Town being a great thorough Fare for the Western Counties and lying near to London is enriched with a great Trade and the Market draws a considerable concourse of Citizens who flock hither on purpose to buy up such Commodities as it affords besides the River Thames running not far from it is very conducive to beautifie and enrich it whilst by that means all sorts of Goods are with great conveniency conveyed backward and forward thither Here met us some Friends who from thence conducted us back to the City where we again safely arrived after this divertive Perambulation The End of the Second Journey AN ACCOUNT OF Mr. BROME'S Three Years TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales A Narrative of his Third Journey WE diverted our selves for some little time in the City but the Pleasures therein growing nauseating and irksom and the Rural Diversions more pleasing and delightful we resolved to undertake once more a Pilgrimage of a greater extent than any we had done before and the Vernal Season which then began to attire the Country in all its bravery did as mightily conduce to quicken our Resolutions in steering our Course about the Maritime Coasts of our Native Soil as in taking a view of that further part of the Continent to which before we had made no access Hereupon equipping our selves like provident Pilgrims with all things requisite for so great a Journey we set forward and having some Friends which accompanied us in our way our first Remove was into the County of Essex Essex a Country of as great Variety as Delight of a considerable compass and very fruitful 't is full of Woods and shady Groves enriched with all kind of Grain abounds with Saffron and is stocked with great Herds of Kine and Hogs hereupon the Rusticks have great plenty of Dairies and make Cheeses massy and ponderous the Gentry generally are courtly and affable and the Commonalty for the most part pretty well refined but for them who live in the Hundreds as they call that part of the County which lying more low and flat and near to the Sea is full of Marshes and Bogs they are Persons of so abject and sordid a Temper that they seem almost to have undergone poor Nebuchadnezzar's Fate and by conversing continually with the Beasts to have learn'd their Manners Rumford was our first Stage Rumford about ten Miles from London renowned for its great Market for all manner of Cattle but more especially celebrated for its Hogs and Calves After a little stop in this place we passed on through Burntwood and Ingerstone Burntwood and Ingerstone Towns of no great Note save one for its Free-School and both for their Markets and Hospitable Inns to Chelmsford a Town twenty-five Miles from the City where we took up our Quarters for one Night This Town stands in the Heart of the County Chelmsford being formerly called Chelmerford 't is situate betwixt two Rivers which meet here viz. Chelmer from the East and another from the South the name whereof if it be Can as some would have it we have no reason to doubt it was Old Canonium which Cambden tells us stood anciently in this place it was of old very famous for a small Religious House erected by Malcolme King of Scots and for its Church-Windows having the History of Christ and the Escutcheons of its noble Benefactors painted in them which were batter'd down by the Instigated Rabble in the late Rebellion but that which now renders it most Renowned is not only the Assizes which are held here twice a Year for the County but likewise its great Market for Corn which the Londoners coming down every Week take away in great quantities and the Vicinity of the Nobility and Gentry which lying round about it do very much enhance its Glory as well as promote its Trade But the Allurements of this place were too weak to detain us any longer than the Morning for no sooner did we discern the modest Blushes upon Aurora's Cheeks but we prepared our selves for the Farewel of our Friends where mutually embracing each other with some passionate Expressions of Kindness at our departure we left them to return to the City and they with a gale of good Wishes speeded us forward on our Journey No sooner were they departed from us but a Cloud of Sorrow overspread our Countenance and as if we had suffered an Eclipse of Friendship upon our Souls by their Separation from our Bodies we began to think that of all Evils which are incident to Humanity there is none that equals Privation upon which account we became for a while a little discomposed in our Thoughts till Witham Witham another Market Town about five Miles distant from Chelmsford Built as is supposed by King Edward the Senior presented us with some other Scenes of Pleasure and Diversion Colchester However our main drift being for Colchester we hastned to that place which was formerly called Kaer-Colden by the Britains but whether it took its Name from Colonia a Colony of the Romans being here planted or from the River Colne 't is not much material to enquire the several Coins which have been digged up here bearing all the Roman stamp do evince its Antiquity and whether Lucius Helena and Constantine the first Christian King Empress and Emperor in the World were Born here or no sure I am that the Inhabitants speak great things of her Father King Coel who built the Castle tho' others will have it Built by Edward Son of King Alfred and the Walls of the Town having erected a Statue for him in the midst of it which they preserve with great Reverence to perpetuate his Memory And 't is as certain that in remembrance of the Cross which his Daughter found here they give for their Arms a Cross engrailed betwixt two Crowns It suffered much of old from the Fury of the East-Saxons about the Year 921 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us who having taken it by Storm put all to the Sword except a few who by stealth crept away and saved themselves by flight and destroyed all its Fortresses and threw down its Walls but King Edward the Confessor came and Fortified it again and having repaired all its Breaches and strengthened it with a Garison it began by degrees to recover its Losses and retrieve its ancient Splendor and Comeliness for being pleasantly seated upon the Brow of a Hill which extends its self from East to West it quickly drew to it numerous Shoals of Inhabitants whereby its Buildings were enlarged and its Churches encreased to the number of 15 within the Walls and 1 without besides 2 Religious Houses an Abby built here A. D. 1096. by Eudo Steward to King Henry I. to the Honour of St. John Baptist for the use of the Benedictine Monks the first of that Order which was erected in England and another Priory saith the Notitia Monastica Founded A. D. 1110. by Eynulphus for Canons of the
Ruines of Churches and other Edifices declare it to have been of a very long standing its Condition was always mutable according to the mutability of Affairs betwixt the Britains and the Saxons and if it was the burying place of that great Man of Valour and prowess the Noble Britain Vortimer as is credibly reported then this hapned contrary to his own Command for he was desirous to be interred near the Sea Shore where he thought his very Ghost would be sufficient to Protect the Britains from all Saxon Invasions But however after his Death the Saxons got possession of it and fortified themselves on the South-side of the Hill about which time Paulinus having preached the Gospel in Lindsey was the first that converted Blecca the Governour hereof to the Christian Faith and erected a Church all of Stone-work some of the Ruines whereof remain to this Day Afterwards it was much impaired and depopulated by the Danes but in the Norman time it flourished so exceedingly that it became one of the most populous Cities of England King William the Conquerour strengthned it with a Castle and Remigius having translated hither the Bishops See from Dorchester a small Town which stood in the remotest corner of this Diocess erected upon the top of the Hill a large and sumptuous * His successor Robert Bloet â—ounded with him the Cathedral and endow'd the Dean and Chapter â—anner's Not. Monast Cathedral mounting up aloft with high Turrets and stately pyramids and dedicated to the Virgin Mary which afterward being defaced by Fire Alexander his Successor re-edified and beautified after a more glorious manner than before Nor indeed did the Bishops that succeeded him add less to its Beauty and Lustre and raised it to so great Magnificence and unconceivable Height that its starely Towers discover themselves at many Miles distance the Workmanship of the whole Fabrick is very curious and admirable and the carved Images on the Front of the West-end were such unimitable pieces of Art till some of them in our late unhappy broils were sacrificed to the fury of the Insolent Soldiery who committed a new Martyrdom upon the Saints in Effigie that they did even allure and ravish the Eyes of all Spectatour Nor was it less glorious without than beautified within for besides the Bell called Great Tom for which this Church is so famous being cast in the Year 1610 and of a larger Size than any Bell in the Kingdom 't is adorn'd with divers Monuments of very ancient Families for the Bowels of Queen Eleanor Wife to King Edward the First lie here interr'd in Copper and the Body of the Lady Catharine Swinford third Wife to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Mother to the House of Somerset and of the Lady Joan her Daughter Second Wife to Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland besides many other Persons of great Note and Quality In the former Ages of the Church the Precincts of this Diocess were of so large an extent that the greatness hereof became even burdensom to it hereupon they were contracted into a narrower compass by some Princes of this Nation and though King Henry the Second took out of this the Diocess of Ely and King Henry the Eighth the Bishopricks of Peterborough and Oxford yet still it is reputed the greatest Diocess of England both for Jurisdiction and number of Shires there being no less than six Counties and One thousand two hundred forty seven Parish Churches as is generally computed belonging to it As for the Town though it flourished mightily for some Years together after the Norman Conquest by reason of a Staple for wooll and other Commodities setled here by King Edward the Third yet it met still with some Calamities or other which hindred its Growth and eclipsed its Grandeur for it had its share of Sufferings both by Fire and War in King Stephen's days about which time it seems though the King had at first been conquered and taken Prisoner yet he afterward entred into the City in Triumph with his Crown upon his Head to break the Citizens of a superstitious Opinion they held that no King could possibly enter into that City after such a manner but some great disaster or other would befal him but neither did it then or by the Barons wars afterwards sustain half the damages which of late Years it hath received from the devouring Hands of Time who hath wrought its downfal and from a rich and populous City hath reduced it almost to the lowest ebb of Fortune and of Fifty Churches which were all standing within one or two Centuries hath scarce left Fifteen so that the old Proverbial Rhymes which go currant amongst them seem so far to have something of verity in them Lincoln was and London is And York shall be The fairest City of the three Sure I am that this doth abundantly verifie the verses of the old Tragedian Sophocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only the Gods cannot Times sickle feel Nothing can else withstand his Powerful Steel But though the City be gone to decay the Magistrates preserve their Authority and their ancient Charters and Privileges are not as yet involv'd in the same Fate with the Town which is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and hath the Assizes held here where the Judges twice a Year determine all Suits and Controversies depending either in the City or the County and for provision it affords great Plenty for 't is replenished every Friday which is their chief Market Day with such variety of Fish and Fowl to be bought up at easy and cheap Rates that there is hardly the like to be met withal in any other City of England From this City we set forward for Barton Barton a small Town Situate upon the River Humber famous for the abundance of Puits Godwits Knots which are a sort of Bird so called say some from Canute the Dane who perhaps brought them hither first from Denmark and likewise for Dottrels a simple kind of Bird much given to imitation these Dottrels are caught by candle-light after this manner The Fowler stands before the Bird and if he puts out an Arm the Bird stretcheth out a Wing if he hold out his Head or set forward his Leg the Bird doth the like and imitates the Fowlers gesture so long till coming nearer and nearer by degrees at length throws his Net over him and so takes him Here we met with a convenient Passage to Ferry over into York-shire York-shire whereupon we took the first opportunity of Wind and Tide and sailed away for Hull which is about a League from the place on the other side of the River This County is the greatest in extent being parted into three Divisions which are called the West-Riding the East-Riding and North-Riding amongst which Providence hath so wisely distributed her Blessings that what one wants the other enjoys and makes a compensation for the Barrenness of one
four Bishopricks which are subject to this See namely Durham Carlisle Chester and Man or Sodor in the Isle of Man Indeed there was afterward several private Grudges Heart-burnings and Contests betwixt Canterbury and York touching Precedency Appeals and some Ecclesiastical Privileges but by a Decree of Pope Alexander they were quelled who ordained that the Church of York should be subject to Canterbury and obey the Constitutions of that Arch-Bishop as Primate of all Britain in such things as appertain to the Christian Religion But to return again from the Church into the City we find it to have been a place of great Antiquity for it was not only famous for the Sepulture of Eadbryth King of the Northumbers about the Year 738 together with his Brother Egbert Arch-Bishop of this See and long before that time of two greater and more renowned Emperors Severns and Constantius but likewise in that Constantine the Great after the Death of his Father was first here in this place saluted and proclaimed Emperor by the Soldiers at which time it appears to have been in great Repute and Estimation till the Romans deserting it left it a Prey to the barbarous Nations so that not only the Scots and Picts did depopulate and spoil it but afterward the Saxons and Danes as they got Possession still Ransack'd and laid it Waste so that about the Year 867 it grew so extreamly weak through the grievous Oppression of the Danes that Osbright and Ella broke easily through the Walls thereof and encountring there the Danes were both slain in the Battel the Danes remaining Masters of the City saith the Saxon Chronicle tho they lost it at last to Athelstan in the year 928. Nor found it kinder Usage from the merciless Normans who treated it no better than its former Enemies had done so that even till after King Stephen's Days there was little left in it by reason of so many Calamities that befel it but a small poor shadow of a great Name but at last after sundry bitter Blasts and troublesom Storms which had grievously shaken and afflicted it a sweet gale of peaceful Days began to refresh and enliven it and in the space of a few Years it hereby became a Wonder to it self and a Miracle to others by reason of its prosperous Condition and ever since it hath increased in Honour and Wealth in Grandeur and Power till at last it attained to that height of Greatness in which it is now established We diverted our selves for some Days in this City where during our abode we had the Honour to be invited to the Lord Mayors House who treated us with all the Civility imaginable where I cannot omit to observe by the way that there are no Gentlemen more affable and Courteous more Hospitable and Generous more Obliging in their deportment and hearty in their entertainments to all Strangers and foreigners than the generality of the Gentry who are every where dispersed through these Northen Climates The great satisfaction we met withal here made us hope for no less in the rest of our Northern travels and giving us encouragement for a further Progress Malton we set forward from York to Malton a Market Town notable for the great resort of Jockeys who flock thither in abundance to the Fair that is held there every Year for Horses 't is watred by the River Rhie and well frequented for Corn Fish and Instruments of Husbandry and here are still to be seen the ruines of an old Castle belonging formerly to the Vrscies who were ancient Barons in these Parts and in the Reign of King Stephen here was built by Eustace a Gilbertine Priory dedicated to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin From hence we steered towards the Sea Coast and came to Scarborough Scarborough a Town very eminent for its Spaw-water and Castle where Pierce Gavaston the great favourite of King Edward the Second was placed by the King to secure him from the Barons whom he had so extreamly incensed from which notwithstanding he was by force drawn away and immediately beheaded by their Command and Order The Castle is Situated upon a Rock of a wonderful height and bigness which by reason of its steep and craggy Cliffs is almost inaccessible extending it self into the Sea wherewith it is encompassed excepting on that Side which opens to the West on the top it hath a very fair green and large Plain containing diverse Acres of Ground with three fresh Springs one of which comes out of a Rock and a Mill to grind Corn in case of a Siege in the strait passage which leads up to it stands a high Tower and beneath the said Passage stands the Town spreading two sides North and South but the fore-part Westward which is fenced on the front with a Wall of its own on the East fortified by the Castle wherein a Garrison is kept and on both sides watered by the Sea The Town is not very large but conveniently built of Stone and Slate and well inhabited and stands bending upon the Brow of the Hill and served for a Landmark to Ships off at Sea till it was so much defaced in the late Civil Wars It has a commodious Key and enjoys a pretty good Trade About half a Mile from the Town near to the Sea is the Spring which they call the Spaw The Spaw of a very Medicinal and purgative Nature what are the particular qualities and Mineral principles of this Well I leave to Physicians * See Dr. Simpson on this Subject and Naturalists to discuss but sure I am but the effects of this Water have been strange and wonderful and many Persons who in the Summer time resort hither to Drink it do find great benefit and advantage by it From hence the Shore indented and interlaced with Rocks bendeth in as far as the River Teese and by a large compass which it fetcheth there is made a Bay about a Mile broad which from the Famous Outlaw Robin-Hood is called Robin-Hoods Bay Robin-Hoods Bay Here is a small Village but the most celebrated for the Fishing Trade In all these parts for here are caught great quantities of all sorts of Fish in their Seasons which not only supply York but all the adjacent Country and hard by the Shore is a little Hully as they call it which is much like a great Chest bored full of Holes to let in the Sea which at high Water always overflows it where are kept vast quantities of Crabbs and Lobsters which they put in and take out again all the Season according to the quickness or slowness of their Markets Here and all along this Coast are great plenty of Herrings which coming hither in Shoals out of the Northen Seas the beginning of August are caught until November not only by our own Fishermen but by Dutchmen too Afterward they disperse themselves into the British Sea where they continue till Christmas and then betake themselves to the Irish Coast and
of the Country of March March and Lothien which lies upon the German Sea we came to Lothien called from the Picts formerly Pict-land shooting out along from March into the Scotish Sea and having many Hills in it and little Wood but for fruitful Corn-fields for courtesie and civility of Manners commanded by some above all other Countries of Scotland about the Year 873 Edgar King of England between whom and Kenneth the Third King of Scots there was a great knot of alliance against the Danes their common Enemies resigned up his right to him in this Country and to unite his Heart more firmly to him he gave unto him some mansion Houses in the way as Cambden observes out of Matthew Florilegus wherein both he and his successors in their coming to the Kings of England and in their return homeward might be lodged which unto the time of King Henry the Second continued in the Hands of the Scotch King The first Town of any consequence that offered it self unto us was Dunbar famous formerly for a strong Castle being the seat of the Earls of March afterwards Styled Earl of Dunbar Dunbar a fort many times won by the English and as oft recovered by the Scots And in the Reign of Edward the Third the Earls of Salisbury and Arundel came into Scotland with a great Army and besieged the Castle of Dunbar Two and twenty Weeks wherein at that time was black Agnes the Countess who defended the same with extraordinary Valour one time when the Engine called the Sow was brought by the English to play against the Castle she replyed merrily that unless England could keep her Sow better she would make her to cast her Pigs and indeed did at last force the Generals to retreat from that place The Town stands upon the Sea and hath been fenced in with a stone Wall of great strength though by the frequent batteries it hath of late Years received 't is much impaired and gone to decay the Houses here as generally in most Towns of Scotland are built with Stone and covered with Slate and they are well supplyed with provision by reason of a weekly Market which is held here The Inhabitants are governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and talk much of great losses and calamities they sustained in the late Civil Wars for in this place was that fatal battle fought betwixt Oliver Cromwel and the Scots wherein he routed and cut in pieces twenty thousand Scots with twelve thousand English Men and obtain'd so strange and signal a Victory that the very Thoughts of it do to this very Day still strike a terror into them when e'er they call that bloody Day to remembrance and think what great havock and Spoil was made amongst them by the Victorious success of the English forces Edenburgh Our next Quarters we took up at Edinburgh which is the Metropolis of Scotland and lies about twenty Miles distance from Dunbar The Irish Scots call this City Dun-eaden the Town Eaden or Eaden Hill and which no doubt is the same that Ptolomy calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the winged Castle for as Cambden observes Adain in the British Tongue signifies a Wing and Edenbourn a Word compounded out of the Saxon and British Language is nothing else but a Burgh with Wings 'T is situated high and extends above a Mile in length carrying half as much in breadth it consists of one fair and large Street with some few narrow lanes branching out of each side 't is environed on the East South and West with a strong Wall and upon the North strengthned with a Loch 'T is adorned with stately Stone buildings both private and publick some of which Houses are six or seven Stories high which have frequently as many different apartments and Shops where are many Families of various Trades and calling by reason of which 't is well throng'd with Inhabitants and is exceeding Populous which is the more occasioned by the neighborhood of Leith which is a commodious Haven for Ships and likewise because as 't is the seat of their Kings or Vice-Roys so 't is also the Oracle or Closet of the Laws and the Palace of Justice The King's Palace On the East side or near to the Monastery of St. Cross that was a Holy Rood is the King's Palace which was built by King David the First but being much ruinated and impaired in the late unhappy broils betwixt the two Kingdoms it hath been since enlarged and beautified and is now become a Stately and Magnificent structure And not far from this House within a pleasant Park adjoyning to it riseth a Hill with two Heads called of Arthur the Britain Arthur's Chair Arthur's Chair A little further stands the College Founded and Endowed by that most eminent Favourer of Learning the Wise and Learned King James the Sixth The College though afterward the Magistrates and Citizens of this place proved likewise very considerable Benefactors to it and upon their humble Address to the same Prince it was made an University A. D. 1580 but the Privileges hereof were not fully confirmed and throughly perfected till the Year 1582 and have been since the same with those of any other University in this Kingdom The Dignity of Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor doth reside in the Magistrates and Town Council of Edenburgh who are the only Patrons neither was the Dignity they say as yet ever conferred upon any simple Person The Persons endowed were a Principal or Warden a Professor of Divinity four Masters or Regent for so they are called of Philosophy a Professor or Regent of Humanity or Philology Since the first Foundation the Town hath added a Professor of Hebrew 1640 and the City of Edenburgh hath since added a Professor of Mathematicks The Library was founded by Clement Little one of the Officials or Comissaries for Edenburgh A. D. 1635. The Library since which time it is much increased both by donatives from the Citizens as also from the Scholars who are more in number than in any other College in the Kingdom and here were presented to our view two very great Rarities the one was a Tooth taken out of a great Scull being four Inches about and the other was a crooked Horn taken from a Gentlewoman of the City who was fifty Years old being eleven Inches long which grew under her right Ear and was cut out by an eminent Chirurgeon then living in the Town who presented it to the College Their Churches and Parliament Houses About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral which is now divided into six sermon Houses for which Service there are seven other Kirks set apart besides and not far from the Cathedral is the Parliament House whither we had the good Fortune to see all the flower of the Nobility then to pass in state attending Duke Lauderdale who was sent down High-Commissioner And indeed it was a very Glorious sight for they were all richly Accoutred
and as nobly attended with a splendid Retinue the Heralds of Arms and other Officers that went before were wonderful gay and finely habited and the Servants that attended were clad in the richest Liveries their Coaches drawn with six Horses as they went ratling along did dazle our Eyes with the splendour of their furniture and all the Nobles appeared in the greatest Pomp and Gallantry the Regalia which are the Sword of State the Scepter and the Crown were carried by three of the antientest of the Nobility and on each side the Honours were three Mace-Bearers bare headed a Noble-man bare headed with a Purse and in it the Lord High Commissioner's Commission then last of all the Lord High Commissioner with the Dukes and Marquesses on his Right and Left Hand it is ordered that there be no Shooting under the highest penalties that Day neither displaying of Ensigns nor beating of Drums during the whole Cavalcade The Officers of State not being Noblemen ride in their Gowns all the Members ride covered except those that carry the Honours and the highest Degree and the most Honourable of that degree rid last Nor is their grandeur disproportionate to their demeanour which is high and stately but courteous and obliging having all the additional helps of Education and Travel to render it accomplish'd for during their Minority there is generally great care taken to refine their Nature and emprove their Knowlege of which when they have attain'd a a competent measure in their own Country they betake themselves to foreign Nations to make a further progress therein where they do generally become so great proficients that at their return they are by this means fitted for all great Services and Honourable employments which their King or Country is pleased to commit to their care and fidelity and are thereby enabled to discharge them with great Honour and applause On the West side a most steep Rock mounteth up aloft to a great height every way save where it looks towards the City The Castle on which is placed a Castle built by Ebrank the Son of Mempitius as some Write though others by Cruthneus Camelon the first King of the Picts about 330 Years before the Birth of our Saviour 't is so strongly fortified both by art and Nature that it is accounted impregnable which the Britains called Myned Agned the Scots the Maiden Castle of certain young Maids of the Picts Royal Blood which were kept here in old time and which in truth may seem to have been that Castrum alatum or Castle with a Wing before spoken of In this Castle is one of the largest Canons in Great Britain called Roaring Megg which together with two tire of Ordinance besides planted upon the Wall can command the City and all the Plains thereabouts but most famous is it in that Queen Mary was brought to Bed here of a Son who was afterward Christened at Sterling and called James who at last became the Happy Uniter of the two Crowns and in that Chamber in which he was Born are written upon the Wall these following Verses in an old Scotch Character James 6. Scot. 1. England Laird Jesu Christ that crown it was with Thorns Preserve the Birth qubais badgir here is Borne And send hir Son Succession to Reign still Lange in this Realm if that it be thy will Al 's grant O Laird quhat ever of hir proceed Be to thy glory honour and praise so beed July 19. 1566. A little below the Castle is a Curious Structure built for an Hospital by Mr. Herriot The Hospital Jeweller to the aforementioned King James and endowed with very great Revenues for the use of poor Orphans and impotent and decrepit Persons but by the ruinous and desolate Condition it seem'd at that time to be falling into it became to us a very doleful Spectacle that so noble a heroick design of Charity should be so basely perverted to to other Evil Ends and purposes contrary to the Will and intention of the Donor The City is governed by a Lord-Provost who hath always a Retinue befitting his Grandeur and for the punishing delinquents there is a large Tolbooth Tolbooth for so they call a Prison or House of Correction where all Malefactors are kept in hold to satisfie the Law as their Offences shall require Within seven Miles round the City there are of Noble and Gentlemens Palaces Castles and strong-builded Towers and Stone houses as we were inform'd above an hundred and besides the Houses of the Nobility and Gentry within it here dwell several Merchants of great Credit and repute where because they have not the conveniency of an Exchange as in London they meet about Noon in the High-street from whence they adjourn to their Changes i. e. Taverns or other places where their business may require them to give their Attendance The Fortune of this City hath in former Ages been very variable and inconstant It s variable Changes sometime it was Subject to the Scots and another while to the English who inhabited the East parts of Scotland until it became wholly under the Scots Dominion about the Year 960 when the English being over-poured and quite oppressed by the Danes were enforced to quit all their interest here as unable to grapple with two such potent Enemies A Mile from the City lies Leith a most commodious Haven hard upon the River Leith Leith which when Dessry the Frenchman for the security of Edenburgh had fortified very strongly by reason of a great Concourse of People which after this Flocked hither in abundance in a short time from a mean Village it grew to be a large Town In the Reign of our King Henry the Eighth the Sufferings and Calamities both of it and its Neighbours were grievous and inexpressible being both Burnt and plundred by Sir John Dudly Viscount Lisle Lord High Admiral of England who came hither with a puissant Army and broke down the Peer burning every stick thereof and took away all the Scotch Ships that were fit to serve him which kind of Execution was done likewise at Dunbar afterward when Francis King of France had taken to Wife Mary Queen of Scots the Frenchmen who in hope and conceit had already devoured Scotland and began now to gape for England A. D. 1560. strengthned it again with new fortifications But Queen Elizabeth solicited by the Nobles who had embraced the Protestant Religion to side with them by her Wisdom and Prowess so effected the matter that the French were enforced to return into their own Country and all their fortifications were laid level with the Ground and Scotland hath ever since been freed from the French and Leith hath become a very opulent and flourishing Port for the Peer is now kept up in so good repair and the Haven so safe for Ships to ride in that here commonly lieth a great Fleet at anchor which come hither Richly laden with all sorts of Commodities After we had spent
some time in this City we went from hence through Linlithgow Linlithgow a Town beautified with a fair House of the King 's a goodly Church a pleasant Park and a Loch a lake under the Palace Wall full of Fish of which lake it seems to have derived its Name Falkirk Lin in the British Tongue signifying a lake to another Town called Falkirk Famous for the notable Battle which was fought here betwixt King Edward the First and the Scots wherein were Slain no less than two Thousand Men not far from which place likewise upon the River Carron was formerly situate the Famous City of Camelon chief City of the Picts founded by Cruthneus Camelon before the Birth of Christ 330 Year which was destroy by King Kenneth the Great about the Year of Christ 846 and what was left was afterward swallowed up by an Earthquake where the void place is now filled with Water Glasgow At last we came to the renowned City of Glasgow which lying in Liddisdail was indeed the furthest of all our Northern Circuit 't is situated upon the River Glotta or Cluyd over which is placed a very fair Bridge supported with eight Arches and for pleasantness of Sight sweetness of Air and delightfulness of its Gardens and Orchards enriched with most delicious Fruits surpasseth all other places in this Tract the Buildings in this Town are very large and beautiful and the Tolbooth itself so stately a Structure that it appears rather to be a Palace than a Prison This has formerly been the See of an Arch-Bishop The University and in the Year 1554 an University which consists of one College was founded here by Arch Bishop Turnbill for a Rector a Dean of Faculty a Principal or Warden to teach Theology and three Professors to teach Philosophy Afterwards some Clergymen professed the Laws here being invited to that Profession rather by the convenience of a Collegiate Life and the immunities of the University then by any considerable Salary King James the Sixth A. D. 1577. did establish twelve Persons in the College viz. a Principal three Professors of Philosophy called Regents four Scholars called Bursars an Oeconomus or Provisor who furnisheth the Table with Provisions the Principal 's Servant a Janitor and a Cook The Cathedral is a very fair ancient Fabrick The Cathedrel built by Bishop John Achaian A. D. 1135. it oweth Thanks to the Memory of King James the Sixth and which is most remarkable to the Mob it self at that time for its preservation from Ruine for the Ministers here having perswaded the Magistrates to pull it down and to build two or three other Churches with the materials thereof and the Magistrates condescending a Day was appointed and Workmen ready to demolish it but the common Tradesmen having notice given them of this design convene in Arms and oppose the Magistrates threatning to bury the Demolishers of it under the Ruines of that ancient Building whereupon the matter was referred to the King and Council who decided the controversy in the Tradesmens Favour and reproving very sharply the Magistrates for their Order so that it still continues with four other Churches here beside for the exercise of their Religion The City is governed by a Mayor and is very eminent for its Trade and Merchandize and is noted upon Record for being the place where William Wallace the Renowned Champion of Scotland was traitourously Betrayed by Sir John Menteith and delivered up to our King Edward the First by whose Order he was afterward publickly executed in Smithfield Hamilton Passing away hence by Hamilton a famous Palace then belonging to Duke Hamilton which hath a fair and spatious Park adjoyning to it we had two Days journy very doleful and troublesome for we travelled over wide Meers and dangerous Mountains in the Company of some Scotch Gentlemen who were going that way for England where the Weather was ill the ways worse and the long Miles with their Way-bitts at the end of them worst of all where our Lodging was hard our Diet course and our Bodies thin that it might easily be discerned how we had lately pass'd through the Territorys of Famine who Reigns very potently over that cold and pinching Region Dunfries But coming at length to Dunfries in the County of Nidisdail it made us some amends for being situate between two Hills upon the Mouth of the River Nid over which is laid a Bridge of large fine Stones it appears to be one of the most flourishing Towns in this Tract notable no less for its ancient Castle and Manufacture of Cloath then for the Murther of John Cummins one of the most Renowned Personages for his Retinue and Equipage in all this Kingdom whom Robert Bruce for fear he should fore-stal his way to the Crown run quite through with his Sword in the Fryars Church and soon obtain'd his pardon from the Pope though he had committed so great a Murder in so sacred a place Anandale After this we came to Anandale at the Mouth of the River Anan in the County of Anandale bordering upon our own Nation which lost all its Glory and Beauty upon the War which was raised in Edward the Sixth's Days in these two last named Counties have been bred a sort of warlike Men who hath been infamous for Robberys and depredations for they dwell upon Solway-Frith a fordable Arm of the Sea at low Water through which frequently they have made many inroads into England to fetch home great Booty's and in which they were wont after a delightful manner on Horse-back with Spears to hunt Salmons of which there are in these parts a very great abundance After we had passed these borders we arrived again safe in our own native Soil within the precincts of Cumberland Cumberland which like the rest of the Northern Counties hath a sharp piercing Air the Soil is fertile for the most part both with Corn and Cattel and in some parts hereof with Fish and Fowl here are likewise several Minerals which of late have been discovered not only Mines of Copper but some veins of Gold and Silver as we were informed have been found and of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Nor is it less renowned for its exceeding high Mountains for beside the Mountain called Wrye-Nose The Hill called Wrie-Nose on the top of which near the high way side are to be seen Three Shire-Stones within a foot of each other one in this County another in Westmorland and a third in Lancashire there are three other Hills Skiddaw Lanvalin and Casticand very remarkable Skiddaw riseth up with two mighty high Heads like Parnassus and beholds Scruffel Hill The Hill of Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand which is in Anandale in Scotland and accordingly as mists rise or fall upon these heads the People thereby prognosticate of the change of Weather Singing this Rhime If Skiddaw have a Cap
a great Power to revenge her Injury she fought with her husband Locrine at New Troy or London and there slew him After this to execute her Revenge still in the highest degree she took the Lady Estrilde with her fair Daughter Sabrina and drowned them both in this River Travelling over this delightsome Region the first place of any Remark we arrived at was Cirencester alias Circiter * Cirencester It was called by the Britains Kaerceri Rudborn's Hist of Winchester which the River Corinus or Churne rising among the Wolds passeth by and giveth it its Name It appears to have been a place of great Antiquity and Renown from the old Roman Coins and Medals and divers Marble Engraven Stones which have been digged up hereabouts Nay a Judicious Antiquary Mr. Kennet has observed That this place seems to have been as well the first as the greatest of the Roman Stations which the Britains had before made a place of Strength and Confluence That this Corinium is by Ptolemy Recorded as the Metropolis or Chief City of the Dobuni and was after called Corinium Dohunorum The British Chronicles tell us further That this Town was burnt down being set on Fire by a company of Sparrows through an Invention devised by one Gurmund Certain it is the Inhabitants shew a Mount below the Town which they Report this Gurmund cast up which they corruptly call Grismund's Tower Grismund 's Tower It was a long time subject to the West Saxons afterward the Mercians got it into their Possession where it continued till the Establishment of the English Monarchy under which it sustained very great Calamities by the Incursion of the Danes and 't is probable that Gurmon the Dane whom some Historiographers call Guthrus and Gurmundus was a great Instrument to augment its Troubles and Oppressions However there are still some Remains to be seen of old Ruinated Walls and of an Abby built as some conjecture by the Saxons afterward much repaired or rather rebuilt by King Henry I 'T is now beautified with a very handsome Church having a high Spired Steeple and hath once a Week a Market and has formerly been Enriched with the Trade of Clothing though that with many other Privileges and Immunities they enjoyed are now impaired and gone to decay From hence coursing over the Wolds we came to the top of Burlipp-Hill Burlipp Hill where we had a Prospect of a very pleasant Vale the Hill is craggy steep and high from which descending by degrees and passing through a Way which was formerly paved with Stone and was undoubtedly one of the Roman high Ways which here crossed one another we came to Glocester Glocester called by Antiquaries Caer Gloyn which took its Name either of Claudius the Emperour or of the Beauty and Brightness thereof which the Britains call Gloyn though others call it Kaerclan 'T is a City well Seated and as well Inhabited and of a considerable Trade by reason of the River Severn over which it has a fair Bridge and being Navigable Boats of great Burden come up to the Key side loaded with several Commodities 'T is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and is adorned with 12 Parish Churches besides the Cathedral And for the Strength of the Place it was formerly on the Landside encompassed with a strong Wall the standing Remains whereof shew what Force they have been of On the Southside it had a strong Castle of square Stone now fall'n to Ruine Craulin King of the West Saxons Conquered this City from the Britains about the year 570 and 300 years after it fell into the Hands of the Danes who miserably defaced it Soon after this Aldred Archbishop of York built the Cathedral to which belongs now a Dean and Six Prebendaries and it hath been much enlarged by the Charity of good Benefactors John Hanly and Thomas Early adding to it the Chapel of the Virgin Mary N. Morwent the Forefront being an excellent Fabrick G. Horton adjoyn'd to it the North-Cross part Abbot Trowcester a very fine Cloyster and Abbot Sebrok a high Four square Steeple As for the Southside it was repaired by the Free Offerings of the Inhabitants at the Sepulchre of Edward II. who lieth here Interred under a Monument of Alabaster and in the Quire under a wooden-painted Tomb lies Robert the Eldest Son of William the Conquerour who was deprived both of his Life and Kingdom by his Younger Brother Henry I. having his Eyes first put out at Cardiff-Castle and died thereafter 26 years Imprisonment Here likewise is the Monument of Lucius who is said to have been the first Christian King in England Now though by Bishop Burnet in his Travels we are told That there is a famous Chapel Erected to him as their Great Apostle near Coir a Town of the Grisons for the great Service he did to them in working their Conversion yet 't is most probable that he lies Interred here But how he came at first to be instructed in the Christian Faith we have the most probable Account given us by the most Learned Bishop Stillingfleet in his Antiquities of the British Churches which is this That King Lucius hearing of the Christian Doctrine either by the old British Christians such as Eluanus and Meduinus are supposed to have been or by some of M. Aurelius his Soldiers coming hither after the great Deliverance of the Roman Army by the Prayers of the Christians which had then lately happen'd and occasion'd great Discourse every where The Emperour himself as Tertullian saith giving the Account of it in his own Letters might upon this be very desirous to inform himself thoroughly about this Religion and there being then frequent Entercourse betwixt Rome and Britain by reason of the Colonies that were setled and the Governours and Soldiers passing to and fro he might send Eluanus and Meduinus to be fully instructed in this Religion and either the same Persons alone or two others with them called Fagâ—â—us and Dâ—â—â—ianus commonly coming into Britain might have so great Success as to Baptize King Lucius and many others and thereby inlarge the Christian Church here But to return from what we have made a little Digression the Pillars of this Church are of an extraordinary Thickness not to be Parallel'd in any Church of England But that which makes it most Remarkable is a curious piece of Architecture at the East-end of the Quire called The Whispering Place The Whispering Place 't is an Arch in the form of a Semicircle 30 yards in Circuit and so rare a Contrivance that if any Person stand at one end of it and Whisper never so softly he that lays his Ear to the other end will discover distinctly the Words he speaks A C D E F B is the Passage of the Voice or Whispering Place at A and B do the two Persons stand that Whisper to each other At D the middle of the Passage is a Door and Entrance into a Chapel with Window-Cases on each side
Ireland there were extraordinary violent and lasting Storms of Wind and Weather so that the Sandy Shoar on the Coasts of this Shire were laid bare to the very hard Ground which had lain hid for many Ages and by further Search the People found great Trunks of Trees which when they were digged up were apparently lopped so that they might see where the stroaks of the Axe had been upon them as if they had been given but a little before the Earth also looked very black and the Wood of these Trunks like Ebony as the Report then went At the first discovery made by these Storms the Trees we speak of lay so thick that the whole Shoar seem'd nothing but a lopped Grove from whence may be gathered that the Sea hath overflow'd much Land on this Coast as it hath done upon the Shoars of many other Countries bordering upon the Sea which is to be imputed to the Ignorance of former Ages who had not those excellent Arts and Ways to repress the Fury of the Sea which have been since discover'd The Salmons-Leap at Lilgarran About Kilgarran are abundance of Salmons taken and there is a place call'd the Salmons-Leap as there is also in other Rivers probably for this Reason the Salmon coveteth to get into fresh Water Rivers to Spawn and when he comes to places where the Water falls down-right almost Perpendicular as some such like places there be he useth this Policy he bends himself backwards and takes his Tail in his Mouth and with all his force unloosing his Circle on a sudden with a smart Let-go he mounts up before the fall of the Stream and therefore these downright falls or little Cataracts are call'd the Salmons-Leap S. David's In this County is St. David's now only a Bishop's though formerly an Archbishop's See Translated from hence by Sampson the last Archbishop to Dole in Bretagne Here is a fair Church Dedicated to St. Andrew and St. David which being often spoiled and ruined by divers foreign Pirates as standing near the Sea it was after this reedified by Bishop Peter the 49th Bishop of this Diocess who lived in the Reign of King Henry II. hard by which stands the Bishops Palace and fair Houses of the Chanter who is next to the Bishop here being no Dean and of the other Dignitaries all enclosed round with a Wall whereupon they call it a Close 'T is reported by some Historians That while David Bishop of this See who was a very sharp Stickler against the Pelagian Heresie was one day very zealously disputing against those erroneous Tenents the Earth whereon he then stood arguing rose up by a Miracle to a certain height under his Feet From South Wales our Curiosity led us over the Severn to Bristol Bristol undoubtedly one of the principal Cities in this Kingdom if we consider the stateliness of the Buildings or its Natural and Artificial Fortifications the Commodiousness of its Harbour and its most pleasant Situation at the Influx of the Frome into the Avon which five Miles from hence empties it self into the Severn its lofty Churches and its stately Palaces the great Concourse of Foreigners as well as the great Number of Native Citizens upon which account no wonder if both the Counties both of Somerset and Glocester do contend which of them may be most glorious and happy in its Superiority over them and yet neither of them can attain to that Honour it being both City and County of it self and having particular Privileges immunities and Laws of its own 'T is governed by a Mayor and two Sheriffs twelve Aldermen with other Ministers and Officers befitting its Dignity 't is environ'd with a double Wall and adorn'd with two Navigable Rivers Avon which at Spring Tides is 11 or 12 Fathom deep and Frome over which stands a Stone-Bridge with Houses built on both sides consisting of four large Arches It is very convenient for the Ships and larger Vessels to Anchor in and hath a Key sufficiently commodious for the Exporting and Importing of Goods out or into the Merchants Houses this returns back into the River Avon and so both by their mutual Union enrich this City and augment its Happiness At what time it was first built it is very hard to determine only it is supposed to take its Rise in the Declination of the Saxon Empire at the time when Harold is said to have sail'd from Brickstowa with a great Navy into Wales Robert Son of William the Conquerour made choice first of this place to begin his War against his Brother William Rufus and did encompass it with the Inner-Wall as some conjecture part of which in some places is still to be seen and what Spoils he then took he lodged here for safety in the Castle about the year 1088 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us where himself afterward was kept Prisoner as was also King Stephen by the Order of Mawd the Empress from which time it hath been still receiving great Enlargements and by degrees is risen to that Eminency we now behold it and as its Houses are fair and its Streets clean so are its Gates strong and its Churches glorious consisting of Nineteen Parish-Churches whereof though that which is the Cathedral and Mother-Church Dedicated to St. Austen and endowed for a Bishop by King Henry VIII ought to have the Precedency as well for that Honour as for its Antiquity too which is remarkable by the Inscription over the Door of the Porch Rex Henricus II. Dominus Robertus filius Hardingi filii Regis Daciae hujus Monasterii Primi Fundatoris Ratcliff-Church Yet notwithstanding this the Church of Ratcliff in the Suburbs of this City is a more noble Structure being curiously Arched and made a stately Fabrick all of pure Stone without any Additions of wooden Beams or Rafters not one Stick being made use of throughout its whole Compages The Steeple is foursquare and of a very great height but most artificially Carved with divers Sculptures all at the Cost and Charge of one Mr. Cannins a Merchant of this City about 110 years since who in the Erecting this famous piece of Architecture employed at his own Expence 800 Labourers and Artificers besides Masons and Carpenters to the number of 300 in all 1100 for three years together untill the Work was totally compleated and in it his Monument doth now stand in Marble but may his Memory be more lasting than the Marble and his Name more durable to succeding Generations than the noblest Mausoleum or Monument can make it St. Vincent's Rock On the Northern side of this City are several high and craggy Rocks by which the River Avon gently glides along till it returns back again into the Severn one of the chief whereof is call'd St. Vincent's Rock which hath great plenty of Pellucid Stones commonly call'd Bristol Stones The Learned Mr. Cambden hath observ'd That their Pellucidness equals that of the Diamonds only the hardiness of the
the West Saxons for a Boundary to their Kingdom against the Mercians We travelled over some of these wide and large Plains for near twenty Miles untill we arrived at a place call'd Stonehenge some four or five Miles distant from Salisbury Stonehenge It is call'd by ancient Historiographers Chorea Gigantum from its Magnitude and contains within the Circumference of three hundred Foot a rude and indigested Mass of vast large Stones rough and of a grey Colour 25 Foot in length 10 in breadth and 8 in thickness they look as if they were hewn square and are joyn'd two and two together and every couple hath a third Stone lying across which is fasten'd by Tenons that enter into Morraises not closed with any Mortar it appears as if they had been set in three Ranks going round as Circles one within another whereof the uttermost and largest contain in compass about three hundred Foot but the other Ranks are decay'd and some of them being fall'n down to the Ground as it is something difficult to compute their Number so if they be rubbed or scraped and Water thrown upon the Scrapings they will say some heal any green Wound or old Sore It is very strange to think how such vast Bulks should happen in this place whenas there are no other kind of Stones even of smaller Dimensions near or about it therefore some not irrationally conjecture that they are not Natural or had their first growth here but were Artificially cemented into that hard and durable Substance from some large Congeries of Sand and other unctuous Matter mixt together Just as there hath been visible at Rome Cisterns made of Sand and Chalk so artificially and closely conjoyn'd that they have pass'd for the Product of Nature and not of Art and therefore it is not an improbable Conjecture which is made by the Author of the History of Alchester Publish'd amongst other Parochial Antiquities of Oxfordshire by the Industrious Mr. Kennet that they are not as some Fable Giants Stones fetch'd from Mount-Karel in Ireland by Merlyn's Art that Renowned Magician but might be made out of that Cliff over-against old Sarum the colour of which Clay they still represent and being scraped with a Knife a Man may discern this Clay cemented with some other glewy Substance as Plaister of Paris and such like Erected not in Memory of those Nobles whose Tombs in heaps of Earth appear still thereabouts slain treacherously by Hengist when he call'd his Son-in-law Gourtigern and the Britains to feast there but for a Trophy of some Memorable Victory thereabouts obtain'd as Necham the Poet saith by Vter Pendragon or as others by Arthur the Valiant and to that seems the ancient Bard Theliesinus to allude But Necham's Verse is this Uter Pendragon molem transvexit ad Ambri Fines de victo Victor ad hoste means Uter Pendragon brought these Stones to Ambrosbury Coast For Trophies of his Victory had on the Pagan Host Salisbury From hence we rode to Salisbury or Sarisbury which some derive from Caesar's Burg and in our way beheld the place where formerly old Wilton the Metropolis of this County stood which had then upon its Gates in honour to the Romans a black Spread-Eagle It was also call'd Willey or Ellandun that is Elen's Town for here or at Chloren or at old Sarum saith the Alchester Historian being before Guns were invented an invincible hold St. Helen at her return out of Wales did remain as well for her better Safety as also to be near the South-Seas to expect daily News and Tydings from Constantine the Emperour in the East Parts as also from his Sons her Nephews who were in the Western 'T is situated saith Cambden where the two Rivers Willeybrook and Adderbourn meet and here it was that Egbert King of the West Saxons in the year 823 fought the second Battle against Beorwulphus the Mercian so bloody on both sides that the River Avon was dyed red with the Blood of the Slain And in the year 871 Alfred having maintain'd a long Fight against the Danes upon the first onset had Success but was at last quite Routed his Forces defeated and himself forced to fly to save his own Life In the Saxon Reign it mightily flourish'd and Edgar building there a Nunnery made his Daughter Editha Lady Governess thereof afterwards being long exposed to the Fury of Suenus the Dane who was its mortal Enemy and deserted by the Bishops who were its main support it went to decay and almost return'd again into its first Principles of Nothing and so Sorbiodunum or old Salisbury then and since new Salisbury which hath sprang from that have quite extinguish'd its Primitive Lustre and Glory Old Salisbury was seated upon a Hill expos'd much to Winds and Storms very dry barren and uncomfortable by reason of the great defect of Water throughout the whole City tho' it was well fortify'd as appears still by some remaining pieces of old Walls Kinricus the Saxon in the year 553 first sack'd and took it being very fortunate in all his Enterprises he undertook against the Britains and in the Reign of Edward the Senior Osmund Bishop of Sherborne Translated the See hither and built a Cathedral Church though Suenus the Dane not long after having taken and burnt the City that likewise underwent the same fatal Calamity and were both levell'd with the Ground till both of them were raised again in William the Conquerour's time for after that he had made his Progress throughout England he at last summoned all the three Orders of the Nation to meet here and take the Oaths of Allegiance to him But after this in the Reign of King Richard I. the Citizens being oppress'd by the insolency of the Soldiers and very much incommoded by a continual want of Water resolv'd to free themselves from these Inconveniencies by transplanting themselves into another Soil which they unanimously agreed upon and seated themselves about a Mile from this place in a more pleasant Valley where the Flowry Meads and Chrystal streamed Rivers gave them a more chearful Welcome and endearing Entertainment After the Plantation of this new Colony Richard Pore first Bishop of Chichester and then of this place did likewise transplant the Cathedral from that barren dry place in which it was first Erected near to the old Castle of the Earls of Salisbury and built it at last in a more pleasant Soil and by the Advice and Contrivance of the most excellent and ingenious Artificers not only Natives but Foreigners whom he drew hither by his large Rewards he raised it to that Splendour and Magnificence that it now vies both for Stateliness and Workmanship with the most noted Cathedrals throughout the whole Kingdom The Steeple is built in form of a Pyramid very high and as the Pole-Star directs the Pilot at Sea so doth this Spire direct the wandring Traveller over the Plain discovering its lofty Head near the distance of twenty Miles but the Admirableness of
the Structure consists in this That it hath as many Pillars as there are Hours in the Year and these not so closed but you may see the Interstices betwixt them and shake some that are of a lesser size as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very Artificially adorn'd and curiously painted to Admiration and as many Gates as there are Months all which are thus comprised in an ingenious Copy of Verses Mira canam Soles quot continet Annus in unà Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque tenet fusas tot ab arte Columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus Annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus Annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide In English thus How many Days in one whole Year there be So many Windows in one Church we see So many Marble Pillars there appear As there are Hours throughout the Fleeting Year So many Gates as Moons one Year doth view Strange Tale to tell yet not so strange as true And as the Church was then Re-edify'd so was the City much enlarg'd by which means since its Houses are grown stately its Guild-Hall for the use of the Mayor and Aldermen is beautiful its Churches are many and glorious its Streets by reason of divers Rivolets convey'd in Channels through the midst of them sweet and cleanly its Gardens delightful and fragrant and nothing wanting to please and gratifie either the Eye or Palate From hence we coursed over the Plains directly to Winchester Winchester which by Antiquaries has been call'd Venta Belgarum as Bristol was Venta Simenorum and amongst the Britains it had the Name likewise of Caer-Guent It was of great Repute amongst the Romans and no less famous in the time of the Saxons and flourished as greatly under the Power of the Normans till once or twice both Fire and Sword in an envious Emulation strove together to deface it but it is grown again since very fair and populous large and stately is computed within the Walls to be about a Mile in length is pleasantly seated in a Vale betwixt two Hills and hath six Gates which give Entrance into the City tho' it was much defaced in the late Civil Wars as likewise the Castle which formerly hath been accounted altogether impregnable This is the Castle that Mawd the Empress having held out after she had taken it a considerable time against King Stephen and after by a close Siege being in great danger to be Re-taken fearing by that means to fall into her Enemies Hand she secured her self by this cunning Stratagem she commanded it should be given out for a Truth that she was certainly dead and upon this order'd her self to be carried out upon a Bier as if she had been so indeed and by this means provided for her own safety Upon the Wall hereof hangs the Round Table so much talked of by the Vulgar and call'd King Arthur's Round Table whether this can justly claim so great Antiquity as is attributed to it I shall not undertake to determine yet certain it is that these very Tables are of a long standing for formerly after Justs and Turnaments when there happen'd to be any great Entertainments amongst the valiant Champions of the Nation it was usual for all such to sit round them Mr. Whartons Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 191. least any difference should arise amongst the Noblemen about Superiority of place About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral built by Kenelwalch King of the West Saxons who after the expulsion of Agilbert constituted Wine a Saxon born and ordain'd in France the first Bishop there and it hath been Dedicated to divers Patrons accordingly as it has been re-edified by different Benefactors viz. to Amphibalus St. Peter St. Swithin and now to the holy and undivided Trinity Here it was that Queen Emma upon the suspicion of Adultery by the trial of Fire Ordeal walking barefoot over nine hot Plough-shares without hurt ascribed this miraculous Proof of her Innocence to St. Swithin Patron of this Church and afterward in a grateful acknowledgment bestow'd great Donatives upon it It was always held in great Veneration by the Saxons because divers of their Kings were Interr'd in it and was call'd by them the old Monastery to distinguish it from the new one founded by Alured in which he placed a Fraternity of Presbyters who it seems by a great Miracle of the Cross speaking and disapproving their Order were all expell'd from thence by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury who substituted Monks in their Room These Monasteries were joyn'd so near to one another that it did often create a Disturbance at their Devotions and hence arose great Feuds and Contentions amongst the Brethren besides a great Current of Water running from the Western Gate of the City in divers Channels to this new Monastery did stagnate and so caus'd the Air to be foggy and unwholsom Hereupon the Church about two hundred years after it was built was Translated to the Northern part of the City which they call the Hide where by the Permission of King Henry I. the Monks built another fair and stately Monastery which in the space of a few years by the Treachery as some suppose of Henry Bishop of Winchester was reduc'd to Ashes In the Conflagration whereof 't is Storied That the rich Crucifix given by King Canutus who was buried here in the old Monastery saith the Saxon Chronicle in the year 1036 in the making of which was expended the Revenues of one whole year throughout this Kingdom was burnt likewise after which another Monastery was erected which continued till the Expulsion of Monks out of England in the Room of whom there have since been placed here a Dean and twelve Prebendaries The Church is now curiously adorn'd with Monuments of ancient Hero's and Bishops of this See William Wainfleet Founder of Magdalen-College in Oxford lies here Entomb'd with his Heart in his Hand and Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Gardiner that bloody Scourge to the poor Protestants in Q. Mary's days who did so insatiably thirst for the Blood of Queen Elizabeth but was always cross'd in his most wicked Inclinations there lies also the Lord Weston Earl of Portland whose Monument is of Brass and by him his Father who lies in Marble here is likewise preserved the Chair of State in which Queen Mary was Married to King Philip and near to it lies Entomb'd the Countess of Exeter who was Godmother to King Charles II. and very remarkable is the Chappel of Bp. Fox where he now lies Founder of Corpus Christi-College in Oxford which he built for his own use together with his Study and Press for his Books all in one place in the Quire under a plain flat Marble Stone lies the Body of Will. Rufus This King receiv'd his mortal Wound as he was Hunting in the new Forest by Sir Walter Tyrrel who shooting at a Deer hit this
of some Miles The Town which is supposed to have been the Daughter of Godmanchester is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes are held here twice a Year for the Shire and wants no kind of Provision to entertain Travellers who much resort hither out of the Northern Parts the great Road to the City of London lying through it In this Town in the Year 1599 was that Usurper and Religious Cheat Oliver Cromwell born and educated whom tho' we have some just Reasons to curse in his very Name and detest his Memory as odious and execrable yet since prosperous Successes of the most cruel Tyrants makes others inquisitive after those Persons which they did so fortunately attend it will not be amiss to tell the World that this place gave him his first being who exceeding Nero in Cruelty destroyed his Father and Mother too the Father of his Country and his Country likewise being a Murderer of the one and a Plague to the other who was of so unparallell'd and base a temper of Mind from his Cradle to his Grave that nothing could stay with him or be pleasing to him long but what even carried the World before it Confusion and Ruine From hence we passed directly into the pleasant County of Northampton Northamptonshire where the Air is temperate the Soil rich fruitful and Champaign and having less waste Ground than any other County withal so populous and well replenished with Towns that in many places 20 or 30 Steeples present themselves at one view nor is there perhaps a County which within that compass of Ground can shew more Noblemens and Gentlemens Seats For in all the dispersed Villages of this Country it is observed that there are fixed several bright and coruscant Luminaries shining in this Orb of whose influence the Peasantry are continually sensible feeling divers good Effects and enlivening Operations from their Vicinity For whilst the Noblemen and Persons of Superiour Ranks transplant themselves hither and fix in this Soil the Commonalty are quickly invigorated with the warmth which they communicate whilst all Trades flourish more by those Encouragements they afford them and the poor Tenant is enabled thro' their Assistance to discharge all Rents with greater Improvement both to their Landlords and themselves they being like the Primum Mobile which put all the other Orbs into a continued motion or the Wheels in a Machine which make the whole Engine move very regularly which otherwise would be altogether useless and unseruisable Thrapston is Twelve Miles distant from Huntingdon Thrapston which being the first Market Town we arrived at here well stored with Inns and replenished with all sorts of Grain we went from thence to another Town called Kettering Kettering which has been of much more Note than its Neighbours by reason of a handsom Cross formerly beautified with divers Images of Christ and his Apostles very curiously and artificially carved And the next place of consequence is Higham-Ferries the excellent Ornament of which place was formerly Henry Chicheley Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who built All-Souls College in Oxford and another here Temp. Hen. V. for eight Secular Canons four Clerks and six Choristers and commended it to the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Edmund the Confessor But that which is the Ornament of the County is Northampton it self Northampton a Town pleasantly seated on the River Nen where it meets with two Rivulets one North and the other South This Town as many others fell under the Fury of the Danes who burnt it to Ashes In the Reign of King Stephen the Abby of St. Mary de Pratis for Cluniac Nuns was Founded here by Simon de Senilitz II. Earl of Northampton And an Abby of Black Canons was built to the Honour of St. James King Henry the First was a good Benefactor keeping his Court here in Lent as the Saxon Annals tell us in the Year 1106 and again at Easter in the Year 1122 but in the Reign of King John it suffered exceedingly by the Barons Wars In his Successor Henry the Third's time the Students of Cambridge are reported to have removed hither by the King's Warrant in order to settle the University here where Henry the Sixth had the fate to be overthrown and taken Prisoner by his Rival for the Crown Edward the Fourth In the Year 1675 Sept. 3. this Town was reduced to Ashes by a general Conflagration but by the Assistance and Contributions of Charitable People it is once more restored to greater Magnificenco and Beauty than it ever yet before enjoyed 't is govern'd by a Mayor and is the place where the County Gaol and Assizes are generally held Warwickshire Our next Remove was into Warwickshire which as it is situated almost in the very Heart of the Kingdom is very free from the frequent Vapours that annoy many other places and therefore is justly celebrated for its Health as well as Fruitfulness Warwick Warwick is the principal Town of the whole Shire it stands on the West side of the River Avon over which it hath a strong Stone-Bridge and consists of two Parishes 't is seated in a dry and a fertile Soil having the benefit of rich and pleasant Meadows on the South part with lofty Groves and spacious Thickets of Woodland on the North the Town has not long since suffer'd extreamly by Fire but 't is to be hoped it will in a little time return again to its ancient Splendour and Renown the chief Beauty of it is its Castle the Seat in times past of the Earls of Warwick mounted aloft upon a steep and a craggy Rock The Collegiate Church of St. Mary was endow'd by Roger Earl of Warwick A. D. 1133. and a Priory of Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre was likewise founded by Henry Earl of Warwick Temp. Hen. 1. Guy-Cliff Here is also Guy Cliff near Warwick among Groves and fresh Streams call'd Guy-Cliff from Guy of Warwick the Hercules of England who having left off his noble and valiant Exploits betook himself as Tradition hath it to this place where he led a kind of Hermetical Life and built a Chapel in which he was Interr'd The next place which claims here a Precedency above all the rest Coventry is Coventry so call'd from a Covent founded here by the Danish King Canutus stands upon the Sherborn which joyning with another Stream runs not far from thence into the Avon It is a City very commodiously Seated large sweet and neat was formerly fortified with a very strong Wall and is set out and adorned with right goodly Houses amongst which there rise up on high two spacious Churches noted for their Loftiness and the Cross for its Workmanship standing one hard by the other and matched as it were as Concurrents one Consecrated to the Holy Trinity the other to St. Michael a Town that injoys a good Inland Trade by the Cloth here made and vended which makes
called Yarmouth but the Inhabitants finding both the Air and Soil very prejudicial to them transplanted themselves to the other side of the River called from the same Cerdick Cerdick-Sand and built this new Town which in a short time grew so potent and populous that they strengthened it with a Wall and were able to make up so strong a Body of Seamen as would frequently make Incursions upon the Neighbourhood of Lestoff and the adjacent Cinque-Ports against whom they had a particular Antipathy because they were excluded by them from many advantageous Privileges which their Ancestors had enjoyed But these private Feuds did at last end by an express Order from the King and their Courage was quelled by a sudden and fearful Pestilence which in the space of one Year brought above Seven thousand Men and Women to their Graves all which was faithfully Recorded in an ancient Chronographical Table which formerly used to hang up in their Church since which time as their Grudges have ceased so their Wealth hath encreased and 't is now a place of great Merchandize and Traffick but especially renown'd for its Fishery of Herrings of which at the season there is usually such plenty that they do not only supply our own but Foreign Nations too after they have been by their great care and industry dried and salted in particular Houses set apart for that purpose The Haven it self is capacious enough for Vessels of great Burdens and standing well for Holland affords a ready passage to it and is a frequent Shelter for the Newcastle Coal Fleet when distressed by Weather but the North-East Wind being subject frequently to annoy this Coast and drive in the Sand and Beach in great heaps the Townsmen are forced to be at a great Expence by removing all such Obstacles to clear their Haven From this place we hastned to Norwich Norwich which is the Metropolis of the County situate at the influx of the Winsder into the Yare and sprung up out of the Ruins of Venta Icenorum now called Castor about three Miles distance from it in which not many years since was found a great number of Roman Urns And from Wic which in the Saxon Tongue signifies a Castle the Learned Mr. Gibson in his Explication of Places not improbably guesseth that it might receive its denomination This is one of the most Renowned Cities in our British Island for whether we consider the Wealth of the Citizens the number of Inhabitants the great confluence of Foreigners the stately Structures and beautiful Churches the obliging deportment of the Gentry and the laudable Industry of the Commonalty they do all concur to illustrate and dignifie it 't is situated on the brow of a Hill and environed with a Wall upon which were placed divers Turrets and Twelve Gates to give entrance into the Town unless it be on the East side where the River after it hath with many windings watered the North part of the City having four Bridges over it is a defence by reason of its deep Channel and high Banks 't is reputed a Mile and half in length and half as much in breadth drawing in it self at the South side till it almost appear in the form of a Cone The great Damages it sustained and Misfortunes it was exposed to when Sucnus the Dane with his Bloody Crew took his range in these Parts and after that William the Conqueror had settled the British Crown upon his Head were too doleful and tragical a Story to relate Nor were the Calamities it underwent less deplorable when Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk sided with Young Prince Henry against his Father and as 't is supposed re-edified the Castle which stands upon a high Hill and was once thought impregnable till Lewis the French Monsieur by the assistance of the Seditious Barons won it at last by Siege And as if the Plague and the Sword had made a Conspiracy together utterly to subvert and destroy it the Pestilence in the Reign of King Edward the Third consumed no less than 57374 besides Ecclesiastick Mendicants and Dominicans But after this in succeeding Ages it began again to flourish whilst to recruit their strength which was much impair'd King Henry the First permitted the Citizens to Wall the City and King Richard the Second gave them a Grant for the Transportation of Worsted and to advance their Trade which was extreamly eclipsed King Henry the Fourth renewed their Charter and conferred on them the Honour to chuse every Year a Mayor whereas by a former Order from King Stephen they were only govern'd by Coroners and Bayliffs And as if the Fates with no less eagerness designed their Felicity than before they consulted their Misery the Dutch who flock'd over hither during the Bloody Inquisition of Duke Alva have made it very opulent by the great Trade of Says Bays and other curious Stuffs which here occasion a considerable Merchandize Here is an Hospital where above an Hundred Men and Women are maintained and A. D. 1094. the Episcopal See was translated hither being first placed at Dunwich about the Year 636. by Felix the Burgundian who established the East-Angles in the Christian Faith and here it continued till Bisus the fourth Bishop from him removed it to North-Elmham in Norfolk in 673. leaving a Suffragan Bishop at Domor or Dunwich afterwards both Sees becoming vacant for the space of 100 Years after the Death of St Humbert alias Humbritt who suffered Martyrdom with King Edmund by the Bloody Danes in 995. Adulphus alias Athulphus seu Eadulphus who lived in the time of King Edwin became Bishop of both Sees under the Title of North-Elmham but in the Eleventh Century Herfastus by Bartholomew Cotton in his History of the Bishops of Norwich called Arfattus who was Chaplain to William the Conqueror and a great Favourite of that Prince before the Conquest as is observed by the Learned Mr. Wharton in his Notes on that place Angl. Sacr. par prima p. 403 404 406. was the Person that removed the See to Thetford according to the Canon made in the Council of London by Arch-Bishop Lanfrank A. D. 1075. by which it was provided that all Episcopal Sees should be translated from smaller Villages to more eminent Cities But his next Successor to him save one Herbert Losing settled it at last in Norwich A. D. 1094 where it has continued ever since founding a Cathedral Church to the Honour of the Holy Trinity in which he placed Benedictine Monks who continued till the Dissolution at which time King Henry the Eighth put in their Room a Dean and six Prebendaries This Church is a very stately and magnificent Structure and famous not only for its Cross and Cloyster but for the Roof likewise which runs aloft over the Body of it on which is pourtrayed to the Life the History of the Bible in divers little Images curiously carved and adorned from the Creation of the World to the Ascension of our Blessed Saviour and the
Ships are under Sail dancing along the proud Billows of the Ocean After we had travelled some few Miles from hence we came in little time within the Liberties of the Bishoprick of Durham Bishoprick of Durham a County very rich in its Mountains which are inlayed with Iron Lead and Coals and very fruitful in its Valleys with Grass and Corn. It was formerly the Patrimony of St. Cuthbert who being Bishop of Lindisferne and afterward Patron of the Church of Durham led a Life of such wonderful Piety and Holiness that he was Canonized for a Saint and Invocated by some of the Kings and Princes of this Nation as their Tutelary Saint and Protector against the Picts and Scots who formerly did grievously infest these Parts upon which account upon him and his Successors was not only conferred and setled all the County between the Tees and the Tine while he lived but after his Death came divers Princes and other Potentates with the greatest Devotion imaginable in Pilgrimage to visit his Body and offered at his Shrine an inestimable Mass of Treasure To which many other great Privileges and Immunities being daily added at the coming in of the Norman Conqueror the Bishop was reputed for a Count Palatine and did ingrave upon his Seal an Armed Knight holding a naked Sword in one hand and the Bishops Arms in the other Nay it was once adjudged in Law that this Bishop was to have Forfeitures and Escheats within the Liberties as the King had without in short the Bishops hereof have had the Royalties of Princes having their own Courts of Judicature both for Civil and Criminal Causes and Coining their own Coins But these Royalties have been since taken off in a great measure and reannexed to the Crown However the Bishop is still Earl of Sadberg a place in this Bishoprick and takes place in the Episcopal College next to the Bishop of London but he is subordinate to the Arch-Bishop of York Darlington We took up our first Station at Darlington on the Skerne over which it hath a Stone-Bridge 'T is a Market-Town of good resort which Seir an English-Saxon the Son of Vlph having obtained leave of King Ethelred gave unto the Church of Durham and Hugh Pudsey adorned it with a fair Church and other Edifices Here was also formerly a College for a Dean and six Prebendaries In the Precincts of this place are to be seen three Pits full of Water of a wonderful depth called by the common People Hell-Kettles Hell-Kettles concerning which Sir Richard Baker in his Chronicle gives us this following Account That in the 24th Year of King Henry the Second the Earth in this place lifted up it self in the manner of a high Tower and so remained immovable from Morning until Evening and then fell with so horrible a noise that it afrighted all the Inhabitants thereabouts and the Earth swallowing it up made there a deep Pit which is still to be seen to this day That these Pits have Passages under Ground was first experimented they say by Bishop Tunstall who to satisfie his Curiosity herein marked a Goose and let her down into them which very Goose he found afterwards in the River Tees which runs along not far from this place Bishop-Aukland From hence we bent our course to Bishop-Aukland upon the Ware over which it has a Bridge 't is a Town pleasantly seated in a good Air upon the side of a Hill and as it was formerly adorned with a Collegiate Church dedicated to St. Andrew Founded by Anthony Beck Bishop of Durham for twelve Prebendaries so is it likewise graced with the Bishop's Palace built at first by the same Bishop Beck with divers Pillars of Black and White Marble and re-edified since by that Munificent Prelate Dr. Cosins one of the Miracles of our Age for his great and unbounded Works of Charity He likewise rebuilt the Chapel and very gloriously adorned it with the most costly Habiliments that are any way befitting so Sacred a place and the Plate which was bestowed upon it by him for religious Uses was of a great value Nor was his Charity confined at home but dispersed and diffused it self as liberally abroad having erected here an Alms-House as he did likewise another at Durham for divers poor People for whom he hath allotted a comfortable subsistence He erected at Durham a Library very spacious and uniform to which he bequeathed several Volumes of choice Books he raised there a new Structure for the use of the Country in which are held the Assizes and Sessions he made the Castle formerly built by William the Conqueror which was quite gone to Ruin very useful again and magnificent besides all this he gave some new Fellowships and Exhibitions to St. Peter's-College in Cambrige where himself had been Master He expended vast Sums of Money in publick Benevolences to the King in redeeming Christian Captives at Algiers in relieving the distressed Loyal Subjects and in many other publick and pious Uses So that both the City and Country have sufficient reason gratefully to remember him and to wish that such Prelates may continually succeed him who may approve themselves such Worthy Fathers of the Church such Noble Patrons to their Country and such Glorious Pillars of Religion Some three or four Miles distance from this Place is Binchester Binchester now a small Village of little repute save for its relicts of old Walls and pieces of Roman Coin often digged up here called Binchester Pennies by which it appears to have been formerly an eminent Station of the Romans though now 't is nothing but a rude heap of Rubbish And about the same distance from Binchester stands Durham the most flourishing and principal City of this Province Durham is a City whose Situation is upon Hills and bottoms of Hills Durham and all surrounded with Hills but the lower parts watered by the River Ware which encircles the best part of it and over which there are two Stone Bridges so that it is a Peninsula which Dunholme a name by which it was formerly called doth denote for the Saxons called an Hill Dun and a River-Island Holme from whence the Latins have made Dunelmum the Normans Duresme and the Commonalty corruptly Durham The Town is pretty large but of no great Beauty nor seems to bear any considerable stamp of Antiquity but to have received its first Original from the distressed Monks of Lindisferne who being driven thence by the Fury of the Danes came hither with the Body of St. Cuthbert which they preserved with great care and honoured with the greatest Veneration imaginable at which time the See being removed hither by Bishop Aldwin A. D. 995. he built a small Oratory of wreathen Wands and Hurdles over the Body of St. Cuthbert on the South-side of the City which continued for some time till William de Careleph pulling down that began a new Foundation which was afterward finished by Ralph his Successor after this
for Victualling and Fresh Water Here we took Boat and set Sail for Southampton but no sooner were we got off to Sea but there arose such a Storm that the Seas and Winds seem'd to be in a mutual Conspiracy for our destruction insomuch that we began to think Anacharsis the Philosopher's saying to be true That be that was at Sea was but four or five inches distant from the Territories of Death until we came into the Mouth of the River Test formerly called Terstan and Itching over against Calshot Castle Calshot Castle placed there by King Henry the Eighth to defend the Port of Southampton which lying up a little higher in the River we at last arrived at in safety and came on shore very early in the Morning where Cerdick himself Mr. Gibson's Glossary P. 20. as some Antiquaries will have it arrived called from thence Caldshort corruptly for Cerdick-Shore After we had a little refresh'd our weather beaten Carcasses we took a view of this Town Southamton which is situated betwixt two Rivers the one running on the West side and the other on the East that this or near unto it was formerly Clausentum is not at all improbable an ancient Colony of the Romans which they planted there to hinder ravenous Depredations of the Saxons about the Year 981 old Hanton as it was afterward called was ruin'd by the Danes and in the Reign of Edward the Third plundred and burnt by the French out of the Ashes whereof Sprung the Town now in being which the fair and stately Buildings with two Keys for Shipping do highly adorn the great concourse of Merchants and three Markets a Week do mightily enrich which five Parish Churches with one for the French and an Hospital called God's House doth very much enoble which a strong Wall with seven Gates and a double ditch and a Castle of Square Stone upon a Mount cast up to a great height built by King Richard the Second doth sufficiently defend and in fine which a Corporation placed there by King Henry the Sixth who constituted it both Town an County doth abundantly dignifie Memorable is a Story here of Canutus King of Denmark who to convince the fawning Flatterers of his Court that his power was not as they would have perswaded him more then humane used this Act being once at this Town he commanded his Chair of State to be set upon the shore just as the Sea began to flow in and then sitting down before all his Courtiers he spake to that Element after this manner I charge thee that thou presume not to enter into my Land nor wet these Robes of thy Lord which are about me but the Sea giving no heed to this his Royal Command and keeping on its usual course of Tide first wet his Skirts and afterwards his thighs whereupon suddenly rising up he broke forth into these expressions Let all the Inhabitants of the World know that vain and weak is the Power of their Kings and that none is worthy of that Name or Title but he alone who keeps both Heaven and Earth and Sea in obedience After which he would never suffer the Crown to be put upon his Head but presently crowned therewith the Picture of Christ at VVinchester from which perhaps saith Sir Richard Baker who relates this Story arose the custom of hanging up the Arms of worthy Men in Churches as offerings consecrated to him who is the Lord of Battel Having spent a good part of the Day in this place in the Afternoon we began to advance towards Portsmouth which being but twelve Miles distant from this Town we easily compass'd about the shutting in of the Day This Town is situated in the little Island of Portsey Portsmouth which is about 14 Miles in compass floating at a full Tide in Salt-Water but joyned to the Continent by a Bridge on the North it was probably so called say our most ancient Historians from one Port a Noble Saxon who with his two Sons Bleda and Magla arrived here it is now a place of great strength and importance by reason of the Dock where many of the King 's greatest Men of War are built those impregnable Wooden Walls of our British Island 't is fortified with a Wall made of Timber and the same covered with thick Banks of Earth 't is likewise environed with a double Trench over which are placed two Draw-Bridges from which about a Mile distance is another at all which stands Sentries belonging to the Garrison with a little Fortress adjoining to it which leads to the Continent To the Sea-ward is a Castle and Block-Houses which being first begun by King Edward the Fourth King Henry the Seventh as it is reported did afterward complete which Fortifications have of late Years received exceeding great augmentations by the succeeding Monarchs especially in the late King James his Reign Here is only one Church and an Hospital called God's House built by Peter Rock Bishop of Winchester and though 't is counted unwholesom for want of good Air and Water yet it is much resorted unto by Sea-faring Men and whereas formerly it had little Trade but what arose from the boiling of Salt it begins of late to be in a flourishing condition and grows very populous and is now become one of the best Nurseries that we have for Seamen Our next remove was to Chichester in Sussex Chichester which is not above half a Days Journey from Portsmouth a good large City well Walled rebuilt by Cissa a Saxon the Second King of this Province and of him so named for by a Story of Sir Richard Baker's it seems to have had a being before Cissa's Time for saith he Careticus one of the Kings of the Britains setting upon the Saxons and being beaten fled into the Town of Chichester whereupon the Saxons catching certain Sparrows and fastning Fire to their Feet let them fly into the Town where lighting upon Straw and other matter apt to take Fire the whole City in a short time was burnt whereupon Careticus after a three Years unhappy Reign flying into VVales and dying there the Saxons got all the East part of the Kingdom into their Possession Yet was it before the Conquest of as small repute as circuit being known only by an old Monastery founded by St. VVilfrid A. D. 673. to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter and endowed by King Ceadwalla A. D. 711. Eadbert Abbot of this House being consecrated the first Bishop of the South-Saxons the Episcopal Seat was first placed at Selsey till by an Edict of VVilliam the Conquerour which ordered all Bishops Sees to be translated out of small Towns into places of greater Name and Resort Stigand translated it hither not many Years after which Bishop Rolfe built a Cathedral which before he had finished was consumed by Fire but by his own endeavours and the bounteous Liberality of King Henry the first it was raised up again and Suffering the same
TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales GIVING A True and Exact Description of the Chiefest Cities Towns and Corporations Together With the Antiquities of divers other Places with the most Famous Cathedrals and other Eminent Structures of several Remarkable Caves and Wells with many other Divertive Passages never before Published By James Brome M. A. Recter of Cheriton in Kent and Chaplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Romney The Design of the said Travels being for the Information of the two Eldest Sons of that Eminent Merchant Mr. Van-Ackar LONDON Printed for Abel Roper at the Black-Boy Rich. Basset at the Miter in Fleetstreet and Will. Turner at the Angel at Lincolns-Inn Back-Gate 1700. To the Honourable Sir Basil Dixwell Bar. A MEMBER of the Honourable House of Commons AND Governor of Dover-Castle c. Honoured Sir WHEN I first resolved to publish these Papers I could not be long in suspense to whom to Dedicate them They contain a short Account of our Own British Island and I know not better at whose Feet chiefly to prostrate them than where I found the brave old heroick English Spirit most eminently Predominant 'T is the unhappy Genius of some Grandees in this Age to affect nothing but what either appears in a Foreign Dress or comes fraught with new and unheard-of Rarities from abroad as if our English Soil was so barren in its Productions that it could not afford any thing to divert the Curious or it was altogether not worth the while to Contemplate herein the wonderful Works of Nature because they are nearer to our own Doors And yet as it is not very easie to discover many other Countries where Nature hath been more diffusive of her choisest Blessings than in our Own so likewise to point out any one Place where she hath beeen more liberal in dispersing various and delightful Objects than within the Confines of this flourishing Monarchy a Scheme of which I take here the boldness to present to your Honour Upon which account I could have wish'd that I had Pourtray'd the Features in a more exact conformity to the first Lineaments of Nature but however it may miscarry in the Draught perhaps there may be something which may not prove altogether Indivertive when your vacant Hours from greater and more important Affairs in the Government in one of the highest Orbs of which Your experienc'd Wisdom and Integrity have most deservedly placed You will give You leave to cast some few glances on it SIR I confess I ought justly to Apologize for prefixing Your Great Name before so mean a Trifle whose late signal Service to the Ancient and Worthy Corporation and Port of Dover will alone perpetuate it to succeeding Generations But when again I consider Your great Candour and Goodness Your generous Temper and obliging Deportment with which You are wont to Proselyte all who have the Honour of Your Acquaintance I am apt to Flatter my self that You will please to Pardon this bold Address and look upon it only as indeed it is a sincere Testimony for me how ready and officious I am to express my Gratitude for the manifold Favours conferr'd upon SIR Your most Faithful and Obliged Servant James Brome A PREFACE TO THE READER IT will not I presume be thought amiss to acquaint the Reader that these Papers had in all probability lain long buried in Dust and Obscurity had not some false Copies which by chance came lately to the true Author's notice stole Clandestinely into the World under the specious Title of Mr. Roger's Three Years Travels over England and Wales c. which are indeed so unadvisedly patch'd together so wretchedly Curtail'd so horribly Imperfect and abominably Erroneous that the right Author was obliged in his own Vindication to publish from his own true Manuscript which hath been formerly and of late perused by the Hands of some Learned Men a more Authentick Copy And though he cannot as yet discover this mysterious Cheat which has for some time walked in Darkness yet to discourage for the future all such unbecoming mercenary Attempts he resolved at last with himself by a more correct Edition to expose the Plagiarism and Dishonesty of such vile Pultroons and scandalous Undertakers which have appeared with such open and brazen-faced Effrontery And though indeed they have put on what false Disguise they can to Cheat the World and set off the Book with the most plausible Varnishes that thereby they might the better recommend it to the Reader yet there doth appear throughout the whole Series of it such horrible Blunders and impardonable Mistakes such silly Shiftings and Turnings both of Things and Places such crude Apologies for its Brevity and in short such a shameful Contexture of Ignorance and Impudence closely link'd together by that unlearned Fry To give but one notorious Instance here for all their placing Page 99. the Seven Wonders of the Peak in Lancashire instead of Darbyshire though there are divers other as gross Errours if it be worth while to rake into them as their false Transcribing or leaving out quite divers proper Names of great Significancy as also what chiefly related to the Latin Tongue that as such uncomely Features will easily discover the Spuriousness of the Brood so no Pen can be sharp enough to expose the Disingenuity and Baseness of such a viperous Generation Now such a seasonable Advertisement as this is being sufficient to caution the unwary Reader against all other previous Editions will become as just an Apology for the present Publication of these ensuing Papers which if so useful and diverting as the World is told under a false Vizor will now prove it is to be hoped more pleasing and acceptable in their own true native Colours For they will here meet with a more full and accurate Description though not of every individual Town and Place of Note within the Dominions of Great Britain yet with a true and impartial Account of most Cities and Towns Corporate with their famous Cathedrals and other eminent Structures of the most remarkable Havens and Rivers of divers curious Caves Wells and Mines with many other divertive Passages and historical Relations with several ancient Inscriptions Epitaphs and Observations which were yet never taken notice of by any English Topographer which being some Years ago Penned for the use of Two Young Gentlemen Sons to Mr. Van-Acker formerly an eminent Merchant in London whom the Author had the happiness to accompany in these Travels is now again Revised to make it the more consummate and inviting So that whosoever is disposed to Travel Abroad or to see which indeed is most necessary first and acquaint himself with the Rarities of Nature at Home may know hereby in what Parts of our Island to find them and for those who having already visited remoter Regions are so strangely enravished with the prospect of Foreign Varieties that they are hardly brought to believe any thing in their own Native Soil equal to such Discoveries
was the first Bishop here say the Annals of Worcecester Angl. Sacr. pars prima about the year 680 under the high Altar whereof lies the Body of King John wrapped in a Monk's Cowl which the Superstition of that time accounted Sacred and a very necessary Defensative against all evil Spirits Here is likewise to be seen the Tomb of Arthur Prince of Wales the eldest Son of Henry VII with divers Monuments belonging to the ancient Family of the Beauchamps It was formerly a Cloyster for Monks but King Henry VIII did substitute in their Room a Dean and Prebendaries and erected a free School for the Education of the Citizen's Children It hath suffered great Calamities by Fire being burnt down by the Danes about the year 104.1 after this by an unknown Casualty under the Reign of Henry I. and once again in King Stephen's days and sure I am it hath of later years fall'n into the Hands of some merciless Men who were as raging as the Flames and whose Fury was as unquenchable as the Fire it self Witness the grievous Pressures it groaned under for its Loyalty to the King in the year 1651 For here it was that after his long Exile King Charles the Second arrived with an Army of Scots and some English the 22. of August and by the Assistance of the Citizens beat but the Soldiers who kept it for the Common-wealth and being proclaimed by the Mayor that then was and Sheriffs King of England c. Nevertheless was attended with the same ill Fortune and Success which was at that time his chief Attendants and having but a small Army in comparison of the numberless number of Rebels that were poured in upon him was totally defeated at this City several of his Nobles Slain and took Prisoners the rest forced to fly for their Lives and himself constrain'd to make his Escape as privately as he could and to betake himself into a Wood in Staffordshire where hiding himself in the shady Boughs of a well-spread Oak he found more Pity and Security from Trees and Woods than from some of his own unnatural and bloody Subjects However this City is now again restored to its Lustre and like the Phoenix being revived out of its own Ashes is raised up to its Prestine Splendour and Magnificence Having sufficiently satisfied our selves with the Varieties of that City we came into the Confines of the Eastern part of Herefordshire Herefordshire which appeared very Rocky and Mountainous at the first but having passed those Rocky parts we began to find the Country more pleasant to the Eye for we discovered it to be a Fertile Soil the Valleys thick with Corn and the Meadows abounding with Grass and well watered with Rivers the Hills covered with Sheep and the Hedges full of Apple-Trees which bear a sort of Fruit called Redstreaks of which they make the best Syder in England In a word we found it according to the usual Report which is made of it to yield to no Country in this Nation for three W. W. W Wheat Wool and Water to which formerly might have been added Wood but that the Iron Works have since destroyed it very much and made it become less plentiful Passing through Bramyard a small Market-Town of no great Consequence Mereford we came to Hereford the chief City of this County which is situated almost in the middle of it and watered by two pleasant Rivers Wye and Lugg which by their happy Union not far from this place advance her Felicity and enrich her Soil Antiquaries are of Opinion That this City had its Rise from Ariconium which hath at this day no manner of Form of a Town as having been thrown down by an Earthquake only some do imagine it to have stood in a place which they now call Kenchester three Miles distant from this City Kenchester and they do build their Conjectures from the Ruines of old Walls which are there Conspicuous as likewise from some four-square paving Tiles and thick Bricks as well as several Roman Coins digged up thereabouts though now the place which they mention is all over-grown with Shrubs Bushes and Brambles We observed when we went to visit this place three or four Receptacles in an old piece of Ruin'd Wall in which the Owners had found some Urns which argues the place to have been of great Antiquity however her Sister Hereford which is now become Beautiful by the others Decay justly claims the Pre-eminence above all other Places within this County She is thought first to have shown her Head under the Saxon Heptarchy and is supposed to have received great Helps and Increase by Religion and the Martyrdom of Ethelbert King of the East Angles who when he Courted the Daughter of Offa King of the Mercians was treacherously put to Death by Quendred Offa's Wife Hereupon being Registred as a Martyr he had a Church built and Dedicated to him by Milfrid King of the Mercians A. D. 825. which after the Establishment of a Bishop's See in it grew to great Wealth and Honour through the Devout and Pious Liberality of the Mercians and then of the West Saxons and is thought never to have suffered any Misfortune untill Edward the Confessor's time when Griffith Prince of South Wales and Algarus having raised a Rebellion against King Edward and led away Captive Leofgarus the Bishop sacked the City and burnt the Cathedral Afterward the Normans at the East End of the Church by the River Wye built a strong Castle Fortified the City with a Wall and by the Trench near the Castle is a very fine Spring call'd St. Ethelbert's Well St. Ethelbert's Well famous formerly for Miracles to which no question but in that Superstitious Age there was a great Resort of the Lame and the Blind with their Vows and their Offerings the Sanctity of Waters being such a Devout Fancy among our Ancestors as has been truly observed by that Indefatigable Searcher into Antiquity the Ingenious Mr. White Kennet that after Ages were forced to restrain the horrid Superstition of Well-Worship by a Canon in a Council under Edgar and after this too by some other Episcopal Injunctions Within this City are four Parish Churches and Bishop Reinelme in the Reign of King Henry I. founded the Cathedral that now is being a beautiful and magnificent Structure adorned with divers Monuments of ancient Prelates and Abbots To this adjoyns divers Houses for the Dignitaries of the Church and a College for 12 Vicars who live after an Academical way under a Praefectus who presides over them and supplies them with all Necessaries to encourage their Attendance upon all Divine Offices So ready were our Ancestors to promote Learning and advance such Persons whose quick and acute Parts were eclipsed under mean and slender Fortunes The City is govern'd by a Mayor who is Annually sworn upon Michaelmas-Day 12 Aldermen a Recorder and divers Common-Council Men and by their Charter have Privileges for particular Companies and Societies
latter gives them the Pre-eminence and yet certainly Nature never made greater Demonstrations of her Art than in such wonderful Phaenomena as we here observ'd in this place having made some of the Stones as smooth as the most expert Jeweller could have done as round and sharp as broad above and small beneath as the greatest Artist could have effected shaping some of them with four some of them with six Angles apiece like the Stones which we usually set in Rings and to make us still the more to admire her Perfections she hath not given them all one Colour but some of them are like Chrystal clear and some are of a more ruddy and sanguine Complexion according to the nature of the Soil by which means she causeth the Production not to be unlike the Parent There is one thing here still very remarkable and that is the Hot-Well The Hot-Well which is just at the bottom of this Rock and at the very brink of the River Avon by which though it is still overflow'd every Tide yet it still retains its natural heat and by its constant Ebullitions purgeth away all the Scum or saltish Froth it might have contracted from the salt Water the Water is exceeding wholsom very good to purge away ill Humours and purifie the Blood it gives some ease in the Stone and is useful as is reported for sore Eyes too which makes it much frequented and resorted to by all sorts of People From this Renowned City we travelled into Somersetshire Somersetshire a County of a very rich Soil Commodious for its Havens pleasant for its Fruit profitable for its Pasture and Tillage and sociable for its Inhabitants Some will have it it takes its Name from its comfortable Air and the wholsome refreshing Gales it affords in Summer which indeed then is truly affirm'd of it though in Winter-time that part of it which lies low moist and fenny must needs be troublesom and unhealthy that part of it which lies betwixt Bristol and Wells is more Hilly and Mountainous and the Hills call'd Mendipp-Hills Mendipp-Hills under which Wells is situated are very remarkable being in old Records call'd Munedupp or rather Moinedupp from the many Knolls there visible and steepness of their Ascents as also Mineragia from their richness of leaden Mines the Ore of which being digged thereabouts in great abundance and afterward melted down into Pigs and Sows as they are there call'd the Lead is convey'd to Bristol and from thence it is transported into divers other parts Wells Wells which is the chief City of the Province receives its Denomination from the variety of fresh and wholsom Springs which bubble up about it the Houses therein are well contriv'd and built of Stone the Government by the Mayor and his Brethren safe and regular but the chief Ornament hereof is the Cathedral built by King Ina in honour to St. Andrew enlarged by Kenewulph one of his Successors and since much enriched by the Liberality and Piety of divers Religious Benefactors it was made a Bishop's See in the Reign of Edward the Senior and Athelmus was constituted the first Bishop here Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 556. but afterward Johannes Turonensis united Bath and Wells together and ever since the Bishop hath received both these Titles In the late unhappy times of Charles I. this Church underwent the same Calamities which was then in this Nation the Lot of all such Religious places and became a grateful Prey to Rapine and Sacrilege but at the happy Restauration of our Religion and Government it returned again by degrees to its Primitive Magnificence and Lustre and the Quire of it yields now to few for Workmanship whether we consider the Artificial Bosses very delicately gilded which adorn it above or the curious Columns which uphold it below or the Bishops Seat of Marble set out with most glorious Embellishments supported with rich Pillars and with its Towring Pyramids being the Head and Ornament in a more especial manner of the Quire as he is of the Church To this I may add the variety of carved Images which almost environ the Body of the Church without containing the History both of the Old and New Testament and the curious Architecture of the Chapter-House supported only by one large Column which stands in the middle of it to all which may be added the Bishop's Palace built Castle-wise of great Grandeur which appositely becomes a Father of the Church to be seated in But the most remarkable and which cannot but have the Suffrage of all Travellers to be the most admirable piece of Nature's Workmanship in our English Nation is a place call'd Ochy-Hole some two Miles distant from this City 't is a Cave under a high Rock situated among the Mendipp-Hills I before mention'd of which I shall endeavour to give a Description as briefly as I can Ochy-Hole After that we had with some difficulty climbed up to the top of a Rock we went along the Brow of the Hill till we came to the Mouth of the Cave where a Door being open'd that gave us an Entrance we lighted up Candles to direct us in the way and took Staffs in our Hands to support us in our Passage and in we ventur'd Having gone forward some few paces we found the Cave very craggy as well as hollow and so dark that nothing sure but Tartarus it self could resemble it the Candles though six in number and of a large size scarce burning so bright as one great one doth usually in an open Room we then thought certainly we were arrived upon the Confines of the Infernal Regions or else were got into some such dismal place as the Italians tell us the Sibylline Grotto is and we began to be afraid we might probably meet with the same unwelcome Entertainment the Boeotick Cave of Trophonius used to give those who were so curious to visit it namely that though they enter'd in frolicksom and merry yet they should certainly return out of it sad and pensive and never laugh more whilst they lived upon Earth Such dreadful Apprehensions did at first seize upon some of us and indeed we had cause to fear such dismal Operations might proceed from this as well as from the other since both were equally uncomfortable by reason of their deprivation from the least glimmerings of light and consequently had the same Circumstances to beget both horrour and astonishment however we pluck'd up our Spirits and crept in one after another as fast as we could conveniently The Cave as we went along was parted into several kind of Rooms the names whereof our Guides informed us to be thus The first was the Kitchen in which by the Door sticks out a large mass of the Rock which they tell us was the Porter's Head formerly the Keeper of this Cave it seems to bear that kind of resemblance and tho' by that is a Stone which they call the Tomb-stone under which they report
Prince unawares in the Breast of which he died immediately and was brought hither and buried in this place though afterwards they say his Bones were translated and put into the same Coffin with those of King Canutus At the West End of the Quire stand two Statues in Brass very curiously wrought the one of King James I. and the other of his Son King Charles I. of Blessed Memory but that which is most remarkable in this Cathedral is the rich and famous Monument of William of Wickham who from a mean Beginning by the Favour of Edward III. was created Bishop of Winchester and having after this run likewise through all the Grand Stages of Temporal Honour in this Kingdom though now and then the Wheel of Fortune turn'd very cross against him he by that means became no less a Benefactour to the Church than he still approved himself an Ornament to the State and to perpetuate his Name with the greater Glory to succeeding Generations he built in this City a College and liberally endow'd it for the Education of Youth and for a Seminary to New College in Oxford also founded by him and notwithstanding the great Expences he must needs have been at in Erecting two such large and noble Structures as these were he Re-built likewise the present Body of the Cathedral where his own Body lies Interr'd Nor did all this lessen his Charity or diminish his Hospitality for he fed both Rich and Poor as his Tomb Stone informs us and for all this died exceeding Rich and deceasing in the Reign of King Henry IV. when he was Fourscore years old he bequeathed great Legacies to Persons of all Degrees and gave something at his Death to every Church throughout his Diocess * See the Life of this Great and Worthy Prelate VVrote by Tho. Chandler Chancellour of Oxford Angl. Sacr. Pars a. p. 355. Here is one thing yet further not to be pass'd by in Silence That when King Alfred divided his Kingdom into Counties Hundreds and Tythings he had an Inquisition taken and digested into a Register call'd Dome-boc which was reposited in the Church of Winchester thence call'd Codex Wintoniensis a Model afterward followed by William the Conquerour in his Domes-Day Book which Mr. Kennet observes was for some time kept in the same Church But to return again into our Discourse relating to the City we find it not only to have attain'd a great Eminency for its Religious Houses for its pleasant Gardens for its Brooks and Meadows for its publick and private Edifices for its great Hall wherein the Assizes are usually held for the County of Southampton not to be parallell'd for length and breadth by any throughout this Nation except Westminster but likewise for the true and exact Rules of Equity and Justice which are follow'd and prescrib'd by its chief Magistrates and Governours and before we take our leaves of it we shall add for a Conclusion that as in the time of Athelstane King of the West Saxons that Invincible Hero Guy Earl of Warwick is reported in a single Combat to have slain Colobraild the Danish Giant in Hide-Mead near this City so Waltheof Earl of Northumberland being beheaded here without the Walls in the Reign of William the Conquerour is observ'd as the very first Example of Beheading in this Island Having took a sufficient Prospect of the great Curiosities of this place Surrey we advanc'd forward into Surrey q. d. South Rey from its Situation on the Southside of the Thames the Saxons calling that Rey which we term a River The Skirts of this County are noted for their Fruitfulness and the middle parts for their Barrenness which has occasion'd the saying That Surrey is like a course piece of Cloth with a fine List However in point of Health the middle parts have the advantage besides the Pleasure they yield by their Downs in Hunting and Horse-Races 'T is adorn'd is most places with very stately Palaces of Gentlemen and Merchants who by reason of the Parks well stor'd with Deer and the Rivers replenished with Fish have no Divertisement wanting to recreate their Bodies and gratifie their Senses The first Town of Note we ariv'd at here was Farnham Farnham receiving its Denomination very probably from the great quantity of Fern which grows thereabouts 'T is a Town of no very large Extent but situated in a wholsom Soil and a pleasant Air and for its further Accommodation hath the conveniencies of a Market for those Commodities which the Inhabitants mostly want Here it was that in the year 894 saith the Saxon Chronicle King Alfred routed a great Army of the Danes with a small Party taking from them a considerable Booty and putting them to flight to the River Colne in Essex After this when King Stephen gave a general Toleration for building Castles and Fortresses Henry his Brother then Bishop of Winchester built for himself in this place a magnificent Castle but proving in length a Nursery and Receptacle for Sedition and Rebellion King Henry III. quite demolish'd and pull'd it down though afterwards it was again Re-edified by the Bishops of Winchester to whom it peculiarly belongs and is at present a glorious Seat for the Prelates of that See Guilford Passing from hence through Guilford a Town of good Note seated on the River Wey consisting of three Parishes well frequented and full of fair Inns we observ'd here still the Ruines of a large old Castle near the River and have since learnt That the Saxon Kings had formerly a Royal Mansion here in whose times it was a place of a greater Extent Kingston Coming after this to Kingston a Market-Town of good Resort we were inform'd that it went anciently by the Name of Moreford but after that chang'd its Name to Kingston when it had the Honour to become a place for the Coronation of the Saxon Monarchs Athelstan Edwin and Ethelred being here Crown'd Kings upon an open Stage in the Market-place Richmond And now we began to draw near to our Journies end but calling in at Richmond heretofore call'd Sheen we found it still a Town of a considerable Account though perhaps no less in the Reign of King Edward III. who when he had lived sufficiently both to Glory and Nature died at this very place King Henry VII gave it the Name of Richmond from the Title he bore before he obtain'd the Crown of England and ended his Life here as did after him here likewise the most Glorious and Puissant Queen Elizabeth From hence pacing along by the Noble River Thames which is on both sides of it wonderfully graced with many pleasant Towns and Villages we arriv'd again in safety at the Renown'd Metropolis of England The End of the First Journey To the Right Worshipful George Elcock of Barham Esq One of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Kent SIR THE great Civilities you are naturally inclined to shew all Travellers who have seen and
it Populous and Rich the same is a Bishop's See joyn'd with Litchfield to which it was united by Hugo Novant about the latter end of the Twelfth Century Leofrick Earl of Mercia about the year 1050 built an Abby here for black Monks to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin Rob. de Limesie Bishop of Chester removed his Seat hither Temp. Hen. 1. one of whose Successors expell'd the Monks and placed Secular Canons in their Room A. D. 1191. but seven years after the Monks were restored The same Leofrick the first Lord of this City being much offended and angry with the Citizens oppressed them with most heavy Tributes which he would remit upon no other Condition at the earnest Suit of his Wife Godina unless she would her self ride on Horseback Naked through the greatest and most inhabited Street of the City which she did indeed being covered only with her fair long Hair Also a Proclamation was Published Commanding all People to keep close within their Houses to shut their Doors and Windows and no Person on Pain of Death to appear in that Street where she Rode nor so much as to look into it whether out of a Window or otherwise Upon which as she was Riding along Naked one Man more curious than ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discover'd was apprehended and hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man doth appear that is continually kept up for a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and call'd by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus did she free her Citizens of Coventry from any such further rigorous Payments Gatford-Gate One thing is still observable That at Gatford-Gate there hangeth up to be seen a mighty great Shield-Bone of a wild Bore or rather of an Elephant being not so little as a yard in length which some believe Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turn'd up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now call'd Swanse-well but Swines-well in times past Coleshill and Litchfield i. e. Cadaverum Campus aut Campus irriguus à Saxon. leccian irrigare Mr. Gibson in his Explication of Saxon Places Passing through Coleshill a little Market Town after about Twelve Miles riding the Road brought us to Litchfield a City low seated of good largeness and fair withal divided into two parts with a shallow Pool of clear Water which parts notwithstanding joyn in one by the means of two Bridges or Causeys made over with Sluces in them for the passage of the Water That part which lies on the Southside of the Water is much the greater and divided into several Streets It hath been doubtless a place of very great Antiquity for we read That Oswy King of the Northumbers A. D. 656 built a Cathedral-Church and placed here a Bishop call'd Duima for the Kingdom of Mercia and the Saxon Chronicle tells us Angl. Sacr Pars prima p. 423. That in the year 716 Ceolred King of the Mercians died and was buried in this place King Ossa about A. D. 786 made it an Archbishops See which Honour it injoyed for ten years and then was again subjected to Canterbury It was Translated A. D. 1075. to Chester and from thence to Coventry A. D. 1102. but the Bishops not long after being setled here again Bishop Clinton built a new Cathedral Church Dedicating it to the Virgin Mary and St. Chadd and restored and augmented the Chapter and now this City and Coventry with it make up but one Diocess under a double Name which came to pass after the same manner and much about the same time as Bath and Wells were joyn'd together into one Bishoprick When this Town in the late unhappy Civil Wars fell into a state of Suffering the Cathedral at that time was a Fellow-sharer with it and through the insatiable Malice of some ill Wishers to it it became a Sacrifice to their merciless Fury but since the happy Restauration through the indefatigable Zeal and boundless Charity of Bishop Hacket and other noble and generous Benefactors it has began again to revive out of its own Ashes and to retrieve its Primitive Splendour and Beauty mounting up aloft with three Pyramids of Stone which make a lovely shew and for elegant and proportionable Buildings will in due time it is to be hoped equal some other Cathedrals The next County we visited was Leicestershire Leicestershire which though in very many parts is deep and Miry yet the richness of the Soil doth sufficiently compensate for the unpleasantness of the Roads which is generally fruitful with all sorts of Grain especially Pease and Beans of which there are so great Stacks that they cover the Fields with their infinite Numbers and what is wanting in Wood is supply'd by their Coal-Mines which they have in great abundance When we had passed through Bosworth Bosworth and Redmore a Market Town famous for the Battle fought upon Redmore near it betwixt Richard III. and Henry VII by the Issue whereof the Crown return'd from the House of York to the House of Lancaster Liecester was formerly call'd by the Britains Kaerlirion Rudborn and so an end was put to the bloody Wars that had so long continued between those two Houses We came to Leicester the Metropolis of the County which is more venerable for its Antiquity than its present Comeliness or Beauty I find this to have been a Bishop See about the year 680 and that Sexwulphus was first installed in the Episcopal Chair at the Command of Ethelred King of the Mercians which continued not long in 914. Ethelfleda a noble and discreet Lady Rebuilt it and surrounded it with Walls after which in the time of the Normans it flourished exceedingly and Temp. Henry I. Robert Earl of Leicester founded a College of a Dean and Twelve Prebendaries the Church of St. Marys the less in the Castle But Crouch-back Robert Earl hereof having raised a Rebellion against King Henry II. the Town was Besieged and taken and the Castle quite dismantled hard by which there is a fair though ancient Hospital in the Chapel whereof Henry Earl of Lancaster and Henry his Son the first Duke of Lancaster lie Interr'd which Duke being very Aged and willing to give some visible Testimony of his Charity built this Hospital for the use and Maintainance of divers poor aged decrepit Persons of both Sexes and on the other side amongst those flowry Meadows which the River Soar enricheth with its bubling Streams Robert Bossu Earl of Leicester built an Abby of Canons Regular of St. Austin's Order to the Honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of which Order by the consent of his Wife Amicia he became himself the chief Canon and lived in this place Fifteen years a Monk as hoping to atone for some of his former Crimes by taking upon him this Religious Habit. Here Richard III. was obscurely Interr'd after that fatal Battle at Bosworth before-mention'd
most admirable Rarities and refreshed our selves a while after some few troublesom Fatigues we mounted again and made the best of our way thro' Ashbourn Ashbourn another Market-Town of a considerable Trade to Vtcester or Vtoxeter Utcester which being within the Limits of Staffordshire is situated upon the River Dove amongst verdant Meadows and consequently rich in Pasture and Castle Historians tell us that Vlferus King of Mercia residing at his Castle of Vlfercester contractly Vlcester and understanding that his Son Vlfade had carried his Brother Ruffus under a pretended colour of Hunting to St. Chad a famous Father of the Church in those days and that they were both instructed and baptized into the Christian Faith by the persuasion of Werebode a great Favourite of his goes immediately to the Oratory of this Holy Man where finding both his Sons in a devout Contemplation he kills them immediately with his own Hand whereupon Ermenhelde his Queen and their Mother entombed them in a Sepulchre of Stone and in process of time caused a Church of Stone to be erected over them which place was afterward called Stones by reason of the many Stones that were brought hither by devout People in order for this sacred Structure After this Vlfer being extreamly dissatisfied with this inhumane Action and repenting heartily for his barbarous Butchery did himself turn Christian and to shew his Zeal for the Christian Cause destroyed the Pagan Temples burnt their Idols and erected divers Churches and Religious Houses in their stead As we travelled along we found this County of a healthy Air and pleasant Soil Staffordshire though Northward it appears more hilly and barren in some parts it is full of Woods in others it abounds with Coal and Iron and so great was formerly the number of Parks and Warrens here that most Gentlemens Seats were accommodated with both It s principal Rivers are the Dove which so enricheth the Ground that the adjacent Meadows are noted for yielding as some will have it the sweetest Mutton in England and the famous Trent which runs along thro' the middle of the County being commonly reputed the third River in England receives its Denomination either say some because there are Thirty Rivolets which run into it or Thirty sorts of Fish that swim within its Streams nay others go so far as positively to assert what the Hungarians do of their River Tibiscus that two Parts are Water and the third Fish Stafford Stafford is about ten Miles from Vtcester of great Antiquity and hath gone under divers Names it was at first built by Edward the Senior under the name of Betheny where one Berteline that was afterward Canoniz'd for a Saint for his great Piety led an Hermites Life afterward Statford and now Stafford The noble Lady Elfleda Wife to Ethelred Duke of Mercia was very liberal in her Contributions in order to its Repairs as she was likewise to divers other eminent Cities who had suffered by the Danes 'T is situated in a fair Soil and a sweet Air on the Banks of the River Sowe with a Bridge over it 't is adorn'd with two Churches one whereof is very large and spacious and a Free-School beautified with a large and uniform Market-Place in which is a House where the Assizes are held for the County the Streets are clean and well paved the Buildings of Stone and Slate and some of the Structures are very modish and beautiful King John made it a Corporation and Edward the Sixth confirmed and enlarged the Charter Here was a Priory of Black Canons built by Rich. Peche Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield A. D. 1162. to the Memory of St. Thomas of Canterbury and a College of a Dean and Canons dedicated to St. Mary and not far from hence are to be seen the Ruins of an ancient Castle belonging heretofore to the Barons of Stafford but in our late unhappy Broils it underwent the same Fate which divers other Castles did then undergo Whilst we were resident in this place we had some notice that the great Asylum which preserved his Sacred Majesty King Charles Second was not far from this place whereupon being then a little impatient to behold that unparallell'd Sanctuary we went from hence to Long Birch Long-Birch a pleasant Seat situate about eight or nine Miles from Stafford and as then finding no convenient Opportunity to finish some particular Business which we had there to dispatch we rode on till we came at last to that noted Wood where that famous Oak stood in which his Majesty was preserved The Royal Oak we found it paled in with high Pales which were beset with Spikes of Iron to keep off all Sons of Violence from offering it any harm 'T is true a little before his Majesty's Restauration the whole Wood being felled the top of this with the upper Branches were all then lopt off but the Body of it did then remain very firm and entire and was ordered to be preserved to future Generations Not far from that Wood stands a House called the White Lady's The White Lady 's belonging to the Penderels who though but at first of a mean Extraction and Fortune yet could never be bribed to betray their Sovereign who for some time lay thereabouts concealed amongst them And indeed all things did so strangely concur to his Majesty's Protection that Providence seem'd to have laid a golden Link of Causes on purpose to be instrumental to his glorious Preservation thus tho the Oak stood by the common High-way which led through the Wood and the bloody Sons of Mars rode under the very Boughs of it whilst the King was there present though the Persons who at first had provided him that Sanctuary being poor and indigent might have been wrought upon to betray their Trust and rather balanced that way by the great Rewards that were then promised and Majesty being then at a very low Ebb a Royal Assurance of some future remembrance might have then passed for a very unsuitable and insignificant Obligation to Fidelity and though those grand Secrets being committed to some of the other Sex might have been in danger to have slipped thro' such chinky crannies yet all went well not the least discovery was made of any thing and impartial Justice and Loyal Piety did never more visibly appear in the Cottages of the Country than when Rural Swains became Protectors of their injured Sovereign and Majesty was shrouded safely under a Peasant's Weeds We retired from hence to a Village called Tonge Tonge about 3 Miles farther within the Limits of Shropshire which receives its Name from an old ruinated Castle belonging to the Family of the Pierpoints * Isabel the Wife of Fulk Penbridge Kt. Founded here a Collegiate Church and dedicated it to St. Bartholomew A. D 1131. where finding but little to divert us save what the Church afforded us with its Ring of tunable Bells one whereof is of very large size and near
akin to the famous Bell called Great Tom of Lincoln we went to view the Slitting Mills which slit Iron in sunder being but a small distance from this place but the noise was so terrible before we came at them that one would have thought the Clouds had been running Re-encounters and Jove with his Thunder-Claps had utterly prohibited us any further access and when we came near there was such flashes of Lightning such hot Vapours and Steams that we might justly conclude we were got within the Territories of Vulcan and that these were some of the Cyclopean Race who were here employed to hammer out their Livings with Fire and Smoke the Wheels of the Mill are put in motion by a current of Water that streams along by it the Hammers which are continually redoubling their strokes are ponderous and massy and the Men which are at work seem to be in no happier a Condition than they who dig at the Mines or tug at the Galleys for they work Night and Day after so indefatigable a manner that the very Heat preys upon their Bodies and shortens their Days the place was soon too hot for us and the noise too troublesom and therefore we journeyed on to visit more of the County The Country appear'd to us no less pleasant than its Neighbours Shropshire and is of a wholesom and temperate Air affording Health to the Inhabitants at all Seasons of the Year this was sufficiently verified in old Thomas Parr of Alderbury who lived 152 Years and saw no less than ten Reigns he was born here in 1483 in the Reign of Edward the Fourth and died in 1635 and lies buried at Westminster The Soil is generally fertile standing most upon a reddish Clay and yields plenty of Pit-Coals and Iron and has ever been in great repute for its populous Towns and Castles for bordering upon Wales the Noblemen here and Persons of Quality were very sollicitous to preserve themselves secure against any Incursions of the Welsh and hereupon they fortified their Houses to prevent all Dangers and this dividing England from Wales was call'd the Marches for the defence of which the Lords here and Gentlemen have enjoy'd formerly very great Privileges and Immunities but since the Union of these two Kingdoms as all Hostilities have ceased so their ancient Rights and Privileges are not now so much insisted on Here are found in divers parts of this County several large Elms and other Trees under Ground which have been supposed to lie there ever since the General Deluge they are so dry that being slit into small shivers they burn like Candles and are made use of sometimes by the poorer sort instead of the other Shrewsbury In the midst of the County upon the Banks of the Severne is seated upon a Hill the famous City of Shrewsbury by the Britains named Caerpengren by the Saxons called Scrobbesbirig and by the Normans Sloppesbury and Salop 't is almost surrounded with the River and strengthened with a large and broad Wall where in some places two or three may walk abreast and upon that part of it which looks towards Wales stands the Water-House in which is a Well many fathoms deep from which the Water drawn up there by Horses in great Buckets is conveyed by Pipes into all parts of the City there being convenient steps contrived from the bottom of the Ground to the top of the Well for the Beasts to go forward and backward from their accustom'd Labours Roger Montgomery in the Reign of William the Conqueror built on the North-side of it a strong Castle and founded here A. D. 1083. a Benedictine Abbey to the Honour of St. Peter and St. Paul Besides which here were likewise two Colleges of St. Mary and St. Chad. The School was Founded by the most Heroick Queen Elizabeth which being a fair and uniform Structure built of Free-stone is govern'd by a Master and two Ushers and well furnished with a useful Library As to the neatness of its Streets and Buildings it yields to few other Cities in England and for publick Devotion it has five Parish Churches two of which are beautified with lofty Spires the City is governed by a Mayor Recorder and two Sheriffs who live generally in great Repute and Grandeur and the three Market-Days which are here every Week cause a very great Concourse both of the Welsh and other Persons and occasions a considerable Trade in this place Near to which a sharp Battel was fought A. D. 1673. between Henry IV. and Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland which place was called Battle-Field where the King erected a College of Secular Canons to the Honour of St. Mary Magdalen for the Honour of that Victory But I must not omit to speak of one thing more that in the Year 1551 the Sweating-Sickness which destroyed so many breaking forth first here dispersed it self at length over the whole Nation Passing from hence we rode through Stretton Stretton ten Miles distant from this City and there being three of them which join close to one another Little-Stretton Church-Stretton and All-Stretton the middlemost being a Market Town is of greatest Note But finding here nothing to detain us we made no stop till we arrived at Ludlow Ludlow the chief Town in this County 't is of greater Antiquity than Beauty situated by the River Corve defended by a Wall and Castle both built by Roger Earl of Montgomery When Robert de Belasme Earl of Shrewsbury and Son to Montgomery was taken Prisoner in his Rebellion against Henry the First the King then seised it after this it was given away from the Crown by Henry the Second and came into the Possession of the Lacys from thence to the Mortimers and at last it became the Inheritance of the Princes of Wales and by this means beginning to come into great Repute the Inhabitants erected here a very stately Church so that in a little time it excelled all its Neighbourhood Kenry Henry the Eighth instituting here the Council of the Marches Here was Young Edward the Fifth at the Death of his Father and here died Prince Arthur eldest Son of Henry the Seventh both being sent hither by their Fathers for the same end viz. by their Presence to satisfie and keep in order the unruly Welsh But before I leave this County I must not forget Pitchford Pitchford a Village very eminent for its Well of Pitch which though it be scumm'd off returns again and swims aloft upon the Surface of the Water Cambden is of Opinion that it is rather a Bituminous kind of Matter such as is in the Lake Asphaltites in Palestine or in a Fountain by the Hill Agragas in Sicily however the Inhabitants are said to make the same use of it which they do of Pitch but whether like that in Jewry it hath the same Balsamick Virtues of drawing out Corruption or healing Wounds or is of any efficacy against the Falling-Sickness I have yet met with none
and Wulpit Needham Stow and Wulpit Towns of little Fame or Repute but what accrues to them by their Markets or the River Orwell which enricheth the Soil to St. Edmunds-Bury the Eye and indeed the pleasant Elysium of the whole County St. Edmunds-Bury This Town is call'd St. Edmunds-Bury from Edmund the Martyr King of the East-Angles who for refusing to renounce the Christian Faith was shot to Death by Arrows at Hoxon by the Danes and was buried in this Place It is further styled by Antiquaries Villa Faustini and though it be not the same with the Poet Martial's which he so elegantly describes yet it no ways falls short in any thing which may render it amiable or delightful for 't is Situated in a Pleasant Air in a wholesom Soil not in any part annoyed with noisom Fogs or offensive Vapours but so liberally enriched by Nature with a contribution of all Varieties which may illustrate and beautifie it that it draws hither great numbers of Persons of Quality and there is hardly to be met withal in any Town Corporate of our British Island a more noble Colony or glorious Asterism of the Gentry than is visibly shining in this renowned Sphere The Town it self hath been very famous for a large and stately Monastery Founded by Canutus in Honour of St. Edmund whom his Father Suenus had caused to be put to Death to expiate which Murther being affrighted with a Vision of St. Edmund he erected a curious Structure beautifying it with costly Ornaments enriching it with great Revenues and offering his own Crown at the Martyr's Tomb. As the Incomes which the Monks hereby enjoyed were very considerable so were the Privileges granted to them unspeakable being under the Government of a Seneschal or Steward who did not only govern them but preside over the whole Town besides by whose strict Order and Discipline the Townsmen were so awed and kept under that in King Edward the Third's Reign they rose up in Arms against the Monks took away all their Gold and costly Habiliments their Books Charters with the Assay of their Coins Stamp and all other things appertaining to their Mint for which they were afterwards sharply punished and fined by the King and enforced to cry Peccavi and make a full Restitution of what they had so unjustly defaulked from them After this Broil was over it encreased again in such Wealth and Honour great Offerings being daily made at St. Edmund's Shrine that it appeared rather like a City than a Monastery so many Gates it had for entrance and many of them Brass so many Towers and above all a most glorious Church and thus it continued till the final Dissolution of it by King Henry the Eighth since which there remains nothing now but the Carcass of that ancient Structure and yet even still by its Ruins it is easie to conjecture what a majestick Fabrick it once was To this adjoins two large Churches of curious Architecture dedicated the one to St. James and the other to St. Mary and in that spacious Church Yard in which they both stand being only parted by a decorous shady Walk of Trees as the Assizes for the County are held at the further end of it in a Court-House erected for that purpose so there are divers Monuments dispersed all over it with various ancient inscriptions but three Epitaphs in a more especial manner we did more particularly take notice of The first is an Epitaph upon Charles Granger a Shooemaker who died when he was almost Fourscore Brave Hero whose attempts in Martial Camp Such radiant Lustre on your name instamp That now 't is dubious which displays more light T' our spacious Hemisphere the Sun or it You dead your Trophies live and live to be Sacred Monuments to all Posterity But unkind Fate that cut the Thread so soon Of hastned Life not to its period spun But sublime Soul that could no longer stay On Earth this humile Prison than to pay Your triple Debt in Christian Duty own To King to Country and Religion Which paid you soon took flight exchanged soon This dungeon Earth for a Celestial Throne The second is upon Christopher Barret's Tomb-stone a Youth whose Elogy is this Puer boni ingenii Or Puer bono ingenio The third is upon one Joan Kitchin Here lies Joan Kitchin when her Glass was spent She kick'd up her Heels and away she went Which puts me in mind of another I met with elsewhere which I think not amiss to insert here likewise for the Readers Diversion Here lies John Cabott under this Stone One thousand six hundred forty and one Whether alive or dead 't is all one Neither lament nor make any moan Yet under his Head lay a Turf or a Stone Or any thing else or nothing 't is all one Yet pray for John Cabott since he is gone Or if you please you may let it alone For whether you pray or pray not 't is all one On the Front of that noble and spacious Gate which leads into the Abbey is a place called the Angel-Hill very signal for its row of curious Buildings most of which belong to Persons of Quality and a little further in the North-Gate-street besides several Houses of great Note and Eminency stands the Free-School being a new Structure erected of Brick by the liberal Contribution of well-disposed Benefactors The ancient Station for the School was formerly in the East-Gate-street and was Built and Endowed by King Edward the Sixth with a generous Minerval for a Master and Usher and four Exhibitions for four Scholars at their Transplantation to the University of Cambridge but that being very inconvenient by reason of a little Rivolet which running along by it by whose muddy streams it was frequently overflowed and the School it self much impair'd and gone to decay through the care and prudence of its Governors who are Twelve in number and the assistance of some other worthy Gentlemen within the Neighbourhood thereof it was translated at last into a better Soil and fixed in a more pleasant and convenient place On the Front of it stands the Statue of King Edward the Sixth and at the upper end of the School were placed his Royal Arms with this Inscription Edwardus Sextus posuit Virtutis Alumnus Gratis disce puer Regia namque Schola est The Master and Usher who here preside are Persons of no less Note than Learning and by the great Concourse of Scholars which flock hither and have come to this place from the remotest Parts of the Nation 't is easie to guess at the strictness of their Discipline and their admirable way of instructing Youth which seems here to be Hereditary there having of late been successively three Masters of great Worth and Honour viz. Mr. Dickenson Dr. Stephens and Mr. Leeds the present Master who hath sufficiently signalized his Name to Posterity by several useful and learned Books he hath published under the last of which I had the
the Serpent and Horn of Plenty But Plenty and Wit So seldom do hit That they fall not to One in Twenty VIII But above these things all Stands a Fellow that 's small With a Quadrant discerning the Wind And says he 's a Fool That travels from Scole And leaves his good Liquor behind IX Near the top of the Sign Stand three on a Line One is Temperance still pouring out And Fortitude will Drink what Temperance fill And fears not the Stone or the Gout X. The next to these three You 'll an Vsurer see With a Prodigal Child in his Mouth 'T is Time as some say And well so it may For they be Devourers both XI The last that you stare on Is old Father Charon Who 's wafting a Wench o'er the Ferry Where Cerberus doth stand To watch where they Land And together they go to be merry XII Now to see such a Change Is a thing that is strange That One who as Stories do tell us His Money has lent At Fifty per Cent A College should build for good Fellows XIII But under this Work Does a Mystery lurk That shews us the Founder's design He has chalk'd out a way For Gallants to stray That their Lands may be his in kind XIV That 's first an Ale-Bench Next Hounds then a Wench With these three to Roar and to Revel Brings the Prodigal's Lands To the Vsurer's Hands And his Body and Soul to the Devil XV. Now if you would know After all this ado By what Name this Sign should be known Some call it this and some that And some I know not what But it is many Signs in one XVI 'T is a sign that who built it Had more Money than Wit And more Wealth than he got or can use 'T is a sign that all we Have less Wit than he That come hither to Drink and may chuse We reposed our selves here one Night but the next day we travelled on to Bungay Bungay about eight Miles further a place much Renown'd for some remains of Antiquity 't is water'd by the River Waveney near to which Hugh Bigod in the Barons Wars built a Castle which by reason of its Situation and artificial Contrivances became so strong and impregnable that he thought it beyond the Conquest of the most valiant Monarch and did esteem himself so safe when immured in this Asylum that he would frequently Hector and make his Brags in some such Rhymes as these Were I in my Castle of Bungay Vpon the River of Waveney I would not care for the King of Cockney And yet notwithstanding such his vaunting Harangues he was afterward forced to submit both that and himself to the Mercy of King Henry the Second and could not without great Sums of Money and sufficient Pledges for his future Loyalty obtain the Favour from him that this Castle might not be demolished when divers others underwent the same Calamities Halesworth From hence passing away through Halesworth formerly called Healsworda which was made a Market Town by King Henry the Third at the request of Sir Rich. Argenton whose Families were here seated we came to Sowld Southwold alias Southwold where is a Haven of great Note in this County 't is situate some Miles North from Dunwich Dunwich antiently a Bishop's See and a potent City though now almost quite overwhelmed by the merciless Ocean it stands upon a Cliff the Sea on the East the Harbour on the South the River Blith with a Draw Bridge on the West and a small neck of land on the North so that it is in a manner surrounded with Water especially at every Flood its Bay called Southwold-Bay but commonly pronounced Sowlds-Bay is chiefly made by the shooting forth of the Easton Ness which lies North-East from it and covers it from Northerly Winds The commodiousness of Anchorage makes many Vessels lie near by reason of which the Mariners become good Benefactors to it and contribute exceedingly to its Trade and Commerce 'T is very famous for the many Rendezvouz's of our Royal Fleets near to which the English and Dutch have so frequently disputed their Maritime Privileges with Powder and Bullet where their resolute Courage hath been so Renown'd amongst the neighbouring Nations that they have even trembled at their furious Onsets as if every Broad-side had been a Thunder-clap from Heaven which presently threatned their immediate Destruction that though they became Victims to each other's Fury yet memorable Trophies of their invincible Valour will still remain to succeeding Generations Lestoff Lestoff a little narrow Town which stands upon the Sea being the last Market Town we visited in this County made us quickly a Passage for its neighbouring County of Norfolk which are parted by the Rivers Ouse and Wavency 'T is a Region of a large extent Norfolk and near the Sea is Champaign and yields plenty of Corn in other parts Woody or full of Heaths well covered with Sheep and Conies 't is adorn'd with divers curious Seats of the Nobility and Gentry and as the Villages stand thick so the Market-Towns are numerous but that which is too Remarkable though in some few places the Churches appear very decorous and splendid yet the generality of them are poor and mean Fabricks being for the most part thatch'd or covered with Straw or Reeds and endowed with very small and inconsiderable Revenues a thing not much for the Honour of our English Reformation Yarmouth Yarmouth was the first Town of any Note which entertained us with a pleasant and divertive Prospect the Haven is as commodious as the Town beautiful being fortified both by Art and Nature For although it be environed almost round with Water on the West-side with the River Yare from whence it receives its Name which hath a draw Bridge over it and from other Parts with the Ocean unless it be Northward where there is firm Land yet it is likewise inclosed with a very strong Wall upon which besides Towers is cast up a Mount towards the East and are planted several Pieces of Ordnance to defend the Town and command the Sea There is but one Church but that fair and lofty adorned with a high spire Steeple built at first by Herbert Bishop of Norwich but there are divers clean and spacious Streets on each side of which are several rows of very uniform Buildings inhabited by wealthy and gentile Persons That this Town is of no great standing but received its beginning from the Ruines of old Gariannonum is the general vogue of all Antiquaries And 't is certain that Cerdick a valiant Saxon Captain coming here to the place which is still called Cerdick-shore about the Year 895 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us together with his Son Cynrick and five Ships and finding it much decayed by reason the River Y are had diverted its Current another way planted a Colony of Saxons in a moist and watery Ground upon the West-side of the River which place he
Scruffel wotes full of that And there goes also this usual By-Word concerning the height as well of this Hill as of the other two Skiddaw Lanvellin and Casticand Are the highest Hills in all England Nay so liberal to it is Nature in the distribution of her largesses that she seems to have enriched it with every thing that may any way be conducible to Health as well as Wealth for here are such Varieties of vulnerary Plants which grow plentifully in these parts especially near to the Picts-Wall that in the beginning of Summer many Persons that are curious in these things come hither out of Scotland on purpose to Simple here are likewise upon the Sea-Coast very frequently discovered Trees at Low-water which have been covered with Sand and that in many other mossy places of the Shire they digg up Trees without boughs and that by the directions of the dew they say in Summer which they observe ne'er stands upon that Ground under which they lie At Carlile wee took up our first qaarters in this Province Carlile an ancient City very commodiously situated 't is guarded on the North side with the River Eden on the East with Peterial and on the West with Cawd and besides these Natural fences 't is fortified with a strong Wall with a Castle and a Cittadel the Fashion of it is long running out from West to East on the West side is the Castle of a large compass which King Richard the Third as appears by his Coat of Arms repaired and on the East the Cittadel built by Henry the Eighth In the middle almost of the City riseth on high the Cathedral Church being formerly a stately and Magnificent Structure adorned with rich Copes and other sacred Garments and Vessels and two Unicorns Horns of great Value which by an ancient custom were placed here upon the Altar but now deplores the want of part of its Body being ruined by a wicked War whilst it was only intended for a House of Prayer and Peace It was first founded by Walter Deputy of these parts for King William Rufus and by him dedicated to the Blessed Virgin but finished and endowed by King Henry the First out of the Wealth which the said Walter had amassed for that purpose The Romans and Britains called this place Lugoballum that is saith Cambden the fort by the Wall which Name it derived probably from that famous military vallum or Trench which stands apparent a little from the City and that it flourished exceedingly in the time of the Romans the famous mention of it in those Days and diverse remains of Antiquity which have been here frequently discovered do sufficiently attest After the departure of the Romans it suffered extreamly by the insolent outrages of the Scots and Picts and afterward being almost quite ruined by the Danes it lay about two hundred Years buried in its own Ashes until it began again to flourish under the government and by the favour of King William Rufus who as the Saxon Chronicle tells us A. D. 1092 coming hither with a great Army repaired the City and built the Castle driving from hence the Daulphin of France who had got too sure footing in some of those Northern parts and planted here a new Colony of Flemmings say some Historians whom presently upon better advice he removed into Wales and setled in their room a more useful plantation of Southern English-men After this here having been formerly a Covent of Monks and a Nunnery built by St. Cuthbert A. D. 686. which were both destroyed by the Danes King Henry the First established here the Episcopal See * A. D. 1135. saith Mr. Wharton Ang. Sacr. Tom. 1. P. 699. and made Athulph Priory of St. Oswalds his Confessor Bishop hereof and endowed it with many Honours and emoluments in the successive Reigns of our Kings it was Subject to great casualties and misfortunes the Scots won it from King Stephen and King Henry the Second recovered it again in the Reign of Edward the First the City and Priory with all the Houses belonging to it were consum'd by Fire and a little after King Edward the Second came to the Crown all the Northern parts from Carlile to York fell under the subjection of the Scots at which time our Chronicles tell us that the English by their faint-heartedness grew so Vile and Despicable that three Scots durst venture upon an hundred English when a hundred English durst hardly encounter with three Scots but under victorious King Edward the Third the Englishmen pluck'd up their Spirits and recovered their ancient Valour enforcing the Scots to quit all their strong holds and retire back again to their own Territories and Dominions nevertheless this City with the parts adjacent were frequently pestered by Scotch Invasions till the happy Union of the two Crowns since which time it is grown more Populous and opulent being governed by a Mayor and having the Assizes and Sessions held here for that County Salkelds We rode away from Carlile by Salkelds upon the River Eden where is a trophy of Victory as is supposed called by the Country People Long Megg ' and her Daughters being seventy seven Stones each of them ten Foot high above Ground and one of them viz. Long Megg fifteen Foot to Penreth Penreth which is saith Cambden if you interpret it out of the Brittish Language the Red-head or Hill for the Soil and the Stones are here generally of a reddish Colour but commonly called Perith sixteen Miles distant from this City This Town is but small in compass but great in Trade fortified on the West-side with a Castle of the King 's which in the Reign of King Henry the Sixth was repaired out of the Ruines of a Roman Fort not far from it called Maburg adorned with a spatious Church and large Market-place where there is an Edifice of Timber for the use of such as resort hither to Market garnished with Bears at a ragged Staff which was the device of the Earls of Warwick it belonged in times past to the Bishops of Durham but the Patriarch Bech taking two much State upon him and carrying himself with more haughtiness than became him did hereby so displease King Edward the First that he took from him Werth in Tevidail Perith and the Church of Simondburn But for the commodious use of this town William Strickland Bishop of Carlile descended from an ancient Race in this tract at his own proper charge caused a Channel for a Water-course to be made out of Peteril which near unto the Bank had Plumpton Park a large plat of Ground which the Kings of England had appointed as a Chase for wild Beasts to range in but King Henry the Eighth disparked it and converted it into a better Habitation for Men it lying near to the Marches where the Realms of England and Scotland confine one upon another Not far from this Town begins the County of Westmorland Westmorland being one of the worst
not possible for Waggons to pass so that the Country People are forced in Harvest time to carry home their Corn upon Horses in Crooks made for that purpose which creates no small Toil and Labour to them Exmore Forrest Upon Exmore Forest are some huge Stones placed as confusedly as those upon Salisbury Plains and one of them hath Danish letters upon it directing passengers that way Hubblestow And at Hubblestow in this County was a Battel fought by the Danes where their Banner called Reafan in which they reposed all confidence of Victory and success was notwithstanding taken and Hubba their General slain Exeter Exeter is the Principal City of this Province called by the ancients Isca and Isca Damoniorum and by the Saxs on Ex or Exa 't is situate upon the Western Bank of the River Ex or Isc upon a litttle Hill gently arising with an easy ascent to a pretty height the pendant whereof lies East and West environed about with Ditches and very strong Walls having many Turrets orderly interposed and six Gates which give entrance into the City and contains about a Mile and half in Circumference The Suburbs branch forth a great way on each side the Streets are broad kept clean and and well paved the Houses are as gay within as trim without and there are contained in it fifteen 〈◊〉 and in the very highest part of the City 〈…〉 Castle called Rugemont forâ—â—◠〈…〉 VVest-Saxon Kings and afterwards of the Earls of Cornwal which Baldwin de Reduers as the Saxon Chronicle informs us A. D. 1135. holding out against King Stephen was through scarcity of Provision enforced to surrender and after the surrendery he with his whole family was banished out of the Kingdom Just without the East-gate are two pleasant Walks called Southney and Northney beset on both sides with rows of high Trees which being mounted up aloft afford a curious prospect to Topsham Topsham the place where all the Ships and Vessels of the Citizens lie at Anchor from whence since the River was stop'd up by certain Wears and Dams that Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire from some distast which he had took to the City caused here to be made all their Goods and Commodities are brought home by Land In the same quarter of the City stands the Cathedral in the precincts of whose close were in ancient times three Religious Houses as the Ingenious Mr. Tanner's Notitia Monastica doth inform us the first was a Nunnery which is now the Deans House the other was a House of Monks reported to have been built by King Ethelred about A. D. 868. the third was a Monastery of Benedictines founded by King Aethelston A. D. 932. but the Monks not long after forsook it for fear of the Danes till A. D. 968. at which time King Edgar restored them upon the removal of the Bishops See hither from Crediton A. D. 1050. the Monks were translated to VVestminster upon which about the same time Bishop Leafric Chaplain to Edward the Confessor uniting the three forementioned Monasteries into his Cathedral Church placed here some secular Canons dedicating it to St. Mary and St. Peter but the Chapter was not setled till Bishop Brewer A. D. 1235. established and endowed a Dean and twenty four Prebendaries to which have been since added four Arch-deacons In this Church are six private Chappels and a Library very handsomely built and furnished by a Phisitian of this City the Quire is curiously beautified and adorned especially with an excellent Organ the Pipes whereof as they are of a much larger size than any which ever we beheld in any Cathedral besides so likewise is its Musick no less sweet and harmonious and though this Church did through all its parts extreamly suffer in the late unhappy Civil Wars yet it hath returned to its primitive beauty and order since the return of King Charles the second in this Church as likewise in most of the other Churches and Church-yards of the City the Graves especially of the Wealthier sort are paved all over on the inside with Bricks and plaistered with white Lime where after they have interred the Corps all the company in general who were invited to the Funeral return to the House of Mourning from whence they came and there very ceremoniously take their leave of the party by whom they were invited to perform these doleful obsequies On the West side of the City runs the River over which is built a strong Stone Bridge with four Arches and about the middle of the City is the Town Hall where the Assizes and Sessions are held it being both City and County of it self in which hangs the Picture of the Royal Princess Henrietta Maria Daughter to King Charles the First who was Born here and was given by her Royal Brother King Charles the Second to this City which is governed by a Mayor Recorder two Sheriffs and four and Twenty Aldermen with all other Officers befitting the Dignity of so Honourable a place The chief Trade of it consists in Stuffs and Kerseys of which there are innumerable Packs sent away every Week for London and other places in lieu whereof all sorts of vendible Commodities are imported hither here being a knot of very eminent Merchants This City has been exposed to great Calamities and disasters straitned with sieges and exposed to the fury both of Fire and Sword the Romans had it in possession about the Reign of Antoninus and after them the East-Saxons in the Days of King Athelstan from whom the Danes having forced it Suenus raged here with Ruine and Destruction and scarce had it regained a little Strength and Beauty when it felt the fury of the Norman Conqueror after this it was besieged by Hugh Courtney Earl of Devonshire in the Civil Wars betwixt the two Houses of York and Lancaster then by Perkin Warbeck that imaginary counterfeit and pretended Prince who being a young Man of as mean a Family as Condition feigning himself to be Richard Duke of York second Son of King Edward the Fourth made strange Insurrections against Henry the Seventh after this it was pestered by the seditious Rebels of Cornwal about the Year 1549 when although the Citizens were extreamly pinched with a great scarcity of all things yet they kept the City with Courage and Fidelity till John Lord Russel came to succour and relieve it And again in the late miserable Confusions it was strictly besieged by the Parliamentarian Forces at which time it is reported by several Persons of good Credit and Repute that it being reduced to great extremities for want of Provision an infite number of Larks came flying into the Town and setled in a void green place within the Walls where they were killed in great quantities by the besieged and eaten We departed from hence to Newton-Bushel Newton-Bushel a Town well known in these Parts for its Market and from thence to King's-ware King's-ware situated below a Hill upon
the River Dart and fortified with a Castle for the defence of Vessels which lie dispersed hereabouts where we ferried over to Dartmouth opposite to it on the other side of the River Dartmouth Dartmouth is situate upon the brow of an high Hill being divided into three Streets one rising above the other to each of which is a gentle ascent gradually by Free-stone Steps contrived and laid there for that purpose 'T is enriched with a safe and commodious Haven and is guarded with a strong Castle which commands the River being placed aloft just at the very mouth or entrance into it The great Trade of this Place is fishing to Newfound-land in which there are employed a great many Ships every Year Their Chief Magistrate is the Mayor for which Office there was a Charter granted to the Town by King Edward the Third since which it hath been subject to divers Changes and vicissitudes and hath frequently couragiously held out against the French who have endeavoured to destroy it but especially in the Reign of King Henry the Fourth for Monsieur de Castle having by his Men of War Stopp'd all entercourse of Traffick in those Parts and burnt Plimouth and being come hither to serve this place after the same manner met with some shrewd repulses contrary to his expectation and was by a company of Women and Country People prevented in his designs and having all his Men cut off was himself also slain by the Hands of such Boors which he always had in the greatest Contempt and derision One days visit here having satisfied our curiosity the next gave us a sight of the renowned Town of Plimouth Plimouth so called from the River Plime that runs along by it Here is one of the largest and most secure Havens in England for before the very mouth of it lies St. Nicholas Islands strongly fortified both by Art and Nature and in the Haven are fortifications laid on both sides for the safe riding of Ships and anoyance of Enemies On the one side is Mount Batton in which is a strong Garrison having twelve Guns mounted upon its platforms and on the other side the Cittadel which may for Strength compare with most Places in the Nation commanding both the Sea and Town at pleasure Without the Walls of the Cittadel runs a Trench out of which was diged a certain kind of Marble with which they were built eleven foot thick at the bottom and seven at the top and about three quarters of a Mile in compass upon the Walls are placed divers Watch-Towers and each of them are adorned with a round Ball upon the top so curiously gilded and painted with the King's Arms that they make a glistering shew at a distance and round about are placed between two and three hundred pieces of Ordnance there are two Gates and as many Draw Bridges which gives entrance into the Castle and upon the front are admirably carved the Arms of his Majesty King Charles the Second by which is placed his Royal Statue with the Arms of the Earl of Bath who was then Governor thereof within the Walls is the Governor's House and divers Apartments for Soldiers a Magazine for Ammunition and a Store-House for Provisions and for the Strength and conveniencies of this Fortress which is almost impregnable the Town was much obliged to the excellent Ingenuity of Sir Bernard De-Gum then his Majesties Engineer The commodiousness of the Harbour often causeth a Fleet of Ships to ride here so that though this place was formerly but a poor despicable Village 't is now so replenished with Mariners frequented by Merchants enriched by Traffick that it seems to outvye some great Cities of this Kingdom being made a Corporation by King Henry the Sixth which consists of a Mayor twelve Aldermen and twenty-four Common-Council Men who have a stately Guild-Hall for their more solemn Conventions and is adorned with two handsome Churches The story of the great Giant Gogmagog who was here worsted by the famous Champion Corinaeus and thrown headlong from the Haw a Rock standing between the Town and the Ocean hath a little too much of the Romance to gain Credit but the magnificent House near to this Town called Mount Edgecomb Mount Edgecomb adds so great a Lustre to these Western Parts that Plimouth hath great reason to be proud of its Vicinity And which is still farther observable it was from this Town that Sir Francis Drake set Sail A. D. 1577 when he went that Voyage in which he sailed round the Terrestrial Globe and it was out of this Haven that the English Fleet commanded by the Lord Howard Admiral of England was towed by Ropes A. D. 1588. to fight the Spanish Armada unwisely called Invincible Being now upon the very Borders of Cornwall the unseasonableness of the Weather which then happened and the short time allotted for our return to Exeter not permitting us to take a particular view of it we made it our business to inform our selves concerning some of the most remarkable things in this utmost Region of England Cornwall Devonshire and Cornish Men are more active in Wrestling and such like boisterous Exercises than any other Shires in England being also more brawny stout and able of Body Ordulphus a Devonshire Man Son of Ordarus Earl of Devonshire was such a strong Gigantick Person that if William of Malmsbury say true he would break open any Bars of Gates and stride ten Foot John Bray a Cornish Man carried on his Back at one time a good way six Bushels of Wheaten Meal and the Miller a Lubber of Twenty-four Years of Age upon the whole And one John Roman a thick short Fellow would carry at one time the whole Carcass of an Ox. There was also one Kiltor who lying in Lanceston-Castle Green upon his Back threw a Stone of some Pounds weight over the top of one of the highest Towers in that Castle Which stoutness and goodly stature of this People Cambden reflecting on makes this Observation That the Western People of most Countrys are the tallest and stoutest The Cornish Men are very healthy and long lived Eighty or Ninety Years of Age is ordinary as we were told in every place and in most Persons accompanied with an able use of the Body and Senses One Polzew lived an 130 Years a Kinsman of his 112 one Beaucamp 106 and one Brown a Beggar above 100 and in one Parish in Queen Elizabeth's time there died in Fourteen Weeks space four People whose Years added together made 340 And to urge no more Examples Mr. Chamond who lived at Stratton in this County was Uncle and Great Uncle to at least 300 the cause of which Healthiness and longevity is in all probability the rockiness and driness of the Country which though it be for the most part environed with the Sea yet it hath few Marshes or Ouzy Shores but most Sandy and withal the Air is cleansed by frequent Winds lying open to the Sea The
Conquest of England the Sea is now near three Miles distant from the Town which chiefly subsists by the grazing Trade and there is only a small Rill for Boats of little Burdens to put in upon occasion Twelve Miles further is Hastings Hastings a Sea-Port of good antiquity consisting of two Parishes 't is situated under very high Hills and Cliffs is extended to a good length and was formerly fortified with a strong Castle the Ruines of which are as yet invisible but now more conveniently strengthned with two useful Bulwarks which command the Sea In the Reign of King Athelstan here was a Mint-House afterward it was accounted the first of the Cinque-Ports which with the Members belonging to it viz. Seaford Pevensey Hodney Bulver-Hyth Winchelsea and Rye which are called the two ancient Towns were formerly bound to find one and twenty Men of War for the King's Service thus it flourished long being inhabited by a warlike People and skilful Sailors and though the Peer is quite gone to decay yet here are still an industrious Colony of Fishermen who very much enrich the Town by their constant Fishery 't is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen who by their prudent measures very regularly keep up the Grandeur of their Corporation Here or at Pevensey was probably Anderida one of the ancient Roman Garrisons as Mr. Somner conjectures See Somner's Roman Ports and Forts c. P. 104. Winchelsea by its Name betokens a waterish place seated in a Corner Idem P. 69. Along the same Shore is situated Winchelsea which when a more ancient Town of the Name was Swallowed up by the Sea in the Year 1250 was built by King Edward the First It was then inclosed with a Rampire and after with strong Walls and scarce began to Flourish when it was sacked by the French-men and Spaniards and by the Sea 's shrinking from it did as suddenly fade and lose all its Beauty and is now only the Skeleton of a fair Town as doth appear by the Quadrangular Streets large Vaults and other ruinous materials of ancient Structures having upon the level which the Sea relinquished a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth now quite gone to decay and large Marshes which are defended from the Violence of the Sea with great earthen Walls and Banks which are preserved and repaired with no small charge and Trouble In this Town were formerly three Parish Churches dedicated to St. Leonard St. Gyles and St. Thomas tho' the latter alone in which are some ancient Monuments to be seen now serves the Town in that of St. Leonard was formerly erected the Picture of St. Leonard the Patron of the place holding a Fan or Aeolus his Scepter in his Hand which was moveable at the Pleasure of any that would turn it to such a point of the Compass as best fitted the return of the Husband or other Friend whom they expected and so after that was done and an Offering made for without Offerings these Idols would be Idle they promised to themselves the desired Wind both speedy and prosperous This is likewise a Corporation but yet a pitiful Spectacle of Poverty and Desertion Not many Miles from this Place is Battel Battel where October 14. A. D. 1066 was fought the Bloody Battel betwixt King Harold and the Norman Duke which proved so fatal to the English and successful to the Normans for besides King Harold himself who with an Arrow was Shot quite through the Head there fell with him likewise upon the spot as we are told by the most accurate Historian Sir William Temple who hath wrote the Life of William the Conqeror no less than threescore Thousand Men upon which he makes this observation that nothing seems to show the greatness of England so much at this time as that Harold should be able to assemble so mighty an Army to oppose this Invasion which Ground where this grand re-encounter was hath been thought ever since to have worn the Conquerour's Livery because as they say after Rain it always looks of a reddish Colour though afterward this Prince to make some atonement as he thought for the vast effusion of Blood which had been Spilt there the next Year erected a Abby at this place to the Honour of St. Martin and placed here a Covent of Benedictine Monks to pray for their Souls who had fallen in the Battel Rye Three Miles from Winchelsey is Rye which stands on the very edge of this County towards Kent and at the very fall of the Rother into the Sea That it was formerly in great vogue and well fortified by William Ipres Earl of Kent Ipres Tower now the Prison and the great Immunities and Privileges it had in common with the Cinque-Ports may sufficiently demonstrate but by reason of Winchelsey's Vicinity or the Sea 's retiring back it was of little account till the other Place decayed and that King Edward the Third began by walling it to make it more considerable than it was before after which though the Sea did for many Years extreamly befriend it and a very convenient Haven lay open for Trade and Commerce yet so inconstant is the Favour of that changeable Element that it is now almost quite choaked up and a passage hardly left for the smallest sort of Vessels and were it not for its Fishery and the conveniency from hence of a ready Passage into Normandy it is to be feared it would fall quickly under the same deplorable fate of its Neighbour if some other Privileges from the Corporation do not support and keep it up Kent We Ferried over the Camber from Rye into Kent which is divided into three several Portions the first is a Ridge of Hills that runs by Boxley Detling c. and is call'd Health without Wealth the second is that which runs by Sutton Boughton Malherf c. and is called Health and Wealth the third by Tenterden and is called Wealth without Health Names very proper for them and the reason is very plain why they are so Nature having so liberally apportioned her Blessings that she compensates the defect of one by the collation of another not suffering any peculiar Place to Monopolize all her Favours at once but thus if the VVeald be eminent for Wool the Fame of East Kent shall be as great for Corn and Tenham Goddington and Otham shall be no less cried up for Orchards if Shepey or Reculver produce the best Wheat Thanet shall bring forth as good crops of Barley and if Cranbrook hath the Name for Beer Tunbridge shall for Water In fine if either the fertility of the Soil or the safe Roads and sure Harbours for Ships or the broad Streams of a great navigable River the noble River Thames or the Vicinity of the vast and opulent City of London can be any way contributive to advance its Prosperity it must needs be one of the richest and most flourishing Provinces of this Kingdom As this Country was first subdued by
Romanum mare as if it were Sea in the Romans time or from the Saxon Rumen-ea the large Water or watery place to which he is most inclinable 't is certain as my singular good Friend Mr. Kennett hath observed in his Life he is more singularly happy in fixing Limene or the Mouth of the River Limene or Rother at Romney which is since turned another way To which I shall subjoin that reckoning one Town and Nineteen Parish Churches within the Precincts being as is computed about 18 Miles in length and 10 in breadth it contains 44200 Acres or thereabouts of Pasture which proves most excellent Forage both for Bullocks and Sheep with which it is stocked all over to a Miracle As for New Romney as 't is called as it was formerly the Roman Port Lemanis New Romney by its distance from Canterbury so now 't is one of the Cinque-Ports of which Lyd and Old Romney are accounted Limbs and received that Epithet of New to distinguish it from its Old Neighbour which distinction saith Mr. Somner I find used near 500 Years ago and from the Ruin of the latter it states the Epocha of its first Original when after that the Ocean in the Reign of Edward the First had made an Inroad into the Land and overflowed all this Tract with its violent Inundations it was forced to submit to the irresistible Conquest of that implacable Enemy who returned Triumphant with the Trophies of five Churches a Priory and an Hospital besides great Depredations both of Cattel and Houses into its restless and turbulent Dominions Hereupon began this other Town immediately to flourish which though it appears of no large extent yet the subsistence which it now affords by Grazing doth very well comport with the Genius of its Natives In this Town are generally held all Publick Assemblies for the more speedy dispatch of the Cinque-Port Affairs and are called the Brotherhood and Guestling Now a Brotherhood is an Assembly held by the Mayors Bayliffs Jurats and Commons of the Cinque-Ports and their Corporate Members jointly For the better preserving the Lands there are three Guts or Sluces in Romney Marsh issuing East-wards by the Names of Willop and Hoorney Gut Marshland Gut and Clobsden Gut One Gut more called the Five Waterings issuing into the Channel of the River Rother and so falls into Rye Water and Dengemarsh-Gut issuing Eastward within the Liberties and Corporation of Lyd. I shall likewise here set down the Order of Watches which were formerly kept by the Sea-Coast taken out of an ancient MS. now in my Custody At Dengemarsh by twelve Men of the seven Hundred At Helmes-Beacon by eight Men viz. of the Hundred of St. Martin's two the Hundred of Oxney two the Hundred of Allowes-bridge two the Hundred of Lamport one and the Hundred of Ham one At Broad-Hall aliàs Dimchurch by nine Men viz. of the Hundred of Street two of the Hundred of Worth two of the Hundred of Philipborough three of the Hundred of Newchurch two At Seabrook aliàs Shorn-Cliff thirteen Men viz. of the Hundred of Hane one the Hundred of Longbridge and Chart three the Hundred of Calehill three the Hundred of Bircholt one the Hundred of Wye five At Sandgate nine Men viz. the Hundred of Folk-stone four the Hundred of Loningborough two the Hundred of Pettam one the Hundred of Stowting two At Coldham by four Men of the Hundred of Milton and Marden A. D. 1614. Dimchurch Four Miles farther is Dimchurch a Village of great Note for the Lords Bayliffs Jurats and other Officers of Romney Marsh who keep here a general Court call'd the Lath every Whitsun-Week for the dispatch of all Affairs which depend hereon As for the great Wall or Bank which is here cast up against the Sea 't is fenced with great Piles of Wood which are driven deep upon the Shore by an incredible Charge to repress the Outrages of that merciless Element which by its propinquity doth many times threaten a subitaneous Inundation and could it once gain a Conquest in this place would quickly run in Triumph over the whole Marsh besides Over this Wall the Road leads to Hyth Hyth West-Hyth and Lym. another of the Cinque-Ports which hath West-Hyth for a Member a small Neighbouring Village Westward which falling to decay by the retiring of the Sea from it occasioned in a short time the Plantation of the other though both are supposed to have received their beginning from the Ruins of Lym standing hard by which in times past was a most famous Port until the Sands cast up by the Sea had altogether choaked and stopped up the Haven which the Bands of the Turnacenses under the Lieutenant of the Saxon Shore quartered in this place which the Port-way call'd Stony-Street reaching from hence almost to Canterbury being doubtless a Work of the industrious Romans and which in fine the ancient Ruins of an old decayed Castle called Studfall i. e. Stodfold saith Mr. Somner a Fold or Inclosure for Steeds whose remains carry still a resemblance of the obsolete Modes of Roman Architecture seem manifestly to attest But though Hyth extracted all its Glory from those Places yet so subject are Towns and Cities to Vicissitudes as well as Men that it seems to be involved in the same Fate and to decline into their perishing Condition having of late Years suffered a great Eclipse of all its pristine Splendor and every day more and more very sensibly decaying by the loss of its Haven and the distance of the Sea which hath almost withdrawn it self near a Mile from the Town The Town is situated upon the brow of an high stony craggy Hill the lower part consisting of one long Street which extends it self about half a Mile in length and in the upper part are placed some few rows of Houses together with the Church an ancient Fabrick which overlooks all the other Buildings and discovers it self at a great distance at Sea capacious enough to receive a greater Congregation than with which it is usually frequented But that which now more especially preserves still the Fame and keeps up the repute of this poor languishing Port besides the two Hospitals of St. John and St. Bartholomew the latter of which was Founded by Haymo Bishop of Rochester who was Born here is the Charnel-House adjoining to the Church or the arched Vault under it wherein are orderly piled up a great stack of dead Mens Bones and Skulls which appear very white and solid but how or by what means they were brought to this Place the Townsmen are altogether ignorant and can give no account of the matter probably the first occasion of them might be from what is related by Henry Knyghton de Eventibus Angliae lib. 3. p. 2503. How that in the Reign of Edward the First about the Year 1295 the then King of France sending about 300 Ships for an English Invasion one of them more forward than the rest came directly for Hyth where landing
which King John made to Pandulphus the Popes Legate wherein he yielded his Realm Tributary and himself an obedientiary and vassal to the Bishop of Rome The Cliffs beyond Dover being united are well stored with Samphire and reach almost as far as Walmer and Deal Castles which together with Sandown Castle were built by King Henry the Eighth Walmer Deal and Sandown Castle near to which upon a flat or even plain lying full against the Sea stands Deal which of a small and poor Village is now become a place of great note and eminency hereabouts it was where Julius Cesar Landed and though Mr. Somner would have Dover to be the place where he first attempted to arrive yet saith the Accurate Mr. Kennet in his Life of Mr. Somner it is otherwise Demonstrated from Astronomical computation by the very Ingenious Mr. E. Halley who proves the Year the Day the time of Day and place the Downs The Downs where he made his first descent Deal The Town is called lower Deal to distinguish it from the upper part which being the more ancient lies about a Mile farther distant from the Sea and that which hath been the sole cause of raising it was the commodious Riding for Ships in the Downs where Merchant Men making a stop both outward and homeward Bound and taking in here many times a great part of their Provision have by degrees enstated it in a very prosperous condition and indeed its buildings have of late Years been so considerably enlarged and its Trade promoted by great Fleets of Ships who here take in Pilots to carry them up the River Thames that it hath almost quite eclipsed the splendour of Sandwich which is three or four Miles distance from it Sandwich Sandwich being another of the Cinque Ports is on the North and West side fortified with Walls and on the other side fenced with a Rampire Bulwark and Ditch it was called formerly Lundenwick either from its being very populous which the British word Lawn imports or by reason of the great Trade to and from London or from some more peculiar interest the Londoners had in this Place above all other Ports but the name of Sandwich saith Mr. Somner occurs not in any coetaneous Writer or Writing until the Year 979 when King Egelred granted it by that Name to the Monks of Canterbury for their Cloathing which Canutus after his arrival restored again to the same Monks for their sustenance in Victuals with the Addition of his Golden Crown and what perhaps was of equal value in the estimation of those Times St. Bartholomew's Arm It is supposed to have been the Daughter of Rutapis or Richborough Richborough which was an eminent Fortress of the Romans hard by and the first Presidentiary Station that Antiquity represents them to have erected within Britain but like the Mother 't is now very much gone to decay for besides what it suffered from the French in the Reigns of King John and Henry the Sixth after it was recovered again from its Sufferings the Haven being choaked up by the Sand and a great Ship belonging to Pope Paul the Fourth in the Reign of Queen Mary sinking down at the very entrance into the Haven hath ever since reduced it to so great Extremities that the mischief it is to be feared now will prove utterly incurable however it is yet beautified with three Churches and a Free School which was Built and Endowed by Sir Roger Manwood Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and what at present chiefly makes for the Town is the Dutch Colony which is here setled Not far from hence lie those dangerous Sands so much dreaded by Sailors called Goodwyn Sands Goodwyn Sands which though it is the common Opinion that they were Lands of the Earl of Goodwyn swallowed up by the Sea about A. D. 1097. yet with so great strength of Reason is this vulgar Error confuted and the true Cause of Goodwyn Sands more plainly discovered by that indefatigable Searcher into Antiquity Mr. Somner that I shall at present refer the Reader to his ingenious Discourse about this Subject printed with his Treatise of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent and published A. D. 1693. Over against Sandwich on the other side of the River Stour is Thanet Isle of Thanet a small but very fertile Island where the chiefest Scenes both of War and Peace have been formerly laid for as Mr. Philpott observes when Hengist arrived with his Saxons to support the harassed and afflicted Britains against the Eruption of the Picts he first landed in this Island and when his Forces were broke by Vortimer at the Battel of Alresford he made Thanet his retreat and shelter when Austen the Monk arrived in England to disseminate the Christian Religion amongst the Saxons he found his first Reception in this Island How often the Danes made Thanet a Winter Station for their Navies when they invaded the Maritime Coasts of this Nation our Chronicles do sufficiently inform us and lastly when Lewis the Dauphin was called in by the mutinous English Barons to assert their Quarrel with additional Supplies against King John he laid the first Scene of War in this Island which he afterward scattered on the Face of this unhappy Nation And now being got to the utmost Limits of the Land every Wave of the Ocean ecchoed forth uno plus ultra whereupon taking our leave of these Maritime Coasts we began to withdraw again farther upon the Continent and arrived at Canterbury Canterbury a City of great Antiquity and the Royal Seat of the ancient Kings of Kent watered by the River Stour the Buildings of it at present are but mean and the Wall which encompasseth it gone much to decay and of late Years it hath declined no less in Trade than in Beauty However it is the Metropolis of the County and the Archiepiscopal See of the Primate and Metropolitan of all England and one Ornament still survives 〈…〉 Cathedral in which lie interred divers Kings of Kent whose chief Palace was here till they afterward removed their Station from hence to Reculver Reculver a little Town now by the Sea side about seven or eight Miles distant from it by the Ancients called Regullium where the Roman Captain of the Premier Band of the Vetasians lay in those days in Garrison The Episcopal See was settled here A. D. 601. according to Birchington who tells us Ang. Sacr. Tom. 12 that after Austen the Monk had planted here the Christian Religion and Baptized on one Christmas day no less than Ten thousand Men in the River Swalve he was by the Order of Pope Gregory ordained the first Arch-Bishop of this See But because the Antiquity of this City with all its Liberties and Privileges the Beauty and number of its Churches and Religious Houses before their Dissolution the Magnificence of its Cathedral with all its renowned Tombs and Monuments are so excellently described by Mr. Somner
in a Book Printed for that purpose A. D. 1640. I shall not undertake to pourtray that in a contracted Landskip which hath been before represented to the Publick with so great applause but refer those who are so curious as to desire a more particular Account of this City to that most ingenious Person who hath pencilled out every part and Limb thereof with great exactness and accuracy only one thing I must not omit that of late a Marble Monument hath been erected in St. Margaret's Church Canterbury in Honour of Mr. Somner who lies there interred by his own Widow who afterward Married to Mr. Hannington Vicar of Elam in Kent upon which is engraven this ingenious Epitaph H. S. E. Gulielmus Somnerus Cantuariensis Saxonicam Literaturam Civitatis Cantuariae Historiam Tenebris utramque involutam Illustravit Cantii Antiquitates meditantem Fatum intercepit Officium Erga Deum pietate severa Erga Homines probitate simplici Erga Principem fide periculosa Erga Patriam scriptis immortalibus Indicavit Ita Mores Antiquos Studium Antiquitatis efformat Cantuariae Natus est Martii 30. 1606. Cantuariae Omnem aetatem egit Cantuariae Obiit Martii 30. 1669. Feversham Passing from hence through Feversham a Town pretty large and well inhabited famous formerly for its Abby erected here by King Stephen wherein himself his Queen and Eustace his Son were buried the next place of consequence that was obvious in the Road was Sedingbourn Sedingbourn which being a great thorough-fare is well furnished with Inns a Town of which there are two things more principally Recorded the one is that in the Year 1232 Henry Bishop of Rochester as Mr. Philpott hath collected it out of some old Monkish Writers came with much exultation out of Sedingbourn Church and desired the People to express their joy because on that day by the efficacious Prayers of the Church Richard the First formerly King of England and many others were most certainly ransomed from the Flames of Purgatory The other that in the same Church was a Monument of Sir Richard Lovelace inlayed richly with Brass who was an eminent Soldier in his time and Marshal of Calice under Henry the Eighth with his Portraiture affixed in Brass which the Injuries of Time and the Impiety of Sacrilegious Mechanicks have utterly defaced In the Neighbourhood of Sedingbourn is Newington Newington which though but a small Village hath afforded some worthy Remarks of Antiquity for not many Years ago there were digged up Roman Urns not far distant from the High-way or Common Road it being agreeable to Roman Practice to inter in those Places where their Monuments might be obvious almost to every Eye Memorials of themselves and Memento's of Mortality to living Passengers whom the Epitaphs of great Ones did beg to stay and look upon them From hence the Road brought us directly to Chatham Chatham where the repair of the Parish Church and new Buildings of the Steeple commend the Religious Care and Cost of King Charles the First 's Commissioners and Officers of the Royal Navy in the Year 1635 but the Arsenals Store-Houses and Ship-Docks erected by the same most incomparable Prince are so magnificent and universally useful that they are become a principal Pillar of the Nations support and afford variety of Employment by the Manufacture of Cordage as also the Careening and Building of Ships Contiguous to Capham is Rochester Rochester a City which in Elder times was as eminent for its Antiquity as it was for its Strength and Grandeur and had not those violent impressions which the rough Hand of War made upon it Demolished its bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it peradventure might have been registred at this Day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation but so great and dismal Calamities did frequently attend it that the Fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the Fury of Enemies for its Ruine and the Fire and Sword were joint Confederates to destroy it nevertheless maugre all these Casualties by the Favour of Princes and their Royal Munificence it recovered all its Losses and survives in Splendor In the Year 1225 by the indulgent Bounty of King Henry the Third it was invested with a Wall and that this Fortification might be of the greater importance it was secured or fenced with a Ditch it was governed by a Port-Reeve until King Edward the Fourth in the second Year of his Reign raised it to a higher Dignity and decreed by his Royal Grant that it should henceforth be under the Jurisdiction of a Mayor and Twelve Aldermen and to this Monarch doth the City owe much of its present Felicity The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the Eye of the Beholder to the admiration of its former strength acknowledgeth for its most eminent Benefactor if not Founder Odo Bishop of Baicux and Earl of Kent half Brother to William the Conqueror which Fortress he afterward breaking forth into open Rebellion against his Nephew Rufus did seize but was quickly dispossessed by the vigorous Expedition of his Prince and enforced immediately to depart the Kingdom After this when the Dauphin was invited into England by the Seditious Barons to wrest the Kingdom from K. John their native Sovereign the Dauphin uniting their strength with his made such a furious Onset on the Castle that like a Tempest which beats down all before it he carried it by Assault the like had been atchieved by Simon Montford Earl of Leicester when he raised an Insurrection against King Henry the Third had not that Prince arrived most opportunely and by a successful Encounter wrested both Earl Warren who had so resolutely maintained it and that likewise from the Impressions of his Fury since which time there hath been little of moment acted in this Place tho it is worth taking notice of what Mr. Philpott hath observed farther concerning it that there being much Land in this County held thereof whose Tenure is perfectly Castle-guard upon the day prefixed for the discharging the quit Rents relating to it there is a Banner displayed and hung out antiently it was on the Castle Wall and all those who are Tenants to this Mannor and are in default by their Non-appearance and do not discharge their accustomary Duties and Services the penalty imposed upon their neglect is that the return of every Tide of the adjacent River Medway which finds them absent doubles their Service or Quit-Rents The Cathedral which the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it was founded and established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier by Austen the Apostle of the Saxons was Justus who being sent over hither as an Adjutant to Austen in the Propagation of Christianity about the Year 601 Angl. Sacr. Tom. 1. p. 329. was afterward ordained Bishop of this See A. D. 604. much about that time
that Mellitus was consecrated Bishop of London The above-mentioned Prince not only assenting to his Consecration by his Presence but likewise largely contributing to the support of the Person chosen and his Successors by enriching them with great Possessions This Cathedral was dedicated by Ethelbert to St. Andrew as that which he built likewise at London was to St. Paul but whatever the Piety of that Prince and other Religious Persons after him did in former Ages contribute to its enlargement and beautifying the late prevailing Faction of some injurious Incendiaries did in a few Months dispoil and almost abolish and the Scars which still remain in its Sacred Body are too pregnant Symptoms to convince the World what usage it received from those Sacrilegious Boutefeus whose great Triumphs would have been over its Ruins and chiefest Glory to have laid its Honour in the Dust had not he who sets bounds to the tempestuous Ocean limited their Fury and rescued it from their Malice From Rochester the curious Stone-Bridge built over the River Medway by Sir Robert Knolles which is one of the largest Bridges in England being fixed upon 21 Arches and coped above with Iron Bars by Arch-Bishop Warham leads us to Stroud Stroud a Place where the Knights Templars had formerly an eminent Mansion and the Chappel of St. Nicholas was improved to a Mother Church and endowed being divided by too great a distance from the Church of Frendsbury to which it had been annexed and which was supposed uncapable for so great a conflux of People as began every day to multiply within the Liberties of Stroud Medway The River Medway is carried into the Aestuary of Thames by two Mouths the one whereof Westward is called West-Swale as the Eastern one which seems to have cut the Isle of Shepey from the Continent East-Swale but by Bede Genlad and Yenlett Now it is rather probable that this was the Swalve mentioned by Birchington P. 216. wherein Austen the Monk baptized Ten thousand Men and not the Swale in Richmondshire P. 163. that being the River where Paulinus his great Friend and Coadjutor baptized the like number Island of Shepey And now having made mention of the Isle of Shepey I cannot but observe that it was formerly very famous for two Religious Princesses Sexburga and Hermenilda Sexburga the Daughter of Anna the Seventh King of the East-Angles and his Wife Hereswyda Sister to the Holy Abbess St. Hylda was married to Erconbertus King of Kent in the Fifth Year of her Father's Reign by whom she had two Sons Egbert and Lotharius and two Daughters Ermenilda and Erkengota Sexburga after her Husband's Death governed the Kingdom of Kent twenty-four Years until her Son Egbert was grown up to be fit to undertake the Government which having once committed to him she laid aside her Royal Robes and betaking her self to this Island built here a Nunnery A. D. 710. and endowed it liberally for Seventy-seven Nuns Afterwards committing it to the care of her Daughter Ermenilda she went into the Isle of Ely to her Sister Ethelreda where after her Death she was Abbess of the same Nunnery all this while living a very severe mortified Life and giving up her self wholly to Prayer and Devotion Afterward the Nunnery being burnt by the Danes it was re-ediffed by William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury A. D. 1130. to the Honour of St. Mary and St. Sexburg But on the 21th of September the Festival of St. Matthew our Journey began to draw near to an end Gravesend for our last Stage being by Gravesend a Town notorious as well for its Block-Houses opposite to each other as the great conveniency of a Passage in Wherries every Tide up and down the River Thames to Dartford Dartford a Market Town of no small account for all sort of Grain by reason of its Vicinity to the Grand Emporium of this Nation we departed from thence to the City and arrived again at London in great Health and Safety after some months Circuit about the Maritime Coasts of Great Britain FINIS An Alphabetical Table containing the Names of all the Cities Towns Islands Hills Rivers Meers Wells and other Curiosities mentioned in this Book A ABerbarry Cave in Wales Page 24 Abington Berkshire 104 Allfretton Derbys 86 Alnwick Northumb. 135 Anglesey Island 226 Appleby Westmorl 210 Are a River in Yorks 216 Arundel Sussex 258 Ashbourn Derbys 95 Aukland Bishoprick of Durham 166 Avon a River in Glocester Worcester nad Hampshire 10 St. Asaph in Wales 223 Astroites 12 Ariconium 17 Acamannum or Akemancester 37 Adderbourn 42 Aeton College 112 Allum Mines 162 Alne a River 135 St. Andrews 188 Aberdeen 188 Albany a Hill in Scotland 181 Argyle 193 Anandale 204 Anan a River ibid. Ashburton 243 Axminster 244 Axi a River ibid. Aven a River 249 Amberly Castle 257 Andreswald Wood. 257 Anderida 260 Aberdeen Well 188 B Beray 108 Bakewel 89 Bangor 228 Berkshire 104 Barkway 57 Berwick upon Tweed 178 Bath in Somersets 37 Battel Suss 261 Bay of Robinhood 123 Beaconsfield 3 Beverly Yorks 152 Bosworth Leicest 75 Bourn in Sussex 259 Bramyard Herefords 16 Brecknock-shire and Brecnock 22 Brentford 113 Bristol 27 Brent a River 131 Burgh in Westmorl 210 Buckinghamshire 2 Buddesdale Suff. 127 Bungay 132 Burford in Oxfords 5 Burntwood in Essex 115 Burlip Hill 9 Black Mountain 20 Barnewel 58 Bennet College 61 Bodleian Library 5 Buxton VVell 93 Betheny 96 Battlefield 100 Bone VVell 102 Blith a River 133 Boston Lincolns 144 Barton 149 Binchester 167 Bamborough Castle 176 Borders of Scotland 180 Bannock a Scotch River ibid. Bass a Scotch Island 147 Buqhan ibid. Burning Stone 183 Brovonacum 210 Bows Westmorl 211 Bremetonacum 219 Bala Pool 174 Bridport 244 Bere 247 Badbury 248 Bitchborow 272 C Caerlegion 221 Caermardenshire and Caermarden 24 25 Cambridgeshire 57 Cambridge 58 Christs College 62 Calshot Castle Hamps 252 Canterbury 216 Cardiganshire and Cardigan 25 Carlile 206 Caernavenshire 227 Chatham 218 Clemsford 115 Chepstow 21 Cheshire 219 Chester 221 Chichester 255 Christ-Church Hamps 249 Church-Stretton Shrops 101 Ciciter Glocest 8 Cleveland Yorks 164 Colchester 116 Colebrook and Cole a River 113 Columpton 233 Cornwal 240 Coventry 72 Cows in Isle of Wight 252 Cumberland 205 Coleshil 74 Colne a River 2 Cherwel a River 3 Cotswold Hills 6 Churne a River 8 Corinium Dobunorum ibid. Caer-Gloyn 9 Caergorangon 14 Cadier Arthur 22 Cardiff Town 23 Caves near Carreg Castle 25 Chorea Gigantum 40 Caer-Gwent 45 Cam a River 58 Camboricum 59 Christ-Church Oxford 5 Carleton 77 Castle in the Peak and Castleton 90 Chatsworth 94 Caerpengren 100 Corve a River 101 Chelmer a River 115 Can a River ibid. Cerdick Sand. 134 Castor 135 Caerludecote 146 Caer Ebrank 154 Coal Mines 127 Chester on the Street Alias Cunacester 170 Capreae Caput 171 Coquet a River 175 Cheriot Hills 180 Clayd a River in Scotl. ibid. Carrick 181 Cumbernauld Park ibid. Camelon a City 202 Carron a River ibid. Copper Mines 205
learnt so much abroad your self is a sufficient Encouragement to me to lay these Papers before you not doubting but that they will find a favourable Acceptance from so worthy a Friend whose experienced Candour and Ingenuity makes him so signally Eminent amongst all such who have themselves any true sparks of it What it was that moved me to publish this Itinerary as it will fully appear by the Preface I have prefixed so if I add further that the natural and congenite Propensity that is in Mankind to pay their Regards and shew what Service they can in their Stations and Capacities to their own Native Country in which as Lipsius elegantly expresseth it Infantia vagiit pueritia lusit juventus exercita educata est was the next motive I hope they will jointly be a sufficient Apology for this Topographical performance If I may flatter my self that it will any way gratifie your nice and curious Palate I shall not doubt but it will then find a powerful Advocate to plead for such Slips and Imperfections to which things of this nature may be unwillingly obnoxious however it will fully answer my design if it may be accepted of as a grateful Acknowledgment for the repeated Acts of Kindness conferred upon Your most Humble Servant James Brome AN ACCOUNT OF Mr. BROME'S Three Years TRAVELS OVER England Scotland and Wales A Narrative of his second Journey AFTER some few days respite and abode in London we began a new Progress and passing through Newington Totnam-High-Cross and Edmington Towns of good Note by reason of divers Gentlemen Merchants and rich Citizens that inhabit there we came to Waltham in Essex of which County I shall have occasion to speak more fully hereafter Waltham was of old a small Village Waltham in Essex or rather a desolate place beset with Woods and Briars which one Tovius in the declination of the Saxon Empire a great Courtier and a very wealthy and potent Man first Founded and planted there a Colony of some sixtysix Men afterwards he deceasing Athelstan his Son was deprived of his Patrimony and Edward the Confessor bestowed it upon Harold a great Favourite of his who having taken possession of it constituted in it a Church of Secular Canons and Dedicating it to the Honour of the Holy Cross made his Vows here in hopes of a Victory when he went to fight against William the Conqueror but Harold being slain and his Army quite routed by the Normans his Body was beg'd by his Mother of the Norman Duke and buried in this place After this the same Abby in the Reign of K. Henry II. was by the King's Command much enlarged and Regular Canons placed there to the number of Twenty-four and Dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. Lawrence saith the most Ingenious Mr. Tanner in his Notitia Monastica Richard I. still more augmented it and so did King Henry III. with Fairs and Markets appointing one Fair in the year to last for seven days together Hartfordshire We staid not long here and therefore were presently in Hartfordshire a County every where abounding with fertile Fields sat Pastures shady Groves and pleasant Rivolets and the first Town here of any Remark which presented it self to our View was Ware Ware which was built say Antiquaries by Edward the Senior King of the West Saxons about the year 914. 'T is watered by the River Ley and hath a great Market for all sorts of Grain it is populous and well inhabited by persons of very good Quality and lying in the great Road to London frequented constantly by persons of all degrees and although Hartford be the Eye of the County 't is now inferiour to this place since all Passages for Carriages being there obstructed during the Barons Wars were here freely opened to the great Advantage of this Town But the most remarkable thing in Ware is the New River or Aquaeduct convey'd above 20 Miles together in a continued Channel from this place to Islington from whence the Water thereof is dispersed in Pipes laid along in the Ground for that purpose into abundance of Streets Lanes Courts and Alleys of the City and Suburbs of London the happy Contrivance whereof all the Citizens have daily Experience and ought to Immortalize the Name of their Inventor Sir Hugh Middleton who bestow'd this most excellent Gift upon them and consummated this good Work so useful and beneficial to the City at his own proper Cost and Charges We lay here one Night in the company of some Friends Puckeridge and Barkway who came along hither with us for their Diversion but the next Morning taking a solemn farewell of them we set forward on our Journey and passing thro' Puckeridge and Barkway Towns of good Hospitality and Entertainment for Strangers we were quickly arriv'd within the Precincts of Cambridgeshire This is an extream pleasant open Country Cambridgeshire and a place of such Variety and Plenty that fruitful Geres with a smiling Countenance invites the Industrious Peasant to behold with Joy the Fruits of his Labour whilst she crowns his Industry with a plentiful Harvest and as if the Earth strove not to be behind hand with him in conferring other Largesses she in divers places makes some Annual Additions of another Crop by adorning the Fields with large Productions of Saffron by which great Profits do continually arise Besides here it is that the green Banks of murmuring Rivers and sunny Hills bedeck'd with diversity of Plants and Simples call forth the Students from their musing Cells and teach them Theory as well as Practice by diving into their Natures contemplating their Signatures and considering their Qualities and various Effects In a word here is nothing wanting for Profit or Delight and though the Northern parts of the County towards the Isle of Ely lying somewhat low are moist and Fenny yet that Defect is abundantly supply'd by the Plenty of Cattle Fish and Fowl bred in those Fenns and which makes the Air more healthy the gentle Gales which are frequently stirring drive away all thick Mists and Fogs which in some parts most annoy it and by this means it is become a fit Seat for the Muses to inhabit and we have no reason to complain of the Soil since our Wise Ancestors thought it good and convenient to plant a Colony of Learned Men here and place one of the Eyes of our Nation in this spot of Ground the famous and most glorious University of Cambridge which we could not in Honour pass by without a Visit Cambridge Cambridge was formerly call'd by the Britains Kaergrant and Grantbridge from a fair large Bridge made over the River Grant which is now call'd Cam from whence the Town it self receives its Name It is increased much by the Ruines of Grantchester sometimes a famous City situated a little above a Mile from this place and the Castle that is beyond the River the Ruines of which are still to be seen was built as
ancient Records testifie in the first year of William the Conqueror and in the fifth year of William Rufus in the year of our Lord 1092 a Nobleman of the Norman Blood nam'd Picot a Vice-comes or Sheriff at the request of Hugolin his Wife founded a Church and Dedicated it unto St. Giles near to this Castle placing in it a Convent of six black Canons which was twenty years after remov'd to Barnwell a Village near a Mile distant from this place by Pain Reverell where he built a Priory to the Honour of St. Giles and St. Andrew and endow'd it with Revenues for the maintainance of thirty Canons of St. Austin's Order As Mr. Tanner informs us As to the Antiquity of the University of Cambridge if any Credit may be given to King Arthur's Diploma which says That King Lucius was converted by the preaching of the Doctors of Cambridge for which reason he gave Privileges to that University which were after confirm'd by King Arthur or if the Bull of Pope Honorius the First may be allow'd Authentick which bearing date Feb. 20 An. Dom. 624. makes mention of the Privileges granted to the University of Cambridge by Pope Eleutherius and takes notice of Doctors and Scholars Resident there at that time Why then as it is truly observ'd by our most Learned Bishop of Worcester in his Antiquities of the British Churches This is a sufficient Proof to all that relie on the Pope's Authority that in the time of King Lucius and Eleutherius there might be a sufficient number of Learned Men in Cambridge to have instructed King Lucius in the Christian Faith and that it is not improbable that Eluanus and Medwinus might be of that number especially considering that Camboritum or as many Copies have it Camboricum was a Roman Colony and mention'd amongst the best Copies among the 28 Cities of Britain and that the Roman Colonies had their Schools of Learning wherein the several Professors of Arts and Sciences did instruct both the Roman and British Youth But what ever Favours the Romans were pleased to confer upon this place 't is certain it met afterwards with very great Encouragement from divers other Benefactors and by the Countenance of Segebert King of the East-Angles and other Saxon Princes it held up its Head in a flourishing Condition till about the year 1100 as the Saxon Chronicle informs us The cruel and merciless Danes laid all waste before them and Swene their King with Fire and Sword burnt this place to the Ground contrary to what we read of the Roman Captain Sylla who though otherwise as furious as a Tyger or a Lion yet when he raged in Greece spared the much celebrated Athens for Minerva's sake Yet nevertheless when these Storms were once blown over in the time of the Normans Learning began to peep out again and seeing all was clear and quiet sprouted up a fresh recruiting it self by degrees till at last in progress of time it return'd to its Primitive State and flourish'd more vigorously than ever it did before For in the Reign of K. Henry I. for his Learning sirnam'd Beauclere it began again to be new modell'd into an University and hereupon Religious Houses and Halls were immediately erected and they have ever since been increasing to the number of Sixteen namely Twelve Magnificent Colleges and four famous Halls where the Buildings are so Uniform the Chapels so Stately the Privileges so Great the Government so Regular the Orders so Strict the Ceremonies so Decorous and the Preferments so Honourable that in all the European Countries no nor perhaps in all the Nations of the World can we find out one University excepting that of Oxford so richly endow'd so famous and renown'd for its Structures so admirable for its Discipline and so courted and address'd to for its most Polite Learning So that when Erasmus was pleased to give us a Strain of his Eloquence in Decyphering both their Characters he doth it but in such a Style as is very suitable to the Subject and the Elogy is no less than what they justly deserve I have before this saith he been extreamly well satisfy'd and have exceedingly rejoyced that England hath constantly been furnish'd with Men who have been as Eminent for their Parts as Learning But now I begin to envy her Felicity had he lived now in our days he would still have had greater reason for this Harangue by reason that she is now so enrich'd with all kind of Literature that by taking the Commendation thereof from other Regions she doth marvellously obscure and eclipse their Glory and yet this Commendation is not only due to England at this present time for it is well known for divers years past to have flourish'd with persons of deep and profound Learning The Universities prove this to be true which have for their Antiquity and Worthiness contended with and outstripped the most ancient and celebrated Academies that ever were planted in the Christian World It might now be expected that I should further exspatiate into a more particular Description of these Famous and Ample Colleges and give an exact Portraiture of the large and spatious Quadrangle of Trinity-College so excellently contriv'd and admirably surrounded with a curious Pile of Buildings which was at first founded by King Henry VIII Of the noble Fabrick of St. John's founded by Margaret Countess of Richmond and Darby both which Colleges have of late years been so extreamly beautify'd and enlarg'd Of Corpus-Christi or Bennet-College founded by Henry Duke of Lancaster whose Library is so famous for its divers ancient Manuscripts as well as from the great Honour it daily receives from His Grace the present Lord Archbishop of Canterbury who was formerly a Learned Fellow and still continues the greatest Glory of it Of that unimitable Piece of Architecture in King's College Chapel founded by that Heroick Prince King Henry VI. Of the Publick Schools of the University which have been of so ancient a continuance that there is no mention when or how they began Of the Publick Library which though it be not so spacious and glorious as the Vatican or Bodleian yet it is so well stock'd with all kind of Divine and Humane Writers that there is not sufficient Room for all the Manuscripts and choice Books which are daily given to it especially if that Order be strictly observ'd of which I have been credibly inform'd That a Copy of every Book which is printed in England be by the Printer presented to it I might insist further on the laudable Modes and Customs which are duly observ'd in this Renown'd University of the large Privileges and Immunities which have been ever granted to it of the honourable Degrees in Divinity Law and Physick which are here annually conferr'd of the great Encouragements which are daily given to all such Persons who have been most Exemplary for their Piety and Learning for which Reason undoubtedly three great and eminent Persons the Pious and Humble Dr. Sancroft the
this most flourishing College I must not forget the Munificence of some late great Benefactors who by their generous Liberality to it have erected to themselves a more lasting and durable Monument than the Pyramids of Egypt or the Coloss at Rhodes The one was the Right Reverend and Learned Dr. Ward the late Bishop of Salisbury who hath founded here four new Scholarships of Ten Pounds a piece per Annum The other Noble Benefactors were the Honourable Sir John Finch Brother to the Earl of Nottingham sometime Ambassador in Turkey and Sir Thomas Bayns a Physician his Companion and Fellow-Traveller sometime here a Student who at their Death added to the College two more considerable Fellowships and Scholarships for the due encouragement of Learning and lie interred in the Chapel as a signal Testimony of that indissoluble Love and Affection they had always even to the very last for this Learned Society As far the Town of Cambridge it self it is governed by a Mayor who at the entrance into his Office takes a solemn Oath before the Vice-Chancellor to observe and conserve the Privileges Liberties and Customs of the University and as the Assizes for the County are for the most part kept here so 't is observable that one High Sheriff serves for both the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon which borders upon it The chief Market every Saturday supplies it well with Corn and plenty of other Provision But nothing is more remarkable nor advantageous to it than the great Fair annually kept within a Mile of it in September called by the name of Sturbridge Fair Sturbridge-Fair from whence it received its denomination is uncertain but this is most certain that of all Fairs or publick Marts in England 't is supposed the largest and best stored with all kind of Wares and Commodities which the Londoners take special care to import hither When you are within the Limits you would rather be ready to imagine your self in some great Town by the variety of Shops and multiplicity of Booths than in a wide open Field Now those Booths are always built for the time in which it lasts which is about a Fortnight Neither are you presented with Booths only upon the Land but with Booths upon the Water too there being particular contrivances in their Boats upon the River which runs hard by this place for Rooms and secret Retirements all covered above for the conveniency of Strangers which resort thither and indeed here is always a great concourse of People from all parts of the Nation Not far from this place appears aloft a certain ridge of Hills called Hog-magog-Hills Hog-magog Hills fortified of old by the Danes when they infested these Parts with a threefold Trench some part whereof is still to be seen Having paid our Devoirs and taken a review of that which affords so great Variety we at last took our farewell and bidding it adieu we betook our selves into its Neighbouring County of Huntingdon Huntingdonshire 't is a fruitful Country both for Corn and Grass towards the East it is waterish and fenny and hath formerly been well beset with Woods In the Reign of King Henry the Second it had a large Forest which he destroyed converting it to other uses 'T is watered by the pleasant Rivers Avon and Ouse which render it very fertile The first Village we arrived at in this County was Fenny-Stanton but found nothing observable till we came to Godmanchester Godmanchester a great Country Town and of as great a Name for Tillage situate in an open Ground of a light Mould and bending for the Sun Here have been observed more stout and lusty Husbandmen and more Ploughs agoing than in any Town besides in England for they make their boast that they have in former times receiv'd the Kings of England as they passed it their Progress this way with Ninescore Ploughs brought forth in a rustical kind of Pomp for a gallant Show Soon after King James the First came into England the Bayliffs of this Town presented him with Seventy Teem of Horses all traced to fair new Ploughs of which when His Majesty demanded the reason he was answered That it was their ancient Custom whensoever any King of England passed through their Town so to present him besides they added That they held their Lands by that Tenure being the King's Tenants His Majesty took it well and bad them make good use of their Ploughs being glad he was Landlord of so many good Husbandmen in one Town Antiquaries do affirm it to have been formerly a flourishing City and not only the old Roman Coins which have been digged up here do attest its Antiquity but its ancient denomination too It was formerly called Duroliponte corruptly for Durosiponte which in the British Language signifies a Bridge over the River Ouse but this Name being antiquated in the Saxons time it began to be called Gormoncester by Gormon the Dane for King Alfred having conquer'd the Danes who had made an Invasion into these Parts reduced them at last to these Conditions either forthwith to give him Pledges that they would immediately depart this Land or else that they would embrace the Christian Religion which latter Proposal being made choice of Guthrus or Gormundus the Danish King with Thirty more of his Nobility was Baptiz'd into the Christian Faith and their Prince adopted by Alfred for his Son who changing his Name to Athelstan appointed him his Station here and committed the Provinces of the East-Angles and Northumbers to his peculiar Charge And if it be likewise allowed that one Machutus was here Bishop when it was called Gumicastrum hou quantum mutatur 'T is certainly now reduced to a poor and despicable Condition to what it could then glory of in former Generations Huntingdon Huntingdon is about a Mile distant from this place and is the chief Town of the County situate upon the River Ouse over which stands a Bridge made of Stone which gives entrance into it the Houses are fair and the Streets large 't is adorn'd with Four Churches and had formerly a Benedictine Nunnery dedicated to St. James saith the Notitia Monastica and a Priory of Black Canons founded about the Year 1140 to the honour of St. Mary by Eustace de Luvetot some of the Ruins whereof are still to be seen Near the River upon a high Hill stands the remains of a Castle which was built about the Year of Christ 917 by Edward the Senior Afterwards David King of Scots waging War against King Stephen upon the account of Mawd the Empress who was his Neice this was surrendred upon some certain Conditions to the Scots King who did exceedingly beautifie and strengthen it by making strong Rampires and Fortifications about it but Henry the Second finding it in process of time a Cage only for Rebels and Ringleaders of Sedition at last quite demolished it and from the top of this Hill is a very pleasant Prospect for the space