and upon the Shoar as upon all the Sea coasts in this Country abundance of Herrings are caught and are therefore much frequented at the season of the year by People of several Nations St. Thelian educated by Dubritius Bishop of Landaff aforementioned was born in this Shire He was much envied for his Holy Life by one of the Pictish Princes who harassed this Country This Captain sent two lewd Strumpets to him supposing that by their Tempting Tricks this Devout man might have been inticed to folly These VVomen counterfeited madness that they might take the more liberty to themselves of filthy discourse but returned Distracted indeed not having sense nor understanding enough to relate the cause of their sad misfortune which had such effect on this Commander that he received the Christian Faith saith my Author and was Baptized retaining ever after a great veneration for this our Saint who asterward accompanied St. David Bishop of Menerin to Jerusalem and returning into his own Countrey by his fervent Prayers freed Scotland from the Plague wherewith it was then much infested He died about 563. Mr. Camden takes special notice of the beauty and comelinesâ— of the Inhabitants of this Shire During the differences betwixâ— the Houses of York and Lancaster David ap Jenkig ap Enion stout Gentleman on the Lancastrian side resolutely defended the Castle of Harlech against King Edward IV. until Sir William Herbert afterward Earl of Pembroke so furiously stormed it that he was obliged to surrender This County is divided into six Hundreds wherein are 37 Parish Churches MONMOVTH-SHIRE hath Hereford-shire on the North Glamorgan on the VVest Glocester-shire on the East and the Sovern Sea on the South It is 24 Miles in length 19 in bredth and 77 in compass The Air is temperate clear and healthful the Soil hilly woody and fruitful of Cattel Corn and all other accommodations of Life It was antiently inhabited by the Silures whose chief City is called by the Emperor Antoninus Venta Silurum by the Welsh Caerwent and now Caerleon and was by Tathai the British Saint made an Academy and a place of Divine VVorship where the second Roman Legion called Augusta resided as appears by their Coins Altars Tables and Inscriptions sound there daily in digging up old Foundations Giraldus saith That King Arthur kept his Court in this City whither the Roman Ambassadors resorted to him and that there was a School or Academy of 200 Philosophers skilful in Astronomy and other Sciences erected therein St. Aaron a wealthy Citizen of Caerleon was Martyred under Dioclesian the Roman Tyrant in 3031 Note that the three first British Martyrs namely Alban Amphibalus and Aaron have the first a Latin the second a Greek and the third an Hebrew name St. Julius of Caerleon suffered with Aaron aforesaid St. Amphilalus the Instructor of St. Alban in the Christian Faith was also a Citizen of Caerleon This Town though now but small was once a great City reaching a Mile in length and comprehending St. Julian's a house of late Sir William Herbert's now a Mile distant from the Town But as all humane Glory hath its period so this City formerly renowned for beauty circuit and magnificence is now deplorably decayed Monmouth is a Market Town in this County and had antiently a very strong Castle with many lofty Towers as the ruins do still demonstrate The Town is pleasantly situated between the Rivers Monnow and Wye and hath an handsome Church with three Isles And at the East end of the Town is another decayed one called the Monks Church Monmouth is in good repair and well frequented governed by a Mayor two Bayliffs 19 Common-Council men a Town-Clerk and two Sergeants Several Monasteries were erected and suppressed in this County the most memorable being at Caerleon Chepstow God-cliff Monmouth and Llantony which last stood so solitary among the high Hill that the Sun did shine upon it not above two or three hours in a day As for Manufactures the best Caps were formerly made at Monmouth where the Cappers Chapel doth still remain In Q. Blizabeth's Reign an Act of Parliament was made enacting that all Persons should wear Monmouth Caps but about twenty five years after it was repealed Geffery of Monmouth the Welsh Historian was born in this County and in the Monks Church aforenamed is said to have written his History of Britain having translated compiled and collected the various British Authors into one Volume He had many things from the British Bards or Poets which though improhable may not be untrue His Book was prohibited by the Pope whilst the lying Legend of Romish Saints is permitted to be read without controll If Geffery be guilty of mistakes they are such as make not for the Pope's advantage and therefore it seems a great mistake in those who avouch that the Pope made him a Cardinal He flourished 1160 under King Henry II. Walter Cantilupe Son to William Lord Cantilupe whose chief Residence was at Abergavenie in this County was made Bishop of Worcester by King Henry III. He would not yield to the Pope's Legate who complained of many Clergymen keeping their Livings against the Canons intending to make room for the Pope's Favourites or force such irregular Incumbents to a composition He was of a keen temper whose two edged Spirit did cut on both sides against the King and Pope Against the former he fided with the Barons to whom he promised Heaven for the reward of their Rebellion against their Prince though it cost him an Excommunication from the Pope who was the more forward in denouncing that fatal sentence against him because the Bishop had told Rusland his Legate That he would prefer him to be hanged on the Gallows rather than ever consent to such expilation of the Church as aforesaid He died in 1267. Thomas of Monmouth wrote an History of St. VVilliam the Child that was Crucified by the Jews at Norwich in hatred of our Saviour He flourished 1160 in the Reign of King Henry II. Richard de Clare alias Strongbow born probably at Stringule Castle was Earl of Stringule and Pembroke It happened that Maâ— Murrugh in 1167. being expelled his Territories for several Tyrannies by the Lords of Meath and Connaught repaired to King Henry II. and invited him into Ireland That politick King sent over this Rich. Strongbow with 1200 men who soon possest himself of the Ports of Leinster and Munster with large Lands thereunto belonging insomuch that the King growing jealous of his greatness recalled him home commanding him to surrender his Acquisitions into his hands which done he received them back by a Grant from the King who only reserved the City of Dublin for himself He was commonly called Domitor Hibernia The Tamer of Ireland Yet some of the Great Lords there did still retain the Power and Title of King Witness the Preface to the Commission whereby King Henry II. made William Fitz. Adelme his Lieutenant of Ireland which was directed To al Archbishops Bishops
Christian King in the World and Brittain the first Kingdom that imbraced the Gospel by publick Authority After this he sent two Persons to Eleutherius Bishop of Rome to desire the form of some Laws to Govern his People by To which the Bishop replied You desire us to send you the Roman and Imperial Laws for the Reformation of the People and Guidance of the King and Kingdom of Brittain The Roman Laws we altogether mislike but the Law of God by no means By the Divine Clemency you have of late received the Law and Faith of Christ into your Kingdom You have with you the Old and New Testament out of them in Gods name by the advice of your Counsellors take you a Law and therewith by Gods permission Govern your Kingdom for you are Gods Vicar therein c. By this we may see the vast difference between the humility and piety of the Roman Church in the Primitive times and the Pride Cruelty and Usurpation of the present Synagogue of Satan This Epistle with two Preachers Fagianus and Daniranus whom the Bishop sent to King Lucius prevailed so much upon him that being Baptized into the Christian Faith he converted the Heathenish Temples of the Arch Flamins and Flamines into so many Bishops Sees whereof London York and St. David's in Wales were made the Metropolitans A Table that remains in St. Peter's Church in Cornhill London Records that King Lucius founded that Church for a Cathedral and likewise St. Peter's Westminster now the Abbey and likewise Dover Castle He reigned 12 years and lies buried at Glocester and dying without Children left the Roman Emperors his Heirs of whom Commodus succeeded in whose Reign the Roman Legions in Brittain fell into divers mutinies because the Emperor instead of Senators and Consuls who used to Command them put inferiour Persons over them but Helvius Pertinax being sent hither quieted all dissentions with the severe punishment of the Offenders and at length by his policy he obtained the Imperial Dignity Severus Reigned after him whom Albinus Lieutenant of Brittain opposed and assisted by the Brittish Youth fought a Battel with him in France where Albinus was defeated and Severus confirmed in the Empire and then coming over into Brittain endeavoured to secure the Countrey to himself by erecting several Walls and Forts in the In-land Parts and repairing those with Stone which were formerly of Turf or Earth and finding the Northern Brittains or Scots very troublesome he built a Wall or Fortification for defending the more Civilized from the Savage and Barbarous Inhabitants this Wall crossed the whole Island from Sea to Sea beginning at the Frith of Solney in Scotland and ending at Timnouth in length 132 Miles it was built with Turfs and Timber with strong Bulwarks at a convenient distance near if not upon the Foundation of the former called Adrians Wall the ruins whereof are yet visible through the Counties of Northumberland and Cumberland for which act he Sirnamed himself Brittannicus and after 18 years Reign died at York in 212. not so much of Sickness say some Authors as of Discontent and Grief Others say of a Mortal wound given him by Fulgence Captain of the Picts Bassianus Garacalla his Son succeeded him and hastning to Rome offered very easie conditions of Peace to the yet resisting Brittains who being tyred with the long Wars accepted thereof and Hostages were given for conserving the same And now the Royal Title of Kings of Brittain being annexed to the Roman Emperors they by their continual divisions for gaining the Imperial Dignity gave a long breathing time of Peace to this harassed Island so that little of action happened here till the reigns of Dioclesian and Maximin in whose time Carausius being by the Romans made Admiral of the Brittish Seas to guard them against the Pyracies of the Saxons and Belgians he by conniving at their Robberies became rich and popular so that having notice the Emperor had ordered him to be secretly kill'd he by the aid of the Picts and Northern Brittains took upon him the Title of Emperor of Rome and valiantly defended his Dignity for seven years At length Maximin Marched to the Brittish Ocean with a powerful Army but hearing of the strength of Carausius and wanting Seamen he Encamped on the French Shoar and concluding a Peace with him returned back to Rome Carausius Governed the Brittains with Justice and Peace for seven years repairing the Roman Wall and defending them from their brutish Enemies but was at length Murdered by his treacherous friend Alectus who took upon him the Imperial Purple The Romans after the Death of Carausius resolved to attempt the recovery of this Island and Constantius with a Potent Army Landed here in a great Fog without observation or hindrance at which Alectus being surprized was slain with most of his Army the rest escaping toward London designed to Plunder and Burn it but the Romans made such speed that they prevented them killing Gallus their Leader and throwing his Body into a Brook that ran through the City which was after called Gallus his Brook now Walbrook After this these two Tyrants Dioclesian and Maximin raised a dismal Persecution in all the parts of the Roman Empire whereby 17000 Christians Men and Women were Crowned with Martyrdom within the space of one Month and in Brittain the Churches were demolished their Bibles and other Writings burnt and for 10 years together the poor People were continually tormented without intermission or any place being free from the Blood of Martyrs who were constant in the profession of the Faith Among others St. Alban was beheaded at the Town bearing his name whom Fortunatus Priscus mentions Albanum egregium faecunda Brittannia profert Brittain fruitful of all good Washt with glorious Alban's Blood His Instructor in the Christian Religion Amphiole or Brittain was afterward taken and being brought to the same place was whipped about a Stake whereto his Intrails were fastned and so wound out of his Body and was lastly stoned to death Several others suffered as Julius and Aaron at Leicester or rather Coverleon in Monmouthshire and so many at Lichfield that the place became a Golgotha or Field of Dead Corps and therefore the Seal of Arms of that City is charged with many Martyrs to this day But these two bloody Emperors enjoyed their honours a very short time for within a year after this bloody Persecution they were both of them by the hand of God saith Eusebius struck with such a mad humour that they renounced the Empire and laying aside the Imperial Robes Dioclesian retired into Dalmatia where he died raging of a terrible disease And Maximinus hanged himself at Marseilles in France Gallerius and Constantius succeeded them the last of whom was a Prince of singular Piety towards God and Clemency towards men being very kind to the Christians and rebuilding their Churches for which God so blessed him saith Eusebius that this virtuous Father left a more virtuous Son
THE HISTORY Of the Principality of WALES In Three Parts Containing I. A brief Account of the Antient Kings and Princes of Brittain and Wales till the final Extinguishing of the Royal Brittish Line II. Remarks upon the Lives of all the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England from K. Edward the First to this Time III. Remarkable Observations on the most Memorable Persons Places in Wales of many considerable Transactions Passages that have happen'd therein for many hundred years past Together with the Natural and Artificial Rarities and Wonders in the several Counties of that Principality By R. B. LONDON Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell in the Poultrey near Cheapside 1695. Iohn the French King taken Prisoner by Edward the Black Prince of Wales at the Battel of Poictiers in France F.H. van Hove Sculp To the READER IN a small Tract formerly published Intituled Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County in England I added at the end some brief Observations upon the Counties in Wales but they being defective for want of room and finding that the Subject would afford sufficient matter for a Book of the same value I have now been more large and copious in giving an account of this Principality having omitted nothing material that I could meet with concerning it as well before the reducing and annexing thereof to the Crown of England as since I have likewise added some short Remarks upon the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England and several other Observables in the several Shires thereof which I doubt not will be Novelties to many Readers and diverting to all and thereby answer the design in the Collecting and Publishing of them from Historians of the best Authority which is the hearty wish of R. B. The History of the Antient Kings and Princes of Brittain and Wales PART I. IT is recorded in History that after the Universal Flood the Isles of the Gentiles were divided by the Posterity of Japhet the Son of Noah and it is probable that this Island among the rest was then peopled by his Progeny the History of whom may be easier wisht for than recovered And therefore it may seem unnecessary to relate what some Antient Authors have recorded with much uncertainty of the Successors of Japhet whom they have named Samothes Magus Sarron Druis and Bardus But rather to follow the Authority of Geoffery Arch-Deacon of Monmouth in his History written in the Brittish Tongue and translated into English about five hundred years since and begins his Chronology with Brute who after the Posterity of Japhet seems to be the first Discoverer Ruler and Namer of this Island Yet by the way we may observe That Pomponius Mela a Roman Historian writes that one Hercules killed Albion a Giant about the mouth of the River Râ—â—sâ—e in France from whence some have concluded that Albion Reigned King here the Greek Monuments likewise always calling this Isle Albion and that after his death Hercules came hither And Solinus another Roman Historian reports that by an Inscription upon an Altar found in the Northern part of Brittain about 1600 years since it plainly appeared that Vlysses in his ten years Travels after the Destruction of Troy arrived in Brittain before the coming of Brute We shall now give a brief Account of what is commonly received concerning Brute and the Race of the Kings of Brittain that proceeded from him though with my Author I shall not impose upon the belief of any in these Narrations Brute the Son of Sylvius the Son of Ascanius the Son of Aeneas after the Ruine of Troy and the Death of his Father being banisht into Greece he there by his Valour rescued and delivered the remainder of the Trojans his Countreymen from the Captivity which they had been for many years sufferers under the Grecians with whom he departed to seek some new habitation and associating to himself Corineus whom with another Band of exiled Trojans he found in the way after a long and tiresome Journey and many notable encounters and atchievements he arrived in this Island then called Albion and landed at Totnes in Devonshire in the year from the Creation of the World 2855. which was about the time that Jeptah and Samson Judged Israel and before the Birth of Christ 1116 years and being made King or Governour of the Land he called it by his own name Brittain according to the opinion of many antient Authors He also built the City of London which he named Troynovant or New Troy At his Death Brute divided the Country among his three Sons unto Locrine his Eldest he gave the middle part between Humber and Severn which from him was called Loegria To Camber his second he bequeathed all the Region beyond the River Severn which from him was called Cambria now Wales To Allanact the youngest he left all the Land beyond Humber Northward which was after called Albania now Scotland After which partition he deceased having reigned 24 years and was Buried at London Locrinus succeeded his Father and Humber King of the Hums or Scythians Invading his Brother Albanacts Countrey he and his Brother Camber assisted Albanact so successfully that they utterly defeated his Army himself and abundance of his Souldiers being Drowned in the River from thence called Humber Madan his Son reigned in his stead then Mempricus Ebrauh Brute Greensheeld Leil who is said to have built Carleil Bladud a great Necromancer who is reported to have made those hot Baths at Bath and to magnifie his skill undertook to fly in the Air but his Art failing he fall upon the Temple of Apollo in London and broke his Neck Lear his Son was King after him who was very unfortunate in two unnatural Daughters whose Husbands strove to deprive him of his Kingdom but their designs being defeated his youngest Daughter whom he had slighted was admitted Queen after him to whom succeeded her two Nephews Morgan and Cunegad between whom differences arising Morgan was slain and Cunegad reigned singly 30 years Many other Kings of Brittain are reckoned up after him as Dunwallo D. of Cornwal Belinus and Breanus who are said to have Conquered France Italy Germany and at last to have taken the City of Rome it self King Lud who much beautified Troynovant fortifying it with Walls and Gates particularly Ludgate called after his name and founded a Temple where it is thought St. Paul's now stands and changed the name of the City from Troynovant to Luds Town now London He left two Sons Androgeus and Theomantius under Age whereupen Cassibilane their Uncle was admitted Governour in whose Reign Julius Caesar first Invaded this Island in the year from the Worlds Creation 3913. and 54 years before the Birth of Christ the Land being then not under one sole Monarch or King but divided into 28 petty Kingdoms or Provinces Caesar being landed at Deal in Kent the news thereof was so welcome to the Senate of Rome that they Decreed a
said was one of the Nails which fastned Christ to the Cross He likewise sent the Spear of Charles the Great reported to be the same wherewith our Saviour's side was pierced also a part of the Cross a piece of the Crown of Thorns and the Banner of St. Maurice It is related That this King Ethelstane or Athelstane in the third year of his Reign was so harassed by the Danes that he was forced to shut himself up in Winchester City who propounded to him either to submit and hold the Realm of them or to determine the Quarrel between two Champions of each side The King was much perplexed at these Propositions because his three valiant Knights Guy Earl of Warwick who lived in his Reign or not at all one Herand another couragious Knight and Earl Rohand Guy's Father-in-Law were gone to the Holy Land In this strait after he had prayed for Deliverance it is said he had a Vision wherein he was directed to rise early the next morning and taking two Bishops with him to get up to the top of the North Gate of that City where he should see a likely Man clothed as a Pilgrim bare-foot and on his bare Head a Chaplet of White Roses and that this should be the man that should conquer Colebrand the Danish Gaint for so was his Name and free the English from the Danish Bondage The next day the King thus attended at the Gate sees Earl Guy so habited being newly arrived from Jerusalem whereupon Athelstane addressing himself to him desires him to accept the Combat as being ordained by Heaven to acquit this Realm from Tyranny Guy replied My Lord you may easily perceive that I am not in a Condition to take upon me this Fight being harassed and weakened by daily Travel lay this task therefore upon your stout and hardy Soldiers whom you were wont very much to esteem Ah said the King such indeed I had but they are gone some to the Holy Land as one valiant Knight called Guy who was Earl of Warwick I had also a couragious Servant named Sir Herand de Ardene Would to God they were now here for then would this Duel be soon undertaken and the War quickly finished In speaking which Words the Tears trickled down his Cheeks which made such impression upon the Pilgrim that he engaged to undertake the Combate Upon the day appointed Guy putting on the King's best Armour the Sword of Constantine the Great St. Maurice his Lance and one of the King 's best Coursers he rode through Winchester appearing like a most accomplish'd Knight and went to the place appointed which was in a Valley called Chiltecumb where Colebrand soon after came so loaded with Armour that his Horse could scarce bear him and a Cart driven before him filled with Danish Axes great Clubs with knobs of Iron squared Bars of Steel and Iron Hooks to pluck his Adversary to him Thus marching disdainfully along and seeing Sir Guy in the height of Pride he commanded him to come off his Horse and throw himself with submission at his Feet But the gallant Pilgrim disregarding his Words commending himself to Heaven put Spurs to his Horse and at the first Encounter pierced the Giant 's Shield with such force that his Lance broke into Shivers which so enraged the Giant that coming up furiously he killed Guy's Horse who being dismounted dangerously wounded Colebrand The Combat having lasted for some time the Giant fainted and fell with loss of Blood and Guy immediately cut off his Head threeby freeing England at present from the insulting Dane After all which he offered his Sword in the Cathedral of Winchester which was long after kept in the Vestry and called Colebrand's Axe The other Reliques of Guy Mr. Drayton thus describes Thy Statue Guy Cliff keeps the Gazers Eyes to please Warwick thy mighty Arms thou mighty Hercules Thy strong and massy Sword that never was controll'd Which as her antient Right her Castle still doth hold Thus much for Earl Guy who lived in the Year of Christ 929. This King Ethelstane by the insinuation of his Cup-bearer became incensed against his Brother as if he had contrived Treason against him who therefore ordered him to be put into a small Vessel without Tackle or Oars and so be exposed to the mercy of the Sea wherewith the young Prince was so overwhelm'd with sorrow that he threw himself headlong into the Sea whose Ghost the King endeavoured to appease by a voluntary Penance of seven years and building two Monasteries Neither did the treacherous Cup-bearer escape Vengeance for on a Festival day as he was busie in waiting one of his Feet slipping he recovered himself by the help of the other and thereupon pleasantly said You may see now how one Brother can help another This Speech suddenly recalled to the King's Mind the Death of his Innocent Brother whereupon he caused the Cup-bearer who was the Procurer thereof to be immediately executed Edmund the fifth Son of King Edward succeeded and after him Edred his sixth Son Then Edwy or Edwin the eldest Son of Edmund was Crowned at Kingston upon Thames who was of a lascivious temper for it is related That on the very Day of his Coronation he suddenly left his Nobility and went into a private Room to debauch a great Lady his near Kinswoman whose Husband he soon after slew St. Dunstan who was present and then Abbot of Glastenbury followed the King into his Chamber and leading him out by the Hand accused him before Odo Archbishop of Canterbury by whom he was severely reproved and forbid him the Company of that woman The King was hereat enraged against Dunstan and banished him out of the Land and became so great an Enemy to the Order of Monks that he expelled many of them out of their Monasteries and put married Priests in their Places The People having a great Opinion of the Holiness of Dunstan and being offended at the King's severity toward him and other Irregularities they turned their Affections to Edgar his Brother and removing Edwin from his Princely Dignity Edgar was made King in his stead for very grief whereof he soon wasted away and died in 959. Edgar was called the Peaceable He maintained the Kingdom in great Glory and Prosperity His Navy Royal is said to consist of three thousand six hundred Ships with which he every Summer sailed round his Land to secure the Sea from Pyrates He caused Ludwal Prince of Wales to pay him three hundred Wolves yearly instead of a former Tribute in Money whereby England and Wales which were formerly very much over-run were now so freed that there was scarce a Wolf to be found alive he was very severe upon his Judges if he found them guilty of Bribery and Partiality riding the Circuit himself every Year for that purpose Yet among all these Vertues he is said to be very Voluptuous especially toward Women not sparing the very Nuns which sounded so ill that Dunstan took the boldness to
termed the British Alpes for steepness and cragginess not much unlike those that divide France from Italy all tow ring into the Air and some far higher than the rest called Snowdon Hills or Snowy Mountains being all the year round crusted over with Snow though liable to the Sun and Wind. This made them a secure refuge to the Britains against their Enemies no Army though never so potent nor any Traveller never so lightly clothed being able to find a passage among so many rough and hard Rocks so many Pools Vales and Sloughs as are to be encountred with in the middle of this County Yet it is sufficiently fruitful for the Mountains are so rank with Grass that it is become a Proverb among them Craig Eriry or Snowdon will yield sufficient Pasture for all the Cattel of Wales put together And it is certain that there are Ponds and Standing Waters upon the tops of them though generally covered with Snow and if a man sets his foot any where upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to move at a considerable distance from him Penmen-maur or the great stony head is an exceeding high and steep Rock or Hill in this County which hanging over the Sea when it is Flood affordeth a very narrow Way for Passengers huge Stones hanging over head as if ready to fall upon them and the Tempestuous Ocean lying under of a very great depth But after the passing this and Penmen-bidam the less stony head there is a great open Plain reaching as far as Aber-Conway in which River are found a sort of shell fish conceived as they say by the Heavenly Dew which are thought to bring forth Pearl formerly much valued The antient Inhabitants of this County were the Ordovices who had a City which the Emperor Antovinus calls Segontium the ruins whereof are still visible hard by a River called to this day Sevont and near a little Church Consecrated to the Memory of St. Publicius Some Authors name it Caer Custenith or the City of Constantine saying that in 1283. the body of Constantius was found here which K. Edw. I. caused to be sumptuously buried in the Church of the new City that he raised out of the ruins of the old and called Carnarvan which now gives a name to the whole Shire This Town hath a fine Prospect toward the Sea and was incompassed with the Walls of the Castle The Government was formerly administred by the Covernour of the Castle who was always Mayor by Patent assisted by one Alderman two Bayliffs two Sergeants at Mace and a Town-Clerk The Townsmen much glory that K. Edw. II. was born in a Tower of their Castle called Eagle Tower and Sirnamed Carnarvan being the first Prince of Wales of the English Race The Welsh report that the Corps of 20000 Saints are interred in a small Island called Berdsey lying within a Mile of the South Promontory of this County It is I confess more easie to find Graves there for so many Saints than Saints for so many Graves Bangor is a Bishops See of antient standing but by whom founded is not yet known the Cathedral is dedicated to the Memory of St. Daniel who was Bishop here about the year 516. It is now but a small Town yet was formerly so large that the Welsh called it Banchor Vaur or great Bangor which Hugh Earl of Chester fortified with a Castle long since so throughly demolished that the very ruins are now invisible upon the severest search This Diocess containeth in it the whole County of Carnarvan and Anglesey and part of Denbigh Merioneth and Montgomery-shires and in them 107 Parish Churches and three Arch-Deaconries The antient Cathedral was defaced and set on fire by Owen Glendour and his Associates who had a design to have destroyed all the Churches in Wales whose People submitted to the King of England but was afterward repaired by one Henry Dean Bishop thereof in the Reign of King Henry VII yet hath scarce recovered the resemblance of its pristine dignity There was formerly a Town called by the Roman's Canonium near the River Conway from whence it took its name which is now utterly extinct only there is a poor remembrance of it in the new name of a mean Village standing in the rubbish thereof called Caer-hean that is The antient City Out of the ruins thereof King Edward I. built a new Town at the River's Mouth called Aber-Conwey that is the Mouth of Conwey it was formerly fortified by Hugh E. of Chester with strong Walls and a Castle and seems rather a City than a Town were it but more populous Newin a small Market Town is famous for a great Triumph made there by the Nobility of England in 1284. in memory of the renowned K. Arthur after the subduing of Wales by K. Edward I. Over against Conwey where it runs into the Sea sometimes stood an antient City named Diganway which many years since was consumed and utterly destroyed by Lightning It is reported there is a Fish in the Pool Linperis called Torcoch with a red Belly no where else to be found And that on the High Mountains there are two Mears or Ponds in one of which are store of Fish that have only one Eye and in the other a floating Island which when trod on moveth a great way off whereby the Welsh are said to have often escaped their Enemies John William's was born at Aber-Conwey bred Fellow of St. John's College in Cambridge was prefer'd to be Dean of Worcester Bishop of Lincoln Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and at last Archbishop of York He died March 25. 1649. Richard Vaughan was born at Nuffrin bred at St. John's College in Oxford became successively Bishop of Bangor Chester and London a very corpulent man but spiritually minded an excellent Preacher and Pious Liver a pleasant man in Discourse especially at his Table using frequently this expression At Meals be glad fâ—â— sin be sad And indeed he was a very mortified man and zealous in Religion He died March 30. 1607. Henry Rowlands bred in Oxford was Consecrated Bishop of Bangor Nov. 12. 1598. he bought four new Bells for the Tower of St. Asaph whereof the biggest cost an 100 pound He also gave to Jesus College in Oxford a revenue for maintenance of two Fellows He died 1615. The County of Carnarvan hath five Market Towns Aber-conwey Bangor Carnarvan Newin and Pullhely and 68 Parish Churches It gives the Title of Earl to Charles Lord Dormer DENBIGH-SHIRE bath Carnarvan and Merioneth-shire on the West part of Flint-shire and the Sea on the North Cheshire and Shropshire on the East and Montgomery-shire on the South It is generally Mountainous Cold and Barren Yet not without some fruitful Valleys by the industry of the Husbandmen who may be said to fetch their Bread out of the Fire by cutting up Turfs which being burnt in great heaps the ashes spread on these hungry grounds cause them to bring forth a kind of Rye in