this name of Esquire which in ancient times was a name of charge and office only crept first in among the titles of honour as far as I can find in the reign of Richard the second Gentlemen Gentlemen are either the common sort of nobility who are descended of good families or those who by their virtue and fortune have made themselves eminent Citizens Citizens or Burgesses are such as are in publick offices in any City or elected to sit in Parliament The common people or Yeomen are such as some call ingenui the Law homines legales i.e. freeholders Yeomâ— Gemâ—◠〈◊〉 Saxo◠〈◊〉 common people those who can spend at least forty shillings of their own yearly Labourers are such as labour for wages sit to their work are Mechanicks Artizans Smiths Carpenters c. term'd capite censi and Proletarii by the Romans The Law-Courts of ENGLAND AS for the Tribunals or Courts of Justice in England there are three several sorts of them some Spiritual others Temporal and one mixt or complicate of both which is the greatest and by far the most honourable call'd the Parliament Parliament a French word of no great antiquity The Saxons our fore-fathers nam'd it a Witenâ— gemot â—s the true Saxon word Ç·ittenagemot that is an assembly of wise-men and Geraedniss or Council and Micil Synod from the greek word Synod signifying a great meeting The Latin writers of that and the next age call it Commune Concilium Curia altissima Generale Placitum Curia Magna Magnatum Conventus Praesentia Rogis Praelatorum Procerumque collectorum Commune totius regni concilium c. And as Livy calls the general Council of Aetolia Panetolium so this of ours may be term'd very properly Pananglium For it consists of the King the Clergy the Barons and those Knights and Burgesses elected or to express my self more plainly in Law-language the King the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons who there represent the body of the Nation This Court is not held at certain set times but is call'd at the King's pleasure when things of great difficulty and importance are to be consider'd in order to prevent any danger that may happen to the State and then again is dissolv'd when-ever he alone pleases Now this Court has the sovereign power and an inviolable authority in making confirming repealing and explaining laws reversing Attainders determining causes of more than ordinary difficulty between private persons and to be short in all things which concern the State in general or any particular Subject â—he Kings â—â—urt The next Court to this immediately after the coming in of the Normans and for some time before was the King's Court which was held in the King's Palace and follow'd the King where-ever he went For in the King's Palace there was a peculiar place for the Chancellor and Clerks who had the issuing out of Writs and the management of the great Seal and likewise for Judges who had not only power to hear pleas of the Crown but any cause whatsoever between private persons There was also an Exchequer for the Treasurer and his Receivers who had charge of the King's revenues These each of them were counted members of the King's family and had their meat and cloaths of the King Hence Gotzelin in the life of S. Edward calls them Palatii Causidici and Joannes Sarisburiensis Curiales But besides these and above them likewise â—â—e Chief â—â—â—tice was the Justitia Angliae and Justitiarius Angliae Capitalis i.e. the Lord Chief Justice who was constituted with a yearly stipend of 1000 marks by a Patent after this form The King to all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots Priors Counts Barons Viscounts Foresters and all other his faithful subjects of England greeting Whereas for our own preservation and the tranquillity of our Kingdom and for the administration of justice to all and singular of this our Realm we have ordain'd our beloved and trusty Philip Basset Chief Justice of England during our will and pleasure we do require you by the faith and allegiance due to us strictly enjoyning that in all things relating to the said office and the preservation of our peace and Kingdom you shall be fully obedient to him so long as he shall continue in the said Office Witness the King c. But in the reign of Henry the third it was enacted that the Common Pleas should not follow the King's Court but be held in some certain place and awhile after the Chancery the Pleas of the Crown and the Exchequer also were remov'd from the King's Court and establisht apart in certain set places as some how truly I know not have told us Having premis'd thus much I will now add somewhat concerning these Courts and others that sprung from them as they are at this day And seeing some of them have cognizance of â—uris Law namely the King's Bench Common Pleas Exchequer Assizes Star-Chamber Court of Wards and the Court of Admiralty others of Equity as the Chancery the Court of Requests the Councils in the Marches of Wales and in the North I will here insert what I have learnt from others of each of them in their proper places The King's Bench â—â—e Kings â—â—â—ch so call'd because the Kings themselves were wont to preside in that Court takes cognizance of all pleas of the Crown and many other matters relating to the King and the well-being of the publick it has power to examine and correct the errors of the Common-pleas The Judges there besides the King himself when he is pleas'd to be present are the Lord Chief Justice of England and four others or more as the King pleases â—â—mmon â—â—â—as The Common-Pleas has this name because the common pleas between subject and subject is by our law which is call'd the Common law there triable The Judges here are the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and four others or more to assist him Officers belonging to this Court are the Custos Brevium three Prothonotaries and many others of inferior rank â—â—â—hequer The Exchequer deriv'd that name from a table at which they sat For so Gervasius Tilburiensis writes who liv'd in the year 1160. The Exchequer is a squarâ— table about ten foot long and five broad contriv'd likâ— a table to sit round On every side it has a ledge of four fingers breadth Upon it is spread a cloath of black colour with stripes distant about a foot or spanâ— it bought in Easter term A little after This Court 〈◊〉 report has been from the very Conquest of the Realm by King William the design and model of it being taken â—â—m the Exchequer beyond Sea Here all matters belongiâ—â—â— to the King's revenues are decided The Judges of it are the Lord Treasurer of England the Chancellor of the Exchequer the Chief Baron and three or four other Barons The Officers of this Court are the King's Remembrancer the Treasurer's Remembrancer the Clerk
full of windings and turnings GLOCESTERSHIRE GLocestershire in the Saxon tongue gleaucestâ—schyre was the chief Seat of the Dobuni It is bounded on the west by Monmouthshire and Herefordshire on the north by Worcestershire on the east by Oxfordshire and Warwickshire †And Barkshire Hol. and on the south by Wiltshire and part of Somersetshire A pleasant and fertile County stretching out in length from northeast unto southwest The most eastern part which swelleth with rising Hills is call'd Cotteswold The middle part is a large fruitful Plain which is water'd by the most noble river Severne that gives as 't were life and spirit to the Soil The more western part lying on the other side Severne is altogether shaded with Woods But enough of this William of Malmesbury easeth me of the labour who fully describes this County and sets forth it 's excellence Take what he writes in his Book De Pontificibus The Vale of Glocester is so call'd from its chief City the soil whereof yieldeth variety of fruits and plants and all sorts of grain in some places by the natural richness of the ground and in others by the diligence of the Country-man enough to excite the idlest person to take pains when it repays his sweat with the increase of an hundred fold Here you may behold the high-ways and publick roads full of fruit-trees not set but growing naturally The Earth of its own accord bearing fruit exceeding others both in taste and beauty many of which continue fresh the whole year round and serve the owner till he is supply'd by a new Increase There is no Province in England hath so many or so good Vineyards Vineyards as this County either for fertility or sweetness of the Grape The wine whereof carrieth no unpleasant tartness being not much inferiour to the French in sweetness The Villages are very thick the Churches handsome and the Towns populous and many To all which may be aâ—ded in honour of this County the river Severne Severne than which there is not any in the Land that hath a broader Chanel swifter stream or more plenty of fish There is in it a daily rage and boisterousness of waters which I know not whether I may call a Gulph or Whirlpool casting up the sands from the bottom and rowling them into heaps it floweth with a great torrent but loses its force at the first Bridge Sometimes it overfloweth its banks and wanders a great way into the neighbouring Plains and then returneth back as conquerour of the Land That Vessel is in great danger that is stricken on the side the Watermen us'd to it when they see this Hygre Hygâ— coming for so they call it in English do turn the Vessel and cutting through the midst of it avoid its violence What he says concerning the hundred-fold increase doth not at all hold true neither do I believe with those idle and dissatisfied Husbands whom Columella reprehends that the soil is wore out by its excessive fruitfulness in former Ages and become barren But yet not to mention other things we have no reason to admire that so many places in this County from their Vines are called Vineyards since they formerly afforded plenty of Wine and that they yield none now is rather to be imputed to the sloth and unactiveness of the Inhabitants than the indisposition of the Climate a But why in some parts of this County * See 〈◊〉 Ed. â—â— as we read in our Statutes by a private custom which hath now grown into a Law The Lands and Tenements of condemned persons are forfeited to the King only for a year and a day and after that term expired contrary to the custom of all England beside return to the next heirs let the Lawyers enquire since 't is not to my purpose b And now let us survey those three parts in their order which I mention'd before GLOCESTER SHIRE By Rob t Morden â—â—â—â—ton And since Avon in the British Language signifieth a River it is not improbable it took it's name from the river In the same sense among us to omit many others we have Waterton Bourne Riverton and the Latins have their Aquinum and Fluentium And I am the more ready to believe that this town took it's name from the river because at this place they us'd to ferry over from whence the town opposite to it was called Trajectus by Antonine but without doubt there is an error in the computation of the distance between these two places since he makes it 9 miles betwixt Trajectus and Abone whereas the river is scarce two miles over But I suppose it may have lost it's name or rather dwindld into a village The Ferâ—y when passengers began to ferry over lower or when Athelstan expell'd the Welsh thence For he was the first according to William of Malmesbury who drove the Welsh beyond the river Wye and whereas in former times Severn did divide the Welsh or the Cambri and the English he made the Wye to be their Boundary whence our Countryman Neckham Inde Vagos Vaga Cambrenses hinc respicit Anglos On this side Wye the English views On that the winding Welsh pursues 〈◊〉 Brâ—â—â—â—is Not far from Wye stands amongst tufts of trees St. Breulais Castle more than half demolished famous for the death of Mahel youngest son of Miles Earl of Hereford for there by the just judgment of heaven he was remarkably punished for his greedy designs inhumane cruelty and boundless Avarice always usurping on other men's rights with all these vices he is taxed by the writers of that age For as Giraldus writes being courteously treated here by 2 Sir Walter Clifford Walter de Clifford and the castle taking fire he lost his life by the fall of a stone on his head from the highest tower Here is nothing more remarkable in this woody place e 3 Beside Newnham a pretty market and Westbury thereby a seat of the Bamhams of ancient descent but that Herbert who marry'd the daughter of the aforesaid Mahel Earl of Hereford was in right of his wise call'd Lord of Deane from whom the noble family of the Herbert's deduce their original who gave rise to the Lords of Blanleveny and more lately 〈◊〉 in Dâ—râ—â—shâ—â—e to the Herberts Earls of Huntingdon and Pembroke and others From which family if we may credit D. Powel in his Welsh History Aâ—â—â—â—ny â—â—â—â—erbert was descended Anthony Fitz-Herbert whom the Court of Common Pleas of which he was sometimes chief Justice and his own most elaborate treatises of the Common Law do manifest to have been singularly eminent in his faculty But others affirm he was descended from the Fitz-herberts a Knightly family in the County of Derby and indeed in my opinion more truly â—â—â—â—rn The river Severn call'd by the Britains Haffren after it hath run a long way in a narrow chanel f at it's first entrance into this Shire receives the Avon and
260 foot the height of the wooden part belonging to the same Belfrey 274 foot c. k Diana's Temple Some have fancy'd that a Temple of Diana formerly stood here and there are circumstances that back their conjecture as the old adjacent buildings being call'd in their Records Dianae Camera i.e. the Chamber of Diana the digging up in the Church-yard in Edward the first 's reign as we find by our Annals a great number of Ox-heads which the common people at that time not without great admiration lookt upon to be Gentile-sacrifices and the Learned know that the Tauropolia were celebrated in honour of Diana And when I was a boy I have seen a stagg's-head fixt upon a spear agreeable enough to the Sacrifices of Diana and carry'd about within the very Church with great solemnity and sounding of Horns And I have heard that the Stagg which the family of Baud in Essex were bound to pay for certain lands us'd to be receiv'd at the steps of the Quire by the Priests of this Church in their Sacerdotal robes and with garlands of flowers about their heads Whether this was a custom before those Bauds were bound to the payment of that Stagg I know not but certain it is this ceremony savours more of the worship of Diana and the Gentile-errours than of the Christian Religion And 't is beyond all doubt that some of these strange Rites crept into the Christian Religion which the primitive Christians either clos'd with out of that natural inclination mankind has to Superstition or bore with them a little in the beginning with a design to draw over the Gentiles by little and little to the true worship of God l However ever since this Church was built it has been the See of the Bishops of London and under the Saxons fifty years after the expulsion of Theonus the first Bishop it had was Melitus a Roman consecrated by Augustine Archbishop of Canterbury It was in honour to this Augustine that the Archiepiscopal * Insignia Dignity and the Metropolitical See were translated from London to Canterbury against the express order of Pope Gregory There are bury'd in this Church to say nothing of S. Erkenwald Persons buried in Paul's and the Bishops Sebba King of the East-Saxons who quitted his Crown for the sake of Christ and Religion Ethelred or Egelred who was rather an oppressor than governour of this kingdom the beginning of his reign barbarous the middle miserable and the end shameful he made himself inhuman by conniving at Parricide infamous by his cowardize and effeminacy and by his death miserable Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster Simon de Burley a famous Knight 17 A right noble Knight of the Garter executed by encroached authority without the King's consent J. de 18 Sir John de Bellocampo or Beauchamp Beauchamp Warden of the Cinque-Ports J. Lord Latimer Sir John Mason William Herbert Earl of Pembroke Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper a person of great conduct and profound judgment Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Francis Walsingham most famous Knights c. and 19 Sir Christopher Hatton Christopher Hatton Lord High Chancellour of England to whose sacred and lasting memory his †Nepos nephew 20 Sir William Hatton William Hatton of the ancient family of the Newports but by him adopted into the name and family of the Hattons dutifully erected a magnificent monument becoming the dignity and high character of so great a Man m Besides this there is nothing of the Saxon work that I know of remains in London for 't was not long they had enjoy'd a settl'd peace when the West-Saxons subdu'd the East-Saxons and London fell into the hands of the Mercians And these civil wars were scarcely ended but presently a new northern storm breaks out namely that Danish one which miserably harrass these parts and gave a great blow to this city For the Danes got possession of it but Aelfred retook it and after he had repair'd it committed it to the government of his son-in-Law Aethelred Earl of the Mercians Notwithstanding after this those Plunderers did often besiege it especially Canutus who dugg a new chanel with a design to divert the Thames but they always lost their labour the citizens stoutly defending it against the assaults of the enemy But for all this they were under continual apprehensions till they joyfully receiv'd William the Norman and saluted him King whom Providence had design'd 21 The good of England against those spoilers for the Crown of England From that time the winds ceas'd the clouds scatter'd and the true golden age shone forth Since then it has not endur'd any signal calamity but by the bounty of our Princes obtain'd several immunities began to be call'd the ‖ Camerâ— Chamber of the Kings and has grown so in Trade ever since that William of Malmsbury who liv'd near that time calls it a City noble wealthy in every part adorn'd by the riches of the citizens and frequented by merchants from all parts of the world And Fitz-Stephens who liv'd in that age has told us that then London had 122 Parish-Churches and 13 belonging to * Conventuales Convents and that upon a muster made of all that were able to bear Arms it sent into the field forty thousand foot and twenty thousand horse Then it began to encrease on every side with new buildings and the suburbs round to stretch it self a long way from the city-gates n especially to the west where it is most populous Nurseries for Common Law or Inns of Court and has 12 Inns of Court for the study of our common-Common-Law Four of them very large and splendid belong †Ad â—â—â—ns sive â—â—am to the judicial-Judicial-Courts the rest to Chancery 22 Bâ—sides two Inns moreover for the Serjeants at Law In these there are such numbers of young Gentlemen attend the study of the Law that in this point they are no way inferiour to Angiers Caen or Orleans as 23 Sir John Fortescue J. Fortescue in his little Treatise of the Laws of England has told us Those four principal ones I mention'd Formerly call'd The New-Temple The Old-Temple where now Southamton house is in Holborn-Templâ—rs are the Inner-Temple the Middle-Temple Grays-Inn and Lincolns-Inn The two first are in the place where formerly in the reign of Henry 2. Heraclius Patriarch of Jerusalem consecrated a Church for the Knights Templars which was built after the model of the Temple near our Saviour's Sepulchre at Jerusalem For 24 At their first institution about A. D. 1113. there they liv'd in that part of the Temple next the Sepulchre and from it had their name being under a vow to protect the Christian Religion 25 The Holy Land and such as came in pilgrimage to the Sepulchre of our Lord against the Mahometans 26 Professing to live in Chastity and Obedience By which
matters his principal care was to avoid the storm of the Danish war which he saw hanging over him and even to purchase a Peace On this occasion he made Adalbert Archbishop of Hamburg his instrument For Adam Bremensis says There was a perpetual quarrel between Sueno and the Bastard but our Arch-bishop being brib'd to it by William made it his business to strike up a peace between the two Kings And indeed 't is very probable there was one concluded for from that time England was never apprehensive of the Danes William however made it his whole business to maintain the dignity of his government and to settle the Kingdom by wholsome laws For Gervasius Tilburiensis tells us That after the famous Conqueror of England King William had subdued the furthest parts of the Island and brought down the Rebels hearts by dreadful examples lest they might be in a condition of making outrages for the future he resolved to bring his Subjects under the obedience of written laws Whereupon laying before him the Laws of England according to their threefold division that is Merchanlage Denelage and West-Sexenlage some of them he laid aside but approved others and added to them such of the foreign Norman Laws as he found most conducive to the peace of the Kingdom Next as we are assured by Ingulphus who lived at that time he made all the inhabitants of England do him homage and swear fealty to him against all â—â—hers He took a survey of the whole nation so that there was not a single Hide of land through all England but he knew both the value of it and its owner Not a lake or any other place whatsoever but it was registred in the King's Rolls with its revenue rent tenure and owner according to the relation of certain taxers who were picked out of each County to describe the places belonging to it This Roll was called the Roll of Winchester and by the English Domesday Domesday-book called by Gervasius Tilburiensis Laher Judiciarius as being an universal and exact account of every tenement in the whole nation I the rather make mention of this Book because I shall have occasion to quote it hereafter under the name of William's Tax-book The Notice of England the Cessing-book of England The publick Acts and The Survey of England But as to Polydore Virgil's assertion that William the Conqueror first brought in the Jury of Twelve Jury of 12. there is nothing can be more false For 't is plain from Ethelred's Laws that it was used many years before that Nor can I see any reason why he should call it a terrible Jury Twelve men Twelve men who are Freeholders and qualified according to Law are picked out of the Neighbourhood these are bound by oath to give in their real opinion as to matter of fact they hear the Council on both sides plead at the Bar and the evidence produced then they take along with them the depositions of both parties are close confined deny'd meat drink and fire till they can agree upon their verdict unless want of these may endanger some of their lives As soon as they have delivered it in he gives sentence according to law And this method was looked upon by our wise Forefathers to be the best for discovering truth hindering bribes and cutting off all partiality How great the Norman courage was I refer you to other writers I shall only observe The Warlike courage of the Normans that being seated in the midst of warlike Nations they never made submission their refuge but always arms By force of these they possessed themselves of the noble Kingdoms of England and Sicilie For Tancred * Nepeâ— Nephew to Richard the Second Duke of Normandy and his Successors did many glorious exploits in Italy drove out the Saracens and set up there a Kingdom of their own So that a Sicilian Historian ingenuously confesses that the Sicilians enjoying their native Soil Th. Fazâ—llus lib. 6. Decadis Posterioris their Freedom and Christianity is entirely owing to the Normans Their behaviour also in the wars of the Holy land got them great honour Which gave Roger Hoveden occasion to say That bold France after she had experienced the Norman valour drew back fierce England submitted rich Apulia was restored to her flourishing condition famous Jerusalem and renowned Antioch were both subdued Since that time England has been equal for warlike exploits and genteel Education to the most flourishing nations of the Christian world The English Guards to the Emperors of Constantinople So that the English have been peculiarly made choice of for the Emperor of Constantinople's guards For as our country man Malmsbury has told us he very much admired their fidelity and recommended them to his son as men deserving of respect and they were formerly for many years together the Emperor's guards Nicetas Choniata calls them Inglini Bipenniferi and Curopalata Barangi Barangi These attended the Emperor where-ever he went with halberts upon their shoulders as often as he stir'd abroad out of his closet and pray'd for his long life clashing their halberts one against another to make a noise As to the blot which Chalcondilas Chaâ—condilas has cast upon our nation of having wives in common truth it self wipes it off and confronts the extravagant vanity of the Grecian For as my most learned and excellent Friend Ortelius has observed upon this very subject Things related by any persons concerning others are not always true These are the People which have inhabited Britain whereof there remain unto this day the Britains the Saxons or Angles with a mixture of Normans and towards the North the Scots Whereupon the two Kingdoms of this Island England and Scotland which were long divided are now in the most potent Prince King JAMES happily united under one Imperial Diadem It is not material here to take notice of the Flemings who about four hundred years ago came over hither In the County 〈◊〉 Pembâ—â—â—â— and got leave of the King to settle in Wales since we shall mention them in another place Let us then conclude this part with that of Seneca From hence it is manifest De Conâ—latioâ—â— Albiâ—â— that nothing has continued in its primitive state There 's a continual floating in the affairs of mankind In this vast orb there are daily revolutions new foundations of cities laid new names given to nations either by the utter ruine of the former or by its change into that of a more powerful party And considering that all these nations which invaded Britain were Northern as were also others who about that time overran Europe and after it Asia Nicephorus's Nicephorus observation founded upon the authority of Scripture is very true As God very often sends terrors upon men from heaven such are thunder fire and storms and from earth as opening of the ground and earthquakes as also out of the air such as whirlwinds and immoderate
word without offence profaned The Degrees of ENGLAND AS to the division of our State it consists of a King or Monarch the Nobles Citizens Free-men which we call Yeomen and Tradesmen The KING The King stiled by our Ancestors Coning and Cyning e Either relating to cene which in Saxon signifies stout valiant c. or to cunnan which signifies to know or understand from whence a designing subtle man is called a Cunning man a name under which is coucht both power and wisdom by us contracted into King has in these Kingdoms the supreme power and a meer government nor holds he his Empire by vassalage neither does he receive Investiture from another nor own any superior Bracton l. 1. c. 8. but God And as that Oracle of Law has delivered it Every one is under him and himself under none but only God He has very many Rights of Majesty peculiar to himself which the learned in the law term The Holy of Holies and Individuals because they are inseparable but the common people The King's Prerogative and those they tell us are denoted by the flowers in the King's Crown Some of these the King enjoys by a written Law others by Right of custom which without a law is established by a tacit consent of the whole body and surely he deserves them Seneca since by his watchfulness every man's house by his labour every man's ease by his industry every one's pleasure and by his toil every one's recreation is secured to him But these things are too sublime to belong properly to my business Next the King is his eldest son and as he amongst the Romans that was designed for the Successor The Prince was first called Prince of the youth * Princeps juventutis and as flattery prevail'd afterwards Caesar Noble Caesar and the most noble Caesar so ours was by our Saxon Ancestors termed Aetheling Aetheling i.e. noble and in Latin Clyto Clyto from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 famous that age affecting the Greek tongue Upon which that saying concerning Eadgar the last heir male of the English Crown is still kept up Eadgar Eðeling Englands Searling i.e. Eadgar the noble England's darling And in the antient Latin Charters of the Kings we often read Ego E. vel AE Clyto the King's son But the name of Clyto I have observed to be given to the King's children in general After the Norman Conquest he had no standing honorary title nor any other that I know of but barely The King's Son or The King's eldest Son till Edward I. summoned to Parliament his son Edward under the title of Prince of Wales Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester to whom he granted also afterwards the Dukedom of Aquitain And this when he came to be King Edward II. summoned his son Edward to Parliament then scarce ten years old under the title of Earl of Chester and Flint But that Edward coming to the Crown created Edward his son a most accomplisht soldier Duke of Cornwal since which time the King 's eldest son f If he be eldest son but if the first dies the second is not born to the same Title See concerning this in the Notes upon Cornwall p. 15 is born Duke of Cornwall And a little after he honoured the same person with the title of Prince of Wales by a solemn Investiture The Principality of Wales was conferred upon him in these words to be held by him and his heirs Kings of England And as the heirs apparent of the Roman Empire were as I observed but just now called Caesars of the Grecian Despotae Lords those of the Kingdom of France Dauphins and of Spain Infantes so those of England have been since that time stiled Princes of Wales And that title continued till the time of Henry VIII when Wales was entirely united to the Kingdom of England But now the formerly divided Kingdoms of Britain being reduced into one under the government of the most potent King James his eldest son Henry the darling and delight of Britain is called Prince of Great Britain whom as nature has made capable of the greatest things so that God would bless him with the highest virtues and a lasting honour that his success may outdo both our hopes of him as also the atchievements and high character of his forefathers by a long and prosperous Reign is the constant and hearty prayer of all Britain Our Nobles are divided into Greater and Less The Greater Nobles we call Dukes Marquesses Earls and Barons who either enjoy these titles by an hereditary claim or have them conferred on them by the King as a reward of their merits A DUKE A Dukâ— is the next title of honour to the Prince At first this was a name of office not of honour About the time of Aelius Verus those who were appointed to guard the Frontiers were first called Dukes and this title in Constantine's time was inferiour to that of a Count. After the destruction of the Roman Empire this title still continued to be the name of an Office and those amongst us who in the Saxon times are stiled Dukes in such great numbers by the antient Charters are in the English tongue only called Ealdormen The same also who are named Dukes are likewise termed Counts for instance most people call William the Conqueror of England Duke of Normandy whereas William of Malmesbury writes him Count of Normandy However that both Duke and Count were names of Office Mar. â—â— Formaâ— is plain from the form of each's creation which we find in Marculph an antient writer The Royal clemency is particularly signalized upon this account that among all the people the good and the watchful are singled out nor is it convenient to commit the judiciary power to any one who has not first approved his loyalty and valour Since weâ—t therefore seem to have sufficiently experienced your fidelity and usefulness we commit to you the power of a Count Duke or Patriciâ—us President in that Lordship which your predecessor governed to act in and rule over it Still upon this condition that you are entirely true to our government and all the people within those limits may live under and be swayed by your government and authority and that you rule justly according to law and their own customs that you zealously protect widows and orphans that you severely punish the crimes of robbers and malefactors so that those who live regularly under your government may be cheerful and undisturbed and that whatever profit arises from such actions to the Exchequer you your self bring yearly into our coffers It began to be an honorary title under Otho the Great â—gâ—ius l. 〈◊〉 Regni â—â—lici about the year 970. For he in order to bind valiant and prudent persons more effectually to his own interest honour'd them with what he call'd Râ—gelia Royalties Those Royalties were either Dignities or Lands in Fee The
In Burgundy the use of this name is very antient for we find in Gregory of Tours Abou◠〈◊〉 year 5â— The Barons of Burgundy as well Bishops as those of the Laity The first mention of a Baron with us that I have met withal is in a Fragment of the Laws of Canutus King of England and Denmark and even in that according to different copies it is read Vironis Baronis and Thani But that the Barons are there meant is plain from the Laws of William the Conqueror amongst which are inserted those of Canutus translated into Norman where it is writ Baron Take the whole passage But let the * Hâ—â—iâ—â— or Reâ—â— Exercituals be so moderated as to be tolerable An Earl shall provide those â—hings that are fitting eight horses four saddled and four unsaddled four steel caps and four coats of mail eight javelins and as many shields four swords and two hundred maucae of gold But a King 's Viron or Baron who is next to him shall have four horses two saddled and two unsaddled two swords four javelins and as many shields one steel cap and fifty †Possiâ—â— for â—â—â—usae iâ— 30 pâ—â—â— Many Thâ—â—â—â— Englâ—â— in the Câ—queroâ— time maucae of gold In the beginning also of the Norman times the Valvasors and Thanes were reckoned in dignity next the Earls and Barons and the Greater Valvasors if we may believe those who have writ concerning Feudal-tenures were the same as Barons are now So that Baro may seem to come from that name which time has by little and little made better and smoother But even then it was not so very honourable for in those times there were some Earls who had their Barons under them and I remember I have read in the antient Constitutions of France that there were ten Barons under one Earl and as many * Câ—â—inâ—â— Chieftans under a Baron 'T is likewise certain that there are extant some Charters since the Norman Conquest wherein the Earls write thus To all my Barons as well French as English greeting c. Nay even citizens of the better rank were called Barons so in Domesday-book the citizens of Warwick are stiled Barons and the citizens of London with the Inhabitants of the Cinque Ports enjoyed the same title But a few years after as Senators of Rome were chosen by their estates so those were accounted Barons with us who held their lands by an entire Barony or 13 Knights fees and one third of a Knight's fee every fee as we have it in an antient Book being computed at twenty pounds which in all make 400 Mark For that was the value of one entire Barony and they that had lands and revenues to this value were wont to be summoned to Parliaments It seems to have been a dignity with a jurisdiction which the Court-Barons Court â—â—rons as they call them do in some measure show And the great number of Barons too would persuade us that they were Lords who could give judgment within their own jurisdiction such as those are whom the Germans call Free-heirs especially if they had their castles for then they answered to the definition of Baldus that famous Lawyer who calls him a Baron that had a †Morâ— mixtuâ—â— impeâ—â—â— mere and mixt government in some one Castle by the grant of the Prince And all they as some would have it who held Baronies seem to have claimed that honour so that some of our Lawyers think that Baron and Barony Earl and Earldom Duke and Dukedom King and Kingdom Matth. Parts pag. 1262. were as it were Conjugates 'T is certain in that age K. Henry 3d reckoned 150 Baronies in England Upon which it comes to pass that in the Charters and Histories of that age almost all Noblemen are stil'd Barons a term in those times exceeding honourable â—aâ—onage 〈◊〉 Engâ—and the Baronage of England including in a manner all the prime Orders of the Kingdom Dukes Marquisses Earls and Barons But that name has come to the greatest honour since King Henry 3d out of such a multitude of them which was seditious and turbulent summoned to Parliament by his Writs some of the best only For he the words are taken out of an Author of considerable Antiquity after those great disturbances and enormous vexations between the King himself Simon de Montefort and other Barons were laid appointed and ordained that all such Earls and Barons of the Kingdom of England to whom the King should vouchsafe to direct his Writs of summons should come to his Parliament and no others unless their Lord the King please to direct other Writs to them also But what he begun only a little before his death was strictly observed by Edward the First and his successors From that time those were only looked upon as Barons of the Kingdom â—ummons 〈◊〉 Parliaâ—ent whom the King by such Writs of summons as they term them should call to Parliament 5 And it is noted that the said prudent King Edward I. summoned always those of antient families that were most wise to his Parliaments but omitted their sons after their death If they were not answerable to their Parents in understanding Hol. until Richard the 2d the 10th of October in the eleventh year of his reign created John de Beauchamp of Holt Baron of Kederminster by the delivery of a Diploma From which time the Kings have often conferred that honour by a Diploma or rather honorary Letters and the putting on of a long robe And at this day this way of creating Barons by a Diploma and that other of Writs of summons are in use though they are greeted not under the name of Baron but of Chevalier 6 For the Common Law doth not acknowlege Baron to be a name of dignity Hol. Those that are thus created are call'd Barons of Parliament Barons of the Kingdom and Barons honorary to distinguish them from those which are commonly call'd Barons according to the ancient constitution as those of Burford and Walton and such as were Barons to the Count Palatines of Chester and of Penbroch who were feudal and Barons by tenure Those Parliamentary Barons are not like those of France and Germany call'd barely by that name but are by birth Peers Noblemen Great States and Counsellors of the Kingdom and are summon'd by the King in this form to treat of the weighty affairs of the nation and to deliver their judgment upon them They have their peculiar immunities and privileges as in criminal causes to be judged by their Peers only not to have an oath demanded of them but in such case 't is sufficient if they deliver any thing upon honour not to be called among the Jury of twelve to enquire into matters of fact not to be liable to the Writs Supplicavit Capias Essoins and a great many other privileges which I leave to the Lawyers whose proper business it is to treat of these and things of the like nature Besides
chief way of improving their ground and they still continue the same method carrying it ten miles up into the country and for a great part of the way too upon horses backs One might be more particular here in the several sorts of Sand and their manner of using them but an †Philosoph Transact numb 113. pag. 293. ingenious Discourse upon this Subject has superseded that labour However what Mr. Ray has communicated concerning the virtue of the sand may perhaps not be unacceptable He is of opinion that it depends chiefly upon the salt mix'd with it which is so copious that in many places salt is boyl'd up out of a Lixivium made of the sea-sand and the reason why sand after it hath lain long in the sun and wind proves less useful and enriching is because the dews and rain which fall upon it sweep away a good part of it's salt They had likewise a privilege of trading to all parts of the world granted them by K. Charles 1. in recompence of their Loyalty and the same King writ them a Letter of Thanks dated from Sudley-castle Sept. 3. 1643. which begins thus We are so highly sensible of the extraordinary merit of our County of Cornwall c. and concludes with an Order to have it read and preserv'd in every Church and Chapel throughout the whole County Their Government is now much the same with the rest of England for in the 32 Hen. 8. Gâ—◠〈◊〉 Câ—â— a President and Council were erected for the West but Cornwall and some others desirous to be under the immediate government of the King and Common Law vigorously oppos'd it so that it came to nothing Their Language too is the English Lâ—â— and which is something surprizing observ'd by Travellers to be more pure and refin'd than that of their neighbours Devonshire and Somersetshire The most probable reason whereof seems to be this that English is to them an introduc'd not an original Language and those who brought it in were the Gentry and Merchants who imitated the Dialect of the Court which is the most nice and accurate Their neat way of living and housewifery upon which they justly value themselves above their neighbours does possibly proceed from the same cause The old Cornish is almost quite driven out of the Country being spoken only by the vulgar in two or three Parishes at the Lands-end and they too understand the English In other parts the inhabitants know little or nothing of it so that in all likelihood a short time will destroy the small remains that are left of it 'T is a good while since that only two men could write it and one of them no Scholar or Grammarian and then blind with age And indeed it cannot well be otherwise for beside the inconveniencies common to them with the Welsh such as the destruction of their original Monuments which Gildas complains of and the Roman Language breaking in upon them hinted by the same Gildas with Tacitus and Martial their language has had some peculiar disadvantages As 1. Câ—â— the 〈◊〉 of 〈…〉 the loss of commerce and correspondence with the Armoricans under Henry 7. before which time they had mutual interchanges of families and Princes with them Now the present language of that people ‖ Hâ—◠〈…〉 is no other in it's Radicals than the Cornish and they still understand one another The affinity between them and the agreement of Welsh with them both will be better apprehended by a Specimen of the Lord's Prayer in each The Lord's Prayer in Cornish Ny Taz ez yn neau bonegas yw tha hanaw Tha Gwlakath doaz Tha bonogath bo gwrez en nore pocaragen neau Roe thenyen dythma yon dyth bara givians ny gan rabn weery cara ny givians mens o cabin Ledia ny nara idn tentation Buz dilver ny th art doeg Welsh Ein Tad yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd sancteiddier dy enw Deued dy deyrmas bid dy ewyllys ar yddaiar megis y mac yn y nefoedd dyro i ni heddyw ein bara beunyddiol a maddeu i ni ein dyledion fel y maddewn ni i'n dyledwyr ac nar arwain mi brofe digaeth eithr gwared in rhag drwg Armoric Hon Tat petung so en eoûn ot'h Hano bezet samtifiet De vet de omp ho Roväntelez Ha volonté bezet gret voar an doüar euel en eoûn Roit dezomp hinou hor bara bemdezier Ha pardonnit dezomp hon offançon evelma pardon nomp d'ac re odeus hon offancet Ua n'hon digaçit quel e ' tentation Hoguen hon delivrit a droue Tho' indeed they affirm the affinity in general to be much greater than appears here However the remains of the Cornish being so very narrow to set down the Creed in that language as it may gratifie the Antiquaries so will it preserve to posterity some of that little we have still left The Creed in Cornish Me agreez en du Taz ollgologack y wrig en neu han noare Ha yn Jesu Crest y vabe hag agan arlyth auy conseuyys dur an speriz sanz geniz th art an Voz Mareea sufferai dadn Ponc Pilat ve goris dan VeÌ„rnans ha bethis ha thes kidnias the yffarn y savas arta yn trysa dyth ha seth war dighow dornyndue taz ollgologack thurt ena eu ra dvaz tha juga yn beaw han varaw Me agreez yn speriz sanz sanz Cathalic Eglis yn communion yn sans yn givyans an pegh yn derivyans yn corf han Bowians ragnevera Andellarobo 2. Another particular cause of the decay of it is that when the Act of Uniformity was made the Welsh had it in their own tongue but the Cornish being in love with the English to gratify their novelty desir'd it seems to have the Common Liturgy in that Language 3. The giving over of the Guirimears i.e. great Speeches which were formerly us'd at the great Conventions of the people and consisted of Scriptural Histories c. They were held in the spatious and open downs wherein there were earthen banks thrown up on purpose large enough to enclose thousands of people as appears by their shape in several places which remains to this day These with the coming in of Artificers Trading-men Ministers c. may probably have contributed very much to this general neglect of their original language so that almost nothing now appears of it in their conversation and but very little in any old writing Three books in Cornish are all that can be found One is written in an old court-hand on Vellam and in 1036 verses contains the History of the Passion of our Saviour It always has Chrest for Christ according to the ancient Roman way of writing Chrestus for Christus so â—d c. Suetonius Judaeos impulsore Chresto tumultuantes c. But perhaps this may not be any mark of it's Antiquity because the Cornish pronounce it Crest By the characters and pictures it looks something like the time of
Elbe with shame disown The painted Crosses on their mantles shown These glories now are all eclips'd by one One honour vies with all thy old renown When on thy courts and on my bank we see Elizabeth then Thames with bended knee Stoops low to pay obeysance to her name And thus goes on pleas'd with his mighty theme Elizabeth whom we with wonder stile The Queen the Saint the Goddess of our Isle Whose praise should I endeavour to rehearse Within the narrow bounds of feeble verse As soon huge Athos might on Atlas stand Rais'd by my strength as soon my weary hand Might count the endless globules of my sand If any grace on purpose I 'd conceal What I pass by will prove the greatest still If her past deeds inspire my joyful tongue Her present actions stop th' imperfect song Should her strict justice fill my rising thought Her mercy comes between and drives it out Or was my subject her triumphant Arms Alas more trophies grace her conqu'ring charms That virtues flourish and the peaceful gown That all to laws are subject laws to none That Scotland hath refus'd the Gallick yoak And Ireland all her savage arts forsook That Ulster's sons at last reform'd appear To her they owe the fame belongs to her Virtues that single make us thro'ly blest United all adorn her princely breast To heaven her Godlike mind Religion bears Justice to profit honesty preferrs Deliberate prudence cautious thoughts inspires And temp'rance guides her innocent desires Her settled constancy's unshaken frame Deserves the noble motto STILL THE SAME But ah my numbers all are spent in vain And grasp at that they never can contain Should some wild fancy all th' encomiums joyn That worth could e're deserve or poët feign The panegyrick would be still too mean O may her years increase with her renown May constant joys attend her peaceful Crown While I my streams or banks can call my own And when she dies if Goddesses can die May I straight fail and be for ever dry The rest of Barkshire Windâ—â— Forâ—â—t that is southward from Windsor and is shadow'd with woods and groves is commonly call'd Windsor-Forest and is but thinly planted with villages of which Okingham is the most noted for it's bigness and cloathing trade but is well stock'd every where with game Now since we have often already A Forest â—hat it is â—nd whence â—o called and shall hereafter speak of Forests if you have a desire seriously to know what a Forest is and whence the name comes take it here out of the Black Book of the Exchequer A Forest is a safe harbour for beasts not every sort but for such as are wild not in every place but in some certain places fit for the purpose whence it is call'd Foresta quasi Feresta that is Ferarum statio And it is incredible how much ground the Kings of England have suffer'd every where to lie wast and have set apart for the shutting up of Deer or as our writers term it have afforested Neither can I believe that any thing else was the cause Or for â—â—ding the â—â—rt in â—â—â—son but too great delight in * hunting tho' some attribute it to want of people for since the Danish times they have continually afforested more and more places and for their preservation have imposed very strict laws and appointed a Chief-Ranger or Forester Chief-ranâ—er who is to take cognizance of all causes relating to the Forests and may punish with loss of life or limb any one that shall kill the Deer in any Chase or Forest But Joannes Sarisburiensis shall briefly relate these things in his own words out of his Polycraticon That which will make you more admire to lay gins for birds to lay snares to allure them with springs or pipe or to entrap them any manner of way is by proclamation often made a crime punishable with forfeiture of goods or loss of limb and life You have heard that the fowls of the air and fishes of the sea are common But these are the King 's and are claimed by the forest-Forest-Law where e're they fly With-hold thine hand and forbear lest thou fall into the Huntsman's hands and be punish'd for Treason The Husbandmen are debarr'd their Fallows whilst the Deer have liberty to stray abroad and that their feedings may be enlarg'd the Farmer is cut short of the use of his own grounds What is sown or planted they keep from the Countryman pasturage from the Graziers and throw the Bee-hives out of the Flowry Plots nay even the Bees themselves are scarce suffer'd to use their natural liberty Which courses seeming too inhumane have often been the occasion of great troubles till by the Barons revolt the Charta de Foresta was extorted from Henry 3. wherein having abrogated those rigorous laws he granted others more equitable to which those that live within the limits of the Forests are at this day bound to be conformable Afterwards Justices in Eyre two Justices were appointed for these causes whereof one presides over all the Forests on this side the river Trent the other over those beyond it as far as Scotland with great authority Throughout all this County as we find in the Survey-book of England The Taine or King's Knight holding of him as Lord whensoever he died left to the King for a Relief all his Armour one Horse with a Saddle and another without a Saddle And if he had either Hounds or Hawks they were tendred to the King that if he pleas'd he might take them When Geld was given in K. †The Confessor Edward's time throughout all Barkshire an hide yielded 3 d. ob before Christmas and as much at Whitsuntide Thus much of Barkshire which as yet has given no person the title of Earl There are in this County 140 Parishes The Countries we have been travelling over that is those of the Danmonii Durotriges Belgae and Attrebatii while the Saxons had the Sovereignty here in Britain fell to the Kingdom of the West-Saxons which they in their language call'd k West-Seaxna-ric is the true Saxon name Weast-Seaxan-ric as they did themselves Geguysis from Cerdic's grandfather who first enrich'd this Kingdom whence some call them Geuissi and others Visi-Saxones from their western situation as the Western Goths are nam'd Visi-Gothi These at length when the English Empire was grown to maturity reduc'd the Saxon Heptarchy into a Monarchy which nevertheless afterwards thro' the laziness of their Kings quickly grew as it were decrepit and easily vanish'd So that herein we daily see it confirm'd that the race of the most valiant and noblest Families as the Shoots of Plants have their first sprouting up their time of flowring and maturity and in the end fade and die by little and little ADDITIONS to BARKSHIRE â—â—e name Barkâ—â— a WHAT the original of this County's name may be is much harder to determine than to show that those which are commonly produc'd
Dissolution the plate and jewels thereof fill'd two great chests each whereof requir'd eight men to carry them out of the Church Monast Angl. vol. 1. p. 18. So that the name of Christ to whom it was dedicated was almost quite laid aside for that of S. Thomas Nor was it so much fam'd for any other thing as the memory and burial of this man tho' it has some other tombs that may deservedly be boasted of particularly Edward Prince of Wales sirnam'd the Black a heroe for his valour in war a downright miracle and Henry 4. that potent King of England But King Henry 8. dispers'd all this wealth that had been so long in gathering and drove out the Monks in lieu whereof this Christ-Church has a Dean Archdeacon 12 Prebendaries and 6 Preachers whose business it is to sow the word of God in the neighbouring places It had another Church below the city to the East which disputed preeminence with this St. Augustine's commonly St. Austen's known by the name of S. Austin's because S. Austin himself and K. Ethelbert by his advice founded it to the honour of S. Peter and S. Paul for a burying place both to the Kings of Kent and the Archbishops for it was not then lawful to bury in Cities it was richly endow'd and the Abbot there had a Mint granted him and the Privilege of coyning money Now as the greatest part of it lyes in its own ruines and the rest is turn'd into a house for the King any one that beholds it may easily apprehend what it has been Austin himself was bury'd in the Porch of it and as Thomas Spot has told us with this Epitaph Inclytus Anglorum praesul pius decus altum Hic Augustinus requiescit corpore sanctus The Kingdom 's honour and the Church's grace Here Austin England's blest Apostle lays But Bede o Tho' Bede may be otherwise very good authority yet here he certainly fails for the title Archiepiscopus occurring in it is a plain evidence that 't is of later date since that title could not be then in the Western Church nor was it allow'd commonly to Metropolitans as Mabillon and others have observ'd till about the ninth age See Stillingfleet 's Origin Britan. p. 21 22. who is better authority assures us that he had over him this much more ancient Inscription HIC REQVIESCIT DOMINVS AVGVSTINVS DOROVERNENSIS ARCHIEPISCOPVS PRIMVS QVI OLIM HVC A BEATO GREGORIO ROMANAE VRBIS PONTIFICE DIRECTVS ET A DEO OPERATIONE MIRACVLORVM SVFFVLTVS ET ETHELBERTHVM REGEM AC GENTEM ILLIVS AB IDOLORVM CVLTV AD FIDEM CHRISTI PERDVXIT ET COMPLETIS IN PACE DIEBVS OFFICII SVI DEFVNCTVS EST SEPTIMO KALENDAS IVNIAS EODEM REGE REGNANTE That is Here resteth S. Augustine the first Archbishop of Canterbury who being formerly dispatch'd hither by the blessed Gregory Bishop of Rome and supported of God by the working of miracles both drew Ethelberht with his kingdom from the worship of Idols to the faith of Christ and also having fulfill'd the days of his Office dy'd on the 7th of the Kalends of June in the same King's reign With him there were bury'd in the same porch the six Archbishops that immediately succeeded and in honour of the whole seven namely Austin Laurentius Mellitus Justus Honorius Deus-dedit and Theodosius were those verses engraven in marble SEPTEM SUNT ANGLI PRIMATES ET PROTOPATRES SEPTEM RECTORES SEPTEM COELOQVE TRIONES SEPTEM CISTERNAE VITAE SEPTEMQVE LVCERNAE ET SEPTEM PALMAE REGNI SEPTEMQVE CORONAE SEPTEM SVNT STELLAE QUAS HAEC TENET AREA CELLAE Seven Patriarchs of England Primates seven Seven Rectors and seven Labourers in heaven Seven Cisterns pure of life seven Lamps of light Seven Palms and of this Realm seven Crowns full bright Seven Stars are here bestow'd in vault below It will not be very material to take notice of another Church near this which as Bede has it was built by the Romans and dedicated to S. Martin and in which before the coming of Austin Bertha of the blood Royal of the Franks and wife of Ethelbert was us'd to have divine Service celebrated according to the Christian Religion As to the Castle which appears on the south-side of the City with it's decay'd bulwarks since it does not seem to be of any great Antiquity I have nothing memorable to say of it but only that it was built by the Normans Of the dignity of the See of Canterbury which was formerly very great I shall only say thus much that as in former ages under the Hierarchy of the Church of Rome the Archbishops of Canterbury were Primates of all England Legates of the Pope and as Pope Urban 2. express'd it as it were Patriarchs of another world so when the Pope's Authority was thrown off it was decreed by a Synod held in the year 1534. that laying aside that title Primate and Metropolitan of all England they should be stil'd Primates and Metropolitans of all England This dignity was lately possess'd by the most reverend Father in God John Whitgift who having consecrated his whole life to God and his utmost endeavours to the service of the Church dy'd in the year 1604. extremely lamented by all good men He was succeeded by Richard Bancroft a man of singular courage and prudence in matters relating to the establishment of the Church Canterbury is 51 degrees 16 minutes in Latitude and 24 degrees 51 minutes in Longitude xx After Stour has gather'd it's waters into one chanel it runs by Hackington Hackington where Lora Countess of Leicester a very honorable Lady in her time quitting the pleasures of the world sequester'd her self from all commerce with it to have her time entire for the service of God At which time Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury began a Church in this place to the honour of S. Stephen and Thomas of Canterbury but the Authority of the Pope prohibiting it for fear it should tend to the prejudice of the Monks of Canterbury he let his design fall However from that time the place has kept the name of S. Stephens S. Stephens and Sir Roger Manwood Knight Lord chief Baron of the Exchequer a person of great knowledge in our Common Law to whose munificence the poor inhabitants are very much indebted was lately it's greatest ornament nor is his son Sir Peter Manwood Knight of the Bath a less honour to it at this day whom I could not but mention with this respect and deference since he is an encourager of virtue learning and learned men From hence the Stour by Fordich Fordich which in Domesday-book is call'd the little burrough of Forewich famous for it's excellent trouts passes on to Sturemouth 69 Which it hath now forsaken a mile and more yet left and bequeathed his name to it But now by Stoure-mouth runneth a brook which issuing out of S. Eadburgh's Well at Liming where the daughter to K. Ethelbert first of our
much of Westminster which tho' as I observ'd is a City of it self and of a distinct Jurisdiction I have taken in along with London because it is so joyn'd to it by continu'd buildings that it seems to be but one and the same City Hoâ—burn On the west-side of the City the Suburbs runs out with another row of beautiful buildings namely Holborn or rather Oldburn 58 Wherein stood anciently the first House of Templers only in the place now called Southampton House wherein are some Inns for the study of the Common Law and a house of the Bishops of Ely becoming the State of a Bishop which they owe to John Hotham Bishop of that See under Edward 3. The Suburbs grew likewise on the north-side where Jordan Brisset a pious and wealthy man built an House for the Knights Hospitalers of S. John Hoâ—pitalers of S. John of Jerusalem that was afterwards improv'd into the stateliness of a Palace and had a very beautiful Church with a high tower so neatly carry'd up that while it stood 't was a singular ornament to the City At their first Institution 59 About the year 1124. and long after they were so humble while but poor that their †Governour was call'd Servant to the poor Servants of the Hospital at Jerusalem as that of the Templers Templâ—â—s who arose a little afteâ— The humble Minister of the poor Knights of the Temple 60 This religious Order was instituted shortly after Geoffry of Bollen had recover'd Jerusalem The Brethren whereof wore a white Cross upon their upper black garment and by solemn profession were bound to serve Pilgrims and poor people in the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and to secure the passages thither they charitably buried the dead they were continual in prayer mortified themselves with watchings and fastings they were courteous and kind to the poor whom they called their Masters and fed with white bread while themselves liv'd with brown and carried themselves with great austerity Whereby they purchased to themselves the love and liâ—ing of all sorts But what for their piety and bravery in war their condition came to be so much alter'd from this mean state by the bounty of good Princes and private persons that they even abounded in every thing For about the year 1240. they had nineteen thousand Lordships or Manours within Christendom as the Templers had nine thousand whose revenues here in England fell also afterwards to the Hospitalers Mâ—tth Par. And this vast increase of revenues made them so effectual a passage to great honours that their Prior was reckon'd the first Baron of England and liv'd in great state and plenty till King Henry 8. by the instigation of bad Counsellors seis'd upon all their lands as he did also upon those belonging to the Monasteries which out of a pious design were dedicated to God's glory and by the Canons of the Church were to be expended upon the maintenance of Priests relief of the poor redemption of Captives and the repair of Churches Near this place where there is now a stately circuit of houses was formerly a rich House of the Carthusians Câ—â—ter-hâ—â—se built by 61 Sir Walter Many Walter Many of Hainault who got great honour by his service in the French War under Edward 3. And before that there was a very famous Church-yard which in that plague of London in the year 1349. had above fifty thousand men bury'd in it as appear'd by an Inscription in brass whereby it was convey'd to posterity t The Suburbs also which runs out on the north-west side of London is large and had formerly a watch-tower or military ‖ Praetentura fence from whence it came to be call'd by an Arabick name Barbacan Barbacan By the gift of Edw. 3. it became a seat of the Uffords Gâ—leottus Martius from whom by the Willoughbies it descended to 62 Sir Peregrine Berty Peregrine Bertie Lord Willoughby of Eresby a person every way of a generous temper and a true martial courage Nor are the Suburbs that shoot forth towards the north-east and east less considerable in the fields whereof whilst I am upon this work there are digg'd up many sepulchral Vessels Seals and Urns with Coins in them of Claudius Nero Vespasian c. Glass Vials also with small earthen vessels wherein was a sort of liquid Substance which I should imagine to be either an oblation of wine and milk us'd by the Romans at the burning of their dead or those odoriferous Liquors mention'd by Statius Phariique liquores Arsuram lavêre comam And precious odours sprinkled on his hair Prepar'd it for the flames This was a place set apart by the Romans for burning and burying their dead being oblig'd by the Twelve Tables to carry them without the Cities and to bury them by the military high-ways 63 To put passengers in mind that thâ—y are as those were subject to mortality And thus much of the land-side of the City u But upon the river-side and the south part of it Borough of Southwark See Surrey p. 160. that large Borough of Southwark before-mention'd is joyn'd to the city with a bridge first built on wooden piles where formerly instead of a bridge they pass'd the water in a ferry Afterwards The Bridge in the reign of K. John they built a new one of free-stone and admirable workmanship with 19 Arches beside that which makes the * Versatilis Draw-bridge and so continu'd it all along like a street with most handsome buildings that it may claim a preheminence over all the bridges in Europe whether you look upon the largeness or beauty In this Borough of Southwark the things that have been remarkable are a noble Abbey for Monks of the Benedictine Order call'd Bermondsey erected formerly to our Saviour by Aldwin Child S. Saviour Citizen of London and a stately house built by Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk Suffolk-house which was pull'd down again after it had been for a little time the delight of its Master There still remains the Hospital of S. Thomas St. Thomas Hospital repair'd or rather founded by the City of London for the lame and infirm and the Church of the Priory of St. Mary which because it is seated over the Thames is with respect to the City of London call'd a The learned Dr. Hicks in his Saxon Grammar has observ'd that the Church's name is not taken from it's being over the river but from standing upon the banks of it ofre in Saxon signifying a bank S. Mary Over-Rhe founded for 64 Black Canons Canons by William Ponte del Arche a Norman as also the house of the Bishops of Winchester built by William Gifford Bishop about the year 1107. for the use of his successors From this along the Thames-side there runs westward a continu'd line of houses in which compass within the memory of our fathers there
tomentosus Corona fratrum Park eriocephalus Ger. Woolly headed Thistle Near Clare in Suffolk plentifully See the Synonimes in Cambridge-Catalogue Caucalis tenuifolia flosculis subrubentibus Hist. nost arvensis echinata parvo flore C. B. Fine-leav'd bastard Parsley with a small purplish flower Amongst the Corn here at Notley and in many other places Crithmum chrysanthemum Park Ger. maritimum flore Asteris Attici C. B. marinum tertium Matthioli flore luteo Buphthalmi J. B. Golden-flower'd Sampire On the bank of the river just above Fulbridge at Maldon in Essex Gramen dactylon latiore folio C. B. Ischaemon sylvestre latiore folio Park Plentifully in the plowed-fields about Elden aforesaid Lychnis viscosa flore muscoso C. B. Sesamoides Salamanticum magnum Ger. Muscipula Salmantica major Park Muscipula muscoso flore seu Ocymoides Belliforme J. B. Spanish Catchfly In and about the gravel pits on the north side of New-market town also by the way sides all along from Barton-mills to Thetford in Norfolk Lychnis noctiflora C. B. Park Ocymoides non speciosum J. B. Night-flowering Campion Among corn about Saxmundham and between the two Windmills and Warren-lodge at Mewell Militaris Aizoides Ger. Stratiotes s Militaris Aizoides Park Aloe palustris C. B. Aizoon palustre sive Aloe palust J.B. The Freshwater-Soldier or Water-Aloe In the lake in Loving-land Pisum marinum Ger. aliud maritimum Britannicum Park Our English Sea-pease On the stone-baich between Orford and Alburgh callâ—d the Shingle especially on the further end toward Orford abundantly Gesner lib. de Aquatil 4. p. 256. from the Letters of Dr Key and from him Jo. Stow in his Chronicle tells us That in a great dearth which happened in the year 1555. the poor people in this part of the Country maintain'd themselves and their children with these Pease which saith he to a miracle sprung up in the Autumn among the bare stones no earth being intermixt of their own accord and bare fruit sufficient for thousands of people That these Pease did then spring up miraculously for the relief of the poor I believe not that there might be then Providence so ordering it an extraordinary crop of them I readily grant Yet do they not grow among the bare stones but spread their roots in the sand below the stones wherewith there may also perhaps be some ouze mixt and are nourish'd by the Sea-water penetrating the sands as are many other maritime plants Neither did they owe their original to Shipwracks or Pease cast out of Ships as Camden hints to be the opinion of the wiser but witbout doubt sprung up at first spontaneously they being to be found in several the like places about England See Kent and Sussex Sium alterum Olusatri facie Ad. Lob. Ger. Emac. majus alterum angustifolium Park Erucae folio C. B. q. Cicuta aquatica Gesneri J.B. Long-leav'd Water-Hemlock or Parsnep In the lake of Lovingland Trifolium cum glomerulis ad caulium nodos rotundis Knotted Trefoil with round heads I found this in gravelly places about Saxmundham in this County Trifolium flosculis albis in glomerulis oblongis asperis cauliculis proximè adnatis An Trifolium rectum flore glomerato cum unguiculis J. B White-flower'd knotted Trefoil with oblong rough heads At Newmarket where the Sesamoides Salamanticum grows and in other places Trifolium cochleatum modiolis spinosis Hedge-hog Trefoil with rundles resembling a thin segment of a cone At Orford in Suffolk on the Sea-bank close by the Key plentifully Veronica erecta foliis laciniatis Alsine foliis hederaceis Rutae modo divisis Lob. recta triphyllos sive laciniata Park triphyllos caerulea C. B. recta Ger. folio profundè secto flore purpureo seu violaceo J. B. Upright Speedwell with divided leaves At Mewell between the two Windmils and the Warren-lodge And in the gravel-pits two miles beyond Barton-mills on the ridge of a hill where a small cart-way crosseth the rode to Lynne and in the grass thereabout plentifully Urtica Romana Ger. Park Romana seu mas cum globulis J. B. urens pilulas ferens prima Dioscoridis semine lini C. B. Common Romane Nettle About Alburgh and elsewhere on the Sea-coast plentifully Sedum minimum non acre flore albo Small mild white flower'd Stone-crop In the more barren grounds all along between Yarmouth and Donewich This differs specifically from the common Pepper-wort and not in the colour of the flower only NORFOLK NORFOLK commonly North-folk that is if you express it in Latin Borealis pâ—pulus or the Northern People is all along the North-bound of Suffolk from which it is divided by the two little rivers I mention'd Ouse the Less and Waveney running contrary ways On the east and north sides the German Ocean which is full of fish beats upon the shore with a great roaring on the west Ouse the Greater sporting it self by the many branches parts it from Cambridgeshire The County is large and almost all Champion except in some places where there arise gentle hills 'T is very rich well stor'd with flocks of sheep and abounds with Conies It is set with great numbers of populous villages for beside 27 Market-towns it has 625 Country-towns and villages is well water'd and does not want wood The soil is different according to the several quarters in some places fat luscious and full of moisture as in Mershland and Flegg in others especially to the west it is poor lean and sandy and in others clayey and chalkey But to follow the directions of Varro the goodness of the soil may be gather'd from hence that the inhabitants are of a bright clear complexion not to mention their sharpness of wit and admirable quickness in the study of our Common-Law So that it is at present and always has been reputed the most fruitful Nursery of Lawyers and even among the common people you shall meet with a great many who as one expresses it if they have no just quarrel are able to raise it out of the very quirks and niceties of the Law But lest while I consult brevity I suffer my self to be drawn aside by digressions I will pass from these to the places themselves and beginning at the south side will take a short view of such as are of greatest note and Antiquity Upon Ouse the Less where the little river Thet joyns it out of Suffolk is seated in a low ground that ancient City Sitomagus Sitomagus mention'd by Antoninus and corruptly nam'd in the fragments of an old Table Simomagus a and Sinomagus 'T is now call'd Thetford Thetford and in Saxon a The right name is Theodford Ãeotford by keeping the first syllable of the old name and adding the German ford For as Sitomagus signifies in British a city upon the river Sit now Thet as to Magus Magus signifying formerly a City we have the authority of Pliny so does Thetford signifie in English a ford of the Thet b and these two names Sit
de Scremby At last the King gave it to 6 Sir Henry Henry de Bellomonte for nothing is more clear than that he enjoy'd it in Edward the second 's reign 〈◊〉 4. E. 2. â—ckingâ—m Near this is Skrekingham remarkable for the death of Alfric the second Earl of Leicester kill'd by Hubba the Dane Which place 't is very probable Ingulphus speaks of when he writes In Kesteven three Danish petty Kings were slain and they interr'd them in a certain village heretofore call'd Laundon but now Tre-king-ham by reason of the burial of the three Kings More to the east is Hather famous for nothing but the name of the Busseys or Busleys â—â—fy who live here and derive themselves from Roger de Busley cotemporary with the Conquerour â—â—xd And then Sleford a castle of the Bishops of Lincoln erected by Alexander the Bishop where also 7 Sir John John Hussy 〈◊〉 â—â—ly the first and last Baron of that name 8 Created by King Henry 8. built himself a house but lost his head for rashly engaging in the common insurrection in the year 1537 when the feuds and difference about Religion first broke out in England A few miles from hence stands Kime â—me from whence a noble family call'd de Kime had their name but the Umfranvils three of whom were summon'd to sit in the house of Lords by the name of Earls of Angus in Scotland â—s of â—gus became at last possessors of it The sages of the Common Law would not allow the first of these forasmuch as Angus was not within the bounds of the Kingdom of England to be an Earl before he produc'd in open Court the King 's Writ by which he was summon'd to Parliament under the title of Earl of Angus From the Umfravils this came to the Talbois one of which family nam'd Gilbert was by Henry the eighth created Baron of Talbois whose two sons died without issue so that the inheritance went by females to the family of the Dimocks Inglebies and others More to the west stands Temple Bruer â—mple â—er that is as I take it Temple in the Heath it seems to have been a Preceptory of the Templars for there are to be seen the ruinous walls of a demolish'd Church not unlike those of the New Temple in London Near it is Blankeney â—ons â—ncourt once the Barony of the Deincourts who flourish'd in a continu'd succession from the coming in of the Normans to the times of Henry 6. for then their heir male fail'd in one William whose two sisters and heirs were married the one to 9 Sir William William Lovel the other to Ralph Cromwell I have the more readily taken notice of this family because I would willingly answer the request of Edmund Baron Deincourt who was long since so very desirous to preserve the memory of his name having no issue male he petition'd K. Ed. 2. for liberty To make over his Manours and Arms to whomsoever he pleas'd â— 21 H. 6. â— 10 â—w 2. for he imagin'd that both his name and Arms would go to the grave with him and was very sollicitous they should survive and be remembred Accordingly the King complied and he had Letters Patents for that end Yet this sirname so far as my knowledge goes is now quite extinct and would have been drown'd in oblivion if books and learning had not sav'd it In the west part of Kesteven where this County borders on Leicestershire on a very steep and as it seems â—voir or â—erâ—le artificial hill stands Belvoir or Beauvoir-Castle so call'd whatever the name was formerly from its pleasant prospect which with the little Monastery adjoyning was built as 't is given out by Todeneius a Norman from whom by the Albenies Britans and by the Roos's Barons it came to be the inheritance of the Manours Earls of Rutland by the first of whom nam'd Thomas it was as I have heard rebuilt after it had laid in ruins many years For William Lord Hastings in spight to Thomas Lord Roos who sided with Henry 6. almost demolish'd it and upon the attainder of Baron Roos had it granted him by Edward 4. with very large possessions But Edmund Baron Roos the son of Thomas by the bounty of Henry 7. regain'd this his ancestors inheritance o About this castle are found the stones call'd Astroites Astroites which resemble little stars link'd one with another having five rays in every corner and in the middle of every ray a hollow This stone among the Germans had its name from Victory for they think as Georgius Agricola writes in his sixth book of Minerals That whosoever carries this stone about him shall be successful against his enemies But I have not yet had an opportunity to make the experiment whether this stone of ours when put in vinegar will move out of its place and whirl round like that in Germany The Vale beneath this castle commonly call'd from it The Vale of Belver The Vale of Belver is pretty large and exceeding pleasant by reason of the corn-fields and pastures there It lies part in Nottinghamshire part in Leicestershire and part in Lincolnshire If not in this very place yet for certain very near it †See the Additions to Rutlandshire under the title Market-Overton where 't is more conveniently plac'd stood formerly that Margidunum Margidunum which Antoninus makes mention of next to Vernometum and this may sufficiently be prov'd both by its name and distance from Vernometum and the Town Ad Pontem otherwise Paunton for Antoninus places it between them It seems to have taken this ancient name from Marga and the situation of it For Marga among the Britains is a sort of earth with which they manure their grounds and Dunum which signifies a hill is applicable only to high places But I do for all that very much question this etymology seeing there is very little Marle in this place the not searching for it being perhaps the reason except the Britains by the name of Marga understand ‖ Gypsum Plaister-stone which is as I am inform'd dug up not far from hence and was as Pliny declares in his natural history in great request among the Romans who used it in their Plaisterings and * Sigillis Cielings Thro' this part of the Shire runs Witham Riv. Witham a little river but very full of Pikes and the northern parts are bounded by it It s spring head is at a little town of the same name Bitham not far from the ruins of Bitham-Castle which as we find in an old pedigree was by William the first given to Stephen Earl of Albemarle and Holderness to enable him to feed his son as yet a little infant with fine white bread for at that time nought was eaten in Holderness but oat-bread altho' 't is now very little used there This castle nevertheless in the reign of Edward 3. was when
Baron to John Beauchamp Steward of the Houshold to Richard the second who by his Letters Patents created him Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster Baron Beauchamp 〈◊〉 Kâ—dderâ—â—â—r Soon after this he with many other eminent persons in defiance of that King was condemned and beheaded by the Barons who making an Insurrection with the Commons in contempt of the King's Authority call'd all his prime Favourites to account for male-administration Hence Severn taking somewhat an oblique course salutes Hertlebury Hertlebury a Castle of the Bishops of Worcester 〈◊〉 in old â—â—glish â—â—â—ds or â—â—â—cts not far distant and so goes on to Holt which hath that name from the thick Woods a castle anciently belonging to the Abtots and since to the Beauchamps who springing from William Beauchamp sirnam'd the blind Baron grew up into a very honourable family whose estate after some time by heirs-female came to the Guises and Penistones e In its passage downward Severn feeds such a number of River-Lampreys Lampreys that Nature seems to have made a pond for them in this place such as the Romans anciently invented in the height of their Luxury Lampreys have their name from the Latin Lampetra from licking the rocks they are like Eels slippery and of a dark colour only somewhat blueish on the belly on each side the throat they have seven holes at which they receive water having no gills at all They are best in season in the Spring as being then of a most delicious taste whereas in the Summer the string within them which doth the office of a back-bone groweth hard The Italians do much improve the delicacy of their taste by a particular way of dressing them First they kill the fish in * Vino Cretico Malvesey and stop the mouth with a nutmeg and reach hole with a clove then rolling them up round they add the kernels of filbirds stamp'd crums of bread oil Malvesey and Spices stewing them all together carefully in a pan over a moderate fire for some little time But to instruct Cooks and Epicures is no business of mine Below Holt Severn opens its Eastern bank to receive the river Salwarp 3 This hath its first veins out of the Lickey-hill most eminent in the North-part of this Shire near unto which at Frankley the family of the Littletons were planted by †John Littleton alias Westcote the famous Lawyer Justice in the King's Bench in the time of King Edw. 4. to whose Treatise of Tenures the Students of our Common Law are no less beholden than the Civilians to Justinian's Institutes Hol. which rising in the North-part of the County runs by Brome's-grave Bromes-grave a very considerable market-town not far from Grafton Grafton a seat of the renowned family of the Talbots which King Henry the seventh gave to Gilbert Talbot a younger son of John the second Earl of Shrewsbury whom for his bravery in war and his extraordinary wisdom he also made Knight of the Garter and Governour of Calice in France f From Brome's-grave Salwarp proceeds to Droitwich Durtwich Durtwich some call it from the Brine-pits and its wet situation as Hyetus in Boeotia from its dirty soil g Here rise three Springs Salt-springs by natures particular bounty yielding plenty of Brine h they are separated by a brook of fresh water which runs between them And out of them is made the purest and whitest kind of Salt for six months in the year that is from the Summer to the Winter Solstice It is prepared in little boiling houses built about the pits What a prodigious quantity of wood these Salt-works consume though men be silent yet Feckenham Forest Feckenham Forest once very thick with trees and the neighbouring woods will by their thinness declare daily more and more If I should say that Richard de la Wich Richard de la Wich Bishop of Chichester who was born here did by his prayers obtain these Salt-springs I am afraid some would censure me as very injurious to the Divine Providence and over-credulous of old wives fables Nevertheless so great was the pious credulity of our Ancestors that they did not only believe it firmly themselves and transmit it in writing to us but also upon that account paid him honours in a manner divine when for his skill in the Canon-Law and sanctity of life he was solemnly canonized for a Saint by Urban the fourth Yet before this Richard was born Gervase of Tilbury wrote the following account of these Springs though not exactly true In the Diocese of Worcester there is a village not far from that city nam'd Wich where at the foot of a little hill there runs a stream of very sweet water On the bank hereof are certain pits few in number and of no great depth whose water is extreamly salt which boiled in pans condenseth into very white salt All the Country report that from Christmas to Midsummer there comes up very strong brine but all the rest of the year the water is somewhat fresh and unfit to make salt And which I think more wonderful when the water b Mr. Camden citing Gervase of Tilbury in the margin hath locus corruptus and by an asterisk directs to these words oportuni partem which I guess should be thus corrected oportuna parum not strong enough for making salt riseth it scarce ever runs over the pit at the season of its saltness the brine is not in the least weakned by the vicinity of the fresh river and yet it is not at all near the Sea Moreover in the King's Survey which we call Domesday-book In Wich there be eight fats of salt belonging to the King and to the Earl which every week of wealling yield on the Friday 16 i Bullions 4 Salwarp having now entertain'd a small brook descending from Chedesley where anciently the family of Foliot flourished as after at Longdon makes haste to Severne Not four miles lower Severn with a slow course as it were admiring passeth by Worcester Worcester the chief town of this Shire seated on its bank and really it deserveth admiration both for its Antiquity and Beauty For Antoninus mentions it by the name of Branonium and Ptolemy in whom by the transcriber's negligence it is misplaced by the name of Branogenium Branogenium whence the Britains or Welsh call it at this day Cair Vrangon and in the Catalogue of Ninnius it is Caer Guorangon and Caer Guorcon Afterwards the Saxons called it Weogare-ceaster Wegeorna-ceaster and Wire-ceaster perhaps from Wire a woody forest adjoyning In Latin it is Wigornia One of the first who mentions it by that name if I mistake not is Joseph of Exeter the most elegant Poet of that age whose book passeth under the name of Cornelius Nepos in these verses to Baldwin Archbishop of Canterbury In numerum jam crescit honor te tertia poscit Infula jam meminit Wigornia Cantia discit Romanus meditatur apex
makes it reasonable enough to suppose that these two might be stations for the reception of the Armies in their march Upon the east side of the road between Streethey and Burton stands Eddingal Eddinghall where is a rais'd way pointing towards Lullington in Derbyshire which Dr. Plot is of opinion might probably be one of the Roman Viae vicinales or by-roads which they had beside their great high-ways for the convenience of going between town and town p More to the West is Blithfield Blithfield the seat of the Bagotts as Mr. Camden tells us It came into this family by the marriage of the daughter and heir of Blithfield in the reign of Edward the second Before which time they were seated at the neighbouring village of Bagotts-Bromley From this family were also descended the ancient Barons of Stafford afterwards Dukes of Buckingham Farther Northward and not far from Checkley by a small brook call'd Peak are the stately ruins of Croxden-Abbey Croxden-Abbey formerly a Monastery of Cistercian Monks founded by Theobald de Verdon a Norman Baron about the time of Henry the second Continuation of the LORDS After Edward Stafford last Duke of Buckingham of that name there were three of that family who enjoy'd the title of Lords Stafford Henry Edward and another Henry the daughter of the last being marry'd to William Howard son of Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey King Charles the first created this her husband Nov. 1640. Viscount and Lord Stafford More rare Plants growing wild in Staffordshire The mountainous part of this Country called the Moorelands produceth the same plants with the Peak Country of Derbyshire The more depressed and level parts with Warwickshire At a village called Worton in this County about two miles distant from Newport in Shropshire grow in plenty the Abies Ger. Park faemina sive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 J. B. The female or Yew-leav'd Firr-tree which whether they were native of this place or anciently planted here is some question That they were natives Dr. Plot gathers not only from their disorderly natural situation and excessive height to which planted trees seldom arrive but chiefly from the stools or stumps of many trees which he suspects to have been Firrs found near them in their natural position in the bottoms of Mosses and Pools particularly of Shebben-pool some of the bodies whereof are daily dug up at Laynton and in the old Pewet-pool in the same parish where these now grow Sorbus Pyriformis D. Pitt The Pear-like Service I have already declared my opinion that this is no other than the common Service-tree Dr. Plot tells us that it grows in the Moorelands at many places Sambucus fructu albo Ger. Park fructu in umbella viridi C. B. acinis albis J. B. White-berried Elder In the hedges near the village of Combridge plentifully Dr. Plot hist nat Staff Tripolium minus vulgare The lesser Sea-star-wort Said to grow in the grounds of Mr. Chetwynd of Ingstree within two miles of Stafford in a place call'd the Marsh near the place where the brine of it self breaks out above ground frets away the grass and makes a plash of Salt-water Dr. Plot. hist nat Staff SHROPSHIRE SHROPSHIRE By Robert Morden Lower upon the river Temd we see Burford Burford which from Theodorick Say's posterity descended to Robert de Mortimer and from his heirs to 4 Sir Jeffrey Jeffrey de Cornubia or Cornwaile Cornwaile of the lineage of Richard Earl of Cornwall and King of the Alemans whose heirs even to our days have bore the honourable title of Barons but were not such Barons as might sit in Parliament Burford is held of the King Inq. 40 E. 3. to find five men towards the Army of Wales and by the service of a Barony as appears by the Inquisition But observe by the way those who held an entire Barony were formerly reputed Barons and some Sages of the Common Law will have Baron and Barony to have been Conjugates Baron and Barony conjugates like Earl and Earldom Duke and Dukedom King and Kingdom Temd here leaves Shropshire and by its Northern Banks arise some hills of no difficult ascent call'd Clee-hill Clee-hill famous for producing the best Barley and not without some veins of Iron c at the bottom of which in a little village call'd Cleybury Hugh de Mortimer built a castle which immediately King Henry the second so entirely demolish'd finding it a Nursery of Rebellion that scarce any remains of it are visible at this day and Kinlet a seat of the Blunts Blunt signifies yellow hair in the Norman tongue a name very famous in these parts denoting their golden locks This is a very ancient and honourable family and hath spread its branches far Then we see Brugmorfe Bridgemorfe commonly call'd Bridgnorth on the right hand bank of the Severn so call'd of Burgh and Morfe a Forest that adjoyns to it before call'd Burgh only a town enclos'd and fortified with walls a ditch a castle and the river Severn which with a very steep fall flows in amongst the rocks It stands secure upon a rock through which the ways that lead into the upper part of the town were cut 'T was first built by Edelfleda Domina Merciorum Lady of the Mercians and wall'd round by Robert de f His right name is Belesme for so the ancient Saxon Annals call him Belism Earl of Shrewsbury who relying upon the strength of the place revolted from Henry the first as likewise did Roger de Mortimer from Henry the second but both with ill success for they were forc'd to surrender and so were quieted At the siege of this castle as our Chronicles say King Henry the second had like to have lost his life by an arrow which being shot at him was intercepted by a truly gallant man and lover of his King 5 Sir Hubert Syncler Hubert de Saint-Clere who sav'd the King's life by being accessary to his own death At this place formerly 6 Sir Ralph Ralph de Pichford behav'd himself so gallantly that King Henry the first gave him the little 7 Burgh Brug near it to hold by the service of finding dry wood for the great chamber of the castle of 7 Burgh Brug against the coming of his Soveraign Lord the King d Willeley is not far off the ancient seat of 8 Sir Warner the Warners of Willeley Willey or Willeley from whose posterity by the Harleys and Peshall it came to the famous family of the Lacons Lacon much advanc'd by intermarriage with the heir of Passelew and lately improv'd by the possessions of Sir J. Blunt of Kinlet Kt. Other castles and towns lye scattering hereabouts as New castle Hopton castle Shipton and Corvesham upon the river Corve the gift of K. Hen. 2. Lib. Inq. to Walter de Clifford Brancroft and Holgot commonly call'd Howgate which formerly belong'd to the Mandutes then
Isabella and Delaley and other large Possessions which by the Outlawry of Richard Earl of Arundel were then forfeited to the Crown Richard himself was styl'd Princeps Cestriae Prince of Chester But this title was but of small duration no longer than till Henry the fourth repeal'd the Laws of the said Parliament for then it became a County Palatine again and retains that Prerogative to this day which is administred by a Chamberlain 11 Who hath all jurisdiction of a Chancellour within the said County Palatine a Judge Special 12 For matters in Common-Plees and Plees of the Crown to be heard and determin'd in the said County two Barons of the Exchequer three Serjeants at Law a Sheriff an Attorney an Escheator 13 And the Inhabitants of the said County for the enjoying of their Liberties were to pay at the change of every owner of the said Earldom a sum of money about 3000 marks by the name of a Mize as the County of Flint being a parcel thereof about 2000 marks if I have not been misinform'd c. We have now survey'd the Country of the Cornavii who together with the Coritani Dobuni and Catuellani made one entire Kingdom in the Saxon Heptarchy then called by them Myrcna-ric and Mearc-lond but render'd by the Latins Meâ—cia from a Saxon word Mearc which signifies limit for the other Kingdoms border'd upon this This was by far the largest Kingdom of them all begun by Crida the Saxon about the year 586. and enlarg'd on all hands by Penda and a littlâ— after under Peada converted to Christianity But after a duration of 250 years it was too late subjected to the Dominion of the West-Saxons when it had long endured all the outrage and misery that the Danish wars could inflict upon it This County has about 68 Parishes ADDITIONS to CHESHIRE AS the County of Chester exceeds most others in the antiquitâ— and Royalty of it's jurisdiction and multitude of it's ancient Gentry so the famous Colony settled in it under the Roman Government has render'd it very considerable for Antiquities Nor had that Subject wanted a due examination or the remains of Antiquity layn so long undiscover'd if most of it's Historians had not been led away with a chain of groundless stories and extravagant conjectures 'T is true Sir Peter Leicester has made due searches into the Records relating to this County especially to Bucklow-Hundred and reported them with great exactness and fidelity but the Roman affairs he has left so entirely untouch'd that 't is plain he either industriously declin'd them as foreign to his business or wanted experience to carry him through that part of history In like manner Sir John Doderidge a man of great learning in his Treatise concerning this County hath exactly stated the ancient and present revenues thereof but was not so diligent in his enquiries concerning the original of the County Palatine as might from a man of his Profession have been reasonably expected However his defect in this point is in a great measure supply'd by what the learned Mr. Harrington has left upon that subject a Gentleman by whose death Learning in general and particularly the Antiquities of this County which he had design'd to illustrate and improve have suffer'd very much a To begin then with Mr. Camden who first observes that this is a County Palatine County Palatine It may be worth our notice that it had this additional title upon the coming over of the Normans At first indeed William the Conquerour gave this Province to Gherbord a Nobleman of Flanders who had only the same title and power as the Officiary Earls amongst the Saxons had enjoy'd the inheritance the Earldom and grandeur of the Tenure being not yet settl'd Afterwards Hugh Lupus son of the Viscount of Auranches a Nephew of William the Conquerour by his sister receiv'd this Earldom from the Conquerour under the greatest and most honourable Tenure that ever was granted to a Subject Totum hunc dedit Comitatum tenendum sibi haeredibus suis ita liberè ad gladium sicut ipse Rex tenebat Angliae coronam The vast extent of the Powers convey'd in this Grant carry'd in them Palatine jurisdiction tho' it is certain that neither Hugh Lupus nor any of his successors were in the Grant it self or any ancient Records stil'd Comites Palatini As to the original of Palatinates in general it is clear that anciently in the decline of the Roman Empire the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the name imports were only officers of the Courts of Princes The term in process of time was restrain'd to those who had the final deteâ—mination of Causes under the King or Emperour And those that exercis d this sovereignty of jurisdiction in any Precinct or Province were call'd Comites Palatini and the place where the jurisdiction was us'd Palatinatus a Palatinate Instances of such personal offices in the Court we may still observe in the Palatine of Hungary and examples of such local authority we have in the Palatinates of the Rhine Durham and Lancaster Whether therefore the ancient Palatines were equal to the Praefecti Praetorio the Curopalatae the Grand Maistres in France or the ancient Chief Justices in England we need not dispute since it is clear that the Comites Palatini as all new-erected Officers titles retain'd many of the powers of the ancient but still had many characters of difference as well as some of resemblance By virtue of this Grant Chester enjoy'd all sovereign jurisdiction within its own precincts and that in so high a degree that the ancient Earls had Parliaments consisting of their own Barons and Tenants and were not oblig'd by the English Acts of Parliament These high and unaccountable jurisdictions were thought necessary upon the Marches and Borders of the Kingdom as investing the Governour of the Provinces with Dictatorial power and enabling them more effectually to subdue the common enemies of the Nation But when the same power that was formerly a good bar against Invaders grew formidable to the Kings themselves Henry 8. restrain'd the sovereignty of the Palatinates and made them not only subordinate to but dependent on the Crown of England And yet after that restraining Statute all Pleas of Lands and Tenements all Contracts arising within this County are and ought to be judicially heard and determin'd within this Shire and not elsewhere and if any determination be made out of it it is void and coram non judice except in cases of Error Foreign-Plea and Foreign Voucher And there is no other crime but Treason that can draw an inhabitant of this County to a Tryal elsewhere This jurisdiction tho' held now in other Counties was most anciently claim'd and enjoy'd by this County of Chester The Palatinate of Lancaster which was the Favourite-Province of the Kings of that House was erected under Edw. 1. and granted by him to Henry the first Duke of Lancaster and even in the Act of
question but this was the very c Dr. Gâ—le gives us a note upon this passage in Ptolemy which must be wrong printed 'T is this Salutarem sinum male MS. Seld. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which ought to be thus pointed Salutatem sinum male MS. c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gabrantovicorum Gâ—bâ—â—â—vâ— a people that liv'd in this neighbourhood n Near this is Bridlington a town famous for John de Bridlington a Monkish Poet d There is no such thing One might as well say as some do that the Caledonian woods are still plentifully stockt with Wild-bears Both these kinds are long since wholly destroy'd in that Kingdom See Sir Robert Sibbald's Nuntius Scoto-Brit part 2. p. 9. whose rhyming prophecies which are altogether ridiculous I have seen o Not far from hence for a great way towards Drifield there was a ditch drawn by the Earls of Holderness to divide the Lands which was call'd Earls-dike But why this small People were call'd Gabrantovici I dare not so much as guess unless perhaps it was deriv'd from Goats which the Britains call'd Gaffran whereof there are not greater numbers in any part of Britain than in this place Nor is this derivation to be lookt upon as absurd seeing the Aegira in Achaia has its name from Goats Nebrodes in Sicily from Deer and Boeotia in Greece from Oxen. The little Promontory that by its bending makes this Bay is commonly call'd Flamborough-head 〈◊〉 but by Saxon Authors Fleam-burg who write that Ida the Saxon who first subdu'd these parts arriv'd here Some think it took its name from a Watch-tower to set out Lights whereby Mariners might discern that Harbour For the Britains still retain the provincial word Flam and the Mariners paint this Creek with a flaming-head in their Sea-Charts Others are of opinion that this name came into England out of Angloen in Denmark the ancient Seat of the Angli for there is a town call'd Flemsburg from which they think the English gave it that name as the Gauls according to Livy nam'd Mediolanum in Italy from the town Mediolanum they had left in Gaul For the little village in this Promontory is call'd Flamborough â—â—â—boâ—â—gh which gives original to another noble family of Constables as they call them which by some are deriv'd from the Lacies â—ables â—â—amboâ—â—gh Constables of Chester p Upon my enquiries in these parts I heard nothing of those Rivers call'd Vipseis â—â—eis which Walter de Heminburgh tells us flow every other year from unknown Springs and with a great and rapid current run by this little Promontory to the Sea However take what William of Newborough who was born there has said of them These famous waters commonly call'd Vipseis spring from the earth at several sources not incessantly but every other year and having made a pretty large current through the lower grounds run into the Sea and when they are dry'd 't is a good sign For the flowing of them is truly said to forbode the misery of an approaching famine q As the Sea winds it self back from hence a thin slip of land like a small tongue when 't is thrust out shoots into the Sea such as the old English call'd File from which the little village Filey takes its name More inward stands Flixton where a Hospital was built in the time of Athelstan for defending Travellers as it is word for word in the * Regiis Archivit Publick Records from Wolves that they should not be devoured by them This shews us that in those times Wolves Wolves infested this tract which now are to be met with in no part of England not so much as in the frontiers of Scotland altho' they are very numerous in that Kingdom This small territory of Holderness was given by William the first to Drugo de Bruerer a Fleming Earls of Albemarle and Holderness Genealogiae Antiquae upon whom also he had bestow'd his niece in marriage but she being poison'd by him and he forc'd to fly for his life was succeeded by Stephen the son of Odo Lord of Albemarle in Normandy descended from the family of the Earls of Champaigne whom William the first who was his nephew by a half sister on the mother's side is said to have made Earl of Albemarle and his posterity retain'd that title in England notwithstanding Albemarle be a place in Normandy He was succeeded by his son William sirnam'd †Le Gross Crassus His only daughter Avis was married to three husbands successively to William Magnavill Earl of Essex to Baldwin de Beton and to William Forts or de Fortibus By this last husband only she had issue William who left also a son William to succeed him His only daughter Avelin being married to Edmund ‖ Gibbosus Crouchback Earl of Lancaster dy'd without children And so as it is said in Meaux-Abbey-book for want of heirs the Earldom of Albemarle and the Honour of Holderness were seized into the King's hands Yet in following ages King Richard the second created Thomas de Woodstock his Uncle and afterwards Edward Plantagenet son to the Duke of York Duke of Albemarle in the life-time of his father Henry the fourth also made his son Thomas Duke of Clarence and Earl of Albemarle which title King Henry the sixth added afterwards as a farther honour to Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick ADDITIONS to the East-riding of YORKSHIRE a NOW we come to the second Division the East-Riding Which Division by Ridings to observe it by the way is nothing but a corruption from the Saxon ÃriHing â—g which consisted of several Hundreds or Wapentakes Nor was it peculiar to this County but formerly common to most of the neighbouring ones as appears by the p. 33. 34 Laws of Edward the Confessor and the â—g 74 â—c Life of King Alfred b The first place we meet with is Mont-ferrant-Castle which ‖ â—â—erar Leland tells us in his time was clearly defaced so that bushes grew where it had formerly stood Of the family de Malo Lacu or as Leland calls them Mawley there were eight successively enjoy'd the estate all Peters but the last of these leaving only two daughters the one was married to Bigot and the other to Salwayne c However the name of Battle-bridge â—â—â—â—e-â—â—â—ge may be us'd for Stanford-bridge in Authors a Traveller will hardly meet with it among the Inhabitants of this Country Our Author seems to have taken it from an Instrument concerning the Translation of St. Oswin since printed in the â—â—m 1. â—4 Monasticon Anglicanum which speaking of this place adds Nunc verò Pons belli dicitur i.e. at present 't is call'd Pons Belli or Battle-bridge d Upon the Derwent lyes Howden â—â—den formerly Hovedene as is plain from several Records in the time of Edward 2. and Edward 3. as also from †â—n MS. Leland's calling the first Canon of the place John Hovedene
raised Edmund Crouchback his younger son to whom he had given the estate and honours of Simon Montfort Earl of Leicester of Robert Ferrars Earl of Derby and of John of Monmouth for rebelling against him to the Earldom of Lancaster Eaâ—â—â—â— Lancastâ—â— giving it in these words The Honour Earldom Castle and the Town of Lancaster with the Cow-pastures and Forests of Wiresdale Lownsdale Newcastle under Lime with the Manour Forest and a Castle of Pickering the Manour of Scaleby the Village of Gomecestre and the Rents of the Town of Huntendon c. after he had lost the Kingdom of Sicily with which the Pope by a ring invested him to no purpose and what expos'd the English to the publick scoff and laughter of the world he caus'd pieces of gold to be coyn'd with this Inscription AIMUNDUS REX SICILIAE 〈…〉 having first chous'd and cully'd the credulous King out of much money upon that account The said Edmund his first wife dying without issue who was the daughter and heir of the Earl of Albemarle 10 Of William de Fortibus Earl c. yet by her last Will made him her heir had by his second wife Blanch of Artois of the 〈…〉 Royal Family of France Thomas and Henry and John who dy'd very young Thomas was the second Earl of Lancaster who married Alice the only daughter and heir of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln she convey'd this and her mother's estate who was of the family of the Long Espee's Earls of Salisbury as likewise her father Henry Lacy had done before with his own Lands in case Alice should dye without issue as indeed it afterwards hapen'd over to the family of Lancaster But this Thomas for his Insolence and disrespect to his Prince Edward the second and for imbroiling the State was at last taken prisoner in the field and beheaded having no issue However his Sentence was afterwards revers'd by Act of Parliament because he was not try'd by his Peers and so his brother Henry succeeded him in his estate and honours He was also enrich'd by his wife Maud daughter and sole heir of Patrick Chaworth and that not only with her own but with great estates in Wales namely of Maurice of London and of Siward from whom she was descended He dying left a son Henry 〈…〉 whom Edward the third rais'd from Earl to a Duke and he was the second of our Nobility that bore the title of Duke But he dy'd without issue-male leaving two daughters Mawd and Blanch between whom the Inheritance was divided Mawd was married to William of Bavaria Earl of Holland Zeland Friseland Hanault and of Leicester too in right of his wife But she dying without issue John of Gaunt so call'd because he was born at Gaunt in Flanders fourth son of Edward the third by marriage with Blanch the other daughter of Henry came to the whole estate And now being equal to many Kings in wealth and created Duke of Lancaster by his father he also obtain'd the Royalties of him The King too advanc'd the County of Lancaster into a Palatinate by this Rescript wherein after he has declar'd the great service he had done his Country both at home and abroad he adds We have granted for us and our heirs to our son aforesaid that he during the term of life shall have within the County of Lancaster his Chancery and his Writs to be issued out under his own Seal belonging to the Office of Chancellor his Justices likewise as well for Pleas of the Crown as for other Pleas relating to Common Law to have cognisance of them and to have power of making all Executions whatsoever by his Writs and Officers And to have all other Liberties and Royalties of what kind soever appertaining to a County Palatine as freely and as fully as the Earl of Chester within the said County is known to have c. Nor was he only Duke of Lancaster but also by marriage with Constantia daughter of Peter King of Castile John of Gaunt K. of Castile for some time bore the title of King of Leon and Castile But by contract he parted with this title and in the 13th of King Richard the second was created by consent of Parliament Duke of Aquitain 11 To have and to hold the same title for term of life of the King of England and Monarch of France but to the general disgust of the inhabitants of the Province of Aquitain who gave it out that their Seigniory was inseparably annext to the Crown of England to the great dissatisfaction of that Country At that time his titles were John son to the King of England Duke of Aquitain and Lancaster Earl of Derby Lincoln and Leicester and high Steward of England After this John Henry de Bullingbroke his son succeeded in the Dutchy of Lancaster 12 Who when he had dispossess'd Richard the second and obtain'd the Kingdom of England he considering that being now King he could not bear the title of Duke of Lancaster and unwilling that the said title should be discontinu'd ordain'd by assent of Parliament that Henry his present son should enjoy the same and be stil'd Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain Lancaster and Cornwall and Earl of Chester and also that the Liberties and Franchises of the Dutchy of Lancaster should remain to his said son sever'd from the Crown of England who having deposed Richard the second obtain'd the Crown and conferr'd this honour upon Heny his son K. Henr. 4. afterwards King of England And that he might entail it upon him and his heirs for ever he had an Act of Parliament made in these words We being unwilling that our said inheritance or its liberties by reason of our now assuming the Royal state and dignity should be any ways chang'd transferr'd diminish'd or impair'd but that our said inheritance with its rights and liberties aforesaid should in the same manner and form condition and state wherein they descended and fell to us and also with all and singular liberties franchises and other privileges commodities and profits whatsoever which our Lord and Father in his life time had and held it withal for term of his life by the grant of the late King Richard be wholly and fully preserv'd continu'd and enjoy'd by us and our heirs specified in the said Charters And by the tenure of these presents we do upon our certain knowledge and with the consent of this our present Parliament grant declare decree and ordain for us and our heirs that as well our Dutchy of Lancaster as all and singular Counties Honours Castles Manours Fees Advowsons Possessions Annuities and Seigniories whatsoever descended to us before the Royal Dignity was obtain'd by us how or in what place soever by right of inheritance in possession or in reversion or other way remain to us and our said heirs specified in the Charters abovesaid after the said manner for ever Afterwards King Henry the fifth by Act
Parliament The Parliament by the same name as it is in England and hath the same absolute Authority It consists of three States of the Lords Spiritual that is the Bishops Abbots and Priors of the Lords Temporal viz. Dukes Marquisses Earls Viscounts and Barons and the Commissioners for the Cities and Buroughs To whom were joyned not long since for every County also two * Delegati Commissioners It is called by the King at pleasure allowing a certain time for notice before it is to sit When they are convened and the causes of their meeting are declared by the King and the Chancellour the Lords Spiritual retire apart and choose eight of the Lords Temporal the Lords Temporal likewise as many out of the Lords Spiritual Then all these together nominate eight of the Knights of the Shires and as many of the Burgesses which all together make 32. and are called Lords of the Articles and with the Chancellor Treasurer Privy-Seal the King's Secretary c. admit or reject all matters that are propos'd to the States after they have been first communicated to the King After they are approved by the whole Assembly of the States they are throughly examined and such as pass by a majority of Votes are presented to the King who by touching them with his Scepter signifies the confirming or vacating of them But if the King dislikes any thing it is first razed out Next to the Parliament is the College of Justice The College of Justice or as they call it the Session which King James 5. instituted An. 1532. after the manner of the Parliament at Paris consisting of a President fourteen Senators seven of the Clergy and as many of the Laity to whom was afterwards added the Chancellor who takes place first and five other Senators three principal Clerks and as many Advocates as the Senators shall think convenient These are to administer justice not according to the rigour of the Law but with reason and equity every day except Sunday and Monday from the first of November to the fifteenth of March and from Trinity Sunday to the first of August All the space between as being the times of sowing and harvest is Vacation and intermission from Suits and matters of Law They give judgment according to Acts of Parliament and where they are defective according to the Civil Law There are besides in every County inferiour Civil Courts wherein the Sheriff or his deputy decides controversies amongst the inhabitants about ejections intrusions damages debts c. from whom upon suspicion of partiality or alliance they appeal sometimes to the Session These Sheriffs are all for the most part hereditary For the Kings of Scotland as well as of England to oblige the better sort of Gentlemen more closely to them by their favours in old time made these Sheriffs hereditary and perpetual But the English Kings soon perceiving the inconveniencies happening thereupon purposely changed them into annual There are Civil Courts held also in the Fiefs of the Crown by their respective Bailiffs to whom the King hath graciously granted Royal privileges as also in free Boroughs and Cities by their Magistrates There are likewise Courts called The Commissariat the highest of which is kept at Edenborough wherein before four Judges actions are pleaded concerning matters relating to Wills the right of Ecclesiastical Benefices Tythes Divorces c. and Ecclesiastical Causes of like nature But in almost all the other parts of the Kingdom there sits but one Judge on these Causes In criminal Causes the King 's Chief Justice holds his Courts generally at Edenborough which Office hath for some time been executed by the Earls of Argyle who depute two or three Counsellors to take cognizance of actions of life and death loss of limbs or of goods and chattels In this Court likewise the Defendant is permitted even in case of High Treason to retain an Advocate to plead for him Moreover in criminal matters Justices are sometimes appointed by the King's Commission for deciding this or that particular cause Also the Sheriffs in their territories and Magistrates in some Boroughs may sit in judgment of Manslaughter in case the Manslayer be apprehended in the space of 24 hours and having found him guilty by a Jury may put him to death But if that time be once overpast the cause is referred to the King's Justice or his Deputies The same privilege also some of the Nobility and Gentry enjoy against Thieves taken within their own Jurisdictions There are likewise who have such Royalties that in criminal causes they may exercise a jurisdiction within their own limits and in some cases recall those that dwell within their own liberties from the King's Justice provided they judge according to Law These matters as having had but a transient view of them I have lightly touched upon What manner of Country Scotland is and what men it breeds Pomponius Mela. as of old that excellent Geographer writ of Britain will in a little time more certainly and evidently be shown since the greatest of Princes hath opened a passage to it which was so long shut up In the Interim I will proceed to the Places which is a subject I am more immediately concern'd in GADENI or LADENI UPon the Ottadini or Northumberland bordered the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gadeni who by the turning of one letter upside down are called in some Copies of Ptolemy Ladeni seated in that Country lying between the mouth of the River Tweed and Edenborough-Frith Joh. Skene de Verborum significatione which is now cantoned into many petty Countries The principal of them are Teifidale Twedale Merch and Lothien in Latin Lodeneium under which general name the Writers of the middle age comprised them all a TEIFIDALE TEifidale that is to say the Valley or Dale by the River d This river divideth that part of the shire properly called Teviotdale into that which lyeth on the South and that which lyeth on the North. Tefy or Teviot lying next to England amongst cliffs of craggy hills and rocks is inhabited by a warlike people who by reason of so frequent encounters between the Scots and English in former ages are always very ready for service and sudden invasions The first place we meet with amongst these is Jedburg a Borough well frequented standing near the confluence of the Tefy and Jed from whence it takes its name and Mailros â—â—â—â—ross a very ancient Monastery wherein in the Church's infancy were Monks of that antient instituion that gave themselves to prayer and with the labour of their hands earn'd their living And more Eastward where the Twede and the Tefy joyn in one stream â—â—â—oâ—â—â—h e The Royalty of this place was transmitted to the town of Iedburgh the chief burgh-royal of the shire Rosburg called also Roxburgh and in antient times Marchidun from its being seated in the Marches where stands a Castle that by its natural situation and tow'red fortifications
honourable the present Earl a great admirer of Antiquity caused to be gilded †See thâ— Adâ—â—â—ionâ— Somewhat farther from the sea stands Fordon Fordoâ— honoured by John de Fordon born here who with great labour and industry compiled the Scotochronicon t The famous Manuscript hereof is in the Library of S. Leonard's College at St. Andrews Theatr. Scotiae p. 21. and to whose studies the modern Scotch Historians are very much indebted But Fordon was much more honour'd in ancient times by St. Palladius's St. Pâ—â—dius reliques formerly as 't is thought deposited here who in the year 431 was appointed by Pope Caelestine Apostle of the Scots i MARR MARR lies farther up from the sea being a large Mediterranean Countrey and running out about 60 miles in length towards the west where it is broadest it swelleth up in mountains except where the rivers Dee Ptolemie's Diva and the Done open themselves a way and make the champagne very fruitful Upon the bank of the Done stands Kildrummy Kildrummy a great ornament to it the ancient seat of the Earls of Marr. Not far off is the residence of the Barons Forbois Barons Forbois or Forbes of a noble and ancient Stock who took this sirname being before called Bois upon the Heir of the Familie's valiantly killing a huge mighty Boar. But at the very mouth of the river are two towns that give a greater ornament to it which from the said mouth called in British Aber borrowing both of them the same name are divided by a little field that lies between The hithermost of them which stands nearer to Dee's mouth is much ennobled by the honour of a Bishoprick which King David the first translated hither from Murthlake a little village also by the Canons fine houses an Hospital for the Poor and a Free-school built by William Elphingston Bishop of this place in the year 1480 and is called New-Aberdene Nâ—w-â—berdâ— Oâ—â—â—â—dene Sâ—â—â—â— The other beyond it named Old-Aberdene very famous for the Salmon taken there * S 〈◊〉 Aâ—â—â—â—â—â— But J. Johnston a native hereof in these verses describes Aberdene thus ABERDONIA Ad Boream porrecta jugis obsessa superbis Inter connatas eminet una Deas Mitior algentes Phoebus sic temperat auras Non aestum ut rabidum frigora nec metuas Foecundo ditat Neptunus gurgite amnes Piscosi gemmis alter adauget opes Candida mens frons laeta hilaris gratissima tellus Hospitibus morum cultus ubique decens Nobilitas antiqua opibus subnixa vetustis Martiaque invicto pectore corda gerens Justitiae domus studiorum mater honoris Ingenio ars certant artibus ingenia Omnia ei cedunt meritos genitricis honores Pingere non ulla Ars ingeniumve valet ABERDENE With circling cliffs her lofty turrets vie And meet her rival sisters of the sky So gentle Phoebus warms the sharper air Nor cold nor heat's extreams her people fear Great Neptune and his sons for fish renown'd With useful floods enrich the fertile ground In one fair current pretious gems are found True hearts and pleasant looks and friendly cheer And honest breeding never fail you here Old their estates old is their noble blood Brave are their souls and scorn to be subdued Here steddy justice keeps her awful seat Wit strives with art and art contends with wit But my great Mother's worth and matchless praise Nor art nor wit can ever hope t' express It is almost incredible what abundance of Salmon there are as well in these rivers as others in Scotland on both sides of the Kingdom a fish unknown to Pliny unless it was the 〈◊〉 Bede â—â—d our 〈◊〉 it is 〈◊〉 it in â—ai◠〈◊〉 â—in Esox of the Rhine but very common and well known in those northern parts of Europe 〈◊〉 Pâ—â—â—ceâ—â—ctions â—â—are having their inside as he says of a bright scarlet colour They breed in Autumn in little rivers and most in shallows where they cover their spawn with sand at which time they are so very poor and lean that they seem to have nothing but bones Of that spawn in the spring following comes a fry of small fish which making towards the sea in a little time grow to their full bigness and then making back again to the rivers they were bred in struggle against the force of the stream and wheresoever any hindrance obstructs their passage with a jerk of their tail a certain leap whence probably their name of * From salio to leap Salmons to the amazement of the spectators they whip over and keep themselves within these rivers till they breed During which time there is a law against taking them that is from the Eighth of September to the First of December Aâ—d it should seem they were reckoned amongst the greatest commodities of Scotland since it hath been provided by law that they should be sold to the English for nought but English Gold But these matters I leave for others As for the Earls of Marr Earls of Marr. In the reign of Alexander the 3d William Earl of Marr is named amongst those who were enemies to the King Whilst David Brus reigned Donald was Earl of Marr and Protector of the Kingdom murdered in his bed before the battle at Dyplin by Edward Balliol and his English Auxiliaries whose daughter Isabella King Robert Brus took to his first wife and had by her Marjorie mother to Robert Stewart King of the Scots Under the same David there is mention made of Thomas Earl of Marr who was banished in the year 1361. And under Robert the 3d of Alexander Stewart Earl of Marr who was slain in the battel at Harley against the Islanders in the year 1411. In K. James the first 's time we read in the Scotochronicon Scotochron lib. 12. cap. 33. Alexander Earl of Marr died in the year 1435. natural son of Alexander Stewart Earl of Buchan son of Robert the second King of Scotland after whom as being a Bastard the King succeeded in the Inheritance John a younger son of King James the 2d afterwards bore this title who being convicted of attempting by Art Magick to take away his Brother's life was bled to death And after him Robert Cockeran was advanced from a * Latomâ— Mason to this dignity by King James the 3d and soon after hang'd by the Nobility From that time it was discontinued till Queen Mary adorn'd her Bastard Brother James with this honour and not long after upon its being found that by ancient right the title of Earl of Marr belong'd to John Lord Ereskin in lieu of Marr she conferr'd upon him the honour and title of Earl of Murray and created John Ereskin a person of ancient Nobility Earl of Marr whose son of the same Christian name now enjoys the dignity and is in both Kingdoms one of his Majesties Privy Council k BVQVHAN WHere now Buquhan in Latin Boghania and Buchania above the River Done extends it self
from the Church as a Feudatory and Vicegerent and obliged his Successors to pay three hundred Marks to the Bishop of that See Yet the most eminent 1 Sir Thomas Hol. Thomas Moor who sacrificed his life to the Pope's Prerogative denies this to be true For he says the Romanists can shew no grant and that they have never demanded the said money nor the Kings of England acknowledged it However with submission to this great man the thing is really otherwise as most clearly appears from the Parliament-Rolls which are evidence incontestable For in a Parliament in Edward the third's Reign the Chancellor of England informs the House That the Pope intended to cite the King of England to a tryal at Rome as well for homage as for the tribute due and payable from England and Ireland and to which King John had bound both himself and his Successors and desired their opinion in it The Bishops required a day to consider of this matter apart as likewise did the Lords and Commons The next day they met again and unanimously voted and declared that forasmuch as neither King John nor any other King whatsoever could put the Kingdom under such a servitude but by the consent and agreement of a Parliament which was never had and farther that since whatsoever he had done in that kind was directly contrary to the Oath which he solemnly took before God at his Coronation if the Pope would insist upon it they were resolved to oppose him with their lives and fortunes to the very utmost of their power Such also as were learned in the law made the Charter of King John to be void and insignificant by that clause of reservation in the end saving to us and our heirs all our rights liberties and regalities But this is out of my road From King John's time the Kings of England were stiled Lords of Ireland till within the memory of our fathers Henry the eighth was declared King of Ireland by the States of that Realm assembled in Parliament the title of Lord seeming not so sacred and venerable to some seditious persons as that of King In the year 1555 when Queen Mary offered the subjection of the Kingdom of England by the hands of her Ambassadors to Pope Paul the fourth this name and title of Kingdom of Ireland was confirmed by the Pope in these word To the praise and glory of Almighty God and his most glorious mother the Virgin Mary to the honour of the whole Court of Heaven and the exaltation of the Catholick Faith We at the humble request of King Philip and Queen Mary made unto us by the advice of our brethren and by virtue of our full Apostolical authority do erect the Kingdom of Ireland and do for ever dignifie and exalt it with the title honours powers rights ensigns prerogatives preferments Royal praeeminencies and such like privileges as other Christian Realms have use and enjoy or may have use and enjoy hereafter Having accidentally found a Catalogue of those English Noble men who went in the first invasion of Ireland and with great valor subdued it to the Crown of England lest I should seem to envy them and their posterity the glory of this atchievment I will here give you them from the Chancery of Ireland for so 't is entitled The Names of such as came with Dermic Mac Morrog into Ireland Richard Strongbow Earl of Pembroke who by Eve the daughter of Morrog the Irish petty King aforesaid had an only daughter who brought to William Mareschall the title of Earl of Pembroke with a fair estate in Ireland and had issue five sons who in order succeeded one another all childless and as many daughters who enriched their husbands Hugh Bigod Earl of Norfolk Guarin Montchensey Gilbert Clare Earl of Glocester William Ferrars Earl of Derby and William Breose with children honours and possessions Robert Fitz-Stephens Harvey de Mont Marish Maurice Prendergest Robert Barr. Meiler Meilerine Maurice Fitz-Girald Redmund nephew to Stephen William Ferrand Miles de Cogan Richard de Cogan Gualter de Ridensford Gualter sons of Maurice Girald Alexander sons of Maurice Girald William Notte Robert Fitz-Bernard Hugh de Lacy. William Fitz-Aldelm William Macarell Hunfrey Bohun Hugh de Gundevill Philip de Hasting Hugh Tirell David Walsh Robert Poer Osbert de Harloter William de Bendenge Adam de Gernez Philip de Breos Griffin Nephew of Stephen Ralph Fitz-Stephen Walter de Barry Philip Walsh Adam de Hereford To whom out of Giraldus Cambrensis may be added John de Curcy Hugh Contilon Redmond Cantimore Edmond Fitz-Hugh Miles of St. Davids and others The Government of the Kingdom of IRELAND SInce Ireland has been subject to the Crown of England the Kings of this Realm have ever sent their Vice-Roys to manage the publick affairs there who at first in their Letters Patents or Commissions Loâ—d Depâ—â—ies of â—â—â—â—and were stilled Keepers of Ireland after that Justices of Ireland or at pleasure Lieutenants and Deputies Their jurisdiction and authority is really large and Royal they make war and peace have power to fill all Magistracies and other Offices except some very few to pardon all crimes but those of high treason and to confer Knighthood c. These Letters Patents when any one enters upon this honourable office are publickly read and after the new Deputy has took a solemn oath of a certain set form for that purpose before the Chancellor the sword which is to be carried before him is delivered into his hands and he is seated in a Chair of state attended by the Chancellor of the Realm the Members of the Privy-Council the Peers and Nobles of the Kingdom the King at Arms a Serjeant at Arms and other Officers of State So that whether we consider his jurisdiction and authority or his train attendance and splendor there is certainly no Vice-roy in Christendom that comes nearer the grandeur and majesty of a King His Council are the Chancellor of the Realm the Treasurer and such others of the Earls Barons and Judges as are of the Privy-Council Orders or degrees iâ— Ireland For Ireland has the same orders and degrees of honour that England has Earls Barons Knights Esquires c. The Courts or Tribunals of IRELAND THE supream Court in Ireland is the Parliament which Parliament at the pleasure of the King of England is either called or dissolved by his Deputy â—as an 〈◊〉 12. and yet in Edward the second 's time it was enacted That Parliaments should be held in Ireland every year 2 Which seemeth yet not to have been effected Here are likewise observed foure Law-terms in the year as in England and five Courts of Justice held 〈◊〉 the a The Court was called The Court of Castle-chamber because it was usually kept in the Castle of Dublin but has never been held since the Court of Star-Chamber was supprest in England Star-Chamber the Chancery King's-Bench Common Pleas and the Exchequer Here are
signifying perhaps the Isles of the Gallicians the English and the rest of the Scots the Western Isles a writer of the last age Hebrides Hebrides but Ethicus an antient Author Beteoricae Giraldus calls them sometimes Inchades and sometimes Leucades Pliny Solinus and Ptolemy Ebudes Scottish or Western Isles Hebudes and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Which names have some consonant affinity with Epâ—dium the Promontory of Britain opposite to them and an Isle among these so named Unless it has this name from the barenness of the soil which yeilds no corn I must confess I can give no reason of it For Solinus writes that the inhabitants thereof know nothing of corn but live wholly upon fish and milk and the word Eb-eid signifies in British fruitless or without fruit The inhabitants take the words of Solinus himself don 't know corn but live upon fish and milk only They are all governed by one King and yet are all severed from one another by a narrow interflow of the sea The King himself has nothing peculiar all things are in common but he is bound to be equitable by certain laws and lest he should break them out of covetousness his extraordinary poverty keeps him strict to the rules of justice having no house or property but being maintained by the publick He is not allowed one woman to himself solely but takes by turns which soever he fancies for the present Uxor Usuâ—ria by which means he lives without desire or indeed hopes of children a The Western Isles lie upon the west-side of Scotland to which crown they belong Their Inhabitants speak the Irish language and they retain the manners customs and habit of the ancient Scots as the Higâ—landers in the continent do These are commonly thought to be b Those who have travelled them reckon them to be above 300. 44 in number but they are really more Pliny reckons them in all thirty and Ptolemy five The first is Recine in Pliny Ricnea in Antoninus Riduna but call'd at this day Racline and I am of opinion Riduna in Antoninus should be read Riclina cl being easily turned into d by a little connexion of the strokes This small isle lies over-against Ireland and was known to the ancients for this its situation between it and Scotland At this day it is only remarkable for the slaughter of the Irish Scots who often were masters of it but at last entirely driven out by the English 2 Under the conduct of Sir William Norris in the year 1575. The next is Epidium which from the name seems to me as well as to that most excellent Geographer G. Mercator to have lain near the promontory and shore of the Epidii 〈◊〉 And seeing Ila a pretty large Island champaign and fruitful lies in this manner I should I must confess take this for Epidium and the Isle of the Epidii for sometimes it is read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 b Those who have travelled them reckon them to be above 300. It 's length is c From north to south it is thought to be some 20 miles long 24 miles its breadth 16. It is so well stock'd with cattle corn and stags that next to Man it was always the chief seat of the Kings of Man as it is of the Mac Conells at this day who have their castle here at Dunyweg d In this Island there is found lead ore It has also several woods bays and loughs 〈◊〉 Between Ila and Scotland lies Jona which Bede calls Hy and Hu given to the Scotch Monks by the Picts for the benefit of the Gospel which they preach'd among them wherein stands a monastery famous for the burial of the Kings of Scotland and the residence of holy men One of the most eminent of them was Columba the Apostle of the Picts from whose Cell this Isle as also the man himself was call'd Columbkill as Bede testifies Here as some say a Bishop's See was erected in Sodore Bâ—hopâ—â—k of Sodore a little village from which all the Isles took the name of Sodorenses being all contain'd within this Diocess e Jona is two miles in length almost from east to west and one in breadth There is found in it Marble of several colours with very beautiful veins The coast is exceeding bad and full of rocks and the tides very violent It has a church considerably large dedicated to St. Columabus which is the Cathedral of the Bishop of the Isles After this we arrive at the Isle Maleos Maleos as Ptolemy calls it now Mula Mula Vide de his G. Buchan which Pliny seems to mention in this passage Reliquarum Mella xxv mill pass amplior proditur i.e. Mella is reported to be 25 miles larger than the rest For so the old Venice Edition has it whereas the common books read it Relinquarum nulla f The Isle of Mull upon the north-east is sâ—arce 4 miles distant from the Morvein a part of the Continent 'T is in length above 24 miles and in breadth almost as many It abounds with wood and deer hath a good road called Polcarf several fresh water loghs and several bays where abundance of herrings are taken The chief Houses are the castle of Dowart a strong hold upon a crag on the sea-side the castle of Lochburg and the castle of Arosse In the Isle there are 7 Parish Churches Then at Hebuda Hebudae the more Eastern now Skie which from hence lies out in great length over-against the coast of Scotland g Skie is about 42 miles in length and in breadth 12 though in some parts but 8. The south part of it is called Slate being divided from the Continent by a narrow Firth The air is temperate and the whole Isle very fertil in corn it abounds also with cows goats swine deer and wild-fowl It has about 10 Parish Churches and the Western Hebuda because it lies westward now called Lewes Lewes the Lordship of Mac-Cloyd which in an old book of Man is term'd Lodhus craggy and mountainous and very thinly inhabited but yet of greater extent than any of the rest divided from Eust Eust by a small * Euripus chanel h Lewes hath its name from a part of it properly so called but by strangers it is called the Long Island being with the Hareis joined to it by a small neck of land some threescore miles in length and in several places 16 broad By aâ—ms of the sea and sounds it is divided into 5 several Counties belonging to 5 several Heretors Barray to the Laird of Barray South-Wijst to the Captain of Clan-Rald North-wijst to Mack-Donald of Sâ—ate the Harais to Mackland of Dunvegan and that which is properly called the Lewes to Seaforth Upon the east-side of the Country are 4 loghs wherein ships of great burthen may ride The rest are all inconsiderable besides Hirth i Of all the Isles about
also Justices of Assize Nisi prius and Oyer and Terminer as in England Justices of Peace in every County to preserve the Peace and the King has his Serjeant at Law his Attorney and his Sollicitor General There are also other Governors besides these to administer justice in the remoter Provinces and that is in Conaugh stilled chief Commissioner is call'd b Since the Country has been well inhabited with English and much more civiliz'd than heretofore the Presidencies of Munster and Conaught were superseded by King Charles II. about the year 1671. President in Munster who have certain of the Gentry and Lawyers to assist them and are all directed by the Lord Deputy As for their Law the Common-law used there is the same with this of ours in England For thus it is in the Records of the Kingdom King Henry the third in the twelfth of his reign sent an order to his Justice in Ireland that he should assemble the Archbishops Bishops Barons and Knights of that Kingdom and make the Charter of King John be read unto them which he did accordingly giving them an oath to observe the laws and customs of England and that they should hold and keep the same 3 Nevertheless the meer Irish did not admit them but retain'd their own Brehon-Laws and lâ—ud Customs And the Kings of England used a connivance therein upon some deep consideration not vouchsafing to communicate the benefit of the English Laws but upon especial grace to especial families or sects namely the O Neales O Conors O Brien O Maloghlins and Mac Murough which were reputed of the blood royal among them So that even the Parliamentary Laws or Statutes of England were of force in Ireland till King Henry the seventh's time For in the tenth year of his reign they were established and confirmed by Act of Parliament in Ireland 4 In the time of Sir Edward Poinings government But since that time they have lived by Acts and Statutes of their own making Besides these civil Magistrates they have also one Military officer named the c There being no War in the Kingdom there is no such Officer Marshal Marshal of Ireland who is serviceable to the State not only in restraining the insolence of soldiers but also in checking the outrage of rebels who are now and then troublesome This office formerly belonged hereditarily to the Lords Morley of England 9 of King John For King John gave them this Office to hold in see of him in these words We have given and granted to John Marshall for his homage and service our Marshalship of Ireland with all appurtenances We have given him likewise for his homage and service the Cantred wherein standeth the town of Kilbunny to have and to hold to him and his heirs of us and our heirs From him it descended in a right line to the Barons of Morley This Marshal has under him * Submaresâ—allum a Provost-Marshal and sometimes more according to the difficulties and exigencies of affairs who exercise their authority by Commission and Instructions under the Great Seal of Ireland But these and all other curiosities of this nature I leave to the diligence of others As for the methods of Justice and Government among the wild Irish I shall take care to insert something in a more proper place when I come to treat of their Mannors and Customs The d See Ware 's Antiquitat Hibern Cap. 3. pag. 11. Division of IRELAND â—â—â—on â—â—â—land IReland from the manners and customs of the Inhabitants is divided into two parts e At present there is no such Div sion or distiâ—ction but the King 's Writ runs through the whole Kingdom and every part of it is now answerable to Law they who reject all Laws and live after a barbarous manner are called the Irishry or wild Irish but those civilized who submit themselves with respect and obedience to the laws are termed the English-Irish and their Country the English Pale for the first English men that came hither set their boundaries in the east and richest part of the Island as taken in for themselves within which compass even at this day some remain uncivilized and pay no deference to the laws whereas some without are as courteous and genteel as one would desire But if we consider it as it was more early this Country from its situation or rather number of its Governors heretofore must be divided into five parts for it was formerly a Pentarchy namely Munster southward Leinster eastward Connaught westward Ulster northward and Meath almost in the middle Which as to civil administration are thus divided into Counties In Munster are the Counties of Kerry f At this day there is no such County as Desmond part of that Territory lying in the County of Kerry and the rest in the County of Cork Desmond Cork Waterford Limerick Tiperary g The County of the Holy-Cross is swallowed up in that of Tiperary with the County of S. Cross in Tiperary In Leinster are the Counties of Kilkenny Caterlough Queen's County King's County Kildare Weishford Dublin In Meath are the Counties of East-Meath West-Meath Longford In Connaught are the Counties of h Instead of this Dr. Holland has put Clare which yet is in the Province of Muâ—ster Twomund Galloway Maio. Slego Letrim Rofcomon In Ulster are the Counties of Louth Cavon Farmanagh Monaghan Armagh Doun Antrim Colran Tir-Oën Tir-Conell or Donegall Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction The Ecclesiastical state of Ireland was antiently managed by the Bishops either consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury or by one another But in the year 1152 as we find it in Philip of Flattesbury Christianus Bishop of Lismore Legat of all Ireland held a very full and honourable Council at Meath where were present the Bishops Abbots Kings Dukes and Elders of Ireland and there by the Apostolical authority with the advice of the Cardinals and the consent of the Bishops Abbots and others met together four Archbishopricks were constituted in Ireland Armagh Dublin Cassil and Tuam The Bishopricks which were under these formerly for some of them have been abolished to feed the greedy humor of ill times others have been confounded or annexed to one another while others again have been translated I do desire to subjoyn here in their true and ancient order from an old Roman Provincial faithfully copied from the Original Under the Archbp. of Armagh Primate of all Ireland are the Bishops of Meath or i Cluanard The Bishop is stiled of Meath Elnamirand Down otherwise Dundalethglass k Clogher Cloghor otherwise Lugundun l Connor is united to Down Conner m Ardagh Ardachad n Rapho Rathbot Rathluc Daln-liguir o Derry or London-Derry Dearrih 4 Holland has added Cloemacniso which ought to be writ Clonmacnois and is now united to Meath as also Dromor and Brefem now Kilmore Under the Archbp. of Dublin are the Bishops of