not be accessary to her own injury but decked her self in her richest Ornaments which so improved her beauty that the King was struck with astonishment and admiration at first sight and was fully resolved to be quit with his perfidious Favourite yet dissembling his passion he went to hunting where taking Ethelwold at an advantage he ran him through with a Javelin and having thereby made fair Elfrid a Widdow he took her to be his Wife We read that Ordulphus Son of Ordgarus Earl of Devonshire but whether this or no is uncertain was a Giantlike Man and could break open the bars of Gates with his hands and stride 10 foot at once but of what credit it is I know not Agnes Preist was burnt for the Protestant Faith without the Walls of Exeter her own Husband and her Children were her greatest Persecutors from whom she fled because they would force her to be present at Mass she was Indicted at the Assizes and afterward presented to James Troublefield Bishop of Exeter and by him condemned for denying the Sacrament of the Altar after her condemnation she refused to receive any mony from well affected People saying She was going to a City where Mony had no Mastery she was a simple Woman to behold little of stature and about 50 years old she was burnt in a place called Sothenhay in November 1558. One Child whose Christian name is unknown was a Gentleman the last of his Family being of an ancient extraction at Plimstock in this County and had great possessions it happened that hunting in Dartmore he lost both his Company and way in a deep Snow having therefore killed his Horse he crept into his hot bowels for warmth and writ this with his blood Whoever finds and brings me to my Tomb The Land of Plimstock that shall be his doom The night after it seems he was frozen to death and being first found by the Monks of Tavistock they with all possible hast provided to inter him in their own Abby his own Parishioners at Plimstock hearing thereof stood at the ford of the River to take the body from them but they must rise early yea not sleep at all who over-reach Monks in matter of profit for they cast a slight Bridge over the River whereby they carried over the Corps and interred it in remembrance whereof the Bridge since better built is called Guile-Bridge to this day Nicholas and Andrew Tremain were Twins and younger Sons to Thomas Tremain of Colacomb in this County Esq such was their likeness in all the parts of Face and Body that they could not be distinguished but by their different habits which they would sometimes exchange to make sport which occasioned very merry mistakes they felt like pain though at a distance without any notice given they equally desired to walk travel sit sleep eat drink together at the same time as many credible Gentry of the Neighbourhood by relation from their Father will attest in this they differed at Newhaven in France the one was a Captain of a Troop the other but a private Soldier here they were both slain 1564. death being pitiful to kill them together to prevent the lingring languishing of the Surviver John de Beigny Lord of Ege-Lifford in this County having been a great Traveller and Soldier in his youth retired home married and had 3 Sons in his staid Age of these the youngest went to fight against the Saracens in Spin of whose valor his Father to his great content heard very high Commendations which made him the more patiently endure his absence but when death had bereft him of his two elder Sons he was often heard to say Oh that I might but once imbrace my Son I would be contented to die presently His Son soon after returning unexpectedly the old man instantly expired with an extasy of Joy thus if Heaven should always take us at our word in all our wishes and random desires we should be drowned in the deluge of our own passions This Knight lived in the time of K. Edward 3. Thomas Stuckly was a younger Brother of an Ancient wealthy Family near Ilfra-Comb in this County a man of good parts which himself knew too well having prodigally mispent his Patrimony he entered on several projects the first was peopling of Florida then newly found out in the West Indies so confident was his ambition that he blushed not to tell Q. Elizabeth That he would rather chuse to be Soveraign of a Molehill than the highest Subject to the greatest Prince in Christendome adding withal That he was sure he should be a Prince before his death I hope said the Queen I shall hear from you when you are setled in your Principality I will write unto you quoth Stuckly In what Language said the Queen He replyed In the stile of Princes To Our Dear Sister But his project in Florida being blasted he resolved treacherously to attempt what he could not Loyally atchieve and went over into Ireland and from thence into Italy where he got into the intimate favour of Pope Pius 5. boasting that with 3000 Soldiers he would beat all the English out of Ireland the Pope gave him many Titles in Ireland as Earl of Wexford Marquess of Lemster c. and furnished him with 800 men paid by the King of Spain for this Irish expedition in passing to which Stuckly lands in Portugal just when Sebastian the King thereof with two Moorish Kings were undertaking a Voyage into Africa Stuckly scorning to attend is persuaded to accompany them landing in Africa Stuckly gave this seasonable and necessary Counsel That they should refresh their land Souldiers for two or three days some of whom were sick and weak by reason of the tempestuous Passage But this would not be heard K. Sebastian was so furious to engage and so in the Battle of Alcaser their Army was wholly defeated where Stuckly lost his Life A fatal Fight where in one day was slain Three Kings that were and one that would be fain This Battle was fought in 1578. where Stuckly with his 800 Men behaved himself most valiantly till over-powered with multitude and so ended this Buble of Emptiness and Meteor of Ostentation In the troubles between K. Edward 2. and the Barons one John Powdras a Tanners Son of Exeter gave out that he himself was the true Edward eldest son of the late King Edward 1. and by a false Nurse was changed in his Craddle and that the now K. Edward was a Carters Son and laid in his place for which forgery being taken and hanged drawn and quartered he confessed at his death That he had a familiar Spirit in his House in the likeness of a Cat that assured him he should be King of England and that he had served this spirit 3 years before to bring his design about K. Richard 3. called Crookback lay some few days in Exeter Castle and demanding the name of it they told him Rugemont whereat the Usurper was much startled having
was miserably afflicted with barenness of ground Famine Murrain of Cattle and a fearful Comet appeared all which were thought to be the signs of Divine Displeasure for the wrong done to the married Clergy who were turned out of their Livings and ancient Possessions only for having Wives contrary to the Law of God and against all Justice and Reason whereto the unmarried Priests answered That Christ respected neither the Person nor the place but had only regard to thâ—se that took up the Cross of Pennance and followed him But they good men little understood the incumbrance of marrying for otherwise they would have felt that the condition of married men was more truly taking up the cross and enduring Pennance than their careless single Life The Churchmen thus divided and rent the Nobles as well as others took part of either side as they were affected and both parties raised great Armies in their own defence the Fire thus blown from a spark to a flame was like to have grown higher but by mediation Arms were laid aside and the cause was referred to a Council assembled at Winchester where after long debate when the cause was like to go against the unmarried Monks the matter was referred to the determination of a Rood or Image of a Man that stood against the Wall by the persuasion of the great Oracle St. Dunstan who desired them to pray devoutly and to give diligent ear for an answer the Idol being as good natured as they were devout was very easily persuaded to give them this advice God forbid it should be so God forbid it should be so you have judged well once and to change that again is not good This was Authority suâ—â—â—â—ent to suppress the Priests who now with their Wives went down the Wind yet they made another Attempt for persuading the People that this was buâ—â—â— trick of the Monks who placed a man behind the Wâ—â—â— that through a Trunk uttered these words through the mouth of the Rood they therefore earnestly desired â—hat the cause might be heard once more this at last was granted and appointed at Cleve in Wiltshire whither the Prelates and most of the Nobles and States of the Kingdom besides innumerable Gentlemen and Commons came the Council being sate and the Controversie growing hot whether by the weakness of the Foundation or the vast weight of the People or both the joysts of the Chamber where they sate fell down and the multitude with it whereof many were hurt and some killed only Archbishop Dunstan then President escaped for the Post whereon his Chair was set stood wholly untouched which the Monks said was not without a miracle he being their mouth against the married Priests whose cause fell now with this fall and the Peoples affections drawn from them they had liberty now to accompany with their Wives without Cure though not without Care And all this happened by the strange preservation of Dunstan upon the Post which yet is not so strange since the Monks report that the main Beam of his House being one time sunk out of its place and the whole building like to fall and knock him on the Head he made it return into its former place only by making the sign of the Cross thereon with his Fingers so extream powerful was he in such wooden miracles which are not much to be wondred at since it seems his very harp could do miracles as when of itself it sung a Hymn very melodiously yea the blessed Virgin her self is said to have come to solace him with her songs and it was ordinary for Angels to sing familiarly with him and for him to whip Devils that came to him in the Shapes of Dogs Foxes and Bears but his greatest exploit was when the Devil knowing that he was unmarried came to tempt him in the shape of a handsome brisk Wench but the Saint got her by the Nose with a pair of hot burning Pincers and thereby spoiled a good Face making her to rear in a dreadful manner Thus these sottish Monks deluded the People with such ridiculous stories and thereby rather disgraced than honoured those whom they designed to magnify Southampton is a Town populous rich and beautiful from which the whole County derives its name The famous King Canutus his flatterers persuaded him that he was greater than Alexander Caesar or Cyrus and was possessed with more than humane Power to convince these fawning Courtiers being one time at Southampton he commanded his Chair of State should be set on the shore when the Sea began to flow and then sitting down therein in the presence of many of his Attendants he spake thus to the Element Thou Sea art part of my Dominion and the ground whereon I sit is mine neither was there ever any that durst disobey my command or by breaking it escaped unpunished I charge thee therefore that thou presume not to come upon my Land nor wet these Royal Robes of thy Lord that are about me But the Sea giving no heed to his threatnings but keeping on its usual course of Tide first wet his Skirts and then his Thighs whereupon suddenly rising up he thus spake in the hearing of them all Let all the worlds Inhabitants know that vain and weak is the power of their Kings and that none is worthy of the name of King but he that keeps both Heaven Earth and Sea in obedience and bindeth them in an everlasting Law of Subjection After which time he would never suffer the Crown to be set upon his head but presently crowned therewith the Picture of our Saviour on the Cross at Winchester with such strong delusions were these devout Princes drawn away by those crafty Priests who alwaies made gain of their Godliness This King after he had reigned 19 years in great glory died at Shaftesbury and was buried in the Church of the old Monastery at Winchester to which Church he gave most Rich and Royal Jewels whereoâ— one is recorded to be a Cross worth as much as the whole Revenue of England amounted to in one year this Church being new built his bones with many other English Saxon Kings were taken up and preserved in gilt Coffers fixt upon the walls of the Quire in that Cathedral Church In the year 1053. King Edward the Confessor dispossest his Mother Queen Emma of all her Estate because after his Fathers death she Married King Canutus and seemed to favour her Children by him more than the former he also committed her to Custody in the Abby of Worwell yea he so far hearkned to an aspersion cast upon her of unchast familiarity with Alwine Bishop of Winchester that to clear her self she was fain to pass the Tryal of Fire Ordeal which was in this manner nine Plowshares red hot were laid in unequal distance which she must pass barefooted and blindfold and if she passed them unhurt she was judged Innocent this terrible Tryal she passed fairly without the least damage to the great astonishment of
Miller that had been very active in that Rebellion who fearing the approach of the Marshal told a sturdy Fellow his Servant that he had occasion to go from home and if any man should inquire for the Miller he bid him say that himself was the Miller and had been so for 3 years before soon after the Provost came and called for the Miller when out comes the Servant and said he was the man the Provost demanded how long he had kept the Mill These 3 years answered the Servant the Provost then commanded his men to lay hold of him and hang him on the next Tree at this the Fellow cried out That he was not the Miller but the Millers Man Nay Sir said the Provost I will take you at your word and if thou beest the Miller thou art a busie Knave if thou beest not thou art a false lying Knave and however thou canst never do thy Master better service than to hang for him and so without more ado he was dispatched I will conclude the Remarks of this County with somewhat more Comical At the Dissolution of Abbeys K. Ken. 8. gave away large shares to almost every one that asked Amongst other Instances take this merry story It happened that two or three Gentlemen the Kings servants waited at the door where the King was to come out with a design to beg a large parcel of Abby Lands One Mr. John Champernoun another of his servants seeing them was very inquisitive to know their suit but they would not impart it to him in the mean time out comes the King they kneel down so doth Champernoun being assured by an implicit Faith that Courtiers beg nothing hurtful to themselves they present their Petition the King grants it they render him humble thanks so doth Mr. Champernoun afterward he requires his share they deny it he appeals to the King who avows that he meant they should have equal shares whereupon his Companions were forced to allot him the Priory of St. German in Cornwal valued at 243 pound a Year so that a dumb Beggar met with a blind Giver the one as little knowing what he asked as the other what he gave This County is divided into nine Hundreds wherein are 22 Market Towns and 161 Parish Churches It elects 44 Members to sit in Parliament and is in the Diocess of Exeter CUMBERLAND hath Scotland on the North Northumberland and Westmerland on the East Lancashire on the South and the Irish Sea on the West We read that King Edmund with the help of Leoline Prince of Wales wasted all Cumberland and having put out the Eyes of the 2 Sons of Dunmail King of that Province granted that Kingdom to Malcolm K. of Scots whereof their eldest Sons became Prefects King Edward the 1st dyed at Carlile in this County for intending to invade Scotland he raised a great Army which he ordered to attend him at this City but falling sick and being sensible it would be his death he commanded his Son afterward Edward 2. to be brought into his presence to whom he left many good Precepts and Admonitions exhorting him To be merciful just and courteous constant and true both in Word and Deed that he should be pitiful to those in misery that he should carry his bones with him about Scotland till he had subdued it and that he should send his Heart into the Holy Land with Sevenscore Knights and Thirty two thousand Pound of Silver which he had provided for that purpose lastly that upon pain of eternal damnation the said Money should not be expended upon any other use soon after which he died In the 17th Year of this Kings Reign the City of Carlile with the Abby and all the Houses belonging to the Friers Minors were consumed with fire In the Reign of Q. Elizabeth a rich Vein of most pure and native Brass was found at Keswrick in Cumberland which had lain neglected a long time In April 1651 about 5 a Clock in the Afternoon there was a general Earthquake in the Counties of Cumberland and Westmerland wherewith the People were so affrighted that many of them forsook their Houses and some Houses were so shaken that the Chimneys fell down Presently after the Scottish Army came into England to assist the Parliament it rained Blood which covered the Church and Church-Yard of Bencastle in this County At Salkelds upon the River Eden is a Trophy of Victory called by the Country People Long Meg and her Daughters they are 77 stones each of them 10 Foot high above ground and one of them is 15 Foot in height Skiddaw Hill riseth up with two mighty high Heads like Parnassus and beholds Scruffell hill in Anandale within Scotland there is a Rime that Skiddaw Lauvellin and Casticand Are the highest hills in all England These being two other Hills in this Tract according as Mists rise or fall upon these Heads the People thereby prognosticate of the change of Weather and therefore they sing If Skiddaw have a Cap Scruffell knows full well of that The Sea hath eaten a great part of the Land away upon the shores of these Western Shires and Trees are sometimes discovered when the Wind blows at low Water else they are covered over with Sands and the People thereabout say that they dig up Trees without boughs out of the mossy places in this Shire which they find by the direction of the Dew in Summer which they observe never falls on the ground under which they lie Some Emperick Chirurgions in Scotland take a journey to the Picts Wall the beginning of every Summer to gather vulnerary Plants which they say grow plentifully there and are very effectual being sown and planted by the Romans for Chirurgical Uses There is a small Burrough called Solway Frith under which within the very Frith or Bay the Inhabitants report the Engl sh and Scots fought with their Fleets at full Sea and also with their Horsemen and Footmen at the Ebb. This Province was accounted a Kingdom of itself and King Steven to purchase aid from the Scots confirmed it by gift to that Crown which Henry 2. claimed and regained from them since which many bickerings have happened between the two Nations in this Shire but none so fatal to the Scots as the Fight at Salome Moss where the Nobility disdaining to serve under their General Oliver Sinclare gave over the Battle and yielded themselves to the English which dishonour so deeply wounded the heart of K. James the 5. that he died for grief soon after There are many ruines of Castles Walls and Forts in this County with Altars and Inscriptions of their Captains and Collonels This County is not divided into Hundreds as the rest but therein are seated 9 Market Towns 58 Parish Churches and divers Chappels of ease It Elects 6 Parliament Men for the Counâ—y 2. Carlile 2. Cockermouth 2. and is in the Diocess of Chester and Carlile DERBY-SHIRE hath Yorkshire on the North Nottinghamshire on the East
all Beholders using this Speech to her Leaders O Lord when shall I come to the place of my Purgation but having her eyes uncovered and seeing her self clearly escaped she fell upon her knees and with Tears gave thanks to her deliverer whereby she recovered her former honour and in memory thereof gave 9 Mannors to the Minster of Winchester according to the number of the Plow shares this King was as unkind to his Wife as to his Mother for having Married Editha the beautiful and indeed vertuous Daughter of Earl Godwin because he had taken displeasure against the Father he would shew no kindness to the Daughter he had made her his Wife but conversed not with her as his Wife only at board but not at bed or if at bed no otherwise than David with Abishag and yet was content to hear her accused of Incontinency whereof if she were guilty he could not be Innocent so that what the virtues were for which after his death he should be reputed a Saint doth not easily appear it seems he was chast but not without injury to his Wife Pious but not without ingratefulness to his Mother just in his present Government but not without neglect of Posterity for through his want of Providence in that point he left the Crown to so doubtful a Succession that soon after his Decease it was translated out of English into French and the Kingdom made servile to another Forreign Nation In the year 1184. A Priest at Andover praying before the Altar was slain with Thunder likewise one Clark and his Brother were burnt to death with Lightning and soon after a shower of blood rained in the Isle of Wight two hours together In the year 1250. King Hen. 3. in whose nature it seemed an inseparable quality to be violent in every thing he had a mind to have done and that sometimes without due respect to his Majesty as appears by what follows This King having a design to advance his half Brother Ethelmare to the Bishoprick of Winchester was not satisfied in sending a strict command to the Monks to chuse him but goes to Winchester in Person and the Clergy being met he gets up into the Pulpit and Preaches a Sermon to them taking for his Text these words Justice and Peace have kissed each other from whence he raised this Doctrine That whereas the rigor of Judgment and Justice belonged to him and other Kings who were to Rule the Nations so quiet peace and tranquillity belonged to the Clergy and this day saith he I hope they will both kiss each other for I doubt not but that both for your own good and my desire you will chuse my Brother Bishop this day with many other words to the same purpose whereby the Monks perceiving the earnestness of his desire held it in vain to deny him and thereupon elected Ethelmare but because he was no Priest they did it with this reservation If the Pope did allow thereof but the Pope resolving to make his advantage thereof as well as the King exacted 500 marks of Church Revenues for his Confirmation which made Matthew Paris a Monk to utter this bitter lamentation O Pope the chief of Bishops why dost thou thus suffer the Christian World to be defiled worthily worthily therefore art thou driven out of thine own City and See and like a Runagade and another Cain art inforced to wandâ—r up and down O thou God of just vengeance when wilt thou draw forth thy Sword and imbrue it in the blood of such wretched Oppressors The Pope it seems was then fled from Rome for fear of the Emperor of Germany and though he would neither reform these grand abuses in himself nor others yet Robert Crosthead the stout and learned Bishop of Lincoln resolved to reform the Monks and Fryâ—ers but they appealing to the Pope the Bishop went to him and plainly told him That all Offenders escaped punishment because his heart was so open and ready to receive Bribes from them The Pope dismist him and sent him back with â—n angry Countenance and reproachful words he was â—t this time at Lyons where a while after the Council breaking up Cardinal Hugo Preached a Farewell Sermon â—o the Citizens and among other benefits which they â—ad reaped by the Popes residence in their City reckoned up this for a principal one That whereas at their â—oming to Town there were but three or four Bawdy Houses â—n Lyons now at their departure they left but one but indeed â—hat reached from one end of the City to the other whereby we may observe that France had some part of the Popes Blessings as well as England But it seems the People had no very good opinion of â—he proceedings of this King Henry both against the Lords and the Church and not only Men but Women â—ndertook to reprehend him for the same for Isabel Widdow to the Earl of Arundel a young Lady having â—eceived a repulse from the King in a matter which she â—lledged was hers in Equity presumed to speak thus to â—is face O my Lord King why do you turn away from Justâ—ce we cannot now obtain right in your Court you are placed as 〈◊〉 middle Person between God and us but you neither govern â—s nor your self neither are you afraid to vex the Church divers ways at present as well as you have formerly nor by several â—ppressions to afflict the Nobles of the Kingdom The King â—eing fired at this free discourse looking on her with a â—cornful and angry countenance spake thus to her with â—loud voice O my Lady Countess what have the Lords of England given you a Charter and hired you to be their Advoâ—ate and Orator because they know you have your Tongue at will No my Lord said the Countess They have made me no Charter but the Charter which your Father made and which your self confirmed swearing to keep the same inviolably and constantly and often extorting mony upon promise that the Liberties therein should be faithfully observed which yet you have not kept but have broken without regard to Honour or Conscience therefore you are found to be a manifest violater of you Faith and Oath for where are now the Liberties of England so often fairly ingrossed in Wriâ—ing so often granted so often bought and paid for I therefore though a Woman and all the Natural Loyal People of the Land appeal against you to the Tribunal of the dreadful Judge and Heaven and Earth shall bear us Witness that we are used unjustly and God the Lord of Revenges right us The King saith the Author abashed at these words asked her if she did not look to obtain her suit upon favour since she was his Kinswoman she replied that seeing he had denied that which the Law gave how could she hope to obtain her suit by favour Therefore said she I do appeal to the presence of Christ against those also of your Counsellors who bewitch and dull your Judgment and draw you
Vpstarts and Aliens and had procured laudable Statutes Yea these turbulent Nobles went farther and it was contrived by the Bishops saith M. VVestminst That 24 persons should be chosen to have the whole Administration of the Kingdom and to appoint yearly all Officers reserving only to the King the highest places in publick Meetings and salutations of honour in publick Places And to inforce these Articles they were strongly armed and provided with Forces so that the King and Prince Edward were compelled to swear to these Oxford Provisions as they were called for fear of perpetual Imprisonment the Lords having published a Proclamation That whosoever resisted them should be put to death Then the Peers and Prelates rook their Corporal Oaths to be true to the King and that they would all stand to the Trial of their Peers the Lords soon after required VVilliam de Valence the Kings half-Brother to deliver up a Castle to them which he swearing he would not do the E. of Leicester and the rest answered That they would either have his Castle or his Head The People seemed wholly theirs which so heightened the Barons that when Henry Son to the King of â—lmain refused the confederacy or to take the Oath without his Fathers consent they boldly told him That if his Father himself did not hold with the Baronage of England he should not have a furrow of Earth among them These hot proceedings made all the Frenchmen about the King run from Oxford into France yea Richard King of the Romans the Kings Brother coming to see the King and his Countrey the Barons grew suspicious of him and therefore required him to take the following Oath Hear all men I Richard E. of Cornwall swear upon the holy Gospels to be faithful and forward to reform with you the Kingdom of England hitherto by the counsel of wicked men too much deformed and I will be an effectual coadjutor to expel the Rebels and Troublers of the Realm from out of the same This Oath will I observe upon pain to forfeit all the Lands I have in England These proceedings were too hot to hold for a while after the Earls of Leicester and Glocester two of the chiefest Confederates falling at debate among themselves the King took the advantage thereof and in a little time recovered his former Power and Authority But from hence we may observe that the Popish Nobility Clergy nor Laity have not at all times been so very Loyal to their Princes as they would now make the ignorant believe In the 20. Year of his Reign a Scholar of Oxford endeavouring to kill the King in his Camber at Woodstoock was taken and afterward pulled to pieces with wild Horses In 1400. a Conspiracy was contrived against K. Hen. 4. in the first Year of his Reign in the house of the Abbot of Westminster who was a kind of a Book-Statesman but better read in the Politicks of Aristotle than Solomon who remembring some words of K. Henry when he was only Earl of Derby That Princes had too little and Religious men too much and fearing lest now being King he should put his words into Act he thought it better to use preventing Physick before hand than to stand to the hazard of curing it afterward and thereupon invited to his House several discontented Lords as the Duke of Exeter the Duke of Surrey the Duke of Aumerle E. of Salisbury E. of Glocester Bishop of Carlile Maudlin one of K. Richard 2. Chaplains and several other Knights and Gentlemen who after Dinner conferring together and communicating their disaffections to each other against K. Henry they resolved at last to take away his Life and contrived this way to do it They would publish a solemn Justs or Turnament to be held at Oxford at a day appointed to which the King was to be invited to honour it with his presence and there while all men were intent upon the sport they would have him murthered This Plot was resolved on Oaths of secrecy were taken and solemn Indentures for performing the agreed conditions were signed sealed and delivered The Justs are proclaimed the King is invited and promiseth to come secrecy on all hands is kept most firmly to the very day But though all other kept Counsel yet Providence would not for it happened that as the Duke of Aumerle was riding to the Lords at Oxford against the day appointed he took it in his way to go visit his Father the Duke of York and having in his bosom the Indenture of Conspiracy his Father as they sate at dinner chanced to spy it and asked what it was to whom his Son answering It was nothing that any way concerned him By St. George saith the Father but I will see it and therewithal snatching it from him read it and then with great fierceness spake thus to him I see Traitor that idleness hath made thee so wanton and mutinous that thou playest with thy Faith and Allegiance as Children do with sticks thou hast been once already faithless to K. Richard 2. now again art false to K. Henry and art never quiet thou knowest that in open Parliament I became Surety and Pledge for thy Allegiance both in Body and Goods and can neither thy Duty nor my Desert restrain thee from seeking my destruction In faith but I will rather help forward thine And commanding his Horses to be made ready he with all speed rid to the King to Windsor but his Son knowing his danger rid instantly another way and came to the Court before him where locking the Gates and taking the Keys from the Porter pretending some special reason he went up to the King and falling on his Knees asked his Pardon the King demanding for what Offence he then discovered the whole Plot which he had scarce done when his Father came rapping at the Court Gates and coming to the King shewed him the Indenture of Confederacy which he had taken from his Son This amazed the King and thereupon laying aside the seeing of the Justing of others in jest takes care that he be not justled out of the Throne in earnest In the mean time the confederate Lords being ready at Oxford and hearing nothing of the Duke of Aumerle nor seeing any preparation for the Kings coming they were certainly persuaded their Treason was discovered upon which considering their case was desperate they apparel Magdalen who was like K. Richard 2. in Royal Robes and published that he was escaped out of Prison next they dispatch Messengers to require assistance from the King of France and then set forward against K. Henry at Windsor but he being gone to London they could not agree what measures to take and coming to Cicester the Bailiff of the Town couragiously set upon them and with the assistance of the Townsmen beat their forces killing the Duke of Surrey and the E. of Salisbury and taking divers Prisoners above 30 Lords Knights and Gentlemen with Magdalen the Counterfeit being sent to Oxford to
Stone to be seen at this day for the horrid crimes of the Inhabitants also the wonderful discovery of several Murders c. 6. Admirable Deliverances from imminent Dangers and Deplorable Distresses at Sea and Land Lastly Divine Goodness to Penitents with the Dying Thoughts of several famous Men concerning a future state after this life as St. Austin The Emp. Charles 5. Philip 3. K. of Spain Prince Henry The E. of Northampton Galleacius H. Grotius Salmasius Sir F. Walsingham Sir P. Sydney Sir H. Wotton A. B. Vsher E. of Rochester L. Ch. Justice Hales and others Faithfully Collected from Ancient and Modern Authors of undoubted Authority and Credit and imbellished with divers Pictures of several remarkable passages therein Price One Shilling II. HIstorical Remarques and Observations of the Antient and Present State of London and Westminster shewing the Foundation Walls Gates Towers Bridges Churches Rivers Wards Halls Companies Government Courts Hospitals Schools Inns of Court Charters Franchises and Priviledges thereof with an Account of the most Remarkable Accidents as to Wars Fires Plagues and other occurrences for above 900 years past in and about these Cities and among other particulars the Poisoning of K. John by a Monk The Resolution of K. Henry 3. utterly to destroy and consume the City of London with Fire for joyning with the Barons against him and his seizing their Charters Liberties and Customs into his hands The Rebellion of Wat Tyler who was slain by the Lord Mayor in Smithfield and the Speech of Jack Straw at his Execution the deposing of K. Rich. 2. and his mournful Speech at his resigning the Crown with the manner of his being Murdered The D. of York's coming into the Parliament and claiming the Crown in K. Henry 6. time The Murder of K. Henry 6. and likewise of Edw. 5 and his Brother by Rich. 3. call Crook-back The Execution of Empson and Dudley the Insurrection in London in K. Henry 8. time and how 411 Men and Women went through the City in their Shifts and Ropes about their necks to Westm Hall where they were pardoned by the King The Speeches of Q. Ann Bullen the Lord Protector and Q. Jane Gray at their several Deaths upon Tower hill With several other Remarques in all the Kings and Queens Reigns to this Year 1681. And a description of the manner of the Tryal of the late L. Stafford in West Hall Illustrated with Pictures of the most considerable matters curiously Ingraven on Copper Plates with the Arms of the 65 Companies of London and the time of their Incorporating by Rich. Burton Author of the History of the Wars of England c. Price One Shilling III. The Wars in England Scotland and Ireland Or AN Impartial Account of all the Battels Sieges and other remarkable Transactions Revolutions and Accidents which have happened from the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the First in 1625. to His Majesties happy Restauration 1660. And among other particulars The Debates and Proceedings in the Four First Parliaments of King Charles the First with their Dissolutions The Siege of Rochel The Petition of Right The Murther of the D. of Buckingham by Felton The Tumults at Edinbrough in Scotland upon Reading the Common-Prayer The Et caetera Oath The Cursed Plots and Designs of the Jesuits and other Papists for imbroiling these Three Kingdoms The Insurrection of the Apprentices and Seamen and their Assaulting of Archbishop Lauds House at Lambeth Remarks on the Tryal of the E. of Stafford and his last Speech The horrid and Bloody Rebellion of the Papists in Ireland and their Murthering above Two Hundred Thousand Protestants in 1641. The Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom with the King's Answer thereunto The Proceedings about the Five Impeached Members An Account of the Parliament at Oxford January 22. 1643. with their proceedings and Dissolution An Abstract of the Fights between the King and Parliament The Death of A. B. Laud Mr. Chaloner and Tomkins Sir John Hetham Sir Alexander Carew Duke Hamilton Earl of Holland Lord Capel and others The Illegal Tryal of King Charles the First at large with his last Speech at his Suffering Jan. 30. 1648. Together with the most considerable matters which happened till the Year 1660 Illustrated with Pictures of several Remarkable Accidents curiously engraven on Coper Plates Price One Shilling 〈◊〉 FINIS
Prime the the Batchelors Beadle who was present at the opening of the Fish was carried to the Vice-Chancellor who took special notice of it examining the particulars before mentioned the leaves of the Book were carefully opened and cleansed the Treatises contained in it were A Preparation for the Cross a Preparation for Death the Treasure of Knowledge a Mirrour or Looking-glass to know themselves by a brief Instruction to teach one willingly to die and not to fear death they were all re-printed and how useful the reviving of these Treatises by such a special Providence hath been may be easily discerned by such as have lived since these times In the Year 1640. a Pond in Cambridge became red as Blood the water whereof being taken up in Basons remained still of the same colour and many strange sights were seen in the Air as Armies fighting against each other which were lookt on as sad Presages of our ensuing Troubles Ely another City in this County was formerly a place very famous for a Nunnery there founded by Audrey Wife to one Tombret a Prince in this Province who had this place as a part of her Dowry and she after his death Marrying with a King of Northumberland in a short time left her Husband and the Rights of Marriage and according to the Superstition of those dark times built this Monastery and became her self first Abbess thereof this in the Danish Desolations was destroyed but soon after re-built by Ethelwold Bishop of Winchester who stored it with Monks to whom K. Edgar granted the Jurisdiction over four Hundreds and an half within these Fenns which to this day are called The Liberties of St. Audrey after whose example many Nobles so inriched it with Revenues that the Abbot thereof laid up yearly in his own Coffers 1400 pounds and soon after the Monks thereof repaired their old Church with new and stately buildings which now is the Cathedral of the Diocess and for beauty gives place to no other in the Land Ely Minster presenteth itself afar off to the Eye of the Traveller and on all sides at a great distance not only promiseth but giveth earnest of the magnificence thereof the Lanthorn therein built by Bishop Hotham wherein the labour of Twenty Years and Five Thousand ninety four pounds eighteen Shillings ten pence half penny farthing was expended is a Master-piece of Architecture when the Bells ring the Wood-work thereof shaketh and gapeth which is no defect but the perfection of Architecture and exactly falleth into the joints again rare also is the Art in the Chappel of St. Maries and the other of Bishop West wherein the Master Masons in King James his time on serious inspection sound finer Stonework than in K. Henry 7. Chappel at Westminster In 1190. K. Richard 1. went into the Holy Land and at his going left in chief place of Authority at home William Longshamp Bishop of Ely who carried himself so that though the things he did were justifiable yet the pride wherewith they were done was unsufferable seldom riding abroad without 500 or a 1000 Men in his Train not for safety but for State and though others were left in power besides yet he made but Ciphers of them ruling all as he pleased this insolency was insufferable so that some holding for and others against him the Kingdom was in danger to be rent in sunder till at last the Bishop finding himself too weak for his Enemies thought it best to fly out of the Kingdom whereupon for his greater safety disguising himself in Womens Apparel and carrying a piece of Linnen Cloath under his Arm he designed in this manner to take Shipping and go beyond Sea but being discovered and known the Women in revenge of the abuse done to their Cloths in making them the instruments of his deceit fell upon him and beat him so that it might have beaten Humility into him for ever after this disgrace made him glad to get into France his Native Country where to little purpose he woed the King and Queen for Reparation Edward Norgate Son of Dr. Robert Norgate was born in Cambridge and being very judicious in Pictures was imployed into Italy to buy some for the E of Arundel returning by Marseilles he missed the money he expected and being unknown neither knowing any man there he was observed by a French Gentleman deservedly so stiled to walk in the Exchange as we may call it of that City many hours every morning and evening with swift Feet and sad face forward and backward to him the civil Monsieur addressed himself desiring to know the cause of his discontent promised if it were in his power to help him with his best advice and assistance Norgate communicated his condition to whom the other answered Pray Sir take my Counsel I have taken notice that you have walked at least twenty miles a day upwards and downwards which if it had been spent in going forward would in a few days have brought you into your own Countrey I will if you please furnish you with a light habit and a competent sum of Mony for a Footman to enable you to walk home Norgate very chearfully consented being accommodated accordingly footed it through the body of France being more than 500 English miles and so leisurely with ease safety and health returned into England he became after the best Limner in our Age was an excellent Herald and which was the Crown of all a right honest man he died in 1649. I may here insert saith Dr. Fuller an artificial wonder of what is commonly called Devils Ditch Country People conceiting that it was made by the Devil the lie to be sure was whereas it was the work of some King or Kings of the East Angles see the laziness of posterity who are so far from imitating the industry of their Ancestors that they even libel the pure effects of their pains as Hellish Atchievements probably it was made to divide and defend their Dominions from the King of Mercia or possibly to keep the People in imployment and for diverting mutinous thoughts Laziness being the Mother of disloyalty industry of obedience this County by reason of the Fens hath but a sickly air the soil yeilds good Barly and store of Saffron the Herb called Scordium or Water Germander groweth very plentifully in this County of which Diascordium is made in the Country about the Fenns saith Speed Water-Fowl is so plentiful and cheap that five men may be well satisfied with that kind of Fare for less then an half penny when they have mowen their grass in the Fenns as much as will serve they set fire on the rest in November that it may come up again in abundance This County is divided into 17 Hundreds wherein are eight Market Towns and 163 Parishes and elects 6 Parliament Men that is for the County 2 University 2 Town of Cambridge 2 and has given the Title of Duke to four Sons of the Duke of York successively who
see the Stars at noon-day in clear weather the labour is so hard and tedious that they cannot work above 4 hours in a day they sometimes meet with loose earth yet otherwhile they light upon such hard Rocks that a good workman can scarce hew above a foot in a week sometimes again they meet with great streams of water and sometimes with stinking damps that distemper their heads for the present though not dangerously I hear of no Medicinal Water in this Countrey but only one and since he that telleth a miraculous truth must always carry the Author at his back saith my Author I will transcribe the words of B. Hall in his Myst of Godliness speaking of the good Offices of Angels to Gods Servants Of this kind saith he was that no less than miraculous cure which at St. Maderns in Cornwall was wrought upon a poor Cripple whereof besides the attestation of many Hundreds of the Neighbours I took a strict and impartial examination in my last Visitation this man for 16 years together was fain to walk upon his hands by reason the sinews of his legs were so contracted and upon Monitions in his dream to wash in that Well was suddenly so restored to his Limbs that I saw him able both to walk and get his own maintenance I found here was neither Art nor Collusion the thing done the Invisible Author being God In this County there are some stones called Hurlers at a competent distance from each other which are vainly reported to be men transformed into Stones in St. Cleers Parish there are upon a Plain 6 or 8 Stones such as are upon Salisbury Plain which like them too will be mistaken in the telling near Helford is a Rock lying on the ground the top whereof is hollow like the long half of an Egg this they say holdeth water which ebbeth and floweth with the Sea and indeed saith the Author when I came hither to see this Curiosity the Tide was half gone and the Pit or hollowness half empty There is a rock in this County called Mainamber erected as some conceive by Ambrosius that Valiant Brittain upon some Victory obtained by him against the Romans or other Enemies this is a Masterpiece of Mathematicks and Critical Proportions being a great Stone of so exact position on the top of a Rock that the push of a Finger will sensibly move it to and fro and yet all the strength that men could make was not thought sufficient to remove it out of the place but know Reader saith Dr. Fuller that this wonder is now unwondred for I am credibly informed that some Souldiers of late have utterly destroyed it which shews how dangerous it is for Art to stand in the way of ignorance surely Covetousness could not tempt them to it though it was the ruine of a fair Monument in Turky where a Tomb was erected near the Highway according to the fashion of that Country on some Person of Quality consisting of a Pillar and on the top thereof a Chapiter or great Globe of Stone whereon was written in the Turkish Language The Brains are in the Head this stood many years undemolished it being very criminal there to violate the Monuments of the dead till one of less conscience but more cunning than others passing by it resolved to unriddle the meaning of this Inscription and breaking the hollow Globe open found it full of Gold and departed the richer though not the honester certainly if any such temptation invited the Souldiers to this Act they missed their mark therein At Hall near Foy there is a Faggot all of one piece of wood naturally grown so it is wrapped about the middle with a band and parted at ends into four sticks one of which is divided into two others In Lanhadron Park there grows an Oak that bears leaves speckled and white and so doth another called Painters Oak it is certain saith our Author that divers Ancient Families in England are forewarned of their death by Oaks bearing strange leaves An Earthen Pot was found some years ago near Foy gilded and graven with Letters in a great stone Chest and full of a black Earth the Ashes it 's thought of some Ancient Roman At Trematon in Cornwall in the Chancel of the Church a Leaden Coffin was digged up in which being opened was found the proportion of a very big mans body but being touched turned to dust It was thought to be the body of Duke Orgarus who as Speed saith married his Daughter to K. Edgar for there was an Inscription on the Coffin that signified it was the body of a Duke whose Heiress was Married to a Prince Likewise an exceeding great Carkass of a Man was found by the Tinners digging at a Village near the lands end called Trebegean there is a story that passes of St. Kaines Well in this County that whoever drinks first of this water whether Husband or Wife they are sure to get the Mastery a fit Fable for the vulgar to believe In the West parts of Cornwall during the Winter Swallows are found sitting in old deep Tinn-works and holes of the Sea-cliffs On the Shore of this Shire about 30 or 40 years ago a huge Mass of Ambergreece was found by a poor Fisherman of a very great value King Arthur Son to Vter-pendragon was born at Tintagel Castle in this County and was afterward Monarch of Great Brittain he may fitly be termed the Brittish Hercules in three respects 1. For his Illegitimate Birth both being Bastards begotten on other Mens Wives and yet their Mothers honest Women both deluded by Art-Magick the last by Merlin by other men coming to them in the form of their Husbands 2. In his painful life one being famous for his twelve labours and the other for his 12 Victories against the Saxons and both of them had been greater had they been made less and the reports of them reduced within the compass of probability 3. In their violent and painful deaths our Arthur being as lamentable and more honourable not caused by Feminine Jealousy but Masculine Treachery being murdered by Mordred near the place where he was born As though no other place on Brittains spacious earth Were worthy of his end but where he had his Birth As for his round Table and his Knights about it the Tale thereof has never met with much credit amongst the Judicious The Cornish men in general have ever been held valiant and therefore K. Arthur made them his Vanguard as appears by the following Verses Brave Arthur when he meant a Field to fight Vs Cornish men did first of all invite Only to Cornish against Caesars Swords He the first blow in Battel still affords Yet these People have sometimes abused their valour to Rebellion as in the Reign of Hen. 7. where upon the account of raising a subsidy granted by Parliament against the Scots they made a commotion the Ringleaders being Thomas Flammock a Lawyer and Michael Joseph a Smith who having assembled
Berkâ—y Castle where he was courteously received by Thomas Berkly Lord thereof who was allowed a 100 shillings a day for keeping him close Prisoner But Q. Isabel being much troubled that her Husband lived consults again with the wicked Bishop of Hereford pretending that she was much troubled with frightful dreams which presignified that if her Husband should be again restored to his dignity he would burn her for a Traitor or send her into perpetual banishment the Bishop and several other great Men both of the Nobility and Clergy finding themselves likewise equally guilty became uneasy while the King lived and therefore sent chiding Letters to the Keepers pretending they gave the King too much liberty and kept him too high and delicately and withal added this line at the end of the Letter contrived by the Bishop Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est To shed King Edwards blood Refuse to fear I count it good Never was the fallacy of pointings or ambiguity of Phrase more mischievously used to the destruction of a King or for the defence of the Contrivers than in this hainous Parricide for it was so craftily contrived in a double sense that both the Keepers might find sufficient warrant and himself might find sufficient excuse the Keepers guessing at the meaning took it in the worst sense and therefore putring the L. Berkly out of the Castle they shut up the King in a close Chamber where with the stinch of dead Carkases laid in the Cellar under him he was almost poysoned of which he made complaint to some Carpenters who worked at his Chamber-window but these wretches perceiving this would not do the work they rushed one night into his Chamber and casting as many heavy bolsters upon him as 15 men could carry they pressed them down hard and not content with that heated an Iron red hot and through a Pipe like a Trumpet thrust it up into his body that no marks of a violent death might be seen but however they were heard for when they were thus doubly murdering him he was heard to roar and cry all the Castle over Gourney and Martravers his Murtherers expecting rewards had the reward of Murtherers for the Queen and Bishop Torlton disavowing the Command threatned to question them for the Kings death whereupon they fled beyond Sea and Gourney after three years being taken in France and sent into England was in the way upon the Sea beheaded Martravers flying into Germany had the grace to repent but lived ever after miserably thus died this unfortunate Prince in 1327 about half a year after his deposing never certainly was any King turned out of a Kingdom in such a manner many Kingdoms have been lost by the chance of War but this was lost before the Dice were cast no blow struck no battle fought done forceably and yet without force violently and yet with consent both parties agreed yet neither pleased for the King was not pleased to leave his Kingdom and the Queen was not pleased to leave him his life though he often declared in his Captivity That nothing grieved him so much as that tâ— Queen his Wife would never be persuaded to come and see him and swore very devoutly That from the first time he saw he face he could never like of any other Woman by which it appears that neither Gaveston nor the Spencers his wicked Favourites had so far debauched him as to make him false to his Bed or disloyal to his Queen but she was hardened against him thinking it not safe to leave him a part by which he might afterward recover the whole which was the chief occasion of his coming to this miserable end The County of Glocester is divided into 30 Hundreds wherein are 26 Market Towns 208 Parish Churches and is in the Diocess of Glocester out of it are elected 8 Parliament Men. For the County 2 for the City of Glocester 2 Tewksbury 2 Cirencester 2. HANTSHIRE hath Berkshire on the North Surry and Sussex on the East the Sea on the South Dorset and Wiltshire on the West from North to South it is 54 miles and from East to West 30. It is fruitful in Corn plenteous in pasture and for all advantages of the Sea wealthy and happy Wools Cloths and Iron are the general Commodities of this County Winchester is a City which flourished in the time of the Romans and now indifferently peopled and frequented by water it is about a mile and an half in Circuit within the walls which open at 6 Gates and is adorned with magnificent Churches and a Bishops See Dr. Heylin tells us That one of the Principal Orders of Knighthood is that of the round Table instituted by Arthur King of the Brittains and one of the worlds 9 worthies It consisted of 150 Knights whose names are recorded in the History of King Arthur the principal of them were Sir Lancelot Sir Tristram Sir Lamarock Sir Gawin c. all placed at one round Table to avoid quarrels about Priority and Place The round Table hanging in the great Hall of Winchester is falsly called Arthur's round Table it being not of sufficient Antiquity nor containing but 24 Seats In the Year 959. Edgar the Saxon King hearing the Daughter of a Western Duke exceedingly praised for her Beauty he was so inflamed therewith that he presently made a journey into those parts and coming to Andover in this County he commanded the Virgin to be brought to his Bed the Mother being tender of her Daughters honour brought her Maid in the dark to the King who pleased him as well in his lascivious dalliance the morning approaching this late Maid made haste to rise but the King being loth to part so soon with his supposed fair Lady asked her why she made such haste she told him she had a great deal of work to do and that her Lady would be very angry if she did not rise and dispatch it but being kept longer than her time she upon her knees did beseech the King to free her from her angry Mistriss alledging That she who had been imbraced by the King ought not to serve any other The King hereby perceiving the deceit was very angry yet since he could not recall what was past after having severely reproved the deceitful Lady he turned it into a jest but the Girl it seems pleased him so well that he took her for his Concubine whereby she ruled over them who lately commanded her and loved her entirely keeping to her alone till he was married to the fair Elfreda before mentioned This King likewise debauched a Nun named Wolfchild on whom he begat Edith afterward accounted a Saint He committed the like folly with Ethelfleda Duke Ordmars Daughter who for her extraordinary beauty was called The White on whom he begot his eldest Son Edward for which Mr. Fox affirmeth he did 7 Years Penance enjoyned him by St. Dunstan This Edward succeeded him in the Kingdom at 12 Years old the beginning of whose Reign
is in the Diocess of London and out of it are elected 8 Parliament Men For the County 2. Westminster 2. London 4. and gives the Title of Earl to Charles L. Sackvil who is also Earl of Dorset NORFOLK hath the German Ocean on the North and East thereof Suffolk severed by the River Waveny on the South Cambridgshire parted by the River Owse and part of Lincolnshire on the West it is 50 miles East and West and 30 North and South all England saith Dr. Fuller may be carved out of Norfolk represented therein not only to the kind but the degree thereof for here are Fens and Heaths and Light and Deep and Sand and Clay-ground and Meadows and Pastures and Arable and Woody and sometimes Woodless grounds so that herein is sufficiency of profit and pleasure collectively in this County it abounds in Corn Worsteds Stuffs Wool Coals and Rabbets who are an Army of Natural Pioneers whence men have learned the Art of undermining they thrive best in barren ground and gow fattest in the hardest Frosts their flesh is fine and wholsome if the Scottish men tax our language as improper and smile at our Wing of a Rabbet let us laugh at their Shoulder of a Capon great store of Herrings and very good are caught nigh Yarmouth and vast profit raised out of them We may conclude the natural Commodities of this County with this memorable passage of a modern Author who writes thus the Lord F. W. assured me of a Gentleman in Norfolk who made above Ten Thousand pound of a piece of ground not 40 yards square and yet there was neither Mineral nor Mettal in it he after told me it was a sort of fine Clay for the making of a choice sort of Earthen Ware which some that knew it seeing him dig up discovered the value of it and sending it into Holland received so much mony for it It is recorded that one chief occasion of the Danes invading this Kingdom proceeded from the following Accident About the year 867. one Lothbrook a Nobleman of the Royal Family of Denmark being upon that Shoar his Hawk in pursuing her Game fell into the Sea he to recover her got into a small Cockboat alone and by a sudden Tempest was driven with his Hawk to the Coast of Norfolk near Rodham where being seized for a Spy he was sent to Edmund K. of the East Angles but having declared his birth and misfortune the King took affection to him for his skill in Hawking and his other good parts and preferred him but Berick the Kings Falconer envying this favour as they were hunting together in a Wood privately murdered him and hid him in a Bush Lothbrook was soon missed and by no inquiry could be found till it pleased God his Dog which would not forsake his dead Masters Corps came fawning to the King several times and then went back to the wood which the King observing at length followed the Hound who brought him to the place where Lothbrook lay and Berick being found guilty of the murder was sentenced to be put into Lothbrooks Boat without Tackle or Sail as he arrived here but behold the Event the Boat returned to the same place in Denmark from whence it had been driven for Berick as it were to be punished for this Murther here the Boat being known Berick was taken who to free himself from that bloody Fact added Treason to Murther affirming That King Edmund had put Lothbrook to death in Norfolk In revenge whereof Inguar and Hubba the 2 Sons of the murdered Lothbrook being made Generals of a Danish Army arrived in England and burnt up the Country sparing neither Sex nor Age and breaking into Norfolk sent this Message to K. Edmund That Inguar the most victorious Prince dreadful both by Sea and Land having brought divers Countries under his subjection was now arrived in these parts where he meant to winter and requireth thee Edmund to be subject and a vassal to him to yield up to him thy hid Treasures and all other the riches of thine Ancestors and so to reign under him which if thou refusest to do he adjudges thee unworthy both of life and Kingdom Edmund hearing this proud Pagan Message after advising with his Council returned this answer Go said he and tell thy Lord that Edmund the Christian King for the love of a Temporal life will not submit himself to a Pagan Duke unless he will resolve to become a Christian whereupon Inguar and Hubba with their furious Danes pursued the King to Thetford who raising an Army gave them Battle but being overpowered by his Enemies he retired to Framingham Castle where pitying the terrible slaughter of his People he submitted himself to the Danes but because he would not renounce the Christian Religion these bloody Heathens beat him with sticks and whipt him with rods but he still fervently calling upon the name of Jesus they were so inraged that binding him to a stake they with their Arrows shot him to death and cutting off his head scornfully threw it into an hedg But his body was afterward honourably buried at St. Edmundsbury from whence that Town had its name At Walsingham in this County there was a Chappel built in the year 1601. dedicated to the Virgin Mary and renowned throughout England for a Pilgrimage to our Lady of Walsingham and those who did not visit and present her with offerings were counted irreligious hear the description of Erasmus an Eye-witness concerning this place About four miles from the Sea side saith he standeth a Town that lives on nothing else almost but the resort of Pilgrims to this place there is a Colledge of Regular Canons which hath scarce any other Revenues than from the liberality of this Virgin for the greater oblations are preserved but the Mony and other Offerings of smaller value go to the maintenance of the Fryers the Church is fair and neat yet the Virgin dwells not therein that honour forsooth she hath done to her Son she hath her Church to her self in the right hand of her Son neither doth she dwell there for all this for the building is not yet finished small light there was in it but by Tapers or Wax-Candles yielding a pleasant smell and when you come into it you would say it were an heavenly habitation indeed so bright shining all over it with precious Stones and Gold and Silver This Chappel with all the Trinkets therein fell in the general destruction of Popish Monasteries by K. Henry 8. At St. Bennet in the Holm there was a great Abby built by Canutus the Dane which was afterward so fortified by the Monks with Walls and Bulwarks that it seemed rather a Castle than a Cloyster insomuch that K. William the Conqueror could not win it by assault till a Monk betrayed it into his hands upon condition he himself should be made Abbot thereof which was done accordingly but the King presently hanged up this new Abbot for a Traitor and so
his coming all Owen Glendours Army forsook him so that lurking in the Woods for fear of being taken he was there miserably famished Many of his Associates were taken and put to death and thus in the fourth year of his Reign all the great troubles of this K. Henry ended The Groaning Tree in Lincolnshire Pa. 137. The Lady riding naked through Coventry Pa. 207. From head to heel his Body had all over A quickset thickset natural hairy cover Change of Air Diet or the trouble of many Visitants are thought to hasten his end He died Nov. 15. 1634. and was buried in the Abby Church Shropshire is divided into 15 Hundreds wherein are 15 Market Towns 170 Parish Churches and is in the Diocess of Hereford and Litchfield it elects 12 Parliament Men and Shrewsbury gives the Title of Earl to Charles L. Talbot the 12 of that Family SOMERSETSHIRE hath the Severn Sea on the North Glocester on the North-East Wiltshire on the East Devonshire on the West and Dorsetshire on the South It abounds in Cattle Chease Lead and Corn of which it is so very fruitful that the Inhabitants tell you several single Acres of Land in this shire will serve a good round Family with Bread for the Year as affording a Bushel of Wheat for every week therein which is not easily to be parallel'd in other places This Country is famous for three Cities Bath Wells and Bristoll the first takes its name from the hot Baths which some call The Waters of the Sun It is recorded that Bladud the Son of Lud King of the Brittains in the year of the world 3100 built this City and conveyed the admirable virtues into these Waters by Magick Art and that he was so much addicted to Necromancy as he wrought Wonders thereby insomuch that he made himself Wings and attempted to fly like Dedalus but the Devil ever a deceiver forsook him in his Journey so that he fell down and broke his Neck This City is seated in a plain invironed round about with Hills almost of one height out of which certain Rills of fresh water flow continually to the great benefit of the Citizens within the City there bubble or boyl up in three several places hot springs of Water of a Sea-coal colour sending up from them thin vapours and a kind of strong scent withal by reason it is strained through veins of Brimstone and a clammy kind of Earth called Bitumen These Springs are very Medicinal and of great virtue to cure Bodies overcharged and benummed with corrupt Humors by their heat causing much sweat They are much frequented by Persons of all Qualities and almost for all diseases of aâ—l these the Cross Bath is of a most mild and temperate Nature having 12 seats of Stone in the sides of it and is inclosed within a wall The second distant about 200 paces is much hotter whence called the Hot Bath adjoyning to which is the Spittle or Lazar House for the relief of poor diseased Persons The third and greatest is called the Kings Bath walled also round about with 32 Seats of Arched Work therein This City is fortified with Walls wherein are set Antique Images and Roman Inscriptions and hath in it a fair large Cathedral Church The City of Wells so called from the Springs or Wells that boil up there hath a very beautiful Cathedral near which there is a Spring called St. Andrews Well from whence comes such a confluence of Water that it soon makes a swift brook The Church is throughout very beautiful but the Frontispiece of the West end is very excellent for it riseth up from the foot to the top all of Imagery carved in Srone of a curious and antique fashion very artificially embowed Bristow hath the River Avon passing through it and was incompassed with a double wall it is beautiful with Buildings publick and private and hath common Sewers or Sinks made to run under ground for the conveyance of all filthiness There are within the City and Suburbs 26 fair Churches whereof 18 are Parish Churches There is no Dunghill in all the City nor Sink all being conveyed under ground they carry all upon fleds without Carts the water at the Key sometimes ebbs and flows 40 foot in height This City is Populous Rich and well Inhabited and next to London and York may justly challenge the Superiority having a very commodious Haven which admits Ships under Sail into the very bosom thereof In this County K. Arthur was buried for being murdered by Mordred at Cambula near Tintagel Castle in Cornwall as is aforementioned he was carried from thence to Glastenbury in Somersetshire and was there buried in 542. and 600 years after was found and taken up on this occasion King Henry 2. in the last year of his Reign being at Pembroke chanced to hear certain Songs in praise of the worthy Acts of King Arthur sung by a Welch Bard or Poet to his Harp wherein it is mentioned that he was buried in Glastenbury Church-yard between two Pillars there standing whereupon King Henry caused the ground to be digged and at seven foot deep was found a huge broad Stone whereon was fastened a leaden Cross on the lower side of the Lead in rude and barbarous Characters was written Hic jacet c. Here lies King Arthur buried in the Vale of Avelona And digging nine foot deeper his Body was found in the Trunk of a Tree the bones very large and in his skull were perceived ten wounds one very great and plain His Queen Guenever a Lady of excellent beauty lay by him whose Hair curiously plaited and of a golden colour shewed perfect and whole till touched but then it fell to ashes The Cross of Lead with the Inscription was taken off and kept in Glastenbury Church and the bones of King Arthur were put into a fair Tomb of Marble and his Queen laid at his feet in the same Church but were all raced at the general suppression of Abbies by Henry 8th In the 22. of Queen Elizabeth 1580. a strange Apparition happened in Somersetshire 60 Parsonages all clothed in black a furlongs distance from those that beheld them who continued some time and then vanished and immediately another strange company in like manner number and colour appeared in the same place and encountred each other and then vanished and the 3d time appeared that number again all in bright Armour and encountred one another and so vanished away This was examined before Sir George Norton and swore by four honest men that saw it to be true In Her 38th year Dec. 5 being Sunday a great number of People being Assembled in the Cathedral Church of Wells in Somersetshire in the fore-noon during Sermon a sudden darkness fell among them and a great Tempest with Thunder and Lightning followed which threw the People on the ground and all the Church seemed to be in a flame and there was a lothsome stink some Stones were stricken out of the Bell Tower and the
about the Walls through which 7 Gates give entrance with 5 Watch Towers for defence there are in it divers Churches beside the Cathedral which is seated on the Southside of the City and is an excellent fair building adorned with the Tombs and Monuments of K. John Pr. Arthur and divers of the Beauchamps This City was set on Fire and almost every one of the Citizens slain by K. Hardicknute 1041 for killing the Collectors of this Danish Tribute yet was presently repaired but in 1113. a sudden Fire happened no body knew how which burnt down the Castle and the Cathedral Church likewise in the troubles of K. Stephen it was twice defaced by the Flames and made hopeless of Recovery yet out of these a new Phoenix arose and her Buildings were raised more stately than before especially the Cathedral At Droitwitch are three Fountains of Salt water divided by a little Brook of fresh water passing between them by the boiling of which salt water they make pure white saltt Edmund Bonner alias Savage was born in this County his Father was John Savage a rich Priest in Cheshire his Mother was this Priests Concubine a dainty Wench in her Youth and a jolly Woman in her Age she was sent out of Cheshire to cover her shame and laid down her burden at Elmly in this County where this bonny bouncing Babe Bonner was born in the Reign of K. Hen. 7. He was bred a Batchelor of the Laws in Oxford and in K. Hen 8. time he was made Doctor of the Laws Archdeacon of Leicester Master of Arts Master of the Faculties under Archbishop Cranmer and imployed in several Embassies beyond Sea All this time Bonner was not Bonner being as yet meek merciful and a great man for the L. Cromwell as appeared by some tart printed Repartees betwixt him and Stephen Gardiner Indeed he had a Body and an half but corpulency without cruelty is no sin and toward his old Age he was overgrown with fat as Mr. Fox who is charged to have persecuted Persecutors with ugly Pictures doth represent him not long after he was consecrated Bp. of London and under K. Edward 6. being ordered to preach publickly concerning the Reformation his faint and cold expressions thereof manifested that he had a mind rather to betray it for which he was deprived of his Benefice being restored to his Bishoprick under Q. Mary he caused the death of twice as many Martyrs as all the Bishops of England beside justly occasioning the Verses made upon him If one for shedding Blood for Bliss may hope Heavens widest gate for Bonner doth stand ope No body speaking to Bonner All call thee cruel and the spunge of Blood But Bonner I say thou art mild and good Under Queen Elizabeth he was deprived and secured in the Marshalsea where he lived 10 Years in soft durance and full plenty his Face deposing for his whole Body that he was not famished enjoying a great Temporal Estate by his Father wherein as he was kept from doing hurt to others so it kept others from doing hurt to him who was so universally odious that he had been stoned in the Streets if at Liberty He died 1569. and was buried in Barking Church-Yard among Thieves and Murderers but enough if not too much of this Herostratus who burnt so many living Temples of the Holy Ghost and who had he not been remembred by other Writers had found no place here In the 18th of Queen Elizabeth 1576. June 20. William Lumnley a poor man in the Parish of Emely being kept in Prison by a rich Widdow and having a Mare of 22 years old saith Mr. Stow with Foal within three days after she Foaled a Female Colt which immediately had an Udder out of which was milked the same day a pint of Milk and every day after it gave above three pints to the great relief of his Wife and Children and continued to do so a long time as was seen by many Thousands In her 35th year in the month of March were many great storms of wind which overturned Trees Houses Steeples and Barns and in Bewdly Forrest in Worcestershire many Oaks were overthrown in Horton Wood in this County above a 1000 Oaks were blown down in one day Worcestershire is divided into seven Hundreds wherein are 11 Market Towns 152 Parish Churches and is in the Diocess of Worcester It elects 9 Parliament Men and gives the Title of Earl and Marquess to Henry L. Somerset L. President of Wales YORKSHIRE hath Westmoreland and Durham on the North Lancashire on the West Derby Nottingham and Lincoln shires on the South and the German Ocean on the East It is the greatest of any County in England placed under a temperate Climate and so is indifferently fruitful so that if one part of it be stony sandy barren ground another part is fruitful and richly adorned with Cornfields if it be here bare of Woods you shall see it there shadowed with Forrests full of Trees If in one place it be Moorish miery and unpleasant another presents itself to the Eye full of beauty and delightful variety This County being so spacious is divided into three parts called the West Riding the East-Riding and the North-Riding It produceth Corn Cattel Cloth Knives and Stockins The City of York is very ancient and formerly of so great estimation that the Roman Emperours kept their Courts there it is at this day the second City of Eng. the fairest in all the Country a singular safeguard ornament to all the Northern Parts it is a large stately pleasant place well fortified and beautifully adorned both with publick and private Buildings Rich Populous and an Archbishops See The River Ouse flowing with a gentle stream from the North part Southward cutteth it in twain and maketh as it were two Cities which are joined with a strong Bridge whereon is a very great Arch The West part is incompassed with a very fair Wall and the River together foursquare having an entrance only at one Gate from which a long and broad street reacheth to the very Bridge which is beautified with handsome Houses with Gardens and Orchards on the back and pleasant Fields behind On the East side the Houses stand very thick and the streets are narrower being fortified with a strong wall and is divided on the South-East with the deep Channel of the muddy River Fosse which entring into the heart of the City by a blind way hath a Bridge over it with Houses built upon it and so close ranged one by another that it seems rather a street than a Bridge and soon after runs into the Ouse where a stately Castle formerly stood which commanded the whole City but it is now gone to decay toward the North stands the Cathedral Church an excellent fair and stately Fabrick We read that William the Conqueror after he had setled himself in this Kingdom did much a bridge the power of the prelates in Temporals ordaining that they should exercise