which King John made to Pandulphus the Popes Legate wherein he yielded his Realm Tributary and himself an obedientiary and vassal to the Bishop of Rome The Cliffs beyond Dover being united are well stored with Samphire and reach almost as far as Walmer and Deal Castles which together with Sandown Castle were built by King Henry the Eighth Walmer Deal and Sandown Castle near to which upon a flat or even plain lying full against the Sea stands Deal which of a small and poor Village is now become a place of great note and eminency hereabouts it was where Julius Cesar Landed and though Mr. Somner would have Dover to be the place where he first attempted to arrive yet saith the Accurate Mr. Kennet in his Life of Mr. Somner it is otherwise Demonstrated from Astronomical computation by the very Ingenious Mr. E. Halley who proves the Year the Day the time of Day and place the Downs The Downs where he made his first descent Deal The Town is called lower Deal to distinguish it from the upper part which being the more ancient lies about a Mile farther distant from the Sea and that which hath been the sole cause of raising it was the commodious Riding for Ships in the Downs where Merchant Men making a stop both outward and homeward Bound and taking in here many times a great part of their Provision have by degrees enstated it in a very prosperous condition and indeed its buildings have of late Years been so considerably enlarged and its Trade promoted by great Fleets of Ships who here take in Pilots to carry them up the River Thames that it hath almost quite eclipsed the splendour of Sandwich which is three or four Miles distance from it Sandwich Sandwich being another of the Cinque Ports is on the North and West side fortified with Walls and on the other side fenced with a Rampire Bulwark and Ditch it was called formerly Lundenwick either from its being very populous which the British word Lawn imports or by reason of the great Trade to and from London or from some more peculiar interest the Londoners had in this Place above all other Ports but the name of Sandwich saith Mr. Somner occurs not in any coetaneous Writer or Writing until the Year 979 when King Egelred granted it by that Name to the Monks of Canterbury for their Cloathing which Canutus after his arrival restored again to the same Monks for their sustenance in Victuals with the Addition of his Golden Crown and what perhaps was of equal value in the estimation of those Times St. Bartholomew's Arm It is supposed to have been the Daughter of Rutapis or Richborough Richborough which was an eminent Fortress of the Romans hard by and the first Presidentiary Station that Antiquity represents them to have erected within Britain but like the Mother 't is now very much gone to decay for besides what it suffered from the French in the Reigns of King John and Henry the Sixth after it was recovered again from its Sufferings the Haven being choaked up by the Sand and a great Ship belonging to Pope Paul the Fourth in the Reign of Queen Mary sinking down at the very entrance into the Haven hath ever since reduced it to so great Extremities that the mischief it is to be feared now will prove utterly incurable however it is yet beautified with three Churches and a Free School which was Built and Endowed by Sir Roger Manwood Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and what at present chiefly makes for the Town is the Dutch Colony which is here setled Not far from hence lie those dangerous Sands so much dreaded by Sailors called Goodwyn Sands Goodwyn Sands which though it is the common Opinion that they were Lands of the Earl of Goodwyn swallowed up by the Sea about A. D. 1097. yet with so great strength of Reason is this vulgar Error confuted and the true Cause of Goodwyn Sands more plainly discovered by that indefatigable Searcher into Antiquity Mr. Somner that I shall at present refer the Reader to his ingenious Discourse about this Subject printed with his Treatise of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent and published A. D. 1693. Over against Sandwich on the other side of the River Stour is Thanet Isle of Thanet a small but very fertile Island where the chiefest Scenes both of War and Peace have been formerly laid for as Mr. Philpott observes when Hengist arrived with his Saxons to support the harassed and afflicted Britains against the Eruption of the Picts he first landed in this Island and when his Forces were broke by Vortimer at the Battel of Alresford he made Thanet his retreat and shelter when Austen the Monk arrived in England to disseminate the Christian Religion amongst the Saxons he found his first Reception in this Island How often the Danes made Thanet a Winter Station for their Navies when they invaded the Maritime Coasts of this Nation our Chronicles do sufficiently inform us and lastly when Lewis the Dauphin was called in by the mutinous English Barons to assert their Quarrel with additional Supplies against King John he laid the first Scene of War in this Island which he afterward scattered on the Face of this unhappy Nation And now being got to the utmost Limits of the Land every Wave of the Ocean ecchoed forth uno plus ultra whereupon taking our leave of these Maritime Coasts we began to withdraw again farther upon the Continent and arrived at Canterbury Canterbury a City of great Antiquity and the Royal Seat of the ancient Kings of Kent watered by the River Stour the Buildings of it at present are but mean and the Wall which encompasseth it gone much to decay and of late Years it hath declined no less in Trade than in Beauty However it is the Metropolis of the County and the Archiepiscopal See of the Primate and Metropolitan of all England and one Ornament still survives 〈…〉 Cathedral in which lie interred divers Kings of Kent whose chief Palace was here till they afterward removed their Station from hence to Reculver Reculver a little Town now by the Sea side about seven or eight Miles distant from it by the Ancients called Regullium where the Roman Captain of the Premier Band of the Vetasians lay in those days in Garrison The Episcopal See was settled here A. D. 601. according to Birchington who tells us Ang. Sacr. Tom. 12 that after Austen the Monk had planted here the Christian Religion and Baptized on one Christmas day no less than Ten thousand Men in the River Swalve he was by the Order of Pope Gregory ordained the first Arch-Bishop of this See But because the Antiquity of this City with all its Liberties and Privileges the Beauty and number of its Churches and Religious Houses before their Dissolution the Magnificence of its Cathedral with all its renowned Tombs and Monuments are so excellently described by Mr. Somner
Armour wherewith they cover their Bodies is a Morion or Bonnet of Iron and an Habergeon which comes down almost to their very Heels their Weapons against their Enemies are Bows and Arrows and they are generally reputed good Marks Men upon all occasions their Arrows for the most part are barbed or crooked which once entred within the Body cannot well be drawn out again unless the Wound be made wider some of them fight with broad Swords and Axes and in the room of a Drum make use of a Bag-pipe They delight much in Musick but chiefly in Harps and Clarishoes of their own Fashion the strings of which are made of Brass-Wire and the strings of their Harps with Sinews which strings they strike either with their Nails growing long or else with an Instrument appointed for that use They take great delight to deck their Harps and Clarishoes with Silver and precious Stones and poor ones that cannot attain thereto deck them with Crystal They sing some Verses very prettily put together containing for the most part Praises of valiant Men and there is not almost any other Argument of which their Rhimes are composed They are great lovers of Tobacco and a little Mundungo will make them at any time very serviceable and officious and as they are mostly tall and strong they are likewise so exceeding fleet that some of them will make nothing of it to run many Miles in a day upon an Errand and return back again with no less Expedition Low-landers The Low-landers inhabiting on this side the two Friths of Dunbritton and Edinburgh and the plain Country along the German Ocean are of a more civiliz'd Nature as being of the same Saxon Race with the English which is evident from their Language being only a broad Northern English or a Dialect of that Tongue These People have been noted by their best Writers for some Barbarous Customs entertained long amongst them one of which was that if any two were thoroughly displeased and angry they expected no Law but fought it out bravely one and his Kindred against the other and his which fighting they called Feids and were reduced by the Princely Care and Prudence of King James the Sixth To this purpose I have read a very remarkable Story in the Life of Robert the Third King of Scots how that a dangerous Feud falling out betwixt two great and populous Families in the North Thomas Dunbar Earl of Murray and James Earl of Craford were sent to reduce them who perceiving the great Mischief likely to attend their endeavours of a forcible reducement contrived a more subtle way to quiet them after a representation made to the Heads of those Clans a part of the danger of those mutual Feuds and of the King's Wrath against both they advise to conclude their Feuds as the Horatii and Curatii did at Rome by the choice not of three but of three hundred on each side to fight armed with Swords only in the sight of the King and his Nobles whereby the Victor should gain Honour and the Vanquish'd Safety from further Punishment and both regain his Majesty's Favour whereof they gave them full assurance the Proposition is embraced on both sides of St. John's Town Mounts raised and Galleries made for the accommodation of the Spectators the Combatants are chosen and on the day appointed together with a multitude of Beholders all of them appear upon the place only one through fear privately withdrew himself this put some delay to the Encounter the one Party looking on it as a dishonour to fight with the other wanting one of their number the other Party not finding one who would engage himself to make up the number desire one of the Three hundred to be put aside but of all that number not one could be enduced to withdraw accounting it an indelible Disgrace to be shufled out of such a choice Company of valorous Men At last an ordinary Trades-man tendreth his Service desiring no greater Reward than one single piece of Gold in hand as an honourable Badge of his Valour and an Annuity of a small Sum for Life should he survive the Combat his Demands are soon granted and immediately beginneth the Conflict with as much fury as the height of Wrath the insatiable desire of Honour and the fear of Shame more than the fear of Death could produce to the Horror and Amazement of the Spectators whose Hearts tremble within them to see as indeed it was a horrid Spectacle to behold such a ruful sight of furious Men butchering one another and observed it was by all that of all the Combatants none shewed more shall I call it Valour than the Trades-man did who had the good Fate to survive that dismal Day and on the Conquering side too whereof only ten besides himself outlived that Hour to partake with many ghastly Wounds the Honour of the Day the Vanquished are killed on the place all to one who perceiving himself to be left alone and being without Wounds he skippeth into the River by which means none of the surviving Victors being able to follow him by reason of their Wounds he makes a fair escape with his Life Thus the Heads and most turbulent of both Clans being cut off their Retainers are soon persuaded to Peace and so for many Years after live quiet enough This Fight happened in the Year 1396. The other Custom was that of Nature that the like was scarce heard amongst the Heathens and much less in Christendom which did begin as the Scotch Historians affirm in the Reign of Ewen the Third which Ewen being a Prince much addicted or rather given up altogether to Lasciviousness made a Law that himself and his Successors should have the Maidenheads or first Night Lodging with any Woman whose Husbands held Land immediately from the Crown and the Lords and Gentlemen likewise of all those whose Husbands were their Tenants or Homagers this was it seems the Knights Service which Men held their Estates by and continued till the Days of Malcolm Conmor who at the Request of his Wife Queen Margaret the Sister of Edgar Atheling abolish'd this Law and ordained that the Tenants by way of Commutation should pay unto their Lords a Mark in Money which Tribute is still customary to be paid The Republick or Commonwealth of the Scots like ours of England consists of a King The Castles Nobility Gentry and Commons whose chief Castles are Edenburgh Sterling and Dunbarton which last is the strongest in all the Castles in Scotland by natural Situation towring upon a rough craggy and two headed Rock at the meeting of the Rivers in a green Plain in one of the Heads above stands a lofty Watch-Tower on the other which is the lower there are sundry strong Bulwarks between these two on the North-side it hath only one ascent by which hardly one by one can pass up and that with some labour and difficulty by steps cut out aslope traverse the Rock instead of Ditches
for Victualling and Fresh Water Here we took Boat and set Sail for Southampton but no sooner were we got off to Sea but there arose such a Storm that the Seas and Winds seem'd to be in a mutual Conspiracy for our destruction insomuch that we began to think Anacharsis the Philosopher's saying to be true That be that was at Sea was but four or five inches distant from the Territories of Death until we came into the Mouth of the River Test formerly called Terstan and Itching over against Calshot Castle Calshot Castle placed there by King Henry the Eighth to defend the Port of Southampton which lying up a little higher in the River we at last arrived at in safety and came on shore very early in the Morning where Cerdick himself Mr. Gibson's Glossary P. 20. as some Antiquaries will have it arrived called from thence Caldshort corruptly for Cerdick-Shore After we had a little refresh'd our weather beaten Carcasses we took a view of this Town Southamton which is situated betwixt two Rivers the one running on the West side and the other on the East that this or near unto it was formerly Clausentum is not at all improbable an ancient Colony of the Romans which they planted there to hinder ravenous Depredations of the Saxons about the Year 981 old Hanton as it was afterward called was ruin'd by the Danes and in the Reign of Edward the Third plundred and burnt by the French out of the Ashes whereof Sprung the Town now in being which the fair and stately Buildings with two Keys for Shipping do highly adorn the great concourse of Merchants and three Markets a Week do mightily enrich which five Parish Churches with one for the French and an Hospital called God's House doth very much enoble which a strong Wall with seven Gates and a double ditch and a Castle of Square Stone upon a Mount cast up to a great height built by King Richard the Second doth sufficiently defend and in fine which a Corporation placed there by King Henry the Sixth who constituted it both Town an County doth abundantly dignifie Memorable is a Story here of Canutus King of Denmark who to convince the fawning Flatterers of his Court that his power was not as they would have perswaded him more then humane used this Act being once at this Town he commanded his Chair of State to be set upon the shore just as the Sea began to flow in and then sitting down before all his Courtiers he spake to that Element after this manner I charge thee that thou presume not to enter into my Land nor wet these Robes of thy Lord which are about me but the Sea giving no heed to this his Royal Command and keeping on its usual course of Tide first wet his Skirts and afterwards his thighs whereupon suddenly rising up he broke forth into these expressions Let all the Inhabitants of the World know that vain and weak is the Power of their Kings and that none is worthy of that Name or Title but he alone who keeps both Heaven and Earth and Sea in obedience After which he would never suffer the Crown to be put upon his Head but presently crowned therewith the Picture of Christ at VVinchester from which perhaps saith Sir Richard Baker who relates this Story arose the custom of hanging up the Arms of worthy Men in Churches as offerings consecrated to him who is the Lord of Battel Having spent a good part of the Day in this place in the Afternoon we began to advance towards Portsmouth which being but twelve Miles distant from this Town we easily compass'd about the shutting in of the Day This Town is situated in the little Island of Portsey Portsmouth which is about 14 Miles in compass floating at a full Tide in Salt-Water but joyned to the Continent by a Bridge on the North it was probably so called say our most ancient Historians from one Port a Noble Saxon who with his two Sons Bleda and Magla arrived here it is now a place of great strength and importance by reason of the Dock where many of the King 's greatest Men of War are built those impregnable Wooden Walls of our British Island 't is fortified with a Wall made of Timber and the same covered with thick Banks of Earth 't is likewise environed with a double Trench over which are placed two Draw-Bridges from which about a Mile distance is another at all which stands Sentries belonging to the Garrison with a little Fortress adjoining to it which leads to the Continent To the Sea-ward is a Castle and Block-Houses which being first begun by King Edward the Fourth King Henry the Seventh as it is reported did afterward complete which Fortifications have of late Years received exceeding great augmentations by the succeeding Monarchs especially in the late King James his Reign Here is only one Church and an Hospital called God's House built by Peter Rock Bishop of Winchester and though 't is counted unwholesom for want of good Air and Water yet it is much resorted unto by Sea-faring Men and whereas formerly it had little Trade but what arose from the boiling of Salt it begins of late to be in a flourishing condition and grows very populous and is now become one of the best Nurseries that we have for Seamen Our next remove was to Chichester in Sussex Chichester which is not above half a Days Journey from Portsmouth a good large City well Walled rebuilt by Cissa a Saxon the Second King of this Province and of him so named for by a Story of Sir Richard Baker's it seems to have had a being before Cissa's Time for saith he Careticus one of the Kings of the Britains setting upon the Saxons and being beaten fled into the Town of Chichester whereupon the Saxons catching certain Sparrows and fastning Fire to their Feet let them fly into the Town where lighting upon Straw and other matter apt to take Fire the whole City in a short time was burnt whereupon Careticus after a three Years unhappy Reign flying into VVales and dying there the Saxons got all the East part of the Kingdom into their Possession Yet was it before the Conquest of as small repute as circuit being known only by an old Monastery founded by St. VVilfrid A. D. 673. to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter and endowed by King Ceadwalla A. D. 711. Eadbert Abbot of this House being consecrated the first Bishop of the South-Saxons the Episcopal Seat was first placed at Selsey till by an Edict of VVilliam the Conquerour which ordered all Bishops Sees to be translated out of small Towns into places of greater Name and Resort Stigand translated it hither not many Years after which Bishop Rolfe built a Cathedral which before he had finished was consumed by Fire but by his own endeavours and the bounteous Liberality of King Henry the first it was raised up again and Suffering the same
their Men the English who were there placed for the defence of that Port killed at that time 240 Men all that whole Ships Crew and afterward burnt the Ship out of which they landed Now after this slaughter these Mens Bones in all probability might be gather'd up and laid there after which daily accessions of more might be made till they encreased to so vast a number as is still visible Saltwood Castle A little above the Hill within the Parish of Saltwood are to be seen the remains of an old ruinated Castle which did formerly belong to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury but is now in the Tenure of Sir Philip Boteler Baronet Here it was that John Kirkeby being elected Bishop of Ely 1286 was confirmed by John Peckam Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and whither afterward proud Arch-Bishop Courtney having taken a distast at some of his Tenants for not bringing him Hay and Litter in Carts but in Sacks to Canterbury did peremptorily cite them and enjoin them this Penance that they should each one march leisurely after the Procession bare-headed and bare-footed with a Sack of Hay or Straw upon his Shoulder open at the mouth so that the stuff might appear hanging out of the Bag to all the Beholders 'T is generally believed that the Sea hath come up to the very Walls of this Castle for in the adjacent Grounds and particularly in a Field called Black-House have been digged up Anchors and Cables which puts me in mind what the Poet Ovid sings in the Person of the Samian Philosopher Pythagoras Vetus inventa est in montibus Anchora summit Adjoining to the Hyth is the Parish of Newington Newington by Hyth a Vicaridge conferred upon me some few Years ago by my most generous Patron James Brockman Esq since deceased concerning which Parish I have thought fit to add an ancient Record taken out of Doomsday Book 18 Willielmi Conquestoris sub tit terra Archiepiscopi In Limwarlaed est Hundred de Selebrichtindaene habet Archiepiscopus de terra Monachorum i Manerium Niwendene in dominio quod in T. R. E. tenuit Leofric de praeterito Archiepiscopo pro i sull se defendebat subjacebat Saltwode Nunc est appretiatum VIII lib. X s. garfumae In English thus Within the Lath of Limn and the Hundred of Selbrightenden the Arch-Bishop has of Lands allotted to the Monks one Mannor called Niwendene Newington in Demesne which in the time of Edward the Confessor Leofric held of the last Arch-Bishop and was taxed for one Hide and did his Service to Saltwood It is now valued at 81. per Annum and 10 s. Fine Bitchborough In this Parish is Bitchborough the Seat of my much Honoured Friend William Brockman Esq Son to that Worthy Gentleman before-mentioned a Seat to which Nature hath been so liberal of its choicest Blessings that there wants nothing to render it a very delightful Mansion for the House it self which not many Years ago was new Modell'd is so curiously surrounded with pleasant Hills murmuring Streams shady Groves whispering Woods and flowery Meads besides the charming Prospect of the Sea and Cliffs of France which terminating the sight do greatly enhanse the Rarity of its Situation that the most curious Eye cannot possibly find a more inviting Object to entertain it St. Nicholas Chappel In the same Parish in a Field belonging to Seen-Farme called Chappel-Field formerly stood a Chappel belonging to St. Nicholas who in the time of Popery had the same Empire saith Mr. Lambard that Neptune had in Paganism and could with his only beck both appease the rage of the Sea and also preserve from Wrack and Drowning so many as thought fit to be his humble Petitioners and therefore this was one of the Places as the Poet said Servati ex undis ubi figere dona solebant where such as had escaped the Sea were wont to leave their Gifts insomuch that if any of the Fishermen upon this Coast had hardly escaped the Storm and taken any store then should St. Nicholas have not only Thanks for that Deliverance but also one or more of the best Fishes for an Offering To which I may add farther that if the Fishermen before such Voyages did make their due Offerings at this Shrine it was a certain means to secure the Chastity of their Wives till their return but if out of niggardly and penurious Humour they neglected that Duty it was ten to one but their Punishment was that severe one which fell on poor Actaeon From Hyth there runs along a great ridge of Beach to Sandgate-Castle which glories not more in its Royal Founder King Henry the Eighth Sandgate Castle than that it was graced once with the Royal Presence of Queen Elizabeth who in her Progress to these Parts was pleased to lodge in one of the Chambers of this Castle The Castle is within the Parish of Folkstone Folkstone a Town situated upon the brow of a Hill about a Mile distant from it 'T is a Place of greater Antiquity than Beauty especially if it be allowed what is but reasonably suggested by that most Celebrated Antiquary Mr. Somner and confirm'd by the most Judicious Bishop Stilling fleet that this was the Lapis tituli of Nennius or rather Lapis populi where Vortimer desired to be Buried Scipio like as a terrour to the Saxons because of its lofty situation and not as he would have it Stonar in Thanet which lying in a low flat level subject to Inundations was a very improper place for such a daring project it was formerly of a far greater extent than it now is for there were then in it five Churches four of which were long since by the assaults of the Enemies and devastations of Men utterly dismantled besides a Nunnery founded by King Eadbald about A. D. 630. which was Destroyed during the Danish Wars only that Church which was erected by Nigellus de Munewell and devouted to St. Mary and St. Eanswith hath been as yet too hard a morsel for the Teeth of time to consume That there was formerly an Harbour adjoyning to the Town made chiefly at the great charge of the Honourable Sir Basil Dixwel Baronet the ruinous Skeleton of the demolished Peer which is as yet visible may be sufficient to evince but though the Haven be quite lost the Fishery is still kept up by a considerable Colony of Industrious Fishermen who take great quantities of Fish which is every Week bought up and conveyed away to London by the Rippers as they are called or taken in by Smacks which come hither for such lading the quickness of which Trade makes the Town mightily encrease and grow more and more Populous as well as Rich by their Industry But before I leave this place I cannot but take notice that as that great Man of his time John Salmon Prior of Ely Bishop of Norwich and Lord Chancellour of England who being sent Embassadour by Edward the Second into France at his