large in compasse fruitfull full of Woods plentifull of Saffron and very wealthy encircled as it were on the one side with the main Sea on the other with Fish-full Rivers which also do afford their peculiar Commodities in great abundance The Air is temperate and pleasant only towards the waters somewhat aguish insomuch that in one Hundred they will ask a stranger merrily Whether the Bayliff of the Hundred hath yet arrested him Waltham Forest of the Town Waltham It was stored very full with Deer that for their bignesse and fatnesse withall have the name above all other Rochford it hath given name to an Hundred It is aguish Rumford the glory whereof dependeth on a Swine Mercat Brent-wood a Mercat Town Engerstone a Town of note for nothing else but the Mercat and Innes for travellers Chensford a good big Town situate in the heart of the Shire between two Rivers Of note onely for the Assizes Cogeshall a Mercate Town Maldon for the number of the Inhabitants and the bignesse it is worthily counted one of the principal Towns in all Essex and in Records named The Burgh of Maldon It is a Haven commodious enough and for the bignesse very well inhabited being but one especial street descending much about a mile in length upon the ridg of an Hill answerable to the termination of Dunum which signified an hilly and high situation Colchester a proper and fine Burrough well traded and pleasantly seated as being situate upon the brow of an Hill stretching out from West to East walled about beautified with several Churches some of which were lately demolished The Inhabitants affirm that Flavia Julia Helena the Mother of Constantine the Great was borne and bred there Harewich a most safe Road whence it hath the name The Town is not great but well peopled fortified by Art and Nature Walden of Saffron * called Saffron Walden among the fields looking merrily with most lovely Saffron A very good Mercat Town Here Sir Thomas Smith Secretary to Queen Elizabeth a wise and learned man was born Audley-end a magnificent House built by the Earl of Suffolk where there is a spacious and very broad Gallery Barrington-Hall where dwelleth that right ancient Family of the Baringtons Lees-Abbey now the Seat of the right Honourable Lord Rich Baron Lees and Earl of Warwick It contains twenty Hundreds one and twenty Market Towns and four hundred and fifteen Parishes Glocestershire ON the West-side butteth on Monmouthshire and Herefordshire on the North on Worcestershire on the East upon Warwickshire and Oxfordshire both on the South with Somersetshire A pleasant Countrey and fruitfull in Corn Wooll Apples and Pears and Severn full of Salmon Commonly through all Glocestershire there is good plenty of Corn Pasture and Wood saving in Coteswold where the great flocks of Sheep be and yet in some places there groweth fair Corn Lelands Itinerary Forest of Dean or Dean-Forest was wholly bespread with thick tall Wood It is between two navigable Rivers Wie and Severn It was a wonderfull thick Forest and in former ages so dark and terrible by reason of crooked and winding wayes as also the grisly shade therein that it made the Inhabitants more fierce and bolder to commit robberies Since that rich Mines of Iron were here found out those thick woods began to wax thinne by little and little Tewksbury It is a great and fair Town having three Bridges to passe over standing upon three Rivers famous for the best Mustard One may carry it in bals a long way Glocester the head City of this Shire It lieth stretched out in length over Severne on that side where it is not watered with the River it hath in some places a very strong Wall for defence A proper and fine City both for number of Churches and for the buildings Above the Quire in an Arch of this Church there is a Wall built in forme of a Semi-circle full of Corners with such an artificial devise that if a man speak with never so low a voice at the one part thereof and another lay his ear to the other being a good way distant he may also hear every syllable Cotswold it took its name of Woulds and Cotes that is Hils and Sheepfolds Here feed in great numbers flocks of Sheep long necked and square of bulk and bone by reason of the hilly and large situation of their pasturage whose Wooll being most fine and soft is had in passing great account among all Nations Barkly honoured with a Castle whereof the Lord Barklies are entituled Camden a Mercat Town well peopled and of good resort Near unto it standeth Weston where there is a fair House which maketh a goodly shew built by Ralph Sheldon for him and his posterity Hales in late time a most flourishing Abbey and deserving commendation for breeding up of Alexander of Hales a great Clerk and so deeply learned above all others in that subtil Divinity of the Schoolmen as he carried away the surname of Doctor Irrefr agabilis the Doctor ungain said as he that could not be gain-said Winchelcomb a great Town and well inhabited Cyrencester a famous Mercat Town both for Corn upon the Monday and for Wooll and Yarn on the Friday Bibery There is a spring under the side of a Hill which is so forcible that it serves to drive a Mill about a stones cast from it Strowd whence the name of Strowdwater where are multitudes of rich Clothiers fair building and famous also for dying of Cloaths by reason of the nature of the water It containeth thirty Hundreds two hundred and eighty Parishes Hantshire ON the West it hath Dorsetshire and Wiltshire on the South the Ocean to bound it on the East it joyneth to Sussex and Surrey and on the North it bordereth upon Barkshire A small Province it is fruitful in Corn rich in plenteous Pasture and for all commodities of sea most wealthy and happy Wools Cloathes and Iron are the general Commodities of this Shire Ringwood a well frequented Mercat Town New-Forest King William of Normandy pulled downe all the Townes Villages Houses and Churches farre and neare cast out the poore Inhabitants and when he had so done brought all within thirty miles compasse or thereabout into a Forest and Harbour for wilde Beasts Hurst-Castle commandeth Seaward every where South-hanton a Town populous rich and beautifull from whom the whole Shire deriveth her name Andover Winchester * in Latin Wintonia a City flourishing even in the Romans times It is indifferently well peopled and frequented having plenty of water by reason of the River conveyed divers wayes into it it containeth about a mile and half in circuit within the Wals which open at six Gates and have every one of them their Suburbs reaching forth without a good way It is adorned with magnificent Churches and a Bishops See There is a fair Colledge which William Wickham Bishop of this See built for a School out of which both for Church
Emperour Severus in the reverse whereof we read COL. EBORACUM LEG VI VICTRIX Severus had his Palace in this City and here at the hour of death gave up his last breath with these words I entered upon a State every way troublesome and I leave it peaceable even to the Britains Valerius Constantius surnamed Chlorus an Emperour surpassing in all Vertue and Christian Piety ended his life also in this City and was deified This Emperour begat of his former Wife Helena Constantine the Great who was present in York at his Fathers last gasp and forthwith proclaimed Emperour York was in great estimation in those dayes since the Romane Emperours Court was there held Our own Countrey Writers record That this City was by Constantius adorned and graced with an Episcopal See Alcwin of York Schoolmaster to Charles the Great first Founder of the University of Paris and the singular honour of this City From Paulinus the first Archbishop consecrated in the Year of our Redemption 625. there have sitten in that See threescore and five Archbishops unto the Year 1606. in which Dr Tobie Matthew a most Reverend Prelate for the Ornaments of Vertue and Piety for learned Eloquence and continual exercise of Teaching was translated hither from the Bishoprick of Durham Cawood a Castle Selby a little Town well peopled and of good resort where King Henry the First was born East-Riding It is the second part of this Region it lieth Eastward from York Stanford-Bridge of the Battell there fought it is called Battle-Bridge Wreshill a proper and strong Castle Howden a Mercat Town it hath given name to a little Territory adjoyning called of it Howdenshire Metham it gave both surname and habitation also to the ancient House of the Methams Humber an arm of the Sea whereof also the Countrey beyond it by a general name was called Northumberland It is one of the broadest arms of the Sea and best stored with Fish in all Britain Wighton a small Town of Husbandry well inhabited Drifield a Village well known by reason of the Tomb of Alfred that most learned King of Northumberland and the Mounts that are raised here and there about it Beverley a great Town very populous and full of Trade John surnamed de Beverley Archbishop of York a man both godly and learned after he had given over his Bishoprick as weary of this world came hither and ended his life in contemplation about the Year of our Redemption 721. Cottingham a Countrey Town of Husbandry Kingston upon Hull but commonly Hull For stately and sumptuous Buildings for strong Block-houses for well furnished Ships for store of Merchants and abundance of all things it is become now the most famous Town of Merchandize in these parts The Town is a County incorporate by it self Headon Patrington Rosse from whence the honourable Family of the Barons Rosse took their name Kelnsey a little Village Constable-Burton so called of the Lords thereof Sureby Bridlington North-Riding This carrieth a very long Tract with it though not so broad for threescore miles together even as far as to Westmorland Scarborough-Castle a goodly and famous Castle Within it there is Ting-tong-Wells which go two miles under the earth toward an Hill called Weapness in which passage there is an Iron-gate and by that way the people in the time of Civil Wars brought in their Goods and Cattel and so supplied the Castle The Hollanders and Zelanders use to take marvellous plenty of Herrings upon this Coast and make a very gainfull Trade thereof having anciently first obtained Licence by an ancient Custom out of this Castle Cliveland it taketh that name of steep Banks which we call Cliffs for there runne all along the side thereof cliffie Hils Sken-grave a little Village much benefited by taking great store of Fish Kilton-Castle within a Park Skelton-Castle appertaining to the ancient Family of the Barons Brus who derive their Descent from Robert Brus the Norman Wilton-Castle Y are a Mercat Town well known Stokesley a little Mercat Town Gisburgh a small Town very pleasant and delightfull Ounsbery-Hill or Rosebery-Topping it mounteth up a mighty height and maketh a goodly shew a farre off so often as the Head therof hath his cloudy Cap on lightly there followeth rain whence they have a proverbial Rhime When Rosebery-Topping wears a Cap Let Cliveland then beware a clap Kildale a Castle Pickering a good big Town belonging to the Dutchy of Lancaster situate upon an Hill and fortified with an old Castle unto which a number of small Villages lying there round about do appertain whence the Countrey adjoyning is commonly called Pickering-Lith The Liberty of Pickering and Forest of Pickering Kirkby-Morside it lieth hard unto the Hils whereof it had that name a famous Mercat Town Rhidal a goodly pleasant and plentifull Vale adorned with three and twenty Parish Churches through the midst whereof runneth the River Rhie Malton a Mercat Town well known and frequented for Corne Horses Fish and implements of Husbandry Newborrough a famous Abbey unto which we are indebted for William of Newborrough a learned and diligent Writer of the English History Gilling-Castle belongs unto that ancient and worshipfull Family which of their fair bush of Hair got their name Fairfax The Forest of Galtres notorious for a solemn Horse-running wherein the Horse that out-runneth the rest hath for his prize a little golden Bell Sherry-Hutton a fair Castle Hinderskell a little Castle Others call it Hundred-skell of a number of Fountaines that spring up and rise there Northallertonshire a little Countrey watered with the Riveret Wisk and taking the name of Northalverton a Town having in it on Saint Bartholomews day a great Fair of Kine and Oxen. In this County there are four hundred and fifty nine Parishes under which are very many Chappels for number of Inhabitants equal unto great Parishes A CATALOGUE of some Books lately Printed and in The Press a Printing And sold by HENRY MARSH at the Princes-Armes in Chancery-lane near Fleetstreet Folio THe Sovereigns Prerogative and the Subjects Priviledge comprised in several Speeches Cases and Arguments of Law discussed between the late King Charles and the most eminent Persons of both Houses of Parliament Together with the Grand Mysteries of State then in agitation collected and revived by Tho. Fuller B. D. in Fol. Quarto That delightfull Peece entituled Gemmarius Fidelis or The Faithfull Lapidary experimentally describing the richest Treasure of Nature in an Historical Narration of the several Natures Vertues and Qualities of all Precious Stones With an accurate Discovery of such as are Adulterate and Counterfeit very necessary for all Gentlemen Merchants and Tradesmen Large Octavo The Rogue or The Life of Guzman de Alfarache the witty Spaniard the fifth and last Edition corrected with many Additions never before printed Small Octavo The Ascent to Bliss by three steps viz. Philosophy History and Theologie In a brief Discourse of Mans Felicity with many remarkable Examples of divers Kings and
painted and the word Tain signifying a Nation the Britains used to discolour and paint their bodies that they might seem more terrible in the eyes of their enemies Camden in his Britannia p. 26 27. seems rather to incline to this Etymology Brith signifieth blew-coloured sc. with woad hence Britons The Greeks gave to this Isle the name Albion for difference sake Seeing they have in fabulous wise named Italy Hesperia of Hesperus the sonne of Atlas France Gallatia of a sonne of Polyphemus I cannot otherwise believe but in the same vein also of fabling they called this Island Albion of Albion Neptunes sonne which thing Perottus and Lilius Giraldus have put down in writing Unlesse a man would derive it rather of {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} which as Festus witnesseth in Greek signifieth white whence the Alpes also have their appellation for it is environed with white Rocks England is called Albion ab albis rupibus whereby it is specially conspicuous So was an Isle in the Indian-Sea called Leucas white Seld. on Drayt. Polyolb Song first This Etymology is disliked by Lhoyd but defended by Sir John Price in his Defence of the British History England bears a great sway in the affairs of Europe Speed in his Chronicle saith The great affairs of Europe mainly depended upon the Directions of Queen Elizabeth who sitting at the Helm of the Ship arbitrated and guided their estates both in Peace and Warre See more there to this purpose in his 9th Book chap. 24. p. 880. The English have been very helpfull to the Netherlands in their warres and atchievers of the greatest exploits amongst them Heinsius in his Oration made after the taking of the Busse saith Anglorum sanguine stat haec respublica This Commonwealth stands by the bloud of the English The first of all Provinces this Island of Britain by common consent received the Christian Faith The glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ saith Gildas Albanius surnamed the Wise the most ancient of our British Historians which first appeared to the world in the later time of Tiberius Caesar did even then spread his bright beams upon this frozen Island of Britain And it is generally received for a truth that Joseph of Arimathea laid the foundation of our faith at Glastenbury He that hath written of Honour Military and Civil lib. 4. cap. 19. saith The chief place of Honour and Precedency in Europe appertaineth to the Kings of England And one of the reasons he gives is Because the King and people of England received the Gospel and Christian Faith before France or Spain There have been more Kings and Princes of the Bloud Royal Confessors and Martyrs in England than in any one Province in Europe Fasciculus temporis See Gainsfords Glory of England Chap. 21. 27. concerning our famous Kings here and of famous Kings and Princes that came hither Claudia Rufina of the British Nation is celebrated by the Apostle Paul and also by Martial It is apparent that this Island had the first Christian King in the world and clearly in Europe If priority of time swayed it and not custome derived from a communicable attribute given by the Popes that name of Most Christian should better fit our Sovereigns than the French Vide Polyd. Verg. Angl. Hist. l. 2. p. 41. We had also the first Christian Emperour Constantine The first King that ever renounced the Popes Supremacy was King Henry the Eighth The first King that ever wrote against the Pope to prove him to be the Antichrist was King James England hath been an Asylum for the distressed Protestants of other Countreys The Armes of England are three Lions passant gold in a field gewls The Lion signifies fortitude and generosity Three Flour-delices were since that time annexed thereto by Edward the Third by reason of his claime to the Crown of France The State is Monarchical A Kingdom of a perfect and happy composition wherein the King hath his full Prerogative the Nobles all due respects and the People amongst other blessings perfect in this that they are masters of their own purposes and have a strong hand in the making of their own Laws Of all Seniories in the world that I know the Realme of England is the Countrey where the Commonwealth is best governed the People least oppressed and the fewest buildings and houses destroyed in Civil Warre and the lot of misfortune falleth upon them that be authours of the Warre Phil. de Commin Hist. l. 5. c. 18. England is not subject to Imperial and Romane Lawes as other Kingdoms are but retaineth her ancient Laws It is governed by the Municipal or Common Law a Law proper to the Nation The Commonalty of England is the best Commonalty in the world and the best Infantry or Foot-souldiers in whom the principal strength of an Army consists It was once the saying That the Husbandry and Yeomandry of England were the freest men in the world The Merchant of England surpasseth all other Nations See Gainsfords Glory of England ch. 26. England aboundeth with all sorts of Cattel except Asses Mules Camels and Elephants No Countrey yeeldeth such plenty of Beeves and Sheep A Countrey alwayes most temperate The Air is thick and so it is much subject to winds clouds and rain and therefore in regard of the thicknesse of the Air it is neither opprest with too much heat or too much cold It is somewhat cloudy Gundamore being here bid the Spanish Post when he came to Spain commend him to the Sunne for he had not seen him a great while and in Spain he should be sure to find him The Ocean which beateth upon the Coast of this Island aboundeth with all manner of Fish There are no where in all the world either more dainty Oisters or greater store The soil is fruitfull in Mines of Lead Iron Tin and other Minerals especially it abounds in Coal a necessary and rich Commodity It is replenished also with all sorts of Grain with Medows and Pastures in which innumerable flocks of Cattel feed Cardan exhorted Edward the Sixth to plant Olives and was fully perswaded they would prosper in this Island Many places in Glocestershire and elsewhere in England are called Vineyards seeing it hath afforded Wine and surely it may seem to proceed rather from the Inhabitants idlenesse than any distemperature and indisposition of the Aire that it yeeldeth none at this day Camd. Brit. in Glocestershire In Hantshire he saith We had Vines in Britain since Probus the Emperours time rather for shade than fruit The People are tall of stature well-favoured and fair countenanced for the most part gray-eyed The women most fair and beautifull do go very decently and comely attired We feed mostwhat on flesh The drink which we use and do make of malt is in deed very good wholsome and pleasant There are more Parks Forests Chases in England than are found in all Christendom
a Prince most accomplished with Martial Prowesse in the yeer of Christ 1336. Duke of Cornwall by a Wreath on his Head a Ring upon his Finger and a silver Verge Since which time the King of Englands eldest Sonne is reputed Duke of Cornwall by birth Launston the chief Town The Promontory named the Lands end the most Western point of the Kingdom It containeth nine Hundreds two and twenty Market Towns an hundred sixty and one Parishes Cumberland IT took the name of the Inhabitauts who were the true and natural Britans and called themselves in their own language Kumbri This Countrey although it be somewhat with the coldest as lying farre North and seemeth as rough by reason of Hils yet for the variety thereof it smileth upon the beholders and giveth contentment to as many as travel it Of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Burtons Comment on Antoninus his Itin. p. 13. At Newlands there are copper or brasse Mines Skiddaw-Hill is very high Skiddaw Lauvellin and Casticand Are the highest hils in all England Solway Frith so called of Solway a Town in Scotland standing upon it Under this Burgh within the very Frith where the salt water ebbeth and floweth the Englishmen and Scotish by report of the Inhabitants fought with their Fleets at full Sea and also with their Horsemen and Footmen at the ebbe Hard by the Riveret Dacor standeth Dacre-Castle of signal note because it hath given surname to the honourable Family of the Barons Dacre Carlile This ancient City is fortified with strong walls of stone with a Castle and Citadel as they terme it Here begun Picts-wall or simply by way of excellency The Wall the limit of the Roman Province continued through this Countrey and Northumberland and ending in Walls-end Here are nine Market Towns and fifty eight Parishes Darbyshire IT is a plentifull Countrey there are many Minerals and several kinds of Stones Darby is the chief Town of all this Shire a Town of good trade There be five Churches in it Of which the greatest named All-Hallows dedicated to the memory of All-Saints hath a Tower-steeple that for height and singular fine Workmanship excelleth They had a famous Minister there one Chappel which was brother to him that was of Cambridge and went afterward into Ireland He did much good in Darby When King James came thither a witty Butcher in the Town said thus to him Jemmy for a Chappel and a Steeple We may compare with any people The Assizes are there kept for the whole Shire and the best nappy Ale is brewed there in two places especially It is the ancient and peculiar drink of the Englishmen and Britains and very wholsome Henry of Aurenches the Norman Arch-Poet to King Henry the Third merrily jested on it in these Verses Nescio quid Stygiae monstrum conforme paludi Cervisiam plerique vocant nil spissius illa Dum bibitur nil clarius est dum mingitur unde Constat quod multas faeces in ventre relinquit Of this strange drink so like to Stygean lake Most terme it Ale I wot not what to make Folk drink it thick and pisse it passing thin Much dregs therfore must needs remain within The wealth of this Town consisteth much of buying of Corn and selling it again to the mountains for all the Inhabitants are a kind of Badgers Thomas Linaker the famous Scholar was born here and so was Mr. Cotton the famous Minister of Boston and Dr. Wilmot neer it Chesterfield a Market Town The Peak which signifieth to appear aloft is severed from Staffordshire by the Dove a most swift and clear River It is plentifull of Lead also Stibium or Antimony Mill-stones likewise are here hewed out as also Grinde-stones and Whet-stones to give an edge unto iron tools Under the old Castle called the Castle in the Peak there is a Cave or Hole within the ground called the Devils Arse Devils Arse in Peak that gapeth with a wide mouth and hath in it many turnings and retiring rooms This Hole is reckoned one of the wonders of England There are several other wonders in the Peak Ashburn in the Peak There is a place called Elden-Hole which lies two miles distant from Castleton a Town in the high Peak it is within the Peak Forest it descendeth directly down into the earth it is about thirty yards long and fifteen yards broad at the top of it but is much straighter when it cometh fourty yards deep You may see into it about sixty yards being as farre as the light which cometh in at the mouth of the Hole will give light to see it is fearfull to look into being a face of rock on each side About sixty years since one Mr. Henry Cavendish eldest brother to Sir Charles Cavendish who had spent all his dayes in travel had been at Jerusalem and several other parts of the world and hearing of this place came to it and caused Engines to be made or to let a man into the Hole which being done one George Bradley of the Peak Forest was let down in a rope fourscore yards And then another Engine was made to let him go further and from thence he was let down fourscore yards further and at the end thereof a third Engine was made whereby he was let down almost fourscore yards further at the top of the rope was fastened a Bell which he was to ring if he could go no further or would return back when he was let down almost the third fourscore yards he rung the Bell and being drawn up he was much affrighted remained speechlesse for a time and was struck with lamenesse but after he recovered his speech he declared that as he descended down were bones of Deer Sheep and other Cattel and also of men and that he was affrighted but how or in what manner he could not tel he lived several years but never was in perfect memory nor sound of his limbs Within the Town of Buxton there is a Bath called Buxton-Well which cureth very many Diseases There are two springs of water the one within a hand breadth of the other the one is very hot the other cold as ice There are eight Market Towns six Hundreds and an hundred and six Parishes in this County Denshire OR Devonshire A Countrey harborous on either side with commodious Havens enriched with Tin-mines especially Westward garnished with pleasant medows sightly with great store of woods and passing well replenished with Towns and buildings There is not any place almost in all England where the ground requireth greater charges For in most parts thereof it groweth in manner barren if it be not over-strewed and mingled with a certain sand from the Sea which is of great efficacy to procure fertility by quickening as it were and giving life unto the Glebe and therefore in places far from the shore it is bought at a dear rate On
Earls of Pembroke Sudbroke the Church whereof called Trinity-Chappel standeth neer the Sea a moor for many miles together Abergenny It is fortified with Wals and a Castle This Shire containeth Parish Churches an hundred twenty seven Northfolk or Norfolk PEople of the North It is a Region large and spacious and in manner all thorowout a plain champion unlesse it be where there rise gently some pretty Hils passing rich exceeding full of Sheep and stored with Coneys replenished likewise with a great number of populous Villages for besides twenty seven Mercat Towns it is able to shew Villages and Countrey Towns six hundred twenty and five watered with divers Rivers and Brooks and not altogether destitute of Wood A man may collect the goodnesse of the ground by this that the Inhabitants are of a passing good complexion to say nothing of their exceeding wily wits and the same right quick in the insight of our Common Laws insomuch as it is counted the only Countrey for best Lawyers One saith that three hundred and forty nisi prius were tried there at one Assizes It is a pleasant Countrey for sports Hawking and Hunting Thetford the Ford of Thet of good bignesse yet it hath but few Inhabitants Harleston a good Mercat Norwich a famous City by reason of the wealth number of Inhabitants the resort of people fair buildings and many fair Churches it containeth thirty two Parishes and fourty two Chappels and Churches the painfull industry of the Citizens and their courtesie unto strangers The Market Crosse and Cloister of the Cathedral there are the fairest in England It is pleasantly situate on the side of an Hill compassed about with strong Wals in which are orderly placed many Turrets and twelve Gates unlesse it be on the East-side where the River is a fence thereto It is three miles about The Arms of the City are the Castle and Lion A City whose Antiquity Alexander Nevil hath most learnedly and elegantly set down in Latine It hath been long famous for the ancient cloathes or stuff called Worsted but hath lately abounded in variety of weaving through the invention and industry of the Dutch and French Flemmings which inhabit there in great numbers There is a great House there of the Duke of Norfolks now the Earl of Arundels where there are very fair Granaries and the best Bowling-alley in England There is also an Hospital where an hundred of men and women are maintained Matthew Parker was born here Yarmouth a very convenient Haven and as fair a Town beautifully built and well fenced both by the natural strength of the place and also by the skilfull industry of mans art It hath but one Church yet the same is very large having a high Steeple to adorn it It is famous for fishing and merchandizing There are two long Streets in it each of them a mile long one called the Dean-street the other the Key There is also another Street called the Middle-street and many rows as they call them after the manner of Holland There is also a fair Market place Holt a Town so called of an Holt or tuft of trees and for the Mercat well known Ailesham a Mercat Town of good resort Worsted where the stuff worsted in so great request amongst our Ancestors was first made and hence so named as Dornicks Camery Calecut had in like manner their denominations from the places where they were first invented and made Walsingham This Village is very famous by reason of the best Saffron growing there The Family of the Walsinghams Knights fetched first their name and original from hence out of which house flourished that Sir Francis Walsingham Secretary to Queen Elizabeth a man as of deep insight so also of as rare and painfull industry in the weightiest affairs of the Realm Lynne peradventure so named of the waters broad spreading So Lynne imports in the Welch tongue This is a large Town encompassed with a deep Trench and Wals for the most part thereof divided by two small Rivers that have fifteen Bridges or thereabout over them It is called old Linne and Linnum Regis that is Kings Linne yet by reason of the safe Haven which yeeldeth most easie accesse for the number also of the Merchants there dwelling and thither resorting for the fair and the goodly houses the wealth also of the Townsmen it is doubtlesse the principal Town of this Shire except Norwich onely Mershland a little moist Mersh-Countrey as the name implieth a soil standing upon very rich and fertile mould and breeding abundance of Cattel insomuch as that in a place commonly called Tilneysmeth there feed much about thirty thousaud Sheep In this Province there be Parish Churches about six hundred and sixty In Norfolk and Suffolk there are more Parishes than in any other Counties six hundred and odde in Norfolk and above five hundred in Suffolk Northamptonshire THis County is situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England On the East lie Bedford and Huntingdonshires On the South Buckingham and Oxfordshires Westward Warwickshire Northward Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire separated from it by Avon the lesse and Welland two Rivers It is a champion Countrey exceeding populous and passing well furnished with Noblemens and Gentlemens Houses replenished also with Towns and Churches insomuch as in some places there are twenty and in others thirty Seeples with Spires or square Towers within view at once The soil very fertile both for Tillage and Pasture yet nothing so well stored with Woods unlesse it be in the further and hither sides But in every place as elswhere also in England it is over-spread and as it were beset with Sheep Brakley a place full of Brake or Fern the Students of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford use the Colledge there for a retiring place Torcester so called of Towrs It hath a large Church in it Hard by at Eston-Nessont there is a fair and beautifull House belonging to the Knightly Family of the Farmers Sacy-Forest stored with Deer and fit for game Avon a general name of all Rivers This Aufona or Nen is a notable River which after a sort runneth through the middle part of this Shire Dantrey is a through-fare Town well known at this day by reason of the Innes there Fawesly where have dwelt a long time the Knightleys descended from those more ancient Knightleys of Gnowshall in the County of Stafford Wedon in the street It is a pretty through-fare set on a plain ground and much celebrated by Carriers because it standeth hard by the famous way there commonly call'd of the people * Watlingstreet Lelands Itinerary Holdenby-House a fair patern of stately and magnificent building Northampton so called from its situation upon the North-bank of the River Aufon The City for Houses is very fair for circuit of good largenesse and walled about and from the Wall there is a goodly Prospect every way to a wide and spacious plain Countrey There are seven Parish Churches
in a manner scalding hot and do work and being thus troubled cast up from the bottom certain filth during which time they are shut neither may any body go into them untill by their fluces they cleanse themselves and rid away that filthinesse Of these three the Crosse-Bath so called of a Crosse standing upright in old time in the midst of it is of a very mild and temperate warmth and hath twelve seats of stone about the brink or border thereof and is enclosed within a wall The second distant from this not fully two hundred foot is much hotter whence it is termed hot Bath These two are in the midst of a street on the West-side of the City The third which is the greatest and after a sort in the very bosom and heart of the City is called the Kings Bath neer unto the Cathedral Church walled also round about and fitted with two and thirty seats of arched work wherein men and women may sit apart who when they enter in put upon their bodies linnen garments and have their guides This City hath flourished as well by cloathing as by reason of usual concourse thither for health twice every yeer Bristow This City standing partly in Somerset and partly in Glocestershires is not to be reputed belonging to this or that having Magistrates of its own and being of it self entire and a County incorporate It is situate somewhat high between Avon and the little River Frome sufficiently defended with Rivers and Forfications together So fair to behold by reason of buildings as well publick as private that it is fully correspondent to the name of Brightstow With common Sews or Sinks they call them Goutes so made to runne under the ground for the conveyance and washing away of all filth that for cleanlinesse and wholsomnesse a man would not desire more whereupon there is no use here of carts so well furnished with all things necessary for mans life so populous and well inhabited withall that next after London and York it may of all Cities in England justly challenge the chief place For the mutual intercourse of traffick and the commodious Haven which admitteth in Ships under sail into the very bosom of the City hath drawn people of many countreys thither The Citizens themselves are rich Merchants and traffick all over Europe yea and make Voyages at Sea so farre as into the most remote parts of America The most beautifull Church there is S. Maries of Radcliff without the Wals into which there is a stately ascent upon many stairs so large withall so finely and curiously wrought with an arched roof over head of stone artificially embowed a steeple also of an exceeding height that it surpasseth in many degrees all the Parish-churches in England There is hard by another Church also which they call the Temple the Tower whereof when the Bell rings shaketh to and fro so as it hath cloven and divided it self from the rest of the building and made such a chink from the bottom to the top as that it gapeth the breadth of three fingers and both shutteth and openeth whensoever the Bell is rung S. Vincents Rock so full of Diamonds that a man may fill whole strikes or bushels of them They are not so much set by because they are plenteous in bright and transparent colour they match the Indian-Diamonds if they passe them not in hardnesse only they are inferiour to them In this County are numbered three hundred eighty five Parishes Staffordshire IT hath on the East Warwickshire and Darbyshire on the South-side Worcestershire and Westward Shropshire bordering upon it reacheth from South to North in form of a Lozeng broader in the middest and growing narrower at ends The North part is full of Hils and so lesse fruitfull the middle being watered with the River Trent is most plentifull clad with woods and embrodered gallantly with Corn-fields and Medows as is the South port likewise which hath Coals also digged out of the earth and Mines of Iron There are these Rivers in Staffordshire Sow which runneth by Stafford Dove Peru a little River by Pencridge Charnet Blith Tame The River Trent ariseth in Collonel Boyers Park and Dove passeth thorow part of it Severn passeth thorow some part of the Shire Stourton Castle stands upon the River Stour in the very confines with Worcestershire Dudley-Castle did stand upon an Hill named so of one Dudo or Dodo ah English Saxon. It is now demolished Under this lieth Pensneth-Chace wherein are many Cole-pits Pateshall a seat of the Astleys descended from honourable Progenitors Wrotestley the habitation of Sir Walter Wrotesly whose Father was Sir Hugh Wrotesly In the Parlour window among divers of the Arms of the Ancestours of that Family there is one Sir Hugh Wrotesley mentioned who for his approved valour was made by King Edward the Third Knight of the Garter at the first Institution and so accounted one of the Founders of the said honourable Order Chellington a fair House and Mannor of the ancient Family of the Giffards Brewood a Mercat Town Weston Theoten-Hall by interpretation the habitation of Heathens or Pagans at this day Tetnal Ulfrunes-Hampton so called of Wulfruna a most devout woman who enriched the Town called before simply Hampton with a religious House it is now corruptly called Wulver Hampton For an In-land Town there is a famous Market for Cattel and Corn Weddsborow there is Sea-coal Walsal a little Mercat Town a mile by North from Weddesbury There are many Smiths Peuterers and Bit-makers There is a Park of that name half a mile from the Town There are many Lime-pits neer the Town Draiton-Basset the seat of the Bassets Tamworth a Town so placed in the confines of the two Shires that the one part which belonged sometime to the Mirmions is counted of Warwickshire the other which pertained to the Hastings of Staffordshire Here is a fair Castle At Falkesley-Bridg that Roman High-way Watlingstreet entereth into this Shire and cutting it through as it were by a strait line goeth Westward into Shropshire Wall so called of the reliques of an old Wall there remaining and taking up much about two acres of ground Penck-ridge so named of the River Penck famous for an Horse-Fair which the Lord of the place Hugh Blunt obtained of King Edward the Second New-Castle under Lyme Trentham Stone a Mercat Town which having the beginning in the Saxons time took the name of the Stones which our Ancestours after a solemn sort had cast on a heap to notifie the place where Wolpher the Heathenish King of the Mercians most cruelly slew his two Sonnes Wulfald and Rufin because they had taken upon them the profession of Christianity Sandon Cankwood or Forest Gerards-Bromley an House Chebsey Eccleshall Raunton a Monastery Stafford neer unto which there was a Castle upon an Hill now demolisht It is the head Town of the whole Shire Ticks-Hall the dwelling place of the Astons a Family which for Antiquity Kinred and
all other Springs seem to be dried up burst out and rise up five or six yards plum height and so fall down into the Dales and make a little River by which the Towns neer thereto refresh their Cattel when the Valley springs fail On the North-side it hath the Bishoprick of Durham which the River Tees with a continued course separateth from it On the East-side the Germane Sea lieth sore upon it and the South-side is enclosed first with Cheshire and Darbyshire then with Nottinghamshire and after with Lincolnshire where that famous arm of the Sea Humber floweth between into which all the Rivers well neer that water this Shire empty themselves as it were into their common receptacle The whole Shire is divided into three parts which according to the three Quarters of the world are called The West-Riding The East-Riding The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the Shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sunne-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse West-Riding Sheafield a Town of great name for the Smiths therein fortified also with a strong and ancient Castle Rotheram glorieth in Thomas Rotheram sometimes Archbishop of York a wise man bearing the name of the Town being born therein and a singular Benefactor thereunto Connisborrow an ancient Castle seated upon a Rock Dan-Castre There is the fair Church of S. Georges Tickhill an old Town fenced with as old a Castle large enough but having only a single Wall about it Hatfiele-Chace a great game and hunting of red Deer Halifax a most famous Town This place is become famous as well among the multitude by reason of the Law there whereby they beheaded straitwayes whosoever are taken stealing as also amongst the learned for they report that Johannes de Sacro Bosco the Authour of the Sphere was here born yet more famous it is for the greatnesse of the Parish which reckoneth eleven Chappels whereof two are Parish-Chappels and to the number of twelve thousand people therein Halifax Nuts are spoken of proverbially All shels and no kernels Dewsborough seated under an high Hill Wakefield a Town famous for Cloathing for greatnesse for fair building a well frequented Mercat and a Bridge upon which King Edward the Fourth erected a beautifull Chappel in memorial of those that lost their lives there in battel Sandall-Castle The Tract lying here round about for a great way together is called the Seigniory or Lordship of Wakefield and hath alwayes for the Steward one of the better sort of Gentlemen dwelling thereby Medley so called for the situation as it were in the midst between two Rivers Skipton it lieth hidden and enclosed among steep Hils as Latium in Italy which Varro supposeth to have been so called because it lieth close under Appenine and the Alps. The Town for the manner of their building among these Hils is fair enough and hath a very proper and strong Castle Leeds a rich Town by reason of Cloathing Winwidfield a name given it from a victory Pontfret the Normans of a broken Bridge named it in French Pontfract It is seated in a very pleasant place which bringeth forth Liquorice and Skirworts in great plenty adorned also with fair buildings and hath to shew a stately Castle as a man shall see situate upon a Rock no lesse goodly to the eye then safe for the defence well fortified with Ditches and Bulwarks Shirburn a little Town but well inhabited Aberford a little Village famous only for making of Pins which by womens judgment are especially commended as the best Hesselwood the principal seat of that worthy and right ancient Family of the Vavasours who by their Office for the Kings Valvasors in times past they were took to them this name Peters-post a famous quarry of stone so called because with the stones hewed out of it by the liberal Grant of the Vavasors that stately and sumptuous Church of S. Peters at York was re-edified Harewood-Castle of good strength Wetherby a Mercat Town of good note Tadcaster it is situate upon a Port high-way Rippley a Mercat Town Knasborrow-Castle situate upon a mostragged and rough Rock whence also it hath the name There is a Well under it which turns wood into stone within two miles of it is the Spaw which makes women conceive that were barren before and cures many diseases Within three miles of Knarsborough are the stinking Wells which come out of a mineral of Brimstone and do many cures especially for Worms the Scurvy and Itch. Rippon There is a very fair Church which with three high Spire-steeples doth welcome those that come to the Town Burrow-Bridge a little Town so called of the Bridge that is made over the River Pyramides four huge stones of pyramidal form in three divers little fields they were monuments of victory erected by the Romans hard by the high street that went this way * York This is the second City of England the fairest in all this Countrey and a singular safeguard and ornament both to all the North parts A pleasant place large and stately well fortified beautifully adorned as well with private as publick buildings rich populous and it hath an Archiepiscopal See Ure which now is called Ouse flowing with a gentle stream from the North part Southward cutteth it in twain and divideth it as it were into two Cities which are conjoyned with a stone Bridge having one mighty Arch. The West part nothing so populous is compassed in with a very fair Wall and the River together four squarewise and giveth entrance to those that come thither at one only Gate named Mikel-Barre The great Gate From which a long Street and a broad reacheth to the very Bridge and the same Street beset with proper Houses having Gardens and Orchards planted on the back-side on either hand and behind them fields even hard to the Walls for exercise and disports The East-side wherein the Houses stand very thick and the Streets be narrower in form resembleth as it were a lentill and is fortified also with very strong Walls and on the South-East defended with the deep chanel of Fosse a muddy River which entring into the heart of the City by a blind way hath a Bridge over it with houses standing upon it so close ranged one by another that any man would judge it to be not a Bridge but a continued Street and so a little lower runneth into Ouse There is a Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Peter an excellent fair and stately Fabrick neer unto which there is the Princes House commonly called The Mannour York was a Colony of the Romans as appeareth both by the authority of Ptolomee and Antonine and also by a peece of Money coined by the