place Sommerset-shire THis Country besides other Commodities in some places is inriched by Lead-mines which yields great Plenty the most Marchantable Commodity that is in England and vented into all parts of the World Some places are beautified with Diamonds as St. Vincent Rock whereof there is great plenty and so bright of colour as they might equalize Indian Diamonds if they had their hardness yet being so many and so common they are less sought after or commended In this Country is the City of Bathe which takes name of the hot Baths A place of continual concourse for Persons of all degrees and almost of all diseases who by Divine Providence do very often find relief there the Springs thereof by reason of their Mineral and sulphurous passage being of such exceeding power and medicinal heat as that they Cure and Conquer the rebellions stubbornness of corrupt humors At Dunstere where as is reported a great Lady obtained of her Husband so much Pasture Ground in common by the Town side for the good and benefit of the Inhabitants as she was able in a whole day to go about bare-foot Wilt-shire SAlisbury the chief City in which every street almost hath a River running thorow in her midst The Cathedral a most rich Magnificent Church wherein are as many Windows as there are days in the year as many cast Pillars of Marble as there are hours in the year and as many Gates for entrance as there are months in the year Aurelius Ambrosus buryed at Stonheng Anno 500. THis ancient Monument was erected by Aurelius Surnamed Ambrosus King of the Britiains whose Nobility in the Reign of Vortiger his Countrys scourge about the year 475. by the Treachery of the Saxons on a day of parley were there slaughtered and their bodys there Interred In Memory whereof this King Aurel caused this Trophy to be set up Admirable to Posterities Both in form and quantity the matter thereof are stones in great bigness containing twenty eight foot and more in length and ten in bredth these are set in the ground by two and two and a third laid Gate-wise over-thwart fastn'd with tenons mortasses wrought in the same which seem very dangerous to all that pass there under The form is round and as it seemeth hath been circulated with three ranks of these stones Many whereof are now fallen down and the uttermost whereof containeth in compass three hundred foot by measure of assize They all are rough and of a gray colour standing within a Trench that hath been much deeper In this place this foresaid King Aurelius with two more of the Brittish Kings his Successors have been buryed with many more of their Nobility and in this place under little banks to this day are found by digging bones of Mighty men and Armour of large and ancient fashion Not far hence is seen the ruins of an old Fortress thought by some to be built there by the Romans when this Kingdom was possessed by their Emperours Bark-shire IN Reading in the Collegiate Church of the Abbey King Henry the first and Queen lay both veiled and Crowned with their Daughter Maud the Empress called the Lady of England were Interred as the private History of the place avoucheth But of far greater Magnificence and State is the Castle of Windsor A most Princely Pallace and Mansion of His Majesty In this Castle was King Edward the third born and here held at one and the same time Prisoners John King of France and David King of Scotland Neither was it ever graced with greater Majesty then by the Institution of the most Honourable Order of the Garter the invention thereof some ascribe to be from a Garter falling from his Queen or rather from Joan Countess of Salisbury a Lady of an uncomparable beauty as she danced before him whereat the by-standers smiling he gave the impress to check all evil conceits and in Golden Letters imbellished the Garter with this French Posie Honi Soit Qui Maby Pense The Princely Chappel of Windsor is graced with the bodies of Henry the 6 th and Edward the 4 th Kings of England the one of Lancaster the other of York as also King Henry the 8 th lyeth there Interred Finch-hampsted For wonder inferiour to none where as our Writers do witness that in the year a thousand one hundred a Well boiled up with streams of bloud and fifteen days together continued that Spring whose Waters made red all others where they came to the great amazement of the beholders Middlesex LOndon This City doth shew as the Cedars among the other trees being the seat of the British Kings the Chamber of the English the Model of the Land and the Mart of the World For thither are brought the silk of Asia the spices from Africa the balms from Grecia and the riches of both the Indies East and West No City standing so long in Fame nor any for Divine and Politick Government may with her be compared In King Johns time a Bridge of Stone was made over Thames upon nineteen Arches for length breadth beauty and building the like again cannot be found in the World Essex IN the year 1581. an Army of Mice so over ran the Marshes in Deugâ—y Hundred near unto South-Minster in this County that they shore the grass to the very roots and so tainted the same with their venemous teeth that a great Murrain fell upon the Cattel which grazed thereon to the great loss of their owners Suffolk RAlph Coggeshall in the Monuments of Colchester declareth that a Fish in all parts like a Man was taken near Orford and for six Months was kept in the Castle whence after he escaped went again to the Sea As strange but most true was a crop of Pease that without tillage or sowing grew in the Rocks betwixt this Orford and Aldebrough in the year 1555. when by unseasonable weather a great dearth was in the Land there in August were gathered above one hundred Quarters and in blossoming remained as many more where never grass grew or Earth ever seen but hard sollid Rocks three yards deep under the roots Hereford-shire AT Langley in this Country was buryed Richard the second that unfortunate King who in the Cell of Fryers Preachers was there first buryed but afterwards removed and enshrined at Westminster And in another Langley near the East from thence was born that Pontifical Breakspear Bishop of Rome known by the name of Hadrian the fourth and famous for his Stirrup-holding by Frederick the Emperour whose breath was lastly stopped by a fly that flew into his mouth Bedford-shire IN the year 1399. immediately before those Civil Wars broke out between the Princes of York and Lancaster The River Ouse near unto Harwood stood suddenly still and refrained to pass any further so that forward men passed three miles together on foot in the very depth of her channel and backwards the waters swelled unto a great height which was observed by the judicious to fore-tell some
or fifty Rats and other means they used to destroy them but could not prevail finding them still to increase against them and continued with them till almost to the end of Captain Tuckers time who was then Governour but towards the end of his time it pleased God by what means it is not well known to take them away insomuch that Wild Cats and many Dogs that lived on them were famished Some have attributed this destruction of them to the encrease of Wild Cats some to one thing some to another though none could positively conclude this or that It remaineth then as we know God doth sometimes effect his will without subordinate and secondary causes and sometimes against them So we need not doubt but that in the speedy increase and spreading of these Vermine as also in the preservation of so many of them by such weak means as they then enjoyed and especially in the suddain removal of this great annoyance there was joyned with and besides the ordinary and manifest means a more immediate and secret work of God In the Sommer Islands THere is the Tortoys which they call a Turckle which having some affinity and resemblance with Fishes Beasts and Fowls They are in the shape of their body like a Crab-fish and have four fins they are as great as three or four men can carry the upper part of them is covered with a great shell which they call a Galley patch weighing about half a hundred weight the Flesh that cleaveth to the inside of this being Roasted against the Fier is excellent Meat almost like the Marrow of Beef but the shell it self harder then horn she hath also a shell on her belly not so hard but being boyled it becometh soft like the sinews or gristle of Beef and good Meat These live in the Sea spending the Spring time and part of Sommer about these Islands but the residue of the year is not known where They are like to Fowl in respect of smallness and fashion of their heads and necks which are wrinckled like a Turkies but white and not so sharp Billed They also breed their young of Eggs which thâ—y lay They resemble Beasts in that their flesh is like Veal but more hard and solid and they feed always upon grass growing at the bottom of the water neither can they abide any longer under water then they hold their breath which the old ones will do long but the young ones being chased to and fro cannot continue two Minutes without coming up to breathe Shortly after their first coming in the Male and Female couple which is there called Cooting this they continue some three days together during which time they will scarce separate though a Boat come to them nor hardly when they are smitten Not long after the she Turckle comes up by night upon some sandy Bay and further up then the water useth to flow she digs a hole with her Fin in the sand some two foot deep and there coming up several nights lays her Eggs some half a bushel which are about the bigness of a Hens Egg and round as a Ball and â—â—ch time covers them with sand very curiously so that a Man shall hardly find the place These Eggs as it seems are afterwards hatched by the heat of the Sun and then by the providence of God the means as yet unknown are brought out of the Earth for they could never perceive that she returns any more to them and yet in likelihood they remain not long in the Earth after they are hatched because as is before said they cannot live without breathing Sometimes is seen the young ones no bigger then a Mans hand which some Fish will devour They grow slowly and seem to have a very long life they 'l sleep on the top of the Water and were wont to sleep often on the Land till the Country was peopled they will also live out of the Water some three weeks and that without Meat but mourn and pine away they are very witty Being on the Land turned upon their backs they can no more without some help or advantage recover themselves by which means when they come on shore to lay their Eggs they are easily taken as also they are when they are Cooting But otherwise they take them for the most part by night making a great light in a Boat to which they will sometimes swim and seldom shun so that a Man standing ready with a staffe in his hand at one end of which he hath a Socket wherein is an Iron less then a Mans finger four-square and sharp with a line fastned to it he striketh this Iron into the upper shell of the Turckle it strikes so fast that after she hath a little tyred her self by swimming to and fro she is taken by it They will live the head being cut off four and twenty hours so that if you cut the flesh with a knife or touch it it will tremble and shrink away There is no meat will keep longer either fresh or salt Out of the Description of Great Britain these Stories following are Remarkable and Pleasant BRitain seated in the Ocean hath her praises in honourable Eulogies That Britain is the Seas High Admiral and the Fortunate Island whose Air is more temperate then France whose Soil bringeth forth all Grain in abundance whose Seas produce Orient Pearl whose Fields are the seat of a Summer Queen her wildest parts free from wild Beasts and her chief City worthily named Augusta So as we may truly say with the Psalmist Our Lives are fallen in pleasant places Yea we have a fair Inheritance To the Praise of this Island are these following Verses England fierce Land Worlds Angle fertile Art Rich Isle thou needst no other Countries Mart Each other Country yet thy succour needs England Joyes Land be free and Joyous long Free Race free Grace free kind free Mind and Tongue Tet hands pass tongues for free and Glorious Deeds KENT DOver with the Castle is accounted by Mathew Paris the Monk the Lock and Key to the whole Realm of England fatal for the death of King Stephen and surrender of King John therein hapning An accident hapned in the year 1586. the fourth day of August in this County at Mottingham a Town 8 miles distant from London suddenly the ground began to sink and three great Elms thereon growing were carryed so deep into the bowels of the Earth that no part of them could any more be seen the hole left in compass fourscore yards about and a line of 50 fathams plummed into it doth find no bottom The City of Canterbury hath been honoured with the Presence and Coronations of King John and Queen Isabel his Wife with the Marriages of King Henry the third and of King Edward the first and with the Interments of Edward the Black Prince King Henry the fourth and of Queen Joan his Wife King Stephen and Maud his Queen was buryed at Feversham SUSSEX A Battel was fought
was unsightly their necks was hung with Chains and Carkaneths their Arms wreathed with many Bracelets and over their side garments the Shag Rug Mantles purfled with a deep fringe of divers colours both Sexes accounting idleness their only liberty and ease their greatest riches In Warâ— they were forward and fought with Battle-axes whose bearers were called Galloglasses the common souldier but lightly armed who served with darts and sharp skeines their Trumpet was a Bag-pipe and word for encounter Pharroh which at the first Onset with great acclamation they uttered and he that did not was taken into the Air and carryed into the Vale of Kerry where transformed as they did believe he remained until he was hunted with hounds from thence to his home For the dying and dead they hired Women to mourn who expostulated with the sick why he would die and dead at his Funeral such out-crys were made such clapping of hands such howlings and gestures that one would think their sorrows unrecoverable holding the opinion of Pythagoras for their souls departed Their Diet in necessity was slender feeding upon Water-cresses Roots Mushrooms Shamroh Butter tempered with Oatmeal Milk Whey yea and raw fish the bloud being crushed out their use was also to let their Kine bloud which standing a while and coming to Jelly with Butter they did eat as a very good dish Out of the Description of the Civil Wars fought in England Wales and Ireland FRance felt the heavy hands of Edward and Henry our English Kings when the one of them at Poictiers took Prisoners John King of France and Philip Sirnamed the hardy his son the other Henry the fifth at Azincourt in a bloudy battel took and slew four thousand Princes Nobles Knights and Esquires even all the flower of France as their own writers have declared And at Paris the Crown of France was set upon Henry the 6 th his Head homage done unto him by the French that Kingdom made subject and their Flower deluces quartered with our Lions of England An enterprize remaining fresh in Memory of Philip date King of Spain against our Dread Soveraign Queen Elizabeth in the year 1588. attempting by his invincible Navy as he thought and so termed under the Conduct of the Duke of Medina Celi which with great Pride and Cruelty was intended against us arrived on our Coasts to Englands Invasion and Subversion had yet nevertheless here in the narrow Seas the one part of his Fleet discomfited taken and drowned and the other part forced to their great shame in poor Estate to make a fearful and miserable flight about the Coast of Ireland homeward so that of 158 great ships furnished for War came to their own Coast of Spain but few and those so torn and beaten by the English Canons that it was thought they were unserviceable for ever and eleven of their Ensigns or Banners prepared for Triumph and Pride in Conquest were contrariwise to their dishonour shewed at Pauls Cross and in other places of this Realm Out of the Description of the Turkish EMPIRE WE will take notice of their Religion how it is a meer Couzenage thrust upon the filly people by the impious subtilty of one Mahomet whose story is well worth our knowledge and may cause us to commiserate the desperate Estate of those ignorant yet perverse and bloudy Antichristians His place of Birth is questioned whether he were a Cirenick an Arabian or Persian it is not yet fully decided certain enough it is he was of base Parents his Father some say a Worshipper of Devils and his Mother a faithless Jew betwixt them they sent into the World a pernicious deceiver which none but two such Religions could have made up In the year 597. when he had been for a while thus instructed by his distracted Parents poverty and hope to improve his Fortunes perswaded him from his Native soil to live for another while among true professed Christians where he received so much knowledge of the Word and light of the Gospel as to pervert it to his destruction and ruine of many Millions of souls In his first adventurous travels abroad he fell into the hands of theevish Saracens which sold him to a Jewish Merchant and he imployed him to drive his Camels through Egypt Syria Palestine and other forrain Countries where he still gathered farther instructions of that truth which he intended to abuse His wickedness first brake forth into fraud open Theft and Rapine and other sins of highest rank in which he continued and seduced others till the death of his Master and after marryed his Aged but rich Mistress He had means now to act his malicious purposes and wealth to countenance his exceeding Pride which would not be satisfied with a lower Ambition then to be called a Prophet of God This he began to practice by the Counsel of one Sergius a Monk who being cast out for Heresie from Constantinople betook himself into Arabia and joyned in with Mahomet to make up this mischief perfect see now their Juggling There wanted no craft betwixt them to make use of his worst actions to gull the simple For when by his debaucht drinking and gluttony he was fallen into an Epilepsie and in his fits lay Bear like grovelling and foaming upon the Earth as one without sense he pretended an Exta-like swoon wherein his soul was wrapped from his body in which he converst with Gabriel an Angel from Heaven To make this familiarity with God the more to be believed he had bred up a Dove to take her meat from his ear which he most blasphemously professed to be the Holy Ghost who in such times and in that shape infused the prophesies which he was to preach Lastly what they in their wicked fancies had conceived and meant to propagate they digested into a Volume and called it the Alcoran For this too they had a trick that it might seem to have been sent from Heaven into the hands of Mahomet and to this purpose he had himself fed up a tame Bull which by custom became so familliar that no sooner he heard the voice of his Master but he would straight run cast the head in his lap and use his wanton dalliance as with a Fellow Betwixt the horns of this Bull had he fastned the Alcoran and conveyed him into a by-place near where he had assembled the Multitude at a set time to expect a wonderful Miracle from Heaven that might confirm his Prophecy The Scene thus ordered on the sudden he lift up his voice and made a loud cry which no sooner the beast heard but he brake his way through the Press over-turned many of the Spectators which now stood at a gaze and gently laid his horns and book in the bosom of this false couzener which he with much ceremony and feigned Reverence received and in their presence opening the Volume began to interpret the chief of their Laws which for hereafter they were to observe Circumcision he allowed and with the