soft supple and stretching whence the expression of Cheverelconsciences which will stretch any way for advantage Course Coverings are made of their shag God himself not despising the present of Goats-hair which made the outward case of the Tabernacle Their milk is accounted cordiall against consumptions yea their very stench is used for a perfume in Arabia the Happy where they might surfeit of the sweetness of spices if not hereby allayed In a word Goats are beâ—… for food where Sheep cannot be had Plenty of these are bred in Wales especially in Montgomery-shire which mindeth me of a pleasant passage during the restraint of the Lady Elizabeth When she was so strictly watched by Sir Henry Benefield that none were admitted access unto Her a Goat was espied by a merry Fellow one of the Warders walking along with her Whereupon taking the Goat on his Shoulders he in all hast hurried him to Sir Henry I pray Sir said he examine this fellow whom I found walking with her Grace but what talk they had I know not not understanding his Language He seems to me a stranger and I believe a Welsh-man by his frieze Coat To return to our subject I am not so knowing in Goats as either to confirme or confute what Plinie reports that Adhuc lactantes generant They 〈◊〉 young ones whilst they themselves as yet suck their Dams He addeth that they are great enemies to the Olive-trees which they embarren with licking it and therefore are never sacrificed to Minerva Sure I am a true Deity accepted them for his service as many kids well nigh as lambs being offered in the Old Testament The Manufactures The Brittish generally bearing themselves high on the account of their gentile extraction have spiriâ—… which can better comport with designes of suddain danger then long difficulty and are better pleased in the imploying of their valour then their labour Indeed some souls are over-lovers of liberty so that they mistake all industry to be degrees of slavery I doubt not but posterity may see the Welsh Commodities improved by art far more then the present Age doth behold the English as yet as far excelling the Welsh as the Dutch exceed the English in Manufactures But let us instance in such as this Country doth afford Frieze This is a course kind of Cloath then which none warmer to be worn in Winter and the finest sort thereof very fashionable and gentile Prince Henry had a frieze sute by which he was known many weeks together and when a bold Courtier checkt him for appearing so often in one Suit Would said he that the Cloath of my Country being Prince of Wales would last always Indeed it will daily grow more into use especially since the Gentry of the Land being generally much impoverisht abate much of their gallantry and lately resigned rich cloaths to be worn by those not whose persons may best become them but whose purses can best pay for the price thereof Cheese This is milk by Art so consolidated that it will keep uncorrupted for some years It was antiently and is still the Staple food for Armies in their marching witness when David was sent with Ten Cheeses to recruit the provisions of his Brethren and when Barzillai with Cheeses amongst other food victualled the Army of K. David Such as are made in this Country are very tender and palatable and once one merrily without offence I hope thus derived the Pedigree thereof Adams nawn Cusson was her by her birth Ap Curds ap Milk ap Cow ap Grasse ap Earth Foxes are said to be the best Tasters of the fineness of Flesh Flies of the sweetest Grapes and Mice of the tenderest Cheese and the last when they could Compass 〈◊〉 in that kind have given their Verdict for the goodness of the Welch What should be the reason that so many people should have such an Antipathie against Cheese more then any one manner of meat I leave to the skilfull in the Mysteries of Nature to decide Metheglen Some will have this word of Greek extraction from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 contracted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But the British will not so let go their none Countriman MATHEW GLIN but will have it purum potum Cambricum wholly of Welsh originall Whencesoever the word is made the liquor is compounded of water honey and other ingredients being most wholesome for mans body Pollio Romulus who was an hundred years old being asked of Augustus Cesar by what means especially he had so long preserved his vigour both of mind and body made answer Intus mulso foris oleo by taking Metheglen inward and oyle outward It differeth from Mede ut vinum à lora as wine from that weak stuffe which is the last running from the grapes pressed before It is a most generous liquor as it is made in this Country in so much that had Mercator who so highly praised the Mede of Egra for the best in the world I say had he tasted of this Welch Hydromel he would have confined his commendation to Germany alone and allowed ours the precedency Queen Elizabeth who by the Tudors was of Welch-descent much loved this Her native liquor recruiting an annual stock thereof for Her own use and here take if you please The Receit thereof First gather a Bushell of Sweet-briar leaves and a Bushell of Time half a Bushell of Rosemary and a Peck of Bay-leaves Seeth all these being well washed in a Furnace of fair water let them boil the space of half an Hour or better and then pour out all the water and herbs into a Vat and let it stand till it be but milk-warme then strain the water from the herbs and take to every six Gallons of water one Gallon of the finest Honey and put it into the Boorn and labour it together half an hour then let it stand two days stirring it well twice or thrice each day Then take the Liquor and boil it anew and when it doth seeth skim it as long as there remaineth any dross When it is clear put it into the Vat as before and there let it be cooled You must then have in readiness a kind of new Ale or Beer which as soon as you have emptied suddenly whelme it upside down and set it up again and presently put in the Metheglen and let it stand three days a working And then tun it up in Barrells tying at every Tap-hole by a Pack-thred a little bag of beaten Cloves and Mace to the value of an Ounce It must stand half a year before it be drunk The Buildings The Holy Spirit complaineth that great men build Desolate places for themselves therein taxing their Avarice Ambition or both Avarice they joyn House to House by Match Purchase or Oppression that they may be alone in the Land that their Covetousness may have Elbow-room to lye down at full length and wallow it self round about These love not
behold Bristol as the staple-place thereof where alone it was anciently made For though there be a place in London nigh Cheapside called Sopers-lane it was never so named from that Commodity made therein as some have supposed but from Alen le Soper the long since owner thereof Yea it is not above an hundred and fifty years by the confession of the Chronicler of that City since the first Sope was boyled in London Before which time the Land was generally supplyed with Castile from Spain and Graysope from Bristol Yea after that London medled with the making thereof Bristol-sope notwithstanding the portage was found much the cheaper Great is the necessity thereof seeing without Sope our bodies would be no better than dirt before they are turned into dust men whilst living becoming noisome to themselves and others Nor lesse its antiquity For although our modern Sope made of Pot-ashes and other ingredients was unknown to the Ancient yet had they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something which effectually supplied the place thereof making their Woollen clear their Linnen-Cloth cleanly Christ is compared by the Prophet to Fullers sope in Hebrew Borith which word Arias Montanus in his Interlineary Bible reteineth untranslated but in his Comment following the example of St. Hierom on the place rendreth it Herba fullonum expounding it to be Saponaria in English Sopeworth Indeed both Dodoneus and Gerardus writeth thereof This plant hath no use in Physick Yet seeing nature made nothing in vain Sopeworth cannot justly be charged as useless because purging though not the body the Clothes of a man and conducing much to the neatnesse thereof The Buildings Ratcliffe Church in this City clearly carrieth away the credit from all Parish-Churches in England It was founded by Cannings first a Merchant who afterwards bâ—…ame a Priest and most stately the ascent thereunto by many stairs which at last plentifully recompenceth their pains who climb them up with the magnificent structure both without and within If any demand the cause why this Church was not rather made the See of a Bishop then St. Augustins in this City much inferiour thereunto such may receive this reason thereof That this though an intire stately structure was not conveniently accomodated like St. Augustins formerly a great Monastery with publick Buildings about it for the Palace of a Bishop and the Reception of the Dean and Chapter However as the Town of Hague in Holland would never be Walled about as accounting it more credit to be the Biggest of Villages in Europe than but a Lesser City so Ratcliffe-Church esteemeth it a greater grace to lead the Van of all Parochial than to follow in the Rear after many Cathedral Churches in England Medicinal Waters St. Vincents Well lying West of the City under St. Vincents Rock and hard by the River is sovereign for Sores and Sicknesses to be washt in or drunk of to be either outwardly or inwardly applyed Undoubtedly the Water thereof runneth through some Mineral of Ironâ—… as appeareth by the rusty ferruginous taste thereof which it retaineth though boiled never so much Experience proveth that Beer brewed thereof is wholesome against the Spleen and Dr. Samuel VVard afflicted with that malady and living in Sidney-Colledge was prescribed the constant drinking thereof though it was costly to bring it thorough the Severn and narrow seas to Lin and thence by the River to Cambridge But men in pain must not grudge to send far to purchase their ease and thank God if they can so procure it Proverbs Bristol Milk Though as many Elephants are fed as Cows grased within the Walls of this City yet great plenty of this Metaphorical Milk whereby Xeres or Sherry-Sack is intended Some will have it called Milk because whereas Nurses give new-born Babes in some places Pap in other water and sugar such Wine is the first moisture given Infants in this City It is also the entertainment of course which the courteous Bristolians present to all Strangers when first visiting their City Martyrs The moderation of John Holyman Bipshop of this City is much to be commended who in the reign of Queen Mary did not persecute any in his Diocess And yet we find Rich. Sharpe Tho. Benion and Tho. Hale martyred in this City whose Bloud the Inquisitor thereof will visit on the account of Dalbye the cruel Chancellour of this Dio cess Prelates RALPH of BRISTOL born in this City was bred as I have cause to conceive in the Neighbouring Covent of Glassenbury Going over into Ireland first he became Treasurer of St. Patricks in Dublin then Episcopus Darensis Bishop of Kildare He wrote the life of Lawrence Arch-Bishop of Dublin and granted saith my Author certain Indulgences to the Abbey of Glassenbury in England probably in testimony of his Gratitude for his Education therein He died Anno Dom. 1232. Since the Reformation TOBIAS MATTHEW D. D. was born in this City bred first in St. Johns then in Christ-Church in Oxford and by many mediate Preferments became Bishop of Durham and at last York But it will be safest for my Pen now to fast for fear for a Surfeit which formerly feasted so freely on the Character of this Worthy Prelate who died 1628. Sea-men No City in England London alone excepted hath in so short a Time bred more Brave and Bold Sea-men advantaged for Western Voyages by its situation They have not only been Merchants but Adventurers possessed with a Publick Spirit for the General Good Aiming not so much to return wealthier as wiser not alwayes to en-rich themselves as inform Posterity by their Discoveries Of these some have been but meerly casual when going to fish for Cod they have found a Country or some eminent Bay River or Hauen of importance unknown before Others were intentional wherein they have sown experiments with great pains cost and danger that ensuing Ages may freely reap benefit thereof Amongst these Sea-men we must not forget HUGH ELIOT a Merchant of this City who was in his Age the prime Pilot of our Nation He first with the assistance of Mr. Thorn his fellow-Citizen found out New-found-land Anno 1527. This may be called Old-found-land as senior in the cognizance of the English to Virginia and all our other Plantations Had this Discovery been as fortunate in publick Encouragement as private Industry probably before this time we had enjoyed the Kernel of those Countries whose Shell only we now possess It 's to me unknown when Eliot deceased Writers THOMAS NORTON was born in this City and if any doubt thereof let them but consult the Initial syllables in the six first and the first line in the seventh chapter of his Ordinal which put together compose Thomas Norton of Briseto A parfet Master you may him trow Thus his modesty embraced a middle way betwixt concealing and revealing his name proper for so great a Professor in Chymistry as he was that his very name must from his
good in Physick whose Keys are opening of obstructions arising from the Spleen Cole Much hereof is digged up at Bedworth which in my Measuring of all Cole-mines North of Thames is the most Southward adding much to their Price and Owners Profit The making such Mines destroyeth much but when made preserveth more Timâ—…er I am sorry to hear that those black Indies both in Quantity and Quality fall short of their former fruitfulness and I wish they may recover their lost Credit being confident the Earth there will bleed Profit as plentifully as any had the Miners but the good Hap to hit the right vein thereof As for Manufactures in this County some Broad cloths are made in Coventry and ten might be made for one if the mistery thereof were vigorously pursued The Buildings Coventry much beholding to the Lady Godiva who took Order that her Charity should not prejudice her Modesty when she purchased the Priviledges of this Place sheweth two fair Churches close together How clearly would they have shined if set at competent Distance whereas now such their Vicinity that the Arch-angel eclypseth the Trinity Saint Maâ—…ies in Warwick a Beautifull Structure owes its life to the Monuments of the dead therein most being Earls of Warwick Of these that in the Body of the Church is the Oldest that in the Chancell is the largest that in the Chapell of Guilt Brass the Richest that in the Chapter-House of Fulke Lord Brook the latest Greatness may seem in some fort to be buried in the Tomb of the Earl of Leicester and Goodness in that of the Earl of Warwick Women are most delighted with the Statue of the Infant Baron of Denby and Scholars most affected with the learned Epitaph of Sir Thomas Puckering In a word so numerous is the Church with its Appendences as I am enformed by my Worthy Friend the Minister that he can accommodate One Clergy-man of all Dignities and Degrees to repose them in severall Chapells or Veâ—…ries by themselves Kenelworth alias Kenilworth It had the Strength of a Castle and Beauty of a Princes Court Though most fair the Porch no danger of the Castles running out thereat like that of Mindus at the Gate as most Proportionable to the rest of the Fabrick I confess Handsome is an unproper Epithete of a Gyant yet Neatness agreeth with the Vastness of this structure Some Castles have been Demolished for security which I behold destroyed se defendendo without offence Others Demolished in the heat of the Wars which I look upon as Castle-slaughter But I cannot excuse the Destruction of this Caâ—…tle from Wilfull-murder being done in cold blood since the end of the Wars I am not stock'd enough with Charity to pitty the Ruiners thereof if the materialls of this Castle answered not their Expectation who destroyed it Pass we now from the Preterperfect to the Present Tense I mean from what was once to what now is most magnificent the Castle of Warwick It over-looketh the Town which is washed and swept by Nature so sweet on a Rising Hill is the situation thereof The Prospect of this Castle is Pleasant in its self and far more to the Present Owner thereof the Right Honourable Robert Lord Brooke seeing the Windows look into Lands mostly of his Possession We will conclude the Buildings of this County with the beautifull Cross of Coventry A Reformed Cross or Standard rather without any Cross thereon being a Master-piece all for Ornament nothing for Superstition so that the most curious hath just cause to commend the most conscientious to allow none to condemn it It was begun 1541. the 33. and finished 1544. the 36. of King Henry the eighth at the sole cost of Sir William Hollis Lord Mayor of London Great-grand-father to the Right Honorable the Earl of Clare The Wonders At Lemington within two Miles of Warwick there issue out within a stride of the womb of the Earth two Twin-springs as different in Tast and Operation as Esaâ—… and Jacob in disposition the one Salt the other Fresh Thus the meanest Country-man doth plainly see the Effects whilst it would pose a Consultaâ—…ion of Philosophers to assign the true cause thereof To this Permanent let me joyne a transâ—…ent Wonder which some was fifty years since The Situation of Coventry is well known on a rising Hill having no River near it save a small Brook over which generally one may make a Bridge with a Stride Now here happened such an Inundation on friday April the seventeenth 1607. attested under the Seal of the City in the Majoralty of Henry Sâ—…wel as was equally admirable In 1. Coming about eight a clock in the morning no considerable rain preceding which might suggest the least suspicion thereof In 2. Continuance for the Space of three Hours wherein it overflowed more then two hundred and fifty dwelling Houses to the great damage of the Inhabitants In 3. Departure or vanishing rather sinking as suddenly as it did rise Thus what the Scripture saith of wind was then true of the water One cannot tell whence it came nor whither it went Leaving others to enquire into the second and subordinate I will content my self with admiring the Supreme Cause observed by the Psalmist He turneth a wilderness into a standing water and dry-ground into water-Springs Medicinal waters At Newenham Regis there is a Spring the water whereof drunk with Salt loosneth with Sugar bindeth the Body It is also very Sovereigne against Ulcers Impostumes the Stone This last I commend to the Readers choise observation the same Author affirming that it turneth Sticks into Stone and that he himself was an Eye-witness thereof Now how it should dissolve the Stone in the Body of a Man and yet turn Wood into Stone I leave to such who are naturae à Sanctioribus Consiliis at their next meeting at their Counsel-table to discuss and decide Proverbs He is the black Bear of Arden Arden is a Forrest anciently occupying all the Wood-land part of this County By the Black Bear is meant Guy Beauchamp Earl of Warwick who besides the allusion to his Crest was Grim of Person and Surly of resolution for when this Bear had gotten Pierce Gavistone that Munkey and Minion of King Edward the second into his Chambers he caused his Death at a Hill within two miles of Warwick notwithstanding all opposition to the contrary The Proverb is appliable to those who are not Terricula menta bnt Terrores no fancy-formed Bug-bears but such as carry fear and fright to others about them As bold as Beauchamp Some will say the concurrence of these two B. B. did much help the Proverbe and I think as in others of the same kind they did nothing hinder it However this quality could not be fixed on any name with more truth If it be demanded what Beauchamp is chiefly meant amongst the many of that Surname Earls of Warwick The answer of mutinous people is true in this case One and all