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
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
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
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
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
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
Ireland there were extraordinary violent and lasting Storms of Wind and Weather so that the Sandy Shoar on the Coasts of this Shire were laid bare to the very hard Ground which had lain hid for many Ages and by further Search the People found great Trunks of Trees which when they were digged up were apparently lopped so that they might see where the stroaks of the Axe had been upon them as if they had been given but a little before the Earth also looked very black and the Wood of these Trunks like Ebony as the Report then went At the first discovery made by these Storms the Trees we speak of lay so thick that the whole Shoar seem'd nothing but a lopped Grove from whence may be gathered that the Sea hath overflow'd much Land on this Coast as it hath done upon the Shoars of many other Countries bordering upon the Sea which is to be imputed to the Ignorance of former Ages who had not those excellent Arts and Ways to repress the Fury of the Sea which have been since discover'd The Salmons-Leap at Lilgarran About Kilgarran are abundance of Salmons taken and there is a place call'd the Salmons-Leap as there is also in other Rivers probably for this Reason the Salmon coveteth to get into fresh Water Rivers to Spawn and when he comes to places where the Water falls down-right almost Perpendicular as some such like places there be he useth this Policy he bends himself backwards and takes his Tail in his Mouth and with all his force unloosing his Circle on a sudden with a smart Let-go he mounts up before the fall of the Stream and therefore these downright falls or little Cataracts are call'd the Salmons-Leap S. David's In this County is St. David's now only a Bishop's though formerly an Archbishop's See Translated from hence by Sampson the last Archbishop to Dole in Bretagne Here is a fair Church Dedicated to St. Andrew and St. David which being often spoiled and ruined by divers foreign Pirates as standing near the Sea it was after this reedified by Bishop Peter the 49th Bishop of this Diocess who lived in the Reign of King Henry II. hard by which stands the Bishops Palace and fair Houses of the Chanter who is next to the Bishop here being no Dean and of the other Dignitaries all enclosed round with a Wall whereupon they call it a Close 'T is reported by some Historians That while David Bishop of this See who was a very sharp Stickler against the Pelagian Heresie was one day very zealously disputing against those erroneous Tenents the Earth whereon he then stood arguing rose up by a Miracle to a certain height under his Feet From South Wales our Curiosity led us over the Severn to Bristol Bristol undoubtedly one of the principal Cities in this Kingdom if we consider the stateliness of the Buildings or its Natural and Artificial Fortifications the Commodiousness of its Harbour and its most pleasant Situation at the Influx of the Frome into the Avon which five Miles from hence empties it self into the Severn its lofty Churches and its stately Palaces the great Concourse of Foreigners as well as the great Number of Native Citizens upon which account no wonder if both the Counties both of Somerset and Glocester do contend which of them may be most glorious and happy in its Superiority over them and yet neither of them can attain to that Honour it being both City and County of it self and having particular Privileges immunities and Laws of its own 'T is governed by a Mayor and two Sheriffs twelve Aldermen with other Ministers and Officers befitting its Dignity 't is environ'd with a double Wall and adorn'd with two Navigable Rivers Avon which at Spring Tides is 11 or 12 Fathom deep and Frome over which stands a Stone-Bridge with Houses built on both sides consisting of four large Arches It is very convenient for the Ships and larger Vessels to Anchor in and hath a Key sufficiently commodious for the Exporting and Importing of Goods out or into the Merchants Houses this returns back into the River Avon and so both by their mutual Union enrich this City and augment its Happiness At what time it was first built it is very hard to determine only it is supposed to take its Rise in the Declination of the Saxon Empire at the time when Harold is said to have sail'd from Brickstowa with a great Navy into Wales Robert Son of William the Conquerour made choice first of this place to begin his War against his Brother William Rufus and did encompass it with the Inner-Wall as some conjecture part of which in some places is still to be seen and what Spoils he then took he lodged here for safety in the Castle about the year 1088 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us where himself afterward was kept Prisoner as was also King Stephen by the Order of Mawd the Empress from which time it hath been still receiving great Enlargements and by degrees is risen to that Eminency we now behold it and as its Houses are fair and its Streets clean so are its Gates strong and its Churches glorious consisting of Nineteen Parish-Churches whereof though that which is the Cathedral and Mother-Church Dedicated to St. Austen and endowed for a Bishop by King Henry VIII ought to have the Precedency as well for that Honour as for its Antiquity too which is remarkable by the Inscription over the Door of the Porch Rex Henricus II. Dominus Robertus filius Hardingi filii Regis Daciae hujus Monasterii Primi Fundatoris Ratcliff-Church Yet notwithstanding this the Church of Ratcliff in the Suburbs of this City is a more noble Structure being curiously Arched and made a stately Fabrick all of pure Stone without any Additions of wooden Beams or Rafters not one Stick being made use of throughout its whole Compages The Steeple is foursquare and of a very great height but most artificially Carved with divers Sculptures all at the Cost and Charge of one Mr. Cannins a Merchant of this City about 110 years since who in the Erecting this famous piece of Architecture employed at his own Expence 800 Labourers and Artificers besides Masons and Carpenters to the number of 300 in all 1100 for three years together untill the Work was totally compleated and in it his Monument doth now stand in Marble but may his Memory be more lasting than the Marble and his Name more durable to succeding Generations than the noblest Mausoleum or Monument can make it St. Vincent's Rock On the Northern side of this City are several high and craggy Rocks by which the River Avon gently glides along till it returns back again into the Severn one of the chief whereof is call'd St. Vincent's Rock which hath great plenty of Pellucid Stones commonly call'd Bristol Stones The Learned Mr. Cambden hath observ'd That their Pellucidness equals that of the Diamonds only the hardiness of the
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
the Structure consists in this That it hath as many Pillars as there are Hours in the Year and these not so closed but you may see the Interstices betwixt them and shake some that are of a lesser size as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very Artificially adorn'd and curiously painted to Admiration and as many Gates as there are Months all which are thus comprised in an ingenious Copy of Verses Mira canam Soles quot continet Annus in unà Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque tenet fusas tot ab arte Columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus Annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus Annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide In English thus How many Days in one whole Year there be So many Windows in one Church we see So many Marble Pillars there appear As there are Hours throughout the Fleeting Year So many Gates as Moons one Year doth view Strange Tale to tell yet not so strange as true And as the Church was then Re-edify'd so was the City much enlarg'd by which means since its Houses are grown stately its Guild-Hall for the use of the Mayor and Aldermen is beautiful its Churches are many and glorious its Streets by reason of divers Rivolets convey'd in Channels through the midst of them sweet and cleanly its Gardens delightful and fragrant and nothing wanting to please and gratifie either the Eye or Palate From hence we coursed over the Plains directly to Winchester Winchester which by Antiquaries has been call'd Venta Belgarum as Bristol was Venta Simenorum and amongst the Britains it had the Name likewise of Caer-Guent It was of great Repute amongst the Romans and no less famous in the time of the Saxons and flourished as greatly under the Power of the Normans till once or twice both Fire and Sword in an envious Emulation strove together to deface it but it is grown again since very fair and populous large and stately is computed within the Walls to be about a Mile in length is pleasantly seated in a Vale betwixt two Hills and hath six Gates which give Entrance into the City tho' it was much defaced in the late Civil Wars as likewise the Castle which formerly hath been accounted altogether impregnable This is the Castle that Mawd the Empress having held out after she had taken it a considerable time against King Stephen and after by a close Siege being in great danger to be Re-taken fearing by that means to fall into her Enemies Hand she secured her self by this cunning Stratagem she commanded it should be given out for a Truth that she was certainly dead and upon this order'd her self to be carried out upon a Bier as if she had been so indeed and by this means provided for her own safety Upon the Wall hereof hangs the Round Table so much talked of by the Vulgar and call'd King Arthur's Round Table whether this can justly claim so great Antiquity as is attributed to it I shall not undertake to determine yet certain it is that these very Tables are of a long standing for formerly after Justs and Turnaments when there happen'd to be any great Entertainments amongst the valiant Champions of the Nation it was usual for all such to sit round them Mr. Whartons Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 191. least any difference should arise amongst the Noblemen about Superiority of place About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral built by Kenelwalch King of the West Saxons who after the expulsion of Agilbert constituted Wine a Saxon born and ordain'd in France the first Bishop there and it hath been Dedicated to divers Patrons accordingly as it has been re-edified by different Benefactors viz. to Amphibalus St. Peter St. Swithin and now to the holy and undivided Trinity Here it was that Queen Emma upon the suspicion of Adultery by the trial of Fire Ordeal walking barefoot over nine hot Plough-shares without hurt ascribed this miraculous Proof of her Innocence to St. Swithin Patron of this Church and afterward in a grateful acknowledgment bestow'd great Donatives upon it It was always held in great Veneration by the Saxons because divers of their Kings were Interr'd in it and was call'd by them the old Monastery to distinguish it from the new one founded by Alured in which he placed a Fraternity of Presbyters who it seems by a great Miracle of the Cross speaking and disapproving their Order were all expell'd from thence by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury who substituted Monks in their Room These Monasteries were joyn'd so near to one another that it did often create a Disturbance at their Devotions and hence arose great Feuds and Contentions amongst the Brethren besides a great Current of Water running from the Western Gate of the City in divers Channels to this new Monastery did stagnate and so caus'd the Air to be foggy and unwholsom Hereupon the Church about two hundred years after it was built was Translated to the Northern part of the City which they call the Hide where by the Permission of King Henry I. the Monks built another fair and stately Monastery which in the space of a few years by the Treachery as some suppose of Henry Bishop of Winchester was reduc'd to Ashes In the Conflagration whereof 't is Storied That the rich Crucifix given by King Canutus who was buried here in the old Monastery saith the Saxon Chronicle in the year 1036 in the making of which was expended the Revenues of one whole year throughout this Kingdom was burnt likewise after which another Monastery was erected which continued till the Expulsion of Monks out of England in the Room of whom there have since been placed here a Dean and twelve Prebendaries The Church is now curiously adorn'd with Monuments of ancient Hero's and Bishops of this See William Wainfleet Founder of Magdalen-College in Oxford lies here Entomb'd with his Heart in his Hand and Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Gardiner that bloody Scourge to the poor Protestants in Q. Mary's days who did so insatiably thirst for the Blood of Queen Elizabeth but was always cross'd in his most wicked Inclinations there lies also the Lord Weston Earl of Portland whose Monument is of Brass and by him his Father who lies in Marble here is likewise preserved the Chair of State in which Queen Mary was Married to King Philip and near to it lies Entomb'd the Countess of Exeter who was Godmother to King Charles II. and very remarkable is the Chappel of Bp. Fox where he now lies Founder of Corpus Christi-College in Oxford which he built for his own use together with his Study and Press for his Books all in one place in the Quire under a plain flat Marble Stone lies the Body of Will. Rufus This King receiv'd his mortal Wound as he was Hunting in the new Forest by Sir Walter Tyrrel who shooting at a Deer hit this
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
Ruines of Churches and other Edifices declare it to have been of a very long standing its Condition was always mutable according to the mutability of Affairs betwixt the Britains and the Saxons and if it was the burying place of that great Man of Valour and prowess the Noble Britain Vortimer as is credibly reported then this hapned contrary to his own Command for he was desirous to be interred near the Sea Shore where he thought his very Ghost would be sufficient to Protect the Britains from all Saxon Invasions But however after his Death the Saxons got possession of it and fortified themselves on the South-side of the Hill about which time Paulinus having preached the Gospel in Lindsey was the first that converted Blecca the Governour hereof to the Christian Faith and erected a Church all of Stone-work some of the Ruines whereof remain to this Day Afterwards it was much impaired and depopulated by the Danes but in the Norman time it flourished so exceedingly that it became one of the most populous Cities of England King William the Conquerour strengthned it with a Castle and Remigius having translated hither the Bishops See from Dorchester a small Town which stood in the remotest corner of this Diocess erected upon the top of the Hill a large and sumptuous * His successor Robert Bloet â—ounded with him the Cathedral and endow'd the Dean and Chapter â—anner's Not. Monast Cathedral mounting up aloft with high Turrets and stately pyramids and dedicated to the Virgin Mary which afterward being defaced by Fire Alexander his Successor re-edified and beautified after a more glorious manner than before Nor indeed did the Bishops that succeeded him add less to its Beauty and Lustre and raised it to so great Magnificence and unconceivable Height that its starely Towers discover themselves at many Miles distance the Workmanship of the whole Fabrick is very curious and admirable and the carved Images on the Front of the West-end were such unimitable pieces of Art till some of them in our late unhappy broils were sacrificed to the fury of the Insolent Soldiery who committed a new Martyrdom upon the Saints in Effigie that they did even allure and ravish the Eyes of all Spectatour Nor was it less glorious without than beautified within for besides the Bell called Great Tom for which this Church is so famous being cast in the Year 1610 and of a larger Size than any Bell in the Kingdom 't is adorn'd with divers Monuments of very ancient Families for the Bowels of Queen Eleanor Wife to King Edward the First lie here interr'd in Copper and the Body of the Lady Catharine Swinford third Wife to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Mother to the House of Somerset and of the Lady Joan her Daughter Second Wife to Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland besides many other Persons of great Note and Quality In the former Ages of the Church the Precincts of this Diocess were of so large an extent that the greatness hereof became even burdensom to it hereupon they were contracted into a narrower compass by some Princes of this Nation and though King Henry the Second took out of this the Diocess of Ely and King Henry the Eighth the Bishopricks of Peterborough and Oxford yet still it is reputed the greatest Diocess of England both for Jurisdiction and number of Shires there being no less than six Counties and One thousand two hundred forty seven Parish Churches as is generally computed belonging to it As for the Town though it flourished mightily for some Years together after the Norman Conquest by reason of a Staple for wooll and other Commodities setled here by King Edward the Third yet it met still with some Calamities or other which hindred its Growth and eclipsed its Grandeur for it had its share of Sufferings both by Fire and War in King Stephen's days about which time it seems though the King had at first been conquered and taken Prisoner yet he afterward entred into the City in Triumph with his Crown upon his Head to break the Citizens of a superstitious Opinion they held that no King could possibly enter into that City after such a manner but some great disaster or other would befal him but neither did it then or by the Barons wars afterwards sustain half the damages which of late Years it hath received from the devouring Hands of Time who hath wrought its downfal and from a rich and populous City hath reduced it almost to the lowest ebb of Fortune and of Fifty Churches which were all standing within one or two Centuries hath scarce left Fifteen so that the old Proverbial Rhymes which go currant amongst them seem so far to have something of verity in them Lincoln was and London is And York shall be The fairest City of the three Sure I am that this doth abundantly verifie the verses of the old Tragedian Sophocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only the Gods cannot Times sickle feel Nothing can else withstand his Powerful Steel But though the City be gone to decay the Magistrates preserve their Authority and their ancient Charters and Privileges are not as yet involv'd in the same Fate with the Town which is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and hath the Assizes held here where the Judges twice a Year determine all Suits and Controversies depending either in the City or the County and for provision it affords great Plenty for 't is replenished every Friday which is their chief Market Day with such variety of Fish and Fowl to be bought up at easy and cheap Rates that there is hardly the like to be met withal in any other City of England From this City we set forward for Barton Barton a small Town Situate upon the River Humber famous for the abundance of Puits Godwits Knots which are a sort of Bird so called say some from Canute the Dane who perhaps brought them hither first from Denmark and likewise for Dottrels a simple kind of Bird much given to imitation these Dottrels are caught by candle-light after this manner The Fowler stands before the Bird and if he puts out an Arm the Bird stretcheth out a Wing if he hold out his Head or set forward his Leg the Bird doth the like and imitates the Fowlers gesture so long till coming nearer and nearer by degrees at length throws his Net over him and so takes him Here we met with a convenient Passage to Ferry over into York-shire York-shire whereupon we took the first opportunity of Wind and Tide and sailed away for Hull which is about a League from the place on the other side of the River This County is the greatest in extent being parted into three Divisions which are called the West-Riding the East-Riding and North-Riding amongst which Providence hath so wisely distributed her Blessings that what one wants the other enjoys and makes a compensation for the Barrenness of one
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
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
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
the West Saxons for a Boundary to their Kingdom against the Mercians We travelled over some of these wide and large Plains for near twenty Miles untill we arrived at a place call'd Stonehenge some four or five Miles distant from Salisbury Stonehenge It is call'd by ancient Historiographers Chorea Gigantum from its Magnitude and contains within the Circumference of three hundred Foot a rude and indigested Mass of vast large Stones rough and of a grey Colour 25 Foot in length 10 in breadth and 8 in thickness they look as if they were hewn square and are joyn'd two and two together and every couple hath a third Stone lying across which is fasten'd by Tenons that enter into Morraises not closed with any Mortar it appears as if they had been set in three Ranks going round as Circles one within another whereof the uttermost and largest contain in compass about three hundred Foot but the other Ranks are decay'd and some of them being fall'n down to the Ground as it is something difficult to compute their Number so if they be rubbed or scraped and Water thrown upon the Scrapings they will say some heal any green Wound or old Sore It is very strange to think how such vast Bulks should happen in this place whenas there are no other kind of Stones even of smaller Dimensions near or about it therefore some not irrationally conjecture that they are not Natural or had their first growth here but were Artificially cemented into that hard and durable Substance from some large Congeries of Sand and other unctuous Matter mixt together Just as there hath been visible at Rome Cisterns made of Sand and Chalk so artificially and closely conjoyn'd that they have pass'd for the Product of Nature and not of Art and therefore it is not an improbable Conjecture which is made by the Author of the History of Alchester Publish'd amongst other Parochial Antiquities of Oxfordshire by the Industrious Mr. Kennet that they are not as some Fable Giants Stones fetch'd from Mount-Karel in Ireland by Merlyn's Art that Renowned Magician but might be made out of that Cliff over-against old Sarum the colour of which Clay they still represent and being scraped with a Knife a Man may discern this Clay cemented with some other glewy Substance as Plaister of Paris and such like Erected not in Memory of those Nobles whose Tombs in heaps of Earth appear still thereabouts slain treacherously by Hengist when he call'd his Son-in-law Gourtigern and the Britains to feast there but for a Trophy of some Memorable Victory thereabouts obtain'd as Necham the Poet saith by Vter Pendragon or as others by Arthur the Valiant and to that seems the ancient Bard Theliesinus to allude But Necham's Verse is this Uter Pendragon molem transvexit ad Ambri Fines de victo Victor ad hoste means Uter Pendragon brought these Stones to Ambrosbury Coast For Trophies of his Victory had on the Pagan Host Salisbury From hence we rode to Salisbury or Sarisbury which some derive from Caesar's Burg and in our way beheld the place where formerly old Wilton the Metropolis of this County stood which had then upon its Gates in honour to the Romans a black Spread-Eagle It was also call'd Willey or Ellandun that is Elen's Town for here or at Chloren or at old Sarum saith the Alchester Historian being before Guns were invented an invincible hold St. Helen at her return out of Wales did remain as well for her better Safety as also to be near the South-Seas to expect daily News and Tydings from Constantine the Emperour in the East Parts as also from his Sons her Nephews who were in the Western 'T is situated saith Cambden where the two Rivers Willeybrook and Adderbourn meet and here it was that Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year 823 fought the second Battle against Beorwulphus the Mercian so bloody on both sides that the River Avon was dyed red with the Blood of the Slain And in the year 871 Alfred having maintain'd a long Fight against the Danes upon the first onset had Success but was at last quite Routed his Forces defeated and himself forced to fly to save his own Life In the Saxon Reign it mightily flourish'd and Edgar building there a Nunnery made his Daughter Editha Lady Governess thereof afterwards being long exposed to the Fury of Suenus the Dane who was its mortal Enemy and deserted by the Bishops who were its main support it went to decay and almost return'd again into its first Principles of Nothing and so Sorbiodunum or old Salisbury then and since new Salisbury which hath sprang from that have quite extinguish'd its Primitive Lustre and Glory Old Salisbury was seated upon a Hill expos'd much to Winds and Storms very dry barren and uncomfortable by reason of the great defect of Water throughout the whole City tho' it was well fortify'd as appears still by some remaining pieces of old Walls Kinricus the Saxon in the year 553 first sack'd and took it being very fortunate in all his Enterprises he undertook against the Britains and in the Reign of Edward the Senior Osmund Bishop of Sherborne Translated the See hither and built a Cathedral Church though Suenus the Dane not long after having taken and burnt the City that likewise underwent the same fatal Calamity and were both levell'd with the Ground till both of them were raised again in William the Conquerour's time for after that he had made his Progress throughout England he at last summoned all the three Orders of the Nation to meet here and take the Oaths of Allegiance to him But after this in the Reign of King Richard I. the Citizens being oppress'd by the insolency of the Soldiers and very much incommoded by a continual want of Water resolv'd to free themselves from these Inconveniencies by transplanting themselves into another Soil which they unanimously agreed upon and seated themselves about a Mile from this place in a more pleasant Valley where the Flowry Meads and Chrystal streamed Rivers gave them a more chearful Welcome and endearing Entertainment After the Plantation of this new Colony Richard Pore first Bishop of Chichester and then of this place did likewise transplant the Cathedral from that barren dry place in which it was first Erected near to the old Castle of the Earls of Salisbury and built it at last in a more pleasant Soil and by the Advice and Contrivance of the most excellent and ingenious Artificers not only Natives but Foreigners whom he drew hither by his large Rewards he raised it to that Splendour and Magnificence that it now vies both for Stateliness and Workmanship with the most noted Cathedrals throughout the whole Kingdom The Steeple is built in form of a Pyramid very high and as the Pole-Star directs the Pilot at Sea so doth this Spire direct the wandring Traveller over the Plain discovering its lofty Head near the distance of twenty Miles but the Admirableness of
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
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
this most flourishing College I must not forget the Munificence of some late great Benefactors who by their generous Liberality to it have erected to themselves a more lasting and durable Monument than the Pyramids of Egypt or the Coloss at Rhodes The one was the Right Reverend and Learned Dr. Ward the late Bishop of Salisbury who hath founded here four new Scholarships of Ten Pounds a piece per Annum The other Noble Benefactors were the Honourable Sir John Finch Brother to the Earl of Nottingham sometime Ambassador in Turkey and Sir Thomas Bayns a Physician his Companion and Fellow-Traveller sometime here a Student who at their Death added to the College two more considerable Fellowships and Scholarships for the due encouragement of Learning and lie interred in the Chapel as a signal Testimony of that indissoluble Love and Affection they had always even to the very last for this Learned Society As far the Town of Cambridge it self it is governed by a Mayor who at the entrance into his Office takes a solemn Oath before the Vice-Chancellor to observe and conserve the Privileges Liberties and Customs of the University and as the Assizes for the County are for the most part kept here so 't is observable that one High Sheriff serves for both the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon which borders upon it The chief Market every Saturday supplies it well with Corn and plenty of other Provision But nothing is more remarkable nor advantageous to it than the great Fair annually kept within a Mile of it in September called by the name of Sturbridge Fair Sturbridge-Fair from whence it received its denomination is uncertain but this is most certain that of all Fairs or publick Marts in England 't is supposed the largest and best stored with all kind of Wares and Commodities which the Londoners take special care to import hither When you are within the Limits you would rather be ready to imagine your self in some great Town by the variety of Shops and multiplicity of Booths than in a wide open Field Now those Booths are always built for the time in which it lasts which is about a Fortnight Neither are you presented with Booths only upon the Land but with Booths upon the Water too there being particular contrivances in their Boats upon the River which runs hard by this place for Rooms and secret Retirements all covered above for the conveniency of Strangers which resort thither and indeed here is always a great concourse of People from all parts of the Nation Not far from this place appears aloft a certain ridge of Hills called Hog-magog-Hills Hog-magog Hills fortified of old by the Danes when they infested these Parts with a threefold Trench some part whereof is still to be seen Having paid our Devoirs and taken a review of that which affords so great Variety we at last took our farewell and bidding it adieu we betook our selves into its Neighbouring County of Huntingdon Huntingdonshire 't is a fruitful Country both for Corn and Grass towards the East it is waterish and fenny and hath formerly been well beset with Woods In the Reign of King Henry the Second it had a large Forest which he destroyed converting it to other uses 'T is watered by the pleasant Rivers Avon and Ouse which render it very fertile The first Village we arrived at in this County was Fenny-Stanton but found nothing observable till we came to Godmanchester Godmanchester a great Country Town and of as great a Name for Tillage situate in an open Ground of a light Mould and bending for the Sun Here have been observed more stout and lusty Husbandmen and more Ploughs agoing than in any Town besides in England for they make their boast that they have in former times receiv'd the Kings of England as they passed it their Progress this way with Ninescore Ploughs brought forth in a rustical kind of Pomp for a gallant Show Soon after King James the First came into England the Bayliffs of this Town presented him with Seventy Teem of Horses all traced to fair new Ploughs of which when His Majesty demanded the reason he was answered That it was their ancient Custom whensoever any King of England passed through their Town so to present him besides they added That they held their Lands by that Tenure being the King's Tenants His Majesty took it well and bad them make good use of their Ploughs being glad he was Landlord of so many good Husbandmen in one Town Antiquaries do affirm it to have been formerly a flourishing City and not only the old Roman Coins which have been digged up here do attest its Antiquity but its ancient denomination too It was formerly called Duroliponte corruptly for Durosiponte which in the British Language signifies a Bridge over the River Ouse but this Name being antiquated in the Saxons time it began to be called Gormoncester by Gormon the Dane for King Alfred having conquer'd the Danes who had made an Invasion into these Parts reduced them at last to these Conditions either forthwith to give him Pledges that they would immediately depart this Land or else that they would embrace the Christian Religion which latter Proposal being made choice of Guthrus or Gormundus the Danish King with Thirty more of his Nobility was Baptiz'd into the Christian Faith and their Prince adopted by Alfred for his Son who changing his Name to Athelstan appointed him his Station here and committed the Provinces of the East-Angles and Northumbers to his peculiar Charge And if it be likewise allowed that one Machutus was here Bishop when it was called Gumicastrum hou quantum mutatur 'T is certainly now reduced to a poor and despicable Condition to what it could then glory of in former Generations Huntingdon Huntingdon is about a Mile distant from this place and is the chief Town of the County situate upon the River Ouse over which stands a Bridge made of Stone which gives entrance into it the Houses are fair and the Streets large 't is adorn'd with Four Churches and had formerly a Benedictine Nunnery dedicated to St. James saith the Notitia Monastica and a Priory of Black Canons founded about the Year 1140 to the honour of St. Mary by Eustace de Luvetot some of the Ruins whereof are still to be seen Near the River upon a high Hill stands the remains of a Castle which was built about the Year of Christ 917 by Edward the Senior Afterwards David King of Scots waging War against King Stephen upon the account of Mawd the Empress who was his Neice this was surrendred upon some certain Conditions to the Scots King who did exceedingly beautifie and strengthen it by making strong Rampires and Fortifications about it but Henry the Second finding it in process of time a Cage only for Rebels and Ringleaders of Sedition at last quite demolished it and from the top of this Hill is a very pleasant Prospect for the space
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
it Populous and Rich the same is a Bishop's See joyn'd with Litchfield to which it was united by Hugo Novant about the latter end of the Twelfth Century Leofrick Earl of Mercia about the year 1050 built an Abby here for black Monks to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin Rob. de Limesie Bishop of Chester removed his Seat hither Temp. Hen. 1. one of whose Successors expell'd the Monks and placed Secular Canons in their Room A. D. 1191. but seven years after the Monks were restored The same Leofrick the first Lord of this City being much offended and angry with the Citizens oppressed them with most heavy Tributes which he would remit upon no other Condition at the earnest Suit of his Wife Godina unless she would her self ride on Horseback Naked through the greatest and most inhabited Street of the City which she did indeed being covered only with her fair long Hair Also a Proclamation was Published Commanding all People to keep close within their Houses to shut their Doors and Windows and no Person on Pain of Death to appear in that Street where she Rode nor so much as to look into it whether out of a Window or otherwise Upon which as she was Riding along Naked one Man more curious than ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discover'd was apprehended and hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man doth appear that is continually kept up for a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and call'd by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus did she free her Citizens of Coventry from any such further rigorous Payments Gatford-Gate One thing is still observable That at Gatford-Gate there hangeth up to be seen a mighty great Shield-Bone of a wild Bore or rather of an Elephant being not so little as a yard in length which some believe Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turn'd up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now call'd Swanse-well but Swines-well in times past Coleshill and Litchfield i. e. Cadaverum Campus aut Campus irriguus à Saxon. leccian irrigare Mr. Gibson in his Explication of Saxon Places Passing through Coleshill a little Market Town after about Twelve Miles riding the Road brought us to Litchfield a City low seated of good largeness and fair withal divided into two parts with a shallow Pool of clear Water which parts notwithstanding joyn in one by the means of two Bridges or Causeys made over with Sluces in them for the passage of the Water That part which lies on the Southside of the Water is much the greater and divided into several Streets It hath been doubtless a place of very great Antiquity for we read That Oswy King of the Northumbers A. D. 656 built a Cathedral-Church and placed here a Bishop call'd Duima for the Kingdom of Mercia and the Saxon Chronicle tells us Angl. Sacr Pars prima p. 423. That in the year 716 Ceolred King of the Mercians died and was buried in this place King Ossa about A. D. 786 made it an Archbishops See which Honour it injoyed for ten years and then was again subjected to Canterbury It was Translated A. D. 1075. to Chester and from thence to Coventry A. D. 1102. but the Bishops not long after being setled here again Bishop Clinton built a new Cathedral Church Dedicating it to the Virgin Mary and St. Chadd and restored and augmented the Chapter and now this City and Coventry with it make up but one Diocess under a double Name which came to pass after the same manner and much about the same time as Bath and Wells were joyn'd together into one Bishoprick When this Town in the late unhappy Civil Wars fell into a state of Suffering the Cathedral at that time was a Fellow-sharer with it and through the insatiable Malice of some ill Wishers to it it became a Sacrifice to their merciless Fury but since the happy Restauration through the indefatigable Zeal and boundless Charity of Bishop Hacket and other noble and generous Benefactors it has began again to revive out of its own Ashes and to retrieve its Primitive Splendour and Beauty mounting up aloft with three Pyramids of Stone which make a lovely shew and for elegant and proportionable Buildings will in due time it is to be hoped equal some other Cathedrals The next County we visited was Leicestershire Leicestershire which though in very many parts is deep and Miry yet the richness of the Soil doth sufficiently compensate for the unpleasantness of the Roads which is generally fruitful with all sorts of Grain especially Pease and Beans of which there are so great Stacks that they cover the Fields with their infinite Numbers and what is wanting in Wood is supply'd by their Coal-Mines which they have in great abundance When we had passed through Bosworth Bosworth and Redmore a Market Town famous for the Battle fought upon Redmore near it betwixt Richard III. and Henry VII by the Issue whereof the Crown return'd from the House of York to the House of Lancaster Liecester was formerly call'd by the Britains Kaerlirion Rudborn and so an end was put to the bloody Wars that had so long continued between those two Houses We came to Leicester the Metropolis of the County which is more venerable for its Antiquity than its present Comeliness or Beauty I find this to have been a Bishop See about the year 680 and that Sexwulphus was first installed in the Episcopal Chair at the Command of Ethelred King of the Mercians which continued not long in 914. Ethelfleda a noble and discreet Lady Rebuilt it and surrounded it with Walls after which in the time of the Normans it flourished exceedingly and Temp. Henry I. Robert Earl of Leicester founded a College of a Dean and Twelve Prebendaries the Church of St. Marys the less in the Castle But Crouch-back Robert Earl hereof having raised a Rebellion against King Henry II. the Town was Besieged and taken and the Castle quite dismantled hard by which there is a fair though ancient Hospital in the Chapel whereof Henry Earl of Lancaster and Henry his Son the first Duke of Lancaster lie Interr'd which Duke being very Aged and willing to give some visible Testimony of his Charity built this Hospital for the use and Maintainance of divers poor aged decrepit Persons of both Sexes and on the other side amongst those flowry Meadows which the River Soar enricheth with its bubling Streams Robert Bossu Earl of Leicester built an Abby of Canons Regular of St. Austin's Order to the Honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of which Order by the consent of his Wife Amicia he became himself the chief Canon and lived in this place Fifteen years a Monk as hoping to atone for some of his former Crimes by taking upon him this Religious Habit. Here Richard III. was obscurely Interr'd after that fatal Battle at Bosworth before-mention'd
the Air clear and serene and so 't is salubrious And to begin with that Town which being the principal of all gives a Denomination to the whole County even that alone will be sufficient to set forth and demonstrate the great Lustre and Symmetry of all the other Parts Nottingham by the Britains called Caer-Snotynham Nottingham is built upon a Rock and is environ'd with Rocks on one side which are washed by the crooked Windings of a commodious River hath a fair Park of the Duke of Newcastle's adjoining to it with Sherwood Forest bordering upon it The Streets are large and well paved the Market-place handsom and convenient the Churches spacious and usefully contrived and the Houses high and stately they are for the most part built with Brick but some of them are rare pieces as well for Structure as Design and in short the whole front of their Fabrick is beautified with Sculptures and glistering Balconies the Inhabitants being very curious in the new Modes and Draughts of Architecture The Castle which is on the West-side of the Town being situated upon an exceeding high Rock did formerly for strength prospect and stateliness challenge the precedency of most Castles in the Kingdom And here the Danes held out a very long Siege against three Kings united against them For in the Year 868 Buthred King of the Mercians sent Ambassadors to Aethelred King of the West-Saxons and Alfred his Brother to crave their Aid and Assistance against the Danish Army which they accordingly obtained for the two Brothers mustering up a considerable Army arrived in the Kingdom of Mercia and made no stop till they came to Snotenghaham now Nottingham and when the Pagans confiding in their Fortress refused to give Battel and the Christians had then no Engines to batter or rase the Walls the Mercians were enforced to conclude a Peace with the Pagans and the two Brothers to return home ingloriously without doing any feats After this saith the Saxon Chronicle in the Year 942 the most Valiant and Puissant King Edmund not only rescued this place out of its Danish Bondage but four other Cities Lincoln and Leicester Stamford and Darby were by the same victorious Hand delivered from the Shackles and Oppressions of those most bloody Infidels In process of time King Edward the Senior strengthened it with Walls and a new Castle was built by William the Conqueror Edward the Fourth enlarged it with various dwelling Houses for Commanders and Soldiers and in the Rock upon which the Castle stands are several small Cottages hewn out of it in which at present dwell divers poor People And it is reported that it was never taken until by a subtil Stratagem it was surprized by Robert Earl of Darby in the Barons Wars who having once got this soon entred the Town and then used the Townsmen according to his pleasure Though I find too in the Life of King Stephen that Robert Earl of Gloucester invaded this Town with a great Power and when most of the Townsmen were slain or burnt in the Churches whither they fled for Refuge There is a Story of one of them which was richer than the rest that being forced to return to his own House by the Soldiers that had taken him to shew them where his Treasure lay he bringing them into a Cellar whilst they were busie in breaking open Locks and Coffers convey'd himself away and shutting the Doors after him set fire on the House and so the Soldiers being 30 in number perished in the Flames which catching hold of other Buildings joining to it almost burnt up the whole Town But that which makes this Castle most signally remarkable was the discovery of the secret Amours of Roger Mortimer Earl of March and the Imprisonment of David Bruce King of Scots the Relation of which I shall set down as briefly as I can After King Edward the Second had been Deposed and Murthered by the Contrivances and Plots of his own Wife Queen Isabella and King Edward her Son had Reigned about Four Years a Parliament was called at Nottingham where this Roger Mortimer who was the Queen's most especial Favourite was in such Glory and Renown that it was beyond all Comparison none so much Lord Paramount as the Earl of March none appears in so great an Equipage and attended with so honourable a Retinue as the Earl of March so that the King's Train was inferiour to his and his Majesty's Glory eclipsed by the Pomp and Grandeur of one of his Nobles for he very often would presume to go foremost with his own Officers and was so exceeding proud and haughty as to make all Persons cringe and do as great Homage to him as to Majesty it self Nay he undertook to order and dispose of all Persons and Affairs according to his own Will and Pleasure and hereupon he one day rebuked the Earl of Lancaster the King's Cousin for presuming to appoint Lodgings for certain Noblemen near the Court without his particular License and Assignation and having dislodged the Earl with some other Persons of very great Quality and removed them a Mile out of Town He did by this means so incense the Nobility against him that they began to pry more narrowly into his Actions and being enraged to see his Pride and his Usurpation of such great Prerogatives they unanimously Libelled against him and gave it out amongst the People that this Mortimer was the Queen's Gallant and the King's Master and sought by all means he possibly could to destroy the Royal Blood and Usurp the Crown which report did so work upon some of the King 's most trusty Friends that they got Robert Holland who had a long time been Governour of the Castle and knew well all the secret Corners therein to swear Secrecy to them and Fidelity to the King and accordingly to assist them in those Designs they had in hand Whereupon one Night King Edward lying without the Castle both he and his Friends were brought by Torch-light through a secret Place under the ground beginning afar off from the said Castle 't is the Vault which is still call'd Mortimer's Hole till they came even to the Queen's Chamber which by chance they found open being Arm'd with naked Swords in they rush'd leaving the King in the same posture at the Door when they had entred into the Privy-Chamber they found the Earl of March undressed ready to go to Bed to the Queen but they crossed his Design and cooled his Courage halling him away immediately by force upon which the Queen cried out in French Good Son take Pity of Gentle Mortimer suspecting her Son to have been in the Company The Keys of the Castle were presently called for and every Place with all the Furniture committed into the King's Hands and Mortimer was forthwith sent to the Tower who being Tryed by his Peers Arraign'd and found Guilty was hang'd upon the common Gallows two Days and two Nights The Articles that were brought against him were
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
in great Honour and Request and the Mayor and Aldermen are diligent and circumspect in the discharge of their Offices and for the more great and weighty Matters which are above their Sphere the Judges when they come their Circuit and keep the Assizes here for the County do ease them of that trouble by giving a final Determination of all When we had rode about five Miles further we came within the limits of Oxfordshire to a Town called Dorchester Dorchester built at first by Birinus Bishop of Caer-Dor which Bede calls Dorcinia and Leland Hydropolis taking its name of the Waters it stands upon sometimes Walled about and Castled but all now ruined and gone a round Hill there still appearing Here as we are told in the History of Allchester the Superstitious ensuing Ages built Birinus a Shrine teaching them that had any Cattel amiss to creep to that Shrine for help such Blindness possessed them then that they laid the Commandments of God aside to follow their own Traditions and yet so blind are their Posterity that they praise their Doings That this was a Colony of the Romans is very evident from their various Coins and Medals bearing their Stamp which have been found hereabouts and it is as certain that formerly it was a Bishop's See which Birinus the Grand Apostle of the West-Saxons placed here for in the Year 635 by the Preaching of this Holy Man King Kinegilsus and all his People received the Christian Faith to whom Oswald King of the Northumbers was God Father at the Font whereupon a Bishop's See was here fixed But besides Kinegilsus he Baptized after that Guicheline his Son too and after him Cuthred King of Kent about the Year 639. He is said to have instituted Secular Canons in his Cathedral Church who continued till in the Reign of King Stephen Alexander Bishop of Lincoln converted them to Canons Regular Upon the Death of Edward Aethelstan his eldest Son succeeded and during his whole Reign guarded these Parts from all disturbance of the Danes who in January 938 held here a Council as the Learned Mr. Kennet informs us In Civitate celeberrima quae Dornacestre appellatur and there gave a Charter subscribed by four Tributary Kings two Arch-Bishops and fourteen Bishops to the Covent of Malmsbury Upon the Death of Vlf or Wulfin Bishop of Dorchester Remigius was preferred to this See and at a Council held at London A. D. 1072. the Episcopal Seat was transferred from Dorchester as too obscure a place to the City of Lincoln from which time it began visibly to decline and is now only famous for its remains of Antiquity and for the happy conjunction of the two noted Rivers Tame and Isis The next Town of Note which was obvious in the Road was Henley Henley to which the River Thames after it hath fetch'd a great Compass doth at last approach 't is taken for a most ancient British Town from Hen old and Lhey a place and as Cambden and Dr. Plot suppose was the head Town of the People called Ancalites who submitted to Caesar The Inhabitants are generally Barge-Men and by carrying away much Corn and good store of Wood of which there is great plenty in the adjacent Villages in their Barges to London do enrich the Neighbourhood and pick out to themselves a very comfortable Subsistence After a little respite we proceeded on to Maiden-head Maiden-head which they say was thus denominated from the superstitious Adoration given to a British Maid being one of the Eleven Thousand which by the Conduct of St. Vrsula returning home from Rome were all Martyr'd at Cologne in Germany by the Tyrant Attila that most cruel Scourge to the Christians 'T is of no long Date or Standing for within this Hundred Years the Passage over the River was at a place called Babham's-End but after that a strong Bridge of Wood was once here erected it began to draw Strangers to it apace and to outshine and excel its Neighbour Bray which being now ancient gives its Name to the whole Hundred 't is not unlikely that the Bibroci were the former Inhabitants of these Parts who did willingly of their own accord come and submit themselves to Julius Caesar and the Relicts of their Name seem to make it out for Bibracte in France is easily contracted into Bray and it is not at all improbable that Caesar making an Inrode into this County did pass over the River not far from this place though Mr. Kennett I find is of Opinion that he brought his Forces over at Wallingford Windsor In this Hundred is Windsor where we arrived towards the declining of the Day This place was given away by Edward the Confessor from the Crown to the Church of Westminster but William the Conqueror taking a great Affection to it by reason of its pleasant Situation made an exchange with the Abbot of Westminster for some other Lands in the room of this and so it returned to the Crown again the Palace here to which the King and Court do resort in Summer time is inferiour to none for Sight and Pleasantness for Beauty and Magnificence throughout his Majesty's Dominions and perhaps for curious Painting exceeds at this time all other Palaces in the Kingdom being the admired Workmanship of Unimitable Seignior Verrio in the Front lies a pleasant Vale garnished with Corn-fields flourishing with green Meadows deck'd with melodious Woods and water'd with the gentle Streams of the noble River Thames behind it is a pleasant Prospect of a delightful Forest design'd on purpose by Nature for Sport and Recreation while she so liberally stocks it with numerous Herds of Deer lurking amongst the shady Thickets In fine 't is such an Elysium for Pleasure and Delight that our Kings and Princes have always chose to retire hither for their Diversion and Charles the Second was so taken with it that he yearly kept his Court here in the Summer time The Royal Castle and Chapel adjoining was rebuilt by Edward the Third who was Born in this Town for Henry the First had before erected it fortifying the same with strong Walls and Trenches he founded also a Chantry for Eight Priests neither endowed nor incorporate but maintained by an Annual Pension out of the Exchequer but Edward the Third founded this College for a Custos Twelve Secular Canons Thirteen Priests or Vicars Four Clerks Six Choristers Twenty-six Alms-Knights besides other Officers to the Honour of St. Edward the Confessor and St. George In the Chapel lie interr'd two of our Kings Henry the Eighth and Charles the First and to this Castle was committed Prisoners John King of France and David King of Scots by King Edward the Third This Castle stands upon a Hill with a stately and spacious Terrace before it and it hath a very magnificent Church dedicated by Edward the Third to St. George but brought to that present Splendor and Beauty with which it is now illustrated by King Edward the Fourth and
Town being a great thorough Fare for the Western Counties and lying near to London is enriched with a great Trade and the Market draws a considerable concourse of Citizens who flock hither on purpose to buy up such Commodities as it affords besides the River Thames running not far from it is very conducive to beautifie and enrich it whilst by that means all sorts of Goods are with great conveniency conveyed backward and forward thither Here met us some Friends who from thence conducted us back to the City where we again safely arrived after this divertive Perambulation The End of the Second Journey AN ACCOUNT OF Mr. BROME'S Three Years TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales A Narrative of his Third Journey WE diverted our selves for some little time in the City but the Pleasures therein growing nauseating and irksom and the Rural Diversions more pleasing and delightful we resolved to undertake once more a Pilgrimage of a greater extent than any we had done before and the Vernal Season which then began to attire the Country in all its bravery did as mightily conduce to quicken our Resolutions in steering our Course about the Maritime Coasts of our Native Soil as in taking a view of that further part of the Continent to which before we had made no access Hereupon equipping our selves like provident Pilgrims with all things requisite for so great a Journey we set forward and having some Friends which accompanied us in our way our first Remove was into the County of Essex Essex a Country of as great Variety as Delight of a considerable compass and very fruitful 't is full of Woods and shady Groves enriched with all kind of Grain abounds with Saffron and is stocked with great Herds of Kine and Hogs hereupon the Rusticks have great plenty of Dairies and make Cheeses massy and ponderous the Gentry generally are courtly and affable and the Commonalty for the most part pretty well refined but for them who live in the Hundreds as they call that part of the County which lying more low and flat and near to the Sea is full of Marshes and Bogs they are Persons of so abject and sordid a Temper that they seem almost to have undergone poor Nebuchadnezzar's Fate and by conversing continually with the Beasts to have learn'd their Manners Rumford was our first Stage Rumford about ten Miles from London renowned for its great Market for all manner of Cattle but more especially celebrated for its Hogs and Calves After a little stop in this place we passed on through Burntwood and Ingerstone Burntwood and Ingerstone Towns of no great Note save one for its Free-School and both for their Markets and Hospitable Inns to Chelmsford a Town twenty-five Miles from the City where we took up our Quarters for one Night This Town stands in the Heart of the County Chelmsford being formerly called Chelmerford 't is situate betwixt two Rivers which meet here viz. Chelmer from the East and another from the South the name whereof if it be Can as some would have it we have no reason to doubt it was Old Canonium which Cambden tells us stood anciently in this place it was of old very famous for a small Religious House erected by Malcolme King of Scots and for its Church-Windows having the History of Christ and the Escutcheons of its noble Benefactors painted in them which were batter'd down by the Instigated Rabble in the late Rebellion but that which now renders it most Renowned is not only the Assizes which are held here twice a Year for the County but likewise its great Market for Corn which the Londoners coming down every Week take away in great quantities and the Vicinity of the Nobility and Gentry which lying round about it do very much enhance its Glory as well as promote its Trade But the Allurements of this place were too weak to detain us any longer than the Morning for no sooner did we discern the modest Blushes upon Aurora's Cheeks but we prepared our selves for the Farewel of our Friends where mutually embracing each other with some passionate Expressions of Kindness at our departure we left them to return to the City and they with a gale of good Wishes speeded us forward on our Journey No sooner were they departed from us but a Cloud of Sorrow overspread our Countenance and as if we had suffered an Eclipse of Friendship upon our Souls by their Separation from our Bodies we began to think that of all Evils which are incident to Humanity there is none that equals Privation upon which account we became for a while a little discomposed in our Thoughts till Witham Witham another Market Town about five Miles distant from Chelmsford Built as is supposed by King Edward the Senior presented us with some other Scenes of Pleasure and Diversion Colchester However our main drift being for Colchester we hastned to that place which was formerly called Kaer-Colden by the Britains but whether it took its Name from Colonia a Colony of the Romans being here planted or from the River Colne 't is not much material to enquire the several Coins which have been digged up here bearing all the Roman stamp do evince its Antiquity and whether Lucius Helena and Constantine the first Christian King Empress and Emperor in the World were Born here or no sure I am that the Inhabitants speak great things of her Father King Coel who built the Castle tho' others will have it Built by Edward Son of King Alfred and the Walls of the Town having erected a Statue for him in the midst of it which they preserve with great Reverence to perpetuate his Memory And 't is as certain that in remembrance of the Cross which his Daughter found here they give for their Arms a Cross engrailed betwixt two Crowns It suffered much of old from the Fury of the East-Saxons about the Year 921 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us who having taken it by Storm put all to the Sword except a few who by stealth crept away and saved themselves by flight and destroyed all its Fortresses and threw down its Walls but King Edward the Confessor came and Fortified it again and having repaired all its Breaches and strengthened it with a Garison it began by degrees to recover its Losses and retrieve its ancient Splendor and Comeliness for being pleasantly seated upon the Brow of a Hill which extends its self from East to West it quickly drew to it numerous Shoals of Inhabitants whereby its Buildings were enlarged and its Churches encreased to the number of 15 within the Walls and 1 without besides 2 Religious Houses an Abby built here A. D. 1096. by Eudo Steward to King Henry I. to the Honour of St. John Baptist for the use of the Benedictine Monks the first of that Order which was erected in England and another Priory saith the Notitia Monastica Founded A. D. 1110. by Eynulphus for Canons of the
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
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
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
for Victualling and Fresh Water Here we took Boat and set Sail for Southampton but no sooner were we got off to Sea but there arose such a Storm that the Seas and Winds seem'd to be in a mutual Conspiracy for our destruction insomuch that we began to think Anacharsis the Philosopher's saying to be true That be that was at Sea was but four or five inches distant from the Territories of Death until we came into the Mouth of the River Test formerly called Terstan and Itching over against Calshot Castle Calshot Castle placed there by King Henry the Eighth to defend the Port of Southampton which lying up a little higher in the River we at last arrived at in safety and came on shore very early in the Morning where Cerdick himself Mr. Gibson's Glossary P. 20. as some Antiquaries will have it arrived called from thence Caldshort corruptly for Cerdick-Shore After we had a little refresh'd our weather beaten Carcasses we took a view of this Town Southamton which is situated betwixt two Rivers the one running on the West side and the other on the East that this or near unto it was formerly Clausentum is not at all improbable an ancient Colony of the Romans which they planted there to hinder ravenous Depredations of the Saxons about the Year 981 old Hanton as it was afterward called was ruin'd by the Danes and in the Reign of Edward the Third plundred and burnt by the French out of the Ashes whereof Sprung the Town now in being which the fair and stately Buildings with two Keys for Shipping do highly adorn the great concourse of Merchants and three Markets a Week do mightily enrich which five Parish Churches with one for the French and an Hospital called God's House doth very much enoble which a strong Wall with seven Gates and a double ditch and a Castle of Square Stone upon a Mount cast up to a great height built by King Richard the Second doth sufficiently defend and in fine which a Corporation placed there by King Henry the Sixth who constituted it both Town an County doth abundantly dignifie Memorable is a Story here of Canutus King of Denmark who to convince the fawning Flatterers of his Court that his power was not as they would have perswaded him more then humane used this Act being once at this Town he commanded his Chair of State to be set upon the shore just as the Sea began to flow in and then sitting down before all his Courtiers he spake to that Element after this manner I charge thee that thou presume not to enter into my Land nor wet these Robes of thy Lord which are about me but the Sea giving no heed to this his Royal Command and keeping on its usual course of Tide first wet his Skirts and afterwards his thighs whereupon suddenly rising up he broke forth into these expressions Let all the Inhabitants of the World know that vain and weak is the Power of their Kings and that none is worthy of that Name or Title but he alone who keeps both Heaven and Earth and Sea in obedience After which he would never suffer the Crown to be put upon his Head but presently crowned therewith the Picture of Christ at VVinchester from which perhaps saith Sir Richard Baker who relates this Story arose the custom of hanging up the Arms of worthy Men in Churches as offerings consecrated to him who is the Lord of Battel Having spent a good part of the Day in this place in the Afternoon we began to advance towards Portsmouth which being but twelve Miles distant from this Town we easily compass'd about the shutting in of the Day This Town is situated in the little Island of Portsey Portsmouth which is about 14 Miles in compass floating at a full Tide in Salt-Water but joyned to the Continent by a Bridge on the North it was probably so called say our most ancient Historians from one Port a Noble Saxon who with his two Sons Bleda and Magla arrived here it is now a place of great strength and importance by reason of the Dock where many of the King 's greatest Men of War are built those impregnable Wooden Walls of our British Island 't is fortified with a Wall made of Timber and the same covered with thick Banks of Earth 't is likewise environed with a double Trench over which are placed two Draw-Bridges from which about a Mile distance is another at all which stands Sentries belonging to the Garrison with a little Fortress adjoining to it which leads to the Continent To the Sea-ward is a Castle and Block-Houses which being first begun by King Edward the Fourth King Henry the Seventh as it is reported did afterward complete which Fortifications have of late Years received exceeding great augmentations by the succeeding Monarchs especially in the late King James his Reign Here is only one Church and an Hospital called God's House built by Peter Rock Bishop of Winchester and though 't is counted unwholesom for want of good Air and Water yet it is much resorted unto by Sea-faring Men and whereas formerly it had little Trade but what arose from the boiling of Salt it begins of late to be in a flourishing condition and grows very populous and is now become one of the best Nurseries that we have for Seamen Our next remove was to Chichester in Sussex Chichester which is not above half a Days Journey from Portsmouth a good large City well Walled rebuilt by Cissa a Saxon the Second King of this Province and of him so named for by a Story of Sir Richard Baker's it seems to have had a being before Cissa's Time for saith he Careticus one of the Kings of the Britains setting upon the Saxons and being beaten fled into the Town of Chichester whereupon the Saxons catching certain Sparrows and fastning Fire to their Feet let them fly into the Town where lighting upon Straw and other matter apt to take Fire the whole City in a short time was burnt whereupon Careticus after a three Years unhappy Reign flying into VVales and dying there the Saxons got all the East part of the Kingdom into their Possession Yet was it before the Conquest of as small repute as circuit being known only by an old Monastery founded by St. VVilfrid A. D. 673. to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter and endowed by King Ceadwalla A. D. 711. Eadbert Abbot of this House being consecrated the first Bishop of the South-Saxons the Episcopal Seat was first placed at Selsey till by an Edict of VVilliam the Conquerour which ordered all Bishops Sees to be translated out of small Towns into places of greater Name and Resort Stigand translated it hither not many Years after which Bishop Rolfe built a Cathedral which before he had finished was consumed by Fire but by his own endeavours and the bounteous Liberality of King Henry the first it was raised up again and Suffering the same
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
in a Book Printed for that purpose A. D. 1640. I shall not undertake to pourtray that in a contracted Landskip which hath been before represented to the Publick with so great applause but refer those who are so curious as to desire a more particular Account of this City to that most ingenious Person who hath pencilled out every part and Limb thereof with great exactness and accuracy only one thing I must not omit that of late a Marble Monument hath been erected in St. Margaret's Church Canterbury in Honour of Mr. Somner who lies there interred by his own Widow who afterward Married to Mr. Hannington Vicar of Elam in Kent upon which is engraven this ingenious Epitaph H. S. E. Gulielmus Somnerus Cantuariensis Saxonicam Literaturam Civitatis Cantuariae Historiam Tenebris utramque involutam Illustravit Cantii Antiquitates meditantem Fatum intercepit Officium Erga Deum pietate severa Erga Homines probitate simplici Erga Principem fide periculosa Erga Patriam scriptis immortalibus Indicavit Ita Mores Antiquos Studium Antiquitatis efformat Cantuariae Natus est Martii 30. 1606. Cantuariae Omnem aetatem egit Cantuariae Obiit Martii 30. 1669. Feversham Passing from hence through Feversham a Town pretty large and well inhabited famous formerly for its Abby erected here by King Stephen wherein himself his Queen and Eustace his Son were buried the next place of consequence that was obvious in the Road was Sedingbourn Sedingbourn which being a great thorough-fare is well furnished with Inns a Town of which there are two things more principally Recorded the one is that in the Year 1232 Henry Bishop of Rochester as Mr. Philpott hath collected it out of some old Monkish Writers came with much exultation out of Sedingbourn Church and desired the People to express their joy because on that day by the efficacious Prayers of the Church Richard the First formerly King of England and many others were most certainly ransomed from the Flames of Purgatory The other that in the same Church was a Monument of Sir Richard Lovelace inlayed richly with Brass who was an eminent Soldier in his time and Marshal of Calice under Henry the Eighth with his Portraiture affixed in Brass which the Injuries of Time and the Impiety of Sacrilegious Mechanicks have utterly defaced In the Neighbourhood of Sedingbourn is Newington Newington which though but a small Village hath afforded some worthy Remarks of Antiquity for not many Years ago there were digged up Roman Urns not far distant from the High-way or Common Road it being agreeable to Roman Practice to inter in those Places where their Monuments might be obvious almost to every Eye Memorials of themselves and Memento's of Mortality to living Passengers whom the Epitaphs of great Ones did beg to stay and look upon them From hence the Road brought us directly to Chatham Chatham where the repair of the Parish Church and new Buildings of the Steeple commend the Religious Care and Cost of King Charles the First 's Commissioners and Officers of the Royal Navy in the Year 1635 but the Arsenals Store-Houses and Ship-Docks erected by the same most incomparable Prince are so magnificent and universally useful that they are become a principal Pillar of the Nations support and afford variety of Employment by the Manufacture of Cordage as also the Careening and Building of Ships Contiguous to Capham is Rochester Rochester a City which in Elder times was as eminent for its Antiquity as it was for its Strength and Grandeur and had not those violent impressions which the rough Hand of War made upon it Demolished its bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it peradventure might have been registred at this Day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation but so great and dismal Calamities did frequently attend it that the Fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the Fury of Enemies for its Ruine and the Fire and Sword were joint Confederates to destroy it nevertheless maugre all these Casualties by the Favour of Princes and their Royal Munificence it recovered all its Losses and survives in Splendor In the Year 1225 by the indulgent Bounty of King Henry the Third it was invested with a Wall and that this Fortification might be of the greater importance it was secured or fenced with a Ditch it was governed by a Port-Reeve until King Edward the Fourth in the second Year of his Reign raised it to a higher Dignity and decreed by his Royal Grant that it should henceforth be under the Jurisdiction of a Mayor and Twelve Aldermen and to this Monarch doth the City owe much of its present Felicity The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the Eye of the Beholder to the admiration of its former strength acknowledgeth for its most eminent Benefactor if not Founder Odo Bishop of Baicux and Earl of Kent half Brother to William the Conqueror which Fortress he afterward breaking forth into open Rebellion against his Nephew Rufus did seize but was quickly dispossessed by the vigorous Expedition of his Prince and enforced immediately to depart the Kingdom After this when the Dauphin was invited into England by the Seditious Barons to wrest the Kingdom from K. John their native Sovereign the Dauphin uniting their strength with his made such a furious Onset on the Castle that like a Tempest which beats down all before it he carried it by Assault the like had been atchieved by Simon Montford Earl of Leicester when he raised an Insurrection against King Henry the Third had not that Prince arrived most opportunely and by a successful Encounter wrested both Earl Warren who had so resolutely maintained it and that likewise from the Impressions of his Fury since which time there hath been little of moment acted in this Place tho it is worth taking notice of what Mr. Philpott hath observed farther concerning it that there being much Land in this County held thereof whose Tenure is perfectly Castle-guard upon the day prefixed for the discharging the quit Rents relating to it there is a Banner displayed and hung out antiently it was on the Castle Wall and all those who are Tenants to this Mannor and are in default by their Non-appearance and do not discharge their accustomary Duties and Services the penalty imposed upon their neglect is that the return of every Tide of the adjacent River Medway which finds them absent doubles their Service or Quit-Rents The Cathedral which the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it was founded and established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier by Austen the Apostle of the Saxons was Justus who being sent over hither as an Adjutant to Austen in the Propagation of Christianity about the Year 601 Angl. Sacr. Tom. 1. p. 329. was afterward ordained Bishop of this See A. D. 604. much about that time