redeem it at a price with Money In witness whereof there are many Horse-shooes nailed upon the Shire-hall door some of large size and ancient fashion Leicester-shire KIng Richard the third vid. Crouch-back Richard the Usurper who from the City of Leicester set forth in one day in great Pomp and in battel-aray to keep the Crown sure upon his own helmet in a sore fought field yielded both it and his life unto the Head and Hands of Henry of Richmond his Conquerour and the next day was brought back like a Hog naked and torn and with contempt without tears obscurely buryed in the Gray-Fryers in this City whose suppression hath suppressed the Plot place of his Grave and only the Stone-Chest wherein he was laid a drinking trough now for Horses in a common Inn retaineth the Memory of that great Monarchs Funeral And so did a Stone in the Church and Chappel of St. Maries inclose the Corps of the proud and pontifical Cardinal Wolsey who had prepared for himself a far more richer Monument Lutterworth Where the famous John Wickliffe Englands Morning-Star dispersed the clouds of all Papistical darkness by preaching the Gospel in that his charge and stile of his Pen so piercing in power that the Man of sin ever since hath been better known to the world Lincoln-shire THis Country affordeth great Plenty of Fowl and Fish exceeding any other in the Realm wherein at some times and season of the year hath been taken in Nets In August at one draught above three thousand Mallards and other Fowls of the like kind At Harlaxton was plowed up a brazen Vessel wherein was inclosed a Golden Helmet of an ancient fashion set with precious stones which was presented to Katherine of Spain Wife and Dowager to King Henry the eight At Bullingbrooke was King John poysoned by Simon a Monk of Sâ—â—nsted Abbey and of Queen Eleanor wife to King Edward the first the Mirrour of Wedlock and Love to the Commons who at Harby near Bullingbrooke his Birth place ended her life Nottingham-shire IN this Town are many strange Vaults hewed out of the Rocks and those under the Castle of an espâ—cial note one for the story of Christs passion engraven in the Walls and cut by the hand of David the second King of Scots whilst he was therein detained prisoner Another wherein the Lord Mortimer was surprized in the Non-age of King Edward the third ever since bearing the name of Mortimers Hole these have their stairs and several rooms made artificially even out of the Rocks as also in that Hill are dwelling Houses with winding stairs windows chimneys and room above room wrought all out of the same Rock Darby-shire THings of strange note are the hot water Springs bursting forth of the ground at Buxton where out of the Rock within the compass of eight yards nine Springs arise eight of them warm but the ninth very cold These run from under a fair square building of free stone and about threescore paces off receive another hot Spring from a well near unto which another very cold Spring bubled up daily experience sheweth they are good for the stomach and sinews and very pleasant to bathe the body in Not far thence is Elden hole the Waters that trickle from the top of that Cave which indeed is very spacious but of a low and narrow entrance do congeal into stone and hang as Ickles in the roof very white and somewhat Christal-like And seven miles thence upon a Mounted hill standeth a Castle under which there is a hole or Cave in the ground of a marvellous capacity which is commonly called the Devils Arse in the Peak Shrop-shire hath nothing remarkable The County Palatine of Chester CHeshire having been made a Principality by Richard the 2d and styled himself Prince of Chester King Henry the 3d. gave it to his eldest Son Prince Edward against whom Lewlin Prince of Wales gathered a mighty Band and with them did the Country much harm even unto the Cities gates With the like Skar Fiers it had oft times been afrighted which they lastly defenced with a Wall made of the Welsh mens heads on the South side of Dee in Hanbridge Chester in the days of King Edgar was in most flourishing Estate wherein he had the Homage of eight other Kings who rowed his Barge from St. Johns to his Pallace himself holding the Helm as their Supreme Lancashire BY the civil Wars of York and Lancaster was bred and brought forth that bloudy division and fatal strife of the Noble Houses which for many years together molested the peace and quiet of the Land and defiled the earth with bloud there were thirteen fields fought and three Kings of England one Prince of Wales twelve Dukes one Marquess eighteen Earls one Viscount and three and twenty Barons besides Knights and Gentlemen lost their lives in the same yet at last by the happy Marriage of Henry the seventh King of England next heir to the house of Lancaster with Elizabeth Daughter and heir to Edward the fourth of the house of York the White and red Roses were conjoyned in the happy uniting of those two divided Families York-shire HAlifax once called Horton and touching the alteration of the name this pretty story is related of it namely that a Clerk for so they call him being far in Love with a Maid and by no means either of long praises or large promises able to gain like affection at her hands when he saw his hopes frustrate and that he was not like to have his purpose of her turned his love into rage and cut of the Maids head which being afterwards hung upon an Ewe tree common people counted it as an hallowed Relique till it was rotten And afterward such was the credulity of that time it maintained the opinion of reverence and Religion still for the people resorted thither on Pilgrimage and perswaded themselves that the little veins that spread out between the bark and body of the Ewe-tree like fine threds were the very hairs of the Maids head Hereupon it was called by this name Haligfax or Haly-fax that is Holy-hair Under Knaushrouh there is a Well called Dropping-well in which the Waters spring not out of the veins of the earth but distil and trickle down from the Rocks that hang over it it is of that vertue and efficacy that it turns Wood into Stone for what Wood soever is put into it will be shortly covered over with a stony bark and be turned into stone as hath been often observed St. Wilfrids Needle a place very famous in times past for the narrow hole in the close vaulted room under the ground by which womens honesties were wont to be tryed for such as were chaste pass through with much facility but as many as had plaid false were miraculously held fast and could not creep through The West Riding of York-shire THose Mountains near unto Richmond on the top whereof are found certain stones much like unto seawinkles Cockles and
Nature provided thereafter that the greater part of them endures not drink in the very midst of Summer And if as sometimes they be enforced by such as take them they suddenly perish Thus we see how God gives a property to each place that may make up her defects least it should be left as well by Beasts as Men. Their Land is full of sandy Desarts which lye open to the winds and storms and oftentimes are thrown up into Billows like Waves of the Sea and indeed are no less dangerous Strabo writes that Cambyses his Army was thus hazarded a foolish Nation in Africa as they marched towards the South to revenge themselves upon the Winds for drying up their Rivers were overwhelmed with Sand and so dyed in their Graves It is also full of a venemous kind of Serpent that in some places they dare not dress their Lands unless they first fence their legs with Boots against the sting Other wild Creatures there are which range about and possesse to themselves a great portion of this Countrey and make it a Wilderness of Lyons Leopards Elephants and in some places Crocodiles Hyena's Basilisks and indeed Monsters without either number or name Africa as it is reported is full of danger to the Inhabitants more dye by Beasts than by diseases But among all these Inconveniences Commodities are found of good worth and the very evils yield at last their benefit both to their own Country and other parts of the world The Elephant a docible Creature and exceeding useful for Battel The Camel which affords much riches to the Arabian The Barbary Horse which we our selves commend The Ram that besides his flesh gives twenty pound of wool from his very tail The Bull painful and able to do the best service in their Tillage And so most of their worst alive or dead yield us their Medicinal parts which the world could not well want In one of the Divisions of Africa which is Fesse that hath a City in it with seven hundred Churches and one of them a Mile and a half in compass In Morocho is a Castle of great fame for the Globes of pure Gold that stands upon the top of it and weighing 130000. Barbary Duckats The Land of Negro is full of Gold and Silver and other commodities but the Inhabitants most barbarous they draw their Original from Chus and have entertained all Religions that came in their way first their own then the Jews the Mahumetans and some of them the Christian For the most part they live not as if Reason guided their Actions Bornaum a Country where the people have no proper Names no Wives peculiar and therefore no Children which they call their own Aethiopia superiour it is governed by one of the mightiest Emperors in the World called by us Presbyter John he hath under him seventy Kings which have their several Laws and Customs Among these the Province of Dobas hath one that no man marry till he hath killed twelve Christians Their Religion is mixt Christians they have but yet differ from us for they Circumcise both sects their Oath is by the life of their King whom they never see but at Christmas Easter and Holy-Rood Their Commodities are Oranges Lemmons Cittrons Barley Sugar Hony Aethiopia inferior the Government of this Region is under five Kings whereof Monomolopa is one In which is reported to be three thousand Mines of Gold Here there lives a kind of Amazons as valiant as men their King is served in great pomp and hath a guard of 200. Mastives Cafraria is another Kingdom whose people live in the Woods without Laws like brutes And here stands the Cape of good Hope about which the Sea is alwaies rough and dangerous It hath been especially so to the Spaniard it is their own note insomuch that one was very angry with God that he suffered the English Hereticks to pass it so easily over and not give his good Catholicks the like speed In the Kingdom of Manicongo whose Inhabitants are in some parts Anthropophagi and have shambles of Mens flesh as we have for Meat they kill their own Children in the birth to avoid the trouble of breeding them and preserve their Nation with stolen Brats from their Neighbouring Countries Aegypt is another part of the African continent the places of Note are Caire and Alexandria the first was heretofore Memphis some say Babylon whither the Virgin fled to escape Herod's Tyranny intended to our Saviour and blush not to shew the very Cave where she had hid her Babe In a Desart about forty miles distant stand the Pyramides esteemed rightly one of the seven Wonders of the World Alexandria was a magnificent City and was famous for the rarest Library in the world to the Inhabitants of this Country we owe the Invention of Astrology Physick Writing on Paper their Kings names were Pharaoh toward the begining Now what the Turk pleaseth EVROPE EUrope bears the Name of the most happiest Country in the World both for plenty of Corn Plants Fruits for Rivers and Fountains of admirable vertues For beauty as well of Cities Castles and Houses as Men and Women of excellent Feature For the Study of Arts for the science in Religion and what ever else God hath pleased to bless his Church with from the beginning She wants nothing but what she may well spare Wild-Beasts which cause Desarts in the parts where they breed hot spices which fit not our temper and rather corrupt our manners than mend our dyet precious jewels and the like which have brought in a degree of vain and useless pride not known before by our predecessors Yet of Gold Silver and other commodious metals she hath her portion and in brief is of a very prosperous temper yet of so strange variety that it is admirable to think that there is no place in this quarter but is fit for any man to live in Insomuch as every Country is Inhabited as is confirmed by our latter Travellers though heretofore it hath been questioned by reason of the extream cold toward the Pole In Hungaria is the Country of Soliense where the Earth sends forth such a stench that it poysoneth the very Birds which flye over it An Island in Danubius exceeding fertile and so indeed is the whole Country The people are generally strong but barbarous their Daughters portions are only a new attyre and their Sons equally Inherit without priviledge of Birth-right The Emperour of Germany and the Turk share it betwixt them Muscovia The whole Region is subject to the Emperour of Russia A vast Territory and as wild a Government for the people are very base contentious ignorant and sottishly superstitious they bury their dead upright with a staffe in hand a penny in his purse and a Letter to St. Nicholas to procure him entrance into Heaven AMERICA AMERICA admits of all variety almost either of plenty or want Admirable for the fertility of soyl then again as barren here temperate there scorching hot
elsewhere as extream cold Some Regions watered with dainty Rivers others again infested with perpetual Drowth Some Plains some Hills some Woods some Mines and what not in some tract or other yet nothing almost common to the whole but Barbarism of Manners Idolatry in Religion and Sottish Ignorance such as hardly distinguisheth them from Bruits else they would not have taken reasonable Men to be immortal Gods as at first they did yet what either God was or Immortality they knew no more than instinct of Nature gave them they had heard of some place or other God knows where behind some Hill where the blessed resided after death And from thence they supposed the Spaniard came at their first Arrival but it was not long before the Tyrants cudgelled their simplicity and by their cruelty appeared to them rather Devils from Hell than Saints from Heaven Yet still the Inland-Countryes retain for the most part their Inbred blindness and worship the Sun Moon and Stars and they have their other Spirits which they call their Zemes and Adore them in Images made of Cotton-Wool which oft-times by the delusion of Satan seem to move and utter an hideous noise that works in these poor Idolaters a great awe least they should harm them The rest of their Customs are answerable to their Religion beastly they go naked and are very lustful people without distinction of Sex In many places they are Anthropophagy and prey upon each other like Wolves they labour not much to sustain themselves but are rather content to take what the Earth can yield without Tillage Nova Hispania or Mexicana propria is the largest Province It was first possessed by the Spaniard 1518. But it cost them much blood to intitle their Kings Hispaniarum reges It is an excellent Country full of all variety almost in every kinde usual with us and exceeds in rarities full of wonder There is one Tree which they dress like our Vine and order it so that it yields them almost all useful necessaries The leaves serve them instead of Paper and of the Vine-bark they make Flax Mantles Matts Shoes Girdle and Cordage Peninsula Peruviana is the South tract of America from North to South there runs a continued course of high Mountains whose tops the very Fowls of the Air cannot reach by flight And from thence descend many admirable Rivers among which Maragnâ— and Argenteus are most famous the one for his extent and the other for his plenty of Silver The Country is exceeding rich but the people differ not much from the worst of Beasts They devour Mans flesh filthy worms and what else comes in their way Near to the North-west of Peru was an admirable atchievment performed by our valiant Country-man John Oxenham who by the direction of Moors skilled in the Country went to the Land of Pearls and took from the Spaniards an incredible weight of Gold and Silver Cartagena a fruitful Countrey which did yield when time was to our still Renowned Sr. Francis Drake store of prize and 240. pieces of Ordinance Peru a very rich Countrey aboundeth with Gold and Silver little esteemed among the Inhabitants For by report the Spaniard ordinarily shoed their Horses with Gold The Inhabitants are strange Idolaters and worship a black Sheep Serpents and other ugly Creatures Brasile The Inhabitants are rude live for the most part in the bodies of Trees the people are covered with natural hair cruel lascivious false and what not In this Region is an hearb called Viva which if you touch it it will shut up as a Daisie in the Night and will not open till the party that injured it be out of sight Chile on the North of Peru it is there extream cold insomuch that many are frozen to death and hardened like Marble The Rivers are fed with Snow that falls from the tops of the high Mountains GREECE GReece She had once the preheminence of Rome in glory as the precedence in time For to say truth she was the wisest of any people that were not inlightened with the knowledge of that great Mistery She set a pattern for Government to all her succeeding ages and in brief she was the Mistress almost of all Sciences Some there are which in a strict account will except none but the Mathematicks but now the poor wretches suffer by the Turks under whom to this day they are and are scarce permitted by that great tyrant means of learning to know the name for which they suffer And besides the base mis-usage of the mis-believing Turk the very Natives themselves are fallen from the noble disposition of their Predecessors into an incredible sottishness and those which before reckoned the rest of the Earth barbarous in comparison to their Politick Common-wealth are now themselves sunk below the envy of the meanest Nation and become the most miserable object of pity living upon the earth indeed they may hardly be said to live They are lazy beyond belief and ignorant almost beyond recovery for they have now no means to bring their Children either to learning or manners Not an Academy in all Greece their carriage generally uncivil their feasts riotous and their mirth debaucht Their Wives are well favoured and so indeed they must be for they use them no longer as their Wives than they continue to their liking when they once fade they are put to the house of drudgery Their language is the same as heretofore but rudely corrupted they have no habit almost proper but those which serve the Turk wear their fashion the rest which are under the Venetian observe them in their Apparel for they are Slaves to both in their whole course Yet they retain still a shew of the Christian Religion which was here first settled by Timothy to whom St. Paul wrote two Epistles and was after in the primitive times professed by diverse learned and Reverend Divines of their own Nation which are with us received as Authentick Fathers of the Church St. Chrysostome Basil c. Thrace Part of this Province was heretofore perswaded that their Ancesters did not at all dye neither should they but passe only out of this world into another to their supposed God Zalmoxis once a Scholer of Pythagoras who when he had perswaded them into this Religion seemed wonderfully to vanish out of their sight and appeared not any more but left them fully possest that he was the Deity which must after a time entertain them And this they expected with that great joy that as oft as one dyed instead of mourning they set forth Games and Feasts to congratulate his freedome from the troubles of this earthly condition and the Wife only whom he loved best for they had many was thought worthy to be killed by her best friends at her Husbands Grave that she might bear him company in the other World the rest bewailed their neglect and the residue of their life was to them as a disgrace When a Child was born neighbours were called to
bemoan his entrance into a multitude of calamities and in course they reckoned up what he was to passe before he could go to their God Zalmoxis for they acknowledged no other but blasphemed and shot Arrows against the Heavens as oft as they heard it Thunder They will not admit that their Government should become hereditary neither must their King be a Father of any Children If the King offend he shall not escape their Laws even to death yeâ— no man may set a hand to his Execution but by a common desertion he is allowed no necessaries to live and therefore must needs dye GERMANY THey are a most ingenious people famous beyond any others in Europe unless Belgia for the invention of many notable and useful Engines The Gun and gun-powder was first brought to light by one Bertholdus Swart a Franciscan which hath almost put by the use of any other Warlick Instrument in those parts of the World where the practice is perfectly understood The Government of this Germany is Emperial The right descends not by succession the power of choice was conferred by Pope Gregory the tenth upon seven German Princes three spiritual and four temporal These are the Arch-Bishop of Mentz Chancellour of the Empire through Germany Arch-Bishop of Cullen Chancellour of the Empire through Italy Arch-Bishop of Triers Chancellour of the Empire through France The temporal are the King of Bohemia who hath the casting voice only in case of equality among the other six His Office is to be chief Cup-Bearer at the great Solemnity Next him the Count Palatine of the Rhene Arch Sewer to the Emperour Duke of Saxony Lord Marshal and Marquesse of Brandenburg chief Chamberlain Each of these perform his own Office in person upon the day of Inauguration The Duke of Saxony bears the Sword the Count Palatine places his meat on the Table the King of Bohemia bears his Cup and delivers it him to drink Marquesse of Brandenburg serveth him water to wash and the three Bishops bless his meat He receiveth three Crowns before he is fully settled into the Majesty of the Empire The first is of Silver for Germany the second of Iron for Lumbardy and the third of Gold for the Empire The last is set on at Rome for to this day it pretends to the Name of the Roman Empire and gives the title of Casar Romani Imperii Imperatâ—r East Frizeland One of the chief Towns of this Region is West-Phalia It is most famous for Swine and excellent Bacon which is esteemed with us one of the greatest dainties to commend a Feast In Cullen It is a received tradition among the Inhabitants that the bodies of the Wise-men which came from the East to worship Christ are here Interred In Cleveland is a City called Aken where the Emperour receives his Silver Crown from Germany and doth great worship to a Clout which they take to be our Saviours Mantle in which he was wrapped BOHEMIA THe scituation of this Kingdom is almost in the midst of Germany there is a Forrest called by the Name of Hercinian Forrest held in the Romans time to be nine daies journey in breadth and in length at least forty The River Albiâ— which hath his rising in the Hercinian Wood if we will believe Report there is often found in the Sands lumps of pure Gold which need no other refining and very precious shells of great value the water supplies that only defect which is to be found in their Land the earth gives good corn and their pastures breed as good cattel there is Woods good store which harbour multitudes of Wild-Beasts among the rest there is a wild Beast which they call Lomi Armed by Nature with a strange defence against the Hounds which follow her for they say she hath a kind of bladder hanging under her jaws which in the Hunting she fills with a scalding hot water and casts it upon the Dogs with that nimbleness that they are not able to avoid or pursue her but oft times have their very hair fall off as from a drest Pig There is a story passeth of one Zisca a Bohemian Captain in the difference of the Hussites against the Pope that when he had won so many Battels as his very name began to be a terrour to the Foe he was not content to be feared alive but bethought himself how he might speak louder when he was dead And therefore will'd his Souldiers that they would flea him and make a Drum of his skin which he was perswaded should ever beat victory before them as oft as he was heard though in a dead sound by the enemy whom he had so often crushed while he was yet living A wicked couzenage of Picardus who possest great multitudes of these silly people with an opinion that he could recall them to that perfect state in which Adam was Created placed them in an Island for that purpose which he called Paradise caused them to walk naked and named his Sect Adamites Horrible sins were committed under that pretence promiscuous Whoredom and Incest at their very Divine Service FRANCE IN so great a multitude we must look to find as much variety of Customs and Dispositions It was the report of Caesar long since and seconded by late Authours that the French for the most part are of a fiery spirit for the first onset in any Action but will soon Flag They desire change of Fortunes and passe not greatly whether to better or worse Their Women very Jocund of a voluble tongue and as free of their speech Complemental to strangers and win more by their wit than their beauty one and tother are great enticers of mens affections Their Nobility have been reported to be liberal but I suppose that fashion is now worn out for so it hath been noted in diverse which respect their purse more than their honour and let pass the Service and Deserts of worthy persons unrewarded as if their gracious acceptance were a sufficient return of thanks for any Office a man can do them They are practised to this garbe by their Peasantry whom they reckon but as slaves and command as their proper Servants which the poor snakes take as a favour and are glad to be employed by their betters that by their protection they may stand free from the injury of their equals For the meanest of them are cruel and affect to oppresse their adversary either by open violence or suit in Law though to their own Ruine They are very ready to take Arms and serve in defence of King and Country they need no more Press than the stroke of Drum but are as rash in their atchievements they will not wait upon Councel but run as far on as upon their strength they may and when they find that fails they will as soon give ground Aquitania In this Province was fought the great Battel betwixt our Black Prince and John of France where with eight thousand he vanquished forty thousand took the King Prisoner
and his son Philip 70 Earls 50 Barons and 1â—000 Gentlemen Normandy where our William the Conqueror was Duke It was lost from his Successors in the time of King John Her chief Cities are Roan and Cane memorable for the Siege of our English Henry the Fifth and Verveille Besieged by Philip the second of France in the time of our Richard the First Which when the King heard as he sate in his Pallace at Westminster it is said he sware he would never turn his back to France till he had his revenge and to make good his Oath brake through the Walls and justly performed his threat upon the Besieger The Low-Countries The People are very thrifty painful and ingenuous in the invention of many pretty things which draw many other Nations to them for traffique and they lye as fit for it They have the name for the first Authors of the Compass Clock and Printing They are excellent Artificers for working of Pictures in Glass for laying Colours in Oyl for Tapestry and other Hangings in brief for any oeconomical commodity either for use or Ornament And in their own private families excel any other people In the Dukedom of Lutzenburg Luick the chief City of the University Memorable for this one story above any other in Christendome That at one time there studied nine Kings sons twenty four Dukes sons twenty nine Earls Sons c. Geldria The Province stands on the East of Brabant and North of Lumburg It is a very fertile soil especially if it be well tilled Her Pastures are excellent insomuch that they feed up their Cattel to an incredible bigness and weight a report passeth of one Bull which weighed 3200 pound It was killed at Antwerp 1570. Hague a Village yet the fairest in Christendome and seat of the States Councel The report lyeth upon this Province of Margaret Sister to the Earl of Floris that she brought at one birth 36â— children all living till they were Christned Spain A memorable story of King Rodericus who lost both himself and Kingdome for a Rape committed upon the Daughter of Julian a noble Gentleman and at that time Ambassador with the Moors in Africa When the Father had understood of his Daughters unworthy injury he brought back his Revenge with him 30000 Horse and 180000 Foot of Moores and Sarazens which discomfited the King overthrew all the resistance which he could make and bespread the Country with their Forces where they and their Posterity stood firm till within the Memory of some living 1630. This change of State was before prophesied and concealed in a large Chest within that part of the Pallace which both the last King and his Predecessors were fore-warned not to discover But the hope of an inestimable Treasure made him transgress and when he had entred there appeared nothing but the portractures of Armed Moores with a presage annexed that when that part of the Pallace should be forced open such Enemies should ruin Spain The River Guadiana which in one place glides under Ground for 15 Miles together and gives the Spaniard an occasion as he will catch at any to brag that they have 10000 Cattel daily feeding upon one Bridge yet give them their own sense the truth may be questioned For they have not such plenty of Meat as they have of Sauce It yields indeeds abundance of Oranges Limons Capers Dates Sugar Oil Honey Liquorish Raisons Saffron Rice excellent Sacks and other Wines and in some places Sheep Goats and swift Horses They are extreamly proud and the silliest of them pretend to a great portion of Wisdom which they would seem to express in a kind of reserved State and silent Gravity when perhaps their wit will scarce serve them to speak sense But if once their Mouths be got too open they esteem their breath too precious to be spent upon any other subject than their own glorious actions They are most unjust neglectors of other Nations and impudent vain flatterers of themselves superstitious beyond any other people In the City Saint Jago in the Island of Gallicia was St. James the Apostle buryed his Reliques kept Worshipped and visited by Pilgrims ITALY MEmorable for Rhea a Virgin which was cloystered up into the Temple of Vesta by her Uncle Amulius Silvius that she might not bring forth an Heir to endanger his Title Notwithstanding means was found so that she conceived at once two Children by Mars and was delivered among her Sisters Vestals For this her self as the censure was upon such Delinquents was buryed alive her Boys exposed to be destroyed Italy is a happy Soil pleasant and Fertile at all times moderate Weather and healthful Air full of Variety as Rice Silks Velvets Sattins Taffaties Grograms Rash Fustians Gold-wyer Armour Allom Glasses c. The Rich are very Rich for Wealth will come with much labour in great abundance but the Poor are extream poor for they are most of them very idle Rome retains a 11 Miles round and 200000 Inhabitants a great part Fryers and such odd idle fellows which pretend to Religion for want of other means to live Cloyster themselves up to a single life only to avoid the charge of Incumbrances of Marriage not to separate themselves from the World or desires of the Flesh for among them they maintain commonly 40000 Curtezans in good Custom and so Rich that they are able to pay 30000 Duckets yearly to the Pope The buildings in which they most glory in are the Church of St. Peter the Castle of St. Angelo the Vaticane Library and the Popes Pallace The truth is their Pride is enough to attire the Whore of Babylon as there can hardly be any other meant than Rome She sits upon the Beast with seven Heads for she was built upon seven Hills was ruled first by seven Kings and hath been since subject to seven several forms of Government HUNGARY HEre are many Waters of excellent Vertue whereof some turn Wood into Iron others Iron into Brass some very Medicinal for sundry Diseases others again so pestiferous that they kill the Creature which doth but taste them The like is reported of an Hiatus in the Ground unaccessable by any but the fowls of the Air and those fall suddaily dead with the stench which ascends from it It is hard to believe what most Geographers report of her Fertility That she yields Corn thrice in one year almost without any Tillage or care of the Husband-man Fruit of all kinds in great abundance and Grapes which make an excellent wholsome and rich Wine It breeds Cattel in such plenty that this one Country besides store of her own Inhabitants sends Sheep and Oxen into Forrain Nations which lye about her and might say they suffice to feed all Europe with Flesh Venison is not here any dainties Does Hares Harts Goats Boars c. are every Mans Meat and the Game common as well to the Boors as Gentry And so for Phesant Partridge Black-birds Pigeons most Fowl wild and tame The Earth
place Sommerset-shire THis Country besides other Commodities in some places is inriched by Lead-mines which yields great Plenty the most Marchantable Commodity that is in England and vented into all parts of the World Some places are beautified with Diamonds as St. Vincent Rock whereof there is great plenty and so bright of colour as they might equalize Indian Diamonds if they had their hardness yet being so many and so common they are less sought after or commended In this Country is the City of Bathe which takes name of the hot Baths A place of continual concourse for Persons of all degrees and almost of all diseases who by Divine Providence do very often find relief there the Springs thereof by reason of their Mineral and sulphurous passage being of such exceeding power and medicinal heat as that they Cure and Conquer the rebellions stubbornness of corrupt humors At Dunstere where as is reported a great Lady obtained of her Husband so much Pasture Ground in common by the Town side for the good and benefit of the Inhabitants as she was able in a whole day to go about bare-foot Wilt-shire SAlisbury the chief City in which every street almost hath a River running thorow in her midst The Cathedral a most rich Magnificent Church wherein are as many Windows as there are days in the year as many cast Pillars of Marble as there are hours in the year and as many Gates for entrance as there are months in the year Aurelius Ambrosus buryed at Stonheng Anno 500. THis ancient Monument was erected by Aurelius Surnamed Ambrosus King of the Britiains whose Nobility in the Reign of Vortiger his Countrys scourge about the year 475. by the Treachery of the Saxons on a day of parley were there slaughtered and their bodys there Interred In Memory whereof this King Aurel caused this Trophy to be set up Admirable to Posterities Both in form and quantity the matter thereof are stones in great bigness containing twenty eight foot and more in length and ten in bredth these are set in the ground by two and two and a third laid Gate-wise over-thwart fastn'd with tenons mortasses wrought in the same which seem very dangerous to all that pass there under The form is round and as it seemeth hath been circulated with three ranks of these stones Many whereof are now fallen down and the uttermost whereof containeth in compass three hundred foot by measure of assize They all are rough and of a gray colour standing within a Trench that hath been much deeper In this place this foresaid King Aurelius with two more of the Brittish Kings his Successors have been buryed with many more of their Nobility and in this place under little banks to this day are found by digging bones of Mighty men and Armour of large and ancient fashion Not far hence is seen the ruins of an old Fortress thought by some to be built there by the Romans when this Kingdom was possessed by their Emperours Bark-shire IN Reading in the Collegiate Church of the Abbey King Henry the first and Queen lay both veiled and Crowned with their Daughter Maud the Empress called the Lady of England were Interred as the private History of the place avoucheth But of far greater Magnificence and State is the Castle of Windsor A most Princely Pallace and Mansion of His Majesty In this Castle was King Edward the third born and here held at one and the same time Prisoners John King of France and David King of Scotland Neither was it ever graced with greater Majesty then by the Institution of the most Honourable Order of the Garter the invention thereof some ascribe to be from a Garter falling from his Queen or rather from Joan Countess of Salisbury a Lady of an uncomparable beauty as she danced before him whereat the by-standers smiling he gave the impress to check all evil conceits and in Golden Letters imbellished the Garter with this French Posie Honi Soit Qui Maby Pense The Princely Chappel of Windsor is graced with the bodies of Henry the 6 th and Edward the 4 th Kings of England the one of Lancaster the other of York as also King Henry the 8 th lyeth there Interred Finch-hampsted For wonder inferiour to none where as our Writers do witness that in the year a thousand one hundred a Well boiled up with streams of bloud and fifteen days together continued that Spring whose Waters made red all others where they came to the great amazement of the beholders Middlesex LOndon This City doth shew as the Cedars among the other trees being the seat of the British Kings the Chamber of the English the Model of the Land and the Mart of the World For thither are brought the silk of Asia the spices from Africa the balms from Grecia and the riches of both the Indies East and West No City standing so long in Fame nor any for Divine and Politick Government may with her be compared In King Johns time a Bridge of Stone was made over Thames upon nineteen Arches for length breadth beauty and building the like again cannot be found in the World Essex IN the year 1581. an Army of Mice so over ran the Marshes in Deugâ—y Hundred near unto South-Minster in this County that they shore the grass to the very roots and so tainted the same with their venemous teeth that a great Murrain fell upon the Cattel which grazed thereon to the great loss of their owners Suffolk RAlph Coggeshall in the Monuments of Colchester declareth that a Fish in all parts like a Man was taken near Orford and for six Months was kept in the Castle whence after he escaped went again to the Sea As strange but most true was a crop of Pease that without tillage or sowing grew in the Rocks betwixt this Orford and Aldebrough in the year 1555. when by unseasonable weather a great dearth was in the Land there in August were gathered above one hundred Quarters and in blossoming remained as many more where never grass grew or Earth ever seen but hard sollid Rocks three yards deep under the roots Hereford-shire AT Langley in this Country was buryed Richard the second that unfortunate King who in the Cell of Fryers Preachers was there first buryed but afterwards removed and enshrined at Westminster And in another Langley near the East from thence was born that Pontifical Breakspear Bishop of Rome known by the name of Hadrian the fourth and famous for his Stirrup-holding by Frederick the Emperour whose breath was lastly stopped by a fly that flew into his mouth Bedford-shire IN the year 1399. immediately before those Civil Wars broke out between the Princes of York and Lancaster The River Ouse near unto Harwood stood suddenly still and refrained to pass any further so that forward men passed three miles together on foot in the very depth of her channel and backwards the waters swelled unto a great height which was observed by the judicious to fore-tell some
other Sea fish which if they be not the wonders of Nature we may deem to be the undoubted tokens of the general deluge that in Noahs time over-flowed the whole face of the Earth Also the River Swale among the English was reputed a very Sacred River and Celebrated with an universal glory for that the English Saxons first embracing Christianity in one day above ten thousand men besides a Multitude of Women and Children were therein baptized unto Christ by the hands of Paulinus Arch-bishop of York The North and East Riding PLaces of eminent Note are Whitby where are found certain stones fashioned like Serpents folded and wraped round in a Reath even the very pastimes of Nature who when she is wearied as it were with serious works sometimes forgeth and shapeth things by way of sport and recreation so that by the credulous they are thought to have been Serpents which a Coat or crust of stones had now covered all over and by the prayers of St. Hilda turned to stones And also there are certain fields here adjoyning where Geese flying over fall down suddenly to the ground to the great admiration of all men Ounsbery hill besides a Spring of Medicinable waters for the eyes is a Prognostication unto her Neighbours whose head being covered with a cloudy cap presageth some tempestuous storms or showers to follow At Huntly Nabe are stones found at the roots of certain Rocks of divers bigness so artificially shaped round by nature in manner of a Globe as if they had been made by the Turners hand In which if you break them are found stony Serpents enwrapped round like a reath but most of them headless The Bishoprick of Durham THings of rare note observed in this shire are three pits of a wonderful depth commonly called the Hell Kettles which are adjoyning near unto Darlington whose waters are somewhat warm These are thought to come of an Earth-quake which happened in the year 1179. whereof the Chronicle of Tinmouth maketh mention whose Record is this On Christmas-day at Oxenhall in the Territory of Darlington within the Bishoprick of Durham the ground heaved up aloft like unto a high Tower and so continued all that day as it were unmoveable until the Evening and then fell with so horrible a noise that it made all the Neighbour dwellers sore afraid and the earth swallowed it up and made in the same place a deep pit which is there to be seen for a testimony unto this day Of no less admiration are certain stones lying within the River Weere at Butterbee near Durham from whose ebb and low-water in the Summer issueth a certain Salt reddish water which with the sun waxeth white and growing into a thick substance becometh a necessary salt to the use of the by-dwellers Westmorland nothing worth noting Cumberland THe Rivers in this Country feed a kind of Muskle that bringeth forth Pearl wherein the mouth of the Irt as they lye gaping and sucking in dew the Country people gather and sell to the Lapidaries to their own little and the buyers great gain But the Mines Royal of Copper whereof this Country yieldeth much is for use the Richest of all at Keswick and Newland is the black lead gotten whose plenty maketh it of no great esteem otherwise a Commodity that could hardly be missed At Burgh upon the sand was the fatal end of our famous Monarch King Edward the first who there leaving his Wars unfinished against Scotland left his troubles and soon missed life to his untimely and soon lamented death And at Salkelds upon the River Eden a Monument of seventy stones each of them ten foot high above ground and one of them at the entrance fifteen as a Trophy of Victory was erected These are by the by-dwellers called Long Megg and her Daughters Northumberland THe chiefest Commodity that enricheth Country is that which we call Sea-Coals whereof there is such plenty and abundance digged up as they do not only return a great gain to the Inhabitants but procure also much pleasure and profit to others No place of this Province vents forth so many of these Sea-Coals into other Regions as New-Castle doth The Inhabitants of Morpeth set their own Town on fire in the year 1215. in the spight they bare to King John for that he and his Rutars over ran these Countries Man Island THis Commodity makes this Island more happy then we are here for the people are there free from all necessary commencements of Suits from long and dilatory Pleas and from frivolous Feeing of Lawyers No Judge or Clerks of the Court take there any penny for drawing Instruments or making of Processes All Controversies are there determined by certain Judges without writings or other Charges and them they call Deemsters and chuse forth among themselves If any complaint be made to the Magistrate for wrongs either done or suffered he presently taketh up a stone and fixeth his mark upon it and so delivereth it unto the party Plaintiff by vertue of which he both calls his adversary to appearance and to produce his Witnesses If the case fall out to be more litigious and of greater consequence than can easily be ended it is then referred to twelve men whom they term the Keys of the Island And this Island is so well managed for matter of Rule and civil Discipline that every man there possesseth his own in peace and safety No man lives in dread or danger of losing what he hath Men are not there inclined to robbing or thieving or licentious living This Isle prohibits the customary manner of begging from door to door detesting the disorders as well Civil as Ecclesiastical of Neighbour-Nations That which deserves to be committed to Memory is that the Women of this Country wheresoever they go out of their doors gird themselves about with the winding-sheet that they purpose to be buryed in to shew themselves mindful of their Mortality and such of them as are at any time condemned to dye are sowed within a sack and flung from a Rock into the Sea This Island is in length 29 Miles the widest part is scarce nine Miles the whole compass about is fourscore and two Miles Holy Island THis Island from East to West is about two thousand two hundred and fifty paces so that the circumference cannot be great Farn Isle THe bredth of this Isle is but five Miles and the length no more the whole circumference extends it self no further then to fifteen Miles Garnsey THis Isle lyeth in length from Plimmouth-bay South-west to Lancross de Anckers North-east thirteen Miles in bredth from St. Martins point South-east to the Howe North-west nine miles and is in circuit thirty six miles In this Isle is neither Toad Snake Adder or any other venemous Creature whereas Jersey hath great plenty their fields in the Summer time are so naturally garnished with Flowers of all sorts that a Man being there might conceit himself to be in a pleasant Artificial Garden Among the Rocks
is found a hard stone which we term Emerill This stone is serviceable for many purposes and many Trades as Glasiers c. but especially for the Gold-smiths and Lapidaries to cut their precious stones Jersey THis Island is in length ten miles and in bredth six miles the whole circuit of the Island being thirty eight miles Pembroke-shire in this shire nothing remarkable Caermarden-shire IN the ruins of Carreg-Castle which stood mounted on a high hill under which many Vaults and spacious Caves far into the ground are seen wherein is thought the people unable to fight were therein secured in time of their Wars Where also is a Well that in this place twice in four and twenty hours ebbing and twice flowing resembleth the unstable Motions of the main Sea Glamorgan-shire THings of strange note that in a Rock or Cliff upon the Sea-side and Island of Barry lying near the South-east point of this Country is heard out of a little chink the noise as it were of Smiths at their work one while the blowing of Bellows to increase the heat then the stroaks of the hammer and sound of the Anvil sometimes the noise of the Grind-stone in grinding of Iron Tools then the hissing sparks of Steel-gads as they fly from their beating with the puffing noise of flames in a Furnace More Westward from hence upon the River Ogmore and near unto Newton in a sandy plain about an hundred paces from Severn there springeth a Well though not of the clearest water whereat the flowing and fulness of the Sea can hardly any water be gotten but at the ebb and fall of the Tide it walloweth up a main And upon the same shore more North and by West on the top of a hill called Minyd-Margan is erected a Monument inscribed with a strange Character and as strange a conceit held thereof by the by-dwellers whose opinions are possessed that if any Man read the same he shall shortly after dye Monmouth OUr King Henry the V the great Triumpher over France was born in Monmouth Brecknock-shire THe Welshmen relate of a Prince named Brechavius the Father of an holy off-spring whose twenty four Daughters were all of them Saints From the top of a Hill in Welsh called Mounch-devuy or Cadier Arthur if any man from the North-east Rock cast their Cloaks Hats and Staves notwithstanding will never fall but with the Air and wind return back and blow up neither will any descend from that Cliff being so cast unless it be stone or some Metalline substance affirming the cause to be the Clouds which are seen to rack much lower than the top of that hill As strange a tale is told of the Mâ—â—y Llynsavathan two Miles East from Brecâ—nock which at the breaking of her frozen Ice maketh a fearful sound like unto Thunder In which place as is reported sometimes stood a fair City which was swallowed up in an Earthquake and resigned her Stone-walls unto this deep and broad water Radnor-shire NEar Knigton a Market Town is Offaes Ditch which runs along by the Mountain which was a bound set to separate the Welsh from the English A Law was made that it should be present death for the Welsh to pass over the same Cardigan-shire IN Tyui the Beaver hath been found a Creature living both by land and water whose stones the Physicians hold in great price His fore-feet are like unto a Dogs but the hinder whole skinned as is the Goose like Oars giving him swift motion in swiming his tail broad and Gristly he useth a stern wherewith on the sudden he can divert his swift floating course Mount-Gomery-shire nothing there remarkable Merioneth-shire HIlls there are so high as it is affirmed by one that shepherds upon their tops falling at odds in the Morning and challenging the field for fight before they can come together to try out the Quarrel the day will be spent and the heat of their fury shut up with their sleep Denbigh-shire THis is worth observing both for Admiration and Antiquity that in the Parish of Llan-sunan within this County there is a place compass cut out of the main Rock by mans hand in the side of a stony hill wherein there be four and twenty seats to sit in some less some bigger where Children and young men coming to seek their Cattel use to sit and to have their sports And at this day they commonly call it King Arthurs Round Table Flint-shire THis Country hath many shallow Rivers in it but none of fame and note but d ee and Cluyde How he it there is a Spring not far from Rudland Castle of great report and antiquity which is termed Holy-well and is commonly called St. Winefrids Well of whom antiquity thus reporteth that Winefrid a Christian Virgin very fair and vertuous was doted upon by a young lustful Prince or Lord of the Country who not being able to rule his head-strong affections having many times in vain attempted and tryed her chastity both by rich Gifts and large Promises could not by any means obtain his desires he therefore in a place of advantage suddenly surprized and ravished her weak yet resisting body After the deed done the cruel Tyrant to stop her crys and acclamations slew her and cut off her head out of which place did suddenly arise a Spring that continueth to this day carrying from the Fountain such a forcible stream and currant as the like is not found in Christendom Over the head of the Spring there is built a Chappel of Free-stone with Pillars curiously wrought and ingraved in the Chancel whereof and Glass window the Picture of the Virgin is drawn together with the Memorial of her life and death To this Fountain Pilgrims are accustomed to repair in their zealous but blind devotion and divers others resort to Bathe in holding firmly that the water is of much vertue There be many Red stones in the bottom of this Well and much green Moss growing upon the sides the superstition of the people holding that these Red spots in the stones were drops of the Ladies bloud which all the water in the Spring can never wash away and that the Moss about the Wall was her hair which though some of it be given to every stranger that comes yet it never wasteth But howsoever this be carryed for truth by the Tradition of time the Moss it self smells exceeding sweet Carnaervon-shire KIng Edward the second was born at Carnaervon in a Tower of the Castle he was the first Prince of Wales of the English Line There are in this shire two Pools called the Mears the one of which produceth great store of fish but all having only one eye and in the other there is a moveable Island which as soon as a man treadeth on it forthwith floateth a great way off whereby the Welsh are said to have often escaped and deluded their Enemies assailing them Anglesea-Island THe length of this Island is twenty miles in bredth seventeen miles the whole circumference amounting
totwards seventy miles Out of Scotlands General Description THis Nations Original by some hath been derived from Scota the supposed Daughter of the Egyptian King Pharaoh that nourished Moses who having marryed Gaithelus the son of Cecrops the Founder of Athens who first seating in Spain passed thence into Ireland and lastly into Scotland where his Wife Scota gave name to the Nation In this Country is the dark Wood Caledonia famous for the Wild White Bulls that therein were bred whose Manes were Lion-like thick and curled of nature fierce and cruel and so hateful to Mankind that they abhorred whatsoever was by them handled or breathed upon but because the flesh was pleasant and dainty to the mouth the whole race of them is extinguished It is Admirable the report that is given of this Country as to the plenty of Cattel Fish and Fowl there abiding fish so plentiful that men in some places for delight on Horse-back hunt Salmons with Spears and a certain Fowl which some call Soland-Geese spreading so thick in the Air that they even darken the Suns-light of whose flesh feathers and Oil the Inhabitants in some parts make great use and gain yea and even of fishes brought by them abundant provision for Diet as also of the sticks brought to make their Nests plentiful provision for fewel With these of Wonders might be spoken of the Natures of those two famous Loughs Lomand and Nessa the latter whereof never freezeth in Winter though never so extream and the Waters of the other most raging in the fairest and calmest weather wherein also floteth an Island that removeth from place to place as the wind forceth her spongeous and unfastned body In Buquhan upon the banks of Ratra is a Well whose trickling drops turn in Piramidy wise into hard stone and another near Edenbrough that floteth with Bitumen In Dee and Done besides the admired plenty of Salmons is found a Shell-fish called the Horse-Muscle where Pearls are engendred most precious for Physick and some of them so Orient that they give no place to the choicest The Western Islands lying scattered in the Deucalidonia Sea were anciently ruled by a King of their own whose maintenance was out of their common Coffers and the Regal Authority never continued in lineal succession for to prevent that their Kings were not permitted to have Wives of their own but might by their Laws accompany with other mens as the like Law was in the other parts of Scotland that the Virginity of all new Wives should be the Land-Lords prey till King Malcolme enacted that half a Mark should be paid for Redemption More North lie the Isles of Shetland where as Tzetzes fableth the Souls of good men are ferryed into those Elizian Fields that ever grow green but their fictions intended only that the vertuous Souls of the dead passed the uttermost bounds of earthly abode and attained to an over-pleasing repose and ever flourishing happiness which whether they borrowed from the Description of Paradise taken both for a fair Garden and the Souls happy rest is hard to define Out of the Description of Ireland THe Manners and Customs of the Wild Irish are thus set forth by Strabo The Inhabitants saith he of Ireland are more rude then the Britains they feed upon the flesh of men yea and think it a point of worth to eat their dead Parents wantonly they accompany with Women making no difference of other mens wives their own Sisters nor of their natural Mothers but of these things saith he we have no certain witness of sufficient credit Pomponius Mela recordeth that the Irish are uncivil ignorant of Vertues and void of Religion And Solinus affirmeth that after Victory they drink the bloud of the slain and besmear their own Faces therewith so given to War that the mother at the birth of a man-child feedeth the first meat into her Infants mouth upon the point of her Husbands sword and with heathenish imprecations wisheth that it may dye no otherwise then in War or by sword But from these ancient and barbarous manners we will come to the conditions of their middle time whom Giraldus Cambrensis describeth as followeth The Irish saith he are a strong and bold people Martial and Prodigal in War nimble stout and haughty of heart careless of life but greedy of glory courteous to strangers constant in Love light of belief impatient of injury given to fleshly lusts and in enmity implacable At the baptizing of their Infants their manner was not to dip their right arms into the water that so as they thought they might give a more deep and uncurable blow never calling them by the name of their Parents whilest they lived together but at their death took it upon them Their Women nursed not their Children they bare and they that nursed others did affect and love them much more than their own So much were they given to Fantastical conceits that they held it very ominous to give their Neighbours Fire upon May-day to eat an odd Egg endangered the death of their Horse And before they cast in their seed they sent salt into the field to hang up the shells in the roof was a preservative of the Chickens from the Kite to set up green boughs at their doors in the month of May increased their Kines Milk and to spit upon Cattel they held it good against Witchery whereof Ireland was full Superstitious Idolatry among the Wild Irish was common yielding divine honour unto the Moon after the change unto whom they both bowed their knees and made supplications and with a Loud Voice would thus speak unto that Planet We pray thee leave us in as good Estate as thou foundst us Wolves they did make as their God-sis terming them Chari Christ and so thought themselves preserved from their hurts the hoofs of dead Horses they accounted and held Sacred About childrens necks they hung the beginning of St. Johns Gospel a crooked nail of an Horse shooe or a piece of a wolves-skin and both the sucking Child and Nurse were girt with Girdles finely plated with Womans hair so far they wandred into the ways of errour in making these arms the strength of their healths Their Wives were many by reason of Divorcements and their Maids marryed at twelve years of Age whose Customs were to send to their lovers bracelets plated and curiously wrought of their own hair so far following Venus in the knots of these allurements The men wore Linnen shirts exceedingly large stained with Saffron the sleeves wide and hanging to their knees strait and short Trusses plated thick in the skirts their Breeches close to the thighs a short skeine hanging point down before and a Mantle most times cast over their heads The women wore their hair plated in curious manner hanging down their backs and shoulders from under foulden wreaths of fine Linnen rolled about their heads rather loding the wearer then delighting the beholder for as the one was most seemly so the other