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
Churches whereof the Cathedral is very glorious being not much in feriour to any and in one of the Steples there is a very great Bell rung by sixteen Men called Great Tom of Lincoln 'T is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen The Diocess here is the largest in England for after three Bishopricks were taken out of it it contained four whole Counties and parts of two the whole Shire is divided into three Part whereof one is called Holland a second Kestuen and the third Lindsey GRANTHAM a Town of good resort adorned with a School built by Richard Fox Bishop of Winchester and with a fair Church having a Spire-steeple of a mighty height There are in this Shire six hundred and thirty Parishes thirty and one Hundreds and thirty Market Towns We went from hence into Nottinghamshire It is limited Northward with Yorkshire Westward with Darbyshire and in some other parts with Yorkshire The South and East parts thereof are made fruitful by the River Trent with other Riverets resorting unto it NOTTINGHAM is built upon a Rock and is environed by Rocks on one side which are washed by a crooked winding of a commodious River and hath a very fair Park of the Duke of Castle 's adjoining to it with the Forest of Shirewood bordering upon it The Streets are large and well paved the Market-place very handsome and convenient the Churches spatious and well contrived and the Houses high and stately they are for the most part built with Brick but some of them are rare pieces as well for Structure as Design and in short the whole front of their Fabrick is beautified with Sculptures and glistering Balconies the Inhabitants be very desirous of the new Modes and Draughts of Architecture The Castle which is on the West side of the Town is situated upon an exceeding high Rock and is supposed to be a place of very great Antiquity This Castle held out a Siege by the Danes against Alfred and it was then called Snottenham and now Nottingham King Edward the Second strenghened the Town by an addition of Walls and a new Castle was built by William the Conqueror to keep the English in awe and subjection and by Art and Nature together it became even impregnable Edward the Fourth illustrated it with several Dwelling-houses for Commanders and Soldiers and indeed in the Rock upon which the Castle stands are several small Cottages hewen out of it in which at present dwells divers poor people and it is reported that it never was taken until it was surprized by Robert Earl of Derby in the Baron's Wars who having once got this entered the Town and then used the Townsmen according to his pleasure though I find too in the Life of King Stephen that Robert Earl of Gloucester invaded this Town with a great Power and when most of the Townsmen were slain and burnt in the Churches whither they fled for refuge there is a Story of one of them who was richer than the rest and being forced to return to his own house by the Soldiers that had taken him to shew them where all his Treasures lay he bringing them into a Celler and whilst they were busy in breaking open Locks and Coffers conveyed himself away making the Door fast after him and set the House on fire so that the Soldiers being thirty in number perished all in the Flames which ketching hold of other Buildings joining to it almost burnt up the whole Town But that which makes this Castle most signally remarkeable was the Discovery of Roger Mortimore Earl of March and the Imprisonment too of David le Brase King of the Scots who was here confined the relation of which I shall set down as briefly as I can After King Edward the Second had been Deposed and Murdered by the Plots of his own Wife Queen Isabella and King Edward the Third her Son had Reigned about four Years a Parliament was called at Nottingham where this Roger Mortimore who was then the Queen 's most especial Favourite was in such Glory and Renown that it was beyond all comparison None so much Lord Paramount as the Earl of March None appears in so great an Equippage and attended with so honourable a Retinue as the Earl of March so that the King's Train was inferiour to his and his Majesty's Glory eclipsed by the Pomp and Grandeur of one of his Nobles for he very oft would presume to go foremost and his own Officers and was so exceeding proud and haughty as to make all Persons cringe and do as great Homage to him as to Majesty it self nay he undertook to Order and Dispose of all Persons and Affairs to his own Will and Pleasure and hereupon one day he very sharply rebuked the Earl of Lancaster the King's Cousin for presuming to appoint Lodgings for certain Noblemen near the Court without his particular License and Assignation and having dislodged the Earl with some other Persons of very great Quality and removed them a Mile out of Town he did by this means so incense the Nobility against him that they began to pry more narrowly into his Actions and being enraged to see his Pride and Usurpation of his great Prerogatives they unanimously held against him and gave it out amongst the People That this Mortimore was the Queen's Gallant and the King's Master and sought by all means he possibly could to destroy the Royal Blood and to Usurp the Crown which Report did so work upon some of the King 's most trusty Friends that they got Robert Holland who had a long time been Governor of the Castle and knew well all the secret Corners therein to swear Secrecy to them and Fidelity to the King and accordingly to assist them in those Designs they had in hand Whereupon one night King Edward lying without the Castle both he and his Friends were brought by Torch-light through a secret place under ground beginning a far off from the said Castle 't is the Vault which is still called Mortimore's Hole till they came even to the Queen's Chamber which by chance they found open being armed with naked Swords in they rushed leaving the King in the same posture at the Door being entered into the Privy-chamber they found the Earl of March undressed ready to go to bed to the Queen but they crossed his Design and cool'd his Courage halling him away by force upon which the Queen cried out Good Son take pitty upon gentle Mortimore suspecting her Son to be there in the company The Keys of the Castle were presently called for and every place withal the Furniture committed into the King's Hands and Mortimore was forthwith sent to the Tower who being Tried by his Peers Arraign'd and found Guilty was hanged upon the common Gallows two Days and two Nights The Articles that were brought against him were divers though his Familiarity with the Queen his Treachery to his King and his great Service to David King of the Scots was the chief whilst he also burnt
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 oâ— 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
was brought to Winchester and buried in this place though afterwards his Bones were Translated into a Coffer At the West end of the Quire stands in Brass two Statues very curiously wrought the one of King James the First and the other of King Charles the First of ever blessed Memory there is another thing also very remarkable in the Cathedral and that is the rich and famous Monument of William of Wickham who was Constituted Bishop of Winchester in the Reign of Edward the Third But to return again into our Discourse relating to the City We find it not only to have attained a great Eminency for its Religious Houses for its pleasant Gardens for its Silver-stream'd Brooks and flowry 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 parallel'd for Length and Breadth by any throughout this Nation except Westminster for the Antiquity of its Corporation with the true and exact Rules of Equity and Justice prescribed by its Governors and Magistrates 't is likewise reported to have been very famous and renowned by its Sufferings and Ruins of its Palaces and in the time of Adelstane King of the West Saxons that invinceable Hero Guy Earl of Warwick in a single Combat slew Colbrand the Danish Giant in Hide-Mead near to this City After some time spent here we travelled to Portsmouth of which I come next to discourse of PORTSMOUTH is about 16 Miles distant from Winchester and situated in a little Island called Portsey 'T is a place of great Strength and of no less importance by reason of the Dock where many of the King 's greatest Men of War are built those impregnable Wooden-Walls of our Brittish Island 'T is fortified with a Wall made of Timber and the same well covered over with thick Banks of Earth 't is likewise environed with a double Trench over which are placed two Drawbridges from which about a Mile distance is another and at all of them stands Centuries of Soldiers who are kept in Garrison with a little Fortress adjoining to it which leads up the Continent to the Seaward is a Castle and Block-houses which being first begun by King Edward the Fourth King Henry the Seventh as it is reported did afterwards compleat which Fortifications have of late Years received exceeding great Augmentations by the succeeding Monarchs especially in the late King Jame's Reign Here is only one Church and an Hospital called God's House built by Peter Roch Bishop of Winchester hereabouts are divers Saltpanhouses which make exceeding white Salt Much more might have been wrote concerning this County but this may suffice for these two Reasons the first is The smallness of the Volume will not allow it and the second is That what has been related is the notablest and most requisite to be mention'd Sussex The next place of Note we went to was Chichester in Sussex 'T is a good large City well Wall'd re-built by the second Saxon King of this Province it was before the Conquest of a small Repute Bishop Raulf built a Cathedral here which before he had fully finished was consumed by Fire yet by his Endeavours and the bounteous Liberality of King Henry the First it was raised up again and is now a Bishop's See The Church is not very large but was formerly a curious beautiful Fabrick having a Spire-steeple of Stone of a very great height and an high Tower standing near the West Door which was built by King Rinon as they say In the South Cross-Isle of the Church was formerly on the one side artificially pourtrayed and painted the History of the Churches Foundation with the Images of the Kings of England on the other there was likewise the Images of the Bishops at the charge of Bishop Sherborne who greatly Adorned and Illustrated this sacred Structure The City is walled about in a circular round Form the Lavant a pretty River running hard by it on the South and West sides It hath four Gates opening to the four Quarters of the World from whence the Streets leads directly and cross themselves in the midst where the Market is kept and where Bishop Read Erected a fair stone Market-house supported with Pillars round about We went from hence to Amberly Castle which is about 12 Miles from Chichester higher into the County it was built by William Read Bishop of Chichester in the Reign of Edward the Third for the use of his Successors and Leased out now to the worthy Family of the Butlers who are the present Inhabitants We stayed here the space of a Week where we were generously Entertained with great courtesie and civility We went from hence to Arundel and from thence to Lewes of which take this brief Account ARUNDEL is about four Miles from Amberly situated upon the Brow of an Hill but finding nothing to detain us here but the Ruins of an old Castle which for many Generations hath successively appertained to the Earls of Arundel we travell'd on to LEWES which was the next Town we came to 'T is situated upon a Rising almost on every side and hath been Wall'd but now there is no great sign of the Walls there is several Streets near it as Suburbs and in the times of the Saxons when King Athelston made a Law for the coining of Money he appointed two Coiners in this place There are five Churches belonging to it and this place was very memorable for that Mortal and bloody Battel between King Henry the Third and the Barons in which prosperous beginning of the Fight on the King's side proved the overthrow of his whole Army for whilst Prince Edward his Son breaking by force through certain of the Baron's Troops carelesly pursued the Enemy over-far as making sure account of the Victory the Barons having reinforced themselves and giving a fresh Charge so discomforted and put to flight the King's Forces that they constrained the King to accept of unequal Conditions of Peace and to deliver his Son and others into their hands From hence we went to Pevensey or Pemsey of which it follows PEVENSEY or PEMSEY There is a very low Level which some are of Opinion hath been over-flowed by the Sea and the Town of Pevensey is the noted place for the first Landing of William the Conqueror and formerly there was a Haven and Castle Hastings is not far from hence where was fought that bloody Battel betwixt King Harold and the Norman Duke which proved so fatal to the English and successful to the Normans which Ground where the Fight was hath been thought ever since to have worn the Conqueror's Livery because always after Rain it looks of a reddish colour I could haved cited other Remarks in this County but what is related is most material Kent 'T is a County divided into three several Portions the first of which is called Health without Wealth the second is Health and Wealth and the third Wealth without Health to all
on the South Northamptonshire on the North and West and Cambridgeshire on the East 'T is a very fruitful County both for Corn and Grass and is watered by two pleasant Rivers Avon and Ouse The first Village we arrived at in this County was Fenny-Stanton but found nothing observable we went from hence to GODMANCHESTER a very 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 There is not a Town in all England that hath more stout and lusty Husbandmen or more Plows a going For they make their boast That they have in former time received the Kings of England as they passed in their Progress this way with Nine-score Plows brought forth in a rustical kind of pomp for a gallant shew Soon after King James the First came into England here the Bailiffs of the Town presented him with seventy Teem of Horses all traced to fair new Plows in shew of their Husbandry 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 use well their Plows being glad he was Landlord of so many good Husbandmen in one Town It is mention'd in History to have been a flourishing City and the old Roman Coins which have been digged up there do attest its Antiquity and that a Bishop did formerly reside in this place when it was in that condition HUNTINGDON is about half a Mile distant from this place and is the chief Town of the County situated 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 adorned with four Churches and had formely an ancient Monastery belonging to it some of the Ruins 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 afterwards David King of Scots waging War against King Stephen upon the account of Maud the Empress who was his Niece this then was given upon some certain Terms to the Scotch King who did exceedingly beautifie and strengthen it by making strong Rampers and Fortifications round about it but Henry the Second finding it in process of time a Cage for Rebels and Ring-leaders to Sedition at last quite demolished it from the top of the Hill is a very pleasant Prospect for some Miles The Town 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 resort hether out of the Northern parts the great Road to the City of London lying through this Town In this Town in the Year 1599 was that Usurper and Religious Cheat Oliver Cromwel Born and Educated whom though we have reason to curse his very Name and detest his Memory as odious and execrable yet since prosperous Successes of the most cruel Tirants 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 Nero like destroyed his Father and his Mother too the Father of his Country and his Country too being a Murderer of the one and a Plague to the other who was of so unparallel'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 carried even the World before it Confusion and Ruin In this little Shire are numbred seventy eight Parishes four Hundreds and six Market-Towns We stayed here one Night and the next day we went into Northamptonshire This County is situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England On the East lie Bedford and Hunting donshires On the South Buckingham and Oxfordshires Westward Warwickshire Northward Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire separated from it by Avon the less and Welland two Rivers It is a champion County exceeding populous and passing well furnished with Noblemens and Gentlemens Houses replenished also with Towns and Churches insomuch as in some places there are twenty and in others thirty Steeples with Spires or square Towers within view at once The soil very fertile both for Tillage and Pasture yet nothing so well stored with Woods unless it be in the further and hither sides But in every place as elswhere also in England it is over-spread and as it were beset with Sheep THARPSTONE is twelve Miles distant from Huntingdon has a great Market for all sorts of Grain and well stored with Inns from hence we went to another Town called KETTERING which is of much more Note than it Neighbours by reason of a handsome Cross beautified with divers Images curiously carved the next place was HIGHAM-FERRERS The excellent Ornament of this place was Henry Chichley Archbishop of Canterbury who built All-Souls College in Oxford and another here where he placed secular Clerks and Prebendaries and withal an Hospital for the Poor FOTHERING-HAY-Castle environed on every side with most pleasant Medows Here Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded There belongs unto this Shire three hundred twenty six Parishes Leicestershire The next place of Note we went to was Leicester the Metropolis of Leicestershire 'T is more venerable for its Antiquity than its comeliness or present beauty I find that about the Year 680 it was a Bishop's Seat though in few Years after the Sea was Translated and the Dignity being taken away from the Town it began to go much to decay but in the time of the Normans it flourished exceedingly and encreased mightily in Inhabitants yet afterwards in the Reign of King Henry the Second it was again involved in great Calamities and Disasters Here is to be seen an ancient Hospital in the Chappel whereof Henry Earl of Lancaster and Henry his Son the first Duke of Lancaster lie Interred for that Duke being very Aged and being willing to give some visible Testimony of his Charity built this Hospital for the Use and Maintenance of divers poor aged decreped Persons of both Sexes and on the other side amongst those flowry Meadows which the River Sore enricheth with its bubling Stream Robert the crook-backt Earl of Leicester built a Monastery very spacious and magnificent and Dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and endowed it with large Revenues In the Chappel of this Monastery lay interr'd the great and puissant Cardinal Woolsey who being at first a poor Man's Son of Ipswich in Suffolk was raised by King Henry the Eighth for his great Parts and Learning to the greatest Degree of Honour in this Nation being advanced to be Lord Chancellor of England and presented with a Cardinal's Cap from the Pope and the unknown Incomes and Revenues and by his great
the Charters by which the Scotch King stood obliged to do Homage to the King of England and thereupon ensued a great War betwixt them for King David being spurred on by the French King Invaded England and having made a great Road into the Northern Counties and spoiling and burning every where as they went along at length at Durham his Army was routed and himself taken Prisoner being first sent to the Tower afterward committed to this Castle where during his consinement he engraved upon the Walls of his Deportment the History of our Saviour's Death and Passion the Relicts of which are still to be seen After eleven Years Imprisonment he was restored against to his Kingdom by paying a good Ransom for his Liberty but before he returned he was one of the four Kings that was nobly Treated by Henry Picard a Vintner then Lord Mayor of London These were the four Kings Edward the Third King of England John King of France David King of the Scots and the King of Cyprus together with Edward The Black Prince all bearing him company at the same Table this was about the Year 1358. But before I leave this Town I cannot but take notice of one thing more memorable in our Age this being the first place where King Charles the First set up his Royal Standard against the Rebels in the late unhappy Wars and when the King's Forces were forced to leave it the Castle was quite demolished We went from hence to view the Chair of Robin-Hood of which it follows Having pleasured our selves with the Antiquities of this Town we took Horse and went to visit the Well and ancient Chair of Robin-Hood which is about a Mile within the Forest of Shirwood Being placed in that Chair we had a Cap which they say was his very formally put upon our Heads and having performed the usual Ceremonies befitting so great a Solemnity we received the Freedom of the Chair and were incorporated into the Society of that renowned Brotherhood but that we may not receive such Privileges without an honourable mentioning of the Persons that left them to Posterity know we must that the Patent was bequeathed to the inferior Rangers of this Forest by Robin Hood and Little John honourable Personages indeed being the chief Lords of some most renowned Robbers in the Reign of King Richard the First This same Robin Hood entertained one Hundred tall Men all good Archers with the Spoil he daily made himself Master of whom four Hundred tho' every way well Accoutred to give Battel durst scarce make an Onset He suffered no Woman to be violated oppress'd oa any ways molested poor Men's Goods he spared and did relieve them very liberally with what he got from the rich Carles He killed none and by this means he did for a long time keep up the Order of Knight Errants Having for some time pleased our selves with our new Brothers that very curteously entertained us we went from hence into Yorkshire The County of York is the greatest Shire by far of all England and is thought to be in a temperate measure fruitful If in one place there be stony and sandy barren ground in another place there are for it Corn-fields as rich and fruitful if it be void and destitute of Woods here you shall find it shadowed in another place with most thick Forests The Length extendeth from Hart-hill in the South to the Mouth of Tees in the North which is near seventy Miles the breadth from Flambrough-head to Horn-Castle upon the River Lun is Eighty the whole circumference three hundred and eight Miles HELMSLEY a Mannor in Yorkshire hath two Parks and a Chase in it said to be about 146 Miles in compass and had 40000 Timber-Trees and 200 Acres of Wood. There are many Free-holders there The whole Shire is divided into 3 parts which according to the 3 Quarters of the World are called The West-Riding The East-Riding The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the Shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sun-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse YORK is the fairst City in all this County and deservedly reputed the Second of England for its Greatness and Munificence the pleasantness of its Situation the Buildings are stately and beautiful The whole City is rich glorious and honourable both in respect of its being governed by a Lord Mayor who moderates in all Cases of Temporal Affairs as also by an Archbishop who is Judge in all Spiritual Matters The River Ouse flowing with a gentle Stream from the North part cutteth it in twain and divided as it were into two Cities which are conjoined with a stone Bridge having one mighty Arch. There is a Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Peter an excellent fair and stately Fabrick near unto which there is the Prince's House commonly called The Mannour York was a Colony of the Romans Ptolomey and Antonine and also by a piece of Money coined by the Emperour Severus in the reverse whereof we read COL EBORACUMLEG VI. VICTRIX Severus had his Palace in this City and here at the hour of death gave up his last breath with these words I entered upon a State every way troublesome and I leave it peaceable even to the Britains There are many fine Seats of Persons of Quality by reason of the Pleasantness of its Soil which abounds in Plenty of all things and for Pleasure and Recreation it affords the most of any County in England In the North-Riding of this County is Ounsbery-Hill or Rosebery-Topping which mount-up a mighty height and maketh a goodly shew a farre off so often as the Head thereof hath his cloudy Cap on lightly there followeth rain whence they have a proverbial Rhime When Rosebery-Topping wears a Cap Let Cliveland then beware a clap I could have particuliz'd several other Towns and Villages in this Shire but what has been related is most material and again the Volume is but small and would not bear it In this County there are 459 Parishes under which are very many Chappels for number of Inhabitants equal unto great Parishes We went from hence into the Bishoprick of Durham of which it follows Durham The chief Town in Latin Dunelmum a County Palatine and a Bishop's See 't is situated upon a Hill and encompassed almost round by the River Were is also shaped in form of an Egg and strongly fortified both by Art and Nature There is a stately Cathedral which makes a fine and lofty shew with an high Tower in the midst and two Spires at the West end The County in general is very pleasant and rich in its Mountains with Iron and Coals and its Vallies with Corn and Grass But before I leave this County
which Nature notwithstanding hath liberally apportioned so many Blessings that she compensates the Defects of one thing by the Collation of another not suffering any peculiar Place to monopolize all her Favours at once but thus if the Weald be very eminent for Wooll the same of East Kent shall be as great for Corn and Tenham Goddington and Otham shall be no less cried up for Orchards and Sheppey for the best Wheat and Thanet shall bring forth as good Crops of Barley but if Dover and Cranbrooke hath the Name for Beer Tunbridge shall for Water and if either the fertility of the Soil or safe Roads or sure Harbours for Ships or the broad Streams of great Navigable Rivers or the vicinity of a vast and large City can be any ways to advance it Prosperity it must needs be one if not the most flourishing County in the Kingdom of England As touching the Customes and Privileges of Kent they have been already so fully discoursed of by Mr. Lambert in his Kentish Perambulation and what was by him omitted have been supplied by the ingenious Pen of Mr. Philipot so that I shall wave them and only give a very small account of it although I have been in most Towns and Parishes in this County Canterbury because the Antiquity of this City with all its Liberties and Privileges the Beauty and number of all its Churches and Religious Houses before their Dissolution the Magnificence of its Cathedral with all its renowned Tombs and Monuments are very exquisitely Surveyed and Discribed by other Pens I shall not go about to pourtray that in any contracted Landskip which hath been before represented in so large a Scheme but referr all such as desire a particular Account of this City to those Writters who have pencelled out every Part and Limb thereof with great Exactness and Accuracy Rochester A City which in ancient Times was eminent for its Strength and Granduer and had not those violent Impressions which the rough hands of War formerly defaced and deminish'd its Bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it might have been registered at this day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation 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 more concernment 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 Dignitâ— 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 indeed formerly many and dismal Calamities did attend it and that so frequently that the fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the fury of the Enemies for its ruin and the Fire and Sword seem'd to be join'd Confederates to destroy it Nevertheless it maugres all these Casualties by the Favour of the Princes and their Royal Munificence it still recruits its Losses and survives in Splender The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the eyes of the Beholders to an admiration of its former Strength and built many hundred Years since The Cathedral with the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it were formerly Established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier was Bishop Augustine the Apostle to the Saxons Here is likewise a very fine stone Bridge built by Sir Robert Knowles over the River Medway which is fixed and built upon one and twenty Arches and coped about with Iron-spikes by Archbishop Warham and leads into Stroud And because according to the Orator every one is obliged to be serviceable to his Country proportionable to his Abilities and every one hath an inrate Propensity to love the Native Soil which first gave him a Being I cannot but in Duty pay some Acknowledgments of the Benefits I have received herein both for my Nativity and first Education and indeed I may justly say without any partially That it is a Province not much inferior to any in England being divided into three several Parts of which I have made some mention before It is in all parts so sufficiently fruitful of all things necessary for the use of Man and if we will take the pains to course over the Vallies we shall find the Earth groaning under the burdens of bountiful Ceres and the Fields and Meadows in contest which should shine most gay and glorious if we range the Woods and Hills we shall hear such charming Melodies by the mutual reciprecation of Birds and Trees that we should fancy all had got the knack of Speaking and Pratling Groves being now become visible to us if we be so curious as to dig into the Entrails of the Earth and take a view of the recondite Treasures we shall find plenty of Iron-Ore in the South parts of this County and great Queries of Stone in several places also towards the North side they dig out of the Earth plenty of excellent fat Chalk which they use to lay upon their Land for the enriching of it and causeth it to bring forth great Crops of Corn If we be taken with the harmonious Murmurs of Brooks and gentle Rivers there are several the Banks of the Noble River of Thames on the North side and the River Medway which comes out of Surrey glides along for many Miles together on the South side of this County and takes its course through almost the middle of the County and doth not run swift in many places but glides softly admiring as it were the pleasantness of its Soil there is also at Newel in the Parish of Orpington the finest Spings undoubtedly in the Kingdom both for the clearness of its Water and the rising up of it in such abundance that within two Furlongs of the Head it drives a Mill and afterwards is called by the Name of Cray River Most of the Rivers in this County do afford several sorts of Fish to gratifie the Pallate and all the Towns and Villages are well inhabited having a great many very fine Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in which respect 't is honourable the Churches fair and uniform and so 't is glorious the Air in many parts is clear which renders it wholsome One word or two I must I say in relation to Maidstone 'T is the principal Town in the County as in respect of its having the Assizes and Sessions kept in it and its being situated near the middle of the County upon the River Medway which renders it so pleasant and delightful that even that alone might be sufficient to set forth all the other Parts of it Leaving this place we soon after arrived in London where we only tarried a reasonable space of time to give our Selves and Horses some Rest and Refreshment as
Eire of all her Forrests Chases and Parks Recorder of Coventry and High Steward of Cambridge of which he was a Member in Trinity College He died in the Eighty third Year of his Age his last Words being these Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done The next place of Note we came to in this County was Lynne Regis of which it follows LYNNE this Town though its standing be but of latter Years as receiving its Original from old Lynne which is seated in the Marsh-Land and is opposite against it yet it is grown of far greater request for the commodiousness of its Haven and safe Harbour causeth a great resort of Mariners to frequent it and the Vessels which come loaded with Coals from New-Castle do here for the most part lighten their Burdens and is conveyed into the adjacent parts in the Counties The Town is environed with a strong Wall the Streets are well paved and kept very clean it is for the most part thereof divided by two small Rivers that have fifteen Bridges or thereabout over them it is called Old Linne and Linnum Regis that is King's Linne there are five Churches to adorn it the chief of which is a curious Fabrick dedicated to St. Margaret upon the top of which stands a large and stately Lanthorn very admirable for its rare Workmanship The Town is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen which have received great Kindnesses from their Sovereigns and especially from K. John who for the good Service they had done him in defence of his Quarrel not only presented them with his own Sword from his side which is continually carried before the Mayor when ever he pleaseth to appear in publick but likewise gave them a great Silver Cup gilt for the use of the Town which because they shew it most to Strangers and Foreigners who are of any Note or Repute they generally have it filled with Wine to drink his Majesty's and Mr. Mayor's healths for which there is a particular Allowance proportioned by the Town Most of their little Churches over the County are Thatch'd Here are many other things very observable which I have not room to set down We went from hence to Cambridge of which it follows Cambridgeshire Is an extream pleasant open County and a place of such Variety and Plenty throughout that fruitful Ceres 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 this County doth in divers places make some annual Additions of another Crop by adorning its Fields with large Productions of Saffron thro' which great Profits continually arise unto them here it is that the green Banks of murmuring Rivers and sunny Hills bedeckt with diversity of Plants and Simples call forth the Students from their musing Cells and teach them Theory by diving into their Natures contemplating their Signatures and considering their Qualities and various Effects In a word here is nothing wanting for Pleasure Profit or Delight and though the Northern parts of the County towards the Isle of Ely lying somewhat low is moist and fenny yet the gentle Gales which are frequently stirring drive away all Mists and Fogs which may seem to annoy it and by their means makes it a fit Seat for the Muses to inhabit and we have no reason to complain of the Soil since our wise Ancestors thought good and convenient to plant a Colony 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 was formerly called Grantbridge from a fair large Bridge made over the River Grant which is now called Cam from whence the Town it self receives its Name It is increased much by the Ruins of Grancester sometime a famous City situtuate a little above a Mile from this place and the Castle that is beyond the River the Ruins of which are still to be seen was built as ancient Records testifie in the first Year of William the Conqueror or in the first Year of William Rufus in the Year of our Lord 1092 A Nobleman of the Norman Blood named Picot a Vice Comes or Sheriff at the Request of his Wife founded a Church to the honour of God and Dedicated it to St. Giles near unto this Castle but afterwards in 1102 the Canons were removed from hence and there is only one College beyond the Bridge sacred to St. Mary Magdalen on this side of it are very spacious Streets adorned with fifteen several magnificent Colleges and Halls each of which are liberally endowed with large Revenues more or less in the practice of Religion and the dilligent pursuit of all kind of Learning here are fifteen Churches besides private Chappels in every College the chief of which is called St. Mary's Church set a part particularly for the use of the University and the Commencement is kept yearly the first Sunday in July that the Name and famous Memory of our most pious Benefactors may still flourish and be renowned for their great Munificence and most memoral Acts. The Town is a Corporation and is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes for the most part are kept here for the County which is very profitable to the Town and 't is observable that one High Sheriff serves for both the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon which borders upon it but one thing more is very noteable about it and that is the great Fair annually kept within a Mile of it in September called by the Name of Sturbridge-Fair from whence it received its Denomination is uncertain but this is most sure that of all Fairs in England 't is the greatest 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 Feild those Booths are always built for the time in which it lasts which is well nigh a Fortnight neither are you presented only with Booths upon the Land but Booths on the Water too there being particular Contrivances in the Boats for Rooms and secret retirements all covered above for the conveniency of Strangers which resort thither and indeed here is always a great Resorting of People from most Parts of this Nation Near unto Cambridge on the South East side there appears aloft certain high Hills called Gogmagog On top of them is a very large Fort entrenched strengthened with a three-fold Rampire There are contained in the Shire eight Market-Towns and one hundred and sixty three Parishes Having paid our Devotions and taken a Review of that which affords so great variety we at last took our farewel and biding it a-dieu we betook our selves into its neighbouring County of Huntingdonshire Is joined to Bedfordshire
I cannot omit the mentioning of a certain place near Derlington which is 3 Pits full of Water of a wonderful depth called by the common People Hell Kettles concerning which Sir Richard Baker in his English Chronicles gives this Account That in the 24th Year of King Henry the Second the Earth in this place lifted up it self in the manner of an high Tower and so remained from Morning till Evening unmoveable and presently after that time fell with so horrible a noise that it affrighted all the Inhabitants thereabouts and the Earth swallowing it up made those 3 deep Pits which are still to be seen The next place we took notice of was Northumberland The Ground appears to be very barren and rough and is Mountainous and Rocky in many parts of it Towards the Sea and Tine by diligence and good Husbandry it becometh fruitful but elswhere 't is hard and rugged By reason of the sharpness of the Air and coursness of the Soil the Inhabitants are lookt upon and esteem'd to be a War-like People and excellent Light-horsemen The Nobility and Gentry of the North are of great Antiquity and can produce more ancient Families than any other Part of England many of their Gentry taking date before the Conquest the rest came in with William the Conqueror NEW-CASTLE upon TINE so called because Robert de Curtois Son of William the Conqueror built there a New Castle out of the ground against the neighbouring Scots the very Eye of all the Towns in these Parts enabled by a notable Haven which Time maketh being of that depth that it beareth very tall Ships and so defendeth them that they can neither be easily tossed with Tempests nor driven upon Shallows and Shelves The Town is situated on the rising of an Hill adorned with four Churches and fortified with strong Walls which have 7 Gates in them with many Towers It is wealthy partly by entercourse of Traffick with the Germans and partly by carrying out Sea-coals wherewith this Place aboundeth both into foreign Countries and also into other parts of England BERWICK is the utmost Town in England and the strongest hold in all Britain It is well near compassed about with the Sea and Twede together Upon the West of Northumberland the Picct's Wall is to be seen of great height and almost whole There are about 46 Parishes in Northumberland Cumberland This County is like the rest of the Northern Counties and 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 have of late been discovered not only Mines of Copper but Veins of Gold and Silver too have been found here as I was credibly inform'd and of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Nor it is no less renowned for its high Mountains than for its Mines of which there are three Skiddow Lanvellin and Casticand and these Words goes much concerning the height of them Skiddow Lanvellin and Casticand Are the highest Hills in all England CARLISLE is commodiously Situated and is fortified with a strong Wall Castle and Cittadel the Cathedral Church there being formerly a very stately and magnificence Structure adorned with rare Ornaments Not far from this City is a Trophy of Victory as is supposed called by the Country People Long-Megg and her Daughters being Seventy and seven Stones each of them Ten Foot high above-ground and one of them is fifteen foot There are in Cumberland 9 Market-Towns and 58 Parishes Westmorland It is so called because it lieth amongst Moors and high Hills and was for the most part unmanured such barren places the Northern Englishmen call Moors and Westmoreland is a Western Moorish-county The Air is sharp and cold KENDALE-KIRKE by Kendale a very great Town of Trade and Resort with two broad and long Streets crossing the one over the other a place excellent for Cloathing and for Industry so surpassing that in regard thereof it carrieth a great Name For the Inhabitants have great Traffick and vent of their Woollen-cloaths throughout all parts of England APELBY memorable for its Antiquity and Situation only It standeth in a pleasant Site encompassed for the most part with the River Eden for its Antiquity it deserves to be counted the chief Town of the Shire The Castle is the common Goal for Malefactors and the Sessions and Assizes are there kept In this Shire are contained 26 Parishes Lancashire It is a large populous and well wooded County The County Palatine of Lancaster famous for the four Henries the Fourth Fifth Sixth and Seventh Kings of England derived from John Gaunt Duke of Lancaster is upon the South-confined and parted by the River Mersey from the County Palatine of Chester the County of Darbyshire bordering upon the East the large County of Yorkshire together with Westmorland and Cumberland being her kind Neighbours upon the North and the Sea called Mare Hibernicum imbracing her upon the West Their Kine and Oxen have goodly Heads and fair spread Horns and are in body well proportionate withal but the Ground for the generality is Hilly and Mountainous MANCHESTER a Town of great antiquity from Main a British Word which signifieth a Stone It is seated upon a stony Hill and beneath the Town there are most famous Quarries of Stone It far excelleth the Towns lying round about it for the Beautiful shew it carrieth for resort unto it and for Cloathing In regard also of the Mercate place the fair Church and Colledge LANCASTER or Loncaster from the River Lone the chief Town of this Region I shall now give a short Account of the Seven Wonders which are as follows The First Wonder Is at the Divel's Arse near a Village called Castleton sufficiently Noted for that wide Subterraneons Cavarn known by the Name of the Devil's Arse which runs under the Hill upon which the Castle stands and at its Entrance it is Large and Capatious tho' the further you go in the more narrower it is Contracted within the Mouth of it are several poor Cottages Erected the top of this Cave is an exceeding great Height and appears to the Eye as if it were Arched above and Chequer'd with diversity of culloured Stones At the Entrance the poor People are very ready to attend with Candles and Lanthorns to conduct Strangers in tho' it belonged to Satan's Territories and it is very Dark and Slippery by reason of several Currants of Water which runs along the Cave which puts a stop to your Journey there is a Story of a Shepherd that past over all these Currents and at last came into a very fair and delightful Meadow which savours too much of a Romance to be credited however 't is supposed could all these Waters once be gone over there might be made some new Discoveries but it is a dismal place both for its Name and Nature and hath so near a Relation to
few Cathedral Churches but is now demolished There are accounted an Hundred and Thirty Parishes in this Shire We went next into Warwickshire It is bounded on the East-side with Northamptonshire Leicestershire and the Watling-street-way on the South with Oxfordshire and Glocestershire on the West for the greatest part with Worcestorshire and on the Northside with Staffordshire It is divided into a plain Champion and a woody Country which parts the River Avon running crookedly from North-East to South-West doth after a sort sever one from the other WARWICK is the principal Town of the whole Shire It standeth over the River Avon upon a steep and high Rock and all the Passages into it are wrought out of the very Stone It stands in a dry and fertile Soil having the benefit of rich and pleasant Medows on the South part with the lofty Groves and spacious Thickets of the Woodland on the North. It hath a very strong Castle the seat in times past of the Earls of Warwick the Town it self is adorned with fair Houses COVENTRY It is a City very commodiously Seated large sweet and neat was fortified with a strong Wall and is set out with right goodly Houses among which there rise up on high two Churches of rare Workmanship standing one hard by the other and matched as it were as concurrents the one consecrated to the Holy Trinity the other to Saint Michael One and the self same Bishop carried the name both of Coventry and Lichfield 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 this City which she did indeed and was covered with her fair long Hair and also a Proclamation was publish'd commanding all People to keep close within their Houses as also their Doors and Windows shut no Person on pain of Death to appear in that Street 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 curious than Ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discovered was Apprehended and Hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man that is continually kept up as a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and called by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus she did set free her Citizens of Coventry from many Payments for ever At Gosford-Gate there hangeth 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 Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turned up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now called Swansewell but Swineswell in times past In this County there are an Hundred and Fifty Eight Parish Churches Worcestershire At the first entring on the Confines of this Shire we found it a very Healthfull and plentiful County One part is of Note for its excellent Cheese but mostly for its great number of Pear-trees growing all along the very Hedges of which the Inhabitants make a very pleasant Drink called Perry 't is likewise very full of Salt Pits and hath formerly been admir'd for the abundance of Salt-Springs which have very oft been discovered in this County but that which makes it most renowned is the River Severn which streams along the County This as also the River Avon which comes out of Warwickshire are well replenished with all sorts of Fish but more particularly seem to have been designed on purpose as Stews and Ponds for the preservation of Lampreys a Fish of great Esteem in that Country and sent far and near as a very great present throughout divers parts of England They are called Lampreys from the Latin word Lampretra as if they had their Denomination from licking of Rocks they are like Eels slippery and blackish however on their Bellies they are of a blewish Collour in the Spring they are most wholesome and sweet for in the Summer the part which is to them instead of a Back-bone waxeth very hard Naturalist observe that these Fish receive and let in Water at seven Holes for that they have no Gills visible at all the Romans allways thought this a very Noble Dish and when any Person of Quality desired a Sumptuous Feast he would be sure to be provided with these and the Italians at this day are very much delighted with them and upon that Account are very exquisite in their Dressing of them and consequently by their Cookery make them exceeding delicate to the taste The first Town of Note we came to in this County was the City of WORCESTER It is the chief City of this County and gives its Name to it the River Severn which in other parts of the County runs along in a swift Currant here glides more softly with a more gentle Stream admiring as it were this City as it passeth by It is famous both for its Antiquity and Beauty 't is supposed that the Romans built it at that time when they first planted Cities on the Eastern-side of the Severn to hinder the Incursion of the Britains who were on the other side even as they did on the South-side of the Rhine in Germany to repress the Germans and keep them within their own Boundaries 'T is situated partly upon the brow of a Hill rising with a gentle Ascent and hath a very fair Bridge over the River and is of great Repute by Reason that the Citizens are generally great Clothiers The Houses are Neat and well Built the Streets clean and well Paved the Churches in Number many in Order and Beauty excellent but especially the Cathedral built many Hundred Years since in this Church are divers small Pillars all of pure Marble which stand in Rows and do uphold that vast Bulk and Fabrick somewhat strange to see the Body larger then the Supporters that so small props should be able to bear up so great a Weight This City hath suffered great Calamities by Fire having almost been quite Burnt up by the Danes three times and in the Year 1113. by an unknown Casualty and once again in the Reign of King Stephen And sure I am 't is not long since it fell into the Hands of some Barbarous and merciless Rebells who were as raging as the Flames and whose Fury was as unquenchable as the Fire Witness the grevious Pressures it groaned under for its Loyalty Love and Obedience to the King in the Year 1651. For here it was That after His Majesties long Exile he arived with an Army of Scots and some English the 22 d. of August and by the Assistance of the Citizens beat out the Soldiers who kept it for the Common-wealth and being Proclaim'd by the Mayor that then was and one of the Sheriffs King of England Scotland France