those days for making of brick and divers other Romans coins and vessels were found as Mr. Stow tells us belonging to their Sacrifices and Burials beside what he mentions Such as the Coins of Trajan and Antoninus Pius Lamps Lachrymatories Patinae and vessels of white earth with long necks and handles which I suppose must be the Gutti used in their Sacrifices †Survey p. 177. There were many Roman Coins also discover'd in the foundations of Aldgate when it was rebuilt in the year 1607. which were formerly kept in the Guild-hall ‖ Ibid. p. 121 But many more of all kinds since the late fire in the foundations of St. Paul's Church now rebuilding and in the making of Fleet-ditch which were carefully collected by Mr. John Coniers Citizen and Apothecary of London and are now many of them in the possession of the ingenious Mr. Woodward the present Professor of Physick in Gresham-College London Many Urns and Coins have been also met with in digging the foundations of the new buildings in Goodmans-fields as there daily are in many other places upon the like occasions especially in the Suburbs of the City w Southwark was 't is true Apr. 23. 1549. 4 Edw. 6. purchased of the King by the Lord Mayor Commonalty and Citizens of London for the sum of Six hundred forty seven pounds two shillings and a penny and annext to their City and erected immediately into a new Ward call'd the Bridg-ward without and was thenceforth to be esteemed within the government and correction of the Lord Mayors and other Officers of London and their Deputies The inhabitants were licensed to enjoy and use all such Laws and Privileges whatsoever within their Borough and Precincts as the Citizens of London did within their City * Stow's Survey p 442 443. Which possibly might move our Author to place its history here But it was not thereby remov'd out of Surrey as appears by the provisions of the King's Grant whereby care is taken that the Lord Mayor should do and execute all such things within the Borough as other Justices might within the County of Surrey and that he as Escheator within the Borough and Precincts should have power to direct Precepts to the Sheriff of Surrey for the time being †See more of this in Surrey x The Hospital of Christ-Church founded Anno 1552. by King Edward the sixth as it stood in our Author's time maintain'd but 600 Orphans whereof part Boys and part Girls and both the children of Freemen of this City Since the Fund being uncertain depending as well upon the casual charity both of living and dying persons as upon its real Estate the number has been augmented and diminisht in proportion to the increase and decrease of that sort of Charity However it seldom now maintains less than 1000 annually nor is there reason to fear they will ever have fewer Here having run through the several Schools at 15 years they are put forth to a seven years Apprenticeship except some Boys of the best parts who are sent to the Universities and there also maintain'd for seven years which is the present state of King Edward's foundation Mathematical School To this there has been added another of late years stiled the New Royal Foundation of King Charles the second consisting of 40 Boys all wearing Badges appropriate to their Institution to be fill'd up successively out of such of the above-mention'd Children as have attain'd to a competency in fair writing and Latin learning Thence-forward they are instructed in the Mathematicks and Art of Navigation till they are 16 years of age at which time they are disposed of in a seven years Apprenticeship to the practice of Navigation Which Institution most highly charitable in it self and tending to the honour and safety of the Kingdom as well as the security and advancement of our Trade was founded the 19th of August Anno 25 Car. 2. Earls of MIDDLESEX Sir Lionel Cranfield Kt. Merchant of London having for his great abilities been first made Master of the Requests then of the great Wardrobe and after of the Wards and at last privy Counsellor upon the 19. of July 19 Jac. 1. was advanced to the degree of a Baron of this Realm by the title of Lord Cranfield of Cranfield in Bedfordshire and to the office and dignity of Lord high Treasure of England and by Letters Patents bearing date Sept. 2. 1622. 20 Jac. 1. to the Earldom of Middlesex Who by his second wife Anne daughter to James Bret of Howbey in the County of Leicester Esquire had issue four sons James Edward Lionel and William whereof James and Lionel succeeded him in the Honour but both dying without issue this Title descended to his eldest daughter Frances married to Richard Earl of Dorset and her issue and is accordingly now enjoyed by the Right Honourable Charles Earl of Dorset and Middlesex Lord Chamberlain of the Houshold and Knight of the Garter More rare Plants growing wild in Middlesex communicated by Mr. James Petiver Filicula saxatilis ramosa maritima nostras Raii Synops Hist Plant. Small-branch'd Stone-fern On many old walls in and about London as the Savoy Westminster Royal Garden c. Fungus spongiosus niger reticulatus doliolis vinosis adnascens Raii synops Mr. Doody's spung-like Mushrome In most vaults sticking to the wine casks Eruca sylvestris Ger. sylv vulgatior Park major lutea caule aspero C. B. tenuifolia perennis fl luteo J. B. Wild Rocket On old walls about this City frequently as on London-wall between Cripplegate and Bishopsgate the Charter-house c. plentifully Viscum Ger. vulgare Park baccis albis C. B. Quercus aliarum arborum J. B. Misseltoe On some trees at Clarendon house St. James's Nasturtium aquaticum amarum Park majus amarum C. B. Nasturtium aq fl majore elatius Raii syn Bitter Cresses On the Thames-bank between Peterborough-house and Chelsey Conserva reticulata Raii Hist Plant. append 1852. synops 15. Mr. Doody's netted Crow-silk In some ditches about Westminster and Hounslow-heath Bardana major Rosea Park 1222. lappa Rosea C. B. prodr 102. Rose Burdock This variety which Caspar Bauhine averrs to be found frequently about Leipsick I have observed near the Thames between Westminster and Chelsey Juncus caule triangulari Merr. Pin. 67. The three-corner'd Bulrush In the Thames between Peterborough-house and the Horse-ferry Westminster Cyperus rotundus litoreus inodorus J. B. rotundus inodorus Anglicus C. B. rotundus litoâ—eos Ger. rotundus litoreus inodorus Anglicus Park Round-rooted Bastard Cyperus Sagitta aquatica omnium minima Raii synops append 242. The least Arrow-head Observed by that most curious Botanist Dr. Plukenet to grow with the two last Salix minima fragilis foliis longissimis untrinqueviridibus non serratis Raii synops append 238. Dr. Sherard's Green Osier Amongst the Willows on the Thames side between Westminster and Chelsey Salix folio Amygdalino utrinque aurito corticem abjiciens Raii synops 216. Almond-leav'd
this name of Esquire which in ancient times was a name of charge and office only crept first in among the titles of honour as far as I can find in the reign of Richard the second Gentlemen Gentlemen are either the common sort of nobility who are descended of good families or those who by their virtue and fortune have made themselves eminent Citizens Citizens or Burgesses are such as are in publick offices in any City or elected to sit in Parliament The common people or Yeomen are such as some call ingenui the Law homines legales i.e. freeholders Yeomâ— Gemâ—◠〈◊〉 Saxo◠〈◊〉 common people those who can spend at least forty shillings of their own yearly Labourers are such as labour for wages sit to their work are Mechanicks Artizans Smiths Carpenters c. term'd capite censi and Proletarii by the Romans The Law-Courts of ENGLAND AS for the Tribunals or Courts of Justice in England there are three several sorts of them some Spiritual others Temporal and one mixt or complicate of both which is the greatest and by far the most honourable call'd the Parliament Parliament a French word of no great antiquity The Saxons our fore-fathers nam'd it a Witenâ— gemot â—s the true Saxon word Ç·ittenagemot that is an assembly of wise-men and Geraedniss or Council and Micil Synod from the greek word Synod signifying a great meeting The Latin writers of that and the next age call it Commune Concilium Curia altissima Generale Placitum Curia Magna Magnatum Conventus Praesentia Rogis Praelatorum Procerumque collectorum Commune totius regni concilium c. And as Livy calls the general Council of Aetolia Panetolium so this of ours may be term'd very properly Pananglium For it consists of the King the Clergy the Barons and those Knights and Burgesses elected or to express my self more plainly in Law-language the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons who there represent the body of the Nation This Court is not held at certain set times but is call'd at the King's pleasure when things of great difficulty and importance are to be consider'd in order to prevent any danger that may happen to the State and then again is dissolv'd when-ever he alone pleases Now this Court has the sovereign power and an inviolable authority in making confirming repealing and explaining laws reversing Attainders determining causes of more than ordinary difficulty between private persons and to be short in all things which concern the State in general or any particular Subject â—he Kings â—â—urt The next Court to this immediately after the coming in of the Normans and for some time before was the King's Court which was held in the King's Palace and follow'd the King where-ever he went For in the King's Palace there was a peculiar place for the Chancellor and Clerks who had the issuing out of Writs and the management of the great Seal and likewise for Judges who had not only power to hear pleas of the Crown but any cause whatsoever between private persons There was also an Exchequer for the Treasurer and his Receivers who had charge of the King's revenues These each of them were counted members of the King's family and had their meat and cloaths of the King Hence Gotzelin in the life of S. Edward calls them Palatii Causidici and Joannes Sarisburiensis Curiales But besides these and above them likewise â—â—e Chief â—â—â—tice was the Justitia Angliae and Justitiarius Angliae Capitalis i.e. the Lord Chief Justice who was constituted with a yearly stipend of 1000 marks by a Patent after this form The King to all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Counts Barons Viscounts Foresters and all other his faithful subjects of England greeting Whereas for our own preservation and the tranquillity of our Kingdom and for the administration of justice to all and singular of this our Realm we have ordain'd our beloved and trusty Philip Basset Chief Justice of England during our will and pleasure we do require you by the faith and allegiance due to us strictly enjoyning that in all things relating to the said office and the preservation of our peace and Kingdom you shall be fully obedient to him so long as he shall continue in the said Office Witness the King c. But in the reign of Henry the third it was enacted that the Common Pleas should not follow the King's Court but be held in some certain place and awhile after the Chancery the Pleas of the Crown and the Exchequer also were remov'd from the King's Court and establisht apart in certain set places as some how truly I know not have told us Having premis'd thus much I will now add somewhat concerning these Courts and others that sprung from them as they are at this day And seeing some of them have cognizance of â—uris Law namely the King's Bench Common Pleas Exchequer Assizes Star-Chamber Court of Wards and the Court of Admiralty others of Equity as the Chancery the Court of Requests the Councils in the Marches of Wales and in the North I will here insert what I have learnt from others of each of them in their proper places The King's Bench â—â—e Kings â—â—â—ch so call'd because the Kings themselves were wont to preside in that Court takes cognizance of all pleas of the Crown and many other matters relating to the King and the well-being of the publick it has power to examine and correct the errors of the Common-pleas The Judges there besides the King himself when he is pleas'd to be present are the Lord Chief Justice of England and four others or more as the King pleases â—â—mmon â—â—â—as The Common-Pleas has this name because the common pleas between subject and subject is by our law which is call'd the Common law there triable The Judges here are the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and four others or more to assist him Officers belonging to this Court are the Custos Brevium three Prothonotaries and many others of inferior rank â—â—â—hequer The Exchequer deriv'd that name from a table at which they sat For so Gervasius Tilburiensis writes who liv'd in the year 1160. The Exchequer is a squarâ— table about ten foot long and five broad contriv'd likâ— a table to sit round On every side it has a ledge of four fingers breadth Upon it is spread a cloath of black colour with stripes distant about a foot or spanâ— it bought in Easter term A little after This Court 〈◊〉 report has been from the very Conquest of the Realm by King William the design and model of it being taken â—â—m the Exchequer beyond Sea Here all matters belongiâ—â—â— to the King's revenues are decided The Judges of it are the Lord Treasurer of England the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Chief Baron and three or four other Barons The Officers of this Court are the King's Remembrancer the Treasurer's Remembrancer the Clerk
honour of the deceased party When the Roman Empire began to decline and barbarous nations made frequent incursions into their provinces then the British armies fearing they might be involv'd in the calamity of their Neighbours chose themselves Emperors first Marcus then Gratian both of whom they presently murder'd and lastly â—tura â—runt â—tantine 〈◊〉 chose â—â—eror â—he sake 〈…〉 in the year 107. they * chose one Constantine purely for the sake of his name and against his own will in this city Caer Segont as Ninnius and Gervasius Dorobernensis tell us He setting sail from Britaine arrived at Bologne in France and got all the Roman forces as far as the Alps to joyn him defended Valence a city of Gaule with great resolution against the forces of Honorius the Emperor and set a garrison upon the †Rhine â—henum that was before defenseless He built several fortresses in the passages of the Alpes In Spain by the assistance of Constans his son whom from a Monk he had rais'd to the title of Augustus he was very successful and then sending letters to Honorius to beg pardon for his crime in suffering the soldiers to force upon him the Purple received back an Imperial Robe from that Emperour Buoy'd up with this he pass'd the Alpes with a design to march to Rome but hearing of the death of Alaric the Goth who had been a friend to his cause he retreated to Arles where he fixed the Imperial seat commanded the city to be call'd †after his own name â—tantiâ—â—â— and summon'd thither a solemn meeting of seven Provinces In the mean time Gerontius rais'd a faction against his Master and after he had traiterously slain Constans his son at Vienne in Gaule closely besieged Constantine the Father in Arles but while one Constantius sent by the Emperour Honorius was marching against him with an army Gerontius laid violent hands upon himself In the mean time Constantine being reduc'd to great necessity by the closeness of this siege and by some unhappy sallies of the garrison brought to despair he quitted his honour and that load of fortune and entring into the Church took upon him the Order of a * Priest â—â—y upon which the city was presently surrendred and he led prisoner into Italy where he was beheaded with Julian his son whom he entitled the Noble 〈◊〉 entiâ—â—e 〈◊〉 and Sebastian his brother The History of these affairs which is before deliver'd more at large I have here abridged from Zosimus Zosomen Nicephorus Orosius and Olympiodorus that truth may triumph over the vanity of those who by the help of their own invention have adulterated this story with their ridiculous and simple forgeries Our Historians report that in this city was the inauguration of our martial King Arthur and soon after the place was demolish'd either in the Saxon Wars or when Athelwolf in rebellion against King Edward his brother assisted by that crew of Danish Robbers destroy'd all this country as far as Basing-stoke Nothing now remains but the walls which though they have lost their coping and battlements seem to have been of a great height For by the rubbish and ruins the earth is grown so high that I could scarce thrust my self through a †passage which they call Onion's hole â—â—gipâ—râ— tho' I stoop'd very low The walls however remain in a great measure entire only some few gaps there are in those places where the gates have been and out of these very walls there grow Oaks of such a vast bigness incorporated as it were with the stones and their roots and boughs spreading so far round that they even raise an admiration in all that behold them In compass the walls contain about two Italian miles so that perhaps from the largeness of the place the Saxons call'd it Selcester that is a great city Sel what For Sel seems in their language to have signified great since Asserius Menevensis interprets the Saxon word Selwood by Sylva magna i.e. a great wood On the west-side of the walls where 't is a level there runs a long ridge cast up for defence of the place It includes about 80 acres of land a good and fat soil now divided into separate fields with a little grove towards the west and eastward near the gate a farm-house with a small Church of modern building in which while I search'd for ancient Inscriptions I found nothing but some Coats of Arms in the windows viz. in a field sable seven Fusils argent Bendwise as also in a field sable a Fesse between two cheverns Or and in a shield Or an eagle display'd with two heads gules Arms of the Blewets Bainards and Cusanz I find these last to be the Arms of the Blewets to whom this estate came after the time of William the Conquerour the second are the Arms of the noble family of Bainard of Leckham and the first is the Coat of the family of the Cusanz by whom this estate pass'd hereditarily from the Blewets to the Bainards But in the reign of William the Conquerour this was in the possession of William de Ow the Norman who being accus'd of treason appeal'd to a tryal of his innocence by Duel but being conquered he was by command of King William Rufus punish'd with the loss of his eyes and testicles The inhabitants of this place told me it had been a constant observation of theirs that tho' the soil here be fat and fertile yet in a sort of baulks that cross one another the corn never grows so thick as in the other parts of the field and along these they imagine the streets of the old city to have run Here are commonly dug up British tiles and great plenty of Roman Coins which they call onion-Onion-pennies from one Onion whom they foolishly fancy to have been a Giant and an inhabitant of this city There are often found too some inscriptions which the ignorance of the Country-people has robb'd the world of There is only one brought up to London and placed in the garden of the honourable William Cecil Baron of Burghley and Lord High Treasurer of England which is this MEMORIAE FL. VICTORI NAE T. TAM VICTOR CONIUX POSVIT I shall not be positive as some others are that this was a monument in memory of Victorina who was called Mater Castrorum i.e. Mother of the Camp and who rais'd the Victorini son and grandson Posthumus Lollianus Marius and Tetricus Caesars in Gaule and Britain against Gallienus the Emperor But I have somewhere read that there were two Victors in Britaine and that both flourished at the same time one son of Maximus the Emperor the other * Praetorio Praefectus Praefect of the Guards to the same Emperor and mention'd by St. Ambrose in his Epistles But I dare affirm that neither of these was he who set up this monument in memory of his wife As there is one Roman military way that leads from hence directly southward
designs took him off r In the late Civil wars being made a garrison it was almost ruin'd so that he left his project unfinish'd 22 And the old Castle defac'd The family of these Corbets is ancient and of great repute in this Shire and held large estates by fealty of Roger de Montgomery Earl of Shrewsbury about the coming in of the Normans viz. Roger Corbet the son held Huelebec Hundeslit Actun Fernleg c. Robert Corbet the son held lands in Ulestanston Corbet pranomen Rotlinghop Branten Udecot 23 And in later ages this family far and fairly propagated receiv'd encrease both of revenue and great alliance by the marriage of an heir of Hopton More to the south lies Arcoll Arcoll a seat of the Newports 24 Knights of great worship descended from the Barons Grey of Codnor and the Lords of Mothwy Knights and in its neighbourhood is Hagmond-Abbey Hagmond-Abbey which was well endow'd if not founded by the Fitz-Alanes Not much lower is pleasantly situated upon the Severn the Metropolis of this County risen out of the ruins of old Uriconium which we call Shrewsbury Shrewsbury and now a-days more softly and smoothly Shrowsbury Our Ancestors call'd it Scrobbes-byrig because the hill it stands on was well wooded In which sense the Greeks nam'd their Bessa and the Britains this city Penguerne that is the brow of Alders where likewise was a noble Palace so nam'd but how it comes to be call'd in Welsh Ymwithig by the Normans Scropesbery Sloppesbury and Salop and in Latin Salopia I know not unless they be deriv'd from the old word Scrobbes-berig differently wrested Yet some Criticks in the Welsh tongue imagine 't was call'd Ymwithig as much as Placentia from the Welsh Mwithau and that their Bards gave it that name because their Princes of Wales delighted most in this place It is situated upon a hill the earth of which is of a red-dish colour the Severn is here passable by two fair bridges and embracing it almost round makes it a Peninsula as Leland our Poet and Antiquary describes it Edita Pinguerni late fastigia splendent Urbs sita lunato veluti mediamnis in orbe Colle tumet modico duplici quoque ponte superbit Accipiens patriâ sibi linguâ nomen ab alnis Far off it's lofty walls proud Shrewsb'ry shows Which stately Severn 's crystal arms enclose Here two fair bridges awe the subject stream And Alder-trees bestow'd the ancient name 'T is both naturally strong and well-fortified by art for Roger de Montgomery who had it given him by the Conquerour built a Castle upon a rising rock i in the northern parts of this town after he had pull'd down about 50 houses whose son Robert when he revolted from King Hen. 1. enclos'd it with walls on that side where the Severn does not defend it k which were never assaulted that I know of in any war but that of the Barons against King John When the Normans first settl'd here 't was a well-built city and well frequented for as it appears by Domesday-book 25 In King Edward the Confessor's time it paid Gelt according to an hundred Hides In the Conquerour's time it paid yearly seven pounds c. it was tax'd 7 l. 16 s. to the King yearly There were reckon'd 252 Citizens 12 of whom were bound to keep guard when the Kings of England came hither and as many to attend him whenever he hunted which I believe was first occasion'd by one Edrick Sueona a Mercian Duke but a profligate villain who ſ An. Christi 1006. Flor. Wigorn. not long before had way-lay'd Prince Alfhelm and slain him as he was hunting At which time as appears by the same book there was t There are not now the least remains of any such custom a custom in this city That what way soever a woman marry'd if a widow she should pay to the King 20 shillings but if a virgin 10 shillings in what manner soever she took the husband But to return this Earl Roger not only fortify'd it but improv'd it much by other useful buildings both publick and private and founded a beautiful Monastery dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul and endow'd it liberally as he did likewise u The very marks of this Church are quite gone unless it was mistaken for St. Giles's yet standing in the same parish tho' ruinous and which some alledge was the ancient Parish-Church the Church-yard of it being yet their common place of burial St. Gregory's Church upon these conditions so a private history of this Monastery expresses it That when the Prebendaries thereof should die the Prebends should go to the Monks From which arose no small contest for the Prebendaries sons su'd the Monks to succeed their fathers in those Prebends and at that time Prebendaries and Clerks in England were not oblig'd to celibacy but it was customary for Ecclesiastical Benefices to descend hereditarily to the next of blood Prebends inheritable But this controversie was settled in Henry 1.'s reign That heirs should not inherit Ecclesiastical Benefices about which time laws were enacted obliging Clergy-men to celibacy Afterwards other Churches were here built and to pass by the Covents of Dominican Franciscan and Augustine Friers sounded by the Charltons Jenevills and Staffords there were two Collegiate Churches w Besides these there are two other Parish-Churches within the walls St. Alkman's and St. Julian's erected St. Chads with a Dean and ten Prebendaries and St. Mary's with a Dean and nine minor Prebends At this day 't is a fine City well inhabited of good commerce and by the industry of the Citizens their Cloath-manufacture and their trade with the Welsh very rich for hither all Welsh commodities are brought as to the common Mart of both Nations It 's Inhabitants art partly English partly Welsh they use both Languages and this must be mention'd in their praise that they have set up 25 A School wherein were more Scholars in number when I first saw it than any School in England one of the largest Schools in England for the education of youth for which Thomas Aston the first Head-School-master a man of great worth and integrity provided by his own industry a competent Salary l 26 It shall not now I hope be impertinent to note that when divers of the Nobility conspir'd against King Henry 4. with a purpose to advance Edmund Mortimer Earl of March to the Crown as the undoubtful and right heir whose father King Richard the second had also declar'd heir-apparent and Sir Henry Percy call'd Hot-Spur then addressed himself to give the assault to Shrewsbury c. At this city when Henry Percy the younger rebell'd against Henry the fourth and was resolutely bent to attack its walls which that King had made exceeding strong by a turn of Fortune he was prevented and his measures broken in a trice for the King himself was suddenly at his