or Sand-ridge Portland Portland formerly an Island is now adjoined to the Continent which Name although some would derive from its lying against the Port of Weymouth yet seems rather to have received it from Port a Noble Saxon who about the Year 703 grievously infested this Coast This Place was formerly extremely exposed to the Danish Outrages and tho' by the Valour of Duke Aethelhelme they were here A. D. 537. routed and put to flight with the assistance of the Dorsetshire Men as the Saxon Chronicle informs us yet after this they got possession of it and killed Duke Aethelhelme on this spot After these Wars were over it fell into the Possession of the Church of Whinchester when Emma Mother to Edward the Confessor being accused by her Son of too great Familiarity with Aldwyn Bishop of VVinchester and having cleared her self from that unjust Imputation by suffering the Ordalium which in those Days was an usual Trial of Chastity in walking bare foot upon nine Coulters of red hot Iron which she did to a miracle without any harm or prejudice to her self she for a memorial hereof bestowed nine Lordships upon the See of VVinchester to which her Son added this Island with many other Revenues to expiate the Crime of his Defamatory Suspicion and unjust Accusation of his Mother's Honesty This Island or rather Peninsula is scarce seven Miles in compass rising up about the sides with high Rocks but lying low and flat in the midst inhabited scatteringly here and there plentiful enough with Corn and very good to feed Sheep but so great scarcity there is of Wood that for want of other Fuel they make use of Ox and Cow Dung dried for Fire The Portland Men like the ancient Inhabitants of the Baleares in the Mediterranean Sea were above all other English Men reputed the best Slingers and they do often find amongst the Sea-Weeds Isidis Ploramos growing without Leaves like Coral which when it is cut waxeth hard and black but is very brittle and if it falls soon breaks Here are likewise divers Quarries of excellent Stone which being accounted the most durable and handsom for all manner of Structure is conveyed away in Vessels to divers Parts but more especially to London for the rebuilding of Churches and other private Edifices On the East side there is only one Church and some few Houses standing close to it and on the North side is a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth which being well Fortified commands the entrance into the Haven of Weymouth Weymouth and Melcomb This Town is large and populous standing upon the mouth of a small River VVey over against which on the other side of the Bank is Melcomb sirnamed Regis both of them enjoying great Privileges apart did heretofore cause no small Animosities betwixt them but the Breaches being since made up they are now incorporated and conjoined by a Bridge and grown much greater and fairer in Buildings by Sea-Adventures than formerly Higher in the Country about seven Miles from the Sea lies Dorchester Dorchester which is the head Town of the whole Shire watered by the River Frome but neither large nor beautiful being much decay'd and long since dispoiled of its Walls by the Danes who raised as it is thought certain Trenches whereof one is called Maumbury being an Acre inditched another Poundbury something greater and the third a Mile off as a Camp with five Trenches containing near ten Acres called Maiden-Castle which in all probability was a Roman Station but that which argues its Antiquity is the Coin of the Romans both Copper and Silver found there and especially at Fordington hard by Fordington which the common People call King Dorne's Pence whom by some allusion to the Name they think him to be the Founder of the Town It had anciently a Castle in that place where the Grey Friars built their Convent out of the Ruins thereof it has three Parish Churches and several Alms-Houses for the support and maintenance of poor impotent People and it was formerly a noted Place for the Manufacture of Cloth as it is still for Sheep of which there are huge numbers to the great benefit and enriching of the Country Our next Stage was through Bere a little Market Town to Winburn which by the distance of sixteen Miles from Dorchester agrees right with the computation in Antonius's Itinerary which he reckons between Durnovaria and Vindogladia two Names by which those Places were formerly called Winburn is watered by the River Stowr Bere and Winburn in which is found as is reported great store of Tench and Eel from whence in Cambden's Opinion it might receive its Name Burn in the Saxon Language signifying a River 'T is seated upon part of a Hill and is a Town as well inhabited now as it was formerly by the Saxons before whom the Romans were Masters of it In the Year 718 according to the Saxon Chronicle St. Cuthburga Sister to Ina King of the West-Saxons Founded here a Nunnery for Benedictine Nuns which was afterward changed into a Collegiate Church consisting of a Dean four Prebendaries five Singing-Men three Vicars and four Deacons the famous Reginald Pool presided here as Dean who was afterward a Cardinal and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In this Church A. D. 873. was interred King Aethelred a Virtuous Prince Brother to Alfred slain in a Battel against the Danes near the Hill Wilton saith the Saxon Chronicle and about the Year 961. the Body of King Sigefirth who killed himself was likewise buried in this Place Here is also interred Gertrude Blunt Marchioness of Exeter Daughter to William Lord Mountjoy and Mother to Edward Courtney the last Earl of Devonshire of that House and on the other side of the Quire John de Beaufort Duke of Somerset and Heir to Sir John Beauchamp of Bletneshor whose Daughter Countess of Richmond and Derby and Mother to King Henry the Seventh that most Heroick and Unparalled Princess of whom I have formerly spoken erected here a School for the Education of Youth Badbury That Aethelwald having broke the League that was made betwixt his Cousin King Edward the Senior and himself by the advice of the Danes came hither A. D. 901. and strongly Fortified this Place as is credibly related by Historians as that King Edward came against him with an Army which he encamped at Baddanbyrig since called Badbury upon which his perfidious Kinsman fled away to the Danes though he was afterward taken and brought before the King together with his Wife whom he had stoln out of a Nunnery and Married against the Leave of the King or Bishop This Badbury is a little Hill upon a fair Down about two Miles from Winburn environed with a triple Trench and Rampire and is reported formerly to have had a Castle which was a Seat of the West-Saxon Kings but of this there is not now the least Footsteps remaining From hence we travelled into Hampshire Hampshire a Country
the Structure consists in this That it hath as many Pillars as there are Hours in the Year and these not so closed but you may see the Interstices betwixt them and shake some that are of a lesser size as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very Artificially adorn'd and curiously painted to Admiration and as many Gates as there are Months all which are thus comprised in an ingenious Copy of Verses Mira canam Soles quot continet Annus in unà Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque tenet fusas tot ab arte Columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus Annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus Annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide In English thus How many Days in one whole Year there be So many Windows in one Church we see So many Marble Pillars there appear As there are Hours throughout the Fleeting Year So many Gates as Moons one Year doth view Strange Tale to tell yet not so strange as true And as the Church was then Re-edify'd so was the City much enlarg'd by which means since its Houses are grown stately its Guild-Hall for the use of the Mayor and Aldermen is beautiful its Churches are many and glorious its Streets by reason of divers Rivolets convey'd in Channels through the midst of them sweet and cleanly its Gardens delightful and fragrant and nothing wanting to please and gratifie either the Eye or Palate From hence we coursed over the Plains directly to Winchester Winchester which by Antiquaries has been call'd Venta Belgarum as Bristol was Venta Simenorum and amongst the Britains it had the Name likewise of Caer-Guent It was of great Repute amongst the Romans and no less famous in the time of the Saxons and flourished as greatly under the Power of the Normans till once or twice both Fire and Sword in an envious Emulation strove together to deface it but it is grown again since very fair and populous large and stately is computed within the Walls to be about a Mile in length is pleasantly seated in a Vale betwixt two Hills and hath six Gates which give Entrance into the City tho' it was much defaced in the late Civil Wars as likewise the Castle which formerly hath been accounted altogether impregnable This is the Castle that Mawd the Empress having held out after she had taken it a considerable time against King Stephen and after by a close Siege being in great danger to be Re-taken fearing by that means to fall into her Enemies Hand she secured her self by this cunning Stratagem she commanded it should be given out for a Truth that she was certainly dead and upon this order'd her self to be carried out upon a Bier as if she had been so indeed and by this means provided for her own safety Upon the Wall hereof hangs the Round Table so much talked of by the Vulgar and call'd King Arthur's Round Table whether this can justly claim so great Antiquity as is attributed to it I shall not undertake to determine yet certain it is that these very Tables are of a long standing for formerly after Justs and Turnaments when there happen'd to be any great Entertainments amongst the valiant Champions of the Nation it was usual for all such to sit round them Mr. Whartons Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 191. least any difference should arise amongst the Noblemen about Superiority of place About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral built by Kenelwalch King of the West Saxons who after the expulsion of Agilbert constituted Wine a Saxon born and ordain'd in France the first Bishop there and it hath been Dedicated to divers Patrons accordingly as it has been re-edified by different Benefactors viz. to Amphibalus St. Peter St. Swithin and now to the holy and undivided Trinity Here it was that Queen Emma upon the suspicion of Adultery by the trial of Fire Ordeal walking barefoot over nine hot Plough-shares without hurt ascribed this miraculous Proof of her Innocence to St. Swithin Patron of this Church and afterward in a grateful acknowledgment bestow'd great Donatives upon it It was always held in great Veneration by the Saxons because divers of their Kings were Interr'd in it and was call'd by them the old Monastery to distinguish it from the new one founded by Alured in which he placed a Fraternity of Presbyters who it seems by a great Miracle of the Cross speaking and disapproving their Order were all expell'd from thence by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury who substituted Monks in their Room These Monasteries were joyn'd so near to one another that it did often create a Disturbance at their Devotions and hence arose great Feuds and Contentions amongst the Brethren besides a great Current of Water running from the Western Gate of the City in divers Channels to this new Monastery did stagnate and so caus'd the Air to be foggy and unwholsom Hereupon the Church about two hundred years after it was built was Translated to the Northern part of the City which they call the Hide where by the Permission of King Henry I. the Monks built another fair and stately Monastery which in the space of a few years by the Treachery as some suppose of Henry Bishop of Winchester was reduc'd to Ashes In the Conflagration whereof 't is Storied That the rich Crucifix given by King Canutus who was buried here in the old Monastery saith the Saxon Chronicle in the year 1036 in the making of which was expended the Revenues of one whole year throughout this Kingdom was burnt likewise after which another Monastery was erected which continued till the Expulsion of Monks out of England in the Room of whom there have since been placed here a Dean and twelve Prebendaries The Church is now curiously adorn'd with Monuments of ancient Hero's and Bishops of this See William Wainfleet Founder of Magdalen-College in Oxford lies here Entomb'd with his Heart in his Hand and Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Gardiner that bloody Scourge to the poor Protestants in Q. Mary's days who did so insatiably thirst for the Blood of Queen Elizabeth but was always cross'd in his most wicked Inclinations there lies also the Lord Weston Earl of Portland whose Monument is of Brass and by him his Father who lies in Marble here is likewise preserved the Chair of State in which Queen Mary was Married to King Philip and near to it lies Entomb'd the Countess of Exeter who was Godmother to King Charles II. and very remarkable is the Chappel of Bp. Fox where he now lies Founder of Corpus Christi-College in Oxford which he built for his own use together with his Study and Press for his Books all in one place in the Quire under a plain flat Marble Stone lies the Body of Will. Rufus This King receiv'd his mortal Wound as he was Hunting in the new Forest by Sir Walter Tyrrel who shooting at a Deer hit this
ancient Records testifie in the first year of William the Conqueror and in the fifth year of William Rufus in the year of our Lord 1092 a Nobleman of the Norman Blood nam'd Picot a Vice-comes or Sheriff at the request of Hugolin his Wife founded a Church and Dedicated it unto St. Giles near to this Castle placing in it a Convent of six black Canons which was twenty years after remov'd to Barnwell a Village near a Mile distant from this place by Pain Reverell where he built a Priory to the Honour of St. Giles and St. Andrew and endow'd it with Revenues for the maintainance of thirty Canons of St. Austin's Order As Mr. Tanner informs us As to the Antiquity of the University of Cambridge if any Credit may be given to King Arthur's Diploma which says That King Lucius was converted by the preaching of the Doctors of Cambridge for which reason he gave Privileges to that University which were after confirm'd by King Arthur or if the Bull of Pope Honorius the First may be allow'd Authentick which bearing date Feb. 20 An. Dom. 624. makes mention of the Privileges granted to the University of Cambridge by Pope Eleutherius and takes notice of Doctors and Scholars Resident there at that time Why then as it is truly observ'd by our most Learned Bishop of Worcester in his Antiquities of the British Churches This is a sufficient Proof to all that relie on the Pope's Authority that in the time of King Lucius and Eleutherius there might be a sufficient number of Learned Men in Cambridge to have instructed King Lucius in the Christian Faith and that it is not improbable that Eluanus and Medwinus might be of that number especially considering that Camboritum or as many Copies have it Camboricum was a Roman Colony and mention'd amongst the best Copies among the 28 Cities of Britain and that the Roman Colonies had their Schools of Learning wherein the several Professors of Arts and Sciences did instruct both the Roman and British Youth But what ever Favours the Romans were pleased to confer upon this place 't is certain it met afterwards with very great Encouragement from divers other Benefactors and by the Countenance of Segebert King of the East-Angles and other Saxon Princes it held up its Head in a flourishing Condition till about the year 1100 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us The cruel and merciless Danes laid all waste before them and Swene their King with Fire and Sword burnt this place to the Ground contrary to what we read of the Roman Captain Sylla who though otherwise as furious as a Tyger or a Lion yet when he raged in Greece spared the much celebrated Athens for Minerva's sake Yet nevertheless when these Storms were once blown over in the time of the Normans Learning began to peep out again and seeing all was clear and quiet sprouted up a fresh recruiting it self by degrees till at last in progress of time it return'd to its Primitive State and flourish'd more vigorously than ever it did before For in the Reign of K. Henry I. for his Learning sirnam'd Beauclere it began again to be new modell'd into an University and hereupon Religious Houses and Halls were immediately erected and they have ever since been increasing to the number of Sixteen namely Twelve Magnificent Colleges and four famous Halls where the Buildings are so Uniform the Chapels so Stately the Privileges so Great the Government so Regular the Orders so Strict the Ceremonies so Decorous and the Preferments so Honourable that in all the European Countries no nor perhaps in all the Nations of the World can we find out one University excepting that of Oxford so richly endow'd so famous and renown'd for its Structures so admirable for its Discipline and so courted and address'd to for its most Polite Learning So that when Erasmus was pleased to give us a Strain of his Eloquence in Decyphering both their Characters he doth it but in such a Style as is very suitable to the Subject and the Elogy is no less than what they justly deserve I have before this saith he been extreamly well satisfy'd and have exceedingly rejoyced that England hath constantly been furnish'd with Men who have been as Eminent for their Parts as Learning But now I begin to envy her Felicity had he lived now in our days he would still have had greater reason for this Harangue by reason that she is now so enrich'd with all kind of Literature that by taking the Commendation thereof from other Regions she doth marvellously obscure and eclipse their Glory and yet this Commendation is not only due to England at this present time for it is well known for divers years past to have flourish'd with persons of deep and profound Learning The Universities prove this to be true which have for their Antiquity and Worthiness contended with and outstripped the most ancient and celebrated Academies that ever were planted in the Christian World It might now be expected that I should further exspatiate into a more particular Description of these Famous and Ample Colleges and give an exact Portraiture of the large and spatious Quadrangle of Trinity-College so excellently contriv'd and admirably surrounded with a curious Pile of Buildings which was at first founded by King Henry VIII Of the noble Fabrick of St. John's founded by Margaret Countess of Richmond and Darby both which Colleges have of late years been so extreamly beautify'd and enlarg'd Of Corpus-Christi or Bennet-College founded by Henry Duke of Lancaster whose Library is so famous for its divers ancient Manuscripts as well as from the great Honour it daily receives from His Grace the present Lord Archbishop of Canterbury who was formerly a Learned Fellow and still continues the greatest Glory of it Of that unimitable Piece of Architecture in King's College Chapel founded by that Heroick Prince King Henry VI. Of the Publick Schools of the University which have been of so ancient a continuance that there is no mention when or how they began Of the Publick Library which though it be not so spacious and glorious as the Vatican or Bodleian yet it is so well stock'd with all kind of Divine and Humane Writers that there is not sufficient Room for all the Manuscripts and choice Books which are daily given to it especially if that Order be strictly observ'd of which I have been credibly inform'd That a Copy of every Book which is printed in England be by the Printer presented to it I might insist further on the laudable Modes and Customs which are duly observ'd in this Renown'd University of the large Privileges and Immunities which have been ever granted to it of the honourable Degrees in Divinity Law and Physick which are here annually conferr'd of the great Encouragements which are daily given to all such Persons who have been most Exemplary for their Piety and Learning for which Reason undoubtedly three great and eminent Persons the Pious and Humble Dr. Sancroft the
the Air clear and serene and so 't is salubrious And to begin with that Town which being the principal of all gives a Denomination to the whole County even that alone will be sufficient to set forth and demonstrate the great Lustre and Symmetry of all the other Parts Nottingham by the Britains called Caer-Snotynham Nottingham is built upon a Rock and is environ'd with Rocks on one side which are washed by the crooked Windings of a commodious River hath a fair Park of the Duke of Newcastle's adjoining to it with Sherwood Forest bordering upon it The Streets are large and well paved the Market-place handsom and convenient the Churches spacious and usefully contrived and the Houses high and stately they are for the most part built with Brick but some of them are rare pieces as well for Structure as Design and in short the whole front of their Fabrick is beautified with Sculptures and glistering Balconies the Inhabitants being very curious in the new Modes and Draughts of Architecture The Castle which is on the West-side of the Town being situated upon an exceeding high Rock did formerly for strength prospect and stateliness challenge the precedency of most Castles in the Kingdom And here the Danes held out a very long Siege against three Kings united against them For in the Year 868 Buthred King of the Mercians sent Ambassadors to Aethelred King of the West-Saxons and Alfred his Brother to crave their Aid and Assistance against the Danish Army which they accordingly obtained for the two Brothers mustering up a considerable Army arrived in the Kingdom of Mercia and made no stop till they came to Snotenghaham now Nottingham and when the Pagans confiding in their Fortress refused to give Battel and the Christians had then no Engines to batter or rase the Walls the Mercians were enforced to conclude a Peace with the Pagans and the two Brothers to return home ingloriously without doing any feats After this saith the Saxon Chronicle in the Year 942 the most Valiant and Puissant King Edmund not only rescued this place out of its Danish Bondage but four other Cities Lincoln and Leicester Stamford and Darby were by the same victorious Hand delivered from the Shackles and Oppressions of those most bloody Infidels In process of time King Edward the Senior strengthened it with Walls and a new Castle was built by William the Conqueror Edward the Fourth enlarged it with various dwelling Houses for Commanders and Soldiers and in the Rock upon which the Castle stands are several small Cottages hewn out of it in which at present dwell divers poor People And it is reported that it was never taken until by a subtil Stratagem it was surprized by Robert Earl of Darby in the Barons Wars who having once got this soon entred the Town and then used the Townsmen according to his pleasure Though I find too in the Life of King Stephen that Robert Earl of Gloucester invaded this Town with a great Power and when most of the Townsmen were slain or burnt in the Churches whither they fled for Refuge There is a Story of one of them which was richer than the rest that being forced to return to his own House by the Soldiers that had taken him to shew them where his Treasure lay he bringing them into a Cellar whilst they were busie in breaking open Locks and Coffers convey'd himself away and shutting the Doors after him set fire on the House and so the Soldiers being 30 in number perished in the Flames which catching hold of other Buildings joining to it almost burnt up the whole Town But that which makes this Castle most signally remarkable was the discovery of the secret Amours of Roger Mortimer Earl of March and the Imprisonment of David Bruce King of Scots the Relation of which I shall set down as briefly as I can After King Edward the Second had been Deposed and Murthered by the Contrivances and Plots of his own Wife Queen Isabella and King Edward her Son had Reigned about Four Years a Parliament was called at Nottingham where this Roger Mortimer who was the Queen's most especial Favourite was in such Glory and Renown that it was beyond all Comparison none so much Lord Paramount as the Earl of March none appears in so great an Equipage and attended with so honourable a Retinue as the Earl of March so that the King's Train was inferiour to his and his Majesty's Glory eclipsed by the Pomp and Grandeur of one of his Nobles for he very often would presume to go foremost with his own Officers and was so exceeding proud and haughty as to make all Persons cringe and do as great Homage to him as to Majesty it self Nay he undertook to order and dispose of all Persons and Affairs according to his own Will and Pleasure and hereupon he one day rebuked the Earl of Lancaster the King's Cousin for presuming to appoint Lodgings for certain Noblemen near the Court without his particular License and Assignation and having dislodged the Earl with some other Persons of very great Quality and removed them a Mile out of Town He did by this means so incense the Nobility against him that they began to pry more narrowly into his Actions and being enraged to see his Pride and his Usurpation of such great Prerogatives they unanimously Libelled against him and gave it out amongst the People that this Mortimer was the Queen's Gallant and the King's Master and sought by all means he possibly could to destroy the Royal Blood and Usurp the Crown which report did so work upon some of the King 's most trusty Friends that they got Robert Holland who had a long time been Governour of the Castle and knew well all the secret Corners therein to swear Secrecy to them and Fidelity to the King and accordingly to assist them in those Designs they had in hand Whereupon one Night King Edward lying without the Castle both he and his Friends were brought by Torch-light through a secret Place under the ground beginning afar off from the said Castle 't is the Vault which is still call'd Mortimer's Hole till they came even to the Queen's Chamber which by chance they found open being Arm'd with naked Swords in they rush'd leaving the King in the same posture at the Door when they had entred into the Privy-Chamber they found the Earl of March undressed ready to go to Bed to the Queen but they crossed his Design and cooled his Courage halling him away immediately by force upon which the Queen cried out in French Good Son take Pity of Gentle Mortimer suspecting her Son to have been in the Company The Keys of the Castle were presently called for and every Place with all the Furniture committed into the King's Hands and Mortimer was forthwith sent to the Tower who being Tryed by his Peers Arraign'd and found Guilty was hang'd upon the common Gallows two Days and two Nights The Articles that were brought against him were
divers though his too great Familiarity with the Queen his unpardonable Treachery to the King and his secret Services to David King of Scots were the chief having burnt the very Charters by which the Scotch King stood obliged to do Homage to the King of England and thereupon ensued a great War betwixt them for King David being spurred on by the French King invaded England and having made a great Inroad into the Northern Counties spoiling and burning all Places as he came along at length at Durham his Army was routed and himself taken Prisoner being first sent to the Tower afterwards committed to this Castle where during his Confinement he engraved upon the Walls of his Apartment the History of our Blessed Saviour's Death and Passion some of the Relicts of which are still there to be seen After Eleven Years Imprisonment he was restored again to his Kingdom by paying a good Ransom for his Liberty but before he returned he was one of the Four Kings that was nobly treated by Henry Picard a Vintner then Lord Mayor of London King Edward the Third John King of France and the King of Cyprus together with Edward the Black Prince all bearing him Company at the same Table This was about the Year 1358. But before I leave this Town I cannot but take notice of one thing more memorable in our Age this being the first place where King Charles the First set up his Royal Standard against the Rebels in the late unhappy Wars and when the King's Forces were forced to leave it the Castle was then quite demolished but of late it hath been curiously rebuilt beautified and furnished by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle Having pleasured our selves with the Antiquities of this Town we took Horse and went to visit the Well and ancient Chair of Robin Hood Robin Hood's Well and Chair in Sherwood Forest which is not far from hence within the Forest of Sherwood Being placed in the Chair we had a Cap which they say was his very formally put upon our Heads and having perform'd the usual Ceremonies befitting so great a Solemnity we receiv'd the freedom of the Chair and were incorporated into the Society of that Renowned Brotherhood But that we may not receive such Privileges without an honourable mentioning of the Persons that left them to Posterity know we must that the Patent was bequeathed to the inferiour Rangers of this Forest by Robin Hood and Little John honourable Personages indeed being the chief Lords of some most Renowned Robbers in the Reign of King Richard the First who descended from good Families as some averr but having wasted their Estates betook themselves afterward to such profligate Courses This same Robin Hood entertained One hundred tall Men all good Archers with the Spoil he daily made himself Master of upon whom Four hundred though very well accoutred to give Battel durst scarce make an Onset He suffered no Woman to be violated oppressed or any ways molested poor Mens Goods he spared and did relieve the necessitous very liberally with what he got from rich Carls and Misers he killed none willfully and by this means he did for a long time keep up the Order of his Knight Errants till King Richard issuing out a Proclamation to apprehend him it happened that he fell sick at a certain Benedictine Nunnery in Yorkshire called Kirkeley built by Reynerus Flandrensis to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin where being desirous to be let Blood he was betrayed and made bleed to Death Having for some short time pleased our selves with our new Fraternity we equipped again for a Journey and proceeded to find out new Adventures We travelled over the wide and desolate Forest of Sherwood for several Miles together but met with no place of any Note till we arrived at Alfretton Alfretton a Town within the Precincts of Darbyshire 't is a Market-Town and of considerable Antiquity being supposed first to have shewn its Head in the time of the Saxons and to have received its primary rise from the Noble and Heroick King Alfred The Inhabitants here as in divers other places of this County make a sort of Liquor which they call Ale which is very strong and nappy which as it hath been the old drink of England coming from the Danish word Oela so questionless in it self it is a very wholesom and sound sort of Drink and therefore however it pleased a Poet in the time of Henry the Third thus to descant on it Nescio quid monstrum Stygiae conforme paludi Cervisiam plerique vocant nil spissius illa Dum bibitur nil clarius est dum mingitur ergo Constat quod multas feces in ventre relinquit In English thus Of this strange Drink so like the Stygian Lake Men call it Ale I know not what to make Folk drink it thick and piss it very thin Therefore much Dregs must needs remain within I think it not amiss to invert a little his Stanza's in the Reign of King William the Third thus Nescio quid Stygiae monstrum conforme paludi Cervisiam plerique vocant nil spissius unquam Quam caput illius qui sic depinxerat unde Constat quod saeces quia non epota reliquit In English again thus They that will have our Ale so like the Lake Of Styx I know not what of them to make Their Skulls are thick nor can be rinsed clear If Ale ben't drank but dregs will still appear After a little pause we rode on two or three Miles further Darbyshire till we came into the edge of those wide and dangerous Moors which extend many Miles both in length and breadth throughout this County where being several Bogs and dangerous Rocks which do much annoy the Roads that lie through them and the Roads themselves very cross and irksom to Strangers we resolved to take a Guide to conduct us safe over them and the Guide we happened to make choice of was a plain but sensible Peasant going homeward with his Cart loaded with Stones the poor Man readily complied with our Proposals whereupon taking a Horse out of his own Team and leaving the rest to graze thereabouts till his return our Pilot began to steer forward As we rode along we became very inquisitive after the nature of the Soil and the modes of the Country of which our Guide gave us the best account which he could The Country saith he Eastward is fruitful and pleasant abounding with all sorts of Grain but more particularly with Barley which makes many of the Inhabitants considerable Maltsters but the Western into which we are now entring and is commonly called the Peak is Mountainous as you see and Rocky though Nature makes a sufficient amends for the Barrenness of the Soil by her hidden Treasures which are here frequently discovered It s length from North to South is about 30 Miles and its breadth about 20 and the Moors upon which we now are are of an unknown Longitude
part by the Fruitfulness of the other if in one place 't is craggy and mountainous in another 't is as Rich in Corn and Pasture and where the Woods do not shade in Summer and make some provision for its Inhabitants against the Winter she provides other kind of Fuel for them within the Bowels of the Earth and by dispersing such varieties all over it renders it a very grateful and delectable Country Ouse and Humber The Rivers which water it are many but the chief are Ouse and Humber the first of which lodging many Rivolets within itself dischargeth both them and itself into the Humber who carries them all away as Tributaries to the Ocean This River hath a very broad current and rapid Stream it riseth very high when the Tide flows in upon it and when it ebbs the Sea returns back with such a forcible violences that the passage thereby becomes no less rough than dangerous Kingston upon Hull Upon the mouth of this stands Hull so called from the River Hull that runs along by it into the Humber This Town hath been of no long date for King King Edward the First was the Founder of it who viewing well and considering the conveniency of this Place how safe a Harbour it might prove for Ships to ride in made it first an Haven and Borough and granted to the Inhabitants great Privileges and Immunities from whence it received the name of Kingston or King's-Town so that in few Years it arose to that degree of Dignity that for stately buildings for strong Block-houses for well rigged Ships for store of Merchants and abundance of all other necessaries it became the most famous and renowned Town in all these parts Sir Michael Dela-Pole whose Father a most Eminent Merchant was the first Mayor of this place being a great favourite of King Richard the Second's after he was created * This same Nobleman founded here a Carthusian Priory A. D. 1378. as did Walter Shirlane Bishop of Durham a College of Prebendaries A. D. 1400. Mr. Tanner Not. Mon. Earl of Suffolk did prevail with that King to enlarge their Charter and the Inhabitants themselves being very industrious and much addicted to trade for Fish into the Northen Islands did at last heap together in a common Stock so great a Treasure that it enabled them not only to fence the Town with a strong Brick Wall but to strengthen it likewise with Towers and Bulwarks where it was not defended by the River and further brought such quantities of Cobblestones for Ballast to their Ships that therewith they paved all the Streets of the Town which added much comeliness and beauty to its strength and ever since it hath been reputed one of the strongest and most impregnable places in this Nation for 't is not only fortified with a Castle and Block-house to command the Sea but is likewise environed with a double Wall betwixt each of which are large Trenches and hath several great Sluces so conveniently contrived that the Flood-gates being once pulled up they can drown all the Country which lies within the compass of three or four Miles In the late Civil Wars the Hothams being deputed Governors of this place kept this Garrison for the Pretended Parliament's Service nor could all the importunity of the King or his Friends prevail with them to surrender it to his Majesty till at last too late recanting their Actions and giving their own Party some cause to suspect their fidelity towards them and their inclinations to be more favourable to the Royal Party Vengeance laid hold upon both Sir John and his Son and being summoned up above when they least thought of Death were sentenc'd to die by their own Friends who having set them on work pay'd them very justly the Wages which they deserved to have received from their injured Sovereign This place of great consequence is now under the Government of his Grace the Duke of Leeds and the Inhabitants are still great Traders to Newfoundland for Fish and Oil and in their Trinity-House which is an Hospital for poor and impotent Persons they shew a little Boat with the Effigies of a Wild Man who they say was found therein many Leagues off at Sea with a huge Jaw bone of a mighty Whale both which they brought with them from the Northern Seas After we had pleased our selves with the various Diversions of this place Beverly we withdrew from hence to a neighbouring Town called Beverly supposed by Cambden to be the Petuaria Parisiorum and is about seven or eight Miles further into tho Country where John de Beverly first of Hexham afterward Arch-Bishop of York a Man of great Learning and Piety having resigned up his Bishoprick came and ended his Life in Solitariness and Contemplation The Memorial of this Holy Man was so reverend and sacred to many Kings of this Island especially to King Athelstan who honoured him as his Tutelary Saint after the greatest Conquest he had obtained over the Danes that for his sake they endowed it with great and singular Privileges and Immunities which it seems Athelstan did afterward enlarge who came hither and offered his Knife at his Tomb For in the Church which is an ancient and goodly Structure built Cathedral-wise is still to be read this Inscription engraven upon the West end of the Quire in old Characters All 's free make I thee As hert may think Or eyh may see On each side of which are placed the Pictures both of King Athelstan and St. John Nor were there only Privileges granted to the Town but even Foreigners did reap great Benefit hereby by reason of an Asylum or Sanctuary which was appointed for Persons who had committed any capital Crime for here formerly stood an old Chair of Stone which by its description did declare as much Haeo sedes lapidea Freed-Stool dicitur i. e. Pacis Cathedra ad quam Reus fugiendo perveniens omnimodam habet Securitatem That is This Chair of Stone is called Freed-Stool that is the Chair of Peace unto which whatsoever Offender fleeth or cometh hath all manner of Security In this Church there are some Monuments of great Note particularly those which are erected in Honour of the Earl of Northumberland who was slain at Chivy Chase in the Conflict with Lord Douglas and of his Lady the Countess over whom is placed on one side the Image of our Saviour Baptizing an Infant and on the other two Angels with our Lord in the middle one of which holds the Cross the Nails and the Hammer which were the cruel Instruments of his Bloody Crucifixion On the East side of the Town was a House of the Trinity belonging to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem saith the Notitia Monastica The conflux of Foreigners was not formerly more remarkable here to promote the Merchandize of Rome than it is now by reason of great Fairs and Markets which have been granted to the Town and especially for the great
Armour wherewith they cover their Bodies is a Morion or Bonnet of Iron and an Habergeon which comes down almost to their very Heels their Weapons against their Enemies are Bows and Arrows and they are generally reputed good Marks Men upon all occasions their Arrows for the most part are barbed or crooked which once entred within the Body cannot well be drawn out again unless the Wound be made wider some of them fight with broad Swords and Axes and in the room of a Drum make use of a Bag-pipe They delight much in Musick but chiefly in Harps and Clarishoes of their own Fashion the strings of which are made of Brass-Wire and the strings of their Harps with Sinews which strings they strike either with their Nails growing long or else with an Instrument appointed for that use They take great delight to deck their Harps and Clarishoes with Silver and precious Stones and poor ones that cannot attain thereto deck them with Crystal They sing some Verses very prettily put together containing for the most part Praises of valiant Men and there is not almost any other Argument of which their Rhimes are composed They are great lovers of Tobacco and a little Mundungo will make them at any time very serviceable and officious and as they are mostly tall and strong they are likewise so exceeding fleet that some of them will make nothing of it to run many Miles in a day upon an Errand and return back again with no less Expedition Low-landers The Low-landers inhabiting on this side the two Friths of Dunbritton and Edinburgh and the plain Country along the German Ocean are of a more civiliz'd Nature as being of the same Saxon Race with the English which is evident from their Language being only a broad Northern English or a Dialect of that Tongue These People have been noted by their best Writers for some Barbarous Customs entertained long amongst them one of which was that if any two were thoroughly displeased and angry they expected no Law but fought it out bravely one and his Kindred against the other and his which fighting they called Feids and were reduced by the Princely Care and Prudence of King James the Sixth To this purpose I have read a very remarkable Story in the Life of Robert the Third King of Scots how that a dangerous Feud falling out betwixt two great and populous Families in the North Thomas Dunbar Earl of Murray and James Earl of Craford were sent to reduce them who perceiving the great Mischief likely to attend their endeavours of a forcible reducement contrived a more subtle way to quiet them after a representation made to the Heads of those Clans a part of the danger of those mutual Feuds and of the King's Wrath against both they advise to conclude their Feuds as the Horatii and Curatii did at Rome by the choice not of three but of three hundred on each side to fight armed with Swords only in the sight of the King and his Nobles whereby the Victor should gain Honour and the Vanquish'd Safety from further Punishment and both regain his Majesty's Favour whereof they gave them full assurance the Proposition is embraced on both sides of St. John's Town Mounts raised and Galleries made for the accommodation of the Spectators the Combatants are chosen and on the day appointed together with a multitude of Beholders all of them appear upon the place only one through fear privately withdrew himself this put some delay to the Encounter the one Party looking on it as a dishonour to fight with the other wanting one of their number the other Party not finding one who would engage himself to make up the number desire one of the Three hundred to be put aside but of all that number not one could be enduced to withdraw accounting it an indelible Disgrace to be shufled out of such a choice Company of valorous Men At last an ordinary Trades-man tendreth his Service desiring no greater Reward than one single piece of Gold in hand as an honourable Badge of his Valour and an Annuity of a small Sum for Life should he survive the Combat his Demands are soon granted and immediately beginneth the Conflict with as much fury as the height of Wrath the insatiable desire of Honour and the fear of Shame more than the fear of Death could produce to the Horror and Amazement of the Spectators whose Hearts tremble within them to see as indeed it was a horrid Spectacle to behold such a ruful sight of furious Men butchering one another and observed it was by all that of all the Combatants none shewed more shall I call it Valour than the Trades-man did who had the good Fate to survive that dismal Day and on the Conquering side too whereof only ten besides himself outlived that Hour to partake with many ghastly Wounds the Honour of the Day the Vanquished are killed on the place all to one who perceiving himself to be left alone and being without Wounds he skippeth into the River by which means none of the surviving Victors being able to follow him by reason of their Wounds he makes a fair escape with his Life Thus the Heads and most turbulent of both Clans being cut off their Retainers are soon persuaded to Peace and so for many Years after live quiet enough This Fight happened in the Year 1396. The other Custom was that of Nature that the like was scarce heard amongst the Heathens and much less in Christendom which did begin as the Scotch Historians affirm in the Reign of Ewen the Third which Ewen being a Prince much addicted or rather given up altogether to Lasciviousness made a Law that himself and his Successors should have the Maidenheads or first Night Lodging with any Woman whose Husbands held Land immediately from the Crown and the Lords and Gentlemen likewise of all those whose Husbands were their Tenants or Homagers this was it seems the Knights Service which Men held their Estates by and continued till the Days of Malcolm Conmor who at the Request of his Wife Queen Margaret the Sister of Edgar Atheling abolish'd this Law and ordained that the Tenants by way of Commutation should pay unto their Lords a Mark in Money which Tribute is still customary to be paid The Republick or Commonwealth of the Scots like ours of England consists of a King The Castles Nobility Gentry and Commons whose chief Castles are Edenburgh Sterling and Dunbarton which last is the strongest in all the Castles in Scotland by natural Situation towring upon a rough craggy and two headed Rock at the meeting of the Rivers in a green Plain in one of the Heads above stands a lofty Watch-Tower on the other which is the lower there are sundry strong Bulwarks between these two on the North-side it hath only one ascent by which hardly one by one can pass up and that with some labour and difficulty by steps cut out aslope traverse the Rock instead of Ditches
and as nobly attended with a splendid Retinue the Heralds of Arms and other Officers that went before were wonderful gay and finely habited and the Servants that attended were clad in the richest Liveries their Coaches drawn with six Horses as they went ratling along did dazle our Eyes with the splendour of their furniture and all the Nobles appeared in the greatest Pomp and Gallantry the Regalia which are the Sword of State the Scepter and the Crown were carried by three of the antientest of the Nobility and on each side the Honours were three Mace-Bearers bare headed a Noble-man bare headed with a Purse and in it the Lord High Commissioner's Commission then last of all the Lord High Commissioner with the Dukes and Marquesses on his Right and Left Hand it is ordered that there be no Shooting under the highest penalties that Day neither displaying of Ensigns nor beating of Drums during the whole Cavalcade The Officers of State not being Noblemen ride in their Gowns all the Members ride covered except those that carry the Honours and the highest Degree and the most Honourable of that degree rid last Nor is their grandeur disproportionate to their demeanour which is high and stately but courteous and obliging having all the additional helps of Education and Travel to render it accomplish'd for during their Minority there is generally great care taken to refine their Nature and emprove their Knowlege of which when they have attain'd a a competent measure in their own Country they betake themselves to foreign Nations to make a further progress therein where they do generally become so great proficients that at their return they are by this means fitted for all great Services and Honourable employments which their King or Country is pleased to commit to their care and fidelity and are thereby enabled to discharge them with great Honour and applause On the West side a most steep Rock mounteth up aloft to a great height every way save where it looks towards the City The Castle on which is placed a Castle built by Ebrank the Son of Mempitius as some Write though others by Cruthneus Camelon the first King of the Picts about 330 Years before the Birth of our Saviour 't is so strongly fortified both by art and Nature that it is accounted impregnable which the Britains called Myned Agned the Scots the Maiden Castle of certain young Maids of the Picts Royal Blood which were kept here in old time and which in truth may seem to have been that Castrum alatum or Castle with a Wing before spoken of In this Castle is one of the largest Canons in Great Britain called Roaring Megg which together with two tire of Ordinance besides planted upon the Wall can command the City and all the Plains thereabouts but most famous is it in that Queen Mary was brought to Bed here of a Son who was afterward Christened at Sterling and called James who at last became the Happy Uniter of the two Crowns and in that Chamber in which he was Born are written upon the Wall these following Verses in an old Scotch Character James 6. Scot. 1. England Laird Jesu Christ that crown it was with Thorns Preserve the Birth qubais badgir here is Borne And send hir Son Succession to Reign still Lange in this Realm if that it be thy will Al 's grant O Laird quhat ever of hir proceed Be to thy glory honour and praise so beed July 19. 1566. A little below the Castle is a Curious Structure built for an Hospital by Mr. Herriot The Hospital Jeweller to the aforementioned King James and endowed with very great Revenues for the use of poor Orphans and impotent and decrepit Persons but by the ruinous and desolate Condition it seem'd at that time to be falling into it became to us a very doleful Spectacle that so noble a heroick design of Charity should be so basely perverted to to other Evil Ends and purposes contrary to the Will and intention of the Donor The City is governed by a Lord-Provost who hath always a Retinue befitting his Grandeur and for the punishing delinquents there is a large Tolbooth Tolbooth for so they call a Prison or House of Correction where all Malefactors are kept in hold to satisfie the Law as their Offences shall require Within seven Miles round the City there are of Noble and Gentlemens Palaces Castles and strong-builded Towers and Stone houses as we were inform'd above an hundred and besides the Houses of the Nobility and Gentry within it here dwell several Merchants of great Credit and repute where because they have not the conveniency of an Exchange as in London they meet about Noon in the High-street from whence they adjourn to their Changes i. e. Taverns or other places where their business may require them to give their Attendance The Fortune of this City hath in former Ages been very variable and inconstant It s variable Changes sometime it was Subject to the Scots and another while to the English who inhabited the East parts of Scotland until it became wholly under the Scots Dominion about the Year 960 when the English being over-poured and quite oppressed by the Danes were enforced to quit all their interest here as unable to grapple with two such potent Enemies A Mile from the City lies Leith a most commodious Haven hard upon the River Leith Leith which when Dessry the Frenchman for the security of Edenburgh had fortified very strongly by reason of a great Concourse of People which after this Flocked hither in abundance in a short time from a mean Village it grew to be a large Town In the Reign of our King Henry the Eighth the Sufferings and Calamities both of it and its Neighbours were grievous and inexpressible being both Burnt and plundred by Sir John Dudly Viscount Lisle Lord High Admiral of England who came hither with a puissant Army and broke down the Peer burning every stick thereof and took away all the Scotch Ships that were fit to serve him which kind of Execution was done likewise at Dunbar afterward when Francis King of France had taken to Wife Mary Queen of Scots the Frenchmen who in hope and conceit had already devoured Scotland and began now to gape for England A. D. 1560. strengthned it again with new fortifications But Queen Elizabeth solicited by the Nobles who had embraced the Protestant Religion to side with them by her Wisdom and Prowess so effected the matter that the French were enforced to return into their own Country and all their fortifications were laid level with the Ground and Scotland hath ever since been freed from the French and Leith hath become a very opulent and flourishing Port for the Peer is now kept up in so good repair and the Haven so safe for Ships to ride in that here commonly lieth a great Fleet at anchor which come hither Richly laden with all sorts of Commodities After we had spent
sooner melt the Snow and Ice in this County than in places further of the Soil is very Rich and is observed to be more kindly and natural for Pasturage than Corn which occasions here great plenty of most excellent Cheese which together with Salt are the two grand Commodities of this County both Men and Women have here a general commendation for Beauty and Handsome proportion and for Meers and Pools Heaths and Mosses Woods and Parks they are more frequent here than in many other Counties besides that it is in great request for the two famous Forests Delamere and Macclesfield Forests of Delamere and Macklesfield River Dee In the River Dee is plenty of Salmons and Giraldus Cambrensis who lived about the Year 1200 tells us that this River prognosticated a certain Victory to the Inhabitants living upon it when they were in Hostility one against another according as it inclined more on this side or that after it had left the Channel and it is still observed that the same River upon the fall of much Rain riseth but little but if the South Wind beats long upon it it swells and extreamly overflows the Grounds adjacent Salt Springs at Nantwich c. At Nantwich Northwich and Middlewich are the Famous Salt-Pits of this shire the whitest Salt is made at Nantwich which is reputed the greatest and fairest built Town of all this shire after Chester it hath only one Pit called the Brine-Pit about some fourteen Foot from the River Wever out of which they convey Salt-water by troughs of Wood into the Houses adjoining wherein there stands little Barrels pitched fast in the ground which they fill with that Water and at the ringing of a Bell they begin to make a Fire under the leads whereof they have six in an House and in them they seeth the Water then certain Women which they call Wallers with little wooden rakes fetch up the Salt from the bottom and put it in baskets which they term Salt-barrows out of which the Liquor runneth and the pure Salt remaineth Chester or West Chester as being in the Western part of the Kingdom is the Metropolis of this County Chester it was in ancient times called Legacestre Caerleon and Caerlegion for wherever the Britains built a Town they gave it the name of Caer which is derived of the Hebrew Kir and signifies a Wall in both Languages and wheresoever the English coming in found the Word Caer in the name of any Town they Translated it by the Word Chester or Cestor which was the same to them as Caer to the old Britains which undoubtedly occasion'd the denomination of this Place and the addition of Legion to it was because the Twentieth Roman Legion was here placed so that it is a City as famous for its Antiquity as Situation and of no less Renown of old for its Roman * At Caerleon was formerly an ancient School of Learning placed here for the Britains by the Roman Powers Bishop Stillingfleet Antiq. of the British Churches P. 215. than 't is now for a Dutch Colony a People who carry Trade and Industry along with them where-e'er they go 'T is seated on the Banks of the River Dee over which it has a fair Stone Bridge with eight Arches and a Gate at each end its distance from the River's Mouth is about 25 Miles and from the new Key where the Ships ride 6 Miles 'T is built in the form of a Quadrant and environed with strong Walls about two Miles in compass wth Towers and Battlements and withal so broad and spatious that in some places two or three may walk a-breast upon it The Castle which stands upon an high Hill near to the River with its thundring Peals of Ordnance prohibits access to any insolent Invaders whilst the sweetness and commodiousness of the City within affords great pleasure to the Natives and no less satisfaction to all foreigners who visit it for besides the prospect of fair and uniform Houses all along the chief Streets are Galleries or walking places which are called Rows having Shops on both sides through which a Man may walk dry in the most rainy Weather from one end to the other Here are several Churches which are very ancient and goodly Fabricks and though St. John's without Northgate had formerly the preeminence yet now the Cathedral founded in Honour to St. Werburga Daughter to Wulpherus King of Mercia by Earl Leofrich and afterward repaired by Hugh the first of the Norman Blood that was Earl of Chester doth deservedly bear away the Bell of great repute for the Tomb of Henry the Fourth Emperour of Almain who as they say gave over his Empire and led here an Heremites Life The Bishop's See was first placed here by Peter Bishop of Litchfield who translated it from thence but being afterwards conveyed to Coventry and from thence setled in its primitive Station this place continued devoid of all Episcopal Honour till King Henry the Eighth's Reign who having dispossessed the Benedictine Monks of their Mansions placed in their Room a Dean and Prebendaries and made it for ever a Bishop's See The City is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and was made a County incorporate by King Henry the Seventh and glories in nothing more than that this was the place where the Saxon King Edgar in triumph had his Barge rowed in the way of homage by seven petty Kings or Princes Kenneth the Third King of Scots being one from St. John's Church to his own Palace himself as supreme Lord alone holding the Helm and here is farther a Tragical Story reported how Ethelfred King of the Northumbers who murdered at this place barbarosly some hundreds of Christian Monks was here afterwards slain himself by Redwald King of the East-Angles When we left this City we took the opportunity of the Sands and passed with a Guide over the Washes into Flintshire in North-Wales Flintshire in North-Wales where Flint Castle saluted us upon our first arrival ' This Castle was begun by King Henry the Second and finished by Edward the First where King Richard the Second ws deposed and King Edward the Second met his great Favourite Gaveston at his return out of Ireland The Air is healthy without any Fogs or Vapours and the People generally very aged and hearty the Snow lies long upon the Hills the Country affords great plenty of Cattel but they are small Millstones are also digged up in these Parts as well as in Anglesey Towards the River Dee the Fields bear in some Parts Barley in others Wheat but generally throughout Rye with very great encrease and especially the first Year of their breaking up their Land and afterwards two or three crops together of Oats Upon the River Cluyd is situated St. Asaph anciently Elwy a Town of greater Antiquity than Beauty and more Honourable for a Bishop's See St. Asaph placed here about 560 by Kentigerne a Scot Bishop of Glascow than for any
return into England sickned and dyed here July the 6th A. D. 1325 so likewise that this Town gave Birth to some Persons of the worthy Family of the Harveys especially to that Noble 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great Father of Phisitians the Learned Dr. Harvey who made the first discovery of the Circulation of the Blood by the munificence of which charitable Fratermity was erected a Free-School to the great benefit of the Town to which is allotted a very handsome allowance as also a comfortable Pension to be annually distributed amongst the poor of the Parish and to the end that all things may be fully Executed according to the first Charitable design there are appointed diverse Feoffees in trust to supervise herein who are Men of the best Condition and quality in that part of the County Near this Town upon the Cliffs we met with some Stones of diverse Shapes and Figures very strange and wonderful some resemble a Muscle but are a great deal bigger than they others were like a Kernel of an Almond large and somwhat roundish which are Streaked and crankled like a Cockle-shell but of a more dusky colour others we found somewhat bigger than a Hazlenut and some much less which are like a Cockle too but are as smooth and as black as Jet some we discovered which were wreath'd and intorted like Screws of smaller and larger dimensions others which resemble Cock-spurs being sharp at the end and in every respect shaped like unto them but as smooth and of the same colour with our ordinary Flint-stone others which are form'd like Quills cleer as Amber some we observed whose lower parts seem to be effigiated into diverse little Feet bearing a resemblance to those that are visible in some little creeping insects others altogether resemble Snakes * See Mr John Ray Fellow of the Royal Society concerning Serpent Stones and Petrified Shells P. 113.114 c. of his Topographical observations Printed 1673. with Heads which the VVhitbay Stones are without having a perfect Spina running as it were all along their Back from Head to Tail with little ridges like Ribs on both sides in the form almost of a Roman S. Now tho' the solidity of all these Stones without any Cavity which is visible amongst them may be sufficient to convince any Man that they are by no means petrifications but natural and such as they were always from the Creation though how they came to put on such strange and uncommon Figures is a secret not to be unravelled yet certainly since there are diverse real and natural Shells of Fishes too which are to be found upon these Cliffs as likewise have been gathered upon Mountains particularly in Richmondshire before mentioned far enough remote from the Sea of diverse magnitudes shapes and colours sure in all probability the latter must needs have been left there upon the ebb of the Deluge since otherwise there can hardly be any other satisfactory account given how such Shells should happen to be carried to such Mountainous places From Folk-stone for five or six Miles together is a continued Chain of chalky Hills standing in a row hanging jointly one to another about the middle whereof is a Catarackt of Water which coming a great way as is supposed under Ground and falling down from the Cliffs speeds away to Sea going usually by the name of Lyddals Spout and along these Cliffs grow abundance of that excellent sallad Lydal Spout which they call Samphire These Cliffs I say continue without the least interruption till they are parted by Dover which is seated betwixt two high Cliffs Dover lying opposite to each other on the one whereof stands the Castle a place formerly of that strength and importance that it is Styled by Antiquaries the Key and Lock the Bar and Spar of England and was ever reputed so mightily conducive to the facilitating the Conquest of this Nation by getting it into Possession that Philip King of France told his Son Lewis that notwithstanding he had obtained many signal Victories in this Island and won several Forts and strong holds therein yet he had not one Foot in England till he was Master of Dover Castle Which though some are of Opinion was founded by Arviragus a King of the Britains yet Mr. Somner is very possitive against those who would have it built by Julius Caesar whose abode in Britain was too short for so vast an undertaking however whether the ancient Church belonging to this Castle was built by Lucius our first Christian King or not Mr. Somner is again pretty well assured that as here was formerly placed a Roman Garrison so the Square Tower in the middle between the Body and the Chancel fitted with holes on all parts for speculation was formerly a Roman Specula or Watch-Tower and he farther observes out of Tuine that that which at this Day they call the Devils Drop being a mouldring ruinous heap of Masonrey on the opposite Hill on the other side of the Town was the remains of a Roman Pharos or Structure of theirs intended for the placing of Night lights to secure their Passage otherwise very perillous who should put into this Port by Night On this Hill in a Tenterected for that purpose was that Noble Ceremony performed of Inaugurating the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Romney into that great and Weighty Office of Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports June 1. 1694 being there waited upon by the Barons Mayors Baliffs and Jurats of the Cinque-Ports two ancient Towns and their Members with diverse other Persons of great Quality who attended that Solemnity Below the Castle is placed a strong Fort and on the other Cliff opposite to it is erected another both which Block-Houses are for the defence of the Haven or Peer which of late Years hath been almost choaked and quite Stopped up by a huge quantity of Beach thrown into it by the Sea however by reason of a ready and speedy passage to Callice in France to which some will fain have England to have been formerly united by an Isthmus there is daily in times of peace a great concourse of Foreigners who frequent it The Town being one of the Cinque-Ports of which Folk-stone is a Limb and governed by a Mayor and Jurats is of a good large extent being above a Mile in length from * Artclff Fort. Artcliff Fort to the farther end of Bigginstreet but 't is nothing so Populous nor so well Inhabited as formerly 't is adorned with two Churches and a commodious Market place which is well replenished every Saturday with all necessary Provision of which there is brought great supplies constantly out of the Country and for the Victualling the Kings Ships there is a large Store-House from whence Provisions are conveyed to the Navy But I must not omit farther to observe that in this Town was formerly a House belonging to that ancient order of the Knights Templars wherein was Sealed the submission