presently turn'd their backs and betook themselves every man to flight The Norman proud and haughty with this victory in memory of the battel Battel erected an Abbey and dedicated it to St. Martin which he call'd ‖ Battel-Abbey in that very place where Harold after many wounds died amongst the thickest of his enemies that it might be as it were an eternal monument of the Norman victory 25 And therein he offer'd his Sword and Royal Robe which he ware the day of his Coronation These the Monks kept until their suppression as also a Table of the Normans Gentry which entred with the Conqueror but so corruptly in later times that they inserted therein the names of such as were their Benefactors and whosoever the favour of fortune or virtue had advanc'd to any eminency in the subsequent ages About this Abby there grew up afterwards a town of the same name or to use the words of the private History As the Abbey encreas'd there were built about the compass of the same 115 houses of which the town of Battel was made Wherein there is a place in French call'd Sangue-lac from the blood there shed which after a shower of rain from the nature of the earth seems to look reddish whereupon Guilielmus Neubrigensis wrote but with little of truth The place in which there was a very great slaughter of the English fighting for their Country if it happen to be wetted with a small showre sweats out real blood and as it were fresh as if the very evidence thereof did plainly declare that the voice of so much Christian blood doth still cry from the earth to the Lord. But King William granted many and great privileges to this Abbey And amongst others to use the very words of the Charter If any thief or murderer or person guilty of any other crime fly for fear of death and come to this Church let him have no harm but be freely dismissed Be it lawful also for the Abbot of the same Church to deliver from the Gallows any thief or robber wheresoever if he chance to come by at the execution Henry 1. A marke on Sunâ—â—y likewise to give you the very words of his Charter instituted a market to be there kept on the Lord's Day free from all Toll and other duty whatsoever But Anthony Viscount Mountague who not long since built a fine house there obtain'd of late by authority of Parliament to have the market chang'd to another day And as for the privileges of Sanctuary in those more heinous and grievous crimes they are here and every where else quite abolish'd by Act of Parliament For they perceiv'd well that the fear of punishment being once remov'd outragiousness and an inclination to commit wickedness grew still to a greater head and that hope of impunity was the greatest motive of ill doing Neither here nor in the neighbourhood saw I any thing worth relating Ashburnham but only Esuburnham that has given name to a family of as great antiquity as any in all this tract g Hastings Hastings before spoken of call'd in Saxon Hastinga-ceaster lies somewhat higher upon the same shore Some there are that ridiculously derive it from Haste in our tongue because as Matthew Paris writes At Hastings William the Conquerour hastily set up a fortress of timber But it may rather seem to have taken this new name k William the Norman speaks of this Hasting in Henry Huntingd. Hist 7. f. 211. a from Hasting a Danish Pirate who where he landed with design to ravage and raise booty built sometimes little fortresses as we read in Asserius Menevensis of Beamflote-Castle built by him in Essex and others at Apledor and Middleton in Kent 25 The tradition is That the old Town of Hastings is swallow'd up of the sea That which standeth now as I observ'd is couched between a high cliff sea-ward and as high an hill landward having two streets extended in length from N. to S and in each of them a Parish Church The Haven such as it is being fed but with a poor small Rill is at the south end of the town and hath had a great Castle upon the hill which over-commanded it now there are only ruines thereof and on the said hill light-houses to direct Sailers in the night time Here in the reign of K. Athelstan was a Mint It is the chief of the Cinque-ports Cinque-â—orts which with it's members Winchelsea Rye c. was bound to find 21 ships for war at sea If you have a mind to know in what form both this and the rest also were bound to serve the King in his wars at sea for those most ample immunities they enjoy here take it in the very same words wherein this was anciently recorded in the King's Exchequer Hastings with it's members ought to find 21 ships at the King's summons And there ought to be in every ship 21 men able fitly qualified well arm'd and well furnish'd for the King's service Yet so as that summons be made thereof on the King's behalf 40 days before And when the aforesaid ships and men therein are come to the place of rendezvous whereunto they were summon'd they shall abide there in the King's service for 15 days at their own proper costs and charges And if the King shall have further need of their service after the 15 days aforesaid or will have them stay there any longer those ships with the men therein while they remain there shall be in the King's service at the King's costs and charges so long as the King pleases The Master of each ship shall have sixpence a day and the Constable sixpence a day and every one of the rest three pence a day 26 Thus Hastings flourish'd long inhabited with a warlike people and skilful sailors well stor'd with Barks and Craies and gained much by fishing which is plentiful along the shore But after that the Peer made of timber was at length violently carry'd away by extream rage of the sea it hath decay'd and the fishing less used by the reason of the dangerous landing for they are enforced to work their vessels to land by a Capstall or Crain In which respect for the bettering of the town Q. Elizabeth granted a contribution toward the making of a new harbour which was begun but the contribution was quickly converted into private purses and the publick good neglected Nevertheless both Court the Country and City of London is serv'd with much fish from thence The whole Rape of Hastings together with the Honour â—â—mites â—â—enses â—go de â—gi Earls 〈◊〉 Ew was held by the Earls of Ew in Normandy descended from a Natural son of Richard 1. Duke of Normandy till Henry 3's time when Ralph de Issodun in France marry'd Alice whose posterity lost a noble estate in England because as the Lawyers then deliver'd it they were under the King of France 's Allegiance 27 When K. Henry
Willen where his estate lyes at Wells he has built a Library and is at this time repairing the Church of Lutton r In the Church and Chapel our Author numbers many other Kings Queens westminster- Persons buried in westminster-Westminster-Abbey and Princes that have been there bury'd before and since King Hen. 7. To the Catalogue whereof we must needs add King Edward the fifth and his Brother Richard Duke of York who were most barbarously smother'd to death with Pillows in the Tower of London Anno 1483. by order of their unnatural Uncle Richard Duke of Glocester Their bodies though ‖ Continueâ— of Harding's Chron. some have written they were put into a leaden Coffin and cast into the black deeps near the Thames mouth by Sir Robert Brackenburies Priest were found July 17. 1674. by some workmen who were employed to take up the steps leading into the Chapel of the white Tower which in all probability was the first and only place they were deposited in Thence their bones except some few of them sent to the Museum at Oxford * Catalogâ— MS. Musâ— Ashâ—â—lea oâ— Oxon. were commanded Anno 1678. by King Charles 2. to be translated thence and decently interr'd here under a curious Altar of black and white marble with the following Epitaph engraven on the Pedestal H. S. S. Reliquiae Edwardi 5. Regis Angliae Richardi Ducis Eboracensis Hos germanos fratres Turri Londinensi conclusos injectisque culcitris suffocatos abdite inhoneste tumulari jussit Patruus Richardus perfidus Regni praedo Ossa desideratorum diu multum quaesita post annos 190 c. Scalarum in ruderibus scalae istae ad sacellum Turris albae nuper ducebant alte defossa indiciis certissimis reperta 17 die Julii Anno Dom. 1674. Carolus secundus Rex clementissimus acerbam sortem miseratus inter avita monumenta Principibus infoelicissimis justa perselvit Anno Dom. 1678. Annoque Regni sui 30. That is Here under lye interr'd the Remains of Edward 5. King of England and of Richard Duke of York Which two Brothers their Uncle Richard who usurpt the Crown shut up in the Tower of London smother'd them with Pillows and order'd them to be dishonourably and secretly buried Whose long desired and much sought for bones after above an hundred and ninety years were found by most certain tokens deep interr'd under the rubbish of the stairs that led up into the Chapel of the white Tower on the 17th of July in the year of our Lord 1674. Charles the second a most merciful Prince having compassion upon their hard fortune performed the funeral rites of these unhappy Princes amongst the Tombs of their Ancestors Anno Dom. 1678. being the 30th of his reign To whom add King James the first Queen Ann Queen of Bohemia and others of their Children The Lady Elizabeth Princess of Orange King Charles the second and several of the Children of him and of King James the second Henry Duke of Glocester Lodowick Duke of Richmond and Lenox George Duke of Albemarle William Duke of Newcastle and George Duke of Buckingham Lionel Earl of Middlesex Edward Earl of Sandwich and James Earl of Ossory And amongst the Poets we must not forget the famous Ben. Johnson and the ingenious Mr. Cowley to whom I wish I could have added Mr. Butler who equal if not exceed the best of their Predecessors s Near to the Church stands Westminster-hall Westminster-hall first founded by William Rufus about the year of Christ 1097. wherein as * P. 44. Edit Wâ—â—s Matthew Paris tells us upon his return out of Normandy Anno 1099. he Most royally kept the Feast of Whitsuntide The length of it was 270 foot and 74 the breadth which when he heard some say was too great he answer'd That it was not big enough by one half and was but a Bed-chamber in comparison of what he intended to make The foundations as we are told were to be seen in the days of Matthew Paris stretching themselves from the river to the common high-way whence we may gather 't was intended to have pointed in length East and West and not North and South as it now does Charter-house t Next our Author proceeds to the Northern and Eastern Suburbs wherein amongst others he takes notice of the opulent house of Carthusian Monks founded about 1370. 45 Edw. 3. by Sir Walter de Many which after the dissolution being bestow'd upon Sir Thomas Audley Speaker of the House of Commons past from him with his sole daughter Margaret by marriage to Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and so by descent to Thomas Earl of Suffolk Of him it was purchased since our Author's time under the name of Howard-house otherwise call'd the late dissolved Charter-house near Smithfield in Middlesex by Thomas Sutton of Camps-castle in the County of Cambridge for the sum of thirteen thousand pounds He erected it into an Hospital by the name of the Hospital of King James founded in Charter-house in the County of Middlesex at the humble petition and only cost and charges of Thomas Sutton Esq endowing it with divers Manours and other Lands to the value of 4493 l. 19 s. 10 d. for the maintenance of a Master or Governour a Preacher Physician Register Receiver c. 80 poor Brothers or Pensioners which are to be either Gentlemen by descent and in poverty Merchants decay'd by pyracy or shipwrack or superannuated Soldiers by sea or land and none of these to be under the age of 50 years at the time of their admission Except Soldiers maim'd in the wars and not in private quarrels which in regard of their misfortune are capable ten years sooner Beside 6 l. 6 s. 8 d. wages they are all allow'd meat drink lodging gowns and other cloaths And so are 40 poor Scholars who are only capable of admission between the years of 10 and 15 and not to continue in the School above 8 years at most Before the expiration whereof they are either transplanted to one of the Universities where since the increase of the Revenue which now amounts to 5500 l. per Annum there are no less than 29 always maintain'd with the allowance of 20 l. per Annum each to be paid quarterly for 8 years time or they are put forth to be Apprentices the House now giving no less than 40 l. with them The government is in the hands of the most honourable Grandees of the State and most reverend Prelates of the Church beside the King and Queen who put in both the Pensioners and Children in their courses only the King first puts in two the Queen one and then the 16 Governours one each in their respective turns as the places become vacant * S. Hern's Domus Carthusiana u In the more Eastern Suburbs where he tells us many Roman Urns and other Antiquities were found we can only add Roman Antiquities that the place he mentions was Spittle-fields They were dugg up in
survey'd the Counties of the Coritani who were seated in the Western Parts we proceed to take a view of the Cornabii or Cornavii The original of which name I must leave to others to enquire after 'T is true I could wrest it to this and that signification but since none will either suit the nature of the place or genius of the people I shall not swell this Volume with them To pursue my design therefore I shall severally go through those Provinces which according to Ptolemy's description the Cornavii seem to have possess'd viz. Warwickshire Worcestershire Staffordshire Shropshire and Cheshire In all which not the least footstep of the name Cornavii remains at this day although it seems to have continued even to the declension of the Roman Empire For the †Numeri Turmae Troops of the Cornavii served under the later Emperours as may be seen in the * Libro NotitiÌ„arum Breviary of the Western Empire WARWICKSHIRE THE County of Warwick call'd by the Saxons as at present a By the Saxon Annals it is call'd Waeringscyre Warwickshire is bounded on the East with Northamptonshire Leicestershire and the Military way mention'd before on the South-side with Oxfordshire and Glocestershire on the West for the greatest part with Worcestershire and on the North with Staffordshire It is divided into two parts the Feldon and the Woodland i.e. a Champain and a Woody Country sever'd by the river Avon running obliquely from North-east to South-west through the middle of this County a On the South-side of the Avon lies Feldon Feldon a champain Country whose fertile fields of corn and verdant pastures yield a most delightful prospect to those who view them from the top of Edghill b Where this track of hills terminates near Warmington I saw a large round military entrenchment which I suppose as others of the like nature was cast up and made for present defence against the sudden inroads of some enemy From the red soil hereabouts a village at the foot of Edghill is call'd Rodway or Rodley and a great part of the Vale the Vale of Red horse The vale of Red-horse bearing that name from the figure of a great horse cut by the country people in the side of the hill near Pillerton out of red coloured earth In this part of the Country the places worthy of note are Shipston and Kynton Shipston in Worcestershire Kynton the former an ancient market for sheep the latter for kine or beasts from whence they both deriv'd their name c Compton Crompton in the hole so call'd from its being situated in a bottom almost surrounded with hills yet it is not without its pleasures From this place a noble family borrow'd their name a descendant of which Henry Compton in the year 1572. was by the most illustrious Princess Queen Elizabeth raised to the dignity of a Baron of this Kingdom b They are since Earls of Northampton Wormleighton well-known for the richness of its sheep-pastures but much more remarkable since K. James created that excellent person Robert Spencer of whom I have already spoken Baron Spencer of Wormleighton Wormleighton d Shugbury Shugbury where the c Being put into a glâ—ss or cup of Vinegar they stir about and keep themselves in mâ—tion which experiment our Author says he had never made See in Lincolâ—shire Star-stones Astroites Astroites are often turned up in ploughing the fields which the Lords of that manour the Shugburies have long since taken into their Coat-armour Southam a market-town of some note and well frequented Leamington Leamington so call'd from the little river Leame which runs through the precinct thereof where there rises a d The water is us'd by the poorer inhabitants for seasoning their bread salt Spring Vehindon now Long Ichingdon and Harbury These two places are memorable on no other account than the death of Fremundus son of Offa King of the Mercians who was basely and treacherously slain betwixt them e A person of great eminence in his time and of singular piety whom nothing so much made the mark and object of envy as that in an unhappy juncture he triumph over the insolent Enemy But this undeserved fate of his turn'd to his greatest glory for being bury'd at the palace of his father Offa now call'd Off-Church Oâ—f-Châ— his memory was continu'd to posterity and canoniz'd he had divine honours paid him by the people and his life writ by an ancient Author in no ill verse Some of which describing the villain who spurr'd on with the ambition of a crown thus impiously assassinated him it may not be unacceptable to present you withal Non sperans vivo Fremundo regis honore Optato se posse frui molitur in ejus Immeritam tacitò mortem gladióque profanus Irruit exerto servus Dominique jacentis Tale nihil veritum saevo caput amputat ictu Talis apud †In soâ— Copies Radfaâ—â— Wydford Fremundum palma coronat Dum simul sontes occîdit occidit insons Despairing e're to reach his proud desires While Fremund liv'd he wickedly conspires Against his life and with his treacherous sword Beheads his sleeping and unthinking Lord. At Wydford thus blest Fremund gain'd a crown While guilty blood he shed and guiltless spent his own But I must not omit to acquaint you that the Foss Foss-waâ— that old Roman-way crosseth this Feldon or Champain part some remains of whose Causey in pastures now trackless and unfrequented are to be seen near Chesterton the seat of the very ancient family of the e One of this â—â—mâ—y in the 28th of Edw. 1. is call'd Richâ—â—â—us de Pictavia i.e. Peictou in France Peitoes of which was that William Peito Peito the Franciscan Frier whom Paul the fourth then Pope to mortifie Cardinal Pool Thus divine minds you see are subject to mortal passions created in vain Cardinal and Legat of England having cited Pool as guilty of some heretical opinions to answer the same at Rome For Mary Queen of England although entirely devoted to the See of Rome so interposed in it or rather opposed the same that Peito was inhibited from entring England and Pool preserv'd his Legatine authority f Perhaps it may not be impertinent to mention what some writers under the reign of Edward the fourth parabolically representing the great depopulation caused by inclosing of Common-fields have complain'd of Ross anâ— T. B. agâ— the demâ—lishers oâ— Villageâ— viz. That Covetousness coming down at the head of a numerous army of sheep fell with great fury on the populous villages of this tract drove out their ancient inhabitants with a mighty slaughter and placed her new followers in their stead Which great destruction made a man of learning in that age exclaim with the Poet Quid facerent hostes capta crudeliùs urbe Could plund'ring foes more cruelty have shown WARWICK SHIRE By Robt. Morden The next
oâ—â—e Barons of Dacre the last whereof some years ago dy'd young and his Uncle Leonard chosing rather to contend with his Prince in War than with his Nieces in Law about the estate seis'd upon the Castle and got together a company of Rebels in opposition to his Prince But the Lord Hunsdon with the garrison of Berwick easily defeated them put a great many to the sword and the rest amongst whom was Leonard himself to flight x 19 But of him more in my Annals Nearer the Wall beyond the river Irthing was lately found this fair votive Altar erected to the Goddess Nymphe of the Brigantes for the health of the Empress Plautilla Wife to M. Aurelius Antoninus Severus and the whole Imperial family by M. Cocceius Nigrinus a Treasurer to the Emperour when Laetus was second time Consul with intricate connexion of letters which I read thus DEAE NYMPHAE BRIGantum QUOD VOVERAT PRO SALUTE PAUTILIAE COnjugis INVICTAE DOMini NOSTRI INVICTI IMP. M. AURELii SEVERI ANTONINI PII. FELicis CAESaris AUGusti TOTIUSQUE DO MUS DIVINAE EJUS M. COCCEIUS NIGRINUS Questor AUGusti Numini DEVOTUS LIBENS SUSCEPTUM Solvit LAETO II. Nearer the Wall stood the Priory of Lanercost founded by R. de Vallibus Lord of Gillesland y and upon the wall is Burd-Oswald Below this where the Picts-Wall pass'd the river Irthing by an arch'd bridge at a place now call'd Willoford was the Station of the †See the Additions to Ambleside in Westmorland If we are to settle the Amboglana here the many rivulets in those parts which carry the name of Glen oâ— Glynn afford us a probable original of the name Cohors prima Aelia Dacorum as appears by the Notitia and several Altars erected by that Cohort and inscrib'd to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Some of them I think proper to give you tho' they 're much defac'd and worn with age Jovi optimo Maximo * I. O. M. COH I. AEL DAC CVI PRAE IG I. O. M. CoH. I. AEL DAC C. P. STATV LoN GINUS TRIB I. O. M. OH I. AEL DA C. C. A. GETA IRELSAVRNES PRO SALVTE D. N MAXiMIANO †Fortissimo Caesari FOR CAE VA OAED L E G. VI. V I C. P. F. F. I. O M. COH I AEL DAC TETRICIANO RO C. P. P. LVTIC V. S. DESIG NATVS TRIB I. O. M. COH I. AEL DAC GORD ANA. C. P EST. I. O. M. H. I. AEL DAC C. PRAEESI FLIUS FA S TRIB PETVO COS. The first Lord of Gillesland that I read of Lords of Gillâ—sâ—â—â— Out oâ—â— old Mâ—â— R. Câ—â— Clarenceux 〈◊〉 him Raâ—â— as also 〈◊〉 MSS. of Fountaâ—â— and Hiâ—â— Abbâ—â— was William Meschines brother of Ralph Lord of Cumberland not that William who was brother of Ranulph Earl of Chester from whom sprang Ranulph de Ruelent but the brother of Ralph but he was not able to get it out of the hands of the Scots for Gill the son of Bueth Å¿ This was but for a short time for the father was banish'd into Scotland in Earl Randolph's time and the son Gillesbueth as he was call'd was slain by Robert de Vallibus at a â—eeting for Arbitration of all differences so that that family seems never to have claim'd after The murther was barbarous and Robert to atone for it built the Abbey of Lanercost and gave to it the Lands that had caus'd the quarrel held the greatest part of it by force of Arms. After his death King Henry the second bestow'd it upon Hubert de Vallibus or Vaulx whose Coat Armour was Chequey Argent and Gules His son Robert founded and endow'd the Priory of Lanercost But the estate within a few years came by marriage to the Moltons and from them by a daughter to Ranulph Lord Dacre whose posterity flourish'd in great honour down to our time z Having thus took a Survey of the Sea-coast and inner parts of Cumberland we must pass to the East of it a lean hungry desolate sort of Country which affords nothing remarkable besides the head of South-Tine in a wet spungy ground and an ancient Roman stone Cawsey * 8 Ulnaâ— above ten yards broad 'T is call'd the Maiden-way Maiden-way leading out of Westmoreland and at the confluence of the little river Alon and the Tine we spoke of on the side of a gentle ascent there are the remains of a large old Town which to the North has been fortify'd with a fourfold Rampire and to the West †Sileâ—â— with one and a half The place is now call'd Whitley-castle and as a testimony of it's Antiquity has this imperfect Inscription ‖ Compâ—â— of a scriâ—â— ratioâ—◠〈◊〉 risimâ—leâ— compendiously written with the Letters link'd one in another from which we learn that the third Cohort of the Nervii built a * Aedemâ— Temple there to Antoninus the Emperour son of Severus IMP. CAES. Lucii Septimi Severi AraBICI ADIABENICI PARTHICI MAX. FIL. DIVI ANTONINI Pii Germanici SARMA NEP. DIVI ANTONINI PII PRON. DIVI HADRIANI ABN DIVI TRAIANI PARTH ET DIVI NERVAE ADNEPOTI M. AVRELIO ANTONINO PIO FEL AVG. GERMANICO PONT MAX. TR. POT X IMP. COS. IIII. P. p. PRO PIETATE AEDE VOTO COMMVNI CURANTE LEGATO AVG. PR COH III. NERVIO RVM G. R. POS. Now seeing the third Cohort of the Nervii was quarter'd in this place seeing also the Notitia sets them at Alione as Antoninus does at Alone and a little river running under it is call'd Alne if I should think this to be the very Alone I could not indeed deliver it for a positive truth because the injuries of time and the violence of wars have long since put these things out of the reach of human knowledge but it would at least seem probable Upon the decay of the Roman power in Britain tho' this Country was cruelly harrass'd by the Scots and Picts yet did it longest keep its original Inhabitants the Britains and fell late under the power of the Saxons But when the Danish wars had well nigh broke the Saxon government it had its petty Kings â—â—gs of â—â—mberâ—â—â—d stil'd Kings of Cumberland to the year of our Lord 946. At which time as Florilegus tells us King Edmund by the assistance of Leolin King of South-Wales spoil'd Cumberland of all its riches and having put out the eyes of the two sons of Dummail King of that County granted that Kingdom to Malcolm King of Scots to hold of him and to protect the North-parts of England both by Sea and Land against the incursions of the Enemy After which the eldest sons of the Kings of Scotland as well under the Saxons as Danes were stil'd â—mbriâ—e 〈◊〉 Governours of Cumberland But when England had yielded to the Normans this County submitted among the rest and fell to the share of Ralph de Meschines whose eldest son Ranulph was Lord of Cumberland and at the same time in right of his mother and by the favour of his Prince Earl
of S. Patrick l. 2. rerum Anglicarum cap 26. and well supplied with fish from the river as it runs into the sea here famous for trade and for those sweet plains oaky woods and fine parks so entertaining about it Thus also William of Newborow Divelin a maritime City is the metropolis of Ireland it enjoys the benefit of a famous harbor and for trade and concourse of merchants rivals London It s situation is particularly pleasant and wholsome having hills on the south plains on the west and sea just the by it on the east and and the river Liffy on the north where ships ride safely Upon the river there are Kaies as we call them or certain works made to break the violence of the water For Caiare among the ancients signified to restrain Ad Auson lib. â— c. 22. check or hinder as the most learned Scaliger has observed Here the City wall well built of free stone begins fortified on the south with rampiers it has six gates which open into large suburbs on all sides The access on the south is by Dammes-gate near which stands the King's castle upon a rising well fortified with ditches and towers and provided with a good Arsenal built by Henry Loundres the Archbishop about the year 1220. In that suburb on the east side near St. Andrew's Church Henry the second King of England as Hoveden says caused a royal palace 22 Or rather banqueting-house to be built of smooth wattles very curious after the manner of this Country and here with the Kings and Princes of Ireland he kept a Chrstmas-day in great solemnity Over against it stands a fine College on the same spot where Alhallows Allhallows Monastery heretofore stood dedicated to the Indivisible and Holy Trinity endow'd with the privileges of an University by Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory Univâ—rsity b gun and foundâ—d in 1591 May 13. S ud n s â—dmiâ—ted in the year 1593. for the education of youth and lately furnished with a good Library which gives no small hopes that Religion and Learning will after a long exile return to Ireland formerly the seat of the Muses to which foreigners resorted as to the great Mart of liberal arts and sciences 1320. L. MS. of Baron Houth In the reign of Edward the second Alexander Bicknor Archbishop of Dublin having obtained from the Pope the privileges of an University for this place and instituted publick Lectures first began to recall them but this laudable design was broken by the turbulent times that followed The north gate opens towards the bridge which is arched and built of * F. vivo Saxo. free stone by King John who joyned Oustman-town to the City For here the Oustmanni which Giraldus says came from Norway and those Northern Islands setled according to our Histories about the year 1050. In this suburbs stood formerly the famous Church of S. Mary de Oustmanby for so 't is call'd in King John's Charter and also a House of Black Friers whither the King's Courts of Judicature were lately transferr'd On the west part of Dublin there are two gates Ormonds-gate and Newgate which is the common Gaol both leading to the longest suburb of this City named St. Thomas where stands also a noble Abbey of the same name called Thomas Court Thomas Court founded and endowed with large revenues by King Henry the second to expiate for the death of Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury On the south we enter by S. Paul's gate and that call'd S. Nicholas opening into S. Patrick's suburb where stands the Palace of the Archbishop known by the name of S. Sepulcher with a stately Church dedicated to S. Patrick very fine within for its stone pavements and arch'd roof and without for its high steeple 'T is uncertain when this Church was first built but that Gregory King of Scots about the year 890 came in pilgrimage to it is plain from the Scotch history Afterwards it was much enlarged by King John and made a Church of Prebends by John Comy Archbishop of Dublin which was confirmed by Coelestine the third Bishop of Rome in the year 1191. After that again Henry Loundres his successor in this See of Dublin augmented the dignities of the Parsonages Pâ—rsonatuum as the words of the founder are and made it conformable to the immunities orders and customs of the Church of Salisbury At present it consists of a Dean a Chanter a Chancellor a Treasurer two Archdeacons and twenty two Prebendaries Stat. Parl. 18 Hen. 8. c. 15. the only light and lamp not to conceal a very noble Character which a Parliament of this Kingdom gave it of all pious and Ecclesiastical discipline and order in Ireland Here is also another Cathedral Church in the very heart of the City dedicated to the Holy Trinity but commonly call'd Christ's Temple Concerning it's foundation we have this passage in the Archives of that Church Sitric King of Dublin son of Ableb Count of Dublin gave a piece of ground to the Holy Trinity and to Donatus the first Bishop of Dublin to build a Church on in honour of the Holy Trinity and not only that but gold and silver also sufficient for that design and to finish the whole * Curâ—â— Church-yard This was done about the year 1012 at which time Lancarvanensis affirms that Sitric son of Abloie so he calls him flourished The work was begun by Donatus but carry'd on and finish'd by Laurence Archbishop of Dublin Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke commonly call'd Comes Striguliae whose tomb repair'd by 23 Sir Henry Henry Sidney Lord Deputy is to be seen here Robert Fitz-Stephens and Reimond Fitz-Girald On the south side of the Church stands the Town-hall built of square stone and call'd Tolestale Tolâ—stalâ— where Causes are try'd before the Mayor and where sessions and publick meeting of the Citizens are often held The City enjoys many privileges Formerly it was govern'd in chief by a Provost but in the year 1409 King Henry the fourth gave them the privilege of choosing every year a Mayor with two Bailiffs and of carrying a guilt sword before him Afterward King Edward the sixth changed these Bailiffs into Sheriffs There is nothing wanting to the grandeur and happiness of this City but the removal of those heaps of sand that by the flux and reflux of the sea are wash'd up into the mouth of the river Liffy and hinder great ships from coming up but at high water Thus much for Dublin the account whereof I confess to be mostly owing to the diligence and knowledge of James Usher Chancellor of S. Patricks whose variety of Learning and soundness of Judgment are infinitely beyond his years As for Robert Vere earl of Oxford whom Richard the second who was profuse in bestowing titles of honour made Marquiss of Dublin Maâ—qâ—â—â—â— of Dubâ—â—â— and afterwards Duke of Ireland I have took notice of him before and need not report it here
he ordained six Boys who were to be Taper-bearers and to sing the responsories and verses in the Quire as they were to be ordered by the Chanter Of which six Boys one was to be nominated and maintained by the Bishop The second by the Prebend of St. Magnus The third by the Prebend of St. John The fourth by the Prebend of St. Lawrence The fifth by the Prebend of St. Catharine The sixth by the Prebend of St. Duthas And every one of them besides their mainteinance was to have twenty shillings Scotch a year Moreover to every one of the aforesaid Dignities Canons and Prebends he assigned certain lands in Kirkwall for their Mansions The Charter of this erection is dated at Kirkwall October the 28th Anno 1544. And in the following year it was confirmed by another Charter granted by David Beaton Cardinal of St. Stephen in mount Celio Presbyter of the Church of Rome and Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews having authority so to do It is dated at Sterling the last of June and the eleventh year of Pope Paul the third and confirmed by Queen Mary at Edenburgh the last of April Anno Regni 13. In this condition the Church continued as long as Popery stood but the Reformation coming in and Robert Stewart Earl of Orkney having obtained the Bishoprick from Bishop Bothwel by the exchange of the Abbey of Holy Rood-House became sole Lord of the Country whereupon it came to pass that he and his son Earl Patrick who succeeded him did in the Church as they pleased At last James Law being made Bishop of Orkney and the Earldom united to the Crown by the death and forfeiture of the aforesaid Patrick Stewart He with the consent of his Chapter made this contract with King James the sixth of blessed memory In which they resigned to the King and his successors all their Ecclesiastical lands and possessions with all rights and securities belonging thereto to be incorporated and united to the Crown especially such as should be thought necessary to be united to it And the King gives back and dispones to the Bishop several Lands in the Parishes of Ham Orphir Stromness Sandwick Shapensha Waes Hoy St. Ola and of Evie Burra and Flotta to be a patrimony to the Bishop and his successors for ever disponing moreover to him and his successors the right of patronage to present to all the Vicaridges of Orkney and Zetland with power to present qualified Ministers as oft as any Kirk should be vacant Disponing also to them the heritable and perpetual right and jurisdiction of Sheriffship and Bailiffry within the Bishoprick and Patrimony thereof exempting the Inhabitants and Vassals of the Bishoprick in all causes civil and criminal from the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs and Stewards of the Earldom As also he disponed to the Bishop and hiâ— successors the Commissariot of Orkney and Zetland with power to constitute and ordain Commissaries Clerks and other members of Court. In which contract it was moreover agreed that the Minister of South-Ronalsha Dean the Minister of Birsa Arch-Deacon the Minister of Lady-Kirk in Sanda Chancellor the Minister of Stronsa Treasurer and the Parson of Westra should be a sufficient Chapter And that their consents should be as available for any deed to be done by the Bishops of Orkney as the fullest Chapter of any Cathedral Kirk within the Kingdom This Contract was made Anno 1614 And in the year following by an Act dated at Edinburgh the 22th of November the several Dignities and Ministers both in the Bishoprick and Earldom were provided to particular maintainances besides what they were in possession of before payable by the King and Bishop to the Minister in their several bounds respective And as it was agreed upon in that contract and determined by that Act so are the Ministers provided at this present Mr. Wallace's Account of the first Planters of Orkney This has been the ancient condition of the Church in these parts After the Ecclesiastical the Civil State comes to be consider'd viz. the first Planters and ancient Possessors and as a consequence of that the several remains of Antiquity which can be produced at this day Of all which the same Author will best inform you in his own words The first Planters and Possessors of this Country were certainly the Picts as the generality of our Historians do affirm who moreover call Orkney Antiquum Pictorum regnum the ancient Kingdom of the Picts There being yet in this Countrey several strange antick Houses many of which are overgrown with Earth which are still called Picts Houses and the Firth that runs between this and Caithness is still from them called Pictland Firth i.e. the Firth that runs by the Lands of the Picts Though Buchanan to establish his Opinion would rather have it called Fretum penthlandicum from Penthus a man of his own making These verses of the Poet Claudian Maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades incaluit pictorum sanguine Thule The Orkney Isles with Saxon Blood were wet And Thule with the Pictish gore did sweat Do evidently prove that the Picts with some other Colony of the German Nation particularly the Saxons at that time were the Possessors and Inhabitants of these Northern Isles Moreover to this day many of the Inhabitants use the Norse or Old Gothick Language which is not much different from the Old Teutonick or the Language which the Picts used Besides the Sirnames of the ancient Inhabitants are of a German Original for the Seaters are so called from Seater one of the old German Idols which they worshipped for Saturn The Taits from Twitsh i.e. the Dutch who got that name from Twisco the son of Noe and Tythea the famous progenitors of the Germans The Keldas from the ancient Culdees or Keldeis as Spotswood thinks who were the ancient Priests or Ministers of the Christian Religion among the Picts so called because they lived in Cells The Baikies from some small running water which in the Teutonick is called a Baikie So the names that end in Stane as Hourstane Corstane Yorstane Beistane c. which is a Pictish or Teutonick termination of Sirname signifying the superlative degree of comparison and many more might be added if it were needful to shew that the Pictish Blood is as yet in this Countrey and that the People were the first Possessors of it These Picts as is generally acknowledged were of a German descent coming at first from that part of Germany that borders on the Baltick Sea where at present are the Dukedoms of Meckleburgh and Pomerania They were so called because they were notable Warriours and fighters their true name as Verstegan informs us being Phightian that is Phghiters or Fighters They are by the Romans called Picti though some Writers call them Pictavi and might have been so called by them either from some resemblance to that name of Phightian that they took to themselves or from their singular beauty and comely form as if they had been painted people and