word without offence profaned The Degrees of ENGLAND AS to the division of our State it consists of a King or Monarch the Nobles Citizens Free-men which we call Yeomen and Tradesmen The KING The King stiled by our Ancestors Coning and Cyning e Either relating to cene which in Saxon signifies stout valiant c. or to cunnan which signifies to know or understand from whence a designing subtle man is called a Cunning man a name under which is coucht both power and wisdom by us contracted into King has in these Kingdoms the supreme power and a meer government nor holds he his Empire by vassalage neither does he receive Investiture from another nor own any superior Bracton l. 1. c. 8. but God And as that Oracle of Law has delivered it Every one is under him and himself under none but only God He has very many Rights of Majesty peculiar to himself which the learned in the law term The Holy of Holies and Individuals because they are inseparable but the common people The King's Prerogative and those they tell us are denoted by the flowers in the King's Crown Some of these the King enjoys by a written Law others by Right of custom which without a law is established by a tacit consent of the whole body and surely he deserves them Seneca since by his watchfulness every man's house by his labour every man's ease by his industry every one's pleasure and by his toil every one's recreation is secured to him But these things are too sublime to belong properly to my business Next the King is his eldest son and as he amongst the Romans that was designed for the Successor The Prince was first called Prince of the youth * Princeps juventutis and as flattery prevail'd afterwards Caesar Noble Caesar and the most noble Caesar so ours was by our Saxon Ancestors termed Aetheling Aetheling i.e. noble and in Latin Clyto Clyto from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 famous that age affecting the Greek tongue Upon which that saying concerning Eadgar the last heir male of the English Crown is still kept up Eadgar Eðeling Englands Searling i.e. Eadgar the noble England's darling And in the antient Latin Charters of the Kings we often read Ego E. vel AE Clyto the King's son But the name of Clyto I have observed to be given to the King's children in general After the Norman Conquest he had no standing honorary title nor any other that I know of but barely The King's Son or The King's eldest Son till Edward I. summoned to Parliament his son Edward under the title of Prince of Wales Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester to whom he granted also afterwards the Dukedom of Aquitain And this when he came to be King Edward II. summoned his son Edward to Parliament then scarce ten years old under the title of Earl of Chester and Flint But that Edward coming to the Crown created Edward his son a most accomplisht soldier Duke of Cornwal since which time the King 's eldest son f If he be eldest son but if the first dies the second is not born to the same Title See concerning this in the Notes upon Cornwall p. 15 is born Duke of Cornwall And a little after he honoured the same person with the title of Prince of Wales by a solemn Investiture The Principality of Wales was conferred upon him in these words to be held by him and his heirs Kings of England And as the heirs apparent of the Roman Empire were as I observed but just now called Caesars of the Grecian Despotae Lords those of the Kingdom of France Dauphins and of Spain Infantes so those of England have been since that time stiled Princes of Wales And that title continued till the time of Henry VIII when Wales was entirely united to the Kingdom of England But now the formerly divided Kingdoms of Britain being reduced into one under the government of the most potent King James his eldest son Henry the darling and delight of Britain is called Prince of Great Britain whom as nature has made capable of the greatest things so that God would bless him with the highest virtues and a lasting honour that his success may outdo both our hopes of him as also the atchievements and high character of his forefathers by a long and prosperous Reign is the constant and hearty prayer of all Britain Our Nobles are divided into Greater and Less The Greater Nobles we call Dukes Marquesses Earls and Barons who either enjoy these titles by an hereditary claim or have them conferred on them by the King as a reward of their merits A DUKE A Dukâ— is the next title of honour to the Prince At first this was a name of office not of honour About the time of Aelius Verus those who were appointed to guard the Frontiers were first called Dukes and this title in Constantine's time was inferiour to that of a Count. After the destruction of the Roman Empire this title still continued to be the name of an Office and those amongst us who in the Saxon times are stiled Dukes in such great numbers by the antient Charters are in the English tongue only called Ealdormen The same also who are named Dukes are likewise termed Counts for instance most people call William the Conqueror of England Duke of Normandy whereas William of Malmesbury writes him Count of Normandy However that both Duke and Count were names of Office Mar. â—â— Formaâ— is plain from the form of each's creation which we find in Marculph an antient writer The Royal clemency is particularly signalized upon this account that among all the people the good and the watchful are singled out nor is it convenient to commit the judiciary power to any one who has not first approved his loyalty and valour Since weâ—t therefore seem to have sufficiently experienced your fidelity and usefulness we commit to you the power of a Count Duke or Patriciâ—us President in that Lordship which your predecessor governed to act in and rule over it Still upon this condition that you are entirely true to our government and all the people within those limits may live under and be swayed by your government and authority and that you rule justly according to law and their own customs that you zealously protect widows and orphans that you severely punish the crimes of robbers and malefactors so that those who live regularly under your government may be cheerful and undisturbed and that whatever profit arises from such actions to the Exchequer you your self bring yearly into our coffers It began to be an honorary title under Otho the Great â—gâ—ius l. 〈◊〉 Regni â—â—lici about the year 970. For he in order to bind valiant and prudent persons more effectually to his own interest honour'd them with what he call'd Râ—gelia Royalties Those Royalties were either Dignities or Lands in Fee The
In Burgundy the use of this name is very antient for we find in Gregory of Tours Abou◠〈◊〉 year 5â— The Barons of Burgundy as well Bishops as those of the Laity The first mention of a Baron with us that I have met withal is in a Fragment of the Laws of Canutus King of England and Denmark and even in that according to different copies it is read Vironis Baronis and Thani But that the Barons are there meant is plain from the Laws of William the Conqueror amongst which are inserted those of Canutus translated into Norman where it is writ Baron Take the whole passage But let the * Hâ—â—iâ—â— or Reâ—â— Exercituals be so moderated as to be tolerable An Earl shall provide those â—hings that are fitting eight horses four saddled and four unsaddled four steel caps and four coats of mail eight javelins and as many shields four swords and two hundred maucae of gold But a King 's Viron or Baron who is next to him shall have four horses two saddled and two unsaddled two swords four javelins and as many shields one steel cap and fifty †Possiâ—â— for â—â—â—usae iâ— 30 pâ—â—â— Many Thâ—â—â—â— Englâ—â— in the Câ—queroâ— time maucae of gold In the beginning also of the Norman times the Valvasors and Thanes were reckoned in dignity next the Earls and Barons and the Greater Valvasors if we may believe those who have writ concerning Feudal-tenures were the same as Barons are now So that Baro may seem to come from that name which time has by little and little made better and smoother But even then it was not so very honourable for in those times there were some Earls who had their Barons under them and I remember I have read in the antient Constitutions of France that there were ten Barons under one Earl and as many * Câ—â—inâ—â— Chieftans under a Baron 'T is likewise certain that there are extant some Charters since the Norman Conquest wherein the Earls write thus To all my Barons as well French as English greeting c. Nay even citizens of the better rank were called Barons so in Domesday-book the citizens of Warwick are stiled Barons and the citizens of London with the Inhabitants of the Cinque Ports enjoyed the same title But a few years after as Senators of Rome were chosen by their estates so those were accounted Barons with us who held their lands by an entire Barony or 13 Knights fees and one third of a Knight's fee every fee as we have it in an antient Book being computed at twenty pounds which in all make 400 Mark For that was the value of one entire Barony and they that had lands and revenues to this value were wont to be summoned to Parliaments It seems to have been a dignity with a jurisdiction which the Court-Barons Court â—â—rons as they call them do in some measure show And the great number of Barons too would persuade us that they were Lords who could give judgment within their own jurisdiction such as those are whom the Germans call Free-heirs especially if they had their castles for then they answered to the definition of Baldus that famous Lawyer who calls him a Baron that had a †Morâ— mixtuâ—â— impeâ—â—â— mere and mixt government in some one Castle by the grant of the Prince And all they as some would have it who held Baronies seem to have claimed that honour so that some of our Lawyers think that Baron and Barony Earl and Earldom Duke and Dukedom King and Kingdom Matth. Parts pag. 1262. were as it were Conjugates 'T is certain in that age K. Henry 3d reckoned 150 Baronies in England Upon which it comes to pass that in the Charters and Histories of that age almost all Noblemen are stil'd Barons a term in those times exceeding honourable â—aâ—onage 〈◊〉 Engâ—and the Baronage of England including in a manner all the prime Orders of the Kingdom Dukes Marquisses Earls and Barons But that name has come to the greatest honour since King Henry 3d out of such a multitude of them which was seditious and turbulent summoned to Parliament by his Writs some of the best only For he the words are taken out of an Author of considerable Antiquity after those great disturbances and enormous vexations between the King himself Simon de Montefort and other Barons were laid appointed and ordained that all such Earls and Barons of the Kingdom of England to whom the King should vouchsafe to direct his Writs of summons should come to his Parliament and no others unless their Lord the King please to direct other Writs to them also But what he begun only a little before his death was strictly observed by Edward the First and his successors From that time those were only looked upon as Barons of the Kingdom â—ummons 〈◊〉 Parliaâ—ent whom the King by such Writs of summons as they term them should call to Parliament 5 And it is noted that the said prudent King Edward I. summoned always those of antient families that were most wise to his Parliaments but omitted their sons after their death If they were not answerable to their Parents in understanding Hol. until Richard the 2d the 10th of October in the eleventh year of his reign created John de Beauchamp of Holt Baron of Kederminster by the delivery of a Diploma From which time the Kings have often conferred that honour by a Diploma or rather honorary Letters and the putting on of a long robe And at this day this way of creating Barons by a Diploma and that other of Writs of summons are in use though they are greeted not under the name of Baron but of Chevalier 6 For the Common Law doth not acknowlege Baron to be a name of dignity Hol. Those that are thus created are call'd Barons of Parliament Barons of the Kingdom and Barons honorary to distinguish them from those which are commonly call'd Barons according to the ancient constitution as those of Burford and Walton and such as were Barons to the Count Palatines of Chester and of Penbroch who were feudal and Barons by tenure Those Parliamentary Barons are not like those of France and Germany call'd barely by that name but are by birth Peers Noblemen Great States and Counsellors of the Kingdom and are summon'd by the King in this form to treat of the weighty affairs of the nation and to deliver their judgment upon them They have their peculiar immunities and privileges as in criminal causes to be judged by their Peers only not to have an oath demanded of them but in such case 't is sufficient if they deliver any thing upon honour not to be called among the Jury of twelve to enquire into matters of fact not to be liable to the Writs Supplicavit Capias Essoins and a great many other privileges which I leave to the Lawyers whose proper business it is to treat of these and things of the like nature Besides
these the two Archbishops and all the Bishops of England â—â—hops â—rons are also Barons of the Kingdom or Parliamentary Barons as also were in the memory of our grandfathers several belonging to Monasteries whereof this is a List Abbots of â—bots â—rliaâ—ntary â—rons Glassenbury St. Austin's Canterbury St. Peter's Westminster St. Albans St. Edmundsbury Peterburgh St. John's of Colchester Evesham Winchelcomb Crowland Battaile Reding Abingdon Waltham S. Cross Shrewsbury Cirencester St. Peter's at Glocester Bardney S. Benedict of Hulm Thorney Ramsey Hyde Malmesbury St. Marie's at York Selbey Prior of Coventry The Order of St. John of Jerusalem commonly stil'd Master of the Knights of St. John and would be counted the first Baron of England To these as to this day to the Bishops it belong'd by right and custom in every Parliament as the Publick Records word it to be present in person as Peers of the Realm along with the rest of the Peers to consult treat order decree and define by virtue of their Baronies held of the King For King William the first as the Ecclesiasticks of that age complain'd though those of the next look'd upon it as their greatest glory put the Bishopricks and Abbies holding Baronies in Frank almoigne Matth. Paris and so free from all secular services under military service enrolling every Bishoprick and Abbey according to the number of souldiers he and his successors might demand in times of war Since that the Ecclesiastical Barons enjoy all the immunities which the other Barons of the Realm do except that they are not judged by their Peers For as they by the Canons of the Church are not to be present at sanguinary causes so in the same causes they themselves are to be judged in matters of fact by twelve Jury-men But whether this be agreeable to the strict rules of the Law let the Lawyers determine Vavasors Vavasors or Valvasors formerly took place next the Barons derived by Lawyers from Valvae folding-doors a dignity that seems to have come to us from the French Sigonius For whilst their dominion in Italy lasted they call'd those Valvasors who govern'd the common people or part of them under the Duke Marquiss Earl or Chieftain and as Butler the Lawyer words it Had a full power of punishing but not the right of fairs and markets This is a piece of honour never much in vogue among us or how much soever it was it is now long since by degrees quite disused In Chaucer's age it was not very considerable as appears from what he says of his Frankelin or free-holder A Sheriff had he been and a contour Was no where soch a worthy Vavasour The Lesser Noblemen are the Knights Esquires Lesser Noblemen Knights and those which we commonly call Gentlemen Knights call'd by our English Lawyers in Latin Milites have almost in all Nations had their name from horses Thus they are called Cavelliers by the Italians Chevalier by the French Reuter by the Germans Marchog by the Welsh all with respect to riding They are called Knights only by the English a word in the ancient English as also German tongue signifying promiscuously servant or one that does service and a young man Upon which in the old Saxon Gospels the Disciples are call'd Leornung cnyhts and in another place we read Incnyht for a Client and our Common Lawyer Bracton mentions the Radcnihtes i.e. Serving horsemen who held lands upon this condition that they should furnish their Lord with horses from whence by shortning the name as we English love contractions I was perswaded long since that Knights remains now in use with us But for what reason the Laws of our own Country Knights why call'd Milites and all the Writers since the Norman Conquest should term them in Latin Milites I do not well apprehend Not but I know that in the decline of the Roman Empire the name of Milites was transferr'd to such as were always about the King's body and had the more considerable employments in the Prince's retinue But if I know any thing of this matter the first who were call'd so among us were they that held beneficiary lands or in fee for their service in the wars For those fees were called Militarie and they that in other places are term'd Feudataries were with us stil'd Milites souldiers as the Milites or souldiers of the King of the Archbishop of Canterbury of Earl Roger of Earl Hugh c. because they had by these persons lands bestowed upon them on this condition that they should fight for them and pay them fealty and homage whereas others who served in the wars †Pro solidis Solidarii for so much in money were call'd Solidarii and Servientes However these Milites or Equites which you please are fourfold with us The most honourable are those of the Order of S. George's Garter the second the Bannerets the third of the Bath and the fourth such as we call in English simply Knights and in Latin Equites aurati or Milites without any addition Of the Knights of the Order of S. George I will speak in their proper place when I come to Windsor Of the rest in this place briefly Banerett Banerets otherwise but falsly call'd Baronets have their name from a banner for they were allowed upon the account of their military bravery to use a square banner as well as the Barons and from thence they are by some truly call'd Equites Vexillarii and by the Germans Banner-heires I cannot trace their antiquity beyond the times of Edward the third when England was at it's height for martial discipline so that till time sets this matter in a clearer light I must believe that this honorary title was then first invented as a reward to warlike courage In the publick Records of that age among the military titles of Banerets there is mention also made of Homines ad vexillum Purs 2. Pat. 15. E. 3. M. 22 23. men at the banner and of homines ad arma men attending in arms which last seem to be the same with that other And I have read a Charter of King Edward the Third's whereby he advanced John Coupland for taking David second King of Scots in a battle at Durham to the honour of a Baneret in these words Desiring so to reward the said John who took David de Bruis and cheerfully delivered him up to us and to set such a mark upon his loyalty and valour as may give others example to serve us faithfully for the future we have advanced the said John to the Quality of a Baneret and to support that title have for us and our heirs granted to the same John the sum of 500 l. yearly to him and his heirs c. Nor may it be improper to mention out of Frossardus the form by which John Chandos a celebrated souldier in his time was made Baneret When Edward Prince of Wales was ready to engage
cause probably was to improve his own mannour of Topesham to which one of the Hughs of this family perhaps the same procur'd a weekly market and a yearly fair which Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire in an out-fall with the citizens threw into the chanel of the river Isc which hinders ships from coming to the town so that all merchandize is brought thither by land from Topesham a little village three miles from the city Nor are these heaps remov'd tho' it is commanded by Act of Parliament o From these a small village hard by is call'd Weare Weare but formerly Heneaton which belong'd heretofore to Austin de Baa from whom by right of inheritance it came to John Holand Ch. 24 Eâ— who in a seal that I have seen bore a lion rampant gardant among flower de luces The government of this City is administer'd by 24. of whom u Thâ—s City was incorporated by K. John and made a County by K. Henry 8. one yearly is chosen Mayor who with four Bayliffs manages all publick affairs As for the position the old Oxford-Tables have defin'd it's longitude to be 19 degrees 11 minutes It 's latitude 50 degrees 40 minutes This City that I may not omit it has had it's Dukes For Richard 2. King of England of that name made John Holand Earl of Huntingdon and his brother by the mother's side first Duke of Exeter Dukes of Exeter Henry 4. depriv'd him of this honour and left him only the title of Earl of Huntingdon which being beheaded soon after 6 For conspiracy against the King he lost together with his life Some few years after Henry 5. supply'd this Dukedom with Thomas Beaufort Earl of Dorset descended from the house of Lancaster an accomplish'd Souldier He dying without issue John Holand the son of that John already mention'd as heir to Richard his brother that dy'd without issue and to his father was restor'd to all again having his Father's honours bestow'd upon him by the bounty of Henry 6. and left the same to his son Henry who whilst the Lancastrians stood flourish'd in great honour but after when the house of York came to the Crown his example might well shew us how unsafe it is to rely upon the smiles of fortune For this was that Henry Duke of Exeter who notwithstanding his marriage with the sister of Edward 4. was reduc'd to such misery Phil. Coâ—â—naeus câ—â— 50. that he was seen to beg his bread ragg'd and bare-footed in the Low-countries And at last after Barnet-fight where he behav'd himself stoutly against Edward 4. he never was seen more till his body was cast upon the shore of Kent as if he had been shipwrack'd Long after this Exeter had it's Marquess namely Henry Courtny descended from Catherine the Daughter of Edward 4. rais'd to that honour by Henry 8 7 And design'd heir-apparent But to this Marquess as well as to the first Duke a great fortune did but raise great storms which as presently sunk him endeavouring a change of Government For among other things because with mony and counsel he had assisted Reginald Poole that was afterwards Cardinal and had left England to intriegue with the Emperor and the Pope against his King and Country who had then withdrawn from the Romish Communion he was arraign'd found guilty and beheaded with some others But now by the bounty of K. James Thomas Cecil Lord Burghley enjoys the title of Earl of Exeter Earlâ— of Exeter a man truly good and the worthy son of a most excellent father being the eldest son of William Cecil Baron Burghley Lord Treasurer of England whose wisdom has long supported the peace of this Kingdom nn From hence to the very mouth there is nothing of antiquity besides Exminster Exminâ—â—â—â— formerly Exanminster bequeath'd by King Alfred to his younger son and Pouderham Pouderham a castle built by Isabel de Ripariis now for a long time the seat of a very noble family the Courtnies Knights who being descended from the Earls of Devonshire and related to the best families are to this day flourishing and most worthy of such noble ancestors 8 Under Pouderham Ken a pretty brook enters into Ex which riseth near Holcombe where in a park is a fair place built by Sir Thomas Denis whose family fetcheth their first off-spring and surname from the Danes and were anciently written Le Dan Denis by which name the Cornish call'd the Danes Upon the very mouth on the other side as the name it self witnesses stands Exanmouth Exanâ—â—â— known for nothing but it's bare name and the fisher-hutts there More eastward Otterey Otterey that is a river of otters or water-dogs which we call Otters as the name it self implies runs into the sea it passes by Honniton Honniâ—â—â— well known to such as travel these parts 9 And was given by Isabel heir to the Earls of Devonshire to K. Edward the first when her issue fail'd p and gives it's name to some places Of which the most remarkable above Honniton is Mohuns-ottery which belong'd formerly to the Mohuns from whom it came by marriage to the Carews below Honniton near Holdcombe where lives the family of Le Denis Knights who take their original and name from the Danes S. Mary's Ottery so call'd from the w Iâ— was suppress'd by a Parliament held at Leicester in the reign of Henry 5. College of S. Maries which John de Grandison Bishop of Exeter founded who had got the wealth of all the Clergy in his Diocese into his own hands For he had persuaded them to leave him all they had when they dy'd as intending to lay it all out in charitable uses in endowing Churches and building Hospitals and Colleges which they say he perform'd very piously From the mouth of this Ottery the shore goes on with many windings to the eastward by Budly q Sidmouth r and Seaton s formerly fine havens but now so choak'd with sand heap'd before the mouth of them by the flux and reflux of the sea that this benefit is almost quite lost Now that this Seaton is that Moridunum â—â—idunum in Antoninus which is seated between Durnovaria and Isca if the book be not faulty and is lamely call'd Ridunum in the Peutegerian Table I should conjecture both from it's distance and the signification of the name For Moridunum is the same in British that Seaton is in English namely a town upon a hill by the sea Near this stands Wiscombe â—â—omb memorable upon the account of William Baron Bonevill who liv'd there whose heir Cecil brought by marriage the titles of Lord Bonevill and Harrington with a brave estate in those parts â—his in County â—merset â—â—ster to Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset Under these the river Ax empties it self from a very small chanel 10 After it hath pass'd down by Ford where Adelize daughter to Baldewin of Okehampton founded an Abbey for
the Stoure receives a small river call'd Alen upon which stands S. Giles Winburn the dwelling-place of the honourable and ancient family of h Ashley is the name It came by descent to the present E. of Shaftsbury from Sir Anthony Ashley who was in several publick Employments in the reign of Qu. Elizabeth he having given his only daughter and heiress in marriage to Sir John Cooper of Rockbourn in Hampshire who had issue by her Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper who in the year 1661. was made a Peer by the title of Baron Ashley of Wimborne St. Giles having chosen that title pursuant to an Article in the aforesaid marriage That if Sir John Coopor or heirs should come to be honoured with the degree of Peerage they should take that for their title In the year 1672. Lord Ashley was created Earl of Shaftsbury to whom succeeded his son the present Earl with whom this Estate and Seat remains Astely Knights Ashleys Knights and Wickhampton the patrimonial estate heretofore of the Barons of Maltravers Maltravers the last of whom in the reign of Edw. 3. left two daughters only one of which was marry'd to John de Arundel the grandfather of John Earl of Arundel who left to his heirs the title of Barons of Maltravers the other was the wife of Robert le Rous and afterwards of John Keynes Knight From hence the Stoure flows on by Canford Canford below which not long since James Baron of Montjoy who particularly search'd into the nature of metals began to make Chalcanthum that is Coperas Coperas as we call it and boil alum From hence formerly John Earl of Warren forcibly as it were ravish'd and took away Alice Lacy the wife of Thomas Earl of Lancaster with much injury to his reputation and no small damage to England as appears by our Chronicles Here the river Stoure leaves Dorsetshire and running through some parts of Hantshire disembogues it self into the Ocean having first receiv'd a little river which flows to Cranborne Cranborne a town well watered where in the year of our Lord 930. Aeilward a nobleman sirnam'd Meaw from his fair complexion founded a little monastery which Robert Fitz-Haimon a Norman transferr'd to Tewkesbury leaving a Monk or two here for to him the possessions of Aeilward sell From whom by succession it came by the Clares Earls of Glocester and Burbs Earls of Ulster Viscount Cranborne to Lionel Duke of Clarence and by him to the Crown But now Robert Cecil 24 Now Earl of Salisbury is Viscount of Cranborne whom King James deservedly for his most approv'd wisdom first dignify'd with the title of Baron Cecil of Essendon and the year after with that of Viscount Cranborne 25 South from hence lyeth Woodland empark'd sometime the seat of the worshipful family of the Filioll the heirs whereof are marry'd to Edward Seymor after Duke of Somerset and Willâ—ughby of Wallaton It should be Woelaton Farls and Marquesses of Dorset The life of Osmund MS. Touching the Earls and Marquesses of this Shire William the Conquerour after he had got the Crown of England i Matth. Paris Hist Min. An. 1189. made Osmund who was Earl of Seez in Normandy Bishop of Salisbury first then Earl of Dorset and Lord Chancellour having a great opinion of his wisdom and excellent learning A long time after See the Dukes of Somerset Richard 2. in the 21 year of his reign preferr'd John de Beaufort the son of John of Gaunt and Earl of Somerset to be Marquess of Dorset from which honour he was afterwards degraded by Hen. 4. out of ill will to Richard 2. And when in full Parliament the house of Commons with whom he was much in favour did earnestly intercede that his dignity of Marquess might be restor'd him he utterly refus'd to accept it professing a great aversion to such a novel and upstart title unknown before those times and his younger brother Thomas de Beaufort was created Earl of Dorset who afterwards for his valour was by Hen. 5. made Duke of Exeter and had the County of Harcourt given him For he gallantly defended Harflew in Normandy against the French and bravely put to flight the Earl of Armeniâ—c in a pitch'd battel After his decease without issue Hen. 6. nominated Edmund of the same house of Lancaster first Earl then Marquess of Dorset and at last Duke of Somerset whose sons being all taken off in the Civil wars and the house of Lancaster as it were quite routed Edw. 4. created Thomas Grey of the family of Ruthin who was his son-in-law for the King marry'd Grey's mother Marquess of Dorset when he came to the great estate of the Bonvils in this County and those adjoyning in the right of his wife Thomas his son and Henry his grandson by the said Thomas succeeded him who was created Duke of Suffolk by Edw. 6. upon his marriage with Francis the daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and neice to King Hen. 8. by his sister He suffer'd for high-treason in Queen Mary's reign and too late experimented of what dangerous consequence it is to marry into the Royal Family and to soar too high in ambitious hopes From his time the title of Dorset was conferr'd on no one till K. James in the beginning of his reign advanc'd Thomas Sackvill Baron of Buckhurst Lord High Treasurer of England to the Earldom of Dorset for his most exact diligence and singular wisdom as an ornamental honour justly due to his true virtue and the good service he had done his country 26 Who ended his life with sudden death An. 1608. and left Robert his son his successor who deceasing within the year left the said honour again to Richard his hopeful son whom he beâ—at of the Lady Margaret Howard daughter to the late Duke of Norfolk There are in this County 248 Parishes ADDITIONS to DORSETSHIRE a THE County of Dorset as it is observ'd by our Author to be adorn'd with woods pastures and fruitful valleys so is it principally enrich'd by the sea which supplies it with great plenty of the best fish and gives it an opportunity of improving it self by trading 'T is very much for the honour of it that K. Charles 2. declar'd he never saw a finer Country either in England or out of it Lime b The Town of Lime seems to have been much improv'd since Mr. Camden's time for it is now a Burrough consisting of 16 Capital Burgesses and a Recorder whereof there is a Mayor and two Justices The Mayor is the next year after his Mayoralty a Justice of the Peace and the year following Justice and Coroner The Peer there for the nature and largeness of it hath scarce it 's like in England and requires great cost yearly to maintain it The place is so much encreas'd that whereas our Author observes it could hardly be term'd a port on any other account than as frequented by
Montacute in Domesday Montagud it salutes Montacute so call'd by the Earl of Moriton brother by the mother's side to William 1. †If Leland be Mr. Camden's authority for this he freely declares he had it only by hear-say who built a castle at the very top of the hill and a Religious house at the bottom of it because it rises by degrees into a sharp point whereas before that it was nam'd * In the Copy of Leland which I had it is Logaresburch and 't is probable Mr. Camden had it from him Logoresburg and Bischopeston Annals of Glassenbury But the castle has been quite destroy'd these many years and the stones carry'd off to build the Religious house and other things Afterwards on the very top of the hill was a Chappel made and consecrated to S. Michael the arch and roof curiously built of hard stone and the ascent to it is round the mountain up stone-stairs for near half a mile Now the Monastery and Chappel are both demolish'd and the greatest ornament it has is a delicate house which the worthy c His grandson Sir Edward Philips is still living Sir Edward Philips Knight Serjeant at Law lately built at the foot of the mountain Lords of Montacute This place gave name to the honourable family of the Montacutes descended from Drogo * Juvene the Young Of this family there were four Earls of Salisbury the last left issue one only daughter which had by Richard Nevil the famous Richard Earl of Warwick that * turbâ—â—â—â— Whirlwind of England and John Marquess of Montacute both kill'd in the battle of Barnet in the year 1472. But the title of Baron Montacute was conferr'd upon Henry Poole Son of Margaret daughter of George Duke of Clarence descended from a daughter of that Richard Nevil Earl of Warwick by King Henry 8. who presently after beheaded him Queen Mary bestow'd the title and honour of Viscount Montacute upon Anthony Brown whose grandmother was daughter of John Nevil Marquess of Montacute d It still continues in the same family and the honour is at present enjoy'd by Francis Viscount Mountague and his grandchild by a son now enjoys it 9 And here I must not forget Preston sometime the seat of John Sturton younger son to the first Lord Struton one of whose heirs was marry'd to Sidenham of Brimston thereby Next to this is Odcombe Odcomâ—â— which tho' but a very small town must not yet be omitted because it has had it's Baron Barons William de Briewer Bâ—iewâ—r for so his father was call'd as being born * In eâ—â—â— in a heath who 10 Who being taken up in the New-Forest by K. Henry the sâ—cond in a hunting journey prov'd 〈◊〉 great man having great interest at Court being also an entire Favourite of Richard 1. was respected and caressed by all and so got a very large estate 11 Marry'd Beatrix of Vannes Widow to Reginald Earl of Cornwall with which by the marriage of his daughters for his son dy'd without issue he made a great accession to the estates of the Brees Wakes Mohuns La-ferts and Pereys Below this at a little distance is Stoke under Hamden where the Gornays had their castle and built a College This family surnam'd de Gornaico and commonly Gornay was very ancient and illustrious descended from the same stock with the Warrens Earls of Surrey and the Mortimers But in the last age it was extinct and part of that estate came by the Hamptons to the Knightly family of the Newtons Newtoâ—â— who freely own themselves to be of Welsh extraction and not long ago to have been call'd Caradocks Nor must we forget to mention that Matthew Gornay was bury'd here a stout souldier in the time of Edward 3. and dy'd in the 96th year of his age after he had been dd The Inscription was in French and is set down at large by Leland where 't is express'd that he dy'd Sept. 26. An. 1406. as the Inscription witnesseth at the siege of D'algizer against the Saracens at the battles of Benamazin Sclusa Cressia Ingines Poictiers and Nazaran in Spain Next the Parret waters Martock a little market-town which formerly William of Bologne son to king Stephen gave to Faramusius of Bologne Farâ—moâ—â— of Bâ—loâ— Fieâ—es whose only daughter and heir Sibill was marry'd to Ingelram de Fienes and from them are descended the Fienes Barons of Dacre and the Barons of Say and Zele From hence the Parret cuts it's way into the north through a muddy plain by Langport a market-town pretty well frequented and by Aulre Aulre a little village of a few small hurts which yet seems once to have been a town of better note For when Alfred had so shatter'd the Danes and by a siege forc'd them to surrender that they took an Oath to depart out of his dominions with all expedition and e I think most of our Historians call it Godrun the Saxon Annals constantly mention it under that name Godrus their King as Asser tells us promis'd to embrace Christianity then Alfred in this place took him out of the sacred font of Regeneration with great pomp The Parret running from hence receives the river Thone which rising at a great distance in the western part of the County next Devonshire passes through delicate fields 12 Near Wivelscomb assign'd anciently to the Bishop of Bath to Wellington Wellinâ— which in the time of Edward the Elder was the ground of six Mansion-houses at what time he gave this along with Lediard Lediaâ—â— which was of twelve Mansion-houses to the Bishop of Shirbourn It is now a little market-town receiving it's greatest glory from an honourable Inhabitant for persons eminent for virtue and their good services to their country deserve always to be mention'd 13 Sir John Popham John Popham J. Pophâ— memorable as for the antiquity of his noble descent so for his strict justice and singular industry This man now Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench administers Justice with so much evenness and such a temper'd severity that England has for this long time been mostly indebted to him for it's domestick peace and security Going from hence with a gentle and easie course the Thone washes Thonton or Taunton 〈…〉 and gives it that name It is a neat town delicately seated and in short one of the eyes of this County Here Ina King of the West-Saxons built a castle which Desburgia his wife levell'd with the ground after she had driven Eadbricth King of the East-Saxons out of it who had got possession and us'd it as a curb to a conquer'd nation In the reign of Edward the Confessor it gelded so it is in Domesday-book for 54 hides had 63 Burgers and was held by the Bishop of Winchester whose Pleadings were here kept thrice a year Those Customs belong to Taunton Burgheriste robbers breach of the
amongst which is a pulpit of stone and a Chappel wherein they say that Jordan Companion to St. Austin the English Apostle was bury'd but 't is now a free-school This place not to mention the private houses is beautify'd on all sides with publick and stately buildings On one side with a Collegiate Church call'd Gaunts from its founder Sir Henry Gaunt Knight who quitting the affairs of this world here dedicated himself to God now by the munificence of T. Carre a wealthy citizen it is converted into a Hospital for Orphans On the other side over against it are two Churches dedicated to St. Austin the one but small and a Parish-Church the other larger and the Bishop's Cathedral adorn'd by King Henry 8. with six Prebendaries Now the greatest part of it is pull'd down and the College gate which indeed is curiously built has this Inscription REX HENRICVS II. ET DOMINVS ROBERTVS FILIVS HARDINGI FILII REGIS DACIAE HVIVS MONASTERII PRIMI FVNDATORES EXTITERVNT That is King Henry 2. and Lord Robert the son of Harding son to the King of Denmark were the first founders of this Monastery This Robert 42 Call'd by the Normans Fitz Harding Harding's son of the blood-roâ—al of Denmark was an Alderman of Bristol and was so great with King Henry 43 The second that by his favour Maurice his son marry'd the daughter of the Lord de Barkley from whence his posterity Barons of Barkley who flourish'd in great state are to this day call'd Barons of Barkley Register of the Monastery some whereof are bury'd in this Church aa From hence where the Avon runs are high rocks on both sides the river as if Nature had industriously design'd them One of these which hangs over the river on the east-side is call'd S. Vincent's and is so stock'd with Diamonds British Diamonds that one may get whole bushels of them But the great plenty lessens their true value among us for besides that by their transparency they even vie with those from the Indies they do not yield to them in any respect save hardness but their being smooth'd and fil'd by nature into six or four corners does in my mind render them more admirable bb The other rock on the western bank is likewise full of Diamonds which by a wonderful artifice of nature are contain'd in hollow reddish flints for the ground here is red as if they were big with young The Avon after it has pass'd by these rocks is at last with a full channel unloaded into the Severn-Aestuary cc It remains now that I reckon up the Earls and Dukes of this County of Somerset Earls and Dukes of Somerset The first Earl of Somerset is said to have been William de Mohun or Moion the same probably that b Vid. Hist Matth. Paris Minor Maud the Empress in her Charter whereby she created William de Mandevil Earl of Essex makes use of as a witness under the name of Comes W. de Moion i.e. Earl W. de Moion From this time there occurs no distinct mention of the Earls of Somerset unless it be in this Rescript of King Hen. 3. Patents an 1 Hen. 3. to Peter de Mawley which I will set down in order to incite others to spend their judgments upon it Know ye that we have receiv'd the homage of our belov'd Uncle William Earl of Sarum for all the lands which he holds of us especially for the County of Somerset which we have given to him with all the Appurtenances for homage and service reserving still to our selves the Royalties and therefore we command you that you grant him a full seisin of the said County with all it's Appurtenances and for the future not to intermeddle with any thing belonging to the said County c. And we charge all our Earls Barons Knights and Freetenents of the County of Somerset that they pay Fealty and Homage to the said Earl with reserve only of fidelity to the King and that for the future they be obedient and answerable to him as their Lord. Whether one may from hence conclude that he was Earl of Somerset as also of Devonshire for he writ too in the same words to Robert Courtney concerning this William I leave to the judgment of others Under this Henry 3. as we read in a Book in French belonging to the family of the Mohuns Knights 't is said that Pope Innocent on a solemn festival made Reginald Mohun Earl of Este i.e. as our Author interprets it of Somerset delivering him a golden Rose and granting an annual pension to be paid yearly at the altar of S. Paul's in London So that this man seems not so much to have been properly Earl as Apostolical Earl An Apostolical Eâ—â—â— for so such were term'd in that age who were created by the Pope as those created by the Emperour Imperial Earls having a power of licensing Notaries and Scribes making Bastards legitimate c. under some certain conditions A considerable time after John de Beaufort natural son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster by Catharine Swinford See the Earls of Dorset being with his brothers and sister made legitimate by K. Richard 2. by the assent of Parliament was advanc'd to the honour of Earl of Somerset and afterwards created Marquess of Dorset but was presently depriv'd of that honour by Henry 4. and had only the title of Somerset left him He had three sons Henry Earl of Somerset who dy'd young John created by K. Henry 5. first Duke of Somerset who had an only daughter Margaret mother to K. Henry 7. and Edmund who succeeded his brother in the Dukedom and was for some time Regent of France But being recall'd he was accus'd of having lost Normandy upon which account he suffer'd many indignities from the people and in that lamentable war between the two houses of Lancaster and York was slain in the first battle of S. Albans Henry his son succeeded him who being a time-server and one while siding with the house of York another with the house of Lancaster was by the York-party taken prisoner in the battle of Hexam and had his levity punish d with the loss of his head And his brother Edmund who succeeded him in this honour the last Duke of Somerset of this family after the defeat of the Lancastrian party at Tewksbury was dragg'd being all over blood out of the Church wherein he had taken Sanctuary and beheaded The legitimate heirs male of this family being thus extinct first Henry 7. honour'd Edmund his young son with this title who soon after dy'd and next Henry 8. his natural son Henry Fitz-Roy who dying without issue Edward 6. invested 44 Sir Edward c. Edward de Sancto Mauro commonly call'd Seimor with the same who being full of Honours and as it were loaded with Titles for he was Duke of Somerset Earl of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp Baron of S. Maur Uncle to the King Governour to
bringing about that happy change The soil for some miles about Bathe especially to the westward as at Coston and thereabouts is so very stony that when 't is newly plough'd one would rather take the ridges for so many pitch'd Causeys to walk on than for a plough'd land to sow corn in so little of earth is to be seen among those bare stones the plough-share turns up Yet here they have as good wheat as any in England tho' perhaps not altogether so much on an acre as in deeper land The Country-men attribute these large crops mostly to the stones and if those were carry'd off the earth left upon the hard rock would be so little that it would not cover their corn and so light that the wind would blow it away t Between Bathe and Bristol a little river runs into the Avon â—â—nâ— â—r MS. upon which is Stanton-drew whereof the latter part might seem to point out some relation to the old Druids but that Drew is the name of an ancient family in the western parts and the monument there call'd the Wedding would strengthen such a conjecture The occasion of the name Wedding is a tradition which passes among the common people That a Bride going to be married she and the rest of the company were chang'd into these stones They are in a circular form 5 or 6 foot high and the whole monument is bigger than Stonehenge the Diameter here being 90 paces tho' no appearance of a ditch Returning to the river Avon we come to Cainsham rather Keynesham Keynesham call'd so from the Virgin Keina of whose family the Keynes of this County some whereof are still living affirm themselves desâ—ended But whereas Mr. Camden affirms he saw a stone like a serpent brought from hence with a head it is a mistake for all our Naturalists now agree that such stones are form'd in Nautili shells and that there are no heads belonging to them Indeed many of them have rough and broken pieces of stone issuing from them beyond the moulded wreath at the broad end which may have led some to imagine that those pieces were imperfect heads but really they are not so Such kind of snake-stones of all sizes from above a foot to an inch or two diameter are found frequently in their quarries w Between this place and Bristol upon the Avon is Bristleton Bristleton abounding in the same sort of cole that are brought from New-castle From Bristleton in several places of the adjacent Country as far as Stratton and Mendippe-hills as also Northward in Glocestershire are found veins of this cole which afford a strong and cheap firing to all those parts These veins of Cole are cover'd with a shell of a black hard stony substance call'd wark which will split like blue slat but is much more brittle and not by much so hard Upon dividing this Wark there is often sound upon one of the separated surfaces the perfect shape of a fern leaf as if it had by a skilful hand been engraven which as an exact mould or case receives the protuberant figure of the like leaf standing out on the other x Next the Avon runs to Bristol Bristol eminent for it's Goutes or subterraneous vaults by reason of which they draw all things on sledges for fear the shaking of cart-wheels should loosen these arches y About the Conqueror's time they paid thirty three marks and one mark of gold to Bishop G. Who this Bishop was is not express'd in Domesday nor any more than the bare initial either of his name or See If we durst say that G. were instead of an S. for those two letters are not unlike Sherborn or Salisbury under whose jurisdiction it seems to have formerly been would solve the difficulty but if that will not do I find none of the Bishop's names about that time beginning with G. If we preserve the reading Glevum or Glocester offers it self fairest which tho' annex'd at times to Lichfield and Worcester seems notwithstanding to have had the title of a Bishop's See z As for the place's being fortified by Robert Bishop of Constance it is a mistake for Geofry as appears from Bishop Godwyn in his Catalogue of Bishops under the title Exon. And Osborn in his Chronicon Juridiciale at the year 1072. tells us that Geofrey Bishop of Constance was the Chief Justiciary of England in that notable cause between Lanfranck Archbishop of Canterbury and Odo Bishop of Bayeux 'T is possible the name of Mowbrey Earl of Northumberland who was nephew to the Bishop and his name Robert might lead our Author into an error aa The castle which our Author tells us was built here by Robert Rufus Consul of Glocester is now quite demolish'd and built into a street aaa The honour of this place has been encreas'd by giving the title of Earl to John Lord Digby of Shirburn created 20 Jac. 1. to whom succeeded in the same honour George his son and John his grandson bb Mr. Camden makes the Diamonds of S. Vincent's rock admirable for thâ—ir six corners but if we may trust our Naturalists they assure us that 't is not worthy of admiration since very often Crystals and Berills and even sometimes your common Sparrs in many parts of England as well as elsewhere are of that figure cc And thus Avon passes into the Severn-sea tho' before we leave it it may not be improper to observe that it furnishes Bristol at the vernal equinox or then abouts with a dish perhaps not to be met with elsewhere which they call Elvers Elvers Some time in the spring the river about Cainsham is yearly cover'd over and colour'd black with millions of little eels scarce so big as a goose quill tho' some would have them a particular species These with small nets they skim up in great numbers and by a particular way of ordering them make them skower off their skins Being thus stripp'd and looking very white they make them up into little Cakes which they fry and so eat Continuation of the DUKES By the attainder of Edward Duke of Somerset that title lay vacant for a long time only Sir Robert Carr Knight of the Bath was by the favour of King James 1. created Earl of Somerset who falling under disgrace upon the account of Sir Thomas Overbury's death and having only a daughter that honour was at an end Upon the restoration of King Charles 2. William Seymour Marquess of Hertford was for his eminent services restor'd to the title of Duke of Somerset and was succeeded by William grandchild by Henry his third son William and Robert the two elder brothers dying unmarry'd William dy'd unmarry'd and had for his successor John Lord Seymour his Uncle who dy'd without issue Whereupon this title was devolv'd upon Sir Francis Seymour the third son to Edward Lord Beauchamp son and heir to Edward Earl of Hertford whose posterity now enjoys it More rare Plants growing wild in Somersetshire Aria
about the year of Christ 1183. Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury by an exchange with the Bishop of Rochester got a mannour in this place wherein he began a palace for him and his successors and this by little and little was enlarg'd But when the Archbishops began to have thoughts of building a small Collegiate Church here Good God what numbers of Appeals were packt to Rome by the Monks of Canterbury and what thundrings threatnings and censures were level'd by the Pope against the Archbishops For the Monks were jealous that this might prove an encroachment upon their Privileges and deprive them of their right to elect the Archbishop Nor could these disturbances be quieted till the little Church they had began was at the instance of the Monks levell'd with the ground Near to this is the most famous mart-town of all the County call'd at this day the Burrough of Southwork in Saxon Suþƿerke Southâ— i.e. a work or building to the south situated so to the south over against London as that it seems to be a sort of suburbs to it but yet so large is it and populous that it may vie with most Cities in England being as it were a Corporation of it self Within the memory of our fathers it had it 's own Bailifs but in the reign of Edward 6. it was annext to the City of London and is at this day reckon'd a branch of it For which reason we will defer the further examination of this place till we come to London Beneath this the Thames leaves Surrey the eastbound whereof runs down in a direct line to the south almost by Lagham which in the reign of Edward 1. had it's Parlamentary Barons Barons S. John 〈◊〉 Lagâ—â—â— call d S. John de Lagham whose estate came at last to J. Leodiard by a daughter and heiress Somewhat lower almost in the very corner where it takes a view both of Sussex and Kent is Sterborrow-castle formerly the seat of the Lords de Cobham who from this place were nam'd de Sterborrow Sterborrâ— and descending from John de Cobham Lord of Cobham and Couling and the daughter of Hugh Nevil flourish'd a long time together in great splendour and reputation For Reginald in the reign of Edward 3. was made Knight of the Garter and Admiral of the Sea-coasts from the Thames mouth Westward But Thomas the last of them marrying Anne daughter to 15 Humphry Duke the Duke of Buckingham had by her one only daughter Anne marry'd to Edward Burgh descended from the Percies and Earls of Athol His son Thomas was created Baron Burgh by K. Henry 8. and left a son William father to Thomas Barons â—rough 〈◊〉 Burgh who was a great encourager of Learning Governour of Briel made by Queen Elizabeth Knight of the Garter and Lord Deputy of Ireland where he expos'd himself to death in defence of his country As to Eleanor Cobham of this family wife to Humphrey Duke of Glocester whose reputation was something tainted I refer you to the English Histories We must now reckon up the Earls Earls 〈◊〉 Surreâ— who were 〈◊〉 call'd 〈◊〉 of Wâ—â— Arms 〈◊〉 Earls 〈◊〉 Warrâ—â— William Rufus King of England first made William de Warren Governour of Surrey 16 Who had marry'd his Sister under the honorary title of Earl whose Arms were Checky Or and azure For in his Foundation-Charter of the Priory of Lewis we read thus I have given c. for the good of my master K. William who brought me over into England and for the good of my Lady Queen Mawd my wife's mother and for the good of my master K. William his son after whose coming into England I made this Charter and who created me Earl of Surrey c. To him succeeded his son 17 And marry'd the daughter of Hugh Earl of Vermandois whereupon his posterity as some suppose us'd the Arms of Vermandois His son William dying in the Holy Land about 1142. and his grandchild by a son of the same name But this last had only a daughter who brought the same title first to William King Stephen's son and afterwards to Hamelin base son of Geoffrey Plantagenet Earl of Anjou But the first husband dying without issue Hamelin had by her William Earl of Surrey whose posterity taking the name of Warrens bore the same title This William marry'd the eldest daughter and coheir of William Marshal Earl of Pembroke widow of Hugh Bigod and had by her John 18 Who slew Alan de la Zâ—rich in presence of the Judges of the Realm and John by Alice daughter of Hugh le * Earls of March in â—â—â—nce Brune sister by the mother's side to K. Henry 3. had William who dy'd before his father and had by Joanna Vere daughter of the Earl of Oxford John who was born after the death of his father and was last Earl of this family He was as I learnt from his seal Earl of Warren Surrey Strathern in Scotland Lord of Bromfeld and Yale and Count Palatine But he dying without lawful issue in the 23d of Edward 3. his sister and heiress Alice was marry'd to Edmund Earl of Arundel and by that marriage brought this honour into the family of the Arundels 19 For Richard their son who marry'd in the House of Lancaster after his father was wickedly beheaded for siding with his Sovereign King Edward 2 by the malignant envy of the Queen was both Earl of Arundel and Surrey and left both Earldoms to Richard his son who contrariwise lost his head for siding against his Sovereign K. Richard 2. But Thomas his Son to repair his Father's dishonour lost his life for his Prince and Country in France leaving his sisters his heirs for the lands not entailed who were marry'd to Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolk c. to Sir Rowland Lenthall and Sir William Beauchampe Lord of Abergavenny from which it came at last by the Mowbrays to the Howards For Thomas Mowbray marry'd the eldest sister and coheir of Thomas Fitz-Alan Earl of Arundel and Surrey In the mean time 20 After the execution of Richard Earl of Arundel Richard 2. conferr'd the title of Duke of Surrey upon Thomas Holland Earl of Kent who notwithstanding did not long enjoy that honour For secretly endeavouring to rescue the same Richard then taken prisoner and to restore him to his Crown his plot unexpectedly was discover'd and himself making his escape was seiz'd by the town of Cirencester and beheaded Next Thomas de Beaufort who was the King's Chancellor bore this honour if we may believe Thomas Walsingham For he tells us that in the year 1410. The Lord Tho. Beaufort Earl of Surrey dy'd But let Walsingham make good his assertion for there is no such thing appears in the King's Records only that Thomas de Beaufort was about that time made Chancellor 'T is evident however from the publick Records of the Kingdom that King Henry 6. in the 29th year of
his reign created John Moubray son of John Duke of Norfolk Earl of Warren and Surrey 21 And Richard second son of King Edward 4. having marry'd the heir of Mowbray receiv'd all the titles due to the Mowbrays by creation from his Father Afterward King Richard 3. having dispatched the said Richard c. and at length King Richard 3. after he had villanously got possession of the Crown in order to win the family of the Howards descended from the Mowbrays to his own party created on the same day John Baron Howard Duke of Norfolk and Thomas his son Earl of Surrey in whose posterity this honour continu'd and does still remain This County hath 140 Parish-Churches ADDITIONS to SVTH-REY THE most considerable piece of Antiquity this County affords us is the famous Roman way call'd Stone-street visible in several parts of it It goes through Darking-Church yard as they plainly find by digging the graves and between that place and Stansted it is discover'd upon the hills by making of ditches Afterwards in Okeley-parish which in winter is extreamly wet it is very plainly trac'd Had not the civil wars prevented we might before this time have had a more distinct account of it for Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey had made some attempts towards the exact discovery of its remains tracing it from Arundel through all the deep country of Sussex but the wars coming on hinder'd his further progress â—ye a To go along with our Author the river Wye which the Thames receives brings in great profits to that part of the County being made navigable by the industry among others of that worthy Knight Sir Richard Weston late of Sutton-place to whom the whole Shire is oblig'd as for this so for several other improvements particularly Clover and Saintfoine â—eford or â—dford b This river passes by Guildford famous heretofore for clothing and Clothiers which has given the Church of England since the Reformation two famous Prelates George and Robert Abbot the one Archbishop of Canterbury who founded here a very fine Hospital and lies bury'd in Trinity-Church the other that learned Bishop of Salisbury his brother They were both sons of a Clothier and had a brother Sir Maurice Abbot who was Lord Mayor of London at the same time when they were Bishops Upon which trade this observation has been made That several of the most eminent families among the Nobility in this nation have had their rise from it Here is a curious Free-school founded by King Edward 6 to which as also to Baliol-College in Oxford one Hammond was a great Benefactor This place has given the title of Countess to Elizabeth Viscountess of Keynelmeaky in Ireland and that of Earl to John Maitland Duke and Earl of Lauderdale Near Guildford upon the river Wye is the Friery the seat of Daniel Colwall Esquire adjoyning to which is a delightful Park â—ghton Something nearer the Thames is Staughton the seat of a family of that name whose Pedigree is probably as ancient as any in this County But it is now at last out of that line by the death of the late Sir Lawrence Staughton Baronet a young Gentleman of great hopes About 2 miles eastward from Guildford is Clandon-place Clandon the seat of the honourable Sir Richard Onslow Baronet descended from Onslow of Onslow-hall in Shropshire an ancient Gentleman's family Their first settlement in this County was at Knowle in Crandley thence they removed to Clandon-place being pleasantly situate on the edge of Clandon downe from whence is a goodly prospect into ten several Counties 'T is well shaded with wood and supply'd with good water and is daily improv'd by the present possessor Not far from hence is Pirford Pirford situate on the river Wye enclos'd with a pleasant Park well wooded to which belongs large Royalties Fish-ponds and a delightful Decoy now the seat of Denzell Onslow Esq the youngest son of Sir Richard Onslow late of Clandon-place c About the entring of this river into the Thames is Otelands Otelands which was as our Author observes a royal village or a retiring place for the Kings but now is so decay'd that it hardly bears the figure of a good Farmhouse being demolish'd in the late Civil Wars Not far from hence upon the Thames is Walton †Aubr MS. Walton in which Parish is a great Camp of about 12 Acres single work and oblong There is a road lies thro' it and 't is not improbable that Walton takes its name from this remarkable Vallum d Our next river is Mole at some distance from which to the south lies Okeley Okeley where is a certain custom observ'd time out of mind of planting Rose-trees upon the graves especially of the young men and maids who have lost their lovers so that this Churchyard is now full of them 'T is the more remarkable because we may observe it anciently us'd both among the Greeks and Romans who were so very religious in it that we find it often annex'd as a Codicil to their Wills as appears by an old Inscription at Ravenna and another at Milan by which they order'd Roses to be yearly strew'd and planted upon their graves Hence that of * L. 1. Eleg. 2. Propertius Et tenerâ poneret ossa rosâ And old Anacreon speaking of it says that it does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 protect the dead Upon the edge of Sussex is Okewood Okewood all that part being formerly but one continu'd wood of Oaks where stands a desolate Chapel of Ease to five large Parishes three in Surrey and two in Sussex built by one Edward de la Hale as appears by a monument of the pious Donor who dy'd 1431. and lies here buried The revenues that of right belong to it are above 200 l. per An. out of which there is not allowed above 20 Nobles to a man who now and then reads Prayers to them It is so much the more deplorable because the alienation long since appears to have been made through a mistake for 't was done in Q. Elizabeth's time by virtue of an Inquisition unjustly taken upon pretence of its being a Chantry for the maintenance of a Mass priest to pray for the soul of the Founder Whereas really it was built and endow'd for no other use but a Chapel of Ease only to instruct the people of the adjoyning Parishes at too great a distance from their own Parish-Churches Near this place are certain Pitts out of which Jett has been sometimes digg'd But to return towards the north at the head of a river which runs into the Wye near Guildford is Abinger Abinger near the Church yard whereof is a heap or mount cast up which some imagine to have been a small fortress rais'd by the Danes or Saxons But to cure that mistake it 's plain enough 't was done by neither but by the neighbouring people whom the high grounds on which they live put under a
3. had seiz'd their lands into his hands he granted the Rape of Hastings first to Peter Earl of Savoy then to Prince Edward his son and after upon his surrender to John son to the Duke of Little Britain upon certain exchanges of lands pertaining to the Honour of Richmond which Peter Earl of Savoy had made over for the use of the Prince Long time after when the Dukes of Britain had lost their lands in England for adhering to the French King King Henry 4. gave the Rape of Hastings with the mannour of Crowherst Burgwash c. to Sir John Pelham the elder upon whose loyalty wisdom and valour he much relied Furthermore as there were certain great Gentlemen in this County at the beginning of the Norman times sirnam'd de Hastings one of whom Matthew de Hastings held the mannour of Grenocle by this tenure â—â—uisitio 5. â—w 1. That he should find at this haven an Oar whenever the King would cross the seas so the noble family of the Hastings now Earls of Huntingdon enjoys this title of Hastings For King Edward 4. bestow'd it with certain Royalties upon William Hastings his Chamberlain â—illiam â—d Haâ—â—â—ngs who is commended by Cominaeus for that having receiv'd a yearly pension from Lewis xi the French King he could not by any means be perswaded to give him an acquittance under his own hand I will in no case said he that my hand be seen among the accounts of the French King's treasury But this man by falling too deep into the friendship of Kings quite overwhelmed himself For whilst he deliver'd his mind too freely in a Cabinet-Council with the Usurper Richard 3. he was unexpectedly hurried away and without trial beheaded immediately l He had notwithstanding an honourable burial in S. George's Chapel in Windsor leaving issue Edward Lord Hastings his son and heir Neither must we forget to take notice â— H. 6. â—on Hoo â—d Haâ—â—â—ngs that King Henry 6. ennobled Tho. Hoo a worthy person whom he also chose into the Order of the Garter with the Title of Baron Hoo and Hastings whose daughters and heirs were marry'd to Geoffrey Bollen from whom by the mothers side Queen Elizabeth was descended to Roger Copeley John Carew and John Devenish Thence the shore retires backwards and is hollow'd inwards being full of many windings and creeks within which stands Winchelsea Winchelsea built in the time of K. Edward 1. when a more ancient town of the same name in Saxon Wincelsea was quite swallow'd up by the raging and tempestuous Ocean in the year 1250. at which time the face of the earth both here and in the adjoyning coast of Kent was much alter'd It 's situation I will set before you in the very words of Tho. Walsingham Situate it is upon a very high hill very steep on that side which looks towards the sea or overlooks the Road where the Ships lie at Anchor Whence it is that the way leading from that port to the haven goes not streight forward lest it should by a down-right descent force those that go down to fall head-long or them that go up to creep rather on their hands than walk but lying sideways it winds with crooked turns in and out to one side and the other At first it was inclos'd with a mud after with a very strong wall but scarce began to flourish till it was sack'd by the French and Spaniards and by the sea 's shrinking back from it as it were on a sudden faded and fell to decay 28 And now only beareth the countenance of a fair town and hath under it in the level which the sea relinquished a Castle fortify'd by Henry 8. and large marshes defended from Sea-rages with works very chargeable h By which accident and the benefit of the sea it 's neighbour Rye Rye began to flourish or rather to reflourish for that it flourish'd in ancient times and that William of Ipres Earl of Kent fortify'd it Ipres Tower and the immunities and privileges that it had in common with the Cinque-Ports do sufficiently shew But either by reason of the Vicinity of Winchelsea or the sea 's recess it was inconsiderable for a long time But when Winchelsea decay'd and King Edward 3. wall'd it about it began to recover it self and within the memory of our fathers the Ocean to make a rich amends for the injury it had done swell'd with an extraordinary tempest and broke so violently in insinuating it self in form of a bay that it made a very convenient Port which another tempest likewise in our age did not a little contribute to Since which time it has greatly re-flourish'd with inhabitants buildings fishing and navigation and is now the usual passage from hence to Normandy 29 Yet now it beginneth to complain that the sea abandoneth it such is the variable and interchangeable course of that element and in part imputeth it that the river Rother is not contain'd in his Chanel and so loseth it's force to carry away the sands and beach which the sea doth inhear into the haven Notwithstanding it hath many Fishing vessels and serveth London and the Court with variety of Sea-fish But as to it's name whether it takes it from Rive a Norman word which signifies a Bank I cannot easily say Yet since in Records it is very often call'd in Latin ripa and they who bring fish from thence are termed Ripiers I encline the rather this way and should encline more if the French us'd this word for a shore as Pliny does Ripa 30 These two towns neither may it seem impertinent to note it belong'd to the Abbey of Fescampe in Normandy But when K. Henry 3. perceiv'd that Religious men intermingled secretly in matters of state he gave them in exchange for these two Chiltenham and Sclover two manours in Gloucestershire and other lands adding for the reason that the Abbots and Monks might not lawfully sight with temporal Arms against the enemies of the Crown Into this haven the river Rother or Rither hath it's influx which springing at Ritheramfeld River Rother for so the old English call'd that town which we call Rotherfeld runs by Burgwash formerly Burghersh Lords Burghersh which had Lords so sirnam'd amongst whom was that Sir Bartholomew Burgwash a mighty man in his time who being found by most solemn embassies and the wars in Aquitain to be a person of great prudence and undaunted valour was thought fit to be created a Baron of England and to be admitted into the Order of the Garter at the very first institution even amongst the Founders as also to be Constable of Dover-Castle and Warden of the Cinque-Ports And his son of the same Christian name no way degenerating from his father liv'd in a great deal of splendor and honour but left but one only daughter behind him marry'd into the family of Le Despencer descended m Call'd S. Mary's of Robertsbridge and
of the Cistercian Order That part of it which is now standing is a farm-house belonging to my Lord of Leicester from whom many noble persons still remain Echingham next adjoyning had also a Baron in the time of K. Edward 2. Baron Echingham William de Echingham whose ancestors were * Seneschalli Stewards of this Rape But the Inheritance by heirs females came to the Barons of Windsor and the Tirwhitts Then the Rother dividing his waters into 3 chanels Robertsbridge or Rotherbridge Bodiam passes under Robertsbridge where in the reign of Hen. 2. Alured de St. Martin founded a Monastery m Call'd S. Mary's of Robertbridge and of the Cistercian Order That part of it which is now standing is a farm-house belonging to my Lord of Leicester and so running by Bodiam a Castle belonging to the ancient and famous family of the Lewkneys built by the Dalegrigs here falls into the sea Now I have pass'd along the sea-coast of Sussex As for the Mediterranean parts there is nothing worth taking notice of unless I shou'd reckon up the Woods and Forests of great extent both in length and breadth the remains of the vast and famous wood Anderida Among which to begin at the west the most noted are these the Forest of Arundel S. Leonard's Forest Word Forest 31 And not far off East-Grensted anciently a parcel of the Barony of Eagle and made a Market by King Henry 7. Ashdown Forest under which lies Buckhurst Baron Backhurâ—t the seat of the ancient family of the Sackvils of which Q Elizabeth in our memory advanced Thomas Sackvil 32 Her Alley by the Bullens a Gentleman of great wisdom to be Baron of Buckhurst took him into her Privy Council elected him into the most honorable Order of the Garter and made him Lord Treasurer of England whom also of late K. James created Earl of Dorset Waterdown Forest 33 Where I saw Bridge a lodge of the Lord Abergavenny and by it craggy rocks rising up so thick as tho' sporting Nature had there purposed a sea Hereby in the very confines of Kent is Groomebridge an habitation of the Wallers whose House there was built by Charles Duke of Orleans father to K. Lâ—wis 12. of France when he being taken Prisoner in the Battel at Agincourt by Richard Waller of this place was here a long time detained Prisoner and that of Dallington the least of all Earls of Sussex See the Eâ—â—ls â—f Arundel Sussex has had 5 Earls of the family of D'Aubeney who were likewise called Earls of Arundel 34 the first of them was William D'Aubeney the son of William Butler to King Hen. 1. and Lord of Buckenham in Norfolk who gave for his Arms Gules a Lion rampant Or and was call'd sometimes Earl of Arundel and sometimes Earl of Chichester because in those places he kept his chief residence He had by Adeliza daughter of Godfrey Barbatus Duke of Lorrain and Brabant Queen Dowager to King Hen. 1. William the 2d Earl of Sussex and Arundel Father of William the 3d. Earl unto whom Mabil sister and one of the heirs of the last Ranulph Earl of Chester bore William the 4th Earl and Hugh the 5th Earl who both died issueless and also 4 Daughters married to Robert Lord of Tateshall John Fitz-Alan Roger de Somery and Robert de Mount-hault Afterwards the title of Arundel sprouted forth again as I said before in the Fitz-Alans But that of Sussex lay as it were forgotten and lost till our age which hath seen 5 Ratcliffs descended of the most noble house of the Fitz-Walters that fetch'd their original from the Clares bearing that honour viz. Robert created Earl of Sussex by K. Hen. 8. 21 Hâ—â—t who married Elizabeth daughter of Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham by whom he had Henry the 2d Earl to whom Eliz. the daughter of Tho. Howard Duke of Norfolk bore Thomas who was Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth and dy'd without issue a Heroe of very great worth and honour in whose mind were joyntly seated both the wisdom of a Statesman and the courage of a Soldier as England and Ireland had reason to acknowledge Henry his brother succeeded him after Henry Robert his only son an honourable young Gentleman who now enjoys the Earldom This County contains 312 Parishes So much for Sussex which together with Surrey was the seat of the Regni afterwards the Kingdom of the South-Saxons The kingdom of the South-Saxons called in Saxon †The true reading is Suth-seaxna ric Suþ-seaxan-ric which 31 years after the coming in of the Saxons was begun by Aella who according to Bede First amongst the Kings of the English Nation ruled all their southern Provinces which are sever'd by the River Humber and the adjacent limits The first Christian King was Edilwalch baptiz'd in the presence of Wulpher King of Mercia his Godfather who gave him in token of adoption two Provinces the Isle of Wight and the Province of the Meanvari But in the 306th year from the beginning of this Kingdom upon Aldinius the last King 's being slain by Ina it came wholly under the Dominion of the West-Saxons ADDITIONS to SVSSEX a THE County of Sussex as in the north part it still abounds with wood so as our Author observes the greatest part of it seems to have been formerly in the same condition For I can never believe but that vast Weald being 30 miles in breadth and beginning in the south part of Kent must in it's way to Hamshire take up a considerable tract of this Shire And if so we may inferr from hence this account of it that the inhabitants could be but very few and thin-plac'd for a long time Which is plain from the two * Lambard Perambulat p. 224. Somner's Forts and Forts p. 107. Kentish Antiquaries affirming that for a great while the whole Weald was scarce any thing else besides a desert and vast wilderness not planted with towns or peopl d with men but stuff'd with herds of deer and droves of hogs only Which account may be very rationally grounded upon this bottom that no part of the Weald appears by the several Grants to have been let out by the King the only Lord and Proprietor of it in Manours but in so many Dens which imply'd only a woody place yielding covert and feeding for cattel and that there is no other use of them express'd but only Pannage for hogs From which hint is gather'd the primitive state of the greatest part of this County b In after times our Author observes among other things that they deaâ—t in the Glass-trade Put that lasted not long for whether it was that it turn'd to little account or that they found themselves out-vy'd by other places there are now no Glass-houses in the whole County At present as in our Author's time they are most famous for the Iron-works which are in several places of this County some whereof have both
Fosse 〈◊〉 Out of Warwickshire it cometh down by Lemington where there seems formerly to have been a Station of the Romans from the coins which are often found and plow'd up there some of which Edward Palmer an industrious Antiquary k This place belongeth now to Sir William Juxon Baronet Nephew to Dr. Juxon Archbishop of Canterbury whose ancestors have long lived here very courteously bestow'd upon me Thence it goes by Stow on the Would by it's high situation too much exposed to the winds dd and by Northleach so called from the little rivulet that runs by it ee and thence to Cirencester Cirencester to which town the river Churn running southward amongst the hills 25 Near Corberley and very commodious for mills gave that name This was a famous city of great antiquity call'd by Ptolemy Corinium Corinium by Antonine Durocornovium i.e. the water Cornovium just 15 miles as he observeth distant from Glevum or Glocester The Britains call'd it Caer-cori and Caer-ceri the English Saxons Cyren-ceaster and at this day it is call'd Circester and Circiter The ruinated walls do plainly shew it hath been very large for they are said to have been 2 miles about That this was a considerable place the Roman coins chequer'd pavements and inscriptions in marble here dug up do evidently prove which coming into the hands of ignorant and illiterate persons have been slighted and lost to the great prejudice of Antiquity and also those Consular ways of the Romans 〈◊〉 way 〈…〉 Romans which here cross each other especially that which leadeth to Glevum or Glocester are still visible with an high ridge as far as Bird lip-hill and to a curious observer it seems to have been paved with stone ff The British Annals tell us that this City was set on fire by one Gurmundus I know not what African tyrant he making use of sparrows to effect it whence Giraldus calls it the City of Sparrows and from these memoirs Neckham writes thus Urbs vires experta tuas Gurmunde per annos Septem A city that defy'd proud Gurmund's strength For seven long years Who this Gurmund was I confess I am ignorant the inhabitants shew a mount of earth near the town which they report he cast up calling it Grismund's tower Marianus an historian of ancient credit says that Ceaulin took this city from the Britains after he had vanquish'd their forces at Deorham and reduced Glocester For a long time after it was subject to the West-Saxons for we read how Penda the Mercian was defeated by Cineglise King of the West-Saxons when he laid siege to it with a mighty army But at last it came with the whole County under the power of the Mercians and so continued till the English Monarchy under which it was grievously harrassed by the incursions of the Danes possibly by that Gurmon the Dane whom historians call Guthrus and Gurmundus gg 26 So that it may seem he was that Garmund which they so much speak of for certes when he raged about the year 879. a rabblement of Danes rousted hore one whole year Now scarce the fourth part within the walls is inhabited the rest being pasture grounds and the ruins of an Abbey first built by the Saxons as is reported and repair'd by Hen. 2. 27 For black Canons in which as I am informed many of the family of the Barons of St. Amand are interred The Castle that stood there was razed by the command of Hen. 3. in the first year of his reign The chief trade of the inhabitants is in the Woollen Manufacture and they talk much of the great bounty of Richard 1. who enriched the Abbey and as they affirm made them Lords of the seven adjacent hundreds to hold the same in Fee Farm to have tryal of Causes and to impose Fines and to have the forfeitures amercements and other profits arising thence to their own use hh Moreover King Henry 4. granted them privileges for their valiant and good service performed against Thomas Holland Earl of Kent 28 Late Duke of Surrey John Holland Earl of Huntingdon 29 Late Duke of Exeter John Montacute Earl of Salisbury Thomas de Spencer Earl of Glocester and others who being deprived of their honours conspired against him and being here secured by the townsmen some of them were instantly slain and the rest beheaded ii â—e river 〈◊〉 afterâ—rds Taâ—â—â— The river Churne having left Cyrencester about 6 miles 30 Near to Dounamveny an ancient seat of the Hungerfords joyneth with Isis for Isis commonly call'd Ouse that it might be originally of Glocestershire riseth near the south border of this County not far from Torleton a small Village hard by the famous Fosse-way This is that Isis l See this opinion confuted in the beginning of Wiltshire which afterwards joyning with Tame by adding the names together is call'd Tamisis chief of the British rivers of which we may truly say as ancient writers did of Euphrates in the East that it both plants and waters Britain the poetical description of it's spring-head or fountain taken out of the marriage of Tame and Isis I have here added which you may read or omit as you please Lanigeros quà lata greges Cotswaldia pascit Crescit in colles faciles visura Dobunos â—â—sse-â—â—y Haud procul à * Fossa longo spelunca recessu Cernitur abrupti surgente crepidine clivi Cujus inauratis resplendent limina tophis Atria tegit ebur tectumque Gagate Britanno Emicat alterno solidantur pumice postes Materiam sed vincit opus ceduntque labori Artifici tophus pumex ebur atque Gagates Pingitur hinc vitrei moderatrix Cynthia regni Passibus obliquis volventia sydera lustrans Oceano tellus conjuncta marita marito Illinc caelatur fraternaque flumina Ganges Nilus Amazonius tractusque binominis Istri Vicini Rheni sed his intermicat auro Vellere Phrixaeo dives redimitaque spicis Clara triumphatis erecta Britannia Gallis c. Undoso hic solio residet regnator aquarum Isis fluminea qui majestate verendus Caeruleo gremio resupinat prodigus urnam Intonsos crines ulvis arundine cinctus Cornua cana liquent fluitantia lumina lymphis Dispergunt lucem propexa in pectore barba Tota madet toto distillant corpore guttae Et salientis aquae prorumpunt undique venae Pisciculi liquidis penetralibus undique ludunt Plurimus cygnus niveis argenteus alis Pervolitat circum c. Where Cotswold's hillocks fam'd for weighty sheep Their eager course to the Dobunians keep Near the great Fosse a spatious plain there lies Where broken cliffs the secret top disguise Huge freestones neatly carv'd adorn the gate The porch with ivory shines the roof with jeat And rows of pumice in the posts are set But nature yields to art the workman's skill Does freestone ivory pumice jeat excell Here wandring Cynthia arbitress o' the main Guides the
and rich soil an ancient and famous Manour which is held by the most honourable tenure in this Kingdom the Lawyers call it Grand Serjeanty Grand Serjeanty by which the Lord thereof is bound upon the Coronation-day to present the first Cup to the King of England and for that time to be as it were the Royal Cup-bearer This Honour with respect to the Lordship was enjoyed towards the beginning of the Norman times by a noble family who had the name of Fitz-Tecs Fitz-Tecs from whom it came by a daughter to the Argentons Argentons These derived both their name and pedigree from David de Argenton a Norman Souldier who served in the wars under William the Conquerour in memory whereof they long time gave for their Arms Three Cups Argent in a field Gules But at length upon failure of issue male in the reign of Henry the sixth Elizabeth Argenton who was sole inheritrix brought to her husband Sir William Allington Kt. a very fair estate together with this honour from whom the seventh in the lineal descent is the present 7 Sir Giles Giles Allington a young Gentleman of an obliging and truly generous temper whose many vertues are like to add a new lustre to the ancient reputation of this family Hard by near the high-road between Stevenhaugh and Knebworth the seat of the famous family of the Littons 8 Descended from Litton in Darbyshire I saw certain hills cast up of a considerable bigness which are such as the old Romans were wont to raise for Souldiers slain in battel where the first turf was laid by the General Unless one should rather suppose them to have been placed as limits for it was an ancient custom to raise such little hills to mark out the bounds of places and underneath them to lay ashes coals lime broken potsherds c. as I will shew more at large in another place c †In the County of Northampton Lower but more to the South lyes the head of the river Lea Lea. heretofore by our Ancestors call'd Ligean which with a very gentle stream passeth first by Whethamsted a place very fruitful in wheat from whence also it took its name John of ‖ De loco frumentario Whethamsted Whethamsted there born and thence so named was by his learning a great ornament to it in the days of Henry the sixth From thence it runs by Broket-hall the seat of the Knightly-family of the Brockets and Woodhall Woodhall the seat of the Butlers who being descended from the Barons of Wem by marriage came to enjoy the estate of the Gobions Thence it comes near to Bishops-Hatfield Bishops Hatfield a town seated upon the side of a hill on the upper part whereof standeth a very fair house which now belongs to the King as it did before to the Bishops of Ely which was re-built and much beautified by John Morton Bp. of Ely For K. Edgar gave 40 hides in this place to the Church of Ely d Hence Lea passeth on to Hertford Hertford which in some copies of Bede is written Herudford in that place where he treats of a Synod there holden A. D. 670. which name some will have to signifie the Red Ford others the Ford of Harts e This town in the time of William the Conquerour as we find in Dooms-day book discharg'd it self for ten hides and there were in it 26 Burgesses 9 And at that time Ralph Limsey a noble man built here a Cell for St. Alban's Monks But in our days it is neither well peopled nor much frequented and only considerable for its antiquity for the whole County hath taken its name from it and it still continues the Shire-town It hath a Castle seated upon the river Lea which is thought to have been built by Edward the elder and enlarged first by the family of Clare to whom it belonged For Gislebert de Clare about the time of Henry the second had the title of Earl from this Herudford and Robert Fitz-walter who was of the same house of Clare when King Stephen seized into his hands all the Castles of England confidently told the King himself as we read in Matthew Paris that by ancient right the custody of that Castle belong'd to him Afterward it came to the Crown and King Edward the third granted to his son John of Gaunt then Earl of Richmond afterward Duke of Lancaster this Castle together with the Town and Honour of Hertford that there as the words run in the Grant he might keep a house suitable to his quality and have a decent habitation From hence the river Lea in a short course reacheth Ware Ware so named from a sort of damm anciently made there to stop the current commonly call'd a Weare or a Ware f This Town was from the first very prejudicial to Hertford and now by its populousness hath as it were eclips'd it For in the time of the Barons Wars with King John under the countenance and protection of it's Lord the Baron of Wake it presumed to turn the high-road thither 11 And at that time Ralph Limsey a Nobleman built here a Cell for S. Albans Monks for before that time no wagons could * Inspeximus H. 6. pass thither over the river by reason of a chain drawn cross the bridge the key whereof was always in the custody of the Bailiff of Hertford Much about the same time Gilbert Marshal Earl of Pembroke then the principal Peer of England proclaimed a Tournament at this place under the name of a Fortuny Fortunium designing thereby to affront or at least to elude the force of the King's Proclamation by which Tournaments had been prohibited This drew hither a very great concourse of Nobility and Gentry and when he came himself to make his Career his horse unfortunately broke the bridle and threw him and he was in a miserable manner trampl'd to death These Tournaments Tournaments were publick exercises of Arms practis'd by Noblemen and Gentlemen and were more than meer sports or diversions They were first instituted if we may believe Munster in the year of our Lord 934. and were always managed by their own particular laws which may be seen in the same Author A long time this practice was continued in all parts to that degree of madness and with so great a slaughter of persons of the best quality Neubrigensis l. 5. c. 4. especially here in England where it was first brought in by King Stephen that the Church was forced by several Canons expresly to forbid them Matth. Par. An. 1248. with this penalty annexed That whoever should happen therein to be slain should be denied Christian Burial And under King Henry 3. by advice of Parliament it was also enacted that the Offenders estates should be forfeited and their children be disinherited And yet in contempt of that good law this evil and pernicious custom long prevailed
Dukes of Somerset hath lately built a very noble and extraordinary pleasant Seat Within the town it self there is nothing worth seeing except a School founded there by J. Incent Dean of St. Pauls in London who was a native of this town More to the South lyeth Kings-Langley Kings-Langley heretofore a Seat of the Kings where Edmund of Langley son to Edward the third Duke of York was born and thence also named Here was a small Cell of Friers Praedicants in which that unhappy Prince Richard the second was first buried who was barbarously depriv'd both of his Kingdom and his Life but not long after his body was remov'd to Westminster and had a monument of brass bestow'd upon it to make amends for his Kingdom Just almost over-against this there lyeth also another Langley which because it did belong to the Abbots of St. Albans is call'd Abbots-Langley Abbots-Langley the place where Nicholas Breakspeare was born afterwards Pope by the name of Hadrian Pope Hadrian 4. the fourth who first preach'd the Christian faith to the people of Norway and quieted the tumults of the people of Rome at that time endeavouring to recover their ancient liberties Frederic the first Emperour of the Romans held this Pope's stirrup as he alighted from his horse and at last he lost his life by a fly that flew into his mouth and choaked him Lower I saw Watford Watford and Rickemanesworth Rickmansworth two Market-towns touching which we have no account until we find that King Offa bestowed them upon St. Alban as also he did Caishobery Caishobory that lyes next to Watford Watford At which place a house was begun by Sir Richard Morison a man of great learning and employed by Henry the 8th and Edward the 6th in several Embassies to the greatest Princes in Europe but he left it to his son 21 Sir Charles Charles to finish who made it a neat and curious Seat More toward the east the Roman military way pass'd in a direct line from London to Verulam over Hamsted-heath and so by Edgworth and Ellestre near which place at the very same distance that Antoninus in his Itinerary placeth the Sulloniacae Sulloniacae to wit twelve miles from London and nine from Verulam there remain yet some marks of an ancient station and there is much rubbish digg'd up upon a hill which is now call'd Brockley-hill o But when the Roman Empire in this land expir'd and barbarism by degrees got ground whilst the Saxon wars put all things in a perpetual hurry this great road as all other things lay quite neglected for a long time until a a little before the Norman Conquest Leofstan Abbot of St. Albans repaired and restor'd it For he as we read in his life caused the great woods all along from the edge of the †Ciltria Chiltern as far as London to be cut down especially upon the King's high-way commonly call'd Watlingstreet all high and broken grounds to be levell'd bridges to be built and the ways made even for the convenience of passengers But above 300 years ago this road was again in part deserted by reason that another road was laid open thro' Highgate and Barnet by licence from the Bishop of London Barnet begins now a-days to be an eminent market for cattel but was much more so for a great battel fought there in those furious wars between the two houses of York and Lancaster in which wars England suffer'd whatever aspiring Treachery durst attempt For at d This Gledsmore is in the County of Middlesex tho' Barnet it self be in this and the battel from it commonly call'd Barnet-field Gledsmore hard by the two parties upon an Easter-day had a sharp encounter anâ— for a long time by reason of a thick Fog fought with dubious success But at last King Edw. 4. happily gained the Victory and Richard Nevill Earl of Warwick was there slain a man whom as the smiles of Fortune had render'd strangely insolent and a particular enemy to crown'd heads so by his death he freed England from those apprehensions of continu'd civil wars they had long labour'd under p 22 Barnet hath for his neighbours Mimmes a seat of the worshipful family of the Coningsbies descended to them by Frowick from the Knolles ancient possessors thereof and North-hall where Ambrose Dudley last Earl of Warwick rais'd a stately house from the Foundations Earls of Hertford This County of Hertford had Earls that were of the family of Clare and therefore more commonly were call'd Earls of Clare from Clare their principal seat in the County of Suffolk The first that I have met with was Gilbert who writes himself Earl of Hertford as a witness to a Charter of King Stephen Likewise Roger de Clare in the Red-book in the Exchequer bears the title of Earl of Hertford in the reign of Henry 2. as also his successors See the E◠〈…〉 G◠〈…〉 and iâ— Sâ—folk whom you may see in their proper places But when this family by right of inheritance as well as by their Prince's favour came to be also Earls of Glocester they bore joyntly the two titles and were summoned to Parliament by the name of Earls of Glocester and Hertford And accordingly Richard de Clare who died An. Dom. 1262. is by Matthew of Westminster expresly called Earl of Glocester and Hertford upon the recital of this his Epitaph Hic pudor Hippoliti Paridis gena sensus Ulyssis Aeneae pietas Hectoris ira jacet Here Hector 's rage Ulysses wisdom lays Hippolitus his blush and Paris face But within the memory of our fathers K. Hen. 8. honoured 23 Sir Edward Edward de St. Maur or Seymor with the title of Earl of Hertford who was afterward created also Duke of Somerset 24 By King Edward 6. to whom succeeded in this Earldom his son of the same name a person of great honour and a true friend to learning This County hath in it 120 Parishes ADDITIONS to HERTFORDSHIRE THE County of Hertford as to Vicountile Jurisdiction both before and long after the time of Edward 3. was annex'd to Essex and one Sheriff supply'd both Counties as did also one Escheator * Nord p. 5. The Justices for the greater ease both of themselves and the common people have by consent divided the whole Shire into three parts or divisions and accordingly have three several Courts for determination of lesser matters the more considerable being referr'd to the general meeting at Hertford a Notwithstanding what our Author has affirm'd of it's corn-ground pastures and meadows those who have made particular enquiries into the affairs of this County rather refer it's flourishing condition partly to the many thorow-fares to and from London which has been the cause of the improvement of their towns and partly to the healthfulness of the air which has induc'd several of the Gentry to settle in this County and given occasion to this saying
seat of the Constables of England in the latter end of the Saxons and afterwards too as the Ely-book informs us 12 At this town the first William Mandevill Earl of Essex began a castle and two c. To the sâ—me place two very powerful Nobles when they could not keep themselves between the two extreams of base flattery and down-right obstinacy to their Prince do owe their death Thomas de Woodstock Duke of Glocester and Earl of Essex 13 Who founded here a College and John Holland Earl of Huntingdon brother by the Mother's side to King Richard 2. and once Duke of Exeter though he was afterwards depriv'd of that honour The former for his rash contumacy was hurried from hence to Calais and strangled the other was beheaded in this very place for rebeilion by command of Henry 4. So that he seems as it were to have satisfied Woodstock's ghost of whose fall he was accounted the main procurer Hence the Chelmer not far from Leez runs by a little Monastery built by the Gernons at present the seat of the Lords Rich who owe their honour to Richard Rich Bâ—â—ons â—â—ch a man of great prudence and Chancellour of England under Edward the sixth Hatfâ—â—ld-Peverel al. Peperking A little lower is seated Hatfield-Peverel call'd so from the owner of it Ranulph Peverel who had to wife one of the most celebrated beauties of the age daughter to Ingelric a noble Saxon. The Book of St. Martins in London She founded here a College now ruin'd and lyes in-tomb'd †In fenestrâ in the window of the Church whereof a little still remains By her he had William Peverel Governour of Dover-castle and 14 Sir Payne Pain Peverel L of Brun in Cambridgeshire The same woman bore to William the Conquerour whose Concubine she was William Peverel L. of Nottingham But to return to the Chelmer Next it visits Chelmerford vulgarly Chensford Chensford which by the distance from Camalodunum should be the old Canonium Canonium f This is a pretty large town seated almost in the middle of the County between two rivers which here joyn their friendly streams Chelmer from the east and another from the south of which if as some will have it the name be Can we may safely enough conclude this place to have been Canonium It was famous in the memory of our fathers for a little Monastery built by Malcolm King of Scotland At present 't is remarkable only for the Assizes which are here kept This place began to recover some repute when Maurice Bishop of London to whom it belong'd in the time of Henry 1. built here a bridge and brought the great road through this town Before it lay through Writtle Writle formerly Estre famous for the largeness of the parish which King Henry the third gave to Robert Bruce Lord of Anandale in Scotland who had married one of the daughters and heirs of John 15 Sirnamed Scot. the last Earl of Chester because he was unwilling the County of Chester should be possessed only by a couple of women But the posterity of Bruce forsaking their Allegiance Edward the second granted this place to Humfrey Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex Of late when King James at his first coming to the Crown advanced several deserving persons to the honourable degree of Barons among others he created John Petre a very eminent Knight Baron Petre of Writtle whose father 16 Sir William William Petre a man of extraordinary prudence and learning was not so famous for the great offices he had bore in the Kingdom having been of the Privy Council to Henry the eighth Edward the sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth and often Embassador to foreign States as for his liberal education and encouragement to learning at Oxford and for the relief of the poor at d This Place in the Bull of Pope Paul 4. whereby he granted the aforesaid William Petre the sale of several Monasteries belonging to Religious-houses dissolv'd by King Henry 8. is call'd Ging-Abbatissâ—e alià s Ging ad Petram vel Ingerstone And in the neighbourhood are several Villages whereof Ging or inge make part of the name as Ging-grave Menas-inge Marget-inge and Frier-inge Engerston 17 Where he lyeth buried near this place Froshwell call'd more truly Pant and afterwards Blackwater rising out of a little spring near Radwinter which belong'd to the Lords Cobham after it hath run a great way and met with nothing considerable except e Dr. Fuller is mistaken when he says it is in the gift of the Lords of the Manour of Dorewards-hall for it ever was in the Patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury as the learned Mr. Ousley inform'd me from Records and the whole Town belong'd to the Priory of Christ's-Church at Canterbury till the dissolution The relation it has to this See has made it been always fill'd with men eminent for learning and the present Incumbent Nathaniel Sterry B. D. is inferiour to none of his Predecessors Bocking a very rich Parsonage Cogshal built by King Stephen for Cluniack Monks And the habitation of ancient Knights thence sirnamed de Cogeshall from whose Heir-general married into the old family of Tirrell there branched forth a fair propagation of the Tirrels in this shire and elsewhere Then goeth on this water by Easterford some call it East-Sturford and Whittam built by Edward the elder in the year 914. which is said to have been the Honour of Eustace Earl of Bologn meets with the Chelmer which coming down with its whole stream from a pretty high hill not far from Danbury that was long the habitation of the noble family of the Darcies passeth by Woodham-Walters Woodham-Walters the ancient seat of the Lords Fitz-Walters as eminent for the nobility as the antiquity of their family Barons Fitz-Walters being descended from Robert younger son to Richard Fitz-Gislbert Earl And in the last age grafted by marriage into the family of the Ratcliffs who being advanced to the dignity of Earls of Sussex have now a noble seat not far from hence call'd New-hall New-hall This belong'd formerly to the Butlers Earls of Ormond then to 19 Sir Thomas Thomas Bollen E. of Wiltshire of whom King Henry 8 procur'd it by exchange Leland in Cygnea-Cantio and having been at a great deal of charge to enlarge it gave it the new name of Beau-lieu though this never obtain'd among the common people Now the Chelmer with the confluence of the other waters being divided by a river-Island and losing its old name for that of Blackwater or Pant salutes the old Colony of the Romans Camalodunum Câ—maloduâ—â—m which has made this shore famous call'd by Ptolemy Camudolanum by Antoninus Camulodunum and Camoludunum but that the true name is Camalodunum we have the authority of Pliny Dio and of an ancient marble to evince In the search of this City how strangely have some persons
without issue was succeeded by his brother Roger whose son Richard marry'd Amicia daughter and coheir of William Earl of Glocester and in right of her his posterity were Earls of Glocester whom you may find in their proper place But at last upon default of heir-male Leonel third son of Edw. 3. who had marry'd Elizabeth daughter and sole heir of William de Burgo Earl of Ulster by Elizabeth Clare was honour'd by his father with the new title of Duke of Clarence But he having only a daughter call'd Philippa wife of Edmund Mortimer Earl of March King Henry 4. created his younger son Thomas Duke of Clarence Dukes of Clarence who was Governour of Normandy 7 As also Lord High Steward of England and Earl of Albemarle and in the assaults of the Scots and French was slain in Anjou leaving no issue behind him A considerable time after Edward 4. conferr'd this honour upon George his brother whom after bitter quarrels and a most inveterate hatred between them he had receiv'd into favour yet for all that he at length dispatch'd him in prison ordering him to be drown'd as the report commonly goes †In dolio vini Cretici in a butt of Malmesey And thus 't is planted in the nature of man to hate those they fear and those with whom they have had quarrels for life even tho' they be brethren e From Clare the Stour runs by Long-Melford a beautiful Hospital lately built by that excellent person Sir William Cordall Knight Master of the Rolls to Sudbury Sudbury i.e. the Southern burrough which it almost encompasses The common opinion is e For Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction it has still something of preheminence the County being divided into the two Archdeaconries of Suffolk and of Sudbury that this was once the chief town of the County and that it had the name given it with respect to Norwich i.e. the northern village And indeed at this day it has no reason to give place to it's neighbours For 't is populous and thrives exceedingly by the Cloth-trade it 's chief Magistrate also is a Mayor who is annually chosen out of the seven Aldermen Not far from hence is Edwardeston Edwardeston a place of no great repute at present but had formerly Lords and inhabitants of great honour call'd de Monte Canisio and commonly Mont-chensy Barons de Montchensy Of which family Guarin marry'd the daughter and co-heir of that most powerful Earl of Pembroke William Marshal and had by her a daughter Joanna who brought to her husband William de Valentia of the family of Lusigny in France Minor Hist Matth. Par. the title of Earl of Pembroke That Guarin Mont-chensy as he had great honours so likewise had he a very plentiful fortune insomuch that in those times he was call'd the Crassus of England his Will amounting to no less than two hundred thousand marks f 8 No small wealth as the standard was then From a younger brother or cadet of this house of Montchensie issu'd by an heir-general the fâ—â—â—ly of the Waldgraves who having long flourisht in Knightly degree at Smaltbridge nearer to Stour as another family of great account in elder age 〈◊〉 Buers which was thereof sirnamed A few miles from hence the Stour is encreas'd by the little river Breton which within a small compass washes two towns of Antiquity At the head of it we see Bretenham a little inconsiderable town without almost any appearance of a City and yet that it is the Combretonium Combretonium mention'd by Antoninus in those parts is evident both from the affinity and signification of the name For as Bretenham Bretenham in English implies a town or mansion upon the Breton so does Combretonium in Welsh a valley or low place upon the Breton But this place in the Peutegerian Tables is falsly call'd Comvetronum and Ad Covecin A little way from hence to the east is seen Nettlested 9 Whence was Sir Thomas Wentworth whom King Henry 8. honour'd with the title of Baron Wentworth from whence are the Wentworths Baâ—ons Wentworth whom King Henry the eighth honour'd with the dignity of Barons and neighbour to it is Offton i.e. the town of Offa King of the Mercians where upon a chalky hill there lye the ruins of an old Castle which they tell you was built by King Offa after he had villanously cut off Ethelbert King of the East-Angles and seiz'd upon his kingdom 10 But to return to the river Breton on the banks of another brook that is joyn'd thereto stands Lancham a â—air market-town and near it the manour of Burnt-Elleie to which King Henry 3. granted a market at the request of Sir Henry Shelton Lord thereof whose pâ—sterity flourisht here for a long time Below this is Hadley in Saxon headlege famous at this day for making of woollen Cloaths but mention'd by our ancient Historians upon the account of Guthrum or Gormo the Dane's Guthrum or Gormo the Dane being buried here For when Alfred had brought him to such terms as to make him embrace Christianity and be baptiz'd he assign'd him this tract of the East-Angles that he might to use the words of my g Selden has observ'd it to be taken out of Malmesbury Not. MS. Author by a due Allegiance to the King protect those Countries he had before over-run with ravage and plunder From hence the Breton runs 11 Runs swiftly by Higham whence the family of Higham takes its name to Stour c. into the Stour whose united streams flowing not far from Bentley Bentley where the Talmaches a famous and ancient family have a long time flourisht within a few miles run near Arwerton Arwerton formerly the seat of the famous family of the Bacons 12 Who held this manour of Brome by conducting all the Footmen of Suffolk and Norfolk from St. Edmund's-dike in the wars of Wales now of the Parkers who by the father's side are descended from the Barons Morley and by the mother from the Calthrops a very eminent family Then they flow into the Ocean and the river Orwell or Gipping joyning them just at the mouth discharges it self along with them This rises about the very middle of the County out of two Springs one near Wulpett Wulpett the other at a little village call'd Gipping Wulpett is a Market-town and signifies in Latin Luporum fossa i.e. a den of Wolves if we believe Neubrigensis who has patcht up as formal a story about this place as is the * Vera narratio True Narrative of Lucian Namely how two little green boys †Ex Satyrorum genere born of Satyrs after a long tedious wandering through subterraneous Caverns from another world i.e. the Antipodes and the Land of St. Martin came up here If you would have more particulars of the story I refer you to the Author himself ‖ Omnibus rihonibus ridenda prâ—pinabit who
Morden CORITANI WE are now to visit the Coritani a People living inward from the Iceni and taking up a very large Tract of Ground in the Mediterranean parts of this Isle as far as the German Ocean viz. the Counties now commonly call'd Northamptonshire Leicestershire Rutlandshire Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire I shall forbear medling with the Etymology of their name for fear I should pretend to know what 's a downright mystery For notwithstanding they are a People scattered far and wide which the Britains express by Gur-tani yet should I assert that these Coritani took their name from thence would you not think this mere trifling Let those who are better skill'd in that sort of Learning more safely give their conjectures whilst I according to my design survey each of the Counties I now mentioned in their respective order NORTHAMPTONSHIRE THE County of Northampton in Saxon Norþ-afendon-scyre and a See the Additions to Hamshire under the title Southampton Northantonshire commonly Northamptonshire is situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England and from the South-west-side where it is broadest contracting it self by degrees runs out in length to the North-east On the East lye the Counties of Bedford and Huntingdon on the South those of Buckingham and Oxford Westward Warwick and Northward those of Leicester Rutland and Lincoln separated by the rivers Avon the less and the Welland Watling-street one of the Roman high-ways runs along the East-side from the Ouse to Dowbridge the Nen call'd also by Historians Aufona gently cuts through the middle and east parts It is a Champain Country very populous and every where adorn'd with Noblemen and Gentlemen's houses very full of Towns and Churches insomuch that in some places there are 20 in others 30 Spires or Steeples more or less in view at a time It s soil both for tillage and pasturage exceeding fertile but not well stock'd with wood unless at the hither and further end But every where as in other Provinces of England full and as it were over-run with sheep Shâ—ep which as that Hythodaeus said us'd to be so gentle â—iâ— Tâ—â— M. â—s Uâ—â—â—â— and fed with so little but now as 't is reported begin to be so ravenous and wild that they devour men waste and depopulate fields houses and towns a On the South border where the river Ouse so often mention'd has its spring on a gently rising ground full of bubbling fountains stands Brackley â—â—â—â—klâ—y that is a place full of brake or fern anciently a famous staple for Wooll but which now only boasts how great and wealthy it once was by its ruins and by a Mayor it retains for its chief Magistrate The Zouches Lords of the place founded a College there from them it came successively by right of marriage to the Hollands and the Lovels But upon the attainder of Lovel in King Henry the seventh's time the Stanleys by the King's grant became Lords of it But the College ruinous now belongs to Magdalen College in Oxford who keep it for a retiring place Nor was this town a little famous in former ages for the memory of Rumbald a young infant who as we read in his life was a King's son and as soon as he was born after he had spoken I know not what holy words had profess'd himself a Christian and had been immediately baptiz'd expir'd 1 And being canoniz'd by the people amongst the Saints had his commemoration kept both here and at Buckingham From hence northward after I had gone six miles through woods and groves first I saw Astwell where T. Billing formerly Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench dwelt in great repute from whom it descended hereditarily to the ancient family of the Lovels Then Wedon and Wapiham which the family of the Pinkneys held by Barony The Barony 〈◊〉 â—he Pinkâ—â—ys till such time as H. de Pinkney made King Edward the first his heir Who being an excellent Prince many ill men made him their heirs whereas according to Tacitus a good father makes no Prince but a bad one his heir From hence I presently came to Tripontium Tripontium which Antonine takes notice of but not in its right place For I am of opinion this was that very place we now call Torcester nor are there good Arguments wanting to prove this If Trimontium in Thrace had that name of three Hills Triturrita in Tuscany of three Towers and Tripolis of three Cities there is no room to doubt but that this Tripontium of ours was so nam'd of three Bridges And here at this Torcester the Roman Praetorian or Military-way which very plainly appears in several places between this and Stony-Stratford is cut in two by three principal chanels that the little river divides it self into which as well anciently as now must have had of necessity three several Bridges over them Now if you ask a Britain how he calls Three Bridges in British he will presently answer you Tair ponte and certain persons of good credit from whom I receiv'd some Roman coins here positively affirm that Torcester is its true name Some will have the River's name Toue that runs by it and think it was so call'd of Towers Nevertheless Marianus calls it Touecester if the Book be not faulty in whom we read that this town was so fortified in the year of our Lord 917. that the Danes were by no means able to take it and that King Edward the Elder afterwards encompass'd it with a Stone-wall yet with all my search I could find no signs of any such Wall Only there is a Mount still remaining cast up in ancient times they call it Berihill now taken up in private Gardens and planted on every side with Cherry Trees And time it self has so ruin'd the town that it is beholden to the situation the name and the ancient Coins ever now and then found here for its reputation of antiquity For it has nothing worth taking notice of but one only Church large and fair in which D. Sponte formerly Rector thereof by report a good Benefactor both to Church and Town lies enterr'd in a Tomb of excellent workmanship But at Elton hard by you have a prospect of a fine house belonging to the family of the Farmers Knights The river that waters Torcester in its course from hence towards the Ouse runs by Grafton Grafton now an Honour of the King 's but formerly a seat of the family of Widdevil Widdevil or Wodâ—il out of which came Richard a person much renowned for his virtue and valour who was fined 1000 l. of our money by King Henry the sixth for marrying Jaquet Dowager of John Duke of Bedford and daughter of Peter of Luxenburgh Earl of St. Paul without leave of the King Yet afterwards he advanced the same person to the Honour of Baron Widdevil of Rivers Parl. 27 H. 6. With Elizabeth this Lord's daughter King Edward the fourth privately
I always thought came from the ancient Castilion family of the Earls of St. Paul â— Paul in France but the Coat of Arms of Luxemburgh that they bear is a sign that they came out of France since that Castilion family of St. Paul was by marriage ingrafted into that of Luxemburgh which was about two hundred years ago Above this the Trent the Idell and the Dan as they play along in their several streams thus Frontinus expresses it make a river Island Axelholme in Saxon Eaxelholme which is part of Lincolnshire in length from south to north 10 miles â—â—sholm but not past half so broad The lower part near the rivers is marshy and produces an odoriferous shrub call'd Gall 22 It yieldeth also Pets in the mores and dead roots of fir-wood which in burning give a rank sweet savour There also have been found great and long fir-trees while they digg'd for Pet both within the isle and also without at Laughton upon Trent bank the old habitation of the family of Dalanson now contractly call'd Dalison The middle has a small ascent and is both rich and fruitful yielding flax in great abundance and also Alabaster 〈◊〉 which being not very solid is more proper for lime and plaisterwork than for other uses â—â—â—aster The chief town was formerly call'd Axel now Axey from whence by adding the Saxon word Holme which among them signified a river-island the name without question was compounded It hardly deserves to be call'd a town 't is so thinly inhabited nevertheless there is to be seen a platform of a castle that was demolish'd in the Barons war and belonged to the Mowbrays who at that time had a great part of the island in their possession In the year 1173. Roger de Mowbray as the Author of an old Chronicle has it forsaking his allegiance to the Hâ—â—ry ◠〈◊〉 reâ—â— to his 〈◊〉 be â—â—gâ—r Elder King repair'd a Castle formerly demolish'd in the Isle Axelholme near Kinard ferry which Castle a great number of Lincolnshire-men passing over in boats besieged and compell'd the Constable and all the soldiers to surrender and laid it level with the ground A little higher lies Botterwic the owner whereof 23 Sir Edmund Sheffeld Edmund Sheffeld was the first Baron of that family created by Edward the sixth and lost his life for his Country against the Norfolk rebels having by Anne Vere a daughter of the Earl of Oxford John the second Baron father to Edmund who is now Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter 24 President of the Council establish'd in the north More northward on the other side of Trent is Burton Stather of which I have not as yet read any thing remarkable Since Egga who liv'd in the year 710 and Morcar both Saxons that were only Officiary Earls this County has given the title of Earl to William de Romara a Norman Earls of Lincoln after whose death for this title was never enjoy'd by his son who died before him nor by his grandson King Stephen conferr'd it on Gilbert de Gaunt who succeeded him but he dying Simon de St. Licius the younger son of Earl Simon you have the very words of Robert Montensis who lived about that time when he wanted lands 2 Hen. 2. receiv'd from King Henry 2. his only daughter to wife together with his honour Afterwards Lewis of France who was call'd into England by the rebellious Barons created another Gilbert of the de Gaunts family Earl of Lincoln but as soon as Lewis was forc'd away and he found himself acknowledg'd Earl by no man he quitted the title of his own accord Then Ralph the sixth Earl of Chester had this honour granted him by King Henry 3. and a little before his death gave by Charter to Hawise his sister wife of Robert de Quincy the Earldom of Lincoln so far forth as it appertain'd to him that she might be Countess thereof for so are the veâ—y words of the Charter She in like manner bestow'd it on John de Lacy Constable of Chester and the heirs he should beget on Margaret her daughter This John begat Edmund who dying before his mother left this honour to be enjoy'd by Henry his son the last Earl of this family For when he lost his sons by untimely deaths he contracted his only daughter Alice when but nine years old to Edmund Earl of Lancaster on condition that if he should dye without issue of his body or if they should dye without heirs of their bodies his Castles Lordships L iger-bâ—ok of Stanlow c. should come in the remainder to Edmund Earl of Lancaster and his heirs for ever But this Alice having no children by her husband Thomas who was beheaded lost her reputation by her light behaviour for that she without the K.'s consent was married to 25 Sir Eubul Eubulo Le-Strange Edw. 2. with whom she had been formerly somewhat too intimate for which reason the offended King seiz'd her estate 26 Yet both Sir Eubul Strange and Sir Hugh Frene her third husband are in some Records nam'd Earls of Lincoln But Alice being very old and dying without issue Henry Earl of Lancaster grandchild to Edmund by his second son had this her large patrimony by virtue of the aforesaid conveyance and from this time it became the inheritance of the house of Lancaster Nevertheless the Kings of England have conferr'd on several the title of Earl of Lincoln as Edward 4. on 27 Sir John John De-la-pole and Henry 8. on Henry Brandon who were both sons of the Dukes of Suffolk and died without issue Then Qu. Eliz. promoted to this honour See Dukes of Suffolk Edward Baron Clinton Lord High Admiral of England by whose very honourable son Henry 't is at present enjoy'd There are in this County about 630 Parishes ADDITIONS to LINCOLNSHIRE a THE corner of this County where Mr. Camden begins his survey seems formerly to have been a very inconsiderable or rather no part of it For as he observes from the banks there that the sea must once have come something farther so Mr. Dugdale putting Holland in the same number with Marshland in Norfolk and some other maritime places plainly proves that they have been long ago by great industry gain'd from the sea and were for many ages nothing but a vast and deep fen affording little benefit to the nation besides fish or fowl b As to the original of the name I shall not make the least scruple to joyn this and Holland â—â—lland in the Netherlands together agreeing so exactly in their situation soil and most other circumstances setting aside the difference of improvements which no doubt are much more considerable in one than the other but are nothing to our purpose so long as the primitive state of both was much the same Mr. Butler's conjecture drawn from the Saxon holt a wood and Ingulphus's Hoilandia which has given
of the Graves of the great family of Mansfield in Germany who assert the Antiquity of the family of Mansfeld in Germany and that the first Earl of Mansfeld was at the Celebration of the round Table with our Arthur and that he was born here Our Kings were formerly wont to retire hither for the sake of hunting and that you may have it in the very words of an old Inquisition Henry Fauconberge held the manour of Cukeney in this County by Serjeanty for shooing the King's horse when he came to Mansfeld 9 And the hereditary Foresters or Keepers of this Forest of Shirewood were men in their times of high estimation viz. Sir Gerard de Normanvile in the time of the Conquest the Cauzes and Birkins by whose heir it came to the Everinghams Of which family Sir Adam Everingham was summon'd to Parliaments in the reigns of King Edw. 2. and King Edw. 3. At which time they were seated at Laxton anciently call'd Lexinton where also fleurish'd a great family so sirnam'd whose heirs were marry'd into the houses of Sutton of Averham and Markham Many small rivers spring out of this wood and run towards the Trent the chief of them is Idle â—dle upon which near Idleton in the year 616 the great success and fortune of Ethered a most potent King of the Northumbrians stopp'd and fail'd him For whereas he had formerly always fought with great success here his fortune vary'd and he was cut off being defeated by Redwald King of the East Angles who set Edwin excluded then and depriv'd of the throne of his Ancestors over Northumberland The course of this little river lyes at no great distance from Markham â—â—rkham a small village but yet it has given name to the Markhams a family very famous heretofore both for antiquity and virtue 10 Being descended from one of the heirs of Cressy and formerly from an heir of Lexinton as I lately shew'd the greatest ornament of which was J. Markham who was Lord Chief Justice of England and temper'd his Judgments with so much equity as you may read in the Histories of England that the glory of him will never perish in after ages i He dy'd as appears from an inscription in Markham-Church of S. Silvester's day An. D. 1409. Six miles from hence to the westward stands Workensop â—â— kensop known for its great produce of liquorice â—â—qâ—orice and famous for the Earl of Shrewsbury's house there built in this age by George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury with magnificence becoming the state of so great an Earl and yet not to contract envy To the Talbots it came with a great inheritance from the Lovetofts first Lords of it in the Norman times by the Furnivals and Nevils Of these Lovetofts G. Lovetoft in Henry the first 's time built a Monastery here the ruins of which are still to be seen among very pleasant meadows on the East-side of the town but the West-part of the Church is yet remaining with two towers very fair and beautiful i A little higher upon the same river I saw Blithe â—â—â—the a noted market-town which was fortify'd with a castle as I was inform'd by Bulley or Busly a Nobleman of Norman extract but at this day hardly the ruins of it are visible so destructive is age to every thing But the little Monastery there was built by Roger Busly and Foulk de Lisieurs and this is almost the last town of Nottinghamshire to the Northward unless it be Scroby â—â—roby a little town belonging to the Arch-Bishop of York seated in the very edge of it William sirnam'd the Conquerour Lords and Earls of Nottingham Lib. M. Linton Matth. Paris p. 126. See the Earls of Derby Matth. Paris p. 204. Hoveden p. 373. b. Inq. 6 Ric. 2. made his natural son William Peverell ruler of this County not by the title of Earl but Lord of Nottingham who had a son that dy'd during the life of his father and he likewise a son of the same name depriv'd of his estate by Henry the second for preparing a dose of poyson for Ranulph Earl of Chester About the same time Robert de Ferrariis who plunder'd Nottingham us'd this title in the gift he made to the Church of Tuttesbury Robert the younger Earl of Nottingham But afterwards King Richard the first gave and confirm'd to his brother John the County and Castle of Nottingham with the whole Honour of Peverell Long after that Richard the second honour'd John de Mowbray with this title who dying young and without issue his brother Thomas succeeded him who by Richard the second was created Earl Marshal and Duke of Norfolk and being banish't immediately after he begat Thomas Earl Marshal beheaded by Henry the fourth and John Mowbray who as also his son and grandson was Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Nottingham But the issue male of this family failing and Richard the infant-son of Edward the fourth Duke of York having enjoy'd this title among others 11 By his wife the heir of the Mowbraies for a small time Richard the third honour'd William Marquess of Barkley and Henry the eighth grac'd Henry Fitz-Roy his natural son 12 When he created him Duke of Richmond who both dy'd without issue with this title of Earl of Nottingham And lately in 1597. Queen Elizabeth solemnly invested Charles Howard High Admiral of England who is descended from the Mowbrays with this honour for his service as the Charter of his creation has it so stoutly and faithfully perform'd by Sea against the Spaniard in the year 1588. and his taking of Cadiz in the year 1596. he then commanding by Sea as the Earl of Essex did by Land There are 168 Parish-Churches in this County ADDITIONS to NOTTINGHAMSHIRE THE Antiquities of this County were publish'd An. 1677. by Robert Thoroton Doctor of Physick a native of it with great accuracy and exactness But keeping close to the descent of families and possessions of estates in which he has shown a great curiosity Mr. Camden and he have carry'd on two very different designs Had he given himself the liberty of making digressions upon British Roman and Saxon Antiquities as Mr. Burton in his history of Leicestershire has done his curiosity must needs have discover'd a great many things of that nature which might have been of considerable use towards the improvement of Camden Since then he has confin'd himself to the business of possessions for those matters I refer the Reader thither where he may have ample satisfaction and will go along with our Author in that part of Antiquity which he has principally touch'd upon a Going out of Leicestershire the Foss-way Foss-way which is the best if not the only direction for what we principally look after leads us into the South-part of this County and carrys us along the East of it into Lincolnshire And because Mr. Camden has taken no notice of it the best service that
accounts of his Steward The Castle in the late Civil wars was demolish'd by those that had purchas'd it of the Parliament with design to make money of the materials q In the utmost Northern bound is Sutton-Colefield 〈◊〉 â—olefield where the Earls of Warwick had a Chase of great extent The market is now almost wholly disused and the Bishop of Exeter mention'd by our Author liv'd and dy'd here in the 103. year of his age r Next is Coleshill â—olâ—shill where in an old foundation was lately dug up a Roman copper Coin of Trajan's and not far from it Blith â—â—â—h memorable for nothing but that it was purchas'd by Sir William Dugdale and was his place of residence when he compil'd that accurate and elaborate work his Antiquities of this County s We come next to Coventry Coventry the walls and towers whereof were demolish'd at the Restoration by command of King Charles 2. the gates only left standing by which one may guess at the strength and beauty of the former Edward 4. for their disloyalty took the Sword from the Mayor and seiz'd their Liberties and Franchises which they redeem'd for 500 marks In memory of Leofric who dy'd 13 of Edward the Confessor and Godiva his Countess their pictures were set up in the windows Trinity Church with this Inscription I Lurick for the love of thee Do set Coventry toll-free And a Procession or Cavilcade is still yearly made in memory of Godiva with a naked figure representing her riding on horse-back through the City They have a stately Cross built 33 Hen. 8. by Sir William Hollies sometime Lord Mayor of London for workmanship and beauty inferiour to few in England The City among other things is famous for the two Parliaments held in it the former in the 6 Hen. 4. call'd from the exclusion of the Lawyers Parliamentum indoctorum the latter in the 38 Hen. 6. from the Attainder of Richard Duke of York the Earls of Salisbury Warwick and March call'd by some Parliamentum Diabolicum Since our Author's time it hath afforded the title of Earl to George Villiers created Earl of Coventry and Duke of Buckingham 18. May 21 Jac. 1. in which honours he was succeeded by his son of the same name t From Coventry let us pass to Brinklow Brinklow famous for an ancient castle †Dugd. War p. 147 It is in all probability older than the Norman Conquest otherwise our publick Records or some other Authorities would certainly have taken notice of it If we should carry it back to the times of the Romans there are several circumstances which seem to justifie such a conjecture As the Saxons very often applying their HleaÆ¿ from whence our low comes to such places as were remarkable for the Roman Tumuli that there is an eminent tumulus upon which the Keep or Watch-tower of the castle did stand that it lies upon the Roman Fosse and is at a convenient distance from the Bennones u Passing hence northward to the river Anker on the western bank thereof we find Manceter Manceter confirm'd to be the ancient Manduessedum by divers coyns of silver and brass which have been by digging and plowing frequently brought to light w In the same Parish is Oldbury Oldbury a place of great antiquity as appears by a Quadrangular Fort containing seven acres of ground In the North-part of it there have been found several flint-stones about four inches in length curiously wrought by grinding or some such way The one end is shap'd like the edge of a Pole-ax and by Sir William Dugdale they are thought to have been weapons us'd by the Britains before the art of making arms of brass and iron They must have been brought hither for some extraordinary use because there are no flints to be found within 40 miles of the place One of them is now to be seen in Ashmole's Musaeum at Oxford x On the other side of the river northward Pollesworth lies Pollesworth where Sir Francis Nethersole a Kentish Gentleman and sometime publick Orator to the University of Cambridge at the instance of his Lady built a Free-school on the front whereof is this Inscription Soli Deo Gloria Schola pauperum Puerorum Puellarum He enseoft six Gentlemen and seven Divines in as much as amounted to 140 l. per annum at the least for a liberal maintenance of a School-master and School-mistress to teach the children of the Parish And what remain'd was to be employ'd in charitable uses such as he in his life time should think fit and in default of his own actually disposing of it left it to the discretion of his Trustees He likewise he built a fair house for the Vicar of Pollesworth y Farther North is Seckinton Seckinton which as it is memorable for the battel between Aethelbald and Beornred so I may further add that it took its name from that engagement secce in Saxon signifying battel and dun which afterwards was chang'd into ton a hill Scarce a furlâ—ng north of the Church is a notable fort and near it an artificial hill of 43 foot high Continuation of the EARLS Ambrose Dudley the last Earl dying in the year 1589. Robert Lord Rich of Leeze was created Earl of Warwick 16 Jac. 1. and soon after dying was succeeded by his son and grandson both Roberts Charles brother to the latter was next Earl who dying 24 Aug. 1673. left the honour to Robert Rich Earl of Holland his Cousin-german Which Robert was succeeded in both the honours by Edward his son and heir More rare Plants growing wild in Warwickshire Though I have lived some years in this County yet have I met with no peculiar local plants growing therein the more rare and uncommon are Cyperus gramineus miliaceus Ger. Millet-Cyperus-grasse mentioned in Essex Frequent by the river Tames-sides near Tamworth and elsewhere Cyperus longus inodorus sylvestris Ger. Gramen cyperoides altissimum foliis carina serratis P. Boccone Long-rooted bastard Cyperus In boggy places by the river Tame at Dorsthill near Tamworth Equisetum nudum Ger. junceum seu nudum Park foliis nudum non ramosum s junceum C. B. Naked Horse-tail or Shave-grass This species is more rare in England We found it in a moist ditch at Middleton towards Drayton It is brought over to us from beyond Sea and employ'd by artificers for polishing of vessels handles of tools and other utensils it is so hard that it will touch iron it self I am informed by my honoured Friend Mr. John Awbrey that it is to be found in a rivulet near Broad-stitch Abbey in Wiltshire plentifully That sort which grows common with us is softer and will not shave or polish wood much less iron Juncus laevis minor panicula glomerata nigricante call'd by those of Montpellier with whom also it is found Juncus semine Lithospermi Black-headed Rush with Gromil-seed In the same places with the Cyperus longus inodorus Gramen
illustration of Roman Authors as well as their Coyns Statues Altars c. That whereof I have given a figure represents to us first as an emblem of Piety the celebrated history of the woman at Rome who being deny'd the liberty of relieving her father in prison with any food yet obtaining free access to him fed him with the milk of her own breasts I am sensible that in Pliny ‖ Hist Nat. l. 7. c. 36. and most printed copies of such Authors as mention this history we are inform'd she exercis'd this piety to her mother but this figure though it be somewhat obscure seems to represent a bearded man however whether I mistake the figure or whether we may read with Festus Patre not matre carcere incluso or rather suppose the tradition erroneous in some provinces at least amongst the vulgar Romans that the same history was hereby intended is sufficiently evident In the second place we find an Auspex or Soothsayer looking upwards to observe the motion of a bird or rather perhaps a Cupid according to the Potter's fancy performing the office of a Soothsayer And in the third a woman sacrificing with Vervain and Frankincense for I am satisfied that the plant on the altar is no other than Vervein and that the Woman reaching her hand towards the Altar is casting Frankincense on the Vervein seems very probable for we find that Women a little before their time of lying in sacrificed to Lucina with Vervein and Frankincense Thus the Harlot Phronesium in Plautus Trucul Act 2. Scen. 5. pretending she was to lye in bidâ— her maids provide her Sweet-meats Oyl of Cinnamon Myrrhe and Vervein Date mihi huc stactam atque ignem in aram ut Venerem Lucinam meam Hic apponite atque abite ab oculis Ubi es Astaphium fer huc verbenam mihi thus bellaria We may also collect out of Virgil * Eâ—â—â— l. ver 6. that women sacrific'd with Vervein and Frankincense upon other occasions Effer aquam molli cinge haec altaria vitta Verbenasque adole pingues mascula thura Conjugis ut magicis sanos avertere sacris Experiar sensus As for the naked person on the other side the Altar I shall not pretend to determine whether it be her husband or who else is intended thereby In regard we find the other figures repeated alternately I suppose there were no other delineations on the whole vessel than what this piece included within the crack which is all I have of it represents By the figures on this vessel we might conjecture it was a bowl used in those Feasts they call'd Matronalia observ'd on the Kalends of March when the married women sacrificed to Juno for their happy delivery in childbirths the preservation of their husbands and the continuance of their mutual affections And from its form I should guess it was that sort of vessel they call'd Phiala because in Welsh the only name we have for such vessels is Phîol which is doubtless of the same origin with the Greek and Latin Phiala and is very probably one of those many words left amongst us by the Romans which we may presume to be still preserv'd in the sense they us'd them I shall only mention two other curiosities found here and detain the Reader no longer in this County the first is a Ram's horn of brass much of the bigness and form of a lesser Ram's horn broken off at the root as if it had been formerly united to a brass head One of these heads and horns though somewhat different from ours may be seen in Lodovico Moscardo's Musaeum pag. 83. who supposes such heads of Rams and Oxen to have serv'd at once both as ornaments in their Temples and also religious types of sacrifice The other is a very elegant and an entire Fibula vestiaria whereof because it would be difficult to give an intelligible description of it ‖ See at tâ— end of Waâ—â—â— I have given 2 figures one being not sufficient to express it It is of brass and is curiously chequer'd on the back part with enamel of red and blue It should seem that when they used it the ring at the upper end was drawn down over the acus or pin and that a thread or small string tied through the ring and about the notches at bottom secured the Acus in its proper place Such a Fibula in all respects but that it is somewhat less was found An 1691. near King's Cotte in Glocestershire where they also frequently meet with Roman brass coyns which they call Chesle-money a name probably of the same signification with Castle or Chester-money They that would be farther satisfied of the various forms and matter of these Roman Fibulae and the several uses they were applied to may consult amongst other Authors the learned and ingenious Joannes Rhodius de Acia and Smetius's Antiquitates Neomagenses In the first of Charles 1. Robert Lord Carey was created Earl of Monmouth Earls and Duke of Monmouth and was succeeded by Henry of the same name An. 15 Car. 2. James Fitz-Roy among other honours was created Duke of Monmouth and at present the right honourable Charles Mordant takes the title of Earl from this place GLAMORGANSHIRE THE farthest County of the Silures seems to be that we call Glamorganshire Gâ—â—â—â—â—gan 〈…〉 the Britains Morgà nwg Gwlâd Morgan and Gwlâd Vorgà nwg which signifies the County of Morganwg and was so call'd as most imagine from Morgan a Prince or as others suppose from an Abbey of that name But if I should deduce it from the British Môr which signifies the Sea I know not for certain whether I should deviate from the Truth However I have observed that Maritime town of Armorica we call now Morlais to have been call'd by Ptolemy and the anciant Gauls Vorganium or Morganium for the letters M and V are often counterchanged in this language and whence shall we suppose it thus denominated but from the Sea And this our Morgà nwg is also altogether Maritime being a long narrow Country wholly washed on the South-side by the Severn Sea As for the inner part of it it is border'd on the East with Monmouthshire on the North with Brecknock and on the West with Kaermardhinshire On the North it is very rugged with Mountains which inclining towards the South become by degrees more tillable at the roots whereof we have a spacious Vale or Plain open to the South-Sun a situation which Cato preferr'd to all others and for which Pliny does so much commend Italy For this part of the Country is exceeding pleasant both in regard of the fertility of the Soil and the number of towns and villages â—â—â—â—â—nâ—â—ct t◠〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—â—te In the reign of William Rufus Jestin ap Gwrgant Lord of this Country having revolted from his natural Prince Rhys ap Tewdwr and being too weak to maintain his Rebellion very unadvisedly which he too late repented call'd to his assistance
question but this was the very c Dr. Gâ—le gives us a note upon this passage in Ptolemy which must be wrong printed 'T is this Salutarem sinum male MS. Seld. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which ought to be thus pointed Salutatem sinum male MS. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gabrantovicorum Gâ—bâ—â—â—vâ— a people that liv'd in this neighbourhood n Near this is Bridlington a town famous for John de Bridlington a Monkish Poet d There is no such thing One might as well say as some do that the Caledonian woods are still plentifully stockt with Wild-bears Both these kinds are long since wholly destroy'd in that Kingdom See Sir Robert Sibbald's Nuntius Scoto-Brit part 2. p. 9. whose rhyming prophecies which are altogether ridiculous I have seen o Not far from hence for a great way towards Drifield there was a ditch drawn by the Earls of Holderness to divide the Lands which was call'd Earls-dike But why this small People were call'd Gabrantovici I dare not so much as guess unless perhaps it was deriv'd from Goats which the Britains call'd Gaffran whereof there are not greater numbers in any part of Britain than in this place Nor is this derivation to be lookt upon as absurd seeing the Aegira in Achaia has its name from Goats Nebrodes in Sicily from Deer and Boeotia in Greece from Oxen. The little Promontory that by its bending makes this Bay is commonly call'd Flamborough-head 〈◊〉 but by Saxon Authors Fleam-burg who write that Ida the Saxon who first subdu'd these parts arriv'd here Some think it took its name from a Watch-tower to set out Lights whereby Mariners might discern that Harbour For the Britains still retain the provincial word Flam and the Mariners paint this Creek with a flaming-head in their Sea-Charts Others are of opinion that this name came into England out of Angloen in Denmark the ancient Seat of the Angli for there is a town call'd Flemsburg from which they think the English gave it that name as the Gauls according to Livy nam'd Mediolanum in Italy from the town Mediolanum they had left in Gaul For the little village in this Promontory is call'd Flamborough â—â—â—boâ—â—gh which gives original to another noble family of Constables as they call them which by some are deriv'd from the Lacies â—ables â—â—amboâ—â—gh Constables of Chester p Upon my enquiries in these parts I heard nothing of those Rivers call'd Vipseis â—â—eis which Walter de Heminburgh tells us flow every other year from unknown Springs and with a great and rapid current run by this little Promontory to the Sea However take what William of Newborough who was born there has said of them These famous waters commonly call'd Vipseis spring from the earth at several sources not incessantly but every other year and having made a pretty large current through the lower grounds run into the Sea and when they are dry'd 't is a good sign For the flowing of them is truly said to forbode the misery of an approaching famine q As the Sea winds it self back from hence a thin slip of land like a small tongue when 't is thrust out shoots into the Sea such as the old English call'd File from which the little village Filey takes its name More inward stands Flixton where a Hospital was built in the time of Athelstan for defending Travellers as it is word for word in the * Regiis Archivit Publick Records from Wolves that they should not be devoured by them This shews us that in those times Wolves Wolves infested this tract which now are to be met with in no part of England not so much as in the frontiers of Scotland altho' they are very numerous in that Kingdom This small territory of Holderness was given by William the first to Drugo de Bruerer a Fleming Earls of Albemarle and Holderness Genealogiae Antiquae upon whom also he had bestow'd his niece in marriage but she being poison'd by him and he forc'd to fly for his life was succeeded by Stephen the son of Odo Lord of Albemarle in Normandy descended from the family of the Earls of Champaigne whom William the first who was his nephew by a half sister on the mother's side is said to have made Earl of Albemarle and his posterity retain'd that title in England notwithstanding Albemarle be a place in Normandy He was succeeded by his son William sirnam'd †Le Gross Crassus His only daughter Avis was married to three husbands successively to William Magnavill Earl of Essex to Baldwin de Beton and to William Forts or de Fortibus By this last husband only she had issue William who left also a son William to succeed him His only daughter Avelin being married to Edmund ‖ Gibbosus Crouchback Earl of Lancaster dy'd without children And so as it is said in Meaux-Abbey-book for want of heirs the Earldom of Albemarle and the Honour of Holderness were seized into the King's hands Yet in following ages King Richard the second created Thomas de Woodstock his Uncle and afterwards Edward Plantagenet son to the Duke of York Duke of Albemarle in the life-time of his father Henry the fourth also made his son Thomas Duke of Clarence and Earl of Albemarle which title King Henry the sixth added afterwards as a farther honour to Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick ADDITIONS to the East-riding of YORKSHIRE a NOW we come to the second Division the East-Riding Which Division by Ridings to observe it by the way is nothing but a corruption from the Saxon ÃriHing â—g which consisted of several Hundreds or Wapentakes Nor was it peculiar to this County but formerly common to most of the neighbouring ones as appears by the p. 33. 34 Laws of Edward the Confessor and the â—g 74 â—c Life of King Alfred b The first place we meet with is Mont-ferrant-Castle which ‖ â—â—erar Leland tells us in his time was clearly defaced so that bushes grew where it had formerly stood Of the family de Malo Lacu or as Leland calls them Mawley there were eight successively enjoy'd the estate all Peters but the last of these leaving only two daughters the one was married to Bigot and the other to Salwayne c However the name of Battle-bridge â—â—â—â—e-â—â—â—ge may be us'd for Stanford-bridge in Authors a Traveller will hardly meet with it among the Inhabitants of this Country Our Author seems to have taken it from an Instrument concerning the Translation of St. Oswin since printed in the â—â—m 1. â—4 Monasticon Anglicanum which speaking of this place adds Nunc verò Pons belli dicitur i.e. at present 't is call'd Pons Belli or Battle-bridge d Upon the Derwent lyes Howden â—â—den formerly Hovedene as is plain from several Records in the time of Edward 2. and Edward 3. as also from †â—n MS. Leland's calling the first Canon of the place John Hovedene
raised Edmund Crouchback his younger son to whom he had given the estate and honours of Simon Montfort Earl of Leicester of Robert Ferrars Earl of Derby and of John of Monmouth for rebelling against him to the Earldom of Lancaster Eaâ—â—â—â— Lancastâ—â— giving it in these words The Honour Earldom Castle and the Town of Lancaster with the Cow-pastures and Forests of Wiresdale Lownsdale Newcastle under Lime with the Manour Forest and a Castle of Pickering the Manour of Scaleby the Village of Gomecestre and the Rents of the Town of Huntendon c. after he had lost the Kingdom of Sicily with which the Pope by a ring invested him to no purpose and what expos'd the English to the publick scoff and laughter of the world he caus'd pieces of gold to be coyn'd with this Inscription AIMUNDUS REX SICILIAE 〈…〉 having first chous'd and cully'd the credulous King out of much money upon that account The said Edmund his first wife dying without issue who was the daughter and heir of the Earl of Albemarle 10 Of William de Fortibus Earl c. yet by her last Will made him her heir had by his second wife Blanch of Artois of the 〈…〉 Royal Family of France Thomas and Henry and John who dy'd very young Thomas was the second Earl of Lancaster who married Alice the only daughter and heir of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln she convey'd this and her mother's estate who was of the family of the Long Espee's Earls of Salisbury as likewise her father Henry Lacy had done before with his own Lands in case Alice should dye without issue as indeed it afterwards hapen'd over to the family of Lancaster But this Thomas for his Insolence and disrespect to his Prince Edward the second and for imbroiling the State was at last taken prisoner in the field and beheaded having no issue However his Sentence was afterwards revers'd by Act of Parliament because he was not try'd by his Peers and so his brother Henry succeeded him in his estate and honours He was also enrich'd by his wife Maud daughter and sole heir of Patrick Chaworth and that not only with her own but with great estates in Wales namely of Maurice of London and of Siward from whom she was descended He dying left a son Henry 〈…〉 whom Edward the third rais'd from Earl to a Duke and he was the second of our Nobility that bore the title of Duke But he dy'd without issue-male leaving two daughters Mawd and Blanch between whom the Inheritance was divided Mawd was married to William of Bavaria Earl of Holland Zeland Friseland Hanault and of Leicester too in right of his wife But she dying without issue John of Gaunt so call'd because he was born at Gaunt in Flanders fourth son of Edward the third by marriage with Blanch the other daughter of Henry came to the whole estate And now being equal to many Kings in wealth and created Duke of Lancaster by his father he also obtain'd the Royalties of him The King too advanc'd the County of Lancaster into a Palatinate by this Rescript wherein after he has declar'd the great service he had done his Country both at home and abroad he adds We have granted for us and our heirs to our son aforesaid that he during the term of life shall have within the County of Lancaster his Chancery and his Writs to be issued out under his own Seal belonging to the Office of Chancellor his Justices likewise as well for Pleas of the Crown as for other Pleas relating to Common Law to have cognisance of them and to have power of making all Executions whatsoever by his Writs and Officers And to have all other Liberties and Royalties of what kind soever appertaining to a County Palatine as freely and as fully as the Earl of Chester within the said County is known to have c. Nor was he only Duke of Lancaster but also by marriage with Constantia daughter of Peter King of Castile John of Gaunt K. of Castile for some time bore the title of King of Leon and Castile But by contract he parted with this title and in the 13th of King Richard the second was created by consent of Parliament Duke of Aquitain 11 To have and to hold the same title for term of life of the King of England and Monarch of France but to the general disgust of the inhabitants of the Province of Aquitain who gave it out that their Seigniory was inseparably annext to the Crown of England to the great dissatisfaction of that Country At that time his titles were John son to the King of England Duke of Aquitain and Lancaster Earl of Derby Lincoln and Leicester and high Steward of England After this John Henry de Bullingbroke his son succeeded in the Dutchy of Lancaster 12 Who when he had dispossess'd Richard the second and obtain'd the Kingdom of England he considering that being now King he could not bear the title of Duke of Lancaster and unwilling that the said title should be discontinu'd ordain'd by assent of Parliament that Henry his present son should enjoy the same and be stil'd Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain Lancaster and Cornwall and Earl of Chester and also that the Liberties and Franchises of the Dutchy of Lancaster should remain to his said son sever'd from the Crown of England who having deposed Richard the second obtain'd the Crown and conferr'd this honour upon Heny his son K. Henr. 4. afterwards King of England And that he might entail it upon him and his heirs for ever he had an Act of Parliament made in these words We being unwilling that our said inheritance or its liberties by reason of our now assuming the Royal state and dignity should be any ways chang'd transferr'd diminish'd or impair'd but that our said inheritance with its rights and liberties aforesaid should in the same manner and form condition and state wherein they descended and fell to us and also with all and singular liberties franchises and other privileges commodities and profits whatsoever which our Lord and Father in his life time had and held it withal for term of his life by the grant of the late King Richard be wholly and fully preserv'd continu'd and enjoy'd by us and our heirs specified in the said Charters And by the tenure of these presents we do upon our certain knowledge and with the consent of this our present Parliament grant declare decree and ordain for us and our heirs that as well our Dutchy of Lancaster as all and singular Counties Honours Castles Manours Fees Advowsons Possessions Annuities and Seigniories whatsoever descended to us before the Royal Dignity was obtain'd by us how or in what place soever by right of inheritance in possession or in reversion or other way remain to us and our said heirs specified in the Charters abovesaid after the said manner for ever Afterwards King Henry the fifth by Act
aa They are not both in this river but one in this and the other in the river Betham above Milchorp and has upon its Western bank a very populous town call Candale 1 Or Kâ—ndale or Kirkby-Candale i.e. a Church in the valley upon Can. It has two Streets crossing each other is very eminent for the woollen manufacture and the industry of the inhabitants who trade throughout all England with their woollen cloath Their greatest honour is 〈…〉 that Barons and Earls have taken their titles from the place The Barons were of the family of Ivo Taleboys of whose posterity William by consent of King Henry the second call'd himself William of Lancaster His 〈…〉 of 〈◊〉 niece and heir was marry'd to Gilbert son of Roger Fitz-Reinfrid by whose daughters upon the death of William his son the estate came to Peter Brus the second Lord of Skelton of that Christian-name and William Lindsay from whom on the mother's side Ingelram Lord of Coucy in France 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 deriv'd his pedigree as I understood by the History of Fourness-Abbey By the daughter of this Peter Brus sister and heiress to Peter Brus the third the Barony descended to the Rosses of Werke and from them the honour was devolv'd hereditarily upon the Parrs 2 Of whom Sir William Parr was made Lord Par by King Henry 8. whose Castle over against the town is ready to drop down with age It has had three Earls 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 John Duke of Bedford advanc'd to that honour by his brother King Henry the fifth John Duke of Somerset and John de Foix descended from the noble family of the Foix in France whom King Henry the sixth rais'd to that dignity for his faithful service in the French wars Upon which account possibly it is that some of this family of Foix in France have still the sirname of Kendal c I know no other piece of Antiquity that Kendal can boast of Once indeed I was of opinion that it was the old Roman station Concangii but time has inform'd me better d 〈…〉 Lower in the river Can there are two Water-falls where the water is tumbled headlong with a hideous noise one at a little village call'd Levens another more Southward near Betham From these the neighbours draw certain prognostications of the weather for when the Northern one has a clear sound they promise themselves fair weather but when the Southern rain and mists And thus much of the Southern and more narrow part of this County bounded on the West with the river Winster and the spacious Lake mention'd but now call'd Winander-mere and on the east with the river Lone or Lune At the upper corner of this Lake Winander-mere Ambleside lyes the carcass as it were of an ancient City with large ruins of walls and scatter'd heaps of rubbish without the walls The Fort has been of an oblong figure fortify'd with a ditch and rampire in length 132 Ells and in breadth 80. That it was a work of the Romans the British bricks the mortar temper'd with small pieces of bricks the little Urns or Pots the Glass Vials the Roman Coins commonly met with the round stones like Mill-stones of which †Coagmentatis soder'd together they us'd formerly to make Pillars and the pav'd ways leading to it are all an undeniable Evidence But the old name is quite lost unless one should imagine from the present name Ambleside that this was the Amboglana Ambolgana mention'd by the Notitia e Towards the East the river Lone is the limit and gives its name to the adjoyning tract Lonsdale i.e. a vale upon the Lone the chief town whereof is Kirkby Lonsdale whither the neighbouring Inhabitants resort to Church and Market Above the head of the Lone the Country grows wider and the Mountains shoot out with many windings and turnings between which there are here and there exceeding deep vallies and several places hollow'd like so many deep or caves f The noble river of Eden Eden call'd by Ptolemy Ituna Ituâ—a b It arises in Westmorland at a place call'd Hugh seat Morvil or Hugh Morvil's hill from one of that name sometimes Lord of Westmorland Out of the same hill there run two other great rivers on Yorkshire-side Eure and Swale rising in Yorkshire has at first only a small stream but increasing gradually by the confluence of several little rivers seeks a passage through these Mountains to the North-west by Pendragon-Castle c See Skipton in the Additions to the West-Riding of Yorkshire to which age has left nothing but the name and a heap of great stones g Then it runs by Wharton-hall the seat of the Barons of Wharton Wharton-hall Lords Wharton the first whereof was 3 Sir Thomas Wharton Thomas advanc'd to that honour by King Henry the Eighth To him succeeded his son of the same name who was succeeded by Philip the present Lord a person of great honour h Next by Kirby-Stephen or Stephen's Church a noted market and so by two little villages call'd Musgrave Musgrave that gave name to the warlike family of the Musgraves i of which Thomas Musgrave in the time of Edward the third was summon'd to Parliament among the Barons their seat was Heartly-Castle Heartly-Castle hard by Here the Eden as it were stops its course that it may receive some rivulets upon one of which scarce two miles from Eden it self stood Verterae Verterae an ancient town mention'd by Antoninus and the Notitia From the latter of these we learn that in the decline of the Roman Empire a Praefect of the Romans quarter'd there with a band of the Directores Now the town it self is dwindl'd into a little village defended with a small Fort and its name pass'd into Burgh Burgh under Stane-more Veget. l 4. c. 10. for it is call'd Burgh under Stane-more i.e. a Burrow under a stony Mountain Under the later Emperours to observe it once for all the little Castles which were built for the emergent occasions of war and stor'd with provisions began to be call'd Burgi a new name which after the translation of the Empire into the East the Germans and others seem to have taken from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hence the Burgundians have their name from inhabiting the Burgi Orosius for so that age call'd the Dwellings planted at a little distance one from another along the Frontiers I have read nothing of it but that in the beginning of the Norman Government 4 The Northern English the English form d a Conspiracy here against William the Conquerour I durst almost affirm that this Burgh was the old Verterae both because the distance on one side from Levatrae and on the other from Brovonacum if resolv'd into Italian miles does exactly agree with the number assign'd by Antoninus and also because a Roman military way still visible by its high ridge or
whereof one was rebuilt at the publick charge of the Corporation A. D. 1682. and endow'd with sixty pounds per annum whereof thirty is for the maintenance of a Catechetical Lecturer who is to expound the Catechism of the Church of England every Sunday and to preach a Sermon every first Wednesday in the month Twenty pounds are assign'd to a Schoolmaster and ten to an Usher who are to prepare the Children of the Parish for the said Lecture Besides which the Town pays yearly 580 l. towards the maintenance of their Vicar and those Lecturers and Curates that are under him s Both it s Wealth and Commerce are wonderfully encreas'd since Camden's time The Coal-trade is incredible and for other Merchandice Newcastle is the great Emporium of the northern parts of England and of a good share of Scotland The publick Revenue is also wonderfully advanc'd of late years for which the Town is in a great measure indebted to the provident care and good management of its two great Patriots Sir William Blacket Baronet and Timothy Davison Esquire Aldermen t At Fenham a little village in the parish of Newcastle there are now some Coal-pits on fire which have burn'd for several years The flames of this subterraneous fire are visible by night and in the day-time the track of it may be easily follow'd by the Brimstone which lies on the surface of the Earth Newcastle has afforded the title of Earl to Lodowick Stewart Duke of Lennox and Earl of Richmond created in May 1604. But in the year 1627. this title was conferr'd upon William Cavendish Viscount Mansfield and Baron Ogle who was afterwards in 1643. created Marquiss of Newcastle and the year following Duke of Newcastle In 1676. he was succeeded by his son Henry Cavendish But of late the right honourable John Holles Earl of Clare was created Duke of this place by his present Majesty u The Rutarii Rutarii or Ruptarii are not only mention'd by our Historians in the reign of King John but before his time in the reign of Hen. 2. and after it under Hen. 3. By all the accounts we have of 'em it appears they were mercenary German Troops Now in the High-Dutch Rott whence our English Rout is a Company of Soldiers Rotten or Rottiren to muster Rottmeister a Corporal c. That from hence we are to fetch the true original of the word we are sufficiently taught by Will. Neubrigensis who liv'd and wrote his History in the times of these Rutars Rex says he stipendiarias Brabantionum copias quas Rutas vocant accersivit lib. 2. c. 27. Dr. Wats is therefore mistaken who in his Glossary derives the name from the German Reuter a Trooper or Horseman uu The Town of Morpeth together with Gilles-land c. came by Elizabeth sister and coheir of George the last Lord Dacre to her husband the Lord William Howard of Naworth third son to the Duke of Norfolk whose grandson Charles was soon after the Restauration of Charles the second created Earl of Carlisle and Viscount Morpeth Which Honours were inherited by his son Edward and are now enjoy'd by the most accomplish'd young Nobleman his grandson Charles the third Earl of Carlisle of this Family w At the famous Synod mention'd by our Author S. Cuthbert is said to have been chosen Bishop By the account that Bede and especially his Royal Paraphrast gives of the matter it looks more like a Parliament than a Synod for the Election is reported to have been mid anmodre geê§afunge ealra ê§aera Æ¿itena Now Æ¿itena in the Language of those times signifies Senators or Parliament-men who it seems unanimously chose him Bishop Bed Eccl. Hist. l. 4. c. 28. The meeting is indeed said to have been on the river Alne And yet I very much doubt whether this Twiford Twiford be in Northumberland and whether Archbishop Theodore ever came so far north There are a great many Twifords in the south of England The Legend of S. Cuthbert p. 17. says this Synod was held at Twiford upon Slu. x There never was any Covent or Monastery founded at Alnwick Alnwicâ— or near it by John Vescie There was indeed a Monastery of the Order of the Praemonstratenses founded by Eustachius Fitz-John Father of William de Vescie who had that sirname from his Mother an Heiress But this was done in the year 1147. long before the Carmelites were heard of in England John Bale who was sometime a Carmelite himself tells us the first Covent of that Order was founded at Holm Hull they now call it near Alnwick by Ralph Fresburn a Northumberland Gentleman who dy'd A. D. 1274. and was buried in this Covent See Bale de Script Brit. Cent. 4. c. 1. and J. Pitz. ad Ann. 1274. 'T is a wonder how our Author came to mistake thus since he uses some of Bale's very words and must doubtless have read his account Eustachius's Abbey is still to be seen at half a mile's distance from the Covent of Hull down the river â—â—â—staâ—â—â—ge y Within the Circuit of the old Castle of Dunstaburge grew lately 240. Winchester Bushels of Corn besides several Cart-loads of Hay 'T is now famous for Dunstaburgh-Diamonds a sort of fine Spar which seems to rival that of St. Vincent's Rock near Bristol z I do not think Bede himself ever gave out that Etymology about Bebba No mention of it in the Saxon But 't is there call'd cynelican byrig i.e. a Royal Mansion and 't is also said that it was miserably wasted by Penda the Pagan King of the Mercians who had certainly burnt it had not the Prayers of Bishop Aidan happily interpos'd Bede lib. 3. capp 12. 16. It was afterwards totally ruin'd and plunder'd by the Danes A. D. 933. Yet as ruinous as it now is the Lord of the Manour William Forster Esq still holds here in a corner of it his Courts of Leet and Baron Florence of Worcester seems to me to have been the first contriver of the story of Queen Bebba See Sir H. Spelman's Gloss in Beria After Mowbray's flight mention'd by our Author and his being taken at Tinmouth the Castle of Bamborough was stoutly maintain'd by Morael his Steward and Kinsman till the Earl himself was by the King's order brought within view of the Fort and threatned with the having his eyes put out in case the besieged held out any longer Whereupon it was immediately surrender'd and Morael for his bravery receiv'd into the King's Court and Favour See the Saxon. Chron. ad Ann. 1095. aa The Improvements in Tillage at Rock by John Salkeld Esq and in Gardening and Fruitery at Falladon by Samuel Salkeld Gent. both in the Parish of Emildon ought here to be mention'd as Fineries hardly to be equall'd on the North-side of Tyne The latter is the more observable because an eminent Author of this Age will hardly allow any good Peaches Plumbs Pears c. to be expected beyond Northamptonshire whereas Fruit is produc'd here in
was in times past exceeding strong Which being surprized by the English while King James 2. of Scotland was besieging it he was untimely slain in the flower of his youth by a piece of Cannon that casually burst He was a Prince much missed and lamented by his Subjects Notwithstanding this the Castle was surrender'd and being mostly demolished is now scarce to be seen But the adjacent Territory called from it the Sheriffdom of Roxborough â—â—â—â—â—ffâ—â—â—e of â—â—â—boâ—â—â—gh â—â—â—editaâ—â—â—heriffs hath an hereditary Sheriff of the family of Douglass who is usually called the Sheriff of Teviotdale And now f It is now an Earldom belonging to the same Family Roxborough by the favour of King James 6. is also a Barony in the person of Robert Kerr Kerr of the house of the Kerrs a very noble and numerous family in this tract from which are descended the Fernhersts and others who being educated in the school of Arms have render'd themselves very illustrious Twede Twedale aforesaid runs through the middle of a Valley or Dale that takes its name from it abounding in sheep whose wool is very valuable This is certainly a Noble River which having its source amongst the hills more inwardly Westward and running as it were with a streight Channel by Drimlar-Castle by Peeblis Peeblis a Market-Town * See more in the Additions which hath for its Sheriff Baron Zester as also g This town is a burgh-Royal has a weekly market and several â—airs is the head burgh of the shire and the seat of the Sheriff and Commissary-Courts Selkirk Selkirk †See more in the Additions hard by which hath one out of the family of Murray of Fallo-hill it receives the little River Lauder upon which appears h Here the late Duke of Lauderdale has built a well-contriv'd handsom Church consisting of four Isles with a large Steeple rising in the middâ—e Lauder together with Thirlestan Here Sir John Maitland not long since Chancellor of Scotland for his singular prudence created by K. James the 6. Baron of Thirlestan Baron of Thirlestan hath a very beautiful seat i The said Duke has adorned it with avenues pavillions out-Courts and other beauties requir'd to the making of a compleat Seat Then being increased by the accession of the River Teviot beneath Roxburgh it watereth the Sheriffdom of Berwick which is most of it the Estate of the Humes wherein the Head of that Family exerciseth now the Jurisdiction of a Sheriff and then running under Berwick the best fortified Town of Britain whereof I have already spoken with a prodigious plenty of Salmon it emptieth it self into the Sea b MERCHIA MERCH or MERS MErch which is next and so named because it is a March-Countrey lieth wholly upon the German Ocean Here k It was demolished by the English in the late War Hume Castle first presents it self the ancient possession of the Lords of Home or Hume who being descended from the Earls of Merch have spread themselves into a numerous and noble family Of which Alexander Hume who was before Primier Baron of Scotland and Sheriff of Berwick was lately advanced by James King of Great Britain to the Title of Earl of Hume Earl Hume Not far off under this Castle lieth l It is a burgh of Barony and a large beautiful Town Kelso Kelso formerly famous for a Monastery founded by King David the first among thirteen more for the propagation of God's glory but to the great impairing of the Crown Lands Thence we have a prospect of Coldingham Coldingham called by Bede Coldana and Coludi urbs perhaps the Colania Colania of Ptolemy consecrated many Ages since to professed Nuns whose Chastity is recorded in ancient Writings for their cutting off together with Ebba their Prioress their Noses and Lips chusing to secure their Virginity from the Danes rather than preserve their Beauty but they notwithstanding burnt them together with their Monastery Hard by is Fastcastle belonging to the Humes so called from its strength near the same St. Ebbe's Promontory who being the Daughter of Edelfrid King of Northumberland when her Father was taken Prisoner seized upon a Boat in the Humber and passing along the tempestuous Ocean landed in safety here became famous for her sanctity and left her name to the place But Merch is much more celebrated in History for its Earls Earls of Merch. than places who were highly commended for their Martial Courage They were descendants of Gospatrick Earl of Northumberland who after his being driven out of his Countrey by William the Conqueror was entertained by Malcolm Conmer that is Great-head King of Scotland and honoured by him with Dunbar-Castle and the Earldom of Merch. His Posterity besides very large possessions in Scotland held as appears by an old Inquisition the Barony of Bengeley in Northumberland that they should be Inborrow and Utborrow between England and Scotland What the meaning should be of these terms let others guess what my conjecture is I have said already But in the reign of King James the first George of Dunbar the Earl of Merch by authority of Parliament upon the account of his Father's Rebellion lost the propriety and possession of the Earldom of Merch and the Seigniory of Dunbar And when he proved by good Evidence that his Father had been pardoned that fault by the Regents of the Kingdom he was answered that it was not in the Regents power to pardon an offence against the State and that it was provided by the Laws that the Father's transgression should succeed to the Children to the end that being Heirs to their Father's Rashness as well as Estate they should not at any time out of a vain opinion of power plot against their Prince and Country The Title of Earl of Merch was afterwards amongst other Honourable Titles conferr'd on Alexander Duke of Albany And in our memory this title of honour was reviv'd in Robert the 3. Brother of Matthew Earl of Lenox who being of Bishop of Cathness made Earl of Lenox soon after resigned up that Title to his Nephew created Duke of Lenox and received of the King by way of recompence the name and stile of Earl of Merch c LAVDEN or LOTHIEN LOTHIEN also called Lauden Lauden and anciently from the Picts Pictland shoots out along from Merch as far as the Scottish Sea or the Frith having many hills and little woods but for its excellent Corn-lands and civility is commended above any County in Scotland About the Year of our Lord 873. Edgar King of England between whom and Keneth the third King of Scotland there was a strict alliance against the Danes the Common Enemy resigned up his right in this Lothian unto him as Matthew Florilegus asserts and to tie his heart the closer to him He bestowed upon him moreover many Lodges in the way wherein both he and his Successors in their coming to the Kings
of England and return homewards might be entertained which till K. Henry the second 's time remained in the hands of the King 's of Scotland In this Lothian the first place that presents it self upon the Sea Shore is Dunbar Dunbar a Castle in ancient times very strongly fortify'd the seat of the Earls of Merch before-mentioned thence commonly called Earls of Dunbar Earls of Dunbar often taken by the English and recovered by the Scots But in the Year 1567 it was demolisht by order of the States to prevent its being a retreat for Rebels But King James in the year 1515. conferr'd the Title and Honour of Earl of Dunbar upon Sir Geo. Hume for his approved Loyalty whom he had created before Baron Hume of Berwick Baron Home or Hume of Berwick to him his Heirs and Assigns m It is now a Viscounty in the person of Robert Constable Viscount Dunbar Hard by the little River Tine after a short course falleth into the Sea near the source whereof stands Zeister Zeister which hath its Baron of the Family of the Hays Earls of Arroll who is likewise hereditary Sheriff of the little Territory of Twedale or Peblis Upon the same rivulet some few miles higher in a large plain lies Hadington or Hadina fortify'd by the English with a deep and large ditch and a four square turf-wall without with four bullwarks at the Corners and as many more upon the Inner wall and as valiantly defended by Sir George Wilford an Englishman against Monsieur Dessie who fiercely attaqu'd it with 10000 French and Germans till the Plague growing hot and lessening the garison Henry Earl of Rutland came with a great Army and rais'd the siege and having levell'd the Works conducted the English home And now of late K. James 6. hath for his loyalty and valour elected into the Nobility of Scotland Sir John Ramsey whose RIGHT HAND was the DEFENDER OF THE PRINCE AND COUNTRY in that horrid Conspiracy of the Gowries under the title and honour of Viscount Hadington Viscouâ—â— Hadinâ—ton n It is now an Earldom in the famiâ—y of the Hamiltons Of this Hadington J. Johnston hath these Verses Planities praetensa jacet prope flumina Tinae Fluminis arguti clauditur ista sinu Vulcani Martis quae passa incendia fati Ingemit alterno vulnere fracta vices Nunc tandem sapit icta Dei praecepta secuta Praesidio gaudet jam potiore Poli. Near Tine's fair stream a spatious plain is shown Tine's circling arms embrace the hapless town Where Mars and fiery Vulcan reign'd by turns With fatal rage whose dire effects she mourns By sad experience now at last grown wise She slights their fury and their power defies Contemns the dangers that before she fear'd And rests secure when mighty heaven 's her guard A little way from Hadington stands Athelstanford Athelâ—â—â—â—ford so named from Athelstan a Commander of the English slain there with his men about the year 815 but that this was Athelstan that Warlike King of the West-Saxons must be utterly deny'd if we have any respect to time or the manner of his Death Above the Mouth of this Tine upon the doubling of the shore stands Tantallon Castle from whence Archibald Douglas Earl of Angus was very troublesome to James 5. King of Scotland Here by the winding of the shores on both sides room is made for a very Noble Arm of the Sea well furnished with Isllands and by the influx of many rivers and the Sea-tides dilated to a mighty breadth Ptolemy calls it Boderia Tacitus Bodotria Bodoeâ—â—â— from its depth as I conjecture the Scots the Forth and Frith we Edenborough-Frith others Mare Fresicum and Mare Scoticum and the Eulogium Morwiridh Upon this after you are past Tantallon Tantalâ—â—â— are seated first North-Berwick antiently famous for a House of Religious Virgins and then Drylton Dryltoâ— which formerly belong'd to the eminent family of the Haliburtons and now by the favour of K. James 6. gives the Title of Baron to Sir Tho. Ereskin Captain of his Guards as Felton Viscouâ—â— Felton hard by gives the Honourable Title of Viscount to the same person who was the first that had the stile and dignity of a Viscount in Scotland Over against them in the sea near the shore lies the Bass The Bass an Island which rises up as it were in one continued craggy rock on every side inaccessible yet it has a Fort a fountain and pasture-grounds but is so hollow'd and undermined by the waves that it is almost wrought through What prodigious flights of sea-fowl especially of those Geese they call Scouts â—â—outs and Soland-Geese at certain times flock hither â—â—â—andâ—â—eâ— â—â—ch â—â—â—n to be â—â—â—'s Piâ—â—â—ae for by report their number is so great as in a clear day to darken the Sun what multitudes of Fishes they bring so as that 100 Soldiers in Garison here liv'd upon no other provision but the fresh fish brought hither by them as they give out what a quantity of sticks they convey for the building of their nests so that by their means the inhabitants are abundantly provided with firing what vast profit also their feathers and oyl amount to are things so incredible that no one scarcely would believe it but he that had seen it â—â—â—on â—â—â—â—-town Then as the shore draws back Seton appears which seems to take its name from its situation upon the Sea and to have given one to the Right Honourable House of the Setons descended of an English Family and a Daughter of King Robert Bruce of which the o The Marquisate of Huntley is now in the family of Gordon who are likewise Dukes of Gordon Marquiss of Huntley Robert Earl of Wintoun 〈◊〉 of Winâ—â—â—n Alexander Earl of Dunfermling all advanced to honours by King James 6. are Branches d After this the River Esk hath its influx into the Frith having run by Borthwic â—â—â—thwic which hath its Barons so sirnamed of Hungarian extraction by Nâ—wbottle â—â—wbottle that is the new building formerly a little Monastery now a Barony in the person of Sir Mark Ker by Dalkeith â—â—â—â—â—â—th lately a pleasant seat of the Earls of Morton and Musselborough â—â—â—â—â—boâ—â—â—gh below which upon Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset's entring Scotland with a * compleat Army â—â—â—â—o to challenge the performance of Articles for the marrying Mary Queen of Scotland to Edward 6. King of England there happened a most dismal day to the youth of the noble Families in Scotland who there fell in the battle Here I must not pass by in silence this Inscription which J-Napier a learned person in his Commentaries on the Apocalyps informs us was here dug up and which the eminently ingenious Sir Peter Young Knight King James the 6th's Tutor hath thus more truly described APOLLINI GRANNO Q. LVSIVS SABINIA NVS PROC AVG. â—â—tem â—â—ptum â—â—it luâ—â— meriâ—â— V. S. S. L
which they still keep of which leader they are to this day called Dalreudini Dalreudini for in their language Dal Dal. signifies a part And a little after Ireland says he is the proper Country of the Scots for being departed out of it they added unto the Britons and Picts a 3d Nation in Britain And there is a very good Arm of the sea or a bay that antiently divided the Nation of the Britons from the Picts which from the West breaketh a great way into the Land and there to this day standeth the strongest City of the Britons call'd Alcluith In the Northern part of which bay the Scots whom I now mentioned when they came got themselves room to settle in Of that name Dalreudin there are now extant no remains that I know of nor any mention of it in Writers unless it be the same with Dalrieta Dalrieâ—â— For in an old little book of the Division of Albany we read of one Kinnadius who 't is certain was a King of Scotland and subdu'd the Picts in these very words Kinnadius two years before he came into Pictavia so it calls the country of the Picts enter'd upon the government of Dalrieta Also there is mention made in a more modern History of Dalrea Dalrea hereabouts where King Robert Brus fought a battle with ill success K. James the 4. with consent of the States of the Kingdom enacted that Justice should be administred to this province by the Justices Itinerant at Perth whensoever the King should think convenient But the Earls themselves have in some cases their Jura Regalia who are persons of very great authority and of a mighty interest deriving their pedigree from the antient petty Kings of Argile through an infinite series of Ancestors and taking their sirname from their Castle Cambel But they are oblig'd to King James the 2. for the honour and title of Earl who as it is recorded created Colin Lord Cambel Earl of Argile Earls oâ— Argile in regard to his own virtue and the dignity of his Family Whose Posterity by the favour of their Kings have been a good while General Justices of the Kingdom of Scotland or according to their way of expressing it Justices generally constitute and Great Masters of the King's Houshold e CANTIRE LOgh-Finn Logh-Finn a Lake that in the season produces incredible sholes of herrings divides Argile from a Promontory which for about 30 miles together growing by little and little into a sharp point thrusts it self with such a seeming earnestness towards Ireland separated from it by a narrow streight of scarce 13 miles as if it would call it over to it Ptolemy names this the Promontory of the Epidii Epidium between which name and the Islands Ebudae opposite to it methinks there is some affinity It is now called in Irish which language they use in all this Tract Can-tyre that is the Land's head 'T is inhabited by the family of Mac-Conell very powerful here but yet at the command of the Earl of Argile they sometimes in their Vessels make excursions for booty into Ireland and have possessed themselves of those little Provinces they call Glines and Rowte This Promontory lieth close to Knapdale by so small a neck of land being scarce a mile over and sandy too that the Sea-men by a short cut as it were transport their vessels over land from the Ocean to Logh-Finn Which a man would sooner beelieve than that the Argonautes laid their Argos upon their shoulders and carried it along with them 500 miles 10 From Aemonia to the shores of Thessalia f LORN SOmewhat higher lies Lorn towards the North a Country producing the best Barley divided by Logh-Leave a vast Lake upon which stands Berogomum Beâ—ogoâ—um a Castle wherein the Courts of Justice were antiently kept and not far from it Dunstafag that is Stephen's Mount antiently a seat of the Kings above which is Logh-Aber â—â—gh-â—â—â—r a Lake insinuating it self so far into the land out of the Western sea that it would meet the Lake of Ness which empties it self into the Eastern Ocean did not the hills which lie between separate them by a very narrow neck The chiefest place in this tract is Tarbar in Logh-Kinkeran where K. James 4. by authority of Parliament constituted a Justice and Sheriff to administer justice to the inhabitants of the Southern Isles These Countrys and these beyond them were in the year of Our Lord 605. held by those Picts which Bede calls the Northern Picts where he tells us that in the said Year Columbanus a Priest and Abbot Lib. 3. ca. 4. famous for the profession of Monkery came out of Ireland into Britain to instruct those in the Christian Religion that by the high and fearful ridges of mountains were sequester'd from the Southern Countrys of the Picts and that they in requital granted him m It does not appear that the Western-Isles belong'd to the Picts at that time so that they could not dispose of any part of them 'T is more probable that it was Hoia one of the Orkney-Isles the Island Hii lying over against them now call'd I-comb-kill of which in its proper place Its Stewards in the last Age were the Lords of Lorn but now by a female heir it is come to the Earls of Argile who always use this among their other titles of honour BRAID ALBIN MORE inwardly amongst the high and craggy ridges of the mountain Grampius where they begin a little to slope and settle downwards lies Braid-Albin n Now an Earldom in the family of the Campbels that is the highest part of Scotland For they that are the true and genuine Scots call Scotland in their Mother-Tongue Albin as that part where it rises up highest Drum-Albin that is the Ridge of Scotland But in a certain old Book it is read Brun-Albin where we find it thus written Fergus the son of Eric was the first of the seed of Chonare that enter'd upon the Kingdom of Albany from Brun-Albain to the Irish-sea and Inch-Gall And after him the Kings of the race of Fergus reigned in Brun-Albain or Brunhere unto Alpinus the son of Eochal But this Albany is better known for its Dukes than the fruits of its ground The first Duke of Albany that I read of 〈◊〉 of â—â—â—â—ny was Robert Earl of Fife advanced to that honour by his Brother K. Robert the 3. of that name yet he spurr'd on by ambition most ungratefully starved to death David this very brother's son and next heir to the Crown But the punishment due to this wicked fact which himself by the forbearance of God felt not came heavy upon his son Mordac or Murdo second Duke of Albany who was condemned for treason and beheaded after he had seen his two sons executed in like manner the day before The third Duke of Albany was Alexander 2. son of King James 2. who being Regent of the Kingdom Earl of
Dignities were those of Dukes Marquisses Counts Captains Valvasors and Valvasins An hereditary title came but late into France not before Philip 3. King of France granted that for the future they should be called Dukes of Britain who were before stiled promiscuously Dukes and Counts But in England in the Norman times when the Norman Kings themselves were Dukes of Normandy there were none had that honour conferr'd upon them for a long time till Edward 3. created Edward his son Duke of Cornwall by a wreath on his head a ring on his finger and a A gold â—erge afâ—â—â—wards â—â—me into 〈◊〉 and a †silver verge as the Dukes of Normandy were formerly by a sword and a banner delivered to them and afterwards by girding the sword of the Dutchy and by a circlet of gold garnished on the top with little golden roses And the same King Edward 3. â—t Paris â—cernâ— John â—aâ—ed D. Norâ—â—ndy created his two sons Leonel Duke of Clarence and John Duke of Lancaster in Parliament By the putting on a sword setting upon their heads a furr'd cap with a circle of gold set with pearls and by the delivery of a Charter After this he created several and there have been now and then hereditary Dukes made in this Kingdom with such like expressions in the Charter the name title state stile place seat preheminence honour authority and dignity of a Duke we give and grant and do really invest you with them by the putting on a sword setting a cap with a golden circle upon your head and the delivery of a golden verge â—â—rquis A MARQUISS i.e. g From the Saxon mearc a bound and mearcan mearcian to set out mark distinctly c. in the same language according to the import of the word one set to guard the limits is a title of honour the second from a Duke This title we had but late none being invested with it before the time of Richard 2. For he created his darling Robert Vere Earl of Oxford Marquiss of Dublin and that was merely titular For those who were formerly to secure the frontiers were commonly called Lord Marchers and not Marquisses as we now stile them They are created by the King by girding on a sword putting on a Cap of honour and dignity 1 With the Coronet Hol. and delivering a Charter And here I shall take the liberty of relating what I find register'd in the Parliament-rolls â—â—m 4. When John de Beaufort Earl of Somerset was made Marquiss of Dorset by Richard 2. and was deprived of that title by Henry 4. the Commons of England in Parliament made an humble Request to the King that he would restore to him the title of Marquiss but he himself opposed his own cause and openly declared that it was an upstart dignity altogether unknown to our Ancestors and therefore that he did not by any means desire it nay utterly refused it â—â—s The EARLS which hold the third place we seem to have had from our German Ancestors For as Tacitus tells us they had always â—â—mites Earls attending their Princes to furnish them with counsel and to gain them authority But others are of opinion that both the Franks and we received them from the Romans For the Emperors after the Empire was come to its height began to keep about them a sort of domestick Senate which was call'd Caesar's †Comitatus retinue and these by whose counsel they acted in war and peace were called Comites Attendants from whence we find it common in old Inscriptions Comiti Impp. This name in a few years prevailed so much that all Magistrates had the name of Comites * Qui sacrum Comitatum observarunt Parati ad Cod. who gave their attendance at the said Council or had been of it insomuch that it was afterwards extended to all who had the supervisal of any business and Suidas as Cujacius has told us defined Comes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Governour of the people From whence also we gather that before Constantine the Great the name of Comes was not used to denote Dignity But he modelling the Roman government by new distinctions and endeavouring to oblige as many as possible by bestowing honours upon them first instituted the title of Comes as barely honorary without any duty nay there were certain rights and privileges annex'd to that title as to accompany the Prince not only when he appeared in publick but also in his palace and private retirements to be admitted to his table and to his secret consultations Upon which we read in Epiphanius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i.e. Who also had obtained of the King the Dignity of a Count. At length such as had the favour of this title had other honours conferr'd upon them to which some duty was annext and again to those who were before in Offices and were engaged in the affairs of State he added this piece of honour 2 Comes domesticorum Lord Great Master of the Houshold Comes sacrarum largitiâ—num Lord High Treasurer Comes sacrae vestis Master of the Wardrobe Comes Stabuli Master of the Horse Comes Thesauri Tresurer Comes Orientis Lieutenant of the East Comes Britannia Comes Africa c. Hol. Hereupon the name of Count implied both Dignity and Government and being at first but temporary it was afterwards for term of life But when the Roman Government was divided into several Kingdoms this title was still retained and our Saxons call'd those in Latin Comites which in their own tongue were named Ealdormen The same persons were stil'd by the Danes in their language Eorlas i.e. honourable men Eorles at this day Earles P. Pithaeus in his Memorabilia Campania as Ethelwerd tells us and by a little melting of that word we call them at this day Earls And for a long time they were simply so called till at last an addition was made of the place's name over which they had jurisdiction But still this Dignity was not yet hereditary The first hereditary Earls in France by the way were the Earls of Bretagne But when William the Norman and Conqueror had in his hands the Government of this Kingdom the Earls began to be Feudal hereditary and patrimonial and those too as appears from Domesday were stil'd simply Earls without any addition as Earl Hugh Earl Alan Earl Roger c. Afterwards as appears by ancient Records the Earls were created with an addition of the name of the place and had every third penny of the County assigned them For instance Mawd the Empress daughter and heir of King Henry 1. created an Earl by this form of words as is manifest from the very Charter now in my hands I Mawd daughter of K. Henry and Governess of the English do give and grant to Gaufred de Magnavilla for his service and to his heirs after him hereditarily the Earldom of Essex and that he have the third penny out
peace hannifare pence of the hundred and f Denarii S. Petri circreti in the Text. The learned Selden is of opinion the last word ought to be read Circseti but has left us no reason for his conjecture It would indeed bear the interpretation of the Founder of the Church a character agreeable enough to the person of St. Peter But the true reading here is certainly Circsceati from Sceat i.e. revenues or riches implying the Peter-pence to be the Revenues of the Church S. Peters pence to hold thrice a year the Bishops pleadings without admonition to go into the army with the Bishops men The country all about is beautify'd with green meadows abounds in delightful orchards which with the thickness of the villages does wonderfully charm the eyes of the Spectators Amongst the villages those of most note are Orchard which had it's Lords of the same name from whom it descended by inheritance to the Portmans Knights e next Hach-Beauchamp 〈…〉 and then Cory-Mallet the latter part whereof is added because of the Lords For it was the seat of the Mallets of Norman extraction from whom it came in a short time by an heiress to the Pointzies â—ies Of which family Hugh in the time of Edward 3. was reckon'd among the Parliamentary-Barons and some others of it are at this day Knights of great worth 〈…〉 But as to the Beauchamps otherwise call'd de bello campo 〈…〉 they have flourish'd in great honour from the time of Hen. 2. especially since Cecil de Fortibus descended from the Earls de Ferrariis and from that famous Mareschal of England William Earl of Pembroke was married into this family But in the reign of Edw. 3. the estate was divided by sisters between Roger de S. Mauro or Seimore and J. Meriet both of them sprung from ancient and honorable Ancestors This was the cause why Hen. 8. after he had marry'd Jane Seimor Edward the sixth's mother made Edward Seimor her brother â—nt Viscount Beauchamp 14 And Earl of Hertford whom King Edward 6. afterwards honour'd first with the name of Lord and Baron Seimor to be annex'd to his other titles lest as the King saith in the Patent the name of his mother's family should be overshadow'd with any other stile and yet afterward created him Duke of Sometset whom Edw. 6. afterwards advanc'd to the honour of Duke of Somerset 〈…〉 Next where Thone mixes it self with the Parret there is made a River-Island formerly call'd Aethelingey â—ey i.e. an Island of Nobles now commonly Athelnâ—y which is to us no less remarkable for King Alfred's absconding there when the Dane made havock of all before him than are those Minturnensian fenns to the Italians for being a hiding place to Marius For to that King as an ancient Poet writ of him Mixta dolori Gaudia semper erant spes semper mixta timori Si modo victor erat ad crastina Cella pavebat Si modo victus erat ad crastina cella parabat Cui vestes sudore jugi cui sica cruore Tincta jugi quantum sit onus regnare probarunt Allay'd with grief his cautious joys appear'd And when he hop'd the most the most he fear'd Conqu'ring h' expected still the rallying foe O'ercome he fitted for a second blow Whose sweaty hands and garments stain'd in blood Shew that a crown is but a noble load And truly this Island falls out very well for a private refuge for the standing pools and inundations which Asser call'd by a Latin-Saxon word Gronnas make it inaccessible Gronnes It had formerly a bridge between two towers which were built by King Alfred also a very large set of alders full of goats and deer but the firm ground not above two acres broad Upon this he built a monastery the whole structure whereof Malmesbury here speaks for me is supported by four posts fasten'd in the ground with four arch'd chancels drawn round it The Parret does not go far alone 15 Parret having receiv'd the same river runneth alone swelling with certain sandy shelves sometime in his channel by the Hundred of N. Pederton anciently acknowledging the Bluets to have been Lords thereof who are thought to have brought that name from Bluet in Little Britain after it has got together it's waters before it is joyn'd by another river from the East 16 Which openeth it self near Castle-Cary which William Lovel Lord thereof held against K. Stephen in the behalf of Mawd the Empress right Inheritrix of the Crown of England whose issue-male failing in the time of K. Edw. 3. by heir female it came to Nicholas de S. Maure a Baron of a distinct family from that which was a few lines before-mention'd and shortly after about the time of Hen. 5. by an heir female again to the Lord Zouches of Harringworth as a moiety of the lands of Lord Zouch of Ashby de la Zouch came before by coheirs to the house of this S. Maures But when the Lord Zouch was attainted by K. Henry 7. for assisting K. Richard 3. this Castle was given by the King to Robert Willoughby Lord Brooke as his lands at Bridgewater to the Lord Daubeney and then he was restor'd in blood From Castle Cary this water passeth by Lites-Cary to be remembred in respect of the late owner Thomas Lyte a Gentleman studious of all good knowledge and so to Somerton which runs by Somerton Somerton formerly the chief town of the County giving name to the whole It had a castle belonging to the West-Saxon Kings which Ethelbald King of the Mercians possess'd himself of by storm but now it has given way to age so that nothing of it appears and the town would scarce support it's character were it not for a throng Beast-fair kept there from Palm Sunday to the middle of June for those parts make grazing their chief employment After the Parret has receiv'd this river it visits a large and populous town commonly call'd Bridge-water Bridge-water as 't is thought from the bridge and the water tho' the ancient Charters refute that conjecture which always call it expresly Burgh-Walteri and it is highly probable that it took that name from Walter de Doway who was a soldier under William the Conqueror and had many Lands bestow'd on him in this County Nor is it otherwise call'd in that Charter wherein Fulk Paynel Lord of Bampton gave the possession of this place to William de Briewer to ingratiate himself with that person who was a particular favourite of K. Rich. 3. The son of this William of the same name with the father 17 Better'd this haven having license granted him by K. John to fortifie a castle built one here which now time has destroy'd and began a bridge which was finish'd at great expence by 18 Strivet in Holland Trivet a noble-man of Cornwall 19 Who founded also the Hospital of St. John here and Durkeswell-Abbey
But when William de Briewer the younger dy'd without issue by partition it fell to Margaret his sister by whose daughter which she bore to William 19 De la Fort. de la Fert it came to the family of the Chaworths or de Cadurcis and from them by inheritance to the Dukes of Lancaster 20 As some lands hereabout by another sister came to Brees and so by Cantalupe to Lord Zouch but the greatest honour it ever had was being made a County by King Hen. 8. upon his creating Henry Daubeney Earl of Bridgewater Earl of Bridge-water ee whose sister and coheir Cecil was marry'd to John Bourchier the first Earl of Bath of that family Below this at a few miles distance the Parret throws it self at a wide mouth into the Severn-Sea call'd as we observ'd before the Aestuarie Uzella Uzella by Ptolemy and by some at this day Evelmouth but by the ancient English g Pedridan-muth in the Saxon Annals Pedredan-muð where as Marianus tells us about the year 845. Ealstan Bishop of Shirburn routed the dispers'd army of the Danes At the same Aestuarie 21 Where we saw Honispell an ancient manour of the Cogans men of great fame in the conquest of Ireland we meet with another river which some call Brius rising out of that spatious wood in the east part of this County call'd by the Britains Coitmaur by the Saxons Selwood Selwood i.e. h See Florence of Worcester p. 317. as Asser interprets it a great wood not far from Pen an inconsiderable village where the God of war seems to have conspir'd the extirpation of the British name i The Danes notwithstanding were too hard for Etheired who encounter'd them here An. 1001. In the adjoyning parish of More there are still the remains of these engagements namely four Camps one whereof particularly having a double ditch appears to have been a Danish work and also the utter ruin of the Danes For Keniwalch the West-Saxon gave the Britains such an entire defeat in this place that they were never after able to make head against them and many ages after in the same place Edmund Ironside had a memorable victory over the Danes whilst he pursu'd from place to place Knute the Dane who had possess'd himself of the kingdom This river first visits Bruiton and gives it that name a place famous for the tombs of the Moions who there built a Monastery 22 Of the Fitz-James and running a long way thro' nothing but small villages with the encrease of a few rivulets it waters some fruitful fields till meeting with a softer soil it in a manner stagnates and makes an island call'd formerly Avalon in British from the apples there afterwards Inis-Witrin i.e. a glassy Island and in the same sense Glastn-ey as in Latin Glasconia A Poet of pretty good antiquity has these verses concerning it Insula pomorum quae fortunata vocatur Ex re nomen habet quia per se singula profert Non opus est illi sulcantibus arva colonis Omnis abest cultus nisi quem natura ministrat Ultro foecundas segetes producit herbas Nataque poma suis praetonso germine sylvis The isle of Apples truly fortunate Where unforc'd goods and willing comforts meet Not there the fields require the rustick's hand But nature only cultivates the land The fertile plains with corn and herbs are proud And golden apples smile in ev'ry wood William of Malmesâ—â—ry's Antiquities of Glassenbury In this 23 Under a great hill rising in great height with a tower thereon which they call the Tor. stood k Concerning the Antiquities of the Church of Glassenbury see Usher's Antiquitates p. 53. fol. the monastery of Glastenbury which is very ancient deriving its original from Joseph of Arimathea the same who bury'd Christ's body and whom Philip the Apostle of the Gauls sent into Britain to preach the Gospel For this is attested both by the most ancient Histories of this Monastery and l That the Treatise of the Antiquities of Avalonia is falsly ascrib'd to S. Patrick Dr. Ryves in his discourse relating to that Saint has evidently prov'd and shewn farther that Patrick was not the Apostle of the Irish an Epistle of S. Patrick the Irish Apostle See the title Romans in britaine who led a monastick life here for 30 years together From hence this place was by our Ancestors call'd The first ground of God the first ground of the Saints in England the rise and fountain of all Religion in England the burying-place of the Saints the mother of the Saints and that it was built by the very Disciples of our Lord. Nor is there any reason why we should call this in question since I have before shewn that the Christian Religion in the very infancy of the Church was preach'd in this Island and since Treculphus Lexoviensis has told us that this Philip brought barbarous nations bordering upon darkness and living upon the sea-coasts to the light of knowledge and haven of faith But to return to the Monastery and inform our selves out of Malmesbury's little treatise upon that subject When that small ancient Church founded by Joseph was wasted away with age Devi Bishop of S. David's built a new one in that place And when time had worn that out too twelve men coming from the north of Britain repair'd it but at length King Ina who founded a school at Rome for the education of the English youth and to maintain that as also to distribute alms at Rome tax'd every single house in the kingdom one penny pull'd this down An. 698. and built m It was afterwards the See of Savaricus Bâ—shop of Bâ—the See Hoveden p. 450. that stately Church dedicated to Christ S. Peter and S. Paul Just under the roof whereof round it he order'd these verses to be writ These verses with a very little alteration are in the 4th book of Venantius Fortunatus his Poems partly in praise of the Church at Paris and partly of that of Nantes Syderei montes speciosa cacumina Sion A Libano geminae flore comante cedri Coelorum portae lati duo lumina mundi Ore tonat Paulus fulgurat arce Petrus Inter Apostolicas radianti luce coronas Doctior hic monitis celsior ille gradu Corda per hunc hominum reserantur astra per illum Quos docet iste stylo suscipit ille polo. Pandit iter coeli hic dogmate clavibus alter Est via cui Paulus janua fida Petrus Hic Petra firma manens ille Architectus habetur Surgit in his templum quo placet ara Deo Anglia plaude lubens mittit tibi Roma salutem Fulgor Apostolicus Glasconiam irradiat A facie hostili duo propugnacula surgunt Quod fidei turreis urbs caput orbis habet Haec pius egregio Rex Ina refertus amore Dona suo populo non moritura dedit Totus in
Shirburn by Herman the eighth Bishop Wil. Malmesb of Bishops was at last as I have said before translated to Salisbury and carried with it all the reputation from this place because at Ramesbery there was neither a Chapter of the Clergy nor any thing for their maintenance On the other side the river more toward the East is 30 Not long since the seat of the Darels Littlecot Littlecot which is to be mention'd upon the account of John Popham Lord of it who being Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench discharges his Office with great applause as I have said before 31 And hereby runneth the limit between this shire and Berkshire Hitherto I have surveyed the County of Wilts which as it is in Domesday-book for I do not think it improper to be taken notice of paid the King 10 l. for an Hawk 20 s. for a Sumpter-horse one hundred shillings and five Ores for Hay I am wholly ignorant what sort of Money these Ores were Ore what only thus much I have noted out of the register of Burton-Abbey that 20 Ores p Of these Ores see Mr. Walker's Dissertation prefix'd to the Life of K. Alfred were worth 2 marks of silver Earls of Wiltshire The Earls of this Shire have been but few tho' of divers Families besides those of Salisbury which I have mention'd before For excepting Weolsthan before the Norman Conquest q There was also in the Saxon times one Ethelhelm that was Earl of this County sc about 886. it had none that I know of till Richard 2.'s time who preferred William le Scrope to that honour but this man's grandeur continu'd and fell with his Prince for when that King was dethron'd this Earl was beheaded Not many years after he was succeeded by James Butler Earl of Ormond who was raised to this dignity by King Henry 6. But when the House of Lancaster was in a declining condition he was attainted and King Edward 4. conferred this title on John Stafford younger son of Humphrey Duke of Buckingham to whom succeeded his son Edward who died without issue King Henry 8. afterward dignified with this honour Henry Stafford descended from the Buckingham-family who not long enjoying his title dyed without issue At last it came to the family of the Bollens by the favour of the same King who made Thomas Bollen Viscount Rochford descended from an Heiress of Th. Butler Earl of Ormond Earl of Wiltshire whose daughter Ann the King married which match was unfortunate to her self her Brother and her Parents but lucky for England because she it was that gave birth to that excellent Princess Queen Elizabeth Queen Eâ—â—zabeth who doth merit eternal honour for her excellent management of the Kingdom and is highly to be admired for many great virtues much above her sex But when this Thomas Bollen died without issue male of grief occasion'd by the unhappy fate of his Children this title lay dormant until King Edward 6. qualified therewith William Powlet Lord S. John of Basing See Biâ— in Hâ—â—shire whom afterwards he raised to be Marquess of Winchester and Lord High Treasurer of England in whose posterity it yet remaineth There are in this County 304 Parishes ADDITIONS to WILTSHIRE a WILTSHIRE in Saxon Wiltunscyre and by the Historians of succeeding ages melted by degrees into our Wiltshire call'd also Provincia Semerana and Severnia or Provincia Severorum is the largest mid-land County of any in England as may be easily observed by the * Appendix to the 2. Tome of â—he English â—torians ancient computation of it's Hides For we find that in Wiltysire as 't is there term'd were 4800 hides which is more by 2000 than any Shire mention'd by that Author The 39 miles in length and 29 in breadth which Spede assigns to it will be found too little both ways upon an accurate survey a Our Author observes among other advantages that this County is watered with the Isis which afterwards takes the name of Thamisis Thamisis not from a conjunction of Thame and Isis An error with which the world is so possess'd that 't will be a hard matter to make them part with it notwithstanding it plainly appears that this river was always call'd Thames or Tems before ever it came near Thame For instance in an ancient Charter granted to Abbot Aldhelm there is particular mention made of certain lands upon the east part of the river cujus vocabulum Temis juxta vadum qui appellatur Summerford and this ford is in Wiltshire The same thing appears from several other Charters granted to the Abby of Malmsbury as well as that of Enesham and from the old Deeds relating to Cricklade And perhaps it may safely be affirmed that in any Charter or authentick History it does not ever occur under the name of Isis which indeed is not so much as ever heard of but among scholars the common people all along from the head of it down to Oxford calling it by no other name but that of Thames So also the Saxon Temese from whence our Tems immediately comes is a plain evidence that that people never dreamt of any such conjunction But farther all our Historians that mention the Incursions of Aethelwold into Wiltshire A. D. 905. or of Canute A. D. 1016. tell us that they pass'd over the Thames at Cricklade For the original of the word it plainly seems to be British because one may observe several rivers in several parts of England of almost the same name with it as Tame in Staffordshire Teme in Herefordshire Tamar in Cornwall c. And the learned Mr. Llwyd affirms it to be the same with their Tâf which is the name of many rivers in Wales the Romans changing the pronunciation of the British f into m as the Latin word Demetia is in Welsh Dyfed b As for Wansditch Wansâ—â— the course whereof is trac'd in the Map it seems to be so far from having been drawn for a boundary between the West-Saxons and Mercians as our Author would have it that it was probably made long before the settlement of the Mercian Kingdom viz. by Cerdick the first King of the West-Saxons or by Kenric his son against the incursions of the Britains who even in K. Ceaulin's time as Malmsbury tells us made frequent inroads into this County from their garrisons at Bath Glocester and Cirencester And the same Historian informs us that Ceaulin was routed by the Britains not as other writers at Wodensburgh but at Wodenesdic which seems to intimate that it was made before that time and was then a boundary between the two people The rampire and graff of this Wansditch are very large the rampire on the south-side And besides this ditch there are several others of less note still visible upon the plains especially about Stone-henge and in the †Moâ— Angâ—â—â— Saxon-Charter of lands belonging to Wilton-Abbey there is mention made of no less than 13 distinct
a Furnace and Forge others a Forge only and others only a Furnace Near Hastings also are two powder-mills where is made as good Gun-powder as any in England And in that end of the County where the Iron-works are namely the East Char-coal is made in great abundance c To go along now with Mr. Camden St. Râ—â—â—-hill North of Chichester which has given the title of Earl to Francis Leigh Lord Dunsmore and after him to Charles Fitz-Roy natural son to K. Charles 2. is a place call'd St. Rook's hill †Aâ—â—â—â— Mâ—◠〈◊〉 MS. and upon it is still to be seen an old camp the diameter whereof is two furlongs and better The form of it is circular from which thus much may be undoubtedly gather'd that it is not Roman but probably Danish Those who have an opportunity of searching into the Records of the place would do well to consider whether the true name of it is not S. Roch's hill for he was patron of the pilgrims and here was formerly a Chapel which might possibly enough be dedicated to him A mile and a half from this place to the west is a Camp call'd Gonshill Gonâ—hâ—â—â— Ibid. which being of a different form must be made by some other people The figure of it is an oblong square which comes nearest to the Roman way of encamping The Bâ—ile Hard by Chichester towards the west ‖ there has been also another large Roman Camp call'd the Brile of an oblong form 4 furlongs and 2 perches in length and 2 furlongs in breadth It lies in a flat low ground with a great rampire and single graff and in such a place as renders it probable enough to have been that of Vespasian's after his landing d Eastward from hence is Arundel â—rundel which our Author observes to be of more fame than real note tho' it is now a market-town and a borough sending 2 Burgesses to Parliament The famous high-way Stanesstreet-causeway which is in some places 10 yards broad but in most 7 comes to this town out of Surrey by Belinghurst It is a yard and a half deep in stones which they discover by cutting passages to let in water and runs in a streight line It is made of flints and pebbles tho' no flints are found within 7 miles of it As the story of Bevis's horse call'd Arundel ought not to be altogether rejected so neither ought our Author's name of the river Arun and derivation of the town from thence be too securely clos'd with For that Bevis was founder of the Castle is a current opinion handed down by tradition and there is a tower in it still known by the name of Bevis's tower which they say was his own apartment Besides 't is natural enough to imagine that the name of a horse might be Arundel from his swiftness since that word in French signifies a Swallow and the present Arms of the town which is corporate by Prescription are a Swallow Now why might not Bevis's Arundel as well have the honour of naming a town wherein his master had a particular interest as Alexander's Bucephalus had of a city But whatever approbation this conjecture may meet with 't is certain that Mr. Camden's fetching it from Arun will not hold For that river is call'd High-stream to distinguish it from the other small rivulets or streams and seems to have bore the same name as to the sense at least all along The Norman English call'd it Hault-rey and answerably the middle-aged Latin writers Alta ripa so Mr. Camden tells us that Rhie in this County is call'd in Latin Ripa and several branches breaking out of the High-stream are at this day call'd Ripes or Rifes There was also an ancient family of Knights owners of much land in these parts even in the bosom of this great river in the parish of Hardham otherwise Feringham call'd from it de Hault Rey and their posterity remains in these parts to this day under the name of D'Awtrey in Latin De alta Ripa But our Author's interpretation Aruntina vallis will not by any means suit either the name of the place or the circumstances of it For tho' it be writ several ways yet no one makes it end in dale nor is a low tract of ground ever express'd by that word in this County as it is in other parts of England but by a Level as Pevensey-Level Lewes-Level Bramber-Level Arundel-Level with many others And the Commissioners of Sewers call the Imposition laid upon Land for repair of publick banks and sluces a Level-tax 〈◊〉 Eâ—rls â—â—iâ—â—ed Thomas Howard being restor'd in blood 1 Jac. 1. and dying An. 1646. was succeeded in his honours by his son Henry who in the life-time of his father was summon'd to Parliament by the titles of Lord Moubray and Maltravers By whose death An. 1652. this title came to Thomas his eldest son restor'd also 13 Car. 2. to the title of Duke of Norfolk which had been forfeited by the Attainder of Thomas the last Duke By which means the title of Duke of Norfolk came to Henry his brother along with the Earldoms of Arundel and Surrey who now among other honours enjoys them e Towards the north-east lies Findon â—â—â—don within a mile of which is an ancient Camp at about 2 miles distance from the sea 'T is call'd Caesar's-hill because the people imagine it was Caesar's Camp and they pretend to shew the place where Caesar's tent was Notwithstanding which the form of it shews that opinion to be an error for being roundish it seems rather to have been a British work f And farther eastward near Lewes Lewes there is another Camp From whence going forwards we meet with Pemsey Pemsey which * Forts and Ports in Kent Mr. Somner disallowing Camden's Lambard's and Selden's conjecture of Newenden thought to be the ancient Anderida where was the band of the Abulae grounding partly upon Gildas's words expressing the situation of these garrisons In littore Oceani ad meridiem on the sea-shore to the south and the design of them to ken and spy out the invading enemy and partly upon the antiquity of the place which Archbishop Usher makes the old Caer Pensavelcoit of the Britains by the coit i.e. wood the former condition of this County being hinted to But tho' he seems most inclin'd to this place yet he is not altogether so positive but either Hastings or even Newenden may lay claim to this piece of Antiquity g Not far from hence is Ashburnham Ashburnham of which place and family John Ashburnham Esquire Grandfather to the present Lord Ashburnham built there a handsome Church with 3 Chancels There is also a noble house of the present Lord Ashburnham's which for stately buildings and convenient garden-room is one of the best in this County North-east from hence lies Breede Breede the Court whereof is a branch of that at Battle and hath the same privilege and process The Lands
call'd the Vineyard Vineyards and another on a rising hill by Oversbridge near Glocester where was a large house moted round belonging to the Bishop of Glocester built about the year 1351. by the Abbot of Glocester but 't was totally ruin'd in the late Civil Wars b The Custom of having forfeited Estates return'd them is now lost by desuetude for upon the strictest enquiries among understanding men it does not appear that 't is us'd oâ— claim'd in any part of this County c The present Forest of Dean â—ean forest contains about 30000 Acres the soil a deep clay fit for the growth of Oak The hills are full of Iron-ore which colour the several Springs that have their passage through them Here are several Fornaces for the making of Iron which by the violence of the fire becomes fluid and being brought to their forges are beat out into Barrs of various shapes The workmen are very industrious in seeking out the Beds of old Cinders which not being fully exhausted are burnt again in the furnaces and make the best Iron The Oak of the forest was so very considerable that 't is said to have been part of the Instructions of the Spanish Armada to destroy the timber of this place But what a foreign power could not effect our own Civil dissentions did for it went miserably to wrack in the Civil wars d The Aventon â—venton mention'd by our Author is at present call'd Alvington being a Chapel of Ease to Wollaston the estate of Henry Duke of Beaufort St. Brevial's-Castle is now ruin'd and serves as a prison for offenders in the Forest It has been always esteem'd a place of trust and honour and several of the Nobility have been Governours of it His Grace the Duke of Beaufort is Constable of the place Here it is that the Mine-Court Swain-Mote and Speech-Court are kept wherein are several old Customs of Pleading e By the river Wye lyeth Newland â—wland a large Parish standing in a pleasant plain where are vast Mine-pits of 60 or 70 foot deep and as large as a considerable Church Mr. Jones a Hamborow-Merchant erected here an Alms house for 16 poor men and women and gave a very good house and stipend to a Lecturer the Company of Haberdashers in London being Trustees North-west from hence is Westbury â—estbury a very large Parish reputed about twenty miles in compass f Our next guide is the Severn â—ern which runs in this County above 40 miles by land 't is in some places 2 or 3 miles over and yet the tyde floweth the whole length of the current as high as Tewkesbury It is remarkable that the tydes one year are largest at full Moon the next at the change and and that one year the night-tydes are largest the other the day-tydes g This river first goes to Tewkesbury â—wkesâ—y where but little of the Abbey remains saving only the Church which is now Parochial and had once a fair Spire upon it Mr. Fuller in his Church-History makes it a controverted point whether the Abbot of Tewkesbury had a voice in Parliament but by Bishop Godwin's Annals it appears he had one 1539. So that this County had four mitred Abbies Glocester Cirencester Tewkesbury and Winchcomhe The Corporation was dissolv'd by the Proclamation of King James 2. 1688. h At a little distance from hence is Deorhirst â—rhirst where Mr. Powell in the year 1675. dug up in his Orchard an old stone with this Inscription Odda Dux jussit hanc Regiam Aulam construi atque dedicari in honorem S. Trinitatis pro animâ germani sui Elfrici quae de hoc loco assumpta Ealdredus vero Episcopus qui eandem dedicavit 2 Idibus April 14. autem anno S. Regni Eadwardi Regis Anglorum i.e. Duke Odda commanded this Royal Palace to be built and to be dedicated to the Holy Trinity for the soul of his Cousin Elfrick which was parted from his body in this place But Ealdred was the Bishop who consecrated it on the second of the Ides of April and the 14th year of the reign of the Holy King Edward i Next is what our Author calls Oleaneag Olaniage in Saxon instead of Olanige for so our ancient Annals read it and makes it famous for the battle between Edmund and Canutus But general tradition will not allow this to be the place neither is it justify'd by any analogy between the old and new names Near Glocester betwixt Oversbridge and Maysemore there is an Island call'd to this day the Isle of Alney which one need not scruple to say was the very place of that action k From hence the Severn runs to Glocester Glocester in Saxon GleaÆ¿anceaster where the Castle mention'd by Mr. Camden is now the common Goal for Debtors and Felons The Monastery built there by Osrick being ruin'd and decay'd was repair'd by Beornulph King of the Mercians in the year 821. who chang'd the former institution into Seculars and they continued till Wulstan Bishop of Worcester plac'd Regulars there of the Order of St. Benedict in the year 1022. A learned Member of this Church has discover'd by some ancient Records that Ralph Willington and not the two mention'd by our Author built our Lady's Chapel and gave Lands to find two Priests for ever there The Offerings at King Edward's Tomb were very large for presently after his death so great a respect was paid to the memory of their injur'd Prince that the Town was scarce able to receive the Votaries that flock'd thither And the Register of the Abbey affirms that if all the Oblations had been expended upon the Church they might have built an entire new one from the very foundation The Tower is so neat and curious that several Travellers have affirm'd it to be one of the best pieces of Architecture in England Abbot Seabroke the first designer of it dying left it to the care of Robert Tully a Monk of this place which is intimated in thole two verses written in black Letters under the arch of the Tower in the Quire Hoc quod digestum specularis opusque politum Tullii haec ex onere Seabroke Abbate jubente The Whispering-place seems to be purely accidental for if one survey the out-side of the Church he will see that two parts of it were tackt on only as passages into a Chapel erected there l As for the City King John made it a Burrough to be govern'd by two Bailiffs and King Henry 3. who was crown'd here made it a Corporation On the south-side of the Abbey King Edward 1. erected a noble Free-stone-gate which is still call'd Edward's Gate it was repair'd by the last Abbot but almost demolisht in the late Civil wars K. Richard the third gave it his Sword and Cap of Maintenance and added the two Hundreds but after the Restoration of King Charles 2. they were taken away by Act of Parliament and the walls pull'd down because they had
his vast estate made a considerable addition to King Henry the 2's Exchequer His Barony remain'd a long time in the Crown till 10 Sir Hubert de Burgâ— Hubert de Burgh obtain'd a grant of it from King John Farther to the North the shores being something dinted in give free entrance to the sea in two places one of which Bays the inhabitants call Crouch and the other Blackwater formerly Pant. In Crouch there lye four pretty green Islands but the water almost continually overflowing them makes 'em for the most part fenny and moorish The most considerable are Wallot and Foulness Foulness that is the Promontory of Birds which hath a Church that at low tide may be come at on horse back Between these Bays lies Dengy-hundred Dengy-Hundred formerly Dauncing the grass here is excellent good and well stock'd with Cattel but the air none of the healthiest The only trade almost that 's drove here consists in Cheeses Essex-cheese and men milk the ewes like women in other places Where are made those Cheeses of an extraordinary bigness which are used as well in foreign parts as in England to satisfie the coarse stomachs of husbandmen and labourers Dengy the chief town is thought to have receiv'd it's name from the Danes which it gives to the whole Hundred Nigh this stands Tillingham given by Ethelbert the first Christian King of the Saxons to the Monastery of St. Paul in London Up higher toward the Northern shore stood once a flourishing city called by our ancestors Ithancester For thus Ralph Niger tells us out of Bede Ceada the Bishop baptized the East-Saxons near Maldon in the city of Ithancester which stood upon the bank of the rivâ—r Pant that runs near Maldon in the Province of Dengy but that city hath since been quite swallow'd up in the river Pant. I can't exactly point out the place but that the river Froshwell was heretofore called Pant I am pretty confident since one of it's springs still keeps the name of Pant's-Well and since the Monks of Coggeshall speaking of it use the same appellation Some think this Ithancester Ithanceâ—ter to have been seated in the utmost point of Dengy Hundred where stands at present St. Peter's on the Wall For on this shore the Country-people are hardly put to 't with great banks and walls of mud to keep the sea out of their fields I am enclin'd to believe this Ithancester was the same as Othona Othona the Station of the Band of the Fortenses with their Provost in the declension of the Roman Empire placed here under the Count of the Saxon shore to secure the Coast against the Pirating Saxons For Othona might very easily pass into Ithana and the situation in a creek at the mouth of several rivers was very convenient for such a design 11 Yet there remaineth a huge ruin of a thick wall whereby many Roman Coins have bâ—en found Here we may add that the Confessor granted the Custody of this Hundred to Ralph * The Nâ—rmans calâ— him Peâ—â—rell Peperking by a short Charter which I am willing to set down that we who now rake into all the niceties of the Law may see the innocent freedom and plainness of that age It stands thus in the Rolls of the Exchequer but by often transcribing some words are made smoother than they were in the Original Iche Edward Koning Among the Records of Hilary-term E. â— 1â— in the Custody of the Treasurer and Chamberlain of the Exchequer Have geven of my Forrest the keeping Of the Hundred of Chelmer and Dancing To Randolph Peperking and to his kindling With heorte and hinde doe and bocke Hare and Foxe Cat and Brocke Wilde Fowell with his flocke Partrich Fesant hen and Fesant cock With greene and wilde stob and stock To kepen and to yemen by all her might Both by day and eke by night And Hounds for to holde Good and swift and bolde Fower Grehounds and six racches For Hare and Fox and wild Cattes And therefore ich made him my booke Witnesse the Bishop Wolston And booke ylered many on And Sweyne of Essex our Brother And teken him many other And our Stiward Howelin That by sought me for him Seals first 〈◊〉 amâ—â—g the â—â—gâ—th This was the honest undesigning simplicity of that age which thought a few lines and a few golden crosses sufficient assurances For before the coming in of the Normans as we read in Ingulphus Indentures were made firm by golden crosses and such other marks but the Normans used to strengthen their writings with the impression in wax of the particular seals of the parties concern'd and of three or four witnesses But before many Tenures were granted by the bare word without writing or paper only with the sword of the Lord or his helmet with a horn or a cup and several others with a spur a curry-comb a bow and sometimes with an arrow Into Blackwater-bay which as I said before bounds the north part of this Hundred and is famous for abundance of excellent Oysters which we call Wallfleot-oysters flow two rivers that wash the greatest part of the County Chelmer and Froshwell Chelmer flowing from those parts that lye farther in and are thick cloath'd with woods passeth through Thaxsted Thaxâ—ted a little Market-town seated very pleasantly on a hill and Tiltey Tiltey where Maurice Fitz-Gilbert founded a small Monastery to Estannes by the tower now Eston which was the seat of the Lords of Lovain Lâ—â—ds of Lâ—â—â—in descended from Godfrey brother to Henry the sixth Duke of Brabant who being sent hither to take care of the Honour of Eya were accounted Barons to the sixth generation But in the time of Edw. 3. for want of issue male the estate and honour passed by marriage to William Bourgchter whose Posterity were for a short time Earls of Essex Then to Dunmow anciently Dunmawg and in the Rate-book of England Dunmaw a town of a very delightful situation on the top of a moderately steep hill where one Juga founded a Monastery in the year 1111. But William Bainard as we read in the private History of that Monastery of whom Juga held the village of little Dunmow was for felony depriv'd of his Barony and King Henry 1. gave it to Robert son of Richard Fitz-Gislbert Earl of Clare and to his heirs with the honour of Bainard-castle in London which Robert was then Sewer to King Henry These are the Author 's own words Nor do I think it just for me to alter them though they contain a manifest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or anticipation of time a crime to be met withal in the best historians Inasmuch as that family was not yet honour'd with the dignity of Earls of Clare e Now let us retire a little farther back from the river on both sides On the one at a little distance stands Plaisy so call'd in French from pleasing The former name was Estre This was the
More inward wee see Wingfield Wingfield with its half ruinated Castle which gave both a name and seat to a large family in those parts famous for their knighthood and ancient nobility And Dunnington which boasts of its Lord John Phelipps Phelipps the father of that William who married the daughter and heir of Baron Bardolph and whose daughter and heir was marry'd to John Viscount Beaumont But now 't is the seat of the ancient family of the Rouses Not far from hence is Huntingfield Huntingfield which in the reign of Edward the third had a noted Baron of that name and near this is Heveningham the seat of the knightly family de Heveningham Henningham which is exceeding ancient at a little distance from whence is Halesworth Halesworth formerly Healsworda an ancient town of the Argentons now of the Alingtons for which Richard Argenton procur'd the Privilege of a Market of King Henry the third That on the north part two little rivers namely Ouse the less and Waveney divide this County from Norfolk we have already observ'd They both rise out of a marshy ground about Lophamford very near one the other and run quite contrary ways with creeks full of shallow fords On this side of the Ouse which goes westward there is nothing memorable k Upon Waveney which is carried eastward first we meet with Hoxon formerly Hegilsdon made famous by the martyrdom of King Edmund Martyrdom of King Edmund For there the most Christian King because he would not renounce Christ was by the most inhuman Danes to use the words of Abbo bound to a tree Hoxon and had his body all over mangl'd with arrows And they to increase the pain and torture with showers of arrows made wound upon wound till the darts gave place to one another And as a middle-age Poet has sung of him Jam loca vulneribus desunt nec dum furiosis Tela sed hyberna grandine plura volant Now wounds repeated left no room for new Yet impious foes still more relentless grew And still like winter-hail their pointed arrows flew In which place was afterwards a very neat seat of the Bishops of Norwich till they exchang'd it not long since for the Monastery of S. Benedict In the neighbourhood at Brome the family of Cornwalleys Cornwalleys Knights have dwelt for a long time of which John was Steward of the Houshold to King Edward the sixth and Thomas his son for his prudence and fidelity was Privy-Councellor to Queen Mary and Lord Controller of her Houshold Below this is Eay Eay that is the Island so call'd because 't is water'd on all sides where are seen the rubbish ruins and the decaying walls of a Monastery dedicated to St. Peter Book of Inquisitions and of an old Castle which belong'd to Robert Mallet a Norman Baron But when he was depriv'd of his dignity under Henry the first for siding with Robert Duke of Normandy against that King he bestow'd this Honour upon Stephen Count of Bologne who afterwards usurping the Crown of England left it to his son William Earl of Waren But after he 18 Having surrendâ—r'd his estate to King Henry 2. had lost his life in the Expedition of Tholose the Kings kept it in their own hands till Richard 1. gave it to Henry 5. of that name Duke of Brabant and Lorain with the grandchild of K. Stephen by a daughter who had been a Nun. A long time after when it return'd to the Kings of England Edward the third as I have heard gave it to Robert de Ufford Earl of Suffolk Nor must we pass by Bedingfield Bedingfield in the neighbourhood which gave name to a famous and ancient family that receiv'd much honour by the heir of Tudenham From thence along by Flixton Flixton for Felixton so nam'd among many others in this County from Foelix the first Bishop the river Waveney runs to Bungey Bungey and almost encompasses it Here Hugh Bigod when the seditious Barons put all England in an uproar fortify'd a Castle to the strength whereof nature very much contributed Of which he was wont to boast as if it were impregnable Were I in my Castle of Bungey Upon the River of Waveney I would ne care for the King of Cockeney Notwithstanding which he was afterwards forc'd to compound for a great sum of money and hostages with Henry the second to save it from being demolisht Next not far from the banks we meet with Mettingham Mettingham where in a plain a square Castle with a College in it was built by the Lord of the place John sirnam'd de Norwich whose daughter and afterward heir of the family was marry'd to Robert de Ufford Earl of Suffolk to whom she brought a fair estate Now the Waveney drawing nearer the Sea while it tries in vain to break a double passage into the Ocean the one along with the river Yare the other through the lake Luthing makes a pretty large Peninsula call'd by some Lovingland but by others more truly Luthingland Luthingland from that long and spatious lake Luthing which beginning at the Sea-side empties it self into the river Yare At the beginning of this Lestoffe Lestoffe a little town hangs as it were over the sea and at the end of it is Gorlston where I saw the tower of a small ruinated religious House which is of some use to the Sea men More inward upon the Yare is Somerley Somerley formerly as I was told the seat of the Fitz-Osberts from whom it came to the knightly and famous family of the Jerneganes A little higher where the Yare and Waveney joyn there flourish'd Cnobersburg i.e. as Bede interprets it the City of Cnoberus Cnoberi Urbs. we call it at this day Burghcastell Which as Bede has it by the vicinity of woods and sea was a very pleasant Castle wherein a Monastery was built by Fursaeus the Scot. By his perswasions Sigebert was induc'd to quit the Throne and betake himself to a Monastick life but afterwards being drawn against his will out of this Monastery to encourage his own men in a battel against the Mercians he was cut off ‖ Una cum suis with all his company Now there is nothing in the place but broken walls almost square built of flints and British brick It is quite overgrown with briars and thorns amongst which they now and then dig up Roman coins so that it seems to have been one of those Forts which the Romans built upon the river Garienis against the Saxon-Piracies or rather indeed the very Garianonum where the Stablesian horse had their station l Suffolk has had Earls and Dukes Dukes and Earls of Suffolk of several Families There are some modern Authors who tell us that the Glanvils were formerly honour'd with that title but since they build upon no sure authority and the mistake is obvious nor does any thing of it appear
Confessor's Charter In consideration of 4000 Eeles in Lent the Monks of Ramsey shall have out of the Territory of St. Peter so much square stone as they need at Berneck and of rough stone for walls at Burch Beneath Berneck that Roman way which the neighbouring Inhabitants call the Forty-foot way from its breadth cuts this Shire in two between Caster and Stamford and appears in an high Causey especially by the little wood of Berneck where it has a Beacon set upon the very ridge and so runs along by Burghley-Park-wall Some few miles hence the Welland runs down by Maxey-Castle Maxey formerly belonging to the Barons of Wake and by Peag-Kirke Peag-Kirk Ingu phus where in the infancy of Christianity in England Pega a holy woman who gave name to that place sister of St. Guthlac with other devout Virgins by their life and example gave excellent documents of Piety and Chastity and so comes to the Fenns so often mention'd And by reason the bank on the South-side thereof is neglected the river over-flows the adjacent Lands to the great damage of the proprietors and having broken thus out of it's chanel which went formerly by Spalding it falls into the Nen and extreamly overcharges it The lesser Avon which is the other boundary as I said of this Shire northward but serves for a limit only about 5 or 6 miles breaking out of the ground near the springs of the Welland runs westward by 11 Suleby sometimes an Abby of black Monks and by c. Stanford Stanford upon Avon seat of the family of Cave Cave out of which several branches of good note have dispers'd themselves in all the neighbouring Tract also by Lilburne the seat in former ages of the Canvils That this hath been anciently a Roman Station I am persuaded by it's situation upon one of their Military ways by the ancient Trenches there and a little piked Hill cast up which some dug of late days in hopes of finding old hidden treasures but instead of Gold they met with Coals And thus this little river after it 's passing under Dowbridge leaves Northamptonshire and enters Warwickshire Bounds of the Ancients From the digging up of those Coals what if I should give a guess that this Hill was thrown up for a mark or Boundary since Siculus Flaccus tells us that either Ashes or Coals or Potsherds or broken Glasses or Bones half burnt or Lime or Plaister were wont to be put under such marks or limits and St. Augustin writes thus of Coals Lib. de Civ Dei 21. c. 4. Is it not a wonderful thing considering Coals are so brittle that with the least blow they break with the least pressure they are crush'd in pieces yet no time can conquer them insomuch that they that pitch'd Land-marks were wont to throw them underneath to convince any litigious fellow whatsoever that came never so long time after and should affirm that no Land-mark was there made And so much the rather am I inclined to this conjecture because they that have written of limits do inform us that certain Hillocks which they termed Botontines Boton tines Hence perhaps come our Buttings were plac'd in the limits So that I suppose most of these Mounts and round Hillocks which we see all hereabouts 12 And call Burrows were raised for this purpose and that Ashes Coals Potsherds c. might be found under them if they dug deeper into the ground Earls of Northampton The first Earl that this County had at least that I know of was Waldeof son of the warlike Siward who being also Earl of Huntingdon lost his head for treason against William the Conquerour leaving only two daughters behind him which he had by Judith the Conquerour's niece by a sister on the mother's side The Life 〈…〉 Simon * De S. 〈…〉 Sylvaneciensâ—â— Sinlis being scornfully rejected by Judith the mother upon account of being lame in his legs married Maud the eldest daughter and built St. Andrew's Church and the Castle at Northampton After him succeeded his son Simon 2. who was a long time at law about his mother's estate with David King of Scots his mother's second husband and having sided with King Stephen in the year of our Lord 1152. died with this ‖ Elogia elogy A youth full of every thing that was unlawful every thing that was unseemly His son Simon 3. going on with the suit against the Scots for his right to the Earldom of Huntingdon wasted his whole estate but thro' the favour of King Hen. 2. married the daughter and heir of Gilbert de Gant Earl of Lincoln and having at last recover'd the Earldom of Huntingdon and disseis'd the Scots died issueless in the year 1185. Many years after King Edw. 3. created William de Bohun a person of approved valour Earl of Northampton and when his elder brother Humfrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex and High Constable of England was not able in that warlike Age to bear the charge of Constable he made him also High Constable of England After him his son Humfrey succeeding in the Earldom of Northampton as also in the Earldoms of Hereford and Essex upon his Uncle's dying issueless had two daughters the one married to Thomas of Woodstock youngest son to King Edw. 3. the other to Henry of Lancaster Duke of Hereford afterwards King of England The daughter of Thomas of Woodstock brought by her marriage this her grandfather's title of Northampton together with others into the family of the Staffords But when they had lost their honours King Edw. 6. honour'd William Par Earl of Essex a most accomplish'd Courtier with the title of Marquiss of Northampton who within our memory died issueless And now while I am upon this work our most serene Sovereign King James in the year of our Lord 1603. at one and the same time has advanced Henry Howard Brother of the last Duke of Norfolk a person of excellent wit and fluent eloquence a complete master of Arts and Sciences exceeding prudent and provident to the degree and stile of Baron Howard of Marnehill and the honour of Earl of Northampton There belong to this Shire 326 Parishes ADDITIONS to NORTHAMPTONSHIRE a THE County of Northampton at the time of the Conquerour's Survey was something larger than now it is For all the south part of Rutlandshire must have been taken out of it because in Domesday-book we meet with the towns in this tract under the title of Northamptonshire 'T is a County so plentiful in all things necessary to life that it does not need nor indeed will allow much of manufacture the ground abundantly maintaining and fully employing the Inhabitants * Full Wor. pag. 279. It is said that of Cloathing has been attempted with great application but at last came to nothing The thinness of it's woods observ'd by our Author and it 's distance from the sea so that no Coal can
river rises near Healy castle built by the Barons of Aldelegh or Audley Barons Audley to whom this place was given by Harvy de Stafford as likewise Aldelegh it self by Theobald de Verdon and from these spring the family of the Stanleys Earls of Derby 8 Strange it is to read what Lands King Henry 3. confirm'd to Henry Audeley which were bestow'd on him through the bounty of the Peers and even of private Gentlemen not only in England but also in Ireland where Hugh Lacy Earl of Ulster gave him Lands together with the Constablish of Ulster so that without doubt he was either a person of singular virtue or a very great Favourite or an able Lawyer or perhaps was endu'd with all these qualifications His posterity were all â—â—d in marriage with the heirs of the Lord Giffard of Brimsfield of Baron Martin Lord of Keimeis and Barstaple as also a younger brother of this house with one of the heirs of the Earl of Glocester who was by King Edward 3. created Earl of Glocester About which time James Lord Aualey acquir'd a very great reputation on the account of his valour and skill in war-like affairs who as it is related by French Historians being dangerously wounded in the battel of Poitiers when the Black Prince with many high commendations had given to him a pension of 400 marks per annum bestow'd it immediately on his four Esquires that always valiantly attended him and satisfy'd the Prince doubting that his gift might be too little for so great service with this answer gratefully acknowledging his bounty These my Esquires sav'd my life amidst my enemies and God be think'd my Ancestors have left me sufficient Revenues to maintain me in your Service Whereupon the Prince approving this prudent Liberality both confirm'd his Donation to his Esquires and besides assign'd to him Lands to the value of 600 marks yearly But by his daughter one of the co-heirs to her brother the title of Lord Audley came afterward to the Touchets and in them continueth but the inheritance and name descended to the Touchetts in whose posterity and name that family is still remaining i I must not go on here without taking notice of that house call'd Gerards Bromley both upon the account of its magnificence and also because 't is the chief seat of Thomas Gerard whom King James in the first of his reign created Baron Gerard of Gerards Bromley The Sow keeps like a parallel line at equal distance from the Trent and runs by Chebsey which formerly belong'd to the Lords Hastings 9 Reckon'd among the principal Noble-men in the time of King Edward the first and then not far from Eccleshal the residence of the Bishop of Lichfield k and Ellenhall which formerly was the seat of the Noels Noel a famous family who founded a Monastery here at Raunton from them it descended hereditarily to the Harcourts who are of an ancient and noble Norman race and flourish'd for a long time in great dignity Of the male-line of these Noels is Andrew Noel of Dalby an eminent Knight and the Noels of Wellesborow in the County of Leicester and others remaining at this day l From hence the Sow runs by Stafford Stafford heretofore Statford and first of all Betheney where Bertelin with the reputation of great sanctity liv'd formerly an Hermite Edward the elder in the year 914. built a Tower upon the North-side of the river here When William the first took his Survey of England as it is said in Domesday-book the King had only eighteen Burgesses here belonging to him and twenty mansion houses of the Honour of the Earl it paid in gross for all customs nine pounds in deniers 10 And had 13 Canons-Prebendaries who held in Frank-Almoin In another place The King commanded a castle to be made there which was lately demolish'd But at that time as it is at this day Stafford was the chief Town of this County which owes its greatest glory to Stafford a castle adjoyning to it 11 Which the Barons of Stafford of whose Progeny were the Dukes of Buckingham built for their own seat who prevail'd with King John to erect it into a Burrough with ample liberties and priviledges caus'd to be partly enclos'd with a wall and founded a Priory of Black-Canons in honour of St. Thomas of Canterbury built by the Barons of Stafford for a seat m Below this the Sow is joyn'd by a little river call'd Penke which gives name to Pennocrucium an ancient town of which we have already made mention Near the confluence of the Sow and the Trent stands Ticks-hall where the family of the Astons dwell which for antiquity and kindred is one of the best families in these parts n With these waters the Trent glides gently through the middle of the County to the Eastward having Chartley Chartley. castle at two miles distance on the left of it which from Ranulph Earl of Chester who built it fell to the Ferrars by Agnes his sister who was married to William de Ferrars Earl of Derby from whom descended and flourish'd the Lords Ferrars of Chartley Lords Ferrars of Chartley. and Anne the daughter of the last of them brought this Honour with her as a portion to Walter D'eureux her husband from whom is Robert D'eureux Earl of Essex and Lord Ferrars of Chartley. On the right side of this river almost at the same distance stands Beaudesert Beaudesert most delicately seated among the woods formerly the house of the Bishops of Lichfield but afterwards of the Barons Pagets Barons Paget For William Paget who for his great prudence and knowledge of the world being eminent both at home and abroad was in great favour with Henry the eighth and King Edward the sixth having got a large estate was created Baron Paget of Beaudesert by Edward the sixth 12 He was as it may be collected from his Epitaph Secretary and Privy Counsellor to King Henry 8. and constituted by his Testament Counsellor and Adjutant to King Edward the sixth during his minority to whom he was Chancellour of the Dutchy of Lancaster Comptroller of the Houshold and by him created as I have already intimated Baron and Knight of the Garter as also by Queen Mary Lord Privy-Seal Whose grandson William is now the fourth Baron Pagett His grandson Thomas the fourth Baron flourishes now at this day who by his virtue and progress in the best kinds of learning is a grace and ornament to his whole family and in this respect but justly distinguisht by an honourable mention here From hence the Trent visits Lichfield Lâ—â—hfieâ—d scarce four miles distant from the right side of it Bede calls it Licidfeld which Rous of Warwick renders a field of carcasses and tells us that many Christians suffer'd martyrdom there under Dioclesian The city stands low is pretty large and neat and divided into two parts by a kind of lough or clear water
land beyond this towards the west and north call'd by the natives Melienydh â—â—â—ieâ—ydh from the yellowish mountains is for the most part a barren and hungry soil Which notwithstanding shews the ruins of divers Castles â—â—n y â—â—s â—â—â—minâ—â—â—â— but especially of Kevn Lhys and Tinbod standing ‖ on the summit of a cop'd hill and was destroy'd by Lhewelyn Prince of Wales in the year 1260. This Country of Melienydh reaches to the river Wye b which crosses the western angle of the County and having it 's rapid course somewhat abated by the rocks it meets with and it's channel discontinued it suddenly falls headlong over a steep precipice Whence the place is call'd Rhà iadr Gŵy Rhaiadr Gwy which implies as much as the Cataract or fall of the river Wye c And I know not whether the English might not from that word Rhà iadr impose the name of Radnor first on the County and afterwards on the chief town therein By this Cataract there was a Castle which as we find it recorded was repair'd by RhÅ·s Prince of South-Wales in the reign of King Richard the first Near this place there is a vast Wilderness dismal to behold by reason of many crooked ways and high mountains into which as a safe place of refuge that bane of his native Country King Vortigern Vortigern whose very memory the Britains curse withdrew himself when he had at last seriously repented of his abominable wickedness in calling in the English-Saxons and incestuously marrying his own daughter But God's vengeance pursuing him he was consumed by Lightning together with his City Kaer-Gwortigern which he had built for his refuge Nor was it far from hence as if the place were fatal that not only this Vortigern the last British Monarch of the race of the Britains but also Lhewelyn Lhewelyn the last Prince of Wales of the British line being betray'd in the year of our Lord 1282. ended his life From this Vortigern Ninnius calls that small region Gwortiger mawr nor is the name yet lost but of the city there is not any memorial but what we have from Authors Some are of opinion that the Castle of Gwthrènion Gwerthrynion arose out of the ruins of it which the Welshmen for their hatred to Roger Mortimer laid even with the ground An. 1201. This part of the Country hath been also call'd Gwarth Ennion as we are inform'd by Ninnius who writes that the foremention'd Vortigern when he was publickly and sharply reproved by St. German did not only persist in his obstinacy and wicked practices but also cast false and malicious reproaches on that godly Saint Wherefore saith Ninnius Vortimer the son of Vortigern ordain'd that the Land where the Bishop had receiv'd so great an indignity should be his own for ever Guarth in British Calumny and Eniawn Just Upon which and in memory of St. German it has been call'd Gwarth Enian which in English signifies a slander justly requited The Mortimers descended from the Niece of Gonora wife of Rich. 1. Duke of Normandy Earls of March G. Gemet l. ult c. 10. were the first of the Normans who having overcome Edric * Weald or Wild. Sylvaticus a Saxon gain'd a considerable part of this small Territory And having continued for a long time the leading-men of the County at length Roger Mortimer Lord of Wigmore was created Earl of March by Edw. 3. about 1328. who soon after was sentenced to death having been accused of insolence to the State of favouring the Scots to the prejudice of England of conversing over-familiarly with the King's mother and contriving the death of his father King Edward 2. He had by his wife Jane Jenevil Lâ—b Monast Lanthony 29 Ed. 3. who brought him large revenues as well in Ireland as England a son call'd Edmund who suffer'd for his father's crimes and was depriv'd both of his inheritance and the title of Earl But his son Roger was received into favour and had not only the title of Earl of March restored but was also created Knight of the Garter at the first institution of that noble Order This Roger married Philippa Mountague by whom he had Edmund Earl of March who marry'd Philippa the only daughter of Leonel Duke of Clarence the third son of King Edward 3. whereby he obtained the Earldom of Ulster in Ireland and the Lordship of Clare After his decease in Ireland where he had govern'd with general applause his son Roger succeeded being both Earl of March and Ulster whom King Richard design'd his successor to the crown as being in right of his mother the next heir but he dying before King Richard left issue Edmund and Anne King Henry 4. who had usurp'd the Government suspecting Edmund's Interest and Title to the Crown exposed him to many hazards insomuch that being taken by the Rebel Owen Glyn-Dwr he died of grief and discontent leaving his sister Anne to inherit She was married to Richard Plantagenet Earl of Cambridge whose Posterity in her right became afterwards Earls of March and laid claim to the Crown See in Yâ—â—â—shire towards â—â—e end of â—â—e Coâ—nty which in the end as we shall shew elsewhere they obtain'd and Edward the fourth's eldest son who was Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall c. had also conferr'd on him as an additional honour the title of Earl of March As for the title of Radnor a It was conferr'd upon John Roberts Lord Roberts of Truro 23 Jul. 1679. no man ever boâ—e it separately that I know of In this County are 52 Parishes ADDITIONS to RADNORSHIRE a THE first place of considerable Antiquity we meet with in this Country is Clawdh Offa Extent of Clawdh Offa. the tracing whereof gives us the exact bounds of the Britains and Saxons It may be seen on Brachy-hill and near RÅ·hd ar Helig and Lanterden in Herefordshire and is continued Northwards from Knighton over a part of Shropshire into Mongomeryshire and may be traced over the long Mountain call'd in Welsh Kevn Digolh to Harden castle cross the Severn and Lhan Drinio-Common From whence it passes the Vyrnwy again into Shropshire not far from Oswaldstry where there is also a small village call'd Trevyrclawdh In Denbighshire 't is visible along the road between Rhywabon and Wrexham fâ—om whence being continued through Flintshire it ends a little below Holywell where that water falls into Dee at a place formerly the site of the castle of Basingwerk This limit seems not afterwards well maintain'd by the English for although we find that the British tongue decreases daily on the borders of Wales yet not only that language but also the ancient British customs and names of men and places remain still for some space on the English side almost the whole length of it b The word Gwy or Wy Gwy or Wy what it signifieth though it be here the name of a river seems to have been anciently an appellative word either for
place of note here perhaps Aire Aire which is a Sheriffdom a little Mart and a well known Port upon a river of the same name * See 〈◊〉 of it iâ— Additâ—ons Concerning which I can meet with nothing better worth my writing than these Verses sent me by Mr. Johnston Parva urbs ast ingens animus in fortibus haeret Inferior nulli nobilitate virum Aëris è campis haurit purissima coelum Incubat miti mollior aura solo Aëria hinc non Aera priùs credo illa vocata est Cum duris quid enim mollia juris habent Infera cum superis quod si componere fas èst Aurea fo rs dici debuit illa prius Small is the town but of great Souls is prowd For courage fam'd and sons of noble blood From th' happy clime pure draughts of air descend And gentle breezes bless the fruitful land Old times if Poets have a right to guess Not Aeria but Aëria call'd the place Rough brass could ne're such soft delights express If I so high might raise my noble theme I 'd swear that Aurea was the ancient name Besides the River Aire there are two other Rivulets that water this small Territory having many little villages scattering upon their banks Lougar upon which the Crawfords and Cesnock upon which the Cambells have their residence noted families in this tract upon whose bank is also Uchiltre-Castle Uchiltre or Ochiltre the Seat of the Stewarts of the blood Royal as descending from the Dukes of Albany hence stiled Barons of Uchiltre of which House was that Robert Stewart the inseparable companion of the Prince of Conde who was kill'd with him in a battle in France Cambel of Louden enjoys the honour of Hereditary Bailiff of this Kyle CVNNINGHAM TO Kyle upon the West and North is joyned Cunningham and so hems in the same Bay that it streightens its hitherto expatiating breadth The name signifies as much as the King's habitation whence you may conjecture its pleasantness It is water'd by the Irwin which divides it from Kyle at the head almost of which river we have a sight of Kilmarnock the Seat of the Barons Boids 〈…〉 In the reign of King James the third Thomas one of these was by a gale of Court-favor advanced to the authority of Regent and Robert his Son to the Honour of Earl of Arran and a marriage with the King's Sister But upon the same gale's blowing contrary they were adjudged enemies to the State Robert had his Wife taken from him and given to James Hamilton their Estates were confiscated and stript of all by the inconstancy of fortune they died in exile Yet their posterity recover'd the ancient honour of Barons and enjoy it at this day Upon the mouth of the river Irwin stands 〈◊〉 e It hath a Viscount of the family of Ingram a Borough with a Port so choaked up with banks of sand and so shallow that it is only capable of small Vessels Higher up stands Ardrossan â—â—â—â—â—ssan a Castle of the Montgomeries hanging as it were over the bay this is an ancient and noble family which can shew as a proof of their Marshal valour Poununy-Castle built out of the ransom-money of Henry Percy sirnamed Hotspur whom J. Montgomery took with his own hand in the Battle at Otterburne and brought away Prisoner Not far from Ardrossan is Largis embru'd in the blood of the Norwegians by King Alexander the third From whence following the winding of the shore we meet with Eglington-Castle once possessed by Gentlemen of that name from whom it descended to the Montgomeries Montgomeries who take hence the title of Earls of Eglington Earls of Eglington But whence this Sirname came is hard to guess That out of Normandy it came into England and that there were several Families of that name I am satisfied But that in Essex from which Sir Thomas Montgomery Knight of the Garter in the reign of Edward the fourth was descended gave Arms but a little different from these But this noble House hath dilated it self very much and out of those of Gevan was that Gabriel de Lorges called Earl of Montgomery Captain of the Scotch Guard du Corps The Scotch Guard du Corps in France that was instituted by Charles the fifth King of France for a Guard to him and his Successors as a signal mark of their fidelity and favour who in a Tournament slew Henry the second King of France with a Splinter of his Spear which his Beaver chancing to be up penetrated through the eye into his brain Afterwards taking part with the Huguenots in the Civil wars of France he was intercepted and beheaded But the Family of the Cunninghams is accounted the most numerous in this Tract the head whereof the Earl of Glencairn Cunninghams Earls of Glencairn hath a Seat at Kilmauris and derives his descent out of England from an English Gentleman who together with others murdered Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury How true this is I know not but perhaps it may be grounded upon a probable conjecture taken from an Archbishop's Pall which they give in their Coat of Arms. b The Island GLOTTA or ARRAN WIthin sight of Cunningham amongst many other Islands Glotta is of greatest eminence an Island mentioned by Antonine the Emperor in the very Frith of the river Glotta or Clyde called at this day from a Castle of the same name Arran The innermost parts are wholly mountainous but the bottoms along the shore are well inhabited The first Earl it had â—â—â—â—s of â—â—â—on that I ever read of was Robert Boid whose wife and Earldom together upon Boid's being banished the Kingdom James Hamilton as I mentioned before obtained and his Posterity have enjoyed the same saving that of late James Steward appointed Guardian to James Hamilton Earl of Arran when he was so defective in his understanding that he could not manage his Estate took this Title in the right of being guardian Near unto this stands Buthe called from a little Religious Cell founded by Brendanus for so in Scotch the call a Cell which has a Sheriff of the Family of the Stewarts In this Island is Rothesay-Castle which gives the Title of Duke to the eldest Son of the King of Scotland who is born Prince of Scotland Duke of Rothsay and High Steward of Scotland ever since King Robert the third invested David his eldest Son Duke of Rothsay who was the first in Scotland that was honoured with the Title of Duke With which Title Queen Mary honoured Henry Lord Darley before she took him to be her Husband After this in the same Bay we have a sight of Hellen antiently Hellan-Leneow that is according to J. Fordon's interpretation The Saints Island the Hellan Tinoc that is the Island of Hogs with many others of less note Additions to the NOVANTES a THE Country of the Novantes is Galloway and the Sheriffdom of Aire Galloway hath upon
March Marr and Garioth Lord of Annandale and Mann was out-law'd by his brother James the 3. and after many struglings with the world and its troubles in the end as he stood by to see a Tournament at Paris he happen'd to be wounded by a splinter of a broken Lance and so died His son John the 4th Duke of Albany Regent likewise and made Guardian to K. James the 5. being charm'd with the pleasures of the French Court as having married a daughter and coheir of John Earl of Auvergne and Lauragueze died there without issue Whom out of respect and deference to the bloud Royal of Scotland Francis the 1. King of France honour'd so far as to allow him a place in France between the Archbishop of Longres Tily and the Duke of Alencon Peers of the Realm After his death there was no Duke of Albany till Queen Mary 11 In our memory conferr'd this honour upon Henry Lord Darley whom some few days after she made her Husband and K. James the 6. granted the same to his second son Charles an Infant now Duke of York These Parts are inhabited by a sort of people barbarous warlike and very mischievous commonly called Highland-men Highland-men who being the true race of the antient Scots speak Irish and call themselves Albinnich People they are of firm and compact bodies of great strength swift of foot high minded born as it were for the exercises of War or rather of robberies and desperately bent upon revenge They wear after the manner of the Irish †Plaids strip'd Mantles of divers colours with their hair thick and long living by hunting fishing fowling and stealing In war their armour is an iron head-piece and a coat of Mail their arms a bow barbed arrows and a broad back-sword And being divided into Families which they call Clanns what with plundering and murdering they commit such barbarous outrages Parliam 1581. that their savage cruelty hath made this Law necessary That if one of any Clann hath committed a trespass whoever of that Clann chances to be taken shall repair the damage or suffer death 12 Whereas the whole Clan commonly beareth feud for any hurt receiv'd by any one member thereof by excution of Laws order of Justice or otherwise PERTHSHIRE OUT of the very bosom of the Mountains of Albany issues the Tay The River Tay. the greatest river in all Scotland and rolls along thro' the fields till widening it self into a Lake full of Islands it there restrains its course After this kept within banks it waters Perth a large plentiful and rich country and receives the Amund a little River coming out of Athol This Athol Athâ—l to make a little digression is infamous for Witches but a country fruitful enough having woody valleys where once the Caledonian Forest The Caledâ—nian Forest dreadful for its dark intricate windings for its denns of bears and its huge wild thick-maned bulls extended it self in former ages far and near in these parts As for the places herein they are of little account but the Earls are very memorable Thomas a younger son of Rolland of Galloway was in his Wife 's right Earl of Athol Earls of Athol whose son Patrick was murder'd at Hadington by the Bissets his Rivals and they immediately set the house on fire Chronicon Mailrâ—ss that it might be supposed he perished casually in the flames In the Earldom succeeded David Hastings who had married Patrick's Aunt by the mother's side whose son that David sirnamed of Strathbogy may seem to have been who a little after in the Reign of Hen. 3. of England was Earl of Athol married one of the daughters and heirs of Richard base son to King John of England and had a very noble Estate with her in England She bore him two sons John Earl of Athol who being very unsettled in his allegiance was hanged on a Gallows fifty foot high and David Earl of Athol who by a marriage with one of the daughters and heirs of John Comin of Badzenoth by one of the heirs of Aumar de Valence Earl of Pembroke got a mighty estate He had a son David who under King Edw. 2. was sometimes summoned to Parliament amongst the English Earls and being made under King Edward Baliol Lieutenant-General of Scotland was conquer'd by the valour of Andrew Murray and slain in a battle in Kelblen Forest in the year 1335. His son David had only two young daughters Elizabeth married to Tho. Percy from whom the Barons de Burrough fetch their original and Philippa married to Sir Tho. Halsham an English Knight Then fell the title of Athol to that Walter Stewart son to King Robert 2. who barbarously murder'd James 1. King of Scotland and was agreeably punished for that execrable piece of cruelty insomuch that Aeneas Sylvius then Pope Eugenius the 4th's Nuncio in Scotland is reported to have said That he could not tell whether he should give them greater commendations that revenged the King's death or punish them with a sharper censure of condemnation that polluted themsâ—lves with so heinous a Parricide After an interval of some few years this honour was granted to John Stewart of the house of Lorne son of James sirnamed the Black Knight by Joan the widow of King James 1. daughter of John Earl of Somerset and ‡ Nepti neice to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster whose Posterity enjoy it at this day a 'T is now a Marquisate in the Family of Murray Now the Tay by the Influx of the Almund being enlarged makes for Dunkell Dunkeld adorned by King David with an Episcopal See This upon account of the signification is lookt upon by most as a town of the Caledonians and they interpret it The hill of Hazles who will have it take the name from the Hazles of the Caledonian Forest * See â—he Additions Bâ—r h. From hence the Tay takes its course by the ruins of Berth a little desolate City not forgetting what calamity it brought upon it in times past when with an impetuous torrent it overflow'd the pasture and corn grounds destroyed all the labours of the Husbandman and hurried headlong with this poor city a Royal infant and all the Inhabitants Instead whereof King William built Perth Perth much better situated which presently grew so rich that Necham who lived in that age made this distick upon it Transis ample Tai per rura per oppida per Perth Regnum sustentant istius urbis opes Great Tay through Perth through towns through country flies Perth the whole Kingdom with her wealth supplies But posterity hath named it from a Church founded in honour of St. John St. John's town St. Jâ—hns Town And the English in the heat of the war between the Bruses and the Baliols fortified it with great Bulwarks which the Scots afterwards mostly demolished It is nevertheless a neat little City pleasantly seated between two Greens
towards the Ocean there were anciently seated the Taizali Some derive this later name from Boves Oxen whereas the ground is fitter to feed sheep whose wooll is highly commended Notwithstanding the Rivers in this Coast every where breed abundance of Salmon yet they never enter into the River Ratra Thâ— Râ—ver Raâ—ra as Buchanan hath told us Neither let it prove to my disadvantage if I cite his Testimony although his books were prohibited by authority of Parliament in the year 1584. because many passages in them were fit to be dash'd out He there reports also That on the bank of Ratra there is a Cave near Stany 's Castle whose nature seems worth our taking notice of A strange â—â—â—er The water distilling by drops out of a natural vault is presently turned into pyramidal stones and if people did not take the pains to clear the cave now and then the whole space in a little time would be fill'd up to the top of the vault Now the stone thus made is of a middle nature betwixt Ice and hard stone for it is friable and never arrives to the solidity of Marble It is hardly worth my while to mention the Clayks Câ—ayks a 〈◊〉 of Gâ—ese a sort of Geese believed by some with great admiration to grow upon trees here in this coast and in other places and when they are ripe to fall down into the sea because neither their nests nor eggs cou'd ever any where be found But those that have seen the ship in which Sir Francis Drake sailed round the world laid up in the river Thames can testifie that little birds breed in the old rotten keels of ships since a great number of such without life and feathers stuck close to the outside of the keel of this ship Yet I should think that the generation of these birds was not from the logs of wood but from the sea term'd by the Poets the Parent of all things a Hector Boetius first spread this errour but that it is such â—ppend 〈◊〉 Librum â— Part 3. â—â—atiae Ilâ—â—â—atae Dr. Sibbalds has largely proved in his Scotia Illustrata only he is now convinced that thâ—y are not informis mâ—ssa carnosa as he there câ—lls them And a Discourse concerning the late worthy Sir Andrew Balfour to be prefixt to the Catalogue of his Books will in a short time give further light into it A mighty mass likewise of Amber Amber as big as the body of a Horse was not many years since thrown up upon this shore This the learned call Succinum Glessum and Chryso-electrum and Sotacus was of opinion that it was a juice which amongst the Britains distill'd from trees ran into the sea and was there hardned Tacitus had the same sentiments of it in this passage of his I should believe De moribus Germanorum that as there are trees in the secret parts of the east which sweat out frankincense and balm so in the Islands and other countreys of the west there are woods of a more fatty substance which melting by the hot beams of the near-approaching sun run into the sea hard by and being driven by tempestuous weather float to the opposite shores But Serapio and the modern Philosophers will have it to work out of a bituminous sort of earth under the sea and by the sea-side that the waves in stormy weather cast part of it upon the shore and that part of it is devoured by the fish But I have digressed too far and will return into my way hoping my ingenuous confession will purchase me a pardon In the reign of Alexander the 2d Alexander Comin had conferr'd upon him the honour of Earl of Buquhan Earls of Baquhan who married a daughter and one of the heirs of Roger de Quircy Earl of Winchester in England and his grand child by a son brought the same title to Henry Beaumorâ— her husband For he in the reign of Edw. the 3d sat in the Parliament of England under the name of Earl of Buquhan Afterwards Alexander Stewart son to King Robert the 4th was Earl of this place succeeded by John a younger son of Robert Duke of Albany who being sent for into France with 7000 Auxiliary Scots by the French King Charles the 7th did extraordinary good service against the English and had so great a reputation there that after he had killed Thomas Duke of Clarence K. Henry the 5th's brother at Baugy and got as great a victory over the English as ever was obtained he was made Constable of France But 3 years after when the fortune of the war turned he with other valiant Commanders The valour of the Scots in the Wars of France Archibald Douglas Earl of Wigton and Duke of Tours c. was routed at Vernoil by the English and there slain Whom yet as the Poet said Aeternum memorabit Gallia cives Grata suos titulos quae dedit tumulos Those grateful France shall ever call her own Who owe to her their graves and their renown The French cannot but confess that they owe the preservation of France and recovery of Aquitain by thrusting out the English in the reigns of Charles the 6th and 7th in a great measure to the fidelity and valour of the Scots But afterwards K. James the first out of pity to Geo. of Dunbar whom by authority of Parliament he had before divested of the Earldom of March for his father's crimes gave him the Earldom of Buquhan And not long after James son of James Stewart of Lorn sirnamed the Black Knight 14 Whom he had by Queen Joan sister to the Duke of Somerset and widow to King James I. c. whom he had by Joan of Somerset obtained this honour and left it to his posterity but not long since for default of heirs male it went by a daughter to Douglas a younger brother of the House of Lochlevin Beyond Buchan in the bending back of the shore northwards lies Boen Boen and a Now a Barony in the family of Ogilby Bamff a small Sheriffdom * See the Additions and Ainza a little tract of less consideration as also Rothamy Castle the seat of the Barons of Salton Barons Salton sirnamed b Now Frazer Abernethy Beneath these lies Strath-bolgy Strath-bolgy that is the Valley upon the Bolgy formerly the seat of the Earls of Athol sirnamed from thence but now the chief residence of the Marquess of Huntley c Now from the Marquisate of Huntley rais'd to the Dukedom of Gordon Marquess of Huntley For this title K. James the 6th conferred upon Geo. Gordon Earl of Huntley Lord Gordon and Badzenoth eminent for his ancient nobility and his many followers and dependants Whose ancestors are descended from the Setons and by authority of Parliament took upon them the name of Gordon upon Alexander Seton's marrying the daughter of Sir John Gordon with whom he had a very noble estate and received
the honour of the Earl of Huntley from K. James the second in the year 1449. l MVRRAY BEyond the mountain Grampius which by a continual range of close join'd hills as it were extends its ridge with many risings and sinkings to this very country the Vacomagi in ancient times had their habitation upon the Bay of Vararis Vacomagi Sinus Vararis where now Murray Murray Frith lies in Latin Moravia noted for its fertility pleasantness and profitable product of fruit-trees The Spey a noble river opens a passage through this countrey into the sea wherein it lodges it self after it hath watered Rothes Castle whence the Family of Lesley derive their title of Earl ever since K. James the 2d advanced Geo. Lesley to the honour of Earl of Rothes Of this Spey thus our Poet Necham Spey loca mutantis praeceps agitator arenae Inconstans certas nescit habere vias Officium lintris corbis subit hunc regit audax Cursus labentis nauta fluenta sequens Great Spey drives forward with impetuous force Huge banks of sand and knows no certain course Here for a boat an Osier-pannier row'd By some bold peasant glides along the flood The river Loxa mentioned by Ptolemy now call'd Losse hides it self hard by in the sea Near this we have a sight of Elgin in which as also in Forres adjoining J. Dunbar of Cumnock descended from the House of the Earls of March does justice as hereditary Sheriff But when it is now ready to enter the sea it finds a more plain and soft soil and spreads it self into a lake well stored with Swans wherein the Herb Olorina grows plentifully Here upon it stands Spiny Barons Spiny Castle of which Alexander of the House of Lindsay is now the first Baron As also Kinloss Baâ—on Kinloss a near neighbour formerly a famous Monastery call'd by some Kill-flos from certain flowers there miraculously springing up on a sudden where the corps of King Duff murdered and here hidden was first found * In the year 972. hath for its Lord Edward Brus Master of the Rolls in England and one of His Majestie 's Privy Council created by K. James the 6th Baron Brus of Kinloss a Now Earls of Elgin Thus much for the shore More inward where Bean Castle now stands look'd upon to be that Banatia Banatia mentioned by Ptolemy there was found in the year 1460 a Marble Vessel very finely engraved and full of Roman coins Hard by is Nardin or Narne Narne Sheriffdom an Hereditary Sheriffdom of the Cambells of Lorn where in a Peninsula there stood a fort of a mighty height built with wonderful works and formely held by the Danes A little off is Logh-Nesse a very large lake three and twenty miles long the water whereof is so warm that even in this cold and frozen climate it never freezes from this by a very small Isthmus of hills the Logh Lutea or Lothea which by Aber lets it self into the western Ocean is divided Upon these lakes there stood anciently two noted fortifications called from the loghs one Innerness the other Innerlothy Innerness hath the Marquess of Huntley for its hereditary Sheriff who hath a large Jurisdiction hereabout * See thâ— Additions But take here what J. Johnston writes upon these two places INNERNESS and INNERLOCHY Imperii veteris duo propugnacula quondam Primaque regali moenia structa manu Turribus oppositis adverso in limine spectant Haec Zephyrum Solis illa orientis equos Amnibus hinc atque hinc cincta utique piscibus amnes Foecundi haec portu perpete tuta patet Haec fuit at jacet heu jam nunc sine nomine tellus Hospita quae Regum est hospita facta feris Altera spirat adhuc tenuis sufflamina vitae Quae dabit fati turbine victa manus Dic ubi nunc Carthago potens ubi Martia Roma Trojaque immensae ditis opes Asiae Quid mireris enim mortalia cedere fatis Corpora cum videas oppida posse mori Two stately forts the realm's old guardians stood The first great walls of royal builders prov'd Their lofty turrets on the shores were shown One to the rising one the setting sun All round well stock'd with fish fair rivers lay And one presents a safe and easie bay Such once it was but now a nameless place Where Princes lodg'd the meanest cattel graze T'other survives and faintly breaths as yet But must e're long submit to conqu'ring fate Where 's haughty Carthage now with all her power Where 's Rome and Troy that rul'd as great before Where the vast riches of the Asian shore No wonder then that we frail men should die When towns themselves confess mortality In the reign of K. Robert Brus Thomas Randolph his sister's son a person that took infinite pains for his country and met with much opposition was very famous under the title of Earl of Murray Eâ—rlâ— of â—â—â—ray In the reign of K. Rob. 2. John de Dunbar had the King's daughter and with her the Earldom of Murray as an amends for her lost virginity Under K. James the 2d William Creichton Lord Chancellor of the Kingdom and Archibald Douglass had a violent contest for this Earldom when against the laws and ancient customs of the Realm Douglass who had married the younger daughter of James de Dunbar Earl of Murray was preferr'd before Creichton who had married the elder by the power and great interest that William Earl Douglass had with the King which was so very great that he did not only advance this brother to the Earldom of Murray but another brother likewise to the Earldom of Ormond and two of his Cousins to the Earldoms of Angus and Morton But this his greatness a thing never to be trusted to when so exorbitant was his ruin soon after Under King James the 5th his own brother whom he had constituted Vicegerent of the Kingdom enjoyed this honour And within our memory James a natural son of K. James the 5th had this honour conferr'd upon him by his sister Qu. Mary who ill requited her when having gotten some few of the Nobility on his side he deposed her a most wicked precedent for crowned Heads But the punishment of heaven soon fell upon him being quickly after shot through with a musquet bullet His only daughter brought this title to her husband James Steward of Down descended of the Blood Royal to wit of the Dukes of Albany who being slain by some that envied him left behind him his son James his successor in this honour m LOQHVABRE ALl that tract of land beyond the Nesse which bends down to the western coast and joins to the lake Aber is thence called Loghuabre that is in the ancient British Tongue The Mouth of the Lakes That which lies towards the northern coast Rosse Loghuabre abounds much in pastures and woods and hath some veins of iron but very little produce of corn It
river Liffer and divided from Conaght by the lake Erne The Liffer not far from the very head and rise of it diffuses it self into a broad lake which contains an Island Therein stands a little Monastery near which there is a narrow vault famous for I know not what terrible sprights and apparitions or rather some Religious horror digged by Ulysses when he made his descent into hell as some ridiculously imagine The natives at this day call it Ellan u ' frugadory that is the Isle of Purgatory and Patrick's Purgatory Patrick's Pu gatory For some are so piously credulous as to believe and affirm that Patrick the Irish Apostle or else some other Abbot of the same name obtained of God by their fervent prayers to make them eye-witnesses of those punishments and that torture which the wicked endure after this life to the end he might recover the Irish from their sinful state and the errors they lay under Seeing this place is called Reglis Regl's Regiâ— in the life of Patrick I am apt to think it the other Regia in Ptolemy for the situation is agreeable with the account he gives of it Besides this of St. Patrick there is also another Purgatory of Brendan in this Island I could not find out the very place and therefore take all I could learn of it in this tetrastick of Necham Asserit esse locum solennis fama dicatum Brendano quo lux lucida saepe micat Purgandas animas datur hîc transire per ignes Ut dignae facie judicis esse queant From Bredan nam'd a wondrous lake is shown Where trembling lights along dark caverns run Here mortal dregs the purging flames consume And cleanse foul souls against their final doom As the Liffer enlarged with the supplies it receives from other rivers draws near the sea it spreads it self into another lake which Ptolemy calls Logia now Logh Foyle and Logh Der. Hence Necham Lough Der aquis dives lacus est Ultonia novit Commodus indigenis utilitate placet Of thee great Logh-Der spacious Ulster 's proud And neighbo'ring lands commend thy useful flood Upon this formerly stood a It is now called London-derry and annexed to a County of that name famous for resisting two mâ—morable sieges in the year 1649 and 1689. Derry Derry a Monastery and Bishops See where in the year 1566 Edward Randolph eminent for his great service in the wars and for losing his life in behalf of his Country so entirely defeated Shan O-Neal 55 Who had thâ—n ass mbled and â—â—med all the power he could possibly against the Englâ—sh that he was never after able to make head But now of late Sir Henry Docwra Knight who shewed his great valour and conduct in the wars of Ireland with much glory planted there a garison and afterwards a colony to bridle the insolence of the Earl of Tir-Oen which he settled in such good order and method that it is both a ready detachement against rebels and a great means to settle those barbarous people in their duty The Robogdii seated above Logia kept all this northern shore of Ireland where O-Dogherty a petty King of little note has great interest Here Robogh a small Episcopal town still preserves the old name of the Robogdii As for the promontory Robogdium The pâ—omâ—â—tâ—â—y Robogdium I cannot tell where to find it unless it be Faire Foreland From this rocky place the shore winds back by Swilly the mouth of a lake which Ptolemy seems to call b Now the port or lake called Leghfoil in the County of London derry Wâ—re Antiquit. Hibern Argita Beyond this more westward lived the Vennicnii which tract is now enjoyed by a Mac Swiny Fanid Mac Swiny-na-dee and Mac Swiny Bane are the true names Mac Swyny Faid Mac Swyny Netoeth and Mac Swyny Bannigh Here Ptolemy places the river Vidua now called Crodagh and the Promontory Vennicnium now Rame's-head and Boraeum now S. Helens-head As the shore windeth back from hence we come to a fine haven and road for ships at Calebeg â—â—gah where the remains of Sligah-castle are still visible It was built in the year 1242 by Maurice Fitz Girald Lord Chief Justice of Ireland after he had reduced this part of the Country John Fitz-Girald the first Earl of Kildare was deprived of this castle and of a great estate in these parts as also deeply fined for raising a dangerous civil war against the Earl of Ulster Lower down not far from the mouth of the lake Earne stands Donegall â—onegall 56 That is the town of the Gallicians in Spain a Monastery and Town which gave name to this County when it was made one b South from Donegall is Belishannon near which not many years ago were dug up two pieces of Gold discovered by a method very remarkable The late Lord Bishop of Derry Dr. Hopkins hapning to be at dinner with Mr. Edward Whiteway a Gentleman whom he preferr'd in his former Diocâ—se of Raphoe there came in an Irish Harper and sung an old song to his Harp Neither his Lordship nor Mr. Whiteway understanding any thing of Irish they were at a lâ—ss to know what the song meant But the Herdsman being called in they found by him the substance of it to be this That in such a place naming the very spot a man of a gygantick stature lay buried and that over his breast and back there were plates of pure gold and on his fingers rings of gold so large that an ordinary man might creep through them The place was so exactly described that Mr. Foliot brother in law to Mr. Whiteway and one Mr. Nevill his Lordship's Steward were tempted to go in quest of the golden prize the Irish man's song had pointed out to them After they had dug for some time they found two thin pieces of gold exactly of the form and bigness of this Cut. This discovery encouraged them next morning to seek for the remainder but they could meet with nothing more The passage is the more remarkable because it comes pretty near the manner of discovering King Arthur's body by the directions of a British Bard. See Camden in Somersetshire p. 64 65. The two holes in the middle seem to have been fâ—r the more convenient tying of it to the arm or some part of the body This territory has been governed for these many ages by those of the family of O-Donel O-Donell who are of the same extraction with the O-Neals without any other title than O-Donell and Lords of Tir-Conell For obtaining of which and that after election they might be inaugurated with the usual ceremonies at a certain stone near Kilmacrenar they used to be very ambitious and to contend with great heat and slaughter till King James not long ago by his Letters Patents conferr'd the honour title and stile of Earl of Tir-Conell upon Roderick O-Donell brother to Hugh the Rebel who fled into Spain and there died
presently turn'd their backs and betook themselves every man to flight The Norman proud and haughty with this victory in memory of the battel Battel erected an Abbey and dedicated it to St. Martin which he call'd ‖ Battel-Abbey in that very place where Harold after many wounds died amongst the thickest of his enemies that it might be as it were an eternal monument of the Norman victory 25 And therein he offer'd his Sword and Royal Robe which he ware the day of his Coronation These the Monks kept until their suppression as also a Table of the Normans Gentry which entred with the Conqueror but so corruptly in later times that they inserted therein the names of such as were their Benefactors and whosoever the favour of fortune or virtue had advanc'd to any eminency in the subsequent ages About this Abby there grew up afterwards a town of the same name or to use the words of the private History As the Abbey encreas'd there were built about the compass of the same 115 houses of which the town of Battel was made Wherein there is a place in French call'd Sangue-lac from the blood there shed which after a shower of rain from the nature of the earth seems to look reddish whereupon Guilielmus Neubrigensis wrote but with little of truth The place in which there was a very great slaughter of the English fighting for their Country if it happen to be wetted with a small showre sweats out real blood and as it were fresh as if the very evidence thereof did plainly declare that the voice of so much Christian blood doth still cry from the earth to the Lord. But King William granted many and great privileges to this Abbey And amongst others to use the very words of the Charter If any thief or murderer or person guilty of any other crime fly for fear of death and come to this Church let him have no harm but be freely dismissed Be it lawful also for the Abbot of the same Church to deliver from the Gallows any thief or robber wheresoever if he chance to come by at the execution Henry 1. A marke on Sunâ—â—y likewise to give you the very words of his Charter instituted a market to be there kept on the Lord's Day free from all Toll and other duty whatsoever But Anthony Viscount Mountague who not long since built a fine house there obtain'd of late by authority of Parliament to have the market chang'd to another day And as for the privileges of Sanctuary in those more heinous and grievous crimes they are here and every where else quite abolish'd by Act of Parliament For they perceiv'd well that the fear of punishment being once remov'd outragiousness and an inclination to commit wickedness grew still to a greater head and that hope of impunity was the greatest motive of ill doing Neither here nor in the neighbourhood saw I any thing worth relating Ashburnham but only Esuburnham that has given name to a family of as great antiquity as any in all this tract g Hastings Hastings before spoken of call'd in Saxon Hastinga-ceaster lies somewhat higher upon the same shore Some there are that ridiculously derive it from Haste in our tongue because as Matthew Paris writes At Hastings William the Conquerour hastily set up a fortress of timber But it may rather seem to have taken this new name k William the Norman speaks of this Hasting in Henry Huntingd. Hist 7. f. 211. a from Hasting a Danish Pirate who where he landed with design to ravage and raise booty built sometimes little fortresses as we read in Asserius Menevensis of Beamflote-Castle built by him in Essex and others at Apledor and Middleton in Kent 25 The tradition is That the old Town of Hastings is swallow'd up of the sea That which standeth now as I observ'd is couched between a high cliff sea-ward and as high an hill landward having two streets extended in length from N. to S and in each of them a Parish Church The Haven such as it is being fed but with a poor small Rill is at the south end of the town and hath had a great Castle upon the hill which over-commanded it now there are only ruines thereof and on the said hill light-houses to direct Sailers in the night time Here in the reign of K. Athelstan was a Mint It is the chief of the Cinque-ports Cinque-â—orts which with it's members Winchelsea Rye c. was bound to find 21 ships for war at sea If you have a mind to know in what form both this and the rest also were bound to serve the King in his wars at sea for those most ample immunities they enjoy here take it in the very same words wherein this was anciently recorded in the King's Exchequer Hastings with it's members ought to find 21 ships at the King's summons And there ought to be in every ship 21 men able fitly qualified well arm'd and well furnish'd for the King's service Yet so as that summons be made thereof on the King's behalf 40 days before And when the aforesaid ships and men therein are come to the place of rendezvous whereunto they were summon'd they shall abide there in the King's service for 15 days at their own proper costs and charges And if the King shall have further need of their service after the 15 days aforesaid or will have them stay there any longer those ships with the men therein while they remain there shall be in the King's service at the King's costs and charges so long as the King pleases The Master of each ship shall have sixpence a day and the Constable sixpence a day and every one of the rest three pence a day 26 Thus Hastings flourish'd long inhabited with a warlike people and skilful sailors well stor'd with Barks and Craies and gained much by fishing which is plentiful along the shore But after that the Peer made of timber was at length violently carry'd away by extream rage of the sea it hath decay'd and the fishing less used by the reason of the dangerous landing for they are enforced to work their vessels to land by a Capstall or Crain In which respect for the bettering of the town Q. Elizabeth granted a contribution toward the making of a new harbour which was begun but the contribution was quickly converted into private purses and the publick good neglected Nevertheless both Court the Country and City of London is serv'd with much fish from thence The whole Rape of Hastings together with the Honour â—â—mites â—â—enses â—go de â—gi Earls 〈◊〉 Ew was held by the Earls of Ew in Normandy descended from a Natural son of Richard 1. Duke of Normandy till Henry 3's time when Ralph de Issodun in France marry'd Alice whose posterity lost a noble estate in England because as the Lawyers then deliver'd it they were under the King of France 's Allegiance 27 When K. Henry
a petty Convent founded by the Bigrames A little way hence stands Awkenbury given by King John to David Earl of Huntingdon and by John Scot his son to Stephen Segrave Stephen Segrâ—â—e a person I 'm the more willing to mention because he was one of the Courtiers who have taught us * Nâ—â—â—am potenâ—â—am essâ—â—â—â—â—ntâ—m That no power is powerful With a great deal of pains he rais'd himself to a high post with as much trouble kept it and as suddenly lost it In his young days from a Clerk he was made Knight Matth. Pâ—â—â— and tho' he was but of a mean family yet in his latter days by his bold industry he so enrich'd and advanc'd himself that he was rank'd among the highest of the Nobility made Lord Chief Justice and manag'd almost all the Affairs of the Nation as he pleas'd At length he wholly lost all the King's favour and ended his days in a cloyster and he who out of pride must needs remove from ecclesiastical to secular Affairs was forc'd to reassume his ecclesiastical Office and shaven crown without so much as consulting his Bishop which he had formerly laid aside Not far off stands Leighton Leightâ—n where Sir Gervase Clifton Knight began a noble building h and just by lyes Spaldwick given to the Church of Lincoln by Henry 1. to make some amends for erecting Ely-Bishoprick out of Lincoln-Diocese The river Nen enters this Shire by Elton Elton f It is now the possession of John Proby Esquire the seat of the famous ancient family of the Sapcots where is a private Chapel of singular beauty with curious painted windows built by the Lady Elizabeth Dinham Baron Fitz-Warren's widow who marry'd into this family Higher upon the Nen nigh Walmsford Walmsford stood a little city of greater antiquity than all these call'd Caer Dorm and Dormeceaster by Henry of Huntingdon who says it was utterly ruin'd before his time Undoubtedly this is the Durobrivae Dâ—â—â—briâ—ae of Antonine that is the River-passage and now for the same reason call'd Dornford nigh Chesterton which besides the finding of old Coins has the apparent marks of a ruinous City For a Roman Port-way led directly from hence to Huntingdon and a little above Stilton Stiâ—ton formerly Stichilton it appears with a high bank and in an old Saxon Charter is call'd Erminstreat Ermiâ—gstreat Here it runs through the middle of a square fort defended on the north-side with walls on the rest with ramparts of Earth nigh which they 've lately digg'd up several stone Coffins or Sepulchres in g This Estate is now the joynt Inheritance of Sir John Hewet of Warsly in this County Baronet and John Dryden Esquire descended to them from the sisters of the last Sir Robert Bevile the ground of R. Bevill of an ancient family in this County Some think this city stood upon both banks of the river and others are of opinion Caster 〈◊〉 Nâ—r â—â—â—ptoâ—shâ— e that the little village Caster on the other side was part of it and truly this opinion is well back'd by an ancient history that says there was a place call'd Durmundcaster by Nene where Kinneburga founded a little Nunnery first call'd Kinneburge-caster and afterwards for shortness Caster This Kinneburga the most Christian daughter of the Pagan King Penda and Alfred King of the Northumber's wife chang'd her Soveraign Authority for Christ's service to use the words of an old writer and govern'd her own Nunnery as a mother to those sacred Virgins Which place about 1010 was level'd to the ground by the fury of the Danes A little before this river leaves the County it runs by an ancient House call'd Bottle bridge B â—â—â—â—-bridge for shortness instead of Botolph-bridge which the Draitons and Lovets brought from R. Gimels to the family of the Shirlies by hereditary succession Adjoyning to this lies Overton corruptly called Orton forfeited by Felony and redeem'd of K. John by Neale Lovetoft whose sister and coheir was married to Hubert or Robert de Brounford and their children took upon 'em the name of Lovetoft Earls of Hâ—ntingdon This County at the declining of the English-Saxons had Siward an Earl by office for then there were no hereditary Earls in England but the Governours of Provinces according to the custom of that age were call'd Earls with addition of the title of this or that Province they govern'd as this Siward the time he govern'd here was call'd Earl of Huntingdon but soon after when he govern'd Northumberland he was call'd Earl of Northumberland See â—he Eâ—â—ls â—f Noâ—thamptonshire He had a son call'd Waldeof who under the title of Earl had the government of this County by the favour of William the Conquerour whose niece Judith by his sister on the mother's side he had married This Waldeof's eldest daughter says William Gemeticensis was married to Simon ‖ â—â—vaneâ—â—erâ—◠〈◊〉 uâ—t câ—p â—6 de Senlys or St. Liz she brought him the Earldom of Huntingdon and had a son by him call'd Simon After her husband's decease she was married to David St. Maud the Queen of England's Brother who was afterwards King of Scotland by whom she had a son nam'd Henry Afterwards as Fortune and Princes Favours alter'd this Dignity was enjoy'd sometimes by the Scots and other times by the St. Lizes first Henry the son of David J â—n â—â—rdâ—â— in Scotâ—â—â—â—n co l. 3. â— 3. 6. 〈◊〉 3â— then Simon St. Lizes Simon the first 's son after him Malcolm King of Scotland Earl Henry's brother after his decease Simon St. Liz the third who dying without heirs was succeeded by William King of Scotland and Malcolm's Brother Thus says Ralph de Diceto in the year 1185. when he flourish'd When Simon Earl Simon 's son dy'd without children the King restor'd to William K. of Scotland the County of Huntingdon with all its appurtenances Then his brother David had it Matth. Par. and his son John Scot Earl of Chester who dy'd without heirs and when Alexander the second who marry'd King Henry the third's daughter had held this title a little while and the Wars broke in the Scots lost this honour besides a fair inheritance in England A good while after Edward the third created William Clinton Earl of Huntingdon Richard the second put Guiscard de Angolesme in his place and after his death John Holland He was succeeded by John 4 Who was stil'd Duke of Excester Earl of Huntingdon and Ivory Lord of Sparre Admiral of England and Ireland Lieutenant of Aquitain and Constable of the Tower of London and Henry his sons who were each of them also Dukes of Exeter See Dukes of Exeter pag. 32. Cap. 50. The same Henry Duke of Exeter that Philip Comines as he affirms saw begging bare-foot in the Low Countries whilst he kept firm to the House of Lancaster though he had married Edward the fourth 's own sister Next to him Thomas
Grey afterwards Marquess of Dorset held this honour a little while It is evident from the Records that William Herbert Earl of Pembroke again brought in the Charter of Creation whereby his father was made Earl of Pembroke into the Chancery to be cancelled and that Edward the fourth created him Earl of Huntingdon in the seventeenth year of his reign But in the memory of our fathers Henry the eighth settled this honour upon George Lord Hastings But Francis Lord Hastings his son dying in his life-time this honour descended to Henry his son a truly honourable person both for Nobility and Piety he dying without heirs his brother George succeeded him whose grandchild by a son Henry enjoys the honour at this day This little Shire contains 78 Parishes ADDITIONS to HVNTINGDONSHIRE a HUntingdonshire call'd in * Annal. p. â—â—1 l. 1. p. 147. l 36. Saxon huntandunescyre and by later Writers Huntedunescire and Huntyngdonschyre is of very small extent scarce stretching out it self 20 miles tho' measur'd to the best advantage †â—â—eeâ— fâ—â—m â—ir R b. Cottâ—n It has been an observation upon this County that the families of it have been so worn out that tho' it has been very rich in Gentry yet but few Sirnames of any note are remaining which can be drawn down beyond the reign of the last Henry The cause of such decay in places nearer London is plain enough viz. the many temptations to luxury and high living and the great wealth of Merchants always ready to supply their extravagance with money till the whole be run out But this cannot hold here so that we must see whether a reason brought by a later Author will not solve it viz. That most of the County being Abby-land upon the Dissolution many new Purchasers planted themselves herein and perhaps their new possessions might have the same fate that Church-revenues have had in other places where they fell into Lay-hands b Our Author observes that it was all Forest till the time of Henry the second But if we may believe Sir Robert Cotton who sent the account to Speed and had himself design'd a History of the County this was never fully effected till the time of Edward 1. For Henry 2. did pretend to enfranchise his subjects of this Shire from servitude of his beasts except Wabridge Saple and Herthy his own Demains But such were the encroachments of the succeeding Reigns that the poor inhabitants were forc'd to petition for redress which was granted them by the great Charter of Henry 3. Only his son resum'd the fruits of his father's kindness till in the 29th year of his reign he confirm'd the former Charter and left no more of this shire Forest than what was his own ground The government of the County is very peculiar Cambridgeshire in the Civil administration being joyn'd to it so that there is but one High-sheriff for both Shires He is one year chosen out of Cambridgeshire out of the Isle of Ely a second and a third out of this Shire In the Isle of Ely he is one time chosen out of the north part and out of the south another c It 's chief town is Huntingdon Huntingdon in Saxon huntandune huntendune huntenduneport which appears formerly to have been a flourishing town reckoning no less than 15 Churches tho' in our Author's time they were reduc'd to four and of these the zeal of the late times only left two The cause of this decay seems to have been the ‖ Cotton in Speed alteration made in the river by Grey a Minion of the time as my Author calls him who procur'd the passage of it to be stop'd whereas before to the great advantage of the Inhabitants it was navigable as far as this town King John granted it by Charter a peculiar Coroner profit by Toll and Custom a Recorder Town-Clerk and two Bailiffs but at present it is incorporated by the name of a Mayor twelve Aldermen and Burgesses d Its neighbour Goodmanchester Goodmanchester probably by the methods our Author mentions grew so wealthy and considerable that in the reign of King James 1. it was incorporated by the name of two Bailiffs twelve Assistants and commonalty of the Burrough of Goodmanchester e Lower down upon the river is St. Ives St. Ives which a late Writer calls a fair large and ancient town with a fine Stone-bridge over the Ouse But within these three or four years it was a great part of it burnt down and whether it have so far recover'd it self as to merit that character at present I know not f Between Ramsey and Peterborrow our Author observes that King Canutus made a large Cawsey call'd by our Historians Kingsdelfe Kingsdelf But whatever way our Authors mark out by that name 't is certain they cannot mean Canutus's road for the name Kingsdelf or Cingesdaelf in those parts appears upon Record before Canutus's time I mean in the reign of King Edgar who in his Charter to the Church of Peterburrow * Chron. Sax. p. 119. lin 18. makes this Cingesdaelf one of the bounds of his Donation Besides the daelf will not answer a via constrata lapidibus or pav'd way but seems rather to mark out to us some ditch drawn at first for the draining those fenny grounds and reducing the waters into one chanel g On the west side of this County is Kimbolton Kimbolton which our Author says in his time was the seat of the Wingfields It has since pass'd from them by sale to the Mountagues and Henry Earl of Manchester of that name very much improv'd the Castle sparing no cost that might add to its beauty †Lel. Itin. MS. vol. 1. It was Sir Richard Wingfield who built new Lodgings and Galleries upon the old foundations of this Castle which was double ditch'd and the building of it very strong Here is at present a pretty fair town seated in a bottom which gives the title of Baron to the Right Honourable the Earl of Manchester h Leighton Leighton mention'd by our Author to be the seat of the Cliftons is now the Lady Butler's daughter and heir to the late Richard Earl of Arran who had it in marriage with the sole daughter of James Duke of Richmond as this Duke had by the Lord Clifton's Continuation of the EARLS Henry the last Earl mention'd by our Author had by Elizabeth daughter and coheir to Ferdinando Earl of Derby Ferdinando Earl of Huntingdon father to Theophilus the seventh Earl of that name who was Captain of the Band of Gentlemen Pensioners Privy-Councellor to King Charles 2. and King James by whom he was made chief Justice in Eyre of all the Forests south of Trent as also Lieutenant of the Counties of Leicester and Derby His son and heir apparent is George Lord Hastings I have not as yet observed any Plants peculiar to this County the more rare being common to it with Cambridgeshire NORTHAMPTON SHIRE by Rob t
57 And this Rory his succâ—ssor practising new treason against King James his advancer upon the terrour of a guilty conscience fled the Realm in the year 1607 and died at Rome The Scots The antient inhabitants of this Ulster as likewise of all other parts of the Kingdom went formerly by the name of Scots and from hence they brought that name into the Northern part of Britain For as Giraldus says the six sons of Mured King of Ulster possest themselves of the North of Britain about 400 years after Christ from which time it has been called by the name of Scotia Yet the Annals of that Kingdom shew us that it has had this name much earlier And moreover Fergus the second who re-established the Kingdom of the Scots in Britain came from hence Patrick â—xâ—ife of â— Patrick having foretold That though he seemed mean and contemptible to his brethren at that time it would shortly came to pass thas he should be Prince and Lord over them all To make this the more probable the same writer adds farther That not long after Fergus according to the prediction of this holy man obtained the soveraignty in these parts and that his posterity continued in the throne for many generations From him was descended the most valiant King Edan son of Gabrain who conquer'd Scotland called Albania where his offspring reign to this day 58 Sir John John Curcy in the reign of Henry the second was the first Englishman that attempted the conquest of this County who having taken Down and Armagh made himself master of the whole Province either by force or surrender and was the first that had the title of Earl of Ulster â—'s of â—â—er At last his success and fortune made him so envied that for his own worth and the unworthiness of others he was banish'd and by King John's appointment succeeded by Hugh de Lacy second son of Hugh Lacy Lord of Meth who was made Earl of Ulster by a sword with orders to carry on a war against him Yet he was deprived of this honour by the same King 〈◊〉 â—o upon his insolence and popular practices but received again into favour In confirmation of this I will here give you word for word what I find in the Records of Ireland Hugh de Lacy formerly Earl of Ulster held all Ulster exempt and separate from any other County whatsoever in capite of the Kings of England by the service of three Knights when ever the Royal service was ordered by proclamation And he migâ—â— try in his own Court all pleas whatsoever belonging to the Sheriff and the Chief Justice and held a Court of Chancery c. After this all Ulster was forfeited to our Lord King John from the said Hugh who had it afterwards granted him for term of life by King Henry the third After Hugh's decease Walter de Burgo did these services to our Lord Edward King Henry's son Lord of Ireland before he was King This same Lord Edward infeoff'd the aforesaid Walter with the lands of Ulster to have and to hold to him and his heirs by the service aforesaid as well and freely as the said Hugh de Lacy did excepting the advowsons of the Cathedral Churches and the demesns of the same as also the Pleas of the Crown Rapes Forstalls Arsonyes and Treasure-trouves which our soveraign Lord King Edward retaineth to himself and his heirs This Walter de Burgo who was Lord of Conaught and Earl of Ulster had by the only daughter of Hugh de Lacy Richard Earl of Ulster who put an end to an uneasie life in the year 1326. This Richard had a son John de Burgo who died in his life time after he had had a son William by his wife Elizabeth the sister and co-heir of Gilbert Clare Earl of Gloucester who succeeded his Grandfather William was murder'd by his own men in his youth leaving a little daughter Elizabeth See Raâ—norshire and Yorkshire north-riding afterwards married to Leonel Duke of Clarence by whom she had likewise an only daughter married to Edmund Mortimer Earl of March and by her the Earldom of Ulster and Seigniory of Conaught came to the Mortimers from whom together with the Kingdom of England it fell to the house of York and then by King Edward the fourth was annexed to the Crown or the King 's demesn lands as they express it A civil war breaking out at that time and the Nation falling into faction and parties so that these English then in Ulster were induced to return into England to support their several sides and parties these Countreys were seiz'd upon by O-Neal and others of the Irish so that the Province grew as wild and barbarous as could be and whereas it formerly yielded a considerable revenue to the Earl in money it has hardly since that time paid any to the Kings of England And if I may be allowed to make remarks of this nature the piety and wisdom of the Kings of England has been more defective in no one thing than in the due administration of this Province and all Ireland either in respect of propagating Religion modelling the State or civilizing the Inhabitants Whether this neglect is to be imputed to a careless oversight or a design of parsimony and unseasonable providence I am not able to determine But one would think an Island so great and so near us where there 's so much good soil and rich pasture so many woods so much good mettal for digging up so many fine rivers and commodious harbours on all sides convenient for navigation into the richest parts of the world upon which account great imposts might be probably expected and lastly an Island so very fruitful of inhabitants and the people both in respect of minds and bodies capable of all the employments of peace or war should of right challenge and deserve our care for the future 59 If they were wrought and conform'd to orderly civility I Did but just now intimate That I would give some account of these O-Neals who pretend to be Lords of Ulster and therefore I promised to an excellent friend of mine the history of the Rebellions they rais'd this last age Though that Gentleman is now happy in a better world yet I had so much esteem for him that I cannot now but perform my promise to his very memory Thus much I thought necessary to premise As for the following History the materials are not drawn from uncertain reports or other weak authorities but from those very authâ—ntick papers that came from the Generals themselves or such as were eye-witnesses and had a share in the transactions and that so sincerely that I cannot but flatter my self with hopes of favour from the Reader if he desires a true information or would understand the late affairs in Ireland which are so much a secret to most of us and also of escaping all manner of reprehension except from such as are conscious and gall'd