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A17788 The foundation of the Vniversitie of Cambridge with a catalogue of the principall founders and speciall benefactors of all the colledges and the totall number of students, magistrates and officers therein being, anno 1622 / the right honorable and his singular good lord, Thomas, now Lord Windsor of Bradenham, Ioh. Scot wisheth all increase of felicitie. Scot, John. 1622 (1622) STC 4484.5; ESTC S3185 1,473,166 2

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mother to Edward Courtney the last Earle of Devonshire of that house and on the other side of the quier Iohn de Beaufort Duke of Somerset with his wife Margaret daughter and heire to Sir Iohn Beauchamp of Bletneshoe whose daughter Margaret Countesse of Richmond and mother of King Henry the Seventh a most godly and vertuous Princesse erected a Schoole heere for the training up of youth But now will I turne my pen from the Church to the Towne when the Danes by their crafty devices went about to set the Englishmen together by the eares and would have broken that league and unitie which was betweene King Edward the Elder and his cosen Aethelwald Aethelwald then lusting after the Kingdome and wholly set against his liege Prince fortified this towne as strongly as possibly he could But so soone as Edward came towards him with his forces and pitched his tents at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now called Badbury he fled and conveied himselfe to his confederates the Danes This Badbury is a little hill upon a faire doune scarce two miles off environed about with a triple trench and rampier and had by report in times past a Castle which was the seate of the West-Saxon Kings But now if ever there were any such it lieth so buried in the owne ruines and rubbish that I could see not so much as one token thereof But hard by a sight I had of a village or mannour called Kingston Lacy because together with Winburne it appurtained to the Lacies Earles of Lincolne unto whom by covenant it came from the Earles of Leicester by the meanes of Quincie Earle of Winchester For King Henry the first had given it to Robert Earle of Mellent and of Leicester and at the last both places from the Lacies fell unto the house of Lancaster whose bountie and liberalitie Winburne had good triall of From this Winburne Stoure as it passeth admitteth Alen a little brook over which standeth S. Giles Winburne the habitation of the worshipfull and ancient house of Astleys Knights also Wickhampton the inheritance sometime of the Barons de Maltravers of whom the last in the raigne of Edward the Third left behind him two daughters onely the one wedded unto Iohn de Arundell grandfather to Iohn Earle of Arundell who left unto his posteritie the title of Barons de Maltravers the other wife of Robert Le-Rous and afterwards of Sir Iohn Keines Knight From hence the Stoure passeth on by Canford under which not long ago Iames Lord Montjoy studious in Minerall matters began to make Calcanthum or Vitriol we call it Coperas and to boile Alome And out of which in old time Iohn Earle of Warren to the great disteining of his owne good name and the damage of England tooke as it were by strong hand and carried away as it is to be seene in our Chronicles Dame Alice Lacey the wife of Thomas Earle of Lancaster And now by this time Stoure leaveth Dorsetshire behind him and after hee hath travelled through some part of Hantshire at length taketh up his lodging in the Ocean and yet not before hee hath entertained a pretty river that runneth to Cranburne a place well watered Where in the yeare of Salvation 930. Aelward a noble Gentleman surnamed for his whitenesse Meaw founded a little monasterie which Robert Fitz-Haimon a Norman unto whom fell the possessions of the said Aelward leaving heere one or two Monkes in a cell translated to Theoksbury From whom in order of succession by the Clares Earles of Glocester and Burghs Earles of Ulster it came to Lionell Duke of Clarence and by him to the Crowne But now Cranborne hath his Uicount now Earle of Salisburie whom King Iames for his approved wisedome and worth honored first with the title of Baron or Lord Cecil of Essendon and the next yeare after of Vicount Cranborne South from hence lieth Woodland emparked sometime the seat of the worshipfull family of Filioll the heires whereof were married to Edward Seimor after Duke of Somerset and Willoughby of Wallaton As touching the Earles and Marquesses of this shire King William the Conqueror having now by conquest attained to the Kingdome of England made Osmund that was Earle of Seez in Normandie both Bishop of Sarisbury and afterward also the first Earle of Dorset and his Chancellor highly admiring the godly wisedome of the man and his notable good parts Long after that King Richard the Second in the one and twentieth yeare of his raigne advanced Iohn de Beaufort Iohn of Gaunt his sonne and Earle of Sommerset to be Marquesse Dorset of which dignitie King Henry the Fourth in hatred of Richard the Second deprived him And when as in the high Court of Parliament the Commons of England there assembled who loved him very dearely made earnest intercession that the said dignitie of Marquesse might bee restored unto him hee himselfe distasting this new title and never heard of before those daies utterly refused it And then his younger brother named Thomas Beaufort was created Earle of Dorset who afterward for his warlike prowesse and valour was by King Henrie the Fifth adorned with the title of Duke of Excester and with the Earledome of Harcourt For he valiantly defended Harflew in Normandie against the Frenchmen and in a pitched field encountring the Earle of Armignac put him to flight After he was dead without issue King Henry the Sixth nominated out of the same house of Lancaster Edmund first Earle afterwards Marquesse Dorset and lastly Duke of Somerset whose sonnes being slaine in the civill wars Edward the Fourth when as now the family of Lancaster lay as it were over troden in the dust created Thomas Grey out of the house of Ruthin who was his sonne in law for the King had espoused the mother of the said Grey Marquesse Dorset when in right of his wife he had entred upon a great state and inheritance of the Bonvilles in this country and the territories adjoyning After him succeeded in the same honour Thomas his sonne and Henrie his nephew by the said Thomas who also was created by King Edward the Sixth Duke of Suffolk having wedded Lady Frances daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and Neece unto King Henry the Eighth by his sister This Duke in Queene Maries daies being put to death for high treason learned too late how dangerous a thing it is to marrie into the bloud royall and to feed ambitious hopes both in himselfe and in others From that time the title of Dorset was bestowed upon none untill King Iames at his first entrance into this Kingdome exalted Thomas Sackvill Baron of Buckhurst and Lord high Treasurer of England a man of rare wisedome and most carefull providence to the honour of Earle of Dorset who ended his life with suddaine death 1608. and left Robert his sonne his successor who deceasing within the yeare left the said honour againe to Richard his hopefull sonne whom he
in the North side to the river Tamis King Offa usurped and seized into his owne hands Neere unto it Northwest lieth Lee which by the daughter of a certaine worshipfull Knight surnamed thereupon de Lee fell to the familie of Besiles and thereof it came to bee called Besiles Lee and from that house in right of marriage to Richard Fetiplace whose Progenitor Thomas brought some honor to his posterity by matching with Beatrice the base daughter of Iohn the first King of Portugall and widdow to Gilbert Lord Talbot of whom they are descended But now let us returne Hard by Abendon Ocke a little river that runneth by the South side of the towne over which in times past Sir Iohn of Saint Helenes Knight built a bridge gently falleth into Isis This Ocke springeth in that vale of Whitehorse scarce a mile or two from Kingston-Lisle in olde time the possession of Warin de Insulâ or Lisle a noble Baron From whom when as Sir Iohn Talbot the younger sonne of that renowned warrior Iohn Earle of Shrewsburie was descended by his mother hee was created by King Henrie the Sixth Lord Lisle like as Warin de Insula in times past in regard of the possession of this place as if that dignity were annexed thereto and afterwards Vicount Lisle by a Patent without any such regard This title through the gratious favor of Kings flourished still in his posterity one after another successively For breifly to knit up their succession When Sir Thomas Talbot sonne of the said Iohn departed this life without issue beeing deadly shot into the mouth with an arrow in a skirmish defending his possessions against the Lord Barkley Sir Edward Grey who had married his sister received the same at the hands of King Richard the third and left it to Iohn his sonne and successour Whose onely daughter and heire King Henrie the Eighth assured to Sir Charles Brandon and thereupon created him Vicount Lisle But when as shee died in tender yeeres before the marriage was solemnized hee also relinquished that title Which King Henrie afterward bestowed upon Sir Arthur Plantagenet base sonne to King Edward the fourth Who had wedded Elizabeth sister to Sir Iohn Grey Vicount Lisle and widdow of Edmund Dudley And when hee deceased without heires male the said King honoured therewith Sir Iohn Dudley sonne of Edmund by the same Elizabeth Grey who in the time of King Edward the sixth was created Duke of Northumberland and afterward attainted by Queene Marie His sonne Sir Ambrose Dudley beeing restored in bloud was by Queene Elizabeth on one and the selfe same day created Lord Lisle and Earle of Warwicke who ended his life issuelesse And now lately Sir Robert Sidney his sisters sonne was honoured with the stile of Vicoun Lisle by King Iames who had before created him beeing Chamberlaine to the Queene his wife Baron Sidney of Pensherst Then runneth the river Ocke aforesaid betweene Pusey which they that are named de Pusey hold it yet by the horn from their ancestors as given unto them in ancient time by K. Canutus the Dane and the two Dencheworths the one and the other where flourished for a long time two noble and auncient houses to wit de Hide at the one and Fetiplace at the other which families may seeme to have sprung out of one and the same stocke considering they both beare one and the same coat of armes Then entertaineth Ock a namelesse river which issueth out of the same vale at Wantage called in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where some time there was a Manour house of the Kings and the place wherein Aelfred that most noble and renowned King was borne and bred which at his death he bequeathed to Alfrith Long time after it became a mercate towne by the meanes and helpe of Sir Fulke Fitzwarin that most warlike Knight upon whom Roger Bigod Mareschall of England had bestowed it for his martiall prowesse and at this daie it acknowledgeth for Lords thereof the Bourchiers Earles of Bath descended from the race of the Fitzwarins of whose familie some were here buried Isis being departed once from Abbendon straight waies receiveth into it out of Oxfordshire the river Tame of which elsewhere and now by a compound word being called Tamisis first directeth his course to Sinodun an high hill and fenced with a deepe trench were stood for certaine in old time a fortresse of the Romanes for the ground being now broken up with the plough yeeldeth otherwhiles to the ploughmen store of Roman pieces of coine as tokens of antiquitie Under it at Bretwell there was a Castle if it were not that upon this hill which King Henry the Second wonne by force a little before that he made peace with King Stephen From hence Tamis holdeth on his way to the chiefe Citie in times past of the Attrebatians which Antonius termeth GALLEVA of Attrebats Ptolomee GALEVA but both of them through the carelessnesse of the Scriveners name it wrong for GALLENA and they likewise in their Greeke copies have thrust upon us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Gallena by transposition of letters I have thought it was so named in the British tongue as it were Guall hen that is The old rampier or fort Which name being still kept and Ford added thereto which is a shallow place in the river the Englishmen in old time called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we at this day shorter Wallengford In King Edward the Confessors time it was counted a Burgh and contained as we find in that Book wherein K. William the Frst tooke the Survey of all England two hundred threescore and sixteene Hages that is to say Houses yielding nine pounds de Gablo and those that dwelt there did the King service on horsebacke or by water Of those Hages eight were destroyed for the Castle In old time it was compassed about with walles which as men may see by their tract tooke up a mile in circuit It hath a Castle scituate upon the river very large I assure you and stately so fortitified in times past that the hope in it as impregnable and invincible made divers over-bold and stout For when England burned as a man may say in a generall flame of warres we read that it was by King Stephen belaied once or twise with sieges but all in vaine The greatnesse and magnificence thereof I much wondered at when I was young and removed thither from Oxford for a place it is now for the Students there of Christ Church to retire unto as having a double range of walles about it and being compassed round likewise with a duple rampier and ditch and in the midst of it there standeth a tower to keepe raised upon a mightie high mount in the steepe ascent whereof by steps we saw a Well of an exceeding depth The Inhabitants are verily perswaded that it
word which signifieth a strond or Banke I cannot easily say But seeing that in Records it is very often called in Latine Ripa and they who bring fish from hence be termed Ripiers I encline rather this way and would encline more if the Frenchmen used this word for a stroud or shore as Plinius doth Ripa These two townes neither may it seeme impertinent to note it belonged to the Abbey of Fescampe in Normandie But when King Henry the Third perceived that religious men intermingled secretly in matters of State he gave them in exchange for these two Chiltenham and Sclover two Manours in Glocester-shire and other lands adding for the reason that the Abbat and Monkes might not lawfully fight with temporall armes against the enemies of the Crowne Into this haven the River Rother or Rither sheddeth it selfe which issuing forth at Ritheram fieldes for so the Englishmen in ancient times called that towne which wee doe Rotherfield passeth by Burgwash in old time Burghersh which had Lords so surnamed thereof among whom was that Sir Bartholomew Burgwash a mightie man in his time who being approved in most weighty Ambassages and warres in Aquitaine for his wisedome and valour deserved to be created a Baron of the Realme to be admitted into the Order of the Garter at the very first institution even among the Founders thereof and to bee made Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque-ports And his sonne carrying the same fore-name not degenerating from his father lived in high honour and estimation but hee left behind him one daughter and no more issue married into the house of Le Despencer of which there remaineth still a goodly of-spring of Noble personages Echingham next adjoyning had also a Baron named William de Echingham in the time of King Edward the Second whose ancestours were the hereditarie Seneschals of this Rape And their inheritance in the end by the heires females name to the Barons of Windsor and to the Tirwhits Then the Rother dividing his water into three channels passeth under Roberts bridge where Alured de S. Martin in King Henrie the seconds daies founded a Monasterie and so running beside Bodiam a Castle belonging to the ancient Family of the Lewknors built by the Dalegrigs here falleth as I said into the Ocean Now I have passed along the Sea coast of Sussex And as for the mid-land part of the shire I have nothing more to relate thereof unlesse I should recount the woods and forrests lying out faire in length and breadth which are a remnant of the vast wood Anderida Among which to begin at the West those of greatest note are these The forrest of Arundill Saint Leonards forrest Word forrest and not farre off East Gren-sted anciently a parcell of the Barony of Eagle and made a Mercate by King Henry the seventh Ashdowne forrest under which standeth Buckhurst the habitation of the ancient house of the Sackviles out of which race Queene Elizabeth in our daies aduanced Thomas Sackvile her allie by the Bollens a wise Gentleman to be Baron of Buckhurst took him into her Privie Councell admitted him into the most honorable Order of the Garter and made him Lord Treasurer of England whom also of late K. Iames created Earle of Dorset Waterdown forrest where I saw Eridge a lodg of the Lord Abergevenny and by it craggie rocks rising up so thicke as though sporting nature had there purposed a sea Here-by in the very confines of Kent is Groomebridge an habitation of the Wallers whose house there was built by Charles Duke of Orleance father to K. Lewis the 12. of France when he being taken prisoner in the battaile at Agincourt by Richard Waller of this place was here a long time detained prisoner As touching the Earles Sussex had five by the line of Albiney who were likewise called Earles of Arundell but had the third pennie of Sussex as Earles then had The first of them was William D' Albiney the sonne of William Butler to King Henrie the first and Lord of Buckenham in Norfolk who gave for his armes Gules a Lion rampant Or and was called one while Earle of Arundell and another while Earle of Chichester for that in those places he kept his chiefe residence This man of Adeliz the daughter of Godfrey Barbatus Duke of Lorraine and of Brabant Queen Dowager or Widdow of K. Henrie the First begat William the second Earle of Sussex and of Arundell father to William the third Earle unto whom Mabile the sister and one of the heires of the last Raulph Earle of Chester bare William the fourth Earle Hugh the fifth who both died without issue and also foure daughters married unto Sir Robert Yateshall Sir Iohn Fitz-Alan Sir Roger de Somery and Sir Robert de Mount-hault After this the title of Arundell budded forth againe as I said before in the Fitz-Alans but that of Sussex lay hidden and lost unto this our age which hath seene five Ratcliffes descended of the most Noble house of the Fitz-walters that derived their pedigree from the Clares bearing that honour to wit Robert created Earle of Sussex by King Henrie the Eight who wedded Elizabeth daughter of Henry Stafford Earle of Buckingham of whom he begat Henrie the second Earle unto whom Elizabeth the daughter of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk brought forth Thomas who being Lord Chamberlaine to Queene Elizabeth died without issue a most worthy and honourable personage in whose mind were seated joyntly both politike wisedome and martiall prowesse as England and Ireland acknowledged Him succeeded Sir Henrie his brother and after him Robert his onely sonne now in his flower This Province containeth parishes 312. THus farre of Sussex which together with Suth-rey was the habitation of the Regni in the time of the Britaines and afterwards the kingdome of the South-Saxons called in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the two and thirty yeare after the Saxons comming was begun by Ella who as Beda writeth First among the Kings of the English Nation ruled all their Southern Provinces which are severed by the River Humber and the limits adjoyning thereto The first Christian King was Edilwalch baptized in the presence of Wulpher King of Mercia his Godfather and he in signe of adoption gave unto him two Provinces namely the Isle of Wight and the Province of the Meanvari But in the 306. yeare after the beginning of this Kingdome when Aldinius the last King was slaine by Ina King of West-Saxons it came wholly under the Dominion of the West-Saxons CANTIVM NOw am I come to Kent which Countrey although master WILLIAM LAMBARD a man right well endued with excellent learning and as godly vertues hath so lively depainted out in a full volume that his painefull felicitie in that kind bath left little or nothing for others yet according to the project of this worke which I have taken in hand I will runne it over also and
it with King Henrie the Eighth Somewhat lower hard by Darent standeth Lullingstone where there was sometime a Castle the seat of a family of the same name but now of Sir Percival Hart descended from one of the coheires of the Lord Bray Then Darent giveth name unto Darentford commonly Dartford a great mercat towne well frequented and well watered where King Edward the Third built a Nunnery which King Henry the Eighth converted into a house for himselfe and his successours Heere the rivelet Crey anciently called Crecan intermingleth it selfe with Darent when in his short course hee hath imparted his name to five townelets which hee watereth as Saint Mary Crey Pauls Crey Votes-Crey North Crey and Crey-ford in former ages Crecanford where Hengist the Saxon the eighth yeare after his arrivall joyned battaile with the Brittaines and after he had slaine their captaines brought them under with so great a slaughter that afterwards hee never stood in feare of them but established his kingdome quietly in Kent From the river Darent or Dart unto the mouth of Medway the Thames seeth nothing above him but little townes pleasantly seated which to passe over in silence were no prejudice either of their fame or any thing els Yet amongst them is Swans-combe of which I have heretofore spoken of honorable memorie among the Kentish men for obtaining their the continuance of their ancient franchises afterward it was well knowne by the Montceusies men of great Nobility the owners therof who had there Barony here-about And by it Graves-end so called as Master Lambert is my author as the Gereves-end that is the limit of the Gereve or Reve. A towne as well knowne as any other in England for the usuall passage by water betweene it and London since the Abbat of Grace by the tower of London to which it appertained obtained of King Richard the second that the inhabitants of it and Milton onely should transport passengers from thence to London King Henrie the Eighth when he fortified the sea coast raised two Platformes or Block-houses here and two other opposite on Essex side Beyond Graves-end is Shorn held anciently by Sir Roger Northwood by service to carry with other the kings tennants a white ensigne fortie daies at his owne charges when the King warred in Scotland Somewhat more within the land lieth Cobham the habitation for a long time of the Barons of Cobham of whom Iohn Cobham the last of that name founded a Colledge here and a castle at Cowling who left one onely daughter wife to Sir Iohn de la Pole Knight Shee likewise bare but one daughter though married in her time to many husbands But by Sir Reginald Braibrooke onely had shee issue As for her husband Sir Iohn Old Castle whiles hee endeavoured to bring in innovation in religion was both hanged and burnt Ioane her onely daughter by Sir Reginald Braybrooke was wedded unto Thomas Broke of Somersetshire from whom six Lord Cobhams have lineally descended and flourished in honorable reputation untill our time From Graves-end a little country called Ho lying as a demy Island between rivers Thames and Medway stretcheth it selfe into the East and is for situation but unholsome At the entry hereof is Cowling Castle built by Iohn Lord Cobham in a moorish ground and Cliffe a good bigge towne so called of a cliffe upon which it standeth But whether it bee that Clives at Ho so famous in the tender age and infancie of our English Church by reason of a Synode there holden I dare not as others doe affirme considering that in regard of the site it is a place inconvenient for such an assembly and besides that Clives at Hoo seemeth to have beene within the Kingdome of the Mercians As for the river Medweg now called Medway and in the British tongue unlesse I misse of the truth Vaga whereunto afterward was added Med hath his spring head in the wood Anderida which is termed the Weald that is a Wood-land country and taketh up the South-part of this region farre and wide At first whiles it carrieth but a slender streame it receiveth the Eden by Penshurst the seat anciently as it seemeth by the name of Sir Stephen de Penherst who also was called de Penshester a famous Warden of the Cinque ports but now the house of the Sidneies who derive their race from William de Sidney Chamberlaine to King Henrie the second out of which came Sir Henrie Sidney that renowned Lord deputy of Ireland who of the daughter of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland and Earle of Warwicke begat Philip and Robert This Robert Iames our soveraigne King made right honorable first by the title of Baron Sidney of Penshurst and afterwards of Vicount Lisle But Sir Philip whom I cannot passe over in silence beeing the glorious starre of this familie a lively patterne of vertue and the lovely joy of all the learned sort fighting valerously with the enemy before Zutphen in Gelderland died manfully This is that Sidney whom as Gods will was he should be therefore borne into the world even to shew unto our age a sample of ancient vertues so his good pleasure was before any man looked for it to call for him againe and take him out of the world as beeing more worthy of heaven then earth Thus wee may see Perfect vertue sodainely vanisheth out of sight and the best men continue not long Then the river Medway branching it selfe into five streamlets is joyned with as many stone Bridges and thereof giveth the name of Tunbridge to the towne there situate as the towne of Bridges This about King William Rufus his time Richard sonne of Count Gilbert Grandchild to Godfrey Earle of Ewe Lord of Briony obtained in requitall for Briony in Normandie when there had bin long debate about Briony This Richard as William Gemeticensis writeth in recompence for the same castle received in England the towne of Tunbridge for it And the report goeth that the Lowy of Briony was measured round about with a line and with the same line brought into England hee received so much groūd measured out at Tunbridge Shortly after he built here a faire large castle fenced with the river a deepe ditch and strong walles and albeit it is now ruinous and 〈◊〉 Keepe attired with Ivie yet it manifestly sheweth what it was His posteritie who were Earles of Glocester and surnamed De Clare for that they were Lords of Clare in Suffolke built here a priorie for Chanons of Saint Augustines order founded the parish Church which was impropriated to the Knights of Saint Iohn of Hierusalem and compounded about the tenure of the Mannour for which there had beene long suit to hold it of the Archbishop of Canterburie by Knights fee and to be their high Stewards at their inthronizations From these Clares Earles of Glocester it came by an heire generall to Sir Hugh Audley Earle of Glocester and
the said Geffrey appointed Walden to bee the principall place and seat of his honour and Earledome for him and his Successours The place where hee built the Abbay had plenty of waters which rising there continually doe runne and never faile Late it is ere the Sunne riseth and shineth there and with the soonest he doth set and carry away his light for that the hilles on both sides stand against it That place now they call Audley End of Sir Thomas Audley Lord Chancellour of England who changed the Abbay into his owne dwelling house This Thomas created by King Henry the Eighth Baron Audley of Walden left one sole daughter and heire Margaret second wife to Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke of whom hee begat Lord Thomas Lord William Lady Elizabeth and Lady Margaret The said Thomas employed in sundry Sea-services with commendation Queene Elizabeth summoned by Writ unto the High Court of Parliament among other Barons of the Realme by the name of Lord Howard of Walden And King James of late girded him with the sword of the Earldome of Suffolke and made him his Chamberlaine who in this place hath begunne a magnificent Building Neere to another house of his at Chesterford there was a Towne of farre greater antiquity hard by Icaldun in the very border of the Shire which now of the old Burgh the rusticall people use to call Burrow Banke where remaine the footings onely of a Towne lying in manner dead and the manifest tract of the very walles Yet will I not say that it was VILLA FAUSTINI which Antonine the Emperour placeth in this Tract and albeit Ingrata haud lati spatia detinet campi Sed rure vero barbaróque laetatur It takes not up large ground that yeelds no gaine But Country like is homely rude and plaine Yet dare not I once dreame that this is that Villa Faustini which in these and other Verses is by that pleasant and conceited Poet Martiall depaincted in his Epigrams The fieldes heere on every side as I said smell sweetly and smile pleasantly with Saffron a commodity brought into England in the time of King Edward the Third This in the moneth of ●uly every third yeere when the heads thereof have been plucked up and after twenty daies spitted or set againe under mould about the end of September they put foorth a whitish blew flower out of the middle whereof there hang three redde fillets of Saffron we call them Chives which are gathered very early in the morning before the Sunne rising and being plucked out of the flower are dried at a soft fire And so great increase commeth heereof that out of every acre of ground there are made fourescore or an hundred pounds weight of Saffron while it is moist which being dried yeeld some twe●●y pound in weight And that which a man would marvell more at the ground which three yeeres together hath borne Saffron will beare aboundance of Barley eighteene yeeres together without any dunging or manuring and then againe beare Saffron as before if the inhabitants there have not misinformed me or I mis-conceived them More into the South is Clavering seated which King Henry the Second gave unto Sir Robert Fits-Roger from whom the family of Evers are issued The posterity of this Sir Roger after they had a long time taken their name of their fathers forename or Christen-name according to that ancient custome as Iohn Fitz-Robert Robert Fitz-Iohn c. afterwards by the commandement of King Edward the First they assumed from hence the name of Clavering But of these I am to speake in Northumberland Stansted Montfichet heere also putteth up the head which I will not passe over in silence considering it hath been the Baronie or habitation in times past of the family De Monte Fisco commonly Mont-fitchet who bare for their Armes three Cheverus Or in a shield Gueles and were reputed men of very great nobility But five of them flourished in right line and at the last three sisters were seized of the inheritance Margaret wife of Hugh De Boleber Aveline wedded to William De Fortibus Earle of Aumarle and Philip wife to Hugh Playz The posterity male of this Hugh flourished within the remembrance of our great Grandfathers and determined in a daughter married to Sir Iohn Howard Knight from whose daughter by Sir George Vere descended the Barons Latimer and the Wingfeldes And a little below is Haslingbury to bee seene the residence of the Barons Morley of whom I shall speake more in Norfolke And close to this standeth an ancient Fort or Military fense thereof named Walbery and more East-ward Barrington Hall where dwelleth that right ancient Family of the Barringtons which in the Raigne of King Stephen the Barons of Montfiche● enriched with faire possessions and more ennobled their house in our fathers remembrance by matching with one of the daughters and coheires of Sir Henry Pole Lord Montacute sonne of Margaret Countesse of Salisbury descended of the Bloud Royall Neither is Hatfield Regis commonly called of a broad spread Oke Hatfield Brad-Oake to be omitted where Robert Vere Earle of Oxford built a Priory and there lieth entombed crosse-legged with a French inscription wherein he is noted to be first of that name Robert and third Earle of Oxford After the comming of the Normans Mande the Empresse Lady of the English for so shee stiled herselfe created Geffrey De Magnavilla usually called Mandevil son to William by Margaret daughter and heire of E●do the Steward or Shewar the first Earle of Essex that shee might so by her benefits oblige unto her a man both mighty and martiall Who in those troublesome times under King Stephen despoiled of his estate made an end of his owne turbulent life with the sword And hee verily for his wicked deeds as I finde in an old Writer justly incurred the worlds censure and sentence of excommunication in which while hee stood hee was deadly wounded in the head at a little Towne called Burwell When he lay at the point of death ready to give his last gaspe there came by chance certaine Knights Templars who laid upon him the habit of their religious Profession signed with a red Crosse and afterwards when hee was full dead taking him up with them enclosed him within a Coffin of Lead and hunge him upon a tree in the Orchard of Old Temple at London For in a reverent awe of the Church they durst not bury him because he dyed excommunicated After him succeeded Geffry his sonne who was restored by Henry the Second to his fathers honours and Estate for him and his heires but he having no children left them to his brother William who by his wife was also Earle of Albemarle and dyed likewise in his greatest glory issuelesse Some yeares after K. John promoted Geffrey Fitz-Petre Justicer of England a wise and grave Personage unto this honour in consideration of a great masse of
a great summe of money and pledges withall of his loyalty that it might not be overthrowne and rased Not farre thence from the banke you may see Mettingham where upon a plaine Sir Iohn sirnamed De Norwich Lord of the place built a foure square Castle and a Colledge within it whose daughter and in the end the Heire of the same Family Robert de Vfford aforesaid Earle of Suffolke tooke to Wife with a goodly Inheritance Now Waveney drawing neerer unto the Sea whiles hee striveth in vaine to make himselfe a twofold issue into the Ocean the one together with the River Yare and the other by the meere Luthing maketh a pretty big Demy Isle or Biland which some name Lovingland others more truely Luthingland of Luthing the lake spreading in length and bredth which beginning at the Ocean Shore is discharged into the River Yare At the entrance whereof standeth upon the Sea Lestoffe a narrow and little Towne and at the issue of it Gorlston where I saw the towre steeple of a small suppressed Friery which standeth the Sailers in good stead for a marke Within the land hard by Yare is situate Somerley towne the habitation in ancient time of Fitz Osbert from whom it is come lineally to the worshipfull ancient family of the Iernegans Knights of high esteeme in these parts farther up into the land where Yare and Waveney meet in one streame there flourished Cnobersburg that is as Bede interprereth it Cnobers City we call it at this day Burgh-Castle Which as Bede saith was a most pleasant Castle by reason of woods and Sea together wherein a Monastery was built by Fursaey a holy Scot by whose perswasion Sigebert King of the East-Angles became a Monke and resigned up his Kingdome who afterwards being drawne against his will out of this Monastery to encourage his people in battaile against the Mercians together with his company lost his life In that place now there are only ruinous wals in forme as it were foure square built of flint stone and British Bricke but all overgrown with briers and bushes among which otherwhiles are Romane peeces of coines gotten forth So that it may seeme to have been one of those fortifications that the Romans placed upon the River Y are to represse the piracies of the Saxons or rather that it was the ancient GARIANONUM it selfe where the Stablesian Horsemen had their Station and kepe Ward at the declination of the Romane Empire in Brittaine Suffolke hath had Earles and Dukes out of sundry families There bee of the later writers who report that the Glanvils in times past were honoured with this title But seeing they ground upon no certain authority whereas men may easily mistake and I have found nothing of them in the publike records of the Kingdome they must pardon me if I beleeve them not untill they produce more certainty Yet in the meane while I confesse that the family of the Glanvils in this tract was of right good note and high reputation Neither have I hitherto learned by witnesses of credite that any one was entituled Earle of this Province severally before the daies of King Edward the Third who created Sir Robert Vfford Earle of Suffolke a man much renowned both in peace and warre the sonne of Sir Robert Vfford Steward of the Kings house under King Edward the Second by Cecily de Valoniis Lady of Orford After him succeeded his sonne William who having foure sonnes that were taken away by untimely death during his life died himselfe suddenly in the Parliament house as he was about to report the minde of the Commonalty And then Sir Robert Willoughby Roger Lord Scales and Henrie Ferrars of Groby the next of his blood and his Heires divided the Inheritance betweene them Afterward King Richard the Second promoted Michael De-la-Pole to this Title and made him L. Chancellor of England Who as Thomas Walsingham writeth imployed himselfe more in trafficke and Merchandise as having beene a Merchant and a Merchants sonne than in martiall matters For he was the sonne of William De-la-pole that first Maior of Kyngston upon Hull and for his wealthy Estate adorned by King Edward the Third with the dignity of a Baneret But when as in the prosperous confluence of so many advancements the mans nature was not capable of so great fortunes he was enforced by his adversaries envy to depart out of his Country and so died a banished man His sonne Michael being restored died at the siege of Harflew and againe within one moneth his son Michael was slaine in the battell of Agincourt leaving daughters onely Then William his brother succeeded whom King Henry the sixt so favoured that hee made him also Earle of Penbroke and then Marquesse of Suffolke to him and the heires males of his body And that both hee and the heires of his body should carry the golden rod having a Dove in the top thereof on the Coronation day of the King of England and the like rod or verge Yuory at the Coronation of the Queenes of England And afterwards hee advanced the same William for his great service and deserts to the honour and title of Duke of Suffolke Certes hee was an excellent man in those dayes famous and of great worth For whereas his father and three brethren had in the French wars lost their lives for their Country he as we finde in the Parliament Rols of the 28. of King Henry the Sixth in the same war served full 34. yeeres For seventeene yeeres together he never returned home from warfare being once taken prisoner when he was as yet no better than a private Knight hee paid downe for his ransome twenty thousand pounds of our English mony hee was of the Kings privy Counsell 15. yeeres and a Knight of the Order of the Garter 30. Hereupon as he stood in especiall grace and favour with his Prince so he incurred therefore the greater envy of the common people and some emulatours being grievously charged with treason and misprisions And therefore called before the King and Lords of the Parliament after he had answered the Articles objected referred himselfe to the Kings order Whereupon the Chancellor by the Kings commandement pronounced that whereas the Duke did not put himselfe upon his Peeres the King touching the Articles of treason would be doubtfull and as for the Articles of misprision not as a Judge by advice of the Lords but as one to whose order the Duke had submitted himselfe did banish him the realme and all other his dominions for five yeeres But when he was embarked for France he was by his adversaries intercepted upon the sea and beheaded He left a son nam'd Iohn De-la-Pole who wedded K. Edward the fourth his sister and of her begate Iohn Earle of Lincolne by K. Richard the Third proclaimed heire apparant of the Crowne whose ambitious minde puffed up and giddy therewith could not containe it selfe but soone after brake out
the Conquerour appointed over this Shire William Peverell his base sonne not with the Title of Earle but of Lord of Nottingham who had a sonne that dyed before his father and hee likewise had a sonne of the same name whom king Henry the Second disinherited for that he went about to poison Ranulph Earle of Chester Much about this time Robert de Ferrarijs who rifled and ransacked Nottingham in a Donation which he made unto the Church of Tuttesbury stiled himselfe thus Robertus Comes junior de Nottingham that is Robert the younger Earle of Nottingham But afterwards King Richard the First gave and confirmed unto his brother John the Earledome and Castle of Nottingham with all the Honour of Peverell Many yeeres after King Richard the Second honoured John Lord Mowbray with this Title of Earle of Nottingham who dying a young man without issue his brother Thomas succeeded after him He being by king Richard the Second created Earle Mareshall and Duke of Norfolke and soone after banished begat Thomas Earle Mareshall whom king Henry the Fourth beheaded and John Mowbray who as also his sonne and Nephew were likewise Dukes of Norfolke and Earles of Nottingham But when as their male issue failed and that Richard the young sonne of King Edward the Fourth being Duke of Yorke had borne this Title with others by his Wife the heire of the Mowbraies but a small while King Richard the Third honoured William Vicount Barkley descended from the Mowbraies with this Title of Earle of Nottingham and whereas hee dyed without issue king Henry the Eighth bestowed the same honour upon his illegitimate sonne H. Fitz Roy when hee created him Duke of Richmond but hee departed this life in the flower of his age leaving no childe Afterward this Title lay extinct untill in the yeere of our Lord 1597. Queene Elizabeth by solemne investiture adorned therewith Charles Lord Howard of Effingham and High Admirall of England descended from the Mowbraies in regard of his service as appeareth in the Charter of his Creation right valiantly and faithfully performed against the Spanish Armado in the yeere 1588. as also at the winning of Caliz in Spaine where he was Lord Generall of the forces by sea like as the Earle of Essex of those by land There are in this County Parish Churches 168. DARBY-SHIRE DARBY-SHIRE called in old English-Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lieth close to Nottingham-shire Westward confining with Leicester-shire upon the Southside like as with Stafford-shire on the West and York-shire in the North resembling as it were the forme of a Triangle but not with equall sides For whereas about the point of it lying Southward it is scarce sixe miles broad it so enlargeth and spreadeth it selfe on both sides that where it looketh into the North it carrieth much about thirty miles in breadth The River Derwent that runneth along the middest of it divideth it after a sort in two parts which River breaking out of the North limit thereof and taking his course Southward sometimes with his blacke waters stained with the Soile and earth that it passeth by rumbleth downe apace into the Trent For Trent overthwarteth the said narrow point that I spake of lying Southward The East side and the South parts are well manured not unfruitfull and besides well stored with Parkes The West part beyond Derwent which they call the Peake being all of it hilly or a stony and craggy ground is more barraine howbeit rich in lead iron and coles which it yeeldeth plentifully and also feedeth Sheepe very commodiously In the South corner the first place worth the naming that offereth it selfe to sight is Greisely Castle more than broken downe which together with a little Monastery was founded in times past in honour of Saint George by the Greiseleies Lords thereof who fetching their descent from William the sonne of Sir Niele of Grieseley about the very Conquest of England by the Normans have flourished unto these dayes in great worship the which they have not a little augmented long since by marrying with the daughter and heire of the ancient family of Gasteneys Upon the River Dove which untill it entreth into Trent divideth this Country from Stafford-shire we meet with nothing in this Shire but small country Villages and Ashburne a Mercate towne where the house of the Cokains flourished a long time and Norbury where the right ancient family of the Fitz-Herberts have long inhabited out of which Sir Anthony Fitz-Herbert hath deserved passing well of the knowledge and profession of our Commons law Not farre from which is Shirley an ancient Lordship of the well renowned Family of the Shirleys who derive their pedegree from one Fulcher unto whom beside the antiquity of their house much honor and faire lands have accrued by marriage with the heires of the Breoses the Bassets of Brailesford the Stantons Lovets c. And heere stand round about many places which have given name and Habitation to worshipfull Families as Longford Bradburne Kniveton from whence came those Knivetons of Mercaston and Bradley of which house Saint Lo Kniveton is one to whose judicious and studious diligence I am deeply endebted also Keidelston where the Cursons dwelt as also at Crokhall But whether Sir Robert Curson knighted by King Henry the Seventh made a Baron of the Empire by Maximilian the Emperour in the yeere 1500. for his singular valour and thereupon by King Henry the Eigth made a Baron of England with a liberall pension assigned was descended from these Cursons I dare not affirme Heereby is Radborn where Sir John Chandos knight Lord of the place laid a goodly foundation of a great and stately house from whom by a daughter it came by hereditary succession unto the Poles who dwell heere at this day But these particularities I leave for him who hath undertaken the full description of this Shire But upon Trent so soon as ever he hath taken to him the river Dove is Repandunum to bee seene for so doe our History-writers call it the Saxons named it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we at this day Repton which from a great and faire Towne is become a poore small Village For in old time very famous it was by reason both of the buriall of Aethelbald that good King of the Mercians who through the treachery of his owne people lost his life and of the other Kings of Mercia as also for the unfortunate calamity of Burthred the last King of the Mercians who when hee had enjoyed his kingdome partly by way of entreaty and partly by meanes of bribery full twenty yeeres was heere deprived of his kingdome by the Danes or rather freed and exempted from the glittering misery of princely State and so became an example to teach men in how ticklish and slippery a place they stand which are underpropped onely with money Then not farre from Trent is Melborn a Castle of the Kings now decaying wherein John Duke of
Romanists But this See few yeeres after was removed againe to Lichfield yet so as that one and the selfe same Bishop carried the name both of Lichfield and of Coventry The first Lord of this City so farre as I can learne was this Leofricke who being very much offended and angry with the Citizens oppressed them with most heavie tributes which he would remit upon no other condition at the earnest suite of his wife Godiva unlesse she would herselfe ride on horse-backe naked through the greatest and most inhabited street of the City which she did in deed and was so covered with her faire long haire that if we may beleeve the common sort shee was seene of no body and thus shee did set free her Citizens of Coventry from many payments for ever From Leofricke it came into the hands of the Earles of Chester by Lucie his sonne Algars daughter for shee had beene married to Ranulph the first of that name and the third Earle of Chester out of this line who granted unto Coventrey the same liberties that Lincolne had and gave a great part of the City unto the Monkes the rest and Chilmore which is the Lords Manour hard by the City hee reserved to himselfe and to his heires After whose death when for want of issue male the inheritance was divided betweene the sisters Coventry came at length mediately by the Earles of Arundell unto Roger Mont-hault whose grand sonne Robert passed over all his right for default of issue male of his body begotten unto Queene Isabel mother to King Edward the Third To have and to hold during the whole life of the Queene herselfe and after her decease to remaine unto Iohn of Eltham the said Kings brother and to the heires of his body begotten and for default the remainder to Edward King of England c. For thus is it to be seene in the Fine in the second yeere of King Edward the Third Now the said John of Eltham was afterwards created Earle of Cornwall and this place became annexed to the Earldome of Cornwall From which time it hath flourished in great state Kings have bestowed sundry immunities upon it and King Edward the Third especially who permitted them to chuse a Major and two Bailiffes and to build and embattle a Wall about it also king Henry the Sixth who laying unto it certaine small Townes adjoyning granted That it should bee an entire County corporate by it selfe the very words of the Charter runne in that sort in deed and name and distinct from the County of Warwicke At which time in lieu of Bailiffes he ordained two Sheriffes and the Citizens beganne to fortifie their City with a most strong Wall wherein are beautifull Gates and at one of them called Gosford Gate there hangeth to bee seene a mighty great Shield bone of a wilde Bore which any man would thinke that either Guy of Warwicke or else Diana of the Forest Arden slew in hunting when he had turned up with his snout that great pit or pond which at this day is called Swansewell but Swinsewell in times past as the authority of ancient Charters doe proove As touching the Longitude of this City it is 25. Degrees and 52. Scruples and for the Latitude it is 52. Degrees and 25. Scruples Thus much of Coventrey yet have you not all this of me but willingly to acknowledge by whom I have profited of Henry Ferrars of Baddesley a man both for parentage and for knowledge of antiquity very commendable and my especiall friend who both in this place and also elsewhere hath at all times courteously shewed me the right way when I was out and from his candle as it were hath lightned mine Neere unto Coventrey North-west ward are placed Ausley Castle the habitation in times past of the Hastings who were Lords of Abergavenney and Brand the dwelling place in old time of the Verdons Eastward standeth Caloughdon commonly Caledon the ancient seat of the Lords Segrave from whom it descended to the Barons of Berkley by one of the daughters of Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolke These Segraves since the time that Stephen was Lord chiefe Justice of England flourished in the honorable estate of Barons became possessed of the Chaucombes Inheritance whose Armes also they bare viz. A Lion rampant Argent crowned Or in a Shield Sable But John the last of them married Margaret Dutchesse of Northfolke Daughter of Thomas Brotherton and begat Elizabeth a daughter who brought into the Family of the Mowbraies the Dignity of Marshall of England and Title of Duke of Norfolke Brinkl● also is not farre from hence where stood an ancient Castle of the Mowbraies to which many possessions and faire lands thereabout belonged But the very rubbish of this Castle time hath quite consumed as Combe Abbay is scant now apparent which the Camvills and Mowbraies endowed with possessions and out of the ruines and reliques whereof a faire house of the Lord Haringtons in this very place is now raised As you goe East-ward you meet anon with Cester-Over whereof I spake incidently before belonging to the Grevills neere unto which the High port-way Watling-street dividing this shire Northward from Leicester-shire runneth on forward by High-crosse whereof also I have already written neere unto Nun-Eaton which in ancient time was named Eaton But when Amice wife to Robert Bossu Earle of Leicester as Henry Knighton writeth had founded a Monastery of Nunnes wherein her selfe also became professed it began of those Nunnes to be called Nun-Eaton And famous it was in the former ages by reason of those religious Virgines holinesse who devoting themselves continually to prayers gave example of good life A little from this there flourished sometimes Astley-Castle the principall seate of the Familie of Astley out of which flourished Barons in the time of King Edward the First Second and Third the heire whereof in the end was the second wedded Wife of Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthin from whom came the Greies Marquesses of Dorset some of whom were enterred in a most fine and faire Collegiat Church which Thomas Lord Astley founded with a Deane and Secular Chanons Somewhat higher hard by Watling street for so with the common people wee call the High-way made by the Romanes where as the riuer Anker hath a stone bridge over it stood MANDVESSEDUM a very ancient towne mentioned by Antonine the Emperour which being not altogether deprived of that name is now called Mancester and in Ninnius his Catalogue Caer Mancegued Which name considering there is a stone-quarry hard by I may ghesse was imposed upon it of the stones digged forth and hewed out of it For out of the Glossaries of the British tongue we finde that Main in the British language signified a Stone and Fosswad in the Provinciall tongue to digge out which being joyned together may seeme very expressely to import that ancient name MANDVESSEDUM But what how great or how faire soever it hath been
world for fishfull streame renown'd Refresheth all the neighbour fields that lye about it round But Glascow beautie is to Cluyd and grace to countries nye And by the streames that flow from thence all places fructifie Along the hithermore banke of Cluid yeth the Baronie of Reinfraw so called of the principall towne which may seeme to bee RANDVARA in Ptolomee by the river Cathcart that hath the Baron of Cathcart dwelling upon it carrying the same surname and of ancient nobilitie neere unto which for this little province can shew a goodly breed of nobilitie there border Cruikston the seat in times past of the Lords of Darley from whom by right of marriage it came to the Earles of Lennox whence Henrie the Father of King James the sixth was called Lord Darly Halkead the habitation of the Barons of Ros descended originally from English blood as who fetch their pedegree from that Robert Ros of Warke who long since left England and came under the alleageance of the King of Scots Pasley sometimes a famous Monasterie founded by Alexander the second of that name high Steward of Scotland which for a gorgeous Church and rich furniture was inferiour to few but now by the beneficiall favour of King James the sixth it yeeldeth both dwelling place and title of Baron to Lord Claud Hamilton a younger sonne of Duke Chasteu Herald and Sempill the Lord whereof Baron Sempill by ancient right is Sheriffe of this Baronie But the title of Baron of Reinfraw by a peculiar priviledge doth appertaine unto the Prince of Scotland LENNOX ALong the other banke of Cluyd above Glascow runneth forth Levinia or LENNOX Northward among a number of hills close couched one by another having that name of the river Levin which Ptolomee calleth LELANONIUS and runneth into Cluyd out of Logh Lomund which spreadeth it selfe here under the mountaines twenty miles long and eight miles broad passing well stored with varietie of fish but most especially with a peculiar fish that is to be found no where else they call it Pollac as also with Ilands concerning which manie fables have beene forged and those ri●e among the common people As touching an Iland here that floateth and waveth too and fro I list not to make question thereof For what should let but that a lighter bodie and spongeous withall in manner of a pumice stone may swimme above the water and Plinie writeth how in the Lake Vadimon there be Ilands full of grasse and covered over with rushes and reeds that float up and downe But I leave it unto them that dwell neerer unto this place and better know the nature of this Lake whether this old Distichon of our Necham be true or no Ditatur fluviis Albania saxea ligna Dat Lomund multa frigiditate potens With rivers Scotland is enrich'd and Lomund there a Lake So cold of nature is that stickes it quickly stones doth make Round about the edge of this Lake there bee fishers cottages but nothing else memorable unlesse it be Kilmoronoc a proper fine house of the Earles of Cassiles on the East side of it which hath a most pleasant prospect into the said Lake But at the confluence where Levin emptieth it selfe out of the Lake into Cluyd standeth the old Citie called Al-Cluyd Bede noteth that it signified in whose language I know not as much as The rocke Cluyd True it is that Ar-Cluyd signifieth in the British tongue upon Cluyd or upon the rocke and Cluyd in ancient English sounded the same that a Rocke The succeeding posteritie called this place Dunbritton that is The Britans towne and corruptly by a certaine transposition of letters Dunbarton because the Britans held it longest against the Scots Picts and Saxons For it is the strongest of all the castles in Scotland by naturall situation towring upon a rough craggie and two-headed rocke at the verie meeting of the rivers in a greene plaine In one of the tops or heads abovesaid there standeth up a loftie watch-tower or Keep on the other which is the lower there are sundrie strong bulwarks Betweene these two tops on the North side it hath one onely ascent by which hardly one by one can passe up and that with a labour by grees or steps cut out aslope travers the rocke In steed of ditches on the West side serveth the river Levin on the South Cluyd and on the East a boggie flat which at everie tide is wholly covered over with waters and on the North side the verie upright steepenesse of the place is a most sufficient defence Certain remaines of the Britans presuming of the naturall strength of this place and their owne manhood who as Gildas writeth gat themselves a place of refuge in high mountaines and hills steep and naturally fensed as it were with rampires and ditches in most thick woods and forrests in rockes also of the sea stood out and defended themselves here after the Romans departure for three hundred yeeres in the midst of their enemies For in Bedes time as himself writeth it was the best fortified citie of the Britans But in the yeere 756. Eadbert King of Northumberland and Oeng King of the Picts with their joint forces enclosed it round about by siege and brought it to such a desperate extremitie that it was rendred unto them by composition Of this place the territorie round about it is called the Sherifdome of Dunbarton and hath had the Earles of Lennox this long time for their Sheriffes by birth-right and inheritance As touching the Earles of Lennox themselves to omit those of more ancient and obscure times there was one Duncane Earle of Lennox in the reigne of Robert the second who died and left none but daughters behinde him Of whom one was married to Alan Steward descended from Robert a younger sonne of Walter the second of that name High Steward of Scotland and brother likewise to Alexander Steward the second from whom the noblest and royall race of Scotland hath beene propagated This surname Steward was given unto that most noble family in regard of the honourable office of the Stewardshippe of the kingdome as who had the charge of the Kings revenues The said Alan had issue John Earle of Lennox and Robert Captain of that companie of Scottishmen at Armes which Charles the sixth K. of France first instituted in lieu of some recompence unto the Scottish nation which by their valour had deserved passing well of the kingdom of France who also by the same Prince for his vertues sake was endowed with the Seigniorie of Aubigny in Auvergne John had a sonne named Matthew Earle of Lennox who wedded the daughter of James Hamilton by Marion daughter to King James the second on whom he begat John Earle of Lennox hee taking armes to deliver King James the fifth out of the hands of the Douglasses and the Hamiltons was slaine by the Earle of Arran his Unkle on the mothers side This John was
father to Matthew Earle of Lennox who having sustained sundrie troubles in France and Scotland found fortune more friendly to him in England through the favour of King Henrie the eighth considering that hee bestowed upon him in marriage his Neice with faire lands By the meanes of this happie marriage were brought into the world Henrie and Charles Henrie by Marie Queene of Scots had issue JAMES the sixth King of Britain by the propitious grace of the eternall God borne in a most auspicate and lucky houre to knit and unite in one bodie of an Empire the whole Island of Britaine divided as well in it selfe as it was heretofore from the rest of the world and as we hope and pray to lay a most sure foundation of an everlasting securitie for our heires and the posteritie As for Charles he had issue one onely daughter Arbella who above her sexe hath so embraced the studies of the best literature that therein shee hath profited and proceeded with singular commendation and is comparable with the excellent Ladies of old time When Charles was dead after that the Earledome of Lennox whereof he stood enfeoffed was revoked by Parliamentarie authoritie in the yeere of our Lord 1579. and his Unkle by the fathers side Robert Bishop of Cathanes had some while enjoyed this title in lieu whereof he received at the Kings hands the honour of the Earle of March King James the sixth conferred the honourable title of Duke of Lennox upon Esme Steward sonne to John Lord D'Aubigny younger brother to Mathew aforesaid Earle of Lennox which Lodowic Esme his son at this day honourably enjoieth For since the time of Charles the sixth there were of this line Lords of Aubigny in France the said Robert before named and Bernard or Eberard under Charles the eighth Lewis the twelfth who is commended with great praise unto posteritie by P. Iovius for his noble acts most valerously exploited in the warre of Naples a most firme and trustie companion of King Henrie the seventh when he entred into England Who used for his Emprese or devise a Lion betweene buckles with this Mot DISTANTIA JUNGIT for that by his meanes the Kingdomes of France and of Scotland severed and dis-joined so farre in distance were by a straighter league of friendship conjoyned like as Robert Steward Lord D'Aubigny of the same race who was Marshall of France under King Lewis the eleventh for the same cause used the royall Armes of France with buckles Or in a border Gueules which the Earles and Dukes of Lennox have ever since borne quarterly with the Armes of Steward STIRLING Sheriffdome UPon Lennox North-eastward bordereth the territorie of STERLING so named of the principall towne therein for fruitfull soile and numbers of Gentlemen in it second to no province of Scotland Here is that narrow land or streight by which Dunbritton Frith and Edenborrough Frith that I may use the termes of this our age piercing farre into the land out of the West and East Seas are divided asunder that they meet not the one with the other Which thing Iulius Agricola who marched hitherto and beyond first observed and fortified this space betweene with garrisons so as all the part of Britaine in this side was then in possession of the Romans and the enemies removed and driven as it were into another Island in so much as Tacitus judged right truely There was no other bound or limit of Britaine to bee sought for Neither verily in the time ensuing did either the VALOUR of Armies or the GLORIE of the Romane name which scarcely could be stayed set out the marches of the Empire in this part of the world farther although with in●odes they other whiles molested and endammaged them But after this glorious expedition of Agricola when himselfe was called backe Britaine as faith Tacitus became for-let neither was the possession kept still thus farre for the Caledonian Britans drave the Romans backe as farre as to the river Tine in so much as Hadrian who came into Britaine in person about the fortieth yeere after and reformed many things in it went no farther forward but gave commandement that the GOD TERMINUS which was wont to give ground unto none should retire backward out of this place like as in the East on this side Euphrates Hence it is that S. Augustine wrote in this wise God TERMINUS who gave not place to Iupiter yeelded unto the will of Hadrianus yeelded to the rashnesse of Iulian yeelded to the necessitie of Iovian In so much as Hadrian had enough to doe for to make a wall of turfe between the rivers Tine and Esk well neere an hundred miles Southward on this side Edenborrough Frith But Antoninus Pius who being adopted by Hadrian bare his name stiled thereupon TITUS AELIUS HADRIANUS ANTONINUS PIUS under the conduct of Lollius Urbicus whom he had sent hither Lievtenant repelled the Northern enemies backe againe beyond BODOTRIA or Edenborrough Forth and that by raising another wall of turfe namely besides that of Hadrianus as Capitolinus writeth Which wall that it was reared in this verie place whereof I now speake and not by Severus as it is commonly thought I will produce no other witnesses than two ancient Inscriptions digged up here of which the one fastned in the wall of an house at Cader sheweth how the second Legion Augusta set up the wall for the space of three miles and more the other now in the house of the Earle Marshall at Dunotyr which implieth that a band of the twentieth Legion Victrix raised the said wall three miles long But see here the verie inscriptions themselves as Servatius Riheley a Gentleman of Silesia who curiously travailed these countries copied them out for mee IMP. CAESARI T. AELIO HADRIANO ANTONINO AUG PIO P. P. VEXILLATIO LEG XX. VAL. VIC F. PER. MIL. P. III. IMP. CAES. TIT. IO AELIO HADRIANO ANTON AUG PIO PP LEG II. AUG PER. M. P. III. D. CIXVIS At Cadir where this latter inscription is extant there is another stone also erected by the second Legion Augusta wherein within a Laurell garland supported by two little images resembling victorie are these letters LEG II AVG. FEC And in a village called Miniabruch out of a Ministers house there was removed this inscription into a Gentlemans house which is there new built out of the ground D. M. C. JULI MARCELLINI PRAEF COH I. HAMIOR But when the Northerne nations in the reigne of Commodus having passed once over this wall had made much wast and spoile in the countrey the Emperour Severus as I have alreadie said repaired this wall of Hadrian Howbeit afterwards the Romans brought eftsoones the countrey lying betweene under their subjection For Ninius hath recorded that Carausius under Diocletian strengthened this wall another time and fortified it with seven castles Lastly the Romanes fensed this place when Theodosius the younger was Emperour under the conduct of Gallio of Ravenna Now saith Bede they
Sampford archbishop of Dublin In the same yeer the King of Hungary forsaking the Christian faith became an Apostata and when hee had called fraudulently as it were to a Parliament the mightier potentates of his land Miramomelius a puissant Saracene came upon them with 20000. souldiers carrying away with him the King with all the Christians there assembled on the even of Saint John Baptists day as the Christians therefore journied the weather that was cleere and faire turned to be cloudie and suddenly a tempest of haile killed many thousands of the Infidels together The Christians returned to their owne homes and the Apostata King alone went with the Saracenes The Hungarians therefore crowning his sonne King continued in the Catholike faith MCCLXXXIX Tripolis a famous citie was laied even with the ground not without much effusion of Christian blood and that by the Soldan of Babylon who commanded the images of the Saints to bee drawne and dragged at horses tailes in contempt of the name of Christ through the citie newly destroyed MCCXC Inclyta Stirps Regis Sponsis datur ordine legis In lawfull guise by hand and ring Espoused is the Kings off-spring The Lord Gilbert Clare tooke to wife the Ladie Joan a daughter of the Lord King Edward in the Abbey or Covent Church of Westminster and the marriage was solemnely celebrated in the Moneth of May and John the Duke of Brabant his sonne married Margaret the said Kings daughter also in the Church aforesaid in the moneth of July The same yeere the Lord William Vescie was made Justice of Ireland entring upon the office on Saint Martins day Item O Molaghelin King of Meth is slaine MCCXCI Gilbert Clare the sonne of Gilbert and of the Ladie Joan of Acres was borne the 11. day of May in the morning betimes Item there was an armie led into Ulster against O-Hanlon and other Princes hindering the peace by Richard Earle of Ulster and William Vescie Justice of Ireland Item the Ladie Eleanor sometime Queene of England and mother of King Edward died in the feast of St. Iohn Baptist who in the religious habite which she desired led a laudable life for the space of foure yeeres eleven moneths and sixe dayes within the Abbey of Ambresby where she was a professed Nun. Item there resounded certaine rumours in the eares of the Lord Pope Martin on the even of St. Mary Maudlen as touching the Citie Acon in the holy land which was the only refuge of the Christians namely that it was besieged by Milkador the Soldan of Babylon an infinite number of his souldiers and that it had been most fiercely assaulted about fortie daies to wit from the eighth day before the Ides of April unto the fifteene Calends of July At length the wall was plucked down by the Saracens that assaulted it and an infinite number of them entred the Citie many Christians being slaine and some for feare drowned in the sea The Patriarch also with his traine perished in the sea The King of Cypres and Otes Grandison with their companies pitifully escaped by a ship Item granted there was unto the Lord Edward King of England by the Lord Pope Martin the tenth part of all the profits of Ecclesiasticall benefices for seven yeeres in Ireland toward the reliefe of the holy land Item the eldest sonne of the Earle of Clare was borne MCCXCII Edward King of England eftsoones entred Scotland and was elected King of Scotland Lord John Balliol of Galwey obtained the whole kingdome of Scotland in right of inheritance and did homage unto the Lord Edward King of England at New-castle upon Tine on S. Stephens day Florentius Earle of Holland Robert Brus Earle of Carrick John Hastings John Comyn Patrick Dunbar John Vescie Nicolas Soules and William Roos who all of them in that kingdome submitted themselves to the judgement of the Lord King Edward Item a fifteene of all secular mens goods in Ireland was granted unto the soveraign Lord King of England the same to be collected at the feast of S. Michael Item Sir Peter Genevile Knight died Item Rice ap Meredyke was brought to York and there at horses tailes drawne c. MCCXCIII A generall and open war there was at sea against the Normans Item no small number of the Normans by fight at sea was slain by the Barons of the Ports of England and other their co-adjutors between Easter and Whitsuntide For which cause there arose war between England and France whereupon Philip King of France directed his letters of credence unto the King of England that he should make personall appearance at his Parliament to answer unto Questions which the same King would propose unto him whose mandate in this behalf being not fulfilled straightwaies the King of France declaring by the counsell of the French the King of England to be outlawed condemned him Item Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester entred with his wife into Ireland about the feast of S. Luke MCCXCIV William Montefort in the Kings counsell holden at Westminster before the King died sodainly which William was the Dean of S. Pauls in London in whose mouth the Prelates Bishops and Cleargy putting their words which he was to utter and doubting how much the King affected and desired to have of every one of them and willing by him to be certified in whom also the King reposed most trust being returned to the King and making hast before the King to deliver expresly a speech that he had conceived became speechlesse on a sodain and fell downe to the ground and was carried forth by the Kings servants in their armes in piteous manner In regard of which sight that thus happened men strucken with feare gave out these speeches Surely this man hath beene the Agent and Procurator that the Tenths of Ecclesiasticall benefices should bee paied to the King and another author and procurer of a scrutinie made into the fold and flocke of Christ as also of a contribution granted afterward to the King crying against William Item the Citie of Burdeaux with the land of Gascoigne adjoining was occupied or held by the ministers of the King of France conditionally but unjustly and perfidiously detained by the King of France for which cause John Archbishop of Dublin and certaine other Lords of the Nobilitie were sent into Almaine to the King thereof and after they had their dispatch and answer in Tordran the Lord Archbishop being returned into England ended his life upon S. Leodegaries day The bones of which John Sampford were enterred in the Church of Saint Patrick in Dublin the tenth day before the Calends of March. The same yeere there arose debate betweene Lord William Vescy Lord Justice of Ireland for the time being and the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and the said Lord Williliam Vescy crossed the seas into England left Sir William Hay in his stead Justice of Ireland but when both of them were come before the King to fight a combat under an Appeal for treason the foresaid
and chastised the Irish very well MCCCLVI And in the one and thirty yeere of the foresaid King Sir Thomas Rokesby was made the second time Justice of Ireland who tamed the Irish very well and paied as well for the victuals he tooke saying I will eat and drinke out of Treen vessels and yet pay both gold and silver for my food and apparel yea and for my pensioners about me The same yeere died that Sir Thomas Justice of Ireland within the Castle of Kilka MCCCLVII Also in the two and thirty yeere of the same Kings raigne Sir Almarick de Saint Aimund was made chiefe Justice of Ireland and entred into it At this very time began a great controversie between Master Richard Fitz-Ralfe Archbishop of Armagh and the foure Orders of the begging Friers but in the end the Friers got the mastery and by the Popes meanes caused the Archbishop of Armagh to hold his peace MCCCLVIII In the 33. yeere of the same King Sir Almarick Sir Amund chiefe Justice of Ireland passed over into England MCCCLIX In the 34. yeere of the same King Iames Botiller Earle of Ormond was made chiefe Justice of Ireland Item the Lady Ioan Burke Countesse of Kildare departed this life on St. Georges day and was buried in the Church of the Friers Minors of Kildare neere unto her husband the Lord Thomas Fitz-Iohn Earle of Kildare MCCCLX And in the 35. of the foresaid King died Master Richard Fitz-Ralfe Archbishop of Armagh in Hanault the sixteenth day of December whose bones were conveied into Ireland by the reverend father Stephen Bishop of Meth to be bestowed in S. Nicolas Church at Dundalk where he was born But doubted it is whether they were his bones or some other mans Item Sir Robert Savage a doughty knight dwelling in Ulster departed this life who with a few Englishmen slew of the Irish three thousand neere unto Antrim but before that he went forth to that battell he tooke order that there should be given unto every Englishman one good draught or pot of wine or ale whereof hee had a number of hogsheads and barrels full and the rest he saved against the comming of his friends he caused also to be killed sheepe oxen tame foule crammed fat wilde foule and for venison red Deere that they might bee dressed and made ready for such as returned winners out of the field whosoever they were And he was wont to say a shame it were if guests should come and not finde what to eate and drinke But when it pleased God to give the English victorie he invited them all to supper and they rejoiced with thanksgiving and himselfe said I give God thanks For better it is thus to keep it than to let it run forth upon the ground as some gave me counsell Buried he was in the covent Church of the preaching Friers of Coulrath neere to the river of Banne Also the Earle of Ormond Lord Justice of Ireland entred England in whose place Moris Fitz-Thomas Earle of Kildare was made Lord Justice of Ireland by this Charter and Commission as appeareth Omnibus ad quos c. that is To all whom these letters shall come unto Greeting Know ye that we have committed to our sweet and faithfull subject Moris Earle of Kildare the office of our L. Justice of our land of Ireland and our land of Ireland with the Castle and all pertenances thereto to keep and governe so long as it shall please us and to receive at our Exchequer in Dublin yeerely so long as hee shall remaine in that office five hundred pounds for which he shall keep that office and land and he shall be himselfe one of the twenty men in armes whom he shall finde with as many horses armed continually during our foresaid commission In witnesse whereof c. Given by the hands of our beloved in Christ Frier Thomas Burgey Prior of the Hospitall of S. John of Ierusalem in Ireland our Chancellour of Ireland at Dublin the thirtieth day of March and of our reigne the thirty five yeere Also Iames Botiller Earle of Ormond came again out of England Lord Justice of Ireland as before unto whom the Earle of Kildare resigned up the office of Justiceship MCCCLXI Leonell Earle of Ulster in right of his wives inheritance and being the Kings sonne of England came into Ireland as the Kings Lievtenant and arrived at Dublin the eighth day of September being the feast of the blessed Virgins nativitie bringing his second wife Elizabeth daughter and heire of the Lord William Burke Earle of Ulster In the same yeere was the second pestilence There died in England Henry Duke of Lancaster the Earle of March the Earle of Northampton Also on the sixth day of January Mons Doncref a Citizen of Dublin was buried in the Churchyard of the Friers Preachers of the same City unto which covent or brotherhood he gave forty pounds toward the glazing of their Church Item there departed out of this life the Lady Ioan Fleming wife to the Lord Geffery Trevers and the Lady Margaret Bermingham wife to the Lord Robert Preston on the Vigill of St. Margaret and were buried in the Covent Church of the preaching Friers of Tredagh Also the Lord Walter Bermingham the younger died on S. Laurence day who divided his inheritance between his sisters the one part thereof the foresaid Preston had for his share Item the foresaid Lord Leonell after hee was entred into Ireland and had rested some few daies made warre upon O-Brynne and proclaimed throughout his army that no man borne in Ireland should come neere unto his campe and an hundred of his owne Pensioners were slaine Leonell seeing this forthwith reduced the whole people as well of England as of Ireland into one and so hee prospered and strucke many battailes round about in all places with the Irish by the helpe of God and the people of Ireland Hee made also many Knights of English and Irish and among them Robert Preston Robert Holiwood Thomas Talbot Walter Cusacke Iames de La Hide Iohn Ash or de Fraxius Patricke and Robert Ash or de Fraxius and many besides Also he removed the Exchequer from Dublin to Carlagh and gave five hundred pounds to the walling of that towne Item on the feast of Saint Maur Abbat there rose a mighty wind that shooke and overthrew pinnacles battlements chimneys and other things higher than the rest trees without number divers Steeples and namely the Steeple of the Preaching Friers MCCCLXII Also in the 36. yeere of the same King the Church of St. Patricke in Dublin through negligence was set on fire and burnt the eighth of Aprill MCCCLXIV And in the 38. yeere of the foresaid King the Lord Leonel Earle of Ulster entred England the 22. of Aprill and left his Deputy-Justice of Ireland the Earle of Ormond and the same Leonell Duke of Clarence returned the eighth of December MCCCLXV Also in the 39. yeere of the said King the same Leonell Duke of Clarence
the native place of that great Arthur partly upon a little ridge putting forth as it were a tongue and partly within an Iland having both of them sometime a bridge betweene They call it at this day Tindagel beeing now a glorious ruine onely in times past a stately Castle of which a late Poet hath thus written Est locus Abrini finnoso littore ponti Rupe situs media refluus quem circuit astus Fulminat hic lat● turrit● vertice castrum Nomine Tindagium veteres dixere Corini There is a place within the winding shore of Severne Sea On mids a rocke about whose foote the tides turne-keeping play A Towry-topped Castle here farre thundreth over all Which Cornishmen by ancient name Tindagel Castle call A long discourse it would aske to declare here out of Geffries history how Uther Pendragon King of Britaine within this Castle became enamoured upon the wife of Gorlois Prince of Cornwall and how by Magick slights and delusions taking the shape of her husband upon him dishonourably violated the Ladie his wife and of her begat the said renowned Arthur It may suffice if I doe but alleage the verses of our Poet Iohn Havillan Facie dum falsus adulter Tindagel irrupit nec amoris Pendragon astum Vincit omnificas Merlini consulit artes Mentiturque ducis habitus rege latente Induit absentis praesentia Gorlois ora Whiles Pendragon that could not quench his flaming heats of love But beare a mind adult'rous still by meanes brake in above To Tindagel disguis'd in face by Merlin taught thereto By magicke and inchauntments strange which all such feats could doe Duke Gorloes habite absent then that was he tooke by guile But presence of the King in place he did conceale the while This Uther Pendragon verily was a Prince flourishing in Mar●iall feats who valiantly upheld the decaying state of his countrey against the English Saxons But whether came from him That Royall Banner in England having the portraict of a Dragon with a golden head whereof of neighbour nations have had experience and which in far Lands beyond sea was under King Richard the First terrible to the Panims I dare not avouch I would beleeve rather it was received from the Romans who a long time used the Eagle after that Marius had rejected the Ensignes of a Wolfe of Minotaurus of an Horse c. And in the end under the latter Emperors tooke them to the Dragon Whereupon Claudianus writeth thus Hij picta Draconum Calla levant The banners these advance aloft With speckled necks of Dragons wrought And Nemesianus Signa micant sinuatque truces levis aura Dracones Their Ensignes shine and Dragons fell that therein pictur'd show Wave to and fro with whiffes of wind as it doth gently blow And Hoveden sheweth that the West Saxon Kings used to carrie in their Banners the Dragon As for another Banner of the English which Beda called Tufa as also the Danes Reafan I will say nothing of them in this place for feare I may seeme to have digressed too farre from my purpose Betweene Padstow and Tindagel inwardly there extendeth a fruitfull veine and therein flourish the families of Roscarrock Carnsew Penkevell Cavell Pencavell of ancient name and great respect in this coast Forward still Eastward on the same coast which is open barren and destitute of woods there butteth upon the sea Botereaux Castle corruptly by the common people called Boscastle built by the Lords Botereaux who gave for their armes three Buffones toads sable in a shield Argent William Botereaux was the first famous man of honour in this familie who married Alice the daughter of Robert Corbet whose sister was Paramour to King Henrie the First of whom hee begat Reginald Earle of Cornwall From this William there flourished eleven successively in order But Margaret the onely daughter and sole heire of the last was wedded unto Robert Hungerford by whose posteritie the Inheritance is devolved upon the familie of the Hastings which inheritance was augmented and became more honourable by marriages that those of Botereaux contracted with the heires of the Noble houses De Moeles S. Laud commonly called S. Lo and Thweng From hence the Land shooting forth into the Sea extendeth it selfe so farre northward that the countrey carrieth here full three and twenty miles in breadth betweene the two seas which hitherto went on still drawen after a sort together into a narrow streit In this greatest breadth of it standeth Stow upon the sea-side the ancient habitation of the Creenvils which verily for Antiquitie and Noblenesse of birth is a famous house out of which one Richard in the raigne of William Rufus was for his valour much renowned among those worthy Knights that subdued Glamorganshire in Wales and another of late daies surnamed likewise Richard for his magnanimitie surpassing the Nobilitie of his bloud fighting most valiantly against the Spaniards at the Ilands of Tercera lost his life as I shall shew more fully in my Annals To this Stratton lieth close to a market Towne of no meane name amongst the neighbours for their gardens and good garlicke and next unto it Lancels a faire new seat of that old family de Calvo monte or Chaumond The river TAMARA now TAMAR shewing his head here not farre from the northren shore taketh his course with a swift running streame southward encreased with the channels of many rivelets hard by TAMARA a Towne mentioned by Ptolomee now called Tamerton by Tamar an ancient Mannour of the Trevilions to whom by marriage the Inheritance of Walesborough and Ralegh of Netlested descended also by Lanstuphadon that is Saint Stephens commonly and contractly Launston which standeth farther off from his banke a proper little Towne this is situate upon the pitch of a prettie hill which of two Burgards Dunevet and Newport is growne as it were into one Burgh At the first comming of the Normans William Earle of Moriton built a Castle there and had a Colledge of Chanons or Secular Priests as appeareth out of Domesday book wherein it is named Launstaveton of that Colledge no doubt built in the honour of Saint Stephen which Reginald Earle of Cornwall about the yeere of our Lord 1150 turned into a monasterie Against which pious worke of his the Bishops of Excester carried away over much and seduced with humane and private affection were verie maliciously bent as fearing exceedingly lest one day it would become a Bishops seat and so prejudice and impeach their jurisdiction At this day this Town is best knowne by reason of the common Goale of the countrey and the Assises which are often times kept there Then Tamar looketh up unto an high hil stretched out in length with a vast head which Marianus nameth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and interpreteth it Hengists mount commonly called Hengston-hill Which in times past was so plentifull of Tinne veines that the countrey people had this
begot of the Lady Margaret Howard Daughter to the late Duke of Norfolk In this Countie are numbred Parishes 248. BELGAE VPon the North and East side of the Durotriges bordered in times past the Belgae who as it is by the name probable and by authority of writers very likely passed over from the Belgae a people in Gaule into Britaine For those Belgae having their beginning as Caesar according to the information he had from the men of Rhemes of the Germans and in old time being brought over the Rhene finding the sweetnesse and fertility of the place expelled the Gaules and planted themselves there From whence as the same Caesar saith they gat them over into Britaine for to spoile and in warlicke manner to invade the country and were all of them called after the name of those countryes from whence they came where after they had made warre they remained and began to till the grounds But at what time they came hither to dwell it is not certainly knowen unlesse Divitiacus King of the Suessones who flourished before Caesars time brought over the Belgae hither For a great part as well of Gaule as of Britaine he had under him Whence also they were named Belgae it is not sufficiently shewed Hubert Thomas of Liege a great learned man supposed Belgae to be a German word for that the Germans use to call the French and the Italians Wallen as strangers yea and some of them Welgen Iohn Goropius himself a Belgian maintaineth it to be derived of the word Belke which in the Belgicke tongue signifieth wrath or anger as if they would be sooner incensed with choler than others But seeing that the name of the Belgae seemeth not to be sought for out of that tongue which the Germans of the Low-countries use at this day and is almost the same that our English-Saxon language for from the Saxons it came whom Charles the Great brought over into Brabant and Flanders for my part I will in no wise diminish their credit who fetch it forth of the ancient Gaules tongue which remayneth in manner uncorrupt among our Welch-Britans and will have them called Belgae of Pell which in that tongue betokeneth Remote or far off For of all Gaule they were the furthest and as they were furthest from the civill behaviour and humanity of the Roman Province so they were also in situation and seat and the Poet hath shewed that the Morini were the people of all Belgica most remote when he wrote thus Extremique hominum Morini that is The morini of all men furthest But come we now to our Belgae who inhabited far and wide in Somersetshire Wiltshire and the inner parts of Hantshire SOMERSETSHIRE THe Countie of Somerset commonly called Somersetshire is a verie large and wealthy Region the North side whereof the Severne Sea beateth upon the West part confineth with Denshire in the South it bordereth first upon Devonshire and then upon Dorsetshire Eastward upon Wiltshire and North-east upon part of Glocestershire The Soile verie rich yeelding for the most part thereof passing great plentie both of pasture and corne and yet not without stonie hilles Exceeding populous and full of Inhabitants furnished also with commodious havens and ports sufficiently Some thinke it was so called for that the aire there is so mild and summer-like and in that sence the Welch Britans at this day terme it Gladerhaf borrowing that name out of our English tongue And verily howsoever in summer time it is a right summer-like Country yet surely in winter it may worthily be called a winterish Region so wet and weely so miry and moorish it is to the exceeding great trouble and encombrance of those that travell in it But I will beleeve that this name without all question grew from Somerton a famous Towne in ancient time and of all others in the shire most frequented considering that Asserius a writer of great antiquitie calleth this Countie in every place Somertunensis that is Somertunshire In the very first limit of the shire Westward where Ex riseth in a solitarie and hilly moore first appeareth Dulverton a silly market according to the soile and neere unto it was a small religious house of Black-chanons at Barelinch who in latter times acknowledged the Fetyplaces their founders Higher upward on the Severne side where this shire confineth upon Devonshire first we meet with Porlock in the English-Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Watchet in times past Wecedpoort roades both and harbours for ships the which in the yeere 886. were most grievously afflicted by the Danish cruell piracies Betwixt them standeth Dunster Castle upon a flat and low ground enclosed round about with hilles saving to the Sea-ward built by the Moions or Mohuns From whose heires by agreements and compositions it came in the end to the Lutterels A right noble and mightie house this of the Mohuns was for a long time and flourished from the verie Conquerours daies under whose raigne that Castle was built unto the time of King Richard the Second Two Earles there were of this Countie out of that familie as I shall shew hereafter William and Reginald who in the Barons warre lost that honor The Posteritie afterwards were reputed Barons of whom the last named Iohn left three daughters Philip wife to Edward Duke of Yorke Elizabeth wedded to William Montacute Earle of Sarisburie the second of that name and Maud Joyned in marriage to the Lord Strange of Knokin The Mother of which three Ladies as the report goes obtained of her husband so much pasture-ground in Common by the Towne side for the benefit of the Inhabitants as she could goe about in one day barefoot SOMERSETTENSIS Comitatus Vulgo Somersett Shyre Qui ●lim pars fuit BELGARVM Now to returne the river Ivel from hence runneth to ISCHALIS mentioned by Ptolomee now Ivelcester named in the Catalogue of Ninnius if I be not deceived Pontavel Coit for Pont-Ivel Coit that is Ivel bridge in the wood by Florentius of Worcester Givelcester at this day of small account but onely for the antiquitie and the market there kept for peeces of the Roman Caesars or Emperours money of gold brasse and silver are other whiles here digged up That in old time it had been a great towne and on some sides strengthned with a double wall the ruines declare and two towers upon the Bridge About the time of the Normans comming in well peopled it was and much frequented For reckoned there were in it one hundred and seven Burgesses A sure place also in those daies and well fortified for in the yeere of Grace 1088 when the Nobles of England had conspired plotted against King William Rufus to put him downe and set up his brother Robert Duke of Normandie in his Roiall throne Robert Mowbray a warlike man having burnt Bathe forcibly assaulted this towne but with lost labour yet what hee could not doe then long processe of time
Under which betweene the confluences of Avon and Frome there is a plaine beset round about with trees yielding a most pleasant walking place South-east where no rivers are to guard it Robert the base sonne of King Henry the First whom they commonly name Robert Rufus and Consull of Glocester because he was Earle of Glocester built a large and strong Castle for the defence of this Citie and of a pious and devout affection appointed every tenth stone to the building of a Chappell neere unto the Priory of S. Iames which he likewise founded by the Citie side This Robert had to wife Mabile the onely daughter and heire of Robert Fitz-Hamon who held this towne by vassalage in Capite of King William Conquerour This Castle was scarcely built when King Stephen besieged it but with lost labour for he was compelled to raise his siege and depart and a few yeares after was imprisoned in the same giving thereby a testimony and proofe how uncertaine the chance of war is Beyond the river Frome which hath a bridge over it at Frome-gate there riseth an high hill with a steepe and crooked ascent so as it is painefull to goe up unto it From whence ye have a most faire and goodly prospect to the Citie and haven underneath This hill in the very top and pitch thereof spreadeth presently into a large greene and even plaine which in the midst is shadowed with a double row and course of trees and among them stands a pulpit of Stone and a Chapell wherein by report lieth enterred Iordan the companion of Augustine the Englishmens Apostle Now it is converted to a Schoole and on both sides to say nothing of the neate and fine houses of private men beautified it is with publike and stately buildings Of the one side was a Collegiat Church called Gaunts of the founder one Henry Gaunt Knight who relinquishing the world in this place betooke himselfe to the service of God but now through the bounty of Thomas Carr a wealthy Citizen converted to the keeping of Orphans on the other side directly over against it stand two Churches dedicated to S. Augustine the one which is the lesse a Parish-Church the other that is greater the Bishops Cathedrall Church endowed with sixe Prebendaries by King Henrie the Eighth the greatest part whereof is now destroied where the Colledge-gate workemanly built carrieth in the front this Inscription REX HENRICVS II. ET DOMINVS ROBERTVS FILIVS HARDINGI FILII REGIS DACIAE HVIVS MONASTERII PRIMI FVNDATORES EXTITERVNT That is King Henry the Second and Lord Robert the sonne of Harding the King of Denmarks sonne were the first founders of of this Monasterie This Robert called by the Normans Fitz-Harding descended of the bloud royall of Denmarke was an Alderman of Bristow of King Henry the Second so entirely beloved that by his meanes Maurice his sonne married the daughter of the Lord of Barkley Whereby his posteritie who flourished in great honor are unto this day called Barons of Barkley and some of them have beene buried in this Church From hence as Avon holdeth on his course there are on each side very high cliffes by nature set there as it were of purpose the one of them which on the East-side overlooketh the river beareth the name of S. Vincents rocke so full of Diamonds that a man may fill whole strikes or bushels of them These are not so much set by because they be so plentious For in bright and transparent colour they match the Indian Diamonds if they passe them not in hardnesse onely they are inferior to them but in that nature her self hath framed them pointed with sixe cornerd or foure cornerd smooth sides I thinke them therefore worthy to be had in greater admiration The other rock also on the West-side is likewise full of Diamonds which by the wonderfull skill and worke of nature are enclosed as young ones within the bowels of hollow and reddish flints for here is the earth of a red colour When Avon hath left these rocks behind him with full channell at length he disengorgeth himselfe into the Severn-sea Then remaineth now to reckon up the Earles and Dukes of this County The first Earle of Somerset by tradition was William de M●hun or Moion who may seeme to be the very same whom Maude the Empresse in a charter whereby she created William de Mandevill Earle of Essex taketh as a witnesse under this name Comes W. de Moion Neither from that time meete we with any expresse and apparent mention of Earles of Somerset unlesse it be in these letters Patents of King Henrie the Third unto Peter de Mawley which that I may draw out the judgement of others I will heere set downe literally Know yee that we have received the homage of our well beloved Vncle William Earle of Sarisbury for all the lands that he holdeth of us principally for the County or Earledom of Somerset which we have given unto him with all appurtenances for his homage and service saving the royaltie to our selves and therefore we will command you that ye see he have full sesine of the foresaid Earledome and all the appurtinances therto and that ye entermeddle not in any thing from henceforth as touching the County or Earledome aforesaid c. And commandement is given to all Earles Barons Knights and Freeholders of the County of Somerset that unto the same Earle they doe fealtie and homage saving their faith and allegiance unto their soveraigne Lord the King and that from henceforth they be intentive and answerable unto him as their Lord. Whether by these words in the Patent he was Earle of Somerset as also of Denshire for of the same William he wrote likewise in the very same words unto Robert de Courtney I leave for other men to judge Under this King Henry the third as wee finde in a booke written in French which pertaineth to the house of the Mohuns Knights it is recorded that Pope Innocentius in a solemne feast ordained Reginald Mohun Earle de Ests that is as the Author doth interpret it Of Somerset by delivering unto him a golden consecrated rose and an yearely pension to be paied upon the high Altar of S. Pauls in London So that this Reginald may seeme to have beene not properly an Earle but an Apostolicall Earle For so were they termed in those daies who had their creation from the Bishop of Rome like as they were called Earles Imperiall whom the Emperor invested and such had power to institute Notaries and Scribes to legitimate such as were base borne c. under certaine conditions A long time after Iohn de Beaufort the base sonne of Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster by Katherine Swineford being made legitimate by King Richard the Second together with his brethren and sister with consent of the Parliament was preferred to the honor of Earle of Somerset and afterwards created Marquesse Dorset but soone after
deprived thereof by King Henrie the Fourth having the title onely of the Earle of Somerset left unto him The said Iohn had three sonnes Henry Earle of Somerset who died in his tender age Iohn created by King Henry the Fifth the first Duke of Somerset who had one sole daughter named Margaret mother to King Henry the Seventh and Edmund who succeeded after his brother in the Dukedome and having beene a certaine time Regent of France being called home and accused for the losse of Normandie after hee had suffred much grievance at the peoples hands in that regard was in that wofull war betweene the houses of Lancaster and Yorke slaine in the first battaile of S. Albans Henrie his sonne being placed in his roome whiles hee served the times siding one while with Yorke and anotherwhile with Lancaster in the battaile at Exham was by those of the houses of Yorke taken prisoner and with the losse of his head paied for his unconstant levitie Edmund his brother succeeded him in his honor who of this family was the last Duke of Somerset and when the whole power of the Lancastrians was discomfited at Tewkesbury was forcibly pulled out of the Church into which all embrued with bloud he fled as into a Sanctuary and then beheaded Thus all the legitimate males of this family being dead and gone first King Henry the Seventh honored with title Edmund his owne son a young child who shortly departed this world afterwards King Henry the Eighth did the like for his base sonne named Henry Fitz-Roy And seeing he had no children King Edward the Sixth invested Sir Edward de Sancto Mauro commonly Seimor with the same honour who being most power-able honorable and loaden with titles for thus went his stile Duke of Somerset Earle of Hertford Vicount Beauchamp Baron Seimor Vncle to the King Governor of the King Protector of his Realmes Dominions and subjects Lieutenant of the forces by land and sea Lord high Treasurer and Earle Marshall of England Captaine of the Isles Gernsey and Iarsey c. Was sodainely overwhelmed as it were by a disport of fortune which never suffereth suddaine over-greatnesse to last long and for a small crime and that upon a nice point subtlely devised and packed by his enemies bereaved both of those dignities and his life withall In this Countie are numbred Parishes 385. WILTONIAE Comitatus herbida Pl●nicie nobilis vul●o will Shire pars olim BELGARVM WILSHIRE WIl-shire which also pertained to the BELGAR called in the English-Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine commly termed Wiltonia taking that denomination of Wilton sometime the chiefe towne like as it of the River Willy is altogether a mediterranean or mid-land country For enclosed it is with Somersetshire on the West Berkshire and Hampshire on the East on the North with Glocestershire and on the South with Dorsetshire and a part of Hampshire A Region which as it breedeth a number of warlike and hardy men who in old time with Cornwall and Denshire together challenged by reason of their manhood and martiall prowesse the prerogative in the English armie of that regiment which should second the maine battell as saith Iohn of Sarisburie in his Polycraticon so is it exceeding fertill and plentifull of all things yea and for the varietie thereof passing pleasant and delightsome The Northern and upper part which they call North-Wilshire riseth up somewhat with delectable hils attired in times past with large and great woods which now begin to grow thinne and watered with cleare rivers For Isis the principall and as it were Prince of all the English Rivers which afterwards taketh to him the name of Tamisis that is Thames being now as yet but little and shallow together with other Rivers of lesse name which I will speake of in their proper places water it plentifully The South part with large grassie plaines feedeth innumerable flocks of sheepe having his Rivers swelling Brookes and rils of everliving fountaines The middest of this shire which for the most part also lieth even and plain is divided overthwart from East to West with a Dike of wonderfull worke cast up for many miles together in length The people dwelling there about call it Wansdike which upon an errour generall received they talke and tell to have beene made by the divell upon a Wednesday For in the Saxon tongue it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say The Ditch of Wooden or Mercurie and as it should seeme of Wooden that false imagined God and Father of the English-Saxons But I have alwaies beene perswaded that the Saxons made it as a limit to divide the two Kingdomes of the Mercians and West-Saxons asunder For this was the very place of battell betweene them whiles they strove one with another to enlarge their Dominions And neere unto this Dike standeth Wodensburg a little Village where Ceauline the most warlike King of the West-Saxons in the yeare of grace 590. whiles hee defended his Marches in a bloudy fight received such a foile and overthrow by the Britans and Englishmen that he was forced to flie his countrey and to end his daies in exile a pitious and lamentable spectacle even to his very enemies And at this Dike to say nothing of other accidents Ina the West-Saxon and Ceolred the Mercian joyned battell and departed the field on even hand Like to this was that ditch whereby King Offa kept the Britans off from his Mercians called even at this day Offa-dike others also are still to be seene among the East-Angles in Cambridgeshire and Suffolke wherewith they limited their territory and defended themselves from the inrodes and invasions of the Mercians In the North-part of Wilshire which is watered with Isis or the Thames there is a towne called Creckelade by Marianus by others Greekelade of Greeke Philosophers as some are ready to beleeve who as the historie of Oxford reporteth began there an Universitie which afterwards was translated to Oxford West from that is Highworth highly seated a well knowne Market but South from Creckelade I saw Lediard Tregoze the seat of the Familie of Saint-Iohn Knights the which Margaret de Bello Campo or Beauchamp afterwards Duchesse of Somerset gave to Oliver of Saint Iohn her second sonne For to her it came as an inheritance by Patishul Grandison and Tregoze names of great honour Wotton Basset bordeth hard upon this having this primitive name from Wood the addition doth prove that it belonged to the Noble house of the Bassets But in the latter fore-going age it was as I have heard say the habitation of the Duke of Yorke who made there a verie large Parke for to enclose Deere in From hence Breden wood now Breden Forrest stretched it selfe farre and wide which in the yeare 905. by Ethelwald Clyto and the Danes that aided him was laid waste and the Inhabitants endured all calamities of warre On the West side whereof the River Avon above mentioned
now a little village but sometime King Etheldreds mansion house and for that the Earles of Cornwall were wont to retire themselves and sojourne there it was of good account within view whereof is Castlecombe an old Castle ennobled sometimes by the Lords of it the Walters of Dunstavill men of great renowne in their time out of whose house the Writhosleies Earles of Southampton are descended Petronilla or Parnell daughter and sole heire of the last Walter was wedded unto Robert de Montfore and bare unto him William his Sonne who sold this Castle with the rest of his lands and possessions unto Bartholomew Badilsmer from whom as I have heard it passed to the Scr●opes who ever since have held it But now returne we unto the river upon which are seated Leckham the possession of the noble family of the Bainards where pieces of Roman money have oftentimes beene found and Lacocke where the most godly and religious woman Dame Ela Countesse of Salisburie being now a widdow built a Monasterie like as shee did another at Henton in the yeare 1232. to the honour of the blessed Virgin Marie and Saint Bernard in which her selfe devoutly dedicated both her bodie and soule to the service of God Avon from hence shadowed with trees holding on his course not far from Brumham an inhabitation in times past of the Baron Samond or truly De Sancto Amando Saint Amand afterward of the Baintons from them before hee admitteth to him a little rivelet from the East that putteth forth his head neere unto the Castle De Vies Devizes or the Vies Florentius of Worcester calleth it Divisio and Neubergentis Divisae Heretofore a stately place I assure you very strong as well by naturall scituation as by mans hand but through the injurie of time now decaied and defaced This Castle that it might disgrace and put downe all other Castles in England Roger Bishop of Salisburie whom from a poore masse-Priest Fortune had exalted unto the highest authoritie next the King at his excessive charges built But Fortune as one saith hath set no man so high but she threatneth to take from him as much as she hath permitted him to have For King Stephen upon a displeasure wrung from him both this Castle and that also of Shirburne together with all his wealth and riches as great as it was yea and brought the silly old man so low in prison what with hunger and what with other miseries that betweene the feare of death and torments of this life he had neither will to live nor skill to die At which time was handled canvased or rather tossed to and fro this question whether by the Canons and Decrees of Church Bishops might hold Castles or if this be by indulgence tolerated whether they ought not in dangerous and suspected times surrender them up into the Kings hands Avon having received this rivelet to beare him company maketh away westward and straight waies another brook from the South runneth into him which hath given name to the house standing upon it called likewise Barons Brooke which as it afforded habitation in old time to Iohn Pavely Lord of Westburie Hundred so afterwards it gave the title of Baron to Robert Willoughby because by the Chenies hee derived his pedigree from Paveley what time as King Henrie the Seventh advanced him to a Barons dignitie as being high in his favour Steward of his house and appointed by report for a while Admirall Whereupon he used the Helme of a ship for a seale in his ring like as Pompey in times past Governour of the Roman Navie the stemme or Prow thereof in his coines But this family fading as it were and dying in the verie blade quickly came to an end For he left a sonne Robert Lord Brooke who of a former wife begat Edward his sonne that died before his father leaving a daughter married to Sir Foulke Grevil and of a second wife two daughters by whom a great inheritance and rich estate conveied to the Marquesse of Winchester and Lord Montjoy Neere unto this Eastward lieth Edindon in old time Eathandune where King Alfred in as memorable a battell as any time else most fortunately vanquished the bold insolent and outragious Danes and drave them to this hard passe that they swore in a set forme of oath forthwith to depart out of England In which place also William de Edindon Bishop of Winchester whom King Edward highly favoured here borne and taking his name from hence erected a Colledge Bonis hominibus Bon-homes as they called them that is for good men But at the little river aforesaid somewhat higher standeth upon a hill Trubridge sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a sure and trusty bridge But for what cause this name was set upon it it is not for certaine knowne In great name and prosperitie it is in these daies by reason of clothing and sheweth the remaines of a Castle which belongeth to the Duchie of Lancaster and sometime of the Earle of Salisburie Avon thus increased by this rivelet watereth Bradford in the foregoing times Bradanford so named of a broad foard scituate upon the descent or fall of an hill and built all of stone where Kenilwalch King of the West-Britans embrued his sword wiuh bloud in civill warre against Cuthred his neere kinsman Here Avon biddeth Wil-shire farewell and entreth closely into the Countie of Somerset minding to visit the Bathes The West limit of this shire goeth downe directly from hence Southward by Long-leat the dwelling place of the Thins descended from the B●ttevils a verie faire neate and elegant house in a foule soile which although once or twice it hath beene burnt hath risen eftsones more faire Also by Maiden Bradley so called of one of the Inhabitants of Manasses Basset a most noble personage in his time who being her selfe a maiden infected with the leprosie founded an house heere for maidens that were lepers and endowed the same with her owne Patrimonie and Livetide like as her Father before time had thereabout erected a Priorie Likewise by Stourton the seate of the Lords Stourton whom King Henry the Sixth raised to this dignitie after their esta●e had beene much bettered in lands and revenues by marriage with the Daughter and heire of the family Le Moigne or Monke of Essex and not of Mohun as some hitherto have beene falsely perswaded and hereupon it is that they have borne for their Crest A Demi-Monke with a whip in his hand The place tooke his name of the River Stour that under this towne walmeth out of sixe fountaines which the Stourtons Lords of the place have brought into their shield sables By Maiden Bradley above said glideth Dever-rill a prettie small Rill so called for that like as Anas in Spaine and Mole in Surrey which tooke their names thereupon it divideth as it were under the ground and a mile off rising up here againe
menaces and censures were sent out from the Bishop of Rome against these Archbishops For these Monkes were in bodily feare least this would bee their utter undoing and a prejudice unto them in the Elections of the Archbishops Neither were these blustering stormes allaied untill the said Church newly begunne was laid levell with the ground Adjoyning hard to this is the most famous mercate towne and place of trade in all this shire which at this day they call The Burrough of Southwarke in Saxon speech 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the Southworke or building because it standeth South over against London the Suburbs whereof it may seeme in some sort to bee but so large it is and populous that it gives place to few Cities of England having beene as it were a corporation by it selfe it had in our fathers daies Bayliffes but in the reigne of King Edward the Sixth it was annexed to the Citie of London and is at this day taken for a member as it were of it and therefore when wee are come to London wee will speake more at large thereof Beneath this Burrough the Tamis forsaketh Surry the East bound whereof passeth in a manner directly downe from hence Southward neere unto Lagham which had their Parliamentarie Barons called Saint Iohn de Lagham in the reigne of Edward the First whose Inheritance came at length by an heire generall to Iohn Leddiard and some-what lower in the very angle well neere where it bendeth to Southsex and Kent stands Streborow Castle the seate in ancient time of Lord Cobham who of it were called of Sterborow where the issue proceeding from the bodies of Iohn Cobham Lord of Cobham and Cowling and the daughter of Hugh Nevil flourished a long time in glory and dignitie For Reginald Cobham in King Edward the thirds daies being created Knight of the Garter was Admirall of the sea-coasts from Tamis mouth West-ward But Thomas the last male of that line wedded the Lady Anne daughter to Humfrey the Duke of Buckingham of whom he begat one onely daughter named Anne married unto Edward Burgh who derived his pedigree from the Percies and Earles of Athole whose sonne Thomas made by King Henry the Eighth Baron Burgh left a sonne behind him named William And his sonne Thomas a great favourer of learning and Lord Governour of Briell Queeene Elizabeth made Knight of the Garter and Lord Deputy of Ireland where hee honourably ended his life pursuing the rebels As touching Dame Eleanor Cobham descended out of this family the wife of Humfrey Duke of Glocester whose reputation had a flawe I referre you to the English Historie if you please Now are wee to reckon up the Earles of this shire William Rufus King of England made William de Warrena who had married his sister the first Earle of Surrey For in that Charter of his by which hee founded the Priory of Lewis thus wee read Donavi c. that is I have given and granted c. For the life and health of my Lord King William who brought mee into England and for the health of my Lady Queene Mawd my wives mother and for the life and health of my Lord King William her sonne after whose comming into England I made this charter who also created me Earle of Surry c. whose sonne William succeeded and married the daughter of Hugh Earle of Vermandois whereupon his posteritie as some suppose used the Armes of Vermandois vz. Chequy Or and Azure His sonne VVilliam dying in the Holy-land about the yeare 1148. had issue a daughter onely who adorned first William King Stephens sonne and afterward Hamelin the base sonne of Gefferey Plantagenet Earle of Anjou both her husbands with the same title But whereas her former husband died without issue William her sonne by Hamelin was Earle of Surry whose posterie assuming unto them the name of Warrens bare the same title This William espoused the eldest daughter and a coheire of William Marescall Earle of Pembroch the widow of Hugh Bigod who bare unto him Iohn who slew Alan de la Zouch in presence of the Judges of the Realme This Iohn of Alice the daughter of Hugh le Brune halfe sister by the mothers side of King Henry the third begat William who died before his father and hee of Ioan Vere the Earle of Oxfords daughter begat Iohn Posthumus borne after his decease and the last Earle of this house who was stiled as I have seene in the circumscription of his seale Earle of Warren of Surry and of Strathern in Scotland Lord of Bromfield and of Yale and Count-palatine But hee dying without lawfull issue in the twelfth yeare of Edward the thirds raigne Alice his sister and heire wedded unto Edmund Earle of Arundell by her marriage brought this honour of Surrey into the house of Arundells For Richard their sonne who married in the house of Lancaster after his father was wickedly beheaded for siding with his Soveraigne King Edward the Second by the malignant envie of the Queene was both Earle of Arundell and Surrey and left both Earledomes to Richard his sonne who contrary-wise lost his head for siding against his soveraigne King Richard the Second But Thomas his sonne to repaire his fathers dishonour lost his life for his Prince and country in France leaving his sisters his heires for the lands not entailed who were married to Thomas Mowbraie Duke of Norfolke c. to Sir Powland Lenthall and Sir William Beauchampe Lord of Abergeveny After by the Mowbraies the title of Surrey came at length to the Howards Howbeit in the meane while after the execution of Richard Earle of Arundell King Richard the Second bestowed the title of Duke of Surry upon Thomas Holland Earle of Kent which honour he enjoyed not long For while hee combined with others by privie conspiracies to restore the same King Richard to his libertie and kingdome the conspiracie was not carried so secretly but contrary to his expectation brake forth and came to light then fled hee and by the people of Cirencester was intercepted and cut shorter by the head After him Thomas Beaufort Chancellour to the King if we give credit to Thomas Walsingham bare this dignity For in the yeare of our Lord as hee saith 1410. The Lord Thomas Beaufort Earle of Surrey left this world Now let Walsingham in this point make good that which he writeth for in the Kings Records there is no such thing found but onely this that Thomas Beaufort about that time was made Lord Chancellour But certaine it is and that out of the Records of the Kingdome that King Henry the Sixth in the nine and twentie yeare of his raigne created Iohn Mowbray the sonne of Iohn Duke of Norfolke Earle Warren and of Surry And Richard second sonne of King Edward the Fourth having married the heire of Mowbray received all the titles due to the Mowbraies by creation from his father Afterward King Richard the Third having dispatched the
said Richard and by impious cruell meanes usurped the kingdome that hee might by his benefits oblige unto him the house of the Howards created in one and the same day Iohn Lord Howard Duke of Norfolke as next cosin and heire to the Mowbraies and his sonne Thomas Earle of Surrie in whose of-spring this honour hath ever since beene resplendent and so continueth at this day This County hath in it Parish Churches 140. SVSSEX VNder Suth-rey toward the South lieth stretched out in a great length Suth-sex which also in times past the Regni inhabited in the Saxon tongue called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at this day Sussex which is as much to say as the Region of the South Saxons a word compounded of the site thereof Southward and of the Saxons who in their Heptarchie placed here the second kingdome It lieth upon the British Ocean all Southward with a streight shore as it were farre more in length than bredth Howbeit it hath few harbours by reason that the sea is dangerous for shelves and therefore rough and troublous the shore also it selfe full of rocks and the South-west wind doth tyrannize thereon casting up beach infinitely The sea coast of this countrie hath greene hils on it mounting to a greater height called the Downes which because they stand upon a fat chalke or kinde of marle yeeldeth corne aboundantly The middle tract garnished with medowes pastures corne-fields and groves maketh a very lovely shew The hithermore and Northern side thereof is shaded most pleasantly with woods like as in times past the whole country throughout which by reason of the woods was hardly passable For the wood Andradswald in the British language Coid Andred taking the name of Anderida the City next adjoyning tooke up in this quarter a hundred and twentie miles in length and thirtie in bredth memorable for the death of Sigebert King of West Saxons who being deposed from his royall throne was in this place stabbed by a Swineheard and so died Many pretty rivers it hath but such as springing out of the North-side of the shire forthwith take their course to the Ocean and therefore not able to beare any vessell of burden Full of iron mines it is in sundry places where for the making and fining whereof there bee furnaces on every side and a huge deale of wood is yearely spent to which purpose divers brookes in many places are brought to runne in one channell and sundry medowes turned into pooles and waters that they might bee of power sufficient to drive hammer milles which beating upon the iron resound all over the places adjoyning And yet the iron here wrought is not in every place of like goodnesse but generally more brittle than is the Spanish iron whether it be by the nature or tincture and temper thereof Howbeit commodious enough to the iron Maisters who cast much great ordnance thereof and other things to their no small gaine Now whether it bee as gainefull and profitable to the common-wealth may bee doubted but the age ensuing will bee better able to tell you Neither want here glasse-houses but the Glasse there made by reason of the matter or making I wot not whether is likewise nothing so pure and cleare and therefore used of the common sort onely SVSSEXIA Siue Southsex olim pars REGNORVM Selsey before said is somewhat lower in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say The Isle of Sea calves for these in our language wee call Scales which alwaies seeke to Islands and to the shore for to bring forth their young but now it is most famous for good cockles and full Lobsters A place as Beda saith compassed round about with the Sea but onely in the West side where it hath an entrie into it by land as broad as a slings cast It was reckoned by Survey taken to containe fourscore and seven Hides of Land when Edilwalch King of this Province gave it to Wilfride Bishop of Yorke whiles hee was in exile who first preached Christ unto this people and as he writeth not only by baptisme saved from thraldome under the divell two hundred and fiftie bond-men but also by giving freedome delivered them from the yoke of bondage under man Afterwards K. Cedwalla who vanquished Edilwalch founded here a Minster and beautified it with an Episcopall See which by Stigand the two and twentieth Bishop was translated to Chichester where it now flourisheth and doth acknowledge Cedwalla to bee the founder In this Isle remaineth onely the dead carkasse as it were of that ancient little citie wherein those Bishops sat and the same hidden quite with water at everie full sea but at a low water evident and plaine to be seene Then maketh the shore way for a river which out of Saint Leonards Forrest runneth downe first by Amberley where William Read Bishop of Chichester in the raigne of Edward the third built a castle for his successours and so from thence by Arundell seated on the hanging of an hill a place greater in name than deede and yet is not that name of great antiquitie for before Aelfreds dayes who bequeathed it by testament to Anthelme his brothers sonne I have not read it so much as once named Unlesse perhaps I should thinke that Portus Adurni is corruptly so called by transposition of letters for Portus Arundi The reason of this name is fetched neither from that fabulous horse of Sir Beavois of Southampton nor of Charudum a promontorie in Denmarke as Goropius Becanus hath dreamed but of the valley or dale which lieth upon the river Arun in case Arun bee the name of the river as some have delivered who thereupon named it in Latine Aruntina vallis that is Arundale But all the fame it hath is of the Castle that flourished under the Saxon Empire and which as we read presently upon the comming in of the Normans Roger Montgomerie repaired who thereupon was 〈◊〉 Earle of Arundell For a stately place it is both by naturall situation and also by mans hand verie strong But his sonne Robert de Belismo who succeeded his brother Hugh being by King Henrie the First proscribed lost that and all his other dignitie For when he had perfidiously raised warre against the King he chose this Castle for his surest hold whiles the warre lasted and fortified the place with many munitions but spedde no better than traitours use to doe For the Kings forces environing it everie way at the last wonne it Whenas Robert now had forfeited his estate and was banished the King gave this castle and all his Lands besides unto * Adeliza daughter to Godfrey Barbatus of Lovaine Duke of Loraine and Brabant for her Dowrie whom he tooke to be his second wife In whose commendation a certaine English man in that unlearned age wrote these not unlearned verses Anglorum Reginatuos Adeliza decores Ipsa referre parans Musa stupore riget Quid Diadema tibi
William who enjoyed it a short time dying also without issue So by Amice the second daughter of the forenamed Earle William married to Richard de Clare Earle of Hertford this Earledome descended to Gilbert her sonne who was stiled Earle of Glocester and Hertford and mightily enriched his house by marrying one of the heires of William Marshall Earle of Pembroch His sonne and successour Richard in the beginning of the Barons warres against king Henry the Third ended his life leaving Gilbert his sonne to succeed him who powerfully and prudently swaied much in the said wars as he inclined to them or the king He obnoxious to King Edward the First surrendred his lands unto him and received them againe by marrying Joane the Kings Daughter sirnamed of Acres in the Holy-land because shee was there borne to his second Wife who bare unto him Gilbert Clare last Earle of Glocester of this sirname slaine in the flower of his youth in Scotland at the battaile of Sterling in the 6. yeare of K. Edward the second Howbeit while this Gilbert the third was in minority Sir Ralph de Mont-hermer who by a secret contract had espoused his mother the Kings daughter for which he incurred the kings high displeasure and a short imprisonment but after reconciled was summoned to Parliaments by the name of Earle of Glocester and Hertford But when Gilbert was out of his minority he was summoned amongst the Barons by the name of Sir Ralph de Mont-hermer as long as he lived which I note more willingly for the rarenesse of the example After the death of Gilbert the third without children Sir Hugh Le De-Spenser commonly named Spenser the younger was by writers called Earle of Glocester because he had married the eldest sister of the said Gilbert the third But after that he was by the Queene and Nobles of the Realme hanged for hatred they bare to K. Edward the 2. whose minion he was Sir Hugh Audley who had matched in marriage with the second sister through the favour of King Edward the Third received this honour After his death King Richard the Second erected this Earledome into a Dukedome and so it had three Dukes and one Earle betweene and unto them all it prooved Equus Sejanus that is Fatall to give them their fall Thomas of Woodstocke youngest sonne to King Edward the Third was the first Duke of Glocester advanced to that high honour by the said King Richard the Second and shortly after by him subverted For when he busily plotted great matters the King tooke order that he should be conveyed secretly in all haste to Calis where with a featherbed cast upon him he was smouthered having before under his owne band confessed as it stands upon Record in the Parliament Rols that he by vertue of a Patent which hee had wrested from the King tooke upon him the Kings regall authority that he came armed into the Kings presence reviled him consulted with learned about renouncing his allegiance and devised to depose the King for which being now dead he was by authority of Parliament attainted and condemned of high Treason When hee was thus dispatched the same King conferred the Title of Earle of Glocester upon Thomas Le De-Spenser in the right of his Great Grand-mother who within a while after sped no better than his great Grand-father Sir Hugh For by King Henry the fourth he was violently displaced shamefully degraded and at Briston by the peoples fury beheaded After some yeares King Henry the Fifth created his brother Humfrey the second Duke of Glocester who stiled himselfe the first yeare of King Henry the Sixth as I have seene in an Instrument of his Humfrey by the Grace of God sonne brother and Uncle to Kings Duke of Glocester Earle of Henault Holland Zeland and Penbroch Lord of Friesland Great Chamberlaine of the Kingdome of England Protector and Defender of the same Kingdome and Church of England A man that had right well deserved of the common wealth and of learning but through the fraudulent practise and malignant envie of the Queene brought to his end at Saint Edmunds Bury The third and last Duke was Richard brother to King Edward the Fourth who afterwards having most wickedly murdred his Nephewes usurped the Kingdome by the name of King Richard the third and after two yeares lost both it and his life in a pitched field finding by experience that power gotten by wicked meanes is never long lasting Concerning this last Duke of Glocester and his first entry to the Crowne give me leave for a while to play the part of an Historiographer which I will speedily give over againe as not well able to act it When this Richard Duke of Glocester being now proclaimed Protector of the Kingdome had under his command his tender two Nephewes Edward the Fifth King of England and Richard Duke of Yorke he retriving after the Kingdome for himselfe by profuse liberality and bounty to very many by passing great gravitie tempered with singular affabilitie by deepe wisdome by ministring justice indifferently and by close devises wonne wholly to him all mens hearts but the Lawyers especially to serve his turne So shortly he effected that in the name of all the States of the Realme there should be exhibited unto him a supplication wherein they most earnestly besought him for the publike Weale of the Kingdome to take upon him the Crowne to uphold his Countrey and the common-weale now shrinking and downe falling not to suffer it to runne headlong into utter desolation by reason that both lawes of nature and the authority of positive lawes and the laudable customes and liberties of England wherein every Englishman is an inheritor were subverted and trampled under foote through civill wars rapines murthers extortions oppressions and all sorts of misery But especially ever since that King Edward the fourth his brother bewitched by sorcerie and amorous potions fell in fancie with Dame Elizabeth Greie widdow whom he married without the assent of his Nobles without solemne publication of Banes secretly in a profane place and not in the face of the Church contrary to the law of Gods Church and commendable custome of the Church of England and which was worse having before time by a precontract espoused Dame Aeleanor Butler daughter to the old Earle of Shrewsburie whereby most sure and certaine it was that the foresaid matrimony was unlawfull and therewith the children of them begotten illegitimate and so unable to inherite or claime the Crowne Moreover considering that George Duke of Clarence the second brother of King Edward the Fourth was by authority of Parliament convicted and attainted of high treason thereupon his children disabled and debarred from all right succession evident it was to every man that Richard himselfe remained the sole and undoubted heire to the Crowne Of whom they assured themselves that being borne in England he would seriously provide for the good of England neither could they make any doubt of his
for that among other matters hee had consulted with a Wizard about succession of the Crowne was beheaded a noble man exceeding much missed and lamented of good men Which when the Emperour Charles the fifth heard he said as it is written in his life That a Butchers dogge had devoured the fairest Bucke in all England alluding to the name Buckingham and the said Cardinall who was a Butchers sonne Ever since which time the splendour of this most noble family hath so decaied and faded that there remaineth to their posterity the bare title onely of Barons of Stafford whereas they were stiled before Dukes of Buckingham Earles of Stafford Hereford Northampton and Perth Lords of Brecknock Kimbalton and Tunbridge There are reckoned in this small Shire Parishes 185. BEDFORD Comitatus olim pars CATHIFVCLANORVM BEDFORD-SHIRE BEDFORD-SHIRE is one of the three Counties which we said the Cattieuchlani inhabited On the East-side and the South it joyneth to Cambridge-shire and Hertford-shire on the West to Buckingham-shire and on the North to Northamton-shire and Huntingdon-shire and by the river OVSE crossing over it is divided into two parts The North-side thereof is the more fruit●ull of the twaine and more woody the other toward the South which is the greater standeth upon a leaner soile but not altogether unfertile For it yeeldeth foorth aboundantly full white and bigge Barley In the mids it is somewhat thicke of woods but Eastward more drie ground and bare of wood Ouse where it entereth into this shire first visiteth Turvy the Lord Mordants house who are beholden to King Henry the Eighth for their Barony For he created Iohn Mordant a wise and prudent man who had wedded the daughter and one of the coheires of H. Vere of Addington Baron Mordant then runneth it by Harwood a Village in old time called Hareleswood where Sampson surnamed Fortis founded a Nunnery and where in the yeere of our redemption 1399. a little before those troubles and civill broiles wherewith England a long time was rent in peeces this river stood still and by reason that the waters gave backe on both sides men might passe on foote within the very chanell for three miles together not without wondering of all that saw it who tooke it as a plaine presage of the division ensuing Afterward it passeth by Odill or Woodhill sometimes Wahull which had his Lords surnamed also De Wahul men of ancient Nobility whose Barony consisted of thirty knights fees in divers countries and had here their Castle which is now hereditarily descended to Sir R. Chetwood knight as the inheritance of the Chetwoods came formerly to the Wahuls From hence Ouse no lesse full of crooked crankes and windings than Maeander it selfe goeth by Bletnesho commonly called Bletso the residence in times past of the Pateshuls after of the Beauchamps and now of the Honourable family of S. Iohn which long since by their valour attained unto very large and goodly possessions in Glamorgan-shire and in our daies through the favor of Q. Elizabeth of happy memory unto the dignity of Barons when she created Sir Oliver the second Baron of her creation Lord S. Iohn of Bletnesho unto whom it came by Margaret Beauchamp an inheritrice wedded first to Sir Oliver S. Iohn from whose these Barons derive their pedigree and secondly to Iohn Duke of Somerset unto whom she bare the Lady Margaret Countesse of Richmond a Lady most vertuous and alwaies to be remembred with praises from whose loines the late Kings and Queenes of England are descended From hence Ouse hastneth by Brumham a seat of the Dives of very ancient parentage in these parts to Bedford in the Saxon-tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the principall towne and whereof the Shire also taketh name and cutteth it so through the middest that it might seeme to be two severall townes but that a stone bridge joyneth them together A towne to be commended more for the pleasant situation and ancientry thereof then for beauty or largenesse although a man may tell five Churches in it That it was Antonines LACTODORVM I dare not as others doe affirme considering that it standeth not upon the Romans Military road way which is the most certaine marke to finde out the station and Mansions mentioned by Antonine neither are there heere any peeces of Romane money ever digged up as far as I can learne I have read that in the Brittish tongue it was named Liswidur or Lettidur but it may seeme to have been translated so out of the English name For Lettuy in the British language signifieth Common Innes and so Lettidur Innes upon a river like Bedford in English Beds or Innes at a fourd Cuthwulf the Saxon about the yeere of our salvation 572. beneath this towne so vanquished the Britans in an open pitch field that then presently upon it finding themselves over-matched yeelded up many townes into his hands Neither should it seeme that the Saxons neglected it For Offa the most puissant King of the Mercians choose heere as we read in Florilegus for himselfe a place of sepulture whose tombe the river Ouse swelling upon a time and carrying a more violent and swifter streame than ordinary in a floud swouped cleane away Afterwards also when it was rased downe and lay along by occasion of the Danish depredations K. Edward the Elder repaired it and laid unto it upon the South-side of the river a prety townlet which in that age as we finde in the best copy of Hovedon was called Mikesgat In the time of King Edward the Confessor as we read in that booke which King William the Conqueror caused to be written when he tooke the survey of England It defended it selfe for halfe an Hundred in wars expeditions and shipping The land belonging to this towne was never bided After this it suffered far more grievous calamities under the Normans For when Pain de Beauchamp the third Baron of Bedford had built heere a Castle there arose not any storme of civill war but it thundred upon it so long as it stood Stephen when with breach of his oath he intercepted to himselfe the Kingdome of England first forced this Castle and with very great slaughter of men won it afterwards when the Barons had taken armes against King Iohn William de Beauchamp Lord thereof and one of the Captaines of their side surrendred it unto their hands But a yeere or two after Falco de Breaut laid siege thereto and forthwith the Barons yeelded and the King in free gift bestowed it upon him Yet the unthankefull man raised up a world of warre againe upon King Henry the third He pulled downe Churches to strengthen this Castle and exceedingly damnified the territory adjoyning untill the King besieged it and when after threescore daies he had quelled the stubborne stomackes of these rebels brought this nest and nourse of sedition into his owne hands It will not be I hope distastfull to the reader if I set
in the Hole so named of the miry way in Winter time very troublesome to Travellers For the old Englishmen our Progenitors called deepe myre hock and hocks So passing along fields smelling sweet in Sommer of the best Beanes which with their redolent savour doe dull the quicke sent of Hounds and Spaniels not without fuming and cha●ing of Hunters we mounted up by a whitish chalkey hill into the Chiltern and streightwaies were at Dunstable This Towne seated in a chalkey ground well inhabited and full of Innes hath foure Streetes answering to the foure quarters of the world in every one of which notwithstanding the Soile bee most dry by nature there is a large Pond of standing water for the publique use of the Inhabitants And albeit they bee fed onely by raine water yet they never faile nor become dry As for spring-veines there are none to bee found unlesse they sinke Wells or pits foure and twenty Cubits deepe In the middest of the Towne is a Crosse or Columne rather to be seene with the Armes of England Castle and Ponthieu engraven thereon adorned also with Statues and Images which King Edward the First erected as he did some others in memoriall of Aeleoner his Wife all the way as hee conveyed her Corps out of Lincoln-shire with funerall pompe to Westminster That this Dunstable was the very same Station which the Emperour Antonine in his Itinerary calleth MAGIONINIUM MAGIOVINIUM and MAGINTUM no man needs to make doubt or to seeke it else where For besides that it is situate upon the Romanes high way there are peeces of the Roman Emperours moneies found otherwhiles in the fields adjoyning round about by the Swine-heards which as yet they terme Madning mony and within a little of the very descent of the Chiltern hils there is a military modell raised up round with a Rampire and Ditch such as Strabo writeth the Britans Townes were containing nine Acres of ground which the people use to call Madning-boure and Madin-boure in which very name with a little change MAGINTUM most plainly sheweth it selfe But when the said MAGINTUM by the injury of warre or time was decayed king Henry the First heere reedified a Towne built a royall house at Kings-bury and planted a Colony to represse the boldnesse of Theeves that heere beset the wayes and lay in wait as the private History of the Priory that himselfe founded for the ornament of this his Colony doth evidently beare witnesse But heare the very words out of that private History although they savour of the Barbarisme of that age Note that the plot of ground where the two high waies Watling and Ikening meet was first by Henry the elder King of England cleered to keepe under and bridle the wickednesse of a certaine most notorious Theefe named Dun and his Companions and of that Dun the said place was named Dunstable The King our Lord built there the Burgh of Dunstable and made for himselfe a royall Manour or house neere under that place The King had in the same Towne both Faire and Mercat Afterwards hee founded a Church and by authority of Pope Eugenius the Third placed therein Regular Chanons and feoffed the said Religious Chanons in the whole Burgh by his Charter and bestowed upon them very many liberties As for Leighton Buzard on the one side of Dunstable and Luton on the other neither have I reade nor seene any thing memorable in them unlesse I should say that at Luton I saw a faire Church but the Quier then Roofelesse and overgrowne with Weedes and adjoyning to it an elegant Chappell founded by I. Lord Wenlocke and well maintained by the Family of Rotheram planted heere by Thomas Rotheram Archbishop of Yorke and Chancellour of England in the time of King Edward the Fourth As touching the Lords Dukes and Earles of Bedford First there were Barons of Bedford out of the Family of Beauchamp who by right of inheritance were Almners to the Kings of England upon their Coronation day Whose inheritance being by females parted among the Mowbraies Wakes Fitz-Ottes c. King Edward the Third created Engelrame de Coucy Earle of Suesons in France sonne to Engelrame Lord of Coucy and his Wife daughter to the Duke of Austria the first Earle of Bedford giving unto him his daughter in marriage Afterwards King Henrie the Fifth advaunced Bedford to the title of a Dukedome and it had three Dukes the first was John the third sonne of King Henrie the Fourth who most valiantly vanquished the French men in a Sea-fight at the mouth of Seyne and afterwards being Regent of France slaine in a battaile on land before Vernoil who was buried in Roan and together with him all the Englishmens good fortune in France At which time he was Regent of France Duke of Bedford Alaunson and Anjou Earle of Maine Richmond and Kendall and Constable of England For so was his stile Whose Monument when Charles the Eighth King of France came to see and a Noble man standing by advised him to rase it Nay answered he let him rest in peace now being dead of whom in war while he lived all France had dread The second Duke of Bedford was George Nevill a very child sonne to John Marquesse Mont-acute both whom King Edward the Fourth so soone as hee had raised them to that type of Honours threw downe againe and that by authoritie of the Parliament the Father for his perfidious disloyaltie in revolting from him the Sonne in dislike of his Father Howbeit there was a colourable pretense made that his estate was too weake for to maintaine the port and dignity of a Duke and because great men of high place if they be not wealthy withall are alwaies grievous and injurious The third was Iasper of Hatfield Earle of Pembroch Honoured with that title by his Nephew King Henrie the Seventh for that hee was both his Unckle and had delivered him out of extreame dangers who being aged and a Bachelar departed this life some ten yeeres after his Creation But within the remembrance of our Fathers it fell backe againe to the title of an Earledome what time as King Edward the Sixth created Iohn Lord Russell Earle of Bedford after whom succeeded his Sonne Francis a man so religious and of such a noble courteous nature that I can never speake ought so highly in his commendation but his vertue will far surpasse the same He left to succeed him Edward his Nephew by his Sonne Sir Francis Russell who was slaine a day or two before his Father departed this life by Scotishmen in a tumult upon a True-day in the midle marches 1585. This small Province hath Parishes 116. HERTFORDIAE Comitatus A. Cattifuclanis olim Inhabitatus HERTFORD-SHIRE HERTFORD-SHIRE which I said was the third of those that belonged to the Cattieuchlani lieth on the East and partly on the South side of Bedford-shire The West side is enclosed with Bedford-shire and Buckingham-shire The South with Middlesex
yeare of our Lord 1086. when as before time it had beene consumed by a woefull accidentall fire whereof William of Malmesbury writeth thus The beauty thereof is so magnificent that it deserveth to bee numbered in the ranke of most excellent Edifices so large is that Arched Vault underneath and the Church above it of such capacity that it may seeme sufficient to receive any multitude of people whatsoever Because therefore Maurice carried a minde beyond all measure in this project he betooke the charge and cost of so laborious a peece of worke unto those that came after In the end when B. Richard his Successour had made over all the Revenewes belonging unto the Bishopricke to the building of this Cathedrall Church sustaining himselfe and his Family otherwise in the meane while hee seemed in a manner to have done just nothing so that hee spent his whole substance profusely heereabout and yet small effect came thereof The West Part as also the Crosse-yle are spacious high built and goodly to bee seene by reason of the huge Pillars and a right beautifull arched Roufe of stone Where these foure Parts crosse one another and meete in one there riseth uppe a mighty bigge and lofty Towre upon which stood a Spire Steeple covered with Leade mounting uppe to a wonderfull height for it was no lesse than five hundered and foure and thirty foote high from the Ground which in the yeare of our Lord 1087. was set on fire with Lightning and burnt with a great part of the City but beeing rebuilt was of late in mine owne remembrance when I was but a Childe fired againe with Lightning and is not as yet reedified The measure also and proportion of this so stately building I will heere put downe out of an old Writer which you may if it please you reade Saint Pauls Church containeth in length sixe hundered ninety foote the breadth thereof is one hundered and thirty foote the height of the West Arched Roufe from the Ground carrieth an hundered and two foote and the new Fabrique from the Ground is foure score and eight foote high The stoneworke of the Steeple from the plaine ground riseth in height two hundred and threescore foote and the timber frame upon the same is two hundred seaventy foure foote high c. That there stood of old time a Temple of Diana in this place some have conjectured and arguments there are to make this their conjecture good Certaine old houses adjoyning are in the ancient records of the Church called Dianaes Chamber and in the Church-yard while Edward the First reigned an incredible number of Ox-heads were digged up as wee finde in our Annals which the common sort at that time made a wondering at as the Sacrifices of Gentiles and the learned know that Taurapolia were celebrated in the honour of Diana I my selfe also when I was a boy have seene a stagges head sticking upon a speare-top a ceremony suting well with the sacrifices of Diana carried round about within the very Church in solemne pompe and procession and with a great noise of Horne-blowers And that Stagge or Hart which they of the house de Bawde in Essex did present for certaine lands that there held as I have heard say the Priests of this Church arrayed in their sacred vestiments and wearing Garlands of flowers upon their heads were wont to receive at the steps of the quire Now whether this were in use before those Bawds were bound to exhibite such a Stagge I wote not but surely this rite and ceremony may seeme to smell of Diana's worship and the Gentiles errours more than of Christian Religion And verily no man neede to doubt that from them certaine strange and foraine and heathenish rites crept into Christian religion Which Ceremonies the first Christians as mankinde is naturally a pliant Sectary to superstition either admitted or else at the first tolerated thereby to traine and allure the Heathen from Paganisme by little and little to the true Service and Worship of God But ever since this Church was built it hath beene the See of the Bishops of London and the first Bishop that it had under the English about fifty yeares after that Theo● of the British Nation was thrust out was Melitus a Roman consecrated by Austin Archbishop of Canturbury In honour of which Austin flat against the Decree of Pope Gregorie the Great the Ensignes of the Archbishopricke and the Metropolitane Sec were translated from London to Canturbury Within this Cathedrall Church to say nothing of Saint Erkenwald and the Bishops there lye buryed Sebba King of the East Saxons who gave over his kingdome for to serve Christ Etheldred or Egeldred who was an Oppressour rather than a Ruler of this Kingdome cruell in the beginning wretched in the middle and shamefull in the end so outragious hee was in his connivency to a Parricidie committed so infamous in his flight and effeminacy and so miserable in his death Henry Lacy Earle of Lincolne Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Sir Simon de Burlie a right noble Knight of the Garter executed by encroched Authority without the kings assent Sir Iohn de Beauchamp Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Iohn Lord Latimer Sir Iohn Mason knight William Herbert Earle of Pembroch Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seale of England a man of a deepe reach and exquisite judgement Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Francis Walsingham two famous knights c. and Sir Christopher Hatton Lord Chancellour of England for whose perpetuall memory Sir William Hatton his Nephew by sister descended from the ancient Family of the Newports whom hee adopted into the name of Hatton dutifully erected a sumptuous monument well beseeming the greatnesse of his adoptive father Beside this Church there is not to my knowledge any other worke of the English Saxons extant in London to bee seene for why they continued not long in perfect peace considering that in short space the West-Saxons subdued the East-Saxons and London became subject to the Mercians Scarcely were these civill Warres husht when a new Tempest brake out of the North I meane the Danes who piteously tore in peeces all this Country and shooke this City sore For the Danes brought it under their Subjection but Aelfred recovered it out of their hands and after he had repaired it gave it unto Aetheldred Earle of the Mercians who had married his daughter Yet those wastefull depopulators did what they could afterwards many a time to winne it by Siege but Canut especially who by digging a new Chanell attempted to turne away the Tamis from it Howbeit evermore they lost their labour the Citizens did so manfully repulse the force of the enemy Yet were they not a little terrified still by them untill they lovingly received and saluted as their King William Duke of Normandy whom God destined to bee borne for the good of England against those Spoilers Presently then the windes were laid
heart of the Shire betweene two Rivers who as it were agreed heere to joyne both their streames together to wit Chelmer from the East and another from the South the name whereof if it be Can as some would have it we have no reason to doubt that this was CANONIUM Famous it was within the remembrance of our fathers in regard of a small religious house built by Malcome King of Scots now of note onely for the Assises for so they call those Courts of Iustice wherein twice a yeere the causes and controversies of the whole County are debated before the Judges It beganne to flourish when Maurice Bishop of London unto whom it belonged built the Bridges heere in the Raigne of Henry the First and turned London way thither which lay before through Writtle a Towne right well knowne for the largenesse of the Parish which King Henry the Third granted unto Robert Brus Lord of Anandale in Scotland whose wife was one of the heires of Iohn sirnamed Scot the last Earle of Chester for that hee would not have the Earldome of Chester to bee divided among the distaves and King Edward the Third when as the posterity of the Bruses forsooke their allegeance bestowed it upon Humfrey Bohun Earle of Hereford and of Essex But now of late when King Iames at his entrance to the Kingdome bestowed Baronies bountifully upon select persons hee created Sir Iohn Petre a right respective Knight Baron Petre of Writtle Whose father Sir William Petre a man of approoved wisdome and exquisite learning memorable not so much for those most honourable places and offices of State which hee bare as who was of the Privie Counsell to King Henry the Eighth King Edward the Sixth Queene Mary and Queene Elizabeth and sent oftentimes in Embassage to forreigne Princes as for that being bred and brought up in good learning he well deserved of learning in the University of Oxford and was both pitifull and bounteous to his poore neighbours about him and at Egerstone where he lyeth buryed Frosh-well the River more truely called Pant and neere to his mouth Black-water issuing out of a small spring about Radwinter that belonged to the Barons of Cobham after it hath gone a long course and seene nothing but Bocking a fat Parsonage it commeth to Cogeshall a Mercate Towne well knowne in times past for a Priory of Cluniacke Monkes built by King Stephen and the habitation of ancient Knights thence sirnamed De Cogeshall from whose heire generall marryed into the old family of Tirell there branched farre a faire propagation of the Tirells in this shire and elsewhere Then goeth on this water by Easterford some call it East-Sturford and leaving some mile of Whitham a faire through-faire and built by King Edward the elder in the yeere 914. which also afterward was of the Honour of Eustace Earle of Bollen meeteth at length with Chelmer Which now passing on whole in one chanell not farre from Danbury mounted upon an high Hill the habitation for a time of the family of the Darcies runneth hard by Woodham-walters the ancient seate of the Lords Fitz-Walters who being nobly descended were of a most ancient race derived from Robert the younger sonne of Richard sonne to Earle Gislebert but in the age more lately foregoing translated by a daughter into the stocke of the Ratcliffes who being advanced to the Earledome of Sussex dwell now a little from hence in New Hall a stately and sumptuous house This New Hall appertained sometime to the Butlers Earles of Ormond and then hereditarily to Sir Thomas Bollen Earle of Wiltshire of whom King Henry the Eighth getting it by way of Exchange enlarged it to his exceeding great charges and called it by a new name Beaulieu which for all that was never currant among the people After this Chelmer with other waters running with him being divided by a River-Island casting off that name and now being called of some Blacke-water and of others Pant saluteth that ancient Colony of the Romanes CAMALODUNUM which many hundred yeeres since adorned this shore Ptolomee tearmeth it CAMUDOLANUM Antonine CAMULODUNUM and CAMOLUDUNUM But Pliny Dio and an old marble stone induce us to beleeve that CAMALODUNUM is the right name In the seeking out of this City good God how dim-sighted have some been whereas it bewraied it selfe by the very name and situation and shewed it selfe cleerely to them that are halfe blinde A number have searched for it in the West part of this Isle as that good man who thought himselfe to carry as one would say the Sunne of Antiquity in his owne hand others in the furthest part of Scotland others wholly addicted in opinion to Leland affirmed it to bee Colchester when as the name scarce any whit maimed it is called at this day in stead of CAMALODUNUM Maldon in the Saxon Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greater part of the word remaining yet entire and in use Neither hath the expresse remaine of the name onely perswaded me to this but also the distance set downe in Pliny from Mona and the very situation in the ancient Itinerary Table doe affoord a most evident proofe thereof That this name was imposed upon CAMALODUNUM of the God CAMULUS I hardly dare imagine Howbeit that Mars was worshipped under this name Camulus both an old stone at Rome in the house of Collotians and Altars discovered with this Inscription CAMULO DEO SANCTO ET FORTISSIMO that is TO CAMULUS THE HOLY AND MOST MIGHTY GOD doe joyntly proove And in an antique Coine of Cunobellinus whose royall Palace this was as I have already said I have seene the portraict stamped of an head having an helmet on it also with a speare which may seeme to be that of Mars with these letters CAMV But seeing this peece of money is not now ready at hand to shew I exhibite here unto you other expresse portraicts of Cunobellinus his peeces which may be thought to have reference to this Camalodunum This Cunobelin governed this East part of the Isle in the time of Tiberius the Emperour and seemeth to have had three sonnes Admimus Togodumnus and Catacratus Admimus by his father banished was entertained by Caius Caligula the Emperour what time as he made his ridiculous expedition into Batavia that from thence he might blow and breath out the terrour of his owne person over into Britaine As for Togodumnus Aulus Plautius in a set battaile defeited and slew him and over Catacratus whom as I said he discomfited and put to flight hee rode ovant in pety triumph This is that Plautius who at the perswasion of C. Bericus the Britaine a banished man for there never want quarels one or other of Warre was the first after Iulius Caesar that attempted Britaine under Claudius whom Claudius himselfe having shipped over the Legions followed in person with the whole power of the Empire and with Elephants the bones of which
Afterwards Herveie the Abbot comming of the Norman bloud compassed it round about with a wall whereof there remaine still some few Reliques and Abbot Newport walled the Abbay The Bishop of Rome endowed it with very great immunities and among other things granted That the said place should bee subject to no Bishop in any matter and in matters lawfull depend upon the pleasure and direction of the Archbishop Which is yet observed at this day And now by this time the Monkes abounding in wealth erected a new Church of a sumptuous and stately building enlarging it every day more than other with new workes and whiles they laid the foundation of a new Chappell in the Reigne of Edward the First There were found as Eversden a Monke of this place writeth The walles of a certaine old Church built round so as that the Altar stood as it were in the mids and we verily thinke saith he it was that which was first built to Saint Edmunds service But what manner of Towne this was and how great the Abbay also was while it stood heare Leland speake who saw it standing The Sunne saith hee hath not seene either a City more finely seated so delicately standeth it upon the easie ascent or hanging of an hill and a little River runneth downe on the East side thereof or a goodlier Abbay whether a man indifferently consider either the endowment with Revenewes or the largenesse or the incomparable magnificence thereof A man that saw the Abbay would say verily it were a Citie so many Gates there are in it and some of brasse so many Towres and a most stately Church Upon which attend three others also standing gloriously in one and the same Churchyard all of passing fine and curious Workmanship If you demand how great the wealth of this Abbay was a man could hardly tell and namely how many gifts and oblations were hung upon the Tombe alone of Saint Edmund and besides there came in out of lands and Revenewes a thousand five hundered and three score pounds of old rent by the yeare If I should relate the broiles severally that from time to time arose betweene the Townesmen and the Monkes who by their Steward governed the Townesmen and with how great rage they fell together by the eares purposedly to kill one another my relation would seeme incredible But as great a peece of worke as this was so long in building and still encreasing and as much riches as they gathered together for so many yeares with S. Edmunds shrine and the monuments of Alan Rufus Earle of Britaine and Richmond Sir Thomas of Brotherton sonne to King Edward the first Earle of Norfolke and Marshall of England Thomas of Beaufor Duke of Excester W. Earle of Stafford Marie Queene Dowager of France Daughter to King Henry the Seaventh and many other worthie personages there Entombed were by King Henry the Eighth utterly overthrowne What time as at one clappe hee suppressed all Monasteries perswaded thereto by such as under a goodly pretense of reforming religion preferred their private respects and their owne enriching before the honour of Prince and Country yea and before the Glory of God himselfe And yet there remaineth still lying along the carcasse as one would say of that auncient monument altogether deformed but for ruines I assure you they make a faire and goodly shew which who soever beholdeth hee may both wonder thereat and withall take pity thereof England also that I may note this also by the way if ever else it had losse by the death of any Man sustained here one of the greatest For that father in deede of his Country Humfrey Duke of Glocester a due observer of Iustice and who had furnished his noble witte with the better and deeper kinde of studies after hee had under King Henry the Sixth governed the Kingdome five and twenty yeares with great commendation so that neither good men had cause to complaine of nor evill to finde fault with was here in Saint Saviours Hospitall brought to his end by the spightfull envy of Margaret of Lorain Who seeing her husband King Henry the Sixth to bee a man of a silly simple minde and faint hearted to the end shee might draw into her owne hands the managing of the State devised and plotted this wicked deed but to her owne losse and this Realme in the highest degree For Normandy and Aquitane were thereby shortly after lost and Warres more then civill enkindled in England Nere unto this Saint Edmunds Bury is Rushbroke to be seene the habitation of the worshipfull Family of the Iermins Knights and not farre from thence Ikesworth where there stood an auncient Priory founded by Gilbert Blund a man of great nobility and Lord of Ikesworth whose issue male by the right line ended in William that in King Henry the Third his dayes was slaine in the battell at Lewis and left two sisters his Heires Agnes wife to William de Creketot and Roise wedded to Robert de Valoniis Afterward both here at Haulsted neere by Rougham and else-where the Family of Drury which signifieth in old English A Pretious jewell hath beene of great respect and good note especially since they married with the heires of Fressil and Saxham More Northward is Saint Genovefs Fernham in this regard memorable for that Richard Lucy Lord chiefe Justice of England tooke Prisoner there in a pight fielde Robert Earle of Leicester making foule worke and havocke here and withall put to the sword above ten thousand Flemings whom hee had levied and sent forth to the depopulation of his Country Here hard by I had the sight of two very faire houses the one built by the Kitsons Knights at Hengrave the possession in times past of Edmund de Hengrave a most renowned Lawyer under King Edward the First the other at Culfurth erected by Sir Nicolas Bacon Knight sonne unto that Sir Nicolas Bacon Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England who for his singular wisedome and most sound judgement was right worthily esteemed one of the two Supporters of this Kingdome in his time And not farre off standeth Lidgate a small Village yet in this respect not to be passed over in silence because it brought into the World Iohn Lidgate the Monke whose witte may seeme to have beene framed and shapen by the very Muses themselves so brightly re-shine in his English verses all the pleasant graces and elegancies of speech according to that age Thus much for the more memorable places on the West side of Suffolke On the South side wee saw the river Stour which immediately from the very spring head spreadeth a great Mere called Stourmeer but soone after drawing it selfe within the bankes runneth first by Clare a noble Village which had a Castle but now decayed and gave name to the right noble Family of the Clares descended from Earle Gislebert the Norman and the title of Dukedome unto Leonel King
of Hereford for uttering inconsiderately certaine reprochfull and derogatory words against the king And when they were to fight a combat at the very barre and entry of the Lists by the voice of an Herauld it was proclaimed in the kings name That both of them should be banished Lancaster for ten yeares and Mowbray for ever who afterwards ended his life at Venice leaving two sonnes behind him in England Of which Thomas Earle Marshall and of Nottingham for no other Title used hee was beheaded for seditious plotting against Henry of Lancaster who now had possessed himselfe of the Crowne by the name of King Henry the Fourth But his brother and heire John who through the favour of King Henry the Fifth was raised up and for certaine yeares after called onely Earle Marshall and of Nottingham at last in the very beginning of Henry the Sixth his Raigne By authority of Parliament and by vertue of the Patent granted by King Richard the Second was declared Duke of Norfolke as being the sonne of Thomas Duke of Norfolke his father and heire to Thomas his brother After him succeeded John his sonne who died in the first yeare of Edward the Fourth and after him likewise John his sonne who whiles his father lived was created by King Henry the Sixth Earle of Surry and of Warren Whose onely daughter Anne Richard Duke of Yorke the young sonne of King Edward the Fourth tooke to wife and together with her received of his father the Titles of Duke of Norfolke Earle Marshall Earle of Warren and Nottingham But after that he and his wife both were made away in their tender yeares Richard the Third King of England conferred this Title of the Duke of Norfolke and the dignity of Earle Marshall upon John Lord Howard who was found next cozen in bloud and one of the heires to the said Anne Dutchesse of Yorke and Norfolke as whose mother was one of the daughters of that first Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolke and who in the time of King Edward the Fourth was summoned a Baron to the Parliament This John lost his life at Bosworth field fighting valiantly in the quarrell of King Richard against King Henry the Seventh His sonne Thomas who being by King Richard the Third created Earle of Surry and by King Henry the Seventh made Lord Treasurer was by King Henry the Eighth restored to the Title of Duke of Norfolke and his sonne the same day created Earle of Surry after that by his conduct James the fourth King of the Scots was slaine and the Scottish power vanquished at Branxton In memoriall of which Victory the said King granted to him and his heires males for ever that they should beare in the midst of the Bend in the Howards Armes the whole halfe of the upper part of a Lion Geules pierced through the mouth with an arrow in the due colours of the Armes of the King of Scots I translate it verbatim out of the Patent After him succeeded his sonne Thomas as well in his honours as in the Office of Lord Treasurer of England and lived to the time of Queene Mary tossed to and fro betweene the reciprocall ebbes and flowes of fortune whose grand sonne Thomas by his sonne Henry the first of the English Nobility that did illustrate his high birth with the beauty of learning being attainted for purposing a marriage with Mary the Queene of Scots lost his life in the yeare of our Lord 1572. and was the last Duke of Norfolke Since which time his off-spring lay for a good while halfe dead but now watered and revived with the vitall dew of King James reflourisheth very freshly In this Province there be Parish Churches about 660. CAMBRIDGE Comitatus quem olim ICENI Insederunt CAMBRIDGE-SHIRE CAMBRIDGE-SHIRE called in the English-Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lyeth more inward and stretched out in length Northward On the East it butteth upon Northfolke and Suffolke on the South upon the East-Saxons or Essexe and Hertfordshire on the West upon Bedford and Huntingdon shires and Northward upon Lincoln-shire being divided into two parts by the river Ouse which crosseth it over-thwart from West to East The lower and South-part is better manured and therefore more plentifull being some-what a plaine yet not altogether levell for the most part or all of it rather save onely where it bringeth forth saffron is laid out into corne fields and yeeldeth plentifully the best barly of which steeped in water and lying wet therein untill it spurt againe then after the said sprout is full come dried and parched over a Kill they make store of mault By venting and sending out whereof into the neighbor-countries the Inhabitants raise very great gaine The farther and Northerne part because it is Fennish ground by reason of the many flouds that the rivers cause and so dispersed into Islands is called The Isle of Ely a tract passing greene fresh and gay by reason of most plenteous pastures howbeit after a sort hollow by occasion of the water that in some places secretly entreth in yea and otherwhile when it overfloweth surroundeth most part of it Along the West side of the lower part runneth one of the two highwayes made by the Romans Ely booke calleth it Ermingstreet which passeth forth right to H●ntingdon through Roiston that standeth in the very edge and entry of the Shire a towne well knowne yet but of late built whereof I have already spoken also by Caxton in times past the seate of the Barony of Stephen de Eschal●ers and from whose Posterity in the reigne of King Henry the Third it descended to the Frevills and from them by the Burgoins to the Iermins Neither is Gamlinghay far distant from hence where dwelt the Avenells whose Inheritance came by marriage to the ancient Family of Saint George out of which there flourished many Knights since the time of King Henry the First at Hatley which of them is called Hatley Saint George Above Caxton before mentioned is Eltesley where was in elder Ages a Religious house of Holy Virgines among whom was celebrated the incertaine memory of Saint Pandionia the daughter of a Scottish King as the tradition is But long since they were translated to Hinchinbroke And againe above Eltesley was the Priory of Swasey founded for blacke Monkes by Alan la Zouch brother to the Vicount of Rohan in the Lesser Britaine and was the common Sepulture a long time for the Family of Zouch More Westward a little river runneth through the middle of this part which issuing downe out of Ashwel hastneth from South to North with many turnings to joyn it selfe with the Ouse running by Shengay where be the goodliest medows of this Shire a Commandery in old time of the Knights Templars which Shengay Sibyl the daughter of Roger Mont-gomery Earle of Shrewsbury and wife of I. de Raines gave unto them in the yeere 1130. nor farre from Burne Castle in ancient times the Barony of
which King Henry the First gave unto the Church of Lincolne for amends of a losse when hee erected the Bishopricke of Ely taken out of the Diocesse of Lincolne as I have before shewed But where the River Nen entreth into this Shire it runneth fast by Elton the seat of the ancient Family of the Sapcots where is a private Chappell of singular workemanship and most artificiall glasse windowes erected by Lady Elizabeth Dinham the widow of Baron Fitz-warin married into the said Family But a little higher there stood a little City more ancient than all these neere unto Walmsford which Henry of Huntingdon calleth Caer Dorm and Dormeceaster upon the River Nen and reporteth to have beene utterly rased before his time This was doubtlesse that DUROBRIVAE that is The River passage that Antonine the Emperour speaketh of and now in the very same sense is called Dornford neere unto Chesterton which beside peeces of ancient Coine daily found in it sheweth apparant tokens of a City overthrowne For to it there leadeth directly from Huntingdon a Roman Portway and a little above Stilton which in times past was called Stichilton it is seene with an high banke and in an ancient Saxon Charter termed Ermingstreat This Street now runneth here through the middest of a foure square Fort the North side whereof was fensed with Wals all the other sides with a Rampire of earth onely Neere unto which were digged up not long since Cofins or Sepulchres of stone in the ground of R. Bevill of an ancient house in this Shire Some verily thinke that this City tooke up both bankes of the River and there bee of opinion that the little Village C●ster standing upon the other banke was parcell thereof Surely to this opinion of theirs maketh much the testimony of an ancient story which sheweth that there was a place by Nen called Dormund-caster in which when Kinneburga had built a little Monastery it began to be called first Kinneburge-caster and afterwards short Caster This Kinneburga the most Christian daughter of the Pagan King Penda and wife to Alfred King of the Northumbrians changed her Princely State into the service of Christ if I may use the words of an ancient Writer and governed this Monastery of her owne as Prioresse or mother of the Nunnes there Which afterwards about the yeare of Salvation 1010. by the furious Danes was made levell with the ground But where this River is ready to leave this County it passeth hard by an ancient house called Bottle-bridge so is it now termed short for Botolph-bridge which the Draitons and Lovets brought from R. Gimels by hereditary succession into the Family of the Shirleies And to this house adjoyneth Overton now corruptly called Orton which being by felony forfait and confiscate Neele Lovetoft redeemed againe of King John and the said Noeles sister and coheire being wedded unto Hubert aliàs Robert de Brounford brought him children who assumed unto them the sirname of Lovetoft This County of Huntingdon when the English-Saxons Empire began now to decline had Siward an Earle by Office and not inheritance For as yet there were no Earles in England by inheritance but the Rulers of Provinces after the custome of that age were termed Earles with addition of the Earledome of this or that Province whereof they had the rule for the time as this Siward whiles he governed this County was called Earle of Huntingdon whereas afterwards being Ruler of Northumberland they named him Earle of Northumberland He had a sonne named Waldeof who under the Title of Earle had likewise the government of this Province standing in favour as he did with William the Conquerour whose Niece Judith by his sister of the mothers side hee had married but by him beheaded for entring into a conspiracy against him The eldest daughter of this Waldeof as William Gemiticensis reporteth Simon de Senlys or S. Liz tooke to wife together with the Earldome of Huntingdon and of her begat a sonne named Simon But after that the said Simon was dead David brother to Maud the Holy Queene of England who afterwards became King of Scots married his wife by whom hee had a sonne named Henry But in processe of time as fortune and Princes favour varied one while the Scots another while the Sent Lizes enjoyed this dignity First Henry the sonne of David aforesaid then Simon S. Liz sonne of Simon the first after him Malcolm King of Scots sonne to Earle Henry and after his death Simon Sent Liz the third who dying without issue William King of Scots and brother to Malcolm succeeded for so wrote he that then lived Raphe de Diceto in the yeare 1185. When Simon saith hee the sonne of Earle Simon was departed without children the King restored the Earldome of Huntingdon with the Pertinences unto William King of the Scots Then his brother David and Davids sonne John sirnamed Scot Earle of Chester who dying without issue and Alexander the third that had married the daughter of our King Henry the Third having for a time borne this Title the Scots by occasion of incident warres lost that honour and with it a very faire inheritance in England A good while after King Edward the Third created Sir William Clinton Earle of Huntingdon who dyed issuelesse And in his roome there was placed by King Richard the Second Guiseard of Engolisme a Gascoine who was his Governour in his minority and after his death succeeded Iohn Holland Iohn his sonne who was stiled Duke of Excester Earle of Huntingdon and Ivory Lord of Sparre Admirall of England and Ireland Lieutenant of Aquitane and Constable of the Towre of London and his sonne likewise Henry successively who were Dukes also of Excester This is that very same Henry Duke of Excester whom Philip Comines as himselfe witnesseth saw begging bare foote in the Low Countries whiles he stood firme and fast unto the house of Lancaster albeit he had married King Edward the Fourth his owne sister Then Thomas Grey who became afterward Marquesse Dorset a little while enjoyed that honour Also it is evident out of the Records that William Herbert Earle of Pembroch brought in againe the Charter of creation whereby his father was made Earle of Pembroch into the Chancery for to be cancelled and that King Edward the Fourth in the seventeenth of his Raigne created him Earle of Huntingdon at such time as he granted the Title of Pembroch to the Prince his sonne Afterward King Henry the Eighth conferred that honour upon George Lord Hastings after whom succeeded his sonne Francis and after him likewise his sonne Henry a right honourable Personage commended both for true Nobility and Piety But whereas hee dyed without issue his brother Sir George Hastings succeeded and after him his Grandchilde Henry by his sonne who at this day enjoyeth the said honour In this little Shire are numbered Parishes 78. CORITANI NOw must wee passe on to
of Rome and religious men was not onely in his life time most grievously troubled but also one and forty yeeres after his death his dead Corps was cruelly handled being by warrant from the Councell of Siena turned out of his grave and openly burned Neither is it to be forgotten that neere to this Towne is a spring so cold that within a short time it turneth strawes and stickes into stones From that Bensford bridge the foresaid old High way goeth on to High-crosse so called for that thereabout stood sometime a Crosse in stead of which is erected now a very high post with props and supporters thereto The neighbours there dwelling reported unto me that the two principall High-waies of England did here cut one another overthwart and that there stood a most flourishing City there named Cleycester which had a Senate of Aldermen in it and that Cleybrooke almost a mile off was part of it also that on both sides of the way there lay under the furrowes of the corne fields great foundations and ground workes of foure square stone also that peeces of Roman money were very often turned up with the Plough although above the ground as the Poet saith Etiam ipsae periere ruinae that is Even the very ruines are perished and gone These presumptions together with the distance of this place from BANNAVENTA or Wedon which agreeth just and withall the said Bridge leading hitherward called Bensford are inducements unto me to thinke verily that the station BENNONES or VENONES was heere which Antonine the Emperour placeth next beyond BANNAVENTA especially seeing that Antonine sheweth how the way divided it selfe heere into two parts which also goeth commonly currant For Northeastward where the way lieth to Lincolne the Fosse way leadeth directly to RATAE and to VERNOMETUM of which I will speake anon and toward the Northwest Watlingstreet goeth as streight into Wales by MANVESSEDUM whereof I shall write in his due place in Warwick-shire Higher yet neere the same streetside standeth Hinkley which had for Lord of it Hugh Grantmaismill a Norman high Steward or Seneschall of England during the Raignes of king William Rufus and Henry the First The said Hugh had two daughters Parnell given in marriage to Robert Blanch-mains so called of his faire white hands Earle of Leicester together with the High-Stewardship of England and Alice wedded to Roger Bigot Verily at the East end of the Church there are to be seene Trenches and Rampires yea and a Mount cast up to an eminent height which the inhabitants say was Hughes Castle Three miles hence standeth Bosworth an ancient Mercat Towne which liberty together with the Faire S. Richard Harecourt obtained for it at the hands of king Edward the First Under this towne in our great grandfathers daies the kingdome of England lay hazarded upon the chance of one battaile For Henry Earle of Richmond with a small power encountred there in pitched field king Richard the Third who had by most wicked meanes usurped the kingdome and whiles he resolved to die the more valiantly fighting for the liberty of his country with his followers and friends the more happy successe he had and so overcame and slew the Usurper and then being with joyfull acclamations proclaimed King in the very mids of slaughtered bodies round about he freed England by his happy valour from the rule of a Tyrant and by his wisdome refreshed and setled it being sore disquieted with long civill dissentions Whereupon Bernard Andreas of Tholous a Poet living in those daies in an Ode dedicated unto King Henry the Seventh as touching the Rose his Devise writ these Verses such as they are Ecce nunc omnes posuere venti Murmuris praeter Zephyrum tepentem Hic Rosas nutrit nitidósque flores Veris amoeni Behold now all the windes are laid But Zephyrus that blowes full warme The Rose and faire spring-floures in mead He keepeth fresh and doth no harme Other memorable things there are none by this Street unlesse it bee Ashby de la Zouch that lyeth a good way off a most pleasant Lordship now of the Earles of Huntingdon but belonging in times past to the noble Family De la Zouch who descended from Alan Vicount of Rohan in Little Britaine and Constantia his wife daughter to Conan le Grosse Earle of Britaine and Maude his wife the naturall daughter of Henry the First Of this house Alane De la Zouch married one of the heires of Roger Quincy Earle of Winchester and in her right came to a faire inheritance in this Country But when hee had judicially sued John Earle of Warren who chose rather to try the Title by the sword point than by point of Law he was slaine by him even in Westminster Hall in the yeere of our Lord 1269. and some yeeres after the daughters and heires of his grand sonne transferred this inheritance by their marriages into the Families of the Saint Maures of Castle Cary and the Hollands Yet their father first bestowed this Ashby upon Sir Richard Mortimer of Richards Castle his cozin whose younger issue thereupon tooke the sirname of Zouch and were Lords of Ashby But from Eudo a younger sonne of Alane who was slaine in Westminster Hall the Lords Zouch of Harringworth branched out and have beene for many Descents Barons of the Realme Afterward in processe of time Ashby came to the Hastings who built a faire large and stately house there and Sir William Hastings procured unto the Towne the liberty of a Faire in the time of King Henry the Sixth Here I may not passe over the next neighbour Cole-Overton now a seat of the Beaumontes descended from Sir Thomas Beaumont Lord of Bachevill in Normandy brother to the first Vicount This place hath a Cole prefixed for the forename which Sir Thomas as some write was hee who was slaine manfully fighting at such time as the French recovered Paris from the English in the time of King Henry the Sixth This place of the pit-coles being of the nature of hardned Bitumen which are digged up to the profit of the Lord in so great a number that they serve sufficiently for fewell to the neighbour Dwellers round about farre and neere I said before that the River Soar did cut this Shire in the middle which springing not farre from this Street and encreased with many small rils and Brookes of running water going a long Northward with a gentle streame passeth under the West and North side of the cheife Towne or City of this County which in Writers is called Lege-Cestria Leogora Legeo cester and Leicester This Towne maketh an evident faire shew both of great antiquity and good building In the yeere 680. when Sexwulph at the commandement of King Etheldred divided the kingdome of the Mercians into Bishoprickes hee placed in this an Episcopall See and was himselfe the first Bishop that sat there but a few yeeres after when the See was translated to
we may see in the Histories whether by celestiall influence or other hidden causes I leave to the learned But so farre as I could hitherto reade it did never set foote in England before that time Besides these places before named of great name and marke wee must not overpasse neither Melton Mowbray neere unto this Burton a Mercate Towne bearing name of the Mowbraies sometime Lords thereof wherein is nothing more worth the seeing than a faire Church nor Skeffington standing farther off which as it hath given name to a worshipfull Family so againe it hath received worship and credit from the same The River that watereth this part of the Shire is by the Inhabitants about it called the Wreken along which upon resemblance of the name I have sought VERNOMETUM but in vaine This Wreken gathereth a strong streame by many lively Brookes resorting unto it whereof one passeth by Wimondham an ancient habitation of a younger branch of the house of the Lords Barkleis well encreased by an heire of Dela-Laund and so on by Melton Mowbray before mentioned by Kirkby Bellers where there was a Priory having that addition of the Bellers a respective rich and noble Family in their time by Brokesby a seat now of the Villiers of an old Norman race and descended from an heire of Bellers which Brokesby imparted formerly the sirname to the Brokesbies of especiall antiquity in these parts Then the Wreken speedeth by Ratcliffe high mounted upon a cliffe and within few miles conjoyneth it selfe to Soar neere unto Mont-Soar-hill before mentioned Whatsoever of this Shire lieth beyond the Wreken Northward is not so frequently inhabited and part of it is called the Wold as being hilly without wood wherein Dalby a seat of the old Family of the Noels of whom I shall speake elsewhere and Waltham on the Wold a meane Mercat are most notable Through this part as I have beene enformed passeth the Fosse-way made by the Romans from Lewing Bridge by Segrave which gave sirname to the honourable Family often mentioned and the Lodge on the Wold toward the Vale of Bever but the Tract thereof as yet I know not This Shire hath beene more famous from time to time by reason of the Earles thereof have beene very renowned And seeing it had under the Saxons government Earles by inheritance I will first reckon them up in order as Thomas Talbot a skilfull Antiquary hath delivered me a note of them out of the kings Records In the time of Aethelbald King of the Mercians and in the yeere of our Redemption 716. Leofrick was Earle of Leicester whom there succeeded in direct line Algar the first Algar the second Leofrick the second Leofstane Leofrick the third buried in Coventry Algar the third who had issue two sonnes Aeadwin Earle of March Morkar Earle of Northumberland and a daughter named Lucy first married to Ivon Talboys of Anjou afterwards to Roger of Romara who begat of her William of Romara Earle of Lincolne Now when as the issue male of this Saxon Family failed and the name of the Saxons was troden as it were under foot Robert Beaumont a Norman Lord of Pont Audomar and Earle of Mellent after that Simon an officiary Earle of Leicester was dead obtained his Earledome in the yeere of our Lord 1102. at the bountifull hand of King Henry the First which Robert A man for skill and knowledge excellent faire spoken subtile wise and witty and by nature wily who while hee lived in high and glorious estate an other Earle carried away his wife from him whereupon in his old age being much troubled in minde he fell into deepe melancholy After him succeeded from father to sonne three Roberts the first sirnamed Bossu because hee was crook-backed who after he had rebelled against King Henry the First weary of his loose irregular life became a Chanon Regular the second sirnamed Blanch-maines of his lily-white-hands who sided with the young King against King Henry the Second and dyed in the expedition of King Richard the First to the Holy Land the third sirnamed Fitz-Parnell because his mother was Parnels daughter and one of the heires to Hugh Grant-maismill the last in whose right hee was Seneschall or Steward of England and died issuelesse in the time of King John A few yeeres after Simon Montfort descended from a base sonne of Robert King of France who had married the sister of Robert Fitz-Parnell enjoyed this honour But after that hee and his were expelled in the yeere 1200. as wholy devoted to the French Ranulph Earle of Chester attained unto this Dignity not in right of inheritance but by his Princes favour Howbeit afterwards Simon Montfort sonne of the foresaid Simon obtained this honour when Almarik his eldest brother surrendred up his right before King Henry the Third This Simon stood in so gracious favour with King Henry the Third that hee called him home againe out of France when he was banished heaped upon him great wealth admitted him unto the Earledome of Leicester granted to him the Stewardship of England and to honour him the more gave him his owne sister in marriage But hee thus over-heaped with honourable benefits when he had no meanes to requite them such is the perverse wilfulnesse of men beganne hatefully to maligne him yea and did most wickedly molest the good King having so well deserved making himselfe Ringleader to the rebellious Barons and with them raising horrible tempests of civill warre in which himselfe also at length was overthrowne and slaine As for his Honours and Possessions King Henry the Third gave and graunted them to Edmund his owne younger sonne Earle of Lancaster So afterward this honour lay as it were obscured among the Titles of the house of Lancaster and Mawde the daughter of Henry Duke of Lancaster being married to Henry Duke of Bavaria Earle of Henault Holland Zeland c. added unto his other Titles this of Earle of Leicester also For in the Charter dated the five and thirty yeere of King Edward the Third hee is in plaine termes stiled William Earle of Henhault and of Leicester yea and as we finde in the Inquisition made Anno 36. of the said King Edward the Third shee by the name of Dutchesse of Bavaria held the Castle Manour and Honour of Leicester After whose decease without issue that honour reverted to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster who had wedded Blanch the other sister of Mawde From which time it became united to the House of Lancaster untill in our remembrance it reflourished in L. Robert Dudley who was by Queene Elizabeth girt with the sword of the Earledome of Leicester and extraordinarily favoured whereupon the States Generall of the united Provinces in their great troubles chose him triumphantly for their absolute Governour and soone after as contemptuously rejected him reserving all Soveraignty to themselves But after a short time he passed out of this transitory life
place at this day is called Buxton well which being found by experience holsome for the stomach sinewes and the whole body George Earle of Shrewesbury lately beautified with buildings and so they are begunne againe to bee resorted unto by concourse of the greatest Gentlemen and of the Nobility At which time that most unfortunate Lady Mary Queene of Scots bad farewell unto Buxton with this Distichon by a little change of Caesars Verses concerning Feltria in this wise Buxtona a quae calidae celebrabere nomine lymphae Fortè mihi posthac non adeunda vale Buxton that of great name shalt be for hote and holsome baine Farewell for I perhaps shall not thee ever see againe But that these hote waters were knowne in old time The Port-way or High paved Street named Bath-gate reaching for seven miles together from hence unto Burgh a little Village doth manifestly shew Neere unto this Burgh there standeth upon the top of an hill an old Castle sometimes belonging to the Peverels called The Castle in the Peake and in Latin De Alto Pecco which King Edward the Third together with a Manour and an Honour gave unto his sonne John Duke of Lancaster what time as hee surrendered the Earledome of Richmond into the Kings hands Under which there is a Cave or hole within the ground called saving your reverence The Devils Arse that gapeth with a wide mouth and hath in it many turnings and retyring roomes wherein forsooth Gervase of Tilbury whether for wane of knowing trueth or upon a delight hee had in fabling hath written that a Shepheard saw a very wide and large Country with Riverets and Brookes running heere and there through it and huge Pooles of dead and standing waters Notwithstanding by reason of these and such like fables this Hole is reckoned for one of the wonders of England neither are there wanting the like tales of another Cave but especially of that which is called Elden Hole wherein there is nothing to bee wondred at but that it is of an huge widnesse exceeding steepe and of a mervailous depth But whosoever have written that there should bee certaine tunnels and breathing holes out of which windes doe issue they are much deceived Neither doe these Verses of Alexander Necham which hee wrote as touching the Mervailes of England agree to any of these two holes Est specus Aeolijs ventis obnoxia semper Impetus è gemino maximus ore venit Cogitur injectum velamen adire supernas Partes descensum impedit aura potens A Cave to strong Aeolian windes alwaies enthral'd there is From two-fold tunnell maine great blasts arise and never misse A cloth or garment cast therein by force aloft is sent A mighty breath or powrfull puffe doth hinder all descent But all the memorable matters in this high and rough stony little Country one hath comprised in these foure Verses Mira alto Pecco tria sunt barathrum specus antrum Commoda tot plumbum gramen ovile pecus Tot speciosa simul sunt Castrum Balnea Chatsworth Plura sed occurrunt quae speciosa minùs There are in High Peake Wonders three A deepe Hole Cave and Den Commodities as many bee Lead Grasse and Sheepe in pen. And Beauties three there are withall A Castle Bath Chatsworth With places more yet meet you shall That are of meaner worth To these Wonders may be added a wonderfull Well in the Peake Forest not farre from Buxtons which ordinarily ebbeth and floweth foure times in the space of one houre or thereabout keeping his just Tides and I know not whether Tideswell a Mercate Towne heereby hath his name thereof The Peverels who I have said before were Lords of Nottingham are also reported to have beene Lords of Darby Afterward King Richard the First gave and confirmed unto his brother John the Counties and Castles of Nottingham Lancaster Darby c. with the honours thereto belonging with the honour also of Peverell After him these were Earles of Derby out of the family of Ferrars so far as I am able to gather out of the Registers of Tutbury Merivall and Burton Monasteries William Ferrars sonne to the Daughter and heire of Peverell whom King John with his owne hand as we finde in an ancient Charter invested Earle of Darby William his sonne who bruised with a fall out of his Coach died in the yeere 1254. And this Williams sonne Robert who in the Civill Warre lost this Title and a great estate by forfeiture in such sort as that none of his posterity although they lived in great port and reputation were ever restored to that honor againe But most of this Roberts possessions K. Henry the Third passed over unto Edmund his owne younger son and King Edward the Third I write out of the very originall Record by authority and advise of the Parliament ordained Henry of Lancaster the sonne of Henry Earle of Lancaster Earle of Darby to him and his heires and withall assigned unto him a thousand markes yeerely during the life of his father Henry Earle of Lancaster From that time this Title was united to the line of Lancaster untill King Henry the Seventh bestowed the same upon Thomas Lord Stanley who before had wedded Margaret the Kings mother to him and the heires males of his body He had for his successour his Grandsonne Thomas begotten by George his sonne of Ioan the heire of the Lord Strange of Knocking this Thomas had by the sister of George Earle of Huntingdon Edward the third Earle of this Family highly commended for hospitality and affability who by the Lady Dorothy Daughter to the first Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke begat Henry the fourth Earle efts-once honourably employed who left by Lady Margaret Daughter of Henry Earle of Cumberland Ferdinand and William successively Earles of Darby Ferdinand dyed in strange manner in the flower of his youth leaving by Margaret his Wife Daughter of Sir John Spenser of Althorp three Daughters Anne marryed to Grey Bruges Lord Chandos Francis Wife to Sir Iohn Egerton and Elizabeth Wife to Henry Earle of Huntingdon William the sixth Earle now enjoyeth that Honour having issue by Elizabeth Daughter to Edward late Earle of Oxford ANd thus much of the Counties of Nottingham and Darby of which they inhabited a part who in Bedes time were called Mercij Aquilonares that is The Northern Mercians for that they dwelt beyond the Trent Northward and they held as hee saith The land of seven thousand Families This County holdeth in it Parishes 106. CORNAVII HAving now travailed in order through the Countries of the ancient CORITANI I am to survey the Regions confining which in ancient time the people called CORNABII or CORNAVII inhabited The derivation or Etymologie of whose name let others sift out As for my selfe I could draw the force and signification of that word to this and that diversly but seeing none of them doth aptly answere to the nature of the place or disposition of the people
afterward this honor at the hands of King Henry the Fifth Who shortly after in the French war lost his life at the siege of Meaux in Brye leaving one onely daughter married to Sir Edward Nevill from whom descended the late Lords of Abergevenny Afterward King Henry the Sixth created John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester But when he presently taking part with King Edward the Fourth had applied himselfe in a preposterous obsequiousnesse to the humor of the said King and being made Constable of England plaied the part as it were of the butcher in the cruell execution of diverse men of qualitie himselfe when as King Henry the Sixth was now repossessed of the crowne came to the blocke Howbeit his sonne Edward recovered that honor when King Edward recovered his Kingdome But after that this Edward died without issue and the inheritance became divided among the sisters of the said John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester of whom one was married to the Lord Roo● another to Sir Edmund Ingoldesthorpe and the third to the Lord Dudley Sir Charles Somerset base sonne to Henry Duke of Somerset Lord Herbert and Lord Chamberlaine to King Henry the Eighth was by him created Earle of Worcester After whom succeeded in lineall descent Henry William and Edward who now flourisheth and among other laudable parts of vertue and Nobility highly favoureth the studies of good literature There are in this Shire Parishes 152. STAFFORDIAE COMITATVS PARS olim Cornauiorum STAFFORD-SHIRE THE third Region of the old CORNAVII now called STAFFORD-SHIRE in the English Saxons Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Inhabitants whereof because they dwelt in the middest of England are in Bede termed Angli Mediterranei that is Midland Englishmen having on the East Warwick-shire and Darby-shire on the South side Worcester-shire and Westward Shropp-shire bordering upon it reacheth from South to North in forme of a Lozeng broader in the middest and growing narrower at the ends The North part is full of Hilles and so lesse fruitfull the middle being watered with the River Trent is more plentifull clad with Woods and embroidered gallantly with Corne fields and medowes as is the South part likewise which hath Coles also digged out of the earth and mines of Iron But whether more for their commodity or hinderance I leave to the Inhabitants who doe or shall best understand it In the South part in the very confines with Worcester-shire upon the River Stour standeth Stourton Castle sometimes belonging to the Earles of Warwicke the natall place of Cardinall Pole and then Dudley Castle towreth up upon an hill built and named so of one Dudo or Dodo an English Saxon about the yeere of our Salvation 700. In King William the Conquerours daies as we finde in his Domesday Booke William Fitz-Ausculph possessed it afterwards it fell to Noble men sirnamed Somery and by an heire generall of them to Sir Richard Sutton knight descended from the Suttons of Nottingham-shire whose Posterity commonly called from that time Lords of Dudley but summoned to Parliament first by King Henry the Sixth grew up to a right honourable Family Under this lyeth Pensueth Chace in former times better stored with game wherein are many Cole-pits in which as they reported to mee there continueth a fire begunne by a candle long since through the negligence of a grover or digger The smoke of this fire and sometime the flame is seene but the savour oftener smelt and other the like places were shewed unto mee not farre off North-West ward upon the Confines of Shropp-shire I saw Pateshull a seat of the Astleies descended from honourable Progenitours and Wrotesley an habitation of a Race of Gentlemen so sirnamed out of which Sir Hugh Wrotesley for his approoved valour was chosen by King Edward the Third Knight of the Garter at the first institution and so accounted one of the founders of the said honourable Order Next after this the memorable places that wee meet with in this Tract more inwardly are these Chellington a faire house and Manour of the ancient Family of the Giffards which in the Raigne of Henry the Second Peter Corbuchin gave to Peter Giffard upon whom also Richard Strongbow that Conquerour of Ireland bestowed in free gift Tachmelin and other Possessions in Ireland Theoten hall which is by interpretation The habitation of Heathens or Pagans at this day Tetnall embrued with Danish bloud in the yeere 911. by King Edward the Elder in a bloudy Battaile Ulfrunes Hampton so called of Wulfruna a most godly and devout woman who enriched the Towne called before simply Hampton with a religious House and for Wulfrunes Hampton it is corruptly called Wulver Hampton The greatest name and note whereof ariseth by the Church there annexed to the Warden or Deane and Prebendaries of Windsor Weadsbury in these dayes Weddsborrow fortified in old time by Aethelfled Lady of the Mercians and Walshall a Mercate Towne none of the meanest Neere unto which the River Tame carryeth his streame which rising not farre off for certaine miles wandereth through the East part of this Shire seeking after Trent neere unto Draiton Basset the seat of the Bassets who springing out from Turstan Lord of this place in the Raigne of Henry the First branched forth into a great and notable Family For from hence as from a stocke flourished the Bassets of Welleden of Wiccomb of Sapcot of Cheddle and others But of this of Draiton Raulph was the last who being a right renowned Baron had marryed the sister of John Montfort Duke of Britaine and in the Raigne of Richard the Second died without issue Then Tame passing through the Bridge at Falkesley over which an ancient high way of the Romanes went runneth hard under Tamworth in the Saxon Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marianus calleth it Tamawordia a Towne so placed in the Confines of the two Shires that the one part which belonged sometime to the Marmions is counted of Warwick-shire the other which pertained to the Hastings of Stafford-shire As for the name it is taken from Tame the Riuer running beside it and of the English Saxon word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a Barton Court or Ferme-house and also an Holme or River Island or any place environed with water seeing that Keyserwert and Bomelswert in Germanie betoken as much as Caesars Isle and Bomels Isle Whiles the Mercians Kingdome stood in state this was a place of their Kings resiance and as we finde in the Lieger Booke of Worcester a Towne of very great resort and passing well frequented Afterward when in the Danes Warre it was much decaied Aethelfled Lady of Mercia repaired and brought it againe to the former state also Edith King Eadgars Sister who refusing Marriage for the opinion that went of her for holinesse was registred in the roll of Saints founded heere a little house for Nunnes and veiled Virgins which after some yeeres was translated to
Vlster So that doubtlesse he was either a man of rare vertue or a gracious favourite or a great Lawyer or else all jointly His posterity matched in marriage with the heires of the Lord Giffard of Brimsfield of Baron Martin Lord of Keimeis and Barstaple and a younger brother of this house with one of the heires of the Earle of Glocester and was by King Edward the Third created Earle of Glocester About which time James Lord Audley flourished in Chivalry who as the French write being grievously wounded in the battaile at Poitiers when the blacke Prince with many comfortable commendations had given him 400. Markes of yeerely revenewes he bestowed the same forthwith upon his foure Esquires who alwaies valiantly attended him and satisfied the Prince doubting that his gift was too little for so great service with this answer dutifully acknowledging his bounty It is meet that I doe well for them who deserved best of me These my Esquiers saved my life amidst my enemies And God be thanked my ancestours have left me sufficient revenewes to maintaine me in your service Whereupon the Prince approving this prudent liberality both confirmed his gift to his Esquires and assigned him moreover lands to the value of six hundred Markes yeerely But by his daughter one of the coheires to her brother the Title of Lord Audley came afterward to the Touchets and in them continueth Neither must I heere passe over in silence an house in this tract called Gerards Bromley both for the magnificence thereof and also because it is the principall seat of Sir Thomas Gerard whom King James in the first yeere of his Raigne created Baron Gerard of Gerards Bromley This Sow as it were a parallel river unto Trent runneth even with him and keeping an equall distance still from him by Chebsey which had in times past for Lords therof the Hastangs reputed among the prime Nobility in the time of King Edward the First not farre from Eccleshall the habitation of the Bishop of Lichfield and Ellenhall which was sometime the seat of the Noels a worshipfull house who founded heere a Monastery at Raunton and from whom it descended hereditarily to the Harcourts who being of the ancient Norman nobility flourished a long time in great dignity But yet of the male heires of the Noels there remaine still Sir Edward Noel of Dalby in Leicester-shire and the Noels of Wellesborow in Leicester-shire with others Then runneth Sow under Stafford in times past called Statford and before time Betheney where Bertelin reputed a very holy man led in ancient times an Eremits life in serving God And King Edward the Elder built on the South banke of the River a Castle in the yeere of Christ 914. What time as King William the Conquerour registred the Survey of all England as we reade in his Domesday Booke The King had in it only 18. Burgesses in his owne domaine and 20. Mansions of the honour of the Earle it paid for all customes nine pounds of deniers and had thirteene Chanons Prebendaries who held in franke Almoine and the King commanded a Castle to bee made which now is destroyed But then as now also it was the head Towne of the whole Shire howbeit the greatest credite and honor thereof came from Stafford Castle adjoyning which the Barons of Stafford of whose progeny were the Dukes of Buckingham built for their owne seat who procured of King John that it was made a Burrough with ample liberties caused it to be partly fensed with a Wall and erected a Priory of Blacke Chanons to the honour of Saint Thomas of Canterbury Beneath which the Riveret Penke which gave name to Pennocrucium or Penkridge whereof I have already spoken joyneth with that Sow aforesaid And neere unto the confluence of Sow and Trent standeth Ticks hall the dwelling place of the Astons a Family which for antiquity kinred and alliance is in these parts of great name Trent having harboured these rivers in his chanell passeth now through the mids of the Shire with a gentle streame taking a view of Chartley Castle standing two miles aside from the banke on the left hand which Castle came from Raulph Earle of Chester who built it unto the Ferrars by Agnes his sister whom William Ferrars Earle of Darby had marryed out of whose Race the Lords Ferrars of Chartley flourished and Anne the Daughter of the last of them brought this Honour as her dowry unto Sir Walter D'Eureux her husband from whom Robert D'Evereux Earle of Essex and Lord Ferrars of Chartley is lineally descended On the right side of the river about the same distance standeth most pleasantly among the woods Beaudesert the lodge in times past of the Bishops of Lichfield but now the house of the Lord Paget For Sir William Paget who for his approoved wisdome both at home and abroad stood in high favour with King Henry the Eight and King Edward the Sixth and obteined at their hands faire possessions was by the said K. Edward the Sixth created Lord Paget of Beaudesert He was that I may note so much out of his Epitaph Secretary and Privy Counsellour to King Henry the Eighth and appointed by his Testament Counsellour and aidor to King Edward the Sixth during his minority To whom he was Chauncellor of the Dutchy of Lancaster Controller of the house and by him made as I said Baron and knight of the Garter as by Queene Mary Lord Privy Seale Whose grandsonne William is now the fourth Baron Pagets and for his vertue and studies of the best arts is an honour to his house and in this respect deserveth to be honorably remembred From thence may you descrie Lichfield scarce foure miles from this right-side banke of Trent Bede calleth it Licidfeld which Rosse of Warwick interpreteth Cadaverum campus that is The field of dead bodies and reporteth that a number of Christians were there Martyred under the persecutor Dioclesian This City is low seated of a good largenesse and faire withall divided into two parts with a shallow poole of cleere water which parts notwithstanding joyne in one by the meanes of two bridges or causeies made over that have their sluces to let out the water The South part which is on the hither side is the greater consisting of divers streets hath in it the schoole and an hospitall of Saint John founded for reliefe of the poore The farther part is the lesse but beautified with a very goodly Cathedrall Church which being round about compassed with a faire wall castle-like and garnished beside with faire houses of Prebendaries and with the Bishops palace also doth mount upon high with three pyramids or spires of stone making an excellent shew and for elegant and proportionall building yeeldeth to few Cathedrall Churches In this place many ages past a Bishops See was established for in the 656. yeere after the Worlds redemption Oswie King of Northumberland having vanquished the Mercians as then
worthy and heroicall a Knight ORATE PRO ANIMA PRAENOBILIS DOMINI DOMINI JOANNIS TALBOTT QVONDAM COMITIS SALOPIAE DOMINI TALBOTT DOMINI FURNIVALL DOMINI VERDON DOMINI STRANGE DE BLACK-MERE ET MARESCALLI FRANCIAE QUI OBIIT IN BELLO APUD BURDEVVS VII IULII M. CCCC.LIII That is Pray for the Soule of the right Noble Lord Sir John Talbot sometimes Earle of Shrewsburie Lord Talbot Lord Furnivall Lord Verdon Lord Strange de Black-Mere and Mareshall of France Who died in the battaile at Burdews VII IULII M. CCCC LIII Unto this Family of the Talbots there accrued by marriage-right the inheritance of the Barons Le Strange of Blackmere who were surnamed Le Strange commonly and Extranei in Latine records for that they were strangers brought hether by King Henrie the Second and in short time their house was far propagated These of Blackmere were much inriched by an heire of W. de Albo-monasterio or this Whit-Church and also by one of the heires of John Lord Giffard of Brimsfield of ancient Nobility in Glocester-shire by the onely daughter of Walter Lord Clifford More Westward lieth Ellesmer a little territorie but rich and fruitfull which as the Chronologie of Chester testifieth King John gave with the Castle to Lhewellin Prince of North-Wales in marriage with Joane his base daughter Afterwards in the time of King Henry the Third it came to the Family of the Stranges But now it hath his Baron Sir Thomas Egerton a man whom for his singular wisdome and sincere equity Queene Elizabeth chose to be Lord Keeper of the great Seale and King Iames making him Lord Chancellour advanced to the highest Honour of the long roabe and withall adorned with the Honorable title of Baron of Ellesmer Now let us briefely adde somewhat of the Earles of Shrewsbury Roger de Belesmo otherwise Montgomery was created the first Earle of Shrewsbury by King William the Conquerour unto whom he allotted also the greatest part of this Shire After him succeeded first his eldest sonne Hugh slaine in Wales without issue Then Robert another of his sonnes a man outragiously cruell toward his owne sonnes and hostages whose eyes with his owne hands he plucked out and gelded But afterwards being convict of high Treason he was kept in perpetuall prison by King Henry the first and so suffered condigne punishment for his notorious wickednesse Then was his Earledome made over unto Queene Adeliza for her dowry Many ages after King Henry the Sixth in the 20. yeere of his reigne promoted to this honour Iohn Lord Talbot whom both Nature bred and his disposition inured unto warlike prowesse And in the 24. yeere of his reigne he bestowed moreover upon the same Iohn whom in the Patent he calleth Earle of Shrewsbery and of Weisford the title of Earle of Waterford the Barony of Dongarvan and the Seneschalsie or Stewardship of Ireland But when he was slaine at Castilion upon Dordon neere Burdeaux together with his younger sonne Sir John Talbot Vicount L'isle after he had foure and twenty yeeres together marched with victorious armes over a great part of France his sonne Iohn by the daughter and one of the heires of Sir Thomas Nevill Lord Furnivall succeeded who siding with the house of Lancaster was slaine fighting valorously in the forefront of the battaile of Northampton From him by a daughter of the Earle of Ormond came Iohn the third Earle of Shrewsbury and Sir Gilbert Talbot Captaine of Callis from whom the Talbots of Graston descended This third Iohn had by his wife Katherine daughter to H. Duke of Buckingham George the fourth Earle who served King Henry the Seventh valiantly and constantly at the battaile of Stoke And he by Anne his wife daughter of William Lord Hastings had Francis the fifth Earle who begat of Mary daughter to Thomas Lord Dacre of Gillesland George the sixth Earle aman of approoved fidelity in weighty affaires of State whose sonne Gilbert by his wife Gertrud daughter to Thomas Earle of Rutland the seventh Earle maintaineth at this day his place left unto him by his ancestours with right great honour and commendation for his vertues In this region there are Parishes much about 170. CESTRIAE Comitatus Romanis Legionibus-et Colonijis olim insignis vera et obseluta descriptio CHES-SHIRE THE fifth and last of those Countries which in old time the CORNAVII held is the County of CHESTER in the Saxons Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly CHES-SHIRE and The County Palatine of Chester for that the Earles thereof had Royalties and princely Priviledges belonging to them and all the Inhabitants owed Allegeance and fealty to them as they did to the King As for this tearme Palatine that I may rehearse againe that which I have said before of this name was in times past common to all those who bare any Office in the Kings Court or Palace and in that age Comes Palatinus was a Title of Dignity conferred upon him who before was Palatinus with authority to heare and determine Causes in his owne Territory and as well his Nobles whom they called Barons as his Vassals were bound to repaire to the Palace of the said Count both to give him advise and also to give their attendance and furnish his Court with their presence This Country as William of Malmesbury saith Is scarce of Corne but especially of Wheat yet plentifull in Cattaile and fish Howbeit Ranulph the Monke of Chester affirmeth the contrary Whatsoever Malmesbury dreamd saith hee upon the relation of others it aboundeth with all kinde of victuals plenteous in Corne flesh fish and salmons especially of the very best it maintaineth trade with many commodities and maketh good returne For why in the Confines thereof it hath salt pits mines and metals And this moreover will I adde the grasse and fodder there is of that goodnesse and vertue that cheeses bee made heere in great number of a most pleasing and delicate taste such as all England againe affordeth not the like no though the best dayriwomen otherwise and skilfullest in cheese making be had from hence And whiles I am writing this I cannot chuse but mervaile by the way at that which Strabo writeth That in his time some Britans could not skill of making Cheese and that Plinie afterwards wondered That barbarous Nations who lived of milke either knew not or despised for so many ages the commodity of Cheese who otherwise had the feat of crudding it to a pleasant tartnesse and to fat bu●yr Whereby it may be gathered that the devise of making Cheese came into Britaine from the Romans But howsoever this Region in fertility of soile commeth behinde many Countries in England yet hath it alwaies bred and reared more Gentry than the rest For you have not in all England againe any one Province beside that in old time either brought more valorous Gentlemen into the field or had more Families in it of Knights degree On the Southside it is hemmed
of Woodstock his Daughter who was after remarried to Sir William Burchier called Earle of Ew And in our memorie King Edward the Sixth Honoured Walter D'Eureux the Lord Ferrars of Chartley descended by the Bourgchiers from the Bohuns with the title of Vicount Hereford whose Grand-sonne Walter Vicount Hereford Queene Elizabeth created afterwards Earle of Essex There are contained in this County Parishes 176. RADNOR Comitatus quem SILVRES Osim Incosuerunt RADNOR-SHIRE VPon Hereford-shire on the North-West joyneth Radnor-shire in the British tongue Sire Maiseveth in forme three square and the farther West it goeth the narrower still it groweth On the South-side the River Wy separateth it from Brecknock-shire and on the North part lieth Montgomery-shire The East and South parts thereof bee more fruitfull than the rest which lying uneven and rough with Mountaines is hardly bettered by painfull Husbandry yet it is stored well enough with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Meres The East-side hath to beautifie it besides other Castles of the Lords Marchers now all buried well neere in their owne ruines Castle Paine built and so named of Paine a Norman and Castle Colwen which if I be not deceived was sometime called the Castle of Maud in Colewent For a very famous Castle that was and Robert de Todeney a great Noble man in the reigne of Edward the Second was Lord of it It is verily thought that it belonged aforetime to the Breoses Lords of Brechnoc and to have taken the name from Maude of Saint Valeric a very shrewd stout and malapert stomackfull woman wife to William Breos who discovered a rebellious minde against King John Which Castle being cast downe by the Welsh King Henry the Third in the yeere 1231. reedified strongly with stone and called it in despight of Lhewellin Prince of Wales Maugre Lhewellin But of especiall name is Radnor the principall Towne of the whole Shire in British Maiseveth faire built as the maner of that Country is with thatched houses In times past it was firmely fensed with a Wall and Castle but after that Owen Glendower dwy that notable Rebell had burnt it it began by little and little to decrease and grow to decay tasting of the same fortune that the mother thereof did before I meane Old Radnor called in British Maiseveth hean and for the high situation Pencrag which in the reigne of King John Rhese Ap Gruffin had set on fire If I should say that this Maiseveth or Radnor was that ancient Citie MAGI which Antonine the Emperour seemeth to call MAGNOS where as we finde in the booke of Notices the Commander of the Pacensian Regiment lay in garrison under the Lieutenant or Lord Generall of Britaine in the reigne of Theodosius the younger in mine owne opinion surely and perhaps in other mens conceit also I should not vary from the truth For we reade in Writers of the middle age of inhabitants of this coast called MAGESETAE also of Earles Masegetenses and Magesetenses and the distance if it be counted both from Gobannium or Abergevenny and also from Brangonium or Worcester differeth scarce an haire bredth from Antonines computation Scarce three miles Eastward from hence you see Prestaine in British Lhan Andre that is Saint Andrews Church which of a very little village within the memorie of our Grandfathers is by the meanes of Richard Martin Bishop of Saint Davids growne now to be so great a mercate Towne and faire withall that at this day it dammereth and dimmeth the light in some sort of Radnor From whence also scarce foure miles off stands Knighton a Towne able to match with Prestaine called in British as I have heard say Trebuclo in steed of Trefyclaudh of a famous ditch lying under it which Offa King of the Mercians with admirable worke and labour caused to be cast from Dee-Mouth unto Wy-Mouth by this Towne for the space of foureskore and ten miles to separate the Britans from his Englishmen whereupon in British it is called Claudh Offa that is Offaes ditch Concerning which John of Salisbury in his Policraticon writeth thus Harald ordained a law that what Welshmen soever should be found with a weapon on this side the limit which he had set them that is to say Offaes Dike he should have his right hand cut off by the Kings Officers When yee are past this place all the ground that lieth toward the West and South limits being for the most part barren leane and hungry is of the inhabitants called Melienith for that the Mountaines be of a yellowish colour Yet remaine there many footings as it were of Castles to be seene heere and there but especially Kevenles and Timbod which standing upon a sharpe poynted hill Lhewellin Prince of Wales overthrew in the yeere 1260. This Melienith reacheth as farre as to the River Wy which cutteth overthwart the West corner of this shire and being hindered in his streame with stones lying in his way upon a suddaine for want of ground to glide on hath a mighty and violent downefall whereupon the place is tearmed Raihader Gowy that is The fall or Fludgates of Wy And I cannot tell whether thereupon that British word Raihader the English men forged this name first for the whole shire and afterwards for the chiefe Towne By this Floudgate or fall of the water there was a Castle which Rhese Prince of Southwales as we reade repaired under King Richard the First Hard by there is in some sort a vast and wide wildernesse hideous after a sort to behold by reason of the turning and crooked by-waies and craggie Mountaines into which as the safest place of refuge Vortigern that pestilent wretch and bane of his native Country odious both to God and man and whose memory the Britains may wish damned withdrew himselfe when after he had called the Saxons into this Iland and in horrible incest married his owne daughter And heere he fell at length too too late into serious consideration of the greatnesse of his vile and wicked acts But by revenging fire from Heaven the flying dart of God above he was burnt with his Citie Caer Guortigern which he had heere built for his refuge And not farre from hence as if the place had been fatall not onely this Vortigern the last Monarch of British bloud but also Lhewellin the last Prince of Wales of the British race being forelaid was slaine by Adam Francton in the yeere of our Redemption 1282. Of the said Vortigern Ninnius nameth a little Country heere Guortiger-maur neither is that name as yet altogether lost but of the Ci●ie there remaineth no memory at all but our of writers Some are of opinion that Guthremion Castle arose out of the ruins and rubbish thereof which in the yeere 1201. the Welsh for malice they bare to Roger Lord Mortimer and in spight of him laid even with the ground Moreover this part of the Country was
part of the Shire Nature hath loftily areared it up farre and neere with Mountaines standing thicke one by another as if she would here have compacted the joynts of this Island within the bowels of the earth and made this part thereof a most sure place of refuge for the Britans in time of adversitie For there are so many roughes and Rocks so many vales full of Woods with Pooles heere and there crossing over them lying in the way betweene that no Armie nay not so much as those that are lightly appoynted can finde passage A man may truely if he please terme these Mountaines the British Alpes for besides that they are the greatest of the whole Island they are no lesse steepe also with cragged and rent Rockes on every side than the Alpes of Italie yea and all of them compasse one Mountaine round about which over-topping the rest so towreth up with his head aloft in the aire as he may seeme not to threaten the Skie but to thrust his head up into Heaven And yet harbour they the Snow for all the yeere long they be hory with Snow or rather with an hardened crust of many Snowes felted together Whence it is that all these hilles are in British by one name termed Craig Eriry in English Snow-don which in both languages sound as much as Snowie Mountaines like as Niphates in Armenia and Imaus in Scythia tooke their names as Plinie witnesseth of Snow Neverthelesse so ranke are they with grasse that it is a very common speech among the Welsh That the Mountaines Eriry will yeeld sufficient pasture for all the Cattaile in Wales if they were put upon them together Concerning the two Meares on the toppe of these in the one of which floreth a wandring Island and in the other is found great store of Fishes but having all of them but one eye a peece I will say nothing left I might seeme to foster fables although some confident upon the authoritie of Giraldus have beleeved it for a veritie Yet certaine it is that there be in the very toppe of these Mountaines Pooles in deed and standing Waters whereupon Gervase of Tilbury in his Booke entituled Otia Imperialia writeth thus In the Land of Wales within the bounds of great Britain there be high Hilles that haue laied their foundations upon most hard Rockes and in the toppe thereof the earth is crusted over with such a coate of waterish moisture that wheresoever a man doe but lightly set his foote he shall perceive the ground to stirre the length of a stones cast from him whereupon when the enemies came the Welsh with their agility and nimblenesse lightly leaping over the boggy ground either avoide the enemies assaults or to their losse resolutely expect their forces These Mountainers John Salisbury in his Polycraticon by a new forged Latine name termed Nivicollinos that is Snow-down inhabitants of whom in King Henry the Second his daies he wrote thus The Snow-downe Britans make inrodes and being now come out of their Caves and lurking holes of the Woods enlarge their borders possesse the plaines of the Noble men and whiles themselves looke on they assault they winne and overthrow them or else keepe the same to their owne behoofe because our youth which is so daintily brought up and loves to be house-birds and to live lazie in the shade being borne onely to devoure the fruits of the earth and to fill the belly sleepes untill it be broad day light c. But come wee downe now from the Mountaines into the Champion Plaines which because we finde no where else but by the Sea side it may suffice to coast only along the shore The Promontory which I said before shooteth out toward the South-west is in Ptolomee called according to the diversitie of copies CANGANUM JANGANUM and LANGANUM Which is the truest name I know not but LANGANUM it may seeme considering that the inhabitants name it at this day Lhein which runneth forth with a narrow and even by-land having larger and more open fields than the rest of the Country and the same yeelding Barley most plenteously Two little Townes it sheweth and no more that are memorable Farther within upon the Creeke is Pullhely that is that Salt Meare or Poole more outward by the Irish Sea hat beateth upon the other side of the Bi-land is Nevin a Village having a Merket kept in it wherein the Nobility of England in the yeere of our Lord 1284. in a Triumph over the Welsh did celebrate the memory of Arthur the great as Florilegus writeth with Iustes Turnaments and festivall pompe If any other Townes flourished here then were they destroied when Hugh Earle of Chester Robert of Rudland and Guarin of Salop entring into this Country first of all the Normans so wasted this Promontory that for the space of seven whole yeeres it lay dispeopled and desolate From Nevin the shore pointed and endented with one or two elbowes lying out into the sea tendeth Northward and then turning afront North-east by a narrow sea or Frith they call it Menai it serveth the Isle Anglesey from the firme land Upon this straight or narrow sea stood SEGONTIUM a City which Antonine the Emperour maketh mention of some reliques of the walles I saw neere unto a little Church built in honour of Saint Pulblicius It tooke the name of a River running by the side of it which yet at this day is called Seiont and issueth out of the Poole Lin-Peru In which there is a kinde of fish peculiar to that water and seene no where else called by the dwellers there Tor-coch of the belly that is somewhat red Now seeing that in an ancient copie of Ptolomee SETANTIORUM PORTUS is here placed which according to other copies is set farther off if I should reade in stead of it SEGONTIORUM PORTUS that is the Haven of the Segontians and say it stood upon the mouth of this River I should perhaps aime at the truth if not yet should I obtaine pardon for my conjecture of a courteous Reader This Citie Ninnius called Caer Custenith and hee that wrote the life of Gruffin the Sonne of Conan recordeth that Hugh Earle of Chester built a Castle in Hean Caer Custenith that is as the Latine Interpreter transl●teth it in the auncient Citie of Constantine the Emperour And Matthew of Westminster writeth but let him make it good if he can that the bodie of Constantius Father to Constantine the Great was here found in the yeere of our Lord 1283. and honourably bestowed in the Church of the new Citie by the commandement of King Edward the First Who out of the ruines of this Towne at the same time raised the Citie Caer-narvon somewhat higher upon the Rivers mouth so as that on the West and North-sides it is watered therewith Which as it was called Caer-narvon because it standeth right ouer against the Island Mona for so much
the publike records of the Kingdome were buried a daughter of King Iohn a sonne of the King of the Danes the bodies also of the Lord Clifford and of other Lords Knights and Squires who in the time of the noble and renowned Kings of England were slaine in the Warres against the Welsh The next Towne in name to Beau-Marish is Newburg called in British Rossur standing ten miles off Westward which having been a long time greatly annoyed with heaps of sand driven in by the Sea complaineth that it hath lost much of the former state that it had Aber-fraw is not farre from hence which is now but an obscure and meane Towne yet in times past it excelled all the rest farre in worth and dignity as having been the Royall seat of the Kings of Guineth or North-Wales And in the utmost Promontorie Westward which wee call Holy-head there standeth a little poore Towne in British Caer-Guby so named of Kibie a right holy man and a disciple of Saint Hilarie of Poitiers who therein devoted himselfe to the service of God and from whence there is an usuall passage over into Ireland All the rest of this Island is well bespred with Villages which because they have in them nothing materially memorable I will crosse over into the Continent and view Denbigh-shire In this County there are reckoned Parishes 74. DENBIGH Comitatus pars Olim ORDOVICVM DENBIGH-SHIRE ON this side of the River Conwey DENBIGH-SHIRE in Welsh Sire Denbigh retyreth more within the Country from the Sea and shooteth Eastward in one place as farre as to the River Dee On the North North-West first the Sea for a small space and then Flint-shire on the West Merionith and Montgomery-shires on the East Cheshire and Shropp-shire encompasse it The West part is barraine the middle where it lyeth flat in a Valley most fruitfull The East side when it is once past the Valley hath not Nature so favourable unto it but next unto Dee it findeth her farre more kinde The West part but that it is somewhat more plentifull and pleasant toward the sea side is but heere and there inhabited and mounteth up more with bare and hungry hils but yet the painfull diligence and witty industry of the husbandmen hath begunne a good while since to overcome this leannesse of the soile where the hilles settle any thing flattish as in other parts of Wales likewise For after they have with a broad kinde of spade pared away the upper coat as it were or sord of the earth into certaine turfes they pile them up artificially on heapes put fire to them and burne them to ashes which being throwne upon the ground so pared and flayed causeth the hungry barrainnesse thereof so to fructifie that the fields bring forth a kinde of Rhie or Amel corne in such abundance as it is incredible Neither is this a new devise thus to burne the ground but very ancient as we may see in Virgil and Horace Among these Hilles there is a place commonly called Cerigy Drudion that is The stones of the Druidae and certaine little columnes or pillars are seene at Yvoellas with inscriptions in them of strange Characters which some imagine to have beene erected by the Druides and not farre from Clocainog this inscription is read in a stone AMILLIN TOVISATOC By the Vale side where these mountaines beginne now to wax thinner upon the hanging of a rocke standeth Denbigh called of our Britans by a more ancient name Cled Fryn-yn Ross that is A rough hill in Ross for so they call that part of the Shire which King Edward the First gave with other faire lands and possessions to David the brother of Lhewellin But when he soone after being found guilty of high treason was beheaded Henry Lacy Earle of Lincolne obtained it by the grant of the said King Edward and he fortified it with a wall about not large in circuit but strong and on the South side with a proper Castle strengthned with high Towres In the well whereof after that his onely sonne fortuned to be drowned the most sorrowfull father conceived such griefe that he gave over the worke and left it unfinished And after his death the Towne with the rest of the possessions descended unto the house of Lancaster by his daughter Alice who survived From whom notwithstanding it came first through the liberality of King Edward the Second when the said house was dejected unto Hugh Spenser Earle of Winchester then to Roger Mortimer by covenant and composition with King Edward the Third and the said Mortimers Armes are to be seene upon the chiefe gate But after that he was executed it with the Cantreds of Ross and Riewinoc c. were granted to William Montacute after Earle of Salisbury for supprising of Mortimer and shortly after it was restored unto the Mortimers and by them at length descended to the Family of Yorke At which time they of the House of Lancaster for the malice they bare unto Edward the Fourth who was of the family of Yorke did much hurt unto it And then either because the inhabitants like not the steepe situation thereof for the carriage up and downe was very incommodious or by reason that it wanted water they remooved downe from thence by little and little so as that this ancient Towne hath now few or none dwelling in it But a new one farre bigger than it sprung up at the very foote of the hill which is so well peopled and inhabited that by reason that the Church is not able to receive the multitude they beganne to build a new one in the place where the old Towne stood partly at the charges of their Lord Robert Earle of Leicester and partly with the money which they have gathered of many well disposed throughout England For the said Robert in the yeere 1564. was created by Queene Elizabeth Baron of Deubigh to him and the heires of his body lawfully begotten Neither is there any one Barony in all England that hath more Gentlemen holding thereof in fee and by service Now are we come into the very heart of the shire where Nature having removed the hils out of the way on both sides to shew what she could doe in a rough country hath spred beneath them a most beautifull pleasant vale reaching 17. miles in length from South to North and five miles or thereabout in bredth which lyeth open only toward the sea and the cleering North winde otherwise environed it is on every side with high hilles and those from the East side as it were embatled For such is the wonderfull workmanship of nature that the tops of these mountaines resemble in fashion the battlement of walles Among which the highest is Moilenlly on the top whereof I saw a warlike fense with trench and rampire also a little fountaine of cleere water This vale for wholsomenesse fruitfulnesse and pleasantnesse excelleth The colour and complexion of the Inhabitants is healthy their
County of YORKE in the Saxon Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly YORKE-SHIRE the greatest Shire by farre of all England is thought to bee in a temperate measure fruitfull If in one place there bee stony and sandy barraine ground in another place there are for it Corne-fields as rich and fruitfull if it bee voide and destitute of Woods heere you shall finde it shadowed there with most thicke Forests so providently useth Nature such a temperature that the whole Countrey may seeme by reason also of that variety more gracefull and delectable Where it bendeth Westward it is bounded with the Hilles I spake of from Lancashire and Westmorland On the North side it hath the Bishopricke of Durham which the River Tees with a continued course separateth from it On the East side the Germaine Sea lieth sore upon it and the South side is enclosed first with Cheshire and Darby-shire then with Nottingham-shire and after with Lincoln-shire where that famous arme of the Sea Humber floweth betweene into which all the Rivers well neere that water this shire empty themselves as it were into their common receptacle This whole Shire is divided into three parts which according to three Quarters of the world are called The West-Riding The East-Riding and The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sunne-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse In that West part out of the Westerne Mountaines or Hilles in the Confines issue many Rivers which Ouse alone entertaineth every one and carryeth them all with him unto Humber Neither can I see any fitter way to describe this part than to follow the streames of Done Calder Are Wherse Nid and Ouse which springing out of these Hilles are the Rivers of most account and runne by places likewise of greatest importance The River Danus commonly called Don and Dune so termed as it should seeme for that it is carried in a chanell somewhat flat shallow and low by the ground for so much signifieth Dan in the British language after it hath saluted Wortley which gave sirname to a worshipfull Family as also Wentworth hard by whence beside other Gentlemen as well in this Country as elsewhere the Barons of Wentworth have derived both their originall and name runneth first by Sheafield a Towne of great name like as other small Townes adjoyning for the Smithes therein considering there bee many iron Mines thereabout fortified also with a strong and ancient Castle which in right line descended from the Lovetofts the Lords Furnivall and Thomas Lord Nevill of Furnivall unto the Talbots Earles of Shrewesbury From thence Don clad with alders and other trees goeth to Rotheram which glorieth in Thomas Rotheram sometime Archbishop of Yorke a wise man bearing the name of the Towne being borne therein and a singular benefactor thereunto who founded and endowed there a College with three Schooles in it to teach children writing Grammar and Musicke which the greedy iniquity of these our times hath already swallowed Then looketh it up to Connisborrow or Conines-borrough an ancient Castle in the British tongue Caer Conan seated upon a Rocke into which what time as Aurelius Ambrosius had so discomfited and scattered the English Saxons at Maisbelly that they tooke them to their heeles and fled every man the next way hee could finde Hengest their Captaine retired himselfe for safety and few daies after brought his men forth to battaile before the Captaine against the Britans that pursued him where hee fought a bloudy field to him and his For a great number of men were there cut in peeces and the Britans having intercepted him chopt off his head if wee may beleeve the British History rather than the English-Saxon Chronicles which report that he being outworne with travell and labour died in peace But this Coningsborough in latter ages was the possession of the Earles of Warren Afterwards hee runneth under Sprotburg the ancient seat of that ancient family of the Fitz-Williams Knights who are most honourably allied and of kin to the noblest houses of England and from whom descended Sir William Fitz-Williams Earle of Southampton in our fathers remembrance and Sir William Fitz-Williams late Lord Deputy of Ireland But in processe of time this is fallen to the Copleys like as Elmesly with other possessions of theirs in this Tract are come by right of inheritance to the Savils From hence Done running with a divided streame hard to an old towne giveth it his owne name which we at this day call Dan-castre the Scots Don-Castle the Saxons Dona 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ninius Caer Daun but Antonine the Emperour DANUM like as the booke of Notices which hath recorded that the Captaine of the Crispinian Horsemen lay there in Garison under the Generall of Britaine This about the yeere of our Lord 759. was so burnt with fire from heaven and lay so buried under the owne ruines that it could scarce breath againe A large plot it sheweth yet where a Citadell stood which men thinke was then consumed with fire in which place I saw the Church of S. Georges a faire Church and the onely Church they have in the Towne Beneath this Towne Southward scarce five miles off is Tickhill which I am not willing to omit an old towne fensed with as old a Castle large enough but having onely a single Wall about it and with an high Mount whereon standeth a round Keepe It carryed in old time such a Dignity with it that the Manours and Lords belonging thereto were called The Honour of Tickhill In the Raigne of Henry the First Roger Busly held the possession thereof Afterwards the Earles of Ewe in Normandy were long since Lords of it by the gift of King Stephen Then King Richard the First gave it unto John his brother In the Barons Warre Robert de Vipont deteined it for himselfe which that hee should deliver unto the Earle of Ewe King Henry the Third put into his hands the Castle of Carleol and the County But when the King of France would not restore unto the English againe their possessions in France the King of England retained it unto himselfe when as John Earle of Ewe in the right of Alice his great Grandmother claimed of King Edward the First restitution thereof At length Richard the Second King of England liberally gave it unto John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster But now by this time Done that often riseth heere and overfloweth the fields gathering his divided waters into one streame againe when he hath for a while runne in one Chanell through Hatfeld Chace where there is great
gold made him Lord chiefe Baron of his Exchequer conferred upon him the whole Seignorie or Lordship of Holdernes together with other lands belonging unto the Crown and that by the Kings Charter yea and ordained that he should be reputed a Baneret Yet if any man make doubt hereof the Recordes I hope may satisfie him fully in which William De la Pole is in plaine tearmes called Dilectus Valectus et Mercator noster that is Our wellbeloved Valect and our Merchant now Valect to tell you once for all was in those daies an honorable title as well in France as in England but afterward applied unto servants and gromes whereupon when the Gentry rejected it by changing the name they began to bee called Gentlemen of the Bedchamber From Hull a Promontorie runneth on forward and shooteth out a farre into the sea which Ptolomee calleth OCELLVM wee Holdernesse and a certaine monke Cavam Deiram as it were the hollow Country of the Deirians in the same signification that Coelosyria is so tearmed as one would say Holow Syria In this Promontory the first towne wee meet with in the winding shore is Headon in times past if wee list to beleeve fame that useth to amplifie the truth and which for my part I will not discredit risen to exceeding great account by the industry of merchants and sea-faring men from which so uncertaine is the condition as well of places as of people it is so much fallen by the vicinity of Hull and the choaking up of the haven which hath empoverished it that it can shew scarce any whit of the ancient state it had Although King Iohn granted unto Baldwin Earle of Aulbemarle and of Holdernesse and to his wife Hawis free Burgage heere so that the Burgers might hold in free Burgage with those customes that Yorke and Nichol that is Lincolne Yet now it beginneth by little and little to revive againe in hope to recover the former dignity There standeth hard by the Pomontorie an ancient towne which Antonine the Emperour called PRAETORIVM but we in our age Patrington like as the Italians have changed the name of a towne sometime called Praetorium into Petrovina That I doe not mistake herein both the distance from DELGOVITIA and the very name yet remaining doth prove which also in some sort implieth that this is the very same that in Ptolomees copies is written PETVARIA corruptly for Praetorium But whether this name were given it either from Praetorium that is the hall of Justice or from some large and stately house such as the Romans tearmed Praetoria it doth not appeare for certaine The inhabitants glorie much yet as touching their Antiquity and the commodiousnesse of the haven in ancient times and they may as well glorie for the pleasantnesse thereof For it hath a most delectable prospect on the one side lieth the maine sea brimme upon it on the other Humber a famous arme of the sea and over against it the fresh and greene skirtes of Lincoln-shire The high way of the Romans from the Picts wall which Antonine the Emperor followed here endeth For Ulpian hath written that such high waies commonly end at the sea at rivers or at Cities Somewhat lower standeth Winsted the habitation of the Hildeards knights of ancient descent and higher into the Country Rosse from whence the honorable family of the Barons Rosse tooke their name like as they were seated there in times past and hard by the sea-side Grimstons-garth where the Grimstons for a long time have lived in good reputation and a little from hence standeth Rise the mansion house in old time of certaine noble men bearing the name of Falconberg And then in the very necke of the promontorie where it draweth in most narrow into a sharpe point and is called Spurnhead is KELNSEY a little village which plainely sheweth that this is the very OCELLVM mentioned by Ptolomee for as from OCELLVM Kelnsey is derived so Ocellum doubtlesse was made of Y-kill which as I have said before signifieth in the British tongue a Promontory or narrow necke of land From Spurn-head the shore withdraweth it selfe backe by little and little and gently bending inward shooteth Northward by Overthorne and Witherensey two little Churches called of the sisters that built them Sisters kirks and not farre from Constable-Burton so called of the Lords thereof who being by marriages linked to right honorable houses flourish at this day in great worship and out of which familie Robert as wee read in the booke of the Abbay of Meaux was one of the Earle of Aulbemarls knights who being aged and full of daies took upon him the Crosse and went with King Richard in his voiage toward the holy land Then by Skipsey which Dru the first Lord of Holdernesse fortified with a Castle When the shore beginneth to spread againe and beare out into the sea it maketh roome for a bay or creeke that Ptolomee calleth EYAIMENON GABRANTO VICORUM which the Latin Interpreters have translated some PORTUOSVM SINVM that is the barborous Creeke others SALVTAREM that is the safe Creeke But neither of them both better expresseth the nature of the Greeke word than the very name of a little village in the nouke thereof which wee call Sureby For that which is safe and sure from danger the Britans and French men both terme Seur as wee Englishmen sure who peradventure did borrow this word from the Britans There is no cause therefore why we should doubt but that this creeke was that very EYAIMENON of the GABRANTOVICI who dwelt there abouts Hard by standeth Bridlington a towne very well knowne by reason of Iohn of Bridlington a poeticall monkish prophet whose ridiculous prophesies in Rhime I have read albeit they were not worth the reading And not farre from hence for a great length toward Driffield was there a ditch cast up and brought on by the Earles of Holdernesse to confine and bound their lands which they called Earles Dyke But whence this little nation here inhabiting were named GABRANTOVICI I dare not search unlesse happily it were of goates which the Britans tearme Gaffran and whereof there is not greater store in al Britain than hereabout Neither ought this derivation of the name to seeme absurd seeing that Aegira in Achaia borroweth the name of goats Nebrodes in Sicily of fallow Deere and Boeotia in Greece of Kine and Oxen. That little Promontory which with his bent made this creeke is commonly called Flamborough head and in the Saxon tongue Fleam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Authors who write that Ida the Saxon who first subdued these Countries arrived here Some think it took the name from a watchtowre which did by night put forth a flame or burning light for to direct sailers into the haven For the Britans retaine yet out of the provinciall language this word Flam and Mariners paint this creeke in their sea-cards with a blazing flame on the
fortune to escape it selfe This was called The battaile of the Standard because the English keeping themselves close together about the standard received the first onset and shock of the Scotish endured it and at length put them to flight And this Standard as I have seene it pictured in ancient bookes was a mighty huge chariot supported with wheeles wherein was set a pole of a great height in manner of a mast and upon the very top thereof stood a crosse to bee seene and under the crosse hung a banner This when it was advanced was a token that every one should prepare himselfe to fight and it was reputed as an holy and sacred altar that each man was to defend with all power possible resembling the same for al the world that Carrocium of the Italians which might never be brought abroad but in the greatest extremitie and danger of the whole state Within this litle shire also Threske commonly called Thruske is worth to bee mentioned which had sometime a most strong Castle out of which Roger Mowbray displaied his banner of rebellion and called in the king of Scots to the overthrow of his owne native Country what time as King Henry the Second had rashly and inconsiderately digged as it were his owne grave by investing his sonne King in equall authority with himselfe But this rebellion was in the end quenched with bloud and this Castle quite dismantled so that beside a ditch and rampire I could see nothing there of a Castle Another firebrand also of rebellion flamed out heere in the Raigne of Henry the Seventh For when the unruly Commons tooke it most grievously that a light subsidie granted by the States of the Kingdome in Parliament was exacted of them and had driven away the Collectors thereof forthwith as it is commonly seene that Rashnesse speeding once well can never keepe a meane nor make an end they violently set upon Henry Percie Earle of Northumberland who was Lieutenant of these parts and slew him in this place and having John Egremond to be their leader tooke armes against their Country and their Prince but a few daies after they felt the smart of their lawlesse insolency grievously and justly as they had deserved Heere hard by are Soureby and Brakenbake belonging to a very ancient and right worshipfull family of the L●scelles also more Southward Sezay sometime of the Darels from whence a great family branched and afterwards the Dawnies who for a long time flourished heere maintaining the degree and dignity of Knights right worthily The first and onely Earle of Yorke after William Mallet and one or two Estotevils of the Norman bloud who they say were Sheriffes by inheritance was Otho son to Henry Leo Duke of Bavar and Saxony by Maude the daughter of Henry the Second King of England who was afterwards proclaimed Emperour and stiled by the name of Otho the fourth From whose brother William another sonne of Maud are descended the Dukes of Brunswicke and Luneburgh in Germanie who for a token of this their kinred with the Kings of England give the same Armes that the first Kings of England of Norman bloud bare to wit two Leopards or Lions Or in a shield Gueles Long after King Richard the Second created Edmund of Langley fifth sonne of King Edward the Third Duke of Yorke who by a second daughter of Peter King of Castile and of Leon had two sonnes Edward the eldest in his fathers life time was first Earle of Cambridge afterwards Duke of Aumarle and in the end Duke of Yorke who manfully fighting in the battaile at Agincourt in France lost his life leaving no children and Richard his second sonne Earle of Cambridge who having marryed Anne sister of Edmund Mortimer whose grandmother likewise was the onely daughter of Leonell Duke of Clarence and practising to advance Edmund his wives brother to the royall dignity was streightwaies intercepted and beheaded as if hee had beene corrupted by the French to destroy King Henry the Fifth Sixteene yeeres after his sonne Richard was restored in bloud through the exceeding but unadvised favour of King Henry the Sixth as being sonne to Richard Earle of Cambridge brother to Edward Duke of Yorke and cozin also to Edmund Earle of March. And now being Duke of Yorke Earle of March and of Vlster Lord of Wigmore Clare Trim and Conaght hee bare himselfe so lofty that shortly hee made claime openly in Parliament against King Henry the Sixth as in his owne right for the Crowne which he had closely affected by indirect courses before in making complaints of the misgovernment of the State spreading seditious rumours scattering Libels abroad complotting secret Conspiracies and stirring up tumults yea and open Warres laying downe his Title thus as being the sonne of Anne Mortimer who came of Philip the daughter and sole heire of Leonel Duke of Clarence third sonne of King Edward the Third and therefore to be preferred by very good right in succession of the Kingdome before the children of John of Gaunt the fourth sonne of the said Edward the Third And when answere was made unto him that the Nobles of the Realme and the Duke himselfe had sworne Alleageance unto the King that the Kingdome by authority of Parliament had beene conferred and entailed upon Henry the Fourth and his heires that the Duke claiming his Title from the Duke of Clarence never tooke upon him the Armes of the Duke of Clarence that Henry the Fourth held the Crowne in right from King Henry the Third hee easily avoyded all these allegations namely that the said oath unto the King taken by mans law was in no wise to bee performed when as it tended to the suppression of the truth and right which stand by the Law of God That there was no need of Parliamentary authority to entaile the Crowne and Kingdome unto the Lancastrians neither would they themselves seeke for it so if they had stood upon any right thereunto As for the Armes of the Duke of Clarence which were his by right hee forbare of purpose to give them untill then like as hee did to claime his right to the Imperiall Crowne And as for the right or Title derived from king Henry the Third it was a meere ridiculous devise and manifest untruth to cloake the violent usurpation of Henry the Fourth and therefore condemned of all men Albeit these plees in the behalfe of the Duke of Yorke stood directly with law yet for remedy of imminent dangers the matter was ordered thus by the wisdome of the Parliament That Henry the Sixth should enjoy the right of the Kingdome for tearme of life onely and that Richard Duke of Yorke should be proclaimed heire apparant of the Kingdome he and his heires to succeed after him provided alwaies that neither of them should plot or practise ought to the destruction of the other Howbeit the Duke immediately was transported so headlong with ambition that hee went about to preoccupate and forestall
of the whole bloud marryed to Charles of Bloys King Edward the Third affecting the said John Earle of Montfort and to strengthen his owne party in France favoured the Title of the said John Earle of Montfort for that he was a man and neerer in degree and therefore seemed to have better right and to bee preferred before his Niece to whom the Parliament of France had adjudged it and which is more for that he sware fealty to him as King of France for the Dutchy of Britaine In these respects he granted the Earldome of Richmond unto the said Iohn untill he might recover his owne possessions in France which being soone after recovered by aide of the English the said King bestowed it upon Iohn of Gaunt his sonne And he afterward surrendred it againe into the King his fathers hands for other possessions Who forthwith created Iohn Earle of Montfort Duke of Britaine sirnamed The valiant Earle of Richmond unto whom hee had given his daughter to wife that thereby hee might more surely oblige unto him a warlique person and then ill affected to the French But in the fourth yeere of Richard the Second he by authority of the Parliament forfaited his Earldome because he adhered unto the French King against England howbeit hee kept still the bare Title and left it unto his posterity But the possession was granted to Dame Ioane of Britaine his sister and the widdow of Ralph Lord Basset of Draiton After her decease first Ralph Nevill Earle of Westmorland had the Castle and Earldome of Richmond for the tearme of his owne life by the gift of King Henry the Fourth And after him Iohn Duke of Bedford Then king Henry the Sixth conferred the Title of Earle of Richmond upon Edmund of Hadham his halfe brother by the mothers side with this speciall and peculiar prerogative To take his place in Parliament next unto Dukes After him succeeded Henry his sonne who was King of England by the name of Henry the Seventh But during his exile George Duke of Clarence and Richard Duke of Glocester received the Signiory of Richmond but not the Title from their brother king Edward the Fourth Last of all Henry the base sonne of king Henry the Eighth was by his father invested Duke of Richmond who departed this life without issue 1535. As for Sir Thomas Grey who was made Baron of Richmount by king Henry the Sixth was not Lord of this Richmond but of a place in Bedfordshire called Rugemound and Richmount Greies There are contained in this Shire Parishes 104. beside Chappels BISHOPRICK OF DVRHAM THe Bishopricke of Durham or Duresme bordering on the North side upon Yorke-shire is shaped in fashion of a triangle the utmost angle whereof is made up toward the West where the Northren limit and the Spring-head of Tees doe meete One of the sides which lieth Southward is bounded in with the continued course of the river Tees running downe along by it the other that looketh Northward is limited first with a short line from the utmost point to the river Derwent then with Derwent it selfe untill it hath taken unto it Chopwell a little river and afterward with the river Tine The Sea coast fashioneth out the Base of the Triangle which lieth Eastward and the German Ocean with a mighty roaring and forcible violence beareth thereupon On that part where it gathereth narrow to the Westerne angle the fields are naked and barren the woods very thin the hills bare without grasse but not without mynes of iron As for the Vallies they are reasonably grassie and that high hill which I termed the Apennine of England cutteth in twain this angle But on the East part or Base of the Triangle as also on both sides the ground being well manured is very fruitful and the increase yeeldeth good recompence for the husbandmans toile it is also well garnished with meddowes pastures and corn-fields beset everywhere with townes and yeelding plenty of Sea coale which in many places we use for fewell Some will have this coale to be an earthy black Bitumen others to be Gagates and some againe the L●pis Thracius all which that great Philosopher in Minerals George Agricola hath prooved to be one and the same thing Surely this of ours is nothing else but Bitumen or a clammy kind of cley hardned with heat under the earth and so throughly concocted For it yeeldeth the smell of Bitumen and if water bee sprinkled upon it it burneth more vehemently and the cleerer but whether it may bee quenched with oile I have not yet tried And if the Stone called Obsidianus be in our country I would take that to bee it which is found in other places of England and commonly called Canole cole For it is hard bright light and somewhat easie to be cloven piece meale into flakes and being once kindled it burneth very quickly But let us leave these matters to those that search more deeply into Natures closets All this country with other territories also thereto adjoyning the Monasticall writers tearme the Land or Patrimonie of Saint Cuthbert For so they called whatsoever belonged to the Church of Durham whereof S. Cuthbert was the Patron who in the primitive state of the English Church being Bishop of Lindefarn led all his life in such holinesse and so sincerely that he was enrolled among the English Saints Our kings also and Peeres of the Realme because they verily perswaded themselves that he was their Tutelar Saint and Protectour against the Scots went not onely in Pilgrimage with devotion to visite his body which they beleeved to have continued still found and uncorrupt but also gave very large possessions to this Church and endowed the same with many immunities King Edgfride bestowed upon Cuthbert himselfe whiles he lived great revenewes in the very City of Yorke and Creake also whereof I spake and the City Luguballia as wee reade in the History of Durham King Aelfred and Guthrun the Dane whom hee made Lieutenant of Northumberland gave afterwards all the Lands betweene the Rivers Were and Tine unto Cuthbert and to those who ministred in his Church to have and to hold for ever as their rightfull Possession These bee the very words in effect of an ancient Booke whence they might have sufficient maintenance to live upon and not be pinched with poverty over and besides they ordeined his Church to bee a safe Sanctuary for all fugitives that whosoever for any cause fled unto his Corps should have peaceable being for 37. daies and the same liberty never for any occasion to bee infringed or denyed Edward and Athelstan Kings Knute also or Canutus the Dane who came on his bare feete to Cuthberts Tombe not onely confirmed but enlarged also these liberties In like manner King William the Conquerour since whose time it hath alwayes beene deemed a County Palatine yea and some of the Bishops as Counts Palatine have engraven in their seales a Knight or man at armes in compleat harnesse sitting
Romane high-way goeth straight into the West by Whinfield a large Parke shaded with trees hard by BROVONIACUM standing twentie Italian miles or seventeene English miles from VERTERAE as Antonine hath set it who also hath called it Brovocum like as the book of Notices Broconiacum which specifieth that a companie or band of Defensors had here their abode The beautie and buildings of this towne although time hath consumed yet the name remaineth almost untouched for we call it Brogham Here the river Eimot flowing out of a great lake for a good space dividing this shire from Cumberland receiveth the river Loder into it neere unto the spring head whereof hard by Shape in times past Hepe a little monasterie built by Thomas the sonne of Gospatrick sonne of Orms there is a Well or Fountaine which after the manner of Euripus ebbeth and floweth many times in a day also there be huge stones in forme of Pyramides some 9. foot high and fourteene foot thick ranged directly as it were in a row for a mile in length with equall distance almost betweene which may seeme to have beene pitched and erected for to continue the memoriall of some act there atchieved but what the same was by the injurie of time it is quite forgotten Hard by Loder there is a place bearing the same name which like as Stricland neere unto it hath imparted their names to families of ancient gentrie and worship Somewhat above where Loder and Eimot meet in one chanell in the yeere of our Lord 1602. there was a stone gotten out of the ground erected in the honour of Constantine the Great with these words IMP. C. VAL. CONSTANTINO PIENT AUG When Eimot hath served a good while for a limit betweene this shire and Cumberland neere unto Isan-parles a rocke full well knowne unto the neighbour inhabitants whereunto nature hath left difficult passage and there framed sundry caves and thosefull of winding crankes a place of safe refuge in time of danger hee lodgeth himselfe after some few miles both with his owne streame and with the waters of other rivers also in Eden so soone as he hath entertained Blencarne a brook that boundeth this county on Cumberland side Neere unto which I have heard there be the strange ruines of an old Castle the people call them the hanging walls of Marcantoniby that is of Marke Antony as they would have it As for such as have borne the title of Westmorland the first Lord to my knowledge was Robert de Vipont who bare Guels sixe Annulets Or in his coat armour For King John gave unto him the balliwicke and revenues of Westmorland by the service of foure Knights whereupon the Cliffords his successors untill our daies held the office of the Sherifdome of Westmorland For Robert de Vipont the last of that name left behind him only two daughters Isabel wife to Roger Lord Clifford and Idonea married unto Sir Roger Leybourne Long time after K. Richard the second created Ralph Nevill of Raby the first Earle of Westmorland a man of the greatest and most ancient birth of English nobility as descended from Ucthred Earl of Northumberland whose heires successively by his former wife Margaret daughter to the Earle of Stafford flourished in that honour untill that Charles by his wilfull stomack and wicked conspiracy casting off his allegeance to Q. Elizabeth and covering treason under the mantle of religion most shamefully dishonoured that most noble house and foully steined his owne reputation by actuall rebellion in the yeere 1599. Whereupon hee fled into the Low countries led a miserable life and died as miserably The said first Earle to note so much incidently by his second wife Catharine daughter to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster had so faire issue and the name of Nevill thereby so greatly multiplied that almost at one and the same time there flourished out beside the Earle of Westmorland an Earle of Salisbury an Earle of Warwicke an Earle of Kent Marquesse Montacute a Duke of Bedford Lord Latimer and Lord Abergevenny all Nevils In this shire are conteined Parishes 26. CVMBRIA Sive CVMBERLANDIA Quae olim pars Brigantum CUMBER-LAND WEstward Northward from Westmorland lieth CUMBERLAND the utmost region this way of the realme of England as that which on the North side boundeth upon Scotland on the South side and the West the Irish sea beateth upon it and Eastward above Westmorland it butteth upon Northumberland It tooke the name of the inhabitants who were the true and naturall Britans and called themselves in their owne language Kumbri and Kambri For the Histories testifie that the Britans remained here a long time maugre the English Saxons howsoever they stormed thereat yea and Marianus himselfe recordeth as much who tearmed this countrey Cumbrorum terram that is Th● land of the Cumbri or Britans to say nothing of the places that everie where here beare British names as Caer-Luel Caer-dronoc Pen-rith Pen-rodoc c. which most evidently declare the same and as cleerly prove mine assertion The country although it be somewhat with the coldest as lying farre North and seemeth as rough by reason of hills yet for the varietie thereof it smileth upon the beholders and giveth contentment to as many as travaile it For after the rockes bunching out the mountaines standing thicke together rich of metall mines and betweene them great meeres stored with all kindes of wilde foule you come to prettie hills good for pastorage and well replenished with flockes of sheepe beneath which againe you meet with goodly plaines spreading out a great way yeelding come sufficiently Besides all this the Ocean driving and dashing upon the shore affoordeth plentie of excellent good fish and upbraideth as it were the inhabitants thereabouts with their negligence for that they practise fishing no more than they doe The South part of this shire is called Copeland and Coupland for that it beareth up the head aloft with sharpe edged and pointed hills which the Britans tearme Copa or as others would have it named Copeland as one would say Coperland of rich mines of copper therein In this part at the very mouth of the river Duden whereby it is severed apart from Lancashire standeth Millum Castle belonging to the ancient house of the Hodlestones from whence as the shore fetcheth about with a bent Northward two rivers very commodiously enclose within them Ravenglasse a station or roade for ships where also as I have learned were to be ●eene Roman inscriptions some will have it called in old time Aven-glasse as one would say the blew river and they talke much of King Eueling that here had his Court and royall palace One of these rivers named Eske springeth up at the foot of Hard-knot an high steepe mountaine in the top whereof were discovered of late huge stones and foundations of a castle not without great wonder considering it is so steep and upright that one can hardly ascend up to it
to Henrie Earle of Lancaster who being descended of ancient bloud and renowned for his martiall prowesse was rewarded also by King Edward the third with faire possessions in Scotland created Earle of North-humberland by King Richard the second on the day of his Coronation and much enriched by his second wife Dame Maud Lucie although by her hee had no issue upon a fine levied unto her that hee should beare quarterly the Armes of the Lucies with his owne and lived in great honour confidence and favour with King Richard the second Yet full badly hee requited him againe for all his singular good demerits For in his adversitie hee forsooke him and made way for Henrie the fourth to the kingdome who made him Constable of England and bestowed upon him the Isle of Man against whom within a while hee feeling the corrosive and secret pricke of conscience for that King Richard by his meanes was unjustly deposed and besides taking at the heart indignantly that Edmund Mortimer Earle of March the true and undoubted heire of the Kingdome and his neere ally was neglected in prison hee conceived inward enmity grievously complaining and charging him with perjury that whereas hee had solemnly sworne to him and others that hee would not challenge the Crowne but onely his owne inheritance and that King Richard should be governed during his life by the good advice of the Peeres of the realme he to the contrary had by imprisonment and terror of death enforced him to resigne his Crown and usurped the same by the concurrence of his faction horribly murthering the said K. and defrauding Edmund Mortimer Earle of March of his lawfull right to the Crown whom he had suffered to languish long in prison under Owen Glendour reputing those traitours who with their owne money had procured his enlargement After the publication of these complaints he confident in the promises of his confederates who yet failed him sent his brother Thomas Earle of Worcester and his courageous sonne Henry surnamed Hot-Spurre with a power of men against the King who both lost their lives at the battaile of Shrewesbury Whereupon he was proclaimed traitour and attainted but shortly after by a kind of connivency received againe into the Kings favour unto whom he was a terrour yea and restored to all his lands and goods save onely the Isle of Man which the King resumed into his owne hands Howbeit within a while after being now become popular and over forward to entertaine new designes and having procured the Scots to bandy and joyne with him in armes himselfe in person entred with banner displayed into the field against the King as an Usurper and on a sudden at Barrhammore in a tumultuary skirmish in the yeere 1408. was discomfited and slaine by Thomas Rokesby the high Sheriffe of Yorke-shire Eleven yeeres after Henry this mans nephew by his sonne Henry Hot-Spur whose mother was Elizabeth daughter to Edmund Mortimer the elder Earle of March by Philippa the daughter of Leonel Duke of Clarence was restored in bloud and inheritance by authority of Parliament in the time of King Henry the fifth which Henry Percie whiles he stoutly maintained King Henry the sixth his part against the house of Yorke was slaine at the battell of Saint Albans like as his sonne Henry the third Earle of Northumberland who married Aelenor the daughter of Richard Lord Poinings Brian and Fitz-Pain in the same quarrell lost his life in the battaile at Towton in the yeere 1461. The house of Lancaster being now kept under and downe the wind and the Percies with it troden under foot King Edward the fourth made Iohn Nevill Lord Montacute Earle of Northumberland but he after a while surrendred this title into the Kings hands and was created by him Marquesse Montacute After this Henry Percy the sonne of Henry Percy aforesaid recovering the favour of King Edward the fourth obtained restitution in bloud and hereditaments who in the reigne of Henry the seventh was slaine by the countrey people that about a certaine levie of money exacted by an Act of Parliament rose up against the Collectours and Assessours thereof After him succeeded Henry Percy the fifth Earle whose sonne Henry by a daughter and Coheire of Sir Robert Spenser and Eleanor the daughter likewise and Coheire of Edmund Beaufort Duke of Somerset was the sixth Earle who having no children and his brother Thomas being executed for taking armes against King Henry the eighth in the first difference about Religion as if now that family had beene at a finall end for ever prodigally gave away a great part of that most goodly inheritance unto the King and others Some few yeeres after Sir Iohn Dudley Earle of Warwick got to himselfe the title of Duke of Northumberland by the name of Iohn Earl of Warwick Marshal of England Vicount Lisle Baron Somery Basset and Ties Lord of Dudley Great Master and Steward of the Kings house when as in the tender age of King Edward the sixth the Chieftaines and leaders of the factions shared titles of honour among themselves their fautors and followers This was that Duke of Northumberland who for the time like unto a tempestuous whirlewind began to shake and teare the publicke peace of the state whiles he with vast ambition plotted and practised to exclude Mary and Elizabeth the daughters of King Henry the eighth from their lawfull right of succession and to set the Emperiall Crowne upon Lady Jane Grey his daughter in law being seconded therein by the great Lawyers who are alwaies forward enough to humour and sooth up those that bee in highest place For which being attainted of high treason he lost his head and at his execution embraced and publikely professed Popery which long before either seriously or colorably for his own advantage he had renounced When he was gone Queene Mary restored Thomas Percy nephew unto Henry the sixth Earle by his brother Thomas unto his bloud and by a new Patent created him first Baron Percy and anon Earle of Northumberland to himselfe and the heires males of his body and for default thereof to his brother Henry and his heires males But this Thomas the seventh Earle for his treason to Prince and country under maske of restoring the Romish religion againe lost both life and dignity in the yeere 1572. Yet through the singular favour and bounty of Queen Elizabeth according to that Patent of Queene Mary his brother Henry succeeded after him as the eighth Earle who in the yeere 1585. ended his dayes in prison and had for his successor Henry his sonne by Katherin the eldest daughter and one of the heires of John Nevill Lord Latimer the ninth Earle of Northumberland of this family Parishes in Northumberland about 46. SCOTLAND SCOTIA Regnum SCOTLAND NOw am I come to SCOTLAND and willingly I assure you will I enter into it but withall lightly passe over it For I remember well that said saw In places not well knowne lesse while wee must stay
of the river Annan which lost all the glorie and beautie it had by the English warre in the reigne of Edward the sixth In this territorie the Ionstons are men of greatest name a kinred even bred to warre betweene whom and the Maxwels there hath beene professed an open enmitie over long even to deadly feud and blood-shed which Maxwels by right from their ancestours have the rule of this Seneschalsie for so it is accounted This vale Eadgar King of Scots after hee was restored to his kingdome by auxiliarie forces out of England gave in consideration and reward of good service unto Robert Bruse or Brus Lord of Cliveland in Yorke-shire who with the good favour of the King bestowed it upon Robert his younger sonne when himselfe would not serve the King of Scots in his warres From him flowered the Bruses Lords of Annandale of whom Robert Brus married Isabel the daughter of William King of Scots by the daughter of Robert Avenall his sonne likewise Robert the third of the name wedded the daughter of David Earle of Huntington and of Gariosh whose sonne Robert surname The Noble when the issue of Alexander the third King of Scots sailed challenged in his mothers right the Kingdome of Scotland before Edward the first King of England as the direct and superiour Lord of the Kingdome of Scotland so the English give it out or an honourable Arbitratour for to say the Scots as being neerer in proximitie in degree and blood to King Alexander the third and Margaret daughter to the King of Norway although bee were the sonne by a second sister who soon after resigning up his own right granted and gave over to his son Robert Brus Earle of Carrick and to his heires I speak out of the verie originall all the right and claime which he had or might have to the Kingdome of Scotland But the action and suit went with John Balliol who sued for his right us descended of the eldest sister although in a degree farther off and sentence was given in these words For that the person more remote in the second degree descending in the first line is to bee preferred before a n●●erer in a second line in the succession of an inheritance that cannot be parted How beit the said Robert sonne to the Earle of Carrick by his own vertue at length recovered the Kingdome unto himself and established it to his posteritie A Prince who as he flourished notably in regard of the glorious ornaments of his noble acts so he triumphed as happily with invincible fortitude and courage over fortune that so often crossed him NIDISDALL CLose unto Annandale on the West side lyeth NIDISDALE suficiently with corne-fields and pastures so named of the river Nid which in Ptolomee is wrongly written NOBIUS for NODIUS or NIDIUS of which name there bee other rivers in Britaine full of shallow foords and muddie shelves like as this NID is also It springeth out of the Lake Logh-Cure by which flourished CORDA a towne of the Selgova He taketh his course first by Sauqhuera Castle of the Creightons who a long time kept a great port as enjoying the dignitie of the Barons of Sauqhuer and the authoritie besides of hereditarie Sheriffs of Nidisdale then by Morton which gave title of Earle to some of the family of Douglas out of which others of that surname have their mansion and abiding at Drumlanrig by the same river neere unto the mouth whereof standeth Danfreys betweene two hills the most flourishing towne of this tract which hath to shew also an old Castle in it famous for making of woollen clothes and remarkable for the murder of John Commin the mightiest man for manred and retinew in all Scotland whom Roberts Brus for feare he should foreclose his way to the kingdome ranne quite through with his sword in the Church and soon obtained his pardon from the Pope for committing that murder in a sacred place Neerer unto the mouth Solway a little village retaineth still somewhat of the old name of Selgova Upon the verie mouth is situate Caer Laverock which Prolomee I supposed called CARBANTORIGUM accounted an imprenable sort when King Edward the first accompanied with the floure of English Nobilitie besieged and hardly wonne it but now it is a weake dwelling house of the Barons of Maxwell who being men of an ancient and noble linage were a long time Wardens of these West matches and of late advanced by marriage with the daughter one of the heires of the Earle of Morton whereby John Lord Maxwell was declared Earle of Morson as also by the daughter and heire of Hereis Lord Toricles whom I a younger sonne took to wife and obtained by the title of Baron Hereis Moreover in this vale by the Lake side lyeth Glencarn whence the Cunninghams of whom I am to write more in place convenient bare a long time the title of Earle This Nidisdale together with Annandale nourisheth a warlike kind of men who have beene infamous for robberies and depredations for they dwell upon Solway Frish a fourdable arme of the sea at low waters through which they made many times outrodes into England for to fetch in booties and in which the inhabitants thereabout on both sides with pleasant pastime and delightfull sight on horse-backe with speares hunt Salmons whereof there is abundance What manner of cattailestealers these be that inhabite these vales in the marches of both kingdomes John Lesley himselfe a Scottish man and Bishop of Rosse will tell you in these words They go forth in the night by troops out of there own borders through desart by-waies and many winding crankes All the day time they refresh their burses and recreate their owne strength in lurking places appointed before band until they be come thither as length in the dark night where they would be When they have laid hold of a bootie back again they returne home likewise by night through blinde waies onely and fetching many a compasse about The more skilfull any leader or guide is to passe through those wild desarts crooked turnings and steep downe-falls in the thickest mists and deepest darknesse hee is held in grea●●ter reputation as one of an excelling wit And so craftie and 〈◊〉 these are that seldome or never they forgo their bootie and suffer it to be taken out of their hands unlesse it happen otherwhiles that they be caught by their adversaries following continually after and tracing them directly by their footing according as quick-senting Slugh-bounds doe lead them But say they be taken so faire spoken they are and eloquen so manie sugred words they have at will sweetly to plead for them that they are able to move the Iudges and adversaries both he they never so austere and severe if not to mercie yet to admiration amd some commiseration withall NOVANTES GALLOWAY FRom Nidisdale as you goe on Westward the NOVANTES inhabited in the vales all that tract which
runneth out far and wide toward the West between the sea and Dunbritain Frith or Clyds-forth yet so indented and hollowed with nookes and creekes that here and there it is drawne into a narrow roome and then againe in the verie utmost skirt it openeth and spreadeth it selfe broad at more libertie whereupon some have called it the CHERSOMESUS that is The Biland of the NOVANTES But at this day their countrey containeth Galloway Carick Kyle and Cunningham Galloway in the Latine Writers of the middle time Gaelwallia and Gallovidia so called of the Irish who in times past dwelt there and terme themselves short in their owne language Gael is a countrey rising up everie where with bills that are better for feeding of cattell than bearing of corne the inhabitants practice fishing as well within the sea lying round about them as in little rivers and the Loches or meeres in everie place standing full of water at the foot of the hills out of which in September they take in Weeles and Weere-ners an incredible number of most sweet and favourite eeles whereby the make no lesse gain than others do by their little nagges which for being well limmed fast knit and strongly made for to endure travaile are much in request and bought from hence Among these the first place that offereth itselfe by the river DEA mentioned in Prolomee which keeping the name still full and whole they call d ee is Kircoubright the most commodious port of this coast the second Stewartie of Scotland which belongeth also to the Maxwels then Cardines a sort set upon a craggie and high rocke by the river Fleet and fensed with strong walls Neere unto it the river Ken corruptly read in Ptolomee IENA runneth into the sea after it is Wigton an haven towne with a narrow entrance unto it between the two rivers Bluidnoo and Crea which also is counted a Sheriffdome over which Agnew is Sheriffe In times past it had for Earle Archibald Douglasse renowned in the French warre and at this day by the favour of King James the sixth John Lord Fleming who deriveth his pedegree from the ancient Earles of Wigton Neere unto this Ptolomee placed the Citie LEUCOPIBIA which I know not to say truth where to seeke Yet the place requireth that it should be that Episcopall seat of Ninian which Bede calleth Candida Casa and the English and Scottish in the verie same sense whit-berne what say you then if Ptolomee after his manner translated that name in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is white-houses in stead whereof the Transcribers have thrust upon us Leucopibia which the Britans tearmed Candida Casa In this place Ninia or Ninian the Britan an holy man the first that instructed the South-Picts in Christian saith in the reigne of the Emperour Theodofius the younger had his seat and built a Church consecrated to the memorie of Saint Martin after a manner unusuall among the Britans as Bede saith who wrote that the English in his time held this country and when the number of the faithfull Christians multiplied an Episcopall See was erected at this Candida Casa A little higher there is a Bi-land having the sea insinuating it selfe on both sides with two Bayes that by a narrow neck it is adjoined to the firme land and this is properly called CHERSONESUS and PROMONTORIUM NOVANTUM commonly the Mull of Galloway Beyond this Northward there is a Bay taking a great compasse and full of Ilands into which very many rivers on everie side doe out-lade themselves But first of all from the verie cape or top of the Promontarie is ABRAVANUS which being set little out of his own place is so called of Ptolomee for Aber-Ruanus that is The mouth of Ruan For at this day that river is named Rian and the lake out of which it floweth Logh-Rian exceeding full of Herrings and Stone-fishes This Galloway had in times past Princes and Lords over it of whom the first recorded in Chronicles was Fergus in the reigne of Henrie the first King of England who gave for his Armes A Lion rampant Arg crowned Or in a shield Azur who after many troubles that he had stirred was driven to this exigent by King Malcolm that he gave his sonne Ucthred to the King for an hostage and himselfe wearie of this world tooke the habit of a Chanon at Holy Rood house in Edenburgh As for Ucthred Gilbert his younger brother tooke him prisoner in battaile and when hee had cut out his tongue and plucked his eyes forth of his head he cruelly bereaved him both of life and inheritance But within some few yeeres when Gilbert was dead Ucthreds sonne recovered his fathers inheritance who of a sister of William Morvill Constable of Scotland begat Alan Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland This Alan by Margaret the eldest daughter of David Earle of Huntingdon had Dervolgilda wife to Iohn Balliol and the mother of John Balliol King of Scotland who contended with Robert Brus for the Kingdome of Scotland and by a former wife as it seemeth hee had Helen married to Roger Quincy Earle of Winchester who thereby was Constable of Scotland like as William Ferrars of Groby the Nephew of the said Roger by a daughter and one of the heires But these Englishmen soone lost their inheritance in Scotland as also the dignitie of Constable which the Comnins Earles of Bucquan descended likewise from a daughter of Roger Quincie obtained until it was translated unto the Earls of Arroll But the title of the Lords of Galloway fell afterward to the family of the Douglasses CARRICTA CARRICT NOw followeth Carrict upon Dunbritain Frith faire to be seene with fresh pastures supplyed both by land and sea with commodities abundantly In this province Ptolomee placed RERIGONIUM a Creeke and RERIGONIUM a Towne For which BERIGONIUM is read in a verie ancient copie of Ptolomee printed at Rome in the yeere 1480. so that wee cannot but verily thinke it was that which now is called Bargeney A Lord it hath out of the family of the Kennedies which came forth of Ireland in the reigne of Robert Brus and is in this tract of high birth spread into many branches and of great power The chiefe of which linage is Earle of Cassile for this is the name of a Castle wherein he dwelleth by the river Dun upon the banke whereof he hath also another Castle named Dunnur and he is the hereditarie Bailiffe of this Countrey For this Carrict together with Kyle and Cunningham are counted the three Baillerries of Scotland because they that governe these with an ordinarie power and jurisdiction are called Ballives by a tearme that came up in the middle times and among the Greeks Sicilians and Frenchmen signifieth a Conservatour or Protector But in the age aforegoing Carrict had Earles for to say nothing of Gilberts of Galloway sonne unto whom King William gave all Carrict to bee possessed for
tongue the Isle of Masses hereby may bee remembred when as it was a most famous Abbey of the order of Saint Augustin founded by the Earle of Strathern about the yeere 1200. When Ern hath joined his water with Tau in one streame so that Tau is now become more spatious hee looketh up to Aberneth seated upon his banke the royall seat in old time of the Picts and a well peopled Citie which as we read in an ancient fragment Nectane King of the Picts gave unto God and S. Brigide untill the day of Doom together with the bounds thereof which lye from a stone in Abertrent unto a stone nigh to Carfull that is Loghfoll and from thence as farre as to Ethan But long after it became the possession of the Douglasses Earles of Anguse who are called Lords of Aberneth and there some of them lye enterred The first Earle of Strathern that I read of was Malisse who in the time of King Henrie the third of England married one of the heires of Robert Muschamp a potent Baron of England Long afterward Robert Stewart in the yeere 1380. Then David a younger sonne of King Robert the second whose onely daughter given in marriage to Patricke Graham begat Mailise or Melisse Graham from whom King James the first tooke away the Earledome as escheated after that he understood out of the Records of the Kingdome that it was given unto his mothers grandfather and the heires males of his bodie This territorie as also that of Menteith adjoining the Barons Dromund governe hereditarily by Seneschals authority as their Stewarties Menteith hath the name of Teith a river which also they call Taich and thereof this little province they tearme in Latin Taichia upon the banke of which lieth the Bishopricke of Dunblan which King David the first of that name erected At Kirkbird that is Saint Brigids Church the Earles of Menteith have their principall house or Honour as also the Earles of Montrosse comming from the same stocke at Kin-Kardin not farre off This Menteith reacheth as I have heard unto the mountaines that enclose the East side of the Logh or Lake Lomund The ancient Earles of Menteith were of the family of Cumen which in times past being the most spred mightiest house of all Scotland was ruinated with the over-weight and sway thereof but the latter Earles were of the Grahams line ever since that Sir Mailise Graham attained to the honour of an Earle ARGATHELIA OR ARGILE BEyond the Lake Lomund and the West part of Lennox there spreadeth it selfe neere unto Dunbriton Forth the large countrey called Argathelia Argadia in Latin but commonly ARGILE more truely Argathel and Ar-Gwithil that is Neere unto the Irish or as old writings have it The edge or border of Ireland For it lyeth toward Ireland the inhabitants whereof the Britans tearme Gwithil and Gaothel The countrey runneth out in length and breadth all mangled with fishfull pooles and in some places with rising mountaines very commodious for feeding of cattell in which also there range up and downe wilde kine and red Deere but along the shore it is more unpleasant in sight what with rockes and what with blackish barraine mountaines In this part as Bede writeth Britain received after the Britans and Picts a third nation of Scots in that countrey where the Picts inhabited who comming out of Ireland under the leading of Reuda either through friendship or by dint of sword planted here their seat amongst them which they still hold Of which their leader they are to this very day called Dalreudini for in their language Dal signifieth a part And a little after Ireland saith hee is the proper Countrey of the Scots for being departed out of it they added unto the Britans and Picts a third nation in Britaine And there is a very great Bay or arme of the sea that in old time severed the nation of the Britans from the Picts which from the West breaketh a great way into the land where standeth the strongest Citie of all the Britans even to this day called Alchith In the North part of which Bay the Scots aforesaid when they came got themselves a place to inhabite Of that name Dalreudin no remaines at all to my knowledge are now extant neither finde wee any thing thereof in Writers unlesse it bee the same that Dalrieta For in an old Pamphlet touching the division of Albanie wee read of one Kinnadie who for certaine was a King of Scots and subdued the Picts these very words Kinnadie two yeeres before hee came into Pictavia for so it calleth the countrey of the Picts entred upon the Kingdome of Dalrieta Also in an historie of later time there is mention made of Dalrea in some place of this tract where King Robert Brus fought a field unfortunately That Justice should be ministred unto this Province by Justices Itinerant at Perth whensoever it pleased the King King James the fourth by authoritie of the States of the Kingdome enacted a law But the Earles themselves have in some cases their roialties as being men of very great command and authoritie followed with a mightie traine of retainers and dependants who derive their race from the ancient Princes and Potentates of Argile by an infinite descent of Ancestours and from their castle Cambell tooke their surname but the honour and title of Earle was given unto them by King James the second who as it is recorded invested Colin Lord Cambell Earle of Argile in regard of his owne vertue and the worth of his family Whose heires and successours standing in the gracious favour of the Kings have bin Lords of Lorn and a good while Generall Justices of the Kingdome of Scotland or as they use to speake Iustices ordained in Generall and Great Masters of the Kings royall household CANTIRE LOgh Fin a lake breeding such store of herrings at a certaine due season as it is wonderfull severeth Argile from a Promontorie which for thirtie miles together growing still toward a sharpe point thrusteth it selfe forth with so great a desire toward Ireland betwixt which and it there is a narrow sea scarce thirteene miles over as if it would conjoine it selfe Ptolomee termeth this the Promontorie EPIDIORUM betweene which name and the Islands EBUDAE lying over against it there is in my conceit some affinitie At this day it is called in the Irish tongue which they speake in all this tract CAN-TYRE that is The lands Head inhabited by the Mac-Conells a family that here swayeth much howbeit at the pleasure and dispose of the Earle of Argile yea and otherwhiles they make out their light pinnaces and gallies for Ireland to raise booties and pillage who also hold in possession those little provinces of Ireland which they call Glines and Rowts This Promontorie lyeth annexed to Knapdale by so thin a necke as being scarce a mile broad and the same all sandie that the mariners finde it the neerer
way to convey their small vessels over it by land Which I hope a man may sooner beleeve than that the Argonauts laid their great ship Argos upon their shoulders and so carried it along with them five hundred miles from Aemonia unto the shores of Thessalia LORN SOmewhat higher toward the North lyeth LORN bearing the best kinde of barley in great plentie and divided with Leaue a vast and huge lake by which standeth Berogomum a castle in which sometime was kept the Court of Justice or Session and not farre from it Dunstafag that is Stephens Mount the Kings house in times past above which Logh Aber a Lake insinuating it selfe from out of the Westerne sea windeth it selfe so farre within land that it had conflowed together with Nesse another Lake running into the East sea but that certaine mountaines betweene kept them with a verie little partition asunder The chiefest place of name in this tract is Tarbar in Logh Kinkeran where King James the fourth ordained a Justice and Sheriffe to administer justice unto the Inhabitants of the out Islands These countries and those beyond them in the yeere of our Lords Incarnation 655. the Picts held whom Bede calleth the Northern Picts where hee reporteth that in the said yeere Columbane a Priest and Abbat famous for his Monkish profession and life came out of Ireland into Britaine to instruct these in Christian religion that by meanes of the high rough ridges of the mountaines were sequestred from the Southerne countries of the Picts and that they in lieu of a reward allowed unto him the Iland Hii over against them now called I-Comb-Kill of which more in place convenient The Lords of Lorna in the age aforegoing were the Stewarts but now by reason of a female their heire the Earles of Argile who use this title in their honourable stile BRAID ALBIN or ALBANY MOre inwardly where the uninhabitable loftie and rugged ridges of the Mountaine Grampius begin a little to slope and settle downeward is seated BRAID-ALBIN that is The highest part of Scotland for they that are the true and right Scots indeed call Scotland in their mother tongue Albin like as that part where it mounteth up highest Drum Albin that is the Ridge of Scotland But in an old booke it is read Brun Albin where wee finde this written Fergus filius Eric c. that is Fergus the sonne of Eric was the first of the seed or line of Chonare that entred upon the Kingdome of Albanie from Brun-Albain unto the Irish sea and Inch-Gall And after him the Kings descended from the seed or race of Fergus reigned in Brun-Albain or Brunhere unto Alpin the sonne of Eochall But this Albanie is better knowne for the Dukes thereof than for any good gifts that the soile yeeldeth The first Duke of Albanie that I read of was Robert Earle of Fife whom his brother King Robert the third of that name advanced to that honour yet he ungratefull person that he was pricked on with the spirit of ambition famished to death his sonne David that was heire to the crown But the punishment due for this wicked fact which himselfe by the long-sufferance of God felt not his son Mordac the second Duke of Albanie suffered most grievously being condemned for treason and beheaded when hee had seene his two sonnes the day before executed in the same manner The third Duke of Albanie was Alexander second sonne to King James the second who being Regent of the Kingdome Earle of March Marr and Garioth Lord of Annandale and of Man was by his own brother King James the third outlawed and after hee had beene turmoiled with many troubles in the end as hee stood by to behold a Justs and Tourneament in Paris chanced to bee wounded with a peece of a shattered launce and so died His sonne John the fourth Duke of Albanie Regent likewise and made Tutour to King James the fifth taking contentment in the pleasant delights of the French Court after hee had wedded there the daughter and one of the heires of John Earle of Auverne and Lauragveze died there without issue Whom in a respective reverence to the bloud royall of the Scots Francis the first King of France gave thus much honour unto as that hee allowed him place betweene the Archbishop of Langres and the Duke of Alenson Peeres of France After his death there was no Duke of Albanie untill that Queene Marie in our memorie conferred this title upon Henrie Lord Darly whom within some few daies after shee made her husband like as King James the sixth granted the same unto his owne second sonne Charles being an Infant who is now Duke of Yorke There inhabite these regions a kinde of people rude warlike readie to fight querulous and mischievous they bee commonly tearmed High-landmen who being in deed the right progenie of the ancient Scots speak Irish call themselves Albinich their bodies be firmely made and well compact able withall and strong nimble of foot high minded inbread and nuzzeled in warlike exercises or robberies rather and upon a deadly feud and hatred most forward and desperate to take revenge They goe attired Irish-like in stript or streaked mantles of divers colours wearing thicke and long glibbes of haire living by hunting fishing fowling and stealing In the warre their armour is an head-peece or Morion of iron and an habergeon or coat of maile their weapons bee bowes barbed or hooked arrowes and broad backe-swords and being divided by certaine families or kinreds which they terme Clannes they commit such cruell outrages what with robbing spoiling and killing that their savage crueltie hath forced a law to bee enacted whereby it is lawfull That if any person out of any one Clanne or kinred of theirs hath trespassed ought and done harme whosoever of that Clanne or linage chance to bee taken he shall either make amends for the harmes or else suffer death for it when as the whole Clan commonly beareth feud for any hurt received by any one member thereof by execution of lawes order of justice or otherwise PERTHIA OR PERTH Sheriffdome OUt of the very bosome of Mountaines of Albany Tau the greatest river of all Scotland issueth and first runneth amaine through the fields untill that spreading broad into a lake full of Islands hee restraineth and keepeth in his course Then gathering himselfe narrow within his bankes into a channell and watering Perth a large plentifull and rich countrey he taketh in unto him Amund a small river comming out of Athol This Athol that I may digresse a little out of my way is infamous for witches and wicked women the countrey otherwise fertile enough hath vallies bespread with forrests namely where that WOOD CALEDONIA dreadfull to see to for the sundrie turnings and windings in and out therein for the hideous horrour of dark shades for the burrowes and dennes of wild bulls with thicke manes whereof I made mention heretofore
the Dukes of York and so to the Kings domain or Crowne for Peter de Genevile sonne to that Maud begat Ioan espoused to Roger Mortimer Earle of March and the other part by Margaret wife to John Lord Verdon and by his heires who were Constables of Ireland was devolved at length upon divers families in England as Furnivall Burghersh Crophul c. THE COUNTY OF LONGFORD UNto West Meath on the North side joyneth the County of LONGFORD reduced into this ranke of Countries a few yeeres since by the provident policy of Sir Henry Sidney Lord Deputy called before time Anale inhabited by a numerous Sept of the O-Pharols of which house there be two great men and Potentates one ruleth in the South part named O-Pharoll Boy that is The yellow the other in the North called O-Pharoll Ban that is The white And very few Englishmen are there among them and those planted there but of late Along the side of this County passeth Shannon the noblest river of all Ireland which as I have said runneth between Meth and Conaught Ptolomee nameth it SENUS Orosius SENA and some copies SACANA Giraldus Flumen Senense but the people dwelling there by call it Shanon that is as some expound it The ancient river He springeth out of Thern hils in the county Le Trim and forthwith cutting through the lands Southward one while overfloweth the bankes and enlargeth himselfe into open Pooles and other whiles drawes backe againe into narrow straights and after he hath run abroad into one or two Lakes gathering himselfe within his bankes valeth bonnet to MACOLICUM now called MALC as the most learned Geographer Gerard Mercator hath observed whereof Ptolomee hath made mention and then by and by is entertained by another broad Mere they call it Lough Regith the name and situation whereof doth after a sort imply that the City RIGIA which Ptolomee placeth there stood not farre from hence But when hee hath once gotten beyond this Poole and draweth himselfe to a narrower channell within the bankes there standeth hard upon him the towne Athlon of which I will write in place convenient From thence Shannon having gotten over the Water-fall at Killolo whereof I must speake anon being now able to beare the biggest ships that are in a divided channell as it were with two armes claspeth about the city Limirick whereof I have spoken already From hence Shannon passing on directly for threescore miles or thereabout in length bearing a great bredth and making many an Iland by the way speedeth himselfe Westward and in what place soever he becommeth shallow and affordeth fords at an ebbe or low water there were planted little forts with wards such was the carefull providence of our forefathers to restraine the inrodes of preytaking robbers And so at length he runneth and voideth out at an huge mouth into the West Ocean beyond Knoc Patric that is Patricks hill for so Necham termeth that place in these his verses of Shannon Fluminibus magnis laetatur Hibernia Sineus Inter Connatiam Momomiamque fluit Transit per muros Limirici Knoc Patric illum Oceani clausum sub ditione videt Ireland takes joy in rivers great and Shannon them among Betwixt Connaught and Munster both holds on his course along He runneth hard by Limrick wayes Knoc Patric then at last Within the gulfe of th' Ocean doth see him lodged fast CONNACHTIA OR CONAGHT THe fourth part of Ireland which beareth Westward closed in with the river Shannon the out-let of the Lake or Lough Erne which some call Trovis others Bana and with the maine Western sea is named by Giraldus Cambrensis Conachtia and Conacia in English Conaght and in Irish Conaughty In ancient times as we may see in Ptolomee it was inhabited by the GANGANI who are also named CONCANI AUTERI and NAGNATAE Those CONCANI or GANGANI like as the LUCENI their next neighbours that came from the Lucensii in Spaine may seeme by the affinity of name and also by the vicinity of place to have beene derived from the CONCANI in Spaine who in Strabo are according to the diversity of reading named CONIACI and CONISCI whom Silius testifieth in these verses following to have beene at the first Scythians and to have usually drunke horses blood a thing even of later daies nothing strange among the wild Irish. Et qui Massagetem monstrans feritate parentem Cornipedis fusa satiaris Concane vena And Concane though in savagenesse that now resembling still Thy parents old the Massagets of horse-blood drinkst thy ●●ll And beside him Horace Et letum equino sanguine Concanum And Concaine who thinks it so good To make his drinke of horses blood Unlesse a man would suppose this Irish name Conaughty to be compounded of CONCANI and NAGNATAE Well this Province as it is in some place fresh and fruitfull so by reason of certaine moist places yet covered over with grasse which of their softnesse they usually tearme Boghes like as all the Iland besides every where is dangerous and thicke set with many and those very shady woods As for the sea coast lying commodious as it doth with many baies creekes and navigable rivers after a sort it inviteth and provoketh inhabitants to navigation but the sweetnesse of inbred idlenesse doth so hang upon their lazie limbes that they had rather get their living from doore to doore than by their honest labours keepe themselves from beggery Conaught is at this day divided into these counties Twomond or Clare Galway Maio Slego Letrim and Roscoman The ancient CONCANI abovesaid held in old time the more Southerly part of this Conaught where now lye Twomond or Clare the county Galway Clan-Richards country and the Barony of Atterith TWOMOND OR THE COUNTIE CLARE TWomon or Twomond which Giraldus calleth Thuetmonia the Irish Twowoun that is The North-Mounster which although it lye beyond the river Shannon yet was counted in times past part of Mounster untill Sir Henry Sidney Lord Deputy laid it unto Conaught shooteth out into the sea with a very great Promontory growing by little and little thin and narrow On the East and South sides it is so enclosed with the winding course of the river Shannon which waxeth bigger and bigger like as on the West part with the open maine sea and on the North side confineth so close upon the county Galway that there is no comming unto it by land but through the Clan-Ricards territory This is a country wherein a man would wish for nothing more either from sea or soile were but the industry of the inhabitants correspondent to the rest which industry Sir Robert Muscegros an English Nobleman Richard Clare and Thomas Clare younger brethren of the stock of the Earles of Glocester unto whom King Edward the first had granted this country stirred up long since by building townes and castles and by alluring them to the fellowship of a civill conversation of whose name the chiefe towne Clare now the
the Kingdome that had dealt before time so craftily and deceitfully with him And as for the Cessation would he never so faine he could not revoke it because he had already entred another course and appointed O-Donel to goe into Conaught and other of his confederates into other parts In this meane space there ran among the Rebells rumours very rife and the Earle of Tir-Oen questionlesse was the authour that there should be within a while the greatest and strangest alteration that ever was in England and lewd persons began daily to encrease both in number and in courage For they that were of the Irishry aspired now to their ancient freedome and Nobility contrariwise good and honest men of the English blood were much dejected and discouraged seeing so great expences of the Prince came to nothing who also complained one unto another that they had been of late excluded as meere strangers from bearing offices in the common-Weale But the Earle all in a glorious jollity giveth it out every where and that with open mouth That he would recover the liberty both of Religion and of his Country he receiveth in every place busie and tumultuous persons into his protection he sends them succour and aide strengthneth and comforteth the distrustfull stoutly streineth and setteth-to his helping hand to subvert the English government in Ireland being drawne on and fed with hope which the King of Spaine by sending now and then munition and some money made shew of and the Pope by promises and indulgences maintained as having sent unto him before the plume of a Phoenix haply because Pope Urban the third had sent in times past a little Coronet platted with peacocks feathers unto Iohn King Henries the second his sonne when he was invested Lord of Ireland And now triumphantly glorying of his victories to the end that he might make a goodly shew of his greatnesse in every place and by his personall presence set that fire to burne out light which in his absence hee had kindled in Mounster under a faire and religious pretence of visiting a little peece of wood of Christs Crosse which is thought to be kept in the Monastery of the Holy Crosse in Tipperary in mid-winter thither hee goes on Pilgrimage and sent out into the grounds of true and faithfull subjects a number of preying robbers under the conduct of Mac-Guir he by chance hapned upon Sir Warrham Saint Leger who runne him through with his lance and was withall at the same instant himselfe runne through by him Whose funeralls when the Earle had performed he hasteneth home sooner than all men looked for as having heard that the Earle of Ormond appointed Generall of the Army was raising of a power from all parts and that Sir Charles Blunt Baron Mon●joy appointed the Lord Deputy was comming unto whom the Queene before time had purposed in her minde this government but Robert Earle of Essex who for to pleasure military men and to deserve the better of them into whose love he studiously insinuated himselfe sought though covertly to compasse the same himselfe wholly opposed against him as if he the said Lord Montjoy had seene no service nor beene experienced in the warres more than in the Netherlands had no followers and dependants nor much aforehand with the world and overmuch bookish He arriveth in Ireland in the moneth of February without any great noise and stirre accompanied with a small traine and so entred upon the Government Now hee found the state of Ireland very distressed or rather desperately sick and past all hope of recovery yea at the point as it were to give up the ghost for every good and honest meaning minde was dismaied to see such a confluence of calamities without all hope of remedy or any allevation at all but the worst sort seeing all to goe well on their side and prosper still to their desire rejoiced and applauded one the other and the Earle himselfe without any resistance had passed through the whole length of the Iland in triumphant manner even from the utmost part of Ulster into Mounster The Rebells moreover to terrifie the Deputy now at his first comming strucke up an Al'arme in the very suburbs of Dublin But he full of good courage desired nothing more than to set upon the Earle himselfe who as hee had intelligence given him was to returne out of Mounster Mustering up therefore in all haste such a power as hee could for the companies of choice souldiers were in Mounster already with the Earle of Ormond he hastened to stop the Earles passage in Fereal and there to give him battell But the Earle by celerity and quicke speed prevented him being privily enformed of the Deputies designes for certaine there were even of the Queenes Councell there who alwaies highly favoured and tendered his proceedings The Deputy being returned to Dublin was wholly busied in mustering of the old souldiers that should be sent by shipping to Logh-Foile and Bala-shanon neere unto the mouth of Logh-Earn that by placing garrisons there they might make sallies upon the Earle both on backe and sides as also about sending aide unto the garrison souldiers in Lease and Ophaly a matter by reason of so many enemies round about of great danger and difficulty In the beginning of May the Deputy put himselfe on his march toward Ulster with this purpose to divert the Earle another way whiles Sir Henry Docwra at Logh-foile and Sir Matthew Morgan at Bala-shanon planted the garrisons which they with small adoe effected for Sir Henry Docwra tooke Logh-foile and Sir Iohn B●lle who accompanied him tooke Don-a-long and Lhiffer castles suppressing the rebells with divers overthrowes Whiles the Earle was every day kept occupied by the Deputy with light skirmishes wherein he evermore had so bad successe that hee perceived now the fortune of warre was turned and himselfe driven back into his owne corners The Lord Deputy being returned in Mid-June when as the garrisons aforesaid were placed accordingly required out of England certaine companies of souldiers and victuals for to bestow and plant a garrison also in these parts at Armagh thereby to bring the Rebels within a straighter compasse Meane while hee tooke a journey into Lease which was the place of refuge and receipt of all the Rebels in Leinster where he slew Ony-Mac-Rory-Og the chiefe of the O-Mores family a bloody bold and most desperate young man who of late had made so soule a stirre in Mounster him I say he slew with other most wicked and mischievous Rebells and after he had layed their fields waste hee chased them into woods and forrests so as that in those parts they were scarcely ever after seene When as now new succours were come out of England although he wanted both come and money the Equinoxe was past and winter weather began already in that climate yet marched hee forward to the very entrance of Moyery three miles beyond Dondalk This passage is naturally the most combersome of all others
thither MCCXI. Sir Richard Tuit by the fall of a towre at Alone was crushed and whindred to death This Richard was founder of the Monasterie de Grenard MCCXII The Abbey of Grenard was founded In the same yeere died John Comyn Archbishop of Dublin and was buried within the quire of the Church of the Holy Trinitie who was founder of Saint Patricks Church of Dublin after whom succeeded Henrie Londres who is called Scorch Villeyn by occasion of a certaine act of his for that one day he called his tenants before him to answer by what te●nure they held of him And those tenants shewed their deeds and charters but he commanded the charters or deeds of these husbandmen his tenants to be burned and then the Freeholders evermore called him Henrie Scorch-Villein which Henrie Archbishop of Dublin was Justice of Ireland and built Dublin castle MCCXIII William Petit and Petre Messet departed this life This Petre Messet was Baron of Luyn hard by Trym but because he died without heire male the inheritance passed unto three daughters the eldest of whom the Lord Vernail married the second Talbot wedded and the other Lounders espoused and so they parted the inheritance betweene themselves MCCXIX The Citie of Damieta in the Nones of September was about the still time of midnight miraculously wonne so that in the forcing and taking thereof there was not one Christian lost his life In the same yeere died William Mareshal the elder Earle Mareshall and of Pembroch who begat on the daughter of Richard Strongbow Earle of Stroghul five sonnes the name of the first sonne was William the named of the second Walter the name of the third Gilbert the name of the fourth Anselme the name of the fifth Richard who was slaine in the warre of Kildare and everie one of these five sonnes was Earle after their father by succession in their fathers inheritance and none of these had issue wherefore the inheritance went away unto the sisters namely the daughters of their father the first was named Maud Mareschal the second Isabel Clare the third Eva Breos the fourth Johan Mount Chensey the fifth Sibill Countesse Ferrers Hugh Bigod Earle of Norfolk espoused Maud Mareschal he in the right of his wife was Earle Mareschal of England which Hugh begat Raufe Bigod father of John Bigod who was the sonne of the Ladie Bertha Furnival also Isabell Lacie wife to Lord John Fitz-Gefferey and when Hugh Bigod Earle of Norfolke was dead she bare John de G●aren Earle of Surrey and his sister Isabell Albeney Countesse of Arundell Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester espoused Isabel the second sister who between them had issue Richard de Clare Earle of Glocester and she was mother to the Ladie Anise Countesse of Denshire who was mother to Isabel wife of the Lord Robert Brus Earle of Carricke in Scotland and was afterwards King of the same Scotland Of Eva Brus the third sister was begotten Maud who was the mother of the Lord Edmund Mortimer and mother to the Ladie Eve Cauntelow mother of the Ladie Milsond Mohun who was mother of Dame Eleanor mother to the Earle of Hereford The Lord Guarin Mont Chensey espoused Johan Mareschall the fourth sister of whom came Johan Valens Sibyll the Countesse of Ferrers to wit the fourth had issue five daughters the first Agnes Vescie mother to the Lord John and the Lord William Vescie the second Isabel Basset the third Joan Mohun wife to the Lord John Mohun son of the Lord Reginald the fourth Sibyll Mohun wife to Lord Francis Bohun Lord of Midhurst the fifth Eleanor Vaus who was wife unto the Earle of Winchester the sixth Agatha Mortimer wife to the Lord Hugh Mortimer the seventh Maud Kyme Lady of Carbry All these abovesaid as well males as females are of the genealogie of the said William Earle Mareschal MCCXX. The translation of St. Thomas of Canterburie In the same yeere died the Lord Meiler Fitz Henrie founder of the house of Connall who is buried in the Chapter house of the same house MCCXXIV The Castle of Bedford was besieged and the Castle of Trim in Ireland MCCXXV Roger Pippard died And Anno MCCXXVIII died William Pippard sometime Lord of the Salmons-leap There departed likewise Henrie Londres alias Scorch villeyn Archbishop of Dublin and is interred in the Church of the Holy Trinitie at Dublin MCCXXX Henrie King of England gave unto Hubert Burk the Justiceship of Ireland and a third pennie of rent and made him Earle of Kent And afterward the same Hubert was imprisoned and great trouble arose between the King and his subjects because he adhered to strangers more than to his owne naturall people MCCXXXI William Mareschall the younger Earle Mareshall and of Pembroke died who is buried within the Quire of the Friers Preachers in Kilkenny MCCXXXIV Richard Earle Mareshall and of Pembroke or Stroghull on the first day before the Ides of April was wounded in battell upon the plaine of Kildare and some few dayes after died in Kilkenny and there hard by his naturall whole brother to wit William lieth buried within the Quire of Friers Preachers of whom it is thus written Cujus sub fossa Kilkenia continet ossa Whose bones bestow'd in grave so deep Kilkenny towne doth safely keepe MCCXI. Walter Lacie Lord of Meth departed this life in England leaving behind him two daughters his heires whereof Sir Theobald Verdon married the first and Geffery Genevile espoused the second MCCXLII The Castle of Slegah was built by Morice Fitz-Gerald Justice of Ireland King Edward the first marched into Wales with a great army and sent to the said Justice that he would come to him with some forces out of Ireland who accordingly came with the flower of the English in Ireland and Phelin O-Conor who was then King of Conacht in his company and shortly returned with victorie honour Afterward the said Justice preied the countrey Tirconnell and gave a moitie thereof to Cormac Mac-Dermot Mac-Rory and carried with him pledges for the other moitie and left them in the castle of Sleagh Another expedition was made by the said Justice and the English first he came to Sleigagh thence to Hohosserovie Mac Morin the Tuesday after the feast of Peter and Paul and Cormac-Mac-Dermot Mac-Rorie accompanied them At that time O Donnel assembled all Kineoill Conail against them at the ford of Ath-Shany so that hee permitted neither English nor Irish to passe over the ford whereupon the English resolved to send Cormac Mac-Rory O-Conor with a company of horse into the champion Westward and they returned by an higher plaine over the moores Eastward to the ford of Quilvain upon the water Earne so that O-Donnel knew nothing of those companies of horse untill he saw them on that side of the river that he himselfe encamped and when he saw the English at his backe hee encountred them but his army was put to rout Moyls Haghlin O-Donnel commonly called King of Kineoil Conail was slain
the Citie of Burdeaux with other Cities lying round about it which by the sedition of the Frenchmen had been at any time alienated from Edward King of England were restored unto him againe upon St. Andrewes even by the industrie of the L. Hastings MCCCIII The Earle of Ulster to wit Richard Bourk and Sir Eustace Pover entred Scotland with a puissant armie but after that the Earle himselfe had first made thirtie three Knights in the Castle of Dublin hee passed over into Scotland to aide the King of England Item Gerald the sonne and heire of Sir Iohn Fitz-Thomas departed out of this world In the same yeere Pope Boniface excommunicated the King and Queene of France and their children Hee renewed also all the priviledges granted at any time unto the Universitie of Paris and straight after the Pope was taken prisoner and kept as it were in prison three whole daies And soone after the Pope died likewise the Countesse of Ulster deceased Also Wulfrane Wellesly and Sir Robert Percivell were slaine the 11. day before the Calends of November MCCCIIII A great part of Dublin was burnt to wit the Bridge street with a good part of the Key and the Church of the Friers Preachers and the Church of the Monks with no small part of the Monasterie about the Ides of June to wit on the Feast day of S. Medard Also the first stone of the Friers Preachers Quire in Dublin was laid by Eustace Lord Pover on the Feast of S. Agatha Virgin Likewise after the Feast of the Purification of the blessed Virgin Marie the King of France invaded Flanders againe in proper person with a puissant armie Then bare he himselfe bravely in the war and fought manfully so long untill two or three horses of service were slaine under him but at last he lost his cap that under his helmet was put upon his head which the Flemings taking up carried by way of scornfull derision upon a lance as a banner and in all the famous Faires of Flanders put it out at the high window of some place or stately house like the signe of an Inne or Taverne and shewed it in token of victorie MCCCV Jordan Comyn with his complices slew Moritagh O-Conghir King of Offalie and Calwagh his whole brother and certain others in the Court of Sir Piers Brymgeham at Carrick in Carbrey likewise Sir Gilbert Sutton Seneschal of Weisford was slaine by the Irish neere unto a village or House of Haymund Grace which Haymund verily in the said skirmish manfully carried himselfe but stoutly escaped Item in Scotland the Lord Robert Brus Earle of Carricke forgetting his oath made to the King of England slew Sir John Rede Comyn within the cloisture of the Friers Minors of Dunfrese and soone after caused himselfe to be crowned King of Scotland by the hands of two Bishops to wit of S. Andrewes and of Glasco in the towne of Scone to the confusion of himselfe and of many others MCCCVI A great discomfiture was made in Offaly neere unto the Castle of Gesbill on the Ides of Aprill upon O-Conghor by O-Dympcies in which was slaine O-Dympcey Leader of the Regans with a great traine accompanying him Also O-Brene King of Towmond died Item Donald Oge Mac Carthy slew Donald Ruff that is the Red King of Desmund Item a lamentable defeature fell upon the part of Piers Brymegham the fourth day before the Calends of May in the Marches of Meth. Item Balymore in Leinster was burnt by the Irish where at the same time Henry Calfe was slaine and there arose war betweene the English and the Irish in Leinster for which cause there was assembled a great armie from divers parts of Ireland to bridle the malice of the Irish in Leinster in which expedition Sir Tho. Mandevil Knight and a brave warriour had a great conflict with the Irish neere to Clenfell in which conflict he behaved himselfe valiantly untill his horse of service was slaine and won much praise and honour by saving many a man and himselfe also Item M. Thomas Cantock Chancellour of Ireland was consecrated Bishop of Ymelasen in the Church of the holy Trinitie at Dublin with great honour at whose consecration were present the Elders of all Ireland where there was so sumptuous and so great a feast made first unto the rich and afterwards to the poore as the like had never been heard of before in Ireland Item Richard Feringes Archbishop of Dublindied in the Vigile of Saint Luke after whom succeeded Master Richard Haverings who occupied the Archbishoprick almost five yeeres by Apostolicall dispensation Who also resigned up his Archbishoprick after whom succeeded John Leth. The occasion and cause of his giving over as the Arch-deacon of Dublin of good memorie his Nephew hath reported was this for that one night hee dreamed that a certaine Monster heavier than the whole world stood eminently aloft upon his brest from the weight whereof he chose rather to be delivered than alone to have all the goods of the world but when he wakened hee thought with himselfe this was nothing else but the Church of Dublin the fruits whereof hee received and tooke no paines for the same As soone as hee could therefore he came unto the Lord the Pope of whom hee was much beloved and there renounced and gave over the Archbishopricke For hee had as the same Archdeacon avouched fatter benefices and livings than the Archbishopricke came unto Item Edward King of England in the feast of Pentecost that is Whitsontide made Edward his son Knight in London at which feast were dubbed about 400. Knights and the said Edward of Caernarvan newly knighted made threescore Knights of those abovesaid and kept his feast in London at the New Temple and his father gave unto him the Dutchy of Aquitaine Item the same yeere in the feast of Saint Potentiana the Bishop of Winchester and the Bishop of Worcester by commandement from the Lord the Pope excommunicated Robert Brus the pretended King of Scotland and his confederates for the death of Iohn Rede Comyn In the same yeere upon S. Boniface his day Aumarde Valence Earle of Pembroch and Lord Guy Earle ............ slew many Scots and the Lord Robert Brus was defeated without the town of S. Iohns And the same yeere about the feast of the Nativitie of St. Iohn Baptist King Edward went toward Scotland by water from Newarke to Lincolne Item the same yeere the Earle of Asceles and the Lord Simon Freysell and the Countesse of Carricke the pretended Queene of Scotland daughter of the Earle of Ulster were taken prisoners The Earle of Asceles and the Lord Simon Freysell were first torne and mangled As for the Countesse she remained with the King in great honour but the rest died miserably in Scotland Item about the feast of the Purification of the blessed Virgin Marie two brethren of Robert Brus professing pyracie went out of their gallies a land to prey and were taken with sixteen Scots besides and those two themselves
bee made from without the towne of Batiboght unto the Causey of the Mil-poole of Clontarf whereas before time the passengers that way were much endangered But after he had defraied great charges thereabout by reason of a mightie inundation and floud the bridge with the arches fell downe Also Master John Leeks Achbishop of Dublin in the feast of St. Laurence ended this mortall life Then in a schisme and division of sides were elected for to bee Archbishop of Dublin Master Walter Thornbury the Kings Chancellor in Ireland and Master Alexander Bicknore Treasurer of Ireland but Walter Thornbury was drowned and many others to wit about one hundred fiftie and sixe took the sea and the night following were all drowned At the time of the foresaid Walters death Alexander Bicknore expected at home the Popes favour The same Alexander was made Archbishop of Dublin Item the Lord Miles Verdon espoused the daughter of the Lord Richard Excester Item the same yeere the Lord Robert Brus overthrew the Castle of Man and vanquished the Lord Donegan O-Dowill on S. Barnabes day And the Lord John Burck heire unto Richard Earle of Ulster died at Galwey on the feast of St. Marcellus and Marcellianus Also the Lord Edmund Botiller dubbed thirtie Knights in Dublin Castle on Sunday and St. Michaels day MCCCXIV The Knights Hospitallers had the lands given unto them of the Templars in Ireland Item Sir John Parice is slaine at Pount Also Lord Theobald Verdon came Lord Justice of Ireland on Saint Sylvesters day Item Sir Gefferey Genevile a Frier died the twelfth day before the Calends of November and was buried in his owne order of the Friers Preachers of Trym who was Lord also of the libertie of Meth. More in the same yeere and upon S. Matthew the Apostles day Loghseudy was burnt and on the friday following the Lord Edmund Botiller received his Commission to be Lord Justice of Ireland MCCCXV On St. John Baptists day the Earle of Glocester had his deaths wound given him and died when many others as it were without number were slaine in Scotland and more taken prisoners by the Scots For which cause the Scots became bold and carried their heads aloft and gat good land and tributes out of Northumberland Item shortly after this came the Scots and besieged the towne of Carlile where James Douglas was squized to death by misfortune of a certaine wall falling upon him The same yeere the Scots not contented with their owne land arrived in the North part of Ireland at Clondonne with sixe thousand fighting men and expert warriours to wit Edward Brus whole brother to Robert King of Scots and with him the Earl of Morreff John Meneteth John Steward the Lord John Cambel Thomas Randolfe Fergus Andressan John Bosco and John Bisset who seized Ulster into their hands and drave the Lord Thomas Mandevile and other liege men out of their owne possessions The Scots entred Ireland first on St. Augustines day that was the Englishmens Apostle in the moneth of May neere unto Crag-fergus in Ulster betweene whom and the English the first conflict was neere unto Banne in which the Earle of Ulster was put to flight there were taken prisoners William Burk John Stanton and many others and the Scots having slaine a number of the English prevailed and had the day The second conflict was at Kintys in Meth wherein Roger Mortimer with his followers was put to flight The third conflict was at Sketheris hard by Arstoll the morrow after the conversion of S. Paul wherein the Englishmen were chaced and the Scots had the better hand And the foresaid Edward Brus soone after the feast of Philip and Jacob caused himselfe to be crowned King of Ireland and they tooke Greene Castle and left their men there whom the Dublinians quickly after expelled and recovered the said Castle to the Kings behoof and finding Sir Robert Coulragh the Keeper of the Castle there brought him with them to Dublin who being imprisoned and put to short diet ended his dayes Item upon Peter and Paul the Apostles day came the Scots before Dundalk and won the towne spoiled and burnt it killing as many as made resistance and a great part of Urgale was burnt by the Scots The Church of the blessed Virgin Mary in Atterith being full of men women and little children was burnt by the Scots and Irish. In the same yeere the Lord Edmund Botiller Justice of Ireland about the feast of S. Mary Maudlen assembled together a mightie power out of Mounster Leinster and other parts and the Earle of Ulster on the contrarie side as it were comming from the parts of Connaght with an infinite army met all together about Dundalk and consulted among themselves to kill the Scots but how it is not knowne the Scots fled otherwise as hope was they had been taken prisoners Which done the Earle of Ulster with the foresaid Justice and other great Lords tooke in hand after they had slaine the Scots to bring the Lord Edward le Brus quicke or dead to Dublin which Earle followed them in chase as far as to the water of Branne and afterwards the said Earle retired backe toward Coyners which the said Brus perceiving warily passed over the said water and followed him whom with some other of the Earles side hee put to flight having wounded George Roch and slaine others namely Sir John Stanton and Roger de sancto Bosco that is Holy-wood likewise on the part of Brus many were slaine and the Lord Wiliam Burk was taken prisoner the tenth day of the moneth of September and the Earle was defeated neere unto Coyners and then the Irish of Connaght and Meth rose up in armes against the King and against the Earle of Ulster and burnt the Castle of Atholon and of Raudon and many other Castles in the said war of Coyners The Baron of Donell bare himselfe there right valiantly but he lost much goods there and the said Scots manfully chased them as far as to Cragfergus and there on the Earls side they fled and some entred the Castle and valiantly kept it and afterwards came mariners from the havens and Port townes of England and on a night surprised the Scots and slew fortie of them and had away their tents and many things else And the morrow after the exaltation of the holy Crosse the Earle of Morreff passed the seas into Scotland and took the Lord William Brus with him seeking for more warlike and armed men with foure Pirats ships full of the goods of Ireland whereof one was sunke all which time the said Brus laid siege to the Castle of Cragfergus At the same time Cathill Roge razed three Castles of the Earles of Ulster in Connaught and many townes in the same Connaught he burnt and sacked And at the same time the said mariners went to the said Castle and the Lords there skirmished and in the meane time slew many Scots at which time Richard Lan de O-ferivill was by a certaine Irishman
with their fellowes of the Counsell treat upon this point In the same yeere before Lent the Irish of Leinster gathered themselves together and set up a certain King namely Donald the sonne of Arte Mac-Murgh Who being made King determined to set up his banner two miles from Dublin and afterwards to passe through all the lands of Ireland Whose pride and malice God seeing suffered him to fall into the hands of the Lord Henry Traharn who brought him to the Salmons leaps had of him 200. pound for his lives ransome then led him to Dublin to wait there untill the Kings Counsell could provide and take order what to doe with him and after his taking many infortunities lighted upon the Irish of Leinster to wit the Lord John Wellesley took David O-Thothiel prisoner and many of the Irish were slaine The same yeere Adam Duff the sonne of Walter Duff of Leinster and of the kinred of the O-Tothiles was convicted for that against the Catholike faith hee denied the Incarnation of Jesus Christ and held that there could not bee three persons and one God and hee affirmed that the most blessed Virgin Mary mother of our Lord was an harlot hee denied also the resurrection of the dead and avouched that the sacred Scriptures were fables and nothing else and he imputed falsitie upon the sacred Apostolicall See For which and for every of these articles the same Adam Duff was pronounced an hereticke and blasphemer whereupon the same Adam by a decree of the Church was on the Munday after the Outas of Easter the yeere 1328. burnt at Hoggis Greene by Dublin MCCCXXVIII On Tuesday in Easter week Thomas Fitz-John Earle of Kildare and Justice of Ireland died after whom succeeded in the office of Justice Frier Roger Outlaw Prior of Kilmaynok The same yeere David O-Tothil a strong thiefe and enemy to the King a burner of Churches and destroier of people was brought forth of the Castle of Dublin to the Tolstale of the Citie before Nicolas Fastoll and Elias Ashbourne Justices in the Kings bench which Justices gave him his judgement that he should first be drawne at horses tailes through the midst of the Citie unto the gallowes and afterward be hanged upon a jebbit which was done accordingly Item in the same yeere the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas raised a great army to destroy the Bourkeins and the Poers The same yeere also the Lord William Bourk was knighted at London on Whitsunday and the King gave unto him his Seignory Also in the same yeere Iames Botiller in England espoused the daughter of the Earle of Hereford and was created Earle of Ormund who before was called Earle of Tiperary The same yeere a Parliament was holden at Northampton where many of the Lords and Nobles of England assembled and a peace was renewed betweene Scotland England and Ireland by marriages between them and it was ordained that the Earle of Ulster with many Nobles of England should goe to Barwick upon Tweed to the espousals and assurance making The same yeere after the said espousals and contract made at Barwicke the Lord Robert Brus King of Scotland and the Lord William Burk Earle of Ulster the Earle of Meneteth and many of the Scottish nobility arrived at Cragfergus peaceably and sent unto the Justices of Ireland and to the Counsell that they would come to Green Castle to treat about a peace of Scotland and Ireland Now because the said Justices of Counsell failed to come as the said King desired he took his leave of the Earle of Ulster and returned into his owne country after the feast of the assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary And the Earle of Ulster came to Dublin unto the Parliament and there stayed sixe dayes and made a great feast and after this went into Connaght The same yeere about the feast of Saint Katherin Virgin the Bishop of Osserie certified the Kings Counsell there that Sir Arnald Pover was convicted before him upon divers articles of perverse heresie Whereupon at the suit of the said Bishop the said Sir Arnald by vertue of the Kings writ was arrested and layed up in the Castle of Dublin and a day was given unto the Bishop for to come unto Dublin to follow the foresaid suit and action against the foresaid Lord Arnald who made his excuse that hee could not then come because his enemies lay in wait for his life in the way whereupon the Kings Counsell knew not how to make an end of this businesse and so the Lord Arnald was kept in duresse within the Castle of Dublin untill the Parliament following which was in Mid-lent where all the Nobles of Ireland were present In the same yeere Frier Roger Utlaw Prior of the Hospitall of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland Lord Justice and Chancellour of Ireland was disfamed by the said Bishop and slandered to bee a favourer of heresie a Counsellour also and a better of the said Lord Arnold in his hereticall naughtinesse And because his person was thus villanously delamed the said Prior went to the Counsell of the King and put up a petition that hee might purge himselfe Whereupon they of the Kings Counsell tooke advice and upon consultation had granted unto him that he might make his purgation And they caused it to be proclaimed for three dayes That if there were any person who would follow suit and give information against the said Frier Roger he might come in and put in his pursuit But no man was found to follow the matter Whereupon at the procurement of Sir Roger the Frier there went out the Kings writ to summon the Elders of Ireland to wit Bishops Abbots Priors and foure Maiors of foure Cities namely Dublin Corke Limerick and Waterford and of Tredagh also the Sheriffes and Seneschals yea and the Knights of the shire with the Free-holders of the countie that were of the better sort for to repaire unto Dublin And there were chosen sixe examiners in the said cause to wit M. William Rodyard Deane of the Cathedrall Church of St. Patrick in Dublin the Abbat of Saint Thomas the Abbat of St. Maries the Prior of holy Trinitie Church in Dublin M. Elias Lawles and M. Peter Willebey These Inquisitours convented those that were cited and they examined every one severally by himselfe which examinats all upon their oathes deposed that he was honest and faithfull a zealous embracer of the faith and readie to die for the faith and in regard of this great solemnity of his purgation the said Frier Roger made a royall feast to all that would come Also the same yeere in Lent died the said L. Arnald Pover in the Castle of Dublin and lay a long time unburied in the house of the preaching Friers MCCCXXIX After the feast of the Annuntiation of the blessed Virgin Mary the Nobles of Ireland came unto the Parliament at Dublin to wit the Earle of Ulster the Lord Thomas Fitz-Moris the Earle of Louth William Bermingham and the rest of the Lords and
was fiercely set upon by Mac-Carton the which Mac-Carton verily having encountred with the said Justice spoiled him of his clothes mony utensils silver plate and horses yea and slew some of his men But in the end the foresaid Justice with the helpe of the men of Ergale got the victory and entred into the parts of Ulster MCCCXLV The seventh of Iune a common Parliament was holden at Dublin unto which the Lord Moris Fitz Thomas came not Item the Lord Ralph Ufford Justice of Ireland after the feast of S. John Baptist with the Kings standard raised yet without the assent of the Elders of the land against the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earle of Desmond marcheth forthwith into Mounster and there seized into the Kings hands the Earles lands and these lands so seized letteth out to farme unto others for a certain yeerly rent to be carried unto the King Item the said Justice being in the parts of Mounster delivered unto Sir William Burton Knight two writs the one whereof the said William should deliver unto the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas Earle of Kildare the contents of which was this That upon paine of forfeiting all his lands he should with all speed repaire unto him to aid the King and him with a strong power Now in the other writ contained it was that the said Sir William should apprehend the said Earle of Kildare and so apprehended commit him to prison But Sir William seeing that this could not possibly be brought about and effected accordingly by himselfe with colourable words framed for the nonce perswaded the said Earle whiles he was preparing himselfe with his army and levying a power unto the foresaid Justice that before his departure out of the countrey hee should repaire unto the Kings Counsell at Dublin and that by the unanimity and joint counsell of the same so deale as to provide for the safe keeping of his owne lands in his absence and if after that any hurt should befall unto his lands whiles he was absent it should be imputed unto the Kings counsell and not to him The Earle therefore giving credit unto the Knights words and thinking of no treacherous practice in this behalfe disposed and addressed himself to come unto Dublin When he was come altogether ignorant of any treachery toward whiles himselfe sat in consultation with others of the King Councell in the Exchequer-court sodainly he was by the said Sir William betraied attached or arrested and apprehended and brought to the castle of the said city and there clapt up in prison Item the said Justice entred with his army the parts of O. Comill in Mounster and by a treacherous device taketh two castles of the Earle of Desmonds to wit the castle of Yniskisty and the castle of the Iland in which castle of the Iland thus taken the Knights being within the said castle namely Sir Eustacele B●re Sir William Graunt and Sir Iohn Cotterell were first drawne and afterward in October openly hanged untill they were dead Also the said Earle of Desmond with some other of his Knights were by the said Justice banished The foresaid Justice having attchieved these exploits in Mounster returned in the moneth of November with his company unto his wife then great with child remaining at Kilmaynon which is neere to Dublin over and beside those things which had beene done against the Laity by inditing and emprisoning some of them and turning them out of their goods he also caused the Ecclesiasticall persons as well Priests as Clerkes to be endited and standing endited attached and imprisoned them and fetched no small summes of money out of their purses Item as touching the grants and demises of their lands to wit whom before hee had deprived of their lands he bestowed the same upon divers tenants as hath beene said as also the very writings concerning those grants so sealed as they were by him and with the Kings seale he revoked tooke the same from them cancelled defaced and wholly annulled them Item all the mainpernours of the said Earle of Desmond in number twenty sixe as well Earles as Barons Knights and others of the countrey whose names be these to wit Lord William Burke Earle of Ulster Lord Iames Botiller Earle of Ormond Sir Richard Tuit Knight Sir Eustace Le Poer Knight Sir Gerald De Rochfort Knight Sir Iohn fitz-Fitz-Robert Poer Knight Sir Robert Barry Knight Sir Moris Fitz-Gerald Knight Sir Iohn Wellesley Knight Sir Walter Lenfaunt Knight Sir Roger de la Rokell Knight Sir Henry Traharn Knight Sir Roger Pover Knight Sir Iohn Lenfaunt Knight Sir Roger Pover Knight Sir Matthew Fitz-Henry Knight Sir Richard Wallis Knight Sir Edward Burk Knight the sonne of the Earle of Ulster David Barry William Fitz-Gerald Fulke Ash Robert Fitz-Moris Henry Barkley Iohn Fitz-George Roch and Thomas de Lees de Burgh their own travels and proper expences which some of them with the said Justice in his warre had beene at and in pursuing the said Earle of Desmond notwithstanding he by definitive sentence deprived of their lands and dis-inherited and awarded their bodies to the Kings pleasure excepting foure persons only of all the foresaid sureties whose names be these William Burk Earle of Ulster Iames Botiller Earle of Ormond c. MCCCXLVI Upon Palme-Sunday which fell out to be the ninth day of Aprill the above named Lord Ralph Ufford Justice of Ireland went the way of all flesh for whose death his owne dependants together with his wife sorrowed not a little for whose death also the loiall subjects of Ireland rejoice no lesse The Clergy and people both of the land for joy of his departure out of this life with merry hearts doe leap and celebrate a solemn feast of Easter At whose death the floods ceased and the distemperature of the aire had an end and in one word the common sort truely and heartily praise the onely Son of God Well when this Justice now dead was once fast folded within a sheet and a coffin of lead the foresaid Countesse with his treasure not worthy to be bestowed among such holy reliques in horrible griefe of heart conveied his bowels over into England there to be enterred And againe in the month of May and on the second day of the same month behold a prodigious wonder sent no doubt miraculously from God above For lo she that before at her comming entred the city of Dublin so gloriously with the Kings armes and ensignes attended upon with a number of souldiers in her guard and traine along the streets of the said city and so from that time forward a small while though it were living royally with her friends about her like a Queen in the Iland of Ireland now at her going forth of the same city privily by a posternegate of the castle to avoid the clamour of the common people calling upon her for debts in her retire homeward to her owne countrey departed in disgrace sad and mournfull with the dolefull badges of death sorrow and heavinesse Item after the
Bridge alias Stanford Bridge 709 e Battell Abbey founded 317 b Battell of the Standard 724 a Battell field 596 c Battell at Nevils crosse 741 b Battell at Solon Mosse 782 a Battell a towne 317 c Bauchadae 19 Bawdes a family in Essex 426 b Bawdsey haven 465 d Beachy point 313 d Beacons 272 d Beavons of Southhampton 250 e Beamfleot 441 b Beare the badge of the Earles of Warwicke 570 b Beanfield 695 a Beauchamps 399 d Henry Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke his stile 570 b. Duke also of Warwicke ibid. Iohn Beauchamp Baron of Keddermister 574 b Richard Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke 563 e. his tombe and epitaph 564 a Beauchamps Barons Lords Brooke 223 f William Beauchamp the blind Baron 574 b Beauchamps court 565 f Beauchamp Baron of Pewich 565 f Beauchiefe Abbey 555 e Beaucliffe 313 d Beaudley 573 e Beaudesert 585 a Sir Thomas Beaufoe of ancient descent 564 e Iohn de Beaufort Earle of Sommersert 230. refuseth the title of Marquesse Dorset 217 d Beauforts Dukes of Sommerset 414 e Beaulieu 260 b Beaumanour parke 521 d Beaumarish 672 d Beaumeis 594 a Iohn Beaumont the first Vicount in England 521 Beaumonts of Cole Orton aunciently and highly descended 519 Beaumont a family in Yorkeshire 693 a Rob. Beaumont of Pont Audomar Earle of Mellent and of Leceister 523 c his race or progenie ibid. e Beavior or Belvior castle 536 b Beauvoir or Belvoir vale 535 d Bebba 813 f Bebham ibid. e Ant. Bec or Beck Bishop of Durham untrusty to his Ward 328 a. 723. a Tho. Becket slaine by Courtiers 337 b Becco 20 Beda 6. a learned Englishman 137 Beda venerabilis 744 a Bedw 19 Beddington 302 c Bedfordshire 399 Bedford towne ibid. e Bedford Lords Earls and Dukes 402 f Iohn Duke of Bedford his style and monument 403 a Bedifoyd 208 a Bedingfeild a place and family 468 b De la Beech Knights 282 e Beeston a castle and family 607 b Saint Bees 766 a Saint Bega a devout Irish woman ibid. Beichiad 19 Belerium what cape 1 Belgae in Gaule and Britaine 219 b. whence so named ibid. d King Beleus his Habergeon 11 Robert de Belesmo rebelleth 591 d. a cruell man 599 b Bellisma aestuarium a frith 752 Bellister castle 799 e Beln Melin Phelin all one 98 Belingsgate in London 423 e Belinuntia 98 Belinus a god ibid. what it signifieth 391 e Belleland or Biland 723 b Bellasise a family 723 b Bellers a noble family sometime 522 f Bellotucadrus 691 d Benefician what towne 478 f Benedictine Monks 226 d Benington 407 f S. Benno 680 c S. Bennaventa is Wedon 508 c d S. Bennit in the Holme an Abbey 478 c Bengley 815 b Ben-Gorion 125 Bensted a family 407 f Bensbury for knebensbury 302 f Benson 388 d Bently 463 e Bere park or Beau park nere to Durham 741 Bericus a tratour to Britaine 40 Berengarius le Moigne that is Monke 510 c Berkhamsted 414 c Bermingham or Bremicham a towne and family 567 b Bermondsey Abbey 434 b Bernack 514 e Benrers a family 405 d Berniciae 817 a. 797 b Bernwood 393 e. 395 Berohdon or Baradon 525 f Berosus confuted 10 Berry by Wicomb 393 c Berstaple 208 b Bertelin an Eremite 584 d Berwick towne 816 e Berwicks what they be ibid. f Berwic in Elmet 696 b Bery 594 d Bery Pomerie 202 a Betula or Betulla 19 Betheney See Stafford Betony 20 Beverley a towne 711 d Iohn of Beverley ibid. Bevers in Tivy river what creatures they be 657 e Beverston castle 364 d Beufes of Lancashire 745 e Bevils a family 192.562 a Bezants or Bezantines what they be 421 a Bibroci 286 d Bie what it signifieth 543 b Begleswade 401 c Bigod the name of Rollo the Norman 144 Hugh Bigod Lord chiefe Iustice of England 482 c Hugh Bigod Earle of Norfolke 482 b Bigod the name of hypocrites and superstitious persons 144 Bigods a family 465 d Bigots a family 633 c Bigrames a family 501 c Billesdun 812 f Biland or Belleland 723 b Th. Billing Lord chiefe Iustice of the Kings bench 505 e Bindon 212 b Binchester 738 e Binchester penis ibid. Binbrige Isle 274 a Birdlip hill 365 f. 366 c Pirinus the Apostle of the West-Saxons 384 c Birling 332 d Birthin a river 636 c Birtport or Burtport 210 e Biscaw wonne 188 Bisham 286 b Bishops of Durham 735 Bishops of Bath and Wells 232 c Bishops castle 189 e Bishops Thorps 707 c Bishops whether they might hold castles 244 c Bishops gate in London 423 d Bishops their place and precedency in England 161 Bissemed 401 b Bissets an honourable familie 245.574 a Bittlesden 396 d Bitumen that is Sea cole 735 c Biwell castle 808 c Bihan castle 537 a Bithric Lords of Glocester 368 Bizacium in Africke 478 e Blackborne 752 d Blackburne shire ibid. e Blacklow hill 564 d Blackelead 767 b Blackemere a Baronie 598 d Blackemore forest 213 f Blackeamore 717 b Blacketaile Poincts 213 Blackewater a Creeke 443 e Rob. Blanchmains 518 b Blackeney 479 a Mercate Blandford 215 e Blatum Bulgium 775 c Blean Leveney castle 628 d Blatherwicke 514 b Blechindon 377 a Blencarn a brooke 763 c Blenkensop a place and family 800 b Blestium 617 c Blickling 478 b Bletso 399 d Blewets 224 c Blisworth 507 a Blith 551 a Blith a river 586 d. 466 e 812 a Bliphborough 486 e Blithfield 586 e Charles Blount or Blunt Lord Montjoy Earle of Devonshire 208 d Blounts or Blunts of Kinlets 574 why so called 591 b Blunts Barons Montjoy 555 c Gilbert Blund 461 d Boadicia or Bunduica wife to King Prasutaegus 49 Boadicia or Bunduica a noble and warlike Lady 406 e. 51 is vanquished and poisoneth herselfe 52 Bocking a fat Personage 446 a Bocton Malherb 331 b Bodine what he conceiveth of the name Britaine 5 Sir Th. Bodley a singular benefactor to Oxford Librarie 382 c Bodman 191. Boduarie 679 c Boeth what it signifieth 732 c Bohuns Earles of Hereford c. 621 e Humfrey de Behun Earle of Essex 454 Hugh de Bolebec 396 a Bolebec Baronie 809 e Bolebec Castle 396 a Bolerium 187 Bollin a river 610 b Bollingbrooke 541 f Bolsover Castle 556 c Bonosus a notorius bibber hangeth himselfe 71 Boniface See Winifride Bonvill Lord 206 c. 231 b. his calamities ibid. c Bolton castle 729 a Borrodale 767 a Bone-well 619 f Bonhommes a religious order 395 a Bonhommes Colledge 244 Bonium 602 e Booth a family 610 c Borsarse alias Brentwood 442 Borwick 809 d Borrovicus ibid. Boscastle 195 Boseham 306 f Bostoke a place and family 609 d Boston 532 c burnt and ransacked 532 d Bothal castle 812 d Bosworth towne 518 d Bosworth field ibid. d Botereux castle 195 Botereux a family 566 b Botherwic 544 d Botontines 515 d Bottlebrig or botolph Bridg 502 Bought on 510 a Bovium 643 c Bourchiers Earls of bath 598 c 207 c Bourchier Baron of Berners 405 d Bourchiers de Berners Lords 472 d Bourchiers an honorable
is ibid. Hertlebury castle 574 b Hertford shire 405 Hertford towne 407 a Hertford Earles 415 e called Earles of Clare ibid. Herty point 207 b Doctor Hervey his Causey 489 c Hervey first Bishop of Ely 493 d Herward a valiant Englishman 533 a Heston 420 a Hesus 17 Hesselwood 696 c Hous 17 Heveningham a towne and family 467. c Hexhamshire 799. d Hextold a river 807. d Hextoldesham ibid. Heyford Warin 377. a Heyford Purcell 377. a Hides a family 281. a Hide what it is 158 339. e Highgate Castle 778. c High Crosse 518. a High Dike a streete-way 534. a 64 High ridge ibid. Highham a towne and family 463. c Highham Ferrars 510. b High-land men 119.126 Higra 707. c. What it is 357. e Saint Hilda a shee Saint and her miracles 718. e Hills erected for what purpose 406. e Hildersham 489. e Hildeards ancient Knights 713. f Hilton a Castle and familie 742. e Himilco never in Britaine 33. Hinchingbrooke 497. d Hindersket or Hunderdskell a Castle 723. e Hinkley a Baronie 518. c Hith or Hide a towne 349. b Hith what it signifieth ibid. Hitching 406. c Ho 329. c Baron Ho 318 319. Hoes a family 542. c Hobarts Knights and Atturneys Generall to Kings 476 Sir Edward Hoby Knight 286. b 334. a Hobelars 272.275 b Hocke and Hocks old English for mire and dirt 402. a Hoch Norton 375. a Hockley in the hole 402. c Hodde hils 215. c Hodesdon 408. d Hodingdon 578. c Hodlestons an ancient familie 699. e. 765. d Hodengs a family 394. c Hodnet a towne and family 594. b Hodney a river 628. a Hoel the good Prince of Wales 650. c Holburne or Oldburn 432. f Holcrofts an ancient family 608. d Holcroft a place and family 747. d Holdernesse a promontorie 713. c Holdenby house 508. e Holdernesse a promontory 713. c Holdernesse honour 715. b Holes within the Ground 440. d Holland a part of Lincoln-shire 529. why so called ibid. Hollands a great family 519. b and most noble 749 Iohn Holland of Denshire 205. a his coate of armes ibid. d Iohn Holland Duke of Exceter and Earle of Huntingdon 205. d Henrie Holland Duke of Excester ibid. his miserable case ibid. f Iohn Holland halfe brother to King Richard the second beheaded at Plaisi 445. b Hollands Knights 353. b Hollands Earles of Kent ibid. Iohn Holland the younger his stile 502. f Henrie Holland Duke of Excester his fall 502. f Thomas Holland Earle of Kent and Duke of Surrey 304. ● beheaded 304. c Holme Cultraine Abbey 773. a Holmesdale 294. b Holme Pier Pount 548. f Holme castle 296. f Holmes Chappell a towne 609. a Holme Lacy 621. a Holt in Denbigh shire 677. b Holt castle 594. b Holly head 673. a Holy Island 814. e Hooten 606. e Hope castle 681. a Horne church 441. f Horne castle 541. c Hornby castle 753. f Honorius Emperor 83. succoureth the distressed Britains against invasion of Barbarians 86 Honoriaci what Souldiours 118 Honoriani 127 Horse running 723. d Horse the badge or cognisance of the old Dukes of Saxonie 135 Horse heath 489. e Horton 691. f Hote-Spur 596. c Hothams a family 711. d. 721 Howards a Noble Family 472. c Henrie Lord Howard Earle of Northampton 516. e Henry Baron Howard of Marnhil 215. c Charles Lord Howard Earle of Nottingham 551. d Tho. Vicount Howard of Bindon 213. a Howards Earles of Surrey 304. e Thomas Lord Howard of Walden 452 e. 470. d. Earle of Suffolke ibid. William Lord Howard of Naworth 783. b Iohn Lord Howard duke of Norfolk the first of that house 483 slaine ibid. Thomas Howard his sonne vanquished the Scots 483. c Henrie Howard Earle of Surry a learned Nobleman ibid. Tho. Howard last duke of Norfolke ibid. Houden and Houden-shire 710. c Houghton 480. a Howgill castle 762. c Howley 693. e Howty a brooke 608. e Hubert de Burge Earle of Kent 352 Hubba the Dane 208. f Hubbestow ibid. Huckstow forest 592. c Huddleston 696. c Huesi 23 Hugh the Norman 212. d. a traitour 205. a Hugolin or Hugh Spenser 642 b Hugh Earle of Shrewsbury slain 672. d Hull the river 711. c Hull the towne 712. d Humfrey Duke of Glocester and his stile 369. c. The good duke and a favorer of learning 382 his death 561. c Humber an arme of the Sea 689 542. e Humel or Hymell castle 514. b Hundreds or Centuries appointed 158. d Hungerbourne 255. c Hungerfords 195 Hungerford towne 282. e Hungerford Barons 245. d. 282 Hunibald a bald writer 6 Hunsh●l ● for● 509. d Hunstanston 418. b Hansdon a Barons seate 408 c Hunt Cliffe 720. e Huntercombs a family 394 c 815 d Huntingdon castle in Hereford shire 620. c Huntingdon shire 497. e Huntingdon towne 497. d Huntingdon Earles 502. c Huntingfeld towne and Baron 467. c Huntly Nab 720 f Hurling 186 Hurlers 193 Hurst castle 260. d Huscarles what they be 576. e Hussy the first and last Baron of that name 535. d Hyeritha a Shee-Saint 208. b I. JAmes the sixth of Scotland stiled King of great Britaine 141. a mild and gracious Prince 298. b Iames the fourth King of Scotland slaine 483. c Tho. Iames of Oxford a st●dious Antiquarian 639. ● Ianus with two foreheads 97 Iaphets progenie how it was propagated 10 Iarrow 743 d Iberi whence they tooke name 20 Iccius portus in France a port townelet 3● Iceni 456 Ichnild-street 456. d Icenii● Britaine discomfited 43 Idle a river 550. d Iermins Knights 461. d Iermegans Knights 468. e Ierby a towne 769. c Iervis or Iorvalle Abbey 729. c Ierusalem in hand to be re-edified 79. Iestine a rebell against Prince Rhese 641. e Iesu of Bethlems house 297. e 410. f Iesus Colledge in Oxford 383. b Iohn Iewell Bishop of Salisbury 208. e. a profound Clerke 248. e S. Iies 193 Ikborowgh 482. b Ike●ild street 64 Ikening street 402. d Ikesworth 461. d Ilands of what use 478. d An Iland floating 478. d Isle of Ely 485. c. why so called 492. f Il-bre an Isle 607. a Ilcester or Ivelcester 221. e Ilfarcomb 207. a Ilkley 697. c Il-street 603. e K. Ina 226. c Innes of Court and Chancery in London 427. c Inborow what it is 815. b Incubi 17 Infants of Spaine 164 Inglebeys a family 535. f. 699. f Ingleborne 242. c Ingleborrow Hill 749. e Inglefields an ancient family 284. c Inglini bipenniferi 154 Inis wen 24 Insula Caeruli ibid. Inundations in Monmouth shire and Somerset shire 634. d Ioan the faire maide of Kent 353. b Ioan de Acres 369. b Iohannes de Sacro bosco 692. c Iohn of Weathamsted 7 Iohn Earle of Athol cruelly executed 336. a Iohn of Gaunt his stile 757. b King Iohn his sword at Lin. 480. f King Iohn called judicially into question in France and endited for murdering his Nephew Arthur 733. d Saint Iohns Knights of Ierusalem 428. a. 433. a Ioseph of Arimathea 68 Ioseph Iscanus a Poet 204. d Ioseph Scaliger 10 Ipres
49 Novantes People of Galloway Carick Kyle Cuningham 18 Mertae in Sutherland Novantum Chersonesus sive Promontorium The Mull of Galloway 19 Nodius flu The river Nid 17 Orcas sive Tarverdrum Howbune 54 Randvara Reinfraw 24 Rerigonium Bargeny 19 Selgovae The people of Lidesdale Evesdale Eskdale Annandale and Nidisdale 16 Tamea haply Tanea in Rosse Taizali The people of Buquahan 47 Tarvedrum promont See Orcas Tans flu Tau the river 35 41 Vacomagi The people of Murray 49 Vararis Murray ibid. Vernicones haply Mernis 45 Victoria haply Inch-Keith 15 Vidogara haply Aire 20 Virvedrum See Orcas Uzellum a place in Eusdale 16 The Families of greater worth and honour in Scotland in this Booke mentioned A ABercorne Earle 15 Aberneth or Abernothy 36 Albanie Duk●s 39 Angus or Anguis Earl●s 4● Areskin See Ereskin Ardmanoch 52 Arol Earles 42 Argilo E●rles 37,38 Arran Earles 22 Athol Earles 40 Aubigny or Obigny Lords 26 B BAclugh 16 Balmerinoch 34 Bothwell Earles 48 Buquhan Earles 48 Borthwicke Barons 13 Boids Barons 21,22 Brus 16,19 C CAmbell 37 Cassile Earles 19 Crawford Earles 22 Cathanes Earles 53 Creictons Barons Sauhquer 17 51 Carthcart 24 Carliles Carrict Bailives and Earles 20 Chasteau Herald Duke 23 Clan-Hatan 35 Clan-Ranald 52 Colvil 32 Comen 36.45.48 Culrosse 32 Cuningham 21 D DArnley or Darley 24 Douglasse or Duglasse 19 23.45.48 Dromund 36 Dunbarre Earles 11 Dunfirmling Earle 13.32 E EGlington Earles 21 Eriskin 12.29.47 Elphingston 29.34.49 F FIvie Baron 32 Fleming 18.29 Forbois 46 Frasers 52 Felton Vicount 12 Fife Earles 35 G GOrdon 49 Glencarn Earles 21 Glamys Baron 44 Graham 36 Goury 42 Greyes 44 Galloway Lords 693 H HAdington Vicount 12 Halyburton ibid. Hamilton 15.22.23 Huntley 13.42.49 Hepburn 16 Hereis or Herris 17 Hides 36.42 Home or Hume Baron de Berwicke 11 Hume Earle ibid. I INnermeth 36 K KEith 45 Kennedis 19 Kir 10.15 Kinghorn Earle 32.44 Kinloss 49 L LEvenox or Lennox Earles 25 Lindeseies 22.44.49 Lesley 34.49 Levingston 29 Leon or Lion 32.43 Lovet 52 Linlithquo or Lithquo Earle 15 Lorn Lords 38.49 Lothien Earle 15 Lundoris 34 M MAc-Conell 38 Mac-Intoscech 35 Mar Earles 47 Marshall Earles 45 Maxwels 18 Menteith Earle 36 Merch Earles 11 Methwen 42 Murray Earles 50 Montrose 44 Montgomeries Earles 21 Morton Earle 17 Murray 36.40.42 N NEwbottle 69 O ORkeney Earles 53 Olyphant 36 Ogilvy or Ogilby 44 P PEarth Earle 42 R RAmsey 12.23 Randolph 50 Reinfraw 24 Rethwen 42 Rothes Earle 35.49 Rothsay Dukedome 22 Roos 24 Rosse Earles 52 Roxburgh 10 S SCone 42 Scot 16 Steward 25.48.51 Sutherland Earles 53 Seincler 32.53 Somervill 23 Seton 13 Sempell 24.49 Sauhquer or Sanquer 17 Salton 49 Strathern Earles 36 Spiny 49 T TOricles 17 Thirlestan● 10 Tulibardin 36 V URquhart 52 Uchiltrey 21 W WEmmis 32 Wintwoun Earle 13 Wigton Earle 18 Z ZEister or Zester 10.12 A Table of Ireland and the Isles adjoyning to BRITAINE A ABsenties 85 Admirall of England extent of his authority 232 Alderney 214 Anglesey 203 Antrim County 112 Annales of Ireland 150 Annales of the Isle of Man 205 Arran 99.214 Armagh County 107 Arklo Lords thereof 90 Arts and piety sowed among nations in sundry ages 85 B BAgnall 121 c. Bannomanna 62 Barry 78 Base poole 227 Bernacles 204 Barnwell 94.95 Berminghams 100 Bingham 10● 103 Bissets 113 Bishopricks of Ireland 73. Poore 106 Blunt Lord Montjoy 77.105 107. Deputy 133 c. Boyle Barony 103 Brehon Law 140 Britaine 's inhabite Ireland 65 Britain herbe 222 Brittain Huis 221 Brittish Armory ibid. Brittish sea 57. where deepest 227 Burk 81.100.101.104.117 c. Burgus what 222 Buth 22 Butiphant Vicount 78 Butler 82.88 c. Burrough Baron Lord Deputy 115 C CAesarea 65 Cavon County 106 Cahir Baron 82 Carew 76.79.85 Carick Earle 82 Carausius 88 Cassiles Archbishop 82 Casquets 224 Castle-Conell Baron 81 Caterlough County 85 Cattell 63 Cavanaghes 85 Causes of rebellion 101 Caurus the winds 59 Chamberlan 224 Cerne Island 62 Chamber of Ireland 95 Chevers 90 Chairly Boy 113 Clany-boy Clan-Moris 75 Clancar Earle 76 Clan-Donels 101 Clan William 81 Clan Gibbon ibid. Clogher Bishopricke 115 Clare County 98 Clan Richard Earles 100 Cogan 70.79 Connacht or Conaught 98 Colby 86 Conaught Lords 104 Constables of Ireland 97 Colran County 114 Columb Saint 215 Corke County 77. a kingdome 79 Courts of Ireland 72 Coner Bishopricke 111 Curraghmore Barons 79 Croft Sir Hugh slaine 179 Curcy 71.77.53.209 Curthbert a Saint 220 Cuttings Coyne Liverie 76.101 D DArcy 96 Deemstert 204 Delton 96 Dalvin Baron ibid. Deputies of Ireland 71 Desmond Earles 76 Dessie Vicount 79 Diseases in Ireland 63 Devereux 90 Dillon 96 Donell Gormy 102 Docwra 133 c. Dublin County 91. Citie and University 92. Marques 94 Duke of Ireland ibid. Dunboin Baron 85 Dunganon Baron 115 Durgarvan Barony 79 Dunkellin Baron 100 Dansany Baron 95 216 E ENglishmen first entred Ireland 70 Eastmeath 95 Essex Earle 112. Lord Deputy 117 Ewst 216 F FArn Island 220 Fermoy Vicount 78 Farn Isle 220 Fermanagh County 106 Fitz Eustace Barons 88 Fitz-Patric 8 Fitz-Geralds 82.87 Fitz-Stephens 70.79.89 Fitz-William Lord Deputy 121 c. Fitz-Urse 107 Fortunate Isles 217 Frozen sea 219 G GArnesey 224 Galloglasses 101.147 Galloway County 99 Gavalock 122 Genevill 97.163 Gersey 224 Glinnes 90.113 Goodwin sands 222 Gormanston Vicount 95 Lord Grey 75 H HAwkes 63 Hereditarie territories of England in France 232 Hy Island 216 Hirth ibid. Hobies 63 Holy Crosse of Tiperary 82 Holy Island 62.220 Holy-wood 94 Horses 63 Houth Barons 94 Husey 95 I IBarcan Baron 99 Ila 215 Ienevill see Genevill Iona ibid. Iniskellin 106.112.101 Ireland called Ogygia 64. called Scotia 66.117 inhabited by Britaines 65. not conquered by Romans 66. entred by Henrie the second 69. devided 72. neglected 118 Irishmen out of Spaine 66 Irish Monkes 67.110 taught the English to write 68. their Manners 140 Ireland neglected 218 K KErry County 75 Kilkenny County 84 Kildare County 87. Earles Killalo Bishopricke 100 Killin Baron 95 Kinsale 135 Kings County 86 Kernes 147 Knight of the Valley 81 Konctoe battell 100 L LAcy 82.95.96 c. 203 Leinster 84 Leinster Marquesse 94 Leicestre 86 Letrim County 103 Letrim Baron ibid. Levison 135 Limerick County 81 Lewis 216 Lindisfarn 220 Lixnaw Baron 75 Lovell 85 Longford County 97 Londey 202 Louth County 105. Earle ibid. Baron 106 Lycanthropia a disease 83 M MAc Andan 85 Mac Carty 77 Mac-Clen 216 Mac Connell 102.113.216 Mac Guilly 113 Mac Donells 120 Mac Guir 106.121 Mac Genis 109.120 Mac Mahon 107 Mac Morogh 69 Mac William 101.104 Mac Teg 77 Man Isle 203. Lords 213 Mac Swin 117 Mac Shee s 82 Majo County 100 Mandeviles 109.213 Marshall E. of Penbroke 70 86 87.155 Marshall of Ireland 72 Malachie a Saint 108 Meth 94. the Bishop 95. the Lords 96 Messet 155 Monaghan County 107 Mont-Garret Vicount 89 Mont-Norris 107.134 More 105 Morley 72 Munster 74 Muscegros 99 N NAngle 96 Navan a Baronet 95 Nogente or Nugent 96 Norris Sir Iohn 122 c. Normandie lost 226
Solis ab Ortu Gens Deo dicata per quem sic sum renovata Let Church-men and religious folke from time that Sun doth rise Blesse Adam Port by whom I am rebuilded in this wise Segontiaci Basingstoke Basing Saint Iohn Out of an old Missall of the Family of Powlet Vines in Britaine Vopiscus Barons Sands Odiam Matthew Paris Vindonum Silcester Sepulchres of honour Constantine Emperour chosen in hope of his name * Bononia * Heire apparant Iulianus Nobilissimus Sel what it is Armes of the Blewets Bainards and Cusantes Kings-cleare Sidmanton * Specula Beacon Newport The Inhabitants In Vespati cap. 4. Anno D. 5 Bede lib. 4. cap. 13. Bede lib. 4. cap. 16. Lords of the Isle of Wight Christ-Church * Or Gaule France Comius Attrebatensis In stratagemat Asserius * Ouze Farendon Guil. New brig●sis Abbendu● or Abing● H●●ic●● Quintus quarto fundaverat anno Rex 〈◊〉 Burford super undas atque Culhamford K. Henry of that name the fifth the fourth yeare of his reigne both Burford Bridge and Culhamford did found on River mayne Now Ashbury neere to White horse hill Besides Lee. Fetiplace * Ouse Vicount Lisle See the Earles of Shrewsbury Pusey Denchworth Wantage Fitzwarin Tamisis or Tamis the River Sinodum Bretwell Robert Montensis Gallena Wallengfor Domesday booke Records of Wallengford 〈◊〉 Co●itis Of the honor of Wallengford in Testa ●evilli in the Exchequer A most grievous Pestilence Moules-ford Carew Aldworth The River Kenet Hungerford 1. p●rs dupl patent Norm 6. ● 5. Barons of Hungerford Widehay * De S. Am● Barons de Amand. Beaucha● De S. ●ma● Spine Newbury Lambor * Almeshouse Aldermaston Reading Maude the Empresse King Henry the second King Richa the first Sunning Bisham Grandison Maidenhead Bibroci * Bray Windesore Order of the Garter Shame to h● that evill thinketh Soveraig● Founders of the Order Almes-Knights Wickham his Apophthegm * Or free Eaton Barons of Windsore Queene Elizabeth Queene Elizabeths Mot or Empresse * Flowing or rolling * Or the 〈◊〉 Windsor Forrest Chases or Forrests Forrest what it is and whence so called Protoforestarius Iustices of the Forrests The Kings Knight The Kingdome of West-Saxons Geguises Rhey Oking or Woking William Ockham Pater No●●nalium Where Cae● crossed the Tamis Coway-stakes The river Mole Anas a river in Spaine Ockley Gatton Rhie-gate Holmesdale Holmecastle * Or Inquisitions * In Baronia sua de Conquesta Angliae Effingham The Swallow or Swallow hole A bridge on which flockes of sheepe are pastured L. Bray Richmond Both the place and the village before the time of King Henry the Seventh called Shene Edward the Third The death of Queene Elizabeth 1603. How farre the Tamis ebbeth and floweth Why Tamis ebbeth and floweth so far within Land * The seventh * The Third None-such * Vandalis Woodcote Noviomagi Noviomagus Croidon Beddington * Addington Aguilon Merton Wimbledon Putney See Earles of Essex Kennington Lambith * Hardy-Cnute Southworke Barons Saint Iohn of Lagham Sterborow Lord Borough or Burgh Earles of Surrie who also are called Earles of Warren Earles of March in France Downes Anderida wood Iron Glasses Selsey Scales Here be the best Cockles slaves Amberley See the Earles of Shrewsburie * D' aubeney some write him de Albinet● and de Albiniac● Earles of Arundell and of Sussex Charta antiqua X. in 29. Parl. 11. H 6 229. 4. Edw. 3 See before the Earles of Surrey * As having married his daughter Spigurnell what it is Petworth The Percies See in the end of Northumberland Dautry Burton Horsham Michelgrove Shelley Offington The familie of the Wests * De Cantelup● Barons de la Ware Cisburie Cimenshore Brood-water Lord Camois Camois A wife given and granted to another Parlam 30. Edw. primi The forme of a Bill of a kind of Divorcement called Kepudiu● Shoreham Ederington Slaugham Lewes * For custome or rent and roll Domesday booke * Or redeemeth the offence * Cluniaco The monument of Magnus a Dane 1263. The battaile of Lewes 232. Others call it The three Charles Downes Pevensey Florentius wigorniensis pag. 452. Composition betweene King Stephen and Henrie of Anjoy Honor de Aquila Robert de Monte Herst Monceaux Herst what it is Regist of the Monasterie of Roberts-bridge The familie of the Fienes Patent 37. Henrie 6. An. 14. Ed. 4. See Normans before A mercate kept on the Sunday Ashburnham Hastings * Cinqueports 21. Edw. 1. 3946. 1578. Ancenses Earles of Ew * Esc. 7. H. 6. Enquisition 5. Edw. 1. William Lord Hastings 26. Henry 6. Baron of Hoo and Hastings Winchelsey Camber-Castle * Rhie * The River Rother Barons Burghersh Baron Echingham Roberts Bridge or Rotherbridge Bodiam Baron Buckhurst Earles of Sussex See Earles of Arundell * With the beard 21. Henry 8. The Kingdome of the South-Saxons Carion corruptly read in Diodorus Siculus Hereof commeth Canton in Heraldrie for a corner and the Helvetians countreys were b● the French called Canton Rumney Marsh. P●a● 15. ca. 25. Cherries were brought over into Britaine about the yeare of our Lord 48. 236. Prowesse of Kentishmen Iulius Cesar. See Romans in Britaine Page 34. * Ravensburn An old great Campe. Depe-ford Magnignot Green-wich The same that Danes Eltham The Booke of Durham The Breach 1527. Leisnes * Scurvy-grasse 1527. The herbe Britannica * Friseland * See afterward in the British Isles concerning the Arrenat or Armory of the Britaines * Sevenoke Knoll Otford Dartford Swane-scomb that is King Swanes Campe. Graves-end Inquis 35. E. 3 Barons of Cobham Clive at Ho. Medway Weald Penshurst Sidney Vicount Lisl● See in Barke shire Philip Sidney Tunbridge * The Lowy of Tunbridge * Whet-stones Mereworth Vagniacae Madus Len●h●● Bocton M●lherb Baron Wotton Fin. Mich. xi E. 2. Leeds castle The family ● Crevequer * Ailesford Horsted Catigern his Sepulchre Boxley Wrotham Malling Leibourn Baron Leibourn Briling Baron Say Durobrevis In an ancient table set forth by Welser Roibis Ceaster what it is Rochester * Niding William of Malmesbury Textus Roffensis An antient Manuscript booke of that church * The French called him Canol The Kings Navy Toliatis an Isle Shepey Iu. ●et Queene Borough Tenham Chery gardens Feversham Pits made in Kent * Reculver Regulbium * Hadrian●● Iunius Stoure river Ashford Wie Page 4157. Chilham Fulbert of Dover 1306. * Fel-borough As we call Iuliana Gilian Laberias Durus a Tribune Durovernum * Welsh Canterbury Augustine the Apostle of the Englishmen Pall what it is Anno. 7093. Hackington Saint Stephens Fordich * The first English Nunne Elham Inq. 2. E. 3. Herdes * Hides in English An hides as it is thought consisteth of an hundred acres called in latine in old time Familia Mansa and Manens Lapis tituli Now Elflet 596. Minster 1217. Lewis of France Chronicles of W. Thorn Rhutupia Portu● Trutu●ensi● * The younge● * Caer Leon Clemens Maximus * See how these verses are englished in pag. 83. There bee that under 〈◊〉 name of Rhi●●tupine would
called Knights of the Rhodes and now of Malt. Templars * Lords of S. Johns Charter-house Barbacan Gal●ottus Martius London Bridge See of Southwarke in Suthrey Saint Saviour Suffolkehouse S. Thomas Hospitall Stewes Band-dogges or Mastives Societies or Companies of Citizens ●●ibus Wards * Or Portgrave Praetor or Major 1411. 1405. The Burse 1567. Royall Exchange Grehams College Guicciardin * Orpheus harpe a star * Or beyond Radcliffe Isle of Dogs Edmonton Waltham Crosse. Enfield Chase. Waltham Forest. Waltham Abbay Baron Deny Copthall Durolitum Berking Roding the river The Booke of Ely Chipping Angre Liber Inq. de Ripariu * Marshes Holes cut out In Kent pag. 334. Tilbury Convennos th● Isle Canvey Beamfleot S. Shobery Anno 894. Rochford Lord Rochfo● * Lawlesse Court Havering Rumford See the the Annalles Brent-wood Caesaromagus called in the Itinerary table Baromagus South-Okindon Bruin Thorndon Baron Petre. Ashdowne Arpen Wine Radulphus de Dicero The family of the Essex Dengy hundred Essex cheese The Normans call him Peverell In the Records Saint Hilary terme E. 2.17 in the keeping of the Treasurer and Chamberlaine of the Exchequer Seales or signets first taken up among Englishmen Barons Rich. The Booke of Saint Martins in London Canonium Cogeshall Tirell Easterford Whitham Camalodunum Maldon Camulus a God Claudius in Britannia Servius * Deified The Altar and Temple of Claudius Dio saith fourescore thousand Idumanu● * Domesday The bounds of Colonies Cogeshall Lib. 9. cap. 54. Hawkwood * 4. Verses * 14. H. 4. Colonia Colchester 1105. Helen Great Constantines mother S. Osith Chic Barons Darcy of Chich. Nesse Giants Giants bones Harewich * Barklow * Ancient tombes Danes-bloud Walden Commonly called Mandevilles Baron Audley of Walden 1597. Burrow-banke Saffron Barons of Clavering See in Northumberland Barons Montfichet The Montfichet Coat of Armes Playz Haslingbury Barington Hatefield Brad-oke Earles of Essex Register of Walden Register of Walden Monastery See the Earles of Hereford Eliz. sister to Rich. Duke of Yorke Ichenild-street Sphen Seneca his usury in Britanny Andates or Andrastes The Goddesse Victory In Kent * Earle or Lieutenant * Seven kingdomes East-Angle Uff kines Ralph President of East-Angle Cheeses Novus mercatus Newmercate Newmarket Heath S. Edmunds Bury Guord or worth Bery the Britan. Malmesburiensis Eversden * Now but two * Or Sc●eschal * Humfrey Duke of Glocester Ikesworth Blund * Drury 1173. Hengrave Culfurth Sir Nicholas Bacon Lidgate John Lidgate Stoke Clare Earles of Clare * Ad Albam Pompiam * Aucensis or Ew● Guliel Gemi●icensis Lib. 7. c. 37. Rob. Montensis Dukes of Clarence 1421. Sudbury Edwardeston * Barones Monte-chensie Minor Histor. Matth. Paris * Waldgrave Buers Cumbretonium Bretenham Barons Wentworth * Lancham Hadley Gathrum or Garmo the Dane Bentley Arwerton Wulpet Vera narratio Norton Hagoneth Farter A prety conceited tenure Ipswich Domesday booke Waleton Langerston * Others call it Thredling Boutetort Rendelisham * Cedde * Some name it Winchell Framlingham Parrham Barons Willoughbey of Parrham Oreford Tritons and Monsters of the Sea Aldburgh Pease growing out of the Rockes Dunwich Allectum or Halecum Blithborrow * De Casineto Easton-Nesse Extensio A Promontory Lib. 3. de Natura Deorum Wingfield Philips Huntingfield Henningham Halesworth Hoxon King Edmunds Martyrdome Cornwalleis Eaye Liber inquisitionum * By intrusion reaping the commodities thereof Bedingfield Flixton Bungey Mettingham Luthingland Lestoffe Somerley towne Cnoberi urbs Dukes and Earles of Suffolke Inquisit 5. Rich. 2. Leland in his Commentary upon his Cygnea Cantio Walsingham pag. 358. Regist. Monal de Mels● See Hull in Yorkeshire Sitomagus Thetford Magus The Family of the Knevets Barons Bourchiers of Berners Hengham Lord of Rhia * Sculton Wood rising Windham Attilborough Mortimers Venta Icenorum Caster Horsford * De Casineto Norwich Wic in the Saxons tongue what it signifieth * In the English Saxon Grammer Augusta Ra●racorum * Fine as some take it * Or Dutchmen of the Low countries A Ruffe De Rariorum animatium Historia * Halles-hall Hobart Garieni● Ostium Yarmouth Garianon●● * Caurus * Aquilo Cerdicus the Saxon. Cerdick sand William Worcester * Domesday booke * Portuenses * Lieutenant Hertings * Halecum Portuenses The river Thyrn Blickling Ailesham * Worsted Worsted Stuffe Saint Benets in the Holme Ludham Clipsby A most fat and battle ground Bronholme * Paston Gimmingham Wauburne Blackney 1321. John Baconthorp The Resolute Doctor Meales o● Miles Walsingham Regulares Houghton The Neirfords * Petronillae Va●lx Brannodunum Brancastor Hunstanton Le Strange Sharnborn Foelix a Bishop The Washes Mecaru Aestuarium Lynne * Wel●h Tilney S. Maries Reports Neirford Wormegay Bardolphs Barons Greshenhall Elsing Folliots Ickborrough Iciani Earles and Dukes of Norfolke Composition betwixt King Stephen and Henry Duke of Anjou Parliament 21. Richard 2. Rot. Parl. 3. Hen. 6. Floddon field See in the Adages of Hadrianus Junius Achilleum Vo●um * Byne Mault Roiston See in Hertfordshire Caxton Hatley Saint George * Shengay A Commandery Burne Barones de Burne Barnwell Historie The King heire to private persons Camboritum Rith what it signifieth in British and French Grantcester Cambridge Colledges John Caiu● * Decently magnificent Barnewell Historia Barnewallensis Historia Barnwellensis * Paganut Joffred made Abbot of Crowland Anno 1109. Studium Aurelianense * Stourbridge Faire Gogmagog Hills A Military Fort. Wandlesbury Salston Horsheath See in Hertfordshire Castle Camps Magistra Cameraria Angliae Lord Great Chamberleine * Inq. 6. E. 2. Ditches Fleamdyke * De Rubeo monte De Insula Divels Dyke Abbo died anno 1003. Canutus began his reigne Anno. 1018. Anno. 905. Burwell Lanheath Wicken * Isleham Peyton Kirtling Barons North. 977. The Fennes and Isle of Ely Girvi● Scordium Pausanias in Corinth Audre Ely Saint Etheldreda common●y S. Audrye Saint Audrie● Libertie Ely booke The Lanterne Thorney Wisbich Walepoole Newleame Clowcrosse Earle of Cambridge * Or Aufon 1. Nen. Saint Needs Ainsbury Holsome and medicinable wel● Huntingdon Godman-chester Durosiponte Saint Ives Somersham Ramsey Ramsey Mere. Hakeds Kingsdelfe Sawtry commonly Cunnington Saltria Turkill the Dane Edwardus Exul Bruse or Bruis Mosses Wittlesmere Lake The little History of Ely The foundation of Saltry Swerdesdelfe differing from Kings Delfe Kimbolton Stephen Segrave Mat. Paris Leighton Elton Walmsford Durobrivae Stilton Ermingstreet Caster in Northampton-shire Bottle Bridge * Nigellus Earles of Huntingdon See the Earles of Northampton In the last booke cap. 16. Iohn Forden in Scotocronico l. 8. c. 3.6 39. Mat. Paris 1243. * See Dukes of Excester Pa● 26. H. 6. Utopia of Sir Thomas More Barony of the Pinkeneys Parliament 27. H. 6. 7. Edw. 4. Constable of England Sacy Forest. Foresta de Salceto Fines 18. Rich. 2. Bannavenna which untruly is called Isannaventa and Isanavatia Althorp or Oldthorp Baron Spenser Sir Christopher Hatton He died anno 1591. Northampton 1075. Register of Saint Andrewes * De Pratis Gods hoast or Army * Yardley Lord Parr of Horton Kettering The booke of Inquisit in
See in Lincolnshire Inquisit 2. E 3. Watling street Etocetum Wall Penck-ridge The River Trent New Castle under Lyme Trentham Stone Erdeswick Names altered according to divers habitations Cankwood LL. Audley * Hastange Noel Harcourt Stafford Cap grave Marianus * Ticks hall Chartley. L. Ferrars of Chartley. Beaudesert L L. Paget Lichfield About the yeere 779. History of Rochester * Cedda Wil. Malmesbur A. Alabaster Burton upon Trent Who also it named Mowen 1904. * Tir Conell The River Blith Needwood Forest. Mooreland The River Dove Hans Churnet De-la-cres Aulton Teyn Checkley Utcester Tutesbury In his booke entituled the praises of Divine wisdome Gervase of Tilbury Earles and Barons of Stafford See Dukes of Buckingham The Marcher● L. Marchers Marchiones i● old Histories The Canopy 27. Hen. 8. Clun River Bishops 〈◊〉 * Coluno ca strum Clun Castl● Caer Caradoc King Caratacus Tacitus See the 43. and 44. page * With the strong arme Ludlow Iron hookes 1139. Jenevile The Councell in the Marches Burford Cornwaile Inquis 40. Ed. 3 Baron and Barony Conjugata Cleehill Blunt in the Norman language signifieth yellow haire of the head Bridg-North * De Saneta Clara. Lib. Inquis Willey or Willeley Lib. Inquis Wenlock William Malmesbury Or Wivell * Lord Wenlocke Claus. 17. Edw. 4. Acton Burnel Langley Condover Pichford A fountaine of Pitch or Birumen Pouderbach Stipperstons * Or Welshmen Caurse Routon Rutunium Brocards Castle Uriconium Wroxcester Strattons Wreken-hill Bildas Dalaley Usocona Oken-yate Charleton Tong. Draiton 1459. Inq. 2.10 E. 2. Wem Red-castle Morton Corbet Corbet a forename * Shrewsbury Prebend● passing hereditarily * Battaile of Shrewsbury 1463. Battailefield The British sweat or sweating sicknesse Hieronymus Fracastorius Flotes Shrawerden Knocking Nesse Barons Le Strange 20. Ed. 4. Oswestre Welsh Cortons 642. Oswald slaine See in Norhthumberland Ecclipses in Aries Whittington The life of Fulke written in French Barons Fitzwarin Latimer what it signifieth White-Church Album Monasterium Ellesmer 1205. Baron of Ellesmer Earles of Shrewsbury H. Huntingdot in his booke of the miseries of life See in Ireland County Palatine Petr. Pitbaus in the description of Campaine Joh. Tilius The most commendable Cheeses * Wirrall Lucian the Monke of the praise of Chester Deva * The River Dee Divona Bonium Banchor Monkery Rutilius Claudius That Banchor of which Saint Bernard speaketh in the life of Malachie was in Ireland Bonium or Banchor is of Flintshire Out of the Rol of Domesday of Chel-shire Barons of Mal-pas * Per breve recognitionis Itinerar lib. 2. cap. 13. Shoclach Gros-venour Deunana Deva Chester Chester a Colony of the Romans * The Rowes Marianus Scotus About the yeere 960. Churches repaired Rodulphus Glaber Wirall Law what it is 1173. Il-bre Finborrow Ridly Beeston Woodhay Bulkley 1134. Trees under g●ound Saltpits Nantwich Calveley Vale Royall Northwich Lib. 2. de Fascino Angels Devils Middlewich Bostock Pever Dutton Chronicle of Walles Towchet Rock-Savage Maclesfield Thelwall Runkhorne Elfled or Ethelfled In the yeere of Christ 78. Anno. 51. Earles of Chester Barons to the Earles of Chester * Haubergella * Lands and possessions The Kingdome of the Mercians Wales Silures Dimetae Ordovices Tacitus Silures mistaken for Siluros The River Munow Blestium Old towne Alterynnis The seat of the Cecils Harald Ewias The Family of Ewias Their coat of Armes Tregoz and Grandison Pag. 286. Snod hill Marble Gilden Vale. Irchenfeld Kilpect The river Wy Clifford Castle The Clifford Inquis 26. E. 1. The Profound Doctour Hereford Kenchester 793. S. Ethelbert Martyr Brampton Brian Wigmore Barons Mortimer Richards Castle Lords of Richards Castle Bone well Lemster Lemster Ore the best wooll Lemster bread and Webley Ale Webley Barons Verdons Basservile See Gemition lib. ult Fin. Hilarii 20. Ed. 3. Marden Sutton Marcley hill A Mountaine mooving Scudamore or Escudamor Wilton Barons Grey de Wilton Goderich Castle * Earles of Hereford Constables of England 1156. 2. Par. Chart an 1. Reg. Joan. Matth. Paris Joan. The booke of Walden The booke of Lanthony M●●nastery Henry the Fourth King of England Castle Colwe or Mauds Castle in Colwe●● Matth. Paris Radnor Owen Glendour Magesetae Prestaine Knighton Offa dike Vortigern Lewellin Guarthenion Guarish in British slander and Eniawn just Earles of March The booke of Lanthony Abbay See Earles of Ulster See in Yorke-shire toward the end Bulleum Hay Brecknock Linsavethen Mere. Brecknock Mere. Loventium Bricenaw Mere. Brecknock Blean Leveney Lords of Brechnock Called also Braus and Breus Red Booke in the Exchequer Ewias Lacy. Lanthony Barons Lacy. Saint John Baptist. Hodney Grossemont Skinffrith Historia Minor Matth. Paris Monmouth Geffrey Ap-Arthur or of Monmouth Chepstow Earles of Strigh●ll or Pembrock Venta Caer-went The Booke of Landaffe Church Strighull Castle Portskeweth * Sudbroke Coine of Severus Medailes Inq. 3. E. I. Woundy The Family of Saint Maur or Seimor The Moore An Inundation in January 1607. Gold-cliffe River Uske Abergevenny Lords of Abergevenny Clausae 49. Edw. 3. * Baronesse Le Despenser 6. Ed. 2. Burrium Uske Isca Legionis C●er Lheon ar Uske These Inscriptions are to be seene at Mathern in the Bishop of Landaffes house Veteranu● Cohortis In printed Copies Claudius Pompeianum and L●llianus Avitus Coss. Anno Christi 210. * Centurio Thomas James Newport Dun-settan Whence came the name of Glamorgan The subduing of Glamorgan-shire Robert Fitz-Haimon 12. Knights Caerdiffe Caer Philli. The mouth of Ratostabius Traith Taff. Landaff History of Landaff Caerdiffe Robert Curthose Duke of Normandy Sully haply so called of the Silures Barry A wonderfull Cave or hole Cowbridge Bovium Neath Saint Donats Stradling Antique peeces of coine Ogmor river A fountaine ebbing and flowing Sandfords well A fountaine at Cales or Cadiz Eternall habitations Nidus flu i. the river Neath Nidum the towne Neath Logho● Gower Th. Walsingh Booke of Neth Monastery Joh. R. 5. Swinsey Leucarum Loghor Lords of Glamorgan-shire West-Wales Caer Marden-shire Kidwelly Guenliana a woman of manly courage Lords of Og●mor and Kidwelly River Tovie Dinevor Maredunum Caer merdin Merlin * Divinour or Prophet Cantred Bitham Cantred Caves under the ground Cantredmaur Talcharn Lhan-Stephan Taff River * Haelius Whiteland Peeces of Roman Coine New Castle Loventium * Legalis Comitatus Tenby Manober Castle Milford Haven Pembroke The beginning of the Giralds family in Ireland The Roll of Services Carew Castle Gledawgh Flemings in Wales Little England beyond Wales Harford we● Filium Tan credi Octopitarum Saint David Laud. Saint Patr●● Saint David Bodies of trees in the Sea Falcons Keimes Barony Fisgard New-port Saint Dogmael the Welsh call him Saint Tegwel Lords of Keimes Martins Kilgarran Salmons leap Earles of Penbroke See Pag. 407. Some write that John Duke of Bedford was first for a short time Earle of Penbroke Cardigan-shire King Caratacus Zonaras Tuerobius 〈◊〉 river Rosse Strat-fleur Kilgarran The Salmons leap Castore● Bevers Cardigan Fitz-Stephen The River S●●ccia Y-stwith The river Ridol Lords of Cardigan-shire Ordovices Veneti Guineth * Vannes Genounia
language is called Nesse The river Vedra or Were Witton Barons Evers or D'Eure Auk-land Vinovium Binchester As concerning the Mother Goddesses See in Lancashire Anno Christi 236. Votum solvit li ben merito .i. Paid his vow willingly and duly Branspath Castle Salt stones Dunelmus Durham or Duresme Gallilee For no woman might enter into Durham Church Beere-parke 1346. Battaile of Nevils Crosse Shrirburne Hospitall Finchdale Lumley Barons Lumley Chester upon the street Condercum Hilton Castle Glasiers first in England Ebchester Saint Ebba Saint Tabbs Girwy Iarrow Bede Basilicae Saint Bede Bishops of Durham See the Earles of Northumberland Mosses * Cespites Lanca-shire b●ufes Rochdale Cockley Mancunium * Centurionis Trafford Mosses when they come Firre trees in Caesars time grew not in Britaine Holecroft * Pincerne Winwicke Fishes digged out of the ground Ormeskirk Stanleys Earles of Derby Duglesse a riveret Wiggin Biggin what it is The family of the Hollands The Hollands coat of Armes * With flowres de Lyz. Bellisama Penigent Pendle hill Clowdesbery Penninae Alpes Pen in British what it is Clithero Whaley Riblechester In the house of Thomas Rhodes * Haply Decúrio Alae Asturum susceptum solvit ● votum libens lubens meritò Deae Matres Mother Goddesses See in the Bishopricke of Durham Plutarch in M. Marcellus Altars of the Gentiles Genes 8. Haply C. Al. for Centurio Alae Sarmatarum Out of William Lambards notes Ribodunum Coccium Penworth otherwise called Penverdant Preston Houghton Walton Ander-nesse The file Grenhaugh c●●stle A new mann of making 〈◊〉 Quick-sands The river Lu●● or Lone Salmons Over-burrow Bremetonacum Kernellare what it is Hornby castl● Barons Mon●●Eagle The Gunpowder treason Lancaster Fournesse Carthmell Winander-mere The fish Chare The booke of Fournesse Aldingham Harringtons Lords of La●●caster * Pictavensis or of Poictiers Walter Hemingford Ro. Hoveden pag. 373. b. Earle of Lancaster King of Sicily * De Cadurcis Dukes of Lancaster John of Gau King of Castile King Henry the fourth Parliament Roll 1. H. 4. The Barony of Kendale Lords of Kendale History of Fournesse The family o● Lancaster L. Par of Kendale Earles of Ke●dale Catadupe or Forses Ambleside Amboglana Baron Whatton Heartly castle * Burgus subs●xeto Burgh under Stanmore Burgus Vegetius lib. 4. cap. 10. Aballaba Apelby Whellep castle Gallatum Maiden way A. for A. Northren men call that a whin which the Southern men a burre Brovoniacum Brougham * Pientissimo Augusto Isan-parles Hanging wals of Marke Antony Fines Term. Mich. R. 6. H. 8. Vipounts Armes Earles of Westmorland Copeland Millum castle Raven-glas Hard-knot neer Wrinofe Irt a riveret See Plinie Pearles Saint Bees Egremont castle Lords of Copeland Liber Inq. The sea side fensed Moresby Deo Sylvano Cohors secunda Lingonum cui praest G. Pompeius M. Saturninus Morbium Hay castle Copper or brasse mines Veines of gold gold and silver See Ploidens Reports Keswike Skiddaw hill Guasmoric Epist. ad Sever. Catechumeni or hearers Armes of the Lucies and Percies * Pikes * Luces Culwen commonly Curwen Under Honorius and Arcdius Olenacum Decuriones Isidor l. 9. c. 4. Volantium Under Commodus Anno Christi 193. Gentiles or Heathen altars See in Lancashire Publii filius * Diis Manibus * Faciendum curavit Moricambe Holme Cultrain Michael Scotus Castra Exploratorum See as touching the Areans afterward in the Picts Wall Ala Augusta Gordiana at Il-Kirk * Iovi optimo maximo * Iovi optimo maximo * Iovi optimo maximo * An. Christ. 243 Wigton Thoresby * For Aram ex vot● Which the Scots call Solway Frith Blatum-Bulgium Bulnesse The beginning of the Picts Wall Solway Frith Trees within the ground Burgh upon sands 1307. Called Morvils de Burgh upon Sands Liber Inq. Edward the first Solway Frith The river Ituna or Eden History of Malrosse Dacre Barons Dacre Perith. Called in old time Haia de Plompton Petriana * Annos * Haply Faciendum procuravit * Peradventure in Cohorte * Dum. * Fratri filiae Titulum posuit Kirk Oswald Armanthwayt Corby castle Wetherall Virosidum Linstock Crosby Greystock The ancient Genealogie Barons de Greystock Mines of Brasse Congavata Carlile Luguvallum Lucus and Lugus what they signifie among the Britans and old Gauls Lugdunum Lucotecia or Lutetia in France The old Itinerarie lately imprinted sheweth that Lugdunum implieth a Desirable hill * Or de Micenis * Or de Micenis * Tumulum * Carissima Andrew Harcla Earle of Carlile * Or girdle Grayhams Barony of Liddel Liddesdale ●attaile at Sol●m mosse 1542. Batable ground Leven Scalby Castle Askerton Brampton Brementuracum Armaturae Veget l. 2. c. 7. In the yeere of Christ 216. * Fortissimo Caesari Lords of Gillesland Out of an old Missal Also R. Cook Clarenceux calleth him Radulph .i. Raulph So doth Manuscript bookes of Fountaines and Holme Maiden way Alone Kings of Cumberland * Florilegus Captaines or Rulers of Cumberland Earles of Cumberland Frontier senses or Forts writers termed Clusurae because they excluded the enemies and Praetenturae because they were set against or affront the enemies See P. Pithoeus in adversariis lib. 1. cap. 14. The Limits or Bounds of the Empire Tit. 43. Vallo Limitis Hence come Stationes Agartae in Vegetius The first fore-fense Bodo●●ia and Glotta S. Austin de Civ Dei l. 4. c. 19. The second fore-fense Rota temporum The third Fense The fourth Fense Murus Vallum Lib. 1. c 5. Why lands were given to the Captaines of the Marches Marcellinus lib. 38. About the yeere 367. * M●gister Off●ciorum The wall betweene Edenborrow Frith and Dunbrit●on Frith About the yeere of Christ 420. Alciatus calleth it the Breviary of Theodosius Souldiers placed in garisons and along the Wall * In Vastis The Wasts Areani certain discoverers lib. 28. Cornage The high-land Sco●s at this day call their little barges Carroches * The Paris edition hath Scytica Vallem and meaneth haply the Scottish sea The policy and wisdome of the Roman in setting of this wall Plants medicinable and wholsome MAEATAE Valentia Wardens of the Marches Rank-riders Very many Baronies in Northumberland Sea-coales Hexam-shire The river South-Tine Joh. Fordon Scoto-Chronicon Ca●r Vorran Posuit libens merito Anno Christ. 259. These two inscriptions are yet to be seene in Sir Robert Cottons house at Connington The goddesse Suria Capitolinus Some will have her to be Juno others Venus Suetonius in Nero. cap. 56. Alon River Seaven-shale Gallana North-Tine Tin-dale True plane Rhedesdale Lawes * i. Duplares Numeri exploratorum Bremenii Aram instituerunt Numini cjus Caepione Charitino Tribuno votum solverunt libentèr meritò * Deo Mogonti Cadenorum numini Domini nostri Augusti M.G. Secundinus Beneficiarius Consulis Habitanci Primas tam pro se suis posuit Primas * Either promoted to that place by him or by a dispensation exempt from souldiers services Cohors prima Vangionum Testa Nevilli * In Vastis Nomades Sheales and Shealings Clipches Cilurnum
Valentia Barle Clan-Ca●r Beare O Swilivant O Mahon Notium Promontorium The river I●rnus Earles of Desmond Vodiae a people Coriandi a people Muskeray Carbray Spaniard landed in Ireland and from thence driven Kerry-wherry Vicount Butiphant Baron Roch Vicount Fermoy Yoghall The Kay The kingdome of Corke Lismor Christian a Bishop Ard-mor Dessee Dungarvan Poers Barons of Curraghmore Waterford Earle of Waterford Steward of Ireland An. 28. H. 8. Conilagh Knoc-Patric Knight of the Valley Anno 11. Reg. Eliz. Limirick Clan-William Baron of Castle Conell Clan-Gibbon 13. Elizab. Fitz-Geralds Emely The lower Ossery The county of Holy Crosse of Tipperary Wood of the Crosse. Cassile Baron de Cahir Clomell Earle of Caricke Anno 9. Ed. 2. Ormond Butlers Earles of Ormond Anno 2. Ed. 3. Earle of Tipperary Wolf-men The disease Lycanthropia County of Kilkenny Upper Ossery Baron of upper Ossery Thomas Towne Callan Inis Teog The Statute of Absenties Barony Ydron Cavanaghs O More Out of a pamphlet of Patrick Finglas Hook-Tower Lease Mary Burgh Donemaws Rheba Baronet of Rheban Offaly Philips towne Kildar S. Brigid Ch. 9. Ed. 2. N. 12. Barons Fitz-Eustace Pat. 2. Ed. 4. Carausius Tintern Monastery Hieron a Promontory Cauci O Tooles O Birns Arklo Glynnes Wicklo lately made a county 1606. The Grounds Old-Court Poers Court Liffy river which Girald calleth Aven-Liff * That is the river L●ff Eblana Dublin Who also is named Abloicus Aulafus and Olavus Ioscelin of Furnes in the life of S. Patricke Lib. 2. verum Anglicar c. 26. Kaies * Upon Ausonius l. 2. c. 22. Dammensis All-Hallowes An University begun 1591. 13. May was the foundation laid 1593. Scholars were first admitted 1320. A Manuscript of Baron Hoult Thomas Court Statut. Parli 18. H. 8. c. 15. Tole-stale Marquesse of Dublin Pr. p. Pat. anno 9. Rich. 2. m. 1. Saint Laurence Barons of Houth Malchid Fingall Th. Stukely Marquesse of Leinster Laberus Barnwell Baron Trimlet stoun Baron Slane Navan Baronet of Navan Bishop of Meth. Molingar Barons Delvin Nogents Lords of Meth. Genevile Constables of Ireland Anale O-Pharoll River Senus or Sineus Shannin and Shannon Macolicum Malc Rigia Which others call Mare Bredunicum Nagnatae Gangani Concani Auteri Killaloe Catarracta Bunraty Clare Earles of Twomond Ilands of Arran Bed l. 4. c. 4. Ecclesiast hist. Logh-Corbes Gallwey The battell of Knoctoe 1516. Aterith Birminghams Clan-Ricard Earles of Clan-Ricard Archbishoprick of Toam or Tuen Maio. Killaley Bishoprick of Killaley Lib 4. cop 4. Logh-Mesk Galloglasses Mac-William who also is called Mac-William Eughter Cuttings Coyne Liverey c. Cause of Rebellions in Ireland Richard Bingham Nagnata Diploma l. 2. c. 6 Girald Cambren de expugnatio Hibern p. 787. Curlew hills Barony of Boyle Balin Tober Rog. Hoveden Anno 1175. pag. 312. John Perot Lord Deputy 1585. Uriel in Latin Urgalia Tredagh Mellifont Abbey Dundalk Carlingford Birmingham who also is called Brimicham Earle of Louth Baron Louth East Breany O Reily Kilmore Bishopricke Poore Bishops Lough-Ern Bal-tarbet Belek Mac-Mahon Fitz-Urse 1590. Charles Blunt L. Mont-joy Fewes Orry Mont-Norris Armach S. Patricke Vita Patricii Marianus Scotus The Irish shaving See Bed l. 5. c. 22. S. Bernard in the life of Malachy Lib. 1. Ceremoniar sacrar Sect. 14. Isanium the Promontory Dunum Downe Saint Patricks Sepulcher Robert de Monts de Immutatione Ordinis Monacho●um Banchor Abbay Pelagius the Arch-heretick In the life of Malachias Bishoprick of Coner Savage Upper Clane-Boy Knoc-Fergus Nether Clane-Boy Isle of Magie Glinnes Bissets James Mac-Conell The Rowt Mac-Guilly Surley Boy Chairly Boy Donluse River Ban. Glan-Colkein Salmons O-Cahan Uraights The election of O-Neal Scottish Ilanders Upper Tit-Oen Bishopricke of Cloghter Dunganon Baron of Dunganon Fort of Black-water Patricks Purgatory Regia Reglis Derry Robogdii Robogdium Promontory Vennicnii River Vidua Boreum Promontory Sligah ● Donegall O-donell Scoti In the life of S. Patrick Earles of Ulster An. 7. Ioannis See pag. 624. and 725. Ireland neglected Scoto-Chronicon lib. 12. cap. 26. Shan or John O Neale Thomas Earle of Sussex Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney Lord Deputy 1565. 1567. Hugh O-Neal Earle of Tir-Oen 1588. 1595. Die 12. Iunii Lord Generall of the Army Baron Burough Lord Deputie 1597. 1598. Robert Earle of Essex Lord Lievtenant 1599. 8 September 1599. 28. Septemb. 1599. Charles Blunt Lord Deputy 1600. The manners of the Irishry or wild Irish. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but in the Epitome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is feeding upon herbes and weeds O prefixed to the names of the Noblest men in Ireland by way of excellency Brehons Profession● hereditary Tanistry Girald Cambren Galloglasses Kernes Barritus Water-cresses Shamroots This place is corrupted in the copie The whole yeere out of an old fragment Haply Holl●wood Gresholme Stockholme and Scalmey Silimnus Bernacles Annales of Th. Otterborn Anno 7. H. 4. Scottish or westerne Iles. Earles of Orkney Thule Thule for Britaine Island Lib. 2. belli Gothici Shetland which some call Hethland Bergos Nerigon The frozen sea or Cronium Lindis-farne Holy Iland Farn Isle Bede in the life of Cuthbert Saxon Ilands Lib. 7. Birchanis Borkun The British Armory or Store-house Holland coast Britten huis Portus Morinorum Britannicus The Chamavi dwelt thereby as appeareth out of the Embassages of Eunapius Burgus what it is Zosimus l. 4. Saxons in Holland Janus Douza in his Nomenclator Britten an herb Zeland See pag. 333. 441. Toliapis Caunus Canvey See in Essex Shepey Goodwin Sands Some call it Lomea The British narrow sea Alderney Casquettes Gerzey Castra Constantia Moritavum Uraic Fucus marinus Sarnia Garnsey Haply Granon● by a transposition of letters which the N●●titia placeth i● the Tract of Armorica Smyris Normandy lost Tillet Serke Set-Iles Barsa Basepole Where the British sea is deepest Lisia by transposition of leters Silia * Sacrum Promontorium Non usque navibus we read in the notes of Paris Stella Maria. Ulpian lib. 7. de Mathematicis Axantos Ushant Siambis Mariners cal it the Seame Veneti Insulae Vene cae Vannes Venna Caro i. Charles Fi●shing as He●gardus saith Nesidae * Samnitum Bacchus Oleron Uliarus Lex Rhodia Admirall of England Hereditary territories in France belonging to the Crowne of England
names The Britwales or Welshmen a very warlike nation for many yeares defended their libertie under pettie-kings and albeit they were secluded from the English-Saxons by a Ditch or Trench which King Offa cast a wonderfull piece of worke yet otherwhiles by fire and sword they spoiled their cities and in like sort suffered at their hands all extremities of hostilitie whatsoever At the length in the raigne of Edward the First as he writeth of himselfe The Divine providence which in the owne dispose is never deceived among other good gifts dispenced by it and with which it hath vouchsafed our Kingdome of England to bee adorned hath converted now full wholly and entirely of her good grace the Land of Wales with the Inhabitants thereof subject before time unto to us by fealtie and service into our proper dominion and without any let or barre whatsoever hath annexed and united it unto the Crowne of the foresaid Realme as a part of one and the same bodie politicke Howbeit in the age next ensuing they could no way bee induced to undergoe the yoke of subjection neither could the quarrels by any means possibly be taken up nor the most deadly hatred betweene the two nations extinguished untill that King Henry the seventh who descended of them assisted the oppressed Britans with his gracious hand and King Henry the Eighth admitted them unto the same condition of Lawes and Liberties that the English enjoy Since which time yea and very often also before the Kings of England have had triall of their constant fidelitie and loyall allegiance As for those Cornwallians although they stoutly bent all their force together in defence of their Country yet soone became they subject to the Saxons as who neither matched them in number neither was their Countrey sufficiently fenced by nature to defend them Let this suffice that hath beene said touching the Britans and Romans but since we treat of the Inhabitants we may not in this place omit although wee have heretofore spoken thereof already that which Zosimus reporteth How that Probus the Emperour sent over into Britaine the Vandals and Burgundians whom he had overcome who having seated themselves here stood the Romans in good stead as oft as any one raised tumult and sedition But where they were planted I know not unlesse it were in Cambridge-shire For Gervase of Tilbury maketh mention of an ancient rampier or hold in that shire which he calleth Vandelsbury and saith it was the worke of the Vandals Neither let any man surmize that in the daies of Constantius the Poeni had their abode here grounding upon these words of Eumenius the Rhetorician Except perhaps no greater ruine had fallen upon Britaine and borne it downe than if it had beene drenched throughout and overwhelmed with the over-flowing of the Ocean which being delivered from the most deepe gulfe Poenorum began to appeare and shew it selfe at the view and sight of the Romans For in the old Copie belonging sometime to Humfrey Duke of Glocester and afterwards to the right honourable Baron Burghly Lord high Treasurer of England we reade Poenarum gurgitibus that is The gulfes of punishments and not Poenorum gurgitib For he seemeth to speake of the calamities and miseries wherewith Britaine was afflicted under Carausius Whereas Agathias in the second booke of his Histories hath these words Hunnica natio Britones sunt that is The Britons are a nation of the Hunnes I would have no man hereby raise a slander upon the Britans or thinke them to bee issued from the savage cruell Hunnes For long since Francis Pithaeus a very learned man hath averred unto mee and now of late I. Lewenclaius a right worthy Historian published in writing that in a Greeke Copie it is read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not Britones PICTS NOw let us come to the other Inhabitants of Britaine and first unto the Picts whom for Antiquitie next unto Britains the Historiographers have accounted the second Hector Boetius deriveth these from the Agathyrsti Pomponius Laetus Aventinus and others from the Germans some from the Pictones in France and Beda from the Scythians It hapned saith hee that the nations of the Picts came in long ships and those not many out of Scythia as the report goeth into Ireland and of the Scots whom they found there requested but in vaine a place of habitation by whose perswasion they went into Britaine and inhabited the Northerne parts thereof and that was about the yeare of our Redemption as many would have it 78. I for my part in so great a varietie of opinions know not which I should follow yet that I may speake what I suppose to be true and deliver mine owne judgement were it not that in this point the authoritie of venerable Beda did over-weigh all the conjectures of all others I would thinke that the Picts came from no other place at all but were very naturall Britaines themselves even the right progenie of the most ancient Britaines those Britans I meane and none other who before the comming in of the Romans were seated in the North part of the Island and of those who afterwards casting off the yoke of bondage as they are a nation most impatient of servilitie repaired unto these in the North. Like as when the Saxons over-ran the Isle those Britaines which would not forgoe their libertie conveied themselves into the Westerne parts of the Island full of craggie hils as Wales and Cornwall even so doubtlesse when the Roman warre grew hot the Britaines lest they should undergoe servitude which is of all the miseries the extreamest gat them into these Northerne parts frozen with the bitter cold of the aire full of rough and rugged passages and full of washes and standing meeres Where being armed not so much with weapons as with a sharpe aire and climate of their owne they grew up together with the native Inhabitants whom there they found unto a mightie and populous nation For Tacitus reporteth that the enemies of the Romans were by his wives father Agricola driven into this part as it were into another Island and no man doubteth but Britans they where which inhabited these remotest parts of the Island For shall we dreame that all those Britans enemies to the Romans which brought out thirtie thousand armed men into the field against Agricola who gave unto Severus so great overthrowes that of Romans and Associats he lost in one expedition and journey 70000. were killed up every mothers sonne and none left for seed and procreation that they might give roome unto forrainers out of Scythia and Thracia So farre am I from beleeving this although Beda hath written so much by relation from others that I would rather affirme they were so multiplied that the very soile was not able either to relieve or receive them and were enforced therefore to over-flow and over-whelme as it were the Roman Province which came to passe wee know afterwards when the Scots came in
of his pride and confident hope Forthwith he dispatched his Embassadours also unto William by way of insolent termes to menace him unlesse with all speed he retired backe into Normandie Yet William gave him a gentle answer and dismissed them with great courtesie Meane time Harold mustreth up souldiers in London and findeth that by the former battell against the Norwegians his forces were very much diminished yet a mightie armie hee levied of Nobles Gentlemen and others whom the love of their native countrey had raised and brought into the field for to put backe repell the common danger Presently he leadeth forth into Southsex notwithstanding his mother though in vaine did what she could to stay him and with an undaunted heart encamping upon a faire plaine scarce seven miles from Duke William sat him downe And thither also immediately the Norman approached with his Armie First there were secretly sent out on both sides Espies and they of the English part either not knowing the truth or disposed to lie made incredible report of the Normans number their furniture and provisiō of their good order also and discipline insomuch as Gyth a younger brother of King Harold a man renowned for martiall exploits thinking it no good policy to hazard all in the triall of one battel advertised the King that the events of war were doubtful that victories oftener depend of fortune than of valour that holding off and deliberate delay was the chiefest point of militarie discipline Also he advised him that in case he had made promise unto William of the Kingdom he should for his owne person withdraw himself for surely he could not with all his forces be fenced against his conscience and God no doubt would require punishment for breach of faith promise neither saith he wil any thing strike greater terrour into the Normans than if he should be levying and enrolling of a new Armie whereby they might bee received eftsoones with fresh battels Furthermore he assureth him in his owne behalfe that if he would commit the fortune of that battell into his hands hee would not faile to performe the part of a good brother and a valiant Captaine as who trusting upon the clearenesse of his heart and a good conscience might either more easily defeat his enemies or else more happily spend his life for his country The King was not well content to heare these admonitions and counsels which seemed to tend unto his dishonour for as he could willingly abide the event and issue of warre so in no wise could he endure the reproach of fearefull cowardise And therfore the praises of the Normans with bad words he depraved neither thought he that it would stand with his owne dignitie or the reputation of his former prowesse being now come as it were to the utmost point of perill and hazard like a milke-sop and dastard to draw foot backe and incurre the perpetuall staine and blot of shame Thus whom it pleaseth Almightie God to overthrow hee first maketh them uncapable of good counsell Whiles these matters thus passed between them Duke William upon a pious affection to preserve maintaine the state of Christendome and to spare the effusion of Christian bloud sendeth a Monke as a mediatour between both who proposed this offer condition unto Harold Either wholly to resigne up his Kingdom or to acknowledge from thence forth that he holdeth it of the Norman Duke as his superiour Lord or else to decide the quarrell with William by combate or at leastwise stand to the judgment of the Pope of Rome touching the Kingdom of England But he as one having no rule of himselfe and accepting of no condition whatsoever referred the whole triall of the matter to the tribunall seat of God made answer that the very next day following which was the second before the Ides of October he would bid him battell and this day upon a credulous errour he had assured himselfe would be fortunate unto him because it was his birth day All the night ensuing the Englishmen spent in licentious revels in riotous excesse of banqueting and in clamorous noises But the Normans bestowed the same in praiers and vows for the safetie of the armie and for victorie The next morning by day light they embattell thēselves on both sides Harold placed in the vant-guard the Kentish men with their billes and halberts for by an old custome the front of the battell was due to them and in the rereguard himselfe took place with his brother and those of middle England with the Londoners Of the Normans vaward Roger of Montgomerie and William Fitz-osberne had the leading the same consisted of horsemen out of Anjou Perch and little Britaine the most part of whom served under Fergentus the Briton The maine battell which stood of Poictovins Germans Geffery Mattell and a German Pensioner commanded In the rereguard was the Duke himselfe with the whole manhood of Normans and the flower of his Nobilitie and Gentrie But in every place were intermingled with the rest certaine companies of Archers The Normans having with no confused nor untunable shout sounded the battell and advanced forward with their Battalions at the first encounter did let flie lustily on every side a volley of arrowes like haile a kind of fight which as it was strange to the Englishmen so it terrified thē exceedingly for they flew so thick that they thought they had their enemies even in the midst of thēselves Then with a violent charge they assaile the vaward of the English and they for their parts who resolutely had determined to cover the place which they had taken up with their bodies rather than to give one foot of ground bending all their forces and keeping themselves close together right valiantly put the enemies backe and slew a number of them the Normans reenforced themselves againe upon them and with an horrible noise the battels of both sides gave the strok And now by this time were they come to the medley wherin as if foot to foot man to man they had coped together there was for a good while a fierce cruel fight The Englishmen standing thick close as if they had stuck one to another abid the brunt charge of the enemies with constant resolution insomuch as after many a bloudy wound received they were now at the point to have reculed had not William performing the part of a leader as well as of a souldier with his authoritie restrained them Thus the fight continuing still the Norman horsemen brake in upon them and withall from above the arrowes flew so thick about the English mens eares that they were in manner overwhelmed with them yet for all that they kept their array unbroken For Harold neglecting no dutie of a valorous Captaine was ready in person every where and William againe for his part bare himselfe as worthily who having one or two horses stabbed and slaine under him seeing that he could not
Townes able to set out a great fleet of Ships the inland parts have rich and plenteous mines of tinne For there is digged out of them wonderfull store of tinne yielding exceeding much profit and commoditie where are made houshold pewter vessels which are used throughout many parts of Europe in service of the table and for their glittering brightnesse compared with silver plate The Inhabitants doe discover these mines by certaine tinne-stones lying on the face of the ground which they call Shoad being somewhat smooth and round Of these Mines or tinne-workes there be two kinds the one they call Lode-workes the other Stream-workes This lieth in lower grounds when by trenching they follow the veines of tinne and turne aside now and then the streames of water comming in their way that other is in higher places when as upon the hils they dig very deepe pits which they call Shafts and doe undermine In working both waies there is seen wonderfull wit and skill as well in draining of waters aside and reducing them into one streame as in the underbuilding pinning and propping up of their pits to passe over with silence their devices of breaking stamping drying crasing washing melting and fining the mettall than which there cannot be more cunning shewed There are also two sorts of Tinne Blacke tinne which is tinne-ore broken and washed but not yet founded into mettall and white tinne that is molten into mettall and that is either soft tinne which is best merchantable or hard tinne lesse merchantable That the ancient Britans practised these tinne-works to omit Timaeus the Historian in Plinie who reporteth That the Britans fetched tinne out of the Isle Icta in wicker boats covered and stitched about with leather appeareth for certaine out of Diodorus Siculus who flourished under Augustus Caesar. For hee writeth that the Britans who Inhabited this part digged tinne out of stonie ground and at a low water carried the same in carts to certaine Ilands adjoyning From whence Merchants transported it by ships into Gaule and from thence conveied the same upon horses within thirtie daies unto the spring-heads of the river Eridanus or else to the citie Narbone as it were to a Mart. Aethicus also who ever hee was that unworthily beareth title to be interpreted by S. Hierome out of the Sclavonian tongue insinuateth the very same and saith That hee delivered rules and precepts to these Tinne-workers But it seemeth that the English-Saxons neglected it altogether or to have used the workmanship and labour of Arabians or Saracens For the Inhabitants in their language terme the mines forlet and given over Attal Sarisin that is the leavings of the Saracens if they did meane by that name the ancient Panims After the comming in of the Normans the Earles of Cornwal gathered great riches out of these mines and especially Richard brother to King Henrie the Third and no marvell sith that in those daies Europe had tinne from no other place For the incursions of the Mores had stopped up the tinne mines of Spaine and as for the tinne veines in Germanie which are in Misnia and Bohemia they were not as yet knowen and those verily not discovered before the yeere after Christs nativitie 1240. For then as a writer of that age recordeth was tinne mett all found in Germanie by a certain Cornishman driven out of his native soile to the great losse and hindrance of Richard Earle of Cornwal This Richard began to make ordinances for these tin-works and afterward Edmund his sonne granted a Charter and certain liberties and withall prescribed certaine Lawes concerning the same which hee ratified or strengthened under his seale and imposed a tribute or rent upon tin to be answered unto the Earls These liberties priviledges and lawes King Edward the Third did afterwards confirme and augment The whole common-wealth of those Tinners and workmen as it were one bodie hee divided into foure quarters which of the places they call Foy-more Black-more Trewarnaile and Penwith Over them all hee ordained a Warden called L. Warden of the Stanniers of Stannum that is Tinne who giveth judgement as well according to equitie and conscience as Law and appointed to every quarter their Stewards who once every iij. weeks every one in his severall quarter minister justice in causes personall betweene Tinner and Tinner and betweene Tinner and Forrainer except in causes of land life or member From whom there lieth an appeale to the Lord Warden from him to the Duke from the Duke to the King In matters of moment there are by the Warden generall Parliaments or severall assemblies summoned whereunto Iurats are sent out of every Stannarie whose constitutions do bind them As for those that deale with tinne they are of foure sorts the owners of the soile the adventurers the merchants or regraters and the labourers called the Spadiards of their Spade who poore men are pitifully out-eaten by usurious contracts But the Kings of England and Dukes of Cornwall in their times have reserved to themselves a praeemption of tin by the opinion of the learned in the Law as well in regard of the proprietie as being chiefe Lords and Proprietaries as of their royall prerogative Lest the tribute or rent imposed should be embezelled and the Dukes of Cornwall defrauded unto whom by the old custome for every thousand pound waight of tinne there is paid forty shillings it is by a Law provided that all the tin which is cast wrought be brought to one of the foure appointed townes where twice in the yeere it is weighed and signed with a stampe they call it Coinage and the said impost according paid neither is it lawfull for any man before that to sell or send it abroad under forfeiture of their tin And now only tin is here found but therewith also gold and silver yea and Diamonds shaped and pointed anglewise smoothed also by nature it selfe whereof some are as big as walnuts and inferiour to the Orient Diamonds in blacknesse and hardnesse only Moreover there is found Eryngium that is Sea Holly growing most abundantly every where along the shore Furthermore so plentifull is this countrey of graine although not without great toile of the husbandman that it hath not onely sufficient to maintaine it selfe but also affoordeth often times great store of corne into Spaine Besides a most rich revenue and commoditie they have by those little fishes that they call Pilchards which swarming as one would say in mighty great skuls about the shores from Iuly unto November are there taken garbaged salted hanged in the smoake laied up pressed and by infinite numbers carried over into France Spaine and Italie unto which countreys they be very good chaffer and right welcome merchandise and are there named Fumados Whereupon Michael a Cornish Poet and of Rhymers in his time the chiefe in his Satyre against Henrie of Aurenches Archpoet to King Henrie the Third because he had unreverently plaied upon Cornishmen as if
of the West Saxons built a Castle which Desburgia his wife raced and laid even with the ground after shee had expelled from thence Eadbritch King of the South-Saxons who now had made himselfe Lord thereof and used it as a bridle to keepe the countrey under that he had subdued When Edward the Confessour was King it paid tribute as wee find in the Kings Survey-Booke of England after the rate of fiftie and foure Hides and had in it threescore and three Burgers The Bishop of Winchester held it as Lord and his courts or Pleas were kept heere thrice in the yeere And these Customes appertaine to Taunton Burgherists Theeves Breach of peace hannifare pence of the Hundred and pence of Saint Peter de Circieto thrice in the yeere to hold the Bishops Pleas without warning to goe forth to warfare with the Bishops men The Countrey heere most delectable on every side with greene medowes flourishing with pleasant Gardens and Orchards and replenished with faire Mannour houses wonderfully contenteth the eyes of the beholders And among these houses those of greatest note are these Orchard which had in times past Lords of that name from whom in right of Inheritance it descended unto the Portmans men of Knights degree Hach Beauchamp and Cory Mallet bearing those additions of their Lords For this was the seat of the Mallets that came of the Norman race and from them in short time it fell by the female heire to the Pointzes From among whom in the raigne of Edward the First Hugh was ranged in the rank of Parliament Barons and out of that familie some remaine at this day of great reputation and Knights in their Countrey As for those Beauchamps or de Bello Campo they flourished in high places of honour from the time of King Henrie the Second but especially since that Cecilie de Fortibus which derived her pedigree from the Earles de Ferrarijs and that great Marshall of England William Earle of Pembroke matched in marriage with this familie But in the raigne of Edward the Third the whole inheritance was by the sisters divided betweene Roger de S. Mauro or Seimore I. Meries men of ancient descent and great alliance And hereupon it was that King Henrie the Eight when he had wedded Iane Seimor mother to King Edward the Sixth bestowed upon Edward Seimor her brother the titles of Vicount Beauchamp and Earle of Hertfort whom King Edward the Sixth afterwards honoured first wi●h the name of Lord and Baron Seimor to bee annexed to his other titles lest as the King saith in the Patent the name of his mothers familie should bee overshadowed with any other stile and yet afterward created him Duke of Sommerset As you goe from thence where Thone windeth himselfe into Parret it maketh a pretty Iland betweene two rivers called in times past Aethelingey that is The Isle of Nobles now commonly knowen by the name of Athelney a place no lesse famous among us for King Alfreds shrowding himselfe therein what time as the Danes now had brought all into broile then those Marishes of Minturny among the Italians wherein Marius lurked and lay hidden For touching that King an ancient Poet wrote thus Mixta dolori Gaudia semper erant spes semper mixta timori Si modó victor erat ad crastiná bella pavebat Si modó victus erat ad crastina bella parabat Cui vestes sudore jugi cui sica cruore Tincta jugi quantum sit onus regnare probarunt With dolour great his joyes were mixt his hope was joyn'd with dread If now he victour were next day of warres he stood affraid If vanquisht now the morrow next forthwith hee thought it good For to prepare for warre his sword was aye begoard in blood His garments eke with painfull sweat were evermore bestain'd Which well did shew what burden great he bare while that he raign'd And in truth this Isle afforded him a very fit shrowding corner for that by reason of waters partly standing there in plashes and partly resorting reflowing thither which Asserius termed Gronnas Latinizing a Saxon word there is in manner no accesse into it It had sometime a bridge betweene two castles built by Aelfred and a very large grove of Alders full of goates and wild beasts but of firme ground scarce two acres in breadth on which as saith William of Malmesbury whose words these are and not mine hee founded a little Monasterie the whole frame whereof hanged upon foure maine posts pitched fast in the ground with foure round isles of Sphaerick work contrived and brought round about the same Not far from this Isle Parret having received the said river runneth alone swelling with certaine sandy shelfes sometime in his channell by the Hundred of N. Pederton anciently acknowledging the Bluets to have beene Lords thereof who are thought to have brought that name from Bluet in litle Britaine Heere it taketh into him an other river from East to beare him company which openeth it self neere Castle Cary which William Lovell Lord thereof held against K. Stephen in the behalfe of Mawd the Empresse right inheritrix of the Crown of England whose issue male failing in the time of King Edward the Third by heire female it came to Nicolas de S. Maure a Baron of a distinct familie from that which was a few lines before mentioned and shortly after about the time of Henrie the Fift by an heire female againe to the Lord Zouches of Harringworth as a moitie of the lands of Lord Zouch of Ashby de la Zouch came before by coheires to the house of this S. Maures But when the Lord Zouch was attainted by K. Henrie the Seventh for assisting King Richard the Third this Castle was given by the K. to Robert Willoughby Lord Brooke as his lands at Bridge-water to the Lord Daubency and then hee was restored in bloud From Castle Cary this water passeth by Lites-Cary to bee remembred in respect of the late owner Thomas Lyte a gentleman studious of all good knowledge and so to Somerton the Shire towne in times past as which gave the name thereto A Castle it had of the West Saxon Kings which Ethelbald King of Mercia forcing a breach through the wals sieged and kept But now time hath gotten the mastry of it so as that there is no apparance at all thereof and the very Towne it selfe would have much a doe to keepe that name were it not for a Faire of oxen and other beasts which is kept there from Palme-Sunday untill the midst of Iune with much resort of people for that the countrimen all there about are very great Grasiers breeders and feeders of cattell No sooner hath Parret entertained this river but he speeds him apace toward a great and populous towne commonly called Bridg-water and is thought to have taken that name of the Bridge and water there but the old records and evidences gaine say this opinion wherein it is
alwayes called in plaine words Burg-water that is Walters burgh or Burgh-walter and as we may very probably conjecture of that Walter de Duaco or Doway who served under William Conqueror in his wars and received at his hands many faire mannors in this shire Neither carrieth it any other name in that grant or donation whereby Fulke Paynes Lord of Bampton passed the possession of the place over unto William Briwer to curry favour with him being so great a man and so gracious a favourite with King Richard the First This Williams sonne and bearing his name bettered this haven having obtained licence of King Iohn to fortifie a Castle built heere a Fortresse which now time hath wrought her will of and began a bridg which one Strivet a gentleman of Cornwall with infinite cost finished founded also the Hospitall of S. Iohn heere and Dunkeswell Abbay But when this William Briwer the younger left this life without issue in the partition of his heritage it fell to Margaret his sister in right of whose daughter that she had by William De la fort it came to the house of Cadurci or Chaworths and from it hereditarily to the Dukes of Lancaster as some lands heereabout by an other sister came to Breos and so by Cantalupe to Lord Zauch But the greatest honor that this place had was by the title of an Earldome that King Henrie the Eight adorned it withall what time as he created Henrie Doubeney Earle of Bridge-water whose sister Cecilie was married unto Iohn Bourchier the first Earle of Bath out of that house Beneath this some few miles off Parret voideth it selfe into the Severne sea at a wide mouth which as we said Ptolomee called Vzella aestuarium and some even at this day Evelmouth but the old English-Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at which place as Marianus mine author writeth Ealstan Bishop of Shirburne about the yeere of Salvation 845. discomfited the Danish forces as they were stragling abroad At the same mouth where we saw Honispell an ancient Mannour of the Coganes men of great fame in the conquest of Ireland there meeteth it another river called of some Brius which ariseth out of that great and wide wood in the East-side of this shire which the Britans named Cort Maur the Saxons Selwood that is by Asserius interpretation The great wood but now not so great This river first visiteth Bruiton to which he leaveth his name a place memorable for that the Mohuns there entombed who built a religious house of the Fitz-Iames runneth a long way by small villages and encreased with some other brooks it watereth goodly grounds untill it meete with softer soile then and there it maketh certaine marshes and meres and when the waters rise environeth a large plot of ground as an Isle so called of old time in the British tongue the Isle of Aualon of Appulis afterwards named Inis Witrin that is The Glassy Isle like as in the Saxon Idiome the same sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Latin Gloscania Of which a Poet of good antiquity writeth thus Insula pomorum quae fortunata vocatur Ex re nomen habet quia per se singula profert Non opus est illi s●lcantibus arva colonis Omnis abest cultus nisi quem natura ministrat Vltró foecundas segetes producit herbas Nataque poma suis praetonso germine sylvis The Apple-Isle and Fortunate folke of the thing so call For of it selfe it bringeth forth corne Forage fruit and all There is no need of country clowns to plough and till the fields Nor seene is any husbandry but that which nature yeelds Of the owne accord there commeth up corne grasse and herbs good store Whole woods there be that apples beare if they be prun'd before In this Isle under a great hill rising in great height with a tower theron which they call the Tor flourished the famous Abbay of Glastenbury the beginning whereof is very ancient setched even from that Ioseph of Arimathaea who enterred the bodie of Iesus Christ and whom Philip the Apostle of the Gaules sent into Britaine for to preach Christ. For thus much both the most ancient records and monuments of this Monasterie testifie and also Patrick the Irish Apostle who lived there a Monke thirtie yeeres in an Epistle of his hath left to memorie Whereupon this place was by our Ancestors named The first land of God The first land of Saints in England The beginning and fountaine of all religion in England The tombe of Saints The mother of Saints The Church founded and built by the Lords Disciples Neither is there any cause why we should much doubt thereof sithence I have shewed before that the beames of Christian religion in the very infancie of the primitive Church were spred and shined upon this Iland yea and Freculphus Lexoviensis hath written that the said Philip conducted barbarous nations neere unto darknesse and bordering just upon the Ocean to the light of knowledge and port of faith But to our Monasterie and that out of Malmesburie his booke touching this matter When that old Cell or litle chappell which Ioseph had built by continuance of time was in the end decaied Devi Bishop of Saint Davids erected a new one in the same place which also in time falling to ruine twelve men comming out of the North part of Britaine repaired it and lastly King Ina who founded a schoole in Rome for the training up and instruction of English youth to the maintenance thereof as also for almes to be distributed at Rome had laid an imposition of Peter-pence upon every house thorowout his realme having demolished it built there a very faire and stately Church to Christ Peter and Paul and under the very highest coping thereof round about caused to bee written these verses Syderei montes speciosa cacumina Sion A Libano geminae flore comante cedri Caelorum portae lati duo lumina mundi Ore tonat Paulus fulgurat arce Petrus Inter Apostolicas radianti luce coronas Doctior hic monitis celsior ille gradu Corda per hunc hominum reserantur astra per illum Quos docet iste stylo suscipit ille polo. Pandit iter coeli hic dogmate clavibus alter Est via cui Paulus janua fida Petrus Hic Petra firma manens ille Architectus habetur Surgit in hijs templum quo placet ara Deo Anglia plaude lubens mittit tibi Roma salutem Fulgor Apostolicus Glasconiam irradiat A facie hostili duo propugnacula surgunt Quod fidei turres urbs caput orbis habet Haec pius egregio Rex Ina refertus amore Dona suo populo non moritura dedit Totus in affectu divae pietatis inhaereus Ecclesiaeque juges amplificavit opes Melchi-sedech noster meritó Rex atque Sacerdos Complevit verae religionis opus Publica jura regens celsa palatia servans Vnica Pontificum gloria norma
Alice his onely daughter being wedded unto Richard Nevill augmented his honour with the title of Earle of Salisburie who siding with the house of Yorke was in the battell fought at Wakefield taken prisoner and beheaded leaving to succeede him Richard his sonne Earle of Warwicke and Salisburie who delighting in dangers and troubles enwrapped his native countrey within new broiles of Civill warre wherein himselfe also left his life The one of his daughters named Isabell was married unto George Duke of Clarence brother to King Edward the Fourth and shee bare him a sonne called Edward Earle of Warwicke who being a very child and innocent was by King Henrie the Seventh beheaded like as his sister Margaret suffered the same death under King Henrie the Eighth An usuall pollicie and practise among suspicious Princes For the securitie of their own persons and their posteritie by one occasion or other that evermore are soone offered and as quickly pickt to make away or keepe under the next of their bloud Anne the other daughter of Richard Nevill Earle of Warwick and Salisburie became wife to Richard Duke of Glocester brother to King Edward the Fourth and brought him a sonne whom his uncle King Edward in the 17. of his reigne created Earle of Salisburie and Richard his father usurping the kingdome made Prince of Wales But he departed this life in his tender yeares about that time that his mother also died not without suspition of poison King Henry the Eighth afterward about the fifth yeare of his raigne in a full Parliament restored and enabled in bloud Margaret daughter to George Duke of Clarence to the name stile title honour and dignitie of Countesse of Salisburie as sister and heire to Edward late Earle of Warwick and Salisburie And about the 31. yeare of the said King she was attainted in Parliament with divers others and beheaded when she was 70. yeares old Since which time that title of honour was discontinued untill in the yeare of our Lord 1605. our Soveraigne Lord King Iames honored therewith S. Robert Cecill second sonne of that Nestor of ours William Cecill upon whom for his singular wisedome great employments in the affaires of State to the good of Prince and Countrey he had bestowed the honorable titles of Baron Cecill of Essendon and Vicount Cranburn Thus much of the Earles of Salisburie Lower still and not far from this Citie is scituate upon Avon Dunctone or Donketon a burrough as they say of great antiquitie and well knowne by reason of the house therein of Beavois of Southampton whom the people have enrolled in the number of their brave worthies for his valour commended so much in rhyme to posteritie This Salisburie is environed round about with open fields and plaines unlesse it be Eastward where lieth hard unto it Clarindon a very large and goodly parke passing fit for the keeping and feeding of wild beasts and adorned in times past with an house of the Kings Of which parke and of the twentie groves inclosed therein Master Michael Maschert Doctor of the Civill lawes hath prettily versified in this wise Nobilis est lucus cervis clausura saronam Propter a claro vertice nomen habet Viginti hinc nemorum partito limite boscis Ambitus est passus mille cuique suus A famous Parke for Stag and Hind neere Salisbury doth lie The name it hath of one faire downe or hill that mounts on hie Within the same stand xx groves enclos'd with severall bound Of which in compasse every one a mile containes in ground Famous is this Clarindon for that heere in the yeare 1164. was made a certaine recognition and record of the customes and liberties of the Kings of England before the Prelates and Peeres of the Kingdome for the avoiding discentions betweene the Clergie Iudges and Barons of the Realme which were called The Constitutions of Clarnidon Of the which so many as the Pope approved have beene set downe in the Tomes of the Councels the rest omitted albeit Thomas Becket then Archbishop of Canterburie and the rest of the Bishops approved them all Heereby is Jvy Church sometime a small Priory where as tradition runneth in our grandfathers remembrance was found a grave and therein a corps of twelve foote and not farre of a stocke of wood hollowed and the concave lined with lead with a booke therein of very thicke parchment all written with Capitall Roman letters But it had lien so long that when the leaves were touched they fouldred to dust S. Thomas Eliot who saw it judged it to be an Historie No doubt hee that so carefully laied it up hoped it should be found and discover somethings memorable to posteritie Toward the North about sixe miles from Salisburie in these plaines before named is to bee seeene a huge and monstrous piece of worke such as Cicero termeth Insanam substructionem For within the circuit of a Ditch there are erected in manner of a Crowne in three rankes or courses one within another certaine mightie and unwrought stones whereof some are 28. foote high and seven foote broad upon the heads of which others like overthwart pieces doe beare and rest crosse-wise with a small tenents and mortescis so as 〈◊〉 le frame seemeth to hang whereof wee call it Stonehenge like as our old 〈◊〉 ●●rmed it for the greatnesse Chorea Gigantum The Giants Daunce The 〈…〉 whereof such as it is because it could not be so fitly expressed in 〈…〉 caused by the gravers helpe to bee portraied heere underneath as it 〈…〉 weatherbeaten and decaied A. Stones called Corsestones Weighing 12. tunne carrying in height 24. foote in breadth 7. foote in compasse 16. B. Stones named Cronetts of 6. or 7. tunne weight C. A place where mens bones are digged up Our countrie-men reckon this for one of our wonders and miracles And much they marvaile from whence such huge stones were brought considering that in all those quarters bordering thereupon there is hardly to be found any common stone at all for building as also by what meanes they were set up For mine owne part about these points I am not curiously to argue and dispute but rather to lament with much griefe that the Authors of so notable a monument are thus buried in oblivion Yet some there are that thinke them to bee no naturall stones hewne out of the rocke but artificially made of pure sand and by some glewie and unctuous matter knit and incorporate together like as those ancient Trophies or monuments of victorie which I have seene in Yorkshire And what marvaile Read we nor I pray you in Plinie that the sand or dust of Puteoli being covered over with water becommeth forthwith a very stone that the cesternes in Rome of sand digged out of the ground and the strongest kind of lime wrought together grow so hard that they seeme stones indeed and that Statues and images of marble chippings and small grit grow together so compact and firme
was built by the Danes but I should rather judge that something was here erected by the Romans and afterwards rased by Saxons and Danes what time as Sueno the Dane ranging and roving this way spoiled and harried the countrey That it was at length reedified under King William the first we know assuredly by Domesday book seeing that it yeeldeth record as even now I noted of eight Hages or Houses destroyed for the Castle Yet William Gemeticensis makes no mention of this Castle when he writeth that William of Normandie having defeited Harold led his armie forthwith to this citie so he termeth it and after he had passed over the Tamis at the ford pitched his tents heere before hee came to London At which time Wigod an Englishman was Lord of Wallengford who had one onely daughter given in marriage to Robert D'Oyley of whom he begat Mawd his sole heire first wedded to Miles Crispin and after his death through the goodnesse and favour of K. Henrie the first married unto Brient called Fitz Count Who being brought up in warlike feates and taking part with Mawde the Empresse most manfully defended this Castle against King Stephen who had raised a fort just over against it at Craumesh and he made it good untill that peace so much wished of all England was concluded in this place and that most grievous dissention about the Crowne betweene K. Stephen and Henrie the Second ended For then the love of God tooke such place in the hearts of the said Brient and his wife that they cast of this fraile and transitorie world and devoted themselves in religious life unto Christ so was this Honour of Wallengford escheated into the Kings hand Which appeareth out of an old Inquisition in the Exchequer by these words To his most beloved Lords the King our soveraigne Lord his Iustices and Barons of the Exchequer the Constable of Wallengford sendeth greeting Know ye that I have made diligent enquiry by the Knights of my Bayliwicke according to a commandement of my Lord the King directed unto me by the Sheriffe and of the Inquisition thus made this is the summe Wigod of Wallengford held the honour of Wallengford in King Harolds time and afterwards in the daies of King William the First He had by his wife a certaine daughter whom he gave in marriage to Robert D'Oyly This Robert begat of her a daughter named Mawd who was his heire Miles Crispin espoused her and had with her the honour aforesaid of Wallengford After the decease of Miles our soveraigne Lord King Henrie the first bestowed the aforesaid Mawd upon Brient Fitz Count who both tooke themselves to a religious life and King Henrie the Second seized the honour into his hand c. Yet afterwards in the time of King Henrie the Third it belonged to the Earles of Chester and then to Richard King of the Romans and Earle of Cornwall who repaired it and unto his sonne Edmond who within the inner Court founded a Collegiate Chappell who dying without issue it fell againe to the Crowne and was annexed to the Dukedome of Cornwall since which time it hath by little and little decaied And verily about the time when that most mortall Plague which followed the conjunction of Saturne and Mars in Capricorne reigned hotely throughout all Europe in the yeare of our Lord 1348. This towne was so dispeopled by reason of continuall mortalitie there that whereas before time it was passing well Inhabited and had twelve Churches in it it can shew now no more than one or two But the cause of this desolation the Inhabitants lay rather upon the bridges of Abbindon and Dorchester whereby London portway was turned from thence From hence Southward the Tamis passeth most mildly betweene very rich and fertile fields on both sides by Moules-ford which K. Henrie the first gave unto Girald Fitz-Walter from whence the Noble family of the Carewes is descended To this house much lands honour and reputation accrewed in Ireland by descent and in England by matching in marriage with right noble families of the Mohuns Dinhams and others Not farre from hence is Aldworth where be certaine tombes and portraictures bigger than the ordinary proportion of men which thereupon the unlearned multitude keepes a wondering at as if they had been Giants whereas indeed they were but of certaine Knights of the Family de la Beche which heere had a Castle and is thought in the raigne of King Edward the Third to have beene extinguished for default of issue male And now at length Tamis meeteth with Kenet which River as I said ere-while watering the South part of this shire at his first entry when he hath left Wiltshire behind him runneth under Hungerford named in old time Ingleford Charnam-street a very small towne and seated in a moist place howbeit it hath given name and title to the honorable family of the Barons of Hungerford which was first raised to greatnesse by Walter Hungerford who under King Henrie the Fifth being Seneschall or Steward of the Kings house was for his warlike prowesse liberally rewarded by the said king and infeoffed in the Castle and Barony of Homet in Normandie To have and to hold unto him and his heires males by homage and service to find the Kings and his heires at the Castle of Roan one Launce with a Fox taile hanging downe thereat which pleasant conceit I thought not a misse to insert here among serious matters The same Walter in the raigne of Henrie the Sixth being high Treasurer of England and created withall Baron Hungerford as well by his singular wisedome as his marriage mith Katherine Peverell descended from the Moels and Courtneys mightily augmented his state His sonne Robert who wedded the daughter and heire of the Lord Botereaux enriched the same house verie much Sir Robert likewise his sonne who matched with Eleanor the daughter and heire of William Molines whereupon he was summoned among the Barons of the Realme by the name of Lord Molines and during the civill warre betweene the two houses of Lancaster and Yorke was beheaded at Newcastle advanced the name not a little His sonne Thomas slaine at Salisbury while his father was living left his onely daughter named Marie whom Edward Lord Hastings tooke to wife with a great and rich Inheritance But Walter brother to the said Thomas begat Edward Hungerford father of that Walter whom King Henrie the Eighth created Baron Hungerford of Heitesbury and condemned him afterwards for a crime not to be spoken of howbeit Queene Marie restored his children unto all his estate save onely the name and title of Barons Not farre from hence Southward is Widehay the seat for a long time of the Baron Saint Amand whose inheritance Gerard Braybrooke entred upon in right of his wife whose eldest Niece by his sonne Gerard named Elizabeth by her marriage brought the same unto William de Beauchamp who being summoned to
fought with good successe and slew all the valiantest men amongst them Yet did hee little or no good to his native country the Danes evermore renewing their forces still as they were overthrowne like unto that serpent Hydra A little from the fountaines where this river springeth standeth Gatton which now is scarce a small village though in times past it hath beene a famous towne To prove the antiquitie thereof it sheweth Roman coines digged forth of the ground and sendeth unto the Parliament two Burgesses Lower than it is seated Rhie-gat which if a man interpret according to our ancient language is as much as the Rivers course in a vale running out farre into the East called Holmesdale the Inhabitants whereof for that once or twice they vanquished the Danes as they wasted the country are wont in their owne praise to chaunt this Rythme The vale of Holmesdall Never wonne ne never shall This Rhie-gate carrying a greater shew for largenesse than faire buildings hath on the South-side a Parke thicke sette with faire groves wherein the right Noble Charles Earle of Nottingham Baron of Effingham and Lord Admirall of England hath a house where the Earles of Warren and Southrey had founded a prety Monasterie On the East side standeth a Castle mounted aloft now forlorne and for age ready to fall built by the same Earles and of the vale wherein it standeth commonly called Holmecastle under which I saw a wonderfull vault carried under the ground of arch-worke over head hollowed with great labour out of a soft gritte and crombling stone such as the whole hill standeth of These Earles of Warren as wee finde in the Offices or inquisitions held it in chiefe of the King in their Baronie from the conquest of England Hence runneth this river downe by Bechworth Castle for which Sir Thomas Browne obtained of King Henry the Sixth the libertie of holding a Faire For it is the habitation of the Brownes Knights out of which family since our grand-father can remember when Sir Anthony Browne had married Lady Lucie the fourth daughter of Iohn Nevil Marquesse Mont-a-cute Queene Mary honoured his sonnes sonne with the title of Vicount Mont-a-cute Some few miles from hence Westward Effingham sheweth it selfe the possession not long since of William Howard son to that Noble Thomas Duke of Norfolke that triumphed over the Scots who being created by Queene Mary Baron Howard of Effingham made Lord High-Admirall of England was first Lord Chamberlain unto Queene Elizabeth of most happy memorie and then Lord privie Seale whose sonne Charles now flourisheth Lord great Admirall of England whom in the yeare of our Lord 1597. the same Queene Elizabeth honoured also with the title of Earle of Nottingham of whom more in my Annales but now returne we to the river The Mole now being come as farre as Whitehill whereon the Box tree groweth in great plenty at the foote thereof hideth himselfe or rather is swallowed up and thereof the place is called the Swallow but after a mile or two neere unto Letherhed bridge boyling up and breaking forth taketh joy to spring out againe So that the Inhabitants of this tract may boast as well as the Spaniards that they have a bridge which feedeth many flockes of sheepe For this is a common by-word most rife in the Spaniards mouthes as touching the place where their river Anas now called Guadiana hideth himselfe for ten miles together Thus our Mole rising up a fresh hasteneth faire and softly by Stoke Dabernoun so named of the ancient possessors the Dabernouns gentlemen of great good note afterward by inheritance from them the possession of the Lord Bray and by Aesher sometimes a retyring place belonging to the Bishops of Winchester And then very neare Molesey whereunto it giveth name sheddeth himselfe into the Tamis After Tamis hath taken unto him the Mole hee carrieth his streame Northwardly and runneth fast by Kingstone called in times past Moreford as some will have it a very good mercate towne for the bignesse and well frequented well knowne also in old time by reason of a Castle there belonging to the Clares Earles of Glocester Which towne had beginning from a little towne more ancient then it of the same name standing upon a flat ground and subject to the inundation of Tamis In which when England was almost ruinated by the Danish warres Athelstan Edwin and Etheldred were crowned Kings upon an open stage in the Market place and of these Kings heere crowned it came to be named Kingstone as one would say The Kings Towne Tamis now turning his course directly Northward visiteth another place which the Kings chose for themselves sometimes to sojourne at which of the shining brightnesse they call Shene but now it is named Richmond wherein the most mighty Prince King Edward the Third when he had lived sufficiently both to glory and nature died with sorrow that hee conceived for the death of that most valiant and Martiall prince his sonne which sorrow pierced so deepe and stucke so neere him and all England beside that it farre exceeded all comfort And verily at this time if ever else England had a good cause to grieve For within one yeare after it lost the true praise of military prowesse and of accomplished vertue For both of them by bearing their victorious armes throughout all France struke so great a terrour wheresoever they came that as the father might most worthily with King Antiochus carrie the name of Thunder-bolt so his sonne with Pyrrhus deserved to bee named the Eagle Heere also departed Anne wife to King Richard the Second sister of the Emperour Wenzelaus and daughter to the Emperour Charles the fourth who first taught English women the manner of sitting on horsebacke which now is used whereas before time they rode very unseemely astride like as men doe Whose death also her passionate husband tooke so to the heart that he altogether neglected the said house and could not abide it Howbeit King Henry the Fifth readorned it with new buildings and in Shene a pretty village hard by he joyned thereto a little religious house of Carthusian Monks which he called The house of Iesu of Bethelem But in the raigne of Henry the seventh this Princely place was with a woefull sudden fire consumed almost to ashes Howbeit rising up againe forthwith farre more beautifull and glorious as it were a Phaenix out of her owne ashes by the meanes of the same King Henry it tooke this new name Richmond of the title hee bare being Earle of Richmond before he obtained the Crowne of England Scarce had that Noble King Henry the Seventh finished this new worke when in this place he yeilded unto nature and ended his life through whose care vigilancy policy and forecasting wisedome for time to come the State and common-weale of England hath to this day stood established and invincible From hence likewise his sonnes daughter Queene
This Hubert was a man who unfainedly loved his Countrie amidst the stormes of frowning Fortune performed all duties to the utmost that his Countrey could require of a right good patriot Yet at length he fell in disgrace and was dispoyled of his dignities whereby this title slept and lay as dead untill the time of King Edward the Second Who bestowed it upon his younger brother Edmund of Woodstocke who being Tutor of his nephew Edward the Third falling into the tempest of false injurious and malignant envie was beheaded for that he never dissembled his naturall brotherly affection toward his brother deposed and went about when hee was God wot murthered before not knowing so much to enlarge him out of prison perswaded thereunto by such as covertly practised his destruction Hee had two sonnes Edmund and Iohn who were restored by Parliament to bloud and land shortly after And with all it was inacted that no Peere of the land or other that procured the death of the said Earle should bee empeached therefore than Mortimer Earle of March Sir Simon Beresford Iohn Matravers Baious and Iohn Devoroil So these his two sonnes succeeded in order and when they were both dead without issue their sister Ioane who survived them for her lovely beautie called The Faire maid of Kent brought this honour unto the house of the Hollands For Sir Thomas Holland her husband was stiled Earle of Kent and shee after married by dispensation to the Black Prince heire to him King Richard the Second Her sonne Sir Thomas Holland succeeded in that honourable title who died in the twentieth yeare of King Richard the Second Him againe there succeeded his two sonnes Thomas and Edmund Thomas who also was created Duke of Surry and forthwith for complotting a conspiracie against King Henry the Fourth lost his head leaving no child Edmunds his brother being Lord High Admirall of England was wounded at the assault of Saint Brieu in little Britan and died thereof in the yeare of Salvation 1408. leaving likewise no issue Now when this dignitie was expired in this family of the Hollands their glasse being runne out and the Patrimony parted among Edmund sisters King Edward the Fourth honoured with the title of the Earldome of Kent First Sir William Nevill Lord Fauconberg and after his death Edmund Lord Grey of Ruthin Hastings and Weisford and who had to succeed him George his sonne Hee of Anne Widevile his first wife begat Richard Earle of Kent who having wasted his inheritance ended therewith his daies issuelesse 1523. But the said George by his second wife Katherine daughter to William Herbert Earle of Pembrooke was father of Sir Henry Grey of Wrest knight whose grand-sonne Reginald by his sonne Henrie Queene Elizabeth in the yeare 1571. advanced to the Earledom of Kent And after his decease without issue his brother Henrie succeeded a right honourable personage and endued with the ornaments of true nobility This province hath parishes 398. DOBVNI HItherto we have walked over all those Countries that lie betweene the British Ocean of the one side and the Severne sea and river Thames on the other Now according to the order which wee have begun let us survey the rest throughout and passing over the said river returne to the head of Thames and the salt water of Severne and there view the DOBVNI who in ancient times inhabited those parts which now are termed Oxford-shire and Glocester-shire This their name I verily suppose came of Duffen a British word because the places where they planted themselves were for the most part low and lying under the hils whereupon the name became common to them all and verily from such a kind of site Bathieia in Troas Catabathmos in Africk and Deep-Dale in Britan tooke their names I am the more easily induced to believe this because I see that Dio in the very same signification hath named certaine people BODVNNI if the letters be not misplaced For Bodo or BODVN as Plinie saith in the ancient French tongue which I have proved before was the same that in the British language betokeneth Deepe Hence was it that the City Bodincomagus as he writeth became so called for that it stood where the river Po was deepest hence had the people Bodiontij that name who inhabited a deepe vale by the Lake of Lozanne and Geneva now called Val de Fontenay to say nothing of Bodotria the deepest Frith in all Britan. Concerning these Bodunj I have found in all my reading no matter of great antiquity save only that A. Plautius sent as Propraetor by Claudius into Britan received part of them upon their submission into his protection to wit those that were under Cattuellani for they held the region bordering upon them and as Dio hath recorded about the forty and foure yeare after Christ was borne placed a garrison over them But when the English Saxons reigned in Britan and the name of Dobuni was worne out some of these as also the people dwelling round about them were by a new English Saxons name called Wiccij but whereupon I dare scarce venture to guesse without craving leave of the Reader Yet if Wic in the Saxons tongue soundeth as much as the creeke or reach of a river and the Viguones a nation in Germanie are so called because they dwell neere unto the creekes or baies of the Sea and of rivers for so doth Beatus Rhenanus constantly affirme It will bee no absurditie if I derive our Wiccii from thence who inhabited round about the mouth of Severne which is very full of such Coves and small creekes and reaches GLOCESTRLAE Comitatus olim sedes DOBVNORUM GLOCESTER-SHIRE GLocester-shire in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which was the chiefe seat of the Dobuni on the West-side butteth upon on Monmouth-shire and Hereford-shire on the North upon Worcester-shire on the East upon Warwick-shire Oxford-shire and Barck-shire on the South upon Wilt-shire and Somerset-shire both A pleasant countrey and a fruitfull stretching out in length from North-east unto South-west The part that lyeth more East-ward rising up in height with hils and wolds is called Cotteswold the middle part settleth downe low to a most fertile plaine and is watered with Severne that noble river which doth infuse life as it were into the soile That part which bendeth more Westward on the further side of Severne is all over be spread with woods But what meane I to busie my selfe herein William of Malmesbury will ease mee of this labour who fully gives high commendations to this countrey Have therefore what he writeth in his booke of Bishop The countrey saith he is called of the principall Citie The vale of Glocester the ground throughout yieldeth plentie of corne and bringeth forth abundance of fruits the one through the naturall goodnesse onely of the ground the other through diligent manuring and tillage in so much as it would provoke the laziest body that is to take paines
Sir Walter Clifford in this Castle when the house was all on a light fire hee was killed with a stone that from the top of an high Turret fell upon his head and brained him Neither have I any thing else to be recounted in this wood-countrey beside Newnham a pretty mercate and Westbury thereby a seate of the Bainhams of ancient descent But that Herbert who had wedded the sister of the said Mahel Earle of Hereford in her right was called Lord of Deane frō whom that Noble house of the Herberts fetcheth their pedigree out of which family came the Lords of Blanleveney and of late daies the Herberts Earles of Huntingdon and Pembroch with others From hence also if wee may believe David Powell in his historie of Wales was descended Antonie Fitz-Herbert whose great learning and industrie in the wisedome of our law both the judiciall Court of Flees wherein he sate Iustice a long time and also those exact bookes of our common law by him exquisitely penned and published doe sufficiently witnesse But other have drawne his descent and that more truly if I have insight therein from the race of the Fitz-Herberts Knights in Derby shire The river Severn called by the Britains HAFFREN after it hath run a long course with a channell somewhat narrow no sooner entereth into this shire but entertaineth the river Avon and another brooke comming from the East Betwixt which is seated Tewkesbury in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by others Theoci Curia taking the name from one Theocus who there did lead an Eremites life It is a great and faire towne having three bridges to passe over standing upon three rivers famous for making of Wollen cloath and the best mustard which for the quicke heate that it hath biteth most and pierceth deepest but most famous in times past by reason of an ancient Monastery which Dodo a man of great power in Mercia founded in the yeare 715 where before time he kept his royall court as is testified by this inscription which there remained long after HANC AVLAM REGIAM DODO DVX CONSECRARI FECIT IN ECCLESIAM THIS ROIAL PALACE DVKE DODO CAVSED TO BE CONSECRATED FOR A CHVRCH And Odo his brother endowed the same which being by continuance of time and the fury of enemies ruinated Robert FITZ-HAIMON the Norman Lord of Corboile and Thorigny in Normandie reedified translating monks from Cranborn in Dorsetshire hither upon a devout mind verily and a religious that he might make some amends to the Church for the losse that the Church of Baieux in Normandie had sustained which K. Henry the first for to free him from his enemies had set on fire and burned and afterwards repenting that which he had done built againe It cannot writeth William of Malmesbury be easily reported how highly Robert Fitz-hamon exalted this Monastery wherin the beauty of the buildings ravished the eies and the charity of the Monks allured the hearts of such folke as used to come thither Within this both himselfe and his successours Earles of Glocester were buried who had a Castle of their owne called Holmes hard by which now is almost vanished out of sight Neither is this towne lesse memorable for that battell whereby the house of Lancaster received a mortal wound as wherein very many of their side in the yeere 1471. were slaine more taken prisoners and divers beheaded their power so weakened and their hopes abated especially because young Prince Edward the only sonne of King Henry the sixt a very child was there put to death and in most shamefull and villanous manner his braines dashed out as that never after they came unto the field against King Edward the Fourth In which respect Iohn Leland wrote of this towne in this wise Ampla foro partis spoliis praeclara Theoci Curia sabrinae quà se committit Avona Fulget nobilium sacrísque recondit in antris Multorum cineres quondam inclyta corpora bello Where Av'n and Severn meete in one there stands a goodly towne For mercat great and pillage rich there wonne of much renowne Hight Tewkesburie where noble men entombed many are Now gone to mould who sometimes were redoubted Knights in warre From thence we come to Deorhirst which Bede speaketh of scituate somewhat low upon the banke of Severn wherby it hath great losses many times when he over-floweth his bounds It had in it sometimes a little Monasterie which being by the Danes overthrowne flourished againe at length under Edward the Confessor who as we read in his Testament assigned The religious place at Deorhirst and the government thereof to Saint Denis neere unto Paris Yet a little while after as William of Malmesbury saith It was but a vaine and void representation of antiquitie Over against it lieth a place halfe incompassed in with Severne called in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Alney now the Eight that is The Iland Famous by the reason of this occurrence that when both the Englishmen and the Danes were much weakened with continuall encounters to make a finall dispatch at once of all quarrels the Fortune and destinie of both nations was committed to Edmund King of the English and to Canutus King of the Danes who in this Iland by a single combate tried it out unto whether of them the right of this Realme should belong But after they had fought and given over on even hand a peace was concluded and the kingdome divided betweene them But when streight upon it Edmund was dispatched out of the way not without suspicion of poison Canutus seized into his owne hands all England From Deorhirst Severne runneth downe by Haesfield which King Henry the Third gave to Rich. Pauncefote whose successours built a faire house heere and whose predecessours were possessed of faire lands in this Countrey before and in the Conquerours time in Wiltshire making many reaches winding in and out and forthwith dividing himselfe to make a river Iland most rich and beautifull in greene meddowes he passeth along by the head Citie of this Shire which Antonine the Emperour called CLEVVM and GLEVVM the Britans terme Caer Gloviè the English Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we Glocester the Vulgar sort of Latinists Glovernia others Claudiocestria of the Emperour Claudius as they imagine who forsooth should give it this name when hee had bestowed heere his daughter Genissa in marriage upon Arviragus the Britan. Touching whom Iuvenall writeth thus Regem aliquem capies vel de temone Britanno Excidet Arviragus Some King sure thou shalt prisoner take in chase or battaile heat Or else Arviragus shall loose his British royall seate As though hee had begat any other daughters of his three wives besides Claudia Antonia and Octavia or as if Arviragus had beene knowne in that age whose name was never heard of before Domitians time and scarce then But let them goe that seeke to build antiquitie upon a frame grounded on lies Rather yet would I
of a sumptuous and stately house which Edward the last Duke of Buckingham was in hand to build in the yeare of our Lord as the engraving doth purport 1511. when he had taken downe an ancient house which Hugh Audeley E. of Glocester had formerly built seven miles from hence Avon sheading it selfe into Severn running crosse before it maketh a division betweene Glocestershire and Sommersetshire and not farre from the banke thereof Pucle-Church appeareth being in times past a towne or Manour of the Kings called Pucle-Kerkes wherein Edmund King of England whiles he interposed himselfe betweene his Sewer and one Leove a most vilanous wretch for to part and end certaine quarrels betweene them was thrust through the body and so lost his life Nere bordering upon this place are two townes Winterburne which had for their Lords the Bradstons amongst whom S. Thomas was summoned amongst the Barons in the time of King Edward the Third From whom the Vicounts Montacute the Barons of Wentworth c. fetch their descent Acton which gave name to the house of the Actons Knights whose heire being married unto Nicolas Points Knight in K. Edward the second his daies left the same to their off-spring Derham a little towne in the Saxons tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Ceaulin the Saxon slew three Princes or chiefe Lords of the Britans Commeail Condidan and Fariemeiol with others whom he likewise put to the sword and dispossessed the Britans of that countrie for ever There remaine yet in that place huge rampie●s and trenches as fortifications of their campes and other most apparent monuments here and there of so great a war This was the chiefe seat of the Barony of Iames de novo Mercatu who begat three daughters wedded to Nicholas de Moelis Iohn de Boteraux and Ralph Russell one of whose posterity enriched by matching with the heire of the ancient family of Gorges assumed unto them the name of Gorges But from Ralph Russell the heire this Deorham descended to the family of Venis Above these is Sodbury knowne by the familie of Walsh and neighbours thereunto are Wike-ware the ancient seat of the familie De-la-ware Woton under Edge which yet remembreth the slaughter of Sir Thomas Talbot Vicount Lisle heere slaine in the time of King Edward the Fourth in an encounter with the Lord Barkley about possessions since which time have continued suites betweene their posterity untill now lately they were finally compounded More Northward I had sight of Durisley reputed the ancientest habitation of the Barkleyes hereupon stiled Barkleis of Duresley who built here a Castle now more than ruinous and were accounted founders of the Abbey of Kings-wood thereby for Cistertian Monkes derived from Tintern whom Maud the Empresse greatly enriched The males of this house failed in the time of King Richard the Second and the heire generall was married to Cantelow Within one mile of this where the river Cam lately spoken of springeth is Vleigh a seat also of the Barkeleis descended from the Barons Barkeley stiled of Vleigh and Stoke Giffard who were found coheires to I. Baron Boutetort descended from the Baron Zouch of Richards Castles alias Mortimer and the Somerus Lords of Dueley Beverston Castle not farre of Eastward appertained also to the name of Barkeleies but in former times to the Gournois and Ab-Adam a Baron in the time of King Edward the First Hitherto have we cursorily passed over the principall places in this Shire situate beyond and upon Severn and not far from his banke Now proceede we forward to the East part which I said riseth up with hilles to wit Cotteswold which of woulds and Cotes that is hils and Sheepfolds tooke that name For mountaines and hils without woods the Englishmen in old time termed Woulds whence it is that an Old Glossary interpreteth Alpes Italie The Woulds of Italie In these Woulds there feed in great numbers flockes of sheepe long necked and square of bulke and bone by reason as it is commonly thought of the weally and hilly situation of their pasturage whose wool being most fine and soft is had in passing great account among all nations Vnder the side of these hils and among them are to be seene as it were in a row neighbouring together these places following of more antiquity than the rest beginning at the North-east end of them Campden commonly Camden a mercat towne well peopled and of good resort where as Iohn Castoreus writeth all the Kings of Saxon bloud assembled in the yeare of Salvation 689. and consulted in common about making war upon the Britans In William the Conquerours time this Weston and Biselay were in the possession of Hugh Earle of Chester and from his posterity came at last by Nicolaa de Albeniaco an inherice to the ancient Earles of Arundel unto Roger de Somery Neere unto it standeth the said Weston a place now to bee remembred in regard of a faire house which maketh a goodly shew a farre off built by Ralph Sheldon for him and his Posterity Hales in late time a most flourishing Abbay built by Richard Earle of Cornwall and King of Romanes who was there buried with his Wife Sanchia daughter to the Earle of Province and deserving commendation for breeding up of Alexander of Hales a great Clerke and so deepely learned above all others in that subtile and deepe Divinity of the Schoole men as he carryed away the sirname of Doctor Irrefragabilis that is the Doctor ungain-said as he that could not be gain-said Sudley in times past Sudlengh a very faire Castle the seat not long since of Sir Thomas Seimor Baron Seimor of Sudley and Admirall of England attainted in the time of king Edward the Sixth and afterward of Sir John Bruges whom Queene Mary created Baron Chandos of Sudley because he derived his pedegree from the ancient family of Chandos out of which there flourished in the raigne of Edward the third Sir John Chandos a famous Baneret Vicount of Saint Saviours L of Caumont and Kerkito● in France a martiall man and for military Prowesse every way most renowned But in old time certaine Noblemen here dwelt and of it had their addition de Sudley descended of a right ancient English Race to wit from Gorda K. Aetheldreds daughter whose son Ralph Medantinus Earle of Hereford begat Harold L. of Sudley whose progeny flourished here a long time untill for default of issue male the daughter and heire matched in marriage with Sir William Butler of the family of Wem and brought him a sonne named Thomas and he begat Ralph Lord Treasurer of England created by king Henry the Sixth Baron of Sudley with a fee of 200. markes yearely who repaired this castle and enlarged it with new buildings His sisters and coheires were married unto the houses of Northbury and Belk●ape and by their posterity the possessions in short time were divided into
Surrey Iohn Holland Earle of Huntingdon late Duke of Excester Iohn Montacute Earle of Salisbury Thomas de Spenser Earle of Glocester and others who being by him dispoiled of their honors and maligning his usurpation conspired to take away his life and here by the townesmen intercepted were some of them slaine outright and others beheaded The river Churne when it hath left Circester behinde him six miles neere to Dounamveny an ancient seate of the Hungerfords joyneth with Isis. For ISIS commonly called Ouse that it might bee by originall of Glocester-shire hath his head there and with lively springs floweth out of the South border of this shire nere unto Torleton an upland Village not farre from that famous Port-way called the Fosse This is that Isis which afterwards entertaineth Tame and by a compound word is called Tamisis Soveraigne as it were of all the Britain Rivers in Britaine of which a man may well and truely say as ancient Writers did of Euphrates in the East part of the World that it doth both Sow and Water the best part of Britaine The poeticall description of whose Source or first head I have heere put downe out of a Poem entituled The Marriage of Tame and Isis which whether you admit or omit it skilleth but little Lanigeros quà lata greges Cotswaldia pascit Crescit in colles faciles visura Dobunos Haud procul à Fossa longo spelunca recessu Cernitur abrupti surgente crepidine clivi Cujus inauratis resplendent limina tophis Atria tegit ebur tectúmque Gagate Britanno Emicat alterno solidantur pumice postes Materiam sed vincit opus cedúntque labori Artifici tophus pumex ebur atque Gagates Pingitur hinc vitrei moder atrix Cynthia regni Passibus obliquis volventia sydera lustrans Oceano tellus conjuncta marita marito Illinc caelatur fraternáque flumina Ganges Nilus Amazonius tractúsque binominis Istri Vicini Rheni sed his intermicat auro Vellere Phrixae● dives redimitáque spicis Clara triumphatis erecta BRITANNIA Gallis c. Vndoso hîc solio residet regnator aquarum ISIS fluminea qui majestate verendus Caeruleo gremio ●esupinat prodigus urnam Intonsos crines i●vis arundine cinctus Cornua cana liqu●nt fluitantia lumina lymphis Dispergunt lucem propexa in pectore barba Tota madet toto distillant corpore guttae Et salientis aquae prorumpunt undique venae Pisciculi liquidis penetralibus undique ludunt Plurimus cygnus niveis argenteus alis Pervolitat circum c. Where Cotswald spred abroad doth lie and feed faire flocks of sheepe And Dobunes for to see in downes ariseth nothing steepe Within a nouke along not much the Fosse and it betweene Just at the rising of a banke upright a Cave is seene Whereof the entry glistereth with soft stones richly guilt The Haull is seel'd with Ivory the roufe aloft ybuilt Of Geat the best that Britaine yeelds The pillers very strong With Pumish laid each other course are raised all along The stuffe full faire yet Art doth it surpasse and to the feate Of Artisan give place the gold stones Yv'ry and Geat Heere painted is the Moone that rules the Sea like Chrystall Glasse As she through rolling Signes above with traverse course doth passe And there againe enchaced are both land and Ocean wide Conjoyn'd as man and wife in one with Rivers great beside Like brethren all as Ganges rich strange Nilus Tanais Yea and the course of Ister large which double named is Of Rhene also a neighbour streame And heere bedight in gold Among them glitt'reth Britanny with riches manifold Of golden fleece a Coronet of Wheat-eares she doth weare And for her triumph over France her head aloft doth reare c. In waving Throne heere sits the King of waters all and some ISIS who in that Majestie which Rivers doth become All rev'rend from his watchet lap powr's forth his streame amaine With weed and reed his haires tuckt up that grow both long and plaine His hoary hornes distilling runne with water stand his eyes And shoot from them a lustre farre his kembed beard likewise Downe to the brest wet-through doth reach his body drops againe All over and on every side breakes out some water veine In secret watrish room 's within the little fishes play And many a silver Swan besides his white wings doth display And flutter round about c. As touching the Earles of Glocester some there be who have thrust upon us one William Fitz-Eustace for the first Earle who this was I have not yet found and I verily beleeve hee is yet unborne But that which I have found I will not conceale from the Reader About the comming in of the Normans wee reade that one Bithricke an English Saxon was Lord of Glocester whom Maud wife to William Conquerour upon a secret rankor and hatred conceived against him for his contempt of her beauty for Bithrick had before time refused to marry her troubled and molested most maliciously And when shee had at length cast him in Prison Robert Fitz-Haimon Lord of Corboile in Normandy was by the King endowed with his possessions who in a battaile having received a wound with the push of a pike upon the temples of his head had his wits crackt therewith and survived a good while after as a man bestraught and madde His daughter Mabil whom others name Sibill Robert the base sonne of King Henry the First by the intercession of his father obtained for his wife but not before he had made him Earle of Glocester This is hee who is called commonly by Writers The Consull of Glocester A man of an haughty valorous minde and undaunted heart as any one in that age and who being never dejected with any adversity wanne great praise for his fidelity and worthy exploits in the behalfe of his sister Maude the Empresse against Stephen then usurping the Crowne of England This honourable Title left he unto his son William who dejected with comfortlesse griefe when death had deprived him of his onely son and heire assured his estate with his eldest daughter to Iohn son to King Henry the Second with certaine provisoes for his other daughters Yet his three daughters brought this Earldome into as many families For Iohn when he had obtained the Kingdome repudiated her upon pretenses as well that she was barren as that they were within prohibited degrees of consanguinity and reserving the Castle of Bristow to himselfe after some time passed over his repudiated wife with the Honor of Glocester to Geffrey Mandevil son of Geffrey Fitz Peter Earle of Essex for 20000. markes who thus over-marrying himselfe was greatly impoverished and wounded in Tournament died soone after issuelesse and she being remarried to Hubert of Burgh died immediately Then K. Iohn upon an exchange granted the Earldome of Glocester to Almary Earle of Eureux son to the eldest daughter of the foresaid E.
tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other lying under it North-ward is named the Vale. Chiltern got that name according to the very nature of the soile of Chalky marle which the ancient English men termed Cylt or Chilt For all of it mounteth aloft with whitish hills standing upon a mixt earth of Clay and Chalke clad with groves and woods wherein is much Beech and it was altogether unpassable in times past by reason of trees untill that Leofstane Abbot of Saint Albans did cut them downe because they yeelded a place of refuge for theeves In it where the Tamis glideth at the foote of those hills with a winding course standeth Marlow a prety towne of no meane credite taking name of the said Chalke commonly tearmed Marle which being spred upon Corne ground eaten out of heart with long tillage doth quicken the same againe so as that after one yeeres rest it never lieth fallow but yeeldeth againe unto the Husband-man his seed in plentifull measure Nere unto this a rill sheaddeth it selfe in the Tamis making way through low places and where it turneth hath a towne upon it called High Wickham or Wicombe rather which happily thereof tooke the name considering that the German Saxons terme any winding reach of river and sea a Wicke and Combe a low Valle. And very many places wee meet withall in England named in that respect This towne for largenesse and faire building is equall to the greatest townes in this shire and in that it hath a Major for the Head-Magistrate worthily to bee preferred before the rest About the time of the Normans comming in Wigod of Wallengford was Lord both of the Burgh of Wicomb and also of the Villa forinseca I speake according to the Record of the ancient Inquisition that is The out Hamlet or Bery After whose death King Henry the first laid it unto the Crowne But King John at the length divided the said Out Berry betweene Robert de Vi-pa●●t and Alane Basset North off Wicomb mounteth up aloft the highest place of this Region and thereof it retaineth still the British name Pen. For the head or eminent top of a thing is with them called Pen and hence it is that the Pennine Alpes the Ap●●nine and many Mountaines among us tooke their names Nere unto this Wickham or Wicomb is Bradenham seated in a very commodious and wholsome place which now is become the principall habitation of the Barons of Windesor concerning whom I have already spoken in Barke-shire ever since that in the memory of our fathers William Lord Windesor seated himselfe here whose father S. Andrew descended from the old stemme of ancient Barons King Henry the Eighth dignified with the honour of Baron Windesor Tamis having entertained the said Ri●● commeth downe with a rolling streame by Aelan famous for a Colledge the nour●e garden as it were or plant plot of good letters which that most vertuous and godly Prince K. Henry the Sixt as I have already said first founded And some few miles forward the river Cole entreth into Tamis which running here betweene Buckinghamshire and Middlesexe giveth name unto the towne Colbroke which was that PONTES whereof Antonine the Emperour maketh mention as the distance on both sides from Wallingford and London doth witnesse Neither is there any other place else in the way that leadeth from Wallingford to London to which the name of Pontes that is Bridges might be more fitly applied For this Cole is here parted into foure channels over which stand as many bridges for the commodity of passengers whereof that it tooke this name the very signification of the word doth plainly shew Like as Gephyrae a towne in Bo●etia and another Pontes in France where the County of Ponthieu our Tunbridg and others are so called of Bridges This County of Ponthieu to note so much by the way descended to the Kings of England in the right of Aeleanor the wife of King Edward the First who by her mothers right was sole and entire Heire of the same Cole by these severall partitions of his streames compasseth in certaine pleasant Ilands into which the Danes fled in the yeere of our Lord 894. when Aelfred preassed hard upon them and there by the benefit of the place defended themselves untill the English for want of provisions were forced to breake up Siege and leave them At this divorce and division of the waters Eure or Ever a little Towne sheweth it selfe which when K. Richard the First had given unto Sir Robert Fitz-Roger Lord of Clavering his younger sonnes of this place assumed their surname to wit Hugh from whom the Barons of Eure and Robert from whom the Family of Eure in Axolme is sprung and spred Farther within Land are these places which I may not passe over Burnham better knowne by the Hodengs Lord Huntercombs and Scudamores who were Lords thereof and of Beacons-field successively by inheritance than by it selfe Stoke Pogeis so called of the Lords thereof in old time named de Pogeis and from them hereditarily devolved upon the Hastings of whose race Edward Baron Hastings of Loughborrow founded here an Hospitall for poore people making himselfe one of their society and his nephew by the brother Henry Earle of Huntingdon built a very faire house and Fernham the very same if I bee not deceived which was called Fernham Roiall and which in times past the Barons Furnivall held by service of finding their Soveraigne Lord the King upon the day of his Coronation a glove for his right hand and to support the Kings right arme the same day all the while hee holdeth the rega●● Verge or Scepter in his hand From the Furnivalls it came by the daughter of Thomas Nevill unto the Talbots Earles of Shrewsbury who although by exchange they surrendred up this Manour unto King Henry the Eight yet they reserved this honourable Office still to them and their Heires for ever This Cole carrieth downe with him another riveret also which somewhat above from the West sheddeth it selfe into it upon it we saw first Missenden where stood a religious House that acknowledged the D'Ollies their founders and certaine Gentlemen surnamed De Missenden their especiall benefactours upon a vow for escaping a ship-wracke And then in the Vale Amersham in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which vaunted it selfe not for faire buildings nor multitude of inhabitants but for their late Lord Fr●ncis Russe●● Earle of Bedford who being the expresse paterne of true Piety and noblenesse lived most dearely beloved of all good men But the principall seate of the Earles of Bedford is called Cheineis standing more East-ward where both Iohn the first Earle out of this Family and that noble Francis his sonne lye entombed together Unto which adjoyneth on the one side Latimers so named of the Lords thereof I meane those more ancient Barons Latimer before time called Islehamsted where Sir Edwin Sands Knight who
and a man may truly suppose that those two Castles which Fitz-Stephen recorded to have beene at the East side of this City went both to the making of this one The other Fort was on the West side of the City where Fleete a little Riveret whence Fleete-streete tooke name now of no account but in times past able to beare Vessels as I have read in the Parliament Rolls sheddeth it selfe into the Tamis Fitz-Stephen called this the Palatine Towre or Castle and they write that in the Raigne of William the Conquerour it was consumed by fire Out of the ruines whereof both a great part of Pauls Church was newly built and also in the very plot of ground where it stood Robert Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury founded a religious house for Dominican Friers whereupon we call the place Blacke Friers Whereby a man may easily guesse of what bignesse it was Howbeit there stood in that place in the dayes of king Henry the second Gervase of Tilbury in his booke entituled Otia Imperiatia is mine Authour two Forts or Castles built with Wals and Rampiers The one whereof belonged to Bainard the other to the Barons of Montfichet by right of succession But nothing remaineth of them at this day Yet some thinke that Pembroch house was a peece of them which we terme Bainards Castle of William Bainard a Noble man Lord of Dunmow whose possession sometime it was whose successours the Fitz-walters were in right of inheritance the Ensigne Bearers of the City of London and amongst them Robert Fitz-walter had licence of king Edward the First to sell the site of Bainard Castle to the said Archbishop Robert Neither was this City at that time walled onely but also when the Flamin or Pagan Priest was taken away and Christian Religion established under that good Emperour a Bishop was enstalled in his roome For it appeareth that at the Councell of Arles which in the yeare of grace 314. was held under Constantine the Great the Bishop of London was present For he subscribed as is to be seene in the first Tome of the Councels in this manner RESTITUTUS Bishop in the City of London out of the Province of Britaine which Restitutus and his successors had their seat and resiance as some affirme at Saint Peters in Cornhill Heereafter London flourished in such honour that it beganne to bee called AUGUSTA and by that name was famous under the Emperour Valentinian For Amianus Marcellinus in his 27. booke writeth thus And going forward to London an ancient Towne which the posterity called Augusta and in the 28. booke He went from Augusta which men of old time called Lundi whence it came that when after Constantines time there was a Mint appointed therein For we reade in his peeces of money which he stamped in honour of his father Constantius and in others this inscription P. LON. S. that is Pecunia Londini signata that is Money stamped at London he that had the charge and overseeing thereof under the Comes sacrarum largitionum is in the booke of Notice termed Praepositus Thesaurorum Augustensiam in Britannia that is Provost of the Treasury of Augusta or London in Britaine For this name AUGUSTA was a name full of much dignity full of majesty And both founders and repairers of Cities when they either hoped or wished that such Cities would become flourishing and powerfull gave them significative names of good fortune But among the most auspicious names that be none is more magnificent none more auspicate than AUGUSTA For this of AUGUSTUS that most gracious and mighty Emperour Octavianus tooke unto himselfe not without the judgement of the best learned Sirnamed he was saith Dio Augustus as one of great Majesty above the nature of man For what things be most honourable and sacred are called AUGUSTA Neither had London this name for so high an honour without the Licence of the Romane Emperours For that names could not bee imposed to Cities without licence Virgil noteth in that Verse of his Urbem appellabant permisso nomine Acestam The City by permission ACESTA they did name But as continuance of time hath out-worne this so honorable a name of Augusta so it hath confirmed that other more ancient name Londinum Whiles it enjoyed the foresaid name Augusta it scaped faire from destruction by a rebellious rout of Ransackers but Theodosius the father of Theodosius the Emperour did cut them in peeces whiles they were encombred with their spoiles and entred as Marcianus saith with exceeding great joy in triumphant manner into the City distressed before and overwhelmed with grievous calamities And marching with his Army from thence he by his valiant prowesse so freed Britain from those intolerable miseries and dangers wherewith it was beset that the Romans as witnesseth Symmachus honored him among other ancient worthies and men of honourable Renowne with the Statue of a man of Armes Not long after when the Romans Empire in Britaine was come to an end in that publique destiny and fatall fall of the whole State it fell into the English-Saxons hands but in what sort it is not agreed upon among Writers For mine owne part I am of opinion that Vortigern to redeeme himselfe being taken Prisoner delivered it for his ransome unto Hengest the Saxon considering that it belonged to the East-Saxons whose Country as Writers doe record Vortigerne upon that condition made over unto Hengest At which time the State of the Church went to wracke and endured sore afflictions the Pastours were either slaine or forced to flye their flockes driven away and after havocke made of all as well Church goods as others Theon the last Bishop of London of British bloud was faine to hide the holy Reliques of Saints for a memoriall as mine Authour saith and not for any Superstition But although those dayes of the English-Saxons were such as that a man might truely say Mars then brandished and shooke his weapons yet was London never the lesse as Bede testifieth a Towne of Trade and Traffique Frequented with many Nations resorting thither by sea and land But afterwards when a more gracious gale of peace breathed favourably upon this wearied Island and the English-Saxons beganne to professe Christianity it also beganne a fresh to flourish againe For Aethelbert King of Kent under whom Sebert reigned in this Tract as it were his Vassall and by courtesie founded heere a Church and consecrated it to Saint Paul which being eftsoones reedified and repaired became at length most stately and magnificent endowed also with faire Livings and Revenewes wherewith are maintained a Bishop a Deane and Chaunter a Chancellour and a Treasurer five Archdeacons thirty Prebendaries and divers others The East part of this Church which seemeth to bee the newer and curiously wrought having under it a very faire Arched Vault which also is Saint Faithes Church was begunne of the ruines of that Palatine Castle which I speake of by Maurice the Bishop about the
Lancaster second son of K. Henry the third and his wife Aveline de fortibus Countesse of Albemarle William and Audomar of Valence of the family of Lusignian Earles of Pembroch Alphonsus Iohn and other children of King Edward the First Iohn of Eltham Earle of Cornwall son to K. Edward the second Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester the yongest son of K. Edward the third with other of his children Aeleanor daughter and heire of Humfrey Bohun Earle of Hereford and of Essex wife to Thomas of Woodstocke the yong daughter of Edward the fourth and K. Henry the seventh Henry a childe two months old son of K. Henry the eight Sophia the daughter of K. Iames who died as it were in the very first day-dawning of her age Phillippa Mohun Dutches of Yorke Lewis Vicount Robsert of Henault in right of his wife Lord Bourchier Anne the yong daughter and heire of Iohn Mowbray Duke of Norfolke promised in marriage unto Richard Duke of Yorke yonger son to K. Edward the fourth Sir Giles Daubency Lord Chamberlaine to king Henry the Seventh and his wife of the house of the Arundels in Cornwall I. Vicount Wells Francis Brandon Dutches of Suffolke Mary her daughter Margaret Douglasse Countesse of Lennox grandmother to Iames King of Britaine with Charles her son Winifrid Bruges Marchionesse of Winchester Anne Stanhop Dutches of Somerset and Iane her daughter Anne Cecill Countesse of Oxford daughter to the L. Burghley Lord high Treasurer of England with Mildred Burghley her mother Elizabeth Berkeley Countesse of Ormund Francis Sidney Countesse of Sussex Iames Butler Vicount Thurles son and heire to the Earle of Ormond Besides these Humfrey Lord Bourchier of Cromwall Sir Humfrey Bourchier son and heire to the Lord Bourchier of Berners both slaine at Bernet field Sir Nicholas Carew Baron Carew Baronesse Powisse T. Lord Wentworth Thomas Lord Wharton Iohn Lord Russell Sir T. Bromley Lord Chancellour of England Douglas Howard daughter and heire generall of H. Vicount Howard of Bindon wife to Sir Arthur Gorges Elizabeth daughter and heire of Edward Earle of Rutland wife to William Cecill Sir Iohn Puckering Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England Francis Howard Countesse of Hertford Henrie and George Cary the father and sonne Barons of Hunsdon both Lords Chamberlaines to Queene Elizabeth the heart of Anne Sophia the tender daughter of Christopher Harley Count Beaumont Embassadour from the king of France in England bestowed within a small guilt Urne over a Pyramid Sir Charles Blunt Earle of Devonshire Lord Lieutenant Generall of Ireland And whom in no wise wee must forget the Prince of English Poets Geoffry Chauer as also he that for pregnant wit and an excellent gift in Poetry of all English Poets came neerest unto him Edmund Spencer Beside many others of the Clergy and Gentlemen of quality There was also another College or Free-chapell hard by consisting of a Deane and twelve Chanons dedicated to Saint Stephen which King Edward the Third in his princely Magnificence repaired with curious workmanship and endowed with faire possessions so as he may seeme to have built it new what time as he had with his victories overrun and subdued al France recalling to minde as we read the Charter of the foundation and pondering in a due weight of devout consideration the exceeding benefits of Christ whereby of his owne sweet mercy and pity he preventeth us in all occasions delivering us although without all desert from sundry perils and defending us gloriously with his powerfull right hand against the violent assaults of our adversaries with victorious successes and in other tribulations and perplexities wherein wee have exceeding much beene encombred by comforting us and by applying and in-powering remedies upon us beyond all hope and expectation There was adjoyning hereto a Palace the ancient habitation of the Kings of England from the time of King Edward the Confessor which in the Raigne of king Henry the Eighth was burnt by casuall fire to the ground A very large stately and sumptuous Palace this was and in that age for building incomparable with a vawmur● and bulwarks for defence The remaines whereof are the Chamber wherein the King the Nobles with the Counsellers and Officers of State doe assemble at the high Court of Parliament and the next unto it wherein anciently they were wont to beginne the Parliaments knowne by the name of Saint Edwards painted chamber because the tradition holdeth that the said king Edward therein dyed But how sinfull an Act how bloudy how foule how hainous horrible hideous and odious both to God and man certaine brute and savage beasts in mens shape enterprised of late by the device of that Arch Traitour Robert Catesby with undermining and placing a mighty deale of gunpowder under these Edifices against their Prince their Country and all the States of the Kingdome and that under an abominable pretence of Religion my very heart quaketh to remember and mention nay amazed it is and astonied but to thinke onely into what inevitable darknesse confusion and wofull miseries they had suddenly in the twinckling of an eye plunged this most flourishing Realme and Common wealth But that which an ancient Poet in a smaller matter wrote we may in this with griefe of minde utter Excidat illa dies aevo nè postera credant Secula nos certè taceamus obruta multa Nocte tegi propriae patiamur crimina gentis That cursed day forgotten be no future age beleeve That this was true let us also at least wise now that live Conceale the same and suffer such Designes of our owne Nation Hidden to be and buried quite in darknesse of oblivion Adjoyning unto this is the Whitehall wherein at this day the Court of Requests is kept Beneath this is that Hall which of all other is the greatest and the very Praetorium or Hall of Justice for all England In this are the Judiciall Courts namely The Kings Bench the Common Pleas and The Chancery And in places neere thereabout The Star-Chamber the Exchequer Court of Ward and Court of the D●teby of Lancaster c. In which at certaine set times wee call them Tearmes yearely causes are heard and tryed whereas before king Henry the Third his dayes the Court of common Law and principall Justice was unsetled and alwaies followed the kings Court But he in the Magna Charta made a law in these words Let not the Common Pleas fol●ow our Court but bee holden in some certaine place Which notwithstanding some expound thus That the Common Pleas from thenceforth bee handled in a Court of the owne by it selfe a part and not in the Kings Bench as before This Judgement Hall which we now have king Richard the Second built out of the ground as appeareth by his Armes engraven in the stone-worke and many arched beames when he had plucked downe the former old Hall that king William Rufus in the same place had built before and made it his
of the Mint purchased the liberty of Mercat and Faire by whose Heires there fell no small Possessions unto the Boutetorts Lords of Wily in Worcestershire and from them againe in the Raigne of Richard the Second unto Frevil Barkley of Stoke Burnel and others This River Deben first floweth hard unto the little Mercat Towne Debenham and giveth it the name which others would have to be called more truly Depenham for that the waies every where about it by reason of a clay ground and the same over moist are very deepe and cumberous From thence it runneth by Vfford the seat in times past of Robert de Vfford Earle of Suffolke and by a Towne over against it on the other side of the River named Rendelisham that is as Beda interpreteth it Rendils Mansion place where Redwald King of the East Saxons kept usually his Court who was the first of all his Nation that was baptised and received Christianity but afterwards seduced by his Wife he had in the selfe same Church as saith Beda one Altar for Christs Religion and another for sacrifices unto Devils In this place also Swidelm a King of the East-Angles was likewise afterwards baptised by Bishop Chadda From hence the River Deben passeth downe to Woodbridge a little Towne beautified with faire houses where at certaine set times are holden Assemblies for Saint Andrees Liberty and after it hath gone some few miles it is received into the Ocean at Bawdsey Haven By this time now the Shore creepeth by little and little Eastward to the mouth of the River Ore which runneth neere to Framlingham Castle belonging sometime to the Bigods by the bounty of King Henry the First and forthwith on the West side thereof spreadeth as it were into a lake A very faire and beautifull Castle this is fortified with a banke ditch and walles of great thicknesse wherein are thirteene towres and inwardly furnished with buildings right commodious and necessary From hence it was that in the yeare of our Redemption 1173. what time as King Henry the Second his rebellious sonne tooke armes against his father Robert Earle of Leicester with his mercenary Flemings infested this Country farre and neere from this Castle also in the yeare 1553. Queene Mary entred upon her Kingdome for all the ambitious fretting and fuming of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland against King Henry the Eighth his Daughters Then commeth the River to Parrham a little Towne the Lord whereof William Willoughby King Edward the Sixth honoured with the Estate of a Baron and afterwards running by Glemham which gave name to an ancient Family descended from the Bacons and Brandons at Oreford that tooke the name of it disburdeneth himselfe into the Sea A bigge Towne this was and of great resort fenced also with a Castle of a reddish stone and appertained in times past to the Valoineis and afterwards to the Willoughbies but complaineth at this day of the seas unkindnesse which shrinketh backe from it by little and little and beginneth to envie the commodity of an Haven unto the Towne Neither have I any thing else to say of Oreford unlesse it please you to runne over these few words of Ralph Cogeshall an old Writer In King Henry the Seconds daies saith hee when Bartholmew Glanvile kept the Castle of Oreford it happened that the Fishermen caught a wilde man within their nets who in all parts and members of his body resembled a man had haire on his head a huge beard with a Piloe devant about the breast exceeding hairy and rough who notwithstanding slipt away secretly to the Sea and was never seene after So that it may bee very true which is so rise with the common people That there is nothing bred in any part of Nature but the same also is in the Sea and that it is not altogether a fained Fable that Plinie hath reported of a Triton taken on the Shore of Portugall and of the Seaman caught in the Streights of Gibraltare Not much higher lyeth Aldborough for Situation right safe and very pleasant within Slaughden vale where from the East the Sea and from the West the River beateth This name Aldburgh is by interpretation the Old Burgh or as others would have it The Burgh upon the River Ald. Now it is an harbour very commodious for Sailers and Fishermen and thereby well frequented and acknowledgeth the Ocean Sea to be favourable unto it how spitefull soever and malicious it is to other Townes in this Coast. Neere unto it what time as in the yeare 1555. by reason of unseasonable weather the Corne throughout all England was choked and blasted in the eare there grew Pease miraculously among the rocks without any earth at all about them about the end of September and brought downe the price of Corne. Yet the wiser sort of men doe say that Pulse being cast upon the Shore by Shipwracke is wont otherwhiles to come up againe there so that the thing is not to bee thought miraculous But that the like usually every yeare grow of their owne accord among the stones on the Shore of Kent I have shewed already From hence coasting along the Shore at ten miles end wee met with Dunwich in the English Saxon tongue Dunmoc whereof Beda maketh mention where Faelix the Burgumdium that reduced the Eastangles againe into the faith when they were backesliding from Christ in the yeare of Grace 630. placed an Episcopall See whose Successours for many yeares together were Bishops over all East England But Bise the Fourth Bishop after Faelix when hee became very aged and sickly withall being not able to discharge so great a Jurisdiction divided it into two Sees the one continued still in this Dunwich the other hee placed in North Elmham a little Towne In the Raigne of William the Conquerour Dunwich had in it two hundred and sixe and thirty Burgesses an hundred poore people it was valued at fifty pounds and threescore thousand Herings of gift For so wee reade in Domes-day Booke In the foregoing Age it was well peopled and frequented with Inhabitants famous also for a Mint therein and in the Raigne of Henry the Second as William of Newborough writeth It was a Towne of good note and full stored with sundry kindes of Riches At which time when England was all on a light fire with new stirres and broiles it was so fortified that it made Robert Earle of Leicester affraid who with his Army over-ranne all the parts there-about at his pleasure But now by a certaine peculiar spite and envie of Nature that suffereth the greedy Sea to have what it will and encroche still without all end the greatest part thereof is violently carried away with the waves and by reason that the Bishops many yeares agoe translated their Seat to another Place it lyeth as it were desolate A little above it the River Blith voideth it selfe into the Sea on whose banke Southward wee saw Blithborow
against King Henry the Seaventh to his owne destruction for in the battell at Stoke he was quickly slaine to his fathers death also who for very griefe of heart ended his dayes and to the utter ruine of the whole family which together with them was in a sort extinguished and brought to nothing For his brother Edmund being Earle of Suffolke fled into Flanders began there to conspire and stir up rebellion against King Henry the Seaventh who albeit he feared him would seeme to favour him and as a Prince better contented with repentance than punishment freely pardoned him for sundry offences that he might winne him But after he was thus fled his estate was forfeited and the King never thought himselfe secure from his practises untill he had so farre prevailed with Philip Duke of Burgundy that he was delivered into his hands against the Law of hospitality toward strangers as some then gave out upon solemne promise in the word of a Prince that his life should be spared Neverthelesse he was kept close prisoner and after executed by King Henry the Eighth who thought himselfe not tied to his fathers promise what time as hee first minded to make warre upon France for feare least in his absence some troubles might bee raised at home in his behalfe yet his yonger brother S. Richard de la Pole a banished man in France usurped the title of Duke of Suffolke who being the last male to my knowledge of this house was slaine in the battell of Pavie wherein Francis the first king of France was taken prisoner in the yeer of our Lord 1524. fighting manfully among the thickest of his enemies For whom in consideration of his singular valour and high parentage the Duke of Burbon himselfe although hee was his enemy made a sumptuous funerall and honored the same with his presence in mourning blacke In the meane time king Henry the Eighth adorned Sir Charles Brandon unto whom he had given in marriage his owne sister Marie widdow and Dowager to Lewis the twelfth king of France with the title of Duke of Suffolke and granted to him all the Honours and Manours which Edmund Earle of Suffolke had forfeited After whom succeeded Henry his sonne a childe and after him his brother Charles who both died of the English swet upon one day in the yeere 1551. Then king Edward the Sixth honoured with that title Henry Grey Marquesse Dorset who had married Francis their sister but he enjoying the same but a small time lost his head in Queene Maryes dayes for complotting to make his daughter queen and was the last Duke of Suffolk From that time lay this title of Suffolke void untill that very lately king James advanced to that honour Thomas Lord Howard of Walden the second sonne of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke whom for his approved fidelity and vertue he also made his Lord Chamberlaine in his first entrie into the kingdome The Parishes in this County amount to the number of 575. NORFOLCIAE comitatus quem olī ICENI Insederunt Centinens in Sc ovida Mercatoria XXVI Pagos et villas DCXXV ●na Cum Singulis hundredi●●t fluminibus in codem An●●eri Christophere Saylon NORTH-FOLKE NORTH-FOLKE commonly Norfolke which is by interpretation people of the North lieth Norward of Suffolke from which it is divided by those two little Rivers which I spake of Ouse the least and Waveney running divers wayes on the East and North side the German Ocean which is plentifull of Fish beateth upon the shores with a mighty noise On the West the greater Ouse a River disporting himselfe with his manifold branches and divisions secludeth it from Cambridge-Shire It is a Region large and spacious and in manner all throughout a plaine champion unlesse it bee where there rise gently some pretty Hills passing rich exceeding full of Sheepe and stored with Conyes replenished likewise with a great number of populous Villages for beside twenty seven Mercat townes it is able to shew Villages and Country Townes 625 Watered with divers Rivers and Brookes and not altogether destitute of Woods The soyle according to the variety of places is of a divers nature Some where fat ranke and full of moisture as in Mershland and Flegg otherwhere but Westward especially leane light and sandy elsewhere standing upon clay and chalke But the goodnesse of the ground a man may collect by this whence Varro willeth us to gather it that the Inhabitants are of a passing good complexion to say nothing of their exceeding wily wits and the same right quicke in the insight of our common lawes in so much as it is counted as well now as in times past the onely Country for best breed of Lawyers so that even out of the meanest sort of the common people there may be found not a few who if there were nothing else to beare action or able to fetch matter enough of wrangling controversies even out of the very prickes titles and accents of the Law But least whiles I desire brevity I become long by these digressions which may distaste I will turne my penne from the people to the places and beginning at the South side runne over briefly those which are more memorable and of greater antiquity Upon the least Ouse where Thet a small brooke breaking out of Suffolke meeteth and runneth with him in a low ground was seated that ancient City SITOMAGUS which Antonine the Emperour maketh mention of corruptly in the Fragments of an old Choragraphicall table called SIMOMAGUS and SINOMAGUS now Thetford in the Saxon language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in which remaineth part of the former name with the addition of the English word Ford. For like as Sitomagus in the Brittish tongue implieth a Citie by the river Sit which now is Thet for Magus as Plinie sheweth signified a City so Thetford in English betokeneth the Ford of Thet neither are these two names Sit and Thet much unlike in sound There are in it at this day but few Inhabitants although it be of a good bignesse but in times past it was very populous and beside other tokens of antiquity it hath still to bee seene a great Mount raised to a good height by mens hands fensed with a double rampier and as the report goeth fortified in ancient time with walles which was a Romane worke as some thinke or rather of the English Saxon Kings as others would have it under whom it flourished a long time But after it was sacked first by Suenus the Dane who in a rage set it on fire in the yeere 1004 and sixe yeers after being spoyled againe by the furious Danes it lost all the beauty and dignity that it had For the recovery whereof Bishop Arfast removed his Episcopall See from Elmham hither and Bishop William his successor did all he could to adorne and set it out so that under King Edward the Confessour there were counted in it 947. Burgesses and in William the Conquerours time 720. Mansions whereof 224. stood void
and the chiefe Magistrate was termed a Consul which name may intimate that it was a Roman towne But when Bishop Herbert surnamed Losenga for that he was composed of Leafing and Flattery the third Prelate that by evill meanes and Simony climbed up to this Dignity had removed his seat from hence to Norwich it fell againe to decay and as it were languished Neither could it sufficiently bee comforted for the absence of the Bishop by the Abbay of Cluniac Monkes which by his meanes was built This Abbay Hugh Bigod built out of the ground For so writeth he in the Instrument of the foundation I Hugh Bigod Steward to King Henry by his graunt and by the advise of Herbert Bishop of Norwich have ordained Monkes of the Order of Cluny in the Church of S. Mary which was the Episcopall seat of Thetford which I gave unto them and afterwards founded another more meete for their use without the Towne Howbeit even then the greatest part of the Citty that stood on the hithermore Banke by little and little fell to the ground the other part although it was much decayed yet one or two Ages agoe flourished with seaven Churches besides three small religious Houses whereof the one was by report erected in the memoriall of the Englishmen and Danes slaine here For hard by as our Historians doe record Edmund that most holy King a litle before his death fought Seaven houres and more with the Danes not without an horrible slaughter and afterwards gave over the battaile on even hand such was the alternative fortune of the Field that it drave both sides past their senses By Waveney the other River of those twaine that bound this Shire and runneth Eastward not farre from the Spring head thereof are seene Buckenham and Keninghall This which may seeme to have the name left unto it of the Iceni is the Seat of that most honourable Family of the Howards whose glory is so great that the envy of Bucchanan cannot empaire it As for the other so named as I take it of Beech trees which the Saxons called Bucken it is a faire and strong Castle built by William de Aubigny the Norman unto whom the Conqueror had given the place and by his heires that were successively Earles of Arundell it descended to the Tatsalls and from them by Caly and the Cliftons unto the family of the Knevets These are of an ancient house and renowned ever since Sir Iohn Knevet was Lord Chancellour of England under King Edward the Third and also honourably allied by great marriages For over and beside these of Buckenham from hence sprang those right worshipfull knights Sir Thomas Knevet Lord Knevet Sir Henry Knevet of Wiltshire and Sir Thomas Knevet of Ashellwell Thorpe and others This Ashellwell Thorpe is a little Towne nere adjoyning which from the Thorpes in times past of Knights degree by the Tilneis and the L. L. Bourchiers of Berners is devolved at length hereditarily unto that Sir Thomas Knevet before named As for that Buckenham aforesaid it is holden by this tenure and condition that the Lords thereof should at the Coronation of the Kings of England be the Kings Butlers that day Like as a thing that may beseeme the noting in Charleton a little neighbour village Raulph de Carleton and some one other held lands by this service namely To present an hundred Herring-Pies or Pasties when Herrings first come in unto their Soveraigne Lord the King wheresoever he be in England But this river neare to his spring runneth by and by under Disce now Dis a prety towne well knowne which King Henry the First gave frankely to Sir Richard Lucy and hee straightwayes passed it over to Walter fitz-Fitz-Robert with his Daughter of whose Posterity Robert Fitz-Walter obtained for this place the liberty of keeping Mercat at the hands of King Edward the First From thence although Waveney bee on each side beset with Townes yet there is not one amongst them that may boast of any Antiquity unlesse it bee Harleston a good Mercate and Shelton that standeth farther of both which have given surnames to the ancient Families of the Sheltons and Harlestons but before it commeth to the Sea it coupleth it selfe with the river Yare which the Britans called Guerne the Englishmen Gerne and Iere of Alder trees no doubt so termed in British wherewith it is overshadowed It ariseth out of the mids of this Countrie not farre from Gernston a little Towne that tooke name thereof and hath hard by it Hengham which had Lords descended from Iohn Marescall Nephew by the brother to William Marescall Earle of Penbroch upon whom King John bestowed it with the Lands of Hugh de Gornay a Traitour and also with the daughter and coheire of Hubert de Rhia From this Marescals it passed in revolution of time unto the Lord Morleis and from them by Lovell unto the Parkers now Lords Morley A little from hence is Sculton otherwise called Burdos or Burdelois which was held by this Tenure That the Lord thereof on the Coronation day of the Kings of England should be chiefe Lardiner Joint-neighbour to Sculton is Wood-Rising the faire seate of the Family of Southwels which received the greatest reputation and encrease from Sir Richard Southwell Privie Councellour to King Edward the Sixth and his Brother Sir Robert Master of the Rowles More Eastward is to be seene Wimundham now short Windham famous for the Albineys Earles of Arundell there enterred whose Ancestor and Progenitor William D' Albiney Butler to King Henry the First founded the Priory and gave it to the Abbay of Saint Albans for a Cell which afterward was advanced to an Abbay Upon the Steeple whereof which is of a great height William Ke● one of the Captaines of the Norfolke Rebels in the yeare of our Lord 1549. was hanged on high Neither would it bee passed over in silence that five miles from hence standeth Attilborrough the seate of the Mortimers an ancient Family who being different from those of Wigmor bare for their Armes A Shield Or Semè de floures de Lyz Sables and founded heere a Collegiat Church where there is little now to bee seene The Inheritance of these Mortimers hath by marriage long since accrued to the Ratcliffs now Earles of Sussex to the Family of Fitz-Ralph and to Sir Ralph Bigot But returne we now to the River The said Yare holdeth not his course farre into the East before he taketh Wentsum a Riveret others call it Wentfar from the South into his streame upon which neere unto the head thereof there is a foure square Rampier at Taiesborrough containing foure and twenty Acres It may seeme to have beene a Campe place of the Romans if it be not that which in an old Chorographicall Table or Map published by Marcus Welserus is called AD TAUM Somewhat higher upon the same River stood VENTA ICENORUM the most flourishing City for a little one in times past of all this
in the yeere 1588. leaving the fame onely of his greatnesse behinde him Within this Shire are 200. Parish Churches RVTLANDIAE Omnium in Anglia Comitatu um minimus Pars olim CORITANORVM RUTLAND-SHIRE RUTLAND in the old English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is environed within Leicester-shire unlesse it be on the South-side where it lieth upon the river Welland and on the East-side where it butteth upon Lincoln-shire A Country nothing inferiour to Leicester-shire either in fruitfull qualitie of soile or pleasantnesse but in quantitie onely as being the least County of all England For lying in forme almost round like a circle it is in compasse so farre about as a light horseman will ride in one day Whence it is that the Inhabitants tell a tale of I wote not what king who should give to one Rut so much land as he could ride about in one day and that he forsooth rode about this shire within the time appointed and so had it given him and named it by his owne name Rutland But let such fables bee packing I would not have the trueth prejudiced with an extravagant tale And where as the earth in this shire is every where red and so red that even the sheepes fleeces are thereby coloured red whereas also the English-Saxons called Red in their tongue Roet and Rud may we not suppose that this Countrey was named Rutland as one would say a Redland For as saith the Poet. Conveniunt rebus nomina saepè suis. The names as often times we see With things themselves full well agree Now that places in all Nations have had their names of rednesse Rutlan Castle in Wales built on a shore of red earth Redbay Redhill Redland The Red Promontory The Red-Sea also betwixt Aegypt and Arabia Erytheia in Ionia and a number besides may proove most evidently So that there is no cause why we should give credit to fables in this behalfe As for this little County it may seeme to have beene ordained a Shire or County but of late daies For in King Edward the Confessors time it was counted a part of Northampton-shire and our Historiographers who wrote three hundred yeeres agoe and upward reckoned it not in the number of Shires Wash or Guash a little river which runneth from the West Eastward through the middle of it divideth it in twaine In the hithermore or South part riseth Uppingham upon an high ascent whence that name was imposed not memorable for any thing else but because it is counted a well frequented Mercat towne and hath for to shew a proper Schoole which together with another at Okeham R. Ihonson a Minister of Gods word in a good and laudable intent for the training up of children in good literature lately erected with the money he had gotten together by way of collection Under this standeth Drystoke which in no wise is to be passed over with silence considering it hath been the habitation from old time of a right ancient race of the Digbyes which I grieve to utter it but all men know it hath now caught a deepe steine by Sir Everard Digby drawne into that cursed crew who most horribly complotted with one divelish flash of hellish Gun-pouder to blow up both Prince and Country More Eastward upon the river Welland I saw nothing remarkeable unlesse it be Berohdon now Barodon which Thomas Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke held with South Leffingham now South Luffenham and other Hamelets by service to be the Kings Chamberlaine in the Exchequer On the further part beyond the river among the hils there spreadeth below a very pleasant and fruitfull vale named at this day The vale of Catmose happily of Coet maes which signifieth in the Brittish tongue a field full of woods In the middest whereof Okeham sheweth it selfe which by the like reason may seeme to have taken the name from Okes where hard by the Church which is large and faire remaine the crackt and decaying walls of an old Castle which Walkelin de Ferrari●s built in the first times of the Norman Kings And that it hath been the dwelling place of the Ferrars besides the credit of writers and generall report the great horse shoes which in times past that family gave in their armes fastned upon the gate and in the hall may sufficiently proove Afterwards it belonged to the Lords of Tatteshall But when King Richard the second had promoted Edward the Duke of Yorkes sonne to the Earledome of Rutland he gave unto him this Castle also But within our Fathers remembrance it befell unto Thomas Cromwel and was reputed the seat of his Baronie whom King Henry the Eighth advanced to the highest pitch of dignity and streightwaies when by his plotting and attempting of many matters he had cast himselfe into the tempestuous stormes of envy and displeasure bereft him on a sudden both of life and dignity Over against it Eastward there standeth Burley most daintily seated and overlooking the vale A stately and sumptuous house now of the Haringtons who by marrying the daughter and heire of Colepeper became Lords of so faire an inheritance that ever since they have flourished in these parts like as before time the Colepepers had done unto whom by N. Green the wealthy and goodly Livelod of the Bruses in part had descended As for those Bruses being men of the chiefe Nobility in England they were engraffed into the Roiall stocke and family of Scotland out of whom by Robert the eldest brother the race Roiall of Scotland are sprung-like as by Bernard the younger brother the Cottons of Connington in Huntingdon-shire of whom I have written already and these Haringtons In which regard and gracious respect King James advanced Sir Iohn Harington branched from that stem that the ancient Lords Harington to the title of Baron Harington of Exton a towne adjacent where he hath also an other faire house Moreover on the East side by the river Guash stands Brigcasterton whereof I will say more afterward and Rihall where when superstition had so bewitched our ancestours that the multitude of their pety Saints had well neere taken quite away the true God one Tibba a pety Saint or Goddesse reputed to bee the tutelar patronesse of Hauking was of Foulers and Faulkoners worshipped as a second Diana Essendon also is neere adjoyning the Lord whereof Sir Robert Cecil a good sonne of a right good father the strength and stay of our Common-wealth in his time was by King James created Baron Cecil of Essendon in the first yeere of his reigne This little County King Edward the Confessor by his last Will and Testament bequeathed unto his wife Eadith yet with this condition that after her death it should come to S. Peter of Westminster For these be the very words of the said Testament I will that after the death of Queene Eadith my wife ROTELAND with all the appertenances thereto be given to my Monastery of the most blessed
thereof For in this tenour runne the very words of the Charter She likewise bestowed it upon John de Lacy Constable of Chester and the heires whom hee should beget of the body of Margaret her daughter This John had issue Edmund who dying before his mother left this honour for Henry his sonne to enjoy who was the last Earle of that line For when his sonnes were taken away by untimely death and he had but one little daughter onely remaining alive named Alice hee affianced her being but nine yeeres old to Thomas the sonne of Edmund Earle of Lancaster with this condition That if he should fortune to dye without heires of her body or if they happened to dye without heires of their bodies his Castles Lordships c. should in Remainder come to the heires of Edmund Earle of Lancaster for ever But the said Alice had no childe at all by her husband Thomas But when Thomas her husband was beheaded shee that by her light behaviour had not a little steined her good name tooke Sir Eubul le Strange with whom she had lived before time too familiarly for her husband without the assent and privity of her Soveraigne who being hereat highly offended seised her possessions into his owne hands Yet both Sir Eubul Strange and Sir Hugh Frene her third husband are in some Records named Earles of Lincolne After Alice now very aged was departed this life without issue Henry Earle of Lancaster Nephew to Edmund aforesaid by his second sonne entred upon her large and faire patrimony by vertue of that conveiance which I spake of before and from that time it accrued to the House of Lancaster Howbeit the Kings of England at their pleasure have bestowed the name and honour of Earles of Lincolne as King Edward the Fourth gave it to Sir John De la Pole and King Henry the Eighth to Henry Brandon both the Sonnes of the Dukes of Suffolke who both ended this life without Issue the first slaine in the battaile at Stoke and the other taken away by the sweating sicknesse Afterward Queene Elizabeth promoted Edward Baron Clinton Lord high Admirall of England to the said honour which his sonne Henry enjoyeth at this day There are in this Shire Parishes much about 630. NOTINGAMIAE Comitatus olim pars CORITANORVM NOTTINGHAM-SHIRE VPon the West side of Lincolne-shire confineth the County of NOTTINGHAM in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in English Nottingham-shire being farre lesse in quantity limited Northward with York-shire Westward with Darby-shire and in some parts with York-shire and on the South side with Leicester-shire The South and East part thereof are made more fruitfull by the noble and famous River Trent with other Riverets resorting unto it The West part is taken up with the Forest of Shirewood which stretcheth out a great way This part because it is sandy the Inhabitants tearme The Sand the other for that it is Clayish they call the Clay and so have divided their Country into these two parts The River Trent in the old English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some Antiquaries of small note and account have called Triginta in Latine for the affinity of the French word Trent that signifieth that number Triginta that is thirty having gone a long journey so soone as hee is entred into this Shire and hath recepto Souro flumine ex agro Leicestrensi taking in the River Soure from the field of Leicester runne by Steanford where I have learned there be many tokens remaining of old antiquity and peeces of Roman money oftentimes found and then by Clifton which hath given both habitation and sirname also to the ancient family of the Cliftons much enriched by one of the heires of Cressy taketh in from the West the little River Lin which rising neere unto Newsted that is New place where sometime King Henry the Second founded a small Abbay and which is now the dwelling house of the ancient Family of the Burons descended from Ralph de Buron who at the first comming in of the Normans flourished in great state both in this Countrey and also in Lancashire runneth hard by Wallaton rich in veines of cole where Sir Francis Willoughby a Knight nobly descended from the Greis Marquesse Dorset in our daies built out of the ground with great charges upon a vaine ostentation of his wealth a stately house with artificiall workemanship standing bleakely but offering a very goodly prospect to the beholders farre and neere Then runneth it by Linton or Lenton much frequented and famous in old time for the Abbay there of the Holy Trinity founded by William Peverell the base sonne of King William the Conquerour but now all the fame is onely for a Faire there kept Where on the other banke at the very meeting well neere of Lin and Trent the principall Towne that hath given name unto the Shire is seated upon the side of an hill now called Nottingham by softning the old name a little for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so the English Saxons named it of certaine caves and passages under the ground which in old time they hewed and wrought hollow under those huge and steepe cliffes which are on the South side hanging over the little River Lin for places of receit and refuge yea and for habitations And thereupon Asserius interpreteth this Saxon word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Speluncarum domum that is An house of Dennes or Caves and in the British Tui ogo bauc which signifieth the very selfe same The Towne for the naturall site thereof is right pleasant as where on the one hand lye faire and large Medowes by the Rivers side on the other rise hils with a gentle and easie ascent and is plentifully provided of all things beside necessary for mans life On the one side Shirewood yeeldeth store of wood to maintaine fire although many use for that purpose stinking pit cole digged forth of the ground on the other Trent serveth it aboundantly with fish And hence hath beene taken up this od barbarous Verse Limpida sylva focum Triginta dat mihi piscem Shire-wood yeelds me fuell for fire As Trent yeelds fish what I require At a word for largenesse for building for three faire Churches a passing spacious and beautifull Mercat place and a most strong Castle it maketh a goodly shew The said Castle is mounted upon an huge and steepe worke on the West side of the City in which place it is thought that Castle stood in times past upon whose strength the Danes presuming held out against the Siege of Aethered and Aelfrid so long untill they frustrate of their purpose brake up their Siege trussed up bagge and baggage and dislodged For when the Danes had taken this Castle Burthred King of the Mercians as mine Authour Asserius writeth and the Mercians addresse their messengers to Aethered King of the West Saxons and to
Aelfred his brother humbly beseeching them to come and aide them that so they might give battaile to the fore-named Army which request they also easily obtained For those two brethren slacking no whit their promise having levied from all parts a mighty Army assembled their forces entred Mercia and seeking with one accord jointly to encounter the enemy come as farre as to Snottenga-ham And when the Painims keeping themselves within the defense of the Castle refused to give battaile and the Christians with all their force could not batter the Wall after peace concluded betweene the Paganes and Mercians those two brethren with their bands returned home But after this King Edward the elder built the Village Bridgeford just over against it and compassed the Towne about with a wall which now is fallen downe and yet the remaines thereof I have seene on the South side And within very few yeeres after in King Edward the Confessours time as wee reade in Domesday booke there were numbered in it one hundred and seventy three Burgesses and from the two Minters there were paid forty shillings to the King Also the water of Trent the Fosse dike and the way toward Yorke were warded and kept that if any man hindered the passage of vessels he was to make amends with the payment of foure pounds As for the Castle which now wee see it may bee well of great name in regard both of the Founder and the worthinesse also of the worke for William of Normandy built it to bridle the English and so strong it was as William of Newborough writeth as well by naturall situation as hand labour that it is held impregnable if it may have sufficient men to defend it unlesse it bee by famine Afterward also King Edward the Fourth bestowed great cost in the repairing of it and beautified it with faire buildings whereto King Richard also the Third set to his helping hand Neither for all the changes and alterations of times hath it undergone the common condition or destiny incident to such great Castles being never forced and wonne by assault Once was it in vaine besieged by Henry of Anjou at which time the souldiers lying in Garison set fire upon the buildings joyning unto it Once also it was suddenly surprised by Earle Robert de Ferrarijs in the Barons warre who spoiled the Inhabitants of all their goods The Castellanes report many stories of David King of the Scots prisoner in it and of Roger Mortimer Earle of March taken heere in a hollow secret passage under the ground who because he prised his faith and loyalty to his country lighter than Scotish gold and with a vaste minde designed other mischiefes was afterwards hanged Certes in the first base Court of the Castle wee went downe by many steps or staires with candle light into a Vault under the ground and certaine close roomes wrought out of the very rocke in the walles whereof are engraven the stories of Christs Passion and other things by the hand as they say of David the Second king of Scots who was there imprisoned But in the upper part of the Castle which riseth up aloft upon a rocke we came also by many staires into another Cave likewise under the ground which they call Mortimers Hole for that in it the foresaid Roger Mortimer lay hidden when as being guilty to himselfe of wickednesse he stood in feare of his life As for the position of Nottingham it seeth the North Pole elevated fifty three Degrees and hath the Meridian two and twenty Degrees and foureteene minutes distant from the utmost point of the West whence Geographers beginne to measure the Longitude From hence the Trent runneth with a milde streame and passeth forward by Holme called of the Lords thereof Holme Pierpount whose Family is both ancient and noble and out of which Robert Pierpount was summoned by King Edward the Third unto the high Court of Parliament among the Barons of the Kingdome unto Shelford where Ralph Hanselin founded a Priory and the Lords Bardolph had a mansion but now the seat of the worshipfull stocke of the Stanhopes knights whose state in this Tract hath growne great and their name renowned since they matched with an heire of Mallovell From whence he runneth downe with a rolling streame to Stoke a little Village but well knowne for no small overthrow and slaughter that there happened when Sir John de la pole Earle of Lincolne who being by King Richard the Third declared heire apparent to the Crowne seeing by the comming of king Henry the Seventh himselfe debarred of the hope of the Kingdome heere in behalfe of a counterfeit Prince rebelliously opposed himselfe against a lawfull king and so resolutely with his friends and followers lost his life Not farre from hence is Thurgarton where Sir Ralph D'eincourt founded a Priory and somewhat higher Southwell sheweth it selfe aloft with a Collegiat Church of Prebendaries consecrated to the blessed Virgin Mary a place not very faire in outward shew I must needs say but strong ancient and of great fame Which as they write Paulinus the First Archbishop of Yorke founded after he had baptised the Inhabitants of this Shire in the River Trent and so regenerated them to Christ. Since which time the Archbishops of Yorke have had here a very faire and stately Palace and three Parkes stored with Deere adjoyning thereto That this is the City which Bede calleth Tio-vul-Finga-cester I doe the more stedfastly beleeve because those things which he hath reported of Paulinus baptizing in the Trent neere unto Tio-vul-Finga-cester the private History of this Church constantly avoucheth to have beene done in this very place From thence out of the East Snite a little Brooke runneth into Trent which being but small and shallow watereth Langer a place of name in regard of the Tibetots or Tiptofts Lords thereof who afterwards became Earles of Worcester also Wiverton which from Heriz a worshipfull man long since in these parts came by the Brets and Caltostes unto the Chaworthes who fetch their name out of the Cadurci in France and derive their pedegree from the Lord of Walchervill Now doth Trent divide it selfe neere Averham or Aram an ancient habitation of the Suttons Gentlemen of respective worth and runneth hard under a good great Towne called Newark as one would say The new worke of the new Castle which Castle so fresh and of so beautifull building as Henry of Huntingdon termeth it Alexander that bountifull minded Bishop of Lincolne built which Prelate that I may use the words of an ancient Historian carrying a most brave and gallant minde builded both this Castle and another also with most profuse and lavish expense And because such manner of sumptuous buildings little became the gravity and dignity of a Bishop he to take away the envie and hard conceit of the world for such building and to expiate as it were the offence that grew thereby founded
that the place tooke that name of later time by farre from Guy Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke and certaine it is that Richard Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke built Saint Margarets Chappell heere and erected a mighty and giantlike statue of stone resembling the said Guy Avon now runneth downe from Warwicke with a fuller streame by Charle-cot the habitation of the renowned ancient family of the Lucies knights which place long agoe descended hereditarily to them from the Charlecots who upon a pious and devout minde founded a religious House at Thellisford for entertainment of poore folke and Pilgrims For that little River was called Thelley which by Compton Murdacke the possession sometime of the Murdackes and now of the Vernaies Knights and by this Thellisford goeth into Avon which within a while runneth hard by Stratford a proper little mercate towne beholden for all the beauty that it hath to two men there bred and brought up namely John of Stratford Archbishop of Canterbury who built the Church and Sir Hugh Clopton Major of London who over Avon made a stone Bridge supported with foureteene Arches not without exceeding great expenses This Hugh was a younger brother out of that ancient family which from Clopton a Manour adjoyning borrowed this sirname since the time that Walter de Cocksfeld called Knight Mareschall setled and planted both himselfe and his successours at Clopton The inheritance of these Cloptons is in our time descended to two sisters coheires the one of which is married to Sir George Carew knight Vice chamberlaine to our most gracious Lady Queen Anne whom King James hath entituled Baron Carew of Clopton and whom I am the more willing to name with honour in this respect if there were none other for that hee is a most affectionate lover of venerable antiquity Neither seeth Avon any other memorable thing upon his bankes but Bitford a Mercate Towne and some Country Villages being now ready to enter into Worcester-shire Now let us enter into the Woodland which beyond the River Avon spreadeth it selfe Northward much larger in compasse than the Feldon and is for the most part thicke set with Woods and yet not without pastures corne fields and sundry mines of Iron This part as it is at this day called Woodland so also it was in old time knowne by a more ancient name Arden but in the selfesame sense and signification as I thinke For it seemeth that Arden among the ancient Britans and Gaules signified a Wood considering that we see a very great Wood in France named ARDEN a Towne in Flanders hard by another Wood called Ardenburg and that famous Wood or Forest in England by a clipped word likewise cleped DEN to say nothing of that DIANA which in the ancient inscriptions of Gaule is sirnamed ARDVVENA and ARDOINA that is if I doe not mis-conceive Of the Wood and was the same Diana which in the inscriptions of Italy went under the name of NEMORENSIS Of this Forest Turkill of Arden who flourished heere in all honour under King Henry the First tooke his name and his offspring which was of great worship and reputation spred very much over all England for many yeeres successively ensuing In the West side of this Country the River Arrow maketh haste to joyne himselfe in society with Avon by Studly Castle belonging sometime to John the sonne of Corbutio But whether this River Arrow tooke name of swiftnesse as Tigris in Mesopotamia for Arrow with us like as Tigris among the Persians betokeneth a shaft or contrariwise of the still streame and slow course which Ar in the old French and British Tongue implied let other men looke who have better observed the nature of this River Upon this River standeth Coughton the principall mansion house of the Throckmortons a family of Knights degree which being spred into a number of faire branches and fruitfull of fine wits flourished in this tract especially ever since they matched in marriage with the daughter and heire of Speney Not farre from hence is Ousley which also was in ancient time well knowne by the Lords thereof the Butlers Barons of Wem from whom it was devolved hereditarily to the Ferrars of Ousley Whose inheritance within a short time was divided betweene John Lord of Greistocke and Sir Raulph Nevill Beneath it upon Arrow standeth Beauchamps-Court so named of Baron Beauchamp of Powicke from whom by the onely daughter of Edward Willoughbey sonne to Robert Willoughbey Baron Broke it came to Sir Foulque Grevill a right worshipfull person both for his Knights degree and for kinde courtesie whose only sonne carrying likewise the same name hath consecrated himselfe so to true Vertue and Nobility that in nobility of minde he farre surmounteth his parentage and unto whom for his exceeding great deserts toward me although my heart is not able either to expresse or render condigne thankfulnesse yet in speech will I ever render thankes and in silence acknowledge my selfe most deepely endebted Under this Towne there runneth into Arrow the River Al●e which holding on his course through the woods passeth under Henley a prety mercate towne a Castle joyning whereunto belonged the Family of the Mont-forts being Noblemen of great name which for the pleasant situation among the Woods they called by a French name Bell-desert but this together with the ruines is now buried quite and scant to be seene at all These were descended not from the Almarian Family of the Mont-sorts of France but from Turstan de Bastanberg a Norman whose inheritance passed away at length by the daughters unto the Barons of Sudley and to the Frevills In the very place where Arrow and this Alne doe meete together we saw Aulcester by Matthew Paris called and that more rightly Allencester which the inhabitants affirme to have beene a most famous and ancient Towne and thereupon they will have the name to be Ouldcester This as we reade in an old Inquisition was a Frank-burogh of our Lord King Henry the First and the same King gave that Burogh to Robert Corbet for his service and when the said Robert died it came by descent to Sir William of Botereux and to Sir Peter Fitz-Herbert and when William of Botereux dyed the moity of that Burogh fell by descent into the hand of Sir Reginald of Botereux as to the heire who now holdeth it and when Peter Fitz-Herbert died that moity descended into the hand of Herbert the sonne of Peter which Herbert gave it to Sir Robert de Chaundoys But now it is decaied and of a very great Towne become a small Mercate of wares and trade Howbeit exceeding much frequented for the Corne Faire there holden This hath for a neere neighbour Arrow according to the name of the River whose Lord Thomas Burdet for his dependance upon George Duke of Clarence words unadvisedly uttered and hardly construed through the iniquity of the time lost his life But by his grand daughter
Pagans for the propagation of Christs true religion built heere a Church and ordeined Duina the first Bishop whose successors found such favour at their Princes hand that they had not onely the preheminence among all the Bishops of the Mercians and the greatest possessions given unto them for their use as Cankwood or Canock a very great wood and other faire lands and Lordships but also this Church had an Archbishop that sat in it namely Eadulph unto whom Pope Adrian granted an Archiepiscopall Pall and subjected under him all the Bishops of the Mercians and East Angles mooved thereunto with golden reasons by Offa King of the Mercians to spite Lambert the Archbishop of Canterbury who had promised to aide Charles the Great if he would invade England But this Archiepiscopall dignity died together with Offa and Eadulph But among all the Bishops of this See Chadd was of greatest fame and canonized a Saint for his holinesse who as Bede saith when riotous excesse had not yet possessed the hearts of Bishops made himselfe a mansion house standing not farre remote from the Church wherein he was wont secretly to pray and reade together with a few that is to say seven or eight religious men as oft as he had any vacant time from painefull preaching and ministery of the word unto the people In those daies Lichfield was a small towne farre short of the frequency of Cities the Country about it full of woods and a little river runneth hard by it The Church was seated in a narrow roome evidently shewing the meane estate and abstinence of our ancestours When as in the Synode holden in the yeere of our Lord 1075. it was forbidden that Bishops Sees should lie obscure in meane and small Townes Peter Bishop of Lichfield translated his See to Chester but Robert Linsey his successour remooued the same unto Coventry A little after Roger Clinton brought it backe againe to Lichfield and beganne to build in the yeere of Christ 1148. this most beautifull Church in the honour of the blessed virgin Mary at Saint Ceda or Chad and repaired the Castle which now is utterly vanished As for the towne it was made first an Incorporation in our Fathers remembrance by King Edward the Sixth by the name of Bailiffs and Burgesses It seeth the Pole Artick elevated two and fifty degrees and two and forty minutes and from the farthest point of the West counteth one and twenty degrees and twenty minutes This Poole of Lichfield being by and by kept and restreined within bankes and spreading broader the second time but gathering againe into a chanell is quickly swallowed into Trent who continueth his course East-ward untill he meeteth with the river of Tame from the South with whom Trent being now coupled turneth aside his streame Northward through places that yeeld great store of Alabaster that he might the sooner entertaine Dow and so almost insulateth or encompasseth Burton a Towne in times past of name by reason of workers in Alabaster a Castle of the Ferrars built in the Conquerors time an ancient Abbay founded by Ulfrick Spot Earle of Mercia and the retyring place of Modwen that holy Irish woman who there dedicated her selfe first to the service of God Concerning which Abbay the Leger-booke of Abingdon recordeth thus A certaine servitour of King Aetheldred named Ulfrick Spot built the Abbay of Burton and gave unto it all the inheritance that came by his Father esteemed worth seven hundred pounds and that this his donation might stand good and sure he gave unto King Aetheldred three hundred Mankus of gold for his confirmation and to every Bishop five Mankus and beside to Alfrick Archbishop of Canterbury the Towne Dumbleton Whereby wee may understand that there was a golden world then and that gold swaied much yea in Church matters and among Church-men In this abbay the said Modwen whose holinesse was much celebrated in this tract lay buried and upon her Tombe were engraven for an Epitaph these verses Ortum Modwennae dat Hibernia Scotia finem Anglia dat tumulum dat Deus astra poli Prima dedit vitam sed mortem terra secunda Et terram terrae tertia dedit Auffert Lanfortin quam terra Conallea profert Foelix Burtonium virginis ossa tenet In Ireland Modwen who began in Scotland tooke her end England on her a Tombe bestow'd to Heaven God did her send The first of these lands gave her life the second wrought her death And earth to earth in decent sort the third land did bequeath Lanfortin taketh that away which once Tir-Connell gave And Burton blest whose hap it is this virgines bones to have Neere unto Burton betwixt these three rivers Dove Trent and Blith the which watereth and nameth Blithfield a faire house of the ancient and worthy Family of the Bagots Needwood a very large wood and full of parkes spreadeth it selfe Wherein the Nobility and Gentlemen dwelling thereabout take their jolly pleasure and disport themselves in hunting Thus much of the places in the midle part of this shire The North part riseth up and swelleth somewhat mountainous with moores and hilles but of no great bignesse which beginning here runs like as Apennine doth in Italie through the middest of England with a continued ridge rising more and more with divers tops and cliffs one after another even as far as to Scotland although oftentimes they change their name For heere they are called Mooreland after a while the Peak Blackstone edge then Craven anon as they goe further Stanmore and at length being parted diversly as it were into hornes Cheviot This Mooreland so called for that it riseth higher into hils and mountaines and is withall lesse fruitfull which kind of places we call in our language Moores is a small country verily so hard so comfortlesse bare and cold that it keepeth snow lying upon it a long while in so much as that of a little country village named Wotton lying here under Woverhill the neighbor inhabitants have this rime rise in their mouth as if God forsooth had never visited that place Wotton under Wever Where God came never Yet in so hard a soile it breedeth and feedeth beasts of large bulke and faire spread The people heere dwelling observe that when the winde sitteth West it is alwaies raine but the East and Southwinde which in other places brew and broach raine bring faire weather unlesse the winde turne from West into the South and this they ascribe unto the vicinity of the Irish Sea Out of these Moores most rivers in this shire doe spring but the chiefe are Dove Hanse Churnet Teyn Blith and Trent himselfe who receiveth every one of them and conveieth them all to the Sea Dow or Dove whose bankes are reared out of solid hard lime stone which they burne and use for compast to manure and enrich their fields with all doth swiftly runne along the most part of the East side of this Country
Vale underneath along Corve which commonly is called Corves-dale to Sir Foulque of Dinan Afterwards it belonged to the Lacies of Ireland and by a daughter fell to Sir Geffrey de Ienevile a Poictevin or as some will have it of the house of Lorain from whose heires it descended againe by a daughter to the Mortimers and from thence hereditarily to the Crowne Then the Inhabitants in processe of time built in the very bosome of the Towne and on the highest ground a very faire Church and the onely Church they have And so it beganne to be of great account and to excell other neighbour Townes adjoyning And although by King Stephen Simon Montfort and King Henry the Sixth it suffered much damage in the civill Warres yet it alwayes flourished againe and now especially ever since that King Henry the Eighth ordained the Councell of the Marches not unlike to those Parliaments in France the Lord President whereof doth for the most part keepe Courts and Terme here which a man could hardly have seene at any time without Suites whether it were for the great state and authority that it carryed or because the Welshmen are so forward and hote to goe to Law This Councell consisteth of the Lord President so many Counsellers as it shall please the Prince to appoint a Secretary an Attorney a Sollicitour and the foure Iustices of the Counties in Wales Somewhat lower upon the River Temd is seene Burford which from Theodoricke Saie and his Posterity came unto Robert Mortimer and from his posterity likewise unto Sir Geffrey Cornwaile who derived his Descent from Richard Earle of Cornwall and King of the Alemans and his Race even unto these daies hath flourished under the name of Barons of Burford but not in the dignity of Parliamentary Barons whereas it is holden as we reade in the Inquisition of the King for to finde five men for the Army of Wales and by service of a Baronie As for those that I may note thus much by the way who held an entire and whole Barony they were commonly in times past reputed Barons and as some learned in our common lawes are of opinion Baron and Barony like as Earle and Earledome Duke and Dukedome King and Kingdome were Conjugata that is Originally yoke-fellowes When Temd now is leaving Shropp-shire behinde it not farre from the bankes thereof there raise themselves up Northward certaine hils of easie ascent Cleehill they call them much commended for yeelding the best Barly in great plenty neither are they without iron mines at the descent whereof in a Village called Cleybury Hugh Mortimer built a Castle which King Henry the Second forthwith so rased because it was a noursery of sedition that scarce there remaine any tokens thereof at this day also hard by standeth Kinlet where the Blunts flourished Their name in this Tract is very great so sirnamed at first of their yellow haire the Family noble and ancient and the branches thereof farre spread Then saw we on the right hand banke of Severn Brug Morfe commonly but corruptly called Bridg-North so called of Burg or Burrbugh and Morfe a Forest adjoyning whereas before time it was named simply Burgh A Towne fortified with wals a ditch a stately Castle and the Severn which betweene the Rockes runneth downe with a great fall seated also upon a Rocke out of which the waies leading into the upper part of the Towne were wrought out Achelfleda Lady of the Mercians first built it and Robert de Belesme Earle of Shrewesbury walled it who trusting to the naturall strength of the place rebelled against King Henry the First like as afterward Roger Mortimer against King Henry the the Second but both of them with ill successe for they were both forced to yeeld and submit themselves absolutely to the Kings command At the Siege of this Castle as we reade in our Annales King Henry the Second being levelled at with an arrow had beene shot therewith quite through the body had not Sir Hubert Syncter a noble and trusty Servitour to the King interposed himselfe and to save the King received both the arrow and his deaths wound withall Before time also Sir Raulph de Pichford bare himselfe so valiantly heere that king Henry the First gave unto him the little Burgh hard by To hold by service for to finde dry wood for the great chamber of the Castle of Burgh against the comming of his Soveraigne Lord the King Willeley or Willey is not farre from hence the habitation in old time of Sir Warner De Willeley from whose Posterity by the Harleis and Peshall it came to the notable Family of Lacon advanced by marriage long since with the heire of Passelew and of late by the Possession of Sir I. Blunt of Kinlet There be in like manner other Townes and Castles heere and there in this Tract as Newcastle Hopton Castle Shipton and upon the River Corve Corvesham which Walter Clifford had by the gift of king Henry the Second also Brancroft and Holgot commonly Howgate which belonged sometime to the Manduits then to Robert Blunt Bishop of Bath and afterwards to the Lovells More higher are Wenlocke now knowne for the lime but in king Richard the Seconds time for a mine of Copper there But much more knowne in the Saxons dayes for a most ancient Nunnery where Milburga that most holy virgin lived in great devotion and was entombed the which Nunnery Earle Roger de Montgomerie repaired and replenished with Monkes In later times Sir Iohn Winell called also Wenlocke because he heere inhabited for his faithfull service to king Henry the Sixth was by him advanced to the state and honor of Baron Wenlocke and elected knight of the Garter in whose cause he manfully lost his life in the Battaile of Tewkesbury leaving no issue but from his cozin and heire generall the Lawleys of this County are lineally descended A little more West is Acton Burnell a Castle of the Burnels and after of the Lovels made famous by the Court of Parliament there held in the time of king Edward the First This Family of the Burnells was in old time of great name and antiquity very much enriched also by that Bishop aforenamed But it failed and had an end in the Raigne of Edward the Second when Mawde the heire was married unto John Lovell first and secondly to John Haudlow whose sonne Nicholas assumed to himselfe the name of Burnell from whom the Ratcliffes Earles of Sussex and others draw their pedegree Scarce a mile from hence standeth Langley seated very flat and low in a Parke full of Woods the dwelling place of the Leas which may well challenge to be ranged among the Families that are of the better worth and greater Antiquity in this Tract Next unto these is Condover a Manour sometimes of the Lovells but of late the possession of Thomas Owen
in British called Castle Hean that is The Old Castle and in English The Old Towne A poore small Village now but this new name is a good proofe for the antiquity thereof for in both tongues it soundeth as much as an Old Castle or towne Next unto this Old Towne Alterynnis lieth in manner of a River-Island insulated within waters the seat in old time of that ancient family of the Sitsilts or Cecils knights whence my right honourable Patron accomplished with all the ornaments of vertue wisdome and Nobility Sir William Cecil Baron of Burghley and Lord high Treasurer of England derived his descent From hence Munow turning Eastward for a good space separateth this Country from Monmouth-shire and at Castle Map-harald or Harold Ewias is encreased with the River Dor. This Ewias Castle that I may speake out of K. William the First his Booke was repaired by Alured of Marleberg Afterwards it pertained to one Harold a Gentleman who in a Shield argent bare a Fesse Geules betweene three Estoiles Sable for his Armes of whom it beganne to bee called Harold Ewias but Sibyll his niece in the second degree and one of the heires by her marriage transferred it to the Lords of Tregoz frō whom it came at length to the Lords of Grandison descended out of Burgundie But of them elsewhere Now the said Dor which running downe frō the North by Snodhill a Castle and the Barony sometime of Robert Chandos where is a quary of excellent marble cutteth through the midst of the Vale which of the River the Britans call Diffrin Dore but the Englishmen that they might seeme to expresse the force of that word termed it the Gilden Vale which name it may by good right and justly have for the golden wealthy and pleasant fertility thereof For the hils that compasse it in on both sides are clad with woods under the woods lie corne fields on either hand and under those fields most gay and gallant medowes then runneth in the midst between them a most cleere and crystall River on which Robert Lord of Ewias placed a faire Monastery wherein most of the Nobility and Gentry of these parts were interred Part of this shire which from this Vale declineth and bendeth Eastward is now called Irchenfeld in Domesday Booke Archenfeld which as our Historians write was layed wast with fire and sword by the Danes in the yeere 715. at what time Camalac also a Britan Bishop was carried away prisoner In this part stood Kilpeck a Castle of great name and the seat it was of the noble Family of the Kilpecks who were as some say the Champions to the Kings of England in the first age of the Normans And I my selfe also will easily assent unto them In the Raigne of Edward the First there dwelt heere Sir Robert Wallerond whose nephew Alane Plugenet lived in the honourable state of a Baron In this Archenfeld likewise as wee reade in Domesday booke certaine revenewes by an old custome were assigned to one or two Priests on this condition that they should goe in Embassages for the Kings of England into Wales and to use the words out of the same booke The men of Archenfeld whensoever the Army marcheth forward against the enemy by a custome make the Avantgard and in the returne homeward the Rereward As Munow runneth along the lower part of this shire so Wy with a bending course cutteth over the middest upon which River in the very West limit Clifford Castle standeth which William Fitz Osborn Earle of Hereford built upon his owne West as it is in King William the Conquerours booke but Raulph de Todenay held it Afterward it seemeth to have come unto Walter the sonne of Richard Fitz Punt a Norman for he was sirnamed De Clifford and from him the right honorable family of the Earles of Cumberland doe truly deduce their descent But in the daies of King Edward the First John Giffard who married the heire of Walter L. Clifford had it in his hands Then Wy with a crooked and winding streame rolleth downe by Whitney which hath given name to a worshipfull Family and by Bradwardin Castle which gave both originall and name to that famous Thomas Bradwardin Archbishop of Canterbury who for his variety of knowledge and profound learning was in that age tearmed The Profound Doctour and so at length commeth to Hereford the head City of this Country How farre that little Region Archenfeld reached I know not but the affinity betweene these names Ereinuc Archenfeld the towne ARICONIUM of which Antonine in the description of this Tract maketh mention and Hareford or Hereford which now is the chiefe City of the Shire have by little and little induced mee to this opinion that I thinke every one of these was derived from ARICONIUM Yet doe I not thinke that Ariconium and Hereford were both one and the same but like as Basil in Germany chalenged unto it the name of Augusta Rauracorum and Baldach in Assyria the name of Babylon ●or that as one had originall from the ruines of Babylon so the other from the ruines of Augusta even so this Hariford of ours for so the common people call it derived both name and beginning in mine opinion from his neighbour old ARICONIUM which hath at this day no shape or shew at all of a Towne as having beene by report shaken to peeces with earthquake Onely it reteineth still a shadow of the name being called Kenchester and sheweth to the beholders some ruines of walles which they tearme Kenchester walles about which are often digged up foure square paving stones of Checker worke British-brickes peeces of Romane money and other such like remaines of Antiquity But Hereford her daughter which more expressly resembleth the name thereof standeth Eastward scarce three Italian miles from it seated among most pleasant medowes and as plentifull corne fields compassed almost round about with Rivers on the North side and on the West with one that hath no name on the South side with Wy thath hastneth hither out of Wales It is thought to have shewed her head first what time as the Saxons Heptarchie was in the flower and prime built as some write by King Edward the Elder neither is there as farre as I have read any memory thereof more ancient For the Britans before the name of Hereford was knowne called the place Tresawith of Beech trees and Hereford of an Old way and the Saxons themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of ferns The greatest encrease if I be not deceived that it had came by Religion and by the Martyrdome of Ethelbert King of the East England Who when he wooed himselfe the daughter of Offa K. of the Mercians was villanously forlaid and murdered by the procurement of Quendred Offaes wife respecting more the countries of the East England than the honest and honorable match of her daughter which Ethelbert being registred in
Shrop-shire adjoyning and held that I may note so much by the way the Hamelet of Lanton in chiefe as of the Honour of Montgomery by the service of giving to the King a barbdheaded Arrow whensoever he commeth into those parts to hunt in Cornedon Chace Lugg hasteneth now to Wy first by Hampton where that worthy Knight Sir Rouland Lenthal who being Maister of the Wardrobe unto King Henry the Fourth had married one of the heires of Thomas Earle of Arundell built a passing faire house which the Coningsberes men of good worship and great name in this tract have now a good long time inhabited then by Marden and Southton or Sutton of which twaine Sutton sheweth some small remaines of King Offaes Palace so infamous for the murdering of Ethelbert and Marden is counted famous for the Tombe of the said Ethelbert who had lien heere a long time without any glorious memoriall before that he was translated to Hereford Neere unto the place where Lugg and Wy meete together Eastward a hill which they call Marcley hill in the yeere of our redemption 1571. as though it had wakened upon the suddaine out of a deepe sleepe roused it selfe up and for the space of three daies together mooving and shewing it selfe as mighty and huge an heape as it was with roring noise in a fearefull sort and overturning all things that stood in the way advanced it selfe forward to the wonderous astonishment of the beholders by that kinde of Earthquake which as I deeme naturall Philosophers call Brasmatias And not farre from this hill toward the East also under Malvern hills which in this place bound the East part of this shire standeth Ledbury upon the River Ledden a Towne well knowne which Edwin the Saxon a man of great power gave unto the Church of Hereford being assuredly perswaded that by Saint Ethelberts intercession he was delivered from the Palsey Touching the Military fort on the next hill I need not to speake seeing that in this tract which was in the Marches and the ordinary fighting ground plot first betweene the Romanes and Britans afterwards betweene the Britains and the English such holds and entrenchments are to be seene in many places But Wy now carrying a full streame after it hath entertained Lugg runneth downe with more bendings and bowings first by Holm Lacy the feate of the ancient and noble Family of Scudamore unto which accrewed much more worship by marriage with an heire out of the race of Ewias in this shire and Huntercombe c. else where From hence passeth Wy downe betweene Rosse made a free Burrough by King Henry the Third now well knowne by reason of iron Smiths and Wilton over against it a most ancient Castle of the Greis whence so many worthy Barons of that name have drawne their originall This was built as men say by Hugh de Long-champ but upon publique and certaine credit of Records it appeareth that King John gave Wilton with the Castle to H. de Longchamp and that by marriage it fell to William Fitz-Hugh and likewise not long after to Reinold Grey in the daies of King Edward the first Now when Wy hath a little beneath saluted Goderick Castle which King John gave unto William Earle Mareschall and was afterward for a time the principall seate of the Talbots hee speedeth himselfe to Monmouth-shire and bids Hereford-shire farewell When the state of the English-Saxons was now more than declining to the downe-fall Ralph sonne to Walter Medantinus by Goda King Edward the Confessours● sister governed this Countie as an Official Earle but the infamous for base cowardise was by William the Conquerour remooved and William Fitz-Osbern of Crepon a martiall Norman who had subdued the Isle of Wight and was neere allied to the Dukes of Normandy was substituted in his place When he was slaine in assistance of the Earle of Flanders his sonne Roger surnamed De Bretevill succeeded and soone after for conspiracie against the Conquerour was condemned to perpetuall prison and therein died leaving no lawfull issue Then King Stephen granted to Robert Le Bossu Earle of Leicester who had married Emme or Itta as some call her heire of Bretevill to use the words of the Graunt the Burrough of Hereford with the Castle and the whole County of Hereford but all in vaine For Maude the Empresse who contended with King Stephen for the Crowne advanced Miles the sonne of Walter Constable of Glocester unto this Honour and also graunted to him Constabulariam Curiae suae i. The Constableship of her Court whereupon his posteritie were Constables of England as the Marshalship was graunted at the first by the name of Magistratus Marescalsiae Curiaenostrae Howbeit Stephen afterwards stript him out of these Honours which he had received from her This Miles had five sonnes Roger Walter Henry William and Mahel men of especiall note who were cut off every one issuelesse by untimely death after they had all but William succeeded one another in their Fathers inheritance Unto Roger King Henry the Second among other things gave The Mote of Hereford with the whole Castle and the third peny issuing out of the revenewes of Plees of the whole County of Hereford whereof he made him Earle But after Roger was deceased the same King if wee may beleeve Robert Abbot De Monte kept the Earledome of Hereford to himselfe The eldest sister of these named Margaret was married to Humfrey Bohun the third of that name and his heires were high Constables of England namely Humfrey Bohun the Fourth Henry his sonne unto whom King Iohn graunted twenty pounds yeerely to be received out of the third penny of the County of Hereford whereof he made him Earle This Henry married the sister and heire of William Mandevill Earle of Essex and died in the fourth yeere of Henry the Third his reigne Humfrey the Fifth his sonne who was also Earle of Essex whose sonne Humfrey the Sixth of that forename died before his Father having first begotten Humfrey the Seventh by a daughter and one of the heires of William Breos Lord of Brecknock His sonne Humfrey the Eighth was slaine at Burrowbrig leaving by Elizabeth his wife daughter unto King Edward the First and the Earle of Hollands widow among other children namely Iohn Bohun Humfrey the Ninth both Earles of Hereford and Essex and dying without issue and William Earle of Northampton unto whom Elizabeth a daughter and one of the heires of Giles Lord Badlesmer bare Humfrey Bohun the Tenth and last of the Bohuns who was Earle of Hereford Essex and Northampton Constable besides of England who left two Daughters Aeleonor the Wife of Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester and Mary wedded to Henry of Lancaster Earle of Darby who was created Duke of Hereford and afterwards Crowned King of England But after this Edward Stafford last Duke of Buckingham was stiled Earle of Hereford for that hee descended from Thomas
worke also a fragment of an Altar with this Inscription engraven in great capitall letters three inches long erected by Haterianus the Lieutenant Generall of Augustus and Propretour of the Province Cilicia The next yeere following hard by was this Table also gotten out of the ground which prooveth that the foresaid Image was the personage of Diana and that her Temple was repaired by Titus Flavius Posthumius Varus an old souldier haply of a Band of the second Legion T. FL. POSTUMIUS VARUS V. C. LEG TEMPL DIANAE RESTITUIT Also a votive Altar out of which GETA the name of Caesar may seeme then to have beene rased what time as he was made away by his brother Antonine Bassianus and proclaimed an Enemy yet so as by the tract of the letters it is in some sort apparent PRO SALUTE AUGG. N. N. SEVERI ET ANTONINI ET GETAE CAES. P. SALTIENUS P. F. MAECIA THALAMUS HADRI PRAEF LEG II. AUG C. VAMPEIANO ET LUCILIAN This most beautifull Altar also though maimed and dismembred was there found which I thinke is thus to be made up Also these fragments 7. VECILIANA VIII 7. VALER MAXSIMI Moreover a little before the comming in of the English Saxons There was a Schoole heere of 200. Philosophers who being skilfull in Astronomy and all other Arts diligently observed the course and motion of the Starres as wrote Alexander Elsebiensis a rare Author and hard to be found out of whom Thomas James of Oxford a learned man and a true lover of Bookes who wholly addicted to learning and now laboriously searching the Libraries of England to the publique good purposeth that God blesse his labour which will be to the great benefit of all Students hath copied out very many notes for me In the Raigne of Henry the Second what time Giraldus wrote it seemeth that this City was of good strength For Yrwith of Caer Leon a courageous and hardy Britan defended it a great while against the English untill he was vanquished by the King and so disseized of the possession thereof But now that it may serve for an ensample that as well Cities have fatall periods of their flourishing state as men of their lives it is decaied and become a very small Towne which in times past was of that greatnesse and reaching out so farre in length on both sides of the River that Saint Julians an house of the late Sir William Herbert Knight was by report sometime within the very City where Saint Julius the Martyrs Church stood which now is much about a mile out of the Towne Also out of the ruines thereof a little beneath at the mouth of Vske grew up Newport which Giraldus nameth in Latine Novus Burgus a Towne of later time built and not unknowne by reason of the Castle and commodiousnesse of the Harbour in which place there was in times past some one of these Roman High wayes or Streets whereof Necham hath made mention in these Verses Intrat auget aquas Sabrini fluminis Osca Praceps testis erit Julia Strata mihi Vske into Severn headlong runnes and makes his streame to swell Witnesse with me is Julia Street that knoweth it full well This Julia Strata was no doubt some Port-high way and if we may be allowed to make a conjecture what great absurdity were it to say that it was cast up and made by Julius Fr●ntinus the vanquisher of the Silures There creepeth saith Giraldus in the bounds of this New-burgh or Newport a little River named Nant Pencarn which cannot bee waded and passed over but at certaine Fourds not so much for any depth that the water is of as for the hollownesse of the Chanell and the easie mudde in the bottome and it had of old a Fourd named Rydpencarn that is The Fourd under the top of a Rocke Which when Henry the Second King of England chanced at a venture to passe over even then when it was almost growne out of remembrance the Welshmen who were over credulous in beleeving of Prophesies as if now all had beene sure on the Kings side and themselves hopelesse of all helpe were quite out of heart and hope of good successe because Merlin Silvester the British Apollo had prophesied that then the Welshmens power should bee brought under when a stout Prince with a freckled face and such a one was King Henry the Second should passe over that Foord Under the Saxons Heptarchy this Region was subject to the mountaine Welshmen whom the English called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who notwithstanding as the ancient lawes doe shew were under the command of the West Saxons But at the first comming in of the Normans the Lords Merchers most grievously plagued and annoyed them but especially Hamelin Balun of whom I spake Hugh Lacy Walter and Gilbert both sirnamed of the house of Clare Miles of Glocester Robert Chandos Pain Fitz-Iohn Richard Fitz Punt and Brien of Wallingford unto whom after that the Kings had once given whatsoever they could get and hold in this tract by subduing the Welsh some of these before named by little and little reduced under their subjection the upper part of this Shire which they called Over-went others the lower part which they termed Nether-went And this Shire is not accounted among the Shires of Wales This Shire containeth Parish Churches 127. GLAMORGAN-SHIRE THE last Country of the Silures was that I thinke which wee at this day call GLAMORGAN-SHIRE the Britans Morganuc Glath-Morgan and Glad Vorganuc that is The Region of Morganuc so named as most suppose of one Morgan a Prince as others thinke of Morgan an Abbay But if I derived it from Mor which in the British tongue signifieth The Sea I know not verily whether I should dally with the trueth or no Howbeit I have observed that a Towne in little Britaine standing upon the Sea-coast now called Morlais was of Ptolomee and the ancient Gaules tearmed Vorganium or Morganium for M. and V. consonant are often changed one for another in this tongue and whence I pray you but from the sea And this our Morganuc also lieth upon the sea for stretching out directly more in length than it spreadeth in bredth on the South side it is accoasted with the Severn sea But where it looketh toward the Land it hath on the East side Monmouth-shire on the North Brechnock-shire and on the West Caermarden-shire bordering upon it The North part by reason of the Mountaines is rough and unpleasant which as they bend downe Southward by little and little become more milde and of better soile and at the foote of them there stretcheth forth a Plaine open to the South-Sunne in that position of situation which Cato judged to bee the best and for the which Plinie so highly commendeth Italie For this part of the Country is most pleasant and fruitfull beautified also on every side with a number of Townes Jestine a great Lord in the Raigne of William Rufus
Bishop of the heathen rites and ceremonies after he had once embraced Christian Religion First of all profaned this Temple the very habitation of impiety by launcing a speare against it yea he destroyed it and as Bede writeth Set it on fire with all the enclosures and Isles belonging unto it From hence something more Eastward the River Hull bendeth his course to Humber which River hath his spring head neere unto Driffeild a Village well knowne by reason of the Tombe of Alfred that most learned King of Northumberland and the mounts that be raised heere and there about it The said River hasteneth thitherward not farre from Leckenfielde an house of the Percies Earles of Northumberland neere unto which standeth the dwelling place of a very famous and ancient Progeny of the Hothams at Schorburg together with the rubbish of an old Castle of Peter Mauley at Garthum And now approcheth the River Hull neerer unto Beverley in the English Saxon tongue called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Bede seemeth to name the Monastery in Deirwand that is In the word of the Deiri a great Towne very populous and full of trade A man would guesse it by the name and situation to be PETUARIA PARISIORUM although it affordeth nothing of greater antiquity than that John sirnamed de Beverley Archbishop of Yorke a man as Bede witnesseth both godly and learned after he had given over his Bishopricke as weary of this world came hither and ended his life in contemplation about the yeere of our Redemption 721. The Kings held the memoriall of this John so sacred and reverend especially King Athelstan who honoured him as his tutelar Saint after he had put the Danes to flight that they endowed this place with many and those very great priviledges and Athelstane granted them liberties in these generall words All 's free make I thee as heart may thinke or eye may see Yea and there was granted unto it the priviledges of a Sanctuary so that bankrupts and men suspected of any capitall crime worthy of death might bee free and safe there from danger of the Law In which there was erected a Chaire of stone with this Inscription HAEC SEDES LAPIDEA Freedstoll DICITUR .i. PACIS CATHEDRA AD QUAM REUS FUGIENDO PERVENIENS OMNIMODAM HABET SECURITATEM That is This seat of Stone is called Freedstooll that is The chaire of Peace unto which what Offender soever flieth and commeth hath all manner of security Heereby the Towne grew great and daily there flocked hither a number to dwell as inmates and the Townesmen for conveyance of commodities by sea made a chanell for a water course out of the River Hull sufficient to carry boats and barges For the chiefe Magistracy there it had twelve Wardens afterwards Governours and Wardens And now by the gracious grant of Queene Elizabeth a Major and Governours More Eastward there flourished Meaux Abbay so called of one Gamell borne at Meaux in France who obtained it at William the Conquerours hands for a place to dwell in and heere was founded an Abbay for the Monkes of the Cluniacke order by William Le Grosse Earle of Aulbemarle to bee released of his vow that hee had made to visite Jerusalem A little lower runneth out in a great length Cottingham a country Towne of husbandry where by licence granted from King John Robert Estotevill the Lord thereof built a Castle now utterly fallen to ruine Which Robert was descended from Robert Grondebeofe or Grandebeofe a Baron of Normandy and a man of great name and reputation whose inheritance fell by marriage to the Lord de Wake and by a daughter of John de Wake it came to Edmund Earle of Kent who had a daughter named Joane wife unto that most warlique Knight Edward Prince of Wales who so often victoriously vanquished the French in divers places The River Hull aforesaid after it hath passed sixe miles from hence sheddeth himselfe into Humber and neere unto his mouth hath a Towne of his owne name called Kingston upon Hull but commonly Hull This Towne fetcheth the beginning from no great antiquity For King Edward the First who in regard of his Princely vertues deserveth to bee ranged among the principall and best Kings that ever were having well viewed and considered the opportunity of the place which before time was called Wike had it by right of exchange from the Abbat of Meaux and in lieu of the Beasts stals and sheepe pastures as I conceive it which there he found built a Towne that he named Kingston as one would say The Kings Towne and there as wee reade in the Records of the Kingdome hee made an haven and free Burgh the Inhabitants thereof also free Burgesses and he granted divers liberties unto them And by little and little it rose to that dignity that for stately and sumptuous buildings for strong block-houses for well furnished ships for store of Merchants and abundance of all things it is become now the most famous towne of merchandise in these parts All which the inhabitants ascribe partly to Michael de la-Pole who obtained their priviledges for them after that King Richard the Second had promoted him to the honour of Earle of Suffolke and partly their gainfull trade by Island fish dried and hardened which they tearme Stockfish whereby they gathered a maine masse of riches Hence it came to passe that within a little while they fensed their City with a bricke wall strengthened it with many Towres and Bulwarkes where it is not defended with the river and brought such a deale of coblestones for ballais to their ships that therewith they have paved all the quarters and streets of the towne most beautifully For the chiefe Magistrate it had as I have beene enformed first a Warden or Custos then Bailives afterward a Major and Bailives and in the end they obtained of K. Henry the Sixth that they might have a Major and a Sheriffe and that the very towne should be a County as our lawyers use to say incorporate by it selfe Neither will I thinke it much to note although in Barbarous tearmes out of the booke of Meaux Abbay as touching the Major of this City William De la Pole knight was beforetime a merchant at Ravens-rod skilfull in merchandise and inferiour to no English merchant whatsoever He making his aboade afterwards at Kingston upon Hull was the first Major that ever the said towne had he began also and founded the monastery of Saint Michael hard by the said King-ston which now is an house of the Carthusian or Charter-house monkes And he had for his eldest sonne Sir Michael De la Pole Earle of Suffolke who caused the said Monasterie to bee inhabited by Carthusian Monkes And verily William De la Pole aforesaid lent many thousand pounds of gold unto King Edward whiles hee made his aboade at Antwerp in Brabant wherefore the King in recompence of the said
change of one letter termed it Moult-grave by which name although the reason thereof be not so well knowne the world takes knowledge of it This Peter de Mololacu commonly called Mauley that I may in this point satisfie the curious borne in Poictou in France marryed the onely daughter of Robert de Turnham in the Raigne of King Richard the First in whose right he entred upon a very great inheritance heere after whom succeeded in order seven Peters called Lords Mauley who give for their Armes A Bend Sables in an Eschocheon Or. But when the seventh dyed issuelesse this the Manours of Dancaster Bainton Bridesalle c. were parted by the sisters betweene the families of the Salvains and Bigots Neere unto this place as elsewhere in this shore is found blacke Amber or Geate Some take it to be Gagates which in old time they held to be one of the rare gems and precious stones It groweth among the cliffes and rockes where they chinke and gape asunder Before it be polished it is of a reddish and rusty colour but after it bee once polished it becommeth as saith Solinus as a Gemme of a bright radiant blacke colour Touching which Rhemnius Palamon out of Dionysius Afer thus versifieth Praefulget nigro splendore Gagates Hic lapis ardescens austro perfus●s aquarum Ast oleo perdens flammas mirabile visu Attritus rapit hic teneras seu succina fr●ndes The Geat is blacke and shineth passing bright Which Stone in water dipt and drencht takes fire and burneth light In oile a wonder for to see the flame is quickly done And like to Amber rub it hard small stickes it catcheth soone And Marbodaeus in his little booke of precious stones Nascitur in Lycia lapis prope gemma Gagates Sed genus eximium foecunda Britannia mittit Lucidus niger est levis lavissimu● idem Vicinas paleas trabit attritu calefactus Ardet aqua lotus restinguitur unctus olivo Geat is a Stone and Gemme well nere that men in Lycia finde But fruitfull Britan yeelds the best simply of all that kinde Of colour blacke yet bright it is most smoothe and light withall Well rubbed and enchaul'd thereby thin strawes and fescues small That are neere hand it drawes thereto it burnes in water drencht Annoint the same with fatty oile the flame streigthwaies is quencht Heare also what Solinus saith In Britaine there is great store of Gagates or Geat and an excellent stone it is If you demand the colour it is a bright radiant blacke if the quality it is in manner nothing weighty If the nature it burneth in water and is quenched with oile if the vertue being made hote with rubbing it holdeth such things as are applied thereto From Whitby the shore gives backe Westward by which lyeth Cliveland taking that name as it seemeth of steepe bankes which in our language wee call Cliffes for there runne all along the side thereof cliffie hilles at the foote of which the country spreadeth into a Plaine full of fertile fields Upon the shore Sken grave a little Village is much benefited by taking great store of fish where also by report was caught a Sea-man about 70. yeeres since that for certaine daies together fed of raw fishes but espying his opportunity escaped away unto his proper element againe Whensoever the windes are laied and that upon still weather the sea is most calme and the water lieth as one would say levell and plaine without any noise there is heard heere many times on a sudden a great way off as it were an horrible and a fearefull groning at which time the fishermen dare not launch out farre into the deepe as beleeving according to their shallow reach that the Ocean is a fell and cruell beast and being then very hungry desireth greedily in that sort to devoure mens bodies Beneath Sken-grave is situate Kilton Castle within a Parke which belonged sometime to the habitation of the Thwengs whose patrimony descended to the Barons of Lumley Hilton and Daubeneie And there joyneth almost close unto it Skelton Castle appertaining to the ancient family of the Barons Brus who derive their descent from Robert Brus the Norman The said Robert had two sonnes Adam Lord of Skelton and Robert of Anan-dale in Scotland from whom is descended the royall stem of Scotland But Peter Brus the fifth Lord of Skelton died without issue and left his sisters to inherite namely Agnes wife to Walter Falconberg Lucie wedded to Marmaduke Thweng of whom is come the Baron Lumley Margaret married to Robert Ros and Laderina to John Belle-eau men in that age of honourable reputation The heires successively of Walter Falconberg flourished a long time but in the end by a female the possessions came to Sir William Nevill who was a redoubted Knight for martiall prowesse and by King Edward the Fourth advanced to the title of Earle of Kent And his daughters were bestowed in marriage upon Sir John Cogniers N. Bedhowing and R. Strangwaies Neere unto Hunt-cliffe and not farre from the shore there appeare aloft at a vale water certaine Rockes about which the fishes that wee call Seales short as some thinke for Sea-veales meete together in droves to sleepe and sunne themselves and upon that rocke which is next unto the shore there lieth one as it were to keepe the Centinell and as any man approcheth neere he either by throwing downe a big stone or by tumbling himselfe into the water with a great noise giveth a signall to the rest to looke unto themselves and get into the water Most affraid they bee of men against whom when they chase them they being destitute of water fling backeward with their hinder feete a cloud as it were of sand and gravell stones yea and often times drive them away For women they care not so much and therefore whosoever would take them use to bee clad in womens apparell In the same coast are found stones some of yellowish others of a reddish colour and some againe with a rough cast crust over them of a certaine salt matter which by their smell and taste make shew of Coperose Nitre and Brimstone and also great store of Marquesites in colour resembling brasse Hard by at Huntly Nabb the shore that lay for a great way in length open riseth now up with craggy rockes at the rootes wherof there lie scattering here and there stones of divers bignesse so artificially by nature shaped round in maner of a Globe that one would take them to be big bullets made by the turners hand for shot to bee discharged out of great ordinance In which if you breake them are found stony serpents enwrapped round like a wreath but most of them are headles Then see you from thence Wilton Castle sometime the Bulmers and above it at Dobham the river Tees voideth into the Sea after it hath lodged sundry rivers and at the last one that is namelesse beside Yare
clawbackes BRITANNICUS even when the Britans would have elected an Emperour against him And then it may seeme was this Statue of his set up when he prizing himselfe more than a man proceeded to that folly that he gave commandement he should be called The Romane Hercules Iupiters sonne For hee was portraied in the habite of Hercules and his right hand armed with a club under which there lay as I have heard such a mangled Inscription as this broken heere and there with voide places betweene the draught whereof was badly taken out and before I came hither was utterly spoiled CAESARI AUGUSTO MARCI AURELII FILIO SEN IONIS AMPLISSIMI VENTS PIUS This was to be seene in Nappa an house built with turrets and the chiefe seat of the Medcalfs thought to be at this day the greatest family for multitude of the same name in all England for I have heard that Sir Christopher Medcalfe knight and the top of this kinred beeing of late high-Sheriffe of the shire accompanied with three hundred men of the same house all on horsback and in a livery met and received the Justices of Assizes and so brought them to Yorke From hence runneth Vre downe a maine full of Creifishes ever since Sir Christopher Medcalfe in our remembrance brought that kinde of fish hither out of the South part of England and betweene two rockes whereof the place is named Att-scarre it runneth head long downe not far from Bolton a stately Castle the ancient seat of the Barons Scrops and which Richard Lord le Scrope and Chancellour of England under king Richard the Second built with exceeding great coste and now bending his course Eastward commeth to Midelham the honour whereof as wee reade in the Genealogie or Pedegree of the Nevils Alan Earle of Richmond bestowed upon his younger brother Rinebald with all the lands which before their comming belonged to Gilpatrick the Dane His nephew by his sonne Raulph named Robert Fitz-Raulph had all Wentsedale also by gift of Conan Earle of Britaine and of Richmond and at Midleham raised a most strong Castle His sonne Ranulph erected a little Abbay for Chanons at Coverham called now short Corham in Coverdale whose sonne Raulph had a daughter named Mary who being wedded to Robert Lord Nevill with this marriage translated this very faire and large inheritance as her portion into the family of Nevils Which Robert Nevill having had many children by his wife was taken in adultery unknowne and by the husband of the adulteresse being for revenge berest of his genitours shortly after dyed with extremity of paine Then Ure after it hath passed a few miles forward watereth Iervis or Iorvalle Abbay of Cistertians founded first at Fo rs and after translated hither by Stephen Earle of Britaine and Richmond but now wholly ruinated and after that Masham which was the possession of the Scropes of Masham who as they sprung from the stocke of the Scropes of Bolton so they were by marriages ingraffed againe into the same On the other side of this River but more inward standeth Snath the principall house of the Barons Latimer who derived their noble descent from George Nevill younger sonne of Raulph Nevill the first Earle of Westmorland and he received this Title of honour from king Henry the Sixth when as the ancienter house of the Latimers expired in a female and so by a continued succession they have flourished unto these our daies when for default of male issue of the last Baron Latimer that goodly and rich inheritance was divided among his daughters marryed into the families of the Percies Cecils D'anvers and Cornwallis Neither are there any other places in this part of the shire worth the naming that Ure runneth by unlesse it bee Tanfeld the habitation in times past of the Gernegans knights from whom it descended to the Marmions the last of whom left for his heire Amice second wife to John Lord Grey of Rotherfeld by whom he had two sonnes John that assumed the sirname of Marmion and died issuelesse and Robert who left behinde him one onely daughter and sole heire Elizabeth wife to Sir Henry Fitz-Hugh a noble Baron After this Ure entertaineth the River Swale so called as Th. Spot writeth of his swiftnesse selfe into it with a maine and violent streame which Swale runneth downe Eastward out of the West Mountaines also scarce five miles above the head of Ure a River reputed very sacred amongst the ancient English for that in it when the English Saxons first embraced Christianity there were in one day baptized with festivall joy by Paulinus the Archbishop of Yorke above tenne thousand men besides women and little children This Swale passeth downe along an open Vale of good largenesse which of it is called Swal-dale having good plenty of grasse but as great want of wood first by Marrick where there stood an Abbay built by the Askes men in old time of great name also by Mask a place full of lead ore Then runneth it through Richmond the chiefe towne of the Country having but a small circuit of walles but yet by reason of the Suburbs lying out in length at three Gates well peopled and frequented Which Alan the first Earle thereof built reposing small trust in Gilling a place or Manour house of his hard by to withstand the violence of the Danes and English whom the Normans had despoiled of their inheritance and hee adorned it with this name as one would say The rich Mount he fensed it with a wall and a most strong Castle which being set upon a rocke from an high looketh downe to Swale that with a mighty rumbling noise rusheth rather than runneth among the stones For the said house or Manour place of Gilling was more holy in regard of devout religion than sure and strong for any fortification it had ever since that therein Beda calleth it Gethling Oswy King of Northumberland being entertained guest-wise was by his hoste forelaid and murthered for the expiation whereof the said Monastery was built highly accounted of among our ancestours More Northward Ravenswath Castle sheweth it selfe compassed with a good large wall but now fallen which was the seat of the Barons named Fitz-Hugh extracted from the ancient line of the English Nation who were Lords of the place before the Normans Conquest and lived in great name unto King Henry the Seventh his daies enriched with faire possessions by marriage with the heires of the noble houses of Furneaux and Marmion which came at last by the females unto the Fienes Lords Dacres in the South and to the Parrs Three miles beneath Richmond Swale runneth by that ancient City which Ptolomee and Antonine call CATURACTONIUM and CATARRACTON but Bede Catarractan and in another place the Village neere unto Catarracta whereupon I suppose it had the name of Catarracta that is a Fludfall or water-fall considering hard by there
here in Gordian the Emperours time as appeareth evidently by these inscriptions which I saw hard by I O M. ALA AUG OB RTUT APPEL CUI PRAEEST TIB. CL. TIB. F. P IN G N JUSTINUS PRAEF FUSCIANO II SILANO II COS. DM MABLI NIVSSEC VNDVS EQUIS ALE AUG STE STIP This votive altar also of a rude stone was erected for the happie health of the Emperour Gordian the third and his wife Furia Sabina Tranquilla and their whole family by the troup of horsemen surnamed Augusta Gordiana when Aemilius Chrispinus a native of Africa governed the same under Nonnius Philippus Lievtenant generall of Britaine in the yeere of Christ 243. as appeareth by the Consuls therein specified I O M PRO SALUTE IMPERATORIS M. ANTONI GORDIANI P. F. INVICTI AUG ET SABINIAE TUR IAE TRANQUILE CONJUGI EJUS TO TA QUE DOMU DIVIN EORUM A LA AUG GORDIA OB VIRTUTEM APPELLATA POSUIT CUI PRAEEST AEMILIUS CRISPINUS PRAEF EQQ. NATUS IN PRO AFRICA DE TUIDRO SUB CUR NONNII PH LIPPI LEG AUG PROPRETO ATTICO ET PRETEXTATO COSS. From hence also were altars brought which are erected in the high way by Wigton in the sides whereof are to bee seene a drinking cup or mazar a footlesse pot a mallet a boll c. all vessels appertaining to sacrifice But time hath so worn out the letters that nothing can be read And not farre from hence just by the high street way there was digged up a long rude stone in manner of a columne which we saw at Thoresby with this inscription to the honour of Philip the Emperour and his sonne who flourished about the yeere of our Lord 248. IMP CAES. M. JUL PHILIPPO PIO FELI CI AUG ET M. JUL. PHI LIPPO NOBILIS SIMO CAES TR. P. COS This also with others Oswald Dikes a learned minister of Gods word copied out for me and now is to be seene in the house of T. Dikes Gentleman at Wardal DEO SANCTO BELA TUCADRO AURELIUS DIATOVA ARAE X VOTO POSUIT LL. MM. Likewise another such like altar to a private tutelar God of the place was there found with this unperfect inscription DEO CE AIIO AUR M RTI. ET MS ERURACIO PRO SE ET SUIS V.S. LL. M. Besides an infinite number of pety images statues of horsemen Aegles Lions Ganimedes and many other monuments of antiquity which are daily discovered Something higher a little promontory shooteth out and a great frith or arme of the Sea lieth under it being now the common limit confining England and Scotland serving in times past to make a separation betweene the Romane Province and the Picts Upon this standeth that ancient town BLATUM-BULGIUM happily of Butch a Britaine word that signifieth a separation from which as from the most remote place and the limit of the Roman province Antonine the Emperour beginneth his journies through Britaine The inhabitants at this day call it Bulnesse and as small a village as it is yet hath it a pile and in token of the antiquity thereof besides the tracts of streets ruinous walls and an haven now stopped up with mud there led a paved high-way from hence along the sea-shore as farre as to Elen Borrough if we may relie upon the report of the by-dwellers Beyond this a mile as is to bee seene by the foundations at a nepe tide beganne that WALL the most renowned worke of the Romanes which was the bound in times past of the Romane province raised of purpose to seclude and keepe out the barbarous nations that in this tract were evermore barking and baying as an ancient writer saith about the Roman Empire I marvailed at first why they built here so great fortifications considering that for eight miles or thereabout there lieth opposite a very great frith and arme of the sea but now I understand that at every ebbe the water is so low that the borderers and beast-stealers may easily wade over That the form of these shores hath bin changed it doth evidently appeare by the tree roots covered over with sand a good way off from the shore which oftentimes at a low ebbe are discovered with the windes I know not whether I may relate here which the inhabitants reported concerning trees without boughes under the ground oftentimes found out here in the mosses by the direction of dew in summer for they have observed that the dew never standeth on that ground under which they lye By the same Frith more within the land standeth Drumbough Castle belonging of later time to the Lords of Dacre a station in times past of the Romans Some will have it to have beene EXPLORATORUM CASTRA notwithstanding the distance utterly controuleth it There was also another station of the Romans beside it which now being changed into a new name is called Burgh upon Sands whence the territory adjoyning is named the Barony of Burgh the which R. Meschines Lord of Cumberland gave unto Robert de Trivers but from him it came to the Morvils the last of which house named Hugh left behind him a daughter who by her second husband Thomas de Molton had issue Thomas Molton Lord of this place whose sonne Thomas by marriage with the heire of Hubert de Vaulx adjoyned Gilles-land to his possessions which in the end were devolved all unto Ranulph Dacre who married M. the heire of Moulton But for no one thing was this little Burgh upon Sands more famous than that King Edward the first that triumphant Conquerour of his enemies was here taken out of this world by untimely death A right noble and worthy Prince to whom God proportioned most princely presence and personage as a right worthy seat to entertaine so heroicall a minde For hee not onely in regard of fortitude and wisedome but also for a beautifull and a personall presence was in all points answerable to the height of royall majesty whom fortune also in the very prime and flowre of his age inured to many a warre and exercised in most dangerous troubles of the State whiles she framed and fitted him for the Empire of Britain which he being once crowned King managed and governed in such wise that having subdued the Welsh and vanquished the Scots hee may most justly bee counted the second ornament of Great Britaine Under this Burgh within the very Frith where the salt water ebbeth and floweth the Englishmen and Scotish by report of the inhabitants fought with their fleets at full Sea and also with their horsemen and footmen at the ebbe A thing which may seeme no lesse marvellous than that which Plinie hath reported not without wonder of the like place in Caramania This arme of the sea both nations call Solway Frith of Solway a towne in Scotland standing upon it But Ptolomee more truely tearmeth it ITUNA For Eden that notable river which wandreth through Westmorland and the inner parts of this shire
the country lyeth the Barony of Gillesland a little region so encombred by reason of sudden rising brookes which they call Gilles that I would have deemed it tooke the name of them had I not read in a booke belonging to the Abbey of Lanercost that one Gill Fitz-Bueth who is called also Gilbert in a Charter of King Henry the second held it as Lord in old time of whom it is probable this name was rather given to it Through this Gillesland the wall of Severus that most famous monument of all Britaine runneth streight as it were by a line from Carlile Eastward by Stanwicks a little village by Scalby castle belonging in times past to the Tilliols sometimes a name in this tract of good worship and reputation from whom it came to the Pickerings then Cambec a small brooke runneth under the wall Neere unto which the Barons of Dacre built Askerton castle a little pile where the Governour of Gillesland whom they call Land-Sergeant had a ward Beneath the wall it conjoyneth it selfe with the river Irthing where standeth Irthington a chiefe Manour as they tearme it of this Barony of Gillesland And great ruins are here to be seen at Castle-steed Neere unto it is Brampton a little mercate towne which we suppose to bee BREMETURACUM at the very line and range of the wall for it is scarce a mile from the said wall where in times past lay the first Band of the Tungri out of Germanie in the declining state of the Romane Empire and a company of Armaturae under the generall of Britaine These were horsemen armed at all peeces But whether these Armatures were Duplar or Simplar it is doubtfull Duplar or Duple Armaturae they were called in those daies who had double allowances of corne Simplar that had but single Neither verily must I overpasse in silence that hard by Brampton there mounteth up an high hill fortified in the verie top with a trench they call it the Mote from which there is a faire prospect every way into the country Beneath this and by Castle-steeds like as at Trederman joining unto it were found these inscriptions exemplified for me by the hand of the right honourable Lord William Howard of Naworth third sonne unto Thomas late Duke of Norfolke a singular lover of venerable antiquitie and learned withall who in these parts in right of his wife a sister and one of the heires of the last Lord Dacre enjoieth faire possessions This stone also was found there in an old Hot-house wherein by ill fortune the name of the Emperours Lievtenant and Propretour of Britaine is worne out Neere to Brampton Gelt a riveret runneth downe by the banke whereof in a crag called Helbecke are read these antiquities wherein the words hang not well together erected as it seemeth by a Lievtenant of the second Legion Augusta under Agricola the Propraetour and others beside which the injurie of time hath envied us In the same rocke these words also are read written in a more moderne and newer letter OFFICIUM ROMANORUM This Gelt emptieth himselfe into the river Irthing which with a swift and angry streame holdeth his course by Naworth Castle belonging unto the Lord William Howard aforesaid who now repaireth it but lately to the Barons of Dacre of whom when the last died in his tender yeeres Leonard Dacre his Unkle who chose rather to try the title of inheritance with his Prince by force of armes than with his Nieces by wager of law seized into his hands this Castle and levied a band of rebels against his Prince whom the Lord of Hunsdon with the garrison souldiers of Berwick soone discomfited and put to flight in which conflict many were slaine but more ranne away amongst whom Leonard himselfe escaped But of him more in my Annales Neerer unto the wall beyond the river Irthing was lately found this faire votive altar erected to the Goddesse Nymphe of the Brigantes for the health of the Empresse Plautilla wife to M. Aurelius Antoninus Severus and the whole Imperiall family by M. Cocceius Nigrinus a Treasurer to the Emperour when Laetus was second time Consull with intricate connexion of letters which I read thus DEAE NYMPHAE BRIGantum QUOD VOVERAT PRO SALUTE PLAUTILIAE COnjugis INVICTAE DO Mini NOSTRI INVICTI IMP. M. AURE Lii SEVERI ANTONINI PII. FE Licis C AE Saris AU Gusti TOTIUSQUEDO MUS DIVINAE EJUS M. COCCEIUS NIGRINUS Questor AU Gusti Numini DEVOTUS LIBENS SUSCEPTUM Solvit LAETO II. Here by was the Priory of Lanercost founded by R. de Vaulx Lord of Gillesland and hard by the wall Burd Oswald Beneath which where that Picts wall passed over the river Irthing by an arched bridge was the station of the first band Aelia Dacica or of the Dacians the place is now named Willoford which the booke of Notice of Provinces and many altars bearing inscriptions to Iupiter Optimus Maximus reared by that Cohort here doe plentifully prove Of which I thought good to adde these unto the rest although time hath almost worne them out I. O. M. OH I. AEL DA C. C. A. GETA IRELSAVRNES I. O. M. CoH. I. AEL DAC C. P. STATU LoN GINUS TRIB PRO SALUTE D. N MAXjMIANO FOR CAE VA OAED LEG VI VIC P.F F. I. O. M. COHIAEL DAC TETRICIANORO C. P. LUTIC V S. DESIG NATUS TRIB I.O.M. COH I. AEL DAC GORD ANA. C. P EST I. O. M. H. I. AEL DAC C. PRAEE SI FLIUS FA S TRIB PETUO COS. The first Lord of Gillesland that hitherto I have read of was William Meschines the brother of Ralph Lord of Cumberland I meane not that William brother to Ranulph Earle of Chester from whom came Ranulph de Ruelent but the brother of Ralph yet could hee never wrest it wholly out of the Scots hands for Gill the sonne of Bueth held the greatest part of it by force and armes After his death King Henry the second gave it to Hubert de Vaulx or de Vallibus whose shield of Armes was Chequy Or Gueles His sonne Robert founded and endowed the Priory of Lanercost But the inheritance after a few yeeres was by marriage translated to the Moltons and from them by a daughter to Ranulph Lord Dacre whose line hath flourished unto our daies in very great honour Having now in some sort surveied the maritime coasts and more inward parts of Cumberland the side that lieth more Easterly being leane hungry and a wast remaineth to bee viewed and yet it sheweth nothing but the spring-head of South-Tine in a moorish place and an ancient Romane high-way eight ells broad paved with great stone commonly called Mayden Way which leadeth out of Westmorland and where the riveret Alon and the aforesaid South Tine meet together in one channell by the side of an hill of gentle descent there remaine yet the footings of a very great and ancient towne which was toward the North enclosed within a fourefold rampier
and recovered this tract or Province which before had beene lost But these ancient names were quite worne out of use in the English Saxon war and all the Countries lying North on the other side of the Arme of the sea called Humber began by a Saxon name to bee called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The Kingdome of Northumberland which name notwithstanding being now cleane gone in the rest of the Shires remaineth still as it were surviving in Northumberland onely Which when that state or kingdome stood was knowne to bee a part of the Kingdome of Bernicia which had peculiar petty Kings and reached from the River TEES to Edenborough Frith NORTH-HUMBER-LAND NOrth-umber-land which the English Saxons called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lieth after a sort enclosed in fashion of a Triangle but not with equall sides The South side is shut in with Derwent running into Tine and with Tine it selfe where it butteth upon the Bishoprick of Durham The East side the German sea lieth and beateth upon it But the West side which reacheth out from South-west to North-east is first parted from Cumber-land afterward with Cheviot and hills linked one to another and lastly with the river Twede it affronteth Scotland and so was the limit of both kingdomes over which were set in this countie two Governours the one called L. Warden of the middle Marches the other of the East marches The ground it selfe for the most part rough and hard to be manured seemeth to have hardened the inhabitants whom the Scots their neighbours also made more fierce and hardie while sometimes they keep them exercised in warres and other whiles in time of peace intermingle their manners among them so that by these meanes they are a most warlike nation and excellent good light-horsemen And whereas they addicted themselves as it were wholly to Mars and Armes there is not a man amongst them of the better sort that hath not his little tower or pile and so it was divided into a number of Baronies the Lords whereof in times past before King Edward the first his dayes went commonly under the name Barons although some of them were of no great living But a wise and politicke device this was of our Ancestours to cherish and maintaine martiall prowesse among them in the marches of the kingdome if it were nothing else but with an honourable bare title Howbeit this title came to nothing among them what time as under King Edward the first those onely began to enjoy the name and honour of Barons whom the Kings summoned unto the high Court of Parliament by speciall summons Toward the sea and Tine by diligence and good husbandrie it becommeth very fruitfull but elsewhere it is more barraine rough and as it were unmanurable And in many places those stones Lithanthraces which we call Sea-coales are digged up in great plentie to the great gaine of the inhabitants and commoditie of others The hithermore part bending toward the South-west and called Hexam-shire acknowledged a long time the Archbishop of Yorke for the Lord thereof and challenged unto it selfe by what right I know not the priviledge of a Countie Palatine But after it became of late annexed unto the crowne land upon an exchange made with Robert the Archbishop by authority of Parliament it was laied unto the countie of Northumberland that it should be subject to the same jurisdiction and in all causes have recourse unto the high Sheriffe thereof South Tine a river so called if wee may beleeve our Britans for that by reason of his narrow bankes hee is straight pent in for so signifieth Tin as they say in the British tongue having his spring head in Cumberland neere unto Alsten-more where there was an ancient copper mine holding on his course by Lambley sometime a Nunnerie built by the Lucies and now with floods for the most part undermined and fallen downe also by Fetherston-Haugh the seat of the ancient and well descended family of Fetherston when hee is come as farre as Bellister Castle turning Eastward runneth directly forward with the WALL which is in no place three miles distant from it toward the North. For the Wall having left Cumberland behind it and crossed over the Irthing passed likewise with an arch over the swift riveret Poltrosse where I saw within the wall high mounts of earth cast up as it were to over look and discover the country Neer this standeth Thirl-wale Castle which is not great but strongly built yet it gave both habitation and surname to the ancient and noble family which was first called Wade where the Picts and Scottish made their passage into the Province between Irthing and Tine and that verily upon good forecast in that place where they had free entrance by reason of no river in their way into the inmore parts of England But you shall better understand this and the name of the place out of John Fordon the Scottish Historian whose words it will not bee amisse as I thinke to set downe here because the booke is not everie where to bee had The Scots saith hee when by conquest they had gotten the possession of those countries which are on this side the wall toward Scotland began to inhabite them and having of a suddaine raised a sort of the Country people with their mattockes pickaxes rakes three tined forkes and spades make wide gappes and a number of holes in it by which breaches they might passe in out readily at their pleasure Of those holes therefore this mound of the wall afterward took the name Thirlwall which it hath at this day in this place for in the English tongue that very place is called Thirlwall which is as much as a wall pierced through Then saw we Blenkensop which gave name unto a generous family as also their habitation in a right pleasant country Southward which was part of the Baronie of Sir Nicholas of Bolteby a Baron of renowne in the time of King Edward the first When you are past Thirlwall the said wall openeth it selfe unto the raging river Tippall where in the descent of an hill a little within the wall is to bee seene the ground worke of a Castle of the Romans in forme foure square everie side whereof taketh an hundred and fortie paces The verie foundations likewise of houses and trackes of streets still appeare most evidently to the beholders The Ranke-riders or taking men of the borders doe report that a great port-way paved with flint and bigge stone led from hence through wastes unto Maiden castle in Stanemore Certes it passed directly to Kirkby Thor whereof I spake A poore old woman that dwelt in a little poore cottage hard by shewed unto us an ancient little altar-stone in testimonie of some vow with this inscription unto VITIRINEUS a tutelar God as it seemed of the place DEO VITI RINE LIMEO ROV P. L. M. This place is now named Caer Vorran what
was Robert Boide whose wife and Earldome together when Boide was banished the realme James L. Hamilton as I said erewhile obtained and his posteritie enjoyed the same Earldome saving that of late Sir James Steward appointed guardian to James Hamilton Earle of Arran when hee was so defective in understanding that he could not manage his estate tooke this title in the right of being guardian Neere unto this standeth Buthe so called of a little religious Cell which Brendanus founded for so is a little Cell tearmed in the Scottish tongue In this Iland is Rothsay Castle which giveth the title of Dukedome unto the King of Scots eldest sonne who is borne Prince of Scotland Duke of Rothsay and Seneschall of Scotland since time that King Robert the third invested Robert his eldest sonne Duke of Rothsay the first in Scotland that ever was created Duke With which title also Queene Marie honoured Henrie Lord Darly before she tooke him to be her husband Then shew themselves Hellan sometimes called Hellan Leneow that it as Iohn Fordon interpreteth it The Saints Ilands and Hellan Tinoc that is The Swines Iland with a great number of other Ilands of lesse note and reckoning in the same Forth DAMNII CLUYDSDALE c. BEyond the NOVANTES more inward by the river Glotta or Cluyd and farther still even to the verie East sea dwelt in times past the DAMNII in those countries if I have any judgement for in things so farre remote from our remembrance and in so thick a mist of obscuritie who can speake of certaintie which are now callled Cluydsdale the Baronie of Renfraw Lennox Strivelinshire Menteth and Fife Neere unto the head of Cluyd in Crawford Moore among the wilde wasts certaine husbandmen of the countrey after great store of violent raine happened to finde certaine small peeces like scrapings of gold which have this long time given great hope of much riches but most of all in our dayes since that Sir Beamis Bulmer undertooke with great endevour to finde out here a Mine of gold Certes there is Azur gotten forth everie day without any paines in manner at all Now the Castle of Crawford together with the title of the Earle of Crawford was by Robert the second King of Scots given unto Sir James Lindesey who by a single combate performed with Baron Welles an Englishman won high commendation for his valour These Lindeseyes have deserved passing well of their country and are of ancient nobilitie ever since that Sir William Lindesey married one of the heires of William of Lancaster Lord of Kandale in England whose neice in the third degree of lineall descent was married into the most honourable family of Coucy in France Cluyd after hee hath from his spring head with much struggling got out Northward by Baron Somervils house receiveth unto him from out of the West the river Duglasse or Douglasse so called of a blackish or greenish water that it hath which river communicateth his name both to have the vale through which hee runneth called Douglasdale and also to Douglasse castle therein which name that castle likewise hath imparted unto the family of the Douglasses Which I assure you is very ancient but most famous ever since that Sir James Douglasse stucke verie close at all times as a most fast friend unto King Robert Brus and was readie alwaies with singular courage resolution and wisdome to assist him claiming the kingdome in most troublesome and dangerous times and whom the said King Robert charged at his death to carrie his heart to Jerusalem that hee might bee discharged of his vow made to goe to the Holy-land In memoriall whereof the Douglasses have inserted in their Coat of Armes a mans heart From which time this family grew up to that power and greatnesse and namely after that King David the second had created William Earle of Douglasse that they after a sort awed the Kings themselves For at one time well neere there were sixe Earles of them namely of this Douglasse of Angus of Ormund of Wigton of Murray and of Morton among whom the Earle of Wigton through his martiall prowesse and desert obtained at the hands of Charles the seventh king of France the title of Duke of Tourain and left the same to two Earles of Douglasse his heires after him Above the confluence of Douglasse and Cluyd is Lanric the hereditarie Sheriffdom of the Hamiltons who for their name are beholden unto Hamilton castle which standeth somewhat higher upon Cluyds banke in a fruitfull and passing pleasant place but they referre their originall as they have a tradition to a certaine Englishman surnamed Hampton who having taken part with Robert Brus received from him faire lands in this tract Much increase of their wealth and estate came by the bounteous hand of King James the third who bestowed in marriage upon Sir James Hamilton his own eldest sister whom he had taken perforce from the Lord Boide her husband together with the Earledome of Arran but of honours and dignities by the States of the kingdome who after the death of King James the fifth ordained James Hamilton grandsonne to the former James Regent of Scotland whom Henrie also the second King of France advanced to be Duke of Chasteau Herald in Poictou as also by King James the sixth who honoured his son John with the title of Marquesse of Hamilton which honourable title was then first brought into Scotland The river Glotta or Cluyd runneth from Hamilton by Bothwell which glorieth in the Earles thereof namely John Ramsey whose greatnesse with King James the third was excessive but pernicious both to himselfe and the King and the Hepburns whom I have already spoken of so streight forward with a readie stream through Glascow in ancient times past a Bishops seat but discontinued a great while untill that King William restored it up againe but now it is an Archbishops See and an Universitie which Bishop Turnbull after hee had in a pious and religious intent built a colledge in the yeere 1554. first founded This Glascow is the most famous town of merchandise in this tract for pleasant site and apple trees and other like fruit trees much commended having also a verie faire bridge supported with eight arches Of which towne I. Ionstoun thus versified Non te Pontificum luxus non Insula tantùm Ornavit diri quae tibi caussa mali Glottiadae quantùm decorant te Glascua Musae Quae celsum attollunt clara sub astra caput GLOTTA decus rerum piscosis nobilis undis Finitimi recreat jugera laeta soli Ast Glottae decus vicinis gloria terris Glascua foe cundat flumine cuncta suo The sumptuous port of Bishops great hath not adorn'd thee so Nor mitre rich that hath beene cause of thine accursed woe As Cluyds Muses grace thee now O Glascow towne for why They make thee beare thy head aloft up to the starrie skie Cluyd the beautie of the
extended it selfe in old time farre and wide everie way in these parts As for the places herein they are of no great account but the Earles thereof are very memorable Thomas a younger sonne of Rolland of Galloway was in his wives right Earle of Athol whose sonne Patricke was by the Bissets his concurrents murdered in feud at Hadington in his bed-chamber and forthwith the whole house wherein hee lodged burnt that it might be supposed he perished by casualtie of fire In the Earldome there succeeded David Hastings who had married the aunt by the mothers side of Patricke whose sonne that David surnamed of Strathbogie may seeme to be who a little after in the reigne of Henrie the third King of England being Earle of Athol married one of the daughters and heires of Richard base sonne to John King of England and had with her a verie goodly inheritance in England She bare unto him two sonnes John Earle of Athol who being of a variable disposition and untrustie was hanged up aloft on a gallowes fiftie foot high and David Earle of Athol unto whom by marriage with one of the daughters and heires of John Comin of Badzenoth by one of the heires of Aumar de Valence Earle of Penbroch there fell great lands and possessions His sonne David who under King Edward the second was otherwhiles amongst English Earles summoned to the Parliaments in England and under King Edward Balliol made Lord Lievtenant Generall of Scotland was vanquished by the valerous prowesse of Andrew de Murray and slaine in battaile within the Forrest of Kelblen in the yeere of our Lord 1335. And his sonne David left two young daughters only Elizabeth wedded unto Sir Thomas Percie from whom the Barons of Burrough are descended and Philip married to Sir Thomas Halsham an English Knight Then fell the title of Athol unto that Walter Stewart sonne to King Robert the second who cruelly murdered James the first King of Scotland and for this execrable crueltie suffered most condigne punishment accordingly in so much as Aeneas Sylvius Embassadour at that time in Scotland from Pope Eugenius the fourth gave out this speech That hee could not tell whether hee should give them greater commendations that revenged the Kings death or brand them with sharper censure of condemnation that distained themselves with so hainous a parricide After some few yeeres passed betweene this honour was granted unto John Stewart of the family of Lorne the sonne of James surnamed The Black Knight by Joan the widow of King James the first daughter to John Earle of Somerset and Niece to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster whose posteritie at this day enjoy the same Tau bearing now a bigger streame by receiving Almund unto him holdeth on his course to Dunkelden adorned by King David with an Episcopall See Most writers grounding upon the signification of that word suppose it to be a towne of the Caledonians and interpret it The Mount or hill of Hazeles as who would have that name given unto it of the Hazel trees in the wood Caledonia From hence the Tau goeth forward by the carkasse of Berth a little desolate Citie remembring well enough what a great losse and calamitie hee brought upon it in times past when with an extraordinarie swelling flood hee surrounded all the fields layed the goodly standing corne along on the ground and carried headlong away with him this poore Citie with the Kings childe and infant in his cradle and the inhabitants therein In steed whereof in a more commodious place King William builded Perth which straightwaies became so wealthy that Necham who lived in that age versified of it in this manner Transis ample Tai per rura per oppida per Perth Regnum sustentant istius urbis opes By villages by townes by Perth thou runn'st great Tay amaine The riches of this Citie Perth doth all the realme sustaine But the posteritie ensuing called it of a Church founded in honour of Saint John Saint Iohns towne and the English whiles the warres were hot betweene the Bruses and the Balliols fortified it with great bulwarks which the Scots afterwards for the most part overthrew and dismantled it themselves Howbeit it is a proper pretie Citie pleasantly seated betweene two Greenes and for all that some of the Churches be destroyed yet a goodly shew it maketh ranged and set out in such an uniforme maner that in everie severall street almost there dwell severall artificers by themselves and the river Tau bringeth up with the tide sea commodities by lighters whereupon J. Jonston so often now by me cited writeth thus PERTHUM Propter aquas Tai liquidas amoena vineta Obtinet in medio regna superba solo Nobilium quondam regum clarissima sedes Pulchra situ pinguis germine dives agri Finitimis dat jura locis moremque modumque Huic dare laus illis haec meruisse dari Sola inter patrias incincta est moenibus urbes Hostibus assiduis ne vaga praeda foret Quanta virûm virtus dextrae quae praemia nôrunt Cimber Saxo ferox genus Hectoridum Felix laude novâ felix quoque laude vetustâ Perge recens priscum perpetuare decus PERTH Neere to the waters cleere of Tay and pleasant plaines all greene In middle ground betweene them stands Perth proudly like a Queene Of noble Kings the stately seat and palace once it was Faire for the site and rich with all for spring of corne and grasse To neighbour places all it doth lawes customes fashions give Her praise to give theirs to deserve the same for to receive Of all the Cities in these parts walled alone is she Lest she to foes continuall a scambling prey might be What Knights she bred and what rewards they won to knighthood due Danes Saxons fierce bold Britans eke the Trojans off-spring knew Happie for praises old happie for praises new of late New as thou art thine honour old strive to perpetuate And now of late King James the sixth hath erected it to the title of an Earldome having created James Baron Dromund Earle of Perth Unto Perth these places are neere neighbours Methven which Margaret an English Ladie widow unto King James the fourth purchased with readie money for her third husband Henrie Steward descended of the royall blood and for his heires and withall obtained of her sonne King James the fifth for him the dignitie of a Baron More beneath is Rethuen a castle of the Rethuens whose name is of damned memorie considering that the three states of the kingdome hath ordained that whosoever were of that name should forgoe the same and take unto them a new after that the Rethuens brethren in a most cursed and horrible conspiracie had complotted to murder their soveraigne King James the sixth who had created William their father Earle of Gourie and afterward beheaded him being lawfully convicted when he would insolently prescribe lawes to his soveraigne But of men
time and from out of them three hundred yeeres agoe and thirtie Robert Stewart by Marjorie his mother daughter to King Robert Brus obtained the Kingdome of Scotland and now lately James Stewart of that name the sixth King of Scots by Margaret his great grandmother daughter to King Henrie the seventh the divine power of that most high and almightie Ruler of the world so disposing is ascended with the generall applause of all nations to the height of Monarchicall majestie over all Britaine and the Isles adjacent ROSSIA THe Province ROSSE so called by an old Scottish word which some interpret to be a Promontorie others a Biland was inhabited by the people named CANTAE which terme in effect implieth as much in the time of Ptolomee This extendeth it selfe so wide and large that it reacheth from the one sea to the other What way it beareth upon the Vergivian or Western Ocean by reason of huge swelling mountaines advancing their heads aloft and many woods among them it is full of stagges roe buckes fallow Deere and wilde foule but where it butteth upon the German sea it is more lovely bedect with corne fields and pastures and withall much more civill In the very first entrance into it Ardmanoch no small territorie whereof the second sonnes of the Kings of Scotland beare the title riseth up with high mountaines that are most trustie preservers of snow As touching their height some have reported unto me strange wonders and yet the ancient Geometers have written that neither the depth of sea nor height of hills exceed by the plumbe line ten stadia that is one mile and a quarter Which notwithstanding they that have beheld Tenariffe amongst the Canarie Ilands which is fifteene leagues high and sailed withall the Ocean neere unto them will in no wise admit for truth In this part standeth Lovet Castle and the Baronie of the worthy family of the Frasers whom for their singular good service for the Scottish kingdome King James the second accepted into the ranke of Barons and whom the Clan-Ranalds a most bloodie generation in a quarrell and braule between them had wholly destroied every mothers sonne but that by the providence of God fourescore of the principall persons of this family left their wives at home all great with child who being delivered of so many sonnes renewed the house and multiplied the name againe But at Nesse mouth there flourished sometimes Chanonrie so called of a rich Colledge of Chanons whiles the Ecclesiasticall state stood in prosperitie in which there is erected a See for the Bishop of Rosse Hard by is placed Cromartie where Urqhuart a Gentleman of noble birth by hereditarie right from his ancestours ministreth justice as Sheriffe to this Sheriffdome and this is so commodious and safe an harbour for any fleet be it never so great that both Sailers and Geographers name it PORTUS-SALUTIS that is The Haven of safetie Above it is LITTUS ALTUM whereof Ptolomee maketh mention called now as it seemeth Tarbarth for there indeed the shore riseth to a great height enclosed on the one side with Cromer a most secure and safe haven and on the other with CELNIUS now Killian the river and thus much of the places toward the East Ocean Into the west sea the river LONGUS mentioned in Ptolomee at this day named Lough Longus runneth then the CERONES anciently dwelt where now is Assinshire a countrey much mangled with many inlets and armes of the sea in bosoming it selfe with manifold commodities As for the Earls of Rosse it is full of difficulty to set them down in order successively out of writers About foure hundred yeers past we read that Ferqhuard flourished enjoied this title But for default of issue male it came by a daughter to Walter Lesley who for his noble feats of armes courageously atchieved under Lewis the Emperour was worthily named The Noble Knight he begat Alexander Earle of Rosse and a daughter married unto Donald Lord of the Islands Hebrides This Alexander had issue one onely daughter who made over by her deed all her owne title and right unto Robert Duke of Albany whereat the said Donald of the Islands being highly enchafed and repining stiled himselfe in the reigne of James the third King of the Islands and Earle of Rosse having with fire and sword laied waste his native country far neere At length the said K. James the third by authoritie of Parliament in the yeere 1476. annexed the Earldome of Rosse to the crowne so as it might not be lawfull for his successours to alienate by any meanes from the crowne either the Earldome it selfe or any parcell thereof or by any device to grant the same unto any person save onely to the Kings second sonnes lawfully borne whence it is that Charles the Kings second sonne Duke of York at this day holdeth an enjoieth the title of Earle of Rosse SUTHERLAND BEyond Rosse Sutherland looketh toward the East Ocean a land more meet to breed cattell than to beare corne wherein there be hills of white marble a wonderfull thing in this so cold a climate but of no use almost considering excesse in building and that vain ostentation of riches is not yet reached to these remote regions Here is Dunrobin a castle of very great name the principall seat of the ancient Earles of Sutherland descended if I be not deceived out of the family of Murray Among whom one William under King Robert Brus is most famous who married the sister of the whole blood to K. David and had by her a son whom the said David declared heire apparant of the crown and compelled his Nobles to sweare unto him alleageance but he within a little after departed without issue and the Earldome in the end came by a daughter and heire hereditarily unto A. Gordon one of the line of the Earles of Huntly CATHANES HIgher lieth CATHANES butting full upon the said East sea bending inward with a number of creakes and compasses which the waves as it were indent In which dwelt in Ptolomees time the CATINI but written falsly in some copies CARINI among whom the selfe same Ptolomee placeth the river Ila which may seem to be the Wifle at this day The inhabitants of this province raised their greatest gaine and revenues by grazing and raising of cattell and by fishing The chiefe castle therein is called Girnego in which the Earls of Catnesse for the most part make their abode The Bishops sea is in Dornock a little meane town otherwise where also King James the fourth appointed the Sheriffe of Catnesse to reside or else at Wik as occasions should require for the administration of justice The Earles of Catnesse in ancient times were also Earles of the Orcades but at last they became distinct and by the eldest daughter of one Malise given in marriage to William Seincler the Kings Pantler his heires successively came to be Earls of Catnesse
in Irish Bala-Mac-Andan that is The towne of Antonies sonne For it tooke both names of the founder Thomas Fitz-Anthonie an Englishman who flourished under King Henry the third whose heires are yet acknowledged the Lords thereof Beneath this towne the river Callan voideth his streame into Neore upon which standeth the third Burrough or incorporate towne of this county bearing the same name Callan Like as Inise-Teog which is the fourth The family of Butlers hath spread and branched farre and wide throughout this County men that with much honour bare a great port and for their worth and vertues were adorned with the titles of Earles of Carick Ormond Wiltshire in England and of Ossorie as is before said and at this day there remaine of their line beside the Earle of Ormond Vicount Thurles and Knight of the Order of Saint George Vicount Montgarret Vicount Tullo the Barons of Dunboyn and of Cahir a goodly race also and progenie of Noble Gentlemen The rest of the Gentry in this Tract that are of better birth and parentage be likewise of English descent as the Graces Walshes Lovells Foresters Shortels Blanch-felds or Blanchevelstons Drilanas Comerfords c. THE COUNTY OF CATERLOGH THe County of CATERLOGH by contraction Carlogh toward the Sunne rising adjoineth to the County of Kilkenny wholly in manner situate betweene the rivers Barrow and Slane of a fertile soile and shaded well with woods hath two townes in it of better note and importance than the rest both standing upon the West banke of Barrow namely Caterlogh which Leonel Duke of Clarence began to wall and Bellingham a most renowned Lord Deputy fortified with a castle Also Leighlin called in Latine Lechlinia where there was an Episcopall Chaire now united to the See of Fernes These townes have both of them their wards or garrisons and Constables over them And whereas the greatest part of this County belonged in right of inheritance unto the Howards Dukes of Norfolke who by the Earles of Warren drew their descent from the eldest daughter of William Mareschall Earle of Penbroch King Henry the eighth by a generall consent of the States of the Realme tooke unto himselfe both from them and also from other Noblemen yea and from Monasteries in England all their lands and possessions in Ireland for that the Lords thereof by neglecting in their absence their owne private estates carelesly brought therewith the publike state into danger as is already shewed From hence Barrow passeth through the Baronie Ydron which by right belonged to the Carews for Sir John Carew an English Knight died seised thereof in the time of King Edward the third and which Peter Carew within our memorie recovered as it were by a writ of remitter after it had been unlawfully usurped and a long time in the occupation of unjust detainers Upon the river Slane appeareth Tullo memorable in this regard that King James hath lately honoured Theobald Butler the Earle of Ormonds brothers sonne with the title of Vicount Tullo The Cavanaghs dwell a great many of them every way hereabouts who being descended from Dovenald a younger sonne as they say the Bastard of Dermot the last King of Leinster are spred and branched out into a very great sept or linage a warlike generation renowned for their good horse-manship and who as yet though they bee exceeding poore beare themselves in spirit answerable to their ancient nobilitie But being at deadly feud amongst themselves for I wot not what man-slaughters which many yeeres agoe they committed one upon another they daily work their owne mischiefe by mutuall wrongs and hurts When as the English had set some of these to oversee and mannage the possessions they had in this part of Ireland about King Edward the seconds time they by little and little usurped the whole country unto themselves and assumed the name of O-Mores and taking into their societie the Toles and Brenes by little and little disseized the English of all the territorie betweene Caterlogh and the Irish sea Among these is the confluence of Neore and Barrow which after they have travailed in a joint streame some few miles from hence in one channell present both their name and their waters unto their eldest sister the Shour which straightwaies is swallowed up at a mouth full of rockes within the gulfe of the Ocean where on the left hand there shooteth out a little promontorie with a narrow necke that sheweth a prettie high tower unto the sailers erected by the merchants of Rosse what time they were in their prosperity for their direction and safer arrivall at the rivers mouth QUEENES COUNTIE ABove Caterlogh toward the North-west there spreadeth out a little country full of woods and bogs named in Irish Lease and QUEENES Countie in English which Queene Mary ordained to be a Countie by Commission given unto Thomas Ratcliffe Earle of Sussex then Lord Deputie who reduced it into the tearmes of civill order and governement whence it is that the chiefe towne thereof is called Mary-Burgh where certaine garrison souldiers with their Seneschall keep ward and have much adoe to defend themselves against the O-Mores who beare themselves as the ancient Lords thereof against Mac-Gilpatric the O-Dempsies and others a mischievous and tumultuous kind of people who daily practise and plot all they can to annoy the English and to shake off the yoke of lawes For to subdue this wilde and hostile part of the countrey at the first entrie of the English thither Meilere was sent For whom Hugh Lacie governour of Ireland erected one Castle at Tahmelio like as a second at Obowy a third likewise upon the river Barrow and a fourth at Norrach But among the rest he fortified Donemaws an ancient Castle standing in the most plentifull part of the territorie which came hereditarily unto the Breoses Lords of Brecknocke by Eua the younger daughter of William Mareschall Earle of Pembroch and what way as Barrow which rising out of Slew Blomey hills Westward runneth solitarie alone amongst the woods he visiteth that ancient RHEBA mentioned by Ptolomee which keeping the name still intire is called at this day Rheban but insteed of a citie it is altogether as one saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A citie citilesse or The remaines of that which was a citie even a few little cottages with a fortresse Notwithstanding it giveth the title of a Baronet unto that Nobleman Nicholas of Saint Michael the Lord thereof who is commonly called the Baronet of Rheban KINGS COUNTIE LIke as the Queenes Countie aforesaid was so named in honour of Queene Marie so the territorie bordering next unto it Northward divided with Barrow running betweene and called in times past Offalie was in honour of Philip King of Spaine her husband tearmed Kings Countie and the principall towne in it Philips Towne where is placed a Seneschall with a ward and divers Gentlemen of English blood are here planted
building of the Church and the whole close This was done in the yeere 1012. in which as Lancarvanensis avoucheth Sitric the sonne of Abloie for so he calleth him lived and flourished in great name The worke begun by Donatus Laurence Archbishop of Dublin Richard Strongbow Earle of Penbroch commonly called Earle of Strigulia whose tomb is here to be seen repaired by Sir Henry Sidney Lord Deputy Robert Fitz-Stephen and Reimund Fitz-Girald finished Hard at the South side of this Church there standeth a stately Towne-hall built of foure square stone and called the Tolestale where causes are tried before the Maior of the City and where the Citizens use to hold their Sessions and publike assemblies for it enjoyeth many immunities In times past this Citie had for the chiefe Magistrate a Provost but in the yeere of our redemption 1409. King Henry the fourth granted them licence to chuse every yeere a Maior and two Bailifs also that the Maior should have a gilt sword carried before him for ever But afterwards King Edward the sixth changed the Bailiffes into Sheriffes Neither wanteth any thing here which a man can wish for in a most flourishing City save only that an heape of sand which the ebbing and flowing of the sea casteth up into the mouth of Liffy doth so dam up and bar the haven that it is not able to bring up any great vessels but at high water Thus much of Dublin for the most part of which I acknowledge my selfe beholden unto the diligence and learning of Iames Usher Chancellor of S. Patricks Church whose variety of knowledge and judgement are far above his yeeres As touching Robert Vere Earle of Oxford whom King Richard the second a Prince too too lavish in giving honourable titles made Marquesse of Dublin and afterwards Duke of Ireland I have spoken already and reason I have none to repeat the same here Yet will I note thus much which I have since happened upon in the Records When as King Richard aforesaid had advanced that Robert Vere Earle of Oxford to bee Marquesse of Dublin and had given to him the Seigniory of Ireland during his life hee desirous to augment his honour by more ennoblishing him with honourable Armes granted also that as long as hee should live and hold the said Seigniory he should beare these Armes Azure 3. Crownes Or in a Bordur in his Standards Pennons Coat-armours and other things wherein Armes are to be shewed in all Marshall matters and elsewhere at his pleasure But this grant was soone after recalled and those Armes abolished Where the river Liffy lodgeth himselfe in the Ocean Houth standeth compassed in manner round about with the sea of which the Noblemen sirnamed Saint Laurence and dwelling there become named Barons of Houth men of rare felicity for that in so long a descent of their line for they are able to derive their pedegree from the time of King Henry the second there hath of them by report none beene attainted of high treason none left ward in his minority And within a little of this place is Malchide or Molachid ennobled by the Lords thereof the Talbots English by their first originall More within the country Northward there adjoineth hard to the county of Dublin Fingall that is if you interpret it out of the Irish language a nation of forreiners for they use to nominate the English Gall as one would say strangers and Saissones as it were Saxons a little country but very good and passing well husbanded even the garner and barn of this kingdome so great store of corne it yeeldeth every yeere And here the soile striveth after a sort with the painfull labour of the husbandman which in other places throughout this Iland lying neglected without tillage and manuring seemeth to make a very grievous complaint of the inhabitants sloth and lazinesse There are planted every where throughout this county right worshipfull families nobly descended of English blood and namely besides those which I have already mentioned the Plonkets Barnwels Russels Talbots Dillons Nettervils Holywoods Lutterels Burnels Fitz Williams Gouldings Usshers Cadleys Finglases Sarfelds Blackneys Cruceys Baths c. Thus farre forth summarily of Leinster which in old time reached no farther Now I wot not whether it bee worth the laughing at or the relating that Thomas Stukely when hee had in England and Ireland both made shipwracke of his good name credit and fortunes having wound himselfe out of the danger of the lawes curried such favour with Pope Gregory the thirteenth what with making many faire promises and what with bragging of great matters that hee received at his hands these titles Marquesse of Leinster Earle of Weisford and Caterlogh Vicount Murrough and Baron of Rosse and Ydron With which titles hee being puffed up in pride whiles he thought to conquer Ireland went aside into Africk and there with the three Kings that were slaine in one battell made up the enterlude of his life with an honest close and catastrophe MIDIA OR MEDIAMETH THe rest of the Countrey of the Eblani was in ancient time a kingdome and the fifth part of Ireland which in their owne native language they call Miih the English Meth Giraldus nameth it in Latin Midia and Media perhaps because it is in the very middle of the Iland For they say that Killair a castle in these parts which seemeth to be in Ptolomee LABERUS is as it were the Navill of Ireland And the very name implieth no lesse For Lair in the Irish tongue signifieth The Middle This Meth lieth stretched out from the Irish sea as farre as to the river Shanon For the soile thereof as saith Bartholomaeus Anglicus Fertile it is in corne pasture ground and cattell plentifull in fish flesh and other victualls of white meat as butter cheese and milke watered also with rivers The situation is delectable to the eye and an wholsome aire In regard of woods and marishes in the skirts and borders it hath a very hard accesse and entry unto it And therefore considering the multitude of people the strength of castles and townes is i● commonly called for the peace thereof the CHAMBER of IRELAND Within the memorie of our fathers because the country was too large for to be governed by one Sheriffe and to the end that justice might with more facility be ministred it was divided by authority of Parliament in the 38. yeere of King Henry the eighth into two parts namely the county of East Meth and the county of West-Meth THE COUNTY OF EAST-METH THe County of EAST-METH is environed round about with the county of Kildar South with the county of Dublin and the sea East with the territorie of Louth North and with the county of West Meth on the West The whole is divided into 18. Baronies Dueleke Scrine Slane Margallen Navan Kenles halfe the Barony of Fower neer to Kenles Killalou Demore Cloue Moylagh Loghern Oldcastle Luyn Moyfeuraragh Deese Rath-touth and
Dunboyn Boyn which Ptolomee calleth BUVINDA Giraldus BOANDUS a noble river springing out of the North side of the Kings county runneth through this county In the hither part on this side Boyn these are the places memorable Galtrim where the Huseys have dwelt a long time Killin Castle which Hugh Lacy Custos of Ireland under King Henry the second built and Dunsany which have their Parliament Barons Noblemen of ancient descent out of the family of the Plonkets which others fetch out of Denmark but they beare the very same Armes in sundry colours which Alan Plonket of Kilpecke in England did who also under King Edward the first lived in the dignity and port of a Baron Now this house of the Plonkets in Ireland came up and grew to bee of high estimation ever since that Sir Christopher Plonket a valiant and wise man Deputy as they terme him unto Richard Duke of Yorke Lord Lievtenant in King Henry the sixth his time was advanced to the dignity of Baron of Killin which fell unto him by his wife heire to the family of the Cusakes and his second son by his own worth valour obtained the title of Baron Dunsany On the farther side of Boyn are Trimletstoun which hath his Baron out of the family of the Barnwells for King Edward the fourth promoted Sir Robert Barnwell to the honour of a Parliamentary Baron Gormanston which now hath had honourable Vicounts men of good desert in the Common-wealth descended from the line of the Prestons as it is verily thought in Lancashire and Slane which is able likewise to shew Barons thereof out of the family of the Flemings and amongst them stands Aboy a mercate towne well inhabited and of good resort upon the river Boyn which when it hath passed beside Glan-Iores that is The land of the sonnes of George this George was of the Birminghams progeny whose heire by marriage brought a faire inheritance with the castle of Carbray unto the Prestons runneth under Trim a pretty towne of trade and one of the better ●ort where William Pepard erected a castle This was an ancient Baronie of the Lacies which accrewed unto the titles of the Dukes of Yorke who stiled themselves Lords of Trim. Then floweth it beside Navan which hath a Baron or Baronet but not of the Parliament house and affordeth for the most part a dwelling house unto the Bishop of the Dioecesse who hath now no Cathedrall Church but doth all with the assent of the Clergy of Meth. His See seemeth to have beene at Cluanarard which is called also Clunart where Hugh Lacy in times past built a castle For in the letters Apostolicall we read him thus Episcopus Midensis five Cluanarardensis that is The Bishop of Meth or Cluanarard and corruptly as it is to be thought in a Roman Provinciall Elnamirand Boyn now by this time carrying a fuller streame after it hath with an hasty course swiftly passed on certain miles neere unto Drodagh emptieth himselfe into the sea Of this swift running what if I should thinke this Boyn tooke his name for Boan both in Irish and British also signifieth swift and our Poet Necham of this river hath thus versified Ecce Boan qui Trim celer influit istius undas Subdere se salsis Drogheda cernit aquis Lo Boin that swiftly unto Trim doth run and marke withall How at Tredagh his streame into the salt sea gulfe doth fall The men of greatest reputation and name in this county besides those whom I rehersed before to wit the Plonkets Flemings Barnwels and Husseys are the Darceys Cusakes Dillons Birminghams De la hides Nettervils Garvies Cadels and others whom if I doe not name at all or if I reckon either these or others elsewhere not in their owne ranke according to their worth and degree I desire no imputation may be laid upon me therefore THE COUNTY OF WEST-MEATH THe county of WEST-METH so called in respect of the other abovesaid unto which it adjoineth on the West side reacheth unto the river Shanon and lieth betweene the Kings County South and Longford County North unto which it is not willing to give place either in fertilitie of soile multitude of inhabitants or any thing else whatsoever unlesse haply it bee inferiour in civility of manners Molingar by authority of Parliament was ordained to be the head and principall shire towne because it lieth as it were in the very midst and the whole country is laid forth into twelve Hundreds or Baronies viz. Fertulogh where the Tirels Ferbille where the Darcies dwell Delvin which adorneth the old noble stock of the Nogents who came first out of England with the title of a Parliament Baron These are descended from that Sir Gilbert Nogent whom Hugh Lacy the Conquerer of Meth for his courageous and valiant service in the wars of Ireland rewarded both with these lands and those also of Furry as that most learned Gentleman Richard Stanihurst hath recorded Fourry aforesaid as also Corkery where the Nogents dwell Moyassell where the Tuts and Nogents Maghertiernan where very many of the Petits and the Tuts Moigoysy where the Tuts and Nangles Rathcomire where the Daltons Magirquirk where the Dillons all propagated from English blood do inhabite Clonlolan where the O-Malaghlins of the old roiall line of Meth Moycassell where the Magohigans meere Irish beare sway and others whose very names carry an harsh found of more barbarousnesse which notwithstanding even as Martiall the Poet when hee had reckoned up certaine barbarous Spanish names of places being himselfe a Spaniard said That he liked them better than British names so the Irish love these rather than the English in so much as one of their Potentates gave it out that he would in no wise learne the English tongue for feare he should in speaking English get a wry mouth Thus the crow thinkes her owne birds fairest and we all are given to like our owne too well even with the disdaine and contempt of others This Meth had in times past Kings or pety Princes rather to rule it And as we read that Monarch or sole King of Ireland Slany caused the revenues of Meth to bee assigned and appropriat to the furnishing of his royall table But when the Englishmen had once set fast footing in Ireland Hugh Lacy subdued a great part thereof and King Henry the second enfeoffed him in it and made him Lord of Meth who while he was building of a castle at Derwarth and holding his head downe to prescribe a Carpenter somewhat that he would have done had by him his head stricken off with his axe This Hugh begat two sonnes Hugh Earle of Ulster of whom I will speake hereafter and Walter Lord of Trim who begat Gilbert that died before his father By the daughters of this Gilbert Margaret and Maud the one part by the Genevils who were as they write of the house of Lorrain and by the Mortimers came to
Lismore sometime Legate of Ireland an earnest follower of the vertues which he had seen and heard of his devout father Saint Bernard and Pope Eugenius a venerable man with whom hee was in the Probatorie at Clarevall who also ordained him to be the Legate in Ireland after his obedience performed within the monasterie of Kyrieleyson happily departed to Christ. Jerusalem was taken with the Lords Crosse by the Soldan and the Saracens after many Christians slaine MCLXXXVII Upon the Calends or first day of July was the Abbey of Ynes in Ulster founded MCLXXXIX Henry Fitz-Empresse departed this life after whom succeeded his sonne Richard and is buried in Font-Ebrard In the same yeere was founded the Abbey de Colle victoriae that is of Cnokmoy MCXC. King Richard and King Philip make a voiage into the holy land MCXCI. In the Monasterie of Clarevall the translation of Malachie Bishop of Armagh was honourably celebrated MCXCII The Citie of Dublin was burnt MCXCIII Richard King of England in his return from the holy land was taken prisoner by the Duke of Austrich and he made an end by composition with the Emperour to pay for his ransome one hundred thousand markes and with the Empresse to pay thirtie thousand also with the foresaid Duke 20. thousand markes in regard of an obligation which he had made unto them for Henrie Duke of Saxonie Now hee remained in the Emperours prison a yeere sixe moneths and three daies For whose ransome all the Chalices in manner throughout England were sold. In the same yeere was founded the Abbey de Iugo Dei that is of Gods yoke MCXCIIII The reliques of S. Malachie Bishop of Clareval were brought into Ireland and with all honour that might be received in the Monasterie of Mellifont and the rest of the Monasteries of the Cistertian order MCXCV. Matthew Archbishop of Cassile Legate of Ireland John Archbishop of Dublin carried away the corps of Hugh Lacie the conquerour of Meth from the Irish and solemnely enterred it in the Monasterie of Blessednesse that is Becty But the head of the said Hugh was bestowed in the Monastery of Saint Thomas in Dublin MCXCVIII The order of Friers Preachers began in the parts about Tolouse by Dominicke the second MCXCIX Richard King of England died after whom succeeded John his brother who was Lord of Ireland and Earle of Mortaigne which John slew Arthur the lawfull heire sonne of Geffrey his whole brother And in this manner died Richard When K. Kichard besieged the Castle of Chaluz in little Britaine wounded he was to death with an arrow by one of those in the said Castle named Bertram Gurdon And when he dispaired of his life hee demised the Kingdome of England and all his other lands unto his brother to keep All his Jewels and one fourth part of his Treasure he gave unto his Nephew Otho and another fourth part of his Treasure he gave and commanded to be dealt among his servants and the poore Now when the said Bertram was apprehended and brought before the King the K. demanded of him in these termes what harme have I done thee that thou hast slaine me Unto whom without any manner of feare he answered thus Thou killedst my father and two of my brethren with thine owne hand and me also thou wouldest now have killed Take therefore what revenge so ever thou wilt of me for I passe not so thou maist be slaine that hast wrought so many mischiefes to the world Then the King forgave him his death and commanded that hee should be let goe at libertie and to give him besides one hundred shillings sterling But after the King was dead some of the Kings ministers slayed the said Be●●●am and hung him up And this King yeelded up his vitall breath the eighth day before the Ides of April which fell out to be the fourth day of the weeke before Palme-Sunday and the eleventh day after he was wounded and buried hee was at Fo●● E●●ard at the feet of his father Touching whose death a certaine versifier saith thus Isti● in morte perimit formica leonem Proh dolor in tanto funere mundus obit In this mans death as is well seene the Ant a Lion slaies And in so great a death alas the world doth end her daies The Corps of which King Richard is divided into three parts Whence was this verse made Viscera Carceolum Corpus Fons servat Ebrardi Et Cor Rhothomagum magne Richarde tuum Thy bowels onely Carceol keeps thy Corps Font-Everard And Roan hath keeping of thy heart O puissant Richard When King Richard was departed this life his brother John was girt with the sword of the Duchy of Normandie by the Archbishop of Rhoan the seventh day before the Calends of May next ensuing after the death of the aforesaid King which Archbishop did set upon the head of the said Duke a Circle flower with golden roses in the top round about Also upon the sixth day before the Calends of June hee was anointed and crowned King of England all the Lords and Nobles of England being present within the Church of Saint Peter in Westminster upon the day of the Lords Ascension and afterwards was John King of England called to a Parliament in France by the King of France to answer as touching the death of his Nephew Arthur and because he came not he deprived him of Normandy The same yeere was the Abbey of Commerer founded MCC Cathol Cronerg King of Conaght founder of the Monastery de Colle Victoriae that is of the Hill of Victorie is expelled out of Conaght The same yeere was founded the Monasterie de Voto that is Tynterne by William Marshall Earle Marshall and of Pembroch who was Lord of Leinster to wit of Weisford Ossory Caterlagh and Kildare in regard and right of his wife who espoused the daughter of Richard Earle of Stroghul and of Eve the daughter of Dermot-Mac-Murogh But because the foresaid William Earle Marshall was in exceeding great jeopardie both day and night in the sea he vowed a vow unto our Lord Jesus Christ that if he might be delivered from the tempest and come to land hee would make a Monasterie unto Christ and Marie his mother and so it came to passe when hee was come safe to Weisford he made I say the Monasterie of Tyntern according to his vow and called it the Monasterie De voto that is Of the vow In the same yeere was founded the Monasterie de Flumine Dei that is Of Gods river MCCII. Gathol Cronerg or Crorobdyr King of Conaght was set againe in his kingdome The same yeere is founded the house of Canons or Regular Priests of St. Marie by Sir Meiler Fitz-Henrie MCCIII The Abbey of S. Saviour that is Dowi●ky being founded was in this yeere and the next following built MCCIV. There was a field fought betweene John Curcie Earle of Ulster and Hugh Lacie at Doune in which battell many on both sides lost their lives But John Curcie had the upper
with Gylly Cavinelagh Obugill and Mac-Derley King of Oresgael with the principall men of Kineoil Conail And many of the army of the said Justice were drowned as they passed over the water of Fin Northward and among them in the rescuing of a prey there were slaine Atarmanudaboge Sir W. Brit Sherif of Conacth and the young knight his brother And afterward the said army spoiled the country and left the Seigniorie of Kineoil Conail to Rory O-Coner for that time There was another expedition also by the said Justice into Tirconnell and great spoiles made and O-Canamayu was expelled out of Kenoilgain he left the territory of Kenail Conail with Gorry Mac-Donald O-Donnel There was another expedition also by the said Justice into Tireogaine against O-Neale but he gave pledges for the preservation of his countrey There was another expedition by the said Justice in Leinster against the Irishry whom he pitifully outraged and spoiled their land In another expedition also the said Justice destroied Kenoilgain and all Ulster in despite of O-Neale tarrying three nights at Tullaghoge MCCXLIII Hugh Lacy Earle of Ulster died and is buried at Crag-fergous in the covent of the Friers Minours leaving a daughter his heire whom Walter Burk who was Earle of Ulster espoused In the same yeere died Lord Girald Fitz-Moris and Richard Burk MCCXLVI An earthquake over all the West about 9. of the clocke MCCXLVIII Sir John Fitz-Gefferey knight came Lord Justice into Ireland MCCL. Lewis King of France and William Long Espee with many other are taken prisoners by the Saracens In Ireland Maccanewey a sonne of Beliol was slaine in Leys as he well deserved MCCLI. The Lord Henry Lacie was borne Likewise upon Christmas day Alexander King of Scotland a childe eleven yeeres old espoused at Yorke Margaret the King of Englands daughter MCCLV Alan de la Zouch is made Lord Justice and commeth into Ireland MCCLVII The Lord Moris or Maurice Fitz-Gerald deceaseth MCCLIX Stephen Long Espee commeth Lord Justice of Ireland The Greene castle in Ulster is throwne downe Likewise William Dene is made Lord Justice of Ireland MCCLXI The Lord John Fitz-Thomas and the Lord Maurice his son are slaine in Desmund by Mac-Karthy likewise William Dene Lord Justice of Ireland dejected after whom succeeded in the same yeere Sir Richard Capell MCCLXII Richard Clare Earle of Glocester died Item Martin Maundevile left this life the morrow after Saint Bennets day MCCLXIV Maurice Fitz Gerald and Maurice Fitz Maurice took prisoners Rich. Capell the Lord Theobald Botiller and the Lord John Cogan at Tristel-Dermot MCCLXVII David Barrie is made Lord Justice of Ireland MCCLXVIII Comin Maurice Fitz Maurice is drowned Item Lord Robert Ufford is made Lord Justice of Ireland MCCLXIX The castle of Roscomon is founded Richard of Excester is made Lord Justice MCCLXX The Lord James Audeley came Lord Justice into Ireland MCCLXXI Henry the Kings sonne of Almain is slaine in the Court of Rome The same yeere reigned the plague famine and the sword and most in Meth. Item Nicholas de Verdon and his brother John are slain Walter Burk or de Burgo Earle of Ulster died MCCLXXII The Lord James Audeley Justice of Ireland was killed with a fall from his horse in Twomond after whom succeeded Lord Maurice Fitz-Maurice in the office of chiefe Justice MCCLXXIII The Lord Geffrey Genevile returned out of the holy land and is made Justice of Ireland MCCLXXIV Edward the sonne of King Henrie by the hands of Robert Kelwarby a Frier of the order of Preaching Friers and Archbishop of Canterburie upon S. Magnus the Martyrs day in the Church of Westminster was anointed K. of England and crowned in the presence of the Lords and Nobles of all England whose protestation and oath was in this forme I Edward son and heire to King Henrie professe protest and promise before God and his Angels from this time forward to keep without respect the law justice and peace unto the holy Church of God and the people subject unto me so far forth as we can devise by the counsell of our liege and loiall ministers also to exhibite condigne and canonicall honour unto the Bishops of Gods Church to preserve inviolably whatsoever hath bin bestowed by Emperors and Kings upon the Church committed unto them and to yeeld due honour unto Abbats the Lords vessels according to the advise of our lieges c. So help me God and the holy Gospels of the Lord. In the same yeer died the Lord Iohn Verdon likewise the Lord Thomas Clare came into Ireland Item William Fitz-Roger Prior of the Hospitalers with many others are taken prisoners at Glyndelory and more there slaine MCCLXXV The castle of Roscoman is erected againe In the same yeere Moydagh was taken prisoner at Norragh by Sir Walter Faunte MCCLXXVI Robert Ufford is made Lord Justice of Ireland the second time Geffrey Genevile gave place and departed MCCLXXVII O-Brene is slaine MCCLXXVIII The Lord David Barry died Likewise the Lord John Cogan MCCLXXIX The Lord Robert Ufford entred into England and appointed in his roome Frier Robert Fulborne Bishop of Waterford in whose time the money was changed likewise the Round table was holden at Kenilworth by the Lord Roger Mortimer MCCLXXX Robert Ufford returned out of England Lord Justice as before Also the wife of Robert Ufford deceased MCCLXXXI Adam Cusack the younger slew William Barret and many others in Connaght Item Frier Stephen Fulborne is made Justice of Ireland Item the Lord Robert Ufford returned into England MCCLXXXII Moritagh and Arte Mac-Murgh his brother are slaine at Arclowe on the Even of Saint Marie Maudlen Likewise the Lord Roger Mortimer died MCCLXXXIII The citie of Dublin was in part burnt and the Belfray of Saint Trinitie Church in Dublin the third day before the Nones of Januarie MCCLXXXIIII The castle of Ley was taken and burnt by the Potentates or Lords of Offaly the morrow after Saint Barnabe the Apostle his day Alphonsus the Kings sonne twelve yeeres old changed his life MCCLXXXV The Lord Theobald Botiller died the sixth day before the Kalends of October in the castle of Arclowe and was buried there in the covent of the Friers preachers Item Girald Fitz-Maurice was taken prisoner by his own Irish in Offalie and Richard Petit and Saint Doget with many other and a great overthrow was given at Rathode with much slaughter MCCLXXXVI Norragh and Arstoll with other townes were one after another continually burnt by Philip Stanton the 16. day before the Calends of December In these daies Alianor Queen of England mother of King Edward tooke the mantle and the ring at Ambresburie upon the day of Saint Thomas his translation having her dower in the kingdome of England confirmed by the Pope to be possessed for ever Likewise Calwagh is taken prisoner at Kildare The Lord Thomas Clare departed this life MCCLXXXVII Stephen Fulborn Archbishop of Tuam died after whom there succeeded in the office of Lord chiefe Justice for a time John
seas into England out of Ireland the Earle of Ulster Roger Mortimer and Sir Iohn Fitz-Thomas Item Sir Theohald Verdon died MCCCX. King Edward and Sir Piers Gaveston tooke their journey toward Scotland to fight against Robert Bru● Item in the said yeere great dearth there was of corn in Ireland an eranc of wheat was sold for 20. shillings and above Also the Bakers of Dublin for their false waight of bread suffered a new kinde of torment which was never seen there before for that on S. Sampson the Bishops day they were drawne upon hurdles through the streets of the Citie at horse-tailes More in the Abbey of S. Thomas Martyr at Dublin died Sir Neile Bruin Knight Escheator to the Lord the King in Ireland whose bodie was committed to the earth at the Friers minors with so great a pompe of tapers and waxe lights as the like was never seene before in Ireland The same yeere a Parliament was holden at Kildare where Sir Arnold Pover was acquit for the death of the Lord Bonevile because he had done this deed in his owne defence Likewise on S. Patricks day by assent of the Chapter M. Alexander Bickenore was elected Archbishop of Dublin Item the Lord Roger Mortimer returned into Ireland within the Octaves of the Nativitie of the blessed Virgin Marie Also the same yeere the Lord Henrie Lacie Earle of Lincolne died MCCCXI In Thomond at Bonnorathie there was a wonderfull and miraculous discomfiture given by the Lord Richard Clare unto the side of the Earle of Ulster Which Lord Richard aforesaid tooke prisoner in the field the Lord William Burke and John the sonne of the Lord Walter Lacie and many others In which battaile verily there were slaine a great number as well of the English as the Irish the 13. day before the Galends of June Item Taslagard and Rathcante were invaded by the robbers to wit the O-Brines and O-Tothiles the morrow after the Nativitie of S. John Baptist. Whereupon soon after in Autumne there was a great armie assembled in Leinster to make head and fight against the said robbers lurking in Glindelory and in other places full of woods Also a Parliament was holden at London in August betweene the King and the Barons to treat about the State of the kingdome and of the Kings houshold according to the ordinance of sixe Bishops sixe Earles and sixe Barons as they might best provide for the good of the Realme Item on the second day before the Ides of November the Lord Richard Clare slew sixe hundred of Galegalaghes More on All-Saints day next going before Piers Gaveston was banished the Realme of England by the Earles and Barons and many good Statutes necessarie for the commonwealth were by the same Lords made Which Piers abjured the Realme of England about the Feast of All-Saints and entred into Flanders foure moneths after the said Piers returned presently upon the Epiphanie and by stealth entred into England keeping close unto the Kings side so that the Barons could not easily come neere unto him And hee went with the King to Yorke making his abode there in the Lent whereupon the Bishops Earles and Barons of England came to London for to treat about the State of the kingdome for feare lest by occasion of Piers his returne the Common wealth should bee troubled with commotions Item Sir John Cogan Sir Walter Faunt and Sir John Fitz-Rerie Knights died and were buried in the Church of the Friers Preachers at Dublin Item John Mac-Goghedan is slaine by O-molmoy Item William Roch died at Dublin with the shot of an arrow by an Irish mountainer Item Sir Eustace Power Knight died Item in the Vigill of Saint Peters Chaire began a riot in Urgaly by Robert Verdon Item Donat O-Brene is traiterously slaine by his owne men in Tothomon MCCCXII Sir Peter or Piers Gaveston entred the castle of Scardeburgh resisting the Barons But soone after the Calends of June hee yeelded himselfe unto Sir Aumare Valence who had besieged him yet upon certaine conditions named before hand who brought him toward London But by the way he was taken prisoner at Dedington by the Earle of Warwicke and brought to Warwicke whereupon after counsell taken by the Earles and Barons he lost his head the thirteenth day before the Calends of July whose bodie lieth buried in the coventuall Church of the Friers Preachers at Langley Item John Wogan Lord Justice of Ireland led forth an armie to bridle the malice of Robert Verdon and his abettors which was miserably defeated the sixth day before the Ides of July in which fight were slain Nicolas Avenel Patrick Roch and many others For this fact the said Robert Verdon and many of his complices yeelded themselves unto the Kings prison at Dublin in expectance of favour and pardon Also on Thursday the morrow after Saint Lucie Virgin in the sixth yeere of King Edward the Moone was wonderfully seene of divers colours on which day determined it was that the order of Templars should be abolished for ever More in Ireland Lord Edmund Botiller was made the Lievtenant of Lord John Wogan Justice of Ireland which Edmund in the Lent following besieged the O-Brynnes in Glindelorie and compelled them to yeeld yea and brought them almost to confusion unlesse they had returned the sooner unto the peace of the Lord the King Item the same yeere on the morrow after Saint Dominickes day Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas espoused Katherin daughter of the Earle of Ulster at Green-castle And Thomas Fitz-Iohn espoused another daughter of the same Earle the morrow after the Assumption in the same place Also the Sunday after the feast of the exaltation of the holy Crosse the daughter of the Earle of Glocester wife to the Lord Iohn Burke was delivered of a sonne MCCCXIII Frier Roland Joce Primate of Ardmach arrived at the Iland of Houth the morrow after the annuntiation of the blessed Virgin Marie and rising in the night by stealth tooke up his Crosier and advanced it as farre as to the Priorie of Grace Dieu whom there encountred certaine of the Archbishop of Dublins servants debasing and putting downe that Crosier and the Primate himselfe of Ardmagh they chaced with disgrace and confusion out of Leinster Item a Parliament was holden at London wherein little or nothing was done as touching Peace from which Parliament the King departed and tooke his journey into France at the mandate of the King of France and the King of England with many of his Nobles tooke the badge of the Crosse. Also the Lord John Fitz-Thomas knighted Nicolas Fitz-Maurice and Robert Clonhull at Adare in Mounster More on the last day of May Robert Brus sent certaine Gallies to the parts of Ulster with his rovers to make spoile whom the men of Ulster resisted and manfully chased away It is said that the same Robert arrived with the licence of the Earle to take truce Item in the same summer Master John Decer a Citizen of Dublin caused a necessarie bridge to
slaine Item afterwards upon St. Nicolas day the said Brus departed out of Cragfergus unto whom the Earle of Moreff presented himselfe with 500. men unto the parts about Dundalk they came together and to them many fled and some gave unto them their right hands and from thence they passe on to Nobee where they left many of their men about the feast of S. Andrew the Apostle and Brus himselfe burnt Kenlys in Meth and Grenard Abbey and the said Monastery he rifled and spoiled of all the goods in it Also Finnagh and New-castle he burnt and all that countrey and they kept their Christmas at Loghfudy and then burnt it And after this they marched forward by Totmoy unto Rathymegan and Kildare and the parts about Tristeldermot and Athy and Reban not without losse of their men And then came Brus to Skethy neere Arscoll in Leinster where there encountred him in fight the Lord Edmund Botiller Justice of Ireland and Sir John Fitz-Thomas and Thomas Arnald Power and other Noble-men of Leinster and of Mounster insomuch as one of those Lords with his army was sufficient to vanquish the said Edw. and his forces But there arose a discord among them and so being disordered and in confusion they leave the field unto the said Edward according to that which is written Every kingdome divided in it selfe shal be made desolate There also was slaine a noble esquire and faithfull to the King and the Realme Haymund Grace and with him Sir William Prendregest Knight On the Scots part were slaine Sir Fergus Andressan Sir Walter Morrey and many others whose bodies were buried at Athy in the Covent of the Friers Preachers Afterwards the said Brus in his returne toward Meth burnt the castle de Loy and then the said Scots depart away from Kenlis in Meth against whom the Lord Roger Mortimer came with a great armie well neere 15000. but as it is thought not true and faithfull among themselves but now confederate with the Lord Roger who about three of the clock began to flie and turned their backs and principally the Lacies leaving the Lord Roger alone with a few whom it behoved then to flie toward Dublin and to Sir Walter Cusake at the Castle of Trim leaving with the Scots that countrey and the towne of Kenlis Also at the same time the Irish of the South to wit the O-Tothiles and the O-brynnes burnt all the South-country namely Arclo Newcastle Bree and all the villages adjoining And the O-Morghes fired and wasted part of the Leys in Leinster whom for the most part the Lord Edmund Botiller Justice of Ireland slew whose heads to the number of fourescore were brought to the castle of Dublin Item in the same yeere about the feast of the purification of the blessed Virgin Marie certain Lords of Ireland and the Lord Fitz-Thomas the Lord Richard Clare Lord John Pover and the Lord Arnald Pover for to establish peace greater securitie with the King of England came to Sir John Hothom assigned there by the said King of England which said Lords and Nobles sware to hold with the King of England come life come death and to their power to quiet the countrey and make peace and to kill the Scots For the performance whereof by the leave and helpe of God they gave hostages and so returned which forme if other Nobles of the land of Ireland would not keepe they were generally held for the Kings enemies Item there died Sir John Bisset And the Church of the new towne of Leys with the steeple and belfray was by the Scots burnt The Scots won the Castle of Northburgh in Ulster Also Fidelmic O-Conghir King of Connaght slew Rorke the sonne of Cathol O-Conghir More Sir William Maundevile died and the Bishop of Conere fled to the Castle of Crag-fergus and his Bishoprick was liable to an interdiction and Sir Hugh Antonie is killed in Connaght Item in the same yeere on Saint Valentines day the Scots abode neere Geshil and Offaly and the armie of the English about the parts of Kildare and the Scots endured so great famine that many of them were starved to death and for the same cause they tooke their way closely toward Fowier in Meth. The Sunday following so feeble they were what with hunger and what with travaile that most of them died And afterwards the Nobles came unto the Parliament and did nothing there but as they returned spoiled all the countrey and the Lord Walter Lacie came to Dublin for to cleere himselfe of an imputation touching his credit laied upon him and to tender hostages unto the Lord the King as other Nobles had done and the same time Edward Brus peaceably abode in Ulster Item the O-Tothiles and O-Brynnes the Archibaulds and Harolds conspired and banded together the towne of Wicklo and the whole countrey they laied wast And in the first weeke of Lent the Earle of Moreff sailed over into Scotland and Brus held plees in Ulster and caused many to be hanged Also in the midst of Lent Brus held Plees and slew the Logans and took Sir Alan Fitz-Warin and carried him into Scotland Also in the same yeere Fennyngher O-Conghir slew Cale-Rothe and with him of Galloglaghes and others about three hundred The same yeere in Mid-Lent wheat was sold for 18. shillings and at Easter following for 11. shillings MCCCXVI Lord Thomas Mandevile with many others came from Tredagh to Crag-fergus upon Maunday Thursday and joyned battaile with the Scots put them to flight and slew thirtie of the Scots and afterward on Easter even the said Lord Thomas with his men charged upon the Scots and slew many of them about the Calends and there was slain the said Lord Thomas Maundevile in his own country in defence of his right Item in the parts of Connaght many Irish were slaine by Lord Richard Clare and Lord Richard Bermingham Item on Saturday after the Lords Ascension Donnyger O-Brynne a strong thiefe with twelve of his confederates was slain by Sir William Comyn and his followers keepers of the peace whose heads were carried to Dublin Item the Dundalkers made a rode against O-Hanlan and slew of the Irish about two hundred and Robert Verdon a warlike esquire there lost his life Item at Whitsontide the same yeere Richard Bermingham slew of the Irish in Mounster about three hundred or more and afterwards at the feast of the Nativitie of S. John Baptist came Brus to the Castle of Crag-fergus and commanded the keepers to render up the Castle unto him according to the covenant between them made as he said who answered that they ought indeed so to doe and willed him to send thirtie of his men about him and required that he would grant them within life and limbe who did so but after they had received thirtie Scots into the Castle they shut them up and kept them in prison At the same time the Irish of O-mayl went toward the parts of Tullogh fought a battell whereupon of the Irish
were slaine about foure hundred whose heads were sent to Dublin and wonders were afterwards seene there The dead as it were arose and fought one with another and cried out Fennokabo which was their signal And afterward about the feast of the translation of S. Thomas there were rigged and made ready eight ships and set out from Tredagh to Crag-fergus with victuals Which were by the Earle of Ulster much troubled for the delivery of William Burk who had been taken with the Scots and the Saturday following there were made friends and united at Dublin the Earle of Ulster and the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and many of the Nobles sworne and confederate to live and die for the maintenance of the peace of Ireland The same yeere newes came out of Connaght that O-Conghir slew many of the English to wit Lord Stephen of Excester Miles Cogan and many of the Barries and of the Lawlies about fourescore Item the weeke after Saint Laurence feast there arose in Connaght foure Irish Princes to make warre against the English against whom came the Lord William Burk the Lord Richard Bermingham the Lord of Anry with his retinue of the country and of the same Irish about eleven thousand fell upon the edge of the sword neere unto Anry which town was walled afterwards with the mony raised of armor and spoile gotten from the Irish because every one of the English that had double armours of the Irish gave the one halfe deale toward the walls of the towne Anry Slaine were there Fidelmic O-Conghir a petty King or Prince of Connaght O-Kelley and many other Princes or Potentates John Husee a butcher of Anry fought there who the same night at the request of his Lord of Anry stood among the dead to seek out and discover O-Kelley which O-Kelley with his Costrell or esquire rose out of their lurking holes and cried unto the foresaid man to wit Husee come with mee and I will make thee a great Lord in my countrey And Husee answered I will not goe with thee but thou shalt goe to my Lord Richard Bermingham Then said O-Kelley Thou hast but one servant with thee and I have a doughtie esquire therefore come with mee that thou maist bee safe unto whom his owne man also said Agree and goe away with O-Kelley that wee may be saved and inriched because they are stronger than we But the said John Husee first killed his owne servant and O-Kelley and his Esquire and cut off all their three heads and carried them to his Lord Richard Bermingham and that Bermingham gave unto the said John Hussee faire lands and dubbed him Knight as he well deserved The same yeere about the feast of S. Laurence came O-Hanlan to Dundalk for to destreine and the Dundalkers with their men killed a number Item on Monday next before the feast of the nativitie of Saint Mary came David O-Tothill with foure more and hid himselfe secretly all night long in Coleyn wood which the Dublinians and Sir William Comyn perceiving went forth and manfully pursued them for sixe leagues and slew of them about seventeen and wounded many to death Also there ran rumors to Dublin that the Lord Robert Brus King of Scotland entred Ireland to aid Edward Brus his brother and the Castle of Crag-fergus in Ulster was besieged by the foresaid Scots The Monasteries of St. Patrick of Dune and of Seball and many other houses as well of Monkes as of regular preaching Friers and Minors were spoiled in Ulster by the Scots Item the Lord William Burk leaving his son for an hostage in Scotland is set free The Church of Brught in Ulster being in manner full of folke of both sexes is burnt by the Scots and Irish of Ulster At the same time newes came from Crag-fergus that those which kept the Castle for default of victuals did eat hides and leather yea and eight Scots who before were taken prisoners great pity and griefe that no man relieved such And the Friday following newes were brought that Thomas the sonne of the Earle of Ulster was dead Also the Sunday following the feast of the nativitie of the blessed Virgin died Lord Iohn Fitz-Thomas at Laraghbrine neere unto Mayneth and he was buried at Kildare among the Friers Minors Of which Lord John Fitz-Thomas it is said that a little before his death he was created Earle of Kildare after whom succeeded his sonne and heire the Lord Thomas Fitz-Iohn a prudent and wise personage And afterwards newes came that the Castle of Crag-fergus was rendred to the Scots and granted there was to the keepers of it life and limbe Also upon the day of the exaltation of the holy Crosse Conghar and Mac-keley were slaine with five hundred of the Irish by the Lord William Burke and Richard Bermingham in Connaght Item on Munday before Holloughmas happened a great slaughter of the Scots in Ulster by John Loggan and Hugh Bisset to wit one hundred with double armour and two hundred with single armour The number of those men of armes that were slaine in all was three hundred beside footmen And afterward in the Vigill of Saint Edmund King there fell a great tempest of winde and raine which overthrew many houses and the Steeple of Saint Trinitie Church in Dublin and did much harme on land and sea Also in the Vigill of S. Nicholas Sir Alan Stewart taken prisoner in Ulster by John Loggan and Sir John Sandale was brought unto the Castle of Dublin In the same yeere newes arrived out of England that the Lord King of England and the Earle of Lancaster were at variance and that they were desirous one to surprize the other for which cause the whole land was in great trouble Item in the same yeere about the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle sent there were to the Court of Rome the Lord Hugh Despencer the Lord Bartholmew Baldesmere the Bishop of Worcester and the Bishop of Ely about important affaires of the Lord King of England for Scotland who returned into England about the feast of the purification of the blessed Virgin Mary Also after the said feast the Lacies came to Dublin and procured an inquisition to prove that the Scots by their meanes came not into Ireland which inquisition acquitted them Whereupon they had a charter of the Lord the King of peace and upon the Sacrament given unto them they tooke an oath to keepe the peace of the Lord King of England and to their power to destroy the Scots And afterwards even in the same yeere after the feast of Shrovetide the Scots came secretly as farre as to Slane with twenty thousand armed men and the armie of Ulster joyned with them who spoiled the whole countrey before them And after this on munday next before the feast of S. Matthias the Apostle the Earle of Ulster was taken in the Abbey of St. Mary by the Maior of the Citie of Dublin to wit Robert Notingham and brought to the castle of Dublin where
the said Earle having an oath tendered unto him swore upon the Sacrament that hee would never worke or procure by himselfe or by any of his friends and followers harme or grievance upon the occasion of his apprehension unto the Citizens of Dublin but that which himselfe might by order of law obtaine or get against the offenders or transgressours in that behalfe and thereupon hee had time and day untill the feast of the Nativitie of S. John Baptist at which day he came not Also in the same yeere Corne and other victuals were exceeding deere A Cranok of wheat was sold for three and twenty shillings and wine for eight denires and the whole land in maner was wasted by the Scots and Ulster-men yea many house-holders and such as had sustained and relieved a number of folk were driven to begge and a number were famished So great also was the death and dearth together that the poore were pined with famine and many died At the same time came messengers to Dublin out of England with grants of pardon which they had at their will and pleasure but before their comming the foresaid Earle was delivered And at the feast of Pentecost Mortimer the Lord chiefe Justice took his journy towards Tredagh and from thence to Trim and sent his letters for the Lacies to repaire unto him who contemptuously refused to come And afterwards Sir Hugh Crofts Knight was sent unto the Lacies to treat about a peace who by them was slain the more the pity And after that Mortimer L. Justice assembled his army against the Lacies who seized upon their goods cattell and treasure and brought them to finall destruction slew many of their men and chased them into the parts of Connaght And it was said that Sir Walter Lacie went forth as farre as to Ulster to seeke Brus. Item in the towne of St. Cinere in Flanders about the feast of Pentecost the Lord Aumar Valence and his sonne were taken prisoners and conveied into Almaini And the same yeere on Munday after the feast of the nativitie of S. John Baptist the Potentates of Ireland assembled themselves to the Parliament at Dublin and there was the Earle of Ulster enlarged who tooke his oath and found mainprisers or sureties to answer the writs of law and to pursue the Kings enemies both Irish and Scots Item upon the day of the Saints Pnocesse and Martinian Sir Iohn Atly encountred at sea Thomas Dover a right strong thiefe and took him and about forty of his men well armed he slew and his head he brought with him to Dublin Also upon the day of the translation of S. Thomas Sir Nicholas Bolscot came out of England with newes that two Cardinals were come from the Court of Rome into England to treat concerning a peace and they brought a Bull to excommunicate all the troublers of the peace of the Lord the King of England Likewise the Thursday next before the feast of St. Margaret Hugh and Walter Lacie were proclaimed seducers and felons to the King because they had advanced their banner against the peace of the Lord King of England More on the sunday following the Lord Roger Mortimer Justice of Ireland took his journey to Tredagh with all his souldiers At the same time the Ulster-men raised a bootie neere unto Tredagh and the men of Tredagh went out and fetched the bootie backe againe where was slaine Miles Cogan with his brother and sixe other great Lords of Ulster were taken prisoners and brought to the castle of Dublin And afterwards Mortimer the Lord Justice assembled his army against O-Fervill and commanded the Mal-passe to be cut downe and destroied all his houses and afterwards the said O-Fervil rendred himselfe to the peace and put in hostages Also the Lord Roger Mortimer Justice tooke his journey toward Clony and made an inquisition or inquest as touching Sir Iohn Blound to wit White of Rathregan which inquest accused the said Iohn whereupon he was of necessity to fine for two hundred marks and afterward on sunday after the feast of the nativity of blessed Marie the said Mortimer with a great power marched against the Irish of O-Mayl and came to Glinsely where many were slaine both of Irish and English but the Irish went away with the worst and soone after came O-brynn and rendred himselfe to the peace of the King And Roger Mortimer with his company came to the castle of Dublin And upon the day of Simon and Jude the Apostles the Archbales had peace by mainprise of the Earle of Kildare And at the feast of Saint Hilary following there was a Parliament holden at Lincolne about a treaty of peace betweene the Lord King of England and the Earle of Lancaster and between the Scots and the Scots continued in peace and by reason of that Parliament the Archbishop of Dublin and the Earle of Ulster staied in England by the Kings commandement And about the feast of the Epiphany there came newes to Dublin that Sir Hugh Canon the Kings Justice in his bench was slaine by Andrew Bermingham between Naas and Castle-Martin Item at the feast of the purification of the blessed Virgin Mary there came the Popes Buls so that Alexander de Bicknor was confirmed and consecrated Archbishop of Dublin and those Buls were read and published in the Church of the holy Trinity And at the same time was read another Bull that the Lord Pope ordained peace between the Lord King of England and the Lord Robert Brus King of Scotland for two yeeres to which time the said Brus refused to condescend and agree These things passed about the feast of St. Valentine Item the sunday following came the Lord Roger Mortimer to Dublin and dubbed Iohn Mortimer Knight with foure of his fellowes and the same day Mortimer kept a great feast in the castle of Dublin Item at the same time a great slaughter was made of Irishmen in Conaght through a quarrell betweene two Lords of Princes there and slaine there were of both sides about foure thousand men and afterwards there was taken great revenge upon the men of Ulster who in the time that the Scots spoiled and preaded in Ireland had done much harme and eate flesh in Lent not of necessity therefore much tribulation came upon them insomuch that they did eat one another so that often thousand there remained about 300. and no more who escaped in maner all for to be punished And here appeared the vengeance of God Item it was reported of a truth that some of the foresaid evill doers were so hunger-starved that in Church-yards they tooke the bodies out of their graves and in their skuls boiled the flesh and fed thereupon yea and women did eat their owne children for starke hunger MCCCXVIII In the Quindene of Easter newes out of England arrived in Ireland that the towne of Berwicke was betraied and taken by the Scots and afterwards in the same yeere Master Walter Islep the Kings Treasurer in Ireland landed and
brought letters to the Lord Roger Mortimer that he should addresse himselfe to repaire unto the King who did so and substituted the Lord William Archbishop of Cashil Custos of Ireland who at one and the same time was Lord Justice of Ireland Lord Chancellour and Archbishop And afterward at the three weekes end after Easter there came newes to Dublin that the Lord Richard Clare was slaine and with him foure Knights namely Sir Henry Capell Sir Thomas Naas Sir James Cannon and Sir John Caunton also Adam Apilgard with 80. other men by O-Brene and Mac-Carthy on the feast of Saint Gordian and Epimachus And it was reported that the said Lord Richard his body was in despightfull malice cut into small pieces but his reliques were enterred in Limerick among the Friers Minors Item on sunday in Mense Paschae that is a moneth after Easter Iohn Lacy was led forth of the castle of Dublin and brought to Trim for to be arraigned and to heare and receive his judgment there who was adjudged to be strait dieted and so he died in prison Item the sunday before the Lords Ascension Lord Roger Mortimer sailed over into England but paied nothing for his victuals that he had taken up in Dublin and elsewhere which amounted to the value of one thousand pounds Also the same yeere about the feast of S. Iohn Baptist the great grace and mercy of God was shewed in that wheat which before was sold for 15. shillings was now not worth above seven shillings and oates were bought for five shillings great plentie there was of wine salt and fish and that in such sort that about St. Iames day there was new bread to be had of new corne a thing that never or seldome had been seen afore in Ireland and this was a signe of Gods tender mercy and all through the praier of the poore and other faithfull folke Item the Sunday after the feast of Saint Michael newes came to Dublin that Lord Alexander Bykenore then the Kings Justice in Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin was arrived at Yoghall On S. Denis day he came to Dublin and with great procession and honourable pompe of the religious persons and of others as well of the Clergy as the Laity he was received Item on Saturday falling out to be the feast of Pope Calixtus a field was fought betweene the Scots and English of Ireland two leagues from the towne of Dundalk to which battell came of the Scots part the Lord Edward Brus who named himselfe King of Ireland the Lord Philip Mowbray the Lord Walter Soules the Lord Alan Stewart with his three brethren also Sir Walter Lacy Sir Robert and Sir Aumar Lacy John Kermerdyne and Walter White and about 3000. others Against whom came into the field of the English side the Lord John Bermingham Sir Richard Tuit Sir Miles Verdon Sir Hugh Tripton Sir Herbert Sutton Sir Iohn Cusack Sir Edward and Sir William Bermingham and the Primate of Armagh who assoiled them all Sir Walter Larpulk and certain came from Tredagh to the number of twenty well appointed and choice souldiers whom John Maupas accompanied and so they joined the said battell The English were the first that entred with great vigour upon the front and vaward where the said John Maupas manfully and with much honour in this conflict slew the Lord Edward Brus which John also was found slaine upon the body of the said Edward and all the Scots in manner were killed up even to the number of two thousand or thereabout whereby few of the Scots escaped beside the Lord Philip Mowbray who also was wounded to death and Sir Hugh Lacy Sir Walter Lacy with some few others that were with them made shift hardly to save themselves This fortuned between Dundalk and Faghird Now the head of the foresaid Edward the said Lord John Bermingham brought unto the said Lord King of England upon whom the King bestowed at the same time the Earledome of Louth to him and to his heires males and the Barony of Aterith And one quarter with the hands and heart of the foresaid Edward were carried to Dublin and the other quarters divided and sent to other places MCCCXIX The Lord Roger Mortimer returned out of England and is eftsoones made Lord Justice of Ireland The same yeere at the feast of All-Saints came a Bull from the Pope to excommunicate Robert Brus King of Scotland at every Masse Also the towne of Athisell and a great part of the country was burnt by the Lord John Fitz-Thomas whole brother of the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas In this yeere the foresaid Iohn Bermingham was created Earle of Louth Also the Stone bridge of Kil-Coleyn was built by Master Moris Iacke Canon of the Cathedrall Church of Kildare MCCCXX In the time of Pope John the 22. and of the Lord Edward sonne to King Edward which Edward after the comming of Saint Austin into England was the 25. King also under Alexander Bicknore then Archbishop of Dublin beganne the Universitie of the said Citie of Dublin The first that proceeded Master in the same Universitie was Frier William Hardite of the order of preaching Friers which William under the said Archbishop solemnly commenced Doctor in Divinity The second Master that proceeded in the same faculty was Frier Henry Cogry of the order of the Friers Minors the third Master that went forth was William Rodyard Dean of the Cathedrall Church of Saint Patricke in Dublin who solemnly commenced Doctor in the Canon law And this William was made the first Chancellour of the said University The fourth Master in sacred Theologie or Divinity that went out was Frier Edmund Kermerdin Item Roger Mortimer Lord Justice of Ireland returned into England leaving in his place the Lord Thomas Fitz-John then Earle of Kildare Item the Lord Edmund Botiller entred into England and so came to Saint James Also the bridge of the towne of Leghelyn was built by Master Moris Iack Canon of the Cathedrall Church of Kildare MCCCXXI A very great overthrow with much slaughter of the O-Conghors was given at Balibogan the ninth day of May by the men of Leinster and of Meth. Item the Lord Edmund Botiller died in London and lieth buried at Balygaveran in Ireland Also Iohn Bermingham Earle of Louth is made Lord Justice in Ireland Likewise Iohn Wogan departed this life MCCCXXII Andrew Bermingham and Nicolas de La-Lond Knight and many others are slaine by O-Nalan on St. Michaels day MCCCXXIII A truce is taken betweene the King of England and Robert Brus King of Scotland for 14. yeeres Also Iohn Darcie came chiefe Justice of Ireland Item John the first begotten sonne of the Lord Thomas Fitz-Iohn Earle of Kildare in the ninth yeere of his age ended this life MCCCXXIV Nicolas Genevile sonne and heire to the Lord Simon Genevile departed out of this world and was buried in the Church of the Friers Preachers of Trym Item there hapned a great wind on twelfe day at night Item a generall murrain
a peace was renewed there betweene the Earle of Ulster and the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas the said Lords with the Kings Counsel ordained there that the Kings peace should be fully kept so that every Nobleman and Chieftaine should keep in his owne sept retinew and servants and the said Earle of Ulster made a great feast in the Castle of Dublin and the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas the morrow after kept a great feast within the Church of St. Patrick in Dublin and Frier Roger Outlaw Justice of Ireland feasted likewise upon the third day at Kylmaynon and so they departed The same yeere on the Virgill of St. Barnabee the Apostle Sir John Bermingham Earle of Louth was slaine at Balybragan in Urgal by those of Urgal and with him Peter Bermingham the said Earles legitimate and whole brother also Robert Bermingham the same Earles putative brother Sir John Bermingham the son of his brother Richard Lord of Anry William Finne Bermingham the Unkles sonne by the mothers side of the foresaid Lord of Anry Simon Bermingham the same Williams sonne Thomas Bermingham the son of Robert of Conaght Peter Bermingham the sonne of Iames of Conaght Henry Bermingham of Conaght and Richard Talbot of Malaghide a valiant man at armes and two hundred with them whose names are not knowne Item after the foresaid slaughter the Lord Simon Genevile his men invaded the country of Carbry for to spoile and harry them in regard of their robberies and manslaughters committed many times in Meth but before the said invasion they of Carbry arose and slew of the said Simons men threescore and sixteen Also the same yeere on the morrow after holy Trinitie Sunday there came to Dublin John Gernon and Roger Gernon his brother in the behalfe of those of Urgal and made humble request that they might stand to be tried at the Common Law And on Tuesday which was the morrow after the feast of St. John Baptist John and Roger hearing that the Lord William Bermingham was comming departed out of Dublin The same yeere on the Vigill of St. Laurence the Lord Thomas Botiller went with a great power into the parts of Ardnorwith and there encountred the said Lord Thomas Williams Mac-Goghgan with his forces and there was the said L. Thomas to the great losse of the land of Ireland with him were killed the Lord John Ledewich Roger Ledewich Thomas Ledewich John Nangle Meiler Petit Simon Petit David Nangle Sir John Waringer James Terel Nicholas White William Freines Peter Kent John White and together with them one hundred and forty men whose names are unknowne And on the tuesday next before the feast of St. Bartholomew the body of the said Lord Thomas Botiller was conveied to Dublin and bestowed in the house of the preaching Friers but as yet not buried and the sunday next ensuing the feast of the beheading of St. Iohn Baptist the said Lord Thomas his corps was very honourably carried through the city and enterred in the Church of the preaching Friers and the wife of the said Lord John that day made a feast In the same yeere John Lord Dracy came Justice of Ireland the second time and the said Lord John espoused the Lady Joan de Burk Countesse of Kildare the third day of July at Maynoth Item Philip Stanton is slaine Also Henry Lord Traham is treacherously taken in his owne house at Kilbego by Richard the sonne of Philip Onolan More the Lord Iames Botiller Earle of Ormond burnt Foghird against Onolan for the foresaid Henries sake brother of Botiller The same yeere on wednesday next after the feast of the Ascension of the blessed Virgin Mary John Lord Darcy Justice of Ireland went toward the parts of Newcastle of Mac-Kingham and Wikelow against the O-Brynns and the monday following certain of Lawles were slaine and many wounded and namely Robert Locam was hurt and of the Irish the better sort were slaine many likewise wounded and the rest fled But Murkad O-Brynne yeelded himselfe an hostage together with his son unkle and unkles sonne and they were brought to the castle of Dublin But afterwards delivered for other hostages the better sort of their sept and kin The same yeere the Lord Justice namely the Lord John Darcy and those of the Kings Counsell in Ireland about the feast of the Circumcision of our Lord charged the Lord Moris Fitz-Thomas of Desmund that himselfe should come into the field with his forces for to vanquish the Kings enemies giving him to understand that their soveraigne Lord the King would provide for to defray the charges of him and of his army and the said Moris came with his power and Briene O-Brene was in his company and their army consisted of ten thousand men and the said Lord Moris advanced with his army first against the O-Nolanes vanquished them gat a great bootie and wasted their lands with fire and the O-Nolanes fled and afterwards delivered hostages who were sent unto the castle of Dublin And afterwards the said Lord Moris made a journy against the O-Morches who did put in their hostages for to keepe the Kings peace The same time the castle of Ley which O-dympcy had won and kept was rendred up to the said Moris The same yeere after the Epiphany of our Lord Donald Arts Mac-Murgh made an escape out of the castle of Dublin by a cord which one Adam Nangle had bought for him which Adam afterwards was drawne and hanged MCCCXXX Mighty winds were up in divers places about the feast daies of St. Katherine S. Nicolas and of the Nativitie of our Lord by which wind part of the wall of a certain house fell downe and killed the wife of Sir Miles Verdon with his daughter on S. Nicolas even such winds as the like were never seene in Ireland Item there was such an inundation of the water of Boyn as never had been known before by which flood all the bridges as well of stone as of timber standing over the said water were utterly cast downe unlesse it were Babe bridge The water also carried away divers mills and did much hurt to the Friers Minors of Trym and Tredagh in breaking down their houses The same yeere about the feast of S. John Baptist there began a great dearth of corne in Ireland and continued untill Michaelmas Item a cranoc of wheat was sold for 20. shillings also a cranoc of oats for eight shillings and one cranoc of peason beanes and of barly for 8. shillings And this dearth hapned by occasion of abundance of raine so that much of the standing corne could not be reaped before the feast of St. Michael The same yeere the English of Meth made a slaughter of the Irish to wit of Mac-Goghigans people about Lent neere unto Loghynerthy whereupon the said Mac-Goghigan in anger burnt in those parts 25. small villages and sacked them which the English seeing gathered themselves together against him and of his men slew one hundred and among whom were slaine three Lords sons of
passed over into England leaving behind him Sir Thomas Dale Knight his Deputy-Custos and Justice of Ireland MCCCLXVII Great warre began between the Berminghams of Carbry and the men of Meth because many robberies by the foresaid were committed in Meth. Then Sir Robert Preston Knight and Lord chiefe Baron of the Exchequer set a strong guard in the castle of Carbry and laid forth a great deale of money against the Kings enemies to defend his owne right in regard of his wife Item Gerald Fitz-Moris Earle of Desmond was made Lord Justice of Ireland MCCCLXVIII And in the 42. yeere of the same King in Carbry after a certaine Parliament ended betweene the Irish and English there were taken prisoners Frier Thomas Burley Prior of Kylmaynon the Kings Chancellour in Ireland Iohn Fitz-Reicher Sheriffe of Meth Sir Robert Tirell Baron of Castle-knoke with many besides by the Berminghams and others of Carbry Then James Bermingham who had been kept in the castle of Trim in yron manacles and fetters as a traytour was delivered out of prison in exchange for the foresaid Chancellour the other were put to their ransomes Item the Church of Saint Maries in Trim was burnt with the fire of the same Monastery Also in the Vigill of St. Luke the Evangelist the Lord Leonell Duke of Clarence died at Albe in Pyemont First he was buried in the City of Papie hard by St. Augustin the Doctor and afterward enterred at Clare in the covent Church of Austin Friers in England MCCCLXIX And in the 43. yeere of the foresaid King Sir William Windesore Knight a doughty man in armes and courageous came as the Kings Lievtenant into Ireland the twelfth day of July unto whom gave place in the office of Justice-ship Gerald Fitz-Moris Earle of Desmond MCCCLXX And in the 44. yeere of the same King began the third pestilence and the greatest in Ireland in which died many Noblemen and Gentlemen Citizens also and children innumerable The same yeere Gerald Fitz-Moris Earle of Desmond the Lord Iohn Nicolas and the Lord Thomas Fitz-Iohn and many other noble persons were taken prisoners upon on the sixth of July neere unto the Monastery of Maio in the county of Limerick by O-Breen and Mac-Comar of Thomond and many were slaine in regard of which occurrent the said Lievtenant went over to Limericke to the defence of Mounster leaving the warres against the O-Tothiles and the rest in Leinster In this yeere died Lord Robert Terel Baron of castle Knock the Lady Scolastica his wife and their sonne and heire by reason whereof Joan Terel and Maud Terel sisters of the said Robert parted the inheritance between themselves Item there departed this life Lord Simon Fleming Baron of Slane Lord John Cusake Baron of Colmolyn and Iohn Tailour somtime Maior of Dublin a rich and mighty monied man That which followeth was copied out of the Manuscript Chronicles of Henry Marleburgh MCCCLXXII Sir Robert Asheton came Lord Justice of Ireland MCCCLXXIII Great warring there was between the English of Meth and O-Ferdle in which warre many of both sides were slaine Item in May Lord John Husse Baron of Galtrim John Fitz Richard Sheriffe of Meth and William Dalton in Kynaleagh were killed by the Irish. MCCCLXXV Thomas Archbishop of Dublin died and in the same yeere was Robert of Wickford consecrated Archbishop of Dublin MCCCLXXXI There departed this life Edmund Mortimer the Kings Lievtenant in Ireland Earle of March and Ulster at Cork MCCCLXXXIII There was a great pestilence in Ireland MCCCLXXXV The bridge of the city of Dublin fell downe MCCCXC Robert Wickford Archbishop of Dublin died The same yeere Robert Waldebey Archbishop of Dublin of the order of Austen Friers was translated MCCCXCVII There hapned the translation and death of Frier Richard Northalis Archbishop of Dublin one of the Carmelites order Also in the same yeere Thomas Crauley was consecrated Archbishop of Dublin The same yeere the Lord Thomas Burgh and the Lord Walter Bermingham slew sixe hundred of the Irish and their captain Mac-Con Item Roger Earle of March Lievtenant of Ireland wasted the country of O-Bryn with the help of the Earle of Ormund and dubbed there seven Knights to wit Christopher Preson John Bedeleu Edmund Loundris John Loundris William Nugent Walter de la Hyde and Robert Cadell at the forcing and winning of a most strong Manor house of the said O-Bryn MCCCXCVIII Upon the Ascension day of our Lord the Tothils slew forty English among whom John Fitz-William Thomas Talbot and Thomas Comyn were killed which was a pitifull mishap In the same yeere on St. Margarets day Roger Earle of March the Kings Lievtenant was with many others slaine at Kenlys in Leinster O Bryn and other Irish of Leinster in whose place and office Roger Grey is chosen Justice In the same yeere upon the feast of S. Marke Pope and Confessor came to Dublin the noble Duke of Sutherey as the Kings Lievtenant in Ireland with whom at the same time arrived Master Thomas Crauley Archbishop of Dublin MCCCXCIX And in the 23. yeere of King Richard upon Sunday which fell out to be the morrow after S. Fetronill or Pernill the Virgins day the same glorious King Richard arrived at Waterford with two hundred saile Item the sixth day of the same weeke at Ford in Kenlys within the country of Kil●are were slaine of the Irish 200. by Ie●icho and other English and the morrow after the Dublinians made a rode in the country of O-Bryn and slew of the Irish 33. and fourescore men and women with their little children they took prisoners The same yeere the said King came to Dublin the fourth day before the Calends of July where hee heard rumours of Henrie the Duke of Lancaster his comming into England whereupon himself passed over with speed into England MCCCC In the first yeere of King Henry the fourth at Whitsontide the Constable of Dublin castle and many others encountred the Scots at sea before Stranford in Ulster whereupon fell out a lamentable accident for that many of the English were slaine and drowned there MCCCCI In the second yeere of King Henry the fourth Sir John Stanley the K. Lievtenant passed over into England in the month of May leaving in his roome Sir William Stanley In the same yeere upon the Vigill of Saint Bartholomew there entred into Ireland Stephen Scroop as deputy to the Lord Thomas of Lancaster the Kings Lievtenant in Ireland The same yeere on the day of S. Brice Bishop and Confessor the Lord Thomas of Lancaster the Kings sonne arrived at Dublin Lievtenant of Ireland MCCCCII On the fifth of July was the Church of the Friers Preachers at Dublin dedicated by the Archbishop of Dublin and the same day John Drake the Maior of Dublin with the citizens and men of the countrey slew in battell of the Irish neere unto Bree 493. and were victorious over the Irish. The same yeere in the moneth of September a Parliament was holden at Dublin at which time in Uriel Sir
Cornwall MCCCCXIII The seventh of October there landed in Ireland at Cloncarfe Iohn Stanley the Kings Lievtenant in Ireland who died the sixth of January in Atterith The same yeere after the death of Iohn Stanley Lord Lievtenant Thomas Crauley Archbishop of Dublin was chosen on the eleventh day of February Lord Justice of Ireland A Parliament eftsoons began at Dublin the morrow after Saint Matthias the Apostles day and lasted fifteene daies during which time the Irish fell to burning in divers places as they had done often in Parliament times wherefore a tallage was demanded but not granted MCCCCXIIII The English slew of the Irish the O-Mordries and O-Dempsies neer to Kilka even whiles the Justice of Ireland Thomas Crauley Archbishop of Dublin went in Procession at Tristeldermot praying with his Clerks and his servants with their countrimen overthrew of the Irish an hundred Upon the feast day of Saint Gordian and Saint Epimachus a foile or discomfiture was given to the English of Meth and there was slaine Thomas Maurevord Baron of Scrin and taken prisoners there were Christopher Fleming Iohn Dardis and many others slaine by O-Conghir and the Irish. In the vigill of Saint Martin arrived the Lord Iohn Talbot Lord Furnivall as Lievtenant of Ireland at Dalkay MCCCCXV In the moneth of November died Robert Talbot a Nobleman who walled the Suburbs of Kilkenny Item after the feast of All-Saints died Frier Patricke Baret Bishop of Ferne and a Canon of Kenlis where he was buried MCCCCXVI On the feast day of Gervasse and Prothasius the Lord Furnivall had a sonne borne at Finglas About this time the reverend Lord Stephen Fleming Archbishop of Armagh departed this life unto whom succeeded Iohn Suanig And at the same time the Lord Bishop of Ardachard Frier Adam Lyns of the order of preaching Friers Item on Saint Laurence day died Thomas Talbot Lord of Furnivall lately borne at Finglas is interred in the quire of the preaching Friers Church of Dublin within the Covent of the said Preachers A Parliament was holden at Dublin in the time whereof the Irish fell upon the English and slew many of them among whom Thomas Balimore of Baliquelan was slaine This Parliament lasted in that place sixe weekes and then was removed to Trym the eleventh day of May and there it continued eleven daies and granted there was unto the Lievtenant a subsidy of foure hundred Markes MCCCCXVII On the Eve of Philip and Iacob Apostles Thomas Crauley Archbishop of Dublin passed over into England and died at Farindon he was buried in the New Colledge at Oxford a liberall man he had beene and an almes-giver a great Clerke a Doctor in Divinity and excellent Preacher a builder of the places wherein he dwelt beautifull sumptuous of sanguine complexion and tall of stature so that in his time it might well be said unto him Faire art thou and of a goodly presence above the sons of men grace is seated all over thy lips for the eloquence of thy tongue Fourescore yeeres old he was and for the space almost of twenty yeeres he governed the Church of Dublin peaceably MCCCCXVIII The feast of the Annuntiation of our Lady fell out to be on good Friday and straight after Easter the Lord Deputy spoiled the tenants of Henry Crus and Henry Bethat Item at Slane on the day of S. John and S. Paul were arrested the Earle of Kildare Sir Christopher Preston and Sir John Bedleu and committed to ward within the castle of Trym because they were desirous to common with the Prior of Kylmainon The fourth of August died Sir Matthew Husee Baron of Galtrim who lieth buried at the Preaching Friers in Trim. MCCCCXIX The eleventh of May Edmund Brel sometime Maior of Dublin departed this life and was buried at the Friers preachers of the same Citie A Counsell royall was holden at Naas and there a subsidie of 300. Markes was granted to the Lord Lievtenant At the same time died Sir Iohn Loundres On the fifth day of the week falling out to be Maunday Thursday O-Thoill tooke 400. kine that belonged to Balimore so breaking the peace against his oath The fourth of May Mac-Morghe chiefe Captaine of his owne Sept and of all the Irish in Leinster was taken prisoner And the same day Hugh Cokesey was made knight The last day of May the Lievtenant the Archbishop of Dublin and the Maior together rased the castle of Kenini The morrow after the feast of Processus and Martinian the Lord William Burgh and other of the English slew 500. of the Irish and tooke O-Kelly prisoner On the feast of Mary Magdalen the Lievtenant John Talbot passed over into England leaving for his Deputy the Archbishop of Dublin carrying with him the curses of divers for that he paid a little or nothing for his victuals and was indebted unto many About the feast of Saint Laurence divers there were that died in Normandy and by name Frier Thomas Botiller Prior of Kilmainon with many others After whom succeeded in the Priory Frier John Fitz-Henry The Archbishop being Deputy fell upon the Scohies and slew of the Irish thirty neere unto Rodiston Item upon the Ides of February died Frier John Fitz-Henry Prior of Kylmainon whom succeeded Frier William Fitz-Thomas elected and confirmed the morrow after S. Valentines day Also the morrow after the feast of Saint Peter in Cathedra the Lord Iohn Talbot Lord of Furnivall yeelded the place into the hands of the Lord Richard Talbot Archbishop of Dublin who afterward was chosen Lord Justice of Ireland MCCCCXX Upon the fourth day of Aprill the Lord Iames Butler Earle of Ormond arrived at Waterford Lievtenant of Ireland and quickely caused a combat to bee fought between two of his cousins of whom the one died in the field and the other was carried forth of the place sore hurt and lamed unto Kilkenny On St. Georges feast day the same Lievtenant held a Counsell at Dublin and summoned a Parliament there And in the meane while he raised great booties from O-Raly Mac-Mahon and Mac-Guyr And the eighth day of June began a Parliament at Dublin and there were granted unto the Lievtenant 700. Markes and that Parliament continued for 16. dayes and the same was prorogued unto the munday after St. Andrewes day also in the foresaid Parliament were cast up the debts of the Lord Iohn Talbot late Lievtenant which arose to a great summe Also the morrow after St. Michaels day died Michaell Bodley On the Vigill of Saint Francis there departed this life Frier Nicholas Talbot Abbot of St. Thomas the Martyr in Dublin After whom succeeded Frier John Whiting The morrow after the Apostles Simon and Iudes day was the castle of Colnolin taken by Thomas Fitz-Geffery Also in the Vigill of S. Katherine Virgin Botiller the sonne and heire of the Earle of Ormund was borne Item on munday after the feast of S. Andrew the Apostle the said Parliament began at Dublin and continued 13. daies and granted there was to the
Lord of the kingdome of Scotland But none other answer could he have than this if I may speake the words out of the very authenticall Records Sequatur coram Iustitiariis de Banco Regis c. that is Let him sue before the Iustices of the K. Bench let him be heard and let justice be done But that which he could not obtaine by right Sir William Montacute his kinsman for come he was of the race of the Kings of Man wonne by his sword For with a band of English mustered up in hast he drave all the Scots out of the Iland But being by this warre plunged deeply in debt and not having wherewith to make some paiment thereof he mortgaged it for seven yeeres to Antonie Bec Bishop of Durham and Patriarch of Jerusalem and made over the profits and revenues thereof unto him yea and soone after the King granted it unto the said Antonie for tearme of life Afterwards King Edward the second passed a grant thereof unto his minion Piers Gaveston what time as he created him Earle of Cornwall and when the said Piers was rid out of the way hee gave it unto Henry Beaumont with all the domaine and regall jurisdiction thereto belonging But shortly after the Scots under Robert Brus recovered it and Robert Randulph that right warlike Scot like as a long time after Alexander Duke of Albany used to stile themselves Lords of Man and bare the same coat of Armes as did the later Kings of Man namely three armed legges of a man linked together and bending in the hammes such for all the world as the Isle Sicilia gave the three legges naked in like forme in her coines of money in old time to signifie three Promontories Notwithstanding before time the Kings of Man used for their armes as we have seene in their Seales a ship with the saile hoised up with this title in the circumference Rex Manniae insularum that is King of Man and of the Islands Afterward about the yeere 1340. William Montacute the younger Earle of Salisbury wrested it by strong hand and force of armes from the Scottish who in the yeere of our Lord 1393. as Thomas Walsingham saith sold for a great summe of money Man with the crowne thereof unto William Scrope Who being for high treason beheaded and his goods confiscate it came unto the hands of Henry the fourth King of England who granted this Iland unto Henry Percy Earle of Northumberland as a conqueror triumphing over William Scrope whom he as yet a private person had intercepted and beheaded when he aspired to the crowne with this condition that himselfe and his heires should when the Kings of England were enstalled and crowned carry before them that sword which the said Henry wore by his side what time he came backe againe out of exile into England commonly called Lancaster sword But I think it good to set this down out of the Record in the very words of the K. himself De nostra gratia speciali dedimus that is Of our speciall grace we have given and granted unto Henry Earle of Northumberland the Isle Castle Pile and Seigniory of Man and all the Ilands and Lordships to the said Isle belonging which were Sir William le Scropes Knight now deceased whom in his life time we conquered and have decreed him so to be conquered and which by reason of our conquest of him we tooke into our hand as conquered which conquest verily and decree in our present Parliament with the assent of the Lords Temporall in the same Parliament being as touching the person of the foresaid William and all the lands tenements goods and chattels of his as well within our kingdome as without at the petition of the Communalty of our kingdome stand confirmed c. To have and to hold unto the said Earle and his heires c. by service of carrying at the daies of our coronation and of our heires at the left shoulder and the left shoulder of our heires either by himself or a sufficient and honourable Deputy of his that sword naked which we ware and were girt with when we arrived in the parts of Holdernesse called Lancaster sword c. But in the fifth yeere following the said Henry Percie entred into open rebellion and the King sent Sir Iohn Stanley and William Stanley to seize the Isle and castle of Man the inheritance whereof he granted afterward to Sir Iohn Stanley and his heires by letters Patents with the patronage of the Bishopricke c. And so his heires and successours who were honoured with the title of Earles of Derby were commonly called Kings of Man From Man untill we come to the Mull of Gallaway we meet with none but very small Ilands But after we be once past it in the salt water of GLOTTA or Dunbritton Frith appeareth the Iland GLOTTA whereof Antoninus maketh mention which the Scots now call Arran whereof the Earles of Arran in Scotland were stiled and neighbouring unto it is that which was in times past named Rothesia now Buthe of a sacred Cell which Brendan erected for so they terme a little Cell in Scottish thence come we to Hellan in times past called Hellan Leneaw that is as Iohn Fordon interpreteth it The Isle of Saints and to Hellan Tinoc that is The Isle of Swine and these Ilands are seen in the same Frith or Forth But of these I have spoken before Without this Bay or Frith lye a number of Ilands very thicke together which the Scots themselves that inhabite them call Inch-Gall that is haply The Isles of the Gallicians the English and the rest of the Scots The Western Isles the writers of the former age HEBRIDES but the ancient Ethnickes Bettoricae and Giraldus other where Inchades and Leucades Pliny Solinus and Ptolomee name them EBUDAS HEBUDAS and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which names have some consonant affinity with Epidium the promontory of Britain opposite unto them and an Isle among these so named The reason of the name I cannot picke out unlesse I should thinke they were so called because there groweth here no corne or graine For Solinus writeth that the inhabitants of these Ilands are not acquainted with corne and live onely upon fish and milke and Eb eid in British soundeth as much as without corne The inhabitants as saith the same Solinus have no skill or knowledge of corne they live of fish and milke onely They all have but one King For how many soever they be they are severed one from another by a narrow enterflow of the Sea betweene The King hath nothing that hee may say is his owne all things are common to them all and held hee is to equity by certaine lawes and lest hee should for covetousnesse swarve aside from the truth by his poore estate he learneth justice as who hath no house furniture and provision of his owne but all his maintenance is from the common coffer No woman is he allowed to have in
of these Isles of Orkney which till that time were unknowne and subdued them if we may beleeve Tacitus but questionlesse they were knowne in the time of Claudius the Emperour for Pomponius Mela who then lived mentioneth them Yet doubtlesse Orosius is untrue in that he writeth that Claudius conquered them and so farre is it off that Claudius should conquer them which is avouched in S. Hieroms Chronicles that Iuvenal in Hadrians time not long after Agricola wrote thus of them Arma quid ultra Littora Iuvernae promovimus modò captas Orcades minima contentos nocte Britannos Why warred we past Irish coasts and Orkneys lately won Beyond the Britans where there is least night and longest Sun Afterward when the Romans Empire in Britaine was utterly decaied now the Saxons as it seemeth were seated in them for Claudian the Poet plaied upon them in these termes Maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades With Saxons blood that there were slaine The Orkneys was imbrued againe Ninnius also writeth that Octha and Ehissus Saxons who served for pay under the Britans sailed round about the Picts with 40. Ciules that is Flyboats or Roving Pinnaces and wasted the Iles of Orkney After this they came into the hands of the Norwegians whence it is that the inhabitants speake the Gothes language by the grant of Donald Ban who after the death of his brother Malcom Can-Mor King of Scots by excluding his nephewes had usurped the kingdome that by their helpe he might be assisted in that intended ambition and the Norwegians held the possession of them unto the yeere of salvation 1266. For then Magnus the fourth of that name King of Norway being by the Scots that warred upon him brought to distresse surrendred them up againe unto Alexander the third King of the Scots by covenant and composition which Haquin King of the Norwegians confirmed unto King Robert Brus in the yeere 1312. And at length in the yeere 1498. Christian the first King of Norway and of Denmark renounced all his right for himselfe and his successours when he affianced his daughter unto James the third King of Scots and made over all his interest to his said sonne in law and his successours and for the stronger assurance thereof the Popes confirmation was procured to ratifie the same To say nothing of the Earles of Orkney that were of more ancient times who also in right of inheritance obtained the Earldomes of Cathnesse and of Strathern at the last the title of Orkney came by an heire female unto Sir William Sent-cler and William the fourth of this line called The Prodigall Earl for wasting his patrimony was the last Earle of this race Howbeit his posterity enjoyed the honour to be Baron Sent-cler unto these daies And the title of Cathnes remaineth still in the posterity of his brother But within our remembrance this honourable title of the Earle of Orkney and Lord of Shetland was conferred upon Robert a base sonne of King James the fifth and Patrick Steward his sonne enjoyeth the same at this present Beyond the Iles of Orkney and above Britaine the author of that ancient Commentary upon Horace placeth the Fortunate Ilands wherein as they write none dwell but devout and just men and the Grecians in their verses celebrate the pleasantnesse and fertility of the place calling them the Elysian fields But as touching these Fortunate Isles take with you if you please another relation of that old fabulous Grecian Isacius Tzetzes out of his notes upon Lycophron In the Ocean saith he there is a British Iland between West Britain and Thule that looke toward the East Thither men say the soules of the dead are translated over for on the shore of that sea wherein the Iland of Britaine lieth there dwelt fisher-men subject unto the French but paying them no tribute because as they say they ferry over the soules and folk departed When these fishermen returne home in the evening within a while after they heare some knocking at the door and heare a voice calling them unto their work Then rise they and to the shore they goe not knowing what causeth them for to goe where they see boats prepared but none of their owne and no men in them which when they be entred into they fall to their oares and feele the weight of the said boats as if they were laden with men but see no body After that with one push they come to a British Iland in a trice whereas otherwise in ships of their own they could hardly get thither with a day and nights sailing Now when they are come to the Iland then again they see no creature but heare a voice of those that receive them that are a shipboard and count them by the kinred of father and mother yea and call them one by one according to their dignity art and name But they after that the ship is discharged of her load return home againe with one yerke of their oares Hence it is that many men thinke these be the Ilands of blessed ghosts Of the same stampe also may that Poeticall Geographer seeme to be of whom Muretus maketh mention in his variety of readings who hath written that C. Iulius Caesar went thither once in a great galley with an hundred men aboard and when he was willing to have seated himselfe there as being wondrously delighted with the incredible pleasantnesse of the place he was full against his will and struggling what he could to the contrary throwne out by those invisible inhabitants Five daies and nights sailing from the Isles of Orkney Solinus placeth THULE An Iland if any other often celebrated by the Poets whensoever they would signifie any thing very remote and farre off as if it were the furthest part of the whole world Hereupon saith Virgil Tibi serviat ultima Thule that is Let Thule most remote thee serve Seneca Terrarum ultima Thule that is Thule the farthest land that is Juvenal De conducendo loquitur jam Rhetore Thule that is Now Thule speakes how Oratours to hire Claudian Thulen procul axe remotam that is Thule far remote under the Pole and in another place Ratibusque impervia Thule And Thule where no ships can passe Statius Ignotam vincere Thulen that is To conquer Thule all unknowne And Ammianus Marcellinus by way of an Adage or Proverbiall speech useth it in these words Etiamsi apud Thulen moraretur that is Although he made his abode even in Thule To passe over other testimonies give me leave yet to note thus much moreover that the said Statius used Thule for Britaine in these his verses Caerulus haud alitèr cùm dimicat incola Thules Agmina falcifero circumvenit acta covino Even so the blew inhabitants of Thule when they fight Environ battels marching on with sithed chariots might As also in this place of his Poem entituled Sylvae as it seemeth restuo circumsona gurgite Thule Thule that doth resound amaine With sea that ebbes
family 450 d Bowes or Bough a worshipfull family 731 c. 737 a. why so called 732 e Bowland forest 750 b Bowtetorts a family 465 b Boxley 332 c Brachae 19 Bradenham 393. e Brance 19 Briti ibid. Bridburn a place and family 553 Bradford 244 f Bradewardin a place 6●8 c Bradwardin the profound Doctor 618 c Bradstons Ancestors of Vicount Montacute and Barons Wentworth 364 a Braibrooke castle 1513 e Braibrookes Barons ibid. e Brackley 505 d Braibrook 329 c Brakenbake 724 e Brackenburies a family of good note 737 c Brambles 274 c Brampton 783 a Bramton 815 b Bramton Brian castle 619 c Bramish a river 815 b Bancaster 408 a Brian de Brampton 619 c Brand 568 e Brandons a family Suffolke 465 e Branspeth castle 739 Branonium 575 a Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke 470 c Brannodunum 480 a Bransford or Bensford-bridge 517 e Brasen weapons 188 Brasen nose Colledge in Oxford 383 a Brasmatias a kinde of Earthquake 620 c Bray 286 d. Lord Bray 297 b. The breach by Greenwich 328 a Nicolas Breakspeare That is Pope Adrian the forth 414 f Breakspeare a place and family 419 b Brechanius his 24. daughters all Saints 627 a Breden forest 224 a Breedon hils 577 e Breedon a village ibid. Breertons a family 608 f. their death foreshewed 609 b Breerton a place 609 Brechnockshire 627 Brechnock towne 628 a Brechnock meere ibid. Brechnock Lords ibid. Brechnock made a shire 677 e Bremenium 803 Brember castle 313 c Bremetonacum 753 c Bremicham or Bermingham a town and familie 567 Bren what it signifieth 677 Bremin what it is 33 Brennus 677 Brennus a renowmed King 33 Bretenham 463 b Breton a river ibid. Brent a river 421 Brent See Falkes de Brent Brentmarsh 230 e Brentford 421 Brentwood 442 a Brentwell or Brounswell 421 Broses Barons 113 c. 201 f Breoses a family 553 d Will. de Breos or Braus a strong Rebell 629 b Breoses Lords of Brechnock 623 Bretons a family 556 b Bretts 128 f Breusais 138 f Brian who so called 117 Bridlington 714 d Iohn of Bridlington ibid. Brewood 583 a Bricols 400 e Bridge Casterton 534 b Bridgford by Nottingham 548 Brig for Glansford 543 a Brigantes in Britaine rebelled 43 Brigantes 685. whereof they took name ibid. Brill for Burihill 395 b Breint Fitz Conty 282 a Brients 202 c d Brients Barons 215 d Brinlo 568 f Brienston 215 e Brimsfeild 365 f Bridgewater 225 a Earle of Bridgewater 225 c Bridkirk 768 b Briewer Baron 222 e Bristoll or Bristow a Citie 237 a the reason of the name ibid. b Bret the Primitive of the Britains 26 Brit or Brith the first name of the Britains 25 Brith what it signifieth 26 Britaine or Britannie whence it tooke name 27. why late discovered and knowne 33. mentioned by Lucretius first of any Latin writer ib. twice Schoole-Mistres to France 138 Britaine the great that is England 155 Britaine the lesse that is Scotland ibid. Britaine how divided 154.155 Britaine what names it hath 1. the site thereof 1. the forme of it ibid. why called another world 24. the division and compasse of it 2.4 Britaine hath sundry names 23 the position thereof in respect of the Heavens 4. how fruitfull and commodious 3. her first inhabitants 4. the name 5 Britaine under what signe or Planet 182 Britain portracted in womans habite 24. the Roman world 45 discovered to be an Iland 61 a province Presidial 62. How it was governed under and after Constantine the Great 62 76. how it became subject to the Romans 62. infected by Barbarians 79. brought to civilitie 63. called Romania and Romaine Ile 88 Britains ruin and downfall 107 Britaine and France whether ever conjoyned 346 a Britains came first out of Gaule 11.12 Britans in Religion language and maners agree with the Gauls 13.14.15.16.17 Britans emploied by Caesar in base services 38 Britans generally rebell 49. their grievances ibid. Britains cast off the Romans yoke 86 Britains how they may derive their descent from the Troians 88 Britans in Armorica 110 Britans of Wales and Cornewale 112.113 Britans send Embassadours to the Saxons 128 Britans retaine their ancient language 23 Britans long lived 555 b Britans painted themselves blue with wood 20 Britans maners and customes out of Iulius Caesar 29. out of Strabo ibid. out of Diodorus Siculus 29. out of Pomponius Mela ibid. out of Cernelius Tacitus 30. out of Dio Nicaus ibid. out of Herodian ibid. out of Pliny 3● out of Solinus ibid. Britaine Burse 428 d Britannica the herbe See Scorby or Scurvigrasse Britanniciani what they were 111 Briten huis 40 Brithin a kind of drinke 5 British tongue full of Greeke words 28 British States submit to Caesar 37 British Iles mentiond by Polibius 33 Of British Perle a brestplate 38 British names import colours 26 British townes what they were 29 Britwales or Welshmen 113 Briva what it signifieth 414 Brockets knights 406 f Brocovum 762 d Broge 19 Brokes by a place 522 f. a family 523 a Brome 467 f Bromesgrave 574 ● Bromefield 677 a Wolter Bronscorn Bishop of Excester 190 Brookes a family of ancient descent 611 a Brooke L. Cobham 329 c Barons Brooke 244 c Bronholme 478 e Brougham 762 d Brotherton 695 b Sir Anthonie Browne first Vicount Montacute 482 b Sir Ant. Browne Marquesse Montacute 222 d Broughton 376 e Broughton in Hantshire 262 c Brundenels a family 514 b Bruges Baron Chandos 365 b Bruin a family 442 b Burg-morfe or Bridg-North 591 b Robert Brus the noble 500 e Baron Brus of Skelton 720 c Bruses a noble family 526 b Brutus 5. why so called 8 Bucken that is Beech trees 393 George Buck 22 d Buchonia and Buckenham 393 a Buckinghamshire 393 Buers a family 463 b Walter Buc and his race 812 b Buckingham town 396 c. Earles 397 d Buckhurst Baron 320 Buelth 627 e Bugden 497 d Bulchobaudes 79 Buldewas or Bildas 593 e Bulkley a towne and family 607 Anne Bullen or Bollen Marchianesse of Penbroch 655 e Bullen or Bollen Earle of Wiltshire 256 e Bullen or Bollogne in France the same that Gessoriacum and Bonoia 348 d Th. Bullen Earle of Wiltshire died for sorrow 257 Bulleum Silurum 627 e Bulley or Busley a noble Norman 551 a Bulverith 316 e Buly castle 76● c Bulnesse 775 c Bumsted Helion 452 a Bungey 468 b Burdos or Burdelois 473 a Burford in Shropshire 590 f Burnt Elly 463 d Burgesses 177 Burgh under Stanemore 760 Burgh castle 468 e Burgh Clere 72 c Burgi what they were 760 f Burly a faire place 526 b Burons an ancient family Burrium 636 c S. Buriens in Cornwal 188. why so called ibid. Burnel Baron 330 c Burcester 337 b Burdet 566 c Bunbury for Boniface burry 607 Burghersh alias Burgwash 320 Bartholomew Burgwash a Baron 320 b Burghley 514 ● Burgh 727 f Burghsted 442 e Burgh or Burrow Barons 543 f Burne a Barony ibid. Burnels a family 591 f Burrowes what they are 515 e Burrow banke 452 e Burrow hill
d Ela Countesse of Salisbury 244 a Queene Elizabeth an excellent Prince 256 f. her vertues 292. 297. 298. her tombe 430. b Ellandunum 446. d Elen a river 769. c Elden hole 557. e Elenborough 769. c Elephants bones found in Britain 447. c Ellen hall 584. c Eliot his conceit of the name of Britaine 5 Ellesmer a Baronie 592. a Sir Th. Egerton Baron Ellesmer ibid. North Elmham a Bishops See 466. d Elmeley 650. e Elmesley 722. d Elmet a territory 694. e Elmore 362. b Elesly 485. d Elnemouth 769. c Eleutherus Pope 67 Elrich roade 532 Elsing 482. a Eltham 327 Eston 501. e Elvan 67 Elwy a river 679. d Emildon 814. b Emme Mother to King Edward Confessor cleereth her selfe of incontinency 211 Enderbies 401 Hugh Enermeve of Deping 533 Englishmen converted become zealous Christians 137. Studious in Liberall Sciences ib. Enfield 437 English names what they signifie and imply 139 Engelrame de Coucy first Earle of Bedford 402. f England 138 English Saxons returne into Germany ibid. brought thither military knowledge learning and religion ibid. Engins to assault in old time 400 England full of vices 143 England divided into Counties or Shires by Aelfred 138 Little England beyond Wales 652 English men whence they tooke name 138 Englishmen the guard of the Emperors of Constantinople 154 English tongue of what continuance 133 English Maior 681. e Entweissel name of a place and Gentlemen 746. a Equites Aurati that is Knights whereupon so called 174 Erdburrow 522 Erdessey 620. e Erdeswick 583. e Eriry mountaines 667. d Ernald Bois or de Bosco 396. b Erewash a river 555. c Eryngum in Cornwal 186 Escrick 707. ● Eske a river 765. ● 781. c Eslinton 813. c Espringolds 400. d Eresby 541. e Ermin-streete 64 or Erming-street 485. c. 501. f Erminsul or Irmunsull 64 Esquires what degree of Gentry 176 Esquires of five sorts ibid. Steph. de Eschalers a Baron 485. ● Essex 439 Essex Earles 453 Essex Cheeses 443. c Essexes Knight 283. f Henry de Essex became a Monk 681. d Essex a family 443. a Essendum 18 Essendon 526. d Esterford or East-Sturford 446 Ester or Easter celebrated on the Lords day onely 118 Eston aliâs Estanues ad turrim 444. e Eston Nesson 506. c Estotovils an honourable family 533. b Estre aliâs Plaisy 445. a Ethered vanquished and slaine 550. e Esturmies or Sturmies 254. f Ethelbert an insufficient King 143 Ethelbert King Martyr 618. e Etocetum 582. e Ethelbury 728. d K. Etheldred a vertuous Prince 216. b. his tombe ibid. Ethelward a writer 130 Covesham Evesham or Eisham 577. e Eudo Sewer to K. Henry the first 459. e Eudo a noble Norman 541. d Evel a towne 221. b Evelmouth 225. d Evenlode a river 376. b Vale of Eisham or Evesham 577 Ever or Eure a towne 394. b Evers Barons ibid. e Everingham a Baron 550. d Evers Barons whence descended 453. b Evers of Axholm 813. b Evers noble Barons 738. e Ewelme or Newelme 388. c Ewias 631. c Ewias Castle 617. d Eustach de Hach a Baron 246. b Eustow aliâs Helenstow 40● a Exchequer Court 177.178 Ex a river 203. b Exceter Colledge in Oxford 381 Exceter 203. f Exceter Dukes 205. d Exceter Marquesse 206. a Exceter Earle ibid. a Exminster ibid. b Exmore 203. c Eythorp in Buckingham-shire 395. f F. OF Faculties the Court 181 Fairefax a family of gentlemen 692 b. 723. d Falco or Falques Brent a faithlesse men 400. c. 812. b Falcons of the best kind 644. b Falkesley bridge 582. a d Falemouth 189 Fanhop Baron 401. d Farendon 279. e Farmors Knights 506. e Fastineog 666. a Fastidius a Bishop of Britaine 84 Faulconbergs Barons 714. a Faustus a good sonne of a bad father 642. c Fawey 190 Fawsley 508 Faux what it signifieth 692 Fekenham Forest 574. f Feldings Knights 519. f Fenwick Hall 809. d Fenwicks a family ibid. Ferrars Barons of Grooby 520. f Henrie Ferrars of Baddisley a gentleman well descended and as well seene in Antiquities 568. d Rob. Ferrars how enterred 569 Lords Ferrars of Chartley 584. f Fernham Roiall 394. d Fernham why so called 294. e Fetherston Haugh 799. e Fetherstons a family ibid. Fettiplaces a family 220. ● 281. Feversham 334. d Fieldon a part of Warwick-shire 561. b. 223. a Feldon 561. b Fenis or Fienlesse 223. a. 316. b Fienes Barons Dacres 813. b Sir Richard Fienes or Fenis Baron Say and Sele 376. f The File 753. a File what it signifieth 715. a Files ibid. Filioll 217. c Finborrow 607. b Finchdale 742. a Firr trees found in Axelholm 544. b Fisburgings 819. c A Fish poole or Mere by Saint Albans dried up 411. c Fishes with one eye a peece 667 Fishgard 654. c Fish pond foreshewing the death of Monks 609. c Fittons a family 610 Fitz-Alans Earles of Arundel 309.310.589 f Fits-herberts an ancient family 553. d Sir Anthony Fitz-herbert ibid. a most famous Lawier 359. b Fitz-Hugh Baron 730. d Fitz-Harding Lord of Berkley 362. d Robert Fitz-Haimon slaine 368 Fitz-Teke 406. c Robert Fitz-Stephen the first of Norman race that attempted Ireland by way of Conquest 657. f Rob. Fitz-Walter de Clare 407 Fitz-Walters Barons 446. c Fitz-Walters ensigne-bearers of London 215. d Fitz-Lewis a family 442. e Geffrey Fiz-Peter Earle of Essex 454. b. a worthy Iusticer of England ibid. c Fitz-Stephen a writer 427. b Fitz-Paine Baron 215. d Fitz-Warins 281. b Sir Fulque Fitz-Warin 598. b Fitz-Williams an ancient family 690. a Rich. Fitz-Punt a Norman 618 Henry Fitz-Roy Earle of Nottingham duke of Richmond 551. d Flamborough head 714. ● Flamstead 414. b Flatbury 578. b Plavi●s Sanctus 341. d Fleame dike or Flight dike 490 Fleet a riveret in London 423. f Flemings a family 646. e Fleming 202. d. 755. d Flemingston or Flemston a towne 646. e Flemings planted in Wales 654.652 d Flemish high way in Wales 652 Flint shire 679 Flint castle 680. d Flint Earles 681. f Flixton 715. b Flixton or Faelixton 468. b Floddon an hill 816. a Floddon field ibid. Florus a Poet ibid. Flotes a kind of boates 597. b Faelix Bishop of East England 466. c. 480. c Fluor found in Darby shire 557 Foix a family 759 Foliambs a great family 556. b Foliots a familie 575. c 482. a Folkingham 535. a Folkstone 349. b A Font of Brasse in Saint Albans Church 412 d Forcatulus his conceit of the name Britaine 5 Fordington 212. d Ford castle 815. e The Foreland of K●nt 342. d Fornesse 754. ● Fornesse Fels 755. a Sir Iohn Fortescue 396. e Forses or waterfalls 759. f Forefenses 780. the first ibid. the second 790. a. the third ibid. b. the fourth 16. c Forestwhat it is and why so called 293. c Forest lawes ibid. d Forests in Sussex 320. d Fortunie a Tourneament 407. d Fortunate Ilands 4 Forty foot way 511. f. 515. a. 64 Fosse dike 537. f Fosse wad what it is 569. c Fosse a river 702. b
Constantius Chlorus Emperour Baronius in his Ecclesiasticall History Helena * Venerable and right devout Empresse * Inne keeper or Hostesse Of the death of Theodosius Eusebius * Those in Albanie in the North of Scotland See Suidas why he was called Poore Constantine the Great Emperour Panegyrick oration unto Constantine the Great Gelasius Cizicenus lib. 1. Act. Concil Nicaen cap. 3. Pacatianus Vicegeren● of Britaine in the thirteenth yea● of Consta●tine the Great Gildas The Roman civill government in Britaine under the latter Emperors As L L. chiefe Justices Grand Seneschals or high Stewards * Magistros Militum Vicar of Britaine * Comes * Spectabiles Comes of Britaine Comes of the Saxon shore Duke of Britaine * Resembling the Lord Treasurer * Comes rerum privatarum as one would say Keeper of the privie purse Constantine the Emperor Constans Emperour Athanasius in Apolog. 2. Magnentius called also Taporus * Comitem Angelus Roch● * The Emperours Gratianus Funarius Am. Marcellinus Constantius Paulus Catena Ammianus Marcellinus lib. 14. Martin Vicar of Britaine What torturing Instrument this Eculeus was seene in Carolus Sigonius De Iudiciis lib. 3. cap 17. * Lupicinus Magister Armorum * Now Bulgarians Rhutupiae London The heresie of Arius Gildas Sulpitius Severus These calleth Hilarius The Bishops of the Provinces of Britaine in an Epistle unto the Bishops Julian the Emperour Am. Marcellinus * Or Emperour Valentinian Emperour Ammianus Marcellinus lib. 27. and 28. * This place of the text is haply corrupted Theodosius Picts Scots Attacots * Called the sleeve * Ribchester by Sandwich or Richborow London called Augusta Civilis Dulcitius Valentine stirreth up sedition in Britaine Valentia Areani Gratianus Emperour Maximus the Tyrant Zosimus Orosius * Emperor Prosper Tyro * Treviris Gregorius Toronensis Cedrenus Zosimus Priscillianists Sulpitius Severus * Turonum * Bono Reip. Sulpitius Alexander Zonaras Zosimus Sisseg * Or ●udisti * British or of Britaine Procopius Honorius Emperour * Or exangues * Fastidius Genadius Chrysanthus Niephorus * Lieutenant or Deputie * Pure Tripartite Historie Marcus Emperour Gratian Emperour Constantine Emperour * Valence * Monte Genebre or Mont Cen●● * Monte Mojore de S. Bernardo * Montag●●●i Carrara Lunigiana in the Countie of Tendar * Carragoca Nicephorus Callistus * As one would say Heire apparant Victorinus Rector or Ruler of Britaine * Bretagne little Britaine or Llydaw Zosimus Histor. Miscel. Gallio Ravennas Gildas * Betweene the mouth of Tine and Elen. Sigebert 〈◊〉 Anno 428. The English-Saxon-Chronicle * Yei called Gaule inter auxilia Palatina How the Britans are descended from the Trojans * The people of Auergne in France * Trojan * Burgundians Tacit. Histor. lib. 4. * Those of Colein and thereabout Ammian Marcellin sib 28. * Deputies * Regents TASCIA See in Essex See in Hartford-shire God Belinus * Ancient Inhabitants of France * Henbane * Welch Cuno * Welchmen * Vitrei coloris * Or Dabuni Glocestershire and Oxford-shire Of Arras * Or Gallena that is Wallengford Victoria Andate * Those of the County of Beaufort * In Octagono * People of Anjou or Angiers Solidurij Caesar Comment Soldiers Strabo * Sativis Appian * Pol-silver Numisma Census Dio. Cassius * The Emperour * Or Ploughman * Or Vsurpers * Or Vsurper Others read Laelianus * A kind of coine * Treveris * Solemnized every fifth yeare * Arles * Emperours D. 1. c. de auri pub proscent L. 12. 13. C. The de suscept praepos Gilda Saxons called forth into Britaine Carroghes Scitick vale * The Irish sea This Gildas here in the Manuscript Copies of France is named Querulis as the right worrhy Barnabas Brisonius hath reported unto me In some Copies AGITIVS in other Equitius Cos. without any number Kings anointed Pestilence Saxons received into Britaine * Germanie Ciulae * Germany * Epimenia Gildas * A song at their first setting out Bretagne or little Britain * Or Welchmen * Or Welchmen Cod. Theod. lib. 7. Tit. 20. * Britaine Britanniciani Armorica Haply Lexo vij in Plinie Zonaras Procopius termeth them Arborici and another calleth the countrey Corn● Galliae * Vis●gothes Sid●● Appollinar * Ligeris Anno 470. * French wri●ers * Venett●sis Gregor Tur●● lib. 10. cap. 9. * Amphiballus a sacred vesture hairie on both sides An old Glossarie Aurelius Conanus whe● also was called Caninus V.c. in an old booke Vortipor * Southwales as Caermarden shire Pembrooke shire and Cardigan shire Cuneglasus Magoeunus Cornwalis Britwales Welch Walli * Danubium * Welchmen Statute of Wales * Welchmen * Lib. 1. PICTS * Gallies or Keeles Their manners and demeanour Their name * Now Albanie Lib. 4. cap. 37. Their Language Dical●dinij Vecturiones The manners of the Picts Blondus Honoriaci Bede * Reckoning the said day * Asterius Comes Pictorum Pictones Scota King Pharaohs daughter * Flower gatherer the name of an Historie Lib. 9. cap. 2. Ireland the native Countrey of the Scots Gaiothel or Gaithel and G●el * Burbonnois * Welchmen * Welchmen ●allis Scythica In Hypodigmate * Lib. 6. * Lib. 4. Caribes Benzo lib. 2. Tom. 1. pag. 37. Whence the Scots came into Ireland Scythians in Spaine * Those of Biscay and there about Concani Lib. 3. * Russians and Tartarians * Capanillo Luceni * Those about Luca. Germans in Spaine De consolatione ed Albinum lib. 4. cap. 12. Vassaeus * Or Fankners Orasius lib. 7. * Flagella crinium * That is the Redshanks * Vpon Horace De arte Poetica Lib. 2. de bell● Gothorum Lib. 6. cap. 25 Diodorus Si●ulus An Dom. 77. Scot. Almans Agath lib. 1. When the Scots came into Britaine As also for their Etymologie in his notes upon Eusebius Chronology See them * That is Ireland See in Ireland and before Lib. 5. cap. 15. * Vnto Cre●iphon against Pelagians * Emperour Beda lib. 1. ca. 1. Alban and Albin Albin Albinus The Albine Dogge Lib. 1 cap. ult Bede Attacotti Lib. 2. contra Iovianum * Ambrones Anglo-Saxons Who also is called Guortigern * Orkney Isles * Mare Fresicum Aurelius Ambrosius Gildas calleth him Ambrosius Aurelianus * Haply Martian * Brets for Britans * Picts Saxons from the Sacae in Asia Tartarie Lib. 11. Mela●cthon Cisnerus Michael N●ander Axones people of Gaule * Elbe Zosimus Ethelward Son to King Adulph in the fourth degree flourished the yeere 950. Ode 2. of Leiden Spartianus Trebellius Pollio Capitolinus c. * Alias Danubius Don●w * Marmajore Angles or Englishmen Lib. 1. cap. 15. * Iutarum So readeth the Manuscript and not Vit●r●m Angel in Denmarke the seat of the English or Angles * Faire De bello Gothico lib. 4. Saxons Angles and Iutes one nation Anglo-Saxons when they came into Britaine * or Aetius * or Register Fasti Consulares Baronius * Read Fusius * or battell * Elsewhere Decius Paulinus
Burbon taken prisoner in the battaile of Agincourt was detained nineteene yeeres under the custody of Sir Nicholas Montgomery the younger Scarce five miles hence Northward the River Derwent hath his walke who in the utmost limit as I said before of this Shire Northward deriving his head out of the Peak hils being one while streitned betweene crags and sometimes another while watering and cherishing the fresh greene medowes by mossie and morish grounds holdeth on his course for thirty miles or thereabout directly as it were into the South Howbeit in so long a course hee passeth by nothing worth looking on except Chattesworth a very large faire and stately house which Sir William Candish or Cavendish descended out of that ancient house of Gernon in Suffolke beganne and which his Wife Elizabeth and after Countesse of Shrewesbury hath of late with great charges fully finished But where Derwent turneth somewhat Eastward when it is once past Little Chester that is Little City where old peeces of Roman money are often times gotten out of the ground Darby sheweth it selfe in the English-Saxon Tongue named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Danes as Athelward that ancient Writer witnesseth Deoraby the chiefe Towne of all this Shire which name being taken from the River Derwent and contracted from Derwentby it hath bestowed upon the whole County A proper Towne it is none of the least not without good trade and resort unto it On the East side of it the River Derwent making a very faire shew runneth downe carrying a full and lofty streame under a beautifull stone Bridge upon which our devout forefathers erected a faire Chappell which now is neglected and goeth to decay Through the South part thereof runneth a prety cleere Riveret which they call Mertenbrooke Five Churches there be in it Of which the greatest named All Hallowes dedicated to the memory of All-Saints hath a Towre Steeple that for height and singular fine Workemanship excelleth In which Church the Countesse of Shrewesbury of whom erewhile I spake trusting her selfe better than her heires providently erected a Sepulture for her selfe and as religiously founded an Hospitall hard by for the maintenance of twelve poore folke eight men and foure women Memorable in old time was this place because it had beene a lurking hole and a Rendevous for the Danes untill Ethelfleda that victorious Lady of the Mercians by a suddaine forceable surprise made a slaughter of the Danes and became Mistresse of it In the time of King Edward the Confessour as wee finde in Domesday booke it had 143. Burgesses whose number notwithstanding decreased so that in William the Conquerours Raigne there remained onely an hundred And these paid unto the King at the feast of Saint Martin 12. Trabes of Corne. But now all the name and credit that it hath ariseth of the Assisses there kept for the whole shire and by the best ●appy ale that is brewed there a drinke so called of the Danish word Oela somewhat wrested and not of Alica as Ruellius deriveth it the Britans termed it by an old word Kwrw in steade whereof Curmi is read amisse in Dioscorides where hee saith that the Hiberi perchance he would have said Hiberni that is The Irishmen in lieu of wine use Curmi a kinde of drinke made of Barly For this is that Barly-wine of ours which Julian the Emperour that Apostata calleth merrily in an Epigramme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This is the ancient and peculiar drinke of the Englishmen and Britans yea and the same very wholsome howsoever Henry of Aurenches the Norman Arch-poet to King Henry the Third did in his pleasant wit merrily jest upon it in these Verses Nescio quod Stygiae monstrum conforme paludi Cervisiam plerique vocant nil spissius illa Dum bibitur nil clarius est dum mingitur unde Constat quòd multas faeces in ventre relinquit Of this strange drinke so like to Stygian lake Most tearme it Ale I wote not what to make Folke drinke it thicke and pisse it passing thin Much dregges therefore must needs remaine within Howbeit Turnebus that most learned Frenchman maketh no doubt but that men using to drinke heereof if they could avoid surfetting would live longer than those that drinke wine and that from hence it is that many of us drinking Ale live an hundred yeeres And yet Asclepiades in Plutarch ascribeth this long life to the coldnesse of the aire which keepeth in and preserveth the naturall heat in bodies when he made report that the Britans lived untill they were an hundred and twenty yeeres old But the wealth of this Towne consisteth much in buying of corne and selling it againe to the mountaines for all the Inhabitants be as it were a kinde of hucksters or badgers Not farre from hence doth Derwent carry his streame where by Elwaston Sir Raulph Montjoye had lands in the time of Edward the First from whence came Sir Walter Blunt whom King Edward the Fourth advanced to the honour of Baron Montjoye with a pension whose posterity have equalled the nobility of their birth with the ornaments of learning and principally among them Charles late Earle of Devonshire Baron Montjoy Lord Lieutenant Generall of Ireland and Knight of the Order of the Garter Beneath this Elwaston Derwent disburdeneth himselfe into the chanell of Trent which within a while admitteth into it the River Erewash that in this part serveth as a limit to divide this country from Nottingham-shire Neere unto this River standeth Riseley a possession of the Willoughbeies of which family was that Sir Hugh Willoughby as I have heard say who whiles hee endevoured to discover the Frozen Sea neere unto Wardhous in Scandia was frozen to death together with his company in the same ship Hard by it also is Sandiacre or as others will have it Sainct Diacre the seat of the Family of the Greies of Sandiacre whose inheritance Sir Edward Hilary in right of his wife was first possessed of and whose sonne became adopted into the name of the Greies and a few yeeres after the one of his daughters and heires wedded to Sir John Leake and the other to John Welsh On the East side of this Shire there follow in order Northward these places Codenor in old time Coutenoure Castle which belonged to the Barons Grey called thereupon Lords Grey of Codenor whose inheritance in the foregoing age came to the Zouches by the marriage that Sir John de la Zouch the second sonne of William Lord de la Zouch of Haringworth contracted with Elizabeth the heire of Henry Grey the last Lord of Codenor Then Winfeld a very great and goodly Manour where Raulph Lord Cromwell in the Raigne of Henry the Sixth built a sumptuous and stately house for those daies After it you see Alffreton which men thinke to have beene built by King Alfred and of him to have taken that name which Towne had also Lords entituled
therupon de Alfreton of whom the second named Robert the sonne of Ranulph built in the most remote angle and nouke of this shire the little Abbay De Bello capite commonly called Beau-chiefe but a few yeeres after for default of heires males the Family of Chaworth and the Lathams in Lancashire possessed their inheritance by two daughters These bare for their Armes Two Chevero●s as they tearme them Or in a Shield Azur which very same Coat the Musards that is The doubters and delaiers who were called Barons of Staveley in this County changing the colours onely gave who during the Raigne of King Edward the First had an end in Sir Nicholas Musard and his eldest sister was married to Ancher Freschevill whose posterity flourisheth heere still at this day Higher yet in the very East frontier of this County upon a rough and a craggy Soile standeth Hardwic which gave name to a Family in which possessed the same out of which descended Lady Elizabeth Countesse of Shrewesbury who beganne to build there two goodly houses joyning in manner one to the other which by reason of their lofty situation shew themselves a farre off to be seene and yeeld a very goodly prospect This now giveth the Title of Baron to Sir William Cavendish her second sonne whom King James of late hath honoured with the honour of Baron Cavendish of Hardwic More inward in the Country is seated Chester-field in Scardale that is in a Dale compassed in with cragges and rockes For such rockes the Englishmen were wont to tearme Scarres Both the new name it selfe and the ruines of the old Walles doe proove that this Chester-field was of good antiquity but the ancient name thereof is by continuance of time worne out and quite lost King John made it a free Burrough when he gave it to William Briewer his especiall favourite In Writers it is famous only by occasion of the warre betwixt King Henry the Third and his Barons wherein Robert Ferrars the last Earle of Darby of that name being taken prisoner and deprived of his honour by authority of the Parliament lived afterwards as a private man and his posterity flourished with the Title onely of Barons Hard to this Chesterfield Westward lyeth Walton which from the Bretons came hereditarily by Loudham to the Foliambs men of great name in this Tract and Eastward Sutton where the Leaks held a long time a worshipfull port in Knights degree A little from hence is Bolsover an ancient Castle situate somewhat with the highest which belonged to the Hastings Lords of Abergavenney in right of exchange with King Henry the Third who being altogether unwilling that the Earledome of Chester unto whom this Castle had appertained should bee divided and bestowed among distaves assigned here and there other possessions unto the sisters of Iohn Scot the last Earle The West part beyond Derwent which throughout riseth high and peaketh up with hils and mountaines whence in old time it was called in the old English tongue Peac-lond and is at this day haply for that cause named the Peake for that word among us signifieth to appeare aloft is severed from Stafford-shire by the Dove a most swift and cleere River of which I shall speake hereafter This part although in some place it hath craggy rough and bare scarres and cragges yet by reason that under the upper crust of the earth there is limestone which supplyeth a batling fruitfull slugh or humour there be in it greene grassie hils and vales which bring forth full oates and feed safely both droves of greater beasts and also many flockes of sheepe For there is no more danger now from Wolves which in times past were hurtfull and noisome to this Country and for the chasing away and taking of which some there were that held lands heere at Wormehill who thereupon were sirnamed Wolve-hunt as appeareth plainely in the Records of the Kingdome But so plentifull it is of lead that the Alchymists who condemne the Planets as convict of some crime unto the metall mines have upon a ridiculous errour written that Saturne whom they make the Lord and Dominatour of lead is liberally affected to England in granting lead but displeased with France to which he hath denied the same And verily I thinke that Pliny spake of this Country when hee said this In Britaine in the very crust of the ground without any deepe mining is gotten so great store of lead that there is a law expressely made of purpose forbidding men to make more than to a certaine stint For in these mountaines fertile lead stones are daily digged up in great aboundance which upon the hill tops lying open to the West winde neere unto Creach and Workes-Worth which heereupon tooke name of the lead-workes when the Westerne winde beginnes to blow which winde of all others they have by experience found to hold longest they melt with mighty great fires of wood into lead in troughes or trenches wich they digge of purpose for it to runne into and so make it up into Sowes Neither onely lead but Stibium also called in the Apothecaries shops Antimonium is heere found by it selfe in veines which minerall the women of Greece used in old time to colour their eye-browes with whereupon the Poet Ion in Greeke tearmeth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Milstones likewise are heere hewed out as also grinde-stones and whetstones to give an edge unto iron tooles and sometimes in these mines or quarries is found a certaine white Fluor for such stones comming out of Mines that be like unto precious stones learned minerall men call Fluores which for all the world resembleth Christall Besides Workes-worth lately mentioned we meet with never another place worth the remembrance unlesse it be Haddon by the River Wie the seat for many yeeres together of the Vernons who as they were very ancient so they became no lesse renowned in these parts in so much as Sir George Vernon knight who lived in our time for his magnificent port that hee carried the open house that hee kept and his commendable hospitality gat the name among the multitude of a Pety King in the Peake By his Daughters and heires a goodly and great Inheritance was transferred unto Sir John Mannours sonne of Thomas Earle of Rutland and to Sir Thomas Stanley sonne of Edward Earle of Darby There adjoyneth unto this Bakewell upon the same Riveret which among these hils maketh it selfe way into Derwent This was by the Saxons called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Marianus writeth that King Edward the Elder erected there a Burrough Now whether it borrowed this name or no of the hote waters which the ancient Englishmen as also the Germans in their language tearmed Bade and Baden whence came Baden in Germany and Buda in Hungary I know not Certes at the spring-head of Wie not farre from hence there rise and walme up nine fountaines of hote waters the
after he had rebelled against Rhese his Prince and not able to make his part good with him very rashly and inconsiderately which hee afterward repented too late sent Enion a Nobleman to whom he had affianced his daughter to procure Robert Fitz Haimon sonne to Haimon Dentatus Lord of Corboil in Normandy to come out of England and aide him against Rhese who forthwith having mustered certaine forces and taking for to associate him in his journey twelve Knights first gave Rhese Battaile and slew him and afterwards being allured with the fertility of the Country whereof before hand he made full account to be Lord turning his power upon Jestine himselfe because hee had not kept touch with Enion nor performed his promise easily thrust him out of his ancient Inheritance and shared the Country among his Companions The hard and barraine hill Country he granted to the said Enion the more fertile parts he divided betweene him and those twelve Knights whom he tearmed Peres on this condition that they should hold them in Fee and vassallage of him as their chiefe Lord to maintaine one another in common with their aides and auxiliary forces to defend every one his owne Ward in his Castle of Caerdiffe and to bee present and assist him in his Courts in the administration of Justice It shall not be amisse to put downe their names out of a little Pamphlet which Sir Edward Stradling or Sir Edward Mounsel both Knights men of ancient descent and most skilfull in Antiquity I wot not whether for it goeth abroad under both their names wrote concerning this matter And these be their names William of London or de Londres Richard Granvil Pain Turbervill Oliver Saint John Robert de Saint Quintin Roger Bekeroul William Easterling for that he was borne in Germanie whose heires are now called Stradlings Gilbert Hamfranvill Richard Siward John Fleming Peter Soore Reinald Sully The River Remnie falling from the Mountaines is the limite on the East side whereby this Country is divided from Monmouth-shire and Remnie in the British tongue signifieth to Divide Not farre from it where the River holdeth on his course through places hardly passable among the hilles in a Marish ground are to bee seene the tottering walles of Caer-philli Castle which hath beene of so huge a bignesse and such a wonderfull peece of worke beside that all men well neere say it was a garison for t of the Romans Neither will I deny it although I cannot as yet perceive by what name they called it and yet it may seeme to have beene re-edified anew considering it hath a Chappell built after the Christians manner as I was enformed by John Sanford a man singular well learned and of exact judgement who diligently tooke view of it In later ages it was the possession of the Clares Earles of Glocester descended from Fitz-Haimon aforesaid neither doe any of our Chronicles make mention thereof before king Edward the Seconds time For then after that the Spensers by underhand practises had set the King Queene and Barons at debate the Barons besieged a long time Hugh Spenser the yonger whom they called Hugolin herein and could not prevaile By this river also but the place is not certainely knowne Faustus a very good sonne as Ninnius writeth of Vortigern so bad a father built a great Place where with other holy men hee prayed daily unto God that himselfe whom his father committing most abominable incest had begotten of his owne daughter might not be punished grievously for his fathers faults also that his father might at length repent heartily and his native Country be eased from the bloudy warres of the Saxons A little beneath hath Ptolomee placed the mouth of RATOSTABIUS or RATOSTABIUS using a maimed word in stead of Traith Taff that is The sandy Trith of the River Taff. For there the said River Taff sliding downe from the Hilles runneth toward the Sea by Landaff that is The Church by Taff a small City and of small reputation situate somewhat low yet a Bishops See having within the Dioecesse 154. Parishes and adorned with a Cathedrall Church consecrated to Saint Telean Bishop of the same which Church German and Lupus French Bishops then erected when as they had suppressed the Heresie of Pelagius that was dangerously spread all Britaine over and preferred Dubricius a most holy man to bee the first Bishop there unto whom Meurioke a British Lord freely gave all the land that lyeth betweene the Rivers Taff and Elei From hence goeth Taff to Caer diff called of the Britans Caerdid a proper fine Towne as Townes goe in this Country and a very commodious Haven which the foresaid Fitz Haimon fortified with a Wall and Castle that it might bee both a seat for warre and a Court of Justice wherein beside a Band of choise soldiers those twelve Knights were bound to keepe Castle-guard Howbeit a few yeeres after Yuor Bach a British Mountainer a little man of person but of great and resolute courage marching with a Band of men by night without any stirre suddenly surprised tooke Prisoner William Earle of Glocester Fitz Haimons daughters sonne together with his wife and young sonne and detained them in hold with him untill he had made him full satisfaction for all wrongs and losses But how Robert Curthose William the Conquerours eldest sonne a man over venterous and foole hardy in warlique exploits quite put by his hope of the Crowne of England by his younger brethren and bereft of both his eyes lived untill he was an old man in this Castle you may see if you please in our Historians and understand withall that royall Parentage is never assured either of ends or safe security Scarce three miles from the mouth of Taff in the very bending in of the shore there lye aflote as it were two small but pleasant Islands separated one from another and from the maine Land with narrow in-lets of the Sea The hithermore is called Sullie of the Towne right over against it which tooke the name as it is thought of Robert Sully for it fell to his part in the division if you would not rather have him to take his name of it The farther more is named Barry of Baruch an holy man buried there who as he gave name to the place so the place gave the sirname afterwards to the Lords thereof For that noble Family of Vicounts Barries in Ireland had their originall from hence In a Rocke or cliffe heereof by the sea side saith Giraldus there appeareth a very little chincke into which if you lay your eare you shall heare a noise as it were of Smithes at worke one while the blowing of bellowes another while the striking of sledge and hammer sometime the sound of the Grindstone and iron tooles rubbing against it the hissing sparkes also of steele-gads within holes as they are beaten yea and the puffing noise of fire burning in the
* Membrosa sua majestate The head of Severn Severn Newtowne Anno xj Corndon hill Welch Poole Red Castle Matrafall * De veteri Ponte Lan-vethlin Earle of Montgomery Princes of Powise Lords of Powise * Servitour or Gentleman of the Privy Chamber Dupli Norm 6. Henr. 5. Earle of Tanquervill Mountaines exceeding high Wolves in England destroied See Derby-shire and Yorke shire Mouthwy Dolegethle Herberts way Fastineog Helens street The Sources of Dee Pimble-meare Guiniad fishes Bala Conway Ri● The Alpes Britany Snow-don hilles Nivicollini Canganum Lhein Pulhely Nevin The life of Gruffin Menai Segontium Lhan Beblin Tor-coch fishes Caer-narvon Banchor as or would say Pe●●chor that is principal Qui as others thin The life of Gruffin Pen-maen-maur Conwey Rive● Pearles Conwey Towne Gogarth Dictum Diganwy Ganoc Mona Anglesey Druid● Lhan-vays 2. Pars Pat. anno 2. H. 5. Newburg Aber-fraw Holy head Saint Kibie As touching the Islands a●●joyning to A●●glesey See among the British Isles Denbigh Diffrin Cluid Cluid River Valle Cruel● Vale of the Crosse. Lead Wrexham Holt * Chirkes Castle Dinas Bran. Bren. Brennus Varis Bod-vari Caer-wisk Saint Asaph Capgrave Ruthlan Basing werke Haly-well Saint Winefrid Flint * Harden Barons of Mont-hault Or de monte Alto. Hope Castle Milstones Mold Bathes or hote waters Coles-hul English Mailor Ha-meere Earles of Chester The prudent policie of Edward the First See page 114 See page 164 Afterward a golden vierge was used Brigantes whereof they tooke name See Pasquier i● Les Recherche de France lib. cap. 40. Reinerus Reinecciu● Yet are they in Ireland called Brigantes in some Copies Cartismandu● Tacitus * The putting of one time for another A place in Tacitus corrected * Maldon Humber * First called Ure and Your West-Riding The river Do● Wortley Wentworth Sheafield Furnivall Rotheram Connis-borrow Florilegus 487. The Family of Fitz-Williams Dan-castre Tickhill Pla● anno 3. Ioan. Reg. Pl. M. 4. H. 3. Marshland Nosthill Saint Oswalds The River Calder Anno Christi 209. DVI The Genii of Places Lib. Ep. 40. Vopiscus in Probus Halifax Some would have it to be called aforetime the Chappell in the Grove Fax what it is Halifax law Almond-bury Cambodunum Whitley Kirkley Dewsborrough Wakefield 1460. The Savils Howley Medley The River Are. Araris in France Craven Skipton Latium Kigheley Leedes Winwidfield Elme● Ninius Calx viva Castleford Legeolium T. de castle ford Saint Willi●● of Yorke Lacy the Norman Placit 11. The booke Stanlow M●●nastery See Earles ● Lincolne Thomas 〈◊〉 of Lancaste● Aberford Cary Castle Barwic in Elmet Hesselwood Vavasores or Valvaforces Petres-post The battaile at Towton A quarry of stone The River Wherf Kilnesey Cra●●● Ilekeley Olicana * Of him U●●pian maketh mention lib. ● de Vulgari pupillari substitutione * Legato * Pro Praetor● Epist. 41. Otley Chevin Chervin what it signifieth Gevenna Harewood Placit 1. Joan. Rot. 10. in D. Monstr le Droit 35. F. 1. * Rivers or Red●ers * Rivers or Red●ers Gascoignes Wetherby Tadcaster Calcaria Calcarienses De Decurionibu L. 27. The Romane language in Provinces Augustin lib. 19 de Civitate Dei Itinerarium T. Edes The river Nid Rippley Knarsborrow Castle Dropping well A Well turning wood into stone Wakeman Saint Wilfrides Needle Pyramides Divels bolts Is-Urium Aldborrow i. Old Borrow Eboracum Yorke Fosse-river The Manour That Victor whom Andre● Scot set forth of late Severus The Temple of Bellona L.I.C. Constantius Constantine the Great Vincentii Speculum historiale Scotland in times past subject to the Archbishop of Yorke See in Scotland A Library Flaccus Alcwinus or Albinus flourished anno 780. The sixty six Archbishop Alfred of B●●verley in t●● Library of 〈◊〉 Lord Burg●● Treasurer 〈◊〉 England Decimatio● Execution 〈◊〉 very tenth 〈◊〉 Commentar of Pope Pius Lib. prim The Councell established in the North. Bishops Thorpe Cawood L. Knivet East-riding Montferrant Historie of Meaux * de Malolacu Battlebridge Howden Metham Abus Humber● Bede * Gods Church or habitation Drifeild Beverley Betnatia The life of John of Beverley Pat. 5. H. 4. Hull river The Register of Meaux Abbay Cottingham Estotevill Wake Kingston upon Hull Placit Anno. 44. Edw. 3. Ebo● 24. * Pro Vaccariis Beycariis De la Pole Cl. 5. E.R. 3. M. 28. Valectus or Valettus I. Tisius Ocellum Holdernesse Headon Praetorium Patrington Winsted Barons de Rosse Ravenspur and Ravens-burg Kelnsey Sisters Kirkes Constable Sinus salutari● Suerby Gabrantovici Flamborrough-head Flamborough Constable de Flamborough Vipseys waters Wolves Earles of Aumarle and Holdernesse Fitz. Odo An ancient Genealogy or pedigree Cr●ssu● Gibbosus North Riding Scarborrough Castle See Dier 144. The gainfull fishing for Herrings Hexameron lib. 5. cap. 80. The River Teise Robbin Hoods Bay Dunum Dunsley Whitby Stony Serpents of Hildas Geese falling downe Duke Wade from whom th● families of the Wades derive * Mauley Moul grave Castle Barons of Mauley Geat Gagates * Others are opinion that our pit cole o● stone cole wa● the old Gagates Cliveland Brius of Skelton Barons Falconberg Yare Stokesley Gisburgh Onusbery hill or Rosebery-Topping The History of Canterbury Praerogativae Reg. 17. Ed. 2. 17. Hen. 6. Bromfleet Lord Vescy Escaetria ● Edw. 2 n. 63. Barons Vescy * Mon●●uli The Vescies coate of Armes Matth. Paris M.S. Mowbraie In other places he is named De Fronte-bovis The Register of Fountains Abbay Fair-fax Fax A solemne Horse-running North-Al●erton shire Cap. 126. Battaile of Standard Earle of Northumberland slaine by Rebells Earles and Dukes of Yorke Earle of March Parliament 10. Hen. 6. Out of the Rols of the Parliament 39. of Hen. the 6. Warre between the House of Lancaster and Yorke or the red Rose and the white See pag. 570. 1604. He was his sonne in law Copper lead and stone-cole or pit-cole Stone cocles and winkles Hell-beckes Wentsedale The name of Geta rased out Bracchium The statue of Emperour Commodus The great family of the Medcalfes Creifishes Bolton Castle Barons le Scrope Midleham Lords of Midleham Genealogia antiqua Coverham Masham Snath Barons Latimer Tanfeld Marmions Inq. 6. H. 6. Swale a sacred River See pag. 136. Marrick Richmond Gilling Ravenswath Barons Fitz-Hugh Caturactonium Catarrick Catarrick bridge Hornby Fitz-Alan Caldwell Aldburgh Fortè Dia Fortunae Bathea Balineum or Balneum Seneca Stane More Spittle on Stane More Maiden Castle Earles of Richmond Guil. G●mit L. 7 c. 34. Booke of Richmond Fees Register of Swasey Overus de S. Martino is about this time named Earle of Richmond Normandy awarded away from the K.K. of England Robert de Arthois was not Earle of Richmond as Frossard writeth but of Beaumont The booke of Tenures or Fees of Richmond Duke of Richmond Obsidianus lopi Canole cole Saint Cuthberts Patrimony The River Teise or Teisis Stretlham Bowes * Ermin Raby Castle The family of the Nevils See in Westmorland Selaby Barons Coigniers Derlington Hell Kettles Deepe pits Earth-quake Certaine Gentlemen called Sur. Teis i. upon Teis sometime flourished here Gretham Hartlepoole A Promontory in our