Edward called the Confessor succeeded next in 1042. who was an absolute Englishman and the youngest Son of Etheldred and Queen Emma being invited from Normandy by all the English Nobility who disdained the Danish Subjection and was entertained with great Joy He first remitted that heavy Danish Tax of Forty thousand pound a year called Dane gilt imposed by his Father and paid forty years by all but the Clergy who are exempted Because the Kings reposed more confidence in the Prayers of the Holy Church than in the Power of Armies It is reported Edward forgave that Tax upon this occasion A great Sum of that Treasure being brought into his Chamber and laid in a heap he being called to see it was at first sight much affrighted protesting he saw the Devil dancing with great Joy upon the same and therefore commanded it should be again restored to his Subjects and released them from it for ever after He married Editha Earl Godwin's Daughter but never had any Conjugal Society with her though she was a Lady accomplished with all excellent Endowments both of Mind and Body so that this old Veâ—â—â—â—â— written on her Sicut Spina Rosam Genuit Goduinus Editham From prickled Stalk as sweetest Rose So Editha fair from Godwin grows Edward himself confessed upon his Death-bed That openly she was his Wife but in secret Embracings as his own Sister But whether it were Infirmity or Chastity it seems he was willing to have her accused of Incontinency whereof if she were guilty he could not be innocent it being a great injury to put his Wives vertue to so Tyrannical a trial After this some differences arose between him and Earl Godwin and Forces were raised on both sides but by the Intercession of the Nobility an Agreement was made Yet Godwin escaped not Divine Vengeance for being charged by the King for the Munder of Alfred he wished if he were guilty he might never swallow down a bit of Bread again which happened accordingly for the first bit of Bread he put into his Mouth choaked him as he sate with the King at Table A dreadful Instance of God's Severity against Perjury This King is blamed for his Cruelty to his Mother in forcing her to pass over nine burning Plow shares bare-foot and blind-fold for a Trial of her Continency which yet she performed without the least damage He is said to be the first King that cured the Disease called the King's-Evil It is related that this King lying on his Bed one Afternoon with the Curtains drawn a pilfering Courtier coming into his Chamber and finding the King's Casket open which Hugoline his Chamberlain had forgot to shut he took out as 〈◊〉 Money as he could well carry and went away But finding success he came a second and a third time still carrying off more At which the King who had observed all called to him to be gone with all speed since he had enough if he could be contented For said he if Hugoline should come and catch thee thou wilt go nigh to lose all thou hast got and may'st get a Halter into the Bargain The Fellow was no sooner gone but Hugoline came in and finding the Casket open and a great deal of Money taken out he was much incensed But the King bid him not be moved For said he he that hath it hath more need of it than we When this King Edward was hastning out of Normandy with a great Army to recover England from the Danes being ready to give Battel his Captains assured him of Victory and that they would not leave one Dane alive God forbid said Edward that the Kingdom should be recovered for me who am but one Man by the death of so many thousands better it is that I should live a private and unbloody Life than to be a King by such a Slaughter and Butchery This King having no lisue of his own sent for Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside out of Hungary who for his long absence was called the Outlaw but he dying soon after he declared Edgar the Outlaw's Son to be Heir and sirnamed him Atheling or Adeling a Term appropriated to the presumptive Heirs of the Crown He had also a Daughter named Matilda who was married to the King of Scots and was Mother to David King of Scotland and Maud Queen of England When King Edward was on his Death-bed he observed all present weeping and lamenting for him to whom he said If you loved me you would forbear weeping and rejoyce because I go to my Father with whom I shall receive the Joys promised to the Faithful not through my Merits but by the free mercy of my Saviour who sheweth mercy on who he pleaseth After the Death of Earl Godwin Harold his Son grew into great Favour with King Edward and was by him made Lieutenant of his Army against the Welch who with his Brother Tosto or Toston utterly subdued that Rebellion After which Harold still increasing more in favour with the King there grew such hatred between the two Brethren that Tosto coming to Hereford slew all his Brother's Servants and cutting them in pieces salted them and put them into powdering-tubs It hapned afterward that Harold going beyond Sea was by Tempest â—â—â—ven into Normandy and being seised and carrâ—â—d before Duke Wiliam he made him promise That after the death of King Edward he would secure the Kingdom for him according to King Edward's Will Which Oath having taken Harold came back and told King Edward what he had done who seemed well content therewith saith the Historian which if it were true he had surely forgot his former Declaration concerning Edgar Atheling However after the death of King Edward Harold neither regarding his Oath to Duke William nor Edgar's Right whom he dispised for his tender Age caused himself to be Proclaimed King without any great Ceremony or Celebration none much approving or disapproving thereof and to ingratiate himself with the People he eased them of several severe Taxes laid upon them by his Predecessor and was affable and kind to all But this was a short calm before a great storm for soon after Duke William sent his Ambassadors to him to mind him of his Oath but he returned answer That it was extorted from him in his Imprisonment and therefore was no way obliging At this Answerthe Duke was much inraged and prepared Forces for gaining the Kingdom by force Neither was Harold idle but made provision to withstand him At which time a dreadful Comet appeared in the Heavens which was then judged and after proved to be a fatal Omen During these Preparations Tosto Brother to Harold and Harfager King of Denmark with three hundred Ships invaded the Country landing in Yorkshire Harfager claiming the Crown as Son of Canutus but the Nobility of those parts opposing them were routed which Harold hearing march'd against them and at Stamford-Bridge he encountred them where his whole Army was withstood by one single Dane who slew forty of
He replied The Fortune of France By his Voice he was Known and thereupon received into the Town with the Tears and lamentations of his People The rest of his Army strove to save themselves by flight whom the English did not pursue but stood still upon their Guard according to the true Rules of Martial Discipline being unwilling to hazard so glorious a Victory by following them in the Night knowing there were so many of the Enemy escaped as might yet overwhelm their tired Army with multitude King Edward seeing the Field clear of the French came down from the Hill with his Troops entire toward his Victorious Son whom most affectionately imbracing and kissing he said Fair Son God send you good perseverance to such prosperous beginnings you have acquitted your self right Nobly and are well worthy to have a Kingdom intrusted to your Government for your Valour To which the most Noble and Magnanimous Prince replied with silence humbly falling on his Knees at the Feet of his Triumphant Father After this Victory King Edward marched with his Army through France and Besieged Calice In 1355. King Edward was informed that Philip of France being dead King John his Son and Successor had given the Dutchy of Aquitain to Charles the Dauphin his Eldest Son whereupon the King being much incensed conferr'd the same upon his own Son the Prince of Wales commanding him to defend his Right therein with his Sword against his Adversaries He was likewise appointed by Parliament to go into Gascoin with a thousand men at Arms Two Thousand Archers and a great number of Welshmen who accompanied their Prince and soon after with Three Hundred Sail of Ships attended by many of the English Nobility he landed in France and with his Victorious Arms Marched into Aquitain recovering a great number of Cities and Towns and releasing a multitude of Prisoners He then entred Guienne passing over Languedock to Tholouse Narbone and Bruges without opposition and loaden with Plunder return'd to Bourdeux Afterward he made a second Course through Perigort and Limosin into the Bowels of France even to the very Gates of Bruges in Berry the terror of his name preparing his way and then wheeled about designing to return by Remorantine in Blasois which Town he took and so through the Countrey of Tourain Poictou and Xantoign to his Chief City of Bourdeux But King John having raised a very Potent Army followed him in the Rear and about the City of Poictiers he overtook our Invincible Prince where the Armies approached each other the French exceeding the English six to one Two Cardinals sent from Pope Clement as before the former Battel mediated to take up the Quarrel but the French King supposing he had his Enemy now at his mercy would hear of no conditions but that the Prince should deliver him four Hostages and as Vanquished render up himself and his Army to his discretion The Prince was content to restore to him all the places he had taken but without prejudice to his Honour wherein he said he stood accountable to his Father and his Country But King John would not abate any thing of his first demands as judging himself secure of Victory and thereupon was ready to attack the Prince who in this exigency politickly got the advantage of the ground by obtaining the benefit of certain Vines Shrubs and Bushes upon that part where he was like to be assaulted whereby to imbarass and disturb the French Horse whom he saw ready to fall furiously upon him The success answered his expectation for the Enemies Cavalry in their full Career were so intangled and incumbered among their Vines that the Prince's Archers galled and annoyed them at pleasure For the French King to give the Honour of the day to his Horse made use of them only without the aid of his Infantry And they being thus disordered the whole Army was thereby utterly defeated Here if ever the Prince of Wales and his Englishmen gave full proof of their undaunted Courage and Valour never giving over till they had wholly routed all the three French Battalions the least of which exceeded the number of the Prince's Forces King John himself Fighting valiantly and Philip his youngest Son who by his undaunted Prowess so defended his distressed Father that he gained the Sirname of Hardy were both taken Prisoners The most remarkable of the Prince's Commanders for Courage and Conduct were the Earls of Warwick Suffolk Salisbury Oxford and Stafford The Lords Chandois Cobham Spencer Berkley Basset c. and particularly James Lord Audley signaliz'd himself receiving many wounds and was rewarded by the Noble Prince of Wales with the gift of Five Hundred Marks Land a year in England which he instantly divided among his four Esquires who had stood by him in all the fury and brunt of this bloody Battel Whereupon the Prince asked him if he did not accept of his gift He answered That these men had deserved it as well as himself and needed it more With which reply the Prince was so well pleased that he gave him Five Hundred Marks a Year more A rare example where desert in the Subject and reward in the Prince strove to exceed each other He vowed to be foremost in the Fight and made good his word It was the misfortune or rather glory of the French Nobility in these disastrous times that the loss commonly fell very heavy upon them for in this fatal overthrow the French confess that Fifty Two Lords and about One Thousand Seven Hundred Knights Esquires and Gentlemen were slain The chief were the Duke of Athens the High Constable Great Marshal and High Chamberlain of France the Bishop of Chalons thâ— Lords of Landas Pons and Chambly Sir Reginald Charney who that day carried the Consecrated Standard Auriflamb was slain also and of the Common Souldiers about Six Thousand So wonderfully did the great God of Battels fight for the English in those days There escaped from this bloody fight Three of the French King's Sons for he brought them all into the Field Charles the Dauphin Lewis Duke of Anjou and John Duke of Barry The French Prisoners taken were John King of France and Philip his Son the Archbishop of Sens the Earls of Ponthieu Eu Longuevil Vendosme Tankervile Salbruch Nassaw Dampmartin La Roch Vaudemont Estampes c. With many other Lords and Two Thousand Knights Esquires and Gentlemen that bore Coats of Arms. After the Battel a Contention arose who was the Man that took King John Prisoner At length the King himself decided the Controversie by declaring that one Sir Dennis Morbeck of St. Omers had made him Prisoner For which service the Prince of Wales rewarded him with a Thousand Marks This great Battel was fought Sept. 19. 1357. and is thus described by Mr. Thomas May in his Poem on the Life of King Edward III. The first hot charge The valiant Lord renowned Audley gave Who to perform a noble Vow in Deeds Almost the Prowess of a Man
Edward rejoyced in the excellent Vertues and Actions of his Son and People Charles the French King warned by so many calamities as his Dominions had sustained by the English War and earnestly coveting to recover the Honour of his Nation betook himself to secret practices Never adventuring his own Person in the Field but executing all by his Deputies and Lieutenants especially by the valour and service of Bertram de Glequin Constable of France who from a low estate was raised to this height for his prudent and magnanimous Conduct in War And our truly Noble King without suspicion of craft reposing himself upon the Rules of Vertue and Magnanimity did not reap the stable effects of so great and important victories nor of the Peace so Ceremoniously made that in the World's opinion it could not be broken without the manifest violation upon one side of all Bonds both divine and humane The Prince of Wales by Letters advised his Father not to trust to any fair words or overtures of further Amity made by the French because as he said they entertained Practices underhand in every place against him But his counsel was not hearkned to because he was judged to write out of a restless humour delighting in War though the event shewed that his words were true For now King Charles having by quick payments and other means got home all the Hostages which had been delivered for performance of the Articles of Peace set all his wits on work to abuse the King of England's credulity He courted him with loving Letters and Presents and in the mean time surprized the County of Ponthieu our King 's undeniable inheritance before King Edward heard thereof Who hereupon calls a Parliament declares the breach craves aid and hath it granted And then again claims the Crown of France and sent over his Son John Duke of Lancaster and Humfrey de Bohun Earl of Hereford with a great Army to Calice to invade France Among the States and Towns made over to the English at the Treaty of Bretigni which had revolted to the French was the City of Limosin Thither did the Prince march and sat down with his Army before it And not long after came unto him out of England his two Brethren the Duke of Lancaster and the Earl of Cambridge with a fresh supply of Valiant Captains and Souldiers The City held out to the utmost and was at last taken by storm where no mercy was shewed by the inraged Soldiers but Sword and Fire laid all desolate After this Service the Prince's health failing him more and more he left his Brethren in Aquitain to prosecute the Wars and himself taking Ship came over to his Father in England his eldest Son Edward being dead a little before at Bourdeaux and brought over with him his Wife and his other Son Richard The Prince having left France his Dominions were either taken or fell away faster than they were gotten Gueschlin entred Poictou took Montmorillon Chauvigny Lussack and Moncontour Soon after followed the Country of Aulnis of Xantoyn and the rest of Poictou Then St. Maxent Neel Aulnay Benaon Marant Surgers Fontency and at last they came to Thouras where the most part of the Lords of Poictou that held with the Prince were assembled At this time the King Prince Edward the Duke of Lancaster and all the Great Lords of England set forward for their relief But being driven back by a Tempest and succour not coming Thouras was yielded upon composition In fine all Poictou was lost and then Aquitain all but only Burdeaux and Bayon And not long after Prince Edward died and with him the Fortune of England He was a Prince so full of Virtues as were scarce to be matcht by others He died at Canterbury upon Trinity Sunday June 8. in the forty sixth year of his Age and the forty ninth of his Father's Reign and was buried in Christ's-Church there 1376. Among all the Gallant men of that Age this our Prince was so worthily the first He had a sumptuous Monument erected for him upon which this Epitaph was engraven in Brass in French thus Englished Here lyeth the Noble Prince Monsieur Edward the Eldest Son of the thrice Noble King Edward the third in former time Prince of Aquitain and of Wales Duke of Cornwal and Earl of Chester who died on the Feast of the Trinity which was the eighth of June in the year of Grace 1376. To the Soul of whom God grant mercy Amen After which were added these verses in French thus Translated according to the homely Poetry of those times Who so thou art that passest by Where these Corps entombed lye Understand what I shall say As at this time speak I may Such as thou art sometime was I Such as I am such shalt thou be I little thought on the hour of Death So long as I enjoyed Breath Great Riches here I did possess Whereof I made great Nobleness I had Gold Silver Wardrobes and Great Treasures Horses Houses Land But now a Caitiff Poor am I Deep in the Ground lo here Ilye My beauty great is all quite gone My Flesh is wasted to the Bone My House is narrow now and throng Nothing but Truth comes from my Tongue And if you should see me this Day I do not think but ye would say That I had never been a Man So much altered now I am For God's sake pray to th' Heavenly King That he my Soul to Heaven would bring All they that Pray and make Accord For me unto my God and Lord God place them in his Paradise Wherein no wretched Caitiff lies The Death of this Prince saith an ingenious Historian was a heavy loss to the State being a Prince of whom we never heard ill never received any other note but of goodness and the Noblest performance that Magnanimity and Wisdom could ever shew insomuch as what Praise could be given to Virtue is due to him I shall only add this short Remark That the Captivity of two Kings at the same time namely John King of France and David Bruce King of Scotland demonstrated at once the Glory and Power of King Edward and his magnanimous Son The French King continued Prisoner in England five years enough to have determined the fortune of that great Kingdom and dissolved their Cantoned Government into Parts had it not been a body consisting of so many strong Limbs and so abounding with Spirits that it never fainted notwithstanding all its loss of blood but scorned to yield though King Edward came very near the Heart having wounded them in their most mortal part the Head At length he recovered his liberty by paying three millions of Crowns of Gold whereof six hundred thousand were laid down presently four hundred thousand more the year after and the remainder the next two years following The Scots King could not gain his Freedom in twice the time being the less able to redeem himself for that he was upon the matter half a King the
a Tyrant but be sure that thou take great care to redress the Grievances of thy Subjects and severely punish those that wrong them Hereby shalt thou gain the Englishmen's Hearts and reign prosperously for so long as they freely enjoy their Liberties and Estates thou may'st be sure of their Loyalty and Obedience but if thou strive to slave or impoverish them they will certainly rebel against thee for such is their nature that they will rather chuse to dye Freemen than to live Slaves and Beggars Therefore if thou Govern thein with a mixture of love and fear thou wilt be King over the most Pleasant and Fruitful Countrey and the most Loving Faithful and Valiant People in the World whereby thou wilt be a terror to all thine Enemies My Son when it shall please God to take me out of the World which is the Common Lot of all men I must leave my Crown and Kingdom to thee and I would earnestly advise thee that of all things thou wilt avoid Pride neither be thou bewitcht with worldly honour so as to be exalted in thine own imagination but always remember that the higher thy Dignity is so much greater is the burden that lyes upon thee for the security of thy Kingdom and of every particular Subject therein as being like the Head and Heart in the Body from whence all the Members receive Life and Nourishment Whereby thy People finding they receive so many benefits from thee will be always ready to assist and defend thee for their own preservation as the Members do the Head and Heart But above all things be careful to serve God sincerely and ascribe to him the Glory of all thy Successes against thine Enemies as coming from his goodness and not any merit of thine These and many other good Instructions the King gave to his Son And soon after being at his Prayers at St. Edward's Shrine in Westminster-Abbey he was suddenly taken with an Apoplexy and thereupon removed to the Abbot of Westminster's House where recovering himself and finding he was in a strange place he asked where he was and being told in the Abbot's House in a Chamber called Jerusalem where an Astrologer had formerly told him he should dye He said Nay then I am sure I shall dye though he before thought it would have been in Palestine and was therefore preparing to make a Voyage thither And here he died indeed March 20. 1413. It is observable that during his sickness he always required to have his Crown set upon his Bolster by him and one of his Fits being so strong upon him that all thought him absolutely dead the Prince coming in took away the Crown when suddenly the King recovering his senses and missing it was told the Prince had taken it who being called came back with the Crown and kneeling down said Sir to all our Judgments and to all our griefs you seemed directly dead and therefore I took the Crown as my Right but seeing to all our comforts you live I here deliver it more joyfully than I took it and pray God you may long live to wear it your self Well said the King sighing what Right I had to it God knows But says the Prince If you dye King my Sword shall maintain it to be my Right against all Opposers Well replied the King I leave all to God and then turning about said God bless thee and have mercy upon me And with these words he gave up the Ghost After his Father's Death the Prince was Proclaimed King by the name of Henry V. and proved a better Man of a King than a Subject for till then he was not in his right Orb and therefore no marvel he was exorbitant Those that have taken the height of him parallell'd him with Alexander for Magnanimity and Caesar for his being Invincible and Affectation of Glory but he had something of Caesar that Alexander the Great had not That he would not be Drunk nor Intemperate and something of Alexander that Caesar had not That he would not be flattered and both were short of him in this that Conquering others they could not Conquer themselves but even when they were Lords of the World became Slaves to their own Passions He advanced the former Title of the Right of the Kings of England to the Kingdom of France and sent Ambassadors to King Charles VI. to demand a peaceable surrender of that Crown to him offering to accept his fair Daughter Katherine with the Kingdom and to expect no other Pledge for his Possession till after Charles's Death But the French King being sick his Son the Dauphin who managed the Government instead of another answer scornfully sent the King a Present of Tennis Balls as an intimation that his Youth was better acquainted with the use of them than of Bullets The King whose Wit was as Keen as his Sword returned him this answer That in requital of his fine Present of Tennis Balls it should not be long e're he would toss such Iron Balls amongst them that the best Arm in France should not be able to hold a Racket against them Neither was he worse than his word though his Army seemed very disproportionate for so great a work being only as some Write nine thousand Horse and Foot with which small number he met with the French Army at a place called Agencourt where though the Enemy were above five to one he fought them with such resolution that he took more Prisoners than his own Forces consisted of and kill'd ten thousand of them the Dauphin himself dying soon after of grief with the loss only of six hundred English nay one Author says of not above twenty six in all which made the Victory almost miraculous And which the Religious young King was so sensible of that he caused the Clergy in his Army to sing that Psalm of David When Israel went out of Egypt c and the Souldiers in their Arms responded at every Verse Not unto us O Lord not unto us but unto thy Name be all the Glory And upon his return to England with his Prisoners he commanded that no Ballad or Song should be sung but those of Thank sgiving to God for his happy Victory and Safe return without any reflections upon the French or extolling the English Valour Soon after he returned back to France where many great Cities and Towns were Surrendred to him and the French being unable to make any resistance at length a Treaty of Peace is concluded and he married his beloved Lady Katherine Daughter to the French King Charles being Proclaimed Regent of France during that King's Life and Heir Apparent to that Crown after King Charles his Death He was tall of Stature lean of Body and his Bones small but strongly made somewhat long Neckt black Hair'd and of a very comely Countenance So swift in running that he with two of his Lords would run down a Wild Buck or Doe in a Park He delighted in Songs and Musical Instruments
oftentimes when the King charged them with affronting his Lord Lieutenants they unanimously answered That they were very willing to be subject to any Prince he should nominate provided he were a Welshman born The King perceiving their inflexible temper resolved to gratifie them by a Politick Stratagem He thereupon sends secretly to the Queen who was then big with Child that she should come to him with all speed to Carnarvan and when she was nigh her time of Delivery He ordered all the Welsh Nobility and Gentry to appear before him at Ruthland Castle to consult about the Publick welfare of their Country When they were come he detained them till he had notice that the Queen was delivered of a Son at Carnarvan and then calling them together he told them That they having often Petitioned him to have a Prince to rule them he being now going out of their Countrey would nominate one to them provided they would promise to accept and obey him The Welshmen answered they would be willingly obedient to him provided he were their own Countryman Ay says the King I will assure you that he was born in Wales That he can speak never a word of English and that he never did any wrong to man Woman or Child The Welshmen were very joyful of their good fortune promising true subjection to him Whereupon he named his own new born Son Edward firnamed Carnarvan from the place of his Birth and from that time the Eldest Sons of the Kings of England have been Intituled Princes of Wales This Prince succeeded his Father by the name of King Edward II. He was a comely Person and of great strength but much given to Drink which made him often disclose his Secrets For his other conditions his greatest fault was his inordinate love to Garestone and the Spencers who being Persons of lewd Lives endeavoured to debauch him with Wine and Women and occasioned many mischiefs and grievances in the Kingdom of which the Nobility and People were so sensible that when they found him irreclaimable they resolved to depose him and set his young Son Edward on the Throne his Queen likewise joining with the Lords therein who going over to France she there Contracted a Marriage between her Son Edward and Philippa Daughter to the Earl of Heynault by whom being aided with Forces she landed at Orwell near Harwich in Suffolk The Lords immediately resorted to her and the Londoners inclining to take her part the King found his evil Counsellors the Spencers and others could do him little service Therefore Shiping themselves for the Isle of Lundy they were by Tempest cast upon the Coast of Wales and the King secured himself in a Monastery in Glamorganshire But soon after both he and his Favourites were taken from thence They were Hanged and Quartered and he himself was deposed by Parliament having been first persuaded to make a formal resignation of the Crown And at length he was committed a Prisoner to Berkley Castle near Bristol where he was miserably murdered by having a red hot Iron or Spit thrust up into his Body II. Edward of Windsor so called from the place of his Birth the Son of this unfortunate King was the second Prince of Wales of the English Royal Blood Upon the Deposing of his Father by the Parliament it was resolved that he should be advanced to the Throne which this young Prince refused unless his Father resigned the Government which he was obliged to do and so his Son was Proclaimed King by the name of Edward III. who afterward proved a Glorious and Renowned Prince His Minority being but four years old when he was Crowned though it may Palliate cannot so take off the scandal of not preventing his Death who gave him Life but that there remains a great blemish upon his memory For being a Master of so much reason as to pause upon it as he did upon the first motion of putting his Father to Death it may be thought he had power enough to have prevented the execution it being a violation of the Law of Nature and likewise of ill example since the People might use him in the same manner if he outlived their affections or his own discretion But his revenge upon Mortimer seems to declare him really innocent or that he abhor'd the World should think otherwise Whereby he so far reconciled himself to the opinion of the Vulgar that he seldom wanted Friends during his long Reign as he never wanted an occasion to make use of them He was a Prince of that admirable composure of Body and Mind that Fortune seemed to have fallen in love with him elevating him so far above the reach of Envy or Treachery that all the Neighbour Princes dazled with the splendor of his Glory gave place to him who from the very first Ascent to the Throne had a prospect of two Crowns more than he was born to The one placed within his reach which was Scotland The other that of France which was more remote To the attaining the first there was a fair opportunity offered by the irreconcileable contest of two Rival Kings David Bruce and Edward Baliol whose Right and Interest were so evenly poized that King Edward's power could easily turn the Scale To the recovery of France there was yet a fairer opportunity given him by the revolt of Philip of Artois a Prince of the Blood Royal and Brother in Law to Philip of Valois the present French King who upon discontent came over and discovered all the Secrets of the French Counsels to King Edward assuring him of the Affections of several of the French Nobility And now the two Kings set up their Titles to the Kingdom of France Edward was nearest by Blood but drew his Pedigree from a Female Philip was farther off but descended of all Males and because the Law Salique which excludes Women from Reigning in France was conceived as well to exclude all Descendants from Females therefore was Philip's Title accepted the French obstinately declaring That they would never tye the Succession of that Crown to a Distaff To which King Edward replied That he would then tye it to his Sword With the English took part the Emperor and the chief Princes of Germany With the French the King of Bohemia the two Dukes of Austria the Earl of Flanders the Duke of Savoy and divers Princes of Italy together with his inraged Neighbour David Bruce King of Scots a weak but restless Enemy against whom King Edward had set up Edward Baliol as Competitor and to whose assistance he sends an Army toward Scotland and at Hallydown Hill near Berwick the Scots are utterly defeated about Thirty Two Thousand Souldiers being slain with a great number of Nobility and Gentry After this King Edward gained a Glorious Victory over the French at the Battel of Cressy and another at Poictiers wherein John King of France was taken Prisoner And David King of Scots with an Army of Threescore Thousand men a second time
all or any of which Books I refer the Reader for farther satisfaction being unwilling to repeat or that any should pay twice for the same matter Remarkable Observations upon the most Memorable Persons and Places in Wales And an account of several considerable Transactions and Passages that have happened for many hundred years past Together with the Natural and Artificial Rarities and Wonders in the several Counties of that Principality PART III. GReat Britain comprehends the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and is an Island in the Ocean divided by Antiquity into three Parts the first and greatest called Loegria is contained within the French Seas the River Severne Dee and Humber to the German Ocean now called England The second containeth all the Land Northward from Humber to the Deucalidonian Seas now called Scotland The third lyes between the Irish Seas and the Rivers Severne and Dee and was called Cambria now Wales Some Authors add a fourth division called Cornubia now Cornwall the Inhabitants of all four differing in Language humor and Customs among themselves My design at present is to give an account of Wales having already treated of England in a Book called Admirable Curiosities Rarities and Wonders in every County thereof And I intend to proceed in the same method in this Principality Wales is situated on the West and Northwest part of England over against the Kingdom of Ireland and appears like a Promontory oâ— Foreland being surrounded by the Sea almost on every side except on the South-East part where it is divided from England by the River Severn and by a Ditch drawn from the Mouth of the River Dee to the mouth of the River Wye being an hundred Miles from East to West and an hundred and twenty Miles from North to South The forenamed Ditch is called Claudh Offa because made by Offa King Mercia of a great depth and breadth thereby to confine the Welsh into narrower limits who enacted That if any Welshman were found on the East side of this Ditch he should forfeit his right hand but that Law is long since repealed and the Loyal and Valiant Welsh have for several ages past enjoyed the same Liberties and Privileges with the other Subjects of the Crown of England It was divided into three parts that is North-Wales South-Wales and Powis-Land by Roderick the Great in 877. as you have heard which proved the confusion of Wales their Princes being commonly at War with the English or among themselves to inlarge and defend their several Dominions Of these three North-Wales was the chief being left to Amarawd the eldest Son of Roderick the Princes whereof by way of eminency were stiled Princes of Wales and sometimes Kings of Aberfrow their Chief Residence and paid to the King of London as well as the Princes of South-Wales and Powis-Land sixty three pounds yearly as a Tribute Yet South-Wales called by the Inhabitants Dehenbarth or the right side as being nearer the Sun was the largest most fruitful and rich but more subject to the Invasions and Depredations of the English and Flemings and therefore North-Wales being secured by its Hills and Mountains was prefer'd before it and retaineth more of the purity of the Welsh Tongue However this makes the soil lean and hungry but that is supplied by the large quantity thereof which occasioned this pleasant passage An English Gentleman in discourse with a worshipful Knight of Wales boasting that that he had in England so much ground worth 40 s. an Acre the Welsh Gentleman replied You have ten yards of Velvet and I have two hundred yards of Frize I will not exchange with you There are likewise in Wales very pleasant Meadows Watered by fine Rivers and as the sweetest Flesh is said to be near the Bones so the most delicious Valleys are interposed betwixt these Mountains The Natives are generally healthy strong swift and witty which is imputed to the clear and wholesome Air of the Mountains the cleanly and moderate Diet of the People and the hardship to which they are inured from their Childhood The Ancient Britains painted their naked Bodies with Pictures of living Creatures Flowers Sun Moon and Stars thereby as they imagined to appear terrible to their Enemies yet some more civil were clothed and as a great Ornament wore Chains of Iron about their Wasts and Neck and Rings on their middle Fingers They wore the Hair of their Head long which was naturally curled in many All other parts they shaved only wore long Whiskers on their upper Lip They had ten or twelve Wives a piece who lived in common among their Parents and Brethren yet the Children were only accounted his who first married the Mother while she was a Maid They were brought up in common among them They were moderate in their Diet as Milk Roots and Barks of Trees and a little thing no bigger than a Bean which for a great while took away both Hunger and Thirst Neither would they eat Hens Hares Geese nor Fish yet would often Dine upon Venison and Fruits Their usual Drink was made of Barly They are reported by Plutarch to have lived very long many to an hundred and twenty years They were Idolatrous Heathens as to their Religion using Man's Flesh in their Sacrifices and adoring a multitude of Idols Their Priests were called Druids who managed their Sacrifices and likewise acted as Temporal Judges in all Civil Matters and it was highly criminal not abide by their Judgment They were excused from the Wars and all contributions They had a Primate who commanded over them in chief Their Divinity was That the Soul is immortal and passeth from one Body to another which Doctrine they taught not out of Books but by word of Mouth Their Buildings were low mean Cottages like those of the Gauls or Boors of France yet they fortified several thick Woods with Rampires and Ditches which they called Towns Brass and Iron Rings were the Coin they used which were of a certain weight but afterward they grew more civil by Traffick and had both Gold and Silver Money Their chief Trade was in Chains Wreaths Ivory Boxes Bitts and Bridles with some Toys of Amber and Glass Neither was their Shipping more considerable their cheif Vessels being made of light wood covered over with Leather Their usual way of Fighting was in Military Chariots neither did they engage in great bodies but had still fresh men to succeed those who retired or were weary Their weapons were Shields and short Spears at the lower end whereof was fastned a round Bell of Brass with which they terrified their Enemies Many times they fought under the Conduct of Valiant Women who were extraordinary couragious They managed their Chariots so dexterously that running downa steep Hill with all speed they could stop them in the middle of their course The Principality of Wales produceth Mines and among others Royal Mines of Silver in Cardiganshire in the Mountains of Cosmelock Tallabant Gadarren Bromfloid Geginnon and Cummerrum The
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