enfranchise villaines sondrie other things whiche bycause they be to long to be rehearsed at large and lye not fitly in the way of my purpose I will omit and descend to the Wardeins of the Portes reciting in a short Catalogue the names of so many of them as I haue found to gouern sithence the arriuall of King William the Conquerour And although it be no doubt but that the Portes were vnder the gouernement of some before the tyme of the conquest also yet bycause King William was the first so farre as I haue read that made the office perpetuall and gaue it the title whiche it now beareth the name Wardein I meane whiche came from Normandie and was not at all knowen to the Saxons I thinke best to begin at his time Againe for asmuche as the Constableship of the Castle of Douer and this office haue ben alwayes inseperably matched together and for that I shal haue fitte place to speake of that hereafter when I shall come to Douer I will respit the rehersall of bothe their originalles til then and here in the meane season set down the race of the Wardeins by name only Iohn Fynes created by William the Conquerour Wardein of the Portes and Constable of Douer by gifte of inheritance Iames Fines his Sonne whiche dyed ot Folkston Iohn Fynes his Sonne Walkelm who deliuered it to King Stephan and immediatly after his death abandoned the charge and fled into Normandie Allen Fynes restored by King Henrie the second Iames Fynes his Eldest Sonne Mathew Clere as it should séeme by Mat. Par. Williā Petite who imprisoned Godfrey the Archbyshop of Yorke in Douer castle as vnder that title shal appeare William of Wrotham Hubert of Burgh the Earle of Kent who being deposed Bartram of Cryol succéeded Richard Gray appointed by the Barons that warred against King Henrie the third who was depriued of his office by Hugh Bigot bicause he let in the Popes legate by the Kings licence and against the minde of the Nobles Henrie Braybrooke Edward the first in the lyfe of his father who made Henrie Cobham his deputie whose Sonne Heire called Iohn founded Cobham College Roger Leyborne in the tyme of King Edward the first Stephan Penchester in the tyme of Edward the first Syr Robert Asheton Hugh Spenser the younger in the tyme of Edward the second Edmund of Woodstock the Earle of Kent Reginald Cobham in the time of Edward the third Bartholmew Burwhasse or Burgehersh one of the first companions of the ordre of the Garter Iohn Beauchampe the Earle of Warwike Syr Robert Herle in the latter ende of King Edward the third Edmund the Earle of Cambridge Syr Simon Barley whome Thomas of Woodstocke beheaded Lord Henrie Cobham the Sonne of Reginald Cobhā Syr Iohn Enros Syr Thomas Beaumont Edward the Duke of Aumarle and Yorke whom King Henrie the fourth remoued and substituted in place Syr Thomas Erpingham for a season but afterward he gaue the office to Prince Edward his Sonne who when he was King in possession bestowed it vpon Humfrey the Duke of Gloucester Iames Fines Lord Saye whom Iacke Cade beheaded Edmond the Duke of Somerset Humfrey the Duke of Buckingham Simon Mountford vnder King Henrie the sixt Richard Neuel the Earle of Warwike William the Earle of Arundel Richard the Duke of Gloucester called afterward King Richard the third Sir William Scotte Henrie the Duke of Yorke Iames Fines the Lord Saye Henrie in his Fathers lyfe afterward the eight King of that name Arthur Plantagenet Vicount Lisle Bastard Sonne to King Edward the fourth Sir Edward Poynings Henrie the younge Earle of Richemond Sir Edward Guldeford George Boleyn Vicount Rocheford Sir Thomas Cheynie Treasurour of the houshold Sir Wiliam Cobham Lord Cobham Thus much of the v. Portes in general Now of Sandwiche the first of them in the order of my iourney and then orderly of so many of the residue as lye within the Shyre that I haue presently in hand Sandwiche is called in Latine Sabulouicum or Portus Rutupinus in Saxon Sondƿic that is to say the Sandie Towne because the coast therabout aboundeth withe Sande THis Towne as it appeareth by the report of Leland and as it may séeme also by the name it selfe being méere Saxon began by the Saxons after the fall of poore Richeborowe which was in price while the honour of the Britons stood vpright and was eyther abated dy the furie of the Saxons when they wonne that coast from them or els came to ruine by the alteration and vicissitude of the Sea whiche peraduenture choked the hauen thereof with light sande as it hathe since that time done this at Sandwiche also King Canutus gaue as some write to Christes church in Canterbury Sainct Bartholmews arme if happely it were not a chaungeling for Kings great men were oftentymes after that sort deluded though they in the meane time bought such reliques dearely and thought that kinde of gifte moste princely he gaue also a riche Pall a Crowne of Golde and this hauen of Sandwiche together with the royaltie of the water on eache side so farre as a shippe being on flote at the full Sea a man might caste a shorte hatchet out of the vessell vnto the Banke The place it selfe grewe in tyme to be wel peopled and of worthynesse to be one of those Portes that foūd fauour of priuilege in consideration of their seruice at the Sea for it appeareth by the booke of Domesday that this was the estate of Sandwiche It laye in a hundreth belonginge to it selfe it did to the King suche like seruice by tenure as Douer did It was of the possessiōs of Christes Churche as I haue shewed and was appointed for the apparell of the Monkes of that house to the whiche it yealded fourtie thousand herrings besides certaine money and had in it thrée hundreth and seuen houses inhabited And I finde not but that the Towne continued in the like plight long after the Conquest being somewhat amended also by the Staple whiche King Edward the first for a season remoued thither euen vntil the time of King Henrie the sixt in whose dayes Peter Brice the Steward of Normandie landed at Sandwiche and with fire and sworde wasted the Towne in manner to ashes and slewe the inhabitants almoste to the last man Since whiche time partly by the smarte of that wounde but chiefly by the aboundaunce of the light Sande wherewith the Sea hath glutted the hauen it is declined to great decay and were like to fall to extreme ruine were it not that nowe presently it is somewhat relieued by the repaire of suche as haue abandoned their Countrie for the fréedome of their consciences whose aboade howe long it will bée the Lorde onely knoweth for whose cause they suffer banishment There was in this Towne before the generall suppression a house of Carmelites whereof I read none other good thing saue that it brought foorthe one learned man called
Norton Wilmus de Sutton For such as we call nowe Iohn Norton and William Sutton and amongst the Gentlemen of Chesshyre euen to this day one is called after their maner Thomas a Bruerton another Iohn a Holcrost and suche like for Thomas Bruerton Iohn Holcrost c. as we here vse it Thus muche shortly of mine owne fantasie I thought not vnmeete to impart by occasion of the name of Norwood and now forward to my purpose againe Leedes in Latine of some Lodanum of others Ledanum Castrum RObert Creuequer was one of the eight that Iohn Fynes elected for his assistance in the defence of Douer Castle as we haue already shewed who taking for that cause the Manor of Leedes and vndertaking to finde fiue Warders therefore builded this Castle or at the least an other that stoode in the place For I haue read that Edward thē Prince of Wales and afterward the first King of that name being Wardein of the Fiue Portes and Constable of Douer in the life of Henrie the third his Father caused Henrie Cobham whose ministerie he vsed as substitute in bothe those offices to race the Castle that Robert Creuequer had erected bicause Creuequer that was then owner of it Heire to Robert was of the number of the Nobles that moued and mainteined warre against him Whiche whether it be true or no I will not affirme but yet I thinke it very likely bothe bicause Badlesmere a man of another name became Lord of Leedes shortly after as you shall anone sée and also for that the present woorke at Leedes pretendeth not the antiquitie of so many yeares as are passed since the age of the conquest But let vs leaue the building and goe in hand with the storie King Henrie the first hauing none other issue of his bodie then Maude first married to Henrie the Emperour whereof she was called the Empresse and after coupled to Geffray Plantaginet the Earle of Angeow fearing as it happened in déed that after his death trouble might arise in the Realme about the inheritance of the Crowne bycause she was by habitation a straunger and farre of so that she might want bothe force and friends to atchieue her right And for that also Stephan the Earle of Boloine his sisters sonne was then of greate estimation amongst the noble men and abiding within the Realme so that with great aduauntage he might offer her wrong he procured in full Parleament the assent of his Lordes and Commons that Maude and her heires shoulde succéede in the kingdome after him And to the ende that this limitation of his might be the more surely established he tooke the fidelitie and promise by othe bothe of his Clergie and Laytie and of the Earle of Boloine him selfe Howbeit immediatly after his decease Stephan being of the opinion that Si ius violandum est certe regnandi causa violandum est If breache of lawes a man shall vndertake He must them boldly break for kingdomes sake Inuaded the Crowne and by the aduice of William the Archebishop of Canterbury who had first of al giuen his fayth to Maude by the fauour of the common people whiche adheared vnto him and by the consent of the holy father of Rome whose will neuer wanteth to the furtheraunce of mischiefe he obtained it whiche neuerthelesse as William of Newborowe well noteth being gotten by patterne he held not past two yeres in peace but spent the residue of his whole reigne in dissention warre and bloudshed to the great offence of God the manifest iniurie of his owne cousine and the grieuous vexation of this countrie and people For soone after the beginning of his reigne sundry of the Noble men partely vpon remorse of their former promise made and partly for displeasure conceiued bycause he kepte not the othe taken at his Coronation made defection to Maude so soone as euer she made her challenge to the Crowne So that in the end after many calamities what by her owne power and their assistaunce she compelled him to fall to composition with her as in the storie at large it may be séene Nowe during those his troubles amongst other things that muche annoyed him and furthered the part of Maude his aduersarie it was vpon a time sounded by his euil willers in the eares of the cōmon sort that he was dead And therewithall soudenly diuers great men of her deuotion betooke them to their strong holdes and some others seised some of the Kings owne Castles to the behalfe of the Empresse Of whiche number was Robert the Earle of Gloucester and bastarde brother to Maude who entred this Castle of Leedes mynding to haue kept it But King Stephan vsed against him suche force and celeritie that he soone wrested it out of his fingers King Edwarde the seconde that for the loue of the two Spensers incurred the hatred of his wife and Nobilitie gaue this Castle in exchaunge for other landes to Bartilmew Badelesmere then Lorde Stewarde of his housholde and to his heires for euer who shortly after entering into that troublesome action in whiche Thomas the Duke of Lancaster with his complices maugre the King exiled the Spensers bothe loste the Kings fauour this Castle and his life also For whilste he was abroade in ayde of the Barons and had committed the custodie thereof to Thomas Colpeper and left not onely his chiefe treasure in money but also his wife and children within it for their securitie It chaunced that Isabell the Kings wife mynding a Pilgrimage towards Cāterbury and being ouertakē with might sent her Marshal to prepare for her lodging ther. But her officer was proudly denyed by the Captaine who sticked not to tell him that neyther the Quéene ne any other shoulde be lodged there without the commandement of his Lord the owner The Queene not thus aunswered came to the gate in person and required to be let in But the Captain most malepertly repulsed her also in so much that shee complained greauously to the king of the misdemenour and he forthwith leuied a power and personally sumoned and besieged the peice so straightly that in the end through want of rescue and victuall it was deliuered him Then tooke he Capitaine Colpeper and houng him vp The wife and children of the Lord Badelesmere he sent to the Towre of London The treasure and munition he seised to his owne vse and the Castle he committed to such as liked him But as the last acte of a Tragedie is alwayes more heauie sorowful thē the rest so calamitie woe increasing vpō him Badelesmere him self was the yere folowing in the company of the Duke of Lancaster and others discomfited at Borowbrig by the Kings armie and shortly after sent to Canterbury and beheaded I might here iustly take occasion to rip vp the causes of those great and tragicall troubles that grewe betwene this King his Nobilitie for Peter Gaueston these two Spensers the rather for that the common sort of
construed doth signifie a seruaunt or slaue whome they in those daies called ðeoÆ¿e but my minde is that hee was a seruitour of frée condition either aduaunced by his owne vertue and merite or els descended of suche Auncestours as were neuer degraded And that name the Prince of Wales or eldest Sonne of our King of this Realme doth not in the life of his Father disdaine to beare For out of the very same olde-woord Ãenian to serue is framed his Poesie or word vpoÌ„ his armes ic Dien I serue And thus I suppose that it is manifest that Byrthryc our Testator was by condition a Noble man or whiche in common acceptance abroade is all one with it a Gentleman Howbeit to the ende that bothe this thing may haue the more authoritie and credit and that it may withall appeare what degrees of Nobilitie and Gentrie there were in this Realme before the comming in of the Normanes and by what merites men might ascend and be promoted to the same I will reache a litle higher and shewe you another Englishe or Saxon antiquitie whiche I haue séene placed in diuers olde copies of the Saxon lawes after the end of all as a note or aduertisement Hit Æ¿es HÆ¿ilum on Englalagum ê§ leod and lagum It was sometime in the Englishe lawes that the people and for begeþincðum And þa Æ¿aeron leod Æ¿itan Æ¿eorðscipes the lawes were in reputation And then were the wisest of the Æ¿yrða aelc be Hismaeðe Eorl and ceorl people woorship woorshipfull woorthie euery one after his degree Earle and Ceorl Ãegn Ãeoden And gif Ceorl geþeaH ê§ churle Thein and vnder Thein and if a churle thriued so that He Hefde he had fullice fully fif Hida agenes lande Cirican fiue hides of his owne land a Churche cycenan belHus and burHgeat setl sundernote a kitchin a belhouse and a gate a seate a seueral office on Cynges in the kings Healle halle þonne then Æ¿aes was He he þanonforð ÃegenrigHtes thencefoorth the Theins Æ¿eorðe And gif Ãegn geþeaH ê§ He þenode right worthe worthie And if a Thein did so thriue that he serued the Cynge king and His radstefne and on his message iourney progresse rad on His Hirede ryd in his houshold gif se If he þonne Hefde Ãaegen ðe Him filigde ðe to then had a Thein that folowed him serued him the which to the toward Cynges kings utfare iourney expedition fif Hida Hafde fiue hydes had plowlandes and on Cynges and in the kings setl His Hlaford seate his palaice ðenode Lorde serued and and ðriÆ¿a thrice mid with His aerend his errand message gefo ra had gone to to Cynge Se most siððan mid His foraðe His Hlaford the king He might Suche an one afterwarde with his foreothe his Lordes aspelian aet mislican neodan part playe at any great neede And gif Ãegn geðeaH And if a Thein did thâ—ue so ê§ He Æ¿earde to Eorle that he became an Earle þonne Æ¿aes He siðð an EorlriHtes then was he afterward an Earles woorthy Æ¿eorðe right woorthy the rightes of an Earle And gif Massere geþeaH ê§ he ferde And if a Merchant so thriued that he passed þrige ofer Æ¿id Sae be His thrice ouer the wide broad Seas of his agenum owne craefte crafte science cunning se Æ¿aes he was þonne syððan thencefoorth Ãegn riHtes a Theins right Æ¿eorðe woorthy And And gif if leornere geþeaH þurH lare ê§ He Had Haefde and a Scholer so prospered thriued thorowe learning that he degree had þenode serued xpe se Æ¿aes þonne siððan maeðe and munde Christ he was then afterward of dignitie and peace priuilege sÆ¿a so micelre muche Æ¿yrðe sÆ¿a þaerto gebyrede woorthy as therevnto belonged buton vnlesse He he forÆ¿orHte forfaited so trespassed ê§ He þaes Had note notian ne moste that he the vse of his degree vse ne might might not vse By this you sée first that in those dayes there were but thrée estales of frée men for bondseruants whiche we now sence call by a strained worde Villaines ar not here talked of that is to say an Earle or Noble man the highest a Theyn or Gentleman the midlemost And a Churle or Yeoman the lowest for as touchinge that which is héere spoken of the seruant of the Theyn or Gentleman I déeme it rather ment for a prerogatiue belonging to the maister then mencioned as a seuerall degree in the man Neither doth it make against me in this diuision that you shall many times reade of Ealdorman ScyrmaÌ„ Heretoga SeðcundmaÌ„ tÆ¿elfHyndman tÆ¿yHindeman for these be not names of difference in degrées but doo either denote the offices and dignities or els the estimation and values of those to whom they be attributed as Alderman and Shyreman doo signifie that Earle or Noble man to whom the gouernment and charge of a Shyre or other Precinct was committed Hertoga that Earle or great man that was Imperator Belli the Lieutenant of the field Syðcundman that Gentleman that had the manred as some yet call it or the office to leade the men of a Towne or Parish And as for tÆ¿elfHindman it was geuen to the Theyn or Gentleman because his lyfe was valued at Twelue hundreth shillinges as in those dayes the liues of all sortes of men were rated at certen summes of mony And tÆ¿yHindman to the Churle or Yeoman because the price of his head was taxed at two hundreth shillings whiche thinge if it were not expresly set forth in sundrie old lawes yet extant might well inough be found in the Etymologie of the wordes themselues the one called a Twelfhynd as it were a Twelfe hundred man and the other a Twyhind for a man of Two hundreth Furthermore you may héere behold with what discretion and equitie our elders procéeded in bestowing these promotions for where as all Nobilitie and Gentrie commeth either by Discent or by Purchase wherof the first if it be not accompanied with vertue is but an emptie signe and none other thing then as one well sayed Nobilitatem in Astragulis gestare But the latter being both the maker and maintener of the first as it ought by all reason to be rewarded with due enseignes of honour to the ende that vertue may be the more desirously embraced So haue they heere appointed thrée seuerall pathe waies to leade men streight vnto it that is to say Seruice Riches Learning or to speake more shortly Vertue and Riches in which two as Aristotle confesseth al the olde Nobilitie consisted which two as the Ecclesiast or Preacher teacheth make a good accomplement for saith he Vtilior est sapientia cum diuitijs coniuncta And in this parte you may lastly perceiue also that out of all those trades of life which be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say conuersant in gaine they admitted to the estate of Gentrie such only as increased by honest Husbandrie and plentiful Merchandize Of the first of which Cicero affirmeth that there is nothing meeter for a Freeborne
whether you respect the richesse beautie or benefite of the same No towne nor Citie is there I dare say in this whole Shyre comparable in value with this our Fleete Nor shipping any where els in the whole world to be found either more artificially moalded vnder the water or more gorgeously decked aboue And as for the benefite that our Realme may reape by these moste stately and valiant vessels it is euē the same that Apollo by the mouth of Aristonice promised to Grece when his Oracle was consulted against the inuasion of Xerxes that his wonderful armie or rather world of men in armes saying Iupiter è ligno dat moenia facta Mineruae Quae tibi sola tuisque ferant inuicta salutem Highe Ioue doth giue thee walles of wood appointed to Minerue The whiche alone inuincible may thee and thine preserue And therefore of these suche excellent ornaments of peace trustie aides in warre I might truely affirme that they be for wealthe almoste so many riche treasuries as they be single ships for beautie so many princely Palaces as they be seuerall peices and for strength so many mouing Castles as they be sundrie sayling vessels They be not many I must confesse and you may sée and therefore in that behalfe nothing aunswerable either to that Nauie whiche fought against Xerxes at Salamis or to many other auncient Fleetes of Forreigne Kingdomes or of this our owne Iland howbeit if their swiftnes in sayling their furie in offending or force in defending be duly weighed they shal be foūd as farre to passe all other in power as they be inferiour to any in number For looke what the armed Hauke is in the aire amongst the feareful Byrdes or what the couragious Lyon is on the land amongst the cowardly Cattell of the field the same is one of these at the Sea in a Nauie of Common vessels beeing able to make hauocke to plume and to pray vpon the best of them at her owne pleasure Whiche speache of mine if any man shall suspecte as Hyperbolical let him cal to minde how often and howe confidently of late yeares some fewe of these ships incertaine of their interteinemēt haue boorded mightie Princes Nauies of a great number of Sayle and then I doubt not but he will chaunge his opinion But what do I labour to commend them whiche not onely in shewe and all reason doe commend themselues but also are lyke in déedes and effect to perfourme more then I in woord or wryting can promise for them Yea rather I am prouoked at the contemplation of this triumphant spectacle first to thanke God our mercifull Father and then to thinke duetifully of our good Quéene Elizabeth by whose vigilant ministerie care prouidence drawing as it were the net for vs whylest we sleepe not only the drosse of superstition and base moneis were first abolished the feare of outward warre remoued rustie armour reiected and rotten Shipping dispatched out of the way But also in place thereof religion and coyne restored to puritie the Domesticall and forreigne affaires of the Realme managed quietly the land furnished with new armour shot munition aboundantly this Riuer fraught with these strong and seruiceable Ships sufficiently Whiche so apparant and inestimable benefites the like whereof this Realme neuer at any one time and muche lesse so long time together hath enioyed if any man perceaue not he is more then blockishe if he consider not he is excéeding carelesse and if he acknowledge not he is to to vnkinde bothe to God to her Maiestie and to his owne Countrie But here againe for asmuche as it neither standeth with my present purpose to depainte out her Maiesties praises neither it lyeth at all in my power to set them foorth in their true colours for it requireth an Apelles to haue Alexander well counterfaited I will conteine my selfe within these narrowe termes and tell you the names of these Ships as they lye in order The names of the Quenes Maiesties Ships and Galleys The Bonaduenture The Elizabeth Ionas The White Beare The Philip and Marie The Triumphe The Bull. The Tygre The Antelop The Hope The Lyon. The Victorie The Marie Rose The Foresight The Cadishe The Swift suer The Aide The Handmaide The Dreade not The Swalowe The Iennet The Barke of Bulloigne Amongst all these as you sée there is but one that beareth her Maiesties name and yet all these the Philip and Marie which beareth her sisters name onely excepted hath she as it is sayd since the beginning of her happy reigne ouer vs either wholy built vpon the stocks or newly reedified vpon the olde moaldes Her highnesse also knowing right well that Non minor est virtus quam querere parta tueri Like vertue it is to saue that is got As to get the thing that earst she had not Hath planted Vpnor Castle for the defence of the same But besides these great ships thrée good Galleys lye here on the side whiche be thus called The Speedwell Trye Right Blacke Galley Thus muche of the Nauie As touching the harborowe it selfe I haue heard some wishe that for the better expedition in time of seruice Some part of this Nauie might ride in some other hauen the rather bycause it is many times very long before a ship can be gotten out of this Riuer into the Sea Indéede I remember that I haue reade in Vegetius that the Romanes diuided their Nauie and harboured the one part at Miseno neare Naples vpon the Tyrrhene Sea and the other part at Rauenna vpon the Sea Adriaticque to the end that when occasion required they might readily sayle to any part of the worlde without delay or windlassing Bycause sayth he in affaires of warre celeritie dothe as good seruice as force it selfe But for all that whether the same order be necessarie for vs or no whoe thoughe we haue the vse of sundrie Seas yet wée enioy not so large and distant dominions as they helde it is not our partes to dispute but their office to determine whoe for their great wisedome and good zeale bothe can and will prouide things conuenient as well for the safetie of the Nauie as for the seruice of the Realme And therefore leauing al this matter to the consideration of them that are well occupied at the helme let vs apply our oares that we maye nowe leaue the water and come to the lande at Gillingham After the soudaine departure of king Hardicanutus the Dane whiche died of a surfeit of drinke taken at a noble mans marriage at Lambhith the English Nobilitie thought good to take hold of the oportunitie then offred to restore to the royall dignitie the issue of King Ethelred which he in his life had for feare of the Danes conueyed into Normandie For which purpose they addressed messengers to Richard the Duke of Normandie requiring him to sende ouer Edward the onely sonne then left of king Ethelred and promising to do their indeuour to set him in his
fathers seate So that he woulde agrée to come accompanied with a smal number of strangers The which condition was deuised bothe for their owne excuse and for the yong Princes safetie For before this time after the deth of king Canutus they had likewise sent for the same Edwarde Alfred his elder brother that then was on liue putting them in like hope of restitution to which request the duke their grandfather assēted and for the more honourable furniture of their iourney gaue them to company diuers yong Gentlemen of his own Country whom he ment to make from thenceforth parteners of theyr prosperitye as they had before tyme béen companions of their misfortune But when they were come into the realme the Earle Godwine who sought more the aduauncement of his own house to honour then the restitution of the Englishe bloude to the crowne perceiuing that by no meanes he could make a marriage betwéene Alfrede the elder of the two and Edgith his daughter and yet hauing hope that Edward the younger woulde accept the offer if he might bring to passe to set the garlande vpon his heade he quarelled at the company which came ouer with them insinuating to the péeres of the Realme that Alfrede ment so soone as he should obtaine the crowne to place in all roomes of honour his Normane Nobilitie and to displace the Englishe his owne countrey men Whiche suspicion he bet so déepely into the heades of many of the Noble men and especially of his nearest friends and allies that foorthwith vpon his persuasion they fell vpon the straungers at Gillingham and firste killed nyne throughout the whole number of the company reseruing on liue eche tenth mā only And afterward thinking the remainer to great tythed the number also sleaing in the whole about sixe hundred persons As for Alfred the elder of the yong Princes they apprehended and conueyed him to the Isle of Ely where first they put out his eyes and afterwarde moste cruelly did him to death But this Edwarde fearing their furie escaped their handes and fled into Normandie Howbeit being nowe eftsoones as I sayde earnestly sollicited by Godwine and more faythfully assured by the Noble men he once againe aduentured to enter the Realme and taking Godwines daughter to wife obtained the Crowne and enioyed it all his life long I am not ignoraunt that Simeon of Durham and diuers other good wryters affirme this slaughter to haue béene committed at Guylford in Surrey and some other of late tyme and of lesse note at Guild downe a place neare Lamberhirst in the edge of this Shyre but bycause I finde it expressely reported by Thomas Rudborne and also the authour of the Chronicle of Couentrie to haue béen done at Gillingham Iuxta Thamesim I sticke not being nowe come to that place to exemplifie it giuing neuerthelesse frée libertie to euery man to lay it at the one or the other at his owne frée will and pleasure Onely my desire is to haue obserued that in this one Storie there doe lye folded vp bothe the meanes of the deliuerie of this realme of England from the thraldome of the Danes and the causes also of the oppression and conquest of the same by the Normanes For as touching the first it pleased the Almightie nowe at length by this manner of King Hardicanutus death whiche I haue shewed to breake in sunder the Danish whip wherwith he had many yeares together scourged the English nation and by the meane of drinke the Danishe delight to worke the deliuery of the one people and the exterminion of the other euen in the midst of all their securitie and pleasaunce In which behalfe I can not but note the iust iudgemēt of God extended against those déepe drinkers and in their example to admonishe all such as doe in like sort most beastly abuse Gods good creatures to his great offence the hurte of their owne soules and bodies and to the euill example of other men For whereas before the arriuall of these Danes the Englishe men or Saxons vsed some temperaunce in drinking not taking thereof largely but only at certain great feasts and chearings and that in one only wassailing cup or boule which walked round about the boorde at the midst of the meale much after that manner of intertainment whiche Dido sometime gaue to Aeneas and is expressed by Virgil in these verses Hic Regina grauem auro gemmisque poposcit Impleuitque mero pateram quam Belus omnes A Belo soliti Tum facta silentia tectis Iupiter hospitibus nam te dare iura loquuntur Et vos O caetum Tirij celebrate fauentes Dixit Et in mensam laticum libauit honorem Primaque libato summo tenus attigit ore c. The Queene commaunds a mightie Bolle Of golde and precious stone To fill with wine whom Belus King And all King Belus line Was wont to holde than through them all Was silence made by signe O Ioue quoth she for thou of hostes And gestes both great and small Men say the lawes haste put giue grace I pray and let vs all O you my Moores nowe do our best These Troians for to chere Thus sayd she and when grace was done The Bolle in hand she clipt And in the liquor sweete of wine her lips she scantly dipt But now after the comming in of the Danes and after such time as King Edgar had permitted them to inhabite here and to haue conuersation with his own people Quassing and carowsing so increased that Didoes sipping was cleane forsaken and Bitias bowsing came in place of whome the same Poet writeth Ille impiger hausit Spumantem pateram pleno se proluit auro And he anon The fomie bolle of gold vpturnd And drewe till all was gon So that King Edgar him self seing in his own reigne the great outrage wherevnto it was growne was compelled to make lawe therefore and to ordaine drinking measures by publique Proclamation driuing certaine nayles into the sides of their cups as limits and bounds which no man vpon great payne should be so hardie as to transgresse But this vice in that short time had takē such fast roote as neyther the restraint of law nor the expulsiō of the first bringers in therof could supplant yet For William of Malmesburie comparing the manners of the Englishe men and Normanes together complayned that in his time the Englishe fashion was to sit bibbing hole houres after dinner as the Normane guise was to walke and iet vp and downe the streates with great traines of idle Seruing men folowing them And I woulde to God that in our time also we had not iust cause to complaine of this vicious plant of vnmeasurable Boalling which whether it be sprong vp out of the olde roote or be newely transported by some Danish enemie to all godly temperaunce and sobrietie let them consider that with pleasure vse it and learne in time by the death of Hardicanute and the expulsiō of his