or other of the stars vnto his person to the end his name might neuer weare out of memorie And this they called their translation in heauen so that he which had any starres or forme of starres dedicated vnto him was properlie said to haue a seat among the gods A toie much like to the catalog of Romish saints although the one was written in the celestiall or immateriall orbes the other in sheeps skins and verie brickle paper but yet so estéemed that euerie prince would oft hazard and attempt the vttermost aduentures thereby to win such fame in his life that after his death he might by merit haue such place in heauen among the shining starres Howbeit euerie of those that were called gods could not obteine that benefit for then should there not haue béene stars enow in heauen to haue serued all their turnes wherfore another place was in time imagined where they reigned that were of a second calling as the Semones who were gods by grace and fauour of the people Semones dici voluerunt saith Fulgentius In vocibus antiquis quos coelo nec dignos ascriberent ob meriti paupertatem sicut Priapus Hyppo Vortumnus c. nec terrenos eos deputare vellent per gratiae venerationem as also a third place that is to say an earth where those gods dwelled which were noble men officers good gouernours and lawgiuers to the people and yet not thought worthie to be of the second or first companie which was a iollie diuision Thus we sée in generall maner how idolatrie honoring of the starres and brood of inferiour gods were hatched at the first which follies in processe of time came also into Britaine as did the names of Saturne Iupiter c as shall appeare hereafter And here sith I haue alreadie somewhat digressed from my matter I will go yet a little farder and shew foorth the originall vse of the word Saturne Iupiter Hercules c whereby your Honor shall sée a little more into the errours of the Gentils and not onelie that but one point also of the root of all the confusion that is to be found among the ancient histories Certes it was vsed for a few yéeres after the partition of the earth which was made by Noah in the 133. yeere after the floud that the beginners of such kingdoms as were then erected should be called Saturni whereby it came to passe that Nimbrote was the Saturne of Babylon Cham of Aegypt and so foorth other of sundrie other countries Their eldest sonnes also that succeeded them were called Ioues and their nephewes or sonnes sonnes which reigned in the third place Hercules by which meanes it followed that euerie kingdome had a Saturne Iupiter and Hercules of hir owne and not from anie other In like sort they had such another order among their daughters whom they married as yet commonlie vnto their brethren God himselfe permitting the same vnto them for a time as before the floud to the end the earth might be thoroughlie replenished and the sooner furnished with inhabitants in euerie part thereof The sister therefore and wife of euerie Saturne was called Rhea but of Iupiter Iuno Isis or Io. Beyond these also there was no latter Harold that would indeuour to deriue the petigree of any prince or potentate but supposed his dutie to be sufficientlie performed when he had brought it orderlie vnto some Saturne or other wherat he might cease and shut vp all his trauell They had likewise this opinion grounded amongst them that heauen earth were onlie parents vnto Saturne and Rhea not knowing out of doubt what they themselues did meane sith these denominations Heauen Ogyges the Sunne Pater Deorum and such like were onelie ascribed vnto Noah as Terra the Earth Vesta Aretia the Moone Mater deorum and other the like were vnto Tydea his wife So that hereby we sée how Saturne is reputed in euerie nation for their oldest god or first prince Iupiter for the next and Hercules for the third And therfore sith these names were dispersed in the beginning ouer all it is no maruell that there is such confusion in ancient histories and the dooings of one of them so mixed with those of another that it is now impossible to distinguish them in sunder This haue I spoken to the end that all men may see what gods the Pagans honored thereby what religion the posteritie of Cham did bring ouer into Britaine For vntill their comming it is not likelie that anie grosse idolatrie or superstition did enter in among vs as deifieng of mortall men honoring of the starres and erection of huge images beside sorcerie witchcraft and such like whereof the Chemminites are worthilie called the autors Neither were these errors anie thing amended by the comming in of Brute who no doubt added such deuises vnto the same as he and his companie had learned before in Graecia from whence also he brought Helenus the sonne of Priamus a man of excéeding age made him his préest and bishop thorough out the new conquest that he had atchieued in Britaine After Brute idolatrie and superstition still increased more and more among vs insomuch that beside the Druiysh and Bardike ceremonies and those also that came in with Albion and Brute himselfe our countriemen either brought hither from abroad or dailie inuented at home new religion and rites whereby it came to passe that in the stead of the onelie and immortall God of whome Samothes and his posteritie did preach in times past now they honored the said Samothes himselfe vnder the name of Dis and Saturne also Iupiter Mars Minerua Mercurie Apollo Diana and finallie Hercules vnto whome they dedicated the gates and porches of their temples entrances into their regions cities townes and houses with their limits and bounds as the papists did the gates of their cities and ports vnto Botulph Giles bicause fortitude and wisedome are the cheefe vpholders and bearers vp of common-wealths and kingdoms both which they ascribed to Hercules forgetting God and diuers other idols whose names I now remember not In lieu moreouer of sheepe and oxen they offred mankind also vnto some of them killing their offendors prisoners and oft such strangers as came from farre vnto them by shutting vp great numbers of them togither in huge images made of wicker réed haie or other light matter and then setting all on fire togither they not onelie consumed the miserable creatures of ashes sometimes adding other beasts vnto them but also reputed it to be the most acceptable sacrifice that could be made vnto their idols From whence they had this horrible custome trulie I cannot tell but that it was common to most nations not onlie to consume their strangers captiues but also their owne children with fire in such maner of sacrifice beside the text of the Bible the prophane histories doo generallie leaue
the water there beginneth to be called Hulne as I haue said alreadie From hence also it goeth through Beuerleie medowes and comming at the last not farre from an arme led from the Hulne by mans hand and able to beare great vessels almost to Beuerleie towne which in old time either hight or stood in Deirwald vntill Iohn of Beuerleie whom Leland nameth out of an old author to be the first doctor or teacher of diuinitie that euer was in Oxford and as it should séeme also by an ancient monument yet remaining to be of an hostell where the vniuersitie college now standeth therefore they write him Somtime fellow of that house began to be of fame of whom it is called Beuerleie as some affirme to this daie In déed all the countrie betwéene the Deirwent the Humber was sometime called Deira and the lower part Caua Deira in respect of the higher soile but now it is named the east Riding But what is this to my purpose The Hulne therefore being come almost to Beuerleie towne méeting thereabout also with the Cottingham becke comming from Westwood by the waie it hasteth to Kingston vpon Hulne or Hull and so into the Humber without anie maner impeachment The Fowlneie riseth about Godmanham from whence it goeth by Wighton Hareswell Seton Williams bridge and soone after spreading it selfe one arme called Skelfleet goeth by Cane Cawseie to Brownefléet and so into the Ouze The other passeth by Sandholme Gilberts dike Scalbie chappell Blacketoff and so into the aforesaid Ouze leauing a verie pretie Iland which is a parcell as I heare of Walding fen more though otherwise obscure to vs that dwell here in the south The Darwent riseth in the hilles that lie west of Robin Whoodes baie or two miles aboue Aiton bridge west from Scarborow as Leland saith and yer it hath run farre from the head it receiueth two rilles in one bottome from by west which ioine withall about Longdale end Thence they go togither to Broxeie and at Hacknesse take in another water comming from about Silseie Afterward it commeth to Aiton then to Haibridge and there crosseth the Kenford that descendeth from Roberteston After this also it goeth on to Potersbrumton where it taketh in one rill as it dooth another beneath running from Shirburne and the third yet lower on the further banke that descendeth from Brumton From these confluences it runneth to Fowlbridge Axbridge Yeldingham bridge so to Cotehouse receiuing by the waie manie waters yéelding great plentie of delicate samons to such as fish vpon the same Leland reckoning vp the names of the seuerall brookes numbreth them confusedlie after his accustomed order The Darwent saith he receiueth diuerse streames as the Shirihutton The second is the Crambecke descending from Hunderskell castell so called Tanquam à centum fontibus or multitude of springs that rise about the same and goeth the Rie which comming out of the Blackemoore passeth by Riuers abbeie taking in the Ricoll on the left hand then the Seuen the Costeie and Pickering brooke The Seuin also saith he riseth in the side of Blacke-moore and thence goeth by Sinnington foure miles from Pickering and about a mile aboue a certeine bridge ouer Rie goeth into the streame The Costeie in like sort springeth in the verie edge of Pickering towne at a place called Keld head and goeth into the Rie two miles beneath Pickering about Kirbie minster Finallie Pickering water ariseth in Blackemoore and halfe a mile beneath Pickering falleth into Costeie meeting by the way with the Pocklington becke and an other small rill or two of whose names I haue no knowledge Hitherto Leland But in mine opinion it had béene far better to haue described them thus Of those waters that fall into the Darwent beneath Cotehouse the first commeth from Swenton the second from Ebberston the third from Ollerston the fourth from Thorneton Pickering and the fift on the other side that commeth thither from Wintringham For so should he haue dealt in better order and rid his hands of them with more expedition referring the rest also vnto their proper places But to procéed after mine owne maner Being past Cotehouse yer the Darwent come at Wickham it crosseth the Rie which riseth of two heads and ioining west of Locton they run through Glansbie parke Finallie receiuing the Costeie it méeteth at the last with an other streame increased by the fals of six waters and more yer it come into the Darwent The most easterlie of these is called Seuen and riseth as is aforesaid in Blackemoore from whence it goeth by Sinnington Murton Normanbie Newsound How and so into the Rie The second named Dou hath his originall likewise in Blackemoore and descending by Rasmore Keldon and Edston where it receiueth the Hodgebecke that commeth by Bernesdale Kirkedale Welburne it goeth to Sawlton and there taketh in first the Ricoll that goeth by Careton and whereof Ridall as some thinke but falslie doth séeme to take the name Then Fesse which riseth aboue Bilisdale chappell and méeteth with the Rie at the Shaking bridge from whence they go togither vnder the Rie bridge to Riuis abbeie and thence after it hath crossed a becke from the west through a parke of the earle of Rutlands to Newton Muniton and so to Sawton or Sawlton as I doo find it written Here also it taketh in the Holbecke brooke that commeth thithex from by west by Gilling castell and Stangraue from whence it goeth on to Brabie next into the Seuen then into the Rie and so into the Darwent which from thence dooth run to Wickham Being past Wickham it méeteth with a water that commeth thereinto from Grinston to Setterington at southeast and thence it goeth on the Malton and Malton where the prouerbe saith that a bushell of rie and an other of malt is woorth but six pence carie awaie whilest you may so as you can kéepe them from running through the sarkes Sutton Wellam Furbie and Kirkeham receiuing by the waie one rill on the one side and an other on the other whereof this commeth from Burdfall that other from Conisthorpe From Kirkeham it goeth to Cramburne and Owsham bridge crossing by the waie an other brooke comming from saint Edwards gore by Faston then to Aldbie Buttercram aliàs Butterham bridge Stamford bridge Kexbie bridge Sutton Ellerton Aughton Bubwith Wresill Babthorpe and so into the Ouze wherewith I finish the description of Darwent sauing that I haue to let you vnderstand how Leland heard that an arme ran some time from the head of Darwent also to Scarborow till such time as two hils betwixt which it ran did shalder and so choke vp his course The Fosse a slow streame yet able to beare a good vessell riseth in Nemore Calaterio that is Galters wood or Cawood among the wooddie hilles and in his
diuision of languages Herevpon Theophilus hath these words Cùm priscis temporibus pauei forant homines in Arabia Chaldaea post linguarum diuisonem aucti multiplicati paulatim sunt hinc quidam abierunt versus orientem quidam concessere ad partes maioris continentis alij porrò profecti sunt ad septentrionem sedes quaesiuâ—â—i nec priùs desierunt terram vbique occupare quà m etiam 〈◊〉 annos in Arctois climatibus accesserint c. That is When at the first there were not manie men in Arabia and Chaldaea it came to passe that after the diuision of toongs they began somewhat better to increase and multiplie by which occasion some of them went toward the east and some toward the parts of the great manie land diuers went also northwards to seeke them dwelling places neither staid they to replenish the earth as they went till they came vnto the Iles of Britaine lieng vnder the north pole Thus far Theophilus These things considered Gildas the Britaine had great reason to thinke that this countrie had bene inhabited from the beginning And Polydor Virgil was with no lesse consideration hereby induced to confesse that the I le of Britaine had receiued inhabitants foorthwith after the floud Of Samothes Magus Sarron Druis and Bardus fiue kings succeeding each other in regiment ouer the Celts and Samotheans and how manie hundred yeeres the Celts inhabited this Iland The second Chapter SAmothes the first begotten sonne of Iaphet called by Moses Mesech Dis by others receiued for his portion according to the report of Wolfgangus Lazius all the countrie lieng betwéene the riuer of Rhene and the Pyrenian mountains where he founded the kingdome of Celtica ouer his people called Celtae Which name Bale affirmeth to haue bene indifferent to the inhabitants both of the countrie of Gallia and the I le of Britaine that he planted colonies of men brought foorth of the east parts in either of them first in the maine land and after in the Iland He is reported by Berosus to haue excelled all men of that age in learning and knowledge and also is thought by Bale to haue imparted the same among his people namelie the vnderstanding of the sundrie courses of the starres the order of inferiour things with manie other matters incident to the morall and politike gouernment of mans life and to haue deliuered the same in the Phenician letters out of which the Gréekes according to the opinion of Achilochus deuised deriued the Gréeke characters insomuch that Xenophon and Iosephus doo constantlie report although Diogenes Laertius be against it that both the Gréekes and other nations receiued their letters and learning first from these countries Of this king and his learning arose a sect of philosophers saith Annius first in Britaine and after in Gallia the which of his name were called Samothei They as Aristotle and Secion write were passing skilfull both in the law of God and man and for that cause excéedinglie giuen to religion especiallie the inhabitants of this I le of Britaine insomuch that the whole nation did not onelie take the name of them but the Iland it selfe as Bale and doctor Caius agree came to be called Samothea which was the first peculiar name that euer it had and by the which it was especiallie knowne before the arriuall of Albion MAgus the sonne of Samothes after the death of his father was the second king of Celtica by whome as Berosus writeth there were manie townes builded among the Celts which by the witnesse of Annius did beare the addition of their founder Magus of which townes diuers are to be found in Ptolomie And Antoninus a painfull surueior of the world and searcher of cities maketh mention of foure of them here in Britaine Sitomagus Neomagus Niomagus and Nouiomagus Neomagus sir Thomas Eliot writeth to haue stood where the citie of Chester now standeth Niomagus George Lillie placeth where the towne of Buckingham is now remaining Beside this Bale dooth so highlie commend the foresaid Magus for his learning renowned ouer all the world that he would haue the Persians and other nations of the south and west parts to deriue the name of their diuines called Magi from him In déed Rauisius Textor and sir Iohn Prise affirme that in the daies of Plinie the Britons were so expert in art magike that they might be thought to haue first deliuered the same to the Persians What the name of Magus importeth and of what profession the Magi were Tullie declareth at large and Mantuan in briefe after this maner Ille penes Persas Magus est qui sidera norit Qui sciat herbarum vires cultumú deorum Persepoli facit ista magos prudentia triplex The Persians terme him Magus that the course of starres dooth knowe The power of herbs and worship due to God that man dooth owe By threefold knowledge thus the name of Magus then dooth growe SArron the third king of the Celts succéeded his father Magus in gouernement of the contrie of Gallia and the I le Samothea wherein as D. Caius writeth he founded certaine publike places for them that professed learning with Berosus affirmeth to be done to the internt to restraine the wilfull outrage of men being as then but raw and void of all ciuilitie Also it is thought by Annius that he was the first author of those kind of philosophers which were called Sarronides of whom Diodorus Siculus writeth in this sort There are saith he among the Celts certaine diuines and philosophers called Sarronides whom aboue all other they haue in great estimation For it is the manner among them not without a philosopher to make anie sacrifice sith they are of beléefe that sacrifices ought onelie to be made by such as are skilfull in the diuine mysteries as of those who are néerest vnto God by whose intercession they thinke all good things are to be required of God and whose aduise they vse and follow as well in warre as in peace DRuis whom Seneca calleth Dryus being the sonne of Sarron was after his father established the fourth king of Celtica indifferentlie reigning as wel ouer the Celts as Britons or rather as the inhabitants of this I le were then called Samotheans This prince is commended by Berosus to be so plentifullie indued with wisedome and learning that Annius taketh him to be the vndoubted author of the beginning and name of the philosophers called Druides whome Caesar and all other ancient Gréeke and Latine writers doo affirme to haue had their begining in Britaine and to haue bin brought from thence into Gallia insomuch that when there arose any doubt in that countrie touching any point of their discipline they did repaire to be resolued therein into Britaine where speciallie in the I le of Anglesey as Humfrey Lâ—â—oyd witnesseth they made their principall abode Touching their vsages many things are written by
he awaked out of sléepe and had called his dreame to remembrance he first doubted whether it were a verie dreame or a true vision the goddes hauing spoken to him with liuelie voice Wherevpon calling such of his companie vnto him as he thought requisite in such a case he declared vnto them the whole matter with the circumstances whereat they greatlie reioising caused mightie bonfixes to be made in the which they cast wine milke and other liquors with diuers gums and spices of most sweet smell and sauour as in the pagan religion was accustomed Which obseruances and ceremonies performed and brought to end they returned streightwaies to their ships and as soone as the wind serued passed forward on their iournie with great ioy and gladnesse as men put in comfort to find out the wished seats for their firme and sure habitations From hence therefore they cast about and making westward first arriued in Affrica and after kéeping on their course they passed the straits of Gibralterra and coasting alongst the shore on the right hand they found another companie that were likewise descended of the Troian progenie on the coasts nere where the Pyrenine hils shoot downe to the sea whereof the same sea by good reason as some suppose was named in those daies Mare Pyrenaeum although hitherto by fault of writers copiers of the British historie receiued in this place Mare Tyrrhenum was slightlie put downe in stead of Pyrenaeum The ofspring of those Troians with whom Brute and his companie thus did méet were a remnant of them that came away with Antenor Their capteine hight Corineus a man of great modestie and approoued wisedome and thereto of incomparable strength and boldnesse Brute and the said Troians with their capteine Corineus doo associat they take landing within the dominion of king Goffarus he raiseth an armie against Brute and his power but is discomfited of the citie of Tours Brutes arriuall in this Iland with his companie The third Chapter AFter that Brute and the said Troians by conference interchangeablie had vnderstood one anothers estates and how they were descended from one countrie and progenie they vnited themselues togither greatlie reioising that they were so fortunatlie met and hoising vp their sailes directed their course forward still till they arriued within the mouth of the riuer of Loire which diuideth Aquitaine from Gall Celtike where they tooke land within the dominion of a king called Goffarius surnamed Pictus by reason he was descended of the people Agathyrsi otherwise named Picts bicause they vsed to paint their faces and bodies insomuch that the richer a man was amongst them the more cost he bestowed in painting himselfe and commonlie the haire of their head was red or as probable writers say of skie colour Herodotus calleth them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bicause they did weare much gold about them They vsed their wiues in common and because they are all supposed to be brethren there is no strife nor discord among them Of these Agathyrsi it is recorded by the said Herodotus that they refused to succour the Scythians against Darius giuing this reason of their refusall bicause they would not make warre against him who had doone them no wrong And of this people dooth the poet make mention saieng ¶ Cretésque Dryopésque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi To paint their faces not for amiablenesse but for terriblenesse the Britons in old time vsed and that with a kind of herbe like vnto plantine In which respect I sée no reason why they also should not be called Picts as well as the Agathyrsi séeing the denomination sprang of a vaine custome in them both And here by the way sithens we haue touched this follie in two seuerall people let it not séeme tedious to read this one tricke of the Indians among whom there is great plentie of pretious stones wherewith they adorne themselues in this maner namelie in certein hollow places which they make in their flesh they inclose and riuet in pretious stones and that as well in their forheads as their chéekes to none other purpose than the Agathyrsi in the vse of their painting The countrie of Poictou as some hold where the said Goffarius reigned tooke name of this people likewise a part of this our Ile of Britaine now conteined within Scotland which in ancient time was called Pightland or Pictland as elsewhere both in this historie of England and also of Scotland may further appeare But to our purpose When Goffarius the king of Poictou was aduertised of the landing of these strangers within his countrie he sent first certeine of his people to vnderstand what they ment by their comming a land within his dominion without licence or leaue of him obteined They that were thus sent came by chance to a place where Corineus with two hundred of the companie were come from the ships into a forrest néere the sea side to kill some veneson for their sustenance and being rebuked with some disdainfull speach of those Poictouins he shaped them a round answer insomuch that one of them whose name was Imbert let driue an arrow at Corineus but he auoiding the danger thereof shot againe at Imbert in reuenge of that iniurie offered and claue his head in sunder The rest of the Poictouins fled therevpon and brought word to Goffarius what had happened who immediatlie with a mightie armie made forward to encounter with the Troians and comming to ioine with them in battell after sharpe and sore conflict in the end Brute with his armie obteined a triumphant victorie speciallie through the noble prowesse of Corineus Goffarius escaping from the field fled into the inner parts of Gallia making sute for assistance vnto such kings as in those daies reigned in diuers prouinces of that land who promised to aid him with all their forces and to expell out of the coasts of Aquitaine such strangers as without his licence were thus entred the countrie But Brute in the meane time passed forward and with fire and sword made hauocke in places where he came and gathering great spoiles fraught his ships with plentie of riches At length he came to the place where afterwards he built a citie named Turonium that is Tours Here Goffarius with such Galles as were assembled to his aid gaue battell againe vnto the Troians that were incamped to abide his comming Where after they has fought a long time with singular manhood on both parties the Troians in fine oppressed with multitudes of aduersaries euen thirtie times as manie mo as the Troians were constreined to retire into their campe within the which the Galles kept them as besieged lodging round about them and purposing by famine to compell them to yéeld themselues vnto their mercie But Corineus taking counsell with Brute deuised to depart in the darke of the night out of the campe to lodge himselfe with thrée thousand chosen
haue growne vnto the Britains by receiuing certeine men of warre that fled out of Italie into Britaine whome the emperour Constantius would haue punished because they had taken part with Maxentius his aduersarie Paulus a Spaniard and notarie was sent ouer by him with commission to make inquirie of them and to sée them brought to light to answere their transgressions which Paulus began to deale roughlie in the matter whereof he was called Catera and to rage against the Britains and partakers with the fugitiues in that they had receiued and mainteined them as he alledged but in the â—nd being certified by Martinus the lieutenant of their innocencie and fearing least his extreame rigour might alienate the hearts of the inhabitants altogither and cause them to withdraw their obedience from the Romane empire he turned the execution of his furie from them vnto the Romans and made hauocke of those that he suspected till the said Martinus fell at square with him thinking on a time to kill him he drew his sword and smote at him But such was his age and weakenesse that he was not able to kill him or giue him anie deadlie wound wherefore he turned the point of his sword against himselfe and so ended his life being contented rather to die than sée his countriemen and subiects of the empire so to be abused After this the said Paulus returned backe againe into Italie from whence he came after whose departure it was not long yer he also was slaine and then all the Scots and Picts sore disquieted the Romane subiects for the suppressing of whose attempts Lupicinus was sent ouer out of Gallia by Iulianus as shall be declared out of Amianus Marcellinus after we haue first shewed what we find written in our owne writers concerning the Scots and Picts who now began to rob and spoile the British inhabitants within the Romane prouinces here in this I le and that euen in most outragious maner Maximianus or Maximus gouerneth this I le why writers speake ill of him strife betwixt him and Conan duke of Cornewall Maximus is proclaimed emperour in Britaine he transporteth the British youth seruiceable for warres into France little Britaine in France why so called eleuen thousand maids sent thither to match with Conans people whereof some were drowned and other some murthered in the way by Guanius king of Hunnes and Melga king of Picts they flie into Ireland murther requited with murther the words of Gyldas concerning Maximus The xxx Chapter AFter the deceasse of Octauius or Octauian as the old English chronicle nameth him Maximianus or Maximus as the Romane writers call him began to rule the Britains in the yéere of our Lord 383 he was the sonne of one Leonine and coosen germane to Constantine the great a valiant personage hardie of stomach but yet because he was cruell of nature and as Fabian saith somewhat persecuted the christians he was infamed by writers but the chiefe cause why he was euill reported was for that he slue his souereigne lord the emperour Gratianus as after shall appeare for otherwise he is supposed woorthie to haue had the rule of the empire committed to his hands in ech respect Betwixt him and the abouenamed Conan Meridoc duke of Cornewall chanced strife and debate so that Conan got him into Scotland and there purchasing aid returned and comming ouer Humber wasted the countrie on ech side Maximianus thereof hauing aduertisement raised his power and went against him and so fighting with him diuers battels sometime departed awaie with victorie and sometime with losse At length through mediation of friends a peace was made betwixt them Finallie this Maximianus or as the Romane histories say Maximus was by the souldiers chosen and proclaimed emperour here in Britaine although some write that this was doone in Spaine After he had taken vpon him the imperiall dignitie vpon desire to haue inlarged his dominion he assembled togither all the chosen youth of this land méet to doo seruice in the warres with the which he passed ouer into France there as our writers record he first subdued the countrie ancientlie called Armorica and slue in battell the king thereof called Imball This doone he gaue the countrie vnto Conan Meridoc which was there with him to hold the same of him and of the kings of great Britaine for euer He also commanded that the said countrie from thencefoorth should be called litle Britaine and so was the name changed What people soeuer inhabited there before the ancient name argueth that they were rather Britains than anie other for Armorica in the British toong signifieth as much as a countrie lieng vpon the sea Conan then placing himselfe and his Britains in that quarter of Gallia auoided all the old inhabitants peopling that countrie onelie with Britains which abhorring to ioine themselues with women borne in Gallia Conan was counselled to send into Britaine for maids to be coupled with his people in mariage Herevpon a messenger was dispatched vnto Dionethus at that time duke of Cornwall and gouernour of Britaine vnder Maximianus requiring him to send ouer into little Britaine 11000 maids that is to say 8000 to be bestowed vpon the meaner fort of Conans people and 3000 to be ioined in mariage with the nobles and gentlemen Dionethus at Conans request assembled the appointed number of maids and amongst them he also appointed his daugther Ursula a ladie of excellent beautie to go ouer and to be giuen in mariage to the foresaid Conan Meridoc as he had earnestlie requested These number of maids were shipped in Thames and passing forward toward Britaine were by force of weather and rage of wind scattered abroad and part or them drowned and the residue among whom was the foresaid Ursula were slaine by Guanius king of the Hunnes and Melga king of the Picts into whose hands they fell the which Guanius and Melga were sent by the emperour Gracian to the sea coasts of Germanie to oppresse and subdue all such as were friends and mainteiners of the part of Maximianus We find in some bookes that there were sent ouer at that time 51000 maids that is to say 11000 gentlewomen and 40000 other After that Guanius and Melga had murthered the foresaid virgins they entred into the north parts of Britaine where the Scots now inhabit and began to make sore warre on the Britains whereof when Maximus was aduertised he sent into Britaine one Gratianus with thrée legions of souldiers who bare himselfe so manfullie against the enimies that he constreined the said Guanius and Melga to flie out of the land and to withdraw into Ireland In this meane while Maximus hauing slaine the emperor Gratian at Lions in France and after entring into Italie was slaine himselfe at Aquilia after he had gouerned the Britains eight yéeres by the emperour Theodosius who came in aid of Ualentinian brother to the said emperor Gratian as ye may find in
trumpets had blowne the sound to battell through out the whole Romane empire most cruell nations being stirred vp inuaded the borders next adioining the Almans wasted and destroied the parts of Gallia and Rhetia as the Sarmatians and Quadi did Pannonia the Picts the Saxons the Scots and the Attacots vexed the Britains with continuall troubles and gréeuous damages the Austorians and the people of the Moores ouerran the countrie of Affrike more sharpelie than in time past they had done the pilfring troops of the Goths spoiled Thracia the king of Persia set in hand to subdue the Armenians and sought to bring them vnder his obeisance hasting with all spéed toward Numonia pretending though vniustlie that now after the deceasse of Iouinius with whome he had contracted a league and bond of peace there was no cause of let what he ought not to recouer those things which as he alledged did belong to his ancestors and so foorth Moreouer the same Marcellinus in another place writeth in this wise where he speaketh of the said Ualentinianus Departing therefore from Amiens and hasting to Trier he was troubled with gréeuous newes that were brought him giuing him to vnderstand that Britaine by a conspiracie of the barbarous nations was brought to vtter pouertie that Nectaridus one of the emperours house earle of the sea coast hauing charge of the parties towards the sea was slaine and that the generall Bulchobaudes was circumuented by traines of the enimies These things with great horrour being knowne he sent Seuerus as then erle or as I may call him lord steward of his houshold to reforme things that were amisse if hap would so permit who being shortlie called backe Iouinius going thither and with spéed hasting forward sent for more aid and a great power of men as the instant necessitie then required At length for manie causes and the same greatlie to be feared the which were reported and aduertised out of that I le Theodosius was elected and appointed to go thither a man of approoued skill in warlike affaires and calling togither an hardie youthfull number of the legions and cohorts of men of warre he went foorth no small hope being conceiued of his good spéed the fame wherof spred and went afore him A litle after Marcellinus adding what people they were that troubled the Britains in this wise saith thus This shall suffice to be said that in this season the Picts diuided into two nations Dicalidones and Victuriones and in like maner the Attacotti a right warlike nation and the Scots wandering here and there made fowle woorke in places where they came The confines of France were disquieted by the Frankeners and Saxons borderers vnto them euerie one as they could breaking foorth dooing great harme by cruell spoile fire and taking of prisoners To withstand those dooings if good fortune would giue him leaue that most able capteine going vnto the vttermost bounds of the earth when he came to the coast of Bullen which is seuered from the contrarie coast on the other side by the sea with a narrow streight where sometime the water goeth verie high and rough shortlie after becommeth calme pleasant without hurt to those that passe the same transporting ouer at leasure he arriued at Sandwich or rather Richburrow where there is a quiet road for vessels to lie at anchor Wherevpon the Bataui and Heruli with the souldiers of the legions called Iouij and Victores being companies that trusted well to their owne strength marched foorth drew towards London an ancient citie which now of late hath bin called Augusta Herewith diuiding his armie into sundrie parts he set vpon the troops of his enimies as they were abroad to forrey the countrie pestered with burdens of their spoiles and pillage and spéedilie putting them to flight as they were leading away those prisoners which they had taken with their booties of cattell he bereft them of their preie the which the poore Britains that were tributaries had lost To be briefe restoring the whole except a small portion bestowed amongst the wearie souldiers he entred the citie which before was opprest with troubles but now suddenlie refreshed bicause there was hope of reliefe and assured preseruation After this when Theodosius was comforted with prosperous successe to attempt things of greater importance and searching waies how with good aduise to woorke suerlie whilest he remained doubtfull what would insue he learned as well by the confession of prisoners taken as also by the information of such as were fled from the enimies that the scattered people of sundrie nations which with practise of great crueltie were become fierce and vndanted could not be subdued but by policie secretlie practised and sudden inuasions At length therefore setting foorth his proclamations and promising pardon to those that were gone awaie from their capteins or charge he called them backe againe to serue and also those that by licence were departed and laie scattered here and there in places abroad By this meanes when manie were returned he being on the one side earnestlie prouoked and on the other holden backe with thoughtfull cares required to haue one Ciuilis by name sent to him to haue the rule of the prouinces in Britaine in steed of the other gouernours a man of sharpe wit and an earnest mainteiner of iustice He likewise required that one Dulcitius a capteine renowmed in knowledge of warlike affaires might be sent ouer to him for his better assistance These things were doone in Britaine Againe in his eight and twentith booke the same Marcellinus reciting further what the same Theodosius atchiued in Britaine hath in effect these words Thedosius verelie a capteine of woorthie fame taking a valiant courage to him and departing from Augusta which men of old time called London with souldiers assembled by great diligence did succour and reléeue greatlie the decaied and troubled state of the Britains preuenting euerie conuenient place where the barbarous people might lie in wait to doo mischiefe and nothing he commanded the meane souldiers to doo but that whereof he with a chéerefull mind would first take in hand to shew them in example By this meanes accomplishing the roome of a valiant souldier and fulfilling the charge of a noble capteine he discomfited and put to flight sundrie nations whome presumption nourished by securitie emboldened to inuade the Romane prouinces and so the cities and castels that had béene sore endamaged by manifold losses and displeasures were restored to their former state of wealth the foundation of rest and quietnesse being laid for a long season after to insue But as these things were a dooing one wicked practise was in hand like to haue burst foorth to the gréeuous danger of setting things in broile if it had not béene staied euen in the beginning of the first attempt For there was one Ualentinus borne in the parties of Ualeria adioining to Pannonia
among the Alps called after his owne name and other also euen in his owne kingdome on that side and Lestrigo greatlie weakened by the slaughter of his brethren Of this inuention of Hercules in like sort it commeth that Iupiter father vnto Hercules who indeed was none other but Osyris is feigned to throw downe stones from heauen vpon Albion and Bergion in the defense of his sonne which came so thicke vpon them as if great drops of raine or haile should haue descended from aboue no man well knowing which waie to turne him from their force they came so fast and with so great a violence But to go forward albeit that Albion and his power were thus discomfited and slaine yet the name that he gaue vnto this Iland died not but still remained vnto the time of Brute who arriuing héere in the 1116. before Christ and 2850. after the creation of the world not onelie changed it into Britaine after it had beene called Albion by the space of about 600. yeares but to declare his souereigntie ouer the rest of the Ilands also that lie scattered round about it he called them all after the same maner so that Albion was said in time to be Britanniarum insula maxima that is The greatest of those Iles that beare the name of Britaine which Plinie also confirmeth and Strabo in his first and second bookes denieth not There are some which vtterlie denieng that this Iland tooke hir name of Brute doo affirme it rather to be so called of the rich mettals sometime carried from the mines there into all the world as growing in the same Vibius Sequester also saith that Calabria was sometime called Britannia Ob immensam affluentiam totius delitiae atque vbertatis that was to be found heerein Other contend that it should be written with P Pritannia All which opinions as I absolutelie denie not so I willinglie leane vnto none of them in peremptorie maner sith the antiquitie of our historie carrieth me withall vnto the former iudgements And for the same cause I reiect them also which deriue the aforesaid denomination from Britona the nymph in following Textor or Prutus or Prytus the sonne of Araxa which Britona was borne in Creta daughter to Mars and fled by sea from thence onelie to escape the villanie of Minos who attempted to rauish and make hir one of his paramours but if I should forsake the authoritie of Galfride I would rather leane to the report of Parthenius whereof elsewhere I haue made a more large rehersall It is altogither impertinent to discusse whether Hercules came into this Iland after the death of Albion or not although that by an ancient monument seene of late as I heare and the cape of Hartland or Harcland in the West countrie called Promontorium Herculis in old time diuers of our British antiquaries doo gather great likelihood that he should also be here But sith his presence or absence maketh nothing with the alteration of the name of this our region and countrie and to search out whether the said monument was but some token erected in his honour of later times as some haue beene elsewhere among the Celts framed those like an old criple with a bow bent in one hand a club in the other a rough skin on his backe the haire of his head all to be matted like that of the Irishmens and drawing manie men captiue after him in chaines is but smallie auailable and therefore I passe it ouer as not incident to my purpose Neither will I spend any time in the determination whether Britaine had beene sometime a parcell of the maine although it should well séeme so to haue beene bicause that before the generall floud of Noah we doo not read of Ilands more than of hils and vallies Wherfore as Wilden Arguis also noteth in his philosophie and tractation of meteors it is verie likelie that they were onelie caused by the violent motion and working of the sea in the time of the floud which if S. Augustine had well considered he would neuer haue asked how such creatures as liued in Ilands far distant from the maine could come into the arke De ciuit lib. 16. cap. 7. howbeit in the end he concludeth with another matter more profitable than his demand As for the speedie and timelie inhabitation thereof this is mine opinion to wit that it was inhabited shortlie after the diuision of the earth For I read that when each capteinie and his companie had their portions assigned vnto them by Noah in the partition that he made of the whole among his posteritie they neuer ceased to trauell and search out the vttermost parts of the same vntill they found out their bounds allotted and had seene and vewed their limits euen vnto the verie poles It shall suffice therefore onelie to haue touched these things in this manner a farre off and in returning to our purpose to procéed with the rest concerning the denomination of our Iland which was knowne vnto most of the Gréekes for a long time by none other name than Albion and to saie the truth euen vnto Alexanders daies as appeareth by the words of Aristotle in his De mundo and to the time of Ptolomie notwithstanding that Brute as I haue said had changed the same into Britaine manie hundred yeares before After Brutus I doo not find that anie men attempted to change it againe vntill the time that Theodosius in the daies of Ualentinianus and Ualens endeuoured in the remembrance of the two aforesaid Emperours to call it Valentia as Marcellinus saith But as this deuise tooke no hold among the common sort so it retained still the name of Britaine vntill the reigne of Ecbert who about the 800. yeare of Grace and first of his reigne gaue foorth an especiall edict dated at Winchester that it should be called Angles land or Angellandt for which in our time we doo pronounce it England And this is all right honorable that I haue to say touching the seuerall names of this Iland vtterlie misliking in the meane season their deuises which make Hengist the onlie parent of the later denomination whereas Ecbert bicause his ancestours descended from the Angles one of the sixe nations that came with the Saxons into Britaine for they were not all of one but of diuers countries as Angles Saxons Germans Switzers Norwegiens Iutes otherwise called Iutons Uites Gothes or Getes and Uandals and all comprehended vnder the name of Saxons bicause of Hengist the Saxon and his companie that first arriued here before anie of the other and therto hauing now the monarchie and preheminence in maner of this whole Iland called the same after the name of the countrie from whence he deriued his originall neither Hengist neither anie Queene named Angla neither whatsoeuer deriuation ab Angulo as from a corner of the world bearing swaie or hauing ought to doo at all in that behalfe What sundrie nations haue dwelled in Albion Cap.
in Wales the greatest number as I said retaine still their owne ancient language that of the north part of the said countrie being lesse corrupted than the other and therefore reputed for the better in their owne estimation and iudgement This also is proper to vs Englishmen that sith ours is a meane language and neither too rough nor too smooth in vtterance we may with much facilitie learne any other language beside Hebrue Gréeke Latine and speake it naturallie as if we were home-borne in those countries yet on the other side it falleth out I wot not by what other meanes that few forren nations can rightlie pronounce ours without some and that great note of imperfection especiallie the French men who also seldome write any thing that sauoreth of English trulie It is a pastime to read how Natalis Comes in like maner speaking of our affaires dooth clip the names of our English lords But this of all the rest dooth bréed most admiration with me that if any stranger doo hit vpon some likelie pronuntiation of our toong yet in age he swarueth so much from the same that he is woorse therein than euer he was and thereto peraduenture halteth not a litle also in his owne as I haue séene by experience in Reginald Wolfe and other whereof I haue iustlie maruelled The Cornish and Deuonshire men whose countrie the Britons call Cerniw haue a speach in like sort of their owne and such as hath in déed more affinitie with the Armoricane toong than I can well discusse of Yet in mine opinion they are both but a corrupted kind of British albeit so far degenerating in these daies from the old that if either of them doo méete with a Welshman they are not able at the first to vnderstand one an other except here and there in some od words without the helpe of interpretors And no maruell in mine opinion that the British of Cornewall is thus corrupted sith the Welsh toong that is spoken in the north south part of Wales doth differ so much in it selfe as the English vsed in Scotland dooth from that which is spoken among vs here in this side of the Iland as I haue said alreadie The Scottish english hath beene much broader and lesse pleasant in vtterance than ours because that nation hath not till of late indeuored to bring the same to any perfect order and yet it was such in maner as Englishmen themselues did speake for the most part beyond the Trent whither any great amendement of our language had not as then extended it selfe Howbeit in our time the Scottish language endeuoreth to come neere if not altogither to match our toong in finenesse of phrase and copie of words and this may in part appeare by an historie of the Apocripâ—a translated into Scottish verse by Hudson dedicated to the king of that countrie and conteining sixe books except my memorie doo faile me Thus we sée how that vnder the dominion of the king of England and in the south parts of the realme we haue thrée seuerall toongs that is to saie English British and Cornish and euen so manie are in Scotland if you accompt the English speach for one notwithstanding that for bredth and quantitie of the region I meane onelie of the soile of the maine Iland it be somewhat lesse to see to than the other For in the north part of the region where the wild Scots otherwise called the Redshanks or rough footed Scots because they go bare footed and clad in mantels ouer their saffron shirts after the Irish maner doo inhabit they speake good Irish which they call Gachtlet as they saie of one Gathelus whereby they shew their originall to haue in times past béene fetched out of Ireland as I noted also in the chapiter precedent and wherevnto Vincentius cap. de insulis Oceani dooth yéeld his assent saieng that Ireland was in time past called Scotia Scotia eadem saith he Hibernia proxima Britanniae insula spatio terrarum angustior sed situ foecundior Scotia autem à Scotorum gentibus traditur appellata c. Out of the 14. booke of Isidorus intituled Originum where he also addeth that it is called Hybernia because it bendeth toward Iberia But I find elsewhere that it is so called by certeine Spaniards which came to seeke and plant their inhabitation in the same wherof in my Chronologie I haue spoken more at large In the Iles of the Orchades or Orkeney as we now call them such coasts of Britaine as doo abbut vpon the same the Gottish or Danish speach is altogither in vse and also in Shetland by reason as I take it that the princes of Norwaie held those Ilands so long vnder their subiection albeit they were otherwise reputed as rather to belong to Ireland bicause that the verie soile of them is enimie to poison as some write although for my part I had neuer any sound experience of the truth hereof And thus much haue I thought good to speake of our old speaches and those fiue languages now vsuallie spoken within the limits of our Iland Into how manie kingdoms this Iland hath beene diuided Cap. 7. IT is not to be doubted but that at the first the whole Iland was ruled by one onelie prince and so continued from time to time vntill ciuill discord grounded vpoÌ„ ambitious desire to reigne caused the same to be gouerned by diuerse And this I meane so well of the time before the comming of Brute as after the extinction of his whole race posteritie Howbeit as it is vncerteine into how manie regions it was seuered after the first partition so it is most sure that this latter disturbed estate of regiment continued in the same not onelie vntill the time of Caesar but also in maner vnto the daies of Lucius with whome the whole race of the Britons had an end and the Romans full possession of this Iland who gouerned it by Legats after the maner of prouince It should séeme also that within a while after the time of Dunwallon who rather brought those foure princes that vsurped in his time to obedience than extinguished their titles such partition as they had made of the Iland among themselues each great citie had hir fréedome and seuerall kind of regiment proper vnto hir selfe beside a large circuit of the countrie appertinent vnto the same wherein were sundrie other cities also of lesse name which owght homage and all subiection vnto the greatter sort And to saie truth hereof it came to passe that each of these regions whereinto this Iland was then diuided tooke his name of some one of these cities although Ciuitas after Caesar doth sometime signifie an whole continent or kingdome whereby there were in old time Tot ciuitates quot regna and contrariwise as may appeare by that of the Trinobantes which was so called of Trinobantum the chiefe citie of that portion whose territories conteined all
that gaue authoritie to the cleargie to punish whoredome who at that time found fault with the former lawes as being too seuere in this behalfe For before the time of the said Canutus the adulterer forfeited all his goods to the king and his bodie to be at his pleasure and the adulteresse was to lose hir eies or nose or both if the case were more than common whereby it appéereth of what estimation mariage was amongst them sith the breakers of that holie estate were so gréeuouslie rewarded But afterward the cleargie dealt more fauourablie with them shooting rather at the punishments of such priests and clearkes as were maried than the reformation of adulterie and fornication wherein you shall find no example that anie seueritie was shewed except vpon such laie men as had defiled their nuns As in theft therfore so in adulterie and whoredome I would wish the parties trespassant to be made bond or slaues vnto those that receiued the iniurie to sell and giue where they listed or to be condemned to the gallies for that punishment would proue more bitter to them than halfe an houres hanging or than standing in a shéet though the weather be neuer so cold Manslaughter in time past was punished by the pursse wherin the quantitie or qualitie of the punishment was rated after the state and calling of the partie killed so that one was valued sometime at 1200 another at 600 or 200 shillings And by an estatute made vnder Henrie the first a citizen of London at 100 whereof else-where I haue spoken more at large Such as kill themselues are buried in the field with a stake driuen through their bodies Witches are hanged or sometimes burned but théeues are hanged as I said before generallie on the gibbet or gallowes sauing in Halifax where they are beheaded after a strange maner and whereof I find this report There is and hath beene of ancient time a law or rather a custome at Halifax that who soeuer dooth commit anie fellonie and is taken with the same or confesse the fact vpon examination if it be valued by foure constables to amount to the sum of thirtéene pence halfe penie he is foorthwith beheaded vpon one of the next market daies which fall vsuallie vpon the tuesdaies thursdaies saturdaies or else vpon the same daie that he is so conuicted if market be then holden The engine wherewith the execution is doone is a square blocke of wood of the length of foure foot and an halfe which dooth ride vp and downe in a slot rabet or regall betwéene two péeces of timber that are framed and set vpright of fiue yardes in height In the neather end of the sliding blocke is an ax keied or fastened with an iron into the wood which being drawne vp to the top of the frame is there fastned by a woodden pin with a notch made into the same after the maner of a Samsons post vnto the middest of which pin also there is a long rope fastened that commeth downe among the people so that when the offendor hath made his confession and hath laid his necke ouer the neathermost blocke euerie man there present dooth either take hold of the rope or putteth foorth his arme so neere to the same as he can get in token that he is willing to sée true iustice executed and pulling out the pin in this maner the head blocke wherein the ax is fastened dooth fall downe with such a violence that if the necke of the transgressor were so big as that of a bull it should be cut in sunder at a stroke and roll from the bodie by an huge distance If it be so that the offendor be apprehended for an ox oxen shéepe kine horsse or anie such cattell the selfe beast or other of the same kind shall haue the end of the rope tied somewhere vnto them so that they being driuen doo draw out the pin wherby the offendor is executed Thus much of Halifax law which I set downe onelie to shew the custome of that countrie in this behalfe Roges and vagabonds are often stocked and whipped scolds are ducked vpon cuckingstooles in the water Such fellons as stand mute and speake not at their arraignement are pressed to death by huge weights laid vpon a boord that lieth ouer their brest and a sharpe stone vnder their backs and these commonlie hold their peace thereby to saue their goods vnto their wiues and children which if they were condemned should be confiscated to the prince Théeues that are saued by their bookes and cleargie for the first offense if they haue stollen nothing else but oxen sheepe monie or such like which be no open robberies as by the high waie side or assailing of anie mans house in the night without putting him in feare of his life or breaking vp of his wals or doores are burned in the left hand vpon the brawne of the thombe with an hot iron so that if they be apprehended againe that marke bewraieth them to haue beene arraigned of fellonie before whereby they are sure at that time to haue no mercie I doo not read that this custome of sauing by the booke is vsed anie where else than in England neither doo I find after much diligent inquirie what Saxon prince ordeined that lawe Howbeit this I generallie gather thereof that it was deuised to traine the inhabiters of this land to the loue of learning which before contemned letters and all good knowledge as men onelie giuing themselues to husbandrie and the warres the like whereof I read to haue beene amongst the Gothes and Uandals who for a time would not suffer euen their princes to be lerned for weakening of their courages nor anie learned men to remaine in the counsell house but by open proclamation would command them to auoid whensoeuer anie thing touching the state of the land was to be consulted vpon Pirats and robbers by sea are condemned in the court of the admeraltie and hanged on the shore at lowe water marke where they are left till three tides haue ouer washed them Finallie such as hauing wals and banks néere vnto the sea and doo suffer the same to decaie after conuenient admonition whereby the water entereth and drowneth vp the countrie are by a certeine ancient custome apprehended condemned and staked in the breach where they remaine for euer as parcell of the foundation of the new wall that is to be made vpon them as I haue heard reported And thus much in part of the administration of instice vsed in our countrie wherein notwithstanding that we doo not often heare of horrible merciles and wilfull murthers such I meane asiare not sildome séene in the countries of the maine yet now and then some manslaughter and bloudie robberies are perpetrated and committed contrarie to the lawes which be seuerelie punished and in such wise as I before reported Certes there is no greater mischéefe doone in England than by robberies the first by yoong shifting
seller should make his market by an houre or else the bailie or clearke of the said market to make sale therof according to his discretion without libertie to the farmer to fet vp their corne in houses and chambers I am persuaded that the prices of our graine would soone be abated Againe if it were enacted that each one should kéepe his next market with his graine and not to run six eight ten fouretéene or twentie miles from home to sell his corne where he dooth find the highest price and therby leaueth his neighbours vnfurnished I doo not thinke but that our markets would be farre better serued than at this present they are Finallie if mens barns might be indifferentlie viewed immediatlie after haruest and a note gethered by estimat and kept by some appointed trustie person for that purpose we should haue much more plentie of corne in our towne crosses than as yet is commonlie seene bicause each one hideth and hoordeth what he may vpon purpose either that it will be déerer or that he shall haue some priuie veine by bodgers who doo accustomablie so deale that the sea dooth load awaie no small part thereof into other countries our enimies to the great hinderance of our common-wealth at home and more likelie yet to be except some remedie be found But what doo I talke of these things or desire the suppression of bodgers being a minister Certes I may speake of them right well as séeling the harme in that I am a buier neuerthelesse I speake generallie in ech of them To conclude therefore in our markets all things are to be sold necessarie for mans vse and there is our prouision made commonlie for all the wéeke insuing Therefore as there are no great townes without one weekelie market at the least so there are verie few of them that haue not one or two faires or more within the compasse of the yeare assigned vnto them by the prince And albeit that some of them are not much better than Lowse faire or the common kirkemesses beyond the sea yet there are diuerse not inferiour to the greatest marts in Europe as Sturbridge faire neere to Cambridge Bristow faire Bartholomew faire at London Lin mart Cold faire at Newport pond for cattell and diuerse other all which or at leastwise the greatest part of them to the end I may with the more ease to the reader and lesse trauell to my slefe fulfill my taske in their recitall I haue set downe according to the names of the moneths wherein they are holden at the end of this booke where you shall find them at large as I borowed the same from I. Stow and the reports of others Of Parkes and Warrens Chap. 19. IN euerie shire of England there is great plentie of parkes whereof some here and there to wit welnere to the number of two hundred for hir daily prouision of that flesh apperteine to the prince the rest to such of the nobilitie and gentlemen as haue their lands and patrimonies lieng in or néere vnto the same I would gladlie haue set downe the iust number of these inclosures to be found in euerie countie but sith I cannot so doo it shall suffice to saie that in Kent and Essex onelie are to the number of an hundred and twentie in the bishoprike of Durham wherein great plentie of fallow deere is cherished and kept As for warrens of conies I iudge them almost innumerable and dailie like to incerase by reason that the blacke skins of those beasts are thought to counteruaile the prices of their naked carcases and this is the onelie cause whie the graie are lesse esteemed Neere vnto London their quickest merchandize is of the yong rabbets wherfore the older conies are brought from further off where there is no such speedie vtterance of rabbets and sucklings in their season nor so great losse by their skins sith they are suffered to growe vp to their full greatnesse with their owners Our parkes are geneâ—â—llie inclosed with strong pale made of oke of which kind of wood there is great store cherished in the woodland countries from time to time in ech of them onelie for the maintenance of the said defense and safe-keeping of the fallow déere from ranging about the countrie Howbeit in times past diuerse haue been fensed in with stone walles especiallie in the times of the Romans who first brought fallow déere into this land as some coniecture albeit those inclosures were ouerthrowne againe by the Saxons Danes as Cauisham Towner and Woodstocke beside other in the west countrie and one also at Bolton Among other things also to be seene in that towne there is one of the fairest clockes in Europe Where in wood is they are also inclosed with piles of state and therto it is douted of manie whether our bucke or doe are to be reckoned in wild or tame beasts or not Plinie deemeth them to be wild Martial is also of the same opinion where he saith Imbelles damae quid nisi praeda sumus And so in time past the like controuersie was about bées which the lawiers call Feras tit de acquirendo rerum dominio lib. 2. instit But Plinie attempting to decide the quarell calleth them Medias interferas placidas aues But whither am I so suddenlie digressed In returning therefore vnto our parks I find also the circuit of these inclosures in like manner conteine often times a walke of foure or fiue miles and sometimes more or lesse Wherby it is to be séene what store of ground is emploied vpon that vaine commoditie which bringeth no manner of gaine or profit to the owner sith they commonlie giue awaie their flesh neuer taking penie for the same except the ordinarie fée and parts of the déere giuen vnto the kéeper by a custome who beside three shillings foure pence or fiue shillings in monie hath the skin head vmbles chine and shoulders whereby he that hath the warrant for an whole bucke hath in the end little more than halfe which in my iudgement is scarselie equall dealing for venison in England is neither bought nor sold as in other countries but mainteined onelie for the pleasure of the owner and his friends Albeit I heard of late of one ancient ladie which maketh a great gaine by selling yeerelie hir husbands venison to the cookes as another of no lesse name will not sticke to ride to the market to sée hir butter sold but not performed without infinite scoffes and mockes euen of the poorest pezzants of the countrie who thinke them as odious matters in ladies and women of such countenance to sell their venison and their butter as for an earle to feele his oxen sheepe and lambs whether they be readie for the butcher or not or to sell his wooll vnto the clothier or to kéepe a tan-house or deale with such like affaires as belong not to men of honor but rather to farmers or grasiers for which such if there be anie may well be
In monte fracto where Iacobus de Voragino bishop of Gene Ioachimus Vadianus in Pompon Melam doo also make mention sith I take them but for fables far vnworthie that anie good man should staine his paper with such friuolous matters as are reported of them being deuised at the first by Satanas the father of lies for the holding of the ignorant credulous in their superstitions and errors Such also is the tale that goeth of Wenefrids well nothing inferior to that of Mercurie néere to port Caperia in Rome wherein such as went by would dip branches of baie and sprinkle the same vpon themselues and so manie as stood about them calling vpon Mercurie and crauing pardon for their sinnes as if that ceremonie had bene of force vnto forgiuenesse and remission of their trespasses And so it appeareth partlie by Cicero who being a man neither thinking well of their owne gods nor liking of the augures dooth write in his first De legibus except my memorie faile me aspersione aquae labem tolli corpoream castimoniam corporis praestari which maketh me to thinke further that they thought it equall with our late holie-water wherewith it maie be compared I might further also if I would make relation of diuerse welles which haue wrought manie miracles in time of superstition as S. Butolphs well in Hadstocke S. Germans well at Falkeburne Holie well at S. Albones and London and sundrie other in other places but as their vertues are now found out to be but baits to draw men and women vnto them either for gaine vnto the places where they were or satisfaction of the lewd disposition of such as hunted after other gaine so it shall suffice to haue touched them far off Onlie this will I ad that we haue no hurtfull waters no not vnto our shéepe though it please Cardan to auouch otherwise for our waters are not the causes but the signes of their infections when they drinke as I elsewhere haue noted in the chapter of cattell as also that we haue a spring neere Saffron Walden and not farre from the house of the lord Audleie which is of such force that it looseth the bodie of him that drinketh therof in verie genelt maner and beside that is verie delectable pleasant to be taken as I haue found by experience I heare also of two welles néere London of which the one is verie excellent water the other will beare no sope and yet so situat that the one is hard by the other And thus much of waters Of woods and marishes Chap. 22. IT should séeme by ancient records and the testimonie of sundrie authors that the whole countries of Lhoegres and Cambria now England and Wales haue sometimes béene verie well replenished with great woods groues although at this time the said commoditie be not a little decaied in both and in such wise that a man shall oft ride ten or twentie miles in ech of them and find verie little or rather none at all except it be néere vnto townes gentlemens houses villages where the inhabitants haue planted a few elmes okes hasels or ashes about their dwellings for their defense from the rough winds and keeping of the stormie weather from annoiance of the same This scarsitie at the first grew as it is thought either by the industrie of man for maintenance of tillage as we vnderstand the like to be doone of late by the Spaniards in the west Indies where they fired whole woods of verie great compasse therby to come by ground whereon to sow their graines or else thorough the couetousnesse of such as in preferring of pasture for their shéepe and greater cattell doo make small account of firebote and timber or finallie by the crueltie of the enimies whereof we haue sundrie examples declared in our histories Howbeit where the rocks and quarrie grounds are I take the swart of the earth to be so thin that no tree of anie greatnesse other than shrubs and bushes is able to grow or prosper long therein for want of sufficient moisture wherewith to feed them with fresh humour or at the leastwise of mould to shrowd staie vpright and cherish the same in the blustering winters weather till they may grow vnto anie greatnesse and spread or yéeld their rootes downe right into the soile about them and this either is or may be one other cause wherefore some places are naturallie void of wood But to procéed Although I must needs confesse that there is good store of great wood or timber here and there euen now in some places of England yet in our daies it is far vnlike to that plentie which our ancestors haue séene heretofore when statelie building was lesse in vse For albeit that there were then greater number of mesuages and mansions almost in euery place yet were their frames so slight and slender that one meane dwelling house in our time is able to counteruaile verie manie of them if you consider the present charge with the plentie of timber that we bestow vpon them In times past men were contented to dwell in houses builded of sallow willow plumtree hardbeame and elme so that the vse of oke was in maner dedicated wholie vnto churches religious houses princes palaces noblemens lodgings nauigation but now all these are reiected and nothing but oke anie whit regarded And yet sée the change for when our houses were builded of willow then had we oken men but now that our houses are come to be made of oke our men are not onlie become willow but a great manie through Persian delicacie crept in among vs altogither of straw which is a sore alteration In those the courage of the owner was a sufficient defense to kéepe the house in safetie but now the assurance of the timber double doores lockes and bolts must defend the man from robbing Now haue we manie chimnies and yet our tenderlings complaine of rheumes catarhs and poses Then had we none but reredosses and our heads did neuer ake For as the smoke in those daies was supposed to be a sufficient hardning for the timber of the house so it was reputed a far better medicine to kéepe the goodman and his familie from the quacke or pose wherewith as then verie few were oft acquainted Of the curiousnesse of these piles I speake not sith our workemen are growne generallie to such an excellencie of deuise in the frames now made that they far passe the finest of the old And such is their husbandrie in dealing with their timber that the same stuffe which in time past was reiected as crooked vnprofitable and to no vse but the fire dooth now come in the fronts and best part of the worke Wherby the common saieng is likewise in these daies verified in our mansion houses which earst was said onelie of the timber for ships that no oke can grow so crooked but it falleth out to some vse that necessarie in the nauie It is
there are 365 leape yeers in the period so that 1460 Iulian yéers doo conteine 1461 after the Egyptians account wherby their common yeare is found to be lese than ours Furthermore wheras our intercalation for the leape yere is somewhat too much by certeine minuts which in 115 yeares amount vnto about an whole day if one intercalation in so manie were omitted our calender would be the more perfect and I would wish that the same yeare wherein the said intercalation trulie found out should be ourpassed might be obserued and called Annus magnus Elizabethae in perpetuall remembrance of our noble and souereigne princesse now reigning amongst vs. I might here saie somewhat also of the prime and hir alteration which is risen higher by fiue daies in our common calender than it was placed by Iulius Caesar and in seauen thousand yeares some writer would grow to an error of an whole if the world should last so long But forsomuch as in some calenders of ours it is reduced againe to the daie of euerie change it shall suffice to saie no more therof The pope also hath made a generall correction of the calender wherein he hath reduced it to the same that it was or should haue beene at the councell of Nice Howbeit as he hath abolished the vse of the golden number so hath he continued the epact applieng it vnto such generall vse as dooth now serue both the turnes whose reformation had also yer this time béene admitted into England if it had not procéeded from him against whom and all whose ordinances we haue so faithfullie sworne and set our hands Certes the next omission is to be performed if all princes would agrée thereto in the leape yeare that shall be about the yeare of Grace 1668 if it shall please God that the world may last so long and then may our calender also stand without anie alteration as it dooth alreadie By this also it appeareth how the defect of our calender may be supplied from the creation wherein the first equinoctiall is seene higher toward the beginning of March than Caesars calender now extant dooth yéeld vnto by seauen daies For as in Caesars time the true equinoctiall was pointed out to happen as Stadius also noteth either vpon or about the sixtéenth or seauentéenth of March albeit the manifest apperance thereof was not found vntill the fiue and twentith of that moneth in their dials or by eie-sight so at the beginning of the world the said entrance of the sunne into the ram must néeds fall out to be about the twentith or one twentith of Aprill as the calender now standeth if I faile not in my numbers Aboue the yeare we haue no more parts of time that carie anie seuerall names with them eâ—â—cept you will affirme the word age to be one which is taken for a hundred yeares and signifieth in English so much as Seculum or Aeuum dooth in Latine neither is it néedfull to remember that some of my countrimen doo reckon their times not by years but by summers and winters which is verie common among vs. Wherefore to shut vp this chapiter withall you shall haue a table of the names of the daies of the wéeke after the old Saxon and Scotish maner which I haue borowed from amongst our ancient writers as I haue perused their volumes The present names Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Fridaie Saturdaie Sunday or the Lords daie The old Saxon names Monendeg Tuesdeg Wodnesdeg Thunresdeg Frigesdeg Saterdeg Sunnandeg The Scotish vsage Diu Luna Diu Mart. Diu Yath. Diu Ethamon Diu Friach Diu Satur. Diu Seroll Of our principall faires and markets Chap. 15. I Haue heretofore said sufficientlie of our faires in the chapter of fairs and markets and now to performe my promise there made I set downe here so manie of our faires as I haue found out by mine owne obseruation and helpe of others in this behalfe Certes it is impossible for me to come by all sith there is almost no towne in England but hath one or more such marts holden yearelie in the same although some of them I must needs confesse be scarse comparable to Lowse faire and little else bought or sold in them more than good drinke pies and some pedlerie trash wherefore it were no losse if diuerse of them were abolished Neither doo I see wherevnto this number of paltrie fairs tendeth so much as to the corruption of youth who all other businesse set apart must néeds repaire vnto them whereby they often spend not onelie the weeke daies but also the Lords sabbaoth in great vanitie and riot But such hath béene the iniquitie of ancient times God grant therefore that ignorance being now abolished and a further insight into things growne into the minds of magistrates these old errors may be considered of and so farre reformed as that thereby neither God may be dishonored nor the common wealth of our countrie anie thing diminished In the meane time take this table here insuing in stead of a calender of the greatest sith that I cannot or at the least wise care not to come by the names of the lesse whose knowledge cannot be so profitable to them that be farre off as they are oft preiudiciall to such as dwell neere hand to the places where they be holden and kept by pilferers that resort vnto the same Faires in Ianuarie THe sixt day being Twelfe day at Salisburie the fiue and twentith being saint Paules day at Bristow at Grauesend at Churchingford at Northalerton in Yorkeshire where is kept a faire euerie wednesday from Christmasse vntill Iune Faires in Februarie THe first day at Bromleie The second at Lin at Bath at Maidstone at Bickleswoorth at Budwoorth The fourtéenth at Feuersham On Ashwednesday at Lichfield at Tamwoorth at Roiston at Excester at Abington at Cicester The foure and twentith at Henlie vpon Thames at Tewkesburie Faires in March ON the twelth day at Stamford Sappesford and at Sudburie The thirtéenth day at Wie at the Mount at Bodmin in Cornewall The fift sunday in Lent at Grantham at Salisburie On monday before our ladie day in Lent at Wisbich at Kendall Denbigh in Wales On palme sunday éeuen at Pumfret On palmesunday at Worcester The twentith day at Durham On our ladie day in Lent at Northamton at Malden at great Chart at Newcastell And all the ladie daies at Huntington And at Saffron Walden on midlentsunday Faires in Aprill THe fift day at Wallingford The seuenth at Darbie The ninth at Bickleswoorth at Belinswoorth On monday after at Euesham in Worcestershire On tuesday in Easter wéeke at Northfléet at Rochford at Hitchin The third sunday after Easter at Louth The two and twentith at Stabford On saint Georges day at Charing at Ipswich at Tamworth at Ampthill at Hinninham at Gilford at saint Pombes in Cornewall On saint Markes day at Darbie at Dunmow in Essex The six and twentith at Tenderden in Kent Faires in Maie ON Maie daie at Rippon at Perin in
himselfe reported it by letters to the emperour after the largest manner to the end that if he appeased the matter he might win the more praise or if he were put to the woorst and should not preuaile that then his excuse might séeme the more reasonable and woorthie of pardon The Siluers were they that had atchiued this victorie and kept a fowle stur ouer all the countries about them till by the comming of Didius against them they were driuen backe and repelled But héerewith began trouble to be raised in another part for after that Caratac was taken the chiefest and most skillfull capteine which the Britains had was one Uenutius a ruler of the people named Iugants a man that remained a long time faithfull to the Romans and by their power was defended from his enimies who had married with Cartimanda queene of the Brigants or Yorkeshire men This Cartimanda as ye haue heard had deliuered Caratac into the Romans hands thereby ministring matter for the emperour Claudius to triumph by which pleasure shewed to the Romans she increased thorough their friendship in power and wealth whereof followed riotous lust to satisfie hir wanton appetite so as she falling at square with hir husband married Uellocatus one of his esquires to whom she gaue hir kingdome and so dishonoured hir selfe Héere vpon insued cruell warre in so much that in the end Uenutius became enimie also to the Romans But first they tugged togither betwixt themselues the quéene by a craftie policie found meanes to catch the brother and coosens of Uenutius but hir enimies nothing therewith discouraged but kindled the more in wrath against hir ceassed not to go forward with their purpose Manie of the Brigants disdaining to be subiect vnto a womans rule that had so reiected hir husband reuolted vnto Uenutius but yet the quéenes sensuall lust mixed wich crueltie mainteined the adulterer Uenutius therefore calling to him such aid as he could get and strengthened now by the reuolting of the Brigants brought Cartimanda to such a narrow point that she was in great danger to fall into the hands of hir enimies which the Romans forséeing vpon suit made sent certeine bands of horssemen and footmen to helpe hir They had diuerse incounters with the enimies at the first with doubtfull successe but at length they preuailed and so deliuered the quéene out of perill but the kingdome remained to Uenutius against whom the Romans were constreined still to mainteine warre About the same time the legion also which Cesius Nasicaled got the vpper hand of those Britains against whom he was sent For Didius being aged and by victories past inough renowmed thought it sufficient for him to make warre by his capteins so to staie and kéepe off the enimie Certeine castels and holds in déed he caused to be built and fortified further within the countrie than had béene afore attempted by anie of his predecessors and so thereby were the confines of the Romans in this I le somewhat inlarged Thus haue ye heard with what successe the Britains mainteined warre in defense of their libertie against the Romans whilest Claudius ruled the empire according to the report of the Romane writers ¶ But here you must note that Hector Boetius following the authoritie of one Veremond a Spaniard of Cornelius Hibernicus also of Campbell remooueth the Silures Brigants and Nouants so farre northward that he maketh them inhabitants of those countries which the Scots haue now in possession and were euen then inhabited as he affirmeth partlie by the Scots and partlie by the Picts as in the Scotish historie ye may sée more at large so that what notable feat soeuer was atchiued by the old Britains against the Romans the same by him is ascribed to the Scots and Picts throughout his whole historie whereas in verie truth for somuch as may be gathered by coniecture and presumption of that which is left in writing by ancient authors the Brigants inhabited Yorkshire the Silures Wales and the Marches and the Nouants the countrie of Cumberland But forsomuch as he hath diligentlie gathered in what maner the warres were mainteined by those people against the Romans and what valiant exploits were taken in hand and finished thorough their stoutnesse and valiancie ye may there read the same and iudge at your pleasure what people they were whome he so much praiseth aduertising you hereof by the way that as we haue before expressed none of the Romane writers mentioneth any thing of the Scots nor once nameth them till the Romane empire began to decay about the time of the emperor Constantius father of Constantine the great so that if they had béene in this I le then so famous both in peace and warre as they are reported by the same Boetius maruell might it séeme that the Romane writers would so passe them ouer with silence After the death of Claudius the emperor of Rome Claudius Domitianus Nero succéeded him in gouernement of the empire In the seuenth yéere of whose reigne which was after the incarnation 53 the Romans receiued a great ouerthrow in Britaine where neither the lieutenant A. Didius Gallus whom in this place Cornelius Tacitus calleth Auitus could during the time of his rule doo no more but hold that which was alreadie gotten beside the building of certeine castels as before ye haue heard neither his successor Uerannius beating and forreieng the woods could atthiue anie further enterprise for he was by death preuented so as he could not procéed forward with his purpose touching the warres which he had ment to haue folowed whose last words in his testament expressed detected him of manifest ambition for adding manie things by way of flatterie to content Neros mind he wished to haue liued but two yéeres longer in which space he might haue subdued prouinces vnto his dominion meaning therby the whole I le of Britaine But this was a Romans brag sauouring rather of ambition than of truth or likelihood The gouernment of P. Suetonius in this Iland he inuadeth Angle sey and winneth it a strange kind of women of the Druides the Britains lament their miserie and seruitude and take aduise by weapon to redresse it against the Romans their enimies The ninth Chapter BUt now when this great losse chanced to the Romans Paulinus Suetonius did gouerne here as lieutenant a man most plentifullie furnished with all gifts of fortune and vertue and therewith a right skilfull warrior This Suetonius therefore wishing to tame such of the Britains as kept out prepared to assaile the I le of Anglesey a countrie full of inhabitants and a place of refuge for all outlawes and rebels He builded certeine brigantins with flat kéeles to serue for the ebbes and shallow shelues here and there lieng vncerteinlie in the straits which he had to passe The footmen ferried ouer in those vessels the horssemen following by the foords and swimming when they came into the deepe got likewise to
a pitcht field as in the Scotish historie more plainlie appeareth To be bréefe the Britains were brought into such danger and miserie that they knew not what way to take for remedie in such present perill likelie to be ouerrun and vtterlie vanquished of their enimies In the meane time Uortigerne not onelie troubled with these imminent euils but fearing also the returne of the two brethren Aurelius Ambrose and Uter Pendragon began to consider of the state of things and estéeming it most sure to worke by aduise called togither the principall lords and chéefe men of the realme to haue their counsell and opinion how to procéed in such a weightie businesse and so debating the matter with them measured both his owne force and also the force of his enimies and according to the condition and state of the time diligentlie considered and searched out what remedie was to be had and prouided At length after they had throughlie pondered all things the more part of the nobles with the king also were of this mind that there could be no better way deuised than to send into Germanie for the Saxons to come to their aid the which Saxons in that season were highlie renowmed for their valiancie in armes and manifold aduentures heretofore atchiued And so forthwith messengers were dispatched into Germanie the which with monie gifts and promises might procure the Saxons to come to the aid of the Britains against the Scots and Picts The Saxons glad of this message as people desirous of intertainment to serue in warres choosing forth a picked companie of Iustie yoong men vnder the leading of two brethren Hingist and Horsus got them aboord into certeine vessels appointed for the purpose and so with all spéed directed their course towards great Britaine This was in the yeare of our Lord 449 and in the second yeare of Uortigerns reigne as the most autentike writers both British and English séeme to gather although the Scotish writers and name Hector Boetius doo varie herein touching the iust account of yeares as to the perusers of the writings aswell of the one as the other may appeare But others take it to be in the 4 yéere of his reigne whereto Beda séemeth to agrée who noteth it in the same yeare that Martianus the emperour began to rule the empire which was as appeareth by the consularie table in the consulship of Protogenes and Austerius and third yeere of Meroneus king of France These Saxons thus arriuing in Britaine were courteouslie receiued hartilie welcomed of king Uortigerne who assigned to them places in Kent to inhabit and foorthwith led them against the Scots and Picts which were entred into Britaine wasting destroieng the countrie before them Héerevpon comming to ioine in battell there was a sore fight betwixt the parties for a while But at length when the Saxons called to their remembrance that the same was the day which should either purchase to them an euerlasting name of manhood by victorie or else of reproch by repulse began to renew the fight with such violence that the enimies not able to abide their fierce charge were scattered and beaten downe on ech side with great slaughter The king hauing gotten this victorie highlie rewarded the strangers according to their well deseruings as by whose prowesse he had thus vanquished his enimies which as some write were come as farre as Stamford and vsed at that time to fight with long darts and speares whereas the Saxons fought onelie with long swords and axes ¶ Some haue written that the Saxons were not sent for but came by chance into the I le and the occasion to be this There was an ancient custome among the English Saxons a people in Germanie as was also at the first among other nations that when the multitude of them was so increased that the countrie was not able to susteine and find them by commandement of their princes they should choose out by lots a number of yoong and able personages fit for the warrs which should go foorth to séeke them new habitations and so it chanced to those that they came into great Britaine and promised to serue the king for wages in his warres Hengistus the Saxon shooteth at the crowne and scepter of the kingdome by craftie and subtile practises a great number of forren people arriue in Britaine for the augmentation of his power of the faire ladie Rowne his daughter whereof Wednesdaie and Fridaie tooke their name of the Iutes Saxons and Angles Vortigerne being inflamed with the loue of Hengists daughter forsaketh his owne wife and marrieth hir Vortigerne giueth Hengist all Kent the Saxons come ouer by heaps to inhabit the land the British nobilitie moue the king to auoid them he is depriued of his kingdome the miserable destruction made by the Saxons in this land skirmishes betwixt them and the Britains The third Chapter NOw Hengistus being a man of great wit rare policie and high wisedome vnderstanding the kings mind who wholie trusted to the valiancie of the Saxons herewithall perceiuing the fruitfulnesse of the countrie presentlie began to consider with himselfe by what wiles and craft he might by little settle heere and obteine a kingdome in the I le and so establish the same to him and his fore euer Therefore first he indeuored with all speed possible to fense that part of the countrie which was giuen him and his people and to inlarge and furnish it with garisons appointed in places most conuenient After this he did what he could to persuade the king that a great power of men might be brought ouer our of Germanie that the land being fortified with such strength the enimies might be put in feare and his subiects holden in rest The king not foreséeing the hap that was to come did not despise this counsell tending to the destruction of his kingdome and so was more aid sent for into Germanie wherevpon now at this second time shere arriued héere 16 vessels fraught with people and at the same time came the ladie Rowen or Ronix daughter to Hengist a maid of excellent beautie and comelinesse able to delight the eies of them that should behold hir and speciallie to win the heart of Uortigerne with the dart of concupiscence wherevnto he was of nature much inclined and that did Hengist well perceiue There came ouer into this land at that time and soone after thrée maner of people of the Germane nation as Saxons Vitae or Iutes and Angles ouer the which the said Hengist and Horse being brethren were capteines rulers men of right noble parentage in their countrie as descended of that ancient prince Woden of whom the English Saxon kings doo for the more part fetch their pedegrée as lineallie descended from him vnto whome also the English people falselie reputing him for a god consecrated the fourth daie of the wéeke as they did the sixt to his wife Frea so that
where their maiesties should bée shewed manie yéeres after Ethelburga fearing punishment fled into France with gâ—eat riches and treasure was well cherished in the court of king Charles at the first but after she was thrust into an abbeie and demeaned hirselfe so lewdlie there in keeping companie with one of hir owne countriemen that she was banished the house and after died in great miserie Egbert king of Mercia departing this life after he had reigned foure moneths ordeined his coosine Kenulfe to succeed in his place which Kenulfe was come of the line of Penda king of Mercia as rightlie descended from his brother Kenwalke This Kenulfe for his noble courage wisedome and vpright dealing was woorthie to be compared with the best princes that haue reigned His vertues passed his fame nothing he did that enuie could with iust cause reprooue At home he shewed himselfe godlie and religious in warre he became victorious he restored the archbishops sée againe to Canturburie wherein his humblenes was to be praised that made no account of worldlie honour in his prouince so that the order of the ancient canons might be obserued He had wars left him as it were by succession from his predecessour Offa against them of Kent and thervpon entring that countrie with a mightie armie wasted and spoiled the same and encountering in battell with king Edbert or Ethelbert otherwise called Prenne ouerthrew his armie and tooke him prisoner in the field but afterwards he released him to his great praise and commendation For whereas he builded a church at Winchcombe vpon the day of the dedication thereof he led the Kentish king as then his prisoner vp to the high altar and there set him at libertie declaring thereby a great proofe of of his good nature There were present at that sight Cuthred whom he had made king of Kent in place of Ethelbert or Edbert with 13 bishops and 10 dukes The noise that was made of the people in reioising at the kings bountious liberalitie was maruellous For not onelie he thus restored the Kentish king to libertie but also bestowed great rewards vpon all the prelates and noble men that were come to the feast euerie priest had a peece of gold and euerie moonke a shilling Also he dealt and gaue away great gifts amongst the people and founded in that place an abbeie indowing the same with great possessions Finallie after he had reigned 4 yéeres he departed this life and appointed his buriall to be in the same abbeie of Winchcombe leauing behind him a sonne named Kenelme who succeeded his father in the kingdome but was soone murthered by his vnnaturall sister Quendred the 17 of Iulie as hereafter shall be shewed Osrike king of Northumberland leaueth the kingdome to Edelbert reuoked out of exile king Alfwalds sons miserablie slaine Osred is put to death Ethelbert putteth away his wife and marieth another his people rise against him therefore and kill him Oswald succeeding him is driuen out of the land Ardulfe king of Northumberland duke Wade raiseth warre against him and is discomfited duke Aldred is slaine a sore battell fought in Northumberland the English men aflict one another with ciuill warres king Ardulfe deposed from his estate the regiment of the Northumbers refused as dangerous and deadlie by destinie what befell them in lieu of their disloialtie the Danes inuade their land and are vanquished the roiall race of the Kentish kings decaâ—eth the state of that kingdome the primasie restored to the see of Canturburie Egbert after the death of Britricus is sent for to vndertake the gouernement of the Westsaxons his linage The eight Chapter WHen Aswald king of Northumberland was made away his brother Osred the sonne of Alred tooke vpon him the rule of that kingdom anno 788 and within one yeere was expelled and left the kingdome to Ethelbert or Edelred as then reuoked out of exile in which he had remained for the space of 1 yéeres and now being restored he continued in gouernement of the Northumbers 4 yéeres or as some say 7 yéeres in the second yéere whereof duke Eardulfe was taken and led to Ripon and there without the gate of the monasterie wounded as was thought to death by the said king but the moonks taking his bodie and laieng it in a tent without the church after midnight he was found aliue in the church Moreouer about the same time the sonnes of king Alfwald were by force drawne out of the citie of Yorke but first by a wile they were trained out of the head church where they had taken sanctuarie and so at length miserablie slaine by king Ethelbert in Wonwaldremere one of them was named Alfus the other Alfwin In the yéere of our Lord 792 Osred vpon trust of the othes and promises of diuerse noble men secretly returned into Northumberland but his owne souldiers for sooke him and so was he taken and by king Ethelberts commandement put to death at Cunburge on the 14 day of September The same yéere king Ethelbert maried the ladie Alfled the daughter of Offa king of Mercia forsaking his former wife which he had hauing no iust cause of diuorce giuen on hir part whereby his people tooke such displeasure against him that finallie after he had reigned now this second time 4 yéeres or as other say seuen yéeres he could not auoid the destinie of his predecessors but was miserablie killed by his owne subiects at Cobre the 18 day of Aprill After whome one Oswald a noble man was ordeined king and within 27 or 28 daies after was expelled and constreined to flie first into the I le of Lindisferne and from thence vnto the king of Picts Then Ardulfe that was a duke and sonne to one Arnulfe was reuoked out of exile made king consecrated also at Yorke by the archbishop Cumbald and thrée other bishops the 25 of Iune in the yéere 396. About two yeeres after to wit in the yéere 798 one duke Wade and other conspirators which had beene also partakers in the murthering of king Ethelbert raised warre against king Ardulfe and fought a batteâ—l with him at Walleg but king Ardulfe got the vpper hand and chased Wade and other his enimies out of the field In the yéere 799. duke Aldred that had murthered Ethelbert or Athelred king of Northumberland was slaine by another duke called Chorthmond in reuenge of the death of his maister the said Ethelbert Shortlie after about the same time that Brightrike king of Westsaâ—ons departed this life there was a sore battell foughtten in Northumberland at Wellehare in the which Alricke the sonne of Herbert and manie other with him were slaine but to rehearse all the battels with their successes and issues it should be too tedious and irkesome to the readers for the English people being naturallie hard and high-minded continuallie scourged each other with intestine warres About six or seuen yéeres after this
burned and then returning backe they fell to wasting of the countrie on both sides the Thames But hearing that an armie was assembled at London to giue them battell that part of their host which kept on the northside of the riuer passed the same riuer at Stanes and so ioining with their fellowes marched foorth through Southerie and comming backe to their ships in Kent fell in hand to repare amend their ships that were in anie wise decaied Then after Easter the Danes sailing about the coast arriued at Gipswich in Suffolke on the Ascension day of our Lord and inuading the countrie gaue battell at a place called Wigmere or Rigmere vnto Uikill or Wilfeketell leader of the English host in those parties on the fift of Maie The men of Northfolke and Suffolke fled at the first onset giuen but the Cambridgeshire men sticked to it valiantlie winning thereby perpetuall faâ—e and commendation There was no mindfulnesse amongest them of running awaie so that a great number of the nobilitie and other were beaten downe and slaine till at length one Turketell Mireneheued that had a Dane to his father first bagan to take his flight and deserued thereby an euerlasting reproch The Danes obteining the vpper hand for the space of thrée moneths togither went vp and downe the countries wasted those parties of the realme that is to say Northfolke and Suffolke with the borders of Lincolnshire Huntingtonshire and Cambridgeshire where the fens are gaining excéeding riches by the spoile of the great and wealthie abbies and churches which had their situation within the compasse of the same fens They also destroied Thetford and burnt Cambridge and from thence passed through the pleasant mountaine-countrie of Belsham cruellie murdering the people without respect of age degrée or sex After this also they entred into Essex and so came backe to their ships which were then arriued in the Thames But they rested not anie long time in quiet as people that minded nothing but the destruction of this realme So as soone after when they had somwhat refreshed them they set forward againe into the countrie passing through Buckinghamshire so into Bedfordshire And about saint Andrewes tide they turned towards Northampton comming thither set fire on that towne Then turning through the west countrie with fire sword they wasted and destroied a great part thereof namelie Wiltshire with other parties And finallie about the feast of Christmas they came againe to their ships Thus had the Danes wasted the most part of 16 or 17 shires within this realme as Northfolke Suffolke Cambridgeshire Essex Middlesex Hartfordshire Oxfordshire Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire with a part of Huntingtonshire and also a great portion of Northamptonshire This was doone in the countries that lie on the northside of the riuer of Thames On the southside of the same riuer they spoiled and wasted Kent Southerie Sussex Barkeshire Hampshire and as is before said a great part of Wiltshire King Egelred offereth the Danes great summes of moneie to desist from destroieng his countrie their vnspeakable crueltie bloudthir stinesse and insatiable spoiling of Canturburie betraied by a churchman their merciles murthering of Elphegus archbishop of Canturburie Turkillus the Dane chiefe lord of Norfolke and Suffolke a peace concluded betweene the Danes and the English vpon hard conditions Gunthildis a beautifull Danish ladie and hir husband slaine hir courage to the death The fift Chapter THe king and the peeres of the realme vnderstanding of the Danes dealing in such merciles maner as is aboue mentioned but not knowing how to redresse the matter sent ambassadors vnto the Danes offering them great summes of moneie to leaue off such cruell wasting and spoiling of the land The Danes were contented to reteine the moneie but yet could not absteine from their cruell dooings neither was their greedie thirst of bloud and spoile satisfied with the wasting and destroieng of so manie countries and places as they had passed through Wherevpon in the yeere of our Lord 1011 about the feast of S. Matthew in September they laid siege to the citie of Canturburie which of the citizens was valiantlie defended by the space of twentie daies In the end of which terme it was taken by the enimies through the treason of a deacon named Almaricus whome the archbishop Elphegus had before that time preserued from death The Danes exercised passing great crueltie in the winning of that citie as by sundrie authors it dooth and maie appéere For they slue of men women and children aboue the number of eight thousand They tooke the archbishop Elphegus with an other bishop named Godwine also abbat Lefwin and Alseword the kings bailife there They spared no degrée in somuch that they slue and tooke 900 priests and other men of religion And when they had taken their pleasure of the citie they set it on fire and so returned to their ships There be some which write that they tithed the people after an inuerted order slaieng all by nines through the whole multitude and reserued the tenth so that of all the moonks there were but foure saued and of the laie people 4800 whereby it followeth that there died 43200 persons Whereby is gathered that the citie of Canturburie and the countrie thereabouts the people whereof belike fled thither for succor was at that time verie well inhabited so as there haue no wanted saith maister Lambert which affirme that it had then more people than London it selfe But now to our purpose In the yéere next insuing vpon the saturday in Easter wéeke after that the bishop Elphegus had béene kept prisoner with them the space of six or seuen moneths they cruellie in a rage led him foorth into the fields and dashed out his braines with stones bicause he would not redéeme his libertie with thrée thousand pounds which they demanded to haue beene leuied of his farmers and tenants This cruell murther was committed at Gréenewich foure miles distant from London the 19 of Aprill where he lay a certeine time vnburied but at length through miracles shewed as they say for miracles are all wrought now by dead men and not by the liuing the Danes permitted that his bodie might be caried to London and there was it buried in the church of S. Paule where it rested for the space of ten yeeres till king Cnute or Knought had the gouernment of this land by whose appointment it was remooued to Canturburie Turkillus the leader of those Danes by whome the archbishop Elphegus was thus murthered held Northfolke and Suffolke vnder his subiection so continued in those parties as chiefe lord and gouernor But the residue of the Danes at length compounding with the Englishmen for a tribute to be paid to them of eight thousand pounds spred abroad in the countrie soiorning in cities townes and villages where they might find most conuenient harbour