and likewisâ— King Charles the Martyr In the Reign of K. Henry 8. 1544. Anthony Persons a Priest Robert Testwood a Singing man of the Quire and Henry Filmer Churchwarden of Windsor who had Articled against their Superstitious Vicar were all three burnt together at Windsor for the Protestant Profession when Persons was fastned to the Stake he laid a great deal of Straw on the top of his head saying This is Gods Hat I am now armed like a Souldier of Christ Robert Testwood was condemned for dissuading the People from Pilgrimages for walking in Windsor Chappel he saw multitudes of Pilgrims that came flocking out of Devonshire and Cornwall with Candles and Images to offer at the Shrine of King Henry of Windsor Testwoods Spirit was much moved to see this Idolatry and thereupon he mildly exhorted them to leave that false Worship performed to dumb Images and to learn to Worship the living God aright shewing them how God plagued his own People the Jews for going a Whoring after such stocks and Stones and would certainly plague them and their posterities if they did not reform This so much prevail'd upon some that they said They would never go on Pilgrimage again Testwood going farther saw another Company licking and kissing a white Lady of Alabaster that stood behind the high Altar rubbing their hands upon it and then stroking their heads and faces therewith which so provoked him that with a Key he had in his Hand he struck off a piece of the Images Nose saying See good People this is nothing but a piece of Earth that cannot help itself how then is it like to help you When these three were burning King Hen. 8. came by the place on Horseback and having an account of their Christian and patient death the King turning his Horses â—ead said Alas poor Innocents a better speech it had â—een from a private Person than a Prince who is bound â—y his Office not only to pity but protect oppressed â—nnocence however by this occasion other persecuted People were pardoned and preserved There is a Proverb in this County that the Vicar of Bray will be Vicar of Bray still Bray is a Village well known in this Shire and the Ancient Vicar thereof living under K. Henry 8. K. Edward the 6. Q. Mary and Q. Elizabeth was at first a Papist then a Protestant then â— Papist then a Protestant again he had seen some Martyrs burnt two miles off at Windsor and found this Fire too hot for his tender temper this Vicar being â—axed by one for being a Turncoat and an unconstant Changeling No said he that 's your mistake for I always kept my Principle which is this to live and die the Vicar of Bray and no doubt there are some still of the same saving Principles who though they cannot turn the wind will turn their Mills and set them so that wherever it bloweth their Grist will certainly be grinded In the Reign of K. Will. Rufus 1100. at Finchamsted in this County a Well boyled up with streams of blood and continued so 15 days together and the waters discoloured all others where they came and great flames of fire were seen in divers places at several times In the year 1348 there was a very great Plague all over Europe and then was Wallingford being a bigger and more considerable Town than now it is almost dispeopled with it In 1237. Ottoâ—on a Cardinal came as Legate from the Pope to K. Henry 3. and lying at Osney Abby there happened a difference between his Servants the Schollars at Oxford in which contention a Brother of his was slain and the Legate for fear got him into a Steeple till the Kings Officers coming from Abingdon conveyed him to Wallingford after which the Cardinal cursed and interdicted the Schollars and University so that the Colledges grew desolate and the Students were dispersed into other places for half a yearâ— time till the Monks and Masters of the University were forced to go bare-footed and bare-headed a great way to the Legates Lodgings and there upon their humble submission and great Mens intercession they were pardoned and absolved and the University restored to its former Estate such was the pride of the Superior and the base-spirit edness of the Inferiour Clergy in these days of Popery and Slavery In the time of Hen. 6. 1431. certain lewd Persons began an Insurrection at Abington which might have occasioned much mischief if the chief Author thereof one Mundevile a Weaver had not been taken and hanged In the year 1647. Several freakish and enthusiastick Women at Newbery in this County pretended to Divine Revelations and Dreams wherein very glorious things were discovered to them and the chief of them had such strange gestures and Fits as astonished the Spectators this Woman declared she had a Revelation that such a night she should be taken up into Heaven at which time many of her deluded Followers assembled together and took their solemn leave of her with Tears and the hour being come out they all go to see her ascension it was a Moonshine night and as they expected when an Angel should fetch her up in a Chariot a Cloud covers the Moon whereupon they all cry out Bebold he comes in the Clouds but the Cloud soon vanished and thereby their hopes were frustrated after a while comes a flock of Wild-Geese a great way off upon which they again cry out He comes he comes but when the Wild-Geese were gone they were fain at length to return home again as wise as they came having made themselves ridiculous to the Spectators Reading is the chief Town in this Shire It is divided into 20 Hundreds wherein there are 12 Market Towns 140 Parishes and out of it are Elected 9 Parliament Men that is for the County 2 New-Windsor 2 Reading 2 Wallingford 2 Abington 1. Eaton is adjoining to Windsor by a wooden Bridge over the Thames wherein there is a fair Colledge of that name and a famous School of good Learning founded and built by K. Henry 6 in which besides the Provost 8 Fellows and the singing Choristers there are 60 Schollars instructed in Grammar and in due time preferred to the University of Cambridge this County is in the Diocess of Salisbury and gives the Title of Earl to the Right Honourable Thomas L. Howard BEDFORDSHIRE hath Northamptonshire on the North Huntington and Cambridgeshire on the East Hartfordshire on the South and Buckinghamshire on the West thereof in the year 1399. just before the Wars broke out between the Houses of Lancaster and York on New-years-day the deep River which runs between Suelstone and Harwood two Villages not far from Bedford Town called Cuse suddenly stood still and divided itself so that by the space of three miles the bottom remained dry and backwards the waters swel'd up to a great height which wonder many judicious Persons thought did presage the division of the People falling away from the King and a while after
Miller that had been very active in that Rebellion who fearing the approach of the Marshal told a sturdy Fellow his Servant that he had occasion to go from home and if any man should inquire for the Miller he bid him say that himself was the Miller and had been so for 3 years before soon after the Provost came and called for the Miller when out comes the Servant and said he was the man the Provost demanded how long he had kept the Mill These 3 years answered the Servant the Provost then commanded his men to lay hold of him and hang him on the next Tree at this the Fellow cried out That he was not the Miller but the Millers Man Nay Sir said the Provost I will take you at your word and if thou beest the Miller thou art a busie Knave if thou beest not thou art a false lying Knave and however thou canst never do thy Master better service than to hang for him and so without more ado he was dispatched I will conclude the Remarks of this County with somewhat more Comical At the Dissolution of Abbeys K. Ken. 8. gave away large shares to almost every one that asked Amongst other Instances take this merry story It happened that two or three Gentlemen the Kings servants waited at the door where the King was to come out with a design to beg a large parcel of Abby Lands One Mr. John Champernoun another of his servants seeing them was very inquisitive to know their suit but they would not impart it to him in the mean time out comes the King they kneel down so doth Champernoun being assured by an implicit Faith that Courtiers beg nothing hurtful to themselves they present their Petition the King grants it they render him humble thanks so doth Mr. Champernoun afterward he requires his share they deny it he appeals to the King who avows that he meant they should have equal shares whereupon his Companions were forced to allot him the Priory of St. German in Cornwal valued at 243 pound a Year so that a dumb Beggar met with a blind Giver the one as little knowing what he asked as the other what he gave This County is divided into nine Hundreds wherein are 22 Market Towns and 161 Parish Churches It elects 44 Members to sit in Parliament and is in the Diocess of Exeter CUMBERLAND hath Scotland on the North Northumberland and Westmerland on the East Lancashire on the South and the Irish Sea on the West We read that King Edmund with the help of Leoline Prince of Wales wasted all Cumberland and having put out the Eyes of the 2 Sons of Dunmail King of that Province granted that Kingdom to Malcolm K. of Scots whereof their eldest Sons became Prefects King Edward the 1st dyed at Carlile in this County for intending to invade Scotland he raised a great Army which he ordered to attend him at this City but falling sick and being sensible it would be his death he commanded his Son afterward Edward 2. to be brought into his presence to whom he left many good Precepts and Admonitions exhorting him To be merciful just and courteous constant and true both in Word and Deed that he should be pitiful to those in misery that he should carry his bones with him about Scotland till he had subdued it and that he should send his Heart into the Holy Land with Sevenscore Knights and Thirty two thousand Pound of Silver which he had provided for that purpose lastly that upon pain of eternal damnation the said Money should not be expended upon any other use soon after which he died In the 17th Year of this Kings Reign the City of Carlile with the Abby and all the Houses belonging to the Friers Minors were consumed with fire In the Reign of Q. Elizabeth a rich Vein of most pure and native Brass was found at Keswrick in Cumberland which had lain neglected a long time In April 1651 about 5 a Clock in the Afternoon there was a general Earthquake in the Counties of Cumberland and Westmerland wherewith the People were so affrighted that many of them forsook their Houses and some Houses were so shaken that the Chimneys fell down Presently after the Scottish Army came into England to assist the Parliament it rained Blood which covered the Church and Church-Yard of Bencastle in this County At Salkelds upon the River Eden is a Trophy of Victory called by the Country People Long Meg and her Daughters they are 77 stones each of them 10 Foot high above ground and one of them is 15 Foot in height Skiddaw Hill riseth up with two mighty high Heads like Parnassus and beholds Scruffell hill in Anandale within Scotland there is a Rime that Skiddaw Lauvellin and Casticand Are the highest hills in all England These being two other Hills in this Tract according as Mists rise or fall upon these Heads the People thereby prognosticate of the change of Weather and therefore they sing If Skiddaw have a Cap Scruffell knows full well of that The Sea hath eaten a great part of the Land away upon the shores of these Western Shires and Trees are sometimes discovered when the Wind blows at low Water else they are covered over with Sands and the People thereabout say that they dig up Trees without boughs out of the mossy places in this Shire which they find by the direction of the Dew in Summer which they observe never falls on the ground under which they lie Some Emperick Chirurgions in Scotland take a journey to the Picts Wall the beginning of every Summer to gather vulnerary Plants which they say grow plentifully there and are very effectual being sown and planted by the Romans for Chirurgical Uses There is a small Burrough called Solway Frith under which within the very Frith or Bay the Inhabitants report the Engl sh and Scots fought with their Fleets at full Sea and also with their Horsemen and Footmen at the Ebb. This Province was accounted a Kingdom of itself and King Steven to purchase aid from the Scots confirmed it by gift to that Crown which Henry 2. claimed and regained from them since which many bickerings have happened between the two Nations in this Shire but none so fatal to the Scots as the Fight at Salome Moss where the Nobility disdaining to serve under their General Oliver Sinclare gave over the Battle and yielded themselves to the English which dishonour so deeply wounded the heart of K. James the 5. that he died for grief soon after There are many ruines of Castles Walls and Forts in this County with Altars and Inscriptions of their Captains and Collonels This County is not divided into Hundreds as the rest but therein are seated 9 Market Towns 58 Parish Churches and divers Chappels of ease It Elects 6 Parliament Men for the Counâ—y 2. Carlile 2. Cockermouth 2. and is in the Diocess of Chester and Carlile DERBY-SHIRE hath Yorkshire on the North Nottinghamshire on the East
Berkâ—y Castle where he was courteously received by Thomas Berkly Lord thereof who was allowed a 100 shillings a day for keeping him close Prisoner But Q. Isabel being much troubled that her Husband lived consults again with the wicked Bishop of Hereford pretending that she was much troubled with frightful dreams which presignified that if her Husband should be again restored to his dignity he would burn her for a Traitor or send her into perpetual banishment the Bishop and several other great Men both of the Nobility and Clergy finding themselves likewise equally guilty became uneasy while the King lived and therefore sent chiding Letters to the Keepers pretending they gave the King too much liberty and kept him too high and delicately and withal added this line at the end of the Letter contrived by the Bishop Edwardum occidere nolite timere bonum est To shed King Edwards blood Refuse to fear I count it good Never was the fallacy of pointings or ambiguity of Phrase more mischievously used to the destruction of a King or for the defence of the Contrivers than in this hainous Parricide for it was so craftily contrived in a double sense that both the Keepers might find sufficient warrant and himself might find sufficient excuse the Keepers guessing at the meaning took it in the worst sense and therefore putring the L. Berkly out of the Castle they shut up the King in a close Chamber where with the stinch of dead Carkases laid in the Cellar under him he was almost poysoned of which he made complaint to some Carpenters who worked at his Chamber-window but these wretches perceiving this would not do the work they rushed one night into his Chamber and casting as many heavy bolsters upon him as 15 men could carry they pressed them down hard and not content with that heated an Iron red hot and through a Pipe like a Trumpet thrust it up into his body that no marks of a violent death might be seen but however they were heard for when they were thus doubly murdering him he was heard to roar and cry all the Castle over Gourney and Martravers his Murtherers expecting rewards had the reward of Murtherers for the Queen and Bishop Torlton disavowing the Command threatned to question them for the Kings death whereupon they fled beyond Sea and Gourney after three years being taken in France and sent into England was in the way upon the Sea beheaded Martravers flying into Germany had the grace to repent but lived ever after miserably thus died this unfortunate Prince in 1327 about half a year after his deposing never certainly was any King turned out of a Kingdom in such a manner many Kingdoms have been lost by the chance of War but this was lost before the Dice were cast no blow struck no battle fought done forceably and yet without force violently and yet with consent both parties agreed yet neither pleased for the King was not pleased to leave his Kingdom and the Queen was not pleased to leave him his life though he often declared in his Captivity That nothing grieved him so much as that tâ— Queen his Wife would never be persuaded to come and see him and swore very devoutly That from the first time he saw he face he could never like of any other Woman by which it appears that neither Gaveston nor the Spencers his wicked Favourites had so far debauched him as to make him false to his Bed or disloyal to his Queen but she was hardened against him thinking it not safe to leave him a part by which he might afterward recover the whole which was the chief occasion of his coming to this miserable end The County of Glocester is divided into 30 Hundreds wherein are 26 Market Towns 208 Parish Churches and is in the Diocess of Glocester out of it are elected 8 Parliament Men. For the County 2 for the City of Glocester 2 Tewksbury 2 Cirencester 2. HANTSHIRE hath Berkshire on the North Surry and Sussex on the East the Sea on the South Dorset and Wiltshire on the West from North to South it is 54 miles and from East to West 30. It is fruitful in Corn plenteous in pasture and for all advantages of the Sea wealthy and happy Wools Cloths and Iron are the general Commodities of this County Winchester is a City which flourished in the time of the Romans and now indifferently peopled and frequented by water it is about a mile and an half in Circuit within the walls which open at 6 Gates and is adorned with magnificent Churches and a Bishops See Dr. Heylin tells us That one of the Principal Orders of Knighthood is that of the round Table instituted by Arthur King of the Brittains and one of the worlds 9 worthies It consisted of 150 Knights whose names are recorded in the History of King Arthur the principal of them were Sir Lancelot Sir Tristram Sir Lamarock Sir Gawin c. all placed at one round Table to avoid quarrels about Priority and Place The round Table hanging in the great Hall of Winchester is falsly called Arthur's round Table it being not of sufficient Antiquity nor containing but 24 Seats In the Year 959. Edgar the Saxon King hearing the Daughter of a Western Duke exceedingly praised for her Beauty he was so inflamed therewith that he presently made a journey into those parts and coming to Andover in this County he commanded the Virgin to be brought to his Bed the Mother being tender of her Daughters honour brought her Maid in the dark to the King who pleased him as well in his lascivious dalliance the morning approaching this late Maid made haste to rise but the King being loth to part so soon with his supposed fair Lady asked her why she made such haste she told him she had a great deal of work to do and that her Lady would be very angry if she did not rise and dispatch it but being kept longer than her time she upon her knees did beseech the King to free her from her angry Mistriss alledging That she who had been imbraced by the King ought not to serve any other The King hereby perceiving the deceit was very angry yet since he could not recall what was past after having severely reproved the deceitful Lady he turned it into a jest but the Girl it seems pleased him so well that he took her for his Concubine whereby she ruled over them who lately commanded her and loved her entirely keeping to her alone till he was married to the fair Elfreda before mentioned This King likewise debauched a Nun named Wolfchild on whom he begat Edith afterward accounted a Saint He committed the like folly with Ethelfleda Duke Ordmars Daughter who for her extraordinary beauty was called The White on whom he begot his eldest Son Edward for which Mr. Fox affirmeth he did 7 Years Penance enjoyned him by St. Dunstan This Edward succeeded him in the Kingdom at 12 Years old the beginning of whose Reign
grandeur persuaded her Husband that he came thither upon some treacherous design and therefore he with some of his Council contrived his destruction which some say was by causing him to fall into a deep Pit digged to that purpose under his Chair of State and that then being alone one Gimbert took and bound him and then struck off his Head which he presented to the King and Queen Thus was this Innocent Prince unjustly murdered but not without divine Vengeance following the Actors for the Queen Author of this Villany died in three months after and was so tormented in her sickness that she bit and tore her Tongue in pieces which had been the Instrument of this Barbarity and Offa at length being satisfied of the Kings Innocence and the heinousness of the Fact gave the 10th part of his Goods to the Church and according to the Devotion of that Age built the Abby of St. Albans and other Monasteries and went afterward to do Pennance at Rome where he gave to the Church of St. Peter a Penny from every House in his Dominions which were commonly called Romeshot or Peter-Pence and at last was transformed from a King to a Monk Thus the Almighty punished not only him and his Wife but the whole Land suffered for this horrid Murder in being made the Popes Vassals for the Clergy seldom parting with any thing they get the poor English were forced to pay this unjust Tax for many Hundred Years after Nay further the King and his Son also died within a year after this cruel Murder whereby that Kingdom was translated from the Mercians to the West-Saxons In the Reign of K. Henry 3. the Abbot of St. Albans ordered his Servant to fetch him a mans Wife in the Town with whom he pretended earnest business the Servant accordingly brought her to his Masters Chamber and then withdrawing the Abbot told her that her Cloaths were but very mean but if she would be ruled by him she should wear as good Cloaths as any Woman in the Parish and therewith began to be very brisk upon her and finding persuasions would not prevail endeavoured by force to debauch her but all in vain whereupon he kept her several days a Prisoner in his Chamber which her Husband having notice of fetches her from him and tells his Neighbours he will sue the Abbot for imprisoning his Wife which he hearing of prosecuted the poor man in the Ecclesiastical Court for defamation and thereby frighted him from any further proceedings Sir Thomas More though a virulent Papist reports a story of the like Nature That a poor man found a Priest over familiar with his Wife and because he told it abroad and had no Witnesses to prove it the Priest sued him in the Bishops Court and at length the Poor man under pain of being cursed and excommunicated was enjoined to stand up in the Church the next Sunday and say Mouth thou lyest accordingly having repeated what he had reported of the Priest he put his hand to his Mouth and said Mouth thou liest and then laying his hands on his Eyes he said But Eyes by the Mass ye lye not a whit In K. Henry the 7. time an Act was made to punish the incontinency of Priests and Francis Petrarch an Archdeacon thus Anatomizes the Roman Clergy which discovers the extream Chastity of the Popish Batchelors Here Venus with her wanton toys Is honoured with base Bawds and Boys Whoredom Adultery and Incest Are honoured here among the best And counted but for sports and plays Even with the Prelates of these days The Wife is ravisht from her Spouse And to the Sons of th' Church she bows The poor good man must leave the Town Such Ordinances are set down And when her Belly riseth high By Clergy-Men who with her lie The Husband must not dare complain But takes his Wife with Child again In the Reign of K. Hen. 6. 1454. the Duke of York raised a great Army of which the King having notice got considerable forces together and marched to St. Albans to whom the Duke and his Adherents came desiring the King to deliver such Persons whom they would name that they might be deservedly punished To whom the King taking Courage returns this resolute Answer That the Duke and his Accomplices were Traitors and that rather than he would deliver up any Lord then attending him he himself would that day live and dye in their quarrel and defence Whereupon the Duke and his Party went away dissatisfied and the Yorkists fell immediately upon the Kings Party in St. Albans and the Earl of Warwick breaking through a Garden a sharp Fight is immediately begun which ended with very great loss on the Kings side the Dukes of Somerset Buckingham and his Son the Earls of Northumberland Stafford and the L. Clifford being slain and buried at St Albans with above 5000 common Souldiers and the King himself unguarded is left in a poor thatcht house whither he retired from the danger of the Arrows The Duke of York having notice where he was goes with the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury who all three upon their knees present themselves to him making humble Petition for Pardon of what is past and now seeing the Duke of Somerset the common Enemy is slain they had what they aimed at To whom the King throughly affrighted said Let there be no more killing then and I will do what you would have me After which a Parliament was called wherein the Duke of York was made Protector of the Kings Person and of the Realm though the King were 35 years old This Battle of St. Albans was fought May 23. in the 33. Year of K. Henry's Reign wherein the King himself was shot in the Neck with an Arrow In 1461. another Battle was fought at St. Albans between the Earl of March Son to the Duke of York and King Henry the 6. his Queen for the Duke of York being slain at Wakefield his Son Edward E. of March afterward King Edward 4. getting his forces together beat the Queens Army at Mortimers Cross before which Battle it is said the Sun appeared to the Earl of March like three Suns and suddenly joined altogether in one for which it is thought he gave the Sun in its full brightness for his Badge or Cognizance The Queen in the mean time encouraged by the death of the Duke of York got some Northern Souldiers together and marched toward London and coming to St Albans the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Warwick with the forces of the Earl of March King Henry himself being Prisoner among them encountred them where after a stout resistance the Queens Army routed the other of which about 2000 were slain after which the King Queen and the Prince her Son met joyfully together though their joy continued not long King Henry being deposed soon after and Edward Earl of March proclaimed King and all this by the assistance of the Citizens of London and their Wives who were
Inscription alluding to the Mettal In Martins-Comb I long lay hid Obscure deprest with grossest Soil Debased much with mixed Lead Till Bulmer came whose skill and toil Reformed me so pure and clean As richer no where else is seen This County hath many commodious Havens for Ships among which Totnes was famous for Brutes first entrance if Geffry Monmouth say true and another Poet who writes thus of Brute The Gods did guide his Sail and Course The Winds were at command And Totnes was the happy shore Where first he came to land But it is more certain and withal more lamentable that the Danes first entred at Teignemouth to invade this Land about 787 unto whom Brightrick King of the West Saxons sent the Steward of his house to know their demands whom they villanously slew yet were they forced back to their Ships by the Inhabitants With more happy success hath Plimouth set forth men of renowned Fame and prevented the entrance of Invaders as in the Reign of that eternised Queen the Mirrour of Princes Elizabeth of everlasting memory for from this Port Sir Francis Drake that famous Knight and most valiant Sea Captain set forth to Sea in 1577 and entred into the Streights of Magellane and in Two Years and Ten Months through various changes of Fortune Divine Providence being his Guide and valour his Consort sailed round about the World of whom one writ thus Drake peragrati novit quem terminus orbis c. Drake whom the incompast World so fully knew Whom both the Poles of Heaven at once did view If Men are silent Stars and Sun will care To Register their Fellow-Traveller As he lived most part of his Time so he died and was buried at Sea when his Corps was cast out of the Ship one made this Tetrastick on him Though Romes Religion should in time return Drake none thy Body will ungrave again There is no fear Posterity should burn Those Bones which free from Fire in Sea remain And the Lord Charles Howard High Admiral did not only from Plimouth impeach the entrance of the proud Invincible Spanish Armado in 88. but with his Cannons marked them so as shewed who had had the handling of them as tokens of their own Shame and his immortal Honour The Commodities of this Shire consist much in Wool and Clothing Corn is likewise very plenteous as likewise Fish and Fowl The City of Exeter is the Shire Town environed with Ditches and strong Walls a mile and half in Circuit wherein are 15 Parish Churches and a Castle called Rugemont which commands the whole City and Country about it and hath a pleasant prospect into the Sea The River Lid by Lidford runs under ground the stream sinking so deep that it is altogether invisible but it supplies to the Ear what it denies to the Eye so great is the noise thereof In the Parish of North-Taun on near an House called Bath there is a Pit but in the Winter a Pool not maintained by any Spring but the fall of rain water and therefore commonly dry in Summer of which Pool it hath been observed saith Dr. Fuller that before the death or change of any Prince or some other strange accident of great importance or any Invasion or Insurrection it will though in a hot and dry season without any rain overflow its banks and so continue till that which it prognosticated be past and fulfilled and the Relater who published his book 1648. reports That it overflowed four times in 30 years past There is another thing in this County called the Hanging Stone being one of the bound stones which parteth Comb-Martin from the next Parish it took the name from a Theif who having stoln a Sheep and tyed it about his neck to carry it on his back rested himself a while upon this Stone which is about a foot high till the Sheep strugling slid over the Stone on the other side and so strangled the man which appeareth rather to be a Providence than a casualty in the just execution of a Malefactor We may add to these wonders the Gubbings which is a Scythia within England and they pure Heathens within this place lyeth nigh Brent Tor on the edge of Dartmoor it is reported that about 200 years ago two Strumpets being with Child fled thither to hide themselves to whom certain debauched Fellows resorted and that this was their Original they are a People who live by themselves exempt from all Authority Ecclesiastical and Civil they dwell in Cottages like Swine being rather holes than Houses having all in common and multiplied without Marriage into many Hundreds their Language is the dross of the dregs of the Devonshire Speech and the more learned a man is the less they can understand him during our Civil Wars no Souldiers were quartered among them for fear of being themselves quartered by them their Wealth consists of other mens Goods and they live by stealing the Sheep on the Moor and vain it is for any to search their Houses being a work beneath the pains of a Sheriff and above the Power of any Constable their swiftness is such that they will outrun many Horses they are so healthful that they outlive most men living in the ignorance of Luxury the extinguisher of life they hold together like Burs and if you offend one all will revenge his Quarrel In the year 959. Edgar one of the Saxon Kings of this Land hearing of the admirable beauty of Elfrida the only Daughter of Ordgarus Duke of Devonshire and Founder of Tavistock Abby in that County he sent his great Favourite Earl Ethelwold who could well judge of beauty to try the truth thereof with Commission that if he found her such as Fame reported he should bring her with him and he would make her his Queen the young Earl upon sight of the Lady was so surprized that he began to woe her for himself and had procured her Fathers good will in case he could obtain the Kings consent hereupon the Earl posted back to the King relating to him That the Lady was fair indeed but nothing answerable to the report that went of her yet desired the King that he might Marry her as being her Fathers Heir thereby to raise his Fortune The King consented and the Marriage was solemnized soon after the fame of her beauty began to spread more than before so that the King much doubting he had been abused resolved to try the truth himself and thereupon taking occasion to hunt in the Dukes Park came to his house whose coming Ethelwold suspecting acquainted his Wife with the wrong he had done both her and the King in disparaging her beauty and therefore to prevent the Kings displeasure intreated her by all manner of persuasions he could possibly use to cloth her self in such attire as might least set her forth but she resolving to be revenged and considering that now was the time to make the most of her beauty and longing to be a Queen would
not be accessary to her own injury but decked her self in her richest Ornaments which so improved her beauty that the King was struck with astonishment and admiration at first sight and was fully resolved to be quit with his perfidious Favourite yet dissembling his passion he went to hunting where taking Ethelwold at an advantage he ran him through with a Javelin and having thereby made fair Elfrid a Widdow he took her to be his Wife We read that Ordulphus Son of Ordgarus Earl of Devonshire but whether this or no is uncertain was a Giantlike Man and could break open the bars of Gates with his hands and stride 10 foot at once but of what credit it is I know not Agnes Preist was burnt for the Protestant Faith without the Walls of Exeter her own Husband and her Children were her greatest Persecutors from whom she fled because they would force her to be present at Mass she was Indicted at the Assizes and afterward presented to James Troublefield Bishop of Exeter and by him condemned for denying the Sacrament of the Altar after her condemnation she refused to receive any mony from well affected People saying She was going to a City where Mony had no Mastery she was a simple Woman to behold little of stature and about 50 years old she was burnt in a place called Sothenhay in November 1558. One Child whose Christian name is unknown was a Gentleman the last of his Family being of an ancient extraction at Plimstock in this County and had great possessions it happened that hunting in Dartmore he lost both his Company and way in a deep Snow having therefore killed his Horse he crept into his hot bowels for warmth and writ this with his blood Whoever finds and brings me to my Tomb The Land of Plimstock that shall be his doom The night after it seems he was frozen to death and being first found by the Monks of Tavistock they with all possible hast provided to inter him in their own Abby his own Parishioners at Plimstock hearing thereof stood at the ford of the River to take the body from them but they must rise early yea not sleep at all who over-reach Monks in matter of profit for they cast a slight Bridge over the River whereby they carried over the Corps and interred it in remembrance whereof the Bridge since better built is called Guile-Bridge to this day Nicholas and Andrew Tremain were Twins and younger Sons to Thomas Tremain of Colacomb in this County Esq such was their likeness in all the parts of Face and Body that they could not be distinguished but by their different habits which they would sometimes exchange to make sport which occasioned very merry mistakes they felt like pain though at a distance without any notice given they equally desired to walk travel sit sleep eat drink together at the same time as many credible Gentry of the Neighbourhood by relation from their Father will attest in this they differed at Newhaven in France the one was a Captain of a Troop the other but a private Soldier here they were both slain 1564. death being pitiful to kill them together to prevent the lingring languishing of the Surviver John de Beigny Lord of Ege-Lifford in this County having been a great Traveller and Soldier in his youth retired home married and had 3 Sons in his staid Age of these the youngest went to fight against the Saracens in Spin of whose valor his Father to his great content heard very high Commendations which made him the more patiently endure his absence but when death had bereft him of his two elder Sons he was often heard to say Oh that I might but once imbrace my Son I would be contented to die presently His Son soon after returning unexpectedly the old man instantly expired with an extasy of Joy thus if Heaven should always take us at our word in all our wishes and random desires we should be drowned in the deluge of our own passions This Knight lived in the time of K. Edward 3. Thomas Stuckly was a younger Brother of an Ancient wealthy Family near Ilfra-Comb in this County a man of good parts which himself knew too well having prodigally mispent his Patrimony he entered on several projects the first was peopling of Florida then newly found out in the West Indies so confident was his ambition that he blushed not to tell Q. Elizabeth That he would rather chuse to be Soveraign of a Molehill than the highest Subject to the greatest Prince in Christendome adding withal That he was sure he should be a Prince before his death I hope said the Queen I shall hear from you when you are setled in your Principality I will write unto you quoth Stuckly In what Language said the Queen He replyed In the stile of Princes To Our Dear Sister But his project in Florida being blasted he resolved treacherously to attempt what he could not Loyally atchieve and went over into Ireland and from thence into Italy where he got into the intimate favour of Pope Pius 5. boasting that with 3000 Soldiers he would beat all the English out of Ireland the Pope gave him many Titles in Ireland as Earl of Wexford Marquess of Lemster c. and furnished him with 800 men paid by the King of Spain for this Irish expedition in passing to which Stuckly lands in Portugal just when Sebastian the King thereof with two Moorish Kings were undertaking a Voyage into Africa Stuckly scorning to attend is persuaded to accompany them landing in Africa Stuckly gave this seasonable and necessary Counsel That they should refresh their land Souldiers for two or three days some of whom were sick and weak by reason of the tempestuous Passage But this would not be heard K. Sebastian was so furious to engage and so in the Battle of Alcaser their Army was wholly defeated where Stuckly lost his Life A fatal Fight where in one day was slain Three Kings that were and one that would be fain This Battle was fought in 1578. where Stuckly with his 800 Men behaved himself most valiantly till over-powered with multitude and so ended this Buble of Emptiness and Meteor of Ostentation In the troubles between K. Edward 2. and the Barons one John Powdras a Tanners Son of Exeter gave out that he himself was the true Edward eldest son of the late King Edward 1. and by a false Nurse was changed in his Craddle and that the now K. Edward was a Carters Son and laid in his place for which forgery being taken and hanged drawn and quartered he confessed at his death That he had a familiar Spirit in his House in the likeness of a Cat that assured him he should be King of England and that he had served this spirit 3 years before to bring his design about K. Richard 3. called Crookback lay some few days in Exeter Castle and demanding the name of it they told him Rugemont whereat the Usurper was much startled having
is in the Diocess of London and out of it are elected 8 Parliament Men For the County 2. Westminster 2. London 4. and gives the Title of Earl to Charles L. Sackvil who is also Earl of Dorset NORFOLK hath the German Ocean on the North and East thereof Suffolk severed by the River Waveny on the South Cambridgshire parted by the River Owse and part of Lincolnshire on the West it is 50 miles East and West and 30 North and South all England saith Dr. Fuller may be carved out of Norfolk represented therein not only to the kind but the degree thereof for here are Fens and Heaths and Light and Deep and Sand and Clay-ground and Meadows and Pastures and Arable and Woody and sometimes Woodless grounds so that herein is sufficiency of profit and pleasure collectively in this County it abounds in Corn Worsteds Stuffs Wool Coals and Rabbets who are an Army of Natural Pioneers whence men have learned the Art of undermining they thrive best in barren ground and gow fattest in the hardest Frosts their flesh is fine and wholsome if the Scottish men tax our language as improper and smile at our Wing of a Rabbet let us laugh at their Shoulder of a Capon great store of Herrings and very good are caught nigh Yarmouth and vast profit raised out of them We may conclude the natural Commodities of this County with this memorable passage of a modern Author who writes thus the Lord F. W. assured me of a Gentleman in Norfolk who made above Ten Thousand pound of a piece of ground not 40 yards square and yet there was neither Mineral nor Mettal in it he after told me it was a sort of fine Clay for the making of a choice sort of Earthen Ware which some that knew it seeing him dig up discovered the value of it and sending it into Holland received so much mony for it It is recorded that one chief occasion of the Danes invading this Kingdom proceeded from the following Accident About the year 867. one Lothbrook a Nobleman of the Royal Family of Denmark being upon that Shoar his Hawk in pursuing her Game fell into the Sea he to recover her got into a small Cockboat alone and by a sudden Tempest was driven with his Hawk to the Coast of Norfolk near Rodham where being seized for a Spy he was sent to Edmund K. of the East Angles but having declared his birth and misfortune the King took affection to him for his skill in Hawking and his other good parts and preferred him but Berick the Kings Falconer envying this favour as they were hunting together in a Wood privately murdered him and hid him in a Bush Lothbrook was soon missed and by no inquiry could be found till it pleased God his Dog which would not forsake his dead Masters Corps came fawning to the King several times and then went back to the wood which the King observing at length followed the Hound who brought him to the place where Lothbrook lay and Berick being found guilty of the murder was sentenced to be put into Lothbrooks Boat without Tackle or Sail as he arrived here but behold the Event the Boat returned to the same place in Denmark from whence it had been driven for Berick as it were to be punished for this Murther here the Boat being known Berick was taken who to free himself from that bloody Fact added Treason to Murther affirming That King Edmund had put Lothbrook to death in Norfolk In revenge whereof Inguar and Hubba the 2 Sons of the murdered Lothbrook being made Generals of a Danish Army arrived in England and burnt up the Country sparing neither Sex nor Age and breaking into Norfolk sent this Message to K. Edmund That Inguar the most victorious Prince dreadful both by Sea and Land having brought divers Countries under his subjection was now arrived in these parts where he meant to winter and requireth thee Edmund to be subject and a vassal to him to yield up to him thy hid Treasures and all other the riches of thine Ancestors and so to reign under him which if thou refusest to do he adjudges thee unworthy both of life and Kingdom Edmund hearing this proud Pagan Message after advising with his Council returned this answer Go said he and tell thy Lord that Edmund the Christian King for the love of a Temporal life will not submit himself to a Pagan Duke unless he will resolve to become a Christian whereupon Inguar and Hubba with their furious Danes pursued the King to Thetford who raising an Army gave them Battle but being overpowered by his Enemies he retired to Framingham Castle where pitying the terrible slaughter of his People he submitted himself to the Danes but because he would not renounce the Christian Religion these bloody Heathens beat him with sticks and whipt him with rods but he still fervently calling upon the name of Jesus they were so inraged that binding him to a stake they with their Arrows shot him to death and cutting off his head scornfully threw it into an hedg But his body was afterward honourably buried at St. Edmundsbury from whence that Town had its name At Walsingham in this County there was a Chappel built in the year 1601. dedicated to the Virgin Mary and renowned throughout England for a Pilgrimage to our Lady of Walsingham and those who did not visit and present her with offerings were counted irreligious hear the description of Erasmus an Eye-witness concerning this place About four miles from the Sea side saith he standeth a Town that lives on nothing else almost but the resort of Pilgrims to this place there is a Colledge of Regular Canons which hath scarce any other Revenues than from the liberality of this Virgin for the greater oblations are preserved but the Mony and other Offerings of smaller value go to the maintenance of the Fryers the Church is fair and neat yet the Virgin dwells not therein that honour forsooth she hath done to her Son she hath her Church to her self in the right hand of her Son neither doth she dwell there for all this for the building is not yet finished small light there was in it but by Tapers or Wax-Candles yielding a pleasant smell and when you come into it you would say it were an heavenly habitation indeed so bright shining all over it with precious Stones and Gold and Silver This Chappel with all the Trinkets therein fell in the general destruction of Popish Monasteries by K. Henry 8. At St. Bennet in the Holm there was a great Abby built by Canutus the Dane which was afterward so fortified by the Monks with Walls and Bulwarks that it seemed rather a Castle than a Cloyster insomuch that K. William the Conqueror could not win it by assault till a Monk betrayed it into his hands upon condition he himself should be made Abbot thereof which was done accordingly but the King presently hanged up this new Abbot for a Traitor and so
Emperor Augustus who Pliny says was but two foot and an hand-breadth high but whether he were at his full growth or proportionable he doth not tell us The County of Rutland is divided into five Hundreds wherein are 2 Market Towns 48 Parish Churches and is in the Diocess of Peterborough It elects only 2 Parliament Man for the County and gives the Title of Earl to John L. Mannours SHROPSHIRE hath Cheshire on the North Worcester Hereford and Radnorshires on the South Montgomery and Den bigh shires on the West It produceth Iron Pitcoal Barley Wheat Cattle Wood and Cloth The Shire Town is Shrewsbury which for Circuit Trade and Wealth doth surpass Ludâ—ow and is inferior to few of our Cities her buildings are fair her Streets many and large her Inhabitants rich her Trade chiefly in our Staple Commodities of Cloth and Freezes In the reign of King John 1197. Robert of Shrewsbury was Bishop of Bangor whom this King afterward in War with Leoline Prince of Wales took Prisoner in his own Cathedral Church and enjoyned him to pay 300 Hawks for his ransome which seemed not so proper that a man of Peace should be ransomed with Birds of Prey yet we read that in the Reign of K. Charles 1. a Nobleman was ransomed at the Isle of Rhee for a brace of Greyhounds neither may it be wondred how the Bishop procured them of a sudden since many were brought from Norway and he might also furnish himself out of Pembrokeshire This Bishop seemed somewhat humorous by a passage in his Will wherein he ordered his Body should be buried in the midst of the Market place of Shrewsbury which may be imputed either to his humility or his foresight that the fury of the Wars then between the English and Welch would fall fiercest on Churches as the fairest Market that men preferring their profit before their Piety would preserve their Market Places though their Churches were destroyed He died 1215. In 1402. K. Henry 4. was made sensible that a Crown can hardly sit easy upon the head if it be not set right on at first for now a new conspiracy was hatched against him the Piercies Earls of Northumberland and Worcester with Henry Hotspur began at this time to fall off from K. Henry because at their request he denied to redeem their Kinsman Mortimer from Glendours slavery that he denied them the benefit of such Prisoners as they had taken of the Scots at Hamilden whereupon they themselves procured Mortimers delivery and then entred into a League Offensive and Defensive with Glendour whereby they agreed to divide the Kingdom into three parts between them wherein Glendour persuaded them they should fulfill a Prophecy as though K. Henry were the Mouldwarp cursed of Gods own mouth and they were the Lyon the Dragon and the Wolf who should divide the Land among them all England from the Severn to Trent South and Eastward was to be the portion of the Earl of March all Wales and the Lands beyond Severn Westward to be Owen Glendours and all the remainder of the Land from the Trent Northward to be the L. Piercies â—n the mean time K. Henry not unacquainted with the Conspiracy published by Proclamation that Mortimer Carl of March had voluntarily caused himself to be taken Prisoner that the Rebels having him in their Custody might pretend some colour for their Conspiracy â—nd therefore he had little reason to take care for his â—eliverance Hereupon the Piercies assisted with a Company of Scots with the E. of Stafford Richard Scroop Archbishop of York and many others resolved to join with Glendour but first they framed certain Articles against the King and sent them to him in writing That King Henry had falsified his Oath given at his landing swearing that he came only to recover his Inheritance and would not meddle with the King or Crown That most Traitorously he had taken Arms against his Soveraign Lord King Richard 2. had Imprisoned him and then most barbarously caused him to be murdered and without any Title or Right had procured himself to be made and crowned King That ever since the Murder of King Richard he had unjustly kept the Kingdom and Crown from his Cousen Edmund Mortimer Earl of March to whom of night it belonged That when no want compelled him he had imposed divers subsidies and Taxes upon the People to their great grief of which they would willingly but durst not complain That no Justice could be expected from him since contrary to his Coronation Oath he had by Letters sent into divers Counties procured such Parliament Men to be chosen as upon occasion might serve his turn And lastly that whereas for Affinities sake he ought to have ransomed his Cosen the Earl of March from his strait and loathsome Imprisonment he not only denied it but falsely and untruly published that he became a voluntary Prisoner for all which and many other causes they utterly defied Henry as a Traytor and Vsurper and as an Enemy vowed his destruction and the restoring the said Earl to his Right K. Henry could not but know that all these Articles against him were true yet since this knowledge did not hinder him from seeking the Crown when he had it not it would less hinder him from seeking to keep it now he he had it and if he were able being a private man to get it from a King he was likely to be more able being now a King to keep it from private Men and as for any objections of Conscience he could answer them all by this That if his Title were good against King Richard by his resignation it was good against Mortimer by his swearing Allegiance and upon these grounds with a mind as confident as if all Circumstances were on his side he raised an Army and marched toward the Lords taking care they might by no means join with the Welch and in Battlefield near Shrewsbury he encountred them in which Fight though the Scots and Henry Hotspur shewed muâ—â— valour yet the Victory rested on the Kings side Hotspâ—â—r being slain the Earl of Worcester taken Prisoner with several others On the Kings part the L. Stafford who that day revolted to him and nine who were that morning Knighted were slain and 1600 common Soldiers but of the Conspirators above 6000 The King was once unhorsed by Dowgâ—â—ss who in his presence slew Sir Walter Blunt who was that day attired in all things like the King Dowglas being afterward taken Prisoner by the fall of his Horse was by the Kings Command for his valour set at liberty without ransom In this Battel the young Prince Henry though wounded in the face with an Arrow lost not his Courage but continued fighting still After this Victory the King caused publick thanks to be given and then ordered the Earl of Worcester to be beheaded and many others to be hanged drawn and quartered after which he sent Prince Henry into Wales with his whole Army but before
no Temporal Authority at all but yet in Spirituals he rather raised them as appears by a passage between Aldred Archbishop of York and this King for one time upon denying a certain suit the Archbishop in great discontent offered to go away but the King for fear of his displeasure staid him and fell down at his feet desiring his pardon and promising to grant his Suit the King for sometime lay at his feâ—t and the Noblemen that were present put the Prelate in mind that he should cause the King to rise Nay said the Archbishop let him alone let him find what it is to anger St. Peter And as by this story we may see the insulting Pride of this Prelate in those days so by another we may observe the equivocating falshood of another Prelate at that time for Stigand A. B. of Canterbury would often swear he had not one penny upon Earth when under the Earth it was afterward found he had hidden great Treasure It is also memorable but scarce credible of another Bishop who being accused of Simony and denying it the Cardinal before whom he was to answer told him That a Bishoprick was the gift of the Holy Ghost and therefore to buy a Bishoprick was against the Holy Ghost and thereupon bid him say Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost which the Bishop beginning and oft trying to do saith our Historian could never say and to the Holy Ghost but said it plainly when he was put out of his Bishoprick In the 19th of King Henry 3. 1235. there was a great dearth in Eng. so that many poor people died for want of food the Rich being so cruelly covetous as not to relieve them and among others Walter Gray A. B. of York had great store of Corn which he had horded for five years together yet at that sad time refused to bestow any of it upon the necessities of the poor but suspecting that it might be destroyed by Vermine he commanded it to be delivered to Husbandmen that lived in his Mannors upon condition to return him as much new Corn after Harvest but behold a terrible Judgment of God upon him for his covetousness when they came to one of his great stacks of Corn nigh the Town of Ripoon there appeared in the Sheaves all over the heads of Worms Serpents and Toads so that the Bailiffs were forced to build an high wall round about the stack of Corn and then to set it on fire least the venemous Creatures should have gone out and poysoned the Corn in other places In the Reign of K. Edward 4. 1570. George Nevil Brother to the great Earl of Warwick at his Instalment into his Archbishoprick of York made a prodigious Feast to the Nobility chief Clergy and many Gentry wherein he spent 300 Quarters of Wheat 330 Tuns of Ale 104 Tuns of Wine 1 Pipe of spiced Wine 80 fat Oxen 6 wild Bulls 1004 Sheep 3000 Hogs 300 Calves 3000 Geese 3000 Capons 300 Pigs 100 Peacocks 200 Cranes 200 Kids 2000 Chickens 4000 Pigeons 4000 Rabbets 204 Bittours 4000 Ducks 400 Herons 200 Phesants 500 Partridges 4000 Woodcocks 400 Plovers 100 Curlews 100 Quales 1000 Egrets 200 Rees above 400 Bucks Does and Roe-Bucks 1506 hot Venison Pasties 4000 cold Venison Pasties 1000 Dishes of Jelly parted 4000 Dishes of Jelly plain 4000 cold Custards 2000 hot Custards 300 Pikes 300 Breams 8 Seals 4 Porpusses and 400 Tarts At this Feast the E. of Warwick was Steward the Earl of Bedford Treasurer the Lord Hastings Controller with many more noble Officers 1000 Servitors 62 Cooks 515 Scullions But about 7 Years after the King seized on all the Estate of this Archbishop and sent him over Prisoner into France where he was bound in chains and in great Poverty Justice thus punishing his former prodigality The East-Riding of Yorkshire is divided into 4 Hundreds wherein are 8 Market Towns the West-Riding is divided into 10 Hundreds wherein are 24 Market Towns the North is divided into 12 Hundreds wherein are 17 Market Towns it is in the Diocess of York hath 563 Parish Churches and elects 29 Parliament men York gives the Title of Duke to His Royal Highness Richmond that of Duke to Charles Lenos Son to the Dutchess of Portsmouth Hallifax the Title of Earl to George L. Savil. WALES THis Principality hath the Severn Sea on the South the Irish Ocean on the West and North and England on the East It is 100 Miles from East to West and 120 from North to South it consisteth of 3 parts Northwales Powis and Southwales wherein are contained 13 Shires or Counties of which I have not room to give a particular account as before but shall only observe what is memorable in each of them the names thereof are Anglesey Brecknockshire Cardigan Carmarthan Carnarvan Denby Flint Glamorg n Merioneth Monmouth Montgomery Pembroke and Radnor The name of Wales some derive from Idwallo the Son of Cadwaller who with the small Remainder of his Brittish Subjects made good the dangerous places of this Countrey against his Enemies and was first called King of Wales This Country is Mountainous and barren not able to maintain its People but by helps elsewhere their chief Commodities are course cloths called Welch Freez and Cottons Lewellin Son of Griffin the Brother of David the last Sovereign Prince of VVales of the Race of Cadwallader was slain by K. Edward 1. 1282. whereby the Principality of Wales was added to the Crown of England though it may be this Conquest happened not for want of Valour since Hen. 2. in a Letter to Emanuel Emperour of Constantinople gives this Testimony of them The Welch Nation is so adventurous that they dare encounter naked with armed men ready to spend their blood for their Country and pawn their Life for praise Anglesey is an Island separated from the Continent by a small and narrow Streight of the River Menai In divers places in the low Fields and Champion Grounds of this County there are divers Trees digged out black within like Ebony and are used to inlay cupboards c. it is hard to resolve how they came hither some imagine the Romanes cut them down as being the coverts of Rebellion others think they fell of themselves and with their own Weight in those waterish places buried themselves and that the clammy Bituminous substance that is found about them keeps them from Putrefaction This Island yields such plenty of Wheat that they call it the Mother of Wales He that relateth wonders saith Dr. Fuller walks on the edge of an house if he be not careful of his Footing down falls his credit This shall make me exact in using my Authors words That Cloaks Hats and Staves cast down from the top of an Hill called Mounch-Denny or Cadier Arthur which hath its top above the Clouds in the County of Brecknock will never fall but are with the Air and Wind still beaten back and blown up again nor will any