his Queen Ethelwith At Melburn John D. of Bourbon taken at Agin Court was kept prisoner Little Chester an ancient Colony of the Romans as appears by what Coins have been digg'd up thereabout In Nottinghamshire the County Town Nottingham hath not wanted its share in the grand rencounters that have been in this Nation the Castle hereof was kept by the Danes against the Mercian King Burthred and also against the English Saxon Monarchs Elthelred and Alfred At Newark in this County King John who was poyson'd at Swinsted Abby is said to have drawn his last breath At Stoke near Symnel's party was utterly defeated and his upholders John de la Pool Earl of Lincoln Thomas Garadine Chancellour of Ireland Fr. Lord Lovel and others were slain with 4000 of their men and he himself taken prisoner June 16th An. 1487. At Mansfield was born the first Earl of Mansfield in Germany one of the Knights of King Arthurs Round Table In Warwickshire the Town of Warwick is sufficiently fam'd in story over and above what is related of Guy of Warwick and his great adventures and above all things the antiquity of the foundation is remarkable if as the tradition goes it were built by Gurguntus 375 years before the Nativity of our Saviour however the Castle looks great and savours much of Antiquity Coventry being joyntly one Bishoprick with Leichfield is memorable besides the beauty of the brave action of Countess Godiva the wife of Leofrick the first Lord thereof well known in History One of the Gates of this City is call'd Gofford Gate which is the more notable by the Shield-bone of some very large beast some say a wild Bore slain by Guy of Warwick some say an Elephant with the snout whereof a pit was turn'd up which is now Swanes Mear At Backlow-hill in this County Pierce Gavestoâ— was taken and beheaded by a party of the Nobles At Wolny An. 1469. King Edward the fourth his Forces were discomfited by his brother George Duke of Clarence and Richard Earl of Warwick and the King himself taken prisoner In Northamptonshire the County Town Northampton hath been the Subject of many warlike bronts An. 1106. it suffered much by the contests of the Conquerours three Sons Robert William and Henry An. 1263. being held by the Barons against King Henry the third it was taken by surprize and the Walls thrown down An. 1459. King Henry the sixth was here taken prisoner by the Earl of Warwick and March with the slaughter of Humphry Stafford Duke of Buckingham John Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury the Lords Egremont and Beaumont but the greatest misfortune that e're befel this Town was in this our Age viz. An. 1675. when by an accidental Fire it was almost all burnt down to the ground yet lay it not long buried in ruin for it was immediately rebuilt and now appears in far greater splendour then ever Here Earl Rivers Father to Edward the fourth's Queen taken at Grafton was beheaded by Robin of Risdal together with his son John Higham Ferrers in this County hath been honour'd with the birth of a very great Prelate of this Nation viz. Henry Chichly Cardinal and Arch-bishop of Canterbury in the Reign of King Henry the sixth This Chichly was the founder of All-Souls Colledge in Oxford Edgecot is signalis'd by a bloody battle fought near it on Danes More July the 26th An. 1469. by Robin of Risdal and Sir John Coniers against William Herbert Earl of Pembroke who together with his Brother Richard the Lord Rivers the Queens Brother and Richard Woodvil were taken prisoners carried to Banbury and beheaded At Fotheringhay Castle Mary Queen of Scots was kept a long time prisoner and was at last beheaded In Leicestershire Leicester the County Town is principally famous by the tradition of its having been built by King Leir great in the Catalogue of ancient British Kings qu. Leir-cester Lutterworth in this County ows its chief credit to the famous John Wickleff who was Parson of this place in the reign of King Henry the 4th Bosworth a Town of no great note but for the memory of a most signal battle fought near it on Redemore August 22d 1485. which put an end to all Controversies between the two houses of York and Lancaster and in which fell that most Tyrannical of English Kings Richard the third with four thousand of his men and some say though we are not bound to believe it with the loss but of ten men on the Earl of Richmonds side Cleycester of which there are now scarce any ruins remaining was once a famous City in the West part of this Shire and by the Romans call'd Bennone In Rutlandshire some mention as close adjoyning though generally affirm'd to be situate rather in Lincolnshire the Town of Stamford for the reputation of an ancient University and said to have been founded by that Ancient British King Bladud who found out the vertue of the Bath-Waters In Lincolnshire Lincoln the chief Town and only City of this Shire is not only eminent for its antiquity and for that it was once acounted one of the chiefest and the best traded Cities of England and made by King Edward the third the chief Mart for Lead Wool and Leather But also for a great battle fought by Randolph Earl of Chester and Robert Earl of Glocester against King Stephen who was here taken prisoner as also for the success of King Henry the third who won it from the Barons it is said to have had once fifty Parish Churches Wainfleet had been doubtless a place of little note but for the birth of William Wainfleet Bishop of Winchester who living in the reign of King Henry the sixth with whom he was great in favour built here a Free-School and founded Magdalen Colledge in Oxford Grimsby likewise though an ancient Market Town hath its chiefest repute from its being the Birth-place of Dr. Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of King James Bullingbrook is enobled by the memory of the Birth of King Edward the first and King Henry the fourth Swinesstead Abby the place where King John received from the hands of Simon a Monk thereof that baleful potion that gave him his end at Lincoln Harstill laments the death of that mirâ—our of that Conjugal love Queen Eleanor the wife of King Edward the first In the North-Riding of Yorkshire York the chief of this Shire and second City of England was a Colony of the Romans and a place of great account among them and ever since to this day a splendid and flourishing City several Emperours here kept their Court and particularly Severus had a Palace here in which he breathed his last Here also Constantius Chlorus the Father of Constantine the Great is said to have departed this life nor does the death of these two Emperours more ennoble this Place than the Birth of the Learned Alcuin who was Tutour to the Emperour Charles the Great Some write that it was first made an Episcopal See by
are many Pits which being somewhat narrow at the top and widening towards the bottom are distinguished into several Rooms or Apartments and supported as it were with Pillars of Chalk At a House of the Marquess of Worcester's at Emsbury I have been told that at the pulling down of an old Wall the Labourers discovered a Cavity which upon search led to a large Cave where there was found a Monument of great Antiquity and Riches which by the Character and some other circumstances appears to have been the Tomb of Queen Guinever Wife to King Arthur Near Kirby-Longdale in Westmorland are many deep places like Caves Fifthly At Aberbarry in Glamorganshire there is a Cave at the bottom of a Hill the mouth whereof is a gaping Clift or Chink into which when the Wind enters there is heard a kind of harmonious noice as it were of Cymbals There hath been also heard from a Clift on the Sea-side near the Island Barry a sound as it were of Smiths at work and this by the Testimony of Lilius Giraldus Lakes and Fountains there are very many among us which have something strange and extraordinary in them Near Brereton in Cheshire which belongs to an Eminent Family of the same Name there is a Pool wherein the bodies of Trees swimming are said to presage the Death of some of the Family There are two Lakes very near to each other hard by St. Agnes-Hill in Cornwall of which it is credibly reported that in the one of them Fish will live and thrive in the other not In Lancashire near Furness-Fells there is a standing water accounted the greatest in England commonly called Miander-Meer being no less than 10 Miles in length and all along paved with stone at the bottom It is said moreover that a Fish call'd a Ohare breeds here only and no where else In Huntingtonshire there are several Lakes and among the rest one called Wittlesmeer-Lake which in fairest weather grow tempestuous and rage with violent surges like the Sea In Staffordshire there are two remarkable Lakes of one Necham delivers That by its Roaring it foretells things to come the other is call'd Mahal of which the Tradition goes That Horses when tir'd drinking of the water thereof becomes fresh as ever Of this Gervase of Tilbury makes particular mention On the high Hills of Carnarvonshire there are two Meers of a strange nature if report be true for one is said to produce a sort of Fish that hath but one Eye the other to have a floatable Island whereon no sooner any one sets foot but it drives farther off from the shoar There is also at Bala in Merionethshire a Pool which never fills by Land-floods though rising never so high but in tempestuous weather swelleth above its Banks At Lynsavathan in Brecknockshire is a Meer which is said to have swallowed up a City that once stood in the room thereof through this Meer runs the River Levenny keeping its own stream intire and unmix'd At Kilken in Flintshire is a little Well which hath a constant ebbing and flowing like the Sea At Gigglesworth in Yorkshire there are three small Springs of two whereof there is nothing of observable but the middlemost hath a constant course of ebbing and flowing four times an hour the difference between its highest rise and lowest fall being about eight Inches Likewise in Derbyshire in the Forrest of the Peak is such another Spring ebbing and flowing 4 times an hour observing a constant and due revolution of its tydes On the River Ogmore in Glamorganshire there is a Well which every full tyde in Summer time is almost destitute of water but at ebb is replenish'd many times very near but never totally to an overflowing Another there is at Carry-Castle in Caermardenshire which ebbs and flows Another in Westmorland near the River Loder which ebbs and flows several times a day At Lemington in Warwickshire a Salt Spring ariseth at a great distance from the Sea Near Kenet in Wiltshire the water breaking but of certain stones is accounted a sign of Dearth The River Can in Westmorland hath Cataracts which by their fall foretell either Rain or fair Weather The rising of a Bourn near Croiden in Surry is said to presage Mortality Near St. Albans in Hertfordshire there is a Brook called which when it breaketh out presageth Dearth or some other Calamity In a private mans Yard at Pitchford in Shropshire is a Well whose waters cast up a Skum of liquid Bitumen In the North-riding of Yorkshire are Wells called Tingtong Wells three Miles within the earth The Petrifying Wells and Springs of England are very many nor is it worth the while to mention all of them the chief are in these particular Places at Newenham or Menham-Reges in Warwickshire Three which are also of a Medicinal quality as being strained through Allum at Lutterworth in Leicestershire Near Knarisborough in York-shire the Well-Drepa whose Waters distil from the Rocks that hang over it At Hodington-Hill near Oxford upon the descent of the Hill At Boxly Abbey near Maidston in Kent at Egerton in the same County Nor are those Wells and Springs to be forgotten among the Memorabilia of Nature whose Waters are of a Medicinal virtue the chief of this nature not only of England but even of all Europe for the virtue of the Waters the Magnificence of the Structures about the Wells and the vast resort to them are those famous Bathing Wells which give denomination to the City Bath and which were first found out by one Bladud who is reckoned in the Catalogue of our Ancient British Kings and renowned in History if it may be called History and not rather Historical Tradition as well for Philosopher as King Others there are whose Waters esteemed for their Purging quality are generally carous'd as Ebsham or Epsone-Wells in Surry those of Tunbridge in Kent of Barnet in Hertfordshire and now of late of North-hall in the same Shire Now I cannot but fancy that there must needs be a very great advantage in this way of Physick since those who Evacuate so merrily with so much divertisement so many as it were together for good Companies sake no doubt find a more effectual Operation than those who coop'd up in a Melancholly Chamber sup up a mixture of Nauseous and uncouth Ingredients out of an Apothecaries Shop Other places there are not altogether of no note for their Medicinal Wells as Luckington in Wiltshire where there is a Well called Handcocks-Well whose greatest Virtue consists in the Cure of sore Eyes having also this property that its Water is cold in Summer and hot in Winter Eckington in Worcestershire where there is lately discovered a Medicinal Well accounted of great Virtue for several Distempers Wallingborough in Northamptonshire where upon the account of the Waters Queen Mary lay for several weeks Lenisham in Kent six Miles from London where in the year 1651. a Medicinal Water was found which hath been since much frequented Dulwich Wells within
Christmass till Midsummer is of so Brackish a nature that all that time they boil great quantities of Salt out of it in Furnaces which for that end are erected near the Wells whereas all the rest of the year the water is so fresh that no Salt can be extracted out of it As for those Plants and Shrubs which are most peculiarly of the growth of England it would be too particular a Subject for this so general a Work to assign each its several place as there are very many places where this or that Herb Tree or Shrub hath as it were its peculiar nativity and education All the whole County of Buckingham is denominated from the great number of Beech-Trees there growing The Isle of Scalny in Pembrokeshire is almost all over grown with Wild-Time But there are some Plants which being of themselves not ordinary or common or of a more than common Vertue or Efficacy do so much the more signalize the places where they grow especially being the only noted places of their production The Saffron about Walden in Essex is so eminently reputed above the Saffron of any other parts that that Town is never mentioned but by the name of Saffron-Walden Pomfret in Yorkshire so called quasi Pontfract or Broken-Bridge besides its strong and stately Castle is noted for the great quantity of Liquorice that grows thereabout as also a sort of Plant called Skirworts whose Root is much esteem'd and Eaten by the Curious for a great delicacy by reason of its Richness and high Nourishment Nor is Worksop in Nottinghamshire less eminent for Liquorice Hallifax in the West-Riding of Yorkshire is noted for several things which we shall have occasion to make mention of elsewhere But among other things the Nuts growing thereabout are by way of eminency call'd Hallifax Nuts At Barklow in Essex there grows in great abundance an Herb bearing Red-Berries called Danewort from a Tradition that it sprang first from the Blood of the Danes On the Cliffs between Deal and Dover great plenty of Samphire grows Westward from Dengeness in Kent Pease spring up naturally in Clusters like Grapes and differ not much in Taste from common-field Pease Between Sandwich and the Isle of Thanet a kind of Hops is observed to grow naturally among the Beach and Pebbles Garlick is no where better nor more plentiful than at Stratton in Cornwall Several parts of Devonshire and Porbery most peculiarly in Somersetshire produce wild Strawberies in abundance no less noted is Axminster in Devonshire for Hurtleberries At Summervil near Chappel two Mile from Blanford in Dorcetshire on on the hither side of the River at Sturpain there is a most plentiful production of Madder how long this Plant hath been in England is uncertain but it is above 50 years since a considerable quantity of it was produced at Barn-Elms in Surry and Sir Nicholas Crisp sow'd several sorts of it as Crop-Madder Umber Ow and Pipe or flat Madder at Deptford in Kent which County affords plenty of Flax but the best Hemp is said to grow between Bemister and Birdport in Dorcetshire St. Foin or Holy-Hay was first brought out of France from about Paris and first sow'd at Copt-Hall in Kent Tamarisk was first brought over from Switzerland by Bishop Tindal in the days of Queen Mary from whose displeasure he fled and planted in his Garden at Fullham On the top of Pendle-hill in Lancashire there grows a Plant peculiar to that place called Cloudesberry probably for that it seems as it were to come out of the Clouds In the Fens of Cambridgeshire there is commonly gathered an Herb call'd Water-Germander in Latin Scordium which being the chief Ingredient consequently gives name to that great Alexipharmacon so much known and used among us called Diascordium About Glastenbury in Somersetshire there is plenty of Woad and at Cashalton in Surry of excellent Walnuts Of the Wonders and Rarities of England THe Wonders of England consist chiefly in Stones Caves Lakes Fountains Ditches and several prodigious Tumuli or Hillocks cast up by Art and Labour there was never doubtless heard of in any part of the World so miraculous a Monument of Stones for so it is generally supposed to be as that on Salisbury-Plain within six or seven Miles of Salisbury commonly called Stone-henge it appears to have been a treble row of Stones circularly plac'd one within another and rear'd streight up on end notwithstanding they are of a prodigious bigness that is to say 28 Foot long for the most part and 7 Foot broad besides others of a vast bulk though not so big as the upright ones which lye overthwart from one to another and are fastened with Tenent and Mortis but the form of this wonderful Structure is very much defac'd some of the greater Stones being either fallen or reclining towards the ground and many of the overthwart Stones being fallen how such huge Stones could be brought thither by whom and upon what occasion is disputed by Writers the most that hath been said on this Subject is written by Mr. Inigo Jones Surveyor General to King James and his late Majesty King Charles the first and Dr. Charleton both various and oft times contrary in their Opinions and possibly neither of them altogether in the right About half a dozen Mile further on the Plain towards Hungerford I have observed nor do I remember it to have been taken notice of by any one else a Stone of a great bulk but not above a Foot and a half in heighth from the ground which though of the same hardness and solidity with those above mentioned hath the top of it driven all over full of Nails of the largest size There is also a part of the Plain between Marleborough and Caun which being strew'd all over with Stones of a Grey colour is therefore called the Grey Weathers the least of these Stones being of a considerable bigness and some very large those of the ordinary size seeming to be of about half a dozen or half a score Pound weight one with another and here and there in some odd nooks a little out of the Road a large Stone reared up on end like those at Stone-henge and sometimes not much inferior in bulk In Staffordshire there is a Market-Town called Stone from a large heap of Stones cast up there as a Monumental mark of Infamy upon Wulpher the Mercian who in this very place sacrific'd to his Heathenish fury his two Sons Wulfald and Rufinus for no other cause than their imbracing the Christian Faith Near Burrowbridge a little Town in Yorkshire there are four Stones of a very vast bulk and Pyramidally shap'd suppos'd to be erected by the Romans in memory of some great Victory thereabouts obtain'd Upon the Hills near North-Tine in Northumberland though Boggy and full of water there are great heaps of Stones which some take for a Memorial of some great Battle there fought Near Enisham in the South part of Oxfordshire there are Stones called
three Miles of London And within the City several but the most noted that at the Postern-gate by Tower-hill and that called Crowders-Well hard by Cripple-gate Aleyceston in Huntingtonshire where there are two small Springs one whereof being fresh is accounted good for the Eyes the other a little Brackish for Scabs and Leprosy Buxton in Derbyshire where within the compass of 24 Foot there arise out of a Rock from under a Square Structure of Free-stone 9 Springs whereof one only is cold all the rest very warm But among all these it would be an unpardonable oversight to pass by unmention'd that famous Well of St. Winifrid commonly called the Holy-Well in Flintshire formerly much frequented partly by way of Pilgrimage partly for the great Virtue it was reputed to have in the Cure of many Maladies through the easie Faith no doubt and fond Credulity of the deluded Vulgar who are always apt to pay high Adoration and ascribe miraculous Cures to the Bodies â—elicks or any Memorials of persons recommended to them for Saints for here the Tradition goes that the Virgin Saint Vinifrid being here Beheaded a Fountain immediatly sprung up as if the Earth bewailing her Martyrdom burst forth into a â—ood of Tears and the Pebble-stones at the bottom of the said Fountain being observed to be of a Reddish colour we are to suppose that they retain to this day the tincture of the Virgins Blood Those Springs and Waters that are on the top of high Hills must be allowed to have something of Rarity in them in regard to those that are not sufficiently vers'd in the knowledge of natural Causes and Productions it may seem wonderful that the Water should rise so high above the common Surface of the Earth Particularly on the high Hills of Carnarvanshire are two Meers Also a Spring on the top of MoilenlyHills in Denbyshire Likewise among the Wonders or Rarities of England may be reckoned those Ditches which stand yet as Monuments of the Art and Industry of our Forefathers First That on Newmarket-heath which is commonly called the Devils-Ditch Secondly Wansdike in Wiltshire a work of many Miles extent cast up in memory of a Battle between the Mercians and West-Saxons Thirdly Clough d'Offa or Offa's ditch a work not inferior to the former mention'd and much upon the same occasion made Of the Populacy of the English Nation THe Populacy of a Nation is best estimated from the number of its Towns and Cities The Kingdom of England proportionably to its circumference is scarce inferior to any Kingdom or Country of Europe which is also accounted the the most Populous of all the four parts of the World except France and the Low-Countries which last being accounted no bigger in compass than York-shire is judged to contain as many Towns and Inhabited places as ten times the Circuit thereof in most other Countries and to some much superior particularly Spain late esteem'd the most considerable Monarchy of Christendom and that it continues not so to this day we may in a great measure imâ—â—te to the paucity of people in that kingdom for doubtless there is nothing that conduceth more to the Strength Grandure Prosperity and Riches of a Nation than the Populousness thereof especially where Industry is in the least incourag'd and Idleness discountenanc'd Wherefore that Nation that will ever hope to flourish ought to use all means and endeavours possible for the increasing of its People and to avoid as much as may be all occasions of Depopulation The principal causes of the Dispeopleing of Spain which according to the Testimony of several Creditable Authors hath been Anciently much better Peopled than at present have been first the multitude of Monasteries and Religious Prisons those Receptacles of forc'd Chastity and as they are ordered Impediments of the Worlds Lawful Increase Next the Violent Expulsion of the Moors out of Spain after that by a long establish'd settlement and being habituated to the same Customs Manners and Religion they were become as it were one Body with the rest of the People Lastly Those vast Colonies sent out of Spain to maintain and possess the ample Conquests or rather Ambitious and Bloody Invasions and Depopulations made by the the Spaniards there The Cities and Market-Towns of England are in number 607. to which the rest of the Burrough Towns that is such as send Burgesses to Parliament and all the Inhabited Villages whereof some are conderable being added make above 10 times the number so that all the Parishes of England and Wales are reckon'd 9285. and doubtless within the said circumference which is generally computed to be about 1352 Miles might be very well comprehended five times as many Towns or Places of Habitation if all the Forrests Chaces and unimproved vast Heaths and Commons were taken in and improved to the best advantage It is not to be wondred at that next to being born under a Happy Climate the living under a Happy Government the greatest advantage and Strength of a People is to be numerous proportionably to the extent of Territory they possess Since in the first place it is apparent enough that in a well Inhabited City the People must needs be so much the better able to defend themselves from any Force or Opposition Next if it be a place of any Trade take any particular number of what Trade soever and it is not to be imagin'd that they should be e're a whit the poorer but rather the richer than if the Inhabitants had been fewer For admit them of the same Trade or Imployment a profitable and corresponsible Trade is the more lively and vigorously carried on by many hands and suppose them of several Occupations the circulation of Money from the one to other helps all in general Though 't is true that in a straggling Town or City whose parts lye disjoyn'd and far asunder the people however considerable in number cannot be so assistant to each other in mutual Aid Society or Commerce as in a regular and well compacted City So likewise in a Kingdom that Prince who hath never so large an Empire yet if thinly Peopled or divided into several parts remotely distant and interrupted from mutual intercourse by long Voyages of Land and Sea cannot be look'd upon as so powerful a Prince as he that hath the like number of People in one intire and united Dominion Certainly no Monarch of the World much less of Christendom whoever he be that hath added most to his Empire by never so many new made Conquests can pretend to so large a share or portion of the Earth as the King of Spain who nevertheless as the transactions of a few late past years have made appear hath born but his fourth part with other Princes and States in opposition to a Prince far inferior to him in Jurisdiction and what should be the reason of this but that his Dominions lye so remote from each other and his Kingdom of Spain which his Residence there chiefly enables
Politick what Exercise is to the Body Natural viz. Prosperity to the one Health and Soundness to the other Ildleness being alike pernicious to both and causing to both alike Debauchery of Manners Distemper and Beggary There are few Nations in Europe as well a mother parts of the World wherein some particular Towns are not particularly Eminent for some or other Manufacture as in Andalusia a Province of Spain Corduba for the curious Dressing of Leather which is thence called Cordovan-Leather in Biscaia Bilboa for the making of excellent Temper'd Blades Faenza in Italy for fine Earthen Ware Venice for that rare sort of Drinking Glasses which are thence called Venice-Glasses which Art of Glass-making is by a late Discovery from thence Improv'd to a very great heigth in England though we cannot bring Glasses to that perfection for want of those Materials which are only to be had in those viz. two sorts of Plants called Gazul and Subit out of whose Liquified Ashes the right Venice-Glasses are blown The most general Manufacture of England is that which of all others is certainly the most useful and profitable and which from Ancient time hath in a measure conduc'd to the Wealth and flourishing Estate of the Nation that is to say the Woollen Manufacture or the making of Woollen Cloths or Stuffs which being encourag'd and rightly manag'd is the chief prop of our Trade and Commerce and till the Fishery be set up according to the Proposals of several Worthy Persons the chief Support and Honest Maintenance of the Poor whom could there be work enough found out universally to imploy it would be a happy means to take off that Lewd and Sordid course of Vagabond Begging which introduces all those Thievish and unlawful practices that bring so many daily to shameful and untimely ends The first Broadcloth so called because of the Broad-Looms wherein it was wrought made in England is said to have been wrought by Jack of Newbury in the Reign of King Edward the Third The first famous Clothiers were the Webscloths and Clutterbucks in Glocestershire For this Ingenious and profitable Art or Mystery of Lanifice or Woollen-work there is no place in England more fam'd than the City of Norwich which hath for a long time flourish'd by the making of Worsted-Stuffs which being wrought here more Curiously than elsewhere are thence called Nerwich-Stuffs which Work hath been brought to the greater perfection by the Industry of several Dutch and French Families who have been here planted for several years No Nation ever loseth but gets by the Transplantation of Industrious Foraigners who by Interest and Converse soon become one with the People among whom they Inhabit The Stuffs here vended the chief Trade whereof as also of Stockings is to London are esteemed at 100000 l. per annum which Stuffs are under the Government of two Companies the Worsted Company and the Russel Company The Stockings at 60000 l. per annum But there is another Town in this County which being called Worsted seems to have been the first noted place wherein these Stuffs were substantially made in regard they thence took their denomination Kidderminster in Worcestershire drives a very Trade in the making of certain Stuffs which are thence called Kidderminster-Stuffs and in the same Shire the City of Worcester it self And also Malmsbury for Woollen-Cloth In Warwick-shire Coventry In Lancashire Manchester is much Enrich'd by the Industry of the Inhabitants in making Cloth of Linnen and Woollen Taunton in Somersetshire drives so great a Trade in Mixt and White-Serges that there are said to be sent up Weekly to London and other places no less than 700 pieces a sort of them besides a sort of course Bays in the making whereof there are Weekly imployed no less than 8500 persons No less doth Wakefield in the West-riding of York-shire Leeds also in the same County is accounted a Wealthy Town by reason of its Cloathing Exeter by the quantity of Serges there made returns to London a 10000 l. a Week Stroud in Gloucestershire is a Town not only full of Rich Clothiers but is also particularly Eminent for the Dying of Cloths by reason of the peculiar quality of the Water for that purpose Teuxbury also in the same County is very Rich in Clothing Likewise Sudbury or Southbourg in Suffolk Hadly in the same County Reading in Bark-shire which through the greatness of its Trade is a very Wealthy Town and Newbury in the same County So likewise Shirburn in Dorcetshire upon the same account And also in Essex Colchester Dedham Coxal and other places abound in Bays Says and other new Drapery Appleby in Cumberland is no less Eminent for its strong Castle and for being the place where the Assizes for the County are held than for its great Cloth Manufacture the like is Kendal in the same County Among the woollen Manufacture of England may be reckon'd the weaving and knitting of Stockings the use of which woven and knit Stockings hath not been in this Nation longer than about the beginning of K. James's Reign It being very memorable what Dr Fuller relates of one William Rider an Apprentice at the foot of London-Bridge over against St Magnes-Church who seeing in the House of an Italian Merchant a pair of knit worsted Stockings which he brought from Mantua and taking special observation of them made a pair exactly like them which he presented to William Earl of Pembroke and they are said to be the first of that sort worn in England and thence-forward they became more and more in use so that for many years they have been very much and are now altogether worn and are a great part of the Trade in most Places where there is any thing of woollen Manufacture especially at Norwich yet Jersie Stockings have for a long time had a particular name The Next Place may properly be allow'd to our making of Bone-lace which is the chief of the Ornamentals worn in this Nation though not so totally as before the Needle-works came in fashion which though brought to great perfection yet have obtain'd so much the less esteem by how much those of Flanders and the Points de Venice in Italy and Larron in France came more in fashion as all foreign Artifices usually especially the French have ever the chiefest vogue among our Gallants So general is this Manufacture in many Parts of England that the Poor of whole Towns are almost totally imploy'd and in a great measure maintain'd thereby Particularly Honiton in Devonshire is a noted Town for his sort of Workmanship as likewise Salisbury and Marlborough in Wiltshire Ouldny in Buckinghamshire Amersham and Chesham in the same Shire Blandford in Dorcetshire which last Place hath been famous also for making of Band-strings and now Point-â—aces it is said are much made there It is observ'd that the only Thread made in England till within a few years was at Maidstone in Kent Besides the Cottons of Manchester the Tickin Pins Points and
Laces of that Place have been thought not unworthy to be mention'd by several of England's Topographers so likewise the Gloves Purses and leathern Points of Congleton a Market Town of Cheshire the Pins of Aberford in York-shire The making of Ropes and Cables for Ships was heretofore not onely especially eminent at Birtport in Dorsetshire above all other places but also so highly approv'd for the goodness and curiosity of the Workmanship that a Statute is said to have been made for a time ordaining that no Ropes or Cables for the King's Ships should be made any where else but that Act appears to have been long since out of date for there are great Rope-yards belonging to all the Ship-docks of England particularly at Deptford there are very famous and large ones Smiths-work whatever it is at present hath been heretofore peculiarly attributed to the Artists of Salisbury in Wiltshire Bremicham in Warwickshire Chedder in Somersetshire Sheffield in Yorkshire Malton in the same Shire and Walsal in Staffordshire particularly Salisbury is commended for Razors Bremicham and Sheffield for Blades of Knives Chedder for Teasels or Instruments used in the dressing of Cloth Malton for Instruments used in Husbandry and Walsal for Bits and Snaffles for Horses moreover this last Town is noted as well for Pewterers as Smiths But by the way the mention of Knives hath brought to mind a just occasion of admiration that is since the English have been observ'd and not without just cause to be a good stout eating People there being more substantial Joynts of Beef and Mutton c. consum'd among us than perhaps in any part of the World besides how it should come to pass that we should be so tardy in the Art of Knife-making or what Invention we had in former days to avoid those Indecencies at the Table which the want of Knives must in all likelihood be the cause of For it is credibly reported that one Thomas Matthews living on Fleet-bridge was the first that made Knives in England which was in the 5th year of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth The best Tobacco-pipes for neatness of shape and form and for a curious shining gloss are made at Ambresbury vulgarly call'd Emsbury in Wiltshire about a mile or two from Stonehenge they are commonly call'd Gantlet-Pipes having the mark of a Gantlet impress'd on the flat bottom of the Bowl from Mr. Hugh Gantlet who was the first that brought them to this perfection There are also several edible and potable Works of Art which may in my opinion properly enough come under the Head of English Manufactures The Coagulation of Milk into the Consistence of Cheese is said to have been the first Invention of the Osci an ancient People of Italy but whence or from whomsoever proceeding this sort of artificial Food is the most common and universal in all Parts of the World where the most rational and civil way of Eating is in use Of all the Shires of England Cheshire for this kind of Edible may I judge be allow'd the Bays above all other Parts at least of this Kingdom and for ought I know a true Cheshire Cheese if rightly valu'd may stand in competition with the Parmesan of Italy the Angelot of France and the Full-moon of Holland only with this pre-eminence reserved to the last that but for the bigness it might serve as well for the Bowling-green as the Table Suffolk in this particular challenges the next place but doubtless in respect rather of quantity than quality for this County furnishes with Cheeses not only several other Parts of England but also Spain France and Italy a lean Traveller may possibly be thought able to endure a long Journey better than one that 's plump and fat These are the two principal Cheese-Counties of England but in other Counties this Pretension is fixt to particular Places as in Somersetshire to Chedder before-mention'd the Cheeses whereof are of that repute as to be frequently preferr'd even before those of Cheshire Opinion and Imagination are two great things In Warwickshire Banbury hath a Name both for Cheeses and Cakes the justification of which Name is best left to the experienc'd taster of both For Sugar'd-Cakes Shrewsbury is without controversie allow'd to bear away the Bell from all other Places But to save the Reputation of the Cake-makers of other Parts this Super-excellence is attributed to the nature of the Severn-water in that Place Other Places there are that challenge their Peculiars of this nature but the most proverbially eminent are the Whitepot of Devonshire and Dumpling of Norfolk Nor must the Potables of England be altogether forgotten For Ale Derbyshire and particularly Derby-Town also Hull Northdown and Sandbitch and Weably afore-mention'd are most especially fam'd for Sider all Gloucestershire Worcestershire and Herefordshire for Metheglin Shropshire Herefordshire and some Parts of Wales To the Manufactury of England may not unfitly be added an account of those curious Arts and Inventions which are now flourishing in this Nation whether newly or for some Ages last past And among these the first and principal is the excellent and by some highly applauded and by others most condemned Art of Printting This noble Invention in many respects useful and no way so pernicious as some would have it thought was first exercis'd by William Caxton Mercer who in the Reign of K. Edw. the IV. kept his Printing-house in Westminster-Abbey by the permission of Simon Islip Abbot of Westminster and the first Book set forth some say was Tully's Offices others say a Book treating of the way of playing the Game at Chess The next Invention appearing here among us must be allow'd little less ingenious than the former but wonderfully more capable of doing mischief I mean the truly black Art of Gunpowder the swarthy Invention of a swarthy Monk and possibly by the Inspiration of the Prince of Darkness Yet one thing is worthy to be observ'd viz. that since the discovery of this gloomy Drug whatever destruction hath been committed by whole-sale something of amends hath been made by retail For whereas in former Times when the Bow Lance and Javelin were in use History makes nothing of 40 or 50000 slain in the Field now that the Musket Dragoon and Pistol came in fashion even with the Cannon to boot it is a great matter to hear of the fall of 10 or 20000. besides as a Member sometimes is not ill lost to save a Man so in greater Bodies a House may be better spar'd than a whole Street or Town which deliverance nothing but Gunpowder can effect But then against this benefit may be oppos'd the springing of Mines to blow up Castles Forts and Cittadels meerly for destructions sake It is not to be doubted and it appears from Histories that the Chariot hath been known in England as well as in other Parts of the World time out of mind but the use of those portable Houses call'd Coaches which at this day being increas'd to a vast multitude
Evelin of Says-Court by Deptford The Bow-dy about 40 years since was brought into England by Kephler Our Tapistry-work now equal to whatever the Attalick-Court could anciently boast was brought in hither by Sir Francis Crane towards the latter end of K. James his Reign by the Encouragement of that learned Prince who gave 2000 l. toward the building of a House at Moreclack where Mr. Francis Clein was the first Designer Our Vasa Fictilia or Potters-Ware by the Art and Industry of Mr. Doight at Fullam are brought to that height of Curiosity that our common Vessels may easily out-vye the Dutch and the finest come not much short of China it self The making of Glasses is said to have been begun in England anno 1557. about which time there liv'd at Chiddingsfold a Person very famous for this Art which as it grew improv'd the finer sort were first made at Crotchet-friers but the making of the Flint-Glass which is the finest and clearest ever made here and very near if not altogether equal to those of Venice was first begun by Mr. Bishop and since carried on with good success by Mr. Ravenscroft There is now a Company of 12 Men of the Potters Trade who are Directors of this sort of Workmanship chiefly exercis'd at present at the Savoy-House in the Strand But the first Glass-plates for Looking-glasses Coach-windows c. in England were made at Lambeth now about 10 years since by the Encouragement of his Grace the Duke of Buckingham and the Direction of Mr. Reeves afore-mention'd The first in England who cast brass Guns viz. Cannons Culverines c. is said to have been one John Oaven after him Peter Band a Frenchman in the first year of the Reign of K. Edw. the VI. cast iron Falcons Falconets Minions c. but was exceeded by his Servant Thomas Johnson who liv'd till the year 1600. In Gunsmiths-work there hath been of late years discover'd a very large increase of Art and Ingenuity as to the Locks and Barrels of Muskets Carbines Pistols and the like In which sort of Artifice there have been many excellent Workmen whereof at this day Mr. Shaw and Giffard Gunsmiths to his Majesty and Mr. Sharp living in Exeter-street are esteem'd the chiefest Artists of London and by consequence in all probability of England Another principal branch of Smiths-work is the making of Locks and Keys in which nothing was ever seen so curious and ingenuous as what is done at this day by Mr. Wilkins Mathematical Instruments as Compasses Quadrants Rulers are most certainly now more exquisitely made than ever Herein Mr. Foster in Hosier-lane and Mr. Hays in Moor-fields were lately the most celebrated Workmen now Mr. Markham in the Strand and Mr. Winne in Chancery-lane The Projection of Globes Spheres and Maps is without controversie now more exactly understood than formerly through the Ingenuity first of Mr. Moxon now of Mr. Berry near Charing-Cross and Mr. Mordant in Cornhil Nor is there without all doubt in all things of this nature a better Graver than Mr. Lamb. And here may not unfitly be mention'd the new Invention of an Iron Pen which besides its lastingness is equally fit for use with the best Goose-Quill whatsoever By Mr. Smith Writing-Master to Christ-Church-Hospital Having spoken of Printing it will not be unseasonable to intimate how much Letter-founding hath been advanc'd of late S. Savil's silver Character for the printing of his Chrysostom was much admir'd at that time but of late we have had many Books printed in very delicate Characters both small and great especially the fine small Greek Character in which several Greek Poets have been printed at the Theatre at Oxford is so curious that nothing can be more not excepting the fine small Prints of Amsterdam or Leyden It would be endless to reckon up all the new Allamodes of Cloths Stuffs Silks Ribbands and the like But of the many curious Pieces in Wax-work Straw-work Acupiction in Silks and Sattins cutting of Paper Cloth or fine Leather into exquisite Figures folding of Napkins into the shapes of Birds Beasts or Fishes tho Ingenuity of former Ages as to most of these Artifices hath perhaps not receiv'd much addition Though in Wax there are to be seen very curious things of late Workmanship which possibly have arriv'd to utmost Improvement For Imbossment in Wax Mr. Houseman was certainly the best Artist that hath been known in these Parts The rich Embroidery of former Times as will appear to those who visiting the Houses of the old Nobility and Gentry behold the pompous Furniture left by the Ancestry of those Families is as I conjecture not easily out-done if equall'd by any thing this Age can produce The Art of making fine white Thread is said to have been brought into England about the year 1670. by Mr. Joseph Allen Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London keeping a Thread-shop in Bishopgate-street at the Golden Anchor near Bethlehem even to the value of 3 l. the pound and vying with the Nuns Thread of Flanders The Glassen Bee-hive is mention'd by my Ingenious Friend Mr. John Worlidge of Petersfield to have been the Contrivance of Mr. William Mew Minister of Easlington in Gloucestershire He also mentions a wooden Hive of an Octangle form with a glass Window in one of the sides This glassen Bee-hive I remember about 30 years ago was much talk'd of as a great Rarity when the late Bishop of Chester Dr. Wilkins had of them in his Garden at Wadham-Colledg whereof he was then Warden both sorts are now sufficiently common but they are no where to be seen better order'd and more curious than at Mr. Evelin's Paradice of a Garden by Deptford The Plow though as ancient as Tillage it self the Improvements are but of late years The chief whereof mention'd by Mr. Blith and Mr. Worlidge are the single wheel'd Plow and the double wheel'd Plow and the double Plow which is in the nature of two Plows joyn'd together Mr. John Houghton also worthily for his great Ingenuity and Industry a Fellow of the Royal Society in that most useful Design of his call'd A Collection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry inserts an Invention of Thomas Llewellin at the George in Cateaten-street for plowing with one Man and two Horses or Oxen a greater quantity of Land than can be perform'd at the same time with double the number of Men and Cattel He also in the same Sheet gives a large description of a Malt-kill at Nottingham Engines of grand bulk force and performance are doubtless near as ancient as whatever Art or Invention have produc'd being of too great necessity to be unthought of by any thinking or inventing People Cranes and Engines for the drawing up of Goods of great bulk and weight such as we have at the Custom-house and such like Places are mention'd in ancient Authors Also in War the Arcubalistae and the Arietes or Battering-Rams which against the Walls of besieged Towns did more than multitudes of Men.
What the Antiquity is of Corn Wind-mills is hard to determine whether in this or any other Nation The Paper-Mill is certainly of no modern Invention and it may be wonder'd that in all this time Paper-making hath not been brought to a greater height in this Nation it being judg'd very possible that as good Paper might be made in England as any is brought over from France Holland or any other foreign Part. The Powder-Mill cannot be of very long standing since it is scarce 200 years that Gunpowder it self hath bounc'd and made a smoak in the World Moreover of these grand performing Engines there is a very great number even of late Invention of which I shall endeavour to call to mind at least the most noted For the grubbing up of Stumps of Oak there is an Engine call'd the German Devil which Mr. Evelin in his incomparable Treatise of Forest-trees affirms to have been made use of by a Noble Person of this Nation with that success that by the help thereof one Man was able to do more than could otherwise have been done by 12 Oxen He also in the same Treatise p. 22. gives a description of another Engine for the transplanting of Trees The silk-Stocking Frame is surely one of the most curious Contrivances of this Age. It is said to have been first us'd at Nottingham and was as I have been told the seasonable Fancy of a poor Oxford Scholar who to inch out the slender pittance of a small Living he had thereabouts was glad to make use of his Wives manual Assistance but that not sufficing neither to satisfie the importunate Stomachs of an increasing Family he prompted by Necessity which is the Mother of Art as ancient Authors affirm joyn'd his Head to her Hands his Ingenuity to her Industry and thence brought forth this rare Device to shorten the labour and increase the profit of her Work The Saw-Mill or Engine for sawing of Timber is of Dutch Original and about 25 or 30 years ago first brought in use among us for so long it is since that on the Thames over against Durham-yard was first erected The Wire-Mill of Mr. Mumma a Dutchman was first set up at Sheen within these 20 years All the Money coin'd in the Tower of London almost ever since his Majesty's Restoration hath been by an Engine or Coining-Mill brought in by the Rotiers who thereupon became and so continue to this present his Majesty's chief Moneyers The Weavers Loom-Engine hath not been in use many years in England especially the highest Improvement thereof call'd the Dutch Loom brought in about 5 or 6 years since by Mr. Crouch a Weaver in Bishopsgate-street A very useful Invention was that Engine call'd the Persian Wheel for the watring of Meadows which lye uncapably of being overflow'd The first of these Engines brought to any considerable perfection was erected at the end of Wilton-Garden by the Direction of the above-mention'd Mr. Worlidge Wood-Steward to the Earl of Pembroke in the year 1665. who in his Systema Agriculturae takes notice of another Engine to the same purpose call'd the Horizontal Windmil And in his Treatise of Sider he describes the Ingenio or rare Sider-Engine a Contrivance doubtless very profitable for those that drive a Trade in the making of this Liquor There is also very lately found out the admirable Water-Engine for raising of Ballas and towing of Ships Yet as excellent as these Inventions are and as useful to the Publick by dispatching at one instant the tedious drudgery of many Hands yet there are not wanting high Clamours against them as robbing poor men of their Imployments and consequently of their Livelihoods so hard it is to find any Convenience totally exempted from Cavil and Exception Even the Quench-fire Engine that most excellent and salutiferous Invention of Sir Samuel Moreland 't is possible may be an Eye-sore to such Neronian Tempers as love to see Towns and Cities on fire However the World is oblig'd to this learned Mechanick as well for this as several other useful and ingenuous Contrivances particularly his Arithmetical Instrument and his Stenterophonick or Speaking Trumpet the chief use whereof is to treat or parly with an Enemy at a distance There is to be seen by all Lovers of Art a rare Invention of Mr. Edgebury call'd the Horizontal Corn-mill upon a piece of Land at Deptford belonging to my most Honour'd Friend Mr. Evelin junior It is now about 7 or 8 years since a Printing-Press for the printing of Callcoes was set on foot by Mr. Mellish but he soon desisting the Design was taken up by Mr. William Sherwin living in Little-Britain and ever since carried on with great vigour and success To conclude There remains yet to be spoken of one rare Engine and in some sence above all that have been yet mention'd since it brings back Old Age to Youth and makes threescore and ten appear as fine and gay as five and twenty I do not mean simply the Perruke or Frame of Artificial formerly worn for that may possibly be as ancient as the Emperour Carolus Calvus his Time who wanting Hair of his own is reported to have call'd a Councel of French Barbers to contrive an artificial Supplement of Natures Defect But I mean that lofty towring Structure or Machine of Hair so heighten'd and ornamented as it hath been by Tonsorian Art and Industry within these last 20 years so frounc'd so curl'd in a 1000 amorous Annulets so plump'd up so streaming in the Air like a Ships Top-gallant that certainly never any Cincinnatus or Capillatus whatsoever could boast a natural Head of Hair comparable to this artificial much more may it be judg'd easily to outvye the ancient Median Cidaris the Persian Tiara or the now Ottoman Turbant and doubtless had it been devis'd in Homer's Time it would quickly have put out of countenance the best of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 THE MAGNIFICENCE OF ENGLAND THE Magnificence of England consists in the principal Towns and Cities Palaces Royal and belonging to several of the Nobility Cathedrals and other Churches Castles Bridges and erected Monuments The 3 principal Cities of England are London York and Bristol Besides which there are many other Cities and Towns of sufficient Note for pleasantness of Situation and neatness of Building As the Cities of Canterbury Rochester Exeter Salisbury Gloucester Worcester Oxford Bath Durham Lincoln Winchester and Coventry The Towns of Ipswich St Edmundbury Maidston Feversham Kingston upon Thames Guilford Lewis Colchester Buckingham Ailsbury Reading Cambridge Southampton Marlborough Warwick Shirburn Northampton Leicester Nottingham Newark Manchester Wakefield Boston Stamford Barstable Tavistoke Taunton Shrewsbury Bridgenorth Tewksbury and Cirencester besides several others which are to be mention'd among those Places signaliz'd by their several Remarks and Transactions London being at large describ'd by Stow Howel and others it will be sufficient to name the Magnificences thereof viz. The Cathedral of St Pauls destroy'd by the late Fire and now upon
rebuilding the stately Bridge over the Thames the Royal Exchange splendid before but now rebuilt far more splendid the New Bethlehem or Bedlam in Gresham-Colledge Sion-Colledge the Colledge of Physicians now a very graceful Edifice with the Theatre for Anatomy-Lectures at the upper end of Warwick-lane the Halls belonging to the several Companies most of them built much more to advantage than formerly Doctors Commons and over against it the Office of Armory towards Pauls-Wharf near which before the Fire stood Baynards-Castle an ancient and noble House sometime belonging to the Earls of Pembroke the several Inns of Court and Chancery many of them wonderfully improv'd both as to Structure and pleasant Permenades the two Inns of Serjeants in Chancery-lane and Fleetstreet the latter whereof is amplifi'd into a larger extent of Ground and number of fair Houses the Canal by the Fleet cut straight along from Holborn-bridge down to the Thames at Puddle-Wharf with the new built Bridge over it the Hospitals of Sutton call'd the Charterhouse of Christ-Church near New-gate of St Bartholomews near Smithfield Bridewel once a King's Palace now a House of Correction the Earl of Bridgewater's House in Barbican the Earl of Thanet's and the Bishop of London's Palace commonly call'd Peterhouse in Aldersgate-street then between Temple-bar and Westminster a Street so full of Noblemen's Palaces that there is scarce the like in any one City of Europe especially some years since before several of them were pull'd down out of whose Ruines nevertheless there have sprung up so many little Towns as it were pleasantly situate upon the Thames-side those pull'd down are Essex-house Exeter-house out of part whereof there is built a neat Exchange part of Salisbury-house Durham-house and York-house belonging to the Duke of Buckingham and now very lately Woreester-house those standing are Somerset-house which belongs to the Queen and where she oft-times hath her residence the Savoy once a Palace but of late years made use of for an Hospital of lame Souldiers Bedford-house part of Salisbury and Suffolk-house belonging to the Northumberland Family near Westminster is the principal Seat-Royal of England his Majesty's most usual Place of residence Whitehal built by Cardinal Woolfie a Palace more of Convenience than State excepting the Banquetting-house a piece of Architecture accounted parallel to the best in Italy and not to omit the Magnificences of Westminster being so near the Cathedral and the Old Palace which contains Westminster-hall the largest Room in Europe the Parliament-house and other Courts of Judicature from Whitehal a pleasant Park leads to St James's the Palace and usual residence of his Royal Highness the Duke of York on the other side of the Park a neat House of the Earl of Arlington Lord Chamberlain of the King's Houshold and near it Tarthall belonging to the late Lord Stafford over against St James's on the Road towards Kensington a noble House of the Duke of Albemarl built by the late Lord Chancellor Earl of Clarendon and near it Barkley-house Newport-house and others Among the Buildings of later years several noble Piazza's or Squares some not inferior to that of Piazza Navona at Rome The first Covent-garden Square grac'd on two sides with lofty Portico's on the other with the Prospect of Bedford-Garden on the fourth with the Front of a goodly Church Next Lincolns-Inn Square the largest of all 3. Bloomsbury Square opening to a fair Prospect of Southampton-house not far from which is an elegant new built House of the Honourable Henry Mountague late Ambassador to the Court of France 4. Leicester Square on the one side whereof is the Prospect of Leicester-house adjoyning to which is also Newport-house 5. St James's Square whose each side is a Pile of most splendid Edifices Lastly That in So-ho-Buildings a very pleasant Square having a large square Garden-plot in the midst adorn'd with Fountains Statues c. This is commonly call'd Kings-Square for the Magnificence thereof York the first City of Yorkshire and the second of England is a large stately pleasant rich populous and well fortified City The chief Magnificences whereof besides several beautiful Structures both publick and private are the Cathedral the Great Gate the Stone-bridge over the Ouse having one only but very huge Arch the Princes House call'd the Mannour and a famous Library Bristow or Bristol qu. Brightstol or Brightstow i. e. a splendid or illustrious Place in the British Caer Oder Nant Badon i. e. the City Oder in the Valley of Badon a large cleanly pleasant and well traded City situate some part in Glocestershire but most in Somersetshire and yet in a manner distinct from both being a County of it self incorporate It hath large Streets and divers fair Buildings both publick and private besides its Churches a strong Castle the Bishop's Palace the Tolbooth for Merchants a fair large Key affording a most pleasant Prospect of Ships coming up to the very Town and the Goutes or Sinks that carry the Water under ground render the Streets exceeding neat and clean Canterbury the chief City of Kent and the Metropolitan See of all England pleasant both for Situation and Buildings and of principal esteem for its Cathedral which is accounted among the chief of the Cathedrals of England besides which it hath several fair Chuches It s other publick Buildings are the Houses of the Dean and Prebends a noble Free-School call'd the Kings-School two Hospitals the Watch-houses or Cittadels upon the Wall which is broad enough for two Coaches to go abrest upon it it had also a noble Castle but that hath been long since demolish'd Rochester is not only preferrable as a City to all the Places in Kent next to Canterbury for its fair Building and pleasant Situation upon the River Medway But the chief Grandure of this City consists in its Cathedral and stately Bridge Of which more in its due place Exeter is particularly taken notice of by William of Malmsbury for the beauty of its Buildings the richness of its Inhabitants the flourishing state of its Trade and Commerce and the confluence of Strangers thither the greatness of its Trade and Riches by a daily Commerce both with this City and other Parts of the Nation The most eminent of its Structures are the Wall giving entrance by six Gates and adorn'd with divers Watch-Towers a strong and stately Castle and a vary noble and sumptuous Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral is accounted in some respects the noblest in England at least there are very few equal to it The City is pleasantly water'd with clear Rivulets running through the length of each Street and the Market-place very large and handsom Glocester is pleasantly situated upon the River Severn It hath been anciently much celebrated for its Monastery of Nuns built by Keneburgh Eadburgh and Eve and is at present for its stately Minster Worcester hath a Wall about it one thousand six hundred and fifty paces in circuit with a seven-fold entrance of Gates and five Watch-Towers for ornament and
hath nothing but its fair Church to commend it Also Rippon in the West-riding of Yorkshire whose three Steeples shew their lofty Heads at considerable distance to Travellers approaching the Place Upon the Bridge of Wakefield in the same Riding of Yorkshire is a beautiful Chappel erected by K. Edward the 4th in memory of those of his Party who lost their Lives in the Battel there fought The Church of Boston in Lincolnshire beside its largeness curious Workmanship and its aspiring Tower-Steeple hath this also memorable that from the bottom to the top the Steeple is ascended by as many Steps as there are Days in a Year Yarmouth-Church for it hath but one gives no small addition of commendation to that Town which is reckon'd among the most considerable of Norfolk Oundale in Northamptonshire is render'd no less memorable for its fair Church than for its Free-School and Alms-house At the Castle of Warkworth in Northumberland there is a Chappel wonderfully hewn out of a Rock without Beams Rafters or any thing of Timber-work Wrexam in Denbighshire hath a Church which for neat Building and the loftiness of its Steeple is concluded to surpass all the Churches of North-Wales But of all the Churches of this Island and they are among the 6 chief Remarks thereof the Chappel of Kings-Colledge in Cambridge already mention'd is for rareness of Architecture and Contrivance renown'd above most Structures not only of England but even of Europe also The Castles of England were in ancient Times the chief-Seats of our Nobility but since the dissolution of the Abbeys and the demolishment of very many Castles in the several Wars of England divers of the said Abbeys have become the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen Yet some Noblemen at this day have ancient Castles for their chief Seats As Barkly-Castle in Glocestershire gives Title to the Honourable Family of the Skelton-Castle is the Seat of the Barons Bruse The chief Castles now in the several Counties are in Cheshire Beeston and the Castle of Chester In Barkshire Windsor afore-mention'd In Cumberland the Castle of Carlile In Darbyshire the Castle of the Peak In Devonshire the Castles of Dertmouth and Castle-Rugemont in Exeter In Shirburn-Castle In the Bishoprick of Bernard-Castle In Hantshire Hurst Carisbrook and Saubam Castles In Bradwardin-Castle of which elsewhere In Kent the Castles of Dover and Queenborough that of Canterbury being demolisht In Hornby-Castle and that of Lancaster which is accounted one of the three chief Magnificences of the Town the other two being the Church and the Bridge In Lincolnshire Belvoir and Castor Castles In Monmouthshire Chepstow and Strighal Castles In Northamptonshire Fotheringhay mention'd upon another account Baibroke Rockingham and Maxey Castles In Northumberland Newcastle Thrilwale Tinmouth Morpeth Withrington Warkworth and Alnwick Castles In Richmondshire the stately Castle of Bolton In Bishops-Castle Clun-Castle Shrawarden-Castle Knocking-Castle Whittington-Castle Routon-Castle Tongue-Castle whose Bell is very loud as in noise so in fame in all those Parts The Castles of Shrewsbury Ludlow and Bridgnorth In Dunster-Castle which was built in William the Conquerour's Time by the Family of the Mohuns which flourisht from that time till the Reign of K. Richard the 2d in very great splendor and ever since hath continued in considerable reputation In Staffordshire Stourton and Dudly-Castle with those of Tamworth Chartly and Tutbury to which may be added the memory of an old Castle at Stafford now demolisht In Framlingham-Castle a Place of great State Strength Beauty and Convenience and the Ruines of Burgh-Castle In Surry Holm Beckworth and Sterborough Castles In Amberly-Castle and that of Bodiam belonging to the Family of the Lewknors In Warwickshire Studly Macstock and Ausley Castles and the Castle of Warwick it self In Whellep-Castle and Apelby In Wiltshire Castlecomb Yainsborough and Warder In Worcestershire Hertlebury Holt and Elmesly Castles In the VVest-Riding of Yorkshire Sheafield Conisborough Tickil Sandal Harewood Knasborrow and Cawood Castles In the East-Riding the strong Castle of VVreshil In the North-Riding the Castles of Scarborough Kilton Skelton already mention'd VVilton Kildale Gilling Skerry-hutton and Hinderskell In VVales the most noted Castles in Caermardenshire Carreg In Denbighshire the strong and almost impregnable Castle of Denbigh In Flintshire Flint and Harding Castles In Glamorganshire Cardiff now belonging to the Earls of Pembroke but once the famous Residence of Sr Marmionwith his 12 Knights little less renown'd in Story than K. Arthur and his Knights of the round Table and whose Effigies were lately to be seen in the Hall of this Castle The Bridges of England are not the least of the 7 Remarks of this Nation And first They are remarkable for number as being reckon'd in all 875. In the next place They plead precedence in the generality with all others in Europe The Prime is London-Bridge which is said to have been anciently built of Wood and was then accounted a very stately Bridge but afterwards receiv'd a far greater pitch of lustre by being built of Stone insomuch that without controversie it is judg'd the noblest Structure of that kind in Europe It stands upon 19 Arches of Stone which support a Street of very fair Edifices of a quarter of a Mile in length for so much the breadth of the Thames is accounted in that place The next for Beauty and Magnificence is that of Rochester and after that the Bridg of Stratford upon Avon Among the three Beauties of the Town of Lancaster the Bridge is one the other two being the Church and Castle Over the River Ouse which encircles the Town of Buckingham all but the North-side are three fair Bridges of Stone The same River Ouse runs through the midst of the Town of Bedford and hath over it a handsom Stone-Bridge with two Gates upon it Over the River Dee is a stately Stone-Bridge which leads to the City of Chester It is supported with 8 Arches and hath at each end two strong Gates from whence the Walls commence within which the City lyes in an oblong Square From the River Derwent a small Brook runs through the Town of Darby which lyes on the Western-bank of that River under 9 Bridges But the stateliest of all is that in the North-East part of the Town upon which standeth a fair Chappel of Stone Over the River VVeer with which the City of Durham is almost wholly incompass'd two neat Stone-Bridges one from the South the other from the North-Road lead into the midst of the Town The Bridge leading into VVarwick-Town over the River Avon is both sightly and strong But particularly sumptuous with their Towers and Gates are those two over Severn at the East and West Entrances of Shrewsbury That over the River Ouse at York which stands on each side the River hath one Arch the largest and loftiest of any Bridge in England Several others there are and some perhaps not unworthy of memory but these being the very chiefest it will not be worth the while to mention any more
still shews the ruins of a strong and stately Castle built upon a hill Stony-Stratford was a Station of the Romans and by them call'd Lactorodum Here the said King Edward the Elder gave a stop to the violent incursions of the Danes upon those parts and this is one of those places where the first of that name since the Conquest rais'd a stately monumental Cross in memory of Queen Eleanor At Chilton in this Shire was born that learned Writer in the Law Sir George Crook Amersham so call'd qu. Agmondsham is not only eminent by the name of the great Agmond from whom it takes denomination but by the birth of several learned Writers especially John sirnamed from the place of his Nativity Amersham and John Gregory of the present Age whose posthume works are worthily reckon'd among the principal of English Writings At Windover was born Roger thence sirnamed de Windover Historian to King Henry the third At Houton Roger Goad a man of good repute for learning In Barkshire are several places of note Reading boasts the Interment of King Henry the first in a Collegiate Church of an Abby founded by himself together with his Queen and his Daughter Maud the Empress He also built here a strong Castle which was rased to the ground by King Henry the second But this Town is yet more remark'd by the birth of William Laud who of a poor Clothiers Son of Reading was advanc'd to the highest Ecclesiastical Office and Dignity of the Nation viz. the Archiepiscopal See of Canterbury nor is it to be forgotten how manfully this Town was held out in the time of the late Civil War by Sir Jacob Aston against the whole power of the Earl of Essex General of the Parliaments forces for a whole twelve month's time but at length it was taken by the said Earl And from this place in the Reign of King Henry the second a learned Writer viz. Hugh of Reading took both Birth and Sirname At Inglefield the Danes received a great defeat from King Ethelwolf Wallingford the Gallena of Ptolomy was an ancient Station of the Romans and the chief City of the Atrebates From this place Richard of Wallingford took his birth and consequently his Sirname Abington besides that it was a place of much action in the time of the Civil Wars in his late Majesties Reign gave birth to Sir John Mason Privy Counsellor to King Henry the eighth King Edward the sixth Q. Mary and Qu. Elizabeth as also to Sir John Smith Latin Secretary and Master of Requests to King James Windsor is renowned as having been built by King Edward the third and as the place where was first instituted that most illustrous Order of the Knights of the Garter by that most victorious Prince and of which the greatest Kings and Princes of Europe have been fellows from the first Institution to this day and likewise for the Interment of King Henry the sixth King Edward the fourth King Henry the eighth and King Charles the first whose Body hath been since remov'd to Westminster and interr'd in King Henry the seventh's Chappel Moreover this place gave birth to a person of great fame for his learned Writings viz. Roger hence sirnamed of Windsor Eaton nearly adjoyning and almost contiguous to Windsor is a place besides the fame of being built by King Henry the sixth trebly renown'd for learning first as a Nursery for the bringing up of Youth being one of the chiefest Free-schools in England secondly as a place of maintenance and encouragement for the studious and well advanc'd in learning thirdly as the Birth-place of several learned men particularly Samuel Collins William Oughtred the great Mathematician and Matthew Stokes At Ratcot Bridge Robert Vere Duke of Ireland was put to flight by the Duke of Glocester the Earls of Arundel Warwick and Derby with the slaughter of Sir Thomas Molineux Constable of Chester This Radcot is by some reckon'd in Oxfordshire Sunning is sufficiently signal in history as having bin an Episcopal See for the residence of eight Bishops which See was translated to Shirbourn and afterwards to Salisbury where it still remains Wantage is enobled by the Birth of that great mirrour of a Prince for Virtue Learning and Valour King Alfred sirnamed the Scourge of the Danes Waltham in the East of this County was an ancient Station of the Romans so likewise Sinodum in the North. Newbury a Town of sufficient note in this Shire is yet more noted by the birth of Thomas Hide a learned Writer and also by two great Fights fought in the time of the late Civil Wars between the Forces of his late Majesty and the Parliament Army under the Earl of Essex Spene and Pesemere two places of no other note than by the birth of two eminent Writers the first of William Twisse the other of William Lyford In Hantshire Winchester the ancient Venta Belgarum of the Romans is said to have been built by that famous Rudhudibras great in the Catalogue of the old British Kings It was the Seat Royal of the West Saxons and chief Epicopal See and still remains the Episcopal See of a great part of that which was the West Saxon Kingdom It was honour'd with the Coronations of King Egbert and King Alfred and the Birth of King Henry the third Here in the Cathedral built by King Kenwolf King of the West Saxons were interred King Egbert King Ethelwolf King Alfred with his Queen Elswith the first Edmund King Edred and King Edwy Queen Emma and her Husband the Danish King Canutus as also his Son Hardy-Canutus and after the Conquest King William Rufus and his Brother Richard Here King Athelstan kept his Mint At St. Peters in the Suburbs of this City was born John Russel created Bishop of Lincoln by King Edward the fourth and Lord Chancellour of England by King Richard the third This City also brought forth two persons of illustious memory for learning viz. Lampridius sirnamed of Winchester a Benedictine Monk who flourisht An. 980. and Wolstan of Winchester a Benedictine likewise accounted in those times an eminent Poet who flourisht An. 1000. Southampton built out of the ruines of the ancient Clausentium and after many devastations reedified in King Richard the second 's time is a most pleasant and well fortified Town with a goodly Castle proudly advanced on a Hill In a Maison dieu or Hospital here lies interr'd the body of Richard Earl of Cambridge who was executed for Treason in the Reign of King Henry the fifth In the Parish of St. Michael in Southampton was born Arthur Lake Bishop of Bath and Wells who died An. 1602. as also Sir Thomas Lake Secretary of State to King James At Basingstoke John sirnamed of Basingstoke the first English Author of a Greek Grammar who died An. 1252. William Paulett Baron of Basing and Marquess of Winchester 〈…〉 to King Henry the seventh and Lord Treasurer to King Henry the eighth Edward the sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth
of Huntington renowned for his History who flourish't An. 1248. Other Celebrated men of this Shire were William Whitlesey Archdeacon of Huntington who died An. 1375. Henry Saltry who flourisht 1140. William Ramsey a famous Poet. John Young and John White In Wiltshire Wilton the Denominating and once the Principal Town of the Shire is so much the more notable a place by how much the more despicable it now appears as a strange example of the various turns of fortune and mutations of human affairs having only the name left of a Market Town else but a pitiful Village consisting of one only Parish Church which is said to have been a Town of about seventeen or eighteen Parish Churches and having no Memorial or Monument of antiquity which hath been the Theater of so many grand Transactions Here Egbert the Westsaxon and at last Sole Monarch of the English encountred Bernulf King of Mercia and slew him in Battle but in this very place he afterwards received a terrible overthrow from the Danes At Edindon King Alfred gave the Danes a very notable defeat Bradford is memoris'd for a bloody Battle fought between two great Competitors in the Saxon Heptarchy At Woodensbury An. 590. Cheaulin King of the West-Saxons encountring the Britains who joyn'd with his Nephew Cealrick was put to flight and his Son Cuth slain Here also Ina the West-Saxon fought with Ceolred the Mercian Old Sarum was a place made choice of by the Romans for a strong encamped habitation as by the ruins thereof at this day appears Here the Britains receiv'd a fatal overthrow from Kenrick the Saxon besides what spoil was afterwards done by Canutus Caln is famous for that great Assembly which put an end to the controversy about the Marriage of Priests by reason of a disaster which happened by the fall of the Room to the destruction of several people of all sorts Brokenbridge and Cosham places doubly famous in History First as having been ancient Roman Seats next as the Courts of some of the Saxon Kings Crekelade memorable for the Fame of an University said to have been anciently here erected and from hence removed to Oxford Malmsbury qu. Maidulphsbury from Maidulphus a person of renown both for Sanctity and Learning is no less memorable for the famous Monastery there erected by the said Maidulphus then for the birth of two great men viz. William thence sirnamed of Malmesbury a Celebrated Historian and Thomas Hobbes of this present Age and but a few years since deceast a man of much Earning and more cunning Sophistry for the maintenance of those principles he maintained thereby In Dorsetshire Dorchester the chief Town only boasts of some antiquity as from the Roman name Durnovaria Badbury was anciently the Court of the West-Saxon Kings At Cern Austin broke down the Idol of the Saxon God Hell Shaftsbury is fam'd for the History of the Prophesying Eagle most probably a man whose name was Aquila Here was enterr'd the Body of Edward the Son of Edgar Murthered by his Mother-in-Law at Corfe Castle At Winburn-Minster built by Cuthburga Wife in second Marriage to a King of Northumberland the Body of King Ethelred was buried Shirburn was an Episcopal See for a long time in the Cathedral whereof were buried the bodies of King Ethelbald and King Ethelbert In Somersetshire the principal place is the City of Bath Brit. Akamancester Lat. Aquâ solis Badissa very famous and much frequented for its hot Bathing-Springs which our old British Traditions will have to be the invention of Bladud an ancient British King Bath and Wells joyntly together make one Bishoprick Wells is principally esteem'd for its Cathedral which is said to have been built by Inas King of the West-Saxons Pen now a small Village is memoris'd for a great overthrow given to the Britains by Kenwald King of the West-Saxons and afterwards to the Danes by K. Edmund Ironside Bridgewater is otherwise a Town of very good note and of memory for a notable defeat given here to the Danes by Ealstan Bishop of Shirburn An. 845. Glastonbury Avalonia is principally renowned for its Monastery deliver'd to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathea the first Preacher as some Writers affirm of the Gospel in this Island In the Church-yard of Glastonbury in King Henry the second 's Reign was found a Corps of a large demension which by several circumstances was concluded to be the Body of King Arthur Cadbury is recordable for the defeat given by King Arthur to the English Saxons Banesdown Mons Badonicus is a place renown'd for several other of King Arthurs Victories and where King Alfred overthrew the Danes and brought Gorrum to the Sacred Font. Camalet a steep Hill was doubtless some Fort or Encampment of the Romans as appears by the Coins there found moreover on the top thereof there remains to this day the Vestigia of some noble Castle which is said to have been a Palace of King Arthur This Town some Writers have placed in Cornwal Ilchester appears also by the like demonstration to have been a station of the Romans and is still of that repute that it is the chief place of Gaol-delivery for the County In Oxfordshire Oxford besides the glory of its famous University and the Magnificence of its Stately Colledges Here more frequent Parliaments have been call'd than in any place of England next to Westminster and particularly the last Parliament call'd by his present Majesty and held here in March 1681. Here Maud the Empress was besieg'd by King Stephen and with great difficulty made her escape in a disguise by night and got over the Thames on the Ice This place his late Majesty King Charles the first made his chief Head Quarters during the greatest part of the Civil War between him and the Parliament till the City was taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax General of the Rebels Forces It is moreover famous for being the birth-place of that Martial Prince King Richard the first sirnamed Ceur de Lyon Woodstock besides that it hath been anciently a stately Palace belonging to the Kings of England claims a particular place in the book of Fame upon several accounts In the first place here it was that King Henry the second built a sumptuous Bower for his Paramour Rosamund Clifford who for her singular beauty and in allusion to her name was styl'd Rosa Mundi Next it was the Birth-place of Edward the Black Prince lastly in the Town of Woodstock was brought up and educated that most renowned of English Poets Sir Geoffry Chaucer Islip cannot be forgotten so long as the memory of King Edward the Confessour lasts who was here born In Glocestershire the City of Glocester Glenum Colonia Glenum eminent for its Cathedral of which more elsewhere is also not obscure in History Here Earl Robert Brother to the Empress Maud was kept prisoner for some time but much more famous if we may not say infamous was the keeping of this City by the Parliament-Forces under
Bishop of Exon His Seat Exon Palace in Exeter Devon Dr. VVilliam Thomas Bishop St. Davids His Seat Abergwilly Carmarthen Dr. VVilliam Gulston Bishop of Bristol His Seat Bristol Palace Somerset Dr. VVilliam Beaw Bishop of Llandaff His Seats Matherne Palace Monmouth Llandaff Palace Glamorgan Dr. VVilliam Lloyd Bishop of St. Asaph His Seat St. Asaph Flint A SUPPLEMENT TO The Foregoing Work I. To the Arable and Pasturage of England ANGLESEY yields such plenty of Wheat that it is call'd the Mother of Wales In Shropshire upon Clee-hill is the best Barley in the Shire Sheep in the Vale of Buckinghamshire have a fine soft wool East Kent for Corn The Weald for Wood Rumney for Meadow Tenham for Orchard Sheppey and Reculver for Wheat Thanet for Barley Hedcorn for fat and large Capons To the other Productions DOctor Caius the Founder of Caius Colledge in Cambridge in a learned Treatise of his divides the Canes Britanici first into the Generosi Rustici Degeneres the Generosi he subdivides into the Venatici Aucupatorii Delicati the Venatici first into the threefold Sâ—gax or Hound viz. the Terrarius or Terrare the Leverarius or Harrier the Sanguinarius or Bloodhound next into the Agasaeus or Gasehound the Leporarius or Greyhound the Levinarius sâ—u Lorarius the Liviner or Liemmer the Vertragus or Tumbler The Aucupatorii into the Hispaniâ—lus or Spaniel the Index or Sâ—tter the Aquaticus or Water-Spaniel the Inquisitor or Finder Of the Delicati he makes only one sort viz. the Meliteus seu Fotor the Spaniel Gentle or Comforter The Rustiâ—i into the Pastoralis or Shepherds Dog the Vilaticus seu Cathenarius Mastiff or Bandog The Dâ—generes into the Admonitor or Wap the Veâ—sator or Turnspit the Salâ—ator or Dancer About Sureby in Yorkshire are great store of Goats and on the Hills towards Lancashire Goats and Deer In Cornwall on the Cliffs by the Sea-side are Marterns Otters Badgers Foxes in abundance In the Isle of Wight are store of Goats Rother-cattle Horses low and small but hardy and in most parts of Hantshire Conies and Hâ—res particularly abound In the River Tiver in Cardiganshire the Beaver hath been found In Devonshire there are three sorts of Curlicus the first as big as a Muscovie Duck the second as big as an ordinary Duck the third somewhat less The Sanderlin a Bird about the bigness of a Snipe of the same make only of a lighter Grey In Lincolnshire and Yorkshire near the Sea are store of Reeves Roughs Gulls and a Bird called a Stint somewhat bigger than a Lark Puffins and Burranets hatch in the holes of the Sea-Cliffs Woodcocks Sparhawks and Fieldfares take Cornwall in their way to warmer Climates There is also in those parts a Bird called a Spray thought to be the Halyaetus of Pliny Lincolnshire abounds with God wits and Knots besides Pewets and Dottrels aforementioned And about Barton upon Humber is plenty of Mallards In the Calf of Man are Puffins and also Barnacles On the Shore of Norfolk Hawks are are sometimes taken Turkies or Guiny-Cocks are said to have been first brought into England Anno 15 H. 8. The Shoat is a Fish proper to Cornwall and Devonshire where also the Peal Trout and Salmon breed in fresh Waters but live in Salt Sharks breed and live in the Rivers In Norfolk the River Yare by Norwich is full of a Fish called a Ruff very rarely found in other Rivers In Worcestershire The River Severn affords store of fresh Water Lampreys About Kilgarran in Pembrokeshire and in the River Dee in Cheshire there is great store of Salmons Also Vsk and Wye in Monmouthshire are full of Salmons and Trouts In a great Pool near Balu in Merionethshire there breeds a Fish called a Guinnind never seen in Dee As the Pool wants Salmons which Dee abounds in Upon the Sea-Coast of this Shire are store of Herrings Carps are generally concluded to have been first brought in here in King Henry the Eighth's Reign with several other things unknown here before Near Bremicham in Warwickshire are Iron-Mines the convenience whereof possibly gave beginning to the Smiths Trade in Bremicham The same may be said of those near Sheffield in Yorkshire At the Head of the River Istwyd in Darbyshire are Veins of Lead In the Rocks at the Lands End of Cornwall are Veins of White-Lead and Brass In the West part of the Bishoprick of Durham are Iron-Mines thereabout also are Cole-Mines as likewise at Mengerfield and Westerley in Gloucestershire Nor is Pembrokeshire destitute of Pit-Coal and Marl. Some parts of Lincolnshire afford Alabaster and Plaister of Paris In Flintshire Mill-stones are frequent And in the Isle of Anglesey Mill-stones Grind-stones and a kind of Earth out of which Allum and Copperas are extracted And upon the Shores of Shepey Island Stones from which are drawn Brimstone and Copperas In some parts of Derbyshire there is Lime-stone As also very good in Oxfordshire near Holton about Hasely and between that and Little Milton But Barrow in Leicestershire is accounted the place of England for that sort of Stone At Tormanton by Sudbury in Gloucestershire is a Quarry of Free-stone And at Eglestone in the Bishoprick of Durham a Marble Quarry On Goldcliff in Mâ—nmouthshire there is found a Stone of a Yellowish or Golden Colour And about Brotherton in Yorkshire a yellow Marle very good to fertilize the Earth Upon Dartmore Rocks in Devonshire there is some quantity of the Magnes or Load-stone Not to insist upon the several sorts of Ochre Fullers Earth Chalk and Gypsum at Shotover Gaâ—sington Witney and other parts of Oxfordshire the Umber at Bladen Quarry the Caeruleum or Native Blue at Blounds Court the yellowish coloured Earth with glittering Sparks about Teynton the Earth called Lam at Teinton fit for Earthen Floors the Terra Lapidosa of the colour of the Turkish Rusma in the Quarries about Thame the Gold gritty Clay or Pyrites aureus at Hampton-Gay the white Clay at Shotover used for Tobacco-pipes and equal to Tripela for Medals Galgils Antiques and polishing of Silver the soft Stone called Maume near Tetsworth the Golden-coloured Marchasite haply the Pyrites of Kentmanus at Nettlebed and Henly All mentioned by Doctor Plat in his learned and most useful Description of Oxfordshire In Cornwall as well as on the Cliffs between Deal and Dover great store of Samphire grows which being pickled makes an excellent Sallad And also of Eringus or Sea-Holly whose Roots Candied are reckoned amongst the most acceptable of Sweet-Meats in regard of their restorative vertue And in the most boggy Grounds of this County there is store of a Plant called Ros Solis And upon the Cliffs and such like Maritine parts abundance of Wild Hisop Rosemary Marjoram Sage Pelamountain There are likewise in this County very good Chesnuts and a kind of Berry called Whurts of two sorts And for Garlic doubtless this County abounds in general with this sort of Plant for that it is much eaten by the Cornish men
Traded to Spain were Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth 6. The East-India Merchants were Incorporated by Queen Elizabeth Anno 1600. from which time they have continually inproved their Trade in those remote parts of the World being now one of the Wealthiest Corporations in Europe their first rise was by imploying a Joynt-stock to build Ships of which now they have Store and so themselves in imitation of the Porteguese and other industrious People Traded to the Indies and soon found the advantage by bringing home the same Commodities which we before were beholden to Strangers for at second Hand and dear Rates 7. In the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign and in the beginning of King James's the Eastland Greenland and French Merchants were setled in companies and Traded with great Success Building many Ships and continually imploying some thousands of Persons in the Management of their Affairs Exporting Commodities of our growth and bring in those of the growth of other Countries 8. There are likewise a Company of Virginia or West-India Merchants whose Industry has much improved our Colonies in America and advance the King's Revenues in his Customs twenty thousand pound per Annum which Trade into those parts has and dayly will increase and turn to the Advantage of our Nation and be a means of making further Discoveries in those vast Seas in which lie hid past doubt many fair Islands if not Continents as Rich as those which yield the Spaniard yearly so many Millions of Ducates in Gold Ore and Bars of Silver These and other Traders in remote parts make England Flourish and stand the envy of her Neighbour Nations There is likewise the Guinnie and Barbary Companies both Rich in Shipping and Merchandise having since their Incorporation gotten great Esteem and much improved Navigation And now having given an account of the Constitution and settlement of those in general that drive on the Trade and Commerce both by Land and Sea before I Lanch into the Ocean to take a view of other Countries or to describe their Trade and Traffick I shall expose to Publick view the Commodities of my Native Country with all the Islands and Dominions that surround it viz. such â—s are subject to the Brittish Scepter as â—lso in due place and order As also of â—he Currant Coyns the Weights Meaâ—ures and such other Matters relating to Commerce as are available to the Compiling of this Treatise and first of Engâ—and and Wales CHAP. IV. Of England and the Trade thereof in General and Particular with a Survey of all the Measures Weights Currant Coynes Inland Commerce and what tends to Navigation A Description of the most material Counties and of the Trade of Wales in general ENgland the Head of the Brittish Empire is in every Place so admirable abounding with plenty that to describe her in every part of her Trade and Beautiful Situation would exact a large Volum Therefore I shall only in brief expose to view what is most material as to my purpose And first I shall begin with Cornwell as being the remotest of the English Counties or Provinces tho it be in it self in many places to appearance a Barren and Mountainous Country yet does it produce Rich Mines of Tinn which brought to perfection is of great esteem in all Countries With it there is also digged Gold and Silver tho hardly worth refining the Earth not having heat enough to bring it to perfection there is found likewise a Stone Transparent naturally formed in Angles and Points like a Diamond which was it not so common might merit high esteem On that Coast Herrings and Pilchards are taken in great number which not only sustain the Inhabitants but being dryed prove good Merchandise in Spain France Flanders and Italy The Sea Coast is adorned with many Towns of which Falmouth is chief being capable of receiving many Vessels nor is St. Ives of less note yielding great store of Fish not reckoned less yearly then four or five thousand Hogsheads of Pilchards and five hundred Barrels of Herrings besides some Tuns of Congerdoust great store of Ray-Fish which imploys some hundreds of the Inhabitants and inables them to provide plentifully for their Families and reserve as the old saying is a Penny against a rainy day These Commodities viz. Pilchards are vended by the Hogshead four of them making a Tun as likewise by the thousand they allowing twelve hundred small Tale to the thousand and a Barrel of Herrings commonly thirty Gallons is sold to the Merchants for eighteen Shillings twenty Shillings or according as the fishing Season is propitious Congerdoust is sold by the Kintale viz. one hundred and twelve pound to the Kintale Ray-fish are for the most part sold fresh and that by the Dozen at two Shillings four Pence two Shillings six Pence and sometimes three Shillings per Dozen but their Dozens are extraordinary large they allowing sometimes sixty to the Dozen but sometimes less according to the Custom of the Place their Weight is one hundred and twelve pound according to the Stander their Yard and Ell equal to those of London Their Bushel for Grain and Salt imported contains twenty eight Gallons Water Measure and so proportionable the greater or the lesser Measures but their Bushel used in Publick Markets for Corns is but twenty Gallons their Gallon agreeing with the Winchester Gallon The Bakers in those parts are but few and the most thing they stand in need of is Salt Ten thousand Bushel being yearly spent in Curing their Fish The manner of taking Pilchards and Herrings is with Nets but the Ray-Fish with Hooks the first being Fished for from the first of July till the first of January the second from Michalemass till Christmass and the third and last only in the Prime of Summer sixty Boats and about four hundred men being imployed therein Devonshire is no less Rich in Veins of Tin adorned it is with many Towns and good Havens as Exon Dartmouth and Plimouth the latter famous for producing the worthy Sr. Francis Drake The Sea-Ports as the former most Subsist by Fishery Dorsetshire abounds in Cattle Fertile Pastures and Linnen Manufacture it 's chief Towns being Dorchester and Waymouth Somersetshire is famous for the many Trading Places contained in it's Circuit but especially in Bristol the second City of England for Naval Commerce as being stored with Merchants Trading into most parts of the known World it abounds in Riches and the County no less in Corn Cattle Wool Woollen Cloth Serges and other valuable Commodities which they Trade withal to other adjacent Counties Darbyshire the Head of which is the Town of Derby abounds in plenty of Corn Leaden Mines and other Minerals Wiltshire is an Inland County but the people Frugal and industrious their chief Commodity is Woollen-Cloth which is dispersed all over England and brings them a good return maintaining at least three thousand Persons in Carding Spining Weaving Shearing Dressing and the like the Head of this County is Salisbury
Hampshire famous for the great Trade of Hony therein whose chief Cities are Southampton and Winchester Barkshire is famous for Cloth-working abounding in Cattle Rich Pastures Artificers Fruits of all sorts and all things else necessary for the Subsistance of man Surry is no less abounding in all plenty than the former and of greater Trade by Reason of it's nearness to the City of London that Mouth of the Nation by Reason of which it's Inhabitants have the better opportunity to vend the growth of that County Sussex and Kent abound in Fruits Corn Wood Wax Hony Cattle and all other necessary Commodities which by Reason they border on the Sea they have opportunity to dispose of at good rates Glocestershire is for the most part imployed in the Woollen Manufacture Glocester being the Head City In it are found those famous Hills of Cots-Wold on which numerous Flocks of Sheep Feed and affoard the best Wool in Europe Oxford is famous for her Rich Pastures store of Cattle and Corn but above all for her University in her chief City of Oxford Buckingham Bedford and Hertfordshires are adorned with pleasant Buildings rich Pastures store of Corn pleasant Rivers abounding with Fish and Forrests of Stately Oaks with which the Wall of the Nation viz. our Ships of War are made nor is Venison in abundance wanting nor any sort of Fowls common in England Middlesex and Essex the first famous for Buildings and so long together containing the Pallaces of our Kings Courts of Judicature and above all incompassing the famous City of London The second for store of Cattle the many famous Ports and the Commodity received by shipping the Silver Thames Washing her Southern Shoar as far as the Hope it abounding likewise in Corn Cheese Butter and the like Suffolk and Norfolk next take place the first famous for Butter Cheese Cloath Cattle Corn Wool and what not The second for Deer Conneys Sheep Daries and store of Corn but above all for containing the famous City of Norwich which for Industry ought to be accounted the chief Boast of England it being seated upon the River Yare from whence Yarmouth takes it's name and thirty Miles from the Sea by Water tho not above sixteen by Land has little forrain Trade save only with Holland the chief Trade being with the City of London the chief Commodities being Stuffs and Stockings which are made for the most part in the City it not being guessed that less then one hundred thousand pounds-worth of Stuffs every Year are sent up to London which Stuffs making and disposing of are under the Government of two Companies the one called the Worstes Company the other the Russia Company Those Manufactures under the Government of the Worsted Company and approved by the Wardens thereof have a Seal affixed to each on the one side inscribed Norwich on the other such letters as stand for the Wardens Names that are at the Sealing thereof The other Seal has on one side these words viz. Worsted Reformed and on the other in Figures containing the quantity of Yards the Piece contains Those called the Russia Company the Manufacture under whose Government to be approved by them is Sealed on the one side with these words Fidelitas Artes alit This Suff Trade is managed by Partner-Ship between the London and Norwich Merchants great quantities whereof have been and are exported to furnish other Nations especially Spain and the West-Indias The Stockings here vended are reckoned to amount to near sixty thousand pounds per Annum being most knit by Children incapable of other Labour so that at eight Years of Age many of them will earn four pence or six Pence a day these latter are not under any Governour but have their Materials found them by certain Citizens as well of that City as of London which when made into Hose are sent over Sea most of them to furnish the Neighbour Nations The County likewise affoards Sheep Conies and Kine in abundance as also store of Corn especially Barly which being turned into Mault is sent up to London as likewise into Scotland all Corn is sold according to the Custom of the Country by the Score which is twenty Cooms every Coome containing four Bushels and to every Score one Coom is allowed over-plus Their Weights and Measures both dry and wet are consistent to the London Weights and Measures In the like manner abound Cambridgshire Northamptonshire Huntingtonshire Leicestershire Rutland Lincolnshire notinggamshire Warwickshire Worcestershire Staffordshire Shropshire Cheshire Herefordshire Yorkshire the County of Richmond Bishoprick of Durham Lancashire Westmoreland Cumberland Northumberland And the strong Town and Territories of Barwick upon Tweed all abounding in store of things necessary and convenient for the profit and pleasure of man In brief England affoards more Merchandise than any one Nation in Europe as Perpetuanas Bays Says Serges Cotton Woollen Cloath of all sorts Kersies Buffins Mocados Grogram Sattins Calimancates Velvets Plushes Worsted Fustains Durances Tukes Cony-Skins Squiril-Skins Fitches Calf-Skins Hides Also by Mines it produceth first by Tin twelve hundred thousand pounds yearly Lead eight hundred Foders yearly Allum eight hundred Tuns yearly Iron of all sorts eight hundred Furnaces daily Sea Cole yearly 50000000. Chaldron yearly Salt 300000. Ways yearly as likewise all manner of Grain as Oats Wheat Barly Rye Pease c. likewise Linnen Cloth Tallow Leather Glass and Glasses of all sorts Venice Gold and Silver Train Oyl Salmon Pilchards Herrings Conger Haberdine Hops Wood Cheese Butter Salt-Peter Gunpowder Honey Wax Alabaster Wools Yarns and the like too many here to insert Nor is Wales in most parts less furnished it consisting of the Isle of Anglesea the shires of Flint Denbigh Carnarvon Merioneth Montgomery Cardigan Pembrook Carmarden Glamorgan Radnor Brecknock Monmouth abounding in Cattle Pastures divers useful Manufactures nor are the industry of the Inhabitants wanting to improve the product of their Country to the best advantage being a frugal sort of People insomuch that whereever they Plant themselves they are thrifty and increase the smallest Stock to considerable advantage Thus having taken a view of all England and Wales viz. as to Traffick and the native Commerce London excepted I shall now take a view of that great Metropolis having purposely reserved her for the last she being as Crown to the rest of the Nation and indeed the Beauty of the Universe CHAP. V. The Traffick of London LOndon the Mistriss of Cities is placed upon the Banks of the River of Thames whose Silver Ebbs and Flows continually wash her Beautiful Walls she being supposed to be eight Miles in Circuit especially if the Liberties be included and before the dreadful Conflagration in sixty six was adorned with one hundred twenty two stately Churches and now not guessed to contain less within the Circuit of her Liberties and all than 5 if not 600000. Souls she being the Center of the Nation and chief Receptacle of all Commodities as well of the native growth as from all Parts
hundred and eight pounds Averdupois and one hundred pound London Suttle Weight makes ninety two of theirs or one hundred and twelve English one hundred and three and a half of Scotch their Measures for Linnen Stuffs Cloath or Silk is the Ell which is wanting of ours insomuch that it differs from our Yard four per cent that is four Yards in a hundred Ells so that seventy five Yards or sixty Ells English make seventy two Scotch but in Tale to every hundred they Reckon six-score In Measure for Corn Coals Salt Wine Beer Ale Oyl and the like they come near at one with ours Their Navigation is but small for the most part Trading with England and Ireland yet are they a People frugal and much bent to improve the growth of their Country And thus having taken a view of Scotland and the Trade thereof I must pass over into Ireland the third Diamond in the British Diadem CHAP. IX A view of Ireland and of the Trade Manners and Present State of that Kingdom IReland is divided into four Provinces viz. Lempster Munster Connought Vlster and Meath and is four hundred Miles in Length and two hundred in Breadth the chief Cities and Towns are Dublin Kinnsail London Derry Limrick Cork Waterford Armah Dungannon Marleburg Phillips-Town Kildare and Tradah This Kingdom abounds in Navigable Rivers store of Fish Cattle and Hides which are Transported into Spain France and Italy Salmon are caught in such abundance in July and August that many Servants in the places of that Fishery Covenant with their Master upon their being hired that they will not feed upon Salmon but only so many days in a Week These they Salt and Barrel up sending them into all the Neighbouring Countries where they are received as good Merchandise the Herring Fishery is likewise used and improved by them as likewise Pilchards which are taken in August September and October and Transported into Spain France and the Streights of Gibraltar they have store likewise of Butter Cheese Calves-Skins and other necessary Commodities Their Corn for the most part is the same with ours yet in value not the same for a pound Sterling Irish is worth according to the Intrinsick value no more then fifteen Shillings English and the Shilling consequently but nine pence Sterling six pence Irish but four pence half penny Sterling The Exchange is practised in the City of Dublin but of little use as to any Transmarine Places unless England and there Principally London and Bristol commonly running at eight pence upon the pound or at most but one Shilling which is but five pound per cent The Weights and Measures are or for the most part consistent to those of England and in fine it is a Country exceeding fertil abounding in all things necessary for the use of man which would turn to great advantage were the Inhabitants but Industrious especially in fitting out Ships for Navigation but they for the most part roave abroad improving other Countries and neglecting their own Their chief Merchandise are in Fish which they send into France Spain England Scotland and other parts of Europe And thus I shall leave this Kingdom and return or rather Sail round Brittain to take a View of the Islands of the Sea or Ocean Islands CHAP. X. A view of the Ocean Islands and of their Trade viz. such as are Subject to his Majesty of great Britain THe Ocean Islands are scattered in the British Sea like so many Pearls to adorn the Imperial Diadem and are first the Orcades or Isles of Orkney thirty two in number The chief of which is Pomonia which abounds in Mines of Tinn and Lead The next Hethy and the other there being only three of them of note Shethland bearing Fruit-Trees of strange kinds Especially those whose Blossoms dropping into the Warter become Flying Birds The next are the Islands of the Hebrides in number forty four the chief whereof is Illa abounding with store of Venison And Jona famous for the Sepulchers of the Scottish Kings as likewise Mulla where the Redshanks inhabit once so fearful to England the rest are of little note The Islands called the Sorlings are one hundred forty five The Principal are Armath Agnes Samson and Scilly after which name all the rest are called The Inhabitants thereof Trade in Fishery sow Corn and addict themselves to Manufacture The Isle of Man is a square Island being ten Miles in Length and as many in Breadth the growth of it is Flax Hemp Oats Barly and Wheat having store of Cattle and other Merchandise brought in thither by Shipping the chief Towns are Ballacury Russin or Chasteltown The Isle of Anglesey is accounted a Shire of Wales and by some called the Mother of Wales being twenty four Miles in Length and seventeen Miles over Fruitful it is even beyond report in Corn Fruits Cattle Fowl and Fish improved by several Profitable Manufactures The Inhabitants making great store of Butter and Cheese and send out of it yearly three thousand Head of Cattle It 's chief Town is Beaumaris very Commodious for Shipping Jersey is a fair Island in Compass twenty Miles peopled with Industrious Inhabitants yearly improving their Commodidities and vending them to good advantage Trading with England and France especially famous for the many fine Orchards and Gardens the chief Towns and places of Traffick being St. Mallo and St. Hillary the former being nightly Guarded without the Walls From this Island twenty Miles distant is Guernsey Surrounded with spacious Harbours and in every part Fertile stored with Cattle and lying Commodious for Shipping Facing the Coast of France and hath for it's chief Town St. Peters The last of the Isles Surrounding Britain is the famous Isle of Wight which is twenty Miles long and twelve over and abounds with all things wherewith England is stored divided from Portsmouth but by an Arm of the Sea lying most Commodious for the Reception of Shipping and for it 's chief Towns has Yarmouth New-Port and Bradring And thus much for the Islands of the Sea surrounding Britain And now I shall only take a short Survey of some things further appertaining to the Trade of Britain and so Lanch into the Ocean and take a view of the remotest Parts of the World especially such as are Traded to by the English What more remains is an account of such Commodities of English-growth and Manufacture as are Exported being Staple Commodities and the common Cargo of outward bound Vessels CHAP. XI A further Account of the Measures of England with a true Proportion of the Weight of English Cloths FIrst for the Breadth Measure and Weight of English-Cloath that chief of Staple-Commodities Kent York and Redding Cloaths are six quarters and a half broad and ought to weigh eighty six pounds the Cloath in the Peice are in length thirty and thirty four Yards Suffolk Norfolk and Essex Cloaths of seven quarters wide are eighty pounds Weight twenty nine and thirty two Yards in Length Worcester Coventry
weigh all their gross Commodities using Troy only for Silk Gold and Silver Their Measures are likewise consistent with ours Their chief Merchandise consists in Hogs Oxen Fish Flower Pease Kell or Rice Biskets Beaver Muskat Skins Otter Pipe-Staves Masts and the like and some Tobacco for which they receive in exchange English Linnen and Woollen-Cloath Iron-Tools Stockins Shoes Thred Buttons Ribons Lead Puter Tinn small Ordnance Gunpowder Shot Strong Waters Wines Oyls Fruit Salt and the like not taking any Customs for ought imported except Wines and Strong Waters and for that not above 30 or 40 Shillings per Tun Consolage they take none their Factorage is from 5 to 10 per cent for Sails and returns only and that not fixed but as the Trader and the Factor can agree Sugars they have likewise which they sell in Casks and have not many Ships belonging to the Plantation Their chief Fishing consists in dry Cod and poor Jack which every Spring and Fall they take by Hooks and sell by the Quintal or hundred Weight each for 28. or 30 Royals sometimes more tho sometimes they Barrel them up their Fraight per Tun from thence to London is 3 pound 3 pound 10 Shillings and sometimes 4 pound They have likewise an Office of Assurance now much in request both by the Inhabitants and such as Trade thither And thus much for New-England CHAP. XV. A View of Mary-Land and of the Customs and Trade thereof MAryland is upon the main Continent of America being an English Colony lying between 38 and 40 Degrees North Latitude bounded on the North by Virginia and on the South by New-England the great Ocean on the East and on the West the River Pattowmeck and was first a Colony of English Anno 1633. and for the better Increase of Trade tolerate the Christian Religion of what Profession soever and is held by a Governour or Proprietor in Fee of the Crown of England It abounds with fair Rivers stored with Fish and Commodious for the receipt of Shipping The usual way of Trading is Goods for Goods and the chief of their Commodities is Tobacco their Weights and Measures are consonant with those of England without any Tret or over allowance some Beaver Otter and other Furs they have which the English that Trade thither purchase and the Inhabitants receive them for Tobacco and Strong-Water of the Indians Mulberry Trees are there in Abundance and some Silk Their Customs or Taxes are but seldom taken as to the Subjects of England The greatest abuse that Merchants receive is the Packing of Tobacco which loose Packed or either too dry or wet put up often deceives their Expectations therefore the only way to discover such Frauds is by weighing it A full Hogs-Head well Packed will hold 400 Weight and never less than 300. For their Commodities they receive Cloath-Hangings Stuffs all manner of Iron-Ware Strong-Water Wine and the like and what they Trade with the Native Indians for they deliver them Coats commonly called Match-Coats made of coarse Shagged-Cloath Dutch-Duffields or English Hogbays either Red or Blew The new Netherlands a place Situate in 41 Degrees North Latitude upon Hudson's River is Inhabited by a Colony of the Dutch who have Incroached upon the English Trade with the Natives for Beavor Otter Elk-Skins Bears-Skins Dear-Skins and the like for which they deliver them Iron Instruments and Shaged Cloath and sometimes Guns Powder and Rapier-Blades the fatal Execution of which they have twice felt by two Massacrees Committed upon them by the Indians to the loss of half their Colony Their chief Town is New-Amsterdam indowed with many Priviledges as the old the better to draw People thither Corterialis Nurembega and Nova Francia are accounted Mexican Provinces and for the most part possessed by the French and some few Portugals Their Trade is small consisting only of Skins and Furs Estotiland or New-foundland discovered 1527 by the English in Winter is so Extream cold that it is not inhabited but by some few Natives and all the advantage which indeed is considerable that the English Reap thereby is their Fishing Trade the Fish in England being known by the Name of Newland Fish and is taken in such abundance that with them are furnished most parts of Europe The manner of the Fishing thus The Ships sometimes 40 Sail depart from our Coast about the end of February and about the middle of April arriving there they unrigg their Ships and going on Shoar Build Huts and in Shallops with Hooks and other Tackling take sometimes 30 or 40 great Fish in an Hour that is one Shallop which they slit and dry upon Rocks and Sandy-Banks after which they Salt them and in such manner continue till September when loaden with their Fish they return and dispose of them in Spain France and other Places to good advantage selling them either by the hundred Weight or by Tail and many times they sell them before they have caught 'em that is Bargain for the delivery of them when taken and of late there is an Art found of making Oyl commonly called New-Land Oyl CHAP. XVI A View of the Peruanan Provinces and of their Trade and Customs THis South part of America is divided from the North part by the Streights of Darien a Neck of Land of 10 Miles over and consists of these Pro-Provinces viz. Castella-Aurea Guinnia Peru Brasilia and Chile Castella Aurea takes its Name from the abundance of Gold that is found therein and was first discovered by the Spaniards The chief Cities are Portabel and Panama at which two Places the Viceroy makes his Residence as he sees fit and at the Latter of which the Spanish Plate-fleet for the most part is Loaded It abounds with standing Pools and deep Waters and the chief Commodities are Spices Drugs Gold Ore and Silver About it are several small Islands of which the chiefest are St. Antonio and St. Vincent situate against Cape Verd. Guinnia is situated under the Equinoctial Line being fruitful in all parts abounding with rate Fruits and so Incompassed and branched with great Rivers that in Winter time many of the Inhabitants dwell in Trees for fear of Inundations often caused by the overflowing of the Rivers Of this Countrey our famous Sir Walter Reighley made the first effectual Survey and gave Name to the great River Arinoque calling it Ralinia a River navigable for 1000 miles and for Shallops and Wherries 2000. The chief City of this Province is Manoa otherwise called the Golden City of the abundance of Gold that is found therein most of the Trade consisting of Gold-Ore Peru is for Gold the richest Province of America The Mines being more plentiful then Mines of Lead and Iron in England and the Riches thereof may be Conjectured by this When Piscario the Spanish Captain subdued it and took the King Prisoner he proposed his Ransom and delivered to the treacherous Spaniard upon solemn Promise for his Life and Liberty as much refined Gold and Silver as amounted to
ten Millions but perfidious as he was when he had Possession of the Treasure notwithstanding his Oath he slew him The chief City is St. Michael's inhabited by the Spaniards the Soyl brings forth all manner of Fruits as likewise store of Tobacco but one thing is more admirable on the Banks of the River Riolaplata grow Figtrees one side of which bear Figs in Winter and the other in Summer and this River is 130. miles over and 2000. in length and in it are many Islands Brasile is abounding with Cattel Corn and has in it some rich Mines of Gold and Silver but especially Red-Wood by us called Brasile Wood the Trees of which are so large that a dozen Families will make themselves Huts and dwell in the Branches of one Tree It was first discovered and peopled by the Spaniard but now the Dutch have got strong footing in it and derive a great Trade form thence especially in dying-Woods The manner of getting the Gold in these remote Parts of the World are by Mining or Washing and Fishing As thus they first search the ground and finding it stockt with Ore they dig into the Mountains and still as they go under-prop or Arch so that a Mine sometimes is a Furlong under ground their Earth they wash through Sieves and the Mold separated the Gold appears Silver run in Veins or Sprigs and therefore is got more easily As for the Fishing for Gold it is thus They turn the Course of small Rivers or Brooks at the bottom of the Golden Mountains or with such things as take up Ballast in the Thames drag up the Sand and then sift it The Gold which is found in the Rivers is washed from the Mountains by the fierce Rains which in those parts are frequent As for the Islands in these and the Virginian Seas they are many as the Isles of Solomon by some taken for the Land of Ophir the Isle of Margarita in which is found many precious Stones though void of any other Commodity the Island of Trenidado abounding in choice Tobacco the Island of Baccaloes discovered by Sebastian Cabot whose Rivers abound in Fish and the Land with Trees bearing Fruit the Isle of Beriguen of which the chief City is St. John's inhabited by the Spaniards the Island abounds with Gold viz. the North part of it and the South part is as much famed for fertility the Island of Jamiaca now an English Colony taken from the Spaniards Anno. _____ abounds with all manner of Plenty as Sheep Oxen Corn Hens Geese Ducks Fruit-Trees Sugar Tobacco and the like and is governed by a Governour under his Majesty of Great Brittain the Weights Measures Monies Laws and Religion are the same with ours and has of late been much increased by the Trading of English Merchants thither for Pepper and other valuable Commodities Cuba Luca and Hispaniola abound in Ginger Cassia Mastick Almonds Cinnamon Sugar Brass Gold and Corn which are brought thence and dispersed all over Europe and in the latter the Land is so fertile that it will produce Herbs and Roots in sixteen days after setting or sowing fit for use Barmudos is a fruitful Island abounding with Orange-Trees and other Fruits Barbados is an Island possessed by the English containing in length 28. miles and in breadth 18. and according to Computation consists of 126000. Acres of good Land being naturally fortified with Rocks and Shelves accommodated with several Bays and Harbours for the safety of shipping the Principal of which is called Carlile Bay and is Guarded by Forts and Platforms containing a large Town called St. Michael's being a place of great Trade before which 500. Ships may safely Ride The next Town of Note is Charles Town situate on Oysten-bay about two Leagues from the former the Houses are built after the English fashion of Timber Lime and Brick and round this Island lye other small Islands Maevis Monsirat Antego and St. Christophers many of them inhabited by the English others by the Dutch French and Native Indians the Island of Barbados is divided into 11. Parishes or petty Shires out of which are chosen two Freemen Planters to joyn with the Governour and his Council which are 7 to discuss all important Matters and to make such Orders as are necessary for the well regulating the Plantâ—tion and the better to quell any Insurrecâ—n that may be made by the Slaves which are â—ccounted at least 60000. a standing Militia of two Reigments of Horse and five of Foot are in readiness upon all Occasions and all their Laws and Customs are Regulated by those of England Their Religion according as they profess themselves is Protestant Their Coyns there Current are of divers Nations as English Spanish French and Dutch upon which they set a passable Value not Coyning any themselves Their Accompts are most commonly in Muscavado Sugar according to which all other Commodities are Regulated their Interest by reason no Law restrains it is unreasonable as sometimes thirty Per Cent. Their Measures for the most part Concord with those of England only they allow but five score to the Hundred not 112. The growth of the Island is Tobacco Sugar Indico Cotton-Wool Log-Wood Lignum Vitae c. The chief Season of exporting Sugars and other Commodities of the Native growth is from January to September or October Wines are imported in abundance and are sold in publick as in England So that there is not less then 2400. Tuns of all sorts spent Yearly besides Spirits and other Liquors From this Island they transport to Virginia and Barmudos a Liquor made of the Sugar Canes c. called Rum and for it receive Pork Fish Flower Bisket Pipe Staves and the like The Apparel of the Planters is the same with what is worn in England as for Customs they have none save only for Wines and other Liquors which are Rated at a certain quantity of Muscavado Sugar and further are obliged to pay half a pound of Powder for every Tun upon Entery Factorage or Factory-Provision is 10. per cent 5. per cent for Sail and 5. for return as also 3. per cent for Store-House Room if any one will export Corn or any manner of Provision being the growth of the Island they must ask the Governours Consent 200. English Vessels and upward Trade hither Yearly and the usual fraight to London is 4. and 5. per Tun when Ships are Plenty 3. pound when scarce 6. or 7. pound per Tun There is no publick Assurance-Office nor Exchange unless sometimes in Sugar for which Mony is received in London And thus much for Barbados The main Land about 100. Leagues from this Island is called Guinia lying Southwardly and containeth a Colony of English planted within the River of Serenam Cracus lyeth 4. Leagues from the Sea-side and is very fruitful having a Port whose entrance is Guarded with two Forts each containing 14. pieces of Cannon and in it are several Plantations of Coquo some belonging to the Spaniards and some to
Cantar is 103 pound English All their Grain and other such like Commodities they vend by a Measure called the Chistetto which makes 8 ½ Staios Venice The Measure for Silks Stuffs and Cloath is the Pico 100 of which make 126 Braces Venice And thus much for Tartary which is mostly Inhabited by Thieves and Rovers who rather live by Spoil then Trade being morose Savage people fit for so cold and Barren a Country as for the most part Therefore leaving this Frozen Clime I shall pass into India far more Fruitful and Commodious CHAP. XLI A View of India intra extra Gangem of the Provinces Trade Customs and valuable Commodities thereof INdia is bounded on the West with the River Indus on the East with China on the North Tartary and on the South with the Ocean and is divided into 2 parts viz. India Intra Gangem and India Extra Gangem the first contains nine Principal Kingdoms viz. Narsinga Malavar Ballasia Cambaia Mandao Bengala Aristan Canora and Dellia and the second 7 Kingdoms viz. Macin Aracan Chambaia Couchin-china Barma Siam and Pegu. The whole Country taking its Name from the River Indus which runs 1000. Miles ere it meets the Sea As for the Trade of the Indies I shall briefly lay it down in the Description of the Principal Scales of Traffick and first of Diu. Diu is an Island lying about 20 Leagues distant from the River Indus and is under the protection of the King of Portugal the Portugals indeed being the first Discoverers of those Tracts and have a very good Haven for Shipping whither resort the Merchants of Arabia Turky Persia Armenia c. bringing the Richest Commodities of the growth of those Nations as likwise all the Banians Gusrates and Rumos that Trade in Cambaia and from thence to the Red-Sea and Meca bring thither their Merchandise The Commodities this place affordeth are Cotton of Linnen of sundry sorts which there are called Jorims Sluyers and Lamparads and are in England called Callico's also there are abundance of Cocus-Oyl Indian-Nuts Butter Pitch Tar Sugar-Candia Iron excellent Leather Artificially wrought with Silks of all Colours Chests Cupboards Boxes of curious work inlay'd with Mother Pearl and other rare divices As for the Weights and Measures of this place I refer the Reader to the Description of Goa and the Trade thoreof and thus much for the Town and Island of Diu. CHAP. XLII A View of Cambaia of the Trade Weights Measures Coyns Commodities and Customs thereof CAmbaia giveth a Kingdom its Name being the Metropolis of Cambaia and is vast in circuit adjudged to contain no less then 800000. Inhabitants Seated upon the River Indus being a City of the greatest Trade in those Parts and thither resort Christians Persians and Arabians and there both the English and Dutch have Factories But the Natives who are called the Gensurates and Banians are the Richest Merchants and greatest Traders as likewise of late grown so Politick that they have an insight into-most Commodities The Commodities this City and Country afford are Callico's of all sorts Corn Rice Butter Oyl rich Carpets fine Chests Cupboards Carved and Imbellished with Mother Pearl Plates of Silver Ivory and the like there are found in this Country many precious Stones of great value as Rubies Jacinths Chrisolites Amber Jaspar Spinals Granads and Agats as likewise several Rich Drugs as Opium Camphora Bangue and Sandal-Wood as also Sugars and Indico in abundance The like Commodities are likewise found in Bianny Fetterbarre Shersky and Labore In this Tract is the famous Port of Surrat which at this day the Dutch make their chief Scale of Trade and whither all the Commodities of these Countries are brought especially those Subject to the Scepter of the great Mogul The currant Coyns are Mahomodies tho very Scarce and are each accounted 12 pence Sterling the Casanna Ruppy Esteemed worth 3 Shillings 3 pence Sterling the Jaquire Ruppe 5 of which make 6 Casanna Ruppies the Saway Ruppy valued at 11 Shillings 3 pence Sterling the Honde Ruppy valued at 2 Shillings 3 pence In which and the Casanna Ruppy the Merchants of Gusurat keep their Accounts They have likewise smaller pieces which are accounted 34 to the Mahmudy and the Sahhee which is accounted 10 Cosbegs tho in some places they differ in value tho the difference is inconsiderable The Weights used throughout the Mogul's Dominions are 3 one proper for Silk and the other for all other Merchandise viz. the pice which in Silk is accounted 5 ½ Mittigals a Mittigal being about 13 Troy penny Weights and the Sear small and great which vary much viz. the Sear of Surrat is 18 Pices Weight of Copper-money and accounted 13 ½ Ounces Averdupois the Sear of Agra called the Sear Acoberg is 30 Pices and 22 Ounces Averdupois The Sear of Agra called the Sear Janquery 36 Pices and 26 ⅔ Ounces Averdupois and so in several other places vary according to the Custom of the place They have in use likewise 2 Maunds a Maund small of Surrat being 40 small Sears of that place and 33 pound Averdupois the other is 40 great Sears which makes 54 ⅜ pound English and these are Multiplyed into a Candil of Surrat and Cambaia which contains 20 Maunds The Measures at Cambaia Surrat are two viz. the Cavado long short the last of which is used in Measuring of Silks and is 27 Inches English the first is used in Measuring of Woollen Cloath and is 35 English Inches but in Agra Labore Dilli and Brampore the short Cavado is found to be 32 Inches as for Concave Measures none are found in the Moguls Country their Liquids as well as Grain and other dry Commodities being sold by Weight And thus much for Cambaia and the Trade thereof CHAP. XLIII A View of Goa the Trade Commodities Weights Measures Coyns and Customs thereof and of the Pearl Fishery GOa is a famous City at present the Seat of the Portiguize Vice-Roy and Arch-Bishop and is Seated in an Island to which it gives Name and is the chief Mart or Scale of Trade on that part of India for hither resort Merchants who bring the Commodities of Persia Arabia Armenia Cambaia Pegu Siam Bengalia Malacca Java Molucco and China a Port it has Capacious for the Reception of Shipping but those of great Burthen are obliged to Anchor at Bardes some Miles short of Goa by Reason of the Shallowness of the Water where are purposely Built Sore-Houses for the reception of such Merchandise as are brought thither which are set to Sail in the chief Street every day from 7 to nine in the Morning in the nature of our Fairs in England during which time a great concourse of Merchants and others buy up what Commodities they like best or can agree for and in this place all the Natives of one Craft live in distinct Streets being injoyned under severe Penalties not to Marry out of their own Trade nor put their Children to any other Trade Their Winter which
Barrel to weigh 120 pound Oyl is sold by the Orcio which is a Barrel and accounted 85 pound Weight Grain is sold by the Moggio which is 24 Staios each Staio accounted 5 pound Salt is sold by a Staio of 72 pound And thus much shall Suffice for Florence CHAP. LXX A View of Millain of the Trade Weights Measures Coyns Customs and Commodities thereof THe City of Millan being the Center of the whole Dukedom in all respects I shall only insist upon it Then this City is the fairest of Lomberdy being seven Miles in compass and Furnished with all Commodities of the growth of the Dukedom nay of all Italy being now in Subjection to the Spanish King the chief Commodities are Oyl Wine Rice Corn Raw Silk which is wrought by the Inhabitants into curious Fabricks Chambets Fustians Gold Thread and Iron which are dispersed over all Italy Savoy France Flanders Holland England c. Their Accounts are kept in Deniers Solds and Livers which are in effect Pence Shillings Pounds c. and their other currant Coyns are the Ducat of Gold which is worth about 100 Solds of that money the Crown of Gold of the Sun which is worth 97 Solds The Italian Gold Crown which is worth 5 Livers The Ducat of Gold of 5 Livers and 18 Solds is worth 6 Livers Imperial the Ducat Imperial is esteemed worth 4 Livers The Ducat of Millain or Imperial of 4 Livers is accounted in exchange 101 Solds the Ducat and sometimes in Merchandise 110 and in way of Trade the Coyns of Spain and France are here Currant The Weight used here is the pound 100 of which make a Quintal which is accounted 70 pound English The Measures of Length are the Braces one for Cloath and the other for Silk the 100 Braces of the last containing 43 Ells of London The Customs for the most part the same with the other Cities of Italy CHAP. LXXI A View of the Dukedoms of Mantua and Urbin and of their Trade Weights Measures c. OF the Dukedom of Mantua the City of that Name is the chief and is a fair and strong Place on 3 sides invironed with a wide Lake through which runneth a Stream or River into the famous River Poe and is surrounded with pleasant Pastures and Fruitful Gardens Orchards and Vineyards but the Trade as to Merchandise is inconsiderable for want of a Harbour or Haven for the reception of Shipping only here are found several Fabricks of Silk as Taffatas Sattins c. also Watered Chamblets the Accounts are kept as in Millain and their money much the same unless the Ducatoon which is 115 Solds of Millain The Weights of Mantua are the Peso which is 25 pound and the Quintal which is 100 pound making English 71 pound Averdupois The City of Vrbin from which the Dukedom takes its Name is Seated under the Appennine Hills and has 2 famous Sea-Ports viz. Pisauro and Fano where formerly our Merchants held considerable Commerce but of late it is decayed yet some Trade is still held there especially by such as go Trading Voyages who there find the growth of most Parts of Italy for which they exchange Cloath Tinn Spices and some Drugs Their Accounts are kept in Deniers Solds and Livers and the rest of the Coyns those for the most part currant throughout Italy The Weights are the pound and the Quintal 100 of the former making the latter and is found to be 77 pound of London Averdupois The Measures of length are the Braces one for Cloath and the other for Silk 94 of the former making 100 of Venice but the Venice Brace for Silk renders the Vrbin Brace for Silk 102 or 103 c. CHAP. LXXII A View of the Common-Wealth of Venice and of the Trade Weights Measures Customs Coyns c. THe City of Venice gives Name to the Territories and has been and yet is famous for Trade by Navigation being so Commodiously Seated for the reception of Shipping that nothing can be more as thus it is Seated at the bottom of the Adriatick Sea or Venetian Gulph upon 72 Islands 5 Miles distant from the main Land and is defended against the rage of the Sea by a Bank of 20 Leagues through which are cut several passages for Boats but no Ships are capable of passing but at Malamecco the mouth of which is guarded with strong Castles and at the Castles of Lio the Sea runs through most of the Streets so that the commerce is held by Boats and Bridges 12000 of the first and 4000 of the last and as for the Inhabitants they are naturally addicted to Merchandise and once made their City the Store-House of the Commodities of India Persia Arabia Egypt and Greece being both Politick and Powerful at Sea so that for those Commodities most European Merchants Traded thither as the Principal Mart of the World but of late the English Dutch and Portugals have found the way to purchase them at the first hand and by that means much impaired the Traffick of that Common-Wealth yet still they have Factories at Aleppo Constantinople and Alexandria and Trade in Silk Spices Drugs c. but the chief Commodities found here are Cloaths of Gold and Silver Wine Oyl Woollen Cloath Paper Anniseeds Agal Looking-Glasses Drinking-Glasses and Quick-Silver for which the English Merchants Trading thither exchange Bays Furs Perpetuanos Lead Tinn Cloves Nutmegs Pepper Ginger Serges Says Woollen Cloath Herring Pilchards Salmond and Newland Fish Indico c. and serves for a Mart to Austria and upper Germany The Weights of Venetia are 4 the first and greatest is called the pound Gross and 100 pound with which they weigh Wool Brass Iron Copper Flesh Fish and other Gross Commodities The second is the Golden Weight in use for weighing Gold Silver Precious Stones and Pearls only and is called the Mark consisting of 8 Ounces and each Ounce of 144 Cariots the third is applyed to the Weight only of Gold and Silver Thread the fourth is the pound Suttle with which are weighed Silks Drugs Spices Cottons Cotton-Yarn viz. by the 100 Weight composed of the Suttle pound 100 pound Gross being of this Suttle pound 158 pound and so on Proportionablely but in Gold and Silver Thread 100 pound Gross is Suttle but 116 pound 8 Ounces the Mark of Gold 8 Ounces and from these our English Traders have derived their Weight commonly called Venice Weight 100 pounds of Venice Suttle make of London Weight 64 pound and Gross 106 pound The Liquid Measures for Wine are the Amphora the Bigonsa the Quart the Sachio and Lyre viz. the Bigonsa 4 of them make the Amphora and each Bigonsa is 4 Quarts and 1 Quart is 4 Sachi each Sachi being 4 Lyras and each Lyra a pound Weight tho in Gross the lesser Measures hold not out as for Oyl it is sold both by Weight and Measure the Weight is called the Staliero and the Measure the Miaro and is 40 Mire which is Gross Weight 120 pound one Mire by
eight hundred thousand pound The value of Coals Salt Linnen Yarn Herrings Pilchers Salmon brought out of Scotland and Ireland five hundred thousand pound The value of Salt-Peter Pepper Callicots Diamonds Drugs and Silks brought out of the East-Indies above what was spent in England eight hundred thousand pound The value of Slaves brought out of Africa to serve in the American Plantation twenty thousand which with the freight of the English Shipping Trading into forreign parts being above fifteen hundred thousand makes in all Ten Millions and a hundred and eighty thousand Which computation is sufficiently justified by the Customs of three Kingdoms whose intrinsick value are thought to be near about one Million per Annum viz. Six hundred thousand Payable to the King one hundred thousand for the charge of collecting c. two hundred thousand Smackled by the Merchants and one hundred thousand gained by the Farmers according to the common opinion and men saying and this agrees also with that proportion or part of the Trade of the whole World which I have estimated the Subjects of the King of England to be possessed of viz. for about Ten of forty five Millions but the value of the French commodities brought into England notwithstanding Mr. Fortree's estimates are not above twelve hundred thousand per Annum and the value of all the export into all the World besides not above three or four times as much which computation also agrees well enough with the accompt we have of the Customs of France so as France not exporting above half the value of what England does and for the commodities of France except Wines Brandy Paper and the first Patterns and Fashions for Cloths and furniture of which France is the mint are imitable by the English and having withal more people then England it follows that the people of England c. have Head for Head near thrice as much forreign Trade as the people of France and above two parts of nine of the Trade of the whole commercial World and 2 7 of all the Shipping notwithstanding all which is not to be denied that the King and some great men of France appear more Rich and splendid then those or the like quality in England all which arises rather from the nature of their Government then from the intrinsick and natural cause of Wealth and Power CHAP. V. That the Impediments of England's Greatness are contingent and removable THe first impediment of Englands Greatness is the Territories thereunto belonging are too far asunder and divided by the Sea into so many several Islands and Countries and I may say into so many Kingdoms and different Governments viz. There be three distinct Legislative Powers in England Scotland and Ireland the which of instead of uniting together do often cross one and others Interest putting Bars and Impediments upon one and others Trades not only as they were forraigners to each other but sometimes as Enemies The Islands of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man are under jurisdictions different from those either of England Scotland and Ireland The Government of New-England both civil and Ecclesiastical do so differ from that of his Majesties other Dominions that it is hard to say what may be the Consequence of it And the Government of the other Plantations do also differ very much from any of the West altho there be naturally substantial Reasons for the Situation Trade and Condition of the People why there should be such differences from all which it comes to pass the small divided remote Governments being seldom able to defend themselves the Burthen of the Protecting them all must lye upon the chiefest Kingdom of England and all the small Kingdoms and Dominions instead of being additions are really diminutions The Wealth of a King is three-Fold one is the Wealth of Subjects the second is the quota parts of his Subjects Wealth given him for the Publick Defence Honour and Ornaments of the people and to manage such undertakings for the common good as no one or a few private men are sufficient for The third sort are the quota of the last mentioned quota parts which the King may dispose of as his own Personal inclination and discretion shall direct now it is most manifest that the aforementioned distance and differences of Kingdoms and jurisdictions are great impediments to all the said several sorts of Wealth as may be seen in the following particulars 1. In case of War with forraign Nations England commonly beareth the whole Burthen and charge whereby many in England are utterly undone 2. England sometimes prohibiting the Commodities of Ireland and Scotland as of late it did the Cattle Flesh and Fish of Ireland did not only make Food and consequently Labour dearer in England but also has forced the People of Ireland to fetch these commodities from France Holland and other places which before was sold them from England to the great Prejudice of both Nations 3. It occasions an unnecessary trouble and charge in collecting of Customs upon Commodities passing between the several Nations 4. It is a dammage to our Barbadoes and other American Trades that the Goods which might pass thence immediately to several parts of the World and be sold at moderate Rates must first come into England and there pay Duties and afterwards if at all passing to those Countries whither they might have gone immediately 5. The Islands of Jersey and Guernsey are protected at the charge of England nevertheless the Labour and Industry of that People which is very great redound most to the profit of the French 6. In New-England there are vast numbers of able Bodied English-men imployed chiefly in Husbandry and in the meanest part of it which is breeding of Cattle whereas Ireland would have contained all those Persons at the worst would have afforded them Lands in better Terms then they have them in America if not some other better Trade withal then now they can have 7. The Inhabitants of the other Plantations altho they do indeed Plant commodities which will not grow so well in England it grasping at more Land then it will suffice to produce the said exotics in a sufficient quantity to serve the whole World they do therein but distract and confound the effects of their own Indeavours 8. There is no doubt that the same people far and wide dispersed must spend more upon their Government and Protection then the same living compactly and when they have no occasion to depend upon the Wind Weather and all the Accidents of the Sea A second impediment to the greatness of England is the different understanding of several material points viz. The Kings Prerogative Priviledges of Parliament the obscure differences between Law and Equity as also between Civil and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction doubts whether the Kingdom of England has Power over the Kingdom of Ireland besides the wonderful Paradox that the English-men lawfully sent to suppress Rebells in Ireland should after having effected the same be