a great Power to revenge her Injury she fought with her husband Locrine at New Troy or London and there slew him After this to execute her Revenge still in the highest degree she took the Lady Estrilde with her fair Daughter Sabrina and drowned them both in this River Travelling over this delightsome Region the first place of any Remark we arrived at was Cirencester alias Circiter * Cirencester It was called by the Britains Kaerceri Rudborn's Hist of Winchester which the River Corinus or Churne rising among the Wolds passeth by and giveth it its Name It appears to have been a place of great Antiquity and Renown from the old Roman Coins and Medals and divers Marble Engraven Stones which have been digged up hereabouts Nay a Judicious Antiquary Mr. Kennet has observed That this place seems to have been as well the first as the greatest of the Roman Stations which the Britains had before made a place of Strength and Confluence That this Corinium is by Ptolemy Recorded as the Metropolis or Chief City of the Dobuni and was after called Corinium Dohunorum The British Chronicles tell us further That this Town was burnt down being set on Fire by a company of Sparrows through an Invention devised by one Gurmund Certain it is the Inhabitants shew a Mount below the Town which they Report this Gurmund cast up which they corruptly call Grismund's Tower Grismund 's Tower It was a long time subject to the West Saxons afterward the Mercians got it into their Possession where it continued till the Establishment of the English Monarchy under which it sustained very great Calamities by the Incursion of the Danes and 't is probable that Gurmon the Dane whom some Historiographers call Guthrus and Gurmundus was a great Instrument to augment its Troubles and Oppressions However there are still some Remains to be seen of old Ruinated Walls and of an Abby built as some conjecture by the Saxons afterward much repaired or rather rebuilt by King Henry I 'T is now beautified with a very handsome Church having a high Spired Steeple and hath once a Week a Market and has formerly been Enriched with the Trade of Clothing though that with many other Privileges and Immunities they enjoyed are now impaired and gone to decay From hence coursing over the Wolds we came to the top of Burlipp-Hill Burlipp Hill where we had a Prospect of a very pleasant Vale the Hill is craggy steep and high from which descending by degrees and passing through a Way which was formerly paved with Stone and was undoubtedly one of the Roman high Ways which here crossed one another we came to Glocester Glocester called by Antiquaries Caer Gloyn which took its Name either of Claudius the Emperour or of the Beauty and Brightness thereof which the Britains call Gloyn though others call it Kaerclan 'T is a City well Seated and as well Inhabited and of a considerable Trade by reason of the River Severn over which it has a fair Bridge and being Navigable Boats of great Burden come up to the Key side loaded with several Commodities 'T is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and is adorned with 12 Parish Churches besides the Cathedral And for the Strength of the Place it was formerly on the Landside encompassed with a strong Wall the standing Remains whereof shew what Force they have been of On the Southside it had a strong Castle of square Stone now fall'n to Ruine Craulin King of the West Saxons Conquered this City from the Britains about the year 570 and 300 years after it fell into the Hands of the Danes who miserably defaced it Soon after this Aldred Archbishop of York built the Cathedral to which belongs now a Dean and Six Prebendaries and it hath been much enlarged by the Charity of good Benefactors John Hanly and Thomas Early adding to it the Chapel of the Virgin Mary N. Morwent the Forefront being an excellent Fabrick G. Horton adjoyn'd to it the North-Cross part Abbot Trowcester a very fine Cloyster and Abbot Sebrok a high Four square Steeple As for the Southside it was repaired by the Free Offerings of the Inhabitants at the Sepulchre of Edward II. who lieth here Interred under a Monument of Alabaster and in the Quire under a wooden-painted Tomb lies Robert the Eldest Son of William the Conquerour who was deprived both of his Life and Kingdom by his Younger Brother Henry I. having his Eyes first put out at Cardiff-Castle and died thereafter 26 years Imprisonment Here likewise is the Monument of Lucius who is said to have been the first Christian King in England Now though by Bishop Burnet in his Travels we are told That there is a famous Chapel Erected to him as their Great Apostle near Coir a Town of the Grisons for the great Service he did to them in working their Conversion yet 't is most probable that he lies Interred here But how he came at first to be instructed in the Christian Faith we have the most probable Account given us by the most Learned Bishop Stillingfleet in his Antiquities of the British Churches which is this That King Lucius hearing of the Christian Doctrine either by the old British Christians such as Eluanus and Meduinus are supposed to have been or by some of M. Aurelius his Soldiers coming hither after the great Deliverance of the Roman Army by the Prayers of the Christians which had then lately happen'd and occasion'd great Discourse every where The Emperour himself as Tertullian saith giving the Account of it in his own Letters might upon this be very desirous to inform himself thoroughly about this Religion and there being then frequent Entercourse betwixt Rome and Britain by reason of the Colonies that were setled and the Governours and Soldiers passing to and fro he might send Eluanus and Meduinus to be fully instructed in this Religion and either the same Persons alone or two others with them called Fagâ—â—us and Dâ—â—â—ianus commonly coming into Britain might have so great Success as to Baptize King Lucius and many others and thereby inlarge the Christian Church here But to return from what we have made a little Digression the Pillars of this Church are of an extraordinary Thickness not to be Parallel'd in any Church of England But that which makes it most Remarkable is a curious piece of Architecture at the East-end of the Quire called The Whispering Place The Whispering Place 't is an Arch in the form of a Semicircle 30 yards in Circuit and so rare a Contrivance that if any Person stand at one end of it and Whisper never so softly he that lays his Ear to the other end will discover distinctly the Words he speaks A C D E F B is the Passage of the Voice or Whispering Place at A and B do the two Persons stand that Whisper to each other At D the middle of the Passage is a Door and Entrance into a Chapel with Window-Cases on each side
was the first Bishop here say the Annals of Worcecester Angl. Sacr. pars prima about the year 680 under the high Altar whereof lies the Body of King John wrapped in a Monk's Cowl which the Superstition of that time accounted Sacred and a very necessary Defensative against all evil Spirits Here is likewise to be seen the Tomb of Arthur Prince of Wales the eldest Son of Henry VII with divers Monuments belonging to the ancient Family of the Beauchamps It was formerly a Cloyster for Monks but King Henry VIII did substitute in their Room a Dean and Prebendaries and erected a free School for the Education of the Citizen's Children It hath suffered great Calamities by Fire being burnt down by the Danes about the year 104.1 after this by an unknown Casualty under the Reign of Henry I. and once again in King Stephen's days and sure I am it hath of later years fall'n into the Hands of some merciless Men who were as raging as the Flames and whose Fury was as unquenchable as the Fire it self Witness the grievous Pressures it groaned under for its Loyalty to the King in the year 1651 For here it was that after his long Exile King Charles the Second arrived with an Army of Scots and some English the 22. of August and by the Assistance of the Citizens beat but the Soldiers who kept it for the Common-wealth and being proclaimed by the Mayor that then was and Sheriffs King of England c. Nevertheless was attended with the same ill Fortune and Success which was at that time his chief Attendants and having but a small Army in comparison of the numberless number of Rebels that were poured in upon him was totally defeated at this City several of his Nobles Slain and took Prisoners the rest forced to fly for their Lives and himself constrain'd to make his Escape as privately as he could and to betake himself into a Wood in Staffordshire where hiding himself in the shady Boughs of a well-spread Oak he found more Pity and Security from Trees and Woods than from some of his own unnatural and bloody Subjects However this City is now again restored to its Lustre and like the Phoenix being revived out of its own Ashes is raised up to its Prestine Splendour and Magnificence Having sufficiently satisfied our selves with the Varieties of that City we came into the Confines of the Eastern part of Herefordshire Herefordshire which appeared very Rocky and Mountainous at the first but having passed those Rocky parts we began to find the Country more pleasant to the Eye for we discovered it to be a Fertile Soil the Valleys thick with Corn and the Meadows abounding with Grass and well watered with Rivers the Hills covered with Sheep and the Hedges full of Apple-Trees which bear a sort of Fruit called Redstreaks of which they make the best Syder in England In a word we found it according to the usual Report which is made of it to yield to no Country in this Nation for three W. W. W Wheat Wool and Water to which formerly might have been added Wood but that the Iron Works have since destroyed it very much and made it become less plentiful Passing through Bramyard a small Market-Town of no great Consequence Mereford we came to Hereford the chief City of this County which is situated almost in the middle of it and watered by two pleasant Rivers Wye and Lugg which by their happy Union not far from this place advance her Felicity and enrich her Soil Antiquaries are of Opinion That this City had its Rise from Ariconium which hath at this day no manner of Form of a Town as having been thrown down by an Earthquake only some do imagine it to have stood in a place which they now call Kenchester three Miles distant from this City Kenchester and they do build their Conjectures from the Ruines of old Walls which are there Conspicuous as likewise from some four-square paving Tiles and thick Bricks as well as several Roman Coins digged up thereabouts though now the place which they mention is all over-grown with Shrubs Bushes and Brambles We observed when we went to visit this place three or four Receptacles in an old piece of Ruin'd Wall in which the Owners had found some Urns which argues the place to have been of great Antiquity however her Sister Hereford which is now become Beautiful by the others Decay justly claims the Pre-eminence above all other Places within this County She is thought first to have shown her Head under the Saxon Heptarchy and is supposed to have received great Helps and Increase by Religion and the Martyrdom of Ethelbert King of the East Angles who when he Courted the Daughter of Offa King of the Mercians was treacherously put to Death by Quendred Offa's Wife Hereupon being Registred as a Martyr he had a Church built and Dedicated to him by Milfrid King of the Mercians A. D. 825. which after the Establishment of a Bishop's See in it grew to great Wealth and Honour through the Devout and Pious Liberality of the Mercians and then of the West Saxons and is thought never to have suffered any Misfortune untill Edward the Confessor's time when Griffith Prince of South Wales and Algarus having raised a Rebellion against King Edward and led away Captive Leofgarus the Bishop sacked the City and burnt the Cathedral Afterward the Normans at the East End of the Church by the River Wye built a strong Castle Fortified the City with a Wall and by the Trench near the Castle is a very fine Spring call'd St. Ethelbert's Well St. Ethelbert's Well famous formerly for Miracles to which no question but in that Superstitious Age there was a great Resort of the Lame and the Blind with their Vows and their Offerings the Sanctity of Waters being such a Devout Fancy among our Ancestors as has been truly observed by that Indefatigable Searcher into Antiquity the Ingenious Mr. White Kennet that after Ages were forced to restrain the horrid Superstition of Well-Worship by a Canon in a Council under Edgar and after this too by some other Episcopal Injunctions Within this City are four Parish Churches and Bishop Reinelme in the Reign of King Henry I. founded the Cathedral that now is being a beautiful and magnificent Structure adorned with divers Monuments of ancient Prelates and Abbots To this adjoyns divers Houses for the Dignitaries of the Church and a College for 12 Vicars who live after an Academical way under a Praefectus who presides over them and supplies them with all Necessaries to encourage their Attendance upon all Divine Offices So ready were our Ancestors to promote Learning and advance such Persons whose quick and acute Parts were eclipsed under mean and slender Fortunes The City is govern'd by a Mayor who is Annually sworn upon Michaelmas-Day 12 Aldermen a Recorder and divers Common-Council Men and by their Charter have Privileges for particular Companies and Societies
Prince unawares in the Breast of which he died immediately and was brought hither and buried in this place though afterwards they say his Bones were translated and put into the same Coffin with those of King Canutus At the West End of the Quire stand two Statues in Brass very curiously wrought the one of King James I. and the other of his Son King Charles I. of Blessed Memory but that which is most remarkable in this Cathedral is the rich and famous Monument of William of Wickham who from a mean Beginning by the Favour of Edward III. was created Bishop of Winchester and having after this run likewise through all the Grand Stages of Temporal Honour in this Kingdom though now and then the Wheel of Fortune turn'd very cross against him he by that means became no less a Benefactour to the Church than he still approved himself an Ornament to the State and to perpetuate his Name with the greater Glory to succeeding Generations he built in this City a College and liberally endow'd it for the Education of Youth and for a Seminary to New College in Oxford also founded by him and notwithstanding the great Expences he must needs have been at in Erecting two such large and noble Structures as these were he Re-built likewise the present Body of the Cathedral where his own Body lies Interr'd Nor did all this lessen his Charity or diminish his Hospitality for he fed both Rich and Poor as his Tomb Stone informs us and for all this died exceeding Rich and deceasing in the Reign of King Henry IV. when he was Fourscore years old he bequeathed great Legacies to Persons of all Degrees and gave something at his Death to every Church throughout his Diocess * See the Life of this Great and Worthy Prelate VVrote by Tho. Chandler Chancellour of Oxford Angl. Sacr. Pars a. p. 355. Here is one thing yet further not to be pass'd by in Silence That when King Alfred divided his Kingdom into Counties Hundreds and Tythings he had an Inquisition taken and digested into a Register call'd Dome-boc which was reposited in the Church of Winchester thence call'd Codex Wintoniensis a Model afterward followed by William the Conquerour in his Domes-Day Book which Mr. Kennet observes was for some time kept in the same Church But to return again into our Discourse relating to the City we find it not only to have attain'd a great Eminency for its Religious Houses for its pleasant Gardens for its Brooks and Meadows for its publick and private Edifices for its great Hall wherein the Assizes are usually held for the County of Southampton not to be parallell'd for length and breadth by any throughout this Nation except Westminster but likewise for the true and exact Rules of Equity and Justice which are follow'd and prescrib'd by its chief Magistrates and Governours and before we take our leaves of it we shall add for a Conclusion that as in the time of Athelstane King of the West Saxons that Invincible Hero Guy Earl of Warwick is reported in a single Combat to have slain Colobraild the Danish Giant in Hide-Mead near this City so Waltheof Earl of Northumberland being beheaded here without the Walls in the Reign of William the Conquerour is observ'd as the very first Example of Beheading in this Island Having took a sufficient Prospect of the great Curiosities of this place Surrey we advanc'd forward into Surrey q. d. South Rey from its Situation on the Southside of the Thames the Saxons calling that Rey which we term a River The Skirts of this County are noted for their Fruitfulness and the middle parts for their Barrenness which has occasion'd the saying That Surrey is like a course piece of Cloth with a fine List However in point of Health the middle parts have the advantage besides the Pleasure they yield by their Downs in Hunting and Horse-Races 'T is adorn'd is most places with very stately Palaces of Gentlemen and Merchants who by reason of the Parks well stor'd with Deer and the Rivers replenished with Fish have no Divertisement wanting to recreate their Bodies and gratifie their Senses The first Town of Note we ariv'd at here was Farnham Farnham receiving its Denomination very probably from the great quantity of Fern which grows thereabouts 'T is a Town of no very large Extent but situated in a wholsom Soil and a pleasant Air and for its further Accommodation hath the conveniencies of a Market for those Commodities which the Inhabitants mostly want Here it was that in the year 894 saith the Saxon Chronicle King Alfred routed a great Army of the Danes with a small Party taking from them a considerable Booty and putting them to flight to the River Colne in Essex After this when King Stephen gave a general Toleration for building Castles and Fortresses Henry his Brother then Bishop of Winchester built for himself in this place a magnificent Castle but proving in length a Nursery and Receptacle for Sedition and Rebellion King Henry III. quite demolish'd and pull'd it down though afterwards it was again Re-edified by the Bishops of Winchester to whom it peculiarly belongs and is at present a glorious Seat for the Prelates of that See Guilford Passing from hence through Guilford a Town of good Note seated on the River Wey consisting of three Parishes well frequented and full of fair Inns we observ'd here still the Ruines of a large old Castle near the River and have since learnt That the Saxon Kings had formerly a Royal Mansion here in whose times it was a place of a greater Extent Kingston Coming after this to Kingston a Market-Town of good Resort we were inform'd that it went anciently by the Name of Moreford but after that chang'd its Name to Kingston when it had the Honour to become a place for the Coronation of the Saxon Monarchs Athelstan Edwin and Ethelred being here Crown'd Kings upon an open Stage in the Market-place Richmond And now we began to draw near to our Journies end but calling in at Richmond heretofore call'd Sheen we found it still a Town of a considerable Account though perhaps no less in the Reign of King Edward III. who when he had lived sufficiently both to Glory and Nature died at this very place King Henry VII gave it the Name of Richmond from the Title he bore before he obtain'd the Crown of England and ended his Life here as did after him here likewise the most Glorious and Puissant Queen Elizabeth From hence pacing along by the Noble River Thames which is on both sides of it wonderfully graced with many pleasant Towns and Villages we arriv'd again in safety at the Renown'd Metropolis of England The End of the First Journey To the Right Worshipful George Elcock of Barham Esq One of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Kent SIR THE great Civilities you are naturally inclined to shew all Travellers who have seen and
Neptune in Holland which is one of the grand Divisions in Lincolnshire Lincolnshire This County is of a large extent and in most places very fertile and rich in Cattel it stretcheth out it self no less than Threescore Miles in length and above Thirty in breadth and is divided into three Portions called by the Names of Holland Kesteven and Lindsey Holland Holland so called as some would have it from Hay which our Ancestors broadly term Hoy is divided likewise into two parts the Higher and the Lower the Lower is a very moist and watery Soil troublesom for its deep Fens annoyed frequently with Quagmires which in Summer-time are so soft and pliable that they will shake under a Man's Feet who will be ready to sink into them as he stands upon them in that Season it is all over covered with Sheep as in the Winter with Water at which time there is such a vast plenty of Fish and Fowl that many poor People thereabouts make a good Livelihood by catching of them But as the Incomes are great and the Profits considerable of most Persons who inhabit these Fens so are there some Inconveniences which are no less intolerable for their Cattle being commonly a good distance from their Houses they are forc'd in the Winter when they go either to Fodder or Milk them to betake themselves to their little Boats which they call Skirries carrying usually two a-piece and may be compared to an Indian Canoo and by these convey themselves from place to place as occasion requires and because their Ground lies very low and flat and East-ward adjoins to the main Ocean lest at any time it should be overflown by any sudden Inundations as in stormy Weather it too frequently happens they fence in their Lands with great Piles of Wood and mighty Banks well lined and ramm'd down against the Violence of the Waves and are forced to keep Watches with great care and diligence as against the Approaches of a most dangerous Enemy and yet notwithstanding all their vigilance and forecast they can scarce with the strongest Barricadoes they can prepare defend themselves from the violent Incursions and Outrages of the Sea Here is great plenty of Flax and Hemp and in all these Parts many thousands of Sheep are fatted for the slaughter but of good Bread and Water which are the staff of Life as great a scarcity for the Water is generally brackish and ill relished and the Bread as little pleasing and toothsom being made for the most part of Pease and Oats which yet goes down as favourily with the Peasants as if it had been moulded of finer Flour Nor are their Dormitories any more pleasing or delightful for all the Summer long there are continually such swarms of stinging Gnats and other troublesom Flies throughout all these Quarters that a Stranger can find but a very unhospitable Lodging and Reception amongst those little buzzing Misanthropical Animals Being loth therefore to lie at the mercy of such Enemies or to come within the reach of their Bloody Inquisition we made all the haste we conveniently could their troublesom Territories to Boston which lying within the Precincts of Higher Holland we hoped to find more safe and inoffensive Boston This is a famous Town situated upon the River Witham more properly named Botolph's Town from a great Saint Botolph who had here formerly a Monastery 't is a place of great Note and Repute for Merchandize for the Sea flowing up the River causeth a very commodious Haven so that many times here lie a Fleet of Ships which convey down Goods hither from all Parts and the Mart which is kept here yearly doth much enrich the Town with all sorts of Commodities There are fair and beautiful Houses seated on both sides of the River over which is built a wooden Bridge of a great height for the more easie converse and entercourse of the Inhabitants The Market-place is fair and large and on Market Days well stored with all kind of Provisions and the Church being a most curious and stately Fabrick is chiefly remarkable for its towring Steeple which hath as many steps in it from the top to the bottom as there are Days in the Year and doth not only salute all Travellers at a great distance but is a good Sea-mark and Direction to all Sailors And it seems the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond and Darby of whose great Munificence I have formerly spoken had a great kindness and esteem for this place for the Margaret Preacher from Cambridge doth usually once in two Years come hither to give the Inhabitants a Sermon for which service there is a particular Salary left in Legacy by that Lady And whatever Damages it sustained formerly by the sudden Incursion of some bold and insolent Ruffians who coming clad cunningly in the Habits and Garb of Monks and Friars broke into Merchants Houses and plundered and pillaged them and set Fire to the Town in sundry places in the time of Edward the First so that as our Chronicles tell us Gold and Silver which was melted in the Flames ran down in as rapid a stream as the like and other Metals did at the Sacking of Corinth yet it hath since retrieved its Wealth and recovered its strength for the Inhabitants addicting themselves either to Merchandize or Grazing or both have reduced it to a very opulent and flourishing Condition and 't is now governed by a Mayor and Aldermen by whose prudent Conduct and Government it may in all probability long continue in that prosperous Estate In the Coat of Arms for the Corporation there are three Crowns relating to the three Kingdoms the Crest a Ram lying upon a Wooll-Sack the Ram signifying the great Sheep-walks in the Fens round about and the Wool-Sack that it was a Staple Town the Supporters of the Coat are two Maremaids signifying that it was a Port Town Reposing our selves here one Night the next Day we travelled further into the Country and passing over some part of the Fens we came within the limits of the second part of the County called Kesteven where as the Air is far more sweet and wholesome so the Soil is no less rich and fruitful to a small Market Town named Sleeford Sleeford of little account except it be by reason of an ancient Castle built formerly by Alexander Bishop of Lincoln or a House which was erected by Sir John Hussey who in King Henry the Eighth's Days lost his Head And from hence coming to Lindsey the other part which is a Champaign Heath Country we arrived at Lincoln the most eminent Place and City of this County Lincoln This is the City which Ptolemy and the Emperour Antoninus called Lindum the Britains saith Rudborne Caerludecote and Bede Linde-Collina Civitas whether from its Situation upon a very high Hill or in that it was an ancient Colony is not material to enquire certain it is a great place of Antiquity and the Remains of old Walls and
some time in this City we went from hence through Linlithgow Linlithgow a Town beautified with a fair House of the King 's a goodly Church a pleasant Park and a Loch a lake under the Palace Wall full of Fish of which lake it seems to have derived its Name Falkirk Lin in the British Tongue signifying a lake to another Town called Falkirk Famous for the notable Battle which was fought here betwixt King Edward the First and the Scots wherein were Slain no less than two Thousand Men not far from which place likewise upon the River Carron was formerly situate the Famous City of Camelon chief City of the Picts founded by Cruthneus Camelon before the Birth of Christ 330 Year which was destroy by King Kenneth the Great about the Year of Christ 846 and what was left was afterward swallowed up by an Earthquake where the void place is now filled with Water Glasgow At last we came to the renowned City of Glasgow which lying in Liddisdail was indeed the furthest of all our Northern Circuit 't is situated upon the River Glotta or Cluyd over which is placed a very fair Bridge supported with eight Arches and for pleasantness of Sight sweetness of Air and delightfulness of its Gardens and Orchards enriched with most delicious Fruits surpasseth all other places in this Tract the Buildings in this Town are very large and beautiful and the Tolbooth itself so stately a Structure that it appears rather to be a Palace than a Prison This has formerly been the See of an Arch-Bishop The University and in the Year 1554 an University which consists of one College was founded here by Arch Bishop Turnbill for a Rector a Dean of Faculty a Principal or Warden to teach Theology and three Professors to teach Philosophy Afterwards some Clergymen professed the Laws here being invited to that Profession rather by the convenience of a Collegiate Life and the immunities of the University then by any considerable Salary King James the Sixth A. D. 1577. did establish twelve Persons in the College viz. a Principal three Professors of Philosophy called Regents four Scholars called Bursars an Oeconomus or Provisor who furnisheth the Table with Provisions the Principal 's Servant a Janitor and a Cook The Cathedral is a very fair ancient Fabrick The Cathedrel built by Bishop John Achaian A. D. 1135. it oweth Thanks to the Memory of King James the Sixth and which is most remarkable to the Mob it self at that time for its preservation from Ruine for the Ministers here having perswaded the Magistrates to pull it down and to build two or three other Churches with the materials thereof and the Magistrates condescending a Day was appointed and Workmen ready to demolish it but the common Tradesmen having notice given them of this design convene in Arms and oppose the Magistrates threatning to bury the Demolishers of it under the Ruines of that ancient Building whereupon the matter was referred to the King and Council who decided the controversy in the Tradesmens Favour and reproving very sharply the Magistrates for their Order so that it still continues with four other Churches here beside for the exercise of their Religion The City is governed by a Mayor and is very eminent for its Trade and Merchandize and is noted upon Record for being the place where William Wallace the Renowned Champion of Scotland was traitourously Betrayed by Sir John Menteith and delivered up to our King Edward the First by whose Order he was afterward publickly executed in Smithfield Hamilton Passing away hence by Hamilton a famous Palace then belonging to Duke Hamilton which hath a fair and spatious Park adjoyning to it we had two Days journy very doleful and troublesome for we travelled over wide Meers and dangerous Mountains in the Company of some Scotch Gentlemen who were going that way for England where the Weather was ill the ways worse and the long Miles with their Way-bitts at the end of them worst of all where our Lodging was hard our Diet course and our Bodies thin that it might easily be discerned how we had lately pass'd through the Territorys of Famine who Reigns very potently over that cold and pinching Region Dunfries But coming at length to Dunfries in the County of Nidisdail it made us some amends for being situate between two Hills upon the Mouth of the River Nid over which is laid a Bridge of large fine Stones it appears to be one of the most flourishing Towns in this Tract notable no less for its ancient Castle and Manufacture of Cloath then for the Murther of John Cummins one of the most Renowned Personages for his Retinue and Equipage in all this Kingdom whom Robert Bruce for fear he should fore-stal his way to the Crown run quite through with his Sword in the Fryars Church and soon obtain'd his pardon from the Pope though he had committed so great a Murder in so sacred a place Anandale After this we came to Anandale at the Mouth of the River Anan in the County of Anandale bordering upon our own Nation which lost all its Glory and Beauty upon the War which was raised in Edward the Sixth's Days in these two last named Counties have been bred a sort of warlike Men who hath been infamous for Robberys and depredations for they dwell upon Solway-Frith a fordable Arm of the Sea at low Water through which frequently they have made many inroads into England to fetch home great Booty's and in which they were wont after a delightful manner on Horse-back with Spears to hunt Salmons of which there are in these parts a very great abundance After we had passed these borders we arrived again safe in our own native Soil within the precincts of Cumberland Cumberland which like the rest of the Northern Counties hath a sharp piercing Air the Soil is fertile for the most part both with Corn and Cattel and in some parts hereof with Fish and Fowl here are likewise several Minerals which of late have been discovered not only Mines of Copper but some veins of Gold and Silver as we were informed have been found and of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Nor is it less renowned for its exceeding high Mountains for beside the Mountain called Wrye-Nose The Hill called Wrie-Nose on the top of which near the high way side are to be seen Three Shire-Stones within a foot of each other one in this County another in Westmorland and a third in Lancashire there are three other Hills Skiddaw Lanvalin and Casticand very remarkable Skiddaw riseth up with two mighty high Heads like Parnassus and beholds Scruffel Hill The Hill of Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand which is in Anandale in Scotland and accordingly as mists rise or fall upon these heads the People thereby prognosticate of the change of Weather Singing this Rhime If Skiddaw have a Cap
sooner melt the Snow and Ice in this County than in places further of the Soil is very Rich and is observed to be more kindly and natural for Pasturage than Corn which occasions here great plenty of most excellent Cheese which together with Salt are the two grand Commodities of this County both Men and Women have here a general commendation for Beauty and Handsome proportion and for Meers and Pools Heaths and Mosses Woods and Parks they are more frequent here than in many other Counties besides that it is in great request for the two famous Forests Delamere and Macclesfield Forests of Delamere and Macklesfield River Dee In the River Dee is plenty of Salmons and Giraldus Cambrensis who lived about the Year 1200 tells us that this River prognosticated a certain Victory to the Inhabitants living upon it when they were in Hostility one against another according as it inclined more on this side or that after it had left the Channel and it is still observed that the same River upon the fall of much Rain riseth but little but if the South Wind beats long upon it it swells and extreamly overflows the Grounds adjacent Salt Springs at Nantwich c. At Nantwich Northwich and Middlewich are the Famous Salt-Pits of this shire the whitest Salt is made at Nantwich which is reputed the greatest and fairest built Town of all this shire after Chester it hath only one Pit called the Brine-Pit about some fourteen Foot from the River Wever out of which they convey Salt-water by troughs of Wood into the Houses adjoining wherein there stands little Barrels pitched fast in the ground which they fill with that Water and at the ringing of a Bell they begin to make a Fire under the leads whereof they have six in an House and in them they seeth the Water then certain Women which they call Wallers with little wooden rakes fetch up the Salt from the bottom and put it in baskets which they term Salt-barrows out of which the Liquor runneth and the pure Salt remaineth Chester or West Chester as being in the Western part of the Kingdom is the Metropolis of this County Chester it was in ancient times called Legacestre Caerleon and Caerlegion for wherever the Britains built a Town they gave it the name of Caer which is derived of the Hebrew Kir and signifies a Wall in both Languages and wheresoever the English coming in found the Word Caer in the name of any Town they Translated it by the Word Chester or Cestor which was the same to them as Caer to the old Britains which undoubtedly occasion'd the denomination of this Place and the addition of Legion to it was because the Twentieth Roman Legion was here placed so that it is a City as famous for its Antiquity as Situation and of no less Renown of old for its Roman * At Caerleon was formerly an ancient School of Learning placed here for the Britains by the Roman Powers Bishop Stillingfleet Antiq. of the British Churches P. 215. than 't is now for a Dutch Colony a People who carry Trade and Industry along with them where-e'er they go 'T is seated on the Banks of the River Dee over which it has a fair Stone Bridge with eight Arches and a Gate at each end its distance from the River's Mouth is about 25 Miles and from the new Key where the Ships ride 6 Miles 'T is built in the form of a Quadrant and environed with strong Walls about two Miles in compass wth Towers and Battlements and withal so broad and spatious that in some places two or three may walk a-breast upon it The Castle which stands upon an high Hill near to the River with its thundring Peals of Ordnance prohibits access to any insolent Invaders whilst the sweetness and commodiousness of the City within affords great pleasure to the Natives and no less satisfaction to all foreigners who visit it for besides the prospect of fair and uniform Houses all along the chief Streets are Galleries or walking places which are called Rows having Shops on both sides through which a Man may walk dry in the most rainy Weather from one end to the other Here are several Churches which are very ancient and goodly Fabricks and though St. John's without Northgate had formerly the preeminence yet now the Cathedral founded in Honour to St. Werburga Daughter to Wulpherus King of Mercia by Earl Leofrich and afterward repaired by Hugh the first of the Norman Blood that was Earl of Chester doth deservedly bear away the Bell of great repute for the Tomb of Henry the Fourth Emperour of Almain who as they say gave over his Empire and led here an Heremites Life The Bishop's See was first placed here by Peter Bishop of Litchfield who translated it from thence but being afterwards conveyed to Coventry and from thence setled in its primitive Station this place continued devoid of all Episcopal Honour till King Henry the Eighth's Reign who having dispossessed the Benedictine Monks of their Mansions placed in their Room a Dean and Prebendaries and made it for ever a Bishop's See The City is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and was made a County incorporate by King Henry the Seventh and glories in nothing more than that this was the place where the Saxon King Edgar in triumph had his Barge rowed in the way of homage by seven petty Kings or Princes Kenneth the Third King of Scots being one from St. John's Church to his own Palace himself as supreme Lord alone holding the Helm and here is farther a Tragical Story reported how Ethelfred King of the Northumbers who murdered at this place barbarosly some hundreds of Christian Monks was here afterwards slain himself by Redwald King of the East-Angles When we left this City we took the opportunity of the Sands and passed with a Guide over the Washes into Flintshire in North-Wales Flintshire in North-Wales where Flint Castle saluted us upon our first arrival ' This Castle was begun by King Henry the Second and finished by Edward the First where King Richard the Second ws deposed and King Edward the Second met his great Favourite Gaveston at his return out of Ireland The Air is healthy without any Fogs or Vapours and the People generally very aged and hearty the Snow lies long upon the Hills the Country affords great plenty of Cattel but they are small Millstones are also digged up in these Parts as well as in Anglesey Towards the River Dee the Fields bear in some Parts Barley in others Wheat but generally throughout Rye with very great encrease and especially the first Year of their breaking up their Land and afterwards two or three crops together of Oats Upon the River Cluyd is situated St. Asaph anciently Elwy a Town of greater Antiquity than Beauty and more Honourable for a Bishop's See St. Asaph placed here about 560 by Kentigerne a Scot Bishop of Glascow than for any
which being well replenished with numerous Shoals of Fish after it hath for a time parted this County from Northamptonshire passeth through the midst of it and divides it as it were into two equal Portions In fine Nature hath here so generously scatter'd all her Largesses either for Pleasure or Profit that she certainly at first designed it as a Glorious Seat for the Muses and a fruitful Colony for Apollo's Children and therefore we now find here one of the Eyes of this Nation which is the Renowned Oxford Oxford Oxford q. Bovis Vadum a Ford for Oxen to pass over as the Thracian Bosphorus is called by the Germans Ochenfurt It was anciently called Bellositum for its healthy Air and commodious Situation betwixt two Rivers and is so ancient a City as to fetch its Original from the time of the Britaine so large to contain 13 Parish Churches besides the Cathedral so well adorned with private goodly Structures as well as with divers magnificent Colleges and Halls that it must needs be allowed to be one of the most beautiful and stately Cities in England it is supposed by Antiquaries to have been a place for publick Studies before the Reign of that learned Saxon King Alfred who very much augmented it out of his Princely Favour and Love to Learning and Religion and it justly glories in the Ancient and Royal Foundation of Vniversity-College founded by the aforesaid King Alfred about the year 872. afterward re-edified by William Archdeacon of Durham or as others write by William Bishop of Durham in the Reign of William the Conquerour In the curious Fabrick of New-College built by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester in Richard II's time In the Magnificence of Christ-Church erected by Cardinal Woolsey in the Reign of Henry VIII and in Twenty two stately Colleges and Halls besides To wave the curious Fabrick of the Schools the admirable Structure of the Theatre built at the sole Cost and Charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the famous Bodleian Library which for a Collection of choice Books and rare Manuscripts is not much inferiour to that of the Vatican at Rome The Musaeum erected at the Charge of the University for the Improvement of Experimental Knowledge The publick Physick Garden replenished with the choicest Plants and surrounded with a strong Stone-Wall at the Expence of his Grace the present Duke of Leeds together with all the Customs Privileges Offices and Dignities which are already Elegantly set forth by the Ingenious Author of the Present State of England I shall only observe that the most Puissant King Henry VIII erected here first a Bishop's See and Endowed it as we are informed out of the Lands belonging to the dissolved Monasteries of Abington and Osney and for further Ornaments to the University and Encouragement of Learning through the Munificence of that Prince and divers other Benefactors there have been since added divers professors of several Arts and Sciences to instruct the younger Pupils in their Minority and to make them fit Instruments for the Service of Church and State From hence we moved forward to Burford Burford a Town in this County of good Note for its Antiquity situated very pleasantly on the side of a rising Hill It was formerly called Berghford or Bregforde saith my Learned Friend Mr. White Kennet in his Parochial Antiquities of Oxfordshire and as he further informs us A Synod was here Convened at which were present the two Kings Etheldred and Berthwald Theodore Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Sexwolph Bishop of Litchfield Bosel Bishop of Worcester and Aldhelm afterward Bishop of Sherborn then only Priest and Abbot of Malmsbury which said Aldhelm at the Command of this Synod wrote a Book against the Errour of the British Christians in the Observation of Easter and other different Rites wherein they disturbed the Peace of the Church the reading of which Book reclaim'd many of those Britains who were under the West Saxons After this 't is storied further That about the year 752. Cuthred King of the West Saxons when he was no longer able to bear the Severe Tributes and Exactions of Aethelbald King of the Mercians who did most cruelly oppress him and began 〈◊〉 suck the very Blood and Marrow of his Subjects came into the Field against him and in a pitâ—â—'d Battle at Beorgford saith the Saxon Chronicle published by the Learned Mr. Gibson routed him â—â—tally taking from him his Banners on which was painted a golden Dragon and so eased and freed himself and his Subjects from that Tributary Vassalage The Memory whereof has continued for several Ages in the Custom used here of making a Dragon and carrying it about the Town solemnly on Midsummer-Eve with the addition of a Giant to it the reason of which latter Practice is not so easily discovered saith the Ingenious Dr. Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire Having once passed from this place we soon arrived within the Limits of Glocestershire Glocestershire in the Eastern parts swelled up into Hills called Cotswold which Feed innumerable Flocks of Sheep the Wool whereof is much praised for its fineness the middle parts consist of a fertile Plain watered by the Severn and the Western part where lies the Forest of Dean is much covered with Woods 'T is a Country happy in the Enjoyment of all things that are necessary for the Use and Service of Man the very Lanes and Hedges being well-lined with Apple and Pear-Trees and the Vales which in William of Malmsbury's time were filled with Vineyards are now turn'd into Orchards which yield plenty of Sider The Towns and Villages stand mostly thick together and so it is populous the Houses numerous and so 't is sociable the Churches fair and magnificent and so 't is honourable But that which is one of the greatest Blessings of all is the Noble River Severn than which there is not any River in all this Island for its Channel broader for Stream swifter for variety of Fish better stored though sometimes it overflows its Banks and when it hath roved a great way upon the Land retires back again in Triumph as a victorious Conquerour This River Severn The River Severn or Sabrina was so called from Sabrine a fair Lady concerning whom there goes this Story Locrine the Eldest Son of Brutus who came first into Britain and from whom some Writers are of Opinion our Country received its Denomination took to Wife Guendoline Daughter to Corineus Duke of Cornwall the Companion of that Noble Trojan but notwithstanding this he kept a very beautiful Mistress whose Name was Estrilde and by her had a Daughter which he named Sabrine whereupon he grew so enamoured of her that after the Death of his Father-in-law Corineus he put away his Wife and Married this Lady at which Act his Wife was so extreamly netled that she immediately repairs into Cornwall makes her Complaint among her Friends and Relations and having gathered
amongst themselves who have several distinct Halls and Petty-Laws Enacted for regulating and ordering their Affairs in Trade It hath three Markets a Week in which there is plenty of Corn and all other sorts of Provisions And finally it is observable That in the late Civil Wars it was never taken by the Rebels and though the Scotch Army came against it yet they found such hot Service without by the playing of the Ordinance from within that they were forced at last to Retreat Ingloriously Not far distant from this City stands an ancient House Rotheras belonging formerly to the Family of the Bodenhams since in the Possession of the Heirs of Mr. Van-Acker which is one of the most delightful and sweetest Seats in all this part of the County having a spacious Park before it the River Wye behind it pleasant Meadows on the one side and fruitful Tillage on the other and having had such great plenty of Apple-Trees belonging to it as we were credibly inform'd by those that knew it that take but one Apple from each Tree and it would make a Hogshead of Sider and the Country People there have a Proverb which goes currant amongst them Every one cannot live at Rotheras it having formerly been a place of too profuse Hospitality Having spent some time at Hereford and being now upon the Borders of Wales we resolved to make a visit to some parts of that Country To this purpose we Travelled into Monmouthshire Monmouthshire in some places very Fruitful and in others as Barren though Nature supplies those Defects by giving the Inhabitants great plenty of Iron which proves to them a very advantageous Commodity We found the ways near Monmouth very hard and rugged Monmouth and that Town to be environ'd with Hills on all sides the Ruins of its Wall and Castle argue its great Antiquity it hath a fair Church and Market-place with a Hall for the Assizes and Sessions 't is govern'd by a Mayor Recorder and Aldermen and the Inhabitants do generally speak both the Welsh and English Tongue They told us there of great Immunities and Privileges granted to them by the House of Lancaster but for nothing is it so much Renown'd as in that it was the Native place of Henry V. that dreadful Scourge of the French and glorious Pillar of the English Nation who Conquer'd Charles VI. King of France and maugre all the Scoffs and Affronts put upon him by the Dauphin as particularly when he sent him a Tun of Tennis-Balls in dirision of his Youth thinking him more fit to play with them than to manage Arms did at length toss such Iron Balls amongst them that the best Arms in France were not able to hold a Racket to return them Here likewise was born that famous British Historian Geoffrey Archdeacon of Monmouth who lived under King Stephen about the year 1150 of whom is made this Observation by the Learned Archdeacon of Carlisle in his English Historical Library that having a peculiar Fancy for Stories surmounting all ordinary Faith his History being Epitomiz'd by Ponticus Vitruvius an Italian is of a Complexion fitter for the Air of Italy than of England Hither they say do the Welsh Men come down in great crouds out of South Wales as they do likewise to Ludlow out of North Wales and make their Appeals upon divers Occasions and Commence their Suits which upon Court-days are very Numerous and Trivial for the Yeomanry are generally warm and litigious and make often good Work and Sport too for the Lawyers After we were pass'd this Town we found the Ways still more troublesom and uneasie and were entertained with no other Objects but what the stony Rocks and dangerous Cliffs the towring Mountains Vast high Mountains in Wales and craggy Precipices did afford us being covered with Flocks of Sheep or Herds of Goats or Multitudes of Oxen which they call Runts The Rusticks will tell you that upon the Black Mountain or near it are some Hills which are so high and whose Tops are so sharp that two Persons may stand upon two different Points thereof and discourse with one another and understand one another with great Facility although they must be forced to traverse a long Circuit of Ground before they can meet to embrace each other But though I will not answer for the Truth of this Story sure I am that there are many of those Mountains of so unconceivable a Height and so steep an Ascent that they seem to be as it were Nature's Stair-Cases by which we may climb up to some higher Regions and have an Entercourse and Correspondence with the Inhabitants of the Moon or converse more frequently and familiarly with the Aereal Daemons Having with much Difficulty scrambled over some of these Mountains we arrived at a Town in the furthermost part of this County which is called Chepstow Chepstow which signifies in the Saxon Language a Market or place of Trade this Town hath formerly been Fortified with Walls though more naturally with Rocks with which it is environ'd on all sides It is still remarkable for its Castle built as some affirm by Julius Caesar after he had conquer'd Britain which is strong and generally well guarded with a convenient Garison 'T is seated upon the Wye with a strong wooden Bridge over it near its fall into the Severn The Water flows here 11 or 12 Ells high at every Tide as likewise at Bristol an extraordinary proportion in comparison of most places besides on the English Shore The Lords hereof have antiently been Earls of Pembrook or Strighull so called from a Castle of that Name not far distant from this place the last of whom was Richard Sir-named Strong-bow from his Nervous Arms wherewith he could most dextrously use his Bow and was the first Champion that made an Inroad for the Normans into the Kingdom of Ireland Whilst we were in these parts we made the best Enquiries after South Wales South-Wales which we had not then an opportunity to travel over and from some of the Natives who were very Communicative and ready to make what discoveries they could of the Rarities of their own Country we made a shift to Collect this short Account Brecknockshire Brecknockshire is one of the most Mountainous Counties of all Wales but between its Mountains there are many fruitful Valleys it has four Market Towns amongst which Brecknock is the chief Brecknock Mounth-Denny Hill three Miles from which is a Hill called Mounth-Denny that hath its Top above the Clouds and if a Cloak Hat or the like be thrown from the Top of it it will as they Report never fall but be blown up again nor will any thing descend but Stones or the like Lynsavathan Mere. Two Miles East from the same place is a Mere called Lynsavathan which as the People dwelling there say was once a City but was swallowed up by an Earthquake and this Water or Lake succeeded in the place
latter gives them the Pre-eminence and yet certainly Nature never made greater Demonstrations of her Art than in such wonderful Phaenomena as we here observ'd in this place having made some of the Stones as smooth as the most expert Jeweller could have done as round and sharp as broad above and small beneath as the greatest Artist could have effected shaping some of them with four some of them with six Angles apiece like the Stones which we usually set in Rings and to make us still the more to admire her Perfections she hath not given them all one Colour but some of them are like Chrystal clear and some are of a more ruddy and sanguine Complexion according to the nature of the Soil by which means she causeth the Production not to be unlike the Parent There is one thing here still very remarkable and that is the Hot-Well The Hot-Well which is just at the bottom of this Rock and at the very brink of the River Avon by which though it is still overflow'd every Tide yet it still retains its natural heat and by its constant Ebullitions purgeth away all the Scum or saltish Froth it might have contracted from the salt Water the Water is exceeding wholsom very good to purge away ill Humours and purifie the Blood it gives some ease in the Stone and is useful as is reported for sore Eyes too which makes it much frequented and resorted to by all sorts of People From this Renowned City we travelled into Somersetshire Somersetshire a County of a very rich Soil Commodious for its Havens pleasant for its Fruit profitable for its Pasture and Tillage and sociable for its Inhabitants Some will have it it takes its Name from its comfortable Air and the wholsome refreshing Gales it affords in Summer which indeed then is truly affirm'd of it though in Winter-time that part of it which lies low moist and fenny must needs be troublesom and unhealthy that part of it which lies betwixt Bristol and Wells is more Hilly and Mountainous and the Hills call'd Mendipp-Hills Mendipp-Hills under which Wells is situated are very remarkable being in old Records call'd Munedupp or rather Moinedupp from the many Knolls there visible and steepness of their Ascents as also Mineragia from their richness of leaden Mines the Ore of which being digged thereabouts in great abundance and afterward melted down into Pigs and Sows as they are there call'd the Lead is convey'd to Bristol and from thence it is transported into divers other parts Wells Wells which is the chief City of the Province receives its Denomination from the variety of fresh and wholsom Springs which bubble up about it the Houses therein are well contriv'd and built of Stone the Government by the Mayor and his Brethren safe and regular but the chief Ornament hereof is the Cathedral built by King Ina in honour to St. Andrew enlarged by Kenewulph one of his Successors and since much enriched by the Liberality and Piety of divers Religious Benefactors it was made a Bishop's See in the Reign of Edward the Senior and Athelmus was constituted the first Bishop here Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 556. but afterward Johannes Turonensis united Bath and Wells together and ever since the Bishop hath received both these Titles In the late unhappy times of Charles I. this Church underwent the same Calamities which was then in this Nation the Lot of all such Religious places and became a grateful Prey to Rapine and Sacrilege but at the happy Restauration of our Religion and Government it returned again by degrees to its Primitive Magnificence and Lustre and the Quire of it yields now to few for Workmanship whether we consider the Artificial Bosses very delicately gilded which adorn it above or the curious Columns which uphold it below or the Bishops Seat of Marble set out with most glorious Embellishments supported with rich Pillars and with its Towring Pyramids being the Head and Ornament in a more especial manner of the Quire as he is of the Church To this I may add the variety of carved Images which almost environ the Body of the Church without containing the History both of the Old and New Testament and the curious Architecture of the Chapter-House supported only by one large Column which stands in the middle of it to all which may be added the Bishop's Palace built Castle-wise of great Grandeur which appositely becomes a Father of the Church to be seated in But the most remarkable and which cannot but have the Suffrage of all Travellers to be the most admirable piece of Nature's Workmanship in our English Nation is a place call'd Ochy-Hole some two Miles distant from this City 't is a Cave under a high Rock situated among the Mendipp-Hills I before mention'd of which I shall endeavour to give a Description as briefly as I can Ochy-Hole After that we had with some difficulty climbed up to the top of a Rock we went along the Brow of the Hill till we came to the Mouth of the Cave where a Door being open'd that gave us an Entrance we lighted up Candles to direct us in the way and took Staffs in our Hands to support us in our Passage and in we ventur'd Having gone forward some few paces we found the Cave very craggy as well as hollow and so dark that nothing sure but Tartarus it self could resemble it the Candles though six in number and of a large size scarce burning so bright as one great one doth usually in an open Room we then thought certainly we were arrived upon the Confines of the Infernal Regions or else were got into some such dismal place as the Italians tell us the Sibylline Grotto is and we began to be afraid we might probably meet with the same unwelcome Entertainment the Boeotick Cave of Trophonius used to give those who were so curious to visit it namely that though they enter'd in frolicksom and merry yet they should certainly return out of it sad and pensive and never laugh more whilst they lived upon Earth Such dreadful Apprehensions did at first seize upon some of us and indeed we had cause to fear such dismal Operations might proceed from this as well as from the other since both were equally uncomfortable by reason of their deprivation from the least glimmerings of light and consequently had the same Circumstances to beget both horrour and astonishment however we pluck'd up our Spirits and crept in one after another as fast as we could conveniently The Cave as we went along was parted into several kind of Rooms the names whereof our Guides informed us to be thus The first was the Kitchen in which by the Door sticks out a large mass of the Rock which they tell us was the Porter's Head formerly the Keeper of this Cave it seems to bear that kind of resemblance and tho' by that is a Stone which they call the Tomb-stone under which they report
learnt so much abroad your self is a sufficient Encouragement to me to lay these Papers before you not doubting but that they will find a favourable Acceptance from so worthy a Friend whose experienced Candour and Ingenuity makes him so signally Eminent amongst all such who have themselves any true sparks of it What it was that moved me to publish this Itinerary as it will fully appear by the Preface I have prefixed so if I add further that the natural and congenite Propensity that is in Mankind to pay their Regards and shew what Service they can in their Stations and Capacities to their own Native Country in which as Lipsius elegantly expresseth it Infantia vagiit pueritia lusit juventus exercita educata est was the next motive I hope they will jointly be a sufficient Apology for this Topographical performance If I may flatter my self that it will any way gratifie your nice and curious Palate I shall not doubt but it will then find a powerful Advocate to plead for such Slips and Imperfections to which things of this nature may be unwillingly obnoxious however it will fully answer my design if it may be accepted of as a grateful Acknowledgment for the repeated Acts of Kindness conferred upon Your most Humble Servant James Brome AN ACCOUNT OF Mr. BROME'S Three Years TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales A Narrative of his second Journey AFTER some few days respite and abode in London we began a new Progress and passing through Newington Totnam-High-Cross and Edmington Towns of good Note by reason of divers Gentlemen Merchants and rich Citizens that inhabit there we came to Waltham in Essex of which County I shall have occasion to speak more fully hereafter Waltham was of old a small Village Waltham in Essex or rather a desolate place beset with Woods and Briars which one Tovius in the declination of the Saxon Empire a great Courtier and a very wealthy and potent Man first Founded and planted there a Colony of some sixtysix Men afterwards he deceasing Athelstan his Son was deprived of his Patrimony and Edward the Confessor bestowed it upon Harold a great Favourite of his who having taken possession of it constituted in it a Church of Secular Canons and Dedicating it to the Honour of the Holy Cross made his Vows here in hopes of a Victory when he went to fight against William the Conqueror but Harold being slain and his Army quite routed by the Normans his Body was beg'd by his Mother of the Norman Duke and buried in this place After this the same Abby in the Reign of K. Henry II. was by the King's Command much enlarged and Regular Canons placed there to the number of Twenty-four and Dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. Lawrence saith the most Ingenious Mr. Tanner in his Notitia Monastica Richard I. still more augmented it and so did King Henry III. with Fairs and Markets appointing one Fair in the year to last for seven days together Hartfordshire We staid not long here and therefore were presently in Hartfordshire a County every where abounding with fertile Fields sat Pastures shady Groves and pleasant Rivolets and the first Town here of any Remark which presented it self to our View was Ware Ware which was built say Antiquaries by Edward the Senior King of the West Saxons about the year 914. 'T is watered by the River Ley and hath a great Market for all sorts of Grain it is populous and well inhabited by persons of very good Quality and lying in the great Road to London frequented constantly by persons of all degrees and although Hartford be the Eye of the County 't is now inferiour to this place since all Passages for Carriages being there obstructed during the Barons Wars were here freely opened to the great Advantage of this Town But the most remarkable thing in Ware is the New River or Aquaeduct convey'd above 20 Miles together in a continued Channel from this place to Islington from whence the Water thereof is dispersed in Pipes laid along in the Ground for that purpose into abundance of Streets Lanes Courts and Alleys of the City and Suburbs of London the happy Contrivance whereof all the Citizens have daily Experience and ought to Immortalize the Name of their Inventor Sir Hugh Middleton who bestow'd this most excellent Gift upon them and consummated this good Work so useful and beneficial to the City at his own proper Cost and Charges We lay here one Night in the company of some Friends Puckeridge and Barkway who came along hither with us for their Diversion but the next Morning taking a solemn farewell of them we set forward on our Journey and passing thro' Puckeridge and Barkway Towns of good Hospitality and Entertainment for Strangers we were quickly arriv'd within the Precincts of Cambridgeshire This is an extream pleasant open Country Cambridgeshire and a place of such Variety and Plenty that fruitful Geres with a smiling Countenance invites the Industrious Peasant to behold with Joy the Fruits of his Labour whilst she crowns his Industry with a plentiful Harvest and as if the Earth strove not to be behind hand with him in conferring other Largesses she in divers places makes some Annual Additions of another Crop by adorning the Fields with large Productions of Saffron by which great Profits do continually arise Besides here it is that the green Banks of murmuring Rivers and sunny Hills bedeck'd with diversity of Plants and Simples call forth the Students from their musing Cells and teach them Theory as well as Practice by diving into their Natures contemplating their Signatures and considering their Qualities and various Effects In a word here is nothing wanting for Profit or Delight and though the Northern parts of the County towards the Isle of Ely lying somewhat low are moist and Fenny yet that Defect is abundantly supply'd by the Plenty of Cattle Fish and Fowl bred in those Fenns and which makes the Air more healthy the gentle Gales which are frequently stirring drive away all thick Mists and Fogs which in some parts most annoy it and by this means it is become a fit Seat for the Muses to inhabit and we have no reason to complain of the Soil since our Wise Ancestors thought it good and convenient to plant a Colony of Learned Men here and place one of the Eyes of our Nation in this spot of Ground the famous and most glorious University of Cambridge which we could not in Honour pass by without a Visit Cambridge Cambridge was formerly call'd by the Britains Kaergrant and Grantbridge from a fair large Bridge made over the River Grant which is now call'd Cam from whence the Town it self receives its Name It is increased much by the Ruines of Grantchester sometimes a famous City situated a little above a Mile from this place and the Castle that is beyond the River the Ruines of which are still to be seen was built as
ancient Records testifie in the first year of William the Conqueror and in the fifth year of William Rufus in the year of our Lord 1092 a Nobleman of the Norman Blood nam'd Picot a Vice-comes or Sheriff at the request of Hugolin his Wife founded a Church and Dedicated it unto St. Giles near to this Castle placing in it a Convent of six black Canons which was twenty years after remov'd to Barnwell a Village near a Mile distant from this place by Pain Reverell where he built a Priory to the Honour of St. Giles and St. Andrew and endow'd it with Revenues for the maintainance of thirty Canons of St. Austin's Order As Mr. Tanner informs us As to the Antiquity of the University of Cambridge if any Credit may be given to King Arthur's Diploma which says That King Lucius was converted by the preaching of the Doctors of Cambridge for which reason he gave Privileges to that University which were after confirm'd by King Arthur or if the Bull of Pope Honorius the First may be allow'd Authentick which bearing date Feb. 20 An. Dom. 624. makes mention of the Privileges granted to the University of Cambridge by Pope Eleutherius and takes notice of Doctors and Scholars Resident there at that time Why then as it is truly observ'd by our most Learned Bishop of Worcester in his Antiquities of the British Churches This is a sufficient Proof to all that relie on the Pope's Authority that in the time of King Lucius and Eleutherius there might be a sufficient number of Learned Men in Cambridge to have instructed King Lucius in the Christian Faith and that it is not improbable that Eluanus and Medwinus might be of that number especially considering that Camboritum or as many Copies have it Camboricum was a Roman Colony and mention'd amongst the best Copies among the 28 Cities of Britain and that the Roman Colonies had their Schools of Learning wherein the several Professors of Arts and Sciences did instruct both the Roman and British Youth But what ever Favours the Romans were pleased to confer upon this place 't is certain it met afterwards with very great Encouragement from divers other Benefactors and by the Countenance of Segebert King of the East-Angles and other Saxon Princes it held up its Head in a flourishing Condition till about the year 1100 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us The cruel and merciless Danes laid all waste before them and Swene their King with Fire and Sword burnt this place to the Ground contrary to what we read of the Roman Captain Sylla who though otherwise as furious as a Tyger or a Lion yet when he raged in Greece spared the much celebrated Athens for Minerva's sake Yet nevertheless when these Storms were once blown over in the time of the Normans Learning began to peep out again and seeing all was clear and quiet sprouted up a fresh recruiting it self by degrees till at last in progress of time it return'd to its Primitive State and flourish'd more vigorously than ever it did before For in the Reign of K. Henry I. for his Learning sirnam'd Beauclere it began again to be new modell'd into an University and hereupon Religious Houses and Halls were immediately erected and they have ever since been increasing to the number of Sixteen namely Twelve Magnificent Colleges and four famous Halls where the Buildings are so Uniform the Chapels so Stately the Privileges so Great the Government so Regular the Orders so Strict the Ceremonies so Decorous and the Preferments so Honourable that in all the European Countries no nor perhaps in all the Nations of the World can we find out one University excepting that of Oxford so richly endow'd so famous and renown'd for its Structures so admirable for its Discipline and so courted and address'd to for its most Polite Learning So that when Erasmus was pleased to give us a Strain of his Eloquence in Decyphering both their Characters he doth it but in such a Style as is very suitable to the Subject and the Elogy is no less than what they justly deserve I have before this saith he been extreamly well satisfy'd and have exceedingly rejoyced that England hath constantly been furnish'd with Men who have been as Eminent for their Parts as Learning But now I begin to envy her Felicity had he lived now in our days he would still have had greater reason for this Harangue by reason that she is now so enrich'd with all kind of Literature that by taking the Commendation thereof from other Regions she doth marvellously obscure and eclipse their Glory and yet this Commendation is not only due to England at this present time for it is well known for divers years past to have flourish'd with persons of deep and profound Learning The Universities prove this to be true which have for their Antiquity and Worthiness contended with and outstripped the most ancient and celebrated Academies that ever were planted in the Christian World It might now be expected that I should further exspatiate into a more particular Description of these Famous and Ample Colleges and give an exact Portraiture of the large and spatious Quadrangle of Trinity-College so excellently contriv'd and admirably surrounded with a curious Pile of Buildings which was at first founded by King Henry VIII Of the noble Fabrick of St. John's founded by Margaret Countess of Richmond and Darby both which Colleges have of late years been so extreamly beautify'd and enlarg'd Of Corpus-Christi or Bennet-College founded by Henry Duke of Lancaster whose Library is so famous for its divers ancient Manuscripts as well as from the great Honour it daily receives from His Grace the present Lord Archbishop of Canterbury who was formerly a Learned Fellow and still continues the greatest Glory of it Of that unimitable Piece of Architecture in King's College Chapel founded by that Heroick Prince King Henry VI. Of the Publick Schools of the University which have been of so ancient a continuance that there is no mention when or how they began Of the Publick Library which though it be not so spacious and glorious as the Vatican or Bodleian yet it is so well stock'd with all kind of Divine and Humane Writers that there is not sufficient Room for all the Manuscripts and choice Books which are daily given to it especially if that Order be strictly observ'd of which I have been credibly inform'd That a Copy of every Book which is printed in England be by the Printer presented to it I might insist further on the laudable Modes and Customs which are duly observ'd in this Renown'd University of the large Privileges and Immunities which have been ever granted to it of the honourable Degrees in Divinity Law and Physick which are here annually conferr'd of the great Encouragements which are daily given to all such Persons who have been most Exemplary for their Piety and Learning for which Reason undoubtedly three great and eminent Persons the Pious and Humble Dr. Sancroft the
running along they say to the very Borders of Scotland and having divers Names answerable to the places through which they are extended out of which divers Rivolets have likewise their Source and Original who pay all their little Tributes to the more noble River of Trent which receiving all their petty Homages makes at last an acknowledgment of its Royalty to the Ocean The River Derwent divides the County into two Portions and in that part which you are now going to view you will meet with very strange and wonderful Curiosities As for we poor Folk that live here about these Moors and in these parts we make a shift to live but it is hardly and if any eat their Bread in the sweat of their Brows it is we and we seem to be in a continual quarrel with the Earth that first gave us a Being for we are continually opening her Veins and for Anger eating even into her very Bowels some of us are employed in the Quarrys for Mill and Whet-stones and in some places to dig Marble and Alabaster out of the Earth Others are set to look for Antimony or to dig for Leaden Oar and after with great difficulty sometimes with the loss of their Limbs they have got it up from the Mines they are forced to hazard the rest by their indefatigable Labour before they can melt and shape it into Pigs and Sows Others you will meet with who by the blackness and grimness of their Visage you would imagine to have come out lately from some of the Infernal Regions these are they who work in the Coal-Mines who indeed one would think by reason of the darkness and dismalness of the Abyss in which they work should thereby be frequently put in mind of the more dreadful Abyss even of Hell it self but they as well as most other Miners as they are excluded often from the least Glimmerings of Lights so they are not terrified with any approaching Shades of Darkness which makes them generally such insensate Wretches as they are The Character this Man gave us of these Inhabitants was as strange and uncommon and he had just ended his Discourse when we Rode by a piece of Ground which was all inclosed with Stone We asked him the meaning of it standing so alone without any other Inclosures near it who replied that it was customary to inclose some of their Grounds after this manner Wood and Bushes here to make Hedges with being a very scarce Commodity and yet that all Hunters who there pursued their Game never baulked them in the least but made their way over them with great facility which the next day we found true for meeting some Gentlemen in a warm Chase after a Hare we observ'd them to Course nimbly with their light Gennets in those places where we durst scarce Trot and at last poor Puss to become the Prey of the unwearied Pursuers Having pass'd this Inclosure we came to the top of a high Hill where lighting and walking down by reason of the steepness of the Descent at the bottom we found a little Village and being thus safely got off from the Moors we took leave of our Guide and riding two Miles further we arriv'd at last at our designed Stage And took up our Inn at Bakewell Bakewell which was made a Borough by Edward the Senior it was called by the Saxons Badecanwylla in whose Neighbourhood saith the Saxon Chronicle in the year 924 King Edward Commanded a City to be built and a Cittadel for the Defence of it 'T is a Market-Town much resorted to by the Inhabitants of the Peak which by the Saxons was formerly called Peaclond and found it a place Seven Wonders of the Peak from whence we might very appositely accomplish those designs we had proposed to our selves of viewing the seven Wonders which are here so famous whereupon fitting our selves again with a Guide we set out for the prospect of such celebrated Varieties When we were got about two Miles from that Town we observed upon the top of a Hill a particular piece of Ground which was of a strange Nature as our Guide inform'd us It was a Field on which for the most part there was very good Grass which within the space of a Month would either Fat or kill any Horse that was put into it As we Rode on we found our first Pilot's Description in most points truly verified for we met divers Horses loaden with Lead and Coals and were frequently surrounded as well with plenty of Leaden Mines as Quarrys of Stone and Coals till at last we arrived at the Castle in the Peak Castle in the Peak which is eight or nine Miles from Bakewell 't is of great Antiquity by its Ruines and seems to have been impregnable by its Situation upon a high and dangerous Rock which is so steep and craggy that there appears but one way by which there is any access to it At the bottom of the Hill which is near two Miles in the Descent by reason of its steepness and frequent windings stands a Village call'd Castleton Castleton sufficiently noted for that wide subterraneous Cavern known commonly by the Name of the Devil's Arse The Devils Arse it runs under this Hill upon which the Castle stands and at its Entrance is large and capacious though the further you go in the more narrow it is and contracted Within the Mouth of it are several small Cottagers who dwell in little clay Tenements erected therein the top whereof is of a very great height and appears to the Eye as if it was Arched above and Chequer'd with diversity of coloured Stones At our Entrance the poor People were ready to attend us with Candles and Lanthorns and by their Conduct we ventured in though it belonged to Satan's Territories After we were got a little way within it we found it very dark and slippery by reason of a great Current of Water which runs along the Cave and were often forced to stoop because the further we proceeded the Rock hung down more low and sloping We passed still on till at length we were stop'd by the Water which at that time being deeper than ordinary and bubling up apace in the Cave cry'd a Ne Vltra to us though as they say 't is usual not only to wade over this with great facility but another Current likewise which runs along the Cave some ten or twelve yards distant from this to a third which is impassible The Story of the Shepherd which pass'd over all and at last came out into a fair delightful Field savours too much of a Romance to be credited however 't is supposed could all these Waters be once pass'd over there might be made some new Discoveries though I confess I should be extream loath were it to purchase the Fame of a Drake or a Frobisher to seek out a New found Land in so dismal a place which both by its Name and Nature hath so near a Relation
akin to the famous Bell called Great Tom of Lincoln we went to view the Slitting Mills which slit Iron in sunder being but a small distance from this place but the noise was so terrible before we came at them that one would have thought the Clouds had been running Re-encounters and Jove with his Thunder-Claps had utterly prohibited us any further access and when we came near there was such flashes of Lightning such hot Vapours and Steams that we might justly conclude we were got within the Territories of Vulcan and that these were some of the Cyclopean Race who were here employed to hammer out their Livings with Fire and Smoke the Wheels of the Mill are put in motion by a current of Water that streams along by it the Hammers which are continually redoubling their strokes are ponderous and massy and the Men which are at work seem to be in no happier a Condition than they who dig at the Mines or tug at the Galleys for they work Night and Day after so indefatigable a manner that the very Heat preys upon their Bodies and shortens their Days the place was soon too hot for us and the noise too troublesom and therefore we journeyed on to visit more of the County The Country appear'd to us no less pleasant than its Neighbours Shropshire and is of a wholesom and temperate Air affording Health to the Inhabitants at all Seasons of the Year this was sufficiently verified in old Thomas Parr of Alderbury who lived 152 Years and saw no less than ten Reigns he was born here in 1483 in the Reign of Edward the Fourth and died in 1635 and lies buried at Westminster The Soil is generally fertile standing most upon a reddish Clay and yields plenty of Pit-Coals and Iron and has ever been in great repute for its populous Towns and Castles for bordering upon Wales the Noblemen here and Persons of Quality were very sollicitous to preserve themselves secure against any Incursions of the Welsh and hereupon they fortified their Houses to prevent all Dangers and this dividing England from Wales was call'd the Marches for the defence of which the Lords here and Gentlemen have enjoy'd formerly very great Privileges and Immunities but since the Union of these two Kingdoms as all Hostilities have ceased so their ancient Rights and Privileges are not now so much insisted on Here are found in divers parts of this County several large Elms and other Trees under Ground which have been supposed to lie there ever since the General Deluge they are so dry that being slit into small shivers they burn like Candles and are made use of sometimes by the poorer sort instead of the other Shrewsbury In the midst of the County upon the Banks of the Severne is seated upon a Hill the famous City of Shrewsbury by the Britains named Caerpengren by the Saxons called Scrobbesbirig and by the Normans Sloppesbury and Salop 't is almost surrounded with the River and strengthened with a large and broad Wall where in some places two or three may walk abreast and upon that part of it which looks towards Wales stands the Water-House in which is a Well many fathoms deep from which the Water drawn up there by Horses in great Buckets is conveyed by Pipes into all parts of the City there being convenient steps contrived from the bottom of the Ground to the top of the Well for the Beasts to go forward and backward from their accustom'd Labours Roger Montgomery in the Reign of William the Conqueror built on the North-side of it a strong Castle and founded here A. D. 1083. a Benedictine Abbey to the Honour of St. Peter and St. Paul Besides which here were likewise two Colleges of St. Mary and St. Chad. The School was Founded by the most Heroick Queen Elizabeth which being a fair and uniform Structure built of Free-stone is govern'd by a Master and two Ushers and well furnished with a useful Library As to the neatness of its Streets and Buildings it yields to few other Cities in England and for publick Devotion it has five Parish Churches two of which are beautified with lofty Spires the City is governed by a Mayor Recorder and two Sheriffs who live generally in great Repute and Grandeur and the three Market-Days which are here every Week cause a very great Concourse both of the Welsh and other Persons and occasions a considerable Trade in this place Near to which a sharp Battel was fought A. D. 1673. between Henry IV. and Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland which place was called Battle-Field where the King erected a College of Secular Canons to the Honour of St. Mary Magdalen for the Honour of that Victory But I must not omit to speak of one thing more that in the Year 1551 the Sweating-Sickness which destroyed so many breaking forth first here dispersed it self at length over the whole Nation Passing from hence we rode through Stretton Stretton ten Miles distant from this City and there being three of them which join close to one another Little-Stretton Church-Stretton and All-Stretton the middlemost being a Market Town is of greatest Note But finding here nothing to detain us we made no stop till we arrived at Ludlow Ludlow the chief Town in this County 't is of greater Antiquity than Beauty situated by the River Corve defended by a Wall and Castle both built by Roger Earl of Montgomery When Robert de Belasme Earl of Shrewsbury and Son to Montgomery was taken Prisoner in his Rebellion against Henry the First the King then seised it after this it was given away from the Crown by Henry the Second and came into the Possession of the Lacys from thence to the Mortimers and at last it became the Inheritance of the Princes of Wales and by this means beginning to come into great Repute the Inhabitants erected here a very stately Church so that in a little time it excelled all its Neighbourhood Kenry Henry the Eighth instituting here the Council of the Marches Here was Young Edward the Fifth at the Death of his Father and here died Prince Arthur eldest Son of Henry the Seventh both being sent hither by their Fathers for the same end viz. by their Presence to satisfie and keep in order the unruly Welsh But before I leave this County I must not forget Pitchford Pitchford a Village very eminent for its Well of Pitch which though it be scumm'd off returns again and swims aloft upon the Surface of the Water Cambden is of Opinion that it is rather a Bituminous kind of Matter such as is in the Lake Asphaltites in Palestine or in a Fountain by the Hill Agragas in Sicily however the Inhabitants are said to make the same use of it which they do of Pitch but whether like that in Jewry it hath the same Balsamick Virtues of drawing out Corruption or healing Wounds or is of any efficacy against the Falling-Sickness I have yet met with none
called Yarmouth but the Inhabitants finding both the Air and Soil very prejudicial to them transplanted themselves to the other side of the River called from the same Cerdick Cerdick-Sand and built this new Town which in a short time grew so potent and populous that they strengthened it with a Wall and were able to make up so strong a Body of Seamen as would frequently make Incursions upon the Neighbourhood of Lestoff and the adjacent Cinque-Ports against whom they had a particular Antipathy because they were excluded by them from many advantageous Privileges which their Ancestors had enjoyed But these private Feuds did at last end by an express Order from the King and their Courage was quelled by a sudden and fearful Pestilence which in the space of one Year brought above Seven thousand Men and Women to their Graves all which was faithfully Recorded in an ancient Chronographical Table which formerly used to hang up in their Church since which time as their Grudges have ceased so their Wealth hath encreased and 't is now a place of great Merchandize and Traffick but especially renown'd for its Fishery of Herrings of which at the season there is usually such plenty that they do not only supply our own but Foreign Nations too after they have been by their great care and industry dried and salted in particular Houses set apart for that purpose The Haven it self is capacious enough for Vessels of great Burdens and standing well for Holland affords a ready passage to it and is a frequent Shelter for the Newcastle Coal Fleet when distressed by Weather but the North-East Wind being subject frequently to annoy this Coast and drive in the Sand and Beach in great heaps the Townsmen are forced to be at a great Expence by removing all such Obstacles to clear their Haven From this place we hastned to Norwich Norwich which is the Metropolis of the County situate at the influx of the Winsder into the Yare and sprung up out of the Ruins of Venta Icenorum now called Castor about three Miles distance from it in which not many years since was found a great number of Roman Urns And from Wic which in the Saxon Tongue signifies a Castle the Learned Mr. Gibson in his Explication of Places not improbably guesseth that it might receive its denomination This is one of the most Renowned Cities in our British Island for whether we consider the Wealth of the Citizens the number of Inhabitants the great confluence of Foreigners the stately Structures and beautiful Churches the obliging deportment of the Gentry and the laudable Industry of the Commonalty they do all concur to illustrate and dignifie it 't is situated on the brow of a Hill and environed with a Wall upon which were placed divers Turrets and Twelve Gates to give entrance into the Town unless it be on the East side where the River after it hath with many windings watered the North part of the City having four Bridges over it is a defence by reason of its deep Channel and high Banks 't is reputed a Mile and half in length and half as much in breadth drawing in it self at the South side till it almost appear in the form of a Cone The great Damages it sustained and Misfortunes it was exposed to when Sucnus the Dane with his Bloody Crew took his range in these Parts and after that William the Conqueror had settled the British Crown upon his Head were too doleful and tragical a Story to relate Nor were the Calamities it underwent less deplorable when Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk sided with Young Prince Henry against his Father and as 't is supposed re-edified the Castle which stands upon a high Hill and was once thought impregnable till Lewis the French Monsieur by the assistance of the Seditious Barons won it at last by Siege And as if the Plague and the Sword had made a Conspiracy together utterly to subvert and destroy it the Pestilence in the Reign of King Edward the Third consumed no less than 57374 besides Ecclesiastick Mendicants and Dominicans But after this in succeeding Ages it began again to flourish whilst to recruit their strength which was much impair'd King Henry the First permitted the Citizens to Wall the City and King Richard the Second gave them a Grant for the Transportation of Worsted and to advance their Trade which was extreamly eclipsed King Henry the Fourth renewed their Charter and conferred on them the Honour to chuse every Year a Mayor whereas by a former Order from King Stephen they were only govern'd by Coroners and Bayliffs And as if the Fates with no less eagerness designed their Felicity than before they consulted their Misery the Dutch who flock'd over hither during the Bloody Inquisition of Duke Alva have made it very opulent by the great Trade of Says Bays and other curious Stuffs which here occasion a considerable Merchandize Here is an Hospital where above an Hundred Men and Women are maintained and A. D. 1094. the Episcopal See was translated hither being first placed at Dunwich about the Year 636. by Felix the Burgundian who established the East-Angles in the Christian Faith and here it continued till Bisus the fourth Bishop from him removed it to North-Elmham in Norfolk in 673. leaving a Suffragan Bishop at Domor or Dunwich afterwards both Sees becoming vacant for the space of 100 Years after the Death of St Humbert alias Humbritt who suffered Martyrdom with King Edmund by the Bloody Danes in 995. Adulphus alias Athulphus seu Eadulphus who lived in the time of King Edwin became Bishop of both Sees under the Title of North-Elmham but in the Eleventh Century Herfastus by Bartholomew Cotton in his History of the Bishops of Norwich called Arfattus who was Chaplain to William the Conqueror and a great Favourite of that Prince before the Conquest as is observed by the Learned Mr. Wharton in his Notes on that place Angl. Sacr. par prima p. 403 404 406. was the Person that removed the See to Thetford according to the Canon made in the Council of London by Arch-Bishop Lanfrank A. D. 1075. by which it was provided that all Episcopal Sees should be translated from smaller Villages to more eminent Cities But his next Successor to him save one Herbert Losing settled it at last in Norwich A. D. 1094 where it has continued ever since founding a Cathedral Church to the Honour of the Holy Trinity in which he placed Benedictine Monks who continued till the Dissolution at which time King Henry the Eighth put in their Room a Dean and six Prebendaries This Church is a very stately and magnificent Structure and famous not only for its Cross and Cloyster but for the Roof likewise which runs aloft over the Body of it on which is pourtrayed to the Life the History of the Bible in divers little Images curiously carved and adorned from the Creation of the World to the Ascension of our Blessed Saviour and the
Descent of the Holy Ghost with the perfect Figures and Resemblances of our Lord's Crucifixion and Resurrection and divers other Circumstances that attended him both at his Nativity and Passion And for the Encouragement of Piety and Learning every Sunday Morning throughout the Year there is a Sermon preached by such Ministers as the Bishop shall appoint to each of which is presented Twenty Shillings left as a Legacy to the Church for this Religious purpose by one who had formerly been Mayor of this City But before I leave this place as the Duke of Norfolk's Palace adorned with curious Granaries and a large and spacious Bowling-Alley so the Mount on the East-side of the City called Ket's-Castle must not be passed by in silence for it was the Harbour and Nest of Ket a Tanner of Windham that notorious Ring-leader of Rebellion in King Edward the Sixth's Days who with no less Violence assaulting the City than afflicting the Citizens did at last receive the just Reward of his Rebellion when all the Seditious Rabble being persuaded to desert him he was hanged up in Chains on the Top of Norwich Castle After some few Days abode in this City we travelled on to a little Village called Tettles-Hall Tettles-Hall in the Parish Church whereof is erected a stately Monument of Marble in Honour to Sir Edward Cook that most famous Lawyer of his time on the top are placed his Coat of Arms with the four Cardinal Virtues to support them at each corner his Effigies is of Marble laid out in full length above which this Motto is engraved Prudens qui Patiens and underneath in Golden Characters this following Inscription The Monument of Sir Edward Cook Knight born at Mileham in Norfolk Recorder of Norwich and London Sollicitor to Queen Elizabeth and Speaker to the Parliament afterward Attorney-General to Her and King James Chief Justice of both Benches a Privy-Counsellor as also of Council to Queen Ann and Chief Justice in Eyre of all her Forests Chases and Parks Recorder of Coventry and High-Steward of Cambridge of which he was a Member in Trinity-College He died in the Eighty-third year of his Age his last Words being these Thy Kingdom come thy will be done His Epitaph this Deo Optimo Maximo Hae exuviae humanae exspectant Resurrectionem Piorum Hic situs est Non perituri Nominis Edvardus Cooke Eques Auratus Legum anima interpres Oraculum non dubium Arcanorum Promicondus Mysteriorum Cujus fere unius beneficio Jurisperiti nostri sunt Jurisperiti Eloquentiae flumen torrens fulmen Suadae Sacerdos Vnicus Divinus Heros Pro rostris ita dixit Vt literis insudasse crederes non nisi humanis Ita vixit ut non nisi divinis Sacerrimus integrae pietatis Indagator Integritas ipsa Verae semper caussae constantissimus assertor Nec favore nec muncribus violandus Eximic misericors Charior erat huic Reus quam sibi Miraculi instar est Sicculus saepe ille audiit sententiam in se prolatam Nunquam hic nisi madidoculus protulit Scientiae Oceanus Quique dum vixit Bibliotheca viva Mortuus dici meruit Bibliothecae Parens Duodecim Liberorum Tredecim Librorum Pater Facescant hinc Monumenta Facessant Marmora Nisi quod pios fuisse denotarunt posteros Ipse sibi suum est Monumentum Marmore perennius Ipse sibi sua est Aeternitas Next to Sir Edward stands likewise a Marble Monument of his first Wife Bridget Daughter of John Paston Esq with Eight of her Children six Sons and two Daughters his second Wife was the Lady Elizabeth Daughter to Thomas Earl of Exeter by whom he had only two Daughters Having given a solemn Vale to this great Man's Tomb Lyn. we took up our next Quarters at Lyn which though but of a late being having received its Original from Old Lyn which is seated in the Marsh-Land and is opposite against it yet it is grown of far greater request for the commodiousness of its Haven and safe Harbour cause a great resort of Mariners to frequent it and the Vessels which coming loaded with Coals from Newcastle do lighten here their Burdens and are conveyed up the River by Lighters and Barges drawn along by Horses into divers parts of the adjacent Counties 'T is a large Town surrounded with a deep Trench and for the most part Walled the Streets are well paved and kept clean and 't is divided by two small Rivers over which there are Fifteen Bridges It is called Old Lyn and Linnum Regis i. e. King 's Lyn though before the Reign of Henry the Eighth it was called Bishop's Lyn because the Ground it stands upon belonged to the Bishops of Norwich There are five Churches with a Free-School to adorn it the chief of which is a curious Fabrick dedicated to St. Margaret upon the top of which stands a large and stately Lanthorn very admirable for its rare Workmanship and here is once a Year about February held a great Mart for all sorts of Commodities by which no small Benefit accrues to it The Town is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen who have received great Favours and Privileges from their Sovereigns but their chief and most munificent Benefactor was King John who for the good Service they had done him in the defence of his Quarrel not only presented them with his own Sword from his side which is continually carried before the Mayor whenever he pleaseth to appear in State but likewise gave them a great Silver Cup gilt for the use of the Corporation which because they shew as a main Badge and Cognizance of Royal Favour to all Strangers and Foreigners of any Note or Repute they seldom produce it unless filled with Wine to drink His Majesty's and Mr. Mayor's Healths for which there is a generous Allowance proportioned by the Town We rested here one Night but the next Day being summoned away by the Tide whose Motions we were enforced to wait on and observe we Ferried over into Mersh-Land and posted away for the Washes through which we were to pass into the Frontiers of Lincolnshire The Washes The Washes are called by Ptolemy Metaris Aestuarium being a very large Arm which every Tide and high Sea covers over with Water but when the Sea Ebbs and the Tide is gone 't is as easie to pass over them as upon dry Ground though not without some danger for Strangers who are unacquainted with their Tracts and Channels which King John found true by woful Experience for whilst for the more speed he journeyed this way when he was engaged in the War against the disaffected Barons his Men not aware of such Irruptions the Waters unexspectedly broke in upon them by which means he lost all his Carriage and Furniture Hereupon to prevent all such unwelcom Dangers we hired a Guide to ride before us by whose conduct we nimbly tripped over those dangerous Plains and arrived safe at last out of these troublesom Territories of
four Bishopricks which are subject to this See namely Durham Carlisle Chester and Man or Sodor in the Isle of Man Indeed there was afterward several private Grudges Heart-burnings and Contests betwixt Canterbury and York touching Precedency Appeals and some Ecclesiastical Privileges but by a Decree of Pope Alexander they were quelled who ordained that the Church of York should be subject to Canterbury and obey the Constitutions of that Arch-Bishop as Primate of all Britain in such things as appertain to the Christian Religion But to return again from the Church into the City we find it to have been a place of great Antiquity for it was not only famous for the Sepulture of Eadbryth King of the Northumbers about the Year 738 together with his Brother Egbert Arch-Bishop of this See and long before that time of two greater and more renowned Emperors Severns and Constantius but likewise in that Constantine the Great after the Death of his Father was first here in this place saluted and proclaimed Emperor by the Soldiers at which time it appears to have been in great Repute and Estimation till the Romans deserting it left it a Prey to the barbarous Nations so that not only the Scots and Picts did depopulate and spoil it but afterward the Saxons and Danes as they got Possession still Ransack'd and laid it Waste so that about the Year 867 it grew so extreamly weak through the grievous Oppression of the Danes that Osbright and Ella broke easily through the Walls thereof and encountring there the Danes were both slain in the Battel the Danes remaining Masters of the City saith the Saxon Chronicle tho they lost it at last to Athelstan in the year 928. Nor found it kinder Usage from the merciless Normans who treated it no better than its former Enemies had done so that even till after King Stephen's Days there was little left in it by reason of so many Calamities that befel it but a small poor shadow of a great Name but at last after sundry bitter Blasts and troublesom Storms which had grievously shaken and afflicted it a sweet gale of peaceful Days began to refresh and enliven it and in the space of a few Years it hereby became a Wonder to it self and a Miracle to others by reason of its prosperous Condition and ever since it hath increased in Honour and Wealth in Grandeur and Power till at last it attained to that height of Greatness in which it is now established We diverted our selves for some Days in this City where during our abode we had the Honour to be invited to the Lord Mayors House who treated us with all the Civility imaginable where I cannot omit to observe by the way that there are no Gentlemen more affable and Courteous more Hospitable and Generous more Obliging in their deportment and hearty in their entertainments to all Strangers and foreigners than the generality of the Gentry who are every where dispersed through these Northen Climates The great satisfaction we met withal here made us hope for no less in the rest of our Northern travels and giving us encouragement for a further Progress Malton we set forward from York to Malton a Market Town notable for the great resort of Jockeys who flock thither in abundance to the Fair that is held there every Year for Horses 't is watred by the River Rhie and well frequented for Corn Fish and Instruments of Husbandry and here are still to be seen the ruines of an old Castle belonging formerly to the Vrscies who were ancient Barons in these Parts and in the Reign of King Stephen here was built by Eustace a Gilbertine Priory dedicated to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin From hence we steered towards the Sea Coast and came to Scarborough Scarborough a Town very eminent for its Spaw-water and Castle where Pierce Gavaston the great favourite of King Edward the Second was placed by the King to secure him from the Barons whom he had so extreamly incensed from which notwithstanding he was by force drawn away and immediately beheaded by their Command and Order The Castle is Situated upon a Rock of a wonderful height and bigness which by reason of its steep and craggy Cliffs is almost inaccessible extending it self into the Sea wherewith it is encompassed excepting on that Side which opens to the West on the top it hath a very fair green and large Plain containing diverse Acres of Ground with three fresh Springs one of which comes out of a Rock and a Mill to grind Corn in case of a Siege in the strait passage which leads up to it stands a high Tower and beneath the said Passage stands the Town spreading two sides North and South but the fore-part Westward which is fenced on the front with a Wall of its own on the East fortified by the Castle wherein a Garrison is kept and on both sides watered by the Sea The Town is not very large but conveniently built of Stone and Slate and well inhabited and stands bending upon the Brow of the Hill and served for a Landmark to Ships off at Sea till it was so much defaced in the late Civil Wars It has a commodious Key and enjoys a pretty good Trade About half a Mile from the Town near to the Sea is the Spring which they call the Spaw The Spaw of a very Medicinal and purgative Nature what are the particular qualities and Mineral principles of this Well I leave to Physicians * See Dr. Simpson on this Subject and Naturalists to discuss but sure I am but the effects of this Water have been strange and wonderful and many Persons who in the Summer time resort hither to Drink it do find great benefit and advantage by it From hence the Shore indented and interlaced with Rocks bendeth in as far as the River Teese and by a large compass which it fetcheth there is made a Bay about a Mile broad which from the Famous Outlaw Robin-Hood is called Robin-Hoods Bay Robin-Hoods Bay Here is a small Village but the most celebrated for the Fishing Trade In all these parts for here are caught great quantities of all sorts of Fish in their Seasons which not only supply York but all the adjacent Country and hard by the Shore is a little Hully as they call it which is much like a great Chest bored full of Holes to let in the Sea which at high Water always overflows it where are kept vast quantities of Crabbs and Lobsters which they put in and take out again all the Season according to the quickness or slowness of their Markets Here and all along this Coast are great plenty of Herrings which coming hither in Shoals out of the Northen Seas the beginning of August are caught until November not only by our own Fishermen but by Dutchmen too Afterward they disperse themselves into the British Sea where they continue till Christmas and then betake themselves to the Irish Coast and
Ships are under Sail dancing along the proud Billows of the Ocean After we had travelled some few Miles from hence we came in little time within the Liberties of the Bishoprick of Durham Bishoprick of Durham a County very rich in its Mountains which are inlayed with Iron Lead and Coals and very fruitful in its Valleys with Grass and Corn. It was formerly the Patrimony of St. Cuthbert who being Bishop of Lindisferne and afterward Patron of the Church of Durham led a Life of such wonderful Piety and Holiness that he was Canonized for a Saint and Invocated by some of the Kings and Princes of this Nation as their Tutelary Saint and Protector against the Picts and Scots who formerly did grievously infest these Parts upon which account upon him and his Successors was not only conferred and setled all the County between the Tees and the Tine while he lived but after his Death came divers Princes and other Potentates with the greatest Devotion imaginable in Pilgrimage to visit his Body and offered at his Shrine an inestimable Mass of Treasure To which many other great Privileges and Immunities being daily added at the coming in of the Norman Conqueror the Bishop was reputed for a Count Palatine and did ingrave upon his Seal an Armed Knight holding a naked Sword in one hand and the Bishops Arms in the other Nay it was once adjudged in Law that this Bishop was to have Forfeitures and Escheats within the Liberties as the King had without in short the Bishops hereof have had the Royalties of Princes having their own Courts of Judicature both for Civil and Criminal Causes and Coining their own Coins But these Royalties have been since taken off in a great measure and reannexed to the Crown However the Bishop is still Earl of Sadberg a place in this Bishoprick and takes place in the Episcopal College next to the Bishop of London but he is subordinate to the Arch-Bishop of York Darlington We took up our first Station at Darlington on the Skerne over which it hath a Stone-Bridge 'T is a Market-Town of good resort which Seir an English-Saxon the Son of Vlph having obtained leave of King Ethelred gave unto the Church of Durham and Hugh Pudsey adorned it with a fair Church and other Edifices Here was also formerly a College for a Dean and six Prebendaries In the Precincts of this place are to be seen three Pits full of Water of a wonderful depth called by the common People Hell-Kettles Hell-Kettles concerning which Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle gives us this following Account That in the 24th Year of King Henry the Second the Earth in this place lifted up it self in the manner of a high Tower and so remained immovable from Morning until Evening and then fell with so horrible a noise that it afrighted all the Inhabitants thereabouts and the Earth swallowing it up made there a deep Pit which is still to be seen to this day That these Pits have Passages under Ground was first experimented they say by Bishop Tunstall who to satisfie his Curiosity herein marked a Goose and let her down into them which very Goose he found afterwards in the River Tees which runs along not far from this place Bishop-Aukland From hence we bent our course to Bishop-Aukland upon the Ware over which it has a Bridge 't is a Town pleasantly seated in a good Air upon the side of a Hill and as it was formerly adorned with a Collegiate Church dedicated to St. Andrew Founded by Anthony Beck Bishop of Durham for twelve Prebendaries so is it likewise graced with the Bishop's Palace built at first by the same Bishop Beck with divers Pillars of Black and White Marble and re-edified since by that Munificent Prelate Dr. Cosins one of the Miracles of our Age for his great and unbounded Works of Charity He likewise rebuilt the Chapel and very gloriously adorned it with the most costly Habiliments that are any way befitting so Sacred a place and the Plate which was bestowed upon it by him for religious Uses was of a great value Nor was his Charity confined at home but dispersed and diffused it self as liberally abroad having erected here an Alms-House as he did likewise another at Durham for divers poor People for whom he hath allotted a comfortable subsistence He erected at Durham a Library very spacious and uniform to which he bequeathed several Volumes of choice Books he raised there a new Structure for the use of the Country in which are held the Assizes and Sessions he made the Castle formerly built by William the Conqueror which was quite gone to Ruin very useful again and magnificent besides all this he gave some new Fellowships and Exhibitions to St. Peter's-College in Cambrige where himself had been Master He expended vast Sums of Money in publick Benevolences to the King in redeeming Christian Captives at Algiers in relieving the distressed Loyal Subjects and in many other publick and pious Uses So that both the City and Country have sufficient reason gratefully to remember him and to wish that such Prelates may continually succeed him who may approve themselves such Worthy Fathers of the Church such Noble Patrons to their Country and such Glorious Pillars of Religion Some three or four Miles distance from this Place is Binchester Binchester now a small Village of little repute save for its relicts of old Walls and pieces of Roman Coin often digged up here called Binchester Pennies by which it appears to have been formerly an eminent Station of the Romans though now 't is nothing but a rude heap of Rubbish And about the same distance from Binchester stands Durham the most flourishing and principal City of this Province Durham is a City whose Situation is upon Hills and bottoms of Hills Durham and all surrounded with Hills but the lower parts watered by the River Ware which encircles the best part of it and over which there are two Stone Bridges so that it is a Peninsula which Dunholme a name by which it was formerly called doth denote for the Saxons called an Hill Dun and a River-Island Holme from whence the Latins have made Dunelmum the Normans Duresme and the Commonalty corruptly Durham The Town is pretty large but of no great Beauty nor seems to bear any considerable stamp of Antiquity but to have received its first Original from the distressed Monks of Lindisferne who being driven thence by the Fury of the Danes came hither with the Body of St. Cuthbert which they preserved with great care and honoured with the greatest Veneration imaginable at which time the See being removed hither by Bishop Aldwin A. D. 995. he built a small Oratory of wreathen Wands and Hurdles over the Body of St. Cuthbert on the South-side of the City which continued for some time till William de Careleph pulling down that began a new Foundation which was afterward finished by Ralph his Successor after this
of the Country of March March and Lothien which lies upon the German Sea we came to Lothien called from the Picts formerly Pict-land shooting out along from March into the Scotish Sea and having many Hills in it and little Wood but for fruitful Corn-fields for courtesie and civility of Manners commanded by some above all other Countries of Scotland about the Year 873 Edgar King of England between whom and Kenneth the Third King of Scots there was a great knot of alliance against the Danes their common Enemies resigned up his right to him in this Country and to unite his Heart more firmly to him he gave unto him some mansion Houses in the way as Cambden observes out of Matthew Florilegus wherein both he and his successors in their coming to the Kings of England and in their return homeward might be lodged which unto the time of King Henry the Second continued in the Hands of the Scotch King The first Town of any consequence that offered it self unto us was Dunbar famous formerly for a strong Castle being the seat of the Earls of March afterwards Styled Earl of Dunbar Dunbar a fort many times won by the English and as oft recovered by the Scots And in the Reign of Edward the Third the Earls of Salisbury and Arundel came into Scotland with a great Army and besieged the Castle of Dunbar Two and twenty Weeks wherein at that time was black Agnes the Countess who defended the same with extraordinary Valour one time when the Engine called the Sow was brought by the English to play against the Castle she replyed merrily that unless England could keep her Sow better she would make her to cast her Pigs and indeed did at last force the Generals to retreat from that place The Town stands upon the Sea and hath been fenced in with a stone Wall of great strength though by the frequent batteries it hath of late Years received 't is much impaired and gone to decay the Houses here as generally in most Towns of Scotland are built with Stone and covered with Slate and they are well supplyed with provision by reason of a weekly Market which is held here The Inhabitants are governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and talk much of great losses and calamities they sustained in the late Civil Wars for in this place was that fatal battle fought betwixt Oliver Cromwel and the Scots wherein he routed and cut in pieces twenty thousand Scots with twelve thousand English Men and obtain'd so strange and signal a Victory that the very Thoughts of it do to this very Day still strike a terror into them when e'er they call that bloody Day to remembrance and think what great havock and Spoil was made amongst them by the Victorious success of the English forces Edenburgh Our next Quarters we took up at Edinburgh which is the Metropolis of Scotland and lies about twenty Miles distance from Dunbar The Irish Scots call this City Dun-eaden the Town Eaden or Eaden Hill and which no doubt is the same that Ptolomy calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the winged Castle for as Cambden observes Adain in the British Tongue signifies a Wing and Edenbourn a Word compounded out of the Saxon and British Language is nothing else but a Burgh with Wings 'T is situated high and extends above a Mile in length carrying half as much in breadth it consists of one fair and large Street with some few narrow lanes branching out of each side 't is environed on the East South and West with a strong Wall and upon the North strengthned with a Loch 'T is adorned with stately Stone buildings both private and publick some of which Houses are six or seven Stories high which have frequently as many different apartments and Shops where are many Families of various Trades and calling by reason of which 't is well throng'd with Inhabitants and is exceeding Populous which is the more occasioned by the neighborhood of Leith which is a commodious Haven for Ships and likewise because as 't is the seat of their Kings or Vice-Roys so 't is also the Oracle or Closet of the Laws and the Palace of Justice The King's Palace On the East side or near to the Monastery of St. Cross that was a Holy Rood is the King's Palace which was built by King David the First but being much ruinated and impaired in the late unhappy broils betwixt the two Kingdoms it hath been since enlarged and beautified and is now become a Stately and Magnificent structure And not far from this House within a pleasant Park adjoyning to it riseth a Hill with two Heads called of Arthur the Britain Arthur's Chair Arthur's Chair A little further stands the College Founded and Endowed by that most eminent Favourer of Learning the Wise and Learned King James the Sixth The College though afterward the Magistrates and Citizens of this place proved likewise very considerable Benefactors to it and upon their humble Address to the same Prince it was made an University A. D. 1580 but the Privileges hereof were not fully confirmed and throughly perfected till the Year 1582 and have been since the same with those of any other University in this Kingdom The Dignity of Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor doth reside in the Magistrates and Town Council of Edenburgh who are the only Patrons neither was the Dignity they say as yet ever conferred upon any simple Person The Persons endowed were a Principal or Warden a Professor of Divinity four Masters or Regent for so they are called of Philosophy a Professor or Regent of Humanity or Philology Since the first Foundation the Town hath added a Professor of Hebrew 1640 and the City of Edenburgh hath since added a Professor of Mathematicks The Library was founded by Clement Little one of the Officials or Comissaries for Edenburgh A. D. 1635. The Library since which time it is much increased both by donatives from the Citizens as also from the Scholars who are more in number than in any other College in the Kingdom and here were presented to our view two very great Rarities the one was a Tooth taken out of a great Scull being four Inches about and the other was a crooked Horn taken from a Gentlewoman of the City who was fifty Years old being eleven Inches long which grew under her right Ear and was cut out by an eminent Chirurgeon then living in the Town who presented it to the College Their Churches and Parliament Houses About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral which is now divided into six sermon Houses for which Service there are seven other Kirks set apart besides and not far from the Cathedral is the Parliament House whither we had the good Fortune to see all the flower of the Nobility then to pass in state attending Duke Lauderdale who was sent down High-Commissioner And indeed it was a very Glorious sight for they were all richly Accoutred
and as nobly attended with a splendid Retinue the Heralds of Arms and other Officers that went before were wonderful gay and finely habited and the Servants that attended were clad in the richest Liveries their Coaches drawn with six Horses as they went ratling along did dazle our Eyes with the splendour of their furniture and all the Nobles appeared in the greatest Pomp and Gallantry the Regalia which are the Sword of State the Scepter and the Crown were carried by three of the antientest of the Nobility and on each side the Honours were three Mace-Bearers bare headed a Noble-man bare headed with a Purse and in it the Lord High Commissioner's Commission then last of all the Lord High Commissioner with the Dukes and Marquesses on his Right and Left Hand it is ordered that there be no Shooting under the highest penalties that Day neither displaying of Ensigns nor beating of Drums during the whole Cavalcade The Officers of State not being Noblemen ride in their Gowns all the Members ride covered except those that carry the Honours and the highest Degree and the most Honourable of that degree rid last Nor is their grandeur disproportionate to their demeanour which is high and stately but courteous and obliging having all the additional helps of Education and Travel to render it accomplish'd for during their Minority there is generally great care taken to refine their Nature and emprove their Knowlege of which when they have attain'd a a competent measure in their own Country they betake themselves to foreign Nations to make a further progress therein where they do generally become so great proficients that at their return they are by this means fitted for all great Services and Honourable employments which their King or Country is pleased to commit to their care and fidelity and are thereby enabled to discharge them with great Honour and applause On the West side a most steep Rock mounteth up aloft to a great height every way save where it looks towards the City The Castle on which is placed a Castle built by Ebrank the Son of Mempitius as some Write though others by Cruthneus Camelon the first King of the Picts about 330 Years before the Birth of our Saviour 't is so strongly fortified both by art and Nature that it is accounted impregnable which the Britains called Myned Agned the Scots the Maiden Castle of certain young Maids of the Picts Royal Blood which were kept here in old time and which in truth may seem to have been that Castrum alatum or Castle with a Wing before spoken of In this Castle is one of the largest Canons in Great Britain called Roaring Megg which together with two tire of Ordinance besides planted upon the Wall can command the City and all the Plains thereabouts but most famous is it in that Queen Mary was brought to Bed here of a Son who was afterward Christened at Sterling and called James who at last became the Happy Uniter of the two Crowns and in that Chamber in which he was Born are written upon the Wall these following Verses in an old Scotch Character James 6. Scot. 1. England Laird Jesu Christ that crown it was with Thorns Preserve the Birth qubais badgir here is Borne And send hir Son Succession to Reign still Lange in this Realm if that it be thy will Al 's grant O Laird quhat ever of hir proceed Be to thy glory honour and praise so beed July 19. 1566. A little below the Castle is a Curious Structure built for an Hospital by Mr. Herriot The Hospital Jeweller to the aforementioned King James and endowed with very great Revenues for the use of poor Orphans and impotent and decrepit Persons but by the ruinous and desolate Condition it seem'd at that time to be falling into it became to us a very doleful Spectacle that so noble a heroick design of Charity should be so basely perverted to to other Evil Ends and purposes contrary to the Will and intention of the Donor The City is governed by a Lord-Provost who hath always a Retinue befitting his Grandeur and for the punishing delinquents there is a large Tolbooth Tolbooth for so they call a Prison or House of Correction where all Malefactors are kept in hold to satisfie the Law as their Offences shall require Within seven Miles round the City there are of Noble and Gentlemens Palaces Castles and strong-builded Towers and Stone houses as we were inform'd above an hundred and besides the Houses of the Nobility and Gentry within it here dwell several Merchants of great Credit and repute where because they have not the conveniency of an Exchange as in London they meet about Noon in the High-street from whence they adjourn to their Changes i. e. Taverns or other places where their business may require them to give their Attendance The Fortune of this City hath in former Ages been very variable and inconstant It s variable Changes sometime it was Subject to the Scots and another while to the English who inhabited the East parts of Scotland until it became wholly under the Scots Dominion about the Year 960 when the English being over-poured and quite oppressed by the Danes were enforced to quit all their interest here as unable to grapple with two such potent Enemies A Mile from the City lies Leith a most commodious Haven hard upon the River Leith Leith which when Dessry the Frenchman for the security of Edenburgh had fortified very strongly by reason of a great Concourse of People which after this Flocked hither in abundance in a short time from a mean Village it grew to be a large Town In the Reign of our King Henry the Eighth the Sufferings and Calamities both of it and its Neighbours were grievous and inexpressible being both Burnt and plundred by Sir John Dudly Viscount Lisle Lord High Admiral of England who came hither with a puissant Army and broke down the Peer burning every stick thereof and took away all the Scotch Ships that were fit to serve him which kind of Execution was done likewise at Dunbar afterward when Francis King of France had taken to Wife Mary Queen of Scots the Frenchmen who in hope and conceit had already devoured Scotland and began now to gape for England A. D. 1560. strengthned it again with new fortifications But Queen Elizabeth solicited by the Nobles who had embraced the Protestant Religion to side with them by her Wisdom and Prowess so effected the matter that the French were enforced to return into their own Country and all their fortifications were laid level with the Ground and Scotland hath ever since been freed from the French and Leith hath become a very opulent and flourishing Port for the Peer is now kept up in so good repair and the Haven so safe for Ships to ride in that here commonly lieth a great Fleet at anchor which come hither Richly laden with all sorts of Commodities After we had spent
times past full of Woods and Timber but instead thereof it yieldeth now plenty of Corn Sheep and Cattel the Air is reasonably Healthful save only a little Aguish at some time and in some places by reason of the Fogs that do arise from the Sea It yieldeth also great store of Millstones and Grindstones and in some places a sort of Earth of which they make Alum and Copperas but more especially it affords such plenty of Wheat it is deservedly entitled the Mother of Wales In Caernarvanshire the Air is sharp and piercing and in it are the highest Hills in Wales Caernarvanshire for which reason 't is justly called the English Alps on some of which the Snow lies long and on others all the Year long hard crusted together In the Pool called Lin-paris there is The Pool Lin-paris as 't is reported a kind of Fish called Torroch having a red Belly which is no were else to be seen but here 'T is affirmed likewise that on some of the high Hills of this Shire are too Meres one of which produceth Fish which have but one Eye and in the other is a movable and floating Island which as soon as any Person treads on it presently falls into a moving posture Snowdown-Hills Snowdown Hills although they have always Snow lying upon them yet they are exceeding Rank with Grass insomuch that they are become a Proverb amongst the Welshmen That those Mountains will yield sufficient Pasture for all the Cattel in VVales And 't is certain that there are Pools and standing Waters upon the top of these Mountains and they are so coated with a snowy Crust that lies on them that if a Man doth but lightly set his Foot upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to stir for several Foot from him which probably might occasion the story of the floating Island before mentioned Penmaen-Mour i. e. The great stony Head Penmaen-Mour is an exceeding high and steep Rock which hangeth over the Sea when it is Flood affordeth a very narrow way for Passengers having on the one side huge Stones over their Heads as if they were ready to fall upon them and on the other side the raging Ocean lying of a wonderful depth under it but after a Man hath passed over this together with Penmean-Lythan the less stony Head he shall come to an open broad Plain that reacheth as far as the River Conway in which are bred a sort of Shell-Fish which being conceived of an Heavenly Dew as is conjectured bring forth Pearl Bangor Within this County is Banchor q. Penchor so called a Choro pulchro being a Bishop's See the Church was dedicated to Daniel Bishop hereof but that which is now standing is but a mean Structure for Owen Glendover who designed to have utterly destroyed all the Cities in Wales set it on Fire because the Inhabitants of this Place chose rather to side with the King of England than with him hereupon the ancient Church being defaced Henry Dean Bishop hereof did afterward repair it about the Reign of Henry the VIIth But that which is most observable was the famous British Monastery of this place where as the learned Bishop Stillingfleet hath observed Men were bred up to Learning and Devotion together and so more resembling our Colleges than the Aegyptian Monasteries where Men were brought up to Ignorance and Labour as much as to Devotion The Right Reverend Bishop Floyd in his Historical Account of Church Government in Great Britain tells us farther out of Bede that here were above Two thousand Persons together in seven Colleges of which none had fewer than Three hundred Monks in it This we may believe by what we see saith another Historian that writ Four hundred Years after Bede's time we see saith he so many half ruined Walls of Churches so many windings of Porticos so great a heap of Ruins as you shall scarce meet with elsewhere by which Account it seems in its flourishing State to have been not much less than one of our Universities at this Day How Twelve hundred innocent Monks of this Place though the Saxon Chronicle mentions but Two hundred who came along with their Army by Fasting and Prayer to intercede with Heaven for its prosperous Success were all cruelly put to Death by Ethelfrid King of Northumberland A. D. 607. at the Instigation of Ethelbert King of Kent is too Tragical a Story to insist long upon but that Austen the Monk was the first Spring of this fatal Tragedy moving Ethelbert to it as he did Ethelfrid there are not only strong Suspicions saith the Learned Dr. Cade in his Discourse concerning Ancient Church-Government but the thing is expresly affirmed by several Historians of no inconsiderable Credit and Antiquity In Denbighshire the Air is cold Denbighshire but very wholesom and the Snow lies long upon the Hills which resemble the Battlements of Walls and upon the top of Moilenny-Hill Moilenny-Hill which is one of the largest in this Shire is a Spring of clear Water In this County is VVrexham Wrexham a Market Town distant about Fifteen Miles from Holy-VVell and much admired for the Steeple of its Collegiate Church being a curious Fabrick contrived according to the most exact Draught and Model of Architecture and no where to be parallelled in those Parts for Workmanship of which taking a transient view we passed on again through Shrewsbury and the Strettons to Wigmore Strettons Wigmore which lies within the Confines of Herefordshire where are the Ruins of a Castle built by Edward the Senior and fortified by VVilliam Earl of Hereford from whom the Mortimers who were afterwards Earls of March did lineally descend That this Castle was formerly an Asylum or Sanctuary is generally reported by such as live near it who will tell you that whatsoever Malefactors fled hither for Refuge and could but get his Hand within the Ringle of the Gate secured himself from the Hands of Justice which indentical wreathed Ring of Iron they shewed us upon a Door of one of the Inns in the Town A. D. 1100. Ralph de Mortimer founded here a little College for Secular Canons which was 1197 changed into a Priory and endowed with more Lands by his Son Hugh Mortimer who removed hither the Black Canons from Scobbedon there placed by Oliver de Merlymond his Steward it was commended to the Patronage of St. James A. D. 921. a great Pagan Host of the East-Angles and Mercians came against this Place which the Saxon Chronicle calls Wigingamere but were beaten off from it by the Valour of its Inhabitants only with the loss of some Cattel which they took away with them Three Miles from Wigmore in the Road to Hereford is Mortimer's-Cross Mortimer's-Cross being a Way where four Roads meet so called from Mortimer Earl of March Son to Richard Duke of York betwixt whom and King Henry the Sixth's Friends and Allies was fought a bloody and terrible
not possible for Waggons to pass so that the Country People are forced in Harvest time to carry home their Corn upon Horses in Crooks made for that purpose which creates no small Toil and Labour to them Exmore Forrest Upon Exmore Forest are some huge Stones placed as confusedly as those upon Salisbury Plains and one of them hath Danish letters upon it directing passengers that way Hubblestow And at Hubblestow in this County was a Battel fought by the Danes where their Banner called Reafan in which they reposed all confidence of Victory and success was notwithstanding taken and Hubba their General slain Exeter Exeter is the Principal City of this Province called by the ancients Isca and Isca Damoniorum and by the Saxs on Ex or Exa 't is situate upon the Western Bank of the River Ex or Isc upon a litttle Hill gently arising with an easy ascent to a pretty height the pendant whereof lies East and West environed about with Ditches and very strong Walls having many Turrets orderly interposed and six Gates which give entrance into the City and contains about a Mile and half in Circumference The Suburbs branch forth a great way on each side the Streets are broad kept clean and and well paved the Houses are as gay within as trim without and there are contained in it fifteen 〈◊〉 and in the very highest part of the City 〈…〉 Castle called Rugemont forâ—â—◠〈…〉 VVest-Saxon Kings and afterwards of the Earls of Cornwal which Baldwin de Reduers as the Saxon Chronicle informs us A. D. 1135. holding out against King Stephen was through scarcity of Provision enforced to surrender and after the surrendery he with his whole family was banished out of the Kingdom Just without the East-gate are two pleasant Walks called Southney and Northney beset on both sides with rows of high Trees which being mounted up aloft afford a curious prospect to Topsham Topsham the place where all the Ships and Vessels of the Citizens lie at Anchor from whence since the River was stop'd up by certain Wears and Dams that Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire from some distast which he had took to the City caused here to be made all their Goods and Commodities are brought home by Land In the same quarter of the City stands the Cathedral in the precincts of whose close were in ancient times three Religious Houses as the Ingenious Mr. Tanner's Notitia Monastica doth inform us the first was a Nunnery which is now the Deans House the other was a House of Monks reported to have been built by King Ethelred about A. D. 868. the third was a Monastery of Benedictines founded by King Aethelston A. D. 932. but the Monks not long after forsook it for fear of the Danes till A. D. 968. at which time King Edgar restored them upon the removal of the Bishops See hither from Crediton A. D. 1050. the Monks were translated to VVestminster upon which about the same time Bishop Leafric Chaplain to Edward the Confessor uniting the three forementioned Monasteries into his Cathedral Church placed here some secular Canons dedicating it to St. Mary and St. Peter but the Chapter was not setled till Bishop Brewer A. D. 1235. established and endowed a Dean and twenty four Prebendaries to which have been since added four Arch-deacons In this Church are six private Chappels and a Library very handsomely built and furnished by a Phisitian of this City the Quire is curiously beautified and adorned especially with an excellent Organ the Pipes whereof as they are of a much larger size than any which ever we beheld in any Cathedral besides so likewise is its Musick no less sweet and harmonious and though this Church did through all its parts extreamly suffer in the late unhappy Civil Wars yet it hath returned to its primitive beauty and order since the return of King Charles the second in this Church as likewise in most of the other Churches and Church-yards of the City the Graves especially of the Wealthier sort are paved all over on the inside with Bricks and plaistered with white Lime where after they have interred the Corps all the company in general who were invited to the Funeral return to the House of Mourning from whence they came and there very ceremoniously take their leave of the party by whom they were invited to perform these doleful obsequies On the West side of the City runs the River over which is built a strong Stone Bridge with four Arches and about the middle of the City is the Town Hall where the Assizes and Sessions are held it being both City and County of it self in which hangs the Picture of the Royal Princess Henrietta Maria Daughter to King Charles the First who was Born here and was given by her Royal Brother King Charles the Second to this City which is governed by a Mayor Recorder two Sheriffs and four and Twenty Aldermen with all other Officers befitting the Dignity of so Honourable a place The chief Trade of it consists in Stuffs and Kerseys of which there are innumerable Packs sent away every Week for London and other places in lieu whereof all sorts of vendible Commodities are imported hither here being a knot of very eminent Merchants This City has been exposed to great Calamities and disasters straitned with sieges and exposed to the fury both of Fire and Sword the Romans had it in possession about the Reign of Antoninus and after them the East-Saxons in the Days of King Athelstan from whom the Danes having forced it Suenus raged here with Ruine and Destruction and scarce had it regained a little Strength and Beauty when it felt the fury of the Norman Conqueror after this it was besieged by Hugh Courtney Earl of Devonshire in the Civil Wars betwixt the two Houses of York and Lancaster then by Perkin Warbeck that imaginary counterfeit and pretended Prince who being a young Man of as mean a Family as Condition feigning himself to be Richard Duke of York second Son of King Edward the Fourth made strange Insurrections against Henry the Seventh after this it was pestered by the seditious Rebels of Cornwal about the Year 1549 when although the Citizens were extreamly pinched with a great scarcity of all things yet they kept the City with Courage and Fidelity till John Lord Russel came to succour and relieve it And again in the late miserable Confusions it was strictly besieged by the Parliamentarian Forces at which time it is reported by several Persons of good Credit and Repute that it being reduced to great extremities for want of Provision an infite number of Larks came flying into the Town and setled in a void green place within the Walls where they were killed in great quantities by the besieged and eaten We departed from hence to Newton-Bushel Newton-Bushel a Town well known in these Parts for its Market and from thence to King's-ware King's-ware situated below a Hill upon
TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales GIVING A True and Exact Description of the Chiefest Cities Towns and Corporations Together With the Antiquities of divers other Places with the most Famous Cathedrals and other Eminent Structures of several Remarkable Caves and Wells with many other Divertive Passages never before Published By James Brome M. A. Recter of Cheriton in Kent and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Romney The Design of the said Travels being for the Information of the two Eldest Sons of that Eminent Merchant Mr. Van-Ackar LONDON Printed for Abel Roper at the Black-Boy Rich. Basset at the Miter in Fleetstreet and Will. Turner at the Angel at Lincolns-Inn Back-Gate 1700. To the Honourable Sir Basil Dixwell Bar. A MEMBER of the Honourable House of Commons AND Governor of Dover-Castle c. Honoured Sir WHEN I first resolved to publish these Papers I could not be long in suspense to whom to Dedicate them They contain a short Account of our Own British Island and I know not better at whose Feet chiefly to prostrate them than where I found the brave old heroick English Spirit most eminently Predominant 'T is the unhappy Genius of some Grandees in this Age to affect nothing but what either appears in a Foreign Dress or comes fraught with new and unheard-of Rarities from abroad as if our English Soil was so barren in its Productions that it could not afford any thing to divert the Curious or it was altogether not worth the while to Contemplate herein the wonderful Works of Nature because they are nearer to our own Doors And yet as it is not very easie to discover many other Countries where Nature hath been more diffusive of her choisest Blessings than in our Own so likewise to point out any one Place where she hath beeen more liberal in dispersing various and delightful Objects than within the Confines of this flourishing Monarchy a Scheme of which I take here the boldness to present to your Honour Upon which account I could have wish'd that I had Pourtray'd the Features in a more exact conformity to the first Lineaments of Nature but however it may miscarry in the Draught perhaps there may be something which may not prove altogether Indivertive when your vacant Hours from greater and more important Affairs in the Government in one of the highest Orbs of which Your experienc'd Wisdom and Integrity have most deservedly placed You will give You leave to cast some few glances on it SIR I confess I ought justly to Apologize for prefixing Your Great Name before so mean a Trifle whose late signal Service to the Ancient and Worthy Corporation and Port of Dover will alone perpetuate it to succeeding Generations But when again I consider Your great Candour and Goodness Your generous Temper and obliging Deportment with which You are wont to Proselyte all who have the Honour of Your Acquaintance I am apt to Flatter my self that You will please to Pardon this bold Address and look upon it only as indeed it is a sincere Testimony for me how ready and officious I am to express my Gratitude for the manifold Favours conferr'd upon SIR Your most Faithful and Obliged Servant James Brome A PREFACE TO THE READER IT will not I presume be thought amiss to acquaint the Reader that these Papers had in all probability lain long buried in Dust and Obscurity had not some false Copies which by chance came lately to the true Author's notice stole Clandestinely into the World under the specious Title of Mr. Roger's Three Years Travels over England and Wales c. which are indeed so unadvisedly patch'd together so wretchedly Curtail'd so horribly Imperfect and abominably Erroneous that the right Author was obliged in his own Vindication to publish from his own true Manuscript which hath been formerly and of late perused by the Hands of some Learned Men a more Authentick Copy And though he cannot as yet discover this mysterious Cheat which has for some time walked in Darkness yet to discourage for the future all such unbecoming mercenary Attempts he resolved at last with himself by a more correct Edition to expose the Plagiarism and Dishonesty of such vile Pultroons and scandalous Undertakers which have appeared with such open and brazen-faced Effrontery And though indeed they have put on what false Disguise they can to Cheat the World and set off the Book with the most plausible Varnishes that thereby they might the better recommend it to the Reader yet there doth appear throughout the whole Series of it such horrible Blunders and impardonable Mistakes such silly Shiftings and Turnings both of Things and Places such crude Apologies for its Brevity and in short such a shameful Contexture of Ignorance and Impudence closely link'd together by that unlearned Fry To give but one notorious Instance here for all their placing Page 99. the Seven Wonders of the Peak in Lancashire instead of Darbyshire though there are divers other as gross Errours if it be worth while to rake into them as their false Transcribing or leaving out quite divers proper Names of great Significancy as also what chiefly related to the Latin Tongue that as such uncomely Features will easily discover the Spuriousness of the Brood so no Pen can be sharp enough to expose the Disingenuity and Baseness of such a viperous Generation Now such a seasonable Advertisement as this is being sufficient to caution the unwary Reader against all other previous Editions will become as just an Apology for the present Publication of these ensuing Papers which if so useful and diverting as the World is told under a false Vizor will now prove it is to be hoped more pleasing and acceptable in their own true native Colours For they will here meet with a more full and accurate Description though not of every individual Town and Place of Note within the Dominions of Great Britain yet with a true and impartial Account of most Cities and Towns Corporate with their famous Cathedrals and other eminent Structures of the most remarkable Havens and Rivers of divers curious Caves Wells and Mines with many other divertive Passages and historical Relations with several ancient Inscriptions Epitaphs and Observations which were yet never taken notice of by any English Topographer which being some Years ago Penned for the use of Two Young Gentlemen Sons to Mr. Van-Acker formerly an eminent Merchant in London whom the Author had the happiness to accompany in these Travels is now again Revised to make it the more consummate and inviting So that whosoever is disposed to Travel Abroad or to see which indeed is most necessary first and acquaint himself with the Rarities of Nature at Home may know hereby in what Parts of our Island to find them and for those who having already visited remoter Regions are so strangely enravished with the prospect of Foreign Varieties that they are hardly brought to believe any thing in their own Native Soil equal to such Discoveries
of the Door and to my best Remembrance there are one or two Places open upward in the Roof of the passage from whence it is the Opinion of Mr. Childrey in his Britannia Baconica when he has occasion to speak of this Place that the Chapel standing so in the middle much conduceth to the conveying of the Sound so entirely which is helped by the open places of the Roof before-mentioned for they help to draw in the Voice which else would not so well enter into that narrow Passage but reverberate back into that broad open place before the Whispering Entry and the Reason upon which he grounds his Opinion that the Chapel doth a great part of the Work is this Because saith he we see in Viols Lutes and other Musical Instruments there are Holes cut into the Belly of the Instrument just under the playing or striking place which we find by Experience do much augment the Noise of the Notes and make them more Audible But this being only a Conjecture I shall leave it to be further discuss'd by those who delight in such kind of Speculation and proceed to Lassington Astroites at Lassington a little Village near Gloucester where are found many Astroites or Star-stones being about the breadth of a silver Penny but the thickness of half a Crown flat and pointed like a Star or Mullet in Heraldry only the Points of them are not sharp but a little roundish and of a greyish Colour and on both sides curiously graved as it were by Art as if there were a little Mullet within the great one Being put into Vinegar they have a Motion like the Astroites in Germany which the Learned Cambden speaks of and are more fully described by Mr. Childrey in his Natural Rarities of Gloucestershire Having diverted our selves at Gloucester we steer'd our Course for Tewksbury Tewksbury a Market-Town of a great Trade for Cloth Mustard-Seed but more especially for Stockings of which the Townsmen every Saturday buy great Quantities from the Neighbouring Inhabitants 'T is situated among three pleasant Rivers Severn on the one side enricheth it and on the other Avon and another small Rivolet which comes from the East over each whereof stand Bridges which give Entrance into it By the Saxons it was call'd Throâ—â— â—uria from a Religious Man named Throcus who led here an Hermite's Life and hath been reputed famous for a Monastery founded by Odo and Dodo two Saxon Noble Men which was afterward much enlarged by the Earls of Gloucester who lived at Homes-Castle near to this place Homes Castle and were generally here Interred Nor is it of less Fame for the Memorable Battle fought here in 1471 between the House of York and Lancaster which bloody day decided for that time that great Controversie and left the Crown to the former In the Reign of King Henry III. there is a Story Recorded of a Jew that lived in this Town how that falling into a Jakes or Privy on the Jewish Sabbath or Saturday would by no means out of Reverence to that Day suffer any one to come and rescue him out of that Noisome place whereupon Richard then Earl of Gloucester having some Intelligence of his refractary Sullenness gave a strict charge that no one should dare to take him out on the Sunday for the Reverence of that Day and so the poor Circumcised Wretch perished in that loathsome Dungeon through his own Folly Our abode at this place was but short for we hasted into the Confines of Worcestershire Worcestershire which we found a very healthful and plentiful Country In one part it is of Note for its Cheese in most for its Perry which is a very pleasant Liquor made of the Juice of Pears growing here in abundance in the Hedges 't is likewise full of Salt-Pits and hath formerly been admired for abundance of Salt-Springs which have been very oft discovered in this County But that which makes it most Renown'd is the River Severn which Streams along the Country which as also the River Avon is well replenished with divers sorts of Fish but more particularly seem'd to be design'd on purpose by Nature as Stews and Ponds for the Preservation of Lampreys a Fish of great esteem in that County and sent far and near as a very great Present throughout divers parts of England they are called Lampreys from the Latin word Lampetra as if they had their Denomination from licking of Rocks they are like Eels slippery and blackish however on their Bellies they are of a blewish colour in the Spring they are most wholsom and sweet for in the Summer the inner Nerve which is to them instead of a Backbone waxeth too hard for Concoction Naturalists observe that these Fish receive and let in Water at seven Holes for that they have no Gills which are any way visible the Romans always thought this a very noble Dish and when any Person of Quality desired a sumptuous Feast he would be sure to be provided with these and the Italians at this day are very much delighted with them and consequently by their Cookery make them exceeding delicate to the Taste for they take a Lamprey and killing it in Malmsey close the Mouth with a Nutmeg and fill all the Holes with as many Cloves then they roll it up and put Filberd Nut-Kernels stamp'd crums of Bread Oyl Malmsey and Spices to it and so they boil it with great care and then turn it over a soft gentle Fire of Coals in a Frying-pan The first place we came to which was Remarkable in this County was Worcester it self Worcester where the River Severn which in other parts of the County runs along in a swift Current glides on here more softly with a gentle Stream admiring as it were this City This City was called by the Britains Kaerkorangon Rudborn as it passeth by which is famous both for its Antiquity and Beauty 'T is supposed that the Romans built it at that time when they first planted Cities on the Easternside of the Severn to hinder the Incursion of the Britaine who were on the other side as they did on the Southside of the Rhine to repress the Germans 'T is situated partly upon the Brow of a Hill rising with a gentle Ascent and hath a very fair Bridge over the River and is of great Repute for its Manufacture of Cloth by which the Inhabitants become Wealthy and Creditable The Houses are neat and well built the Streets clean and well paved the Churches in number many in Order and Beauty excellent especially the Cathedral in which are divers small Pillars all of pure Marble which stand in Rows and do uphold that vast Bulk and Fabrick somewhat strange to see the Body larger than the Supporters and that so small Props should be able to bear up so great a Weight This Church say some Historians was first built by Ethelred King of the Mercians tho' others by Bishop Sexwolph * Bosel
of some Miles The Town which is supposed to have been the Daughter of Godmanchester is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes are held here twice a Year for the Shire and wants no kind of Provision to entertain Travellers who much resort hither out of the Northern Parts the great Road to the City of London lying through it In this Town in the Year 1599 was that Usurper and Religious Cheat Oliver Cromwell born and educated whom tho' we have some just Reasons to curse in his very Name and detest his Memory as odious and execrable yet since prosperous Successes of the most cruel Tyrants makes others inquisitive after those Persons which they did so fortunately attend it will not be amiss to tell the World that this place gave him his first being who exceeding Nero in Cruelty destroyed his Father and Mother too the Father of his Country and his Country likewise being a Murderer of the one and a Plague to the other who was of so unparallell'd and base a temper of Mind from his Cradle to his Grave that nothing could stay with him or be pleasing to him long but what even carried the World before it Confusion and Ruine From hence we passed directly into the pleasant County of Northampton Northamptonshire where the Air is temperate the Soil rich fruitful and Champaign and having less waste Ground than any other County withal so populous and well replenished with Towns that in many places 20 or 30 Steeples present themselves at one view nor is there perhaps a County which within that compass of Ground can shew more Noblemens and Gentlemens Seats For in all the dispersed Villages of this Country it is observed that there are fixed several bright and coruscant Luminaries shining in this Orb of whose influence the Peasantry are continually sensible feeling divers good Effects and enlivening Operations from their Vicinity For whilst the Noblemen and Persons of Superiour Ranks transplant themselves hither and fix in this Soil the Commonalty are quickly invigorated with the warmth which they communicate whilst all Trades flourish more by those Encouragements they afford them and the poor Tenant is enabled thro' their Assistance to discharge all Rents with greater Improvement both to their Landlords and themselves they being like the Primum Mobile which put all the other Orbs into a continued motion or the Wheels in a Machine which make the whole Engine move very regularly which otherwise would be altogether useless and unseruisable Thrapston is Twelve Miles distant from Huntingdon Thrapston which being the first Market Town we arrived at here well stored with Inns and replenished with all sorts of Grain we went from thence to another Town called Kettering Kettering which has been of much more Note than its Neighbours by reason of a handsom Cross formerly beautified with divers Images of Christ and his Apostles very curiously and artificially carved And the next place of consequence is Higham-Ferries the excellent Ornament of which place was formerly Henry Chicheley Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who built All-Souls College in Oxford and another here Temp. Hen. V. for eight Secular Canons four Clerks and six Choristers and commended it to the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Edmund the Confessor But that which is the Ornament of the County is Northampton it self Northampton a Town pleasantly seated on the River Nen where it meets with two Rivulets one North and the other South This Town as many others fell under the Fury of the Danes who burnt it to Ashes In the Reign of King Stephen the Abby of St. Mary de Pratis for Cluniac Nuns was Founded here by Simon de Senilitz II. Earl of Northampton And an Abby of Black Canons was built to the Honour of St. James King Henry the First was a good Benefactor keeping his Court here in Lent as the Saxon Annals tell us in the Year 1106 and again at Easter in the Year 1122 but in the Reign of King John it suffered exceedingly by the Barons Wars In his Successor Henry the Third's time the Students of Cambridge are reported to have removed hither by the King's Warrant in order to settle the University here where Henry the Sixth had the fate to be overthrown and taken Prisoner by his Rival for the Crown Edward the Fourth In the Year 1675 Sept. 3. this Town was reduced to Ashes by a general Conflagration but by the Assistance and Contributions of Charitable People it is once more restored to greater Magnificenco and Beauty than it ever yet before enjoyed 't is govern'd by a Mayor and is the place where the County Gaol and Assizes are generally held Warwickshire Our next Remove was into Warwickshire which as it is situated almost in the very Heart of the Kingdom is very free from the frequent Vapours that annoy many other places and therefore is justly celebrated for its Health as well as Fruitfulness Warwick Warwick is the principal Town of the whole Shire it stands on the West side of the River Avon over which it hath a strong Stone-Bridge and consists of two Parishes 't is seated in a dry and a fertile Soil having the benefit of rich and pleasant Meadows on the South part with lofty Groves and spacious Thickets of Woodland on the North the Town has not long since suffer'd extreamly by Fire but 't is to be hoped it will in a little time return again to its ancient Splendour and Renown the chief Beauty of it is its Castle the Seat in times past of the Earls of Warwick mounted aloft upon a steep and a craggy Rock The Collegiate Church of St. Mary was endow'd by Roger Earl of Warwick A. D. 1133. and a Priory of Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre was likewise founded by Henry Earl of Warwick Temp. Hen. 1. Guy-Cliff Here is also Guy Cliff near Warwick among Groves and fresh Streams call'd Guy-Cliff from Guy of Warwick the Hercules of England who having left off his noble and valiant Exploits betook himself as Tradition hath it to this place where he led a kind of Hermetical Life and built a Chapel in which he was Interr'd The next place which claims here a Precedency above all the rest Coventry is Coventry so call'd from a Covent founded here by the Danish King Canutus stands upon the Sherborn which joyning with another Stream runs not far from thence into the Avon It is a City very commodiously Seated large sweet and neat was formerly fortified with a very strong Wall and is set out and adorned with right goodly Houses amongst which there rise up on high two spacious Churches noted for their Loftiness and the Cross for its Workmanship standing one hard by the other and matched as it were as Concurrents one Consecrated to the Holy Trinity the other to St. Michael a Town that injoys a good Inland Trade by the Cloth here made and vended which makes
corrupted both their Faith and their Fortitude and straitway restored it to the English Crown A great while after when England was embroiled in Civil Wars King Henry the Sixth flying into that Kingdom for refuge surrendred it up into the hands of that King to secure him his Life and Safety in that Country but many Years were not expired before Sir Thomas Stanley did again reduce it under the command of King Edward the Fourth but not without a great loss of his Men and much Blood spilt about its Walls since which our Kings have been still strengthening it with new Fortifications especially Queen Elizabeth who to the Terrour of the Scots and Safe-guard of this Nation enclosed it about in a narrower compass within the old Wall with a high Wall of Stone most strongly compacted which she hath so forwarded again with a Couterscarp a Bank round about with Mounts of Earth cast up on high and open Terraces above-head upon all which are planted a double tire of great Ordnance that when the Scots entred England in 1640 they took Newcastle but durst not attempt Berwick In this place is still maintained a constant Garrison of Soldiers and the Guards which are placed at the foot of the Bridge which is built over the Tweed do every Night pull up the Draw-Bridges and lock up the Gates which give entrance into the Town so that there is no admission when once the day is gone Tweed All along the Tweed is notable Fishing for Salmons of which there is such great store and plenty in this River that they take vast numbers at one draught as we were credibly informed by the Fishermen of this place who hire out the Fishery from the Lords of the River and have each Man his Bounds set out and mark'd for him The Salmon which they catch are dried barrelled up and transported beyond Seas and are purchased at such easie and cheap Rates that a Man may buy one of the largest for a Shilling and boil it and eat it while the Heart is yet alive a thing which is frequently practised in this place nay they are so common about these Parts that the Servants as they say do usually indent with their Masters when they hire them to feed them with this Fish only some Days in the Week that they may not be nauseated by too often eating of it but as for all other Provisions they are scarce enough here and dearer than in any other parts of the North so that he that first called Berwick the little Purgatory betwixt England and Scotland by reason of the hard Usage and Exactions which are customary here did confer upon it a very just and deserved Title The Borders of Scotland After we were past Berwick we came into that noted Ground lying betwixt the two Kingdoms called the Borders the Inhabitants whereof have ever been reputed a sort of Military Men subtile nimble and by reason of their frequent Skirmishes to which they were formerly accustomed well experienced and adventurous These Borders have been formerly of a far greater extent reaching as far as Edinburgh-Frith and Dunbritton Northward and taking in the Counties of Northumberland Cumberland and Westmorland Southward but since the Norman Conquest they have been bounded by Tweed on the East Solway on the West and the Cheuiot Hills in the midst From these Borders we marched towards the Kingdom of Scotland concerning which I shall in the first place give a brief Account of some Observations we made here in general before I proceed to a particular Description of such Places and Cities through which we travelled From whence at first it received this denomination is dubious and uncertain Scotland being formerly called Caledonia from the Caledonii a chief People of it and Albania from Albany a principal Province in the North but as for the Inhabitants some will fetch their Original from thy Scythi a Sarmatian People of great Renown who after they had wandred about through many Countries came at last and setled themselves in this place but the most probable Opinion is that they were no other than Irish united in the name of Scot about the declination of the Roman Empire the word Scot signifying in their Language a Body aggregated into one out of many particulars as the word Alman in the Dutch Language Though I find the Scotch Historians will rather derive it from Scota Daughter to Pharoah King of Egypt who being given in Marriage to Gathelus Son of Cecrops King of Athens who with some valiant Grecians and Egyptians transplanted themselves into a part of Spain then called Lusitania but by reason of his arrival named Port-gathel now Portugal they afterwards setling themselves in Gallicia sent from thence a new Colony into Ireland from whence at last they removed into this Country This Gathelus brought with him from Egypt the Marble fatal Chair which was transported to Ireland and to Albion now called Scotland wherein all their Kings were Crowned until the time of King Edward the First who transported the whole ancient Regalia of Scotland with the Marble fatal Chair to Westminster where it remaineth to this day by which was fulfilled that ancient Scotch Prophecy thus expressed in Latin by Hector Boethius Ni fallat fatum Scoti hunc quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem regnare tenentur ibidem In English by Raphael Holinshead Except old Saws do fail And Wisards Wits be blind The Scots in place must Reign Where they this Stone shall find By another Hand thus The Scots shall brook that Realm as Native Ground If Weirds fail not where e'er this Chair is found This Kingdom being divided into two parts by the River Tay hath thirty-four Counties in the South part are reckoned up these that follow Teifidale March Lothien Liddesdale Eskdale Annandale Niddesdale Galloway Carrick Kyle Cunningham Arran Cluidsdale Lennox Sterling Fife Stratherne Menth Argile Cantire Lorne In the North part are reckoned these Counties Loquhabre Braid-Albin Perth Athol Angus Merne Marr Buquhan Murray Ross Southerland Cathaness Steathnavern These are subdivided again according to their Civil Government into divers Seneschallies or Sheriffdoms which are commonly Hereditary and the People which inhabit each are called High-landers and Low-landers The Highlanders High-landers who inhabit the West part of the Country in their Language Habit and Manners agree much with the Customs of the Wild Irish Elgin and their chief City is Elgin in the County of Murray seated upon the Water of Lossy formerly the Bishop of Murray's Seat with a Church sumptuosly built but now gone to decay They go habited in Mantles striped or streaked with divers colours about their Shoulders which they call Plodden with a Coat girt close to their Bodies and commonly are naked upon their Legs but wear Sandals upon the Soles of their Feet and their Women go clad much after the same Fashion They get their Living mostly by Hunting Fishing and Fowling and when they go to War the
Scruffel wotes full of that And there goes also this usual By-Word concerning the height as well of this Hill as of the other two Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand Are the highest Hills in all England Nay so liberal to it is Nature in the distribution of her largesses that she seems to have enriched it with every thing that may any way be conducible to Health as well as Wealth for here are such Varieties of vulnerary Plants which grow plentifully in these parts especially near to the Picts-Wall that in the beginning of Summer many Persons that are curious in these things come hither out of Scotland on purpose to Simple here are likewise upon the Sea-Coast very frequently discovered Trees at Low-water which have been covered with Sand and that in many other mossy places of the Shire they digg up Trees without boughs and that by the directions of the dew they say in Summer which they observe ne'er stands upon that Ground under which they lie At Carlile wee took up our first qaarters in this Province Carlile an ancient City very commodiously situated 't is guarded on the North side with the River Eden on the East with Peterial and on the West with Cawd and besides these Natural fences 't is fortified with a strong Wall with a Castle and a Cittadel the Fashion of it is long running out from West to East on the West side is the Castle of a large compass which King Richard the Third as appears by his Coat of Arms repaired and on the East the Cittadel built by Henry the Eighth In the middle almost of the City riseth on high the Cathedral Church being formerly a stately and Magnificent Structure adorned with rich Copes and other sacred Garments and Vessels and two Unicorns Horns of great Value which by an ancient custom were placed here upon the Altar but now deplores the want of part of its Body being ruined by a wicked War whilst it was only intended for a House of Prayer and Peace It was first founded by Walter Deputy of these parts for King William Rufus and by him dedicated to the Blessed Virgin but finished and endowed by King Henry the First out of the Wealth which the said Walter had amassed for that purpose The Romans and Britains called this place Lugoballum that is saith Cambden the fort by the Wall which Name it derived probably from that famous military vallum or Trench which stands apparent a little from the City and that it flourished exceedingly in the time of the Romans the famous mention of it in those Days and diverse remains of Antiquity which have been here frequently discovered do sufficiently attest After the departure of the Romans it suffered extreamly by the insolent outrages of the Scots and Picts and afterward being almost quite ruined by the Danes it lay about two hundred Years buried in its own Ashes until it began again to flourish under the government and by the favour of King William Rufus who as the Saxon Chronicle tells us A. D. 1092 coming hither with a great Army repaired the City and built the Castle driving from hence the Daulphin of France who had got too sure footing in some of those Northern parts and planted here a new Colony of Flemmings say some Historians whom presently upon better advice he removed into Wales and setled in their room a more useful plantation of Southern English-men After this here having been formerly a Covent of Monks and a Nunnery built by St. Cuthbert A. D. 686. which were both destroyed by the Danes King Henry the First established here the Episcopal See * A. D. 1135. saith Mr. Wharton Ang. Sacr. Tom. 1. P. 699. and made Athulph Priory of St. Oswalds his Confessor Bishop hereof and endowed it with many Honours and emoluments in the successive Reigns of our Kings it was Subject to great casualties and misfortunes the Scots won it from King Stephen and King Henry the Second recovered it again in the Reign of Edward the First the City and Priory with all the Houses belonging to it were consum'd by Fire and a little after King Edward the Second came to the Crown all the Northern parts from Carlile to York fell under the subjection of the Scots at which time our Chronicles tell us that the English by their faint-heartedness grew so Vile and Despicable that three Scots durst venture upon an hundred English when a hundred English durst hardly encounter with three Scots but under victorious King Edward the Third the Englishmen pluck'd up their Spirits and recovered their ancient Valour enforcing the Scots to quit all their strong holds and retire back again to their own Territories and Dominions nevertheless this City with the parts adjacent were frequently pestered by Scotch Invasions till the happy Union of the two Crowns since which time it is grown more Populous and opulent being governed by a Mayor and having the Assizes and Sessions held here for that County Salkelds We rode away from Carlile by Salkelds upon the River Eden where is a trophy of Victory as is supposed called by the Country People Long Megg ' and her Daughters being seventy seven Stones each of them ten Foot high above Ground and one of them viz. Long Megg fifteen Foot to Penreth Penreth which is saith Cambden if you interpret it out of the Brittish Language the Red-head or Hill for the Soil and the Stones are here generally of a reddish Colour but commonly called Perith sixteen Miles distant from this City This Town is but small in compass but great in Trade fortified on the West-side with a Castle of the King 's which in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth was repaired out of the Ruines of a Roman Fort not far from it called Maburg adorned with a spatious Church and large Market-place where there is an Edifice of Timber for the use of such as resort hither to Market garnished with Bears at a ragged Staff which was the device of the Earls of Warwick it belonged in times past to the Bishops of Durham but the Patriarch Bech taking two much State upon him and carrying himself with more haughtiness than became him did hereby so displease King Edward the First that he took from him Werth in Tevidail Perith and the Church of Simondburn But for the commodious use of this town William Strickland Bishop of Carlile descended from an ancient Race in this tract at his own proper charge caused a Channel for a Water-course to be made out of Peteril which near unto the Bank had Plumpton Park a large plat of Ground which the Kings of England had appointed as a Chase for wild Beasts to range in but King Henry the Eighth disparked it and converted it into a better Habitation for Men it lying near to the Marches where the Realms of England and Scotland confine one upon another Not far from this Town begins the County of Westmorland Westmorland being one of the worst
Romanum mare as if it were Sea in the Romans time or from the Saxon Rumen-ea the large Water or watery place to which he is most inclinable 't is certain as my singular good Friend Mr. Kennett hath observed in his Life he is more singularly happy in fixing Limene or the Mouth of the River Limene or Rother at Romney which is since turned another way To which I shall subjoin that reckoning one Town and Nineteen Parish Churches within the Precincts being as is computed about 18 Miles in length and 10 in breadth it contains 44200 Acres or thereabouts of Pasture which proves most excellent Forage both for Bullocks and Sheep with which it is stocked all over to a Miracle As for New Romney as 't is called as it was formerly the Roman Port Lemanis New Romney by its distance from Canterbury so now 't is one of the Cinque-Ports of which Lyd and Old Romney are accounted Limbs and received that Epithet of New to distinguish it from its Old Neighbour which distinction saith Mr. Somner I find used near 500 Years ago and from the Ruin of the latter it states the Epocha of its first Original when after that the Ocean in the Reign of Edward the First had made an Inroad into the Land and overflowed all this Tract with its violent Inundations it was forced to submit to the irresistible Conquest of that implacable Enemy who returned Triumphant with the Trophies of five Churches a Priory and an Hospital besides great Depredations both of Cattel and Houses into its restless and turbulent Dominions Hereupon began this other Town immediately to flourish which though it appears of no large extent yet the subsistence which it now affords by Grazing doth very well comport with the Genius of its Natives In this Town are generally held all Publick Assemblies for the more speedy dispatch of the Cinque-Port Affairs and are called the Brotherhood and Guestling Now a Brotherhood is an Assembly held by the Mayors Bayliffs Jurats and Commons of the Cinque-Ports and their Corporate Members jointly For the better preserving the Lands there are three Guts or Sluces in Romney Marsh issuing East-wards by the Names of Willop and Hoorney Gut Marshland Gut and Clobsden Gut One Gut more called the Five Waterings issuing into the Channel of the River Rother and so falls into Rye Water and Dengemarsh-Gut issuing Eastward within the Liberties and Corporation of Lyd. I shall likewise here set down the Order of Watches which were formerly kept by the Sea-Coast taken out of an ancient MS. now in my Custody At Dengemarsh by twelve Men of the seven Hundred At Helmes-Beacon by eight Men viz. of the Hundred of St. Martin's two the Hundred of Oxney two the Hundred of Allowes-bridge two the Hundred of Lamport one and the Hundred of Ham one At Broad-Hall aliàs Dimchurch by nine Men viz. of the Hundred of Street two of the Hundred of Worth two of the Hundred of Philipborough three of the Hundred of Newchurch two At Seabrook aliàs Shorn-Cliff thirteen Men viz. of the Hundred of Hane one the Hundred of Longbridge and Chart three the Hundred of Calehill three the Hundred of Bircholt one the Hundred of Wye five At Sandgate nine Men viz. the Hundred of Folk-stone four the Hundred of Loningborough two the Hundred of Pettam one the Hundred of Stowting two At Coldham by four Men of the Hundred of Milton and Marden A. D. 1614. Dimchurch Four Miles farther is Dimchurch a Village of great Note for the Lords Bayliffs Jurats and other Officers of Romney Marsh who keep here a general Court call'd the Lath every Whitsun-Week for the dispatch of all Affairs which depend hereon As for the great Wall or Bank which is here cast up against the Sea 't is fenced with great Piles of Wood which are driven deep upon the Shore by an incredible Charge to repress the Outrages of that merciless Element which by its propinquity doth many times threaten a subitaneous Inundation and could it once gain a Conquest in this place would quickly run in Triumph over the whole Marsh besides Over this Wall the Road leads to Hyth Hyth West-Hyth and Lym. another of the Cinque-Ports which hath West-Hyth for a Member a small Neighbouring Village Westward which falling to decay by the retiring of the Sea from it occasioned in a short time the Plantation of the other though both are supposed to have received their beginning from the Ruins of Lym standing hard by which in times past was a most famous Port until the Sands cast up by the Sea had altogether choaked and stopped up the Haven which the Bands of the Turnacenses under the Lieutenant of the Saxon Shore quartered in this place which the Port-way call'd Stony-Street reaching from hence almost to Canterbury being doubtless a Work of the industrious Romans and which in fine the ancient Ruins of an old decayed Castle called Studfall i. e. Stodfold saith Mr. Somner a Fold or Inclosure for Steeds whose remains carry still a resemblance of the obsolete Modes of Roman Architecture seem manifestly to attest But though Hyth extracted all its Glory from those Places yet so subject are Towns and Cities to Vicissitudes as well as Men that it seems to be involved in the same Fate and to decline into their perishing Condition having of late Years suffered a great Eclipse of all its pristine Splendor and every day more and more very sensibly decaying by the loss of its Haven and the distance of the Sea which hath almost withdrawn it self near a Mile from the Town The Town is situated upon the brow of an high stony craggy Hill the lower part consisting of one long Street which extends it self about half a Mile in length and in the upper part are placed some few rows of Houses together with the Church an ancient Fabrick which overlooks all the other Buildings and discovers it self at a great distance at Sea capacious enough to receive a greater Congregation than with which it is usually frequented But that which now more especially preserves still the Fame and keeps up the repute of this poor languishing Port besides the two Hospitals of St. John and St. Bartholomew the latter of which was Founded by Haymo Bishop of Rochester who was Born here is the Charnel-House adjoining to the Church or the arched Vault under it wherein are orderly piled up a great stack of dead Mens Bones and Skulls which appear very white and solid but how or by what means they were brought to this Place the Townsmen are altogether ignorant and can give no account of the matter probably the first occasion of them might be from what is related by Henry Knyghton de Eventibus Angliae lib. 3. p. 2503. How that in the Reign of Edward the First about the Year 1295 the then King of France sending about 300 Ships for an English Invasion one of them more forward than the rest came directly for Hyth where landing