Sollicitor Mr. Camden then Clarentieux my self and some others Of these the Lord Treasurer Sir Robert Cotton Mr. Camden and my self had been of the original Foundation and to my knowledge were all then living of that sort saving Sir John Doderidge Knight Justice of the King 's Bench. We held it sufficient for that time to revive the Meeting and only conceiv'd some Rules of Government and Limitation to be observ'd amongst us whereof this was one That for avoiding offence we should neither meddle with matters of State nor of Religion And agreeing of two Questions for the next Meeting we chose Mr. Hackwell to be our Register and the Convocator of our Assemblies for the present and supping together so departed One of the Questions was touching the Original of the Terms about which as being obscure and generally mistaken I bestow'd some extraordinary pains that coming short of others in understanding I might equal them if I could in diligence But before our next meeting we had notice that his Majesty took a little mislike of our Society not being enform'd that we had resolv'd to decline all matters of State Yet hereupon we forbare to meet again and so all our labours lost But mine lying by me and having been often desir'd of me by some of my Friends I thought good upon a review and augmentation to let it creep abroad in the form you see it wishing it might be rectified by some better judgment The Manuscript is now in the Bodleian Library and any one who has leisure to compare the printed Copy with it will find the Additions under Sir Henry's own hand to be so considerable that he will have no occasion to repent of his labour Thus much for his Education his Works his Friends Let us now view him in his Retirement He found the noise and hurry of business extremely injurious to a broken Constitution that was every day less able to bear it and thought it was time to contract his thoughts and make himself more Master of his hours when he had so few before him Thus when he was towards sixty years of Age he took a House at Chesilhurst some ten miles from London where he liv'd till his dying day and compil'd the greatest part of the Annals of Queen Elizabeth About two years before his death when the pains and aches of old Age had made him in a great measure uncapable of study he enter'd upon another method of serving the Publick by encouraging others in the same search He was not content to have reviv'd Antiquity to have nurs'd and train'd her up with the utmost care and tenderness unless like an indulgent Father he provided her a Fortune and laid a firm Foundation for her future Happiness It was a design he had many years before resolv'd upon witness the Conclusion of his Britannia Nihil aliud nunc restat c. quà m ut Deo Opt. Max. Venerandae Antiquitati Anathema consecrarem quod libens merito nunc voveo c. This was his pious Vow and he was willing to see it discharg'd e're he dy'd Where to bestow this Charity was a point that did not cost him much thought his own Education and other Circumstances gave the University of Oxford a sort of title So after he had settl'd every thing in due form of Law he sent down his Gift by the hands of his intimate Friend Mr. Heather On the seventeenth day of May in the year 1622. Dr. Piers Dean of Peterburrow and then Vice-Chancellor declar'd in Convocation how Mr. Camden had sounded a History-Lecture and for the Maintenance of a Professor had transferr'd over all his right in the Manour of Bexley in Kent to the Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the said University With this Proviso That the Profits of the said Manour valu'd at about 400 l. per Annum should be enjoy'd by William Heather his Heirs and Executors for the term of 99 years to begin from the death of Mr. Camden and that during this time the said William Heather should pay to the Professor of History in Oxford the sum of 140 l. yearly Hereupon the University sent him a publick Letter of Thanks and because they understood Mr. Heather was a person for whom he had a singular respect they voluntarily conferr'd upon him the Degree of Doctor of Musick along with Mr. Orland Gibbons another of Mr. Camden's intimate Acquaintance This Civility procur'd them a new Benefactor and a new Lecture For afterwards Mr. Heather as an acknowledgment for this favour founded a Musick Lecture and endow'd it with the Annual Revenue of 16 l. 6 s. 8 d. The first History-Professor was Mr. Degory Whear nominated by Mr. Camden upon the recommendation of the Chancellor Vice Chancellor and other Learned men His first Essay was a General Direction for the Reading of Histories which he dedicated to his Patron Mr. Brian Twine a person admirably well verst in the Antiquities of England procur'd a Grant from the Founder to succeed but he dying before him the right of Election devolv'd upon the University for ever Thus by the same act he discharg'd his Vow and eas'd himself of the cares and troubles of the World The little he had left May 2. 1623. he dispos'd of by Will which he drew up with his own hands about six Months before his death in Charities to the Poor Legacies to his Relations and some small Memorials to his particular Acquaintance All his Books of Heraldry he gave to the Office the rest both Printed and Manuscript to the Library of Sir Robert Cotton But the printed part upon the erection of a new Library in the Church of Westminster was remov'd thither by the procurement of Dr. John Williams Lord Keeper of England Bishop of Lincoln and Dean of this Church who laid hold of an expression in the Will that was capable of a double meaning He was never out of England tho' no one could have promis'd himself a more kind reception among Foreigners He chose a single life apprehending that the incumbrances of a married state was like to prove a prejudice to his Studies He liv'd and and dy'd a Member of the Church of England and gave such clear proofs of his entire affections towards it that 't is a wonder how a certain Romish-Author could have the face to insinuate Analect d◠Rebus Catholic in Hibernia That he only dissembled his Religion and was allur'd with the prospect of Honours and Preferments His zeal against Popery See above lost him a Fellowship in Oxford brought most of his Works under the censure of the Church of Rome and Epist 19◠expos'd him to the lash of Parsons Possevinus and others Many of his Scholars became eminent members of our Church and he converted several Irish Gentlemen from Popery as the Walshes Nugents O-Raily Shee s the eldest son of the Archbishop of Cassiles c. Whether these look more like the actions of an Hypocrite in Religion or the effects of a firm
take cognizance of murders felonies trespasses for so they term them and many other misdemeanors Besides the King sends every year into each County two of the Justices of England to give sentence upon Prisoners â—es of â—e and to use the law-term in that cause to make a Gaol-delivery But of these more hereafter when we come to the Courts As to the Ecclesiastical Government after the Bishops of Rome had assigned to each Presbyter his Church and divided the parishes among them Honorius Archbishop of Canterbury â—â—â—â—and â—ed inâ—â—â—â—rishes about the year of our Lord 636. first began to divide England into Parishes as we read in the History of Canterbury Now England has two Provinces and two Archbishops Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan and York Under these are 25 Bishops 22 under Canterbury and the rest under York What these Bishopricks are with their Counties or Dioceses which they now contain â—ops are shown us in those words of that excellent person the most reverend Father in God Matthew Parker Archbishop of Canterbury a Patron of Learning and a great Judge of Antiquities In the Province of Canterbury THE Bishoprick of Canterbury along with Rochester contains the County of Kent London has under it Essex Middlesex and part of Hertfordshire Chichester has Sussex Winchester has Hamshire Surrey Isle of Wight with Gernsey and Jersey Islands lying upon the Coast of Normandy Salisbury contains Wiltshire and Berkshire Exeter includes Devonshire and Cornwal Bathe and Wells joyntly have Somersetshire and Glocester Glocestershire Worcester Worcestershire and part of Warwickshire Hereford Herefordshire and part of Shropshire Coventry and Lichfield joyned together Staffordshire Derbyshire and the other part of Warwickshire as also that part of Shropshire which borders upon the River Repil Next Lincoln the largest contains six Counties Lincolnshire Liecestershire Huntingdonshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire and the other part of Hertfordshire Ely Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely Norwich Norfolk and Suffolk Oxford Oxfordshire Peterburrow Northamptonshire and Rutlandshire Bristol Dorsetshire To which 18 Dioceses in England must be added those of Wales or Cambria which are both deprived of an Archbishop of their own and also made fewer seven hardly coming entire into four These are â—eâ—e â—sis St. Davids whose seat is at St. Davids Landaff Banchor and Asaph or Elwensis In the Province of York YOrk it self comprehends Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire Chester Cheshire Richmondshire Lancashire with part of Cumberland Flintshire and Denbighshire Durham the Bishoprick of Durham and Northumberland Carlisle part of Cumberland and Westmerland To these may be added the Bishoprick of Sodor in Mona commonly called the Isle of Man Amongst those the Archbishop of Canterbury takes the first place the Archbishop of York the second the Bishop of London the third the Bishop of Durham the fourth and the Bishop of Winchester the fifth The rest take place according to the time of their Consecration But if any of the other Bishops happen to be Secretary to the King he claims the fifth place There are besides in England 26 Deaneries 13 whereof were made in the larger Churches by King Henry VIII upon expulsion of the Monks The Archdeaconries are sixty and the Dignities and Prebends make 544. There are also 9284 Parish-churches under the Bishops of which 3845 are appropriate as is plain from the Catalogue exhibited to King James which I have here subjoyned Now appropriate Churches are such as by the authority of the Pope and the consent of the King and Bishop of the Diocess are upon certain conditions settled upon those Monasteries Bishopricks Colleges and Hospitals whose revenues are but small either because they were built upon their ground or granted by the Lords of the Mannour Such a Settlement is expressed in form of law by being united annext and incorporated for ever But these upon the subversion of the Monasteries were to the great damage of the Church made Feuda Laicalia Lay-fees In the Province of Canterbury Dioceses Parish-Churches Churches appropriate Canterbury 257 140 London 623 189 Winchester 362 131 Coventry and Lichfield 557 250 Salisbury 248 109 Bath and Wells 388 160 Lincoln 1255 577 Peterburrow 293 91 Exeter 604 239 Glocester 267 125 Hereford 313 166 Norwich 1121 385 Ely 141 75 Rochester 98 36 Chichester 250 112 Oxford 195 88 Worcester 241 76 Bristol 236 64 S. Davids 308 120 Bangor 107 36 Llandaff 177 98 S. Asaph 121 19 Peculiars in the Province of Canterbury 57 14 The whole number in the Province of Canterbury 8219 3303 In the Province of York York 581 336 Durham 135 87 Chester 256 101 Carlisle 93 18 The whole number in York 1065 592 The whole number in both Provinces 9284 3845 But in the Book of Thomas Wolsey Cardinal written in the year 1520. there are reckoned in all the Counties 9407 Churches I know not how this difference should happen unless it be that some were demolished in the last age and Chapels which are Parochial be omitted others which are barely Chapels being reckoned up amongst the Parish-churches However I have set down the number of Churches at the end of each County out of this Book of Wolsey's There were also in the Reign of King Henry VIII if it be not a crime to mention them monuments of the piety of our fore-fathers Monasteries built to the honour of God the propagation of the Christian faith and good learning and for the support of the poor Of Religious houses i.e. Monasteries or Abbies and Priories to the number of 645. whereof when 40 had been suppressed by a Grant from Pope Clement the seventh Hen. 5. had before that dissolved 100 Pâ—iories of Monks Aliens obtained by Cardinal Wolsey who had then laid the foundation of two Colleges one at Oxford and another at Ipswich presently about the 36th of Henry VIII a torrent as it were that has thrown down the banks broke in upon the ecclesiastical state of England and to the great surprize of the whole world and oppression of this nation at once threw down the greatest part of the Religious with their curious structures For what the Pope granted to the Cardinal the King took himself by consent of Parliament Whereupon in the year 1536. all religious houses with their revenues which had 200 l. yearly or under that were granted to the King in number 376. And the next year under a specious pretence of rooting out superstition the rest along with the Colleges Chauntries and Hospitals were given up to the King's disposal At which time there were valued or taxed 605 religious houses remaining Colleges besides those in the Universities 96. Hospitals 110. Chauntries and Free-chapels 2374. Most of which in a short time were every where pulled down their revenues squander'd away and the riches which had been consecrated to God by the pious munificence of the English from the time they received Christianity were as it were in a moment dispersed and if I may use the
Dorset brought him a large estate Notwithstanding this man's memory was as it were restor'd to him by Act of Parliament declaring him innocent i 1 Edw. â— Under Mendipp-hills to the north is the little village Congersbury so call'd from one Congarus a person of singular sanctity Capgrave tells us he was the son of an Emperour of Constantinople who here led the life of an hermit and Harpetre Harpetre formerly a castle belonging to a family of the same name which descended hereditarily to the Gornaies and from them to the Ab-Adams who as I have read restor'd it to the Gornaies p It now belongs to Sir John Newton who is related to the Gornaies Southward not far from the famous Cave at the bottom of Mendipp-hills is a little city upon a rocky soil and formerly a Bishop's See Leland tells us upon what grounds I know not that it was formerly call'd Theodorodunum the name of it now is Welles Welles so call'd from the Wells which spring up in all parts of it so Susa in Persia Stephanus in his Booâ— De Urbâ— and Barletius Croia in Dalmatia and Pegase in Macedonia had their names from wells or fountains from hence also this Church is call'd The Church of Wells It may justly challenge the pre-eminence in this County both for populousness and stateliness of the buildings It has a Church and a College built by King Ina to the honour of S. Andrew which was presently endow'd with large revenues by several great men Amongst the rest King Kinewulph gave to it a great many neighbouring places in the year 766. For thus his Charter runs I Kinewulph King of the West-Saxons for the love of God and which shall not be here mention'd some vexations of our Cornish enemies by the consent of my Bishops and Noble-men humbly make over by gift a certain parcel of ground to the Apostle and servant of God and S. Andrew i.e. of xi Mansions near the river call'd Welwe towards the increase of the Monastery situate near the great fountain call'd Wielea Which I set down both upon the account of it's Antiquity and because some are of opinion that the place took it's name from this river 30 Verily near the Church there is a spring call'd S. Andrew's well the fairest deepest and most plentiful that I have seen by and by making a swift brook The Church indeed is exceeding beautiful and nothing can be finer than it's frontispiece towards the West which is one entire pile of statues curiously wrought out of stone and of great antiquity 31 And the Cloysters adjoyning very fair and spacious The Bishop's palace is very splendid and towards the south looks like a Castle as it is fortify'd with walls and a ditch and the Prebendaries houses on 'tother side are exceeding neat For there are 27 Prebends with 19 petty-Canons besides a Dean a Precentor a Chancellor and 3 Arch-deacons that belong to this Church A Bishop's See was settl'd here in the time of Edward the Elder For when the Pope had excommunicated this Edward upon pretence that the discipline of the Church was quite neglected in this westerly part of his kingdom he knowing himself notwithstanding to be a nursing father of the Church erected three new Bishopricks Kirton Cornwall and this of Wells where he made Eadulph first Bishop Not many years after History 〈◊〉 Bath Giso was set over this Diocese whom Harold Earl of the West-Saxons and of Kent gaping after the revenues of the Church did so persecute that this See was almost quite destroy'd But William the first after he had conquer'd Harold lent a helping hand to Giso then in exile and to this distressed Church at which time as is evident from Domesday-book the Bishop held the town it self which gelded for 50 hides Afterwards in the reign of Henry 1. John de Villula a Frenchman of Tours was elected Bishop and translated the See to Bath by which means these two grew into one and the Bishop has his title from both so that the same person is styl'd Bishop of Bath and Wells k Which occasion'd a hot dispute between the Monks of Bath and the Canons of Wells about the election of the Bishops See i◠〈◊〉 Decâ— agaâ—â—â—â— ma◠〈◊〉 no◠〈◊〉 wh◠〈◊〉 Sâ—â—â—â— caâ—â— In the mean time q His right name is Savaricus Savanaricus Bishop of Bath being also Abbot of Glassenbury translated this See thither and was styl'd Bishop of Glassenbury but that title dy'd with him and the difference between the Monks and the Canons was at last compos'd by that Robert who divided the revenues of his Church into so many Prebends and settl'd a Dean a Sub-dean c. Bishop Jocelin also about the same time augmented the Church with new buildings and in the memory of our grandfathers Ralph de Shrowsbery as some call him built a very neat College for the Vicars and singing-men near the north part of the Church and also enclos'd the Bishop's palace with a wall l 32 But this rich Church was despoil'd of many fair possessions in the time of Edward the 6th when England felt all miscries which happen under a Child-King But in the way from the palace to the market Th. Bekington Bishop built a very beautiful gate and 12 stately stone houses of the same height hard by in the market-place In the middle whereof is a market-house supported by seven outer pillars and a curious arch built by Bishop William Knighte and Dean Woollman for the use of the market-people m All these are in the east part of the town In the west is a Parish-Church dedicated to S. Cuthberht and near it a Hospital built by Nicholas Bubwith Bishop for 24 poor people Out of those Mineral-mountains arises the river Frome which hastens eastward by these pits of coal made use of by smiths as most proper to soften iron and before it has run any great way wheeling towards the north it is the boundary between this County and Gloucestershire â—â—â—ley and washes Farley a castle upon a hill belonging not many years since 33 To the Lord Hungerford to the Hungerfords where formerly Humphrey Bohun built a monastery â—â—â—l ps-â—oâ—ton at a little distance from Philips-Norton a famous market-town taking it's name from the Church dedicated to S. Philip. â—wood Lower down is Selwood before mention'd a wood that spreads it self out a long way both in length and breadth and is well set with trees From this as Ethelwerd tells us the Country was call'd r Sealwudscire Episcopatus Shireburnensis Ethelwerd l. 2. c. 11. Selwoodshire and a town near it is to this day nam'd Frome-Selwood supported mostly by the woollen manufacture Scarce two miles from hence to the west is a small but pretty neat castle 34 Consisting of four round turrets built by the De la Mares and thence call'd Nonney de la Mare â—â—nney de Mare which
and d Canute is here put erroneously for Swain as is evident by the concurring testimony of Historians Canute the Dane damnify'd it very much by fire about A. D. 1003. w It recover'd it's ancient splendour when by the authority of a e Enacting A. 1076. that all Bishops Sees should be removed into great Towns out of Villages Synod and the munificence of William the Conqueror Herman Bishop of Shirburn and Sunning translated his seat hither and his immediate Successor Osmund built the Cathedral Church And the said William 1. after he had made the survey of England summon'd all the Estates of the Kingdom hither to swear Allegiance to him at which time as it is in Domesday book Salisbury gelded for 50 hides Money by weight and by tale and of the third penny the King had xx s. by weight and of the increase lx lb by tale This I observe because not only the Romans but also our Ancestors used to weigh as well as tell their money Not long after in the reign of Richard 1. f It should be Henry 3. by reason of the insolencies of the garrison-souldiers x 20 Against the Churchmen and the scarcity of water 21 The Churchmen first and then c. the inhabitants began to remove and seated themselves in a low ground which at the conflux of the Avon and the Nadder is as it were a rendezvous of many waters scarce a mile distant toward the south-east Of this removal Petrus Blesensis maketh mention in his g Epist 105. Epistles New Sarisbury for thus he describes Old Sarum It was a place exposed to the winde barren dry and solitary a Tower was there as in Siloam by which the inhabitants were for a long time enslaved And afterward The Church of Salisbury was a captive on that hill let us therefore in God's name go down into the level there the vallies will yield plenty of corn and the champagn fields are of a rich soil And of the same place the foremention'd Poet thus writes Quid domini domus in castro nisi foederis arca In templo Baalim carcer uterque locus A Church within a Camp looks just as well As th' ark of God in the vile house of Baal And thus described the place to which they descended Est in valle locus nemori venatibus apto Contiguus celeber fructibus uber aquis Tale creatoris matri natura creata Hospitium toto quaesiit orbe diu Nigh a fair chase a happy vale there lies Where early fruit the burden'd trees surprize And constant springs with gentle murmurs rise Not careful Nature o're the world could meet With such another for our Lady's seat As soon as they were removed that they might begin at the house of God Richard Poor the Bishop in a pleasant meadow before call'd Merifield laid the foundation of the great Church a stately pile of building y The which with it's h The tower and steeple from the floor of the Church is 410 foot high high steeple and double cross-isles by it's venerable grandeur strikes it's spectators with a sacred joy and was in 43 years space finished at great expence and dedicated A. D. 1258. in the presence of K. Henry 3. whereof that ancient Poetaster hath these not contemptible verses Regis enim virtus templo spectabitur isto Praesulis affectus artificumque fides The Prince's piety the Workman's skill The Bishop's care the stately pile shall tell But much better are the verses of the famous and learned Daniel Rogers Mira canam soles quot continet annus in unâ Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque capit fusas tot ab arte columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide †Dr. Heâ—â—â— How many days in one whole year there be So many windows in our Church we see So many marble pillars there appear As there are hours thro'out the fleeting year So many gates as moons one year does view Strange tales to tell yet not so strange as true For they say this Church hath as many windows as there are days in the year as many pillars and pillasters as there are hours and as many gates as months On the south-side of the Church is the Cloyster as great and of as fine workmanship as any in England to which is adjoyn'd the Bishop's stately Palace on the north side stands apart from the Cathedral a very strong built and high Bell-tower This Church in a short time so increas'd in ornaments and revenues that it maintains a Dean a Chanter a Chancellor a Treasurer and 33 Prebendaries z all very well endow'd some of which whom they call Canons Resident have very good houses not far from the Church and all these are inclosed with a wall apart from the town Whilst the Bishop was building the house of God the Citizens in like manner with great forwardness founded the City settled the Civil government thereof supplied every street with a little rivulet of water and having obtained licence from Simon the Bishop to fortifie it they threw up a ditch on that side which is not defended by the river And to such splendour New-Salisbury arrived out of the ruines of Old-Sorbiodunum that presently after by the Royal Authority the High road into the West was turn'd thro' this town it became the second City in those parts being very populous abounding in plenty of all things especially fish and adorn'd with a very fine Council-house of wood which standeth in a spacious well-furnish'd Market-place But it hath nothing of which it can brag so much as of John Jewell late Bishop of this place the wonder of his age for Divinity and a strenuous defender of the Reformed Religion After this Old Sarum still decreasing was in the reign of Henry 7. wholly deserted so that now there scarce remaineth a turret of the castle yet for a long time after the inhabitants had left the town it was the seat of the Earls of Salisbury about which in the reign of Edward 3. there was a noted controversie 29 Edw. Term. â—lar For Robert Bishop of Sarum by vertue of a Writ which our Lawyers call Breve de Recto â— Duel aâ— out the Castle of â—arâ—m or as others â—yâ— Shirâ—â—â— question'd the right of William Montaoute E of Sarum to this Castle The Earl answered he would defend his right by Combat q So on the day appointed the Bishop brought to the lists his Champion clad in a white garment to the mid leg over which he had a Surcoat of the Bishop's Coat of Arms there follow'd him a Knight carrying the spear and a Page the shield Presently after the Earl led in his Champion arrayed after the same manner accompanied by two Knights bearing white staves And just as the Champions were about to fight whilst they withdrew that
Chichâ—â—â—â—â— but was afterwards converted to a Convent of Franciscans All that space that lies between the west and south gates is taken up with the Cathedral Church Bishop's palace and f The Dean hath now no house the Dean and Prebendaries houses which about K. Rich. 1.'s time were again burnt down and Seffrid 2d Bishop of that name re-edify'd them g Besides the Cathedral there are within the walls 5 small Churches The Church it self indeed is not great but neat and has a very high stone spire and on part of the south-side of the Church the history of it's foundation is curiously painted as also the pictures of the Kings of England on the other part are the pictures of all the Bishops as well of Selsey as of Chichester all at the charge of Bishop Robert Shirburne who beautify'd this Church very much and has his Motto set up everywhere Credite operibus and Dilexi decorem domus tuae Domine 2 Neither he only adorn'd the Lord's house but repair'd also the Bishop's houses But that great tower which stands near the west-side of the Church was built by R. Riman as 't is reported upon his being prohibited the building a Castle at Aplederham hard by where he liv'd with those very stones he had beforehand provided for the Castle 3 Near the haven of Chichester is W. Witering where as the monuments of the Church testifie Aella the first founder of the kingdom of Suth-sex arrived c Selsey before mention'd in Saxon Seals-ey Selsey that is as Bede interprets it the Isle of Sea-Calves which we in our language call Seales Seales Here 〈◊〉 the beâ—â— Cockâ—es a creature that always makes to islands and shores to bring forth it 's young 4 But now it is most famous for good Cockles and fall Lobsters stands a little lower A place as Bede says compass'd round about with the sea unless on the west-side where it has an entry into it of about †Jaâ—â—s funâ—ae a stones throw over It contain'd 87 families when Edinwalch K. of this Province gave it to Wilfrid Bishop of York being then in exile who first preach'd the Gospel here and as he writes Slaves not only sav'd from the bondage of the Devil 250 bondmen by baptism but also by giving freedom deliver'd them from slavery under man Afterwards King Cedwalla who conquer'd Edilwalch founded here a Monastery and honour'd it with an Episcopal See which by Stigand the 22d Bishop was translated to Chichester where it now flourishes and owns Cedwalla for it's Founder In this Isle there are some obscure remains of that ancient little city in which those Bishops resided cover'd at high water but plainly visible at low water Beyond Selsey the shore breaks and makes way for a river that runs down out of St. Leonard's Forest by Amberley where William Read Bishop of Chichester in the reign of Edw. 3. built a castle for his successors and then by Arundel seated on the side of a hill a place more perhaps talk'd of than it deserves d nor is it indeed very ancient for I have not so much as read it's name before K. Alfred's time who gave it in his Will to Athelm his brother's son Unless I should believe it corruptly call'd Portus Adurni by a transposition of letters for Portus Arundi The etymology of this name is neither to be fetch'd from Bevosius's Romantick horse nor from Charudum a promontory in Denmark as Goropius Becanus dream'd but from a vale lying along the River Arun in case Arun be the name of the river as some have told us who upon that account nam'd it Aruntina vallis But all it's fame is owing to the Castle which flourish'd under the Saxon Government and was as we read presently after the coming in of the Normans repair'd by Roger Montgomery thereupon stil'd Earl of Arundel For it is by it's situation contriv'd large and well strengthen'd with works But his son Robert Belesme who succeeded his brother Hugh was outlaw'd by K. Hen. 1. and lost that and all his other honours For breaking into a perfidious Rebellion against him he chose this castle for the seat of war and strongly fortify'd it but had no better success than what is generally the issue of Treason for the King's forces surrounding it at length took it Upon this Robert's outlawry and banishment the King gave the castle and the rest of his estate to Adeliza daughter of Godfrey sirnam'd â—ong â—rd Barbatus of Lovaine Duke of Lorrain and Brabant his second Queen for her Dower In whose commendation a h It seems to be Henry Huntingdon See his History l. 7. p. 218. where there is Adelida and Adelnia Seld. certain English-man wrote these verses ingenious enough for that unlearned age Anglorum Regina tuos Adeliza decores Ipsa referre parans Musa stupore riget Quid Diadema tibi pulcherrima Quid tibi Gemma Pallet Gemma tibi nec Diadema nitet Deme tibi cultus cultum natura ministrat Non * 〈◊〉 othâ—r â—pies meâ—arâ— exornari forma beata potest Ornamenta cave nec quicquam luminis inde Accipis illa micant lumine clara tuo Non puduit modicas de magnis dicere laudes Nec pudeat Dominam te precor esse meam When Adeliza's name should grace my song A sudden wonder stops the Muse's tongue Your Crown and Jewels if compar'd to you How poor your Crown how pale your Jewels show Take off your robes your rich attire remove Such pomps will load you but can ne'er improve In vain your costly ornaments are worn You they obscure while others they adorn Ah! what new lustre can those trifles give Which all their beauty from your charms receive Thus I your lofty praise your vast renown In humble strains am not asham'd t' have shown Oh! be not you asham'd my services to own She after the King's death match'd with William * â—e Alâ—io or as â—rs de â—ineto 〈◊〉 de Alâ—â—aco 〈◊〉 Dawâ— D'aubeney who taking part with Maud the Empress against King Stephen and defending this Castle against him was in recompence for his good services by the said Maud â—ngloâ— Domiâ— Lady of the English for that was the title she us'd created Earl of Arundel And her son King Henry 2. gave the same William the whole Rape of Arundel to hold of him by the service of 84 Knights fees and an half and to his son William King Richard 1. granted in some such words as these Arundel Castle Earls of Arundel and Sussex together with the whole honour of Arundel and the third penny of the Pleas out of Sussex whereof he is Earl And when after the fourth Earl of this Sirname the issue male failed See the Earls of Sussex one of the sisters and heirs of Hugh the fourth Earl was marry'd to John Fitz-Alan Lord of Clun whose great grandson Richard Chartae Antiquae 10. m. 29. upon account
the Clergy and Laity residing upon any of the lands appertaining to this Monastery so that the Abbot hereof is not subject to any Archbishop Bishop or any Legate whatsoever but to the Pope alone This also deserves our Observation that when that great Prince Offa made a gift to the Pope of the Peter-pence commonly called Romescot out of his Kingdom he obtained of the Pope this particular privilege for the Church of St. Alban the Protomartyr of England that that Church might collect and retain to it's own use when collected all the Romescot or Peter-pence throughout Hertfordshire in which County that Church standeth Wherefore as the Church it self by the King's grant enjoys all manner of Royalties so the Abbot of the place for the time being hath all Episcopal Ornaments Also Pope Hadrian 4 who was born near Verulam granted to the Abbots of this Monastery these are the words of the Privilege That as St. Alban is well known to be the Protomartyr of the English Nation so the Abbot of his Monastery should in all times be reputed the first in dignity of all the Abbots in England Neither afteâ—wards did the Abbots neglect any particular that might be either useful or ornamental to it filling up with earth that very large Pool or Mere which lay under the town of Verulam The memory of this Pool remains in a certain street of the town still called Fishpool-street Anchors digg'd up Near which when certain Anchors in this age happen'd to be found in digging some men led into that mistake by a corrupted place in Gildas presently concluded that the Thames had formerly had it's course this way But concerning this Mere or Fishpool take if you please what is written by an ancient historian Alfricus the Abbot purchased for a great sum of money a large and deep pond called Fishpool which was very prejudicial by it's vicinity to the Church of St. Alban For the Fishery belonged to the Crown and the King's Officers and others that came to fish in it were troublesome and chargeable to the Monastery and the Monks The said Abbot therefore drein'd all the water out of this Pool and reduc'd it to dry land If I should lay any great stress on the Stories common amongst the people and should upon that bottom tell you what great store of Roman Coins how many images of gold and silver how many vessels how many marble pillars how many capitals in fine how many wonderful pieces of ancient work have been here fetch'd out of the earth I could not in reason expect to be credited However this short account which follows take upon the credit of an ancient Historian About the year 960. Ealred the Abbot in the reign of K. Edgar searching out the old subterraneous vaults of Verulam broke them all down and stop'd up all the ways and subterraneous passages which were arched over head very artificially and very firmly built some whereof were carried under the water which in old time almost encompassed the whole city This he did because these were ordinary lurking places of thieves and whores He also filled up the ditches of the city and stopt up certain caves thereabouts whither malefactors use to fly for shelter But he laid aside all the whole tiles and all such stones as he found fit for building Hard by the bank they happen'd upon certain oaken planks which had nails sticking in them and were covered over with pitch as also some other shipping-tackle particularly Anchors half eaten with rust and Oars of fâ—r And a little after Eadmer his Successor went forward with the work which Ealdred had begun and his diggers levelled the foundations of a palace in the middle of the old city and in a hollow place in the wall contrived like a small closet they happen d upon books having covers of oak and silk strings to them one whereof contain'd the life of St. Alban written in the British language the rest certain Pagan Ceremonies And when they had open'd the earth to a greater depth they met with old stone-tables tiles also and pillars pots and great earthen vessels neatly wrought and others of glass containing the ashes of the dead c. And at last out of these remains of old Verulam Eadmer built a new Monastery to St. Alban Thus much as to the Antiquity and Dignity of Verulam Now as to the praises of the place give me leave to add this Hexastic of Alexander Necham who was born there 400 years ago Urbs insignis erat Verolamia plus operosae Arti naturae debuit illa minus Pendragon Arthuri Patris haec obsessa laborem Septennem sprevit cive superba suo Hic est Martyrii roseo decoratus honore Albanus civis inclyta Roma tuus To ancient Verulam a famous town Much kindness art hath show'd but nature none Great Arthur's fire Pendragon's utmost power For seven long years did the proud walls endure Here holy Alban citizen of Rome Obtain'd the happy crown of martyrdom And in another place Hic locus aetatis nostrae primordia novit Annos foelices laetitiaeque dies Hic locus ingenuus pueriles imbuit annos Artibus nostrae laudis origo fuit Hic locus insignis magnósque creavit alumnos Foelix eximio Martyre gente situ Militat hic Christo noctéque dieque labori Invigilat sancto Religiosa cohors Here my first breath with happy stars was drawn Here my glad years and all my joys began In gradual knowledge here my mind increast Here the first sparks of glory fir'd my breast Hail noble town where fame shall ne're forget The Saint the citizens and happy seat Here heaven's true Soldiers with unwearied care And pious labour wage the Christian war But now the old Verulam is turned into Corn-fields and St. Albans St. Aâ—â—â—â—â— flourisheth which rose up out of the ruins of it a neat and large town The Church of the said Monastery is still in being a pile of building which for its largeness beauty and antiquity may justly challenge a particular regard When the Monks were turned out it was by the towns-men purchased for four hundred pound otherwise it had been laid even with the ground and was converted into a parochial Church It hath in it a very noble Font of solid brass wherein the Children of the Kings of Scotland were wont to be baptized Which Font Sir Richard Lea A Fâ—â—â—aâ—en 〈◊〉 the Scâ—â—â— spoâ—ls Master of the Pioneers brought hither amongst the rest of the spoils taken in the Scotch wars and gave it to this Church whereon is to be read this proud Inscription CUM LAETHIA OPIDUM APUD SCOTOS NON INCELEBRE ET EDINBURGUS PRIMARIA APUD EOS CIVITAS INCENDIO CONFLAGRARENT RICHARDUS LEUS EQUES AURATUS ME FLAMMIS EREPTUM AD ANGLOS PERDUXIT HUJUS EGO TANTI BENEFICII MEMOR NON NISI REGUM LIBEROS LAVARE SOLITUS NUNC MEAM OPERAM ETIAM INFIMIS ANGLORUM LIBENTER CONDIXI LEUS VICTOR SIC VOLUIT
so naturally arising from the use of the Grant I cannot imagine there should be any thing more in 't * Ibid. p. 368. But though this do not much countenance the opinion yet ought it not to be altogether rejected as receiving some confirmation from the pieces of Antiquity dugg up hereabouts For in making the foundation of this new Fabrick among other things they cast up the teeth of Boars and of other beasts a piece of a Buck's horn with several fragments of Vessels which by the figure one would imagine to have been us'd in their Sacrifices A great number of these with an entire Urn a Lamp and other things belonging to the Roman Funerals and dugg up in Goodman's-fields are in the hands of my ingenious Friend Henry Worsley of Lincolns-Inn Esq Persons buried in this Church m To conclude the History of St. Paul's our Author gives us a breviat of the royal and noble persons interr'd in it to whom we must needs add Robert Braybrook Bishop of London and sometime Lord high Chancellor of England Dugd. Hist of St. Pauls who dy'd Aug. 27. Anno 1404. 5 Hen. 4. above 260 years before the ruin of this Church in 1666. yet upon pulling down the stone-work and removal of the rubbish his body was found entire the skin still inclosing the bones and fleshy parts only in the breast there was a hole made I suppose by accident through which one might either view or handle his lungs The skin was of a deep tawny colour and the body very light as appear'd to all who came to view and handle it it being expos'd in a Coffin for some time without any thing of an ill smell and then reinterr'd To which Mr. * Survey p. 227. Stow gives us a parallel History in this very City in the corps of one Alice Hackney wife of Richard Hackney Sheriff of London 15 Edw. 2. An. 1321. whose body being dugg up by the Labourers in April Anno 1497. as they were working the foundations of a Wall in the Parish Church of St. Mary-hill was found with her skin whole her bones all in their natural posture and the joynts of her arms pliable but yielding an ill smell after it had been kept four days above ground In which two last points this though equally entire differ'd from the former whence 't is very evident they had in ancient times more ways than one of preserving the dead from corruption as well as now Increase of London n And lastly to conclude his account of the whole City he gives us relations out of Malmsbury and Fitz Stephen of its excess in trade and magnitude at the time of the Conquest and increase in both since the Subuâ—bs in his time having extended themselves in one continued range of building as far as Westminster To which let me add its further advancement in our days which hath been so very great that as the ingenious †Politic Essâ—y Sir William Petty hath probably computed it from the number of the burials and houses in each City the City of London in Anno 1683. or thereabout was as big as Paris and Rouen the two best Cities of the French Monarchy put together and that now above 7 parts of 15 having been new built since the great fire and the number of inhabitants increased near one half the total amounting to near 700000 it is become equal to Paris and Rome put together o In the Suburbs he takes notice of the most eminent buildings and amongst them of the Rolls Rolls in Chancery-lane which was founded by King Hen. 3. Anno 1233. in the 17th of his reign in the place of a Jews house to him forfeited for the support of converted Jews and therefore stiled Domus Conversorum where all such Jews and Infidels converted to the Christian Faith had sufficient maintenance allowed them were instructed in the Doctrine of Christ and liv d under a Christian Governour till Anno 1290. when all the Jews were banisht out of the realm by which means the number of Converts necessarily decaying and the house becoming as it were depopulated it was granted to William Burstall Custos Rotulorum by Letters Patents bearing date 51 Edw. 3. for keeping of the Rolls which Grant was ratified in Parliament 1 Rich. 2. and by other Letters Patents 6 Rich. 2. Notwithstanding which Grant and Ratifications all converted Jews have ever since been allowed and will be hereafter as often as any such shall appear one penny half penny per diem toward their maintenance which allowance was paid to Peter Samuel and John Maza two converted Jews Anno 1685. 2 Jac. 2. as appears by the Master of the Rolls account in the Hannaper and a Constat out of the Pell-office both of the date above-mention'd who were the two last I can find that ever enjoy'd this benefit * MS. in Capel Roâ— p In the Suburbs lying along the Thames-side betwixt Temple-barr and Westminster were many other houses as well of the spiritual as temporal Nobility beside those mention'd by our Author For the Bishops of Exeter Bath and Wells Salisbury Lichfield and Coventry Worcester Norwich Landaff Carlisle Durham and the Archbishop of York had all anciently houses here and so had the Dukes of Buckingham and the Earls of Exeter Worcester and Northumberland as the Dukes of Somerset and Beaufort the Earls of Bedford Salisbury and Rivers have all still houses remaining here q From the Suburbs our Author proceeds next to the Abbey-Church of Westminster Westminster and the magnificent Chapel of King Henry 7. which he erected in the place of the Chapel of our Lady built before with the Church by King Henry 3. and a Tavern near adjoyning both which being pull'd down he laid the foundation of this Jan. 24. 1502 fetching most of the stone from Huddlestone quarrey in Yorkshire The whole charge of it amounted to no less than 14000 pound sterling His own Tomb of brass is here richly gilt made and finisht Anno 1519. by one Peter a painter of Florence for which he had paid him for materials and workmanship a thousand pound sterling by the King's Executors †Stow's Survey p. 499. The School The School as it is famous for the great service it has done both to Church and State so is it more particularly memorable for the relation our Author had once to it and for Dr. Busbey its present Master whose worth and learning has these many years supported its reputation To the latter of these it is beholding for its Museum and for several improvements both in beauty and convenience as is the Master's house wherein he has all along liv'd for its enlargement The same person has built his Prebend's house there anew has pav'd the Quire of Westminster-Abbey with white and black marble stone and added a building to the King's Hospital of Green-coats in Turtil-fields In Buckinghamshire he hath rais'd from the ground the Church of
the Saxons died in this City and was here interr'd altho' he left commands to the contrary for he as 't is related by Ninnius Eluodugus's disciple hop'd and was fully perswaded that his Ghost would defend Britain from the Saxons if he should be buried on the Sea-shore But yet the Saxons after they had demolish'd this old Lindum first inhabited the South-side of the hill 11 At the foot whereof they built as it seemeth the gate yet standing compiled of vast stones and fortified it with the ruins of the former town afterwards they went down near the river built in a place call'd Wickanforde and wall'd it on that side where it was not guarded by the water At which time Paulinus as Bede Bede affirms preach'd the word of God in the Province of Lindesey and first of all converted the Governour of the city Lindcolnia whose name was Blecca with his whole family He built in this city a curious Church of stone the roof whereof is either fall'n down for want of repairing or beat down by force of some enemy for the walls are yet to be seen standing Afterwards the Danes won it twice by assault first when those pillaging troops took it from whom Edmund Ironside wrested it by force secondly when Canutus took it from whom 't was retaken by Aetheldred who on his return out of Normandy valiantly drove Canutus out of this town and beyond all expectation recover'd England which was very nigh lost In Edward the Confessor's reign there was in it as 't is set down in Domesday-book one thousand and seventy Inns for entertainment and twelve Lagemen having their Sac and Soc. 'T was indeed in the Norman times as Malmsbury relates one of the most populous cities of England and a mart for all goods coming by land and water for at that time there were taxed in it as 't is in the said Domesday-book Nine hundred Burgesses and many dwelling houses to the number of one hundred sixty and six were destroy'd for the castle with 74 more without the limits of the castle not by the oppression of the Sheriff and his Ministers but by misfortune poverty and fire William the first to strengthen it and to keep the Citizens in awe built a very large and strong castle on the ridge of the hill and about the same time Remigius Bishop of Dorchester to grace it transferr'd hither from Dorchester a little town in the farthest part of his Diocese his Bishop's See And when the Church erected by Paulinus was utterly decay'd The aforesaid Râ—migius bought in the very highest part of the city several houses with the ground thereto belonging near the castle that overtops all as Henry of Huntingdon notes with its mighty towers and built in a strong place a strong and fine Church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and endow'd it with 44 Prebends at which the Arch-bishop of York was very angry for he claim'd for himself the property of the ground This Church being disfigur'd by fire was afterwards repair'd as the said Henry mentions with very great art by Alexander that bountiful Bishop of Lincoln of whom the aforesaid William of Malmsbury speaks thus Seeing he was lookt upon as a prodigy by reason of his small body his mind strove to excel and be the more famous in the world and among other things a Poet of that age wrote thus Qui dare festinans gratis ne danda rogentur Quod nondum dederat nondum se credit habere Still with frank gifts preventing each request What is not yet bestow'd he thinks not yet possest And not only these two but Robert Bloet who was predecessor to Alexander and R. de Beaumeis Hugo Burgundus and their successors contributed to advance this work which was too much for one Bishop to its present state and grandeur The whole pile is not only very costly but indeed very beautiful and excellent for its workmanship especially that porch on the West-side which attracts and delights every beholders eye Altho' there be many tombs of Bishops and others in this Church yet the only ones worth our notice are that of brass in which the entrails of the most excellent Queen Eleanor wife to Edward the first 12 Who dy'd at Hardby in this Shire are interr'd and that of 13 Sir Nicholas Nicholas de Cantelupo with one or two belonging to the family of Burghersh also that of Katharine Swinford third wife to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and mother of the Somerset-family with whom lyes buried her daughter Joan second wife to Ralph Nevill the first Earl of Westmorland who had many children by her The Diocese of the Bishops of Lincoln being of a far greater extent than that of the Bishops of Sidnacester who in the primitive Saxon Church presided in this County contain'd under it so many Counties that its greatness was a burden to it and altho' Henry the second took out of it the Diocese of Ely and Henry the eighth those of Peterborough and Oxford yet 't is still counted the largest Bishoprick in England both for jurisdiction and number of shires and contains no less than 1247 parish-Parish-Churches Many excellent Bishops have govern'd this See since Remigius but to be particular in reckoning them is beyond my design And therefore make no mention of Robert Bloet on whom King William Rufus set an amercement of 50000 pounds alledging that the Bishop's title to the city of Lincoln was defective â—â—eden nor of that bountiful Alexander who was ever extravagantly fond of prodigious buildings nor yet of Hugo Burgundus who being canoniz'd had his corps carry'd to the grave as my Author says on the shoulders of King John and his Nobles out of respect and duty to God and the sainted Prelate I must not however omit mentioning two persons 〈◊〉 diâ—d â— â—233 the one Robert Grostest a better Scholar and Linguist than could be expected from the age he liv'd in â—atth Paris â—d an â—nymous â—tâ—rian an awe to the Pope a Monitor to the King a Lover of Truth a Corrector of Prelates a Director of Priests an Instructor of the Clergy a Maintainer of Scholars a Preacher to the People and a diligent Searcher of Scripture a Mallet to the Romanists c. The other is the most reverend Father Thomas Cooper very deserving both from the Common-wealth of Learning and from the Church whom I am bound always to honour for that he was the Master in whose School I must graetfully own I had my education The city it self also flourish'd for a long time being made by Edward the third a Staple â—he Staple as they call it that is a Mart for Wooll Leather Lead c. Tho' it cannot have reason to complain of great misfortunes yet it has been once burnt once besieged and that in vain by King Stephen who was there overthrown and taken prisoner and once taken by Henry the third defended then against him by his rebellious Barons who
naufraga Petri Ductorem in mediis expectat cymba procellis Now thy vast honours with thy virtues grow Now a third mitre waits thy sacred brow Deserted Wigorn mourns that thou art gone And Kent's glad sons thy happy conduct own Now Rome desires thee Peter wants thy hand To guide his leaky vessel safe to land This city was in all probability built by the Romans when to curb the Britains who dwelt beyond Severn they planted cities at convenient distances all along upon its east-bank just as they did in Germany on the south-side of the Rhine It is seated upon an easie ascent from the river over which lieth a bridge with a tower upon it It was anciently fenced with lofty Roman walls as an old parchment-roll informs us and hath to this day a good firm wall But its glory consists in its inhabitants who are numerous courteous and wealthy by means of the Cloathing trade in the neatness of its buildings the number of Churches and most of all in the Episcopal See which Sexuulfus Bishop of the Mercians placed here A. D. 680. building a Cathedral Church in the south part of the city which hath often been repair'd and by the Bishops and Monks hath been lengthened westward a little at a time almost to Severn side It is really a fair and magnificent Structure ennobled with the monuments of King John Arthur Prince of Wales and some of the Beauchamps A College also of learned men called Prebendaries no less famous than were formerly the Priory of Monks or College of Secular Priests here For in this Church presently upon its first foundation as in the other Abbies of England were placed married Presbyters Married Priests who govern'd those Churches a long time with great reputation for sanctity till Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury in a Synod decreed Register of the Church of Worcester A. D. 964. That for the future all Religious men in England should lead a single life For then Oswald Bishop of this See who was a most zealous promoter of Monkery remov'd the Priests and plac'd Monks in their room which King Edgar attests in these words l The Convents both of Monks and Virgins were destroy'd and neglected all England over which I have determined to repair to the praise of God for the benefit of my own soul and to increase the number of the Servants of God of both sexes and accordingly I have already settled Monks and Nuns in seven and forty houses and resolve if Christ spare me life to do it that I will go on in the oblation of my devout munificence to God till I have made them up fifty the number of the years of Remission Wherefore at present that Monastery in the Episcopal See of Worcester which the reverend Bishop Oswald hath to the honour of Mary the holy mother of God enlarged and having expelled the Secular Clerks c. by my assent and favour bestowed on the religious servants of God the Monks I do by my royal Authority confirm to the said religious persons leading a Monastick life and with the advice and consent of my Princes and Nobles do corroborate and consign c. After some considerable time when through the incursions of the Danes and civil broils the state of this Church was so decay'd that in the place of that numerous company of Monks which Oswald founded here scarce 12 were left Wulfstan S. Wulstan who sate Bp. of this See about A. D. 1090. restor'd it and augmented the number of Monks to 50. and also built a new Church He was a mean scholar even in the account of that age but a person of such simplicity and unfeigned integrity and of a conversation so severe and strict that he was a terrour to ill men and beloved by all that were good insomuch that after his death the Church gave him a place in the Kalendar among the Saints Now after they had flourished in great wealth and power above 500 years King Hen. 8. expell'd these Monks and in their room placed a Dean and Prebendaries and founded a Grammar-school for the instruction of youth Close by this Church remain the bare name and ground-plot of the Castle Which as we read in William of Malmesbury's history of Bishops Ursus made Sheriff of Worcester by William 1. built in the very teeth of the Monks so that the grass took away part of their cemetery But this Castle through the injury of time and casualty of fire hath many years since been ruined The City also hath been more than once burnt down A. D. 1041. it was set on fire by Hardy-Canute who being enraged at the Citizens for killing his Huscarles so they call'd his Officers who collected the Danegelt did not only fire the City Marianus but also massacre all the inhabitants except such as escaped into Bevercy a small island in the river Nevertheless we find in the survey of William 1. that in the days of Edward the Confessor it had a great many Burgesses and was rated at xv hide-land and when the Mint went every Minter gave xx shillings at London for stamps to coin withall In the year 1113. a casual fire which consumed the Castle burnt the roof of the Church also During the Civil wars in K. Stephen's reign it was fired once and again but suffered most when that King took the City Anno 15 Steph. Reâ—â—â— which he had unadvisedly put into the hands of Walleran Earl of Mellent but at that time he could not carry the Castle m However it still rose out of the ashes with greater beauty and hath flourished under an excellent Government managed by two Bailiffs chosen out of 24 Citizens two Aldermen and two Chamberlains with a Common Council consisting of 48 Citizens more n As to the Geographical account of it it 's Longitude from the west Meridian is 21 degrees 52 minutes and hath the north pole elevated 52 degrees and 12 minutes o From Worcester taking its course westward the river passeth by Powick Barons of Powick anciently the seat of John Beauchamp whom K. Hen. 6. raised to the dignity of a Baron whose estate soon after heirs female carried to the Willoughbies of Broke the Reads and Ligons p Hence through rich and fragrant meadows it runs by Hanley Hanley formerly a Castle belonging to the Earls of Glocester and Upton Upton a noted market town where Roman Coins are frequently dug up Not far off on the right-hand Severn hath the prospect of Malvern Malvern hills hills hills indeed or rather great and lofty mountains for about seven miles together rising like stairs one higher than the other and dividing this County from that of Hereford On the top Gilbert de Clare Earl of Glocester did anciently cast up a ditch all along to part his lands from those of the Church of Worcester which ditch is still to be seen and is very much admired pp On the other side Severn and near the same distance
that name to the place where Oswald's Hundred-Court was to be kept and the whole Hundred took it's name from thence It is very usual for Hundreds to be denominated from a hill a field a tree a stone or a cross where the Court is call'd In this Charter there is mention of Ulferes law and Cuthburges law Hundreds now swallow'd up in Oswald's law and in other Counties the names of Hundreds often terminate in law as in Herefordshire Radlaw and Wormlaw Hundreds On the rising ground before-mention'd the Hundred-Court is still call'd p Below Powick on the Eastern-bank of the Severn stands Kemsey â—â—â—sey an ancient manour of the Bishops of Worcester where before the Conquest and many Ages after they had a noble Palace which hath been long since demolish'd so that the ruins are not discernable About three miles Southward is Cromb D'abetot â—â—mb â—â—â—etot nam'd from Urso d'Abetot anciently Lord thereof now the chief seat of the Lord Coventry and the adjoyning Church is the burial place of the family About two miles on the West-side of the Severn is Great Malvern Great Malvern an Abbey seated at the foot of the hill which was founded by one Aldwin a Hermite in the eighteenth year of the Conquerour's reign and himself with King Henry his son were benefactors to it This house was of the Benedictine-Order and a Cell belonging to Westminster-Abbey A very fair Church is yet remaining which serves the Parish but almost nothing is left to maintain a Minister Two miles South from this lies Little Malvern Little Malvern in a dismal cavity of the hill It was founded An. Dom. 1171. by Joceline and Edred two brothers who were successively Priors of the house which was also of the Benedictine-Order and a Cell of the Monastery of Worcester pp When our Author observes that a ditch was drawn to divide the lands of the Earl of Glocester from those of the Church of Worcester it is a mistake for Hereford For that Church hath several manours on the West-side Malvern-hills and * Angl. Sacr. Annal. Wig. A.D. 1278. p. 503. there was a famous quarrel between Thomas de Cantilupe Bishop of Hereford and this Earl touching some lands claim'd by the Bishop in Malvern-chace and the Judges who were to decide that controversie sate in the Chace q Mr. Camden observes that Washbourn Washbourn under Bredon-hills with some other villages in this County are quite sever'd from the main body the reason whereof may be too obscure to attempt a positive account of it But it is worthy our observation that in fact all these dismembred parts except Dudley were originally Church-lands Old Barrow environ'd by Warwickshire belong'd to Evesham-Abbey Alderminster to Pershore All the rest were the lands of the Bishop and Church of Worcester before the division of England into Counties and tho' several of these have been alienated many ages yet they are still in Oswaldslow Hundred as Olb-barrow is in the Hundred of Blackenhurst and Alderminster in Pershore Hundred but the foundation of the last Abbey is later than the division into Shires As for Dudley the Castle stands in Staffordshire but the Church and Town in this County Before the Conquest Edwin Earl of Mercia had both town and castle which were given to William Fitz-Ausculf from whom through several hands they are come to the Lord Ward heir of the last Lord Dudley by his mother after whose decease he will also bear the title of the Lord Dudley It appears that above 450 years ago the town and castle were under different Civil Jurisdictions as at present and the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was settled by the Pope's Mandate between the Bishops of Worcester and Lichfield according to the limits of the two Counties †Vide Annal Wigorn. ad An. 1238 in Angl. Sacr T. 1. p. 490. r As we have follow'd the Severn thus far so we must return towards the North along the Avon upon which lies the town of Evesham an ancient Borough enjoying many privileges some by prescription and others by divers Charters govern'd by two Bailiffs till the third year of King James 1. who at the request of Prince Henry granted them a new Charter giving the chief Magistrate the title of Mayor and making the Corporation to consist of seven Aldermen twelve capital Burgesses a Recorder and Chamberlain who are all of the Common-Council as also four and twenty other Burgesses call'd Assistants and extended their jurisdiction over the adjoyning parish of Bengworth He likewise granted them more ample privileges particularly power to try and execute Felons within the Borough It sends two Burgesses to Parliament s Hereabouts on the South-part of the County Mr. Camden places Oswaldslaw-hundred but that is a mistake for this Hundred is not one continu'd tract of ground but consists of Townships scatter'd in all parts of the County where the Bishop or Monastery of Worcester had lands at the time when King Edgar granted that Charter to Oswald This is evident to any person who observes the places nam'd in that Charter as it is printed in ‖ Vol. 1. p. 433. Spelman's Councils and in the * Vol. 1. p. 140. Monasticon Anglicanum It is esteem'd a full third part of the County but at this day doth not enjoy a third part of that Hundred t After our Author has run through this Shire he tells us that Augustine's Oak is somewhere in the County but the place not certainly known Some conjectures have been offer'd at the precise place Sir Henry Spelman thinks there are some footsteps of the name in Ausric a village in this County bordering on Herefordshire which as he expounds Huntingdon lies in the confines of the Wiccians and the West-Saxons The name of this village he supposes may be a contraction of Austines ric i.e. Austin's territory But to omit some other material objections 't is certain that the vulgar maps deceiv'd that learned Knight which are false printed and should be Aulfrick which name at its full length in old writings is Alfredes-wic but his own mistake is less pardonable in making Herefordshire a province of the West-Saxons Others have conjectur'd that Austins-Oak may have been in a parish call'd corruptly the Rock but doubtless by our Saxon Ancestors þaere ac and in Latin Aka Now this parish lies in that part of the Shire which is most remote from the West-Saxon kingdom bordering on Shropshire All the light we have is from Bede who is the only writer within 400 years of the time that mentions this congress He says it was in the confines of the Wiccians and West-Saxons He doth not say it was in Wiccia much less that it was in that part of the Province which is now call'd Worcestershire but that it was in the confines of the West-Saxons upon whom Worcestershire doth not border any where So that admitting this Oak to be in Hwiccia it must needs have stood in that part of Glocestershire which bounds
the said Anthony The name of the place is Lanchester which I once imagin'd to be the old Longovicum But to return to the Were which at last winds about into the east and running by Hilton a castle of the Hiltons Hilton-castle falls into the sea at Wiran-muth as Bede calls it but now Monks-were-mouth that is the mouth of the Were belonging to the Monks Of which William of Malmesbury writes thus The Were flowing into the Sea here kindly receives the ships that are brought in with a gentle wind upon each bank whereof Benedict Bishop Bishop Benedict built a Church l and likewâ—se in the same places founded Monasteries the one to Peter the other to Paul Whoever reads the life of this man will admire his industry in bringing hither great store of books and in being the first man that ever brought Masons and Glaziers into England Glaziers first in England Five miles higher the Tine also draws to its mouth which for some way as we have observ'd made the north-side of our triangle with the Derwent Upon the Derwent which rises near the * Apex angle of this triangle nothing is eminent unless it be Ebchester Ebchester as they now call it a small village so nam'd from Ebba S. Ebba descended from the blood-royal of the Northumbrians who flourish'd about the year 630. in so much repute and esteem for her sanctity that she was solemnly canoniz'd for a Saint and has many Churches dedicated to her in this Island which are commonly call'd St. Tabbs S. Tabbs for St. Ebbs. The first remarkable upon the Tine is Gateshead Gateshead in Saxon Gaetsheved and in the same sence by Historians Caprae caput i.e. Goats-head which is a kind of Suburbs to Newcastle upon the other side the Tine and was annexed to it by Edward the sixth when he had suppress'd the Bishoprick but Queen Mary soon after restor'd it to the Church This place is commonly believ'd to be of greater antiquity than Newcastle it self And if I should say farther that this and Newcastle for they seem formerly to have been only one Town parted by the river were that Frontier-garison which in the times of the later Emperours was call'd Gabrosentum Gâ—brosentum and defended by the second Cohort of the Thraces and that it retain'd its old name in a due sense and signification notwithstanding this Newcastle has chang'd its name once or twice I hope it would be no ways inconsistent with truth For Gaffr is us'd by the Britains for a Goat and Hen in composition for Pen which signifies a head and in this very sense and meaning it is plainly call'd Caprae caput or Goats-head by our old Latin Historians as Brundusium took its name from the head of a Stag in the language of the Messapii And I am apt to fancy that this name was given the place from some Inn or other that had set out the Goats-head for the sign just like the Cock in Africa The three Sisters in Spain and The Pear in Italy all of them mention'd by Antoninus which as some learned men think took their names from such signs As for our Historians they unanimously call it Caprae caput when they tell us that Walcher Bishop of Durham who was constituted Earl by William the Conquerour to govern the Northumbrians was slain in this place by the furious rabble for his severe and illegal proceedings Below this village almost upon the mouth of the Tine stands Girwy now Jarrow Jarrow Girwy where venerable Bede was born and where a little Monastery heretofore flourisht When and by whom it was founded may be learnt from this Inscription which is legible to this day in the Church-wall DEDICATIO BASILICAE S. PAVLI VIII KL MAII ANNO XVI ECFRIDI REG. CEOLFRIDI ABB. EIVSDEMQ ECCLES DEO AVCTORE CONDITORIS ANNO IIII. m Now the greater Churches 〈◊〉 when the saving light of the Gospel began to shine abroad in the world for it is not impertinent to note thus much were call'd Basilicae because the Basilicae of the Gentiles namely those stately buildings where the Magistrates held their Courts of Justice were converted to Churches by the Christians Whence Ausonius Basilica olim negotiis plena nunc votis i.e. The Basilica frequented for business heretofore but now for devotion Or else because they were built in an oblong form as the Basilicae were Here our Bede Bâ—de the great glory of England for his eminent piety and learning sirnam'd Venerable made it his business as he himself says to study the Scriptures and in the very worst times of barbarity writ many learned volumes Upon his death as William of Malmesbury says almost all knowledge of History down to our times went to the grave with him For whilst one still succeeded lazier than another all spirit of study and industry was quite extinct in the Island The Danes were so troublesome to this holy place that in the beginning of the Norman times when some had reviv'd the Monastick Order in these parts and Walcher the Bishop had assign'd them this place the walls says my Author stood without a roof and without any remains of their ancient splendour however covering them with rough unhewn wood they thatch'd them with straw and began to celebrate Divine Service n. It is not necessary that I here give an account of all the Bishops of Durham Bishâ—ps Durham who are reckon'd Counts Palatines It may suffice to observe in short that from the first foundation of this Bishoprick in the year 995. to our times there have presided thirty five Bishops in this See The most eminent of them are these four Hugh de Puteaco or Pudsey who for 1013 l. ready money purchas'd of Richard the first the Earldom of Northumberland for his own life and Sathbregia to hold to him and his Successors for ever and founded a very fine Hospital as was observ'd before Between him and the Archbishop there happen'd a most grievous out-fall See the Earls of Northâ—â—berland whilst as one words it the one would be superiour the other would not be inferiour and neither would do any good Next Anthony Bec Patriarch of Jerusalem who spent vast sums of money in extravagant buildings and glorious furniture Thomas Wolsey Cardinal who wanted nothing to compleat his happiness but moderation his story is well enough known And Cuthbert Tunstall who dy'd about the beginning of this age and for his knowledge in the best kinds of learning and a holy life 4 And great wisdom approv'd in domestical and foreign employments was without envy be it spoken * equal to them all and the great ornament of our Britain e Since the year 1607. wherein Mr. Camden publisht the last Edition of his Britannia there have been five Bishops of this See There are in this County and Northumberland 118. Parish Churches besides a great many Chapels ADDITIONS to the BISHOPRICK of DVRHAM
In Burgundy the use of this name is very antient for we find in Gregory of Tours Abou◠〈◊〉 year 5â— The Barons of Burgundy as well Bishops as those of the Laity The first mention of a Baron with us that I have met withal is in a Fragment of the Laws of Canutus King of England and Denmark and even in that according to different copies it is read Vironis Baronis and Thani But that the Barons are there meant is plain from the Laws of William the Conqueror amongst which are inserted those of Canutus translated into Norman where it is writ Baron Take the whole passage But let the * Hâ—â—iâ—â— or Reâ—â— Exercituals be so moderated as to be tolerable An Earl shall provide those â—hings that are fitting eight horses four saddled and four unsaddled four steel caps and four coats of mail eight javelins and as many shields four swords and two hundred maucae of gold But a King 's Viron or Baron who is next to him shall have four horses two saddled and two unsaddled two swords four javelins and as many shields one steel cap and fifty †Possiâ—â— for â—â—â—usae iâ— 30 pâ—â—â— Many Thâ—â—â—â— Englâ—â— in the Câ—queroâ— time maucae of gold In the beginning also of the Norman times the Valvasors and Thanes were reckoned in dignity next the Earls and Barons and the Greater Valvasors if we may believe those who have writ concerning Feudal-tenures were the same as Barons are now So that Baro may seem to come from that name which time has by little and little made better and smoother But even then it was not so very honourable for in those times there were some Earls who had their Barons under them and I remember I have read in the antient Constitutions of France that there were ten Barons under one Earl and as many * Câ—â—inâ—â— Chieftans under a Baron 'T is likewise certain that there are extant some Charters since the Norman Conquest wherein the Earls write thus To all my Barons as well French as English greeting c. Nay even citizens of the better rank were called Barons so in Domesday-book the citizens of Warwick are stiled Barons and the citizens of London with the Inhabitants of the Cinque Ports enjoyed the same title But a few years after as Senators of Rome were chosen by their estates so those were accounted Barons with us who held their lands by an entire Barony or 13 Knights fees and one third of a Knight's fee every fee as we have it in an antient Book being computed at twenty pounds which in all make 400 Mark For that was the value of one entire Barony and they that had lands and revenues to this value were wont to be summoned to Parliaments It seems to have been a dignity with a jurisdiction which the Court-Barons Court â—â—rons as they call them do in some measure show And the great number of Barons too would persuade us that they were Lords who could give judgment within their own jurisdiction such as those are whom the Germans call Free-heirs especially if they had their castles for then they answered to the definition of Baldus that famous Lawyer who calls him a Baron that had a †Morâ— mixtuâ—â— impeâ—â—â— mere and mixt government in some one Castle by the grant of the Prince And all they as some would have it who held Baronies seem to have claimed that honour so that some of our Lawyers think that Baron and Barony Earl and Earldom Duke and Dukedom King and Kingdom Matth. Parts pag. 1262. were as it were Conjugates 'T is certain in that age K. Henry 3d reckoned 150 Baronies in England Upon which it comes to pass that in the Charters and Histories of that age almost all Noblemen are stil'd Barons a term in those times exceeding honourable â—aâ—onage 〈◊〉 Engâ—and the Baronage of England including in a manner all the prime Orders of the Kingdom Dukes Marquisses Earls and Barons But that name has come to the greatest honour since King Henry 3d out of such a multitude of them which was seditious and turbulent summoned to Parliament by his Writs some of the best only For he the words are taken out of an Author of considerable Antiquity after those great disturbances and enormous vexations between the King himself Simon de Montefort and other Barons were laid appointed and ordained that all such Earls and Barons of the Kingdom of England to whom the King should vouchsafe to direct his Writs of summons should come to his Parliament and no others unless their Lord the King please to direct other Writs to them also But what he begun only a little before his death was strictly observed by Edward the First and his successors From that time those were only looked upon as Barons of the Kingdom â—ummons 〈◊〉 Parliaâ—ent whom the King by such Writs of summons as they term them should call to Parliament 5 And it is noted that the said prudent King Edward I. summoned always those of antient families that were most wise to his Parliaments but omitted their sons after their death If they were not answerable to their Parents in understanding Hol. until Richard the 2d the 10th of October in the eleventh year of his reign created John de Beauchamp of Holt Baron of Kederminster by the delivery of a Diploma From which time the Kings have often conferred that honour by a Diploma or rather honorary Letters and the putting on of a long robe And at this day this way of creating Barons by a Diploma and that other of Writs of summons are in use though they are greeted not under the name of Baron but of Chevalier 6 For the Common Law doth not acknowlege Baron to be a name of dignity Hol. Those that are thus created are call'd Barons of Parliament Barons of the Kingdom and Barons honorary to distinguish them from those which are commonly call'd Barons according to the ancient constitution as those of Burford and Walton and such as were Barons to the Count Palatines of Chester and of Penbroch who were feudal and Barons by tenure Those Parliamentary Barons are not like those of France and Germany call'd barely by that name but are by birth Peers Noblemen Great States and Counsellors of the Kingdom and are summon'd by the King in this form to treat of the weighty affairs of the nation and to deliver their judgment upon them They have their peculiar immunities and privileges as in criminal causes to be judged by their Peers only not to have an oath demanded of them but in such case 't is sufficient if they deliver any thing upon honour not to be called among the Jury of twelve to enquire into matters of fact not to be liable to the Writs Supplicavit Capias Essoins and a great many other privileges which I leave to the Lawyers whose proper business it is to treat of these and things of the like nature Besides
these the two Archbishops and all the Bishops of England â—â—hops â—rons are also Barons of the Kingdom or Parliamentary Barons as also were in the memory of our grandfathers several belonging to Monasteries whereof this is a List Abbots of â—bots â—rliaâ—ntary â—rons Glassenbury St. Austin's Canterbury St. Peter's Westminster St. Albans St. Edmundsbury Peterburgh St. John's of Colchester Evesham Winchelcomb Crowland Battaile Reding Abingdon Waltham S. Cross Shrewsbury Cirencester St. Peter's at Glocester Bardney S. Benedict of Hulm Thorney Ramsey Hyde Malmesbury St. Marie's at York Selbey Prior of Coventry The Order of St. John of Jerusalem commonly stil'd Master of the Knights of St. John and would be counted the first Baron of England To these as to this day to the Bishops it belong'd by right and custom in every Parliament as the Publick Records word it to be present in person as Peers of the Realm along with the rest of the Peers to consult treat order decree and define by virtue of their Baronies held of the King For King William the first as the Ecclesiasticks of that age complain'd though those of the next look'd upon it as their greatest glory put the Bishopricks and Abbies holding Baronies in Frank almoigne Matth. Paris and so free from all secular services under military service enrolling every Bishoprick and Abbey according to the number of souldiers he and his successors might demand in times of war Since that the Ecclesiastical Barons enjoy all the immunities which the other Barons of the Realm do except that they are not judged by their Peers For as they by the Canons of the Church are not to be present at sanguinary causes so in the same causes they themselves are to be judged in matters of fact by twelve Jury-men But whether this be agreeable to the strict rules of the Law let the Lawyers determine Vavasors Vavasors or Valvasors formerly took place next the Barons derived by Lawyers from Valvae folding-doors a dignity that seems to have come to us from the French Sigonius For whilst their dominion in Italy lasted they call'd those Valvasors who govern'd the common people or part of them under the Duke Marquiss Earl or Chieftain and as Butler the Lawyer words it Had a full power of punishing but not the right of fairs and markets This is a piece of honour never much in vogue among us or how much soever it was it is now long since by degrees quite disused In Chaucer's age it was not very considerable as appears from what he says of his Frankelin or free-holder A Sheriff had he been and a contour Was no where soch a worthy Vavasour The Lesser Noblemen are the Knights Esquires Lesser Noblemen Knights and those which we commonly call Gentlemen Knights call'd by our English Lawyers in Latin Milites have almost in all Nations had their name from horses Thus they are called Cavelliers by the Italians Chevalier by the French Reuter by the Germans Marchog by the Welsh all with respect to riding They are called Knights only by the English a word in the ancient English as also German tongue signifying promiscuously servant or one that does service and a young man Upon which in the old Saxon Gospels the Disciples are call'd Leornung cnyhts and in another place we read Incnyht for a Client and our Common Lawyer Bracton mentions the Radcnihtes i.e. Serving horsemen who held lands upon this condition that they should furnish their Lord with horses from whence by shortning the name as we English love contractions I was perswaded long since that Knights remains now in use with us But for what reason the Laws of our own Country Knights why call'd Milites and all the Writers since the Norman Conquest should term them in Latin Milites I do not well apprehend Not but I know that in the decline of the Roman Empire the name of Milites was transferr'd to such as were always about the King's body and had the more considerable employments in the Prince's retinue But if I know any thing of this matter the first who were call'd so among us were they that held beneficiary lands or in fee for their service in the wars For those fees were called Militarie and they that in other places are term'd Feudataries were with us stil'd Milites souldiers as the Milites or souldiers of the King of the Archbishop of Canterbury of Earl Roger of Earl Hugh c. because they had by these persons lands bestowed upon them on this condition that they should fight for them and pay them fealty and homage whereas others who served in the wars †Pro solidis Solidarii for so much in money were call'd Solidarii and Servientes However these Milites or Equites which you please are fourfold with us The most honourable are those of the Order of S. George's Garter the second the Bannerets the third of the Bath and the fourth such as we call in English simply Knights and in Latin Equites aurati or Milites without any addition Of the Knights of the Order of S. George I will speak in their proper place when I come to Windsor Of the rest in this place briefly Banerett Banerets otherwise but falsly call'd Baronets have their name from a banner for they were allowed upon the account of their military bravery to use a square banner as well as the Barons and from thence they are by some truly call'd Equites Vexillarii and by the Germans Banner-heires I cannot trace their antiquity beyond the times of Edward the third when England was at it's height for martial discipline so that till time sets this matter in a clearer light I must believe that this honorary title was then first invented as a reward to warlike courage In the publick Records of that age among the military titles of Banerets there is mention also made of Homines ad vexillum Purs 2. Pat. 15. E. 3. M. 22 23. men at the banner and of homines ad arma men attending in arms which last seem to be the same with that other And I have read a Charter of King Edward the Third's whereby he advanced John Coupland for taking David second King of Scots in a battle at Durham to the honour of a Baneret in these words Desiring so to reward the said John who took David de Bruis and cheerfully delivered him up to us and to set such a mark upon his loyalty and valour as may give others example to serve us faithfully for the future we have advanced the said John to the Quality of a Baneret and to support that title have for us and our heirs granted to the same John the sum of 500 l. yearly to him and his heirs c. Nor may it be improper to mention out of Frossardus the form by which John Chandos a celebrated souldier in his time was made Baneret When Edward Prince of Wales was ready to engage
more fees to give away For nothing could be more effectual to excite brave men and lay an obligation upon their best and most deserving Subjects such as were nobly descended and men of great estates than as an istance of their good will and favour to bestow the honourable title of Knights upon them which before was always a name of great dignity For when the Prince conferr'd advisedly upon merit it was thought a great reward and favour and look'd upon as a badge of honour Those that were thus Knighted esteem'd this as the price of Virtue as an encomium upon their family a memorial of their race and the glory of their name So that it is said by our Lawyers Miles a name of dignity that Miles is a name of dignity and not Baro. For a Baron in ancient times if he was not a Knight was written barely by his Christian name and the proper name of his family without any addition unless of Dominus which is likewise applicâ—ble to Knights But the name Knight seems to have been an additional title of honour in the greatest dignities seeing Kings Dukes Marquesses Earls and Barons were ambitious both of the name and dignity And here I cannot but insert what Matth. Florilegus writes concerning the creation of Knights in Edward the first 's time For the sake of his expedition into Scotland the King publish'd a Proclamation lately throughout England to the end that whoever were by hereditary succession to be Knights and had wherewithall to support that dignity should be present in Westminster at the feast of Whitsontide there to receive all Knightly accoutrements save Equipage or Horse-furniture out of the King's Wardrobe Accordingly there assembled thither 300 young Gentlemen the sons of Earls Barons and Knights and had purple liveries silk-scarves and robes richly embroided with gold bestow'd upon them according to their several qualities And because the King's Palace though very large was too little to receive this concourse they cut down the apple-trees about the †Novum Tempium new Temple in London ras'd the walls and set up Pavilions and tents wherein these young Gentlemen might dress themselves in garments embroider'd with gold and all that night as many of them as the Temple would hold watch'd and pray'd in it But the Prince of Wales by his father's order with the chief of them watch'd in the Church of Westminster And so great was the sound of trumpets minstrels and acclamations of joy there that the chaunting of the Convent could not be heard from one side of the Quire to the other The day following the King knighted his Son in his palace and gave him the Dukedom of Aquitain The Prince therefore being thus knighted went to the Church of Westminster that he might likewise confer the same honour upon them And such was the press and throng about the high Altar that two Knights were kill'd and many fainted though every Knight had at least three or four Soldiers to conduct and defend them The Prince himself the throng was so great was forc'd to knight them upon the high altar having made his way thither * Per dextrarios bellicosos by his war-horses At present he that is knighted kneels down and in that posture is lightly struck upon the Shoulder with a naked sword by the Prince saying thus in French Sois Chevalier au nom de Dieu i.e. Be thou a Knight in the name of God and then he adds avancez Chevalier i.e. Rise up Sir Knight What relates farther to this order how famous how glorious and how brave a reward this dignity was look'd upon by men of honour among our Forefathers with what exactness they practis'd fidelity and plain-dealing when it was sufficient surety if they promis'd as Knights or upon their Honour lastly how far they were above the sordid humour of scraping and how they contributed upon the account of their fees when the King 's eldest son was honour'd with this dignity these things I leave to other Writers Degradations of Knights As also when they had committed any crime that was capital how they were strip'd of their ornaments had their military belt took from them were depriv'd of their sword had their spurs cut off with a hatchet their glove took away †Clypâ—o gentilitio in verso and their arms inverted just as it is in degrading those who have listed themselves in the Spiritual warefare the Ecclesiastical ornaments the book chalice and such like are taken from them I leave it likewise to be consider'd by them whether these Knights have been by some rightly term'd Knights Bacchallers and whether Bacchallers were not a middle order between Knights and Esquires For some Records run Nomina Militum Baccalaureorum Valectorum Comitis Glocestriae In dâ—â— so Pat. 51. H. 3. Hence some will have Bachallers to be so call'd quasi Bas Chevaliers though others derive the same from Battailer a French word which signifies to fight Let them farther examine whether these dignities which formerly when very rare were so mighty glorious and the establish'd rewards of virtue became not vile as they grew common and prostitute to every one that had the vanity to desire them Aemilius Probus formerly complain'd of the same thing in a like case among the Romans Next in order to these Knights were the Armigeri Eâ—â— 2. Esquires call'd also Scutiferi Homines ad arma and among the Goths Schilpor from bearing the Shield as heretofore Scutarii among the Romans Who had that name either from their coats of Arms which they bore as badges of their nobility or because they really carry'd the armour of the Princes and great men For every Knight was serv'd by two of these formerly they carry'd his helmet and buckler and as his inseparable companions adher'd to him For they held lands of the Knight their Lord in Escuage as he did of the King by Knights-service Esquires are at this day of five sorts for those I but now treated of are at present out of use The chief are they who are chosen to attend the King's person Next them are the eldest sons of Knights and their eldest sons likewise successively In the third place are counted the eldest sons of the youngest sons of Barons and others of greater quality and when such heir-male fails the title dies likewise The fourth in order are those to whom the King himself together with a title gives arms or makes Esquires adorning them with a collar of S. S. of a white silver colour and a pair of silver spurs whence at this day in the west parts of the Kingdom they are call'd White-spurs to distinguish them from Knights or Equites Aurati who have spurs of gold of these the eldest sons only can bear the title In the fifth place are to be reputed and look'd upon as Esquires all such as are in any great office in the Government or serve the King in any honourable station But
this name of Esquire which in ancient times was a name of charge and office only crept first in among the titles of honour as far as I can find in the reign of Richard the second Gentlemen Gentlemen are either the common sort of nobility who are descended of good families or those who by their virtue and fortune have made themselves eminent Citizens Citizens or Burgesses are such as are in publick offices in any City or elected to sit in Parliament The common people or Yeomen are such as some call ingenui the Law homines legales i.e. freeholders Yeomâ— Gemâ—◠〈◊〉 Saxo◠〈◊〉 common people those who can spend at least forty shillings of their own yearly Labourers are such as labour for wages sit to their work are Mechanicks Artizans Smiths Carpenters c. term'd capite censi and Proletarii by the Romans The Law-Courts of ENGLAND AS for the Tribunals or Courts of Justice in England there are three several sorts of them some Spiritual others Temporal and one mixt or complicate of both which is the greatest and by far the most honourable call'd the Parliament Parliament a French word of no great antiquity The Saxons our fore-fathers nam'd it a Witenâ— gemot â—s the true Saxon word Ç·ittenagemot that is an assembly of wise-men and Geraedniss or Council and Micil Synod from the greek word Synod signifying a great meeting The Latin writers of that and the next age call it Commune Concilium Curia altissima Generale Placitum Curia Magna Magnatum Conventus Praesentia Rogis Praelatorum Procerumque collectorum Commune totius regni concilium c. And as Livy calls the general Council of Aetolia Panetolium so this of ours may be term'd very properly Pananglium For it consists of the King the Clergy the Barons and those Knights and Burgesses elected or to express my self more plainly in Law-language the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons who there represent the body of the Nation This Court is not held at certain set times but is call'd at the King's pleasure when things of great difficulty and importance are to be consider'd in order to prevent any danger that may happen to the State and then again is dissolv'd when-ever he alone pleases Now this Court has the sovereign power and an inviolable authority in making confirming repealing and explaining laws reversing Attainders determining causes of more than ordinary difficulty between private persons and to be short in all things which concern the State in general or any particular Subject â—he Kings â—â—urt The next Court to this immediately after the coming in of the Normans and for some time before was the King's Court which was held in the King's Palace and follow'd the King where-ever he went For in the King's Palace there was a peculiar place for the Chancellor and Clerks who had the issuing out of Writs and the management of the great Seal and likewise for Judges who had not only power to hear pleas of the Crown but any cause whatsoever between private persons There was also an Exchequer for the Treasurer and his Receivers who had charge of the King's revenues These each of them were counted members of the King's family and had their meat and cloaths of the King Hence Gotzelin in the life of S. Edward calls them Palatii Causidici and Joannes Sarisburiensis Curiales But besides these and above them likewise â—â—e Chief â—â—â—tice was the Justitia Angliae and Justitiarius Angliae Capitalis i.e. the Lord Chief Justice who was constituted with a yearly stipend of 1000 marks by a Patent after this form The King to all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Counts Barons Viscounts Foresters and all other his faithful subjects of England greeting Whereas for our own preservation and the tranquillity of our Kingdom and for the administration of justice to all and singular of this our Realm we have ordain'd our beloved and trusty Philip Basset Chief Justice of England during our will and pleasure we do require you by the faith and allegiance due to us strictly enjoyning that in all things relating to the said office and the preservation of our peace and Kingdom you shall be fully obedient to him so long as he shall continue in the said Office Witness the King c. But in the reign of Henry the third it was enacted that the Common Pleas should not follow the King's Court but be held in some certain place and awhile after the Chancery the Pleas of the Crown and the Exchequer also were remov'd from the King's Court and establisht apart in certain set places as some how truly I know not have told us Having premis'd thus much I will now add somewhat concerning these Courts and others that sprung from them as they are at this day And seeing some of them have cognizance of â—uris Law namely the King's Bench Common Pleas Exchequer Assizes Star-Chamber Court of Wards and the Court of Admiralty others of Equity as the Chancery the Court of Requests the Councils in the Marches of Wales and in the North I will here insert what I have learnt from others of each of them in their proper places The King's Bench â—â—e Kings â—â—â—ch so call'd because the Kings themselves were wont to preside in that Court takes cognizance of all pleas of the Crown and many other matters relating to the King and the well-being of the publick it has power to examine and correct the errors of the Common-pleas The Judges there besides the King himself when he is pleas'd to be present are the Lord Chief Justice of England and four others or more as the King pleases â—â—mmon â—â—â—as The Common-Pleas has this name because the common pleas between subject and subject is by our law which is call'd the Common law there triable The Judges here are the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and four others or more to assist him Officers belonging to this Court are the Custos Brevium three Prothonotaries and many others of inferior rank â—â—â—hequer The Exchequer deriv'd that name from a table at which they sat For so Gervasius Tilburiensis writes who liv'd in the year 1160. The Exchequer is a squarâ— table about ten foot long and five broad contriv'd likâ— a table to sit round On every side it has a ledge of four fingers breadth Upon it is spread a cloath of black colour with stripes distant about a foot or spanâ— it bought in Easter term A little after This Court 〈◊〉 report has been from the very Conquest of the Realm by King William the design and model of it being taken â—â—m the Exchequer beyond Sea Here all matters belongiâ—â—â— to the King's revenues are decided The Judges of it are the Lord Treasurer of England the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Chief Baron and three or four other Barons The Officers of this Court are the King's Remembrancer the Treasurer's Remembrancer the Clerk
this city being both besieg'd and storm'd first surrender'd it self to the Saxons and in a few years as it were recovering it self took the new name of Akmancester q and grew very splendid For Osbrich in the year 676. built a Nunnery and presently after when it came into the hands of the Mercians King Offa built another Church but both were destroy'd in the Danish Wars r Out of the ruins of these there grew up another Church dedicated to S. Peter to which Eadgar sirnam'd the Peaceful because he was there inaugurated King granted several immunities the memory whereof the inhabitants still keep up by anniversary sports In the times of Edw. the Confessor as we read in Domesday-book it gelded for 20 Hides when the Shire gelded There were 64 Burgesses of the King 's and 30 of others But this flourishing condition was not lasting for presently after the Norman Conquest Robert Mowbray nephew to the Bishop of Constance who rais'd a hot rebellion against William Rufus plunder'd and burn'd it But it got up again in a short time by the assistance of John de Villula of Tours in France who being Bishop of Wells did as Malmesbury informs us y Malmesbury has it quingentis libris i.e. 500 pounds for five hundred marks purchase the city of Henry 1. whither he translaâ—ed his See z He was only stil'd Bâ—shop of Bath subscribing himself commonly Joannes Lathon as Doctor Gaidot in his MS. history of the place has prov'd by several instances tho' still retaining the name of Bishop of Wells and built him here a new Cathedral But this not long ago being ready to drop down Oliver King Bishop of Bath laid the foundation of another near it exceeding large and stately which he well-nigh finish'd And if he had quite finish'd it without all doubt it had exceeded most Cathedrals in England But the untimely death of that great Bishop with the publick disturbances 38 And the suppression of Religious houses ensuing and the avarice of some persons who as t is said converted the money gather'd thro' England for that end to other uses envy'd it this glory s However from that time forward Bath has been a flourishing place both for the woollen manufacture and the great resort of strangers 39 For health twice a year and is now encompass d with walls wherein they have fix'd some ancient images and Roman Inscriptions to evidence the Antiquity of the place but age has so wore them out that they are scarce legible And lest any thing should be wanting to the Dignity of Bath Earls of Bath it has honour'd some of the Nobility with the title of Earl For we read that Philebert de Chandew born in Bretagne in France had that title conferr'd upon him by King Henry 7. Afterwards King Henry 8. in the 28th year of his reign created John Bourchier Lord Fitz-Warin Iâ—quis 31 Hen. 8. Earl of Bath 40 Who dyed shortly after leaving by his wife the sister of H. Daubenâ—y Earl of Bridgewater John second Earl of this family who by the daughter of George Lord Roos had John Lord Fitz-Warin who deceased before his father having by Frances the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson of Hengrave Wâ—lliam now third Earl of Bathe who dying in the 31 year of the same King was succeeded by John his son who dy'd in the third year of Queen Elizabeth He before the death of his father had John Lord Fitz Warin from whom is descended William the present Earl of Bath who every day improves the nobility of his birth with the ornaments of learning ss Geographers make the Longitude of this City to be 20 degrees and 56 minutes the Latitude 51 degrees and 21 minutes For a conclusion take if you please those Verses such as they are concerning Bathe made by Necham who flourish'd 400 years ago Bathoniae thermas vix praefero Virgilianas Confecto prosunt balnea nostra seni Prosunt attritis collisis invalidisque Et quorum morbis frigida causa subest Praevenit humanum stabilis natura laborem Servit naturae legibus artis opus Igne suo succensa quibus data balnea fervent Aenea subter aquas vasa latere putant Errorem figmenta solent inducere passim Sed quid sulphureum novimus esse locum Scarce ours to Virgil's Baths the preference give Here old decrepit wretches find relief To bruises sores and ev'ry cold disease Apply'd they never fail of quick success Thus human ills kind nature does remove Thus nature's kindness human arts improve They 're apt to fancy brazen stoves below To which their constant heat the waters owe. Thus idle tales deluded minds possess But what we know that 't is a sulph'ry place Take also if you think them worth your reading two ancient Inscriptions lately digg'd up upon the high-way below the city in Waldcot-field and remov'd by Robert Chambers a great admirer of Antiquities into his gardens where I transcrib'd them C. MVRRIVS C. F. ARNIENSIS FORO IVLI. MODESTVS MIL. LEG II. * Adjâ—â—â—â—cis prae â—licis AD. P. F. IVLI. SECVND AN. XXV STIPEND †Hic sâ—â— est H. S. E. DIS MANIBVS M. VALERIVS M. POL. EATINVS * C. EQ MILES LEG AVG. AN. XXX STIPEN X. H. S. E. I saw likewise these Antiquities fasten'd on the inner side of the wall between the north and west gates Hercules holding up his left hand with his Club in the right In a broken piece of stone is this writing in large and beautiful letters * Decâ—â—ioni DEC COLONIAE †Glevi 〈◊〉 Glocester GLEV. VIXIT AN. LXXXVI Next leaves folded in Hercules bending two snakes and in a sepulchral table between two little images one whereof holds an Amalthaean horn there is written in a worse character and scarce legible D. M. SVCC PETRONIAE VIXIT ANN. IIII. * Meâ—â— M. IIII. †Dies D. XV. EPO MVLVS ET VICTISIRANA ‖ Filix â—rissime â—cerunt FIL. KAR. FEC A little below in a broken piece of stone and large letters is VRN IOP Between the west and south gates Ophiucus enfolded by a serpent two men's heads with curl'd locks within the copings of the walls a hare running and underneath in a great stone this in letters a cross VLIA ILIA A naked man as 't were laying hands upon a soldier also between the battlements of the walls leaves two lying kissing and embracing each other a footman brandishing his sword and holding forth his shield another footman with a spear and these letters a-cross on a stone III VSA IS VXSC. And Medusa's head with her snaky hairs t Upon the same river Avon which is the bound here between this County and Glocestershire on the western bank of it is Cainsham Cainâ—â— so nam'd from Keina a devout British Virgin whom many of the last age through an over-credulous temper believ'd to have chang'd serpents into stones Serpeâ—â— stones because they find sometimes in
North-Cadbury which our Author tells us came into the family of the Botereauxs by the marriage of Isabella daughter of John de Moels It continu'd in the said family till the death of William the late Lord Botereaux who dying 2 Ed. 4. without issue-male this Lordship with a very great inheritance descended to Margaret his daughter and sole heir marry'd to Robert Lord Hungerford from whom it descended to Mary Lady Hungerford their great Grand-daughter who was marry'd to Edward Lord Hastings and Hungerford father to George the first of that sirname Earl of Huntingdon in which family it continu'd to the reign of James 1. that Sir Francis Hastings younger son to Francis Earl of Huntingdon being possess'd of the same and having no children did alienate it e Ivel continuing it's course towards the sea joyns with the river Parret which a little more northward is encreas d by the Thone Near the head of this stands Orchard Orchard formerly the inheritance of the Portmans But now that family being extinct in the late Sir William Portman he has left it to his Cousin-german by the mother's side Mr. Henry Seymour who now enjoys it and has his residence there ee Upon the Parret stands Bridgwater Earls of Bâ—idgewater the Earl whereof Henry Daubeny dying without issue-male this title lay dead till the 15 of Jac. 1. when it was conferr'd upon John Egerton Baron of Ellesmere Viscount Brackley and son to the Lord Chancellor Egerton He was succeeded by his son John and this John by a son of the same name f From hence let us go along with Mr. Camden north-west to Glassenbury Glassenbury where amongst other curiosities he mentions the budding of a Hawthorn-tree on Christmas-day The tree has been cut down these many years yet there are some still growing in the County from branches of that as particularly one in the garden of William Stroud Esq possessor of the ground where the other stood another in the garden of the White-hart Inn in Glassenbury g Farther northward are Mendippe-hills Mendippe-hills famous for the lead-mines free for any English-man to work in except he has forfeited his right by stealing any of the oar or tools of the others And their law or custom in that case is very remarkable The Groviers for so the Miners are call'd as the pits they sink are call'd Groves living at some distance leave their tools and the oar they have got sometimes open upon the hill or at best shut up in a slight hutt Whoever amongst them steals any thing and is found guilty is thus punish'd He 's shut up in a hutt and then dry fearn furzes and such other combustible matter is put round it and fire set to it When 't is on fire the Criminal who has his hands and feet at liberty may with them if he can break down his hutt and making himself a passage out of it get free and be gone but must never come to work or have to do any more on the hill This they call Burning of the hill There is lead also dug on Broadwell-down Broad-well and other parts thereabouts lying between Wrinton and Backwell About the west-end of Mendippe-hills is found plenty of Lapis Calaminaris lying near the surface of the earth This calcin'd and mix'd with copper makes brass Here are also some veins of Magnesia or Mangonesse and of Yellow Oker h In those hills is Ochie-hole otherwise call'd Wockey-hole Wockie-hole which latter is certainly the right coming from Æ¿oc which does not imply any hollowness as †Notes upon Polyolb p. 53. Selden would have it for that is express'd by hole but signifies crooked or as he also observes creeky not but that Æ¿oc might come from the British Ogo so that Camden's conjecture may be pertinent enough The inhabitants have broach'd strange and extravagant fables concerning this cave passing by those as impertinent the place is in it self so remarkable as very well to deserve our notice From a very narrow entrance it opens into a large vault the roof whereof either for it's height or the thickness of the air they who go in cannot discover by the light of candles they carry with them After having clamber'd over several rough and unequal passages amongst the moist rocks you come at last to a stream of very clear cold water In several places of this Cave one may see that the droppings of water encrease the rock and turn into stone in some places hanging down like icicles i Amongst those hills is Chuton Chuton famous for the seat of William Bonvill who lies interr'd with his Lady in the Chancel at Chuton It is now the Mannour as well as title of the present Lord Waldgrave whose father by K. James 2. was created Baron Waldgrave of Chuton Towards the north is Chue Magna or Bishops-Chue Chue Magna or Bishops Chue where is dug up a red bolus call'd by the country-people Reding from thence distributed all over England for the marking of sheep and such other uses it is also often us'd by Apothecaries instead of Bolus Armenus A mile east from Chue-Magna on the south-side of the river Chue lies Stanton-Drew Stanton-drew * Aubr MS. where is to be seen a monument of stones like those of Stone-henge in Wiltshire but these being not altogether so big as the Stone-henge ones nor standing in so clear a plain the hedges and trees mix'd amongst them have made them less taken notice of Two miles south of Stanton Drew at Stowey Stowey on the side of the hill above the Church rises a large spring that is never dry The water coming from thence as it runs down through Stowey covers the things it meets in it's way with a stony crust This effect it has not in the very source nor within 20 yards where it rises the place where it works most is about forty or fifty yards from the rising at a fall higher than a man's head There it sheaths every thing with stony cases and makes the sides of the bank hard rock and from thence all along it's stream it covers sticks c. with a crust See a larger description of it in a letter from Mr. Lock inserted in Boyle's Hist of the Air pag. 140. k Returning southward over Mendippe hills we meet with Wells Wells where our Author tells us was a Bishop's seat till John de Villula in the time of King Hen. 1. removing it to Bath the Bishops were call'd Bishops of Bathe and Wells But it is observable that almost 200 years after John the Bishops were only call'd Bishops of Bathe and sometimes of Glaston but not of Wells So that our Author affirming afterwards when he comes to Bathe that this John did retinere Wellensis Episcopi nomen i.e. still keep the title of Bishop of Wells must needs be in a vulgar error For Bishop Godwin in his English Tract of the Bishops expresly says that he
bringing about that happy change The soil for some miles about Bathe especially to the westward as at Coston and thereabouts is so very stony that when 't is newly plough'd one would rather take the ridges for so many pitch'd Causeys to walk on than for a plough'd land to sow corn in so little of earth is to be seen among those bare stones the plough-share turns up Yet here they have as good wheat as any in England tho' perhaps not altogether so much on an acre as in deeper land The Country-men attribute these large crops mostly to the stones and if those were carry'd off the earth left upon the hard rock would be so little that it would not cover their corn and so light that the wind would blow it away t Between Bathe and Bristol a little river runs into the Avon â—â—nâ— â—r MS. upon which is Stanton-drew whereof the latter part might seem to point out some relation to the old Druids but that Drew is the name of an ancient family in the western parts and the monument there call'd the Wedding would strengthen such a conjecture The occasion of the name Wedding is a tradition which passes among the common people That a Bride going to be married she and the rest of the company were chang'd into these stones They are in a circular form 5 or 6 foot high and the whole monument is bigger than Stonehenge the Diameter here being 90 paces tho' no appearance of a ditch Returning to the river Avon we come to Cainsham rather Keynesham Keynesham call'd so from the Virgin Keina of whose family the Keynes of this County some whereof are still living affirm themselves desâ—ended But whereas Mr. Camden affirms he saw a stone like a serpent brought from hence with a head it is a mistake for all our Naturalists now agree that such stones are form'd in Nautili shells and that there are no heads belonging to them Indeed many of them have rough and broken pieces of stone issuing from them beyond the moulded wreath at the broad end which may have led some to imagine that those pieces were imperfect heads but really they are not so Such kind of snake-stones of all sizes from above a foot to an inch or two diameter are found frequently in their quarries w Between this place and Bristol upon the Avon is Bristleton Bristleton abounding in the same sort of cole that are brought from New-castle From Bristleton in several places of the adjacent Country as far as Stratton and Mendippe-hills as also Northward in Glocestershire are found veins of this cole which afford a strong and cheap firing to all those parts These veins of Cole are cover'd with a shell of a black hard stony substance call'd wark which will split like blue slat but is much more brittle and not by much so hard Upon dividing this Wark there is often sound upon one of the separated surfaces the perfect shape of a fern leaf as if it had by a skilful hand been engraven which as an exact mould or case receives the protuberant figure of the like leaf standing out on the other x Next the Avon runs to Bristol Bristol eminent for it's Goutes or subterraneous vaults by reason of which they draw all things on sledges for fear the shaking of cart-wheels should loosen these arches y About the Conqueror's time they paid thirty three marks and one mark of gold to Bishop G. Who this Bishop was is not express'd in Domesday nor any more than the bare initial either of his name or See If we durst say that G. were instead of an S. for those two letters are not unlike Sherborn or Salisbury under whose jurisdiction it seems to have formerly been would solve the difficulty but if that will not do I find none of the Bishop's names about that time beginning with G. If we preserve the reading Glevum or Glocester offers it self fairest which tho' annex'd at times to Lichfield and Worcester seems notwithstanding to have had the title of a Bishop's See z As for the place's being fortified by Robert Bishop of Constance it is a mistake for Geofry as appears from Bishop Godwyn in his Catalogue of Bishops under the title Exon. And Osborn in his Chronicon Juridiciale at the year 1072. tells us that Geofrey Bishop of Constance was the Chief Justiciary of England in that notable cause between Lanfranck Archbishop of Canterbury and Odo Bishop of Bayeux 'T is possible the name of Mowbrey Earl of Northumberland who was nephew to the Bishop and his name Robert might lead our Author into an error aa The castle which our Author tells us was built here by Robert Rufus Consul of Glocester is now quite demolish'd and built into a street aaa The honour of this place has been encreas'd by giving the title of Earl to John Lord Digby of Shirburn created 20 Jac. 1. to whom succeeded in the same honour George his son and John his grandson bb Mr. Camden makes the Diamonds of S. Vincent's rock admirable for thâ—ir six corners but if we may trust our Naturalists they assure us that 't is not worthy of admiration since very often Crystals and Berills and even sometimes your common Sparrs in many parts of England as well as elsewhere are of that figure cc And thus Avon passes into the Severn-sea tho' before we leave it it may not be improper to observe that it furnishes Bristol at the vernal equinox or then abouts with a dish perhaps not to be met with elsewhere which they call Elvers Elvers Some time in the spring the river about Cainsham is yearly cover'd over and colour'd black with millions of little eels scarce so big as a goose quill tho' some would have them a particular species These with small nets they skim up in great numbers and by a particular way of ordering them make them skower off their skins Being thus stripp'd and looking very white they make them up into little Cakes which they fry and so eat Continuation of the DUKES By the attainder of Edward Duke of Somerset that title lay vacant for a long time only Sir Robert Carr Knight of the Bath was by the favour of King James 1. created Earl of Somerset who falling under disgrace upon the account of Sir Thomas Overbury's death and having only a daughter that honour was at an end Upon the restoration of King Charles 2. William Seymour Marquess of Hertford was for his eminent services restor'd to the title of Duke of Somerset and was succeeded by William grandchild by Henry his third son William and Robert the two elder brothers dying unmarry'd William dy'd unmarry'd and had for his successor John Lord Seymour his Uncle who dy'd without issue Whereupon this title was devolv'd upon Sir Francis Seymour the third son to Edward Lord Beauchamp son and heir to Edward Earl of Hertford whose posterity now enjoys it More rare Plants growing wild in Somersetshire Aria
educated besides many other learned men William from this town called Malmsburiensis William of Malmesbury to whose learned industry the civil and ecclesiastical History of England are greatly indebted The town entirely supported by the abbey was fortify'd by Roger Bishop of Salisbury who when the War broke out between Henry of Anjou and King Stephen strengthen'd it with walls and a Castle which was once in vain besieg'd by King Henry 2. l A. D. 1152. The Castle indeed made a brave defence but all the Historians say it was taken at last by Duke afterwards King Henry This magnificent Bishop erected buildings here and at Salisbury for space very large for cost very chargeable for shew very beautiful The stones are set in such exact order that the joynts cannot be seen and the whole structure seems to be but one stone But the castle not long after by the permission of King John was rased for the convenience of the Monks that so the abbey might be enlarg'd which daily increas'd in building and revenues till the fatal dissolution of Monasteries Then the lands and riches which had been so many years in gathering were dissipated tho' in ancient times they were thought to be the good works of pious Christians Concil Aquisgran penance for sins and the patrimony of the poor And the Church it self had suffered the same fate had not one Stump a rich clothier by a great deal of intercession and more money recover'd it for the use of the Town 's folks who turn'd it into a Parish-Church and a great part of it is yet remaining f From Malmsbury the Avon runs to Dantesey Dantesey which gave name to the Lords of it Knights once very eminent in these parts from whom it descended to the Easterlings commonly known by the name of Stradlings and from them to the family of Danvers Of which Henry Danvers was lately dignified by the favour of K. James with the title and honour of Baron Danvers of Dantesey g Baron Danvers Six miles from hence the Avon receives from the east a rivulet which runs through Calne Caln an ancient little town on a stony ground adorned with a neat Church where during the contentions between the Monks and secular Priests about the Coelibacy of the Clergy A Synod about the Coelibacy of the Clergy a great Synod was conven'd A. D. 977. But in the midst of the dispute the Convocation-house in which the States of the Kingdom were assembled the beams breaking and the timber-frame bursting asunder suddenly fell to the ground together with the Bishops and Nobility of the Kingdom by which fall most were bruis'd and some kill'd but Dunstan alone President of the Synod and of the Monks party escaped unhurt By which miracle for so it was accounted in those times m Malmesbury indeed makes it a miracle to confirm the cause of the Monks but Huntingdon and Bromton say it was a Judgment upon the Nobility for betraying and murdering their late K. Edward the cause of the Monks was probably very much confirmed From hence the Avon now grown bigger runs to Chippenham Chippenham by the Saxons call'd Cyppanham now only famous for its market from whence it had it's name for Cyppan in the Saxon language signifies to traffick Cyppan what it is and Cypman a Merchant and we yet retain Cheppen and Chappman or as the Germans say Coppman n Of the same original is Cheapside in London In those times it was the Country-house of the Saxon Kings which King Alfred by his Will bequeathed to his younger daughter Now there is nothing worth seeing but the Church built as is evident from their Coats of Arms on the Walls by the Lords Hungerford h Over against this town tho' at some distance from the river lies Cosham Cosham now a small village heretofore honour'd with the Country palace of King Ethelred and the retiring-house of the o The inhabitants still enjoy several privileges granted them by Richard Earl of Cornwall and Edmund Earl of the same place obtain'd a Charter for a weekly market Since the Restoration Margaret Hungerford built here an Alms-house and Free-school Earls of Cornwall From hence one may see Castlecomb Castlecomb an ancient castle famous upon the account of the Walters of Dunstavill Lords of it 6 Men of great renown in their time from whom the Wriothesleys Earls of Southampton derive their pedigree For Petronilla 7 Or Parnel the daughter and heir of the last Walter married Rob. de Montford and had a son named William who sold this castle and the rest of his lands to Bartholomew Badilsmer from whom it came as I have heard to the Scroops who have held it ever since But let us now again follow the course of the river on which lieth Leckham Leckhâ—â— the estate of the noble family of the Bainards where Roman coins are very often found as also Lacock p Leland says that in a field by Lacock much Roman money us'd to be found and it is call'd Silverfield Lacock where that pious matron Ela Countess of Salisbury in her widowhood built as she did likewise at Henton q In the County of Somerset a Monastery A. D. 1232. to the honour of the Blessed Virgin and S. Bernard in which she devoted her self soul and body to the service of God The Avon whose banks are thick set with trees hath not run far beyond Brumham once the seat of the Lord 8 Or truly De S. Amando St. Amand. Afterward of the Bainton from them * De â— Amaâ—â— Samond before it receives a rivulet from the east which riseth near the castle De Vies Devises or the Vies the Divisio of Florentius Wigorn. The Vies Devâ—â—â— The Divisae of Neubrigensis It was once a noble castle strongly fortify'd by art and nature but now ruin'd by the injury of time This was built at the vast expence of Roger Bishop of Sarum that it might excell all the castles in England This man's fortune had advanc'd him from a poor Mass-priest to be the second man in the kingdom But fortune as one saith hath favour'd no man so far as to exempt him from the fear of losing whatever she gave him For K. Stephen being angry with him took from him this castle and that of Shirburn together with all his great riches and so plagu'd the poor old man in prison with hunger and other troubles that between the fear of death and the torments of life he was unwilling to live and knew not how to die About this time it was very much controverted whether it is lawful for Bishops by the Canon-law to hold Castles and if this by permission was allow'd whether in troublesome times they ought not to be at the King's disposal i The Avon conjoyn'd with this rivulet bends it's course toward the west and presently another brook from the south runneth into it
had possession of this Monastery 270 years they were turn'd out by the command of King Eadwy and secular Priests put in their room but the Monks were restor'd by King Edgar Bishop Herman would willingly have translated the Bishop's See hither but was prevented in his design by the diligence of the Monks So that the †Monast Angl. T. 1â— p. 97. Abingdon Historiographer is under a mistake when he tells us that the seat of the Bishop of Barkshire and Wiltshire was at Malmsbury and Radulphus de Diceto when he calls Odo Bishop of Ramesbury Bishop of Malmsbury as also Gervasius Tilburiensis when he says that S. Aldhelm had the city of Maidulf that is Scireburn The Abbey here exceeeded all the rest in Wiltshire both in riches and honour the Lord Abbot sitting in Parliament as Peer of the Realm Robert Jenner Esq Goldsmith of London the 1 Car. 1. built an Almshouse here for 8 persons and endow'd it with 40 l. a year g From hence the Avon goes to Dantesey Dantesey of which place Henry Lord Danvers was made by K. Charles 1. Earl of Danby He it was who built the Physick-garden in Oxford and among many other acts of charity founded here an Alms-house and Free-school Upon the attainder of his brother and heir Sir John Danvers the town was given by K. Charles 2. to James then Duke of York whose second son James was created Baron of Dantsey it was afterwards part of the dowry of Queen Mary and since the Revolution belongs to the Earl of Monmouth The Avon bending it's course southward from hence runs near Bradenstoke Bradenstoke without doubt the same town to which Aethelwold carry'd his devastations in the year 905. At which time Bromton says he put to military execution all Brithendune i.e. all in Bradon-forest as far as Brandestok or as Higden more rightly calls it Bradenestoke so that Polydore Virgil Holinshed Speed and our late Historians are very much mistaken in asserting this to be Basingstoke in Hamshire Somewhat lower the Avon receives the Caln Oldbury-hill a little river rising at the bottom of Oldbury-hill * Aubr MS. on which is a large oval camp with double trenches possibly Danish g 2. For the town of Caln Caln 't is probable it arose out of the ruines of the old Roman Colony on the other side of the water near Studley where Roman Coins are frequently found It was one of the Palaces of the West-Saxon Kings and at the time of the Conquest enjoy'd great privileges one whereof was that it never gelded For says Domesday Cauna nunquam geldavit ergo nescitur quot sunt hidae ibidem Not far from Caln is Cummerford Cummerford probably the Cynemaeresford of the Saxon Chronicle call'd by Florence of Worcester Kimeresford where Aethelmund Earl of Mercia making an inroad into the country of the West-Saxons was met by Werstan Earl of Wiltshire between whom was a bloody battle wherein both Commanders lost their lives but the victory fell to the Wiltshire-men Upon second thoughts the circumstances of that action agree more exactly to this place than * Glossar ad Chron. Sax. to Kempsford in Glocestershire for setting aside that the Saxon name is more easily melted into Cummerford Higden tells us it was out of the bounds of Mercia Ethelmundus says he fines suos egressus usque ad vadum Chimeresford and if so it cannot be in Glocestershire If there is as I have been told a large entrenchment near this Cummerford it puts the matter so much the more beyond dispute h The Avon having receiv'd this little river goes forward to Chippenham Chippenham call'd by Bromton Urbs Chipenham one of the chiefest towns in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and so very often mention'd in the Histories of those times That the Church there was founded by one of the Hungerfords as our Author observes I am afraid is hardly grounded upon any clear authority The Chappel indeed yet call'd Hungerford's Chappel might possibly be founded by Walter Lord Hungerford for 21 Henr. 6. he obtain'd a licence for the founding of a Chantry in the Chappel of our Lady within the Parish-Church of this place Queen Mary in the beginning of her reign granted her Charter to this Corporation which consists of a Bailiff and 12 Burgesses i Next is the Devises Devises call'd by Westminster Visae and by Walter Hemingford Wysae That this town was built by Dunwallo King of the Britains is scarce probable neither is it easie to imagine that it should be inhabited by the Romans tho' on the utmost part of Rund-way hill that overlooks the town there is a square single-trench'd Camp which seems to point out to us the presence of the Romans in those parts The Annotator upon the life of King Alfred has told us upon the authority of Tradition that the Castle here was built by that King but we have ground from the best Historians to believe it was built or at least repair'd by Roger Bishop of Salisbury Speed says It was one of the goodliest Castles in Europe and Holinshed That it was the strongest hold in England Which made Ralph Fitz-Stephen in the war between King Stephen and Mawd the Empress after he had possess'd himself of this Castle boast that by the assistance of it he would subject all the Country between London and Winchester The government of it was formerly look'd upon to be such an honourable post that it has been accepted by the greatest Lords It was not so much demolish'd but that some shew of fortifications were left till the Civil Wars when it was besieg'd more than once And Sir Ralph Hopton's being enclos'd herein by Sir William Waller occasion'd that memorable battle call'd Rundway-fight from the Down upon which it was fought July 13. 1643. Now all the Fortifications are dismantl'd and the very top of the Keep which Leland calls a work of incredible cost dug up by the Gardiners The town is a very populous Corporation consisting of two great Parishes and is govern'd by a Mayor Recorder c. Not far from hence his Heddington Heddington which without doubt was a Roman town as is evident from the foundations of houses that have been dug up here for a mile together and the finding of silver and copper coins of several Roman Emperors some of which are given by Mr. John Aubrey to the Royal Society and to Ashmole's Musaeum in Oxford These circumstances and the situation of this Heddington on the exact road between Bath and Marlborough made the learned Commentator on â— Alfred's life conclude this to be the Verlucio of Antoninus plac'd by him 15 miles from Aquae Solis and 20 from Cunetio But Heddington not being above 12 from Bath and but 10 from Marleburgh we must †See â—â—â—ward look for Verlucio in some other place South from hence is Steeple-Lavington or East-Lavington commonly call'd Market Lavington Lavingâ—â—â— East from the great
has been a long series of successors no less eminent for wealth and honour than for piety and devotion 5 But among others St. Swithin continues yet of greatest fame not so much for his sanctity as for the rain which usually falls about the feast of his translation in July by reason the Sun then is Cosmically with Praesepe and Aselli noted by ancient writers to be rainy Constellations and not for his weeping or other weeping Saints Margaret the Virgin and Mary Magdalen whose feasts are shortly after as some superstitiously credulous have believed and by a peculiar privilege are Chancellors to the Archbishop of Canterbury and Prelates of the Garter Some of these at great expence have beautify'd and enlarg'd this Church particularly Edington and Walkeling but above all Wickham who with incredible cost built the West part of the Church from the Choire a neat and curious piece of work in the middle of which between two pillars is his own monument The Church has been accordingly dedicated to new Patrons Amphibalus Peter Swithin and lastly to the Holy Trinity by which name it is at present call'd Among the Saxons it was in great repute for being honour'd with the Sepulture of some of their Kings whose bones were gathered by Richard Fox Bishop and put into little gilded Coffins which with their several Inscriptions he placed upon a wall that runs along the upper part of the Quire It was formerly call'd h Ealdan-Mynster Chron. Sax. Ealden-mynster i.e. the old Monastery or Minster to distinguish it from the more modern one i Niwan-Mynster Chron. Sax. NeÆ¿an-mynster i.e. New Minster which King Aelfred founded and to build the Offices belonging to it bought of the Bishop a certain peice of ground for every foot whereof he paid one Mark according to the publick Standard This new College as well as the old one was first founded for marry'd Priests who were afterwards expelled by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury upon the miracle of a Cross speaking and condemning the Order and so Monks were brought into their room These two Monasteries had their walls so near one another that when they were singing in one the noise was a disturbance to the other upon which arose some quarrels between the two Societies that afterwards broke out into feuds This reason and another inconvenience of a great confluence of waters which ran down the streets from the West-gate and making a standing pool at this new Monastery did infect the air with unwholsome vapours caus'd the Church 200 years after it's first building to be remov'd into the northern suburbs to a place call'd Hide Hide-Abby where by the licence of Henry 1. the Monks built a large and beautiful Monastery which within a few years by the treachery of Henry of Blois Bishop of Winchester as a private little History of that place tells us was miserably burnt down in which fire was consum'd that famous Cross the gift of Canute the Dane that as some old Records deliver it cost him the yearly revenue of all England But the Monastery was raised again to a noble fabrick as the present ruines testifie and grew by degrees till that fatal period for the destruction of Monks For then this house was demolished and the other of St. Trinity which is the Cathedral Church upon ejection of the Monks had a new foundation of a Dean and 12 Prebendaries At the East-side of the Cathedral stands a spacious k It was built A. D. 1137. by Henry Bishop of Winchester Leiger-Book of St. Cross in the hands of Mr. Worsley palace of the Bishop's call'd Wolvesey fortify'd by several turrets almost surrounded by the river and reaching to the City-walls m In the south suburbs there is a neat College that answers it which William of Wickham Bishop of this See the greatest patron and encourager of Learning that was in England A College bâ—â—â—â— by William of Wickham and whose memory shall be celebrated through all ages in the Monuments of Learning built for a publick school which affords great numbers of learned men both to Church and State In this are maintain'd gentilely a Warden 10 Fellows 2 Masters 70 Scholars l Particularly 3 Chaplains 3 Clerks an Organist 16 Choristers and the statutable servants with some others There are also other eminent buildings in this City most of them consecrated to religious uses which because time has destroy'd I have no mind to mention n tho' I cannot but take notice of that * Partheâ—â—â—m St. Mary's Abby Nunnery or Monastery for Virgins which Aelfwide wife to King Alfred founded it having been so noble a piece of building as the ruines of it still shew and the place out of which Henry 1. Maud wife to Henry 1. took his wife Maud daughter of Malcolm King of Scots by whom the Royal families of the Saxons and Normans were united and by which means that Prince gain'd much on the affections of the English For she was great grand-daughter to Edmund Ironside by his son Edward The banished and a Lady not only endow'd with all the vertues becoming a Queen but more especially eminent for piety and devotion Whereupon this old Tetrastick was made in her commendation Prospera non laetam fecêre nec aspera tristem Aspera risus ei prospera terror erant Non decor effecit fragilem non sceptra superbum Sola potens humilis sola pudica decens Nor bless'd rejoyc'd nor when unhappy mourn'd To laughter grief and joy to fear she turn'd Nor beauty made her frail nor sceptres proud Humble tho' great and scarce more fair than good As to Guy Earl of Warwick so famous in story who in a single combat here conquer'd Colbrand that Danish †Typhoëus Giant and Waltheof Earl of Huntingdon beheaded in this place where afterward was the Chapel of St. Giles and as to the famous adjoyning Hospital of St. Cross founded by Henry de Blois Brother of King Stephen and Bishop of this City and farther endow'd by Henry de Beaufort Cardinal I shall say nothing of all these because a full relation is already given of them in our common Histories As to the Earls of Winchester Earls of Winchester to pass by Clito a Saxon who at the coming in of the Normans was depriv'd of this ancient honour King John made Saer Quincy Earl of Winchester The Quincy's Arms. whose Arms were * Baltheus militaris a Fesse with a †Lemniscus label of seven as I learn'd from his seal To him succeeded Roger his son who bore in a field Gules seven ‖ Rhombos Mascles voided Or. But he dying without Issue male the honour was extinct in him for he marry'd the oldest daughter and co-heir by a former wife of Alan Lord of Galloway in Scotland in whose right he was Constable of Scotland But by her he had only 3 daughters of whom the eldest was marry'd to William de Ferrariis Earl of
Moels and the Courteneys much augmented his estate His son Robert who marry'd the daughter and heir of the Lord Botereaux enrich'd the family more and then Robert his son who had to Wife Eleanor the daughter and heir of William Molines upon which account he was honour'd among the Barons of the Kingdom by the name of Lord Molines and during the Civil Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster was beheaded at New-castle made great additions to it Thomas his son slain at Salisbury in his father's life-time left Mary an only daughter married to Edward Lord Hastings with whom he had a great estate But Walter brother to the said Thomas begat Edward Hungerford father of that Walter whom Henry 8. created Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury and condemned afterwards for a very heinous crime nevertheless Queen Mary restor'd his children to every thing but the dignity of Barons h Not far from hence towards the South lies Widehay â—idehay long the seat of the Barons of St. Amand â—â—ons of Amand. whose estate by marriage came to Gerard Braybrok and Elizabeth his eldest grand-daughter by his son Gerard transferr'd the estate by marriage to William Beauchamp who being summon'd to Parliament by the name of William Beauchamp of St. Amand â—â—uchamp 〈◊〉 Amand was a Baron as his son Richard also was who had no legitimate issue From thence the river Kenet taking it's course between Hemsted Marshall anciently held * Per virgam Marescalliae by the Rod of the Marshalsea and belonging to the Marshals of England where †Sir Thomas Thomas Parry Treasurer of the Houshold to Queen Elizabeth built a very fine seat and Benham Valence so call'd from it's belonging to William Valence Earl of Pembroke 7 But Queen Elizabeth gave it to John Baptista Castilion a Piemontes of her Privy Chamber for faithful service in her dangers comes to Spinae Spinae the old town mention'd by Antoninus which retaining still it's name is call'd Spene but instead of a town is now a poor little village scarce a mile from Newbury a noted town that had it's rise out of the ruines of it For Newbury Newbury with us is as much as the New Borough that is in regard to Spinae the more ancient place which is quite decay'd but hath left the name in part of Newbury it self still call'd Spinhamlands And if nothing else yet this certainly might prove that Newbury fetcht it's original from Spinae for that the inhabitants of Newbury owns the little village Spene for their mother tho' Newbury compar'd with Spene is for it's buildings and neatness a very considerable town and much enrich'd by cloathing well seated upon a plain and has the river Kenet running through it In the Norman Conquest this town fell to Ernulph de Hesdin Earl of Perch Lib. Inquisitionum whose great grandson Thomas Earl of Perch being slain at the siege of Lincoln the Bishop of Chalons his heir sold it to William Marshall Earl of Pembroke who likewise held the mannour of Hempsted hard by spoken of before as did his successors Marshals of England till Roger Bigod for his obstinacy lost his honour of Earl Marshal and possessions too which notwithstanding by much †precariò intercession he obtain'd again for life i The Kenet continues on his course from hence and receives by the way the little river Lamborn Lamborn which at it's rise imparts the name to a small market-town that in ancient times belong'd to Alfrith K. Alfred's Cousin having been left him by the said King in his Will and afterwards was the Fitzwarin's who obtain'd the privilege of a market of Henry 3. But now it belongs to the Knightly family of Essex which derives it's pedigree from William de Essex Under-Treasurer of England in Edw. 4.'s time and from those of the same sirname in Essex that liv'd in great repute and honour there From thence this little river runs beneath g In the late Civil Wars it was a garrison for the King Dennington Dunnington-castle call'd also Dunnington a little but very neat castle seated on the brow of a woody hill having a fine prospect and windows on all sides very lightsome They say it was built by Sir Richard de Abberbury Knight founder also of God's House beneath it for the relief of the poor Afterwards it was the residence of h It was the house of Jeoffery Chaucer and there under an Oak commonly call'd Chaucer's Oak he is said to have penn'd many of his famous Poems The Oak till within these few years was standing Chaucer then of the De la Poles and within the memory of our fathers of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk And now the Kenet having run a long way passes at last by Aldermaston Aldermaston which Henry 1. gave to Robert Achard from whose posterity by the De la Mares it came at length by right of marriage to the Fosters a Knightly family At last it runs into the Thames having first with it's windings encompass'd a great part of Reading This little city or town of Reading Reading call'd in Saxon * Per virgam Marescalliae Rheadyge of Rhea that is the River or of the British word Redin signifying Fern which grew in great plenty hereabouts for the neatness of it's streets the fineness of it's buildings for it's riches and the reputation it hath gotten for making of cloath goes beyond all the other towns of this county tho' it hath lost it's greatest ornaments the beautiful Church and very ancient Castle k For this as Asserius tells us the Danes kept possession of when they drew a ditch between the Kenet and the Thames and hither they retreated after King Ethelwolph had routed them at Inglefield Inglefield a little village in the neighbourhood which gives name to a noble and ancient family But it was so demolish'd by K. Henry 2. because it was a place of refuge for King Stephen's party that nothing now remains of it but the bare name in the next street Near to this K. Hen. 1. having pull'd down a little Nunnery founded in former times by Queen Alfritha to expiate for some crimes built a most magnificent Abbey for Monks and enrich'd it with great Revenues Which Prince to use the very words of his Charter of Foundation Because three Abbeys in the kingdom of England were formerly for their sins destroy'd that is Reading Chelsea and Leonminstre which were long in Lay-mens hands by the advice of the Bishops founded a new Monastery at Reading and endow'd it with Reading Chelsea and Leonminstre In this Abbey was interr'd the Founder himself King Henry 7 With his wife both veil'd and crown'd for that she had been a Queen and professed Nun. Maud the Empress together with his daughter Maud as appears by the private history of the place tho' some report that she was bury'd at Becc in Normandy Who as well
monastery in the infancy of the English Church which was for some time the burying-place of that most Religious King Henry 6. â—enry 6. whom the York-family after they had dethron'd him cut off to make themselves more secure of the Crown and bury'd him here without the least mark of honour But King Henry 7. removing him to Windsor bury'd him in a New Tomb with the solemnity becoming a King and was such an admirer of his Religion and Virtues for he was an exact pattern of Christian piety and patience that he apply'd himself to Pope Julius to have him put in the kalendar of the Saints â—tory of â—anterbury And this had certainly been done if the Pope's avarice had not stood in the way who demanded too large a summ for the King's Apotheosis or Canonization which would have made it look as if that honour had not been pay'd so much to the sanctity of the Prince as to gold Below this place the little river Wey empties it self into the Thames a which running out of Hamshire at it's first coming into Surrey visits Feornham commonly Farnham Farnham so nam'd as being a bed of ferns given by Aethelbald King of the West-Saxons to the Bishop and Congregation of the Church of Winchester In this place it was that about the year 893. King Alfred worsted the plundering Danes with a handful of men and afterwards when K. Stephen had granted licence to all those who sided with him to build Castles Henry of Blois brother to Stephen and Bishop of Winchester built a castle upon the hill that hangs over the town which because it was a harbour for sedition K. Henry 3. demolish'd but after a long time the Bishops of Winchester to whom it belongs to this day rebuilt it Not far from hence at Waverley Waverley William Gifford Bishop of Winchester built a little monastery for Cistercian Monks 1 Commonly called White-Monks which Abbey being a Grandchild as they term'd it from Cisterce in Burgundy was so fruitful here in England that it was nother to the Abbies of Gerondon Ford Tame Cumb and Grandmother to Bordesley Bidlesdon Bruer Bindon and Dunkeswell For so Religious Orders were wont to keep in Pedigree-manner the propagation of their Orders as a deduction of Colonies out of them From thence the Wey running by Godelminge which King Alfred gave by Will to Aethelwald his brother's son and not far from Catteshull-mannour Catteshull which Hamo de Catton held to be Marshal of the whores when the King should come into those parts and at a little distance from Loseley where within a park I saw a delicate seat of the family of the Mores by these I say it comes to Guilford Guilford in Saxon Gulde-ford and in some Copies Gegldford It is now a market-town of great resort and well stor'd with good Inns but was formerly a Village of the English-Saxon Kings and given by Will to Athelwald by his foresaid Uncle There is now a house of the King 's tho' gone much to decay and not far from the river the ruinous walls of an old castle which has been pretty large In the middle of the town is a Church the east end whereof being arch'd with stone seems to be very ancient Here as we learn by Domesday book the King had 75 Hagae i.e. houses Haga wherein 175 men dwelt But 't is famous for nothing so much as the treachery and inhumanity of Godwin Earl of Kent who in the year of our Lord 1036. when Alfred King Ethelred's son and heir to the Crown of England came out of Normandy to demand his right receiv'd him with an assurance of safety but treated him contrary to his promise For surprizing at a dead time of night the six hundred men which were the retinue of the Royal youth he punish'd them as our Writers word it by a Decimation Military Decimation Which was not according to the ancient Rules of War by drawing out every tenth man by lot and then killing him but dispatching nine dismissed every tenth and afterwards with the most extream cruelty * redecimavit retith'd those tenths he had sav'd And as to Aelfred himself he deliver'd him to Harold the Dane who first put out his eyes then clapt him in chains and kept him in prison to his dying day b From hence the Wey is carry'd towards the north for a long way together and meets with nothing worth mentioning except Sutton the seat of the Westons Knights 2 Better'd by an heir of T. Camel Woking a royal seat 3 Where K. Hen. 7. repair'd and enlarg'd the Maneur-house being the inheritance of the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond his mother who liv'd there in her later time Newark sometime a small Priory environ'd with divided streams and Pyriford where in our memory Edward Earl of Lincoln and Baron Clinton 4 And Admiral of England built him a house and in the neighbourhood Ockham William Ockham where William de Ockham that great Philosopher and Founder of the Nominals was born and had his name from the place 5 As of the next village Ripley G. de Ripley a Ring-leader of our Alchimists and a mystical Impostor So Holland This Sir George after 20 years study in Italy c. after the Philosopher's stone is said to have found it An. 1470. and well he might if he gave as a Record in the Isle of Malta declares an hundred thousand pound yearly to the Knights of Rhodes for carrying on the war againct the Turks See Full. Wor. p. 204. Com. Ebor. But where it comes to empty it self out at a double mouth into the Thames we see Otelandes c a pretty handsome seat of the King 's built within a park near which Caesar pass'd the Thames Where Caesar pass'd the Thames and enter'd the territories of Cassivelan For this was the only place in the Thames formerly fordable and that too not without great difficulty which the Britains in a manner pointed out to him For on the other side of the river a strong body of the British had planted themselves and the bank it self was senc'd with sharp stakes and some of the same sort fasten'd under water The footsteps whereof says Bede are seen at this day and it appears upon the view that each of them is as thick as a man's thigh and that soder'd with lead they stick in the bottom of the river immoveable But the Romans enter'd the river with so much vigour and resolution that tho' they had only their heads above water the Britains were not able to bear up against them but were forc'd to quit the bank and fly for it 'T is impossible I should be mistaken in the place because here the river is scarce six foot deep and the place at this day from those stakes is call'd Coway-stakes Câ—waystakes to which add that Caesar makes the bounds of Cassivelan where he settles this passage of
misfortunes In the year of our Lord 676. it was destroy'd by Aethelred the Mercian and after that more than once plunder'd by the Danes Aethelbert King of Kent built a stately Church in it and adorn'd it with an Episcopal See making Justus first Bishop of it but when this Church was decay'd with age Gundulphus 46 A Norman repair'd it about the year 1080. and thrusting out the Priests put the Monks in their stead who too are now ejected and a Dean with 6 Prebendaries and Scholars fill their places Near the Church there hangs over the river a Castle fortify'd pretty well both by art and nature which the common opinion affirms to have been built by Odo Bishop of Bayeux and Earl of Kent But without all doubt William 1. was founder of it For we read thus in Domesday The Bishop of Rovecester holds in Elesforde for exchange of the ground upon which the castle stands 'T is certain however that Bishop Odo depending upon an uncertain turn of affairs held this against William Rufus 47 At which time there passed a Proclamation thro' England that whosoever would not be reputed a Niding should repair to recover Rochester-Castle whereupon the youth fearing that name most reproachful and opprobrious in that Age swarmed thither in such numbers that Odo was enforced to yield the place and that at last for want of provisions he did not only surrender it but was degraded too and quitted the Kingdom But as to the repairing of the castle take this out of the Textus Roffensis Textus Roffensis an ancient MS. book of that Church When William 2. would not confirm the gift of Lanfranck of the mannour of Hedenham in the County of Buckingham to the Church of Rochester unless Lanfranck and Gundulph Bp. of Rochester would give the King 100 l. of ‖ Centum libras Denariorum Deniers At last by the intercession of 48 Sir Robert Rob. Fitz-Hammon and Henry Earl of Warwick the King yielded that instead of the money which he demanded for a Grant of the mannour Bishop Gundulph because he was well vers'd in Architecture and Masonry should build for him the Castle of Rochester all of stone and at his own proper charges At length when the Bishops tho' with some difficulty were brought to a compliance Bishop Gundulph built the castle entirely at his own cost And a little while after K. Henry 1. as Florence of Worcester has it granted to the Church of Canterbury and the Archbishops the custody and Constableship of it for ever and liberty to build a tower for themselves within it Since which time it has suffer'd one or two sieges but then especially when the Barons wars alarm'd all England and Simon de Montefort 49 Earl of Leicester vigoâ—ously assaulted it tho' in vain and cut down the wooden bridge Instead of which a curious arch'd stone bridge was afterwards built with money rais'd out of the French spoils by John Cobham 50 Which was after repair'd But in the time of K. Rich. 2. Sir Robert c. and Robert * Call'd Canolius by the French Knowles the latter whereof rais'd himself by his warlike courage from nothing to the highest pitch of honour 51 At the end of the said bridge Sir John Cobham who much further'd the work erected a Chapel for our Elders built no notable bridge without a Chapel upon which besides the Arms of Saints are seen the Arms of the King and his three Uncles then living And long after Archbishop Warham coped a great part of the said bridge with iron-bars q The Medway posts thro' this bridge with a violent course like a torrent and as it were with a sort of struggling but presently growing more calm affords a Dock 52 At Gillingham and Chetham to the best appointed fleet that ever the Sun saw ready upon all emergent occasions The Royal Navy and built at great expence by the most serene Qu. Elizabeth for the safety of her Kingdoms See more of this at the end of the Additions to this County and the terror of her enemies who also for the security of it hath rais'd a fort upon the bank r 53 At Upnore Now Medway grown fuller and broader makes a pleasant show with it's curling waves and passes through fruitful fields till divided by Shepey-Island which I fancy to be the same that Ptolemy calls Toliatis it is carry'd into the aestuary of Thames by two mouths the one whereof westward is call d West-swale as the eastern one which seems to have cut Shepey Shepey from the Continent East-swale but by Bede Genlad and Yenlett This Island from the Sheep a multitude whereof it feeds was call'd by our Ancestors Shepey i.e. an island of sheep 't is exceeding fruitful in corn but wants wood being 21 miles in compass Upon the northern shore it had a small Monastery call'd now Minster Minster built by Sexburga wife to Ercombert King of Kent in the year 710. Below which a certain Brabander lately undertook to make brimstone and coperas out of stones found upon the shore by boyling them in a furnace Upon the west side it is fronted with a most neat and strong castle built by King Edward 3. and is as he himself writes of a pleasant situation to the terrour of the enemy and comfort of his own subjects To this he added a Burgh and in honour of Philippa of Hainault his Queen call'd it Queenborrough Queenborrough i.e. the burgh of the Queen The present Constable of it is 54 Sir Edward Edward Hoby a person whom I am always oblig'd to respect and who has very much improv'd his own excellent wit with the studies of Learning Upon the east is Shurland Shurland formerly belonging to the Cheineys now to 55 Sir Philip. Philip Herbert second son to Henry Earl of Pembroke whom K. James the same day created both Baron Herbert of Shurland and Earl of Montgomery This Island belongs to the Hundred of Midleton so call'd from the town of Midleton now Milton Milton It was formerly a Royal Village and of much more note than at present tho' Hasting the Danish pyrate fortify'd a Castle hard by it in the year 893. with a design to do it what mischief he could s Sittingburn Sittingborn a town well stor'd with Inns t and the remains of Tong-castle Tong. appear in the neighbourhood 56 With his new Mayor and Corporation which as some write was so call'd for that Hengist built it by a measure of thougs cut out of a beast's hide when Vortigern gave so much land to fortifie upon as he could encompas with a beast's hide cut into thongs Since the Conquest c. this last was the ancient Seat of Guncellin de Badilsmer The Family of Badilsmer a person of great Honours whose son Bartholomew begat that Guncellin who by the heiress of Ralph Fitz Bernard Lord
to reckon up the Earls of Kent in their order omitting Godwin 99 And Leofwin his brother and others under the Saxons who were not hereditary but officiary Earls Odo brother by the mother's side to William the Conqueror is the first Earl of Kent we meet with of Norman extraction He was at the same time Bishop of Baieax and was a person of a wicked factious temper always bent upon sowing sedition in the State Whereupon 1 Whereupon he was committed to prison by a subtil distinction as Earl of Kent and not Bishop of Bayeux in regard of his Holy Orders after a great rebellion he had rais'd his Nephew William Rufus depriv'd him of his whole estate and dignity in England Afterwards when Stephen had usurp'd the Crown of England and endeavour'd to win over persons of courage and conduct to his party he conferr'd that honour upon William of Ipres a Fleming who being as Fitz-Stephen calls him ‖ Vâ—â— Canâ—â— cubaâ—â— a grievous burthen to Kent was forc'd by King Henry 2. to march off with tears in his eyes 2 And so became a Monk Henry the second 's son likewise whom his father had crown'd King having a design to raise a rebellion against his father did upon the same account give the title of Kent to Philip Earl of Flanders but he was Earl of Kent no farther than by a bare title and promise For as Gervasius Dorobernensis has it Philip Earl of Flanders promis'd his utmost assistance to the young King binding himself to homage by oath In return for his services the King promis'd him revenues of a thousand pound with all Kent as also the Castle of Rochester with the Castle of Dover Not long after Hubert de Burgo who had deserv'd singularly well of this kingdom was for his good service advanc'd to the same honour by K. Henry 3. 3 Who also made him chief Justice of England He was an entire Lover of his Country and amidst the very storms of adversity discharg'd all those duties that it could demand from the best of subjects But he dy'd divested of his honour and this title slept till the reign of Edward the second An. Eâ—â— Edward bestow'd it upon his younger brother Edmund of Woodstock who being tutor to his nephew K. Edward 3. undeservedly fell under the lash of envy and was beheaded The crime was that he openly profess'd his affection to his depos'd brother and after he was murther'd knowing nothing of it endeavour'd to rescue him out of prison 4 Perswaded thereto by such as covertly practis'd his destruction but his two sons Edmund and John 5 Who were restor'd by Parliament to blood and land shortly after And withal it was enacted That no Peer of the Land or other that procur'd the death of the said Earl should be impeach'd therefore than Mortimer Earl of Marsh Sir Simon Beresford John Matravers Baious and John Devoroil had that honour successively and both dying without issue it was carry'd by their sister for her beauty call'd The fair maid of Kent to the family of the Holands Knights For 6 Sir Thomas Thomas Holand her husband was stil'd Earl of Kent 7 And she after marry'd by dispensation to the Black-Prince heir to him King Richard 2. and was succeeded in that honour by 8 Sir Thomas Thomas his son who dy'd in the 20. year of Richard 2. His two sons were successively Earls of this place Thomas who was created Duke of Surrey and presently after raising a rebellion against K. Henry 4. was beheaded 9 Leaving no child and after him Edmund who was Lord High Admiral of England and in the siege of †â—aâ—um Bâ—oâ—i Tho. Walsingham S. Brieu in Little Britain dy'd of a wound in the year 1408 10 Leaving likewise no issue This dignity for want of issue-male in the family being extinct and the estate divided among sisters K. Edward 4. honour'd with the title of Earl of Kent first 11 Sir William William Nevill Lord of Fauconberg and after his death Edmund Grey Lord of Hastings Weisford and Ruthyn who was succeeded by his son George He by his first wife Anne Widevile had Richard Earl of Kent who after he had squander'd away his estate dy'd without issue 12 1523. But by his second wife Catharine daughter of William Herbert Earl of Pembrook he had Henry Grey Knight 13 Of Wrest whose grandchild Reginald by his son Henry was made Earl of Kent by Queen Elizabeth in the year 1572. He dying without issue was succeeded by his brother Henry a person endow'd with all the ornaments of true nobility This County hath 398 Parish-Churches ADDITIONS to KENT THE History of this County having been already publish'd in three just Volumes by Mr. Lambard Mr. Philpot and Mr. Kilbourne beside what has been done by some others one would think that little more could be said upon the subject Mr. Camden too spent some of the latter part of his life in this County which gave him an opportunity of informing himself more particularly concerning it's Antiquities Yet some things there are which have escap'd the diligence both of him and the rest and mistakes have happen'd here as well as in other Counties a Our Author has observ'd that this County was given by Vortigern to Hengist on account of his daughter But the Saxon Chronicle which says nothing of that Rowena shews us that he rather got it by force of arms having worsted Vortigern in two pitch'd battles once at Aylesford and again at Crayford where he kill'd 4000 Britains and put the rest to flight And thus the Kingdom of Kent continu'd under a race of Kings descended from him till Baldred last King of Kent in our Author's account lost it to Egbert King of the West-Saxons He was the last of that race but Egbert's * Caron Sax. An. 830 Chron. Maâ—â—os p. 1. 2. leaving his son Aethelstan that kingdom shows that he was not the very last King of Kent b At the Norman-Conquest our Author tells us these Inhabitants made a Composition for their ancient privileges Which however oppos'd by †Somner Gâ—â—â—lkind l. 2 p. 63. Mr. Somner and others seems to have some remains in their present Constitution For how else come they to retain their custom of Gavelkind which once prevail'd all over Britain as it does still in some parts of Wales and why do the Heirs particularly in Kent succeed to the Inheritance tho' their Father suffer for felony or murder To come now to the Survey of the County it self we will begin in the north part and go along with Mr. Camden c The river Ravensbourn runs into the Thames near Greenwich upon which there yet remains a large fortification the area whereof is enclos'd with treble rampiers and ditches of a vast height and depth near two miles in circuit which must certainly be the work of many hands but of whose
is uncertain ‖ Phillpot's Villare Cant p 203. Some would have it to be the Camp which Caesar made when the Britains gave him the last battle with their united forces just before he past the Thames in pursuit of Cassivelaun But I can scarce believe either that Caesar had time to cast up such a work or that he would not have mentioned a thing so considerable in his Commentaries Much rather should I think it if at all by the Romans to have been done some time after when they had reduc'd the Nation into a Province and made them stations at certain distances for the better quartering their Armies and that this is what remains of the old Noviomagus which must be hereabout betwixt London and Maidstone I know it is a little too far distant from London and so likewise from Maidstone the old Vagniacae the stations on each hand of it being about 12 miles from London in a straight line and 20 at least from Maidstone whereas in the Itinerary it is but 10 and 18. Yet it much better agrees with the situation of Noviomagus than Woodcot in Surrey * See Camden in Surrey where our Author places it for tho' that be indeed but 10 miles from London as the Irinerary sets it yet it is at least 30 from Maidstone which is so quite out of all distance that for this and other reasons I rather place it here there being no other footsteps hereabout of any such matter that will answer it better Somewhat lower near this River lyes Bromley Bromley remarkable not only for the Bishop of Rochester's Palace but for a College or Hospital of late there erected temp Car. 2. by the right Reverend Father in God Dr. John Warner late Lord Bishop of Rochester for the maintenance of 20 poor Ministers widows with the allowance of 20 l. per An. to each and fifty to their Chaplain which is the first of this kind ever erected in England and was the Pattern whereby the right Reverend Fathers George Lord Bishop of Winchester and Seth Lord Bishop of Salisbury both proceeded who have since done the like at their respective Sees d Near the place where it falls into the Thames lyes Depford Depford the Seat of the ancient Barons Mamignot or Mamigniot whereof Walkelin the Son of Gislebert being Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports held Dover Castle as our Author relates it against King Stephen whereas ‖ Peramb p. 125. Mr. Lambard says he deliver'd it to him and for that reason after the King's death abandon'd the charge and fled into Normandy who dying without issue by marriage of his Sister it came to the Sayes from whom it receiv'd the name of Sayes-Court which it still retains tho' now it be enjoy'd by the ancient family of the Evelyns the most ingenious Gentleman John Evelyn Esq who has oblig'd the world with so many learned pieces now residing upon it e Within sight of Depford stands the Honour of Greenwich Greenwich finish't by King Henry 8. and honour'd with the birth of Queen Mary as well as of Queen Elizabeth King Edward 6. also died there but that house is in a manner now quite demolish't and another begun in the place by King Charles 2. which stands imperfect King Henry 7. bestowed much cost upon the Tower or Castle and so did Hen. Howard Earl of Northampton but this is also now quite ras'd and a Royal Observatory set in the place by King Charles 2. furnish't with all sorts of Mathematical Instruments fit for Astronomical Observations such as Clocks Telescopes Quadrants and a deep dry well for observation of the Stars in the day time all which are most diligently and skilfully us'd by the learned Mr. Flamsted the King's Mathematician The same Earl of Northampton also built an Hospital here endowing it with lands for the maintenance of a Governour and 20 poor men he built likewise two others in Shropshire and Norfolk as appears by the Epitaph on his magnificent tomb in the south isle of the Church in Dover Castle where he lies not interr'd but in a marble coffin that is supported above the marble table of his tomb about 5 foot from the ground The Epitaph is this Henricus Howardus Henrici Comitis Surriae filius Thomae secundi Norfolciae Ducis Nepos Thomae tertii Frater Comes Northamptoniae Baro Howard de Marnhill privati Sigilli Custos Castri Durovernensis Constabularius quinque Portuum Custos Cancellarius Constabularius Jacobo magnae Britanniae Regi ab intimis Consiliis Ordinis Periscelidis Eques auratus Academiae Cantabrigiensis Cancellarius inter Nobiles literatissimus in spem resurgendi in Christo hic conditur Obiit 15º die Junii MDCXIV Inclytus hic Comes tria Hospitalia fundavit latifundiis ditavit unum Greenwici in Cantio in quo xx egeni Praefectus Alterum Cluni in Comitatu Salopiae in quo xii egeni cum Praefecto Tertium ad Castrum Rising in Com. Norfolciae in quo 12 pauperculae cum Gubernatrice in perpetuum aluntur The latter part whereof runs thus in English This renowned Earl founded three Hospitals and endow'd them with Lands one at Greenwich in Kent in which a Governour and 20 poor men another at Clun in Shropshire in which a Governour and 12 poor men a third at the Castle of Rising in Norfolk in which a Governess with 12 poor women are maintained for ever f Below Greenwich our Author tells us is great store of Cochlearia or Scurvygrass Scurvy-grass which as I am inform'd by Mr. Ray is not Cochlearia rotundifolia sive Batavorum which we call Garden-Scurvygrass tho' that also be found in many places on our coasts and on some mountains in the midland but Cochlearia Britannica or Sea-Scurvygrass and so cannot be the Britannica of Pliny tho' it may have the same virtues What the true Britannica of Pliny and the Ancients is Abraham Muntingius thinks he has found out He makes it to be the great water-dock Hydrolapathum maximum Ger. Park g The next river the Thames receives out of Kent is that call'd Darent which passes by Sevenoke Sevenoke at some distance remarkable only for a Lord Mayor of that name who gratefully built an Hospital and School there and for the defeat of Sir Humphry Stafford by Jack Cade and his followers whom the King sent against them h Then it goes immediately to Otford Otford famous not only for the battel betwixt the Saxons and Danes mention'd by our Author but for another long before betwixt the Saxons themselves wherein Offa King of the Mercians so compleatly subdu'd Ealhmund King of Kent and his whole Country An. 773 that he endeavour'd to transferr as it were in triumph the Archiepiscopal Chair into his own dominions which he effected so far that he got Lichfield exempted from the jurisdiction of Canterbury obtaining a Pall for it of Pope Adrian 1. An. 766. the Sees of
Dukes of Somerset hath lately built a very noble and extraordinary pleasant Seat Within the town it self there is nothing worth seeing except a School founded there by J. Incent Dean of St. Pauls in London who was a native of this town More to the South lyeth Kings-Langley Kings-Langley heretofore a Seat of the Kings where Edmund of Langley son to Edward the third Duke of York was born and thence also named Here was a small Cell of Friers Praedicants in which that unhappy Prince Richard the second was first buried who was barbarously depriv'd both of his Kingdom and his Life but not long after his body was remov'd to Westminster and had a monument of brass bestow'd upon it to make amends for his Kingdom Just almost over-against this there lyeth also another Langley which because it did belong to the Abbots of St. Albans is call'd Abbots-Langley Abbots-Langley the place where Nicholas Breakspeare was born afterwards Pope by the name of Hadrian Pope Hadrian 4. the fourth who first preach'd the Christian faith to the people of Norway and quieted the tumults of the people of Rome at that time endeavouring to recover their ancient liberties Frederic the first Emperour of the Romans held this Pope's stirrup as he alighted from his horse and at last he lost his life by a fly that flew into his mouth and choaked him Lower I saw Watford Watford and Rickemanesworth Rickmansworth two Market-towns touching which we have no account until we find that King Offa bestowed them upon St. Alban as also he did Caishobery Caishobory that lyes next to Watford Watford At which place a house was begun by Sir Richard Morison a man of great learning and employed by Henry the 8th and Edward the 6th in several Embassies to the greatest Princes in Europe but he left it to his son 21 Sir Charles Charles to finish who made it a neat and curious Seat More toward the east the Roman military way pass'd in a direct line from London to Verulam over Hamsted-heath and so by Edgworth and Ellestre near which place at the very same distance that Antoninus in his Itinerary placeth the Sulloniacae Sulloniacae to wit twelve miles from London and nine from Verulam there remain yet some marks of an ancient station and there is much rubbish digg'd up upon a hill which is now call'd Brockley-hill o But when the Roman Empire in this land expir'd and barbarism by degrees got ground whilst the Saxon wars put all things in a perpetual hurry this great road as all other things lay quite neglected for a long time until a a little before the Norman Conquest Leofstan Abbot of St. Albans repaired and restor'd it For he as we read in his life caused the great woods all along from the edge of the †Ciltria Chiltern as far as London to be cut down especially upon the King's high-way commonly call'd Watlingstreet all high and broken grounds to be levell'd bridges to be built and the ways made even for the convenience of passengers But above 300 years ago this road was again in part deserted by reason that another road was laid open thro' Highgate and Barnet by licence from the Bishop of London Barnet begins now a-days to be an eminent market for cattel but was much more so for a great battel fought there in those furious wars between the two houses of York and Lancaster in which wars England suffer'd whatever aspiring Treachery durst attempt For at d This Gledsmore is in the County of Middlesex tho' Barnet it self be in this and the battel from it commonly call'd Barnet-field Gledsmore hard by the two parties upon an Easter-day had a sharp encounter anâ— for a long time by reason of a thick Fog fought with dubious success But at last King Edw. 4. happily gained the Victory and Richard Nevill Earl of Warwick was there slain a man whom as the smiles of Fortune had render'd strangely insolent and a particular enemy to crown'd heads so by his death he freed England from those apprehensions of continu'd civil wars they had long labour'd under p 22 Barnet hath for his neighbours Mimmes a seat of the worshipful family of the Coningsbies descended to them by Frowick from the Knolles ancient possessors thereof and North-hall where Ambrose Dudley last Earl of Warwick rais'd a stately house from the Foundations Earls of Hertford This County of Hertford had Earls that were of the family of Clare and therefore more commonly were call'd Earls of Clare from Clare their principal seat in the County of Suffolk The first that I have met with was Gilbert who writes himself Earl of Hertford as a witness to a Charter of King Stephen Likewise Roger de Clare in the Red-book in the Exchequer bears the title of Earl of Hertford in the reign of Henry 2. as also his successors See the E◠〈…〉 G◠〈…〉 and iâ— Sâ—folk whom you may see in their proper places But when this family by right of inheritance as well as by their Prince's favour came to be also Earls of Glocester they bore joyntly the two titles and were summoned to Parliament by the name of Earls of Glocester and Hertford And accordingly Richard de Clare who died An. Dom. 1262. is by Matthew of Westminster expresly called Earl of Glocester and Hertford upon the recital of this his Epitaph Hic pudor Hippoliti Paridis gena sensus Ulyssis Aeneae pietas Hectoris ira jacet Here Hector 's rage Ulysses wisdom lays Hippolitus his blush and Paris face But within the memory of our fathers K. Hen. 8. honoured 23 Sir Edward Edward de St. Maur or Seymor with the title of Earl of Hertford who was afterward created also Duke of Somerset 24 By King Edward 6. to whom succeeded in this Earldom his son of the same name a person of great honour and a true friend to learning This County hath in it 120 Parishes ADDITIONS to HERTFORDSHIRE THE County of Hertford as to Vicountile Jurisdiction both before and long after the time of Edward 3. was annex'd to Essex and one Sheriff supply'd both Counties as did also one Escheator * Nord p. 5. The Justices for the greater ease both of themselves and the common people have by consent divided the whole Shire into three parts or divisions and accordingly have three several Courts for determination of lesser matters the more considerable being referr'd to the general meeting at Hertford a Notwithstanding what our Author has affirm'd of it's corn-ground pastures and meadows those who have made particular enquiries into the affairs of this County rather refer it's flourishing condition partly to the many thorow-fares to and from London which has been the cause of the improvement of their towns and partly to the healthfulness of the air which has induc'd several of the Gentry to settle in this County and given occasion to this saying
means they gain'd great esteem and respect from all hands by the bounty of Princes 27 Devout people had large possessions and much wealth and flourisht in great reputation for their piety 28 Yea and in the opinion both of the holiness of the men and of the place King Henry 3. c. Upon one of those Monuments the characters whereof are obscure I read Comes Pembrochiae and on the side Mâ— eram â—â—â—tis Mâ— multoâ— vâ—cerat armâ—s The Statute concerning the Templars lands 17 Edw. 2. Many Noble-men were bury'd among them whose Images are to be seen in this Temple with their leggs across for so all those in that age were bury'd who had devoted themselves to the service of the Holy War or as those times worded it had taken up the Cross Among the rest were William 29 Marshal the elder a most powerful man in his time the father William and Gilbert the sons all Marshals of England and Earls of Pembroke 30 Upon William the elder his Tomb I some years since read in the upper part Comes Pembrochiae and upon the side this Verse Miles eram Martis Mars multos vicerat armis But 31 But in process of time when with insatiable greediness they had hoarded great wealth by withdrawing Tithes from Churches appropriating spiritual livings to themselves and other hard means their riches turned to their ruin For thereby their former piety was after a manner stiflâ—d they fell at jarr with other Religious Orders their professed Obedience to the Patriarch of Jerusalem was rejected envy among the common sort was prâ—cured which hope of gain among the better sort so enkindled that in the year of our Lord 1312. this Order was condemn'd for Impiety and by authority of the Pope utterly abolisht However their revenues by Act of Parliament went to the Knights-Hospitalers of St. John of Jerusalem lest what was given upon a Religious design contrary to the Will of the Doners should be turn'd to other uses Notwithstanding it appears plainly by ancient Records that after the Templars were driven out this place was the seat of Thomas Earl of Lancaster and of that 32 Sir Hugh Spencer Spenser who was a great favourite of King Edward the second as afterwards of 33 Sir Aimer de Valentia or Valence Audomar de Valentia Earl of Pembroke and at last it was turn'd into two †Collegia Inns for Lawyers Concerning the other two I have met with nothing upon record only there is a Tradition that one of them was the habitation of the Lords Grey 34 Of Wilton the other of the Earls of Lincoln Near these between the New and Old Temple King Henry the third built a House of Converts for the maintenance of those who turn'd from Judaism to Christianity which afterwards King Edward 3. made a place for the Rolls and Records upon which account it is at this day call'd the Rowles The Rowles o These Suburbs run along in a continu'd set of buildings and the stately houses of some of the Nobility upon the Thames as far as Westminster The most considerable of them are ‖ â—ride-well St. Bridgid's-Well where King Henry 8. built a Palace for the reception of the Emperour Charles the fifth but now it is a house of Correction Buckhurst-house 35 Or Salisbury Court belonging sometimes to the Bishops of Salisbury 36 The White Friers or c. the house of the Carmelites the Temples before-mention'd 37 Then without the Barrs Essex-house built by the Lord Paget Arundel-house 38 Before call'd Hampton-Place Somerset-house built by Seimor Duke of Somerset Next to pass by the rest the Savoy so call'd from Peter Earl of Savoy who liv'd in it which Eleanor wife of Henry 3. bought of the Fraternity of * Montis Joâ—â—s Montjoy and gave to her son Edmund Earl of Lancaster whose posterity had it for a seat a good while till Henry the seventh made it a †Pauperibâ—â— sacraâ— Hospital for the Poor 39 Worcester-house late Bedford-house Salisbury-house Durham-house built by Anthony Bec Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem 40 And thereby the only ornament of this part the Britain Burse built by the Earl of Salisbury and so nam'd of King James 1. York-house for so it has been call'd of late formerly 41 And Northampton-house now begun by Henry Earl of Northampton Bath house But what do I giving particular names to these †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which do not belong to any one but as Fortune disposes of them Westminster Wâ—â—tminâ—â—er formerly above a mile distant is now by these Suburbs joyn'd so close to London that it seems to be part of it notwithstanding 't is a distinct City of it self and enjoys its own Magistrates and Privileges Once it was call'd Thorney from the thorns now Westminster from its westerly situation and the minster For 't is particularly eminent for that Church for its Hall of Justice and the King's Palace The Church's greatest honour is deriv'd from the inauguration and burial of our Kings in it Sulcardus affirms that there once stood in that place a Temple of Apollo and that it was thrown down by an Earth-quake in the time of Antoninus Pius Out of the ruins whereof Sebert King of the East-Saxons built another to St. Peter which being destroy'd by the Danes was re-edify'd and granted to a few Monks by Bishop Dunstan But afterwards King Edward sirnam'd the Confessor built it anew out of the tenth peny of all his revenues for a burying place to himself and a Monastery to the Benedictine Monks endowing it with lands dispers'd here and there through all England But hear a cotemporary Historian The devout and pious King has dedicated that place to God both for its nearness to the famous and wealthy city for its pleasant situation among fruitful grounds and green fields and for the nearness of that principal river which from all parts of the world conveys whatever is necessary to the adjoyning City But above all for the love he bore to the Prince of the Apostles whom he always reverenc'd with a singular zeal and veneration he made choice of that for the place of his sepulchre Then he order'd a noble structure to be begun and built out of the tenths of his whole revenue such a one as might become the Prince of the Apostles that after the transitory course of this life he might find a propitious God both upon account of his piety and his free offering of those lands and ornaments with which he designs to enrich it Whereupon the work thus nobly begun is successfully carry'd on without sparing for either present or future charges so it may be made worthy of and acceptable to God and the Blessed Apostle Peter Please also to take the form of this ancient building out of an old Manuscript The * Principaâ— area body of
More inward wee see Wingfield Wingfield with its half ruinated Castle which gave both a name and seat to a large family in those parts famous for their knighthood and ancient nobility And Dunnington which boasts of its Lord John Phelipps Phelipps the father of that William who married the daughter and heir of Baron Bardolph and whose daughter and heir was marry'd to John Viscount Beaumont But now 't is the seat of the ancient family of the Rouses Not far from hence is Huntingfield Huntingfield which in the reign of Edward the third had a noted Baron of that name and near this is Heveningham the seat of the knightly family de Heveningham Henningham which is exceeding ancient at a little distance from whence is Halesworth Halesworth formerly Healsworda an ancient town of the Argentons now of the Alingtons for which Richard Argenton procur'd the Privilege of a Market of King Henry the third That on the north part two little rivers namely Ouse the less and Waveney divide this County from Norfolk we have already observ'd They both rise out of a marshy ground about Lophamford very near one the other and run quite contrary ways with creeks full of shallow fords On this side of the Ouse which goes westward there is nothing memorable k Upon Waveney which is carried eastward first we meet with Hoxon formerly Hegilsdon made famous by the martyrdom of King Edmund Martyrdom of King Edmund For there the most Christian King because he would not renounce Christ was by the most inhuman Danes to use the words of Abbo bound to a tree Hoxon and had his body all over mangl'd with arrows And they to increase the pain and torture with showers of arrows made wound upon wound till the darts gave place to one another And as a middle-age Poet has sung of him Jam loca vulneribus desunt nec dum furiosis Tela sed hyberna grandine plura volant Now wounds repeated left no room for new Yet impious foes still more relentless grew And still like winter-hail their pointed arrows flew In which place was afterwards a very neat seat of the Bishops of Norwich till they exchang'd it not long since for the Monastery of S. Benedict In the neighbourhood at Brome the family of Cornwalleys Cornwalleys Knights have dwelt for a long time of which John was Steward of the Houshold to King Edward the sixth and Thomas his son for his prudence and fidelity was Privy-Councellor to Queen Mary and Lord Controller of her Houshold Below this is Eay Eay that is the Island so call'd because 't is water'd on all sides where are seen the rubbish ruins and the decaying walls of a Monastery dedicated to St. Peter Book of Inquisitions and of an old Castle which belong'd to Robert Mallet a Norman Baron But when he was depriv'd of his dignity under Henry the first for siding with Robert Duke of Normandy against that King he bestow'd this Honour upon Stephen Count of Bologne who afterwards usurping the Crown of England left it to his son William Earl of Waren But after he 18 Having surrendâ—r'd his estate to King Henry 2. had lost his life in the Expedition of Tholose the Kings kept it in their own hands till Richard 1. gave it to Henry 5. of that name Duke of Brabant and Lorain with the grandchild of K. Stephen by a daughter who had been a Nun. A long time after when it return'd to the Kings of England Edward the third as I have heard gave it to Robert de Ufford Earl of Suffolk Nor must we pass by Bedingfield Bedingfield in the neighbourhood which gave name to a famous and ancient family that receiv'd much honour by the heir of Tudenham From thence along by Flixton Flixton for Felixton so nam'd among many others in this County from Foelix the first Bishop the river Waveney runs to Bungey Bungey and almost encompasses it Here Hugh Bigod when the seditious Barons put all England in an uproar fortify'd a Castle to the strength whereof nature very much contributed Of which he was wont to boast as if it were impregnable Were I in my Castle of Bungey Upon the River of Waveney I would ne care for the King of Cockeney Notwithstanding which he was afterwards forc'd to compound for a great sum of money and hostages with Henry the second to save it from being demolisht Next not far from the banks we meet with Mettingham Mettingham where in a plain a square Castle with a College in it was built by the Lord of the place John sirnam'd de Norwich whose daughter and afterward heir of the family was marry'd to Robert de Ufford Earl of Suffolk to whom she brought a fair estate Now the Waveney drawing nearer the Sea while it tries in vain to break a double passage into the Ocean the one along with the river Yare the other through the lake Luthing makes a pretty large Peninsula call'd by some Lovingland but by others more truly Luthingland Luthingland from that long and spatious lake Luthing which beginning at the Sea-side empties it self into the river Yare At the beginning of this Lestoffe Lestoffe a little town hangs as it were over the sea and at the end of it is Gorlston where I saw the tower of a small ruinated religious House which is of some use to the Sea men More inward upon the Yare is Somerley Somerley formerly as I was told the seat of the Fitz-Osberts from whom it came to the knightly and famous family of the Jerneganes A little higher where the Yare and Waveney joyn there flourish'd Cnobersburg i.e. as Bede interprets it the City of Cnoberus Cnoberi Urbs. we call it at this day Burghcastell Which as Bede has it by the vicinity of woods and sea was a very pleasant Castle wherein a Monastery was built by Fursaeus the Scot. By his perswasions Sigebert was induc'd to quit the Throne and betake himself to a Monastick life but afterwards being drawn against his will out of this Monastery to encourage his own men in a battel against the Mercians he was cut off ‖ Una cum suis with all his company Now there is nothing in the place but broken walls almost square built of flints and British brick It is quite overgrown with briars and thorns amongst which they now and then dig up Roman coins so that it seems to have been one of those Forts which the Romans built upon the river Garienis against the Saxon-Piracies or rather indeed the very Garianonum where the Stablesian horse had their station l Suffolk has had Earls and Dukes Dukes and Earls of Suffolk of several Families There are some modern Authors who tell us that the Glanvils were formerly honour'd with that title but since they build upon no sure authority and the mistake is obvious nor does any thing of it appear
our Children let us briefly out of the Cambridge History make mention of themselves and their Colleges Colleges consecrated to good literature and their own lasting fame The story goes that Cantaber a Spaniard 375 years before Christ first founded this University and that Sebert K. of the East-Angles restor'd it in the year of our Lord 630. Afterwards it was a long time neglected and lay bury'd in the Danish troubles till all things reviv'd under the Norman Government Soon after d See a List of them in Fuller's Antiquities of this University p. 26. Inns Hostels and Halls were built for Students John Caiâ—â— tho' still without any Endowments But Hugh Balsham Bishop of Ely founded the first College call'd Peter-house in the year 1284. and endow'd it b Whose example was imitated by these following persons Richard Badew with the help of the Lady Elizabeth Clare Countess of Ulster founded Clare-hall in the year 1340 c The Lady Mary St. Paul Countess of Pembroke Pembroke-hall in the year 1347 d the Society of Friers in Corpus-Christi Corpus-Christi call'd also St. Benet's-College in the year 1346 e William Bateman Bishop of Norwich Trinity-hall about the year 1353 f Edmund Gonevil in the year 1348 and John Caius Dr. of Physick in our time Gonevil and Caius-College g Henry the seventh King of England King's College with a Chapel deservedly reckon'd one of the finest buildings in the world in the year 1441 h the Lady Margaret of Anjou his wife Queen's College in the year 1448 i Robert Woodlark Katherine-hall in the year 1459 k John Alcocke Bishop of Ely Jesus-College in the year 1497 l The Lady Margaret 1 Above Caxton before-mention'd is Eltesley where was in elder Ages a Religious House of holy Virgins among whom was celebrated the incertain memory of Saint Pandionia the daughter of a Scottish King as the tradition is â—ut long since they were translatâ—d to Hinchinbroke And again above Eltesley was the Priory of Swasey founded for black â—ents by Alan la Zouch brother to the Vicâ—unt of Rohan in the Lesser Britain and was the common sepulture a long time for the family of Zâ—uch Countess of Richmond and mother to Henry the seventh Christ-College m and St. John's about the year 1506 now fairly enlarg'd with new buildings n Thomas Awdley Lord Chancellor of England Magdalen-College in the year 1542 since enlarg'd and endow'd by Sir Christopher Wrey Lord Chief Justice of England o the high and mighty Prince Henry the eighth Trinity-College in the year 1546 out of three others St. Michael's College built by Hervie of Stanton in Edward the second 's days King's-hall founded by Edward the third and Fishwick's-Hostel That the Students might have a more delightful habitation this College is now repair'd or rather new-built with that splendour and magnificence by the great care of T. Nevill its worthy Master and Dean of Canterbury that it is now for spaciousness for uniformity and beauty in the buildings scarce inferiour to any in Christendom and he himself may be counted truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the judgment even of the greatest Philosopher for neglecting private Interests and laying out such large sums on the publick p I cannot but congratulate our present age and our selves too in respect of ingenuous Learning and in that worthy and prudent man Sir Walter Mildmay one of the Queen 's honourable Privy-Council who has founded a new College dedicated to Emanuel q and in the Lady Frances Sidney Countess of Sussex r who by her last Will gave a Legacy of five thousand pound to the founding of a College to be call'd Sidney-Sussex which is now quite finish'd s I shall say nothing of the Monasteries and Religious Houses since they were but of small note except it be Barnwell-Abby Barnwell which Sir Payne Peverell a famous Soldier and Standard bearer to Robert Duke of Normandy in the holy-war in Henry the first 's reign remov'd from St. Giles's Church the place of Picot the Sheriff's Institution of Secular Priests to this place and brought in 30 Monks according to the years of his age at that time If you please you may find the reason of its name in the private History of this place Paâ—well Hâ—â—â—ry Payne Peverell obtain'd a grant of Henry 1. for a spot of ground without the Burrough of Cambridge in the midst of it were extraordinary clear fountains or wells in English call'd Barnwell that is the Wells of Children or Barns as they were then call'd for young men and boys met once a year upon St. John's Eve for wrestling and the like youthful exercises according to the customs of the land and also to make merry together with singing and other musick Now by this means the concourse of boys and girls that met here for sport it grew a custom for a great many buyers and sellers to repair hither at the same time e Now it is commonly call'd Midsummer-Fair Tho' Cambridge was consecrated to the Muses yet it has not always escap'd the furies of Mars for when the Danes ravag'd up and down they often took Winter-quarters here and in the year 1010 when Sueno the Dane had with a desperate rage born down all before him neither it 's Fame nor the Muses could protect it tho' we read that Athens met with a better fate from Sylla but it was all barbarously laid in Ashes However at the first coming in of the Normans it was reasonably well peopl'd for we find in William the Conquerour's Domesday-book that the Burough of Grentbridge is divided into ten Wards and contains 387 dwelling-houses but 18 of 'em were pull'd down to build the Castle t when William 1. determin'd to erect Castles in all parts to be a curb to his new-conquer'd English u It likewise suffer'd very much afterwards in the Barons wars by those Out-laws from the Isle of Ely therefore Henry 3. to put a stop to their incursions order'd a deep ditch to be thrown up on the East-side of the town which still goes by the name of f Now there are but very little remains of this Ditch houses being built on both sides of it and the name it self seems clean forgotten among the Inhabitants King's-ditch Here possibly some may secretly expect to hear my opinion concerning the antiquity of this University but I 'll not meddle in the case nor am I willing to make any comparisons between our two flourishing Universities which have none to rival them that I know of I 'm afraid those have built castles in the air that have made Cantaber the founder of this University immediately after the building of Rome and long before Christ's time straining the antiquity beyond all probability This is undeniable let its original be when it will that it began at last to be a Nursery for Learning about the reign of Henry 1. which appears by an old Appendix of Peter Blesensis to Ingulph Joffred made Abbot
seu foliis gramineis ramosum An gramineum ramosum C. B. J. B. Park Millefolium tenuifolium Ger. emac. ico Fine or Fennel-leav'd Pondweed In the river Cam plentifully Pulsatilla Anglica purpurea Park parad flore minore Ger. minore nigricante C. B. flore clauso caeruleo J. B. Common or English Pasque-flower On Gogmagog-hills on the left hand of the way leading from Cambridge to Haveril just on the top of the hill also about Hildersham six miles from Cambridge Ranunculus flammeus major Ger. palustris flammeus major Park longifolius palustris major C. B. longo folio maximus Lingua Plinii J. B. Great Spear-wort In some ditches at Teversham-moor and abundantly in many great ditches in the fens in the Isle of Ely Ribes nigrum vulgò dictum folio olente J. B. fructu nigro Park Grossularia non spinosa fructu nigro C. B. Black Currans Squinancy-berries By the river-side at Abington Rorella sive Ros soliis folis oblongis J. B. Park folio oblongo C. B. Long-leav'd Rosa solis or Sun-dew On Hinton-moor about the watery places plentifully Salix humilior foliis angustis subcaeruleis ut plurimum sibi invicem oppositis Salix tenuior folio minore utrinque glabro fragilis J. B. The yellow dwarf-willow By the horse-way-side to Cherry-hinton in the Close just by the water you pass over to go thither Scordium J. B. C. B. Ger. legitimum Park Water Germander In many ditches in the Isle of Ely and in the Osier-holts about Ely-city Also in a ditch on the left hand of the road leading from Cambridge to Histon about the mid-way S. Sesamoides Salamanticum magnum Ger. The greater Spanish Catchfly Near the Gravel-pits as you go to the nearest Windmill on the North-side of Newmarket-town This place may be in Suffolk Solanum lethale Park Ger. melanocerasos C. B. manicum multis sive Bella donna J. B. Deadly Nightshade or Dwale In the lanes about Fulborn plentifully Thalictrum minus Ger. Park C. B. minus sive Rutae pratensis genus minus semine striato J. B. The lesser Meadow-Rue About Newmarket and also about Bartlow and Linton in the chalky grounds Trifolium echinatum arvense fructu minore C. B. Medica echinata minima J. B. echinata parva recta Park malè non enim erigitur The smallest Hedgehog-Trefoil In an old gravel-pit in the corn-field near Wilborham Church also at Newmarket where the Sesamoides Salamanticum grows Trifolium sylvestre luteum siliquâ cornutâ vel Medica frutescens C. B. Medica sylvestris J. B. frutescens sive flavo flore Clusii Park Yellow-medick with flat wreathed cods In many places among the corn as between Linton and Bartlow by the road sides between Cambridge and Trumpinton near the river about Quoy Church and Wilborham c. Verbascum nigrum flore è luteo purpurascente C. B. nigrum flore luteo apicibus purpureis J. B. nigrum Ger. nigrum salvifolium luteo flore Lob. Sage-leav'd black Mullein In many places about Gogmagog-hills towards Linton as by the lanes sides and in the closes about Abington Shelford c. Veronica picata recta minor J. B. Spicata minor C. B. mas erecta Park assurgens sive spica Ger. Upright male Speedwell or Fluellin In several closes on Newmarket-heath as in a close near the beacon on the left hand of the way from Cambridge to Newmarket HVNTINGDONSHIRE AT the back of Cambridgeshire lyes the County of Huntingdon by the Saxons call'd huntedunescyre by the common people Huntingdonshire situated so as to have Bedfordshire on the South Northamptonshire on the West as likewise on the North where it is parted by the river Avon and Cambridgeshire on the East a It is a very good Corn Country and for feeding ground the fenny part of the East is fatter than ordinary the rest mighty pleasant by reason of its swelling hills and shady groves in ancient times woody all over according to the report of the Inhabitants That it was a Forest till the beginning of Henry 2. is evident by an old Survey All except Waybridge Sapple and Herthei which were Woods of the Lords demain is still Forest b HUNTINGTON SHIRE By Robt. Morden It is the same place that J. Picus an ancient writer speaks of when he says That King Alfred gain'd such advantages over the Danes that they gave what security he demanded either to leave the Land or turn Christians Which was put in execution for Guthrum the King whom they call Gormond thirty of his Nobility and almost all his people were baptiz'd and himself adopted Alfred 's God-son and call'd by the name of Athelâ—â—an Upon this he settl'd here and had the Provinces of the East-Angles and Northumbers bestow'd on him now to protect them as their lawful Soveraign which before he had wasted as a Robber Nor must it be pass'd over that some of these old writers have call'd this city Gumicester and Gumicastrum positively affirming that Machute had his Episcopal See at this place d 1 And by the name of Gumicester King Henry 3. granted it to his son Edmund Earl of Lancaster Ouse hastning its course frâ—m hence nigh Cambridgeshire glides through pleasant meadows where is a pretty neat town formerly by the Saxons call'd Slepe now St. Ives St. Ives from Ivo a Persian Bishop who they write about the year 600 travell'd over England with a great reputation of sanctity all the way carefully preaching the Gospel and left his name to this place where he left his body too Soon after the Religious remov'd that from hence to Ramsey-Abby e Turning almost three miles on one side I saw Somersham Somersham a large Palace of late belonging to the Bishop of Ely given to the Church of Ely by Earl Brithnot in the year 991 and enlarg'd with new buildings by that every-way-prodigal Bishop James Stanley d It is now in the possession of Anthony Hamond Esq of the ancient family of that name in Kent A little higher stood the famous rich Abby of e In Saxon Ramesige Ramsey among the fenns where the rivers stagnate in a soft kind of grounds For a description of this place you may have it in short out of the private History of the Abby Ramsey Ramsey that is the Rams Isle on the West-side for on all others there are nothing but impassible fens for a great way together it is separated from firm ground almost two Bow shots by rough Quagmires Which place formerly up a shallow river us'd to receive Vessels into the midst of it by gentle gales of wind but now with great pains and cost these clay Quagmires are stopped with large quantities of wood gravel and stone and footmen may pass upon a firm Causey almost two miles long but less in breadth surrounded with Alders which with fresh green Reeds intermix'd with Bulrushes make a beautiful shew long before it was inhabited it was all cover'd over with several sorts of trees but with wild Ashes in
Râ—â—land of this family John departed this life Sept. 29. 1679. and left this title to his only son John the present Earl of Rutland LINCOLNSHIRE THIS County of Lincoln borders upon Rutland on the East call'd by the Saxons Lincollscyre by the Normans upon their first entrance into this Island by a transposal of Letters Nicolshire but commonly now Lincolnshire 'T is a very large County being almost sixty miles long and in some places above thirty broad fitted by the mildness of the air for the produce of corn and feeding of cattel adorn'd with many towns and water'd with many rivers On the East-side it shoots out a †Supercilium foreland of great compass which bounds upon the German Ocean on the North it reaches as far as the Abus or Humber an arm of the sea on the West it joyns to Nottinghamshire and on the South 't is parted from Northamptonshire by the river Welland The whole County is divided into three parts Holland Kesteven and Lindsey as we in our language call it a Holland Holland which Ingulphus calls Hoiland is next the sea and like Holland in Germany is so very moist in many places that the print of one's foot remains in it and the surface it self shakes if stampt on from whence it may seem to have took its name unless with Ingulphus one would have Hoiland to be the right name and that it deriv'd it from the Hay made here 1 With our Progenitors broadly call'd Hoy. b All this part lyes upon that Estuary which Ptolemy calls Metaris Metaris instead of Maltraith at this day The Washes The Washes This Estuary is very large and famous cover'd with water at every flowing of the tide and passable again at every ebb tho' not without danger as King John to his own loss experienc'd for whilst in the Barons war he attempted to pass here he lost all his carriages and furniture near Foss-dyke and Welstream by a sudden inundation as Matthew of Westminster tells us This part of the County call'd Silt which the Inhabitants from the great heaps of sand believe to have been forsaken by the sea is so assaulted on one side with the ocean and on the other with a mighty flood of waters which drain from the higher Country that all the winter they constantly watch it and can hardly with their cast-up banks defend themselves against those dangerous enemies The ground produceth very little corn but much grass and is well stor'd with fish and sea-fowl but the soil is so soft that they work their horses unshod and you shall not find so much as a little stone which has not been brought from some other place yet however the Churches here are beautiful and well built of square stone 'T is very evident from the banks cast up against the waters now distant two miles from the shore and from the hills near Sutterton which they call Salt-hills Salt-hillâ— that the sea came further up Here is great want of fresh water in all places having no other supply but the rain water in pits which if deep soon turn the water brackish if shallow grow presently dry Here are many quick-sands Qâ—ick-sands and the Shepherds and their flocks are often with great danger made sensible that they have a wonderful force in sucking in any thing that comes upon them and retaining it fast LINCOLNSHIRE by Roâ—â— Mâ—rden â—â—l's of â—â—wland If out of the same Author I should describe the Devils of Crowland with their blubber lips fiery mouths scaly faces beetle heads sharp teeth long chins hoarse throats black skins hump shoulders big bellys burning loins bandy legs tail'd buttocks c. that formerly haunted these places and very much troubled Guthlacus and the Monks you 'd laugh perhaps at the story and much more at my madness in telling it Since the situation and nature of the place is strange and different from all others in England and the Monastery particularly famous in former times I shall give you the description of it somewhat at large This Crowland lyes in the fenns so enclos'd and encompass'd with deep bogs and pools that there is no access to it but on the north and east-side and these by narrow Causeys This Monastery and Venice if we may compare things of such different size and proportion have the same situation It consists of three streets separated each from the other by water-courses planted with willows built on piles driven into the bottom of the pool having communication by a triangular bridge curiously built under which the inhabitants say there was a very deep pit dig'd to receive the concourse of waters there Beyond the bridge where as one words it †â—n â—ilum â—atur 〈◊〉 the bog is become firm ground stood formerly that famous Monastery of very small compass about which unless on that side where the town stands the ground is so rotten and boggy that a pole may be thrust down thirty foot deep there is nothing round about it but reeds and next the Church a grove of alders However the town is pretty well inhabited but the cattel are kept far from it so that when the owners milk them they go in boats that will carry but two call'd by them Skerrys Their greatest gain is from the fish and * Anatum 〈◊〉 wild Ducks that they catch which are so many that in August they can drive at once into a single net 3000 ducks they call these pools their corn fields for there is no corn grows within five miles For this liberty of taking of fish and fowl they formerly paid yearly to the Abbot as they do now to the King three hundred pounds sterling 'T is not necessary to write the private history of this Monastery for 't is extant in Ingulphus now printed yet I am willing to make a short report of that which Peter Blesensis * â—â—â—e-â—anâ—â—ius Vice-chancellour to King Henry the second among other things related concerning the first building of this Monastery in the year 1112. to the end that by one single precedent we may learn by what means and supplys so many rich and stately Religious-houses were built in all parts of this kingdom Joffrid the Abbot obtain'd of the Arch-bishops and Bishops of England an Indulgence to every one that helped forward so religious a work for the third part of the penance enjoyn'd for the sins he had committed With this he sent out Monks every where to pick up money and having enough he appointed St. Perpetua's and Felicity's day to be that in which he would lay the foundation to the end the work from some fortunate name might be auspiciously begun At which time the Nobles and Prelates with the common People met in great numbers Prayers being said and Anthems sung the Abbot himself laid the first corner stone on the East-side after him every noble man according to his degree laid his stone some laid money others Writings by
Bredon hills Bredon hills tho' much lesser than those of Malvern rise with a sort of emulation Upon these appears Elmley Elmley-castle a Castle once belonging to Ursus or Urso d'Abtot by whose daughter and heir Emeline it descended to the Beauchamps At the foot of these hills stands Breodun touching whose Monastery Offa King of the Mercians saith I Offa King of the Mercians will give 35 acres of tributary land to the Monastery which is called Breodun in the Province of the Wiccians and to the Church of St. Peter Prince of the Apostles in that place which my grandfather Eanwulf built to the glory and praise of the everliving God Under Bredon hills to the south lies Washborn VVashborn a village or two which gives the sirname to an ancient and gentile family in these parts They lye in a spot of this County quite severed from the main body And divers other like parcels Parcel 〈◊〉 the Shiâ— severed from thâ— rest of tâ— body lie up and down dispersed the reason I know not unless it were this That the Governours of this County in elder times having estates of their own lying near annex'd them to the County which they govern'd q A little higher runs the river Avon in its way to Severn in this County it waters Eovesham â—â—â—ham which the Monkish writers tell us had its name from Eoves swineherd to Egwine Bishop of Worcester being formerly called Eath-home 〈…〉 â—â—â—esham â—â—â—tery 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 1157. and Heath-field a very neat town seated on a gentle ascent from the river Bengworth Castle anciently stood at the bridge-foot as it were in its suburbs which William d'Audeville Abbot recovering from William Beauchamp did utterly demolish and caused the ground to be consecrated for a Churchyard The town is famous for this Monastery which Egwine by the help of King Kenred son of Wolfer King of the Mercians built about the year 700 as also for the Vale of Evesham 〈◊〉 â—â—eâ—ham lying about it and taking its name from the town which for its fruitfulness is justly stiled the Graâ—ary of these parts so liberal is the soil in affording the best corn in great abundance In more ancient times this town was very famous for the overthrow of the Barons and of Simon Mountfort E. 〈…〉 of Leicester our English Cataline He being a person of a very bad temper and extremely perfidious taught us by experience the truth of that saying Favours are esteemed obligations no longer than they can be requited For when King Hen. 3. had with a liberal hand heaped all possible favours upon him and given him his own sister to wife he had no other returns from him than most implacable hatred For he raised a most dangerous war and miserably wasted a great part of England under pretence of redressing grievances and asserting its liberties leaving no method unpractis'd whereby he might depose the King and change the government from a Monarchy to an Oligarchy But after he had prospered a while in his enterprize he with many others of his party fell in this place being subdued in a pitch'd battel by the valour of Prince Edward And instantly as tho' the sink of mischiefs had been cleansed a welcome peace which he had banished every where appeared r â—265 Hard by upon the same river lyeth Charleton â—â—â—on once the estate of a famous Knightly family the Hansacres but now of the Dinlies or Dinglies who being descended of an ancient family of that name in Lancashire came to it by inheritance c The Dinglies continue to this day at Charleton A little lower in the primitive times of our English Church there was another Religious-house then Fleodanbyrig now Fladbury 〈…〉 and near this Pershore in Saxon Periscoran named from the Pear-trees which as that excellent Historian William of Malmesbury informs us Egelward Duke of Dorset a man of a generous spirit and wholly devoted to pious munificence built and finished in K. Edgar's time But alas what vast losses hath it since sustained part the ambition of great men hath seized part is forgotten and lost and a very considerable part of its possessions King Edward and William bestowed on Westminster 5 Then receiveth Avon a riveret from the north upon which stands Hodington a seat of the Winters of which were Robert Winter and his brother Thomas who whenas they were in the Gunpowder Treason c. Dr. Holland having led me to Hadington I cannot pass by Henlip a fair seat of the Abingtons remarkable for the taking of Garnet and Oldcorn two eminent Jesuits concerned in the Powder-Plot who after many days fruitless search were found in a cavity of a wall over a Chimney In the same house was written that obscure Letter to the Lord Mounteagle by Mrs. Abingdon his sister which gave some light into the horrid design The present owner Thomas Abingdon Esquire hath in his hands a large description of Worcestershire written by his grandfather an able and industrious Antiquary the publication whereof hath been impatiently expected from him above these 20 years Hence Avon runs smoothly down by Strensham d Strensham is still enjoyed by the same family a seat of the Russels an ancient family of the degree of Knights and so dischargeth it's waters into Severn Hereabouts in the south part of the Shire lies Oswalds-law-hundred â—â—â—ds 〈◊〉 hunâ—â—ed so called from Oswald Bishop of Worcester who obtained it of Edgar the immunities whereof are thus registred in the Survey of England which William the Conquerour made The Church of St. Mary in Wircester hath a Hundred called Oswalds-low in which lye 300 Hide-land where the Bishop of this Church hath by very long prescription all the Services and customary duties pertaining to the Lords Pourveyance the King's service and his own so that no Sheriff may hold a Court there in any plea or other cause whatsoever This is attested by the whole County s There is a place somewhere in this County but not certainly known called Augustines-ac i.e. Augustine's Oak at which Augustine the Apostle of the English and the British Bishops met and having for some time disputed about the keeping of Easter preaching Gods word to the English A. D. 60â— and administring the Sacrament of Baptism after the rites of the Church of Rome in conclusion both sides went away dissatisfied t This Province after the Norman Conquest had for its first Sheriff Urso d'Abtot Earls of VVorcester D. Abtot to whom and his heirs King William 1. gave large possessions together with that honour Roger his son succeeded him who as William of Malmesbury reports enjoyed his father's possessions and was divested of them falling under the heavy displeasure of King Henry 1. because in a furious passion he had commanded one of the King's Officers to be put to death But this dignity of Sheriff by Emeline Sister to this Roger descended to the family of the Beauchamps
the same form with the Tumulus it self on the edge whereof the same Author observ'd ashes and charcoal in their true colours and several pieces of bones in the middle of it so friable that they would crumble betwixt the fingers Which plainly proves it to be Roman unless which does not appear the Saxons or Danes ever burnt their dead bodies e Upon the Roman-way near Lichfield we find a village call'd Wall which is suppos'd to have taken that name from the fragments of an old wall upon the north-side of Watlingstreet Mr. Camden does rightly suppose it to be the Etocetum a Etocetum of Antoninus and the two ancient pavements wherein there appear Roman bricks with the remains of Antiquity discover'd at Chesterfield on the other side of the way put it beyond all dispute f The next Station in this County is Pennocrucium Pennocrucium which Mr. Camden had encouragement enough both from Antoninus's distances and the affinity of the old and new names to settle at Penkridge Penkridge and yet one objection it 's lying from the Great way at least two miles considering the design of these Stations goes very hard against it Stretton as Dr. Plot has settl'd it which has the advantage of standing upon the Way may no doubt lay a juster claim to it The name too favours the conjecture for a little experience will teach any one thus much that where Street or Chester is part of the name a man shall seldom lose his labour in the search after Antiquities A little below the Way southward near Fetherstone in the parish of Brewood was found a brass-head of the bolt of a Catapulta another was likewise discover'd at Bushbury a third in the biggest of the Lows upon the Morridge and a fourth at Hundsworth all of brass and much of the same form which Dr. Plot has given us in the 5th Figure of his 33d Table From this it is certain that all these are Roman Tumuli and probably places of some action g From the directions of the Way let us pass to the head of the great river Trent near which is Newcastle under Lyme New-castle under Lyme built in Hen. 3.'s time by the Earl of Lancaster and so call'd in respect of another at a little distance Chesterton under Lyme where Mr. Camden found an old Castle half demolish'd but now nothing but some very obscure remains are to be seen h From hence the river leads us to Darlaston Darlaston where in a place call'd Berry-bank on the top of a hill are the ruins of a large castle fortify'd with a double vallum and entrenchments about 250 yards diameter This according to tradition was the seat of Ulfere King of Mercia who murther'd his two sons for embracing Christianity The whole passage at large see in Dr. Plot 's History of Staffordshire p. 407. The next place we meet with memorable is Cank Cank or Cannockwood upon the edge whereof in the park at Beaudesart there remains a large fortification call'd the Castle-hill encompass'd with a double agger and trench which are in a manner circular except on the south-east side What Dr. Plot conjectures is highly probable that it was cast up by Canutus when he made such dismal waste of those parts as our Historians talk of i Our next guide is the river Sow about the head whereof is Blore heath Blore heath where a stone set up in memory of James Lord Audley deserves our notice He was slain in that place fighting against the Earl of Salisbury in the quarrel of Hen. 6. in which battel no less than 2400 were slain upon the spot k From hence this river directs us to Eccleshall Eccleshall the castle whereof was either built from the foundation or at least repair'd by Walter de Longton Bishop of Lichfield and Lord High Treasurer of England in the reign of Edw. 1. Not far from which is Wotton where is a high-pav'd way which Dr. Plot imagines to have been a Roman Via Vicinalis or by-way from one town to another l Going nearer to Stafford we meet with Ellenhall Ellenhall famous for the family of the Noels of the male-heirs whereof are still remaining those of Hilcote-Hardby as also Baptist Earl of Gainsburrough and some others m Nearer the Trent upon the same river lies Stafford Stafford where Ethelfled the Mercian Queen built a Castle whereof there is nothing remaining that upon the hill at a mile's distance from the town being built by Ranulph or Ralph the first Earl of Stafford a long time after And Mr. ‖ View of Staffordshire Erdswick concludes he only re-edify'd the Castle and not new built it because he had seen a certain Deed dated from the Castle near Stafford long before the days of Earl Ralph But Dr. Plot is of opinion that the old Castle there mention'd might rather stand within the entrenchment at Billington which perhaps says he may be only the remains of this Castle the lands wherein these entrenchments are being not far distant and still remaining a part of the demesne land of the Barony of Stafford n Near the meeting of Sow and Trent is Tixal not far from whence stands Ingestre Ingestre an ancient seat of the family of the Chetwinds the last owner of which who dy'd without issue A. D. 1693. was Walter Chetwind Esq a Gentleman eminent as for his ancient family and great hospitality so for his admirable skill in Antiquities the History of Staffordshire receiving great encouragement from him He was likewise a person of a charitable and publick spirit as appear'd by new building the Parish-Church of Ingestre after a very beautiful manner and also adding to the Vicarage such tythes as remain'd in his hands o About four miles from the Trent lies Lichfield Lichfield where a thousand Christians who had been instructed instructed by S. Amphibalus in a place call'd Christianfield were martyr'd and their bodies left unburied to be devour'd by birds and beasts from whence the City bears for their Device an Escocheon of Landskip with many Martyrs in it in several manners massacred This place since our Author's time has given the honourable title of Earl first to Bernard Stewart youngest son of Esme Duke of Lennox and Earl of March created in the 21th year of Charles the first Being slain at the battel at Rowton-heath in Cheshire he was succeeded by Charles Stewart his nephew who dy'd Ambassadour in Denmark in 1672. About two years after the title was conferr'd upon Edward Henry Lee created June 5. 1674. Baron of Spellesbury Vicount Quarendon and Earl of Lichfield Not far from hence is Streethey Streethey the name whereof seems to be taken from its situation upon the old way call'd Ikenild-street * Plot 's Staffordshire p 402. and its distance from Streeton another town lying upon the same road and claiming the same antiquity on account of its name being about 12 miles
the People Tacitus Tacitus imagines them to have come first from Iberia upon account of their * Colorati vultus ruddy complexion their curl'd hair and their situation over against Spain But Florianus del Campo a Spaniard is very positive in that matter and takes a great deal of pains to find the Silures in Spain and to obtrude upon us I know not what stories about Soloria and Siloria among the old Astures However this Country was very large for it seems probable from Pliny and Tacitus that they were possess'd of all South-Wales and the Inhabitants were hardy stout warlike averse to servitude of great boldness and resolution term'd by the Romans †Pervicacia obstinacy and stubbornness not to be wrought upon either by threats or kindness and their posterity have not degenerated in any of these particulars When the Romans out of an itching desire of enlarging their Empire made attempts upon them See pag. xlvii they partly reposing a confidence in the courage and conduct of King Caratacus and partly incens'd by a saying of Claudius the Emperour That they were to be as entirely routed as the Sugambri had been engag'd the Romans in a very troublesome and difficult war For having intercepted the Auxiliary Troops cut off the Legion under Marius Valens and wasted the territories of their Allies P. Ostorius Propraetor in Britain was quite wore out with all these crosses and dy'd of grief Veranius too who govern'd Britain under Nero was baffled in this enterprize against them For where Tacitus says Tacit. Annal L. XIV Illum modicis excursibus Sylvas populatum esse that he destroy'd and wasted the woods with slight excursions instead of Sylvas with the Learned Lipsius only read Siluras and all 's right Nor could an end be made of this war before Vespasian's reign For then Julius Frontinus subdu'd them and kept them quiet by garisons of the Legions A certain Countryman of ours has wrested that verse of Juvenal upon Crispinus to these Silures magnâ qui voce solebat Vendere municipes fractâ de merce Siluros Who with hideous cry Bawl'd out his broken Sturgeon in the streets As if some of our Silures had been taken prisoners and expos'd to sale at Rome But take it upon my word he has mistook the genuine sense of the Poet. For any one that reads that passage with attention will quickly perceive that by Siluros he designs to express a sort of Fish and not a People HEREFORDSHIRE HErefordshire call'd by the Britains Ereinuc is in a manner of a circular form bounded on the East with the Counties of Worcester and Glocester on the South with Monmouth on the West with Radnor and Breknock and on the North with Shropshire A Country besides its pleasantness both for feeding of Cattel and produce of Corn every where of an excellent soil and admirably well provided with all necessaries for life Insomuch that it may scorn to come behind any County in England for fruitfulness of soil 1 And therefore says that for three W. W. W. Wheat Wooll and Water it yieldeth to no Shire of England To which excellencies are to be added its fine rivers the Wye the Lug and the Munow which after they have water'd the verdant flow'ry meadows and rich and fruitful corn-fields at last have their conflux and in one chanel pass to the Severn-Sea a 〈◊〉 River 〈◊〉 The Munow has its rise in Hatterell-hills which shooting up aloft look as it were like a Chair and are a sort of wall to this Shire on the South-west-side Hence the river descending first struggles Southward along the foot of these hills 〈◊〉 to Blestium a town so plac'd by Antoninus that both for situation and distance it can be no other than that which standing upon this river 〈◊〉 Town is by the Britains call'd Castle Hean that is the Old Castle by us The old Town An inconsiderable village but nevertheless this new name makes much for its antiquity for in both tongues it sounds an Old Castle or Town Next to this lyes Alterynnis surrounded with water Alterynnis the Seat of the Cecils as it were an Island in a river the seat in former ages of the ancient and knightly family of the Sitsilters or Cecils whence my right honourable Patron highly accomplisht with all the Ornaments of Virtue Wisdom and Nobility Sir William Cecil Baron of Burghley and Lord High Treasurer of England is descended From hence the Munow turning Eastward for a good way parts this Province from Monmouthshire and is augmented by the river Dore at Map-Harald or Harald Ewias Harald-Ewias a Castle This Ewias-Castle to give you the words of King William the first 's Book was repair'd by Alured of Marleberg The Family of Ewias Afterwards it belonged to one Harald a Nobleman who Their Arms. in a Shield Argent bore a Fess Gules between three Estoiles Sable from whom it first took the name of Harold Ewias but Sibyll his Great-grand-daughter and one of the heirs transferr'd it by marriage to the Lords Tregoz Tregoz and Grandison from whom it came at length to the Lords of Grandison originally of Burgundy of whom elsewhere Now the Dore above-mentioned falling down from the North by Snotthill a castle Gidden Vale. and sometimes the Barony of Robert Chandois where there is a Quarry of excellent Marble cuts through the middle of the valley which the Britains from the river call Diffrin Dore but the English that they might seem to express the force of that word have term'd it The Golden Vale. Which name it may well be thought to deserve for its golden rich and pleasant fertility For the hills that encompass it on both sides are clothed with woods under the woods lye corn-fields on each hand and under those fields lovely and gallant meadows In the middle between them glides a clear and crystal river on which Robert Earl of Ewias erected a fine Monastery wherein most of the Nobility and Gentry of these parts were buried Part of this County which bends towards the East now call'd Irchenfeld Irchenfeld in Domesday Archenfeld was as Historians write laid waste with fire and sword by the Danes in the year 715 Camalac a British Bishop being then carried away captive Herein once stood Kilpec a noted castle the seat of the noble family of the Kilpec's Kilpec who as some report were Champions to the Kings of England in the beginning of the Normans which I am very willing to believe In the reign of Edward the first Robert Wallerond liv'd here whose ‖ Nepos nephew Alane Plugenet was honourd with the title of a Baron In this Archenfeld likewise as we read in Domesday-book certain Revenues by an old custom were assigned to one or two Priests on this condition that they should go in Embassies for the Kings of England into Wales and to use the words of the said Book The men
original Charter it self still extant in the Cottonian Library and publisht by Sir Roger Twisden at the end of the Hist Eccles Sim Dunelm abundantly testifie 684 gave with the ground three miles round it to S. Cuthbert by whom it came to the Church of Durham Scarce four miles from hence Sherry-hutton Sherry-hutton a very neat Castle built by 9 Sir Bertrand Bulmer Bertrand de Bulmer and repair'd by Ralph Nevill first Earl of Westmorland is pleasantly seated among the woods near which is †This Castle was a great part of it lately burnt down Hinderskell Hinderskel a Castle built by the Barons of Greystock which others call ‖ Centum fontes Hunderd-skell from the many fountains that spring there Behind the hills to the Westward where the Country falls again into a level and the fields are more fruitful North Alvertonshire lyes Alvertonshire commonly North-Allerton a small territory water'd by the little river Wiske It takes its name from the town of Northalverton formerly Ealfertun which is nothing but a long street yet the most throng Beast-fair upon St. Bartholomew's day that ever I saw King William Rufus gave this place with the fields about it to the Church of Durham to the Bishops whereof it is much obliged For William Comin who forcibly possess'd himself of the See of Durham built the Castle there and gave it to his nephew which is almost decay'd The Bishops likewise his Successors endow'd it with some privileges For in the Book of Durham Cap. 1â— we find that Hugh de Puteaco Bishop of Durham fortified the Town having obtain'd this favour of the King that of all those unlawful Castles which by his order were then destroy'd up and down throughout England this alone should still be permitted to remain entire which notwithstanding the King afterwards commanded to be rased 113â— and laid even with the ground The Bâ— of Staâ—â—ard Near this was fought the battel commonly call d c One part of the History written by Richard Prior of Hexham bears the title De Bello Standardi Pits de Script Angl. p. 259. The Standard wherein David King of Scotland who by his unheaâ—d of cruelty had made this Country a mere desert Hovedâ— was put to flight with such slaughter of his men that the English themselves thought their revenge then at last sufficiently completed For what Ralph the Bishop said in his Exhortation to the English befoâ—e the fight was fully effected A multitude without discipline is a hindrance to it self either to hurt when they conquer or to escape when they are conquer'd This was call'd the Battel of Standard because the English being rang'd into a body about their Standard there receiv'd and bore the onset of the Scots and at last routed them Now this Standard as I have seen it dâ—awn in old books was a huge Chariot upon wheels with a * Maâ—â— mast of great height fix'd in it on the top whereof was a cross and under that hung a banner This was a signal only us'd in the greatest Expeditions and was lookt upon as the sacred Altar being indeed the very same with the Carrocium Carrocâ—â—â— among the Italians which was never to be used but when the very Empire it self lay at stake There is farther remarkable in this division Thresk Thresk commonly Thrusk which had formerly a very strong Castle where Roger de Mowbray began his rebellion and call d in the King of Scots to the destruction of his Country King Henry the second having very unadvisedly digg'd his own grave by taking his son into an equal share of the Government and Royalty But this Sedition was at last as it were quencht with blood and the Castle utterly demolisht so that I could see nothing of it there besides the rampire Another flame of Rebellion likewise broke out here in King Henry the seventh's reign For the lawless Rabble repining most grievously at that time that a small subsidy was laid on them by the Parliament drove away the Collectors of it and forthwith as such madness upon the least success spurs on without end or aim fell here upon Henry Percie Earl of Northumberland who was Lieutenant of this County Earl of Northâ—â—berland slain by 〈◊〉 Rebels and kill'd him then under the conduct of John Egremond their Leader took up Arms against their King and Country Yet it was not long before they were brought to such heavy punishments as were due to them Here hard by stands Soureby and Brakenbak belonging to the truly ancient and famous family of Lascelles Lascellâ—â— and more to the Southward Sezay formerly the estate of the Darells after that of the Dawnies who flourish'd long under the title of Knights The first and only Earl of Yorkshire after William Mallet and one or two Estotevills Earls 〈◊〉 Dukes oâ— York both of Norman extraction whom some would have to have been hereditary Viscounts here was Otho son of Henry Leon Duke of Bavaria and Saxony An. 1 R Hovedâ— by Maud the daughter of Henry the second King of England who was afterwards greeted Emperour by the name of Otho the fourth From whose brother William another son by Maud the Dukes of Brunswick Dukes oâ— Brunsâ—â—â—â— and Lunenburgh in Germany are descended who as an instance of this relation of theirs to the Kings of England us'd the same Arms with the first Kings of England that were of Norman descent namely two Leopards or Lions Or in a Shield Gules Long after this King Richard the second made Edmund of Langley fifth son to King Edward the third Duke of York who by one of the daughters of Peter King of Castile and Leon had two sons Edward the eldest in the life time of his father was first Earl of Cambridge after that Duke of Albemarle and last of all Duke of York who without issue lost his life valiantly in the battel of Agincourt in France Richard the second son was Earl of Cambridge he married Ann sister of Edmund Mortimer Earl of March whose grandmother likewise was the only daughter and heir of Leonel Duke of Clarence and attempting to set the Crown upon the head of his wife's brother Edmund was presently found out and beheaded as if he had been hired by the French to destroy King Henry the fifth Richard his son in the sixteenth year after by the great but unwary generosity of Henry the sixth â— 10 H. was fully restored as son of Richard the brother of Edward Duke of York and Cousin German to Edmund Earl of March. And now being Duke of York Earl of March and Ulster Lord of Wigmore Clare Trim and Conaght he grew to that pitch of boldness that whereas formerly he had sought the Kingdom privately by ill practices complaining of male-administration dispersing seditious rumours and libels entring into secret combinations by raising broils next to wars against the Government at last he claims it publickly
already mention'd Besides the Notitia Provinciarum places Gabrosentum Gabrâ—â—â—â—tum and in it the second Cohort of the Thracians ad lineam Valli within the very range of the Wall And 't is most certain that the Rampier and afterwards the Wall pass'd through this Town and at Pandon-gate there still remains as 't is thought one of the little Turrets of that very Wall 'T is indeed different from the rest both in fashion and masonry and seems to carry a very great age The name of Monk-chester is also an argument of its being a garrison'd Fort for so from the Monks it was call'd about the time of the Conquest Soon after it got the modern name of New-castle from that new castle which was here built by Robert son of William the Conquerour and within a while was mightily enlarg'd by a good trade on the coasts of Germany and by the sale of its sea-coal whereof this Country has great plenty into other parts of England In the reign of Edward the first a very rich Burger being carry'd off a prisoner by the Scots out of the middle of the town first paid a round ransom for himself and afterwards began the first fortifications of the place The rest of the townsmen mov'd by his example finish'd the work and wholly encompass'd themselves with good stout walls since which time this place has so securely manag'd her trade in spight of all the attempts of her enemies and the many neighbouring thieves that she is now in a most flourishing state of wealth and commerce s upon which account s King Richard the second granted that a sword should be carry'd before the Mayor and King Henry the sixth c. Henry the sixth made it a County incorporate of it self It lies in 21 degrees and 30 minutes longitude and in 54 and 57 of northern latitude We have already treated of the suburbs of Gateshead which is joyn'd to Newcastle by the bridge and belongs to the Bishop of Durham This town for its situation and plenty of sea-coal t so useful in it self and to which so great a part of England and the Low-Countries are indebted for their good fires is thus commended by Jonston in his Poems on the Cities of Britain NOVUM CASTRUM Rupe sedens celâ—â— rerum aut miracula spectat Naturae aut solerâ— distrahil illa â—liis Sedibus Aethereis quid frustra quaeritis ignem Hunc alit hunc terra suscitat ista sinu Non illum torvo terras qui turbine terret Sed qui animam Terris detque animos animis Eliquat hic ferrum aes hic aurum ductile fundit Quos non auri illex conciet umbra animos Quin aiunt auro permutat bruta metalla Alchimus hunc igitur praedicat esse Deum Si deus est ceu tu dictas divine magister Haec quot alit Quot alit Scotia nostra Deos NEW-CASTLE From her high rock great nature's works surveys And kindly spreads her goods through lands and seas Why seek you fire in some exalted sphere Earth's fruitful bosom will supply you here Not such whose horrid flashes scare the plain But gives enliv'ning warmth to earth and man It'n brass and gold its melting force obey Ah! whos e'er free from gold's almighty sway Nay into gold 't will change a baser ore Hence the vain Chymist deifies its power If 't be a god as is believ'd by you This place and Scotland more than Heaven can shew Scarce three miles hence for I take no notice of Gosseford which was the Barony of Richard Sur-Teis or Upon the Tees â—â—â—ons Sur 〈◊〉 a person of great repute under Henry the fiâ—sty stands a little village call'd Walls-end â—â—lls-end The very signification of the word proves this to have been the station of the q Read the First Cohort of the Frixagi for so says the Liber Notitiarum The second Cohort of the Thracians was just now rightly placed by our Author at Gabrosentum By the way there is an ill-contriv'd and incoherent Interpolation in Bede's Eccles Hist lib. 1. cap. 12. wherewith Buchanan and some other Scottish Writers seem to be mightily taken which if it proves any thing at all shews that Vindobala was by the Britains call'd Penvahel second Cohort of the Thracians which in the Liber Notitiarum is call'd Vindobalâ— â—â—â—dobala and by Antoninus Vindomora â—â—â—domora for the latter seems in the provincial language of the Britains to have signified the Walls-end and the former the Rampiers-end since they anciently nam'd a Wall Mur and a Ditch or Rampier Gual 6 Bal Val and Gual Nor is it likely that either the Ditch or the Wall went any further since they are not to be traced beyond this place and Tine being now near the sea carries so deep a chanel as may serve instead of the strongest Fort. Yet some will needs maintain that the Ditch tho' not the Wall reach'd as far as Tinmouth â—â—â—mouth which they assert was call'd Pen ball-crag that is the Head of the Rampier in the Rock This opinion I shall not gainsay however I dare confidently affirm that this place was in the time of the Romans call'd Tunnocellum â—â—â—nocelâ—â—â— which signifies as much as the Promontory of Tunna or Tina where the first Cohort Aelia Classica first rais'd as the name probably imports by Aelius Hadrianus was in pay for Sea-service for the Romans had their Naves Lusoriae â—â—ves Luâ—â—â—â—â—e or light Frigats in their border-rivers both for the suppressing of the excursions of the neighbouring enemy and the making incursions upon him as may be seen in the Codex Theodosii under the title De Lusoriis Danubii Under the Saxon Heptarchy it was called Tunnacester not as Bede affirms from r 'T is a pity the story of Tunna and his giving his name to Tunnacestir or Tunnanceastre should be discountenanc'd His praying of his quick brother out of true bonds instead of relieving his departed soul in Purgatory is one of the prettiest and most comical Miracles in Bede's whole-pack and what I cannot but recommend to the Reader for very good diversion Eccl. Hist lib. 4. cap. 22. Abbot Tunna but from the river Here was also a Å¿ After the Câ—nquest it became a Cell of St. Alban's The ruins of this Monastery are still to be seen within the Castle Here was formerly the Parish-Church but that being gone much to decay and the Parishioners in the late civil wars being often debarr'd the liberty of a free resort to it another was begun to be built in the year 1659. which was afterwards finish'd and consecrated by Bishop Cosins in the year 1668. little Monastery which was frequently plunder'd by the Danes 't is now nam'd Tinmouth-castle and glories in a stately and strong Castle which says an ancient Author is inaccessibly seated on a very high rock towards the Ocean on the east and north and elsewhere so well mounted that a slender garison makes
dedicated his Books of the Ecclesiastical History of England and who afterwards Rog. Hoveden renouncing the World took upon him the habit of a Monk in the Church of Lindisfern and listed himself a Souldier of the Kingdom of Heaven his body being afterwards translated to the Church of Northam When also the Danes had miserably wasted the Holy Issand wherein S. Cuthbert so much magnified by Bede was Bishop and lay buried some endeavour'd by a religious stealth to convey his body beyond Sea but the winds standing contrary they with all due reverence deposited the sacred Body at * The printed Books have corruptly Bulbeford Will. Malmesb de Gest Pont. lib. 1. Ubbanford whether a Bishop's See or no is uncertain near the river Twede where it lay for many years till the coming of King Ethelred This and other matters were taught me for I shall always own my Instructors by George Carlton born at this place being son to the Keeper of Norham-Castle whom for his excellent Proficiency in Divinity whereof he is Professor and other polite Learning I love and am lov'd by him and I were unworthy of that love if I should not acknowledge his Friendship The old people told us that at Killey Killay a little neighbouring Village below Norham were found within the memory of our Grandfathers the studds of a Knight's Belt A golden Hilt and the hilt of a Sword of massie Gold which were presented to T. Ruthall Bishop of Durham A little lower you have the mouth of Twede on the farther bank whereof stands Berwick Berwick the last Town in England and best fortify'd in all Britain hh Some derive the name of this Town from one Berengarius a Romantick Duke Leland fetches it from Aber the British word for the mouth of a river and so makes Aberwick to signifie a Fort built upon such a mouth But they will best understand the true etymology of it who know what is meant by the word Berwicus in the Charters of our Kings Ingulphus renders Berwicus a Mannour wherein nothing's more common than I give the Townships of C. and D. cum suis Berwicis ii For my part what it should mean I know not unless it be a Hamlet or some such dependency upon a place of better note For in the Grants of Edward the Confessor Totthill is call'd the Berwicus of Westminster Wandlesworth the Berwicus of Patricksey and a thousand of the like But why all this pains 'T is lost labour if as some maintain the Saxons call'd it anciently Beornica-ƿic that is the Town of the Bernicians for that this part of the Country was call'd Bernicia we have already noted and the thing is too well known to be here repeated But whence ever it had its name its situation carries it a good way into the sea so that that and the Twede almost incircle it Being seated betwixt two mighty Kingdoms as Pliny observes of Palmyra in Syria it has always been the first place that both Nations in their wars have had an eye on insomuch that ever since Edward the first wrung it out of the Scotch hands the English have as often retaken it as the Scots have ventur'd to seize it But if the Reader pleases we will here give him a summary abstract of its History The oldest account I find of Berwick is that William King of Scots being taken prisoner by the English pawn'd it for his ransom to our Henry the second redeemable only within such a time kk Whereupon says the Polychronicon of Durham Henry immediately fortify'd it with a Castle But Richard the first restor'd it to the Scots upon their payment of the money Afterwards King John as the History of Melross reports took the Town and Castle of Berwick at the same time that he burnt Werk Roxburgh Mitford and Morpath and with his Rutars wasted all Northumberland because the Barons of that county had done homage to Alexander King of Scots at Feltun A great many years after this when John Baliol King of Scotland had broken his Oath Edward the first reduc'd Berwick in the year of our Lord 1297. But soon after the fortune of war favouring the Scots our men quitted it and they seiz'd it but the English forthwith had it surrender'd to them again Afterwards in the loose reign of Edward the second Peter Spalding surrender'd it to Robert Brus King of Scots who warmly besieg'd it and the English vainly attempted its recovery till our Hector Edward the third bravely carry'd it in the year 1333. In the reign of Richard the second some Scottish Moss-troopers surpriz'd the Castle which within nine days was recover'd by Henry Percie Earl of Northumberland Within seven years after this the Scots regain'd it but by purchace not by their valour Whereupon the said Henry Percie being then Governour of the Town was accus'd of High-treason but he also corrupted the Scots with money and so got it again A long time after this when England was almost spent in civil wars Henry the sixth being already fled into Scotland deliver'd it up to the King of Scots the better to secure himself in that Kingdom Two and twenty years after Thomas Stanley with a great loss of men reduc'd it to the obedience of Edward the fourth Since which time the Kings of England have several times fortify'd it with new works but especially Queen Elizabeth who lately to the terrour of the enemy and security of the Burghers hath drawn it into a less compass than before and surrounded it with a high stone wall of firm Ashler work which is again strengthen'd with a deep ditch bastions and counterscarp so that its fortifications are so strong and regular that no besiegers can hope to carry it hereafter Not to mention the valour of the Garrison and the surprizing plenty of Ammunition and all warlike stores Be it also remember'd that the Governour of this place was alwaies a person of the greatest wisdom and eminence among the English Nobility and was also Warden of these eastern Marches The Mathematicians have plac'd this Town in 21 degrees and 43 minutes of longitude and in 55 and 48 of northern latitude So that the longest day in this climate consists of seventeen hours and 22 minutes and its night has only six hours and 38 minutes Brita has 〈◊〉 of Day So truly has Servius Honoratus written of this Country Britain says he has such plenty of day that she has hardly any room for night Nor is it a wonder that the Souldiers of this Garrison are able to play all night at dice without a candle if we consider their thorow twilight and the truth of Juvenal's expression Minimâ contentos nocte Britannos Britains with shortest nights content Take at parting J. Jonston's Verses upon Berwick Scotorum extremo sub limite Meta furoris Saxonidum gentis par utriusque labor Mille vices rerum quae mille est passa ruinas Mirum quî potuit tot superesse
as great variety and perfection as most places in the South bb The study of School-Divinity was mightily in fashion about Scotus's time and especially in the University of Oxford where the petulant humours of the Dominicans put the Students upon all sorts of wrangling Hence this place has afforded more men of eminence in that way than perhaps all the other Universities of Europe and these have marshall'd themselves under the glorious Epithets of Subtilis Profundus Irrefragabilis c. cc As pitiful a Hamlet as Mr. Camden here makes of Brampton â—â—â—â—pton 't is the place he once pitch'd upon for the Bremenium of the Ancients and so the word is still render'd in the Indices of his latest Editions It has also been of good note in our time for one of the prettiest Houses in this part of the County the Seat of George Collingwood Esq a branch of the House of Eslington dd In the Hall at Chillingham-Castle â—â—â—â—ing-â—â—â—-castle there is a Chimney-piece with a hollow in the middle of it wherein 't is said there was found a live Toad at the sawing of the Stone The other part of it is also still to be seen with the like mark upon it and put to the same use at Horton-Castle ee What our Author names Wollover â—â—â—â—â—ver they call usually Wooler 'T is a little inconsiderable Market-town with a thatch'd Church and some other marks of the Poverty of the Inhabitants The advantages of a late Brief upon a Fire that here happen'd may possibly raise it fairer out of its present Ashes ff 〈◊〉 Gloss â—â—ron From a passage in Florence of Worcester one may probably conjecture that Brunanburh for so all our Historians but Ingulphus call it must have been some-where nearer the Humber Tho' perhaps it will be more difficult to carry the great Constantine of Scotland and the little King of Cumberland so high into Yorkshire than to bring Anlaf thus far down into Northumberland gg The Town and Church of Norham Norham were both built by Bishop Egfrid or Egred as some call him who was a mighty Benefactor to the See of Lindisfarn The Church was dedicated to St. Peter St. Cuthbert and St. Ceolwulph the religious King of Northumberland who was the first of our Princes that had the Gallantry to retire from a Throne to a Monastery His Body was also deposited here by the same Bishop and the Monks of the following Age took care to bring in the Country round to pay their Devotion and Tribute to their Royal Brother who always oblig'd his visitants with some kind Miracle or other Vide Sim. Dunelm Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 5. Et Rog. Hoveden ad Ann. 764. In the year 1121. the Castle was built by Bishop Ralph for the better security of this part of his Diocese against the frequent Incursions of the Scotish Moss-Troopers hh Berwick Berwick is now much out-done in strength and regular fortifications by Portsmouth Hull Plymouth and some other Forts in England and is chiefly strong in the present Union of the two Kingdoms ii This word is variously written in old Records Berewica Berewica Berwicha Berwichus Berewich Berewita and Berwita Of all which see Instances in Sir H. Spelman's Glossary It may be the most suitable derivation of it for our present purpose is what Fr. Tate has given us in his MS. Exposition of the hard words in Doomsday-Book Berewica says he is a Corn-Farm The Etymology agrees with the plenty of grain about the Town of Berwick kk By the account that M. Paris gives of the Conditions whereon the King of Scots was releas'd it does not appear that the Town of Berwick was redeemable but absolutely surrender'd and made over Pro hâc autem conventione fine says he firmiter observando dedit Rex Scotorum Regi Anglorum Successoribus suis Castella de Berwicke de Rokesburc in perpetuum possidenda ll Whatever roughness Mr. Camden might fancy he saw in the Manners of the People of Northumberland 't is certain that the Description which Aeneas Silvius gives of them is not their due at this day Their Tables are as well stock'd as ever with Hens and Geese and they have also plenty of good bread and beer Strangers and Travellers are no novelties to them the Roads betwixt Edinburgh and Newcastle being as much frequented by such of all Nations as almost any others in the Kingdom A Roundlet of Red-wine is a greater rarity in a Country-man's house in Middlesex than on the borders of Northumberland where you shall more commonly meet with great store of good Claret than in the Villages of any other County in England That Wine is not the constant drink of the Country ought no more to be remark'd as a thing extraordinary than that Yorkshire-Ale is not common in Italy The Country-Keeper is able to inform you that the Moss-Trooping Trade is now very much laid aside and that a small Sum will recompence all the Robberies that are yearly committed in this County where mens persons are as safe and their goods as secure as in the most civiliz'd Kingdoms of Europe Whoredom is reckon'd as scandalous a vice here as elsewhere and it were our happiness if in the Southern parts of the Kingdom it were as little fashionable In a word the Gentry of Northumberland are generally persons of address and breeding and preservers of the true old English Hospitality in their Houses And the Peasants are as knowing a people and as courteous to strangers as a man shall readily meet with in any other part mm Bishop Walcher was a most vile oppressour and scandalous worldling He bought the Earldom of Northumberland and resolv'd to make the people pay for it But at last being wearied with daily extortion and reduc'd almost to beggary they unanimously fell upon him and slew him at a County-Court which he used always to attend himself in person the better to secure the Fees and other Perquisites And at that time these were considerable since the Sheriffs of Northumberland never accounted to the King before the third of Edward the sixth Their Foreman gave the word which most of our old Historians have thought worth the recording to posterity Short red good red slea ye the Bishop Continuation of the EARLS Earls of Northumberland The last Earl that Mr. Camden mentions was a great Patron of Learned men especially Mathematicians with whom he kept a constant familiarity and correspondence Soon after the discovery of the Powder-Plot he was committed Prisoner to the Tower upon suspicion of his being privy to that part which his kinsman Tho. Percie had in the Conspiracy He was succeeded by his son Algernoon whose son Joceline the last Earl of this Family dy'd at Turin A. D. 1670. leaving only one daughter Elizabeth the present Dutchess of Somerset Upon his death the Honour was given by King Charles the second to his own natural Son George Fitz-Roy who is now Duke of
from the Church as a Feudatory and Vicegerent and obliged his Successors to pay three hundred Marks to the Bishop of that See Yet the most eminent 1 Sir Thomas Hol. Thomas Moor who sacrificed his life to the Pope's Prerogative denies this to be true For he says the Romanists can shew no grant and that they have never demanded the said money nor the Kings of England acknowledged it However with submission to this great man the thing is really otherwise as most clearly appears from the Parliament-Rolls which are evidence incontestable For in a Parliament in Edward the third's Reign the Chancellor of England informs the House That the Pope intended to cite the King of England to a tryal at Rome as well for homage as for the tribute due and payable from England and Ireland and to which King John had bound both himself and his Successors and desired their opinion in it The Bishops required a day to consider of this matter apart as likewise did the Lords and Commons The next day they met again and unanimously voted and declared that forasmuch as neither King John nor any other King whatsoever could put the Kingdom under such a servitude but by the consent and agreement of a Parliament which was never had and farther that since whatsoever he had done in that kind was directly contrary to the Oath which he solemnly took before God at his Coronation if the Pope would insist upon it they were resolved to oppose him with their lives and fortunes to the very utmost of their power Such also as were learned in the law made the Charter of King John to be void and insignificant by that clause of reservation in the end saving to us and our heirs all our rights liberties and regalities But this is out of my road From King John's time the Kings of England were stiled Lords of Ireland till within the memory of our fathers Henry the eighth was declared King of Ireland by the States of that Realm assembled in Parliament the title of Lord seeming not so sacred and venerable to some seditious persons as that of King In the year 1555 when Queen Mary offered the subjection of the Kingdom of England by the hands of her Ambassadors to Pope Paul the fourth this name and title of Kingdom of Ireland was confirmed by the Pope in these word To the praise and glory of Almighty God and his most glorious mother the Virgin Mary to the honour of the whole Court of Heaven and the exaltation of the Catholick Faith We at the humble request of King Philip and Queen Mary made unto us by the advice of our brethren and by virtue of our full Apostolical authority do erect the Kingdom of Ireland and do for ever dignifie and exalt it with the title honours powers rights ensigns prerogatives preferments Royal praeeminencies and such like privileges as other Christian Realms have use and enjoy or may have use and enjoy hereafter Having accidentally found a Catalogue of those English Noble men who went in the first invasion of Ireland and with great valor subdued it to the Crown of England lest I should seem to envy them and their posterity the glory of this atchievment I will here give you them from the Chancery of Ireland for so 't is entitled The Names of such as came with Dermic Mac Morrog into Ireland Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke who by Eve the daughter of Morrog the Irish petty King aforesaid had an only daughter who brought to William Mareschall the title of Earl of Pembroke with a fair estate in Ireland and had issue five sons who in order succeeded one another all childless and as many daughters who enriched their husbands Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk Guarin Montchensey Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester William Ferrars Earl of Derby and William Breose with children honours and possessions Robert Fitz-Stephens Harvey de Mont Marish Maurice Prendergest Robert Barr. Meiler Meilerine Maurice Fitz-Girald Redmund nephew to Stephen William Ferrand Miles de Cogan Richard de Cogan Gualter de Ridensford Gualter sons of Maurice Girald Alexander sons of Maurice Girald William Notte Robert Fitz-Bernard Hugh de Lacy. William Fitz-Aldelm William Macarell Hunfrey Bohun Hugh de Gundevill Philip de Hasting Hugh Tirell David Walsh Robert Poer Osbert de Harloter William de Bendenge Adam de Gernez Philip de Breos Griffin Nephew of Stephen Ralph Fitz-Stephen Walter de Barry Philip Walsh Adam de Hereford To whom out of Giraldus Cambrensis may be added John de Curcy Hugh Contilon Redmond Cantimore Edmond Fitz-Hugh Miles of St. Davids and others The Government of the Kingdom of IRELAND SInce Ireland has been subject to the Crown of England the Kings of this Realm have ever sent their Vice-Roys to manage the publick affairs there who at first in their Letters Patents or Commissions Loâ—d Depâ—â—ies of â—â—â—â—and were stilled Keepers of Ireland after that Justices of Ireland or at pleasure Lieutenants and Deputies Their jurisdiction and authority is really large and Royal they make war and peace have power to fill all Magistracies and other Offices except some very few to pardon all crimes but those of high treason and to confer Knighthood c. These Letters Patents when any one enters upon this honourable office are publickly read and after the new Deputy has took a solemn oath of a certain set form for that purpose before the Chancellor the sword which is to be carried before him is delivered into his hands and he is seated in a Chair of state attended by the Chancellor of the Realm the Members of the Privy-Council the Peers and Nobles of the Kingdom the King at Arms a Serjeant at Arms and other Officers of State So that whether we consider his jurisdiction and authority or his train attendance and splendor there is certainly no Vice-roy in Christendom that comes nearer the grandeur and majesty of a King His Council are the Chancellor of the Realm the Treasurer and such others of the Earls Barons and Judges as are of the Privy-Council Orders or degrees iâ— Ireland For Ireland has the same orders and degrees of honour that England has Earls Barons Knights Esquires c. The Courts or Tribunals of IRELAND THE supream Court in Ireland is the Parliament which Parliament at the pleasure of the King of England is either called or dissolved by his Deputy â—as an 〈◊〉 12. and yet in Edward the second 's time it was enacted That Parliaments should be held in Ireland every year 2 Which seemeth yet not to have been effected Here are likewise observed foure Law-terms in the year as in England and five Courts of Justice held 〈◊〉 the a The Court was called The Court of Castle-chamber because it was usually kept in the Castle of Dublin but has never been held since the Court of Star-Chamber was supprest in England Star-Chamber the Chancery King's-Bench Common Pleas and the Exchequer Here are
also Justices of Assize Nisi prius and Oyer and Terminer as in England Justices of Peace in every County to preserve the Peace and the King has his Serjeant at Law his Attorney and his Sollicitor General There are also other Governors besides these to administer justice in the remoter Provinces and that is in Conaugh stilled chief Commissioner is call'd b Since the Country has been well inhabited with English and much more civiliz'd than heretofore the Presidencies of Munster and Conaught were superseded by King Charles II. about the year 1671. President in Munster who have certain of the Gentry and Lawyers to assist them and are all directed by the Lord Deputy As for their Law the Common-law used there is the same with this of ours in England For thus it is in the Records of the Kingdom King Henry the third in the twelfth of his reign sent an order to his Justice in Ireland that he should assemble the Archbishops Bishops Barons and Knights of that Kingdom and make the Charter of King John be read unto them which he did accordingly giving them an oath to observe the laws and customs of England and that they should hold and keep the same 3 Nevertheless the meer Irish did not admit them but retain'd their own Brehon-Laws and lâ—ud Customs And the Kings of England used a connivance therein upon some deep consideration not vouchsafing to communicate the benefit of the English Laws but upon especial grace to especial families or sects namely the O Neales O Conors O Brien O Maloghlins and Mac Murough which were reputed of the blood royal among them So that even the Parliamentary Laws or Statutes of England were of force in Ireland till King Henry the seventh's time For in the tenth year of his reign they were established and confirmed by Act of Parliament in Ireland 4 In the time of Sir Edward Poinings government But since that time they have lived by Acts and Statutes of their own making Besides these civil Magistrates they have also one Military officer named the c There being no War in the Kingdom there is no such Officer Marshal Marshal of Ireland who is serviceable to the State not only in restraining the insolence of soldiers but also in checking the outrage of rebels who are now and then troublesome This office formerly belonged hereditarily to the Lords Morley of England 9 of King John For King John gave them this Office to hold in see of him in these words We have given and granted to John Marshall for his homage and service our Marshalship of Ireland with all appurtenances We have given him likewise for his homage and service the Cantred wherein standeth the town of Kilbunny to have and to hold to him and his heirs of us and our heirs From him it descended in a right line to the Barons of Morley This Marshal has under him * Submaresâ—allum a Provost-Marshal and sometimes more according to the difficulties and exigencies of affairs who exercise their authority by Commission and Instructions under the Great Seal of Ireland But these and all other curiosities of this nature I leave to the diligence of others As for the methods of Justice and Government among the wild Irish I shall take care to insert something in a more proper place when I come to treat of their Mannors and Customs The d See Ware 's Antiquitat Hibern Cap. 3. pag. 11. Division of IRELAND â—â—â—on â—â—â—land IReland from the manners and customs of the Inhabitants is divided into two parts e At present there is no such Div sion or distiâ—ction but the King 's Writ runs through the whole Kingdom and every part of it is now answerable to Law they who reject all Laws and live after a barbarous manner are called the Irishry or wild Irish but those civilized who submit themselves with respect and obedience to the laws are termed the English-Irish and their Country the English Pale for the first English men that came hither set their boundaries in the east and richest part of the Island as taken in for themselves within which compass even at this day some remain uncivilized and pay no deference to the laws whereas some without are as courteous and genteel as one would desire But if we consider it as it was more early this Country from its situation or rather number of its Governors heretofore must be divided into five parts for it was formerly a Pentarchy namely Munster southward Leinster eastward Connaught westward Ulster northward and Meath almost in the middle Which as to civil administration are thus divided into Counties In Munster are the Counties of Kerry f At this day there is no such County as Desmond part of that Territory lying in the County of Kerry and the rest in the County of Cork Desmond Cork Waterford Limerick Tiperary g The County of the Holy-Cross is swallowed up in that of Tiperary with the County of S. Cross in Tiperary In Leinster are the Counties of Kilkenny Caterlough Queen's County King's County Kildare Weishford Dublin In Meath are the Counties of East-Meath West-Meath Longford In Connaught are the Counties of h Instead of this Dr. Holland has put Clare which yet is in the Province of Muâ—ster Twomund Galloway Maio. Slego Letrim Rofcomon In Ulster are the Counties of Louth Cavon Farmanagh Monaghan Armagh Doun Antrim Colran Tir-Oën Tir-Conell or Donegall Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction The Ecclesiastical state of Ireland was antiently managed by the Bishops either consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury or by one another But in the year 1152 as we find it in Philip of Flattesbury Christianus Bishop of Lismore Legat of all Ireland held a very full and honourable Council at Meath where were present the Bishops Abbots Kings Dukes and Elders of Ireland and there by the Apostolical authority with the advice of the Cardinals and the consent of the Bishops Abbots and others met together four Archbishopricks were constituted in Ireland Armagh Dublin Cassil and Tuam The Bishopricks which were under these formerly for some of them have been abolished to feed the greedy humor of ill times others have been confounded or annexed to one another while others again have been translated I do desire to subjoyn here in their true and ancient order from an old Roman Provincial faithfully copied from the Original Under the Archbp. of Armagh Primate of all Ireland are the Bishops of Meath or i Cluanard The Bishop is stiled of Meath Elnamirand Down otherwise Dundalethglass k Clogher Cloghor otherwise Lugundun l Connor is united to Down Conner m Ardagh Ardachad n Rapho Rathbot Rathluc Daln-liguir o Derry or London-Derry Dearrih 4 Holland has added Cloemacniso which ought to be writ Clonmacnois and is now united to Meath as also Dromor and Brefem now Kilmore Under the Archbp. of Dublin are the Bishops of
famous in the last age for the death of Justinian a holy man who in that fruitful age of saints retired hither out of Bretagne in France and devoted himself wholly to God in a Hermit's course of life was at last slain by a servant and canoniz'd for a martyr In the history of his life this Island is often call'd Insula Lemenia which word together with the name of Limen as the Britains call it shews the greatness of their absurdity who would have the Island next above it to be Ptolemy's Limnos called at present by the Welsh Enhly and by the English Berdsey Berdsey that is an Island of Birds One would think from the signification of the word that this is that which Ptolemy calls Edri Edri and Pliny Andros or Adros as some Copies have it For Ader among the Britains signifies a bird and so the English in the same sense have afterwards call'd it Berdsey The name Enhly is more modern deriv'd from a certain Religious person that lived a Hermit here For this very Isle which on the east shoots out in a high promontory but on the west is champaign and fertile has been formerly inhabited by so many saints that without reckoning Dubritius and Merlin the Calidonian no fewer than 20000 faints are said by ancient histories to lie buried here Next to this is Mona Mona or the Isle of Anglesey Anglesey call'd by the Britains Mon Tir-Mon and Inis Dowyli that is the Dark Island and by the Saxons Monege whereof I have already spoken Near Anglesey lies these three lesser Islands Moyl Rhoniad that is the Isle of Seals to the north west This was unjustly with-held by certain usurpers from the Bishops of Bangor to whom it belong'd till Henry Deney Bishop of Bangor as we read in the history of Canterbury recover'd it by the assistance of a fleet and army in Henry the seventh's time To the east lies Ynis Ligod that is the Isle of mice and under that Prestholmé i.e. the Isle of Priests where I saw nothing but the tower steeple of S. Cyriac's Chapel visible at a great distance The neighbours report incredible things of the infinite breed and number of sea-fowls here and what 's no less strange that a causey went from hence through the very sea to the foot of that huge mountain Pen-Maen-Maur for the convenience of such as came in pilgrimage hither I take no notice of Lambey Lambey a small Island over-against this upon the Irish shore though Alum has been sought for in it at great charge by the metal-men The Isle of Man More northward lies the Mona which Caesar mentions situated as he says in the middle between Britain and Ireland Mona or Menavia Ptolemy calls it Monoeda or Moneitha that is to say if I may be allowed to conjecture the more remote Mona to distinguish it from the other Mona or Anglesey Pliny terms it Monabia Orosius Menavia Lib. 2. c. 9. In a certain copy of Ninniu◠it is call'd Manau Guotodin and Bede Menavia secunda in whom Mona or Anglesey is called Menavia prior and both British Islands yet I must note that this is falsly read Mevania in these Writers Ninius who goes also by the name of Gildas calls it Eubonia and Manaw the Britains call it Menaw the Inhabitants Maning and the English the Isle of Man lying stretch'd in the middle between the north parts of Ireland and Britain says Giraldus Cambrensis which raised no small stir among the ancients in deciding to which of the territories it most properly belong'd At last this difference was thus adjusted Forasmuch as the venemous worms would live here that were brought over for experiment's sake it was generally thought to belong to Britain Yet the Inhabitants are very like the Irish both in their speech and manners and not without something of the Norwegians in them It lies out from north to south for about thirty Italian miles in length but in the widest part of it is hardly above fifteen miles broad nor above eight in the narrowest In Bede's time it contained three hundred families and Mona nine hundred and sixty But at present it can reckon 17 parish churches Here flax and hemp grow in great plenty and here are good pastures and corn-fields which produce barley and wheat but especially oats in great abundance for this reason the people generally feed upon oat-bread Here are likewise great herds of cattle and many flocks of sheep but both the sheep and cattle are like those in their neighbour Country Ireland much less than in England and not so well headed The want of wood for fuel here is supplied by a bituminous kind of turf in digging for which they often light upon trees lying buried under-ground Towards the middle this Isle is mountainous the highest hill is Sceafell from which they can see Scotland England and Ireland in a clear day The chief town is Russin situated towards the north side of the Island which from a castle and garison in it is commonly called Castle-town where within a little Isle Pope Gregory the 4th erected an Episcopal See Episcopus Sodorensis the Bishop whereof named Sodorensis from the Island as it is believed had formerly jurisdiction over all the Hebrides But it is now limited to this Island and his Metropolitan is the Archbishop of York This Bishop has neither seat nor vote among the Lords of Parliament in England The most populous town is Duglas Duglas for it has the best harbour and the most easie entrance and is frequented by the French and other foreigners who come hither with their bay-salt and buy up leather course wooll and salt beef to export with them On the south-side of the Island stands Bala Curi where the Bishop generally resides and the Pile a fort erected in a small Island defended by a pretty good garison Before the south point there lies a little Island which they call the Calf of Man where there are great store of those sea-fowl term'd Puffins and of those Ducks and Drakes said to breed in rotten wood which the English call Bernacles Bernacles the Scots Clakes and Soland Geese What remains of the account of this Island is here added out of a letter which I received from the most learned and reverend Father in God John Meryk Bishop thereof This Island not only supplies its own wants with its own cattle fish and corn but exports great quantities into foreign countreys every year Yet this plenty is rather to be ascribed to the pains and industry of the natives than to the goodness of the soil However the happiness of this Isle is owing to nothing more than the government of the Earl of Derby who at his own proper charges hath defended it with a body of regular and standing troops against its neighbouring enemies and laid out the greatest part of his revenues upon it All causes are decided betwixt man and man without
that the Ministers read the Scriptures to the people in the Manks language out of the English There have been three Monasteries Thâ— Monasteries in this Isle the chief of which was the Monastery of Russin in Castle-town the common burying-place of the King 's of Man which by the Ruines thereof appears to have been a goodly Fabrick There was also the Priory of Douglas and a house of the Friers Minors at Brinnaken Besides these Monasteries there were several others without the Kingdom upon which the Kings of this Isle conferred titles or lands within the Island as the Priory of St. Bees or de Sancta Bega in Cumberland upon the Abbey of Whittern or Candida Casa in Galloway of Scotland and upon the Abbey of Banchor in Ireland For this cause the Prior and Abbots of these houses were Barons of Man and were obliged to give their attendance as such upon the Kings and Lords thereof when required Mr. Camden's error touching the Bishoprick of Man As to the Bishoprick of Man Mr. Camden saith That it was founded by Pope Gregory the fourth about the year 140. and that the Bishop thereof was named Sodorensis from a little Island near Castletown in the Isle of Man where the Episcopal See was instituted This error of Mr. Camden's is confuted by the authority not only of the Irish and Manks Tradition concerning their first conversion to Christianity but likewise of all the Historians that have wrote the life of St. Patrick who is generally believed to have converted that Island to Christianity They affirm * â—osâ—â—lin vita Pat. c. 92. that St. Patrick having converted the Island about the year 447. left one Germanus Bishop thereof and after his death consecrated two other Bishops to succeed him whose names were Conindrius and Romulus fellow-Bishops and to them succeeded one St. Maughald This is confirmed by the testimony of the learned Antiquary Bishop Usher a Usser antiâ— Br. c. 6. p. 644. Besides these four there is another Bishop of Man mentioned by Boethius b Boeth Hist â—cot p 114. and Hollinshead c Hollâ—sh p. 144. whose name was Conanus and who had been Tutor to Eugenius the fifth King of Scotland who began to reign An. Dom. 684. which was above 130 years before Gregory the fourth sate in St. Peter's Chair So that this Bishoprick appears to be near 4â—0 years of greater antiquity than Mr. Camden makes it These Bishops above named were called Bishops of Man only and not Bishops of Sodor for that Bishoprick was not founded till near 400 years after and the Bishops of Man were never called Bishops of Sodor till after the union of the two Bishopricks Sodor and Man Mr. Camden's mistake may proceed from confounding the Bishopricks of Sodor and Man making them one and the same whereas they were quite distinct The Bishoprick of Sodor was indeed first instituted by Pope Gregory the fourth about the time that Mr. Camden places the foundation of the Bishoprick of Man But it is placed in the Isle Jona or St. Columb's Isle corruptly called Colm-kill a little Island among the Hebrides belonging to Scotland This new erected title of Sodor the Bishops of the Western Isles possessed solely until the year 1098. that King Magnus of Norway conquering the Western Isles and the Island of Man united the two Bishopricks of Sodor and Man which continued so united for the space of 235 years till the English were fully possessed of the Isle of Man in 1333. During this union the Bishops always stiled themselves Bishops of Sodor and Man but before the uniting of the Bishopricks the Bishops of Man were never stiled Bishops of Sodor The Bishops The Bishop of Man were heretofore looked upon as Barons and were always to assist at the Inauguration of a new King or Lord of Man and there to pay their homage to him for the temporalities they enjoyed The Bishop hath his own particular Court where the Deemsters of the Island sit Judges The Bishop himself hath no hand in the assessment of the fines in his own Court yet has he all the fines and perquisites after they are assessed by the Deemsters and other Officers of the Lord's that are present This particular Privilege the Bishop of Man has at this day That if any of his tenants do commit Felony and be brought to the Bar of the Court of the Gaol-delivery with the rest of the Felons before rhe Governor and Deemster the Bishop's Steward may demand the Prisoner from the Bar and he shall have him delivered to be tried at the Bishop's Court. The forfeitures of Lands of any Delinquent holding of the Bishop do belong to him but the Delinquent's goods and person are at the Lord's disposal The Abbots of this Island were allowed the like privileges The Bishop of Man keeps his residence in the village called Bal-Curi The Bishoprick is under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York During the Norwegian Conquest they were under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of Norway which is Drontheim When the Bishoprick falls void the Lord of the Island names a Bishop and presents him to the King of England for his Royal Assent and then to the Archbishop of York for his Consecration This Bishop has no voice in the upper house of Parliament but is allowed to sit uppermost in the lower house of Convocation in England The Clergy The Clergy here are generally natives and have had their whole education in the Island They are not any ways taxed with ignorance or debauchery they have all a competent maintenance at least 50 or 60 pounds a year The Ministers who are Natives have always the addition of Sir unless they be Parsons of the Parishes which are but few most of the Parsonages being impropriated to the Lord of the Isle or the Bishop As thus Sir Thomas Parr Minister of Kirk-Malew But if they have the title of Parson then they are only called Mr. as Mr. Robert Parr Parson of St. Mary of Ballaugh * The end of the Additiâ—ns to the Isle of Man FRom Man as far as the Mull of Galloway or the Promontory of the Novantes we meet with none but small and inconsiderable Islands but after we are past that in the Frith of Glotta or Dunbritton-Frith we come to the Isle Glotta The Isle Gâ—oâ—ta mentioned in Antoninus called by the Scots at this day Arran whence the Earls of Arran A ran in that Country take their title And then to a neighbouring Island formerly called Rothesia now Buthe so denominated from a Cell which Brendan built in it for so the word signifies in Scotch After these we arrive at Hellan heretofore Hellan-Leneow that is as Fordon explains the word an Isle of Saints and Hellan Tinoc an Isle of Swine all visible in the same Frith Pag. 913. But of these we have said enough already Beyond this aestuary lye a cluster of Isles which the Scotch inhabitants call Inch-Gall
at this day Garnsey Garnsey perhaps Granonâ— by transposal of letters which the Notitia mentions in Armorica running from east to west in the form of a harp but much inferior to the Caesarea aforesaid both in extent and fruitfulness for it has only 10 parishes Yet in this respect that nothing venomous will live here 't is to be preferr'd to the other Nature has also fortified it much better being fenced quite round with a ridge of steep rocks among which is found smyris a very hard sharp stone which we call Emeril wherewith Lapidaries polish and shape jewels and Glaziers cut glass This Island has also a better haven and greater concourse of Merchants For almost in the farthest point eastward but on the south side the shore falls in like a half moon and thereby makes a bay capable of receiving very large ships Upon which stands S. Peter a little town consisting of one long and narrow street which has a good magazine and is throng'd with merchants upon the breaking out of any war For by an ancient priviledge of the Kings of England this place enjoys a kind of perpetual truce so that in times of war the French or any others may come hither without danger and trade with their commodities The mouth of the haven which is pretty well set with rocks is defended by a castle on each side on the left by an old castle and on the right by another they call the Cornet standing just opposite upon a high rock and encompassed by the sea when the tide is in This in Queen Mary's time was repaired by Sir Leonard Chamberlan Kt. and Governor of the Island and has been since strengthen'd with new works by Thomas Leighton his successor 5 Under Queen Elizabeth Here lives generally the Governor of the Island with a garison to defend it who suffer neither French-men nor women to enter upon any pretence whatsoever On the north-side joins La Val a Peninsula which had a Priory or Convent in it In the west part near the sea there is a lake of a mile and a half in compass well stored with fish Carp especially which for size and taste are very much commended The Inhabitants are not so industrious in improving their grounds as the people of Jersey but yet they follow navigation and commerce for a more uncertain gain with much toil and application Every man here takes care to till his own land by himself only so that the whole Island is enclosure which is not only of great profit to them but secures them against a common enemy Both Islands are adorned with many gardens and orchards so that they generally use a wine made of * Pyris Apples which some call Sisera we Cydre The Inhabitants of both are originally either Normans or Britains but they speak French Yet they will not suffer themselves to be thought or called French without disdain and willingly hear themselves counted English Both Islands use Uraic for fewel or else sea-coal from England They enjoy great plenty of fish and have both of them the same form of government These with other Islands hereabouts belonged formerly to Normandy but after Henry the first King of England had defeated his brother Robert in the year 1108 he annexed Normandy and these Islands to the Crown of England From that time they have stedfastly adhered to England even at that juncture wherein King John was found guilty of the death of his nephew and by judgment thereupon was deprived of all Normandy which he held of the King of France and the whole Province revolted from him As also after that when King Henry the third sold his title to Normandy for a sum of money From that moment they have to their great honour continued firm in their allegiance to England and are all of William the Conqueror's inheritance and the Dukedom of Normandy that now remains in this Crown and that notwithstanding several attempts made upon them by the French who for this long time have hardly cast their eyes upon them from their own coast without envy 6 Aâ—d verily Evan a Welsh Gâ—ntleman descended from the Princes of Wales and serving the French King surprised Garnsey in the time of K ng Edward the thiâ—â— but soon lost it In Edward the 4th's reign it appears by the Records of the Kingdom that they got possession of Guernsey but were soon beat out again by the valour of Richard Harleston Valect of the Crown as they term'd them in those days for which the King rewarded him with the government of both the Island and the Castle Fâ—anciâ—a 16. Edw 4. Again likewise in the year 1549 the King being in minority and the Kingdom embroiled with civil wars Leo Strozzi commander of the French Galleys invaded this Isle but was repulsed with great loss and so this design vanished As for the Ecclesiastical State here they continued under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Constance in Normandy till within the memory of this age when he refused to abjure the Pope's authority in England as our Bishops had done From that time they were taken from the Diocess of Constance by Queen Elizabeth and laid to the Diocess of Winchester so that the Bishop of Winchester and his successors may exercise all the offices that pertain to an Episcopal Jurisdiction herein Yet their Church Discipline is according to that of Geneva introduced here by the French Ministers As for the Civil Customs of these Islands some of them are to be found in the Records of the Tower namely That King John instituted twelve Coroners upon oath to keep the rights and hold the pleas belonging to the Crown and granted for the security of the Islanders that their Bailiffs hence-forward * Per Visum by advice of the Coroners might plead without writ of Novel Disscisin made within the year without writ of Mordancaster within the year or brief De Dower likewise c. That the Jurors shall not defer their sentence in any cause above a year and that they shall be respected in Customs and other things as subjects born and not as foreigners Cl. 25 E. 3 An. 9. Ed. 3. But I leave these matters to such as may perhaps search more nicely into the detail of them observing only that the Customs of Normandy hold here in most cases Serke a small Island lying between these two Serk and fenced round with steep rocks lay desolate till J. de S. Owen of Jarsey the antiquity of whose family some I know not upon what authority assert to be above the times of S. Owen planted a Colony here upon a commission from Queen Elizabeth and other aims of private profit as the report goes As for Jethow Jethow which serveth the Governor instead of a Park to feed cattle and to keep deer rabbets and pheasants and Arme Arme. which is larger than Jethow and was first a solitary place for Franciscans these I say
and many Christians cut off MCLXXXVII On the Kalends or first of July the Abby of Ynes in Ulster was founded MCLXXXIX Henry Fitz Empress departed this life was succeeded by his son Richard and buried in Font Evrard This same year was founded the Abby De Colle Victoriae i.e. Cnokmoy MCXC. King Richard and King Philip made a Voyage to the Holy Land MCXCI. In the Monastery of Clareval the translation of Malachy Bishop of Armagh was celebrated with great solemnity MCXCII The City of Dublin was burnt MCXCIII Richard King of England in his return from the Holy Land was taken Prisoner by the Duke of Austria and paid to the Emperor 100000 Marks for Ransom besides 30000 to the Empress and 20000 to the Duke upon an Obligation he had made to them for Henry Duke of Saxony He was detain'd in Prison by the Emperor a year six months and three days all the Chalices in a manner throughout England were sold to raise this Sum. This year was founded the Abby De Jugo Dei. MCXCIV The Reliques of S. Malachy Bishop of Clareval were brought into Ireland and receiv'd with great honour into the Monastery of Millifont and other Monasteries of the Cistercians MCXCV. Matthew Archbishop of Cassil Legat of Ireland and John Archbishop of Dublin got the Corps of Hugh Lacy that conquered Meth from the Irish and interr'd them with great solemnity in the Monastery of Blessedness or Becty but the Head of the said Hugh was laid in S. Thomas 's Monastery in Dublin MCXCVIII The Order of the Friers Predicants was begun about Tolouse founded by Dominick II. MCXCIX Died Richard King of England succeeded by his Brother John who was Lord of Ireland and Earl of Moriton Arthur the lawful Heir Son of Geffrey his whole Brother was slain by him The death of Richard was after this manner When King Richard besieg'd the Castle of Chaluz in Little Bretagn he receiv'd his mortal Wound by an Arrow shot at him by one of those in the Castle nam'd Bertram de Gourdon As soon as the King found there was no hopes of Life he committed his Kingdom of England and all his other Possessions to the Custody of his Brother All his Jewels and the fourth part of his Treasure he bequeath'd to his Nephew Otho Another fourth part of his Treasure he left to be distributed among his Servants and the poor People When Bertram was taken and brought before the King he ask'd him for what harm he had kill'd him Bertram without any fear told him That he had kill'd his Father and two of his Brethren with his own Hand and then intended to do the same with him That he might take what Revenge he pleas'd but he should not care since he was to die too that had done so much mischief in the World Notwithstanding the King pardon'd him and order'd him to be set at liberty and to have a 100 Shillings Sterling given him Yet after the King's death some of the King's Officers flea'd him and hung him up The King died on the eighteenth of the Ides of April which happen'd to be the fourth * Feria day before Palm-sunday and the eleventh day after he was wounded He was buried at Font Eberard at the feet of his Father A certain Versificator writ this Distich upon his death Istius in morte perimit Formica Leonem Proh dolor in tanto funere mundus obit An Ant a Lyon slew when Richard fell And his must be the World 's great Funeral His Corps were divided into three Parts Whence this of another Viscera Carceolum Corpus Fons servat Ebrardi Et cor Rothomagum magne Richarde tuum Great Richard's Body 's at Fontevrault shown His Bowels at Chalons his Head at Roan After the death of King Richard his Brother John was begirt by the Archbishop of Roan with the Sword of the Dukedom of Normandy upon the 7th of the Kalends of May next following The Archbishop also set a Crown adorn'd with golden Roses upon his Head Afterwards upon the 6th of the Kalends of June he was anointed and crown'd King of England in S. Peter's Church Westminster upon Ascension-day attended with all the Nobility of England Afterwards he was summon'd to Parliament in France to answer for the death of his Nephew Arthur and depriv'd of Normandy because he came not accordingly This same Year was founded the Abby of Commerer MCC Cathol Cronerg King of Conaught founder of the Abby De Colle Victoriae was expell'd Conaught This year the Monastery De Voto was founded that is to say Tyntern Monastery by William Marshall Earl Marshal and Pembroch who was Lord of Leinster viz. of Wrisford Ossory Caterlagh and Kildare in right of his Wife who married the daughter of Richard Earl of Stroghul and of Eve the daughter of Dermic Murcard This William Earl Marshal being in great danger of Shipwreck a night and a day made a Vow That if he escap'd and came to Land he would found a Monastery and dedicate it to Christ and his Mother Mary So as soon as he arriv'd at Weysford he founded this Monastery of Tynterne according to his Vow and it is nam'd De Voto This year also was founded the Monastery de Flumine Dei MCCII. Cathol Cronirg or Crorobdyr King of Conaught was restor'd to his Kingdom The same year was founded the house of Canons of S. Marie of Connal by Sir Meiler Fitz-Henry MCCIII The Abby of S. Saviour i.e. Dawisky which was before founded was this Year and the next following finish'd MCCIV. A Battle was fought between John Courcy first Earl of Ulster and Hugh Lacie at Doune with great slaughter on both sides Yet John Curcy had the Victory Afterwards upon the 6th day of the Week being Good Friday as the said John was unarm'd and going in Pilgrimage barefoot and in a linnen Vestment to the Churches after the common manner he was treacherously taken Prisoner by his own People for a sum of Mony part in hand and part promis'd to be paid afterwards and so he was deliver'd to Hugh Lacy who brought him to the King of England and receiv'd the Earldom of Ulster and the Seigniory of Connaught upon that account both belonging to John Curcy Hugh Lacy now being made Earl rewarded the said Traytors with Gold and Silver some more some less but hung them up as soon as he had done and took away all their Goods by these means Hugh Lacy ruleth in Ulster and John Curcie is condemn'd to perpetual Imprisonment for his former Rebellion against King John refusing to do him homage and accusing him for the death of Arthur the lawful and right Heir to the Crown While the Earl was in Prison and in great Poverty having but a small allowance of Provisions and the same mean and course he expostulated with God why he dealt thus with him who had built and repair'd so many Monasteries for him and his Saints After many Expostulations of this kind he fell asleep and the Holy
and his Sister Isabel de Albeny Countess of Arundel Isabel the second Sister was married to Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester she had Richard de Clare Earl of Glocester and the Lady Anise Countess of * Perhaps â—evonia Averna â—â—â—e uxoris who was Mother of Isabel the †Mother of the Lord Robert Brus Earl of Carrick in Scotland afterwards King of that Nation â—is place 〈◊〉 corrupâ—â—d From Eva Brus the third Sister descended Maud the Mother of the Lord Edmund Mortimer Mother of the Lady Eva de Cauntelow Mother of the Lady Milsoud de Mohun who was Moâ—â—er to Dame Eleanor Mother to the Earl of Hereford Joan â—arshall the fourth Sister was married to the Lord Guarin of Mount â—hinsey and had Issue Joan de Valens Sybil Countess of Ferâ—â—s the fifth Sister had Issue seven Daughters the eldest call'd â—â—gnes Vescie Mother of the Lord John and the Lord William Vesâ—â—e the second Isabel Basset the third Joan Bohun Wife to the â—ord John Mohun Son of the Lord Reginald the fourth Sibyl â—ohun Wife to the Lord Francis Bohun Lord of Midhurst the fifth Eleanor Vaus Wife to the Earl of Winchester the sixth * Agatha Agas Mortimer Wife to the Lord Hugh Mortimer â—â—e seventh Maud Kyme Lady of Karbry These are all both â—ales and Females the Posterity of the said William Earl Marshal MCCXX. The Translation of S. Thomas of Canterbury The â—â—me year died the Lord Meiler Fitz-Henry founder of Connal â—nd was buried in the Chapter-House of the said Foundation MCCXXIV The Castle of Bedford was besieg'd and the Castle â—f Trim in Ireland MCCXXV Died Roger Pippard and in the year MCCXXVIII â—â—ed William Pippard formerly Lord of the Salmon-leap This â—ear died likewise Henry Londres alias Scorch-Villeyn Archbishop â—f Dublin and was buried in Trinity-church there MCCXXX Henry King of England gave Hubert Burk â—â—e Justiceship and the Third Penny of Kent and â—ade him also Earl of Kent Afterward the same Hubert was â—â—prison'd and great Troubles arose between the King and his â—â—bjects because he adher'd to Strangers more than to his own naâ—â—ral Subjects MCCXXXI William Mareschall the younger Earl Marshal and â—arl of Pembrock departed this life and was buried in the Quire â—f the Friers Predicants in Kilkenny MCCXXXIV Richard Earl Mareschall Earl of Pembrock and â—rogull was wounded in a Battel in the Plain of Kildare on the â—â—st day before the Ides of April and some few days after died in Kilkeny and there was buried hard by his * Girmanum natural Brother viz. William in the Quire of the Friers Predicants Of whom this was written Cujus sub fossa Kilkennia continet ossa MCCXL Walter Lacy Lord of Meth died this year in Engâ—â—nd leaving two Daughters to inherit his Estate of whom the â—â—rst was married to Sir Theobald Verdon and the second to Gefâ—ery de Genevile MCCXLIII This year died Hugh Lacy Earl of Ulster and â—as buried in Cragsergus in the Convent of the Friers Minors â—eaving a Daughter who was married to Walter Burk Earl of Ulster The same year died Lord Gerald Fitz-Maurice and Lord â—ichard de Burgo MCCXLVI An Earthquake about nine of the Clock over all â—he West MCCXLVIII Sir John Fitz-Geffery came Lord Justiciary into â—reland MCCL. Lewis King of France and William Long-Espee were â—aken Prisoners with many others by the Saracens In Ireland Maccanewey a Son of Belial was slain in Leys as he deserv'd In the year MCCLI. The Lord Henry Lacy was born Upon Christmas-day likewise Alexander King of Scots in the 11th year of his Age was then contracted with Margaret the daughter of the King of England at York MCCLV Alan de la Zouch was made and came Justiciary into Ireland MCCLVII This year died the Lord Maurice Fitz-Gerald MCCLIX Stephen Long-Espee came Justiciary into Ireland The green Castle in Ulster was demolish'd William Dene was made Justiciary of Ireland MCCLXI The Lord John Fitz-Thomas and the Lord Maurice his Son were slain in Desmond by Mac Karthy Item William Dene Justiciary dy'd and Sir Richard Capel put in his room the same year MCCLXII Richard Clare Earl of Glocester died this year as also Martin de Maundevile on the morrow of S. Bennet's day MCCLXIV Maurice Fitz-Gerald and Maurice Fitz-Maurice took Prisoners Richard Capel the Lord Theobald Botiller and the Lord John Cogan at Tristel-Dermot MCCLXVII David de Barry was made Justiciary of Ireland MCCLXVIII Comin Maurice Fitz-Maurice was drown'd The Lord Robert Ufford was made Justiciary of Ireland MCCLXIX The Castle of Roscoman was begun this year Richard of Exeter was made Justiciary MCCLXX The Lord James de Audley came Justiciary into Ireland MCCLXXI Henry the son of the King of Almain was slain in the Court of Rome Plague Famine and Sword rag'd this year particularly in Meth. Nicholas de Verdon and his Brother John were slain Walter de Burgo Earl of Ulster died MCCLXXII The Lord James Audley Justiciary of England was kill'd by a fall from his Horse in Tothomon and was succeeded in this Office by the Lord Maurice Fitz-Maurice MCCLXXIII The Lord Geffery Genevile return'd from the Holy Land and was made Justiciary of Ireland MCCLXXIV Edward the son of King Henry was anointed and crown'd King of England by Robert Kilwarby a Frier-Predicant Archbishop of Canterbury upon S. Magnus the Martyr's day in the Church of Westminster in the presence of all the Nobility and Gentry His Protestation and Oath was in this form I Edward son and heir of King Henry do profess protest and promise before God and his holy Angels from this time forward to maintain without partiality the Law Justice and Peace of the Church of God and the People subject unto me so far as we can devise by the counsel of our liege and legal Ministers as also to exhibit due and canonical Honour to the Bishops of God's Church to preserve unto them inviolably whatsoever has been granted by former Emperors and Kings to the Church of God and to pay due Honour to the Abbots and the Lord's Ministers according to the advice of our Lieges c. so help me God and the holy Gospels of the Lord. This year died the Lord John Verdon and the Lord Thomas de Clare came into Ireland And William Fitz-Roger Prior of the Hospitallers was taken Prisoner at Glyndelory with many others and more slain MCCLXXV The Castle of Roscoman was built again The same year Modagh was taken Prisoner at Norragh by Sir Walter le Faunte MCCLXXVI Robert Ufford was made Justiciary of Ireland upon the surrender of Geffery de Genevill MCCLXXVII O Brene slain MCCLXXVIII The Lord David Barry died this year as also the Lord John Cogan MCCLXXIX The Lord Robert d'Ufford went into England and appointed Frier Robert de Fulborne Bishop of Waterford to supply his place In whose time the Mony was chang'd A Round Table was also held at Kenylworth by Roger Lord Mortimer MCCLXXX Robert d'Ufford return'd from England
into possession by the King of France upon certain conditions but was detain'd unjustly and treacherously John Archbishop of Dublin and some other great men were sent to the Kinâ— in Almain upon this account After they had receiv'd their answer in Tordran the Archbishop return'd into England and died oâ— S. Leodegarys day The bones of which John Sampford werâ— interr'd in S. Patrick's Church in Dublin on the 10th day beforâ— the Kalends of March. The same year there arose a debate between William Lord Vescy then Justiciary of Ireland and the Lord John Fitz Thomas and the said Lord William Vescy went into England and lefâ— Sir William de la Hay to officiate as Justiciary But when botâ— them were before the King for combat upon an appeel for treason William Vescy fled into France and would not fight Whereupon the King of England gave all the Seigniories that belong'd to him to Sir John Fitz Thomas viz. Kildare Rathemgan and manâ— others The same year Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester return'd ouâ— of Ireland into England Likewise Richard Earl of Ulster sooâ— after S. Nicholas's day was taken prisoner by Sir John Fitz Thomas and kept within the castle of Ley till the feast of S. Gregory Pope but was then set at liberty by the Council of our Lord thâ— King in a Parliament at Kilkenny John Fitz Thomas gave aâ— his lands for taking him viz. Slygo with other Possessions belonging to him in Conaght Item this year the castle of Kildare was taken but Kildarâ— and the Country round it was wasted by the English and the Irish Calvagh burnt all the Rolls and Tallies of the said Earl This yeaâ— and the two next following there was much dearth and Pestilencâ— throughout Ireland Item William Lord Dooddyngzele was made Justiciary of Irelanâ— MCCXCV Edward King of England built the Castle de Beâ— Marisco i.e. Beaumaris in Venedocia which is call'd the motheâ— of Cambria but commonly Anglesey and enter'd it immediatelâ— after Easter subduing the Venedotes i.e. the able men of Anglesey and making them subject to him Soon after this viz. about thâ— Feast of S. Margaret Madock at that time Prince elect of Waleâ— submitted himself to the King's mercy and was brought to Londoâ— by John de Haverings where he was clapt in the Tower to waâ— the King's grace and favour This year died William Dooddingzeâ— Justiciary of Ireland the day after S. Mary of Egypt Sir Thomas Fitz-Maurice succeeded him Also about the same time thâ— Irish in Leinster destroy'd that Province burning the new Castâ—â— with other Villages Item Thomas de Torbevile a seducer oâ— the King and betrayer of his Country was drawn through the middle of London lying out at length and guarded with four Toâ—mentors in Vizards who revil'd him as we went along At lasâ— he was gibbeted and deny'd the privilege of Burial having nonâ— to attend his Funeral but Kites and Crows This Thomas waâ— one of them who in the Siege of the Castle of Rions was takeâ— and carry'd to Paris Whereupon he promis'd the Nobility oâ— France that he would deliver to them the King of England anâ— leaving his two Sons as Pledges came over and told the King oâ— England and his Council how narrowly he escap'd out of Prisoâ— When he had inform'd himself of the designs of the King anâ— state of the Kingdom he sent the whole in writing to the Provoâ— of Paris Of which being convicted he was executed iâ— the manner aforesaid About the same time the Scoâ— having broken the Peace which they had covenanted with oâ—â— Lord King of England made a new league with the King oâ— France and conspiring together rose up in Arms against their owâ— sovereign Lord and King John Baillol and shut him up in the midland parts of Scotland in a Castle encompass'd with Mountain This was done in pure spight and contempt to the King of England because he had set the said John over them without theâ—â— will and consent The King of England brought another Army 〈◊〉 Scotland the Lent following to chastise the Scots for their presumption and arrogance against their own Father and King Sâ— John Wogan was made Justiciary of Ireland and the Lord Thomas Fitz-Maurice give place to him This Wogan made a Trucâ— for two years between the Earl of Ulster and John Fitz-Thomas and the Geraldines About Christmas-day this year Gilbert Clarâ— Earl of Glocester departed this life Item the King of Englanâ— sent his Brother Edmund with an Army into Gascoign MCCXCVI The Lord Edward King of England on the thirâ— day before the Kalends of April viz. upon Friday that fell oâ—â— then to be Easter-week took Berwick with the slaughter of seveâ— thousand Scots and not of above one of the English Knights viâ— Sir John of Cornwall and seven Footmen more Shortly after abouâ— the 4th of May he enter'd the Castle of Dunbar and took abouâ— forty of the Enemy Prisoners who submitted themselves to thâ— King's mercy having before defeated the whole Army of the Scots that is to say slain seven hundred Horse with the loss of Footmeâ— only on the English side Item upon S. John's-day before Port-latin about 15000 Welchmeâ— were sent to invade Scotland by the King's Order At the same timâ— the Nobility of Ireland viz. John Wogan Justiciary Richard Bourâ— Earl of Ulster Theobald Butler and John Fitz-Thomas witâ— others came to assist in this Expedition to Scotland The Kinâ— of England also entertain'd them with others of the English Nobility upon the third day before the Ides of May viz. Whitsuâ—day with a great Feast in the castle of Rokesburgh Item on thâ— next Wednesday before S. Barnabas he enter'd the Town of Edinburgh and won the castle before the Feast of S. John Baptist shortly after in the same Summer all the castles in Scotland were surrender'd up to him Item John Balliol King of Scotland came tho' much against his will to the King of England upon the Sunday next after the Translation of S. Thomas the Archbishop attended with many Earls Bishops and Knights and they surrender'd all to the King but their lives and limbs and their Lord John Balliol gave up all his Right and Title in Scotland to the King of England who sent him under a safe guard towards London Item Edmund Brother to the King of England died this year in Gascoign MCCXCVII Our Lord Edward King of England sail'd into Flanders with an Army against the King of France where after much expence and altercation a form of Peace was concluded between them upon condition they should stand to the award and judgment of the Pope From the one side and the other certain Messengers were sent to the Court of Rome but while the King was in Flanders William Walleis according to a general Resolution of the Scots came with a great Army to Strivelin-bridge to engage John Earl of Warren in which Battel many were slain on both sides and many drown'd but however the English were
call'd Hogelyn John de Northon John de Breton and many others Item On the 16th before the kalends of July Dolovan Tobyr and other towns and villages bordering upon them were burnt down by the said malefactors Item Soon after this a great Parliament was held at London wherein a sad difference arose between the Barons upon the account of Pieirs Gaveston who was banish'd out of the Kingdom of England the day after the feast of S. John the baptist's nativity and went over into Ireland about the feast of the Saints Quirita and Julita together with his wife and sister the Countess of Glocester and came to Dublin in great state and there continued Item William Mac Baltor a stout robber and incendiary was condemn'd in the court of our Lord the King at Dublin by the Lord Chief Justice John Wogan on the 12th before the kalends of September and was drawn at a horse's tail to the gallows and there hang'd as he deserv'd Item This year a marble cistern was made to receive the Water from the conduit-head in Dublin such as was never before seen here by the Mayor of the City Master John Decer and all at his own proper expences This same John a little before made a bridge to be built over the river Aven-Liffie near the priory of S. Wolstan He also built the Chappel of S. Mary of the Friers minors wherein he was buried and the Chappel of S. Mary of the Hospital of S. John in Dublin Item This John Decer was bountiful to the convent of Friers Predicants in Dublin For instance he made one stone-pillar in the Church and laid the great stone upon the high altar with all its ornaments Item He entertain'd the friers at his own table on the 6th day of the week out of pure charity as the seniors have reported to their juniors Item The Lord John Wogan took ship in Autumn to be at the parliament of England and the Lord William Bourk was appointed Keeper of Ireland in his room Item This year on the eve of S. Simon and Jude the Lord Roger de Mortimer and his Lady the right heir of Meth the daughter of the Lord Peter son of Sir Gefferey Genevil arriv'd in Ireland As soon as they landed they took possession of Meth Sir Gefferey Genevil giving way to them and entring himself into the order of the Friers predicants at Trym the morrow after S. Edward the Archbishop's day Item Dermot Odympsy was slain at Tully by the servants of Sir Piers Gaveston Item Richard Bourk Earl of Ulster at Whitsontide made a great feast at Trym and conferr'd Knighthood upon Walter Lacie and Hugh Lacie In the vigil of the Assumption the Earl of Ulster came against Piers Gaveston Earl of Cornwal at Drogheda and at the same time turn'd back towards Scotland Item This year Maud the Earl of Ulster's daughter imbark'd for England in order for a marriage with the Earl of Glocester which within a month was consummated between them Item Maurice Caunton kill'd Richard Talon and the Roches afterwards kill'd him Item Sir David Caunton was hang'd at Dublin Item Odo the son of Cathol O Conghir kill'd Odo O Conghiâ— King of Connaght Item Athi was burnt by the Irish MCCCIX Peter Gaveston subdued the O Brynnes in Ireland and rebuilt the new castle of Mackingham and the castle of Kemny he also cut down and scour'd the pass between Kemny castle and Glyndelagh in spite of all the opposition the Irish could make and sâ— march'd away and offer'd in the Church of S. Kimny The same year the Lord Peter Gaveston went over into Englanâ— on the eve of S. John Baptist's Nativity Item The Earl of Ulster's son's wife daughter of the Earl oâ— Glocester came into Ireland on the 15th of October Item On Christmas-eve the Earl of Ulster returned out of England and landed at Drogheda Item On the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sir John Bonevil was slain near the town of Arstol by Sir Arnold Pover and his accomplices and buried at Athy in the Church of the Frierâ— predicants Item A Parliament was held at Kilkenny in the octaves of thâ— Purification of the Blessed Mary by the Earl of Ulster John Wogan Justiciary of Ireland and others of the nobility wherein a difference among certain of the great men was adjusted and many proviso's made in the nature of statutes that might havâ— been of good consequence to the Kingdom if they had been observ'd Item Shortly after Sir Edward Botiller return'd out of England where he had been knighted at London Item The Earl of Ulster Roger Mortimer and Sir John Fitz-Thomas went over into England Item This year died Sir Theobald Verdon MCCCX. King Edward and Sir Peter Gaveston took theiâ— march for Scotland against Robert Brus. Item There was this year a great scarcity of corn in Ireland * Eranca an eranc of corn sold at the rate of twenty shilling and upwards Item The Bakers of Dublin were punish'd after a new way foâ— false weights For on S. Sampson the Bishop's day they werâ— drawn upon hurdles at the horses tails along the streets of thâ— City Item In the Abby of S. Thomas the Martyr at Dublin Sir Neiâ— Bruin Knight Escheator to our Lord the King in Ireland departed this life his corps was buried at the Friers-minors in Dublin witâ— such a pomp of tapers and wax-lights as never was before seen iâ— this Kingdom This year a Parliament was held at Kildare wherin Sir Arnold Pover was acquitted of the death of the Lord Bonevil for it waâ— found Se defendendo Item On S. Patrick's day Mr. Alexander Bickenor was witâ— the unanimous consent of the Chapter made Archbishop of Dublin Item The Lord Roger Mortimer in the octaves of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin return'd into Ireland Item This year died Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln MCCCXI In Thomond at Bonnorathie the Lord Richarâ— Clare gave the Earl of Ulster's party a very strange defeat Thâ— Lord William Bourk and John the Lord Walter Lacy's Son werâ— taken prisoners with many others This battle was fought on thâ— 13th before the kalends of June and great numbers both of thâ— English and the Irish slain in it Item Tassagard and Rathcante were invaded by the rapperies namely the O Brinnes and O Tothiles the day after S. John Baptist's nativity Whereupon in the Autumn soon after a greaâ— army was rais'd in Leinster to defeat them both in Glindelory anâ— in other woody places Item In August a Parliament was holden at London between thâ— King and the Barons to consider the state of the Kingdom and thâ— King's houshold and a committee of six Bishops six Earls and six Barons was appointed to consult the good of the Realm Item On the 2d day before the Ides of November the Lord Richard Clare cut off 600 Galegolaghes Item On All saints day last past Peter Gaveston was banished out of England by the Earls and Barons and many good statutes were
made by them for the benefit of the Kingdom Gaveston quitted the Realm about the feast of All-saints and went into Flanders from whence about four months after he return'd soon after Epiphany privately into England keeping so close to the King that the Barons could not easily come near him He went with the King to York making his abode there in the Lent whereupon the Bishops Earls and Barons of England came to London to consider the state of the Kingdom lest the return of Gaveston might breed disturbance in the state Item Sir John Cogan Sir Walter Faunt and Sir Jehn Fitz Rery died this year and were buried in the Church of the Friers predicants in Dublin Item John Macgoghedan was kill'd by Omolmoy Item This year died William Roch kill'd at Dublin by an arrow which an Irish-highlander shot at him Item Sir Eustace Pover departed this life Item On the eve of S. Peter's Chair a riot was occasion'd in Urgaly by Robert Verdon Item Donat O Brene was traiterously kill'd by his own men in Tothomon MCCCXII Sir Peter Gaveston went into the castle of Scardeburg to defend himself against the Barons But soon after the kalends of June he surrendred himself to Sir Aumare Valence who besieg'd him upon certain conditions Valence was carrying him to London but the Earl of Warwick intercepted him at Dedington and brought him to Warwick where on the 13th before the kalends of July after a consultation among the Earls and Barons he was beheaded and buried in the Church of the Friers predicants in Langley Item The Justiciary of Ireland John Wogan set out at the head of an army against Robert Verdon and his accomplices and â—o the 6th before the ides of July was sadly defeated In this Battle Nicholas Avenel Patrick Roch and many others were cut off Upon this the said Verdon and many of his followers surâ—endred themselves to the King and went into his prison at Dublin â—n hopes of favour and pardon Item On thursday the day after S. Lucy the virgin in the 6th year of King Edward the moon appear'd to be of several colours and that day it was resolv'd that the Order of the Templars should be abolish'd Item The Lord Edmund Botiller was made lieutenant to John â—ogan Justiciary of Ireland In the Lent following he besieg'd the O Brinnes in Glindelory and forc'd them to surrender nay had â—â—terly destroy'd them if they had not submitted themselves Item The day after the feast of S. Dominick the Lord Mauâ—ice Fitz-Thomas married Catharine the Earl of Ulster's daughter â—t Green Castle and Thomas Fitz-John married another daughter of the Earl's on the day after the assumption but in the same place Item The Sunday after the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross the daughter of the Earl of Glocester wife to the Lord John Burk was deliver'd of a son MCCCXIII Frier Roland Joce Primat of Armagh arriv'd in the isle of Houth the day after the annunciation of the blessed Mary and in the night got privately out of his bed took up his Crosier and advanc'd it as far as the Priory of Grace-dieu where â—e was encountred by some of the Archbishop of Dublin's servants â—ho made him leave his Crosier and drove the Primat himself out â—f Leinster Item A Parliament was held at London but little or nothing â—one towards a peace The King left them and went into France 〈◊〉 compliance with an order from that Court taking the sign of â—â—e Cross upon him with many of his Nobles Item Nicholas Fitz-Maurice and Robert Clonhul were knighted â—y the Lord John Fitz-Thomas at Adare in Munster Item On the last of May Robert Brus sent out some gallies with â—apperies in them to pillage Ulster but the people made a stout â—esistance and drove them off It is reported that Robert himself â—â—nded with them by the Earl's permission in order to make a â—â—nce Item This Summer Master John Decer a Citizen of Dublin â—aused a bridge to be built as was very necessary reaching from â—â—e Town of Balyboght to the causey of the Mill-pool of Clontarf â—hich before was a very dangerous passage But after great charge â—he whole bridge arches and all was wash'd down by an inâ—ndation Item On the feast of S. Laurence died John Leeks Archbishop â—f Dublin two were elected for the succession such was the heat â—nd difference of the electors Walter Thornbury the King's Chancellor in Ireland and Master Alexander Bicknore Treasurer â—f Ireland But Walter Thornbury with about an hundred and â—â—fty six more were cast away at Sea the night following Bicknor â—as at that time expecting the Pope's favour and was afterwards â—ade Archbishop of Dublin Item The Lord Miles Verdon married the daughter of the Lord â—ichard de Exeter Item This year the Lord Robert Brus demolish'd the Castle of Manne and on S. Barnaby's day overcame the Lord Donegan Odowill On the feast of Marcellus and Marcellianus the Lord John Burk the heir of Richard Earl of Ulster died at Gallway Item The Lord Edmund Botiller on Sunday being S. Michael's day made thirty Knights in Dublin Castle MCCCXIV The Hospitalers had the lands of the Templars in Ireland bestow'd upon them Item The Lord John Parice was slain at Pount Item On S. Silvester's day the Lord Theobald Verdon came Justiciary into Ireland Item Sir Geffery Genevile a Frier died this year on the 12th before the kalends of November and was buried in his order of Friers predicants of Trym he was also Lord of the liberty of Meth. Item Upon S. Matthew's day this year Loghseudy was burnt and on the Friday following the Lord Edmund Botiller receiv'd his Commission to be Justiciary of Ireland MCCCXV On S. John the Baptist's day the Earl of Glocester was kill'd in an engagement with the Scots and many others were kill'd and taken prisoners The Scots grew insolent upon this success and possess'd themselves of much land and tribute in Northumberland Item Shortly after they invested Carlisse where John Douglas was crush'd to death by a wall that fell upon him This year the Scots not contented with their own possessions arriv'd in the north part of Ireland at Clondonne to the number of 6000. fighting men and expert soldiers namely Edward Brus whole brother to Robert King of Scots with the Earl of Morreth John Meneteth John Steward the Lord John Cambel Thomas Randolfe Fergus de Andressan John de Bosco and John Bisset who possess'd themselves of Ulster and drove the Lord Thomas Mandevile and other subjects out of their estates The Scots entred Ireland on the Feast of S. Augustin the English Apostle in the month of May near Cragfergus in Ulster the first encounter between the English and them was hear Banne wherein the Earl of Ulster was put to flight and William Burk John Stanton and many others were taken Prisoners many were kill'd and the Scots got the day The second encounter was at Kenlys in Meth where Roger Mortimer and his soldiers
And on Sunday following being the next after the Nativity oâ— the blessed Virgin the Lord John Fitz-Thomas died at Laraghbrinâ— near Maynoth and was buried among the Friers-minors at Kildarâ— He is said to have been made Earl of Kildare a little befoâ—â— his death His son and heir Thomas Fitz-John a very prudeâ—â— Man succeeded him After this we had News that the Castle of Cragfergus was surrender'd to the Scots upon condition the lives of the Garrison-Soldiers should be saved On the day of the exaltation of the holy Cross Conghor was stain together with Mac-keley and fifty Irish by William Lord Burk and Richard Bermingham in Conaught Item On the Monday before All-Souls-day many of the Scots were slain in Ulster by John Loggan Hugh Lord Bisset namely about 100 with double Arms and 200 with single Arms. The slain in all amounted to 300 besides the foot Afterward on the Eve of the Royal S. Edmund there hapned such a Storm of Wind and Rain as threw down many Houses beat down the Bell of Trinity-church in Dublin and did much mischief both by Sea and Land Item On the Eve of S. Nicholas the Lord Alan Stewart who was taken Prisoner in Ulster by John Loggan and the Lord John Sandale was carried to Dublin-castle This same year there came News from England of a dissention between the King and the Earl of Lancaster That they were for taking one another Prisoners and that the whole Kingdom was embroil'd about it This year also about the feast of Andrew the Apostle the Lord Hugh le Despencer and the Lord Bartholomew de Baldesmere Wigorniensis the Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of Ely were sent to Rome to negotiate some important Business of the King 's for Scotland who return'd again into England about the feast of the purification of the blessed Mary Item The Lacies came to Dublin after the same feast and shew'd by an Inquisition that the Scots were not brought into Ireland by their means whereupon they were acquitted and had the King's Charter for protection and safety upon taking their Oaths to keep â—he Peace and do their utmost to destroy the Scots Item This year after the feast of Carnis privium the Scots â—arch'd privately as far as Slain with 20000 arm'd Men and raâ—ag'd the Country though the Army of Ulster lay just before â—â—em Afterwards on the Monday before the feast of S. Matthias the â—postle the Earl of Ulster was apprehended in S. Marie's Abby â—y the Mayor of Dublin viz. Robert Notyngham and carried to â—ublin-castle where he was long imprison'd and the Chamber whereâ—â— he was kept burnt and seven of the Earl's Attendants â—ain The same week in the Vigil of S. Matthias Brus took his â—arch towards Dublin at the head of his Army and hearing of the â—arl's Imprisonment turn'd off towards Cnok-castle which he enâ—â—r'd and therein took the Lord Hugh Tirell with his Wife who â—as Baron of it and they were afterwards ransom'd That Night it was agreed by common consent among the Citiâ—ens of Dublin That S. Thomas's-street should be burnt down for â—ear of the Scots the flames whereof got hold of S. John's-church â—nd burnt it down likewise with Magdalen-chappel all the Suâ—urbs of the City and S. Mary's-monastery The Church of S. Paâ—rick was spoil'd by the said Villans Item Our Saviour's Church which belongs to the Friers-preâ—icants was destroy'd by the Mayor and his Citizens and the â—â—ones were converted to the building of a City wall which was â—ade of greater compass in the north part of the City above the â—ey for formerly the Walls ran just by the Church of S. Owen â—here we see a Tower beyond the Gate also another Gate in that â—treet where the Taverns are however the Mayor and Citizens â—ere afterwards commanded by the King of England to make anoâ—her Convent as formerly After the feast of S. Matthias Le Brus â—â—derstanding that the City was fortified to receive him he march'd â—â—wards Salmons-leap where Robert le Brus King of Scotland â—ith Edward le Brus the Earl of Morrey John Meneteth the â—ord John Stewart the Lord Philip Mountbray encamp'd themâ—elves and continued for four days during which they burnt part â—f the Village broke open the Church and rifled it and then â—arch'd towards Le Naas The Lacies notwithstanding their Oaths advis'd and conducted them and Hugh Lord Canon made â—adin White his Wife's Brother guide them through the Country â—o they came to Le Naas plunder'd the Village broke the Churches â—â—d open'd the Graves in the Church-yard for hidden Treasure â—â—d did many other Mischiefs during the two days they stay'd â—â—ere After this they took their march towards Tristildermote â—â—e second week in Lent and destroy'd the Friers-minors takâ—â—g away their Books Vestments and other Ornaments from â—ence they return'd to Baligaveran and so to Callan about the â—east of Pope Gregory without regarding the Village of Kilâ—enny At the same time Letters were brought by the Lord Edmund â—otiller Chief Justice of Ireland at that time and by the Lord Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare the Lord Richard Clare the Lord Arnold le Pover and the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas to â—â—ffer the Earl of Ulster to be mainpriz'd and set at liberty by the King 's writ but nothing was done at present in this Business The People of Ulster came afterwards in a great Body amountâ—ng to 800 and desir'd assistance from the King against the Scots Upon which the King's Banner was deliver'd to them But as soon as they got it they did more mischief than the Scots themselves they eat Flesh all the Lent and almost wasted the whole Country for which they were accurs'd both by God and Man Edmund * Pincerna Butler gave the Irish a great defeat near Trestildermot Item The same Edmund being now Chief Justice of Ireland defeated O Morghe at Balilethan The Scots under le Brus were now got as far as Limerick But the English in Ireland being drawn together in great Bodies to receive them at Ledyn they retreated privately in the night from Conninger Castle About Palm-sunday News came to Dublin That the Scots were at Kenlys in Ossory and that the Irish Nobility were at Kilkenny and had drawn a great Army together there to engage Le Brus. On the Monday following the King sent an Order to the People of Ulster to advance against the Scots under the command and conduct of Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare whereupon they march'd forward Le Brus being then at Cashell from whence he mov'd to Nanath where he stay'd some time and burnt and wasted all the Possessions of the Lord Pincern MCCCXVII On Maundy Thursday the Lord Edmund Botiller Justiciary of Ireland the Lord Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare for the King had conferr'd the jurisdiction and privileges of the Earldom of Kildare upon him Richard Clare with the Ulster-Army Arnold Pover Baron of Donnoyll Maurice Rochfort Thomas Fitz-Maurice and the Cauntons and their
vincula there was bread made of new wheat and wheat was sold in Dublin for 6 pence a peck Item D. Reimund Archedekin Kt. with many others of his family were kill'd in Leinster MCCCXXXVII On the eve of S. Kalixtus the Pope seven partridges leaving the fields God knows why came directly to Dublin where flying very swiftly over the Market-Place they settled on the â—op of a brew-house which belonged to the Canons of S. Trinity in Dublin Some of the Citizens came running to this sight wondring very much at so strange a thing the Town-boyes caught two of them alive a third they kill'd at which the rest being frightned-mounted in the air by a swift flight and escap'd into the opposite Fields Now what this should portend a thing unheard of before I shall leave to the judgment of the more skilful Item Sir John Charleton Knight and Baron came with his wife children and family Lord Chief Justice of Ireland at the feast of S. Kalixtus the Pope and some of his sons and family died Item The same day came into Dublin haven D. Thomas Charleton Bishop of Hereford Justice of Ireland with the Chief Justice his Brother Chancellor of Ireland and with them M. John Rees Treasurer of Ireland Mr. in the Decretals besides 200 Welshmen Item Whilst D. John Charleton was Lord Chief Justice and held a Parliament at Dublin Mr. David O Hirraghcy Archbishop of Armagh being called to the Parliament laid in his provisions in the Monastry of S. Mary near Dublin but the Archbishop and his Clerks would not let him keep house there because he would have had his Crosier carried before him Item The same year died David Archbishop of Armagh to whom succeeded an ingenious man M. Richard Fitz-Ralph Dean of Litchfield who was born in Dundalk Item James Botiller the first Earl of Ormond died the 6th of January and was buried at Balygaveran MCCCXXXVIII The Lord John Charleton at the instigation of his Brother the Bishop of Hereford was by the King turn'd out of his place upon which he came back with his whole family into England and the Bishop of Hereford was made Lord Keeper and Chief Justice of Ireland Item Sir Eustace Pover and Sir John Pover his Uncle were by the Justice's order brought up from Munster to Dublin where the third of February they were imprison'd in the Castle Item In some parts of Ireland they had so great a frost that the river Aven-liffie on which the City of Dublin stands was frozen hard enough for them to dance run or play at foot-ball upon and they made wood and turfe fires upon it to broil Herrings The Ice lasted a great while I shall say nothing of the great snow which fell during this frost since the greatness of the depth has made it so remarkable This Frost continued from the second of December till the 10th of February such a season as was never known in Ireland MCCCXXXIX All Ireland was up in Arms. The Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond with the Geraldines who live about Kernige made a great slaughter of the Irish besides 1200 of them who were drown'd in the retreat Item The Lord Moris Fitz-Nicholas Lord of Kernige was by the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond apprehended and put in prison where he died for want of meat and drink for his allowance was but very little because he had rebell'd with the Irish against the King and the Earl Item A great number of the O Dympcies and other Irish were by the English and the vigorous pursuit of the Earl of Kildare kill'd and drowned in the Barrow Item the latter end of February Thomas Bishop of Hereford and Chief Justice of Ireland with the help of the English of that Country took from the Irish about Odrone such a great booty of all sorts of cattle as has not been seen in Leinster MCCCXL The Bishop of Hereford Justice of Ireland being commanded home by his Majesty return'd into England the 10th of April leaving Frier Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainan in his place who died the 13th of February Item The King of England made John Darcy Lord Chief Justice of Ireland for life MCCCXLI In May Sir John Moris came Lord Chief Justice of Ireland as Deputy to John Darcy Item In the County of Leinster there happen'd such a strange prodigy as has not been heard of A person travelling along the road found a pair of gloves fit for his hands as he thought but when he put them on he he lost his speech immediately and could do nothing but bark like a dog nay from that moment the men and women throughout the whole County fell into the same condition and the children waughed up and down like whelps This plague continued with some 18 days with others a month and with some for two years and like a contagious distemper at last infected the neighbouring Counties and set them a barking too Item The King of England revok'd all those grants that either he or his Ancestors had made to any in Ireland whether of liberties lands or goods which occasion a general murmur and discontent insomuch that the whole Kingdom grew inclin'd to a revolt Item A Parliament was called by the King's Council to sit in October Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond absented Before this there never was seen so much rancor and division between the English of both Kingdoms at last without asking Counsel of the Lord Chief Justice or any other of the King's Ministers the Mayors of the King's Cities together with the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom resolv d among other things to hold another Parliament at Kilkenny in November in order to treat of such matters as concern'd the King and Kingdom Neither the Lord Chief Justice nor any other of the King's Ministers durst repair thither It was concluded in this Parliament by the Nobility and the Mayors aforesaid to dispatch away an ambassadour to the King of England to intercede for Relief and represent the unjust administration of the great Officers in Ireland and declare they could no longer endure their oppression They were particularly instructed in their complaints of the said Ministers to ask How a Land so full of wars and trouble could be govern'd by a Person that was wholly a Stranger to warlike Affairs Secondly How a Minister of the Kings could be imagin'd to grow so rich in a short time And thirdly What was the reason that the King of England was never the richer for Ireland MCCCXLII On the 11th of October and the 11th of the Moon two several Moons were seen by many about Dublin in the morning before day Theone was bright and according to its natural course in the West the other of the bigness of a round loaf stood in the East but not so bright as the former MCCCXLIII S. Thomas's-street in Dublin was accidentally burnt on S. Valentine the Martyr's-day Item The 13th of July D. Ralph Ufford with his Wife the Countess of