They Report likewise that after a long Frost when the Ice of this Lake breaks it makes a fearful Noise like Thunder possibly because the Lake is encompass'd with high steep Hills which pen in the Sound and multiply it or else the Ground may be hollow underneath or near the Lake Levenny River Through this Lake runs a River called Levenny without mixtures of its Waters as may be perceived both by the Colour of the Water and also by the quantity of it because it is no greater afterward than when it entred the Lake Cadier Arthur Cadier Arthur or Arthur's Chair is a Hill so called on the Southside of this County from the Tops resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the Dimensions of that great and mighty Person upon the Top whereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four-square having no Streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein Radnorshire in the East and South parts thereof is more fruitful than the rest Radnorshire but is uneven and rough with Mountains yet it is well stored with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Pools the Air is cold and sharp because the Snow continues long unmelted under the shady Hills and hanging Rocks whereof there are many and upon the Borders of it which lies next to Herefordshire runs a long famous Ditch which Offa King of the Mercians with great Toil and Labour caused to be cast up from Deermouth to Wymouth for the space of 90 Miles to separate the Britains from the English There are in it four Market-Towns amongst which Radnor is the Principal Radnor being seated in a pleasant Valley near the River Somergil which runs at the foot of a Hill on the Top whereof stands the Ruines of an ancient Castle demolished by that notorious Rebel Owen Glendore Glamorganshire hath a temperate Air Glamorganshire and is generally the most pleasant part of all South Wales it is replenished with divers convenient Towns amongst which Cardiff Cardiff which stands near the Sea where Robert the Eldest Son of William the Conqueror died after a long Imprisonment is reputed the most Eminent a Mile above which stands also on the River Taff Landaff Landaff one of the four Episcopal Sees of Wales 'T is one of the most ancient Sees either in England or Wales claiming a direct Succession from the arch-Arch-Bishops of Caer-leon upon Vske it is adorned with a Cathedral consecrated to St. Telran who was Bishop here which Church Germanus and Lupus French Bishops then Erected when they had suppressed the Pelagian Heresie preferring Dubritius a very devout Person to this Bishoprick unto whom Meurick a British Lord gave all the Lands which lie betwixt the two Rivers Taff and Elri * Mr. Wharton's Angl. Sacr. Pars Secunda p. 667. Minyd-Morgan Hill On the top of a certain Hill called Minyd-Morgan in this County is a Monument with a strange Character which the Dwellers thereabouts say if any Man read the same he will die shortly after The Springs by Newton Upon the River Ogmore and near unto Newton in a Sandy Plain about a hundred Paces from the Severn Springs a Well in which at full Sea in Summer-time can hardly any Water be took up but at the Ebb it bubleth up amain 't is most observable in Summer for in Winter the Ebbing and Flowing is nothing so evident because of the Veins of Water coming in by Showers or otherwise besides it is observed that this Spring never riseth up to the Spring or overfloweth and Polybius relates the same of a certain Well at Cadiz Clemens Alexandrinus saith That in Britain is a Cave under the bottom of a Hill and on the top of it a gaping Chink where when the Wind is gathered into that Hole and toss'd to fro in the Womb of it there is heard as it were a Musical sound like that of Cymbals It is not unlikely that he might point at the Cave at Aberbarry in this Shire Aberbarry Cave the Story agreeing very near with the Quality of this Cave It is mention'd by my Lord Bacon in his History of Winds to this effect That in a certain Rocky Cliff in which there are Holes if a Man lay his Ears to them he shall hear divers Noises and rumbling of Winds now these Noises Cambden saith are as well to be heard at the lowest Ebb as the highest Flood Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire though a most Hilly Country yet it hath a wholsom Air and though the Soil be not very fruitful in Corn 't is well stored with Cattle and in some places yields good Pit-Coal for Fuel On the South side the Ocean hath with so great Violence encroached upon the Land that the Country seems to have shrunk back in a fright and withdrawn it self more inwardly for Security Carmarthen Carmarthen the chief place of it being a pretty distance from the Sea is situated between pleasant Meadows and Woods The Residence kept here by the Princes of South Wales made it anciently very Eminent and it became a Prey to the Normans in the Reign of William the Conqueror Near Carreg-Castle are many Caves of great wideness within the Ground now covered all over with green Swerd and Turf The Caves and VVell near Carreg-Castle wherein 't is probable the Multitude when unable to bear Arms when the Normans made their first Incursions into these parts hid themselves during the heat of the War where also is a Well that like the Sea Ebbs and Flows twice in 24 hours That Cardiganshire being a Hilly Maritime Country was not formerly planted Cardiganshire or garnished with Cities may be gathered from that Speech of their Prince Caratacus who being taken Prisoner by the Romans and carried to Rome when he had throughly viewed the Magnificence of that City What mean you saith he when you have such stately Buildings of your own to covet such poor and mean Cottages as ours are It s chief Town is Cardigan Cardigan pleasantly seated upon the Tivy near its fall into the Sea which River parts this County from Pembrokeshire and over it here is a Stone-Bridge supported by several Arches Pembrokeshire hath a good temperate Air Pembrokeshire considering it lies so near to Ireland the Inhabitants are now many of them Dutch Men and formerly as it appears from Giraldus Cambrensis they were like the Romans of old very skilful in Soothsaying by looking narrowly into the Entrails of Beasts and by their Manners and Language are so near akin to the English that upon this Account this Country is call'd Little England beyond Wales About Three hundred years ago it was reported That for five Generations the Father of the Family in the Earldom of Pembroke whose Names then were Hastings never saw his Son the Father dying always before the Son was Born At the time when Henry II. made his Abode in
times past full of Woods and Timber but instead thereof it yieldeth now plenty of Corn Sheep and Cattel the Air is reasonably Healthful save only a little Aguish at some time and in some places by reason of the Fogs that do arise from the Sea It yieldeth also great store of Millstones and Grindstones and in some places a sort of Earth of which they make Alum and Copperas but more especially it affords such plenty of Wheat it is deservedly entitled the Mother of Wales In Caernarvanshire the Air is sharp and piercing and in it are the highest Hills in Wales Caernarvanshire for which reason 't is justly called the English Alps on some of which the Snow lies long and on others all the Year long hard crusted together In the Pool called Lin-paris there is The Pool Lin-paris as 't is reported a kind of Fish called Torroch having a red Belly which is no were else to be seen but here 'T is affirmed likewise that on some of the high Hills of this Shire are too Meres one of which produceth Fish which have but one Eye and in the other is a movable and floating Island which as soon as any Person treads on it presently falls into a moving posture Snowdown-Hills Snowdown Hills although they have always Snow lying upon them yet they are exceeding Rank with Grass insomuch that they are become a Proverb amongst the Welshmen That those Mountains will yield sufficient Pasture for all the Cattel in VVales And 't is certain that there are Pools and standing Waters upon the top of these Mountains and they are so coated with a snowy Crust that lies on them that if a Man doth but lightly set his Foot upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to stir for several Foot from him which probably might occasion the story of the floating Island before mentioned Penmaen-Mour i. e. The great stony Head Penmaen-Mour is an exceeding high and steep Rock which hangeth over the Sea when it is Flood affordeth a very narrow way for Passengers having on the one side huge Stones over their Heads as if they were ready to fall upon them and on the other side the raging Ocean lying of a wonderful depth under it but after a Man hath passed over this together with Penmean-Lythan the less stony Head he shall come to an open broad Plain that reacheth as far as the River Conway in which are bred a sort of Shell-Fish which being conceived of an Heavenly Dew as is conjectured bring forth Pearl Bangor Within this County is Banchor q. Penchor so called a Choro pulchro being a Bishop's See the Church was dedicated to Daniel Bishop hereof but that which is now standing is but a mean Structure for Owen Glendover who designed to have utterly destroyed all the Cities in Wales set it on Fire because the Inhabitants of this Place chose rather to side with the King of England than with him hereupon the ancient Church being defaced Henry Dean Bishop hereof did afterward repair it about the Reign of Henry the VIIth But that which is most observable was the famous British Monastery of this place where as the learned Bishop Stillingfleet hath observed Men were bred up to Learning and Devotion together and so more resembling our Colleges than the Aegyptian Monasteries where Men were brought up to Ignorance and Labour as much as to Devotion The Right Reverend Bishop Floyd in his Historical Account of Church Government in Great Britain tells us farther out of Bede that here were above Two thousand Persons together in seven Colleges of which none had fewer than Three hundred Monks in it This we may believe by what we see saith another Historian that writ Four hundred Years after Bede's time we see saith he so many half ruined Walls of Churches so many windings of Porticos so great a heap of Ruins as you shall scarce meet with elsewhere by which Account it seems in its flourishing State to have been not much less than one of our Universities at this Day How Twelve hundred innocent Monks of this Place though the Saxon Chronicle mentions but Two hundred who came along with their Army by Fasting and Prayer to intercede with Heaven for its prosperous Success were all cruelly put to Death by Ethelfrid King of Northumberland A. D. 607. at the Instigation of Ethelbert King of Kent is too Tragical a Story to insist long upon but that Austen the Monk was the first Spring of this fatal Tragedy moving Ethelbert to it as he did Ethelfrid there are not only strong Suspicions saith the Learned Dr. Cade in his Discourse concerning Ancient Church-Government but the thing is expresly affirmed by several Historians of no inconsiderable Credit and Antiquity In Denbighshire the Air is cold Denbighshire but very wholesom and the Snow lies long upon the Hills which resemble the Battlements of Walls and upon the top of Moilenny-Hill Moilenny-Hill which is one of the largest in this Shire is a Spring of clear Water In this County is VVrexham Wrexham a Market Town distant about Fifteen Miles from Holy-VVell and much admired for the Steeple of its Collegiate Church being a curious Fabrick contrived according to the most exact Draught and Model of Architecture and no where to be parallelled in those Parts for Workmanship of which taking a transient view we passed on again through Shrewsbury and the Strettons to Wigmore Strettons Wigmore which lies within the Confines of Herefordshire where are the Ruins of a Castle built by Edward the Senior and fortified by VVilliam Earl of Hereford from whom the Mortimers who were afterwards Earls of March did lineally descend That this Castle was formerly an Asylum or Sanctuary is generally reported by such as live near it who will tell you that whatsoever Malefactors fled hither for Refuge and could but get his Hand within the Ringle of the Gate secured himself from the Hands of Justice which indentical wreathed Ring of Iron they shewed us upon a Door of one of the Inns in the Town A. D. 1100. Ralph de Mortimer founded here a little College for Secular Canons which was 1197 changed into a Priory and endowed with more Lands by his Son Hugh Mortimer who removed hither the Black Canons from Scobbedon there placed by Oliver de Merlymond his Steward it was commended to the Patronage of St. James A. D. 921. a great Pagan Host of the East-Angles and Mercians came against this Place which the Saxon Chronicle calls Wigingamere but were beaten off from it by the Valour of its Inhabitants only with the loss of some Cattel which they took away with them Three Miles from Wigmore in the Road to Hereford is Mortimer's-Cross Mortimer's-Cross being a Way where four Roads meet so called from Mortimer Earl of March Son to Richard Duke of York betwixt whom and King Henry the Sixth's Friends and Allies was fought a bloody and terrible
in a Book Printed for that purpose A. D. 1640. I shall not undertake to pourtray that in a contracted Landskip which hath been before represented to the Publick with so great applause but refer those who are so curious as to desire a more particular Account of this City to that most ingenious Person who hath pencilled out every part and Limb thereof with great exactness and accuracy only one thing I must not omit that of late a Marble Monument hath been erected in St. Margaret's Church Canterbury in Honour of Mr. Somner who lies there interred by his own Widow who afterward Married to Mr. Hannington Vicar of Elam in Kent upon which is engraven this ingenious Epitaph H. S. E. Gulielmus Somnerus Cantuariensis Saxonicam Literaturam Civitatis Cantuariae Historiam Tenebris utramque involutam Illustravit Cantii Antiquitates meditantem Fatum intercepit Officium Erga Deum pietate severa Erga Homines probitate simplici Erga Principem fide periculosa Erga Patriam scriptis immortalibus Indicavit Ita Mores Antiquos Studium Antiquitatis efformat Cantuariae Natus est Martii 30. 1606. Cantuariae Omnem aetatem egit Cantuariae Obiit Martii 30. 1669. Feversham Passing from hence through Feversham a Town pretty large and well inhabited famous formerly for its Abby erected here by King Stephen wherein himself his Queen and Eustace his Son were buried the next place of consequence that was obvious in the Road was Sedingbourn Sedingbourn which being a great thorough-fare is well furnished with Inns a Town of which there are two things more principally Recorded the one is that in the Year 1232 Henry Bishop of Rochester as Mr. Philpott hath collected it out of some old Monkish Writers came with much exultation out of Sedingbourn Church and desired the People to express their joy because on that day by the efficacious Prayers of the Church Richard the First formerly King of England and many others were most certainly ransomed from the Flames of Purgatory The other that in the same Church was a Monument of Sir Richard Lovelace inlayed richly with Brass who was an eminent Soldier in his time and Marshal of Calice under Henry the Eighth with his Portraiture affixed in Brass which the Injuries of Time and the Impiety of Sacrilegious Mechanicks have utterly defaced In the Neighbourhood of Sedingbourn is Newington Newington which though but a small Village hath afforded some worthy Remarks of Antiquity for not many Years ago there were digged up Roman Urns not far distant from the High-way or Common Road it being agreeable to Roman Practice to inter in those Places where their Monuments might be obvious almost to every Eye Memorials of themselves and Memento's of Mortality to living Passengers whom the Epitaphs of great Ones did beg to stay and look upon them From hence the Road brought us directly to Chatham Chatham where the repair of the Parish Church and new Buildings of the Steeple commend the Religious Care and Cost of King Charles the First 's Commissioners and Officers of the Royal Navy in the Year 1635 but the Arsenals Store-Houses and Ship-Docks erected by the same most incomparable Prince are so magnificent and universally useful that they are become a principal Pillar of the Nations support and afford variety of Employment by the Manufacture of Cordage as also the Careening and Building of Ships Contiguous to Capham is Rochester Rochester a City which in Elder times was as eminent for its Antiquity as it was for its Strength and Grandeur and had not those violent impressions which the rough Hand of War made upon it Demolished its bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it peradventure might have been registred at this Day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation but so great and dismal Calamities did frequently attend it that the Fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the Fury of Enemies for its Ruine and the Fire and Sword were joint Confederates to destroy it nevertheless maugre all these Casualties by the Favour of Princes and their Royal Munificence it recovered all its Losses and survives in Splendor In the Year 1225 by the indulgent Bounty of King Henry the Third it was invested with a Wall and that this Fortification might be of the greater importance it was secured or fenced with a Ditch it was governed by a Port-Reeve until King Edward the Fourth in the second Year of his Reign raised it to a higher Dignity and decreed by his Royal Grant that it should henceforth be under the Jurisdiction of a Mayor and Twelve Aldermen and to this Monarch doth the City owe much of its present Felicity The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the Eye of the Beholder to the admiration of its former strength acknowledgeth for its most eminent Benefactor if not Founder Odo Bishop of Baicux and Earl of Kent half Brother to William the Conqueror which Fortress he afterward breaking forth into open Rebellion against his Nephew Rufus did seize but was quickly dispossessed by the vigorous Expedition of his Prince and enforced immediately to depart the Kingdom After this when the Dauphin was invited into England by the Seditious Barons to wrest the Kingdom from K. John their native Sovereign the Dauphin uniting their strength with his made such a furious Onset on the Castle that like a Tempest which beats down all before it he carried it by Assault the like had been atchieved by Simon Montford Earl of Leicester when he raised an Insurrection against King Henry the Third had not that Prince arrived most opportunely and by a successful Encounter wrested both Earl Warren who had so resolutely maintained it and that likewise from the Impressions of his Fury since which time there hath been little of moment acted in this Place tho it is worth taking notice of what Mr. Philpott hath observed farther concerning it that there being much Land in this County held thereof whose Tenure is perfectly Castle-guard upon the day prefixed for the discharging the quit Rents relating to it there is a Banner displayed and hung out antiently it was on the Castle Wall and all those who are Tenants to this Mannor and are in default by their Non-appearance and do not discharge their accustomary Duties and Services the penalty imposed upon their neglect is that the return of every Tide of the adjacent River Medway which finds them absent doubles their Service or Quit-Rents The Cathedral which the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it was founded and established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier by Austen the Apostle of the Saxons was Justus who being sent over hither as an Adjutant to Austen in the Propagation of Christianity about the Year 601 Angl. Sacr. Tom. 1. p. 329. was afterward ordained Bishop of this See A. D. 604. much about that time
and as nobly attended with a splendid Retinue the Heralds of Arms and other Officers that went before were wonderful gay and finely habited and the Servants that attended were clad in the richest Liveries their Coaches drawn with six Horses as they went ratling along did dazle our Eyes with the splendour of their furniture and all the Nobles appeared in the greatest Pomp and Gallantry the Regalia which are the Sword of State the Scepter and the Crown were carried by three of the antientest of the Nobility and on each side the Honours were three Mace-Bearers bare headed a Noble-man bare headed with a Purse and in it the Lord High Commissioner's Commission then last of all the Lord High Commissioner with the Dukes and Marquesses on his Right and Left Hand it is ordered that there be no Shooting under the highest penalties that Day neither displaying of Ensigns nor beating of Drums during the whole Cavalcade The Officers of State not being Noblemen ride in their Gowns all the Members ride covered except those that carry the Honours and the highest Degree and the most Honourable of that degree rid last Nor is their grandeur disproportionate to their demeanour which is high and stately but courteous and obliging having all the additional helps of Education and Travel to render it accomplish'd for during their Minority there is generally great care taken to refine their Nature and emprove their Knowlege of which when they have attain'd a a competent measure in their own Country they betake themselves to foreign Nations to make a further progress therein where they do generally become so great proficients that at their return they are by this means fitted for all great Services and Honourable employments which their King or Country is pleased to commit to their care and fidelity and are thereby enabled to discharge them with great Honour and applause On the West side a most steep Rock mounteth up aloft to a great height every way save where it looks towards the City The Castle on which is placed a Castle built by Ebrank the Son of Mempitius as some Write though others by Cruthneus Camelon the first King of the Picts about 330 Years before the Birth of our Saviour 't is so strongly fortified both by art and Nature that it is accounted impregnable which the Britains called Myned Agned the Scots the Maiden Castle of certain young Maids of the Picts Royal Blood which were kept here in old time and which in truth may seem to have been that Castrum alatum or Castle with a Wing before spoken of In this Castle is one of the largest Canons in Great Britain called Roaring Megg which together with two tire of Ordinance besides planted upon the Wall can command the City and all the Plains thereabouts but most famous is it in that Queen Mary was brought to Bed here of a Son who was afterward Christened at Sterling and called James who at last became the Happy Uniter of the two Crowns and in that Chamber in which he was Born are written upon the Wall these following Verses in an old Scotch Character James 6. Scot. 1. England Laird Jesu Christ that crown it was with Thorns Preserve the Birth qubais badgir here is Borne And send hir Son Succession to Reign still Lange in this Realm if that it be thy will Al 's grant O Laird quhat ever of hir proceed Be to thy glory honour and praise so beed July 19. 1566. A little below the Castle is a Curious Structure built for an Hospital by Mr. Herriot The Hospital Jeweller to the aforementioned King James and endowed with very great Revenues for the use of poor Orphans and impotent and decrepit Persons but by the ruinous and desolate Condition it seem'd at that time to be falling into it became to us a very doleful Spectacle that so noble a heroick design of Charity should be so basely perverted to to other Evil Ends and purposes contrary to the Will and intention of the Donor The City is governed by a Lord-Provost who hath always a Retinue befitting his Grandeur and for the punishing delinquents there is a large Tolbooth Tolbooth for so they call a Prison or House of Correction where all Malefactors are kept in hold to satisfie the Law as their Offences shall require Within seven Miles round the City there are of Noble and Gentlemens Palaces Castles and strong-builded Towers and Stone houses as we were inform'd above an hundred and besides the Houses of the Nobility and Gentry within it here dwell several Merchants of great Credit and repute where because they have not the conveniency of an Exchange as in London they meet about Noon in the High-street from whence they adjourn to their Changes i. e. Taverns or other places where their business may require them to give their Attendance The Fortune of this City hath in former Ages been very variable and inconstant It s variable Changes sometime it was Subject to the Scots and another while to the English who inhabited the East parts of Scotland until it became wholly under the Scots Dominion about the Year 960 when the English being over-poured and quite oppressed by the Danes were enforced to quit all their interest here as unable to grapple with two such potent Enemies A Mile from the City lies Leith a most commodious Haven hard upon the River Leith Leith which when Dessry the Frenchman for the security of Edenburgh had fortified very strongly by reason of a great Concourse of People which after this Flocked hither in abundance in a short time from a mean Village it grew to be a large Town In the Reign of our King Henry the Eighth the Sufferings and Calamities both of it and its Neighbours were grievous and inexpressible being both Burnt and plundred by Sir John Dudly Viscount Lisle Lord High Admiral of England who came hither with a puissant Army and broke down the Peer burning every stick thereof and took away all the Scotch Ships that were fit to serve him which kind of Execution was done likewise at Dunbar afterward when Francis King of France had taken to Wife Mary Queen of Scots the Frenchmen who in hope and conceit had already devoured Scotland and began now to gape for England A. D. 1560. strengthned it again with new fortifications But Queen Elizabeth solicited by the Nobles who had embraced the Protestant Religion to side with them by her Wisdom and Prowess so effected the matter that the French were enforced to return into their own Country and all their fortifications were laid level with the Ground and Scotland hath ever since been freed from the French and Leith hath become a very opulent and flourishing Port for the Peer is now kept up in so good repair and the Haven so safe for Ships to ride in that here commonly lieth a great Fleet at anchor which come hither Richly laden with all sorts of Commodities After we had spent
Scruffel wotes full of that And there goes also this usual By-Word concerning the height as well of this Hill as of the other two Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand Are the highest Hills in all England Nay so liberal to it is Nature in the distribution of her largesses that she seems to have enriched it with every thing that may any way be conducible to Health as well as Wealth for here are such Varieties of vulnerary Plants which grow plentifully in these parts especially near to the Picts-Wall that in the beginning of Summer many Persons that are curious in these things come hither out of Scotland on purpose to Simple here are likewise upon the Sea-Coast very frequently discovered Trees at Low-water which have been covered with Sand and that in many other mossy places of the Shire they digg up Trees without boughs and that by the directions of the dew they say in Summer which they observe ne'er stands upon that Ground under which they lie At Carlile wee took up our first qaarters in this Province Carlile an ancient City very commodiously situated 't is guarded on the North side with the River Eden on the East with Peterial and on the West with Cawd and besides these Natural fences 't is fortified with a strong Wall with a Castle and a Cittadel the Fashion of it is long running out from West to East on the West side is the Castle of a large compass which King Richard the Third as appears by his Coat of Arms repaired and on the East the Cittadel built by Henry the Eighth In the middle almost of the City riseth on high the Cathedral Church being formerly a stately and Magnificent Structure adorned with rich Copes and other sacred Garments and Vessels and two Unicorns Horns of great Value which by an ancient custom were placed here upon the Altar but now deplores the want of part of its Body being ruined by a wicked War whilst it was only intended for a House of Prayer and Peace It was first founded by Walter Deputy of these parts for King William Rufus and by him dedicated to the Blessed Virgin but finished and endowed by King Henry the First out of the Wealth which the said Walter had amassed for that purpose The Romans and Britains called this place Lugoballum that is saith Cambden the fort by the Wall which Name it derived probably from that famous military vallum or Trench which stands apparent a little from the City and that it flourished exceedingly in the time of the Romans the famous mention of it in those Days and diverse remains of Antiquity which have been here frequently discovered do sufficiently attest After the departure of the Romans it suffered extreamly by the insolent outrages of the Scots and Picts and afterward being almost quite ruined by the Danes it lay about two hundred Years buried in its own Ashes until it began again to flourish under the government and by the favour of King William Rufus who as the Saxon Chronicle tells us A. D. 1092 coming hither with a great Army repaired the City and built the Castle driving from hence the Daulphin of France who had got too sure footing in some of those Northern parts and planted here a new Colony of Flemmings say some Historians whom presently upon better advice he removed into Wales and setled in their room a more useful plantation of Southern English-men After this here having been formerly a Covent of Monks and a Nunnery built by St. Cuthbert A. D. 686. which were both destroyed by the Danes King Henry the First established here the Episcopal See * A. D. 1135. saith Mr. Wharton Ang. Sacr. Tom. 1. P. 699. and made Athulph Priory of St. Oswalds his Confessor Bishop hereof and endowed it with many Honours and emoluments in the successive Reigns of our Kings it was Subject to great casualties and misfortunes the Scots won it from King Stephen and King Henry the Second recovered it again in the Reign of Edward the First the City and Priory with all the Houses belonging to it were consum'd by Fire and a little after King Edward the Second came to the Crown all the Northern parts from Carlile to York fell under the subjection of the Scots at which time our Chronicles tell us that the English by their faint-heartedness grew so Vile and Despicable that three Scots durst venture upon an hundred English when a hundred English durst hardly encounter with three Scots but under victorious King Edward the Third the Englishmen pluck'd up their Spirits and recovered their ancient Valour enforcing the Scots to quit all their strong holds and retire back again to their own Territories and Dominions nevertheless this City with the parts adjacent were frequently pestered by Scotch Invasions till the happy Union of the two Crowns since which time it is grown more Populous and opulent being governed by a Mayor and having the Assizes and Sessions held here for that County Salkelds We rode away from Carlile by Salkelds upon the River Eden where is a trophy of Victory as is supposed called by the Country People Long Megg ' and her Daughters being seventy seven Stones each of them ten Foot high above Ground and one of them viz. Long Megg fifteen Foot to Penreth Penreth which is saith Cambden if you interpret it out of the Brittish Language the Red-head or Hill for the Soil and the Stones are here generally of a reddish Colour but commonly called Perith sixteen Miles distant from this City This Town is but small in compass but great in Trade fortified on the West-side with a Castle of the King 's which in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth was repaired out of the Ruines of a Roman Fort not far from it called Maburg adorned with a spatious Church and large Market-place where there is an Edifice of Timber for the use of such as resort hither to Market garnished with Bears at a ragged Staff which was the device of the Earls of Warwick it belonged in times past to the Bishops of Durham but the Patriarch Bech taking two much State upon him and carrying himself with more haughtiness than became him did hereby so displease King Edward the First that he took from him Werth in Tevidail Perith and the Church of Simondburn But for the commodious use of this town William Strickland Bishop of Carlile descended from an ancient Race in this tract at his own proper charge caused a Channel for a Water-course to be made out of Peteril which near unto the Bank had Plumpton Park a large plat of Ground which the Kings of England had appointed as a Chase for wild Beasts to range in but King Henry the Eighth disparked it and converted it into a better Habitation for Men it lying near to the Marches where the Realms of England and Scotland confine one upon another Not far from this Town begins the County of Westmorland Westmorland being one of the worst
their Men the English who were there placed for the defence of that Port killed at that time 240 Men all that whole Ships Crew and afterward burnt the Ship out of which they landed Now after this slaughter these Mens Bones in all probability might be gather'd up and laid there after which daily accessions of more might be made till they encreased to so vast a number as is still visible Saltwood Castle A little above the Hill within the Parish of Saltwood are to be seen the remains of an old ruinated Castle which did formerly belong to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury but is now in the Tenure of Sir Philip Boteler Baronet Here it was that John Kirkeby being elected Bishop of Ely 1286 was confirmed by John Peckam Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and whither afterward proud Arch-Bishop Courtney having taken a distast at some of his Tenants for not bringing him Hay and Litter in Carts but in Sacks to Canterbury did peremptorily cite them and enjoin them this Penance that they should each one march leisurely after the Procession bare-headed and bare-footed with a Sack of Hay or Straw upon his Shoulder open at the mouth so that the stuff might appear hanging out of the Bag to all the Beholders 'T is generally believed that the Sea hath come up to the very Walls of this Castle for in the adjacent Grounds and particularly in a Field called Black-House have been digged up Anchors and Cables which puts me in mind what the Poet Ovid sings in the Person of the Samian Philosopher Pythagoras Vetus inventa est in montibus Anchora summit Adjoining to the Hyth is the Parish of Newington Newington by Hyth a Vicaridge conferred upon me some few Years ago by my most generous Patron James Brockman Esq since deceased concerning which Parish I have thought fit to add an ancient Record taken out of Doomsday Book 18 Willielmi Conquestoris sub tit terra Archiepiscopi In Limwarlaed est Hundred de Selebrichtindaene habet Archiepiscopus de terra Monachorum i Manerium Niwendene in dominio quod in T. R. E. tenuit Leofric de praeterito Archiepiscopo pro i sull se defendebat subjacebat Saltwode Nunc est appretiatum VIII lib. X s. garfumae In English thus Within the Lath of Limn and the Hundred of Selbrightenden the Arch-Bishop has of Lands allotted to the Monks one Mannor called Niwendene Newington in Demesne which in the time of Edward the Confessor Leofric held of the last Arch-Bishop and was taxed for one Hide and did his Service to Saltwood It is now valued at 81. per Annum and 10 s. Fine Bitchborough In this Parish is Bitchborough the Seat of my much Honoured Friend William Brockman Esq Son to that Worthy Gentleman before-mentioned a Seat to which Nature hath been so liberal of its choicest Blessings that there wants nothing to render it a very delightful Mansion for the House it self which not many Years ago was new Modell'd is so curiously surrounded with pleasant Hills murmuring Streams shady Groves whispering Woods and flowery Meads besides the charming Prospect of the Sea and Cliffs of France which terminating the sight do greatly enhanse the Rarity of its Situation that the most curious Eye cannot possibly find a more inviting Object to entertain it St. Nicholas Chappel In the same Parish in a Field belonging to Seen-Farme called Chappel-Field formerly stood a Chappel belonging to St. Nicholas who in the time of Popery had the same Empire saith Mr. Lambard that Neptune had in Paganism and could with his only beck both appease the rage of the Sea and also preserve from Wrack and Drowning so many as thought fit to be his humble Petitioners and therefore this was one of the Places as the Poet said Servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant where such as had escaped the Sea were wont to leave their Gifts insomuch that if any of the Fishermen upon this Coast had hardly escaped the Storm and taken any store then should St. Nicholas have not only Thanks for that Deliverance but also one or more of the best Fishes for an Offering To which I may add farther that if the Fishermen before such Voyages did make their due Offerings at this Shrine it was a certain means to secure the Chastity of their Wives till their return but if out of niggardly and penurious Humour they neglected that Duty it was ten to one but their Punishment was that severe one which fell on poor Actaeon From Hyth there runs along a great ridge of Beach to Sandgate-Castle which glories not more in its Royal Founder King Henry the Eighth Sandgate Castle than that it was graced once with the Royal Presence of Queen Elizabeth who in her Progress to these Parts was pleased to lodge in one of the Chambers of this Castle The Castle is within the Parish of Folkstone Folkstone a Town situated upon the brow of a Hill about a Mile distant from it 'T is a Place of greater Antiquity than Beauty especially if it be allowed what is but reasonably suggested by that most Celebrated Antiquary Mr. Somner and confirm'd by the most Judicious Bishop Stilling fleet that this was the Lapis tituli of Nennius or rather Lapis populi where Vortimer desired to be Buried Scipio like as a terrour to the Saxons because of its lofty situation and not as he would have it Stonar in Thanet which lying in a low flat level subject to Inundations was a very improper place for such a daring project it was formerly of a far greater extent than it now is for there were then in it five Churches four of which were long since by the assaults of the Enemies and devastations of Men utterly dismantled besides a Nunnery founded by King Eadbald about A. D. 630. which was Destroyed during the Danish Wars only that Church which was erected by Nigellus de Munewell and devouted to St. Mary and St. Eanswith hath been as yet too hard a morsel for the Teeth of time to consume That there was formerly an Harbour adjoyning to the Town made chiefly at the great charge of the Honourable Sir Basil Dixwel Baronet the ruinous Skeleton of the demolished Peer which is as yet visible may be sufficient to evince but though the Haven be quite lost the Fishery is still kept up by a considerable Colony of Industrious Fishermen who take great quantities of Fish which is every Week bought up and conveyed away to London by the Rippers as they are called or taken in by Smacks which come hither for such lading the quickness of which Trade makes the Town mightily encrease and grow more and more Populous as well as Rich by their Industry But before I leave this place I cannot but take notice that as that great Man of his time John Salmon Prior of Ely Bishop of Norwich and Lord Chancellour of England who being sent Embassadour by Edward the Second into France at his