Sir Reginald Bray Who this St. George was we have now mentioned Mr. Sands in his Travels gives us the best account That he was a Cappadocian advanced in the Wars to the Dignity of a Tribune who afterward became a Soldier of Christ and is said in Lydda to have suffered Martyrdom under Dioclesian where stands a Temple built to his Honour as they say by a King of England which Church the Greeks have the Custody of and do shew a Skull therein which they affirm to be St. George's On this St. George's Day which is April 23. King Edward the Third that he might give to true Chivalry that Honour and ample Reward it deserves constituted first the most noble Order of the Garter appointing a select number of Twenty-six Persons of Honour to wear a blue Garter on their left Leg with this Motto in French * Evil be to him that evil thinks Hony soit qui maly pense and these he call'd Knights of the Garter Of this Order are and have been the most Puissant and Renown'd Princes in Christendom this Honour being deriv'd to them from the King of England who is the first and chief thereof but because the Occasion of the constitution of this most Noble Order as well as a List of the Persons that are Honoured therewith are given us already by Elias Ashmole Esq and others I shall not actum agere but rather declare who were the Principuli and had the Honour to stand Rank'd in the first Front of this Order and they are these who follow who being very Renowned in their Generation it is pity they should be Buried in the Grave of Oblivion 1. Edward the Third King of England 2. Edward the Prince of Wales 3. Henry Duke of Lancaster 4. Thomas Earl of Warwick 5. Captain de Bouch. 6. Ralph Earl of Stafford 7. William Mountague Earl of Salisbury 8. Roger Mortimer Earl of March 10. Sir John Lisle 11. Sir Bartholomew Burwash 12. Sir John Beauchamp 13. Sir Hugh Courtney 14. Sir Thomas Holland 15. Sir John Grey 16. Sir Richard Fitz-Simon 17. Sir Miles Stapleton 18. Sir Thomas Walle 19. Sir Hugh Wrothesley 20. Sir Neel Loring 21. Sir John Chandos 22. Sir James Audley 23. Sir Otho Holland 24. Sir Henry Eme. 25. Sir Zanchet D'Brigecoure 26. Sir Walter Paveley All these as likewise all other Knights of the Garter have their several Stalls allotted them in St. George's Chapel over which hang their Escutcheons and their Arms and when they are present they are all arrayed with Robes and Mantles peculiar to their Order and upon their day of admission to this Dignity which is usually on St. George's Day they are generally Installed either by themselves or their Proxies by the Prelate of the Garter which Office is setled upon the Bishop of Winchester and the Chancellour belonging to it is the Bishop of Salisbury On one side of the Church stand the Houses of the Dean and Prebendaries who are Twelve in number and on the other side an House not unlike the Graecian Prytaneum for the comfortable Maintenance of Twenty-six poor Knights who being all clad in long purple Gowns bearing the Badge of the Cross upon them are daily to be present Morning and Night at Divine Service Betwixt the two Courts ariseth up a high Mount on which is set a round Tower and hard by it riseth another lofty Pinnacle called Winchester Tower of William Wickam Bishop of Winchester whom King Edward the Third made Overseer of this Work when he Built the Castle There is a Rumour of a certain Inscription that was engraven by this Wickam upon the inner part of the Wall after the finishing of the Tower in these Words This made Wickam which bearing a dubious meaning some of the Courtiers that were his Enemies represented them in such a sense to the King as if he had arrogated to himself all the Glory and Magnificence of the Structure and so had eclipsed the King's Honour at which the King being incensed and rebuking him for the Fact he replied That he did not mean that he had made the Castle but that the Castle had made him having raised him from a mean and low Condition to the King's Favour and thereby to great Wealth and Dignity But before I leave this Bishop I cannot omit one very remarkable Story which I find Recorded of him by John de Pontoys in his History of the Bishops of Winchester how this Renowned Prelate discovered a notorious Cheat to Edward the Third put upon him by his own Queen Philippa for that John Duke of Lancaster who then went for his Son was never Born of that Queen but was really Supposititious which she still concealed for fear of the King's Anger but afterward a little before her Death she declared the whole Truth to this Bishop and commanded him to tell the King the whole Matter when he should find the most convenient Opportunity Mr. Wharton's Anglia Sacra pars prima p. 318. New-Windsor That which the Inhabitants call now New-Windsor standing South-West from the Castle began to flourish in the Reign of King Henry the Third and the Daughter hath now quite eclipsed the Glory and Honour of the Mother for 't is grown very Beautiful and Populous adorned with handsom Buildings and a regular Corporation and sends from thence constantly two Burgesses to the Parliament Aeton College There is one thing still more here which is remarkable opposite to Windsor on the other side of the River Thames a fair Bridge of Wood leads you on to Aeton where stands a famous College erected by that most Charitable Prince King Henry the Sixth in which besides a very honourable Allowance for the Provost there is a handsom Pension for Eight Fellows and a creditable Subsistence for Sixty Scholars who having received here the first Rudiments of Grammar and Rhetorick are afterwards translated to King's-College in Cambridge where they are certainly preferred according to their civil and studious Deportment Having satisfied our Curiosities with these pleasant Prospects we took our Farewell of the Muses Athenaeum as well as Mars his Cittadel and crossing again the River arrived at Colebrook Colebrook three or four Miles distant from this place so called from the River Cole which gently glides along through Bucks and Middlesex 't is parted into several Channels over which stand as many Bridges and by the several partitions of its Streams it encompasseth several little pretty Islands into which the Danes fled about the Year 894. whither King Alfred pursued them and endeavoured what he could to annoy them till at last for want of Provision he was enforced to quit that most advantageous Post We passed on from hence to Brentford Brentford which receives its name from the Rivolet Brent running by it Here in the Year 1016 Edmund Ironside did so overpower the Danes that they fled away very ingloriously being quite routed by him and leaving a great many Men slain behind them This
which being well replenished with numerous Shoals of Fish after it hath for a time parted this County from Northamptonshire passeth through the midst of it and divides it as it were into two equal Portions In fine Nature hath here so generously scatter'd all her Largesses either for Pleasure or Profit that she certainly at first designed it as a Glorious Seat for the Muses and a fruitful Colony for Apollo's Children and therefore we now find here one of the Eyes of this Nation which is the Renowned Oxford Oxford Oxford q. Bovis Vadum a Ford for Oxen to pass over as the Thracian Bosphorus is called by the Germans Ochenfurt It was anciently called Bellositum for its healthy Air and commodious Situation betwixt two Rivers and is so ancient a City as to fetch its Original from the time of the Britaine so large to contain 13 Parish Churches besides the Cathedral so well adorned with private goodly Structures as well as with divers magnificent Colleges and Halls that it must needs be allowed to be one of the most beautiful and stately Cities in England it is supposed by Antiquaries to have been a place for publick Studies before the Reign of that learned Saxon King Alfred who very much augmented it out of his Princely Favour and Love to Learning and Religion and it justly glories in the Ancient and Royal Foundation of Vniversity-College founded by the aforesaid King Alfred about the year 872. afterward re-edified by William Archdeacon of Durham or as others write by William Bishop of Durham in the Reign of William the Conquerour In the curious Fabrick of New-College built by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester in Richard II's time In the Magnificence of Christ-Church erected by Cardinal Woolsey in the Reign of Henry VIII and in Twenty two stately Colleges and Halls besides To wave the curious Fabrick of the Schools the admirable Structure of the Theatre built at the sole Cost and Charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the famous Bodleian Library which for a Collection of choice Books and rare Manuscripts is not much inferiour to that of the Vatican at Rome The Musaeum erected at the Charge of the University for the Improvement of Experimental Knowledge The publick Physick Garden replenished with the choicest Plants and surrounded with a strong Stone-Wall at the Expence of his Grace the present Duke of Leeds together with all the Customs Privileges Offices and Dignities which are already Elegantly set forth by the Ingenious Author of the Present State of England I shall only observe that the most Puissant King Henry VIII erected here first a Bishop's See and Endowed it as we are informed out of the Lands belonging to the dissolved Monasteries of Abington and Osney and for further Ornaments to the University and Encouragement of Learning through the Munificence of that Prince and divers other Benefactors there have been since added divers professors of several Arts and Sciences to instruct the younger Pupils in their Minority and to make them fit Instruments for the Service of Church and State From hence we moved forward to Burford Burford a Town in this County of good Note for its Antiquity situated very pleasantly on the side of a rising Hill It was formerly called Berghford or Bregforde saith my Learned Friend Mr. White Kennet in his Parochial Antiquities of Oxfordshire and as he further informs us A Synod was here Convened at which were present the two Kings Etheldred and Berthwald Theodore Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Sexwolph Bishop of Litchfield Bosel Bishop of Worcester and Aldhelm afterward Bishop of Sherborn then only Priest and Abbot of Malmsbury which said Aldhelm at the Command of this Synod wrote a Book against the Errour of the British Christians in the Observation of Easter and other different Rites wherein they disturbed the Peace of the Church the reading of which Book reclaim'd many of those Britains who were under the West Saxons After this 't is storied further That about the year 752. Cuthred King of the West Saxons when he was no longer able to bear the Severe Tributes and Exactions of Aethelbald King of the Mercians who did most cruelly oppress him and began 〈◊〉 suck the very Blood and Marrow of his Subjects came into the Field against him and in a pitâ—â—'d Battle at Beorgford saith the Saxon Chronicle published by the Learned Mr. Gibson routed him â—â—tally taking from him his Banners on which was painted a golden Dragon and so eased and freed himself and his Subjects from that Tributary Vassalage The Memory whereof has continued for several Ages in the Custom used here of making a Dragon and carrying it about the Town solemnly on Midsummer-Eve with the addition of a Giant to it the reason of which latter Practice is not so easily discovered saith the Ingenious Dr. Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire Having once passed from this place we soon arrived within the Limits of Glocestershire Glocestershire in the Eastern parts swelled up into Hills called Cotswold which Feed innumerable Flocks of Sheep the Wool whereof is much praised for its fineness the middle parts consist of a fertile Plain watered by the Severn and the Western part where lies the Forest of Dean is much covered with Woods 'T is a Country happy in the Enjoyment of all things that are necessary for the Use and Service of Man the very Lanes and Hedges being well-lined with Apple and Pear-Trees and the Vales which in William of Malmsbury's time were filled with Vineyards are now turn'd into Orchards which yield plenty of Sider The Towns and Villages stand mostly thick together and so it is populous the Houses numerous and so 't is sociable the Churches fair and magnificent and so 't is honourable But that which is one of the greatest Blessings of all is the Noble River Severn than which there is not any River in all this Island for its Channel broader for Stream swifter for variety of Fish better stored though sometimes it overflows its Banks and when it hath roved a great way upon the Land retires back again in Triumph as a victorious Conquerour This River Severn The River Severn or Sabrina was so called from Sabrine a fair Lady concerning whom there goes this Story Locrine the Eldest Son of Brutus who came first into Britain and from whom some Writers are of Opinion our Country received its Denomination took to Wife Guendoline Daughter to Corineus Duke of Cornwall the Companion of that Noble Trojan but notwithstanding this he kept a very beautiful Mistress whose Name was Estrilde and by her had a Daughter which he named Sabrine whereupon he grew so enamoured of her that after the Death of his Father-in-law Corineus he put away his Wife and Married this Lady at which Act his Wife was so extreamly netled that she immediately repairs into Cornwall makes her Complaint among her Friends and Relations and having gathered
some time in this City we went from hence through Linlithgow Linlithgow a Town beautified with a fair House of the King 's a goodly Church a pleasant Park and a Loch a lake under the Palace Wall full of Fish of which lake it seems to have derived its Name Falkirk Lin in the British Tongue signifying a lake to another Town called Falkirk Famous for the notable Battle which was fought here betwixt King Edward the First and the Scots wherein were Slain no less than two Thousand Men not far from which place likewise upon the River Carron was formerly situate the Famous City of Camelon chief City of the Picts founded by Cruthneus Camelon before the Birth of Christ 330 Year which was destroy by King Kenneth the Great about the Year of Christ 846 and what was left was afterward swallowed up by an Earthquake where the void place is now filled with Water Glasgow At last we came to the renowned City of Glasgow which lying in Liddisdail was indeed the furthest of all our Northern Circuit 't is situated upon the River Glotta or Cluyd over which is placed a very fair Bridge supported with eight Arches and for pleasantness of Sight sweetness of Air and delightfulness of its Gardens and Orchards enriched with most delicious Fruits surpasseth all other places in this Tract the Buildings in this Town are very large and beautiful and the Tolbooth itself so stately a Structure that it appears rather to be a Palace than a Prison This has formerly been the See of an Arch-Bishop The University and in the Year 1554 an University which consists of one College was founded here by Arch Bishop Turnbill for a Rector a Dean of Faculty a Principal or Warden to teach Theology and three Professors to teach Philosophy Afterwards some Clergymen professed the Laws here being invited to that Profession rather by the convenience of a Collegiate Life and the immunities of the University then by any considerable Salary King James the Sixth A. D. 1577. did establish twelve Persons in the College viz. a Principal three Professors of Philosophy called Regents four Scholars called Bursars an Oeconomus or Provisor who furnisheth the Table with Provisions the Principal 's Servant a Janitor and a Cook The Cathedral is a very fair ancient Fabrick The Cathedrel built by Bishop John Achaian A. D. 1135. it oweth Thanks to the Memory of King James the Sixth and which is most remarkable to the Mob it self at that time for its preservation from Ruine for the Ministers here having perswaded the Magistrates to pull it down and to build two or three other Churches with the materials thereof and the Magistrates condescending a Day was appointed and Workmen ready to demolish it but the common Tradesmen having notice given them of this design convene in Arms and oppose the Magistrates threatning to bury the Demolishers of it under the Ruines of that ancient Building whereupon the matter was referred to the King and Council who decided the controversy in the Tradesmens Favour and reproving very sharply the Magistrates for their Order so that it still continues with four other Churches here beside for the exercise of their Religion The City is governed by a Mayor and is very eminent for its Trade and Merchandize and is noted upon Record for being the place where William Wallace the Renowned Champion of Scotland was traitourously Betrayed by Sir John Menteith and delivered up to our King Edward the First by whose Order he was afterward publickly executed in Smithfield Hamilton Passing away hence by Hamilton a famous Palace then belonging to Duke Hamilton which hath a fair and spatious Park adjoyning to it we had two Days journy very doleful and troublesome for we travelled over wide Meers and dangerous Mountains in the Company of some Scotch Gentlemen who were going that way for England where the Weather was ill the ways worse and the long Miles with their Way-bitts at the end of them worst of all where our Lodging was hard our Diet course and our Bodies thin that it might easily be discerned how we had lately pass'd through the Territorys of Famine who Reigns very potently over that cold and pinching Region Dunfries But coming at length to Dunfries in the County of Nidisdail it made us some amends for being situate between two Hills upon the Mouth of the River Nid over which is laid a Bridge of large fine Stones it appears to be one of the most flourishing Towns in this Tract notable no less for its ancient Castle and Manufacture of Cloath then for the Murther of John Cummins one of the most Renowned Personages for his Retinue and Equipage in all this Kingdom whom Robert Bruce for fear he should fore-stal his way to the Crown run quite through with his Sword in the Fryars Church and soon obtain'd his pardon from the Pope though he had committed so great a Murder in so sacred a place Anandale After this we came to Anandale at the Mouth of the River Anan in the County of Anandale bordering upon our own Nation which lost all its Glory and Beauty upon the War which was raised in Edward the Sixth's Days in these two last named Counties have been bred a sort of warlike Men who hath been infamous for Robberys and depredations for they dwell upon Solway-Frith a fordable Arm of the Sea at low Water through which frequently they have made many inroads into England to fetch home great Booty's and in which they were wont after a delightful manner on Horse-back with Spears to hunt Salmons of which there are in these parts a very great abundance After we had passed these borders we arrived again safe in our own native Soil within the precincts of Cumberland Cumberland which like the rest of the Northern Counties hath a sharp piercing Air the Soil is fertile for the most part both with Corn and Cattel and in some parts hereof with Fish and Fowl here are likewise several Minerals which of late have been discovered not only Mines of Copper but some veins of Gold and Silver as we were informed have been found and of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Nor is it less renowned for its exceeding high Mountains for beside the Mountain called Wrye-Nose The Hill called Wrie-Nose on the top of which near the high way side are to be seen Three Shire-Stones within a foot of each other one in this County another in Westmorland and a third in Lancashire there are three other Hills Skiddaw Lanvalin and Casticand very remarkable Skiddaw riseth up with two mighty high Heads like Parnassus and beholds Scruffel Hill The Hill of Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand which is in Anandale in Scotland and accordingly as mists rise or fall upon these heads the People thereby prognosticate of the change of Weather Singing this Rhime If Skiddaw have a Cap
dismal Calamity in the Reign of King Richard the First Seffrid the Second Bishop of that name restored it once more to its primitive Lustre and Grandeur since which the City began mightily to flourish and had been much more considerable than it now is had but the Haven proved more commodious which lies a little too far distant from it it is walled about in a circular Form the Lavant a pretty River running hard by it on the South and West sides It consists of five or six Parishes and the Buildings are indifferently neat and uniform four Gates it hath opening to the four Quarters of the World from whence the Streets lead directly and cross themselves in the midst where the Market is kept and where Bishop Read erected a fair Stone Market-House supported with Pillars round about as for the Castle that stood not far from North-Gate it was in times past the ancient habitation of the Earls of Arundel who hereupon Stiled themselves Earls of Chichester but afterward it was converted into a House of Franciscan Fryars The Cathedral is not large but very curious and beautiful having a spire Steeple of Stone which riseth up a great height and an high Tower standing near to the West Door which was built by R. Rinan as they say when he was forbidden to erect a Castle at Aplederham his Habitation hard by of those Stones which he had provided before for that Castle In the South cross Isle of the Church was formerly on the one side artificially pourtrayed and depainted the History of the Church's Foundation with the Images of the Kings of England on the other the Images of the Bishops as well of Selsey as Chichester at the Charge of Bishop Shirborne who greatly adorned and beautified the Church and every where for his Impress set these Motto's Credite Operibus i. e. Trust Men according to their Deeds and again Dilexi decorem domus tuae Domine i. e. I have loved O Lord the Beauty of thy House But all these in the late Confusions were unhappily defac'd and there is little now remaining but the memory of them We went from hence to Amberley-Castle Amberly Castle which is about twelve Miles from Chichester higher into the Countrey it was built by VVilliam Read Bishop of Chichester in the Reign of Edward the Third for the use of his Successors but then leased out to the worthy Family of the Butlers who were the Inhabitants at that time We staid here for the space of a Week where we were generously entertained with great Courtesy and Civility and there we had a full account given us of the nature of the Country which by a more particular survey we found afterward very true Sussex for the Soil is for the most part rich and the Ways deep the Downs by the Sea side standing upon a fat Chalk or Marle are abundantly fertile in Corn the middle tract garnished with Meadows Pastures Corn-fields Groves and Iron Mines the North side shaded with Wood and here ran along part of that great Wood which was called by the ancients Andedsleage by which without question saith the Learned Bishop Stillingfleet is meant that vast Wood which beginning in Kent ran through Sussex into Hampshire called by the Britains Coid Andred by the Saxons Andred and Andreswald from whence as Mr. Somner observes Andreswald Wood. that part of Kent where the Wood stood is called the VVeald and Lambert averrs that no Monuments of Antiquity are to be met with in the VVeald either of Kent or Sussex Historians farther tell us that this Wood was formerly reputed 120 Miles long and 30 Miles broad where Sigebert King of the VVest-Saxons being deposed from his Royal Throne was Stabbed by a Swineherd But though the Company was most obliging and the Place no less divertive yet having not compleated our designed Journey we took a solemn leave of our Courteous Friends and retreated towards the Sea-coast to Arundel Arundel a Town situate on the brow of a Hill of special Note for its Castle once of great fame and strength but far more famous for the Lords or Earls hereof to which Castle by an ancient Privilege the Title of an Earldom is annexed so that whosoever is possessed of the Castle and Mannor is ipso facto Earl of Arundel without any Creation wherein it is singular from the rest of England Lewes We proceeded on to Lewes which for frequency of People and its goodly Structure is reputed the principal Town of the County and therefore here generally the Assizes are held for this Countrey if not at East-Greenstead the remoteness of Chichester from the City of London being probably one reason why they are not kept there This Town is seated upon a rising almost of every side but that it hath been Walled there are apparent Symptoms Southward it hath under it a great Suburb called Southover and beyond the River another Eastward called Cliff because 't is under a chalky Hill and hath six Parishes well inhabited In the time of the Saxons when King Athelstan made a law for Coining of Money he appointed two Coiners for this Place VVilliam VVarren the first Earl of Surrey built a large Castle in the highest ground for the most part with Flint and Chalk and in the bottom of Southover A. D. 1078. he founded to the Memory of St. Pancrace an Abbey which he replenished with Cluniack Monks which since the dissolution fell into the possession of the Earls of Dorset But most memorable is this place for a mortal and bloody Battel fought here between King Henry the Third and the Barons in which the prosperous beginning of the Battel on the Kings side was the overthrow of his Forces for whilst Prince Edward his Son breaking by force through certain of the Barons Troops carelesly persued the Enemy over far as making sure account of the Victory the Barons having reinforced themselves and giving a fresh charge so discomfited and put to Flight the Kings Army that they constrained the King to accept of unequal conditions of peace and to deliver up his Son with others whom they Demanded into their Hands A. D. 1264. See the Ingenious Mr. Kennet's Paroch Antiq p. 262. We passed away from thence by Seaford which is in the liberty of the Cinque-Ports a small Fishing Town built of Stone and Slate and defended with a convenient Fort to Bourn a place very Famous for its Wheat-ears which are a sort of Birds in Summer very palatable and delicious and so Fat that they dissolve in the Mouth like Jelly and this lead us through Pevensey Marsh which hath formerly most undoubtedly been overflowed by the Sea to the Town of * Pevensey called by the Britains Cair-Pensavelcott and by others Penvessel c. Mr. Somner's Roman Ports and Forts c. p 104. Pevensey Famous for the Ruines of an old large Castle but more for the landing of William Duke of Normandy with 900 Sail of Ships for the
Conquest of England the Sea is now near three Miles distant from the Town which chiefly subsists by the grazing Trade and there is only a small Rill for Boats of little Burdens to put in upon occasion Twelve Miles further is Hastings Hastings a Sea-Port of good antiquity consisting of two Parishes 't is situated under very high Hills and Cliffs is extended to a good length and was formerly fortified with a strong Castle the Ruines of which are as yet invisible but now more conveniently strengthned with two useful Bulwarks which command the Sea In the Reign of King Athelstan here was a Mint-House afterward it was accounted the first of the Cinque-Ports which with the Members belonging to it viz. Seaford Pevensey Hodney Bulver-Hyth Winchelsea and Rye which are called the two ancient Towns were formerly bound to find one and twenty Men of War for the King's Service thus it flourished long being inhabited by a warlike People and skilful Sailors and though the Peer is quite gone to decay yet here are still an industrious Colony of Fishermen who very much enrich the Town by their constant Fishery 't is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen who by their prudent measures very regularly keep up the Grandeur of their Corporation Here or at Pevensey was probably Anderida one of the ancient Roman Garrisons as Mr. Somner conjectures See Somner's Roman Ports and Forts c. P. 104. Winchelsea by its Name betokens a waterish place seated in a Corner Idem P. 69. Along the same Shore is situated Winchelsea which when a more ancient Town of the Name was Swallowed up by the Sea in the Year 1250 was built by King Edward the First It was then inclosed with a Rampire and after with strong Walls and scarce began to Flourish when it was sacked by the French-men and Spaniards and by the Sea 's shrinking from it did as suddenly fade and lose all its Beauty and is now only the Skeleton of a fair Town as doth appear by the Quadrangular Streets large Vaults and other ruinous materials of ancient Structures having upon the level which the Sea relinquished a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth now quite gone to decay and large Marshes which are defended from the Violence of the Sea with great earthen Walls and Banks which are preserved and repaired with no small charge and Trouble In this Town were formerly three Parish Churches dedicated to St. Leonard St. Gyles and St. Thomas tho' the latter alone in which are some ancient Monuments to be seen now serves the Town in that of St. Leonard was formerly erected the Picture of St. Leonard the Patron of the place holding a Fan or Aeolus his Scepter in his Hand which was moveable at the Pleasure of any that would turn it to such a point of the Compass as best fitted the return of the Husband or other Friend whom they expected and so after that was done and an Offering made for without Offerings these Idols would be Idle they promised to themselves the desired Wind both speedy and prosperous This is likewise a Corporation but yet a pitiful Spectacle of Poverty and Desertion Not many Miles from this Place is Battel Battel where October 14. A. D. 1066 was fought the Bloody Battel betwixt King Harold and the Norman Duke which proved so fatal to the English and successful to the Normans for besides King Harold himself who with an Arrow was Shot quite through the Head there fell with him likewise upon the spot as we are told by the most accurate Historian Sir William Temple who hath wrote the Life of William the Conqeror no less than threescore Thousand Men upon which he makes this observation that nothing seems to show the greatness of England so much at this time as that Harold should be able to assemble so mighty an Army to oppose this Invasion which Ground where this grand re-encounter was hath been thought ever since to have worn the Conquerour's Livery because as they say after Rain it always looks of a reddish Colour though afterward this Prince to make some atonement as he thought for the vast effusion of Blood which had been Spilt there the next Year erected a Abby at this place to the Honour of St. Martin and placed here a Covent of Benedictine Monks to pray for their Souls who had fallen in the Battel Rye Three Miles from Winchelsey is Rye which stands on the very edge of this County towards Kent and at the very fall of the Rother into the Sea That it was formerly in great vogue and well fortified by William Ipres Earl of Kent Ipres Tower now the Prison and the great Immunities and Privileges it had in common with the Cinque-Ports may sufficiently demonstrate but by reason of Winchelsey's Vicinity or the Sea 's retiring back it was of little account till the other Place decayed and that King Edward the Third began by walling it to make it more considerable than it was before after which though the Sea did for many Years extreamly befriend it and a very convenient Haven lay open for Trade and Commerce yet so inconstant is the Favour of that changeable Element that it is now almost quite choaked up and a passage hardly left for the smallest sort of Vessels and were it not for its Fishery and the conveniency from hence of a ready Passage into Normandy it is to be feared it would fall quickly under the same deplorable fate of its Neighbour if some other Privileges from the Corporation do not support and keep it up Kent We Ferried over the Camber from Rye into Kent which is divided into three several Portions the first is a Ridge of Hills that runs by Boxley Detling c. and is call'd Health without Wealth the second is that which runs by Sutton Boughton Malherf c. and is called Health and Wealth the third by Tenterden and is called Wealth without Health Names very proper for them and the reason is very plain why they are so Nature having so liberally apportioned her Blessings that she compensates the defect of one by the collation of another not suffering any peculiar Place to Monopolize all her Favours at once but thus if the VVeald be eminent for Wool the Fame of East Kent shall be as great for Corn and Tenham Goddington and Otham shall be no less cried up for Orchards if Shepey or Reculver produce the best Wheat Thanet shall bring forth as good crops of Barley and if Cranbrook hath the Name for Beer Tunbridge shall for Water In fine if either the fertility of the Soil or the safe Roads and sure Harbours for Ships or the broad Streams of a great navigable River the noble River Thames or the Vicinity of the vast and opulent City of London can be any way contributive to advance its Prosperity it must needs be one of the richest and most flourishing Provinces of this Kingdom As this Country was first subdued by