if there were any pervious Gulf. For then the Hole would be large and the Water run still round about and when any thing came to the Gulf it would quickly run through it without any damage Moreover 't is observable that the Inhabitants who dwell on the Islands and the Continent about this Whirl-pool row out upon it when the Weather is good and the Stream slow in its reflux and that they catch there abundance of Fish called Sey. Which they would not venture to do if there were such a thing as a devouring Vorago And yet there may be too a Receptacle or deep Hole near the high Rock which is in the midst of the Stream to receive and keep what the Stream draws in from time to time and restore it when it runs out again As for the Rock it stands in the midst of the Stream as a Beacon for Sea-men that they should not come into danger The Northern Ocean being exceeding deep and therefore a fit Habitation for Whales the Shores of Norway are not a little troubled with those great Leviathans Against whose violence and fury the Mariners and People of the Sea-coast have found a Remedy that is Castoreum or the Oyl of Castor the smell whereof forces them to retire immediately Otherwise there were no Fishing on these Coasts which is one of the greatest staple Commodities that the Country yields Castoreum or the Oyl of Castor has the Virtue to drive the dead Foetus out of its Mothers Womb and so it has to drive down a Whale which no sooner smells it but it sinks to the bottom The Whale has an acute Scent and doubtless there is a great Antipathy between the Whale and the Castoreum for this to sink so monstrous a Creature as soon as that comes within the reach of it's Smell And therefore the Norway Fishermen do seldom go a fishing without it But besides Castoreum there is a way to drive Whales with Juniper-wood whereof the Fisher-men cut Chips and cast them towards the Whale Which makes it presently retire into the Deep Now 't is well known that the Oyl of Juniper has the same virtue as the Castoreum to drive out the Foetus and by the same reason it may also be that Juniper Wood whereof the Oyl is prepared drives down the Whale From whence some Authors conclude that all other Medicaments and their Ingredients expelling the dead Foetus may have also the virtue to drive down the Whale Such as Assa foetida Myrrha Galbanum Scammony Brimstone Mace Cinnamon Rue Mother-wort and several others And as it has been proved by Experience that a Person who could swim well was drowned having Castoreum about him whilst others that were in the Boat and could not swim saved their Lives so 't is possible that the aforesaid Species have the same virtue for the depression of a Man And of so many Men that have suddenly lost their Lives in the Waters 't is possible some of them were drowned by the virtue of some of those Things aforesaid especially Mace and Cinnamon which perhaps they had about them But to come home from my Digression Norway is a Countrey for the most part Rocky and Mountainous And here is a vast Ridge of Hills called Sevo the Alps of the North. They serve for the most part as a Boundary to Norway and Sweden and are called in Norway Daare-field but in some Parts of it as in the Government of Dronthem Skarsfield Rund-field Dofre-field and betwixt Berghen and Aggerhuis Fille-field and Houckle-field There are in this Country a great many Lakes but scarce any great Rivers except in the South Parts As the Country is Rocky and Mountainous so it is barren woody extream cold and but ill inhabited In the best Parts thereof it affords little Corn and in the most Northern none at all So that the common sort of People are fain to use dried Fish that which we commonly call Stock-Fish instead of Bread but the better sort buy Corn of such Merchants as come to traffick with them Their chief Commodities are Stock-fish Furs Train-Oyl Pitch Tackling for Ships and Timber for Building Which the Inhabitants exchange for Corn Wine Brandy Beer and other Necessaries Mercator and Heylin after him tells us that this Country is exceedingly troubled with certain little Beasts which they call Lemmers They are about the bigness of a Field-mouse and are thought by the Inhabitants to drop out of the Clouds in stormy Weather They like the Locusts devour every green thing on the Earth and at a certain time die all in heaps together The Stench whereof does so poison the Air that the poor People are long after troubled with the Jaundice and with a Giddiness in the Head Here is also abundance of Bears and Wolves and amongst them some white Bears of a prodigious Bigness The Towns here are exceeding thin and in them the Houses for the most part very poor and miserable The Country in general is distributed into five Governments according to the number of the Castles which command the same Those are the Governments of Bahuis Aggerhuis Bergenhuis Dronthemhuis and Wardhuis The Government of Bahuys is the most Southern of all and lies opposite to the North Parts of Jutland in Denmark The same is so called from Bahuis a strong Castle in this Province in a small Island which the River Trolhetta makes that comes from the great Lake called Wener 'T is within three Leagues of the Sea and two North of Gottenburg The same was built Anno 1309 by Aquin II King of Norway And this is the Prefecture or Government which was yielded to the Swedes by the Roschild Treaty Anno 1658. Aggerhuis the Castle is situate about twenty Leagues full North from Scagen the most Northern point of Jutland This Castle has under its Command amongst other Towns Opslo a Bishops See and of most esteem for the Courts of Judicature which are kept here In the year 1646. a Gold Mine was found near this Town but it fell short of People's expectations Bergenhuis another of these Castles is so called from Bergen the principal Town of the Country an Episcopal See under the Archbishop of Dronthem and the ordinary Residence of the Viceroy This Town is situate amongst high Mountains at the bottom of a deep Creek or Arm of the Sea called Carmesund all which makes Bergen to be a very good Port and accordingly much resorted to by Merchants Ninety miles South of Bergen and under its Jurisdiction you will find Stafanger a Sea-Town with a good Port near which is the Fort called Doeswick Dronthemhuis is so called from Drontheim a Town seated upon a long Arm of the Sea which reaches a great way into the Continent The same is furnished with a safe and capacious Port but of difficult access Once a famous Place when it was the Seat of the Norvegian Kings and an Arch-bishops See but now reduced to a Burrough since the Subjection of this Countrey
Roger Manley A prodigious History and scarce to be parallelled by any Where you will find those two Kings fighting hand to hand for no less than a Crown the King of Sweden with a wonderful Resolution and continued Successes the King of Denmark with an undaunted Courage and indefatigable Indeavours to beat back so swift an Invader and stop him in his Career Whereupon a Treaty by the Mediation of England was concluded at Roschild in the Month of February 1658. By which Treaty the King of Sweden was to restore the Places he had taken from the Danes and were then possessed by him And the King of Denmark in consideration of the said Restitution as also for a Recompence of the Damages caused by this War did give and grant to his Majesty of Sweden and his Heirs for ever the Country of Schonen with the incorporate Provinces of Halland and Bleking besides the Island of Bornholm together with the Castles Towns and Territories of Bahuys and Drontheim in Norway the Secular and Ecclesiastick Jurisdiction which the King of Denmark had over some Places in the Isle of Rugen and all Places whatsoever taken from the Swedes during this War Those were Bremerford a good place in the Dutchy of Bremen the Bellemore Sconce lying upon the Elb and the Leher Sconce commanding the Weser The taking of which whilst the Swedes were deeply ingaged in Poland was the Occasion of this unhappy War to the Crown of Denmark To which I shall only add this material Article granted by King Frederick to King Charles by the said Treaty viz. That all Swedish Ships whatsoever in the Sound and Belt are by virtue of the said Treaty to be free and exempted from all Customs Inquisitions Visitation Arrest or any other Molestation whatsoever producing only a right Sea-pass in the King of Denmarks Custom-Houses of Elsineur and Newburg By this Treaty 't is plain that King Frederick was a great Loser and yet a great Saver considering the desperate Posture of his Affairs in that Juncture of time His Crown was clipped but still he had a Crown And 't is observable that the two Kings upon this Treaty had a friendly Interview with plain dealing and little or nothing of Royal Formality The Relation of which I shall have occasion to give you in another Place And yet soon after this the War broke out again For King Charles pretending that King Frederick had not performed his Articles prepared for a second Invasion upon Denmark and did it with so much Prudence and Secrecy that whilst some thought him gone towards Prussia others towards Pomeren but none towards Denmark he came from Wismar to Oldeslo then to Kiel in Holstein from thence by Sea to Corsoer in Seland and so straight before Copenhagen in August 1658. My Design is not to give you the particulars of this famous Siege which is already so well done in the forementioned History Only I shall tell you in general that the Pate of Denmark depended now if ever on the invincible Courage and Conduct of King Frederick Who upon the sight of these unexpected Invaders being prompted to make a timely Retreat into Norway or Holland declared with a Royal Magnanimity that he would live and die in his Nest and not survive the Fate and Glory of his Country In short this War continued as long as King Charles lived And though a Treaty was on foot to be influenced by the Mediation and Sea-Forces of England and Holland yet the Business was so carried on that no Treaty was made till after the Death of King Charles Who dying in the Year 1660. of a malignant Fever at Gottenburg in Sweden left his Crown and Conquests to Charles his Son the present King of Sweden Soon after his Death the Treaty of Peace was concluded much upon the Basis of the Roschild Treaty But the Government of Drontheim in Norway was by this Treaty restored to King Frederick Who died February the 9th in the Year 1670 being 61 years old Since that time there has been another Rupture betwixt these two Northen Crowns in the late Wars which have imbrued Europe in so much Blood Where both the present King of Denmark Christiern V. and the Illustrious Prince George his only Brother have given such proofs of their Personal Valor as becomes the Royal Issue of so magnanimous a Prince as King Frederick 'T was in this War that the Swedes were routed out of Germany Pomeren they lost to the Elector of Brandenburg Wismar in Mecklemburg and several Places in Schonen to the King of Denmark Where the Danes overpowred them frequently in Field-Fights and in Sieges neither did they come off less triumphantly at Sea And though the most Christian King forced the Danes at last as well as Brandenburg to a Restitution yet they had the satisfaction of having revenged in some measure their former Quarrel with the Swedes So true it is that of all humane Things none is more subject to Vicissitude than the Issues of War Thus having brought this Monarchy from the first Rise thereof to its present State through a continued Series of the most material Changes I shall now with all the clearness and brevity I can prosecute my main Design In order to which I must in the first place give an Account of Denmark then of Norway and lastly of some other Estates and Dominions belonging to this Crown Of DENMARK in general THE Kingdom of DENMARK lies East from Scotland and the North of England at least 300 miles by Sea the nearest Parts The same is called Denmark or Danemark i. e. the Country of the Danes whose Original you shall hear of afterwards The best and greatest Part of it is the Peninsule called Jutland otherwise the Cimbrick Chersonese from its ancient Name Cimbrica Chersonesus The rest does consist of Islands the principal of which are Seland and Funen As to the Country of Schonen formerly part of Denmark 't was by the Roschild Treaty transferred to the Crown of Sweden and incorporated with it So that it does not belong to my Subject The whole Country is almost surrounded with the Sea nothing but the South Parts of the Peninsule bordering upon any Land The Peninsule lies Westward and the Islands Eastward The Ocean goes round about that as far as the little Belt which parts it from Funen Situate it is betwixt the fifty fourth and fifty ninth Degrees of Northern Latitude and consequently altogether in the Northern Temperate Zone the Skau or Skagen which is the most Northern Point of Denmark being no less than eight Degrees and a half distant from the Arctick Circle where begins the Frigid Zone Accordingly there the longest day is somewhat above 18 hours and at Altena near Hamburg in the South Parts of the Chersonese not quite 17. In short this Country lies parallel to all that Tract of Ground which is from Hull in Yorkshire to Dornock in the furthest Parts of Scotland At 20 Leagues or 60 miles a Degree
't is observable besides that in Imitation of the Picts Wall in England there was within few miles South of Sleswick a long Trench and Wall from the one Sea to the other so broad that a Chariot or two Horsemen a breast might ride upon it The same was first built by Gotricus or Godfrey King of Denmark in the time of Charles the Great either to stop the Current of his Victories or to hinder the daily Incursions of the Saxons The Tract thereof still very easy to be seen is called Danewark to this day South of the Dukedom of Sleswick lies that of Holstein A woody Country called Holstein from the Dutch word Holt which signifies a Wood or Forest The River Eyder divides it Northward from Sleswick Westward it is bounded partly with the Elb and Eastward with the Baltick The River Elb one of the five great Rivers of Germany divides it from the Dukedom of Bremen and further Southward it is bounded with the Dukedom of Saxen Lawemburg This Country is divided into four principal Parts viz. Dithmarsen North-westward Holstein properly so called Stormaren Southward and Wageren North-castward First Holstein specially so called together with Stormaren was made an Earldom by the Emperour Lotharius Anno 1134. in the Person of Adolph Earl of Schomburg who had deserved well of him in his Wars And when Christiern Earl of Oldenburg was called to the Crown of Denmark Anno 1448 he having gotten Dithmarsen of the Emperour Frederick the Third prevailed so far as to have the whole Estate erected into a Dukedom to be held by him and his Successors of the sacred Empire The famous Hanse-Towns of Hamburg and Lubeck that on the Elb and this on the Trave both on the Borders of Holstein and Germany are reckoned as Towns of Holstein though neither of them subject to the King of Denmark nor to the Dukes of Holstein Hamburg is of that part of Holstein which is called Stormaren about sixteen German miles from Bremen in Germany six East of Staden and eight West of Lubeck It is built at the Influx of the Alster into the Elb in a large Plain with fat and rich Pastures round about it the Ships coming up to it a great way with the Tide This is an ancient City great populous beautiful and rich and a Place of vast Trading There is the old and new Town both surrounded with good Walls and well fortified The Buildings for the most part are of Brick the Streets somewhat narrow but the publick Structures very fair especially the Council-house adorned with the Statues of the nine Worthies carved with very great Art then the Exchange or Meeting-place for Merchants and amongst the Churches S. Nicolas and S. Catharines Church this last having a marble Chair with Figures of Alabaster and Ornaments of Gold most delicately wrought It is observed says Heylin that there were in this Town at one time 177 Brewers when there was but forty Bakers one Lawyer and one Physician The Reason of which Disproportion was that a Cup of Nimis was their usual Physick that Bread was counted a Binder and so not to be used but in case of Necessity and that their Differences were sooner ended over a Can than by course of Law This formerly was the Staple Town for English Cloth from whence on some Discontents it was removed to Stade and at last to Holland Anciently Hamburg was an Archbishops See founded by Charles the Great but transferred to Bremen Anno 850 with the Consent of Lewis the then Emperour Moreri says that Hamburg was sometime subject to the Archbishops of Bremen that afterwards the Hamburgers were under particular Lords of their own and at last came to be under the Dukes of Holstein But Heylin having told us that this City was repaired by Charles the Great and walled by the Emperour Henry the Fourth says further that it was accounted since that time an Imperial City and made one of the Hanse upon the first Incorporating of those Towns Which notwithstanding upon a Controversy arising about that time betwixt the Earl of Holstein and the People of Hamburg this Town was adjudged to belong to the Earls of Holstein and that Determination ratify'd by Charles the Fourth Anno 1374. In pursuance whereof the Hamburgers took the Oath of Allegiance to Christiern Earl of Oldenburg the first King of Denmark of that House as Earl of Holstein acknowledging him and his Successors for their lawful Lords But since that time they have slip'd their Necks out of the Collar and having took upon themselves to live as a free State they only pay some small Duty to the King of Denmark as Duke of Holstein and that rather by way of a Toll upon the account of Gluckstad that lies betwixt Hamburg and the Mouth of the River Elb than on any other account However the King of Denmark seems to have a just Claim to Hamburg and he never draws near it with any Forces but the Hamburghers jealous of their Liberty and perhaps conscious of their Guilt put themselves into a Posture of Defence In order to which besides their constant Garrison and the promised Assistance of the rest of the Hanse-Towns upon all occasions they can raise about fifteen thousand Citizens in Arms to stand for their Liberty Lubeck the chief of all the Hanse Towns was at first but a goodly Borough which Adolphus Earl of Holstein built Anno 1143. in the time of the Emperour Conrade III. But it was so well priviledged by the said Earl and his next Successors that in a short time it bid defiance to its Founders and was made a Dukedom of it self By the Emperour Frederick I. it was united to the Empire but after his Death they chose themselves another Duke Who having governed them five Years was subdued by the Danes and the City made subject to that Kingdom In which Condition they remained till delivered by the Emperour Frederick II by whom being infranchised again it became Imperial and was afterwards listed amongst the Hanse Towns Anno 1500. John King of Denmark attempted to reduce this City under his Obedience which War broke out again in the year 1509 and then the Swedes espoused the Lubeckers Quarrel Anno 1547 in Charles the fifth's time they sent their Deputy's to the Emperour to get a Continuation of their Privileges for which they presented his Imperial Majesty with 100000 Crowns Anno 1562. they ingaged in a War with Eric King of Sweden which War continued till the year 1570. Ever since this City has been in a flourishing Condition And though it has been burnt down several times particularly in the year 1238 yet it raised it self always out of its Ashes T is built upon all the sides of a rising Hill on the top whereof stands the Church of St. Mary whence is a descent to all the Gates of the City affording to the eye a most pleasing Prospect The Buildings are very beautiful and all of Brick the Streets strait and even
THE PRESENT STATE OF DENMARK By GVY MIEGE Author of the New Cosmography or Survey of the whole World LONDON Printed for Tho. Basset at the George in Fleetstreet near St. Dunstan's Church 1683. To His Royal Highness THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS PRINCE GEORGE THE KING of Denmark's only Brother May it please Your Royal Highness THE Liberty I take to offer You this Work is not out of Presumption It is a Debt I come to pay an Homage I come to render to Your ROYAL HIGHNESS 'T is Your R.H. has occasion'd it upon the News of your happy Marriage with the Princess Which has diffused so great a Joy through the whole Nation that it had certainly broke out into Extraordinary and Publick Demonstrations at any other Conjuncture However it has created a Desire to know the estate of a Kingdom which has given us so Illustrious a Prince by his Birth so famous for his Courage and so Amiable by that Sweetness of Disposition which has already gained him so many Hearts in this Realm Therefore to satisfy the Publick I have undertaken this short Description of the State of Denmark in writing of which I had the advantage of speaking well of Denmark without having need to flatter And I am perswaded it will be so much the more Acceptable to Your ROYAL HIGHNESS and the Publick If it shall have the Fortune to please 't will be no small Satisfaction to me and I should think my self very happy to have done Something that had the Honour to be approved by so great a Prince For whom my Prayers to Heaven shall be to pour down its most benign Influences upon Your ROYAL HIGHNESS to crown your Marriage with a glorious Off-spring that this happy Alliance may prove an eternal Bond of Amity between the two Kingdoms of England and Denmark and that Your ROYAL HIGHNESS may all the days of your Life be the Delight of your Friends and Terrour of your Enemies I humbly beg of Y. R. H. to accept of these Marks of the Zeal I have for your Service and to believe that none can be with more Veneration than I am YOVR ROYAL HIGHNESSE'S Most humbly devoted Servant GVY MIEGE READER HERE you have a Short but Comprehensive Description of the State of Denmark which may be called Multum in Parvo The Occasion for Writing of it is easy to guess at Before the late Marriage of GEORGE Prince of Denmark with the Lady ANN the English had no other Interest in that Countrey but that of a Northern Trade And the Truth is few People minded it but such as traded that Way But now these two Crowns are come to a closer Vnion 't is worth our while to look back and to consider the State of that Monarchy wherein the English Nation has so great an Interest in the Prince's Person A Monarchy which has been in former times most formidable both to France and England and which has to this day the Command of the Baltick in a far better manner than the Venetians can pretend it of their Gulf. A Monarchy of great Latitude if we consider all the accessory Estates to the Crown of Denmark as the Kingdom of Norway with the Isles of Schetland Feroe and Iseland besides the Coast of Groenland in Terra Polaris Arctica and New-Denmark in the Northern America In Germany West of the Dutchy of Bremen the King of Denmark has got of late years the fruitful Counties of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst In Africk he has Frederixburg upon the Coast of Guinea besides some Holds in Asia As for the Kingdom of Denmark it self which is the main Thing of all I have had the advantage of knowing the Country not only by reading Authors upon that Subject but also by my own Experience when I was there an Attendant on the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle in his Northern Embassy's What material Changes have hapned there since I got out of my Memoires So that you have really in this small Tract the State of Denmark both Ancient and Modern Wherein you will find not only Geography but a great deal of History both Civil and Natural POSTSCRIPT Upon the finishing of this Book at the Press I was not a little surprised to see another get the start of it being of this very size upon the same Subject and bearing the same Title The Style whereof might have been more polite the Matter better digested the Impression much neater and the Faults less numerous had not the Book as I am informed been hurry'd into the World for the preventing of This. But some People will run though they make more Haste than good Speed ERRATA PAge 7. l. 2. for was read has p. 10. l. 12. for upon r. of p. 17. l. 13. 14. r. most part p. 31. l. 16. blot out formerly p. 108. l. 23. r. 64th p. 111. last line r. to drive p. 127. l. 10. r. to the Czar THE PRESENT STATE OF DENMARK A Prefatory Discourse of the Rise and Progress of this Monarchy THE State of Denmark the Description whereof I take in hand has been in former Ages a great and formidable State Gotricus or Godfrey was the first King of Note that took upon him the Danish Government Which hapned in the Year of our Lord 797. And 't was about this time that the Danes first began to infest the Coasts of England that they invaded Frizeland with a Fleet of 200 Sail and would have indangered the great Monarchy of France if the Death of Godfrey and the Quarrels that arose about the Succession after his Decease had not kept them off At last their Affairs at home being composed again they employ'd their whole Forces against England as the weaker Enemy This hapned in the beginning of the ninth Century that is in the time of Egbert the last King of the West-Saxons and the first of England Which being now reduced from a State of Heptarchy into that of a Monarchy was unhappily disturbed by these new Guests Who having filled up the void Rooms of the Juites and Angles in Jutland formerly called the Cimbrick Chersonese thought it convenient to follow them into Britain also So that next to the Saxons the Danes were the most considerable Actors in the Stage of England Where they continued about 225 years during which time they first erected many small Sovereignties Till after several Checks given them by King Alfred his Son Edward and Athelstan Edward's Son they were at last brought by King Edred under the English Government and compelled by him to be christened So that they lived with the English mixed in Marriages and Alliance and incorporated with them But toward the latter end of the tenth Century in the Reign of King Ethelred a weak Prince the Danes began again to grow upon the English Insomuch that the King was sain to buy his Peace of them at the yearly Tribute of ten thousand Pounds inhanced soon after to forty thousand A vast Sum in those Times which was
the whole Length in a direct Line comes to about 80 Leagues or 240 miles As the Ocean parts Denmark from England and Scotland so the Baltick parts it from Sweden This is the Sinus Codanus of the Ancients otherwise called Mare Suevicum and now Mare Balticum from the name of Baltick whereby we now call it The Dutch call it Die Belt or else Oost Zee that is the East-Sea There are three several Passages into it from the Ocean all of them under the Command of the King of Denmark The general safest and most usual Passage is the famous Streight called the Sound betwixt the East parts of Seland and the West of Schonen in Swethland Which is so great a Passage that there comes often 200 sometimes 300 Sail of Ships in one day The same is hardly four miles over where it is narrowest The second Passage or Inlet lyes West of that betwixt the Isles of Seland and Funen This is some sixteen miles over from Korsoer to Newburg And it is called Beltsound or the Great Belt to distinguish it from Middlefare or the lesser Belt Which is the most Western and narrowest Passage lying betwixt Funen and Jutland not above two miles over From these three Streights lying East and West the Baltick Sea widens it self and runs a good way East-Northward till it divides it self into two long Gulfs one running North and the other East The first of which is called Bothn-Zee or the Gulf of Bothnia from a Province of that name in Sweden and the other Finnich-Zee or Finland-Gulf from another Province of that Name belonging likewise to Sweden which Province separates those Gulfs from one another Northward this Sea runs all along Sweden Southward it washes part of Denmark the North Parts of Mecklemburg and Pomeren in Germany Curland in Poland Livonia and Ingria both belonging to Sweden So that it may be called the Mediterranean of the North. This Sea has no visible Tide and swarms in many Places especially towards the Sea Coasts with Islets Shelves and Rocks which make the Navigation in those Parts very hazardous Most commonly in Winter-time 't is so frozen up that the Ships are Ice-bound in their Harbours About the latter end of January Anno 1658 the Cold was so intense and so very violent beyond the memory of Man that the Sea became a solid Bridge of Ice Insomuch that King Charles of Sweden who looked upon it as a singular Providence that made way to his Greatness resolved to march out of Jutland into Funen over the Frozen Sea against the sense of his chief Officers A prodigious but yet successful Attempt Not a Night passed saith my Historian wherein he did not send his Spies into the Island and his Scouts to discover the firmness of the Waters Hist of the late Wars in Denm p. 6. Which being at length reported to be strong enough save only a small but long Rent of scarce five Foot broad he gave orders to March But first he commanded a great quantity of Planks Posts Hurds and the like Materials to be brought thither and laid to make a Bridge over the said Breach The Ice breaking two Troops of Waldecks Regiment fell in and several other single Troopers were drowned Which forced the Army to rush on with more vigour being too far ingaged to retire and the Danger behind them being greater than that in their Front In short they got to Funen the Inhabitants whereof being thus strangely surprised made little or no Resistance This great Success of King Charles prepared him for a second March over Sea and the very sight of the Ice inflamed his Courage To Seland he must go to surprise Copenhagen And though the nearest Way was over the great Belt the Island Spro besides lying about half way yet he thought fit to take another Course He went from Funen to Langland and so through Laland and Falster to Seland By which means he secured all those Islands in his way and surprised Seland at Warimburg where no body dreamt of his Coming From Warimburg with an Army not consisting of above 7000. Horse and Foot he made hast towards Copenhagen Where I leave him to proceed in my Description By what is said you may guess of the sharpness of the Air in Denmark The Country being but narrow and the several Parts of it severed from one another by the Interposition of the Sea you cannot expect to hear of any great Rivers The chief of them you may have an account of in the particular Descriptions we shall make Mountains of any note I cannot find in a Country for the part most plain and little swell'd with Mountains In North-Jutland indeed there is a very high Mountain called Alberg in which as the Inhabitants believe and report accordingly are found some Marks and Remainders of the ancient Giants In short Denmark in general is a wholsom brave and fertile Country It produces great plenty of Corn and has such Pasture-Grounds for the feeding of Oxen that according to divers Authors there are sent every year from hence into Germany above fifty thousand Oxen. On the other side the green Forests and Woods feed innumerable Herds of Swine where they eat their fill of Mast and Acorns falling from the great Oaks and Beech-trees in abundance But besides this vile sort of Cattel here is likewise a prodigious number of Horses and wild Deer and especially Stags and Elks. Fish cannot be wanted in a Country sufficiently irrigated with Rivers and so surrounded as it is with the Sea But it is observable that in South-Jutland the Fields there do interchangeably yield both Fish and Corn. For once in three or four years the Natives let the Pools overflow the Land for the Fish to eat up the Grass and the Mud which is left behind to inrich the Soil And then you may think they catch plenty of Fish Of DENMARK in particular And first of Jutland AS this famous Peninsule was formerly called Cimbrica Chersonesus from the Cimbri the then Inhabitants of it so it has since took the name of Jutland from the Juites who peopled it next to the Cimbri These were the People who together with the neighbouring Saxons made a Conquest of the best part of Britain At this time Jutland is divided into North and South Jutland The first is subdivided into the four Dioceses or Districts of Alburg Wiburg Arhusen and Ripen and South-Jutland into the Dukedoms of Sleswick and Holstein The Diocese of Alburg takes up the most Northern Parts of this Peninsule and is so called from Alburg the chief Place hereof seated on the South-side of the Bay of Limfort that Bay which opening Eastward crosses almost all the Peninsule and makes in its way a good large Island called Mors. On the West of which Island is the Tract of Land call'd the Ty or Tyland as those Parts which lye North of the said Bay go by the name of Winsissel The Diocese of Wiburg lies South of that and is so
to the Danes For it has no Walls about it but lyes open on all sides 'T is true it has been destroy'd several times by fire and there is still to be seen some Remains of one of the most stately Churches in the North. But this Place could never recover it self to any thing of its ancient Greatness or Splendour since the Danish Viceroys kept their Residence at Berghen as a more convenient Place and to be sure not so extreme cold as the other For whereas Drontheim is situate in the 24th degree of Northern Latitude a cold Seat for a King or a Vice-Roy Bergen is at least two degrees more Southerly To be short Drontheim is that Place which the Latines called Nidrosia as the Italians call it still to this day And they termed it Nidrosia from Nider a River which runs before it There is a Castle to defend it but none of the strongest And yet it is the largest Prefecture or Government reaching from South to North no less than 500 miles and from the Ocean Westward to the Kingdom of Sweden Eastward at least 100 miles 'T is true this Government by reason of its great Extent is subdivided into the Prefecture of Drontheim properly so called which takes up the Southern Parts and the Prefecture of Salte which takes up the North Parts The Whole by the Roschild Treaty was granted to the Swedes but afterwards restored to the Danes by the next Treaty of the year 1660. East of Drontheim lyes the Countrey of Jempterland formerly part of Norway and as such belonging to the Crown of Denmark But by the Treaty of Bromsbroo Anno 1645 it was yielded to the Swedes to whom it has been subject ever since At last we come to Wardhuis a Government in the sarthest Parts Northward So called from the Town of Wardhuys as that is from the Isle Ward about 120 miles South-East of the North-cape in which it is seated This Place which was but formerly mean and poor is something improved since the North-East Passage to Archangel was found out by the English it lying in the way for the English and Dutch to touch at as they go to Moscovy But by reason of the extremity of the Cold and long absence of the Sun for some Months together it is hardly habitable and consequently the Sea not navigable In the Summer time the Governour makes shift to reside in it but past that Season he shifts to a warmer Place The Castle was strongly fortify'd by King Frederick the Second as well to command the Natives as to awe the neighbouring Laplanders For Eastward this part of Norway borders upon the Moscovian Southward upon the Swedish Lapland And truly this Government at least the East part of it otherwise known by the name of Finmark may be called the Danish Lapland Here is the great Lake Enarak which parts a great way this Region from the Moscovian Lapland The Norvegians were formerly so warlike a People that they became terrible to the more Southern Nations By whom they were called Normans q.d. Northmen being at that time a mixture of several Nations of the North as of Norvegians and Swedes amongst whom perhaps the Danes did come in In short 't is from them that the fair Province of Normandy in France took that name For as the Romans had been routed there by the French so the French afterwards were routed by the Normans Who about the year 800 began their Irruptions out of their Northern Countreys and did so ransack and plague the Maritime Towns of France and the Netherlands that it was inserted in the Litany From Plague Pestilence and the Fury of the Normans good Lord deliver us Charles the simple to quiet them and to secure himself gave them a part of Neustria from them since called Normannia or Normandy together with the Sovereignty of Britanny enjoy'd by them and their Posterity for many Ages Their first Duke was Rollo Anno 912 from whom in a direct Line the sixth was William called the Conquerour and crowned King of England Anno 1067. But since the Norvegians became subject to the Crown of Denmark their Fury is so much abated and their Spirits have been so quelled that they are grown as cold as their Climate Instead of Invading Nations they are given to Hospitality and far from turning Pirates they are become great Abhorrers of Theft In short they have now the repute of being a sort of good harmless People without any fraud or deceit For which they are indebted to the Danes who by keeping them low have not onely took away their Strength but their Courage And yet it is said some of them are much given to Witchcraft and that they are so expert in it as to be able by keeping good Correspondence with the Prince of the Air drive a Trade of Winds As to Christianity the Norvegians did not imbrace the Gospel till the Reign of Olaus Son of Sueno King of Denmark and Norway that is about the Year 1055. The English assisted in the Work and the good King Olaus was so zealous in it that he was canonized for a Saint after his decease The Reformation was wrought here at the same time and in the same manner as it was in Denmark I said from the beginning that the Norvegians were first conquered by Sueno King of Denmark In whose Line that Crown continued till Sueno II restored it to the Norvegians But afterwards being reunited to the Crown of Denmark by the Marriage of Aquin King of Norway and of Margaret eldest Daughter of Waldemar III King of Denmark it has ever since continued subject to this Crown And though Olaus the only Son of Aquin died without Issue yet the Norvegians liked the Danes so well that they never offered to assert their Liberties But if their stomachs served them now to stir against the Danes where is their strength to do it They are poor and only fit to live as they do in an entire submission to their Prince the King of Denmark and under Him to his Viceroy the Lord Guldenlew Of the Earldoms of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst in Germany IN Germany the King of Denmark possesses the Earldom of Oldenburg and under it That of Delmenhorst The Earldom of Oldenburg is a fine Estate in the North-Parts of Westphaly so called from Oldemburg the chief Place of it and the Head of this Earldom It lies betwixt the German Ocean Northward and the Bishoprick of Munster Southward the Dukedom of Bremen Eastward and East-Friseland Westward The Soil hereof is exceeding rich but in Pastures especially Which breed infinite Herds of Cattel and furnish not this Country only but some of their German Neighbours and many of the more Northern Nations with Horses Beeves Sheep Swine Butter and Cheese Here is also good store of Pulse Barley and Oats plenty of Fruits and Trees of all sorts large Woods well stored with Venison and yielding unto the Gentry the Delights of Hunting But the Air is pretty cold in
Winter and foggy nigh the Sea And this is the general Character Mercator and Heylin give us of this Countrey Eastward it is watered with the River Weser which parts it from the Dutchy of Bremen and is one of the chief Rivers of all Germany Some miles to the Westward you will find the Jade a River which at first was but a Brook scarce worth the naming It springs out of a Pool or Lake called the great Meer and by the way parting as it were the Fields from one another it swelled with the Waters that ran into it and so fell into the Meers At last the Banks breaking through the violence of the Storms it drowned all the lower Grounds and made a great Collection of Waters at the Rivers Mouth which makes it look more like a Gulf than a River On this Shore are still to be seen the sad Remainders of seven or eight Parishes that perished in this Flood The chief Towns hereof are Oldenburg and Delmenhorst The first is scated on the River Hont twenty five miles West of Bremen and forty East of Embden which River falls into the Weser about twelve miles from Oldenburg Eastward The Town it self is of no great State or Beauty But the Castle where the Earls of Oldenburg dwelt is still a very good Castle built of well-hewn Stones of an orbicular form with deep Ditches of Water about it This is the Castle which Walpert the first Earl of Oldenburg built about the Year 850 calling it from his Wife Alteburg Alteburgum which by the Germans was turned into Oldemburg Delmenhorst is so called from the River Delme on which it is situate about three Leagues to the Westward of Bremen 'T is a strong Place and of great Importance built in the Year 1247. by Otho Brother of Earl Christian the Second But in the time of Gerard Earl hereof a Prince of an unquiet Spirit always in Wars and always worsted this Place was lost to the Bishop of Munster Having continued in Possession of the Bishops of Munster about sixty four Years it was suddenly surprised on Palm-Sunday morning by Anthony Earl of Oldenburg Anno 1547 and ever since that time Delmenhorst has continued part of this Estate Here is also going from South to North the Towns of Wardenburg Ovelgune Essensham and Beckeren And upon a great Sand that lies betwixt the Mouths of the Jade and the Weser stood formerly Mellum a strong Castle that commanded both the said Rivers Built for that purpose by an Earl of Oldenburg but at last lost in the Sea Adjoyning to this Province is the Earldom of Jevern so called from Jevern the chief Place hereof This Earldom formerly belonged to the Princes of East Friseland and to this day most Geographers do still reckon it as part of that Country where it lies Easterly towards the Sea The same was bequeathed by the last Will and Testament of the Lady Mary Countess of Jevern to John the last Earl but one of Oldenburg So that upon the Death of Anthony the last Earl dying without Issue the King of Denmark as being the next Heir did inherit the Patrimonial Estate But the Earldom of Jevern fell to the share of Anthony's Sister's Children the Princess of Zerbst Now to go farther than we have done yet into the Pedigree of the present Royal Family of Denmark let us take a view of the Earls of Oldenburg from whom it is descended The House of Oldemburg fetches its Pedigree as far as Walpert a Nephew of Wittikind Now Wittikind was the last King of the Saxons who being vanquished by Charles the Great of France Anno 785 was by him made of a King a Duke of Saxony But the Male Issue of Walpert his Nephew failing in Frederick the seventh Earl the Estate came to one Elimar a Cousin German of his by the Fathers side From whom in a direct Line descended Theodorick surnamed the Fortunate the first Earl of Delmenhorst of this Line He had two Wives the first called Adelais Heiress of Delmenhorst and the second Hedwige Daughter of Gerard and Sister of Adolph of Scawemburg Earl of Holstein and Duke of South Jutland c. the Widow of Balthazar Duke of Mecklemburg He died Anno 1440 leaving three Sons viz. Christiern Maurice and Gerard. 1440. Christiern Son of Theodorick by his second Wife Hedwige Sister and Heir of Gerard and Adolph Dukes of Sleswick and Earls of Holstein succeeded his Father in this Estate and enjoy'd it till the Year 1448. When upon the Recommendation of Adolph his Uncle being elected King of Denmark he left his Estate in this Earldom but still reserving the Title to his Brother Gerard the better to take him off from his Pretensions to the Dukedom of Sleswick and the Earldom of Holstem in which he pretended a Share Maurice Batchelour of the Sorbonne and Canon of Bremen married in the Year 1458 and died Anno 1464 having had three Children who all died in their Infancy 1448. Gerard the third Son of Earl Theodorick was surnamed the Valiant and might as well have been called in opposition to his Father the Unfortunate for the Reasons abovesaid Anno 1453. he marry'd with Adelais Countess of Tecklemburg by whom he got five Sons and as many Daughters Those were Gerard Dieterick Adolph Otho and John Gerard the Father died in Exile Anno 1500. 1500. John who succeeded him marry'd in the Year 1498. to Ann a Princess of the House of Anhalt By whom he got three Sons George Christopher Anthony and one Daughter called Ann marry'd to Enno the Second Earl of East Friseland John repaired the Ruines of his Estate and settled the Distractions of it in the time of his Father being then in Exile 1526. Anthony the third Son was by the Consent of his Brothers preferred to the Earldom He marry'd Sophia Dutchess of Saxen Lawemburg by whom he got two Sons John and Anthony and three Daughters Ann Catharine and Claire This is the Earl who by a sudden Surprise recovered Delmenhorst from the Bishop of Munster Anno 1547 which he strongly fortify'd 1573. John Son of Anthony marry'd with Elizabeth Daughter of Count Schwartzburg by whom he got two Sons and four Daughters His Sons were John Frederick who died in his Infancy Anno 1580 and Anthony-Gontier His Daughters were 1. Catharine marry'd to Augustus Duke of Saxony 2. Anna Sophia 3. Mary-Elizabeth 4. Magdalen the Wife of Rodolph of Anhalt Prince of Zerbst This is the Earl to whom the Countess of Jevern in East Friseland bequeathed that Country Anthony Gontier second Son of Earl John was his Successor He was born in Nov. Anno 1583 marry'd in June 1634 or 35. Sophia Catharina Daughter of Alexander Duke of Holstein Sunderburg and died without Issue in the Year 1667. At which time Frederick the late King of Denmark took Possession of Oldenburg as next Heir to it Having said thus much of Oldenburg let us now steer our Course Northward and see what Dominions the King of Denmark has
there besides the Kingdom of Norway Of the Isles of Schetland and of Feroe BEfore I come to a Description of these Isles it will not be improper to take notice in our way of the Orcades which formerly belonged to the Kings of Norway and Denmark They were called Orcades by the Ancients which we call now the Orkney Islands Situate North of Scotland not far from Cathness the most Northern Country of all that Kingdom and separate from one another by some narrow Streights They are in number thirty two but those of chief note eleven The Kings of Notway held these Isles till the Year 1266 when Magnus King of Norway surrendred them up to Alexander III. King of Scotland Which Surrender some of the succeeding Kings did afterwards ratifie But the Claim was finally relinquished by Christiern I King of Denmark and Norway on the Marriage of his Daughter Margaret with King James III Anno 1474. And then some Money was added to make good the Contract without which the Danes would not give up their Claim to these Islands Further Northward about sixty miles lye the Islands of Schetland and of Feroe all of them still subject to the Crown of Norway and consequently to the King of Denmark The Isles of Schetland lye North-east of the Orcades and the Isles of Feroe Northwest But the Situation of these last is something further Northward Those are under the 61 and 62 degrees of Northern Latitude about 60 Leagues West of Bergen in Norway and forty North of Scotland By Cluverius Sanson and other Geographers they are supposed to be the Hemodes of the Ancients One with another they are reckoned to be about twenty six But they are most of them little rocky Islands uninhabited The main Island and that which is worth all the rest is Schetland otherwise Hetland which gives its Name to the whole Cluster But it goes also like the chief of the Orcades by the Name of Mainland 'T is a long but narrow Island reaching from South to North about sixty miles and sixteen where broadest This Island is not much inhabited but by the Sea-side because of Fishing which is the main Thing here Southward there are high Hills and Northward there 's another called Renisfelt on the top of which is kept a great Light for the use of Mariners As the Inhabitants are not very industrious so they are not much inclined to Vices 'T is seldom they drink any strong Liquors to excess and when they do 't is as rare to see one of them mad-drunk For Quarrelling does not attend their Drinking And perhaps this their Temperancy as much as the wholsomness of the Air or the nature of the Country makes them to live so long as they do Mercator makes mention of one Laurentius a Native of this Island who lived in his time This Man says he being above 100 years of Age was yet so vigorous that he marry'd a Wife and when he was 140 years old still he went with his Boat a fishing in a most unruly tempestuous and turbulent Sea The great Dispute amongst the Learned is whether Schetland or Iseland is the Thule of the Ancients Thule which the Poets do so often speak of as Virgil Tibi serviat ultima Thule and Seneca Nec sit Terris ultima Thule Thule which the Ancients did report such strange things of and some of them beyond all belief Nulla per bruman dies says Pliny here 's no day for all the Winter with whom agree Solinus and many others as to that particular Another says more than that nullum ultra eam diem esse that beyond this Isle there was no day in any Place as if here had been the end of the World and Nature But Pytheas in Polybius go's beyond them all when he says that in this Isle there was no distinction of the Elements but a confused Mixture of all together like the Primitive Chaos of the Poets According to these Authors 't is neither Schetland nor Iseland that can be the Thule of the Ancients and 't were a hard matter to find out such a Place in any part of the known World But it is no new thing for remote Places to be strangely represented When all is done I am apt to be of Dr. Heylins Opinion who takes Schetland to be the Thule for these Reasons following First Ptolomy places Thule in the 63 degree of Northern Latitude who differs therein but in one Degree or there abouts from the best of our modern Maps Whereas Iseland is so much further North that a good part of it is within the Arctick Circle Pomponius Mela places Thule opposite to Bergen in Norway which Situation agrees with that of Schetland but not Iseland Multae sunt says Solinus circa Britanniam Insulae è quibus Thule ultima there are many Islands about Brittain of which Thule is the last or farthest off So that in his Judgment Thule must be one of the Brittish Isles which cannot be said of Iseland Insulas quas Orcadas vocant domuit despecta est Thule say's Tacitus speaking of Agricola he subdued the Island called Orcades and made sleight of Thule Now Iseland is so far from being kenned by any one of the Orcades that it is almost 5 degrees distant from the nearest of them And the truth is Iseland was so far from being known unto the Ancients that it was hardly known unto those of Norway till about the ninth Century To which add Gasper Peucerus his Observation that Schetland is by some Mariners called Thylensel which includes the name of Thule After all these Arguments who can almost doubt but that Schetland not Iseland is really the Thule of the Ancients But besides Schetland or Mainland there are two other Islands North-Eastward of a pretty bigness viz. Zell and Wust by some called Yell and Vnst These Islands and the rest being much of the same nature and constitution as those of Feroe I shall not stay to give you a particular Account of those of Schetland but proceed to those of Feroe Which as wild as they are will find us more diversion and variety than far better Countries And therefore I intend to dwell here a while under the principal guidance and conduct of a Danish Author Lucas Jacobson Debes Master of Arts and Provost of the Churches there A Man of Learning and in all likelihood of as great Integrity The Islands of Feroe lye Westward from those of Schetland and somthing more Northward The heigth of the Pole or Latitude thereof is at the South end 61 degrees 15 minutes and at the North end 62 degrees 10 minutes So that there is but little night in Summer Neither are the Winter nights so tedious long as one might imagine because the Crepusculum and Diluculum are somthing longer here than elsewhere which takes off much from the night For in the midst of Winter one may perceive something of the day at eight a clock in the Morning and at four a clock