with Ghosts and Apparitions but what his end was my Author does not mention However the former surprizing Accidents have sufficient confirmation from Mr. Jones and Mr. Bedwell two worthy Ministers in that Country from Mrs. Bâ—wen her self a Woman much praised for her true Piety and Courage From Colonel Wroth Rogers then Governour of Hereford from Mr. Samuel Foley Colonel John Bridges and many other Persons of honesty and reputation Sir Edward Carne descended from a good Family flourishing at Wenny in this County He was bred in Oxford Dr. of the Civil Law and Knighted by Charles V. Emperor of Germany He was dispatcht to Rome by K. Henry VIII to remonstrate to the Pope That if he cited his Master to appear at Rome as he had intelligence was intended that his Highness was not bound by Law to appear This he effectually performed pleading that the Emperor was so powerful at Rome that he could expect no Justice there in the matter of the Divorce Q. Katherine being of the House of Austria Declaring that if the Pope persisted in this arbitrary way the King must appeal from thence to some able men in some indifferent Universities and if this were refused he protested against all Proceedings in that Court as null and void A behaviour that discovered this Gentleman to have as much courage as ability Queen Mary highly prized him and no whit the less for his Cordial appearing for K. Henry in the matter of her Mothers divorce imputing it to the discharge of his Imployment in him who was otherwise a through paced Romanist and whom she afterward sent Ambassador to the Pope After her death he still resided at Rome and by command of Q. Elizabeth had audience of Paul IV. to acquaint him that his Mistriss was advanced to the Crown of England To whom the Pope returned answer That England was a Fee of the Church of Rome and that she could not succeed as being Illegitimate This Pope would allow no Prince to be his Equal but that all should be subject under his Foot Besides he commanded Sir Edward to lay down his Character of Ambassador and under pain of the greater Excommunication and Confiscation of his Goods not to go out of the City of Rome but take upon him the Government of the English Hospital there So that Queen Elizabeth cannot justly be taxed by the Papists for a Schistmatick being thrust from the Church of Rome by the Pope himself so unreasonably treating her Ambassador before she had made any alteration in Religion Though some think the crafty old Knight was well contented with his restraint wherein he died 1561. The County of Glamorgan is the furthest bounds of South-Wales and lying exposed to Foreign Invasions was antiently fortified with 25 strong Castles which Time and Storms have so intirely ruined that the very names of them are almost obliterated It had likewise three Monasteries besides Landass called Neath Margan and Cardiss which fell in the general Whirlwind upon Abbys in the Reign of King Henry VIII This Shire is divided into ten Hundreds wherein are six Market Towns and 118 Parish Churches It gives the Title of Earl to Henry Somerset Duke of Beufort MERIONETH-SHIRE hath Denhigh and Carnarvanshires on the North Montgomery on the East Cardig an shire on the South and the Irish Sea on the West whose raging Waves it is thought have swallowed up great quantities of Land in former Ages The form of the County is like a Welsh Harp though it yields but dull musick to the Inhabitants being the roughest and most barren Shire of all Wales as Giraldus the Welsh Historian acknowledges the Air giving little pleasure unless to those that admire the furious and blusting Winds that roar from the adjacent Hills and Mountains which are so high and yet so near together that it is reported men may discourse from the tops thereof one to another and yet hardly meet in a day's time so that if the Shepherds should fall out in the morning and challenge one another to fight before they can come together the day will be spent and the Heat of their fury abated after they have slept till Morning These Mountains did formerly abound with Wolves which much annoyed the People to prevent which King Edgar Sirnamed the Peaceable imposed a yearly Tribute of 300 Wolves heads upon Ludwall Prince of Wales where by in three years time they were utterly destroyed and now the Hills are covered with Flocks of Sheep which are the only Riches of this County for by reason of the unevenness and rockiness of the Soil the Plow cannot go nor the Corn thrive here though some have causlesly imputed the sacarcity of Grain to the sloth of the People The Inhabitants were formerly the Ordovices already mentioned who by the advantage of these Mountains long defended their Liberties against the Romans and were never wholly subdued till the time of King Edward I. There are only three Market Towns in this Shire Bala near which is a Pool called Pimble Mear or Lin Tegid in Welsh covering near an hundred and Sixty Acres of ground of which it is reported that the Land Floods though never so great do never cause it to rise or swell whilst a blast of Wind will quickly make it mount above its bounds and banks Into the South part of it runs the River Dee with a swift stream and glides through the same without any mixture of its Waters as the People imagine because the Salmon usually taken in Dee is never found in that Pool and on the contrary thâ— Fish called Guiniad bred in that Mear is never seen in the River Dee Delgethe is another Market Town in this Shire of which I know not whether it be worth relating what is known for a Truth 1. That the Walls thereof are three Miles high that is the Mountains which surround it 2. That men come into it over the Water but go out of it under the Water Because they go in over a fair Bridge but the Water falling from a Rock is couveyed in a wooden Trough under which Travellers make shift to pass 3. The Steeple thereof doth grow therein since the Bells if they have more than one hang in a Yew-Tree 4. There are more Ale-houses than Houses for Tenements are divided into two or three Tipling Houses and Barns without Chimneys are used to that purpose Harlech is the last Market Town standing on the Sea-shore cold and barren enough but only of Fowl and Fish having few houses and meanly built Here is a little decayed Chapel and out of use wherein Sir Richard Thimbleby an English Knight lyes buried who for the delight he took in Fishing and Fowling removed his dwelling from a far better Soil Here likewise was erected a strong and beautiful Castle upon an Hill with a double Bulwark walled about commanding the Sea to impede the entrance of all Invaders Near this are two great Inlets into the Sea which People pass over at low VVater
Constantine called the Great the Heir of his well-gotten Empire He Married Helena the Daughter of Coilus a Brittish Prince She is reported to have removed the Pagan Idols out of Jerusalem and to have built a Temple in the place where our Saviour suffered and to have found out the Cross so highly venerated by Antient Writers and the Crib or Manger where Christ was born And they say she was the chief instrument of her Husbands Conversion persuading him to renounce all Superstitious and Idolatrous Worship and to acknowledge one God and Jesus Christ his only Son and incouraging the Christians who had been hid in Caves and Dens from the fury of their Enemies to come forth and freely to exercise their Religion Constantius after two years Reign returning from an expedition against the Picts and Scots fell sick at York being his Imperial Residence About which time his Son Constantine escaping from Gallerius at Rome where he had been left Hostage he by Horses laid on purpose arrived in a short time at York with whose presence his Father was so comforted that sitting up in his Bed he spake thus to him in the presence of his Counsellors Death is not now terrible to me since I am well satisfied that those actions which I have left unaccomplished will be performed by you my Son in whom I doubt not but my name and memory will be preserved I advise thee to govern thy Empire with Impartial Justice protect the Innocent from Oppressors and wipe away all Tears from the Eyes of the Christians for therein I am sure thy happiness will consist To thee therefore I leave my Diadem and their Defence desiring that my faults may be buried with me in my Grave and leaving my virtues if I ever had any to revive and live in thee Having thus said he expired in 306. His Son Constantine the Great succeeded being joyfully proclaimed Emperor by the Brittains being as it is said was born of a Brittish Princess He prosecuted the War his Father had begun against the Caledonians Picts and Brittains in the remote Islands of Scotland He then made War with Maxentius a wicked Usurper Necromancer and Tyrant and being sensible that success depends much upon the blessing of Heaven yet doubting what God to Invocate to his assistance as not yet fully setled in the Christian Faith he devoutly cast up his Eyes to the East and saith Eusebius thereupon the Sign of the Cross or the first Greek Characters of the Name of Christ were visibly presented to his sight the Stars like Letters being so placed that this Sentence might be read in Greek In hoc Vince In this shalt thou overcome which Promise of Victory gave him such incouragement that ingaging the Tyrant Maxentius he utterly defeated his Forces himself being drown'd by the fall of a Bridge into the River Tyber After this Constantine obtained several other Victories and then to compleat his worthy actions he laid the Foundation of the Christians security by bringing them under the protection of Kings and Princes which could never since be shaken though often attempted by several Heathen Emperors his Successors At his Death he divided his large Empire among his three Sons Constantine the Eldest having France Spain part of Germany and Brittain for his Lot After him several other Emperors succeeded without making any great alteration in the Brittish affairs neither were there any considerable Transactions The last of them was Theodosius in the year of Christ 423. about which time the Goths who had faithfully served the Romans about 20 years being disobliged and slighted to revenge their wrongs they chose for their Leader a valiant Goth called Alaricus who proved the scourge of Rome for the Vandals Alans and Suecians joyning with him they began a fierce War in Austria and Hungary increasing their forces into such vast Multitudes that the World stood amazed and trembled at them For soon after two hundred thousand Goths more resorted to them who with these united Forces over-run Thracia Hungary Austria Sclavonia and Dalmatia ruining and destroying all things in so dreadful a manner that it seemed rather the Ravage of Devils than Men. The Roman Empire thus declining they drew their Forces out of Brittain But a while after the Brittains were extreamly distressed by the continual disturbers of their Peace the Scots and Picts therefore they sent their Ambassadors to Rome with their Garments rent and Dust upon their Heads bewailing their most miserable condition and begging Assistance whereupon the Emperour sent a Regiment of Soldiers into Brittain under Gallio who for a while defended them but was soon called back with his Legion into France to secure the Country about Paris At his departure he advised the Brittains to stand upon their Guard and for the future to provide for their own safety and not to depend upon any succours from the Romans who had their hands full of troubles nearer home Thus the Romans after they had commanded in Brittain above five hundred years took their last farewel thereof During their continuance here they have levied so many Companies of stout Brittains for their Wars in Armenia Egypt and other Frontier Countries that they had much dispeopled the Nation Some of these British Souldiers after they were worn out in the Wars had Armorica in France assigned them by Constantine the Great for their good Service in the Wars from whom it was called Little Brittain Unto this Country in the time of Gratian the Emperour was Vrsula the Daughter of Dinoth Regent of Cornwal sent with eleven thousand Virgins who were to have been married to their Countreymen the Brittains but they all perished e're they arrived some being drowned in the Sea by Tempest and the Remainder put to the Sword by the barbarous Huns and Picts because they would not yield to their filthy Lusts The Southern or more Citiliz'd Brittains being extreamly weakned by the Romans exporting so many of their valiant Soldiers and then forsaking them and likewise by Scarcity and Famine their inveterate Foes the Scots and Picts take this unhappy Opportunity to infest them with all manner of Cruelties and Barbarities So that being no longer able to defend and secure themselves they supplicate for Aid from Germany inviting the Jutes Angles and Saxons who then inhabited Jutland Holstein and the Coasts along the River Rhene to come to their Assistance Their proposal was readily embraced and nine thousand of them under the command of two Brethren Hengist and Horsa entred the Land at Ebsfleet in the Isle of Thanet in Kent where they were received with great Joy and entertained with Songs according to the custom of the Brittains who alloted them that Island to inhabit and a while after Vortigern then King of the Brittains allowed Hengist so much Land as he could encompass within a Bull-hide cut out into Thongs wherein he built a Castle which from thence had the Name of Thong-Castle when it was finished Hengist invited the King to see
As to his birth Humfry Lloyd a Welsh Writer affirms that his Mother before Marriage was a Noble Virgin and that his Father for his great knowledge in the Mathematicks and other abstruse Learning was in those ignorant times reputed by the Common People to be a Conjurer and his Son Merlin to be begotten by an Evil Spirit or Male Devil who in the likeness of Men are said to have the Carnal use of Women Many wonderful things are attributed to Merlin as that by his assistance Aurelius Ambrosius erected that stupendous Monument near Salisbury called Stonehenge those vast Stones being brought by Magick Art from Africk into Ireland and from thence to this Plain through the Air. That Vter Pendragon the Brother and Successor of Ambrosius falling in love with the Duke of Cornwall's Wife Merlin by his Necromantick skill made Vter appear to her in the exact form and shape of her Husband Duke Gorlois by which means he enjoyed this fair Lady on whom he begot the renowned King Arthur At the birth of this Vter it is reported a Comet appeared somewhat like the Head of a Dragon whereupon Merlin declared that it presignified the Birth of Vter then new born and from thence he was called Vter Pendragon Others to his honour relate that many of his Predictions were fulfilled as that which runs thus Since Virgin gifts to Maids he gave ' Mongst blessed Saints God will him save This is interpreted to be meant of King John who built several Monasteries for Nuns in divers parts of the Kingdom Another says The sixth shall overthrow the Walls of Ireland and reduce their Countrys into a Kingdom This was thought to be accomplished under King James VI. of Scotland and I. of England who dismantled their Fortresses and Castles which were the Irish Walls and Courts of Justice were set up through all the Land Though the Welsh Proverb contradicts this foreknowledge which says Namyn Dduw nid oes Dewin that is Besides God there is no Diviner Robert Ferrar Bishop of St. David's was made a Martyr in this County He was prefer'd by the Duke of Somerset Lord Protector in the Reign of King Edward VI. a man not unlearned but somewhat indiscreet or rather uncomplying so that he may be said with St. Lawrence to be broyled on both sides being persecuted both by Protestants and Papists Some conceived that his Patron 's fall was his greatest guilt and incouraged his Enemies against him In the Reign of Q. Mary he was sent for and examined about his Faith by Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who told him that the Queen and Parliament had altered Religion and therefore required him to imbrace the same To which he answered That he had taken an Oath never to consent or agree that the Bishop of Rome should have any Jurisdiction in this Realm At which the Bishop of Winchester called him Knave and Forward Fellow and so returned him to Prison again He was afterward examined before Henry Morgan pretended Bishop of St. David's who requiring him to subscribe to several Articles he absolutely refused it or to recent any thing whereupon the sentence of degradation was read against him and he was delivered to the Secular Power by whom he was carried to Carmarthen to be burnt A while before his Execution there came one to visit him who much lamented the painfulness of his death to whom Bishop Ferrar answered If you see me once stir or move in the pains of my burning then never give any credit to the truth of the doctrine which I have formerly taught And he was as good as his word standing so patiently in the midst of the Flames that he never moved holding up the stumps of his Arms till one with a Halbert dasht him on the head whereby he fell down and quietly resigned up his Spirit to God Sir Rice ap Thomas little less than a Prince and called the Flower of the Britains was born in this Shire When the Earl of Richmond afterward King Henry VII landed at Milford Haven with contemptible Forces this Sir Rice with a considerable accession of choice Souldiers joined and marched with him to Bosworth Field where he behaved himself with much Courage and in reward of his good service was made Knight of the Garter He rebuilt Emeline in this County and called it New-castle being one of his Principal Seats and one of the latest Castles in Wales In the fourth of King Henry VIII he conducted 500 Horse to the Siege of Theroene in France Walter Devereux created Earl of Essex by Q. Elizabeth was born in the Town of Carmarthen Being a Martial Man he Articled with the Q. to maintain such a number of Souldiers at his own cost in Ireland and to have the fair Territory of Clandebuy in the Province of Vlster for the Conquering thereof To maintain this Army he sold his fine Inheritance in Essex Over he goes into Ireland with a noble Company of Kindred Friends and Supernumerary Volunteers above the proportion of Souldiers agreed on Sir William Fitz William's Lord Deputy of Ireland doubting he should be Eclipsed by this great Earl solicites the Q. to maintain him in the full power of his Place Hereupon it was ordered that the Earl should have his Commission from this Lord Deputy which with much importunity and long attendance he hardly obtained and that with no higher Title than Governour of Vlster After many attempts not very successfully made in Vlster he was ordered to march to the South of Ireland where he spent much time to little purpose From Munster he was sent back to Vlster where he was forbidden to make use of the Victory he had gotten and soon after his Commission was Vacated and he reduced to be Governour of 300 men He received all these affronts with undaunted constancy Pay days in Ireland came very quick Money out of England very slow his noble Associates began to withdraw common men to mutiny and himself was soon after recalled home He was afterward sent back with the Title of Earl Marshal of Ireland where he fell into a strange Flux not without suspicion of Poyson and died 1576. of his Age 36. His Estate much impaired descended to his Son Robert his body was brought over and buried in Carmarthen His Father and Grandfather died about the same age to which his Son Robert never attained being beheaded by Q. Elizabeth on the Tower Green on Ashwednesday Feb. 25. 1600. Carmarthen-shire hath 28 Rivers and Rivulets is divided into six Hundreds hath six Market Towns 87 Parish Churches and had formerly nine Castles and gives the Title of Marquess to the Lord Osborn eldest Son to the D. of Leeds CARNARVAN-SHIRE hath Merioneth on the South Anglesey divided by the River Menai on the North Denbigh-shire on the East and the Irish Sea on the West from North to South 40 from East to West 20 and in compass 110 miles The Air is sharp and piercing by reason of the high Mountains which may be properly
Grey-hounds as was usual when-ever the King got on Horseback which Grey-hound used to leap upon the King's shoulder and fawn very much upon him but at this time he leaped upon the Duke of Lancaster and fawned upon him as on his Master the Duke asked the King what the Dog meant or intended It is an ill and unhappy Omen to me said the King but a fortunate one to you for he acknowledges you to be King and that you shall Reign in my stead This he said with a presaging mind upon a slight occasion which yet in short time came to pass for K. Richard was deposed and after murdered at Pomfret Castle and the D. of Lancaster advanvanced to the Throne by the name of Henry the 4th This County hath not any River of note within it but near Rudland-Castle is a famous Spring called Holy Well or St. Winifreds Well of which Antiquity gives this Account That St. Winifred a virtuoun Christian Virgin having by her exceeding Beauty inflamed the mind of Carodocus a lustful Prince of this Countrey he attempted to allure her to his pleasure both by large promises and rich gifts but finding he could by no means prevail upon her Chastity at length he resolved to obtain his desires by force and having surprized her in a place of advantage he ravished her weak body notwithstanding the utmost resistance she could make and afterward to prevent her complaints and exclamations he kill'd her and then cut off her head And in that very place saith my Author there suddenly arose a pleasant Spring which continueth to this day running with so strong a Current that the like is not to be found in Christendom Over the head of the Spring there is built a Chapel of Free-stone supported with curious wrought Pillars on the Chancel and Glass-window whereof is painted the Picture of this Virgin and the Story of her suffering and death To this Well Romish Pilgrims resort to this day and others Bathe therein supposing that there is much Virtue in the Water In the bottom of it are many Red Stones which the superstitious People believe are spots of this Lady's blood which all the Water in the Spring can never wash away and that the green Moss which grows on the sides of the Well is her Hair which though every Stranger almost carries away a part of yet they say it never wasts and the truth is the Moss smells exceeding sweet which confirms these weak Believers in their fond Opinion St. Beno the Instructor of St. Winifred in the Christian Faith is of special account is this Countrey who it seems was a Surgeon to a Miracle for after Winifred was beheaded by the lustful Carodocus he set her head on again she living 15 years after In the South part of this County divided from the rest is a place formerly called Bovium now Banchor or Bangor first a City and afterward a famous Monastery antiently very renowned for the pious Monks that resided there they being called by some Authors The College of Divine Philosophers and Bangor the Mother or first of all the Monasteries in the World the Foundation thereof being ascribed to King Luctus it was situated in the fruitful Valley now called The English Mailor upon the Bank of the River Dee being incompassed with a great Wall containing a Mile and a half of ground two of whose Gates Port Hogen to the North and Port Clais South are yet discernable the River Dee which hath since changed its course now running through the midst betwixt both Gates which stand 500 paces asunder This Monastery in memory of the 7 Churches of Asia was divided into 7 Classes or Wards every one consisting of about 300 Souls and all maintaining themselves by the labour of their hands They are said to have received their Christianity from the Eastern Church dissenting in their Rites and Doctrines from that in the West neither would they acknowledg that the Bishop of Rome had any authority over them in matters of Religion or the service of God They continued 438 years before Austin the Monk came to pervert them by introducing Roman Ceremonies Superstition and Servitude Many of these Monks assembled at Caer Legion now West-Chester to pray for the good success of their Friends the Britains against the Heathen Saxons and continuing three days in Fasting and Prayer Ethilfrid the Saxon King seeing them so fervent in their Devotions askt what kind of People they were and being told that they prayed against him and his Army Then said he though they carry no weapons yet they fight against us and with their Prayers and Preaching prosecute us and presently fell upon Brockmall a man at arms that was their Guard who to save his own life left their's to the Sword and the Souldiers assaulting the unarmed Monks murthered 2000 of them and likewise defeated the Army of the Britains only 50 escaping But God left not their deaths long unrevenged for this cruel King was soon after kill'd in the Field by the Christian King Edwyn who succeeded him in the Kingdom of Northumberland Many of these Monks were buried in their own Monastery whose bodies saith Leyland the Historian have been found in the memory of man among the rotten Weeds wherein they were slain This famous place hath been long since utterly ruinated so that scarce the remains of a City or Monastery are now to be discerned Another Monastery called Llan Elwy formerly stood in the Vale below Varis a little City built by the Romans between this and Denbigh-shire upon the Banks of Elwy and Cluyd The English named it Asaph of the Founder a Person of honourable birth who was educated by Kentigern Bishop of Glasco This Bishop in the year 560. flying from the Persecution in Scotland to this place erected it into a Bishop's See and built a Monastery near it wherein he placed 663 Monks whereof 300 that were more unlearned than the rest were imploy'd in Husbandry and other business about the Convent the rest devoted themselves to Prayer and Divine Meditation Among the rest who attended Divine Service Asaph was conspicuous for Piety and Learning insomuch that Kentigern being recalled to his own Country resigned both his Convent and Cathedral to him Here he demeaned himself with so much sanctity that Llan Elwy was after his death called from him St. Asaph He was an assiduous Preacher having oft this saying That such as are against the Preaching of God's Word envy man's Salvation He is thought to have died about 569. After which his See was vacant above 500 years until Jeffery of Monmouth was placed therein It is still a Bishoprick and contains in it no one whole County but part of Denbigh Flint Montgomery Merioneth and some Towns in Shropshire wherein are 121 Parishes It was not at first very rich but made much poorer in the Reign of King Edward VI. for whereas the Bishop had before five Episcopal Houses he hath now but one the rest with the