entertain'd a design to depose him For which after he was dead he was attainted of High Treason by Act of Parliament He being thus taken off the same King gave the title of Earl of Glocester to Thomas De-Spencer 38 In the right of his great Grandmother who a little while after met with no better fate than his great Grandfather 39 Sir Hugh Hugh had before him for he was prosecuted by Henry 4 and ignominiously degraded and beheaded at Bristol 40 By the Peoples fury Henry 5. created his brother Humphry the second Duke of Glocester who us'd to stile himself 41 In the first year of King Henry 6. as I have seen in an Instrument of his Humphrey by the Grace of God Son Brother and Uncie to Kings Luke of Glocester Earl of Hainault Holland Zeeland and Pembroke Lord of Friseland Great Chamberlain of the Kingdom of England Protector and Defender of the same Kingdom and Church of England Son Brother and Uncle of Kings Duke of Glocester Earl of Pembroke and Lord high Chamberlain of England He was a great Friend and Patron both of his Country and Learning but by the contrivance 42 Of a Woman of a woman he was taken off at St. Edmunds-Bury The third and last Duke was Richard the third brother to King Edward 4. who having inhumanly murther'd his Nephews usurp'd the Throne which within the space of two years he lost with his life in a pitcht battle and found by sad experience That an unsurped power unjustly gain'd is never lasting Richard 3. Concerning this last Duke of Glocester and his first entrance upon the Crown give me leave to act the part of an Historian for a while which I shall presently lay aside again as not being sufficiently qualify'd for such an undertaking When he was declared Protector of the Kingdom and had his two young nephews Edward 5. King of England and Richard Duke of York in his power he began to aim at the Crown and by a profuse liberality great gravity mixed with singular affability deep wisdom impartial Justice to all people joyned with other subtle devices he procured the affections of all and particularly gained the Lawyers on his side and so managed the matter that there was an humble Petition in the name of the Estates of the realm offer'd him in which they earnestly pray'd him That for the publick good of the Kingdom and safety of the People he would accept the Crown and thereby support his tottering Country and not suffer it to fall into utter ruin which without respect to the laws of Nature and those of the establish'd Government had been harrassed and perplexed with civil wars rapines murders and all other sorts of miseries ever since Edward 4. his brother being enchanted with love potions had contracted that unhappy march with Elizabeth Grey widow without the consent of Nobles or publication of Banns in a clandestine manner and not in the face of the Congregation contrary to the laudable custom of the Church of England And what was worse when he had pre-contracted himself to the Lady Eleanor Butler daughter to the Earl of Shrewsbury from whence it was apparent that his marriage was undoubtedly unlawful and that the issue proceeding thence must be illegitimate and not capable of inheriting the Crown Moreover since George Duke of Clarence second brother of Edward 4. was by Act of Parliament attainted of High Treason and his children excluded from all right of succession none could be ignorant that Richard remained the sole and undoubted heir of the kingdom who being born in England they well knew would seriously consult the good of his native Country and of whose birth and legitimacy there was not the least question or dispute whose wisdom also justice gallantry of mind and warlike exploits valiantly performed for the good of the Nation and the splendor of his noble extract as descended from the royal race of England France and Spain they were very well acquainted with and fully understood Wherefore having seriously considered again and again of these and many other reasons they did freely and voluntarily with an unanimous consent according to their Petition elect him to be their King and with prayers and tears out of the great confidence they had in him humbly besought him to accept of the Kingdom of England France and Ireland which were doubly his both by right of inheritance and election and that for the love which he bore to his native Country he would stretch forth his helping hand to save and protect it from impendent ruin Which if he performed they largely promis'd him all faith duty and allegiance otherwise they were resolv'd to endure the utmost extremity rather than suffer themselves to be brought into the bonds of a disgraceful slavery from which at present they were freed This humble Petition was presented to him before he accepted the Crown afterwards it was also offered in the great Council of the Nation and approved of and by their authority it was enacted and declared in a heap of words as the custom is That by the Laws of God Nature and of England and by a most laudable Custom Richard after a lawful Election Inauguration and Coronation was and is the true and undoubted King of England c. and that the inheritance of these Kingdoms rightfully belongs to the heirs of his body lawfully begotten and to use the very words as they are penned in the original Records It was enacted decreed and declar'd by authority of Parliament that all and singular the Contents in the aforesaid Bill are true and undoubted and that the same our Lord the King with the assent of the three Estates of the Realm and the authority aforesaid doth pronounce decree and declare the same to be true and undoubted I have more largely explained these matters that it may be understood how far the power of a Prince pretended godliness subtle arguings of Lawyers flattering hope cowardly fear desire of new changes and specious pretences may prevail against all right and justice even upon the great and wise assembly of the Nation But the same cannot be said of this Richard as was of Galba That he had been thought fit for Empire had he not reigned for he seated in the Empire deceived all mens expectations but this had been most worthy of a Kingdom had he not aspired thereunto by wicked ways and means so that in the opinion of the wise he is to be reckon'd in the number of bad men but of good Princes But I must not forget that I am a Chorographer and so must lay aside the Historian There are in this County 280 Parishes ADDITIONS to GLOCESTERSHIRE a GLocestershire in Saxon Gleaƿceastre-scyre and Gleaƿcestre-scyre is said to be in length 60 miles in breadth 26 and in circumference 190. The Vineyards mention'd by our Author have nothing left in this County but the places nam'd from them one near Tewkesbury at present
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 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 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. ââ 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 weât therefore seem to have sufficiently experienced your fidelity and usefulness we commit to you the power of a Count Duke or Patriciâus 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 âgâius l. ãâã Regni ââlici 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 Râgelia Royalties Those Royalties were either Dignities or Lands in Fee The
this name of Esquire which in ancient times was a name of charge and office only crept first in among the titles of honour as far as I can find in the reign of Richard the second Gentlemen Gentlemen are either the common sort of nobility who are descended of good families or those who by their virtue and fortune have made themselves eminent Citizens Citizens or Burgesses are such as are in publick offices in any City or elected to sit in Parliament The common people or Yeomen are such as some call ingenui the Law homines legales i.e. freeholders Yeomâ Gemââ ãâã Saxoâ ãâã common people those who can spend at least forty shillings of their own yearly Labourers are such as labour for wages sit to their work are Mechanicks Artizans Smiths Carpenters c. term'd capite censi and Proletarii by the Romans The Law-Courts of ENGLAND AS for the Tribunals or Courts of Justice in England there are three several sorts of them some Spiritual others Temporal and one mixt or complicate of both which is the greatest and by far the most honourable call'd the Parliament Parliament a French word of no great antiquity The Saxons our fore-fathers nam'd it a Witenâ gemot âs the true Saxon word Ç·ittenagemot that is an assembly of wise-men and Geraedniss or Council and Micil Synod from the greek word Synod signifying a great meeting The Latin writers of that and the next age call it Commune Concilium Curia altissima Generale Placitum Curia Magna Magnatum Conventus Praesentia Rogis Praelatorum Procerumque collectorum Commune totius regni concilium c. And as Livy calls the general Council of Aetolia Panetolium so this of ours may be term'd very properly Pananglium For it consists of the King the Clergy the Barons and those Knights and Burgesses elected or to express my self more plainly in Law-language the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons who there represent the body of the Nation This Court is not held at certain set times but is call'd at the King's pleasure when things of great difficulty and importance are to be consider'd in order to prevent any danger that may happen to the State and then again is dissolv'd when-ever he alone pleases Now this Court has the sovereign power and an inviolable authority in making confirming repealing and explaining laws reversing Attainders determining causes of more than ordinary difficulty between private persons and to be short in all things which concern the State in general or any particular Subject âhe Kings ââurt The next Court to this immediately after the coming in of the Normans and for some time before was the King's Court which was held in the King's Palace and follow'd the King where-ever he went For in the King's Palace there was a peculiar place for the Chancellor and Clerks who had the issuing out of Writs and the management of the great Seal and likewise for Judges who had not only power to hear pleas of the Crown but any cause whatsoever between private persons There was also an Exchequer for the Treasurer and his Receivers who had charge of the King's revenues These each of them were counted members of the King's family and had their meat and cloaths of the King Hence Gotzelin in the life of S. Edward calls them Palatii Causidici and Joannes Sarisburiensis Curiales But besides these and above them likewise ââe Chief âââtice was the Justitia Angliae and Justitiarius Angliae Capitalis i.e. the Lord Chief Justice who was constituted with a yearly stipend of 1000 marks by a Patent after this form The King to all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Counts Barons Viscounts Foresters and all other his faithful subjects of England greeting Whereas for our own preservation and the tranquillity of our Kingdom and for the administration of justice to all and singular of this our Realm we have ordain'd our beloved and trusty Philip Basset Chief Justice of England during our will and pleasure we do require you by the faith and allegiance due to us strictly enjoyning that in all things relating to the said office and the preservation of our peace and Kingdom you shall be fully obedient to him so long as he shall continue in the said Office Witness the King c. But in the reign of Henry the third it was enacted that the Common Pleas should not follow the King's Court but be held in some certain place and awhile after the Chancery the Pleas of the Crown and the Exchequer also were remov'd from the King's Court and establisht apart in certain set places as some how truly I know not have told us Having premis'd thus much I will now add somewhat concerning these Courts and others that sprung from them as they are at this day And seeing some of them have cognizance of âuris Law namely the King's Bench Common Pleas Exchequer Assizes Star-Chamber Court of Wards and the Court of Admiralty others of Equity as the Chancery the Court of Requests the Councils in the Marches of Wales and in the North I will here insert what I have learnt from others of each of them in their proper places The King's Bench ââe Kings âââch so call'd because the Kings themselves were wont to preside in that Court takes cognizance of all pleas of the Crown and many other matters relating to the King and the well-being of the publick it has power to examine and correct the errors of the Common-pleas The Judges there besides the King himself when he is pleas'd to be present are the Lord Chief Justice of England and four others or more as the King pleases ââmmon âââas The Common-Pleas has this name because the common pleas between subject and subject is by our law which is call'd the Common law there triable The Judges here are the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and four others or more to assist him Officers belonging to this Court are the Custos Brevium three Prothonotaries and many others of inferior rank âââhequer The Exchequer deriv'd that name from a table at which they sat For so Gervasius Tilburiensis writes who liv'd in the year 1160. The Exchequer is a squarâ table about ten foot long and five broad contriv'd likâ a table to sit round On every side it has a ledge of four fingers breadth Upon it is spread a cloath of black colour with stripes distant about a foot or spanâ it bought in Easter term A little after This Court ãâã report has been from the very Conquest of the Realm by King William the design and model of it being taken ââm the Exchequer beyond Sea Here all matters belongiâââ to the King's revenues are decided The Judges of it are the Lord Treasurer of England the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Chief Baron and three or four other Barons The Officers of this Court are the King's Remembrancer the Treasurer's Remembrancer the Clerk
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 Thâs 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. Coâânaeus cââ 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 Exminââââ 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 Exanâââ 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 Honniâââ 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 ââidunum 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 ââomb 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 âhis in County âmerset ââster 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
â Full. Wor. p. 17. That they who buy a house in Hertfordshire pay two years purchase for the air of it But as for the pastures Norden tells us there are but few to be met withall and that their meadows tho' here and there dispers'd are many of them cold and mossy And as to the soil in general he adds That in respect of some other Shires it is but a barren Country without the great toil and charge of the husbandman b In the north-west part of the Shire is Hitching Hitching which according to Mr. Norden had it's name from lying at the end of a wood call'd Hitch that formerly came up to it so that it 's true name must be Hitchend The main business of the inhabitants is Maulting and their market chiefly noted for Corn. c Going from hence to the south-east we find the Barrows âarrows mention'd by our Author which I am not willing to imagine were either Roman burying-places or bounds but am apt to think they had some relation to the Danes For the Hundred at a little distance call'd Dacorum-Hundred and the place within it Dane-end seem to be an evidence of some remarkable thing or other the Danes either did or suffer'd in this place And Norden tells us but upon what grounds I know not that the incursions of the Danes were stop'd in this place where they receiv'd a signal overthrow which if true and built upon good authority makes the conjecture so much the more plausible d Near the river Lea lies Hatfield Hatââââd now neither a Royal nor Bishop's seat but â Bâ p. 1â belongs to the Right Honorable the Earl of Salisbury being a place of great pleasure upon the account of it's Parks and other conveniences For situation contrivance building prospect and other necessaries to make a compleat seat it gives way to few in England From this place most of our Historians affirm that William de Hatfeld son to King Edw. 3. took his name tho' 't was really from Hatfield in Yorkshire where to the neighbouring Abbot of Roch Qu. Philippa gave 5 marks and 5 nobles per An. to the Monks to pray for the soul of this her son and the sums being transferr'd to the Church of York are now paid by the Earl of Devonshire See the Additions to Yorkshire e Next the river runs to Hertford Heâââârd call'd in Saxon Heortford a name no doubt took from a Hart with which one may easily imagine such a woody County to have formerly abounded What our Author says of the Rubrum vadum would indeed agree well enough to the south and west parts of the County where the soil is a red earth mix'd with gravel but the Hartingford adjoyning makes for the former opinion and the Arms of the Town which if rightly represented by â ãâã Mâps Spede are a Hart couchant in the water put it beyond dispute There is a very fair School founded by Richard Hale Esq a native of this County who endow'd it with 40 l. per An. f From hence the river runs to Ware Ware the denomination whereof from the Weares and not as some imagine from Wares or merchandise as it is confirm'd by the abundance of waters thereabouts which might put them under a necessity of such contrivances so particularly from the inundation in the year 1408. when it was almost all drown'd since which time says Norden and before there was great provision made by wayres and sluces for the better preservation of the town and the grounds belonging to the same The plenty of waters hereabouts gave occasion to that useful project of cutting the chanel from thence to London and conveying the New-river to the great advantage and convenience of that City g North from hence is Burnt-Pelham Burnt-Pââham from some great fire or other that has happen'd there * Nârd pâ There were some fragments and foundations of old buildings which appear'd plainly to have been consum'd by fire and so to have given name to the place In the walls of the Church was a very ancient monument namely a man figur'd in a stone and about him an eagle a lion and a bull all winged and a fourth of the shape of an angel possibly contriv'd to represent the four Evangelists Under the feet of the man a cross-flowry and under the Cross a serpent but whether the monument be still there I cannot certainly tell h Next is Stortford ââortfârd since our Author's age grown into a considerable place well stock'd with inns and a good market-town The castle there seems to have been of great strength having within it a dark and deep Dungeon call'd the Convict's prison but whether that name denotes some great privileges formerly belonging to it I dare not with a late Author affirm i But to return to the Lea Tybaulds âybaulds in our Author's time seems to have been one of the most beautiful seats in the County As it was built by Sir William Cecil so was it very much improv'd by his son Sir Robert who exchang'd it with King James 1. for Hatfield house Fail Wor. ãâã 1â In the year 1651. it was quite defac'd and the plunder of it shar'd amongst the soldiers ãâã Albans k But to go from hence toward the west the ancient Verolamium first offers it self the Antiquities whereof are so accurately describ'd by our Author that little can be added ãâã Aâbr MS. Some ruins of the walls are still to be seen and some of the Roman bricks still appear The great Church here was built out of the ruins of old Verulam and tho' time and weather have made the out-side of it look like stone yet if you break one of them or go up to the tower the redness of a brick presently appears About 1666. there was found a copper coin which had on one side Romulus and Remus sucking the Wolf on the other Rome but much defac'd l The brazen Font mention'd by Camden to have been brought out of Scotland ãâã Full. Wor. â 32. is now taken away in the late civil wars as it seems by those hands which let nothing stand that could be converted into money m In the middle of this town K. Edw. 1. erected a very stately Cross about the year 1290. in memory of Qu. Eleanor who dâing in Lincolnshire was carry'd to Westminster The same he did in several other places thro' which they pass'd some whereof are mention'd by our Author under their proper heads Viscounts âarls and Marquesses The place hath given Title to several persons of quality that of Viscount to the famous Francis Bacon Lord Verulam and Lord Chancellour of England created Viscount of this place Jan. 18. 1620. Afterwards Richard de Burgh Earl of Clanrikard in the kingdom of Ireland was created Earl of St. Albans by K. Charles 1. and was succeeded in that honour by Ulick his son with whom that title dy'd for want of
Falkirk but we need not here be particular in the Description of it designing a separate discourse upon that subject at the end of this Kingdom SELGOVAE BEneath the Gadeni to the South and West where now lie the small Territories of Liddesdale Eusdale Eskdale Annandale and Nidisdale q To which add Wachopdale so called from Rivulets running through them which all lose themselves in Solway-Frith were anciently seated the Selgovae the reliques of whose name seem to me whether to others too I knâw not to remain in the name Solway IN Liddesdale ââddâsâââe we have a high prospect of Armitage so called because anciently dedicated to a solitary life But now it is a very strong Castle which belonged to the Hepburnes who deduce their Original from a certain English Captive whom the Earl of March for delivering him out of a danger much enriched They were Earls of Bothwell âârls of ââthwell and for a long time Admirals of Scotland by inheritance But by a sister of James Earl of Bothwell last of the Hepburnes ââpburnes married to John Prior of Coldingham a natural son of K. James 5. who had several such issue both title and estate devolved to his son Hard by is Brakensey ââakensey the seat of the warlike Family of Baclugh âââd ââclugh sirnamed Scot with many other little Forts of men of Arms up and down the Country In Eusdale Eusdale I should be apt to think from the affinity of the name that the ancient Uzellum Uzellum mentioned by Ptolemy lay upon the River Euse In Eskdale Eskdale some are of opinion that the Horesti Horesti dwelt into whose borders Julius Agricola after he had subdued the Britains that inhabited this Tract led the Roman Army especially if we read Horesci for Horesti For the British Ar-Esc signifies a place by the River Eske As for Aesica in Eskdale I have spoken of it before in England and need not repeat it here a ANNANDALE JOined to this on the west-side lies Annandale Annandale that is the Valley or Dale upon the river Annan into which the access by land is very difcult The places of greatest note are a Castle upon Lough-Maban Lough-Maban which is three parts surrounded with water and strongly walled And Annandale Town almost upon the very mouth of the river Annan divested of all its glory by the English War in the reign of Edward 6. In this Territory the Jonstons The Jonstons are men of greatest name a family born for Wars between whom and the Maxwells who by ancient right preside over the Stewartry The Stewartry of Annandale for so 't is term'd there hath been too long an open enmity and defiance even to bloodshed This Valley Edgar King of the Scots upon his restoration to his Kingdom by the Auxiliaries he had out of England gave for his good services to Robert Brus The Bruses Lord of Cleaveland in the County of York who bestowed it by the King's permission upon Robert his younger son being unwilling himself to serve the King of Scots in his Wars From him are branched the Bruses Lords of Annandale of whom Robert Bruse married Isabella the daughter of William King of Scots by the daughter of Robert Avenel his son likewise Robert the third of that name married the daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon and Garioth whose son Robert sirnamed the Noble upon the failure of the issue of Alexander the third King of Scotland challenged in his mother's right the Kingdom of Scotland before Edward I. K. of England as the direct and superior Lord of the Kingdom of Scotland as the English give out or as an Honorary Arbitrator as the Scots will have it as being more nearly related in degree and bloud to King Alexander the third and to Margaret daughter to the King of Norway although a second sister's son Who soon after resigning up his own right granted and gave over to his son Robert Brus Earl of Carrick and to his heirs I speak out of the very Original all the right and claim which he had or might have to the Kingdom of Scotland But the point was determined in favour of John Baliol who sued for his right as descended from the eldest sister though in a more remote degree in these words Because the person more remote in the second degree descending in the first line is to be preferred before a nearer in the second line in the succession of an inheritance that cannot be parted Nevertheless the said Robert son to the Earl of Carriot by his valour possess'd himself of the Kingdom and establish'd it in his posterity A Prince who as he was illustrious for his glorious Actions so did he successfully triumph over Fortune so often his Adversary with a courage and presence of mind invincible b NIDISDALE CLose to Annandale on the West lies Nidisdale abounding in arable and pasture grounds so named from the River Nid The River Nid by Ptolemy falsely written Nobius for Nodius or Nidius of which name there are other Rivers in Britain full of muddy shallows as this Nid is It springs out of the Lake Lough-Cure upon which stood anciently Corda Corda a Town of the Selgovae It takes its course first by Sanqhar a Castle of the Creightons The Creightons Barons of Sanqhar who were long honoured with the Title of Barons of Sanqhar and the authority of hereditary Sheriffs of Nidisdale next by Morton Earls of Morton which gave the Title of Earl to some of the family of Douglass of which others are seated at Drumlanrig upon the same River near the mouth whereof stands Dunfreys Dunfreys between two Hills the most flourishing Town of this Tract which still shews its ancient Castle a Town famous for its woollen Manufacture and remarkable for the murder of John Commin a man of the greatest Interest amongst the Scots whom Robert Brus lest he should oppose his coming to the Crown ran through in the Church and easily got a pardon of the Pope for a murder committed in a sacred place Nearer to its mouth Solway a Village still retains somewhat of the old name of Selgovae Upon the very mouth is situated Caer-Laverock Caer-Laverock Ptolemie's Carbantorigum a Fort looked upon as impregnable when K. Edw. I. accompanied with the flower of the English Nobility besieged and took it But now 't is a weak Mansion-House of the Barons Maxwell who being of ancient Nobility were long Wardens of these Western Marches and lately advanced by a marriage with a Daughter and Coheir of the Earl of Morton whereby John Lord Maxwell was decâared Earl of Morton as also by the Daughter and Heir of Hereis Lord Toricles whom J. a second son took to wife and had by her the title of Baron Hereis Barons Hereis In this valley also upon the lake lies Glencarn Glencaââ of which the Cunninghams about whom I shall speak
from the Church as a Feudatory and Vicegerent and obliged his Successors to pay three hundred Marks to the Bishop of that See Yet the most eminent 1 Sir Thomas Hol. Thomas Moor who sacrificed his life to the Pope's Prerogative denies this to be true For he says the Romanists can shew no grant and that they have never demanded the said money nor the Kings of England acknowledged it However with submission to this great man the thing is really otherwise as most clearly appears from the Parliament-Rolls which are evidence incontestable For in a Parliament in Edward the third's Reign the Chancellor of England informs the House That the Pope intended to cite the King of England to a tryal at Rome as well for homage as for the tribute due and payable from England and Ireland and to which King John had bound both himself and his Successors and desired their opinion in it The Bishops required a day to consider of this matter apart as likewise did the Lords and Commons The next day they met again and unanimously voted and declared that forasmuch as neither King John nor any other King whatsoever could put the Kingdom under such a servitude but by the consent and agreement of a Parliament which was never had and farther that since whatsoever he had done in that kind was directly contrary to the Oath which he solemnly took before God at his Coronation if the Pope would insist upon it they were resolved to oppose him with their lives and fortunes to the very utmost of their power Such also as were learned in the law made the Charter of King John to be void and insignificant by that clause of reservation in the end saving to us and our heirs all our rights liberties and regalities But this is out of my road From King John's time the Kings of England were stiled Lords of Ireland till within the memory of our fathers Henry the eighth was declared King of Ireland by the States of that Realm assembled in Parliament the title of Lord seeming not so sacred and venerable to some seditious persons as that of King In the year 1555 when Queen Mary offered the subjection of the Kingdom of England by the hands of her Ambassadors to Pope Paul the fourth this name and title of Kingdom of Ireland was confirmed by the Pope in these word To the praise and glory of Almighty God and his most glorious mother the Virgin Mary to the honour of the whole Court of Heaven and the exaltation of the Catholick Faith We at the humble request of King Philip and Queen Mary made unto us by the advice of our brethren and by virtue of our full Apostolical authority do erect the Kingdom of Ireland and do for ever dignifie and exalt it with the title honours powers rights ensigns prerogatives preferments Royal praeeminencies and such like privileges as other Christian Realms have use and enjoy or may have use and enjoy hereafter Having accidentally found a Catalogue of those English Noble men who went in the first invasion of Ireland and with great valor subdued it to the Crown of England lest I should seem to envy them and their posterity the glory of this atchievment I will here give you them from the Chancery of Ireland for so 't is entitled The Names of such as came with Dermic Mac Morrog into Ireland Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke who by Eve the daughter of Morrog the Irish petty King aforesaid had an only daughter who brought to William Mareschall the title of Earl of Pembroke with a fair estate in Ireland and had issue five sons who in order succeeded one another all childless and as many daughters who enriched their husbands Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk Guarin Montchensey Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester William Ferrars Earl of Derby and William Breose with children honours and possessions Robert Fitz-Stephens Harvey de Mont Marish Maurice Prendergest Robert Barr. Meiler Meilerine Maurice Fitz-Girald Redmund nephew to Stephen William Ferrand Miles de Cogan Richard de Cogan Gualter de Ridensford Gualter sons of Maurice Girald Alexander sons of Maurice Girald William Notte Robert Fitz-Bernard Hugh de Lacy. William Fitz-Aldelm William Macarell Hunfrey Bohun Hugh de Gundevill Philip de Hasting Hugh Tirell David Walsh Robert Poer Osbert de Harloter William de Bendenge Adam de Gernez Philip de Breos Griffin Nephew of Stephen Ralph Fitz-Stephen Walter de Barry Philip Walsh Adam de Hereford To whom out of Giraldus Cambrensis may be added John de Curcy Hugh Contilon Redmond Cantimore Edmond Fitz-Hugh Miles of St. Davids and others The Government of the Kingdom of IRELAND SInce Ireland has been subject to the Crown of England the Kings of this Realm have ever sent their Vice-Roys to manage the publick affairs there who at first in their Letters Patents or Commissions Loâd Depââies of ââââand were stilled Keepers of Ireland after that Justices of Ireland or at pleasure Lieutenants and Deputies Their jurisdiction and authority is really large and Royal they make war and peace have power to fill all Magistracies and other Offices except some very few to pardon all crimes but those of high treason and to confer Knighthood c. These Letters Patents when any one enters upon this honourable office are publickly read and after the new Deputy has took a solemn oath of a certain set form for that purpose before the Chancellor the sword which is to be carried before him is delivered into his hands and he is seated in a Chair of state attended by the Chancellor of the Realm the Members of the Privy-Council the Peers and Nobles of the Kingdom the King at Arms a Serjeant at Arms and other Officers of State So that whether we consider his jurisdiction and authority or his train attendance and splendor there is certainly no Vice-roy in Christendom that comes nearer the grandeur and majesty of a King His Council are the Chancellor of the Realm the Treasurer and such others of the Earls Barons and Judges as are of the Privy-Council Orders or degrees iâ Ireland For Ireland has the same orders and degrees of honour that England has Earls Barons Knights Esquires c. The Courts or Tribunals of IRELAND THE supream Court in Ireland is the Parliament which Parliament at the pleasure of the King of England is either called or dissolved by his Deputy âas an ãâã 12. and yet in Edward the second 's time it was enacted That Parliaments should be held in Ireland every year 2 Which seemeth yet not to have been effected Here are likewise observed foure Law-terms in the year as in England and five Courts of Justice held ãâã the a The Court was called The Court of Castle-chamber because it was usually kept in the Castle of Dublin but has never been held since the Court of Star-Chamber was supprest in England Star-Chamber the Chancery King's-Bench Common Pleas and the Exchequer Here are
also Justices of Assize Nisi prius and Oyer and Terminer as in England Justices of Peace in every County to preserve the Peace and the King has his Serjeant at Law his Attorney and his Sollicitor General There are also other Governors besides these to administer justice in the remoter Provinces and that is in Conaugh stilled chief Commissioner is call'd b Since the Country has been well inhabited with English and much more civiliz'd than heretofore the Presidencies of Munster and Conaught were superseded by King Charles II. about the year 1671. President in Munster who have certain of the Gentry and Lawyers to assist them and are all directed by the Lord Deputy As for their Law the Common-law used there is the same with this of ours in England For thus it is in the Records of the Kingdom King Henry the third in the twelfth of his reign sent an order to his Justice in Ireland that he should assemble the Archbishops Bishops Barons and Knights of that Kingdom and make the Charter of King John be read unto them which he did accordingly giving them an oath to observe the laws and customs of England and that they should hold and keep the same 3 Nevertheless the meer Irish did not admit them but retain'd their own Brehon-Laws and lâud Customs And the Kings of England used a connivance therein upon some deep consideration not vouchsafing to communicate the benefit of the English Laws but upon especial grace to especial families or sects namely the O Neales O Conors O Brien O Maloghlins and Mac Murough which were reputed of the blood royal among them So that even the Parliamentary Laws or Statutes of England were of force in Ireland till King Henry the seventh's time For in the tenth year of his reign they were established and confirmed by Act of Parliament in Ireland 4 In the time of Sir Edward Poinings government But since that time they have lived by Acts and Statutes of their own making Besides these civil Magistrates they have also one Military officer named the c There being no War in the Kingdom there is no such Officer Marshal Marshal of Ireland who is serviceable to the State not only in restraining the insolence of soldiers but also in checking the outrage of rebels who are now and then troublesome This office formerly belonged hereditarily to the Lords Morley of England 9 of King John For King John gave them this Office to hold in see of him in these words We have given and granted to John Marshall for his homage and service our Marshalship of Ireland with all appurtenances We have given him likewise for his homage and service the Cantred wherein standeth the town of Kilbunny to have and to hold to him and his heirs of us and our heirs From him it descended in a right line to the Barons of Morley This Marshal has under him * Submaresâallum a Provost-Marshal and sometimes more according to the difficulties and exigencies of affairs who exercise their authority by Commission and Instructions under the Great Seal of Ireland But these and all other curiosities of this nature I leave to the diligence of others As for the methods of Justice and Government among the wild Irish I shall take care to insert something in a more proper place when I come to treat of their Mannors and Customs The d See Ware 's Antiquitat Hibern Cap. 3. pag. 11. Division of IRELAND âââon âââland IReland from the manners and customs of the Inhabitants is divided into two parts e At present there is no such Div sion or distiâction but the King 's Writ runs through the whole Kingdom and every part of it is now answerable to Law they who reject all Laws and live after a barbarous manner are called the Irishry or wild Irish but those civilized who submit themselves with respect and obedience to the laws are termed the English-Irish and their Country the English Pale for the first English men that came hither set their boundaries in the east and richest part of the Island as taken in for themselves within which compass even at this day some remain uncivilized and pay no deference to the laws whereas some without are as courteous and genteel as one would desire But if we consider it as it was more early this Country from its situation or rather number of its Governors heretofore must be divided into five parts for it was formerly a Pentarchy namely Munster southward Leinster eastward Connaught westward Ulster northward and Meath almost in the middle Which as to civil administration are thus divided into Counties In Munster are the Counties of Kerry f At this day there is no such County as Desmond part of that Territory lying in the County of Kerry and the rest in the County of Cork Desmond Cork Waterford Limerick Tiperary g The County of the Holy-Cross is swallowed up in that of Tiperary with the County of S. Cross in Tiperary In Leinster are the Counties of Kilkenny Caterlough Queen's County King's County Kildare Weishford Dublin In Meath are the Counties of East-Meath West-Meath Longford In Connaught are the Counties of h Instead of this Dr. Holland has put Clare which yet is in the Province of Muâster Twomund Galloway Maio. Slego Letrim Rofcomon In Ulster are the Counties of Louth Cavon Farmanagh Monaghan Armagh Doun Antrim Colran Tir-Oën Tir-Conell or Donegall Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction The Ecclesiastical state of Ireland was antiently managed by the Bishops either consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury or by one another But in the year 1152 as we find it in Philip of Flattesbury Christianus Bishop of Lismore Legat of all Ireland held a very full and honourable Council at Meath where were present the Bishops Abbots Kings Dukes and Elders of Ireland and there by the Apostolical authority with the advice of the Cardinals and the consent of the Bishops Abbots and others met together four Archbishopricks were constituted in Ireland Armagh Dublin Cassil and Tuam The Bishopricks which were under these formerly for some of them have been abolished to feed the greedy humor of ill times others have been confounded or annexed to one another while others again have been translated I do desire to subjoyn here in their true and ancient order from an old Roman Provincial faithfully copied from the Original Under the Archbp. of Armagh Primate of all Ireland are the Bishops of Meath or i Cluanard The Bishop is stiled of Meath Elnamirand Down otherwise Dundalethglass k Clogher Cloghor otherwise Lugundun l Connor is united to Down Conner m Ardagh Ardachad n Rapho Rathbot Rathluc Daln-liguir o Derry or London-Derry Dearrih 4 Holland has added Cloemacniso which ought to be writ Clonmacnois and is now united to Meath as also Dromor and Brefem now Kilmore Under the Archbp. of Dublin are the Bishops of
so strongly inspir'd that they can raise the sea or the winds with their enchantments can transform themselves into what Animal they please cure those distempers that are beyond the skil of others and both know and foretel what is to come c. Under these there lie other Islands called Isles aux Mottons near Pen-Marc that is the Horse-head Gleran over against old Blavia now Blavet Grois and the Belle-Isle which Pliny calls Veneticae For they lie over against the Veneti in little Brittain Veneti Insulae Veneticae and might perhaps take that name as being Fishermen For so Venna seems to signifie in the language of the old Gauls Strabo takes these to have been the Forefathers of the Venetians in Italy and says also that they design'd to engage Caesar by sea when he made his expedition to Britain Some from Dionysius Afer call these Insulae Veneticae Nesides Nâsides Vannes Venna Caroli 1. pââcatio Caroli as Helgardus says Samnitus whereas in a Greek Copy we find it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã that is a tract of Islands Of which Priscian writes thus out of him Nec spatio distant Nessidum littora longè In quibus uxores * Amnitum Bacchica sacra Concelebrant hederae foliis tectaeque corymbis Non sic Bistonides Absinthi ad flumina Thraces Exertis celebrant clamoribus ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Here the Nessides shew their neighbouring shore Where Samnite wives at sacred Orgies roar With Ivy-leaves and berries cover'd o'er Not with such cries the wild Bistonian dames Near fair Absinthus fill the Thracian streams This is also express'd in Festus Avienus Hinc spumosus item ponti liquor explicat aestum Et brevis è pelago vortex subit hic chorus ingens Faeminei coetus pulchri colit Orgia Bacchi Producit noctem ludus sacer aera pulsant Vocibus crebris latè sola calcibus urgent Non sic Absynthi propè flumina Thraces almae Bistomdes non quà celeri ruit agmine Ganges Indorum populi stata curant festa Lyoeo Hence constant tides the foaming deep supplies And noisy whirlpools on the surface rise Here a great quire of dames by custom meet And Bacchus Orgies every year repeat And spend in sacred rites the joyful night Through all the air their tuneful voices sound Their nimble feet salute the trembling ground Not in such troops Bistonian matrons croud To the great Feast at fam'd Absinthus flood Nor so the Indians praise their drunken God Now that Belle-Isle is one of the said Nessidae Strabo's authority grounded upon the relations of others is sufficient assurance For it lies before the mouth of the river Loire and Ptolemy places the Samnites on the coast of France just over against it For thus Strabo They say there is a small Island in the Ocean that lies not very far in neither but just over against the mouth of the Loir 'T is inhabited by the wives of the Samnites that are inspir'd by Bacchus and adore him by ceremonies and sacrifices No men are suffer'd to come here but the women take boat and after they have layn with their husbands return 'T is also a custom here to take off the roof of their Temple every year and cover it again the same day before sun-set every one of the women being obliged to bring in a burden to it whoever lets her burden fall is tore in pieces by the rest They are not to give âver gathering the pieces dropt in carrying before their fit of madness is over It always happens that one or other is thus tore to pieces for letting their burden fall Thus the Ancients in treating of the remoter part of the world were very much given to insert such fabulous stories But he tells us farther that as for those things which are said of Ceres and Proserpine they are somewhat more probable For the report is that in an Island near Britain they sacrifice to these Goddesses after the same manner that those in Samothrace do 8 Hitherto have I extended the British sea both upon the credit of Pomponius Mela who stretcheth it to the coast of Spain and upon the authority of the Lord Great Admiral of England which extendeth so far For the Kings of England were and are rightful Lords of all the North and W st sea-coasts of France to say nothing of the whole kingdom and crown of France as who to follow the tract of the sea coast wan the counties the only heir thereof In like manner most certain heirs to the Dutchy of Normandy by King William the Conqueror and thereby superior Lords of little Britain dependant thereof undoubted heirs of the counties of Anjou Tourain and Maine from King Henry the second whose patrimony they were likewise of the county of Poictou and Dutchy of Aquitaine or Guyenne by Eleanor the true heir of them wife to the said Henry the second ââânut the counties of Tholouse March the homage of Avergne c. Of all which the French by their arrests of pretended forfeitures and confiscaââns have a sseized the crown of England and annexed them to the Crown of France taking advantages of our most unhappy civil dissentions whâreas in former ages the French Kings were so fore-closed by these territoreis as they had no access at all to the Ocean Since Mela who was himself a Spaniard makes the British sea to reach as far as the Coast of Spain and the Pyrenees Lib. 2. it falls within the scope of my design to mention Normonstier L'isle de Dieu and the L'isle de Rey likewise which are famous for their store of bay salt yet the bare mention is sufficient since they are not taken notice of by the old Geographers The next Island to this Oleron Ultarus now known by the name of Oleron but called Uliarus in Pliny lies as he says in the bay of Aquitain at the mouth of the river Charonton now Charente endow'd with many privileges by the Kings of England when Dukes of Aquitain In those times it was so eminent for shipping and marine affairs that Laws were made in this Island for the regulation of these seas in the year 1266. as they were in Rhodes heretofore for the government of the Mediterranean Nothing remains now having carry'd on this discourse through so many shallows of the ocean and the rugged rocks as it were of Antiquity but that like the Mariners of old who use to dedicate their tatter'd sails or a votive plank to Neptune I also consecrate something to the Almighty and to Venerable Antiquity A Vow which I most willingly make and which by the blessing of God I hope to discharge in due time d He hints here to the History-Lecture which he afterwards settled in Oxford whereof see his Life In the mean time let me desire of the Reader to consider that through this whole work I have been strugling with devouring Time of which the Greek Poet has this admirable passage ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã
being still Justiciary as before His Wife died this year MCCLXXXI Adam Cusak younger kill'd William Barret and many others in Conaught Frier Stephen Fulborn was made Justiciary of Ireland The Lord Robert d'Ufford return'd into England MCCLXXXII This Year Moritagh and Arte Mac-Murgh his Brother were slain at Arclowe on S. Mary Magdalen Eve And Roger Lord Mortimer died MCCLXXXIII The City of Dublin was in part burnt and the Belfrey of Trinity Church upon the third day before the Nones of January MCCLXXXIV The Castle of Ley was taken and burnt by the petty Kings of Offaly the morrow after S. Barnaby's Day Alphonsus the King's Son twelve years old departed this Life MCCLXXXV The Lord Theobald le Botiller died on the 6th of the Kalends of October in the Castle of Arclowe and was buried there in the Convent of the Friers Predicants Gerald Fitz Maurice was taken Prisoner by his own Irish Subjects in Ofaly with Richard Petit and S. Deget and many others and at Rathode was a great slaughter MCCLXXXVI Le Norragh and Arstol with other Towns were successively burnt by William Stanton on the 16th of the Kalends of December About this time Eleanor Queen of England mother of King Edward took a religious habit at Ambresbury upon the day of S. Thomas's translation having her dower confirmed by the Pope and assur'd to her for ever Calwagh was taken Prisoner at Kildare The Lord Thomas Clare departed this Life MCCLXXXVII This year died Stephen Fulborn Archbishop of Tuam and was succeeded in the Office of Justiciary for a Time by John Sampford Archbishop of Dublin This year the King of Hungary renounc'd Christianity and turned Apostate and having fraudulently assembled his Nobility under pretence of a Parliament Miramomelius a potent Saracen came upon them with an Army of 20000 men and took the King and all the Christians there away prisoners on S. John Baptist's eve As the Christians were carried along the weather turn'd cloudy and a tempest of Hail fell suddenly and killed many thousands of the Infidels So the Christians return'd to their own homes and the Apostate King went alone with the Saracens The Hungarians crown'd his Son King and continued in the Catholick Faith MCCLXXXIX Tripoly a famous City was demolish'd after great effusion of Christian blood by the Sultan of Babylon Who commanded the Images of the Saints to be dragg'd at the horses tails through the ruinous City in contempt of Christ MCCXC Inclyta stirps Regis sponsis datur ordine legis The issue of the King becomes a Spouse The Lord Gilbert Clare took to Wife the Lady Joan de Acon a daughter of our Lord King Edward in the Abby of Westminster and the marriage was celebrated in May And John the Duke of Brabant's son married Margaret the said King's daughter also in the Church aforesaid in July This year the Lord William Vescie was made Justiciary of Ireland and enter'd upon the Office on S. Martin's day Item O Molaghelin King of Meth was this year slain MCCXCI Gilbert Clare the son of Gilbert and the Lady Joan de Acon was born on the 11th of May betimes in the morning Item there was an army led into Ulster against O Hanlan and other Princes that had broke the Peace by Richard Earl of Ulster and William Vescie Justiciary of Ireland Item The Lady Eleanor formerly Queen of England and mother of King Edward died this year on S. John's day after a laudable life spent four years eleven months and six days in a religious habit as she had desir'd in the Abby of Ambresbury where she was a profess'd Nun. Item the news came to our Lord Pope Martin on the eve of S. Mary Magdalen concerning the city of Acon in the Holy Land which was the only place of refuge for the Christians that it was besieg'd by Mislkadar the Sultan of Babylon with a numerous army He besieg'd it hotly for about forty days viz. from the 8th day before the Ides of April till the 15th before the Kalends of July At last the Wall was pull'd down by the Saracens and they entred the city in great numbers many Christians being slain and some drown'd in the sea for fear Among whom was the Patriarch and his Train The King of Cyprus and Oto de Grandison escap'd in a ship with their followers Item This year the Lord Pope Martin granted our Lord King Edward the tenth of all Ecclesiastical Benefices in Ireland for seven years together as a supply towards a relief for the Holy Land Item the eldest son of the Earl of Clare was born the same year MCCXCII Edward King of England again entred Scotland and was chosen King John Lord Balliol of Gallweya obtain'd the whole Kingdom of Scotland by right of inheritance and did homage to our Lord Edward King of England at Newcastle upon Tine on S. Stephen's day Florentius Earl of Holland Robert Brus Earl of Carrick John Hastings John Comin Patrick de Dunbar John Vescie Nicholas Souls and William Roos who were then at difference in the said Kingdom submitted themselves to the judgment of King Edward Item A fifteenth of all the Goods of Laymen in Ireland was granted to our Lord the King of England to be collected on the Feast of S. Michael Item Sir Peter Genevile Knight died this year Item Rice ap Meredyke was brought to York and there dragg'd at the horses tails c. MCCXCIII A general and open war was this year waged at sea with the Normans Item no small number of the Normans was cut off in a sea-engagement by the Barons of the Ports of England and others their coadjutors between Easter and Whitsuntide For this a war broke out between England and France whereupon Philip King of France directed his letters of citation to the King of England to appear in person at his Parliament to answer what the King had to say to him but finding no compliance with this order he forthwith by the counsel of his Parliament declar'd him outlaw'd and condemn'd him Item Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester and his wife came into Ireland about the feast of S. Luke MCCXCIV William Montfort in the King's Council holden at Westminster before the King died suddenly He was Dean of S. Paul's in London The Bishops and Clergy who doubted what the King would expect from every one of them had instructed him as a person whom the King would confide in what to signifie from them to him as soon as he return'd to the King and was addressing himself to speak as he had design'd he grew speechless fell down and was carried out by the King's servants in a miserable condition Upon this sight people grew fearful and began to take him for the great procurer of the tenths of ecclesiastical benefices to the King and of the scrutiny and search after the fold of Christ as also of the contributions granted the King afterward Item The city of Bordeaux with the adjacent country of Gascoign was taken
And on Sunday following being the next after the Nativity oâ the blessed Virgin the Lord John Fitz-Thomas died at Laraghbrinâ near Maynoth and was buried among the Friers-minors at Kildarâ He is said to have been made Earl of Kildare a little befoââ his death His son and heir Thomas Fitz-John a very prudeââ Man succeeded him After this we had News that the Castle of Cragfergus was surrender'd to the Scots upon condition the lives of the Garrison-Soldiers should be saved On the day of the exaltation of the holy Cross Conghor was stain together with Mac-keley and fifty Irish by William Lord Burk and Richard Bermingham in Conaught Item On the Monday before All-Souls-day many of the Scots were slain in Ulster by John Loggan Hugh Lord Bisset namely about 100 with double Arms and 200 with single Arms. The slain in all amounted to 300 besides the foot Afterward on the Eve of the Royal S. Edmund there hapned such a Storm of Wind and Rain as threw down many Houses beat down the Bell of Trinity-church in Dublin and did much mischief both by Sea and Land Item On the Eve of S. Nicholas the Lord Alan Stewart who was taken Prisoner in Ulster by John Loggan and the Lord John Sandale was carried to Dublin-castle This same year there came News from England of a dissention between the King and the Earl of Lancaster That they were for taking one another Prisoners and that the whole Kingdom was embroil'd about it This year also about the feast of Andrew the Apostle the Lord Hugh le Despencer and the Lord Bartholomew de Baldesmere Wigorniensis the Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of Ely were sent to Rome to negotiate some important Business of the King 's for Scotland who return'd again into England about the feast of the purification of the blessed Mary Item The Lacies came to Dublin after the same feast and shew'd by an Inquisition that the Scots were not brought into Ireland by their means whereupon they were acquitted and had the King's Charter for protection and safety upon taking their Oaths to keep âhe Peace and do their utmost to destroy the Scots Item This year after the feast of Carnis privium the Scots âarch'd privately as far as Slain with 20000 arm'd Men and raâag'd the Country though the Army of Ulster lay just before ââem Afterwards on the Monday before the feast of S. Matthias the âpostle the Earl of Ulster was apprehended in S. Marie's Abby ây the Mayor of Dublin viz. Robert Notyngham and carried to âublin-castle where he was long imprison'd and the Chamber whereââ he was kept burnt and seven of the Earl's Attendants âain The same week in the Vigil of S. Matthias Brus took his âarch towards Dublin at the head of his Army and hearing of the âarl's Imprisonment turn'd off towards Cnok-castle which he enââr'd and therein took the Lord Hugh Tirell with his Wife who âas Baron of it and they were afterwards ransom'd That Night it was agreed by common consent among the Citiâens of Dublin That S. Thomas's-street should be burnt down for âear of the Scots the flames whereof got hold of S. John's-church ând burnt it down likewise with Magdalen-chappel all the Suâurbs of the City and S. Mary's-monastery The Church of S. Paârick was spoil'd by the said Villans Item Our Saviour's Church which belongs to the Friers-preâicants was destroy'd by the Mayor and his Citizens and the ââones were converted to the building of a City wall which was âade of greater compass in the north part of the City above the âey for formerly the Walls ran just by the Church of S. Owen âhere we see a Tower beyond the Gate also another Gate in that âtreet where the Taverns are however the Mayor and Citizens âere afterwards commanded by the King of England to make anoâher Convent as formerly After the feast of S. Matthias Le Brus ââderstanding that the City was fortified to receive him he march'd ââwards Salmons-leap where Robert le Brus King of Scotland âith Edward le Brus the Earl of Morrey John Meneteth the âord John Stewart the Lord Philip Mountbray encamp'd themâelves and continued for four days during which they burnt part âf the Village broke open the Church and rifled it and then âarch'd towards Le Naas The Lacies notwithstanding their Oaths advis'd and conducted them and Hugh Lord Canon made âadin White his Wife's Brother guide them through the Country âo they came to Le Naas plunder'd the Village broke the Churches ââd open'd the Graves in the Church-yard for hidden Treasure ââd did many other Mischiefs during the two days they stay'd ââere After this they took their march towards Tristildermote ââe second week in Lent and destroy'd the Friers-minors takââg away their Books Vestments and other Ornaments from âence they return'd to Baligaveran and so to Callan about the âeast of Pope Gregory without regarding the Village of Kilâenny At the same time Letters were brought by the Lord Edmund âotiller Chief Justice of Ireland at that time and by the Lord Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare the Lord Richard Clare the Lord Arnold le Pover and the Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas to ââffer the Earl of Ulster to be mainpriz'd and set at liberty by the King 's writ but nothing was done at present in this Business The People of Ulster came afterwards in a great Body amountâng to 800 and desir'd assistance from the King against the Scots Upon which the King's Banner was deliver'd to them But as soon as they got it they did more mischief than the Scots themselves they eat Flesh all the Lent and almost wasted the whole Country for which they were accurs'd both by God and Man Edmund * Pincerna Butler gave the Irish a great defeat near Trestildermot Item The same Edmund being now Chief Justice of Ireland defeated O Morghe at Balilethan The Scots under le Brus were now got as far as Limerick But the English in Ireland being drawn together in great Bodies to receive them at Ledyn they retreated privately in the night from Conninger Castle About Palm-sunday News came to Dublin That the Scots were at Kenlys in Ossory and that the Irish Nobility were at Kilkenny and had drawn a great Army together there to engage Le Brus. On the Monday following the King sent an Order to the People of Ulster to advance against the Scots under the command and conduct of Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare whereupon they march'd forward Le Brus being then at Cashell from whence he mov'd to Nanath where he stay'd some time and burnt and wasted all the Possessions of the Lord Pincern MCCCXVII On Maundy Thursday the Lord Edmund Botiller Justiciary of Ireland the Lord Thomas Fitz-John Earl of Kildare for the King had conferr'd the jurisdiction and privileges of the Earldom of Kildare upon him Richard Clare with the Ulster-Army Arnold Pover Baron of Donnoyll Maurice Rochfort Thomas Fitz-Maurice and the Cauntons and their
rich man died this year This Continuation following is took from a Manuscript Chronicle in the Hands of Henry Marleburgh MCCCLXXII SIr Robert Ashton being made Chief Justice came into Ireland MCCCLXXIII A great war between the English of Meth and O-Feroll with much slaughter on both sides Item John Lord Husse Baron of Galtrim John Fitz Richard Sheriff of Meth and William Dalton were in May kill'd by the Irish in Kynaleagh MCCCLXXV Died Thomas Archbishop of Dublin the same year Robert of Wickford was consecrated Archbishop of this see MCCCLXXXI Edmund Mortimer the King's Lieutenant in Ireland Earl of March and Ulster died at Cork MCCCLXXXIII A raging pestilence in Ireland MCCCLXXXV Dublin bridge fell down MCCCXC Died Robert Wikford Archbishop of Dublin Robeât Waldebey Archbishop of Dublin of the order of the Austin Friers was translated also this year MCCCXCVII Died Frier Richard Northalis Archbishop of Dublin of the order of the Carmelites This year Thomas Crauley was consecrated Archbishop of Dublin Thomas Lord Burk and Walter Lord Bermingham cut off 600 of the Irish and Mac Con their Captain * Read Roger. Edmund Earl of March Lieutenant of Ireland with the assistance of the Earl of Ormond wasted the Country of O Bryn and knighted Christopher Preston John Bedeleu Edmund Loundris John Loundry William Nugent Walter de la Hide and Rober Cadel at the storming of a strong mannor-house of the said O Bryn MCCCXCVIII Forty English among whom were John Fitz Williams Thomas Talbot and Thomas Comyn were unfortunately cut off on the Ascension day by the Tothils On S. Margaret's day this year Roger Earl of March the King's Lieutenant was slain with many others by O Bryn and other Irish of Leinster at Kenlys in that province Roger Grey was appointed to succeed him in the office of Chief Justice On the Feast of S. Mark Pope and Confessor the noble Duke of Sutherey came into Ireland being made the King's Deputy Lieutenant thereof accompanied with the Archbishop of Dublin Thomas Crawley MCCCXCIX In the 23d year of King Richard being Sunday the very morrow after S. Petronil or Pernil the Virgin 's day King Richard arriv'd at Waterford with 200 sail At Ford in Kenlys within Kildare on the 6th day of this week two hundred of the Irish were slain by Jenicho and others of the English the next day the people of Dublin made an inroad into the Country of O Bryn cut off 33 of the Irish and took to the number of 80 men and women with their children prisoners The King came to Dublin this year on the fourth before the kalends of July and embark'd in great haste for England upon a report of Henry duke of Lancaster's being arriv'd there MCCCC At Whitsontide in the first year of King Henry IV. the Constable of Dublin-castle and several others engag'd the Scots at Stranford in Ulster which prov'd unfortunate to the English many of them being cut off and drown'd in that encounter MCCCCI In the second year of this reign Sir John Stanley the King's Lieutenant went over into England in May leaving Sir William Stanley to supply his office On Bartholomew-eve this year Stephen Scrope came into Ireland as Deputy to the Lord Thomas of Lancaster the King's Lieutenant The same year on the feast of S. Brice Bishop and Confessor Thomas Lord Lancaster the King's son being Viceroy of Ireland arriv'd at Dublin MCCCCII The Church of the Friers Predicants at Dublin was consecrated on the 5th of July by the Archbishop of this City The same day 493 Irish were slain by John Drake Mayor of Dublin assisted with the Citizens and the Country people near Bree where they gain'd a considerable victory In September this year a Parliament was held at Dublin Sir Bartholomew Verdon James White Stephen Gernon and their accomplices kill'd John Dowdal Sheriff of Louith in Urgal during this session MCCCCIII In the fourth year of King Henry IV. Sir Walter Beterley a valiant Knight then steward there with thirty more was kill'd in May. About the feast of S. Martin this year the King's Son Thomas went over into Enlgand leaving Stephen Scroop to officiate as his Deputy who return'd also on the first day of Lent into England after which the Lords of the Kingdom chose the Earl of Ormond Lord Chief Justice of Ireland MCCCCIV In the 5th Year of King Henry's reign died John Cowlton Archbishop of Armagh on the 5th of May and was succeeded by Nicholas Fleming The same year on S. Vitali's day a Parliament was held at Dublin by the Earl of Ormond at that time Chief Justice of the Kingdom where the Statutes of Kilkenny and Dublin and the Charter of Ireland was confirm'd Patrick Savage was this year treacherously slain in Ulster by Mac Kilmori his brother Richard being also given in hostage was murder'd in prison after he had paid a ransom of 200 marks MCCCCV In the 6th year of King Henry three Scotch Galleys two at Green Castle and one at Dalkey were taken in May with the Captain Thomas Mac Golagh The merchants of Tredagh entred Scotland this year and took hostages and booty The same year Stephen Scroop went into England leaving the Earl of Ormond to officiate as Justice during his absence In June this year the people of Dublin invaded Scotland entering it at S. Ninians where they gallantly behav'd themselves after which they made a descent upon Wales and did great hurt among the Welsh in this expedition they carried the shrine of S. Cubie to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Dublin Item This year on the vigil of the blessed Virgin died James Botiller Earl of Ormond at Baligauran during his office he was much lamented and succeeded by Gerald Earl of Kildare MCCCCVI In the seventh year of King Richard the Dublinians on Corpus Christi day with the assistance of the country people overcame the Irish and kill'd some of them they took three ensigns and carried off several of their heads to Dublin The same year the Prior of Conal in a battle with 200 well-arm'd Irish on the Plain of Kildare vanquish'd them by his great valour killing some and putting the rest to flight The Prior and his party were not above twenty such is the regard of Providence to those that trust in it The same year after the feast of S. Michael Scroop Deputy Justice to Thomas the King's son Viceroy of Ireland arriv'd here The same year died Innocentius VII succeeded in the chair by Gregory The same year on S. Hilaries-day a Parliament was held at Dublin which broke up in Lent at Trym Meiler Bermingham slew Cathol O Conghir in the latter end of February about the same time died Sir Geffery Vaux a valiant Knight of the County of Carlagh MCCCCVII A perfidious base Irishman call'd Mac Adam Mac Gilmori never christen'd and therefore call'd Morbi nay one that had been the ruin of forty Churches took Patrick Savage prisoner forc'd him to pay 2000 marks for ransom
supplicated the Convocation by the name of William Camden Batchelor of Arts of Christ-church That whereas from the time he had taken the Degree of Batchelor he had spent 16 years in the study of Philosophy and other Liberal Arts he might be dispens'd with for the reading of three solemn Lectures and so be admitted to proceed His Supplication was granted upon condition he stood in the following Act which it seems his other occasions would not permit him to do nothing appearing of it in the Publick Records of that time When he attended the Funeral of Sir Thomas Bodley he had the Degree of Master of Arts voluntarily offer'd him by the University but then he had no occasion for 't having establish'd his reputation upon a better bottom and so it seems So Mr. Wood's but Dr. Smith seems to intimate that he accepted it declin'd it This was all the relation Mr. Camden had to the University of Oxford which he left in the year 1571. From thence he betook himself immediately to London but with what prospect he went or what encouragement he found we have no distinct account I cannot believe that he fell into any particular employment because himself has told us that upon his leaving the University he survey'd a considerable part of England Relictâ Academiâ studio incitato satis magnam Angliae partem fide oculatâ obivi are his own words in his In the beginning of that Treatise Answer to Brooke And he must mean that interval of four or five years between his bidding adieu to Oxford and his advancement to the second Mastership of Westminster-School He had powerful motives to induce him to this search after Antiquities His own natural genius lay so strong that way Ex quo primùm animum studiis excolere coepi inclinatione nescio quâ ad investigandam Antiquitatem totus propendi velim nolim huc me nà tura tulit adeò ut puer in Schola quaecunque huc spectare videbantur avidè arripuerim adolescens in Academiâ cum Philosohpicis pensis vnexus essem omnes cogitationes motusque animi huc contulerim Answer to Brooke pag. 1. that even when he was a School-boy he could neither hear nor see any thing of an antique appearance without more than ordinary attention and notice While he was in the University not a spare hour but it went upon the same business When he came to be engag'd in the tedious business of teaching School Posteà ad urbem accessi ubi etsi laboriosissimo docendi munere fungebar hoc Antiquarium Studium exuere volebam minimè tamen potui Neque enim potest quisque nostrûm subitò fingi aut natura converti Animum semper in haec tanquam arcum intentum habui cùm feriarer non potui non haec studia recolere subinde in has vel illas Angliae parteâ exspatiari Ibid. he would fain have wean'd himself from his old Trade have drawn back his inclinations and have confin'd his thoughts as well as body to the narrow bounds of a School But all was in vain the itch still return'd and stuck so fast by him that he could not get rid of it When a Vacation gave him liberty to look abroad he declares it was not in his power to keep within doors the bent of his own Genius was always pulling him out not to impertinent visits and idle diversions but to entertainments which he relish'd above all these stately Camps and ruinous Castles those venerable Monuments of our Fore-fathers This propensity of nature was seconded by the importunity of Friends and receiv'd very early encouragement from persons of the best rank Answer to Brooke The noble Sir Philip Sidney was always pushing him forward whilst in Oxford and after his removal Britannia in Middlesex the two Goodmans Gabriel and Godfrey Doctors in Divinity kept up his spirits with supplies both of Books and Money The interest also which the former of these had in the Collegiate Church of Westminster procur'd him the place of second Master in that School We cannot imagine but his fame spread in the Kingdom proportionable to his knowledge of it and consequently must not doubt that a person of so great attainments could want applications from all hands to undertake the Antiquities of his native Country But the difficulties on one hand appear'd so very great and the helps on the other so very inconsiderable that nothing could prevail upon him to engage in such a frightful task So that what Collections and Observations he had hitherto made seem to have been only design'd for private satisfaction and to quench a secret thirst which Nature had brought along with him into the world In the mean time Ortelius Answer to Brooke that great restorer of Geography as he terms him took a journey into England and apply'd himself particularly to Mr. Camden as the best Oracle one could possibly consult about the state and affairs of the Kingdom The tender regard he had for the honour of his Country back'd with the authority and perswasion of this great Man wrought him by degrees into some sort of compliance and at last over-rul'd him into a resolution of improving his stock and digesting his Papers in order to the use and satisfaction of the Publick Now he is engag'd in the Work give me leave to trace him through the several steps and advances he made in it and to suspend a little the consideration of other Heads any farther than as they fall in with this Design It was the glory of his Life and therefore his honour is concern'd that it be set in a true Light it is the Work we now publish and upon that score calls for a more particular account He enter'd upon it with almost all the disadvantages that could attend any Undertaking It was a sort of Learning that was then but just peeping into the world when that heat and vehemence of School-Divinity which had possess'd all hearts and hands for so many hundred years before began to cool by little and little For while that humour of Metaphysical nicities continu'd it was so entirely the entertainment and study of the Age that little else could edge in with it No room for Poetry Oratory History But when polite Learning came upon the stage and the sweetness of a Greek or Roman Author began to out-relish the crabbed notions of the School-men the vein turn'd wholly the other way and this latter was thrown out of doors Then the industry of Learned men was entirely employ'd upon publishing and refining such Authors as had lately got footing in the world And yet after all the Historians did not yield that pleasure and satisfaction which might be expected from so much niceness both in language and composition because they could not follow them through all the Scenes of Action nor frame their conceptions to the several marches of the Armies To remove this inconvenience they began to make particular Surveys to fix the old places in their proper
perswasion and a well-grounded zeal let the world judge After so many testimonies Mr. Camden might very well say Epist 19â My Life and my Writings shall apologize for me and despise the reproaches of one Ibid. Who did not spare the most Reverend and Learned Prelates of our Church Epist 195. nor was asham'd to bely the Lords Deputies of Ireland and others of honourable rank In his Writings he was candid and modest in his conversation easie and innocent and in his whole Life eaven and exemplary He dy'd at Chesilhurst the ninth day of November 1623. in the 'T is by a mistake in his Monument 74. 73d year of his Age. Being remov'd from London on the nineteenth of the same Month he was carry'd to Westminster-Abbey in great pomp The whole College of Heralds attended in their proper habits great numbers of the Nobility and Gentry accompany'd and at their entrance into the Church the Prebends and the other Members receiv'd the Corps in their Vestments with great solemnity and conducted it into the Nave of the Church After the Funeral-Sermon preach'd by Dr. Sutton one of the Prebends they buried him in the South-Isle hard by the learned Casaubon and over against the ingenious Chaucer Over the place is a handsome Monument of white Marble with his Effigies to the middle and in his hand a Book with BRITANNIA inscrib'd on the Leaves Under this is the following Inscription QUI FIDE ANTIQUA ET OPERA ASSIDUA BRITANNICAM ANTIQUITATEM INDAGAVIT SIMPLICITATEM INNATAM HONESTIS STUDIIS EXCOLUIT ANIMI SOLERTIAM CANDORE ILLUSTRAVIT GUILIELMUS CAMDENUS A B. ELIZABETHA R. AD. REGIS ARMORUM CLARENTII TITULO DIGNITATEM EVOCATUS HIC SPE CERTA RESURGENDI IN CHRISTO S. E. Q. OBIIT AN. DNI 1623. 9 NOVEMBRIS AETATIS SUAE 74. M R CAMDEN's PREFACE I Think I may without the least scruple address the courteous Reader in the same words I made use of twenty years ago upon the first Edition of this Book with some very small additions The great Restorer of the old Geography Abraham Ortelius thirty years ago did very earnestly sollicit me to acquaint the World with Britain that ancient Island that is to restore Britain to its Antiquities and its Antiquities to Britain to renew the memory of what was old illustrate what was obscure and settle what was doubtful and to recover some certainty as much as possible in our affairs which either the carelesness of Writers or credulity of vulgar Readers had totally bereft us of A great attempt indeed not to say impossible to which undertaking as no one scarce imagines the Industry requisite so no one really believes it but he who has made the experiment himself Yet as the difficulty of the design discourag'd me on the one side so the honour of my native Country encourag'd me on the other insomuch that whilst I dreaded the task and yet could not decline doing what I was able for the Glory of my Country I found I know not how the greatest contrarieties Fear and Courage which I thought could never have met in one man in strict confederacy within my own Breast However by the blessing of God and my own Industry I set about the work full of resolution thought study and daily contrivance and at spare times devoted my self wholly to it I have made but a timorous search after the Etymology of Britain and its first Inhabitants nor have I positively asserted what admits of doubt for I very well know that the original of Countries are obscure and altogether uncertain over-run as it were with the rust of age and like objects at a great distance from the beholders scarce visible Thus the courses and mouths of great Rivers their turnings their confluence are all well known whilst their Springs for the generality lye hid and undiscover'd I have traced the ancient divisions of Britain and have made a summary Report of the States and judicial Courts of these flourishing Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland I have compendiously settl'd the bounds of each County but not by measure and examin'd the nature of the soil the places of greatest antiquity what Dukes what Earls what Barons there have been I have set down some of the most ancient and honourable Families for 't is impossible to mention them all Let them censure my performance who are able to make a true judgment which perhaps will require some consideration but Time that uncorrupted witness will give the best information when Envy that preys upon the living shall hold its peace Yet this I must say for my self that I have neglected nothing that could give us any considerable light towards the discovery of hidden Truth in matters of Antiquity having gotten some insight into the old British and Saxon Tongues for my assistance I have travell'd very near all over England and have consulted in each County the men of best skill and most general intelligence I have diligently perus'd our own Writers as well as the Greek and Latin ones that mention the least tittle of Britain I have examin'd the publick Records of this Kingdom Ecclesiastical Registers and Libraries Acts Monuments and Memorials of Churches and Cities I have search'd the ancient Rolls and cited them upon occasion in their own stile tho' never so barbarous that by such unquestionable evidence Truth might be restor'd and vindicated Yet possibly I may seem guilty of imprudence and immodesty who tho' but a smatterer in the business of Antiquities have appear'd a scribler upon the stage of this learned age expos'd to the various censures of wise and judicious men But to speak the truth sincerely the natural affection I have for my Country which includes the good will of all the glory of the British original and perswasion of Friends have conquer'd that shyness of mine and forc'd me whether I would or no against my own judgment to undertake a work I am so unfit to prosecute for which I expect on all sides to be attack'd with prejudice censure detraction and reproach Some there are who cry down the study of Antiquity with much contempt as too curious a search after what is past whose authority as I shall not altogether slight so I shall not much regard their judgment Nor am I wholly without reasons sufficient to gain the approbation of men of honesty and integrity who value the honour of their native Country by which I can recommend to them in these studies a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction of mind becoming men of breeding and quality But if there are such men to be found who would be strangers to Learning and their own Country and Foreigners in their own Cities let them please themselves I have not wrote for such humours There are others perhaps who will cavil at the meanness and roughness of my language and the ungentileness of my stile I frankly confess Neither is every word weigh'd in Varro's scale nor did I design to gratifie the Reader with a nosegay
Mortality Foundation of the Hospitallers and Order of St. John of Jerusalem Fol. MONMOVTHSHIRE LAmentable News from Monmouthshire of the loss of 26 Parishes in a great Flood which hapn'd January 1607. Publish'd the same year The manner of the Wire-Works at Tinton in Monmouthshire Ray English words pag. 194. NORFOLK SEE Sir William Dugdale's History of Imbanking Of the lamentable Burning of East Derham in the County of Norfolk July 1. 1581. in verse black Letter publish'd 1582. History of the Norfolk-Rebels by Alexander Nevil a Kentish-man with the History of Norwich and a Catalogue of the Mayors Publish'd 1575. Norfolk's Furies or a View of Kitt's Camp with a table of the Mayors and Sheriffs of Norwich c. done out of Latin into English by R. W. 1615. The Antiquities of Norwich writ by Dr. Jo. Caius are mention'd by Dr. Fuller but still remain in Manuscript Norwich Monuments and Antiquities by Sir Thomas Brown M. D. a Manuscript in the hands of the learned Dr. More the present Bishop of Norwich Nashe's Lent-Stuff containing an account of the growth of Great Yarmouth with a Play in praise of Red-herring Publish'd 1599. A description of the town of Great Yarmouth with a Survey of Little Yarmouth incorporated with the Great c. in a sheet A Survey of Norfolk was taken by Sir Henry Spelman Knight in Latin and is still in Manuscript in the Bodleian-Library at Oxon. A relation of the damages done by a tempest and overflowing of the Tyde upon the coasts of Norfolk and Lincolnshire The West prospect of Linn-Regis a sheet Urn-burial or a discourse of the Sepulchral Urns lately found in Norfolk by Sir Thomas Brown 1669. Mercurius Centralis or a Discourse of Subterraneal Cockle Muscle and Oyster-shells found in digging of a Well at Sir William Doylie's in Norfolk by Tho. Lawrence A. M. in a Letter to Sir Tho. Browne 1664. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE HIstory of the Cathedral Church of Peterburrow by Simon Gunter Prebendary Publish'd with a large Appendix by Simon Patrick D. D. then Dean of this Church and now Bishop of Ely Fol. 1685. The Fall and Funeral of Northampton in an Elegy first publish'd in Latin since made English with some variations and addititions and publish'd An. 1677. The state of Northampton from the beginning of the Fire Sept. 20. 1675. to Nov. 5. in a Letter to a Friend 1675. Names of the Hides in Northamptonshire by Francis Tate MS. Wood's Athenae Vol. 1. p. 349. A Survey of this County is said to have been intended by Mr. Augustin Vincent Wood's Athenae vol. 1. p. 349. NORTHVMBERLAND A Chorographical Survey of Newcastle upon Tine by ..... Grey An. 1649. England's Grievances in relation to the Cole-trade with a Map of the river of Tine and the situation of the town and corporation of New-castle 1655. A Survey of the river Tine grav'd by Fathorne The Antiquities of the ancient Kingdom of Northumberland are now ready for the Press compil'd by Mr. Nicolson Archdeacon of Carlisle who designs shortly to publish the Book under this Title Norðanhymbraric or a description of the ancient Kingdom of Northumberland The work will consist of eight parts whereof he stiles the I. Northanhymbria or an account of the Bounds and natural History of the Country II. Northanhymbri the Original Language Manners and Government of the People III. Annales the Succession and History of the several Dukes Kings and Earls from the first institution of the Government down to the Conquest IV. Ecclesiastica Religious Rites observ'd by the Pagan Inhabitants before the establishment of Christianity together with the state of the Church and the succession of Bishops in it afterwards V. Literae Literati the state of Learning with a Catalogue of the Writers VI. Villare the Cities Towns Villages and other places of note in an Alphabetical Catalogue VII Monumenta Danica Danish Remains in the Language Temples Courts of Judicature Runic Inscriptions c. To the whole will be prefix'd a Prefatory Discourse of the condition these parts of the Isle were in upon and some time before the coming in of the Saxons wherein notice will be taken of many pieces of Brittish and Roman Antiquities never yet observ'd Large Collections have been made by Sir Robert Shafto relating to the Antiquities of the County of Northumberland Mr. Clavering of Callaly a very knowing Antiquary has also done great service to his native Country in this kind NOTTINGHAMSHIRE THE Antiquities of the County of Nottingham by Dr. Robert Thoroton OXFORDSHIRE MAnuscript History of Alchester in the hands of Mr. Blackwell History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford by Anthony à Wood fol. Twine's Vindication of the Antiquity of the University of Oxford Natural History of Oxfordshire by Dr. Robert Plot folio Survey of Woodstock by Mr. Widows Athen. Oxon. vol. 2. p. 119. Parochial Antiquities or the History of Ambrosden Burcester and other adjacent Towns and Villages in the North-east parts of the County of Oxford delivering the general Remains of the British Roman and Saxon Ages and a more particular account of English Memoirs reduc'd into Annals from 1 Will. Conq. to 1 Edw. 4. with several Sculptures of ancient and modern Curiosities 4o. By the Reverend Mr. White Kennet B. D. An account of an Earthquake in Oxfordshire Philosoph Transact Num. 10. p. 166. Num. 11. p. 180. A Relation of an Accident by Thunder and Lightning in Oxford Philosoph Transact Num. 13. pag. 215. RVTLANDSHIRE ANtiquities of Rutlandshire by Mr. Wright Folio SOMERSETSHIRE THE ancient Laws Customs and Orders of the Miners in the King's Forest of Mendipp in the County of Somerset London 1687. 12o. Proposals for a Natural History of Somersetshire have been publish'd by Mr. John Beaumont A Letter from Mr. Beaumont giving an account of Ookey-hole and other subterraneous Grotto's in Mendip-hills Philosoph Transact 1681. Num. 2. Ookey-hole describ'd An. 1632. Thermae Redivivae by Mr. John Chapman 1673. with an Appendix of Coriat's Rhimes of the Antiquities of the Bath Johnson in his Mercurius Britannicus hath given an account of the Antiquities of the Bath with a ground-plot of the City A Discourse of the several Bathes and hot waters at the Bath with the Lives and Characters of the Physicians that have liv'd and practis'd there Together with an Enquiry into the Nature of S. Vincent's Rock near Bristol and that of Castle Cary by Dr. Thomas Guidot Enlarg'd by the same hand with the addition of several Antiquities 1691. The Antiquities of the City of Bath collected in Latin by the same Author MS. STAFFORDSHIRE NAtural History of Staffordshire by Dr. Robert Plot. Fol. Genealogies of the Nobility and Gentry in this County MS. written by Mr. Erdswick and now in the collection of Walter Chetwind Esq who very much improv'd it SVFFOLK AN account of some Saxon Coins found in Suffolk Philosoph Transact Num. 189. 1687. WARWICKSHIRE THE Antiquities of Warwickshire by Sir William Dugdale WESTMORLAND THE Antiquities of Westmorland collected by Mr. Thomas Machel of
this new countrey that the whole body of inhabitants began to fall under it and the tract it self to be called Britannia Armorica and to be stiled by the French Britannia Cismarina Hence J. Scaliger Vicit Aremoricas animosa Britannia gentes Et dedit imposito nomina prisca jugo Armorica stout Britain overcame And with her yoke impos'd her ancient name For that they fell upon their friends who had entertained them is manifest among others from the words of Regalis Bishop of * Venetensis Gregor Turon lib. 10. c. g. Vennes concerning himself and friends We are enslaved to the Britains and undergo a hard yoke In after times they courageously defended their lives and liberties against the French at first under the conduct of petty Kings and afterwards under Counts and Dukes though as Glaber Rodolphus has it their whole wealth consisted in being freed from tribute and in having plenty of milk And hence William of Malmesbury who wrote five hundred years ago says thus of them They are a generation of men very needy at home and therefore earn foreign pay in other places by very toilsome methods If they be but well paid they stick not either upon the score of right or kindred at engaging in civil wars but are mercenary and for the side that bids most The BRITAINS of WALES and CORNWALL THE rest of the Britains who were miserably forc'd to seek a Country in their own native one underwent such a weight of calamity as cannot to the full height of it be express'd being not only harrassed by a cruel war carried on far and near against them by the Saxons Picts and Scots but every where oppress'd by the intolerable insolence of wicked Tyrants Who and what these were about the year 500 you shall hear in short from Gildas who liv'd at that time and was himself an eye-witness Constantinus Constantinus among the Damnonii though he had bound himself by an express oath before God and the Saints that he would do the duty of a good Prince yet slew two children of the blood royal and their two Tutors both valiant men in two Churches under the Amphibalus * As an old Glossary interprets it or sacred vestment hary on both sides which the Abbot wore having many years before that put away his lawful wife and defil'd himself with repeated adulteries Aurelius Conanus also called Caninus Aurelius Conanus wallowing in parricides and adulteries and hating the peace of his country was left alone like a tree withering in the open field His father and brothers were carried away with their own wild whimseys and surprised by an untimely death Vortiporius Vortiporius a tyrant of the Dimetââ the unworthy son of a good father in his manners like a Panther being as much spotted with his sins sitting in the throne in his grey hairs full of craft and subtilty and defiled with parricides and adulteries turn'd off his wife committed a rape upon her daughter and then kill'd her Cuneglasus Cuneglasus in Latin Lanio c Otherwise writ furvus fulvus a bear riding upon many and the coachman that drives the chariot which holds the bear a despiser of God and oppressor of the Clergy fighting against God with sins and men with arms turned off his wife industriously sought out holy men to injure them was proud of his own wisdom and confided in the uncertain strength of his riches Maglocunus Maglocunus an Island Dragon who had deprived many tyrants of their Kingdoms and lives would be ever first in at a mischief his strength and malice was generally above that of others he gave largely sinned profusely fought stoutly and excelled all the Commanders of Britain both in extent of Dominions and in the stature and gracefulness of his person In his youth he fell upon his Uncle then a King and his courageous souldiers and destroyed them with fire and sword Afterwards when the fantastick thoughts of reigning in an arbitrary manner were extinguished he fell into such a remorse of conscience that he profess'd himself a monk yet he soon returned to his vomit and breaking his former vows to a monastick life despised his first marriage and fell in love with the wife of his own brothers son then living killing the said brothers son and his own wife after he had lived some time with her and then he married his brothers sons wife on whom he had settled his affections But the relation of these things belongs to Historians who have hitherto falsly made them to succeed one another when at the very same time as appears from Gildas who speaks to them all severally they usurp'd a tyranny in distinct parts of the Island These few remains of the Britains withdrew themselves into the western parts of the Island namely Cornweales Britweales Walsh Welshââ those we call Wales and Cornwall which are fortitified by nature with hills and aestuaries The first of those Countreys was call'd by the Saxons d Britwealas Cornwealas and Galwealas are the true readings Seâthe b giâning of the âdditions to Cornwall and Mr. Sommer's Glossary at the end of the X. Scriptores under the tit e Wâââa Britweales and the other Cornweales as those in France Galweales For any thing that was exotick and foreign was nam'd by them Walsh and for the same reason the Walloones in Holland and the Vallachi upon the Danube were originally so call'd These Britwales or Welshmen were a warlike people and for many ages maintained their liberty under their petty Kings Although they were shut out from the English by a trench of wonderful make cast by King Offa yet they were ever now and then breaking in and wasting their cities with fire and sword and likewise were repay'd by the Saxons with most grievous outrages At last in the reign of Edw. the first Statutââ Wallâa as he writes it of himself The Divine Providence which disposeth all things rightly among other dispensations of his mercy by which he has vouchsafed to adorn us and our Kingdom of England hath now by his mercy subjected the Kingdom of Wales with the inhabitants thereof who held formerly of us wholly and fully without any let or hindrance to our property and dominion having annexed and united the same to the crown of our said Realm as one member of the self same body Notwithstanding in the next age nothing in the world could induce them to endure this servitude no accommodation could be made between them and this spight and hatred upon it between the two nations could never be extinguished till Henry the seventh descended from the Welsh was favourable and easie to them and Hen. VIII admitted them to the same laws and liberties that the English have Since that and some time before the Kings of England have found them to be of untainted loyalty and obedience However the Cornwalli were soon reduced under the dominion of the Saxons in spight of all the
as were design'd for a march and imagining that this had won the favour of the Gods they immediately set to sea and fell to their oars There was another way the Danes had of appealing their Gods or rather of running into most detestable superstition which Ditmarus a Bishop and an author of somewhat greater antiquity than Dudo thus describes Lib. 1. But because I have heard strange things of the ancient sacrifices of the * North-mannâ Normans and Danes I would not willingly pass them over There is a place in those parts the capital city of that Kingdom call'd Lederun in the province of Selon There they meet once every nine years in January a little after our Twelfth-day and offer to their Gods 99 men and as many horses with dogs and cocks for hawks being fully perswaded as I observ'd before that these things were most acceptable to them About the time of King Egbert The Danish pâââders in the 800 year of Christ they first disturb'd our coasts afterwards making havock of every thing and plundering over all England they destroy'd Cities burnt Churches wasted the lands and with a most barbarous cruelty drove all before them ransacking and over-turning every thing They murder'd the Kings of the Mercians and East-Angels and then took possession of their kingdoms with a great part of that of Northumberland To put a stop to these outrages a heavy tax was impos'd upon the miserable Inhabitants called b i.e. a certain sum paid to the Danes from the Saxon Gyldan to pay and thence our Yield Dangelt Dangelt the nature whereof this passage taken out of our old Laws does fully discover The Pirates gave first occasion to the paying Danigeld For they made such havock of this nation that they seem'd to aim at nothing but its utter ruine And to suppress their insolence it was enacted that Danigeld should yearly be paid which was twelve pence for every hide of land in the whole nation to maintain so many forces as might withstand the Incursions of the Pirates All Churches were exempt from this Danigeld nor did any land in the immediate possession of the Church contribute any thing because they put more confidence in the prayers of the Church than the defence of arms But when they came to dispute the cause with Alfred King of the West-Saxons he what by retreats and what by attacks did not only by force of arms drive them out of his own territories but likewise slew the Deputy-Governor of the Mercians and in a manner clear'd all Mercia of them And his son Edward the Elder prosecuting his Father's conquests recover'd the Country of the East-Angles from the Danes as Athelstan his spurious son to crown their victories after a great slaughter of them subdu'd the Kingdom of Northumberland and by his vigorous pursuit put the Danes into such a fright that part of them quitted the kingdom and the rest surrendred themselves By the courage of those Princes was England deliver'd out of that gulph of miseries and had a respite of 50 years from that bloody war But after Aethelred a man of a cowardly spirit came to the Crown the Danes raising fresh hopes out of his dullness renew'd the war and made havock of the nation till the English were forc'd to purchase a Peace with annual contributions And so insolently did they behave themselves that the English form'd a Plot and in one night slew all the Danes through the whole nation to a man imagining that so much blood would quench the flaming fury of that people and yet as it happen'd it did but add more fuel to it For Sueno King of the Danes incens'd by that general massacre invaded England with a powerful army and push'd forwards by an enraged spirit put Ethelred to flight conquer'd the whole nation and left it to his son * Cnut in the Coins Canutus He after a long war with Ethelred who was then return'd and his son Edmond sirnam'd Ironside but without any decisive battle The Danes infested England 200 years reign'd about 20. was succeeded by his two sons Harald his spurious one and Canutus the Bold After the death of these the Danish yoke was shaken off and the government return'd to the English For Edward whose sanctity gain'd him the name of Confessor Edward the Confessor the son of Ethelred by a second wife recover'd the Regal Dignity England now began to revive but presently as the Poet says Mores rebus cessêre secundis The loads of Fortune sunk them into vice The Clergy were idle drousie and ignorant the Laity gave themselves over to luxury and a loose way of living all discipline was laid aside the State like a distemper'd body was consum'd with all sorts of vice but Pride that forerunner of destruction had of all others made the greatest progress And as Gervasius Dorobernensis observes of those times They ran so headlong upon wickedness that 't was look'd upon as a crime to be ignorant of crimes All these things plainly tended to ruine The English at that time says William of Malmesbury us'd cloaths that did not reach beyond the middle of the knee their heads were shorn their beards shaven only the upper lip was always let grow to its full length Their arms were even loaded with golden bracelets and their skin all set with painted marks The Clergy were content with a superficial sort of learning and had much ado to hammer cut the words of the Sacraments The NORMANS AS in former ages the Franks first and afterwards the Saxons coming out of that East-Coast of Germany as it lies from us I mean the more Northerly parts of it plagu'd France and Britain with their Piracies and at last became masters the Franks of France and the Saxons of Britain so in succeeding times the Danes first and then the Normans follow'd the same method came from the same Coast and had the same success As if providence had so order'd it that those parts should constantly produce and send out a set of men to make havock of France and Britain and establish new kingdoms in them They had their name from the Northern parts from whence they came âd ânt for Nordmanni signifies no more than Northern men in which sense they are likewise term'd c From the Saxon Leod a people or nation Nordleudi âdââi âmolâ i.e. Northern people as being the flower of the Norwegians Suedes and Danes In the time of Charles the Great they carry'd on their trade of Piracies in such a barbarous manner both in Friseland England Holland Ireland and France that that Prince when he saw their vessels in the Mediterranean cry'd out with a deep sigh and tears in his eyes How am I troubl'd that they should venture upon this coast âr Sanâ de Geâ Caroââagni even while I am living I plainly foresee what a plague they are like to prove to my successors And in the publick Prayers and
matters his principal care was to avoid the storm of the Danish war which he saw hanging over him and even to purchase a Peace On this occasion he made Adalbert Archbishop of Hamburg his instrument For Adam Bremensis says There was a perpetual quarrel between Sueno and the Bastard but our Arch-bishop being brib'd to it by William made it his business to strike up a peace between the two Kings And indeed 't is very probable there was one concluded for from that time England was never apprehensive of the Danes William however made it his whole business to maintain the dignity of his government and to settle the Kingdom by wholsome laws For Gervasius Tilburiensis tells us That after the famous Conqueror of England King William had subdued the furthest parts of the Island and brought down the Rebels hearts by dreadful examples lest they might be in a condition of making outrages for the future he resolved to bring his Subjects under the obedience of written laws Whereupon laying before him the Laws of England according to their threefold division that is Merchanlage Denelage and West-Sexenlage some of them he laid aside but approved others and added to them such of the foreign Norman Laws as he found most conducive to the peace of the Kingdom Next as we are assured by Ingulphus who lived at that time he made all the inhabitants of England do him homage and swear fealty to him against all ââhers He took a survey of the whole nation so that there was not a single Hide of land through all England but he knew both the value of it and its owner Not a lake or any other place whatsoever but it was registred in the King's Rolls with its revenue rent tenure and owner according to the relation of certain taxers who were picked out of each County to describe the places belonging to it This Roll was called the Roll of Winchester and by the English Domesday Domesday-book called by Gervasius Tilburiensis Laher Judiciarius as being an universal and exact account of every tenement in the whole nation I the rather make mention of this Book because I shall have occasion to quote it hereafter under the name of William's Tax-book The Notice of England the Cessing-book of England The publick Acts and The Survey of England But as to Polydore Virgil's assertion that William the Conqueror first brought in the Jury of Twelve Jury of 12. there is nothing can be more false For 't is plain from Ethelred's Laws that it was used many years before that Nor can I see any reason why he should call it a terrible Jury Twelve men Twelve men who are Freeholders and qualified according to Law are picked out of the Neighbourhood these are bound by oath to give in their real opinion as to matter of fact they hear the Council on both sides plead at the Bar and the evidence produced then they take along with them the depositions of both parties are close confined deny'd meat drink and fire till they can agree upon their verdict unless want of these may endanger some of their lives As soon as they have delivered it in he gives sentence according to law And this method was looked upon by our wise Forefathers to be the best for discovering truth hindering bribes and cutting off all partiality How great the Norman courage was I refer you to other writers I shall only observe The Warlike courage of the Normans that being seated in the midst of warlike Nations they never made submission their refuge but always arms By force of these they possessed themselves of the noble Kingdoms of England and Sicilie For Tancred * Nepeâ Nephew to Richard the Second Duke of Normandy and his Successors did many glorious exploits in Italy drove out the Saracens and set up there a Kingdom of their own So that a Sicilian Historian ingenuously confesses that the Sicilians enjoying their native Soil Th. Fazâllus lib. 6. Decadis Posterioris their Freedom and Christianity is entirely owing to the Normans Their behaviour also in the wars of the Holy land got them great honour Which gave Roger Hoveden occasion to say That bold France after she had experienced the Norman valour drew back fierce England submitted rich Apulia was restored to her flourishing condition famous Jerusalem and renowned Antioch were both subdued Since that time England has been equal for warlike exploits and genteel Education to the most flourishing nations of the Christian world The English Guards to the Emperors of Constantinople So that the English have been peculiarly made choice of for the Emperor of Constantinople's guards For as our country man Malmsbury has told us he very much admired their fidelity and recommended them to his son as men deserving of respect and they were formerly for many years together the Emperor's guards Nicetas Choniata calls them Inglini Bipenniferi and Curopalata Barangi Barangi These attended the Emperor where-ever he went with halberts upon their shoulders as often as he stir'd abroad out of his closet and pray'd for his long life clashing their halberts one against another to make a noise As to the blot which Chalcondilas Chaâcondilas has cast upon our nation of having wives in common truth it self wipes it off and confronts the extravagant vanity of the Grecian For as my most learned and excellent Friend Ortelius has observed upon this very subject Things related by any persons concerning others are not always true These are the People which have inhabited Britain whereof there remain unto this day the Britains the Saxons or Angles with a mixture of Normans and towards the North the Scots Whereupon the two Kingdoms of this Island England and Scotland which were long divided are now in the most potent Prince King JAMES happily united under one Imperial Diadem It is not material here to take notice of the Flemings who about four hundred years ago came over hither In the County ãâã Pembââââ and got leave of the King to settle in Wales since we shall mention them in another place Let us then conclude this part with that of Seneca From hence it is manifest De Conâlatioââ Albiââ that nothing has continued in its primitive state There 's a continual floating in the affairs of mankind In this vast orb there are daily revolutions new foundations of cities laid new names given to nations either by the utter ruine of the former or by its change into that of a more powerful party And considering that all these nations which invaded Britain were Northern as were also others who about that time overran Europe and after it Asia Nicephorus's Nicephorus observation founded upon the authority of Scripture is very true As God very often sends terrors upon men from heaven such are thunder fire and storms and from earth as opening of the ground and earthquakes as also out of the air such as whirlwinds and immoderate
I cannot but observe that some very learned men have betray'd a want of judgment by bringing Scotland into this number which some of them urge to have been the Maxima Caesariensis others the Britannia Secunda As if the Romans had not altogether neglected those parts possessed as it were by the bitterness of the air and within this number only included such Provinces as were governed by Consular Lieutenants and Presidents For the Maxima Caesariensis and Valentia were rul'd by persons of Consular dignity and the other three Britannia Prima Secunda and Flavia by Presidents If one ask me what grounds I have for this division and accuse me of setting undue bounds he shall hear in few words what it was drew me into this opinion After I had observed that the Romans call'd those Provinces Primae which were nearest Rome as Germania Prima Belgica Prima Lugdunensis Prima Aquitania Prima Pannonia Prima all which lye nearer Rome than such as are called Secundae and that the more nice writers called these Primae the Upper and the Secundae the Lower I presently concluded the South part of our Island as nearer Rome to be the Britannia Prima For the same reason since the Secundae Provinciae as they call them were most remote from Rome I thought Wales must be the Britannia Secunda Further observing that in the decline of the Roman Empire those Provinces only had Consular Governors which were the Frontiers as is evident from the Notitia not only in Gaul but also in Africk and that Valentia with us as also Maxima Caesariensis are called Consular Provinces I took it for granted that they were nearest and most expos'd to the Scots and Picts in the places above mentioned And as for Flavia Caesariensis I cannot but fancy that it was in the middle of the rest and the heart of England wherein I am the more positive because I have that ancient writer Giraldus Cambrensis on my side These were the Divisions of Britain under the Romans Afterwards the barbarous nations breaking in on every hand and civil wars prevailing more and more among the Britains it lay for some time as it were without either blood or spirits without the least face of government But at last that part which lyes northward branched into two Kingdoms of the Scots and Picts and the Pentarchy of the Romans in this hither part was made the Heptarchy of the Saxons For they divided this whole Roman Province except Wales which the remains of the Britains possessed themselves of into seven Kingdoms viz. Kent South-Sex East-Anglia West-Sex Saxon Heptarchy Northumberland East-Sex and Mercia But what this Heptarchy of the Saxons was and what the names of the places in that age you will more easily apprehend by this Chorographical Table Considering that such Tracts or Counties as these Kingdoms contained could not so conveniently be represented in a small Chorographical Table because of its narrowness I chose rather to explain it by this other Scheme which at once gives the Reader an entire view than by a heap of words The Saxon Heptarchy 1. The Kingdom of Kent contain'd The County of Kent 2. The Kingdom of the South-Saxons contain'd The Counties of Sussex Surrey 3. The Kingdom of the East-Angles contain'd The Counties of Norfolk Suffolk Cambridge with the Isle of Ely 4. The Kingdom of the West-Saxons contain'd The Counties of Cornwall Devonshire Dorsetshire Somersetshire Wiltshire Hamshire Berkshire 5. The Kingdom of Northumberland contain'd The Counties of Lancaster York Durham Cumberland Westmorland Northumberland and Scotland to the Fryth of Edenburgh 6. The Kingdom of the East-Saxons contain'd The Counties of Essex Middlesex and part of Hertfordshire 7. The Kingdom of Mercia contain'd The Counties of Glocester Hereford Worcester Warwick Leicester Rutland Northampton Lincoln Huntingdon Bedford Buckingham Oxford Stafford Derby Shropshire Nottingham Chester and the other part of Hertfordshire ãâ¦ã Counties BUT yet while the Heptarchy continued England was not divided into what we call Counties but into several small partitions with their number of Hides a Catalogue whereof out of an old Fragment was communicated to me by Francis Tate a person very much conversant in our Law-Antiquities But this only contains that part which lies on this side the Humber Myrena contains 30000 * A hidâsas some will have iâ includes as much land as one plow can till in a year but as others as much as 4 Virgats Hides Woken-setnae 7000 hides Westerna 7000 hides Pec-setna 1200 hides Elmed-setna 600 hides Lindes-farona 7000 hides Suth-Gyrwa 600 hides North-Gyrwa 600 hides East-Wixna 300 hides West-Wixna 600 hides Spalda 600 hides Wigesta 900 hides Herefinna 1200 hides Sweordora 300 hides Eyfla 300 hides Wicca 300 hides Wight-gora 600 hides Nox gaga 5000 hides Oht-gaga 2000 hides Hwynca 7000 hides Cittern-setna 4000 hides Hendrica 3000 hides Vnecung-ga 1200 hides Aroseatna 600 hides Fearfinga 300 hides Belmiga 600 hides Witherigga 600 hides East-Willa 600 hides West-Willa 600 hides East-Engle 30000 hides East-Sexena 7000 hides Cant-Warena 15000 hides Suth-Sexena 7000 hides West-Sexena 100000 hides Tho' some of those names are easily understood at the first sight others will hardly be hammered out by a long and curious search for my part I freely confess they require a quicker apprehension than I am master of Called in the Coins Aelfred Afterwards when King Alfred had the whole government in his own hands as our forefathers the Germans which we learn from Tacitus administer'd justice according to the several Lordships and Villages taking an hundred of the common-people as assistants to manage that business so he to use the words of Ingulphus of Crowland first divided England into Counties because the natives themselves committed robberies after the example and under colour of the Danes Moreover he made the Counties to be divided into so many Centuries or Hundreds Hundreds and Tithings ordering that every man in the Kingdom should be ranked under some one or other hundred and tithing The Governours of Provinces were before that called * Vicedomini Lieutenants but this office he divided into two Judges now called Justices and Sheriffs which still retain the same name By the care and industry of those the whole Kingdom in a short time enjoyed so great peace that if a traveller had let fall a sum of money never so large in the evening either in the fields or publick high-ways if he came next morning or even a month after he should find it whole and untouch'd This is more largely insisted upon by the Malmesbury Historian Even the natives says he under pretence of being barbarians i.e. Danes fell to robberies so that there was no safe travelling without arms But King Alfred settled the Centuries commonly called Hundreds and the Tithings that every English man living under the protection of the Laws should have both his hundred and his tithing And if any one was accused of a misdemeanour he should get bail in the
In Burgundy the use of this name is very antient for we find in Gregory of Tours Abouâ ãâã 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 * Hââiââ or Reââ Exercituals be so moderated as to be tolerable An Earl shall provide those âhings 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 â Possiââ for âââusae iâ 30 pâââ Many Thââââ Englââ in the Câqueroâ 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 * Cââinââ 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 âârons 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 â Morâ mixtuââ impeâââ 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 âaâonage ãâã Engâand 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 âummons ãâã Parliaâent 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 ââhops ârons 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 âbots ârliaântary ârons 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 â 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
modern Glossary A Chancellor is he whose office is to inspect the writings and answer of the Emperor to cancell those that are wrong and sign those that are right Nor is that of Polidore Virgil true namely that William the Conqueror instituted a College of Scribes to write letters-patents and nam'd the head of that society a CHANCELLOR for it is evident that Chancellors were in England before the Conquest How great the honour and authority of Chancellor is at this day is so very well known that I need not enlarge upon it yet it will not be improper to subjoyn a word or two from an old Author to shew of what note it was formerly Robert Fi z-Stephens who liv'd under Hen. 2. The dignity of the Chancellor of England is this he is reputed the second person in the Kingdom and next unto the King with the King's seal whereof he has the keeping he may seal his own injunctions to dispose of the King's Chapel as he pleases to receive and have the custody of all Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbies and Baronies vacant and fallen into the King's hands to be present at the King's Counsels and repair thither without summons to seal all things by the hand of his Clerk who carries the King's seal and that all things be disposed of by his advice Also * Ut jâââ gaââââ eâ per ãâã graââââ vita ââritis âmorââââ nisi âchiâââ scepââ ãâã vââuâââ that by the grace of God leading a just and upright Life he may if he will himself die Archbishop Whereupon it it is that the CHANCELLORSHIP is not to be bought The manner of creating a Chancellor for that I have a mind to take notice of in King Henry the second 's time was by hanging the Great Seal about the neck of the person chosen for that office Yet in Henry the sixth's reign the method was thus Guââ Mââ as it appears from the Records Upon the death of the Chancellor of England the three great Seals one of gold and the other two of silver which were kept by the Chancellor are immediately after his decease shut up in a wooden chest fast lock'd and seal'd by the Lords there present and so convey'd into the Treasury From thence they are brought to the King who in the presence of many of the Nobility delivers the same into the hands of him that is to be the succeeding Chancellor and undertakes the Charge of that office having first took an oath before him that he will duly administer the same First then he delivers up the great silver seal next that of gold and lastly the other of silver in the presence of great numbers of the Nobility After he has thus receiv'd them he puts them into the chest again and so sends them seal'd home where before certain of the Nobility he causes the King's writs and briefs to be seal'd with them When a Chancellor is displac'd he delivers up those three seals into the King's hands in the presence of many of the Nobility first the seal of Gold then the broad seal of silver and next the other of a less size At this day only one seal is delivered to the Chancellor nor is there any mention to be found of these three seals but in the reign of Henry the sixth In process of time much honour and authority was added to this office of Chancellor by Act of Parliament especially since so much niceness and subtilty has crept in among the Lawyers who have made their pleadings so difficult and ensnaring that a Court of Equity was found necessary which was committed to the Chancellors that he might judge according to the rules of right and equity and moderate the rigour of exact justice which is often down-right injustice and oppression There preside in this Court the Lord Chancellor of England and twelve Masters of Chancery as Assessors to him the chief where of is the Keeper of the Rolls belonging to that Court and thence call'd Magister Rotulorum or Master of the Rolls There are also many other Officers belonging to this Court some of them concern'd about the King's Seal namely the Clerk of the Crown the Clerk of the Hamper A Sealer A Chauff-wax A Comptroller of the Hamper twenty four Cursitors and a Clerk for the Sub-poena-writs Others concerned in the Bills there exhibited are a Prothonotary the Six Clerks or Attorneys of the Court and a Register There are also the three Clerks of the petit bag a Clerk of the Presentations a Clerk of the Faculties a Clerk for examining Letters-Patents a Clerk for Dimissions c. There is another Court also arising from the King 's Privy Council call'd the Court of Requests The Cââ of Requests from the addresses of Petitioners deliver'd there where private causes are heard as in Chancery if first presented to the King or his privy Council though sometimes otherwise In this Court business is manag'd by the Masters of the Requests and a Clerk or Register with two or three Attorneys As for those Councils held in the Marches of Wales and in the North I will treat of them God willing in another place The Chief Spiritual Courts Spiââââ Coâââ are the Synod which is call'd the Convocation and is always held at the same time that a Parliament is and the Provincial Synods in both Provinces After these are the Courts of the Achbishop of Canterbury namely the Court of Arches The Câââ of Aââââ the judge of which is the Dean of the â He is called DEAN for that he hath jurisdiction in 13 Parishes of London exempt from the Bishop of London which number maketh a DEANERIE Hol. Arches so call'd from St. Mary's Church in London famous for its arch'd steeple All Appeals within the province of Canterbury are made to him There are in this Court 16 Advocates or more as the Archbishop shall think fit all of them Doctors of Law two Registers and ten Proctors Court âudiâ The Court of Audience where all complaints causes and appeals in this Province are receiv'd Court âeroâe The Court of Prerogative where the Commissary judges of inheritances whether descended without will or devis'd The Court of Faculties manag'd by a * Câurt âculâ âfâctus President who takes cognizance of all grievances represented to him by such as desire that the rigour and severity of the Canon-law may be moderated and a Register to record such dispensations as are granted Court âeculââ The Court of Peculiars which has jurisdiction in certain parishes exempt from the Bishop of the Diocese where they lye and those Peculiars that belong to the Archbishop with other things of less note I willingly omit For I must confess it was imprudent in me to dip at all in a subject of this nature however Guicciardin encouraged me to it by his example in his description of the Netherlands I intended here to have inserted some few things and those chiefly concerning the antiquity
whom Richard 1. afterwards bestow'd it with other Counties But John coming to the Crown of England his second son Richard had this honour with the Earldom of Poictou conferr'd upon him by his Brother Henry 3. This Richard was a powerful Prince in his time as also a religious man valiant in war and of great conduct behaving himself in Aquitain with wonderful valour and success Going to the Holy Land he forc'd the Saracens to a truce refus'd the kingdom of Apulia when offer'd him by the Pope quieted many tumults in England and being chosen King of the Romans by the 7 Electors of Germany in the year 1257 was crown'd at Aix la Chapelle There is a common verse which intimates that he bought this honour Nummus ait pro me nubit Cornubia Romae Cornwall to Rome Almighty money joyn'd For before he was so famous a mony'd man that a Cotemporary Writer has told us he was able to spend a hundred marks a day for 10 years together But the civil wars breaking out in Germany 30 Among the Competitors of the Empire he quickly return'd to England where he dy'd and was bury'd at the famous Monastery of Hales which himself had built a little after his eldest son Henry in his return from the Holy wars as he was at his devotions in a Church at Viterbium in Italy had been villanously murder'd by Guido de Montefort son of Simon Earl of Leicester in revenge of his father's death For which reason his second son Edmund succeeded in the Earldom of Cornwall who dying without children his large inheritance return'd to the King he as the Lawyers term it being found next a-kin and heir at law The Arms of the Earls of Cornwall Now since Richard and his son Edmund were of the blood Royal of England I have often declar'd my self at a loss to know how they came to bear Arms different from those of the Royal Family viz. in a field argent a Lyon rampant gules crowned or within a border sable garnish'd with bezants And all the reason I can give for it is that they might possibly do it in imitation of the Royal Family of France since this way of bearing Arms came to us from the French For the younger sons of the Kings of France have Arms different from the Crown to this day as one may observe in the Families of the Vermandois Dreux and Courtneys And as Robert Duke of Burgundy Bande d'Or and d'Azur a la bordeure de Gâeules brother of Henry 1. King of France took the ancient Shield of the Dukes of Burgundy so this Richard after he had the Earldom of Poictou bestow'd upon him by his brother K. Henry 3. might probably take that Lyon gules crown'd which as the French Authors inform us belong'd to his Predecessors Earls of Poictou Memoriales de Aquitaine and might add that border sable garnish'd with bezants out of the ancient Shield of the Earls of Cornwall For assoon as the younger sons of France began to bear the Royal Arms with some difference we presently follow'd them and Edward 1.'s children were the first instance But where am I rambling to please my self with the niceties of my own profession After Cornwall was united to the Crown Edward 2. who had large possessions given him by his father in those parts conferr'd the title of Earl of Cornwall upon Priece Gaveston a Gascoine who had been the great debaucher of him in his youth But he being seiz'd by the Barons for corrupting the Prince and for other crimes was beheaded and succeeded by John de Eltham younger son of Edw. 2. 31 Advanc'd thereunto by his brother Edward 3. Hol. who being young and dying without issue Edw. 3. Dukes of Cornwall erected Cornwall into a Dukedom and invested Edward his son a most accomplish'd Soldier in the year 1336 with the Dukedom of Cornwall by a wreath on his head a ring upon his finger and a silver verge Since which time g In the 11 of Edw. 3. it was granted Quod primogenitus filius Regis Angliae qui foret haereditabilis regno foret Dux Cornubiae c. So Richard de Bordeaux son to the Black-Prince was not Duke of Cornwall by virtue hereof but was created by Charter Nor was Elizabeth eldest daughter to King Edw. 4. Dutchess hereof because 't is limited to the Son Neither was Henry 8. in the life-time of his father after the death of Prince Arthur Duke hereof because he was not eldest son as I shall observe from Record leaving still the judgment of it to the opinion of Lawyers the eldest son of the King of England is born Earl of Cornwall and by a special Act made in that case Oââ ãâã Hââ he is to be presum'd of full age assoon as ever he is born so that he may claim livery and seisin of the said Dukedom the same day he 's born and ought by right to obtain it as if he had fully compleated the age of twenty one He hath also Royalties and Prerogatives in actions the stannaries wrecks customs c. for which and the like he has certain Officers appointed him But these matters are laid open more distinctly and at large by Richard Carew of Anthony a person no less eminent for his honorable Ancestors than his own virtue and learning who hath describ'd this County at large not contenting himself with a narrow draught and whom I cannot but acknowledge to have been my guide There are in this County 161 Parishes ADDITIONS to CORNWALL CORNWALL as by the situation 't is in a manner cut from the rest of England so by its peculiar customs and privileges added to a difference of Language it may seem to be another Kingdom Upon which account it is necessary to give some light into these matters before we enter upon the Survey of the County Privileges of Cornwall To begin with the Privileges In the 21. of Elizabeth it was order'd that all charge of Custom for transporting of Cornish Cloath upon any English-man within the Dutchy of Cornwall should be discharg'd and that for the future no Custom should be paid for it This was first granted them by the Black-Prince and hath always been enjoy'd by them in consideration that they have paid and do still pay 4 s. for the coynage of every hundred of tinn whereas Devonshire pays but 8 d. They have also the freedom to take sand out of the sea and carry it through the whole County to manure their ground withal * R. Chart. de An. 45 Hen. 3. This is a Grant made by Richard Duke of Cornwall which is confirm'd An. 45 Hen. 3. by that King whereupon in the next Reign upon an Inquisition made we find a complaint that Saltash had lately taken yearly 12 s. for each Barge that carry'd Sand up Tamar whereas nothing ought to have been demanded By this it appears that ever since Hen. 3. at least this has been the
educated besides many other learned men William from this town called Malmsburiensis William of Malmesbury to whose learned industry the civil and ecclesiastical History of England are greatly indebted The town entirely supported by the abbey was fortify'd by Roger Bishop of Salisbury who when the War broke out between Henry of Anjou and King Stephen strengthen'd it with walls and a Castle which was once in vain besieg'd by King Henry 2. l A. D. 1152. The Castle indeed made a brave defence but all the Historians say it was taken at last by Duke afterwards King Henry This magnificent Bishop erected buildings here and at Salisbury for space very large for cost very chargeable for shew very beautiful The stones are set in such exact order that the joynts cannot be seen and the whole structure seems to be but one stone But the castle not long after by the permission of King John was rased for the convenience of the Monks that so the abbey might be enlarg'd which daily increas'd in building and revenues till the fatal dissolution of Monasteries Then the lands and riches which had been so many years in gathering were dissipated tho' in ancient times they were thought to be the good works of pious Christians Concil Aquisgran penance for sins and the patrimony of the poor And the Church it self had suffered the same fate had not one Stump a rich clothier by a great deal of intercession and more money recover'd it for the use of the Town 's folks who turn'd it into a Parish-Church and a great part of it is yet remaining f From Malmsbury the Avon runs to Dantesey Dantesey which gave name to the Lords of it Knights once very eminent in these parts from whom it descended to the Easterlings commonly known by the name of Stradlings and from them to the family of Danvers Of which Henry Danvers was lately dignified by the favour of K. James with the title and honour of Baron Danvers of Dantesey g Baron Danvers Six miles from hence the Avon receives from the east a rivulet which runs through Calne Caln an ancient little town on a stony ground adorned with a neat Church where during the contentions between the Monks and secular Priests about the Coelibacy of the Clergy A Synod about the Coelibacy of the Clergy a great Synod was conven'd A. D. 977. But in the midst of the dispute the Convocation-house in which the States of the Kingdom were assembled the beams breaking and the timber-frame bursting asunder suddenly fell to the ground together with the Bishops and Nobility of the Kingdom by which fall most were bruis'd and some kill'd but Dunstan alone President of the Synod and of the Monks party escaped unhurt By which miracle for so it was accounted in those times m Malmesbury indeed makes it a miracle to confirm the cause of the Monks but Huntingdon and Bromton say it was a Judgment upon the Nobility for betraying and murdering their late K. Edward the cause of the Monks was probably very much confirmed From hence the Avon now grown bigger runs to Chippenham Chippenham by the Saxons call'd Cyppanham now only famous for its market from whence it had it's name for Cyppan in the Saxon language signifies to traffick Cyppan what it is and Cypman a Merchant and we yet retain Cheppen and Chappman or as the Germans say Coppman n Of the same original is Cheapside in London In those times it was the Country-house of the Saxon Kings which King Alfred by his Will bequeathed to his younger daughter Now there is nothing worth seeing but the Church built as is evident from their Coats of Arms on the Walls by the Lords Hungerford h Over against this town tho' at some distance from the river lies Cosham Cosham now a small village heretofore honour'd with the Country palace of King Ethelred and the retiring-house of the o The inhabitants still enjoy several privileges granted them by Richard Earl of Cornwall and Edmund Earl of the same place obtain'd a Charter for a weekly market Since the Restoration Margaret Hungerford built here an Alms-house and Free-school Earls of Cornwall From hence one may see Castlecomb Castlecomb an ancient castle famous upon the account of the Walters of Dunstavill Lords of it 6 Men of great renown in their time from whom the Wriothesleys Earls of Southampton derive their pedigree For Petronilla 7 Or Parnel the daughter and heir of the last Walter married Rob. de Montford and had a son named William who sold this castle and the rest of his lands to Bartholomew Badilsmer from whom it came as I have heard to the Scroops who have held it ever since But let us now again follow the course of the river on which lieth Leckham Leckhââ the estate of the noble family of the Bainards where Roman coins are very often found as also Lacock p Leland says that in a field by Lacock much Roman money us'd to be found and it is call'd Silverfield Lacock where that pious matron Ela Countess of Salisbury in her widowhood built as she did likewise at Henton q In the County of Somerset a Monastery A. D. 1232. to the honour of the Blessed Virgin and S. Bernard in which she devoted her self soul and body to the service of God The Avon whose banks are thick set with trees hath not run far beyond Brumham once the seat of the Lord 8 Or truly De S. Amando St. Amand. Afterward of the Bainton from them * De â Amaââ Samond before it receives a rivulet from the east which riseth near the castle De Vies Devises or the Vies the Divisio of Florentius Wigorn. The Vies Devâââ The Divisae of Neubrigensis It was once a noble castle strongly fortify'd by art and nature but now ruin'd by the injury of time This was built at the vast expence of Roger Bishop of Sarum that it might excell all the castles in England This man's fortune had advanc'd him from a poor Mass-priest to be the second man in the kingdom But fortune as one saith hath favour'd no man so far as to exempt him from the fear of losing whatever she gave him For K. Stephen being angry with him took from him this castle and that of Shirburn together with all his great riches and so plagu'd the poor old man in prison with hunger and other troubles that between the fear of death and the torments of life he was unwilling to live and knew not how to die About this time it was very much controverted whether it is lawful for Bishops by the Canon-law to hold Castles and if this by permission was allow'd whether in troublesome times they ought not to be at the King's disposal i The Avon conjoyn'd with this rivulet bends it's course toward the west and presently another brook from the south runneth into it
and d Canute is here put erroneously for Swain as is evident by the concurring testimony of Historians Canute the Dane damnify'd it very much by fire about A. D. 1003. w It recover'd it's ancient splendour when by the authority of a e Enacting A. 1076. that all Bishops Sees should be removed into great Towns out of Villages Synod and the munificence of William the Conqueror Herman Bishop of Shirburn and Sunning translated his seat hither and his immediate Successor Osmund built the Cathedral Church And the said William 1. after he had made the survey of England summon'd all the Estates of the Kingdom hither to swear Allegiance to him at which time as it is in Domesday book Salisbury gelded for 50 hides Money by weight and by tale and of the third penny the King had xx s. by weight and of the increase lx lb by tale This I observe because not only the Romans but also our Ancestors used to weigh as well as tell their money Not long after in the reign of Richard 1. f It should be Henry 3. by reason of the insolencies of the garrison-souldiers x 20 Against the Churchmen and the scarcity of water 21 The Churchmen first and then c. the inhabitants began to remove and seated themselves in a low ground which at the conflux of the Avon and the Nadder is as it were a rendezvous of many waters scarce a mile distant toward the south-east Of this removal Petrus Blesensis maketh mention in his g Epist 105. Epistles New Sarisbury for thus he describes Old Sarum It was a place exposed to the winde barren dry and solitary a Tower was there as in Siloam by which the inhabitants were for a long time enslaved And afterward The Church of Salisbury was a captive on that hill let us therefore in God's name go down into the level there the vallies will yield plenty of corn and the champagn fields are of a rich soil And of the same place the foremention'd Poet thus writes Quid domini domus in castro nisi foederis arca In templo Baalim carcer uterque locus A Church within a Camp looks just as well As th' ark of God in the vile house of Baal And thus described the place to which they descended Est in valle locus nemori venatibus apto Contiguus celeber fructibus uber aquis Tale creatoris matri natura creata Hospitium toto quaesiit orbe diu Nigh a fair chase a happy vale there lies Where early fruit the burden'd trees surprize And constant springs with gentle murmurs rise Not careful Nature o're the world could meet With such another for our Lady's seat As soon as they were removed that they might begin at the house of God Richard Poor the Bishop in a pleasant meadow before call'd Merifield laid the foundation of the great Church a stately pile of building y The which with it's h The tower and steeple from the floor of the Church is 410 foot high high steeple and double cross-isles by it's venerable grandeur strikes it's spectators with a sacred joy and was in 43 years space finished at great expence and dedicated A. D. 1258. in the presence of K. Henry 3. whereof that ancient Poetaster hath these not contemptible verses Regis enim virtus templo spectabitur isto Praesulis affectus artificumque fides The Prince's piety the Workman's skill The Bishop's care the stately pile shall tell But much better are the verses of the famous and learned Daniel Rogers Mira canam soles quot continet annus in unâ Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque capit fusas tot ab arte columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide â Dr. Heâââ How many days in one whole year there be So many windows in our Church we see So many marble pillars there appear As there are hours thro'out the fleeting year So many gates as moons one year does view Strange tales to tell yet not so strange as true For they say this Church hath as many windows as there are days in the year as many pillars and pillasters as there are hours and as many gates as months On the south-side of the Church is the Cloyster as great and of as fine workmanship as any in England to which is adjoyn'd the Bishop's stately Palace on the north side stands apart from the Cathedral a very strong built and high Bell-tower This Church in a short time so increas'd in ornaments and revenues that it maintains a Dean a Chanter a Chancellor a Treasurer and 33 Prebendaries z all very well endow'd some of which whom they call Canons Resident have very good houses not far from the Church and all these are inclosed with a wall apart from the town Whilst the Bishop was building the house of God the Citizens in like manner with great forwardness founded the City settled the Civil government thereof supplied every street with a little rivulet of water and having obtained licence from Simon the Bishop to fortifie it they threw up a ditch on that side which is not defended by the river And to such splendour New-Salisbury arrived out of the ruines of Old-Sorbiodunum that presently after by the Royal Authority the High road into the West was turn'd thro' this town it became the second City in those parts being very populous abounding in plenty of all things especially fish and adorn'd with a very fine Council-house of wood which standeth in a spacious well-furnish'd Market-place But it hath nothing of which it can brag so much as of John Jewell late Bishop of this place the wonder of his age for Divinity and a strenuous defender of the Reformed Religion After this Old Sarum still decreasing was in the reign of Henry 7. wholly deserted so that now there scarce remaineth a turret of the castle yet for a long time after the inhabitants had left the town it was the seat of the Earls of Salisbury about which in the reign of Edward 3. there was a noted controversie 29 Edw. Term. âlar For Robert Bishop of Sarum by vertue of a Writ which our Lawyers call Breve de Recto â Duel aâ out the Castle of âarâm or as others âyâ Shirâââ question'd the right of William Montaoute E of Sarum to this Castle The Earl answered he would defend his right by Combat q So on the day appointed the Bishop brought to the lists his Champion clad in a white garment to the mid leg over which he had a Surcoat of the Bishop's Coat of Arms there follow'd him a Knight carrying the spear and a Page the shield Presently after the Earl led in his Champion arrayed after the same manner accompanied by two Knights bearing white staves And just as the Champions were about to fight whilst they withdrew that
Of this Park and the twenty groves therein Michael Maschertus L. L. D. made these verses Nobilis est lucus cervis clusura * This name was made by his own fancy as a Poet. Saronam Propter à claro vertice nomen habet Viginti hinc nemorum partito limite boscis Ambitus est passus mille cuique suus A noble park near Sarum's stately town In form a mount's clear top call'd Clarendon Here twenty groves and each a mile in space With grateful shades at once protect the place 26 Famous is this Clarendon for that here in the year 1164. was made a certain recognition and record of the customs and liberties of the Kings of England before the Prelates and Peers of this Kingdom for avoiding dissentions between the Clergy Judges and Barons of the Realm which were called The Constitutions of Clarendon Of which so many as the Pope approved have been set down in the Tomes of the Councils the rest omitted albeit Thomas Becket then Archbishop of Canterbury and the rest of the Bishops approved them all Hereby is Ivy Church sometime a small Priory where as tradition runneth in our Grandfather's remembrance was found a grave and therein a Corps of twelve foot and not far off a stock of wood hollowed and the concave lined with lead with a book therein of very thick pârchment all written with Capital Roman Letters But it had lieu so long that when the leaves were touched they mouldred to dust Sir Thomas Eliot who saw it judged it to be an history No doubt he that so carefully laid it up hoped it should be found and discover some things memorable to posterity About six miles northward of Salisbury on the Plains is to be seen that I may use Cicero's words insana substructio a wild structure Stonehenge For within a trench are plac'd huge unhewn stones in 3 circles one within another after the manner of a Crown some of which are 28 foot in height and seven in breadth on which others like Architraves are born up so that it seems to be a hanging pile from whence we call it Stonehenge as the ancient Historians from it's greatness call'd it Gigantum Chorea the Giants dance But seeing it cannot fully be described by words only I have here subjoyn'd the Sculpture of it A The Stones call'd Corfstones 12 Tonn Weight 24 foot high 7 broad and 16 round B The Stones call'd Coronetts of 6 or 7 Tonns C The place where Mens bones are dug up Our country-men reckon this among the wonders of the land For it is unaccountable how such stones should come there seeing all the circumjacent country want ordinary stones for building and also by what means they were raised Of these things I am not able so much to give an accurate account as mightily to grieve that the founders of this noble monument cannot be trac'd out Yet it is the opinion of some that these stones are not natural or such as are dug out of the rock Artificial Rocks but artificial being made of fine sand cemented together by a glewy sort of matter like those monuments which I have seen in Yorkshire And this is not so strange For do not we read in Pliny that the sand of Puteol infused in water is presently turn'd into stone and that the Cisterns at Rome being made of sand and strong lime are so tempered that they seem to be real stone and that small pieces of marble have been so cemented that statues made of it have been taken for one entire piece of marble The tradition is that Aurelianus Ambrosius or Usher his brother erected it by the help of Merlin the Mathematician to the memory of the Britains there slain by treachery in a conference with the Saxons From whence Alexander Necham a Poet of the middle age in a poetical vein but without any great fancy made these verses grounding them on the British History of Geoffrey Nobilis est lapidum structura Chorea Gigantum Ars experta suum posse peregit opus Quod ne prodiret in lucem segnius artem Se viresque suas consuluisse rear Hoc opus adscribit Merlino garrula fama Filia figmenti fabula vana refert Illa congerie fertur decorata fuisse Tellus quae mittit tot Palamedis aves Hinc tantum munus suscepit Hibernia gaudens Nam virtus lapidi cuilibet ampla satis Nam respersus aquis magnam transfundit in illâ Vim queis curari saepius aeger eget Uther Pendragon molem transvexit ad Ambri Fines devicto victor ab hoste means O quot nobilium quot corpora sacra vircrum Illic Hengisti proditione jacent Intercepta fuit gens inclyta gens generosa Intercepta nimis credula cauta minus Sed tunc enituit praeclari Consulis Eldol Virtus qui letho septuaginta dedit The Giant 's Dance the ever famous pile Where painful Art hath shew'd her deepest skill Old stories this ascribe to Merlin 's spells And prating Fame the mighty wonder tells At first the monstrous work in Scythia stood Thence joyful Ireland took the happy load For all the Stones some useful secrets have And steep'd in waters healing virtues leave Renown'd Pendragon from the conquer'd Isle Remov'd to Amber 's plains his wondrous spoil Of what brave souls are there the reliques laid By wicked Hengist 's treacherous arts betray'd Stout hearts they had and strength unmatch'd in war But too much credit and too little care Yet furious Eldor here his valour show'd And clear'd his way with sev'nty Traytors blood Others relate that the Britains built this as a magnificent monument for the same Ambrosius in the place where he was slain by his enemies that that Pile should be as it were an Altar erected at the publick cost to the eternal memory of his valour This is certain that mens bones are frequently here dug up and the village which lies upon the Avon is called Ambresbury ââbresââây that is Ambrose's Town where as the British History tells us some ancient Kings lye buried and the Eulogium records that here was a Monastery of 300 Monks which was destroyed by a barbarous villain one Gurmundus dd In this afterward Alfritha wife to K. Egdar that she might expiate her crime in killing her son-in-law K. Edw. by penance and good works built and endowed a stately Nunnery in which Queen Eleanor wife to K. Kenry 3. renouncing all royal pomp devoted her self to God among the Nuns ee Ambrosius Aurelianus âbrosius ââlianus that gave name to this place in the wane of the Roman Empire took on him the Government of Britain as P. Diaconus reports succour'd his sinking Country and by the assistance of the valiant Arthur repelled the assaults of his enemies conquering great armies composed of the most warlike nations of Germany and at length in a set battel upon these plains he lost his life in the service of his Country But Gildas and Bede
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 Eââzabeth 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 Hââshire 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 âhe English âtorians 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 Wansââ 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 â Moâ Angâââ Saxon-Charter of lands belonging to Wilton-Abbey there is mention made of no less than 13 distinct
feet upon which he step'd back and said Let all the inhabitants of the world know That the power of Monarchs is a vain and empty thing and that no one deserves the name of a King but he whose will by an eternal law the Heaven Earth and Sea obey Nor would he ever after suffer the Crown to be put on his head c. Of those rivers between which this town is plac'd the western one now call'd Test but formerly I think Anton rising out of the Forest of Chute runs first to Andover ândover in Saxon e And Andeferan Andeafaran that is the Ferry or passage of the river Ande where in the year f In the year 994. according to the Saxon Annals 893. Aethelred K. of England when the Danes ravaged all his kingdom that he might bless his harrass'd nation with a safe and settl'd peace adopted Anlaf the Dane ânlaf adâpted by ãâã Aethelâed tho' this league of friendship was soon broke for so great a respect and honour could not restrain that barbarous foreigner from his usual rapines i 3 From thence it runneth down and receives from the East a brook passing by Bullingdon in whose parish is a place called Tibury-hill and contains a square field by estimation 10 acres ditch'd about in some places deeper than other wherein hath been found tokens of Wells and about which the Plough-men have found square-stones and Roman coins as they report for the place I have not seen From hence this river runs near Whorwel where Queen Aelfrith built a Monastery to expiate her heinous crime in vowing to kill King Edward her son-in-law and to atone for the murder of her former Husband the noble Earl Athelwold whom King Edgar upon an invitation to go a hunting did here murder because he had put a trick upon him in his love-intreagues and had by ill arts obtain'd from him this Lady Aelfrith who was the greatest beauty of her age After this the Test takes in another small stream call'd Wallop âallâp or rather Wellop that is if we interpret it from our own ancient language a little fountain on the side of a hill which gives name to the ancient family of Wallops Knights who live near it Hence the river runs in search of Brige âge or Brage an ancient town by Antoninus plac'd 9 miles from the old Sorbiodunum at which distance between Salisbury and Winchester not far from its own banks it finds a small country village call'd Broughton and if the old Brage was not at this place I am of opinion that it was entirely demolish'd when William the Conquerour converted these parts into the forest before mention'd Next Rumsey âumsey in Saxon Rumseg where King Edgar built a Nunnery the Church whereof is still standing is visited by this river 4 Out of the which Mary daughter to King Stephen being there Abbess and his only heir surviving was convey'd secretly by Matthew of Alsace son to the Earl of Flanders and to him married But after she had born to him two Daughters was enforced by Sentence of the Church to return hither again according to her vow which presently falls into South-hampton-bay at the Vadum Arundinis as Bede calls it which he interprets Redford but now from the bridge where the ford was instead of Redford 't is call'd Redbridge âdbridge where in the infancy of the Saxon-Church stood a Monastery whereof one Cymberth was Abbot and baptised as Bede tells us two young Brothers of Arvandus petty King of the Isle of Wight just before they were to be murdered for when Cedwalla the Saxon invaded that Island these two boys made their escape and hid themselves at a little town called ad Lapidem till being betrayed they were killed at the command of Cedwalla If you ask where this little town ad Lapidem stood I should guess that 't was Stoneham a small village next to Redbridge as the name it self seems to prove very naturally The other river which runs on the east-side of South-hampton seems to have been call'd Alre for a market town on the banks of it not far from the lake out of which it rises is now call'd Alresford i.e. the ford of Arle Which place to use the words of an old Register of the Church of Winchester the religious K. Kinewalc with great devotion gave to the Church of Winchester after he had receiv'd the Christian Sacraments from Bishop Birinus at the beginning of Christianity in those parts In the year 1220. A book of waverly Monastery Godfrey Lucy Bishop of Winchester renew'd the market here and call'd the place New-market perhaps in respect of the old Alresford that lies near it But this new name did not last long with the people in whose power lies the use of words and names Nigh this place lies Tichborn Tichborn of which I must not omit to mention that it has given name to an eminent and ancient family On the western bank of this river lies the famous city of the British Belgae which Ptolemy and Antoninus call'd g From whence the Bishop of Winchester is in our Histories very often call'd Ventanus and Wentanus Venta Belgarum Venta Belgarum the Britains to this day Caer Gwent the old Saxons As also Winteceaster Winceaster Wincester Wintancester the Latin Writers commonly Wintonia and we Wintchester Wintchester Yet there are some Writers who pretend that this was the Venta Simenorum and give Bristol the honour of being the Venta Belgarum but that there was no such People as the Simeni in this Island I shall prove when I come to the Iceni In the mean time if they would confirm this their conjecture by seeking any where else for the towns which Antoninus places near to this Venta let them be as accurate as they can they will find nothing to their purpose The original of Venta some fetch from Ventus others from Vinum and again others from Wina a Bishop * Qui bonae menti litarent who might be asham'd of such trifling derivations I should rather subscribe to the opinion of our country-man Leland who derives the word from the British Guin or Guen that is white as if it signified Caer Gwin the White City And why should it not since from this same colour the old Latins gave name to the cities Alba Longa and Alba Regia the Greeks to Leuca Leucas and other places For this Venta as also two other towns of the same name Venta Silurum and Venta Icenorum is situate in a soil of Chalk and whitish Clay This city no doubt was very famous in the Roman times k for it is here the Roman Emperors seem to have had their â Textrina sua sacra Imperial Weaving-shops this city being the chief of all the British Ventae and lying nearest Italy For in the Notitia there is mention made of a Procurator or Governour of the Cynegium Ventense or Bentense
acres The form of it inclines towards a square and on it's banks or works which are single and not very great there grow Oaks On the north-side hard by it is the Oak that budds on Christmas-day and withers again before night it was order'd by K. Charles the second to be pal'd round The constant Tradition is that William Rufus was kill'd near this Castle and that this is the Tree upon which Tyrrel's arrow glanc'd In the same forest at Godshill Godshill near Fording bridge * Ibid. is a Camp upon the hill which is overgrown with Oaks one side is a steep cliff and the other double-trencht f Upon the edge of the forest is Calshot-Castle corrupted from Caldshore as our Author observes and possibly the Cerdicesora of the Saxons which seems to have been in the westerly parts of England For the same persons that Matthew Westminster affirms to have landed in Occidentali parte Britanniae are said by the Saxon-Annals to have come ashore at Cerdicesora If upon such a conjecture one might remove it from Yarmouth into those parts I know no place can lay better claim to it than this whether we consider the situation or other circumstances g Next is Southampton Southampton for so one ought to call it rather than Southanton with Mr. Camden and others which has no authority to support it but only a possibility of the river Test being call'd Anton and the writing of the whole County in Domesday-book Hantscyre The latter is already shown to be an error and the former is too light to be oppos'd to the authority of our most ancient â Chron. Sax. An. 981. 1â9â Histories wherein we find it call'd simply Hamtun Besides the South must imply some relation to the river and if so why had it not that joyn'd to it from the beginning since the river has still had the same chanel h The town is not in the same flourishing condition as formerly for having lost it's trade it has lost most of it's inhabitants too and the great houses of merchants are now dropping to the ground and only show it 's ancient magnificence In the place where our Author observes Roman Coins were formerly digg'd up there is now a Dock for the building of Men of War and not long since a golden Coin was found hereabouts i Our next guide is the river Test upon which is Andover Andover a very populous Corporation where is a Free-school founded by John Hanson A. D. 1569. and an Hospital for the maintenance of 6 men built and endow'd by Mr. John Pollen who is a Member of Parliament for this Corporation At some distance is Quarley-hills Quarâey-hill â Aââââ upon which there is a great fortification with quadruple works on the west-side of it The two outward trenches are distant farther than ordinary one from the other from the outer to the second 60 paces from the second to the third 36 paces The other river that comes to Southampton our Author imagines was call'd Alre it is now commonly nam'd Itchin Itchinâ from a Parish of that name near it's head Upon it lies Alresford Alresâââ which on May-day 1610. was destroy'd by a fire that began in several parts of the town almost at the same time and burnt down also their Market-house and Church but many of the houses and the market-house are rebuilt Before the fire there was not one inhabitant that receiv'd any thing out of Collections for the poor From this place to Aulton there goes all along a Roman High-way part of which makes a head or stank to an extraordinary great pond here at Alresford and nearer the river's head are three noble seats Chilton-Candover built by the late Sir Robert Worsley the Graunge by the late Sir Robert Henley and Abbotston by the present Duke of Bolton but not quite finisht k Next the river goes to Winchester Wincheâ concerning the ancient condition whereof there is little to be added * Aâââ The old ruines near the Cathedral are of Roman building and consist of small flints with mortar as hard as stone so that the whole wall seems to be one entire stone In the beginning of the late Civil Wars the Soldiers opening the Marble-Coffin of William Rufus which lies in the Choir found on his thumb a golden Ring with a Ruby set in it l In the place where the Castle stood which is mention'd by our Author is now a Royal palace begun by King Charles 2. King's âlace The foundation was laid the 23 of March 1683. but being not finish'd before that King's Death it remains only the model of a more noble design There was particularly intended a large Cupilo 30 foot above the roof which would have been seen a great way to the sea and also a fair street leading to the Cathedral gate in a direct line from the front of the house for which and for the Parks the ground was procur'd The South-side is 216 foot and the West 326. 't is said to have cost 25000 pound already Bishop's Pâââce m The Bishop's Palace which Mr. Camden speaks of was seiz'd on in the late Civil Wars and pull'd down to make money of the Lead and other materials but since the Restoration Bishop Morley laid out 2300 pound on a handsom structure for that use and dying before it was finish'd left 500 pound to complete it Over the door is this Inscription Georgius Morley Episcopus has aedes propriis impensis de novo struxit A. D. 1684. n There have been in this City as appears by Bishop Andrews's Registry 32 Parish-Churches which are now all demolish'd save eight In the Cathedral Church-yard is a College College erected by the late Bishop Morley An. 1672. for 10 Ministers Widows and by him very well endow'd with a yearly Revenue Marquesses ãâã Wincheâter Since William Paulet had this honour conferr'd upon him the same persons have been successively both Marquesses of this place and Earls of Wiltshire to which County I refer the Reader for a more particular information ât Katheâine s hill Aââr MS. o On St. Katherine's Hill near Winchester â there is a Camp with a single work and single graffe neither exactly round nor square but according to the ground of the hill p Going from hence to the shore we meet with Portsmouth âortsmouth the appearance of which place as to the extent strength and magnificence of the land-fortifications as well as things belonging to marine affairs is very much alter'd since Mr. Camden's time and even since the Restoration of King Charles 2. For through the growth of Naval Action in England whereof more in the Notes upon Chatham in Kent it is now reckon'd amongst the principal Chambers of the Kingdom for the laying up of it's Royal Navy as being furnish'd on shore with Docks wet and dry Store-houses Rope-yards materials and requisites of all kinds for the building repairing rigging
Moels and the Courteneys much augmented his estate His son Robert who marry'd the daughter and heir of the Lord Botereaux enrich'd the family more and then Robert his son who had to Wife Eleanor the daughter and heir of William Molines upon which account he was honour'd among the Barons of the Kingdom by the name of Lord Molines and during the Civil Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster was beheaded at New-castle made great additions to it Thomas his son slain at Salisbury in his father's life-time left Mary an only daughter married to Edward Lord Hastings with whom he had a great estate But Walter brother to the said Thomas begat Edward Hungerford father of that Walter whom Henry 8. created Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury and condemned afterwards for a very heinous crime nevertheless Queen Mary restor'd his children to every thing but the dignity of Barons h Not far from hence towards the South lies Widehay âidehay long the seat of the Barons of St. Amand ââons of Amand. whose estate by marriage came to Gerard Braybrok and Elizabeth his eldest grand-daughter by his son Gerard transferr'd the estate by marriage to William Beauchamp who being summon'd to Parliament by the name of William Beauchamp of St. Amand ââuchamp ãâã Amand was a Baron as his son Richard also was who had no legitimate issue From thence the river Kenet taking it's course between Hemsted Marshall anciently held * Per virgam Marescalliae by the Rod of the Marshalsea and belonging to the Marshals of England where â Sir Thomas Thomas Parry Treasurer of the Houshold to Queen Elizabeth built a very fine seat and Benham Valence so call'd from it's belonging to William Valence Earl of Pembroke 7 But Queen Elizabeth gave it to John Baptista Castilion a Piemontes of her Privy Chamber for faithful service in her dangers comes to Spinae Spinae the old town mention'd by Antoninus which retaining still it's name is call'd Spene but instead of a town is now a poor little village scarce a mile from Newbury a noted town that had it's rise out of the ruines of it For Newbury Newbury with us is as much as the New Borough that is in regard to Spinae the more ancient place which is quite decay'd but hath left the name in part of Newbury it self still call'd Spinhamlands And if nothing else yet this certainly might prove that Newbury fetcht it's original from Spinae for that the inhabitants of Newbury owns the little village Spene for their mother tho' Newbury compar'd with Spene is for it's buildings and neatness a very considerable town and much enrich'd by cloathing well seated upon a plain and has the river Kenet running through it In the Norman Conquest this town fell to Ernulph de Hesdin Earl of Perch Lib. Inquisitionum whose great grandson Thomas Earl of Perch being slain at the siege of Lincoln the Bishop of Chalons his heir sold it to William Marshall Earl of Pembroke who likewise held the mannour of Hempsted hard by spoken of before as did his successors Marshals of England till Roger Bigod for his obstinacy lost his honour of Earl Marshal and possessions too which notwithstanding by much â precariò intercession he obtain'd again for life i The Kenet continues on his course from hence and receives by the way the little river Lamborn Lamborn which at it's rise imparts the name to a small market-town that in ancient times belong'd to Alfrith K. Alfred's Cousin having been left him by the said King in his Will and afterwards was the Fitzwarin's who obtain'd the privilege of a market of Henry 3. But now it belongs to the Knightly family of Essex which derives it's pedigree from William de Essex Under-Treasurer of England in Edw. 4.'s time and from those of the same sirname in Essex that liv'd in great repute and honour there From thence this little river runs beneath g In the late Civil Wars it was a garrison for the King Dennington Dunnington-castle call'd also Dunnington a little but very neat castle seated on the brow of a woody hill having a fine prospect and windows on all sides very lightsome They say it was built by Sir Richard de Abberbury Knight founder also of God's House beneath it for the relief of the poor Afterwards it was the residence of h It was the house of Jeoffery Chaucer and there under an Oak commonly call'd Chaucer's Oak he is said to have penn'd many of his famous Poems The Oak till within these few years was standing Chaucer then of the De la Poles and within the memory of our fathers of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk And now the Kenet having run a long way passes at last by Aldermaston Aldermaston which Henry 1. gave to Robert Achard from whose posterity by the De la Mares it came at length by right of marriage to the Fosters a Knightly family At last it runs into the Thames having first with it's windings encompass'd a great part of Reading This little city or town of Reading Reading call'd in Saxon * Per virgam Marescalliae Rheadyge of Rhea that is the River or of the British word Redin signifying Fern which grew in great plenty hereabouts for the neatness of it's streets the fineness of it's buildings for it's riches and the reputation it hath gotten for making of cloath goes beyond all the other towns of this county tho' it hath lost it's greatest ornaments the beautiful Church and very ancient Castle k For this as Asserius tells us the Danes kept possession of when they drew a ditch between the Kenet and the Thames and hither they retreated after King Ethelwolph had routed them at Inglefield Inglefield a little village in the neighbourhood which gives name to a noble and ancient family But it was so demolish'd by K. Henry 2. because it was a place of refuge for King Stephen's party that nothing now remains of it but the bare name in the next street Near to this K. Hen. 1. having pull'd down a little Nunnery founded in former times by Queen Alfritha to expiate for some crimes built a most magnificent Abbey for Monks and enrich'd it with great Revenues Which Prince to use the very words of his Charter of Foundation Because three Abbeys in the kingdom of England were formerly for their sins destroy'd that is Reading Chelsea and Leonminstre which were long in Lay-mens hands by the advice of the Bishops founded a new Monastery at Reading and endow'd it with Reading Chelsea and Leonminstre In this Abbey was interr'd the Founder himself King Henry 7 With his wife both veil'd and crown'd for that she had been a Queen and professed Nun. Maud the Empress together with his daughter Maud as appears by the private history of the place tho' some report that she was bury'd at Becc in Normandy Who as well
his to be about 80 miles distant from that sea which washes the east part of Kent where he landed Now this ford we mention is at the same distance from the sea and I am the first that I know of that has mention'd and settl'd it in it's proper place Some few miles from hence towards the east the little river Mole hastens into the sea Mole riv after it has cross'd the County from the southern bound but stop'd at last in it's way by the opposition of hills b See several instances of this kind as they are reckon'd up by the learned Selden in his Notes upon Drayton's âolyelbion p. 267. with their several Authorities like that noble river of Spain Anas Anas a river in Spain it forces open a passage under ground as if it were some mole from whence it has it's name that subterraneous animal being call'd in English a Mole But there is nothing famous upon this river only at some distance from it's head near the old military way of the Romans call'd Stanystreat is the town Aclea commonly nam'd Ockley Ockley from the Oaks Here Aethelwolph son of Egbert who notwithstanding he had enter'd in to Holy Orders yet by a dispensation from the Pope succeeded his father hereditarily in the kingdom engag'd the Danish army with good success for he kill'd most of their brave men tho' with no great advantage to his country that Danish Hydra still sprouting up a-new d A little from the head of this river stands Gatton Gatton now hardly a village tho' formerly a famous town As an argument of it's antiquity it shews Roman coins dug up there and sends two Burgesses to Parliament Lower is Rhie-gat Rhie-gat i.e. according to our ancient language the course or chanel of a small river in a vale running out a great way eastward call'd c The Holm-trees abound very much through all this tract Holmesdale Holmesdale the inhabitants whereof because once or twice they defeated the plundering Danes have this rhime in their own commendation The vale of Holmesdall Never wonne ne never shall This Rhie-gate is more considerable for it's largeness than buildings on the south-side of it is a park growing thick with little groves and in this the most noble Charles Earl of Nottingham Baron of Effingham and Lord High Admiral of England has his seat where formerly the Earls of Warren and Surrey built a small Monastery On the east-side is a Castle standing upon a high-ground now neglected and decay'd with age it was built by the same Earls and is commonly call'd Holmes-castle from the vale in which it stands Under this there is a wonderful vault under-ground of arched work made of free-stone the same with that of the hill it self and hollow'd with great labour The Earls of Warren as it is in the book of Inquisitions held it in chief of the King in his Barony from the Conquest of England In Barâââ sua de Câquesta Anglia From thence it runs by Bechworth's-castle for which 6 Sir Thomas Thomas Brown procur'd the privilege of a Fair from Henry the 6th For it is the seat of the family of the Browns Bâowns Knights of which in the memory of our grandfathers after 7 Sir Anthony Anthony Brown had marry'd Lucy fourth daughter of John Nevil Marquess of Montacute with whom he had a pretty great fortune Queen Mary honour'd his grandchild by a son with the title of Viscount Montacute A few miles hence to the west we see Effingham formerly the possession of William Howard that Conquerour of the Scots son to Thomas Duke of Norfolk who was created Baron Howard of Effingham Effinghaâ by Queen Mary and being made Lord High Admiral of England was first Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory and afterwards Keeper of the Privy Seal His son Charles is now in a flourishing condition and is Lord High Admiral of England whom the same Elizabeth in the year 1597. for his valour and great services advanced to the dignity of Earl of Nottingham 8 Of whom more in my Annals But to return to the River The Mole coming to Whitehill upon which box-tree grows in great abundance hides it self or is rather swallow'd up at the foot of it and for that reason the place is call'd Swallow The Swaâlow but after about the space of two miles it bubbles up and rises again f so that the inhabitants of this tract no less than the Spaniards A bridge upon whiâ flocks of sheep ãâã may boast of having a bridge that feeds several flocks of sheep For the Spaniard has made this a common proverb in relation to the place where the river d Seld. Comment in Polyolb p. 267. Anas now call'd Guadiana hides it self for ten miles together Our river Mole thus recovering it self from under ground goes with a slow current 9 By Stoke Dabernoun so nam'd of the ancient Possessors the Dabernouns Gentlemen of great note Afterwards by inheritance from them the possession of the Lord Bray And by Aâsher sometimes a retiring place belonging to the Bishops of Winchester towards the Thames and enters it hard by Molesey to which it communicates the name After our Thames has receiv'd the Mole it posts forward directly to the North Kingstââ Matth. Pâris running by Kingstone formerly call'd Moreford as some would have it a little market-town of very great resort and once famous for the castle of the Clares Earls of Glocester having it's rise out of the ruins of a more ancient little town of the same name situate in a level ground and much expos'd to inundations In this town when the Danish wars had almost quite blown up England Athelstan Edwin and Ethelred the Kings were inaugurated 10 Upon an open stage in the market-place whereupon from the Kings it came to be call'd Kingston i.e. a Royal Town g In this neighbourhood also the Kings of England e By this means it was an usual Nursery for our late Princes and Princesses when children upon account of the wholesomness of its air chose them a seat which from its shining or splendour they call'd Shene Richmonâ the pâace and vââââ call'd Shâ before Hen. â Edward but now it has the name of Richmond Here it was that the most powerful Prince K. Edward 3. after he had liv'd enough both to glory and nature dy'd of grief for the loss of his warlike son whose death was so great an affliction both to him and all England as made the methods of consolation altogether ineffectual And indeed if ever England had a just occasion for sorrow then it was For in the space of one year it was entirely bereav'd of it's ornaments of true military discipline and untainted courage Both of these carry'd their conquering swords through France and put such a terrour into that Kingdom as might deservedly give the father with Anticchus the
Anderida sylva so nam'd from Anderida the next adjoyning city took up in this quarter 120 miles in length and 30 in breadth memorable for the death of Sigebert a King of the West-Saxons who being depos'd b In a place call'd Pryfetes flodan Aethelwerd l. 2. c. 17. was here stabb'd to death by a Swine-herd It has many little rivers but those that come from the north-side of the County presently bend their course to the sea and are therefore unable to carry vessels of burden It is full of Iron-mines everywhere Iron for the casting of which there are Furnaces up and down the Country and abundance of wood is yearly spent many streams are drawn into one chanel and a great deal of meadow-ground is turned into Ponds and Pools for the driving of Mills by the * Suo impetu flashes which beating with hammers upon the iron fill the neighbourhood round about night and day with their noise But the iron here wrought is not everywhere of the same goodness yet generally more brittle than the Spanish whether it be from it's nature or tincture and temper Nevertheless the Proprietors of the mines by casting of Cannon and other things get a great deal of money But whether the nation is any ways advantag'd by them is a doubt the next age will be better able to resolve Neither doth this County want Glass-houses Glass but the glass here made by reason of the matter or making I know not which is not so clear and transparent and therefore only us'd by the ordinary sort of people b This whole County as to it 's Civil partition is divided into 6 parts which by a peculiar term they call Rapes that is of Chichester Arundell Brembre Lewes Pevensey and Hastings every one of which besides their Hundreds has a Castle River and Forest of it 's own But c In the Map the Rapes are now duely distinguish'd and divided forasmuch as I have little knowledge of the limits within which they are bounded I design to take my way along the shore from west to east for the inner parts scatter'd here and there with villages have scarce any thing worth mentioning In the very confines of Hamshire and this County stands Bosenham Boseham commonly call'd Boseham environ'd round about with woods and the sea together where as Bede saith Dicul a Scotch Monk had a very small Cell and 5 or 6 Brothers living poorly and serving God which was a long time after converted into a private retreat for K. Harold From which place as he once in a little Pinnace made to sea for his recreation he was by a sudden turn of the wind driven upon the coast of France and there detain'd till he had by oath assur'd the Kingdom of England unto William of Normandy after the death of K. Edw. the Confessor by which means he presently drew upon himself his own ruin and the kingdom's overthrow But with what a subtle double meaning that cunning catcher of syllables Earl Godwin's double meaning Godwin Earl of Kent this Harold's Father got this place and deluded the Archbishop by captious wrestings of letters Walter Mapes who liv'd not many years after shall in his own very words inform you out of his book de Nugis Curialium This Boseham underneath Chichester says he Godwin saw and had a mind to and being accompanied with a great train of Lords comes smiling and jesting to the Archbishop of Canterbury whose town it then was My Lord says he give me * Alluding perhaps to Basium a Kiss in times past us'd in doing homage Boseam The Archbishop wondring what he demanded by that question I give you says he Boseam He presently with his company of Knights and Soldiers fell down as he had before design'd at his feet and kissing them with a world of thanks retires to Boseham and by force of arms kept possession as Lord of it and having his followers as Witnesses to back him gave the Archbishop a great many commendations as the Donor in the King's presence and so held it peaceably Afterwards as we read in Testa de Nevil which was an Inquisition of lands made in K. John's time King William who afterwards conquer'd England gave this to William Fitz-Aucher and his heirs in fee-farm paying out of it yearly into the Exchequer 40 pounds of silver d See in Wiltshire under the title Old Salisbury try'd and weigh'd and afterwards William Marshall held it as his inheritance Chichester Chichester in British Caercei in Saxon Cissanceaster in Latin Cicestria stands in a Plain farther inwards upon the same arm of the sea with Boseham a pretty large city and wall'd about built by Cissa the Saxon the second King of this Province taking also it 's name from him For Cissan-ceaster is nothing else but the City of Cissa whose father Aella was the first Saxon that here erected a kingdom Yet before the Norman conquest it was of little reputation noted only for St. Peter's Monastery and a little Nunnery But in the reign of William 1. as appears by Domesday book there were in it 100 Hagae and it was in the hands of Earl Roger â De ãâã Gomârice i.e. of Montgomery and there are in the said place 60 houses more than there were before It paid 15 pound to the King and 10 to the Earl Afterwards when in the reign of the said William 1. it was ordain'd that the Bishops Sees should be translated out of little towns to places of greater note and resort this city being honour'd with the Bishop's residence which was before at Selsey began to flourish Not many years after Bishop Ralph built there a Cathedral Church which before it was fully finish'd was by a casual fire suddenly burnt down Notwithstanding by his endeavours and K. Hen. 1.'s liberality it was raised up again and now besides the Bishop has a Dean a Chaunter a Chancellor a Treasurer 2 Archdeacons and 30 Prebendaries At the same time the city began to flourish and had certainly been much frequented and very rich had not the haven been a little too far off and less commodious which nevertheless the citizens are about making more convenient by digging a new canal It is wall'd about in a circular form and is wash'd on every side except the north by the e The course of this river's stream is very unaccountable sometimes being quite dry but at other times and that very often too in the midst of Summer it is so full as to run very violently little river Lavant having 4 gates opening to the 4 quarters of the world from whence the streets lead directly and run cross in the middle where the market is kept and where Bishop Robert Read built a fine stone Piazza As for the castle which stood not far from the north gate it was anciently the seat of the Earls of Arundel who from hence wrote themselves Earls of Chichester Earls of
a house of Knights-Templars which is now quite gone it also affords a seat to the Archbishop of Canterbury's Suffragan who Archââââââ of Cantââbury's Sâfragan when the Archbishop is taken up with more weighty affairs manages such things as concern good order but does not meddle in the business of Episcopal Jurisdiction There is a large castle like a little city with strong fortifications and a great many towers which as it were threatens the sea under it from a hill or rather a rock upon the right hand that is on every side rugged and steep but towards the sea rises to a wonderful height Matthew Paris calls it The Key and barre of England The common people dream of it's being built by Julius Caesar and I conclude that it was first built by the Romans from those British bricks in the Chapel which they us'd in their larger sort of buildings When the Roman Empire began to hasten to it's end a Nâmerus Tungricaâârum company of the Tungricans who were reckon'd among the Aids Palatine were plac'd by them here in garrison part of whose armour those great arrows seem to have been 75 Then and many years after before the invention of great Ordnance out of engines call'd Ballistae like huge Cross-bows bent by force of two or four men which they us'd to shoot out of Bâââââscis engines like large Cross-bows and which are r There is at present no such thing in the Castle now shown in the Castle as miracles Between the coming in of the Saxons and the end of their government I have not met with so much as the least mention either of this Castle or the Town unless it be in some loose papers transcrib'd from a Table hang'd up and kept here which tell us that Caesar after he had landed at Deale and had beaten the Britains at Baramdowne a plain hard by passable for horses and fit to draw up an army in began to build Dover-castle and that Arviragus afterwards fortify'd it against the Romans and shut up the harbour Next that Arthur and his men defeated here I know not what rebels However a little before the coming in of the Normans it was lookt upon as the only strength of England and upon that account William the Norman when he had an eye upon the kingdom took an oath of Harold that he should deliver into his hands this Castle with the well And And after he had settl'd matters in London he thought nothing of greater consequence than to fortifie it and to assign to his Nobles large possessions in Kent upon condition that they should be ready with a certain number of Souldiers for the defence of it but that service is now redeem'd with so much money yearly ââââars ââng'd For when Sir Habert Hubert de Burgo was made Constable of this Castle those are the words of an ancient writer he considering that it was not for the safety of the Castle to have new Guards every month procur'd by the assent of the King and of all that held of the Castle that every Tenant for one month's Guard should send his ten shillings out of which certain persons elected and sworn as well horse as foot should receive pay for guarding the Castle It is reported that Philip sirnam'd Augustus King of France when his son Lewis was laying new designs in England and had taken some cities 77 And âorts and could not get this being manfully defended by the said Sir Hubert de Burgh should say My son has not yet so much as foot hold in England if he have not got into his hands the Castle of Dover looking upon it to be the strongest place in England and to lye most convenient for France Upon another rock over against this and of almost an equal height there are to be seen the remains of some ancient building One author upon what grounds I know not has call'd it Caesar's Altar but John Twine of Canterbury a learned old man who when he was young saw it almost entire affirm'd to me that it was a watch-tower âaââs to direct Sailors by night-lights c c Such another there was over against it at Bologne in France built by the Romans and a long time after repair'd by Charles the Great as Regino witnesses who writes it corruptly Phanum for Pharum now call'd by the French Tour d'Order and by the English The old man of Bullen Under this rock within the memory of our Fathers the most potent Prince King Henry 8. built a mole or pile we call it the Peere wherein ships might ââverâeâe ãâã Suiâââeâââ ride with more safety It was done with great labour 78 And 63000 l. charges and at infinite charge by fastning large beams in the sea it self then binding them together with iron and heaping upon it great quantities of wood and stone But the fury and violence of the sea was quickly too hard for the contrivance of that good Prince and the frame of the work by the continual beating of the waves began to disjoint For the repair whereof Queen Elizabeth laid out great sâms of money and by Act of Parliament a Custom for seven years was laid upon every English vessel that either exported or imported Commodities This sea-coast is parted from the Continent of Europe by a narrow sea where some are of opinion that it wrought it self a passage thorow Solinus calls it Fretum Gallicum or The French straits Tacitus and Ammianus Fretum Oceani and Oceanum fretalem the strait of the Ocean and the Ocean-strait Gratius the Poët terms it Freta Morinûm dubio refluentia ponto The narrow seas on Bullen-coast that keep uncertain tides the Hollanders Dehofden from the two Promontories The strait of Calais or Narrow-seas we The strait of Calleis the French Pas de Callais For this is the place as a Poët of our own time has it gemini quà janua ponti Faucibus angustis latéque frementibus undis Gallorum Anglorumque vetat concurrere terras Where the two foaming mouths of boist'rous seas Preserve a narrow but a dreadful space And Britain part from Gaul This narrow sea as Marcellinus hath truly observ'd at every tide swells out with terrible waves and again in the ebb is as plain as a field 79 If is be not rais'd with winds and counter-seas Between two risings of the moon it flows twice and ebbs as often For as the moon mounts up towards the meridian and after it's setting in the point opposite to it the sea swells here exceedingly and a vast body of waters rushes against the shore with such a hideous noise that the Poët had reason enough to say Rhutupináque littora fervent And Rhutup's shore doth boil and bellow And D. Paulinus Epist 2. ad Victricium where he speaks of the tract of the Morini which he calls the utmost bound of the world stiles this an Ocean raging with barbarous waves Give me
remov'd the Rother which formerly empty'd it self here into the sea out of it's chanel stopping up it's mouth and opening for it a nearer passage into the sea by Rhie then it began by little and little to forsake this town which has decay'd by degrees ever since and has lost much of it's ancient populousness and dignity Below this the land shoots forth a long way eastward we call it Nesse as resembling a nose 93 Before which lieth a dangerous flat in the sea upon which stands Lid Lid. a pretty populous town whither the inhabitants of Prom-hill betook themselves after that inundation And in the very utmost Promontory call'd Denge-nesse Denge-nesse where is nothing but beech and pebles there grow * Ilices Holme-trees with sharp pricky leaves always green representing a low wood for a mile together and more Among those pebles near Stone-end is a heap of larger stones which the neighbouring people call the monument of S. Crispin and S. Crispinian who they say were cast upon this shore by shipwrack and call d from hence into an heavenly Country From hence the shore turning it's course goes directly westward and has a sort of pease which grows in great plenty and naturally amongst the pebles in large bunches like grapes in taste differing very little from field-pease and so runs forward to the mouth of the Rother which for some time divides Kent from Sussex The course of this river as to Sussex-side we have briefly spoken to before On Kent-side it has Newenden which I am almost perswaded was that haven I have long sought after call'd by the Notitia Anderida Anderida by the Britains Caer Andred and by the Saxons Andredsceaster Andredsceaster First because the inhabitants affirm it to have been a town and haven of very great Antiquity 94 Whereof they shew the plott next from its situation by the wood Andredswald to which it gave that name and lastly because the Saxons seem'd to have call'd it Brittenden i.e. a valley of the Britains as they call'd also Segontium of which before from whence Selbrittenden is the name of the whole Hundred adjoyning The Romans to defend this coast against the Saxon Pirats plac'd here a band of the Abulci with their Captain Afterwards it was quite destroy'd by the outrages of the Saxons For Hengist having a design to drive the Britains entirely out of Kent and finding it his interest to strengthen his party by fresh supplies 95 Of his own nation sent for Aella out of Germany with great numbers of the Saxons Then making a vigorous assault upon this Anderida the Britains that lay in ambuscade in the next wood did disturb him to such a degree that when at last after much blood-shed on both sides by dividing his forces he had defeated the Britains in the woods and at the same time broke into the town his barbarous heart was so inflam'd with a desire of revenge that he put the inhabitants to the sword and demolish'd the place For many ages after as Huntingdon tells us there appeared nothing but ruins to those that travell'd that way till under Edward the first the Friers Carmelites just come from Mount Carmel in Palestine and above all desiring solitary places had a little Monastery built them at the charge of â Sir Thomas Albuger Knight upon which a town presently sprung up and with respect to the more ancient one that had been demolish'd began to be call d Newenden i.e. a new town in a valley 96 I saw nothing there now but a mean village with a poor Church and a wooden bridge to no great purpose for a ferry is in most use since that the river Rother not containing himself in his Chanel hath overlaid and is like to endanger and surround the level of rich lands thereby Whereupon the inhabitants of Rhie complain that their haven is not scour'd by the stream of Rother as heretofore and the owners here suffer great loss which their neighbours in Oxeney do fear if it were remedy'd would fall upon them This is a river-Isle ten miles about encompass't with the river Rother dividing his streams and now brackish having his name either of mire which our Ancestors called Hox or of Oxen which it feedeth plentifully with rank grass Opposite to this is c. Lower down the river Rother divides it's waters and surrounds Oxney Oxâey an Island abounding with grass and near its mouth has Apuldore Apuâdâââ where that infectious rout of Danish and Norman pirates after they had been preying upon the French-coasts under Hasting their Commander landed with their large spoils and built a castle but King Alfred by his great courage forced them to accept conditions of peace d d d Near in a woody part are Cranbroke Tenderden Benenden and other neighbouring towns 97 Sisingherst a fair house of the family of Bakers advanced by Sir John Baker not long since Chancellour of the Exchequer and his marriage with a daughter and heir of Dingley Bengebury an habitation of the ancient family of Colepepper and near adjoyning Hemsted a mansion of thâ Guildfords an old family but most eminent since Sir John Guildford was Controuler of the House to King Edward 4. For his son and heir Sir Richard Guildford was by King Henry 7. made Knight of the Garter Of his sons again Sir Edward Guildford was Marshal of Calais Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Master of the Ordnance Father to Jane Dutchess of Northumberland Wife to Sir J. Dudley Duke of Northumberland Mother to the late Earls of Warwick and Leicester and Sir Henry was chosen Knight of the Garter by King Henry 8. and had his Arms enabled with a Canton of Granado by Ferdinand King of Spain for his worthy service in that Kingdom when it was recover'd from the Moors and Edward liv'd in great esteem at home To be brief from the said Sir John are issued by Females immediately the Darels of Cale-hill Gages Brownes of Beechworth Walsinghams Cromers Isaacs and Iseleies families of prime and principal note in these parts But now I digress and therefore crave pardon wherein the * The Cloathing of Kent is very much decay'd cloath-trade has been very much encourag'd ever since the time of Edward 3. who in the tenth year of his reign invited over into England some of the Flemings by promises of large rewards and grants of several immunities The Câ Manâââ ãâã Englââ to teach the English the cloath-manufacture which is now one of the pillars of the kingdom 98 Thus much of Kent which to conclude summarily hath this part last spoken of for Drapery the Isle of Tenet and the east parts for the Granary the Weald for the Wood Rumney-marsh for the meadow-plot the north Downs towards the The Thames for the Cony-garthe Tenham and thereabout for an Orchard and Head-corne for the brood and poultrey of fat big and commended Capons Now
ridge to the north and separate this County of Oxon from that of Bucks at the foot whereof are seated many little towns of which the most remarkable are Watlington a small Market-town belonging formerly to Robert D'oily tt Shirburne Shirburne where was heretofore a small Castle of the Quatremans now a seat of the Chamberlains descended from the Earls of Tankervil who bearing the office of Chamberlain to the Dukes of Normandy their posterity laying aside the old name of Tankervil call'd themselves Chamberlains from the said office which their Ancestors enjoy'd 24 To omit Edgar Algar and other English-Saxons Official Earls of Oxford The title of Earl of Oxford Earls of Oxford has long flourisht in the family of Vere who derive their pedigree from the Earls of Guisnes and their name from the town of Vere in Zealand They owe the beginning of their greatness in England to K. Henry the first who advanced Alberic de Vere for his great prudence and integrity to several places of honour and profit as to be Chamberlain of England and Portreve of the City of London and to his son Henry Duke of Normandy son of the daughter of King Henry and right heir to England and Normandy this was the title he used before his establishment in this kingdom to divert him from King Stephen who had usurpt the Crown and to oblige him to his own party he granted and restor'd the office of Chamberlain which he had lost in those civil wars and offer'd him the choice of these four Earldoms Dorset Wilts Berks and Oxon. And after this Maud the Empress and her son Henry then in possession of the Throne by their several Charters created him Earl of Oxford Of his posterity not to mention every particular person the most eminent were these that follow Robert de Vere who being highly in favour with King Richard the second was by him advanct to the new and unheard of honours of Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland of which he left as one well observes nothing but some gaudy titles to be inscribed upon his tomb and matter of discourse and censure to the world For soon after through the envy of the other Courtiers he was degraded and miserably ended his life in banishment 25 John the first of that name so trusty and true to the House of Lancaster that both he and his son and heir Aubrey lost their heads therefore together in the first year of King Edward 4. John de Vere a man of great ability and experience in the arts of war and as eminent for his constant fidelity to the Lancastrian party fought often in the field against K. Edward the fourth for some time defended St. Michael's mount and was the chief assistant to King Henry the seventh in obtaining the Crown Another John in the reign of Henry the eighth in all parts of his life so temperate devout and honest that he was distinguisht by the name of John the Good He was great Grandfather to the present Earl Henry the eighteenth Earl of this family and Grandfather to the two noble Brothers Francis and Horatio Vere who by their admirable courage and military conduct and their many brave and fortunate exploits in the Low-Countries have added no small lustre to their ancient and honourable family This County contains 280 Parish Churches ADDITIONS to OXFORDSHIRE a THE County of Oxford call'd by the more early Saxons Oxna-ford-scyre and afterwards Oxen-ford-scyre does by its situation particularly the north-east parts of it Otmore and the adjacent places exactly answer the original of * See Camd. at the beginning Glocestershire Dobuni as lying low and level Though most parts of it bear corn very well yet its greatest glory is the abundance of meadows and pastures to which the rivers add both pleasure and convenience For beside the five more considerable ones the Thames Isis Cherwell Evenlode and Windrush â Plot. p. 18. it has at least threescore and ten of an inferiour rank without including the smaller brooks What our Author says of the hills being clad with woods is so much alter'd by the late Civil wars that few places except the Chiltern-country can answer that character at present for fuel is in those parts so scarce that 't is commonly sold by weight not only at Oxford but other towns in the northern parts of the shire b To follow our Author Burford Buâford in Saxon Beorgford not Beorford as it is famous for the battel mention'd by our Author fought probably on the plaâe call'd Battle-edge west of the town so also for a Council conven'd there by the Kings Etheldred and Berthwald An. 685. at which among many others Aldhelm Abbot of Malmsbury afterwards Bishop of Shirburne being present was commanded by the Synod to write a Book against the error of the Brittish Churches in the observation of Easter Which I the rather take notice of here because Sir Henry Spelman calls it only Synodus Merciana An. 705. without fixing any certain place or the exact time whereas both are evident from â De Pontif. lib. 5. Malmsbury and the Leiger-book of that Abby There has been a Custom in the town * Plot. p. 349. of making a Dragon yearly and carrying it up and down the streets in a great jollity on Midsummer-eve which is the more remarkable because it seems to bear some relation to what our Author says of Cuthred's taking from the enemy a banner wherein was painted a golden Dragon only to the Towns-men's Dragon there is a Giant added for what reason not known c Next is Ensham Ensham in Saxon Egonesham the eminence whereof in those times is confirm'd by the early mention of it and by Aethelred's Charter mention'd by our Author which terms it Locus celebris Here it was that in the year 1009. the same King Aethelred by the advice of Alphege Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Wulstan Arch-bishop of York held a General Council wherein many Decrees were establisht relating to the government of Church and State it is call'd by â Concil â â p. 510. Sir Henry Spelman Aenham c Our next guide is the river Evenlode not far from which near Chastleton is a Fortification which the learned Dr. Plot imagines might be cast up about the year 1016. when Edmund Ironside met Canute the Dane Châstâeton but if that conjecture be built purely upon its being near the Four-shire-stone which generally goes for the old dceorstan where the battle was fought the place of the battle being â See Aâââ to Wâtshire undeâ Shârâââ as it probably ought remov'd from this place that opinion is destroy'd d More to the North is the Monument of Roll-rich R ll-rich-stones * Plot. p. ââ a single Circle of stones without Epistyles or Architraves and of no very regular figure â ãâã Except one or two the rest of them are not above four foot and a half high What the
pastures exceeding good for fatting cattel they make also vast numbers of Cheese Cheese which to the great advantage of the inhabitants are bought up through all England nay in Germany also with France and Spain as Pantaleon Medicus has told us who scruples not to set them against those of Placentia both in colour and taste But he was not one of Apicius's nice-palated scholars Nor do they want woods and parks of the latter several are joyn'd to Noblemen's houses and well-stock'd with Deer The County according to it 's political Division is branch'd into three parts the first is call'd the Geldable because it pays geld or tribute the second the Liberty of S. Edmund because it belong'd to his Monastery the third the Liberty of S. Etheldred because it belong'd to Ely-Monastery to which our Kings formerly granted several parcels of ground with Sach and Soch as the Ely-book expresses it without any reserve either of ecclesiastical or secular jurisdiction b But now let us take a survey of the particulars and beginning at the west give an account of it's more noted places On the west where it joyns Cambridgeshire and in the very limit lies Ixning a place formerly of more note than 't is at present For it was made eminent by the death of Etheldred the Virgin daughter of K. Anna who was canoniz'd then by the conspiracy of Ralph Earl of the East-Angles against William the Conquerour and by the way which Harvey first Bishop of Ely made between this place and Ely But now it goes to decay by the nearness of Newmarket Newmarket whither all commodities are carried in great abundance That this town is of late date the name it self witnesses it is so situated that the south part of it belongs to Cambridgeshire and the north to Suffolk each whereof has a small Church of it's own the latter belonging to Ixning and the former to Ditton or Dichton as the Mother-Churches I have met with nothing about it in my reading but that under Hen. 3. Robert de Insula or L'isle gave one half of it to Richard de Argenton from whom the Alingtons are descended in Frank-marriage with his daughter Cassandra c All round hereabouts is a large plain call'd from the town Newmarket-heath Newmarket heath the soil whereof is sandy and barren but the surface green Along this runs that wonderful Ditch which the vulgar as if it had been drawn by the Devil call Devil's-dike Devil's-dike whereas 't is plain it was one of those wherewith as Abbo informs us the inhabitants fenc'd themselves against the incursions of the enemy But of this we will speak more at large when we come to Cambridgeshire Only here let the Reader take notice of thus much that the least of all these Fosses or Ditches is to be seen within two miles of this place between Snail-well and Moulton SUFâOLK Roââen Near this S. Edmundsbury we see Rushbrok the seat of the famous and Knightly family of the Jermins and at a little distance from thence Ikesworth Ikesworth where was an old Priory founded by Gilbert Blund Bâund a person of great Nobility and Lord of Ikesworth his issue-male in a right line fail'd in William slain in Hen. 3.'s time at the battel of Lewes who left his two sisters Agnes wife of William de Creketot and Roisia of Robert de Valoniis his heirs d 5 Afterward both here at Haulsted near Rougham and elsewhere the family of Drury which signifies in old English a precious jewel hath been of great reputation more especially since they were marry'd with the heiress of Frelil of Saxham More to the north is Fernham Fernham S. Genovefae memorable upon this account that Richard Lucy Lord Chief Justice of England did here engage Robert Earl of Leicester in a pitch'd battel and slew above ten thousand Flemings whom he had invited over for the destruction of his Country In this neighbourhood I observ'd two very neat seats the one built by the Kitsons Knights at Hengrave Hengrave formerly the possession of Edmund de Hengrave a famous Lawyer under Edward 1. and the other of late at Culfurth Câlfurth by Sir Nicholas Bacon N Bacon Kt. son of that Nicholas Bacon Keeper of the Great Seal of England who for his singular prudence and solid judgment was whilst he liv'd deservedly accounted â Altera è cestinis one of the two Supporters of this Kingdom Not far from hence is Lidgate Lidgate a small village but not to be omitted because it gave birth to John Lidgate John Lidgate the Monk whose Wit seems to have been form'd and modell'd by the very Muses all the beauties and elegancies are so lively express'd in his English Poetry And these are the places of note on the west-side of Suffolk On the south I saw the river Stour immediately after it's rise enlarge it's self into a great Fen call d Stourmere but presently gathering it's waters within the banks it runs first by Clare a noble village which beside it's demolish'd Castle has given the name of Clare Stoke Clare to a very honourable family descended from Gislebert a Norman Earl and the title of Duke to Leonel son of Edward 3. who having marry'd into this family had the title of Duke of Clarence bestow'd upon him by his father For from this place he was call'd Duke of Clarence 6 With a fuller sound than that of Clare as formerly the posterity of Gislebert were stil'd Earls of Clare and dying at â Alba Pompeia Longuevill in Italy after he had took for his second wife the daughter of Galeacius Viscount of Milan lies bury'd here in the Collegiate Church as does also Joanna de Acres daughter of Edw. 1. wife to Gilbert the second de Clare that was Earl of Glocester 'T is possible the Reader may expect that I should here give an account of the Earls of Clare Earls of Clare and Dukes of Clarence considering they have always made an honourable figure in this kingdom and I will do it in short for fear any one should seek it in vain Richard son of Gislebert Earl of * Aucensiâ Ewe in Normandy Augy was a soldier under William the Conquerour when he came over into England by whom he had the villages of Clare and Tunbridge bestow'd upon him He had four sons Gislebert Roger Walter and Robert from whom the Fitz-Walters are descended Gislebert Guil. Gemeric l. 7. c. 37. by the daughter of the Earl of Clermont had Richard who succeeded him Gislebert from whom was descended the famous Richard Earl of Pembroke and Conquerour of Ireland and Walter Richard the eldest being slain by the Welsh left two sons Rob. Montensis Gilbert and Roger. Gilbert under King Stephen was Earl of Hertford notwithstanding which both he and his successors from this their chief seat were commonly stil'd and wrote themselves de Clare He dying
said Count both to give their advice and attendance and also to grace his Court with their presence a This country Malmesbury says yields corn very sparingly especially wheat but cattel and fish in abundance On the contrary Ranulph of Chester affirms that Whatever Malmesbury might fancy from the report of others yet it affords great store of all sorts of victuals corn flesh fish and of the best Salmon it drives a considerable trade not only by importing but by return as having within it self salt-pits mines and metals Give me leave to add farther that the grass of this Country has a peculiar good quality so that they make great store of Cheese The best Cheese more agreeable and better relish'd than those of any other parts of the Kingdom even when they procure the same Dary-women to make them And therefore by the by I cannot but wonder at what Strabo writes that some of the Britains in his time knew not how to make Cheese and that Pliny should wonder how barbarous people who liv'd upon milk come to despise or else not know for so long time the benefit of Cheese especially seeing they had the way of Curding it to a pleasant tartness and of making fat butter of it From whence it may be inferr'd that a the art of making Cheese was taught us by the Romans Altho' this Country is inferiour to many others of this Kingdom in fruitfulness yet it always produc'd more Gentry than any of them There was no part of England that formerly supply'd the King's army with more Nobility or that could number more Knights-families On the South-side it is bounded with Shropshire on the East-side with Staffordshire and Derbyshire on the North with Lancashire and on the West with Denbigh and Flint shires Toward the North-west it shoots out into a considerable Chersonese Wirâall where the Sea insinuating it self on both sides makes two Creeks which receive all the rivers of this County Into that Creek more to the West runs the river Deva or d ee which divides this County from Denbighshire Into that more to the East the Wever which goes through the middle of the County and the Mersey which severs it from Lancashire discharge themselves And in describing this County I know no better method than to follow the course of these rivers For all the places of greatest note are situate on the sides of them But before I enter upon particulars I will first premise what Lucian the Monk has said in general of it lest I should be accus'd hereafter for omitting any thing that might conduce to the commendation of the Inhabitants besides that Author is now scarce and as old almost as the Conquest But if any man be desirous either fully Lucian the Monk in commendation of Chester or as near as may be to treat of the manners of the Inhabitants with respect to them that live in other places of the kingdom they are found to be partly different from the rest partly better and in some things but equal But they seem especially which is very considerable in points of civility and breeding to feast in common are cheerful at meals liberal in entertainments hasty but soon pacified talkative averse to slavery merciful to those in distress compassionate to the poor kind to relations not very industrious plain and open moderate in eating far from designing bold and forward in borrowing abounding in woods and pastures and rich in cattel They border on one side upon the Welsh and have such a tincture of their manners and customs by intercourse that they are not much unlike them 'T is also to be observ'd That as the County of Chester is shut in and separated from the rest of England by the Wood Lime so is it distinguish'd from all other parts of England by some peculiar immunities by the grants of the Kings and the Excellencies of the Earls they have been wont in Assemblies of the people to attend the Prince's sword rather than the King's crown and to try causes of the greatest consequence within themselves with full authority and licence Chester it self is frequented by the Irish is neighbour to the Welsh and plentifully serv d with provisions by the English 't is curiously situated having gates * Positione antiquâ of an ancient model It has been exercis'd with many difficulties fortified and adorn'd with a river and a fine prospect worthy according to the name to be call'd a City secured and guarded with continual watchings of holy men and by the mercy of our Saviour ever preserved by the aid of the Almighty The river Dee The river Dee call'd in Latin Deva in British Dyffyr dwy that is the water of the Dwy abounds with Salmon and springs from two fountains in Wales from which some believe it had its denomination For Dwy signifies two in their language But others from the nature also and meaning of the word will have it signifie black water others again God's water and Divine water Now altho' a fountain sacred to the Gods is call'd Divona Divona in the old Gallick tongue which Ausonius observes to have been the same with our British and altho' all rivers were ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã by Antiquity esteem'd Divine and our Britains too paid them divine honours as Gildas informs us yet I cannot see why they should attribute divinity to this river Dwy in particular Rivers sacred above all others We read that the Thessalians gave divine honours to the river Paeneus upon the account of its pleasantness the Scythians attributed the same to the Ister for its largeness and the Germans to the Rhine because it was their judge in cases of suspicion and jealousie between married persons but I see no reason as I said before why they should ascribe Divinity to this river unless perhaps it has sometimes chang'd its course and might presage victory to the Inhabitants when they were at war with one another as it inclin'd more to this or that side when it left its chanel for this is related by Giraldus Cambrensis who in some measure believ'd it Or perhaps they observ'd that contrary to the manner of other rivers it did not overflow with a fall of rain but yet would swell so extraordinarily when the South-wind bore upon it that it would overfloat its banks and the fields about them Again it may be the water here seem'd holy to the Christian Britains for 't is said that when they stood drawn up ready to engage the Saxons they first kiss'd the earth and devoutly drank of this river in memory of the blood of their holy Saviour The Dee the course whereof from Wales is strong and rapid has no sooner enter'd Cheshire but it 's force abates and it runs through Bonium Bonium more gently which in some copies of Antoninus is spelt Bovium an eminent city in those times and afterwards a famous Monastery From the Choir or Quire it was call'd
title of Aber Gavenni upon which the majority of voices gave it the heir-male And when he had again proposed Whether the title of Baron Le Despenser Baroness le Despenser should be conferr'd on the female and her heirs they unanimously agreed to it to which his Majesty gave his Royal Assent And Edward Nevil was soon after summon'd to Parliament by the King 's Writ under the title of Baron of Aber-Gavenni And being according to the usual ceremony introduc'd in his Parliament-Robe between two Barons he was placed above the Baron de Audeley At the same time also the King's Patent was read before the Peers whereby his Majesty restored rais'd preferred c. Mary Fane to the state degree title stile name honour and dignity of Baroness le Despenser Baroness le Despenser and that her heirs successively should be Barens le Despenser c. But the question of precedency being proposed the Peers referr'd the decision thereof to the Commissioners for the office of Earl Marshal of England who signâd their Verdict for the Barony of le Despenser This was read before the Peers and by their order register'd in the Parliament Diary out of which I have taken this account in short What ought not to be omitted is that John Hastings held this Castle by homage ward and marriage 6 Edw. 2. When it happens as we read in the Inquisition and if there should chance any war between the King of England and Prince of Wales he ought to defend the Country of Over-went at his own charges to the utmost of his power for the good of himself the King and Kingdom The second town call'd by Antoninus Burrium Burrium who places it 12 miles from Gobannium is seated where the river Byrdhin falls into Usk. 'T is call'd now in British by a transposition of letters Brynbiga for Burenbegi and also Kaer-ŵysk by Giraldus Castrum Oskae and in English Usk. Usk. It shews now only the ruins of a large strong Castle pleasantly seated between the river Usk and Oilwy a small brook which takes its course from the east by Ragland a stately castle-like house of the Earl of Worcester's and passes under it The third City call'd by Antoninus Isca Isca and Legio secunda seated on the other side of the river Usk and distant as he observes exactly 12 Italian miles from Burrium is câll'd by the Britains Kaer Lheion and Kaer Lheion ar ŵysk Kaer Lheion ar Wysk which signifies the City of the Legion on the river Usk from the Legio Secunda Augusta called also Britannica secunda This Legion instituted by Augustus and translated out of Germany into Britain by Claudius under the conduct of Vespasian to whom upon his aspiring to the Empire it prov'd serviceable and also secur'd him the British Legions was placed here at length by Julius Frontinus as seems probable in garrison against the Silures How great a City this Isca was at that time our Giraldus informs us in his Itinerary of Wales A very ancient city this was saith he and enjoy'd honourable privileges elegantly built by the Romans with * The cââcuit âf ãâã walls aââ 3 miles Enderoy brick walls There are yet remaining many footsteps of its ancient splendour stately palaces which formerly with their gilded Tiles emulated the Roman grandeur for that it was at first built by the Roman nobility and adorn'd with sumptuous edifices an exceeding high tower remarkable hot â An. 16ââ hot baââs were dâââver'd ãâã S. Julâaâ the brâââ equilateââly squâââ about ãâã inch tââ like thââ at S. Aââââ Mr. Aâââ baths ruins of ancient temples theatrical places encompass'd with stately walls which are partly yet standing Subterraneous edifices are frequently met with not only within the walls but also in the suburbs aqueducts vaults and which is well worth our observation Hypocausts or stoves contriv'd with admirable artifice conveying heat insensibly through some very narrow vents on the sides Two very eminent and next to St. Alban and Amphibalus the chief Protomartyrs of Britannia major lye entombed here where they were crown'd with martyrdom viz. Julius and Aaron who had also Churches dedicated to them in this City For in ancient times there were three noble Churches here One of Julius the Martyr grac'd with a Quire of Nuns devoted to God's service another dedicated to St. Aaron his companion ennobled with an excellent order of Canons and the third honour'd with the Metropolitan See of Wales Amphibalus also teacher of St. Alban who sincerely instructed him in the Faith was born here This City is excellently well seated on the navigable river Usk and beautified with meadows and woods Here the Roman Embassadors received their audience at the illustrious court of that great King Arthur And here also the Archbishop Dubricius resign'd that honour to David of Menevia by translating the Archiepiscopal See from this City thither Thus far Giraldus But in confirmation of the antiquity of this place I have taken care to add some ancient Inscriptions lately dug up there and communicated to me by the right reverend Father in God Francis Godwin Lord Bishop of Landaff a lover of venerable antiquity and all other good literature In the year 1602. some labourers digging in a meadow adjoyning found on a checquer'd pavement a statue of a person in a short-truss'd habit with a Quiver and Arrows the head hands and feet broken off and also the fragment of an Altar with this Inscription of fair large characters about three inches long erected by Haterianus Lieutenant-General of Augustus and Propraetor of the Province of Cilicia ãâ¦ã HATERIANVS LEG AVG PR PR PROVINC CILIC The next year was discover'd also this Inscription which shews the Statue before mention'd to have been of the Goddess Diana and that Titus Flavius Posthumius Varus perhaps of the fifth Cohort of the second Legion had repair'd her Temple a Id est Titus Flavius Postumius Varus quintae Cohortis Legionis Secundae Augustae Templum Dianae restituit T. FL. POSTVMIVS VARVS V. C. LEG TEMPL DIANAE RESTITVIT Also this votive Altar out of which the name of the Emperour * Geta seems to have been rased when he was deposed by his brother Antoninus Bassianus ââe Phil. ââns ãâã 1â5 and declared an enemy yet so as there are some shadows of the Letters still remaining b Id est Pro salute Augustorum nostrorum Severi Antonini Getae Caesarum Publius Saltienus Publii filius Maecia Thalamus ex hac gente aut tribu nempe Publ. Saltienus ortus est Praefectus Legionis secundae Augustae C. Vampeiano Luciliano Consulibus PRO SALVTE In printed Copies Claudius Pompeianus and Lollianus Avitus Coss An. Chr. 210. AVGG N. N. SEVERI ET ANTONINI ET GETAE CAES. P. SALTIENVS P. F. MAECIA THALAMVS HADRI PRAEF LEG II. AVG. C. VAMPEIANO ET LVCILIAN And this fragment of a very fair Altar the Inscription whereof might perhaps be thus supplied
They are at this day distinguish'd from the Welsh by their speech and customs and they speak a language so agreeable with the English which indeed has much affinity with Dutch that this small Country of theirs is call'd by the Britains Little England beyond Wales Little England beyond Wales This saith Giraldus is a stout and resolute Nation and very offensive to the Welsh by their frequent skirmishes a people much inured to cloathing and merchandize and ready to increase their stock at any labour or hazard by sea and land A most puissant Nation and equally prepared as time and place shall require either for the sword or plow And that I may add also this one thing a Nation most devoted to the Kings of England and faithful to the English and which in the time of Giraldus understood Soothsaying or the inspection of the Entrails of beasts even to admiration Moreover the Flemings-way which was a work of theirs as they are a Nation exceeding industrious is seen here extended through a long tract of ground The Welsh endeavouring to regain their old country have often set upon these Flemings with all their power and have ravag'd and spoil d their borders but they always with a ready courage defended their lives their fortunes and reputation a Whence William of Malmesbury writes thus of them and of William Rufus William Rufus had generally but ill fortune against the Welsh which one may well wonder at seeing all his attempts elsewhere prov'd successful But I am of opinion that as the unevenness of their country and severity of the weather favour'd their rebellion so it hinder'd his progress But King Henry that now reigns a man of excellent wisdom found out an art to frustrate all their inventions by planting Flemings in their country to curb and continually harass them And again in the fifth book King Henry often endeavour'd to reduce the Welsh who were always prone to rebellion at last very advisedly in order to abate their pride he transplanted thither all the Flemings that liv'd in England For at that time there were many of them come over on account of their relation to his mother by her father's side insomuch that they were burdensome to the Kingdom wherefore he thrust them all into Ros a Province of Wales as into a common shore as well to rid the Kingdom of them as to curb the obstinacy of his enemies On the more westerly of these two rivers call'd Cledheu in a very uneven situation lies Haverford Haverford-west call'd by the Britains Hwlfordh a town of good account as well for it s neatness as number of inhabitants 3 Situate upon an hill side having sâarce one even street but is steep one way or other This is a County of it self and is govern'd by a Mayor a Sheriff and two Bayliffs It is reported th t the Earls of Clare fortify'd it on the noâth-side with walls and a rampire and we have it râcorded that Richard Earl of Clare made Richard Fitz-Tankred Governour of this castle Beyond Ros we have a spacious Promontory extended far into the Irish sea call'd by Ptolemy Octopitarum Octopitarum by the Britains Pebidiog and Kantrev Dewi and in English St. David's Land St. David'-land A Land saith Giraldus both rocky and barren neither clad with trees nor distinguish'd with rivers nor adorn'd with meadows but expos'd continually to the winds and storms however the retiring place and nursery of several Saints For Calphurnius a British Priest as some have written I know not how truly begat here in the vale of Rhôs St. Patrick St. Patrick the Apostle of Ireland on his wife Concha sister of St. Martin of Tours And Dewi a most Religious Bishop translated the Archiepiscopal seat from Kaer-Leion to the utmost corner of this place viz. Menew b or Menevia which from him was afterwards call'd by the Britains Ty Dewi i.e. David's House by the Saxons Dauyd-Mynster and by our modern English St. David's St. David's For a long time it had its Archbishops but the plague raging very much in this Country the Pall was translated to Dôll in Little Britain which was the end of this Archiepiscopal dignity Notwithstanding which in the later ages the Britains commenc'd an Action on that account against the Archbishop of Canterbury Metropolitan of England and Wales but were cast What kind of place this St. David's was heretofore is hard to guess seeing it has been so often sack'd by Pirates at present it is a very mean city and shews only a fair Church consecrated to St. Andrew and St. David Which having been often demolish'd was built in that form we now see it in the reign of King John by Peter then Bishop thereof and his successors in the Vale as they call it of Rhôs under the town Not far from it is the Bishop's palace and very fair houses of the Chanter who is chief next the Bishop for here is no Dean the Chancellour the Treasurer and four Archdeacons who are of the Canons whereof there are 4 Twenty two twenty one all inclosed with a strong and stately wall 5 Whereupon they call it The Close This Promontory is so far extended westward that in a clear day we may see Ireland and from hence is the shortest passage into it which Pliny erroneously computed to be thirty miles distant from the Country of the Silures for he thought their country had extended thus far But we may gather from these words of Giraldus that this Cape was once extended farther into the sea and that the form of the Promontory has been alter'd At such time as Henry 2. saith he was in Ireland Truâiâââ Stânââ trees ãâã sea by reason of an extraordinary violence of storms the sandy shores of this coast were laid bare and that face of the land appear'd which had been cover'd for many ages Also the Trunks of trees which had been cut down standing in the midst of the sea with the strokes of the axe as fresh as if they had been yesterday with very black earth and several old blocks like Ebony So that now it did not appear like the sea-shore but rather resembl'd a grove by a miraculous Metamorphosis perhaps ever since the time of the Deluge or else long after at leastwise very anciently as well cut down as consumed and swallowed up by degrees by the violence of the sea continually encroaching upon and washing off the land c And that saying of William Rufus shews that the lands were not here disjoyn'd by any great sea who when he beheld Ireland from these rocks said He could easily make a bridge of ships whereby he might walk from England into that Kingdom There are excellent and noble Falcons Falcons that breed in these rocks which our King Henry 2. as the same Giraldus informs us was wont to prefer to all others For unless I am deceiv'd by some of that neighbourhood they are of that
question but this was the very c Dr. Gâle gives us a note upon this passage in Ptolemy which must be wrong printed 'T is this Salutarem sinum male MS. Seld. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Which ought to be thus pointed Salutatem sinum male MS. c. ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Gabrantovicorum Gâbâââvâ 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 ãâã 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 âââboââgh which gives original to another noble family of Constables as they call them which by some are deriv'd from the Lacies âables ââamboââgh Constables of Chester p Upon my enquiries in these parts I heard nothing of those Rivers call'd Vipseis ââeis 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 â 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 â 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 âg 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 âg 74 âc Life of King Alfred b The first place we meet with is Mont-ferrant-Castle which â ââerar 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 ââââe-âââge 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 ââm 1. â4 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 ââden formerly Hovedene as is plain from several Records in the time of Edward 2. and Edward 3. as also from â ân MS. Leland's calling the first Canon of the place John Hovedene
flower and fruit Both Gerard and Parkinson make two Plants of it Valeriana Graeca Ger. Park Graeca quorundam colore caeruleo albo J. B. caerulea C. B. Greek Valerian which the vulgar call Ladder to Heaven and Jacob's Ladder Found by Dr. Lister in Carleton beck in the falling of it into the river Are but more plentifully both with a blue flower and a white about Malham-cove in the Wood on the left hand of the water as you go to the Cove plentifully as also at Cordill or the Whern a remarkable Cove where there comes out a great stream of water near the said Malham To these I shall add a Plant which tho' perchance it be not originally native of this County yet is planted and cultivated in large Gardens at Pontefraict for sale and hath been taken notic of by Camden and Speed that is Glycyrrhiza vulgaris Ger. emac. vulg siliquosa Park siliquosa vel Germanica C. B. radice repente vulgaris Germanica J. B. Common Liquorice The quality of this Plant in taking away the sence of hunger and thirst we have taken notice of in Cambridgeshire-Catalogue The BISHOPRICK of DVRHAM THE Bishoprick of Durham or Duresme bordering upon Yorkshire on the North is shap d like a Triangle the utmost Angle whereof lies to the Westward made there by a contact of the North boundary and the Tees's head That side of it towards the South is bounded all along by the course of the river Tees The other which lyes Northward is at first mark'd out by a short line from the outmost point to the river Derwent and thence by the Derwent it self until it receives the little river Chopwell and after that by the river Tine The basis of this triangle which lyes Eastward is made by the Sea-shore which is wash'd by the German Ocean with great rage and violence In that part where it contracts it self into an angle the fields are naked the woods very thin and the hills bald but not without veins of Iron in them but the vales produce grass pretty well for the Appennine of England which I have already spoke of cuts it at this angle But on the East part or the basis of this triangle as also at the sides of it the ground is made very f uitful by tillage and the return of it answerable to the pains of the husbandman being enamell'd with Meadows Pastures and Corn-fields thick set with Towns in all parts of it and very productive of Sea-coal which we use for fewel in many places Some would have this Sea-coal to be a black earthy bitumen others to be Jeat and others the Lapis Thracius Sea-coal all which that great Master of Mineral learning Georgius Agricola proves to be the very same For certain this of ours is nothing but bitumen harden'd and concocted by heat under ground for it casts the same smell that bitumen does and if water be sprinkled on it it burns the hotter and the clearer but whether or no it is quench'd with oyl I have not yet try'd If the Lapis Obsidianus be in England I should take it for that which is found in other parts of this Kingdom and commonly goes by the name of Canole Coal for that is hard shining light and apt to cleave into thin flakes and to burn out as soon as it is kindled But let us leave these points to men that pry into the secrets of nature more narrowly EPJSCOPAIUS DUNELMENSIS Vulgo The Bishoprick of DURHAM By Robt. Morden âees âââis The river that bounds the South part of this County is call'd by the Latins Teisis and Teisa commonly Tees by Polydore an Italian who was certainly then thinking of Athesis in his own Country without any grounds Athesis by Ptolemy it seems to be call'd a 'T is very likely that in the Câpies we have of Ptolemy's Tables ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã as some Books have it ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã are transplac'd the former being further north and as the learned Sir George Mackenzy has well noted Defence of the Royal Line c. p. 79 is now known by the name of the March of Angus being the Frith or Oat let of the river Tay. So that this is still to be left in Scotland however the other be dispos'd ãâ¦ã ΤÎÎ¥ÎΣÎΣ and Tuesis yet I am of opinion that by the heedlessness of Transcribers it is misplac'd in him For whereas he makes the Tuesis or Tina to be in âhe remoter parts of Britain now inhabited by the Scots and the Tesis or Tina is the boundary to this County if I durst criticise upon this ancient Geographer I would recall it back hither to its proper place and that as I hope without offence to the Scots who have no rivers to which they can rightly apply these names The Tees rises in that stony ground call'd Stanemore and with the many currents which joyn it on both sides flows through rocks out of which at Egleston where C. Earl of Britain and Richmond built a Monastery they hew Marble and first it runs by Bernard-castle âernard-âastle built by Bernard Balliol great grand-father to John Balliol King of Scots and denominated from him But John Balliol whom Edward the first had declar'd King of Scots lost this with other possessions in England for falling from the Allegiance he had sworn to King Edward At which time the King being displeas'd with Anthony Bishop of Durham as the History of that place tells us took this Castle with all its appurtenances from him and conferr'd it upon the Earl of Warwick Herks and Hertnes he bestow'd upon Robert Clifford Kewerston upon Galfrid de Hertlpole which the Bishop had as forfeited by J. de Balliol R. de Brus and Christopher de Seton But some few years after Ludovicus de Bellomonte the Bishop descended from the Royal Line of France who as it is written of him was but ignorant and a meer stranger to matters of Learning went to law for this Castle and other Possessions and carry'd the Cause Sentence being given in these words The Bishop of Durham ought to have the forfeitures in war within the liberties of his Bishoprick as the King has them without Near this stands Stretlham Stretlham for a long time the Seat of the famous and knightly family of the Bowes Bââes or De Arcubus who have often done great service to their King and Country in times of extremity Their pedigree is from W. de Arcubus to whom as I have read Alanus Niger Earl of Britain and Richmond gave it in these words that he should bear for his Arms the Scutcheon of Britain with three bent Bowes in it At less than five miles distance from hence and somewhat farther from the Tees is Standrope Standrope which is also call'd Stainthorp that is to say A stony village a small market-town where stood a Collegiate Church built by the Nevills which
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 Eaââââ Lancastââ 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 ãâ¦ã 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 ãâ¦ã 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 ãâ¦ã 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
of Chester But King Stephen to ingratiate himself with the Scots restor'd it to them to hold of him and his Successors Kings of England But his immediate Successor Henry the second considering what a prejudice this profuse Liberality of Stephen's was both to him and his whole Kingdom demanded back from the Scots Northumberland Cumberland and Westmoreland For the Scotch King as Neubrigensis has it wisely considering that since the King of England had both a better title and was much stronger in those parts tho' he could have alledg'd the oath which was said to have been made to his grandfather David when he was knighted by him very fairly and honestly restor'd the foresaid bounds at the King's demand and in lieu of them had Huntingdonshire which belong'd to him by ancient right Cumberland had no Earls before Henry the eighth's time who created Henry Clifford descended from the Lords de Veteri ponte or Vipont first Earl of Cumberland Earls of Cumberland He by Margaret daughter of Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland had Henry the second Earl who by his first wife daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk had Margaret Countess of Derby and by his second daughter of Baron Dacre of Gillesland two sons George and Francis George the third Earl famous for his great exploits at Sea undaunted and indefatigable dy'd in the year 1505 leaving an only daughter Anne 20 Now Countess of Dorset But his brother Sir Francis c. Francis his brother the fourth Earl succeeded him in whom appears a strong inclination to Virtue worthy the greatness of such honourable Ancestors 21 As for the Wardens of the West-marches against Scotland in this County which were Noblemen of especial trust I need to say nothing when as by the union of both Kingdoms under one head that Office is now determin'd This County has 58. Parish-Churches besides Chapels VALLUM OR The PICTS WALL THat famous Wall which was the bound of the Roman Province call'd by ancient Latin Writers Vallum Barbaricum Praetentura and Clusura i.e. the Barbarous Wall the Breast-work the Fence or Hedge crosses the â The Latins usually call the more Northern tract of a Country Pars Superior Otherwise that through which the Picts-wall here passes is by the Inhabitants of this County more justly call'd the Low-land upper part of Cumberland and is not by any means to be pass'd over in silence 'T is by Dio call'd ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã or Thorough-wall by Herodian ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Fences the âronâ of the ââinces â call'd ââârae ab ââiendo ãâã shutââg out the ãâã and ââânturae âemâ from ãâã ââcht out ââst the ââây ââithaeâââdâââ c. 14 ãâã or ãâã of âmpire or A vast Ditch by Antoninus Cassiodorus and others Vallum by Bede Murus by the Britains Gual-Sever Gal-Sever and Mur-Sever by the Scots Scottis-waith by the English and those that live about it the Picts-wall or the Pehits-wall also the Keepe-wall and by way of eminence The Wall When by the Providence of God and the assistance of Courage the Roman affairs had succeeded beyond expectation and the ambitious bravery of that people had so enlarg'd their Conquests on all sides that they began to be jealous of their own greatness the Emperours thought it most advisable to set some bounds to their Dominions For like prudent Politicians they observ'd that Greatness ought to have its bounds just as the Heavens keep their exact compass and the Seas toss about within their own limits Now these bounds were either natural as the Sea the larger Rivers Mountains Deserts or artificial viz. Fences contriv'd such are Ditches Castles Towers ãâã Barricadoes of Trees Walls of Earth or Stone with Garisons planted along them to keep out the Barbarians Whereupon Theodosius's Novels ãâã 3 By the contrivance of our Ancestors whatever is under the power of the Romans is defended against the incursions of Barbarians by a boundary-wall In times of peace the Frontier-garisons lay along the Line in Castles and Cities but when they were apprehensive of the incursions of the neighbours part of them for the defence of their own pitcht their Tents in the Enemies Country Hence we meet with Stationes Agrariae in Vegetius and part made excursions into the Enemies quarters to observe their motions and to engage if they could upon an advantage In this Island particularly when they found that those more remote parts of Britain had nothing agreeable either in the Air or Soil that they were inhabited by that barbarous crew of Caledonians and that the advantages by subduing them could never answer the trouble they did at several times contrive several Fences to bound and secure the Province The first Praetentura The first of that kind seems to have been done by Julius Agricola when he set Garisons along that narrow slip of ground between â Bodotria Glotta Edenborrow-Frith and Dunbritten-Frith aa which was afterwards fortify'd as occasion requir'd Hadrian for whom the God Terminus retreated bb The second Praetentura made the second after he had retir'd about 80 miles either out of envy to the glory of Trajan under whom the Empire was at it's utmost extent or out of fear He says Spartian drew a Wall of eighty miles in length to divide the Barbarians from the Romans which one may gather from what follows in Spartian to have been made in fashion of a â Muralis sepis Some read Militaris Mural hedge of large stakes fixt deep in the ground and fastned together with wattles And this is it we are now speaking of for it runs along for 80 miles together and upon it are the t By the sound one should guess this to be Pont Eland in Northumberland Pons Aelia Classis Aelia Cohors Aelia Ala Sabiniana which took their names from Aelius Hadrianus and Sabina his wife And the Scotch Historian who wrote the Rota Temporum Rota Temporum tells us That Hadrian did first of all draw a Wall of a prodigious bigness made of Turfs of that height that it lookt like a mountain and with a deep ditch before it from the mouth of the Tine to the river Eske i.e. from the German to the Irish Ocean Which Hector Boëtius delivers in the very same words Lollius Urbicus Lieutenant of Britain under Antoninus Pius by his great success remov'd back the bounds to where Julius Agricola had first set them and rais'd a Wall there which was the third Fence or Praetentura The third Praetentura He says Capitolinus conquer'd the Britains and driving back the Barbarians made another Wall of Turf i.e. distinct from that of Hadrian's The honour of Lollius's success in Britain was by Fronto as the Panegyrist has it given entirely to Antoninus the Emperour affirming that tho' he liv'd quietly in his palace at Rome and had only given out a Commission to the Lieutenant yet he had merited all the glory as a Pilot
Oxford ââede Upon this shore there is nothing further worth mentioning except Holy-Island of which in its due place till we come to the mouth of Twede which for a long way divides England from Scotland and is call'd the Eastern March Whereupon thus our Country-man Necham 6 Insinuating that the hither part of Scotland was call'd Pict-land Anglos à Pictis sejungit limite certo Flumen quod Tuedam pristina lingua vocat The Picts are sever'd from the English ground By Twede so call'd of old a certain bound This river rises in a large stream out of the Mountains of Scotland and afterwards takes a great many turns among the Moss-Troopers and Drivers to give them no worse name who as one expresses it determine Titles by dint of Sword When it comes near the village of Carram âââram being encreas'd with many other waters it begins to distinguish the Confines of the Kingdoms âk and having pass'd Werk-Castle sometime enjoy'd by the Rosses and now by the Greys who have been long a Family of great valour and frequently assaulted by the Scots is inlarg'd by the river of Till This river has two names For at its rise which is further within the body of this County 't is call'd Bramish âââmish and on it stands Bramton âââmton a little obscure and inconsiderable Village cc Hence it runs Northward by Bengely which together with Brampton Bromdum Rodam which gave name to a Family of good note in these parts Edelingham c. was the Barony of Patrick Earl of Dunbar in the reign of Henry the third Doomsday-Book says he was Inborow and Outborow betwixt England and Scotland that is if I understand it right he was here to watch and observe the ingress and egress of all Travellers between the two Kingdoms ââârow ât For in the old English Language Inborou is an Ingress or Entry More North upon the river stands Chevelingham or Chillingham which was a Castle that belong'd to one Family of the Greys as Horton-Castle did to another dd But those two are now match'd into one Near this is the Barony of Wollover âllover which King Henry the first gave to Robert de Musco-campo or Muschamp ââs of the âââchamps who bare Azure three Butterflyes Argent From him descended another Robert who in the reign of Henry the third was reckon'd the mightiest Baron in all these Northern parts But the Inheritance soon after was divided and shared among women â 35 H. 3. whereof one was marry'd to the Earl of Strathern in Scotland another to William de Huntercombe and a third to Odonel de Ford ee Soon after Till is encreas'd by the river of Glen which gives the name of Glendale ââândale to the Valley through which it runs Of this rivulet Bede gives us the following account c The Saxon Paraphrase gives us a further direction besides what we have from the river Glen for the finding out the place there mention'd by telling us that Tha stowe sindon on Beornica magthe i.e. Those places are in the Country of the Bernicians Which is a full refutation of what Bede is made to say before That King Oswald first brought Christianity into that Kingdom â2 c. 14. Paulinus coming with the King and Queen to the Royal Manour of Ad-gebrin 't is now call'd Yeverin stay'd there with them six and thirty days âerin which he spent in the duties of Catechising and Baptizing For from morning till night his whole business was to instruct the Country People that flock'd to him from all places and villages round in the Principles of Christianity and after they were so instructed to baptize them in the neighbouring river of Glen This Manour-house was disus'd by the following Kings and another erected in its stead at Melmin now Melfeld Melfeld Here at Brumford near Brumridge King Athelstan fought a pitch'd Battel against Anlaf the Dane Battel of Brumford See H. Hunting d. Will. Malmesb. and Ingulphus Constantine King of Scots and Eugenius petty King of Cumberland ff wherein he had such success that the Engagement is describ'd by the Historians and Poets of that Age in extraordinary Raptures of Wit and 7 In barbarous Latin Holland It might have been in Heathen-Greek for any thing he knew The whole ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is only in good old English See the Saxon Chron. in the year 938. Bombast In this place the name of Bramish is lost in Till which first passes by Ford-Castle Ford. heretofore the property of the valiant Family of the Herons now of the Carrs and Etal Etal formerly the seat of the Family of d Mr. H. Collingwood of Brankerton has Deeds by him whereby it appears that Etal was in the possession of his Ancestors of the same name in the reign of Edward the sixth Manours or de Maneriis which was long since of a knightly rank and out of which the present Right Honourable Earls of Rutland are descended I wittingly omit many Castles in this Country for 't were endless to recount them all since 't is certain that in the days of Henry the second there were 1115 Castles in England 1115. Castles in England Over against this Ford Westward rises the high Mountain of Floddon 8 Near Bramton Battel of Floddon 1513. famous for the overthrow of James the fourth King of Scots and his Army who while King Henry the eighth lay at the siege of Tournay in France with a great deal of Courage and a greater deal of Hopes for before they began their March they had divided our Towns among them invaded England Here Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey with a good Army bravely receiv'd him The Dispute was obstinate on both sides till the night parted them unable still to determine which way Victory inclin'd But the next day discover'd both the Conquerour and the Vanquish'd and the King of Scots himself being mortally wounded in several places was found among the heaps of the slain Whence a new Addition was given to the Arms of the Howards 9 As I have formerly specified Twede encreas'd by Till runs now in a larger stream by Norham Norham or Northam which was formerly call'd Ubban-ford The Town belongs to the Bishops of Durham For Bishop Egfrid built it and his Successor Ralph erected the Castle on the top of a steep rock and moted it round In the utmost Wall and largest in Circuit are plac'd several Turrets on a Canton towards the river within which there is a second Enclosure much stronger than the former and in the middle of that again rises a high Keep But the well-establish'd Peace of our times has made these Forts to be long neglected notwithstanding that they are placed upon the very Borders gg Under the Castle on a Level Westward lyes the Town and Church wherein was buried Ceolwulph King Ceolwulph King of Northumberland to whom Venerable Bede
dedicated his Books of the Ecclesiastical History of England and who afterwards Rog. Hoveden renouncing the World took upon him the habit of a Monk in the Church of Lindisfern and listed himself a Souldier of the Kingdom of Heaven his body being afterwards translated to the Church of Northam When also the Danes had miserably wasted the Holy Issand wherein S. Cuthbert so much magnified by Bede was Bishop and lay buried some endeavour'd by a religious stealth to convey his body beyond Sea but the winds standing contrary they with all due reverence deposited the sacred Body at * The printed Books have corruptly Bulbeford Will. Malmesb de Gest Pont. lib. 1. Ubbanford whether a Bishop's See or no is uncertain near the river Twede where it lay for many years till the coming of King Ethelred This and other matters were taught me for I shall always own my Instructors by George Carlton born at this place being son to the Keeper of Norham-Castle whom for his excellent Proficiency in Divinity whereof he is Professor and other polite Learning I love and am lov'd by him and I were unworthy of that love if I should not acknowledge his Friendship The old people told us that at Killey Killay a little neighbouring Village below Norham were found within the memory of our Grandfathers the studds of a Knight's Belt A golden Hilt and the hilt of a Sword of massie Gold which were presented to T. Ruthall Bishop of Durham A little lower you have the mouth of Twede on the farther bank whereof stands Berwick Berwick the last Town in England and best fortify'd in all Britain hh Some derive the name of this Town from one Berengarius a Romantick Duke Leland fetches it from Aber the British word for the mouth of a river and so makes Aberwick to signifie a Fort built upon such a mouth But they will best understand the true etymology of it who know what is meant by the word Berwicus in the Charters of our Kings Ingulphus renders Berwicus a Mannour wherein nothing's more common than I give the Townships of C. and D. cum suis Berwicis ii For my part what it should mean I know not unless it be a Hamlet or some such dependency upon a place of better note For in the Grants of Edward the Confessor Totthill is call'd the Berwicus of Westminster Wandlesworth the Berwicus of Patricksey and a thousand of the like But why all this pains 'T is lost labour if as some maintain the Saxons call'd it anciently Beornica-Æ¿ic that is the Town of the Bernicians for that this part of the Country was call'd Bernicia we have already noted and the thing is too well known to be here repeated But whence ever it had its name its situation carries it a good way into the sea so that that and the Twede almost incircle it Being seated betwixt two mighty Kingdoms as Pliny observes of Palmyra in Syria it has always been the first place that both Nations in their wars have had an eye on insomuch that ever since Edward the first wrung it out of the Scotch hands the English have as often retaken it as the Scots have ventur'd to seize it But if the Reader pleases we will here give him a summary abstract of its History The oldest account I find of Berwick is that William King of Scots being taken prisoner by the English pawn'd it for his ransom to our Henry the second redeemable only within such a time kk Whereupon says the Polychronicon of Durham Henry immediately fortify'd it with a Castle But Richard the first restor'd it to the Scots upon their payment of the money Afterwards King John as the History of Melross reports took the Town and Castle of Berwick at the same time that he burnt Werk Roxburgh Mitford and Morpath and with his Rutars wasted all Northumberland because the Barons of that county had done homage to Alexander King of Scots at Feltun A great many years after this when John Baliol King of Scotland had broken his Oath Edward the first reduc'd Berwick in the year of our Lord 1297. But soon after the fortune of war favouring the Scots our men quitted it and they seiz'd it but the English forthwith had it surrender'd to them again Afterwards in the loose reign of Edward the second Peter Spalding surrender'd it to Robert Brus King of Scots who warmly besieg'd it and the English vainly attempted its recovery till our Hector Edward the third bravely carry'd it in the year 1333. In the reign of Richard the second some Scottish Moss-troopers surpriz'd the Castle which within nine days was recover'd by Henry Percie Earl of Northumberland Within seven years after this the Scots regain'd it but by purchace not by their valour Whereupon the said Henry Percie being then Governour of the Town was accus'd of High-treason but he also corrupted the Scots with money and so got it again A long time after this when England was almost spent in civil wars Henry the sixth being already fled into Scotland deliver'd it up to the King of Scots the better to secure himself in that Kingdom Two and twenty years after Thomas Stanley with a great loss of men reduc'd it to the obedience of Edward the fourth Since which time the Kings of England have several times fortify'd it with new works but especially Queen Elizabeth who lately to the terrour of the enemy and security of the Burghers hath drawn it into a less compass than before and surrounded it with a high stone wall of firm Ashler work which is again strengthen'd with a deep ditch bastions and counterscarp so that its fortifications are so strong and regular that no besiegers can hope to carry it hereafter Not to mention the valour of the Garrison and the surprizing plenty of Ammunition and all warlike stores Be it also remember'd that the Governour of this place was alwaies a person of the greatest wisdom and eminence among the English Nobility and was also Warden of these eastern Marches The Mathematicians have plac'd this Town in 21 degrees and 43 minutes of longitude and in 55 and 48 of northern latitude So that the longest day in this climate consists of seventeen hours and 22 minutes and its night has only six hours and 38 minutes Brita has ãâã of Day So truly has Servius Honoratus written of this Country Britain says he has such plenty of day that she has hardly any room for night Nor is it a wonder that the Souldiers of this Garrison are able to play all night at dice without a candle if we consider their thorow twilight and the truth of Juvenal's expression Minimâ contentos nocte Britannos Britains with shortest nights content Take at parting J. Jonston's Verses upon Berwick Scotorum extremo sub limite Meta furoris Saxonidum gentis par utriusque labor Mille vices rerum quae mille est passa ruinas Mirum quî potuit tot superesse
as great variety and perfection as most places in the South bb The study of School-Divinity was mightily in fashion about Scotus's time and especially in the University of Oxford where the petulant humours of the Dominicans put the Students upon all sorts of wrangling Hence this place has afforded more men of eminence in that way than perhaps all the other Universities of Europe and these have marshall'd themselves under the glorious Epithets of Subtilis Profundus Irrefragabilis c. cc As pitiful a Hamlet as Mr. Camden here makes of Brampton ââââpton 't is the place he once pitch'd upon for the Bremenium of the Ancients and so the word is still render'd in the Indices of his latest Editions It has also been of good note in our time for one of the prettiest Houses in this part of the County the Seat of George Collingwood Esq a branch of the House of Eslington dd In the Hall at Chillingham-Castle ââââing-âââ-castle there is a Chimney-piece with a hollow in the middle of it wherein 't is said there was found a live Toad at the sawing of the Stone The other part of it is also still to be seen with the like mark upon it and put to the same use at Horton-Castle ee What our Author names Wollover âââââver they call usually Wooler 'T is a little inconsiderable Market-town with a thatch'd Church and some other marks of the Poverty of the Inhabitants The advantages of a late Brief upon a Fire that here happen'd may possibly raise it fairer out of its present Ashes ff ãâã Gloss ââron From a passage in Florence of Worcester one may probably conjecture that Brunanburh for so all our Historians but Ingulphus call it must have been some-where nearer the Humber Tho' perhaps it will be more difficult to carry the great Constantine of Scotland and the little King of Cumberland so high into Yorkshire than to bring Anlaf thus far down into Northumberland gg The Town and Church of Norham Norham were both built by Bishop Egfrid or Egred as some call him who was a mighty Benefactor to the See of Lindisfarn The Church was dedicated to St. Peter St. Cuthbert and St. Ceolwulph the religious King of Northumberland who was the first of our Princes that had the Gallantry to retire from a Throne to a Monastery His Body was also deposited here by the same Bishop and the Monks of the following Age took care to bring in the Country round to pay their Devotion and Tribute to their Royal Brother who always oblig'd his visitants with some kind Miracle or other Vide Sim. Dunelm Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 5. Et Rog. Hoveden ad Ann. 764. In the year 1121. the Castle was built by Bishop Ralph for the better security of this part of his Diocese against the frequent Incursions of the Scotish Moss-Troopers hh Berwick Berwick is now much out-done in strength and regular fortifications by Portsmouth Hull Plymouth and some other Forts in England and is chiefly strong in the present Union of the two Kingdoms ii This word is variously written in old Records Berewica Berewica Berwicha Berwichus Berewich Berewita and Berwita Of all which see Instances in Sir H. Spelman's Glossary It may be the most suitable derivation of it for our present purpose is what Fr. Tate has given us in his MS. Exposition of the hard words in Doomsday-Book Berewica says he is a Corn-Farm The Etymology agrees with the plenty of grain about the Town of Berwick kk By the account that M. Paris gives of the Conditions whereon the King of Scots was releas'd it does not appear that the Town of Berwick was redeemable but absolutely surrender'd and made over Pro hâc autem conventione fine says he firmiter observando dedit Rex Scotorum Regi Anglorum Successoribus suis Castella de Berwicke de Rokesburc in perpetuum possidenda ll Whatever roughness Mr. Camden might fancy he saw in the Manners of the People of Northumberland 't is certain that the Description which Aeneas Silvius gives of them is not their due at this day Their Tables are as well stock'd as ever with Hens and Geese and they have also plenty of good bread and beer Strangers and Travellers are no novelties to them the Roads betwixt Edinburgh and Newcastle being as much frequented by such of all Nations as almost any others in the Kingdom A Roundlet of Red-wine is a greater rarity in a Country-man's house in Middlesex than on the borders of Northumberland where you shall more commonly meet with great store of good Claret than in the Villages of any other County in England That Wine is not the constant drink of the Country ought no more to be remark'd as a thing extraordinary than that Yorkshire-Ale is not common in Italy The Country-Keeper is able to inform you that the Moss-Trooping Trade is now very much laid aside and that a small Sum will recompence all the Robberies that are yearly committed in this County where mens persons are as safe and their goods as secure as in the most civiliz'd Kingdoms of Europe Whoredom is reckon'd as scandalous a vice here as elsewhere and it were our happiness if in the Southern parts of the Kingdom it were as little fashionable In a word the Gentry of Northumberland are generally persons of address and breeding and preservers of the true old English Hospitality in their Houses And the Peasants are as knowing a people and as courteous to strangers as a man shall readily meet with in any other part mm Bishop Walcher was a most vile oppressour and scandalous worldling He bought the Earldom of Northumberland and resolv'd to make the people pay for it But at last being wearied with daily extortion and reduc'd almost to beggary they unanimously fell upon him and slew him at a County-Court which he used always to attend himself in person the better to secure the Fees and other Perquisites And at that time these were considerable since the Sheriffs of Northumberland never accounted to the King before the third of Edward the sixth Their Foreman gave the word which most of our old Historians have thought worth the recording to posterity Short red good red slea ye the Bishop Continuation of the EARLS Earls of Northumberland The last Earl that Mr. Camden mentions was a great Patron of Learned men especially Mathematicians with whom he kept a constant familiarity and correspondence Soon after the discovery of the Powder-Plot he was committed Prisoner to the Tower upon suspicion of his being privy to that part which his kinsman Tho. Percie had in the Conspiracy He was succeeded by his son Algernoon whose son Joceline the last Earl of this Family dy'd at Turin A. D. 1670. leaving only one daughter Elizabeth the present Dutchess of Somerset Upon his death the Honour was given by King Charles the second to his own natural Son George Fitz-Roy who is now Duke of
Northumberland More rare Plants growing wild in Northumberland Chamaepericlymenum Park Ger. Periclymenum humile C. B. parvum Prutenicum Clusii J. B. Dwarf Honey-suckle On the West-side of the North-end of the highest of Cheviot-hills in great plenty Echium marinum B. P. Sea-Buglosse At Scrammerston-mill between the Salt-pans and Barwick on the Seabaich about a mile and a half from Barwick Lysimachia siliquosa glabra minor latifolia The lesser smooth broad-leav'd codded Willow-herb On Cheviot-hills by the Springs and Rivulets of water Pyrola Alsines flore Europaea C.B. Park Herba trientalis J. B. Winter-green with Chick-weed flowers On the other side the Picts-wall five miles beyond Hexham Northwards And among the Heath upon the moist Mountains not far from Harbottle westward Rhaphanus rusticanus Ger. Park C. B. sylvestris sive Armoracia multis J. B. Horse-radish We observ'd it about Alnwick and elsewhere in this County in the ditches and by the water-sides growing in great plenty Eryngium vulgare J. B. vulgare Camerarii C. B. mediterraneum Ger. mediterraneum seu campestre Park Common Eryngo of the Midland On the shore call'd Friar-goose near New-castle upon Tyne SCOTLAND IRELAND AND THE BRITISH ISLANDS THE GENERAL HEADS IN Scotland Ireland and the Islands SCOTLAND 581 Â Its Division 885 Â Its Degrees 891 Â Its Courts of Justice ibid. Gadeni 893 Teifidale 893 Merch 893 Lauden 895 Selgovae 905 Annandale 907 Nidisdale 907 Novantes 909 Galloway 909 Carrict 911 Kyle 911 Cunningham 913 Glotta 913 Damnii 925 Cluydesdale 915 Lennox 917 Sterling 919 Caledonia 925 Fife 927 Strathern 929 Argile 931 Cantire 931 Lorn 933 Braidalbin 933 Perth-shire 935 Angus 937 Mernis 939 Marr 939 Buquhan 941 Murray 943 Loqhabre 945 Rosse 945 Sutherland 947 Cathnes 947 Strath-navern 947 Â The Roman Wall 957 IRELAND 961 The British Ocean 961 The Government of Ireland 973 Â The Courts 973 Â The Division 973 Munster 975 Kerry 975 Desmond 977 Voidiae 979 Cork 979 Waterford 981 Limerick 983 Tipperary 983 Leinster 985 Birgantes 985 Kilkenny 985 Caterlogh 987 Queens County 987 Kings County 989 Kildar 989 Weisford 991 Cauci 991 Dublin 993 Meth 997 East-Meth 997 West-Meth 997 Longford 999 Conaght 999 Twomond 1001 Gallway 1001 Maio 1003 Slego 1005 Letrim 1005 Roscoman 1005 Lords of Conaght 1007 Vlster 1007 Louth 1007 Cavon 1009 Fermanagh 1009 Monaghan 1011 Armagh 1011 Down 1013 Antrim 1015 Colran 1017 Tir-Oen 1019 Tir-Conel 1019 The Rebellion of the O-Neal's 1023 The Manners of the Irish 1041 The smaller Islands in the British Ocean 1049 The Annals of Ireland SCOTLAND By Rob t Morden SCOTLAND NOW I am bound for Scotland whither I go with a willing mind but shall with gentle touches lightly pass it over Not forgetting that Minus notis minus diu insistendum The less we know things the less we are to insist upon them and that advice of the Grecian ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Be not too busie where thou art not acquainted For it would certainly be impudent to treat copiously where our notices have been but little But since this too is honour'd with the name of Britain may I have liberty with due respect to the Scottish Nation in pursuance of my bold design of illustrating Britain to prosecute my undertaking with their good leave and drawing aside as it were the Curtains of obsure Antiquity to point out according to my ability some places of ancient note and memory I assure my self of a certain pardon both from the good nature of the people themselves and the extraordinary happiness of these times when by a divine providence that is fallen into our hands which we hardly ever hoped for and our Ancestors so often and so earnestly wished to see that is that Britain so mâny Ages divided in it self and unsociable should all in general like one uniform City under one most August Monarch the founder of an eternal peace be conjoyned in one entire body Who being through the propitious goodness of Almighty God elected born and preserved to the good of both Nations as he is a Prince of singular wisdom and fatherly affection to all his subjects doth so cut off all occasions of fear hope revenge and complaint that the fatal Discord which hath so long engaged these Nations otherwise invincible in mutual Wars is stifled and suppressed for ever and Concord rejoyces exceedingly as it were keeps Holiday and Triumphs because as the Poet sings Jam cuncti Gens una sumus Now all one Nation we 're united fast To which we answer by way of Chorus Et simus in aevum And may that union for ever last But before I enter upon Scotland I think it not amiss to advertise the Reader thus much before-hand that I leave the first Original of the Scottish Nation and the Etymology of their Name banishing all conjectures of others which as well in former Ages as these our days owe their birth either to hasty credulity or careless negligence to be discussed by their own Historians and the Learned of that Nation And following the same method I took in England I shall premise something in short touching the division of Scotland the States of the Kingdom and the Courts of Justice and then briefly touch upon the Situation and Commodities of every several County which are the Places of most Note what Families are most eminent and have flourished with the title and honour of Earls and Barons of Parliament so far forth as by reading and enquiry I cou'd possibly procure information and that cautiously taking all imaginable care by an ingenuous and sincere regard for truth not to give the least offence to the most malicious and by so compendious a brevity as not to prevent the curious diligence of those who may possibly attempt this with a fuller stroke and finish the same with more lively and lasting colours Additions concerning SCOTLAND in general SINCE our Author has profess'd himself at a loss in the affairs of Scotland and for that reason has but touch'd very lightly upon each part of it it will be so much the more necessary to continue our method through this Kingdom and add such things as seem proper and agreeable to the design Especially being encourag'd and assisted herein by the Informations of the very learned Sir Robert Sibbald Dr. of Physick who has given sufficient testimonies to the world of his knowledge of Antiquities and particularly those of his own Country As Albion was the first and most ancient name that we meet with of Great Britain in the old Greek and Latin Authors so was Albania Albania of that northern part that lay beyond the Humber and Deva The Learned have deliver'd various reasons why it should be so call'd but the most probable of them is from the ancient Inhabitants calling themselves Albanich who likewise term'd their Country Albin and their posterity the High-landers do still retain the name in a part of their Country call'd Braid-Albin The Country which now makes the Kingdom
Gareock and Strath-Bogie-Land A small part of Buchan Strathdovern Boyn Einzie Strath Awin and Balvenie The East part of Murray The West part of Murray Badenoch Lochabir and the south part of Ross A small part of Ross lying on the south side of Cromartie-Frith The rest of Ross with the Isles of Sky Lewis and Herris Sutherland and Strathnavern Cathness Beside the Stewartries mentioned by our Author there is that of Orkney which contains all the Isles of Orkney and Zetland The Constabularie of Hadington contains East-Lothian To pursue Mr. Camden's method in his general Description of England it will be necessary to give a scheme of the bounds and extent of the several Dioceses of this kingdom Diocese of St. Andrews Glasgow Edinburgh Dunkeld Aberdeen Murray Brichin Dumblam Ross Cathness Orkney Galloway Argile The Isles Contains Part of Perthshire and part of Angus and Mernes The shires of Dunbarton Ranfrew Air Lanerick part of the shires of Roxburgh Dumfreis Peebles and Selkirk The shires of Edinburgh Linlithgow part of Strivelingshire Berwick-shire the Constabularie of Hadington and Bailery of Lauderdale The most part of Perthshire part of Angus and part of West-Lothian Most part of Bams-shire and part of Mernis The shires of Elgin Nairn and part of Inverness and Bamf-shire Part of Angus and Mernis Part of Perth and Striveling-shires The shire of Tain Cromertie and the greatest part of Inverness-shire Cathness and Sutherland All the Northern Isles of Orkney and Zetland The shire of Wigton the Stewartrie of Kircudbright the Regality of Glentrurie and part of Dumfries-shire Argile Lorn Kintyre and Lohaber with some of the West Isles Most of the west Isles Under this Constitution the Government was thus 1. In every Parish the cognizance of some scandals belong'd to the Session a Judicature compos'd of the greatest and worthiest persons in each parish where the Minister presided ex officio 2. But if the Case prov'd too intricate it was referred to the Presbyterie a superior Judicature consisting of a certain number of Ministers between 12 and 20 who met almost every fortnight The Moderator herein was nam'd by the Bishop and besides the censures they inflicted 't was by them that such as enter'd into Orders were solemnly examined The Presbyteries are these that follow Dunce Chernside Kelso Ersilton Jedburgh Melross Dumbar Hadington Dalkeith Edinburgh Peebles Linlithgow Perth Dunkeld Auchterarder Striveling Dumblane Dumfreis Penpont Lochmabane Midlebie Wigton Kircudbright Stranraver Aire Irwing Paselay Dumbarton Glasgow Hamilton Lanerick Biggar Dunnune Kinloch Inerary Kilmore Sky St. Andrews Kirkaldy Cowper Dumfermelin Meegle Dundee Arbroth Forfar Brichen Mernis Aberdeen Kinkardin Alfoord Gareoch Deir Turref Fordyce Ellon Strathbogie Abernethie Elgin Forres Aberlower Chanrie Tayn Dingwell Dornoch Week Thurso Kirkwal Scaloway Colmkill 3. Above this was the Provincial-Synod who met twice a year in every Diocese and had the examination of such cases as were referred to them by the Presbyteries here the Bishop presided ex officio 4. Above all was the Convocation when the King pleas'd to call it wherein the Archbishop of St. Andrews presided And besides these every Bishop for the cases of Testaments c. had his Official or Commissary who was judge of that Court within the Diocese Of these Edenburgh had four the rest one But since Presbyterie has been introduced the Church-government stands thus 1. They also have their Parochial Sessions but with this difference that though the Minister presides yet a Lay-man a Bailie ordinarily assists 2. In their Presbyteries they chose their own Moderator to preside 3. They have their Synod or Provincial Assembly but without a constant head for every time they meet they make choice of a new Moderator 4. Their General Assembly this consists of two members from every Presbytery and one Commissioner from each University The King too has his Commissioner there without whose consent no Act can pass and before they be in force they must be also ratify'd by the King Thus much of the several Divisions of Scotland As to the Orders and Degrees of this Kingdom there appears no alteration in them since our Author's time and if any one desires to have a more particular information in their Courts of Justice and Methods of Proceeding a separate Treatise upon this subject written by the Learned Sir George Makenzy late Lord Advocate of Scotland will give him ample satisfaction The Degrees of SCOTLAND THE Government of the Scots as that of the English consists of a King Nobility and Commonalty The King to use the words of their own Records is directus totius Dominii Dominus direct Lord of the whole Dominion or Domain and hath Royal Authority and Jurisdiction over all the States of his Kingdom as well Ecclesiastick as Laick Next to the King is his Eldest Son who is stiled Prince of Scotland and by a peculiar right is Duke of Rothsay and Steward of Scotland But the rest of the King's Children are called simply Princes Amongst the Nobles the greatest and most honorable were in old times the Thanes Thanes that is if I have any judgment those who were ennobled only by the office which they bore for the word in the antient Saxon signifies The King's Minister Of these they of the higher rank were called Ab-thanes of the lower Under-Thanes But these Names by little and little grew out of use ever since King Malcolm the 3. conferred the Titles of Earls and Barons borrow'd out of England from the Normans upon such Noblemen as had deserv'd them Since when in process of time new Titles of Honour have been much taken up and Scotland as well as England hath Dukes Marquisses Earls Viscounts and Barons Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounâ Barons As for the title of Duke the first that brought it into Scotland was Robert the Third about the year of our Lord 1400 as the honourable titles of Marquiss and Viscount were lately brought in by our most gracious Sovereign King James the sixth These are accounted Nobles of a higher degree and have both place and voice in Parliaments and by a special name together with the Bishops are called Lords Amongst the Nobles of a lower degree in the first place are Knights Knightâ who are certainly made with greater solemnity than any where else in Europe by taking of an Oath and being proclaim'd publickly by the Heralds In the second are those who are called Lairds Lairds and commonly without any addition Barons amongst whom none were antiently reckoned but such as held immediately from the King Lands in Capite and had the * Poweâ hang ãâã Jus Furcarum In the third place are such as being descended of Honourable Families and dignify'd with no certain title are term'd Gentlemen Gentlemen All the rest as Citizens Merchants Artificers c. are reckoned among the Commons The COURTS of JUSTICE THE supream Court as well in dignity as authority is accounted the Assembly of the States of the Kingdom which is called a
under another head long bore the title of Earls This Nidisdale together with Annandale breeds a warlike sort of people but infamous for their depredations For they dwell upon Solway a fordable Arm of the Sea through which they often made excursions into England for booty and in which the Inhabitants on both sides a pleasant fight and sport hunt Salmons Salmoâ whereof there is great plenty with spears on horseback or if you had rather call it so fish for them What manner of Cattle-stealers they are that inhabit these Valleys in the Marches of both Kingdoms John Lesley a Scotchman himself and Bishop of Ross will inform you They sally out of their own borders in the night in troops through unfrequented by-ways and many intricate windings All the day time they refresh themselves and their horses in lurking holes they had pitch'd upon before till they arrive in the dark at those places they have a design upon As soon as they have seized upon the booty they in like manner return home in the night thro' blind ways and fetching many a compass The more skilful any Captain is to pass through those wild Desarts crooked turnings and deep precipices in the thickest mists and darkness his reputation is the greater and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head And they are so very cunning that they seldom have their booty taken from them unless sometimes when by the help of Bloud-hounds following them exactly upon the track they may chance to fall into the hands of their adversaries When being taken they have so much persuasive Eloquence and so many smooth insinuating words at command that if they do not move their Judges nay and even their Adversaries notwithstanding the severity of their natures to have mercy yet they incite them to admiration and compassion c Additions to the SELGOVAE a THree of those branches which our Author makes part of the ancient Selgovae viz. Eusdale Eskdale and Lidesdale are reckoned part of the Shire of Rosburgh That the Horesti mention'd by Tacitus were seated in the habitations of the second of these as our Author conjectures is not by any means probable if we consider the circumstances of that Action It was in the latter end of his Government that he led his Forces against them whereas we find that even in his fourth year all to the South of that neck of land between the two Friths was added to the Roman Province so that we must go further northward to seek for them And Tacitus himself in effect forbids us to look after them hereabouts when he says that the people against whom Agricola was then fighting were the Populi Caledoniam incolentes and Novae Gentes namely those beyond the Friths who by the fortification of that neck of land were Semoti velut in aliam insulam i.e. Driven as it were into another Island So that if the relation the Horesti may have to Esk be of any moment it would better suit the people dwelling between South-Esk and North-Esk in Angus But that name really seems to imply no more than ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the Mountaineers or High-landers b The other two Branches Annandale and Nidisdale to which we may also add Wachopdale make up the Shire of DUMFRISE ââire of âââfrise taking its name from from the chief burgh of the Shire On the west it hath Galloway and Kyle on the east 't is bounded with Solway-Frith and the March of Scotland and England on the north with part of Clidsdale Twedale and Tiviotdale and on the South with the Irish-sea From west to south-east 't is about fifty miles long and in breadth about thirty four The Inhabitants were a stout warlike People in former times the bulwark of the Kingdom The soil generally is not so good for corn as pasturage so that they deal mostly in Cows and Sheep which turn to considerable gain c ANANDALE Anandale runs in a streight line from west to east about twenty four miles in length and fourteen in breadth Their tradition about the Lough-Maban mentioned by our Author is that a Castle stood formerly in the middle of it that which now stands upon the brink is going to decay The town of Logh-Maban Logh-Maban is a Royal burgh situate upon the south side of the water of Anan in the middle of the Country Near the source of which river stands Moffet Moffet famous for its medicinal-well Between Anandale and Eskdale lyeth WACHOPDALE Wachopdale so called from the water of Wachop running through it and is much of the same nature with the adjacent Countries already described The most ancient monument remarkable hereabouts is St. Ruth's Church where is a Pillar curiously engraven with some Inscription upon it Near this place the people have a way of making salt of Sea-sand and the salt is something bitterish which probably proceeds from the niter in it Another branch of Dumfrise is NIDISDALE Nidisdale encompassed with a ridge of Hills on all sides and in the bottoms has abundance of Corn. It is divided into the Overward containing the Parishes in the Presbytery of Penpont and the Netherward containing those of Dumfrise Presbytery Here Sanchar Sanchar is famous for its Castle the residence of the Duke of Queensbury who hath built a noble house at Drumlanerick and is now adorning it with stately avenues gardens and Terras-walks Within this tract also is Dumfrise Dumfrise upon the river Nith over which there is a stone bridge of nine arches The streets are large and the Church and Castle very stately For the convenience of Trade which is much helpt by the tide flowing up to the town and making a harbor they have an Exchange for the Merchants NOVANTES NExt to Nidisdale the Novantes inhabited that tract in the Valleys which spreads it self a great way towards the West yet so hollow'd with Creeks that now and then it is streightned into a narrow breadth and again at the farthest end loosens and widens it self out with greater liberty whence some have call'd it the Chersonessus or Peninsula of the Novantes But now their Country contains Galloway Carick Kyle and Cunningham GALLOWAY GAlloway âââlâway in Latin writers of the middle age Galwallia and Gallovidia taking its name from the Irish who were its ancient inhabitants and called themselves short in their own language Gael is a hilly Country better for feeding of Cattle than bearing of Corn. The Inhabitants follow Fishing as well in the sea round about as in the rivers and loughs that stand every where under the hills in which about September they catch an incredible number of excellent Eels in their * Weeles ââircipuâââââloway by which they are no less gainers than by their little truss Naggs ââggs which upon account of the compactness of their bodies and their enduring of labour are much bought up here ãâã River Amongst these the first place that presents it self upon
his Uncle the Earl of Arran This John had issue Matthew Earl of Lennox who after many troubles in France and Scotland found fortune more agreeable in England by the favour of K. Henry the 8. when he bestow'd upon him his sister's daughter in marriage with a large estate The issue of this happy match were Henry and Charles Henry by Mary Queen of Scots had James the 6. King of Great Britain James K. of Great Britain born by the propitious favour of heaven at a most lucky juncture to unite in one Imperial Body the British World divided before as well in it self as from the rest of mankind and as we hope and pray to lay a sure foundation of everlasting security for childrens children for ever As for Charles he had issue one only daughter Arabella a Lady that made so great progress in learning above the usual capacity of her sex as led her to true virtue with the highest praise and commendation and made her fit to be compar'd with the Ladies of antient times When Charles was dead after the Earldom of Lennox whereof he stood enfeoffed was by authority of Parliament revoked in the year 579. and his Uncle Robert Bishop of Cathness had bore this title for some time in lieu whereof he had of the King the honour of Earl of March King James conferr'd the title of Duke of Lennox upon Esme Stuart son of John Lord D'Aubigny the second Brother of Matthew Earl of Lennox aforesaid which his son 2 Lodowick Esme Hol. Lodowick or Lewis enjoys at this day For since the reign of Charles the 6. there were of this line Lords of Aubigny Lords of Aubigny in France the said Robert before-named and Bernard or Eberard under Charles the 8. and Lewis the 12. transmitted to posterity by Paulus Jovius with much commendation for his valiant performances in the War of Naples He was a most faithful companion of Henry the 7. when he came for England and used for his Device a Lion * Inter fâbulas between buckles with this motto Distantia Jungit because by his means the Kingdom of France and Scotland so far distant Paradinââ were joyned together by a strict league of Friendship As likewise Robert Stewart Lord D'Aubigny of the same family a Marescal of France under Lewis XI who for the same reason us'd the Royal Arms of France with Buckles Or in a Bordure Gules which have been ever since born 3 Quarterly with the Arms of Steward Hol. by the Earls and Dukes of Lennox c STERLING Sheriffdom STerlingshire borders to the North-east upon Lennox so named from its principal Town for the fruitfulness of its soil and the great resort of Gentry outdone by no County in Scotland Here is that narrow neck of Land by which Glotta and Bodotria or to use the language of these times Dunbritton Frith and Edenborough Frith Arms of different seas coming a great way up are kept from joyning Which Julius Agricola who went thus far and farther first observ'd and fortified this streight with Garisons by which means all Britain on this side was then in the Romans possession and their Enemies removed as it were into another Island so that Tacitus was right in his judgment that there was no other bound of Britain to be sought for Neither indeed in after times did either the Valour of their Armies or the Glory of the Roman name which could scarce be stopped push on the limits of their Empire farther in these parts although they harrassed them ever now and then with inrodes But then after this glorious expedition Agricola was recall'd and Britain as Tacitus says lay neglected nor was possession of it kept thus far For the Caledonian Britains drove the Romans back as far as the River Tine insomuch that Hadrian that came into Britain about 40 years after and reformed many things in it made no farther progress but commanded that the God Terminus The God Terminus who was wont to give ground to none should yield to Hadrian and retire backwards out of this place as he had done in the East on this side Euphrates Whence that of St. Augustine The God Terminus Aug. de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 29. which gave not place to Jove yielded to the will of Hadrian yielded to the rashness of Julian yielded to the necessity of Jovian So that Hadrian thought it enough to make a Turf-Wall between the rivers Tine and Esk and 100 miles southward on this side Edenborough-Frith But Antoninus Pius who being adopted by Hadrian bore his name stiled Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius under the conduct of Lollius Urbicus whom he had sent his Lieutenant repelled again the Barbarians to beyond Edenborough Frith and built another Turf-Wall besides that of Hadrian according to Capitolinus To prove which wall to have been made in this very place we are now treating of and not by Severus as commonly believed I will produce no other Witnesses than two antient Inscriptions dug up here one of which is fixed in the wall of a house at Cadir Antoninus Pius's wall and informs us that the Legio Secunda Augusta built the wall for three miles and more the other is in the Earl Marshal's House at Dunotyr which hints that a party of the Legio Vicesima Victrix made it for three miles more But take them here as Servatius Rihelius a Silesian Gentleman who made curious observations upon these Countries copied them out for me IMP. CAESARI T. AELIO HADRI ANO ANTONINO AVG. PIO P. P. VEXILLATIO LEG XX. VAL. VIC F. PER MIL. P. III. IMP CAES. TIT. IO AELIO HADRIANO ANTON AVG. PIO P. P. LEG II. AVG. PER. M. P. III. D. CIXVIS At Cadir where this latter Inscription is extant there is another stone to be seen wherein within a Laurel Garland supported by two little Victories one reads thus LEG II. AVG. FEC And in a Village called Miniabruch this inscription was removed out of a Minister's house into a Gentleman's then in building D. M. C. JVLI MARCELLINI PRAEF COH I. HAMIOR Cohors ma Haorum But when in the Reign of Commodus the barbarous nations had pass'd over the wall and had much harrass'd the country Severus as I have already said repaired the Wall of Hadrian But afterwards the Romans again brought under their subjection all the country lying between For as Ninius has told us Carausius under Dioclesian strengthned this wall anew and fortified it with seven castles Lastly the Romans fenc'd this place in the Reign of Theodosius the younger under the conduct of Gallio of Ravenna Now saith Bede they made a Turf-wall to no purpose building it not so much with stones as with turfs as having no artificer that understood so great a work between two Friths or arms of the sea for many miles together that where the fence of water was wanting there by the help of a wall they might defend their Marches from the enemies
in his writings Records of above 1000 years standing concerning these remote parts of the world the Hebrides and the Orcades when in Italy the nurse of excellent wits for so many ages after the expulsion of the Goths there was such a scarcity of writers See the ââditions But upon this place Johnston born not far from hence hath these verses TAODUNUM Or DEIDONUM Quà Notus argutis adspirat molliter auris Hâc placidè coëunt Taus Oceanus Hic facili excipiens venientes littore puppes Indigenis vasti distrahit orbis opes Saepe dolis tentata belli exercita damnis Invictis animis integra praestat adhuc Fama vetus crevit cum Relligione renatâ Lucis hinc fulsit pura nitela aliis Alectum dixere priùs si maxima spectes Commoda fo rs Donum dixeris esse Dei. Tu decus aeternum gentisque urbisque Boëti Caetera dic patriae dona beata tuae Where the calm South with gentle murmurs reigns Tay with the sea his peaceful current joyns To trading ships an easie port is shown That makes the riches of the world it s own Oft have her hapless sons been forc'd to bear The dismal thunder of repeated war Yet unsubdu'd their noble souls appear Restor'd Religion hath advanc'd her height And spread through distant parts the sacred light Alectum once 't was nam'd but when you 've view'd The joys and comforts by kind heav'n bestow'd You 'll call it Donum Dei Gift of God Boetius honour of the realm and town Speak thou the rest and make thy mother's honours known Hence we have a sight of Brochty-crag Brochty-Crag a Fort defended by a Garison of English many months together when out of an earnest desire of a perpetual peace they sued for a Marriage between Mary of Scotland and Edward 6. of England and upon promise thereof demanded the performance by force of arms but the Garison at length abandoned it Then to the open sea lies Aberbroth in short Arbroth Arbroth a place endowed with ample Revenues formerly consecrated to Religion by King William in honour of St. Thomas of Canterbury Near this the Red-head Red-head shooteth out into the sea a Promontory to be seen afar off Hard by South-Eske enters the Ocean which flowing out of a lake passes by Finnevim-Castle much fam'd for being the seat of the Lindsays The Lindsays Earls of Crawford of whom I have spoken already Then Brechin Brechin standing upon the same River which King David the first adorned with a Bishop's See * See the Additions and at its very mouth Mont-rose Montrose that is The Mount of Roses a town antiently called Celurca built out of the Ruines of another of the same name and situated between the two Eskes which gives the title of Earl to the Family of Graham Upon which thus Johnston CELURCA or MONS ROSARUM Aureolis urbs picta rosis mons molliter urbi Imminet hinc urbi nomina facta canunt At veteres perhibent quondam dixisse Celurcam Nomine sic prisco nobilitata novo est Et prisca atque nova insignis virtute virûmque Ingeniis Patriae qui peperere decus A leaning mount which golden roses grace At once adorns and names the happy place But ancient times Celurca call'd the town Thus is it proud of old and late renown And old and late brave sons whose wit and hand Have brought new trophies to their native land Not far from hence is Boschain Boschain belonging to the Barons of Ogilvy Baroâs Ogilvy of very ancient nobility descended from that Alexander Sheriff of Angus who was slain in the bloody battle at Harley against the Mac-donalds of the Isles As for the Earls of Angus Earls of Angus Gilchrist of Angus a person illustrious for his brave exploits under Malcolm the 4th was the first Earl of Angus that I read of About the year 1242 John Comin was Earl of Angus who died in France and his Dowager perhaps heiress of the Earldom was married to Gilbert Umfravile an Englishman For both he and his heirs successively were summoned to the Parliament of England till the 3d year of K. Richard 2d under the title of Earls of Angus But the English Lawyers refused in their Instruments to own him for an Earl because Angus was not within the Kingdom of England till he produced in open Court the King 's Writ whereby he was summoned to Parliament under the name of Earl of Angus In the reign of David Brus Sc tââ chron con Tho. Steward was Earl of Angus who took Berwick by surprize but presently lost it again and a little after died miserably in prison at Dunbritton The Douglasses men of haughty minds and invincible hearts ever since the reign of Robert the 3d have been Earls of Angus after that Geo. Douglass had married the Kings Daughter and are reputed the chief and principal Earls of Scotland whose Office it is to carry the Regal Crown before the Kings at all the solemn Assemblies of the Kingdom The sixth Earl of Angus of this race was Archibald who married Margaret daughter to Henry the 7th and mother to James the 5th King of Scotland by whom he had issue Margaret Wife to Matthew Stewart Earl of Lennox she after her brother's death without issue willingly resigned up her right to this Earldom with the consent of her husband and sons to David Douglass of Peteindreich her Uncle's son by the father's side to the end that by this obligation she might engage that family more closely to her which was already the nearest allied in bloud At the same time her son Henry was about to marry Queen Mary By which marriage King James Monarch of Great Britain was happily born for the general good of these nations h s Now it is a Marquisate in the same family MERNIS THese parts were in Ptolemy's time inhabited by the Vernicones the same perhaps with Marcellinus's Vecturiones But this name of theirs is now quite lost unless we can imagine some little piece of it remains in Mernis For oftentimes in common discourse in the British tongue V is changed into M. THis little Province Mernis butting upon the German Ocean is of a rich soil and generally a level and champagne countrey The most memorable place in it is Dunotyr Dunotyr a castle advanced upon an high and inaccessible rock looking down on the sea beneath fortified with strong walls and towers at certain distances which hath long been the seat of the Keiths Kâith a very ancient and noble family and they in recompence of their valour have long been hereditary Earls Marshals Earls Marshals of the Kingdom of Scotland and Sheriffs of this Province Sheriffdom of Kincarain or Mernis In a Porch here is to be seen that ancient Inscription abovementioned of a * Vex. âticâis Company belonging to the XXth Legion the letters whereof the most
The British Bishops seem no less to have despised riches for they had no subsistence of their own Thus as we find in Sulpitius Severus The British Bishops The Bishops of Britain in the Council holden at Rhimini were maintained by the publick having nothing of their own to live upon The Saxons in that age flock'd hither as to the great mart for learning and this is the reason why we find this so often in our Writers Such a one was sent over into Ireland to be educated o Vide Bed lib. 3. c. 7 27. and this passage in the life of Sulgenus who flourish'd 600 years ago Exemplo patrum commotus amore legendi Jvit ad Hibernos Sophia mirabile claros With love of learning and examples fir'd To Ireland fam'd for wisdom he repair'd The Sâtâns ââem to the borrowed ââeir letâââs from ãâã Iââsh And perhaps our fore-fathers the Saxons took the draught and form of their letters from them their character being the same with that at this day used in Ireland Nor is there any reason to admire that Ireland which for the most part is now rude and barbarous and without the glory of polite literature Religion and learning flourish sometimes in one Country and sometimes in another was so full of pious and great Wits in that age wherein learning was little heeded throughout Christendom when the wisdom of Providence has so ordered it that Religion and Learning shall grow and flourish sometimes in one Nation and sometimes in another to the end that by every transplantation a new growth may shoot up and flourish to his glory and the good of mankind However the outrage of wars by little and little soon put a stop to the pursuits and study of Religion and Learning in this Kingdom For in the year 644 EgfrÃd King of Northumberland with fire and sword spoil'd Ireland which was then a very kind allie to England and for this reason he is most sadly complain'd of by Bede After the Norwegians under the conduct of Turgesius Ireland wast d by the Norwegi wasted this Country in a most dismal manner for the space of 30 years together but he being cut off by an ambush laid for him the inhabitants fell upon the Norwegians and made such an entire defeat of them that hardly so much as one escaped Now these Norwegians were without doubt those Normans who as Rheginus tells us in Charles the Great 's time invaded Ireland an Island of the Scots and were put to flight by them Afterwards Oustmanni those perhaps whom Tac. calls Aestiân s Eginârdâs Aitisti the Oustmanni i.e. the East-men came from the sea coasts of Germany into Ireland where under the colour of trade and merchandise being admitted into some cities in a short time they began a very dangerous war Much about this time Edgar the most potent King of the English conquered a great part of Ireland For thus we find it in a certain Charter of his Unto whom God has graciously granted together with the Empire of England the dominion over all the Kingdoms of the Islands with their fierce Kings as far as Norway and the conquest of the greatest part of Ireland with her most noble city Dublin These tempests from foreign parts were soon succeeded by a worse storm of dissention at home which made way for the English Conquest of that Country Henry the second King of England seeing the differences and emulations among the petty Princes of Ireland took this opportunity and in the year 1155 moved the Conquest of Ireland to his Barons for the use of his brother William of Anjou However by advice of his mother Maud Robert de Moâte ad annum 1185. De mic the son of Murchard 1167. the Empress this design was deferred and put off to another time Not many years after Dermicius the son of Murchard Dermic Mac Morrog as they call him who governed the east part of Ireland in Latin Lagenia commonly Leinster for his tyranny and extravagant lusts for he had ravished p The wife of O. Rorke daughter of a petty King of Mâath the wise of O. Rorkes petty King of Meath was driven from his Country and obtained aid and forces of King Henry the second to restore him He made this contract also with Richard Earl of Pembroke sirnamed Strongbow Richard Strongbow of the family of Clare that if he would assist him he would ensure the succession of his Kingdom to the Earl and give him his daughter Eva to wife Upon this the Earl forthwith raised a good Army consisting of Welsh and English induced the Fitz-Geralds Fitz-Stephens and other of the English Nobility to assist him and by these powers not only restored Dermicius his Father-in-law but in a few years made such progress in the conquest of Ireland that the King of England began to grow jealous and suspect his power so that he put forth his Proclamation requiring the said Earl and his adherents upon grievous penalties to return out of Ireland declaring that if they did not forthwith obey they should be banished and their goods confiscated Hereupon the Earl by deed and covenant made over to the King all that he had in Ireland either in right of his wife or of his sword and so had the Earldoms of Weisford Ossory Carterlogh and Kildare with some castles bestowed upon him by the King to hold of him After this King Henry the second raised an army sailed over into Ireland in the year 1172 Henr. 2. enters Ireland and obtained the soveraignty of that Island q Câââcerning the Coâonies sent from England and Wales into Ireland in the time of King Henr. 2. and the Lands granted therein see Ware 's Antiquitat Hâbârn p. 232. For the States of Ireland conferred upon him their whole power and authority Girald Cambrens MS. In the hands of Baron Howth namely Rotheric O Conor Dun that is to say the brown King of Ireland Dermot Mac Carty King of Cork Donald O Bren King of Limerick O Carel King of Uriel Mac Shaglin King of Ophaly r O Rorke was not King of Meath O Rorke King of Meath O Neale King of Ulster with all the rest of the Nobility and people by Charters signed delivered and sent to Rome from whence it was confirmed by a Diploma of Pope Hadrian's Synod 1. 2. at Cassil Armagh and by a ring sent him as a token of his Investiture it was also ratified by the authority of certain Provincial Synods Afterwards King Henry the second bestowed the Soveraignty of Ireland upon his son John which was confirmed by a Bull from Pope Urban who to confirm him in it sent him a Crown of Peacocks Feathers embroidered with Gold Authors affirm that when this Prince came to the Crown he granted by his Charter that both Ireland and England should be held of the Church of Rome Hovedun and that he received it
and securest of any in the Island but there are on both sides of the Island divers other Havens very commodious for trade The Air and Soil The Air of this Island is sharp and cold in winter but much more mild than in Wales the frosts are short and seldom The place is very wholesom to live in for they never have any damps or venomous vapours arising out of the earth The Plague was never known to have been there in any of their Ancestors memory The Inhabitants are long-lived they ordinarily living to fourscore many to an hundred years and upwards The Women are very fruitful The soil in the northern part of the Island is for the most part heathy and gravelly ground much resembling the mountainous parts of Wales in the south they have very good meadow and pasture-ground All parts of the Island yields store of all sorts of grain both barly wheat rye and oates not only enough for its own Inhabitants but likewise for exportation to other places They have oates in greatest plenty of which the inhabitants generally make their bread They have likewise good store of honey flax and hemp The Cattle Their Neat for the most part feed in heathy ground and lye continually in the open fields both winter and summer so that they are but small and poor resembling those of Ireland and much inferior to the English breed Their horses are likewise poor and small and very unsightly because of the little care taken about them For they are never housed or dressed but exposed to wind and weather in the coldest season They will endure a great deal of labour and hardship being all of a sooty black colour and their hair long and stragling The sheep thrive very well in this Island they are fat and their flesh well-tasted but generally of a small bulk The wooll of their sheep is very good but they have a small quantity of a certain sort which is remarkable and far exceeds their other wooll in fineness This sort the Manksmen call Laughton-wooll which in their language signifies wooll of a greyish colour though according to my Author it resembles rather a sandy or deer-colour The rarity of it is that 't is not to be found in any certain place of the Island but that one only sheep of a whole flock always has this coloured wooll and they are observed never to impart the same to their lambs so that there is but a small quantity of it to be had throughout the Island Here they have plenty of hogs of an ordinary bigness There is also here great store of Otters Badgers Foxes Hares and Conies The Hares of this Island are very fat which is a property in them not to be met with in many other Countries There are some Deer in the Mountains but they belong to the Lord of the Island and therefore none are permitted to hunt them without a licence from him under the penalty of a fine of three pounds besides imprisonment during the Lord's pleasure The Fowl The Hawks here are very good and thought to equal if not exceed those of Ireland And therefore it was that King Henry the fourth in his Letters Patents of the grant of this Island to Sir John Stanley the first King of Man of that name and race obliged him in lieu of all other services upon the day of his and his Successors Coronation to present him with a Cast of Hawks They have here store of geese hens ducks and wild fowl Neither Partridges nor Farkers will live in this Isle though imported The Isle of Man has this in common with Ireland that it is free from toads snakes and all other such venemous creatures I know * Top. Hib. cap. 15. Giraldus Cambrensis and from him Mr. Camden doth say that this Island being equally distant from England and Ireland there arose anciently a controversie to which of the two Kingdoms it should belong which was decided by making experiment whether the soil thereof would foster any venemous creatures and accordingly some toads and other venemous creatures being brought to make trial and living upon the soil the Island was adjudged to belong to Britain as participating more of the nature of its soil than that of Ireland But it seems those that were brought to make the trial did not propagate their kind for the Manksmen do at this day glory in their immunity from such noxious creatures and my author does aver that during his abode in the Island he neither did see nor hear of any such except only Spiders which Ireland also hath though without venom But whether these spiders of the Isle of Man had that quality to be without venom he made no experiment The Island abounds with many little currents of fresh water which because of their smallness may be more properly called Rivulets than Rivers Their spring-water is of a pure pleasant taste Here they have great store of salmon cod haddock Macrel raie place thornback and other sorts of fish but especially of herrings There are few or no oysters or muscles but of crabs lobsters and cockles great abundance There are no woods in the Island Their Fewel although in former times they had them in great plenty and many oaks are now often digged up under ground There is not a tree to be seen any where in the Island except such as grow in gardens There is no sea-coal as yet discovered in the Island so their woods being destroyed there would be a great scarcity of fewel were it not that they have sufficient store of sea-coal imported The only fewel which the Island naturally produces is gorze and heath which they call ling as also broom They have plenty of a coarse sort of turf but of Turf that is good they have but a small quantity The Island of Man is indifferently populous Their Towns and Foââ neither wanting nor abounding with Inhabitants in former times it had more Towns and was better peopled than now At present they have only four principal Towns which are Castle-town the Metropolis of the Island that went formerly by the name of Russin Douglas Ramsey and Peel They are all four situated in the maritime parts of the Island each of them has a harbor and at every haven there is a castle and a sconce or block-house The houses are all of one fashion low built and thatch'd and only two stories high the upper rooms which they commonly let to strangers to lodge in are cieled over head and plaistered They begin to improve in their building for in Castle-town and Douglas they build their houses three stories high and cover them with tile instead of thatch In these Towns of the Isle of Man they have no Mayors or Aldermen nor so much as a Recorder Town-Clerk or any such Officer When any riots or disorders happen in the Towns either some of the Lord's Officers or the Constable which is the same as Governor of the next
Chancellor representing the Lord's person and this Court the Governor may keep every week as occasion shall require Besides the customary Laws do so impower the Governor or any of the two Deemsters as that in effect they are Courts of Record in themselves If either of these be but riding or walking in the high-way and if any person have cause of complaint against another for debt or any extraordinary business he may procure a Token from the Governor or Deemster to bring the party before him And if the party do either confess the debt or matter or it appear by the testimony of two witnesses upon their oaths that such a debt is due either of the said officers may give their Token for execution to the Coroner or to his Lockman And this is as good and valid as if the matter had in Court received trial by verdict of the Jury or by a Decree in Chancery The Citations in the Courts of this Island are not in the form of a Writing but after this manner The Plaintiff cometh to the Comptroller and entereth his Complaint and taking a Copy thereof he sheweth it to the Governour or Deemster Either of them takes up a piece of blew slate which is common enough in any part of the Island and upon that slate scrapes what mark he pleases This stone so marked is called a Token which being given to the Plaintiff he delivereth it to the Crowner of the place where the Defendant resides and the Defendant having received it is bound to appear and answer It has been an antient custom in that Island that if the Plaintiff find his Adversary present in the Court while the Court is sitting he may take him by the arm and bring him before the Governour and set his foot upon his Adversary's foot and there plead his Cause against him without the formality of summoning him with a Token In these Courts each Party pleads his own Cause vivâ voce so that they have no occasion for any Lawyers Proctors or Attorneys which Custom obtains but in few places of Europe as in Sweden and Denmark From these Courts there lies an Appeal to the Lord of the Island and from him to the King of England but it seldom happens that they have any Appeals All Causes both in spiritual and temporal Courts are prosecuted and ended without one penny of charges They had here an old custom concerning Debts which is now abolished When the Debtor died An antrenâ custom foâ the recovery of Debts and was buried and there remained no Writings to prove the Debt the Creditor came to the Grave of the deceased and laid himself all along with his back upon the grave with his face towards Heaven and a Bible on his breast and there he protested before God that is above him and by the contents of the Bible on his breast that the deceased there buried under him did owe him so much money and then the Executors were bound to pay him But in the year 1609 this custom was abolished and such Controversies order'd to be tried according to the form of Law by Witnesses or otherwise In this Island there are several of those round hills The manner of uâns fouâ in this Isâ which in the plains of Wiltshire are very frequent and by the Inhabitants termed Barrowes In the midland parts of England they are called Lowes and are commonly held to be places of Sepulture * Descr the Isle oâ Man p 1â Mr. James Chaloner during his abode in the Isle caused one of these to be opened in which were found 14 rotten Urns or earthen Pots placed with their mouths downwards and one more neatly than the rest in a bed of fine white sand containing nothing but a few brittle bones as having passed the fire but no ashes left discernible Some of these are environed with great stones pitched end-ways in the earth and some of the Urns found enclosed in Coffins of stone one Coffin containing divers of them The Isle of Man hath ever since its first plantation The Lorâ of Man been reputed a Monarchical State and whoever is of right Lord of it may not only use the title of King but may cause himself to be crowned with a Crown of Gold * Walsiââ Hypodigâ Neustriâ p. 546. though it is not improbable that in their first and original Installations they made use of a Crown of Iron as has been heretofore done by the Kings of England and as Charles the fourth Emperour of Germany was crowned at Milan An. 1334. The Kings of Man have now of a long time waved their title of King and instead thereof assumed the title of Lord but they still retain almost all the Jura Regalia they enjoyed heretofore They have still power of life and death to banish or condemn to perpetual Imprisonment to raise men and money to place or displace any officer in the Island at their own pleasure and all fines and forfeitures in cases of Treason Felony and Felo de se do belong to them The greatest difference betwixt a King and Lord of Man is That the Kings were crowned whereas the Lords now are only publickly proclaimed and installed The Kings created Barons made Knights and Esquires but the Lords never confer any titles of honour The Kings of Man in old times according to the Manks tradition claim'd the whole Island and all the Revenues thereof as belonging to the Crown The Inhabitants had no right to any Inheritance in the Island but were only Tenants at will and held their Lands of the King for the performance of certain duties and and services And this tenure they called The holding by the straw which was first changed into Leases for three Lives during the late Civil Wars thereby to augment the Lord's Revenues the Tenants being then obliged to pay yearly a quit-rent and a fine at renewing The Kings of this Island have at different times been tributaries both to the Kings of England Scotland and Norway and were obliged in token of their subjection to these States to pay a certain Homage at the Coronation of any of the Princes of these Kingdoms They have made many wars in attempts to enlarge their Dominions beyond the Confines of this little Island not only in Venedotia against the King of North-wales especially in Anglesey but also in Ireland where Godred Cron. of Man An. â147 son to Olave King of Man was crowned King of Dublin and subdued a great part of Leinster but left it not to his successors Likewise for some years by the favour and aid of Magnus King of Norway they had under their subjection some if not all the Islands on the West part of Scotland Hollinsh â 293. which are called Hebrides and upon this account stiled themselves Kings of Man and of the Islands But Alexander King of Scotland An. 1266. not only recovered these Islands but reduced the Isle of Man it self to his subjection and placed
may believe Tacitus but questionless they were known in the time of Claudius the Emperor for Pomponious Mela who then lived mentioneth them Yet doubtless Orosius is untrue in that he writeth that Claudius conquered them So little right has Claudius to this conquest as Hierom relates in his chronicle that Juvenal in Hadrian's time writes thus of them Arma quid ultra Littera Juvernae promovimus modo captas Orcades minima contentos nocte Britannos What tho' the Orcades have own'd our power What tho' Juverna's tam'd and Britain's shore That boasts the shortest night Afterwards when the Roman Empire was utterly extinct in Britain 4 The Saxons the Picts planted themselves in these Islands thus Claudian poetically alludes Maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades The Orcades with Saxon gore or estow'd Ninnius also tells us that Octha and Ebissus both Saxons who served under the Britains sailed round the Picts in 5 40 vl Kyules and wasted Orkney After that they fell under the dominion of the Norwegians upon which account the Inhabitants speak Gothick by the grant of Donald Ban who after the death of his brother Malcolm Can Mor King of Scots had excluded his nephews and usurped the Kingdom and thought to procure a second by this means to support him in his designs The Norwegians continued in possession of them till the year 1266. Then Magnus the fourth of that name King of Norway being exhausted by a war with Scotland surrendered it to Alexander the third King of Scots by treaty which was afterwards confirmed to King Robert Brus in the year 1312 by Haquin King of Norway At last in the year 6 1498. 1468 Christian the first King of Norway and Denmark renounced and quitted all the right either of him or his successors in it to James the third King of Scotland upon a marriage between him and his daughter and so transferred all his right upon his son in law and his successors for ever For the better warrant and assurance whereof it was also confirm'd by the Pope As for the Earls of Orkney Earls of Oâkney not to mention the ancient who also held the Earldom of Cathness and Strathern as an inheritance This title was at last by an heir female derived upon William de Sentcler and William the fourth Earl of this family sirnamed the Prodigal run out the estate and was the last Earl of the family Yet his posterity have enjoyed the honour of Barons Sentcler till within this little while And the title of Cathness remains at this day in the posterity of his brother But as for the honourable title of Earl of Orkney it was since this last age together with the title of Lord of Shetland conferr'd upon Robert a natural son of King James the fifth which his son Patrick Steward enjoys at this day * The present Governors are stiâed Stewards of Orkney Additions to the ORCADES THE Isles of Orkney are generally so little known and yet withall so slightly touch'd upon by our Author that the Curious must needs be well pleas'd to see a farther Description of them Mr. James Wallace is our authority a person very well vers'd in Antiquities and particularly in such as belong'd to those parts where his station gave him an opportunity of informing himself more exactly He was Minister of Kirkwall Orkney lies in the Northern temperate Zone in longitude 22 degr 11 min. in latitude 59 degr 2 min. The length of the longest day is 18 hours and some odd minutes For a great part of June it will be so clear at midnight that one may read a letter in their chamber yet what Bleau tells us cannot be true that from the hill of Hoy a man may see the sun at midnight It cannot be the true body of the sun but only the image of it refracted through the sea or some watery cloud about the Horizon seeing it must be as far depressed under our Horizon in June as 't is elevated above it in December and from that hill the sun is to be seen in the shortest day of December above 5 hours and a half The Air the Seasons and the particular Islands my Author shall describe to you in his own words The air and clouds here by the operation of the sun do sometime generate several things for instance Not many years since some fishermen fishing half a league from land over-against Copinsha in a fair day there fell down from the air a stone about the bigness of a foot-ball which fell in the midst of the boat and sprung a leak in it to the great hazard of the lives of the men that were in it which could be no other but some substance generated in the clouds The stone was like condensed or petrified clay and was a long time in the custody of Captain Andrew Dick at that time Stewart of that Country Here our winters are generally more subject to rain than snow nor does the frost and snow continue so long here as in other parts of Scotland but the winds in the mean time will often blow very boistrously sometimes the rains descends not by drops but by spouts of water as if whole clouds fell down at once About four year ago after a thunder in the month of June there fell a great flake of ice more than a foot thick This Country is wholly surrounded with the sea having Pightland-Frith on the south the Deucaledonian ocean on the west the sea that divides it from Zetland on the north and the German sea on the east Zetland stands north east and by east from Orkney and from the Start in Sanda to Swinburgh-head the most southerly point in Zetland will be about 18 leagues where there is nothing but sea all the way save Fair-Isle which lies within eight leagues of Swinburgh-head Pightland-Firth which divides this Country from Caithness is in breadth from Duncans-bay to the nearest point of South Ronalsha in Orkney about twelve miles in it are many tides to the number of twenty four which run with such an impetuous current that a ship under sail is no more able to make way against the tide than if it were hindred by a Remora which I conceive is the cause why some have said that they have found the Remora in these seas In this Firth about two miles from the coast of Caithness lies Stroma a little isle but pleasant and fruitful and because of its vicinity to Caithness and its being still under the jurisdictions of the Lords of that Country it is not counted as one of the isles of Orkney On the north side of this isle is a part of the Firth called the Swelches of Stroma and at the west end of it betwixt it and Mey in Caithness there is another part of it called the Merrie Men of Mey both which are very dangerous The sea ebbs and flowes here as in other places yet there are some Phaenomena the reason of which cannot easily
word of his own country because it grows plentifully upon those turfs which they call Britten In his Vâcabulary the âerb Britten of which they raise dikes to keep the Ocean from breaking in upon them there seems to be no absurdity if one should reduce this Huis de Britten to the same original and suppose it so called because it was fenced with banks of turf or Britten against the incursions of the sea and that it might be overthrown by the sea upon a breach made in these banks But without more ado I leave the determination of this controversie to them that are better acquainted with the nature of the word and the situation of the place and beg their pardon for trespassing thus far where I had no right On this coast lie also the Isles of Zealand Zeland surrounded by the rivers Scaldi Maese and with the Ocean I have only this to say of them that the name Valachria Toliapis Caunus Cânvey Shapey this is the chief came from the Welsh as Lemnius Levinus conjectures Over-against Zealand lies the mouth of the Thames the noblest river in Britain here Ptolemy places Toliapis and Cauna or Convenââs For Toliapis which I take to be Shepey see in Kent and of Convennor in Essex Without the mouth of the Thames eastward before the Isle of Tenet lies a long shell of quick sands very dangerous call'd the Goodwin-Sands Godwin-Sands where in the year 1097 an Island that belonged to Earl Goodwin was swallowed up according to our Annals a A particular account of these Sands viz. how they happened at first why so called c. see in Mr. Somner's Forts and Ports in Kent published by Mr. James Brome John Twine writes thus of it This Isle was fruitful and had good pastures situated lower than Tenet from which there was a passage for about three or four miles by boat This Island in an unusual storm of wind and rain and in a very high sea sunk down and was covered with heaps of sand and so irrecoverably converted into an amphibious nature between land and sea I know very well what I say for sometimes it floats and sometimes one may walk up it This is perhaps Toliapis unless one had rather read Thanatis for Toliapis which is writ Toliatis in some copies but we have already spoke of this in Kent Here this great body of waters is pent within so small a chanel The Bââtish Sea that between Britain and the Continent of Europe the Ocean is not above thirty miles broad This narrow Fretum some call'd the British others the French Sea This is the boundary of the British Ocean which by little and little inlarges the space between the two shoars which were in a manner united and by cutting off the land a-like on both sides makes it self room to flow from east to west between Britain and France Here the British sea begins The first Island we meet with in it or rather Peninsula is Selsy in Saxon Seolsea that is according to Bede's explanation an Isle of Seals Seals Pag. But this has been already handled Above this lies the Isle Vecta in Welsh Guith Vecta The Isle oâ Wight ãâã Southam in Saxon Wuit-land and WicÆ¿-ea for Ea signifies an Island by us call'd the Isle of Wight and Whight which we have described already As for Portland which is not now an Isle Portland v. Dorset but joined to the Continent it has likewise been already described in Dorsetshire But now to cross over to the opposite coast of France which from Beerfleet in Normandy the Mariners think to be lined with rocks and crags as far as the very middle of the chanel Among these William the son of Henry the first and heir apparent to the crowns of England and Normandy was cast away with his sister a bastard brother and others of the greatest of the Nobility that accompanied him in the year 1120 as he was sailing from Normandy to England Hence a Poet of that age Abstulit hunc terrae matri maris unda noverca Proh dolor occubuit Sol Anglicus Anglia plora Quaeque prius fueras gemino radiata nitore Extincto nato vivas contenta parente Funus plangendum privat lapis aequoris unus Et ratis una suo principe regna duo He from 's dear mother earth was snatch'd away By 's cruel step-mother the barbarous sea Weep weep the light that is for ever gone Weep England that could'st boast a double sun But sadly now must be content with one Sad fate one rock beneath deceitful waves Two helpless Kingdoms of their Prince bereaves Another of the same age writes thus upon this occasion Dum Normannigenae Gallis claris superatis Anglica regna petunt obstitit ipse Deus Aspera nam fragili dum sulcant aequora cymba Intulit excito nubila densa mari Dumque vagi caeco rapiuntur tramite nautae Ruperunt imas abdita saxa rates Sic mare dum superans tabulata per ultima serpit Mersit rege satos occidit orbis honos While Norman Victors o're the waves were born A fiercer foe oppos'd their wish'd return Now homeward the triumphant vessel stood When sudden tempests rouz'd the sudden flood The trembling Pilots fearful of delay Thro' unknown shallows cut their fatal way And fell on secret rocks an heedless prey And conqu'ring billows now by sad degrees Above the Prince's cabbin proudly rise Ner'e could the Ocean boast a nobler prize More westward we may discern some Islands just over-against France yet belonging to the crown of England The first is that by Normandy or upon the coast of Lexobii whom our Welsh call Lettaw as much as to say Coasters hard by is Alderney Alderney term'd in the records of the tower Aurney Aureney and Aurigney so that one would take it for the Arica Arica which Antoninus according to a manuscript that the King of Spain has reckons among the Islands of the British Sea Others suppose it Ebodia Ebodia or Evodia which P. Diaconus and he only who was but little acquainted with these parts takes notice of and places at thirty miles distant from the shore of Sein and tells us of a roaring noise of waters that may be heard afar off This Alderney 2 This Aldeerney lieth in the chief trade of all shipping passing from the Eastern parts to the West three leagues distant from the coast of Normandy thirty from the nearest part of England extended from South East to the North West and containeth about eight miles in circuit the South shore consisting of high cliffs The air is healthful the soil sufficiently rich full of fresh pastures and corn-fields yet the inhabitants poââ through a custom of parting their lands into small parcels by Gavelkind The town is situate well near in the midst of the Isle having a Parish Church and about 80 families with an harbour called Crabbic some miles off On the East
into possession by the King of France upon certain conditions but was detain'd unjustly and treacherously John Archbishop of Dublin and some other great men were sent to the Kinâ in Almain upon this account After they had receiv'd their answer in Tordran the Archbishop return'd into England and died oâ S. Leodegarys day The bones of which John Sampford werâ interr'd in S. Patrick's Church in Dublin on the 10th day beforâ the Kalends of March. The same year there arose a debate between William Lord Vescy then Justiciary of Ireland and the Lord John Fitz Thomas and the said Lord William Vescy went into England and lefâ Sir William de la Hay to officiate as Justiciary But when botâ them were before the King for combat upon an appeel for treason William Vescy fled into France and would not fight Whereupon the King of England gave all the Seigniories that belong'd to him to Sir John Fitz Thomas viz. Kildare Rathemgan and manâ others The same year Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester return'd ouâ of Ireland into England Likewise Richard Earl of Ulster sooâ after S. Nicholas's day was taken prisoner by Sir John Fitz Thomas and kept within the castle of Ley till the feast of S. Gregory Pope but was then set at liberty by the Council of our Lord thâ King in a Parliament at Kilkenny John Fitz Thomas gave aâ his lands for taking him viz. Slygo with other Possessions belonging to him in Conaght Item this year the castle of Kildare was taken but Kildarâ and the Country round it was wasted by the English and the Irish Calvagh burnt all the Rolls and Tallies of the said Earl This yeaâ and the two next following there was much dearth and Pestilencâ throughout Ireland Item William Lord Dooddyngzele was made Justiciary of Irelanâ MCCXCV Edward King of England built the Castle de Beâ Marisco i.e. Beaumaris in Venedocia which is call'd the motheâ of Cambria but commonly Anglesey and enter'd it immediatelâ after Easter subduing the Venedotes i.e. the able men of Anglesey and making them subject to him Soon after this viz. about thâ Feast of S. Margaret Madock at that time Prince elect of Waleâ submitted himself to the King's mercy and was brought to Londoâ by John de Haverings where he was clapt in the Tower to waâ the King's grace and favour This year died William Dooddingzeâ Justiciary of Ireland the day after S. Mary of Egypt Sir Thomas Fitz-Maurice succeeded him Also about the same time thâ Irish in Leinster destroy'd that Province burning the new Castââ with other Villages Item Thomas de Torbevile a seducer oâ the King and betrayer of his Country was drawn through the middle of London lying out at length and guarded with four Toâmentors in Vizards who revil'd him as we went along At lasâ he was gibbeted and deny'd the privilege of Burial having nonâ to attend his Funeral but Kites and Crows This Thomas waâ one of them who in the Siege of the Castle of Rions was takeâ and carry'd to Paris Whereupon he promis'd the Nobility oâ France that he would deliver to them the King of England anâ leaving his two Sons as Pledges came over and told the King oâ England and his Council how narrowly he escap'd out of Prisoâ When he had inform'd himself of the designs of the King anâ state of the Kingdom he sent the whole in writing to the Provoâ of Paris Of which being convicted he was executed iâ the manner aforesaid About the same time the Scoâ having broken the Peace which they had covenanted with oââ Lord King of England made a new league with the King oâ France and conspiring together rose up in Arms against their owâ sovereign Lord and King John Baillol and shut him up in the midland parts of Scotland in a Castle encompass'd with Mountain This was done in pure spight and contempt to the King of England because he had set the said John over them without theââ will and consent The King of England brought another Army ãâã Scotland the Lent following to chastise the Scots for their presumption and arrogance against their own Father and King Sâ John Wogan was made Justiciary of Ireland and the Lord Thomas Fitz-Maurice give place to him This Wogan made a Trucâ for two years between the Earl of Ulster and John Fitz-Thomas and the Geraldines About Christmas-day this year Gilbert Clarâ Earl of Glocester departed this life Item the King of Englanâ sent his Brother Edmund with an Army into Gascoign MCCXCVI The Lord Edward King of England on the thirâ day before the Kalends of April viz. upon Friday that fell oââ then to be Easter-week took Berwick with the slaughter of seveâ thousand Scots and not of above one of the English Knights viâ Sir John of Cornwall and seven Footmen more Shortly after abouâ the 4th of May he enter'd the Castle of Dunbar and took abouâ forty of the Enemy Prisoners who submitted themselves to thâ King's mercy having before defeated the whole Army of the Scots that is to say slain seven hundred Horse with the loss of Footmeâ only on the English side Item upon S. John's-day before Port-latin about 15000 Welchmeâ were sent to invade Scotland by the King's Order At the same timâ the Nobility of Ireland viz. John Wogan Justiciary Richard Bourâ Earl of Ulster Theobald Butler and John Fitz-Thomas witâ others came to assist in this Expedition to Scotland The Kinâ of England also entertain'd them with others of the English Nobility upon the third day before the Ides of May viz. Whitsuâday with a great Feast in the castle of Rokesburgh Item on thâ next Wednesday before S. Barnabas he enter'd the Town of Edinburgh and won the castle before the Feast of S. John Baptist shortly after in the same Summer all the castles in Scotland were surrender'd up to him Item John Balliol King of Scotland came tho' much against his will to the King of England upon the Sunday next after the Translation of S. Thomas the Archbishop attended with many Earls Bishops and Knights and they surrender'd all to the King but their lives and limbs and their Lord John Balliol gave up all his Right and Title in Scotland to the King of England who sent him under a safe guard towards London Item Edmund Brother to the King of England died this year in Gascoign MCCXCVII Our Lord Edward King of England sail'd into Flanders with an Army against the King of France where after much expence and altercation a form of Peace was concluded between them upon condition they should stand to the award and judgment of the Pope From the one side and the other certain Messengers were sent to the Court of Rome but while the King was in Flanders William Walleis according to a general Resolution of the Scots came with a great Army to Strivelin-bridge to engage John Earl of Warren in which Battel many were slain on both sides and many drown'd but however the English were
call'd Hogelyn John de Northon John de Breton and many others Item On the 16th before the kalends of July Dolovan Tobyr and other towns and villages bordering upon them were burnt down by the said malefactors Item Soon after this a great Parliament was held at London wherein a sad difference arose between the Barons upon the account of Pieirs Gaveston who was banish'd out of the Kingdom of England the day after the feast of S. John the baptist's nativity and went over into Ireland about the feast of the Saints Quirita and Julita together with his wife and sister the Countess of Glocester and came to Dublin in great state and there continued Item William Mac Baltor a stout robber and incendiary was condemn'd in the court of our Lord the King at Dublin by the Lord Chief Justice John Wogan on the 12th before the kalends of September and was drawn at a horse's tail to the gallows and there hang'd as he deserv'd Item This year a marble cistern was made to receive the Water from the conduit-head in Dublin such as was never before seen here by the Mayor of the City Master John Decer and all at his own proper expences This same John a little before made a bridge to be built over the river Aven-Liffie near the priory of S. Wolstan He also built the Chappel of S. Mary of the Friers minors wherein he was buried and the Chappel of S. Mary of the Hospital of S. John in Dublin Item This John Decer was bountiful to the convent of Friers Predicants in Dublin For instance he made one stone-pillar in the Church and laid the great stone upon the high altar with all its ornaments Item He entertain'd the friers at his own table on the 6th day of the week out of pure charity as the seniors have reported to their juniors Item The Lord John Wogan took ship in Autumn to be at the parliament of England and the Lord William Bourk was appointed Keeper of Ireland in his room Item This year on the eve of S. Simon and Jude the Lord Roger de Mortimer and his Lady the right heir of Meth the daughter of the Lord Peter son of Sir Gefferey Genevil arriv'd in Ireland As soon as they landed they took possession of Meth Sir Gefferey Genevil giving way to them and entring himself into the order of the Friers predicants at Trym the morrow after S. Edward the Archbishop's day Item Dermot Odympsy was slain at Tully by the servants of Sir Piers Gaveston Item Richard Bourk Earl of Ulster at Whitsontide made a great feast at Trym and conferr'd Knighthood upon Walter Lacie and Hugh Lacie In the vigil of the Assumption the Earl of Ulster came against Piers Gaveston Earl of Cornwal at Drogheda and at the same time turn'd back towards Scotland Item This year Maud the Earl of Ulster's daughter imbark'd for England in order for a marriage with the Earl of Glocester which within a month was consummated between them Item Maurice Caunton kill'd Richard Talon and the Roches afterwards kill'd him Item Sir David Caunton was hang'd at Dublin Item Odo the son of Cathol O Conghir kill'd Odo O Conghiâ King of Connaght Item Athi was burnt by the Irish MCCCIX Peter Gaveston subdued the O Brynnes in Ireland and rebuilt the new castle of Mackingham and the castle of Kemny he also cut down and scour'd the pass between Kemny castle and Glyndelagh in spite of all the opposition the Irish could make and sâ march'd away and offer'd in the Church of S. Kimny The same year the Lord Peter Gaveston went over into Englanâ on the eve of S. John Baptist's Nativity Item The Earl of Ulster's son's wife daughter of the Earl oâ Glocester came into Ireland on the 15th of October Item On Christmas-eve the Earl of Ulster returned out of England and landed at Drogheda Item On the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sir John Bonevil was slain near the town of Arstol by Sir Arnold Pover and his accomplices and buried at Athy in the Church of the Frierâ predicants Item A Parliament was held at Kilkenny in the octaves of thâ Purification of the Blessed Mary by the Earl of Ulster John Wogan Justiciary of Ireland and others of the nobility wherein a difference among certain of the great men was adjusted and many proviso's made in the nature of statutes that might havâ been of good consequence to the Kingdom if they had been observ'd Item Shortly after Sir Edward Botiller return'd out of England where he had been knighted at London Item The Earl of Ulster Roger Mortimer and Sir John Fitz-Thomas went over into England Item This year died Sir Theobald Verdon MCCCX. King Edward and Sir Peter Gaveston took theiâ march for Scotland against Robert Brus. Item There was this year a great scarcity of corn in Ireland * Eranca an eranc of corn sold at the rate of twenty shilling and upwards Item The Bakers of Dublin were punish'd after a new way foâ false weights For on S. Sampson the Bishop's day they werâ drawn upon hurdles at the horses tails along the streets of thâ City Item In the Abby of S. Thomas the Martyr at Dublin Sir Neiâ Bruin Knight Escheator to our Lord the King in Ireland departed this life his corps was buried at the Friers-minors in Dublin witâ such a pomp of tapers and wax-lights as never was before seen iâ this Kingdom This year a Parliament was held at Kildare wherin Sir Arnold Pover was acquitted of the death of the Lord Bonevil for it waâ found Se defendendo Item On S. Patrick's day Mr. Alexander Bickenor was witâ the unanimous consent of the Chapter made Archbishop of Dublin Item The Lord Roger Mortimer in the octaves of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin return'd into Ireland Item This year died Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln MCCCXI In Thomond at Bonnorathie the Lord Richarâ Clare gave the Earl of Ulster's party a very strange defeat Thâ Lord William Bourk and John the Lord Walter Lacy's Son werâ taken prisoners with many others This battle was fought on thâ 13th before the kalends of June and great numbers both of thâ English and the Irish slain in it Item Tassagard and Rathcante were invaded by the rapperies namely the O Brinnes and O Tothiles the day after S. John Baptist's nativity Whereupon in the Autumn soon after a greaâ army was rais'd in Leinster to defeat them both in Glindelory anâ in other woody places Item In August a Parliament was holden at London between thâ King and the Barons to consider the state of the Kingdom and thâ King's houshold and a committee of six Bishops six Earls and six Barons was appointed to consult the good of the Realm Item On the 2d day before the Ides of November the Lord Richard Clare cut off 600 Galegolaghes Item On All saints day last past Peter Gaveston was banished out of England by the Earls and Barons and many good statutes were
made by them for the benefit of the Kingdom Gaveston quitted the Realm about the feast of All-saints and went into Flanders from whence about four months after he return'd soon after Epiphany privately into England keeping so close to the King that the Barons could not easily come near him He went with the King to York making his abode there in the Lent whereupon the Bishops Earls and Barons of England came to London to consider the state of the Kingdom lest the return of Gaveston might breed disturbance in the state Item Sir John Cogan Sir Walter Faunt and Sir Jehn Fitz Rery died this year and were buried in the Church of the Friers predicants in Dublin Item John Macgoghedan was kill'd by Omolmoy Item This year died William Roch kill'd at Dublin by an arrow which an Irish-highlander shot at him Item Sir Eustace Pover departed this life Item On the eve of S. Peter's Chair a riot was occasion'd in Urgaly by Robert Verdon Item Donat O Brene was traiterously kill'd by his own men in Tothomon MCCCXII Sir Peter Gaveston went into the castle of Scardeburg to defend himself against the Barons But soon after the kalends of June he surrendred himself to Sir Aumare Valence who besieg'd him upon certain conditions Valence was carrying him to London but the Earl of Warwick intercepted him at Dedington and brought him to Warwick where on the 13th before the kalends of July after a consultation among the Earls and Barons he was beheaded and buried in the Church of the Friers predicants in Langley Item The Justiciary of Ireland John Wogan set out at the head of an army against Robert Verdon and his accomplices and âo the 6th before the ides of July was sadly defeated In this Battle Nicholas Avenel Patrick Roch and many others were cut off Upon this the said Verdon and many of his followers surâendred themselves to the King and went into his prison at Dublin ân hopes of favour and pardon Item On thursday the day after S. Lucy the virgin in the 6th year of King Edward the moon appear'd to be of several colours and that day it was resolv'd that the Order of the Templars should be abolish'd Item The Lord Edmund Botiller was made lieutenant to John âogan Justiciary of Ireland In the Lent following he besieg'd the O Brinnes in Glindelory and forc'd them to surrender nay had ââterly destroy'd them if they had not submitted themselves Item The day after the feast of S. Dominick the Lord Mauâice Fitz-Thomas married Catharine the Earl of Ulster's daughter ât Green Castle and Thomas Fitz-John married another daughter of the Earl's on the day after the assumption but in the same place Item The Sunday after the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross the daughter of the Earl of Glocester wife to the Lord John Burk was deliver'd of a son MCCCXIII Frier Roland Joce Primat of Armagh arriv'd in the isle of Houth the day after the annunciation of the blessed Mary and in the night got privately out of his bed took up his Crosier and advanc'd it as far as the Priory of Grace-dieu where âe was encountred by some of the Archbishop of Dublin's servants âho made him leave his Crosier and drove the Primat himself out âf Leinster Item A Parliament was held at London but little or nothing âone towards a peace The King left them and went into France ãâã compliance with an order from that Court taking the sign of ââe Cross upon him with many of his Nobles Item Nicholas Fitz-Maurice and Robert Clonhul were knighted ây the Lord John Fitz-Thomas at Adare in Munster Item On the last of May Robert Brus sent out some gallies with âapperies in them to pillage Ulster but the people made a stout âesistance and drove them off It is reported that Robert himself âânded with them by the Earl's permission in order to make a âânce Item This Summer Master John Decer a Citizen of Dublin âaused a bridge to be built as was very necessary reaching from ââe Town of Balyboght to the causey of the Mill-pool of Clontarf âhich before was a very dangerous passage But after great charge âhe whole bridge arches and all was wash'd down by an inândation Item On the feast of S. Laurence died John Leeks Archbishop âf Dublin two were elected for the succession such was the heat ând difference of the electors Walter Thornbury the King's Chancellor in Ireland and Master Alexander Bicknore Treasurer âf Ireland But Walter Thornbury with about an hundred and ââfty six more were cast away at Sea the night following Bicknor âas at that time expecting the Pope's favour and was afterwards âade Archbishop of Dublin Item The Lord Miles Verdon married the daughter of the Lord âichard de Exeter Item This year the Lord Robert Brus demolish'd the Castle of Manne and on S. Barnaby's day overcame the Lord Donegan Odowill On the feast of Marcellus and Marcellianus the Lord John Burk the heir of Richard Earl of Ulster died at Gallway Item The Lord Edmund Botiller on Sunday being S. Michael's day made thirty Knights in Dublin Castle MCCCXIV The Hospitalers had the lands of the Templars in Ireland bestow'd upon them Item The Lord John Parice was slain at Pount Item On S. Silvester's day the Lord Theobald Verdon came Justiciary into Ireland Item Sir Geffery Genevile a Frier died this year on the 12th before the kalends of November and was buried in his order of Friers predicants of Trym he was also Lord of the liberty of Meth. Item Upon S. Matthew's day this year Loghseudy was burnt and on the Friday following the Lord Edmund Botiller receiv'd his Commission to be Justiciary of Ireland MCCCXV On S. John the Baptist's day the Earl of Glocester was kill'd in an engagement with the Scots and many others were kill'd and taken prisoners The Scots grew insolent upon this success and possess'd themselves of much land and tribute in Northumberland Item Shortly after they invested Carlisse where John Douglas was crush'd to death by a wall that fell upon him This year the Scots not contented with their own possessions arriv'd in the north part of Ireland at Clondonne to the number of 6000. fighting men and expert soldiers namely Edward Brus whole brother to Robert King of Scots with the Earl of Morreth John Meneteth John Steward the Lord John Cambel Thomas Randolfe Fergus de Andressan John de Bosco and John Bisset who possess'd themselves of Ulster and drove the Lord Thomas Mandevile and other subjects out of their estates The Scots entred Ireland on the Feast of S. Augustin the English Apostle in the month of May near Cragfergus in Ulster the first encounter between the English and them was hear Banne wherein the Earl of Ulster was put to flight and William Burk John Stanton and many others were taken Prisoners many were kill'd and the Scots got the day The second encounter was at Kenlys in Meth where Roger Mortimer and his soldiers
and holding there could not be three persons and one God Among other tenents he asserted that the blessed Virgin our Saviour's mother was an harlot that there was no resurection that the holy Scripture was a mere fable and that the apostolical See was an imposture and a groundless usurpation Upon these Articles Duff was convicted of heresie and blasphemy and was thereupon burnt at Hoggis green near Dublin on the Monday after the octaves of Easter in the year 1328. MCCCXXVIII On Tuesday in Easter-week Thomas Fitz John Earl of Kildare and Chief Justice of Ireland departed this life and was succeeded in the office of Justiciary by Frier Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmaynan The same year David O Tothil a stout rapperie and an enemy to the King who had burnt Churches and destroy'd many people was brought out of the castle of Dublin to the Toll of the City before Nicholas Fastol and Elias Ashburne Judges of the King's-Bench who sentenc'd him to be dragg'd at a horse's tail through the City to the Gallows and to be hang'd upon a Gibbet which was after executed accordingly Item In the same year the Lord Moris Fitz Thomas rais'd a great army to destroy the Bourkeyns and the Poers The same year William Lord Bourk Earl of Ulster was knighted at London on Whitsunday and the King gave him his Seigniory Item This year James Botiller married the daughter of the Earl of Hereford in England and was made Earl of Ormond being before called Earl of Tiperary The same Year a Parliament was held at Northampton where many of the English Nobility met and a peace was renew'd between the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and confirm'd by marriages It was enacted also that the Earl of Ulster with several of the English Nobility should go to Berwick upon Tweed to see the marriage solemniz'd The same year after the solemnity of this match at Berwick was over Robert Brus King of Scots William Lord Burk Earl of Ulster the Earl of Meneteth and many other of the Scotch Nobility came very peaceably to Cragfergus whence they sent to the Justiciary of Ireland and the Council that they would meet them at Green Castle to treat about a Peace between Scotland and Ireland but the Justiciary and Council coming not accotding to the King's appointment he took his leave of the Earl of Ulster and return'd into his own Country after the Assumption of the blessed Virgin and the Earl of Ulster came to the Parliament at Dublin where he staid six days and made a great entertainment after which he went into Conaught The same year about the feast of S. Catharine the virgin the Bishop of Ossory certified to the King's Council that Sir Arnold Pour was upon divers Articles convicted before him of heresie Whereupon at the Bishop's suit Sir Arnold Poer by vertue of the King's Writ was arrested and clapt in the Castle of Dublin and a day was appointed for the Bishop's coming to Dublin in order to prosecute him but he excused himself because his enemies had way-laid him for his life So that the King's Council could not put an end to this business wherefore Sir Arnold was kept prisoner in the Castle of Dublin till the following Parliament which was in Midlent where all the Irish Nobility were present The same year Frier Roger Outlaw Prior of the Hospital of S. John of Jerusalem in Ireland Lord Justice and Chancellor of Ireland was scandalized by the said Bishop for favouring heresies and for advising and abetting Sir Arnold in his heretical practice Wherefore the Frier finding himself so unworthily defamed petitioned the King's Council that he might have leave to clear himself which upon consultation they granted and caused it to be proclaim'd for three days together That if there were any person who could inform against the said Frier he should come in and prosecute him but no body came Upon which Roger the Frier procured the King 's Writ to summon the Elders of Ireland viz. the Bishops Abbots Priors and the Mayors of Dublin Cork Limerick Waterford and Drogheda also the Sheriffs and Seneschals together with the Knights of the Shires and the better sort of Free-holders to repair to Dublin out of which six were chosen to examine the cause viz. M. William Rodyard Dean of the Cathedral-Church of S. Patrick in Dublin the Abbot of S. Thomas the Abbot of S. Mary's the Prior of the Church of the holy Trinity in Dublin M. Elias Lawles and Mr. Peter Willebey who convened those who were cited and examined them all apart who deposed upon their Oaths that he was a very honest faithful and zealous embracer of the Christian Faith and would if occasion serv'd lay down his Life for it And because his vindication was so solemn he made a noble entertainment for all them who would come The same year in Lent died Sir Arnold Pouer in the Castle of Dublin and lay a long time unburied in the house of the predicant Friers MCCCXXIX After the feast of the annunciation of the bless'd Virgin Mary the Irish nobility came to the Parliament at Dublin to wit the Earl of Ulster Moris Lord Fitz Thomas the Earl of Louth William Bermingham and the rest of the Peers where was a new peace made between the Earl of Ulster and my Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas and the Lords with the King's Council made an Order against riots or any other breach of the King's peace so that every Nobleman should govern within his own Seignory The Earl of Ulster made a great feast in the Castle of Dublin and the day after the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas made another in S. Patrick's Church in Dublin as did also Frier Roger Outlaw Lord Chief Justice of Ireland on the third day at Kylmaynan and after this they went all home again The same year on S. Barnaby's eve Sir John Bermingham Earl of Louth was kill'd at Balybragan in Urgale by the inhabitants and with him his own brother Peter Bermingham besides Robert Bermingham his reputed brother and Sir John Bermingham son to his brother Richard Lord of Anry William Finne Bermingham the Lord Anry's Uncle's son Simon Bermingham the aforesaid William's son Thomas Berminghan son to Robert of Conaught Peter Bermingham son to James of Conaught Henry Bermingham of Conaught and Richard Talbot of Malaghide a man of great courage besides 200 men whose names are not known After this slaughter Simon Genevils men invaded the Country of Carbry that they might by their plunder ruin the inhabitants for the thefts and murders they had so often committed in Meth but by their rising they prevented the invasion and slew 76 of the Lord Simon 's men The same year also on the day after Trinity-sunday John Gernon and his brother Roger Gernon came to Dublin in the behalf of those of Urgale that they might be tried by the Common-law And on the Tuesday after S. John's-day John and Roger hearing the Lord William Bermingham was a coming to Dublin left
vincula there was bread made of new wheat and wheat was sold in Dublin for 6 pence a peck Item D. Reimund Archedekin Kt. with many others of his family were kill'd in Leinster MCCCXXXVII On the eve of S. Kalixtus the Pope seven partridges leaving the fields God knows why came directly to Dublin where flying very swiftly over the Market-Place they settled on the âop of a brew-house which belonged to the Canons of S. Trinity in Dublin Some of the Citizens came running to this sight wondring very much at so strange a thing the Town-boyes caught two of them alive a third they kill'd at which the rest being frightned-mounted in the air by a swift flight and escap'd into the opposite Fields Now what this should portend a thing unheard of before I shall leave to the judgment of the more skilful Item Sir John Charleton Knight and Baron came with his wife children and family Lord Chief Justice of Ireland at the feast of S. Kalixtus the Pope and some of his sons and family died Item The same day came into Dublin haven D. Thomas Charleton Bishop of Hereford Justice of Ireland with the Chief Justice his Brother Chancellor of Ireland and with them M. John Rees Treasurer of Ireland Mr. in the Decretals besides 200 Welshmen Item Whilst D. John Charleton was Lord Chief Justice and held a Parliament at Dublin Mr. David O Hirraghcy Archbishop of Armagh being called to the Parliament laid in his provisions in the Monastry of S. Mary near Dublin but the Archbishop and his Clerks would not let him keep house there because he would have had his Crosier carried before him Item The same year died David Archbishop of Armagh to whom succeeded an ingenious man M. Richard Fitz-Ralph Dean of Litchfield who was born in Dundalk Item James Botiller the first Earl of Ormond died the 6th of January and was buried at Balygaveran MCCCXXXVIII The Lord John Charleton at the instigation of his Brother the Bishop of Hereford was by the King turn'd out of his place upon which he came back with his whole family into England and the Bishop of Hereford was made Lord Keeper and Chief Justice of Ireland Item Sir Eustace Pover and Sir John Pover his Uncle were by the Justice's order brought up from Munster to Dublin where the third of February they were imprison'd in the Castle Item In some parts of Ireland they had so great a frost that the river Aven-liffie on which the City of Dublin stands was frozen hard enough for them to dance run or play at foot-ball upon and they made wood and turfe fires upon it to broil Herrings The Ice lasted a great while I shall say nothing of the great snow which fell during this frost since the greatness of the depth has made it so remarkable This Frost continued from the second of December till the 10th of February such a season as was never known in Ireland MCCCXXXIX All Ireland was up in Arms. The Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond with the Geraldines who live about Kernige made a great slaughter of the Irish besides 1200 of them who were drown'd in the retreat Item The Lord Moris Fitz-Nicholas Lord of Kernige was by the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond apprehended and put in prison where he died for want of meat and drink for his allowance was but very little because he had rebell'd with the Irish against the King and the Earl Item A great number of the O Dympcies and other Irish were by the English and the vigorous pursuit of the Earl of Kildare kill'd and drowned in the Barrow Item the latter end of February Thomas Bishop of Hereford and Chief Justice of Ireland with the help of the English of that Country took from the Irish about Odrone such a great booty of all sorts of cattle as has not been seen in Leinster MCCCXL The Bishop of Hereford Justice of Ireland being commanded home by his Majesty return'd into England the 10th of April leaving Frier Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmainan in his place who died the 13th of February Item The King of England made John Darcy Lord Chief Justice of Ireland for life MCCCXLI In May Sir John Moris came Lord Chief Justice of Ireland as Deputy to John Darcy Item In the County of Leinster there happen'd such a strange prodigy as has not been heard of A person travelling along the road found a pair of gloves fit for his hands as he thought but when he put them on he he lost his speech immediately and could do nothing but bark like a dog nay from that moment the men and women throughout the whole County fell into the same condition and the children waughed up and down like whelps This plague continued with some 18 days with others a month and with some for two years and like a contagious distemper at last infected the neighbouring Counties and set them a barking too Item The King of England revok'd all those grants that either he or his Ancestors had made to any in Ireland whether of liberties lands or goods which occasion a general murmur and discontent insomuch that the whole Kingdom grew inclin'd to a revolt Item A Parliament was called by the King's Council to sit in October Fitz-Thomas Earl of Desmond absented Before this there never was seen so much rancor and division between the English of both Kingdoms at last without asking Counsel of the Lord Chief Justice or any other of the King's Ministers the Mayors of the King's Cities together with the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom resolv d among other things to hold another Parliament at Kilkenny in November in order to treat of such matters as concern'd the King and Kingdom Neither the Lord Chief Justice nor any other of the King's Ministers durst repair thither It was concluded in this Parliament by the Nobility and the Mayors aforesaid to dispatch away an ambassadour to the King of England to intercede for Relief and represent the unjust administration of the great Officers in Ireland and declare they could no longer endure their oppression They were particularly instructed in their complaints of the said Ministers to ask How a Land so full of wars and trouble could be govern'd by a Person that was wholly a Stranger to warlike Affairs Secondly How a Minister of the Kings could be imagin'd to grow so rich in a short time And thirdly What was the reason that the King of England was never the richer for Ireland MCCCXLII On the 11th of October and the 11th of the Moon two several Moons were seen by many about Dublin in the morning before day Theone was bright and according to its natural course in the West the other of the bigness of a round loaf stood in the East but not so bright as the former MCCCXLIII S. Thomas's-street in Dublin was accidentally burnt on S. Valentine the Martyr's-day Item The 13th of July D. Ralph Ufford with his Wife the Countess of
houses eight were destroy'd for the Castle It was formerly walled about and as may be seen by the tract was a c The ditch of the town says Leland and the creast whereon the wall stood are yet manifestly perceiv'd and begin from the Castle going in compass a good mile or more mile in compass it hath a castle seated upon the river very large and so well fortify'd in former times that the hopes of it's being impregnable hath made some persons over-resolute For when the flames of Civil War had as it were set all England on fire we read that King Stephen ever now and then attempted it by siege but still in vain We much wonder'd at it's greatness and magnificence when we were boys and retir'd thither from Oxford for it is now a retiring place for the Students of Christ-Church at Oxford it being double wall'd and surrounded with d Leland says it has 3 dikes large and deep and well water'd two ditches In the middle stands a tower rais'd upon a very high mount in the steep ascent whereof which you climb by stairs I saw a well of an exceeding depth The Inhabitants believe it was built by the Danes but I should rather judge that something was here erected by the Romans and afterwards demolish'd by the Saxons and Danes when Sueno the Dane harrass'd the Country up and down in these parts At length it recover'd it self under William 1. as plainly appears by Domesday Book where it makes mention of eight â Hagaâ Houses being pull'd down for the Castle as I observ'd but now Yet William Gemeticensis takes no notice of this Castle when he writes that William the Norman after Harold's defeat immediately led his army to this city for so he terms it and passing the Thames at the ford encamp'd here before he march'd to London Lords of Wallingford At which time Wigod an Englishman was Lord of Wallingford who had one only daughter given in marriage to Robert D'Oily by whom he had Maud his sole heir married first to Miles Crispin and after his death by the favour of K. Henry 1. to Brient â Fillo Comitis Fitz-Count and he being bred a soldier and taking part with Maud the Empress stoutly defended the Castle against King Stephen who had rais'd a Fort over against it at Craumesh till the peace so much wish'd for by England in general was concluded in this place and that terrible quarrel between King Stephen and K. Henry 2. was ended And then the love of God did so prevail upon Brient and his wife that quitting the transitory vanities of this world they wholly devoted themselves to Christ by which means this Honour of Wallingford fell to the Crown Which appears by these words taken out of an old Inquisition in the Exchequer To his well beloved Lords Of the Honour of Wallingford in Tâââ de Nâââ ãâã the Exchequer our Lord the King's Justices and the Barons of the Exchequer the Constable of Wallingford Greeting Know ye that I have made diligent Inquisition by the Knights of my Bailywick in pursuance of my Lord the King's precept directed to me by the Sheriff and this is the summe of the inquisition thus taken Wigod of Wallingford held the honour of Wallingford in K. Harold's time and afterwards in the reign of K. William 1. and had by his Wife a certain Daughter whom he gave in marriage to Robert D'Oily This Robert had by her a Daughter named Maud which was his heir Miles Crispin espous'd her and had with her the aforesaid honour of Wallingford After Miles ' s decease our Lord K. Henry 1. bestow'd the aforesaid Maud upon Brient Fitz-Count c. Yet afterwards in the reign of Henry 3. it belong'd to the Earls of Chester and then to Richard King of the Romans and Earl of Cornwall who repaired it and to his son Edmond who founded a Collegiate Chapel within the inner Court but he dying issueless it fell again to the Crown and was annexed to the Dukedom of Cornwall since when it hath fallen much to decay More especially about the time when that plague and mortality which follow'd the conjunction of Saturn and Mars in Capricorn A terrible ââague reign'd so hotly through all Europe in the year of our Lord 1343. Then this Wallingford by that great mortality was so exhausted that whereas before it was very well inhabited and had 12 Churches in it now it can shew but one or two But the inhabitants rather lay the cause of this their town's decay upon the bridges built at Abingdon and Dorchester e Just so Wilton the once chief town of Wiltshire began to decay when the road was turn'd through Salisbury and the bridge was built there by which means the High-road is turn'd from thence g From hence Southward the Thames gently glides between very fruitful fields on both sides of it by Moulesford Moulesford which K. Henry 1. gave to Girald Fitz-Walter from whom the noble Family of the Carews are descended A family that hath receiv'd the addition of much honour by it's matches with the noble families of Mohun and Dinham and others in Ireland as well as England Not far from hence is Aldworth where there are certain tombs and statues upon them larger than ordinary much wonder'd at by the common people as if they were the pourtraictures of Giants when indeed they are only those of certain Knights of the family of De la Beche which had a Castle here and is suppos'd to have been extinct for want of male-issue in the reign of Edward 3. And now at length the Thames meets with the Kenet The river âenet which as I said before watering the south-side of this County at it's first entry after it has left Wiltshire runs beneath Hungerford âungerâârd call'd in ancient times Ingleford Charnam-street a mean town and seated in a moist place which yet gives both name and title to the honourable family of the Barons of Hungerford first advanc'd to it's greatness by f He was son of that Sir Thomas Hungerford who was Speaker to the House of Commons 51 Edw. 3. which was the first Parliament wherein that House had a Speaker Walter Hungerford who was Steward of the King's Houshold under King Henry 5. and had conferr'd upon by that Prince's bounty in consideration of his eminent services in the wars the Castle and Barony of Homet in Normandy to hold to him and his heirs males by homage and service to find the King and his heirs at the Castle of Roan one Lance with a Fox's tail hanging to it ââima pars âpl Paââ Norân 6 H. 5. which pleasant tenure I thought not amiss to insert here among serious matters The same Walter in the reign of Henry 6. was Lord High Treasurer of England ârons ângerford and created Baron Hungerford and what by his prudent management and his matching with Catherine Peverell descended from the