Survey of all England two hundred threescore and sixteene Hages that is to say Houses yielding nine pounds de Gablo and those that dwelt there did the King service on horsebacke or by water Of those Hages eight were destroyed for the Castle In old time it was compassed about with walles which as men may see by their tract tooke up a mile in circuit It hath a Castle scituate upon the river very large I assure you and stately so fortitified in times past that the hope in it as impregnable and invincible made divers over-bold and stout For when England burned as a man may say in a generall flame of warres we read that it was by King Stephen belaied once or twise with sieges but all in vaine The greatnesse and magnificence thereof I much wondered at when I was young and removed thither from Oxford for a place it is now for the Students there of Christ Church to retire unto as having a double range of walles about it and being compassed round likewise with a duple rampier and ditch and in the midst of it there standeth a tower to keepe raised upon a mightie high mount in the steepe ascent whereof by steps we saw a Well of an exceeding depth The Inhabitants are verily perswaded that it
kirtle reaching down to there ankles with an upper mantle of purple over it are bound daily to be present at divine service there to commend unto God in their prayers the Knights of this Order Betwixt the two Courts before said there riseth up an high mount on which is set a round tower and hard by it ariseth another loftie tower called Winchester tower of William Wickham Bishop of Winchester whom King Edward the Third made overseer of the worke when he built the Castle Some report that the said Wickham after he had built and finished this Tower in a certaine inner wall engraved these words This made Wickham which maner of speech in the English tongue that seldome maketh distinction of cases carrieth such a doubtfull construction that uncertaine it is whether he made these buildings or the buildings made him Hereof information was given to the King by some privie back-biters for to worke him a displeasure and that in such termes as if Wickham did arrogantly challenge to himselfe all the honour of the building Which when the King tooke in verie evill part and sharply rebuked him for it he made this answer That he had not arrogated and ascribed to himselfe the praise of so sumptuous and princely an aedifice but accounted this building and peece of worke to have beene the meanes of all his dignities and preferments neither have I quoth he made this Castle but this Castle hath made me and from low estate raised me unto the Kings favour unto wealth and dignitie Under the Castle toward the West and South lieth the towne of good bignesse and populous withall which from the time of King Edward the Third began to flourish and the other which standeth farther of and is now called Old Windsore fell by little and little to decay In which whiles William the First raigned as we read in his booke there were an hundred Hages or hâuses whereof two and twentie were fquit from Gable out of the rest there went thirtie shillings No other memorable thing is here to be found but Eton which is hereto adjoyned by a wooden bridge over the Tamis and in it a faire Colledge and a famous Schoole of good literature founded and built by King Henrie the Sixth wherein besides the Provost Eight fellowes and the singing Choristers there are threescore Schollers instructed in Grammar and in due time preferred to the Universitie of Cambridge But this towne and Colledge is in Buckingham-shire and not in Barkshire Now there remaineth nothing to say more of Windsore but that there is an honourable family of Barons surnamed of Windsore who fetch their originall from Walter the son of Other Castellan of Windsore in the time of K. William the First from whom also master Robert Glover most studious and skilfull in Heraldrie and who in the company of Heralds bare the title of Somerset hath prooved the Fitz-Giralds in Ireland Earles of Kildare and Desmond to bee derived Neither thinke much of your labour to runne over these verses of Windsore taken out of the Poem entituled The marriage of Tame and Isis and penned certaine yeeres past wherein father Tamisis endevoureth to set forth as well the dignity of the place as the majestie of Queene Elizabeth keeping her Court therein I am Windesorae surgunt in culmina ripae Turrigera celso lambentes vertice coelum Quas ubi conspexit doctae gratatus Etonae Quae fuit Orbilijs nimium subjecta plagosis Caeruleum caput ille lavans ita farier infit Aerias moles gradibus surgentia templa Ferratos postes pinnas vivaria verè Perpetuo laetos campos Zephiroque colono Florentes hortos Regum cunabula regum Auratos thalamos Regum praeclara sepulchra Et quaecunque refers nunc Windesora referri Desine Cappadocis quanquam sis clara Georgi Militia procerumque cohors chlamydata nitenti Cincta periscelidi suras te lumine tanto Illustret tantis radijs perstringit orbem Vt jam Phryxeum spernat Burgundia vellus Contemnat cochleis variatos Gallia torques Et cruce conspicuas pallas Rhodus Alcala Elba Solaque militiae sit splendida gloria vestrae Desine mirari latari desine tandem Omnia concedunt uni superatur in uno Quicquid habes tibi major honos gloria surgit Accola quod nostrae ripae sit incola vobis Elizabetha simulque suo quasi poplite flexo Tamisis en placide subsidet inde profatur Elizabetha suis Diva Dea sola Britannis Cujus enexhaustas laudes si carmine nostro Complecti cuperem Melibocco promptius Alpes Imponam numeremque meas numerosus arenas Si quasdam tacuisse velim quamcunque tacebo Major exit Primos actus veteresque labores Prosequaâ ad sese revocant praesentia mentem Iustitiam dicam magis at Clementia splendet Victrices referam vires plus vicit inesmis Quód pietas floret quód non timet Anglia Martem Quód legi nemo quód lex dominatur omni Quód vicina truci non servit Scotia Gallo Exuit atque suos sylvestris Hibernia mores Criniger Vltonius quod jam mitescere discit Laus cadit haec illi nil non debetar illi Crimina-quae pellunt tanta quae principe dignae Omnes templa sacro posuerunt pectore Divae Religio superos sancte manet esse colendos Iustitia utilibus semper praeponere justum Edocet ut praeceps nil sit Prudentia suadet Temperies ut casta velit cupiatque pudica Instruit immotam mentem Constantia firmat Hinc EADEM SEMPER rectè sibi vindicat illa Proferet undosâ quis tantas carmine landes Sola tenet laudum quicquid numerabitis omnes Sit faelix valeat vivat laudetur ametur Dum mihi sunt fluctus dum cursus dum mihi ripae Angligenum faelix Princeps moderetur habenas Finiat una dies illi annos mihi cursus And now the tour-supporting bankes at Windsore mount on hie That with their loftie-headed tops reach to the cloudy kie Which when * he saw and had withall greeted that learned Eaton Where Masters too too rigorous have schollers overbeaten His Sea-like head he lifting up in this wise gan to say Thy long discourse O Windsor I wish thee now to stay Of high rais'd mounts of temples tall that rise with stately staire Of yron-bound beames of battlements and pinnacles so faire Of gamefull parks of meadowes fresh ay-spring-like pleasant fields Of goodly gardens clad with flowers that holesome Zephyrus yields Of nurseries gilt-marriage âowers and sumptuous tombes of Kings Relate no more but make an end of all such glorious things What though thou much renowned be by many a Georgian Knight And Nobles clad in mantles rich with costly garter dight Doe cause thy name to shine so much and thence to thy great praise Through out the world are spred abrode so bright and glittering raies That Burgundie despiseth now his goodly Toison D'or And France of colars
PONTIFICE DIRECTVS ET A DEO OPERATIONE MIRACVLORVM SVFFVLTVS ET ETHELBERTHVM REGEM AC GENTEM ILLIVS AB IDOLORVM CVLTV AD FIDEM CHRISTI PERDVXIT ET COMPLETIS IN PACE DIEBVS OFFICII SVI DEFVNCTVS EST SEPTIMO KALENDAS IVNIAS EODEM REGE REGNANTE HERE RESTETH DAN AVGVSTINE THE FIRST ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY VVHO BEING IN TIMES PAST DIRECTED HITHER FROM BLESSED GREGORIE THE BISHOP OF ROME AND THROVGH THE VVORKING OF MIRACLES SVPPORTED BY GOD BOTH BROVGHT KING ETHELBERT AND HIS PEOPLE FROM IDOLATRY TO THE FAITH OF CHRIST AND ALSO AFTER THE DAIES OF HIS FVNCTION ACCOMPLISHED IN PEACE DIED THE SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF IVNE IN THE SAME KINGS REIGNE Together with him in the same porch were buried sixe Archbishops next succeeding and in memoriall of these seven namely Austen Laurence Mellitus Iustus Honorius Deus-dedit and Theodosius were these verses such as they are engraven there in marble SEPTEM SVNT ANGLIS PRIMATES ET PROTO PATRES SEPTEM RECTORES SEPTEM COELOQVE TRIONES SEPTEM CISTERNAE VITAE SEPTEMQVE LVCERNAE ET SEPTEM PALMAE REGNI SEPTEMQVE CORONAE SEPTEM SVNT STELLAE QUAS HAEC TENET AREA CELLAE Seven Patriarchs of England Primates seven Seven Rectors and seven Labourers in heaven Seven Cesternes pure of life seven Lamps of light Seven Palmes and of this Realme seven Crownes full bright Seven Starres are heere bestow'd in vault below I may not forget another Church neere unto this built as Bede saith by the Romans and consecrated to Saint Martin wherein before Austens comming Bertha wife to King Ethelbert descended from the bloud Royall of France was wont to frequent divine Christian service Concerning the Castle on the South side of the Citie the Bulwarks whereof now are decaied it maketh no shew of any great antiquity and there is no memorable thing thereof come to my knowledge but only that it was built by the Normans as touching the dignitie of the See of Canterburie which in times past carried a great State I will say nothing but this that as in former ages during the Roman Hierarchie the Archbishops of Canterbury were Primates of all Britaine Legates to the Pope and as Vrbane the second said The Patriarches as it were of another world so when the Popes authoritie was abrogated a decree passed in the Synode Anno 1534. that laying aside the said title they should bee stiled Primates and Metropolitanes of all England Which dignitie the right reverend Father in Christ D. Iohn Whitgift lately held who devoutly consecrated both his whole life to God all his painefull labours to the Church and in the yeare 1604. slept in the Lord a Prelate much missed of all good men After whom succeeded Doctor Richard Bancroft a man of singular courage and counsaile in establishing and supporting the state Ecclesiasticall For the Latitude of Canterbury the Pole Artick is elevated above the Horizon there fifty one degrees and sixteene minutes and the Longitude is reckoned to be foure and twenty degrees and fiftie one minutes Stour by this time having gathered his waters all into one streame runneth beside Hackington where Dame Lora Countesse of Leicester a most honourable Lady in those daies having abandoned all worldly pleasures sequestred her selfe from the world devoutly to serve God wholy Afore which time Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury began a Church there in the honour of Saint Stephen and Thomas of Canterbury But being inhabited by the Bishop of Rome his authoritie for feare the same might prejudice the Monkes of Canterbury hee gave over the workes Howbeit ever since the name remained and the place is called Saint Stephens of which Sir Roger Manwood Knight L. cheife Baron of the Exchequer a man of exquisite knowledge in our common lawes unto whom for his bounteous liberalitie the poore inhabitants are much beholding was of late time a right great ornament and even so is his sonne at this day Sir Peter Manwood Knight of the Bath whom I cannot but mention when as he is a favourer of vertue and learning From thence Stour passeth by Fordich called the little Burough of Forewich in King William the Conquerours booke a place of note for excellent good trouts and so in former time to Stoure-mouth which it hath now forsaken a mile and more yet left and bequeathed his name to it But now by Stoure-mouth runneth a brooke which issuing our of Saint Eadburghs well at Liming where the daughter to King Ethelbert first of our nation tooke the veile while it seeketh the sea seeth Elham a mercate towne of which I have read nothing but that the Mannour was the inheritance of Iulian Leibourn a Ladie of great honour in her time who was mother of Laurence Hastings first Earle of Penbrooke of that surname and after wife to William Clinton Earle of Huntingdon Then it holdeth his course by divers villages which thereof receive the addition of Bourn as Bishops-bourn Hawles-bourn Patricks-bourn and Beakes-bourn This bourne is that river Stoure as Caesar calleth it as I have observed travailing lately in these parts which Caesar came unto when he had marched by night almost twelve Italian miles from the sea-coast and where hee had the first encounter in his second expedition into Britaine with the Britaines whom he drave into the woods where they had a place fortified both by nature and mens labour with a number of trees hewen downe and plashed to fore-close the entries But yet the Romans forced an entrie drave them out and there about encamped The place of campe as I heare is neare Hârdes a place of ancien Gentlement of that surname descended from Esten grave Herengod and the Fitz-Bernards Belowe Stoure-mouth Stoure dividing his streame taketh two severall waies and leaving that name is called In-lade and Wantsume making the Isle of Tenet on the West and South side for on all other sides it is washed with the maine Sea This Iland Solinus named ATHANATON and in other copies THANATON the Britaines Iuis Ruhin as witnesseth Asserius happily for Rhutupin of Rhutupinae a Citie adjoining The English Saxons called it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and we Tenet All the Isle standeth upon a whitish maile full of goodly corne fields and being a right fertile soile carrieth in length eight miles and foure in breadth reckoned in old time to containe 600. Families in stead whereof it is corruptly read in Bede Milliarium Sexcentarum for Familiarum Sexcentarum But whereas Solinus writeth that there is not a snake creeping in this Isle and that the mould or earth carried from hence killeth snakes it is now proved to bee untrue That Etymologie therefore derived ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is from the death of snakes falleth quite to the ground Here the English Saxons landed first here by the permission of Guortigern they first seated themselves here was their place of refuge and here Guortimor the Britaine made a great
Cotas either to bee revenged of the Britains who aided the Gaules as Strabo saith or in hope of British pearles as Suctonius reporteth or inflamed with an ambitious desire of glory as others doe record in the yeare before Christs nativitie fiftie foure and once againe in the yeare ensuing entred into Britaine having before hand sounded the havens by his espialls as Suâtonius and himselfe doth testifie and not as Roger Bachon fableth by setting certaine looking glasses upon the coast of Gaule and by Art perspective which by reflection multiplieth hidden formes What hee exploited here himselfe hath at large delivered in his Commentaries and I likewise before have summarily abridged out of him and the writings of Suetonius concerning Scaeva whose valourous service during the civill warre was notably seen above others at Dyrrachium and whom our Poet Ioseph of Excester in his Antiocheis and namely in these his verses touching Britaine reported I know not how truely to have beene a Britaine borne Hinc et Scaeva satus pars non obscura tumulius Civilis MAGNVM solus qui mole solutâ Obsedit meliorque stetit pro Caesare murus Here borne also was Scaeva he that bare no little sway In all these civill broiles the Fort that stood full in his way Alone he brake Pompey besieged was Caesars strongest stay But what were the exploits of Caesar in this our country learne you may of himselfe and out of that which hath before beene written For neither as yet have I met with that old father a Britaine whom Marcus Aper as we read in Quintilian saw in this Island who avowed that he was present at the battaile in which they assaied to keepe Caesar from landing when he came to warre upon them neither is it any part of my meaning now to write an Historie but a Topographie Vpon this shore lie out with a long traine certaine heapes in manner of bankes or rampiers which some imagine that the winde swept up together But I suppose them to have beene a fence and countermure or rather the Ship-campe which Caesar raised with ten daies and as many nights labour to haile up thereto his sea-beaten and shaken Navie and to defend it both against tempests and also the Britaines who in vaine did assaile it For I understand by relation of the dwellers thereby that this rampier is called Romes-worke as if it were A worke of the Romans And so much the rather believe I that Caesar arrived heere because hee writeth that seven miles from hence for so wee reade in the ancient bookes corrected by Flavius Constantinus a man of Consul degree the sea is kept in and compassed with such streight mountaines that for the higher places a dart may bee flung to the very shore verily as soone as we are past Deale a mightie ridge of steepe high Cliffs Cicero termeth them moles magnificas that is Stately cliffes bringing forth Samphyre in great plenty runneth for seven miles or there about as far as to Dover where it openeth it selfe and of that nature is the place that right as Caesar writeth betweene two hills it letteth in and encloseth the sea Within this partition and separation of the Cliffes lieth DVBRIS which Antonine the Emperour mentioneth the Saxons name it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and we Dover This name was given unto it as Darell out of Eadmer writeth because the place was shut up and hard to come unto For when as saith he in ancient times the sea there barbarous spreaded it selfe upon urgent necessitie to make it a more commodious haven they kept it in with more streight bounds Howbeit William Lambard with more probabilitie fetched the reason of this name from the word Dufyrrha which in the British language betokeneth a place steepe and upright The towne which is seated betweene high clyffes whereas some-time the haven was when the sea more insinuated it selfe as wee collect by the anchors and ship planks that are digged there up is more famous for the commodiousnesse of the haven such as it is and for readie passage into France than for any elegancie or great trade For it is a place of passage of all other most haunted and it was provided in old time by a speciall Statute that no man going forth of the realme in pilgrimage should else where embarque and take sea more-over it is reckoned one of the Cinque-ports and in times past it was charged to furnish and set out one and twenty ships unto the warres in the same manner and forme as Hastings did whereof I have already spoken Toward the sea now somewhat excluded by Beach it was fenced with a wall whereof some part as yet standeth It had a faire church consecrated unto Saint Martin founded by Whitred King of Kent an house also of the Knights-Templars which now are quite gone and nothing to bee seene of them It yeildeth likewise a seat for the Archbishop of Canterburies Suffragans who when the Archbishop is busied in weightier affaires mannageth for him matters that pertaine to Orders onely and not to the Episcopall jurisdiction From the top of a rough and cragâiâ cliffe which mounteth up to a wonderfull height where it looketh downe to the sea a most statey Castle like unto a prettie Citie fortified right strongly with bul-warkes and many a Tower overlooketh and threatneth after a sort the sea under it Matthew of Paris calleth it the Key and Locke The Barre and Sparre of England The common sort of people dreameth that it was built by Iulius Caesar and verily I suppose by the British Bricks in the Chappell there that it was built by the Romans who used such in their great buildings What time as the Roman Empire declined they placed here a band or companie of the Tungricanes who were accounted among the Aides-Palatine out of whose armoury and munition happily were those big arrowes which the Castellanes doe now shew for wonders and were wont to bee discharged then and many yeares after before the invention of great Ordnance out of engines called Balistae like huge crosse-bowes bent by force of two or foure men From the entrance of the English Saxons into this land unto the expiation of their Kingdome no where could I as yet reade so much as one bare word of this Castle or the Towne save onely in certaine by-notes out of a Table that was heere hanged upon a wall which reported that Caesar having arrived at Deale and discomfited the Britaines at Baramdowne which is a plaine adjoyning fit for horse fight and meete to embattaile an armie in began the Castle of Dover and that Arviragus afterward fortified it against the Romans and stopped up the haven Also that after him King Arthur and his knights vanquished I wot not what rebels heere Howbeit a little before the Normans comming in it was reputed the onely defence and strength of England and for that cause William Duke of Normandie bound Harold by on oath to
as certaine lands were held in Coperland neere Dover by service to hold the Kings head betweene Dover and Whit-sand when soever hee crossed the Sea there And Lewis the younger French King when he came in devout pilgrimage to visit Thomas of Canterbury besought that saint by way of most humble intercession that no passenger might miscarry by shipwracke betweene Vitsan and Dover as who would say that at the same time that was the usual passage to and fro neither in truth is this narrow sea else where more streightned although it is to bee supposed that they who faile betweene in passing over did not respect the neerer way and shorter cut in sailing but the commodiousnesse of the havens in the one shoare and the other For even so albeit the sea be narrowest betweene Blacknesse in France and the Nesse in England yet now the ordinary passing is betweene Dover and Callais as in former ages before that Vitsan haven was dammed up the passage was betweene it and Dover and before that time betweene Rhutupiae and Gessoriacum From whence Claudius the Emperour and the other captaines whom I have spoken of sailed over into Britaine This GESSORIACVM Pliny seemeth to call Portum Morinorum Britannicum peradventure for the passage from thence into Britaine Ptolomee in whom it hath crept into the place of Itium nameth it Gessoriacum Navale in which signification also our Welsh Britans commonly terme it Bowling-long that is Boloine the ship-road For that Gessoriacum was the very same Sea-coast towne which Ammianus calleth BONONIA the Frenchmen Bologne the Low-country men Beunen and wee Bolen I dare bee bold to aver and maintaine against Hector Boethius and Turnebus grounding my assertion both upon the authoritie of Beatus Rhenanus who saw an ancient military Map wherein was written Gessoriacum quod nunc Bononia that is Gessoriacum now called Bolen and also upon Itinerarie computation or account of the miles which answereth just to the distance that Antonine the Emperour hath put downe betvveene Ambiani and Gessoriacum But that which may serve in steed of all proofes The rablement of Pyrates serving under Carausius which the Panegirick Oration pronounced unto Constantius the Emperour reported to have beene inclosed and shut up within the walles of Gessoriacum and there surprised an other Oration unto Constantius Maximus his sonne relateth to have beene vanquished at Bononia so that Bononia that is Bolen and Gessoriacum must needs be one and the selfe same place and it may seeme that the more ancient name was vvorne out much about that time For it is not to be surmised that so grave authors unto the great Princes erred in the setting downe and naming of this place the memory thereof being then so fresh and that victory so glorious But what have I to doe with France Verily I have the more willingly ripped up the memorie of these matters for that the prowesse and valour of our Ancestours shewed it selfe often in this coast as who wonne and wrested both Calais and Bolen from the French And as for Bolen they rendred it backe againe at the humble request of the French King after eight yeares for a summe of money agreed upon But Callais they held 212. yeare in despight and maugre of the French Now returne wee to Britaine with full sailes and a favourable tide From Dover leaving the little Abbey of Bradsole dedicated to S. Radegund wherof Hugh the first Abbat was founder there runneth for five miles in length a continued cheine of chalky cliffes standing on a row hanging joyntly one to another as far as to Folkstone which was a flourishing place in times past as may appeare by the pieces of Roman coine and Britaine brickes daily there found but under what name it is uncertaine Probable it is that it was one of those towres or holds which in the reigne of Theodosius the younger the Romans placed for to keep off the Saxons as Gildas saith At certaine distances along the shore in the South part of Britaine Famous it was and much frequented by the English Saxons for religions sake by reason of a Monasterie that Eanswide daughter to Eadbald King of Kent consecrated there unto Nunnes But now it is a small towne and the greatest part thereof the Sea hath as it were parted away Howbeit it was the Baronie of the Family de Abrincis or Aurenches From whom it came to Sir Hamon Crevequer and by his daughter to Sir Iohn of Sandwich whose grand child Iulian by his sonne Iohn brought the same as her dowry to Iohn Segrave From thence as the shore turneth a front South West-ward Sandgate Castle built by King Henry the Eighth defendeth the coast and upon a Castle hill thereby are seene reliques of an ancient Castle More inward is Saltwood a Castle of the Bishops of Canterbury which William Courtney Archbishop of Canterbury enlarged And neere unto it is Often-hanger where Sir Edward Poinings Baneret a father of many faire bastards and amongst them of Thomas Lord Poining Lieuftenant of Bollen began to build a stately house but left it unperfect when death had bereft him of his onely lawfull child which he had by his lawfull wife the daughter of Sir I. Scot his neighbour at Scots-Hall where the family of Scots hath lived in worshipfull estimation a long time as descended from Pashely and Serteaux by Pimpe But to returne to the sea-coast neere to Sandgate Hith is situated one of the Cinque ports whereof it assumed that name which in the English Saxons tongue signifieth an haven or harbour although hardly it maintaineth that name now by reason of sands and the Sea withdrawing it selfe from it And yet it is not long since it first made any shew and that by the decay and fall of Westhyth a neighbour-towne Westward and which was sometime a Port untill the Sea in our great grandfathers daies retired from it So are Sea-townes subject to the uncertaine vicissitude of the Sea This Hith like as West-Hith also had their beginning from the ruine of Lime standing hard by which in times past was a most famous Port towne untill the sands that the Sea casteth up had choked and stopped the haven Both Antonine and the booke of Norrices called it PORTVS LEMANIS Ptolomee ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which being in Greeke a significative word the Copiantes or Copiers out of old bookes because they would seeme to supply the defect wrot it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and the Latin Interpreters following them translated it Novus portus that is New port or New haven whereas the proper name of the place was Limen or Leman like as at this time Lime Heere the Captaine over a company or band of Turnacenses kept his station under the Count or Lieuftenant of the Saxon shore And a Port way paved with stone called Stonystreet reacheth from hence toward Canterbury which one would easily judge to have beene a worke of the Romans like as the
cruelty for that some of his followers were slaine there in a fray that there followed thereupon a most heavy banishment of the Students and the University a sorrowfull spectacle lay as it were halfe dead and past all recovery untill the dayes of king William the Conquerour Whom some write falsly to have wonne it by assault but Oxonia written amisse in the Copies for Exonia that is Excester deceived them And that it was at that time a place of Studies and Students may bee understood out of these words of Ingulph who in that age flourished I Ingulph saith hee being first placed in Westminster and afterwards sent to the Study of Oxford when as in learning of Aristotle I had profited above my fellowes of the same time c. For those Schooles of Learning which wee call Academies or Vniversities that Age termed Studia that is Studies as I will shew anone But at this very time it was so empoverished that whereas within the wall and without I speake out of William the Conquerour his Domesday booke there were about seaven hundred and fifty houses besides foure and twenty Mansions upon the Walls five hundred of them were not able to pay their Subsidy or Imposition And to use the very words of that booke This Citty paid pro Theloneo et Gablo and for other Customes by the yeare to the King twenty pounds and sixe quarts of Hony and unto Earle Algar tenne pounds About this time Robert D'oily a noble man of Normandy of whom I have before spoken when hee had received at the hands of William the Conquerour in reward of his Service in the Warres large Possessions in this Shire built a spacious Castle in the West side of the Citty with deepe Ditches Rampiers an high raised Mount and therein a Parish Church to Saint George unto which when as the Parishioners could not have accesse by reason that King Stephen most streightly besieged Maude the Empresse within this Castle Saint Thomas Chappell in the streete hard by was built He also as it is thought fortified the whole Citty with new walls which by little and little time doth force and as it were embreach with his assault Robert likewise Nephew unto him by his brother Neale and Chamberlaine to King Henry the First founded Ousney or Osney a most stately Abbay as the ruines doe yet shew amidst the divided waters not farre from the Castle perswaded thereto by Edith his wife the daughter of Forne who before time had beene one of King Henry the First his sweet hearts and lig-bies About those times as we read in the Chronicle of the said Osney Abbay Robert Pulein beganne to reade in Oxford the Holy Scriptures in England now growne out of request Who afterwards when as by his Doctrine the English and Frenchmen both had much profited was called by Pope Lucius the second and promoted to be Chancellour of the Church of Rome To the same effect also writeth Iohn Rosse of Warwicke By the procurement of King Henry the First the Divinity Lecture which had discontinued a long time in Oxford began againe to flourish and there he built a Palace which King Edward the Second at length converted into a Covent of Carmelits But long before this time in this Palace was borne into the World that Lion-hearted Knight Richard the First King of England commonly called Ceeur de Lion a Prince of a most hauty minde and full of resolution borne for the weale of Christendome the honour of England and the terrour of Infidels Upon whose death a Poet in that age of no meane conceite versified thus for that his remaines were interred in diverse places Viscera Carcelorum Corpus Fons servat Ebrardi Et cor Rhothomagum Magne Richarde tuum In tria dividitur unus qui plus fuit uno Nec superest uno gloria tanta viro Hîc Richarde jaces sed mors si cederet armis Victa timore tui cederet ipsa tuis Thy Bowels keep 's Carceolum thy corps Font Everard And Roan thy valiant Lions heart O noble great Richard Thus one three fold divided is for more he was then one And for that one so great he was such glory is in none Here li'st thou Richard but if death to force of armes could yeeld For feare of thee he would to thee have given as lost the field Thus after the Citty was refreshed againe with these buildings many beganne to flocke hither as it were to a Mart of learning and vertue and by the industrious meanes especially of that Robert Pulein a man borne to promote the Common-wealth of learning who refused no paines but laboured all that he could to set open againe those Well springs of good Literature which had beene stopped up through the favour especially of King Henry the First King Henry the Second and King Richard his sonne of whom I spake ere while And these endeavours of Pulein sped so well and tooke so good effect that in the reigne of King Iohn there were here three thousand Students who all at once every one changed their Habitation to Reding and partly to Cambridge because the Citizens seemed to wrong and abuse overmuch these Students and Professours of Learning but after this tumult was appeased they returned within a short time Then and in the age presently ensuing as God provided this City for good learning so he raised up a number of very good Princes and Prelats to the good thereof who for the adorning and maintenance of learning extended their liberality in the highest degree For when King Henry the Third had by way of Pilgrimage visited Saint Frideswide a thing before-time thought to bee an hainous Offence in a Prince for the dishonour offered to her by Algar a Prince and so removed that superstitious feare wherewith some superstitious Priestes had for a time frighted Princes from once comming to Oxford and had assembled here a very great Parliament for the composing of certaine controversies betweene him and the Barons hee confirmed the priviledges granted by the former Kings and conferred also some other himselfe So that by this time there was so great store of learned men that divers most skilfull in Divinity as well as in Humanitie were in great numbers spread from thence both into the Church and Common-wealth and Mathew Paris in plaine termes called The Vniversity of Oxford The Second Schoole of the Church nay rather a ground worke of the Church next after Paris For with the name of Vniversity the Bishops of Rome had before time honoured Oxford which Title at that time by their Decrees they vouchsafed to none but unto that of Paris this of Oxford unto Bononia in Italy and Salamanca in Spaine And in the Councell of Vienna it was ordained that there should bee erected Schooles for the Hebrew Greeke Arabicke and Chaldaean tongues in the Studies of Paris Oxford Bononie and Salamanca as the most famous of all others to the end
to make therein his Episcopall residency This Birinus as wee may read also in Bede was wonderfully in those daies admired for a deepe conceived opinion of his holinesse whereupon an ancient Poet who penned his life in Verse wrote thus of him Dignior attolli guà m sit Tyrinthius heros Quà m sit Alexander Macedo Tyrinthius hostes Vicit Alexander mundum Birinus utrunque Nec tantùm vicit mundum Birinus hostem Sed sese bello vincens victus eodem More worthy for to be extold than Hercules for might Or that great king of Macedon who Alexander hight For Hercules subdu'd his foes and Alexander he Wonne all the World by force of Armes But our Birinus see Did vanquish both nor conquer'd he onely the World and Foe But in one fight subdu'd himselfe and was subdu'd also After 460. yeares Remigus Bishop of this place least the name of Bishop should loose credit in so small a City a thing forbidden in the Canons in the Raigne of William the first translated his seat to Lincolne At which time this City of Dorchester as Malmesbury saith who then flourished was but slender and of small resort yet the majesty of the Churches was great whether you respected either the old building or the new diligence and care emploied thereupon Ever since it beganne by little and little to decay and of late by turning London high way from thence it hath decreased so as that of a City it is scarce able now to maintaine the name of a Towne and all that it is able to doe is to shew in the fields adjoyning ruines onely and rubbish as expresse tokens of what bignesse it hath beene A little beneath this Towne Tame and Isis meeting in one streame become hand-fast as it were and joyned in Wedlocke and as in waters so in name they are coupled as Ior and Dan in the holy Land Dor and Dan in France whence come Iordan and Dordan For ever after this the River by a compound word is called Tamisis that is Tamis He seemeth first to have observed this who wrote the booke entituled Eulogium Historiarum Now as touching this marriage of Isis with Tame have heere certaine Verses taken out of a Poem bearing that Title which you may read or leave unread at your pleasure Hic vestit Zephyrus florentes gramine ripas FLORAQYE nectareis redimit caput ISIDIS herbis Seligit ambrosios pulcherrima GRATIA flores Contexit geminas CONCORDIA laeta corollas Extollitque suas taedas Hymenaeus in altum Naiades aedificant thalamúmque thorúmque profundo Stamine gemmato textum pictisque columnis Vndique fulgentem Qualem nec Lydia Regi Extruxit Pelopi nec tu Cleopatra marito Illic manubias cumulant quas Brutus Achivis Quas Brennus Graecis rigidus Gurmundus Hibernis Bunduica Romanis claris Arthurius Anglis Eripuit quicquid Scotis victricibus armis Abstulit Edwardus virtúsque Britannica Gallis Hauserat intereà sperati conjugis ignes TAMA Catechlaunûm delabens montibus illa Impatiens nescire thorum nupturaque gressus Accelerat longique dies sibi stare videntur Ambitiosa suum donec praeponere nomen Possit amatori Quid non mortalia cogit Ambitio notamque suo jam nomine villam Linquit Norrisiis geminans salvete valete Cernitur tandem Dorcestria prisca petiti Augurium latura thori nunc TAMA resurgit Nexa comam spicis trabea succincta virenti Aurorae superans digitos vultumque Diones Pestanae non labra rosae non lumina gemmae Lilia non aequant crines non colla pruinae Vtque fluit crines madidos in terga repellit Reddit undanti legem formamque capillo En subitò frontem placidis è fluctibus ISIS Effert totis radios spargentia campis Aurea stillanti resplendent lumina vultu Iungit optatae nunc oscula plurima TAMAE Mutuáque explicitis innectunt colla lacertis Oscula mille sonant connexu brachia pallent Labra ligant animos tandem descenditur unà In thalamum quo juncta FIDE CONCORDIA sancta Splendida conceptis sancit connubia verbis VndÃque multifori strepitat nunc tibia buxi Flucticolae Nymphae Dryades SatyrÃque petulci In numeros circùm ludunt ducuntque choreas Dum pede concutiunt alterno gramina laeti Permulcent volucres sylvas modulamine passim CertatÃmque sonat laetùm reparabilis ECHO Omnia nunc rident campi laetantur AMORES Fraenatis plaudunt avibus per inania vecti Personat cythara quicquid vidêre priores Pronuba victura lauro velata BRITÃNA Haec canit ut toto diducta BRITANNIA mundo Cùm victor rupes divulserit aequore Nereus Et cur Neptuni lapidosa grandine natum Albionem vicit nostras delatus in oras Hercules illimes libatus Thamisis undas Quas huc adveniens ar as sacravit Vlysses Vtque Corinaeo Brutus comitatus Achate Occiduos adiit tractus ut Caesar anhelus Territa quaesitis ostendit terga Britannis c. And after a few other verses Dixerat unito consurgit unus amore Laetior exultans nunc nomine TAMISIS uno Oceanúmque patrem quaerens jactantior undas Promovet Heere Zephyrus with fresh greene grasse The Bankes above doth spread Faire Flora with ay-living herbs Adourneth ISIS head Most lovely GRACE selecteth forth Sweet floures that never dy And gladsome CONCORD plats thereof Two guitlands skilfully With all God HYMENAEUS lifts His torches up on hie A Bride-chamber the NAIADES Beneath of rare device And Bed do rear ywov'n with warp Beset with stones of price All shining eke with pillars tall And wrought full curiously The like did neâher Lydie for King Pelops edify Nor thou Queene Cleopatra for Thine husband Antony There lay they foorth and make no spare Those spoiles that whilom Brut From Achives tooke what riches great From Grecians Brennus stout And from fierce Irish Gurmund wonn What either Bundwic Queen From Romans gat or Arthur from Our English there are seene What ever from the Scots by force Of fight our Edward King Or valiant English from the French By armes away did bring Meane while down Catechlanian hils TAME gliding kindled had The fire of love in hope of ISE Her husband wondrous glad Impatient now of all delay She hastneth him to wed And thinks the daies be long untill They meet in marriage bed Untill I say ambitious she May now before her love Her own name set see whereunto Ambition minds doth move And now by this shee leav's the town That knowen is by her name All haile fare well redoubling to The Norris's by the same Old Dorchester at length shee sees Which was to give presage And lucky Augury of this Long wished marriage Up riseth Tame then who know's Her locks with eares of corn Full well to knit with kirtle green Her wast eke to adorn The lightsome raies of morning bright She now doth far excell Dione faire in countenance Lookes not by halfe so well Her lips
for that among other matters hee had consulted with a Wizard about succession of the Crowne was beheaded a noble man exceeding much missed and lamented of good men Which when the Emperour Charles the fifth heard he said as it is written in his life That a Butchers dogge had devoured the fairest Bucke in all England alluding to the name Buckingham and the said Cardinall who was a Butchers sonne Ever since which time the splendour of this most noble family hath so decaied and faded that there remaineth to their posterity the bare title onely of Barons of Stafford whereas they were stiled before Dukes of Buckingham Earles of Stafford Hereford Northampton and Perth Lords of Brecknock Kimbalton and Tunbridge There are reckoned in this small Shire Parishes 185. BEDFORD Comitatus olim pars CATHIFVCLANORVM BEDFORD-SHIRE BEDFORD-SHIRE is one of the three Counties which we said the Cattieuchlani inhabited On the East-side and the South it joyneth to Cambridge-shire and Hertford-shire on the West to Buckingham-shire and on the North to Northamton-shire and Huntingdon-shire and by the river OVSE crossing over it is divided into two parts The North-side thereof is the more fruitâull of the twaine and more woody the other toward the South which is the greater standeth upon a leaner soile but not altogether unfertile For it yeeldeth foorth aboundantly full white and bigge Barley In the mids it is somewhat thicke of woods but Eastward more drie ground and bare of wood Ouse where it entereth into this shire first visiteth Turvy the Lord Mordants house who are beholden to King Henry the Eighth for their Barony For he created Iohn Mordant a wise and prudent man who had wedded the daughter and one of the coheires of H. Vere of Addington Baron Mordant then runneth it by Harwood a Village in old time called Hareleswood where Sampson surnamed Fortis founded a Nunnery and where in the yeere of our redemption 1399. a little before those troubles and civill broiles wherewith England a long time was rent in peeces this river stood still and by reason that the waters gave backe on both sides men might passe on foote within the very chanell for three miles together not without wondering of all that saw it who tooke it as a plaine presage of the division ensuing Afterward it passeth by Odill or Woodhill sometimes Wahull which had his Lords surnamed also De Wahul men of ancient Nobility whose Barony consisted of thirty knights fees in divers countries and had here their Castle which is now hereditarily descended to Sir R. Chetwood knight as the inheritance of the Chetwoods came formerly to the Wahuls From hence Ouse no lesse full of crooked crankes and windings than Maeander it selfe goeth by Bletnesho commonly called Bletso the residence in times past of the Pateshuls after of the Beauchamps and now of the Honourable family of S. Iohn which long since by their valour attained unto very large and goodly possessions in Glamorgan-shire and in our daies through the favor of Q. Elizabeth of happy memory unto the dignity of Barons when she created Sir Oliver the second Baron of her creation Lord S. Iohn of Bletnesho unto whom it came by Margaret Beauchamp an inheritrice wedded first to Sir Oliver S. Iohn from whose these Barons derive their pedigree and secondly to Iohn Duke of Somerset unto whom she bare the Lady Margaret Countesse of Richmond a Lady most vertuous and alwaies to be remembred with praises from whose loines the late Kings and Queenes of England are descended From hence Ouse hastneth by Brumham a seat of the Dives of very ancient parentage in these parts to Bedford in the Saxon-tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the principall towne and whereof the Shire also taketh name and cutteth it so through the middest that it might seeme to be two severall townes but that a stone bridge joyneth them together A towne to be commended more for the pleasant situation and ancientry thereof then for beauty or largenesse although a man may tell five Churches in it That it was Antonines LACTODORVM I dare not as others doe affirme considering that it standeth not upon the Romans Military road way which is the most certaine marke to finde out the station and Mansions mentioned by Antonine neither are there heere any peeces of Romane money ever digged up as far as I can learne I have read that in the Brittish tongue it was named Liswidur or Lettidur but it may seeme to have been translated so out of the English name For Lettuy in the British language signifieth Common Innes and so Lettidur Innes upon a river like Bedford in English Beds or Innes at a fourd Cuthwulf the Saxon about the yeere of our salvation 572. beneath this towne so vanquished the Britans in an open pitch field that then presently upon it finding themselves over-matched yeelded up many townes into his hands Neither should it seeme that the Saxons neglected it For Offa the most puissant King of the Mercians choose heere as we read in Florilegus for himselfe a place of sepulture whose tombe the river Ouse swelling upon a time and carrying a more violent and swifter streame than ordinary in a floud swouped cleane away Afterwards also when it was rased downe and lay along by occasion of the Danish depredations K. Edward the Elder repaired it and laid unto it upon the South-side of the river a prety townlet which in that age as we finde in the best copy of Hovedon was called Mikesgat In the time of King Edward the Confessor as we read in that booke which King William the Conqueror caused to be written when he tooke the survey of England It defended it selfe for halfe an Hundred in wars expeditions and shipping The land belonging to this towne was never bided After this it suffered far more grievous calamities under the Normans For when Pain de Beauchamp the third Baron of Bedford had built heere a Castle there arose not any storme of civill war but it thundred upon it so long as it stood Stephen when with breach of his oath he intercepted to himselfe the Kingdome of England first forced this Castle and with very great slaughter of men won it afterwards when the Barons had taken armes against King Iohn William de Beauchamp Lord thereof and one of the Captaines of their side surrendred it unto their hands But a yeere or two after Falco de Breaut laid siege thereto and forthwith the Barons yeelded and the King in free gift bestowed it upon him Yet the unthankefull man raised up a world of warre againe upon King Henry the third He pulled downe Churches to strengthen this Castle and exceedingly damnified the territory adjoyning untill the King besieged it and when after threescore daies he had quelled the stubborne stomackes of these rebels brought this nest and nourse of sedition into his owne hands It will not be I hope distastfull to the reader if I set
and a man may truly suppose that those two Castles which Fitz-Stephen recorded to have beene at the East side of this City went both to the making of this one The other Fort was on the West side of the City where Fleete a little Riveret whence Fleete-streete tooke name now of no account but in times past able to beare Vessels as I have read in the Parliament Rolls sheddeth it selfe into the Tamis Fitz-Stephen called this the Palatine Towre or Castle and they write that in the Raigne of William the Conquerour it was consumed by fire Out of the ruines whereof both a great part of Pauls Church was newly built and also in the very plot of ground where it stood Robert Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury founded a religious house for Dominican Friers whereupon we call the place Blacke Friers Whereby a man may easily guesse of what bignesse it was Howbeit there stood in that place in the dayes of king Henry the second Gervase of Tilbury in his booke entituled Otia Imperiatia is mine Authour two Forts or Castles built with Wals and Rampiers The one whereof belonged to Bainard the other to the Barons of Montfichet by right of succession But nothing remaineth of them at this day Yet some thinke that Pembroch house was a peece of them which we terme Bainards Castle of William Bainard a Noble man Lord of Dunmow whose possession sometime it was whose successours the Fitz-walters were in right of inheritance the Ensigne Bearers of the City of London and amongst them Robert Fitz-walter had licence of king Edward the First to sell the site of Bainard Castle to the said Archbishop Robert Neither was this City at that time walled onely but also when the Flamin or Pagan Priest was taken away and Christian Religion established under that good Emperour a Bishop was enstalled in his roome For it appeareth that at the Councell of Arles which in the yeare of grace 314. was held under Constantine the Great the Bishop of London was present For he subscribed as is to be seene in the first Tome of the Councels in this manner RESTITUTUS Bishop in the City of London out of the Province of Britaine which Restitutus and his successors had their seat and resiance as some affirme at Saint Peters in Cornhill Heereafter London flourished in such honour that it beganne to bee called AUGUSTA and by that name was famous under the Emperour Valentinian For Amianus Marcellinus in his 27. booke writeth thus And going forward to London an ancient Towne which the posterity called Augusta and in the 28. booke He went from Augusta which men of old time called Lundi whence it came that when after Constantines time there was a Mint appointed therein For we reade in his peeces of money which he stamped in honour of his father Constantius and in others this inscription P. LON. S. that is Pecunia Londini signata that is Money stamped at London he that had the charge and overseeing thereof under the Comes sacrarum largitionum is in the booke of Notice termed Praepositus Thesaurorum Augustensiam in Britannia that is Provost of the Treasury of Augusta or London in Britaine For this name AUGUSTA was a name full of much dignity full of majesty And both founders and repairers of Cities when they either hoped or wished that such Cities would become flourishing and powerfull gave them significative names of good fortune But among the most auspicious names that be none is more magnificent none more auspicate than AUGUSTA For this of AUGUSTUS that most gracious and mighty Emperour Octavianus tooke unto himselfe not without the judgement of the best learned Sirnamed he was saith Dio Augustus as one of great Majesty above the nature of man For what things be most honourable and sacred are called AUGUSTA Neither had London this name for so high an honour without the Licence of the Romane Emperours For that names could not bee imposed to Cities without licence Virgil noteth in that Verse of his Urbem appellabant permisso nomine Acestam The City by permission ACESTA they did name But as continuance of time hath out-worne this so honorable a name of Augusta so it hath confirmed that other more ancient name Londinum Whiles it enjoyed the foresaid name Augusta it scaped faire from destruction by a rebellious rout of Ransackers but Theodosius the father of Theodosius the Emperour did cut them in peeces whiles they were encombred with their spoiles and entred as Marcianus saith with exceeding great joy in triumphant manner into the City distressed before and overwhelmed with grievous calamities And marching with his Army from thence he by his valiant prowesse so freed Britain from those intolerable miseries and dangers wherewith it was beset that the Romans as witnesseth Symmachus honored him among other ancient worthies and men of honourable Renowne with the Statue of a man of Armes Not long after when the Romans Empire in Britaine was come to an end in that publique destiny and fatall fall of the whole State it fell into the English-Saxons hands but in what sort it is not agreed upon among Writers For mine owne part I am of opinion that Vortigern to redeeme himselfe being taken Prisoner delivered it for his ransome unto Hengest the Saxon considering that it belonged to the East-Saxons whose Country as Writers doe record Vortigerne upon that condition made over unto Hengest At which time the State of the Church went to wracke and endured sore afflictions the Pastours were either slaine or forced to flye their flockes driven away and after havocke made of all as well Church goods as others Theon the last Bishop of London of British bloud was faine to hide the holy Reliques of Saints for a memoriall as mine Authour saith and not for any Superstition But although those dayes of the English-Saxons were such as that a man might truely say Mars then brandished and shooke his weapons yet was London never the lesse as Bede testifieth a Towne of Trade and Traffique Frequented with many Nations resorting thither by sea and land But afterwards when a more gracious gale of peace breathed favourably upon this wearied Island and the English-Saxons beganne to professe Christianity it also beganne a fresh to flourish againe For Aethelbert King of Kent under whom Sebert reigned in this Tract as it were his Vassall and by courtesie founded heere a Church and consecrated it to Saint Paul which being eftsoones reedified and repaired became at length most stately and magnificent endowed also with faire Livings and Revenewes wherewith are maintained a Bishop a Deane and Chaunter a Chancellour and a Treasurer five Archdeacons thirty Prebendaries and divers others The East part of this Church which seemeth to bee the newer and curiously wrought having under it a very faire Arched Vault which also is Saint Faithes Church was begunne of the ruines of that Palatine Castle which I speake of by Maurice the Bishop about the
Empresse gave it to Alberic Vere to assure him to her Party The infinite deale of ancient Coine daily gotten out of the ground there doth most plainly shew that this flourished in the Roman time in happy estate Yet have I light of no peeces more ancient than of Gallienus For the most were such as had upon them the Inscriptions of the Tetrici and the Victoriâi of Posthumus C. Carausius Constantine and the Emperours that followed him The Inhabitants affirme that Flavia Iulia Helena the mother of Constantine the Great was borne and bred there being the daughter of King Coel and in memory of the Crosse which shee found they give for their Armes a Crosse enragled betweene foure Crownes whence it is that our Necham as touching her and this place came out with these Verses although Apollo was not greatly his friend therein Effulsit sydus vitae Colcestria lumen Septem Climatibus lux radiosa dedit Sydus erat Constantinus decus imperiale Servijt huic flexo poplite Roma potens From out of thee O Cholchester there shone a Starre of life The raies whereof to Climats seven gave great and glorious light This Starre was Constantine the Great that noble Emperour Whom Rome in all obedience lay prostrate to adore Verily shee was a woman of life most holy and of invincible resolution and constancy in propagation of Christian Religion Whereupon in ancient Inscriptions she is every where named PIISSIMA and VENERABILIS AUGUSTA that is Most DEVOUT and VENERABLE EMPRESSE Beneath this where the River Coln runneth into the Sea standeth to be seene Saint Osithes a little Towne whose ancient name which was Chic is growne out of use by reason of Osith the Virgin of royall Parentage who being wholy devoted to the Service of God and stabbed there to death by the Danish Pirates was of our Ancestours honoured for a Saint and in her memoriall Richard Bishop of London about the yeare 1120. built a religious house of Regular Chanons But now it is the chiefe seate of the right honourable Lords Darcy called De Chich whom King Edward the Sixth advanced to the honour of Barons when hee created Sir Thomas Darcy his Counsellour Vice-chamberlaine and Captaine of the Guard Lord Darcy of Chich. From hence the Shore shooting out buncheth foorth as farre as to the Promontory Nesse which in the English-Saxon tongue is called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã What hath beene found in this place have heere out of the words and credit of Ralphe the Monke of Coggeshall who wrote 350. yeares agoe In King Richards time on the Sea-shore at a Village called Eadulphnesse were found two teeth of a certaine Giant of such a huge bignesse that two hundred such teeth as men have now a daies might bee cut out of them These saw I at Coggeshall quoth hee and not without wondering And such another Giantlike thing I wot not what as this was in the beginning of Queene Elizabeths Raigne digged up by R. Candish a Gentleman neere unto this place Neither doe I deny but there have beene men that for their huge bodies and firme strength were wonderous to behold whom God as S. Austin saith would have to live upon the earth thereby to teach us that neither beauty of body nor talnesse of stature are to bee counted simply good things seeing they bee common as well to Infidels as to the godly Yet may we very well thinke that which Suetonius hath written namely that the huge limmes of monstrous Sea-creatures else where and in this Kingdome also were commonly said and taken to have beene Giants bones From this Promontory the shore bendeth backe by little and little to the mouth of Stoure a place memorable for the battaile at Sea there fought betweene the English and Danes in the yeare 884. where now lyeth Harewich a most safe Road whence it hath the name For ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in the English-Saxon tongue betokeneth a Station or a creeke where an Army encamped The Towne is not great but well peopled fortified by Art and Nature and made more sensible by Queene Elizabeth The salt water so creeketh about it that it almost insulateth it but thereby maketh the Springs so brackish that there is a defect of fresh water which they fetch some good way off This is the Stoure that running betweene Essex and Suffolke serveth as a bound to them both and on this side watereth nothing else but rich and fruitfull fields But not farre from the head thereof standeth Bumstead which the Family of Helion held by Barony from whom the Wentworths of Gosfield are descended And what way this Country looketh toward Cambridge-shire Barklow sheweth it selfe well knowne now by reason of foure little hils or Burries cast up by mans hand such as in old time were wont to be raised so some would have it as Tombes for Soldiers slaine whose Reliques were not easie to be found But when a fifth and sixth of them were not long since digged downe three troughes of stone were found and in them broken bones of men as I was informed The country people say that they were reared after a field there fought against the Danes For Dane-wort which with bloud-red berries commeth up heere plenteously they still call by no other name than Danes-bloud of the number of Danes that were there slaine verily beleeving that it blometh from their bloud A little below standeth upon a hill Walden of Saffron called Saffron Walden among the fields looking merily with most lovely Saffron A very good Mercat towne incorporated by King Edward the Sixth with a Treasurer two Chamberlaines and the Commonalty Famous in times past it was for a Castle of the Magnavilles which now is almost vanished out of sight and an Abbay adjoyning founded in a place very commodious in the yeare 1136. wherein the Magnavilles founders thereof were buryed Geffrey de Magnavilla was the first that gave light and life as it were to this place For Mawde the Empresse in these words out of her very Patent I copy them gave unto him Newport a good bigge Towne this is hard by For so much as hee was wont to pay that day whereon as her words are my father King Henry was alive and dead and to remove the Mercat from Newport into his Castle of Walden with all the customes that before time in better manner appertained to that Mercat to wit in Toll passage and other customes and that the waies of Newport neere unto the water banke bee directed streight according to the old custome into Walden upon the ground forfeited unto me and that the Mercat of Walden be kept upon Sunday and Thursday and that a Faire bee holden at Walden to begin on Whitsunday even and to last all the Whitson weeke And from that time by occasion of this Mercat for a great while it was called Cheping Walden Also as it is in the Booke of Walden Abbay hee
number of pooles two or three miles over Which Fennes doe afford to a multitude of Monkes their wished private retyrings of a recluse and solitary life wherein as long as they are enclosed they need not the solitarinesse of any desert Wildernesse Thus farre Abbo SVFFOLâIAE Comitatus cuius Populi olim icâm Dicti Continens inse oppida mercatoria xxv Pagos et Villas CCCCLXIIII Vna cum singulis Hundredis et fluminibus in codeâe Auc Fore Christâphârâ Saxton SOUTH-FOLKE or SUFFOLKE SUFFOLKE which wee must speake of first in the Saxon Tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is South-folke or people in respect of Northfolke hath on the West side Cambridge-shire on the South the River Stoure which divideth it from Essex on the East side the German Sea and on the North two little Rivers Ouse the least and Waveney which flowing out as it were of the same Fountaine runne divers wayes and sever it apart from Norfolke A large country it is and full of havens of a fat and fertile Soile unlesse it be Eastward being compounded as it is of clay and marle by meanes whereof there are in every place most rich and goodly corne fields with pastures as battable for grazing and feeding of cattell And great store of cheeses are there made which to the great commodity of the Inhabitants are vented into all parts of England Nay into Germany France and Spaine also as Pantaleon the Physitian writeth who stucke not to compare these of ours for color and tast both with those of Placentia but he was no dainty toothed scholar out of Apicius schoole Neither bee there wanting woods heere which have beene more plentifull and parkes for many there are lying to Noble mens and Gentlemens houses replenished with game This County was divided politically into three parts whereof one is called the Geldable because out of it there is gathered a Tribute a second Saint Edmunds liberty for that it belonged to his Abbay the third Saint Audries liberty because it appertained to Ely Abbay unto which our Kings in times past granted certaine territories with Sach and Soch as saith Ely Booke without any exception either of Ecclesiasticall or secular jurisdiction But let us survey it Chorographically and beginning at the East side take a view of the better and more remarkeable places Where it lyeth West and toward Cambridgeshire in the very limite standeth Ixning more famous in times past than now For Audre the Virgin K. Annas daughter and canonized for a Saint was heere borne Ralph also Earle of this East England heere entred into conspiracy against William the Conquerour and Hervey the first Bishop of Ely made a causey or high way from hence to Ely But now for that Newmercate is so neer whither men resort with their wares and commodities more frequently it hath begunne to decay That this Newmercate is a Towne of late dayes built the very name it selfe doth import and it is situate in such sort that the South part therof belongeth to Cambridgeshire the North side to Suffolke and both of them have their severall small Churches whereof this acknowledgeth Ixning the former Ditton or Dichton for their mother Heereof I have found by reading nothing but that under King Henry the Third Sir Robert L' Isle gave one part of it in franke marriage with his daughter Cassandra unto Sir Richard de Argenton from whom the Alingtons are descended Heere lyeth out a great way round about a large Plaine named of this Towne Newmarket Heath consisting of a sandy and barren ground yet greene withall wherein is to bee seene that wonderfull Ditch which as if it had beene cast by the devill the common sort call Devils Dike whereas in very trueth most certainly it is knowne to be one of them wherewith the Inhabitants as Abbo writeth fenced themselves against the inrodes of their enemies as shall bee shewed more at large when we are come to Cambridgeshire Yet in the meane time I am heere to advertise the Reader that the least of all these ditches sheweth it selfe two miles from hence betweene Snaile-well and Moulton More within the Country is that renowned Towne of Saint Edmund which in the Saxons age men called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and in the time of the Britans as it should seeme was that VILLA FAUSTINI whereof Antonine maketh mention for of that opinion was Talbot a man right skilfull in antiquities and very much conversant in this part of England The distance also as well from the Iciani as from Colonia in Antonine agreeth well enough And as Villa in the Latine Tongue signifieth some Gentlemans house standing upon his land so ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã in old English betokened the same For that Abbo aforesaid interpreteth Bederics-gueord by these words Bederici Cortis that is Villa that is to say Bederics-Court Farme or Mansion house Besides that the Englishmen may seeme to have brought the significancy of that Latine word into their owne Language For as Faustinus in Latin implieth a certaine meaning of prosperity so doth Bederic in the German tongue as writeth that most learned Hadrianus Iunius where he interpreteth the name of Betorix who in Strabo was the sonne of Melo the Sicambrian Full of happinesse and favour But if these were divers persons I willingly confesse that I am ignorant who that Faustinus and who this Bedericus was Sure I am that it was not that VILLA FAUSTINI which Martiall in his Epigrammes depainteth and if I said it was the habitation of that Beric who being driven out of Britaine as Dio writeth persuaded the Emperour Claudius to warre upon the Britans I should not beleeve my selfe But whatsoever it was if it be not that Faustini Villa yet seemeth it to have beene of famous memory considering that when Christian Religion began to spring up in this Tract King Sigebert here founded a Church and Abbo called it Villam regiam that is A royall towne But after that the people had translated hither the body of Edmund that most Christian King whom the Danes with exquisite torments had put to death and built in honour of him a very great Church wrought with a wonderfull frame of timber it beganne to bee called Edmundi Burgus commonly Saint Edmundbury and more shortly Bury and flourished marveilous much But especially since that King Canutus for to expiate the sacrilegious impiety of his father Suenus against this Church being affrighted with a vision of Saint Edmunds built it againe of a new worke enriched it offered his owne Crowne unto the holy Martyr brought into it Monkes with their Abbot and gave unto it many faire and large Manours and among other things the Towne it selfe full and whole over which the Monkes themselves by their Seneschall had rule and jurisdiction Whereupon Ioscelin de Branklond a Monke of this house writeth thus The men as well without the Burgh as within are ours and all within Banna Leuca enjoy the same libertie
Waveney that divideth Norfolke and Suffolke the cawsey thereby and other works of piety deserved well of the Church his Country and the Common-weale and planted three houses of his owne Issue out of the second whereof Sir Henry Hobart his great Grandchilde now likewise Atturney Generall to King Iames is lineally descended Now Yare approching neerer to the Sea runneth downe Southward that so it may shed it selfe more gently into the salt sea waves and thereby maketh a little languet of land like a tongue thrust out which it selfe of one side watereth and the Sea on the other beateth upon On this languet I saw standing in a most open plaine shore Yarmouth in the English-Saxon ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Yares-mouth a very convenient Haven and as faire a Towne beautifully built and passing well fensed both by the naturall strength of the place and also by the skilfull industry of mans Art For although it bee environed almost round with Water on the West side with the River which hath a Draw Bridge over it and from other Partes with the Ocean unlesse it bee Northward where there is firme land yet is it in most sightly manner enclosed with a good strong wall which together with the River make a square forme of foure sides but somewhat long upon which wall beside Towres there is cast a mount toward the East from whence the great Peeces of Ordnance use to thunder and flash all about into the Sea under it which is scarce 60. paces off It hath indeed but one Church yet the same is very large having a passing high spire steeple to adorne it built by Herbert Bishop of Norwich hard by the North gate under which are to be seene the foundations brought above ground of a goodly peece of worke to enlarge the same That this was that old Towne GARIANONUM where in times past the Stablesian Horsemen kept their standing watch and ward against the barbarous enemies I dare not affirme neither doe I thinke that Garianonum was where Caster is now in times past the faire seat of Sir Iohn Fastolfe a most martiall knight and now appertaining to the Pastons albeit it is much celebrated among the Inhabitants for the antiquity thereof and the fame goeth that the River Y are had another mouth or passage into the Sea under it But as I am perswaded that GARIANONUM stood at Burgh-castle in Suffolke which is on the other banke about two miles off so I am easily induced to thinke that both Yarmouth arose out of the ruines thereof and also that the said Caster was one of the Roman Forts placed also upon the mouth of Yare that now is stopped up For like as the North Westerne Winde doth play the Tyrant upon Holland over against it and by drift of Shelves and Sand-heapes hath choked the middest of the Rhene-mouthes even so the North-East Winde afflicteth and annoieth this Coast and driveth the sand on heapes so as it may seeme to have dammed up this mouth also Neither will it be prejudiciall to the Truth if I should name our Yarmouth GARIANONUM being so neere adjoyning as it is unto the old Garianonum considering that Gorienis the River whence it tooke the name having now changed his chanell entreth into the maine Sea a little beneath this Towne which it hath also given name unto For I must needs confesse that this our Yarmouth is of later memory For when that ancient Garianonum aforesaid was decayed and there was no Garrison to defend the Shore Cerdick a warlike Saxon landed here whereupon the Inhabitants at this day call the place Cerdick-sand and the Writers of Histories Cerdick-shore and after hee had made sore war upon the Iceni tooke Sea and sailed from hence into the West parts where he erected the Kingdome of the West Saxons And not long after the Saxons in stead of Garianonum founded a new Towne in that moist and waterish ground neer the West side of the River and named it Yarmouth But finding the Situation thereof not to be healthfull they betooke themselves to the other side of the River called then of the same Cerdicke Cerdick-sand and built this new Towne in which there flourished in King Edward the Confessour his daies 70. Burgesses as wee finde recorded in the Notitia of England After this about the yeare of our Redemption 1340. the Townesmen strengthned it with a wall and in short space it grew so rich and puissant that oftentimes in seafights they set upon their neighbors of Lestoffe yea and the Portmen for so termed they the Inhabitants of the Cinque Ports not without much bloud shed on both sides For they were most spitefully bent against them haply for being excluded out of the number of the Cinque Ports and deprived of these priviledges which old Garianonum or Yarmouth and their Ancestours enjoyed under the Comes of the Saxon Shore in elder times But this their stoutnesse was repressed at length and taken downe by the Kings Authority or as some thinke their lusty courage became abated by that most grievous and lamentable plague which in one yeare within this one little Towne brought 7000. to their graves The which is witnessed by an ancient Latine Chronographicall Table hanging up in the Church wherein are set downe also their warres with the Portmen and Lestoffians aforesaid Since that time their hearts have not beene so haughty nor their wealth so great to make them bold howbeit painfully they follow the trade of Merchandise and taking of Herrings which the learned thinke to bee Chalcides and Leucomaewides a kinde of fish more plentifull heere than in any other Coast of the world againe For it may seeme incredible how great a Faire and with what resort of people is holden heere at the Feast of Saint Michael and what store of Herrings and other fish is then bought and sold. At which time they of the Cinque Ports abovesaid by an old order and custome appoint their Bailiffs Commissioners and send them hither who that I may speake out of their owne Patent or Commission together with the Magistrates of this Towne during the time of the free Faire hold a Court for matters concerning the Faire doe execute the Kings Iustice and keepe the Kings peace As for the Haven below the Towne it is very commodious both for the inhabitants and for Norwich-men also but for feare that it should be barred and stopped up they wrestle as it were to their great cost and charges with the maine Sea which to make them amends and to restore what it hath eaten and swallowed up elsewhere in this Shore hath by heaping of earth and sand together cast up here of late a prety Island At this mouth also another River which some call Thyrn sheddeth it selfe together with Yare into the sea This River springing up neere unto Holt a towne so called of an
Gront that rivers side Among the winding crankes of Lakes and Rivers far and wide Y' spred and neere unto the bankes of Easterne Sea doth stretch It selfe and so from Southerne side along North Eastward reach In muddy gulfe unwholsome fish it breeds as reeds doe shake There growing thicke of winds as words a whispering noise they make Joyne hereunto if you please thus much out of Henry of Huntingdon This Fenny country saith he is passing rich and plenteous yea and beautifull to behold watered with many Rivers running downe to it garnished with a number of Meres both great and small trimly adorned likewise with many Woods and Ilands And for a small conclusion of this matter take with you also these few words of William of Malmesbury speaking of his time So great store there is here of Fishes that strangers comming hither make a wonder at it and the Inhabitants laugh thereat to see them wonder Neither is Water-Foule lesse cheape so that for one halfe penny and under five men at the least may not onely eat to slake hunger and content nature but also feed their fill of Fish and Foule As touching the drying up of this Fenny country what discourse and arguing oftentimes there hath beene either by way of sound and wholsome counsell or of a goodly pretence and shew of a common good even in the High Court of Parliament I list not to relate But it is to be feared least that which often hath happened to the Pontine Marishes of Italy it would come againe to the former state So that many thinke it the wisest and best course according to the sage admonition in like case of Apollo his Oracle Not to intermeddle at all with that which God hath ordained Upon the naturall strength of this place and plenty of all things there seditious Rebels have often presumed and not onely the English when they banded themselves against William Conquerour but the Barons also whensoever they were Out-lawed from hence troubled and molested their Kings But evermore they had ill successe albeit otherwhiles they built fortresses both at Eryth and also at Athered at this day Audre where the easiest entrance is into this Isle And even yet neere unto Andre is to be seene a Military rampire of a meane height but of a very large compasse which they call Belsars-hils of one Belisar I wot not who Part of this Fenny country that lyeth more South and is the greatest by farre which also is counted of this shire was named in the English Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã now The Isle of Ely of the chiefe Iland which name Bede hath derived from Eâles and thereupon sometime tearmed it Insulam anguillariam that is The Isle of Eâles Polydore Virgil fetcheth the originall therof from the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that signifieth Marish others from Helig a Brittish word betokening Willowes or Sallowes wherewith it doth most of all abound Part of this Region we read that one Tombert a Prince of the Southern Girvii gave as a dowry to his wife Audry who after she had left her second husband Egfrid King of the Nordan humberland being fully resolved to serve Christ built a Monastery for Nunnes Votaries in the principall Iland of these properly called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which was then reckoned at 600 Hides or Families and of this Monastery she also her selfe the first Abbesse Yet was not this the first Church in the fenny country For the booke of Ely recordeth that S. Austen of Canterbury founded a Church at Cradiden which Penda the Mercian afterwards rased and William of Malmesbury reporteth that Foelix Bishop of the East English had his first See at Soham which yet is within the Diocesse of Norwich Soham saith he is a village situate neere unto a Fen which was in times past dangerous for those that would passe into Ely by water now by reason of a way or causey made through the Fenny ground overgrowne with Reeds men may goe over thither by land There be remaining still the tokens of a Church destroyed by the Danes which with the ruines thereof overwhelmed the inhabitants who were burnt together with it At which time also that Monastry of S. Audry was overthrowne by the furious Danes but Ethelwold Bishop of Winchester reedified it For he by a composition betweene the King and him bought the whole Iland a new and having cast out the Priests thence stored it with Monks unto whom King Edgar as we read in his letters patents granted within the Fens jurisdiction over the secular causes of two Hundreds and without the Fens of two Hundreds and an halfe in Wichlaw within the province of the East-Angles which are called at this day The liberties of S. Audry Afterwards Kings and great Noble men enriched it with large revenewes and Earle Brithnoth especially Being now ready to joyne battaile with the Danes in the yeare 999. gave unto the Church of Ely Somersham Spaldwic Trumpinton Ratindum Heisbury Fulburn Tinerston Triplestow and Impetum for that the Monkes had in magnificent manner entertained him in case he should loose his life in that battaile But his fortune was to die at Maldun after hee had fought with the Danes 14. dayes together And so rich was the Monastery that the Abbot thereof as witnesseth Malmsbury laid up every yeere in his owne purse a thousand and foure hundred pounds And Richard the last Abbot sonne to Earle Gislebert being over-tipled as it were with wealth disdaining to bee under the Bishop of Lincolne dealt with the King what by golden words as the Monkes write and what by great suite and politicke meanes that a Bishops See might be erected here which hee prevented by death obtained not Yet soone after King Henry the first having gotten allowance from the Pope made Herveie who had beene Bishop of Bangor and by the Welshmen cast out of his owne seat the first Bishop of Ely unto whom and to his successors he laied for his Diocesse Cambridge-shire which had belonged before unto the Bishop of Lincolne and confirmed certaine Royalties in these Ilands To the Bishops of Lincolne from whose jurisdiction he had taken away this Iland and Cambridge-shire he granted for to make amends The Manour of Spaldwic or as the booke of Ely hath The Manour of Spaldwic was given unto the Church of Lincolne for ever in exchange for the Bishops superintendency over the County of Cambridge Herveie being now made Bishop sought by all meanes possible to augment the dignity of his Church He obtained that it might bee every where Toll-free these are the very words of the booke of Ely He set it free from the yoke of service of watch and ward that it owed to the Castle of Norwich hee made a way from Exning to Ely through the Fennes sixe miles in length he beganne the faire Palace at Ely for his Successours and purchased to it faire Lands and not a few Lordships And
the CORITANI who beyond the ICENI dwelling further within the Land and spreading themselves very farre through the Mediterranean part of the Island inhabited as farre as to the German Ocean to wit in these Countries which now are commonly called NORTHAMPTON-SHIRE LEICESTER-SHIRE RUTLAND-SHIRE LINCOLN-SHIRE NOTTINGHAM-SHIRE and DERBY-SHIRE With the Etymology of this their name I will not once meddle for feare least putting downe incertainties for certaine and undoubted trueths I may seeme to slip into an errour For although this People were spread farre and wide which GUR-TATI signifieth in the British tongue yet if I would boldly avouch that these were thence called CORITANI should I not play hazard at all aventure Let them for mee guesse more safely who can more happily As for mee I will in the meane time according to my purpose survey as diligently as I may these shires which I have now named each one by it selfe orderly in their severall places NORTHAMTONIAE COMITATVS DESCRIPTIO IN QVO CORITANI OLIM IN SEDERVNT NORTHAMPTON-SHIRE THis County of NORTHAMPTON in the English-Saxon tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and Northanton-shire commonly called Northampton-shire situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England from the South-West side where it is broadest drawing it selfe narrower by little and little reacheth out in length to the North-East On the East lie Bedford and Huntingdon-shires on the South Buckingham and Oxford-shires Westward Warwickshire and Northward Rutlandshire and Lincoln-shire separated from it by Avon the lesse and Welland two Rivers The East side thereof from Ouse to Dowbridge one of the Romane high waies which they call Watling-streat runneth through The middle and East part the River Nen which by Writers is named also Aufona with his gentle streame parteth in twaine A champian countrey it is exceeding populous and passing well furnished with Noblemens and Gentlemens houses replenished also with Townes and Churches in so much as in some places there are twenty and in others thirty Steeples with Spires or square Towres within view at once The Soile very fertile both for tillage and for pasture yet nothing so well stored with Woods unlesse it bee in the further and hither sides But in every place as elsewhere also in England it is over-spred and as it were beset with Sheepe which according as that Hythodaus merrily said Were wont to bee so gentle and fed with so little but now in our daies as the report goes beginne to bee so ravenous and wilde that they devour men they waste and depopulate fields houses and Towneships On the South border where the River Ouse so often mentioned first springeth in a place rising with an easie ascent and out of which there walme Springs in great plenty standeth Brakley as one would say a place full of Brake or Ferne in old time a famous Mercat Towne and staple as it were for wool which how large and wealthy it was it maketh now demonstration to travailers only by the ruines thereof and by a Major whom it hath for the chiefe Magistrate The Zouches Lords of the place founded a College there from whom it came successively as a possession in marriage right unto the Hollands and the Lovels But when Lord Lovell in King Henry the Seventh his time was attainted the Stanleies became Lords of it by the Kings gift But the College there at this day ruinous belongeth to the Students of Mawdlen College in Oxford who use it for a retyring place Neither came this place to the least name and reputation that it had by occasion of the memory of Saint Rumbald a young Infant who as wee finde written in his life being a Kings sonne so soone as ever he was borne after he had spoken I know not what holy words and professed himselfe to be a Christian was forthwith baptised and so presently dyed and being canonized by the people amongst the Saints had his commemoration kept both here and at Buckingham From hence Northward when we had gone six miles forward and all the way well wooded first we saw Astwell where Sir T. Billing sometime Lord chiefe Justice in the Kings Bench with great state dwelt from whom it descended hereditarily to the Shirleis by the ancient Family of the Lovels then Wedon and Wapiham which the Family of the Pinkeneys held by Barony untill that H. de Pinkney ordained King Edward the First his heire Whom being a right good and excellent Prince many evill men made their heire whereas according to Tacitus a good father maketh no Prince but a bad one his heire Then came we straight waies to TRIPONTIUM which Antonine the Emperour mentioneth though not in due place For I am of opinion that this was the very same which now we call Torcester and to prove it there be some arguments of moment as yet remaining If Trimontium in Thracia had that name of three hils Triturrita in Tuskane of three Towres and Tripolis likewise of three Cities conjoyned in one I have no reason to doubt that this TRIPONTIUM of ours might be so called of three Bridges And heere at this Torcester the Roman Port way which in many places most evidently sheweth it selfe betweene it and Stony stratford is cut through by three speciall Chanels or streames that the little River there divideth it selfe into which in times past like as at this day had of necessity there severall Bridges over them Now if you ask a Britain how he saith in British Three Bridges you shall heare him by and by answer Taer ponte and there be certaine honest men from whom I have received heere peeces of Romane Coine that constantly avouch the true name of this place to be Torcester and think it was so called of Towres Howbeit Marianus nameth it Touecester if the booke be not faulty in whom we read that this towne was so fortified in the yeer of our Redemption 917. that the Danes by no meanes could winne it by assault and that King Edward the elder afterwards compassed it about with a stone Wall yet wee with all our seeking could see no tokens of any such Wall Only there is a Mount remaining cast up with mens hands they call it Berihill now turned into private mens Gardens and planted on every side with Chery trees And very time it selfe hath so conquered and subdued the towne that beholden it is to the situation to the name and old Coines other whiles heere found for that esteeme which it hath of antiquity For no memorable thing there is in it but one onely Church that it hath and the same is a large and faire building wherein D. Sponde sometime the Parson thereof by report a good benefactor to Church and towne both lieth entombed within a tombe of fine and curious workemanship But hard by at Easton-Nesson there is to bee seene a faire and beautifull dwelling house belonging to the Knightly Family of the Farmârs The River that watereth Torcester as it goeth from hence toward Ouse runneth
of the aforesaid came another Gilbert his sonne and heire who gave the Manour of Folkingham with the Appertenances to Edward the sonne of Henry King of England This Gilbert as wee finde in the Plees out of which this Pedegree is prooved claimed service against Wil. de Scremby And at length it came by gift of the Prince to Sir Henry Beaumont For most certaine it is that he held it in the Raigne of Edward the Second Neere unto this is Screkingham remarkable for the death of Alfrick the second Earle of Leicester whom Hubba a Dane slew Of which place it seemeth that Ingulph spake writing thus In Kesteven were slaine three great Lords or petty Kings of the Danes whom they buryed in a Village which was called before Laundon but now for the Sepulture of three Kings Tre-King-ham And more into the East is Hather in this regard onely to be mentioned that the Busseis or Busleis heere dwell who deduce their Race from Roger de Busly in the Conquerours time Then Sleford a Castle of the Bishops of Lincolne built by Alexander the Bishop where Sir John Hussy the first and last Baron of that name created by King Henry the Eighth built himselfe an house who having unwittingly and unadvisedly in the yeere 1537. engaged himselfe with the common people in a tumultuous commotion what time as the first dissention brake out in England about Religion lost his head Not many miles from hence standeth Kime which gave name to a noble family called De Kime but the possession of the place came at length to the Umfranvils of whom three were called to the Parliament by the name of the Earles of Anguse in Scotland But the first of them the learned in our common lawes would not acknowledge to be Earle for that Anguse was not within the limits of the Realme of England untill hee produced openly in Court the Kings Writ by vertue whereof he had been summoned by the King to the Parliament under the Title of Earle of Anguse From the Umfravils this came unto the family of Talbois of whom Gilbert was created by King Henry the Eighth Baron Talbois whose two sonnes dying without issue the inheritance was by the females transferred to the Dimocks Inglebeies and others More Westward wee saw Temple Bruer that is as I interprete it Temple in the Heath For it seemeth to have beene a Commaundery of the Templers considering that the decayed broken Walles of the Church there are seene in forme of the New Temple at London Hard to it lyeth Blankenay the Barony in times past of the D'incourts who flourished successively a long time one after another from the Normans comming in unto King Henry the Sixth his time For then their male line determined in one William who had two sisters for his heires the one married to Sir William Lovell the other to Sir Ralph Cromwell The more willingly have I made mention of this Family to give satisfaction in some measure unto the longing desire of Edmond Baron D'eincourt who long since being carefull and earnest about the preservation of the memory of his name as having no male Issue put up an humble Petition to King Edward the Second Whereas hee foresaw that his sirname and Armes after his death would bee quite forgotten and yet heartily desired that after his decease they might bee still remembred that hee might bee permitted to enfeoffe whomsoever it pleased him both in his Manours and Armes also Which request hee obtained and it was graunted under the Kings Letters Patents yet for all that is this sirname now quite gone to my knowledge and had it not beene continued by the light of learning might have beene cleane forgotten for ever In the West part of Kesteven and the very confines of this Shire and Leicestershire standeth Belvoir or Beauvoir Castle so called of the faire prospect what name soever it had in old time mounted upon the top of a good steepe hill built by Robert De Todeneie a Norman Nobleman who also beganne the little Monastery adjoyning from whom by the Albeneies out of little Britaine and the Barons Roos it came by inheritance to the Mannors Earles of Rutland of whom the first that is to say Thomas as I have beene enformed raised it up againe with newbuildings from the ground when as it had for many yeeres lien buryed as it were in his owne ruines For in despite of Thomas Lord Roos who tooke part with King Henry the Sixth it was much defaced by William Lord Hastings unto whom after that the said Baron Roos was attainted King Edward the Fourth had graunted it with very faire Lands But Edmond Baron Roos sonne of the said Thomas by the gracious favour of king Henry the seventh recovered this ancient Inheritance againe About this Castle are found the Stones called Astroites which resemble little Starres joyned one with another wherein are to bee seene at every corner five Beames or Rayes and in every Ray in the middest is small hollownesse This Stone among the Germanes got his name of Victorie for that as George Agricola writeth in his Sixth Booke of Mineralls they are of opinion that whosoever carryeth it about him shall winne his suite and get victory of his enemies But whether this Stone of ours as that in Germany being put in vineger will stirre out of his place and turne it selfe some-what round I could never yet make tryall Under this Castle lyeth a Vale and presenteth a most pleasant prospect thereunto whereupon it is commonly called the Vale of Belver which is very large and passing pleasantly beautified with Corne fields and no lesse rich in pastures lying stretched out in three Shires of Leicester Nottingham and Lincolne If not in this very place yet hard by it in all probability stood that MARGIDUNUM which Antonine the Emperour placeth next after VERNOMETUM as both the name and the distance also from VERNOMETUM and the Towne PONT or Paunton betweene which Antonine placeth it may most plainly shew It should seeme that ancient name Margidunum was borowed from Marga and the situation of it For Marga among the Britans is a kinde of earth named Marle wherewith they nourished and kept their grounds in heart and DUNUM which signifieth an Hill agreeth onely to places higher mounted than others And yet in this Etymology of the name I am in a doubt seeing that Marle in this place is very geason or skant happily because no man seeketh for it unlesse the Britans by the name of Marga tearmed Plaister-stone which is digged uppe hard by as I have learned the use whereof in white pargetting and in making of Images was of especiall request among the Romans as Plinie witnesseth in his Naturall History Witham a River plentifull in Pikes but carrying a small streame watereth this part of the Shire and on the North-side encloseth it It hath his beginning by a little towne
watereth Eovesham so called as the Monkes write of one Eoves Swinheard to Egwin Bishop of Worcester whereas before time the name of it was Eâth-home and Heath-field A very proper Towne situate upon an hill arising from the River in the Suburb as it were whereof was sometime Bengeworth Castle at the Bridge head which Castle William de Audevill the Abbot recovered by law against William Beauchamp utterly rased it and caused the place to be hallowed for a Church-yard A Towne this is well knowne by reason of the Abbay which that noble Egwin with the helpe of King Kenred the sonne of Wolpher King of the Mercians founded about the yeere of our Lord 700. knowne likewise for the vale under it named thereof The Vale of Evesham which for plentifull fertility hath well deserved to be called the Garnary of all these countries so good and plentifull is the ground in yeelding the best corne aboundantly But most knowne in elder time by occasion of the great overthrow of the Barons and our Catiline Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester For this man being of a lewd disposition and profound perfidiousnesse hath taught us that which another truly said That good turnes are so long acceptable as they may be requitable For when King Henry the Third had with full hand heaped upon him all the benefits he could yea and given him his owne sister in marriage what other fruit reaped he of his so great bounty but most bitter and deadly hatred For he raised a most dangerous Warre hee spoiled shamefully a great part of England under pretense of restoring the common wealth and maintaining liberty neither left he any thing undone to bring the King under to change the State and of a Monarchy to bring in an Oligarchy But in the end after that fortune had for a good while favourably smiled upon him he was slaine at this place with many others of his complices by the prowesse of Prince Edward and forthwith the sinke of lawlesse rebels being as it were pumped and emptied out of the common weale joyfull peace which hee had banished shone againe most comfortably on every side Upon the same River hard by standeth Charleton the possession sometime of the ancient family of Hansacres Knights but now of the Dinleies or Dingleies who being descended from that ancient stocke of the Dinleies in Lancashire came unto this by hereditary succession More beneath in the primitive Church of our English Nation there was another place wherein religious men lived to God then called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã now Flatbury and neere unto it Pershor in the English Saxons language ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã taking the name from Peares which as we reade in that worthy Historiographer William of Malmesbury Egelward Duke of Dorset a man bearing no nigardly minde but exceeding liberall founded and finished in King Eadgars time But what detriment hath it sustained one part of it the ambition of the rich seized upon another part oblivion hath buried but the greatest portion King Edward the Confessour and King William bestowed upon the Church of Westminster Then receiveth Avon a Riveret from the North upon which standeth Hodington a seat of the Winters out of which were Robert Winter and his brother Thomas who when as they were of the hellish damned crew in the Gunpowder Treason let their memory lie damned From thence Avon running gently downe by Strensham the habitation of the Russels Knights by degree of ancient descent in the end out-ladeth his owne streame into Severn Neere to these places on this South side is Oswaldslaw Hundred so called of Oswald Bishop of Worcester who obtained it for himselfe of King Eadgar The immunity whereof when William Conquerour made a Survey and taxation of all England was registred in the Domesday booke after this manner The Church of Saint Mary of Worcester hath the Hundred called Oswaldslaw wherein lye 300. Hides out of which the Bishop of the same Church by ancient order and custome hath all the revenewes of Soches and all customes or duties there appertaining to the Lords victuall and the Kings service and his owne so that no Sheriffe may hold there any action or suit neither in any plea nor in any other cause whatsoever This witnesseth the whole County A place there is about this Shire but precisely where it should be is not certainly knowne called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Augustines Oke at which Augustine the Apostle of the Englishmen and the Bishops of Britaine met and after they had disputed and debated the matter hotely for a good while touching the celebration of Easter preaching Godâ Word also to the English Nation and of administring Baptisme according to the rites of the Roman Church in the end when they could not agree they departed on both sides with discontented mindes upon their dissenting opinions This Province since the Normans comming in had for the first Sheriffe Vrsus or Vrso de Abtot unto whom and his heires King William the Conquerour granted that office together with faire and large possessions After him succeeded his sonne Roger who as William of Malmesbury the Historiographer reporteth enjoying his fathers possessions through the high displeasure and indignation of King Henry the first was disseized thereof because in a furious fit of anger hee had commanded one of the Kings Officers to be killed But this Sheriffedome was by Emeline this Rogers sister translated hereditarily into the Family of the Beauchamps For she was married to Walter Beauchamp whom king Stephen after he had put downe Miles of Glocester ordained Constable of England Within some few yeeres king Stephen created Walleran Earle of Mellent twin-brother to Robert Bossu Earle of Leicester the first Earle of Worcester having given unto him the Citie of Worcester who afterwards became a Monke and died at Pratellae in Normandie in the yeere 1166. As for his sonne Robert who had wedded the daughter of Reginald Earle of Cornwall and advanced the Standard of rebellion against King Henry the Second and Peter his sonne who in the yeere 1203. revolted to the French neither of them used the title of Worcester but onely of Mellent so farre as ever I could yet read For King Henry the Second who succeeded Stephen would not easily suffer that any under him should enjoy the honors received from Stephen an usurper and his enemy For as I finde in the Annales of Waverley Abbay he put downe those imaginary and counterfeit Earles among whom King Stephen had inconsideratly distributed and given away all the revenewes pertaining to the Exchequer Neither to my knowledge was there any one that bare the title of the Earldome of Worcester untill the daies of King Richard the Second For he bestowed it upon Sir Thomas Percy who when he conspired against King Henry the Fourth was taken at the battaile of Shrewsbury and there beheaded Then Sir Richard Beauchamp descended from the Abtots received
afterward this honor at the hands of King Henry the Fifth Who shortly after in the French war lost his life at the siege of Meaux in Brye leaving one onely daughter married to Sir Edward Nevill from whom descended the late Lords of Abergevenny Afterward King Henry the Sixth created John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester But when he presently taking part with King Edward the Fourth had applied himselfe in a preposterous obsequiousnesse to the humor of the said King and being made Constable of England plaied the part as it were of the butcher in the cruell execution of diverse men of qualitie himselfe when as King Henry the Sixth was now repossessed of the crowne came to the blocke Howbeit his sonne Edward recovered that honor when King Edward recovered his Kingdome But after that this Edward died without issue and the inheritance became divided among the sisters of the said John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester of whom one was married to the Lord Rooâ another to Sir Edmund Ingoldesthorpe and the third to the Lord Dudley Sir Charles Somerset base sonne to Henry Duke of Somerset Lord Herbert and Lord Chamberlaine to King Henry the Eighth was by him created Earle of Worcester After whom succeeded in lineall descent Henry William and Edward who now flourisheth and among other laudable parts of vertue and Nobility highly favoureth the studies of good literature There are in this Shire Parishes 152. STAFFORDIAE COMITATVS PARS olim Cornauiorum STAFFORD-SHIRE THE third Region of the old CORNAVII now called STAFFORD-SHIRE in the English Saxons Language ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Inhabitants whereof because they dwelt in the middest of England are in Bede termed Angli Mediterranei that is Midland Englishmen having on the East Warwick-shire and Darby-shire on the South side Worcester-shire and Westward Shropp-shire bordering upon it reacheth from South to North in forme of a Lozeng broader in the middest and growing narrower at the ends The North part is full of Hilles and so lesse fruitfull the middle being watered with the River Trent is more plentifull clad with Woods and embroidered gallantly with Corne fields and medowes as is the South part likewise which hath Coles also digged out of the earth and mines of Iron But whether more for their commodity or hinderance I leave to the Inhabitants who doe or shall best understand it In the South part in the very confines with Worcester-shire upon the River Stour standeth Stourton Castle sometimes belonging to the Earles of Warwicke the natall place of Cardinall Pole and then Dudley Castle towreth up upon an hill built and named so of one Dudo or Dodo an English Saxon about the yeere of our Salvation 700. In King William the Conquerours daies as we finde in his Domesday Booke William Fitz-Ausculph possessed it afterwards it fell to Noble men sirnamed Somery and by an heire generall of them to Sir Richard Sutton knight descended from the Suttons of Nottingham-shire whose Posterity commonly called from that time Lords of Dudley but summoned to Parliament first by King Henry the Sixth grew up to a right honourable Family Under this lyeth Pensueth Chace in former times better stored with game wherein are many Cole-pits in which as they reported to mee there continueth a fire begunne by a candle long since through the negligence of a grover or digger The smoke of this fire and sometime the flame is seene but the savour oftener smelt and other the like places were shewed unto mee not farre off North-West ward upon the Confines of Shropp-shire I saw Pateshull a seat of the Astleies descended from honourable Progenitours and Wrotesley an habitation of a Race of Gentlemen so sirnamed out of which Sir Hugh Wrotesley for his approoved valour was chosen by King Edward the Third Knight of the Garter at the first institution and so accounted one of the founders of the said honourable Order Next after this the memorable places that wee meet with in this Tract more inwardly are these Chellington a faire house and Manour of the ancient Family of the Giffards which in the Raigne of Henry the Second Peter Corbuchin gave to Peter Giffard upon whom also Richard Strongbow that Conquerour of Ireland bestowed in free gift Tachmelin and other Possessions in Ireland Theoten hall which is by interpretation The habitation of Heathens or Pagans at this day Tetnall embrued with Danish bloud in the yeere 911. by King Edward the Elder in a bloudy Battaile Ulfrunes Hampton so called of Wulfruna a most godly and devout woman who enriched the Towne called before simply Hampton with a religious House and for Wulfrunes Hampton it is corruptly called Wulver Hampton The greatest name and note whereof ariseth by the Church there annexed to the Warden or Deane and Prebendaries of Windsor Weadsbury in these dayes Weddsborrow fortified in old time by Aethelfled Lady of the Mercians and Walshall a Mercate Towne none of the meanest Neere unto which the River Tame carryeth his streame which rising not farre off for certaine miles wandereth through the East part of this Shire seeking after Trent neere unto Draiton Basset the seat of the Bassets who springing out from Turstan Lord of this place in the Raigne of Henry the First branched forth into a great and notable Family For from hence as from a stocke flourished the Bassets of Welleden of Wiccomb of Sapcot of Cheddle and others But of this of Draiton Raulph was the last who being a right renowned Baron had marryed the sister of John Montfort Duke of Britaine and in the Raigne of Richard the Second died without issue Then Tame passing through the Bridge at Falkesley over which an ancient high way of the Romanes went runneth hard under Tamworth in the Saxon Tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Marianus calleth it Tamawordia a Towne so placed in the Confines of the two Shires that the one part which belonged sometime to the Marmions is counted of Warwick-shire the other which pertained to the Hastings of Stafford-shire As for the name it is taken from Tame the Riuer running beside it and of the English Saxon word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which signifieth a Barton Court or Ferme-house and also an Holme or River Island or any place environed with water seeing that Keyserwert and Bomelswert in Germanie betoken as much as Caesars Isle and Bomels Isle Whiles the Mercians Kingdome stood in state this was a place of their Kings resiance and as we finde in the Lieger Booke of Worcester a Towne of very great resort and passing well frequented Afterward when in the Danes Warre it was much decaied Aethelfled Lady of Mercia repaired and brought it againe to the former state also Edith King Eadgars Sister who refusing Marriage for the opinion that went of her for holinesse was registred in the roll of Saints founded heere a little house for Nunnes and veiled Virgins which after some yeeres was translated to
with his streame at Buldewas commonly Bildas there flourished a faire Abbay the Sepulture in times past of the noble Family of the Burnels Patrons thereof Higher into the Country there is a Mansion or Baiting Towne named Watling street of the situation upon the foresaid Rode way or street And hard by it are seene the Reliques of Castle Dalaley which after that Richard Earle of Arundell was attainted King Richard the Second by authority of the Parliament annexed to the Principality of Chester which hee had then erected And not farre from the foote of the foresaid Wreken in an hollow Valley by that high street before mentioned Oken-yate a little Village well knowne for the plentifull delfe there of pit-cole lieth so beneath and just at the same distance as Antonine placeth VSOCONA both from URICONIUM and also from PENNOCRUCIUM that no man need to doubt but that this Oken-yate was that USOCONA Neither doth the name it selfe gainesay it for this word Ys which in the British tongue signifieth Lowe may seeme added for to note the low situation thereof On the other side beneath this Hill appeareth Charleton Castle in ancient times belonging to the Charletons Lords of Powis and more Eastward next of all unto Staffordshire Tong-Castle called in old time Toang which the Vernons not long since repaired as also the College within the Towne which the Pembridges as I have read first founded Neither have the Inhabitants any thing heere more worth shewing than a Bell for the bignesse thereof very famous in all those parts adjoyning Hard to this lieth Albrighton which in the Raigne of King Edward the First was the seat of Sir Raulph de Pichford but now of the Talbotts branched from the Family of the Earles of Shrewesbury But above Tong was Lilleshul Abbay in a woodland Country founded by the family of Beaumeis whose heire was marryed into the house of De La Zouch But seeing there is little left but ruines I will leave it and proceed forward Beyond the river Terne on the brinke thereof standeth Draiton where in the civill warres between the houses of Lancaster and Yorke a field was fought that cost many a Gentleman of Cheshire his life For they although the battaile was given up almost on even hand when they could not agree among themselves but tooke part with both sides were slaine by heapes and numbers on either side Beneath this Draiton and nere enough to Terne lieth Hodnet wherein dwelt sometimes Gentlemen of the same name from whom hereditarily it is come by the Ludlows unto the Vernons It was held in times past of the Honour of Mont-Gomery by service to bee Seneschall or Steward of the same Honour After this Terne having passed haâd by certaine little rurall Townes taketh in unto him the Riveret Roden and when hee hath gone a few miles further neere unto Uriconium of which I spake even now falleth into the Severn Upon this Roden whiles hee is but new come from his spring head standeth Wem where are to be seene the tokens of a Castle long since begun there to be built This was the Barony after the first entry of the Normans of William Pantulph from whose Posterity it came at length to the Butlers and from them by the Ferrars of Ousley and the Barons of Greystock unto the Barons D'acre of Gillesland Within a little of this upon an high hill well wooded or upon a cliffe rather which sometime was called Radcliffe stood a Castle mounted aloft called of the reddish stone Red-Castle and in the Normans language Castle Rous the seat in old time of the Audleies through the liberall bounty of Lady Maude Le Strange But now there remaineth no more but desolate walles which yet make a faire shew Scarce a mile from hence lyeth all along the dead carcasse as it were of a small City now well neere consumed But the peeces of Romane money and those brickes which the Romans used in building there found doe testifie the antiquity and founders thereof The neighbour Inhabitants use to call it Bery as one would say Burgh and they report that it was a most famous place in King Arthurs daies as the common sort ascribe whatsoever is ancient and strange to King Arthurs glory Then upon the same River Morton Corbet anciently an house of the Family of Turet afterward a Castle of the Corbets sheweth it selfe where within our remembrance Robert Corbet carryed away with the affectionate delight of Architecture began to build in a barraine place a most gorgeous and stately house after the Italians modell But death prevented him so that he left the new worke unfinished and the old Castle defaced These Corbets are of ancient Nobility in this Shire and held Lordships by service of Roger Montgomery Earle of this County about the comming in of the Normans for Roger the son of Corbet held Huelebec Hundeslit Acton Fern-leg c. Robert the sonne of Corbet held land in Ulestanton Rotlinghop Branten and Udecot And in later ages this family farre and fairely propagated received encrease both of revenew and great alliance by the marriage of an heire of Hopton More Southward standeth Arcoll the habitation of the Newports knights of great worship descended from the Barons Grey of Codnor and the Lords of Mothwy and neere unto it is Hagmond Abbay which the Lords Fitz Alanes if they did not found yet they most especially endowed Not much lower upon Severn standeth most pleasantly the famousest City for so it was called in Domesday booke of this Shire risen by the ruine of Old Uriconium which wee at this day call Shrewsbury and Shrowsbury having mollified the name whereas our Ancestours called it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã for that it was anciently a very thicket of shrobs upon an hill In which sense both the Greekes tearmed their Bessa and our Welsh Britans named this also Pengwerne that is The high plot planted with Alders and a Palace so named continued heere a long time But whence it is that it is called now in the British tongue Ymwithig and by the Normans Scropesbery Sloppesbery and Salop and in the Latin tongue Salopia I am altogether ignorant unlesse it should bee the ancient name Scobbes-beng diversely distorted and dis-jointed Yet some skilfull in the British tongue thinke verily it is called Ymwithig as one would say Placentia or Plaisance of a British word Mewithau and that their Poets the Bardi so named it because of all others it best pleased the Princes of Wales in times past It is seated upon an Hill of a reddish earth and Severn having two very faire Bridges upon it gathering himselfe in manner round in forme of a circle so compasseth it that were it not for a small banke of firme land it might goe for an Island And thence it is that Leland the Antiquarian Poet wrote thus Edita Penguerni latè fastigia splendent Urbs sita lunatâ veluti
the Catalogue of Martyrs had a Church here built and dedicated unto him by Milfrid a pety K. of the country wherein when a Bishops See was established it grew to great wealth first through the devout liberality of the Mercians and then of the West Saxons kings for they at length were possessed of this City as may be gathered out of William of Malmesbury where he writeth That Athelistan the West Saxon brought the Lords of Wales in this City of so hard passe that by way of Tribute they were to pay every yeere besides Hounds and Haukes twenty pounds of gold and three hundred pound of silver by weight This Citie as farre as I can reade had never any misfortune unlesse it were in the yeere of our Lord 1055. wherein Gruffith Prince of South Wales and Algar an English man rebelling against King Edward the Confessour after they had put to flight Earle Ralph sacked the Citie destroyed the Cathedrall Church and led away captive Leofgar the Bishop But Harold straightwaies after that hee and daunted their audacious courage fensed it as Floriacensis saith with a broade and high Rampier Hence it is that Malmesbury writeth thus in his treatise of Bishops Hereford is no great Citie and yet by the height of those steepe and upright bankes cast up it sheweth that it hath beene some great thing and as wee reade in the Domesday booke of King William the Conquerour there were in all but an hundered and three men within the Walles and without The Normans afterwards neere the East end of the Church along the side of Wy built a mighty great and strong Castle the worke as some report of Earle Miles which now yeeldeth to Time and runneth to ruine After this they walled the Citie about Bishop Reinelm in the reigne of Henry the First founded that beautifull Cathedrall Church which now we see there whose successours enlarged it by adioyning thereto a proper Colledge for Priests and faire houses for the Prebendaries For besides the Bishop who hath 302. Churches in his Dioecese there are in this Church a Deane two Archdeacons a Chaunter a Chauncellour 2 Treasurer and eight and twenty Prebendaries In the Church I saw in manner no Monuments but the Bishops Tombes And I have heard that Thomas Cantlow the Bishop a man of Noble birth had here a very stately and sumptuous Sepulcher who for his holinesse being canonized a Saint went within a little of surmounting that princely Martyr King Ethelbert such was the opinion of singular pietie and devotion Geographers measure the position or site of this Citie by the Longitude of twenty degrees and foure and twenty scruples and by the Latitude of two and fifty degrees and sixe scruples Wy is not gone full three miles from hence but he intercepteth by the way the river Lug who running downe a maine out of Radnor hils with a still course passeth through the mids of this country from the North-west of the South-east At the first entrance it seeth a farre off Brampton Brian Castle which a famous family named hereof de Brampton wherein the forname was usually Brian held by continuall succession unto the time of King Edward the First but now by the female heires it is come to R. Harleie neere at hand it beholdeth Wigmore in the English Saxons tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã repaired in elder times by King Edward the elder afterward fortified by William Earle of Hereford with a Castle in the wast of a ground for so reade we in Domesday booke which was called Marestun in the tenure of Radulph de Mortimer from whom those Mortimers that were afterwards Earles of March lineally descended of whom you may reade more in Radnor-shire Three miles off there is another neighbour Castle called Richards Castle the possession first of the Sayes then of the Mortimers and afterwards of the Talbots by hereditarie succession At length by the heires of Sir Iohn Talbot the inheritance was divided betweene Sir Guarin Archdeacon and Sir Matthew Gurnay Beneath this Castle Nature who no where disporteth her selfe more in shewing wonders then in waters hath brought forth a pretty well which is alwaies full of little bones or as some thinke of small frog-bones although they be from time to time drawne quite out of it whence it is commonly called Bone well And not farre off is placed Croft Castle the possession of that very ancient family of the Crofts Knights who have there now a long time flourished in great and good esteeme Thence passeth Wy to Lemster which also was called Leon Minister and Lions Monastery of a Lyon that appeared to a religious man in a vision as some have dreamed But whereas the Britans call it Lhan Lieni which signifieth a Church of Nunnes and that it is certainely knowne that Merewalc a King of the Mercians built here a Church for Nunnes that afterwards became a Cell belonging to the Monastery of Reading to seeke any other originall of the name than from those Nunnes what were it else but to hunt after the windes Yet there want not some who derive it from Line whereof the best kinde groweth here The greatest name and same that it hath at this day is of the wooll in the territories round about Lemister Ore they call it which setting aside that of Apulia and Tarentum all Europe counteth to be the very best so renowned also it is for Wheat and bread of the Finest floure that Lemster bread and Weabley Ale a towne belonging to the noble Familie D'Eureux are growne unto a common proverbe By reason of these commodities the mercates at Lemster were so frequented that they of Hereford and Worcester complaining that the confluence of people thither impaired their mercates procured that by Royall authoritie the mercat day was changed Now have I nothing more concerning Lemster but that William Breosa Lord of Brecknock when hee revolted from King John did set it on fire and defaced it As for that Webley aforesaid it is situate more within the Country and was the Baronie of the Verdons the first of which house named Bertram de Verdon came into England with the Normans whose posteritie by marriage with an inheretrice of Laceies of Trim in Ireland were for a good while hereditary Constables of Ireland and at last the possessions were by the daughters devolved to the Furnivalls Burghersh Ferrars of Groby Crop-hulls and from the Crop-hulls by the Ferrars of Chartly unto D'Eureux Earles of Essex Neere neighbours unto Webley more Westward are these places Huntingdon Castle the possession in times past of the Bohuns Earles of Hereford and of Essex Kinnersley belonging to the auncient Family De la-bere and Erdsley where the auncient Family of the Baskervills have long inhabited which bred in old time so many worthie Knights who deduce their pedigree from a Neice of Dame Gunora that most famous Lady in Normandy and long agoe flourished in this Country and
of Woodstock his Daughter who was after remarried to Sir William Burchier called Earle of Ew And in our memorie King Edward the Sixth Honoured Walter D'Eureux the Lord Ferrars of Chartley descended by the Bourgchiers from the Bohuns with the title of Vicount Hereford whose Grand-sonne Walter Vicount Hereford Queene Elizabeth created afterwards Earle of Essex There are contained in this County Parishes 176. RADNOR Comitatus quem SILVRES Osim Incosuerunt RADNOR-SHIRE VPon Hereford-shire on the North-West joyneth Radnor-shire in the British tongue Sire Maiseveth in forme three square and the farther West it goeth the narrower still it groweth On the South-side the River Wy separateth it from Brecknock-shire and on the North part lieth Montgomery-shire The East and South parts thereof bee more fruitfull than the rest which lying uneven and rough with Mountaines is hardly bettered by painfull Husbandry yet it is stored well enough with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Meres The East-side hath to beautifie it besides other Castles of the Lords Marchers now all buried well neere in their owne ruines Castle Paine built and so named of Paine a Norman and Castle Colwen which if I be not deceived was sometime called the Castle of Maud in Colewent For a very famous Castle that was and Robert de Todeney a great Noble man in the reigne of Edward the Second was Lord of it It is verily thought that it belonged aforetime to the Breoses Lords of Brechnoc and to have taken the name from Maude of Saint Valeric a very shrewd stout and malapert stomackfull woman wife to William Breos who discovered a rebellious minde against King John Which Castle being cast downe by the Welsh King Henry the Third in the yeere 1231. reedified strongly with stone and called it in despight of Lhewellin Prince of Wales Maugre Lhewellin But of especiall name is Radnor the principall Towne of the whole Shire in British Maiseveth faire built as the maner of that Country is with thatched houses In times past it was firmely fensed with a Wall and Castle but after that Owen Glendower dwy that notable Rebell had burnt it it began by little and little to decrease and grow to decay tasting of the same fortune that the mother thereof did before I meane Old Radnor called in British Maiseveth hean and for the high situation Pencrag which in the reigne of King John Rhese Ap Gruffin had set on fire If I should say that this Maiseveth or Radnor was that ancient Citie MAGI which Antonine the Emperour seemeth to call MAGNOS where as we finde in the booke of Notices the Commander of the Pacensian Regiment lay in garrison under the Lieutenant or Lord Generall of Britaine in the reigne of Theodosius the younger in mine owne opinion surely and perhaps in other mens conceit also I should not vary from the truth For we reade in Writers of the middle age of inhabitants of this coast called MAGESETAE also of Earles Masegetenses and Magesetenses and the distance if it be counted both from Gobannium or Abergevenny and also from Brangonium or Worcester differeth scarce an haire bredth from Antonines computation Scarce three miles Eastward from hence you see Prestaine in British Lhan Andre that is Saint Andrews Church which of a very little village within the memorie of our Grandfathers is by the meanes of Richard Martin Bishop of Saint Davids growne now to be so great a mercate Towne and faire withall that at this day it dammereth and dimmeth the light in some sort of Radnor From whence also scarce foure miles off stands Knighton a Towne able to match with Prestaine called in British as I have heard say Trebuclo in steed of Trefyclaudh of a famous ditch lying under it which Offa King of the Mercians with admirable worke and labour caused to be cast from Dee-Mouth unto Wy-Mouth by this Towne for the space of foureskore and ten miles to separate the Britans from his Englishmen whereupon in British it is called Claudh Offa that is Offaes ditch Concerning which John of Salisbury in his Policraticon writeth thus Harald ordained a law that what Welshmen soever should be found with a weapon on this side the limit which he had set them that is to say Offaes Dike he should have his right hand cut off by the Kings Officers When yee are past this place all the ground that lieth toward the West and South limits being for the most part barren leane and hungry is of the inhabitants called Melienith for that the Mountaines be of a yellowish colour Yet remaine there many footings as it were of Castles to be seene heere and there but especially Kevenles and Timbod which standing upon a sharpe poynted hill Lhewellin Prince of Wales overthrew in the yeere 1260. This Melienith reacheth as farre as to the River Wy which cutteth overthwart the West corner of this shire and being hindered in his streame with stones lying in his way upon a suddaine for want of ground to glide on hath a mighty and violent downefall whereupon the place is tearmed Raihader Gowy that is The fall or Fludgates of Wy And I cannot tell whether thereupon that British word Raihader the English men forged this name first for the whole shire and afterwards for the chiefe Towne By this Floudgate or fall of the water there was a Castle which Rhese Prince of Southwales as we reade repaired under King Richard the First Hard by there is in some sort a vast and wide wildernesse hideous after a sort to behold by reason of the turning and crooked by-waies and craggie Mountaines into which as the safest place of refuge Vortigern that pestilent wretch and bane of his native Country odious both to God and man and whose memory the Britains may wish damned withdrew himselfe when after he had called the Saxons into this Iland and in horrible incest married his owne daughter And heere he fell at length too too late into serious consideration of the greatnesse of his vile and wicked acts But by revenging fire from Heaven the flying dart of God above he was burnt with his Citie Caer Guortigern which he had heere built for his refuge And not farre from hence as if the place had been fatall not onely this Vortigern the last Monarch of British bloud but also Lhewellin the last Prince of Wales of the British race being forelaid was slaine by Adam Francton in the yeere of our Redemption 1282. Of the said Vortigern Ninnius nameth a little Country heere Guortiger-maur neither is that name as yet altogether lost but of the Ciâie there remaineth no memory at all but our of writers Some are of opinion that Guthremion Castle arose out of the ruins and rubbish thereof which in the yeere 1201. the Welsh for malice they bare to Roger Lord Mortimer and in spight of him laid even with the ground Moreover this part of the Country was
Towne hath flourished and beene of name in regard of their priviledges and immunities granted unto them by the Family of Lancaster But for no one thing it is so much renowned as for this that it was the birth place of King Henry the Fifth that Triumpher over France and the second ornament of English Nation That Henry I say who by force of armes and military prowesse maugre the French conquered France and brought Charles the Sixth King of France to that extremity that after a sort he surrendred up his Crowne unto him In regard of whose successe and fortunate exploits in Warre John Seward a Poet in those dayes not of the lowest ranke in a joily lofty verse thus speaketh to the English Ite per extremum Tanain pigrósque Triones Ite per arentem Lybiam superate calores Solis arcanos Nili deprendite fontes Hercâleum finem Bacchi transcurrite metas Angli juris erit quicquid complectitur orbis Anglis rubra dabunt pretiosas aequora conchas Indus ebur ramos Panchaia vellera Seres Dum viget Henricus dum noster vivit Achilles Est etenim laudes longè transgressus avitas Passe on to Tanais farre remote to frozen Northren Coast Through Libye dry beyond the line where Sunnes heat parcheth most On forth and finde where all the springs of Nilus hidden lie Those pillers fixt by Hercules and bounds that mount on hie Surpasse the Limit-markes also which father Bacchus pight For why what all the earth containes is under Englands right To English shall the Red Sea yeeld the pretious pearely wilke Indy yvory sweet-frank-incense Panchaea Seres silke Whiles Henry lives that Champion Achilles-like of ours For he the praises farre surmounts of his Progenitours Monmouth glorieth also that Geffrey Ap Arthur or Arthurius Bishop of Asaph the compiler of the British History was borne and bred there a man to say truth well skilled in antiquities but as it seemeth not of antique credite so many toies and tales hee every where enterlaceth out of his owne braine as he was charged while hee lived in so much as now hee is ranged among those Writers whom the Roman Church hath censured to be forbidden From hence Wy with many windings and turnings runneth downe Southward yeelding very great plenty of delicate Salmons from September to April And is at this day the bound betweene Glocester-shire and Monmouth-shire in times past betweene the Welsh and Englishmen according to this Verse of Nechams making Inde vagos vaga Cambrenses hinc respicit Anglos By Wales on this side runneth Wy And of the other England he doth eye Who when he is come almost unto his mouth runneth by Chepstow that is if one interprete it after the Saxons tongue a Mercat The Britans call it Castle-went A famous Towne this is and of good resort situate upon the side of an Hill rising from the very River fortified round about with a Wall of a large circuite which includes within it both fields and orchyards It hath a very spacious Castle situate over the River and just against it stood a Priory the better part whereof being pulled downe the rest is conuerted into a Parish Church As for the Bridge that standeth over Wy it is of timber and very high built because the River at every tide riseth to a great heigth The Lords hereof were the Earles of Pembroch out of the Family of Clare who of Strighull Castle their seat a little way off were commonly called Earles of Strighull and of Pembrock The last of whom named Richard a man of an invincible courage and having wonderfull strong armes and long withall sirnamed Strongbow because hee shot in a bow of exceeding great bent and did nothing but with strong arme was the first that by his valour made way for the English into Ireland By a daughter of his it came to the Bigots c. but now it belongeth to the Earles of Worcester This Towne is not very ancient to speake of For many there bee that constantly affirme and not without good reason that not many ages agoe it had his beginning from VENTA a very ancient City that in the daies of Antonine the Emperor flourished about foure miles hence Westward and was named VENTA SILURUM as one would say the principall City of the Silures Which name neither hostile fury nor length of time hath as yet discontinued for it is called even at this day Caer went that is The City Went. But as for the City it selfe either time or hostility hath so carryed it away that now were it not onely for the ruinate walles the checker worke pavements and peeces of Roman money it would not appeare there was such a City It tooke up in compasse above a mile on the South side a great part of the Wall standeth and there remaine little better than the rubbish of three Bulwarks And yet of how great account it was in ancient times wee may gather if it were but by this that before the name of Monmouth once heard of all this whole Country was of it called Guent Went-set and Wents-land Moreover as wee reade in the life of Tathaius a British Saint it was an Academy that is to say a place dedicated to the study of good letters which the said Tathaie whom King Caradock the sonne of Inirius procured to come thither out of the desert wildernesse governed with great commendation and there founded a Church Five miles from hence Westward is seated Strighull Castle at the foote of the mountaines we call it at this day Strugle the Normans named it Estrighill which as wee reade in King William the First his Domesday booke William Fitz Osborn Earle of Hereford built and afterwards it became the seat of the Earles of Pembrock out of the house of Clare Whereupon they were usually called Earles of Strighull as I even now intimated Beneath these places upon the Severn sea nere unto Wy-mouth standeth Portskeweth which Marianus nameth Potescith who hath recorded that Harald in the yeere 1065. erected a Fort there against the Welshmen which they streightwaies under the conduct of Caradock overthrew And adjoyning to it is Sudbrok the Church wherof called Trinity Chappell standeth so neere the sea that the vicinity of so tyrannous a neighbour hath spoiled it of halfe the Church-yarde as it hath done also of an old Fortification lying thereby which was compassed with a triple Ditch and three Rampiers as high as an ordinary house cast in forme of a bowe the string whereof is the sea-cliffe That this was a Romane worke the Britaine brickes and Romane coines there found are most certaine arguments among which the Reverend Father in God Francis Bishop of Landaffe by whose information I write this imparted unto me of his kindnesse one of the greatest peeces that ever I saw coined of Corinthian copper by the City of Elaia in the lesser Asia to the honour of the Emperour Severus
worke also a fragment of an Altar with this Inscription engraven in great capitall letters three inches long erected by Haterianus the Lieutenant Generall of Augustus and Propretour of the Province Cilicia The next yeere following hard by was this Table also gotten out of the ground which prooveth that the foresaid Image was the personage of Diana and that her Temple was repaired by Titus Flavius Posthumius Varus an old souldier haply of a Band of the second Legion T. FL. POSTUMIUS VARUS V. C. LEG TEMPL DIANAE RESTITUIT Also a votive Altar out of which GETA the name of Caesar may seeme then to have beene rased what time as he was made away by his brother Antonine Bassianus and proclaimed an Enemy yet so as by the tract of the letters it is in some sort apparent PRO SALUTE AUGG. N. N. SEVERI ET ANTONINI ET GETAE CAES. P. SALTIENUS P. F. MAECIA THALAMUS HADRI PRAEF LEG II. AUG C. VAMPEIANO ET LUCILIAN This most beautifull Altar also though maimed and dismembred was there found which I thinke is thus to be made up Also these fragments 7. VECILIANA VIII 7. VALER MAXSIMI Moreover a little before the comming in of the English Saxons There was a Schoole heere of 200. Philosophers who being skilfull in Astronomy and all other Arts diligently observed the course and motion of the Starres as wrote Alexander Elsebiensis a rare Author and hard to be found out of whom Thomas James of Oxford a learned man and a true lover of Bookes who wholly addicted to learning and now laboriously searching the Libraries of England to the publique good purposeth that God blesse his labour which will be to the great benefit of all Students hath copied out very many notes for me In the Raigne of Henry the Second what time Giraldus wrote it seemeth that this City was of good strength For Yrwith of Caer Leon a courageous and hardy Britan defended it a great while against the English untill he was vanquished by the King and so disseized of the possession thereof But now that it may serve for an ensample that as well Cities have fatall periods of their flourishing state as men of their lives it is decaied and become a very small Towne which in times past was of that greatnesse and reaching out so farre in length on both sides of the River that Saint Julians an house of the late Sir William Herbert Knight was by report sometime within the very City where Saint Julius the Martyrs Church stood which now is much about a mile out of the Towne Also out of the ruines thereof a little beneath at the mouth of Vske grew up Newport which Giraldus nameth in Latine Novus Burgus a Towne of later time built and not unknowne by reason of the Castle and commodiousnesse of the Harbour in which place there was in times past some one of these Roman High wayes or Streets whereof Necham hath made mention in these Verses Intrat auget aquas Sabrini fluminis Osca Praceps testis erit Julia Strata mihi Vske into Severn headlong runnes and makes his streame to swell Witnesse with me is Julia Street that knoweth it full well This Julia Strata was no doubt some Port-high way and if we may be allowed to make a conjecture what great absurdity were it to say that it was cast up and made by Julius Frântinus the vanquisher of the Silures There creepeth saith Giraldus in the bounds of this New-burgh or Newport a little River named Nant Pencarn which cannot bee waded and passed over but at certaine Fourds not so much for any depth that the water is of as for the hollownesse of the Chanell and the easie mudde in the bottome and it had of old a Fourd named Rydpencarn that is The Fourd under the top of a Rocke Which when Henry the Second King of England chanced at a venture to passe over even then when it was almost growne out of remembrance the Welshmen who were over credulous in beleeving of Prophesies as if now all had beene sure on the Kings side and themselves hopelesse of all helpe were quite out of heart and hope of good successe because Merlin Silvester the British Apollo had prophesied that then the Welshmens power should bee brought under when a stout Prince with a freckled face and such a one was King Henry the Second should passe over that Foord Under the Saxons Heptarchy this Region was subject to the mountaine Welshmen whom the English called ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã who notwithstanding as the ancient lawes doe shew were under the command of the West Saxons But at the first comming in of the Normans the Lords Merchers most grievously plagued and annoyed them but especially Hamelin Balun of whom I spake Hugh Lacy Walter and Gilbert both sirnamed of the house of Clare Miles of Glocester Robert Chandos Pain Fitz-Iohn Richard Fitz Punt and Brien of Wallingford unto whom after that the Kings had once given whatsoever they could get and hold in this tract by subduing the Welsh some of these before named by little and little reduced under their subjection the upper part of this Shire which they called Over-went others the lower part which they termed Nether-went And this Shire is not accounted among the Shires of Wales This Shire containeth Parish Churches 127. GLAMORGAN-SHIRE THE last Country of the Silures was that I thinke which wee at this day call GLAMORGAN-SHIRE the Britans Morganuc Glath-Morgan and Glad Vorganuc that is The Region of Morganuc so named as most suppose of one Morgan a Prince as others thinke of Morgan an Abbay But if I derived it from Mor which in the British tongue signifieth The Sea I know not verily whether I should dally with the trueth or no Howbeit I have observed that a Towne in little Britaine standing upon the Sea-coast now called Morlais was of Ptolomee and the ancient Gaules tearmed Vorganium or Morganium for M. and V. consonant are often changed one for another in this tongue and whence I pray you but from the sea And this our Morganuc also lieth upon the sea for stretching out directly more in length than it spreadeth in bredth on the South side it is accoasted with the Severn sea But where it looketh toward the Land it hath on the East side Monmouth-shire on the North Brechnock-shire and on the West Caermarden-shire bordering upon it The North part by reason of the Mountaines is rough and unpleasant which as they bend downe Southward by little and little become more milde and of better soile and at the foote of them there stretcheth forth a Plaine open to the South-Sunne in that position of situation which Cato judged to bee the best and for the which Plinie so highly commendeth Italie For this part of the Country is most pleasant and fruitfull beautified also on every side with a number of Townes Jestine a great Lord in the Raigne of William Rufus
it at this day which Sir Rhise ap Thomas that warlike Knight who assisted Henry the Seventh when he gat the Crowne and was by him right worthily admitted unto the Society of the Knights of the Garter renewed whereas before time it was named Elmelin Which name if the Englishmen gave unto it of Elme-trees their conjecture is not to bee rejected who will have it to bee that LOVENTIUM of the DIMETAE whereof Ptolomee maketh mention For the Britans call Elmes Llwiffen But seeing I can finde by no record in Histories which if the Normans first wrested this Country out of the hands of the Princes of Wales I am to proceed now orderly to the description of Pembroch-shire It hath Parishes 87. PENBROK Comitatus olim Pars DEMETARVM PENBROKE-SHIRE THE Sea now retyring Southward and with a mighty compasse and sundry Bayes incurving the shores presseth on every side upon the County of PENBROKE commonly called PENBROKE-SHIRE which in the old Bookes is named The lawfull County of Pembroch and of some West-Wales unlesse it be in the East side where Caermarden-shire and on the North where a part of Cardigan-shire boundeth upon it A Country plentifull in Corne stored with Cattaile and full of marle and such kinde of fatty earth to make the ground fertile and not destitute of pit cole This Land as saith Giraldus is apt to beare Wheat plentifully served with sea-fish and saleable wine and that which is farre above the rest by reason that Ireland confineth so neere upon it of a very temperate and wholsome aire First and formost upon the shore descending Southward Tenby a proper fine Towne well governed by a Major and strongly walled toward the Land looketh downe into the sea from a dry cliffe very famous because it is a commodious road for ships and for abundance also of fish there taken whereupon in the British tongue it is called Tenby-y-Piscoid and hath for Magistrates a Major and a Bailiffe From thence the shore giving backe Westward sheweth the Reliques of Manober Castle which Giraldus calleth The Mansion of Pyrhus in whose time as himselfe writeth It was notably fortified with Towres and Bulwarkes having on the West side a large Haven and on the North-West and North under the very walles an excellent fish-poole goodly to behold as well for the beauty thereof as the depth of the water From hence runneth the shore along not many miles continuate but at length the land shrinketh backe on both sides giving place unto the sea which encroching upon it a great way maketh the Haven which the Englishmen call Milford Haven than which there is not another in all Europe more noble or safer such variety it hath of nouked Bayes and so many coves and creekes for harbour of ships wherewith the bankes are on every side indented and that I may use the Poets words Hic exarmatum terris cingentibus aequor Clauditur placidam discit servare quietem The Sea disarmed heere of windes within high banke and hill Enclosed is and learnes thereby to be both calme and still For to make use of the Mariners words and their distinct termes there are reckoned within it 16. Creekes 5. Baies and 13. Rodes knowne every one by their severall names Neither is this Haven famous for the secure safenesse thereof more than for the arrivall therein of King Henry the Seuenth a Prince of most happy memory who from hence gave forth unto England then hopelesse the first signall to hope well and raise it selfe up when as now it had long languished in civill miseries and domesticall calamities within it selfe Upon the innermore and East Creeke of this Haven in the most pleasant Country of all Wales standeth Penbroke the Shire-towne one direct street upon a long narrow point all rocke and a forked arme of Milford Haven ebbing and flowing close to the Towne walles on both sides It hath a Castle but now ruinate and two Parish Churches within the wals and is incorporate of a Major Bailiffes and Burgesses But heare Giraldus who thus describeth it A tongue of the sea shooting forth of Milford Haven in the forked end encloseth the principall towne of the whole Country and chiefe place of Dimetia seated upon the ridge of a certaine craggy and long shaped Rocke And therefore the Britans called it Penbro which signifieth as much as a head of the Sea and wee in our tongue Penbroke Arnulph of Montgomery brother to Robert Earle of Shrewsbury first in the time of King Henry the First fortified this place with a Castle a very weake and slender thing God wote of stakes and turfes which afterwards he returning into England delivered unto Girald of Windsor his Constable and Captaine to bee kept with a Garison of few Souldiers and immediately the Welshmen of all South Wales laid siege unto the said Castle But such resistance made Girald and his company more upon a resolute courage than with any forcible strength that they missed of their purpose and dislodged Afterwards the said Girald fortified both Towne and Castle from whence hee invaded the Country round about it farre and neere and at length that as well his owne estate as theirs that were his followers and dependants might the better grow to greatnesse in these parts he tooke to wife Nesta sister to Gruffin the Prince of whom he begat a goodly faire Progeny by the which as saith that Giraldus who descended from him The Englishmen both kept still the Sea Coasts of South Wales and wonne also the walles of Ireland For all those noble families of Giralds or Giraldines in Ireland whom they call Fitz Girald fetch their descent from the said Girald In regard of the tenure of this Castle and Towne of the Castle and Towne likewise of Tinbigh of the Grange of Kings Wood of the Commot of Croytarath and of the Manors of Castle Martin and Tregoire Reinold Grey at the Coronation of King Henry the Fourth made suite to carry the second sword but in vaine For answere was made that those Castles and Possessions were in the Kings hands as Pembroke Towne still is Upon another Creeke also of this haven Carew Castle sheweth it selfe which gave both name and originall to the notable Family de Carew who avouch themselves to have beene called aforetime de Montgomery and have beene perswaded that they are descended from that Arnulph de Montgomery of whom I spake erewhile Into this Haven there discharge themselves with their out-lets joyned almost in one two rivers which the Britans tearme Gledawh that is if you interpret it Swords whereupon themselves use to tearme it Aber du gledhaw that is The out-let of two swords Hard by the more Easterly of them standeth Slebach a Commandery in times past of Saint Johns Knights of Jerusalem which with other lands Wizo and Walter his sonne gave in old time unto that holy Order of Knighthood that they might serve as Gods Knights
the earth which had lien covered many ages before was discovered Also the trunkes of trees standing in the very Sea that had aforetime been lopped on every side yea and the strokes of axes as if they had been given but yesterday were seene apparantly Yea and the earth shewed most blacke and the wood withall of the said trunkes like in all the points to Hebeny so as it seemed now no shore but a lopped grove as well empaired through the wonderfull changes of things either haply from the time of Noahs floud or long after but doubtlesse long agoe as worne by little and little and so swallowed up with the rage of the Sea getting alwaies more ground and washing the earth away Neither were these two lands severed here with any great Sea betweene as may appeare by a word that King William Rufus cast out who when he kenned Ireland from the rocks and cliffes of this Promontory said as we read in Giraldus that he could easily make a bridge with English Sips on which he might passe over the Sea on foote into Ireland A noble kinde of Falcons have their Airies here and breed in the Rocks which King Henry the Second as the same Giraldus writeth was wont to preferre before all others For of that kinde are those if the inhabitants thereby doe not deceive me which the skilfull Faulconers call Peregrines for they have that I may use no other words than the verses of Augustus Thuanus Esmerius that most excellent Pâet of our age in that golden booke entituled HIERACOSOPHIOY Depressus capitis vertex oblongique totâ Corpore pennarum series pallentia crura Et graciles digiti ac sparsi naresque rotundae Head flat and low the plume in rewes along The body laid legges pale and wan are found With slender clawes and talons there among And those wide spread the bill is hooked round But from this Promontory as the land draweth backward the Sea with great violence and assault of waters inrusheth upon a little Region called Keimes which is reputed a Barony In it standeth First Fishgard so called in English of the taking of fish in British Abergwain that is the mouth of the River Gwain situate upon a steepe Cliffe where there is a very commodious harbour and rode for Ships then Newport at the foote of an high Mountaine by the River Neverns side in British Tref-draeth i. the Towne upon the sands and in Latine Records Novus Burgus which Martin of Tours built his posterity made an incorporation adorned with priviledges and set over it for governement a Portgreve and Bailive erected also for themselves a Castle over the Towne which was their principall seate Who founded likewise Saint Dogmales Abbay according to the order of Tours by the River Tivy low in a vale environed with hils unto which the Borrough adjoyning as many other Townes unto Monasteries is beholden for the originall thereof This Barony Martin of Tours first wrested out of the Welsh mens hands by force and armes from whose heires successively called Martins it came by marriage to the Barons of Audley who held it a long time untill that in the reigne of Henry the eighth William Owen that derived his pedigree from a daughter of Sir Nicholas Martin Knight after long suit in law for his right in the end obtained it and left it to his sonne George who being a singular lover of venerable antiquity hath informed me that in this Barony ouer and above three Borroughs Newport Fishgard and Saint Dogmaels there are twenty Knights fees and twenty sixe Parishes More inward upon the River Tivy aforesaid is Kilgarran which sheweth the reliques of a Castle built by Girald but being at this day reduced unto one onely street it is famous for nothing else but the most plentifull fishing of Salmon For there have you that notable Salmon Leap where the River from on high falleth downright and the Salmons from out of the Ocean coveting to come up further into the River when they meete with this obstacle in the way bend backe their taile to the mouth other whiles also to make a greater leap up hold fast their taile in the mouth and as they unloose themselves from such a circle they give a jerk as if a twig bended into a rondle were sudainely let goe and so with the admiration of the beholders mount and whip themselves aloft from beneath as Ausonius hath most elegantly written Nec te paniceo rutilantem viscere Salma Transierim latae cujus vaga verbera caudae Gurgite de medio summas reseruntur in undas Nor can I thee let passe all red within Salmon that art whose jerkes and friskes full oft From mids of streame and chanell deepe therein With broad taile flirt to floating waves aloft There have beene divers Earles of Pembroke out of sundry houses As for Arnulph of Montgomery who first wonne it and was afterwards outlawed and his Castellan Girald whom King Henry the First made afterward President over the whole Country I dare searcely affirme that they were Earles The first that was stiled Earle of Penbroke was Gilbert sirnamed Strongbow sonne of Gislebert de Clare in the time of King Stephen And hee left it unto his sonne Richard Strongbow the renowned Conquerour of Ireland who as Giraldus saith was descended ex clarâ Clarentium familiâ that is out of the noble Family of Clare or Clarence His onely daughter Isabell brought the same honour to her Husband William named Mareschall for that his Ancestours had beene by inheritance Mareschals of the Kings Palace a man most glorious both in warre and peace and Protector of the Kingdome in the minority of King Henry the Third Concerning whom this pithie Epitaph is extant in Rodburns Annales Sum quem Saturnum sibi sensit Hibernia Solem Anglia Mercurium Normannia Gallia Martem Whom Ireland once a Saturne found England a Sunne to be Whom Normandy a Mercurie and France Mars I am he After him his five sonnes were successively one after another Earles of Penbroke viz. William called The younger Richard who after hee had rebelled against King Henry the Third went into Ireland where hee was slaine in battaile Gilbert who in a Tournament at Ware was unhorsed and so killed Walter and Anselme who enjoyed the honour but a few dayes who every one dying in a short space without issue King Henry the Third invested in the honour of this Earledome William de Valentia of the house of Lusignian in Poicta his brother by the mother side who had to wife Joan the daughter of Gwarin de Mont-chensy by the daughter of the foresaid William Mareschall After William of Valence succeeded his sonne Aimar who under King Edward the First was Regent of Scotland whose eldest sister Elizabeth and one of his heires wedded unto John Lord Hastings brought this Dignity unto a new Family For Laurence Hastings his grandsonne Lord of Welshford and Abergevenny was made Earle of
part of the Shire Nature hath loftily areared it up farre and neere with Mountaines standing thicke one by another as if she would here have compacted the joynts of this Island within the bowels of the earth and made this part thereof a most sure place of refuge for the Britans in time of adversitie For there are so many roughes and Rocks so many vales full of Woods with Pooles heere and there crossing over them lying in the way betweene that no Armie nay not so much as those that are lightly appoynted can finde passage A man may truely if he please terme these Mountaines the British Alpes for besides that they are the greatest of the whole Island they are no lesse steepe also with cragged and rent Rockes on every side than the Alpes of Italie yea and all of them compasse one Mountaine round about which over-topping the rest so towreth up with his head aloft in the aire as he may seeme not to threaten the Skie but to thrust his head up into Heaven And yet harbour they the Snow for all the yeere long they be hory with Snow or rather with an hardened crust of many Snowes felted together Whence it is that all these hilles are in British by one name termed Craig Eriry in English Snow-don which in both languages sound as much as Snowie Mountaines like as Niphates in Armenia and Imaus in Scythia tooke their names as Plinie witnesseth of Snow Neverthelesse so ranke are they with grasse that it is a very common speech among the Welsh That the Mountaines Eriry will yeeld sufficient pasture for all the Cattaile in Wales if they were put upon them together Concerning the two Meares on the toppe of these in the one of which floreth a wandring Island and in the other is found great store of Fishes but having all of them but one eye a peece I will say nothing left I might seeme to foster fables although some confident upon the authoritie of Giraldus have beleeved it for a veritie Yet certaine it is that there be in the very toppe of these Mountaines Pooles in deed and standing Waters whereupon Gervase of Tilbury in his Booke entituled Otia Imperialia writeth thus In the Land of Wales within the bounds of great Britain there be high Hilles that haue laied their foundations upon most hard Rockes and in the toppe thereof the earth is crusted over with such a coate of waterish moisture that wheresoever a man doe but lightly set his foote he shall perceive the ground to stirre the length of a stones cast from him whereupon when the enemies came the Welsh with their agility and nimblenesse lightly leaping over the boggy ground either avoide the enemies assaults or to their losse resolutely expect their forces These Mountainers John Salisbury in his Polycraticon by a new forged Latine name termed Nivicollinos that is Snow-down inhabitants of whom in King Henry the Second his daies he wrote thus The Snow-downe Britans make inrodes and being now come out of their Caves and lurking holes of the Woods enlarge their borders possesse the plaines of the Noble men and whiles themselves looke on they assault they winne and overthrow them or else keepe the same to their owne behoofe because our youth which is so daintily brought up and loves to be house-birds and to live lazie in the shade being borne onely to devoure the fruits of the earth and to fill the belly sleepes untill it be broad day light c. But come wee downe now from the Mountaines into the Champion Plaines which because we finde no where else but by the Sea side it may suffice to coast only along the shore The Promontory which I said before shooteth out toward the South-west is in Ptolomee called according to the diversitie of copies CANGANUM JANGANUM and LANGANUM Which is the truest name I know not but LANGANUM it may seeme considering that the inhabitants name it at this day Lhein which runneth forth with a narrow and even by-land having larger and more open fields than the rest of the Country and the same yeelding Barley most plenteously Two little Townes it sheweth and no more that are memorable Farther within upon the Creeke is Pullhely that is that Salt Meare or Poole more outward by the Irish Sea hat beateth upon the other side of the Bi-land is Nevin a Village having a Merket kept in it wherein the Nobility of England in the yeere of our Lord 1284. in a Triumph over the Welsh did celebrate the memory of Arthur the great as Florilegus writeth with Iustes Turnaments and festivall pompe If any other Townes flourished here then were they destroied when Hugh Earle of Chester Robert of Rudland and Guarin of Salop entring into this Country first of all the Normans so wasted this Promontory that for the space of seven whole yeeres it lay dispeopled and desolate From Nevin the shore pointed and endented with one or two elbowes lying out into the sea tendeth Northward and then turning afront North-east by a narrow sea or Frith they call it Menai it serveth the Isle Anglesey from the firme land Upon this straight or narrow sea stood SEGONTIUM a City which Antonine the Emperour maketh mention of some reliques of the walles I saw neere unto a little Church built in honour of Saint Pulblicius It tooke the name of a River running by the side of it which yet at this day is called Seiont and issueth out of the Poole Lin-Peru In which there is a kinde of fish peculiar to that water and seene no where else called by the dwellers there Tor-coch of the belly that is somewhat red Now seeing that in an ancient copie of Ptolomee SETANTIORUM PORTUS is here placed which according to other copies is set farther off if I should reade in stead of it SEGONTIORUM PORTUS that is the Haven of the Segontians and say it stood upon the mouth of this River I should perhaps aime at the truth if not yet should I obtaine pardon for my conjecture of a courteous Reader This Citie Ninnius called Caer Custenith and hee that wrote the life of Gruffin the Sonne of Conan recordeth that Hugh Earle of Chester built a Castle in Hean Caer Custenith that is as the Latine Interpreter translâteth it in the auncient Citie of Constantine the Emperour And Matthew of Westminster writeth but let him make it good if he can that the bodie of Constantius Father to Constantine the Great was here found in the yeere of our Lord 1283. and honourably bestowed in the Church of the new Citie by the commandement of King Edward the First Who out of the ruines of this Towne at the same time raised the Citie Caer-narvon somewhat higher upon the Rivers mouth so as that on the West and North-sides it is watered therewith Which as it was called Caer-narvon because it standeth right ouer against the Island Mona for so much
land of Mon and Ynis Dowil that is A shadowy or darke Island of the ancient Anglo-Saxons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and at last after that the English men became Lords of it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ea and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as one would say The English mens Island being severed from the Continent of Britaine with the small narrow streight of Menai and on all parts besides beaten upon with that surging and troublous Irish Sea lieth in forme unequall in length from East to West reaching out twenty miles in breadth scarce seventeene And albeit as Giraldus saith the ground may seeme dry and stonie nothing sightly and unpleasant and for the outward qualitie resembleth wholy the land Pebidiaâc that lieth hard unto Saint Davids yet for the inward gift of nature it is farre unlike For above all the Coasts of Wales it is without comparison most plentifull of Wheat in so much as by way of a Proverbe they are wont to say of it in the Welsh language Mon Mam Cymbry which is as much in English As Mon is the mother of Wales because when all other Countries round about doe faile this alone with the exceeding fat soile and plentifull encrease of Corne was wont to sustaine all Wales In Cattaile also it is passing rich and sendeth out great multitudes It yeeldeth also Grind stones and in some place an earth standing upon Alum out of which some not long since beganne to make Alum and Coperose But when they saw it not answerable to their expectation at first without any farther hope they gave over their enterprise This is that most notable Isle MONA the ancient seat of the Druides attempted first by Paulinus Suetonius and brought under the Romane Empire by Iulius Agricola This Suetonius Paulinus under the reigne of Nero as Tacitus writeth made all preparation to invade the Isle Mona inhabited by a strong and stout Nation and then the receptacle of Fugitives He built Flat-bothom vessels because the Sea is shalow the landing-shore uncertaine Thus their footmen passed over and after them the Horsemen following by the shallow fourd or swimming where the waters were deepe with their Horses Against them stood the Enemies armies on the shore thicke set in aray well appoynted with Men and weapons and Women also running in to and fro among them like furies of Hell in mourning attyre their hayre about their eares and with firebrands in their hands Round about them also were the Druida who lifting up their hands to Heaven and powring out deadly curses with the strangenesse of the sight so daunted the Souldiers as they stood stock-still and not able to stirre their joynts presented their bodies unto wounds At length what with the exhortation of their Captaine and what with encouraging and animating one another not to feare a flocke of Franticke Women and fanaticall persons they displaied and advaunced forward their Ensignes Downe they goe with all in their way and thrust them within their owne fires Which done Garisons were placed in their Townes and the Groves consecrated to their cruell Superstitions cut downe For they accounted it lawfull to Sacrifice with the bloud of Captives and by inspection of Mens fibres and bowels to know the will of their gods But as Paulinus was busie in these exploits newes came unto him of a sudden revolt through the whole Province which stayed his enterprise Afterwards as the same Tacitus writeth Iulius Agricola purposed with himselfe to subdue the Island Mona from the possession whereof as I said before Paulinus was revoked by a generall rebellion of all Britaine But as in a purpose not prepensed before vessels being wanting the policie and resolutenesse of the Captaine devised a passage over causing the most choise of the Auxiliaries to whom all the shallowes were knowne and who after the use of their Country were able in Swimming to governe themselves with their Armour and Horses laying aside their carriage to put over at once and suddenly to invade them Which thing so amazed the Enemies who supposed they would passe over by Shipping and therefore attended for a Fleet and the tide that they beleeved verily nothing could be hard or invincible to men that came so resolute to Warre Whereupon they humbly intreated for Peace and yeelded the Island Thus by this service Agricola became famous indeed and of great reputation Many ages after it was Conquered by the English men and tooke their name as being called in old time in the Saxons language ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã now commonly Anglesey as one would say The English mens Island But seeing that Humfrey Lhuid in a very learned Epistle to that learned Ortelius hath restored this Island to the due name and dignitie there is no reason that any man heere should require my diligence Yet thus much will I adde unto the rest When the Empire of the Romanes in Britaine now was in declining and going downward some out of Ireland entred in by stealth into this Isle also and nestled there For besides certaine Mounts of earth entrenched about which they call The Irish mens cotages there is a place also named Yn Hericy Gwidil of the Irish men who as we finde it recorded in the booke of Triades under the leading of Sirigus put the Britans to flight in that place Neither was it grievously infested onely by the English men but also by the Norvegians Likewise in the yeere of our redemption 1000. King Aethelreds fleete having skoured the Seas round about the said Isle wasted it in all hostile maner After this the two Norman Hughes the one Earle of Chester and the other Earle of Shrewsburie greatly afflicted it and built Castle Aber-Llienioc for to restraine and keepe under the Inhabitants But Magnus the Norwegian arriving heere at the very same time shot the said Hugh Earle of Shrewsbury through with an Arrow and after he had ransacked the Island departed The English men moreover afterward from time to time invaded it untill that King Edward the First brought it wholly under his subjection There were in ancient time reckoned in it 363. Villages and even at this day it is well peopled The principall Towne therein at this time is Beaumarish which King Edward the First built in the East-side of the Isle vpon a marish ground and for the situation thereof gave it this goodly faire name whereas before time it was called Bonover who also fortified it with a Castle which notwithstanding may seeme never to have been finished the Governour whereof is the right Worshipfull Sir Richard Bulkley Knight whose courtesie toward me when I came to visite these places I cannot chuse but evermore acknowledge with most hearty thankfulnesse Hard unto Beau-Marish lieth Lhan-vays a famous religious house in times past of the Friers Minors unto whom the Kings of England shewed themselves very bountifull Patrons as well in regard of the Friers holinesse who there conversed as also because there that I may speake out of
solemne investure and a kisse in full Parliament upon his eldest Sonne who gloriously bare the name of King Henry the Fifth His Sonne King Henry the Sixth who at his Fathers death was an Infant in the cradle conferred likewise this honour which he never had himselfe upon his young Sonne Edward whose unhappie fortune it was to have his braines dashed out cruelly by the faction of Yorke being taken prisoner at Tewkesbury field Not long after King Edward the Fourth having obtained the Crowne created Edward his young Sonne Prince of Wales who was afterwards in the lineall succession of Kings Edward the Fifth of that name And within a while after his Unkle King Richard the Third who made him away ordained in his roome Edward his owne Sonne whom King Edward the Fourth had before made Earle of Salisburie but he died quickly after Then King Henrie the Seventh created his eldest sonne Arthur Prince of Wales and when he was dead Henrie his other Sonne well knowne in the world by the name of King Henrie the Eighth Every one of these had the Principality of Wales given unto them by the foresaid solemne investure and delivery of a Patent To hold to themselves and their Heires Kings of England For Kings would not bereave themselves of so excellent an occasion to doe well by their Eldest Sonnes but thought it very good policie by so great a benefit to oblige them when they pleased Queene Mary Queene Elizabeth and King Edward the Children of King Henrie the Eighth although they never had investure nor Patent yet were commonly named in their order Princes of Wales For at that time Wales was by authoritie of Parliament so annexed and united to the Kingdome of England that both of them were governed vnder the same Law or that you may reade it abridged out of the Act of Parliament The Kings Country or dominion of Wales shall stand and continue for ever incorporated united and annexed to and with the Realme of England and all and singular person and persons borne and to be borne in the said Principalitie Country or Dominion of Wales shall have enioy and inherit all and singular freedomes liberties rights priviledges and Lawes within this Realme and other the Kings Dominions as other the Kings Subiects naturally borne within the same have enioy and inherit and the Lawes Ordinances and Statutes of the Realme of England for ever and none other shall he had used practised and executed in the said Country or Dominion of Wales and every part thereof in like manner forme and order as they be and shall be in this Realme and in such like manner and forme as heereafter shall be further established and ordained This Act and the calme command of King Henrie the Seventh preparing way for it effected that in a short time which the violent power of other Kings armes and especially of Henrie the Fourth with extreame rigour also of Lawes could not draw on in many yeeres For ever sithence the British Nation hath continued as faithfully and dutifully in their Loyall Allegiance to the Crowne of England as any other part of the Realme whatsoever Now am I to returne out of Wales into England and must goe unto the Brigantes BRIGANTES BRITAINE which hitherto hath as it were launched out with huge Promontories looking on the one side toward Germanie on the other side toward Ireland now as if it were afraid of the Sea violently inrushing upon it withdraweth it selfe farther in and by making larger separations of lands retireth backe gathered into a farre narrower breadth For it is not past one hundred miles broad from coast to coast which on both sides passe on in a maner with straight and direct shores Northward as farre as to Scotland All this part well neere of the Island while the Romane Empire stood upright and flourished in Britaine was inhabited by the BRIGANTES For Plinie writeth that they dwelt from the East Sea to the West A nation this was right valiant populous withall and of especiall note among ancient Authors who all doe name them BRIGANTES unlesse it be Stephanus onely in his booke Of Cities who called them BRIGAE in which place that which he wrote of them is defective at this day in the bookes by reason that the sentence is imperfect If I should thinke that these were called Brigantes of Briga which in the ancient Spanish tongue signified A Citie I should not satisfie my selfe seeing it appeareth for certaine out of Strabo that it is a meere Spanish word If I were of opinion with Goropius that out of the Low Dutch tongue they were termed Brigantes as one would say Free-hands should I not obtrude upon you his dreames for dainties Howsoever the case standeth our Britanes or Welsh-men if they see any of a bad disposition and audaciously playing lawlesse and lewde parts use to say of them by way of a common merry quippe Wharret Brigans that is They play the Brigants And the French-men at this day alluding as it seemeth to the ancient language of the Gaules usually terme such lewde fellowes Brigans like as Pirats Ships Brigantins But whether the force of the word was such in old time in the Gaules or Britanes language or whether our Brigantes were such like men I dare not determine Yet if my memory faile me not Strabo calleth the Brigantes a people about Alpes Grassatores that is Robbers and Iulius a Belgian a young man of desperate boldnesse who counted power authority honestie and vertue to be nothing but naked names is in Tacitus surnamed Briganticus With which kinde of vice our old Brigantes may seeme to have been tainted when they so robbed and spoiled the neighbour inhabitants that the Emperour Antoninus Pius for this cause tooke away a great part of their Country from them as Pausanias witnesseth who writeth thus of them ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Antoninus Pius cut the Brigantes in Britaine short of a great part of their Country because they began to take armes and in hostile maner to invade Genunia a Region subject to the Romanes Neither will any I hope take this as a reproach Surely I should seeme farre unlike my selfe if I fell now to taxe ignominiously any private person much lesse a Nation Neither was this counted a reproachfull imputation in that warlike age when all Nations reckoned that their right which they could winne or hold by might and dint of sword Roberies saith Caesar among the Germans are not noted with infamie such I meane as are committed without the borders of every State and they allow the practise thereof to exercise their youth withall and to keepe them from idlenesse And for a reason not unlike the Paeones among the Greekes are so called quia Percussores that is because they were cutters The Quadi among the Germans and the Chaldaei likewise are reported to have gotten those names because they used to robbe and kill Now in that Florianus Del-Campe a Spaniard hath
County of YORKE in the Saxon Tongue ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã commonly YORKE-SHIRE the greatest Shire by farre of all England is thought to bee in a temperate measure fruitfull If in one place there bee stony and sandy barraine ground in another place there are for it Corne-fields as rich and fruitfull if it bee voide and destitute of Woods heere you shall finde it shadowed there with most thicke Forests so providently useth Nature such a temperature that the whole Countrey may seeme by reason also of that variety more gracefull and delectable Where it bendeth Westward it is bounded with the Hilles I spake of from Lancashire and Westmorland On the North side it hath the Bishopricke of Durham which the River Tees with a continued course separateth from it On the East side the Germaine Sea lieth sore upon it and the South side is enclosed first with Cheshire and Darby-shire then with Nottingham-shire and after with Lincoln-shire where that famous arme of the Sea Humber floweth betweene into which all the Rivers well neere that water this shire empty themselves as it were into their common receptacle This whole Shire is divided into three parts which according to three Quarters of the world are called The West-Riding The East-Riding and The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sunne-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse In that West part out of the Westerne Mountaines or Hilles in the Confines issue many Rivers which Ouse alone entertaineth every one and carryeth them all with him unto Humber Neither can I see any fitter way to describe this part than to follow the streames of Done Calder Are Wherse Nid and Ouse which springing out of these Hilles are the Rivers of most account and runne by places likewise of greatest importance The River Danus commonly called Don and Dune so termed as it should seeme for that it is carried in a chanell somewhat flat shallow and low by the ground for so much signifieth Dan in the British language after it hath saluted Wortley which gave sirname to a worshipfull Family as also Wentworth hard by whence beside other Gentlemen as well in this Country as elsewhere the Barons of Wentworth have derived both their originall and name runneth first by Sheafield a Towne of great name like as other small Townes adjoyning for the Smithes therein considering there bee many iron Mines thereabout fortified also with a strong and ancient Castle which in right line descended from the Lovetofts the Lords Furnivall and Thomas Lord Nevill of Furnivall unto the Talbots Earles of Shrewesbury From thence Don clad with alders and other trees goeth to Rotheram which glorieth in Thomas Rotheram sometime Archbishop of Yorke a wise man bearing the name of the Towne being borne therein and a singular benefactor thereunto who founded and endowed there a College with three Schooles in it to teach children writing Grammar and Musicke which the greedy iniquity of these our times hath already swallowed Then looketh it up to Connisborrow or Conines-borrough an ancient Castle in the British tongue Caer Conan seated upon a Rocke into which what time as Aurelius Ambrosius had so discomfited and scattered the English Saxons at Maisbelly that they tooke them to their heeles and fled every man the next way hee could finde Hengest their Captaine retired himselfe for safety and few daies after brought his men forth to battaile before the Captaine against the Britans that pursued him where hee fought a bloudy field to him and his For a great number of men were there cut in peeces and the Britans having intercepted him chopt off his head if wee may beleeve the British History rather than the English-Saxon Chronicles which report that he being outworne with travell and labour died in peace But this Coningsborough in latter ages was the possession of the Earles of Warren Afterwards hee runneth under Sprotburg the ancient seat of that ancient family of the Fitz-Williams Knights who are most honourably allied and of kin to the noblest houses of England and from whom descended Sir William Fitz-Williams Earle of Southampton in our fathers remembrance and Sir William Fitz-Williams late Lord Deputy of Ireland But in processe of time this is fallen to the Copleys like as Elmesly with other possessions of theirs in this Tract are come by right of inheritance to the Savils From hence Done running with a divided streame hard to an old towne giveth it his owne name which we at this day call Dan-castre the Scots Don-Castle the Saxons Dona ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ninius Caer Daun but Antonine the Emperour DANUM like as the booke of Notices which hath recorded that the Captaine of the Crispinian Horsemen lay there in Garison under the Generall of Britaine This about the yeere of our Lord 759. was so burnt with fire from heaven and lay so buried under the owne ruines that it could scarce breath againe A large plot it sheweth yet where a Citadell stood which men thinke was then consumed with fire in which place I saw the Church of S. Georges a faire Church and the onely Church they have in the Towne Beneath this Towne Southward scarce five miles off is Tickhill which I am not willing to omit an old towne fensed with as old a Castle large enough but having onely a single Wall about it and with an high Mount whereon standeth a round Keepe It carryed in old time such a Dignity with it that the Manours and Lords belonging thereto were called The Honour of Tickhill In the Raigne of Henry the First Roger Busly held the possession thereof Afterwards the Earles of Ewe in Normandy were long since Lords of it by the gift of King Stephen Then King Richard the First gave it unto John his brother In the Barons Warre Robert de Vipont deteined it for himselfe which that hee should deliver unto the Earle of Ewe King Henry the Third put into his hands the Castle of Carleol and the County But when the King of France would not restore unto the English againe their possessions in France the King of England retained it unto himselfe when as John Earle of Ewe in the right of Alice his great Grandmother claimed of King Edward the First restitution thereof At length Richard the Second King of England liberally gave it unto John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster But now by this time Done that often riseth heere and overfloweth the fields gathering his divided waters into one streame againe when he hath for a while runne in one Chanell through Hatfeld Chace where there is great
this house of housen all About the same time also the Citizens fensed the City round about with new walles and many towres and bulwarkes set orderly in divers places yea and ordained very good and holsome lawes for the governement thereof King Richard the Second granted it to bee a County incorporate by it selfe and King Richard the Third beganne to repaire the Castle And that nothing might be wanting King Henry the Eighth within the memory of our fathers appointed heere a Councell not unlike to the Parliaments in France for to decide and determine the causes and controversies of these North parts according to equity and conscience which consisteth of a Lord President certaine Counsellers at the Princes pleasure a Secretary and under Officers As touching the Longitude of Yorke our Mathematicians have described it to be two and twenty Degrees and twenty five Scruples the Latitude 54. degrees and 10. scruples Hitherto have we treated of the West part of this shire and of Yorke City which is reckoned neither in the one part nor the other but enjoyeth peculiar liberties and hath jurisdiction over the Territory adjoyning on the West side Which they call the Liberty of Ansty others the Ancienty of the Antiquity but other have derived it very probably from the Dutch word Anstossen which betokeneth limits And now for a conclusion have heere what Master John Jonston of Aberden hath but a while since written in verse of Yorke Praesidet extremis Arctoae finibus orae Urbs vetus in veteri facta subinde nova Romanis Aquilis quondam Ducibúsque superba Quam post barbarica diripuere manus Pictus atrox Scotus Danus Normannus Anglus Fulmina in hanc Martis detonuere sui Post diras rerum clades tótque aspera fata Blandiùs aspirans aura serena subit LONDINUM caput est regni urbs prima Britanni EBORACUM à primâ jure secunda venit In parts remote of Northren tract there stands as soveraine A City old but yet of old eftsoones made new againe Whilom of Romane Legions and Captaines proud it was But since by forces barbarous sacked and spoil'd alasse The Picts so fierce the Scots and Danes Normans and Englishmen 'Gainst it their bolts of dreadfull war have thundred now and then Yet after sundry bitter blasts and many a cursed clap A milder gale of peacefull daies hath brought it better hap Of British Kingdome LONDON is chiefe seat and principall And unto it there goes by right Yorke City next of all Ouse now leaving Yorke being otherwhiles disquieted and troubled with that whirling encounter of contrary waters and forceable eddies which some call Higra runneth downe through Bishops Thorpe called Saint Andrewes Thorpe before that Walter Grey Archbishop of Yorke purchased it with ready money and to prevent the Kings Officers who are wont rigorously to seize upon Bishops Temporalties when the See is vacant gave it to the Deane and Chapter of Yorke with this condition that they should alwayes yeeld it to his Successours Of whom Richard Le Sicrope Archbishop of Yorke a man of a firy spirit and ready to entertaine rebellion was condemned in this very place of high Treason by King Henry the Fourth against whom he had raised an insurrection Afterward Cawood a Castle of the Archbishops standeth upon the same River which King Athelstan as I have read gave unto the Church Just against which on the other side of the River lyeth Ricall where Harald Haardread arrived with a great Fleet of Danes Then Ouse passeth hard by Selby a little Towne well peopled and of good resort where King Henry the First was borne and where his father King William the First built a faire Abbay in memory of Saint German who happily confuted that venemous Pelagian Heresie which oftentimes as the Serpent Hydra grew to an head againe in Britaine The Abbats of this Church as also of Saint Maries in Yorke were the onely Abbats in the North parts that had place in the Parliament house And so Ouse at length speedeth away to Humber leaving first Escricke a seat of the Lascelles sometimes to be remembred for that King James advanced Sir Thomas Knivet the owner thereof Lord Knivet to the honour of Baron Knivet of Escricke in the yeere 1607. And afterward passing by Drax a little Village famous long since for a Monastery founded there by Sir William Painell and whereas William of Newburgh writeth Philip of Tollevilla had a Castle most strongly fensed with Rivers Woods and Marishes about it which he confident upon the courage of his followers and his provision of victuals and armour defended against King Stephen untill it was wonne by assault EBORACENSIS Comitatus ovius Incolae olin Brigantes appellabantur pars Orientalis vulgo EAST RIDING EAST-RIDING EAST-RIDING the second part of this Region wherein Ptolomee placed the PARISI lyeth Eastward from Yorke On the North side and the West it is bounded with the River Darwent that runneth downe with a winding course on the South with the Salt water of Humber and on the East with the German Ocean Upon the Sea side and along Darwent the Soile is meetly good and fertile But in the mids it is nothing else but an heape of Hilles rising up on high which they call Yorkes wold Darwent springing not farre from the shore first taketh his way Westward then hee windeth into the South by Aiton and Malton whereof because they belong to the North part of the Shire I will speake in due place No sooner is hee entred into this Quarter but downe hee runneth not farre from the ruines of the old Castle Montferrant The Lords whereof were in times past the Fossards men of noble parentage and wealthy withall But when William Fossard Ward to the King being committed unto William le Grosse Earle of Aumarle as to his Guardian and now come to his yeeres abused his sister the Earle in wreckfull displeasure for this fact of his laid this Castle even with the ground and forced the young Gentleman to forsake his Country Howbeit after the Earles death he recovered his inheritance againe and left one onely daughter behinde him who being marryed unto R. de Torneham bare a daughter marryed to Peter de Mauley whose heires and successours being bettered in their estate by this inheritance of the Fossards became great and honourable Barons Not farre from hence is situate upon the River side Kirkham as one would say of Church-place For a Priory of Chanons was there founded by Walter Espec a man of high place and calling by whose daughter a great estate accrewed to the family of the Lord Rosses Then but somewhat lower Darwent had a City of his owne name which Antonine the Emperour calleth DERVENTIO and placeth it seven miles from YORKE The booke of Notices maketh mention of a Captaine over the Company Derventiensis under the Generall of Britaine that resided in it and in the Saxons Empire it seemeth to have beene
gold made him Lord chiefe Baron of his Exchequer conferred upon him the whole Seignorie or Lordship of Holdernes together with other lands belonging unto the Crown and that by the Kings Charter yea and ordained that he should be reputed a Baneret Yet if any man make doubt hereof the Recordes I hope may satisfie him fully in which William De la Pole is in plaine tearmes called Dilectus Valectus et Mercator noster that is Our wellbeloved Valect and our Merchant now Valect to tell you once for all was in those daies an honorable title as well in France as in England but afterward applied unto servants and gromes whereupon when the Gentry rejected it by changing the name they began to bee called Gentlemen of the Bedchamber From Hull a Promontorie runneth on forward and shooteth out a farre into the sea which Ptolomee calleth OCELLVM wee Holdernesse and a certaine monke Cavam Deiram as it were the hollow Country of the Deirians in the same signification that Coelosyria is so tearmed as one would say Holow Syria In this Promontory the first towne wee meet with in the winding shore is Headon in times past if wee list to beleeve fame that useth to amplifie the truth and which for my part I will not discredit risen to exceeding great account by the industry of merchants and sea-faring men from which so uncertaine is the condition as well of places as of people it is so much fallen by the vicinity of Hull and the choaking up of the haven which hath empoverished it that it can shew scarce any whit of the ancient state it had Although King Iohn granted unto Baldwin Earle of Aulbemarle and of Holdernesse and to his wife Hawis free Burgage heere so that the Burgers might hold in free Burgage with those customes that Yorke and Nichol that is Lincolne Yet now it beginneth by little and little to revive againe in hope to recover the former dignity There standeth hard by the Pomontorie an ancient towne which Antonine the Emperour called PRAETORIVM but we in our age Patrington like as the Italians have changed the name of a towne sometime called Praetorium into Petrovina That I doe not mistake herein both the distance from DELGOVITIA and the very name yet remaining doth prove which also in some sort implieth that this is the very same that in Ptolomees copies is written PETVARIA corruptly for Praetorium But whether this name were given it either from Praetorium that is the hall of Justice or from some large and stately house such as the Romans tearmed Praetoria it doth not appeare for certaine The inhabitants glorie much yet as touching their Antiquity and the commodiousnesse of the haven in ancient times and they may as well glorie for the pleasantnesse thereof For it hath a most delectable prospect on the one side lieth the maine sea brimme upon it on the other Humber a famous arme of the sea and over against it the fresh and greene skirtes of Lincoln-shire The high way of the Romans from the Picts wall which Antonine the Emperor followed here endeth For Ulpian hath written that such high waies commonly end at the sea at rivers or at Cities Somewhat lower standeth Winsted the habitation of the Hildeards knights of ancient descent and higher into the Country Rosse from whence the honorable family of the Barons Rosse tooke their name like as they were seated there in times past and hard by the sea-side Grimstons-garth where the Grimstons for a long time have lived in good reputation and a little from hence standeth Rise the mansion house in old time of certaine noble men bearing the name of Falconberg And then in the very necke of the promontorie where it draweth in most narrow into a sharpe point and is called Spurnhead is KELNSEY a little village which plainely sheweth that this is the very OCELLVM mentioned by Ptolomee for as from OCELLVM Kelnsey is derived so Ocellum doubtlesse was made of Y-kill which as I have said before signifieth in the British tongue a Promontory or narrow necke of land From Spurn-head the shore withdraweth it selfe backe by little and little and gently bending inward shooteth Northward by Overthorne and Witherensey two little Churches called of the sisters that built them Sisters kirks and not farre from Constable-Burton so called of the Lords thereof who being by marriages linked to right honorable houses flourish at this day in great worship and out of which familie Robert as wee read in the booke of the Abbay of Meaux was one of the Earle of Aulbemarls knights who being aged and full of daies took upon him the Crosse and went with King Richard in his voiage toward the holy land Then by Skipsey which Dru the first Lord of Holdernesse fortified with a Castle When the shore beginneth to spread againe and beare out into the sea it maketh roome for a bay or creeke that Ptolomee calleth EYAIMENON GABRANTO VICORUM which the Latin Interpreters have translated some PORTUOSVM SINVM that is the barborous Creeke others SALVTAREM that is the safe Creeke But neither of them both better expresseth the nature of the Greeke word than the very name of a little village in the nouke thereof which wee call Sureby For that which is safe and sure from danger the Britans and French men both terme Seur as wee Englishmen sure who peradventure did borrow this word from the Britans There is no cause therefore why we should doubt but that this creeke was that very EYAIMENON of the GABRANTOVICI who dwelt there abouts Hard by standeth Bridlington a towne very well knowne by reason of Iohn of Bridlington a poeticall monkish prophet whose ridiculous prophesies in Rhime I have read albeit they were not worth the reading And not farre from hence for a great length toward Driffield was there a ditch cast up and brought on by the Earles of Holdernesse to confine and bound their lands which they called Earles Dyke But whence this little nation here inhabiting were named GABRANTOVICI I dare not search unlesse happily it were of goates which the Britans tearme Gaffran and whereof there is not greater store in al Britain than hereabout Neither ought this derivation of the name to seeme absurd seeing that Aegira in Achaia borroweth the name of goats Nebrodes in Sicily of fallow Deere and Boeotia in Greece of Kine and Oxen. That little Promontory which with his bent made this creeke is commonly called Flamborough head and in the Saxon tongue Fleam ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by Authors who write that Ida the Saxon who first subdued these Countries arrived here Some think it took the name from a watchtowre which did by night put forth a flame or burning light for to direct sailers into the haven For the Britans retaine yet out of the provinciall language this word Flam and Mariners paint this creeke in their sea-cards with a blazing flame on the
his owne hopes and so hee raised that deadly Warre betweene the Houses of Yorke and Lancaster distinguished by the white and red Rose wherein himselfe soone after lost his life at Wakefield King Henry the Sixth was foure times taken Prisoner and in the end despoiled both of his Kingdome and life Edward Earle of March sonne to the said Richard obtained the Crowne and being deposed from the same recovered it againe thus inconstant fortune disported herselfe lifting up and throwing downe Princes at her pleasure many Princes of the royall bloud and a number of the Nobility lost their lives those hereditary and rich Provinces in France belonging to the Kings of England were lost the wealth of the Realme wholly wasted and the poore people thereof overwhelmed with all manner of misery Edward now being established in his royall Throne and in the ranke of Kings carrying the name of Edward the Fourth gave unto Richard his second sonne the Title of Duke of Yorke who together with king Edward the Fifth his brother was by their Unkle Richard the Third murdered Then king Henry the Seventh granted the same Title unto his younger sonne who afterwards was crowned king of England by the name of Henry the Eight And even now of late King James invested Charles his second sonne whom before hee had created in Scotland Duke of Albany Marquesse of Ormond Earle of Rosse and Baron of Ardmanoch a childe not full foure yeeres of age Duke of Yorke by cincture of a sword imposition of a Cap and Coronet of gold upon his head and by delivering unto him a verge of gold after he had according to the order with due complements made the day before both him and eleven more of Noble Parentage Knights of the Bath Reckoned there are in this County Parishes 459. under which he very many Chappels for number of Inhabitants equall unto great Parishes RICHMOND-SHIRE THE rest of this Country which lyeth toward the North-West and carryeth a great compasse is called Richmond-shire or Richmount-shire taking the name from a Castle which Alan Earle of little Britaine had built unto whom William the Conquerour gave this Shire which before time belonged to Eadwin an Englishman by these short letters Patents as it is set downe in the booke of Richmond Fees I William sirnamed Bastard King of England doe give and grant unto thee my Nephew Alane Earle of Britaine and to thine heires for ever all and every the Manour houses and lands which late belonged to Earle Eadwin in Yorke-shire with the Knights fees and other liberties and customes as freely and in as honourable wise as the said Eadwin held the same Given at our Leaguer before the City of Yorke This Shire most of it lieth very high with ragged rockes and swelling mountaines whose sloping sides in some places beare good grasse the bottomes and vallies are not altogether unfruitfull The hilles themselves within are stored with lead pit-coale and Coper For in a Charter of king Edward the Fourth there is mention made of a Mine or Delfe of Copper neere unto the very towne of Richmond But covetousnesse which driveth men even as farre as to hell hath not yet pierced into these hilles affrighted perchance with the difficulty of carriage whereas there have beene found in the tops of these mountaines as also in other places stones like unto sea winkles or cockles and other sea fish if they be not the wonders of nature I will with Orosius a Christian Historiographer deeme them to be undoubted tokens of the generall deluge that surrounded the face of the whole earth in Noahs time When the Sea saith he in Noahs daies overflowed all the earth and brought a generall floud so that the whole Globe thereof being therewith surrounded and covered there was one face as of the Firmament so also of the Sea The soundest Writers most evidently teach That all mankinde perished a few persons excepted who by vertue of their faith were reserved alive for offspring and propagation Howbeit even they also have witnessed that some there had beene who although they were ignorant of the times past and knew not the Authour himselfe of times yet gathered conjecturally as much by giving a guesse by those rough stones which wee are wont to finde on hilles remote from the Sea resembling Cocles and Oisters yea and oftentimes eaten in hollow with the waters Where this Country bordereth upon Lancashire amongst the mountaines it is in most places so waste solitary unpleasant and unsightly so mute and still also that the borderers dwelling thereby have called certaine Riverets creeping this way Hell-beckes But especially that about the head of the River Ure which having a Bridge over it of one entire stone falleth downe such a depth that it striketh in a certaine horror to as many as looke downe And in this Tract there be safe harbors for Goates and Deere as well red as fallow which for their huge bignesse with their ragged and branching hornes are most sightly The River Ure which wee have often spoken of before hath his fall heere out of the Westerne Mountaines and first of all cutting through the middest of the Vale called Wentsedale whiles it is yet but small as being neere unto his Spring-head where great flockes of Sheepe doe pasture and which in some places beareth Lead stones plentifully is encreased by a little River comming out of the South called Baint which with a great noise streameth out of the Poole Semer. At the very place where these Rivers meete and where there stand a few small Cotages which of the first Bridge made over Ure they call Baintbrig there lay in old time a Garison of the Romanes whereof the very Reliques are at this day remaining For on the toppe of an hill which of a Fort or Burge they now call Burgh appeare the ground workes of an ancient Hold containing about five acres of ground in compasse and beneath it Eastward many tokens of some old habitation and dwelling places Where amongst many other signes of Roman Antiquity I have seene of late this fragment of an antique Inscription in a very faire letter with Winged Victory supporting the same IMP CAES. L. SEPTIMIO PIO PERTINACI AUGU IMP CAESARI M. AURELIO APIO FELICI AUGUSTO BRACCHIO CAEMENTICIUM VI NER VIORUM SUB CURALA SENECINON AMPLISSIMIO PERIL VISPIUS PRAELEGIO By this we may guesse that the said hold at Burgh was in times past named BRACCHIUM which before time had been made of turfe but now built with stone and the same layed with good morter Also that the sixth Cohort of the Nervians lay there in Garison who may seeme to have had also their place of Summer aboade in that high hill hard by fensed with a banke and trench about it which now they tearme Ethelbury And not long since there was digged up the Statue of Aurelius Commodus the Emperour who as Lampridius writeth was sirnamed by his flattering
having obtained leave of King Etheldred gave unto the Church of Durham and Hugh Pudsey adorned it with a faire Church and other edifices In this Towne field are three pittes of a wonderfull depth the common people tearme them Hell-Kettles because the water in them by the Antiperistasis or reverberation of the cold aire striking thereupon waxeth hote The wiser sort and men of better judgement doe thinke they came by the sinking downe of the ground swallowed up in some earth-quake and that by a good probable reason For thus we reade in the Chronicles of Tinmouth In the yeere of our Lord 1179. on Christmas day at Oxenhall in the Territory of Derlington within the Bishopricke of Durham the ground heaved it selfe up aloft like unto an high Towre and so continued all that day as it were unmoveable untill the evening and then fell with so horrible a noise that it made all the neighbour dwellers afraide and the earth swallowed it up and made in the same place a deepe pit which is there to bee seene for a testimony unto this day That these Pittes have passages under the ground Bishop Cuthbert Tonstall first observed by finding that Goose in the River Tees which he for the better triall and experience of these Pits had marked and let downe into them Beyond Derlington Tees hath no Townes of any great account standing upon it but gliding along the skirtes of greene fields and by country Villages winding in and out as he passeth at length dischargeth himselfe at a large mouth into the Ocean whence the base or bothom of the Triangle aforesaid towards the Sea beginneth From hence the shore coasteth Northward holding on entire still save that it is interrupted with one or two little Brookes and no more neere unto Gretham where Robert Bishop of Durham having the Manour given freely unto him by Sir Peter de Montfort founded a goodly Hospitall Next unto it is Claxton which gave name unto a Family of good and ancient note in this Tract whereof I have beene the more willing to make mention because of the same house was T. Claxton an affectionate lover of venerable Antiquity From thence the shore shooteth forth into the Sea with one onely Promontory scarce seven miles above Tees mouth on which standeth very commodiously Hartlepoole a good Towne of trade and a safe harbour for shipping Bede seemeth to call it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã which Henry of Huntingdon interpreteth The Harts or Stagges Island where hee writeth that Heiu a religious woman founded a Monastery in times past If Heorteu bee not rather the name of that little Territory which the Booke of Dâresme seemeth to implie and in another place calleth Heortnesse because it lyeth out somewhat farre into the Sea From this for fifteene miles together the shore being in no place broken off but heere and there embroidered as it were and garnished with Townes smileth pleasantly upon those that saile that way untill it openeth it selfe to make roome for the River VEDRA for so Ptolomee calleth that which Bede nameth Wirus the Saxons ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and we Were This river first groweth into one out of three riverets Burden-hop Wel-hop and Kel-hop in the utmost part of this Country Westward which when they are joyned in one chanell is called by one name Were and speedeth into the East by vast moores and heathes by great Parkes of the Bishops and by Witton a little Castle or pile belonging to the Lords Evers who are Noblemen in this Country of great antiquity as descended from the Lords of Clavering and Warkworth as also from the Vescyes and the Attons by Daughters renowned for their martiall prowesse which Scotland may well witnesse For King Edward the First gave unto them for their valiant service Kettnes a little Towne in Scotland and King Henry the Eighth within our fathers remembrance honoured them in that respect with the Title of Barons Then Were after a few miles taketh into him from the South Gaunlesse a Riveret where at the very meeting of them both together there standeth upon an high hill Aukland so called of Okes like as Sarron in Greece which sheweth an house of the Bishops stately built with Turrets by Antony Bec and withall a beautifull Bridge made by Walter Skirlaw a Bishop of Durham about the yeere 1400. who also enlarged this house and built the Bridge over Tees at Yare From hence Were turneth his course Northward that he might water this shire the longer and then forthwith looketh up to the remaines of an ancient City not now a dying but dead many yeeres agoe standing on the brow of an hill which Antonine the Emperour called VINOVIUM Ptolomee BINOVIUM in whom it is so thrust out of his owne place and set as it were in another Climate that it would for ever have lien hid had not Antonine pointed at it with his finger Wee call it at this day Binchester and it hath in it a very few houses yet it is very well knowne to them that dwell thereabout both by reason of the heapes of rubbish and the reliques of walles yet to be seene as also for peeces of Romane Coine often digged up there which they call Binchester Penies yea and for the Inscriptions of the Romanes amongst which I happened of late when I was there upon an Altar with this Inscription DE AB MATRIB Q. LO CL. QUIN TIANUS COS V. S. L. M. Another stone also was heere lately gotten out of the ground but defaced with voide places where the letters were worne out which notwithstanding if one beheld it wishly seemeth to shew this Inscription TRIB COHOR I. CARTOV MARTI VICTORI GENIO LOCI ET BONO EVENTUI Neither have I read any thing else of it but that an old booke maketh mention how the Earles of Northumberland long since plucked away this with other Villages from the Church what time as that accursed and unsatiable hunger after Gold swallowed up also the sacred patrimony of the Church On the other banke of Were among the mounting Hilles appeareth Branspeth Castle which the Bulmers built and the daughter of Sir Bertram Bulmer coupled in marriage unto Geffrey Nevill adjoyned with other great Possessions unto the Family of the Nevills Within a while after Were runneth downe much troubled and hindered in his Course with many great Stones apparent above the water which unlesse the River doe rise and swell with great store of raine are never over covered and upon which a thing that happeneth not elsewhere if yee powre water and temper it a little with them it sucketh in a saltish quality Nay that which more is at Butterby a little Village when the River in Summer time is very ebbe and shallow there issueth out of those stones a certaine salt reddish water which by the heat of the Sunne waxeth so white and withall groweth to a thicke substance that
the people dwelling thereby gather from hence salt sufficiently for their use And now the River as though it purposed to make an Island compasseth almost on every side the chiefe City of this Province standing on an hill whence the Saxons gave it the name Dunholm For as you may gather out of Bede they called an hill Dun and a river Island Holme Heereof the Latine Writers have made DUNELMUM the Normans Duresme but the common people most corruptly name it Durham It is seated on high and passing strongly withall yet taketh it up no great circuit of ground shaped in forme as one would say of an egge environed on every side save on the North with the River and fortified with a wall Toward the South side almost whereas the River fetcheth it selfe about standeth the Cathedrall Church aloft making a solemne and a sightly shew with an high Towre in the middest and two Spires at the West end In the middest there is a Castle placed as it were betweene two stone bridges over the river the one Eastward the other Westward From the Castle Northward is seene a spacious Mercate-place and Saint Nicholas Church from whence there runneth out a great length North-East a Suburbe compassed on two sides the River like as others on both sides beyond the River which leade unto the Bridges and euery of them have their severall Churches The originall of this City is of no great Antiquity For when the distressed Monkes of Lindisfarn driven hither and thither by the Danes Warres wandered up and downe without any certaine place of abode with the corps of Saint Cuthbert at length heere they setled themselves by divine direction about the yeere of our Salvation 995. But heare the whole matter out of mine Authour of Durham All the people accompanying the corps of that most holy Father Cuthbert came into Dunholme a place verily strong of it selfe by nature but not easily to bee inhabited as being wholly beset on every side with a most thicke Wood onely in the middest was a little Plaine which was wont to bee tilled and sowed with Corne where Bishop Aldwin built afterwards a faire Church of stone The foresaid Prelate therefore through the helpe of all the people and the assistance of Uthred Earle of Northumberland stocked up all the Wood and in short time made the whole place habitable To conclude the people generally from the River Coqued as farre as to Tees came right willingly as well to this worke as after that to build a Church and untill it was finished ceased not to follow that businesse devoutly Wherefore after the Wood was quite grub'd up and every one had their mansion places assigned out by lot The said Bishop in a fervent love to Christ and Saint Cuthbert upon an honest and godly intent beganne no small peece of worke to build a Church and endeavoured by all meanes to finish the same Thus farre mine Authour Not many yeeres after those Englishmen who could not endure the insolent command of the Normans presuming upon the naturall strength of the place chose it for their chiefe Hold and seat of resistance yea and from thence troubled the Conquerour not a little For William Gemeticensis writeth thus They went into a part of the Country which for waters and woods was inaccessible raising a Castle with a most strong trench and rampier which they called Dunholme out of which making many rodes sundry waies for a certaine space they kept themselves close there waiting for the comming of Swene King of the Danes But when that fell not out according to their expectation they provided for themselves by flight and King William comming to Durham granted many priviledges for establishing the liberty of the Church and built the Castle whereof I spake on the highest part of the hill which afterwards became the Bishops house and the keies thereof when the Bishopricke was voide were wont by an ancient custome to be hanged upon Saint Cuthberts shrine When this Castle was once built William of Malmesbury who lived about that time describeth this City in these words Durham is a prety hill rising by little and little from one plaine of the Valley with a gentle ascent untill it come to bee a mount and although by reason of the rough and steepe situation of the Rockes there is no way for the enemy to enter it yet they of these daies have erected a Castle upon the hill At the very foote and bottom of the Castle runneth a River wherein is great store of fish but of Salmons especially At the same time well neere as that ancient Booke reporteth William de Careleph the Bishop who gathered againe the dispersed Monkes hither for the Danes in every place had overthrowne their Cloistures pulled downe that Church which Aldwin had formerly built and beganne the foundation of another of a fairer worke which his successour Ralph finished And after that Nicholas Feruham Bishop and Thomas Mescomb Prior adjoyned a new Fabrique or frame unto it in the yeere of Christ 1242. And a good while after W. Skirlaw the Bishop built at the West end of the Church a faire peece of worke which they call Gallilee whereinto hee translated the marble Tombe of Venerable Bede In which place Hugh Pudsey beganne in times past an house wherein I use the words of an ancient Booke women might lawfully enter that whereas they had not corporall accesse unto the more secret holy places yet they might have some comfort by the beholding of the holy mysteries But that Ralph the Bishop aforesaid as our Historian writeth reduced the place âetweene the Church and the Castle which had beene taken up with many dwelling houses into a plaine and open ground for feare least either any annoyance by filth or dangers by fire might come neere unto the Church And all be it the City was strong enough by the naturall site yet hee made it more strong and stately with a Wall reaching in length from the Chauncell of the Church unto the Keepe and Towre of the Castle Which wall now by little and little giveth place unto time and never that I could heare suffered any assault of enemy For when David Brus King of Scots had forraied the Country with fire and sword as farre as to Beanparke or Beereparke which is a Parke neere unto the City whiles King Edward the Third besieged Calais Henry Percy and William Zouch Archbishop of Yorke with their Companies of men mustered up in haste encountered the Scots and so couragiously charged them that having taken the King prisoner they slew the most of the first and second battaile and put the third to a fearefull flight neither staied they at most steepe and cumbersome places untill they recovered their owne Holds This is that famous Battaile which our people call The Battaile at Nevils Crosse. For the chiefest of the Scottish Nobility being slaine and the King taken prisoner at this field they were enforced
to yeeld much ground within their Confines yea and to render many Castles But this may suffice as touching Durham which I will take my leave of if you thinke good with a Distichon of Necham and an Hexastichon of John Jonston Arte sitúque loci munita Dunelmia salve Qua floret sancta religionis apex VEDRA ruens rapidis modò cursibus agmine leni Séque minor celebres suspicit urbe viros Quos dedit ipsa olim quorum tegit ossa sepulta Magnus ubi sacro marmore BEDA cubat Se jactant aliae vel religione vel armis Haec armis cluit haec religione potens Durham by art and site of place well fensed now farewell Where for devout Religion the Mitre doth excell The River Were that ranne most swift ere while with streame now soft And chanell lesse to famous men in towne lookes up aloft Whom once it bred and of whose bones in grave it is possest Where under sacred marble stone Great Beda now doth rest Of Armes or of Religion may other boast I grant For Armes and for Religion both this City makes her vaunt Concerning the Monkes that were cast out at the suppression of the Abbaies the twelve Prebendaries and two Arch-Deacons placed in this Church and the Priours name changed into the Dignity of a Deane I neede not to say any thing for they are yet in fresh memory And unwilling I am to remember how this Bishopricke was dissolved by a private Statute and all the possessions thereof given to Edward the Sixth when private greedinesse edged by Church-men did grinde the Church and withdrew much from God wherewith Christian Piety had formerly honoured God But Queene Mary repealed that Statute and restored the said Bishopricke with all the Possessions and Franchises thereof that God might enjoy his owne The Longitude of this City is 22. Degrees The Latitude 54. Degrees and 57. minutes Beneath Durham that I many not overpasse it standeth Eastward a very faire Hospitall which Hugh Pudsey that most wealthy Bishop and Earle of Northumberland so long as it was Being very indulgently compassionate to Lepres as Neubrigensis writeth built with coste I must needes say profuse enough but in some sort not so honest as who layed no small deall of other mens right so great was his power upon this devotion whiles hee thought much to disburse sufficient of his owne Howbeit hee assigned unto it revenewes to maintaine threescore and five Lepres besides Masse Priests From Durham Were carrieth his streame Northward with a more direct course by Finchdale where in the Reigne of King Henry the Second Goodrick a man of the ancient Christian simplicity and austerity wholly devoted to the service of God led a solitary life and ended his daies being buried in the same place wherein as that William of Neuborrow saith hee was wont either to lye prostrate whiles he prayed or to lay him downe when he was sicke Who with this his devout simplicity drew men into so great an admiration of him that R. brother unto that rich Bishop Hugh Pudsey built a Chappell in memoriall of him From thence Were passeth by Lumley Castle standing within a Parke the ancient seat of the Lumleies who descended from Liulph a man in this tract of right great Nobility in the time of King Edward the Confessour who marryed Aldgitha the daughter of Aldred Earle of Northumberland Of these Lumleies Marmaduke assumed unto him his mothers Coate of Armes in whose right hee was seized of a goodly inheritance of the Thwengs namely Argent of Fesse Gueles betweene three Poppinjaes Vert whereas the Lumleies before time had borne for their Armes Six Poppinjaes Argent in Gueles For she was the eldest daughter of Sir Marmaduke Thweng Lord of Kilton and one of the heires of Thomas Thweng her brother But Ralph sonne to the said Marmaduke was the first Baron Lumley created by King Richard the Second which honour John the ninth from him enjoyed in our daies a man most honourable for all the ornaments of true Nobility Just over against this place not farre from the other banke of the River standeth Chester upon the Street as one would say the Castle or little City by the Port way side the Saxons called it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã whereupon I would deeme it to be CONDERCUM in which as the booke of Notices recordeth the first wing of the Astures in the Romanes time kept station and lay in Garison within the Line or precinct as that booke saith of the WALL For it is but a few miles distant from that famous WALL whereof I am to speake heereafter The Bishops of Lindifarre lived obscurely heere with the corps of Saint Cuthbert whiles the raging stormes of the Danes were up for the space of an hundred and thirteene yeeres In memory whereof when Egelricke Bishop of Durham layed the foundation of a new Church in that place he found such a mighty masse of money buried within the ground as is thought by the Romans that wallowing now in wealth he gave over his Bishopricke and being returned to Peterborrow whereof hee had beene Abbot before made causeies through the Fennes and raised other Workes not without exceeding great charges And a long time after Anthony Bec Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem erected heere a Collegiat Church a Deane and seven Prebends In which Church the Lord Lumley abovesaid placed and ranged in goodly order the Monuments of his Ancestours in a continued line of succession even from Liulph unto these our daies which he had either gotten together out of Monasteries that were subverted or caused to bee made a new And further within almost in the middest of the Triangle there is another little Village also knowne of late by reason of the College of a Deane and Prebendaries founded by that Antony Bec at Lanchester which I once thought to have beene LONGOVICUM a station of the Romanes But let us returne unto Were which now at length turneth his course Eastward and running beside Hilton a Castle of the Hiltons a Family of ancient Gentry venteth his waters with a vast mouth into the sea at Wiran-muth as Bede tearmeth it now named Monkes Were-mouth because it belonged to the Monkes Touching which mouth or out-let thus writeth William of Malmesbury This Were where hee entereth into the Sea entertaineth Shippes brought in with a faire Gale of Winde within the gentle and quiet bosome of his Out-let Both the Bankes whereof Benedict Bishop beautified with Churches and built Abbaies there one in the name of Saint Peter and the other of Saint Paul The painfull industry of this man hee will wonder at who shall reade his life for that hee brought hither great store of bookes and was the first man that ever procured Masons and Glasiers for windowes to come into England Five miles higher the River Tine doth also unlade it selfe which together with Derwent for a good way lineth out as it
the opinion of other men is of it SEOESAM ROLNASON OSALVEDN AL. Q. Q. SAR BREVENM BEDIANIS ANTONI US MEG VI. IC DOMU ELITER For mine owne part I can make nothing else thereof but that most of these words were the British names of places adjoining In the yeere 1603. when I went a second time to see this place I hapned upon the greatest and fairest Altar that ever I saw dedicated to the Mother Goddesses by a Captain of the Asturians with this inscription DEISMATRIBVS M. INGENVIVS ASIATICVS DEC AL. AST SS LL. M. Concerning these DEABUS or DEIS MATRIBUS that is Mothers Goddesses what they were I cannot finde out with all my searching for in the volumes of Inscriptions gathered through the world save in another Altar besides found among us they are not mentioned as farre as I remember Onely I read that Enguium a little towne in Sicily was ennobled for the presence of the MOTHER GODDESSES wherein were shewed certaine speares and brazen helmets which Metio and Ulysses consecrated to those Goddesses Another little Altar I saw there cast out among rubbish stone with this inscription PACIFE RO MARTI ELEGAUR BA POS UIT EX VO TO So small a one this was that it may seeme to have beene some poore mans little altar to carry with him to and fro serving only to burne and offer incense or salt and meale upon it whereas that other was farre bigger and made for to sacrifice and offer greater beasts upon it In these altars the posterity no doubt imitated Noah even after they had fallen away and revolted from the true worship of God Neither erected they altars to their Gods onely but also unto their Emperours by way of servile flattery with this impious title NUMINI MAIESTATIQUE EORUM that is unto their GOD-HEAD and Majesty Unto these they kneeled in humble maner these they clasped about and embraced as they prayed before these they tooke their oathes and in one word in these and in their sacrifices consisted the maine substance of all their religion so farre forth that whosoever had no altar of their owne they were thought verily to have no religion nor to acknowledge any God at all Moreover very lately and but the other day a stone was digged up here wherein was engraven the naked portract or image of a man on horse-backe without saddle without bridle with both hands seeming to launce his speare and ready to ride over a naked man lying downe along at his foot who holdeth before I wot not what foure square peece Betweene the horse and him that lieth along are these letters D.M. and under him so lying are read these words CAL. SARMATA All the letters beside which were many are so worne out and gone that they could not be read neither list I to guesse any farther what they were That ALA SARMATARUM that is a wing of Sarmatian horsemen abode in this place it may seeme as well by that former inscription as by this that many yeeres before was found hard by HIS TERRIS TEGITUR AEL MATRONA QU VIX AN. XXVIII M. II. D. VIII ET M. JULIUS MAXIMUS FIL. VIX AN. VI. M. III. D. XX. ET CAM PANIA DUBBA MATER VIX AN. L. JULIUS MAXIMUS ALAE SAR CONJUX CONJUGI INCOMPARABILI ET FILIO PATRI PIENTIS SIMO ET SOCERAE TENA CISSIMAE MEMORIAE P. But hence have wee no light at all toward the finding out of the ancient name of this place which now is in question unlesse it hath now and then changed the name which otherwhiles usually happeneth For in this place Ptolomy hath set RIGODUNUM if for RIBODUNUM the name is not altogether unlike to Ribbechester and just at this distance from Mancunium that is Manchester that is to say 18. miles off doth Antonine place COCCIM which also in some copies we read GOCCIUM But when the flourishing fortune of this City having runne the full and fatall period was faded either by warre or earthquake as the common sort doe think somewhat lower where Ribell suffereth the violence of the flowing tides of the Sea and is called of the Geographer BELLISAMA AESTUARIUM that is the salt-water BELLISAMA neare unto Peneworth where in the Conquerors reigne there was a little castle as appeareth by the Records of the said King out of the fall of Riblechester arose in steed of it her daughter Preston a great and for these Countries a faire town well inhabited so called of religious men for in our speech the name soundeth as much as Priests towne Beneath this Ribell Derwen a rill commeth in with his water and the first mercate towne that hee watereth is Blacke-borne so called of the Blacke-water which towne belonging in times past to the Lacies gave name unto Blackburne-shire a little territory adjoining from thence it runneth by Houghton-towre which communicated the name unto a notable family that long time dwelt in it and by Waleton which William Lord of Lancaster King Stephens sonne gave unto Walter de Walton and afterward it was the possession of the ancient race of the Langtons who descended from the said Waltons But now let us returne The said Preston whereof I spake is by the common people called Preston in Andernesse for Acmundes-nesse for so the English Saxons tearmed this part of the shire which lying between the two rivers Ribel and Cocar stretcheth out with a promontory in manner of a nose which afterwards they also called Acmundernesse Wherein were no more but 16. villages inhabited in King William the Conquerors time the rest lay wast as we read in Doomes-day booke and Roger of Poictiers held the same But afterwards it belonged to Theobald Walter from whom the Bottelers of Ireland derive their beginning for thus wee read in a Charter of K. Richard the first Know yee that wee have given and by this present Charter confirmed unto Theobald Walter for his homage and service Agmondernesse full and whole with all the appertenences c. This part yeeldeth plenty of oates but not so apt to beare barly Howbeit it is full of fresh pastures especially to the sea side where it is partly Champion ground and thereupon it seemeth that a good part of it is called The File for the Field and yet in the Kings Rolls it goeth under the Latine name LIMA that is a File namely that Smithes toole or instrument wherewith Iron or any other thing is smoothed But because elsewhere it is marish ground they hold it not very wholsome Wie a little river speedily cutting over this part commeth rolling downe out of Wierdale a very solitary place and runneth by Grenhaugh Castle which Thomas Stanley the first Earle of Derby out of this family built what time as hee stood in feare of certaine out-lawed Gentlemen of this shire whose possessions King Henry the seventh had freely given unto him For many an assault they gave him and other
of antiquity In the inscription all is as plaine as may bee onely in the last line save one Et and AEDES are read by implication of the letters the last part being maimed may haply be amended in this wife DECURIONUM ORDINEM RESTITUIT c. These Decurions were in free townes called Municipia the same that Senators were in Rome and Colonies so called because they executed the office of Curiae whereupon they were named also Curiales who had the ordering and managing of civill offices On the back-side of this Altar in the upper edge border thereof are read as you see these two words VOLANTII VIVAS which doe perplexe me neither can I expound them unlesse the Decurions Gentlemen and Commons for of these three states consisted a Municipium or free Corporation added this as a well-wishing and votive inscription unto G. Cornelius Peregrinus who restored houses habitations and Decurions that so bounteous and beneficiall a man VOLANTII VIVERET that is might live at Volantium Hence I suppose if conjecture may carrie it that VOLANTIUM in times past was the name of the place Underneath are engraven instruments belonging to sacrifice an Axe or Cleaver and a chopping Knife On the left side a Mallet and a great Bason in that on the right side a platter a dish and a peare if my sight serve mee well or as others would have it a drinking cup or jugge for these were vessels pertaining to sacrifice and others beside as a Cruet an Incense pan or Censer a footlesse pot the Priests miter c. which I have seene expresly portraied upon the sides of other altars in this tract The second Altar which I have here adjoined was digged up at Old Carlile and is now to be seene in the Barhouses house at Ilkirk an inscription it had with that intricate connexion of letters one in another as the Graver hath here very lively portraied and thus it seemeth they are to be read Iovi Optimo Maximo Ala Augusta ob virtutem appellata cui praest Publius Aelius Publii filius Sergia Magnus de Mursa ex Pannonia inferiore Praefectus Aproniano fortasse Bradua Consulibus Unto most gracious and mightie Jupiter The Wing named for their vertue Augusta the Captaine whereof is Publius Aelius sonne of Publius Magnus of Mursa from out of the lower Pannonia Praefect When Apronianus and haply Bradua were Consuls The third Altar with an inscription to Belatucadrus the tutelar God of the place is in this wise to be read Belatucadro Iulius Civilis Optio id est Excubiis Praefectus votum solvit libens merito Unto Belatucadrus Iulius-Civilis Opiâo that is Prefect over the watch and ward hath performed his vow willingly and duly In the fourth Altar which is of all the rest the fairest there is no difficultie at all and this is the tenour of it Diis Deabusque Publius Posthumius Acilianus Praefectus Cohortis primae Delmatarum To the Gods and Goddesses Publius Posthumius Acilianus Prefect or Captain of the first Cohort of the Dalmatians Such Altars as these neither neede we think much to observe those ancient rites which now long since the most sacred Christian religion hath chased away and banished quite they were wont to crowne with greene branches like as they did the beasts for sacrifice and themselves and then they used with frankincense and wine to make supplication to kill and offer their sacrifices yea and their manner was to enhuile or anoint their very altars all over Concerning the demolishing and overthrow of which as Christian religion came in place and began to prevaile Prudentius the Christian Poet wrote thus Exercere manum non poenitet lapis illic Si stetit antiquus quem cingere sueverat error Fasciolis aut gallinae pulmone rigare Frangitur Men thought not much their hands thus to employ And if in place some antique stone there stood Which folke were wont in errour with much joy To garnish round with ribbands and with blood Of Hens to imbrue they brake it in that mood These inscriptions likewise hereunder I saw there PROSA ANTONINI AV-PII F P. AVLVS P. F. PALATINA POSTHVMIVS ACILIANVS PRAEF COH I. DELMATAR D M INGENVI AN. X. IVL. SIMPLEX PATER F C. D M. MORI REGIS FILII HEREDES EIVS SVBSTITVE RVNT VIX A. LXX HICEXSEGERE FATA ENVS SC GERMA S REG VIX AN S VIX AN IX D M LVCA VIX ANN. IS XX. D M IVLIA MARTIM A. VIX AN XII III D. XX. H. There is a stone also here seene workmanly cut and erected for some victorie of the Emperours in which two winged Genii hold up betweene them a guirland as here is represented That is for the victorie of the Augusti or Emperours our Lords When the shore hath passed on right forward a little way from hence it bendeth so backe againe with an arme of the sea retiring inward that it may seeme to bee that MORICAMBE which Ptolomee setteth here the nature of the place and the name doe so just agree For a crooked creeke it is of salt water and Moricambe in the British tongue signifieth a crooked sea Hard by this David the first King of Scots built the Abbey de Ulmo commonly called Holme Cultrain and the Abbots thereof erected Ulstey a fortresse neere unto it for a treasurie and place of suretie to lay up their books charters and evidences against the sodain invasions of the Scottish wherein the secrets workes they say of Michael the Scot lie in conflict with mothes which Michael professing here a religious life was so wholly possessed with the studie of the Mathematicks and other abstruse arts about the yeere of our Lord 1290. that being taken of the common people for a Necromancer there went a name of him such was their credulitie that hee wrought divers wonders and miracles Beneath this Abbey the brooke called Waver runneth into the said arme of the sea which brook taketh into it the riveret Wiza at the head whereof lye the very bones and pitifull reliques of an ancient Citie which sheweth unto us that there is nothing upon earth but the same is subject to mortalitie The neighbours call it at this day Old Carlile What name it had in old time I know not unlesse it were CASTRA EXPLORATORUM that is The Espialls or Discoverers Castle The distance put downe by Antonine who doth not so much seeke after the shortest waies as reckon up the places of greater note and name as well from Bulgium as Lugo-vallum suiteth thereto verie aptly the situation also to discover and descry afar off is passing fit and commodious for seated it is upon the top of a good high hill from whence a man may easily take a full view of all the country round about Howbeit most certaine it is that the wing of Horse-men which for their valour was named AUGUSTA and AUGUSTA GORDIANA kept resiance
the country lyeth the Barony of Gillesland a little region so encombred by reason of sudden rising brookes which they call Gilles that I would have deemed it tooke the name of them had I not read in a booke belonging to the Abbey of Lanercost that one Gill Fitz-Bueth who is called also Gilbert in a Charter of King Henry the second held it as Lord in old time of whom it is probable this name was rather given to it Through this Gillesland the wall of Severus that most famous monument of all Britaine runneth streight as it were by a line from Carlile Eastward by Stanwicks a little village by Scalby castle belonging in times past to the Tilliols sometimes a name in this tract of good worship and reputation from whom it came to the Pickerings then Cambec a small brooke runneth under the wall Neere unto which the Barons of Dacre built Askerton castle a little pile where the Governour of Gillesland whom they call Land-Sergeant had a ward Beneath the wall it conjoyneth it selfe with the river Irthing where standeth Irthington a chiefe Manour as they tearme it of this Barony of Gillesland And great ruins are here to be seen at Castle-steed Neere unto it is Brampton a little mercate towne which we suppose to bee BREMETURACUM at the very line and range of the wall for it is scarce a mile from the said wall where in times past lay the first Band of the Tungri out of Germanie in the declining state of the Romane Empire and a company of Armaturae under the generall of Britaine These were horsemen armed at all peeces But whether these Armatures were Duplar or Simplar it is doubtfull Duplar or Duple Armaturae they were called in those daies who had double allowances of corne Simplar that had but single Neither verily must I overpasse in silence that hard by Brampton there mounteth up an high hill fortified in the verie top with a trench they call it the Mote from which there is a faire prospect every way into the country Beneath this and by Castle-steeds like as at Trederman joining unto it were found these inscriptions exemplified for me by the hand of the right honourable Lord William Howard of Naworth third sonne unto Thomas late Duke of Norfolke a singular lover of venerable antiquitie and learned withall who in these parts in right of his wife a sister and one of the heires of the last Lord Dacre enjoieth faire possessions This stone also was found there in an old Hot-house wherein by ill fortune the name of the Emperours Lievtenant and Propretour of Britaine is worne out Neere to Brampton Gelt a riveret runneth downe by the banke whereof in a crag called Helbecke are read these antiquities wherein the words hang not well together erected as it seemeth by a Lievtenant of the second Legion Augusta under Agricola the Propraetour and others beside which the injurie of time hath envied us In the same rocke these words also are read written in a more moderne and newer letter OFFICIUM ROMANORUM This Gelt emptieth himselfe into the river Irthing which with a swift and angry streame holdeth his course by Naworth Castle belonging unto the Lord William Howard aforesaid who now repaireth it but lately to the Barons of Dacre of whom when the last died in his tender yeeres Leonard Dacre his Unkle who chose rather to try the title of inheritance with his Prince by force of armes than with his Nieces by wager of law seized into his hands this Castle and levied a band of rebels against his Prince whom the Lord of Hunsdon with the garrison souldiers of Berwick soone discomfited and put to flight in which conflict many were slaine but more ranne away amongst whom Leonard himselfe escaped But of him more in my Annales Neerer unto the wall beyond the river Irthing was lately found this faire votive altar erected to the Goddesse Nymphe of the Brigantes for the health of the Empresse Plautilla wife to M. Aurelius Antoninus Severus and the whole Imperiall family by M. Cocceius Nigrinus a Treasurer to the Emperour when Laetus was second time Consull with intricate connexion of letters which I read thus DEAE NYMPHAE BRIGantum QUOD VOVERAT PRO SALUTE PLAUTILIAE COnjugis INVICTAE DO Mini NOSTRI INVICTI IMP. M. AURE Lii SEVERI ANTONINI PII. FE Licis C AE Saris AU Gusti TOTIUSQUEDO MUS DIVINAE EJUS M. COCCEIUS NIGRINUS Questor AU Gusti Numini DEVOTUS LIBENS SUSCEPTUM Solvit LAETO II. Here by was the Priory of Lanercost founded by R. de Vaulx Lord of Gillesland and hard by the wall Burd Oswald Beneath which where that Picts wall passed over the river Irthing by an arched bridge was the station of the first band Aelia Dacica or of the Dacians the place is now named Willoford which the booke of Notice of Provinces and many altars bearing inscriptions to Iupiter Optimus Maximus reared by that Cohort here doe plentifully prove Of which I thought good to adde these unto the rest although time hath almost worne them out I. O. M. OH I. AEL DA C. C. A. GETA IRELSAVRNES I. O. M. CoH. I. AEL DAC C. P. STATU LoN GINUS TRIB PRO SALUTE D. N MAXjMIANO FOR CAE VA OAED LEG VI VIC P.F F. I. O. M. COHIAEL DAC TETRICIANORO C. P. LUTIC V S. DESIG NATUS TRIB I.O.M. COH I. AEL DAC GORD ANA. C. P EST I. O. M. H. I. AEL DAC C. PRAEE SI FLIUS FA S TRIB PETUO COS. The first Lord of Gillesland that hitherto I have read of was William Meschines the brother of Ralph Lord of Cumberland I meane not that William brother to Ranulph Earle of Chester from whom came Ranulph de Ruelent but the brother of Ralph yet could hee never wrest it wholly out of the Scots hands for Gill the sonne of Bueth held the greatest part of it by force and armes After his death King Henry the second gave it to Hubert de Vaulx or de Vallibus whose shield of Armes was Chequy Or Gueles His sonne Robert founded and endowed the Priory of Lanercost But the inheritance after a few yeeres was by marriage translated to the Moltons and from them by a daughter to Ranulph Lord Dacre whose line hath flourished unto our daies in very great honour Having now in some sort surveied the maritime coasts and more inward parts of Cumberland the side that lieth more Easterly being leane hungry and a wast remaineth to bee viewed and yet it sheweth nothing but the spring-head of South-Tine in a moorish place and an ancient Romane high-way eight ells broad paved with great stone commonly called Mayden Way which leadeth out of Westmorland and where the riveret Alon and the aforesaid South Tine meet together in one channell by the side of an hill of gentle descent there remaine yet the footings of a very great and ancient towne which was toward the North enclosed within a fourefold rampier
it was in old time it passeth my wit to find out seeing that amongst all the stations mentioned along the range of the Wall there is not one commeth neere to it in name neither have wee any light out of inscriptions to lead us thereunto What ever it was sure the wall thereby was both strongest and highest by farre for scarce a furlong or two from hence upon a good high hill there remaineth as yet some of it to be seene fifteen foot high and nine foot thicke built on both sides with foure square ashler stone although Bede reporteth it was not above twelve foot in heighth From hence the wall goeth forward more aslope by Iuerton Forsten and Chester in the Wall neere to Busie-Gap a place infamous for theeving and robbing where stood some Castles Chesters they call them as I have heard but I could not with safetie take the full survey of it for the ranke-robbers thereabout As for Chester the neighbours told us that it was a very great building so that we may well think it to have been that second station of the Dalmatians which is called in the old booke of Notice MAGNA where this inscriptions was found upon an ancient altar PRO SALUTE DESIDIENI AE LIANI PRAE ET SUA S. POSUIT VOT AO SOLVIT LIBE NS TUSCO ET BAS SO COSS. This broken and imperfect altar likewise brought from thence wee read at Melkrig where now women beat their buckes on it DEAE SURI AE SUB CALP UR NIO AG ICOLA LEG AUG PR PR A. LICINIUS LEMENS PRAEF III. A. IOR Which if I were able to read thus would I willingly read it and the draught of the letters maketh well for it Deae Suriae sub Calphurnio Agricola Legato Augusti Propraetore Licinius Clemens Praefectus that is Unto the goddesse Suria under Calphurnius Agricola Lievtenant of Augustus and Propraetor Licinius Clemens the Captaine This Calphurnius Agricola was sent by Antoninus Philosophus against the Britans what time as there was likely to be warre in Britain about the yeere of Christ 170. At which time some Cohort under his command erected this Altar unto THE GODDESSE SURIA whom with a turreted crown on her head and a Tabber in her hand was set in a coach drawn with Lions as Lucian sheweth at large in his Narration of the goddesse Suria Which goddesse also Nero albeit he contemned all religion especially worshipped for a time and soone after so aviled and despised that he defiled her with his urine From hence wee saw Willyâotes-wicke the seat of a respected family of the Ridleyes and hard by it the river Alon tunning with a surging streame and rise of waters into Tine namely when both the Alons are met together in one channell By the Easterne of the two Alons there is to bee seene a towne now called Old-towne but what the old name was will not easily be found Now to the wall againe The next station upon the wall beyond Busie-gap is called Seaven-shale the name whereof if any man would thinke with mee to come from the wing Saviniana or Sabiniana I might the more confidently say that it was that HUNNUM where the Notice of Provinces reporteth the wing Sabiniana kept watch and ward Then beyond Carraw and Walton stands Walwick which some conjecturally would have to be GALLANA in Antonine in all which places there be evident remaines of old fortifications Here there runneth through the wall North Tine which being now come downe amaine out of the mountaines in the marches of England and Scotland first as hee passeth Eastward watereth Tindale a place taking the name of him and in the end receiving into his bosome the river Rhead which springing out of Readsquire a steep mountaine where oftentimes was the True-place that is a place of parley and conference for the East marches for the LL. Wardens of the East marches to both Kingdomes were wont here to decide matters and controversies betweene the borderers giveth his owne name to a dale too too voide of inhabitants by reason of depredations Both these dales breed notable light horse-men and both of them have their hils hard by so boggy and standing with water in the top that no horsemen are able to ride through them whereupon and that is wonderfull there be many very great heapes of stone called Lawes which the neighbour inhabitants be verily perswaded were in old time cast up and layd together in remembrance of some there slaine In both of them also there bee many ruinous remaines of old Castles In Tindale are Whitchester Delaley Tarset sometimes belonging to the Comins In Rheadsdale are Rochester Green-chester Rutchester and some others whose ancient names are abolished and lost by the injury of long time But seeing that at Rochester which standeth neerer into the head of Rhead in the brow of a rocky high mountaine that overlooketh the countrey underneath a great way whence it seemeth to have taken this new name there hath beene found an antique altar among the rubbish of an old castle with this inscription D. R. S. DVPL N. EXPLOR BREMEN ARAM. INSITVERVNT N EIVS C CAEP CHARITINO TRIB VSLM May wee not hence ghesse that BREMENIUM for which there hath beene made so long and great search was here whereof Ptolomee hath made mention in this very siâe and position of the country and from which Antonine the Emperor beginneth the first journey of Britaine as from the utmost limit of the Romane Province in Britaine at that time And the limits or bounds of a Dominion were seas great rivers Mountaines Desert lands and unpassable such as be in this tract Trenches also with their rampires walls mounds of trees cut downe or plashed and Castles especially built in places more suspected and dangerous than others to all which there are to bee seene remaines here every where about Certes when the Barbarous nations after they had broken through the wall of Antoninus Pius in Scotland harried all over the countrey and laid all wast before them and the wall of Hadrian lay neglected unto the time of Severus wee may well thinke that even here was set downe the limit of the Romane Empire and that from hence the old Itinerary which goes about under the name of Antoninus began thus A limite that is From the Bound As for that which is set to it id est A vallo that is From the wall or rampier may seeme a glosse put downe by the transcribers considering that BREMENIUM is foureteene miles Northward distant from the said wall unlesse it may seeme to have been one of those out Field-stations which as I said even now were placed within the Barbarians ground beyond the Wall Scarce five miles from old BREMENIUM Southward standeth Otterburne where there was a field most valiantly fought betweene the Scottish and English in which the victory waved alternatively too and fro three or foure times and fell
of Anguish in Scotland in the reign of K. Edward the first and left that honour to his posterity But Eleanor daughter to the sister and heire of the last Earle was married at length into the family of Talebois and afterward this castle by the Princes bountifull gift came to the Duke of Bedford But to retire to the Wall Beyond Saint Oswalds there are seene in the wall the foundations of two sorts which they call Castle-steeds then a place named Portgate where there stood a gate in the wall as may appeare by the word that in both languages importeth as much Beneath this more within the country is Halton-Hall where flourisheth the family of the Carnabies in great name for their antiquity and military prowesse neere unto which is seated Aidon castle sometimes part of the Barony of that Hugh Balliol before named But for as much as many places about the wall carry this name Aidon and the very same signifieth a Militare Wing or a troupe of horsemen in the British tongue of which sort there were many wings placed along the Wall as plainely appeareth by the booke of Notices in their stations I would have the reader throughly to consider whether this name was not thereupon imposed upon these places like as Leon upon those townes where the Legions had their standing campe Well hard by there was digged up the fragment of an antique stone wherein is the expresse portrait or image of a man lying in bed leaning upon his left hand and with the right touching his right knee with these inscriptions NORICI AN. XXX ESSOIRUS MAGNUS FRATER EJUS DUPL. ALAE SABINIANAE M. MARI US VELLI ALONG US A QUI SHANC POSUIT V. S. L. M. Then the river Pont having his spring head more outwardly and running downe neere to Fenwick-Hall the dwelling house of the worthy and martiall family of the Fenwickes for certaine miles together gardeth the wall and upon his banke had for a defence in garison the first Cohort of the Cornavii at a place called PONS AELII built as it seemeth by Aelius Hadrianus the Emperor now called Pont-eland at which King Henry the third in the yeere 1244. concluded a peace and neere unto this the first Cohort of the Tungri had their abode at Borwick which in the Notice of Provinces is called BORCOVICUS From Port-gate the wall runneth along to Waltowne which seeing the signification accordeth so well with the name and that it standeth twelve miles from the East sea I beleeve verily it is the same royall town which Bede called ADMURUM wherein Segbert King of the East Saxons was by the hands of Finanus baptized and received into the Church of Christ. Neere unto this was a fortification called Old Winchester I would gladly take it to be that VINDOLANA which that Booke of Notice so often cited recordeth to have beene the Frontier-station in times past of the fourth Cohort of the Gaules And then have yee Rouchester where we beheld very plainly the expresse footings in form four square of a garison Castle that joined hard to the wall Neere unto it Headon sheweth it selfe which was part of the Barony of Sir Hugh de Bolebec who fetched his descent by his mother from the noble Barons of Mont-Fichet and had issue none but daughters matched in wedlock with Ralph Lord Greistock I. Lovel Huntercomb and Corbet Now where the wall and Tine almost meet together New-Castle sheweth it selfe gloriously the very eye of all the townes in these parts ennobled by a notable haven which Tine maketh being of that depth that it beareth very tall ships and so defendenth them that they can neither easily bee tossed with tempests nor driven upon shallowes and shelves It is situate on the rising of an hill very uneven upon the North-banke of the river which hath a passing faire bridge over it On the left hand whereof standeth the Castle after that a steepe and upright pitch of an hill riseth on the right hand you have the Mercat place and the better part of the City in regard of faire buildings From whence the ascent is not easie to the upper part which is larger by farre It is adorned with soure Churches and fortified with most strong walls that have eight gates in them with many towres what it was in old time it is not knowne I would soone deeme it to have beene GABROSENTUM considering that Gates-head the suburbe as it were thereof doth in the owne proper signification expresse that British name Gabrosentum derived from Goates as hath been said before The Notice also of Provinces placeth Gabrosentum and the second Cohort of the Thracians in it within the range of the wall And most certaine it is that both the Rampier and the Wall went through this City and at Pandon gate there remaineth as it is thought one of the turrets of that wall Surely for workmanship and fashion it is different from the other Moreover whereas it was named before the Conquest Monk-chester because it was as it seemeth in the possession of Monkes this addition Chester which signifieth a place fortified implyeth that it was anciently a place of strength But after the Conquest of the New castle which Robert the sonne of William the Conqueror built out of the ground it got this new name New-castle and by little and little encreased marveilously in wealth partly by entercourse of trafficke with the Germans and partly by carrying out sea-coales wherewith this country aboundeth both into forraine Countries and also into other parts of England In the reigne of Edward the first a rich man chanced to bee haled way prisoner by the Scottish out of the middle of the towne who after hee had ransomed himselfe with a great summe of money began with all speed to fortifie the same and the rest of the inhabitants moved by his example finished the worke and compassed it with faire strong walls Since which time it hath with security avoided the force and threats of the enemies and robbers which swarmed all over the country and withall fell to trading merchandise so freshly that for quick commerce wealth it became in very flourishing estate in which regard King Richard the second granted that a sword should bee carried before the Maior and King Henry the sixth made it a County incorporate by it selfe It is distant from the first Meridian or West line 21. degrees and 30. minutes and from the Aequinoctiall line toward the North pole 34. degrees and 57. minutes As touching the suburbs of Gateshead which is conjoyned to New-castle with a faire bridge over the river and appertaineth to the Bishops of Durham I have already written Now in regard of the site of New-castle and the abundance of sea-cole vented thence unto which a great part of England and the Low Countries of Germanie are beholden for their good fires read these verses of Master John Ionston out of his Poem of the Cities of
matters In criminall causes the Kings chiefe Justice holdeth his Court for the most part at Edenburgh which office the Earles of Argile have executed now for some yeeres And he doth depute two or three Lawyers who have the hearing and deciding of capitall actions concerning life and death or of such as inferre losse of limbs or of all goods In this Court the Defendant is permitted yea in case of high treason to entertaine a Counsellor or Advocate to pleade his cause Moreover in criminall matters there are sometimes by vertue of the Kings commission and authoritie Justices appointed for the deciding of this or that particular cause Also the Sheriffes in their territories and Magistrates in some Burghs may sit in judgement of man-slaughter in case the man-slayer be taken within 24. houres after the deed committed and being found guiltie by a Jurie put him to death But if that time be once overpast the cause is referred and put over to the Kings Iustice or his Deputies The same priviledge also some of the Nobilitie and Gentrie enjoy against theeves taken within their owne jurisdictions There bee likewise that have such Roialties as that in criminall causes they may exercise a jurisdiction within their owne limits and in some cases recall those that dwell within their owne limits and liberties from the Kings Justice howbeit with a caution and proviso interposed That they judge according to Law Thus much briefly have I put downe as one that hath but sleightly looked into these matters yet by the information of the judicious Knight Sir Alexander Hay his Majesties Secretarie for that kingdome who hath therein given me good light But as touching SCOTLAND what a noble countrey it is and what men it breedeth as sometimes the Geographer wrote of Britaine there will within a while more certaine and more evident matter be delivered since that most high and mightie Prince hath set it open now for us which had so long time beene shut from us Meane while I will come unto the description of places the project that I entended especially GADENI or LADENI UPon the Ottadini or Northumberland bordered as next neighbours the ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is GADENI who also by the inversion or turning of one letter upside downe are called in some Copies of Ptolomee LADENI seated in that countrey which lieth betweene the mouth of the river Twede and Edenburgh Forth and is at this day divided into many petty Countries the chiefe whereof are Teifidale Twedale Merch and Lothien in Latine Lodeneium under which one generall name alone the Writers of the middle time comprised all the rest TEIFIDALE TEifidale that is to say the Vale by the river Teifie or Teviat lying next unto England among the edges of high craggie hills is inhabited by a warlike nation which by reason of so many encounters in foregoing ages betweene Scottish and English are alwaies most readie for service and sudden invasions The first place among these that wee meet with is Iedburgh a Burrough well inhabited and frequented standing neere unto the confluence of Teifie and Ied whereof it took the name also Mailros a very ancient Monastery wherein at the beginning of our Church were cloistered Monkes of that ancient order and institution that gave themselves to prayer and with their hand-labour earned their living which holy King David restored and replenished with Cistertian Monkes And more Eastward where Twede and Teifie joine in one streame Rosburg sheweth it selfe called also Roxburg and in old time MARCHIDUN because it was a towne in the Marches where stands a Castle that for naturall situation and towred fortifications was in times past exceeding strong Which being surprised and held by the English whiles James the second King of Scots encircled it with a siege hee was by a peece of a great Ordnance that brake slaine untimely in the very floure of his youth a Prince much missed and lamented of his Subjects As for the castle it was yeelded and being then for the most part of it layed even with the ground is now in a manner quite vanished and not to bee seene The territory adjoyning called of it the Sherifdome of Roxburg hath one hereditary Sheriffe out of the family of the Douglasses who is usually called the Sheriffe of Teviot Dale And now hath Roxburg also a Baron Robert Kerr through the favour of King James the sixth out of the family of the Kerrs a famous house and spred into a number of branches as any one in that tract out of which the Fernhersts and others inured in martiall feats have been of great name Twede aforesaid runneth through the middest of a Dale taking name of it replenished with sheepe that beare wooll of great request A very goodly river this is which springing more inwardly Eastward after it hath passed as it were in a streight channell by Drimlar Castle by Peblis a mercate towne which hath for the Sheriff thereof Baron Zeister like as Selkirk hard by hath another out of the family of Murray of Fallohill entertaineth Lauder a riveret at which appeareth Lauder together with Thirlestan where stands a very faire house of Sir John Mettellan late Chancellor of Scotland whom for his singular wisdome King James the sixth created Baron of Thirlestan Then Twede beneath Roxburg augmented with the river of Teviot resorting unto him watereth the Sherifdome of Berwick throughout a great part whereof is possessed by the Humes wherein the chiefe man of that family exerciseth now the jurisdiction of a Sheriffe and so passeth under Berwick the strongest towne of Britain whereof I have spoken already where hee is exceeding full of Salmons and so falleth into the sea MERCHIA MERCH or MERS MERCH which is next and so named because it is a march country lyeth wholly upon the German sea In this first Hume Castle sheweth it selfe the ancient possession of the Lords of Home or Hume who being descended from the family of the Earles of Merch are growne to be a noble and faire spred family out of which Alexander Hume who before was the first Baron of Scotland and Sheriff of Berwick was of late advanced by James King of great Britaine to the title of Earle Hume Neere unto which lieth Kelso famous sometime for the monastery which with thirteen others King David the first of that name built out of the ground for the propagation of Gods glory but to the great empairing of the Crowne land Then is to be seene Coldingham which Bede calleth the City Coldana and the City of Coludum haply COLANIA mentioned by Ptolomee a place consecrated many ages since unto professed Virgins or Nunnes whose chastity is recorded in ancient bookes For that they together with Ebba their Prioresse cut off their owne noses and lips choosing rather to preserve their virginity from the Danes than their beauty and favour and yet for all that the Danes burnt their monasterie and them withall Hard by is Fast-castle a castle of
made a turfe wall rearing it not so much with stone as with turfes as having no canning Artificer for so great a piece of worke and the same to no use betweene two Friths or Armes of the sea for many miles in length that where the fense of water was wanting there by the helpe of a wall they might defend their borders from the invasion of enemies of which worke that is to say a very broad and high wall a man may see to this day most certaine and evident remaines This wall began as the Scots in these dayes give out at the river Aven that goeth into Edenborrough Forth and having passed over the riveret Carron reacheth unto Dunbritton But Bede as I said erewhile affirmeth that it beginneth in a place called Pen vaell that is in the Picts language as much as The head of the wall in the Britans tongue Pen-Gual in English Penwalton in Scottish Cevall all which names no doubt are derived from Vallum in Latine and he saith That place is almost two miles from Abereurvig or Abercurving And it endeth as the common sort thinke at Kirk-Patricke the native soile as some writeth of Saint Patrick the Irish-mens Apostle neere unto Cluyd according to Bede at Alcluid after Ninius at the Citie Pen Alcloyt which may seeme all one Now this wall is commonly called Grahams dyke either of Graham a warlike Scot whose valour was especially seene when the breach was made through it or else of the hill Grampie at the foot whereof it stood The author of Rota Temporum calleth it the wall of Aber-corneth that is of the mouth of the river Corneth where in Bedes time there was a famous monasterie standing as he hath recorded upon English ground but neere unto that frith or arme of the sea which in those daies severed the lands of the English and the Picts Hard by this wall of turfe what way as the river Carron crosseth this Sheriffdome of Sterling toward the left hand are seene two mounts cast up by mans hand which they call Duni pacis that is Knolles of peace and almost two miles lower there is an ancient round building foure and twentie cubits high and thirteene broad open in the top framed of rough stone without lime having the upper part of everie stone so tenanted into the nether as that the whole worke still rising narrow by a mutuall interlacing and clasping upholdeth it selfe Some call this the Temple of God TERMINUS others Arthurs-Oven who father everie stately and sumptuous thing upon Arthur Others againe Iulius Hoff and suppose it to have been built by Iulius Caesar. But I would think rather that Iulius Agricola built it who fortified this frontier part were it not that Ninius hath already enformed us that it was erected by Carausius for a triumphall Arch. For hee as Ninius writeth built upon the banke of Caron a round house of polished stone erecting a Triumphall Arch in memoriall of a victorie hee ree-dified also the wall and strengthened it with seven Castles In the middest space betweene Duni pacis and this building on the righthand-banke of Carron there is yet to be discerned a confused face of a little ancient Citie where the vulgar people beleeveth there was sometimes a road for ships who call it Camelot by a name that is rife in King Arthurs booke and they contend but all in vaine to have it that Camalodunum which Tacitus mentioneth But it would seeme rather by the name of the river Carron running underneath to have beene CORTA DAMNIORUM which Ptolomee mentioneth in this tract And now take with you that which George Buchanan that excellent Poet wrote of the limit of the Roman Empire at Carron Roma securigeris praetendit maenia Scotis Hîc spe progressus positâ Carronis ad undam Terminus Ausonii signat divertia regni 'Gainst warlike Scots with axes arm'd a mightie frontier wall The Romans rais'd and limit there which TERMINUS they call Neere Carron streame now past all hope more British ground to gaine Markes out the Roman Empires end whence they to turne were faine In this territorie of Sterling on the East side there sheweth it selfe Castle Callendar belonging to the Barons of Levingston and the family of the Barons Fleming dwelleth hard by at Cumbernald which they received at the hands of King Robert Brus for their service valiantly faithfully performed in defence of their country whereby also they attained unto the hereditarie honour to be Chamberlaines of Scotland And even very lately the favour of King James the Sixth hath honoured this house with the title of Earle what time as he created I. Baron Fleming Earle of Wigton In a place neere adjoining standeth Elpheingston which likewise hath his Barons advanced to that dignitie by King James the fourth And where Forth full of his windings and crooked crankes runneth downe with a rolling pace and hath a bridge over him standeth Sterlin commonly called Strivelin and Sterlin Burrough where on the very brow of a steepe rocke there is mounted on high a passing strong Castle of the Kings which King James the sixth hath beautified with new buildings and whereof this long time the Lords of Ereskin have been Captaines unto whom the charge and tuition of the Princes of Scotland during their minoritie hath been otherwhiles committed Whereas some there be that would have the good and lawfull money of England which is called Sterling money to take the name from hence they are much deceived for that denomination came from the Germans of their Easterly dwelling termed by Englishmen Esterlings whom King John of England first sent for to reduce the silver to the due finenesse and puritie and such monies in ancient writing are ever more found by the name of Esterling But concerning Sterlin towne the verses that I. Jonston hath made shall supply all the rest Regia sublimis celsa despectat ab arce Pendula sub biferis maenia structa jugis Regum augusta parens Regum nutricula natis Hinc sibi Regifico nomine tota placet Hospita sed cuivis quovis sub nomine amicus Sive es seu non es hospes an hostis item Pro lucro cedit damnum Discordia tristis Heu quoties procerum sanguine tinxit humum Hoc uno infelix at felix coetera nusquam Laetior aut caelifrons geniusve soli A regall palace stately set beholds from mount aloft Towne wall built hanging on the side of hill with double cost The sacred mother unto Kings of Kings babes eke the nource Hence is it that she prides her selfe in Kings names and no worse But entertaineth every one by name it skils not what A friend or foe friend guest or no she reckneth nought of that In steed of gaine this turnes to losse Besides how oft alas Hath discord foule with Nobles blood stain'd hence both ground and grasse In this alone unhappie she else not nor shall ye finde
way to convey their small vessels over it by land Which I hope a man may sooner beleeve than that the Argonauts laid their great ship Argos upon their shoulders and so carried it along with them five hundred miles from Aemonia unto the shores of Thessalia LORN SOmewhat higher toward the North lyeth LORN bearing the best kinde of barley in great plentie and divided with Leaue a vast and huge lake by which standeth Berogomum a castle in which sometime was kept the Court of Justice or Session and not farre from it Dunstafag that is Stephens Mount the Kings house in times past above which Logh Aber a Lake insinuating it selfe from out of the Westerne sea windeth it selfe so farre within land that it had conflowed together with Nesse another Lake running into the East sea but that certaine mountaines betweene kept them with a verie little partition asunder The chiefest place of name in this tract is Tarbar in Logh Kinkeran where King James the fourth ordained a Justice and Sheriffe to administer justice unto the Inhabitants of the out Islands These countries and those beyond them in the yeere of our Lords Incarnation 655. the Picts held whom Bede calleth the Northern Picts where hee reporteth that in the said yeere Columbane a Priest and Abbat famous for his Monkish profession and life came out of Ireland into Britaine to instruct these in Christian religion that by meanes of the high rough ridges of the mountaines were sequestred from the Southerne countries of the Picts and that they in lieu of a reward allowed unto him the Iland Hii over against them now called I-Comb-Kill of which more in place convenient The Lords of Lorna in the age aforegoing were the Stewarts but now by reason of a female their heire the Earles of Argile who use this title in their honourable stile BRAID ALBIN or ALBANY MOre inwardly where the uninhabitable loftie and rugged ridges of the Mountaine Grampius begin a little to slope and settle downeward is seated BRAID-ALBIN that is The highest part of Scotland for they that are the true and right Scots indeed call Scotland in their mother tongue Albin like as that part where it mounteth up highest Drum Albin that is the Ridge of Scotland But in an old booke it is read Brun Albin where wee finde this written Fergus filius Eric c. that is Fergus the sonne of Eric was the first of the seed or line of Chonare that entred upon the Kingdome of Albanie from Brun-Albain unto the Irish sea and Inch-Gall And after him the Kings descended from the seed or race of Fergus reigned in Brun-Albain or Brunhere unto Alpin the sonne of Eochall But this Albanie is better knowne for the Dukes thereof than for any good gifts that the soile yeeldeth The first Duke of Albanie that I read of was Robert Earle of Fife whom his brother King Robert the third of that name advanced to that honour yet he ungratefull person that he was pricked on with the spirit of ambition famished to death his sonne David that was heire to the crown But the punishment due for this wicked fact which himselfe by the long-sufferance of God felt not his son Mordac the second Duke of Albanie suffered most grievously being condemned for treason and beheaded when hee had seene his two sonnes the day before executed in the same manner The third Duke of Albanie was Alexander second sonne to King James the second who being Regent of the Kingdome Earle of March Marr and Garioth Lord of Annandale and of Man was by his own brother King James the third outlawed and after hee had beene turmoiled with many troubles in the end as hee stood by to behold a Justs and Tourneament in Paris chanced to bee wounded with a peece of a shattered launce and so died His sonne John the fourth Duke of Albanie Regent likewise and made Tutour to King James the fifth taking contentment in the pleasant delights of the French Court after hee had wedded there the daughter and one of the heires of John Earle of Auverne and Lauragveze died there without issue Whom in a respective reverence to the bloud royall of the Scots Francis the first King of France gave thus much honour unto as that hee allowed him place betweene the Archbishop of Langres and the Duke of Alenson Peeres of France After his death there was no Duke of Albanie untill that Queene Marie in our memorie conferred this title upon Henrie Lord Darly whom within some few daies after shee made her husband like as King James the sixth granted the same unto his owne second sonne Charles being an Infant who is now Duke of Yorke There inhabite these regions a kinde of people rude warlike readie to fight querulous and mischievous they bee commonly tearmed High-landmen who being in deed the right progenie of the ancient Scots speak Irish call themselves Albinich their bodies be firmely made and well compact able withall and strong nimble of foot high minded inbread and nuzzeled in warlike exercises or robberies rather and upon a deadly feud and hatred most forward and desperate to take revenge They goe attired Irish-like in stript or streaked mantles of divers colours wearing thicke and long glibbes of haire living by hunting fishing fowling and stealing In the warre their armour is an head-peece or Morion of iron and an habergeon or coat of maile their weapons bee bowes barbed or hooked arrowes and broad backe-swords and being divided by certaine families or kinreds which they terme Clannes they commit such cruell outrages what with robbing spoiling and killing that their savage crueltie hath forced a law to bee enacted whereby it is lawfull That if any person out of any one Clanne or kinred of theirs hath trespassed ought and done harme whosoever of that Clanne or linage chance to bee taken he shall either make amends for the harmes or else suffer death for it when as the whole Clan commonly beareth feud for any hurt received by any one member thereof by execution of lawes order of justice or otherwise PERTHIA OR PERTH Sheriffdome OUt of the very bosome of Mountaines of Albany Tau the greatest river of all Scotland issueth and first runneth amaine through the fields untill that spreading broad into a lake full of Islands hee restraineth and keepeth in his course Then gathering himselfe narrow within his bankes into a channell and watering Perth a large plentifull and rich countrey he taketh in unto him Amund a small river comming out of Athol This Athol that I may digresse a little out of my way is infamous for witches and wicked women the countrey otherwise fertile enough hath vallies bespread with forrests namely where that WOOD CALEDONIA dreadfull to see to for the sundrie turnings and windings in and out therein for the hideous horrour of dark shades for the burrowes and dennes of wild bulls with thicke manes whereof I made mention heretofore
which name is derived not à vergendo that is of bending towards as some are of opinion but of Mor-weridh for this name the Britans gave it or else of Farigi by which name the Irish men call it the most famous Iland HIBERNIA that is to say IRELAND encloseth the West side of Britain an Iland which in times past challenged the third place amongst all the Isles of the then knowne world For thus as touching Ilands writeth the ancient Geographer ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is Of all Ilands for greatnesse the Indian TAPROBANE is prime and principall next after it BRITAINE and in a third degree another British Iland named HIBERNIA that is Ireland and thereupon Ptolomee called it LITTLE BRITAIN This Isle by Orpheus Aristotle and Claudian is named IERNA by Iuvenal Mela JUVERNA by Diodorus Siculus IRIS by Martian of Heraclea JOYEPNIA by Eustathius OYERNIA and BERNIA by the native inhabitants Erin by the Britans Yuerdon and of English men Ireland Whence these names have had their originall sundry and divers opinions have beene conceived from time to time as in a doubtfull matter Some derive Hibernia from Hiberno tempore that is from the Winter season others from Hiberus a Spaniard and some againe from the river Iberus the author of the booke entituled Eulogium from Duke Irnalph Postellus a fancifull man when he read Pomponius Mela publikely in Paris because hee would seeme to have a reach beyond other men fetcheth the originall thereof from the Hebrewes so that Irin should bee as much as Iurin that is the Jewes land The Iewes forsooth saith he being most wise Sages and learned Philosophers knowing by their learning that the Empire of the world should be setled in the strongest Angle which lieth West seized upon those parts and Ireland with the first The Syrians also and Tyrians to lay the foundation of their future Empire endevoured all they could to inhabite those Regions Pardon me I pray you if I dare not subscribe hereto no nor give my consent to that opinion most received as touching the Winter season aforesaid although I have read that in this Iland the aire upon every winde is cold and winterlike As for Hibernia Iuverna and Ouernia they came doubtlesse from IERNA spoken of by Orpheus and Aristotle and the same Ierna as also Iris Yuerdhon and Ireland from Erin the tearme that the inhabitants use From this Erin therefore a word proper unto the nation the originall must be deduced Here I with those great Philosophers ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is hold off and suspend my judgement neither know I what to divine and ground my conjecture upon unlesse peradventure that name may come from Hiere an Irish word which with them signifieth the West or a Western coast whence Erin may seeme to bee derived as one would say a Western countrey Of this opinion have I been a good while since induced thereto with my owne conceit and flattering conjecture both because it lieth furthest Westward of any region in all Europe as being no more than twelve degrees distant from the utmost West point as also for that the river running in the most remote West part of this Iland is in Ptolomee called IERNUS like as the Promontorie or Cape bearing out farthest West in Spaine from whence our Irish-men came is named by Strabo IERNE and as the next river unto it which also is most West of all the rivers in Spaine is called by Mela IERNA Moreover by reason of the Western situation Spaine is named Hesperia and that West Cape in Africk Hesperium cornu yea and even in Germanie these countries Westrich Westphalen c. have their denomination from that position and site so that it is no marvaile if Ireland were tearmed Erin of the Western situation Besides these names of Ireland which I have spoken of the Irish Bards or Poets have usually taken up in their ballads these tearmes Tirvolas Totidanan and Banno as the most ancient names of this Iland but upon what reason I wot not unlesse Banno were that Bannomanna which Plinie mentioneth out of Timaeus whiles his pen coasteth along the outmost sides and skirts of Europe and the shore of the Northren Ocean on the left hand from Scythia even as farre as Cadis in Spaine For what countrey that same Bannomanna should bee the Geographers have not yet found out But Biaun in Irish signifieth Sacred or Holy and verily Festus Avâenus calleth Ireland SACRAM INSULAM that is The holy Iland in that little booke intituled ORAE MARITIMAE that is The Sea coasts which he compiled out of most ancient Geographers namely Hecataeus of Miletum Hellanicus of Lesbos Philaeus of Athens Caryandaeus Pausymachus of Samos Damastus Euctemon and others But I will write downe his verses for when he had spoken of the Ilands Ostrymides thus he versifieth Ast hinc duobus in SACRAM sic insulam Dixêre prisci solibus cursus rati est Haec inter undas multum cespitem jacit Eamque latè gens Hibernorum colit Propinqua rursus insula Albionum patet But to the SACRED Isle for so They us'd to call it long agoe From hence a course who so desires Just two dayes sailing it requires Much turfe it casts the waves among And Irish dwell therein along Now very neere to it againe The Albions Isle is kenned plaine If that OGYGIA which Plutarch placed on the West side of our Britaine were not ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã but ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã not a vaine dreame but a matter in truth hee may seeme by that name plainly to point at Ireland although the reports that he so sadly telleth of it be meer poeticall fictions Milesian toies Neither can any man readily tell why they called it Ogygia unlesse haply of the antiquitie For the Grecians tearmed nothing by the name of Ogygia but that which was very ancient And Robert Constantine seemeth to have shot wide all the world over when he affirmeth that CERNE mentioned in Lycophron was our Ireland for Lycophron himselfe and Tzetzes that commenteth upon him doe place Cerne toward the sunne rising and all the best learned men thinke it to be Madagascar situated as it were in another world right under the Tropique of Capricorne right over against Aethiopia Thus much touching the names of Ireland yet so as we remember withall to take this by the way that in these later times it was called also SCOTIA that is Scotland by Isidor and Bede of the Scots who inhabited it and that thence the name of Scotland together with the Scots themselves came into Britaine But of this we have spoken alreadie once before and therefore have no cause to repeat here This Iland is stretched out from South to North not broader than it is long as Strabo hath recorded but shaped in forme of a lentile or an egge nor of twentie dayes sailing as Philemon in Ptolomee hath set it downe but according to
that hee should be apprehended and brought unto William King of Scotland that with him he might be kept in prison And Olave lay prisoner in irons and chaines almost seven yeeres In the seventh yeere died William King of Scotland after whom succeeded his sonne Alexander Now before his death he gave commandement that all prisoners should be set free Olave therefore being enlarged and at liberty came to Man and soone after accompanied with no small traine of Noblemen he went to S. James and after he was thus returned Reginald his brother caused him to marry a Noble mans daughter of Kentyre even his owne wives whole sister named Lavon and gave him Lodhus in possession to enjoy Some few daies after Reginald Bishop of the Ilands having called a Synod canonically divorced Olave the sonne of Godred and Lavon his wife as being the cousin german of his former wife After this Olave wedded Scristine daughter of Ferkar Earle of Rosse For this cause Reginalds wife Queene of the Ilands was wroth and directed her letters in the name of Reginald the King into the I le Sky unto Godred her sonne that he should kill Olave As Godred was devising meanes to worke this feat and now entring into Lodhus Olave fled in a little cog-boat unto his father in law the Earle of Rosse aforesaid Then Godred wasteth and spoileth Lodhus At the same time Pol the son of Boke Sheriffe of Sky a man of great authority in all the Ilands because he would not give his consent unto Godred fled and together with Olave lived in the Earle of Rosses house and entring into a league with Olave they came both in one ship to Sky At length having sent forth their spies and discoverers they learned that Godred lay in a certain Iland called St. Columbs Ile having very few men with him misdoubting nothing Gathering therefore about them all their friends and acquaintance with such voluntaries as were ready to joine with them at midnight with five shippes which they drew from the next sea-shore distant from the Island aforesaid some two furlongs they beset the Isle round about Godred then and they that were with him rising by the dawning of the day and seeing themselves environed on every side with enemies were astonied but putting themselves in warlike armes assaied right manfully to make resistance but all in vaine For about nine a clocke of the day Olave and Pol the foresaid Sheriffe set foot in the Iland with their whole army having slain all those whom they found without the enclosure of the Church they tooke Godred put out his eyes and gelded him Howbeit to this deed Olave did not yeeld his consent neither could he withstand it for Bokes sonne the Sheriffe aforesaid For this was done in the yeere 1223. The Summer next following Olave after he had taken hostages of all the Lords and potentates of the Isles came with a fleet of 32. saile toward Man and arrived at Rognolfwaht At this very time Reginald and Olave divided the kingdome of the Ilands between themselves and Man was given to Reginald over and beside his owne portion together with the title of King Olave the second time having furnished himselfe with victuals from the people of Man returned with his company to his portion of the Iland The yeere following Reginald taking with him Alane Lord of Galway went with his souldiers of Man to the Iland parts that hee might disseize his brother Olave of that portion of land which hee had given unto him and bring it under his owne dominion But because the Manksmen were not willing to fight against Olave and the Ilanders for the love they had to them Reginald and Alan Lord of Galway returned home without atchieving their purpose After a little while Reginald under pretence of going to the Court of his Soveraigne the Lord King of England tooke up of the people of Man an hundred Markes but went in very deed to the Court of Alan Lord of Galway At the same time he affianced his daughter unto the son of Alan in marriage Which the Manksmen hearing tooke such snuffe and indignation thereat that they sent for Olave and made him their King MCCXXVI Olave recovered his inheritance to wit the kingdome of Man and of the Ilands which his brother Reginald had governed 38. yeeres and reigned quietly two yeeres MCCXXVIII Olave accompanied with all the Nobles of Man and a band of the strongest men of the country sailed over into the Ilands A little after Alan Lord of Galway and Thomas Earle of Athol and King Reginald came unto Man with a puissant army all the South part of Man they wasted spoiled the Churches and slew all the men they could lay hold of so that the South part of Man was laid in manner all desolate After this returned Alan with his army into his owne country and left his bailiffes in Man to gather up for him the tributes of the country But King Olave came upon them at unwares put them to flight and recovered his owne kingdome Then the people of Man which before time had been dispersed every way began to gather themselves together and to dwell with confidence and security In the same yeere came King Reginald out of Galway unlooked for at the dead time of night in winter with five ships and burnt all the shipping of his brother Olave and of the Lords of Man at Saint Patrickes Iland and suing to his brother for peace stayed forty daies at the haven of Ragnoll-wath Meane while he won and drew unto him all the Ilanders in the South part of Man who sware they would venture their lives in his quarrell untill hee were invested in the one halfe of the kingdome On the contrarie part Olave had the Northren men of the Isle to side with him and upon the 14. day of February at a place called Tingualla there was a battell strucke betweene the two brethren wherein Olave had the victorie and King Reginald was by some killed there without his brothers knowledge And certaine rovers comming to the South part of Man wasted and harried it The Monks of Russin translated the body of King Reginald unto the Abbey of S. Mary de Fournes and there enterred it was in a place which himselfe had chosen for that purpose After this went Olave to the King of Norway but before that hee was come thither Haco King of Norway ordained a certaine Noble man named Huâbac the sonne of Owmund for to bee King of the Sodorian Ilands and called his name Haco Now the same Haco together with Olave and Godred Don Reginalds son and many Norwegians came unto the Ilands and at the winning of a fort in the Iland Both Haco chanced to be smit with a stone whereof he died and lieth buried in Iona. MCCXXX Olave came with Godred Don and the Norwegians to Man and they divided the kingdome among themselves Olave held Man and Godred being gone unto the Ilands was slaine in the
Constantius Chlorus Emperour Baronius in his Ecclesiasticall History Helena * Venerable and right devout Empresse * Inne keeper or Hostesse Of the death of Theodosius Eusebius * Those in Albanie in the North of Scotland See Suidas why he was called Poore Constantine the Great Emperour Panegyrick oration unto Constantine the Great Gelasius Cizicenus lib. 1. Act. Concil Nicaen cap. 3. Pacatianus Vicegerenâ of Britaine in the thirteenth yeaâ of Constaâtine the Great Gildas The Roman civill government in Britaine under the latter Emperors As L L. chiefe Justices Grand Seneschals or high Stewards * Magistros Militum Vicar of Britaine * Comes * Spectabiles Comes of Britaine Comes of the Saxon shore Duke of Britaine * Resembling the Lord Treasurer * Comes rerum privatarum as one would say Keeper of the privie purse Constantine the Emperor Constans Emperour Athanasius in Apolog. 2. Magnentius called also Taporus * Comitem Angelus Rochâ * The Emperours Gratianus Funarius Am. Marcellinus Constantius Paulus Catena Ammianus Marcellinus lib. 14. Martin Vicar of Britaine What torturing Instrument this Eculeus was seene in Carolus Sigonius De Iudiciis lib. 3. cap 17. * Lupicinus Magister Armorum * Now Bulgarians Rhutupiae London The heresie of Arius Gildas Sulpitius Severus These calleth Hilarius The Bishops of the Provinces of Britaine in an Epistle unto the Bishops Julian the Emperour Am. Marcellinus * Or Emperour Valentinian Emperour Ammianus Marcellinus lib. 27. and 28. * This place of the text is haply corrupted Theodosius Picts Scots Attacots * Called the sleeve * Ribchester by Sandwich or Richborow London called Augusta Civilis Dulcitius Valentine stirreth up sedition in Britaine Valentia Areani Gratianus Emperour Maximus the Tyrant Zosimus Orosius * Emperor Prosper Tyro * Treviris Gregorius Toronensis Cedrenus Zosimus Priscillianists Sulpitius Severus * Turonum * Bono Reip. Sulpitius Alexander Zonaras Zosimus Sisseg * Or âudisti * British or of Britaine Procopius Honorius Emperour * Or exangues * Fastidius Genadius Chrysanthus Niephorus * Lieutenant or Deputie * Pure Tripartite Historie Marcus Emperour Gratian Emperour Constantine Emperour * Valence * Monte Genebre or Mont Cenââ * Monte Mojore de S. Bernardo * Montagâââi Carrara Lunigiana in the Countie of Tendar * Carragoca Nicephorus Callistus * As one would say Heire apparant Victorinus Rector or Ruler of Britaine * Bretagne little Britaine or Llydaw Zosimus Histor. Miscel. Gallio Ravennas Gildas * Betweene the mouth of Tine and Elen. Sigebert ãâã Anno 428. The English-Saxon-Chronicle * Yei called Gaule inter auxilia Palatina How the Britans are descended from the Trojans * The people of Auergne in France * Trojan * Burgundians Tacit. Histor. lib. 4. * Those of Colein and thereabout Ammian Marcellin sib 28. * Deputies * Regents TASCIA See in Essex See in Hartford-shire God Belinus * Ancient Inhabitants of France * Henbane * Welch Cuno * Welchmen * Vitrei coloris * Or Dabuni Glocestershire and Oxford-shire Of Arras * Or Gallena that is Wallengford Victoria Andate * Those of the County of Beaufort * In Octagono * People of Anjou or Angiers Solidurij Caesar Comment Soldiers Strabo * Sativis Appian * Pol-silver Numisma Census Dio. Cassius * The Emperour * Or Ploughman * Or Vsurpers * Or Vsurper Others read Laelianus * A kind of coine * Treveris * Solemnized every fifth yeare * Arles * Emperours D. 1. c. de auri pub proscent L. 12. 13. C. The de suscept praepos Gilda Saxons called forth into Britaine Carroghes Scitick vale * The Irish sea This Gildas here in the Manuscript Copies of France is named Querulis as the right worrhy Barnabas Brisonius hath reported unto me In some Copies AGITIVS in other Equitius Cos. without any number Kings anointed Pestilence Saxons received into Britaine * Germanie Ciulae * Germany * Epimenia Gildas * A song at their first setting out Bretagne or little Britain * Or Welchmen * Or Welchmen Cod. Theod. lib. 7. Tit. 20. * Britaine Britanniciani Armorica Haply Lexo vij in Plinie Zonaras Procopius termeth them Arborici and another calleth the countrey Cornâ Galliae * Visâgothes Sidââ Appollinar * Ligeris Anno 470. * French wriâers * Venettâsis Gregor Turââ lib. 10. cap. 9. * Amphiballus a sacred vesture hairie on both sides An old Glossarie Aurelius Conanus wheâ also was called Caninus V.c. in an old booke Vortipor * Southwales as Caermarden shire Pembrooke shire and Cardigan shire Cuneglasus Magoeunus Cornwalis Britwales Welch Walli * Danubium * Welchmen Statute of Wales * Welchmen * Lib. 1. PICTS * Gallies or Keeles Their manners and demeanour Their name * Now Albanie Lib. 4. cap. 37. Their Language Dicalâdinij Vecturiones The manners of the Picts Blondus Honoriaci Bede * Reckoning the said day * Asterius Comes Pictorum Pictones Scota King Pharaohs daughter * Flower gatherer the name of an Historie Lib. 9. cap. 2. Ireland the native Countrey of the Scots Gaiothel or Gaithel and Gâel * Burbonnois * Welchmen * Welchmen âallis Scythica In Hypodigmate * Lib. 6. * Lib. 4. Caribes Benzo lib. 2. Tom. 1. pag. 37. Whence the Scots came into Ireland Scythians in Spaine * Those of Biscay and there about Concani Lib. 3. * Russians and Tartarians * Capanillo Luceni * Those about Luca. Germans in Spaine De consolatione ed Albinum lib. 4. cap. 12. Vassaeus * Or Fankners Orasius lib. 7. * Flagella crinium * That is the Redshanks * Vpon Horace De arte Poetica Lib. 2. de bellâ Gothorum Lib. 6. cap. 25 Diodorus Siâulus An Dom. 77. Scot. Almans Agath lib. 1. When the Scots came into Britaine As also for their Etymologie in his notes upon Eusebius Chronology See them * That is Ireland See in Ireland and before Lib. 5. cap. 15. * Vnto Creâiphon against Pelagians * Emperour Beda lib. 1. ca. 1. Alban and Albin Albin Albinus The Albine Dogge Lib. 1 cap. ult Bede Attacotti Lib. 2. contra Iovianum * Ambrones Anglo-Saxons Who also is called Guortigern * Orkney Isles * Mare Fresicum Aurelius Ambrosius Gildas calleth him Ambrosius Aurelianus * Haply Martian * Brets for Britans * Picts Saxons from the Sacae in Asia Tartarie Lib. 11. Melaâcthon Cisnerus Michael Nâander Axones people of Gaule * Elbe Zosimus Ethelward Son to King Adulph in the fourth degree flourished the yeere 950. Ode 2. of Leiden Spartianus Trebellius Pollio Capitolinus c. * Alias Danubius Donâw * Marmajore Angles or Englishmen Lib. 1. cap. 15. * Iutarum So readeth the Manuscript and not Vitârâm Angel in Denmarke the seat of the English or Angles * Faire De bello Gothico lib. 4. Saxons Angles and Iutes one nation Anglo-Saxons when they came into Britaine * or Aetius * or Register Fasti Consulares Baronius * Read Fusius * or battell * Elsewhere Decius Paulinus
Solis ab Ortu Gens Deo dicata per quem sic sum renovata Let Church-men and religious folke from time that Sun doth rise Blesse Adam Port by whom I am rebuilded in this wise Segontiaci Basingstoke Basing Saint Iohn Out of an old Missall of the Family of Powlet Vines in Britaine Vopiscus Barons Sands Odiam Matthew Paris Vindonum Silcester Sepulchres of honour Constantine Emperour chosen in hope of his name * Bononia * Heire apparant Iulianus Nobilissimus Sel what it is Armes of the Blewets Bainards and Cusantes Kings-cleare Sidmanton * Specula Beacon Newport The Inhabitants In Vespati cap. 4. Anno D. 5 Bede lib. 4. cap. 13. Bede lib. 4. cap. 16. Lords of the Isle of Wight Christ-Church * Or Gaule France Comius Attrebatensis In stratagemat Asserius * Ouze Farendon Guil. New brigâsis Abbenduâ or Abingâ Hââicââ Quintus quarto fundaverat anno Rex ãâã Burford super undas atque Culhamford K. Henry of that name the fifth the fourth yeare of his reigne both Burford Bridge and Culhamford did found on River mayne Now Ashbury neere to White horse hill Besides Lee. Fetiplace * Ouse Vicount Lisle See the Earles of Shrewsbury Pusey Denchworth Wantage Fitzwarin Tamisis or Tamis the River Sinodum Bretwell Robert Montensis Gallena Wallengfor Domesday booke Records of Wallengford ãâã Coâitis Of the honor of Wallengford in Testa âevilli in the Exchequer A most grievous Pestilence Moules-ford Carew Aldworth The River Kenet Hungerford 1. pârs dupl patent Norm 6. â 5. Barons of Hungerford Widehay * De S. Amâ Barons de Amand. Beauchaâ De S. âmaâ Spine Newbury Lambor * Almeshouse Aldermaston Reading Maude the Empresse King Henry the second King Richa the first Sunning Bisham Grandison Maidenhead Bibroci * Bray Windesore Order of the Garter Shame to hâ that evill thinketh Soveraigâ Founders of the Order Almes-Knights Wickham his Apophthegm * Or free Eaton Barons of Windsore Queene Elizabeth Queene Elizabeths Mot or Empresse * Flowing or rolling * Or the ãâã Windsor Forrest Chases or Forrests Forrest what it is and whence so called Protoforestarius Iustices of the Forrests The Kings Knight The Kingdome of West-Saxons Geguises Rhey Oking or Woking William Ockham Pater Noâânalium Where Caeâ crossed the Tamis Coway-stakes The river Mole Anas a river in Spaine Ockley Gatton Rhie-gate Holmesdale Holmecastle * Or Inquisitions * In Baronia sua de Conquesta Angliae Effingham The Swallow or Swallow hole A bridge on which flockes of sheepe are pastured L. Bray Richmond Both the place and the village before the time of King Henry the Seventh called Shene Edward the Third The death of Queene Elizabeth 1603. How farre the Tamis ebbeth and floweth Why Tamis ebbeth and floweth so far within Land * The seventh * The Third None-such * Vandalis Woodcote Noviomagi Noviomagus Croidon Beddington * Addington Aguilon Merton Wimbledon Putney See Earles of Essex Kennington Lambith * Hardy-Cnute Southworke Barons Saint Iohn of Lagham Sterborow Lord Borough or Burgh Earles of Surrie who also are called Earles of Warren Earles of March in France Downes Anderida wood Iron Glasses Selsey Scales Here be the best Cockles slaves Amberley See the Earles of Shrewsburie * D' aubeney some write him de Albinetâ and de Albiniacâ Earles of Arundell and of Sussex Charta antiqua X. in 29. Parl. 11. H 6 229. 4. Edw. 3 See before the Earles of Surrey * As having married his daughter Spigurnell what it is Petworth The Percies See in the end of Northumberland Dautry Burton Horsham Michelgrove Shelley Offington The familie of the Wests * De Cantelupâ Barons de la Ware Cisburie Cimenshore Brood-water Lord Camois Camois A wife given and granted to another Parlam 30. Edw. primi The forme of a Bill of a kind of Divorcement called Kepudiuâ Shoreham Ederington Slaugham Lewes * For custome or rent and roll Domesday booke * Or redeemeth the offence * Cluniaco The monument of Magnus a Dane 1263. The battaile of Lewes 232. Others call it The three Charles Downes Pevensey Florentius wigorniensis pag. 452. Composition betweene King Stephen and Henrie of Anjoy Honor de Aquila Robert de Monte Herst Monceaux Herst what it is Regist of the Monasterie of Roberts-bridge The familie of the Fienes Patent 37. Henrie 6. An. 14. Ed. 4. See Normans before A mercate kept on the Sunday Ashburnham Hastings * Cinqueports 21. Edw. 1. 3946. 1578. Ancenses Earles of Ew * Esc. 7. H. 6. Enquisition 5. Edw. 1. William Lord Hastings 26. Henry 6. Baron of Hoo and Hastings Winchelsey Camber-Castle * Rhie * The River Rother Barons Burghersh Baron Echingham Roberts Bridge or Rotherbridge Bodiam Baron Buckhurst Earles of Sussex See Earles of Arundell * With the beard 21. Henry 8. The Kingdome of the South-Saxons Carion corruptly read in Diodorus Siculus Hereof commeth Canton in Heraldrie for a corner and the Helvetians countreys were bâ the French called Canton Rumney Marsh. Pâaâ 15. ca. 25. Cherries were brought over into Britaine about the yeare of our Lord 48. 236. Prowesse of Kentishmen Iulius Cesar. See Romans in Britaine Page 34. * Ravensburn An old great Campe. Depe-ford Magnignot Green-wich The same that Danes Eltham The Booke of Durham The Breach 1527. Leisnes * Scurvy-grasse 1527. The herbe Britannica * Friseland * See afterward in the British Isles concerning the Arrenat or Armory of the Britaines * Sevenoke Knoll Otford Dartford Swane-scomb that is King Swanes Campe. Graves-end Inquis 35. E. 3 Barons of Cobham Clive at Ho. Medway Weald Penshurst Sidney Vicount Lislâ See in Barke shire Philip Sidney Tunbridge * The Lowy of Tunbridge * Whet-stones Mereworth Vagniacae Madus Lenâhââ Bocton Mâlherb Baron Wotton Fin. Mich. xi E. 2. Leeds castle The family â Crevequer * Ailesford Horsted Catigern his Sepulchre Boxley Wrotham Malling Leibourn Baron Leibourn Briling Baron Say Durobrevis In an ancient table set forth by Welser Roibis Ceaster what it is Rochester * Niding William of Malmesbury Textus Roffensis An antient Manuscript booke of that church * The French called him Canol The Kings Navy Toliatis an Isle Shepey Iu. âet Queene Borough Tenham Chery gardens Feversham Pits made in Kent * Reculver Regulbium * Hadrianââ Iunius Stoure river Ashford Wie Page 4157. Chilham Fulbert of Dover 1306. * Fel-borough As we call Iuliana Gilian Laberias Durus a Tribune Durovernum * Welsh Canterbury Augustine the Apostle of the Englishmen Pall what it is Anno. 7093. Hackington Saint Stephens Fordich * The first English Nunne Elham Inq. 2. E. 3. Herdes * Hides in English An hides as it is thought consisteth of an hundred acres called in latine in old time Familia Mansa and Manens Lapis tituli Now Elflet 596. Minster 1217. Lewis of France Chronicles of W. Thorn Rhutupia Portuâ Trutuâensiâ * The youngeâ * Caer Leon Clemens Maximus * See how these verses are englished in pag. 83. There bee that under ãâã name of Rhiââtupine would
called Knights of the Rhodes and now of Malt. Templars * Lords of S. Johns Charter-house Barbacan Galâottus Martius London Bridge See of Southwarke in Suthrey Saint Saviour Suffolkehouse S. Thomas Hospitall Stewes Band-dogges or Mastives Societies or Companies of Citizens ââibus Wards * Or Portgrave Praetor or Major 1411. 1405. The Burse 1567. Royall Exchange Grehams College Guicciardin * Orpheus harpe a star * Or beyond Radcliffe Isle of Dogs Edmonton Waltham Crosse. Enfield Chase. Waltham Forest. Waltham Abbay Baron Deny Copthall Durolitum Berking Roding the river The Booke of Ely Chipping Angre Liber Inq. de Ripariu * Marshes Holes cut out In Kent pag. 334. Tilbury Convennos thâ Isle Canvey Beamfleot S. Shobery Anno 894. Rochford Lord Rochfoâ * Lawlesse Court Havering Rumford See the the Annalles Brent-wood Caesaromagus called in the Itinerary table Baromagus South-Okindon Bruin Thorndon Baron Petre. Ashdowne Arpen Wine Radulphus de Dicero The family of the Essex Dengy hundred Essex cheese The Normans call him Peverell In the Records Saint Hilary terme E. 2.17 in the keeping of the Treasurer and Chamberlaine of the Exchequer Seales or signets first taken up among Englishmen Barons Rich. The Booke of Saint Martins in London Canonium Cogeshall Tirell Easterford Whitham Camalodunum Maldon Camulus a God Claudius in Britannia Servius * Deified The Altar and Temple of Claudius Dio saith fourescore thousand Idumanuâ * Domesday The bounds of Colonies Cogeshall Lib. 9. cap. 54. Hawkwood * 4. Verses * 14. H. 4. Colonia Colchester 1105. Helen Great Constantines mother S. Osith Chic Barons Darcy of Chich. Nesse Giants Giants bones Harewich * Barklow * Ancient tombes Danes-bloud Walden Commonly called Mandevilles Baron Audley of Walden 1597. Burrow-banke Saffron Barons of Clavering See in Northumberland Barons Montfichet The Montfichet Coat of Armes Playz Haslingbury Barington Hatefield Brad-oke Earles of Essex Register of Walden Register of Walden Monastery See the Earles of Hereford Eliz. sister to Rich. Duke of Yorke Ichenild-street Sphen Seneca his usury in Britanny Andates or Andrastes The Goddesse Victory In Kent * Earle or Lieutenant * Seven kingdomes East-Angle Uff kines Ralph President of East-Angle Cheeses Novus mercatus Newmercate Newmarket Heath S. Edmunds Bury Guord or worth Bery the Britan. Malmesburiensis Eversden * Now but two * Or Scâeschal * Humfrey Duke of Glocester Ikesworth Blund * Drury 1173. Hengrave Culfurth Sir Nicholas Bacon Lidgate John Lidgate Stoke Clare Earles of Clare * Ad Albam Pompiam * Aucensis or Ewâ Guliel Gemiâicensis Lib. 7. c. 37. Rob. Montensis Dukes of Clarence 1421. Sudbury Edwardeston * Barones Monte-chensie Minor Histor. Matth. Paris * Waldgrave Buers Cumbretonium Bretenham Barons Wentworth * Lancham Hadley Gathrum or Garmo the Dane Bentley Arwerton Wulpet Vera narratio Norton Hagoneth Farter A prety conceited tenure Ipswich Domesday booke Waleton Langerston * Others call it Thredling Boutetort Rendelisham * Cedde * Some name it Winchell Framlingham Parrham Barons Willoughbey of Parrham Oreford Tritons and Monsters of the Sea Aldburgh Pease growing out of the Rockes Dunwich Allectum or Halecum Blithborrow * De Casineto Easton-Nesse Extensio A Promontory Lib. 3. de Natura Deorum Wingfield Philips Huntingfield Henningham Halesworth Hoxon King Edmunds Martyrdome Cornwalleis Eaye Liber inquisitionum * By intrusion reaping the commodities thereof Bedingfield Flixton Bungey Mettingham Luthingland Lestoffe Somerley towne Cnoberi urbs Dukes and Earles of Suffolke Inquisit 5. Rich. 2. Leland in his Commentary upon his Cygnea Cantio Walsingham pag. 358. Regist. Monal de Melsâ See Hull in Yorkeshire Sitomagus Thetford Magus The Family of the Knevets Barons Bourchiers of Berners Hengham Lord of Rhia * Sculton Wood rising Windham Attilborough Mortimers Venta Icenorum Caster Horsford * De Casineto Norwich Wic in the Saxons tongue what it signifieth * In the English Saxon Grammer Augusta Raâracorum * Fine as some take it * Or Dutchmen of the Low countries A Ruffe De Rariorum animatium Historia * Halles-hall Hobart Garieniâ Ostium Yarmouth Garianonââ * Caurus * Aquilo Cerdicus the Saxon. Cerdick sand William Worcester * Domesday booke * Portuenses * Lieutenant Hertings * Halecum Portuenses The river Thyrn Blickling Ailesham * Worsted Worsted Stuffe Saint Benets in the Holme Ludham Clipsby A most fat and battle ground Bronholme * Paston Gimmingham Wauburne Blackney 1321. John Baconthorp The Resolute Doctor Meales oâ Miles Walsingham Regulares Houghton The Neirfords * Petronillae Vaâlx Brannodunum Brancastor Hunstanton Le Strange Sharnborn Foelix a Bishop The Washes Mecaru Aestuarium Lynne * Welâh Tilney S. Maries Reports Neirford Wormegay Bardolphs Barons Greshenhall Elsing Folliots Ickborrough Iciani Earles and Dukes of Norfolke Composition betwixt King Stephen and Henry Duke of Anjou Parliament 21. Richard 2. Rot. Parl. 3. Hen. 6. Floddon field See in the Adages of Hadrianus Junius Achilleum Voâum * Byne Mault Roiston See in Hertfordshire Caxton Hatley Saint George * Shengay A Commandery Burne Barones de Burne Barnwell Historie The King heire to private persons Camboritum Rith what it signifieth in British and French Grantcester Cambridge Colledges John Caiuâ * Decently magnificent Barnewell Historia Barnewallensis Historia Barnwellensis * Paganut Joffred made Abbot of Crowland Anno 1109. Studium Aurelianense * Stourbridge Faire Gogmagog Hills A Military Fort. Wandlesbury Salston Horsheath See in Hertfordshire Castle Camps Magistra Cameraria Angliae Lord Great Chamberleine * Inq. 6. E. 2. Ditches Fleamdyke * De Rubeo monte De Insula Divels Dyke Abbo died anno 1003. Canutus began his reigne Anno. 1018. Anno. 905. Burwell Lanheath Wicken * Isleham Peyton Kirtling Barons North. 977. The Fennes and Isle of Ely Girviâ Scordium Pausanias in Corinth Audre Ely Saint Etheldreda commonây S. Audrye Saint Audrieâ Libertie Ely booke The Lanterne Thorney Wisbich Walepoole Newleame Clowcrosse Earle of Cambridge * Or Aufon 1. Nen. Saint Needs Ainsbury Holsome and medicinable welâ Huntingdon Godman-chester Durosiponte Saint Ives Somersham Ramsey Ramsey Mere. Hakeds Kingsdelfe Sawtry commonly Cunnington Saltria Turkill the Dane Edwardus Exul Bruse or Bruis Mosses Wittlesmere Lake The little History of Ely The foundation of Saltry Swerdesdelfe differing from Kings Delfe Kimbolton Stephen Segrave Mat. Paris Leighton Elton Walmsford Durobrivae Stilton Ermingstreet Caster in Northampton-shire Bottle Bridge * Nigellus Earles of Huntingdon See the Earles of Northampton In the last booke cap. 16. Iohn Forden in Scotocronico l. 8. c. 3.6 39. Mat. Paris 1243. * See Dukes of Excester Paâ 26. H. 6. Utopia of Sir Thomas More Barony of the Pinkeneys Parliament 27. H. 6. 7. Edw. 4. Constable of England Sacy Forest. Foresta de Salceto Fines 18. Rich. 2. Bannavenna which untruly is called Isannaventa and Isanavatia Althorp or Oldthorp Baron Spenser Sir Christopher Hatton He died anno 1591. Northampton 1075. Register of Saint Andrewes * De Pratis Gods hoast or Army * Yardley Lord Parr of Horton Kettering The booke of Inquisit in
the Exchequer Baron Vaulx Higham Ferrers Matthew Parker Oundale Barnwell Fotheringhay Cecily Duchesse of Yorke * Fetter-locke Durobrivae Caster Lollham-Bridges Upton Peterborough Mont. Turold The Fennes Braibroke Lords of Braibroke Pipwell Rockingham Haringworth See Ashby De la Zouch in Leicester shire Barons Zouch * De Cantelupo Deane Barons de Engain Or Hymell Apthorpe Thornhaugh Welledon Basset of Welledon Slate-stones Burghley Forti foot ãâã Maxey Peag-Kyrk Ingulfus Stanford The Caves Bounds or Meere marl in old time Lib. de Civi Dei 21. cap. Botontines Hence perventure ãâã our Buttinââ Earles of Northamp The life of Waldeof Watling street Cester-Over Cester Lutterworth John Wickliâââ died 1387. A spring turning strawes and stickes into stones Cley Cester Cleybrooke Bennones 1487. Richard the Third slaine * Barons Zouch De Ashby The family of the Hollands Pit-cole or stone cole Leicester * Or in ore * * Amiciae * Or Priest Or Road dikes Ferrers and Greies de Grooby Mont-Soar-hill Historia Minor * Skipwith Lough-borrough Charnwood Forest. * De Bello monte Beaumont The first Vicount of Honor in Englanâ Dunnington Vernometum or Verometum What Vernometum signifieth in the ancient language of the Gaullois Burton Lazers Leprosie in England Melton Skeffington * Wimondham Brookesby Earles of Leicester The words of Henry Huntingdon in his Epistle De Cor temptu mundi * Petronilla Matthew Paris See Eovesham in Worcestershire In the great Register of the Dutchie The naââ Rutland Upping Fines 1 Edw. 3 Barons Cromwell See Earles of Essex Burly Baron Harington The Faulkoners Saint Baron Cecill de Essendon Earles of Rutland Metaris aestuârium The Washes Salt-hils Quicksands Crowland The Divels of Crowland Spalding Boston Robbers in Monkes habits Stilyard The Register of Freston Barons of Burton Croeun De vallibus Herwardus Anglus Ingulph of Crowland Barons de Wake Kesteven Stanford See Burghley in the County of Northampton An Academy or University begun at Stanford * Commonly called High-Dike Gausennae Bridge-Casterton Deping Deping fen Burne Lutterell Sempringham Gilbertine Freers and Sisters Lords of Folkingham Pl. 27. H. 3. Rot. 13. Linc. Inqui. 4.8.2 Screkingham Bussy Sleford Baron Hussy Kime Earles of Anguse Temple Bruer Barons D'incourt Inquis 21. H. 6. Patent 10 Edw. 2. Belvoir or Bever Castle Tony. Stones Astroites The vale of Beaver Margidunum Marga. i. Marle Dunum River Witham Bitham Matthew Paris Colvill Paunton Ad Pontes Crococalana Ancaster Grantham A golden ââââmet Somerton Durham booke Lords of âââââmont Lindsey Fosse dike Hoveden Torksey Domesday booke Lindum Lincolne-Collis an hill Sidnacester R. Hoveden Grosthead he died ann 1233. Matth. Paris Anonymus Chronographus The Staple Highdike Barons of Trusbut Bardney Oswalds banner In the Appendix of Ingulpâ Hornecastle * Alice Dimockes Inq. 23. E. 3. The Kings Champion Fines Micha Anno 1. H. 6. Tatteshall Cromwell Eresby Lords Willoughbey Lords Wels Lords de Engain Bollingbroke Wainfleet Alford Baron Welles * Grimsby Castor Thong-caster Byrsa * In Virgil Byrsam Thorton College Barton upon Humber Kettleby Tirwhitt Bye what it is Delicate fowles Knotts Dotterellâ Stow. Knath Darcy de Nocton and Knath Fines 29. E. 3. Gainesborrow Barons Borrough Sidnacester Saint Paul Axelholme Gals a shrub * Alabastrites * Henry the Second in regard of his sonne whom he had made King with him Earles of Lincolne 2. H. 2. Lib. Monaster de Stanlow 2. Edw. â Escaet 1. E. 3. N. 134. See Dukes of Suffolke Anno 14. Elizabethae The river Trent Lin a riveret Byron * Wollaton Lenton Nottingham * Trent 1175. Rog. Hoveden Pag. 307. Mortimers hole Pier pount * De Petrae ponte Barony of Sheleford Battaile of Stoke Suthwell Tio-vul-Finga-cester Tiptofts Chaworths * Cahors in Quercy 1216. Littleborrough Agelocum or Segelocum Shirewood Mansfield L. Everingham Lexinton Idle the river Markham Workensop Liquorice S. Mary of Radford Blithe Lords and Earles of Nottingham Lib. M. Linton Matth. Paris p. 126. See Earles of Darby Matth. Paris p. 204. Hoveden pag. 373. b. Inq. 6. Rich. 2. See Dukes of Norfolke Greisly Castle The family of the Greisleys The family of the Shirleys * Baron Curson Repton King Burthred Melborn Chattesworth Cavendish * Thraves of corne as it should seeme Ale Cervisia in latine Curmi in Dioscorides Ale in English of Oel a Danish word Turnebus de Vino Barons Montjoye Greies of Sandiacre Codenor Castle Barons Grey of Codenor Alfreton The Barons of Alfreton coat of Armes Staveley Freshwell commonly Baron Cavendish Walton Sutton The Peake Wolves Inq. 2. Ed. 2. Lead Brodaeus Antimony Milstones Grindstones Whetstones Fluores Chrystall Vernon Buxton 46. Ed. 3. Devils Arse in Peake Elden hole * A strange Well Th. Fitz-Herbert p. 223. Lords and Earles of Darby Simon Dunelm Hovenden Matthew Paris 204. Chart. antiq 1. Ioban Northren Mercians Feldon The Vale of Redhorse Shipston in Worcestershire Kinton Compton Shugbury Stones Astroites Sigstean See in Lincolnshire Leamington Off-Church * In some Copies Radford Fosse way Peito Rosse and T.B. against the destroyers of Villages Newenham Regis Holsome Welles Bagginton Stoneley Register of Stoneley Abbay Warwick Praesidium Florus lib. 4. c. ult Forreine Souldiers in Provinces Blacklow hill which others call Gaversden Guy-cliffe J. Rosse of Warwick Guy of Warwick Charle-cot Stratford upon Avon Baron Carew of Clopton Woodland Arden Diana Ardwena Studly Coughton Throckmorton Ousley Beauchamps Court Grevills Henley Aulcester A booke in the Exchequer Arrow Burdet Wroxhall Badesley Balshall Register of the Templars and Order of Saint John of Jerusalem See the Statute of Templars Kenelworth commonly Killingworth Bremicham * Or Birmnighams Honoriuâ 3. cap. 14. Decret * The Bishop of Coventrey is either beside himselfe or seemeth to have rejected knowledge and learning too too much * Of middle England Lords of Coventry 1050. Florilegus Ausley Brand. Caledon Barons Segrave Segraves Coat of Armes Brinklo Castle Combe Abbay Astley or Estley Baron Astley Mandâessedum Mancester Merivall Pollesworth Seckinton Earles of Warwick Placita E. 3. Rotulo 234. Rot. Parl. 23. H. 6. 24. H. 6. Ann. 12. Ed. 4. Dead by Parliament Period of the civill warre betweene Lancaster and Yorke Wichij Salt-pits Kingâ Norton Pyrry Kidderminster Beawdley Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster Hertlebury Holt in old English woods Lampreies * Litleton Grafton Durt-wich Salt springs Fekenham Forest. * Richard de la Wich Worcester Branogenium Married Priests Register of Worcester Church Ann. 964. S. Wolstan Marianus Huscarles Anno 15. Stephen R. Barons de Powicke Hanley Upton Malvern hils Bredon hils Elmesley Castle Bredon The booke of Worcester Washborne Parcels of shires severed from the rest of the body Eovesham The booke of Evesham Monastery About the yeere 1157. The Vale of Evesham Simon Montfort Charleton Flatbury Pershor Oswaldslaw Hundred Augustines oke Anno Christi 603. Earles of Worcester Or D'Abtot Robert de Monte. * Orig. 1. H. 7. R. 36. Midland English men Iron Dudley castle * Chellington Giffards * Tetnall Wolverhampton Weddsborroâ Tame River Draiton Bassââ Bassets Tamworth The Kings Champion
See in Lincolnshire Inquisit 2. E 3. Watling street Etocetum Wall Penck-ridge The River Trent New Castle under Lyme Trentham Stone Erdeswick Names altered according to divers habitations Cankwood LL. Audley * Hastange Noel Harcourt Stafford Cap grave Marianus * Ticks hall Chartley. L. Ferrars of Chartley. Beaudesert L L. Paget Lichfield About the yeere 779. History of Rochester * Cedda Wil. Malmesbur A. Alabaster Burton upon Trent Who also it named Mowen 1904. * Tir Conell The River Blith Needwood Forest. Mooreland The River Dove Hans Churnet De-la-cres Aulton Teyn Checkley Utcester Tutesbury In his booke entituled the praises of Divine wisdome Gervase of Tilbury Earles and Barons of Stafford See Dukes of Buckingham The Marcherâ L. Marchers Marchiones iâ old Histories The Canopy 27. Hen. 8. Clun River Bishops ãâã * Coluno ca strum Clun Castlâ Caer Caradoc King Caratacus Tacitus See the 43. and 44. page * With the strong arme Ludlow Iron hookes 1139. Jenevile The Councell in the Marches Burford Cornwaile Inquis 40. Ed. 3 Baron and Barony Conjugata Cleehill Blunt in the Norman language signifieth yellow haire of the head Bridg-North * De Saneta Clara. Lib. Inquis Willey or Willeley Lib. Inquis Wenlock William Malmesbury Or Wivell * Lord Wenlocke Claus. 17. Edw. 4. Acton Burnel Langley Condover Pichford A fountaine of Pitch or Birumen Pouderbach Stipperstons * Or Welshmen Caurse Routon Rutunium Brocards Castle Uriconium Wroxcester Strattons Wreken-hill Bildas Dalaley Usocona Oken-yate Charleton Tong. Draiton 1459. Inq. 2.10 E. 2. Wem Red-castle Morton Corbet Corbet a forename * Shrewsbury Prebendâ passing hereditarily * Battaile of Shrewsbury 1463. Battailefield The British sweat or sweating sicknesse Hieronymus Fracastorius Flotes Shrawerden Knocking Nesse Barons Le Strange 20. Ed. 4. Oswestre Welsh Cortons 642. Oswald slaine See in Norhthumberland Ecclipses in Aries Whittington The life of Fulke written in French Barons Fitzwarin Latimer what it signifieth White-Church Album Monasterium Ellesmer 1205. Baron of Ellesmer Earles of Shrewsbury H. Huntingdot in his booke of the miseries of life See in Ireland County Palatine Petr. Pitbaus in the description of Campaine Joh. Tilius The most commendable Cheeses * Wirrall Lucian the Monke of the praise of Chester Deva * The River Dee Divona Bonium Banchor Monkery Rutilius Claudius That Banchor of which Saint Bernard speaketh in the life of Malachie was in Ireland Bonium or Banchor is of Flintshire Out of the Rol of Domesday of Chel-shire Barons of Mal-pas * Per breve recognitionis Itinerar lib. 2. cap. 13. Shoclach Gros-venour Deunana Deva Chester Chester a Colony of the Romans * The Rowes Marianus Scotus About the yeere 960. Churches repaired Rodulphus Glaber Wirall Law what it is 1173. Il-bre Finborrow Ridly Beeston Woodhay Bulkley 1134. Trees under gâound Saltpits Nantwich Calveley Vale Royall Northwich Lib. 2. de Fascino Angels Devils Middlewich Bostock Pever Dutton Chronicle of Walles Towchet Rock-Savage Maclesfield Thelwall Runkhorne Elfled or Ethelfled In the yeere of Christ 78. Anno. 51. Earles of Chester Barons to the Earles of Chester * Haubergella * Lands and possessions The Kingdome of the Mercians Wales Silures Dimetae Ordovices Tacitus Silures mistaken for Siluros The River Munow Blestium Old towne Alterynnis The seat of the Cecils Harald Ewias The Family of Ewias Their coat of Armes Tregoz and Grandison Pag. 286. Snod hill Marble Gilden Vale. Irchenfeld Kilpect The river Wy Clifford Castle The Clifford Inquis 26. E. 1. The Profound Doctour Hereford Kenchester 793. S. Ethelbert Martyr Brampton Brian Wigmore Barons Mortimer Richards Castle Lords of Richards Castle Bone well Lemster Lemster Ore the best wooll Lemster bread and Webley Ale Webley Barons Verdons Basservile See Gemition lib. ult Fin. Hilarii 20. Ed. 3. Marden Sutton Marcley hill A Mountaine mooving Scudamore or Escudamor Wilton Barons Grey de Wilton Goderich Castle * Earles of Hereford Constables of England 1156. 2. Par. Chart an 1. Reg. Joan. Matth. Paris Joan. The booke of Walden The booke of Lanthony Mâânastery Henry the Fourth King of England Castle Colwe or Mauds Castle in Colweââ Matth. Paris Radnor Owen Glendour Magesetae Prestaine Knighton Offa dike Vortigern Lewellin Guarthenion Guarish in British slander and Eniawn just Earles of March The booke of Lanthony Abbay See Earles of Ulster See in Yorke-shire toward the end Bulleum Hay Brecknock Linsavethen Mere. Brecknock Mere. Loventium Bricenaw Mere. Brecknock Blean Leveney Lords of Brechnock Called also Braus and Breus Red Booke in the Exchequer Ewias Lacy. Lanthony Barons Lacy. Saint John Baptist. Hodney Grossemont Skinffrith Historia Minor Matth. Paris Monmouth Geffrey Ap-Arthur or of Monmouth Chepstow Earles of Strighâll or Pembrock Venta Caer-went The Booke of Landaffe Church Strighull Castle Portskeweth * Sudbroke Coine of Severus Medailes Inq. 3. E. I. Woundy The Family of Saint Maur or Seimor The Moore An Inundation in January 1607. Gold-cliffe River Uske Abergevenny Lords of Abergevenny Clausae 49. Edw. 3. * Baronesse Le Despenser 6. Ed. 2. Burrium Uske Isca Legionis Câer Lheon ar Uske These Inscriptions are to be seene at Mathern in the Bishop of Landaffes house Veteranuâ Cohortis In printed Copies Claudius Pompeianum and Lâllianus Avitus Coss. Anno Christi 210. * Centurio Thomas James Newport Dun-settan Whence came the name of Glamorgan The subduing of Glamorgan-shire Robert Fitz-Haimon 12. Knights Caerdiffe Caer Philli. The mouth of Ratostabius Traith Taff. Landaff History of Landaff Caerdiffe Robert Curthose Duke of Normandy Sully haply so called of the Silures Barry A wonderfull Cave or hole Cowbridge Bovium Neath Saint Donats Stradling Antique peeces of coine Ogmor river A fountaine ebbing and flowing Sandfords well A fountaine at Cales or Cadiz Eternall habitations Nidus flu i. the river Neath Nidum the towne Neath Loghoâ Gower Th. Walsingh Booke of Neth Monastery Joh. R. 5. Swinsey Leucarum Loghor Lords of Glamorgan-shire West-Wales Caer Marden-shire Kidwelly Guenliana a woman of manly courage Lords of Ogâmor and Kidwelly River Tovie Dinevor Maredunum Caer merdin Merlin * Divinour or Prophet Cantred Bitham Cantred Caves under the ground Cantredmaur Talcharn Lhan-Stephan Taff River * Haelius Whiteland Peeces of Roman Coine New Castle Loventium * Legalis Comitatus Tenby Manober Castle Milford Haven Pembroke The beginning of the Giralds family in Ireland The Roll of Services Carew Castle Gledawgh Flemings in Wales Little England beyond Wales Harford weâ Filium Tan credi Octopitarum Saint David Laud. Saint Patrââ Saint David Bodies of trees in the Sea Falcons Keimes Barony Fisgard New-port Saint Dogmael the Welsh call him Saint Tegwel Lords of Keimes Martins Kilgarran Salmons leap Earles of Penbroke See Pag. 407. Some write that John Duke of Bedford was first for a short time Earle of Penbroke Cardigan-shire King Caratacus Zonaras Tuerobius ãâã river Rosse Strat-fleur Kilgarran The Salmons leap Castoreâ Bevers Cardigan Fitz-Stephen The River Sââccia Y-stwith The river Ridol Lords of Cardigan-shire Ordovices Veneti Guineth * Vannes Genounia
language is called Nesse The river Vedra or Were Witton Barons Evers or D'Eure Auk-land Vinovium Binchester As concerning the Mother Goddesses See in Lancashire Anno Christi 236. Votum solvit li ben merito .i. Paid his vow willingly and duly Branspath Castle Salt stones Dunelmus Durham or Duresme Gallilee For no woman might enter into Durham Church Beere-parke 1346. Battaile of Nevils Crosse Shrirburne Hospitall Finchdale Lumley Barons Lumley Chester upon the street Condercum Hilton Castle Glasiers first in England Ebchester Saint Ebba Saint Tabbs Girwy Iarrow Bede Basilicae Saint Bede Bishops of Durham See the Earles of Northumberland Mosses * Cespites Lanca-shire bâufes Rochdale Cockley Mancunium * Centurionis Trafford Mosses when they come Firre trees in Caesars time grew not in Britaine Holecroft * Pincerne Winwicke Fishes digged out of the ground Ormeskirk Stanleys Earles of Derby Duglesse a riveret Wiggin Biggin what it is The family of the Hollands The Hollands coat of Armes * With flowres de Lyz. Bellisama Penigent Pendle hill Clowdesbery Penninae Alpes Pen in British what it is Clithero Whaley Riblechester In the house of Thomas Rhodes * Haply Decúrio Alae Asturum susceptum solvit â votum libens lubens meritò Deae Matres Mother Goddesses See in the Bishopricke of Durham Plutarch in M. Marcellus Altars of the Gentiles Genes 8. Haply C. Al. for Centurio Alae Sarmatarum Out of William Lambards notes Ribodunum Coccium Penworth otherwise called Penverdant Preston Houghton Walton Ander-nesse The file Grenhaugh cââstle A new mann of making ãâã Quick-sands The river Luââ or Lone Salmons Over-burrow Bremetonacum Kernellare what it is Hornby castlâ Barons MonââEagle The Gunpowder treason Lancaster Fournesse Carthmell Winander-mere The fish Chare The booke of Fournesse Aldingham Harringtons Lords of Laââcaster * Pictavensis or of Poictiers Walter Hemingford Ro. Hoveden pag. 373. b. Earle of Lancaster King of Sicily * De Cadurcis Dukes of Lancaster John of Gau King of Castile King Henry the fourth Parliament Roll 1. H. 4. The Barony of Kendale Lords of Kendale History of Fournesse The family oâ Lancaster L. Par of Kendale Earles of Keâdale Catadupe or Forses Ambleside Amboglana Baron Whatton Heartly castle * Burgus subsâxeto Burgh under Stanmore Burgus Vegetius lib. 4. cap. 10. Aballaba Apelby Whellep castle Gallatum Maiden way A. for A. Northren men call that a whin which the Southern men a burre Brovoniacum Brougham * Pientissimo Augusto Isan-parles Hanging wals of Marke Antony Fines Term. Mich. R. 6. H. 8. Vipounts Armes Earles of Westmorland Copeland Millum castle Raven-glas Hard-knot neer Wrinofe Irt a riveret See Plinie Pearles Saint Bees Egremont castle Lords of Copeland Liber Inq. The sea side fensed Moresby Deo Sylvano Cohors secunda Lingonum cui praest G. Pompeius M. Saturninus Morbium Hay castle Copper or brasse mines Veines of gold gold and silver See Ploidens Reports Keswike Skiddaw hill Guasmoric Epist. ad Sever. Catechumeni or hearers Armes of the Lucies and Percies * Pikes * Luces Culwen commonly Curwen Under Honorius and Arcdius Olenacum Decuriones Isidor l. 9. c. 4. Volantium Under Commodus Anno Christi 193. Gentiles or Heathen altars See in Lancashire Publii filius * Diis Manibus * Faciendum curavit Moricambe Holme Cultrain Michael Scotus Castra Exploratorum See as touching the Areans afterward in the Picts Wall Ala Augusta Gordiana at Il-Kirk * Iovi optimo maximo * Iovi optimo maximo * Iovi optimo maximo * An. Christ. 243 Wigton Thoresby * For Aram ex votâ Which the Scots call Solway Frith Blatum-Bulgium Bulnesse The beginning of the Picts Wall Solway Frith Trees within the ground Burgh upon sands 1307. Called Morvils de Burgh upon Sands Liber Inq. Edward the first Solway Frith The river Ituna or Eden History of Malrosse Dacre Barons Dacre Perith. Called in old time Haia de Plompton Petriana * Annos * Haply Faciendum procuravit * Peradventure in Cohorte * Dum. * Fratri filiae Titulum posuit Kirk Oswald Armanthwayt Corby castle Wetherall Virosidum Linstock Crosby Greystock The ancient Genealogie Barons de Greystock Mines of Brasse Congavata Carlile Luguvallum Lucus and Lugus what they signifie among the Britans and old Gauls Lugdunum Lucotecia or Lutetia in France The old Itinerarie lately imprinted sheweth that Lugdunum implieth a Desirable hill * Or de Micenis * Or de Micenis * Tumulum * Carissima Andrew Harcla Earle of Carlile * Or girdle Grayhams Barony of Liddel Liddesdale âattaile at Solâm mosse 1542. Batable ground Leven Scalby Castle Askerton Brampton Brementuracum Armaturae Veget l. 2. c. 7. In the yeere of Christ 216. * Fortissimo Caesari Lords of Gillesland Out of an old Missal Also R. Cook Clarenceux calleth him Radulph .i. Raulph So doth Manuscript bookes of Fountaines and Holme Maiden way Alone Kings of Cumberland * Florilegus Captaines or Rulers of Cumberland Earles of Cumberland Frontier senses or Forts writers termed Clusurae because they excluded the enemies and Praetenturae because they were set against or affront the enemies See P. Pithoeus in adversariis lib. 1. cap. 14. The Limits or Bounds of the Empire Tit. 43. Vallo Limitis Hence come Stationes Agartae in Vegetius The first fore-fense Bodoââia and Glotta S. Austin de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 19. The second fore-fense Rota temporum The third Fense The fourth Fense Murus Vallum Lib. 1. c 5. Why lands were given to the Captaines of the Marches Marcellinus lib. 38. About the yeere 367. * Mâgister Offâciorum The wall betweene Edenborrow Frith and Dunbritâon Frith About the yeere of Christ 420. Alciatus calleth it the Breviary of Theodosius Souldiers placed in garisons and along the Wall * In Vastis The Wasts Areani certain discoverers lib. 28. Cornage The high-land Scoâs at this day call their little barges Carroches * The Paris edition hath Scytica Vallem and meaneth haply the Scottish sea The policy and wisdome of the Roman in setting of this wall Plants medicinable and wholsome MAEATAE Valentia Wardens of the Marches Rank-riders Very many Baronies in Northumberland Sea-coales Hexam-shire The river South-Tine Joh. Fordon Scoto-Chronicon Caâr Vorran Posuit libens merito Anno Christ. 259. These two inscriptions are yet to be seene in Sir Robert Cottons house at Connington The goddesse Suria Capitolinus Some will have her to be Juno others Venus Suetonius in Nero. cap. 56. Alon River Seaven-shale Gallana North-Tine Tin-dale True plane Rhedesdale Lawes * i. Duplares Numeri exploratorum Bremenii Aram instituerunt Numini cjus Caepione Charitino Tribuno votum solverunt libentèr meritò * Deo Mogonti Cadenorum numini Domini nostri Augusti M.G. Secundinus Beneficiarius Consulis Habitanci Primas tam pro se suis posuit Primas * Either promoted to that place by him or by a dispensation exempt from souldiers services Cohors prima Vangionum Testa Nevilli * In Vastis Nomades Sheales and Shealings Clipches Cilurnum