the Parliament by the name of William Beauchamp de Saint Amando flourished among other Barons like as his sonne Richard who left no issue lawfully begotten Kenet keeping on his course downward from thence betweene Hemsted Marshall which sometimes was held by the rod of Marshalsee and appertained to the Mareschals of England where S. Thomas Parry Treasurer of Queene Elizabeths houshold built a very proper house and Benham Valence in a Parke so called because it belonged to William de Valencia Earle of Pembroch But Queen Elizabeth gave it to Iohn Baptista Castilion a Piemontes of her privie chamber for faithfull service in her dangers So the river passeth on to that old town Spinae wherof Antonine made mention which retaining still the name is at this day called Spene but now in steed of a towne it is a very little village standing scarce a mile off from Newbury a famous towne that arose and had beginning out of the ruins of it For Newbury with us is as much to say as the Newburgh in respect no doubt of that more ancient place of habitation which is quite decayed and gone and hath left the name also in a peece of Newburie it selfe which is called Spinham Lands And if nothing else yet this verily might prove that Newburie sprang out of Spine because the inhabitants of Newbury acknowledge the village Spene as their mother although in comparison of Spene it be passing faire and goodly as well for buildings as furniture become rich also by clothing and very well seated in a champian plaine having the river Kenet to water it This towne at the time that the Normans conquered England fell to Ernulph de Hesdin Earle of Perch whose successour Thomas Earle of Perch being slaine at the siege of Lincolne the Bishop of Chalons his heire sold it unto William Marescall Earle of Pembroke who also held the Manour of Hempsted hard by whereof I have spoken and his successors also Mareschals of England untill that Roger Bigod for his obstinacie lost his honor and possessions both which notwithstanding by intreaty he obtained againe for his life time Kenet passeth on hence and taketh into him Lamborn a little river which at the head and spring thereof imparteth his name to a small mercate towne that in old time by vertue of King Aelfreds testament belonged unto his cousin Alfrith and afterward to the Fitz Warens who of King Henrie the Third obtained libertie of holding a mercate but now appertaineth unto the Essexes Knights A familie that fetcheth their pedigree from William Essex Vnder-treasurer of England under King Edward the Fourth from those who in times past carried the same surname flourished as men of very great fame in Essex From thence he runneth under Dennington which others call Dunnington a little castle but a fine and proper one situate with a faire prospect upon the brow of a prety hill full of groves and which inwardly for the most part letteth in all the light Built they say it was by Sir Richard de Abberbury Knight who also under it founded for poore people a Gods-house Afterward it was the residence of Chaucer then of the Dela Poles and in our fathers daies of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolke Kenet having now finished a long course by Aldermaston which King Henrie the First gave unto Robert Achard From whose posterity by the Delamares it came at length in right of marriage to the Fosters a familie of Knights degree falleth at the last into Tamis presently after it hath with his winding branches compassed a great part of Reading This towne Reading called in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Rhea that is The River or of the British word Redin that signifieth Fearne which groweth heere in great plentie excelleth at this day all other townes of this shire in faire streets and goodly houses for wealth also of the Townsmen and their name in making of cloth although it hath lost the greatest ornaments it had to wit a beautifull Church and a most ancient Castle For this the Danes kept as their hold so Asserius writeth when they made a rampier betweene Kenet and Tamis and into this they retired themselves for safety when at Inglefield a village neere unto it which gave name to an ancient familie they were by King Aethelwolfe discomfited and put to flight But King Henrie the Second so rased it because it was a place of refuge for King Stephens followers that nothing now remaineth of it but the bare name in the next street Nigh whereunto King Henrie the First having plucked downe a little Nunnerie that Queene Alfrith had founded in former times to make satisfaction for her wicked deeds built for Monks a stately and sumptuous Abbay and enriched it with great revenewes Which Prince to speake out of his very Charter of the foundation Because three Abbaies in the Realme of England were in old time for their sinnes destroied to wit Reading Chelseie and Leonminster which a long time were held in Lay mens hands by the advise of the Bishops built a new Monasterie of Reading and gave unto it Reading Chelseie and Leonminster In this Abbay was the founder himselfe King Henrie buried with his wife both vailed and crowned for that shee had beene a Queene and a professed Nunne and with them their daughter Mawde as witnesseth the private Historie of this place although some report that she was enterred at Becc in Normandie This Mawde as well as that Lacedemonian Ladie Lampido whom Plinie maketh mention of was a Kings daughter a Kings wife and a Kings mother that is to say daughter of this Henrie the First King of England wife of Henrie the Fourth Emperour of Almaine and mother to Henrie the Second King of England Concerning which matter have you here a Distichon engraven on her tombe and the same verily in my judgment conceived in some gracious aspect of the Muses Magna ortu majorque viro sed maxima partu Hîc jacet Henrici filia sponsa parens The daughter wife the mother eke of Henrie lieth heere Much blest by birth by marriage more but most by issue deere And well might she be counted greatest by her issue For Henrie the Second her sonne as Iohn of Salisburie who lived in those daies wrote was the best and most vertuous King of Britaine the most fortunate Duke of Normandie and Aquitain and as well for valiant exploits as for excellent vertues highly renowned How courageous how magnificent how wise and modest he was even from his tender yeeres envy it selfe can neither conceale nor dissemble seeing that his acts bee fresh and conspicuous seeing also that he hath extended forward and held on in a continued traine the titles of his vertue from the bounds of Britaine unto the marches of Spaine And in another place of the same King Henrie the Second the most mighty King that ever was of Britaine shewed his
Chamberlaine to King Richard the Third attainted by King Henry the Seventh and slaine in the battaile at Stoke in the quarrell of Lambert that Counterfeit Prince whose sister Fridiswid was Grandmother to Henry the first Lord Norris Hence Windrush hodling on his course watereth Whitney an ancient Towne and before the Normans daies belonging to the Bishops of Winchester to which adjoyneth Coges the chiefe place of the Barony of Arsic the Lords whereof branched out of the family of the Earles of Oxford are utterly extinguished many yeeres agoe Neere unto this the Forest of Witchwood beareth a great breadth and in time past spread farre wider For King Richard the Third disforested the great Territory of Witchwood betweene Woodstocke and Brightstow which Edward the Fourth made to be a Forest as Iohn Rosse of Warwicke witnesseth Isis having received Windrush passeth downe to Einsham in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Manour in times past of the Kings seated among most pleasant medowes which Cuthwulfe the Saxon was the first that tooke from the Britans whom he had hereabout vanquished and long after Aethelmar a Nobleman beautified it with an Abbay the which Aethelred King of England in the yeere of Salvation 1005. confirmed to the Benedictine Monkes and in his confirmation signed the priviledge of the liberty thereof I speake out of the very originall grant as it was written with the signe of the sacred Crosse but now is turned into a private dwelling house and acknowledgeth the Earle of Derby Lord thereof Beneath this Evenlode a little river arising likewise out of Cotteswald speedeth him into Isis which riveret in the very border of the Shire passeth by an ancient Monument standing not farre from his banke to wit certaine huge stones placed in a round circle the common people usually call them Rolle-rich-stones and dreameth that they were sometimes men by a wonderfull Metamorphosis turned into hard stones The draught of them such as it is portrayed long since heere I represent unto your view For without all forme and shape they bee unequall and by long continuance of time much impaired The highest of them all which without the circle looketh into the earth they use to call The King because hee should have beene King of England forsooth if hee had once seene Long Compton a little Towne so called lying beneath and which a man if he goe some few paces forward may see other five standing at the other side touching as it were one another they imagine to have been knights mounted on horse backe and the rest the Army But loe the foresaid Portraiture These would I verily thinke to have beene the Monument of some Victory and haply erected by Rollo the Dane who afterwards conquered Normandie For what time as he with his Danes and Normans troubled England with depredations we read that the Danes joined battaile with the English thereby at Hoche Norton and afterwards fought a second time at Scier stane in Huiccia which also I would deeme to be that Mere-stone standing hard by for a land Marke and parting foure shires For so much doth that Saxon word Scier-stane most plainly import Certainly in an Exchequer booke the Towne adjacent is called Rollen-drich where as it is there specified Turstan le Dispenser held land by Serjeanty of the Kings Dispensary that is to be the Kings Steward As for that Hoch-Norton which I spake of before for the rusticall behaviour of the Inhabitants in the age afore going it grew to be a proverbe when folke would say of one rudely demeaning himselfe and unmaneâ—ly after an Hoggish kinde that hee was borne at Hocknorton This place for no one thing was more famous in old time than for the woefull slaughter of the Englishmen in a foughten field against the Danes under the Raigne of King Edward the Elder Afterwards it became the seat of the Barony of the D' Oilies an honourable and ancient Family of the Norman race of whom the first that came into England was Robert de Oily who for his good and valiant service received of William Conquerour this Towne and many faire possessions whereof hee gave certaine to his sworne brother Roger Ivery which were called the Barony of Saint Valeric But when the said Robert departed this life without issue male his brother Niele succeeded him therein whose sonne Robert the second was founder of Osney Abbay But at length the daughter and heire generall of this house D' Oily was married to Henry Earle of Warwicke and she bare unto him Thomas Earle of Warwicke who dyed without issue in the Raigne of Henry the Third and Margaret who deceased likewise without children abeit shee had two husbands John Marescall and John de Plessetis both of them Earles of Warwicke But then that I may speake in the very words of the Charter of the Grant King Henry the Third granted Hoch-norton and Cudlington unto John de Plessetis which were in times past the possessions of Henry D'Oily and which after the decease of Margaret wife sometime to the foresaid John Earle of Warwicke fell into the kings hand as an Escheat of Normans lands To have and to hold untill the lands of England and Normandy were common Howbeit out of this ancient and famous stocke there remaineth at this day a family of D' Oilies in this shire Evenlode passeth by no memorable thing else but La Bruer now Bruern sometime an Abbay of white Monks and after he hath runne a good long course taketh to him a Brooke neere unto which standeth Woodstocke in the English Saxon language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A woody place where King Etheldred in times past held an assembly of the States of the Kingdome and enacted Lawes Heere is one of the Kings houses full of State and magnificence built by King Henry the First who adjoyned also thereunto a very large Parke compassed round about with a stone wall which John Rosse writeth to have beene the first Parke in England although we read once or twise even in Doomesday Booke these words Parcus silvestris bestiarum in other places In which sense old Varro useth the word Parcus which some thinke to be but a new word But since that Parkes are growne to such a number that there bee more of them in England than are to be found in all Christendome beside so much were our Ancestours ravished with an extraordinary delight of hunting Our Historians report that King Henry the Second being enamoured upon Rosamund Clifford a Damosell so faire so comely and well favoured without comparison that her beauty did put all other women out of the Princes minde in so much as now shee was termed Rosa mundi that is The Rose of the World and for to hide her out of the sight of his jealous Juno the Queene he built a Labyrinth in this house with many inexplicable windings backward and forward Which notwithstanding is no where to be seene at this day The Towne
head Yet others are of opinion that this name arrived in this Island with the English out of Angloen in Denmarke the ancient seat of the English nation for there is a towne called Flemsburg and that the Englishmen from hence called it so like as the Gaules as Livie witnesseth tearmed Mediolanum that is Millan in Italiâ— after the name of Mediolanum in Gaule which they had left behinde them For there is a little village in this Promontory named Flamborrough where an other notable house of the Constables had anciently their seat which some doe derive from the Lacies Constables of Chester Beeing in these parts I could learne nothing for all the enquirie that I made as touching the bournes commonly called Vipseys which as Walter of Heminburgh hath recorded flow every other yeere out of blinde springs and runne with a forcible and violent streame toward the sea nere unto this Promontory Yet take here with you that which William Newbrigensis who was borne neare that place writeth of them Those famous waters which commonly are called Vipseys rise out of the earth from many sources not continually but every second yeere and being growne unto a great bourn runne downe by the lower grounds into the sea Which when they are dry it is a good signe for their breaking out and flowing is said to bee an infallible token portending some dearth to ensue From thence the shore is drawne in whereby there runneth forth into the sea a certaine shelfe or slang like unto an out-thrust tongue such as Englishmen in old time termed a File whereupon the little village there Filey tooke name and more within the land you see Flixton where in King Athelstanes time was built an Hospitall for the defence thus word for word it is recorded of way-faring people passing that way from Wolves least they should be devoured Whereby it appeareth for certaine that in those daies Wolves made foule worke in this Tract which now are no where to be seene in England no not in the very marches toward Scotland and yet within Scotland there be numbers of them in most places This little territory or Seigniory of Holdernesse King William the First gave to Drugh Buerer a Fleming upon whom also he had bestowed his Niece in marriage whom when hee had made away by poison and thereupon fled to save himselfe hee had to succeed him Stephen the sonne of Odo Lord of Aulbemarle in Normandy who was descended from the Earles of Champaigne whom King William the First because hee was his Nephew by the halfe sister of the mothers side as they write made Earle of Aulbemarle whose posterity in England retained the Title although Aulbemarle be a place in Normandy His successour was William sirnamed Le Grosse whose onely daughter Avis was marryed to three husbands one after another namely to William Magnavill Earle of Essex to Baldwine De Beton and William Forts or de Fortibus by this last husband onely shee had issue William who also had a sonne named William His onely daughter Avelin being the wedded wife of Edmund Crouchbacke Earle of Lancaster dyed without children And so as wee reade in the booke of Meaux Abbay for default of heires the Earldome of Aulbemarle and honour of Holdernesse were seized into the Kings hands Howbeit in the ages ensuing King Richard the Second created Thomas of Woodstocke his Unkle and afterwards Edward Plantagenet Earle of Rutland the Duke of Yorkes sonne Duke of Aulbemarle in his fathers life time likewise King Henry the Fourth made his owne sonne Thomas Duke of Clarence and Earle of Aulbemarle which Title King Henry the Sixth afterward added unto the stile of Richard Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke for the greater augmentation of his honour EBORACENSIS Comiâ—aâ—us pars Septentrionalis vulgo NORTH RIDING NORTH-RIDING SCarce two miles above Flamborrough-head beginneth the NORTH-RIDING or the North part of this Country which affronting the other parts and beginning at the Sea is stretched out Westward and carrieth a very long Tract with it though not so broad for threescore miles together even as farre as to Westmorland limited on the one side with Derwent and for a while with the River Ure on the other side with Tees running all along it which on the North Coast separateth it from the Bishopricke of Durrham And very fitly may this part bee divided into Blackamore Cliveland Northallverton-shire and Richmond-shire That which lyeth East and bendeth toward the Sea is called Blackamore that is The blacke moorish land For it is mountanous and craggy The Sea coast thereof hath Scarborrough Castle for the greatest ornament a very goodly and famous thing in old time called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is A Burgh upon the Scar or steepe Rocke The description whereof have heere out of William of Newburgh his History A Rocke of a wonderfull height and bignesse which by reason of steepe cragges and cliffes almost on every side is unaccessible beareth into the Sea wherewith it is all compassed about save onely a certaine streight in manner of a gullet which yeeldeth accesse and openeth into the West having in the toppe a very faire greene and large Plaine containing about threescore acres of ground or rather more a little Well also of fresh water springing out of a stony Rocke In the foresaid gullet or passage which a man shall have much adoe to ascend up unto standeth a stately and Princelike Towre and beneath the said passage beginneth the City or Towre spreading two sides South and North but having the sore part Westward and verily it is fensed afront with a wall of the owne but on the East fortified with the rocke of the Castle and both the sides thereof are watered with the Sea This place William Le Grosse Earle of Aulbemarle and Holdernesse viewing well and seeing it to bee a convenient plot for to build a Castle upon helping Nature forward with a very costly worke closed the whole plaine of the Rocke with a Wall and built a Towre in the very streight of the passage which being in processe of time fallen downe King Henry the Second caused to bee built in the same place a great and goodly Castle after hee had now brought under the Nobles of England who during the loose government of King Stephen had consumed the lands of the Crowne but especially amongst others that William abovesaid of Aulbemarle who had in this Tract ruled and reigned like a King and possessed himselfe of this place as his owne Touching the most project boldnesse of Thomas Stafford who to the end hee might overthrow himselfe with great attempts with a few Frenchmen surprised this Castle of a sudden in Queene Maries Raigne and held it for two daies together I neede not to speake ne yet of Sherleis a Gentleman of France who having accompanied him was judicially endited and convict of high treason albeit he was a forrainer because hee had done against
named Percies From thence Rhie carrieth with him the streames of many a brooke into Derwent which watereth in this vale Malton a Market towne well knowne and frequented for corne horses fish and implements of husbandry where are to be seene the foundations of an old Castle belonging as I have heard say in old time to the Vescies Barons in these parts of great estate and honor Their pedigree as appeareth evidently by the Kings records is derived from William Tyson who being Lord of Malton and of Alnewicke in Northumberland was slain in the battaile at Hastings against the Normans Whose onely daughter was given in marriage to Ivo de Vescy a Norman and hee left behind him his only daughter likewise named Beatrice with whō Eustach the son of Fitz Iohn with one eie contracted marriage who in the raigne of Stephen founded the religious houses at Malton and Watton For his second wife daughter to William Constable of Chester was Ladie of Watton William the sonne of Eustach by Beatrice being ripped out of his mothers wombe assumed unto him the name of Vescy and the Armes a Cross-floury Argent in a shield Gueles This William begat of Beatrice daughter to Robert Estotevill of Knaresburg two sonnes Eustach de Vescy who tooke to wife Margaret daughter to William King of the Scots and Sir Warin de Vescy Lord of Knapton As for Eustach father hee was of William who begat John that died without issue and William so renowned for his exploits in Ireland and these changed the Armes of their house into a shield Or with a crosse Sables But William after that his legitimate sonne John died in the warre of Wales granted unto King Edward certaine lands in Ireland that his illegitimate sonne William surnamed of Kildare might inherit his fathers estate And hee ordained Anthony Bec Bishop of Durrham his feofie in trust to the use of his sonne but he was scarce trusty as touching Alnewic Eltham in Kent and other lands which he is reported to have conveied indirectly to his owne use This illegitimate sonne young Vescy was slaine in the Battaile of Sterling in Scotland And at length the title fell backe unto the line of the Attons considering that Margaret the only daughter of Sir Gwarin Vescy was wedded unto Gilbert de Atton But heereof enough if not too much and of it I have spoken before Neere unto this vale there flourished two famous Abbaies Newborrough unto which we are indebted for William of Newborrough a learned and diligent writer of the English Historie now the habitation of the worshipfull family of Bellasise descended out of the Bishopricke of Durrham and Bellelanda commonly Biland both founded and endowed by Robert Mowbray This family of the Mowbraies was for power nobility and wealth comparable to any other and possessed very faire lands with the Castles of Slingesby Threske and others in this Tract The originall of this race if you desire to understand I will compendiously set it downe When Roger de Mowbray Earle of Northumberland and R. de Grunde-beofe for their disloialtie were dissezed of all their possessions King Henry the First bestowed a great part thereof upon Nigell or Niele de Albenie of the same family that the Albeneis Earles of Arundell were descended a man of very high birth in Normandie who had bin Bowbearer to King William Rufus and so enriched him thereby that he held in England 140. Knights fees and in Normandie 120. He commanded also that Roger his sonne should assume the name of Mowbray from whom flowred out the Mowbraies Earles of Nottingham and Dukes of Norfolke To these Mowbraies also belonged in times past Gilling Castle standing hard by but now unto that ancient and worshipfull family which of their faire bush of haire got their name Fairfax For Fax in the old English tongue signifieth haires or the haire of the head whereupon our progenitours called a Comet or blasing starre A Faxed starre like as a place whereof I have spoken before Haly-fax of holy haires Then beneath these Southward lieth Calaterium Nemus commonly called The Forest of Galtres shaded in some places with trees in other some a wet flat full of moist and moorish quavemires very notorious in these daies by reason of a solemne horse running wherein the horse that outrunneth the rest hath for his prise a little golden bell It is almost incredible what a multitude of people conflow hither from all parts to these games and what great wagers are laid on the horses heads for their swift running In this Forest standeth Creac which Egfrid King of Northumberland in the yeer 684 gave with three miles round about unto Saint Cuthbert by whom it came to the Church of Durrham Scarce foure miles hence is situate most pleasantly among little woods and groves Sherry-Hutton a very proper Castle built by Sir Bertrand Bulmer and reedified by Raulph Nevil the first Earle of Westmorland Neere unto which standeth Hinderskell a little Castle built by the Barons of Greystocke which others call Hunderd-skell of a number of fountaines that spring up and rise there Behind the hilles Westward where the country spreadeth it selfe out againe into a more fresh and plaine champion lieth Alverton-shire commonly called Northallerton-shire a little countrie watered with the riveret Wiske and taking the name of Northalverton a towne sometime called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is nothing else but a long broad street howbeit having in it on S. Bartholomewes day the greatest Faire of Kine and Oxen and of most resort that ever I saw in all my life King William Rufus gave this with the territory adjoining unto the Church of Durrham to the Bishops of which See it is very much beholden For William Comin who by force held the Bishopricke of Durrham built the Castle there and granted it unto his nephew which now is in manner quite decaied and gone The Bishops likewise his successors granted unto it certaine liberties and immunities For in the Booke of Durrham we read that Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Durrham fortified the towne having obtained licence of the King that among those unlawfull castles which by Commandement were then destroyed in many places of England this onely should have the priviledge to stand still which notwithstanding the King commanded afterward to be layd even with the ground Hard by this was that field foughten which they commonly call the Battaile of the Standard in which David King of Scots who with his unexampled cruelty had made this country almost a wildernesse was after so great a slaughter of his people put to flight that then and never before our countrimen thought they were fully revenged For that indeed came to passe in this battaile which Raulfe the Bishop said when before the battaile in an oration he encouraged the English to fight A confused multitude untrained is an impediment to it selfe in prosperous successe to hurt others and in adverse
the West twenty degrees and forty eight minutes in Longitude Whiles I looked round about from the top of the said castle hill to see the mouth of Lone that issueth it selfe into the sea a little lower Fornesse the other part of this shire appeared in sight which the sea hath after a sort violently rent apart from the rest For when as the shore did from hence shoote out a maine way into the West the Ocean as it were much displeased and angry hereat obstinately ceased not to flash and mangle it nay which is more hath with his fell flowing at boisterous tides devoured the shore and thereby maketh three wide creâ—kes or bayes namely Kent-sand at which the river Ken powreth it selfe forth Leven-sand and Dudden-sand betweene which two the land beareth out so much that thereupon it tooke the name For with us in our language For-nesse Foreland is all one with the Latine Promontorium anterius that is a Fore-promontory All this part unlesse it be hard by the sea side mounteth up aloft with high topped hils and huge fels standing thicke together which they tearme Forness-fells Among which the Britans lived safe a great while trusting upon these strong naturall fenses although the victorious English Saxons made way through all in the end For in the yeere 228. after there comming in I gather that the Britans had their abode here because Egfride King of Northumberland gave unto Holy Saint Cuthbert the land called Carthmell and all the Britans in it thus we finde written in his life and it is very well knowne that Carthmell is a part of this shire by Kentsand and a little towne in it retaineth yet the same name Wherein William Mareschall the elder Earle of Pembroch built a Priory and endowed it with living If you read in Ptolomee SETANTIORUM 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The Setantians Mere as some Copies have and not Setantiorum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The Setantians Haven I durst boldly avouch that these Britans here were called SETANTII For among these mountaines the greatest standing water in all England now called Winander-mere in the English Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haply of his winding and turning in and out lieth stretched out for the space of ten miles or thereabout with crooked bankes and is all paved as it were with stone in the bottome in some places of wonderfull depth and breeding a peculiar kinde of fish found no where else which the inhabitants there by call A Chare And a little village standing hard by carrieth the name thereof In which Eathred King of Northumberland in the yeer of Christ 792. when he had by force fetched King Elfwolds sonnes out of Yorke flue them that by his owne wickednesse and their blood hee might secure the Kingdome to himselfe and his Betwixt this Mere and the river Dudden the promontory runneth out which wee commonly call Fornesse and hath the Iland Walney as a fore-fence or countremure lying along by it with a small arme of the sea betweene The gullet or entry into which is defended with a fort called the Pile of Fouldrey standing in the midst of the waves upon a rocke erected there by the Abbot of Fornesse in the first yeere of King Edward the third As for the Promontory it selfe there is nothing worth the sight in it unlesse it be the ruines of a monastery of Cistertian Monkes called Fornesse Abbey which Stephen Earle of Bullen afterwards King of England in the yeere of our redemption 1127. built in a place called sometimes Bekensgill or translated rather from Tulket in Andernesse Out of the Monkes whereof and from no place else as they themselves have reported the Bishops of the Isle of Man that lieth just over against were by an ancient custome wont to bee elected as having beene the mother as it were of many Monasteries in the said Man and in Ireland More Eastward standeth Aldingham an ancient hereditament belonging to the family of the Haveringtons or Harringtons unto whom it came from the Flemmings by the Cancefelds and whose inheritance descended by a daughter unto William Bonvill of Somersetshire and at last by him unto the Greies Marquesses of Dorset And somwhat higher is Ulverston in this regard not to bee passed over in silence for that King Edward the third gave a moity thereof unto Sir John Coupland a most brave warriour whom also he advanced to the dignity of a Banaret because in the battaile at Durham he took David the second King of the Scots prisoner But after his decease the same King granted it with other faire lands in this tract and the title also of Earle of Bedford unto Ingelram Lord Coucy of France as who had married his daughter Isabel and whose ancestours in right of Christiana Lindsey had great revenewes in England Touching the noble men which have borne the title of Lancaster there were in the first infancy of the Norman Empire three stiled Lords of the Honour of Lancaster namely Roger of Poictou the sonne of Roger Mont-gomery who was surnamed Pictavensis as William of Malmesbury writeth because hee had married a wife from out of Poictou in France But when he had by his perfidious disloyalty lost this honour William the sonne of King Stephen and Earle of Moriton and Warren had the same given unto him by his Father After whose death King Richard the first bestowed it upon his brother John who was afterward King of England For thus we read in an old History King Richard declared his singular love to his brother Iohn For beside Ireland and the Earledome of Moriton in Normandy he heaped upon him so many dignities in England that he was in maner a Tetrarch there Finally he conferred upon him Cornwall Lancaster Notingham Derby with the country adjoining and many more beside A good while after King Henry the third the sonne of John first advanced Edmund his second sonne called by some Crouth-backe to the title of Earle of Lancaster unto whom hee conveyed and made over the inheritances and honours of Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester Robert Ferrars Earle of Derby and John of Monmouth because they had risen and rebelliously born armes against him and he gave this Honor of Lancaster unto him in these words The Honour County Castle and Town of Lancaster with the Cow-pastures forrests of Wiresdale Lownsdale New castle under Lime the manour forrest and Castle of Pickering the manor of Scaleby the towne of Gomicester and the rents of the towne of Huntendon c. After hee the said Edmund had missed the kingdome of Sicily in which the Pope had invested him in vaine by a ring and not without ridiculous disgrace to the English nation caused in honour of him certaine peeces of gold to bee stamped with this title AIMUNDUS REX SICILIAE having first cunningly suckt a great masse of money from the credulous King in this regard This Edmund
Lismore sometime Legate of Ireland an earnest follower of the vertues which he had seen and heard of his devout father Saint Bernard and Pope Eugenius a venerable man with whom hee was in the Probatorie at Clarevall who also ordained him to be the Legate in Ireland after his obedience performed within the monasterie of Kyrieleyson happily departed to Christ. Jerusalem was taken with the Lords Crosse by the Soldan and the Saracens after many Christians slaine MCLXXXVII Upon the Calends or first day of July was the Abbey of Ynes in Ulster founded MCLXXXIX Henry Fitz-Empresse departed this life after whom succeeded his sonne Richard and is buried in Font-Ebrard In the same yeere was founded the Abbey de Colle victoriae that is of Cnokmoy MCXC. King Richard and King Philip make a voiage into the holy land MCXCI. In the Monasterie of Clarevall the translation of Malachie Bishop of Armagh was honourably celebrated MCXCII The Citie of Dublin was burnt MCXCIII Richard King of England in his return from the holy land was taken prisoner by the Duke of Austrich and he made an end by composition with the Emperour to pay for his ransome one hundred thousand markes and with the Empresse to pay thirtie thousand also with the foresaid Duke 20. thousand markes in regard of an obligation which he had made unto them for Henrie Duke of Saxonie Now hee remained in the Emperours prison a yeere sixe moneths and three daies For whose ransome all the Chalices in manner throughout England were sold. In the same yeere was founded the Abbey de Iugo Dei that is of Gods yoke MCXCIIII The reliques of S. Malachie Bishop of Clareval were brought into Ireland and with all honour that might be received in the Monasterie of Mellifont and the rest of the Monasteries of the Cistertian order MCXCV. Matthew Archbishop of Cassile Legate of Ireland John Archbishop of Dublin carried away the corps of Hugh Lacie the conquerour of Meth from the Irish and solemnely enterred it in the Monasterie of Blessednesse that is Becty But the head of the said Hugh was bestowed in the Monastery of Saint Thomas in Dublin MCXCVIII The order of Friers Preachers began in the parts about Tolouse by Dominicke the second MCXCIX Richard King of England died after whom succeeded John his brother who was Lord of Ireland and Earle of Mortaigne which John slew Arthur the lawfull heire sonne of Geffrey his whole brother And in this manner died Richard When K. Kichard besieged the Castle of Chaluz in little Britaine wounded he was to death with an arrow by one of those in the said Castle named Bertram Gurdon And when he dispaired of his life hee demised the Kingdome of England and all his other lands unto his brother to keep All his Jewels and one fourth part of his Treasure he gave unto his Nephew Otho and another fourth part of his Treasure he gave and commanded to be dealt among his servants and the poore Now when the said Bertram was apprehended and brought before the King the K. demanded of him in these termes what harme have I done thee that thou hast slaine me Unto whom without any manner of feare he answered thus Thou killedst my father and two of my brethren with thine owne hand and me also thou wouldest now have killed Take therefore what revenge so ever thou wilt of me for I passe not so thou maist be slaine that hast wrought so many mischiefes to the world Then the King forgave him his death and commanded that hee should be let goe at libertie and to give him besides one hundred shillings sterling But after the King was dead some of the Kings ministers slayed the said Beâ—â—â—am and hung him up And this King yeelded up his vitall breath the eighth day before the Ides of April which fell out to be the fourth day of the weeke before Palme-Sunday and the eleventh day after he was wounded and buried hee was at Foâ—â— Eâ—â—ard at the feet of his father Touching whose death a certaine versifier saith thus Istiâ— in morte perimit formica leonem Proh dolor in tanto funere mundus obit In this mans death as is well seene the Ant a Lion slaies And in so great a death alas the world doth end her daies The Corps of which King Richard is divided into three parts Whence was this verse made Viscera Carceolum Corpus Fons servat Ebrardi Et Cor Rhothomagum magne Richarde tuum Thy bowels onely Carceol keeps thy Corps Font-Everard And Roan hath keeping of thy heart O puissant Richard When King Richard was departed this life his brother John was girt with the sword of the Duchy of Normandie by the Archbishop of Rhoan the seventh day before the Calends of May next ensuing after the death of the aforesaid King which Archbishop did set upon the head of the said Duke a Circle flower with golden roses in the top round about Also upon the sixth day before the Calends of June hee was anointed and crowned King of England all the Lords and Nobles of England being present within the Church of Saint Peter in Westminster upon the day of the Lords Ascension and afterwards was John King of England called to a Parliament in France by the King of France to answer as touching the death of his Nephew Arthur and because he came not he deprived him of Normandy The same yeere was the Abbey of Commerer founded MCC Cathol Cronerg King of Conaght founder of the Monastery de Colle Victoriae that is of the Hill of Victorie is expelled out of Conaght The same yeere was founded the Monasterie de Voto that is Tynterne by William Marshall Earle Marshall and of Pembroch who was Lord of Leinster to wit of Weisford Ossory Caterlagh and Kildare in regard and right of his wife who espoused the daughter of Richard Earle of Stroghul and of Eve the daughter of Dermot-Mac-Murogh But because the foresaid William Earle Marshall was in exceeding great jeopardie both day and night in the sea he vowed a vow unto our Lord Jesus Christ that if he might be delivered from the tempest and come to land hee would make a Monasterie unto Christ and Marie his mother and so it came to passe when hee was come safe to Weisford he made I say the Monasterie of Tyntern according to his vow and called it the Monasterie De voto that is Of the vow In the same yeere was founded the Monasterie de Flumine Dei that is Of Gods river MCCII. Gathol Cronerg or Crorobdyr King of Conaght was set againe in his kingdome The same yeere is founded the house of Canons or Regular Priests of St. Marie by Sir Meiler Fitz-Henrie MCCIII The Abbey of S. Saviour that is Dowiâ—ky being founded was in this yeere and the next following built MCCIV. There was a field fought betweene John Curcie Earle of Ulster and Hugh Lacie at Doune in which battell many on both sides lost their lives But John Curcie had the upper
againe unto the English For Edward who in regard of his holinesse was surnamed The Confessor the sonne of Etheldred by his second wife recovered the Crowne and royall Dignitie Now began England to take breath againe but soone after as saith the Poet Mores rebus cessêre secundis Prosperitie perverted manners The Priests were idle drowsie and unlearned the people given to riot and loose life they grew also through rest to be lither discipline lay as it were dead the commonwealth sick as one would say of an infinite sort of vices lay in consumption and pined away but pride above all whose waiting maid is destruction was come to a mightie head And as Gervasius Dorobornensis of that time speaketh They fell so fast to commit wickednesse that to be ignorant of any sinfull crimes was held to be a crime All which most evidently foreshewed destruction The Englishmen of those times as William of Malmesburie writeth went lightly appointed with their garments reaching but to the mid knee their heads shorne their beards shaven but the upper lip uncut where the mustaches grew continually wearing massie bracelets of gold about their armes carrying markes upon their skin pounced in of sundry colours The Clergie contenting themselves with triviall literature could scarsly back and hew out the words of the Sacrament THE NORMANS LIke as in ancient times out of that East coast of Germanie in respect of us which tendeth Northward the Franks first and then the Saxons grievously annoied both France Gaule and Britaine with their depredations so that in the end the one became Lords of Britaine the other of France even so in these later daies ensuing the Danes first and afterward the Normans succeeding in their place from out of the same coast did the like As if it were fatally given unto that tract by the dispose and providence of Almightie God to conceive still and often times to send out of her wombe nations to afflict France and Britaine yea and to establish new Kingdomes therein These Normans were so called of the Northerne quarter or climate from whence they came for Normans be nothing else but Men of the North in which sense also they are named Nordleudi that is a Northerne people for a mixt nation they were of the most valiant Norvegians Suedens and Danes In the time of Charles the Great they practised roving and piracie in such cruell manner about Frisia Belgia England Ireland and France that when the said Charles the Great saw their roving ships in the Mediterranean sea he shed teares abundantly and with a grievous deepe sigh said Heavie I am at the heart that in my life time they durst once come upon this coast and I foresee what mischiefe they will worke hereafter to my posteritie Yea and in the publique Processions and Letanies of Churches this afterwards was added to the rest From the race of Normans Good Lord deliver us They drave the French to that extremitie that King Charles the Bald was forced to give unto Hasting a Norman Arch-pirate the Earledome of Charters for to asswage the mans furie King Charles the Grosse granted unto Godfrey the Norman a part of Neustria with his daughter also in marriage But afterwards by force and armes they seated themselves neere unto the mouth of the river Sein in a country which before time was corruptly called Neustria because it had beene a parcell of Westrasia For so the writers of the middle time named that which the Germans used to call Westen-rijch that is the West-kingdome and doth comprise all that lieth betweene the rivers of Loyre and Seine Which tooke the name of Normandie afterwards of them as it were the region of Northerne men when King Charles the simple had confirmed it unto their Prince Rollo whose Godfather he was at his Baptisme to bee held in Fee by homage and withall bestowed upon him his daughter in marriage At which time as we reade in an old Manuscript belonging to the Monasterie of Angiers Charles surnamed Stultus gave Normandie to Rollo and his daughter Gista with it This Rollo daigned not to kisse the foote of Charles and when his friends about him admonished him to kisse the Kings foote as his homager for the receit of so great a benefit hee answered in the English tongue Ne se by God which they interpret thus NO BY GOD The King then and his Courtiers deriding him and corruptly repeating his speech called him Bigod whereupon the Normans be at this day called Bigodi Hence also peradventure it is that the Frenchmen even still use to call hypocrites and superstitious folke Bigod This Rollo who being baptised received therewith the name of Robert some writers report to have become a Christian but in shew and colour onely others upon good deliberation and in earnest and they adde moreover that hee was warned so to doe by God in a dreame which I pray you give me leave being a man for all this that doateth not upon dreames to relate without suspicion of vanitie from the credit of writers in those daies The report goeth that as he sailed he dreamed he saw himselfe fouly infected with the leprosie but when hee was washed once in a most cleare spring at the foot of an high hill hee recovered and was cleansed thereof and anon climbed up to the top of the said hill This Dreame when he reported a Christian that was a captive in the same ship with him interpreted it in this wise The Leprosie was the impious worship of Idol gods wherewith he was tainted that the spring betokned the holy Laver of Regeneration wherewith being once cleansed he should ascend up the hill that is attaine unto high honor and heaven it selfe This Rollo begat William surnamed Long-espee of the long sword which he used to weare and William begat Richard the first of that name Whose sonne and nephew by his son carrying both his name succeeded after him in the Duchie of Normandie but when Richard the third was dead without issue his brother Robert was Duke in his stead who of his concubine begat that William whom wee commonly name The Conquerour and the Bastard All these were every one for their noble acts atchieved both at home and abroad most renowned Princes Now whiles this William being of ripe yeares ruled Normandie Edward the holy surnamed CONFESSOR King of England and the last of the Saxons line departed out of this world unto his heavenly country to the great misse and losse of his people who being the sonne of Ladie Emma cosen to William and daughter to Richard the first of that name Duke of Normandie whiles hee remained in Normandie banished had promised unto him that he should succeed after him in the Crowne of England But Harold the sonne of Godwin and Great Master or Steward of King Edwards house usurped the Kingdome whom to dispossesse his brother Tosto of one side
and the Normans of the other did what they could and left no stone unturned But when he in a pitched field had neere unto Stamford-bridg in Yorkshire slaine his brother Tosto and Harold King of Norway whom Tosto had drawn to take part with him in this war and so obtained a bloudy victorie behold within nine daies after the said WILLIAM surnamed the Bastard Duke of Normandie taking hold of the promises of King Edward late deceased and presuming of his adoption and neere alliance having levied a great armie arrived in England among the South-Saxons Against whom Harold forthwith advanced albeit his souldiers were sore wearied and his power by the former battaile much empaired And not farre from Hastings they encounter and joyne battaile where Harold engaging himselfe into the midst of the medley and fighting manfully lost his life with a great number of Englishmen left slaine in the place but how many they were just hard it is exactly to conceive and faithfully to put downe WILLIAM thus a Conquerour presently with banner displaid marched about in order of battaile by Wallingford to London where being received he was solemnly inaugurated King as unto whom by his owne saying The Kingdome was by Gods providence appointed and by vertue of a gift from his Lord and Cosen King Edward the Glorious granted and after some few lines the story runneth on and saith that the most beauteous King Edward had by adoption ordained him his heire in the Kingdome of England And if we list to believe the Historie of Saint Stephens in Caen of Normandie at his last breath he uttered these words The Regall Diadem which none of all my predecessours ever wore I got and gained by the grace of God only and no right of inheritance And a little after I ordaine no man heire of the Kingdome of England but I commend the same to the eternall Creator whose I am and in whose hands are all things For I became not possessed of so great honour by any hereditary right but by a terrible conflict and with much effusion of bloud I tooke it from that perjured King Harold and after I had either slaine or put to flight his favourers and adherents I subdued it under my Dominion But why doe I so briefly run over this so great alteration of the English state Have therefore if you thinke not much to read it what my selfe with no curious pen haply with as little studie and premeditation howbeit according to the truth of the Historie wrote when being but young not well advised nor of sufficiencie to undergoe so great a burthen I purposed to set forth our Historie in the Latine tongue VVHen Edward the Confessour was now without issue departed this life the Nobles and people of the land were in doubtfull care distracted about the setting up of a new King in his place Edgar surnamed Aetheling King Edmund Iron side his nephewes nephew by a sonne onely of all the issue male of the Saxons line remained alive unto whom by right of inheritance the kingdome was due But considering he was thought by reason of his tender yeares not meete to mannage the State and had beside intermingled his naturall disposition with forrain manners as being borne in Pannonia and the sonne of Agathra daughter to the Emperor Henrie the third who was in so remote a countrie farther off than that he could conveniently assist the young Gentleman either with aid or counsell in these regards hee was lesse affected of the Englishmen who desired nothing more than to have a King as it were out of their owne bodie And therefore all of them for the most part had their eies fixed with much respect upon Harold Goodwins sonne a man for his good parts as well in warre as peace very glorious For albeit he was of noble parentage but by one side and his father for his treacherie and treason as also for pilling and polling had incurred everlasting infamie and shame yet with his courteous affabilitie gentill deportment liberalitie and warlike prowesse he wound himselfe into exceeding great especiall favour with the people For there could not another bee set by him in whom there was more resolute hardinesse to adventure upon danger or more advised policie in the midst of dangers His valour also and fortitude shined out so apparantly in the Welsh warres which heretofore most happily hee had brought to an end that he was reputed verily a man passing well furnished with all vertues required in a soveraigne Commander and even borne to repaire the decaied state of England Moreover good hope there was that the Danes who onely terrified this country would bee the better contented and pleased with him because he was the son of Githa daughter to Sueno King of Denmarke And in case there should arise any other power against him either forraine or domesticall he was thought sufficiently enabled to make his part good with the affectionate hearts of the common people with the alliance also and affinitie that hee had among the Nobility For hee had to wife the sister of Morcar and Edwin two brethren men of exceeding great puissance and Edric surnamed the Wild a man of high spirit and in chiefe authoritie was linked to him in the neerest bond of Affinitie besides it fell out very well for him that at one and the selfe-same time Sueno King of the Danes had his hands full of warre with Sueden and betweene William Duke of Normandy and Philip the French King there fell some dislikes and emulation for that Edward the Confessor during his exile in Normandie had in expresse termes promised unto William of Normandie the Kingdome if hee died without issue For the performance of which promise Harold became as it were surety and bound himselfe with an oath what time hee was detained prisoner in Normandie but with this condition annexed that he might espouse the daughter of the said William of Normandie Whereupon most men thought it the wisest policy to set the Crowne upon William his head to the end that by performing oath and promise the warre that they foresaw now threatned and destruction which alwaies waiteth as a due punishment upon perjurie might be averted and withall by laying Normandie to England the Kingdome under so mightie a Prince might be surely established and the common-wealth very much advanced But Harold quickly preventing all consultations whatsoever thinking it not good for him to linger and delay any whit that very day on which King Edward was enterred contrary to the expectation of most men entred upon the soveraigne government and with the applause onely of such as were then present about him who with acclamations saluted him King without the due complements and solemnitie of Coronation set the Imperiall Diadem upon his owne head By which act of his as being a breach of ancient ordinance he exceedingly provoked and stirred up against him the whole Clergie and Ecclesiasticall state But he knowing well enough
Earles of Anjou Poictou Maine and Bulloigne and unto them he promiseth faire Lands and possessions in England Philip also the French King he goeth unto and solliciteth voluntarily promising in case he aided him to become his vassall and leege man and for England to take the oath of fealtie unto him But it being thought nothing good for the state of France that the Duke of Normandie who already was not so pliable and obedient to the French King as he ought should bee bettered in his state by the addition of England for the power of neighbour potentates is alwaies suspected of Princes so far was the King from yeelding any helpe that he disswaded him rather from invading England But by no meanes could the Duke be reclaimed from his enterprise nay much more encouraged he was now and set on being once backed with warrant from Alexander the Bishop of Rome for even now began the Pope to usurpe authority over Princes who allowing of his cause and quarrell had sent unto him a sacred and hallowed banner as a luckie fore-token of gaining both the victory and Kingdome yea and with all cursed whosoever should oppose themselves against him He assembled therefore all the forces he could possibly raise and gathered together a mighty navie before the Towne of Saint Valeries which standeth upon the mouth of the river Some where he lay a long time windbound For the procurement whereof with many a vow he importuned Saint Valeric the patron-Saint of the Towne and heaped upon him a number of gifts and oblations Harold who with his forces had waited very long in vaine for his comming determined to dissolve his armie to withdraw his navie and to leave the sea-coast both for that he was compelled thereto for want of provision as also because the Earle of Flanders had written unto him that William would not stirre that yeere whom he soone beleeved as thinking that the time of the yeere was such as had locked up the seas and barred all navigation forasmuch as the autumnall Aequinox was neere Whiles he thus deviseth with himselfe driven he was upon an unexpected necessity of new warre to call backe his armie for Harold surnamed the Hard and Harfager king of Norway who had practised piracie in the North parts of Britaine and already subdued the Isles of Orknes being by Tosto sollicited and called forth in hope of the Kingdome of England arrived within the mouth of the river Tine with a fleet of 500. flibotes or thereabout where Tosto also came and joined his owne fleet When they had a good while forraged and spoiled the countrey heere they weighed anchor and sailing along the coast of Yorkshire put into Humbre and there began to commit outrages with all manner of hostility For the repressing of whom the two Earles Edwin and Morcar led forth a power of soldiers whom they had raised suddainly and in tumultuary haste but they not able to abide the violent charge of the Norwegians fled for the most part as fast as they could and together with the Earles made shift to escape howbeit many of them passing over the river Ouse were swallowed up with the waves thereof The Norwegianâ—â—hen goe in hand to lay siege unto the Citie of Yorke which straight waies they get by surrender hostages being given on both sides But after some few dayes King Harold having gathered his whole power from all parts together speedeth him to Yorke and from thence marcheth against the Norwegians who lay encamped strongly in a most safe place for backed they were with the Ocean flanked on the left hand with Humber wherein their fleet rid at anchor and had for their defence on the right side and afront the river Derwent Howbeit King Harold couragiously setteth upon them where first there was a cruell conflict at the Bridge standing over the river Darwent which one Norwegian souldier by report made good for a time against the whole armie of the Englishmen and held out so long untill he was shot through with a dart and died after this continued the battell a good while within the very campe fought with equall valour and indifferent fortune on both sides But in the end the Norwegians were disarraied and scattered and in the midst of the battell Harold himselfe King of the Norwegians and Tosto with the greater part of the Armie lost their lives Vpon this Victorie there fell unto King Harold an exceeding rich bootie a great masse both of gold and silver and that huge Armado except twentie small Barques onely which he granted unto Paul Earle of Orkney and Olave the Sonne of Harold who was slaine for to carry away those that were hurt taking their oath first that from thence forward they should not attempt any hostilitie agaist England This happie victorie encourged Harold and set him aloft now he thought that he should bee a terrour yea to the Normans howsoever hee grew odious unto his owne people because hee had not divided the spoile among his souldiers Howbeit wholly hee employed himselfe to reforme the disordered state of the countrey which in this part was pittifully out of frame and lay neglected Meane while Willam Duke of Normandie finding a fit season for his purpose about the end of September weighed anchor and launched forth then with a gentle gale of winde he sailed with all his shipping and arrived at Pevensey in Sussex where being landed upon the naked shore for to cut off all hope of return from his men he did set fire on his ships and having erected a fortresse there for his men to retire thither in safetie forward he marcheth to Hastings where also he raised another strong hold and placed therein a garrison Now by this time he maketh proclamation declaring the causes of this warre namely to revenge the death of Alfred his Cousin whom together with many Normans Godwin the Father of Harold had murthered Item to bee avenged of the wrongs that Harold had done who when he had banished Robert Archbishop of Canterburie even then by intrusion entred upon the Kingdome of England now pertaining to him treading under foot the religious respect of his oath Howbeit by an Edict he straightly charged his souldiers not in hostile manner to spoile the English men Newes hereof in all hast was brought to King Harold who by all meanes thinking it good to use prevention and as spedily as might be to encounter the Duke sendeth out his messengers every way calleth earnestly upon his subjects to continue in their faithfull allegiance assembleth all his forces in every place and with great journies hasteneth to London where there presented himselfe unto him an Embassadour from Duke William but as he made many words in claiming the Kingdom Harold in a furious fit of anger and indignation went within a little of laying violent hands upon the very person of the Embassadour For a hard matter it was to bereave a fresh Victour
and the most Noble so with our Ancestors the English-Saxons hee was named in their tongue Aetheling that is Noble and in Latine Clito of the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Glorious or Excellent see how that age affected the Greeke Language And hereupon of that Eadgar the last heire male of the English bloud royall this old said saw is yet rife in every mans mouth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in the ancient latine Patents and Charters of the Kings wee read often times Ego E. vel Ae. Clyto Regis filius But this addition Clyto I have observed to be given even to all the Kings sonnes After the Norman conquest no certaine or speciall title of honour was assigned unto him nor any other to my knowledge than singly thus The Kings sonne and The first begotten of the King of England untill that Edward the first summoned unto the high Court of Parliament his sonne Edward by the name of Prince of Wales and Earle of Chester unto whom he granted afterwards the Dukedome also of Aquitain like as the same Prince being now King Edward the Second called unto the Parliament his young sonne Edward not full ten yeeres old by the title of Earle of Chester and of Flint But the said Edward having now attained to the Crowne and being Edward the Third created Edward his sonne a most valiant and renowned man of warre Duke of Cornwall Since which time the Kings first begotten sonne is reputed Duke of Cornewall at the houre of his birth And soone after he adorned the same sonne by solemne investure and creation with the title of Prince of Wales And gave the Principality of Wales in these words To be held of him and his heires Kings of England And as the declared or elect Successours of the Roman Empire as I said even now were named Caesares of the Greekish Empire Despotae of the Kingdome of France Dolphins and of Spaine Infants so from thence forward the Heires apparant of the Kingdome of England were entituled Princes of Wales And this title continued unto the daies of Henrie the Eight when Wales was fully united to the Kingdome of England But now whereas the Kingdomes of Britaine formerly divided are by the happy good luck and rightfull title of the most mighty Prince King Iames growen into one his Eldest sonne Henrie the Lovely Ioy and Dearling of Britaine is stiled PRINCE OF GREAT BRITAINE who as he is borne thus to the greatest hopes so all Britaine from one end to the other prayeth uncessantly from the very heart that God would vouchsafe to blesse him with the greatest vertues and continuance of honour that hee may by many degrees and that most happily exceede our hope surpasse the noble Acts of his Progenitours yea and outlive their yeeres As for our Nobilitie or Gentry it is divided into Superiour and Inferiour The Superiour or chiefe Noblemen we call Dukes Marquesses Earles and Barons which have received these titles from the Kings of this Realme for their Vertue and Prowesse DVKE is the chiefe title of honour among us next after PRINCE This was a name at first of charge and office and not of dignitie About the time of Aelius Verus the Emperour those who governed the Limits and Borders were first named Duces and this degree in the daies of Constantine was inferiour to that of Comites After the Romane government was heere in this Iland abolished this title also remained as a name of office and those among us who in old Charters during the Saxons time are so many of them called Duces were named in the English tongue onely Ealdermen and the verie same that were named Duces they called also Comites As for example that William the Conquerour of England whom most call Duke of Normandie William of Malmsburie termeth Comes or Earle of Normandie But as well Duke as Earle were names of charge and office as appeareth by this Briefe or Instrument of creating a Duke or Earle out of Marculphus an ancient Writer In this point especially is a Princes regall Clemencie fully commended that thorowout the whole people there bee sought out honest and vigilant persons neither is it meete to commit hand over head unto every man a judiciarie Dignity unlesse his faithfulnesse and valour seeme to have beene tried before seeing then therefore we suppose that we have had good proofe of your trustie and profitable service unto us wee have committed unto you the government of that Earledome Dukedome Senatourship or Eldership in that Shire or Province which your Predecessor untill this time seemed to have exercised for to manage and rule the same accordingly Provided alwaies that you evermore keepe your faith untouched and untainted toward our Royall governance and that all people there abiding may live and be ruled under your regiment and governance and that you order and direct them in the right course according to law and their owne customes That you shew your selfe a Protector to widowes and Guardian to Orphans that the wickednesse of theeves and malefactors be most severely by you punished that the people living well under your regiment may with joy continue in peace quietly and whatsoever by this very execution is looked for to arise in profit due to the Exchequer bee brought yeerely by your selfe into our Coffers and Treasurie This title of Duke began to be a title of honour under Otho the Great about the yeere 970. For hee to bind more streitly and neerer unto him martiall and politike men endowed them with Regalities and Roialties as hee termed them And these Roialties were either Dignities or Lands in fee. Dignities were these Dukes Marquesses Earles Capitaines Valvasors Valvasines Later it was ere it came to bee an Hereditarie title in France and not before the time of Philip the third King of France who granted that from thence forth they should bee called Dukes of Britaine who before time were indifferently stiled both Dukes and Earles But in England in the time of the Normans seeing the Norman Kings themselves were Dukes of Normandie for a great while they adorned none with this honour nor before that Edward the Third created Edward his sonne Duke of Cornwall by a wreath upon his head a ring on his finger and a silver verge or rod like as the Dukes of Normandie were in times past created by a Sword and Banner delivered unto them afterwards by girding the Sword of the Dutchie and a circlet of gold garnished with little golden Roses in the top And the same King Edward the Third created in a Parliament his two sonnes Lionel Duke of Clarence and Iohn Duke of Lancaster by the girding of a Sword and setting upon their heads a furred chapeau or cap with a circlet or Coronet of gold pearle and a Charter delivered unto them From which time there have beene many hereditary Dukes among us created one after another with these or such like words in
mother to Edward Courtney the last Earle of Devonshire of that house and on the other side of the quier Iohn de Beaufort Duke of Somerset with his wife Margaret daughter and heire to Sir Iohn Beauchamp of Bletneshoe whose daughter Margaret Countesse of Richmond and mother of King Henry the Seventh a most godly and vertuous Princesse erected a Schoole heere for the training up of youth But now will I turne my pen from the Church to the Towne when the Danes by their crafty devices went about to set the Englishmen together by the eares and would have broken that league and unitie which was betweene King Edward the Elder and his cosen Aethelwald Aethelwald then lusting after the Kingdome and wholly set against his liege Prince fortified this towne as strongly as possibly he could But so soone as Edward came towards him with his forces and pitched his tents at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now called Badbury he fled and conveied himselfe to his confederates the Danes This Badbury is a little hill upon a faire doune scarce two miles off environed about with a triple trench and rampier and had by report in times past a Castle which was the seate of the West-Saxon Kings But now if ever there were any such it lieth so buried in the owne ruines and rubbish that I could see not so much as one token thereof But hard by a sight I had of a village or mannour called Kingston Lacy because together with Winburne it appurtained to the Lacies Earles of Lincolne unto whom by covenant it came from the Earles of Leicester by the meanes of Quincie Earle of Winchester For King Henry the first had given it to Robert Earle of Mellent and of Leicester and at the last both places from the Lacies fell unto the house of Lancaster whose bountie and liberalitie Winburne had good triall of From this Winburne Stoure as it passeth admitteth Alen a little brook over which standeth S. Giles Winburne the habitation of the worshipfull and ancient house of Astleys Knights also Wickhampton the inheritance sometime of the Barons de Maltravers of whom the last in the raigne of Edward the Third left behind him two daughters onely the one wedded unto Iohn de Arundell grandfather to Iohn Earle of Arundell who left unto his posteritie the title of Barons de Maltravers the other wife of Robert Le-Rous and afterwards of Sir Iohn Keines Knight From hence the Stoure passeth on by Canford under which not long ago Iames Lord Montjoy studious in Minerall matters began to make Calcanthum or Vitriol we call it Coperas and to boile Alome And out of which in old time Iohn Earle of Warren to the great disteining of his owne good name and the damage of England tooke as it were by strong hand and carried away as it is to be seene in our Chronicles Dame Alice Lacey the wife of Thomas Earle of Lancaster And now by this time Stoure leaveth Dorsetshire behind him and after hee hath travelled through some part of Hantshire at length taketh up his lodging in the Ocean and yet not before hee hath entertained a pretty river that runneth to Cranburne a place well watered Where in the yeare of Salvation 930. Aelward a noble Gentleman surnamed for his whitenesse Meaw founded a little monasterie which Robert Fitz-Haimon a Norman unto whom fell the possessions of the said Aelward leaving heere one or two Monkes in a cell translated to Theoksbury From whom in order of succession by the Clares Earles of Glocester and Burghs Earles of Ulster it came to Lionell Duke of Clarence and by him to the Crowne But now Cranborne hath his Uicount now Earle of Salisburie whom King Iames for his approved wisedome and worth honored first with the title of Baron or Lord Cecil of Essendon and the next yeare after of Vicount Cranborne South from hence lieth Woodland emparked sometime the seat of the worshipfull family of Filioll the heires whereof were married to Edward Seimor after Duke of Somerset and Willoughby of Wallaton As touching the Earles and Marquesses of this shire King William the Conqueror having now by conquest attained to the Kingdome of England made Osmund that was Earle of Seez in Normandie both Bishop of Sarisbury and afterward also the first Earle of Dorset and his Chancellor highly admiring the godly wisedome of the man and his notable good parts Long after that King Richard the Second in the one and twentieth yeare of his raigne advanced Iohn de Beaufort Iohn of Gaunt his sonne and Earle of Sommerset to be Marquesse Dorset of which dignitie King Henry the Fourth in hatred of Richard the Second deprived him And when as in the high Court of Parliament the Commons of England there assembled who loved him very dearely made earnest intercession that the said dignitie of Marquesse might bee restored unto him hee himselfe distasting this new title and never heard of before those daies utterly refused it And then his younger brother named Thomas Beaufort was created Earle of Dorset who afterward for his warlike prowesse and valour was by King Henrie the Fifth adorned with the title of Duke of Excester and with the Earledome of Harcourt For he valiantly defended Harflew in Normandie against the Frenchmen and in a pitched field encountring the Earle of Armignac put him to flight After he was dead without issue King Henry the Sixth nominated out of the same house of Lancaster Edmund first Earle afterwards Marquesse Dorset and lastly Duke of Somerset whose sonnes being slaine in the civill wars Edward the Fourth when as now the family of Lancaster lay as it were over troden in the dust created Thomas Grey out of the house of Ruthin who was his sonne in law for the King had espoused the mother of the said Grey Marquesse Dorset when in right of his wife he had entred upon a great state and inheritance of the Bonvilles in this country and the territories adjoyning After him succeeded in the same honour Thomas his sonne and Henrie his nephew by the said Thomas who also was created by King Edward the Sixth Duke of Suffolk having wedded Lady Frances daughter of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and Neece unto King Henry the Eighth by his sister This Duke in Queene Maries daies being put to death for high treason learned too late how dangerous a thing it is to marrie into the bloud royall and to feed ambitious hopes both in himselfe and in others From that time the title of Dorset was bestowed upon none untill King Iames at his first entrance into this Kingdome exalted Thomas Sackvill Baron of Buckhurst and Lord high Treasurer of England a man of rare wisedome and most carefull providence to the honour of Earle of Dorset who ended his life with suddaine death 1608. and left Robert his sonne his successor who deceasing within the yeare left the said honour againe to Richard his hopefull sonne whom he
it with King Henrie the Eighth Somewhat lower hard by Darent standeth Lullingstone where there was sometime a Castle the seat of a family of the same name but now of Sir Percival Hart descended from one of the coheires of the Lord Bray Then Darent giveth name unto Darentford commonly Dartford a great mercat towne well frequented and well watered where King Edward the Third built a Nunnery which King Henry the Eighth converted into a house for himselfe and his successours Heere the rivelet Crey anciently called Crecan intermingleth it selfe with Darent when in his short course hee hath imparted his name to five townelets which hee watereth as Saint Mary Crey Pauls Crey Votes-Crey North Crey and Crey-ford in former ages Crecanford where Hengist the Saxon the eighth yeare after his arrivall joyned battaile with the Brittaines and after he had slaine their captaines brought them under with so great a slaughter that afterwards hee never stood in feare of them but established his kingdome quietly in Kent From the river Darent or Dart unto the mouth of Medway the Thames seeth nothing above him but little townes pleasantly seated which to passe over in silence were no prejudice either of their fame or any thing els Yet amongst them is Swans-combe of which I have heretofore spoken of honorable memorie among the Kentish men for obtaining their the continuance of their ancient franchises afterward it was well knowne by the Montceusies men of great Nobility the owners therof who had there Barony here-about And by it Graves-end so called as Master Lambert is my author as the Gereves-end that is the limit of the Gereve or Reve. A towne as well knowne as any other in England for the usuall passage by water betweene it and London since the Abbat of Grace by the tower of London to which it appertained obtained of King Richard the second that the inhabitants of it and Milton onely should transport passengers from thence to London King Henrie the Eighth when he fortified the sea coast raised two Platformes or Block-houses here and two other opposite on Essex side Beyond Graves-end is Shorn held anciently by Sir Roger Northwood by service to carry with other the kings tennants a white ensigne fortie daies at his owne charges when the King warred in Scotland Somewhat more within the land lieth Cobham the habitation for a long time of the Barons of Cobham of whom Iohn Cobham the last of that name founded a Colledge here and a castle at Cowling who left one onely daughter wife to Sir Iohn de la Pole Knight Shee likewise bare but one daughter though married in her time to many husbands But by Sir Reginald Braibrooke onely had shee issue As for her husband Sir Iohn Old Castle whiles hee endeavoured to bring in innovation in religion was both hanged and burnt Ioane her onely daughter by Sir Reginald Braybrooke was wedded unto Thomas Broke of Somersetshire from whom six Lord Cobhams have lineally descended and flourished in honorable reputation untill our time From Graves-end a little country called Ho lying as a demy Island between rivers Thames and Medway stretcheth it selfe into the East and is for situation but unholsome At the entry hereof is Cowling Castle built by Iohn Lord Cobham in a moorish ground and Cliffe a good bigge towne so called of a cliffe upon which it standeth But whether it bee that Clives at Ho so famous in the tender age and infancie of our English Church by reason of a Synode there holden I dare not as others doe affirme considering that in regard of the site it is a place inconvenient for such an assembly and besides that Clives at Hoo seemeth to have beene within the Kingdome of the Mercians As for the river Medweg now called Medway and in the British tongue unlesse I misse of the truth Vaga whereunto afterward was added Med hath his spring head in the wood Anderida which is termed the Weald that is a Wood-land country and taketh up the South-part of this region farre and wide At first whiles it carrieth but a slender streame it receiveth the Eden by Penshurst the seat anciently as it seemeth by the name of Sir Stephen de Penherst who also was called de Penshester a famous Warden of the Cinque ports but now the house of the Sidneies who derive their race from William de Sidney Chamberlaine to King Henrie the second out of which came Sir Henrie Sidney that renowned Lord deputy of Ireland who of the daughter of Iohn Dudley Duke of Northumberland and Earle of Warwicke begat Philip and Robert This Robert Iames our soveraigne King made right honorable first by the title of Baron Sidney of Penshurst and afterwards of Vicount Lisle But Sir Philip whom I cannot passe over in silence beeing the glorious starre of this familie a lively patterne of vertue and the lovely joy of all the learned sort fighting valerously with the enemy before Zutphen in Gelderland died manfully This is that Sidney whom as Gods will was he should be therefore borne into the world even to shew unto our age a sample of ancient vertues so his good pleasure was before any man looked for it to call for him againe and take him out of the world as beeing more worthy of heaven then earth Thus wee may see Perfect vertue sodainely vanisheth out of sight and the best men continue not long Then the river Medway branching it selfe into five streamlets is joyned with as many stone Bridges and thereof giveth the name of Tunbridge to the towne there situate as the towne of Bridges This about King William Rufus his time Richard sonne of Count Gilbert Grandchild to Godfrey Earle of Ewe Lord of Briony obtained in requitall for Briony in Normandie when there had bin long debate about Briony This Richard as William Gemeticensis writeth in recompence for the same castle received in England the towne of Tunbridge for it And the report goeth that the Lowy of Briony was measured round about with a line and with the same line brought into England hee received so much groūd measured out at Tunbridge Shortly after he built here a faire large castle fenced with the river a deepe ditch and strong walles and albeit it is now ruinous and 〈◊〉 Keepe attired with Ivie yet it manifestly sheweth what it was His posteritie who were Earles of Glocester and surnamed De Clare for that they were Lords of Clare in Suffolke built here a priorie for Chanons of Saint Augustines order founded the parish Church which was impropriated to the Knights of Saint Iohn of Hierusalem and compounded about the tenure of the Mannour for which there had beene long suit to hold it of the Archbishop of Canterburie by Knights fee and to be their high Stewards at their inthronizations From these Clares Earles of Glocester it came by an heire generall to Sir Hugh Audley Earle of Glocester and
Cotas either to bee revenged of the Britains who aided the Gaules as Strabo saith or in hope of British pearles as Suctonius reporteth or inflamed with an ambitious desire of glory as others doe record in the yeare before Christs nativitie fiftie foure and once againe in the yeare ensuing entred into Britaine having before hand sounded the havens by his espialls as Suâ—tonius and himselfe doth testifie and not as Roger Bachon fableth by setting certaine looking glasses upon the coast of Gaule and by Art perspective which by reflection multiplieth hidden formes What hee exploited here himselfe hath at large delivered in his Commentaries and I likewise before have summarily abridged out of him and the writings of Suetonius concerning Scaeva whose valourous service during the civill warre was notably seen above others at Dyrrachium and whom our Poet Ioseph of Excester in his Antiocheis and namely in these his verses touching Britaine reported I know not how truely to have beene a Britaine borne Hinc et Scaeva satus pars non obscura tumulius Civilis MAGNVM solus qui mole solutâ Obsedit meliorque stetit pro Caesare murus Here borne also was Scaeva he that bare no little sway In all these civill broiles the Fort that stood full in his way Alone he brake Pompey besieged was Caesars strongest stay But what were the exploits of Caesar in this our country learne you may of himselfe and out of that which hath before beene written For neither as yet have I met with that old father a Britaine whom Marcus Aper as we read in Quintilian saw in this Island who avowed that he was present at the battaile in which they assaied to keepe Caesar from landing when he came to warre upon them neither is it any part of my meaning now to write an Historie but a Topographie Vpon this shore lie out with a long traine certaine heapes in manner of bankes or rampiers which some imagine that the winde swept up together But I suppose them to have beene a fence and countermure or rather the Ship-campe which Caesar raised with ten daies and as many nights labour to haile up thereto his sea-beaten and shaken Navie and to defend it both against tempests and also the Britaines who in vaine did assaile it For I understand by relation of the dwellers thereby that this rampier is called Romes-worke as if it were A worke of the Romans And so much the rather believe I that Caesar arrived heere because hee writeth that seven miles from hence for so wee reade in the ancient bookes corrected by Flavius Constantinus a man of Consul degree the sea is kept in and compassed with such streight mountaines that for the higher places a dart may bee flung to the very shore verily as soone as we are past Deale a mightie ridge of steepe high Cliffs Cicero termeth them moles magnificas that is Stately cliffes bringing forth Samphyre in great plenty runneth for seven miles or there about as far as to Dover where it openeth it selfe and of that nature is the place that right as Caesar writeth betweene two hills it letteth in and encloseth the sea Within this partition and separation of the Cliffes lieth DVBRIS which Antonine the Emperour mentioneth the Saxons name it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we Dover This name was given unto it as Darell out of Eadmer writeth because the place was shut up and hard to come unto For when as saith he in ancient times the sea there barbarous spreaded it selfe upon urgent necessitie to make it a more commodious haven they kept it in with more streight bounds Howbeit William Lambard with more probabilitie fetched the reason of this name from the word Dufyrrha which in the British language betokeneth a place steepe and upright The towne which is seated betweene high clyffes whereas some-time the haven was when the sea more insinuated it selfe as wee collect by the anchors and ship planks that are digged there up is more famous for the commodiousnesse of the haven such as it is and for readie passage into France than for any elegancie or great trade For it is a place of passage of all other most haunted and it was provided in old time by a speciall Statute that no man going forth of the realme in pilgrimage should else where embarque and take sea more-over it is reckoned one of the Cinque-ports and in times past it was charged to furnish and set out one and twenty ships unto the warres in the same manner and forme as Hastings did whereof I have already spoken Toward the sea now somewhat excluded by Beach it was fenced with a wall whereof some part as yet standeth It had a faire church consecrated unto Saint Martin founded by Whitred King of Kent an house also of the Knights-Templars which now are quite gone and nothing to bee seene of them It yeildeth likewise a seat for the Archbishop of Canterburies Suffragans who when the Archbishop is busied in weightier affaires mannageth for him matters that pertaine to Orders onely and not to the Episcopall jurisdiction From the top of a rough and cragâ—iâ— cliffe which mounteth up to a wonderfull height where it looketh downe to the sea a most statey Castle like unto a prettie Citie fortified right strongly with bul-warkes and many a Tower overlooketh and threatneth after a sort the sea under it Matthew of Paris calleth it the Key and Locke The Barre and Sparre of England The common sort of people dreameth that it was built by Iulius Caesar and verily I suppose by the British Bricks in the Chappell there that it was built by the Romans who used such in their great buildings What time as the Roman Empire declined they placed here a band or companie of the Tungricanes who were accounted among the Aides-Palatine out of whose armoury and munition happily were those big arrowes which the Castellanes doe now shew for wonders and were wont to bee discharged then and many yeares after before the invention of great Ordnance out of engines called Balistae like huge crosse-bowes bent by force of two or foure men From the entrance of the English Saxons into this land unto the expiation of their Kingdome no where could I as yet reade so much as one bare word of this Castle or the Towne save onely in certaine by-notes out of a Table that was heere hanged upon a wall which reported that Caesar having arrived at Deale and discomfited the Britaines at Baramdowne which is a plaine adjoyning fit for horse fight and meete to embattaile an armie in began the Castle of Dover and that Arviragus afterward fortified it against the Romans and stopped up the haven Also that after him King Arthur and his knights vanquished I wot not what rebels heere Howbeit a little before the Normans comming in it was reputed the onely defence and strength of England and for that cause William Duke of Normandie bound Harold by on oath to
give my voice and accord with Ninnius who writeth That it tooke the name from Glovus the great grandfathers father of King Vortigern but that long before it Antonine had named it Glevum which both the Distance from Corinium and the name also may prove But as the Saxon name Gleavecester came from Glevum so Glevum proportionably from the British Caer Glow which I suppose sprong from the word Glow that in the British tongue signifieth Faire and Goodly so that Caer Glow may bee as much as to say a faire Citie In which signification also the Greekes had their Callipolis Callidromos Callistratia the English men their Brightstow and Shirley and in this very Countie Faireford Faire-ley c. This Citie was built by the Romans and set as it were upon the necke of the Silures to yoake them And there also was a Colonie planted to people it which they called COLONIA GLEVVM For I have seene a fragment of antique stone in the walles of Bath neere unto the North-gate with this Inscription DEC COLONIAE GLEV VIXIT ANN. LXXXVI It lieth stretched out in length over Severne on that side where it is not watered with the river it hath in some places a very strong wall for defence A proper and fine Citie I assure you it is both for number of Churches and for the buildings On the South part there was a lofty Castle of square Ashler stone which now for the most part is nothing but a ruine It was built in King William the first his time and sixteene houses there about as wee read in the booke of Englands Survey were plucked downe for the rearing of this Castle About which Roger the sonne of Miles Constable of Glocester went to law with King Henry the second and his brother Walter lost all the right and interest hee had in this City and Castle as Robert de Mont hath written Ceaulin King of the West Saxons was the first that about the yeare of our redemption 570. by force and armes wrested Glocester out of the Britans hands After this the Mercians won it under whom it flourished in great honour and Osricke King of Northumberland by permission of Etheldred the Mercian founded there a very great and stately Monastery for Nunnes over whom Kineburg Eadburg and Eve Queenes of the Mercians were Prioresses successively one after another Edelfled also that most noble Ladie of the Mercians adorned this City with a Church wherein shee her selfe was buried and not long after when the Danes had spoyled and wasted the whole countrey those sacred Virgins were throwne out and The Danes as Aethelward that ancient authour writeth with many a stroake pitched poore cottages into the citie of Glenvcester At which time when those more ancient Churches were subverted Aldred Archbishop of Yorke and Bishop of Worcester erected another for Monkes which is now the chiefe Church in the Citie and hath a Deane and sixe Prebendaries But the same in these late precedent ages was newly beautified For Iohn Hanley and Thomas Farley two Abbats added unto it the Chappel of the blessed Virgin Mary N. Morwent raised from the very foundation the forefront which is an excellent piece of worke G. Horton an Abbat adjoyned to it the crosse North-part Abbat Trowcester a most daintie and fine Cloister and Abbat Sebrok an exceeding high faire steeple As for the South side it was also repaired with the peoples offerings at the Sepulcher of the unhappy King Edward the second who lieth heere enterred under a monument of Alabaster and not farre from him another Prince as unfortunate as hee Robert Curt-hose the eldest sonne of King William the Conquerour Duke of Normandy within a woodden painted tombe in the midest of the quire who was bereft of the Kingdome of England for that he was borne before his father was King deprived of his two sonnes the one by strange death in the New-forrest the other dispoiled of the Earledome of Flanders his inheritance and slaine he himselfe dispossessed of the Dukedome of Normandie by his brother King Henry the first his eies plucked out and kept close prisoner 26. yeares with all contumelious indignities untill through extreame anguish hee ended his life Above the quire in an arch of this church there is a wall built in forme of a semicircle full of corners with such an artificiall device that if a man speake with never so low a voice at the one part thereof and another lay his eare to the other being a good way distant he may most easily heare every sillable In the reigne of William the Conquerour and before it may seeme that the chiefest trade of the Citizens was to make Iron For as we find in the Survey booke of England the King demanded in manner no other tribute than certaine Icres of Iron and Iron barres for the use of the Kings Navy and some few quarts of hony After the comming in of the Normans it suffered divers calamities by the hands of Edward King Henry the third his sonne whiles England was all on a smoake and cumbustion by the Barons warre it was spoiled and afterward by casualty of fire almost wholy consumed to ashes but now cherished with continuance of long peace it flourisheth againe as fresh as ever it was and by laying unto it two Hundreds it is made a County and called the County of the Citie of Glocester Also within the memory of our fathers King Henry the Eighth augmented the state thereof with an Episcopall See with which dignitie in old time it had beene highly endowed as Geffery of Monmouth avoucheth and I will not derogate ought from the credit of his assertion considering that among the Prelates of Britaine the Bishop Cluviensis is reckoned which name derived from Clevum or Glow doth after a sort confirme and strengthen my coniecture that this is that Glevum whereof Antonine maketh mention Severne having now left Glocester behind it and gathered his waters unto one streame againe windeth it selfe by Elmore a Mansion house of the Gises ancient by their owne lineall descent being in elder times owners of Apsely-Gise neere Brickhill and from the Beauchamps of Holt who acknowledge Huber de Burgo Earle of Kent whom I lately mentioned beneficious to them and testifie the same by their Armories Lower upon the same side Stroud a pretty river slideth into Severne out of Coteswold by Stroud a Mercat towne sometimes better peopled with Clothiers and not farre from Minching-Hampton which anciently had a Nunnery or belonged to Nunnes whom our ancestors named Minchings Now Severn waxing broader and deeper by reason of the alternative flowing and ebbing of the sea riseth and swelleth in manner of a rough and troublous sea indeed and so with many windings and turnings in and out speedeth him unto the Ocean But nothing offereth it selfe unto his sight to count of as hee passeth along but Cam-bridge a little country towne where it receiveth Cam a small
cruelty for that some of his followers were slaine there in a fray that there followed thereupon a most heavy banishment of the Students and the University a sorrowfull spectacle lay as it were halfe dead and past all recovery untill the dayes of king William the Conquerour Whom some write falsly to have wonne it by assault but Oxonia written amisse in the Copies for Exonia that is Excester deceived them And that it was at that time a place of Studies and Students may bee understood out of these words of Ingulph who in that age flourished I Ingulph saith hee being first placed in Westminster and afterwards sent to the Study of Oxford when as in learning of Aristotle I had profited above my fellowes of the same time c. For those Schooles of Learning which wee call Academies or Vniversities that Age termed Studia that is Studies as I will shew anone But at this very time it was so empoverished that whereas within the wall and without I speake out of William the Conquerour his Domesday booke there were about seaven hundred and fifty houses besides foure and twenty Mansions upon the Walls five hundred of them were not able to pay their Subsidy or Imposition And to use the very words of that booke This Citty paid pro Theloneo et Gablo and for other Customes by the yeare to the King twenty pounds and sixe quarts of Hony and unto Earle Algar tenne pounds About this time Robert D'oily a noble man of Normandy of whom I have before spoken when hee had received at the hands of William the Conquerour in reward of his Service in the Warres large Possessions in this Shire built a spacious Castle in the West side of the Citty with deepe Ditches Rampiers an high raised Mount and therein a Parish Church to Saint George unto which when as the Parishioners could not have accesse by reason that King Stephen most streightly besieged Maude the Empresse within this Castle Saint Thomas Chappell in the streete hard by was built He also as it is thought fortified the whole Citty with new walls which by little and little time doth force and as it were embreach with his assault Robert likewise Nephew unto him by his brother Neale and Chamberlaine to King Henry the First founded Ousney or Osney a most stately Abbay as the ruines doe yet shew amidst the divided waters not farre from the Castle perswaded thereto by Edith his wife the daughter of Forne who before time had beene one of King Henry the First his sweet hearts and lig-bies About those times as we read in the Chronicle of the said Osney Abbay Robert Pulein beganne to reade in Oxford the Holy Scriptures in England now growne out of request Who afterwards when as by his Doctrine the English and Frenchmen both had much profited was called by Pope Lucius the second and promoted to be Chancellour of the Church of Rome To the same effect also writeth Iohn Rosse of Warwicke By the procurement of King Henry the First the Divinity Lecture which had discontinued a long time in Oxford began againe to flourish and there he built a Palace which King Edward the Second at length converted into a Covent of Carmelits But long before this time in this Palace was borne into the World that Lion-hearted Knight Richard the First King of England commonly called Ceeur de Lion a Prince of a most hauty minde and full of resolution borne for the weale of Christendome the honour of England and the terrour of Infidels Upon whose death a Poet in that age of no meane conceite versified thus for that his remaines were interred in diverse places Viscera Carcelorum Corpus Fons servat Ebrardi Et cor Rhothomagum Magne Richarde tuum In tria dividitur unus qui plus fuit uno Nec superest uno gloria tanta viro Hîc Richarde jaces sed mors si cederet armis Victa timore tui cederet ipsa tuis Thy Bowels keep 's Carceolum thy corps Font Everard And Roan thy valiant Lions heart O noble great Richard Thus one three fold divided is for more he was then one And for that one so great he was such glory is in none Here li'st thou Richard but if death to force of armes could yeeld For feare of thee he would to thee have given as lost the field Thus after the Citty was refreshed againe with these buildings many beganne to flocke hither as it were to a Mart of learning and vertue and by the industrious meanes especially of that Robert Pulein a man borne to promote the Common-wealth of learning who refused no paines but laboured all that he could to set open againe those Well springs of good Literature which had beene stopped up through the favour especially of King Henry the First King Henry the Second and King Richard his sonne of whom I spake ere while And these endeavours of Pulein sped so well and tooke so good effect that in the reigne of King Iohn there were here three thousand Students who all at once every one changed their Habitation to Reding and partly to Cambridge because the Citizens seemed to wrong and abuse overmuch these Students and Professours of Learning but after this tumult was appeased they returned within a short time Then and in the age presently ensuing as God provided this City for good learning so he raised up a number of very good Princes and Prelats to the good thereof who for the adorning and maintenance of learning extended their liberality in the highest degree For when King Henry the Third had by way of Pilgrimage visited Saint Frideswide a thing before-time thought to bee an hainous Offence in a Prince for the dishonour offered to her by Algar a Prince and so removed that superstitious feare wherewith some superstitious Priestes had for a time frighted Princes from once comming to Oxford and had assembled here a very great Parliament for the composing of certaine controversies betweene him and the Barons hee confirmed the priviledges granted by the former Kings and conferred also some other himselfe So that by this time there was so great store of learned men that divers most skilfull in Divinity as well as in Humanitie were in great numbers spread from thence both into the Church and Common-wealth and Mathew Paris in plaine termes called The Vniversity of Oxford The Second Schoole of the Church nay rather a ground worke of the Church next after Paris For with the name of Vniversity the Bishops of Rome had before time honoured Oxford which Title at that time by their Decrees they vouchsafed to none but unto that of Paris this of Oxford unto Bononia in Italy and Salamanca in Spaine And in the Councell of Vienna it was ordained that there should bee erected Schooles for the Hebrew Greeke Arabicke and Chaldaean tongues in the Studies of Paris Oxford Bononie and Salamanca as the most famous of all others to the end
the Earledome of Oxford hath flourished a long time in the Family of Vere which derive their descent from the Earles of Guines and that surname from Vere a towne in Zeland They received the beginning of their greatnesse and honour here in England from King Henry the First who advanced Aubrey de Vere for his singular wisedome with sundry favours and benefits as namely with the Chamberlainship of England and Portgreveship of the City of London To his son Aubrey Henry the Second before hee was established King and when hee used onely this stile Henry Sonne to King Henries daughter right heire of England and Normandie restored first the Chamberlan-shippe which hee had lost in the civill broiles and then offered unto him which of the Titles he himselfe would choose of these foure Earledomes Dorset Wilshire Barkshire and Oxfordshire that he might divert him from Stephen then usurping the Kingdome and assure him to himselfe And in the end both Maude the Empresse and Henry also her son being now come to the Crowne by their severall Charters created him Earle of Oxford Among those that descended from him not to recount every one in their course and order these were they that purchased greatest fame and honour Robert de Vere who being in very high favour with King Richard the second was honoured with these new and strange dignities not heard of before namely Marquesse of Dublin and Duke of Ireland of which as one said he left nothing at all to himselfe but to his Tombe titles and to the world matter of talke For shortly after through the spitefull envy of the Nobles as much against the King as against him he was dispoiled of his estate and ended his dayes miserably in exile Iohn the First of that name so trusty and true to the House of Lancaster that both Hee and his Sonne and Heire Aubrey lost their heads therefore together in the First yeere of King Edward the Fourth Iohn his second Sonne a right skilfull and expert Martiall man neverthelesse was most firme and faithfull to the said House of Lancaster fought in sundry battells against King Edward the Fourth defended and made good for a while Saint Michaels Mount and was an especiall assistant unto Henry the Seaventh in attaining to the Kingdome Another Iohn likewise in the reigne of Henry the Eighth a Man in all parts of his life so sincere so religious and so full of goodnesse that hee gained the surname of the Good Earle Hee was great Grandfather of Henry that is now Earle and the Eighteenth of this race in Lineall discent and also Grandfather of Sir Francis and Sir Horatio Vere brethren who by their singular knowledge in Military affaires and exploits most valiantly and fortunately atchieved in the Low-Countries have added exceeding much honour and glory to themselves and to the ancient Nobility of their Family This Countie containeth Parish Churches 280. CATTIEUCHLANI VPon the DOBUNI Eastward there confined the people which Ptolomee calleth according to the diversity of copies CATTIEUCHLANI CATTIDUDANI CATHICLUDANI and Dio CATTUELLANI Which of these might bee the truest name I can not easily say Yet give me leave I pray you in this place to cast forth my conjecture although it is an abortive concerning this point I have beene of opinion that these were in old time called CASSII that of this Cassii their Prince was named Cassivellaunus or Cassibelinus for so wee finde it diversely written Also that of Cassivellaunus name this very people were by the Grecians termed Cattuellani Cathuellani and Cattieuchlani For among the Nations of Britaine Caesar reckoneth the CASSII who that they were seated in these parts it is most certaine and of whose name a prety portion of this Tract is at this day called Caishow And seeing that Cassivellaunus ruled this Country as it appeareth by Caesar and in the said name of his this denomination of CASSII doth most plainly bewray it selfe it may seeme probable enough that Cassivellaunus was so named as one would say The Prince of the Cassii And unlesse it were so why should Dio name this Cassivellaunus Suellan for Vellan and Ninnius the Britan call him not Cassibellinus but Bellinus as though that Bellinus were the proper name either of the Man or of his Dignity Neither let it seeme strange that Princes in old time tooke names of their owne Nations The Catti in Germanie had their Cattimarus the Teutons their Teutomarus and Teutobochus the Daci their Decebalus and the Goths their Gottiso And what should let but that our Cassii might have their Cassibelinus Considering that Belinus hath beene an usuall name in this Island and some have thought that Cunobelinus who reigned amongst the Iceni was so called as one would say the Belinus of the Iceni From this Cassivellaunus therefore if the Greeke writers have not wrested these names Cattuellani and Cattieuchlani c. I confesse that in this matter mine eye-sight fayleth mee altogether and I see plainely nothing But whence this people should come to bee named CASSII I know not unlesse happily it were of their Martiall prowesse For Servius Honoratus writeth that the ancient Gaules who spake the same language that Britans did called hardy and valiant men Gessos Whence Ninnius interpreteth Cethilou a Brittish word The seede of Warriours Now that these excelled in Warlike prowesse it is manifest for before Caesars comming they had warred continually with their Neighbours they had reduced part of the DOBUNI under their subjection the Britans had chosen their Prince Generall over all their forces in the Warre against Caesar and they had enlarged their Empire and name farre abroad every way For all those generally were knowne by the name of CASSII or CATTIEUCHLANI who now take up three Shires or Counties to wit Buckingham-shire Bedford-shire and Hertford-shire Of whom I am now to speake in order and that briefely because I have not much to say of any of them BUCKINGHAÌ„ Comitatus in quo olim insederunt CATTIEUCHLANI BVCKINGHAM-SHIRE WHereas Buckingham-shire is given to bring forth Beech trees plentifully which the English-Saxons in elder times called Bucken it may seeme conjecturally that Buckingham the chiefe Towne and so the whole shire tooke the name from Beech trees For there is a Country in Germany bearing Beech trees named Buchonia and with us a towne in Norfolke called Buckenham fruitfull of Beech as I have beene enformed This shire carrying but a small bredth runneth forth in length from the Tamis North-ward On the South-side it looketh into Barke-shire severed from it by the river Tamis on the West Oxford-shire from the North it hath Northhampton-shire and from the East first Bedford-shire then Hertford-shire and afterward Middle-sex The Country generally is of a rich plentifull soile and passing full of Inhabitants who chiefly employ themselves in graizing of cattell It is divided into two parts whereof the one bending into the South and East and rising into hills they call Chilterne in the English-Saxon
yeare of our Lord 1086. when as before time it had beene consumed by a woefull accidentall fire whereof William of Malmesbury writeth thus The beauty thereof is so magnificent that it deserveth to bee numbered in the ranke of most excellent Edifices so large is that Arched Vault underneath and the Church above it of such capacity that it may seeme sufficient to receive any multitude of people whatsoever Because therefore Maurice carried a minde beyond all measure in this project he betooke the charge and cost of so laborious a peece of worke unto those that came after In the end when B. Richard his Successour had made over all the Revenewes belonging unto the Bishopricke to the building of this Cathedrall Church sustaining himselfe and his Family otherwise in the meane while hee seemed in a manner to have done just nothing so that hee spent his whole substance profusely heereabout and yet small effect came thereof The West Part as also the Crosse-yle are spacious high built and goodly to bee seene by reason of the huge Pillars and a right beautifull arched Roufe of stone Where these foure Parts crosse one another and meete in one there riseth uppe a mighty bigge and lofty Towre upon which stood a Spire Steeple covered with Leade mounting uppe to a wonderfull height for it was no lesse than five hundered and foure and thirty foote high from the Ground which in the yeare of our Lord 1087. was set on fire with Lightning and burnt with a great part of the City but beeing rebuilt was of late in mine owne remembrance when I was but a Childe fired againe with Lightning and is not as yet reedified The measure also and proportion of this so stately building I will heere put downe out of an old Writer which you may if it please you reade Saint Pauls Church containeth in length sixe hundered ninety foote the breadth thereof is one hundered and thirty foote the height of the West Arched Roufe from the Ground carrieth an hundered and two foote and the new Fabrique from the Ground is foure score and eight foote high The stoneworke of the Steeple from the plaine ground riseth in height two hundred and threescore foote and the timber frame upon the same is two hundred seaventy foure foote high c. That there stood of old time a Temple of Diana in this place some have conjectured and arguments there are to make this their conjecture good Certaine old houses adjoyning are in the ancient records of the Church called Dianaes Chamber and in the Church-yard while Edward the First reigned an incredible number of Ox-heads were digged up as wee finde in our Annals which the common sort at that time made a wondering at as the Sacrifices of Gentiles and the learned know that Taurapolia were celebrated in the honour of Diana I my selfe also when I was a boy have seene a stagges head sticking upon a speare-top a ceremony suting well with the sacrifices of Diana carried round about within the very Church in solemne pompe and procession and with a great noise of Horne-blowers And that Stagge or Hart which they of the house de Bawde in Essex did present for certaine lands that there held as I have heard say the Priests of this Church arrayed in their sacred vestiments and wearing Garlands of flowers upon their heads were wont to receive at the steps of the quire Now whether this were in use before those Bawds were bound to exhibite such a Stagge I wote not but surely this rite and ceremony may seeme to smell of Diana's worship and the Gentiles errours more than of Christian Religion And verily no man neede to doubt that from them certaine strange and foraine and heathenish rites crept into Christian religion Which Ceremonies the first Christians as mankinde is naturally a pliant Sectary to superstition either admitted or else at the first tolerated thereby to traine and allure the Heathen from Paganisme by little and little to the true Service and Worship of God But ever since this Church was built it hath beene the See of the Bishops of London and the first Bishop that it had under the English about fifty yeares after that Theoâ— of the British Nation was thrust out was Melitus a Roman consecrated by Austin Archbishop of Canturbury In honour of which Austin flat against the Decree of Pope Gregorie the Great the Ensignes of the Archbishopricke and the Metropolitane Sec were translated from London to Canturbury Within this Cathedrall Church to say nothing of Saint Erkenwald and the Bishops there lye buryed Sebba King of the East Saxons who gave over his kingdome for to serve Christ Etheldred or Egeldred who was an Oppressour rather than a Ruler of this Kingdome cruell in the beginning wretched in the middle and shamefull in the end so outragious hee was in his connivency to a Parricidie committed so infamous in his flight and effeminacy and so miserable in his death Henry Lacy Earle of Lincolne Iohn of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Sir Simon de Burlie a right noble Knight of the Garter executed by encroched Authority without the kings assent Sir Iohn de Beauchamp Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports Iohn Lord Latimer Sir Iohn Mason knight William Herbert Earle of Pembroch Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seale of England a man of a deepe reach and exquisite judgement Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Francis Walsingham two famous knights c. and Sir Christopher Hatton Lord Chancellour of England for whose perpetuall memory Sir William Hatton his Nephew by sister descended from the ancient Family of the Newports whom hee adopted into the name of Hatton dutifully erected a sumptuous monument well beseeming the greatnesse of his adoptive father Beside this Church there is not to my knowledge any other worke of the English Saxons extant in London to bee seene for why they continued not long in perfect peace considering that in short space the West-Saxons subdued the East-Saxons and London became subject to the Mercians Scarcely were these civill Warres husht when a new Tempest brake out of the North I meane the Danes who piteously tore in peeces all this Country and shooke this City sore For the Danes brought it under their Subjection but Aelfred recovered it out of their hands and after he had repaired it gave it unto Aetheldred Earle of the Mercians who had married his daughter Yet those wastefull depopulators did what they could afterwards many a time to winne it by Siege but Canut especially who by digging a new Chanell attempted to turne away the Tamis from it Howbeit evermore they lost their labour the Citizens did so manfully repulse the force of the enemy Yet were they not a little terrified still by them untill they lovingly received and saluted as their King William Duke of Normandy whom God destined to bee borne for the good of England against those Spoilers Presently then the windes were laid
minde that this Ithancester was that OTHONA where a Band of the Fortenses with their Captaine in the declination of the Romane Empire kept their station or Guard under the Comes or Lieutenant of the Saxon-shore against the depredations of the Saxon Rovers For the altering of OTHONA to ITHANA is no hard straining and the situation thereof upon a Creeke into which many Rivers are discharged was for this purpose very fit and commodious and yet heere remaineth a huge ruine of a thicke Wall whereby many Romane Coines have beene found It seemeth not amisse to set downe how King Edward the Confessour graunted by a briefe Charter the keeping of this Hundred to Ranulph Peperking which I will willingly heere annex to the end that wee who sift every pricke and accent of the law may see the upright simplicity and plaine dealing of that age And thus goeth the tenour of it as it was taken forth of the Kings Records in the Exchequer but by often exemplifying and copying it out some words are mollified and made more familiar Iche Edward Koning Have given of my Forrest the keeping Of the Hundred of Chelmer and Dancing To Randolph Peperking and to his kindling With heorte and hinde doe and bocke Hare and Foxe Cat and Brocke Wild Fowell with his flocke Partrich Fesant hen and Fesant cocke With green and wilde stob and stocke To kepen and to yemen by all her might Both by day and eke by night And Hounds for to hold Good and swift and bolde Four Greahounds and six racches For Hare and Foxe and wild Cattes And therefore ich made him my booke Witnesse the Bishop Wolston And booke ylered many on And Swein of Essex our Brother And teken him many other And our Stiward Howelin That by sought me for him This was the plaine dealing trueth and simplicity of that age which used to make all their assurances whatsoever in a few lines and with a few gilt Crosses For before the comming in of the Normans as wee read in Ingulphus writings Obligatory were made firme with golden Crosses and other small signes or markes but the Normans began the making of such Bils and Obligations with a Print or Seale in wax set to with every ones speciall Signet under the expresse entituling of three or foure Witnesses Before time many houses and land thereto passed by grant and bargaine without script Charter or Deede onely with the Landlords sword or helmet with his horne or cup. Yea and many Tenements were demised with a spurre or horse-cury-combe with a bowe and some with an arrow In the Creeke of Blackwater which as I said closeth the North side of this Hundred and is stored with those dainty Oysters which wee call Walfleot Oysters their run two Rivers that water a great part of the Shire Chelmer and Froshwell The River Chelmer flowing out of the inner part of the country which is woody runneth downe first by Thaxted a little Mercate Towne seated very pleasantly upon an high rising hill also by Tiltey where Maurice Fitz-Gilbert founded in times past a small Abbay unto Estanues ad Turrim now Eston which noble Gentleman sirnamed De Lovaine inhabited as descended from Godfrey of Lovaine brother to Henry the Sixth of that name Duke of Brabant who being sent hither to keepe the Honor of Eye his posterity flourished among the Peeres of this Realme to the time of King Edward the Third when the heire generall was married into the house of Bourchier Thence it glideth downe to Dunmow of old time called Dunmawg and in the Tax booke of England Dunmaw a Towne pleasantly situate upon an hill with a prety gentle fall Where one Juga founded a Priory in the yeare 1111. But William Bainard of whom Juga held thus we finde it written in the private history of this Church the Village of little Dunmow by felony lost his Barony and King Henry the First gave it to Robert the sonne of Richard sonne to Gislebert Earle of Clare and to his heires with the honour of Bainards Castle in London which Robert at that time was King Henries Sewar These be the very words of the Author neither doe I thinke it lawfull for me to alter or reforme them otherwise than they are although there be in them some 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a putting or mistaking of one time for another a thing that we meet with otherwhiles in the best Historiographers For there had not beene as then any Earle of Clare in the family of Clare Now let us for a while digresse and goe aside a little on either hand from the River Not farre from hence is Plaisy seated so called in French of Pleasing in times past named Estre the habitation both in the last yeeres of the English Saxons and also afterwards of the great Constables of England as witnesseth Ely booke At this towne the first William Mandevill Earle of Essex beganne a Castle and two Princes of great authority Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester and Earle of Essex who founded heere a College and Iohn Holland Earle of Huntingdon brother to King Richard the Second by the mothers side deprived of lost honorable title of Duke of Excester when they could not keepe a meane betweene froward stubbernesse and servile obsequiousnesse found thence their subversion For Thomas upon his rash and head-strong contumacy was on a sudden violently carryed from hence to Calice and there smothered and John for a seditious conspiracy was beheaded in this place by King Henry the Fourth that hee might seeme to have beene justly punished by way of satisfaction for the said Thomas of Woodstocke of whose death hee was thought to bee the principall practiser and procurer From thence passeth Chelmer downe not farre from Leez a little Abbay of old time founded by the Gernons which at this day is the chiefe seat of the Barons Rich who acknowledge themselves for this dignity beholden to Richard Rich a most wise and judicious person Lord Chancellor of England under King Edward the Sixth who in the first yeere of his raigne created him Baron Rich. A little beneath standeth Hatfield Peverell so denominated of Randulph Peverell the owner thereof who had to wife a Lady of incomparable beauty in those daies the daughter of Ingelricke a man of great nobility among the English-Saxons This Lady founded heere a College which now is in manner quite plucked downe and in a window of the Church whereof there remaineth still a small part lyeth entombed She bare unto her husband William Peverell Castellane of Dover Sir Payne Peverell Lord of Brun in the County of Cambridge and unto King William the Conquerour whose Paramore shee was William Peverell Lord of Nottingham But now returne we to Chelmer which by this time speedeth it selfe to Chelmerford commonly Chensford where by the distance of the place from CAMALODUNUM it may seeme that old CANONIUM sometimes stood This is a good bigge Towne situate in the
the said Geffrey appointed Walden to bee the principall place and seat of his honour and Earledome for him and his Successours The place where hee built the Abbay had plenty of waters which rising there continually doe runne and never faile Late it is ere the Sunne riseth and shineth there and with the soonest he doth set and carry away his light for that the hilles on both sides stand against it That place now they call Audley End of Sir Thomas Audley Lord Chancellour of England who changed the Abbay into his owne dwelling house This Thomas created by King Henry the Eighth Baron Audley of Walden left one sole daughter and heire Margaret second wife to Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolke of whom hee begat Lord Thomas Lord William Lady Elizabeth and Lady Margaret The said Thomas employed in sundry Sea-services with commendation Queene Elizabeth summoned by Writ unto the High Court of Parliament among other Barons of the Realme by the name of Lord Howard of Walden And King James of late girded him with the sword of the Earldome of Suffolke and made him his Chamberlaine who in this place hath begunne a magnificent Building Neere to another house of his at Chesterford there was a Towne of farre greater antiquity hard by Icaldun in the very border of the Shire which now of the old Burgh the rusticall people use to call Burrow Banke where remaine the footings onely of a Towne lying in manner dead and the manifest tract of the very walles Yet will I not say that it was VILLA FAUSTINI which Antonine the Emperour placeth in this Tract and albeit Ingrata haud lati spatia detinet campi Sed rure vero barbaróque laetatur It takes not up large ground that yeelds no gaine But Country like is homely rude and plaine Yet dare not I once dreame that this is that Villa Faustini which in these and other Verses is by that pleasant and conceited Poet Martiall depaincted in his Epigrams The fieldes heere on every side as I said smell sweetly and smile pleasantly with Saffron a commodity brought into England in the time of King Edward the Third This in the moneth of â—uly every third yeere when the heads thereof have been plucked up and after twenty daies spitted or set againe under mould about the end of September they put foorth a whitish blew flower out of the middle whereof there hang three redde fillets of Saffron we call them Chives which are gathered very early in the morning before the Sunne rising and being plucked out of the flower are dried at a soft fire And so great increase commeth heereof that out of every acre of ground there are made fourescore or an hundred pounds weight of Saffron while it is moist which being dried yeeld some tweâ—â—y pound in weight And that which a man would marvell more at the ground which three yeeres together hath borne Saffron will beare aboundance of Barley eighteene yeeres together without any dunging or manuring and then againe beare Saffron as before if the inhabitants there have not misinformed me or I mis-conceived them More into the South is Clavering seated which King Henry the Second gave unto Sir Robert Fits-Roger from whom the family of Evers are issued The posterity of this Sir Roger after they had a long time taken their name of their fathers forename or Christen-name according to that ancient custome as Iohn Fitz-Robert Robert Fitz-Iohn c. afterwards by the commandement of King Edward the First they assumed from hence the name of Clavering But of these I am to speake in Northumberland Stansted Montfichet heere also putteth up the head which I will not passe over in silence considering it hath been the Baronie or habitation in times past of the family De Monte Fisco commonly Mont-fitchet who bare for their Armes three Cheverus Or in a shield Gueles and were reputed men of very great nobility But five of them flourished in right line and at the last three sisters were seized of the inheritance Margaret wife of Hugh De Boleber Aveline wedded to William De Fortibus Earle of Aumarle and Philip wife to Hugh Playz The posterity male of this Hugh flourished within the remembrance of our great Grandfathers and determined in a daughter married to Sir Iohn Howard Knight from whose daughter by Sir George Vere descended the Barons Latimer and the Wingfeldes And a little below is Haslingbury to bee seene the residence of the Barons Morley of whom I shall speake more in Norfolke And close to this standeth an ancient Fort or Military fense thereof named Walbery and more East-ward Barrington Hall where dwelleth that right ancient Family of the Barringtons which in the Raigne of King Stephen the Barons of Montficheâ— enriched with faire possessions and more ennobled their house in our fathers remembrance by matching with one of the daughters and coheires of Sir Henry Pole Lord Montacute sonne of Margaret Countesse of Salisbury descended of the Bloud Royall Neither is Hatfield Regis commonly called of a broad spread Oke Hatfield Brad-Oake to be omitted where Robert Vere Earle of Oxford built a Priory and there lieth entombed crosse-legged with a French inscription wherein he is noted to be first of that name Robert and third Earle of Oxford After the comming of the Normans Mande the Empresse Lady of the English for so shee stiled herselfe created Geffrey De Magnavilla usually called Mandevil son to William by Margaret daughter and heire of Eâ—do the Steward or Shewar the first Earle of Essex that shee might so by her benefits oblige unto her a man both mighty and martiall Who in those troublesome times under King Stephen despoiled of his estate made an end of his owne turbulent life with the sword And hee verily for his wicked deeds as I finde in an old Writer justly incurred the worlds censure and sentence of excommunication in which while hee stood hee was deadly wounded in the head at a little Towne called Burwell When he lay at the point of death ready to give his last gaspe there came by chance certaine Knights Templars who laid upon him the habit of their religious Profession signed with a red Crosse and afterwards when hee was full dead taking him up with them enclosed him within a Coffin of Lead and hunge him upon a tree in the Orchard of Old Temple at London For in a reverent awe of the Church they durst not bury him because he dyed excommunicated After him succeeded Geffry his sonne who was restored by Henry the Second to his fathers honours and Estate for him and his heires but he having no children left them to his brother William who by his wife was also Earle of Albemarle and dyed likewise in his greatest glory issuelesse Some yeares after K. John promoted Geffrey Fitz-Petre Justicer of England a wise and grave Personage unto this honour in consideration of a great masse of
Edward the Thirds sonne who after hee had married a wife out of that house was entituled by his father Duke of Clarence For he of this place with a fuller sound than that of Clare was stiled Duke of Clarence like as before him the sonnes of Earle Gislebert and their successors were hence surnamed De Clare and called Earles of Clare Who died at Languvill in Italy after he had by a second marriage matched with a Daughter of Galâ—acius Vicount of Millain and in the Collegiat Church here lieth interred as also Ioan Acres daughter to King Edward the first married to Gislebert de Clare Earle of Glocester Here peradventure the Readers may looke that I should set downe the Earles of Clare so denominated of this place and the Dukes of Clarence considering they have beene alwayes in this Realme of right honorable reputation and verily so will I doe in few words for their satisfaction in this behalfe Richard the sonne of Gislebert Earle of Augy in Normandy served in the warres under King William when hee entred England and by him was endowed with the Townes of Clare and Tunbridge This Gislebert begat foure sonnes namely Gislebert Roger Walter and Robert from whom the Fitz-walters are descended Gislebert by the daughter of the Earle of Cleremont had issue Richard who succeeded him Gislebert of whom came that Noble Richard Earle of Pembroch and Conquerour of Ireland and Walter Richard the first begotten sonne was slaine by the Welshmen and left behinde him two sonnes Gilbert and Roger. Gilbert in King Stephens dayes was Earle of Herford howbeit both he and his Successours are more often and commonly called Earles of Clare of this their principall seat and habitation yea and so many times they wrote themselves After him dying without issue succeeded his brother Roger whose sonne Richard tooke to wife Amice the daughter and one of the Heires to William Earle of Glocester in right of whom his posterity were Earles of Glocester And those you may see in their due place But when at length their issue male failed Leonel Third sonne of King Edward the Third who had married Elizabeth the Daughter and sole Heire of William de Burgh Earle of Vlster begotten of the Bodie of Elizabeth Clare was by his Father honoured with this new Title Duke of Clarence But when as hee had but one onely Daughter named Phillippa wife to Edmund Mortimer Earle of March King Henry the Fourth created Thomas his owne yonger sonne Duke of Clarence who being withall Earle of Albemarle High Steward of England and Governour of Normandy and having no lawfull issue was slaine in Anjou by the violent assault of Scots and French A long time after king Edward the Fourth bestowed this honour upon his owne brother George whom after grievous enmity and bitter hatred hee had received againe into favour and yet at the last made an end of him in prison causing him as the report currently goeth to be drowned in a Butte of Malmesey A thing naturally engraffed in men that whom they have feared and with whom they have contended in matter of life those they hate for ever though they be their naturall brethren From Clare by Long-Melford a very faire Almes-house lately built by that good man Sir William Cordal Knight and Maister of the Rolls Stour passeth on and commeth to Sudbury that is to say the South-Burgh and runneth in manner round about it which men suppose to have beene in old time the chiefe towne of this Shire and to have taken this name in regard of Norwich that is The Northren Towne Neither would it take it well at this day to be counted much inferiour to the Townes adjoyning for it is populous and wealthy by reason of Clothing there and hath for the chiefe Magistrate a Major who every yeare is chosen out of seaven Aldermen Not farre from hence distant is Edwardeston a Towne of no great name at this day but yet in times past it had Lords therein dwelling of passing great Honour of the surname of Mont-chensie out of which Family Sir Guarin Montchensie married the daughter and one of the heires of that mighty William Marescall Earle of Pembroch and of her begat a daughter named Ioan who unto the stile of her Husband William de Valentia of the family of Lusignie in France brought and adjoyned the title of Earle of Penbroch But the said Sir Guarin Mont-chensy as he was a right honourable person so he was a man exceeding wealthy in so much as in those dayes they accounted him the most potent Baron and the rich Crassus of England For his last will and testament amounted unto two hundred thousand Markes no small wealth as the standard was then From a younger brother or cadet of this house of Montchensie issued by an heire generall the Family of the Waldgraves who have long flourished in Knightly degree at Smalebridge neerer to Stoure as another Family of great account in elder ages at Buers which was thereof surnamed A few miles from hence Stour is enlarged with Breton a small Brooke at one of whose heads is seene Bretenham a very slender little towne where fcarce remaineth any shew at all of any great building and yet both the neere resemblance and the signification of the name partly induced me to thinke it to be that COMBRETONIUM whereof Antonine the Emperour made mention in this tract For like as Bretenham in English signifieth an Habitation or Mansion place by Breton so Combretonium in British or Welsh betokeneth a Valley or a place lying somewhat low by Breton But this in Peutegerius his Table is falsly named COMVETRONUM and ADCOVECIN Somewhat Eastward from hence is Nettlested seene of whence was Sir Thomas Wentworth whom King Henry the Eighth adorned with the title of Baron Wentworth and neere thereto is Offion that is to say The towne of Offa King of the Mercians where upon a clay Hill lie the ruines of an ancient Castle which they say Offa built after he had wickedly murdered Aethelbert King of the East-Angles and usurped his Kingdome But to returne to the River Breton Upon another brooke that joyneth therewith standeth Lancham a pretty Mercat and neere it the Manour of Burnt-Elleie whereunto King Henry the Third granted a Mercate at the request of Sir Henry Shelton Lord thereof whose posterity a long time heere flourished Hadley in the Saxons language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is watered with the same brooke a towne of good note in these dayes for making of Clothes and in old time much mentioned by our Historians because Guthrum or Gormo the Dane was heere buried For when Aelfred brought him to this passe that he became Christian and was baptized hee assigned unto him these countries of the East-Angles that he might to use the words of mine Author cherish them by right of inheritance under the Allegiance of a King
a small Towne which for no other thing is memorable but because Anna a Christian King was there buried whom Penda the Mercian slew in a pitched Field It was beautified by King Henry the First with a Colledge of Chanons who granted the same as a Cell to the Chanons of Saint Osiths And it was made a Mercate by the meanes of Iohn Lord of Clavering unto whom King Edward the Second gave this Liberty together with the Faire And verily a goodly Inheritance hee had in this Tract as who derived his Descent from the Daughter and Heire of William Cheney who held the Barony of Horsford in the County of Norfolke and erected the little Abbay at Sibton Heere the Promontory Easton-Nesse shooteth out and reacheth farre into the East which is deemed to bee the farthest East point in all Britaine Ptolomee calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or EXTENSIO And that you may not doubt that this is the very same which wee call Easton bee it knowne unto you that Eysteney in the British tongue is the same that in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in Latine Extensio that is A stretching forth although this name may seeme with as good probability to have beene imposed in our English Language of the Situation Eastward Upon the point of this Promontory standeth Easton a Village of Fishermen well neere eaten up by Sea and on South side of this Promontory Southwold lieth in the Plaine full against the open shore of the sea a Towne well enough frequented through the benefit of an Haven that the River Blith emptying it selfe there into the Sea maketh and at every high water it is so invironed with the waves that it seemeth to bee an Island and a man would wonder that it is not overflowne In so much as when I saw the manner thereof I called that saying of Cicero into my remembrance What should I speak of the Sea Tides about Spaine and Britaine and of their Flowing and Ebbing at certaine times Surely they cannot bee without the hand of God who hath restrained and gaged the waves within their bounds More within the land Wingfield sheweth it selfe where the walles of a Castle halfe downe are to bee seene which hath given name to a family in this Tract that is spred into a number of branches and is besides for knighthood and ancient Gentility renowned and thereof it was the principall seat Also Dunnington which standeth much upon the Lord thereof Sir Iohn Philips father to that Sir William who married the daughter and Heire of Baron Bardolph whose daughter and Heire likewise Iohn Vicount Beaumont tooke to Wife But now the Habitation it is of the ancient Family of the Rousses Not farre from hence standeth Huntingfield which had a Baron of that name in King Edward the Third his time and neere unto it Heveningham the residence of the Family of Heveningham knights who are knowne to bee of very great antiquity and not farre off standeth Halesworth in times past Healsworda an ancient Towne of the Argentons and now of the Alingtons unto which Sir Richard Argenton obtained at the hand of King Henry the Third the liberty of a Mercate I gave you to understand before that two small Rivers Ouse the least and Waveney on the North side divided this County from Norfolke which Riverets rising out of a Marish ground by Lophamford from two springs but a little a sunder one from another take their courses divers wayes with creekes full of shallow fourds Along by Ouse which runneth Westward there is nothing in this Quarter to bee seene worth the report By Waveney side that tendeth Eastward first is Hoxon in times past Hegilsdon ennobled by reason of King Edmunds Martyrdome For there the most cruell and bloudy Danes that I may use the words of Abbo having bound the most Christian King to a tree for that hee would not renounce Christianity shot him in with sharpe arrowes all his body over augmenting the paines of his torment with continuall piercing him with arrow after arrow and thus inflicted wound upon wound so long as one arrow could stand by another And as a Poet of middle time versified of him Iam loca vulneribus desunt nec dum furiosis Tela sed hyberna grandine plura volant Though now no place was left for wound yet arrowes did not faile These furious Wretches still they flie thicker than winter haile In which place afterwards stood a very faire house of the Bishops of Norwich untill they exchanged it not long since for the Abbay of Saint Benet Hard by at Brome dwelt a long time the family of Cornwalleis of knights degree of whom Sir Iohn Cornwal was Steward of Edward the Sixth his Houshold while hee was Prince and his sonne Sir Thomas for his wisdome and faithfulnesse became one of the privie counsell to Queene Mary and Controller of her royall House Beneath it lieth Eay that is The Island so called because it is watered on every side with brookes where are to bee seene the rubbish ruines and decayed walles of an old Castle that belonged to Robert Malet a Norman Baron But after that he under King Henry the First was deprived of his Dignity because he sided with Robert Duke of Normandy against the King the said King bestowed this Honour upon Stephen Earle of Bullen who being afterwards the Vsufructuary King of England left it unto his son William Earle of Warren But after hee had surrendred his State to King Henry the Second and lost his life in the expedition of Tholose the King held it in his owne hands untill that King Richard the First confer'd it upon Henry the Fifth of that name Duke of Brabant and of Lorain together with King Stephens Neece by his daughter who had beene a professed Nunne Long time after when it was now devolved againe upon the Kings of England King Edward the third gave it as I have read to Sir Robert Vfford Earle of Suffolke Neither must I passe over in silence Bedingfield neere adjoyning which gave the name to a worshipfull and ancient Family that received very much reputation and credit from the Heire of the Family of Tudenham From thence by Flixton in stead of Felixton so named of Faelix the first Bishop of these parts like as many other places in this Shire the River Waveney runneth downe to Bungey and spreadeth it selfe in manner round about it where Hugh Bigod fortified a Castle both by artificiall workmanship and also by naturall situation when as the seditious Barons tossed all England to and fro with stormes of rebellion Concerning which Castle as impregnable he was wont to vaunt in these termes Were I in my Castle of Bungey Upon the River of Waveney I would ne care for the King of Cockeney Yet notwithstanding afterwards he obtained at the hands of King Henry the Second by giving him
of pompe for a gallant shew Verily of our Nation therâ— be none that apply their mindes so seriously as they doe to husbandry which Columella termeth the neere cozin of Wisedome whether you respect their skill therein or their ability to beare the expences and their willing mind withall to take the paines Henry of Huntingdon before named calleth it a Village in his daies not unlovely and truly writeth that in times past it had been a noble City For to say nothing of Roman peeces of coine oftentimes there ploughed up nor of the distance in the old Itinerary the very signification of the name may probably prove that this was the very same City which Antonine the Emperor termed DUROLIPONTE amisse in stead of DUROSIPONTE For Durosi-ponte pardon me I pray you for changing one letter soundeth in the British tongue A bridge over the water Ose. And that this River is named indifferently and without distinction Vse Ise Ose and Ouse all men confesse But when this name was under the Danes quite abolished it began to be called Gormoncester of Gormon the Dane unto whom after agreement of peace King Aelfred granted these Provinces Hereto this old Verse giveth testimony Gormonis à castri nomine nomen habet Gormonchester at this howre Takes the name of Gormons Towre This is that Gormon of whom John Picus an old Author writeth in this wise King Aelfred conquered and subdued the Danes so that they gave what hostages hee would for assurance either to be packing out of the Land or else to become Christians Which thing also was effected For their King Guthrum whom they call Gormond with thirty of his Nobles and well neere all his people was baptized and adopted by Aelfred as his Sonne and by him named Athelstan Whereupon he remained heere and the Provinces of the East-English and of the Northumbrians were given to him that continuing in his allegiance under the Kings protection he might cherish and also maintain them as his inheritance which he had formerly overrun with spoile and robbery Neither would this be omitted that some also of those ancient Writers have termed this place Gumicester and Gumicastrum avoucheth withall that Machutus a Bishop had heere his Episcopall See And by the name of Gumicester King Henry the Third granted it to his sonne Edmund Earle of Lancaster Ouse making haste speedily from hence when he was about to enter into Cambridgeshire passeth through most delightsome medowes hard by a proper and faire towne which sometime in the English-Saxon tongue was called Slepe and now S. Ives of Ivo a Persian Bishop who as they write about the yeare of Christ 600. travailed through England preached diligently the Word of God and to this Towne wherein he left this life left also his name From whence notwithstanding shortly after the religious persons translated his body to Ramsey Abbay Turning aside from hence scarce three miles wee saw Somersham a faire dwelling house of late dayes belonging to the Bishops of Ely which Earle Brithnot in the yeare 991. gave to Ely Church and James Stanley the lavish and expencefull Bishop enlarged with new buildings A little above that most wealthy Abbay Ramsey was situate amiddest the Fennes where the Rivers become standing waters when they have once found a soft kinde of Soile The description of this place have here if it please you out of the private History of this Abbay Ramsey that is The Rams Isle on the West side for on other sides fennish grounds through which one cannot passe stretch out farre and wide is severed from the firme ground almost two bow-shots off by certaine uneven and quaggy miry plots Which place being wonâ— in times past to receive gently within the bosome and brinkes thereof Vessels arriving there with milde gales of winde in a shallow River onely now through great labour and cost after the foule and dirty quagmires aforesaid were stopped up with heapes of wood gravell and stones together men may passe into on foote on the same side upon a dry causey and it lieth out in length almost two miles but spreadeth not all out so much in bredth which notwithstanding is beset round about with beautifull rowes of Alder-trees and reed plots that with fresh greene canes and streight bulrushes among make a faire and pleasant shew and before it was inhabited garnished and bedecked all over with many sorts of trees but of wilde Ashâ—s especially in great aboundance But now after longer tract of time part of these groves and woods being cut downe it is become arable ground of a very fat and plentifull mould for fruit rich pleasant for corne planted with gardens wealthy in pastures and in the Spring time the medowes arraied with pleasant flowers smile upon the beholders and the whole Island seemeth embroidered as it were with variety of gay colours Besides that it is compassed all about with Meres full of Eeles and pooles replenished with fish of many sorts and with fowle there bred and nourished Of which Meres one is called after the name of the Island Ramsey Mere farre excelling all the other waters adjoyning in beauty and fertility on that side where the Isle is counted bigger and the wood thicker flowing daintily by the sandy banke thereof yeeldeth a very delectable sight to behold in the very gulfes whereof by casting as well of great wide mashed nets as of other sorts by laying also of hookes baited and other instruments devised by fishers craft are caught oftentimes and drawne certaine Pikes of an huge and wonderfull bignesse which the Inhabitants call Hakeds and albeit the fowlers doe continually haunt the place and catch great store of young water-fowle yet there is abundance alwaies that remaineth untaken Furthermore that History sheweth at large how Ailwin a man of the bloud royall and for the speciall great authority and favour that hee had with the King sirnamed Healf-Koning that is Halfe King being admonished and mooved thereunto by a Fishers dreame built it how Oswald the Bishop furthered and enlarged it how Kings and others endowed it with so faire revenewes that for the maintenance of threescore Monkes it might dispend by the yeare seven thousand pounds of our English money But seeing it is now pulled downe and destroyed some may thinke I have already spoken overmuch thereof Yet hereto I will annexe out of the same Authour the Epitaph of Ailwins Tombe for that it exhibiteth unto us an unusuall and strange title of a Dignity HIC REQUIESCIT AILWINUS INCLITI REGIS EADGARI COGNATUS TOTIUS ANGLIAE ALDERMANNUS ET HUJUS SACRI COENOBII MIRACULOSUS FUNDATOR HERE RESTETH AILWIN COZIN TO THE NOBLE KING EADGAR ALDERMAN OF ALL ENGLAND AND OF THIS HOLY ABBAY THE MIRACULOUS FOUNDER From hence to Peterborough which is about ten miles off King Canutus because travailing that way and finding it very combersome by reason of swelling Brookes and sloughs with great cost and labour made a paved Causey which
that in our Britaine Tallhin Glan-lhin and Lhinlithquo are townes by lakes sides This Citie it selfe being large well inhabited and frequented standeth upon the side of an hill where Witham bendeth his course Eastward and being divided with three small chanels watereth the lower part of the Citie That the ancient LINDUM of the Britans stood on the very top of the hill which had a very hard ascent up to it and reached out beyond the gate called Newport the expresse tokens of a rampier and deepe ditches which are yet very evident doe plainely shew In this City Vortimer that warlike Britan who many a time discomfited the Saxons and put them to flight ended his daies and was heere contrary to his owne commandement buried For he was in a full and assured hope perswaded that if he were enterred in the sea shore his very ghost was able to protect the Britans from the Saxons as writeth Ninius the disciple of Elvodugus But the English Saxons after they had rased this old Lindum first possessed themselves of the South side of the hill at the foot whereof they built as it seemeth the gate yet standing compiled of vast stones and with the ruines of that more ancient Towne fortified it Afterwards they went downe lower to the river side built in a place that was called Wickanford and walled it about on that side which is not fensed by the River At which time as saith Bede Paulinus preached the Word of God unto the Province of Lindsey and first of all converted unto the Lord the Governour or Provost of Lincolne City whose name was Blecca with his family In which very City hee built also a Church of goodly stone worke the roofe whereof being either fallen for want of repaire or cast downe by the violent hand of enemies the walles are seene standing to this day After this the Danes wonne it by assault once or twice First those troupes of spoiling mates out of whose hands King Edmund Ironside wrested it by force then Canutus from whom Aetheldred regained it when upon his returne out of Normandy he valiantly forced Canutus to abandon the towne and beyond all hope recovered England which before was lost In the Raigne of Edward the Confessour there were in it as Domesday booke recordeth a thousand and seventy Mansions with lodgings to give entertainment and twelve Lage men having Sac and Soc. But in the Normans time as saith William of Malmesbury It was one of the best peopled Cities of England and a place of traffique and merchandise for all commers by sea and land and as the same Domesday booke saith there were at that time counted and taxed in this City 900. Burgesses and many Mansions were laied waste 166. for the Castle and other 74. without the precinct of the Castle not through the oppression of the Sheriffe and his Ministers but by reason of mishap poverty and casualty by fire The said King William the Conqueror for the strengthning of it and terrour of the Citizens raised a passing large and strong Castle upon the brow of the hill and almost at the very same time Remigius Bishop of Dorchester for to give credit and ornament thereto translated hither his Episcopall seat from Dorchester which was in the most remote corner of his Dioecesse and a small Towne And when by this time that Church which Paulinus had built was quite gone to decay the same Remigius having purchased certaine houses with grounds lying unto them in the very highest place of the City neere unto the Castle as Henry of Huntingdon saith mounting up aloft with high and stately towres built in a strong place a strong Church in a faire plot a faire Church and dedicated it to the Virgin of Virgins notwithstanding the Archbishop of Yorke was enraged thereat who chalenged to himselfe the propriety of the soile and in it ordained 44. Prebendaries Which Church afterwards being sorely defaced with fire as he saith Alexander that most bountiful Bishop of Lincolne repaired with skilfull artificiall workemanship Of whom William of Malmesbury reporteth because for his little low stature hee was a dwarfe among men his minde laboured to rise aloft and shew it selfe to the world with outward workes And as concerning his bounty a Poet of that time among other things wrote thus Qui dare festinans gratis ne danda rogentur Quod nondum dederat nondum se credit habere Who hastening frankly for to give for feare that folke should crave He never thought that he had that which yet he never gave Besides these two Bishops already mentioned Robert Bloet who sat there before Alexander R. de Beaumeis Hugh a Burgundian and their Successours by little and little brought this Church which could not bee one Bishops worke to the stately magnificence that now it carryeth Certes as it is built it is all throughout not onely most sumptuous but also passing beautifull and that with rare and singular workmanship but especially that fore-front at the West end which in a sort ravisheth and allureth the eyes of all that come toward it In this Church although there bee divers Monuments of Bishops and others yet these onely seeme memorable That of Copper wherein the bowels of that right noble and vertuous Queene Aeleonor wife to King Edward the First are bestowed who died at Hardby in this Shire as also these following wherein lye interred Sir Nicolas Cantlow one or two of the Family of Burghersh Lady Catherine Swinford the third wife of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and mother of the house of Somerset with whom lyeth buryed Joan her daughter second wife to Raulph Nevill the first Earle of Westmerland who enriched her husband with many happy children The Bishops Diocesse of Lincolne not content with those streit limits wherewith the Bishops of Sidnacester who had Episcopall jurisdiction over this shire contented themselves in the Primitive Church of the English Nation conteined under it so many countries as that the greatnesse thereof was burdenous unto it And although King Henry the Second tooke out of it the Province of Ely and King Henry the Eighth the Bishopricks of Peterbourgh and of Oxford yet still at this day it is counted the greatest Diocesse by farre of all England both for jurisdiction and number of shires and the Bishop hath in his Diocesse one thousand two hundred forty seven Parish Churches Many and great Bishops since Remigius his time have governed this See whom to reckon up is no part of my purpose For I will not insist either upon Robert Bloet from whom King William Rufus wrung 50000. pounds for securing his title in the very City of Lincolne it selfe which was found defective nor upon that prodigall and profuse Alexander who in exceeding stately buildings was so excessively delighted ne yet upon Hugh the Burgundian Canonized a Saint whose corps King John with his Nobles and friends about him to performe as mine author saith a dutifull service to God and that holy
watereth Eovesham so called as the Monkes write of one Eoves Swinheard to Egwin Bishop of Worcester whereas before time the name of it was Eâ—th-home and Heath-field A very proper Towne situate upon an hill arising from the River in the Suburb as it were whereof was sometime Bengeworth Castle at the Bridge head which Castle William de Audevill the Abbot recovered by law against William Beauchamp utterly rased it and caused the place to be hallowed for a Church-yard A Towne this is well knowne by reason of the Abbay which that noble Egwin with the helpe of King Kenred the sonne of Wolpher King of the Mercians founded about the yeere of our Lord 700. knowne likewise for the vale under it named thereof The Vale of Evesham which for plentifull fertility hath well deserved to be called the Garnary of all these countries so good and plentifull is the ground in yeelding the best corne aboundantly But most knowne in elder time by occasion of the great overthrow of the Barons and our Catiline Simon Montfort Earle of Leicester For this man being of a lewd disposition and profound perfidiousnesse hath taught us that which another truly said That good turnes are so long acceptable as they may be requitable For when King Henry the Third had with full hand heaped upon him all the benefits he could yea and given him his owne sister in marriage what other fruit reaped he of his so great bounty but most bitter and deadly hatred For he raised a most dangerous Warre hee spoiled shamefully a great part of England under pretense of restoring the common wealth and maintaining liberty neither left he any thing undone to bring the King under to change the State and of a Monarchy to bring in an Oligarchy But in the end after that fortune had for a good while favourably smiled upon him he was slaine at this place with many others of his complices by the prowesse of Prince Edward and forthwith the sinke of lawlesse rebels being as it were pumped and emptied out of the common weale joyfull peace which hee had banished shone againe most comfortably on every side Upon the same River hard by standeth Charleton the possession sometime of the ancient family of Hansacres Knights but now of the Dinleies or Dingleies who being descended from that ancient stocke of the Dinleies in Lancashire came unto this by hereditary succession More beneath in the primitive Church of our English Nation there was another place wherein religious men lived to God then called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 now Flatbury and neere unto it Pershor in the English Saxons language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 taking the name from Peares which as we reade in that worthy Historiographer William of Malmesbury Egelward Duke of Dorset a man bearing no nigardly minde but exceeding liberall founded and finished in King Eadgars time But what detriment hath it sustained one part of it the ambition of the rich seized upon another part oblivion hath buried but the greatest portion King Edward the Confessour and King William bestowed upon the Church of Westminster Then receiveth Avon a Riveret from the North upon which standeth Hodington a seat of the Winters out of which were Robert Winter and his brother Thomas who when as they were of the hellish damned crew in the Gunpowder Treason let their memory lie damned From thence Avon running gently downe by Strensham the habitation of the Russels Knights by degree of ancient descent in the end out-ladeth his owne streame into Severn Neere to these places on this South side is Oswaldslaw Hundred so called of Oswald Bishop of Worcester who obtained it for himselfe of King Eadgar The immunity whereof when William Conquerour made a Survey and taxation of all England was registred in the Domesday booke after this manner The Church of Saint Mary of Worcester hath the Hundred called Oswaldslaw wherein lye 300. Hides out of which the Bishop of the same Church by ancient order and custome hath all the revenewes of Soches and all customes or duties there appertaining to the Lords victuall and the Kings service and his owne so that no Sheriffe may hold there any action or suit neither in any plea nor in any other cause whatsoever This witnesseth the whole County A place there is about this Shire but precisely where it should be is not certainly knowne called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Augustines Oke at which Augustine the Apostle of the Englishmen and the Bishops of Britaine met and after they had disputed and debated the matter hotely for a good while touching the celebration of Easter preaching Godâ— Word also to the English Nation and of administring Baptisme according to the rites of the Roman Church in the end when they could not agree they departed on both sides with discontented mindes upon their dissenting opinions This Province since the Normans comming in had for the first Sheriffe Vrsus or Vrso de Abtot unto whom and his heires King William the Conquerour granted that office together with faire and large possessions After him succeeded his sonne Roger who as William of Malmesbury the Historiographer reporteth enjoying his fathers possessions through the high displeasure and indignation of King Henry the first was disseized thereof because in a furious fit of anger hee had commanded one of the Kings Officers to be killed But this Sheriffedome was by Emeline this Rogers sister translated hereditarily into the Family of the Beauchamps For she was married to Walter Beauchamp whom king Stephen after he had put downe Miles of Glocester ordained Constable of England Within some few yeeres king Stephen created Walleran Earle of Mellent twin-brother to Robert Bossu Earle of Leicester the first Earle of Worcester having given unto him the Citie of Worcester who afterwards became a Monke and died at Pratellae in Normandie in the yeere 1166. As for his sonne Robert who had wedded the daughter of Reginald Earle of Cornwall and advanced the Standard of rebellion against King Henry the Second and Peter his sonne who in the yeere 1203. revolted to the French neither of them used the title of Worcester but onely of Mellent so farre as ever I could yet read For King Henry the Second who succeeded Stephen would not easily suffer that any under him should enjoy the honors received from Stephen an usurper and his enemy For as I finde in the Annales of Waverley Abbay he put downe those imaginary and counterfeit Earles among whom King Stephen had inconsideratly distributed and given away all the revenewes pertaining to the Exchequer Neither to my knowledge was there any one that bare the title of the Earldome of Worcester untill the daies of King Richard the Second For he bestowed it upon Sir Thomas Percy who when he conspired against King Henry the Fourth was taken at the battaile of Shrewsbury and there beheaded Then Sir Richard Beauchamp descended from the Abtots received
inscription IMP. DOMIT. AUG GER DE CEANG. But on the other IMP. VESP. VII T. IMP. V. COSS. Which Monument seemeth to have beene erected for a Victory over the Cangi Heereto maketh also the very site upon the Irish sea For thus writeth Tacitus in the 12. booke of his Annales Whiles Nero was Emperour There was an Army led by Ostorius against the Cangi the fields were wasted booties raised every where for that the enemies durst not come into the field but if they attempted closely and by stealth to cut off the Army as it marched they paid for their deceitfull cunning Now were they no sooner come neere unto the Sea-Coast toward Ireland but certaine tumults and insurrections among the Brigantes brought the Generall backe But by the inscription abovesaid it should seeme that they were not subdued before Domitians time and then by computation of the times when as that most warlicke Julius Agricola was Propretour in Britaine Ptolomee likewise placed the Promontory KARRANâ—N that is of the Cangi on this shore Neither dare I seeke elsewhere than in this tract that Station CONGANII where in the declining estate of the Roman Empire a Company or Band called Vigiles that is Watchmen with their Captaine under the Dux Britanniae kept watch and ward Notwithstanding I leave to every man for mee his owne judgement heerein as in all things else of this nature Touching the Earles that I may passe over the English Saxons Earles only by office and not by inheritance king William the first created Hugh sirnamed Lupus son to the Vicount of Auranches in Normandy the first hereditary Earle of Chester and Count Palatine and gave unto him and his heires all this County to be holden as freely by his sword as the King himselfe held England by his Crowne For these are the words of the Donation who forthwith appointed under him these Barons viz. Niele Baron of Haulton whose posterity afterwards tooke the name of Lacies for that the Lacies inheritance had fallen unto them and were Earles of Lincolne Robert Baron of Mont-hault Seneschall of the County of Chester the last of whose line having no issue ordained by his last Will Isabel Queene of England and John of Eltham Earle of Cornwall his heires William Malbedeng Baron of Malbanc whose nephewes daughters by marriage brought the inheritance to the Vernons and Bassets Richard Vernon Baron of Shipbroke whose inheritance for default of heires males in the end came by the sisters unto the Wilburbams Staffords and Littleburies Robert Fitz-Hugh Baron of Malpas who as it seemeth dyed as I said before without issue Hamon de Masey whose possessions descended to the Fittons of Bollin Gilbert Venables Baron of Kinderton whose posterity in the right line have continued and flourished unto these our dayes N. Baron of Stockeport to whom at length the Warrens of Pointon budded out of the honorable family of the Earles of Warren and Surry in right of marriage succeeded And these were all the Barons of the Earles of Chester that ever I could hitherto finde Who as it is written in an old Booke Had their free Courts of all Plees and Suits or Complaints except those Plees which belong unto the Earles sword And their Office was To assist the Earle in Councell to yeeld him dutifull attendance and oftentimes to repaire unto his Court for to doe him honor and as we finde in old parchment Records Bound they were in time of warre in Wales to finde for every Knights fee one horse with caparison and furniture or else two without within the Divisions of Ches-shire Also that their Knights and Freeholders should have Corslets and Haubergeons and defend their Foces by their owne bodies After Hugh the first Earle beforesaid succeeded Richard his sonne who is his tender yeeres perished by shipwracke together with William the onely sonne of King Henry the First and other Noblemen betweene Normandy and England in the yeere 1120. After Richard succeeded Ranulph de Meschines the third Earle sonne to the sister of Earle Hugh and left behinde him his sonne Ranulph named de Gernonijs the fourth Earle of Chester a Warlike man and who at the Siege of Lincolne tooke King Stephen Prisoner Hugh sirnamed Keveltoc his sonne was the Fifth Earle who died in the yeere 1181. and left his sonne Ranulph named de Blundevill the sixth Earle who after he had built the Castles of Chartley and Beeston and the Abbay also De la Cresse died without children and left foure sisters to be his heires Maude the wife of David Earle of Huntingdon Mabile espoused to William D' Albeney Earle of Arundell Agnes married to William Ferrars Earle of Darby and Avis wedded to Robert de Quincy After Ranulph the sixth Earle there succeeded in the Earledome John sirnamed the Scot the sonne of Earle David by the said Maude the eldest daughter Who being deceased likewise without any issue King Henry the Third casting his eye upon so faire and large an inheritance laid it unto the Domaine of the Crowne and assigned other revenewes elsewhere to the heires not willing as the King himselfe was wont to say that so great an estate should be divided among distaves And the Kings themselves in person after that this Earledome came unto their hands for to maintaine the honor of the Palatineship continued here the ancient rights and Palatine priviledges and Courts like as the Kings of France did in the County of Champan Afterward this honour of Chester was deferred upon the Kings eldest sonnes and first unto to Edward King Henry the Third his sonne who being taken prisoner by the Barons and kept in ward delivered it up for his ransome unto Simon Montford Earle of Leicester But when Simon was soone after slaine it returned quickly againe unto the bloud Royall and King Edward the Second summoned his eldest sonne being but a childe unto the Parliament by the Titles of Earles of Chester and Flint Afterwards King Richard the Secondary by authority of the Parliament made it of an Earldome a Principality and to the same Principality annexed the Castle of Leon with the territories of Bromfield and Yale Chircke Castle with Chircke land Oswalds-street Castle the whole hundred and eleven townes belonging to that Castle with the Castles of Isabell and Delaley and other goodly lands which by reason that Richard Earle of Arundell stood then proscript and outlawed had beene confiscate to the Kings Exchequer and King Richard himselfe was stiled Prince of Chester but within few yeeres after that Title vanished away after that King Henry the Fourth had once repealed the Lawes of the said Parliament and it became againe a County or Earledome Palatine and at this day retaineth the jurisdiction Palatine and for the administration thereof it hath a Chamberlaine who hath all jurisdiction of a Chancellour within the said County Palatine a Justice for matters in Common Plees and Plees of the Crowne to bee heard and determined in the said
in old time called Guarthenion as Ninnius restifieth who wrote that the said wicked Vortigern when he was plainely and sharply reprooved by that godly Saint German did not onely not turne from his lewd and licentious life to the worship and service of God but also let flie slanderous speeches against that most holy man Wherefore Vortimer the sonne of Vortigern as Ninnius saith for the slander which his Father had raised of Saint German decreed that he should have the land as his owne for ever wherein he had suffered so reprochfull an abuse whereupon and to the ened that Saint German might be had in memory it was called Guarthenion which signifieth in English A slander justly retorted The Mortimers descended from the Niece of Gonora Wife of Richard the First Duke of Normandie were the first Normans that having discomfited the English Saxon Edricke Sylvaticus that is The wild wonne a great part of this little Country to themselves And after they had a long time been eminent above all others in these parts at length King Edward the Third about the yeere of Salvation 1328. Created Roger Mortimer Lord of Wigmore Earle of this Welsh limit or according to the common speech Earle of March who soone after was sentenced to death because he had insulted upon the Common-wealth favoured the Scots to the prejudice of England conversed over familiarly with the â—ings mother and contrived the destruction and death of King Edward the Second the Kings Father He by his Wife Joan Jenevell who brought him rich revenewes as well in Ireland as in England had Edmund his Sonne who felt the smart of his Fathers wickednesse and lost both patrimonie and title of Earle Howbeit his Sonne Roger was fully restored recovered the title of Earle of March and was chosen a fellow of the order of the Garter at the first institution thereof This Roger begat of Philip Montacute Edmund Earle of March and he tooke to Wife Philip the only daughter of Leonell Duke of Clarence the third sonne of King Edward the Third whereby came unto him the Earldome of Vlster in Ireland and the Lordship of Clare After he had ended his life in Ireland where he governed with great commendation his sonne Roger succeeded being both Earle of March and Vlster whom King Richard the Second declared heire apparent and his successour to the Crowne as being in right of his Mother the next and undoubted heire But he dying before king Richard left issue Edmund and Anne Edmund in regard of his Royall bloud and right to the Crowne stood greatly suspected to Henrie the Fourth who had usurped the kingdome and by him was first exposed unto dangers in so much as he was taken by Owen Glendour a Rebell and afterward whereas the Percies purposed to advance his right he was conveyed into Ireland kept almost twenty yeeres prisoner in the Castle of Trim suffering all miseries incident to Princes of the bloud while they lie open to every suspition and there through extreame griefe ended his daies leaving his sister Anne his heire She was married to Richard Earle of Cambridge in whose right his heires and posterity were Earles of March and made claime to the kingdome which in the end also they obtained as wee will shew in another place In which respect King Edward the Fourth created his eldest Sonne being Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall c. Earle of March also for a further augmentation of his Honour As for the title of Rad-nor no man ever bare it to my knowledge In this are Parishes 52. BRECKNOC Comitaus pars Osim SILVRVM BRECHNOCK-SHIRE BEneath Radnor-shire Southward lyeth BRECHNOCK-SHIRE in the British Brechineau so named as the Welshmen relate of a Prince named Brechanius whom they report to have had a great and an holy Offspring to wit twenty foure Daughters all Saints Farre greater this is than Radnor-shire but thicker set with high Hilles yet are the valleies fruitfull every where On the East side it is bounded with Hereford-shire On the South with Monmoâ—th and Glamorgan-shires ond on the West with Caermarden-shire But seeing there is nothing memorable or materiall to the description of this small Province which is not set downe by the curious diligence of Giraldus Cambrensis who was an Archdeacon heereof above foure hundred yeeres since I thinke I may doe well for my selfe to hold my peace a while and to admit him with his stile into the fellowship of this labour Brecknocke saith hee in his Booke called Itinerarium Cambriae is a Country having sufficient store of Corne and if there bee any defect thereof it is plentifully supplied out of the fruitefulnesse of England bordering so neere upon it a Country likewise well stored with pastures and Woods with wilde Déere and heards of Cattaile having abundance beside of fresh water fish wherewith Vske on the one side and Wy on the other serveth it For both these Rivers are full of Salmons and Trouts but Wy of the twaine is the better affording the best kinde of them which they call Vmbras Enclosed it is on every side with high hilles unlesse it be on the North part In the West it hath the mountaines of Canterbochan On the South-side likewise the Southern mountaines the chiefe whereof is called Cadier Arthur that is Arthurs chaire of the two toppes of the same for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is shaped with two capes resembling the forme of a Chaire And for that the Chaire standeth very high and upon a steepe downefall by a common tearme it was assigned to Arthur the greatest and mightiest King of the Britans In the very pitch and top of this hill there walmeth forth a spring of water And this fountaine in manner of a Well is deepe but foure square having no brooke or Riveret issuing from it yet are there Trouts found therein And therefore having these barres on the South side the aire is the colder defendeth the Country from the excessive heat of the Sunne and by a certaine naturall wholsomnesse of the aire maketh it most temperate But on the East side the mountaines of Talgar and Ewias doe as it were foresense it On the North side as he said it is more open and plaine namely where the River Wy severeth it from Radnor-shire by which stand two Townes well knowne for their antiquity Buelth and Hay Buelth is pleasantly situate with Woods about it fortified also with a Castle but of a later building by the Breoses and Mortimers when as Rhese ap Gruffin had rased the ancient Castle Now the Mercate much resorted unto maketh it more famous thereabout but in times past it seemeth to have beene for the owne worth of great name because Ptolomee observed the position therof according to the Longitude and Latitude who called it BULLEUM Silurum Of this towne the country lying round about it being rough and full of hils is named Buelth wherein when as the Saxons were
the earth which had lien covered many ages before was discovered Also the trunkes of trees standing in the very Sea that had aforetime been lopped on every side yea and the strokes of axes as if they had been given but yesterday were seene apparantly Yea and the earth shewed most blacke and the wood withall of the said trunkes like in all the points to Hebeny so as it seemed now no shore but a lopped grove as well empaired through the wonderfull changes of things either haply from the time of Noahs floud or long after but doubtlesse long agoe as worne by little and little and so swallowed up with the rage of the Sea getting alwaies more ground and washing the earth away Neither were these two lands severed here with any great Sea betweene as may appeare by a word that King William Rufus cast out who when he kenned Ireland from the rocks and cliffes of this Promontory said as we read in Giraldus that he could easily make a bridge with English Sips on which he might passe over the Sea on foote into Ireland A noble kinde of Falcons have their Airies here and breed in the Rocks which King Henry the Second as the same Giraldus writeth was wont to preferre before all others For of that kinde are those if the inhabitants thereby doe not deceive me which the skilfull Faulconers call Peregrines for they have that I may use no other words than the verses of Augustus Thuanus Esmerius that most excellent Pâ—et of our age in that golden booke entituled HIERACOSOPHIOY Depressus capitis vertex oblongique totâ— Corpore pennarum series pallentia crura Et graciles digiti ac sparsi naresque rotundae Head flat and low the plume in rewes along The body laid legges pale and wan are found With slender clawes and talons there among And those wide spread the bill is hooked round But from this Promontory as the land draweth backward the Sea with great violence and assault of waters inrusheth upon a little Region called Keimes which is reputed a Barony In it standeth First Fishgard so called in English of the taking of fish in British Abergwain that is the mouth of the River Gwain situate upon a steepe Cliffe where there is a very commodious harbour and rode for Ships then Newport at the foote of an high Mountaine by the River Neverns side in British Tref-draeth i. the Towne upon the sands and in Latine Records Novus Burgus which Martin of Tours built his posterity made an incorporation adorned with priviledges and set over it for governement a Portgreve and Bailive erected also for themselves a Castle over the Towne which was their principall seate Who founded likewise Saint Dogmales Abbay according to the order of Tours by the River Tivy low in a vale environed with hils unto which the Borrough adjoyning as many other Townes unto Monasteries is beholden for the originall thereof This Barony Martin of Tours first wrested out of the Welsh mens hands by force and armes from whose heires successively called Martins it came by marriage to the Barons of Audley who held it a long time untill that in the reigne of Henry the eighth William Owen that derived his pedigree from a daughter of Sir Nicholas Martin Knight after long suit in law for his right in the end obtained it and left it to his sonne George who being a singular lover of venerable antiquity hath informed me that in this Barony ouer and above three Borroughs Newport Fishgard and Saint Dogmaels there are twenty Knights fees and twenty sixe Parishes More inward upon the River Tivy aforesaid is Kilgarran which sheweth the reliques of a Castle built by Girald but being at this day reduced unto one onely street it is famous for nothing else but the most plentifull fishing of Salmon For there have you that notable Salmon Leap where the River from on high falleth downright and the Salmons from out of the Ocean coveting to come up further into the River when they meete with this obstacle in the way bend backe their taile to the mouth other whiles also to make a greater leap up hold fast their taile in the mouth and as they unloose themselves from such a circle they give a jerk as if a twig bended into a rondle were sudainely let goe and so with the admiration of the beholders mount and whip themselves aloft from beneath as Ausonius hath most elegantly written Nec te paniceo rutilantem viscere Salma Transierim latae cujus vaga verbera caudae Gurgite de medio summas reseruntur in undas Nor can I thee let passe all red within Salmon that art whose jerkes and friskes full oft From mids of streame and chanell deepe therein With broad taile flirt to floating waves aloft There have beene divers Earles of Pembroke out of sundry houses As for Arnulph of Montgomery who first wonne it and was afterwards outlawed and his Castellan Girald whom King Henry the First made afterward President over the whole Country I dare searcely affirme that they were Earles The first that was stiled Earle of Penbroke was Gilbert sirnamed Strongbow sonne of Gislebert de Clare in the time of King Stephen And hee left it unto his sonne Richard Strongbow the renowned Conquerour of Ireland who as Giraldus saith was descended ex clarâ Clarentium familiâ that is out of the noble Family of Clare or Clarence His onely daughter Isabell brought the same honour to her Husband William named Mareschall for that his Ancestours had beene by inheritance Mareschals of the Kings Palace a man most glorious both in warre and peace and Protector of the Kingdome in the minority of King Henry the Third Concerning whom this pithie Epitaph is extant in Rodburns Annales Sum quem Saturnum sibi sensit Hibernia Solem Anglia Mercurium Normannia Gallia Martem Whom Ireland once a Saturne found England a Sunne to be Whom Normandy a Mercurie and France Mars I am he After him his five sonnes were successively one after another Earles of Penbroke viz. William called The younger Richard who after hee had rebelled against King Henry the Third went into Ireland where hee was slaine in battaile Gilbert who in a Tournament at Ware was unhorsed and so killed Walter and Anselme who enjoyed the honour but a few dayes who every one dying in a short space without issue King Henry the Third invested in the honour of this Earledome William de Valentia of the house of Lusignian in Poicta his brother by the mother side who had to wife Joan the daughter of Gwarin de Mont-chensy by the daughter of the foresaid William Mareschall After William of Valence succeeded his sonne Aimar who under King Edward the First was Regent of Scotland whose eldest sister Elizabeth and one of his heires wedded unto John Lord Hastings brought this Dignity unto a new Family For Laurence Hastings his grandsonne Lord of Welshford and Abergevenny was made Earle of
Bishop of the heathen rites and ceremonies after he had once embraced Christian Religion First of all profaned this Temple the very habitation of impiety by launcing a speare against it yea he destroyed it and as Bede writeth Set it on fire with all the enclosures and Isles belonging unto it From hence something more Eastward the River Hull bendeth his course to Humber which River hath his spring head neere unto Driffeild a Village well knowne by reason of the Tombe of Alfred that most learned King of Northumberland and the mounts that be raised heere and there about it The said River hasteneth thitherward not farre from Leckenfielde an house of the Percies Earles of Northumberland neere unto which standeth the dwelling place of a very famous and ancient Progeny of the Hothams at Schorburg together with the rubbish of an old Castle of Peter Mauley at Garthum And now approcheth the River Hull neerer unto Beverley in the English Saxon tongue called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Bede seemeth to name the Monastery in Deirwand that is In the word of the Deiri a great Towne very populous and full of trade A man would guesse it by the name and situation to be PETUARIA PARISIORUM although it affordeth nothing of greater antiquity than that John sirnamed de Beverley Archbishop of Yorke a man as Bede witnesseth both godly and learned after he had given over his Bishopricke as weary of this world came hither and ended his life in contemplation about the yeere of our Redemption 721. The Kings held the memoriall of this John so sacred and reverend especially King Athelstan who honoured him as his tutelar Saint after he had put the Danes to flight that they endowed this place with many and those very great priviledges and Athelstane granted them liberties in these generall words All 's free make I thee as heart may thinke or eye may see Yea and there was granted unto it the priviledges of a Sanctuary so that bankrupts and men suspected of any capitall crime worthy of death might bee free and safe there from danger of the Law In which there was erected a Chaire of stone with this Inscription HAEC SEDES LAPIDEA Freedstoll DICITUR .i. PACIS CATHEDRA AD QUAM REUS FUGIENDO PERVENIENS OMNIMODAM HABET SECURITATEM That is This seat of Stone is called Freedstooll that is The chaire of Peace unto which what Offender soever flieth and commeth hath all manner of security Heereby the Towne grew great and daily there flocked hither a number to dwell as inmates and the Townesmen for conveyance of commodities by sea made a chanell for a water course out of the River Hull sufficient to carry boats and barges For the chiefe Magistracy there it had twelve Wardens afterwards Governours and Wardens And now by the gracious grant of Queene Elizabeth a Major and Governours More Eastward there flourished Meaux Abbay so called of one Gamell borne at Meaux in France who obtained it at William the Conquerours hands for a place to dwell in and heere was founded an Abbay for the Monkes of the Cluniacke order by William Le Grosse Earle of Aulbemarle to bee released of his vow that hee had made to visite Jerusalem A little lower runneth out in a great length Cottingham a country Towne of husbandry where by licence granted from King John Robert Estotevill the Lord thereof built a Castle now utterly fallen to ruine Which Robert was descended from Robert Grondebeofe or Grandebeofe a Baron of Normandy and a man of great name and reputation whose inheritance fell by marriage to the Lord de Wake and by a daughter of John de Wake it came to Edmund Earle of Kent who had a daughter named Joane wife unto that most warlique Knight Edward Prince of Wales who so often victoriously vanquished the French in divers places The River Hull aforesaid after it hath passed sixe miles from hence sheddeth himselfe into Humber and neere unto his mouth hath a Towne of his owne name called Kingston upon Hull but commonly Hull This Towne fetcheth the beginning from no great antiquity For King Edward the First who in regard of his Princely vertues deserveth to bee ranged among the principall and best Kings that ever were having well viewed and considered the opportunity of the place which before time was called Wike had it by right of exchange from the Abbat of Meaux and in lieu of the Beasts stals and sheepe pastures as I conceive it which there he found built a Towne that he named Kingston as one would say The Kings Towne and there as wee reade in the Records of the Kingdome hee made an haven and free Burgh the Inhabitants thereof also free Burgesses and he granted divers liberties unto them And by little and little it rose to that dignity that for stately and sumptuous buildings for strong block-houses for well furnished ships for store of Merchants and abundance of all things it is become now the most famous towne of merchandise in these parts All which the inhabitants ascribe partly to Michael de la-Pole who obtained their priviledges for them after that King Richard the Second had promoted him to the honour of Earle of Suffolke and partly their gainfull trade by Island fish dried and hardened which they tearme Stockfish whereby they gathered a maine masse of riches Hence it came to passe that within a little while they fensed their City with a bricke wall strengthened it with many Towres and Bulwarkes where it is not defended with the river and brought such a deale of coblestones for ballais to their ships that therewith they have paved all the quarters and streets of the towne most beautifully For the chiefe Magistrate it had as I have beene enformed first a Warden or Custos then Bailives afterward a Major and Bailives and in the end they obtained of K. Henry the Sixth that they might have a Major and a Sheriffe and that the very towne should be a County as our lawyers use to say incorporate by it selfe Neither will I thinke it much to note although in Barbarous tearmes out of the booke of Meaux Abbay as touching the Major of this City William De la Pole knight was beforetime a merchant at Ravens-rod skilfull in merchandise and inferiour to no English merchant whatsoever He making his aboade afterwards at Kingston upon Hull was the first Major that ever the said towne had he began also and founded the monastery of Saint Michael hard by the said King-ston which now is an house of the Carthusian or Charter-house monkes And he had for his eldest sonne Sir Michael De la Pole Earle of Suffolke who caused the said Monasterie to bee inhabited by Carthusian Monkes And verily William De la Pole aforesaid lent many thousand pounds of gold unto King Edward whiles hee made his aboade at Antwerp in Brabant wherefore the King in recompence of the said
or Band of the Exploratores with their Captaine kept their station heere under the dispose of the Generall of Britaine as appeareth for certaine out of the NOTICE of Provinces where it is named LAVATRES But whereas such Bathes as these were called also in Latine Lavacra some Criticke no doubt will pronounce that this place was named LAVATRAE in stead of LAVACRA yet would I rather have it take the name of a little river running neere by which as I heare say is called Laver. As for the later name Bowes considering the old Towne was heere burnt downe to the ground as the inhabitants with one voice doe report I would thinke it grew upon that occasion For that which is burnt with fire the Britans still at this day doe terme Boeth and by the same word the Suburbes of Chester beyond the River Dee which the Englishmen call Hanbridge the Britans or Welshmen name Treboeth that is The burnt Towne because in a tumult of the Welshmen it was consumed with fire Heere beginneth to rise that high hilly and solitary Country exposed to winde and raine which because it is stony is called in our native language Stane more All heere round about is nothing but a wilde Desert unlesse it bee an homely Hostelry or Inne in the very middest thereof called The Spitle on Stane more for to entertaine waifaring persons and neere to it is a fragment of a Crosse which wee call Rerecrosse the Scots Reicrosse as one would say The Kings Crosse. Which Crosse Hector Boetius the Scottish Writer recordeth to have beene erected as a meere stone confining England and Scotland what time as King William the Conquerour granted Cumberland unto the Scots on this condition that they should hold it of him as his Tenants and not attempt any thing prejudiciall or hurtfull to the Crowne of England And a little lower upon the Romanes high street there stood a little Fort of the Romans built foure square which at this day they call Maiden-Castle From whence as the borderers reported the said High way went with many windings in and out as farre as to Caer Vorran in Northumberland There have beene divers Earles of Richmond according as the Princes favour enclined and those out of divers families whom I will notwithstanding set downe as exactly and truely as I can in their right order The first Earles were out of the house of little Britaine in France whose descent is confusedly intricate amongst their owne Writers for that there were two principall Earles at once one of Haulte Britaine and another of Base Britaine for many yeeres and every one of their children had their part in Gavell kinde and were stiled Earles of Britaine without distinction But of these the first Earle of Richmond according to our Writers and Records was Alane sirnamed Feregaunt that is The Red sonne of Hoel Earle of Britaine descended from Hawise great Aunt to William Conquerour who gave this Country unto him by name of the lands of Earle Eadwin in Yorke-shire and withall bestowed his daughter upon him by whom he had no issue He built Richmond Castle as is before specified to defend himselfe from disinherited and outlawed Englishmen in those parts and dying left Britaine to his sonne Conan Le Grosse by a second wife But Alane the Blacke sonne of Eudo sonne of Geffrey Earle of Britaine and Hawise aforesaid succeeded in Richmond and he having no childe lest it to Stephen his brother This Stephen begat Alan sirnamed Le Savage his sonne and successour who assisted king Stephen against Maude the Empresse in the battaile at Lincolne and married Bertha one of the heires of Conan Le Grosse Earle of Hault Britaine by whom hee had Conan Le Petit Earle of both Britaine 's by hereditary right as well as of Richmond Hee by the assistance of King Henrie the Second of England dispossessed Endo Vicount of Porhoet his Father in Lawe who usurped the Title of Britaine in right of the said Bertha his Wife and ended his life leaving onely one daughter Constance by Margaret sister to Malcolne king of the Scots Geffrey third Sonne to King Henry the Second of England was advanced by his Father to the marriage of the said Constance whereby hee was Earle of Britaine and Richmond and begat of her Arthur who succeeded him and as the French write was made away by King Iohn his Unkle True it is indeed that for this cause the French called King Iohn into question as Duke of Normandy And notwithstanding he was absent and not heard once to plead neither confessing ought nor convicted yet by a definitive sentence they condemned him and awarded from him Normandy and his hereditary possessions in France Albeit himselfe had promised under safe conduct to appeare in personally at Paris there to make answere as touching the death of Arthur who as a Liege subject had bound himselfe by oath to bee true and loyall unto him and yet started backe from his allegeance raised a rebellion and was taken prisoner in battaile At which time this question was debated whether the Peeres of France might give judgement of a King annointed and therefore superiour considering that a greater dignity drowneth the lesser and now one and the same person was both King of England and Duke of Normandy But whither doe I digresse After Arthur these succeeded orderly in the Earldome of Richmond Guy Vicount of Thovars unto whom the foresaid Constance was secondly married Ranulph the third Earle of Chester the third husband of the said Constance Peter of Dreux descended from the bloud royall of France who wedded Alice the onely daughter of Constance by her husband abovenamed Guy Then upon dislike of the house of Britaine Peter of Savoy Unkle by the mothers side unto Eleonor the wife of king Henry the Third was made Earle of Richmond who for feare of the Nobles and Commons of England that murmured against strangers preferred to honours in England voluntarily surrendred up this Honour which was restored to Iohn Earle of Britaine sonne to Peter of Dreux After whom succeeded Iohn his sonne the first Duke of Britaine who wedded Beatrice daughter to Henry the Third King of England Whose sonne Arthur was Duke of Britaine and as some write Earle of Richmond Certes John of Britaine his younger brother immediately after the fathers death bare this honourable Title And he added unto the ancient Armes of Drewx with the Canton of Britaine the Lions of England in Bordeur Hee was Guardian of Scotland under King Edward the Second and there taken and detained prisoner for three yeeres space and dyed at length without issue in the Raigne of Edward the Third And John Duke of Britaine his nephew the sonne of Arthur succeeded in this Earledome After his decease without children when there was hote contention about the Dutchy of Britaine betweene John Earle of Montfort of the halfe bloud and Joane his brothers daughter and heire
hand in fight Afterwards upon the sixth day of the weeke being Good-friday when the foresaid John was unarmed and went by way of pilgrimage bare foot and in his linnen vesture a visiting the Churches as the manner is treacherously he was taken prisoner by his owne people for a piece of money given in hand and for a greater reward to be given afterward for a recompence and so was delivered unto Hugh Lacie But hee bringeth him unto the King of England who gave unto Hugh Lacie the Earldom of Ulster and the Seigniorie of Conaught which belonged unto John Curcie Then Hugh Lacie being Earle rewarded all the foresaid Traitours that had betraied John Curcie and gave unto them gold and silver more or lesse but straightwayes hung up all the Traitours aforesaid and tooke away all their goods and so Hugh Lacie ruleth over all Ulster and John Curcie is condemned to perpetuall prison because he had before time beene a Rebell to John King of England and would not doe him homage and besides blamed him about the death of Arthur the rightfull heire unto the Crowne But whiles hee was in prison and in extreme povertie having but little allowance and the same course and simple for to eat and drinke he said O God wherefore dealest thou thus by me who have built and re-edified so many Monasteries for thee and thy Saints Now when he had many times wailed and made loud moane in this wise and therewith fell asleep the holy Trinitie appeared unto him saying Why hast thou cast me out of mine owne seat and out of the Church of Doun and placed there my S. Patrick the Patron of Ireland Because indeed John Curcie had expelled the Secular Canons or Priests out of the Cathedrall Church of Doune and brought the blacke Monks of Chester and placed them in the said Church And the holy Trinitie stood there in a stately shrine or seat and John himselfe tooke it downe out of the Church and ordained a Chappell for that Image and in the great Church set up the image of S. Patrick which displeased the most High God therefore thus said God Know thou well that thou shalt never enter into thy Seigniorie in Ireland Howbeit in regard of other good deeds that thou hast done thou shalt with honour be delivered forth of prison which also came to passe And now by this time there arose a contention betweene John King of England and the King of France about a Seigniory and certain Castles and this suit or controversie still depending the King of France offered unto him a Giant or Champion to fight for his right Then the King of England called to remembrance his most valiant Knight John Curcie whom upon the information of others he had before cast into prison The King therefore sent for John Curcie and asked him if he were able to help and stand him in stead in a combat then John answered and said I will not fight for thee but for the right of the Kingdome for which afterward hee undertooke to doe his endeavour in single fight and so refreshed himselfe with meat drink and bathing and tooke the vertue of his owne fortitude and strength and a day was appointed betweene these Giants or Champions namely betweene John Curcie and the other But when the Champion of France heard of his exceeding great feeding and of his strength hee refused the combat and then was the said Seigniorie given unto the King of England Then the King of France requested to see a stroake given by the hand of John Curcie and he set a strong and doughtie good morion full of maile upon a great blocke or log of wood and the foresaid John taking his skeine or sword and looking back round about him with a stern and grim countenance smote the moâ—ion through from the very crest downeward into the blocke and the sword stucke in the wood so fast that no other man but himselfe was able to plucke out the sword then John at the request of the Kings easily pluckt it forth And the Kings demanded of the foresaid John wherefore he looked behind him with so grim a countenance before he gave the stroke who answered that if he had failed in giving that stroke he would have slaine them all as well Kings as others And the Kings gave unto him great gifts yea and the King of England rendred unto him also his Seigniorie of Ulster But John Curcie attempted 15. times to saile over sea into Ireland but was alwaies in danger and the wind evermore against him wherefore hee waited a while among the Monkes of Chester At length he returned into France and there rested in the Lord. MCCV. The Abbey of Wetheney in the countie of Lymericke was founded by Theobald the sonne of Walter Butler Lord of Karryke MCCVI. The order of Friers Minors was begun neere the citie Assisa by Saint Francis MCCVIII William Breos is expelled out of England and commeth into Ireland England is interdicted for the tyrannie of King John of England Likewise a great overthrow and slaughter hapned at Thurles in Mounster committed upon the Lord Justice of Irelands men by Sir Geffery Mareys MCCX John King of England came into Ireland with a great fleet and a puissant armie and for that the sons of Hugh Lacie to wit the Lord Walter Lord of Meth and Hugh his brother exercised tyrannie upon the Commons and especially because they slew Sir John Curson Lord of Rathenny and Kilbarrocke for they heard that the foresaid John accused them unto the King therefore I say the King drave the foresaid sonnes of Hugh Lacie out of the land and they fled into France and served in the Monasterie of Saint Taurin as unknowne working about clay and bricke and sometime in gardens as Gardiners but at length they were knowne by the Abbat of the said Monasterie and the said Abbat entreated the King for them because he had baptized his sonnes and was Godsib unto him as a Godfather many times and Walter Lacie paid two thousand and five hundred markes and Hugh Lacie payed a great summe of money unto the King for his ransome and at the request of the said Abbat restored they were againe unto their former degree and Seigniorie And Walter Lacie brought with him John the sonne of Alured that is Fitz-Acory sonne to the foresaid Abbats whole brother and he made him Knight and gave unto him the Seigniorie of Dengle and many other Lordships Item hee brought Monkes with him out of the same Monasterie and gave unto them many fermes and the Cell called Fourie in regard of charitie thankfulnesse and counsell and Hugh Lacie Earle of Ulster made a Cell for Monkes and endowed them in Ulster in a place called ..... But John King of England having taken many pledges and hostages as well of English as of Irish and hanged a number of malefactours upon Jebbits and setled the State of the land returned into England the same yeere that he came
the Lord the Pope From the one side and the other were sent certaine messengers to the Court of Rome but whiles King Edward abode in Flanders William Walleis by the common counsell of the Scots came with a great armie to the bridge of Strivelin and gave battle unto John Earle Warren in which battell on both sides many were slaine and many drowned But the Englishmen were discomfited and defeated Upon which exploit all the Scots at once arose and made an insurrection as well Earls as Barons against the King of England And there fell discord betweene the King of England and Roger Bigod Earle Mareschall but soone after they were agreed And Saint Lewis a Frier minor sonne of the King of Sicily and Archbishop of Colein died Also the sonne and heire of the King de Maliagro that is of the Majoricke Ilands instituted the order of the Friers minors at the information of Saint Lewis who said Goe and doe so Item in Ireland Leghlin with other townes was burnt by the Irish of Slemergi Item Calwagh O-Hanlan and Yneg Mac-Mahon are slaine in Urgale MCCXCVIII Pope Boniface the fourth the morrow after the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul after all tumults were appeased ordained and confirmed a peace betweene the King of England and the King of France with certaine conditions that after followed Item Edward King of England set forth with an armie againe into Scotland for to subdue the Scots under his dominion Item there were slaine in the same expedition about the feast of Saint Marie Maudlen many thousands of the Scots at Fawkirk The sunne the same day appeared as red as bloud over all Ireland so long as the battell continued at Fawkirke aforesaid Item about the same time the Lord King of England feoffed his Knights in the Earldomes and Baronies of the Scots that were slaine More in Ireland peace and concord was concluded between the Earle of Ulster and Lord John Fitz-Thomas about the feast of the Apostles Simon and Iude. Also on the morrow after the feast of the 7. Saints sleepers the sun-beames were changed almost into the colour of bloud even from the morning so that all men that saw it wondred thereat Moreover there died Sir Thomas Fitz-Maurice Knight and Sir Robert Bigod sometime Lord chiefe Justice of the Bench. Item in the Citie Artha as also in Reathe in the parts of Italie whiles Pope Boniface abode there at the same time there happened so great an Earthquake that towres and palaces fell downe to the ground The Pope also with his Cardinals fled from the Citie much affrighted Item upon the feast of the Epiphany that is Twelfe day there was an earthquake though not so violent in England from Canterburie as farre as to Hampton MCCXCIX Lord Theobald Botiller the younger departed this life in the Manour de Turby the second day before the Ides of May whose corps was conveied toward Weydeney that is Weney in the countie of Limeric the sixth day before the Calends of June Item Edward King of England tooke to wife the Ladie Margaret sister to the noble King of France in the Church of the holy Trinitie in Canterburie about the feast of the holy Trinitie Item the Soldan of Babylon was defeated with a great armie of Saracens by Cassian King of the Tartars MCCXCIX The day after the feast of the Purification of the blessed Virgin Marie there was an infinite number of the Saracens horsemen slaine besides the footmen who were likewise innumerable Item in the same yeere there was a battell or fight of dogges in Burgundie at Genelon castle and the number of the dogges was 3000. and everie one killed another so that no dogge escaped alive but one alone Item the same yeere many Irishmen came to trouble and molest the Lord Theobald Verdon to the Castle of Roch before the feast of the Annuntiation MCCC The Pollard money is forbidden in England and Ireland Also in the Autumne Edward King of England entred Scotland with a power of armed men but at the commandement of Pope Boniface hee was stayed and he sent solemne messengers unto the Court of Rome excusing himself of doing any injurie Item Thomas the Kings sonne of England was the last day of May born at Brotherton of Margaret sister to the King of France Item Edward Earle of Cornwall died without leaving behind an heire of his owne bodie and was enterred in the Abbey of Hales MCCCI. Edward King of England entred into Scotland with an armie unto whom failed over sea Sir John Wogan Justice of Ireland and Sir John Fitz-Thomas Peter Bermingham and many others to aide the King of England Also a great part of the Citie Dublin was burnt together with the Church of Saint Warburga on S. Columbs day at night More Sir Geffrey Genevil espoused the daughter of Sir John Montefort and Sir John Mortimer espoused the daughter and heire of Sir Peter Genevil And the Lord Theobald Verdon espoused the daughter of the Lord Roger Mortimer At the same time the men of Leinster made warre in winter burning the towne of Wykynlo and Rathdon with others but they escaped not unpunished because the more part of their sustenance was burnt up and their cattell lost by depredation and the same Irish had beene utterly almost consumed but that the seditious dissention of certaine Englishmen was an hinderance thereto Item a defeature and slaughter was made by the Toolans upon a small companie assembled of the Brenies in which were slaine almost three hundred robbers Item Walter Power wasted a great part of Mounster burning many ferme houses MCCCII There died the ladie Margaret wife to Sir John Wogan Justice of Ireland the third day before the Ides of April and in the week following Maud Lacy wife to Sir Geffery Genevil died also Edward Botiller recovered the manour de S. Bosco with the pertenances from Sir Richard Ferenges Archbishop of Dublin by a concord made between them in the Kings bench after the feast of S. Hilarie Item the Flemings gave an overthrow at Courteray in Flanders unto the army of the French the Wednesday after the feast of the Translation of S. Thomas wherein were slaine the Earle of Arthois the Earle of Aumarle the Earle of Hue Ralph Neel Constable of France Guy Nevil Mareschal of France the sonne of the Earle of Hennaund Godfrey Brabant with his sonne William Fenys and his son Iames S. Paul lost his hand and fortie Baronets lost their lives that day with Knights Esquires and others sans number Item the tenths of all Ecclesiasticall benefices in England and Ireland were exacted by Boniface the Pope for 3. yeeres as a Subsidie to the Church of Rome against the King of Aragon Also upon the day of the Circumcision Sir Hugh Lacie raised booties from Hugh Vernail In the same yeere Robert Brus then Earle of Carrick espoused the daughter of Sir Richard Bourk Earle of Ulster Item Edward Botiller espoused the daughter of Sir Iohn Fitz-Thomas also
Lievtenant there 300. markes and the Parliament was adjourned eftsoones unto the munday after St. Ambrose day Then rumours resounded that the Lord Thomas Fitz-Iohn Earle of Desmund died at Paris on St. Laurence feast day and was buried there at the Friers Preachers covent the King of England being present at his funerals After whom succeeded in that Seigniorie James Fitz-Gerald his Unkle by the fathers side who had three times thrust him out of his patrimonie and laid an imputation upon him that he was a prodigall spend-thrift and had wasted his patrimony both in Ireland and England and that he gave or would give lands to the Abbey of St. Iames at Kernisham 1421. The Parliament began upon prorogation the third time at Dublin the munday after the feast of S. Ambrose and there certain persons were ordained to be sent in message to the King as touching the redresse of the land namely the Archbishop of Armagh and Sir Christopher Preston Knight At the same time Richard O-Hedian Bishop of Cassell was accused by John Gese Bishop of Lismore and Waterford upon thirtie Articles laid to his charge After all that hee charged him that hee made very much of the Irish and loved none of the English that hee bestowed no benefice upon any Englishman and gave order likewise unto other Bishops that they should not conferre the least living that was upon them Item that hee counterfeited the King of Englands seale and the Kings letters patents that he went about to make himselfe King of Mounster also that he tooke a ring away from the image of S. Patrick which the Earle of Desmund had offered and bestowed it upon an harlot of his beside many other enormities which he exhibited in writing And the Lords and Commons were much troubled betweene these twaine Now in the same Parliament there was debate between Adam Pay Bishop of Clon and another Prelate for that the said Adam went about to unite the others Church unto his but the other would not and so they were sent and referred unto the Court of Rome and this Parliament lasted 18. daies In the Nones of May there was a slaughter committed by O-Mordris upon the family or retinue of the Earle of Ormund Lievtenant neere unto the Monastery of Leys where were slaine of the English 27. The principall parties were Purcell and Grant Then Gentlemen of good birth were taken prisoners and 200. fled unto the foresaid Monastery and so were saved In the Ides of May died Sir Iohn Bodley Knight and Geffery Galon sometime Maior of Dublin and was buried in the house of the preaching Friers of the same City About this time Mac-Mahon an Irishman played the divell in Urgal wasting and burning where ever he went The seventh of Iune the Lievtenant entred into the country to wit of Leys against O-Mordis and led thither a most puissant army having the killing of his enemies for foure daies together and untill the Irish promised all peace and quietnesse Upon the feast of Michael the Archangel Thomas Stanley accompanied with all the Knights and Squires of Meth and Iriel took Moyle O-Downyll prisoner and slew others in the 14. yeere of King Henry the sixth his reigne Thus far forth were continued the Annales of Ireland which came to my hands and upon which I have bestowed these few pages to gratifie them that may delight therein As for the nice and dainty readers who would have all writings tried to the touch of Augustus his dayes I know they can yeeld no pleasing rellish to them in regard of the harsh words and the saplesse dry stile familiar unto that age wherein they were penned Neverthelesse I would have those to remember That HISTORIE both beareth brooketh and requireth the Authors of all ages Also That they are to look as well for reall and substantiall knowledge from some as for the verball and literall learning from others THE SMALLER ILANDS IN THE BRITISH OCEAN NOw will I at length waigh anchor and set saile out of Ireland and lanching forth take survey of the Ilands scattered here and there along the coasts of Britaine If I durst repose any trust in my selfe or if I were of any sufficiencie I would shape my course to every one But sith it is my purpose to discover and inlighten Antiquity such as are obscure and of lesse account I will lightly coast by and those that carry any ancient name and reckoning above the rest I will enter and visite yea and make some short stay in them that now at last in a good and happy houre they may recover their ancienty againe And that in this voiage I may at first set out orderly and take a straight and direct course I will to begin saile out of Ireland into the Severn sea and by the Irish sea after I have doubled the utmost point of Scotland follow my course down into the Germai◠Ocean and so from thence through the British sea which extendeth as far as to Spaine hold on my race as prosperously as I can But I am afraid lest this my ship of Antiquity steared by me so unskilfull a Pilot either run and be split upon the rockes of errours or else be overwhelmed with the waves of ignorance yet venter I must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Antiphilus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Adventure is a good sea Captain and he that saileth the same voiage a second time may haply speed much better and finish his desired course First and formost because it seemeth not impertinent to my matter I will set down what Plutarch out of a fabulous narration of Demetrius who seemeth to have lived in Hadrians time reporteth generally as touching the Ilands lying neer to Britain Demetrius made report that most of those Ilands which coast upon Britain lie desert desolate and scattering here and there whereof somewere dedicated to the Daemones and Heroes also that himself by commission from the Emperour sailed toward one that was neerest of those desert Iles for to know and discover somewhat the which he found to have in a few inhabitants and those he understood were reputed by the Britans sacred and inviolable Within a while after he was landed there the aire and weather as he said became foully troubled many portenteous signes were given by terrible tempests with extra-ordinary stormes flashing and violent lightnings and fiery impressions which after they were appeased the Ilanders certified him that some one of great eminency was dead And a little after Now he said moreover that there was a certain Iland there wherein Saturn was by Briareus closed up and kept in prison sound asleep for sleep was the means to hold him captive about whose person there were many Daemones at his feet that stood attending as servitours Thus they took pleasure in old time as now also at this day boldly to devise strange wonders and tales of places far remote in a certain secure veine of lying as it were by authoritie In the narrow sea
by all But when the Nations from the North like violent tempests overflowed these South parts it became subject to the Scots For under the Emperours Honorius and Arcadius as wee read in Orosius it was inhabited as well as Ireland by the Scottish Nations and Ninnius hath written that one Biule a Scot was Lord of it But as the same writer recordeth the Scots were driven out of all the British countries and Ilands by Cuneda Grandfather of Maglocunus whom Gildas for the foule work that he made in these Ilands tearmed the Dragon of the Iles. After this Edwin King of Northumberland brought this Iland like as the foresaid Anglesey under the subjection of the English if we understand them both by the name of Menaviae as writers perswade us at which time it was reckoned an Iland of the Britans But when the North had sent abroad his brood the second time I meane the Normans Danes and Norwegians these Norwegians who with their manifold robberies and roveries did most hurt from the Northren sea tooke up their haunt into this Iland and the Hebrides and therein erected Lords and Petty Kings whose briefe history I will here put downe word for word out of an old Manuscript lest it should be utterly lost which is intituled The Chronicle of Man seeming to have been written by the Monks of the Abbey of Russin which was the principall place of religion in this Isle A CHRONICLE OF THE KINGS OF MAN ANno Domini MLXV Edward of blessed memory King of England departed this life after whom succeeded in the kingdome Harald the son of Godwin against whom Harald Harfager King of Norway came into the field and fought a battell at Stainford-bridge and the English obtaining the victory put them all to flight out of which chace Godred surnamed Crovan the son of Harald the black of Iseland came unto Godred the sonne of Syrric who then reigned in Man and by him was honourably received The same yeere William the BASTARD conquered England and Godred the sonne of Syrric died after whom succeeded his sonne Fingal MLXVI Godred Crovan assembled a great fleet and came to Man fought with the people of the land but was overcome and put to rout A second time hee rallied his forces and his fleet sailed into Man joined battell with the Manksmen was vanquished and driven out of the field A third time he gathered a great multitude together and by night arrived in the haven called Ramsa and hid three hundred men within a wood which stood upon the hanging hollow brow of an hill called Scacafel Now when the sunne was risen the Manksmen put their people in order of battell and with a violent charge encountred with Godred And when the fight was hot those three hundred men starting out of the ambush behind their backes began to foile the Manksmen and put them to the worst yea and forced them to flye Now when they saw themselves discomfited and no place for them of refuge to escape for the sea water comming in with the tide had filled the channell of Ramsa river and the enemies on the other side followed the chace hard they that then remained alive tooke up a pitifull cry and besought Godred to save their lives And he moved with compassion pittying their wofull calamity as who for a certain time had beene nursed and brought up among them sounded the retrait and forbad his hoast to pursue them any longer Goared the morrow after proposed this choice unto his owne army whether they would rather divide Man among themselves and therein dwell or only take the substance and pillage of the countrey and so returne unto their owne homes But they chose rather to wast and spoile the whole Iland and with the goods thereof to enrich themselves and so returne home But Godred himselfe with those few Ilanders that remained with him inhabited the South part of the Iland and granted to the remaines of the Manksmen the North part with this covenant and condition That none of them should at any time venture and presume to challenge any part of the land by right of inheritance Whereby it came to passe that even unto this day the whole Isle is the Kings domain alone and all the revenues thereof belonging unto the crown Godred then reduced Dublin and a great part of Leymistir under his subjection As for the Western Scottish he so over-awed them as that no man who built ship or cog-boat durst drive into it above three nailes Now he reigned 16. yeeres and died in the Iland that is called Yle He left behind him verily three sons Lagman Harald and Olave Lagman the eldest taking upon him the kingdome reigned seven yeeres And Harald his brother a great while rebelled against him but at length being taken prisoner by Lagman he had his members of generation cut off and his eyes plucked out of his head After this Lagman repenting himselfe that he had pulled out his brothers eyes gave over the kingdome of his owne accord and wearing the badge of the Lords Crosse took a journey to Jerusalem in which he died MLXXV. All the Nobles and Lords of the Islands hearing of the death of Lagman dispatched their Embassadors to Murecard O-Brien King of Ireland requesting that hee would send some industrious and worthy man of the blood royall to be their King untill Olave Godreds sonne came to full age The King very willingly yeelded to their requests and sent unto them one Dopnald the sonne of Tade warning and charging him to govern the kingdome which by right belonged unto another with all gentlenesse and modesty But he after he was come to the Crowne not weighing of the charge that his Lord and M. gave him abused his place and lorded with great tyranny and so committing many outrages and villanies reigned cruelly three yeers Then all the Princes of the Ilands agreed together in one conspiracy rose up against him and expelled him out of their coasts Who fled into Ireland and never looked them in the face after MLXXVII One Ingemund was sent from the King of Norway to take upon him the dominion of the Ilands and when he was come to the Isle Leodus he sent messengers to all the Nobles of the Ilands with a commandement that they should meet together and ordain him their King Mean while himselfe with his companions did nothing else but rob spoile make good cheere and banquet dishonour and abuse married wives defloure young maidens yea and give himselfe over to filthy pleasures and fleshly lusts But when tidings hereof came to the Nobles of the Ilands now assembled to make him King they were set on fire with furious wrath and sped themselves in all hast toward him and surprising him in the night burnt the house wherein hee was and with fire and sword made a quick dispatch of him and his company MXCVIII The Abbey of S. Mary at Cistertium or Cisteaux was founded Antioch was won by the Christians and a
Isle Lodhus So obtained Olave the kindgome of the Isles MCCXXXVII On the twelfth Calends of June died Olave the sonne of Godred King of Man in S. Patricks Iland and was buried in the Abbey of Russin He reigned eleven yeeres two by his brothers life and nine after his death Harold his sonne succeeded him being 14. yeeres of age and reigned 12. yeeres In the first yeere of his reigne he made a journey to the Ilands and appointed Loglen his cousin Custos of Man In the Autumne following Harald sent three sonnes of Nell namely Dufgald Thorquill Mormore and his friend Ioseph to Man for to consult about affaires On the 25. day therefore they meet at Tingull and by occasion of a certaine envious quarrell that arose between the sonnes of Nell and Loglen there was a sore fight on both sides wherein were slaine Dufgald Mormore and the foresaid Joseph In the spring ensuing King Harald came to the Isle of Man and Loglen as he fled toward Wales perished by Shipwracke with Godred Olaves sonne his foster child and pupill with 40. others MCCXXXVIII Gospatricke and Gillescrist the sonne of Mac-Kerthac came from the King of Norway into Man who by force kept Harald out of Man and tooke tributes to the Kings behoofe of Norway because he refused to come unto the King of Norwaies Court. MCCXL Gospatric died and is buried in the Abbey of Russin MCCXXXIX Harald went unto the King of Norway who after two yeeres confirmed unto him his heires and successours under his seale all the Ilands which his predecessours had possessed MCCXLII Harald returned out of Norway to Man and being by the inhabitants honourably received had peace with the Kings of England and of Scotland Harald like as his father before him was by the King of England dubbed Knight and after he had been rewarded with many gifts returned home The same yeere he was sent for by the King of Norway and married his daughter And in the yeere 1249. as he returned homeward with his wife and Laurence King elect of Man and many other Nobles and Gentlemen he was drowned in a tempest neere unto the coasts of Radland MCCXLIX Reginald the sonne of Olave and brother to Harald began his reigne the day before the Nones of May and on the thirtieth day thereof was slaine by one Yvar a Knight and his company in a medow neere unto the Holy Trinity Church on the South side and lieth buried in the Church of Saint Mary of Russin At that time Alexander King of Scots rigged and brought together many ships meaning to subdue the Iland and in the I le Kerwaray he died of an ague Harald the sonne of Godred Don usurped the name of King in the Ilands all the Nobles of Harald King Olaves sonne hee banished and placed in their stead all the Princes and Peeres that were fled from the said Harald MCCL. Harald the sonne of Godred Don being by missives sent for went unto the King of Norway who kept him in prison because he had unjustly intruded himselfe into the kingdome The same yeere there arrived at Roghalwaght Magnus the son of Olave and John the sonne of Dugald who named himselfe King but the people of Man taking it to the heart that Magnus was not nominated would not suffer them to land there many of them therefore were cast away and perished by shipwracke MCCLII Magnus the sonne of Olave came to Man and was made King The next yeere he went to the King of Norway and stayed there a yeere MCCLIV Haco King of Norway ordained Magnus Olaves sonne King of the Isles and confirmed the same unto him and his heires and by name unto his brother Harald MCCLVI. Magnus King of Man went into England and was knighted by the King of England MCCLVII The church of S. Maries of Russin was dedicated by Richard of Sodore MCCLX Haco King of Norway came unto the parts of Scotland and without any exploit done turned to the Orkneys where at Kirwas he ended his daies and lyeth enterred at Bergh MCCLXV Magnus Olaves sonne King of Man and of the Ilands departed this life at the Castle of Russin and was buried in the Church of S. Mary de Russin MCCLXVI The kingdome of the Ilands was translated by reason of Alexander King of Scots That which followeth was written in another hand and of a later character MCCLXX The seventh day of October a navy set out by Alexander King of Scots arrived at Roghalwath and the next morrow before sun rising a battaile was fought between the people of Man and the Scots in which were slain of the Manksmen 537. whereupon a certaine versifier played thus upon the number L. decies X. ter penta duo cecidere Mannica gens de te damna futura cave L. Ten times told X. thrice with five beside and twaine Ware future harmes I reed of thy folke Man were slaine MCCCXIII Robert King of Scots besieged the Castle of Russin which Dingawy Dowyll held against him but in the end the King won the castle MCCCXVI On the Ascension day Richard le Mandevile and his brethren with other Potentates of Ireland arrived at Ramaldwath requesting to be furnished with victuals and silver for that they had been robbed by the enemies warring upon them continually Now when the commonality of the country had made answer that they would not give them any they advanced forward against those of Man with two troops or squadrons untill they were come as far as to the side of Warthfell hill in a field wherein John Mandevile remained and there in a fought battell the Irish vanquished the Manksmen spoiled the Iland and rifled the Abbey of Russin and after they had continued in the Iland one whole moneth they returned home with their ships fraught with pillage Thus endeth the Chronicle of the K.K. of Man The Processe or course of the Historie following I will now continue summarily out of other Writers WHen Alexander the third King of Scots had gotten into his hands the Westerne Ilands partly by way of conquest and in part for ready money paid unto the King of Norway hee attempted the I le of Man also as one of that number and through the valiant prowesse of Alexander Stewart brought it under his dominion yea and placed there a petty King or Prince with this condition that hee should be ready alwaies at his command to serve with ten ships in his warres at sea Howbeit Mary the daughter of Reginald King of Man who was become the Liege-man of John King of England entred her suit for the Iland before the King of England but answer was made unto her that shee should demand it of the King of Scots for that he then held it in possession And yet her grand-child John Waldebeof for the said Mary married into the house of Waldebeofe sued for his ancient right in Parliament holden in the 33. yeere of King Edward the first before the K. of England as the superiour
have beene converted into a Garner or Store-house for corne and of the said British corne tearmed Britannicum and so much the rather because in the old Records of Holland wee finde it written Brittanburg for that age termed castles standing commodiously and such as were stored with plenty of corne Burghs as we read in the history of the Burgundians Moreover what if the Britans that in this doubtfull matter I may run out of one conjecture to another sometimes held it in their owne hands and so adopted it into their owne name considering they invested Magnus Maximus whom some name Clemens Maximus in the purple robe and proclaimed him Emperour against Gratian. For he arrived at this mouth of Rhene If againe it had not as yet taken this name Britannicum what if the Saxons tearmed it Huis te Britten for that they tooke ship from hence into Britain when they annoied our shores with their Cyules for so they tearmed their pinnaces or Brigantines Verily Zosimus sheweth that the Saxons after they had driven out the Frankers called Salii planted themselves in Batavia that is Holland and that from thence they put over by multitudes into Britain it is most cleere and evident Which also as I said before Ianus Douza a noble Gentleman indeed and passing well learned in his Ode of Leyden seemeth to imply yet here againe lest I might seeme too forward and lavish in setting forth the glory of Britaine considering that the right learned Hadrian Iunius borne and bred in Holland hath fetched the originall of the herbe Britannica from Britten a word of his owne country because it groweth plentifully upon those turfes which they call Britten and whereof they raise great bankes and dikes against the violence of the encroching Ocean it will be no absurdity if one should reduce this Huis te Britten unto the same originall and suppose it to have been so called because it was fensed with banks of turfe or of Britten set opposite against the forcible surges of the waves which when the surges of the sea had once pierced and overthrowne it may seeme to have borne downe this house also But let them see to these matters who have a deeper insight into the nature of the word and the situation of the place and pardon me withall if here I have thrust my sickle into anothers harvest In that coast there be also Isles of Zeland compassed about with the rivers Scaldt Maese and the Ocean Touching which I will onely adde thus much that the name of Valachria for of these this is the chiefe as Lemnius Levinus conjectureth came from our Welshmen Over against Zeland Tamis the goodliest and noblest river of Britain dischargeth himself into the sea in which place Ptolomee setteth TOLIAPIS and CAUNA or CONVENNON Of Toliapis which I suppose to be Shepey see in Kent Of Convennos I have spoken in Essex in the page 441. More Eastward without Tamis mouth there lieth along before the Iland Tenet a place full of shelves and sands and very dangerous for saylers which they call Goodwins sands where our Annales doe record that in the yeere 1097. an Iland which was the patrimony of Goodwin Earle of Kent was quite swallowed up and sunk in the sea concerning which John Twin writeth thus This land was very fruitfull and full of plenteous pastures lying somewhat lower and more flat than Tenet out of which there was a passage by boat or barge three or foure miles long This Iland in an unusuall tempest of windes and boisterous fury of stormy raines and uncooth rage of the sea was drowned and lieth overwhelmed with sand cast up after an incredible manner and without all recovery is turned into a middle or doubtfull nature of land and sea For I wot wel what I say because one while it wholly floateth and another while at a low water after an ebbe it beareth walkers upon it Haply this is Toliapis unlesse you had rather read Thanatos for Toliapis and in some copies we read it Toliatis of which we have treated in Kent See the 345. page In this very place the huge vastnesse of the sea gathereth into such a straight that the gullet of the Ocean betweene the firme land of France and Britaine is not above thirty miles over which Streights some call the Narrow sea of Britaine others of France and the bound it is of the British sea which by little and little removeth the shores farther asunder that were in manner meeting together and by the driving backe of the lands on both sides equally floweth between Britaine and France from East to West At this beginneth the British sea wherein first you meet with the Iland or byland rather Selsy in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is according to Bede The Iland of Sea-calves which in our tongue we call otherwise Seales But hereof I have spoken already in the page 308. Somewhat higher lieth the Isle Vecta in the British tongue Guith in the Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Saxons tearmed an Iland 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee The Isle of Wight and Whight Whereof also I have written before in the 273. page Of Portland likewise which now is no Iland but annexed to the continent I have treated heretofore in Dorsetshire in the page 210. Hence will I cut over to the shore of France just against it where from Beer-fleet in Normandy unto the midst of the Channell the sea by the Mariners saying is paved as it were and overspred with rocks and cragges among which William sonne to King Henry the first and heire both of England and of Normandy whiles he crossed the seas out of Normandy into England in the yeere of salvation 1120. was by woefull shipwracke together with his sister his base brother and others of the floure of the nobility drowned Whereupon a Poet of that age thus versified Abstulit hunc terrae matri maris unda noverca Proh dolor occubuit Sol Anglicus Anglia plora Quaeque priùs fueras gemino radiata nitore Extincto nato vivas contenta parente Him from the land his mother kind the Sea a stepdame caught Now Englands Sunne alas is set weepe England weep for thought And thou that didst enjoy the beames of twofold light before Since Sonne is gone content thy selfe with father and no more Funus plangendum privat lapis aequoris unus Et ratis una suo principe regnaduo O dolefull day one rocke in Ocean maine One barke of Prince bereaveth kingdomes twaine And another Poet at the same time hammered out these verses touching that shipwracke Dum Normannigenae Gallis claris superatis Anglica regna petunt obstitit ipse Deus Aspera nam fragili dum sulcant aequora cymba Intulit excito nubila densa mari Dumque vagi caeco rapiuntur tramite nautae Ruperunt imas abdita saxa rates Sic mare dum superans tabulata
there established On the East-side where it faceth the citie Constantia there is seated upon a steep rocke a most strong castle with an haughty name called Mont Orgueil which is much beholden unto King Henry the fifth who repaired it The Governour of the Isle is Captain thereof who in times past was called the Custos of the Isle and in Henry the third his reigne had a yeerely pension of 200. pound On the South side but with longer distance betweene Saint Malo is to be seene having taken that new name of Maclou a very devout man where before time it was called the city Diablintum and in the ancient Notice ALETUM for in a Manuscript of Isidor Mercator we read thus in expresse termes Civitas Diablintum c. that is the city Diablintum which by another name is called Aletum As for the inhabitants they freshly practice the feat of fishing but give their minds especially to husbandry and the women make a very gainfull trade by knitting of hose which they call Iarsey Stockes or Stockings As touching the politicke state thereof a Governour sent from the King of England is the chiefe Magistrate hee appointeth a Bailiffe who together with twelve Jurats or sworne Assistants and those chosen out of the twelve severall parishes by the voices of the Parishioners sitteth to minister justice in Civill causes in criminall matters he sitteth but with seven of the said sworne assistants and in causes of conscience to be decided by equity and reason with three Twenty miles hence North-west lieth another Iland which Antonine the Emperour in ancient time named SARNIA we at this day Garnsey lying out East and West in fashion of an harpe neither in greatnesse nor in fruitfulnesse comparable to Iersey for it hath in it only ten parishes yet is this to be preferred before it because it fostereth no venemous thing therin like as the other doth It is also better fortified by naturall fenses as being enclosed round with a set of steepe rockes among which is found that most hard and sharpe stone Smyris which we terme Emerill wherewith Goldsmiths and Lapidaries clense burnish and cut their precious stones and glaziers also divide and cleave their glasse Likewise it is of greater name for the commodiousnesse of the haven and the concourse of merchants resorting thither For in the farthest part well neere Eastward but on the South side it admitteth an haven within an hollow Bay bending inward like an halfe Moone able to receive tall ships upon which standeth Saint Peters a little towne built with a long and narrow street well stored with warlike munition and ever as any warre is toward mightily replenished with Merchants For by an ancient priviledge of the Kings of England here is alwaies a continuall truce as it were and lawfull it is for Frenchmen and others how hot soever the warre is to have repaire hither too and fro without danger and to maintain entercourse of trafficke in security The entry of the haven which is rockie is fortified on both sides with castles On the left hand there is an ancient bulwarke or block-house and on the right hand over against it standeth another called Cornet upon an high rocke and the same at every high water compassed about with the sea Which in Queene Maries daies Sir Leonard Chamberlane Governour of the Iland as also under Queene Elizabeth Sir Thomas Leighton his successour caused to bee fortified with new workes For here lieth for the most part the Governour of the Iland and the Garrison souldiers who will in no hand suffer Frenchmen and women to enter in On the North side there is La-vall a biland adjoining unto it which had belonging thereto a covent of religious persons or a Priory On the West part neere unto the sea there is a lake that taketh up a mile and halfe in compasse replenished with fish but Carpes especially which for bignesse and pleasant taste are right commendable The inhabitants are nothing so industrious in tilling of the ground as those of Iarsey but in navigation and trafficke of merchandise for a more uncertaine gaine they be very painfull Every man by himselfe loveth to husband his owne land so that the whole Iland lieth in severall and is divided by enclosures into sundry parcels which they find not onely profitable to themselves but also a matter of strength against the enemie Both Ilands smile right pleasantly upon you with much variety of greene gardens and orchards by meanes whereof they use for the most part a kinde of wine made of apples which some call Sisera and we Sydre The inhabitants in both places are by their first originall either Normans or Britans and speake French yet disdaine they to be either reputed or named French and can very well be content to be called English In both Ilands likewise they burne Uraic for their fuell or else sea-coals brought out of England and in both places they have wonderfull store of fish and the same manner of civill government These Ilands with others lying about them belonged in old time to the Dukedom of Normandy but when as Henry the first King of England had vanquished his brother Robert in the yeere of our Lord 1108. he annexed that Dukedom and these Ilands unto the kingdome of England Since which time they have continued firme in loialtie unto England even when John King of England being endited for murdering Arthur his Nephew was by a definitive sentence or arrest of confiscation deprived of his right in Normandy which he held in chiefe of the French King yea moreover when the French had seized upon these Isles hee through the faithfull affection of the people twice recovered them Neither revolted they when Henry the third King of England had for a summe of money surrendred his whole interest and right in Normandy And ever since they have with great commendation of their constancy persisted faithfull unto the Crowne of England and are the onely remaines that the Kings of England have of the ancient inheritance of William the Conquerour and of the Dutchy of Normandy although the French otherwhiles have set upon them who from the neighbour coast of France have hardly this long time endured to see them appertaine not to France but to England And verily Evan a Welsh Gentleman descended from the Princes of Wales and serving the French King surprized Garnesey in the time of King Edward the third but soone lost it And also in the reigne of King Edward the fourth as appeareth by the records of the Realme they seized upon the same but through the valour of Richard Harleston valect of the Crowne for so they termed him in those daies they were shortly disseized and the King in recompence of his valorous service gave unto him the Captainship both of the Iland and of the castle And in the yeere 1549. when England under King Edward the sixth a child was distressed with domesticall troubles Leo Strozzi Captaine of
Iustices of the Assises to end and dispatch controversies depending and growne to an issue in the foresaid principall Kings Courts betweene plaintiffes and defendants and that by their Peeres as the custome is whence they are commonly called Iustices of Nisi prius which name they tooke of the writs sent unto the Sheriffe which have in them these two words Nisi Prius that is Vnlesse before c. The Star-Chamber or the Court rather of Kings Counsell wherein are discussed and handled criminall matters perjuries cousenages fraud deceit riots or excesse c. This Court in regard of time is right ancient and for dignitie most honourable For it seemes that it may claime antiquitie ever since the first time that Subject appealed unto their Soveraignes and the Kings Councell was erected Now the Judges of this Court are persons right Honourable and of greatest reputation even the Kings Privie Counsellors As for the name of Star-Chamber it tooke it from the time that this Counsell was appointed at Westminster in a Chamber there anciently garnished and beautified with Starres For we read in the Records of Edward the Third Counseil en la Chambre des Estoilles pres de la Receipt al Westminster that is The Counsell in the Chamber of Starres neere unto the Receit at Westminster But the Authoritie thereof that most sage and wise Prince Henry the Seventh by authoritie of Parliament so augmented and established that some are of opinion though untruely hee was the first founder of it The Judges heere are The Lord Chancellor of England The Lord Treasurer of England The Lord President of the Kings Counsell The Lord Keeper of the Privy Seale and all Counselors of the State as wel Ecclesiasticall as Temporall and out of the Barons of the Parliament those whom the King will call The two chiefe Iustices of the Benches or in their absence two other Iudges The Officers heerein are these The Clerke of the Counsell The Clerke of writs and processe of the Counsell in the Star-Chamber c. And causes here are debated and decided not by Peeres according to our common Law but after the course of Civill Law The Court of Wards and Liveries hath the name of Pupils or Wards whose causes it handleth was first instituted by Henrie the Eighth whereas in former times their causes were heard in the Chancerie and Exchequer For by an old Ordinance derived out of Normandie and not from Henry the Third as some doe write when a man is deceased Who holdeth possessions or Lands of the King in chiefe by Knights service as well the heire as his whole patrimonie and revenues are in the Kings power tuition and protection untill he be full one and twentie yeares of age and untill by vertue of the Kings briefe or letter restitution and re-delivery be made unto him thereof In this Court the Generall Master sitteth as Judge under whom are these The Supravisor or Surveior of Liveries The Atturney generall of the Court The generall Receiver The Auditour The Clerke of the Liveries The Clerke of the Court Fortie Fedaries and a Messenger There have sprung up also in these later times two other Courts to wit Of reforming Errours whereof the first is to correct Errours in the Exchequer the other to amend errours committed in the Kings Bench. The Judges in the former of these twaine are the Lord Chancellor and Lord Treasurer of England with others of the Kings Justices whom they are disposed to take unto them In the later The Iustices of the Common Pleas and the Barons of the Exchequer The Admirals Court handleth Sea matters In this are reckoned the Lord Admirall of England his Lieutenant and a Iudge two Scribes a Serjeant of the Court and the Vice-Admirals of England Now proceede we to the Courts of Equitie The Chancerie drew that name from a Chancellor which name under the ancient Roman Emperours was not of so greate esteeme and dignitie as wee learne out of Vopiscus But now adaies a name it is of highest honour and Chancellors are advanced to the highest pitch of civill Dignitie Whose name Cassiodorus fetcheth from crosse grates or lattesses because they examined matters within places severed apart enclosed with partitions of such crosse bars which the Latins call Cancelli Regard saith hee to a Chancellor what name you beare It cannot bee hidden which you doe within Lattesses For you keepe your gates lightsome your barres open and your dores transparent as windows Whereby it is very evident that he sate within grates where he was to be seene on every side and thereof it may be thought he tooke that name But considering it was his part being as it were the Princes mouth eie and eare to strike and dash out with crosse-lines lattise like those letters Commissions Warrants and Decrees passed against law and right or prejudiciall to the comon-wealth which not improperly they termed to cancell some thinke the name of Chancellor came from this Cancelling and in a Glossarie of latter time thus we read A Chancellor is he whose Office is to looke into and peruse the writings and answers of the Emperour to cancell what is written amisse and to signe that which is well Neither is that true which Polydore Virgil writeth namely that William the Conquerour instituted a Colledge or fellowship of Scribes to write letters pattents c. and named the Master of that Societie Chancellor considering it is plaine and manifest that Chancellors were in England before the Normans Conquest How great the dignitie and authoritie of the Chancellor is at this day it is better knowne than I can declare but of what credit it was in old time have heere in a word or two out of a writer of good antiquitie The dignitie of the Chancellor of England is this He is reputed the second person in the Realme and next unto the King with the one side of the Kings Seale whereof by his Office he hath the Keeping he may signe his owne injunctions to dispose and order the Kings Chappell as hee liketh to receive and keepe all Archbishopricks Bishopricks Abbeies and Baronies void and falling into the Kings hand to be present at all the Kings Counsels and thither to repaire uncalled also that all things be signed by the hand of his Clerke who carrieth the Kings Seale and that all things be directed and disposed by advise of the Chancellor Item that by the helpfull merits of his good life through Gods grace he need not die if he will himselfe but Archbishop or Bishop And heereof it is that the Chancellor-ship is not to be bought The forme and manner of ordaining a Chancellor for that also I will note was in the time of King Henrie the Second by hanging the great Seale of England about the necke of the Chancellor elect But in King Henry the Sixth daies this was the order of it according to the notes I tooke out of the Records When the place of the Lord
against the watch-Towre of Britaine For no other place of this Iland looketh directly to Spaine Upon it there standeth now a little village named S. Buriens in old time Eglis Buriens that is The Church of Buriena or Beriena consecrated to Buriena a religious Irish woman For this nation alwaies honoured Irish Saints as tutelar patrons of their owne so all their Towns in manner they have consecrated unto them This village King Athelstan as the report goeth granted to be a priviledged place or Sanctuarie what time as he arrived as Conquerour out of the Iles of Sylly True it is that he built heere a Church and that under William the Conquerour there was heere a Colledge of Chanons unto whom the territorie adjoyning belonged Neere unto this in a place which they call Biscaw Woune are to bee seene nineteene stones set in a round circle distant every one about twelve foote from the other and in the very center there is one pitched far higher and greater than the rest This was some Trophee or monument of victorie erected by the Romans as probably may bee conjectured under the later Emperours or else by Athelstan the Saxon when he had subdued the Cornish-men and brought them under his dominion As the shore fetcheth a compasse by little and little from hence Southward it letteth in a bay or creeke of the Sea in manner of a Crescent which they call Mounts-bay wherein as the common speech goeth the Ocean by rushing with a violent force drowned the land Vpon this lieth Mousehole in the British tongue Port Inis that is The Haven of the Iland For which Henry of Ticis a Baron in his time and Lord of Alwerton and Tiwernel in this Country obtained of King Edward the First the grant to have a market there Likewise there is seated upon this Bay Pen-sans that is The Cape or Head of Saints or as some thinke Sands a prety market Towne within a little whereof is that famous stone Main-Amber which being a great Rock advanced upon some other of meaner size with so equall a counterpeize a man may stir with the push of his finger but to remove it quite out of his place a great number of men are not able as also Merkin that is Iupiters market because Thursday anciently dedicated to Iupiters is their market day a dangerous rode for ships And in the very angle and corner it selfe S. Michaels mount which gave name unto the foresaid Bay sometime called Dinsol as wee find in the booke of Landaffe the Inhabitants name it Careg Cowse that is The hoary Crag or Rock the Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Michaels place as Master Laurence Noel a man of good note for his singular learning and who was the first in our age that brought into ure againe and revived the language of our ancestours the Saxons which through disuse lay sorlet and buried in oblivion hath well observed This Rocke is of a good height and craggy compassed round about with water so oft as it is floud but at every ebbe joyned to the main-land so that they say of it It is land and Iland twice a day For which cause Iohn Earle of Oxford not many yeeres ago presuming upon the strength of the place chose it for his chiefest defence when he raised war against King Edward the Fourth and valiantly held the same but with no good successe For his souldiers being assailed by the Kings forces straight waies yeelded In the very top heereof within the Fortresse there was a Chappell consecrated to S. Michael the Archangell where William Earle of Cornwall and Moriton who by the bounteous gift of King William the First had great lands large possessions in this tract built a Cell for one or two monks who avouched that S. Michael appeared in that mount which apparition or the like the Italians challenge to their hill Garganus and the Frenchmen likewise to their Michaels mount in Normandie At the foote of this mountaine within the memorie of our Fathers whiles men were digging up of tin they found Spear-heads axes and swords of brasse wrapped in linnen such as were sometimes found within the forrest Hercinia in Germanie and not long since in our Wales For evident it is by the monuments of ancient Writers that the Greeks the Cimbrians and Britans used brazen weapons although the wounds given with brasse bee lesse hurtfull as in which mettall there is a medicinable vertue to heale according as Macrobius reporteth out of Aristotle But happily that age was not so cunning in devising meanes to mischiefe and murthers as ours is In the rocks underneath as also along the shore every where breedeth the Pyrrhecorax a kind of crow with bill and feet red and not as Plinie thought proper to the Alpes onely This bird the inhabitants have found to be an Incendiarie and theevish beside For oftentimes it secretly conveieth fire-sticks setting their houses a fire and as closely filcheth and hideth little peeces of money In this place the countrey is most narrow and groweth as it were into an Isthmus for it is scarse foure miles over from hence to the Severn or upper sea A little above this mount there openeth a Creeke of good bredth called of the mount Mountsbay a most safe rode and harbour for ships when the South and Southeast winds are aloft and bluster at a mid ebbe and returne of the Sea six or seven fathom deepe More toward the East ariseth Godolcan hill right famous for plentifull veines of tin they call it now Godolphin but much more renowned in regard of the Lords thereof bearing the same name who with their vertues have equalled the ancientnesse of that house and linage But that name in the Cornish language came of A white Aegle and this family hath anciently borne for their armes in a shield Gules an Aegle displaied Argent betweene three Flower-deluces of the same id est Argent likewise in a shield Gules From S. Michaels mount Southward immediatly there is thrust forth a bi-land or demi-Ile at the very entrie whereof Heilston sheweth it selfe called in their country language Hellas by reason of the salt water flowing thereto a Towne of great resort for their priviledge of marking and coinage of tin Under which by the confluence and meeting of many waters there is made a lake two miles in length named Loo poole divided from the Sea by a narrow banke running betweene which whensoever it is by the violence of waves broken thorow a wonderfull roring of waters is heard far and neere all over the countrey adjoining And not far from thence there is to be seene a militarie fense or rampier of a large compasse built of stones heaped together and laid without mortar they call it in their tongue Earth of which sort there be others heere and there raised as I verily beleeve in the Danish warre Neither is it unlike to
is The high hill in the wood which some would have to be Exceter But the situation in Ptolomee and the name remaining still prove this to be the ancient Vzella In these our dayes a small towne it is and nothing populous because the river Fawey which aforetime was wont at every tide or high water to flow unto the very towne and to beare and bring in ships hath his channell so choked and damned up now with sands comming from the tin-workes wherewith all the havens in this province are like in processe of time to be choked up as that it is hardly able to beare the least barge that is Howbeit the chiefe towne it is of the whole countie where the Shiriffe sitteth judicially every moneth and determineth causes and there the Warden of the Stannaries hath his prison It enjoyeth also the priviledge by the bounteous favour as themselves say of Edmund Earle of Cornwall who there in times past had his honor to seale or coyne the tin But there bee two townes above the rest that hinder the light and eclipse the fame of this to wit on the East side thereof Leskerd situat on the top of a very high hill much frequented for the mercat and renowned for an ancient castle there and on the North side Bodman which standeth on the side hand of it scarse two miles off and is named if I be not deceived Bosuenna in the Cornish tongue and Bodminian in old Deeds and Charters This towne situate thus in no healthy seat between two hils and lying out in length East and West is for the mercat there kept of great resort for the inhabitants populous beautifull enough for building and of name for their priviledge of coinage of tin but more famous in ancient time for the Bishops See there For about the yeere of our salvation 905 when the State of the Church lay in this tract altogether neglected by vertue of a decree from Pope Formosus King Edward the Elder erected heere a Bishops See and granted at that time unto the Bishop of Kirton three villages in this countrie Polton Caeling and Lanwitham that from thence every yeere he should visit the people of Cornwall to fetch out of them their errours for before time they did what they could to resist the truth and obeied not the Apostolicall decrees But afterwards in the furious heat of that terrible Danish warre the Bishoprick was translated to Saint Germans Hard by Leskerd lyeth that which sometime was the Church of S. Guerir that is if you interpret it out of the British speech S. Leech or Physician where as writeth Asserius King Alfred lying prostrate at his prayers recovered out of a sicknesse But when Neotus a man of singular holinesse and learning was afterwards entombed in the same Church hee outshone the light of the other Saint so as that in his memorie it was named Neotestow that is The place of Neotus and now Saint Neoths and the religious men that served God therein were named Saint Neoths Clerkes and had for their maintenance rich and large revenues as we may see in William Conquerours booke Neere unto this as I have learned within the parish of Saint Clare there are to be seene in a place called Pennant that is The head of the vale two monuments of stone of which the one in the upper part is wrought hollow in manner of a Chaire the other named Otherhalfe stone hath an inscription of Barbarous characters now in manner worne out in this wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which as I take it should be read thus DONIERT ROGAVIT PRO ANIMA unlesse it please you to give this conjecture that those little pricks after DONIERT are the reliques of the letter E and then to read it after this manner DONIERT EROGAVIT as if he had given and bestowed upon those religious men that peece of land for his soule As for Doneert I cannot but thinke he was that Prince of Cornwall whom the Chronicles name Dungerth and record that he was drowned in the yeere of our Salvation 872. Hard by there is a number of good big rockes heaped up together and under them one Stone of lesser size fashioned naturally in forme of a cheese so as it seemeth to be pressed like a cheese whereupon it is named Wring-cheese Many other Stones besides in some sort foure square are to be seene upon the plaine adjoyning of which seven or eight are pitched upright of equall distance asunder The neighbour Inhabitants terme them Hurlers as being by a devout and godly error perswaded they had beene men sometimes transformed into Stones for profaning the Lords Day with hurling the ball Others would have it to be a Trophee as it were or a monument in memoriall of some battell And some thinke verily they were set as meere stones or land marks as having read in those authors that wrote of Limits that stone were gathered together of both parties and the same erected for bounders In this coast the river Loo maketh way and runneth into the sea and in his very mouth giveth name to two little townes joyned with a bridge together That on the West side which is the newer flourisheth most but the other Eastward time hath much decayed although it bee a Corporation retaining still the priviledge of a Maior and Burgesses Somewhat West-ward from this lieth Kilgarth the habitation of the Bevils of especiall good note for antiquity and gentry From Loo East-ward you meet with no memorable thing but a small river passing by Minhevet whereby is Pole the seat of the Trelawnies to whom with others the inheritance of the Courtneys Earles of Devon accrewed untill you come to the Liver a little river stored with oisters that runneth under S. Germans a small towne unto which during the tempestuous Danish warre the Bishops Sees were for feare translated where there is a prety Church dedicated unto S. German of Antiziodorum who rooted out the heresie of Pelagius that sprung up againe in Britaine Wherein after that some few Bishops had sitten Levinus the Bishop of Kirton who was in great favour with Canutus the Dane obtained by vertue of the Kings authoritie that it should be Joyned to his See Since which time there hath beene but one Bishop over this Province and Denshire both whose seat is now at Exceter and who appointed the little Towne of S. Germans to be the seat of his Suffragan For at this day it is nothing else but a village consisting of fishermens cabins that make a good gainfull trade by catching store of fish in the Ocean and rivers neere adjoyning Some few miles from hence upon the same river standeth Trematon bearing the name of a Castle though the wall bee halfe downe in which as we find in Domesday booke William Earle of Moriton had his Castle and held his mercate and was the capitall seat of the Baronie belonging to the Earles
Temporall man Certainely whencesoever the name came it is ancient and they have worshipfully matched and not long since with one of the daughters of Arthur Plantagenet Vicount Lisley naturall sonne to King Edward the Fourth Hence Towridge hastneth to Tourington which it giveth name unto standing over it in a great length upon the brow of a little hill by Bediford also a towne of right good name for the frequent resort of people and number of Inhabitants as also for a goodly stone bridge with arched worke where straight waies it windeth it selfe into the Taw. This Taw breaking forth out of the very midst and hart of the shire first runneth downe by Chimligh a little market towne not far from Chettlehampton a small Village where Hyertha canonized a Shee-Saint lay interred from thence having passed by Tawton where Werstane and Putta the first Bishops of Denshire had their See about the yeare of our Lord 906. and Tawstoke over against it now the seate of the right honourable Earle of Bathe it maketh haste to Berstaple Reputed this is a very ancient Towne and for elegant building and frequencie of people held chiefe in all this coast scituate amidst hilles in forme of a semicircle upon the river being as it were a diameter Which River at every change and full of the Moone by the swelling of the Ocean overfloweth the fields so as the very Towne it selfe seemeth to be a demie Island but when as one saith the sea reengorgeth it selfe backe againe into the sea it is so shallow creeping betweene sands and shelves as it hardly beareth smaller vessels On the south side it hath a stately bridge built by one Stamford a Citizen of London In the North part where North Ewe a little river or brooke runneth are seene the reliques of a Castle which by the common report King Athelstane but as others say Iudaël of Totenais built for the keeping and defence whereof certaine Lands adjoyning thereabout are held in Castle-guard It had sometimes a wall about it but now there remaine scarce any small tokens thereof The said Iudaël of Totenais received it in free gift in fee of King William the First after him the Tracies held it for a long time then the Martins after whom in the raigne of King Richard the Second it came to Iohn Holland Earle of Huntingdon who afterwards was Duke of Excester and last of all it fell to the Crowne But Queene Mary gave the Mannour to Thomas Marrow whose son sold it away In K. William the First his daies as we find in Domesday booke It had within the Burgh fortie Burgesses and nine without King Henrie the First endowed it with many priviledges and King John with more A Major and two Bailiffes for a long time it had but Queene Mary ordained there a Major two Aldermen and a Counsell of twentie and foure The Inhabitants for the most part are Merchants who in France and Spaine trade and traffique much Neither must this be passed over with silence that out of this Towns-Schoole their issued two right learned men and most renowned Divines John Jewell Bishop of Sarisbury and Thomas Harding the publike professour in Lovain who most hotly contended and wrote learnedly one against the other concerning the truth of Religion From hence the river Taâ— saluting as it were Ralegh which in times past had noble Lords of that name but now is the possession of a right worshipfull house surnamed Chichester and afterwards encreased by Towbridge water falleth into the Severne Sea but it meeâ—eth nor with Kinwith Castle whereof Asserius maketh mention For here abouâ— such a Castle there was of that name for scite of the ground about it very safe on every side save onely on the East quarter at the which in the yeare of Christ â—70 Hubba the Dane who with many slaughters and overthrowes had harried the English Nation was with many other Danes slaine And thereupon the place afterwards was called by our Historiographers Hubbestow And then it was that the Englishmen wan the Danes banner called Reafan Which I note therefore the rather because it may be gathered out of a pretty tale in Asserius Menevenâ—is who hath delivered these things in writing that the Danes bare in their Ensigne a Raven wrought by report in needle-worke by the daughters of Lothbrooke that is Leather-breech the Dane with such an opinion of good lucke as they thought that it never should be wonne After this nothing there is to bee seene upon this coast but Ilfarcomb a good and sure rode for ships and Comb-Marton bordering hard upon it under which old mines of lead not without veines of silver have of late beene discovered As for this word Comb to observe so much once for all which is an usuall adjection to names of places in this tract it signifieth a low scituation or a Vale and derived it may seeme to be of Kum a British word that betokeneth the same and the French men in their tongue retaine it still in the very same sense from the ancient Gallique language the same with old British More South-East from hence and neere unto Somersetshire Bampton sometimes Baentun sheweth it selfe which under William the Conquerour befell unto Walter de Doway with other right large and faire lands else-where of whose posteritie Iuliana an Inheritrix married to William Paganell commonly Paynell bare Fulk de Bampton and he begat William and Christian the wife of Cogan of Ireland whose posteritie succeeded in the possession thereof for that the issue of the said William died without children But from the Cogans the possession descended at length hereditarily unto the Bourchiers now Earles of Bathe by an heire of Hancford who had married likewise an heire of the Lord Fitz-warin In the prime and infancie of the Normans Empire to say nothing of Hugh the Norman whom Queene Emnia had before time made Ruler over this countrey King William the First ordained one Baldwine to be the hereditarie Sheriffe or Vicount of Denshire and Baron of Okchampton after whom succeeded in that honour Richard his sonne who died without issue male Then King Henrie the First bestowed upon Richard de Redveriis First Tiverton and afterwards the honour of Plimpton with other places appurtaining thereto and consequently created him Earle of Denshire by granting unto him the third penie of the yearely revenues growing out of the same Countie Now the revenue of the Countie which in those daies was due to the King was not above thirtie marks out of which the said Earle tooke unto him for his part ten markes yearely After this hee obtained of the said King the Isle of Wight whereupon stiled hee was Earle of Denshire and Lord of the Isle Hee had a Sonne named Baldwin who siding with Maude the Empresse against King Stephen was banished the Realme Howbeit Richard his Sonne recovered this honour of his Fathers and hee
service of Chamberlaine in Chef from our soveraigne Lord the King But under Edward the Third I have read that this was held by Sergeantie namely by holding the Laver or Ewre for the King his Soveraigne Lord to wash upon his Coronation day Also Raulph Moien held the Mannour of Owres neere adjoyning by service of Serjeantie in the Kitchin of the gift likewise of King Henry the First and R. de Welles the Mannour of Welles heereabout since the Conquest of England by the service of the Kings Baker Which I note onely by the way Where Frome maketh his issue into that Bay whereupon Poole is scituate hard by the very mouth is planted Warham in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a towne strongly seated on every side but Westward as being fenced on all parts beside with the rivers Trent Frome and the Sea together In King Edward the Confessors time it had two Mint maisters but whiles William the Conquerour raigned it could not reckon above seven dwelling houses in it Yet afterwards it flourished againe fortified with the wall furnished with a mint house a great number of Inhabitants and a most strong Castle which that King William the First built it continued in a most flourishing state untill the daies of King Henry the Second who when hee came to challenge the Crowne of England in the yeare 1142 hee arrived heere besieged and tooke the Castle which was defended by Robert Lacy against him in behalfe of King Stephen and afterward Robert of Lincolne a man of mightie possessions in these parts defended the same against King Stephen But from that time by occasion partly of warres and partly of sudden casualtie by fires by reason also that the sea by little and little which draweth the commoditie of an haven it is almost run to ruine and in the very heart of the old towne it bringeth forth store of garlick At this mouth likewise is discharged another small river with Frome Asserius calleth it Trent but now the Inhabitants thereby name it Piddle From the North banke whereof scarce three miles off I saw the ruins of Middleton Abbey which King Athelstane founded as a satisfaction to appease the ghost and soule of his brother Edwine whom hee had deprived both of his Kingdome and life For when that solicitous desire of raigning had caused him quite to forget all Justice hee put the young Prince heire apparant to the Crowne with one page into a little whirrey without any tackling or furniture thereto to the end he might impute his wickednesse to the waves And so the young Prince overcome with griefe of heart and unable to master his owne passions cast himselfe headlong into the sea Under this Middleton there is voided also another river which runneth hard by Bere a little mercate towne where for a long time that ancient and famous family de Turbida villa commonly Turbervill had their chief habitation whereof as some were famous so Hugh Turburvill in the time of King Edward the First was infamous for his traiterous practises with the French But to goe backe againe to the West part of the shire At the spring head of Frome where the soile is most fruitfull the forrest of Blackmore sometimes thicke and full of trees but now thinner growne yeildeth plentifull game for hunting This by a more common and better knowne name is called The Forrest of white hart The reason of which name the Inhabitants by tradition from their forefathers report to be thus When King Henry the Third came hither to hunt and had taken other Deere he spared a most beautifull and goodly White-Hart which afterwards T. de la-Lynde a gentleman of this countrey with others in his company tooke and killed but how perillous a matter it was to bee twitching as they say of a lion they soone found and felt For the King conceived great indignation and high displeasure against them put them to a grievous fine of money for it and the very lands which they held pay even to this day every yeare by way of amercement a piece of money into the Exchequer which is called White hart silver There joyneth neere to this forrest Shirburne towne named also Shirburne Castle in old time 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which by interpretation is Fons Limpidus or as it is else where writen Fons clarus that is Pure fountaine or cleare well scited on the hanging of an hill a pleasant and proper seate as William of Malmesburie saith as well for the frequent number of Inhabitants as the scituation and now it is the most populous and best haunted towne of all this country and gaineth exceeding much by clothing In the yeare of our redemption 704 an Episcopall seat was heere erected and Aldelme the first Bishop there consecrated afterwards also in the raigne of Etheldred Herman the Bishop of Sunning having obtained this Bishoprick translated his Episcopall see hither and joyned the said Bishoprick of Sunning unto this which under William Conqueror the same Bishop translated to Sarisburie and reserved Shirburne to bee a retiring place for his Successors unto whom it belongeth as yet And one of them namely Roger built a strong Castle in the East-part thereof under which lay sometime a wide meere and many fish pooles and now being filled up are converted into most pleasant and rich medow ground As for the Cathedrall Church presently upon the translation of the See it became a monasterie againe and beareth shew of great antiquitie although not many became a monasterie againe and beareth shew of great antiquitie although not many yeares past in a broile betweene the townesmen and the Monks it was fired which the burnt and scorched colour upon the stones doth as yet most evidently shew Under this the river Iuell whereof I will speake some where else winding in and out with many curving reaches runneth Westward to Chiston the seate sometime of the linage de Maulbauch from which it descended hereditarily unto the family of the Horsâ—ies Knights where it entreth into Sommersetshire More toward the East the most famous river Stoure passing full of tenches and Eeles especially arising in Wiltshire out of six fountaines commeth downe to Stourton the honor and seat of the Barons of Stourton So soone as it entred in this Shire it passeth through Gillingham forrest in which Edmund surnamed Iron-side in a memorable battell put the Danes to flight and three miles from thence saluteth Shaftsbury standing upon an hill top very defective of water sometimes called by the Britaines as it is commonly but falsely thought Caer Paladur and in Latine by later writers Septonia by the Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perhaps of the Churches Spire steeple such as they tearmed Scheafts A little before the Normans time it had in it 104. houses and three Mint masters as we read in that booke so often by me alleadged And afterwards it flourished the more by reason of a Nunnerie
begot of the Lady Margaret Howard Daughter to the late Duke of Norfolk In this Countie are numbred Parishes 248. BELGAE VPon the North and East side of the Durotriges bordered in times past the Belgae who as it is by the name probable and by authority of writers very likely passed over from the Belgae a people in Gaule into Britaine For those Belgae having their beginning as Caesar according to the information he had from the men of Rhemes of the Germans and in old time being brought over the Rhene finding the sweetnesse and fertility of the place expelled the Gaules and planted themselves there From whence as the same Caesar saith they gat them over into Britaine for to spoile and in warlicke manner to invade the country and were all of them called after the name of those countryes from whence they came where after they had made warre they remained and began to till the grounds But at what time they came hither to dwell it is not certainly knowen unlesse Divitiacus King of the Suessones who flourished before Caesars time brought over the Belgae hither For a great part as well of Gaule as of Britaine he had under him Whence also they were named Belgae it is not sufficiently shewed Hubert Thomas of Liege a great learned man supposed Belgae to be a German word for that the Germans use to call the French and the Italians Wallen as strangers yea and some of them Welgen Iohn Goropius himself a Belgian maintaineth it to be derived of the word Belke which in the Belgicke tongue signifieth wrath or anger as if they would be sooner incensed with choler than others But seeing that the name of the Belgae seemeth not to be sought for out of that tongue which the Germans of the Low-countries use at this day and is almost the same that our English-Saxon language for from the Saxons it came whom Charles the Great brought over into Brabant and Flanders for my part I will in no wise diminish their credit who fetch it forth of the ancient Gaules tongue which remayneth in manner uncorrupt among our Welch-Britans and will have them called Belgae of Pell which in that tongue betokeneth Remote or far off For of all Gaule they were the furthest and as they were furthest from the civill behaviour and humanity of the Roman Province so they were also in situation and seat and the Poet hath shewed that the Morini were the people of all Belgica most remote when he wrote thus Extremique hominum Morini that is The morini of all men furthest But come we now to our Belgae who inhabited far and wide in Somersetshire Wiltshire and the inner parts of Hantshire SOMERSETSHIRE THe Countie of Somerset commonly called Somersetshire is a verie large and wealthy Region the North side whereof the Severne Sea beateth upon the West part confineth with Denshire in the South it bordereth first upon Devonshire and then upon Dorsetshire Eastward upon Wiltshire and North-east upon part of Glocestershire The Soile verie rich yeelding for the most part thereof passing great plentie both of pasture and corne and yet not without stonie hilles Exceeding populous and full of Inhabitants furnished also with commodious havens and ports sufficiently Some thinke it was so called for that the aire there is so mild and summer-like and in that sence the Welch Britans at this day terme it Gladerhaf borrowing that name out of our English tongue And verily howsoever in summer time it is a right summer-like Country yet surely in winter it may worthily be called a winterish Region so wet and weely so miry and moorish it is to the exceeding great trouble and encombrance of those that travell in it But I will beleeve that this name without all question grew from Somerton a famous Towne in ancient time and of all others in the shire most frequented considering that Asserius a writer of great antiquitie calleth this Countie in every place Somertunensis that is Somertunshire In the very first limit of the shire Westward where Ex riseth in a solitarie and hilly moore first appeareth Dulverton a silly market according to the soile and neere unto it was a small religious house of Black-chanons at Barelinch who in latter times acknowledged the Fetyplaces their founders Higher upward on the Severne side where this shire confineth upon Devonshire first we meet with Porlock in the English-Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Watchet in times past Wecedpoort roades both and harbours for ships the which in the yeere 886. were most grievously afflicted by the Danish cruell piracies Betwixt them standeth Dunster Castle upon a flat and low ground enclosed round about with hilles saving to the Sea-ward built by the Moions or Mohuns From whose heires by agreements and compositions it came in the end to the Lutterels A right noble and mightie house this of the Mohuns was for a long time and flourished from the verie Conquerours daies under whose raigne that Castle was built unto the time of King Richard the Second Two Earles there were of this Countie out of that familie as I shall shew hereafter William and Reginald who in the Barons warre lost that honor The Posteritie afterwards were reputed Barons of whom the last named Iohn left three daughters Philip wife to Edward Duke of Yorke Elizabeth wedded to William Montacute Earle of Sarisburie the second of that name and Maud Joyned in marriage to the Lord Strange of Knokin The Mother of which three Ladies as the report goes obtained of her husband so much pasture-ground in Common by the Towne side for the benefit of the Inhabitants as she could goe about in one day barefoot SOMERSETTENSIS Comitatus Vulgo Somersett Shyre Qui â—lim pars fuit BELGARVM Now to returne the river Ivel from hence runneth to ISCHALIS mentioned by Ptolomee now Ivelcester named in the Catalogue of Ninnius if I be not deceived Pontavel Coit for Pont-Ivel Coit that is Ivel bridge in the wood by Florentius of Worcester Givelcester at this day of small account but onely for the antiquitie and the market there kept for peeces of the Roman Caesars or Emperours money of gold brasse and silver are other whiles here digged up That in old time it had been a great towne and on some sides strengthned with a double wall the ruines declare and two towers upon the Bridge About the time of the Normans comming in well peopled it was and much frequented For reckoned there were in it one hundred and seven Burgesses A sure place also in those daies and well fortified for in the yeere of Grace 1088 when the Nobles of England had conspired plotted against King William Rufus to put him downe and set up his brother Robert Duke of Normandie in his Roiall throne Robert Mowbray a warlike man having burnt Bathe forcibly assaulted this towne but with lost labour yet what hee could not doe then long processe of time
hath now partly effected and in some sort over-mastred it A little beneath by Langport a proper market town the Rivers Ivel and Pedred running together make betweene them an Iland called Muchelney that is to say The great Iland wherein are to bee seene the defaced walles and ruines of an old Abbey built by King Athelstane as writers reporr This Pedred commonly named Parret hath his beginning in the verie edge or skirt of the shire southward and holding on a crooked and winding course thorow Crockhorne in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Pedderton to whom it gave the name sometime Pedridan the Roiall seat of King Ina â— which towne now adayes is of none account unlesse it be for the market and Faire there held which Henrie Daubeney obtained of King Henrie the Sixth at this place runneth into Ivel and robbeth him of his name when hee is come downe three miles Eastward and hath bidden farewell to Montacute so termed by the Earle of Moriton brother by the Mothers side to King William the Conquerour who built a Castle upon the verie hill top and at the foot thereof a Priorie because the said hill riseth up by little and little to a sharpe pâ—int for before time it was called Logoresburgh and Biscopeston As for the Castle it came to nothing many yeeres since the stones thereof being had away to the repairing of the Monasterie and other houses Upon the pitch of the said hill there was a Chapell afterwards set and dedicated unto Saint Michael built with arch-worke and an embowed roofe overhead all of stone right artificially to which for halfe a mile wel nere men ascended upon stone-staires which in their ascent fetched a compasse round about the hil But now that the Priorie and chapell both be pulled down the faire and goodly house which Sir Edward Philips Knight and the Kings Sargeant at Law built lately at the hill foote maketh a very beautifull shew This high place Mont-acute hath given surname to that right honourable family of Montacute which had their beginning of Dru the younger Out of which there were foure Earles of Sarisburie the last of them left one daughter onely Alice who by Richard Nevil pare Richard that renowned Earle of Warwick who kept such stirres and made all England to shake also Iohn Nevil Marquesse Montacute who were both slaine at Barnet field in the yeere 1472. Afterward King Henrie the Eighth conferred the title of Lord Montacute upon Henrie Poole sonne of Margaret daughter to George Duke of Clarence that came of the daughter of that Richard Nevill aforesaid Earle of Warwicke and when hee had so done straightwaies made him shorter by the head afterwards Queene Marie advanced Anthonie Browne whose Grandmother was a daughter of Iohn Nevill Marquesse Montacute to the title and honour of Vicount Montacute which his Grandchild Anthonie who succeeded him now honourably enjoyeth And here I must not forget neither Preston sometime the seat of Iohn Sturton younger sonne to the first Lord Sturton one of whose heires was married to Sidenham of Brimton thereby neither Odcombe adjoyning thereto as small a towne as it is seeing it had a Baron of the owne William de Briewer for so was his father named in the Norman-French because he was borne in an heath who being taken up in the new Forrest by King Henrie the Second in a hunting journey prooved a great man and gratious in the Court as whom King Richard the First highly favored as his minion and all the world embraced and loved grew unto a verie wealthy estate married Beatrix of Vannes widow to Reginald Earle of Cornwall and his daughters for that his sonne died without issue by their marriages brought great possessions to their husbands Breos Wake La-fert and Piercy Under this towne hard by lieth Stoke under Hamden where the Gornaies had their Castle and built a Colledge This familie de Gornaico commonly named Gornay was verie ancient and of good account descended from the same stocke out of which the Warrens Earles of Surrie and the Mortimers are sprung but in the fore-going age it failed and some of their lands descended by the Hamptons to the house of the Newtons Knights who willignly acknowledge themselves to bee come out of Wales and not long since to have beene named Caradocks Neither must I passe over in silence how Matthew Gournay a most famous warriour in the raigne of Edward the Third was buried heere who in the fourescore and sixteenth yeere of his age ended this life when as appeareth by his Epitaph he had fought at the siege of Algizer against the Saracens in the battels of Benamazin Scluse Cressie Ingenos Poictiers and Nazars in Spaine Then Pedred watereth Martocke a litle market Towne which in times past William of Boloigne King Stephens sonne gave unto Faramuse of Boloigne whose sole heire Sibyll was wedded to Ingelraine Fienes from whom descended the Fienes Barons of Dacre and Lords Say and Sele Parret from hence thorow the mire and moorish plaine countrey holding his course Northward passed by Langport a market Towne well frequented and Aulre a Village consisting of a few poore Cottages which seemeth to have beene a Towne of good account for when King Elfred had given the Danes such an overthrow in battell and by strait siege compelled them to yeeld so farre forth that they tooke an oath immediatly to depart out of his dominions and Godrus their King promised to become Christian as writeth Asserius at this very place he with great pompe was Godfather to the said Godrus at the sacred Font. Beneath this place from the West Parret receiveth into it the river Thone which springing farre of in the West part of this Countrey very neere unto Devonshire runneth thorow most rich and pleasant fields passing downe neere Wivelscomb assigned anciently to the Bishops of Bathe and by Wellington which in the time of King Edward the elder was a land of â—ix Manentes what time hee granted it together with Lediard that had twelve Manentes Hides unto the Bishop of Shirburne Now a prettie market Towne it is and graced most by the habitation there of Sir Iohn Popham For vertuous men and such as have so well deserved of their countrey are not to bee passed in silence a man of an ancient worshipfull house and withall a most upright Iusticer and of singular industry who being Lord chiefe Iustice of the Kings Bench administreth his office toward malefactours with such holesome and available severity that England hath beene beholden unto him a long time for a great part of her private peace and home-securitie For thence with a soft streame and gentle fall Thone runneth by Thonton commonly Taunton and giveth it his name A very fine and proper Towne this is indeed and most pleasantly seated in a word one of the eyes of this shire where Ina King
deprived thereof by King Henrie the Fourth having the title onely of the Earle of Somerset left unto him The said Iohn had three sonnes Henry Earle of Somerset who died in his tender age Iohn created by King Henry the Fifth the first Duke of Somerset who had one sole daughter named Margaret mother to King Henry the Seventh and Edmund who succeeded after his brother in the Dukedome and having beene a certaine time Regent of France being called home and accused for the losse of Normandie after hee had suffred much grievance at the peoples hands in that regard was in that wofull war betweene the houses of Lancaster and Yorke slaine in the first battaile of S. Albans Henrie his sonne being placed in his roome whiles hee served the times siding one while with Yorke and anotherwhile with Lancaster in the battaile at Exham was by those of the houses of Yorke taken prisoner and with the losse of his head paied for his unconstant levitie Edmund his brother succeeded him in his honor who of this family was the last Duke of Somerset and when the whole power of the Lancastrians was discomfited at Tewkesbury was forcibly pulled out of the Church into which all embrued with bloud he fled as into a Sanctuary and then beheaded Thus all the legitimate males of this family being dead and gone first King Henry the Seventh honored with title Edmund his owne son a young child who shortly departed this world afterwards King Henry the Eighth did the like for his base sonne named Henry Fitz-Roy And seeing he had no children King Edward the Sixth invested Sir Edward de Sancto Mauro commonly Seimor with the same honour who being most power-able honorable and loaden with titles for thus went his stile Duke of Somerset Earle of Hertford Vicount Beauchamp Baron Seimor Vncle to the King Governor of the King Protector of his Realmes Dominions and subjects Lieutenant of the forces by land and sea Lord high Treasurer and Earle Marshall of England Captaine of the Isles Gernsey and Iarsey c. Was sodainely overwhelmed as it were by a disport of fortune which never suffereth suddaine over-greatnesse to last long and for a small crime and that upon a nice point subtlely devised and packed by his enemies bereaved both of those dignities and his life withall In this Countie are numbred Parishes 385. WILTONIAE Comitatus herbida Plâ—nicie nobilis vulâ—o will Shire pars olim BELGARVM WILSHIRE WIl-shire which also pertained to the BELGAR called in the English-Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine commly termed Wiltonia taking that denomination of Wilton sometime the chiefe towne like as it of the River Willy is altogether a mediterranean or mid-land country For enclosed it is with Somersetshire on the West Berkshire and Hampshire on the East on the North with Glocestershire and on the South with Dorsetshire and a part of Hampshire A Region which as it breedeth a number of warlike and hardy men who in old time with Cornwall and Denshire together challenged by reason of their manhood and martiall prowesse the prerogative in the English armie of that regiment which should second the maine battell as saith Iohn of Sarisburie in his Polycraticon so is it exceeding fertill and plentifull of all things yea and for the varietie thereof passing pleasant and delightsome The Northern and upper part which they call North-Wilshire riseth up somewhat with delectable hils attired in times past with large and great woods which now begin to grow thinne and watered with cleare rivers For Isis the principall and as it were Prince of all the English Rivers which afterwards taketh to him the name of Tamisis that is Thames being now as yet but little and shallow together with other Rivers of lesse name which I will speake of in their proper places water it plentifully The South part with large grassie plaines feedeth innumerable flocks of sheepe having his Rivers swelling Brookes and rils of everliving fountaines The middest of this shire which for the most part also lieth even and plain is divided overthwart from East to West with a Dike of wonderfull worke cast up for many miles together in length The people dwelling there about call it Wansdike which upon an errour generall received they talke and tell to have beene made by the divell upon a Wednesday For in the Saxon tongue it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say The Ditch of Wooden or Mercurie and as it should seeme of Wooden that false imagined God and Father of the English-Saxons But I have alwaies beene perswaded that the Saxons made it as a limit to divide the two Kingdomes of the Mercians and West-Saxons asunder For this was the very place of battell betweene them whiles they strove one with another to enlarge their Dominions And neere unto this Dike standeth Wodensburg a little Village where Ceauline the most warlike King of the West-Saxons in the yeare of grace 590. whiles hee defended his Marches in a bloudy fight received such a foile and overthrow by the Britans and Englishmen that he was forced to flie his countrey and to end his daies in exile a pitious and lamentable spectacle even to his very enemies And at this Dike to say nothing of other accidents Ina the West-Saxon and Ceolred the Mercian joyned battell and departed the field on even hand Like to this was that ditch whereby King Offa kept the Britans off from his Mercians called even at this day Offa-dike others also are still to be seene among the East-Angles in Cambridgeshire and Suffolke wherewith they limited their territory and defended themselves from the inrodes and invasions of the Mercians In the North-part of Wilshire which is watered with Isis or the Thames there is a towne called Creckelade by Marianus by others Greekelade of Greeke Philosophers as some are ready to beleeve who as the historie of Oxford reporteth began there an Universitie which afterwards was translated to Oxford West from that is Highworth highly seated a well knowne Market but South from Creckelade I saw Lediard Tregoze the seat of the Familie of Saint-Iohn Knights the which Margaret de Bello Campo or Beauchamp afterwards Duchesse of Somerset gave to Oliver of Saint Iohn her second sonne For to her it came as an inheritance by Patishul Grandison and Tregoze names of great honour Wotton Basset bordeth hard upon this having this primitive name from Wood the addition doth prove that it belonged to the Noble house of the Bassets But in the latter fore-going age it was as I have heard say the habitation of the Duke of Yorke who made there a verie large Parke for to enclose Deere in From hence Breden wood now Breden Forrest stretched it selfe farre and wide which in the yeare 905. by Ethelwald Clyto and the Danes that aided him was laid waste and the Inhabitants endured all calamities of warre On the West side whereof the River Avon above mentioned
for all England right happy For it brought forth to us Queene Elizabeth a most gracious and excellent Prince worthy of superlative praise for her most wise and politique government of the Common-wealth and for her heroicke vertues farre above that sexe But when the said Thomas Bullen overcome with the griefe and sorrow that hee tooke for the infortunate fall and death of his children he ended his daies without issue this title lay still untill that King Edward the Sixth conferred it upon William Powlet Lord Saint Iohn whom soone after hee made Marquesse of Winchester and Lord Treasurer of England in whose family it remaineth at this day This Countie containeth in it Parishes 304. HANTSHIRE NExt to Wilshire is that Country which sometimes the Saxons called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is now commonly named Hantshire of which one part that beareth farther within the land belonged no doubt to the Belgae the other which lieth upon the sea appertained without question to the Regni an ancient people of Britaine On the West it hath Dorsetshire and Wilshire on the South the Ocean to bound it on the East it joyneth to Sussex and Surrie and on the North it bordereth upon Barkshire A small province it is fruitfull in corne furnished in some places with pleasant woods standing thicke and well growne rich in plenteous pasture and for all commodities of sea most wealthy and happie It is thought that it was with the first brought under subjection to the Romans For our Histories report that Vespasian subdued it and very probable reasons there are inducing us to beleeve the same For Dio witnesseth that Plautius and Vespasian when they were sent by the Emperour Claudius against the Britaines did give the attempt upon this Island with an armie divided into three parts least if they should have ventured to land in one place onely they might have beene driven backe from the shore Suetonius also writeth that in this expedition Vespasian fought thirtie battailes with the enemie and subdued the Isle of Wight which lieth against this country and two other right puissant nations with it For which his victories as also for passing over the Ocean so safely Valerius Flaccus speaketh unto Vespasian himselfe as one more fortunate than Iulius Caesar in this manner Tuque O Pelagi cui major aperti Fama Caledonius post quam tua Carbasa vexit Oceanus Fhrigios prius indignatus Iülos And thou for Seas discoverie whose fame did more appeare Since that thy ships with sailes full spred in Northren Ocean were Which skorn'd before of Phrygian line the Julii to beare And of the very same Vespasian Appolonius Collatius Novariensis the Poet versified thus Ille quidem nuper faelici Marte Britannos Fuderat He verily of late by happy flight Had won the field and Britains put to flight But how in this war Titus delivered Vespasian his father when he was very streightly besieged by the Britans and how at the same time likewise an adder grasped him about and yet never hurt him which he tooke as a lucky foretoken of his Empire you may learne out of Dio and Forcatulus I for my part to come to my purpose beginning at the West side of this province will make my perambulation along the sea-coast and the rivers that runne into the Ocean and after that survey the more in-land parts thereof HAMSHIRE OLIM PARS BELGARVM A long the East banke of this river in this Shire King William of Normandie pulled downe all the townes villages houses and Churches farre and neere cast out the poore Inhabitants and when he had so done brought all within thirty miles compasse or there about into a forrest and harbour for wild beasts which the Englishmen in those daies termed Ytene and we now call New forrest Of which Act of his Gwalter Maps who lived immediately after wrote thus The Conquerour tooke away land both from God and men to dedicate the same unto wild beasts and Dogs-game in which space he threw downe sixe and thirtie-Mother-Churches and drave all the people thereto belonging quite away And this did he either that the Normans might have safer and more secure arrivall in England for it lieth over against Normandie in case after that all his wars were thought ended any new dangerous tempest should arise in this Island against him or for the pleasure which he tooke in hunting or else to scrape and rape money to himselfe by what meanes soever he could For being better affected and more favourable to beasts than to men he imposed verie heavie fines and penalties yea and other more grievous punishments upon those that should meddle with his game But Gods just judgement not long after followed this so unreasonable and cruell act of the King For Richard his second sonne and William Rufus King of England another sonne of his perished both in this Forrest William by chance shot through with an arrow by Walter Tirell the other blasted with a pestilent aire Henrie likewise his Grand-child by Robert his eldest sonne whiles hee hotely pursued his game in this Chase was hanged amongst the boughes and so died that wee may learne thereby How even childrens children beare the punishment of their Fathers sonnes There goe commonly abroad certaine verses that Iohn White Bishop of Winchester made of this Forrest Which although they falsly make William Rufus to have ordained the same yet because they are well liked of many I am likewise well content heere to set them downe Templa adimit Divis fora civibus arva colonis Rufus instituit Beaulensi in rure forestam Rex cervum insequitur Regem vindicta Tirellus Non bene provisum transfixit acumine ferri From God and Saint King Rus did Churches take From Citizens town-court and mercate place From Farmer lands New forrest for to make In Beaulew tract where whiles the King in chase Pursues the Hart just vengeance comes apace And King pursues Tirrell him seeing not Unawares him slew with dint of arrow shot He calleth it Beauley tract for that King Iohn built hard by a pretty Monasterie for the pleasant scituation called Beaulieu which continued ever unto our Fathers memorie of great fame as being an unviolated sanctuarie and a safe refuge for all that fled to it in so much that in times past our people heere thought it unlawfull and an hainous offence by force to take from thence any persons whatsoever were they thought never so wicked murtherers or traitours so that our Ancestors when they erected such Sanctuaries or Temples as they terme them of Mercie every where throughout England seemed rather to have proposed unto themselves Romulus to imitate than Moses who commanded that wilfull murtherers should bee plucked from the Altar and put to death and for them onely appointed Sanctuarie who by meere chance had killed any man But least the sea coast for so long a tract as that forrest is heere should lie without defence all open
sitten since Wina whom the said Kenelwalch ordained the first Bishop there Many Bishops some renowned for their wealth and honourable port and some for holinesse of life But among other Saint Swithin continueth yet of greatest fame not so much for his sanctitie as for the raine which usually falleth about the Feast of his translation in Iuly by reason the Sunne then Cosmically with Praesepe and Aselli noted by ancient writers to be rainie constellations and not for his weeping or other weeping Saints Margaret the Virgine and Mary Magdalen whose feasts are shortly after as some superstitiously-credulous have believed This by the way pardon me I pray you for I digresse licentiously Thus Bishops of Winchester have beene anciently by a certaine peculiar prerogative that they have Chancellours to the Archbishop of Canterbury and for long time now Prelates to the order of the Garter and they have from time to time to their great cost reedified the Church and by name Edington and Walkelin but Wickham especially who built all the West part thereof downe from the quire after a new kind of worke I assure you most sumptuously In the midst of which building is to be seene his owne tombe of decent modestie betweene two pillars And these Bishops have ever and anon consecrated it to new Patrons and Saints as to Saint Amphibalus Saint Peter Saint Swithin and last of all to the holy Trinitie by which name it is knowne at this day The English Saxons also had this Church in great honour for the sepulture of certaine Saints and Kings there whose bones Richard Fox the Bishop gathered and shrining them in certaine little gilded coffers placed them orderly with their severall Inscriptions in the top of that wall which encloseth the upper part of the quire and they called it in times past 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The old Minster for difference from another more lately built which was named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is The new Minster which Elfred founded and for the building of houses of office belonging to the same purchase of the Bishop a plot of ground and for every foot of it paid him downe a marke after the publike weight This monasterie as also that other the older was built for married Priests who afterwards upon I know not what miracle of a Crosse that spoke and disliked their marriage were thrust out by Dunstane Archbishop of Canterbury and Monkes put in their place The walls of these two monasteries stood so neere and close together that the voices of those that sung in the one troubled the chaunting of the other whereupon there arose grudge and heart-burning betweene these Monkes which afterwards brake out into open enmities By occasion whereof and because at this new monasterie there gathered and stood much water which from the Westerne gate came downe thither along the current of the streets and cast forth from it an unwholsome aire the Minster Church two hundred yeares after the first foundation of it was removed into the Suburbs of the citie on the North part which they call Hide Where by the permission of King Henry the First the Monks built a most stately and beautifull monasterie which a few yeares after by the craftie practice of Henrie de Blois Bishoppe of Winchester as the private historie of this place witnesseth was pitiously burnt In which fire that Crosse also was consumed which Canutus the Dane gave and upon which as old writings beare record he bestowed as much as his owne yeares revenewes of all England came unto The monasterie neverthelesse was raised up againe and grew by little and little to wonderfull greatnesse as the very ruines thereof even at this day doe shew untill that generall subversion and finall period of our monasteries For then was this monasterie demolished and into that other of the holy Trinitie which is the Cathedrall Church when the monkes were thrust out were brought in their stead a Deane twelve Prebendaries and there placed At the East side of this Cathedrall Church standeth the Bishops palace called Wolvesey a right goodly thing and sumptuous which being towred and compassed almost round with the streame of a prety river reacheth even to the Citie walls and in the South-suburbes just over against it beholdeth a faire Colledge which William Wickham Bishop of this See the greatest father and Patron of all Englishmen of good literature and whose praise for ever to the worlds end will continue built for a Schoole and thereto dedicated it out of which both for Church and Common-wealth there riseth a most plentiful increase of right learned men For in this Colledge one warden ten fellowes two Schoole-masters and threescore and ten schollers with divers others are plentifully maintained There have beene also in this Citie other faire and goodly buildings for very many were here consecrated to religion which I list not now to recount since time and avarice hath made an end of them Onely that Nunnery or monasterie of vailed Virgins which Elfwida the wife of King Elfred founded I will not overpasse seeing it was a most famous thing as the remainder of it now doth shew and for that out of it King Henrie the First tooke to wife Mawde the daughter of Malcolne King of Scots by whom the Royall bloud of the ancient Kings of England became united to the Normans and he therefore wonne much love of the English nation For neiphew shee was in the second degree of descent unto Edmund Iron-side by his sonne Edward the Banished A woman as adorned with all other vertues meet for a Queene so especially inflamed with an incredible love of true pietie and godlinesse Whereupon was this Tetrastich made in her commendation Prospera non laetam fecêre nec asperae tristem Aspera risus ei prospera terror erant Non decor effecit fragilem non sceptra superbam Sola potens humilis sola pudica decens No prosp'rous state did make her glad Nor adverse chances made her sad If fortune frown'd she then did smile If fortune frown'd she feard the while If beauty tempted she yet said nay No pride she tooke in scepters sway Shee onely high her selfe debas'd A lady onely faire and chast Concerning Sir Guy of Warwick of whom there goe so many prety tales who in single fight overcame here that Danish giant and Golias Colbrand and of Waltheof Earle of Huntingdon that was here beheaded where afterwards stood Saint Giles chappell as also of that excellent Hospital of Saint Crosse there adjoyning founded by Henry of Blois bother to King Stephen and Bishop of this City and augmented by Henry Beauford Cardinall I need not to speake seeing every man may read of them in the common Chronicles As touching the Earles of Winchester to say nothing of Clyto the Saxon whom the Normans deprived of his ancient honour King Iohn created Saier Quincy Earle of Winchester who used for his armes a military belt
name of Sir Iohn Lisle of the Isle of Wight ATTREBATII AS in France so also in Britaine next adjoyning unto the Belgae are ATTREBATII which name being now altogether out of use the place which they inhabite is commonly called Barkshire For let this stand as granted seeing Cesar writeth the forrainers comming out of Gallia Belgica inhabited the sea coasts of Britaine and retained still the names of their countries that these our ATTREBATII ATTREBATES of Gaule who as Ptolomee recordeth held the maritime part of Gaule lying upon the river Sein and namely that very countrey which after a sort lieth full opposite and over against our Attrebatii It was not therefore without good cause if Cesar wrote that Comius Attrebatensis was of great authority in these countries namely among his owne countrimen and that after hee was by Cesar vanquished he fled hither what time as Frontinus writeth whiles his ships were grounded upon a shelfe he commanded his sailes to be hoised up and so disappointed Cesar who pursued him of his purpose who kenning a-farre-of his full sailes and supposing that with a good gale of forewind he sailed away gave over further pursuit Whence these Attrebatii were so called it resteth doubtfull For whereas some fetch the originall from Attrech which in the old Gauls tongue they would have to signifie a land of Bread I neither approve nor disprove their opinion Sufficient it may be for us to have shewed from whence they came into Britaine as for the derivation of their name let others search into it COMITATUS Bercheriâ— vulgo Barkshyre qui olim sedes ATREBATVM BARKSHIRE THat countrie which we call Barkshire the late Latine writers terme Bercheria and was somtime by the English Saxons named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which name Asserius Menevensis deriveth from a certaine wood called Berroc where grew good store of box others from a naked or bare oake for so much the name Beroke it selfe importeh unto which the Inhabitants in dangers and troublesome times of the commonwealth were wont in old time to resort there to consult about their publike affaires The North part hereof the river Isis which afterwards is called Tamisis that is the Tamis running with a winding channell full of reaches but carrying a very gentle streame doth pleasantly water it and first severeth it from Oxfordshire afterwards from Buckinghamshire The South side where it beareth toward Hantshire the river Kenet cutteth through untill it runnes into the Tamis In the West where it bordereth upon Wiltshire and carrieth the greatest breadth as also in the middle part rich it is of it selfe and full of commodities yeelding corne in plenty especially where it falleth lower to a valley which I wotte not from what shape of a white horse imagined to appeare in a whitish chalky hill they terme The vale of Whitehorse As for the East part that confineth with Surrie it groweth very barraine or at least wise the soile is lesse fertile as standing upon forrests and woods that take up a great ground in length and breadth In the West march thereof neere unto Isis standeth Farendon seated high famous now for a mercate there kept but in times past for a certaine Fort which Robert Earle of Glocester built against King Stephen who notwithstanding wonne it with bloudy assaults and laid it so levell with the ground that now it is not to bee seene But the plot of ground whereon it stood as we finde in the Chronicle of Waverley Abbay King Iohn in the yeere of our Lord 1202. prevented by divine inspiration granted with all the appurtenances to the building of an Abbay for the Cistercians order From hence the river having with a great turning compasse after much wrestling gotten out towards the North passeth a long hard by many villages of small reckoning till at length with a returne and disporting it selfe with winding branches and divisions he commeth to Abbendon a proper towne and populous called at first by the English Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then Abbandune no doubt of the Abbay rather then of one Abben I wote not what Irish Eremite as some have written A place this was as we finde in an old booke of Abbendon upon the plaine of an hill very faire and delectable to see too a little beyond the town which now is called Suniggewelle betweene two most pleasant rivelets which enclosing within them the place it selfe as it were a certaine nooke yeeld a delightsome sight to the beholders and a meete succour to the Inhabitants The very same was in times past called Sheovesham a Citie famous goodly to behold full of riches compassed about with most plentuous fields with greene medowes â—patious pastures and flockes of cattell spinning forth milke abundantly Hâ—ere was the Kings seat hither resorted and assembled the people when soever there was any treaty about the chiefe and highest affaires of the kingdome But so soone as Cissa King of the West Saxons had built the Abbay it beganne by little and little to lay downe the old name and to be called Abbendon and Abbington that is Abbay-towne This Abbay had not long flourished when all of a sodaine in a tempestuous fury of the Danes it was subverted Yet soone after it was reared againe through the bounty of King Edgar and afterwards by the meanes travaile of the Norman Abbats grew by little and little to such magnificence that among all the Abbaies of Britaine for riches and statelinesse it would hardly give place to any Which the very rubble and ruines at this day doe testifie As for the towne albeit along time it had a great stay of the Abbay yet since the yeere of our salvation 1416. in which King Henrie the Fifth built Bridges over the River Isis or Ouse as witnesseth a verse written in a window of Saint Helens Church there and turned the Kings high way hither for to make a shorter passage it beganne to bee frequented and traded so that among all the townes of this shire it goes for the chiefe hath a Major in it and maketh great gaine by that steeped barly sprouting and chitting againe which the Greekes terme Byne and wee Malt sand besides hath a Crosse of singular workemanship in the mids of their mercate place which by report in the reigne of King Henrie the sixth the Brotherhood of Saint Crosse instituted by him did erect As Cissa founded this monasterie for Monkes so Cilla out of an old booke I speake the sister of King Cedwalla built the Nunnerie at Helnestowe neere the Tamis where her selfe was Ladie Abbasse over the Virgins who afterwards were translated to Witham And whiles the warre grew hote betweene Offa and Kinulphe when a Castle was there built the Nunnes retired themselves out of the way For after that Kinulph was overthrowne whatsoever lay under his jurisdiction from the towne of Wallengford in the South part from Ichenildstreete unto Essebury and
was built by the Danes but I should rather judge that something was here erected by the Romans and afterwards rased by Saxons and Danes what time as Sueno the Dane ranging and roving this way spoiled and harried the countrey That it was at length reedified under King William the first we know assuredly by Domesday book seeing that it yeeldeth record as even now I noted of eight Hages or Houses destroyed for the Castle Yet William Gemeticensis makes no mention of this Castle when he writeth that William of Normandie having defeited Harold led his armie forthwith to this citie so he termeth it and after he had passed over the Tamis at the ford pitched his tents heere before hee came to London At which time Wigod an Englishman was Lord of Wallengford who had one onely daughter given in marriage to Robert D'Oyley of whom he begat Mawd his sole heire first wedded to Miles Crispin and after his death through the goodnesse and favour of K. Henrie the first married unto Brient called Fitz Count Who being brought up in warlike feates and taking part with Mawde the Empresse most manfully defended this Castle against King Stephen who had raised a fort just over against it at Craumesh and he made it good untill that peace so much wished of all England was concluded in this place and that most grievous dissention about the Crowne betweene K. Stephen and Henrie the Second ended For then the love of God tooke such place in the hearts of the said Brient and his wife that they cast of this fraile and transitorie world and devoted themselves in religious life unto Christ so was this Honour of Wallengford escheated into the Kings hand Which appeareth out of an old Inquisition in the Exchequer by these words To his most beloved Lords the King our soveraigne Lord his Iustices and Barons of the Exchequer the Constable of Wallengford sendeth greeting Know ye that I have made diligent enquiry by the Knights of my Bayliwicke according to a commandement of my Lord the King directed unto me by the Sheriffe and of the Inquisition thus made this is the summe Wigod of Wallengford held the honour of Wallengford in King Harolds time and afterwards in the daies of King William the First He had by his wife a certaine daughter whom he gave in marriage to Robert D'Oyly This Robert begat of her a daughter named Mawd who was his heire Miles Crispin espoused her and had with her the honour aforesaid of Wallengford After the decease of Miles our soveraigne Lord King Henrie the first bestowed the aforesaid Mawd upon Brient Fitz Count who both tooke themselves to a religious life and King Henrie the Second seized the honour into his hand c. Yet afterwards in the time of King Henrie the Third it belonged to the Earles of Chester and then to Richard King of the Romans and Earle of Cornwall who repaired it and unto his sonne Edmond who within the inner Court founded a Collegiate Chappell who dying without issue it fell againe to the Crowne and was annexed to the Dukedome of Cornwall since which time it hath by little and little decaied And verily about the time when that most mortall Plague which followed the conjunction of Saturne and Mars in Capricorne reigned hotely throughout all Europe in the yeare of our Lord 1348. This towne was so dispeopled by reason of continuall mortalitie there that whereas before time it was passing well Inhabited and had twelve Churches in it it can shew now no more than one or two But the cause of this desolation the Inhabitants lay rather upon the bridges of Abbindon and Dorchester whereby London portway was turned from thence From hence Southward the Tamis passeth most mildly betweene very rich and fertile fields on both sides by Moules-ford which K. Henrie the first gave unto Girald Fitz-Walter from whence the Noble family of the Carewes is descended To this house much lands honour and reputation accrewed in Ireland by descent and in England by matching in marriage with right noble families of the Mohuns Dinhams and others Not farre from hence is Aldworth where be certaine tombes and portraictures bigger than the ordinary proportion of men which thereupon the unlearned multitude keepes a wondering at as if they had been Giants whereas indeed they were but of certaine Knights of the Family de la Beche which heere had a Castle and is thought in the raigne of King Edward the Third to have beene extinguished for default of issue male And now at length Tamis meeteth with Kenet which River as I said ere-while watering the South part of this shire at his first entry when he hath left Wiltshire behind him runneth under Hungerford named in old time Ingleford Charnam-street a very small towne and seated in a moist place howbeit it hath given name and title to the honorable family of the Barons of Hungerford which was first raised to greatnesse by Walter Hungerford who under King Henrie the Fifth being Seneschall or Steward of the Kings house was for his warlike prowesse liberally rewarded by the said king and infeoffed in the Castle and Barony of Homet in Normandie To have and to hold unto him and his heires males by homage and service to find the Kings and his heires at the Castle of Roan one Launce with a Fox taile hanging downe thereat which pleasant conceit I thought not a misse to insert here among serious matters The same Walter in the raigne of Henrie the Sixth being high Treasurer of England and created withall Baron Hungerford as well by his singular wisedome as his marriage mith Katherine Peverell descended from the Moels and Courtneys mightily augmented his state His sonne Robert who wedded the daughter and heire of the Lord Botereaux enriched the same house verie much Sir Robert likewise his sonne who matched with Eleanor the daughter and heire of William Molines whereupon he was summoned among the Barons of the Realme by the name of Lord Molines and during the civill warre betweene the two houses of Lancaster and Yorke was beheaded at Newcastle advanced the name not a little His sonne Thomas slaine at Salisbury while his father was living left his onely daughter named Marie whom Edward Lord Hastings tooke to wife with a great and rich Inheritance But Walter brother to the said Thomas begat Edward Hungerford father of that Walter whom King Henrie the Eighth created Baron Hungerford of Heitesbury and condemned him afterwards for a crime not to be spoken of howbeit Queene Marie restored his children unto all his estate save onely the name and title of Barons Not farre from hence Southward is Widehay the seat for a long time of the Baron Saint Amand whose inheritance Gerard Braybrooke entred upon in right of his wife whose eldest Niece by his sonne Gerard named Elizabeth by her marriage brought the same unto William de Beauchamp who being summoned to
it selfe into a channell yet often times it overfloweth the low lands about it to no small detriment Not farre from the said mere Furle sheweth it selfe a principall mansion of the Gages who advanced their estate by the marriage of one of the heires of Saint Clare Princes favour and Court Offices The shore next openeth it selfe at Cuckmere which yet affordeth no commodious haven though it be fed with a fresh which insulateth Michelham where Gilbert de Aquila founded a Priory for black Chanons And then at East-bourn the shore ariseth into so high a Promontory called of the beach Beachy-points and Beau-cliffe for the faire shew being interchangeably compounded with rowe of chalke and flint that it is esteemed the highest cliffe of all the South coast of England As hitherto from Arundell and beyond the countrey along the coast for a great breadth mounteth up into high hilles called the Downes which for rich fertilitie giveth place to few valleys and plaines so now it falleth into such a low levell and marsh that the people think it hath been over-flowed by the sea They call it Pevensey Marsh of Pevensey the next towne adjoyning which lieth in the plaine somewhat within the land upon a small river which often times overlaieth the lands adjacent In the old English Saxon Language it was walled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Norman speech Pevensell now commonly Pemsey It hath had a meane haven and a faire large castle in the ruinous walles whereof remaine great bricks such as the Britans used which is some argument of the antiquitie thereof It belonged in the Conquerours time to Robert Earle of Moriton halfe brother by the mothers side to the Conquerour and then had fiftie and six Burgesses After the attainder of his Sonne William Earle of Moriton it came to King Henrie the First by Escheat In the composition betweene Stephen and King Henrie the second both towne and castle with whatsoever Richard de Aquila had of the Honor of Pevensey which after his name was called Honor de Aquila and Baronia de Aquila or of the Eagle was assigned to William Sonne to K. Stephen But he surrendred it with Norwich into King Henrie the Seconds hand in the yeere 1158 when he restored to him all such Lands as Stephen was seased of before hee usurped the crowne of England After some yeeres King Henrie the third over-favouring forrainers granted the Honor de Aquila which had fallen to the crowne by Escheat for that Gilbert de Aquila had passed into Normandie against the Kings good will to Peter Earle of Savoy the Queenes uncle But he fearing the envie of the English against forrainers relinquished it to the King and so at length it came to the Dutchy of Lancaster Inward from Pevensey is seated Herst in a Parke among the woods which name also it hath of the woody situation For the ancient English-men called a wood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This was immediately after the Normans entry into England the seat of certaine noble gentlemen who of that place were a good while named de Herst untill William the sonne of Walleran de Herst tooke unto him the name Monceaux of the place haply where he was borne an usuall thing in that age whereupon that name also was adnexed unto this place which ever since was of the Lord termed Herst Monceaux From whose Posteritie by heire generall it descended haereditarily to the Fienes These Fienes called likewise Fenis and Fienles derive their pedigree from Ingelram de Fienes who had wedded the heire of Pharumuse of Boloigne of the house of the Earles of Boloigne in France About the time of King Edward the Second Sir Iohn Fienes married the heire of Monceaux his sonne William married one of the heires of the Lord Say his sonne likewise the heire of Batisford whose sonne Sir Roger Fienes married the daughter of Holland and in the first yeare of King Henrie the Sixt built of bricke the large faire uniforme convenient house heere Castle-like within a deepe moate The said King Henrie the Sixt Accepted declared and reputed Sir Richard Fienis sonne of the said Sir Roger to be Baron of Dacre And the same tittle King Edward the fourth chosen Arbitratour and Umpire betweene him Sir Humfrey Dacre awarded confirmed to the said S. Richard Fienis and to the heires of his bodie lawfully begotten for that he had married Ioane the cousin and next heire of Thomas Baron Dacre and to have praecedence before the L. Dacre of Gilesland heire male of the family Since which time the heires lineally descending from him being enriched by one of the heires of the Lord Fitz-Hugh have enjoyed the honor of Baron Dacre untill that very lately George Fienis Lord Dacre sonne to the unfortunate Thomas Lord Dacre died without issue whose onely sister and heire Margaret Sampson Lennard Esquire a man both vertuous and courteous tooke to wife and by her hath faire issue In whose behalfe it was published declared and adjudged by the Lords Cōmissioners for Martiall causes in the second yeere of the raigne of King Iames with his privity and assent Royall That the said Margaret ought to beare have and enjoy the name state degree title stile honor place and precedency of the Baronie of Dacre to have and to hold to her and the issue of her bodie in as full and ample manner as any of her ancestors enjoied the same And that her children may and shall have take and enjoy the place and precedence respectively as the children of her ancestors Barons Dacre have formerly had and enjoyed Now to returne to the Sea-coast about three miles from Pevensey is Beckes-hill a place much frequented by Saint Richard Bishop of Chichester and where he died Vnder this is Bulver-hith in an open shore with a rooflesse Church not so named of a bulles hide which cut into thongs by William the Conquerour reached to Battaile as they fable for it had that name before his comming But heere he arrived with his whole fleete landed his armie and having cast a rampier before his campe set fire on all his ships that their onely hope might be in manhood and their safety in victorie And so after two daies marched to Hastings then to an hill neere Nenfeld now called Standard hill because as they say he there pitched his Standard and from thence two miles farther where in a plaine the Kingdome of England was put upon the hazard and chance of a battaile and the English-Saxon Empire came to a full period and finall end For there King Harold in the yeere of our Lord 1066. the day before the Ides of October albeit his forces were much weakened in a former fight with the Danes and his soldiers wearied besides with a long journey from beyond Yorke encountred him in a place named Epiton When the Normans had sounded the Battaile first the skirmish continued for a pretty while with shot of arrowes
from both sides then setting foote to foote as if they fought man to man they maintained fight a longer time But when the English men had most valiantly received their first violent on set the Norman horsmen with full cariere put forward and gave an hot charge But seeing they also could not breake the battaile they retired for the nonce and yet kept their rankes in good order The Englishmen supposing them to flie presently disranged themselves and in disray preassed hard upon the enemies but they all on a sudden bringing backe their companies charged them a fresh on every side with all their joynt forces thicke united together and so enclosing them round about drove them backe with great slaughter who not withstanding having gotten the higher ground withstood the Normans a long time untill Harold himselfe was shot through with an arrow and fell downe dead for then straightwaies they turned their backes and betooke themselves every man to flight The Duke lofty and haughty with this victory and yet not unmindfull of God the giver thereof errected in memoriall of this battaile an Abbey to the glory of God and S. Martin which he called de Bello or Battaile Abbey in that very place where Harold after many a wound and stab among the thickest of his enemies gave up the ghost that the same might bee as it were an everlasting monument of the Normans victorie and therein he offered his sword and royall robe which he ware the day of his Coronation These the Monkes kept untill their suppression as also a table of the Normans gentry which entred with the Conquerour but so corruptly in later times that they inserted therein the names of such as were their benefactours and whosoever the favour of fortune or vertue had advanced to any eminencie in the subsequent ages About this Abbey there grew afterwards a towne of the same name or that I may use the words of the private History of this Abbey As the Abbey encreased there were built about the compasse of the same one hundred and fifteene houses of which the towne of Battell was made Wherein there is a place called by a French word Sangue lac of the bloud there shed which by nature of the ground seemeth after raine to wax red Whence William Newborough wrote although untruely thus The place in which there was a very great slaughter of the English men fighting for their countrey if peradventure it be wet with any small showre sweateth forth very fresh bloud endeed as if the very evidence thereof did plainely declare that the voyce of so much Christian bloud there shed doth still cry from the earth to the Lord. But to the said Abbey King William the Conquerour granted many and great priviledges And among other to use the very words of the Charter If any thiefe murderer or felon for feare of death fly and come to this Church let him have no harme but be dismissed and sent away free from all punishment Be it lawfull also for the Abbat of the same Church to deliver from the gallowes any thiefe or robber wheresoever if he chance to come by where such execution is in hand Henrie the First likewise that I may rehearse the words of his Charter instituted a mercate to be there kept on the Lords day free from all toll and tallage But Sir Anthony Browne Lord Vicount Mount-acute who not long since in that place built a goodly house obtained of late by authoritie of Parliament that this mercate should bee held upon another day And as for the priviledges of Sanctuary in those more heinous and grievous crimes they are here and every way els by Parliamentary authoritie quite abolished For they perceived well that the feare of punishment being once removed stout boldnesse and a will to commit wickednesse grew still to greater head and that hope of impunity was the greatest motive of ill-doing Neither heere or in that quarter nere adjoyning saw I any thing worth relation but onely Ashburnham that gave the name to a family of as great antiquity as any one in all this tract Hastings which I spake of called in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is situate somewhat higher upon the same shore Some there bee that ridiculously derive this name from out of our tongue from haste or quicknesse forsooth because as Matthew Paris writeth William Conquerour at Hasting did set up hastily a fortresse of timber But it may seeme to have taken this new name of Hastings a Danish Pirate who wheresoever hee landed with intent to spoile and raise booties built oftentimes fortresses as we read in Asserius Menevensis of Boemflote castle built by him in Essex as also of others at Appledor and Middleton in Kent The tradition is that the old towne of Hastings is swallowed up of the sea That which standeth now as I observed is couched betweene a high cliffe sea-ward and as high an hill land-ward having two streetes extended in length from North to South and in each of them a parish Church The haven such as it is being fedde but with a poore small rill is at the South end of the Towne and hath had a great Castle upon the hill which over commanded it now there are onely ruines thereof and on the said hill Light houses to direct sailers in the night time Here in the reigne of King Althelstan was a mint-house Afterward it was accounted the first of the Cinque Ports which with the members belonging to it namely Seford Peuensey Hodeney Bulverhith Winchelsey Rhy c. was bound to finde one and twenty ships for warre at sea In what manner and forme if you desire to know both this Port and the rest also were bound to serve the King in his warres at sea for the immunities that they enjoy in most ample manner have heere in those very same words whereby this was in times past recorded in the Kings Exchequer Hastings with his members ought to find at the Kings summons one and twenty ships And in every shippe there must bee one and twenty tall and able men well armed and appointed for the Kings service Yet so as that summons bee made thereof on the Kings behalfe fortie daies before And when the foresaid ships and men therein are come to the place whereunto they were summoned they shall abide there in the Kings service for fifteene daies at their owne proper costs and charges And if the King shall have farther neede of their service after the fifteene daies above said or will have them to stay there any longer those ships with the men therein being whiles they remaine there shal be in the Kings service at the kings costs and charges so long as it shall please the king to wit The Master of every ship shall receive sixe pence by the day the Constable sixe pence a day and every one of the rest three pence by the day Thus Hastings flourished
word which signifieth a strond or Banke I cannot easily say But seeing that in Records it is very often called in Latine Ripa and they who bring fish from hence be termed Ripiers I encline rather this way and would encline more if the Frenchmen used this word for a stroud or shore as Plinius doth Ripa These two townes neither may it seeme impertinent to note it belonged to the Abbey of Fescampe in Normandie But when King Henry the Third perceived that religious men intermingled secretly in matters of State he gave them in exchange for these two Chiltenham and Sclover two Manours in Glocester-shire and other lands adding for the reason that the Abbat and Monkes might not lawfully fight with temporall armes against the enemies of the Crowne Into this haven the River Rother or Rither sheddeth it selfe which issuing forth at Ritheram fieldes for so the Englishmen in ancient times called that towne which wee doe Rotherfield passeth by Burgwash in old time Burghersh which had Lords so surnamed thereof among whom was that Sir Bartholomew Burgwash a mightie man in his time who being approved in most weighty Ambassages and warres in Aquitaine for his wisedome and valour deserved to be created a Baron of the Realme to be admitted into the Order of the Garter at the very first institution even among the Founders thereof and to bee made Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Cinque-ports And his sonne carrying the same fore-name not degenerating from his father lived in high honour and estimation but hee left behind him one daughter and no more issue married into the house of Le Despencer of which there remaineth still a goodly of-spring of Noble personages Echingham next adjoyning had also a Baron named William de Echingham in the time of King Edward the Second whose ancestours were the hereditarie Seneschals of this Rape And their inheritance in the end by the heires females name to the Barons of Windsor and to the Tirwhits Then the Rother dividing his water into three channels passeth under Roberts bridge where Alured de S. Martin in King Henrie the seconds daies founded a Monasterie and so running beside Bodiam a Castle belonging to the ancient Family of the Lewknors built by the Dalegrigs here falleth as I said into the Ocean Now I have passed along the Sea coast of Sussex And as for the mid-land part of the shire I have nothing more to relate thereof unlesse I should recount the woods and forrests lying out faire in length and breadth which are a remnant of the vast wood Anderida Among which to begin at the West those of greatest note are these The forrest of Arundill Saint Leonards forrest Word forrest and not farre off East Gren-sted anciently a parcell of the Barony of Eagle and made a Mercate by King Henry the seventh Ashdowne forrest under which standeth Buckhurst the habitation of the ancient house of the Sackviles out of which race Queene Elizabeth in our daies aduanced Thomas Sackvile her allie by the Bollens a wise Gentleman to be Baron of Buckhurst took him into her Privie Councell admitted him into the most honorable Order of the Garter and made him Lord Treasurer of England whom also of late K. Iames created Earle of Dorset Waterdown forrest where I saw Eridge a lodg of the Lord Abergevenny and by it craggie rocks rising up so thicke as though sporting nature had there purposed a sea Here-by in the very confines of Kent is Groomebridge an habitation of the Wallers whose house there was built by Charles Duke of Orleance father to K. Lewis the 12. of France when he being taken prisoner in the battaile at Agincourt by Richard Waller of this place was here a long time detained prisoner As touching the Earles Sussex had five by the line of Albiney who were likewise called Earles of Arundell but had the third pennie of Sussex as Earles then had The first of them was William D' Albiney the sonne of William Butler to King Henrie the first and Lord of Buckenham in Norfolk who gave for his armes Gules a Lion rampant Or and was called one while Earle of Arundell and another while Earle of Chichester for that in those places he kept his chiefe residence This man of Adeliz the daughter of Godfrey Barbatus Duke of Lorraine and of Brabant Queen Dowager or Widdow of K. Henrie the First begat William the second Earle of Sussex and of Arundell father to William the third Earle unto whom Mabile the sister and one of the heires of the last Raulph Earle of Chester bare William the fourth Earle Hugh the fifth who both died without issue and also foure daughters married unto Sir Robert Yateshall Sir Iohn Fitz-Alan Sir Roger de Somery and Sir Robert de Mount-hault After this the title of Arundell budded forth againe as I said before in the Fitz-Alans but that of Sussex lay hidden and lost unto this our age which hath seene five Ratcliffes descended of the most Noble house of the Fitz-walters that derived their pedigree from the Clares bearing that honour to wit Robert created Earle of Sussex by King Henrie the Eight who wedded Elizabeth daughter of Henry Stafford Earle of Buckingham of whom he begat Henrie the second Earle unto whom Elizabeth the daughter of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk brought forth Thomas who being Lord Chamberlaine to Queene Elizabeth died without issue a most worthy and honourable personage in whose mind were seated joyntly both politike wisedome and martiall prowesse as England and Ireland acknowledged Him succeeded Sir Henrie his brother and after him Robert his onely sonne now in his flower This Province containeth parishes 312. THus farre of Sussex which together with Suth-rey was the habitation of the Regni in the time of the Britaines and afterwards the kingdome of the South-Saxons called in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in the two and thirty yeare after the Saxons comming was begun by Ella who as Beda writeth First among the Kings of the English Nation ruled all their Southern Provinces which are severed by the River Humber and the limits adjoyning thereto The first Christian King was Edilwalch baptized in the presence of Wulpher King of Mercia his Godfather and he in signe of adoption gave unto him two Provinces namely the Isle of Wight and the Province of the Meanvari But in the 306. yeare after the beginning of this Kingdome when Aldinius the last King was slaine by Ina King of West-Saxons it came wholly under the Dominion of the West-Saxons CANTIVM NOw am I come to Kent which Countrey although master WILLIAM LAMBARD a man right well endued with excellent learning and as godly vertues hath so lively depainted out in a full volume that his painefull felicitie in that kind bath left little or nothing for others yet according to the project of this worke which I have taken in hand I will runne it over also and
small trouble and labour about it and when he had hanged all the rest that he found therein he sent the wife and sonnes of Bartholmew aforesaid to the Tower of London Thus Medway having received this rivelet from Leeds fetching about through good grounds rūneth by Allington sometime a castle now lesse than a castellet where Sir T. Wyat the elder a worthy learned knight reedified a faire house now decaied whose son Sr. Thomas enriched by an heire of Sir T. Haut proposing to himself great hopes upō fair pretēses pitifully overthrew himself his state Hence commeth Medway to Ailsford in the old English Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which H. of Huntingdon calleth Elstre Ninnius Episford who hath written that it was named in the British tongue Saissenaeg haibail of the Saxons there vanquished like as others in the very same sense termed it Anglesford For Guortemere the Britaine Guortigerns sonne did here set upon Hengist and the English Saxons whom being disraied and not able to abide a second charge he put all to flight so as they had beene utterly defeated for ever but that Hengist skil-full and provident to prevent and divert danger withdrew himselfe into the Isle of Tenet untill that invincible vigour and heat of the Britanes were allaied and fresh supplies came to his succour out of Germanie In this Battaile were slaine the Generalls of both sides Catigern the Britaine and Horsa the Saxon of whom the one buried at Horsted not farre from hence gave name to the place and Catigern honored with a stately and solemne funerall is thought to have beene enterred neere unto Ailesford where under the side of a hill I saw foure huge rude hard stones erected two for the sides one transversall in the middest betweene them and the hugest of all piled and laied over them in manner of the British monument which is called Stone heng but not so artificially with mortis and tenents Verily the unskilfull common people terme it at this day of the same Catigern Keiths or Kits Coty house In Ailsford it selfe for the religious house of the Carmelites founded by Richard Lord Grey of Codnor in the time of King Henrie the Third is now seene a faire habitation of Sir William Siddey a learned Knight painefully and expensfully studious of the common good of his country as both his endowed house for the poore and the bridge heere with the common voice doe plentifully testifie Neither is Boxley neere adjoyning to bee passed over in silence where William de Ipres in Flaunders Earle of Kent founded an Abbey in the yeare of our Lord 1145. and translated thither the Monkes from Clarevalle in Burgundie Medway having wound himselfe higher from the East receiveth a brooke springing neare Wrotham or Wirtham so named for plentie of wortes where the Archbishops had a place untill Simon Islep pulled it downe leaveth Malling which grew to bee a towne after Gundulph Bishop of Rochester had there founded an Abbey of Nunnes and watereth Leibourn which hath a Castle sometime the seate of a family thereof surnamed out of which Sir Roger Leibourn was a great Agent in the Barons warres and William was a Parliamentary Baron in the time of King Edward the first Neare neighbour to Leibourn is Briling now the habitation of the Lord Abergeveny in times past parcell of the Baronie of the Maminots then of the Saies whose Inheritance at length by heires generall came to the families of Clinton Fienes and Aulton Upon the banke of Medway Eastward somewhat higher after it hath passed by Halling where Hamo Heath Bishop of Rochester built an house for his successors there standeth an ancient Citie which Antonine calleth DVRO BRVS DVRO-BRIVAE and in another place more truely DVRO PROVae and DVRO BROVae Bede DVRO BREVIS and in the declining state of the Romane Empire processe of time contracted his name so that it came to be named ROIBIS and so by addition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which commeth of the latin word Castrum betokeneth among our ancestors a city or Castle was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and now with us more short Rochester and in Latin Roffa of one Rhufus as Bede guesseth but it seemeth unto mee to retaine in it somewhat still of that old name Durobrevis Neither is there cause why any man should doubt of the name seeing that by the account of journies or distance betweene places and Bedes authoritie it is named expressely in the Charter of the foundation of the Cathedrall Church there DVROBROVIS yet thus much I would advertise the Reader that in the printed bookes of Bede it is read Darueruum whereas in the manuscript copies it is termed DVROBREVIS seated it is in a bottome fortified on the one side with a marsh the river the weake walles and as William of Malmesburie saith pent within too streight a roome whereupon in time past it was counted a Castle rather then a Citie For Bede calleth it Castellum Cantuariorum that is the Kentishmens Castle But now it stretcheth forth with large suburbs on the West East and South sides It hath passed through no few dangers and mischances In the yeare of Christ 676. it was overthrowne and laid along by King Aetheldred the Mercian and many a time afterward sacked by the Danes Aethelbert King of Kent erected there a sumptuous Church which also he made more famous with the dignitie of Bishopricke ordaining Iustus to bee the first Bishop of that See But when it fell to decay for very age Bishop Gundulph a Norman about the yeare 1080. reedified it and thrusting out the Priests brought in Monkes in their roomes and when they were cast out a Deane sixe Prebendaries and Scholars were substituted in their places Neere unto the Church there standeth over the river an old Castle fortified both by art and situation Which as the report goeth Odo Bishop of Bayeux and Earle of Kent built But it was no doubt King William the first that built it For in Domesday booke we read thus The Bishop of Rouecester holdeth in Elesford for exchange of the land on which the Castle is seated Yet certaine it is that Bishop Odo when his hope depended of a doubtfull change of the State held this against King William Rufus At which time there passed proclamation through England that whosoever would not be reputed a Niding should repaire to recover Rochester Castle Whereupon the youth fearing that name and most reproachfull and opprobrious in that age swarmed thither in such numbers that Odo was enforced to yeeld the place lose his dignitie and abjure the realme But concerning the reedification of this Castle about this time listen what the Text of Rocester saith when King William the second would not confirme the gift of Lanfrank as touching the Manour of Hedenham in the County of Buckingham made unto Rochester church unlesse Lanfranck and Gundulph Bishop of
the walles whole and undecaied enclosing it round about by reason likewise of the rivers watering it and commodiousnesse of woods there about besides the vicinity of the sea yeelding store of fish to serve it Whiles the Saxons Heptarchie flourished it was the head citie of the kingdome of Kent and the kings seat untill such time as king Ethelbert passed a grant of it together with the roialty thereof unto Augustin the Apostle as they called him and consecrated Archbishop of the English Nation who established heere his habitation for himselfe and his successors And albeit the Metropolitan dignity together with the honour of the Pall that is an Episcopall vestiment that was comming over the shoulders made of a sheepe skin in memoriall of him that sought the stray sheepe and having found the same laid it upon his shoulders wrought and embroydered with crosses first laied upon Saint Peters coffin or shrine was ordained by Saint Gregorie the Great then Pope to bee at London yet for the honour of Augustine it was translated hither For Kenulph King of the Mercians thus writeth unto Pope Leo. Because Augustine of blessed Memorie the minister of Gods word unto the English Nation and who most gloriously governed the Churches of English Saxonie departed this life in the Cittie of Canterburie and his bodie was there buried in the Minster of Saint Peter Prince of the Apostles the which Laurence his successours consecrated it hath pleased all the wise men of our nation that the Metropolitane honour should bee conferred upon that Citie where his bodie was entombed who engraffed in these parts the veritie of Christian faith But whether the Archbishops See and Metropolitan dignity were here ordeined by authority of the wise men of our nation that is to say the States of the Parliament to speake according to our time or by Augustine him selfe whiles hee lived as others would have it the Bishops of Rome who next followed established the same so as they decreed That to have it severed and taken away from thence was an abominable act punishable with Curse and hell-fire Since which time it is incredible how much it hath flourished in regard both of the Archiepiscopal dignity and also of that schoole of the better kind of literature which Theodore the seventh Archbishop erected there And albeit it was sore shaken with the Danish wars and consumed for a great part thereof sundrie times by casualtie of fire yet rose it up alwaies againe more beautifull and glorious then before After the Normans entrie into this land when King William Rufus as it was recorded in the Register of Saint Augustines Abbey Had given the Citie of Canterburie wholly in * fee simple unto the Bishops which before time they had held at the Kings courtesie onely it begun not onely to get heart againe what through the same of the religious piety of godly men there and what through the bounty of the Bishops and especially of Simon Sudbury who rebuilt up the walls new but grew also as it were upon a sodaine to such a state that for beauty of private dwelling houses it equalled all the cities of Britaine but for the magnificent and sumptuous building of religious places and the number of them it surpassed even those that were most famous Among which two especially surmounted all Christs-church and Saint Augustines both of them replenished with Monkes of the Order of Saint Benet And as for Christ-Church it raiseth it selfe aloft neare the heart of the Citie with so great a majestie and statelinesse that it striketh a sensible impression of religion into their minds that behold it a farre off This Church built in old time as Beda saith by the faithfull and believing Romans the same Augustine of whom I spake got into his hands consecrated it to Christ and assigned it to be the seat for his successors wherein 73. Archbishops in a continued traine of succession have now set Of whom Lanfranke and William Corboyle brought the upper part of the Church and they that succeeded the nethermore where as that the more ancient worke had beene consumed with fire to that statelinesse which now wee see not without exceeding great charges which a devout perswasion in former times willingly disbursed For a number of high of low and of meane degree flocked hither in pilgrimage with very great and rich oblations to visit the tombe of Thomas Becket the Archbishop who being slaine in this Church by Courtiers for that in maintaining of the Ecclesiasticall liberties hee had stubbornly opposed himselfe against the King was matriculated a holy Martyr by the Bishop of Rome and worshipped as a Saint and his shrine so loaden with great offerings that the meanest part of it was of pure gold So bright so shining and glittering as Erasmus who saw it saith was every corner with rare and exceeding big precious stones yea and the Church all round about did abound with more than princelike riches and as though Christs name to whom it was dedicated had beene quite forgotten it came to be called Saint Thomas Church Neither was it for any thing else so famous as for his memoriall and sepulture although it may justly vaunt of many famous mens tombs and monuments especially that of Edward surnamed The Blacke Prince of Wales a most worthy and renowned Knight for warlike prowesse and the very wonder of his age also of Henry the Fourth a most puissant King of England But Henry the Eighth scattered this wealth heaped up together in so many ages and dispersed those Monkes in lieu of whom were placed in this Christs-Church a Deane an Archdeacon Prebendaries twelve and Sixe Preachers who in places adjoyning round about should teach and preach the word of God The other Church that alwaies mightily strove with this for superioritie stood by the Cities side Eastward knowne by the name of Saint Austines which Augustine himselfe and King Ethelbert at his exhortation founded and dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul that it might be the Sepulture place both for the Kings of Kent and also for the Archbishops For as yet it was not lawfull to bury within Cities and endowed it with infinite riches granting unto the Abbat a Mint-house with priviledge to coine money And now at this day notwithstanding the greatest part thereof is buried under his owne ruines and the rest were converted to the Kings house yet it sheweth manifestly to the beholders how great a thing it was Augustine himselfe was enterred in the porch of the same with this Epitaph as witnesseth Thomas Spot Inclytus Anglorum praesulpius decus altum Hîc Augustinus requiescit corpore sanctus The bodie of Saint Augustine doth here interred lie A Prelate great devout also and Englands honor hie But as Bede reporteth who rather is to be credited this was the more ancient Inscription of his tombe HIC REQVIESCIT DOMINVS AVGVSTINVS DOROVERNENSIS ARCHIEPISCOPVS PRIMVS QVI OLIM HVC A BEATO GREGORIO ROMANAE VRBIS
of a sumptuous and stately house which Edward the last Duke of Buckingham was in hand to build in the yeare of our Lord as the engraving doth purport 1511. when he had taken downe an ancient house which Hugh Audeley E. of Glocester had formerly built seven miles from hence Avon sheading it selfe into Severn running crosse before it maketh a division betweene Glocestershire and Sommersetshire and not farre from the banke thereof Pucle-Church appeareth being in times past a towne or Manour of the Kings called Pucle-Kerkes wherein Edmund King of England whiles he interposed himselfe betweene his Sewer and one Leove a most vilanous wretch for to part and end certaine quarrels betweene them was thrust through the body and so lost his life Nere bordering upon this place are two townes Winterburne which had for their Lords the Bradstons amongst whom S. Thomas was summoned amongst the Barons in the time of King Edward the Third From whom the Vicounts Montacute the Barons of Wentworth c. fetch their descent Acton which gave name to the house of the Actons Knights whose heire being married unto Nicolas Points Knight in K. Edward the second his daies left the same to their off-spring Derham a little towne in the Saxons tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where Ceaulin the Saxon slew three Princes or chiefe Lords of the Britans Commeail Condidan and Fariemeiol with others whom he likewise put to the sword and dispossessed the Britans of that countrie for ever There remaine yet in that place huge rampieâ—s and trenches as fortifications of their campes and other most apparent monuments here and there of so great a war This was the chiefe seat of the Barony of Iames de novo Mercatu who begat three daughters wedded to Nicholas de Moelis Iohn de Boteraux and Ralph Russell one of whose posterity enriched by matching with the heire of the ancient family of Gorges assumed unto them the name of Gorges But from Ralph Russell the heire this Deorham descended to the family of Venis Above these is Sodbury knowne by the familie of Walsh and neighbours thereunto are Wike-ware the ancient seat of the familie De-la-ware Woton under Edge which yet remembreth the slaughter of Sir Thomas Talbot Vicount Lisle heere slaine in the time of King Edward the Fourth in an encounter with the Lord Barkley about possessions since which time have continued suites betweene their posterity untill now lately they were finally compounded More Northward I had sight of Durisley reputed the ancientest habitation of the Barkleyes hereupon stiled Barkleis of Duresley who built here a Castle now more than ruinous and were accounted founders of the Abbey of Kings-wood thereby for Cistertian Monkes derived from Tintern whom Maud the Empresse greatly enriched The males of this house failed in the time of King Richard the Second and the heire generall was married to Cantelow Within one mile of this where the river Cam lately spoken of springeth is Vleigh a seat also of the Barkeleis descended from the Barons Barkeley stiled of Vleigh and Stoke Giffard who were found coheires to I. Baron Boutetort descended from the Baron Zouch of Richards Castles alias Mortimer and the Somerus Lords of Dueley Beverston Castle not farre of Eastward appertained also to the name of Barkeleies but in former times to the Gournois and Ab-Adam a Baron in the time of King Edward the First Hitherto have we cursorily passed over the principall places in this Shire situate beyond and upon Severn and not far from his banke Now proceede we forward to the East part which I said riseth up with hilles to wit Cotteswold which of woulds and Cotes that is hils and Sheepfolds tooke that name For mountaines and hils without woods the Englishmen in old time termed Woulds whence it is that an Old Glossary interpreteth Alpes Italie The Woulds of Italie In these Woulds there feed in great numbers flockes of sheepe long necked and square of bulke and bone by reason as it is commonly thought of the weally and hilly situation of their pasturage whose wool being most fine and soft is had in passing great account among all nations Vnder the side of these hils and among them are to be seene as it were in a row neighbouring together these places following of more antiquity than the rest beginning at the North-east end of them Campden commonly Camden a mercat towne well peopled and of good resort where as Iohn Castoreus writeth all the Kings of Saxon bloud assembled in the yeare of Salvation 689. and consulted in common about making war upon the Britans In William the Conquerours time this Weston and Biselay were in the possession of Hugh Earle of Chester and from his posterity came at last by Nicolaa de Albeniaco an inherice to the ancient Earles of Arundel unto Roger de Somery Neere unto it standeth the said Weston a place now to bee remembred in regard of a faire house which maketh a goodly shew a farre off built by Ralph Sheldon for him and his Posterity Hales in late time a most flourishing Abbay built by Richard Earle of Cornwall and King of Romanes who was there buried with his Wife Sanchia daughter to the Earle of Province and deserving commendation for breeding up of Alexander of Hales a great Clerke and so deepely learned above all others in that subtile and deepe Divinity of the Schoole men as he carryed away the sirname of Doctor Irrefragabilis that is the Doctor ungain-said as he that could not be gain-said Sudley in times past Sudlengh a very faire Castle the seat not long since of Sir Thomas Seimor Baron Seimor of Sudley and Admirall of England attainted in the time of king Edward the Sixth and afterward of Sir John Bruges whom Queene Mary created Baron Chandos of Sudley because he derived his pedegree from the ancient family of Chandos out of which there flourished in the raigne of Edward the third Sir John Chandos a famous Baneret Vicount of Saint Saviours L of Caumont and Kerkitoâ— in France a martiall man and for military Prowesse every way most renowned But in old time certaine Noblemen here dwelt and of it had their addition de Sudley descended of a right ancient English Race to wit from Gorda K. Aetheldreds daughter whose son Ralph Medantinus Earle of Hereford begat Harold L. of Sudley whose progeny flourished here a long time untill for default of issue male the daughter and heire matched in marriage with Sir William Butler of the family of Wem and brought him a sonne named Thomas and he begat Ralph Lord Treasurer of England created by king Henry the Sixth Baron of Sudley with a fee of 200. markes yearely who repaired this castle and enlarged it with new buildings His sisters and coheires were married unto the houses of Northbury and Belkâ—ape and by their posterity the possessions in short time were divided into
sundry Families Toddington also is next adjoyning hereunto where the Tracies Gentlemen of a right worshipfull and ancient house flourished a long time who long since found the Barons of Sudley very bounteous unto them But how in the first variance about Religion William Tracy Lord of this place was proceeded against and punished after his death by digging up his corps and burning it openly for some few words put downe in his last Will and Testament which savoured as those times judged of heresie as also how another William de Tracy long before embrued his hands in the bloudy murder of Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury the Ecclesiasticall Historiographers have written at large and it is no part of my purpose to relate such like matters There is heere likewise Winchelcombe a great Towne and well inhabited wherein Kenulph the Mercian King erected an Abbay and on the same day that hee hallowed and dedicated it hee freed and sent home Edbricht a King of Kent whom he had kept before his Prisoner A man would hardly beleeve how much haunted and frequented this Abbay was long since for the Reliques of King Kenelme a childe seven yeares old whom his owne sister to get the Inheritance unto her selfe secretly made away and our forefathers registred in the ranke of holy Martyrs The Territory adjoyning hereto in times past was reckoned a County by it selfe or a Sherif-dome For we read in an old manuscript sometime belonging to the Church of Worcester in this wise Edris sirnamed Streâ—na that is The getter or gainer who first under King Aetheldred and afterwards for a good while under Cnut or Canut governed the whole Kingdome of England and ruled as Vice Roy adjoyned the Sherif-dome of Winchelcombe which was then an entire thing by it selfe unto the shire of Glocester Thence I found nothing memorable but neere the fountaine of Churn River Coberley a seat of a stem of Barkeleies so often named even from the Conquest which matched with an heire of Chandos and so came hereditarily to the Bruges progenitors to the Lords Chandos Then by Bird-lip-hill whereby we ascended unto this high Coteswold out of the vale lyeth Brimsfield which had for the L. thereof the Giffords in times past unto whom in right of marriage there came a goodly inheritance from the Cliffords and streight waies by the female heires the same fell to the Lords le Strange of Blackmer to Audleies and divers others Thus much of the places among the Woulds But under the said Woulds I have seene that notable Roman high-way by a well knowne name called the Fosse which out of Warwicke-shire commeth downe first by Lemington where it may seeme there was a Station of the Romanes by the peeces of Romane Coine ploughed there often times out of the ground some of which Edward Palmer a curious and diligent Antiquary whose Ancestors flourished heere a long-time hath of his courtesie imparted unto mee then by Stow on the Would where by reason of that high site the Windes blow cold and North-Leach bearing the name of a Riveret running hard by it and then to Circencester which the River Corinus now Churn rising among the Woulds neere Corberley very commodious for Milles passeth by into the South and so giveth it his name This was a City of as great antiquity as any other called by Ptolomee CORINIUM by Antonine the Emperour DUROCORNOVIUM that is The water Cornovium just fifteene miles from Glevum or Glocester as hee noteth The Britans named it Caer Cori and Caer Ceri the English Saxon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee in these dayes Circester and Circiter The ruinate wals doe plainely shew that it was very large for by report they tooke up two miles in compasse That it was a famous place the Romane Coines the cherkerworke pavements and the engraven marble stones that now and then are there digged up which have beene broken and to no small prejudice of Antiquity doe evidently testifie As also the Port Consular wayes of the Romanes that heere did crosse one another whereof that which led to GLEVUM or Glocester is yet extant with his high rigde evident to bee seene as farre as to Bird-lip-hill and if a man looke well upon it seemes to have beene paved with stone The British Chronicles record that this City was burnt being set on fire by Sparrowes through a stratageme devised by one Gurmund I wot not what Tyrant of Africke whereupon Giraldus calleth it Passerum urbem that is the Sparrowes City and out of those Chronicles Necham writeth thus Urbs vires experta tuas Gurmunde per annos Septem This City felt for seven yeares space Thy forces Gurmund Who this Gurmund was I know not The Inhabitants shew a Mount beneath the City which they report Gurmund did cast up and yet they call it Grismunds Towre Marianus an Historian of good antiquity and credit reporteth that Ceaulin King of the West Saxons dispossessed the Britans of it what time hee had discomfited and put to flight their forces at Deorham and brought Glocester to his subjection Many yeares after this it was subject to the West Saxons for wee reade that Penda the Mercian was defeited by Cineglise King of the West Saxons when hee besieged it with a mighty Army Howbeit at length both it and the whole Territory and country came under subjection of the Mercians and so continued untill the English Monarchie Under which it sustained much sorrow and grievous calamity by the Danes and peradventure at the hand of Gurmon that Dane whom the Historiographers call both Guthrus and Gurmundus So that it may seeme he was that Gurmund which they so much speake of For certes when he raged about the yeare 879. a rablement of Danes rousted heere one whole yeare Now scarce the fourth part within the wals is inhabited the remaines beside are pasture grounds and the ruines of an Abbay built as the report goeth at first by the Saxons and newly repaired afterwards by King Henry the First for Blacke Chanons wherein I heard say that many of the family of the Barons de Sancto Amando were buried But the Castle that it had was by a Warrant from the King overthrowne in the first yeare of Henry the Third his Raigne The Townesmen raise the chiefe gaine by the Trade of Clothing and they make great reports of the singular bounty of King Richard the First towards them who endowed the Abbay with lands and as they say themselves made them Rulers of the seven Hundreds adjoyning to hold the same jurisdiction in fee farme by vertue whereof they should have the hearing and determining of causes and take unto themselves the fines perquisites amercements and other profites growing out of the trials of such causes Moreover King Henry the Fourth granted unto them certaine priviledges in consideration of their good and valiant service performed against Thomas Holland Earle of Kent late Duke of
tooke to wife the onely daughter of the Baron Sands dwelt while he lived in a very faire house and on the other Chesham Bois where and at Draiton Beauchamp the Family of Cheneis hath anciently flourished From hence I passed scarse three miles North-ward but I came to the ridge of Chilturne-hils which divideth the whole region a crosse from the South-west to the North-east passing by many villages and small townes among which that of greatest note is Hamden which gave name to an ancient and well spred Family in these parts In the very East corner of these hils Ashridge a retiring house sometime of the kings standeth upon an ascent where Edmund Earle of Cornewall sonne to Richard king of the Romans founded a religious house for a new Order of religious men in those daies called Bon Hommes by him first brought into England Who professed the rule of S. Augustine and were according to the manner of the Order of the Eremitans clad in skie coloured garments From this ridge or edge of the Hils there is a large prospect every way downe into the Vale beneath which I said was the other part of the Shire This almost throughout is a plaine Champion standing likewise upon a clay-soile stiffe tough and fruitfull with pasture medowes most plentifull of grasse and fodder feeding innumerable flockes of sheepe whose soft and passing fine fleeces are in request even as farre as to the Turkish Nations in Asia But it is all naked and bare of woods unlesse it bee on the West side where among others is Bernewood whose Forresters surnamed de Borstall were famous in former times About this Forrest the yeare after Christs Nativity 914. the Danes furiously raged and then happily it was that the ancient Burgh was destroied whose antiquity Romane coined peeces of money there found doe testifie which afterwards became the royall house of King Edward the Confessour But now it is a Country Village and in stead of Buri-Hill they call it short Brill In this Vale although it be exceeding full of Townes and Villages yet very few of them are memorable and those either upon the River Tame or Vsa that is Ouse Not far from Tame which watereth the South part of the Vale upon the rising of a prety hill standeth a faire Mercat Towne well occupied and compassed about with many most pleasant greene medowes and pastures commonly called Ailesbury of which the whole Vale is termed the Vale of Ailesbury The Engish-Saxons called it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when Cuthwulf the Saxon won it in the yeare of our Lord 572. For the Brittish name whereby it was knowne before in continuance of time is utterly lost Famous it hath beene in times past especially for Ediths sake there fostered who having obtained of her Father â—rewald this Towne for her Dowry forthwith by persuasion of the religious people bad the world and her husband farewell and taking her selfe to the Vale for opinion of holinesse and devotion in that most pregnant and fruitfull age of Saints became wonderfully renowned even as farre as to working of miracles together with her sister Eadburg of whose name there is a little Towne among the Hils as yet called Eadburton In the time of King William the Conquerour it was a Manour of the Kings and certaine yard-lands were here given by the King with this condition that the Possessour or Holder thereof marke ye nice and dainty ones should finde 〈◊〉 for the Kings bed when the King came thither In the Raigne of Edward the First certaine Gentlemen named de Ailesbury who bare for their Armes Aâ—ure a Crosse Argent were by report but I know not how truely the Lords thereof certaine it is they were in those daies men of the better sort and of great good note and such as by marriage with the daughter and heire of the Caihaignes who were in times past Lords of Meddleton Caihaignes came to a faire and goodly inheritance which at last by heires generall came to the Chaworths the Staffords of Graâ—ton c. But now the greatest name and reputation that it hath is by grazing and feeding of Cattaile Very much beholden also it is unto Justice Baldwin who not onely adorned it with publique aedifices but also made a passing faire causey to it where the way was very deepe and cumbersome for three miles or thereabout in length Heere round about in every side flockes of sheepe pasture most plenteously in mighty numbers loden with fleeces to the great gaine and commodity of their Masters especially at Quarendon a Lordship belonging to Sir Henry Lee an honourable Knight of the Order of the Garter Eythorp which sometime was the Dinhams and now the Dormâ—â—s Knights and also Winchindon appertaining to the Family of the Godwins Knights likewise c. Lower wee meet with nothing memorable upon Tame unlesse Cheardesley be as many thinke it is the place which was called in the Saxon-tongue Cerdick-flega of Cerdic the Saxon who fought a very sharpe and bloudy battaile there with the Britans Neere unto it standeth Credendon now Crendon which was the Capitall house belonging to the Honour of Giffard for so were those lands termed which fell unto Walter Giffard at the Conquest of England whose sonne the second Earle of Buckingham and Ermingard his wife built the Abbay of Noteley thereby in the yeare 1112. But his cozen Hugh de Bolebec from whom by the females the Earles of Oxford are descended held of him no small possessions in these parts And the ruines of Bolebec Castle are seene hard by within the Parish of Whitchurch Neere unto which is Ascot the principall Mansion house of the Dormers from whence descended the Dutches of Feria in Spaine and others of noble note Usa or Ouse in times past Isa and the second Isis which with a soft and still streame passeth through the North part of this Province arising in Northampton-shire and presently from his head when being yet but small he closely entereth into this Shire runneth beside Bittlesden which Robert de Mapertshall Lord of the place gave unto Osbert de Clinton Chamberlaine to King Henry the First a powerfull Courtier that he might not be punished as a Fellon for stealing away one of the Kings Hounds But he restored it unto him againe with a cozin of his in marriage yet lost he the same in the hot broile of the civill war under King Stephen and Ernald Bois by way of a benefit and courtesie received it at the hands of Robert Earle of Leicester And hee in the yeare of Christ 1127. founded there a little Monastery for the Cistertien Monks Then Ouse saluteth Buckingham the Shire Towne which as Marian saith King Edward the elder in the yeare of our Lord 915. fortified with a Rampire and Sconces on both bankes against the Invasions and assaults of the Danes Yet was it of no great name as it may seeme in the
money and Title by his wife Beatrice the eldest daughter of William de Say who was the sisters sonne of that great Geffrey de Magnavill the first Earle of Essex This Fitz-Petre a man as an old Authour writeth Passing well monied had formerly dealt with the Bishop of Ely the Kings chiefe Justicer for a great peece of money presently paid and by intreaty beside and then claimed and demanded the Earledome in his wives right as being the daughter of William Say eldest brother to Geffrey Say Who gave him full Seisin thereof against Geffrey Say and required the money that hee promised which within a short time hee received of him every penny well and truely paid for to bee brought into the Kings coffers Thus being admitted and confirmed by the Kings Letters Patent hee held and possessed it taking Homage of all that held of him in Knights service And so was girt with the sword of the Earledome of Essex by King John at the solemnity of his Coronation This Geffrey Fitz-Petre was advanced to the high estate of Justicer of England by King Richard the First when hee removed Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury from that Office by the Popes peremptory command for that Bishops ought not to intermedle in secular affaires This Place the said Geffrey Fitz-Petre executed with great commendation preserving by his wisedome the Realme from that confusion which it after fell into by King Johns unadvised carriage His two Sonnes Geffrey and William assumed unto them the sirname of Magnavill or Mandevill and enjoyed this honour successively As for Geffrey hee by his wife was Earle of Glocester also and being a young man lost his life at a Turneament William tooke part with Lewis of France against King John and departed out of this World without issue These being thus dead childelesse their sisters sonne Humfrey de Bohun Earle of Hereford and high Constable of England succeeded in their roome Of this mans Posterity male there succeeded many yeares together one after another Earles of Hâ—reford and of Essex of whom I will speake among the Earles of Hereford seeing that they wrote themselves Earles of Hereford and of Essex Aeleonor the eldest daughter of the last of these Bohuns being given in marriage together with the Title of Essex unto Thomas of Woodstocke Duke of Glocester bare unto him a daughter named Anne who had for her first Husband Edmund Earle of Stafford from whom came the Dukes of Buckingham and for her second Sir William Bourchier unto whom King Henry the Fifth gave the Earledome of Ew in Normandie This William of her body begat Henry Bourchier whom King Edward the fourth invested in the Dignity of the Earledome of Essex in regard hee had marryed his Aunt and was descended from Thomas of Woodstocke Hee had to succeede him another Henry his Grand-childe who being cast out of the sadle by a flinging horse lost his life leaving behinde him one onely daughter Anne who being then little respected King Henry the Eighth presently and all at once made Thomas Cromwell whom hee had used as his Instrument to suppresse and abolish the Popes authority Earle of Essex Lord Great Chamberlaine of England and Knight of the Order of Saint George whom before for his reaching politique head hee had made Baron Cromwell of Okâ—ham The Kings Vicar generall in Spirituall matters and Lord of the Privie Seale and all these honours were heaped upon him within the compasse of five yeares But in the fifth moneth after hee was Earle hee lost his head and so had the enterlude of his life a bloudy Catastrophe as most of these have who are busie managers of the greatest affaires And then the same King thought Sir William Parr upon whom hee had bestowed in marriage Anne the onely daughter and heire of the foresaid Henry Bourâ—â—ier worthy also to be entituled Earle of Essex But at the last after Parr was dead without issue Walter D'Eureux Vicount Hereford whose great Grandmother was Cecilie Bourgchier Sister to Henrie Bourgchier whom I named right now through the gracious favour of Queene Elizabeth received this dignitie of the Earledome of Essex and left it to his Sonne Robert Who being adorned with singular gifts of nature and supported besides with the speciall favour of his most gracious Prince grew so fast unto such honour that all England conceived good hope hee would have fully equalled yea and farre surpassed the greatest vertues and praises of all his Progenitours But alas whiles he was carried away with popularity and made hast to out goe his hopes hee cast himselfe headlong into destruction as many more have done who despising that which might come by patience with securitie have made choise to hasten thereto before time with their finall overthrow But our most gracious Soveraigne King Iames of his Royall benignitie hath restored his sonne Robert to his bloud and honours by Parliament authority There be counted in this County Parish Churches 415. ICENI THe Region next unto the Trinobantes which afterwards was called East-England and containeth Suffolke Norfolke and Cambridge-shire with Huntingdon-shire was inhabited in times past by the ICENI called elsewhere amisse TIGENI and in Ptolomee more corruptly SIMENI whom also I have thought heeâ—etofore to have been in Caesar by a confused name termed CENIMAGNI and so to thinke induced I was partly by that most neere affinity betweene these names ICENI and CENI-MAGNI and in part by the consent of Caesar and Tacitus together For Caesar writeth that the Cenimagni yeelded themselves unto the Romans which Tacitus recordeth that the Iceni likewise did in these words They willingly joyned in amity with us But that which maketh most to the cleering of this poynt in a Manuscript old booke for CENIMAGNI we finde written with the word divided in twaine CENIAGNI For which if I might not be thought somewhat too bould a Criticke I would reade instead thereof ICENI REGNI Neither verily can you finde the Cenimagni elsewhere in all Britain if they be a diverse people from the Iceni and Regni But of this name ICENI there remaine in this tract very many footings if I may so tearme them as Ikensworth Ikenthorpe Ikbortow Iken Ikining Ichlingham Eike c. Yea and that high street-way which went from hence the Historians of the former age every where doe name Ichenild-Street as one would say the Icenes street What should be the reason of this name so love me Truth I dare not guesse unlesse one would fetch it from the Wedge-like-forme of the country and say it lieth Wedgwise vpon the Sea For the Britans in their language call a Wedge Iken and for the same cause a place in Wales by the Lake or Meere Lhintegid is of that forme named Lhan-yken as Welsh-Britans enformed me and in the very same sense a little country in Spaine as Strabo writeth is cleped SPHEN that is The wedge and yet the same seemeth not to resemble a wedge so neere as this of
number of pooles two or three miles over Which Fennes doe afford to a multitude of Monkes their wished private retyrings of a recluse and solitary life wherein as long as they are enclosed they need not the solitarinesse of any desert Wildernesse Thus farre Abbo SVFFOLâ—IAE Comitatus cuius Populi olim icâ—m Dicti Continens inse oppida mercatoria xxv Pagos et Villas CCCCLXIIII Vna cum singulis Hundredis et fluminibus in codeâ—e Auc Fore Christâ—phâ—râ— Saxton SOUTH-FOLKE or SUFFOLKE SUFFOLKE which wee must speake of first in the Saxon Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is South-folke or people in respect of Northfolke hath on the West side Cambridge-shire on the South the River Stoure which divideth it from Essex on the East side the German Sea and on the North two little Rivers Ouse the least and Waveney which flowing out as it were of the same Fountaine runne divers wayes and sever it apart from Norfolke A large country it is and full of havens of a fat and fertile Soile unlesse it be Eastward being compounded as it is of clay and marle by meanes whereof there are in every place most rich and goodly corne fields with pastures as battable for grazing and feeding of cattell And great store of cheeses are there made which to the great commodity of the Inhabitants are vented into all parts of England Nay into Germany France and Spaine also as Pantaleon the Physitian writeth who stucke not to compare these of ours for color and tast both with those of Placentia but he was no dainty toothed scholar out of Apicius schoole Neither bee there wanting woods heere which have beene more plentifull and parkes for many there are lying to Noble mens and Gentlemens houses replenished with game This County was divided politically into three parts whereof one is called the Geldable because out of it there is gathered a Tribute a second Saint Edmunds liberty for that it belonged to his Abbay the third Saint Audries liberty because it appertained to Ely Abbay unto which our Kings in times past granted certaine territories with Sach and Soch as saith Ely Booke without any exception either of Ecclesiasticall or secular jurisdiction But let us survey it Chorographically and beginning at the East side take a view of the better and more remarkeable places Where it lyeth West and toward Cambridgeshire in the very limite standeth Ixning more famous in times past than now For Audre the Virgin K. Annas daughter and canonized for a Saint was heere borne Ralph also Earle of this East England heere entred into conspiracy against William the Conquerour and Hervey the first Bishop of Ely made a causey or high way from hence to Ely But now for that Newmercate is so neer whither men resort with their wares and commodities more frequently it hath begunne to decay That this Newmercate is a Towne of late dayes built the very name it selfe doth import and it is situate in such sort that the South part therof belongeth to Cambridgeshire the North side to Suffolke and both of them have their severall small Churches whereof this acknowledgeth Ixning the former Ditton or Dichton for their mother Heereof I have found by reading nothing but that under King Henry the Third Sir Robert L' Isle gave one part of it in franke marriage with his daughter Cassandra unto Sir Richard de Argenton from whom the Alingtons are descended Heere lyeth out a great way round about a large Plaine named of this Towne Newmarket Heath consisting of a sandy and barren ground yet greene withall wherein is to bee seene that wonderfull Ditch which as if it had beene cast by the devill the common sort call Devils Dike whereas in very trueth most certainly it is knowne to be one of them wherewith the Inhabitants as Abbo writeth fenced themselves against the inrodes of their enemies as shall bee shewed more at large when we are come to Cambridgeshire Yet in the meane time I am heere to advertise the Reader that the least of all these ditches sheweth it selfe two miles from hence betweene Snaile-well and Moulton More within the Country is that renowned Towne of Saint Edmund which in the Saxons age men called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in the time of the Britans as it should seeme was that VILLA FAUSTINI whereof Antonine maketh mention for of that opinion was Talbot a man right skilfull in antiquities and very much conversant in this part of England The distance also as well from the Iciani as from Colonia in Antonine agreeth well enough And as Villa in the Latine Tongue signifieth some Gentlemans house standing upon his land so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in old English betokened the same For that Abbo aforesaid interpreteth Bederics-gueord by these words Bederici Cortis that is Villa that is to say Bederics-Court Farme or Mansion house Besides that the Englishmen may seeme to have brought the significancy of that Latine word into their owne Language For as Faustinus in Latin implieth a certaine meaning of prosperity so doth Bederic in the German tongue as writeth that most learned Hadrianus Iunius where he interpreteth the name of Betorix who in Strabo was the sonne of Melo the Sicambrian Full of happinesse and favour But if these were divers persons I willingly confesse that I am ignorant who that Faustinus and who this Bedericus was Sure I am that it was not that VILLA FAUSTINI which Martiall in his Epigrammes depainteth and if I said it was the habitation of that Beric who being driven out of Britaine as Dio writeth persuaded the Emperour Claudius to warre upon the Britans I should not beleeve my selfe But whatsoever it was if it be not that Faustini Villa yet seemeth it to have beene of famous memory considering that when Christian Religion began to spring up in this Tract King Sigebert here founded a Church and Abbo called it Villam regiam that is A royall towne But after that the people had translated hither the body of Edmund that most Christian King whom the Danes with exquisite torments had put to death and built in honour of him a very great Church wrought with a wonderfull frame of timber it beganne to bee called Edmundi Burgus commonly Saint Edmundbury and more shortly Bury and flourished marveilous much But especially since that King Canutus for to expiate the sacrilegious impiety of his father Suenus against this Church being affrighted with a vision of Saint Edmunds built it againe of a new worke enriched it offered his owne Crowne unto the holy Martyr brought into it Monkes with their Abbot and gave unto it many faire and large Manours and among other things the Towne it selfe full and whole over which the Monkes themselves by their Seneschall had rule and jurisdiction Whereupon Ioscelin de Branklond a Monke of this house writeth thus The men as well without the Burgh as within are ours and all within Banna Leuca enjoy the same libertie
Afterwards Herveie the Abbot comming of the Norman bloud compassed it round about with a wall whereof there remaine still some few Reliques and Abbot Newport walled the Abbay The Bishop of Rome endowed it with very great immunities and among other things granted That the said place should bee subject to no Bishop in any matter and in matters lawfull depend upon the pleasure and direction of the Archbishop Which is yet observed at this day And now by this time the Monkes abounding in wealth erected a new Church of a sumptuous and stately building enlarging it every day more than other with new workes and whiles they laid the foundation of a new Chappell in the Reigne of Edward the First There were found as Eversden a Monke of this place writeth The walles of a certaine old Church built round so as that the Altar stood as it were in the mids and we verily thinke saith he it was that which was first built to Saint Edmunds service But what manner of Towne this was and how great the Abbay also was while it stood heare Leland speake who saw it standing The Sunne saith hee hath not seene either a City more finely seated so delicately standeth it upon the easie ascent or hanging of an hill and a little River runneth downe on the East side thereof or a goodlier Abbay whether a man indifferently consider either the endowment with Revenewes or the largenesse or the incomparable magnificence thereof A man that saw the Abbay would say verily it were a Citie so many Gates there are in it and some of brasse so many Towres and a most stately Church Upon which attend three others also standing gloriously in one and the same Churchyard all of passing fine and curious Workmanship If you demand how great the wealth of this Abbay was a man could hardly tell and namely how many gifts and oblations were hung upon the Tombe alone of Saint Edmund and besides there came in out of lands and Revenewes a thousand five hundered and three score pounds of old rent by the yeare If I should relate the broiles severally that from time to time arose betweene the Townesmen and the Monkes who by their Steward governed the Townesmen and with how great rage they fell together by the eares purposedly to kill one another my relation would seeme incredible But as great a peece of worke as this was so long in building and still encreasing and as much riches as they gathered together for so many yeares with S. Edmunds shrine and the monuments of Alan Rufus Earle of Britaine and Richmond Sir Thomas of Brotherton sonne to King Edward the first Earle of Norfolke and Marshall of England Thomas of Beaufor Duke of Excester W. Earle of Stafford Marie Queene Dowager of France Daughter to King Henry the Seaventh and many other worthie personages there Entombed were by King Henry the Eighth utterly overthrowne What time as at one clappe hee suppressed all Monasteries perswaded thereto by such as under a goodly pretense of reforming religion preferred their private respects and their owne enriching before the honour of Prince and Country yea and before the Glory of God himselfe And yet there remaineth still lying along the carcasse as one would say of that auncient monument altogether deformed but for ruines I assure you they make a faire and goodly shew which who soever beholdeth hee may both wonder thereat and withall take pity thereof England also that I may note this also by the way if ever else it had losse by the death of any Man sustained here one of the greatest For that father in deede of his Country Humfrey Duke of Glocester a due observer of Iustice and who had furnished his noble witte with the better and deeper kinde of studies after hee had under King Henry the Sixth governed the Kingdome five and twenty yeares with great commendation so that neither good men had cause to complaine of nor evill to finde fault with was here in Saint Saviours Hospitall brought to his end by the spightfull envy of Margaret of Lorain Who seeing her husband King Henry the Sixth to bee a man of a silly simple minde and faint hearted to the end shee might draw into her owne hands the managing of the State devised and plotted this wicked deed but to her owne losse and this Realme in the highest degree For Normandy and Aquitane were thereby shortly after lost and Warres more then civill enkindled in England Nere unto this Saint Edmunds Bury is Rushbroke to be seene the habitation of the worshipfull Family of the Iermins Knights and not farre from thence Ikesworth where there stood an auncient Priory founded by Gilbert Blund a man of great nobility and Lord of Ikesworth whose issue male by the right line ended in William that in King Henry the Third his dayes was slaine in the battell at Lewis and left two sisters his Heires Agnes wife to William de Creketot and Roise wedded to Robert de Valoniis Afterward both here at Haulsted neere by Rougham and else-where the Family of Drury which signifieth in old English A Pretious jewell hath beene of great respect and good note especially since they married with the heires of Fressil and Saxham More Northward is Saint Genovefs Fernham in this regard memorable for that Richard Lucy Lord chiefe Justice of England tooke Prisoner there in a pight fielde Robert Earle of Leicester making foule worke and havocke here and withall put to the sword above ten thousand Flemings whom hee had levied and sent forth to the depopulation of his Country Here hard by I had the sight of two very faire houses the one built by the Kitsons Knights at Hengrave the possession in times past of Edmund de Hengrave a most renowned Lawyer under King Edward the First the other at Culfurth erected by Sir Nicolas Bacon Knight sonne unto that Sir Nicolas Bacon Lord Keeper of the great Seale of England who for his singular wisedome and most sound judgement was right worthily esteemed one of the two Supporters of this Kingdome in his time And not farre off standeth Lidgate a small Village yet in this respect not to be passed over in silence because it brought into the World Iohn Lidgate the Monke whose witte may seeme to have beene framed and shapen by the very Muses themselves so brightly re-shine in his English verses all the pleasant graces and elegancies of speech according to that age Thus much for the more memorable places on the West side of Suffolke On the South side wee saw the river Stour which immediately from the very spring head spreadeth a great Mere called Stourmeer but soone after drawing it selfe within the bankes runneth first by Clare a noble Village which had a Castle but now decayed and gave name to the right noble Family of the Clares descended from Earle Gislebert the Norman and the title of Dukedome unto Leonel King
and the chiefe Magistrate was termed a Consul which name may intimate that it was a Roman towne But when Bishop Herbert surnamed Losenga for that he was composed of Leafing and Flattery the third Prelate that by evill meanes and Simony climbed up to this Dignity had removed his seat from hence to Norwich it fell againe to decay and as it were languished Neither could it sufficiently bee comforted for the absence of the Bishop by the Abbay of Cluniac Monkes which by his meanes was built This Abbay Hugh Bigod built out of the ground For so writeth he in the Instrument of the foundation I Hugh Bigod Steward to King Henry by his graunt and by the advise of Herbert Bishop of Norwich have ordained Monkes of the Order of Cluny in the Church of S. Mary which was the Episcopall seat of Thetford which I gave unto them and afterwards founded another more meete for their use without the Towne Howbeit even then the greatest part of the Citty that stood on the hithermore Banke by little and little fell to the ground the other part although it was much decayed yet one or two Ages agoe flourished with seaven Churches besides three small religious Houses whereof the one was by report erected in the memoriall of the Englishmen and Danes slaine here For hard by as our Historians doe record Edmund that most holy King a litle before his death fought Seaven houres and more with the Danes not without an horrible slaughter and afterwards gave over the battaile on even hand such was the alternative fortune of the Field that it drave both sides past their senses By Waveney the other River of those twaine that bound this Shire and runneth Eastward not farre from the Spring head thereof are seene Buckenham and Keninghall This which may seeme to have the name left unto it of the Iceni is the Seat of that most honourable Family of the Howards whose glory is so great that the envy of Bucchanan cannot empaire it As for the other so named as I take it of Beech trees which the Saxons called Bucken it is a faire and strong Castle built by William de Aubigny the Norman unto whom the Conqueror had given the place and by his heires that were successively Earles of Arundell it descended to the Tatsalls and from them by Caly and the Cliftons unto the family of the Knevets These are of an ancient house and renowned ever since Sir Iohn Knevet was Lord Chancellour of England under King Edward the Third and also honourably allied by great marriages For over and beside these of Buckenham from hence sprang those right worshipfull knights Sir Thomas Knevet Lord Knevet Sir Henry Knevet of Wiltshire and Sir Thomas Knevet of Ashellwell Thorpe and others This Ashellwell Thorpe is a little Towne nere adjoyning which from the Thorpes in times past of Knights degree by the Tilneis and the L. L. Bourchiers of Berners is devolved at length hereditarily unto that Sir Thomas Knevet before named As for that Buckenham aforesaid it is holden by this tenure and condition that the Lords thereof should at the Coronation of the Kings of England be the Kings Butlers that day Like as a thing that may beseeme the noting in Charleton a little neighbour village Raulph de Carleton and some one other held lands by this service namely To present an hundred Herring-Pies or Pasties when Herrings first come in unto their Soveraigne Lord the King wheresoever he be in England But this river neare to his spring runneth by and by under Disce now Dis a prety towne well knowne which King Henry the First gave frankely to Sir Richard Lucy and hee straightwayes passed it over to Walter Fitz-Robert with his Daughter of whose Posterity Robert Fitz-Walter obtained for this place the liberty of keeping Mercat at the hands of King Edward the First From thence although Waveney bee on each side beset with Townes yet there is not one amongst them that may boast of any Antiquity unlesse it bee Harleston a good Mercate and Shelton that standeth farther of both which have given surnames to the ancient Families of the Sheltons and Harlestons but before it commeth to the Sea it coupleth it selfe with the river Yare which the Britans called Guerne the Englishmen Gerne and Iere of Alder trees no doubt so termed in British wherewith it is overshadowed It ariseth out of the mids of this Countrie not farre from Gernston a little Towne that tooke name thereof and hath hard by it Hengham which had Lords descended from Iohn Marescall Nephew by the brother to William Marescall Earle of Penbroch upon whom King John bestowed it with the Lands of Hugh de Gornay a Traitour and also with the daughter and coheire of Hubert de Rhia From this Marescals it passed in revolution of time unto the Lord Morleis and from them by Lovell unto the Parkers now Lords Morley A little from hence is Sculton otherwise called Burdos or Burdelois which was held by this Tenure That the Lord thereof on the Coronation day of the Kings of England should be chiefe Lardiner Joint-neighbour to Sculton is Wood-Rising the faire seate of the Family of Southwels which received the greatest reputation and encrease from Sir Richard Southwell Privie Councellour to King Edward the Sixth and his Brother Sir Robert Master of the Rowles More Eastward is to be seene Wimundham now short Windham famous for the Albineys Earles of Arundell there enterred whose Ancestor and Progenitor William D' Albiney Butler to King Henry the First founded the Priory and gave it to the Abbay of Saint Albans for a Cell which afterward was advanced to an Abbay Upon the Steeple whereof which is of a great height William Ke◠one of the Captaines of the Norfolke Rebels in the yeare of our Lord 1549. was hanged on high Neither would it bee passed over in silence that five miles from hence standeth Attilborrough the seate of the Mortimers an ancient Family who being different from those of Wigmor bare for their Armes A Shield Or Semè de floures de Lyz Sables and founded heere a Collegiat Church where there is little now to bee seene The Inheritance of these Mortimers hath by marriage long since accrued to the Ratcliffs now Earles of Sussex to the Family of Fitz-Ralph and to Sir Ralph Bigot But returne we now to the River The said Yare holdeth not his course farre into the East before he taketh Wentsum a Riveret others call it Wentfar from the South into his streame upon which neere unto the head thereof there is a foure square Rampier at Taiesborrough containing foure and twenty Acres It may seeme to have beene a Campe place of the Romans if it be not that which in an old Chorographicall Table or Map published by Marcus Welserus is called AD TAUM Somewhat higher upon the same River stood VENTA ICENORUM the most flourishing City for a little one in times past of all this
our Historians call Kings-delfe not farre from that great Lake Wittlesmere And as this Abbay did adorne the East side of the Shire so the middle thereof was beautified by Salâ—rie which the second Simon de Sancto Lizio Earle of Huntingdon built From which not farre is Cunnington holden anciently of the Honour of Huntingdon where within a foure square Trench are to be seene expresse remaines of an ancient Castle which as also Saltrie was by the gift of Canutus the seat of Turkill that Dane who abode heere among the East English and sent for Sueno King of Denmarke to make spoile of England After whose departure Waldeof the sonne of Siward Earle of Northumberland enjoyed it who married Judith Niece to William the Conquerour by his sister on the mothers side by whose eldest daughter it came to the royall family of Scotland For she by a second marriage matched with David Earle of Huntingdon who afterwards obtained the Kingdome of Scotland being the younger sonne of Malcolm Can-mor King of Scots and of Margaret his wife descended of the royall line of the English-Saxons For shee was Niece to King Edmund Iron-side by his sonne Edward sirnamed The Banished David had a sonne named Henry and Henry had another named David Earle of Huntingdon by one of whose daughters Isabel Cunnington and other lands by right of marriage descended to Sir Robert Bruse from whose eldest sonne Robert sirnamed the Noble James King of Great Britaine lineally deriveth his Descent and from Bernard his younger sonne unto whom this Cunnington with Exton fell Sir Robert Cotton Knight is lineally descended who over and beside other vertues being a singular lover and searcher of Antiquities having gathered with great charges from all places the Monuments of venerable Antiquity hath heere begunne a famous Cabinet whence of his singular courtesie hee hath oftentimes given me great light in these darksome obscurities But these Quarters considering the ground lying so low and for many moneths in the yeare surrounded and drowned in some places also floting as it were and hoven up with the waters are not free from the offensive noisomnesse of Meres and the unwholesome aire of the Fennes Here for sixe miles in length and three in breadth that cleare deepe and fishfull Mere named Wittles-mere spreadeth it selfe which as other Meres in this Tract doth sometimes in Calmes and faire weather sodainly rise tempestuously as it were into violent water-quakes to the danger of the poore fishermen by reason as some thinke of evaporations breaking violently out of the bowels of the earth As for the unhealthinesse of the place whereunto onely strangers and not the natives there are subject who live long and healthfully there is amends made as they account it by the commodity of fishing the plentifull feeding and the abundance of turfe gotten for fewell For King Cnut gave commandement by Turkill the Dane of whom ere while I spake That to every Village standing about the Fennes there should bee set out a severall Marsh who so divided the ground that each Village by it selfe should have in proper use and occupation so much of the very maine Marsh as the firme ground of every such Village touched the Marsh lying just against it And be ordained that no Village might either digge or mow in the Marsh of another without licence but that the pasture therein should lye all in common that is Horne under horne for the preservation of peace and concord among them But thus much of this matter When the sonnes and servants of the said King Cnut sent for from Peterborough to Ramsey were in passing over that Lake There fell upon them as they were cheerefull under saile and lifting up their voices with joyfull shoutings most untoward and unhappy windes wherewith a turbulent and tempestuous storme arose that enclosed them on every side so that laying aside all hope they were in utter despaire of their life security or any helpe at all But such was the mercifull clemency of Almighty God that it forsooke them not wholy nor suffered the most cruell Gulfe of the waters to swallow them up all quite but by his providence some of them he delivered mercifully out of those furious and raging waves but others againe according to his just and secret judgement he permitted amiddest those billowes to passe out of this fraile and mortall life And when the fame of so fearefull a danger was noised abroad and come to the Kings eares there fell a mighty trembling and quaking upon him but being comforted and releeved by the counsaile of his Nobles and freinds for to prevent in time to come all future mishaps by occasion of that outragious monster hee ordained that his souldiers and servants with their swords and skeins should set out and marke a certaine Ditch in the Marishes lying thereby betweene Ramsey and Whittlesey and afterwards that workemen and labourers should skoure and clense them whereupon as I have learned of ancient predecessours of good credite the said Ditch by some of the neighbour Inhabitants tooke the name Swerdesdelfe upon that marking out by swords and some would have it to bee termed Cnouts-delfe according to the name of the same King Yet commonly at this day they call it Steeds dike and it is counted the limit and bound between this County and Cambridge-shire In the East side of this Shire Kinnibantum Castle now called Kimbolton the habitation in times past of the Mandevilles afterwards of the Boâ—uns and Staffords and at this day of the Wingfields doth make a faire shew Under which was Stoneley a prety Abbay founded by the Bigrames A little from hence is Awkenbury which King John gave to David Earle of Huntingdon and John sirnamed the Scot his sonne unto Sir Stephen Segrave of whom I am the more willing to make mention for that he was one of those Courtiers who hath taught us That there is no power alwaies powerfull Hardly and with much adoe hee climbed to an eminent and high estate with great thought and care hee kept it and as sodainely hee was dejected from it For in his youth of a Clerke he became a Knight and albeit hee was but of meane parentage yet through his industry toward his later dayes so enriched and advanced that being ranged with the great Peeres of the Realme hee was reputed chiefe Justice of England and managed at his pleasure after a sort all the affaires of State But in the end he lost the Kings favour quite and to his dying day lay close in a Cloyster and who before time from a Clerkship betooke himselfe through arrogancy to secular service returning againe to the office of a Clerke resumed the shaven crowne which hee had forsaken without the counsell and advise of the Bishop Not farre from hence is Leighton where Sir Gervase Clifton knight lately made Baron Clifton beganne to build a goodly house and close to it lyeth Spaldwicke
of Rome and religious men was not onely in his life time most grievously troubled but also one and forty yeeres after his death his dead Corps was cruelly handled being by warrant from the Councell of Siena turned out of his grave and openly burned Neither is it to be forgotten that neere to this Towne is a spring so cold that within a short time it turneth strawes and stickes into stones From that Bensford bridge the foresaid old High way goeth on to High-crosse so called for that thereabout stood sometime a Crosse in stead of which is erected now a very high post with props and supporters thereto The neighbours there dwelling reported unto me that the two principall High-waies of England did here cut one another overthwart and that there stood a most flourishing City there named Cleycester which had a Senate of Aldermen in it and that Cleybrooke almost a mile off was part of it also that on both sides of the way there lay under the furrowes of the corne fields great foundations and ground workes of foure square stone also that peeces of Roman money were very often turned up with the Plough although above the ground as the Poet saith Etiam ipsae periere ruinae that is Even the very ruines are perished and gone These presumptions together with the distance of this place from BANNAVENTA or Wedon which agreeth just and withall the said Bridge leading hitherward called Bensford are inducements unto me to thinke verily that the station BENNONES or VENONES was heere which Antonine the Emperour placeth next beyond BANNAVENTA especially seeing that Antonine sheweth how the way divided it selfe heere into two parts which also goeth commonly currant For Northeastward where the way lieth to Lincolne the Fosse way leadeth directly to RATAE and to VERNOMETUM of which I will speake anon and toward the Northwest Watlingstreet goeth as streight into Wales by MANVESSEDUM whereof I shall write in his due place in Warwick-shire Higher yet neere the same streetside standeth Hinkley which had for Lord of it Hugh Grantmaismill a Norman high Steward or Seneschall of England during the Raignes of king William Rufus and Henry the First The said Hugh had two daughters Parnell given in marriage to Robert Blanch-mains so called of his faire white hands Earle of Leicester together with the High-Stewardship of England and Alice wedded to Roger Bigot Verily at the East end of the Church there are to be seene Trenches and Rampires yea and a Mount cast up to an eminent height which the inhabitants say was Hughes Castle Three miles hence standeth Bosworth an ancient Mercat Towne which liberty together with the Faire S. Richard Harecourt obtained for it at the hands of king Edward the First Under this towne in our great grandfathers daies the kingdome of England lay hazarded upon the chance of one battaile For Henry Earle of Richmond with a small power encountred there in pitched field king Richard the Third who had by most wicked meanes usurped the kingdome and whiles he resolved to die the more valiantly fighting for the liberty of his country with his followers and friends the more happy successe he had and so overcame and slew the Usurper and then being with joyfull acclamations proclaimed King in the very mids of slaughtered bodies round about he freed England by his happy valour from the rule of a Tyrant and by his wisdome refreshed and setled it being sore disquieted with long civill dissentions Whereupon Bernard Andreas of Tholous a Poet living in those daies in an Ode dedicated unto King Henry the Seventh as touching the Rose his Devise writ these Verses such as they are Ecce nunc omnes posuere venti Murmuris praeter Zephyrum tepentem Hic Rosas nutrit nitidósque flores Veris amoeni Behold now all the windes are laid But Zephyrus that blowes full warme The Rose and faire spring-floures in mead He keepeth fresh and doth no harme Other memorable things there are none by this Street unlesse it bee Ashby de la Zouch that lyeth a good way off a most pleasant Lordship now of the Earles of Huntingdon but belonging in times past to the noble Family De la Zouch who descended from Alan Vicount of Rohan in Little Britaine and Constantia his wife daughter to Conan le Grosse Earle of Britaine and Maude his wife the naturall daughter of Henry the First Of this house Alane De la Zouch married one of the heires of Roger Quincy Earle of Winchester and in her right came to a faire inheritance in this Country But when hee had judicially sued John Earle of Warren who chose rather to try the Title by the sword point than by point of Law he was slaine by him even in Westminster Hall in the yeere of our Lord 1269. and some yeeres after the daughters and heires of his grand sonne transferred this inheritance by their marriages into the Families of the Saint Maures of Castle Cary and the Hollands Yet their father first bestowed this Ashby upon Sir Richard Mortimer of Richards Castle his cozin whose younger issue thereupon tooke the sirname of Zouch and were Lords of Ashby But from Eudo a younger sonne of Alane who was slaine in Westminster Hall the Lords Zouch of Harringworth branched out and have beene for many Descents Barons of the Realme Afterward in processe of time Ashby came to the Hastings who built a faire large and stately house there and Sir William Hastings procured unto the Towne the liberty of a Faire in the time of King Henry the Sixth Here I may not passe over the next neighbour Cole-Overton now a seat of the Beaumontes descended from Sir Thomas Beaumont Lord of Bachevill in Normandy brother to the first Vicount This place hath a Cole prefixed for the forename which Sir Thomas as some write was hee who was slaine manfully fighting at such time as the French recovered Paris from the English in the time of King Henry the Sixth This place of the pit-coles being of the nature of hardned Bitumen which are digged up to the profit of the Lord in so great a number that they serve sufficiently for fewell to the neighbour Dwellers round about farre and neere I said before that the River Soar did cut this Shire in the middle which springing not farre from this Street and encreased with many small rils and Brookes of running water going a long Northward with a gentle streame passeth under the West and North side of the cheife Towne or City of this County which in Writers is called Lege-Cestria Leogora Legeo cester and Leicester This Towne maketh an evident faire shew both of great antiquity and good building In the yeere 680. when Sexwulph at the commandement of King Etheldred divided the kingdome of the Mercians into Bishoprickes hee placed in this an Episcopall See and was himselfe the first Bishop that sat there but a few yeeres after when the See was translated to
of the country beganne to make a new chanell at Clowcrosse in the yeere 1599. Neere unto this banke aforesaid we saw Crowland which also is called Croyland a Towne of good note among the Fenne-people the name whereof soundeth as Ingulph the Abbat of this place interpreteth it as much as A raw and muddy Land A place as they write much haunted in times past with I wot not what sprites and fearefull apparitions before that Guthlake a right holy and devout man led there an Eremits life In whose memoriall Aethelbald King of the Mercians founded to the honour of God at his great charges in the yeere of our Salvation 716. an Abbay very famous both for opinion of the religious life of the Monkes and also for their wealth Concerning which take heere if you please these Verses of Foelix a Monke of good antiquity out of the life of Guthlake Nunc exercet ibi se munificentia Regis Et magnum templum magno molimine condit At cum tam mollis tam lubrica tam malè constans Fundamenta palus non ferret saxea palos Praecipit infigi quercino robore caesos Leucarúmque novem spacio rate fertur arena Inque solum mutatur humus suffultáque tali Cella basi multo stat consummata labore His bounty now the King doth there bestow An Abbay faire with much expense to reare But seeing that the waterish Fenne below Those ground-workes laid with stone uneath could beare So quaving soft and moist the Bases were He caused piles made of good heart of oke Pitch't downe to be with maine commanders stroke Then nine leagues off men sand in Barges brought Which once fast ramm'd by painfull workmans hand Of rotten earth good solid ground was wrought On which for aye such workes might firmely stand And thus by this devise of new plantation The Church stands firme and hath a sure foundation If I should exemplifie unto you out of that Monke the Devils of Crowland with their blabber lips fire-spitting mouthes rough and skaly visages beetle heads terrible teeth sharpe chins hoarse throats blacke skinnes crump-shoulders side and gor-bellies burning loines crooked and hawm'd legges long tailed buttockes and ugly mishapes which heeretofore walked and wandered up and downe in these places and very much troubled holy Guthlake and the Monkes you would laugh full merily and I might bee thought a simple sily-one full worthily Howbeit in regard of the admirable situation of this place so farre different from all others in England and considering the Abbay was so famous I am well content to dwell a while in the description of these particulars Amid most deepe Fennes and standing waters in a muddy and miry ground this Crowland lyeth so shut up and divided round about from all entrance that there is no accesse to it unlesse it bee on the North and East side and that by narrow Cawsies Seated it is for all the world if I may resemble great and small things together like unto Venice Three streets it hath and those severed one from another by water courses betweene planted thicke with willowes and raised upon piles or postes pitched and driven downe deepe into the standing waters having over them a triangle Bridge of admirable workmanship under which for to receive the fall of the waters meeting in one confluence the Inhabitants report there was a pit sunke of a mighty depth Now whereas beyond the Bridge in solum mutatur humus as that Monke said that is The mould is chaunged and is become firme and solid ground there stood in times past that famous Abbay and the same verily taking up but a small plot of ground about which all save where the Towne standeth is so rotten and moorish that a man may thrust a pole downe right thirty foote deepe and round about it every way is nothing but a plot of reeds and next unto the Church a place planted with Alders Howbeit the Towne is well enough peopled with Inhabitants who have their Cattaile a great way from the Towne and when they are to milke them they goe in little punts or boats that will carry but two a peece which they call Skerries yet the most gainfull trade they have is by taking fish and catching of water-foule and that is so great that in the moneth of August they will spread a net and at once draw three thousand Mallards and wilde Duckes and such like together and these pooles or watery plots of theirs they use to terme their Corne fields for they see no Corne growing in five miles any way In regard of this their taking of fish and fowle they paid yeerely in times past to the Abbat as now they doe to the King three hundred pounds of our money The private History of this Abbay I list not to relate seeing it is commonly extant and to be seene out of Ingulph now printed and published yet my minde serves me well briefely to record that which Peter of Bloys Vice-chancellour to King Henry the Second reported at large as touching the new building of this Abbay in the yeere of our Redemption 1112. to the end that by this one president wee may learne by what meanes and helpes so mighty so huge and so faire religious houses were raised and built up in those times Ioffrid the Abbat obtained of the Archbishops and Bishops in England An Indulgence for the third part of penance enjoyned for sinnes committed unto every one that helped forward so holy a worke With this Indulgence he sent out Monkes every way and all about to gather money wherewith when hee was now sufficiently furnished to the end that hee might have an happy beginning of this worke from some happy names of lucky presage hee solemnely appointed the day of Saint Perpetua and of Saint Felicity on which he would lay the first foundation At which day there came flocking in great numbers the Nobles the Prelates and Commons of all the Country thereabout After the celebration of Divine Service and Anthems sung in parts Abbat Ioffrid himselfe layed the first Corner stone Eastward then the Noble men and great persons every one in their degree couched their stones and upon the said stones some laid money others their sealed Deeds of lands Advousons of Churches of Tenths of their Sheepe and of the Tithes of their Churches of certaine measures of wheat and of a certaine number of Workemen as Masons and Quarriers whom they would pay The common sort again and towneships for their parts offered with chearefull devotion some money others one daies labour every moneth untill the worke were finished some the building of whole Pillars others of the bases to the said Pillars and others again to make certaine parts of the wals striving a vie who should doe most This done the Abbat after hee had in a solemne speech commended their devout bounty to so holy a worke granted unto every one of them the fraternity of his Abbay and the participation besides of all
Saint late Bishop carried upon their shoulders to his buriall Howbeit the memory of two Prelates I must needs renew afresh the one is Robert Grosthead a man so well seene both in literature and in the learned tongues in that age as it is incredible and to use the words of one then living A terrible reproover of the Pope an adviser of his Prince and Soveraigne a lover of verity a corrector of Prelates a director of Priests an instructor of the Clergy a maintainer of Schollers a Preacher to the people a diligent searcher into the Scriptures a mallet of the Romanists c. The other is mine owne Praeceptor whom in all duty I must ever love and honour that right reverend Father Thomas Cooper who hath notably well deserved both of all the learned and also of the Church in whose Schoole I both confesse and rejoice that I received education The City it selfe also flourished a long time being ordained by King Edward the Third for the Staple as they tearme it that is the Mart of Wooll Leather Lead c. Which although it hath not been over-laied with any grievous calamities as being once onely set on fire once also besieged in vaine by King Stephen who was there vanquished and taken prisoner forced also and won by King Henry the Third when the rebellious Barons who had procured Lewis of France to chalenge the Crowne of England defended it against him without any great dammage yet incredible it is how much it hath been empaired by little and little conquered as it were with very age and time so that of fifty Churches which it had standing in our Great-grandfathers daies there are now remaining scarce eighteene It is remooved that I may note this also from the Aequator 53. degrees and 12. scruples and from the West point 22. degrees and 52. scruples As that Street-way called Highdike goeth on directly from Stanford to Lincolne so from hence Northward it runneth with an high and streight causey though heere and there it be interrupted forward for ten miles space to a little Village called the Spittle in the Street and beyond By the which as I passed I observed moreover about three miles from Lincolne another High-port-way also called Ould-street to turne out of this High dike Westward carrying a bancke likewise evident to be seene which as I take it went to AGELOCUM the next baiting towne or place of lodging from LINDUM in the time of the Romanes But I will leave these and proceed in the course that I have begun Witham being now past Lincolne runneth downe not far from Wragbye a member of the Barony called Trusbut the title whereof is come by the Barons Roos unto the Mannours now Earles of Rutland Then approcheth it to the ruines of a famous Abbay in times past called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly Bardney where Bede writeth that King Oswald was Entombed with a Banner of gold and purple hanged over his Tombe The writers in the foregoing age thought it not sufficient to celebrate the memory of this most Christian worthy King Oswald unlesse unto his glorious exploits they stitched also ridiculous miracles But that his hand remained heere uncorrupted many hundred yeeres after our Ancestours have beleeved and a Poet of good antiquity hath written in this wise Nullo verme perit nulla putredine tabet Dextra viri nullo constringi frigore nullo Dissolvi fervore potest sed semper eodem Immutata statu persistit mortua vivit The mans right hand by no worme perisht is No rottennesse doth cause it putrifie No binding cold can make it starke ywis Nor melting heat dissolve and mollifie But alwayes in one state persist it will Such as it was though dead it liveth still This Abbay as writeth Peter of Bloys being sometime burnt downe to the ground by the Danes furious outrage and for many revolutions of yeeres altogether forlorne that noble and devout Earle of Lincolne Gilbert de Gaunt reedified and in most thankfull affectionate minde assigned unto it with many other possessions the tithes of all his Manours wheresoever throughout England Then is Witham encreased with Ban a little River which out of the midst of Lindsey runneth downe first by Horne Castle which belonged in times past to Adeliza of Condie and was laid even with the ground in the Raigne of Stephen afterwards became a capitall seat of the Barony of Gerard de Rodes and pertaineth now as I have heard to the Bishop of Carlile From thence by Scrivelby a Manour of the Dimockes who hold it hereditarily devolved upon them from the Marmions by Sir J. Ludlow and that by service to use now the Lawyers words Of Grand Serjeanty viz. That whensoever any King of England is to bee crowned then the Lord of this Manour for the time being or some one in his name if himselfe bee unable shall come well armed for the warre mounted upon a good horse of service in presence of the Soveraigne Lord the King upon his Coronation day and cause Proclamation to bee made that if any man will avouch that the said Soveraigne Lord the King hath not right to his Kingdome and Crowne he will be prest and ready to defend the right of the King of his Kingdome of his Crowne and dignity with his body against him and all others whatsoever Somewhat lower The Ban at Tatteshall a little Towne standing in a Marish Country but very commodiously well knowne by reason of the Castle built for the most part of bricke and the Barons thereof runneth into Witham They write that Eudo and Pinso two Noblemen of Normandy loving one another entirely as sworne brethren by the liberall gift of King William the Conquerour received many Lordships and faire lands in this tract which they parted so as that Tatteshall fell to Eudo which he held by Barony from whose posterity it came by Dryby and the Bernacks unto Sir Raulph Cromwell whose sonne bearing the same name and being under King Henry the Sixth Lord Treasurer of England departed out of this world without issue but unto Pinso fell Eresby which is not farre off From whose progeny the inheritance descended by the Becks unto the Willoughbeies unto whom there came also an encrease both of honour and also of faire Livelods by their wives not onely from the Uffords Earles of Suffolke but also from the Lords of Welles who brought with them very faire possessions and lands of the family de Engain Lords of ancient Nobility and from the first comming in of the Normans of great power in these parts Among these Willoughbeis one excelled all the rest in the Raigne of Henry the Fifth named Sir Robert Willoughby who for his martiall prowesse was created Earle of Vandosme in France and from these by the mothers side descended Peregrine Berty Baron Willoughby of Eresby a man for his generous minde and military valour renowned
thereof For in this tenour runne the very words of the Charter She likewise bestowed it upon John de Lacy Constable of Chester and the heires whom hee should beget of the body of Margaret her daughter This John had issue Edmund who dying before his mother left this honour for Henry his sonne to enjoy who was the last Earle of that line For when his sonnes were taken away by untimely death and he had but one little daughter onely remaining alive named Alice hee affianced her being but nine yeeres old to Thomas the sonne of Edmund Earle of Lancaster with this condition That if he should fortune to dye without heires of her body or if they happened to dye without heires of their bodies his Castles Lordships c. should in Remainder come to the heires of Edmund Earle of Lancaster for ever But the said Alice had no childe at all by her husband Thomas But when Thomas her husband was beheaded shee that by her light behaviour had not a little steined her good name tooke Sir Eubul le Strange with whom she had lived before time too familiarly for her husband without the assent and privity of her Soveraigne who being hereat highly offended seised her possessions into his owne hands Yet both Sir Eubul Strange and Sir Hugh Frene her third husband are in some Records named Earles of Lincolne After Alice now very aged was departed this life without issue Henry Earle of Lancaster Nephew to Edmund aforesaid by his second sonne entred upon her large and faire patrimony by vertue of that conveiance which I spake of before and from that time it accrued to the House of Lancaster Howbeit the Kings of England at their pleasure have bestowed the name and honour of Earles of Lincolne as King Edward the Fourth gave it to Sir John De la Pole and King Henry the Eighth to Henry Brandon both the Sonnes of the Dukes of Suffolke who both ended this life without Issue the first slaine in the battaile at Stoke and the other taken away by the sweating sicknesse Afterward Queene Elizabeth promoted Edward Baron Clinton Lord high Admirall of England to the said honour which his sonne Henry enjoyeth at this day There are in this Shire Parishes much about 630. NOTINGAMIAE Comitatus olim pars CORITANORVM NOTTINGHAM-SHIRE VPon the West side of Lincolne-shire confineth the County of NOTTINGHAM in the English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in English Nottingham-shire being farre lesse in quantity limited Northward with York-shire Westward with Darby-shire and in some parts with York-shire and on the South side with Leicester-shire The South and East part thereof are made more fruitfull by the noble and famous River Trent with other Riverets resorting unto it The West part is taken up with the Forest of Shirewood which stretcheth out a great way This part because it is sandy the Inhabitants tearme The Sand the other for that it is Clayish they call the Clay and so have divided their Country into these two parts The River Trent in the old English Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some Antiquaries of small note and account have called Triginta in Latine for the affinity of the French word Trent that signifieth that number Triginta that is thirty having gone a long journey so soone as hee is entred into this Shire and hath recepto Souro flumine ex agro Leicestrensi taking in the River Soure from the field of Leicester runne by Steanford where I have learned there be many tokens remaining of old antiquity and peeces of Roman money oftentimes found and then by Clifton which hath given both habitation and sirname also to the ancient family of the Cliftons much enriched by one of the heires of Cressy taketh in from the West the little River Lin which rising neere unto Newsted that is New place where sometime King Henry the Second founded a small Abbay and which is now the dwelling house of the ancient Family of the Burons descended from Ralph de Buron who at the first comming in of the Normans flourished in great state both in this Countrey and also in Lancashire runneth hard by Wallaton rich in veines of cole where Sir Francis Willoughby a Knight nobly descended from the Greis Marquesse Dorset in our daies built out of the ground with great charges upon a vaine ostentation of his wealth a stately house with artificiall workemanship standing bleakely but offering a very goodly prospect to the beholders farre and neere Then runneth it by Linton or Lenton much frequented and famous in old time for the Abbay there of the Holy Trinity founded by William Peverell the base sonne of King William the Conquerour but now all the fame is onely for a Faire there kept Where on the other banke at the very meeting well neere of Lin and Trent the principall Towne that hath given name unto the Shire is seated upon the side of an hill now called Nottingham by softning the old name a little for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for so the English Saxons named it of certaine caves and passages under the ground which in old time they hewed and wrought hollow under those huge and steepe cliffes which are on the South side hanging over the little River Lin for places of receit and refuge yea and for habitations And thereupon Asserius interpreteth this Saxon word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine Speluncarum domum that is An house of Dennes or Caves and in the British Tui ogo bauc which signifieth the very selfe same The Towne for the naturall site thereof is right pleasant as where on the one hand lye faire and large Medowes by the Rivers side on the other rise hils with a gentle and easie ascent and is plentifully provided of all things beside necessary for mans life On the one side Shirewood yeeldeth store of wood to maintaine fire although many use for that purpose stinking pit cole digged forth of the ground on the other Trent serveth it aboundantly with fish And hence hath beene taken up this od barbarous Verse Limpida sylva focum Triginta dat mihi piscem Shire-wood yeelds me fuell for fire As Trent yeelds fish what I require At a word for largenesse for building for three faire Churches a passing spacious and beautifull Mercat place and a most strong Castle it maketh a goodly shew The said Castle is mounted upon an huge and steepe worke on the West side of the City in which place it is thought that Castle stood in times past upon whose strength the Danes presuming held out against the Siege of Aethered and Aelfrid so long untill they frustrate of their purpose brake up their Siege trussed up bagge and baggage and dislodged For when the Danes had taken this Castle Burthred King of the Mercians as mine Authour Asserius writeth and the Mercians addresse their messengers to Aethered King of the West Saxons and to
Family then a most other Within a little whereof standeth Stoneley where King Henry the Second founded an Abbay and just over against it stood in old time a Castle upon Avon called Stoneley-holme built in Holmeshull which was destroyed when the flaming broiles of Danish Warres under king Canutus caught hold of all England Then runneth Avon unto the principall Towne of the whole Shire which wee call Warwicke the Saxons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ninnius and the Britans Caer Guarvic and Caer Leon. All which names considering they seeme to have sprung from Guarth a British word which signifieth a Garison or from Legions that were set in certaine places for Guard and defence thereof have in some sort perswaded mee although in these Etymologies I love rather to bee a Scepticke than a Criticke that this is the very Towne of Britaine which the Romans called PRAESIDIUM where as wee finde in the Noticia or Abstract of Provinces the Captaine of the Dalmatian Horsemen abode under the command of Dux Britanniae This Cohort or Band was enrolled out of Dalmatia and to note thus much by the way such was the provident wisedome and forecast of the Romans that in all their Provinces they placed forraigne Souldiers in Garison who by reason of their diversity as well of manners as of language from the naturall Inhabitants could not joyne with them in any conspiracy for as hee writeth Nations not inured to the bridle of bondage easily otherwise start backe from the yoake imposed upon them Heereupon it was that there served in Britaine out of Africke the Moores out of Spaine the Astures and Vettones out of Germany the Batavi Nervij Tungri and Turnacenses out of Gaul the Lingones Morini and from other remoter places Dalmatians Thracians Alani c. as I will shew in their proper places But now to the matter Neither let any man thinke that the Britans got that word Guarth from the Frenchmen seeing the originall is an Hebrew word if wee may beleeve Lazius and in that Originall most Nations doe accord But that this was PRAESIDIUM that is The Garison Towne both the Authority of our Chronicles teacheth which report that the Romane Legions had their aboad heere and the site also it selfe in the very navell and mids almost of the whole Province doth imply For equally distant it is of the one side from the East Coast of Norfolke and on the other side from the West of Wales which kinde of situation PRAESIDIUM a Towne of Corsica had standing just in the middest of the Island And no marvaile is it that the Romans kept heere Garison and a standing Company of Souldiers seeing it standeth over the River Avon upon a steepe and high Rocke and all the passages into it are wrought out of the very stone That it was fortified with a Wall and Ditches it is apparent and toward the South West it sheweth a Castle passing strong as well by Nature as handy-worke the seat in times past of the Earles of Warwicke The Towne it selfe is adorned with faire houses and is much bound to Ethelfled Lady of the Mercians who repaired it when as it was greatly decaied in the yeere 911. In very good state also it was upon the Normans entring into this land and had many Burgesses as they tearme them and twelve of them as wee finde written in King William the Conquerours Domesday Booke Were bound to accompany the King of England into his Warres He that upon warning given went not paid an hundred Shillings to the King but if the King made a voyage by sea against his enemies they sent either foure Boteswans or foure pound of Deniers In this Burgh the King hath in his Demeines one hundred and thirteene Burgesses and the Kings Barons have an hundred and twelve Roger the second of the Normans bloud Earle of Warwicke built afterwards in the very heart of the Towne a most beautifull Church to the blessed Virgin Mary Which the Beauchamps that succeeded adorned with their Tombes but especially Richard Beauchamp Earle of Warwicke and Governour of Normandy who dyed at Roan in the yeere 1439. and after a sumptuous funerall solemnized in this Church lyeth entombed in a magnificent Tombe with this Inscription Pray devoutly for the soule whom God assoile of one of the most worshipfull Knights in his daies of Manhood and cunning Richard Beauchampe late Earle of Warwicke Lord Despenser of Bergavenny and of many other great Lordships whose body resteth heere under this Tombe in a full faire Vault of stone set in the bare Roche The which visited with long sicknesse in the Castle of Rohan therein deceased full Christianly the last day of April in the yeere of our Lord God 1439. Hee being at that time Lieutenant Generall of France and of the Dutchie of Normandie by sufficient authority of our Soveraigne Lord King Henry the sixth The which body by great deliberation and worshipfull conduct by sea and land was brought to Warwick the fourth of October the yeere abovesaid and was laid with full solemne exequies in a faire Chest made of stone in the West Doore of this Chappell according to his last Will and Testament therein to rest till this Chappell by him devised in his life were made the which Chappell founded on the Roche and all the members thereof his Executors did fully make and apparell by the authority of his said last Will and Testament And thereafter by the said authority they did translate worshipfully the said body into the Vault aforesaid Honoured be God therefore Neere unto Warwicke Northward is Blaclow hill to be seene on which Piers de Gaveston whom King Edward the Second had raised from a base and low estate to bee Earle of Cornwall was by the Nobles of the Kingdome beheaded who presuming of the Kings favor and fortunes indulgence tooke unto him so great and licencious liberty that when he had once corrupted the Kings heart hee despised all the best men and proudly seized upon the estates of many and as hee was a crafty and old beaten Fox sowed discords and variance betweene the Prince and the Peeres of the Realme Under this hill hard by the River Avon standeth Guy-cliffe others call it Gib-cliffe the dwelling house at this day of Sir Thomas Beau-foe descended from the ancient Normans line and the very seat it selfe of pleasantnesse There have yee a shady little Wood cleere and cristall Springs mossie bottomes and caves medowes alwaies fresh and greene the River rumbling heere and there among the stones with his streame making a milde noise and gentle whispering and besides all this solitary and still quietnesse things most gratefull to the Muses Heere as the report goes that valiant knight and noble Worthy so much celebrated Sir Guy of Warwicke after hee had borne the brunt of sundry troubles and atchieved many painfull exploits built a Chappell led an Eremits life and in the end was buryed Howbeit wiser men doe thinke
Pagans for the propagation of Christs true religion built heere a Church and ordeined Duina the first Bishop whose successors found such favour at their Princes hand that they had not onely the preheminence among all the Bishops of the Mercians and the greatest possessions given unto them for their use as Cankwood or Canock a very great wood and other faire lands and Lordships but also this Church had an Archbishop that sat in it namely Eadulph unto whom Pope Adrian granted an Archiepiscopall Pall and subjected under him all the Bishops of the Mercians and East Angles mooved thereunto with golden reasons by Offa King of the Mercians to spite Lambert the Archbishop of Canterbury who had promised to aide Charles the Great if he would invade England But this Archiepiscopall dignity died together with Offa and Eadulph But among all the Bishops of this See Chadd was of greatest fame and canonized a Saint for his holinesse who as Bede saith when riotous excesse had not yet possessed the hearts of Bishops made himselfe a mansion house standing not farre remote from the Church wherein he was wont secretly to pray and reade together with a few that is to say seven or eight religious men as oft as he had any vacant time from painefull preaching and ministery of the word unto the people In those daies Lichfield was a small towne farre short of the frequency of Cities the Country about it full of woods and a little river runneth hard by it The Church was seated in a narrow roome evidently shewing the meane estate and abstinence of our ancestours When as in the Synode holden in the yeere of our Lord 1075. it was forbidden that Bishops Sees should lie obscure in meane and small Townes Peter Bishop of Lichfield translated his See to Chester but Robert Linsey his successour remooued the same unto Coventry A little after Roger Clinton brought it backe againe to Lichfield and beganne to build in the yeere of Christ 1148. this most beautifull Church in the honour of the blessed virgin Mary at Saint Ceda or Chad and repaired the Castle which now is utterly vanished As for the towne it was made first an Incorporation in our Fathers remembrance by King Edward the Sixth by the name of Bailiffs and Burgesses It seeth the Pole Artick elevated two and fifty degrees and two and forty minutes and from the farthest point of the West counteth one and twenty degrees and twenty minutes This Poole of Lichfield being by and by kept and restreined within bankes and spreading broader the second time but gathering againe into a chanell is quickly swallowed into Trent who continueth his course East-ward untill he meeteth with the river of Tame from the South with whom Trent being now coupled turneth aside his streame Northward through places that yeeld great store of Alabaster that he might the sooner entertaine Dow and so almost insulateth or encompasseth Burton a Towne in times past of name by reason of workers in Alabaster a Castle of the Ferrars built in the Conquerors time an ancient Abbay founded by Ulfrick Spot Earle of Mercia and the retyring place of Modwen that holy Irish woman who there dedicated her selfe first to the service of God Concerning which Abbay the Leger-booke of Abingdon recordeth thus A certaine servitour of King Aetheldred named Ulfrick Spot built the Abbay of Burton and gave unto it all the inheritance that came by his Father esteemed worth seven hundred pounds and that this his donation might stand good and sure he gave unto King Aetheldred three hundred Mankus of gold for his confirmation and to every Bishop five Mankus and beside to Alfrick Archbishop of Canterbury the Towne Dumbleton Whereby wee may understand that there was a golden world then and that gold swaied much yea in Church matters and among Church-men In this abbay the said Modwen whose holinesse was much celebrated in this tract lay buried and upon her Tombe were engraven for an Epitaph these verses Ortum Modwennae dat Hibernia Scotia finem Anglia dat tumulum dat Deus astra poli Prima dedit vitam sed mortem terra secunda Et terram terrae tertia dedit Auffert Lanfortin quam terra Conallea profert Foelix Burtonium virginis ossa tenet In Ireland Modwen who began in Scotland tooke her end England on her a Tombe bestow'd to Heaven God did her send The first of these lands gave her life the second wrought her death And earth to earth in decent sort the third land did bequeath Lanfortin taketh that away which once Tir-Connell gave And Burton blest whose hap it is this virgines bones to have Neere unto Burton betwixt these three rivers Dove Trent and Blith the which watereth and nameth Blithfield a faire house of the ancient and worthy Family of the Bagots Needwood a very large wood and full of parkes spreadeth it selfe Wherein the Nobility and Gentlemen dwelling thereabout take their jolly pleasure and disport themselves in hunting Thus much of the places in the midle part of this shire The North part riseth up and swelleth somewhat mountainous with moores and hilles but of no great bignesse which beginning here runs like as Apennine doth in Italie through the middest of England with a continued ridge rising more and more with divers tops and cliffs one after another even as far as to Scotland although oftentimes they change their name For heere they are called Mooreland after a while the Peak Blackstone edge then Craven anon as they goe further Stanmore and at length being parted diversly as it were into hornes Cheviot This Mooreland so called for that it riseth higher into hils and mountaines and is withall lesse fruitfull which kind of places we call in our language Moores is a small country verily so hard so comfortlesse bare and cold that it keepeth snow lying upon it a long while in so much as that of a little country village named Wotton lying here under Woverhill the neighbor inhabitants have this rime rise in their mouth as if God forsooth had never visited that place Wotton under Wever Where God came never Yet in so hard a soile it breedeth and feedeth beasts of large bulke and faire spread The people heere dwelling observe that when the winde sitteth West it is alwaies raine but the East and Southwinde which in other places brew and broach raine bring faire weather unlesse the winde turne from West into the South and this they ascribe unto the vicinity of the Irish Sea Out of these Moores most rivers in this shire doe spring but the chiefe are Dove Hanse Churnet Teyn Blith and Trent himselfe who receiveth every one of them and conveieth them all to the Sea Dow or Dove whose bankes are reared out of solid hard lime stone which they burne and use for compast to manure and enrich their fields with all doth swiftly runne along the most part of the East side of this Country
and separateth it from Darby-shire holding on his course in a Cleyish channell without any beds or shelves of mud through a soile consisting of the said Lime-stone from whence it sucketh out such fertilitie that in the very middest of Winter the Medowes on both the bankes sides carry a most pleasant and fresh greene hew but if it chance to swell above the bankes and overflow the Medowes in Aprill it battelleth them like another Nilus and maketh them so fruitfull that the inhabitants use commonly to chant this joyfull note In Aprill Doves flood Is worth a Kings good This river in twelve houres space useth so to rise that it harieth and carrieth away with it sheepe and other cattaile to the great terror of the people dwelling thereby but within the same time againe it falleth and returnes within his owne bankes whereas Trent being once up and over his bankes floweth upon the fields foure or five daies together but now come we to the rivers that run into it The first is Hans which being swallowed up under the ground breaketh up againe three miles off Then admitteth he the fellowship of the river Churnet who passeth by De-la-Cres Abbay built by Ranulph the third of that name Earle of Chester by Leike also a well knowne Mercat towne and by Aulton a Castle in times past belonging to the Barons Verdon who founded heere the Abbay of Croxden from whom by the Furnivals it descended to the Talbots Earles of Shrewsbury A little below runneth Teyn a small brooke into Dove which having his head not far from Cheddle the ancient seat of the Bassets who derive their pedegree from the Bassets of Draiton creepeth on in such a winding and crooked chanell that within one mile I was faine to passe over it foure times Neere unto it in Checkley Church-yard there stand three stones upright erected in maner of a Pyramides two of them have little images engraven upon them but that in the middest is highest The inhabitants report by tradition that a battaile was fought there betweene two hosts of which the one was armed the other unarmed and that in it were three Bishops slaine in memoriall of whom these stones were set up But what Historicall truth indeed lieth heerein enfolded I know not as yet As for Blith it hath in this Moreland Careswell a Castler situate upon it which Sir William Careswell built with great ponds having their heads made of square stones and Draicot which gave surname to a family of great antiquity in this County But Dove after it hath received Tine having a faire bridge made over it of most hard stone and defended with piles runneth under Vtcester in ' the Saxons tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Vttoxather situate upon the side of an hill with a gentle ascent a towne more rich in gay flowring medowes and in cattaile than faire built which before I saw it the name was so favourable to my conjecture I thought in vaine to have been the ancient ETOCETUM But now time hath taught me more certeinty After this when Dove is now come neerer unto Trent it visiteth Tutbury Castle in times past a large and stately thing which also is called Stutesbury and from an Alabaster hill top on which it stands threatneth as it were the whole country underneath It was built together with a little Monastery by Henry de Ferrars a Noble man of Normandy unto whom King William the First had given great lands and revenewes in this shire all which Robert de Ferrars Earle of Darby lost after he had revolted a second time from King Henry the Third For this Robert when after many troubles which he had raised in the Barons war hee was received into the Kings favour and had bound himselfe with a corporall oth in expresse and formall words that he would continue ever after loyall to his liege Lord yet was the man of such a stirring and restlesse spirit that to break and knap in peeces quite that fortune which he could not bend he put on armes against his Soveraigne and being at length taken prisoner that I may use the very words of the Record according to the forme of his obligation made this great forfeiture both of his fortunes and dignities There is in some place of this shire a lake if Alexander Necham deceive us not into which no wilde beast will in any wise enter but since the place is uncertaine and the thing it selfe more uncertaine I will onely put downe underneath these his verses before which he prefixed this Title De Lacu in Staffordia Rugitu Lacus est eventus praeco futuri Cujus aquis fera se credere nulla solet Instet odora canum virtus mors instet acerba Non tamen intrabit exagitata lacum Of a Lake in Stafford-shire A Lake there is that roreth loud whereby things are fore-showne The water whereof once to take wild beasts were never knowne Let hounds let death pursue apace them for to overtake For all this chase and hot pursuite none enter will the Lake Of another Poole or Lake also in this Country thus writeth Gervase of Tilbury in his Otia Imperialia unto Otho the fourth In the Bishopricke of Coventry and County of Stafford at the foot of an hill which the inborne people of the Country have named Mahull there is a water spread abroad in maner of a Meere in the territory of a Village which they tearme Magdalea In this Meere or Marsh there is a most cleere water and an infinite number of woods beside joyning one unto another which hath such an effectuall vertue in refreshing of bodies that so often as Hunters have chased Stagges and other Deere untill their Horses be tired if in the greatest heate of the scorching Sunne they taste of this water and offer it unto their Horses for to drinke they recover their strength of running againe which they had lost and become so fresh as one would thinke they had not run at all But whereabout this is I cannot yet learne by all my diligent inquiry As for the title of Stafford it remaineth ever since Robert de Stafford whom King William of Normandy enriched with great possessions even untill our time in his line and progeny A family as noble and ancient as any other but upon which fortune hath otherwhiles by turnes both frowned and fawned For first they were Barons of Stafford then five of them Earles of Stafford Ralfe created by King Edward the Third Earle of Stafford who married the heire of Sir Hugh Audley Earle of Glocester Hugh his sonne who died in Pilgrimage at Rhodes and his three sonnes successively Thomas and William both issuelesse and Edmund who married the daughter and heire of Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Buckingham Afterward three of them were Dukes of Buckingham and Earles of Stafford c. as is before shewed By the attainder of the last of them those so great inheritances
Fire to make Salt thereof Neither doubt I that these were knowne unto the Romanes and that form hence was usually paied the Custome for salt called Salarium For there went a notable high way from Middlewich to Northwich raised with gravell to such an height that a man may easily acknowledge that it was a worke of the Romanes seeing that all this Country over gravell is so scarce and from thence at this day it is carryed to private mens uses Matthew Paris writeth that King Henry the Third stopped up these Salt-pits when in hostile manner he wasted this Shire because the Welshmen so tumultuous in those dayes should not have any victuals or provision from thence But when the faire beames of peace beganne once to shine out they were opened againe Nantwich which the River Wever first visiteth is reputed the greatest and fairest built Towne of all this Shire after Chester the Britans call it Hellath wen that is The white Wich or Salt pitte because the whitest salt is there boiled and such as writ in Latine named it Vicus Malbanus haply of one William named Malbedeng and Malbanc unto whom at the Normans Conquest of England it was allotted It hath one onely Salt pitte they call it the Brine pitte about some foureteene foote from the River out of which they convey salt water by troughes of wood into houses adjoyning wherein there stand little barrels pitched fast in the ground which they fill with that water and at the ringing of a bell they beginne to make fire under the leades whereof they have sixe in every house and therein seeth the said water then certaine women they call them Wallers with little wooden rakes fetch up the salt from the bothom and put it in baskets they call them Salt barowes out of which the liquor runneth and the pure salt remaineth The Church and but one they have is passing faire and belonged as I have heard unto to Abbay of Cumbermer from hence Wever holding on his course crooked enough is augmented with a brooke comming out of the East which runneth downe from Crew a place inhabited in old time by a notable family of that name And farther yet from the West side of the River Calveley sheweth it selfe which gave both habitation and name to the worthy Family of the Calveleys out of which in the Raigne of Richard the Second Sir Hugh Calveley Knight was for his Chivalry in France so renowned that there occurred no hardy exploit but his prowesse would goe through it From thence Wever hieth apace by Minshall the house of the Minshuls and by Vale Royall an Abbay founded by King Edward the First in a most pleasant valley where now dwelleth the ancient Familie of the Holcrofts unto Northwich in British called Hellath Du that is The blacke salt pitte where also very neere the brinke of the river Dan there is a most plentifull and deepe Brine-pit with staires made about it by which they that draw water out of it in lether buckets ascend halfe naked into the troughes and powre it thereinto by which it is carried into the which houses about which there stand on every side many stakes and piles of wood Heere Wever receiveth into his Chanell the River Dan whose tract and streame I will now follow This Dan or more truly Daven flowing out of those hilles which on the East side sever Staffordshire from Ches-shire runneth along to CONDATE a towne mentioned by Antonine the Emperour now called corruptly Congleton the middle whereof the little brooke Howty on the East side Daning-schow and Northward Dan it selfe watereth And albeit this Towne for the greatnesse and frequency thereof hath deserved to have a Major and six Aldermen yet hath it but a Chappell and no more and the same made of timber unlesse it bee the quire and a little Towre-steeple which acknowledgeth Astbury about two miles off her mother-Church which verily is a very faire Church the West Porch whereof is equall in height to the very Church as high as it is and hath a spire steeple adjoyning thereto In the Church-yard lie two portraictures of Knights upon Sepulchres in whose Shields are two barres But for that they be without their colours hardly can any man say whether of the Breretons Manwarings or Venables which are the most noble Families in those parts and indeed such Barres doe they beare in their Coates of Armes but in divers colours Then commeth Daven to Davenport commonly Damport which hath adopted into her owne name a notable family and Holmeschappell a Towne well knowne to waifaring men where within the remembrance of our Grandfathers I. Needham built a Bridge Neere unto which at Rudheath there was sometimes a place of refuge and Sanctuary as well for the Inhabitants of this Shire as strangers who had trespassed against the lawes that there they might abide in security for a yeere and a day Then runneth it under Kinderton the old seat of the ancient race of the Venables who ever since the first comming in of the Normans have been of name and reputation here and commonly are called Barons of Kinderton Beneath this Southward the little river Croco runneth also into Dan which flowing out of the Poole called Bagmere passeth by Brereton which as it hath given name to the worshipful ancient and numerous family of the Breretons knights so Sir William Brereton knight hath of late added very much credit and honour to the place by a magnificent and sumptuous house that hee hath there built A wonder it is that I shall tell you and yet no other than I have heard verified upon the credit of many credible persons and commonly beleeved That before any heire of this house of the Breretons dyeth there bee seene in a Poole adjoyning bodies of trees swimming for certaine daies together Like unto that which Leonardus Vairus reporteth from the testimony of Cardinall Granvell namely that neere unto the Abbay of Saint Maurice in Burgundy there is a fish-pond in which are fishes put according to the number of the Monkes of that place And if any one of them happen to bee sicke there is a fish seene also to floate and swimme above the water halfe dead and if the Monke shall dye the said fish a few daies before dieth As touching these matters if they bee true I wrote not what to say for I am no Wisard to interpret such strange wonders But these and such like things are done either by the holy trutelar Angels of men or else by the devils who by Gods permission mightily shew their power in this inferiour world For both the sorts of them being intelligent natures upon a deliberate purpose and to some certaine end and not for nought worke strange things The Angels seeke after and aime at the safety and health of man-kinde the devils contrariwise plot to mischieve vexe or else to delude them But all this may seeme impertinent to our purpose Croke the
Shrop-shire adjoyning and held that I may note so much by the way the Hamelet of Lanton in chiefe as of the Honour of Montgomery by the service of giving to the King a barbdheaded Arrow whensoever he commeth into those parts to hunt in Cornedon Chace Lugg hasteneth now to Wy first by Hampton where that worthy Knight Sir Rouland Lenthal who being Maister of the Wardrobe unto King Henry the Fourth had married one of the heires of Thomas Earle of Arundell built a passing faire house which the Coningsberes men of good worship and great name in this tract have now a good long time inhabited then by Marden and Southton or Sutton of which twaine Sutton sheweth some small remaines of King Offaes Palace so infamous for the murdering of Ethelbert and Marden is counted famous for the Tombe of the said Ethelbert who had lien heere a long time without any glorious memoriall before that he was translated to Hereford Neere unto the place where Lugg and Wy meete together Eastward a hill which they call Marcley hill in the yeere of our redemption 1571. as though it had wakened upon the suddaine out of a deepe sleepe roused it selfe up and for the space of three daies together mooving and shewing it selfe as mighty and huge an heape as it was with roring noise in a fearefull sort and overturning all things that stood in the way advanced it selfe forward to the wonderous astonishment of the beholders by that kinde of Earthquake which as I deeme naturall Philosophers call Brasmatias And not farre from this hill toward the East also under Malvern hills which in this place bound the East part of this shire standeth Ledbury upon the River Ledden a Towne well knowne which Edwin the Saxon a man of great power gave unto the Church of Hereford being assuredly perswaded that by Saint Ethelberts intercession he was delivered from the Palsey Touching the Military fort on the next hill I need not to speake seeing that in this tract which was in the Marches and the ordinary fighting ground plot first betweene the Romanes and Britans afterwards betweene the Britains and the English such holds and entrenchments are to be seene in many places But Wy now carrying a full streame after it hath entertained Lugg runneth downe with more bendings and bowings first by Holm Lacy the feate of the ancient and noble Family of Scudamore unto which accrewed much more worship by marriage with an heire out of the race of Ewias in this shire and Huntercombe c. else where From hence passeth Wy downe betweene Rosse made a free Burrough by King Henry the Third now well knowne by reason of iron Smiths and Wilton over against it a most ancient Castle of the Greis whence so many worthy Barons of that name have drawne their originall This was built as men say by Hugh de Long-champ but upon publique and certaine credit of Records it appeareth that King John gave Wilton with the Castle to H. de Longchamp and that by marriage it fell to William Fitz-Hugh and likewise not long after to Reinold Grey in the daies of King Edward the first Now when Wy hath a little beneath saluted Goderick Castle which King John gave unto William Earle Mareschall and was afterward for a time the principall seate of the Talbots hee speedeth himselfe to Monmouth-shire and bids Hereford-shire farewell When the state of the English-Saxons was now more than declining to the downe-fall Ralph sonne to Walter Medantinus by Goda King Edward the Confessoursâ— sister governed this Countie as an Official Earle but the infamous for base cowardise was by William the Conquerour remooved and William Fitz-Osbern of Crepon a martiall Norman who had subdued the Isle of Wight and was neere allied to the Dukes of Normandy was substituted in his place When he was slaine in assistance of the Earle of Flanders his sonne Roger surnamed De Bretevill succeeded and soone after for conspiracie against the Conquerour was condemned to perpetuall prison and therein died leaving no lawfull issue Then King Stephen granted to Robert Le Bossu Earle of Leicester who had married Emme or Itta as some call her heire of Bretevill to use the words of the Graunt the Burrough of Hereford with the Castle and the whole County of Hereford but all in vaine For Maude the Empresse who contended with King Stephen for the Crowne advanced Miles the sonne of Walter Constable of Glocester unto this Honour and also graunted to him Constabulariam Curiae suae i. The Constableship of her Court whereupon his posteritie were Constables of England as the Marshalship was graunted at the first by the name of Magistratus Marescalsiae Curiaenostrae Howbeit Stephen afterwards stript him out of these Honours which he had received from her This Miles had five sonnes Roger Walter Henry William and Mahel men of especiall note who were cut off every one issuelesse by untimely death after they had all but William succeeded one another in their Fathers inheritance Unto Roger King Henry the Second among other things gave The Mote of Hereford with the whole Castle and the third peny issuing out of the revenewes of Plees of the whole County of Hereford whereof he made him Earle But after Roger was deceased the same King if wee may beleeve Robert Abbot De Monte kept the Earledome of Hereford to himselfe The eldest sister of these named Margaret was married to Humfrey Bohun the third of that name and his heires were high Constables of England namely Humfrey Bohun the Fourth Henry his sonne unto whom King Iohn graunted twenty pounds yeerely to be received out of the third penny of the County of Hereford whereof he made him Earle This Henry married the sister and heire of William Mandevill Earle of Essex and died in the fourth yeere of Henry the Third his reigne Humfrey the Fifth his sonne who was also Earle of Essex whose sonne Humfrey the Sixth of that forename died before his Father having first begotten Humfrey the Seventh by a daughter and one of the heires of William Breos Lord of Brecknock His sonne Humfrey the Eighth was slaine at Burrowbrig leaving by Elizabeth his wife daughter unto King Edward the First and the Earle of Hollands widow among other children namely Iohn Bohun Humfrey the Ninth both Earles of Hereford and Essex and dying without issue and William Earle of Northampton unto whom Elizabeth a daughter and one of the heires of Giles Lord Badlesmer bare Humfrey Bohun the Tenth and last of the Bohuns who was Earle of Hereford Essex and Northampton Constable besides of England who left two Daughters Aeleonor the Wife of Thomas of Woodstock Duke of Glocester and Mary wedded to Henry of Lancaster Earle of Darby who was created Duke of Hereford and afterwards Crowned King of England But after this Edward Stafford last Duke of Buckingham was stiled Earle of Hereford for that hee descended from Thomas
goeth on forward to Shropp-shire That MEDIOLANUM a Towne of the Ordovices which both Antonine the Emperour and Ptolomee speake of stood in this Shire I am in a manner perswaded upon probability The footings whereof I have sought after with all diligence but little or nothing have I found of it For time consumeth the very carcasses even of Cities Yet if we may ground any conjecture upon the situation seeing the Townes which Antonine placeth on either side be so well knowne to wit BONIUM now Bangor by Dee on the one side and RUTUNIUM now Rowton Castle on the other side for he setteth it twelve Italian miles distant from this and from the other twenty The lines of Position if I may so tearme them or of the distance rather doe cut one another crosse betweene Matrafall and Lan-vethlin which are scarce three miles asunder and shew as it were demonstratively the site of our Mediolanum For this cannot chuse but bee an infallible way to finde out the situation of a third place by two others that are knowne when as there are neither hils interposed nor any troublous turnings of the wayes As for this Matrafall which standeth five miles Westward from Severn although it bee now but a bare name was sometime the regall seat of the Princes of Powis which may bee an argument of the antiquity thereof and the same much spoken of by Writers who record that after the Princes had once forsaken it Robert Vipont an Englishman built a Castle But Lan-vethlin that is Vethlius Church being a little Mercate Towne although it be somewhat farther off from the crosse-meeting of the said lines yet commeth it farre neerer in resemblance of name to Mediolanum For of Methlin by the propriety of the British tongue is made Vethlin like as of Caer-Merden is come Caer Verden and of Ar-mon Arvon Neither doth Methlin more jarre and disagree in sound from Mediolanum than either Millano in Italie Le Million in Xantoigne or Methlen in the Lowcountries which Cities no man doubteth were all in times past knowne by the name of Mediolanum Which of these conjectures commeth neerer to the truth judge you for me it is enough to give my guesse If I should say that either Duke Medus or Prince Olanus built this Mediolanum of ours and those Cities of the same name in Gaule or that whiles they were a building Sus mediatim Lanata that is That a Sow halfe fleeced with wooll was digged up might I not be thought thinke you to catch at Clouds and fish for Nifles Yet notwithstanding the Italians write as much of their Mediolanum But seeing that most true it is that these Cities were built by nations of the same language and that the Gaules and Britans spake all one language I have prooved already it is probable enough that for one and the same cause they had also one and the same denomination Howbeit this our Mediolanum in nothing so farre as I know agreeth with that of Italie unlesse it be that both of them are seated upon a plaine betweene two riverets and a learned Italian derived the name of their Mediolanum hence because it is a Citie standing in the middest betweene Lanas that is little rivers according to his owne interpretation But this may seeme overmuch of MEDIOLANUM which I have sought heere and about Alcester not farre off This Countie hath adorned no Earle with the name title and Honour thereof untill of late our Soveraigne King James created Philip Herbert second Sonne of Henry Earle of Penbroke by Mary Sidney for the singular love and affectionate favour toward him and for the great hope that he conceived of his vertues both Baron Herbert of Shurland and also Earle of Montgomery upon one and the same day at Greenwich in the yeere 1605. But the Princes of Powis descended from the third Sonne of Rotherike the great held this shire with others in a perpetuall line of succession although Roger and Hugh of Montgomery had encroched upon some part thereof untill the daies of King Edward the Second For then Oen ap Gruffin ap Guenwinwyn the last Lord of Powis of the British bloud for the name of Prince had long before been worne out of use left one onely daughter named Hawise whom Sir Iohn Charleton an English man the Kings Valect married and in right of his wife was by King Edward the Second made Lord of Powise who as I have seene in very many places gaue for his Armes a Lion Geules Rampant in a shield Or which he received from his wifes Progenitours Of his posterity there were foure males that bare this Honorable title untill that in Edward the succession of males had an end for he the said Edward begat of Aeleonor the daughter and one of the heires of Thomas Holland Earle of Kent Iane Wife to Sir Iohn Grey Knight and Joice married unto Iohn Lord Tiptoft from whom the Barons of Dudley and others derive their descent The said Sir Iohn Grey for his martiall prowesse and by the bountifull fauour of King Henry the Fifth received the Earledome of Tanquervill in Normandie to have unto him and his heires males by delivering one Bassinet at the Castle of Roan every yeere on Saint Georges day This John had a sonne named Henrie Lord of Powis in whose race the title of Powis with the Honour thereof continued untill Edward Grey died well neere in our time leaving no issue lawfully begotten This Shire hath Parishes 47. MERIONITH Comitatus olim pars ORDOVICVM MERIONETH-SHIRE FFrom the backeside of Montgomery-shire MERIONETH-SHIRE in British Sire-Verioneth in Latine Mervinia and as Giraldus calleth it Terra filiorum Canaeni that is Canaens sonnes Land reacheth to that crooked Bay I spake of and to the maine Sea which on the West side beateth so sore upon it that it is verily thought to have carryed away by violence some part thereof Southward for certaine miles together it is severed from Cardigan-shire by the river Dovy on the North it boundeth upon Caer-narvon and Denbigh-shires As for the in-land part it so riseth with mountaines standing one by another in plumps that as Giraldus saith it is the roughest and most unpleasant Country to see to in all Wales For it hath in it mountaines of a wonderfull height yet narrow and passing sharpe at the top in manner of a needle and those verily not scattering heere and there one but standing very thicke together and so even in height that Shepheards talking together or railing one at another on the tops of them if haply they appoint the field to encounter and meet together they can hardly doe it from morning till night But let the Reader heerein relie upon Giraldus credit Great flockes of Sheepe graze all over these mountaines neither are they in danger of Wolves who were thought then to have beene ridde quite out of all England and Wales when King Eadgar imposed upon Ludwall Prince of these
game and hunting of red Deere being divided eft-soone speedeth himselfe on the one hand to Idel a River in Nottingham-shire on the other to Are that hee and they together may fall into Humber In which very place there are environed with these rivers Diche-marcâ— and Marshland little Mersh Countries or River-Islands rather taking up in circuit much about fifteene miles most plentifull of greene grasse passing good for feeding of Cattaile and on every side garnished as it were with prety Townes Yet some of the Inhabitants are of opinion that the land there is hollow and hanging yea and that as the waters rise the same also is heaved up a thing that Pomponius Mela hath written concerning Antrum an Isle in France But among those Beakes and Brookes that convey their streames hither I must not overpasse Went which floweth out of a standing Poole neere unto Nosthill where sometime stood an Abbay consecrated to Oswald both a King and a Saint which A. Confessour to King Henry the First reedified But since the dissolution it hath beene the dwelling house of the Gargraves Knights of especiall good respect Calder springing in the very Confines of Lancashire runneth along certaine Townes of no account among which at Gretland in the top of an Hill whereunto there is no ascent but of one side was digged up this Votive Altar erected as it should seeme to the tutelar God of the whole State of the Brigants which Altar was to bee seene at Bradley in the house of the right worshipfull Sir John Savill Knight Baron of the Exchequer but now among Sir Robert Cottons Antiquities On the other side DUI CI. BRIG ET NUM AUGG. T. AUR. AURELIAN US DD PRO SE ET SUIS S. M. A. G. S. ANTONINO III. ET GET COSS. That is To the God of the whole Communalty and state of the Brigantes and to the sacred Majesty of the Augusti Titus Aurelius Aurelianus hath dedicated for himselfe and his The letters that bee last of all passe my skill altogether When Antonine the third time and Geta were Consuls Now whether that DUI be God whom the Britans now call Diw or a peculiar locall God or Genius of the Brigantes I leave for to be discussed by them that are better learned Like as the soules are divided and distributed among them that are borne saith Symmachus even so are Fatall Genij among Nations And the divine minde allotteth sundry keepers and Guardians to particular Countries For thus they were in old time perswaded in their Divinity and thus they beleeved And to say nothing of forraine Nations whose History is very full of such peculiar and locall Gods the Britans had in that part which now is called ESSEX ANDATES in Cumberland BELLO-TUCADRUS in Northumberland VITERINUS and MOGONTUS as shall appeare more evidently out of those Inscriptions which I will set downe in due place Servius Honoratus likewise hath well and truely observed that these Locall or Topick Gods doe never passe unto other Countries But to returne unto the River Calder which when by the comming in of other waters hee is growne bigge and carryeth a fuller streame hath a faire Bridge over it at Eland neere unto which at Grimscarre were brickes found with this Inscription COH IIII. BRE For the Romanes flourishing in military prowesse in great wisedome and policie exercised both their Legions and Cohorts in time of peace to withstand Idlenesse by casting of ditches making of High-waies baking of brickes building of Bridges c. Calder afterward among the very Hilles leaveth on the left hand Halifax a most famous Towne lying from West to East upon the steepe descent of an Hill And not many ages since tooke it this name whereas before time it was called Horton as some of the Inhabitants doe report who tell this prety story also touching the alteration of the name A certaine Clerke as they call him was farre in love with a maiden who when hee might not have his purpose of her for all the faire meanes and enticements hee could use his love being turned unto rage vilanous Wretch that hee was cut off the Maides head which being hung afterwards upon an Eugh tree the common people counted as an hallowed Relique untill it was rotten yea and they came devoutly to visit it and every one gathered and carryed away with him a branch or sprig of the said tree But after the tree was bare and nothing left but the very stocke such was the credulity of that time it maintained the opinion of reverence and Religion still For the people were perswaded that the little veines that are stretched out and spred betweene the barke and body of the Eugh tree in manner of haires or fine threads were the very haires indeed of the Virgins head Hereupon they that dwelt thereabout repaired on Pilgrimage hither and such resort there was unto it that Horton being but a little Village before grew up to a great Towne and was called by a new name Halig-Fax or Hali-fex that is Holy haire For the Englishmen dwelling beyond Trent called the haire of the head Fax Whence also there is a Family in this Country of Gentlemen named Faire-fax of the faire bush of their haire They therefore which by resemblance of the name gather this to bee Ptolomees Olicana bee farre deceived Now this place is become famous as well among the multitude by reason of a Law there whereby they behead streightwaies whosoever are taken stealing as also amongst the learned for they report that Joannes de Sacro Bosco the Author of the Sphaere was here borne yet more famous it is for the greatnesse of the Parish which reckoneth in it eleven Chappels whereof two be Parish-Chappels and to the number of twelve thousand people therein So that the Inhabitants are wont to give out that this Parish of theirs maintaineth more men and women than other living creatures of what kinde soever Whereas you shall see elsewhere in England in the most fruitfull and fertile places many thousands of Sheepe and very few men as if folke had given place to flockes of Sheepe and heards of Neat or else were devoured of them Moreover the industry of the Inhabitants heere is admirable who in a barraine Soile wherein there is no commodious nay scarce any dwelling and living at all have so come up and flourished by Clothing a trade which they tooke to not above threescore and tenne yeeres agoe at the farthest that they greatly enrich their owne estates and winne the praise from all their neighbours yea and have proved the saying to be true That barraine places give a good edge to industrie and that hence it is that Norinberg in Germanie Venice and Genua in Italie and Limoges in France situate all in barraine places are become right flourishing Cities Sixe miles from hence and not farre from the right side of the River Calder neere unto Almond-bury a little Towne standing upon an
to take any thing that pertained to the Warren without the licence and good will of Henry himselfe and his Successours Which was counted in that age for a speciall favour and I note it once for all that we may see what Free Warren was But the male issue of this Family in the right line ended in Henry Kigheley of Inskip Howbeit the daughters and heires were wedded to William Cavendish now Baron Cavendish of Hardwick and to Thomas Worseley of Boothes From hence Are passeth beside Kirkstall an Abbay in times past of no small reckoning founded by Henry Lacy in the yeere 1147. and at length visiteth Leedes in the Saxon tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which became a house of the Kings when CAMBODUNUM was by the enemy burnt to the ground now a rich Towne by reason of clothing where Oswy king of Northumberland put to flight Penda the Mercian And as Bede saith this was to the great profit of both Nations for he both delivered his owne people from the hostile spoiling of the miscreants and also converted the Mercians themselves to the grace of Christian Faith The very place wherein they joyned battaile the writers call Winwidfield which name I suppose was given it of the Victory like as a place in Westphalia where Quintilius Varus with his legions was slaine is in the Dutch tongue called Winfield that is The fields of victory as that most learned man and my very good friend Abraham Ortelius hath observed The little Region or Territory about it was in times past by an old name called Elmet which Eadwin king of Northumberland the sonne of AElla after hee had expelled Cereticus a British king conquered in the yeere of Christ 620. Herein is digged limestone every where which is burnt at Brotherton and Knottingley and at certaine set times as it were at Faires a mighty quantity thereof is conveied to Wakefield Sandall and Stanbridge and so is sold unto this Westerne Country which is hilly and somewhat cold for to manure and enrich their Corne fields But let us leave these things to Husbandmen as for my selfe I professe my ignorance therein and will goe forward as I beganne At length Are entertaineth Calder aforesaid with his water as his Guest where neere unto the meeting of both Rivers standeth Castleford a little Village Marianus nameth it Casterford who reporteth that the Citizens of Yorke slew many of king Ethelreds Army there whom in their pursuite they set upon and charged heere and there at advantages what time as hee invaded and overranne this Country for breaking the allegeance they had sworne unto him But in Antonine this place is called by a more ancient name LEGEOLIUM and LAGETIUM Wherein beside expresse and notable tokens of Antiquity a mighty number of Roman peeces of money the common people there tearme them Sarasins head were found at Beanfield a place so called now of Beanes hard by the Church The distance also from DAN and YORKE betweene which he placed it doth most cleerely confirme as much to say nothing of the situation thereof hard by the Romanes High Street and last of all for that Roger Hoveden in plaine tearmes calleth it A City From hence Are being now bigger after it hath received Calder unto it leaveth on the left hand Brotherton a little Towne in which Queene Margaret turning thither out of the way as she road on hunting was delivered of childe and brought forth unto her Husband king Edward the First Thomas de Brotherton so named of the place who was afterward Earle of Norfolke and Mareshall of England And not farre beneath Are after it hath received into it Dan looseth himselfe in Ouse On the right hand where a yellower kinde of marke is found which being cast and spred upon the fields maketh them beare Corne for many yeeres together he passeth by Ponttract commonly called Pontfret situate not farre from the river banke which Towne gat life as it were by the death of old Legeolium In the Saxons time it was called Kirkby but the Normans of a broken Bridge named it in French Pontfract Upon this occasion it is commonly thought that the wooden Bridge over Are hard by was broken when a mighty multitude of people accompanied William Archibishop a great number fell into the River and yet by reason that the Archbishop shed many a teare at this accident and called upon God for helpe there was not one of them that perished Seated it is in a very pleasant place that bringeth forth Liquirice and skirworts in great plenty adorned also with faire buildings and hath to shew a stately Castle as a man shall see situate upon a rocke no lesse goodly to the eye than safe for the defence well fortified with ditches and bulwarkes Hildebert Lacy a Norman unto whom king William the First after that Alricke the Saxon was thrust out had given this Towne with the land about it first built this Castle But Henry Lacy his nephew came into the field at the battaile of Trenchbrey I speake out of the Pleas against King Henry the First wherefore hee was disseised of the Barony of Pontfract and the King gave the Honour to Wido de Lavall who held it untill King Stephens dayes at which time the said Henry made an entry into the Barony and by mediation of the King compounded with Wido for an hundred and fifty pounds This Henry had a sonne named Robert who having no issue left Albreda Lizours his sister by the mothers side and not by the father to bee his heire because hee had none other so neere in bloud unto him whereby shee after Roberts death kept both inheritances in her hand namely of her brother Lacies and her father Lizours And these be the very words of the booke of the Monastery of Stanlow This Albreda was marryed to Richard Fitz Eustach Constable of Chester whose Heires assumed unto them the name of Lacies and flourished under the title of Earles of Lincolne By a daughter of the last of these Lacies this goodly inheritance by a deede of conveyance was devolved in the end to the Earles of Lancaster who enlarged the Castle very much and Queene Elizabeth likewise bestowed great cost in repairing it and beganne to build a faire Chappell This place hath beene infamous for the murder and bloudshed of Princes For Thomas Earle of Lancaster the first of Lancastrian House that in right of his wife possessed it stained and embrewed the same with his owne bloud For King Edward the Second to free himselfe from rebellion and contempt shewed upon him a good example of wholsome severity and beheaded him heere Whom notwithstanding standing the common people enrolled in the Beadroll of Saints Heere also was that Richard the Second King of England whom King Henry the Fourth deposed from his Kingdome with hunger cold and strange kindes of torments most wickedly made away And heere King Richard the
them who deserve for their vertue and piety to bee renowned Let it suffice to note in a word that from Paulinus the first Archbishop consecrated in the yeere of our Redemption 625. there have sitten in that See threescore and five Archbishops unto the yeere 1606. in which D. Tobie Matthew a most reverend Prelate for the ornaments of vertue and piety for learned eloquence and continuall exercise of teaching was translated hither from the Bishopricke of Durrham This City for a time flourished very notably under the English Saxons dominion untill the Danes like a mighty storme thundring from out of the North-East defaced it againe with merveilous great ruines and by killing and slaying disteined it with bloud which that Alcuine aforesaid in his Epistle to Egelred King of Northumberland may seeme to have presaged before What signifieth saith he that raining of bloud which in Lent we saw at Yorke the head City of the whole Kingdome in Saint Peters Church to fall downe violently in threatning wise from the top of the roufe in the North part of the house and that in a faire day May it not bee thought that bloud is comming upon the Land from the North parts Verily soone after it was embrued with bloud and did pine away with most miserable calamities when the Danes spoiled wasted and murrhered all where ever they came And verily in the yeere 867. the wals were so battered and shaken by reason of continuall Warres that Osbright and Ella Kings of Northumberland whiles they pursewed the Danes easily brake into the City who being both of them slaine in a most bloudy battaile in the very middest of the City left the victory unto the Danes Whereupon William of Malmesbury writeth in this manner Yorke alwaies exposed first to the rage of the Northren Nations sustained the barbarous assaults of the Danes and groaned being pitteously shaken with manifold ruines But as the very same Authour witnesseth King Athelstone wonne it perforce out of the Danes hands and overthrew the Castle quite which they had heere fortified Neither for all this was it altogether free from warres in the times next ensuing whiles that age ranne fatall for the destruction of Cities But the Normans as they ended these miseries so they made almost a finall hand of Yorke also For when the sonnes of Sueno the Dane had landed in these parts with a Danish Fleete of 240. Saile the Normans lying in Garison who kept two Forts within the City fearing least the houses in the Suburbes might stand the enemy in stead to fill up the Ditches withall set them on fire but by reason the winde rose highly the fire was so carried and spred throughout that City that now it was set a burning when the Danes breaking in upon them made pitifull slaughter in every place having put the Normans to the sword and keeping alive William Mallet and Gilbert Gant two principall persons that they might be tithed with the souldiers For every tenth man of the Normans they chose out by lot to be executed Whereupon King William the Conquerour was so incensed with desire of revenge that he shewed his cruelty upon the Citizens by putting them all to death as if they had taken part with the Danes and upon the City it selfe by setting it on fire afresh and as William of Malmesbury saith Hee so depopulated and defaced the Villages adjoyning and the sinewes of that fertile Region were so cut by the spoiles there committed and booties raised and the ground for the space of threescore miles lay so untilled that if a stranger had then seene the Cities that in times were of high account the Towres which with their lofty toppes threatned the skie and the fields that were rich in pastures hee could not but sigh and lament yea and if an ancient inhabitant had beheld the same hee could not have knowne them How great Yorke had beene aforetime Domesday booke shall tell you in these words In King Edward the Confessours time there were in Yorke City sixe Divisions or Shires besides that of the Archbishops One was laid waste for the Castles or Forts In the five Divisions were 1428. dwelling Mansions to give entertainement And in the Archbishops Shire or Division 200. dwelling Mansions likewise After these woefull overthrowes our countryman Necham thus versified of it Visito quam foelix Ebrancus condidit urbem Petro se debet pontificalis apex Civibus hac toties viduata novÃsque repleta Diruta prospexit moenia saepe sua Quid manus hostilis queat est experta frequenter Sed quid nunc pacis otia longa fovent The City that Great Ebrauk built I come now for to view Whereof the See pontificall is to Saint Peter due This many times laid desolate and peopled new hath beene Her wals cast downe and ruinate full often hath it seene What mischiefe hostile hands could worke not once nor twice it found What then since now long time of peace doth keepe it safe and sound For in his time when after these troublesome stormes a most pleasant calme of peace presently ensued it rose of it selfe againe and flourished afresh although the Scots and Rebels both did oftentimes make full account to destroy it But under the Raigne of King Stephen it caught exceeding great harme by casualty of fire wherein were consumed the Cathedrall Church the Abbay of Saint Mary and other religious houses yea and that noble and most furnished Library as it is thought which Alcuin hath recorded to have been founded by Archbishop Egeldred his Praeceptour As for the Abbay of Saint Mary it quickly recovered the former dignity by new buildings but the Cathedrall Church lay longer ere it held up head againe and not before King Edward the First his time For then John Roman Treasurer of the Church laid the foundation of a new worke which his sonne John William Melton and John Thoresby all of them Archbishops brought by little and little to that perfection and beauty which now it sheweth yet not without the helping hand of the Nobility and Gentry thereabout especially of the Percies and the Vavasours which the armes of their houses standing in the very Church and their images at the West gate of the Church doe shew Percies pourtraied with a peece of timber and Vavasours with a stone in their hands for that the one supplied the stone the other the timber for this new building This Church as he reporteth who wrote the life of Aeneas Sylvius who was Pope Pius the second and that upon the Popes owne relation For workmanship and greatnesse is memorable over all the world and the Chappell most lightsome the glasse-windowes whereof are fast bound betweene pillars that bee most slender in the mids This Chappell is that most dainty and beautifull Chapter-house in which this verse stands painted in golden letters Ut Rosa flos florum sic est Domus ista Domorum The floure of floures a Rose men call So is
gold made him Lord chiefe Baron of his Exchequer conferred upon him the whole Seignorie or Lordship of Holdernes together with other lands belonging unto the Crown and that by the Kings Charter yea and ordained that he should be reputed a Baneret Yet if any man make doubt hereof the Recordes I hope may satisfie him fully in which William De la Pole is in plaine tearmes called Dilectus Valectus et Mercator noster that is Our wellbeloved Valect and our Merchant now Valect to tell you once for all was in those daies an honorable title as well in France as in England but afterward applied unto servants and gromes whereupon when the Gentry rejected it by changing the name they began to bee called Gentlemen of the Bedchamber From Hull a Promontorie runneth on forward and shooteth out a farre into the sea which Ptolomee calleth OCELLVM wee Holdernesse and a certaine monke Cavam Deiram as it were the hollow Country of the Deirians in the same signification that Coelosyria is so tearmed as one would say Holow Syria In this Promontory the first towne wee meet with in the winding shore is Headon in times past if wee list to beleeve fame that useth to amplifie the truth and which for my part I will not discredit risen to exceeding great account by the industry of merchants and sea-faring men from which so uncertaine is the condition as well of places as of people it is so much fallen by the vicinity of Hull and the choaking up of the haven which hath empoverished it that it can shew scarce any whit of the ancient state it had Although King Iohn granted unto Baldwin Earle of Aulbemarle and of Holdernesse and to his wife Hawis free Burgage heere so that the Burgers might hold in free Burgage with those customes that Yorke and Nichol that is Lincolne Yet now it beginneth by little and little to revive againe in hope to recover the former dignity There standeth hard by the Pomontorie an ancient towne which Antonine the Emperour called PRAETORIVM but we in our age Patrington like as the Italians have changed the name of a towne sometime called Praetorium into Petrovina That I doe not mistake herein both the distance from DELGOVITIA and the very name yet remaining doth prove which also in some sort implieth that this is the very same that in Ptolomees copies is written PETVARIA corruptly for Praetorium But whether this name were given it either from Praetorium that is the hall of Justice or from some large and stately house such as the Romans tearmed Praetoria it doth not appeare for certaine The inhabitants glorie much yet as touching their Antiquity and the commodiousnesse of the haven in ancient times and they may as well glorie for the pleasantnesse thereof For it hath a most delectable prospect on the one side lieth the maine sea brimme upon it on the other Humber a famous arme of the sea and over against it the fresh and greene skirtes of Lincoln-shire The high way of the Romans from the Picts wall which Antonine the Emperor followed here endeth For Ulpian hath written that such high waies commonly end at the sea at rivers or at Cities Somewhat lower standeth Winsted the habitation of the Hildeards knights of ancient descent and higher into the Country Rosse from whence the honorable family of the Barons Rosse tooke their name like as they were seated there in times past and hard by the sea-side Grimstons-garth where the Grimstons for a long time have lived in good reputation and a little from hence standeth Rise the mansion house in old time of certaine noble men bearing the name of Falconberg And then in the very necke of the promontorie where it draweth in most narrow into a sharpe point and is called Spurnhead is KELNSEY a little village which plainely sheweth that this is the very OCELLVM mentioned by Ptolomee for as from OCELLVM Kelnsey is derived so Ocellum doubtlesse was made of Y-kill which as I have said before signifieth in the British tongue a Promontory or narrow necke of land From Spurn-head the shore withdraweth it selfe backe by little and little and gently bending inward shooteth Northward by Overthorne and Witherensey two little Churches called of the sisters that built them Sisters kirks and not farre from Constable-Burton so called of the Lords thereof who being by marriages linked to right honorable houses flourish at this day in great worship and out of which familie Robert as wee read in the booke of the Abbay of Meaux was one of the Earle of Aulbemarls knights who being aged and full of daies took upon him the Crosse and went with King Richard in his voiage toward the holy land Then by Skipsey which Dru the first Lord of Holdernesse fortified with a Castle When the shore beginneth to spread againe and beare out into the sea it maketh roome for a bay or creeke that Ptolomee calleth EYAIMENON GABRANTO VICORUM which the Latin Interpreters have translated some PORTUOSVM SINVM that is the barborous Creeke others SALVTAREM that is the safe Creeke But neither of them both better expresseth the nature of the Greeke word than the very name of a little village in the nouke thereof which wee call Sureby For that which is safe and sure from danger the Britans and French men both terme Seur as wee Englishmen sure who peradventure did borrow this word from the Britans There is no cause therefore why we should doubt but that this creeke was that very EYAIMENON of the GABRANTOVICI who dwelt there abouts Hard by standeth Bridlington a towne very well knowne by reason of Iohn of Bridlington a poeticall monkish prophet whose ridiculous prophesies in Rhime I have read albeit they were not worth the reading And not farre from hence for a great length toward Driffield was there a ditch cast up and brought on by the Earles of Holdernesse to confine and bound their lands which they called Earles Dyke But whence this little nation here inhabiting were named GABRANTOVICI I dare not search unlesse happily it were of goates which the Britans tearme Gaffran and whereof there is not greater store in al Britain than hereabout Neither ought this derivation of the name to seeme absurd seeing that Aegira in Achaia borroweth the name of goats Nebrodes in Sicily of fallow Deere and Boeotia in Greece of Kine and Oxen. That little Promontory which with his bent made this creeke is commonly called Flamborough head and in the Saxon tongue Fleam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by Authors who write that Ida the Saxon who first subdued these Countries arrived here Some think it took the name from a watchtowre which did by night put forth a flame or burning light for to direct sailers into the haven For the Britans retaine yet out of the provinciall language this word Flam and Mariners paint this creeke in their sea-cards with a blazing flame on the
upon an horse all trapped with one hand brandishing a sword and in the other holding out the Armes of the Bishopricke The Bishops also have had their royalties and princely rights so that the goods of outlawed and attainted persons out of the Kings protection fell into their hands and not into the Kings yea and the Commons of that Province standing upon their priviledges have refused to serve in warre under the King in Scotland For they pleaded the Story of Duresme shall speake for mee That they were Haliwerke folkes and held their lands to defend the Corps of Saint Cuthbert neither ought they to goe out of the precincts of the Bishopricke namely beyond Tine and Teese for King or Bishop But King Edward the First was the first that abridged them of these liberties For when as he interposed himselfe as Arbitratour betweene the Bishop Antony Bec and the Priour who contended most egerly about certaine lands and they would not stand to his award Hee seised as saith mine Authour the liberty of the Bishopricke into his owne hand and there were many corners searched many flawes found and the Liberty in many points much impaired Howbeit the Church afterward recovered her rights and held them inviolate unto the daies of King Edward the Sixth unto whom upon the dissolution of the Bishopricke the States in Parliament granted all the revenewes and liberties thereof But forthwith Queene Mary by the same authority repealed this Act and restored all things safe and sound unto the Church againe which it enjoyeth at this day For the Bishop James Pilkinton of late time entred his action against Queene Elizabeth about the possessions and goods of Charles Nevill Earle of Westmorland and of others that stood attainted for treason in this precinct because they had most wickedly levied warre against their native Country and he the said Bishop had followed the suit to a triall if the authority of Parliament had not interposed and adjudged the same for that time unto the Queene because to her exceeding great charges she had delivered both Bishop and Bishopricke from the outrage of the Rebels But leaving these matters let us proceed forward to the descripton of places The riuer that boundeth the South part of this country is called by Latin writers Teisis and Teesa commonly Tees by Polydore Virgill the Italian whose minde ranne of Athesis in his owne country Italy without any reason Athesis In Ptolomee it seemeth to be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and yet I thinke that in him it is removed out of his proper place through the negligence of transcribers For considering that he hath placed TUESIS and TINA in the more remote part of Britaine where the Scots now inhabite and seeing that this Region is enclosed within Tees and Tine If I durst as a Criticke correct that ancient Geographer I would recall them home againe hither into their owne places though they have been long displaced and that with the Scots good leave I hope who have no Rivers upon which they can truely father these names TEES springeth out of that stony country called Stanemore and carrying with him away in his chanell along many brookes and beckes on each side and running through rockes out of which at Egleston where there is a marble Quarroy and where Conan Earle of Britaine and Richmond founded a small Abbay first beateth upon Bernard Castle built and so named by Bernard Balliol the great grandfathers father of John Balliol King of the Scots But this John Balliol whom King Edward the First had declared King of Scotland lost the same with other his possessions because he had broken his alleageance which he sware unto Edward At which time the King being highly displeased with Antony Bishop of Durrham tooke this Castle as witnesseth the booke of Duresme with the appertinences thereto from him and conferred the same upon the Earle of Warwicke as Herkes also and Hertnes which hee gave unto Robert Clifford Kewerston also which hee bestowed upon Geffrey of Hertpole which the Bishop had by the forfeiture of Iohn Baliol Robert Bruse and Christopher Seton But a few yeeres after Lewis Beaumount the Bishop a man royally descended but altogether unlettered brought his action for this Castle and the rest of those possessions and obtained his suite by vertue of judgement given in this tenour The Bishop of Durham ought to have the forfeiture of Warres within the Liberties of his Bishopricke as the King hath it without Hard by it is Stretlham seene where dwelt for a long time the worshipfull family of the Bowes Knights who from time to time in the greatest troubles have performed passing good service to Prince and Country and derive their pedigree from W. de Bowes unto whom as I have read Alanus Niger Earle of Britaine and Richmond granted that hee might give for his Armes The Scutcheon of Britaine with three bent Bowes therein Not full five miles from hence standeth somewhat farther from Tees banke Standrop which also is called Stainthorpe that is Stony Village a little Mercate Towne where there was a Collegiat Church founded by the Nevills and was their Buriall-place Neere unto it is Raby whch Cnut or Canute the Danish King gave freely unto the Church of Durham together with the land lying round about it and Stanthorpe to be held for ever Since which time as mine Authour informeth mee The Family of the Nevills or De nova villa held Raby of the Church paying yeerely for it foure pounds and a Stagge These Nevilles deduce their Descent from Waltheof Earle of Northumberland out of whose posterity when Robert the sonne of Maldred Lord of Raby had married the daughter of Geffrey Nevill the Norman whose Grandsire Gilbert Nevill is reported to have beene Admirall to King William the Conquerour their succeeding Progeny tooke unto them the name of Nevilles and grew up into a most numerous honourable and mighty house who erected heere a great and spacious Castle which was the first and principall seate These two places Stainthorpe and Raby are severed one from another onely by a little rill which after some few miles runneth into Tees neere unto Selaby where now is the habitation of the Brakenburies a Family of right good note both in regard of their owne Antiquity as also for their marriages contracted with the heires of Denton and of Wicliff Tees passing on from thence by Sockburne the dwelling house of the ancient and noble Family of the Coigniers out of which were the Barons Coigniers of Hornby whose inheritance much bettered by matching in marriage with the heires of the Lord Darcy of Metnill and of William Nevill Earle of Kent and Lord of Fauconberg is descended from them in the memory of our fathers to the Atherstons and the Darcies holdeth his course neere unto Derlington a Mercate Towne of good resort which Seir an English Saxon the sonne of Ulph
the country lyeth the Barony of Gillesland a little region so encombred by reason of sudden rising brookes which they call Gilles that I would have deemed it tooke the name of them had I not read in a booke belonging to the Abbey of Lanercost that one Gill Fitz-Bueth who is called also Gilbert in a Charter of King Henry the second held it as Lord in old time of whom it is probable this name was rather given to it Through this Gillesland the wall of Severus that most famous monument of all Britaine runneth streight as it were by a line from Carlile Eastward by Stanwicks a little village by Scalby castle belonging in times past to the Tilliols sometimes a name in this tract of good worship and reputation from whom it came to the Pickerings then Cambec a small brooke runneth under the wall Neere unto which the Barons of Dacre built Askerton castle a little pile where the Governour of Gillesland whom they call Land-Sergeant had a ward Beneath the wall it conjoyneth it selfe with the river Irthing where standeth Irthington a chiefe Manour as they tearme it of this Barony of Gillesland And great ruins are here to be seen at Castle-steed Neere unto it is Brampton a little mercate towne which we suppose to bee BREMETURACUM at the very line and range of the wall for it is scarce a mile from the said wall where in times past lay the first Band of the Tungri out of Germanie in the declining state of the Romane Empire and a company of Armaturae under the generall of Britaine These were horsemen armed at all peeces But whether these Armatures were Duplar or Simplar it is doubtfull Duplar or Duple Armaturae they were called in those daies who had double allowances of corne Simplar that had but single Neither verily must I overpasse in silence that hard by Brampton there mounteth up an high hill fortified in the verie top with a trench they call it the Mote from which there is a faire prospect every way into the country Beneath this and by Castle-steeds like as at Trederman joining unto it were found these inscriptions exemplified for me by the hand of the right honourable Lord William Howard of Naworth third sonne unto Thomas late Duke of Norfolke a singular lover of venerable antiquitie and learned withall who in these parts in right of his wife a sister and one of the heires of the last Lord Dacre enjoieth faire possessions This stone also was found there in an old Hot-house wherein by ill fortune the name of the Emperours Lievtenant and Propretour of Britaine is worne out Neere to Brampton Gelt a riveret runneth downe by the banke whereof in a crag called Helbecke are read these antiquities wherein the words hang not well together erected as it seemeth by a Lievtenant of the second Legion Augusta under Agricola the Propraetour and others beside which the injurie of time hath envied us In the same rocke these words also are read written in a more moderne and newer letter OFFICIUM ROMANORUM This Gelt emptieth himselfe into the river Irthing which with a swift and angry streame holdeth his course by Naworth Castle belonging unto the Lord William Howard aforesaid who now repaireth it but lately to the Barons of Dacre of whom when the last died in his tender yeeres Leonard Dacre his Unkle who chose rather to try the title of inheritance with his Prince by force of armes than with his Nieces by wager of law seized into his hands this Castle and levied a band of rebels against his Prince whom the Lord of Hunsdon with the garrison souldiers of Berwick soone discomfited and put to flight in which conflict many were slaine but more ranne away amongst whom Leonard himselfe escaped But of him more in my Annales Neerer unto the wall beyond the river Irthing was lately found this faire votive altar erected to the Goddesse Nymphe of the Brigantes for the health of the Empresse Plautilla wife to M. Aurelius Antoninus Severus and the whole Imperiall family by M. Cocceius Nigrinus a Treasurer to the Emperour when Laetus was second time Consull with intricate connexion of letters which I read thus DEAE NYMPHAE BRIGantum QUOD VOVERAT PRO SALUTE PLAUTILIAE COnjugis INVICTAE DO Mini NOSTRI INVICTI IMP. M. AURE Lii SEVERI ANTONINI PII. FE Licis C AE Saris AU Gusti TOTIUSQUEDO MUS DIVINAE EJUS M. COCCEIUS NIGRINUS Questor AU Gusti Numini DEVOTUS LIBENS SUSCEPTUM Solvit LAETO II. Here by was the Priory of Lanercost founded by R. de Vaulx Lord of Gillesland and hard by the wall Burd Oswald Beneath which where that Picts wall passed over the river Irthing by an arched bridge was the station of the first band Aelia Dacica or of the Dacians the place is now named Willoford which the booke of Notice of Provinces and many altars bearing inscriptions to Iupiter Optimus Maximus reared by that Cohort here doe plentifully prove Of which I thought good to adde these unto the rest although time hath almost worne them out I. O. M. OH I. AEL DA C. C. A. GETA IRELSAVRNES I. O. M. CoH. I. AEL DAC C. P. STATU LoN GINUS TRIB PRO SALUTE D. N MAXjMIANO FOR CAE VA OAED LEG VI VIC P.F F. I. O. M. COHIAEL DAC TETRICIANORO C. P. LUTIC V S. DESIG NATUS TRIB I.O.M. COH I. AEL DAC GORD ANA. C. P EST I. O. M. H. I. AEL DAC C. PRAEE SI FLIUS FA S TRIB PETUO COS. The first Lord of Gillesland that hitherto I have read of was William Meschines the brother of Ralph Lord of Cumberland I meane not that William brother to Ranulph Earle of Chester from whom came Ranulph de Ruelent but the brother of Ralph yet could hee never wrest it wholly out of the Scots hands for Gill the sonne of Bueth held the greatest part of it by force and armes After his death King Henry the second gave it to Hubert de Vaulx or de Vallibus whose shield of Armes was Chequy Or Gueles His sonne Robert founded and endowed the Priory of Lanercost But the inheritance after a few yeeres was by marriage translated to the Moltons and from them by a daughter to Ranulph Lord Dacre whose line hath flourished unto our daies in very great honour Having now in some sort surveied the maritime coasts and more inward parts of Cumberland the side that lieth more Easterly being leane hungry and a wast remaineth to bee viewed and yet it sheweth nothing but the spring-head of South-Tine in a moorish place and an ancient Romane high-way eight ells broad paved with great stone commonly called Mayden Way which leadeth out of Westmorland and where the riveret Alon and the aforesaid South Tine meet together in one channell by the side of an hill of gentle descent there remaine yet the footings of a very great and ancient towne which was toward the North enclosed within a fourefold rampier
which Scots at a low water when the tide was past used to passe over the river and fall to boot-haling But they would in no wise take Aeneas with them although hee intreated them very instantly no nor any woman albeit amongst them there were many both young maids and wives passing faire For they are perswaded verily that the enemies will doe them no hurt as who reckon whoredome no hurt nor evill at all So Aeneas remaines there alone with two servants and his Guide in company of an hundred women who sitting round in a ring with a good fire in the mids before them fell to hitchell and dresse hemp sate up all night without sleep and had a great deale of talk with his Interpreter When the night was far spent what with barking of dogs and gaggling of geese a mighty noise and outcry was made then all the women slipped forth divers waies his Guide also made shift to be gone and all was of an hurry as if the enemies had beene come But Aeneas thought it his best course to expect the event within his bed-chamber and that was a stable for feare lest if he had runne forth of dores knowing not the way he should become a prey and booty to him that should first meet him But see streightwaies the women returned with the Interpreter bring word all was well and that they were friends and not enemies were come thither There have been in this countrey certaine petty nations called Scovenburgenses and Fisburgingi but to point out precisely the very place of their abode in so great obscurity passeth my skill Neither can I define whether they were Danes or English But Florentius of Worcester published by the right honourable Lord William Howard writeth That when there was an assembly or Parliament holden at Oxenford Sigeferth and Morcar the worthier mightier ministers of the Scovenburgenses were secretly made away by Edrike Streona Also that Prince Edmund against his fathers will married Alfrith the wife of Sigefrith and having made a journey to the Fisburgings invaded Sigeferth his land and brought his people in subjection to him But let others inquire farther into these matters This region of North-humberland being brought under the English Saxons dominion by Osca Hengists brother and by his sonne Jebusa had first officiall governors under the fealty of the Kings of Kent After that when the kingdome of the Bernicii whom the Britans call Guir a Brinaich as it were Mountainers was erected that which reached from Tees to the Scottish Frith was the best part thereof and subject to the Kings of North-humberland who having finished their period whatsoever lay beyond Twede became Scottish and was counted Scotland Then Egbert King of the West-Saxons laied it to his owne kingdome when it was yeelded up to him Afterwards King Aelfred permitted the Danes to possesse it whom Athelstane some few yeeres after dispossessed and drave out yet after this the people set up Eilrick the Dane for their king whom King Ealdred forthwith displaced and expelled From which time forward this countrey had no more Kings over it but such as governed it were tearmed Earles Amongst whom these are reckoned up in order successively in our Histories Osulfe Oslake Edulph Walde of the elder Uchtred Adulph Alred Siward Tostie Edwin Morcar Osculph and that right valiant Siward who as he lived in armes so would he dye also armed Then his Earldome and these parts were given unto Tostie the brother of Earle Harold but the Earldomes of Northampton and Huntingdon with other lands of his were assigned to the noble Earle Walde of his sonne and heire These words of Ingulphus have I put downe because some deny that hee was Earle of Huntingdon And now will I adde moreover to the rest that which I have read in an old manuscript memoriall of this matter in the Librarie of Iohn Stow a right honest Citizen and diligent Antiquarie of the City of London Copso being made Earle of Northumberland by the gift of King William Conquerour expelled Osculph who notwithstanding within a few daies after slew him Then Osculph being runne through with a Javelin by a thiefe ended his life After this Gospatricke purchased the Earldome of the Conquerour who not long after deposed him from that honour and then succeeded after him Walde of Siwards sonne His fortune was to lose his head and in his roome was placed Walcher Bishop of Durham who like as Robert Comin his successour was slaine in a tumultuous commotion of the common people Afterwards Robert Mowbray attained to the same honour which hee soone lost through his owne perfidious treacherie when he devised to deprive King William Rufus of his royall estate and to advance Stephen Earle of Albemarle a sonne to the Conquerors sister thereunto Then K. Stephen made Henrie the sonne of David King of Scotland as wee read in the Poly Chronicon of Durham Earle of Northumberland whose sonne also William that afterwards was King of Scots writ himselfe William de Warrenna Earle of Northumberland for his mother was descended out of the familie of the Earles of Warren as appeareth out of the booke of Brinkburne Abbey After some few yeeres King Richard the first passed away this Earldome for a summe of money unto Hugh Pudsey Bishop of Durham for tearm of his life scoffing that he had made a young Earle of an old Bishop But when the said King was imprisoned by the Emperour in his returne out of the Holy-land and Hugh for his deliverie had contributed only 2000. pounds of silver which the King took not well at his hands because he was deemed to have performed but a little whom hee understood to have raised and gotten together a huge masse of money under pretence of his ransome and release he devested and deprived him of his Earldome After which time the title of the Barledome of Northumberland lay discontinued about an hundred and fourescore yeeres But at this day the family of the Percies enjoyeth the same which family being descended from the Earles of Brabant inherited together with the surname of Percie the possessions also of Percie ever since that Joscelin of Lovaine younger sonne of Godfrey Duke of Brabant the true issue of the Emperour Charles the Great by Gerberga the daughter of Charles a younger brother to Lothar the last King of France of the line of Charles tooke to wife Agnes the daughter and sole heire of William Percie of which William the great grandfather William Percie comming into England with King William the Conquerour was rewarded by him for his service with lands in Tatcaster Linton Normanby and other places Between this Agnes and Joscelin it was covenanted that hee should assume the name of Percies and retaine still unto him the ancient Armes of Brabant viz. A Lion azure which the Brabanters afterwards changed in a shield Or. The first Earle of Northhumberland out of this family was Henrie Percie begotten of Marie daughter
stranger chance Here haply may he thinke he hath a sight againe of France What drew this place from thence their wit and spirit hot trow yee Or rather had the same at first by native propertie Now where the shore turneth inward a front Northward hard by the salt water of Tau there flourished in old time two goodly Abbyes Balmerinoch built by Queene Ermengard wife to King William daughter of Vicount Beaumont in France But lately King James of great Britaine advanced Sir Iames Elphinston to the honour of Baron Balmerinoch and Lundoris founded among the woods by David Earle of Huntington and at this day the Baronie of Sir Patrick Lesley betweene which standeth Banbrich the habitation of the Earle of Rothes strongly built castle wise But as touching the townes of Fife planted along the sea side have here now if it please you these verses of Master Ionston Oppida sic toto sunt sparsa in littore ut unum Dixeris inque uno plurima juncta eadem Littore quot curvo Forthae volvuntur arenae Quotque undis refluo tunditur orasalo Penè tot hîc cernas instratum puppibus aequor Urbibus crebris penè tot ora hominum Cuncta operis intenta domus foeda otia nescit Sedula cura domi sedula curaforis Quae maria quas non terras animosa juventus Ah! fragili fidens audet adire trabe Auxit opes virtus virtuti dura pericla Iuncta etiam lucro damna fuere suo Quae fecêre viris animos cultumque dedêre Magnanimis prosunt damna pericla labor Who sees how thicke townes stand upon this coast will say anone They are but one and yet the same all joyned in that one How many sands on crooked shore of Forth are cast by tides Or billowes at the seas returne beat hard upon bankes sides So many ships well neere you may here see to saile or ride And in those townes so thicke almost as many folke abide In everie house they ply their worke no idle drones they are Busie at home with diligence busie abroad with care What seas or lands are there to which a voiage for to make In brittle barkes will not their youth courageous undertake By valour be they growne to wealth yet valour meet with paines And perils too some losses too have they had with their gaines These things have made them valiant civill withall and courteous Losse perill painfull toile availe all such as be magnanimous The Governour of this province like as of all the rest in this Kingdome was in times past a Thane that is in the old English tongue The Kings Minister as it is also at this day in the Danish language but Malcolm Canmore made Macduffe who before was Thane of Fife the first hereditarie Earle of Fife and in consideration of his good desert and singular service done unto him granted that his posteritie should have the honour to place the King when hee is to be crowned in his chaire to lead the Vant-guard in the Kings armie and if any of them should happen by casualty to kill either Gentleman or Commoner to buy it out with a peece of money And not farre from Lundoris there is to bee seene a Crosse of stone which standing for a limit betweene Fife and Strathern had an inscription of barbarous verses and a certain priviledge of Sanctuarie that any Man-slaier allied to Macduffe Earle of Fife within the ninth degree if he came unto this Crosse and gave nine kine with an heiâ—er should bee quit of manslaughter When his posteritie lost this title I could never yet find but it appeareth out of the Records of the kingdome that K. David the second gave unto William Ramsey this Earldome with all and everie the immunities and law which is called Clan-Mac-Duffe and received it is for certaine that the linage of the Wemesies and Douglasse yea and that great kinred Clan-Hatan the chiefe whereof is Mac-Intoskech descended from them And the most learned I. Skerne Clerke of the Kings Register of Scotland hath taught mee in his significations of words that Isabel daughter and heire to Duncane Earle of Fife granted upon certaine conditions unto Robert the third King of the Scots for the use and behoofe of Robert Stewart Earle of Menteith the Earldome of Fife who being afterwards Duke of Albanie and affecting the Kingdome with cruell ambition caused David the Kings eldest son to be most pitifully famished to death which is highest extremitie of all miserie But his son Murdac suffered due punishment for the wickednesse both of his father and his owne sonnes being put to death by King James the first for their violent oppressions and a decree passed that the Earldome of Fife should be united unto the Crown for ever But the authoritie of the Sheriffe of Fife belongeth in right of inheritance to the Earle of Rothes STRATHERN AS farre as to the river Tau which boundeth Fife on the North-side Iulius Agricola the best Propretour of Britaine under Domitian the worst Emperour marched with victorious armes in the third yeere of his warlike expeditions having wasted and spoiled the nations hitherto Neere the out-let of Tau the notable river Ern intermingleth his waters with Tau which river beginning out of a Lake or Loch of the same name bestoweth his owne name upon the countrey through which he runneth For it is called Straith Ern which in the ancient tongue of the Britans signifieth the Vale along Ern. The banke of this Ern is beautified with Drimein Castle belonging to the family of the Barons of Dromund advanced to highest honours ever since that King Robert Stewart the third took to him a wife out of that linage For the women of this race have for their singular beautie and well favoured sweet countenance won the prize from all others insomuch as they have beene the Kings most amiable paramours Upon the same banke Tulibardin Castle sheweth it selfe aloft but with greater jollitie since that by the propitious favour of King James the sixth Sir Iohn Murray Baron of Tulibardin was raised to the honour and estate of Earle of Tulibardin Upon the other bank more beneath Duplin Castle the habitation of the Barons Oliphant reporteth yet what an overthrow the like to which was never before the Englishmen that came to aide King Edward Balliol gave there unto the Scots insomuch as the English writers in that time doe write that they won this victorie not by mans hand but by the power of God and the Scottish writers relate how that out of the family of the Lindeseies there were slaine in the field fourescore persons and that the name of the Haies had bin quite extinguished but that the chiefe of that house left his wife behind him great with child Not farre from it standeth Innermeth well knowne by reason of the Lords thereof the Stewarts out of the family of Lorn Inch-Chafra that is in the old Scottish
Harald begat a sonne named Auloed Auloed begat another Auloed he had a sonne named Sitric King of Develin Sitric he begat Auloed whose daughter Racwella was mother to Gryffith Ap Cynan borne at Dublin whiles Tirlough reigned in Ireland But this is extravagant Develin at length when the English first arrived in Ireland yeelded unto their valour and by them was manfully defended when Ausculph Prince of the Dublinians and afterwards Gottred King of the Isles fiercely on every side assaulted it within a while after a Colony of Bristow-men was deduced hither unto whom King Henry the second granted this City happely at that time dispeopled for to inhabite with all the Franchises and free Customes which the men of Bristow have and that by those very words which I have alledged Since which time it hath flourished every day more and more and in many tumultuous times and hard streights given notable proofe of most faithfull loyaltie to the Crowne of England This is the roiall City and seat of Ireland a famous towne for Merchandize the chiefe Court of Justice in munition strong in buildings gorgeous in Citizens populous An old writer calleth it a City in regard of the people noble of the site most pleasant by reason of the sea and river meeting together rich and plentifull in fish for trafficke famous for the green plain delightfull and lovely beset with woods of mast-bearing trees environed about with Parkes harbouring Deere And William of Newborrow of it writeth thus Divelin a maritime citie is the mother citie of all Ireland having to it a haven passing well frequented for trafficke and entercourse of Merchants matchable with our London Seated it is in a right delectable and wholsome place for to the South yee have hils mounting up aloft Westward an open champion ground and on the East the sea at hand and in sight the river Liffy running downe at North-East affordeth a safe rode and harbour for ships By the river side are certain wharfes or Kaies as we terme them whereby the violent force of the water might be restrained For this verbe Caiare in old writers signified to Keep in to restrain and represse which that most learned Scaliger hath well noted A very strong wall of rough building stone reacheth hence along by the sides of it and the same toward the South fortified also with rampires which openeth at six gates from whence there runne forth suburbs of a great length Toward the East is Dammes gate and hard by standeth the Kings castle on high most strongly fensed with ditches towers and an Armory or Store-house built by Henry Loundres the Archbishop about the yeere 1220. In the East suburbs neere unto Saint Andrew the Apostles Church Henry the second King of England as Hoveden reporteth caused a roiall palace or rather a banqueting house to be erected for himselfe framed with wonderfull workmanship most artificially of smoothed watles after the manner of this country wherein himselfe with the Kings and Princes of Ireland kept a solemne feast upon Christmas day From hence is to bee seene just over against it a beautifull Colledge in which place there stood in old time the Monasterie of All-Hallowes consecrated unto the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity which for the exercise and polishing of good wits with good literature Queene Elizabeth of most happy memory endowed with the priviledges of an University and being furnished of late with a notable Library giveth no small hope that both religion and all the exquisite and liberall sciences will return eftsoones after their long exile to Ireland as to their ancient home unto which as unto a Mart of Arts and good learning strangers sometime used to flocke and repaire And verily in the reigne of Edward the Second Alexander Bicknor Archbishop of Divelin began to recall the profession of learning hither having obtained from the Pope the priviledges of an University and erected also publike Lectures but the troublesome times that presently ensued interrupted the laudable enterprise of that good man The North gate openeth at the bridge built with arched work of new hewen stone by King John and this joineth Oustmantowne to the City For here the Oustmans who came over as Giraldus writeth out of Norway and the parts of the Northren Islands planted themselves as the Annales beare record about the yeere of salvation 1050. In this suburbe stood in times past the goodly Church of Saint Maries of Oustmanby for so in a Charter of King John it is called an house also founded for preaching Friers called of them Black Friers unto which of late daies have beene translated the Judiciall Courts of the kingdome In the South quarter of the City stand two gates Ormonds gate and Newgate which is their common house of correction These lead unto the longest suburbe of all called Saint Thomas street and a magnificent Abbey of the same name called Thomas Court founded and endowed in times past with very ample revenues by King Henry the second for the expiation of the murder of Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury Into the South openeth Pauls gate and that which taketh the name of Saint Nicolas making way into Saint Patrickes suburbe wherein standeth the Archbishops Palace knowne by the name of Saint Sepulchres and a most stately Church dedicated unto Saint Patricke right goodly to bee seene with faire embowed workes stone pavements an arched roofe over head of stone worke and a very high tower steeple What time this Church was first built it is to say truth uncertaine That Gregorie King of the Scots came unto it about the yeere 890. the Scottish Historie doth record The same afterward being much enlarged by John King of England was ordained first to be a Church of Prebends by Iohn Comyn Archbishop of Dublin in the yeere 1191. and Pope Celestine the third confirmed the same Then after him Henry Loundres his successour in the Archbishopricke augmented it with dignities of Personages for I may be bold to use here the founders words and framed it conformable to the immunities orders and approved customes of the Church of Salisbury But in our daies it maintaineth a Deane a Chanter a Chancellor a Treasurer two Arch-Deacons and two and twenty Prebendaries The only light and lamp that I may not conceale the most ample testimony which the Parliament of the kingdome giveth unto it of all godly and Ecclesiasticall discipline and order in Ireland There is another Cathedrall Church also standing in the very heart of the City which being consecrate unto the Holy Trinity is commonly called Christs Church touching the building thereof thus we read in the ancient records of the same Church Sitric King of Dublin the sonne of Ableb Earle of Dublin gave unto the blessed Trinity and to Donatus the first Bishop of Dublin a place to found a Church in unto the holy Trinity and not onely so but gold and silver also hee bestowed sufficiently for the
the great preparation for the English warre hanging so neere over his head he betooke himselfe into the protection of King Henry the second without trying the hazzard of battell But when as forthwith he brake his allegeance and revolted Miles Cogan was the first Englishman that gave the attempt upon Conaght yet sped hee not in his enterprise Howbeit that King of Conaght abovesaid was driven to this exigent as to acknowledge himselfe the King of Englands Liegeman to serve him faithfully as his man and to pay unto him yeerely of every tenth beast one hide mercateable c. And King John granted that the third part of Conaght should remaine unto him still to bee held hereditarily for an hundred Markes But William Fitz-Adelme whose posterity are called in Latin de Burgo and Burke or Bourke in Irish Robert Muscegros Gilbert Clare Earle of Gloster and William de Birmingham were the first English that fully subdued this country and laboured to bring it to civill government And William Bourk and his lineall posterity being called Lords of all Conaght governed that province together with Ulster for a long time in great peace and tranquility yea and raised thereout rich revenues untill the onely daughter of William Burke sole heire in grosse of Conaght and Ulster both was matched in marriage with Leonell Duke of Clarence King Edward the thirds sonne But when as he abode for the most part in England and the Mortimers his heires and successours looked but negligently to their patrimony and inheritance in Ireland the Bourkes there allies whom they had appointed as overseers of their lands taking the advantage of their Lords absence and presuming upon the troubles in England despising the authority of lawes entring into alliance with the Irish and contracting marriage with them seized upon all Conaght to their owne behoofe and degenerating by little and little have laid downe English civility and taken up Irish behaviour Whereof some who fetched their pedegree from Richard Burke were called Clan-Ricard others Mac William Oughter that is The upper others Mac William Eughter that is The lower even as they who in the countie of Maio were of greatest power and authority affected to be tearmed simply Mac-William as being a name full of honour glory and authority because they descended from William de Burgo or Burke whom I mentioned erewhile under countenance of which name they for a long time tyrannized over the poore inhabitants with most grievous exactions ULTONIA OR ULSTER ALL the land beyond the mouth of the river Boyn Meath the County Longford and the mouth of the river Ravie that stretcheth Northward is counted the fifth part of Ireland called in Latin Ultonia and Ulidia in English Ulster in Irish Cui Guilly that is The Province Guilly and of our Welsh Britans Ultw Which Province was wholly inhabited in Ptolomees time by the VOLUNTII DARNI ROBOGDII and ERDINI A large country bespred with many and those very large loghes and lakes shaded with many and thicke woods in some places fruitfull in others barren howbeit fresh and green to see to in every place and replenished with cattell But as the countrey for want of manuring is growne to be rough so the naturall dispositions of the people wanting civill discipline are become most wild and barbarous Yet to the end that they might be kept within the bounds of their duty who were wont to breake in sunder all bands of equity of honesty and of duty the hether part of it was in times past divided into three counties Louth Downe and Antrim and now the rest is laid out into seven new counties that is to say Cavon Fermanagh Monaghan Armagh Colran Tir-Oen and Donegall or Tir-Conell by the provident care of Sir Iohn Perot L. Deputy who being notable and worthy man well acquainted with the humours and haughty spirits of the Province foreseeing that no policy would serve better to appease the tumults of Ireland than to reduce these parts of Ulster into order and to keepe them downe going thither in a dangerous and ticklish time when the King of Spaine hovered and gaped both for Ireland and England with his gravitie and authority whiles by barring all wrongs hee did cut off the causes and quarrells of warre brought all the Potentates or Captaines of Ulster to this passe that willingly they suffered their Seigniories to bee divided into Counties and Sheriffes to bee appointed for the government thereof But he being within a while after recalled home and climbing still higher unto honours the heavie displeasure and envie of some whom hee was not able to counterpoise and his owne lavish tongue together for unadvisedly he had let flye somewhat against the Princes Majestie which to impaire in word is a capitall matter plunged him headlong ere he was aware upon his owne destruction as I have declared elsewhere more amply THE COUNTIE OF LOUTH THe county of LOUTH in ancient bookes written Luva and Luda called in the Irish tongue Iriel or Uriel if that be not rather a part of this territory situate beyond Meth and the mouth of the river Boyn turning full upon the Irish sea runneth out with a shore much winding into the North the soile whereof is so full of forage and so fruitfull that it soone answereth and recompenseth the husband mans toile and charges Neere unto Boynes mouth is seated Drogheda or Droghda in English Tredagh a fine towne well peopled and frequented so called of the bridge and divided by the river Boyne running through it Unto which King Edward the second for Theobald Verdons sake granted licence for a mercate and Faire the Kings confirmed many and great liberties and among other a Mint Neere unto this standeth Mellifont Abbey founded by Donald a King of Uriel and much praised by Saint Bernard which Queene Elizabeth when as the religious Monkes were before thrust out gave unto Sir Edward More of Kent for his good deserts both at home and abroad in the warres Ardeth seven miles from hence is a dry in-land towne well knowne and above it Dundalk with a commodious haven and in times past strongly walled which Edward Brus brother to the King of Scots who had proclaimed himselfe King of Ireland burnt but hee within a while after was with eight thousand two hundred of his men slaine neere thereabout And in our remembrance Shan O Neale laied siege unto it but straightwaies hee was forced with shame enough to dislodge Eight miles from hence standeth Carlingford a port also of good request and resort neither be there to my knowledge any other places in this county worth the naming This Louth had for Earle Sir Iohn Birmingham an Englishman whom in reward of his martiall valour when hee had discomfited and in a pitcht field slaine that Edward Brus who assuming the title of King of Ireland for a time had made soule work with fire and sword in Ireland King Edward the second advanced to the
the same so prone is mans nature to entertain the worst that one would not beleeve in how short a time some English among them degenerate and grow out of kinde A PRAEFACE TO THE ANNALES OF IRELAND THus far forward was the Printers presse a going when the Honourable Lord William Howard of Naworth for the love that he beareth unto the studies of Antiquity willingly imparted unto me the Manuscript Annales of Ireland from the yeere of our Salvation MCLII unto the yeere MCCCLXX Which I thought good to publish considering that after Giraldus Cambrensis there is nothing to my knowledge extant better in this kind and because so noble and worthy a person whose they were by right in private before permitted so much Unto whom the very same thankes in manner are duly to bee yeelded for bringing them to light that were to be given unto the authour himselfe who first recorded them in writing And albeit they are penned in a stile somewhat rude and barrain as those times required yet much matter is therein contained that may illustrate the Irish Historie and would have given good light unto mee if they had not come to my hands so late Take them here therefore truly and faithfully exemplified even as I found them with all their imperfections and faults and if you have any better impart them with semblable courtesie unto us if not make use of these with us untill some one come forth and shew himselfe that will helpe us to a fuller Chronicle and happilie continue the same in length even unto our daies with more elegancie of phrase which verily would be no painfull work to be performed THE ANNALES OF IRELAND ANno Domini MCLXII Gregorie the first Archbishop of Dublin a man praise worthy every way slept in the Lord after whom succeeded holy Laurence O-Thothil who was Abbat of St. Kemnus de Glindelagh Thomas is made Archbishop of Canterburie MCLXVI Rothericke O-Conghir Prince of Connaght was made King and Monarch of Ireland MCLXVII Died Maud the Empresse The same yeere Almaricke King of Jerusalem tooke Babylon And in the same yeere Dermoc Mac-Murrogh Prince of Leinster whiles O-Rorke King of Meth was in a certaine expedition carried away his wife who was willing enough to be ravished For her selfe made meanes to be taken as a prey as we find in Cambrensis MCLXVIII Donate King of Uriel founder of Mellifont Monasterie departed in Christ. In the same yeere Robert Fitz-Stephen neither unmindfull of his promise nor a breaker of his faith came into Ireland with thirtie Knights MCLXIX Earle Richard of Stroghul sent before him into Ireland a certaine young Gentleman of his owne family named Remund with ten Knights about the Calends of May. The same yeere the said Earle Richard accompanied with two hundred Knights or thereabout and others to the number as one would say of a thousand arrived on the even of S. Bartholmew the Apostle Which Richard verily was the sonne of Gilbert Earle of Stroghul that is Chippestow sometime Strogull This Richard also was the sonne of Isabell Aunt by the mothers side of K. Malcome and William King of Scotland and of David the Earle a Gentleman of good hope and the morrow after the same Apostles day they tooke the said Citie and there Eva Dermots daughter was lawfully joined in marriage unto Earle Richard and her father gave her MCLXXI S. Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterburie was slaine In the same yeere the Citie of Dublin was by the Earle and his companie taken And the same yeere was founded the Abbey de Castro Dei that is of Gods Castle MCLXXI Dermot Mac-Morrogh full of dayes was taken out of this world at Fernys about the Calends of May. MCLXXII The courageous King Henrie with 500. Knights arrived at Waterford and among other things gave Meth unto Sir Hugh Lacie The same yeere was founded the Abbey de Fonte vivo MCLXXIV Gelasius Archbishop of Armagh the first Primate of Ireland an holy man aged and full of daies rested in Christ. This Gelasius is said to bee the first Archbishop that wore the first pale but others before him were in name onely called Archbishops and Primates for the reverend regard and honour of St. Patricke as being the Apostle of that nation whose See was from the beginning had of all men in so great reverence that not onely Bishops and Priests and those of the Cleargie but Kings and Princes universally were subject to the Bishop thereof in all obedience After whom succeeded in the Archbishopricke Gilbert a Prelate of good memorie MCLXXV William King of Scotland was taken prisoner at Alnewicke MCLXXVI Bertram Verdon founded the Abbey of Crokisdenne MCLXXVII Earle Richard about the Calends of May died at Dublin and was buried in the Church of the holy Trinitie at Dublin The same yeere Vivian a Priest Cardinall entituled of S. Stephan in Mount Caelius came as Legat of the Apostolicall See into Ireland sent from Pope Alexander MCLXXVIII The ninth day before the Calends of December the Abbey de Samaria was founded The same yeere was founded Rose Vale that is Rosseglasse MCLXXIX Miles Cogan and Ralph the sonne of Fitz-Stephen his daughters husband were slaine betweene Waterford and Lismore c. as we read in Cambrensis The same yeere Hervie Mont-Marish entred the Monasterie of Saint Trinitie in Canterburie who founded the Monasterie of Saint Marie de Portu that is Of Donbroth MCLXXX The Abbey of the Quire of Benet was founded The same yeere was founded the Abbey of Geripount The same yeere Laurence Archbishop of Dublin upon the 18. day before the Calends of December happily slept in the Lord within the Church of Saint Marie of Aux After whom succeeded John Cumin an Englishman borne in England at Evesham chosen with good agreement and accord by the Cleargie of Dublin the King by his industry procuring the same and confirmed by the Pope which John afterwards founded the Church of Saint Patricke in Dublin MCLXXXIII The order of the Templars and Hospitallers is confirmed The same yeere is founded the Abbey de Lege Dei that is Gods Law MCLXXXV John the Kings sonne Lord of Ireland by his fathers gift came into Ireland in the 12. yeere of his age in the thirteenth yeere after his fathers comming after the comming of Fitz-Stephen the fifteenth in the 14. yeere from the comming of Earle Richard and in the same fifteenth yeere returned MCLXXXVI The order of the Cartusians and of the Grandians is confirmed In the same yeere Hugh Lacie was killed at Dervath treacherously by an Irishman because the foresaid Hugh would build a castle there and as he was teaching of an Irishman how to labour with an iron toole to wit a Pykax when Hugh bowed himselfe forward he stroke him to the ground with both hands and as he held down his head the said Irishman with an axe chopt off Hugh Lacie his head and there was an end of the conquest In the same yeere Christian Bishop of
Sampford archbishop of Dublin In the same yeer the King of Hungary forsaking the Christian faith became an Apostata and when hee had called fraudulently as it were to a Parliament the mightier potentates of his land Miramomelius a puissant Saracene came upon them with 20000. souldiers carrying away with him the King with all the Christians there assembled on the even of Saint John Baptists day as the Christians therefore journied the weather that was cleere and faire turned to be cloudie and suddenly a tempest of haile killed many thousands of the Infidels together The Christians returned to their owne homes and the Apostata King alone went with the Saracenes The Hungarians therefore crowning his sonne King continued in the Catholike faith MCCLXXXIX Tripolis a famous citie was laied even with the ground not without much effusion of Christian blood and that by the Soldan of Babylon who commanded the images of the Saints to bee drawne and dragged at horses tailes in contempt of the name of Christ through the citie newly destroyed MCCXC Inclyta Stirps Regis Sponsis datur ordine legis In lawfull guise by hand and ring Espoused is the Kings off-spring The Lord Gilbert Clare tooke to wife the Ladie Joan a daughter of the Lord King Edward in the Abbey or Covent Church of Westminster and the marriage was solemnely celebrated in the Moneth of May and John the Duke of Brabant his sonne married Margaret the said Kings daughter also in the Church aforesaid in the moneth of July The same yeere the Lord William Vescie was made Justice of Ireland entring upon the office on Saint Martins day Item O Molaghelin King of Meth is slaine MCCXCI Gilbert Clare the sonne of Gilbert and of the Ladie Joan of Acres was borne the 11. day of May in the morning betimes Item there was an armie led into Ulster against O-Hanlon and other Princes hindering the peace by Richard Earle of Ulster and William Vescie Justice of Ireland Item the Ladie Eleanor sometime Queene of England and mother of King Edward died in the feast of St. Iohn Baptist who in the religious habite which she desired led a laudable life for the space of foure yeeres eleven moneths and sixe dayes within the Abbey of Ambresby where she was a professed Nun. Item there resounded certaine rumours in the eares of the Lord Pope Martin on the even of St. Mary Maudlen as touching the Citie Acon in the holy land which was the only refuge of the Christians namely that it was besieged by Milkador the Soldan of Babylon an infinite number of his souldiers and that it had been most fiercely assaulted about fortie daies to wit from the eighth day before the Ides of April unto the fifteene Calends of July At length the wall was plucked down by the Saracens that assaulted it and an infinite number of them entred the Citie many Christians being slaine and some for feare drowned in the sea The Patriarch also with his traine perished in the sea The King of Cypres and Otes Grandison with their companies pitifully escaped by a ship Item granted there was unto the Lord Edward King of England by the Lord Pope Martin the tenth part of all the profits of Ecclesiasticall benefices for seven yeeres in Ireland toward the reliefe of the holy land Item the eldest sonne of the Earle of Clare was borne MCCXCII Edward King of England eftsoones entred Scotland and was elected King of Scotland Lord John Balliol of Galwey obtained the whole kingdome of Scotland in right of inheritance and did homage unto the Lord Edward King of England at New-castle upon Tine on S. Stephens day Florentius Earle of Holland Robert Brus Earle of Carrick John Hastings John Comyn Patrick Dunbar John Vescie Nicolas Soules and William Roos who all of them in that kingdome submitted themselves to the judgement of the Lord King Edward Item a fifteene of all secular mens goods in Ireland was granted unto the soveraign Lord King of England the same to be collected at the feast of S. Michael Item Sir Peter Genevile Knight died Item Rice ap Meredyke was brought to York and there at horses tailes drawne c. MCCXCIII A generall and open war there was at sea against the Normans Item no small number of the Normans by fight at sea was slain by the Barons of the Ports of England and other their co-adjutors between Easter and Whitsuntide For which cause there arose war between England and France whereupon Philip King of France directed his letters of credence unto the King of England that he should make personall appearance at his Parliament to answer unto Questions which the same King would propose unto him whose mandate in this behalf being not fulfilled straightwaies the King of France declaring by the counsell of the French the King of England to be outlawed condemned him Item Gilbert Clare Earle of Glocester entred with his wife into Ireland about the feast of S. Luke MCCXCIV William Montefort in the Kings counsell holden at Westminster before the King died sodainly which William was the Dean of S. Pauls in London in whose mouth the Prelates Bishops and Cleargy putting their words which he was to utter and doubting how much the King affected and desired to have of every one of them and willing by him to be certified in whom also the King reposed most trust being returned to the King and making hast before the King to deliver expresly a speech that he had conceived became speechlesse on a sodain and fell downe to the ground and was carried forth by the Kings servants in their armes in piteous manner In regard of which sight that thus happened men strucken with feare gave out these speeches Surely this man hath beene the Agent and Procurator that the Tenths of Ecclesiasticall benefices should bee paied to the King and another author and procurer of a scrutinie made into the fold and flocke of Christ as also of a contribution granted afterward to the King crying against William Item the Citie of Burdeaux with the land of Gascoigne adjoining was occupied or held by the ministers of the King of France conditionally but unjustly and perfidiously detained by the King of France for which cause John Archbishop of Dublin and certaine other Lords of the Nobilitie were sent into Almaine to the King thereof and after they had their dispatch and answer in Tordran the Lord Archbishop being returned into England ended his life upon S. Leodegaries day The bones of which John Sampford were enterred in the Church of Saint Patrick in Dublin the tenth day before the Calends of March. The same yeere there arose debate betweene Lord William Vescy Lord Justice of Ireland for the time being and the Lord John Fitz-Thomas and the said Lord Williliam Vescy crossed the seas into England left Sir William Hay in his stead Justice of Ireland but when both of them were come before the King to fight a combat under an Appeal for treason the foresaid
seas into England out of Ireland the Earle of Ulster Roger Mortimer and Sir Iohn Fitz-Thomas Item Sir Theohald Verdon died MCCCX. King Edward and Sir Piers Gaveston tooke their journey toward Scotland to fight against Robert Bruâ— Item in the said yeere great dearth there was of corn in Ireland an eranc of wheat was sold for 20. shillings and above Also the Bakers of Dublin for their false waight of bread suffered a new kinde of torment which was never seen there before for that on S. Sampson the Bishops day they were drawne upon hurdles through the streets of the Citie at horse-tailes More in the Abbey of S. Thomas Martyr at Dublin died Sir Neile Bruin Knight Escheator to the Lord the King in Ireland whose bodie was committed to the earth at the Friers minors with so great a pompe of tapers and waxe lights as the like was never seene before in Ireland The same yeere a Parliament was holden at Kildare where Sir Arnold Pover was acquit for the death of the Lord Bonevile because he had done this deed in his owne defence Likewise on S. Patricks day by assent of the Chapter M. Alexander Bickenore was elected Archbishop of Dublin Item the Lord Roger Mortimer returned into Ireland within the Octaves of the Nativitie of the blessed Virgin Marie Also the same yeere the Lord Henrie Lacie Earle of Lincolne died MCCCXI In Thomond at Bonnorathie there was a wonderfull and miraculous discomfiture given by the Lord Richard Clare unto the side of the Earle of Ulster Which Lord Richard aforesaid tooke prisoner in the field the Lord William Burke and John the sonne of the Lord Walter Lacie and many others In which battaile verily there were slaine a great number as well of the English as the Irish the 13. day before the Galends of June Item Taslagard and Rathcante were invaded by the robbers to wit the O-Brines and O-Tothiles the morrow after the Nativitie of S. John Baptist. Whereupon soon after in Autumne there was a great armie assembled in Leinster to make head and fight against the said robbers lurking in Glindelory and in other places full of woods Also a Parliament was holden at London in August betweene the King and the Barons to treat about the State of the kingdome and of the Kings houshold according to the ordinance of sixe Bishops sixe Earles and sixe Barons as they might best provide for the good of the Realme Item on the second day before the Ides of November the Lord Richard Clare slew sixe hundred of Galegalaghes More on All-Saints day next going before Piers Gaveston was banished the Realme of England by the Earles and Barons and many good Statutes necessarie for the commonwealth were by the same Lords made Which Piers abjured the Realme of England about the Feast of All-Saints and entred into Flanders foure moneths after the said Piers returned presently upon the Epiphanie and by stealth entred into England keeping close unto the Kings side so that the Barons could not easily come neere unto him And hee went with the King to Yorke making his abode there in the Lent whereupon the Bishops Earles and Barons of England came to London for to treat about the State of the kingdome for feare lest by occasion of Piers his returne the Common wealth should bee troubled with commotions Item Sir John Cogan Sir Walter Faunt and Sir John Fitz-Rerie Knights died and were buried in the Church of the Friers Preachers at Dublin Item John Mac-Goghedan is slaine by O-molmoy Item William Roch died at Dublin with the shot of an arrow by an Irish mountainer Item Sir Eustace Power Knight died Item in the Vigill of Saint Peters Chaire began a riot in Urgaly by Robert Verdon Item Donat O-Brene is traiterously slaine by his owne men in Tothomon MCCCXII Sir Peter or Piers Gaveston entred the castle of Scardeburgh resisting the Barons But soone after the Calends of June hee yeelded himselfe unto Sir Aumare Valence who had besieged him yet upon certaine conditions named before hand who brought him toward London But by the way he was taken prisoner at Dedington by the Earle of Warwicke and brought to Warwicke whereupon after counsell taken by the Earles and Barons he lost his head the thirteenth day before the Calends of July whose bodie lieth buried in the coventuall Church of the Friers Preachers at Langley Item John Wogan Lord Justice of Ireland led forth an armie to bridle the malice of Robert Verdon and his abettors which was miserably defeated the sixth day before the Ides of July in which fight were slain Nicolas Avenel Patrick Roch and many others For this fact the said Robert Verdon and many of his complices yeelded themselves unto the Kings prison at Dublin in expectance of favour and pardon Also on Thursday the morrow after Saint Lucie Virgin in the sixth yeere of King Edward the Moone was wonderfully seene of divers colours on which day determined it was that the order of Templars should be abolished for ever More in Ireland Lord Edmund Botiller was made the Lievtenant of Lord John Wogan Justice of Ireland which Edmund in the Lent following besieged the O-Brynnes in Glindelorie and compelled them to yeeld yea and brought them almost to confusion unlesse they had returned the sooner unto the peace of the Lord the King Item the same yeere on the morrow after Saint Dominickes day Lord Maurice Fitz-Thomas espoused Katherin daughter of the Earle of Ulster at Green-castle And Thomas Fitz-Iohn espoused another daughter of the same Earle the morrow after the Assumption in the same place Also the Sunday after the feast of the exaltation of the holy Crosse the daughter of the Earle of Glocester wife to the Lord Iohn Burke was delivered of a sonne MCCCXIII Frier Roland Joce Primate of Ardmach arrived at the Iland of Houth the morrow after the annuntiation of the blessed Virgin Marie and rising in the night by stealth tooke up his Crosier and advanced it as farre as to the Priorie of Grace Dieu whom there encountred certaine of the Archbishop of Dublins servants debasing and putting downe that Crosier and the Primate himselfe of Ardmagh they chaced with disgrace and confusion out of Leinster Item a Parliament was holden at London wherein little or nothing was done as touching Peace from which Parliament the King departed and tooke his journey into France at the mandate of the King of France and the King of England with many of his Nobles tooke the badge of the Crosse. Also the Lord John Fitz-Thomas knighted Nicolas Fitz-Maurice and Robert Clonhull at Adare in Mounster More on the last day of May Robert Brus sent certaine Gallies to the parts of Ulster with his rovers to make spoile whom the men of Ulster resisted and manfully chased away It is said that the same Robert arrived with the licence of the Earle to take truce Item in the same summer Master John Decer a Citizen of Dublin caused a necessarie bridge to
Comet or blazing star appeared The same yeere there was a field fought between those of the Isle of Man at Sâ—antwas and the Northren men got the victorie In which battell were slaine Earle Oiher and Mac-Moras Generals of both the sides In the same yeere Magnus King of Norway the son of Olave son of Harald Harfager desirous to try whether the corps of S. Olave King and Martyr remained uncorrupt commanded that his tombe should be opened and notwithstanding the Bishop and Clergy withstood it the King himselfe came boldly thither and by force that he brought with him caused the coffin to be opened Now when he had both seene and handled the body uncorrupt and nothing perished sodainly there was a great feare fell upon him and in all haste he departed thence The next night following Olave King and Martyr appeared unto him in a dreame saying thus Chuse thou one of these two things either to lose thy life and kingdome both within thirty daies or to depart from Norway and never see it againe When the King awakened he called unto him his Princes and Elders and declared unto them his dreame and vision and they being sore affraid gave him this counsell to depart with all speed out of Norway He without delay caused a fleet to be rigged and put in readinesse of an hundred and threescore saile and cutteth over to the Isles of Orkney which he forthwith subdued making way by dint of sword thorowout all the Iles and bringing them to his subjection went forward still as far as to Man and when he was arrived and landed he came unto St. Patrickes Isle to see the place wherein the field had beene fought a little before betweene the Manksmen because as yet many of their bodies that were slaine lay there unburied Now when he saw this most goodly and beautifull Iland it pleased his eye and he chose it to seat himselfe therein built fortresses in it which unto this day carry his name And those of Galway he held in so great awe that he compelled them to cut downe wood for timber and to bring it unto the shore that therewith he might build his Forts and Bulwarkes To Anglesey then called Mona an Iland in Wales hee sailed and found in it two Earles by the name of Hughes the one he slew the other he put to flight and subdued the Iland But the Welshmen presented him with many gifts and so he bad them farwell and returned unto Man Unto Murcard King of Ireland he sent his shooes and commanded him to carry them on his shoulders through the middest of his house on Christmas day that he might thereby understand he was subject unto King Magnus Which the Irishmen as soone as they heard of it took grievously and disdained exceeding much But the King following a wiser course I had rather saith he not onely carry his shooes but also eat them than King Magnus should destroy one Province in Ireland Hee fulfilled therefore his commandement and honourably entreated his messengers Many presents also hee sent over by them unto King Magnus and entred into league with him These messengers being returned unto their Lord related unto him many things touching the situation of Ireland the pleasantnesse thereof the abundance of corne and wholsomnesse of aire When Magnus heard this straightwaies he thought of nothing else but to conquer Ireland and bring it wholly under his dominion He commanded therefore his men to prepare a navie and himselfe in person setting forward with sixteene ships desirous to take a view of the countrey as he unwarily departed aside from his shipping was suddenly compassed about by the Irish and so lost his life together with all those in manner that were with him And he was buried hard by S. Patricks Church in Doun Hee reigned sixe yeeres after whose death the Princes of the Ilands sent for Olave the son of Godred surnamed Crovan who lived in the Court of Henry King of England son of King William MCII. Olave the sonne of Godred Crovan aforesaid beganne his reigne and reigned forty yeeres a peaceable Prince having all the Kings of Ireland and Scotland to be his confederates Hee tooke to wife Affrica the daughter of Ferguse of Gallway of whom he begat Gadred By his concubines he had Regnald Lagman and Harald beside many daughters whereof one was wedded to Summerled Prince of Herergaidel who was the cause of the ruine of the whole Kings of the Ilands On her he begat foure sonnes Dulgall Raignald Engus and Olave MCXXXIII There hapned so great an Eclipse of the Sun upon the fourth Nones of August that the day was turned into night MCXXXIV Olave gave unto Yuo Abbat of Furnes a plot of his land in Man to build an Abbay in a place called Russin and both enriched with revenues and endowed with priviledges the estate of the Church in the Ilands MCXLII Godred Olaves son saileth over sea to the King of Norway whose name was Hinge and did his homage unto him and staied there being honourably entertained of him The same yeere three sonnes of Harald Olaves brother who had been brought up in Dublin raising a great number of men together and all those who were fled from the King came to Man demanding of the same King to have the one moity of the whole kingdome of the Ilands to bee given unto them But the King when he had heard their demand being willing to pacifie them answered That hee would take counsell of the matter Now when they had appointed the time and place where the counsell should bee held in the meane while those most leud and wicked villaines complotted among themselves the Kings death At the day appointed both parts met at the haven which is called Ramsa and sat in order by rowes the King with his counsell on the one side and they together with their company on the other and Reginald who was to dispatch him was in the midst between and stood talking apart with one of the Peeres of the land But when the King had called him and he was come unto him he turned toward the King as though hee would salute him and therewith lifting up a glittering axe a great height at one blow cut off the Kings head And forthwith as soone as they had committed such a bloody murder they divided the land among themselves and after some few daies having gathered a navie together failed over to Galway desirous to bring it also under their subjection But those of Galway sticking close and round together gave a faire onset and joined battell with them They by and by turning their backes fled in great disorder to Man And as for all the Galwaymen that dwelt therein some of them they slew others they expelled MCXLIII Godred Olaves son returning out of Norway was created King of Man and to avenge his fathers death he caused two of Haralds sons to have their eies pulled out and slew the third MCXLIV Godred begun his reigne
and reigned thirty yeeres In the third yeere of his reigne the people of Dublin sent for him and created him King of Dublin against whom Mure-card King of Ireland raised war and encamping himselfe before the Citie which is called Coridelis sent his halfe brother by the mothers side Osibeley with three thousand men of armes to Dublin who was by Godred and the Dublinians slaine and all the rest put to flight These exploits atchieved Godred returned to Man began to use tyranny and turned Noblemen out of their inheritances whereof one called Thorsin Oters Son mightier than the rest came to Sumerled and made Dubgall Sumerleds son King of the Ilands subduing unto him many Ilands When Godred had intelligence of these things by one Paul he prepared a navie and setteth forward to meet with Sumerled who was comming with a fleet of 80. saile And in the yeere 1156. there was a battell fought at sea on Twelfe day at night and after many a man slaine on both sides the next day after they grew to a pacification and divided among themselves the kingdome of the Ilands and so it became two severall kingdomes from that very day unto this present time And this was the cause of the overthrow of the kingdome of the Isles since time that Sumerleds son seized upon it MCLVIII Sumerled came to Man with a fleet of 53. saile put Godred to flight wasted the Iland Godred then crossed over to Norway to seek for aid against Sumerled MCLXIV Sumerled gathered together a fleet of 1060. ships and arrived at Rhinfrin coveting to subdue all Scotland But by the just judgement of God hee was vanquished by a few together with his sonne and an infinite number of people there slain The same yeere there was a field fought at Ramsae betweene Reginald brother of Godred and them of Man and by the deceitfull practice of a certaine Earle those of Man were put to flight Then Reginald began to reigne and on the fourth day after came Godred upon him out of Norway with a great multitude of armed men and tooke his brother Reginald whom he bereft both of his eyes and of his genitall members The same yeere died Malcolm King of Scotland and his brother William succeeded him in the kingdome MCLXVI Two Comets or blazing stars appeared before Sun-rising in the Moneth of August the one in the South the other in the North. MCLXXI Richard Earle of Penbrock sailed over into Ireland and subdued Develin with a great part of Ireland MCLXXVI John Curey conquered Ulster and Vivian Legate of the Apostolicke Sea came into Man and caused King Godred to bee lawfully espoused unto his wife Phingola daughter of Mac-Lotlen son to Murkartac King of Ireland to wit the mother of Olave then three yeers old Sylvan the Abbat married them unto whom the very same day Godred gave a piece of land at Miriscoge where he built a Monastery but at length the ground was together with the Monkes granted to the Abbey of Russin Reginald sonne to Eac-Marcat one of the royall blood comming into Man with a great band of men in the Kings absence at the first conflict put to flight certain warders that kept the shore and killed about 30. men Afterwards the Manksmen gathering their forces together the same day slew him and almost all his company MCLXXXIII O-Fogolt was Sheriffe of Man MCLXXXV There fell out to be an Eclipse of the Sun on Saint Philip and Jacobs day MCLXXXVII On the fourth Ides of November died Godred King of the Ilands and the next Summer was his body translated to the Isle of Hy. He left behind him three sonnes Reginald Olave and Tvar In his life he ordained his sonne Olave to be his heire because hee onely was borne in lawfull wedlock But the people of Man seeing that Olave was now scarce ten yeeres old sent for Reginald out of the Iles and set him up for their King MCLXXXVIII Reginald Godreds son began to raigne over the Ilands and Murchard a man of great power throughout all the kingdome of the Iles was slaine MCXCII A battell was fought betweene Reginald and Engus the sonnes of Sumerled but Engus won the victory The same yeere was the Abbey of Russin translated to Dufglas but after foure yeeres the Monks returned to Russin MCCIII Michael Bishop of the Isles died at Fontans after whom succeeded Nicolas MCCIV. Hugh Lacy came with an army into Ulster and gave John Curcy battell tooke him prisoner and conquered Ulster Afterward hee set John at liberty who came to King Reginald and he honourably entertained him because he was his brother in law for John Curcy had taken to wife Affrica Godreds daughter who founded the Abbey of S. Mary de Iugo Domini and was there buried MCCV. John Curcy and Reginald King of the Iles having entred into Ulster with one hundred ships in the haven which is called Stranford slackly besieged the fortresse of Rath but Walter Lacy comming upon them with an army put them to flight after this Curcy never recovered his land MCCX Engus Sumerleds son was with three of his sonnes slaine John King of England at the same time brought a navie of 500. saile to Ireland subdued it who sending a certaine Earle named Fulk unto Man in one fortnight and a day wholly in a manner wasted it and taking hostages returned thence into their country King Reginald and his Nobles were not in Man MCCXVII Nicolas Bishop of the Ilands departed this life and was buried in Ulster within the house of Benchor after whom succeeded Reginald Here I thinke good to write somewhat againe of Olave and Reginald Brethren REginald gave unto his brother Olave the I le called Lodhus which is said to be larger than the rest of the Ilands but slenderly inhabited because it stands much upon mountaines is stony besides and almost all unfit for tillage The inhabitants thereof live for the most part by hunting and fishing Olave therfore went to possesse himselfe of this Iland and dwelt in it leading a poore life And when he saw it would not suffice to maintaine himselfe and his army he came boldly unto his brother Reginald who then made his abode in the Ilands and spake unto him in this maner Brother saith hee my Soveraigne Lord the King thou knowest that the kingdome of the Ilands belonged unto me by inheritance but since the Lord hath elected thee to sway the Scepter thereof I envie thee not nor take it grievously that thou art exalted to that royall dignity Now thus much I heartily beseech thee that thou wouldest provide me some portion of land in the Iles wherein I may live honestly according to mine estate for the Iland Lodhus which thou gavest unto me is not sufficient to sustaine me Reginald his brother after he had given him the hearing said he would take counsell upon the point and the morrow after when Olave was sent for and came in place to parley of the matter Reginald commandeth
that hee should be apprehended and brought unto William King of Scotland that with him he might be kept in prison And Olave lay prisoner in irons and chaines almost seven yeeres In the seventh yeere died William King of Scotland after whom succeeded his sonne Alexander Now before his death he gave commandement that all prisoners should be set free Olave therefore being enlarged and at liberty came to Man and soone after accompanied with no small traine of Noblemen he went to S. James and after he was thus returned Reginald his brother caused him to marry a Noble mans daughter of Kentyre even his owne wives whole sister named Lavon and gave him Lodhus in possession to enjoy Some few daies after Reginald Bishop of the Ilands having called a Synod canonically divorced Olave the sonne of Godred and Lavon his wife as being the cousin german of his former wife After this Olave wedded Scristine daughter of Ferkar Earle of Rosse For this cause Reginalds wife Queene of the Ilands was wroth and directed her letters in the name of Reginald the King into the I le Sky unto Godred her sonne that he should kill Olave As Godred was devising meanes to worke this feat and now entring into Lodhus Olave fled in a little cog-boat unto his father in law the Earle of Rosse aforesaid Then Godred wasteth and spoileth Lodhus At the same time Pol the son of Boke Sheriffe of Sky a man of great authority in all the Ilands because he would not give his consent unto Godred fled and together with Olave lived in the Earle of Rosses house and entring into a league with Olave they came both in one ship to Sky At length having sent forth their spies and discoverers they learned that Godred lay in a certain Iland called St. Columbs Ile having very few men with him misdoubting nothing Gathering therefore about them all their friends and acquaintance with such voluntaries as were ready to joine with them at midnight with five shippes which they drew from the next sea-shore distant from the Island aforesaid some two furlongs they beset the Isle round about Godred then and they that were with him rising by the dawning of the day and seeing themselves environed on every side with enemies were astonied but putting themselves in warlike armes assaied right manfully to make resistance but all in vaine For about nine a clocke of the day Olave and Pol the foresaid Sheriffe set foot in the Iland with their whole army having slain all those whom they found without the enclosure of the Church they tooke Godred put out his eyes and gelded him Howbeit to this deed Olave did not yeeld his consent neither could he withstand it for Bokes sonne the Sheriffe aforesaid For this was done in the yeere 1223. The Summer next following Olave after he had taken hostages of all the Lords and potentates of the Isles came with a fleet of 32. saile toward Man and arrived at Rognolfwaht At this very time Reginald and Olave divided the kingdome of the Ilands between themselves and Man was given to Reginald over and beside his owne portion together with the title of King Olave the second time having furnished himselfe with victuals from the people of Man returned with his company to his portion of the Iland The yeere following Reginald taking with him Alane Lord of Galway went with his souldiers of Man to the Iland parts that hee might disseize his brother Olave of that portion of land which hee had given unto him and bring it under his owne dominion But because the Manksmen were not willing to fight against Olave and the Ilanders for the love they had to them Reginald and Alan Lord of Galway returned home without atchieving their purpose After a little while Reginald under pretence of going to the Court of his Soveraigne the Lord King of England tooke up of the people of Man an hundred Markes but went in very deed to the Court of Alan Lord of Galway At the same time he affianced his daughter unto the son of Alan in marriage Which the Manksmen hearing tooke such snuffe and indignation thereat that they sent for Olave and made him their King MCCXXVI Olave recovered his inheritance to wit the kingdome of Man and of the Ilands which his brother Reginald had governed 38. yeeres and reigned quietly two yeeres MCCXXVIII Olave accompanied with all the Nobles of Man and a band of the strongest men of the country sailed over into the Ilands A little after Alan Lord of Galway and Thomas Earle of Athol and King Reginald came unto Man with a puissant army all the South part of Man they wasted spoiled the Churches and slew all the men they could lay hold of so that the South part of Man was laid in manner all desolate After this returned Alan with his army into his owne country and left his bailiffes in Man to gather up for him the tributes of the country But King Olave came upon them at unwares put them to flight and recovered his owne kingdome Then the people of Man which before time had been dispersed every way began to gather themselves together and to dwell with confidence and security In the same yeere came King Reginald out of Galway unlooked for at the dead time of night in winter with five ships and burnt all the shipping of his brother Olave and of the Lords of Man at Saint Patrickes Iland and suing to his brother for peace stayed forty daies at the haven of Ragnoll-wath Meane while he won and drew unto him all the Ilanders in the South part of Man who sware they would venture their lives in his quarrell untill hee were invested in the one halfe of the kingdome On the contrarie part Olave had the Northren men of the Isle to side with him and upon the 14. day of February at a place called Tingualla there was a battell strucke betweene the two brethren wherein Olave had the victorie and King Reginald was by some killed there without his brothers knowledge And certaine rovers comming to the South part of Man wasted and harried it The Monks of Russin translated the body of King Reginald unto the Abbey of S. Mary de Fournes and there enterred it was in a place which himselfe had chosen for that purpose After this went Olave to the King of Norway but before that hee was come thither Haco King of Norway ordained a certaine Noble man named Huâ—bac the sonne of Owmund for to bee King of the Sodorian Ilands and called his name Haco Now the same Haco together with Olave and Godred Don Reginalds son and many Norwegians came unto the Ilands and at the winning of a fort in the Iland Both Haco chanced to be smit with a stone whereof he died and lieth buried in Iona. MCCXXX Olave came with Godred Don and the Norwegians to Man and they divided the kingdome among themselves Olave held Man and Godred being gone unto the Ilands was slaine in the
and to cover it again the very same day before the sunne setteth every one of the women bringing their burden and look which of them letteth her burden fall she is by the others torne in pieces and that they gathering together the pieces as they goe unto the temple make not an end before they be out of this furious fit and that it alwaies usually happeneth that one of them by falling downe of her burthen is thus torne peecemeale Thus old Authors writing of the utmost parts of the world took pleasure to insert pretty lyes and frivolous fables But what things are reported of Ceres and Proserpine they carry with them saith he more probability For the report goeth of an Iland neere unto Britaine where they sacrifice to these Goddesses after the same manner that they doe in Samothrace Then follow the Isles aux Mottouns Gleran Grois Belle-isle upon the coast of little Britaine Niermoustier and L'isle de Dieu upon the coast of Poictou and Lisle de Re Islands full well knowne and much frequented for the plenty that they yeeld of bay salt but for as much as they are not once mentioned by the ancient Geographers it may be sufficient for me that I have named them Onely the next Island at this day knowne by the name of Oleron was knowne to Pliny by the name of ULIARUS which lieth as he saith in the Bay of Aquitaine at the mouth of the river Charonton now Charent and had many immunities granted from the Kings of England then Dukes of Aquitain At which time it so flourished for marine discipline and glory that these seas were governed by the lawes enacted in this Iland in the yeere 1266. no lesse than in old time the Mediterranean sea by the lawes of Rhodes Hitherto have I extended the British sea both upon the credit of Pomponius Mela who stretcheth it to the coast of Spaine and upon the authority of the Lord Great Admirall of England which extendeth so far For the Kings of England were and are rightfull Lords of all the North and West sea-coasts of France to say nothing of the whole kingdome and crowne of France as who to follow the tract of the sea-coast wan the county of Guines Merk and Oye by the sword were true heires to the county of Porithieu and Monstrevil by Eleanor the wife of King Edward the first the onely heire thereof In like maner most certain heires to the Dutchy of Normandy by King William the Conquerour and thereby superiour Lords of Little Britaine dependant thereof undoubted heires of the countries of Anjou Tourain and Maine from King Henry the second whose patrimony they were likewise of the county of Poictou and Dutchy of Aquitaine or Guyenne by Eleanor the true heire of them wife to the said Henry the second to omit the counties of Tholouse March the homage of Avergne c. Of all which the French by their arrests of pretended forfaitures and confiscations have disseized the crowne of England and annexed them to the Crowne of France taking advantage of our most unhappy civill dissentions whereas in former ages the French Kings were so fore-closed by these territories as they had no accesse at all to the Ocean Nothing remaineth now seeing my pen hath with much labour struggled and sailed at length out of so many blind shelves and shallowes of the Ocean and craggy rocks of antiquity save onely this that as sea-men were wont in old time to present Neptune with their torn sails or some saved planks according to their vow so I also should consecrate some monument unto the ALMIGHTY and MOST GRACIOUS GOD and to VENERABLE ANTIQUITY which now right willingly and of duty I vow and God willing in covenient time I will performe and make good my vow Meane while I would have the Reader to remember that I have in this worke wrastled with that envious and ravenous enemy TIME of which the Greeke Poet sung very aptly in this note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hore-headed TIME full slowly creeps but as he slye doth walke The voices he as slyely steales of people as they talke Unseene himselfe those that be seene he hides farre out of sight And such againe as are not seene he bringeth forth to light But I for my part am wont ever and anon to comfort my selfe with this Distichon of Mimnermus which I know to be most true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heart take thine ease Men hard to please Thou haply maist offend Though one speake ill Of thee some will Say better there an end SOLI DEO GLORIA PHILEMON HOLLAND THE TRANSLATOUR TO THE READER IT is now almost thirty yeeres agone since I enterprised the translation of this Master Cambdens worke entituled Britannia and it is full twenty sixe yeeres since it was printed in English In which former Impression I being farre absent from the Presse I know not by what unhappy and disastrous meanes there passed beside ordinary and literall Errata many grosse and absurd mistakings and alterations of my translation which was done precisely and faithfully according to the Authors Originall VVhereof to give you but a touch or taste Page 23. line 11. the Latine is quà m Cambrica i. Britannicagens is printed Than the British Britain without all sense for Than the Welch that is the British Nation Page 38 line 15. Purple Tapestry remove for Purple Tapistry ridde as it ought to bee Page 200. line 14. of Saint Nicholas for Saint Michael as it ought to be according to the Latin Page 266. line 10. the Latine is Aerem insalubrem is crept in Wholesome aire for Unwholesome aire as it should bee Besides whole Verses and Lines left out and eftsoones other VVords and Sentences foisted in Substantives used for Adjectives Adjectives for Substantives Passive words used for Active Actives for Passive and so divers other passages against the Law of Priscian and Rules of Grammar Moreover that Hiatus and want of number in some Verses in other some Hypermeter all by mee translated with full feet and musicall measure and in some places for Sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or down right nonsense and such like stuffe in above a hundred places All which now by my means and command of the higher Powers care of some of the Partner-Printers of this second Impression and not without the industry and helpe of my onely Son H. H. a member of the Society of STACIONERS are rectified supplied and amended to the better illustration of the work contentment and solace of the future diligent Readers and perusers of the said VVorke Vale. 85. Aetat suae Anno Dom. 1636. Φ. THE SHIRES OF ENGLAND BArke-shire 279 Bedford-shire 399 Buckingham-shire 393 Cambridge-shire 485 Ches-shire 601 Cornewall 183 Cumberland 765 Darby-shire 553 Devon-shire 199 Dorset-shire 110 Durham 735 Essex 439 Glocester-shire 357 Hant-shire 258 Hereford shire 617 Hertford-shire
Constables a great family ibid. High Constables of England 621. c Constantius Chlorus riddeth Britaine of Usurpers 73. elected Emperor 74. espoused Helena mother of Constantine the great 74. putteth her away ibid. weddeth Theodora ib. a godly Emperour ibid. died at Yorke ibid. buried there 703 Constantine the Great Emperor 74. his warlike exploits 75. advanceth Christian religion 75 proclaimed Emperor in Yorke 703. e. f. his renowned titles 76. first entituled Dominus Noster 76. taxed for subverting the Roman Empire ibid. altereth the state of the government ibid. Constantine the younger ruleth Britaine 77. slaine by his brother Constans ibid. Constans an Emperiall Monke 264. c. 85. is killed ibid. Constans Emperour in Britaine 77. holdeth a councell at Sardica ibid killed by Magnentius ibid. Constantius the yonger Emperor ibid. favoureth Arianus 78. holdeth a councell at Ariminum 79 Constantine created Emperor in Britaine for the name sake 270. d. 85. his exploits ibid. his gourmandise ibid. Constantine a tyrant among the Danmoniâ— in Britaine 113 Constitutions of Clarinton 251 Conwey a river 667. b. 669. d Conwaie a towne 669 â— Convocation 181 Converts their house 428. b Sir Th. Cooke a rich Maior of London 441. f Counts Palatine See Earles Th. Cooper Bishop of Lincolne 540. c Copes a family 376. e Copper or Brasse mynes 767. a Coper as made 217. â— Copland or Coupland 765. d Iohn Copland or Coupland a brave warrior 775. e. made Baneret 171 Coquet the river 812. e Copthall 439. â— Corbets a great family 592 e 594 e Corbet a forename ibid. Sir Wil. Cordall Knight 462. e Corinaea and Corinaeus 184 Corinaeus and Gogmagog 200 c Coritani 504 Cornden hill 662 b Cornelius Nepos for Ioseph of Excestre 32 Cornavii 614 560 Cornovaille in little Britaine 184 Cornage 787 a Cornwalleies a family 467 f Cornwailes of Burford highly descended 590 f Cornwall a dukedome 198 c why so called 184 Cornwallians soone subjected to the Saxons 114 Corpus Christi Colledge in Oxford 383 a Court Barons 168 Cornishmens manners 186 Cornish Chough 188 Corham in Coverdale 729 Corbridge 808 b Corby Castle 777 f Corstopitum ibid. Corve a river 590 c Corvesdale ibid. Coway stakes 296 a Cowling Castle 329 d Cosham 243 c Coughton 565 â— Covinus 18 Costrells See Esquires Coy-fi a convert Bishop of the heathen 711 c Coteswold why so called 364 c Henry Courtney Marquesse of Excester 206 a Courtneyes knights 206 b. Earls of Denshire 207 208. Courtneyes 190 f Cottons knights 313 â— Coverts knights ibid. Cottons of Cambridge-shire knights 491 a Cottons of Cunnington 526 c Sir Robert Cotton of Cunnington a learned knight highly descended 500 d Covetousnesse complained of 562 â— Coventry 567 c Coventry Lords 568 a Councell of the Marches 590 e Cow a Towne West and East 274 c Cowbridge 643 c Cradiden 493 a Cranburn 217 b Crecan or Crey a river 328 f Creeke Lade 241 e Credendon or Credon 396 Creplegate in London 413 d Cressy a family 550 â— Crevequeurs 331 c Crawdundale 761 f Crew a place and notable family 608 c Creden a river 203 d Crediantun or kirton ibid. Craven 694 b Creake in Cliveland 723 e Le Craux 21 Croco or Croke a river 609 b De Croeun or de Credonio a Barony 532 f Crococalana 537 b Croidon 302 b Cromwells knights 497 d Sir Th. Cromwell 526 b. Earle of Essex 454 e Cromer 479 a Croft Castle 619 Crofts knights an ancient family 619 f Crophuls a family 620 c Crouch a creekâ— 443 b Crowland 530 b Crowland Abbey 530. the foundation and building of it 531 c. d. e Cruc Maur 537 c Cruc Occhidient ibid. Cuckmere 315 d Cucul 19 Saint Cudman 313 c Cuentford a brâ—oke in Coventry 567 d Culchil 747 c Culfurth 461 â— Cumberland 765 Kings and Earls of Cumberland 788 a Cumbermer Abbey 607 e. 799 Cumero 21 Cuneglasus a Tyrant in Britain 113 Cuno what it signifieth 98 Cunobelinus 418 a Cunobelin 447 b Curia Ottadinorum 818 b Curiales what they were 771 a Cursons a family 553 c Sir Rob. Curson Baron Imperiall ibid. Robert Curthose an unfortunate Prince 361 d Curcies 221 a Iohn Curcie his vertues ibid. Curtius Montanus a dainty teothed glutton 342 e Saint Cuthberts parcimony 735 Saint Cuthbert Bishop of Lindefarn ibid. Cworwf 20 Curwens knights 769 a Custodes or captaines in every shire 159 Cuthred King of the West Saxons 373 f Cyprus called Keraftis 184 Cyrch 18 Cythariftes 21 D DAbernoun 297 b D'acre Barons of Gillesland 594 c Dacre castle 776 c D'acre Baron ibid. Leonard D'acre a Traitour and Rebel 784 f Dacor a river 776 c D'airells or D' Hairells 369 e Dalaley castle 593 Dalison or D'alanson a family 544 c Dalrendini 126 Dan or Daven a river 608 d Danby 721 f Danbury 446 b Dancastre 690 b Danewort See Walwort Danes infest the coasts of England 139. why so called 141 they land in England c. 142 Danes massacred by the English 143 Their detestable sacrifice 142 Danegelt atribute ibid. Danmonii 183. whence their name commeth ibid. Daning-schow a riveret 608 e Dantesey a town 243 c Danteseys knights ibid. Dantrey towne 508 a. the fort there ibid. Henry Baron Danvers of Dantesey 243 c Darby shire 553 Darby towne 554 c Darby Lords and Earles 558 d Darcies de Nocton c. 543 c Darcies Barons de Chich 451 c Darent river 328 d Darenford or Dartford 328 â— Darwent a river and city 709 Davenport or Damport a place and notable family 609 a Saint Davids land 653 c Saint Davids an Archbishops See 653 d David bishop refuteth the Pelagians 657 b Davery or de alta rupe 312 b Dawnes of Utkinton foresters of Delamere 607 a Deben a river 465 b Depenham or Dapenham ibid. d ee a river 594 c. whence so called 602 c. Dee-mouth 604 b Dee head 666 b Devonshire or Denshire 199 a Walter and Robert Devreux Earles of Essex 455 a Iohn Dee a famous Mathematician 746 c Decimes See Tithings Decuman a Saint 220 e. murdered ibid. Decuriones what they were 771 Saint Decombs 220 e Deale or Dole 343 a Deanries how many in England 161 Deanforest 358 b Deane a place 514 a Deanes a family ibid. Deifying of Roman Emperours 70 Deiri that is Hol-der-Nesse 136 De la-mares 233 a De la mere forest 607 a De-la-pree a Nunnery 509 b D' eincourts Barons of Blankenay 535 f Edmund Baron D'eincourt desirous to perpetuate his name 536 a De la cres Abbay 787 c Iohn De la Pole Earle of Lincolne slaine 549 a. 388 f De la bere an ancient family 620 c D'elveseyes a family 607 e Delgovitia 711 b Delgwe what it signifieth 711 b De la val Baronie 811 f De la ware 364 c Dench-worth townes 281 a Denelage 153.159 Dengy or Dauncing hundred 443 c Dengy towne ibid. Dengy Nesse 352 a Dennington castle 284 a Edward Deny Baron of Waltham 439 b Denisses 206 c Denbigh-shire 675 Denbigh towne 675 d Denbigh Baron
towre 319. d Wilde Ipres 332. c. Earle of Kent 352. e Ipswich or Gipwich 464. c Ireland the site thereof 56 Irke a river 746. a Irchenfield or Archenfield 617. e Irt a riveret 765. e Irmunsull See Ermin 64 Irthing a river 782. f Irthington 745. e Irwell a river 745. e Iron or Yron mynâ—s 581. b Isa a river See Usa Isabelâ— de Fortibus 207. e Isan parles a rock 763. b Isc river See Ex. Isca Danmoniorum 203. f Isca Silurum 204. a Iscaw 20 Isis haire or Isidis plocamos 211 Isis a river 241. c Isis a river in Glocestershire See Ouse Islip 377. a Simon Islip 332. c Is-urium Brigantum 701. c Ithancester 443. d Itium is whitsan not Callais 348 Iudeal de Totenais 201. f Ivel the river 221. b Iulham or Chilham 336. b Iulia street 639. e Iulian the Apostata usurpeth the Empire 79. is declared Caesar 78 Iulius Caesar attempteth Britaine 34 Iulius a Martyr in Britaine 73 636. e Iullaber 336. b Ivo Talboys of Anjou 532. f Ivo a Persian Bishop 499. a A Iury of 12. men 153 Iustices of the Forest 293. e Iustices ordained by Aelfred 158 Iustices of Peace instituted by K. Edward the third 160 Iustices of Assises 160.179 Iustice or chiefe Iusticer of England 178 Iustices Itinerant 179 Iustices in Eyre ibid. Iustices of Goale delivery ibid. Iustices of Nisi prius ibid. Iutae a people in Germany 128 why so called 130 Ixning 459. d K KAderne 18 Kainho a Barony 401. d Katharine Dowager of Spaine enterred 513 Keiana Scot 649. b Keidelston 553. e Keimes a Barony 654. c Keina a devout Virgin 236. f Keirch 20 Kilhop a riveret 738. c Kelnsey 714. a Kelsay 543. a Ken a river 753. f Kenchester 618. d Kendale or Kirkby Kendal 759 Kendale Barons and Earles ibid. K. Kenelm a Saint 365. e Kenelworth or Killingworth 566 Kenelworth castle ibid. Dictum de Kenelworth 567 Kenet the river 255 a Keninghal 472 c Keniwalcsh vanguisheth the Britans 221 d Kent 323. why so called ibid. Kentishmen right courteous and valiant 324 c Kent Earles 352 d Kentish Pety-kings or Potentates 37 Kent-sand 753 f Kentigern Bishop of Glasco 679 c a great Clerke 378 f Kernaw 183 Kernellare what it is 753 f Kesar for Caesar 326 c Kesteven a part of Lincolnshire 533 b Keston 326 c Keswicke 763 c Ket a rebell hanged 473 b Kettel the name of a familie 543 b Kettleby 543 a Kettering 510 Keven 21 Keven Caer 661 e Kevenles Castle 624 a Kevin 21 Saint Kibie an holy man 673 a Kidderminster 573 f. a Barony 514 a Kidwelly 649 Kildale Castle 721 e Kighley a place and family 693 Kilgarth 192 Killey 816 e Kilgarran 654 e Killingworth See Kenelworth Kilmain Lhoyd 650 d Kilnsey Crag 697 b Kilpeck a castle and family 617 The Kings Champions ibid. Kilton castle 720 c Kime a noble family 535 e Kimbolton or Kinnibantum Castle 501 c Kindreton 610 b Kindreton Barons 609 b Kined a Saint 646 c Kinefeage Castle 644 d King what it signifieth 163. his soveraigne power c. ibid. his roial prerogatives 163 Kings of England made heires to their subjects 485 e. f Kings in Britain during the Romans Empire there 67 The Kings Courts of Iustice 177 Kings Bench 178 Kingston Lacy 216 f Kings Cleare 272 c Kings knight or Taine 293 e Kingston upon Tamis 297 b Kings Delfe 500 b Kingston upon hull 712 d Kings Ditch by Cambridge 488 c Kingswood Abbey 364 c Kinnoburga 502 b Kinnersley 620 c Kinton 561 c Kirkham 709 d Kirkby Bellers 522 f Kirkby Morside 722 c Kirkby the same that Pontfret 695 c Kirkby Lonsdale 760 c Kirkby Stephen ibid. d Kirby Thore 761 c Kirk Oswald 777 f Kirkton 532 c Kirsop a river 781 d Kirtling 491 b Kirton 203 d Kits Coty house 332 b Kitsons knights 461 e Knarisborow Castle 699 f Knebworth 406 e Knevets a family 472 c. d Knevet or Knivet Baron of Escrick 707 e Knight what degree of Gentry 170 Knights simply so called 173 Knights of foure sorts 171 Knights Banarets ibid. Knights of the Bath 172 Knights dubbed Earles 174 Knight a title of dignity 175 Knights how dubbed 176 Knights Bachelars ibid. Knights twelve emploied in the Conquest of Glamorgan-shire 641 e. f Knightleys ancient knights 508 Knighton 623 e Kniveton a place and familie 553 e Knocking Castle 597 b Knoll 328 a Knolls Barons de Rotherfield 389 e Knots a dainty fowle 543 c Knotsford a towne 610 c Knute the Hardie or Hardie Knut 143 Knute King of the Danes vanquisheth Ethelbert 143 Kowain 18 Kumero 10 Kumbri or Kambry 765 b Kumari ibid. Kumeraeg ibid. Kwrm a British drinke 31 L. LAberius Durus slaine by Kentishmen Lac a riveret 753 d Lacie 213 d Lacies Conquerours of Ireland 631 c Lacie the Norman 695 d Iohn Lackland who hee was 255 f Lacon a family 591 d Lactorodum seemeth to be Stony Stratford 397 b Laelianus an usurper in Britaine murdred 71 Laetavia 111 Laeti ibid. Laetus a valiant Captaine 69 Laeford by contraction Lord 168 Lanae 19 Lakes in Staffordsh of a strange nature 588 b. c William Lambard commended 323 b William Lambard his hospitall 327 f Lambith 303 b Lambley Nunnery 799 â— Lamborne 283 f Lambourn Manour 440 c Lampreies 574 c Lane the name of a family 509 f Lanandiffry 649 d Lancashire 745 Lancaster or Loncaster towne 754 b Lancaster Lords 755 f Lancaster Earles 756 Lancaster Dukes 757 Lancham 463 d Lanchester 742 â— Landaff 642 d Lands end 188 Lanercost Abbey or Priory 782 c 785 c Langerston 465 a Abbots Langley 414 f Kings Langley ibid. f Langley 592 a Langho 750 a Langtons a family 752 e Langanum 668 b Lanheath 491 a Lapis Tituli See Stonar Lacelles a family 707 e. 724 c Latham 749 a Latimer what it is 598 â— Latimers a towne 394 e Latimers de Corby a family 507 b Latimers Lords 721 f. 729 d Latimer a sirname 598 c Lavatrae 732 d Laver a river ibid. e Lavellin an high hill 767 f Lawleyes a family 591 f Lawlesse Court 441 e Lawes of England in a tripartite division 153 Law-courts of England 177 Lawes that is Heapes of stones 802 b De la Lawnds a family 542 c Laurence Noel repayrer of our Saxons language 188 Laxton or Lexinton a towne and name of a family 550 Layth 21 Lea or Ley a river 406 e Lea the name of a family 592 d Leach 21 Lead of Darbyshire 556 e League 21 Leakes Knights 556 b Leam the rever 507 e Leama brooke 561 d Leamington ibid. d Leanminster 17 Leckhamsted 396 e Leddets a family 507 b Long-Leat 245 a Ledden a river 620 e Ledbury a towne ibid. Lee Knight 280 c Lee a place and family 610 c Sir Henry Lee 395 f Leeds Castle 331 c Leeds 694 e Leegh 441 c Leez 445 c Legeolium 695 a Leibourne 332 c Leiden Castle built by Hengist 130 Leightons knights 593 a Leighton Buzard 402 e Leighton
in Huntingdon-shire 501 d Leiton 439 f Leightons a family 667 d Leicestershire 517 Leicester towne 519 d Leike a towne 587 c Lemster or Leinster 619 f Lemster Ore 620 a Lemster bread 620 Lenae 17 Leneham 331 a Leofrike Earle of Mercians 567 e Leofrike first Bishop of Excester 204 d Leofrike Lord of Brane or Burne 533 a Leoftane Abbot of S. Albanes 393 c Leolin Prince of Wales his behaviour to King Edward 363 e Lean Vaur a fabulous Giant 604 Leon Vaur what it signifieth ib. Leonell Duke of Clarence 462 d Leprosie why termed Elephantiasis 522 d. when it came first into England ibid. Lestoff 468 d Leskerd 191 Lestuthiel 190 Lettuy what it is 399 f Leuca 21 Leven a river 781 c. 782 b Leveney a river 628 c Levensand 754 f Lever Maur 67 Leventhorps a family 408 c S. Lewis King of France taken prisoner 249 e Lewis of France his pretended title to the Crowne of England 340 Lewis a towne 313 e Lewknors 312 e Ley-mouth 440 a Lhan what it signifieth 631 d Lhan Beder 657 d Lhan Badern vaur 658 a Lhan Stephen 650 c Lhan Devi Brevi 657 b Lhanthony Abbey 631 c Lhan Vais 672 e Lhan Vethlin 662 d Lhan Heron 193 Lhan Stuphadon or Launstaveton 196 c Lhein 668 b Lhewellin ap Sisil Prince of Wales 680 a Lhewellin ap Gryffith the last British Prince of Wales 670 b Lhewellin last Prince of Wales of Brittish race 624 c. slaine ib. Lhuyd his opinion concerning the name of Britain 5.24 Library in Oxford furnished 381 Lichfield 585 b. an Archiepiscopall See 585 d Lickey Hill 574 d Lid what it is 491 d Lid river 199 d. 781 f Lida towne 351 a Lid Castle 781. Liddesdale ibid. Lidgate a village 461 f Iohn Lidgate a Monke ibid. Liesnes Abbey 328 b Lievtenants in every County or Shire instituted by King Aelfred 159 Lilborne 515 c Lime river and towne 210 b Limestone great store 694 f Limits of the Roman Empire 789 e d. see Scotland Limseies a family 567 e Lime a port towne 549 e Line or flax of the best 620 a Lillinstone 396 c Lincolnshire 529 Lincoln City 538 b. whence the name is derived ibid. Lincoln Earles 544 e f Lindsey a part of Lincolne-shire 537 f Robert of Lincoln 313 d Lincolne Colledge in Oxford 381 Linstock Castle 778 a Lingeins a family 665 d Lin 480 d. why so called ibid. Old Lin 480 King Lin ibid. Linnum Episcopi ibid. Lin peris poole 668 d Lin a river 547 c Dâ— la Linde 213 f Linton or Lenton a towne 547 d Lionesse 187 Lisls a family in the Isle of Ely 494 d L'isle a family 276 a L'isle of Rougmount 490 b Listers a family 592 e Vicount L'isle 280 d Liver a river 192 Littons a family 406 e Litchfield in Hantshire 272 c Littleborough 549 e Lites Cary 224 f Littletons a family 574 d Littleton alias Westcot a learned Lawyer and a famous ibid. Livery and seisin in old time 340 The Lizard 189 Llydan what it is 111 Louder a river and family 792 Lode workes 184 Looghor 646 a Lollius Urbicus Propretor in Britain 66 Lollham bridges 512 a London 421 d London an ancient Colony 50 London called Augusta 79 80 London stone 423 a London wall ibid. c London bridge 434 a London highway from Saint Albanes turned out of Watling-street 415 b London or Londres a family 649 d Maurice de Londres or London ibid. c Lonchamps a family 532 Longford a place and family 553 d Long-Meg a stone 777 e Longvils a family 397 c Lonsdale 760 Loo a river 192 Lophamford 467 d Lora Countesse of Leicester a reclused votary 339 a Lortie the name of a family 221 d Lothbrooke the Dane 207 a Lottery used by Saxons 135 Lovain a family 444 e Lovels 374. a family 505 d Lords of Castle Cary 514 a Lovets a family 553 d Loughborough 521 d Lowland-men 126 Louth 542 c Lowy of Tunbridge 330 a Lowy of Briony ibid. Luceni in Ireland 121 Lucensii in Spaine ibid. Sir Rich. Lucy Lord Iustice of England became a Chanon 328 b Lucies a family 769 f Lucius King of Britaine 67 Lucies Knights an ancient family 564 f Luculleae certaine speares 62 Ludgate 423 c Ludham 478 d Ludlow 590 c Ludlowes a family 594 b Luffeilds 396 f Luffenham or Leffingham South and North townes 525 Lug a river 619 d Lugus what it signifieth 779 a Lullingstone a town and family 328 e Lumley Castle 742 b Lumleys Barons ibid. Lune or Lone a river 753 c Lupicinus sent into Britaine 78 Lupus Earle of Chester 611 a Lusoriae naves 811 d Luthing a lake 468 d 442 a Luthingland ibid. Luton 402 e Lutter worth 517 f. an Episcopal See 519 d Lygons a family 577 b Th. de la Lynde 213 f Lyquorice in great plenty growing 550 f Lyrpoole or Litherpoole 748 d M MAchleneth 661 b Maclesfield a towne and forest 610 b Madin-boure or Madning boure Madning money ibid. Madock falsly dealt withall by his Guardian Iohn Earle of waren 677 b Maeatae 796 d Magicke practised in Britaine 234 a Magnavills alias Mandevil 452 b. Earles of Essex 453 e Magnavil his end ibid. f Magnentius an usurper 77. called Taporus ibid. a fortunate Prince 77. killed himselfe ibid. Magnus a Dane 314 c. his monument ibid. Magoclunus a tyrant in Britain 113 Magon a god 803 d Mahel Earle of Hereford 358 f Maiden Castle 212 c Maiden Bradley 24 Maiden way 761 e Maiden-head or Maiden-Hith 286 c Maidstone 330 e Maidulph the Irish Scot 242 c Main what it signifieth 569 c Maior of London first ordeined Main Amber 188 Malcolm Can Mor King of Scots 500 c Maldon 446 e. forced by Queen Boadicia 448 Malduit or Manduit 570 Mallets a family 223 e Malliveries 700 b Malmesbury 242 b Malpas 603 e. Barons thereof ibid. Maltravers Barons 217 a Malvern hils 577 b Malveisin 814 a Mamignot 326 d Maminots Barons 332 d Mancastle 746 b Mancester 569 c Manchester 746 a Manchet the finest 420 a Manchester why so called 747 a Mandrubatius See Androgeus oppressed by Cassibilinus 37 Manduites a family 591 e Mangonells 400 d Mannours or de Maneriis a family 815 e Mannours Earles of Rutland 527 a b. 536 b Manober Castle 651 c Mansions what they were 65 Mansfield a great mercate town in Shirewood 550 b Manwarings or Memilwarings a family 608 a Sir Peter Manwood Knight 339 b Sir Roger Manwood Knight ibid. Marble quarrey 736 e Marca 18 Marden 620 d The Marches 589 b Marga what it is 536 e Margan Castle 644 e Marga 20 Margaret Countesse of Richmond 216 d Margaret Countesse of Salisbury beheaded 250 d Lord Marchers 589 c. 165 Marcley hill 620 b. moveth ibid. Marcus made Emperour in Britaine by the armies 84 Mareschall of Harlots 294 b Mareschall Earle of Penbroch why so named 655 b Mareschall Earle of Penbroch slaine at a Turnament 407 d Mary Queene of Scots her end her tombe 511 c.
513 b Mary Lady Fane 330 d Mary Hall in Oxford 381 d Mary Magdalen Colledge in Oxford 382 b S. Maries of Radcliff 237 â— Marius a mighty strong man 779 d Markham an uncorrupt judge Markham a village and name of family 550 e Markham lord chiefe Iustice of England 550 e Marle 20.393 c Marleborough 255 d Marleborough statute 256 a Marlow 393 Marmions a family 729 e Marmions the kings Champions 582 c Marney Baron 213 a Marnhill 215 c Marquesites found 720 f Marquesse what degree of honour 165 Marquesse how created ibid. Marchland 690 e Martin Bishop of Tours against putting heretikes to death 82 Martin Vicegerent in Britaine stabbeth himselfe 78 Martins lords of Keimes Martins a family 654 d Martyrs in Britaine 73 Masons first brought into England 743 a Massagetes Scythians 121 Massham 729 c Matrafall 662 d Mawde the Empresse Lady of the English 453 e. King Henry the First his wife 284 d Mawde of Saint Valeri a stout Dame 623 c Saint Maudit Castle 189 Maugre Lhewellin a Castle 623 c Mauleies Barons 709 c Peter Mauley 719 c Mault of Abbington 280 a Mault how made 485 b Maundbury 212 c Maunsels 641 e Maxey castle 515 a Maximus usurpeth the Empire 82. his vertues ib. stiled Trevericus Emperour ibid. Maximus the usurper vanquished and put to death by Theodosius 83 Maxstock castle 567 c Meales what they be 479 e East-Mean Hundred 268 f West-Mean Hundred ibid. Meansborow Hundred ibid. Meanuari ibid. Meaux Abbey 712 e Walter Medantinus an Official Earle 621 Medaghom 634 b Medcalfes a numerous family 729 a Medeshandsted alias Medeswelhamsted ibid. Medeswel a gulfe 512 b Medley 693 f Medvan 67 Medway river 329 d Meermarkes in old time 515 c Melborn castle 554 a Melcomb Regis 211 c Melfield 815 d Long Melford an hospitall 462 Melienith 624 a Melin what colour 26 Melitus a Roman Bishop of London 426 c Melkin a great professor of learning 378 f Melton Mowbray 522 e Menai 668 c Mendip hill 230 d Mendlesham 465 b Meneg 189 Menevia 653 d Menils Barons 721 b Merbury a place and familie 609 f Mercians of the North 559 b Merchenlage 153 Merworth 330 d Mercury had the charge of waies 64 Mergate 413 Merioneth shire 667 Merivale 569 d Merkin 188 Merlin the Britans Tages where borne 649 f Mersey a river 745 â— Mesey mouth 610 b Mershland 481 a Merton a poole 749 d Merton 302 d Merton Colledge 302 Statute of Merton 302 e Merton brooke a riveret 554 d Metham a place and familie 710 Metaris or Maltraith 529 c Mettingham 468 c Merlin Sylvester the British Apollo 640 a Michael de la Pole Earle of Suffolke 7â— e Saint Michaels mount 188 Michelham 315 d Michael Scotus a great Mathematician 773 b Middlesex 419 Middleton Abbey built by King Athelstane 213 Middletons a family 698 d Middlewich 607 f Mikel barr 701 f Milburga a devout virgin 591 e Sir Walter Mildmay a worthy knight 514 c Mildred a Saint 340 b Milstons 681 a. 556 f Milford haven 651 d Millum castle 765 d Mimmes 415 d Mineran what towne 407 f Minchins that is Nuns 362 b Minerall stones 720 f Minshul a place and family 608 Minster 334 a Minster what it signifieth 245 c Minster Lovell 373 f Misselto of the Oke 14 Missenden a towne 394 c. de Missenden Gentlemen 394 e Mitford 812 b Mitton 731 b Mittons a family 665 d Mixon 274 e Modwena or Mowen a religious Virgin 569 e. 586 b. her Epitaph 586 c Moeles 196 a. 221 c Mogontus 691 d Mohuns 190 f Mohuns or Moions 220 d Moignes or Monkes of Essex a family 245 b Moilenly 676 c Moinglath ibid. Mole a river why so called 297 Mold 681 a Molineaux a family 748 Mona Taciti an Isle 671 Mona subdued by Iulius Agricola ibid. Monastical life or Monkery when first professed 603 a Monasteries what they were 603 c Monasteries suppressed 163 Monkchester 810 b Monkton See Exceter Monkes Laymen 603 c Monkes a family 208 a Monkes regular or of the Clergie ibid. Monkes Weremouth 742 f Monmouthshire 631 Monmouth towne 632 b. the natall place of King Henry the Fifth 632 e Monmouth an Academy 633 e Monow a river 617.631 c Montacute a place why so called 222 b Montacutes Knights 510 a Montacutes a family 222 c Earles of Salisbury ibid. 249 Th. Montacute Earle of Salisbury slaine before Orleance 250 Mont Aegle Barons 753 f Montchensyes Barons 329 a Guarin Montchensy another rich Crassus 463 b Montferrant Castle 709 b Montfichets Barons 453 c Montfichet Baron 440 a. 809 e Montforts 566 a Simon de Montfort Earle of Leicester 523 e Simon de Montford the younger disloyall to his Prince 523 e Simon Montfort another Catiline 577 f. slaine 578 a Montgomeryshire 661 Montgomery towne and Castle 661 f Montgomerie Earle 663 b Montgomerie made a shire 677 Mont Turold a fort 513 a Montjoy 555 Monthault Barons 680 e Monuments or Tombs in Pauls Church in London 426 d. c. The Moore in Monmouthshire 694 d Moores what they be 759 b Mordants Barons 399 b Moresby a place and name of gentlemen 766 c f Mooreland 586 e Mor 21 Morinwyr ibid. Morimarusa 11 Morleys Barons 315 c. 453 d Morisons Sir Richard and Charles 415 a Moregate in London 423 d Mordant 510 c Morton Cardinall and Archbish. of Canterbury 212 b Morpeth 812 c Morton Corbet 594 e Morvils a family 775 f Hugh Morvil that slew Thomas Becket 777 f Mortimers Earles of March 619 Mortimers of Attilborough 473 b Morwic 813 b Mortimers hole 548 e Roger Mortimer the elder sentenced to death 624 e Roger Mortimer the last declared heire apparent to the Crowne 625 a The Mosses 745 d. whence they come 747 b The Moto 783 b Mont Sorel or Mount Soar Hill 521 a Mowbray 304 f Mowbraies a family the originall of their race 723 c Mowbray much affected the Templars 566 d Mowbraies whence descended 481 c Thomas Mowbray Duke of Norfolke 482 e. banished ibid. Mowbray 221 f Moult-Grave Castle 719 c Mountsbay 188.189 Moushole 188 Mouthwy a Commot in Wales 665 d Moyen 213 b Moyly Gaer 679 c Muchelney 222 a The Mues 432 c Munden Furnivall 408 b. 703 a Municipia what they were 409 Murdacks a family 565 a. 409 Musards Barons of Staveley 555 f Muschamps Barons 815 c Musgraves villages and a family 760 d Musgrave Baron ibid. d Mustard the best 359 b Mynyd Margan 644 e N NAdder a river 245 d Naitanus a King of the Picts 118 Names of families altered 583 e Names of families taken from places 748 a Names taken from the fathers forename 813 b Nannius 82 Nant Pencarn a river 639 f Nant-wich 607 f Natan Leod or Nazaleod 258 f Nations the same have sundry names 23 Nations at first had names of their owne 25 Navy Royall of England 333 e Naworth Castle 784 f Neath or Nid a river 645 f Neath a towne 643 d Neath land 649 d Nectan a Saint
207 b Nectaridius 79 Needles 274 e Needhams a family 464 a 598 c Needwood 586 â— Neirford a town and family 480 481 d Neirborough ibid. d Nen the river his head 507 c Nen river 497 a Nen or Aufon river overfloweth the flat Country 513 c Nesse 351. a Promontory 451 d Nesta a welsh Lady and a revengefull woman 628 e Netherby 781 d Netherwent 640 b S. Neoth 378 c S. Neots or Needs 497 c Neotus an holy man 191.497 a Neotstow 191 Nero the Emperour how he stood affected to Britaine 48 Nettlested 463 c Nevern river 654 d Nevills a family their descent 737 c Nevill Lord Faulconberg Earle of Kent 353 c Rich. Nevill Earle of Warwicke slaine 415 d Iohn Nevill Marquesse Montacute 222 c. 403 Rich. Nevill Earle of Warwicke ibid. Rob. Lord Nevill killed in adultery 729 c Nevills an honorable name 769 Nevin a mercate village 668 b Newark upon Trent 549 c Newburg 672 f Newborrough Abbey 723 b Newborroughs or de Novo Burgo 213 a Will. of Newborrough 723 b Newbury 283 d New Castle upon Tine 809 f New Castle upon Tivy in Wales 650 e New Colledge in Oxford 381 e Newenden 351 b Newenham Abbey 207 a Newgate in London 423 c New forrest 259 b Newhall 446 c Newlands 767 a New-leame 495 b Newmerch 364 b Bernard Newmarch a valiant and Politicke Norman 628 e New-market or Newmercate towne 459 d New-market Heath ibid. e. 490 d Newmarch the name of a family 221 c Newnham 401 Newnham Regis 562 d Newnham wells ibid. e Newport Painel 397 c Newport in Monmouthshire 639 d Newport in Penbrockshire 654 Newports a family 605 d Newports Knights 594 f Newsted 547 c Neustria what country 144 Newton in Northamptonshire 509 f Newton in Glamorganshire 643 Newton in Mongomeryshire 661 Nicen Creed established 77 S. Nicolas Isle 200 Nicolas of Tewksbury 202 c Nicolans Fabricius de Petrisco a good Antiquarian 97 Nicolaa de Albeniaco an Inheretrix 364 f Nid or Neath a river 645 f 699 e Nidherdale ibid. e Niding a name of Reproch 333 b Niger usurpeth the Empire in Siria 68. slaine by Septimius Severus ibid. Ninnius a learned professour 378 f Ninius 6 Ninias or Ninianus an holy Britaine 118 Nobilis Caesar what title 104 Nobilissimus the sonne of Constantine an Emperour 85 Nobility in England of two sorts 164 Noels a family 284 c Nonesuch 287 c Normanton Fields for Dormanton fields 511 f Norris 384 a Norris of Ricot 384 a Normans why so called 144 what outrages they committed 144 Normans renouned for Martiall Prowesse 153 Normans Conquest set downe at large 145 c. Normandie given to Rollo 144 Normandy awarded away from the Kings of England 733 d Norrham a towne 816 b North Allertonshire 723 f. the faire there ibid. b North Barons 491 b North Hall 415 d Northamptonshire 505 North Elmham 481 f North Leach 366 b Northwales 659 c Northfolke 471 Northwich 607 f Norfolke men wrangling Lawyers 471 c Norwich a Bishops See 472 a Norwich what it signifieth 473 e Norfolke Earles and Dukes 482 b Norton in Suffolke 464 a Norton Dany 507 a Norwich a City much endangered 475 c North-Riding 717 Northampton 509 a. why so named ibid. Northampton field fought 509 e Northamptonshire ibid. f Northamptonshire Earles 515 e Northumberland 799 Nosthil 690 f Noteley Abbey 396 a Nottinghamshire 547 Nottingham 547 d. why so called ibid. Nottingham Earles 551 b Northumberland Kings Dukes and Earles 819 d Novatians hereticks 84 Nun Eaton 569 a The first English Nun 339 c O OBsidianus Lapis what Cole 735 c Ochiâ—hole 230 d Ock-river 286 c Ockham Octha 128 Odiam 269 e Odingsels 567 c Odo Bishop 333 a Odo Earle of Kent and Bishop of Baieux 352 c Oën a welch rebell 658 b Offa King of the Mercians his devout munificence to the Church 410 f Offa Dike 421 e. 623 Off Church 561 e Offton 463 c Ogle Castle 812 a Ogmor 643 a Ogle Barons ibid. Oilway a riveret 636 c Oisters called Mira 449 f Oister hils by S. Albans 413 d Oister pips in Kent 335 a Okeham 526 a Okenyate 593 Oldbury 269 d Old man of Bullen 345 c Old Castle executed 329 â— Old street or Ouldstreet 540 â— Old Towne 617 c South Okindon 442 d O-Neall great Monarch of Ireland 126 Onions hole 271 b Onions Penniâ—s ibid. e Orbeies a family 607 â— Orcas what point 1 Orchard the Honour of certaine Barons 223 â— Ordalium what triall 211 a Ordulph his tomb 199 e Ordgar ibid. Ore a river 465 d Oreford ibid. Orell a family 748 a Oriall Colledge in Oxford 381 d Originall of Nations and their names 4 Ormesby a towne and family 542 c Ormeskirke 744 a Orthotes 139 Orton or Overton 502 b Orwell a river 463 f Orwell Haven 465 a Orewood 184 Osgodby 543 a Osith a virgin 451 c S. Osiths a towne ibid. b Osney Abbey founded 375 c Ostorius Lievtenant for the Romans 590 a Ostorius his adventures and service in Britaine 42.43 his victorie 44. honoured with Triumphant Ornaments 45 Oswald Bishop of Worcester a maintainer of Monasticall life 576 b Oswald slaine by Penda 597 gloriously entombed 540 f Oswald 690 f. 806 c Oswald his Epitaph 748 c Fables going of him 540 f Oswaldslaw Hundred 578 c Oswestre 597 c Otherhalfe stone 191 Otelands 295 â— Otford 328 e Otley 698 d Ottadini 796 Ottery river 206 c Otterbourne field 803 c Ottery S. Maris ibid. Overburrow 753 d Overwent 640 b Oulney 397 c Oundale for Avondale 510 c Ounsbery Hill 721 d Ousley 565 e Ouse a river in Glocestershire 367 a Ouse river first called Ure and Your 689 Ouse or Ouze river 241 Ouse the greater 471 b Ousbourne a riveret 701 d Owen Iustice of the common Pleas 592 a Owen Glendowerdwy or Glendour a notable Rebell 623 c Owers 274 e Outborow what it is 815 b Oxfordshire 373 Oxford 377 c. made an University 380 f Oxford Earles 389 d Oxney 351 f P PAcatianus Vicegerent or Deputy in Britaine 75 Padstow 193 Palace in Westminster 431 b Palatine what it is 601 b Paganells or Painells 207 b Pagetts of Beaudesert Barons 585 a Palatine Counts 167 Pandon gate 810 b Pant a river or creeke 443 b Pannonians whence they tooke name 26 Pantulphs Barons 594 c Pall what it is 336 d Paul Papinianus the great Lawyer 703 d Palmer 366 a Papp Castle 768 a Parr Earle of Essex 454 f Parr of Kendale 759 e Parr Lord of Horton 509 f Parcus in Varro for a Parke 375 e Parises a family 489 e Parishes first set out in England 160 Parish Churches how many in England 161 Parks in England 375 e Parkers a family 463 e Parkers Lords Morley 473 a Parker Baron Mont-Aegle 754 a Parliament house 431 c Parliament 177 Parrham a little towne 465 e Passham 397 b Paston a townelet and family 478 f Pastwn 21 Patern a Bishop in Wales 668 b Pateshul a towne and familie 507 a Pateshulls
Botereaux * De Sancto Laudâ— Stow. Greenvils * Rous. Stratton The river Tamar * Canonâ—corum Launston Salt-Esse Saint Vrsula and 11000. Virgins Earles of Cornwall Robert de Monte. 1175. * Haeresinventus * â—ande d' Or d' Azur ala bordeure de Gueules Memoriales de Aquitaine Dukes of Cornwall Orig. 35. H. 6. Sand making grounds fruitfull Tavistoke The Charter of the foundation Lectures of the Saxon tongue Plimmouth 13. Henry 4. * De valle tarta * Valle tortis â—ive de valle torta * Custodias * Praetor Gogmagog Francis Drake * Narrow passage * Rous. The first tiâ— that Priests were forbidden marriagâ— Stert Caudâ— in Dutch a Taile Totnes * Non geldâ— * Cantlow Lord Zoâ— called usuâ— Dertmouth Stoke Fleming Briew See Sommersetshire Carie of Cockington Hacombe The familie of the Carews Danes when they first entred Britaine * The River Ex. Plinie Anticke stones Tiverton Poltimore * Ex. * Caer Leon or Vske in Monmouth shire Excester * Welchmen Caer what it signifieth Cornel. Nepos * Excester William Malmesbury * Domesday Weare Ch. 24. Ed. 3 Dukes of Eâ—cester See the Earâ—â— of Dorset Philip Comiâ—â—us cap. 50. Marquesse of Excester 1605. Pouderham * Redvers or Rivers Holcombe Burnet Exmouth Otterey Honnyton Moridunum Wiscomb See in Sommerset shire Axminster The Register of Newenham Hercules his Promontory Saint Nectan William of Malmesbury Dinham Whether ever Hercules came into Britaine * Expounders of Morall Tales * Terra di Laviro * Riviera di Genoa Poderidge Bediford Iohn Hooker of the Bishops of Excester Berstable * Se aequor refundit in â—quor John Jewell Thomas Harding Ralege Kinvith The Danes Banner Comb what iâ— signifieth Nicotius Bampton Paganelli or Painels * Fulconem Earles of Dâ—â—vonshire Register of Ford Abbey * Redvers or Rivers * Called Isâ—â—bella de Fortibus * Called Isâ—â—bella de Fortibus Claus. 9. Edw. tertii M. 35. â—â— dorso 9. Edward the Fourth 1603. Dwr what iâ— signifieth Setta what iâ— is Lime Carmouth Burtport Chesill Portland Historie of Winchester Weymouth A Stepdames hatred that is her husbands sonne * Good health Morton Strangwaies Bindon Newborougâ—â— Grand Serjeantie Middleton Forrest of White-hartâ— White hart silver Shirburne Chiston Shaftsbury * Domesday The prophecy of Aquila Barons Fit Payne Baron Briâ—â—â—â— Barons Poâ—â—nings Blandfordâ— Vindogladiâ— Winburn Burne in the Saxon tongue what it signifieth Annales of the English-Saxons * Or Painims Paganorum Badbury Kingston Lacy. Canford Coperose or Vitriol Alum Tho. Walsingham 1317. Cranburne Vicount Cranborne 1604. Filioll Earles and Marquesses of Dorset The life of Osmund manuscript See the Duk of Somerset * In Normandie 1553. Belgae from the Belgae in Gaule Low-countries The Netheâ— Lands Belgae whenc they were named * Or weather Denshire Dunster Castle The Familie of the Mohuns or Moions Commons Ischalis Ivelcester commonly Ilchester * Or Copper Mechelney The River Pedred Pedderton Montacute in Domesday booke Montaguâ— Annales of Glaston * Drogo Iuvenis Lords Montacute Odcombe * â—riceto Briewers Barons Register of Dunkeswell Gornays Newtons * Parret Faramuse of Bolen Fienes Aulre Wellington * Hides Lediard Iohn Popham Taunton * Penaltie fo peace-breaking Pacis Infractio Mallet Pointzes Beauchamps Barons * Forts Vicount Beauchamp Lovell Lupellus in Latin Castle Cary. Lord Saint Maure Earles of Bridge-water Vzella Selwood Bruiton William Malmesbury of Glastenburies antiquity See Romans in Britanie Iâ— confirm Henric. 2. These verses with some little change are found in the fourth booke of Venantius Fortunatus his Poems in the praise partly of the Church in Paris and partly of Nants Arthur the warlike Woâ—thy * Alexandrum Magnum The Pyramides of Glastenburie * Episcopus Edgar the Peaceable Godney Moore Mendip-hils Ochy hole Strabo See before among the Coines Cangi a people of Britaine Bonvill 1. Edward 4. Harpetre Welles Stephâ—n urbibus and Barletius Manentium XI Combes * Kirton 905. Historie of Bathe See in the Decretals Ne sede vacante aliquid innovetur 1193. Fareley Philips Norton Selwood Monney de la Mare Bathe Aqua Soâ—iâ— Hot Waters The Temple of Minerva Caer Palladur Britans addicted to Magicke Earles of Bathe Inquisit 31. Henrie 8. * Adjutric * Piae * Foelicis * Hic situs * Cobortis Equitum * Decurioni * Glevi that is Of Glocester Diiâ— Manibus that is To the dead ghost * Mâ—â—jâ—s that is Moneths * D. Dies that is Daies * Filia Charissâ—maefecerunt Percepier Bristow Barons de Barkley Earles and Dukes of Somerset Patents Anno primo Henric. tertii * De malo lacu * De Comitatu Earle Apostlicall See Earles o Dorset The river Isiâ— or Ouze Wansdike Dikes of the Marches Lediard Saint Iohn Wood-toun or Wotton Basset Breden Forrest * Prince of the bloud Malmesbury Ingleborne Maidulph the Scot. Aldeme William Malmesbury Conucell at Aix Dantesey Baron Danvers Calne A Synode as touching the single life of Priests Chippinham Cyppan what it is Cosham Castlecombe Dunstavile * Pernell Leckham Lacocke Saint Amand Barons The Vies Devizes Edindon * Bon-hommes Trubridge Bradford Anno 652. Long-Leat Maiden Bradley Dever-rill Verlucio Werminster Sarisburie Plaines Lord Hungerford of Heitesburie Yanesburie Wardour Castle Baron Arundell Aquaticâ—m 1595. Count Imperiall L. Hach Hindon Wilton Ellandunum Alan the river Sorbiodunum What Dunum signifieth among the Britaines and Gaules * Or for money weighed out and told * Of Bloys New Sarisburie 29. Edw. 3. Tearm Hillarii Combat for the Castle of Sarum or Shirburn as some will have it Earles of Salisburie Historie of Lacock Abbey Walsingham pag. 74. Pat. 2. Henr. 6. 1461. This name himselfe poetically devised Constitutions of Clarinders An ancient booke Stone-henge Made Stones * Puzzote * Magician Mathematicâ— * Scythia * Palamediâ— aves Ambresbury Ambrosius Aurelianus The Emperours before Leporarium Wolshal Estermie or Sturmy Savernac Forrest Kenet River Barrowes and Burrows Tombes In his Geomeotrie * 198. * Aibury Rockley * Famis rivulus * Kenet Cunetio a towne Marleborow * Kenet * Or nick-râ—â—med Iohn Lack-land The blacke Prince as they say Ramesburie William Malmesburie of Bishops Littlecot * Pro summario Haply a Sumpter horse Ore what it is Earles of Wilshire Queene Elizabeth See Basing in Hant-shire New forres Elogium Sanctuaries Exod. 21. Iosephus Antiquita uâ— lib. 4. Hurst Castle South-Anton Tibury some say for Titusbury Wallop Brige Rumsey Redbridge * Regesti Cynacium British dogs A Gasehound Agasaeus a British hounâ— See before in the Emperours The round Table Torneaments Dei pâ—osophist lib. 4. Bishops of Winchester William Malmesburie Hide Abbey Wickham Colledge William Wickham Saint Mary Abbey * Matildis Mawde wife to King Henry the first Earles of Winchester Pr. p. Pat. Anno 12. E. 4. Hamble Solente frith * Roche Portsey Portus Magnus Portesmouth * Roch. British salt Hexameron lib. 5. cap. 11. Meanvari Bede lib. 4. cap. 13. Warnford Adae hic Portu benedicat
have all Britans to be unâ—derstood Sandwich * Escaetria 23. E. 3. p. 2. Cantium the Promontory The Foreland * British sea * Or boyle Sandon Deale where Caesar arrived Caesars entry into Britaine In his booke de Artees Natuâ— See page 34 35 c. Castra navalia Caesars ship-campe Dubris Dover Darell In Sussex Suffragan to the Archbishop of Canterburie A band of the Tungricanes Castleguard changed The streightâ— of Calais or narrow seas Whether Britanie was in time past joyned unto France * Frowen shoale * Welch De Civitate Dei lib. 16. c. 7. * As a type of the Gentiles calling Morini * That is from Itius Portus The shortest passage betweene France and Britaine Gessoriacum Tabula Pentegeriana now set forth by M. Welser Bonania Galliae Pag. 272. in Basil edition and pag. 251. L. Poinings by King Henric the Eighth Hith For Rumney Marsh. * Petrus Nannius * Viri palnstres 795. Rumney Domes-day Booke * The penalties for these offences 1287. Lid. Dnagenesse * Hulver or Holy-trees Ilices Anderida Andredceaster Oxeney Appledore Sisingherst Bengebury Homsteed Guildford Kentish capons Earles of Kent An. 15. E. 2. Saint Brieu The Walsingham Duffin in the British tongue signifieth low deepe or flat Bodo what it signifieth in British and French * Padus * Or Cove Wiccii Vines and wine Severn Higra Forrest of Deane Arden Iron Lidney Abone Aventon Trajectus S. Breulais Severne Tewkesbury Mustard Pauncefote or Pauncevolt Placita 15. Edw. 1. * Decurio 878. * Robert Curt-hose * Domes-day-booke * Sextarios * Elmore Minching Cam-bridge * Barkley See Bristow in Somersetshire Goodwins fraudulent fetch * De honestis â—nustas K. Edward the second murdred Wilkes of stone or Shell-fish stonâ—fied Shell-fish stonified The Bradstones Deorham Marianus * Iames of New-merch * De-la-ware Wotton under Edge Vicount Lisle Douresley Inq. 6. R. 2. Vleigh Escaetria 8. H. 4. Beverston Castle Cotswould Would what it is in English Campden Inqui. 2. Edward 1. Hales * Alexander of Hales he flourished 1230. Doctor ungain-said Sudley Barons of Chan. See Banerets before Barons of Sudley 20. H. 6. Escaetria 13. Edward 4. Todington Tracies Winchelcombe Sherif-dome * Coberley Cliffords Barons Fosse way Circencester Corinium A Romane port-way * * Samond * Isis afterwards Tamisis * Fosse way * Ister and Danubius Earles of Glocester The History of Tewkesbury Abbay Fitz-Haimon William of Malmesbury Register of Keinsham Abbay and Tewkesbury Pat. 15. Joan. R. 4. Earles of Glocester and Hertford Thomas De La Mare in the life of Edwardâ— Richard the third King oâ— England She was married first to R. Butler L. of Sudley Rodcot Bridge Bablac 1387. Wilde Bore the badge of the Veres Burford Barons Lovell * Lovell Whitney Arsic Einsham Rolle-rich-stones Geffrey Chaucer * * * Islip Burcester Aldchester Bath sometime called Akemancester Hedindon * Oxford Lib. 2. de Naturâ—erum Frideswide * Menevensis * Studia Schooles of Universitie * Toll and Tribute 1074. Register of Osney Abbay Osney 1129. Richard Cuâ— de Lion Clementinarum Quinto Studia Ad Rusticum Monâ—â—hum Vniversitas Colledges The booke of Mailros The first indowed Colledge for Scholers 1318. Register of Hide-Abby Hide Abbay Locus Regalus Sir Thomas Bodley Baron Williams of Taâ—â— Baron William of Tame Dorchester Tame and Isis meet * Tame Flora. * Tame Benson Ewelme Ancalites * Stonor Pus-hull Naper Fin Mich. 10. R. 2. Grey of Rotherfield Baron Knolles Henley Xiphilinus Shirburne Earles of Oxford â— Cassii Belin. Chiltern Marlow Wickham See in Bashire Colbroke Pontes Burnham Stoke Pogeis Fernham Roiall The booke of Fines I. Rosse Amersham Cheneys Latimers Asheridgâ—â— Good-men The Vale. Brill Or Isa. Ailesbury * De Cadurcis Quarendon Crendon Notesly Viâ—ounts Bolebec Bittlesden The Register of the Abbay De Bosco * Before the Conquest Whaddon Barons Grey of Wilton Lactorodum Leach in the British tongue signifieth stones Rid and Ryd a Fourd Wolverton Newport Paynell Earles of Buckingham Barons Mordant See Hypodigma pag. 153. The water divided Wahull Bletsho Barons S. Iohn de Bletnesh Bedford * Places to give entertainment by the way unto Travellers Bayting and lodging places * Before the Conquest * Paganus Cattus * Pagani Aeton * Some call it Ivell Salenae seemeth to be that which Antoninus called Sulloniaca Potton Chicksand Stratton Ampthill or Amethull Haughton Conquest Woburn Earth turning wood into stone * Dunstable Magiovinium * Sartabatur Or clensed by stocking up * Dukes Earles and Barons of Bedford Franciscus Alovertus * Sequana Roiston Chronicles of Dunstable * Others say shâ— was the wife of Richard de Clare Tharfield Berners Nucelles The familie of Roffes Barons de Scales * Anestie Cl. 2. H. 3. m. 11. Ashwell * Domesday Grand-Sergeantie Fitz-Tek Argentons In the County of Northampton Bishops Hatfield Tourneament Matth. Paris Anno 1248. Wood-hall * Butler Standon Bishops Stortford Castle of Way-more Hodesdon Theobalds Verolamium Saint Albans Cassibelines towne Municipia Verulam anâ— Maldon See pag. 97. Britans coines * Alban Martyr In the life of Saint German * A Legend of his passion and Martyrdome Saint Germans Chappell * Peradventure Wineslow * That is of every house a penny * Six verses Saint Albans 1455. * De prato of the Medow Redborn Duro-Co-Briue Briva what it is * Ysere Flamsted Hemsted Berkhamsted Kings Langley Abbats Langley Pope Hadrian the Fourth Watford Caishobery Sulloniacae Salenae in Ptolomee but misplaced * Chiltriae Bernet * Mimmes North-hall Earles of Hertford See the Earles of Glocester and in Suffolke See among the Coines the peece stamped with TASCNOVANEI Civitas that is Citie what it signifieth in Caesar. Androgeus Suetonius Fasti Capitolini Breakespeare Pope Hadrian the fourth Haresfield * Fitz-Gislebert Uxbridge Stanes Runingmead Harrow hill Hanworth Hampton Court Thistleworth Bezantes Bâ—zantines of silver valued at two shillings anciently Fulham Chelsey as one would say Shelfâ—ey London Britans towneâ— Dinas * Poet. Praefecturae C. Carausius Panegyrice pronounced before Constantius Caesar and untruly entituled unto Maximian Frankes put to the sword London stone Milliarium Hellens money oftentimes found under the Walles The Wall 1474. The Gates 1586. * Aldrict Esterlings The Towre Pat. 6.1 m. 21. London called Augusta A Mint Lord high Treasurer Reliques hidden for a remembrance 610. Saint Pauls Church Bishop 1560. The Temple of Diana Sacrifice of Buls Who were buried in Pauls Church About the yeare 680. 1016. William Malmesbury * Or Cnute Innes of the Court. The New Temple Old Temple where new stands South-hampton house in Holborne Templars * Guil. Tyrius The Statute as touching the Templars Lands 17. Edward 2. * See Hospitilars afterwards The Roules * Montis-Jovis Westminster Princes interred in West-Minster Church Queene Elizabeth Dukes Earles and other Nobles entombed in Westminster Fitz Stephenâ— The higher house The Treason of Robert Catesby Westminster hall William Lambert Prov. c. 16. The Mues The love of a wife Rodericus Toletanum lib. 1. Holborne Saint Johns Hospitalers after
afterward this honor at the hands of King Henry the Fifth Who shortly after in the French war lost his life at the siege of Meaux in Brye leaving one onely daughter married to Sir Edward Nevill from whom descended the late Lords of Abergevenny Afterward King Henry the Sixth created John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester But when he presently taking part with King Edward the Fourth had applied himselfe in a preposterous obsequiousnesse to the humor of the said King and being made Constable of England plaied the part as it were of the butcher in the cruell execution of diverse men of qualitie himselfe when as King Henry the Sixth was now repossessed of the crowne came to the blocke Howbeit his sonne Edward recovered that honor when King Edward recovered his Kingdome But after that this Edward died without issue and the inheritance became divided among the sisters of the said John Tiptoft Earle of Worcester of whom one was married to the Lord Roo◠another to Sir Edmund Ingoldesthorpe and the third to the Lord Dudley Sir Charles Somerset base sonne to Henry Duke of Somerset Lord Herbert and Lord Chamberlaine to King Henry the Eighth was by him created Earle of Worcester After whom succeeded in lineall descent Henry William and Edward who now flourisheth and among other laudable parts of vertue and Nobility highly favoureth the studies of good literature There are in this Shire Parishes 152. STAFFORDIAE COMITATVS PARS olim Cornauiorum STAFFORD-SHIRE THE third Region of the old CORNAVII now called STAFFORD-SHIRE in the English Saxons Language 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Inhabitants whereof because they dwelt in the middest of England are in Bede termed Angli Mediterranei that is Midland Englishmen having on the East Warwick-shire and Darby-shire on the South side Worcester-shire and Westward Shropp-shire bordering upon it reacheth from South to North in forme of a Lozeng broader in the middest and growing narrower at the ends The North part is full of Hilles and so lesse fruitfull the middle being watered with the River Trent is more plentifull clad with Woods and embroidered gallantly with Corne fields and medowes as is the South part likewise which hath Coles also digged out of the earth and mines of Iron But whether more for their commodity or hinderance I leave to the Inhabitants who doe or shall best understand it In the South part in the very confines with Worcester-shire upon the River Stour standeth Stourton Castle sometimes belonging to the Earles of Warwicke the natall place of Cardinall Pole and then Dudley Castle towreth up upon an hill built and named so of one Dudo or Dodo an English Saxon about the yeere of our Salvation 700. In King William the Conquerours daies as we finde in his Domesday Booke William Fitz-Ausculph possessed it afterwards it fell to Noble men sirnamed Somery and by an heire generall of them to Sir Richard Sutton knight descended from the Suttons of Nottingham-shire whose Posterity commonly called from that time Lords of Dudley but summoned to Parliament first by King Henry the Sixth grew up to a right honourable Family Under this lyeth Pensueth Chace in former times better stored with game wherein are many Cole-pits in which as they reported to mee there continueth a fire begunne by a candle long since through the negligence of a grover or digger The smoke of this fire and sometime the flame is seene but the savour oftener smelt and other the like places were shewed unto mee not farre off North-West ward upon the Confines of Shropp-shire I saw Pateshull a seat of the Astleies descended from honourable Progenitours and Wrotesley an habitation of a Race of Gentlemen so sirnamed out of which Sir Hugh Wrotesley for his approoved valour was chosen by King Edward the Third Knight of the Garter at the first institution and so accounted one of the founders of the said honourable Order Next after this the memorable places that wee meet with in this Tract more inwardly are these Chellington a faire house and Manour of the ancient Family of the Giffards which in the Raigne of Henry the Second Peter Corbuchin gave to Peter Giffard upon whom also Richard Strongbow that Conquerour of Ireland bestowed in free gift Tachmelin and other Possessions in Ireland Theoten hall which is by interpretation The habitation of Heathens or Pagans at this day Tetnall embrued with Danish bloud in the yeere 911. by King Edward the Elder in a bloudy Battaile Ulfrunes Hampton so called of Wulfruna a most godly and devout woman who enriched the Towne called before simply Hampton with a religious House and for Wulfrunes Hampton it is corruptly called Wulver Hampton The greatest name and note whereof ariseth by the Church there annexed to the Warden or Deane and Prebendaries of Windsor Weadsbury in these dayes Weddsborrow fortified in old time by Aethelfled Lady of the Mercians and Walshall a Mercate Towne none of the meanest Neere unto which the River Tame carryeth his streame which rising not farre off for certaine miles wandereth through the East part of this Shire seeking after Trent neere unto Draiton Basset the seat of the Bassets who springing out from Turstan Lord of this place in the Raigne of Henry the First branched forth into a great and notable Family For from hence as from a stocke flourished the Bassets of Welleden of Wiccomb of Sapcot of Cheddle and others But of this of Draiton Raulph was the last who being a right renowned Baron had marryed the sister of John Montfort Duke of Britaine and in the Raigne of Richard the Second died without issue Then Tame passing through the Bridge at Falkesley over which an ancient high way of the Romanes went runneth hard under Tamworth in the Saxon Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Marianus calleth it Tamawordia a Towne so placed in the Confines of the two Shires that the one part which belonged sometime to the Marmions is counted of Warwick-shire the other which pertained to the Hastings of Stafford-shire As for the name it is taken from Tame the Riuer running beside it and of the English Saxon word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a Barton Court or Ferme-house and also an Holme or River Island or any place environed with water seeing that Keyserwert and Bomelswert in Germanie betoken as much as Caesars Isle and Bomels Isle Whiles the Mercians Kingdome stood in state this was a place of their Kings resiance and as we finde in the Lieger Booke of Worcester a Towne of very great resort and passing well frequented Afterward when in the Danes Warre it was much decaied Aethelfled Lady of Mercia repaired and brought it againe to the former state also Edith King Eadgars Sister who refusing Marriage for the opinion that went of her for holinesse was registred in the roll of Saints founded heere a little house for Nunnes and veiled Virgins which after some yeeres was translated to
Pollesworth by the Marmions of Normandie Lords heereof at what time they erected heere a Collegiat Church wherein are seene some of their Sepulchres and builded a faire Castle which from them by the Frevills came to the house of those Ferrars that descended from a younger brother of the Barons Ferrars of Groby Those Marmions as wee finde written were by inheritance the Kings Champions of England For whensoever any new king of England is crowned the heire of this Family was bound to ride armed in compleat harneis upon a barbd horse into the Kings hall and in a set forme of words challenge to combat with whosoever durst oppose himselfe against the kings right and Title And verily it appeareth upon Records that Alexander Frevill under king Edward the Third by the same service held this Castle Howbeit at the Coronation of king Richard the Second when Baldwin Frevill exhibited his petition for the same it was adjudged from this Family to Sir John Dimock his competitor descended also from Marmion as producing better Records and evidences At Falkesley Bridge aforesaid that I may retire a little that Romane High way Watling street of which I have already spoken and must often speak entreth into this Shire and cutting it through as it were by a streight line goeth Westward into Shropp-shire Which Streete I have I assure you throughly viewed and perused to finde out that ETOCETUM which Antonine the Emperour setteth downe for the next station from MANVESSEDUM or Mancester in Warwick-shire and surely by good happe I have now found it and freely confesse that heeretofore I was farre wide and quite out of the way For just at the same distance that Antonine setteth betweene MANVESSEDUM and ETOCETUM I lighted upon the carkasse of an old little Towne upon the said High way and scarce a mile Southward from Lichfield a Bishops See right well knowne The name of the place at this day is in our common language Wall of the Reliques of an old wall there remaining and taking up much about two acres of ground which they call Castle croft as one would say The Castle Field Over against which on the other side of the street the Inhabitants relate by a tradition from their forefathers that there stood an ancient Towne destroyed long before the Conquest And they shew the very place where by the maine foundation they ghesse the Temple there stood and with all they produce peeces of money coined by the Roman Emperours and found there as most certaine testimonies in this behalfe But that which maketh most for the proofe heereof from hence leadeth the Romane Way called Watling street with a faire apparent and continued causey in manner throughout untill it bee broken off with the River Penck and hath upon it a Stone-bridge at PENNOCRUCIUM so named of the River just at the same distance that Antonine setteth downe Which hath not yet laied away so much as the name for in steed of PENNOCRUCIUM it is now called Penck-ridge But at this day it is little better than a Village famous for an Horse-Faire which the Lord of the place Hugh Blunt obtained of King Edward the Second From hence that way hath nothing memorable upon it in this Shire but a little way off is Brewood a Mercate Towne where the Bishops of this Diocesse had an habitation before the Conquest and then neere unto Weston is a cleere Poole spread very broad by which that notable way holdeth on a direct course to Oken-Yate in Shrop-shire Now are wee to visite the middle part of this Shire which Trent watereth in the description whereof I purpose to follow the course and windings of the River from the very spring and head thereof as my best guide Trent that by his due right chalengeth to himselfe the third place among all the Rivers of England runneth out of two Fountaines being neere neighbours together in the North part of this shire among the moores Certaine unskilfull and idle headed have dreamed that it was so named of Trent a French word that signifieth Thirty and thereupon also have feigned that thirty Rivers runne into it and as many kindes of fishes live therein the names whereof the people dwelling thereby were wont to sing in an English rhyme neither make they doubt to ascribe that unto this Trent which the Hungarians avouch of their River Tibiscus namely that two parts of it are water and the third fish From his spring heads Trent trickleth downe first Southward fetching many a compasse not farre from New Castle under Lime so called of another more ancient Castle that flourished in times past hard by at Chesterton under Lime where I saw tottered and torne the walls of a Castle which by the gift of King John belonged first unto Ranulph Earle of Chester and afterwards by the bounteous favour of King Henry the Third unto the House of Lancaster Thence by Trent-ham sometime Tricing-ham a little Monastery of that holy virgin Saint Werburg of the bloud royall hee hasteneth to Stone a Mercate Towne which having the beginning in the Saxons time tooke that name of the Stones that our Ancestours after a solemne sort had cast on a heape to notifie the place where Wolpher that heathenish King of the Mercians most cruelly slew his two sonnes Wulfald and Rufin because they had taken upon them the profession of Christianity In which place when Posterity in memoriall of them had consecrated a little Church straight wayes there arose and grew up a Towne which of those stones had the name Stone given unto it as the History of Peterborrough hath recorded Beyond Stone runneth Trent mildly by Sandon the seat in times past of the Staffords most worthy Knights but lately by inheritance from them of Sampson Erdeswicke a very great lover and diligent searcher of venerable Antiquity and in this regard no lesse worthy of remembrance than for that he is directly in the male line descended from Sir Hugh Vernon Baron of Shipbroc the name being changed by the use of that age according to sundry habitations first into Holgrave and afterwards into Erdeswicke Heere Trent turneth his course aside Eastward and on the South hath Canocwood commonly called Cankwood spred farre and wide and at length entertaineth the River Sow which breaketh out in a hard Country neere Healy Castle built by the Barons of Aldalegh or Audley unto whom Hervey Lord Stafford gave that place like as Theobald Verdon gave Aldelegh it selfe This hath beene a Family of high respect and great honour and of the same stem out of which the Stanleies Earles of Darby derive their Descent Strange it is to reade what lands King Henry the Third confirmed unto Henry Audeley which were bestowed upon him by the bounty of the Peeres yea and private Gentlemen not only in England but also in Ireland where Hugh Lacy Earle of Vlster gave him lands with the Constableship of