Edward called the Confessor succeeded next in 1042. who was an absolute Englishman and the youngest Son of Etheldred and Queen Emma being invited from Normandy by all the English Nobility who disdained the Danish Subjection and was entertained with great Joy He first remitted that heavy Danish Tax of Forty thousand pound a year called Dane gilt imposed by his Father and paid forty years by all but the Clergy who are exempted Because the Kings reposed more confidence in the Prayers of the Holy Church than in the Power of Armies It is reported Edward forgave that Tax upon this occasion A great Sum of that Treasure being brought into his Chamber and laid in a heap he being called to see it was at first sight much affrighted protesting he saw the Devil dancing with great Joy upon the same and therefore commanded it should be again restored to his Subjects and released them from it for ever after He married Editha Earl Godwin's Daughter but never had any Conjugal Society with her though she was a Lady accomplished with all excellent Endowments both of Mind and Body so that this old Veâ—â—â—â—â— written on her Sicut Spina Rosam Genuit Goduinus Editham From prickled Stalk as sweetest Rose So Editha fair from Godwin grows Edward himself confessed upon his Death-bed That openly she was his Wife but in secret Embracings as his own Sister But whether it were Infirmity or Chastity it seems he was willing to have her accused of Incontinency whereof if she were guilty he could not be innocent it being a great injury to put his Wives vertue to so Tyrannical a trial After this some differences arose between him and Earl Godwin and Forces were raised on both sides but by the Intercession of the Nobility an Agreement was made Yet Godwin escaped not Divine Vengeance for being charged by the King for the Munder of Alfred he wished if he were guilty he might never swallow down a bit of Bread again which happened accordingly for the first bit of Bread he put into his Mouth choaked him as he sate with the King at Table A dreadful Instance of God's Severity against Perjury This King is blamed for his Cruelty to his Mother in forcing her to pass over nine burning Plow shares bare-foot and blind-fold for a Trial of her Continency which yet she performed without the least damage He is said to be the first King that cured the Disease called the King's-Evil It is related that this King lying on his Bed one Afternoon with the Curtains drawn a pilfering Courtier coming into his Chamber and finding the King's Casket open which Hugoline his Chamberlain had forgot to shut he took out as 〈◊〉 Money as he could well carry and went away But finding success he came a second and a third time still carrying off more At which the King who had observed all called to him to be gone with all speed since he had enough if he could be contented For said he if Hugoline should come and catch thee thou wilt go nigh to lose all thou hast got and may'st get a Halter into the Bargain The Fellow was no sooner gone but Hugoline came in and finding the Casket open and a great deal of Money taken out he was much incensed But the King bid him not be moved For said he he that hath it hath more need of it than we When this King Edward was hastning out of Normandy with a great Army to recover England from the Danes being ready to give Battel his Captains assured him of Victory and that they would not leave one Dane alive God forbid said Edward that the Kingdom should be recovered for me who am but one Man by the death of so many thousands better it is that I should live a private and unbloody Life than to be a King by such a Slaughter and Butchery This King having no lisue of his own sent for Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside out of Hungary who for his long absence was called the Outlaw but he dying soon after he declared Edgar the Outlaw's Son to be Heir and sirnamed him Atheling or Adeling a Term appropriated to the presumptive Heirs of the Crown He had also a Daughter named Matilda who was married to the King of Scots and was Mother to David King of Scotland and Maud Queen of England When King Edward was on his Death-bed he observed all present weeping and lamenting for him to whom he said If you loved me you would forbear weeping and rejoyce because I go to my Father with whom I shall receive the Joys promised to the Faithful not through my Merits but by the free mercy of my Saviour who sheweth mercy on who he pleaseth After the Death of Earl Godwin Harold his Son grew into great Favour with King Edward and was by him made Lieutenant of his Army against the Welch who with his Brother Tosto or Toston utterly subdued that Rebellion After which Harold still increasing more in favour with the King there grew such hatred between the two Brethren that Tosto coming to Hereford slew all his Brother's Servants and cutting them in pieces salted them and put them into powdering-tubs It hapned afterward that Harold going beyond Sea was by Tempest â—â—â—ven into Normandy and being seised and carrâ—â—d before Duke Wiliam he made him promise That after the death of King Edward he would secure the Kingdom for him according to King Edward's Will Which Oath having taken Harold came back and told King Edward what he had done who seemed well content therewith saith the Historian which if it were true he had surely forgot his former Declaration concerning Edgar Atheling However after the death of King Edward Harold neither regarding his Oath to Duke William nor Edgar's Right whom he dispised for his tender Age caused himself to be Proclaimed King without any great Ceremony or Celebration none much approving or disapproving thereof and to ingratiate himself with the People he eased them of several severe Taxes laid upon them by his Predecessor and was affable and kind to all But this was a short calm before a great storm for soon after Duke William sent his Ambassadors to him to mind him of his Oath but he returned answer That it was extorted from him in his Imprisonment and therefore was no way obliging At this Answerthe Duke was much inraged and prepared Forces for gaining the Kingdom by force Neither was Harold idle but made provision to withstand him At which time a dreadful Comet appeared in the Heavens which was then judged and after proved to be a fatal Omen During these Preparations Tosto Brother to Harold and Harfager King of Denmark with three hundred Ships invaded the Country landing in Yorkshire Harfager claiming the Crown as Son of Canutus but the Nobility of those parts opposing them were routed which Harold hearing march'd against them and at Stamford-Bridge he encountred them where his whole Army was withstood by one single Dane who slew forty of
Edward rejoyced in the excellent Vertues and Actions of his Son and People Charles the French King warned by so many calamities as his Dominions had sustained by the English War and earnestly coveting to recover the Honour of his Nation betook himself to secret practices Never adventuring his own Person in the Field but executing all by his Deputies and Lieutenants especially by the valour and service of Bertram de Glequin Constable of France who from a low estate was raised to this height for his prudent and magnanimous Conduct in War And our truly Noble King without suspicion of craft reposing himself upon the Rules of Vertue and Magnanimity did not reap the stable effects of so great and important victories nor of the Peace so Ceremoniously made that in the World's opinion it could not be broken without the manifest violation upon one side of all Bonds both divine and humane The Prince of Wales by Letters advised his Father not to trust to any fair words or overtures of further Amity made by the French because as he said they entertained Practices underhand in every place against him But his counsel was not hearkned to because he was judged to write out of a restless humour delighting in War though the event shewed that his words were true For now King Charles having by quick payments and other means got home all the Hostages which had been delivered for performance of the Articles of Peace set all his wits on work to abuse the King of England's credulity He courted him with loving Letters and Presents and in the mean time surprized the County of Ponthieu our King 's undeniable inheritance before King Edward heard thereof Who hereupon calls a Parliament declares the breach craves aid and hath it granted And then again claims the Crown of France and sent over his Son John Duke of Lancaster and Humfrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford with a great Army to Calice to invade France Among the States and Towns made over to the English at the Treaty of Bretigni which had revolted to the French was the City of Limosin Thither did the Prince march and sat down with his Army before it And not long after came unto him out of England his two Brethren the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge with a fresh supply of Valiant Captains and Souldiers The City held out to the utmost and was at last taken by storm where no mercy was shewed by the inraged Soldiers but Sword and Fire laid all desolate After this Service the Prince's health failing him more and more he left his Brethren in Aquitain to prosecute the Wars and himself taking Ship came over to his Father in England his eldest Son Edward being dead a little before at Bourdeaux and brought over with him his Wife and his other Son Richard The Prince having left France his Dominions were either taken or fell away faster than they were gotten Gueschlin entred Poictou took Montmorillon Chauvigny Lussack and Moncontour Soon after followed the Country of Aulnis of Xantoyn and the rest of Poictou Then St. Maxent Neel Aulnay Benaon Marant Surgers Fontency and at last they came to Thouras where the most part of the Lords of Poictou that held with the Prince were assembled At this time the King Prince Edward the Duke of Lancaster and all the Great Lords of England set forward for their relief But being driven back by a Tempest and succour not coming Thouras was yielded upon composition In fine all Poictou was lost and then Aquitain all but only Burdeaux and Bayon And not long after Prince Edward died and with him the Fortune of England He was a Prince so full of Virtues as were scarce to be matcht by others He died at Canterbury upon Trinity Sunday June 8. in the forty sixth year of his Age and the forty ninth of his Father's Reign and was buried in Christ's-Church there 1376. Among all the Gallant men of that Age this our Prince was so worthily the first He had a sumptuous Monument erected for him upon which this Epitaph was engraven in Brass in French thus Englished Here lyeth the Noble Prince Monsieur Edward the Eldest Son of the thrice Noble King Edward the third in former time Prince of Aquitain and of Wales Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester who died on the Feast of the Trinity which was the eighth of June in the year of Grace 1376. To the Soul of whom God grant mercy Amen After which were added these verses in French thus Translated according to the homely Poetry of those times Who so thou art that passest by Where these Corps entombed lye Understand what I shall say As at this time speak I may Such as thou art sometime was I Such as I am such shalt thou be I little thought on the hour of Death So long as I enjoyed Breath Great Riches here I did possess Whereof I made great Nobleness I had Gold Silver Wardrobes and Great Treasures Horses Houses Land But now a Caitiff Poor am I Deep in the Ground lo here Ilye My beauty great is all quite gone My Flesh is wasted to the Bone My House is narrow now and throng Nothing but Truth comes from my Tongue And if you should see me this Day I do not think but ye would say That I had never been a Man So much altered now I am For God's sake pray to th' Heavenly King That he my Soul to Heaven would bring All they that Pray and make Accord For me unto my God and Lord God place them in his Paradise Wherein no wretched Caitiff lies The Death of this Prince saith an ingenious Historian was a heavy loss to the State being a Prince of whom we never heard ill never received any other note but of goodness and the Noblest performance that Magnanimity and Wisdom could ever shew insomuch as what Praise could be given to Virtue is due to him I shall only add this short Remark That the Captivity of two Kings at the same time namely John King of France and David Bruce King of Scotland demonstrated at once the Glory and Power of King Edward and his magnanimous Son The French King continued Prisoner in England five years enough to have determined the fortune of that great Kingdom and dissolved their Cantoned Government into Parts had it not been a body consisting of so many strong Limbs and so abounding with Spirits that it never fainted notwithstanding all its loss of blood but scorned to yield though King Edward came very near the Heart having wounded them in their most mortal part the Head At length he recovered his liberty by paying three millions of Crowns of Gold whereof six hundred thousand were laid down presently four hundred thousand more the year after and the remainder the next two years following The Scots King could not gain his Freedom in twice the time being the less able to redeem himself for that he was upon the matter half a King the
taken in the Fight should continue Prisoner during Prince David's Pleasure Lastly That David should pay the King only three thousand Marks toward the charges of the War About a year after Prince David made another Insurrection in revenge of those Welshmens Heads whom Hubert de Burg had caused to be struck off in cold Blood and presented to the King for which David burnt several Churches and many Ladies in them whereupon he was solemnly Cursed and Excommunicated at Oxford in the presence of all the Nobility and Clergy and the King raising a great Army went to repress the Welsh but returned without effecting it So that they continued their ravages more than ever Complaints whereof coming daily to the King the Lords of his Council told him how pernicious it would be to him to suffer it who replied That he was not able to suppress them for want of money They being envious at his kindness to Hubert de Burg boldly replied He might well be poor who gave away his Estate to make others Rich and Great and thereupon they drew up many Articles against de Burg one whereof was That he had stoln out of the King's Jewel Office a precious Stone of wonderful value which had virtue to make him that wore it Invincible in Battel and that he had given this Stone to David Prince of Wales the King's Enemy Another was That he by his Letters had caused Prince David to hang the gallant William Bruce But he defeated all their designs against him and recovered the King's favour Afterward Prince David joined with the Earl Marshall in a Rebellion against the King and defeated his Forces But the King at length recovering his power there and giving himself up to Works of Charity and Hospitality caused Prince David to use this notable expression I more fear saith he the Almsdeeds which the King doth than all the men of War that he hath and the whole Clergy put together After this having taken Homage of all his Nobility Prince David voluntarily offered to hold his whole Principality of the Kings of England though with the dislike of his People that he might thereby strengthen himself against the attempts of his Son Griffith who used great endeavours to deprive him of his Royalty Griffith succeeded him and being taken Prisoner by King Henry was committed to the Tower of London from whence endeavouring to make his escape over the Walls by tying the Sheets and Blankets of his Bed together the weight of his heavy Body loosed them and falling down upon his Head he broke his Neck Afterward his Son David being provoked by the many injuries received from the Earl of Hereford made an Inroad into the English Marshes and designed to have freed himself from all Homage to the Kings of England exhibiting his complaint to the Pope and alledging That he was by force and violence unjustly compelled to hold his Principality and Estate of them But the King's Credit and Power prevailed against the weak Allegations of this poor Prince who thereupon continued his depredations Against whom King Henry sent three hundred men at Arms under the Command of Sir Hubert Fitz Matthew but through his own rashness and the valour of the Welsh he and his Party were totally defeated At which the King being much troubled resolved to go against them in Person and after he had fortified the Castle of Grennock in North-Wales and wasted the Isle of Anglesey he was forced by the rigour of the Weather to return home endeavouring to starve the Welsh by prohibiting the Irish and Cheshire men under severe penalties to furnish them with any provisions and if any of them ventured out of their Fastnesses on Snowdon Hills to satisfie their hunger the Garrison of Grennock were ready to surprize them Yea the two Welsh Lords Powys and Bromfield joined with the King against them insomuch that they were in miserable distress about which time Prince David died In 1255. The Welsh being opprest by Geffery Langley Governor of the Marshes fled to Arms whereupon Prince Edward afterward King Edward I. to whom his Father had given that Principality raises an Army to subdue them and wanting Money borrowed large sums of his Uncle Richard and then Marches against Prince Leoline whose Forces consisted in about Ten Thousand Country Horsemen and many more Foot who took a Solemn Oath That they would stand together for the recovery and defence of their Antient Laws Liberties and Countrey counting it better to lose their Lives with Honour than to live in Ignominy and Slavery And indeed they had already performed very notable enterprises under the conduct of their valiant Prince having recovered all the Inland Country of North-Wales and in one Battel kill'd above a thousand English putting the rest to flight and making Irruptions to the very Walls of Chester Neither had Prince Edward any better success for Leoline fell upon his Army with such Courage as obliged them to retire and not attempt any thing farther against him who complaining to his Father of the disgrace he had received What 's that to me says K. Henry I have given the Country to thee and thou must use thy courage to defend it and thereby gain such honour in thy Youth that afterward thine Enemies may stand in fear of thee As for me I have somewhat else to do In the absence of Prince Edward Leoline and his Welsh Forces continued their ravages on the Marshes He likewise Confederated with the English Barons then in Arms against King Henry whom they had defeated and taken Prisoner in a bloody Battel at Lewes in Sussex and carried into Wales with them destroying the Lands of the English in the Counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan under the command of Prince Leoline and Simon Montfort Earl of Leicester Prince Edward perceiving that he must use his utmost power for the recovery of his Father's Liberty and the Kingdom resolved with the assistance of the People of Cheshire Herefordshire Worcester and Shropshire who had been great sufferers in these publick calamities to give the Rebels Battel which he did accordingly in a large Plain near the Town of Eversham in Worcestershire where the Army of the Barons was utterly discomfited with a very great slaughter especially of the Welsh Simon Montfort called the Great Earl of Leicester was also slain at which very minute there was such terrible Thunder Lightning and Darkness as caused much amazement After the Death of Montfort Prince Leoline who had given him great assistance thought fit to make a reconciliation with King Henry and by paying thirty thousand pound Sterling four Welsh Counties taken from him in the Wars were restored to him In 1275. King Edward I. sent for Prince Leoline to attend at his Coronation and do him Homage which he excused or modestly refused He was afterward summoned to appear at the Parliament at Westminster which he likewise declined standing upon terms of safe Conduct doubting to be used as he pretended like his
Grandfather Griffith whom he intimated was murdered in the Tower of London and not kill'd by accident yet he sent a message to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York That if the King pleased to appoint Commissioners to receive his Oath and Homage he was very ready to give it or if he would name some indifferent place and give Prince Edward the Earl of Glocester and the Lord Chancellor as Hostages for his safe return he would wait upon him in Person The King dissembled his anger at these arrogant demands but a while after coming to the Castle of Chester on the Border of Wales he again sent for him and Leoline again denied to come At which the King resolved for preventing all future disturbances on that side to make an absolute Conquest of the Countrey And on the contrary the Welsh having always a custom at every change of Princes in England to try conclusions expecting one time or other to change their Yoke of Bondage into Liberty were in great hopes of doing it at this time having now a valiant Prince to command them But an accident happened which somewhat took off their edge for the Lady Eleanor Daughter of Simon Earl of Montfort whom Prince Leoline extreamly loved Sailing out of France into Wales was by the way taken by some English Ships and brought to King Edward and for the Love of her Prince Leoline was willing to submit to any conditions so that besides his Promise of submission to the Government he agreed to pay down Fifty thousand pounds Sterling and a thousand pound a year during life Upon these Terms he Married his beloved Lady and the Wedding was solemniz'd in England the King and Queen being present thereat Three years Leoline continued faithful and obedient in which time David one of his Brothers staying in England and being found by the King to be of a stirring Spirit was much honoured by him Knighted and Match to a Rich Widow Daughter of the Earl of Derby to which the King added the gift of the Castle of Denbigh with a thousand pound a year though it was at length discovered that he lived here only as a Spy For Prince Leoline's Lady dying soon after and he contrary to his engagements taking up Arms his Brother David notwithstanding these favours from the King went and joined with him and they together enter into England seizing the Castles of Flint and Ruthland with the Person of the Lord Chief Justice Clifford who was sent thither as a Judge and in a great Battel the Welsh overthrew the Earls of Northumberland and Surrey with the Slaughter of many English King Edward was at the Vizes in Wiltshire when news coming of this revolt and overthrow he raises an Army to revenge it In his way he goes to visit his Mother Queen Eleanor who lay at the Nunnery of Almesbury with whom while he was discoursing a Person was brought into the Chamber who pretended that being formerly blind he had received his Sight at the Tomb of King Henry III. When the King saw him he knew him and that he was a most notorious lying Villain and intreated his Mother not to give the least credit to him but the Queen who was glad to hear of this Miracle for the glory of her Husband finding her Son unwilling that his Father should be a Saint fell suddenly into such a rage that she commanded him out of her sight which the King obeys and going forth meets with a Clergyman to whom he tells the story of this Impostor adding merrily That he knew the Justice of his Father to be such that he would rather pluck out the Eyes being whole of such a wicked wretch than restore him to his sight In the mean time the Archbishop of Canterbury went of himself to Prince Leoline and his Brother David endeavouring to persuade them to submission but in vain for Leoline was so animated with an old British Prophecy of Merlin's That he should shortly be Crowned with the Diadem of Brute that he had no Ear for Peace and shortly after no head for the Earl of Pembroke first took Bere Castle which was his usual residence from him he then gave him Battel and his Party being defeated his Head was cut off by a Common Souldier and sent to King Edward who caused it to be Crowned with Ivy thereby in some part unluckily fulfilling his Welsh Prediction And this was the end of Leoline the last of the Welsh Princes betrayed as some write by the men of Buelth Soon after his Brother David flying into Wales and being destitute of help or relief he was at length taken with two of his Sons and seven Daughters as some Authors write all which were brought before the King David was committed to Chester Castle and afterward in a Parliament at Shrewsbury was convicted of Treason and sentenced to an ignominious death namely to be first drawn at a Horse Tail about the City of Shrewsbury then to be beheaded and quartered his Heart and Bowels burnt His Head to accompany his Brothers was put upon the Tower of London and his four Quarters were set up in four Cities Bristol Northampton York and Winchester A manifold Execution and the first shewed in this kind in this Kingdom in the Person of the Son of a Prince or any other Nobleman that we read of in our History Some have observed that upon King Edward's thus totally subjecting Wales he lost his Eldest Son Alphonsus a Prince of great hopes about twelve years of Age and had only left to succeed him his Son Edward lately born at Carnarvan and the first of the English Royal Families that was Intituled Prince of Wales but no Prince worthy either of Wales or England After this the rest of the Welshmen as well Nobles as others submitted themselves to King Edward and all the Countrey and Castles therein were surrendred to him who then annexed that Country to the Crown of England and built two strong Castles at Aberconway and Carnarvan to secure their obedience He also gave several Lands and Castels to Englishmen as the Lordship of Denhigh to Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln Of Ruthen to Reginald Lord Grey and divided Wales into Counties and Hundreds establishing the Government thereof agreeable to the Laws of England This happened in the twelfth year of his Reign 1284. Remarks upon the Lives of the Princes of Wales of the Royal Families of England PART II. THough King Edward I. had subjected the Principality of Wales and afterward annexed it to the Crown of England yet he could never induce that People freely to own him as their King but upon condition that he would come and reside among them or at least appoint them a Prince of their own Nation to Govern them for the Welchmen having experienced the rigorous and severe Treatment of the English Governours and being sensible that the King would rule them by an English Deputy they could not with patience bear the thoughts of it so that
oftentimes when the King charged them with affronting his Lord Lieutenants they unanimously answered That they were very willing to be subject to any Prince he should nominate provided he were a Welshman born The King perceiving their inflexible temper resolved to gratifie them by a Politick Stratagem He thereupon sends secretly to the Queen who was then big with Child that she should come to him with all speed to Carnarvan and when she was nigh her time of Delivery He ordered all the Welsh Nobility and Gentry to appear before him at Ruthland Castle to consult about the Publick welfare of their Country When they were come he detained them till he had notice that the Queen was delivered of a Son at Carnarvan and then calling them together he told them That they having often Petitioned him to have a Prince to rule them he being now going out of their Countrey would nominate one to them provided they would promise to accept and obey him The Welshmen answered they would be willingly obedient to him provided he were their own Countryman Ay says the King I will assure you that he was born in Wales That he can speak never a word of English and that he never did any wrong to man Woman or Child The Welshmen were very joyful of their good fortune promising true subjection to him Whereupon he named his own new born Son Edward firnamed Carnarvan from the place of his Birth and from that time the Eldest Sons of the Kings of England have been Intituled Princes of Wales This Prince succeeded his Father by the name of King Edward II. He was a comely Person and of great strength but much given to Drink which made him often disclose his Secrets For his other conditions his greatest fault was his inordinate love to Garestone and the Spencers who being Persons of lewd Lives endeavoured to debauch him with Wine and Women and occasioned many mischiefs and grievances in the Kingdom of which the Nobility and People were so sensible that when they found him irreclaimable they resolved to depose him and set his young Son Edward on the Throne his Queen likewise joining with the Lords therein who going over to France she there Contracted a Marriage between her Son Edward and Philippa Daughter to the Earl of Heynault by whom being aided with Forces she landed at Orwell near Harwich in Suffolk The Lords immediately resorted to her and the Londoners inclining to take her part the King found his evil Counsellors the Spencers and others could do him little service Therefore Shiping themselves for the Isle of Lundy they were by Tempest cast upon the Coast of Wales and the King secured himself in a Monastery in Glamorganshire But soon after both he and his Favourites were taken from thence They were Hanged and Quartered and he himself was deposed by Parliament having been first persuaded to make a formal resignation of the Crown And at length he was committed a Prisoner to Berkley Castle near Bristol where he was miserably murdered by having a red hot Iron or Spit thrust up into his Body II. Edward of Windsor so called from the place of his Birth the Son of this unfortunate King was the second Prince of Wales of the English Royal Blood Upon the Deposing of his Father by the Parliament it was resolved that he should be advanced to the Throne which this young Prince refused unless his Father resigned the Government which he was obliged to do and so his Son was Proclaimed King by the name of Edward III. who afterward proved a Glorious and Renowned Prince His Minority being but four years old when he was Crowned though it may Palliate cannot so take off the scandal of not preventing his Death who gave him Life but that there remains a great blemish upon his memory For being a Master of so much reason as to pause upon it as he did upon the first motion of putting his Father to Death it may be thought he had power enough to have prevented the execution it being a violation of the Law of Nature and likewise of ill example since the People might use him in the same manner if he outlived their affections or his own discretion But his revenge upon Mortimer seems to declare him really innocent or that he abhor'd the World should think otherwise Whereby he so far reconciled himself to the opinion of the Vulgar that he seldom wanted Friends during his long Reign as he never wanted an occasion to make use of them He was a Prince of that admirable composure of Body and Mind that Fortune seemed to have fallen in love with him elevating him so far above the reach of Envy or Treachery that all the Neighbour Princes dazled with the splendor of his Glory gave place to him who from the very first Ascent to the Throne had a prospect of two Crowns more than he was born to The one placed within his reach which was Scotland The other that of France which was more remote To the attaining the first there was a fair opportunity offered by the irreconcileable contest of two Rival Kings David Bruce and Edward Baliol whose Right and Interest were so evenly poized that King Edward's power could easily turn the Scale To the recovery of France there was yet a fairer opportunity given him by the revolt of Philip of Artois a Prince of the Blood Royal and Brother in Law to Philip of Valois the present French King who upon discontent came over and discovered all the Secrets of the French Counsels to King Edward assuring him of the Affections of several of the French Nobility And now the two Kings set up their Titles to the Kingdom of France Edward was nearest by Blood but drew his Pedigree from a Female Philip was farther off but descended of all Males and because the Law Salique which excludes Women from Reigning in France was conceived as well to exclude all Descendants from Females therefore was Philip's Title accepted the French obstinately declaring That they would never tye the Succession of that Crown to a Distaff To which King Edward replied That he would then tye it to his Sword With the English took part the Emperor and the chief Princes of Germany With the French the King of Bohemia the two Dukes of Austria the Earl of Flanders the Duke of Savoy and divers Princes of Italy together with his inraged Neighbour David Bruce King of Scots a weak but restless Enemy against whom King Edward had set up Edward Baliol as Competitor and to whose assistance he sends an Army toward Scotland and at Hallydown Hill near Berwick the Scots are utterly defeated about Thirty Two Thousand Souldiers being slain with a great number of Nobility and Gentry After this King Edward gained a Glorious Victory over the French at the Battel of Cressy and another at Poictiers wherein John King of France was taken Prisoner And David King of Scots with an Army of Threescore Thousand men a second time Invading England his Army is routed and himself taken Prisoner King Edward
together The Prince having refreshed his Men the May following set sail for England with his Prisoners and safely arrived at Plimouth and was with great joy and acclamations received every where At his coming to London where at that time a magnificent Citizen Henry Picard he who afterwards at one time so Nobly Feasted the four King 's of England France Scotland and Cyprus was Lord Major he received him with all imaginable Honour And the multitude of People that came to see the Victorious Prince with the King of France his Son Philip and the other Prisoners was so great that they could hardly get to Westminster between three a Clock in the Morning and twelve at Noon Great Edward saving that he forgat not the Majesty of a Conqueror and â—f a King of England omitted no kind of civility towards the Prisoners King John and his Son were lodged under a Guard at the Savoy which was then a goodly Palace belonging to Henry Duke of Lancaster and the other Prisoners in other places Some time after Prince Edward by dispensation married the Countess of Kent Daughter to Edmund Brother to King Edward the second and his Father invested him with the Dutchy of Aquitain So that he was now Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester and Kent And not long after he with his Beloved Wife passed over into France and kept his Court at Bourdeaux The Prince of Wales was now grown famous over all the Christian World and the man to whom all wronged Princes seemed to Appeal and to fly for relief For which end there came at this time to his Court James King of Majorca and Richard King of Navarr just when his Lady brought him a Son for whom these two Kings undertook at his Baptism giving him the Name of Richard The Soldiers most of whose Captains were English either by Birth or Obedience wanting employment because the Wars of Britain were quieted for the Present ranged tumultuously up and down France But about this time Sir Bertram de Glequin having paid his Ransom found employment for them drawing the greatest part of that Military Pestilence into another Coast For by the assistance of Peter King of Arragon and the Power of Glequin with his floating Bands called The Companions or Adventurers Peter King of Castile and Leon a cruel Tyrant was driven out of his Kingdom his Bastard Brother Henry being chosen in his room and Crowned King of Spain at Burgos This Peter was Son to Alphonsus the eleventh King of Castile and had to Wife a French Lady called Blanch Daughter to Peter Duke of Bourbon who was Father also of Joan the French King's Wife His Tyrannical cruelties were so many and so foul that the Spanish Stories scarce allow Nero or Caligula to go beyond him For which by his Subjects he was deposed Peter thus driven out of his Kingdom by the aid of the French applied himself to Prince Edward craving his assistance for his restoration making many and large Promises to him upon the accomplishment thereof The Prince out of Charity to succour a distressed Prince and out of Policy to imploy his Souldiers having got leave of his Father marched with a gallant Army of thirty thousand men upon confidence of good pay for his men and other benefits when Peter should be re-established in his Throne He made his way through the famous straits of Rouncevallux in Navarre by permission of that King who yet suffered himself to be carried Prisoner into Castile that he might not seem to cross the French King's designs who favoured Henry the Usurper Our Prince had â—n his Company besides most of all the principal Captain of the English two King 's Peter of Castile whos 's the quarrel was and the King of Majorca As also John Duke of Lancaster who after Don Pedro's death having married his eldest daughter wrote himself King of Castile and Leon. On the other side King Henry for the defence of his new Kingdom had raised a very great Army consisting partly of French under Glequin their famous Captains and of Castilians and others both Christians and Saracens to the number of about an hundred thousand And upon the Borders of Castile it came to a bloody battel wherein the valaint Prince of Wales obtained a very great victory having slain many thousands of his enemies Henry himself fighting valiantly was wounded in the Groin but yet escaped There were taken Prisoners the Earl of Dene Bertram de Glequin who yet shortly after by paying a great Ransom was set at liberty The Marshal Dandrehen and many others Neither was this Victory less worth to Peter than a Kingdom For our most Noble Prince left him not till at Burgos he had set him upon his Throne again But this unworthy King's falshood and ingratitude were odious and monstrous For the Prince notwithstanding this great success was enforced to return to Burdeaux without money to pay his Army which caused great mischiefs to himself and the English Dominions beyond the Seas as if God had been displeased with his succouring such a Tyrant The Prince himself though he returned with Victory yet he brought back with him such a craziness and indisposition of Body that he was never throughly well after And no marvel considering the Country the Season and the action it self and it may be more wondred at that his Souldiers came home so well then that he returned so ill Being come home discontent of Mind was added to his indisposition of Body For not having Money to pay his Soldiers he was forced to wink at their preying upon the Country for which the Country to stop whose murmuring his Chancellor the Bishop of Rhodes devised a new Imposition of levying a Frank for every Chimney to continue for five years to pay the Prince's debts But this Imposition though granted in Parliament made their murmurs encrease For though some part of his Dominions as the Poictorians the Xantoigns and the Limosins seemed to consent to it yet the Counts of Armigniac and Cominges the Vicount of Carmain and divers others so much distasted it that they complained thereof to the King of France as unto their Supreme Lord Pretending that the Prince was to answer before King Charles as before his Superior Lord of whom they said he held by homage and fealty whereas King Edward and his Heirs by the Treaty at Bretagny were absolutely freed from all manner of Service for any of their Dominions in France King Charles openly entertained this Complaint and hoping to regain by surprize and policy what the English had won by dint of Sword and true Manhood he summoned the Prince of Wales to Paris to answer such Complaints as his subjects made against him Our valiant Prince returned answer That if he must needs appear he would bring threescore thousand men in Arms to appear with him And now began the Peace between England and France to be unsetled and wavering For while King
were instantly defeated slain and put to flight and the Romans became Masters both of the Field of Battel and the whole Island also yet were they not wholly subdued till the Reign of Julius Agricola When the Roman Empire in Britain began to decline several Irish came secretly over and setled here and certain sinall Hills and Mounts are yet to be seen intrenched about which are called the Irish-men's Cottages and another place named of the Irish-men Hiercy Gwidil because it is said they here put the Britains to flight under the conduct of Sivigus Afterward the Normans ost infested this Isle but in the year 1000 King Etheldred set out a Fleet which scoured the Seas round about it and wasted the Countrey in a more hostile manner than either the Irish or Norwegians Then Hugh Earl of Chester and Hugh Earl of Shrewsbury both Normans did grievously afflict Anglesey at which very time Magnus the Norwegian arriving here shot Hugh Earl of Shrewsbury through with an Arrow and after he had plundred the Island departed Next the English continually vext the Inhabitants making several descents upon them even to the time of King Edward I. when they were totally subjected to that Crown The chief Town Beumaris formerly called Bonover built by this King Edward I. together with a strong Castle is governed by a Mayor two Bailiffs two Sergeants at Mace and a Town Clerk At Llanvais not far from hence was formerly a Monastery of Friars Minors richly endowed by the Kings of England where a Daughter of King John and the Son of a Danish King with several other persons of Dignity were Buried that were slain in the Wars between the English and Welsh Guido de Mona or of Anglesey was Bishop of St. David's and Lord Treasurer of England to King Henry IV. though the Parliament moved that no Welshman should be a State Officer in England He died 1407. Arthur Bulkley Bishop of Bangor though bred Doctor of the Laws either never read or else he had forgot the Chapter against Sacrilege for he spoiled the Bishoprick and sold the five Bells of the Cathedral being so over officious that he would go down to the Sea to see them shipt away He was suddenly deprived of his sight and died 1555. William Glyn D. D. bred in and Master of Queen's College was made Bishop of Bangor in the second year of Queen Mary an excellent Schollar being constant to his own and not cruel to the Professors of the Protestant Religion there being no Persecution in his Diocess He died the first year of Queen Elizabeth whose Brother Jeffery Dr. of Laws Built and Endowed a Free School at Bangor Madoc Son to Owen Gwineth Brother to David Prince of North-Wales was born probably at Aberfrow in this County then the principal Palace of their Royal Residence who upon the Civil Dissentions in his own Countrey in 1170 adventured to Sea and leaving Ireland on the North came to a Land unknown where he saw many wonderful things this by Dr. Howel and Mr. Humfry Lloyd is judged to be the main Continent of America being confirmed therein as well by the saying of Montezuma Emperor of Mexico who declared his Progenitors were strangers as well as the rest of the Mexicans as by the use of divers Welsh words among them as Cape de Breton Norwinberg Penguin a name they give to a bird with a White Head The story adds that Madock left several of his People there and coming home returned back with ten Sail full of Welshmen who continued there and Peopled the Country Which relation if true redounds much to the Glory of Madoc who discovered this vast Region near three hundred years before the renowned Columbus first Sailed thither This Isle had antiently three hundred sixty three Villages therein and is still well Peopled having two Market Towns seventy four Parish Churches and is divided into six Hundreds It gives the Title of Earl to James L. Annesly BRECKNOCK-SHIRE so called say the Welsh from Brechanius the Father of an Holy off-spring whose twenty four Daughters were Saints It hath Radnorshire on the North Caermarthen West Glamorgan South and Hereford and Monmouthshire East in breadth twenty eight and in length twenty Miles It is full of Hills and difficult in Travelling The Mountains of Talgar and Ewias on the East seem to defend it from the excessive heat of the Sun which makes an wholesome and temperate Air from whence likewise rise many curious Springs that render the Valleys fruitful both in Corn and Grass and thereby make amends for their own barrenness The Silures were the antient Inhabitants of this County who valiantly opposed the Roman servitude and were first subdued by Julius Frontinus who found it more difficult to encounter with the Hills Streights and Mountains than with the People whereof one Mountain in the South is of such an height and occult quality that faith Mr. Speed I should blush to relate it had I not the Aldermen and Bayliffs of the Town of Brecknock for my Vouchers who assured me that from this Hill called Mounch-denny they had oft-times cast down their Hats Cloaks and Staves which yet would never fall to the bottom but were with the Air and Wind still returned back and blown up again neither will any thing but a stone or hard Mettal fall from thence and the Clouds are oft seen lower than the top of it There is likewise Cadier Arthur or Arthur's Chair a Hill so called on the South side of this Country the top thereof somewhat resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the dimensions which the Welsh imagine that great and mighty Person to be of Upon the top thereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four square having no streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein They also told him that when the Meer Lynsavathan two Miles from Brecknock hath its frozen Ice first broken it yieldeth a dreadful Noise like Thunder And it is reported that where this Meer now spreadeth its Waters there formerly stood a fair City which was swallowed up by an Earthquake and it seems probable both because all the Highways of this County lead thither And likewise the Learned Camden judgeth it might be the City Loventrium which Ptolomy placeth in these parts and Mr. Camden could not discover and therefore likely to be Drowned in this Pool which the River Levenny running hard by farther confirms the Waters whereof run through this Meer without mixing with them as appears by the colour and breadth of the Stream which is the same through the whole length of the Pool This Shire had formerly two Towns called Hay and Bealt pleasantly scituated both which in the Rebellion of Owen Glendour were unwalled depopulated and burnt under whose ruins many Roman Coins are found and therefore thought to be two of their Garrisons Bealt was formerly possest by Aurelius Ambrosius and Vortigern and afterward Leoline the last Prince of the
the Title of Baron to Henry Lord Herbert PEMBROKE-SHIRE is bounded by Carnarthen on the East and Cardigan shire on the North-East On all sides else it is surrounded by the Sea In length 26. in breadth 20. and in circumference 93 Miles It was antiently Peopled by the Dimetree as well as Cardigan and Carmarthen-shires part of this County was after inhabited by the Flemmings sent thither by King Henry I. who lost their Country by the breaking in of the Sea whereby a great part of Flanders was drowned and whose Posterity continue there to this day and speak so good English that their Division is called Little England beyond Wales The Commodities of this shire are Corn Cattel Sea-fish and Fowl and in the days of Giraldus Cambrensis they had Wines for sale the Havens being so commodious for Traffick particularly Tenby and Milford the last of which is so large a Port that sixteen Creeks five Bays and thirteen Roads distinguisht by particular names are all contained within it Pembroke is the Shire Town which appears more antient than it is it was formerly Walled and had three Gates with a large Castle and a Causey leading over to the decayed Priory of Monton The Town consists principally of one long street on a long narrow Point of a Rock and hath within the Walls thereof two Churches St. David's is a Barren old City having neither Trees to defend it nor is it pleasant with Fields or Meadows but lyes exposed to Winds and Storms It is now the seat of a Bishop but was once an Archbishoprick in the British Church At the first planting of the Gospel in the reign of King Lucius there were three Archbishops Seats appointed London York and Caerleon The last in the Reign of Arthur King of the Britains was translated from thence to St David's as being farther off from the Saxon's fury Twenty seven of them retained the Title of Archbishops the last whereof was Samson who removed the Archi-episcopal Dignity to Dâ—le in Bretaign a Province in France Yet his Suceessors though they lost the name retained the power of the Archbishop the Welsh Bishops being consecrated by him till the Reign of King Henry I. when Bernard the 47th Bishop of this See was forced to submit himself to the Church of Canterbury The Cathedral here hath been often ruined by the Danes Norwegians and other Pirates as standing near the Sea in an extream Corner of this County that which we now see was built by Bishop Peter and by him dedicated to St. David In the middle of whose Quire Edmund Earl of Richmond Father to King Henry VII lies buried whose Monument secured the Church from being defaced in the Reign of King Henry VIII The roof of this Church is higher than any in England Calphurnius a British Priest who Married Concha Sister to St Martin and had St. Patrick the Apostle of Ireland to their Son was born at St. David's Likewise Justinian a Noble Britain with his own Inheritance built a Monastery in the Island of of Ramsey in this County where many Monks dwelt happily under his Jurisdiction until three of them Murdered him out of envy and emulation for his Plous Life His Body was brought to 〈◊〉 or St. David's and there interred and his Tomb afterward much famed for many supposed Miracles Giraldus Cambrensis whose Sirname was Barry some write Fitz Girald the Welsh Historian was born at Tenby in this County being Son to William Barry an Englishman by his Wife Angareth daughter of Nesta Daughter of Rhese or Rice Prince of South-Wales He was Nephew to David the second Bishop of St David's by whom he was made Arch-Deacon of Brecknock He was wont to complain That the English did not love him because his Mother was a Welshwoman and the Welsh hated him because his Father was an Englishman Though by his excellent Writings he deserved of England well of Wales better and of Ireland best of all making an exact description of all three and acting in the last as Secrety to King John with great industry and expence Having Travelled to Jerusalem he writ a Book of the Wonders of the Holy Land He had no great success at Court and therefore attained to no considerable Dignity till at length he was offered a very mean Bishoprick in Ireland and his highest Preferment was to this of St. David's of which he gives the true reason That he was looked upon with a Jealous Eye because being a Welshman by the Mother the furer side he was thought to have a natural antipathy against the English since it was believed no good Subject could come out of Walee Being now Bishop of St. David's he went to Rome and there was very importunate for an exemption of that Diocess from the Authority of Canterbury whereby he highly offended Hubert the Archbishop thereof Whereupon being rather overborn with bribes than overcome in his Cause he returned without effecting it and dying was buried in his own Cathedral about 1215. When King Henry II. was at St. David's in this County and from thence in a clear day discovered the Coast of Ireland in an huffing bravado he said I with my Ships am able to make a Bridge thither if it be no farther Which Speach of his being related to Murchard King of Lemster in Ireland he asked whether he did not say He would do it with the help of God and being told no he chearfully answered Then I fear him the less since he trusted more to himself than to the help of God The same King Henry coming back from Ireland arrived at St. David's where being told that there is an old Prophecy of Merlin's That the Conqueror of Ireland returning that way should dye upon a stone called Lechlaver near the Church-yard He thereupon before a multitude of People passed over it unhurt and reproving the Welshmen said Now who will hereafter credit that Lyar Merlin The County of Pembroke hath been fortified with sixteen Castles besides two Block-houses or Forts Commanding the Mouth of Milford Haven and hath five Market Towns is divided into seven Hundreds wherein are forty five Parish 〈◊〉 It gives the Title of Earl to Thomas Lord Herbert who is also Earl of Montgomery RADNOR-SHIRE hath Monmouth on the North Hereford and Shropshire on the East Brecknock on the South and Cardiganshire on the West In length twenty four in breadth twenty two and in circuit ninety miles The Air is sharp and cold as generally it is through all Wales whereby the Snow lies long unmelted under those vast Mountains Hills and Rocks that overshadow the Valleys yet the East and South parts are somewhat fruitful indifferently stored with Woods and watered with Rivers and Mears The riches of the North and West consist chiefly in the Cattel which they produce The antient Inhabitants were the Silures who by their own courage and the assistance of their inaccessible Mountains preserved their freedom very long against all the attempts of the Romans These Rocks
a Tyrant but be sure that thou take great care to redress the Grievances of thy Subjects and severely punish those that wrong them Hereby shalt thou gain the Englishmen's Hearts and reign prosperously for so long as they freely enjoy their Liberties and Estates thou may'st be sure of their Loyalty and Obedience but if thou strive to slave or impoverish them they will certainly rebel against thee for such is their nature that they will rather chuse to dye Freemen than to live Slaves and Beggars Therefore if thou Govern thein with a mixture of love and fear thou wilt be King over the most Pleasant and Fruitful Countrey and the most Loving Faithful and Valiant People in the World whereby thou wilt be a terror to all thine Enemies My Son when it shall please God to take me out of the World which is the Common Lot of all men I must leave my Crown and Kingdom to thee and I would earnestly advise thee that of all things thou wilt avoid Pride neither be thou bewitcht with worldly honour so as to be exalted in thine own imagination but always remember that the higher thy Dignity is so much greater is the burden that lyes upon thee for the security of thy Kingdom and of every particular Subject therein as being like the Head and Heart in the Body from whence all the Members receive Life and Nourishment Whereby thy People finding they receive so many benefits from thee will be always ready to assist and defend thee for their own preservation as the Members do the Head and Heart But above all things be careful to serve God sincerely and ascribe to him the Glory of all thy Successes against thine Enemies as coming from his goodness and not any merit of thine These and many other good Instructions the King gave to his Son And soon after being at his Prayers at St. Edward's Shrine in Westminster-Abbey he was suddenly taken with an Apoplexy and thereupon removed to the Abbot of Westminster's House where recovering himself and finding he was in a strange place he asked where he was and being told in the Abbot's House in a Chamber called Jerusalem where an Astrologer had formerly told him he should dye He said Nay then I am sure I shall dye though he before thought it would have been in Palestine and was therefore preparing to make a Voyage thither And here he died indeed March 20. 1413. It is observable that during his sickness he always required to have his Crown set upon his Bolster by him and one of his Fits being so strong upon him that all thought him absolutely dead the Prince coming in took away the Crown when suddenly the King recovering his senses and missing it was told the Prince had taken it who being called came back with the Crown and kneeling down said Sir to all our Judgments and to all our griefs you seemed directly dead and therefore I took the Crown as my Right but seeing to all our comforts you live I here deliver it more joyfully than I took it and pray God you may long live to wear it your self Well said the King sighing what Right I had to it God knows But says the Prince If you dye King my Sword shall maintain it to be my Right against all Opposers Well replied the King I leave all to God and then turning about said God bless thee and have mercy upon me And with these words he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Prince was Proclaimed King by the name of Henry V. and proved a better Man of a King than a Subject for till then he was not in his right Orb and therefore no marvel he was exorbitant Those that have taken the height of him parallell'd him with Alexander for Magnanimity and Caesar for his being Invincible and Affectation of Glory but he had something of Caesar that Alexander the Great had not That he would not be Drunk nor Intemperate and something of Alexander that Caesar had not That he would not be flattered and both were short of him in this that Conquering others they could not Conquer themselves but even when they were Lords of the World became Slaves to their own Passions He advanced the former Title of the Right of the Kings of England to the Kingdom of France and sent Ambassadors to King Charles VI. to demand a peaceable surrender of that Crown to him offering to accept his fair Daughter Katherine with the Kingdom and to expect no other Pledge for his Possession till after Charles's Death But the French King being sick his Son the Dauphin who managed the Government instead of another answer scornfully sent the King a Present of Tennis Balls as an intimation that his Youth was better acquainted with the use of them than of Bullets The King whose Wit was as Keen as his Sword returned him this answer That in requital of his fine Present of Tennis Balls it should not be long e're he would toss such Iron Balls amongst them that the best Arm in France should not be able to hold a Racket against them Neither was he worse than his word though his Army seemed very disproportionate for so great a work being only as some Write nine thousand Horse and Foot with which small number he met with the French Army at a place called Agencourt where though the Enemy were above five to one he fought them with such resolution that he took more Prisoners than his own Forces consisted of and kill'd ten thousand of them the Dauphin himself dying soon after of grief with the loss only of six hundred English nay one Author says of not above twenty six in all which made the Victory almost miraculous And which the Religious young King was so sensible of that he caused the Clergy in his Army to sing that Psalm of David When Israel went out of Egypt c and the Souldiers in their Arms responded at every Verse Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be all the Glory And upon his return to England with his Prisoners he commanded that no Ballad or Song should be sung but those of Thank sgiving to God for his happy Victory and Safe return without any reflections upon the French or extolling the English Valour Soon after he returned back to France where many great Cities and Towns were Surrendred to him and the French being unable to make any resistance at length a Treaty of Peace is concluded and he married his beloved Lady Katherine Daughter to the French King Charles being Proclaimed Regent of France during that King's Life and Heir Apparent to that Crown after King Charles his Death He was tall of Stature lean of Body and his Bones small but strongly made somewhat long Neckt black Hair'd and of a very comely Countenance So swift in running that he with two of his Lords would run down a Wild Buck or Doe in a Park He delighted in Songs and Musical Instruments
St. Bartholomew's Hospital for poor maimed diseased People and Cripples c. 3. Bridewell for imploying and correcting Vagrants Harlots and Idle Persons He was a Comely Person and of a sweet Countenance especially in his Eyes which seemed to have a starry liveliness in them In the sixth year of his Reign which was the year before he died he fell sick of the Measels and being fully recovered he rode a Progress with greater magnificence than ever he had done before having in his Train no fewer than four thousand Horse The January following whether procured by sinister Practice or growing upon him by natural infirmity he fell into an indisposition which centred in a Cough of the Lungs Whereupon it was reported that a Poisoned Nosegay had been presented him for a New years Gift which brought him into this slow but mortal Consumption Others said it was done by a vene nous Clyster However it was he grew so ill that his Physicians dispaired of his Life After which a Gentlewoman though to be provided on purpose pretended to cure him but did him much hurt for with her applications his Legs swelled his Pulse failed his skin changed colour and many other symptonis of approaching death appeared An hour before he was overheard to pray thus by himself O Lord God deliver me out of this miserable and wretched Life O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosens sake if it be thy will send me life and health that I may truly serve thee O Lord God save thy chosen People of England and defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my People may praise thy name for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake Then turning his Face and seeing some by him he said I thought you had not been so nigh Yes said Dr. Owen we heard you speak to your self Then said the King I was Praying to God O I am faint Lord have mercy upon me and receive my Spirit and in so saying he gave up the Ghost July 6. 1553. in the sixteenth year of his age when he had reigned six years-five months and nine days and was solemnly buried at Westminster Abbey XIII Prince Henry eldest Son to King James I. was the thirteenth Prince of Wales of the Royal Family of England He was born at Sterling Castle in Scotland and in his Childhood gave promising signs of an Heroick and Noble Spirit no Musick being so pleasant to his Ears as the Trumpet and Drum and the roaring of Cannon and no sights so acceptable as that of Musquets Pistols and any kind of Armour and at nine years of age he learned to ride shoot at Archery leap and manage the Pike all which manly exercises he performed to admiration in such young years He was tall of stature about five foot eight inches high of an amiable yet Majestick countenance a piercing Eye a gracious smile and a terrible frown yet courteous and affable to all He was naturally modest and patient and when most offended he would by over-coming himself say nothing very merciful very just and very true to his promises very secret and reserved from his youth He was most zealous in his love to Religion and Piety and his Heart was bent if he had lived to have endeavoured to compound those differences that were among Religious men He shewed his love to good men and hatred of evil in incouraging good Preachers and slighting the vain-glorious in whom above all things he abhorr'd flattery loving and countenancing the good and never speaking of the slothful Preachers without anger and disdain He was very Consciencious of an Oath so that he was never heard to take God's name in vain or any other Oaths that may seem light much less such horrible Oaths as are now too common He never failed to sacrifice daily the first of his actions to God by Prayers and Devotions He was so resolved to continue immutable in the Protestant Religion that long before his death he solemnly protested That he would never join in Marriage with a Wife of a contrary Faith for he hated Popery with all the Adjuncts and Adherents thereof yet he would now and then use particular Papists kindly thereby shewing that he hated not their Persons but Opinions He was obedient to his Parents careful in the affairs of his Family and Revenue loving and kind to Strangers and in a word he had a certain extraordinary excellency that cannot be exprest in words In the nineteenth year of his age he was visited with a continual Head-ach and had two small Fits of an Ague which were afterward followed with very had symptoms which daily increasing Dr. Abbot then Archbishop of Canterbury went to visit him and finding the extream danger he was in discourst to him of the vanity of the World the certainty of Death and the Joys of Heaven asking his Highness whether he were well pleased to die now if it were the Will of God he replied Yes with all my Heart farther declaring That he hoped for the pardon of his sins only from the merits of Christ In his best moments he continued in a Christian frame of Spirit and Novemb. 6. 1612. quietly yielded up his Spirit to his blessed Saviour and Redeemer being attended with as many Prayers Tears and strong Cries as ever any Soul was XIV After his death Charles his Younger Brother succeeded being the fourteenth Prince of Wales and afterward King of England by the Title of King Charles I. XV. Charles the eldest Son of Charles I. was the fifteenth and last Prince of Wales of the Royal Family of England and after King of England by the Title of King Charles II. I have been very brief in relating the Actions of several of the Princes of Wales having already given an account of them in some other Books which I have formerly published As for instance In a Book called Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County in England in the Remarks upon the County of Glocester you may find all the particulars of the Murther of King Edward the second In another called Historical Remarks upon the Cities of London and Westminster there is a full Relation of the deposition and miserable death of King Richard II. In another intituled The young Man's Calling or the whole Duty of Youth the Lives of King Edward VI. and Prince Henry Son to King James I. are related at large In another called England's Monarchs is an account of the Lives and Actions of all the Kings of England from William the Conqueror to this time and among them of those Princes of Wales who were after Kings of England and are mentioned in the preceeding Remarks In another called The Wars of England c. There is a full account of the Life of King Charles I. with his Trial and Death In another called The History the two late Kings is a Relation of the Life and Death of King Charles II. To
all or any of which Books I refer the Reader for farther satisfaction being unwilling to repeat or that any should pay twice for the same matter Remarkable Observations upon the most Memorable Persons and Places in Wales And an account of several considerable Transactions and Passages that have happened for many hundred years past Together with the Natural and Artificial Rarities and Wonders in the several Counties of that Principality PART III. GReat Britain comprehends the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and is an Island in the Ocean divided by Antiquity into three Parts the first and greatest called Loegria is contained within the French Seas the River Severne Dee and Humber to the German Ocean now called England The second containeth all the Land Northward from Humber to the Deucalidonian Seas now called Scotland The third lyes between the Irish Seas and the Rivers Severne and Dee and was called Cambria now Wales Some Authors add a fourth division called Cornubia now Cornwall the Inhabitants of all four differing in Language humor and Customs among themselves My design at present is to give an account of Wales having already treated of England in a Book called Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County thereof And I intend to proceed in the same method in this Principality Wales is situated on the West and Northwest part of England over against the Kingdom of Ireland and appears like a Promontory oâ— Foreland being surrounded by the Sea almost on every side except on the South-East part where it is divided from England by the River Severn and by a Ditch drawn from the Mouth of the River Dee to the mouth of the River Wye being an hundred Miles from East to West and an hundred and twenty Miles from North to South The forenamed Ditch is called Claudh Offa because made by Offa King Mercia of a great depth and breadth thereby to confine the Welsh into narrower limits who enacted That if any Welshman were found on the East side of this Ditch he should forfeit his right hand but that Law is long since repealed and the Loyal and Valiant Welsh have for several ages past enjoyed the same Liberties and Privileges with the other Subjects of the Crown of England It was divided into three parts that is North-Wales South-Wales and Powis-Land by Roderick the Great in 877. as you have heard which proved the confusion of Wales their Princes being commonly at War with the English or among themselves to inlarge and defend their several Dominions Of these three North-Wales was the chief being left to Amarawd the eldest Son of Roderick the Princes whereof by way of eminency were stiled Princes of Wales and sometimes Kings of Aberfrow their Chief Residence and paid to the King of London as well as the Princes of South-Wales and Powis-Land sixty three pounds yearly as a Tribute Yet South-Wales called by the Inhabitants Dehenbarth or the right side as being nearer the Sun was the largest most fruitful and rich but more subject to the Invasions and Depredations of the English and Flemings and therefore North-Wales being secured by its Hills and Mountains was prefer'd before it and retaineth more of the purity of the Welsh Tongue However this makes the soil lean and hungry but that is supplied by the large quantity thereof which occasioned this pleasant passage An English Gentleman in discourse with a worshipful Knight of Wales boasting that that he had in England so much ground worth 40 s. an Acre the Welsh Gentleman replied You have ten yards of Velvet and I have two hundred yards of Frize I will not exchange with you There are likewise in Wales very pleasant Meadows Watered by fine Rivers and as the sweetest Flesh is said to be near the Bones so the most delicious Valleys are interposed betwixt these Mountains The Natives are generally healthy strong swift and witty which is imputed to the clear and wholesome Air of the Mountains the cleanly and moderate Diet of the People and the hardship to which they are inured from their Childhood The Ancient Britains painted their naked Bodies with Pictures of living Creatures Flowers Sun Moon and Stars thereby as they imagined to appear terrible to their Enemies yet some more civil were clothed and as a great Ornament wore Chains of Iron about their Wasts and Neck and Rings on their middle Fingers They wore the Hair of their Head long which was naturally curled in many All other parts they shaved only wore long Whiskers on their upper Lip They had ten or twelve Wives a piece who lived in common among their Parents and Brethren yet the Children were only accounted his who first married the Mother while she was a Maid They were brought up in common among them They were moderate in their Diet as Milk Roots and Barks of Trees and a little thing no bigger than a Bean which for a great while took away both Hunger and Thirst Neither would they eat Hens Hares Geese nor Fish yet would often Dine upon Venison and Fruits Their usual Drink was made of Barly They are reported by Plutarch to have lived very long many to an hundred and twenty years They were Idolatrous Heathens as to their Religion using Man's Flesh in their Sacrifices and adoring a multitude of Idols Their Priests were called Druids who managed their Sacrifices and likewise acted as Temporal Judges in all Civil Matters and it was highly criminal not abide by their Judgment They were excused from the Wars and all contributions They had a Primate who commanded over them in chief Their Divinity was That the Soul is immortal and passeth from one Body to another which Doctrine they taught not out of Books but by word of Mouth Their Buildings were low mean Cottages like those of the Gauls or Boors of France yet they fortified several thick Woods with Rampires and Ditches which they called Towns Brass and Iron Rings were the Coin they used which were of a certain weight but afterward they grew more civil by Traffick and had both Gold and Silver Money Their chief Trade was in Chains Wreaths Ivory Boxes Bitts and Bridles with some Toys of Amber and Glass Neither was their Shipping more considerable their cheif Vessels being made of light wood covered over with Leather Their usual way of Fighting was in Military Chariots neither did they engage in great bodies but had still fresh men to succeed those who retired or were weary Their weapons were Shields and short Spears at the lower end whereof was fastned a round Bell of Brass with which they terrified their Enemies Many times they fought under the Conduct of Valiant Women who were extraordinary couragious They managed their Chariots so dexterously that running downa steep Hill with all speed they could stop them in the middle of their course The Principality of Wales produceth Mines and among others Royal Mines of Silver in Cardiganshire in the Mountains of Cosmelock Tallabant Gadarren Bromfloid Geginnon and Cummerrum The
are so dreadful saith Mr. Speed that I feared to look down from them into those deep and dark Vallies through which I passed which seemed to be the entrance into the Kingdom of Darkness Among these dismal Vales Historians say that unhappy Prince Vertigern who invited in the Saxons to the ruin of his Country was with his incestuous Wife consumed with Fire from Heaven in his Castle called Guartiger Maur. Though others write it was near Beshkelleth in North Wales Fatal was this place also to Leoline the last Prince of the British Race who being betrayed by the men of Buelth fled into these vast Mountains of Radnor where by Adam Franston he was slain and his Head Crowned with Ivy set upon the Tower of London Radnor is the Chief Town in this County from whence it receives its name called antiently Magi where the Pacensian Legion of the Romans lay and thought to be Magnes mentioned by me Emperor Marcus Antoninus It had formerly a VVall with a large and strong Castle Prestayn is the best Town in this Shire for handsome Buildings and good Trading Knighton is also a Market Town under which is to be seen the Tract of Offa's Ditch along the Edge of the Mountain The fourth place remarkable is Raihader Gewy from which word Raihader the English It is thought named the County Radnor It is also called Meliueth from the yellowish Mountains thereof which stretch from Offa's Dyke to the River Wye which River cutteth overthwart the West corner of this Shire where meeting with some Rocks that impede its passage for want of ground to glide on it hath a violent downfall with a continual noise and is called The Fall of Wye At this Town the Market day was formerly kept on a Sunday but is since altered This Shire is divided into six Hundreds wherein are three Forests four Market Towns and fifty two Parish Churches and formerly six Castles It gives the Title of Earl to Charies Lord Roberts There are several other Proverbs in Wales besides those already mentioned as 1. Her Wash Blood is up and 't is no wonder that a very antient Gentleman being deprived of his Country should digest his losses with great difficulty 2. As long as a Welsh Pedigree and as high too seeing commonly a Welsh Gentleman can clime up to a Princely Extraction 3. Give your Horse a Welsh Bait. That is stop on the top of the Mountains where the poor Palfrey is forced to make shift with Cameleons Commons the clear Air. 4. Calen y Sais wrah Gimro That is the Heart of an Englishman toward a Welshman This was invented while England and Wales were at deadly feud and applied to such as are possessed with prejudice and only carry an outward compliance without cordial affection 5. Ni Cheâ—w Cymbro oni Golle That is The Welshman keeps nothing until he hath lost it When the Brittish recovered their loft Castles from the English they doubled their Diligence and Valour keeping them more tenaciously than before 6. A fo Pen bid Bout That is He that will be a Head let him be a Bridge This is of a ficticious Original for Benigridan a Welsh General is said to have carried his Army one by one we must imagine upon his Back over a River in Ireland where there was neither Bridge nor Ferry and therefore deservedly was made their Prince 7. There was an antient Play in Wales wherein the stronger put the weaker into a Sack from whence came the Proverb He is able to put him up in a bag The Princes of Wales are very ancient and numerous yet they never had any Coin of their own as Mr. Camden observes In the reign of King William the Conqueror upon the Sea shore in Wales was found the body of Gawen Sisters Son to Arthur the Great K. of Britain reported to be fourteen foot in Length In 1662. July 2. were seen above an hondred Porpusses together near Newport which seemed very strange and prodigious to the Inhabitants Walter Brute was born in Wales A Siuner Layman Husbandman and a Christian They are his own words in a certain Protestation which he made He was bred in Oxford and being accused to the Bishop of Hereford he by a solemn subscription submitted himself principally to the Evangely or Gospel of Jesus Christ to the determination of the General Councils of Holy Kirk to Austin Ambrose Jerem and Gregory And lastly to his Bishop as a Subject ought to his Bishop It seems this Walter was the first that was vext about the Doctrines of Wickliff To conclude the Principallity of Wales was modelled into Shires in the reigh of King Henry VIII In the thirteen Counties whereof aforementioned are reckoned one Chase thirteen Forests thirty three Parks two hundred thirty Rivers an hundred Bridges four Cities fifty five Market Townt forty one Castles of old erection four Bishopricks and a thousand and sixteen Parish Churches and elects thirty Parliamont Men. 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