Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	earl_n	king_n	reign_n	3,913	5	8.1254	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29627	An historical account of Mr. Rogers's three years travels over England and Wales giving a true and exact description of all the chiefest cities, towns and corporations in England, Dominion of Wales, and town of Berwick upon Twede : together with the antiquities, and places of admiration, cathedrals, churches of note in any city, town or place in each county, the gentleman above-mentioned having made it his whole business (during the aforesaid time) to compleat the same in his travelling, : to which is annexed a new map of England and Wales, with the adjacent parts, containing all the cities and market towns bound in just before the title.	Brome, James, d. 1719.; D. J.	1694 (1694)	Wing B4857; ESTC R39940	65,229	160

Treasures and Mints of Money atchieved more magnificent Acts than ever any Prelate did before him for he erected the Royal Palace of Hampton-Court besides two famous Colleges the one at this Native Town and the other a most glorious Structure called Christ-Church College in Oxford and for the height of his Living and Attendance it is very elegantly set forth by the writer of his Life But notwithstanding he was the Favourite of his Prince and the Darling of Fortune and sued to by Foreigners and his own Country-men too as to be the only Person to apply to in all accounts yet true it is that Fortune very oft sets great Persons upon the Hill of Honour thereby to precipitate them with the greater Violence we find this lofty Cardinal could no way secure himself from the reach of fretting Envy and learn'd by the mutability of his own Condition for being retired into the Country after he seeing his Fortunes began to ebb at Court having the Great Seal took from him by the King's Order and was afterwards sent for by the Lieutenant of the Tower to appear before his Majesty and as returning out of the North to the City of London in his Journy he fell sick of a Flux at the Earl of Shrewsbury's house in Sheffeild-Park which being accompanied with a Fever did so weaken his Body that when he came to Leicester Abby which way he took he told the Abbot after the Solemnities of receiving him were past That indeed he was come to lay his Bones amongst them which accordingly came to pass for their he died and after his death his Corps being invested by the Monks with all such Ornaments as he was Professed in when he was made Bishop and Archbishop as Mitre Cross-King and Pall with all other things due to his Order and Dignity and having lain some few days in State to be visited by those who had a mind to pay their last Respects to his Person he was buried in their Chappel dedicated to the Virgin Mary with great Solemnity though all perished in the ruin of the Monastery Subverted not long after when Popery was banished from the Confines of England This Town had its share of Calamities in the unhappy Civil Wars It is well furnished with all kind of Grain it is governed by a Mayor Alderman and Recorder with other inferiour Officers to attend them The Town is strengthened with several Gates in one whereof is kept the Magazine it is also adorned with divers eminent Fabricks both Sacred and Civil the Cross in high Street is a very excellent Structure there are likewise five Churches by that which is called St. Martins stands the new Hospital being a stately Edifice built and endowed by several Benefactors for the use of divers aged Men and Women with a Chappel and a Chaplain to read Divine Service and to be assistful to those poor People therein and to this joins their publick Library which was given for the use of Ministers and Schollars who inhabit here hard by St. Mary's Church stands the Castle where the Assizes are kept for the County and by St. Nicholas there is a Wall which by the Ruins of it seems to be of very great Antiquity having several hollow places in it of an oval form of which the Inhabitants have strange Conjectures concerning them as if there had been some place in which the Pagans did offer up their Children to their blood-thirsty Idols or that they made them here pass through the fire as the Israelites did to Moloch but of this there is no probability at all and these only being conjectural Guesses I shall leave them and observe one thing more concerning this Town After the fatal Battel betwixt King Richard the Third and Henry Earl of Richmond afterwards Henry the Seventh King of England in Bosworth-field about the Year of our Lord 1485 in which King Richard with four Thousand Men more were slain and not above ten Persons on the other side The Corps of the deceased King was brought to be buried there in great disgrace as the day before he went out in pomp for his Body being rifled by the Souldiers was carried naked behind a Pursivant at Arms and being all over daub'd with Mire and Blood was conveyed to the Grey Friar's Church that then was within the Town and there buried very obscurely and meanly whilst Richmond with joyful Acclamations was proclaimed King in the very midst of slaughtered Bodies round about CARLETON all that are born there whether it be by a peculiar Property of the Soil or of the Water or else by some other secret Operation of Nature have an ill favoured untunable and harsh manner of Speech fetching their Words with very much ado deep from out of the Throat with a certain kind of wharling the Letter R being very irksome to them to pronounce Rutlandshire It is the least County of all England Lying in form almost round like a circle it is in compass so far about as a Light-horsman will ride in one day It was called Rutland as one would say Red-land the Earth in this Shire is every where red and so red that even the Sheeps fleeces are thereby coloured red The English-Saxons called Red in their Tongue Roet and Rud. UPPINGHAM a place upon an high ascent whence that name was imposed a well frequented Market Town The Vale of Catmose a field full of Woods Okeham is in the middle of it so called from Oaks This small Shire hath Parish Churches fourty eight Lincolnshire A very large County reaching almost three Score Miles in length and carrying in some places above thirty Miles in breadth passing good for yielding of Corn and feeding of Cattel well furnished and set out with great number of Towns and watered with many Rivers having great store of Fish and Fowl BOSTON is a famous Town standing on both sides the River Witham which hath over it a wooden Bridge of great height well frequented by means of a commodious Haven unto it The Market-place is fair and large and the Buildings are very beautiful also a most stately Church with a very high Tower-steeple and hath as many steps in its steeple from the bottome to the top as there are Days in the Year which Steeple salutes Passengers and Travellers a great way off and giveth Direction also to Sailers In the Coat of Boston for the Corporation there are three Crowns relating to the three Kingdoms the Crest a Ram lying upon a Wool-sack the Ram signifying the great Sheep-walks in the Fens round about and the Wool-sack that it was a Staple-Town the Supporters of the Coat are two Maremaids signifying that it was a Port-Town LINCOLN The chief City of the County and is large well inhabited and frequented it is situated upon the side of an Hill and thence hath its Name from its Situation or because it hath been a Colony Certain it is a Place of great Antiquity and of a very long standing there are fourteen

brief relation of it tho' not in its proper place Surrey From the West it boundeth partly upon Barkshire and Hantshire from the South upon Sussex and from the East on Kent towards the North it is watered with the River Thames and by it divided from Middlesex It is a County not very large yet wealthy enough where it beareth upon Thames and lieth as a plain and champion Country FERNHAM so named of much Fern growing in that place GUILFORD a Market Town well frequented and full of fair Innes KINGSTONE a very good Market Town for the bigness and well frequented It had begining from a little Town more ancient than it of the same name in which when England was almost ruinated by the Danish Wars Aethelstan Edwin and Ethelstred were crowned Kings upon an open stage in the Market place whence it was called Kingstone SHENE so called of its shining brightness now Richmond wherein the most mighty Prince King Edward the Third when he had lived sufficiently both to glory and nature died King Henry the Seventh built it and gave it that name of Richmond of the Title he bore being Earl of Richmond before he obtain'd the Crown of England He had scarce finished this new work when in this place he yeilded unto Nature and ended his Life Here Queen Elizabeth also died CROIDON there was the Archbishop's House of Canterbury There are Charcoles LAMBETH Canutus the Hardy King of England there amidst his Cups yeilded up his vital Breath It is the Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury This County hath in it an hundred and forty Parish Churches I have been both in North and South Wales of which other Pens have already set forth so that I do not intend to deliver any thing to the Publick that hath been already set forth by others but only give a short Account of several things very observable not yet set forth by any WALES Flintshire THe Air is healthful without any Fogs or Fenny-Vapours and the People generally are very Aged and hearty The Snow lies here very long upon the Hills the County affords great plenty of Cattel but they are small Millstones are also digged up in these Parts as well as in Anglesey Towards the River Dee the Fields bears in some places Barley in others Wheat but generally throughout Rye with very great encrease and especially the first Year of their breaking up their Land and afterward two or three Crops together of Oats Holy-Well or St. Winifrid's-Well This County is most remarkable for a little Village called Holy-Well where is the Well of St. Winifrid so famous for the strange Cures which have been wrought by the Vertue of it as it is supposed the Water hereof is extream cold and hath likewise a very great Stream that flows from it which is presently able to drive a Mill the Stones which are at bottom being of a sanguine colour are believed to receive that colour from the Drops of Blood which trickled down from her Body when she was here beheaded by the bloody Tyrant that would have ravished her and the Moss which grows upon the sides and bears a very fragrant Smell is averred to have been the product of her Hair though I find by some we brought away with us that in process of time it loseth all its sweetness Over the Well stands a Chappel dedicated to her built of Stone after a curious manner to which formerly was much resorting by Pilgrims who came hither out of blind Devotion and the generality of the Commonalty hereabouts do believe That this Martyred-Virgin and the great Miracle that was wrought by St. Benno who restored her to life again as they say by claping on her head immediately after it was cut off upon her Shoulders which Relation those Inhabitants thereabouts do verily believe to be true So having made some small stay here in which time we conversed with the Welshmen and gathered up a true Account of this County which was as follows Radnorshire In the East and South parts thereof 't is more fruitful than the rest but is uneven and rough with Mountains yet it is well stored with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Pools the Air is very cold and sharp because the Snow lying long unmelted under the shady Hills and hanging Rocks whereof there are many and upon the Borders of it which lies next to Herefordshire runs a-long a famous Ditch which Offa King of the Mercians with great toil and labour caused to be cast up from Dee mouth to Wye mouth for the space of 90 Miles to separate the Britains from the English Several other things there are very observable which are too tedious to relate Brecknockshire Lies beneath Radnorshire It is thick with Hills and fruitful in the Valleys MOUNTH-DENNY three Miles from Brecknock is a Hill so called that hath its top above the Clouds and if a Cloak or Hat or the like be thrown from the top of it it will never fall but be blown up again nor will any thing descend but Stones or Mettals or things as heavy LYNSARATHAN-MERE two Miles East from the same place is a Mere called Lynsarathan which as the People dwelling there say was once a City but the whole City was swallowed up by an Earthquake and this Water or Lake succeeded in the place they say likewise That at the end of Winter when aftr a long Frost and the Ice of this Lake breaks it makes a fearful noise like Thunder possibly because the Lake is encompassed with high steep Hills which pen in the sound and multiply it or else the ground may be hollow underneath or near the Lake LIVENNY-River Through this Lake runs a River called Livenny without mixture of its Waters as may be perceived both by the Colour of the Water and also by the Quantity of it because it is no greater afterwards than when it entered the Lake CADIER-ARTHUR or Arthur's Chair a Hill so called on the South side of this County from the Tops resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the Demensions of that great and mighty Person upon the top whereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four square having no Streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein Glamorganshire Hath a temperate Air and is generally the most pleasant part of all South Wales MINYD-MORGAN Hill On the top of a certain Hill so called is a Monument with a strange Character which the Inhabitants thereabouts say if any Man read the same he shall die shortly after The Springs by Newton Upon the River Ogmore and near to Newton in a sandy Plain is a Well the Water whereof is not very clear in which at full Sea in Summer-time can hardly any Water be took up but at the Ebb it bubbleth up amain in Summer-time I say for in the Winter the Ebbing and Flowing is nothing near so evident because of the Veins of Water coming in by

some of them being faln down to the ground 't is very difficult to reckon how many there are likewise it seems very strange how such immense Bulks should happen here where there is no Stones of any small demension within the Neighbourhood Whereupon some are of an Opinion That they are not purely natural or had their growth in this place 'T is now generally credited and believed that they were a Monument set up by Aurelius Ambrose in Remembrance of the Brittains that were Slain and Buried there in the Reign of Vortiger at a Banquet and Communication of Hengist which the Saxons and Brittish Chronicles testifie That whereas the Saxons about the Year of our Lord 450. had slain Four hundred and eighty of the Brittish Nobility by Treachery under a Colour of a Parley and Treaty this Aurelius Ambrose being then King of the Brittains desirous to continue their Memory as well as the Infamy of his base and treacherous Enemies caused these Stones to be set up in the very place of their Death and Burial the which Stones had been first brought out of Africk into Ireland and there placed on Mount Killare and from thence by the Art and Magick of Merlina a renowned Magician in that Age were at length conveyed to this place upon this very Occasion Others think that the Brittains did Erect this as a Monument for Ambrosius himself to perpetuate his glorious Name to Posterity who died afterwards upon this place by the Sword in the Answer of their Quarrel and Vindication of their Liberties however certain it is that there are thereabouts certain little Hills or Banks under which there are sometimes found Bones of tall gigantick Men and pieces of Armour and not far from hence remains still some of the Ruins of an old kind of Fortress which the Romans as it is probable did raise for themselves during their Possession of these our Territories c. From hence we went to Wilton-House belonging to the Earl of Pembrook It is situated in a pleasant Valley and hath the Town of Wilton on the one side of it and a spacious Park on the other side with delightful Gardens and Meadows on the other sides and a fine River running through the Gardens In this House are excellent Rooms and great variety of Pictures and in the Gardens are undoubtedly the most curious Water-works that are in all England We did not tarry long here but went away to Salisbury of which I shall inform you as briefly as I can Leaving Wilton-House we rode to Salisbury and in our way beheld the place where formerly old Wilton the Metropolis of this County stood called Willey 'T is situated saith Cambden where the two Rivers Willeybrook and Alderbourne meet and here it was that Egbert King of the West Saxons in the Year of our Lord 821 fought the second Battle against the Mercians so bloody on both sides that the River Avon was all over dyed red with the Blood of the slain and in the Year 871 Alfred having maintained a long Fight against the Danes and upon the first Onset had success but was at last quite routed his Forces defeated and himself forced to flee away to preserve his life In the Saxons reign it flourished mightily and Edgar built there a Nunnery and made his Daughter Editha Lady Governess thereof afterwards being long exposed to the fury of the Danes who were its Mortal Enemies and deserted the Bishops of Salisbury who were at first its Supporters it went to decay and almost returned again on a sudden into its first Principle of Nothing and so old Salisbury then and since new Salisbury which hath sprang from that have quite extinguished its Primitive Lustre and Glory Old Salisbury was situated upon a Hill exposed much to Winds and Storms very dry barren and uncomfortable by reason of the great Defect of Water throughout the whole City it was well fortified as appears by some ancient pieces o● Walls which are there still to be seen The Saxons in the Year 553 first Sacked it and took it and in the Reign of Edward the Second Osmund Bishop of Sherbourne Translated the See hither and built a Cathedral Church though the Danes not long after having took and burnt the City that likewise underwent the same fatal Calamity and was levelled with the ground till both of them were raised again in Conqueror's time for after that he had made his Progress throughout all his Kingdom of England he at last Summoned all the Three Orders of the Nation to come hither and here to take their Oaths of Allegiance to him But afterwards in the Reign of Richard the First the Citizens being oppressed by the Insolence of the Soldiers which then kept Garrison and was in great want for Water resolved to free themselves from these Burdens 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 Chrystial-stream'd Rivers gave them a more hearty Welcome and far better Entertainment than before they were acquainted withal After a new Colony was Transplanted hither Richard Pore first Bishop of Chichester then of Salisbury afterwards of Durham did likewise Transplant the Cathedral from the barren dry place in which it was erected near to the old Castle of the Earls of Salisbury and built it in a more plentiful Soil this most pious Prelate for he did not only Transplant it but 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 Splender and Magnificence that now it matches with the staliest of Structures for the rare Workmanship thereof throughout the Nation The Steeple is built in the 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 at the distance of 20 Miles as we were credibly inform'd 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 close but you may see the Entertices betwixt them and shake those that are of the lesser size and there is as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very artificially Adorned and curiously Painted to admiration and there is likewise as many Doors as there is Weeks in the Year and as many Chappels as Months Thus did this great Prelate which by augmenting it augment his own Fame and even Cannoniz himself And as the Church was then re-edified so was the City much enlarged too by the Citizens and for the more sweetness as well as cleanliness of their Habitations they made several Channels and Rivolets in the midst of their Streets very commodious and beneficial to them Thus by degrees Old Salisbury is vanished away and very little to be seen in

sufficiently enough admire the pleasantness of the Soil There it is that Cerces bestowes her Gifts most Liberally upon the Labours of Husband-men There it is that the Meadowes are garnished with variety of Plants allure and intice the industrious and studious Herbalists into a more strict Inquiry of Names Natures and Properties there 't is where the Hills are adorned with shady Woods and afford most delightful Bows to the waried Students whilst the Silver-stream'd-Rivers with their Murmures nimbly coursing along do whet their fancies and screw up their Intellectuals to the highest pitch The first Town of Note we came to in this County was Burford Is a Town of good Note situated as it were on the side of a Hill very pleasantly and if we will give Credit to ancient Records 't is storied That Cuthred King of the West Saxons when he was no longer able to bear the severe Tributes and Exactions of Ethelbeld King of the Mercians who did most cruelly oppress him and began to suck the very Blood and Marrow of his Subjects came into the Field against him and in a pitcht Battle routed him totally taking from him his Banners on which was painted a golden Dragon and so raised his Subjects from their Tributary-Vassalage The next place we came to was OXFORD a Ford for Oxen to pass over as is called by the Germans Oxhenfurt It hath a most healthy Air and commodious situation and is well adorned with private Structures as also with goodly and magnificent Colleges and Halls and is thought by Antiquaries to have been a place of publick Study before the learned Saxon King Alfred's time who very much angmented it out of his Princely Favour and Love to Learning and Religion It boasts in Univesity-College founded at first by King Alfred afterwards re-edified by William Arch-Deacon of Durham or as others write by William Bishop of Durham in the Twelfth Year of William the Conqueror and of New-College built by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester and the Magnificence Christ Church erected by Cardinal Woolsey in the Reign of Henry the Eighth This City is adorned with 22 Colleges besides the curious Fabrick of the Schools and the admirable Sructure of the Theatre built at the sole Cost and Charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert late Lord-Archbishop of Canterbury the famous Library not much inferiour to the Vatican at Rome the delightful Physick-Garden replenished with divers both of Foreign and Domestick Plants surrounded with a strong stone Wall at the sole Expence of the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Danby together with all the Customs Privileges Offices and Dignities which are already elegantly set forth by the ingenious Author of the Present State of England And as concerning the South side of this County What can be more pleasant than Thamiss branching it self forth into several Veins gives refreshment to several parts of this County at last by several Turnings and Windings lodgeth it self again in its natural Couse We went from hence to DORCHESTER It seems to be a Town of great Antiquity and is credibly reported that this was formerly a Bishop's see which was Transplanted from this place to Lincoln by Conqueror's dislike that the Bishop's Seat stood in so small a City from which time it began to decline into a low and mean Condition and is now only famous for its venerable Relicts and Ruins and for the mutable Union of the two noted Rivers Tama aud Isis which here unanimously embrace each other From hence we went to Hendly in this County of which it follows HENDLY which the Thames after it hath fetch'd a handsome compass enricheth with its silver streams the Inhabitants herein being most of them Bargemen and get good Livelihoods by carrying of Corn and Wood out of the neighbouring Counties to London there is now a very large and strong Timber-bridge over the River which they say was formerly arched and of Stone but whether this be the Bridge that the Romans went over when Casar pursued the Britains who fled into these Parts is hard to determine however it is very probable that this was the place We went from hence into Buckinghamshire or Bucks Which might possibly be so called from Beech-trees there being such great plenty in that County or likely from a Country in Germany called Buchonia from its great plenty of those kind of Trees The County generally is of a plentiful Soil and passing full of Inhabitants who chiefly employ themselves in grazing of Cattle There is store of Mutton and Beef WICKHAM or Weicombe situated above a pleasent Valley by which runs a-long the Currant of a small Rivolet and possibly from this situation it might take its Name for Combe in the Saxon Language signifies a Valley and Wick any Turning or Winding of a River or Sea 'T is a Town for Largeness and Buildings not much inferiour to any throughout the Shire and hath a Mayor and Aldermen It is a place well known for the abundance of Bone-lace that is made here which brings good Advantage and Profit to the Inhabitants The next Town we arrived at was BEACONSFIELD a Town better known for that it was formerly the Inhabitants by Succession to the Lord Scudamore than for any thing it contains in it self We tarried not long here but went to UXBRIDGE formerly called WOXBRIDGE a Town built of latter times and well stored with Inns. We past from hence to see some part of Harfordshire and Bedfordshire which Counties we found very rich in Corn and Cattle but in relation to these Counties and their renowned Towns of Bedford Dunstable and St. Albans and divers other Towns they having been so well set forth by others I shall forbear mentioning them We went to WARE in Hartfordshire where we tarried two Nights This Town according to Writers was built by Edward the Second King of the West Saxons in the Year 914. 'T is wartered 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 is frequented constantly by Persons of all Degrees and altho' Hartford be the Eye of the County 't is now inferiour to this place but the most remarkable thing in Ware is the New-River or Aqueduct conveyed above 20 Miles together in a continued Channel from this Place to Islington from whence the Water thereof is dispersed in Pipes laid a-lond in the ground for that purpose into abundance of Streets Lanes Courts and Alleys of this City and Suburbs of London the great Contrivance whereof all the Citizens have daily Experience and ought to immortalize the Name of their Inventor Sir Hugh Middleton who bestowed 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 I have not mention'd the County of Surrey distinctly as yet and indeed had almost forgot it but I will give some

them That if a Man does but lightly set his foot any where upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to stir for several Foot from him which probably might occasion the Story of the floating Island before mentioned PEN-NEANMOUR The great stony Head a Hill so called in this County It is an exceeding high and steep Rock which hanging over the Sea when it is Flood afordeth a very narrow Way for Passengers having on the one side huge Stones over your heads as if they were ready to fall upon you and on the other side the raging Ocean lying off a wonderful steep depth under it but after a Man hath passed over this together with Pen-mean-Lythan The less story Head he shall come to an open broad Plain that reacheth as far as the Conway in which are bred a sort of Shell-fish which being Conceived of an Heavenly-dew as is conjectured bring forth Pearl BANGOR-PENCHOR so called is also in is this County a Bishop's See the Church was Consecrated to Daniel Bishop hereof but that which is now standing is but a mean Structure for Owen Glender that notorious Rebel who designed to destroy all the Cities in Wales set it on fire because the Inhabitants of this Place chose rather to side with the King of England than with him Hereupon the ancient Church being defaced Henry Denry Bishop hereof did afterwards repair it about the Reign of Henry the Seventh as we were credibly inform'd by the Inhabitants Anglesey In this Island which is computed to be in compass 85 Miles or thereabout are frequently found and digged up in the lower Grounds Bodies of huge Trees with their Roots and Firr-tres of a wonderful bigness and length which Trees some believe were cut down by the Romans as the Inhabitants do say That when the Romans had Conquered this Island they caused all the Woods to be cut down and destroyed This Island was in time past full of Woods and Timber but instead thereof now it yeildeth plenty of Corn Sheep and Cattle The Air is indifferently healthful in most parts of it here are likewise great store of Mill-stones and Grind-stones and in some places a sort of Earth of which they make Allum and Copperas also it yeilds such plenty of Wheat that it seems to be deserving of the Title of The Mother of Wales Denbighshire The Air is cold but very wholsome the Snow lies long on the Hills being a hilly Country the high Hills resembling the Battlements of Walls MOILENLLY-hill is the highest Hill in this Shire having a Spring of very clear Water upon the top of it WREXHAM in this County is about 16 Miles from Holy-well and is much admired for its Church-steeple being a very curious Fabrick contrived according to the most exact Draught and Models of Architecture no where to be parallel'd in those parts for Workmanship of which taking some small view we passed into Shropshire of which I have already made mention I having already given a Relation of most of the Shires in Wales and omitted Monmouthshire of which I could not in honour to the County pass by without a Visit so staying at Hereford some days we set a-part some time to go see Monmouth of which it follows Monmouth We found the Ways near Monmouth hard and rugged and that Town to be environed with Hills on all Sides the Ruins of its Walls and Castle argue its Antiquity It hath a fair Church and Market-place with a Hall for the Assizes and Sessions 'T is governed by a Mayor Recorder and Aldermen and the Inhabitants do generally speak both the Welsh and English Tongue They told us there of great Immunities and Privileges granted to them by the House of Lancaster but for no other thing is it so much renowned as that it was first the Native place and gave Breath to Henry the Fifth that Scourge of the French and glorious Pillar of the English Nation who Conquered Charles the Sixth King of France and all his Army and made him surrender up his Crown unto him and Acknowledge him the triumphant Conqueror Here we were entertained with no other Objects but what the stony Rocks the dangerous Clifts the towring Mountains and craggy Precipices did afford us being now and then covered with Flocks of Sheep and Herds of Goats the Inhabitants told us That upon the Black Mountain there as they call it or thereabouts are some Hills so high whose Tops are so sharp that two Persons may stand upon two different Points thereof and discourse with one another and understand each other very well although they must be forced to go some Miles before they can embrace each other but the truth of this I will not averr certain I am there are many of them of so unconceivable a height and so steep an Ascent that they seem as it were Nature's Stair-cases by which we may climb up to some higher Region and have Entercourse with the Inhabitants of the Moon Thus have I given a true and faithful Relation of my Travels over England and Wales but cannot much commend the latter for their Cookery yet for their Linen it was indifferent sweet and clean I could have mentioned several other things but what has been spoke of is most material FINIS