THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^■AESf^-: ;,ii|^M| TMOMT^lS PewwawtEii m TOURS IN WALES, BY THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ; ■^Ititp ^jidii*. f «(«(, anil iupms jfnilts, BV THE EDITOR, JOHN KHYS, M.A. PROFESSOR OF CELTIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: TO WHICH IS ADDED, An Accoxmt of the Fire Roycd Trihes of Camlrio, and of the Fiftcea Tribes of Korth Wales, and their Representatives, with their Anns, as givciiin Pe'iinant's History of IVhitiford and Hohmell. VOL. I. CAERNARVON: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY H. HUMPHREYS. 1883. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE AUTHOE, REFERRING TO THE FIRST PART. X HESE home-travels are the first part of an account of my own country. They make of themselves a complete tour of the tamer parts of our country. In a future volume, the wild and romantic scenery will be presented, intermixed with the rich valleys so frequently interspersed. To which will be added an Appendix, containing the subjects referred to in this volume, with variety of other matter. I implore the aid of my countrymen to assist me in the attempt; and to favor me with the necessary materials. They will see, that great part of Denhighshire, and all parts of the four remaining counties of our principality, are still to be described. My frequent journeys through them, render me a tolerable master of their topography. I look up to my friends for history and anecdote latent among their papers; or references to our writers, least any facts lodged in books might escape my memory. Among the gentlemen I am chiefly indebted to for in- formation respecting the present work, I cannot pass un- thanked, Philip YoRKE Esq; o^ Erddig''; John Mytton Esq; oi IIalston\; Thomas Mostyn Esq; of the house of Trelacre^' ; * This mark denotes those who have died since the publication of the last edition of this Tour. Ed. t Now deceased. 8707G3 vi. ADVERTISEMENT. Peter Davies Esq; oi Brougliton; Kenrick Eyton Esq; of Eytonf; Paul Panton Esq; of BagiW'; Lloyd Kenyon Esq; of Gredington"'; Mr. Eoger Kenyon, of Cefur; To Onven Brereton Esq"; I owe the loan of the curious antiquities found in his estate near Flint, which are engraven in the plates v. and vi. To the reverend Richard Williams, of F^vn, I am highly obliged for his poetical translations, marked R. W., and for the elegant version of the ode on Owe)i Glyndwr, to which that mark is omitted. To the late Richard Morris Esq; of the navy office, I owed much general information. Mr. Hawker''^ of the custom house, Chester, favored me with a particular account of the commerce of that city. The reverend Mr. Edwards'", rector of Llanfeclian, favored me with some excellent accounts of the parishes of Oswestry, SeUaiyn, and Hope. I received several historical facts respecting the parish of Whittington, from the reverend Mr. Roberts''', rec- tor of the parish. The reverend John Price, public librarian, and the reverend John Jones, fellow of Jesus college, Oxford, were indefatigable in furnishing me with extracts from the manuscripts of the university. " The loss I sustained in 1793, by the death of the " reverend John Lloyd, rector of Caerivys, my worthy " and constant attendant in all my excursions, was most " severely felt and most sincerely lamented. None ADVERTISEMENT. vii. " equalled him for variety of information, which his great " knowledge of our antient language qualified him to " give to my singular instruction; and which I grieve to '' express with posthumous gratitude. " In a great degree (for I must avoid flattering the " Hving) I found an alleviation of my loss in the acquain- " tance of the reverend Henry Parry, a cheerful and " amiable companion, endowed with much knowledge of " the history of our country, and with much classical " reading. I speak with gratitude of the goodness of our " worthy prelate in attending to my recommendation of " Mr. Parry to the vicarage of Llanasaph, one, who by " his mirthful turn, and innocent conviviality, often " soothed the waning evenmg of my life'"." Mr. WiLKiNSONt, painter in Chester, obliged me with many materials relative to that city. To Mr. CALVERLYt, land surveyor of the same city, I owe some elegant plans, which will appear in a future volume. The drawings marked Moses Griffith, are the per- formances of a worthy servant whom I keep for that pur- pose. The candid will excuse any little imperfections they may find in them; as they are the works of an un- taught genius, drawn from the most remote and obscure parts of North Wales. Those that wish to anticipate the views in the intended progress I am to make through the remaining counties, may satisfy themselves by the pur- * This additional paragraph was probably written by Mr. Pennant in 1798, the year in which his valuable life terminated. The prelate to whom he ex- presses his obligation was the amiable Lewis Bagot. Ed. viii. ADVEETISEMENT. chase of the late pubUcations of the admh-able Mr. Paul Sandby, in whose labours fidelity and elegance are united. Downing, THOMAS PENNANT. Febi'uari/ 1, 1778. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE AUTHOR, REFERRING TO THE SECOND PART. XHIS journey is the continuation of my TouR in Wales. Another part will appear with all convenient speed, and comprehend the remainder of Caernarvon- shire, the Isle of Anglesey, the county of Montgomery^ and conclude with some account of Shrewsbury, the antient seat of the British princes; which will complete the second volume, and probably all that I shall say of our principality; for indolence, the forerunner of age, begins to check every new attempt. This book contains a journey from my own house to the summit of Snoivdon, and takes in almost the whole of our Alpine tract. As far as the title announces, it is complete. A more general title-page will be given with the second part, and the journey continued regularly from p. 191. I THANK my friends for variety of information, and must present my particular acknowledgements to Sir John Sebright, baronet, for his liberal communication of several of the late Mr. Edward Llwyd's manuscripts, whicli have flung great light on several parts of our history. Downing, THOMAS PENNANT. March \, 1781. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE EDITOR. -Ol-FTER an Interval of more than thirty years from the time of its first publication, a new edition of Mr. Pennant'^ Tour in Wales is now offered to the world, with some ad- ditions by its lamented and admirable author. To these are subjoined a few notes, chiefly indicative of the changes which have occurred during that period. More might, and more perhaps ought to have been added, but the Editor was unwilling to swell these volumes by his own observa- tions: he has reason to hope that a much abler writer will, at no distant period, favor the public with an ample account of those parts of Wales which were unvisited by Mr. Pennant, of those few objects which might have es- caj^ed his notice, and of the vast improvements which have of late years taken ^^lace in the principality. The Editor feels it a duty to state, that he has taken the Uberty of omitting a few passages which he was satis- fied the author, from his known candour and regard for ac- curacy, would have expunged; he has also, with the ut- most diffidence, made a few verbal alterations, where the same epithet may have twice occurred, or. a sentence have been carelessly constructed, from the rapidity with which X. ADVERTISEMENT. Mr. Pennant composed whatever he wrote. In other respects the origmal Tour has been faithfully reprinted. The engravings are after the drawings of the same inge- nious artist, the untaught Moses Griffith, whose pencil embellished Mr. Pennant's, various publications. It is hoped that the form in which this work is now given will render it of still more general utility, and lead to the more extended reputation of him who is now, alas ! insensible to all mortal praise, of Him whose superior ta- lents were ever dedicated to the amusement, the instruc- tion, the service of his fellow -creatures ! May 10, mo. THE EDITOR. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE EDITOR TO THE PRESENT EDITION. During one of those happy holidays I spent in the neigh- bourhood of Snowdon three years ago, Mr. Hum^plweys called on me with the proposal to republish Pennant's Tours in Wales: this he was going to do if I consented to see it through the press. Partly from a wish to know Pennant's Tours more thoroughly than I did, partly owing to my ignorance as to the amount of work it im- plied, and not a little also to the skilful manner in which Mr. Humphreys laid the matter before me, I promised to do what I could to aid him in his highly creditable undertaking. The enterprising spirit with which he is known to enter into all questions that concern our Welsh public requires no word of praise from me, but I must do him the justice of stating that in this instance the pro- posal was his, both in substance and in form; for he had definitely come to the conclusion that the edition of 1810 w^as the one to be reproduced, and in this he seems to me to have been perfectly right. It is true that it did not see the light till after Pennant's, death, but it is to be re- membered that it was brought out under the superin- tendence of the author's son, David Pennant, than whom xii. ADVERTISEMENT. no one knew his father's wishes and views more inti- mately, and no one could have been more honestly con- cerned that nothing was done in any way prejudicial to his father's reputation as a man of letters. In point of fact, his text was carefully adhered to, with some tri- fling exceptions, described in the "advertisement of the editor." David Pennant''?, concern lest his father's text should be tampered with, or stuffed with matter not his own, is touched upon in the excellent sketch oi Pennant' & life, which follows this advertisement, and the evidence is very explicitly given in Appendix No* xxvii: it consists of an account by the historian of PemhroJceshire, Richard Fenton, as to how it came to pass, that he was not permitted to publish "a new edition of Mr. Pennanf^ North Wa/es," which he ''had contracted with Messrs. Longman & Co. and Mr. White, to superin- tend and enlarge to the bulk of another volume." I can- didly confess, that, though no blame is due to Benton, I thoroughly sympathize with David Pennant's view of the question, and it will be found that I have acted accor- dingly; not that I could wish anybody to suppose that I have ever fancied myself possessed of the omniscience ne- cessary to enable one, so to say, to post Pennant's Tours in Wales up to date. Were any such an attempt to be made, the result could not be called Pennant's work: it would be something very different and probably very inferior. So not only has it been my endeavour scrupu- lously to keep to the text and notes of the 1810 edition, not even excepting the errors in Pennant's Welsh, but the ADVERTISEMENT. xiii. notes now admitted will be found such as in no way to overburden the work. What Pennant wrote deserves to be given as he meant it to be, and I cannot help calling to the reader's mind Dr. Johnson's, description of him: "Pennant has greater variety of inquiry than almost any man, and has told us more than perhaps one in ten thousand could have done in the time he took. He has not said what he was to tell, so you cannot find fault with him for what he has not told." In the course of publication many kind friends came forward to offer me the benefit of then advice and other aid: I wish to thank them all most cordially. Unfortu- nately the space at my disposal does not permit of my enumerating them, but I could not pass over the two fol- lowing names : — Mr. 0. B. Davies very kindly permitted me and Mr. Trevor Parkins to have the loan of a very valuable interleaved copy of the Tours, which is in his possession and contains a variety of interesting docu- ments, including Mr. Fenton's statement already referred to. But I am chiefly indebted to Mr. Trevor Parkins, whose willing aid has been of prime importance to me, though I have failed to overcome his modesty so far as to get permission to insert his name on the title- page. Besides numerous suggestions of various kinds, I have to thank him for a goodly number of brief and lucid notes, a most succinct and useful sketch of Pennant's life, and a very welcome introduction to the "Koyal and Noble Tribes" of Wales, the account of which has been printed in Appendix No. xxvili. at full length, xiv. ADVERTISEMENT. from an Appendix to Pennant's History of Whiteford and Holywell. It was thought advisable to introduce it into the edition of the Tours on account of the Author's frequent allusions to the tribes. Their history is a very difficult and interesting question : I quite agree with Mr. Trevor Parkins as to the impossibility of accepting Robert Vaughan's account of them, and also as to the comparative lateness and patched nature of the arrangement in which they are presented to us; but, if I might venture to devote a few words to this subject here, I should distinguish carefully between the five Royal Tribes and the fifteen tribes of North Wales. The former present but little difficulty : G. ap Cynan repre- sents Gwynedd, R. ap Teiodwr, Delieuharth, and B. ap Cjjnfyn, Powys, while Ethelystan Glodrydd and Jestyn ap Givrgant represent the districts which had long been more or less completely under English dominion. The fifteen tribes of North Wales, or rather of Gwynedd, as they are more correctly called, seem to have absolutely nothing to do with the foregoing, and the words of Mr. Trevor Parkins about them are very significant, when he says — "The fifteen tribes belong exclusively to North Wales. They are principally found in Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, and in those parts of Denhighshi7'e and Flintshire which did not belong to Powis. Their distri- bution is exceedingly irregular, but there seems to be something local in their arrangement Many difficulties will be explained if the tribes are beheved to have been constituted subsequently to the reign of Owain ADVERTISEMENT. xv. Givynedd, in the last years of national independence, and to have been limited to the districts which remained unconquered." Granting this date, or even a later one, there are reasons which incline me to think that even then we only find the arrangement extant of the tribes more easily intelligible, while the question of the real origin must as, Mr. Trevor Parkins observes, be looked upon as obscure. I should be disposed to put it back into the prehistoric times when the inhabitants of Givynedd were still Goidels, and had a tribal system differing from that of their neighbours the Ordovices of Poivys, who were a Brythonic people and the introductors of the Brytlionic language into Wales. In thinking so, I am chiefly influenced by the fact that the fifteen tribes belonged to Givynedd, and that the most probable mean- ing of that name is a collection of tribes, or, if I may sa term it, tribedom; for it seems to be nearly related to the Irish term fine, a sept or clan. This word may be presumed to have been in early times — nominative Vene- dos, genitive Venedotos, the former being now, in point of form, Givynedd, and the latter Gwyndod, which we find in the Latinized form of Venedotis on an ancient inscribed stone at Fenmachno, near Bettws y Coed, in Caernarvon- shire. The whole inscription, which is unique, runs thus, and takes us back to the Gth or the 5th century: — Can- Tioiii[x] Hic Iacit Venedotis Cive[s] Fuit Consobrino[s] Mag LI Magistrati, that is to say, Cantiori[_x] lies here : he was a citizen of Venedot and cousin to Maglos the Magi- strate. What is meant by saying that a man was cives or xvi. ADVERTISEMENT. citizen of Venedot or Gwijndod, is not easy to answer; but I venture to think, as there seems to have never been a town of that name, that a citizen of Venedot simply meant that he was one who held a distinguished position in the tribedom of Gwijnedd. With this application of the word cives, compare the difficulty which ancient writers seem to have experienced in the choice of Greek or Latin terms to describe the political or social system of other non- Brythonic races in Britain : I allude to Pausanias calling a people invaded by the Brigantes, revowia Moipa, that is to say, the ancestors probably of the Picts of Gallowaij; and Adamnan, who, writing about the end of the seventh century of a people dwelling somewhere on the mainland opposite Shje, terms them Geona Coliors. Lest these remarks should exhaust the reader's pa- tience, and more than exhaust my space, I close them by telling him that the notes emanating from Mr. Trevor Parkins, and the writer of these lines, are marked T.P.'"" and J. R. respectively, while those signed W. have been contributed by Mr. Williams, the author of a work on Metalliferous Mines in Flintshire. The other notes are copied from the 1810 edition, being Pennant's own, or else the editor's, in which case they are marked Ed. as they came from him. Juhj 2, 1SS3. JOHN KHYS. * In his note p. 46, vol. i. Srd Hue, read cruor, instead of emor; and in that on p. 141, same vol., Gth line, read wall, instead of well. A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR, BY W. TREVOR PARKINS, ESQUIRE. Many of the materials for a Life of Pennant can be col- lected from his works. In these he has described the long series of his literary labours, the friends and the as- sociates by whom he was assisted, and the history of his family, of which he was unquestionably very proud. But thouo^h he has related his career as an author, it did not enter into his purpose to be his own biographer. There are many important circumstances in his life which he has failed to notice, or noticed only incidentally. And it is difficult, now that so long a time has elapsed, to obtain the additional information which is necessary to com- plete the narrative he has left imperfect. Thomas Pennant, the eldest son of David Pennant and Arabella Mytton, was born at Downing in the parish of Whiteford, near Holywell in Flintshire, on the 14th of June, 1726. His father, who had succeeded to Downing two years before under the will of a distant relative, was the son and heh' of Peter Pennant, the owner of an ad- joining estate in the same parish, called Bychton, where the ancient family he represented had long been resident. VOL. I. h xviii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. In the History of Whiteford there is a full account of the origin of the Pennants. Early in the twelfth century Madoc ap Meiler, tenth in descent from the great patri- arch Tudor Trevor, settled down at BycJiton on his mar- riage with Alice, the heiress of that place. His posterity continued there; and, when surnames began to be gene- ral, they adopted that of Pennant, which described the situation of their residence at the upper end of a consi- derable dingle. David ap Tudor, the first of the family who assumed the name of Pennant, was the first also who was married to an Englishwoman. His wife was Anne, daugh- ter of John Done, of Utkinton, a Cheshire gentleman, and there was a numerous progeny of their marriage. Rees, the eldest of the sons, retained the antient patrimony in Wliiteford, while Thomas, who was the second, entered the abbey of Basing werh, and subsequently became the abbot. He filled that position with great credit, and his hospitality and munificence are highly praised by Gut- tun Owain, a very celebrated bard. After having en- larged and beautified the abbey, he quitted his profession, and became what was called a monk deraigne, relieved from the vows he had taken, and allowed to marry. He availed himself of this dispensation ; and, having married, he became the ancestor of the Pennants of Bagillt, Holy- ivell, and Penrhyn. The history of the line of Bychton apjDears to have been similar to that of many other families in Wales. For many generations it remained stationary, and neither in- creased nor diminished its possessions. The prosperity of THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xlx. William Pennant , who was a goldsmith and jeweller at Queen's Head in Smithjield, and the friend of Sir Hugh Myddelton, did not permanently benefit his relatives; as the fruits of his industry were dissipated by a spend- thrift, who died very fortunately before the paternal estate was ruined. In the Civil Wars the Pennants were active Royalists. Major Hugh Pennant was particularly distinguished for his services, and his elder brother, David, was an officer in the garrison of Denbigh when that town was besieged and taken, after a protracted re- sistance, by the forces of the Parhament, After the taking of Denbigh, this gallant gentleman underwent a long imprisonment, but the estate of Bychton escaped with a moderate composition for "delinquency," and was shortly afterwards materially augmented by the for- tunate marriage of his son, who was also David, with Catherine, the heiress of John Pennant of Holywell. Peter, the son of this marriage, and the grandfather of Thomas Pennant, survived till 1736. His grandson has described him as living in great hospitality at Bychton , Like Sterne's celebrated hero, he had seen service in Flan- ders with the army, in the reign of Anne; but in conse- quence of a quarrel with his colonel, Sir Thomas Prender- gast, who refused to meet him in a duel, he resigned his commission, and withdrew to Wales. David, the eldest son of this jovial and warlike personage, was not bred to a profession. He succeeded to Downing in 1724, on the death of Thomas Pennant, the last survivor of a younger branch of the family, which during four generations had XX. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. been possessed of that estate. He married six months afterwards, and it is probable that the name of his cele- brated son was intended by David Pennant to denote his gratitude to his benefactor. Pennant invariably speaks of his father with affection and respect, he says that, though his education had in some degree been neglected, he was "abnormis sapiens'^ and "of the best of hearts." But it was his "good and re- ligious mother" who appears to have been the object of his tenderest attachment. She was the third daughter of Richard Mijtton of Halston, the representative of an old and highly honourable family, whose ancient patri- mony has unfortunately been squandered by the reckless extravagance of a late descendant. Like many of the best families in England, the Myttons in the Civil War had sided with the Parliament, and the great-grandfa- ther of Arabella Mytton, a very able and successful general, commanded the forces which besieged and cap- tured Denhigh when David Pennant, her husband's an- cestor, was an officer in the garrison. Her mother was Arabella, the eldest daughter of Sir John Houblon, Loi-d Mayor of London in 1695, Lord of the Admiralty in the reign of William the third, and the first Governor of the Bank of England. This eminent citizen, who is still re- membered, was interred in the Church of St. Christoi^her le Stocks, which stood on the site of a portion of the present buildings of the Bank. It was pulled down in 1781, and Pennant has complained with great bitterness, in his History of London, of the way in which the burial place THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxi. where his mother and his sister had been deposited, with many of their kindred, was rudely desecrated. His strong affection for his mother extended to her family, and Pennant'^ intercourse with these relatives had a considerable influence on his character. William Myt- ton, one of his uncles, was a learned and zealous antiquary, whose researches Pennant has made use of, and whose example was an encouragement to him in his own similar pursuits; while another of his uncles, James Mytton, was the kind friend of his youth, with whom he tells us that he lived long, and whose good sense, good heart, and polished manners, he has warmly praised. David Pennant and his wife appear to have had three other children besides Thomas; a son John, who was more than a year younger than his brother, and who probably died in infancy; and two daughters Sarah and Catherine, who were twins, and born in 1729. They subsequently lived in St. James\ Westminster, and died unmarried. Sarah, who died in 1780, was first buried with her mo- ther in the Church of St. Christopher le Storks, and when that building was pulled down, their bodies were removed to Hadley Church, near Enjield, where Catherine Pennant, who survived her sister until 1797, was also buried. Of Pennant's early life there is Httle to relate. He mentions that, in accordance with an ancient custom, he was put out to nurse at a neighbouring farm-house, and that his foster-parents, who were persons of great respectability, were fond of their office, which was looked upon as an especial honour. This custom, which xxii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. once was general in Wales, has long since become obsolete; and probably not many later instances of it can be found. Unquestionably it had some advantages. It helped to strengthen the attachment with which the gentry were regarded, and it facilitated their acquisition of the language of their countrymen, a matter of much social and no little political importance. As a gentleman of family and position, Pennant was all his life accustomed to the society of persons of rank and fortune. But his inter- course with the poor commenced in his early childhoody and he always shews himself to be practically acquainted with the wants, and disposed to sympathize with the hardships, of the humblest classes of the community. While still a child he had an attack of the small pox, and his illness, though mild in form, was rendered danger- ous by unskilful treatment. This terrible disease, to which Pennant'^, mother subsequently fell a victim, had been shown by the celebrated Dr. Sydenham to be best treated by a cool regimen, and thousands of lives are said to have been sacrificed by the neglect of his instructions. At the age of twelve, a present of Willoughhys Orni- thology, which was made him by his relation Richard Salisbury, the father of Mrs. Thrale, had a powerful effect on the mind of Pennant. And he has attributed to this circumstance the commencement of a love for Natural History, which never left him, and which determined the whole course of his subsequent career. He was first sent to a school at Wrexham, where the Eev. W. Leivis was his first instructor. The epitaph of THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxiii. this worthy man, which, is printed in the Tour in WaleSj is extremely elegant, and expresses the highest praise in short and unaffected words. From this school Pennant is said to have been removed to Fulliam. I fail to dis- cover how long he stayed there, or who it was that taught him. But as he has mentioned that much of his time, when a boy, was spent at Hadley, near Enjield Chase, where his uncle, the Rev. John Pennant, was the rector, it is not unlikely that some portion of his educa- tion was superintended by that gentleman, who appears to have been well fitted for the task, and who unquestion- ably possessed in a very high degree the esteem and the affection of his nephew. During this portion of his life he appears to have been a good deal in London. He was with his mother when she died there in Aj^rnl 1744, and took a tender leave of him on her deathbed. On the 7th of March in that year he entered the University of Ox- ford, and matriculated at Queen's College as a commoner. Nothing more than the fact of his matriculation is recor- ded in the books of that college; and he appears to have left Oxford, without taking a degree, after some years of residence. It is impossible to ascertain the reason why he did not become a graduate, but his studies were probably not neglected there, as his works shew him to deserve the praise of being a good Latin scholar. In 1746, during his residence at the University, Pen- nant made a tour as far as Cornwall, where Dr. Borlase, the celebrated historian of that interesting county, gave him a kind reception, and encouraged him in a strong xxiv. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. taste wliicli he had acquhed for the study of minerals and fossils. In the discussions with regard to Cromlechs^ Dr. Borlase was the first writer who estabhshed their sepulchral character; and Pennant was fortunate in ob- taining, at so early a period of his life, the friendship of this worthy man and enlightened antiquarian. The union of the two estates of Downing and Bycliton had considerably increased the importance of his family, and on leaving the University, Pennant was able, as the heir of a gentleman of some fortune, to dispense with the labours of a profession, and to devote himself to his fa- vourite pursuits. He wrote occasionally in the Philoso- phical Transactions, and a short paper, being part of a letter written by him to his uncle James Mytton, descri- bing an earthquake which was felt at Doivning in April 1750, appears to have been the first of his printed wri- tings. The shock of this earthquake was violent, and as it happened at night. Pennant was greatly alarmed by it. He subsequently felt three other earthquakes at Doivning^ the effects of which he has described in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, containing some ingenious observations, which will be found in the History of Whiteford. In 1754, he became a Fellow of the Society of Anti- quarians, and made an extensive tour in Ireland; of which however he kept no diary, being hindered, as it seems, from doing so by the attractions of the hospitahty he experienced. And in the year following he began a correspondence with Linnwus, which was continued for many years, until the age and infirmities of the great na- THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxv. turalist obliged him to withdraw from it. In 1757, at the instance of Linnceus, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Upsala, which he has himself spoken of as the first and the greatest of all his literary honours. He married in 1759 Elizabeth, the daughter of James Falconer, Esq., of Chester: an amiable woman with whom he tells us that he vainly thought his happiness would be permanent. He settled down at Whiteford on his mar- riage, and in 1761 he served the office of High Sheriff of Flintshire, in the lifetime of his Father. But the study of Natural History still continued to be his principal occupa- tion, and his work on British Zoology was commenced by him about that year. His father died in 1763, and in the summer of 1764 Pennant found himself a wi- dower. His great work was now drawing towards com- pletion, but the publication was delayed in consequence of a tour on the continent, which he made in the early part of 1765. In the course of this tour he became per- sonally acquainted with Bivffon, whom he visited at his country seat in Burgundy, and with Dr. Pallas, a cele- brated Dutch naturalist, whose character he admked, and whose friendship he very highly valued. He also, while on this tour, paid a visit to Voltaire at Ferney, and he has given an account of that philosopher's conversation; which was extremely witty and amusing, until it began to be disfigured by the frightful oaths and curses which he poured out in great variety, when he endeavoured to exhibit his acquaintance with the English language. The British Zoology appeared in a large folio volume xxvi. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. on the return of Pennant from his continental tour. Tiie profits of the work were intended to be given to the Welsh school in Gray's Inn Lane. But, as might have been anticipated, the expense exceeded the calculation, and Pennant was a considerable loser by this his first and most magnificent publication. His reputation however was established. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. And his great work was shortly afterwards republished in two quarto volumes, and with greater pecuniary success. Tlius changed in form it went through several editions; and it was subsequently completed by two supplemental vo- lumes, which appeared in 1769 and 1777. A History of British Quadrupeds, which came out in 1771, was another proof of the untiring industry of Pennant. This was a favourite work of his, and he lived to superintend two subsequent editions. Honours continued to be paid him. In May 1771, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University of Oxford, in full Convocation ; when a lauda- tory speech was made by Mr. Foster, who presented him to the V^ice Chancellor. This mark of public approbation was a sufiicient testimony that his great merits were appreciated, and that he had secured himself a place in the foremost ranks of his contemporaries. It may furnish matter for surprise that Pennant should have attached a a higher value to the title he had received from d^ foreign Society. But the early compliments of Linnceus were at least as flattering as the language of the Oxford orator. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxvii. They were paid him at a time when his abihties were un- recognized by the world, and when praise and encourage- ment were more novel, and consequently more gratifying. The progress of a century has necessarily caused the Zoological works of Pennant to be superseded by more recent publications; but his name like those oi Buffon and Linnceus, will always be associated with the History of his favourite science, and he was now fortunately led by circumstances to commence a long series of works of another character, the interest of which has proved to be more permanent. In 1771 he published, in a single volume, under the title of a Tour in Scotland, the description of a journey which he had made two years before. The circumstances under which this journey was commenced, are described by him in his preface. And it is evident from the book itself, even if he had not said so, that it was Zoology that sent him on his travels. The manner in which Pennant^ s journeys were performed, and the descriptions of them written, is nowhere so apparent as in this Tour in Scotland ; and for this reason a short account of it may be not uninteresting. This journey, which, accordmg to his usual custom. Pennant made on horseback, occupied him a little less than three months, three weeks of which were spent in England. Setting out from Chester on the 26th o^ June, he rode that day a distance of 72 miles, as far as Chester- Jield. Passing through Lincoln, which he has briefly noticed, he went on to Spalding. He observed many of xxviii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. the birds for which the Fen country is so celebrated; and then returning to Lincoln he crossed the Humber, and reached Burton Constable, eight miles beyond Hull, on the evening of the fourth day from Chester. After staying a few days at Burton Constable, Pennant resumed his journey, and, travelling more leisurely, arrived at Berwich in a fortnight. While in Yorkshire he kept along the coast, apparently that he might observe the sea birds that frequent the cliffs of Flamhorough, and in order that he might visit Scarho7'ough, where he has described the fisheries. His account of Durham is extremely meagre. And m Northumberland the principal incidents of his tour are, a visit to Alnivich castle, which caused the famous quarrel, described by Boswell, between the Bishop of Dromore and Dr. Johnson; and an excursion which he made to Bamborough, and to the Farn Isles, where he found the eider ducks then sitting, and enumerated a great variety of sea fowl. From Berwich, Pennant, keeping along the coast, proceeded to Dunbar. Zoology was still his principal attraction, and he paid a visit to the Bass Pock, in the Frith of Firth, the celebrated resort of the Solan geese, on his way from Dunbar to Edinburgh. Pennant stayed for a week at the Scotch metropolis. He inspected the town, and described many of the buildings; and he made several excursions into the neighbourhood, especi- ally to Newbottle and to Dalkeith; in both of these houses he found many pictures, which, according to his custom* he has fully noticed. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxix. Zoology now ceased to occupy an undue share of his attention, and the interest of his tour consequently increases. Having left Edinburgh he crossed the Firth at Queens Ferry, and landing in Fife, passed on by Loch Leven to Perth; and there turned into the Highlands, which at that time were very little known, and seldom visited by Englishmen. He penetrated this interesting district as far as Taymouth, and, after visiting Blair Athole, and traversing the pass of Killicrankie, he stayed with Mr. Farquha7^son, at Invercaidd, and from there made his way to Aberdeen. In the further prosecution of his journey, Pennant, travelling along the coast from Aber- deen, arrived at the extremity of the island. From John OGroat's House he retraced his steps to Inverness, and then crossed over to Fort William, and proceeded to GlasgoiD, after visiting Inverary and Loch Lomond. From Glasgow he went on to Edinburgh, and "after a few days experience of the same hospitality" he had met with in the Highlands, he took the road through Moffatt and Lockerby to Carlisle, and, accomplishing his journey from Edinburgh in five days, finally reached Doivning on the 22nd of September. In describing the districts which he travelled through. Pennant has particularly observed the birds and the animals, as well as the plants and the forests, which he saw. He has noticed the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and called attention to the superstitions still existing among the Highlanders, and to the social changes which the abolition of the feudal authority of the chief- XXX. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. tains had then recently effected. He was unquestionably an acute observer, and, though travelhng rapidly through a country before unknown to him, he may sometimes have fallen into mistakes himself, and sometimes been misled by his informants, his general accuracy is remarkable. His narrative is founded on his daily journal of his progress, but he has skilfully interwoven into his own observations a variety of historical information, and many well told anecdotes, which enhance the interest of his book. As a gentleman of fortune, he travelled with all the means at his command which could facilitate his enquiries; and in each locality that he visited, his reputa- tion as a writer procured him the ready aid of the intelligent and the learned. He has candidly acknow- ledged his obligations to many persons who supplied him with information, and it is obvious that the circumstances under which he wrote were flivourable. But the skill with which Pennant has made use of the materials he collected was his own. He was able to distinguish what was suitable for his narrative, and, from whatever source it came to him, to set it before his readers to the best possible advantage. The Tour in Scotland was received with great favour by the public. The first edition was quickly sold, and the second edition as speedily in the year following. Pennant was induced by this success to undertake another journey into Scotland in 1772. The experience which he gained during this second tour enabled him to make many additions and corrections in the description of THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxxi. the first, -whicli he inserted in a third edition in 1774. This edition contains a new and valuable appendix, and new plates, most of them from drawings made by Moses Griffith, a self taught artist whom he had taken into his service, and who attended him on all his journeys with the exception of the first. On his second journey into Scotland he was accompanied by two gentlemen, one of whom, the E-ev. J. Lightfoot, was an accomplished botanist, and the author of the Flora Scotica, an elaborate work in two volumes, which was published in 1777, at a considerable expense, by Pennant. Setting out again from Chester on this occasion, Pennant with his companions approached Scotland on the west, and passing along the coast of Lancashire and Cumberland to Carlisle, proceeded leisurely from Carlisle to Glasgoio. It is impossible to follow them on their progress. But a description of this second tour in Scotland, which included a Voyage to the Hebrides, appeared in two volumes in 1774 and 1775, and is a work of equal merit with the volume which des- cribed the first. And in 1780 a volume by the Rev. C. Cordiner, Episcopal Minister at Banff, entitled Antiqui- ties and Scenery of the North of Scotland, and intended to complete what Pennant had left unfinished, was published at his expense, and may be looked upon as a useful sup- plement to the Scotch Tou7's. During this period of his life, Pennant tells us that he was possessed with an active love of travelHng. In 1774 he visited the isle of Man in company with several of his friends, among whom were Grose, and the Kev. Hugh xxxii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. Davies. But his journal on this occasion, and the materi- als which he had collected, were unfortunately lost about a year afterwards, and he was unable to execute his in- tention of giving an account of that island to the public. His love of travelling continued for some years down to the time of his second marriage. And he made a variety of tours in England and in Wales, almost all of them on horseback, and travelling in the same manner as he did in Scotland, and with the same eager spirit of curiosity. He kept regular joui'nals of these tours; some of which still exist in manuscrij^t, and others he prepared for the press, and either published them himself or left them ready for publication. The three tours in Wales were undertaken in 1773 and 1776, and his account of them was brought out slowly and by degrees; the first volume appearing in 1778, and the other volume, which was issued in two parts, and comprised both the second tour entitled a Journey to Snoivdon, and the third tour, following it after a long interval in 1781. A new edition of the first volume with several additions and corrections was printed in 1783, and the two volumes were published to- gether as one work, under the title of a Tou7' in Wales, in 1784. And thus finally completed, they in a great measure assumed the character of a description of North Wales and the adjacent borders. This work may be looked upon as his best performance. It differs in its construction from his earlier Tours, which retain much of their original character of a daily journal. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOE. xxxiii. and it is superior to them as a well ordered narrative, being written and put together with greater care and skill. In travelling through his native country, Pennant had the advantage of a previous acquaintance with most parts of it. The history and the traditions of the places which he visited were familiar to him. He spoke the lan- guage of the people, and he was personally well known to many of the leading gentry, and consequently able to ob- tain more easily much valuable information. It is certain that he spared no labour to ensure correctness; and the friends and correspondents, whose names he has enumera- ted, largely aided him by their communications. He has particularly acknowledged his obligations to the Tie v. John Lloyd, Rector of Caenvis, who accompanied him in all his journeys through Wales, and rendered him the most useful assistance, without which, to borrow his own language, many things might have escaped him, and many errors crept into his labours. In 1777, after having been a widower for many years, Pennant married his second wife, who was Ann, the sis- ter of his friend and neighbour Sir Roger Mostyn. And after this marriage, which was a very happy one, his love of travelling considerably diminished. But he still con- tinued, with the same industry as before, to superintend fresh editions of the books he had already published, and to bring out others. Natural History was not deserted by him, and his work on Arctic Zoology, which appeared in 1785, was received with favour and speedily translated into German, and the introduction to it, under the title VOL. I. c xxxiv. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. of Le Nord du Globe, was also translated into French. But his activity was versatile: and his Journey from Chester to London, which first appeared in 1782, as well as his History of London, which he published in 1790, and which he tells us "was composed from the observations of perhaps half a life," were both of them very popular, and went through a number of editions. The most remarkable oi Pennant's many books appeared in 1793, and was entitled in order, as he expresses it, to announce "the termmation of his authorial existence," The Literary Life of the late Thomas Pennant, by Himself In this he has recounted with considerable detail the in- dustry of his past years, and enumerated his published and unpubhshed works. He has introduced many inter- esting notices of his literary associates; and, though unfortunately more reticent than we might have wished with regard to his own domestic circumstances, he has re- lated at full length the complete liistory of his writings. An account of the Patagonians, addressed to the Ho- nourable Daines Barrington, the author of Observations on the more Antient Statutes, and a friend of Pennant, is printed in the Appendix to the Literary Life; where are also placed a number of papers written at different times, and treating of a variety of subjects, some of them of a local character, and some political and social. In the Literary Life he represents himself as still occu- pied with the preparation of new editions of works al- ready published, but resolved for the future not again to be an author. Such a resolution was not likely to be *• THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOE. xxxv. persisted in; and in 1796, he gave to the world his His- tory of Whiteford and Holywell, which he had finished before the end of the preceding year. This work of his old age is one of the most entertaining of his books. It describes the places with which he had been all his life acquainted, and it contains many curious and instructive anecdotes, and a variety of information with respect to the former members of the Pennant family. The name of his native parish, to which he has given such celebrity, is commonly written, as it is pronounced, Whitford, And his mode of writing it, which is here necessarily followed, appears to be founded on a mistaken derivation. The circumstance is itself a very trifling one, but it is perhaps useful to remember that the science of language is now better understood than it was formerly, and that the opinion of Pennant, a writer of the last cen- tury, is not to be accepted as conclusive in disputed ques- tions of etymology. The History of Whiteford and Holywell was produced under melancholy circumstances. The loss of his youngest daughter, which he has feelingly lamented, is said to have given him a shock from which his spirits never completely recovered. He suffered severely from an accident which long confined him to his room. And he felt very deeply the death of his brother-in-law. Sir Roger Mostyn, which deprived him of a near neighbour, and a highly valued and very early friend. In addition to these domestic misfortunes, we are told by his son that "the melancholy situation of public affairs. xxxvi. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. and the progress of Gallic barbarism which threatened to overturn all institutions, social and sacred," weighed heavily on Pennant's mind. He was now 72, and his health visibly gave way. But his love for travels was unabated, and early in 1798, he brought out A Vieiu of Hindoostan in two volumes, being a small portion of a vast imaginary tour which he had planned and executed under the ambitious title of Outlines of the Globe. This was the last publication he superintended, and after a painful ill- ness borne with exemplary resignation, his life of amazing activity came to an end, on the 16th of the December following, at Downing, where it had begun. Two more volumes of the Outlines of the Globe compre- hending China, Jajxin, New Holland, and the Archipe- lago of the Indian Ocean, were published in 1800 by hi& eldest son David Pennant, who has prefixed to the first volume an afiectionate account of the last years of his father's life, and who subsequently caused the minor tours, from Downing to Alston Moor, from Alston Moor to Harrogate, and from London to the Isle of Wight, to be given to the world. In accordance mth Pennant's own wish, that the journals of his other tours should not be- published, they remain in manuscript, along with the numerous volumes of the Outlines of the Globe, which if they stood alone would be a noble monument of his industry. A complete list of all the works he has printed would occupy too great a length, but a sufiicient number has been men- tioned to justify the astonishment he expresses at the mul- tiplicity of his publications. He had various duties to THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxxvii. discharge, which, he confidently asserts were not neglected, ''as father of a family, landlord of a small but numerous te- nantry/and a not inactive magistrate," and in addition to these serious cares, he boasts that in the midst of his reigning pursuits he never neglected the company of his convivial friends, or shunned the society of the gay world. But though his lively disposition made him an agree- able companion, his prudence taught him to avoid excess, and his temperance through life was uniform. To this, and to the riding exercise of his extensive tours, as well as to his excellent constitution, he owed the large share of health which he enjoyed. He was of fair complexion, slightly above the middle height, and his features are pourtayed by the two pictures taken at different periods of his life which are preserved at Downing. In the first of these he is represented as a young man in a Vandyke dress, and wearing his own hair. The artist was a Mr. Willis, who subsequently became a clergyman, and an en- graving of this picture is placed at the commencement of the edition of the Tours in Wales published in 1810. The other picture was painted in 1776, when Pennant was 50 years old, and a successful author, and is well known by the engraving of it prefixed to his Literary Life, a copy of which appears as a frontispiece to this volume. In this admirable picture Gainsborough seems to have completely understood the character of the man who stood before him, and he has delineated him as a high bred gentleman, not unconscious of his own importance, and gifted with a calm and penetrating intelligence. xxxviii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. Dr. Johnson, when praising Pennant as a traveller, has- strongly denounced him as a Whig. And in his Tours in Scotland he certainly showed himself a zealous supporter of the HarioveHan dynasty. His family seems to have been. Jacobite one, but he may have acquired his political no- tions from liis mother's relations, or from his uncle the Bev. John Pennant, who was chaplain to the Princess of Wales. He was however, above all things, a strong lover of the Constitution. In 1779, at a period when the influ- ence of the Crown was supposed to have exceeded its due bounds, he took part in a petition from Flintshire, which was directed against the government of Lord North. Wliile a few years later he condemned the factious pro- ceedings of the Coalition government; and at the general election in 1784 he published a Letter from a Welsh Free- holder to his Representative, written just before the disso- lution of ParHament on the 25th of March, in which he strongly condemned the opposition to Mr. Pitt, and de- nounced the unconstitutional provisions of Mr. Foxs cele- brated India Bill. From this time he continued a steady adherent of the government, and in 1792 he took a lead- ing part in the formation of an association of the inhabi- tants of Holyivell and Whiteford, and the adjoining pa- rishes in Flintshire, for the support of the established institutions of the country, which then he thought were violently threatened. An account of this Loyal Associa- tion will be found in the Appendix to the Literary Life, and Pennant designates it as his last and best work. Pennant had four children. By his marriage with Eli- THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xxxix. zabeth Falconer, he had David, who succeeded him at Downing, and Arahella, who married Edward Hanmer, Esq., of Stockgrove. By his marriage with his second wife, Ann Mostyn, who survived him, he had a daughter, Sarah, who died at the early age of fourteen to the great grief of her parents, and a son, Thomas, who became the rector of Weston Turville in Buchinghamshire. The rev. Thomas Pennant who died in 1846, at the age of 65, mar- ried Cay^oUne, daughter of Thomas Griffith, Esq. of Rhual, but left no children by his marriage. David Pennant, who succeeded at Downing, inherited his father's love for literature, and a large share of his ability. He was appointed the sole executor of his fa- ther's will, and one of the guardians of Thomas, his younger brother. He brought out the various works which were published after the death of Peimant; and, as has been already mentioned, he either edited himself, or superintended new editions of several of the Tours. He published in 1810, the Tours in Wales in three 8vo. vol- umes, with short and very judicious notes. In this edition the text as settled by Pennant in 1784, is carefully adhered to, with some trifling alterations; but an improvement in the arrangement of the work is effected by the transfer to the Appendix of the account of Owen Glyndwr, which originally formed a portion of the first Tour. A proposal to publish an enlarged edition of the Tours in Wales, with additional matter by Fenton, the author of the History of Pembrokeshire, had been previously made to David Pennant by some London booksellers, and failed xl. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. to be carried out in consequence of his very sensible ob- jections. He appears to have clearly understood that his father's work was valuable in the form in which he had written it, and that no attempt to overlay it with fresh matter could possibly be successful. If the Tours in Wales had purported to be a full description of the districts which Pennant traversed, it might have been desirable to supply the deficiencies in his narrative; but as they are only a record of the observations of a traveller, who has design- edly selected for himself the objects which he thought lit to notice, and much of their merit depends upon the con- ciseness of the language, the judgment of David Pen- nant, — who of all men in the world was most intimately acquainted with the views and the wishes of his father, — was certainly correct, and he deserves to be commended for resisting the importunities of the Booksellers. David Pennant, who unfortunately perhaps was a col- lector rather than an author, gave evidence of his taste and research by a magnificent edition of his father's Lon- don, which he printed in 1819 in eight folio volumes, en- titled Some Account of London, hy Thomas Pennant, Esq. Illustrated hi) his Son, David Pennant, Esq. This accomplished gentleman, whose name deserves to be remembered along with that of his celebrated father, married Louisa, daughter of Sir Henry Peyton, and died in 1841 at the age of 77, having survived his only child David Pennant, who died in 1835. David Pennant, junior, was twice married. By his first wife. Lady Caroline Spencer Churchill, only daughter THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xli. of the fourth Duke of Marlborough, he had a daughter, Caroline, who died at the age of eight; and by his second wife, La,dy Emma Bricdcnel, daughter of the sixth Earl of Cardigan, he had another daughter, Louisa, who suc- ceeded to her grandfather. Louisa Pennant, the last descendant of Thomas Pen- nant, married in 1846 Viscount Feilding, the present Earl o^ Denbigh, and died on the 1st of May 1853, at the early age of twenty four. She had no children; and at her death. Downing, and a large portion of the estates, which she was able to devise, became the property of her husband; while the remainder of the estates, passed, under the will of David Pennant, to a relation of his mother, Mr. Philip Pennant Pearson, who has assumed the name of the antient family which allied itself with his own. Pennant was fortunate in his friends. In the Literary Life, and the History of Whiteford, he has described many of the number, some of them men of eminence themselves, and some, like Moses Griffith, and his French valet Lewis Gould, only known in consequence of their con- nection with him. Most of them preceded him to the grave. And his Will, which he executed in the last year of his life, contains a variety of legacies given, in testimony of his regard, to those who were then surviving. It also contains gifts of several annuities, and a bequest of £200 to trustees for the son and daughter of Moses Griffith; and the following passages, in which these provisions are contained, will be read with interest : — xlii. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOE. "I give and devise unto Anne King, of Richmond, late servant to James Mijtton esquire, one annuity or clear yearly rent or sum of ten pounds and ten shillings: and I give, demise, and bequeath unto John Williams, my late agent, and his assigns, for and during the term of his natural life, one annuity or clearly yearly rent of twenty pounds : and to Edward Jones, my agent, and his assigns, for and during the term of his natural life, one annuity or clearly yearly rent or sum of twenty pounds. "I give and bequeath to William Myddelton of the Middle Temple , Esquire, and the Honorable Daines Barrington, the sum of ten guineas each. To Philip Yorke, senior, of Erddig, Esquire, the like sum. To Lady {Amelia) Lloyd, of Pengwern, the like sum. To Mrs. Harvard, of Holywell, the said Paul Panton, Thomas Tliomas, Esq. of Downing, the Eeverend John Foulhes, of Mertyn, the Eeverend Hugh Davies, of Aher, Mr. George Paton, of the Customhouse, Edinhurg, and Mr. Pialph Richard- son, of Llanerchymor , the sum of five guineas each, for them to purchase some memorial of my esteem. And also, three guineas for the same purpose to the Eeverend Robert Williams, late Curate of Whitford. To the Eeverend Henry Parry, of Holywell, I bequeath twenty pounds. I also bequeath to each servant living with me at my decease, one year's wages over and above what may be due to them respectively. The be- fore mentioned legacies to be paid at the expiration of six months after my decease. " I give and bequeath unto my son David Pennant, and the Eeverend John Foulkes, Vicar of Whitford, and the survivor of them, and the executors and administrators of such survivor, the sum of two hundred pounds. Upon trust that my said trustees David Pennant and John Foulkes and the survivor of them, and the executors or administrators of such Survivor, do and shall dispose of and lay out the same for promoting or putting to business Moses the son, and Margaret the daughter of Moses Griffith, of the parish of Whitford, painter, or otherwise to be employed for the use of the said Moses the son, and Margaret the daughter, at any period of their lives." THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. xliii. In his affection for his patron, Moses Griffith had de- cUined many offers of situations that were much more hicrative, and he continued for about 50 years in the em- ployment of Pennant and his son. He had a pension from David Pennant, when he became incapacitated to follow his vocation; and a small annuity was also granted to his widow. He died at Wliiteford in 1819, and his services are commemorated by the following epitaph on his tomb- stone, which was written by David Pennant. "IN MEMORY OF Moses Griffith, an ingenious self-taught Artist, who accompanied Thomas Peiinant, the Historian, in his Tours, whose works he illustrated by his faithful Pencil. died November 11th, 1819, Aged 72." Time, which levels all distinctions, frequently reverses the relative inaportance of the dead. And this humble man of genius, who was paid the wages of a servant, is ^n object of greater interest to us than any of the associates of Peimant. His " faithful pencil " has preserved many things, which, without it, would have been lost. The stranger who visits Whiteford will be struck with the changes that have taken place. He will find Bychton turned mto a cottage, and a large portion of the ancient house pulled down; while Downing has been enlarged and considerably altered; and he must turn again to the xliv. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. drawings of Moses Griffith to understand clearly what was seen and described by Pennant. As a writer on Natural History, Pennant has been highly praised for the happy facility he possessed of in- teresting his readers in matters which, in other hands* would have been dull and technical. "His character," says one of his admirers, who was himself a naturaUst, ''was one of rare occurence, uniting the greatest applica- tion with the most disinterested love of literature; for he held a station in society, which rendered him above the daily duties of professional authorship. Whatever he touched, he beautified; either by the elegance of his dic- tion, the historic illustrations he introduced, or the popu- lar charm he gave to things well known before." If he is regarded as a traveller. Pennant's superiority is unquestionable. It may be admitted that in some of his ivorks he has borrowed too copiously from books; and that the Journey to London, and the Tours which were pub- lished posthumously, fall considerably short of the high excellence of the Tours in Wales-, and that even in this, which is his most perfect work, the third part is not equal to the other two. It may be admitted also, that he has sometimes been led into inaccuracies; and in par- ticular that, with regard to the history of architecture, his knowledge was not greater than that of his contempora- ries. But when these, and all other reasonable admissions, have been made, his reputation will remain the same. A discriminating judgment will recognize the extent THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOE. xlv, and the variety of his merits. He exhibits an active curiosity. He observes more than most men; and he describes whatever he observes with an accuracy and terseness, which those who have followed him and tested the correctness of his descriptions for themselves, will best be able to appreciate. He avoids fine writing, and his style is clear and unpretending. He is almost always free from vanity, and he never fatigues his reader by talking unnecessarily about himself He is diligent in his search for information, and he knows where to look for it. He avails himself of the observations of former travellers, and discovers what is worthy to be repeated in the dry notes of Leland and the rambling itinerary of Giraldus. He abounds in anecdotes, which are always pertinent, and he never spoils them by the telling. He is an antiquary, who is not dull; a man of learning, who is acquainted with the world; and a writer, who is scarely ever tedious, because he knows, by a sort of instinct, when it is desirable that he should leave off. These are merits which he pos- sesses, and they justify the praise of Dr. Johnson, who has called Pennant the best traveller he ever read. In compiling this account, I have endeavoured, as far as I was able, to do justice to a writer who is, in his own line at least, of the highest excellence, and to pay honour to a Welsh gentleman, whose great abilities were success- fully employed to illustrate the history of his country. It only remains for me to thank those persons who have kindly assisted me in what I have attempted. And particularly xlvi. THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR. to express my many obligations to the Earl and Countess of Denbigh; Mr. F. P. Pennant of Nantllys; the Rev. T. Z. Davies, vicar of Whiteford; Mr. and Mrs. Storey, the present occupiers of Downing; Mr. E. G. Salisbury; and to that worthy, and most obliging, antiquary, Mr. Tho- mas Hughes, F.S.A., of Chester. m ITINERARY. VOLUME I. PART I. Page. Downing 5 Basingwerk 31 Holywell 40 Flint 56 Halkin 96 Northop 108 Hawarden 116 Chester 139 Farndoa 258 Holt 259 Bangor 285 Overton 289 EUesmere 294 Whittington 306 Oswestry 316 Sellatyn 335 Chirk 343 Llangollen 359 Rhiwabon 365 Gresford 387 Marchwiel 393 Llangollen 394 Llandysilio ibid. VOL. IL Page Valle Crucis 2 Bwlch y Ehiw Velen . . 11 Llandegla 14 Llanarmon 17 Llanferres 27 Mold 31 Caergwrle 46 Kilken 58 Caerwys 76 PART II. Downing 1 05 Newmarket 107 Llanasaph 108 Prestatyn Ill Diserth 112 Rhuddlan 116 St. Asaph 127 Tremeirchion 134 Bodfari 138 Denbigh 151 Henllan 170 Llansannan 173 Gwytherin 174 Denbigh 178 xlviii. ITINERARY. Llanrhaiadr Ruthin Llanrutli Corwen Cynwyd Llandrillo Llandderfel Bala . - Kerrig y Druidion Llanuwchllyn . . Llan y Mowdd^ry INIallwyd . . . . Dolgelleu . Cader Idris Towyn Tal y Llyn Llanelltyd . . Cymmer abbey . . Pistill Cain Castell Prysor . Barmouth . . Corsegydol Drws Arduddwy Cwm Bychan . . Harlech Llyn Tegwyn . . Tan y Bwlch . . Festiniog . . Llyn Conwy Yspytty . . . , Falls of the Conwy Bettws y Coed . . Pont y Pair .... Dolwyddelan castle Page. 178 181 187 195 198 200 201 204 211 215 219 224 230 231 238 240 244 245 248 250 253 261 265 267 274 232 283 285 288 ibid. 290 292 ibid. 293 Pago. Rhaiadr y Wenol . . . , 296 Llanrwst 300 Trefriw 306 Snowdonia Llyn Geirionydd . . . . 307 Capel Curig 311 GlyderBach 312 Llyn Ogwen 313 Cwm Idwal . . ... 314 Glyder Fawr 317 Llyn y Cwn 318 Nant Beris . , . . . . ibid. Snowdon 323 Gorphwysfa 338 Cwm Dyli ibid. Llyn Dyli , . . 33^ Llyn Llydaw ibid, Ffynnon Las ibid, Nant Gwynan 341 Dinas Emris 34^ Bedd Kelert 344 Llyn Cawellyn 348 y Dywarchen . . . . ibid. Drws y Coed 349' Bedd Kelert 350- Pont Aberglas Lyn . . . . ibid. Traeth Mawr 355 Penmorfa . . . . . . . . 358 Crickaeth 363 Pwllheli 365 Aberdaron 368 Bardseye isle 369 Nefyn 377 Tre'r Caeri 38 i ITINERARY. xHx. Page. Clynnog 384 Dinas Dinlle 389 Caernarvon 391 VOL. III. Anglesey 1 Newborough . ibid. Llanddwyn 5 Aberifraw 7 Llanidan 8 Tre'r Dryw . 10 Moel y Don 15 Porthaethwy . 22 Beaumaris 25 Priestholm Isle 37 Plasgwyn . 41 Llan Jestyn . 43 Penmynnydd 48 Tregarnedd 49 Parys Mountain . 55 Amlwch 64 The Skerries . 66 Holyhead 69 Llantrissant . 75 Bangor . 77 Penrhyn castle ... . 84 Llandegai . 95 Carnedd Llewelyn . . . 100 Carnedd Dafydd . 102 Aber . 105 Penmaenmawr . 107 VOL. I. Page. Conwy 116 CaerHen 129 Bodscallan 131 Llandudno 141 Llandrillo 1 45 Abergeleu 147 Rhuddlan 156 PART III. Downing 159 Ruthin 160 Corwen . . 161 Milltir Gerrig ibid. Llangynog 162 Pennant Melangell . . . 163 Pistill Rhaiadr 167 Llanfyllin 168 Meifod 169 Mathrafal 172 Cregynnog 174 Newtown 178 Carno 1 82 Llandinam 183 Llanidlos 184 Bettws 186 Chirbury 189 Montgomery 190 Powys castle 197 Welsh Pool 202 Llanymynach 204 Shrawardine 213 Shrewsbury 218 Longor 248 Caer Caradoc 255 d LIST OF PLATES. VOL. I. I. Portrait of Thomas Pennant, Esq. before the title II. MaEN ACHWYNFAN III. TheWhiflf IV. St. Wknefrrde's Well and Chapel V, Roman Antiquities VI. Roman Antiquities VII. Tombs at NoRTHOP VIII. Part of Hawarden Castle IX. Plan of Hawarden Castle X. Roman Gate at Chester XI. Altars found at Chester XII. Chester Castle in 1777 XIII. Holt Castle in 1610 XIV. Plan of Holt Castle XV. Coffin Lids found at Bangor XVI. The Angola Vulture XVII. Old Oswestry Page. .. 18 .. 29 .. 44 .. 92 .. 93 .. 109 .. 126 .. 130 .. 144 .. 150 .. 203 .. 260 .. 261 .. 287 .. 292 .. 330 VOL. II. XVIII. Pistill Mawddach (described p. 219) Frontispiece XIX. Pillar of Eliseg 7 XX. Pistill Cain (described p. 248) Frontispiece to Part II. ... 103 XXI. Cader Idris 231 XXII. Pass of Drws Ardudwy 265 XXIII. Harlech Castle 274 LIST OF PLATES. li. Ji.J\.L Y • J. OrC[U6S« •• ••• ••• ••• ••• ••• ■•• ••• XXV. Pulpit Hugh XXVI. Falls of the Conwy XXVII. Snowdon from Capkl CuRiG XXVIII. Trevaen, and part of Llyn Ogwen XXIX. Nantberris, with part of the Gltder and XXX. Snowdon from CwM Y Glo XXXI. Llyn Gwynan XXXII. Llyn Din as and Moel Hedog • •• • •• Page. ... 278 • •• • •• ... 285 • • • • • • ... 290 • • • • • • ... 311 • • • • • • ... 313 Crib Goch ... 318 . • . ... ... ... 323 ... ... ... ... 341 ... ... ... ... 342 VOL. IIL XXXIII. Llanfair Church and Plasnewydd (described p TISPIECE XXXIV. PoRTHAETHWY Ferry XXXV. Puffin Awk XXXVI. Holyhead Church XXXVIL Bangor Cathedral XXXVIII. Plan of Conwy Town and Castle XXXIX. Part of Conwy Castle XL. PowYS Castle in 1777 XLI. Old Welsh Bridge at Shrewsbury XLII. Oratory at Shrewsbury XLIII. Porbeagle, and Beaumaris Sharks XLIV. Plan of Kiln at Parys Mine ... XLV. Arms of the Five Royal Tribes of Cambria XLVI. Arms of the Fifteen Tribes of North Wales 21) Fron- 22 37 70 78 116 118 197 228 233 384 400 421 428 INDEX TO SUBJECTS IN APPENDIX. Vol, iii. page I. Inscription at Basingwerk Abbey 263 II. Table of the Exports and Imports of Chester, from 1771 to 1806 264 III. Extracts out of a Manuscript Treatise of the Lordships Mar- chers in Wales 266 IV. Account of the battle of Rowton Heath, by Sir Jeffrey Shakerley 283 V. Epitaph ou Colonel Robinson in Gresford Church 286 VI. Imprecation of Edward Broughton, Esq ibid. VII. Of Owen Glyndwr 289 VIII. Capitulation of Denbigh Castle 359 IX. Origin of Sheriff's Men in North Wales 367 X. Sir John Wynn of Gwedir's Instructions to his Chaplain, John Price, how to govern himself in his service 368 XI. Inventory of Sir John Wynn's Wardrobe 369 XII. Inscription on a Monuraent of the Gwedir Family, in Llan- rwst Church 371 XIII. Sir John Wynn's Letters 373 XIV. Warrant for a Stagg out of Snovvdon Forrest 380 XV. Observations on the "Trifurcated Hake," the "Beaumaris Shark," and the "Morris," by the reverend Hugh Davies... 381 XVI, Account of Sir Richard Bulkeley; in which is a strong des- cription of the Tyranny of the Favorite Earl of Leicester. , 388 XVII. Observations ou the state of Parys Mountain in the year 1809 395 XVIII. A Letter of Archbishop Williams, while Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge 400 XIX. The Bishop of Lincoln's (Williams) Letter to Sir John Wynn of Gwedir, Bart., after his Lordship lost the Great Seal ... 403 XX. Exports of Potatoes from the Port of Conwy 405 XXI. Letter of Edward Earl of Conwy, about unroofing, &c., the Castle of Conwy 406 XXII. Hospitality at Bodscallan during the time of the late Robert Wynn, Esq 407 XXIII. Address of the Inhabitants of Caernarvonshire to Richard Cromwell 409 XXIV. Charter of Gwenwyuwyn to the Monks of Strathmarchel ... 411 XXV. Epitaph on Pennant in Whiteford Church 412 XXVI. Thoa. Pennant's Protection against the Press Gangs ibid. XXVII. An Account drawn up by Richard Fnnton, the Historian of Pembrokeshire, of a Project for an Enlarged Edition of Pennant's North Wales 413 XXVIII. The "Royal and Noble Tribes," with an Introduction by W. Trevor Parkins, Esq 415 PART I . FKOM DOWNING THROUGH CHESTER, HOLT, BAKGOli, OVERTON, ELLESMERE, WHITTINGTON, OSWESTRY, CHIRK, LLANGOLLEN, WREXHAM, GLYNDWRDWY, LLANARMON, MOLD, AND CAERWYS TO DOWNING. VOL. I. ^ THE TOUR IN NORTH WALES o, MDCCLXXIII. X NOW speak of my native country, celebrated in our earliest history for its valour and tenacious- ness of liberty; for the stand it made against the Romans; for its slauo'hter of their lesions'", and for its subjection by Agricola, who did not dare to attempt his Caledonian expedition, and leave be- hind him unconquered so tremendous an enemy, AVhen our first invaders landed in Great Bri- tain, North Wales was possessed by the Ordo- vices, a name derived from the language of the country, denoting the situation ;(^) it being almost entirely bounded by the river Deva, or the mo- dern Dee, and by another river of the name of Dijf}*. The one flows into the Irisk sea below "■ Vita Agrtcohv. (^) This is not (juite correct, as the Ordovices are said to have •extended from the Dee to the Teiji, or even to the Gwaua, by siber- (jwaun, or Fishguard; and their name probably means tlie hammer- ers, from the word ord, now gordd, a hammer or mallet. The orna- mented and formidable stone axe-hammers, discovered in ancient iinds, seem to have been the war- weapons meant, j.r. '' ^Ir. Llwyd in Camden II. 778. OF WALES. FLINTSHIRE. Chester, the other into the same sea on the borders of Card'ujanshire. The spirit which the people shewed at the be- £>-innino- did not desert them to the last. Kotwith- O CI' standing they were obliged to submit to the resist- less power of the Romans, they never fell a prey to the enervating charms of luxury, as the other nations of this island did; they never, with wo- manish invocations, requested the aid of the desert- ing conquerors, or sunk beneath the pressure of the new invaders; they preserved an undaunted cou- rage amidst their native rocks, and received among them the gallant fugitives, happy in congenial souls. The hardy Saxons, for above three centuries, could not make an impression even on our low lands. Offa was the first, who extended his kingdom for some miles within our borders. His conquest Avas but temporary; for we possessed Chester, the capital of the Cornacii, till the year 883, when it was wrested from us by the united force of the Heptarchy under the able .Egbert. This indeed reduced our confines; but did not subdue our spirit. With obdurate valour we sustained our in- dependency for another four centuries, against the power of a kingdom more than twelve times larger than Wales; and at length had the glory of falling, when a divided country, beneath the arms of the most wise, and most warlike of the Englisli monarchs. FLINTSHIRE. 5 I NATURALLY begin my journey from the place Flintshire. 'of my nativity, Downing, in the township of Eden- Owain,{^) in the parish of Whiteford, in the county •of Flin t. To give a general idea of this shire, the reader must learn, that it is the lest(-) of the twelve Welsh counties. Its northern side is washed by the estuary of the Dee, the Seteia Estuarium{^) of Ptolemij. The land rises suddenly from the shore in line inequalities, clayey, and plenteous in corn .and grass, for two, three or four miles, to a moun- tanous tract that runs parallel to it for a consider- .able way. The lower part is divided by picturesque dingles, which descend from the mountains, and open to the sea, filled with oaks. The inferior parts abound with coal and freestone; the upper with minerals of lead and calamine, and immense strata of lime- stone and chert. The principal trade of the county is mining and smelting. The northern part of Flintshire is flat, and very rich in corn, especially wheat, which is gene- rally exported to Liverpool. The county, in most (•') Downing is probably a planing down of the name here some- uhat fancifully spelled Edcn-Owain, or Oicen's Eden. While ready to admit that it is a little Eden, the Editor must regard the name as that of a man, and more usually written Ednt/wain, or Ednowaia; probably the full name was Jiod- or Llys-Ednywain — Ednyxoain!^ Abode, or EdnywauCs Court, j.h. (-) This is Mr. Pennant's usual way of spelling least, j.h. (•') The Seteia yEstiiarium is now believed to have been the mouth •of the Mersey, j.r. 6 EIVERS. places, raises more than is sufficient for the use of the inhabitants. It is extremely populous ; and in the mineral parts composed of a mixed people, whose fathers and grandfathers had resorted here for the sake of employ out of the English mine counties; many of whose children, born of Welsh mothers, have quite lost the language of their fathers. A LOFTY range of mountains rises on the west,. and forms a bold frontier. Our county is watered by several small rivers; such as the Ahju, the- Terrig, and the Whelcr; part of its western boundary by the Clwyd; and Maelor, a disjoined part of the county, by the Dec. We are icrnorant of the classical name of this, little province. The Ordovices, of which all to the west of Cheshire was a part, were subdivided in the time of the Romans, in all probability, as tlie rest of the country was. They had Reg id i, or Lords, who ruled over little districts, and united under a common leader when the exigencies of the time required. These factions weakened the state,, separated its interest, and facilitated its conquest by the first invaders. The names of these districts are now unknown. Gwynedd is the most antient we are acquainted with for the country of Nortli Wales. The por- tion I inhabit was called Tegangle,(^) which com- (') The more usual spelling is T"geu)gl, which looks even more: CEAXGI. preliends the three modern himdreds of (7o?e5^//?, Prestatyn, and Rhuddlan. The name is preserved m the -^mountanous parts of Whiteford, and of some other parishes, to this day called Mynydd Tegaiig. I reject the translation of Tegengle into Fair England, as a mongrel compound. The word is of a much more antient date: it beinsf derived from Cangi or Ceangi, a set of people, accordino- to the learned Baxter, belonoino- to eveiy British nation; who attended the herds and resided with them in different grazing grounds at different times of tlie year. The neighbouring Cornavii had their Ceangi, who wintered in WiraJ, and took their summer residence in Teg angle; a word to be properly derived on that account from Tef/, fair; Can^r, the name of the people ; and X/e, a place. To corroborate which, at this very day is a plain in the parish of Caerwys, a part of the old Tegangle, adjoining to this mountain, that still retains the title of Maes can havod, or the plain of the hundred summer residences. For this rea- son I presume to differ from Mr. Baxter, in his notion of the summer residence of these Cangi. {}) like Teg-Anglia; but the derivation may be from the Welsh ongi, a corner, and the name would then have meant the Fair Corner, or Fair Angle. But it is still more likely, that it perpetuates the name of an ancient people to be mentioned at once. j.r. (1) The existence of the Cangi is somewhat problematical : the passage in Tacitus, where one used to read inde Cangos, is now treated by the best Editors as in Decangos, which would be the name travestied by our later form, Tegcingl. j.r. LANGUAGE. He places it near the Cavganorum(^) Promonto- rium, or Bralch y pwll Jicad in Caernarvonshire; but those were the Cangi of the Ordovices, these of the Cornavii It may be remarked, that, contrary to what happens to most subdued nations, our country pre- served its own language : and the conquerors even deigned to adopt the names of the British towns and people, latinizing them from the original words. Thus LoNDiNiUM from LuNDEiN'', i.e. Llong Dix(-) or DINAS, the city of ships'^ from its con- siderable commerce; Deva from its situation on the river Deva''; Dunmonii from. Dun-mwi/n,{^) or the hill of ore; Brig antes from Bi'ia, choice or chief men; CoRiTAXi, or rather Coitani,(^) from Coed, a wood^ On the retreat of their Bo- man masters, the latinized names were dro2:)ped, ex- (1) Ganganorum Promontorium would be nearer the pronunciation meant: the name lasted into the Mabinogi of Culhivch and Olwen, as Pentir Gunion, or the headland of iianion. j.r. «^ Another derivation, namely, Lltx-din, or the city on the lake is given by Mr. Pennant, in his Account of London, p. 14. Ed. (-) This Hong etymology, of course, will not stand, and the expla- nation of the word has still to be sought. ]\Ir. Pennant might have added that the Romans thought the name of yl2<_(/«sto, which they gave London, had for ever superseded that of Londinium. j.r. '' Camden. « Or Dyfi. (■■') Nothing could be more charming, but I fear that it will not stand; as the name appears to have been Dumnonii; and the Welsh sometimes spoke of their country as Dyfneint. j.r. (■') This would be convenient for the etymology, but it never seems to have been their name. j.r. ' ^Ir. Pegge. DOOMSDAY BOOK. 9 cept in a very few instances, and tlieir own re- sumed; but the rest of the Britons, who sub- mitted to the Saxon yoke, iniiversally received Avith it the names of places from their conquerors. The whole of Flintshire was subdued by the Saxons immediately after the taking of Chester by Egbert. It was an open country, and, unlike the rest of North Wales, destitute of inaccessible rocks and mountains, consequently incapable of defence ■against so potent an enemy. The conquerors, as usual, new-named the towns, villages, and hamlets : but could not cancel the antient. Thus Hawarden still is known to the Welsh by the name o£ Pennard Ldg,{}) or Halawg; Mold by that of Wyddgryg ; and Hope by that of Estyn ; which (wdth the con- tinuance of our language to this day) proves that --r>V#»J;£«;.^^**-^ -•'- By the kindness of Samuel Lysons, Esq. the correctness of this statement has been confirmed. Ed. 36 BASINGWERK ABBY. By the valuation of its revenues in 1534, the gross sum at the dissolution was, according to Dugdale, 150/. 7s. 3d; to Speed, 1571 15s. 2d In 1553, there remained in charge U. in annui- ties". The particular endowments, as I collect from Dugdale,^ were these : Henry III. by charter, grants and confirms ten lihrates in Longenedcde in Derhyshire, with the church of Glossope, and all its appertenances, to be held by them as freely as William Peverel held the same in the time of Henry, his grandfather. The same charter con- firms the donations of Ranulph, earl of Chester, and other barons, viz., Holywell, Fulhrook, the chapel of Basing iverk, the antient residence of the m.onks, with the mills and then- appertenances ; likewise Holes, and the moiety of Lecclie, and one hundred shillings of the revenues of Chester, the gift of the said earl. Calders with its inhabitants, and finally, Kethlenedei, the gift of Robert Banastre. Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, prince of Wales, and cotemporary with Henry III. confirms all the donations of his ancestors ; particularly the site of theu' house, the mill before their gate, and the land before their doors ; which last was granted to them by Ranulphus, and his brother jEneas. The same grant gives them also the land of Mere- " Willis's Allies, I. 312, ^ Monasticon, I. 720, «Scc. BASIXGWERK ABBY. 37 dydd Wawor in Holywell; Fidhrooh; a community of pasturage on the mountains; Hanoi de le Wecch, and Creicgnift, with all their appeitenances. His son and successor David, by another charter, con- firms the donations of his father, and adds the lands of Huttred, brother to Meredydd Waivor of Holywell; the grsmge of Fulh wok ; the church of Holywell, and the chapel of Colsid ; and the land and pasturage of Gelli, before granted by his father. He hkewise empowers them to buy and sell every thing toll-free in all his territories, for the use of their house ; also, the fifth part of the fish taken in his fisheries at Rhuddlan ; and the tenth of the fish belonging to him in other parts. He confirms to them all the village of Wenhewm, with all its inhabitants and appertenances, being the gift of Howen de Porhenton, and confirmed by Helyso. He at the same time confirms the lands and pas- turage in Feiitlin, the gift of his father. This charter is dated from Coleshill in 1240, and is witnessed by Hugh, bishop of St. Asaph, by his chancellor, the famous Ediiyfed Vychan, and others. Tanner" mentions the tithes of Blackhrooh, and the wood of Laiigdon; lands in Chanclesworth ; the manor of West Kirkhy in Cheshire ; the silvei- mine near Basingwerk; free warren in Gethli, Meiiegrange, Ouregrange, Beggerhurgh, and Holy- well. « Xotitia, 711. 38 BASING WEEK ABBY. The abby also was possessed of the hospital or chapel of Sponne, near Coventry, which had been originally founded by Hugh Ceveilioc, earl of Ches- ter, who probably bestowed it on these monks^ The revenues of the abbot amounted in the whole, reckoning those arising from the mills, lands, cows, and sheep, to 46/. lls.^. In 1540, the house and lands in the neighbor- hood were granted to Henru ap Harry, of the tribe of Ednowain Bendew ; whose only daughter Anne, by her marriage with William Mostyn, esquire, of Trelacre, conveyed it into that family, in which it now remains. I CANNOT recover the names of more than two of the abbots. Thomas ap Dafydd Pennant presided over the house in the time of Guttun Oivain, a bard who flourished in the year 1480, and celebrates the hospitahty of the abbot, in some verses printed in the collection of Mr Rhys Jones. The poet is so liberal of his praise as to say, That he gave twice the treasure of a king in ivine. Er bwrw yuo, aur Brenin, Ef a roes, deufwy ar win. ' Dugdale^s Warwickshire, I. 197. 8 Willis's St. Asaph, 176. In the grant to the abby of Basing- werk, of the lands in the peak of Derbyshire, there is a clause, re- serving the venison to the king, with the consent of the abbot and convent; for the preservation of which, two foresters were appointed by the king; but the grantees were allowed to kill hares, foxes, and wolves. Sebright 3fSS. BASINGWERK ABBY. 39 And among his other luxuries, I think he enu- merates sugar ; which a rich abbot of the fifteenth century^ might easily indulge himself in, for it had been a great article of commerce in Sicily as early as the year 1148. He and Tudor Aled, another noted bard^, speak not only of his works of utihty ; of the water and of the wind mills he erected; of his having enlarged and beautified the abby; but also compliment him on his prowess in battle. Neither is Guttun silent on a subject, pleasing to every Welsh ear, the pedigree of Ms patron, whom he derives from Edwin, and from Rhys Sais, a direct descendant from Tudor Trevor. He quitted his profession, and became what is termed in law a monk deraigne; and married, about three hundred years ago, Angharad, daughter to Guillim ap Gryffydd ap Guillim, of the house of Penrhyn in Caernarvonshire\ He had by her three sons, the youngest of whom, Nicholas, suc- ceeded him in the abbacy, and was the last who filled the place. The remains of a very antient oak, still to be seen near the ruins of the house, is ^ Sebright MSS. ' Richard Pennant, lord Penrhyn, by a singular fortune, now possesses the seat and estate belonging to the family of this his distant ancestress, by his marriage with his lady, Anne Susanna daughter of the late General Warhurton; who, by her grandmother, is also descended from the house of Penrhyn. Lord Penrhyn died in 1808. Ed. 40 ST. WENEFEEDE'S WELL. called the abbot's, and is supposed to be his co- temporaiy. The road from hence is remarkably picturesque, along a Uttle valley, bounded on one side by hanging woods, beneath which the stream hurries towards the sea, imless where interrupted by the frequent manufactories. Its origin is discovered at the St. Wene- ^^^^ ^^ ^ steep hill, beneath the town of Holywell, frede's or Treffynnon, to which it gave the name. The \V ETL. spring boils with vast impetuosity out of a rock ; and is received into a beautiful polygonal well, covered with a rich arch supported by pillars. The roof is most exquisitely carved in stone. Im- mediately over the fountain is the legend of St. Wejiefi'ede, on a pendent projection, with the arms of England at the bottom. Numbers of fine ribs secure the arch, whose intersections are coupled with sculpture. Some are mere works of fancy ; grotesque figures of animals : but the rest allude chiefly to the Stanley family. This building, and the chapel over it, rose from the piety of that great house, which left these memorials of its benefactions : there are besides some marks of the illustrious donors ; for example, the profile of Margaret, mother to He^iry VII., and that of her husband the earl of Derby, cut on the same stone. The compliments to the Stanlies, are very fre- quent. The 'wolf's head is the arms of the earls ST. WENEFREDE'S WELL. 41 of Chester : it is inclosed in a garter, in respect to Sir William Stanley, knight of that order, who had been chamberlain of that city, and justiciary of North Wales. The tun with the plant issuing out of it, is a rehus, the arms of his wife Elizabeth Hopton, allusive to her name. This proves, that the building was erected before 1495, in which year Sir William lost his head. The other badges of the same house are the stag's head ; the eagle's leg ; and the three legs, the arms of the isle of Man. We also find that Catherine of Arragon, widow to prince Arthur, and afterwards the unfortunate wife of his brother Henry VIII. was a benefactress to this building ; at lest her arms appear here : three pomegranates m a shield, surmounted with a crown ; the badge of the house of Granada, in memory of the expulsion of the Moors, by her father Fei^dinand^. The eagle seems also to be- long to her, being one of the supporters of the arms of her family. Over one of the lesser arches, on each side of the weU, are the dragon and the gre-hound, the supporters of the arms of England during the reign of Henry VII. and part of that of Henry VIII. The first was borne by Hern^y VII. as a badge of the house of Tudor, which derived itself from Cad- ^ Handfordh (ieneal. 475. 42 ST. WENEFREDE'S CHAPEL. 'walader, last king of Britain, who bore on his ensign a red dragon. Henry, in imitation of him, at the battle of Bosworth carried on his standard a red dragon, painted on white and green silk ; which afterwards gave rise to the office of Rouge-dragon among the heralds. On one side of a wall that supports the roof, was painted the tale of the tutelar saint ; at present almost defaced ; over it is inscribed, in honorem Sanctce Wenefredce, V. & M. In another wall is an elegant niche, in which stood a statue of the Virgin Mary, pulled down, as I have been informed, in the year 1635. I HAVE also heard there had been another of St. Wenefrede. To grace the image on high festi- vals, it is probable, that Isabel, countess of War- wich, widow to the great Richard Beauchamp, left to St. Wenefrede, in 1439, her gown of russet velvet'. Chapel. Over this spring is a chapel, of the same date with the other building : a neat piece of gothic architecture : but in a very ruinous state. This had been a free chapel, in the gift of the bishop, with the reserve of a stipend to the chapter ; but the rest of the offerings were to be expended on the chapel. In Richard IIL's time, the abbot and convent had from the crown ten marks yer'ely, for * Dugdale^s Warivickshirc, I. 414. ST. WENEFREDE'S CHAPEL. 43 the sustentacione and salarie of a 'prieste, at the chappelle of St. Wynefride'^. The chapel is the property of° John Davies esquu-e of Llanerch. The following order, for putting the chapel over the well into possession of a clergyman of the church of Borne, was addressed to Sir Roger Mostyn baronet, by the queen of James II. Sir HoGER Mostyn. It having pleased the king, by his royaU grant, to bestow upon me y® antient chappell adjoining to St. Winifride^ well ; these are to desu-e you to give present possession, in my name, of the said chappell, to Mr Thomas Roberts, who will dehver this letter into y' hands. It being also my inten- tion to have the place decently repaired, and put to a good use, I further desire, that you will affoard him. your favour and protection, that he may not be disturbed in the performance thereof. You may rest assured, that what you do herein, accord- ing to my desu-e, shall be very kindly remembered by Your good frind. May y*^ 8th, 1687. Mary: Eegina. Whitehall. The well is common; for I find by a decision of the court of chancery, on a law-suit respecting the lordship of Holywell, between Sir John Egerton "" Ilarleian MSS. No. 433, 338. " Now of Ur. Leo. Ed. 44 OF ST. WENEFREDE. kniglit, and John Eldred; chancellor Ellesmerc decrees, "That on calling to mind, that within the "said manor there is a fountain or well of antient "and worthy memory, he doth not think fit that "the petitioner, or any other, should have the "property thereof, notwithstanding the general "words of the grant of the manor: and therefore "his lordship doth order, that notwithstanding "the said grant, that the well shall continue as "now it is, or heretofore hath been; saving to "the petitioner, and his heirs and assigns, the "benefit of the stream and watercourse, with the " appertainances. " There are two different o])inions about the origin of this stream. One party makes it mira- culous : the other asserts it to be owing only to natural causes. The advocates for the first, deHver their tale thus : Of Saint In the seventh century lived a vu-gin of the 'name of Wenefi'ede, of noble parents; her father's name was Theivith, a potent lord in the parts where Holywell now stands; her mother's, Wenlo, de- scended from an antient family in Montgomeryshire, and sister to St. Beuno. Beuno assumed the monas- tic habit, retired to Clynnog, in Caernarvonshire, where he built a church and founded a convent. After completing this work of piety, he visited his relations in Flintshire, and obtaining from his brother-in-law a httle spot at the foot of the hill on STWJLTT'Iil^IIIlIID Ill's ^V}IiJ2L S: (CHAISE IL , OF ST. ^VENEFREDE. 45 ■which he resided, erected on it a churcli, and took under liis care his niece Wenefrede. A neighbor- ing prince of the name of Cradocus, son of king Alen, was struck with her beauty, and at all events determined to gratify his desires. He made known his passion to the lady; who, affected with horror, attempted to escape. The wretch, enraged at the disappointment, pursued her, drew out his sabre, and cut off her head. Cradociis instantly received the reward of his crime: he fell down dead, and the earth opening, swallowed his impious corpse. Higdeii, in his Polychronicon adds, that even the descendents of this monster were visited with horrible judgments, to be expiated only by a visit to tins well, or to the bones of the saint at Salop. Ad Basingioerk fous oritur, In signuin sacri sanguinis, Qui sati.s Tulgo dicitur. Quem Venefred/E virginis Et tantis buUis scaturit Guttur truncatum fuderat. Quod mox injecta rejicit. Qui scelus hoc patraverat, Tam magnum flumen procreat Ac nati, ac nepotuli Ut Cambrice sufficiat. Latrant ut canum catuli Mgr'i qui dant rogamiua Donee sanctse suffragium Reportaut medicamina. Poscant ad hunc fonticulum: Rubro guttatos lapides Vel ad urbem Salopioe In scatebris reperiey Ubi quiescit hodie." The severed head took its way down the hill, and stopped near the church. The valley, which, from its uncommon dryness, was heretofore called Sych nant, now lost its name. A spring of un- ° Gale's Script. III. 190. 46 OF ST. WENEFREDE. common size burst from the place where the , head rested. The moss on its sides diffused a fra- grant smell^. Her blood spotted the stones, which, like the flowers of Adonis, annually commemorate the fact, by assuming colors unknown to them at other times. Luctus moDumeuta mauebunt Semper, Adoni, mei : repetitaque mortis imago Annua plangoris peraget simulamina uostri. (^) For thee, blest maid, my tears, my endless pain Shall in immortal monuments remain. The image of thy death each year renew; And prove my grief, to distant ages, true. St. Beuno took up the head, carried it to the corpse, and, offering up his devotions, joined it nicely to the body, which instantly re-united. The place was visible only by a slender white line en- circling the neck, in memory of a miracle, which surpassed far that worked by St. Dionysius, who marched in triumph after decapitation, with his head in his hands, from Montmartre to St. Denis'^, or that of St. Adelbertus, who, in like circum- stances, swam across the Vistula. To conclude : St. Wenefrede survived her de- collation fifteen years. She died at Gwytherin in p Life of St. Wenefrede, from which the materials for this part are mostly taken. (1) Venus continues, — "At emor in florem mutabitur." Ovid Met. I. 728. T.p. 1 Histoire de I'abbaye de St. Denys, 76. OF ST. WENEFREDE. 47 Denbighshire, where her bones rested till the reign of king Stephen ; when, after divine admonition, they were surrendered to the abby of St. Peter and St. Paul at Shrewsbury. The memory of the two great events, that of her first death is cele- brated on the 2 2d of June : that of her translation the 3d of November. A. FRATERNITY and gild was estabHshed in honor of our saint at Shrewsbury. It had its com- mon seal, which, through the kindness of my friend, Mr Henry Levingston, is now in my possession. It is of copper, of the form expressed in the plate. In the centre is a representation of the martyrdom; above is a cross in form of a T, placed between the letters T. m. which mark the time when the fraternity was instituted, during the abbacy of Thomas Mynde ; who was elected in 1459, and died in 1499, a period in which these religious societies were much in fashion. The T or cross refers to the church of St. Cross within this monastery. Beneath are probably the arms of the house, a sword and a key, symbols of its tutelar apostles ; and round the margin is this inscription : Sigillu coe Ffraternitat beate Wenefride virgiuis I eccia see cruc i: fra monaster, aci Petri Salopie. A bell belonging to the church was also christened in honor of her. I cannot learn the names of the gossips, who, as usual, were doubtlessly rich per- 48 OF ST. WENEFREDE. sons. On the ceremony, they all laid hold of the rope ; bestowed a name on the bell ; and the priest sprinkling it with holy water, baptized it in the name of the Father, &c., &c.'' He then cloathed it with a fine garment : after this the gossips gave a grand feast, and made great pre- sents, which the priest received in behalf of the bell. Thus blessed, it was endowed with great powers ; allayed (on being rung) all storms ; diverted the thunder-bolt ; drove away evil spirits. These consecrated bells were always inscribed. The inscription on that in question ran thus: Sancta Wenefreda, Deo hoc commendare memento, Ut pietate sua, nos servet ab hoste cruento. And a little lower was another address: Protege Prece pia, quos convoco, virgo Ma^'ia. After her death, her sanctity, says her his- torian, was proved by numberless miracles. The waters were almost as sanative as those of the pool of Bethesda: all infirmities incident to the human body met with rehef; the votive crutches, the barrows, and other proofs of cures, to this mo- ment remain as evidences pendent over the well. The saint is equally propitious to Protestants and Catholics; for among the offerings are to be found these grateful testimonies from the patients of each religion, ' Stavely's, Hist. Churches, 130. OF ST. WENEFREDE. 49 The Holy Father gave all encouragement to the piety of pilgruns to frequent this fountain. Pope Martin Y/ in the reign of Henry V. furnished the abby of Basingwerh with par- dons and indulgences, to sell to the devotees. These were renewed again in the reign of queen Mary, by the interest of Thomas Gold- well bishop of St. Asaph,*' who fled into Italy on the accession of Elizabeth. Multitudes of offerings flowed in; marks of gratitude from such who had received benefit by the intercession of the virgin. The resort of pilgrims of late years to these Fontanalia has considerably decreased; the great- est number are from Lancashire. In the summer, still a few are to be seen in the water in deep de- votion up to their chins for hours, sending up their prayers, or performing a number of evolu- tions round the polygonal well; or threading the arch between well and well a prescribed number of times. Few people of rank at present honor the fountain with their presence. A crowned head in the seventeenth century dignified the place with a visit. The prince who lost three kingdoms for a mass, payed his respects, on * Selden'a notes on Michael Drayton, 28!). *■ Fovjel'a notes on Girald. Camhr. 874. Mr. Addison says he saw his picture at Ravenna, in the convent of Theatins, among the eminent men of that order. VOL. I. E 50 OF ST. WENEFREDE. August 29th 1686, to our saint"; and received as a reward a present of the very shift in which his great grand-mother Mary Stuart lost her head\ The majority of devotees are of the fair sex, at- tracted hither to commemorate the martyrdom of St. Wenefrede, as those of the East did the death of the Cyprian favorite. Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured The Syrian damsels to deplore his fate In woeful ditties all the summer's day : While smooth Adonis from his native rock Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood Of Thammuz yearly wounded. We, whose ancestors, between two and three centuries ago, abridged our faith to the mere contents of the Old and New Testament, and to the creed called the Apostles, do not think the be- lief in the above, and other legends, requisite. I refer the reader to the arguments used by the an- tiquary doctor Powel, in his notes on the Itinerary of Giraldus Camhrensis, and to bishop Fleetwood'^ annotations on the life of the saint, for proofs against the truth of the tale: but with Pro- testants, and temperate Catholics, it carries with it self- confutation. ° This prince gave in the course of his progress, as marks of his favour, golden rings, with his hair platted beneath a crystal. I have seen one which he had bestowed on a Roman CatJwlic priest of a neighboring family. ^ The late doctor Cooper of Chester's MSS. THE FOUNTAIN. MOSSES. 51 The waters are indisputably endowed with, eveiy good quality attendant on cold baths; and multitudes have here experienced the good effects that thus result from natural qualities, implanted in the several parts of matter by the divine Providence in order to fulfil his will. Heaven for a short period deigned to convince a dark and obdurate age with a series of miracles; which were dehvered down to succeeding times, as incontestible proofs of the reality of the divine mission. Without them, a sufficient ground of trust and reliance upon the Supreme Being has long since been established. Second causes in- numerable are dispersed throughout the universe, subordinate to the First. Every element proves to us a medicine or a bane, as suits His unerring dispensation. We cannot want, we cannot have the mediation of poor departed mortals. The supposition would be bestowing on them the attributes of the Deity; omnipresence and omni- science. Some eminent botanists of my acquaintance have reduced the sweet moss, and the bloody stains, to mere vegetable productions, far from being peculiar to our fountain. The first is that kind of moss called Jungermannia asplenioides^ , Fl. Angl. 509, imperfectly described and figured y Smith, Eng. Bot. tab. 1788. Ed. 52 MOSSES. HOLYWELL CHUECH. by D'lUenius, in his history of mosses. This species is also found in another holy well m Caernarvonshire, called Ffynnon Llanddeiniolen, in a parish of the same name. The other is a Byssus, likewise odoriferous: common to Lapland, and to other countries be- sides our own. It adheres to stones in form of j&ne velvet. Linnceus calls it Byssus Jolithiis^, or the violet-smellmg. He says, the stone to which it adheres easily betrays itself by the color, being as if smeared with blood; and if rubbed, yields a smell like violets. Micheli, in his Genera of plants, mentions the same"; and Schwenckfelt dis- covered it among the vegetables of Silesia. He calls it a muscns suhruheus, and informs us, that the smell is grateful to the heart; and that, if put among cloaths, it gives them a good scent, and serves to drive away moths^. Linnceus says", that it is of use in eruptive disorders. The Conferva Gelatinosa^, Sp. PI. 1635. Fl. Scot. ii. 986, is found in the same welP. Church. Above the well stands the chiu-ch, dedicated to St. Wenefrede. The parish wakes are celebrated in Novemher, the time of her translation. The living, before the dissolution, belonged to the abby ' Sp. PI. II. 1638.— i^^. Lap. 369. No. 528.— Ii. Dan. tab. 899. 2. » Gen. 210. tab. 89. fig. 3. " Cat. Stirp. &c. Silesice, 382. <= As quoted by Baron IMler, No. 2090. " Smith, Eng. Bot. Tab. 689. Ed. « Hist, of Whiteford, 237. HOLYWELL CASTLE. 53 of Basing iverk; and is a vicarage in the gift of Jesus College Oxford, which nominates; and John Davies enquire* o{ Llanerch, the lay-rector, presents. It was given away by his ancestor, Rohert Davies, to the college by deed dated 1626, expressing, that as it became vacant, the said Rohert Davies and his heu's shall freely and charitatis intuitu, et absque aliqua morosa cunctatione, present a native of Wales, rightfully and canonically nominated by the college. Above the church is a liill called Bryn y Castell, narrow, and very steep on the sides, pro- jecting at the end over the little valley. On this might have stood the castle of Treffyiinon, or St. Wenefrede, built by Handle III. earl of Chester, in the year 1210^. There are not at present any vestiges left. It is singular, that no mention is made in the Doomsday book of either chapel, church, or well; yet townships now of less note are named; such as Brunford, Caldecote, and others. Notwithstand- ing bishop Fleetwood's opinion, I think the legend of St. Wenef7^ede was known previous to that sur- vey; for the very name of Holywell is Saxon, probably bestowed on it before the Conquest, on account of the imputed sanctity of the well. The spring is certainly one of the finest in ' At present — Leo, esq. of Llanerch. Ed. « Powel, 262. 54 HOLYWELL. these kingdoms; and by the two different trials and calculations lately made for my information, is found to fling out about twenty-one tuns of water in a minute. It never freezes. After a violent fall of wet, it becomes discolored by a wheyey tinge. The stream formed by this fountain runs with a rapid course to the sea, which it reaches in little more than a mile's distance. The industry of this century hath made its waters of much commercial utility. The principal works on it at this time*" are battering-mills for copper ; a wire-mill, coarse paper-mill, snuff-mill, a foun- dery for brass ; and a cotton manufactory is now establishing. During the reign of pilgrimages, nothing but a corn-mill or two, the property of the monks, found employ for this beneficial stream. The town was also very inconsiderable till the beginning of this century ; the houses few, and those for the most part thatched ; the streets unpaved ; and the place destitute of a market. The flourishing mines, that for some time were discovered in the neighbourhood, made a great change in the appearance, and introduced the effects of wealth. The town, or rather township), ^ For an account of the augmentation of the manufactories to the year 1796, the reader is referred to the so frequently quoted work, the Hist, of Whiteford, &c. p. 201. Ed. HOLYWELL. 55 contains somewhat more than two thousand souls'. The monks of Basing werh obtained for it the grant of a fair and a market. The first has been dropped beyond the memory of man. The market was also lost, till it was renewed by letters patent, dated Jan. 20th, 1703, granted to She John Egerton, baronet. The patent also contains a grant of three fairs, viz. on the 23d of Apr^il, the Tuesday in Easter week, and the 2d of September. The market has been the most flourishing in North Wales ; but the fairs never could be esta- blished. The situation of the town is pleasant and healthy. On the back is a lofty hill, at times extremely productive of lead ore. Towards the sea is a pretty valley, bounded by woods : the end finishes on one side with the venerable abby. To such who require the use of a cold-bath, few places are more proper; for besides the excel- lence of the waters, exceeding good medical assistance, and comfortable accommodations, may be found here ; and the mind entertained, and the body exercised, in a variety of beautiful rides and walks. My next visit was to FU7it. I took the lower road, by the shore, blackened with the smoke of ' In the Census of 1801, the population of the township of Holi/- well is stated at 2518, of the whole parish at 5567. Ed. 56 COLESHILL. FLINT. smel ting-houses ; and, in the more floiu'ishing times of the collieries, with vast stacks of coal. The last township in Holywell parish, on this CoLESHiLL. side, is that of Coleshill : which gives name to a hundred, and was so called from its abundance of fossil fuel. This place had at the Conquest four villeyns, two boors, and a Radman. This last seems to have been the same with the Rod or Rad-knights, who, by the tenure of their lands, were bound to ride with or for their lord, as often as his affairs required. Flint. After crossing a small brook, enter the town of Flint : a place laid out with great regularity ; but the streets far from being completed. The removal of the greater and the lesser sessions, and its want of trade, will be farther checks to its improvement. This town gave name to the county, which, with that of Caernarvon, Meiri- onetk, and Anglesey, composed the four antient shires of North Wales, formed by Edioard I. im- mediately after the conquest of our principality. I cannot assign any derivation of the word : our country is totally destitute of the fossil usually so called. I can only remark, that it is purely Saxon ; and, notwithstanding it is not mentioned in the Doomsday book, was called so before the Conquest. This place also seems to me to have been the same with what was named Colsid or Coleshill. FLINT. 57 I can find no other site for the chapel of Colsid, granted by David ap Llewelyn to the abby of Basingwerh. The present Flint probably went at this period under both names. There is no trace of any chapel in the neighborhood excepting this; nor any other place of consequence enough to tempt our princes to live at. It was called in the Doomsday book Coleselt; and was possessed by Robert of Rliuddlan. Edwin held it from hun, and as a free-man. Here was one hide of land taxable. The whole place seems to have been founded in times of danger; and every provision made against an attack from a people recently subdued, and who had submitted reluctantly to a foreign yoke. The town is formed on the the principle of a Roman encampment, being rectangular, and surrounded with a vast ditch and two great ram- parts, with the four regular portce, as usual with that military nation. I shall hereafter offer a con- jecture of the probability of its having been a Roman station. The public buildmgs within this precinct are the church, the town-hall, and the jaiP: not one of which is any ornament to this litte capital. The '' A new gaol was erected in 1785, in the castle yard, after a plan of the ingenious architect, the late Mr. Joseph Turner, of Chester. The following inscription over the gateway was written by Mr. Pen- nant, whose activity and benevolence materially contributed to the 58 FLINT. church, or rather chaj^el, is dedicated to St. Mary; and is a only perpetual curacy under NortJiop, I imagine this to have been the capella de Colsul ^, belonging to the abby of Basingwerh, mentioned in the charter of David ap Llewelyn. Flint, in that time, was probably comprehended under the name of Colsnl. The castle now stands on a low free-stone rock that juts into the sands, a little north-east of the town; and was once joined to it by a bridge which led to the outwork, called the Barbican; a square tower, with a gateway, now entirely substitution of the pi'esent edifice for the former abode of wretched- ness. Ed. In the Twenty fifth year of his Majesty Geo: III. In the SheriS'alty of Sir Thomas Hanmer Bt. this prison was erected instead of the ancient loathsome place of confinement in pity to the misery of even the most guilty, to alleviate the sufferings of lesser offenders, or of the innocent themselves, whom the chances of human life may bring within these walls. Done at the expence of the County; aided by the subscriptions of several of the Gentry, who in the midst of most distressful days voluntarily took on themselves part of the burden, in compassion to such of their countrymen on whom Fortune had been less bounteous of her favours. ' Dxigdale Monast. I. 721. FLINT. 59 demolished. Within was a court surrounded with a ditch faced with a wall, that joined by means -of a drawbridge to the main fortress; whose entrance, for better security, was little more than a postern. The castle is a square building, with a large round tower at three of the corners, and a fourth a little disjoined from the other, and much larger than the rest. This is called the double toiver. It had been joined to the castle by a drawbridge, and is of great thickness. It has a circular gallery beneath, vaulted, with four arched openings into a central area, a httle more than twenty-two feet in diameter. In one part, the gallery is suddenly lowered, and goes sloping towards the castle; and then rising upwards, makes a sort of communica- tion with an upper gallery. This was the Keej^, or strong part of the castle, and the same that the French call le Donjon; to which, as Froissart informs us, the unfortunate Richard II. retu-ed, as the place of greatest security, when he was taken by Boling- hroke. The channel of the Dee at present is at some distance from the walls ; but formerly flowed beneath. There are still in some parts rings, to which ships were moored. The founder of this castle is uncertain. Camden attributes it to Henry II. and his noble 60 FLINT. historian'^ is of the same opinion. After his escape at Euloe, it is possible that he might have begun a fortress here for security in future times ; that he might have left it incomplete ; and that it was finished by Edivard I. By the complaint of the men of Flint, in 1281, it is evi- dent that Henry was only the founder of a small fortress on the spot, and that Edivcwd greatly enlarged and strengthened it. They complamed, " that the noblest and best of the countrie be " injured : for that the king builded the castell " of Flynt upon their ground: and the king com- " manded the justices to give the men as much, " and as good ground, or the price ; but they " are spoiled of their lands, and have neither other "Jands nor monie''." The rolls of Edward's, reign mention the place several times. In the year 1277, there was an order for pro- claiming a market and fair to be held at Flint ; and the same was afterwards done through Cheshire, and the cantreds of Wales. By a writ preserved by Rymer, it appears that Edward resided here in that year, about the time of the feast of the assumption." In 1280, an order was issued for the custody of the gate of the castle of Flint. Perhaps this might have been the year in which it was first garrisoned. ",Lord Lyttelton. " Powel. 36. ° Rpuer's Fcedera, II. 86. FLINT. 61 In 1283, the town received its first charter; was made a free borough , and the mayor sworn faithfully to preserve its liberties. This is dated at Hint on the 8th of September : it was confirmed again in the 2d and 3d years of Philip and Mary, and afterwards in the 12th of William III. In 1283, the burgesses also received a grant from Edioard, of timber out of the woods of Northop, Ledebroke the greater and lesser, Kel- dreston, Wolfynton, Weper, and Sutton, in order to smelt then" lead ore ; and at the same time a right of pasturage in the same woods. In 1290, there is an order for superintending the works of this castle, and those of Rhuddlan and Chester ; places of the first importance, on the borders of a new-conquered country^. The first great event that occurs to me re- specting this fortress is in the year 1280, when the Welsh, wearied with the reiteration of op- pression, as a signal of general insurrection, sur- prized the place*^ ; at the same time that David, brother of Llewelyn, took Hawarden; and Rees the son of Maelgiuyn Q), and Griffith ap Meredeth ap Owen, seized the castle of Aherystivyth''. Here, in 1311, the infatuated son of our con- P Rotuli Wallwi, 98. i Idem, 76. (1) This name is properly spelled Maelgxon; it lias nothing to do with gv)yn, white, as Gildas wrote it Muglocunus. J. R. ' Poioel, 337. 62 DEPOSITION OF RICHARD II. queror received from exile his imperious favourite Piers Gaveston, who had landed at Caernarvon from h^eland ". From this period I find nothing remarkable relating to this fortress, till the year 1335, the 9th of Edward III. when appears an order to the Black Prince, as earl of Chester, to take in safe custody the castles of Flint and Rhuddlan, and to furnish them with men and provisions*. Edward, in his 7 th year, had by charter granted to his gallant son the castles of Chester, Beeston, Rhuddlan, and Flint, and all his lands there ; and also the cantred and lands of Englefield, with all their appertenances, to have and to hold to him and his heirs, kings of England"^. Ix this dollorous castell, as Halle^ styles it, was deposed the unfortunate monarch Richard II. To this place he was inveigled by Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, with the assurance that BolinghroJce wished no more than to be restored to his own property ; and to give to the kingdom a parlement. Noy^thumberland, with a small train, first met Richard at Conwy, then on his return from Ireland. The king distrusted the earl, who, to remove all suspicion, went with him to mass, and at the altar took an oath of fidehty. The king fell into the snare; proceeded with the earl for some >* Blow, 214. ' Rotulce Scotia, 165. " Dodridge 125. '^ Int. Fol. iii. DEPOSITION OF RICHARD II. 63 time, till he perceived, about the precipice of Pen- maen Ehos, a large band of soldiers with the Percy banners.^ - The king would have then retired; but Northumherland, catching hold of his bridle, forci- bly directed his course. The poor prince had just time to reproach him with his perjury, telling him, that the God he had sworn upon that morning, would do him justice at the day of judgment^. He caused the king to dine at Rkuddlan, and con- veyed him that night to Flint. The next morning, he was astonished with the sight of a numerous army, commanded by his rival, in full march along the sands : they soon surroimded the castle. The prince descended from the Keep% to meet Boling- hroke; who fell on his knees, and for a short time assumed a resjDCctful appearance : but he soon flung off the mask; for, 'with a high sharpe voyce,' says Stow, ' the duke badde bring forth the kings * horses ; and then two little nagges, not worth ' forty franks, were brought forth ; the king was * set on the one, and the earl of Salisbury on the * other ; and thus the duke brought the king from * Flint to Chester, where hee was dehvered to the * duke of Glocesters sonne, and to the earle of ' Arundel's sonne, that loved him but a little ; for y Carte, II. 634. '^ This place, in old writers, is called the Dongeon, or Donjon: according to Skinner, Turris munitissima propugnaculi ad ultimum receptum; but the word being now entirely applied to the miserable hole in which captives are confined, I shall still retain the term Keep. 64 SAGACITY OF A GREYHOUND. ' he had put theii' fathers to death ; who led him * strait to the castle*.' If Froissart raay be credited, Richard did not experience the pang of ingratitude from man alone : by a strange infection, it seized the most faithful of the brute creation; for his very dog deserted him, and ftiwned on his rival Bolinghroke, as if he un- derstood and predicted the misfortunes of his old master. The story is so singular, that I shall re- late it in the words of his noble translator Sir Jolm Bouchier, lord Berners^; who, speaking of the transactions in Flint castle, says, ' And as it was enfourmed me, kyng Richarde * had a grayhounde called MatJie who alwayes ' wayted upon the kynge, and woulde knowe no ' man els. For whan so ever the kynge dyd ryde, ' he that ke]3te the greyhounde dyd lette him lose, ' and he wolde streyght runne to the kynge and ' fawne uppon him, and leape with his fore fete ' upon the kynges shoulders. And as the kynge ' and the erle of Derby talked togyder in the ' courte, the grayhounde, who was wont to leape ' upon the kynge, left the kynge and came to the * erle of Derby, duke of Lancastre, and made to ' hym the same frendly countinaunce and chere as ' he was wonte to do to the kyng. The duke, who ' knewe not the grayhounde demaunded of the ■^ Stoic's Annals, 322, ^ Fol. cccxii. FLINT. 65 ' kynge what the grayhounde wolde do. Cosyn, ' quod the kynge, it is a great good token to you, ' and anievyll sygne to me. Sir, ho we knowe you ' that, quod the duke? I knowe it well, quod the ' kynge. The grayhounde maketh you chere this ' daye as kynge of Englande, as ye shalbe, and I ' shalbe deposed : the grayhounde hath this know- ' ledge naturallye: therefore take hym to you; he ' wyll folowe you and forsake mee. The duke un- ' derstoode well those wordes, and cheryshed the ' grayhounde, who wolde never after folowe kynge ' Richarde, but folowed the duke o{ Lancastre.' In the insurrection of Oiven Glyndwr, Henry prince of Wales procured from his father a pardon for several of his tenants in these parts, who took up arms in the cause of our valiant countryman*'. There is another gap in the history of the castle till the troubles of the last century; when this country took an active part in support of royalty. Flint castle was garrisoned for the king, after having been repaired at the expence of Sir Roger Mostyn, knight, who was appointed go- vernor. In 1643, it was closely beseiged by Sir William Brei^eton and Sir Thomas Middleton; and was defended by the governor till all provisions, even to horses, failing, he surrendered upon honorable teims. ' This colonel Mostyn,' says Whitelock, ' is my <= ffarleian MSS. No. 2099. VOL. I. F 66 FLINT. ' sister's son, a gentleman of good parts and mettle ; ' of a very antient family, large possessions, and ' great interest in that country; so that in twelve ' hours he raised fifteen hundred men for the king*^.' I MAY add, that after a long imprisonment in the castle of Conioy, towards the conclusion of the war, his circumstances were so reduced, having spent sixty thousand jjounds in the service of the crown, that he was obliged to desert his family- seat, and Kve several years in an ordinary farm-house. Flint fell afterwards into the hands of the loyalists; for, under the year 1646, I find in the same historian, that the garrison seemed inclin- able to come to a treaty. In November of the preceding year, it had received that of Beeston; which, after a most gallant defence, capitulated, and was allowed to march with all the honors of war to this place^ But on the 29th of August, Flint castle was surrendered to major-general Mytton; and in 1647 was, with other Welsh castles, dismantled by order of the house, directed to the general for that purpose*. On the restoration, it was resumed by the crown, among its other rights, in which it still continues. The crown governs it by a constable, who is like- wise mayor of Flint. These offices are at present filled by my friend Oiven Brereton, esquire^. ^ Whitelocl; 76. ^ Rushworth, I. part iv. 136. ' Idem, ibid. 456. ^ Deceased. Ed. FLINT. • 67 The toAvn, in conjunction with Caerwys, Rhudcl- lan, Caergiurleif, and Overton, sends a member to parlement. The election is made by the inhabi- tants paymg parochial taxes; and the return made by the two bailiffs of Flint, appointed by the mayor. The borough land of this town ex- tends over the whole parish, and also the township Coleshill-fawr, in the parish of Holyivell. The Welsh boroughs and counties received the privilege of representatives by act of parlement of the 27th of Henry VIII. This town, with the county, was an appendage to the earldom of Chester. The followino- schedule^ gives us their revenues, as they stood in the 50tli year of Edward III. £ s. d. The profits of the manor of Hope and Hopcdale, 03 of the manor of Eido, and the coal-mines, (5 of the office of constable oi Rhuddlaa, whereof he was accomitable, 8 14 of the rent of the town of i^iJm^, 56 of the town of CoZes/«7^, 4 7 10 of the town of Ctte/'ww, 22 6 8 oi Bagherge, 14 3 4 oi Veyooll (Veynoll), 13 6 8 oi Rhuddlan, 72 !? 2 oi Mostyn, 15 (5 8 of the office of escheator of Englejldd, 5G U The Bloglot of the county of Flint, which consisteth of the profits of the hundred courts within the said county, 72 11 9 The profits of the perquisites of the session of Mint, 30 of the escheator of the said county, 8 Total, .£442 (5 1 e Dodridge, p. 129. 68 ATIS-CROSS. About a mile from the town, on the lower road to Chester, stood a cross, whose pedestal I remem- Atis-cross. |3g^,^ which was called Atis-cross, and the land around is still called Croes-ati. This probably was a place of note; for, at the Conquest, it gave name to a very considerable hundred, at that time considered as part of Cheshire. Exestan was an- other, now given to Flintshire; which will be no- ticed in its place. There is a tradition, that in very old times stood a large town at this place; and it is said the foundations of buildings have been frequently turned up by the plough. But more remarkable are the great quantities of scoria of lead, bits of lead ore, and fragments of melted lead, which have been discovered in several spots here, and along the country, just above the shore, in the ad- joining parish of Northop. These have of late been found to contain such quantities of lead, as to encourage the washers of ore to farm the spots. In this tract, numbers of tons have been gotten within a small time, especially at Pentre Ffwrn- DAN, or the place of the fiery furnace : a name it was always known by, and which evinces the anti- quity of smelting in these parts; but this etymo- logy was never confirmed, till by means of these recent discoveries. In page 57 I mentioned my suspicion, that the precinct of Flint town once served to inclose a ANTIENT SMELTING. 69 small Roman station: I am confirmed in my opi- nion, from the multitudes of Roman coins, Fibulce, and variety of antique instruments, lately dis- covered by the workmen in the old washes of this and the next parish; which prove that the Ro- mans made tliis their port for exportuig the metal, after it was fused from the ore of the adjacent mountains. Here might be placed a small garri- son to protect the antient smelters, or to collect the duties, or to receive the tribute of metal. Previous to the settlement of the Romans in Britain, Straho speaks'^ so slightly of our articles of commerce, as to say, they were not worth the expence of one legion and a few horse. He died in the year 25, when our country was scarcely known, except by the attempt of Ccesar; but the trade, both in his days, and those of that great geographer, was carried on merely by exchange. The Britons worked their own mines of tin and lead; and in return received from the foreign merchants, earthen-ware, salt, and works of brass'. In a small time after the Romans had carried their arms through our island, they began to ap- ply with vigor to the working of the mines. At first, the ore of lead was got with ease: it offered itself on the surface. In Spain and Gaul, much labor was required to dig it up; in Britain it was ^ Lib. iv, p. 28L ' Stmbo, lib, iii. p. 240. rO ANTIENT MINING. found near the common soiP; and in such quanti- ties, that in Pliny a time (who died in the year 71)) there was a law (as there is at present in res- pect to black lead) limiting the annual produced Chance was the general detector of metallic riches in early times. The gold mines of Galicia were discovered by the plough'": those of India by the casting up of hillocks by the pismires": the silver mines of Spain by the casual burning of a wood". Trivial accidents, even to this age, have been the cause of mighty mineral discoveries. The great mine at Halhin was discovered by ditching: that at Llangynnog in Montgomeryshire, by the slip of a woman ascending a hill, and baring the vein with her feet. Many of the works that we sus- pect to have been Roman are very shallow; gene- rally in form of trenches, through which they pursued the veins, which probably were discovered from shght causes; but as ore grew more scarce, and avarice encreased, the pursuit went as deep as the art or powers of the time would permit. Imus in viscera ejus (Telluris) et in sedes manium opes qucerimus^. ' We descend into the very ' bowels of the earth; and seek riches even in the ' seat of departed spirits.' The want of gun- ^ Plmii, Hist. Nat. xxxiv. c. 17. ' Idem. Ibid. "' Justin, lib. xliv. c. 3. ° Btraho, lib. xv. p. 1000. ° Diod. Siculus, lib. v. c. 2. P riinii, lib. xxxiii. Proeiniuni. AN TIEN T MINING. 71 powder in early times was a great impediment. Instead, we find that great fires were used; the rock intensely" heated, and cracks formed in it by the sudden infusion of water; Pliny says of vinegar^. The wedge or pick-ax"" was then insinuated into the apertures, and the stone or the ore forced out. Miners often discover the marks of fire in antient mines. I am in possession of a httle wedge, five inches and a quarter long, presented to me by the late Mr. Smedley, of Bag ill t Hall, discovered in working the deep fissures of Talar Goch rock, in the parish of Diserth, in this county. This little instrument afibrds a proof of its antiquity, by being almost entirely incrusted with lead ore. It had probably lain in the course of some subter- raneous stream, which had brought along with it the leaden particles, and deposited them on the iron. Pick-axes of an uncommon bulk, and very clumsy, have been discovered in the bottom of the mineral trenches. These seem to have been the same with the Fractaria of the Romans, used by the miners in the gold mines' of Spain. Buckets of singular construction, and other things of uses unknown at present, have been found among the antient mines. In many respects the antient methods of mining were similar to those in present use. The la- 'i Lib. xxxiii. c. 4, ■• Ibid. " Ibid. 72 VIRGULA DIVINATOEIA. borers worked by stems, relieving each other at stated times. They worked night and day, by the hght of lamps. They drove levels, and sunk shafts, propping up the ground as they went on. They pursued the veins by forming drifts*; and finally, whenever the mines were molested with water, they had pumps, which raised it from the greatest depths they arrived at". Divining I HAVE mentioned above, the casual detection of our mineral wealth. It will perhaps amuse the reader, by informing him that in this county, within my memory, recourse was had to the vii^gula di- vinatoria, or divining rod; which, by powers sym- pathetic with the latent ore, was to save the usual expences of search, and to jDoint out the very spot where the treasures lay. A foreign adventurer, half knave half enthusiast, made the trial; but it proved as unfortunately unsuccessful to himself, as to his admirers. The instrument of the attempt was no more than a rod forked at one end, ' to be ' cut in a planetary hour on Saturn's day and ' hour; because Saturn is the significator of lead.^ Jupiter, Venus, Sol, and Mercury, were also con- cerned in the time of the operation. ' Jupiter, or * Pars Fortunce, was to be in Conjunction Sextile, * or Trine to the Lord of the ascendent or second; * and the better, if any reception happen; but be- ' Pliny, lib. xxxiii. c. 4. ° Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 2. VIRGULA DIVINATORIA. 73 ' WABE it be not by Square or Opposition ; for ' that spoils alP.' Thus cut, it is laid by for use on a heap of wheat or barley; and from the rod of Moses, was also profanely called the Mosaical rod. This was to he held by the forks in both hands; and carried over the grounds suspected to contain the ore. It went unaifected over all the barren spots; but no sooner did it impend over a vein, than it pressed strongly down, and seemed to feel the same attraction as exists between iron and the magnet. The sensible Agricola speaks of this practice incidentally; and gives a long account of the process; but places no kind of faith in it, assuring us, that the skilful miner should follow the natural signs of the mineral veins, and despise the use of these enchanted sticks. He traces their origin from imposture. The magicians of Pharaoh made use of wands in their deception of the ser- pents: Mine7'va, by virtue of a wand, turned the aged Ulysses into a young man; and again to his former state: Circe, by the magical powers of a rod, changed his companions into beasts : And lastly. Mercury, by the same means, impelled the watchful to sleep, and the sleepy to wake^ Let me now return to reahties ! The miners, in the earlier times of the Romans in Britain, seem to have been the subdued natives. * Hooson'a Miner's dictionary, article virgula divinatoria. y Agricola, de Re Metalllca, lib. ii. pp. 2(), 27. 74 liOMAN PIGS OF LEAD. Galcagus encourages his soldiers to conquer or die, by laying before them the dreadful conse- quences of a defeat : Trihitta et metalla, et ccBter(B servientimn poence. ' Tributes and mines, ' and all the dire penalties of slavery.' Agricola himself verifies the prophetic spirit of our brave chieftain, by calhng our mines the reward of victory. These were to be worked, not by the conquerors, but by condemned criminals, by slaves'', and Britons newly subjugated. It is probable, that when the island was entirely settled, this badge of slavery was taken away, and the miners were, as before the arrival of the Romans, voluntary laborers. EoMAN Pigs When the ore was efot*. it was cleansed in a OF Lead. ° ^' Dioclorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 2, gives a melancholy account of these slaves; whose state can only be paralleled by the poor Indians in the mines of Potosi. A learned and ingenious friend has favoured me with the fol- lowing concise though comprehensive observations on the metallurgy of the antients. " The antients have left us very imperfect accounts of their metal- " lurgical processes, which we have reason to conclude were very " rude and imperfect, when compared with those of modern times. " We may form no incompetent judgment of their skill from the " following data: " They were acquainted with the use of bellows, but these were " worked with hand and not by water, consequently the whole pro- " cess of smelting must have been slow and expensive. " They appear to have known the procees of amalgamation, but " not to have applied it to the extraction of the nobler metals. Nor " were they acquainted with the art of separating their gold and sil- EOMAN PIGS OF LEAD. 75 rude way, smelted in a furnace'', and cast into "orms very nearly resembling the common pigs of lead. Of such, T have seen three, found in different parts of Britain : the one discovered in Hints common, in the manor of Ralph Floi/er, esquire, in the county of Stafford, in the year 1771, at the depth of four feet under ground. Its length is twenty-two inches and a half; the weight a hun- dred and fifty-two pounds, about two pounds heavier than our common pigs of lead. On the upper surface is a rim ; withm that, in raised capitals, struck when the metal was hot, is this inscription : IMP. X . VESP -h VII X T X IMP x V x COS. or Imperatore Vespasiano Septimum Tito Tm- peratore quinthm Consule : which answers to the year 7 b or 7(S. On one side is the word DECEA, and at a distance the letter G. An ingenious anonymous writer, in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1772, conjectures it to have been a C, made by " ver via hiimida. Aud there is reason to suppose that they kuew " very little of the art of assaying, without which uo certain rules " can be laid down for mixing the ores, calcining them, adding the " proper fluxes, and regulating the fire. " Their slaga are invariably found to contain a large proportion of " metal. Pliny's, avowal (lib. xxxiv. c. 2) of their utter ignorance of " the composition of the famous Corinthian brass, or bronze, plainly " denotes theii inability in the art of assaying." Y.D. ^ L'liaii lib. xxxiv. c. 16. 76 EOMAN PIGS OF LEAD. the superintendant of the mine, or furnace, to shew either that the pig had paid duty, or was of due weight, or of proper purity. For my part, I am of opinion, that DECE A had once between it and the letter G, the letter N ; which will render it DECEANG, or de Ceangis, the place which produced the ore ; but by some accident that letter was defaced, and the G left seemingly unconnected. This explanation will fling light on certain pieces of lead described by Camden, to be taken notice of a few lines lower. This curious antiquity is in the cabinet of Mr. Green, i^) apothecary in Litchfield; whose collection merits the attention of the inquisitive traveller; who may be assured of the most liberal reception from the worthy owner". In 1731, two pigs of lead of the same kind, and of the same length, were discovered on Haysliaw moor, in the manor of Dacre, in the west riding of Yorkshire, on the estate of Sir John Inglehy of Ripley. One is preserved by the family: the other was presented to the British Museum. These also have an imperial inscription on the top; Impera- tore C^SARE DoMiTiANO AuGUSTO Consule Septi- mum. This was cast in the year 87, and under (^) Mr. Gree7i and his museum are described by Bosioell (in 1776,) T.P. <= Mr. Green died in 1793; his cabinet was dispersed after his de- cease. Ed. ROMAN PIGS OF LEAD. 77 the same regulation. The other pig which I saw at Ripley Hall, has the same inscription; and on one side the word Brig,{^) signifying that it came from the country of the Brigantes'^. In the time of Camden, twenty pices of lead, similar to the above, were found near Halton in Cheshire; some inscribed, Imp. Domit. Aug. C. DE Ceang.; other, Imp. Yesp. VII. t. Imp. V. Coss. These have been supposed to commemorate a victory over the Gangi; but it is evident that they were nothing more than pigs of lead brought here for use, or for transportation : and I am far- ther satisfied, that the ore which produced this lead was dug and smelted, either in that part of Flintshire antiently called Tegangle, or the sum- mer's residence of the Cangi, or Ceangi; or from the residence of the same order of people either in Derbyshire, or some neighboring county. This gives reason to suspect, that these Cangi, during their long vacant time, might sometimes engage in mineral concerns ; and then the ore, when smelted, might receive the mark of the people from whom it was received. The pig of lead in Mr. Greens cabi- net, certainly came from the Cangi of Derbyshire. (*) Looking at the specimen from the country of the Brigantes, one is led to suppose that the name of the other people began with DECEANG, and that the legend is not to be divided into De Ceang; if so, we have here another form of the Decangi of Tacitus. J. R. * Vide tab. VI. 78 ROMANS, THEIR MANAGEMENT OF From the regulation mentioned by Pliny, and from all these imperial inscriptions, it is clear, that the public took the mineral concerns into its own hands; and had its stamp-masters in proper places. I cannot pretend to fix the period of the first esta- blishment. If the inscription to Claudius^, on a mass of lead found in Henry VIII. 's time, near Wokey-Hole in Somersetshire, be of the same kind with the former, it must have been within the year 49, the time of his nmth tribuneship. The Romans found such a supply of silver in the Spanish mines, that for some time they never thought it worth their labor to extract it from lead^ The British name of lead is lost. The only word we have to express an ore is mivyn; but the species is expressed by an adjunct, as mivyn aur, gold, mitnjn plwm, lead ore; both which were pro- bably derived from the Latin. The Romans made use of the word metalluni to express ore, as well as the metal fused from it : the word minera is a word of a barbarous age, and probably derived from our mivyn. The ruder Britons, before their conquest by the Romans, had a very simple process of smelting. They placed the ore in a hole in the ground, and mixed it with wood ; which being fired, proved suf- "^ Camden, I. b3.—IIorsel>/, 328. ' Straho, lib. iii. p. 198. MIXES, AND SMELTING. 79 ficient to melt the lead out of the soft and kindly ores of this country ; a small gutter communicated with a second hole, into which the metal ran from the first. These artless slag-hearths are very fre- quent in the dingles of our county, and are dis- covered by the quantity of scoria mixed with charcoal. Some of our modern smelters have en- deavoured to extract the remaining part of the metal from these slags, but in vain ; the ant lent smelters having succeeded so effectually as not to have left behind sufficient to pay the expences of a second operation : the most that could be pro- cured from a ton of slags, amounting only to about a hundred and fifty pounds weight. I c ANNOT tell what use the Britons made of the metal, excepting as an article of commerce. I must not dare to assent to the tale of the venerable Bede^, who says, that the stakes driven into the Thames, to obstruct the passage of Ccesar, were wrapped round with lead. The project was use- less. This expedient of the Britons was tempo- rary; the stakes did not require such a covermg to preserve them; and the metal of lead was surely very improper to point them with. I AM of opinion, that there has been in our country a succession of founderies of lead, from the time of the Romans to the present, at every e Lib. i. c. 2. p. 42, 80 MINES WORKED BY THE SAXONS. period in which the civil commotions would permit them to be carried on. That the Saxons worked the British mines as well as the Romans, appears from the frequent use made of lead in all works of ecclesiastical magnificence. The cathedral of Lin- disfaivi^ was roofed with lead bj its bishop Ead- herct, about the year 652; that of ForZ: was covered with the same metal by its great prelate Wilfrid"^ in 669; and after that, Egelric, who was elected abbot of Croivland in 975, roofed the infirmary and chapel of that famous abby in a similar manner''. I mention these circumstances merely to shew, that the Saxons continued the business of smelting in the different parts of our island. We are assured that there have been, at different times, smelting- works for a century or two past in the parishes of Flint and Hawarden; and at present there is one in use in each of them. I SHALL take this opjDortunity of mentioning incidentally the other minerals of Great Britain, taken notice of by the antients, either as articles of trade or matters of curiosity. Tin. Tin was not only the first metal in these islands which we read of; but also the greatest object of commerce; and which originally led to the dis- h Bede, Hist. lib. iii. c. 25, p. 13L • £ddu Vit. Wilfridi, in Gale, iii. 59. ^ Ingidphi Hist, apud Camdeni Script, post Bedam, 888. TIN. 81 coveiy of Great Britain by the Romans. The mercantile Phoenicians traded to the SczY/^/ islands, the Cassiterides, or land of tin, from the port of Cadiz, four hundred years before Christ. The Romans, for a considerable time, could not dis- cover the place from whence the former procured the precious metal. They attempted to detect the trade, by following the course of a Phcenician vessel; but the master, faithful to the interest of his country, voluntarily run liis ship ashore in an- other place; preferring the loss of all, rather than suffer a foreign nation to become partakers of so profitable a secret. The pubhc immediately com- ]^ensated his loss out of its treasury. This did but make the Romans more eager for the discovery; and after many trials they succeeded. Puhlius Crassus (father of Marcus Crassus the Triumvir) who was praetor, and governed Spain for several years, landed in the Cassiterides, and found the report of their riches verified ^ As soon as the Romans made a conquest of the country, they formed in the tin province camps and roads, still visible ; and left behind vases, urns, sepulchres, and money, that exhibit daily ]")roofs of their having been a stationary people in t hose parts'" ; and that Dunmonittm extended even to the Belerian promontory, or the Lands-end; ' Straho, lib. iii. p. 240. •" Borlase, Antiq. Cormvall, p. 278 to 309. VOL. I. G 82 TIN. COPPEK. and was not, as some writers imagine, limited by the western parts of Somersetshire. It is not to be imagined, that they could neglect a corner of our island, productive of a metal so useful in me- chanics as tin, and which it yielded in such plenty, as to receive from that circumstance the name. So great was the intercourse that foreign nations had with the inhabitants bordering on Belerium, as to give them a greater S(^avoir vivre, and more extensive hospitality, than was to be found in other parts of the island. They were equally expert in working the mines, and preparing the ore, which lay in earthy veins within the rocky strata. They melted and purified it, then cast it into rows of cubes, and carried it to Ictis, the modern Mount St. Michael: from thence it was transported into Gaul; conveyed from the place it was landed at, on horses' backs, a journey of thirty days, to the mouth of the Rhone, and also to the Massylians, and the town of Narhonne"^. Copper. Did not CcBsar and Straho agree in their ac- count, I should never have believed it possible that the Britons could have neglected their rich mines of copper, and have been obliged at first to import that metal. Perhaps the ore was less accessible, and the art of fusion unknown; for islands, from their very situation, must remain " Diodorm JSiculus, ed. Wechel, 1604, pp. 209, 218. COPPER. 83 longer ignorant of arts than continents ; especially ours, which lay far to the west of the origin of all science. ^- Str.\bo says, that the Britons imported works of brass; but it is as certain, that they afterwards did themselves fabricate that metal into instru- ments. The Celts, a British instrument, was made in this island. Numbers have been found in YorJcshire and Essex'', together with cinders, and lumps of melted metal; which evince the place of a forge. The Romans had then- founder- ies of copper in our island; and cast the metal into reg*ular forms. A mass was found at Caer hen, the antient Conovium, four miles above Conivy, which probably was smelted from the ore of the Snou'don hills; where of late years much has been raised. This mass is in shape of a cake of bees- wax; and on the upper part is a deep concave impression, with the words Socio Koivl^; across these is impressed obliquely, in lesser letters, Natsol. I cannot explain it, unless Nat. stands for Natio, the people who paid this species of tribute; and sol. for solvit, that being the stamp- master's mark. These cakes might be bought up by a merchant resident in Britain, and consigned Socio Rom^, to his partner at Rome. The weight of this antiquity is forty-two pounds; the ° Borlase, Antiq. 25G, 266. 84 CALAMINE. IRON. diameter of the upper part eleven inches; the thickness in the middle two and three quarters p. Calamine. CALAMINE, the Cadmia of Pliny'^, and the Btone-Cadmia of Straho\ abounds in the mmeral parts of this island. The Romans knew its uses in making of brass; thei'efore cannot be supposed to have overlooked so necessary an ingredient. The remains of the brass founderies, discovered in our kingdom, shew, that they were acquainted with it. The knowledge of this mineral in after- ages was long lost. Before the reign of Elizabeth, much was imported from Sweden; but at that period it was discovered again in the Mendip hills; and, fortunately, at the same time that the work- ing of the copper mines in those of Cumberland was renewed. Our county abounds with it; but, till within these sixty years, we were so ignorant of its value, as to m^nd our roads with it. Iron. C^sae, and Straha' allow that we had iron. The first says it was rare; for bits of it passed for money by weight. In Straho's, days it appears to have been in greater plenty; for he mentions it among the articles of exportation. Immense beds of iron-cinders are to this day found in the forest of Dean, the reliques of the Romans; others in p Tab. VI. This curious' antiquity is preserved at Mostyn. « Lib. xxxiv. c. 10. Lib. iii. 224. » CcBsar Com. Bell. Gall. Lib. v. c. xii. Strabo, lib. iv. p. 279. GOLD AND SILVER. 85 Monmouthshire; another was discovered near Jliskin, the seat of William Basset, Esq. beneath which were found a coin of Antoninus Pius, and a piece of earthen-ware*; and finally, others in Yorhshire"^, also accompanied with coins: all which evince the frequency of iron-founderies during the period of the Roman reign in Britain.i^) These cinders are not half exhausted of their metal; for the Romans knew only the weak powers of the foot-blast. Tliey are now worked over again, and yield a more kindly metal than what is produced from the ore. These beds are supposed to be almost inexhaustible; a proof of the vast founderies of early times. Gold and silver are enumerated^ among the Gold. products of Great Britain. The Romans were acquainted with this; and our precious metals proved another incentive to their ambition to effect our conquest. Agricola, in his oration to his soldiers before the battle of the Grampian moun- tain, excites them to victory, by reminding them of our riches, the reward of valor. Fert Britan- ' Archceolog. ii. 14. " Yarranton's Improvejnents, 57. — Leland, Itin. i. 144, vi. 102. Camden, ii. 722. (') I'ennani makes no allusion, it will be noticed, to the Wealds of JSiissex and Kent, the only district where Ccesar seems to have known of iron in Britain, and where it was worked to comparatively late times. J. R. " Strabo, lib. iv, p. 279. 86 GOLD AND SILVER. NIA aurum et argentum, et alia onetalla pi'etiwn victoricB^'. These metals have, in later times, been got in quanties sufficient to prove, that they might, at an earlier period, have been an object worthy of conquest. In the reigns of James IV. and V. vast wealth was procured in the Lead Hills, from tlie gold collected from the sand washed from the mountain. In the reign of the latter, not less than to the value of three hundred thousand pounds sterling. In another place, a piece of thirty ounces weight was found. Much also was ob- tained in the time of the Regent Morton"^. The search is now given over; but bits are still found accidentally. Lord Hopton, owner of the Lead Hills, is in possession of a specimen that weighs an ounce and a half(^). Gold is to this day found in Corn/wall, mixed with tin and other substances'". The largest piece that has been yet discovered, is equal in weight to three guineas. It is probable that it was the Cornish gold which proved the lure to the Ro- mans; for it was impossible they or the Fhwni- y Vita Aff)\ '■ Tour in Scotland, ii. 130, iii. 414. (1) One of the most productive gold mines in old times may be supposed to haye been Ogofau near Dolau Cothi in Carmarthenshire, where extensive traces of the mining are still well known; and gold mining has been carried on lately in the neighbourhood of Dolgelley, J.R. » Borlme, Nat. Hist. Cormcall, 213, 214. GOLD AND SILVER. 87 dans could be ignorant of it, who had such long commerce with the country, and who were ac- quainted with tlie manner of obtaining it in other places. Pliny, speaking of tin, says, that there is found in the gold mines of Spain and Portugal, a soi-t called Elutia}' (which a Cornish man would call stream tin), being washed from the vein by water, and gathered up in baskets along with the gold^ Strabo and Tacitus agiee, that we had mines Silver. of silver. In the reigns of Edward I. and III. there were very considerable works at Combmar- tin in Devonshire^: three hundred and thirty- seven miners sent for out of Derhysliire, were em- ployed in them; and the produce was so great as to assist Edward the Third to carry on the w^ar with France. In the beginning of this century, much native silver was found on the estate of Sir John Er shine, in the county of Stirling; but the vein was soon exhausted. The Britons were acquainted with the uses of gold and the art of coining before the arrival of the Romans; witness the golden sickles of the Druids, the coins found at Carnh^e in Cornwall, » Alluvial. Ed. * Lib. xxxiv. c. 16. To prevent antiquaries being further misled about the Ampthill gold mine, I must inform them, that it proved only a bed of mica aurea; or, to speak like a punster, turned out nothing but talc "^ Camden, i. 47. 88 ANTIENT COINS. and the coins of Cassivelaunusi^). They made use of different sorts of metals for the purpose of coining; but chiefly gold, as being the easiest fused, and most capable of an impression. Doctor Borlase has preserved a series of these very early coins, from the rudest and most unintelligible impressions, to the period when the Britons made an attempt to form a face on their coins. All these are unlet- tered; a proof of their antiquity, and of their hav- ing been struck before their intercourse with the Romans. The first we know of, which is in- scribed, is that of Caissvelaunus, cotemporary with Ccesar. The next is of Cunobeline, who had even been at Rome. As soon as the Britons became acquainted with the Romans, they made an essay to imitate their manner of coining; they put letters on them, elephants, and gryphons; things they were before unacquainted with. They were not suffered to make any progress in the art; for as soon as their conquest was effected, their coin was suppressed. The learned have endeavoured (1) The gold sickles do not seem to have had anything to do with coins, and they belonged to the Druids of Gaul, not Britain; and as to Cassivellaunus, his name is not known on any coin. The coins of the Britons, like those of the Gauls, were imitations of money current among the Greeks of Marseilles, and more especially the gold stater of Philip II. of Macedon. It is remarkable that the Dumnonii and the people of the tin country had no coins of their own minting. The work to be consulted on the subject is Evans's 'Coins of the Ancient Britons.' J.R. ANTIQUITIES. 89 to trace these antient monies from the Phoenicians; but the comparison would not hold. The Gauls alone had some pieces similar: nor is this to be wondered at, since they and the Britons had a common origin, were neighbors, and might as well agree in the few arts they had, as in religion and language^ I NOW return to the subjects which occasioned this digression; and to give some account of the various antique instruments and coins found near Flint; and accompany the same by the more ex- pressive description, a print. N" 1. tab. V. is a rich ornament of gold, in form of a button with a shank. It is composed elegantly with twisted wire, and studded with little globular bits of solid gold. This seems to have belonged to the bracelet or necklace (it is un- certain which), whose fragment is represented at N" 2. This is also composed of gold links, with round beads of a rich blue glass placed between every second link. Something similar to this is preserved by count Caylus, which is entire, and appears to have been a necklace ^ N" 3. is a cylindric fragment of glass, probably part of some ornament, being of a rich blue color, and perforated as if it was designed to be strung. With it was found a thick piece of sea-green glass, « Bodase^s Antiq. Cornwall, 242. tab. xix. ' Tom. iii. 312, tal). Ixxxv. 90 ANTIQUITIES. ]iart of a vase. Glass was among the earlier im- ports into Britain^, when the wild natives were as much captivated with toys as the Indians of new-discovered countries are at present. At first they received these, and all their other vitreous commodities, by means of the Phcenicians, whose capital, Tyre, was pre-eminent in that manufac- ture. The glain nadroedd, or snake-gems, were at first obtained by way of exchange for the British exports. They were originally made by the Britons of stone. I have such a one in my cabinet. I have seen another in possession of the Reverend Hugh Davies, found in Anglesea. The traders soon learned to imitate what was prized so highly in our island, in a more elegant material; and imported them as a most captivating article of commerce; in the same manner as circumnavi- gators often mimic, in shewy brass, the utensils and weapons of Indian nations, in order to engage their friendship. N° 4. is a small brazen head, with the back part afiixed to iron. Perhaps this was one of the Sigillaria, or little images sold at the fairs, and presented usually to children^: the fau's where these toys were sold went by the same name. A learned friend also supposes these to 8 Straho, lib. iv. p. 281. ^ Nod cogaoscis me? ego sum Felicio, cui solebas sigillaria afferre. Seneca, Epist. 12. ANTIQUITIES. 91 be miniature likenesses, which friends presented to each other as memorials. N" 5. Is a Stylus, or instrument for writing on the ceratce taheUw, or waxen tablets; which were made of thin leaves of lead, brass, or ivory, and covered with a thin coat of wax. The pen, if I may call it so, was usually of brass; one end pointed, in order to write; the other flat, in order to efface what was wi^ong, by smoothing or closing the wax. Horace gives every writer most excel- lent advice, in alluding to this practice: Stepe Stylum vertas, iterum quae digna legi sint, ScripturuB. Oft turn youi^ style, when you intend to write Things worthy to be read. N" 6. is an instrument of very singular use : a narrow species of spoon, destined to collect, at fimerals, the tears of the relations of the deceased, in order to deposit them in the little phials which were placed with the ashes in the urn, memorials of their grief. Such are very frequently found: but the custom is far higher than that of classical antiquity; for the Psalmist, in expressing his sorrows, alludes to it; Thou tellest my flittings; put my tears into thy bottle. N" 7. is an instrument seemingly designed for the purpose of dressing the wicks of lamps. N" 8. may possibly be destined for the same uses. 92 ANTIQUITIES. N° 9. is a brazen bodkin. N" 10. is ?ijibula or brotclie, gilt, and enameled with dee^J blue in front. N° 1 1 . is a brotche, not unlike some used at present by the common Highlanders; whose dress, in its genuine simplicity, seems to have been bor- rowed from the Romans. N" 12. is also a species of button; but differs from the modern (as do all I have seen) by having no shank : instead, was a tongue, similar to those of the comiwon Jibulw. The front of this is ena- meled with deep blue. N" 13. is another, of a very different form. This has also lost its fibulce ; but the defect is very apparent. N° 14. is a forceps ; an instrument much in vogue among the Romans, for extirpating hairs. This was used far the same purpose as the Turkish fair do the Rusma. The pincers here engraven are of great size and strength; perhaps employed by some robust coxcomb, such as Persius rallies so severely, in his fourth satire, for his unbecoming effeminacy. N° 15. 15. seem to have been instruments of sacrifice. One end of each is round, and of the form of an olive; and was intended for the use of the aruspices, to insinuate under the entrails of the victim, and to lift them up for the better in- spection of the parts. The other extremit}^ of the I rimiififirJ ^'^*''^'''^ -^ '^'''^ ^^ ' "'^""^'^™''™'''™ ^ E.(n>lMLAN AI!0:i infant years. ^ Rotuli Wallice (Sir Joseph Ayloffeti), 75. ^ Tti'tuicr's JVotit. Monast. 711. MINERAL PROPERTY. 99 These regal grants were for every species of metal, excepting iron: for gold and silver, copper, tin and lead, and all other metals containing gold and silver. These two were the great object; yet the grants do not preclude the royal claim to the baser kinds. During this reign, the art of refining, or the separation of metals from the ore, was made the ground of an imposture common enough in after times. There are not fewer than four instances of persons undertaking the transmutation of the baser metals into pure gold and silver; each of whom received the royal protection'', to prevent them from being interrupted in then- operations : for certain malevolent people supposed they used unlawful arts, i c. the art magic. In a supersti- tious age, this suspicion might have proved fatal to the projectors; who wisely assumed the most religious term for their mystery, to obviate the mahce of their enemies. The metals were not to ' R>/oier's Fcedera, xi. C8. 128. 240. 3()i). Henry IV. had passed an act, that " none shall use to multiply " gold or silver, nor use the craft of multiplication: aud if any the " same do, that he incur penalty of felony." This was aimed at per- sons, who, under pretence of transmutation, counterfeited the nobler metals. But afterwards it was found a check on the metallurgic art; as it extended even to the punishment of any ingenious refiner, who had discovered the method of getting more gold and silver out of the baser kinds than was known before, which occasioned the repeal of the act, in the first year of William and Mary, c. 30. 100 MINERAL PEOrEKTV. be transmuted, but transuhstantiated^', for tliej had great reason to imagine, that the behevers of the word in the rehgious sense, would hardly con- tradict the feasibility of the project in the temporal meaning. Besides, they were to act under the guise of piety; for the adept must be homo frugi; A pious, lioly, and religious man, One free from mortal sin, a very virgin". We hear nothing of the event of these undertak- ings; but imagine they ended like all others of a similar nature. The bubble did not die with this weak prince; for in 147G, we find that Edward IV. gave the same encouragement to one David Beaupe and John Marcliaunt, to have for four years facuUatem et scientiam 'pliilosophicB artificia- lem oiaturalem generationis a merciirio in aurum faciendo, et simili modo a mercurio in argentum: the liberty of changing mercury into gold and silver''. We hear no more of these impostures till the reigns of Elizahetli and James I. when they were most successfully revived^. Edwatjd continued the mineral grants to se- veral great men ; among others to the earl of Warioich, the earl of Northiimherland, and his brother Richard earl of Gloster. The farm was * E)/mer's I'cedera, xi. G8. 128. 240. 309. " Ben Jonson's Alchemist. ^ Rymer, xii. 28, ^ Vide Life of Doctor Dee; Ben Jonson's Alchemist, &c. MINERAL PEOPERT^T. 101 now encreased; they were to pay the king an eighth neat profit, the lord of the soil the ninth, and the curate of l:he place the tenth. In the short and turbulent reign o? Richard III. no attention was paid to concerns of this kind; but his successor, Henrij YII. in his very first year, discovered his ruling passion, avarice, by imme- diately appointing Jasper duke of Bedford, and several other persons of distinction, to be governors of all his mines in England and in Wales, paying to the king the fifteenth' of the imre gold and silver, and to the lord of the soil the eleventh, as it grows. Elizabeth was the first of our princes who laid the foundation for our mineral success, and for all the vast manufactures that arose in consequence. I read, that in 1452, Henry VI. ^ (possibly on dis- covery of the imposture of metallic transmutations) sent out of Hungary, Austria, and Bohemia, for three experienced miners, and thirty assistants, to work his mines; so unskilled were the English at that time. The civil wars, which broke out im- mediately after, frustrated this wise measure. Elizabeth resumed it, l^eing too quick-sighted not to perceive the defects and wants of her kingdom. She not only adopted but improved on the plan. Our knowledge of minerals was almost ex- *"• Mosus 8triiiger, author of Opera Mineralia cxplicata, calls it the )llth, which suits better the character of that monarch. ' Rjmer, xi. 317. 102 MINERAL PROPERTY. tinguished, and of course the manufactures which depended on them. We imported our swords, our knives, stirrups, bits, and even our pins, out of Germany, through the channel of the Netherlands. Our works of brass, and even our wire, excepting a small quantity which was worked by hand, were of foreign fabrick. Tlie first step taken by this jDolitic princess, was to forbid the importation of these and several other articles, from parts beyond sea^': the next was to invite into her kingdom foreign miners, foreign smelters, and foreign arti- ficers of metallic productions. She next formed a corporation, under the title of THE SOCIETY FOR THE MINES ROYAL. The first governor was Willi am earl of P(?m?>ro/:e." several men of rank were joined in the commission as as- sistants, and several citizens, and some foreigners of known experience in these matters. She like- wise framed the '^same members into another cor- poration, which naturally depended on the former, VIZ. the SOCIETY FOR THE MINERALS AND BATTERY WORKS. These corporations were founded on ^faij the 28th 15G7. Some progress had been made, a few years be- fore, towards procuring materials for these new manufactures; in 1563, she had granted the mines of eight counties, besides those in Wales, to Daniel ^ Statute 5th Elizabeth, c. 7. MINERAL PEOPERTY. 103 Hovghsetter : in 15G4, she had made another grant to Cornelius Devosse; and a thh^d in the same year, more comprehensive than all, to Christopher Shutz, of all mines, minerals, and subterraneous treasures, (except copperas and alum) which shall be found in all other parts of England (not men- tioned in the former patent) or within the English pale in Ireland, by the name of gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, quicksilver, cadmian ore, or lapis cala- minaris; and all manner of "ewres or oares," simple or pure, mixt or compounded for latten wire or steel, &c. To each of these patentees an English- onan was joined. It is worth observing, that the crown, in most of these grants, lays absolute claim to all mines whatsoever, under a notion that they are royal mines ; yet the prerogative could only be entitled to such which yielded gold and silver. The origin of this pretence arose from the king's right of coinage, in order that he might have the requisite materials; which would have confined him to the two noble metals. But until the happy period arrived when our constitution was established, and the royal and the private property justly distin- guished, the subject was too weak to assert his rightful claim. Elizabeth herself was too fond of the darling prerogative (even with all her boasted love to her people) to resign this part. Her patent to Williani Humfrey and Christopher Shutz is 104 MINERAL PROPERTY^ worded in the most unlimited manner; for it not only gave them power to sink shafts wheresover they pleased (gardens, dec. excepted), but to build houses requisite to carry on the works, not only upon the royal demesnes, but on the grounds of any of her subjects. The spirited Percies, in the person of Thomas earl of Northumhcrland, first withstood this invasion of his rio-ht. He contested \vith the crown the title to the copper mines in his manor of Keswick; but the lawyers decided against him, alleging, that although the crown had a power to grant away its manors, it had not the power to ahenate the mineral, being perfectly linked to the prerogative of the crown. But, as usual, the gentlemen of the long robe had two opinions respecting this point: some as- serting, that if any gold or silver was found in the mines of baser metal, the whole would belong to the king; which, in fact, was bestowing all the mineral property on the crown, there being scarcely any base metal but what holds some particles of the nobler: others again, in a future reign, quali- fied this by saying, 'That although the gold or * silver contained in the base metal of a mine, in ' the hands of a subject, be of less value than the * base metal, yet if the gold or silver do counter- * vail the charge of refining it, or be of more ' worth than the base metal spent in refining it, * THIS IS A ROYAL MINE; and as well the base MINERAL PROPERTY. 105 ' metal as the gold and silver in it, belong to the ' prerogative of the crown".' Such was the state of the royal claim; so dis- com-aging to the industry of the subject, till the o-reat event of the Revolution; when the crown, in the first year of William and Mary, fully gave Tip all pretensions to the mines of copper, tin, iron, and lead, notwithstanding gold or silver may be extracted from them in any quantities. By a following act, this right was again confirmed: only the crown reserved to itself a power of purchasing'^ within thirty days after raising, all ores made mer- chantable, at the following rates: copper at 16/. per ton, tin at 40/. lead at 9/.; and in default of such payment, the owners were at liberty to dis- pose of their ore as they pleased. Thus, as Mr. Blackstone^ observes, the private owners were not discouraged from working mines, through a fear that they may be claimed as royal; neither does the king depart from the just rights of his revenue, since he may have all the precious metal contained in the ore, paying no more for it than tlie value of the base metal is supposed to be; to ' This opinion was given in 1040, 1641, and subscribed by Maipiard, Glanville, and others, tlie first lawyers of the time. '' This right of pre-emption has been reserved by the kings of JCngland and dukes of CornicaU, in all their charters of liberties granted to the tin-men of CornvMU. \io. •= Commentaries, 4to, i. 294. Halkix. lOG LLAN-HALKIN. •wliicli base metal the land-owner is by reason and law entitled. Some account of the ores and fossils of the mi- neral tract, which gave rise to tins digression, will be given when I cross it again in the course of my journey. From Pentre Ilcdldn, I pursued my journey Llan- along the Chester road: and passed by the Llan. The church dedicated to St. Mary, is a neat small edifice, lately re-built, partly by a brief, partly by subscription. It stands on the site of a church, mentioned in Doomsday-book. At the Conquest, this tract bore the name of Alchene, from which the present name is taken. Brijnford, a town- ship now in the parish of Holywell, and a place called Inglecroft, at that time were joined to it. Doomsday-book says, that here was a church and a jiresbyter, and three boors; a mill of five shillings annual value; and a wood half a league long, and forty perches broad; the whole valued at ten shillmgs. The old British name of this place (still re- tained by the Welsh) is Lugan (^), from a saint, known, I believe, only in the Welsh calendar. About two or three miles farther, in a woody morass on the left hand, are the foundations of an Q-) What foundation there may be for this I know not, but the Welsh name implied by Lvgan and Jlalkin would seem to have been Helygen or Willow, j.r. LLYS EDWIN. MOEL Y GAER. 107 antient pile, called LJijs Edwin, or Llys Llan Eiirgain, originally the seat of Edirin, or Englc- field ap ^Gronw, lord, or king, as he was styled, of Tcgcngle. He was great grandson to Howel Dda, Prince of Wcdes, and flourished about the year 1041. Numbers of families in this county sprung from him, but most of them are extinct in the male line. It continued in the family till the death of a descendant of his, Howel Gwynedd, who lost his life in the cause of Glyndivr; when his forfeited estates were bestowed by Henry IV. on one Bryan Saxton. His posterity possessed them till the l7th of Henry YI. who granted them to Sir John Stanley, groom of the bedchamber^ They afterwards became the property of a younger branch of the Stanleys, and remained in their pos- session in the seventeenth century. I find a Sir Edward Stanley of Flint^, married to a daughter of George lord Stanley, about the latter end of the reign of Henry YII. who probably was owner of this place. I MUST not 2^^ss unnoticed a strong British ^[q-^^^ y post, Avhich soars above the road, about two miles ^^^^^■ to the right. It lies on the summit of a hill, and is surrounded with a great foss and dike of a circu- lar form, with an entrance as usual to such places; and a small artificial mount within the precinct; f History of the house of Stanley, 28. K CoJlins's Peerage, ii. 4.'),3. 108 NORTHOP. a tribunal ce-'ipititiiun, from whence our antient heroes might cleHver their araith or aUocutio, to animate their followers agfainst the invading: strangers. That it was in use among our leaders is evident; for our boasted Boadicea harangued her troops from a turfy mount. This post is called Mod y Gaer, or the hill of the fortress ; a name common to several others of similar use. This seems to have been an out-post of the Ordo- vices, in order to defend their country against the Roman invaders. We shall, in the course of the work, have occasion to mention the chain of posts along the Clwi/dian hills, from that next to the sea, to the remote and internal parts. Our ances- try disputed the possession of their country by inches. In these places they lodged their wives and children ; hither they drove their cattle out of the low country: they established in each numer- ous garrisons ready to sally forth and repel the foe ; or to defend all that was dear to them, should the invaders be hardy enough to attack them in their intrenchments. In" later times, this spot proved fatal to a valiant partizan of Owen Glyndwr. Howel Gwynedd (whom we lately mentioned) was surprized in a negligent hour, within this post, and there be- headed. NoRTHOP. NoRTHOP, a little town, lies next on the road. It bears the addition of North, to distinguish it NORTHOP. 109 from the other Hope. The British name is Llan Eurgain, from St. Eurgen, daugliter of Malgivyn Gw7jnedd,ap CasicaUon Laic-hir, ap Einion Yrth, ap Cuneclda Wledic, &c. who died in 58G. William Parry, LL.D. and member for Qiieens- loroiigh, was born at Northop. He was executed before the door of the parlement-house, in 1584, for desio-ning: the death of Queen Elizabeth. He liad before rendered himself obnoxious, for having liad the courage to speak against the bill for the expulsion of popish priests, &c. was committed to prison, but restored to his seat on making sub- mission. He asserted, that his mother was a Conwy, o^Bod-rhyddan; that his father had thirty children by two wives, and died aged 108. His enemies, on the contrary, say he was of mean [)arents, and that his father Avas a publican of this village, of the name of Harry ap Dafydd. Be that as it may, his abilities were considerable; but liis duplicity brought him to his fatal end. He went a voluntary spy to foreign parts, was gained over by the Romish party; probably meant to deceive both sides; so fell a just victim to his artifices. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. The body is long and embattled : the tower lofty and handsome. Within are three effigiated tombs; one of a fat knight, whose name is lost, and figure much injured by time. Another of a short warrior, completely armed, and in good preservation : on 110 NORTHOP. his sliield is a cross pattee, charged in the middle with a mullet between four others. The inscription m iXiM^, Hie jacet Ith. Vach. ap Bledd Vachi^). I suspect him to have been a captain of Englefield, mentioned in the pedigree of the Humphreijses of Bodlewjjddan, and said to have been interred here. The third is of a lady, inscribed Llewc ''''''''''% and anno domini 1482. According to tradition, her name was Lleud Llwyd, a celebrated beauty of that period; perhaps the same who was beloved by a noted bard, Avho coming to visit her after long absence, met with the same shock as the Cheva- lier de Ranch did; for each found their beloved in her coffin. The bard fainted at the sight, revived, and composed an elegy on her. The Chevalier retired from the world, and founded the abby of La Trappe, famous for its religious austerities. NoRTHOP is a sinecure, annexed to the bishopric of St. Asaph, in the Gth of Queen Anne, in order to compensate for the mortuaries due to the bishop on the death of eveiy beneficed clergyman in the diocese. From an account taken in the reign of Queen Elizaljcth, the following were customary: Impriinis, His best g'jlJiiig, Item, His best coat, jerkin, horse, or mare. doublet, and breeches. Item, His best gown. Ite^/i, His hose, or nether Item, His best cloak. stockings, and garters. (^) That is in full, probably, "Hie jacet Ithel Vachan ap Bleddyn Vachan," with Vachan for Vychan, now spelled Vaughan. j.r. EULO CASTLE. Ill Item, His waste coat-. Item, His purse and girdle. Item, His hat and cap. Item, His knife and gloves. Item, His falchion. Item, His signet, or ring of Item, His best book. gold\ Item, His surplice. Between the eighth and ninth stone, about a quarter of a mile out of the Chester road, are the ruins of Eulo castle, placed on the edge of a deep Castle. wooded dingle. It is a small fortress, consisting of two parts: an oblong tower, rounded at the side, and guarded on the accessible places by a strons: wall at some distance from it : an oblono- yard, with the remains of a circular tower at its extremity, forms the other part. The towers are now finely over-growji with ivy, and command the view of three wooded glens, deep and darksome, fonning a most gloomy solitude. In the woods near this place, called to this day Coed Eulo, part of the flower of the army de- tached by i^enr^ 11. in 1157, from his camp on Saltney, was surprized and defeated by David and Battle. Conan, the sons of Owen Gwynedd, sent by their father with a strong party from his camp near Basingwerlc. They suffered the enemy to march along the streights of the country, till their forces were entangled in the depth of woods, and the steeps of the narrow vallies, so frequent in these parts. The attack was sudden, fierce, and unex- '' WillU'a St. Asap'i, 280. 112 BATTLE OF COLESHILL. pected: the slaughter dreadful; and the pursuit carried even to Henrys encampment'. This proved but a prelude to the English of a second defeat. The king, with an intent to repair the disgrace, marched forward with his whole army; and at Battle of CoIesJiiII, near Flint, suffered himself to be engaged in the same difficulties which his detachment ex- perienced before. His forces were again defeated; and Eustace Fitz John, a baron first in rank, Avealth, and abilities among the English, and Robert cle Courci, another great baron, with numbers of others, were slain, Henry de Essex, hereditary standard-bearer, and a man of approved valor, was seized with a panic; and flinging down the standard, cried out, that the king was killed''! The route would have been general, if Henry had not valiantly rallied his forces, and repulsed the Welsh; but in the end, he thought it prudent to withdraw liis army, and encamp in a secure station. He afterwards attempted to cut off the retreat of Owen Gwynedd, by marching along the shore, and getting between him and the mountains; but the wise prince, penetrating into his views, retired to a plain near St. Asaph, still called Oil- Owen, or Otven's Retreat; and from thence to a strong post, named Bryn y Fin, defended by great ramparts ' I'oicel, 207. ^ Guil. Keuhrig, lib. ii. c. 5, This is the authoi' wliom the ^YelsIl ca'I Ouillim Bach. Uromplon, 1048. A FAITHFUL DOU. 113 and ditches. This camj) lies in the parish of >S'^, George, on a lofty rock above the church, and is now called- Pe?i y Pare. Bryx Dychwelwch\ or the eminence, on which Owen pronounced the order, retreat! by its name preserves the memory of the circum- stance. It lies over Pentre Bagillt, below Gadlf/s, and is supposed to have been the spot from whicli he retired to C'd-Oiven. In this neighborhood are two very lofty arti- ficial mounts, the site of buildings long since de- stroyed. One is near Gaelics smelting- works, and might have been the seat of one of our princes, as the name expresses; Gadlf/s signifying Palatium Ca-strense, or Royal Head Quai'ters^. About a mile above Flint stands the other, called Bryn y Civn, or the Hdl of Dogs, which possibly might liave been an hunting seat. A CIRCUMSTANCE, consequential of this battle, proves, that the report of Edgar a having extir- pated the race of wolves out of the princij^aHty, is erroneous. A young Welshman, killed in this battle, was discovered eight days after, attended by his faithful dog, who remained by the corpse the whole time, without food, and defended it from being the prey of birds and wolves". * Hryn, a hill; Bycliwelwch, return. ™ This should not destroy the tradition, that it was the place on which Henry encamped after his retreat, " Girald. Vunihr. Itin. lib. ii. c. 1(^. p. S7;i. VOL. I. I lU EULO CASTLE. There is no sort of tradition about the founder of the castle of Eulo. Wiietlier it was built by one of the lords of Teg angle, or whether it was erected by Henry to prevent a similar disaster, by placing a garrison here, I will not pretend to de- termine. It has been for centuries in ruins; for Leland speaks of it as 'a ruinous castle or pile, ' belongmg to Tloele, a gentleman of FJyntsliire, ' that by auncient accustume was wont to give the * bagge of the sylver harpe to the beste harpir of * North Walys, as by a privelege of his ances- * tors".' The antiquary adds, 'that he dwellith * at Penrine, in Flyntshire/ We know of no such place in the county; but suspect that the gentle- man intended was Tliomas ap Richard ap Howel, lord of Mostyn, in whose family that privilege was long invested; that gentleman having been cotem- porary with Leland. Manor. The manor of Eulo was reckoned an apperte- nance to the manor of Montalto, or Mold. It was in the crown in the 26th of Henry YIIL who granted it to Peter Stanley, esquire, gentleman of his household, witli the tolls of the market of Flint^. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, it was held by Edward Stanley by payment of 20/. IO5. a year*^. At present"" it is in possession of John Leland Itin. v, 56. p Harleiaii MSS. No. 19GS. 1(». 1 Hadeian MSS. No. 1970. 7. Now of Bryan Cooke, Esq. in right of his wife. Ed. POTTERIES. 115 Davies esquire, of Llanerch.- — In Saxton's map of Flintshire, is a place called Yoidy Hall; and I find the "arms of the family of Eido, the antient owners, in the Salesburij pedigree book. But there is not at present the least tradition of them. Within this lordship are very considerable potteries of coarse earthen ware; such as pans, Potteries. jugs, great pots for butter, plates, dishes, ovens, flower-pots, &c. There are fourteen works, which make annually between three and four thousand pounds worth. The ware is mostly exported to Ireland, and the towns on the Wehli coast; par- ticularly to Swansea. There are besides six other works for the making of fire-bricks; few clays being better htted for the purpose of resisting the intense heat of the smelting-furnaces. These .are made of diiferent sizes; and some wdiich are called bearers weigh two hundred pounds. Great quantities of tiles for barn-floors, and for rooms, are also made here; and the annual sale of these two articles amounts to about twelve hundred pounds. This clay, of a deep ash-color, is found in beds of a great thickness; and is dug up in hard lumps, resembling a shaly rock; after which it is left for a considerable time exposed to the air, in order to effect its dissolution. The bricks made with it are set in the lead-furnaces with the iniburnt clay, in- stead of mortar. IIG HAWARDEN. I MUST not leave the parish of Nortliop Avith- out visiting its maritime parts, which stretch along the channel of the Dee. We find there the names of certain townships taken notice of in Doomsday- book; Lead-hrooh, Normanized into Lathroc, from the Anglo-Saxon Loed, and Broca, either from the quantity of lead washed out of it, or from the- smelting-works established on it. This township, after the Conquest, was held by Robert of Rh^iddlan. Ulfmiltone was another, now known by the name of Golftyn. Wepre, another townsliip, was held by William de Malhedeng, from the church of Chester. It is twice noticed in Doomsday-book ; and it is said 'to- have had on it a wood a league and a half long. In one jjlace mention is made of two villeyns and two boors: in another, of one viUeyn and a rad- man; and that it had been possessed by one* Ernui, a freeman. Of late years, a very hand- some pier has been built by the river Dee company in this township, jutting into the channel, for the protection of the ships bound to or from Chester,. under which they may take shelter in bad weather or adverse winds. Hawardex. From hence I ascended to Haivarden, a small town. I shall speak first of the manor and castle. The last forms a most picturesque object, soaring- above tlie woods. This place, like most others in HAWAEDEN. 117 oiu' county, bears two names, Penwn'd halawg, perhaps corrupted from Pen y LIwch{^), or the head land ah dominions against the Britons, the natural and in- veterate enemies of the Saxon race. Norman. On the Conquest, it was comprehended in the vast grant made to Hiujli Lupus. It afterwards devolved to the barons of Mont alto, or Mold, which they held by stewartship to the earls of Chester, and who made it their residence''. (-) This is now called Conuali's Quay. j.k. Camden, ii. 826.. HA WARDEN. 119 Genealogists" tell us, that Roger Fitz-vcderine, son of one of the noble adventurers who followed the fortunes of William the conqueror, possessed this castle ; and having frequent contests with the Welsh, often saved liimself by retreating to it ; and from that circumstance it was called Howard' a Den. But, with high respect to all the blood of all the Howards, it does not appear that their name was then known : with more probability does their historian say, that William, the son of Fitz- valerine, received the addition of de Haivard or Hoivard, from the accident of being born in this place. On the extinction of the antient earls of Chester, to prevent that honour from being, according to the expression of the time, jyarcelled out among distaffs, this, as well as the other fortresses, were resumed by the crown. In 1264, Llewelyn, prince Ceded to of Wales, had a conference at this place* with ap Gryf- Slmon de Montfort, the potent earl of Leicester, where they established peace between Cheshire and Wah's, in order to promote their respective designs; and in the year following, on June the 22d, Montfort obliged his captive monarch to make an absolute cession to the Welsli prince, not only of this fortress", but of the absolute sovereignty of Wales, and the homage of its barons, heretofore *" Collins'^ Peerage, i. 4s. * Anncdes Cestrenses, quoted by Carte, ii. 1">I. " Ihjmer, i. 814. FYDD. 120 HA WARDEN. paid to Henry. After the suppression of Leicester'a Reverts to j-eljellion, Ilawavden reverted to the crown. I THE CrOAVN. ' must observe, that in 1267, in the pacification brought about by the Pope's legate Ottoboni, be- tween Henry and Llewelyn, it seems as if the castle had been destroyed (^); for, among other articles, Llewelyn agrees to restore to Robert de Montalto his lands in Hawai'deii, and restrains him from building a castle there for thirty years'"; probably it was destroyed by Llewelyn himself, who foresaw the impossibility of his keeping a fortress so near the English borders. The castle must soon have been rebuilt; for I find in 1280 it was styled Cas- trmn Regis. That year was distinguished by the general in- surrection of the Welsh, undei- their prince Lleweh/n and his brother David; the great effort of our gallant countrymen to preserve their liberties and antient mode of government. The attempt was Surprized begun by David (at that time newly reconciled to GryWydd, his brother), March 22d, on Palm-Sunday , in a stormy night, which favoured his design. He sur- prized this castle; put the garrison to the sword, and wounded and took prisoner Roger de Clifford, justiciary of Chester. After the death oi Llewelyn, and the subjection of Wales, David suffered for Q) This is perhapy the time when it got the adjective Halawg ad- ded to its name. j.r. ^ Ihjmer, i. 845. HAWAEDEN. 121 this in a most severe and distinguished manner; being the first in England who died as a traitor in the way ift use at this time. He was a prince of a most unamiable character, equally perfidious to his brother, his country, and to Edward, his bene- factor and protector. In the writ for his trial (which was before the whole baronage oi England) Edward enumerates his kindnesses to him in this pathetic manner : ' Quern susceperamus exidem, * nutriveramus orphanum, ditaveramus de propriis * terris nostris, et sub alarum nostrarum chlamide ' foveravimus, ipsmn inter majores nostri palatii * collocavimus^.' The last proved his greatest mis- fortune. He might have pleaded exemption from the English jurisdiction, and flung a strong odium on the tyranny of the conqueror, had he not ac- cepted a barony, a seat among the English peers. He was in the same situation as the duke of Hamilton in later times; who denying the power •of the court, was told that he was not tried as a Scotch peer, but as earl of Cambridge, a peerage bestowed on him by his unfortunate master. David was condemned to four species of punishment; to be drawn by a horse to the i)lace •of execution, as a traitor to the king who had made him a knight; to be hanged for murdering Eulk Trigald, and other knights, in this castle; ' Ri/mer, ii. 248. 122 HAWARDEN. for his sacrilege in committing those murders on Palm-Sunday, his bowels were to be burnt; and finally, his body was to be quartered, and hung in different parts of the kingdom, because he had in different parts conspired the death of the king^ We find nothing more of this place till the year 1327, the first o^ Edward III.'', when Robert, the last baron of MontaJt (for want of issue) passed this manner, and his other great possessions, to Isabel the queen-mother; but on her disgrace, it fell again to the crown. Grakted TO In 1337, the king granted the stewartship of Salisbury. Chester, with Uawarden, &c. to William Monta- cute earl of Salisbury; but as Isabel retained a life-interest in the grant, lie procured her release of it, for tlie sum of six hundred marks. It con- tinued in his family till the death of his great nephew, John earl of Salisbury, who was be- headed by the townsmen of Cirencester, after an unsuccessful insurrection, in 1400, in favour of Richard II. his deposed master. Salisbury had before granted his estates in fee to Thomas Mon- tague dean of Sarmn, Lodowick de Clifford, John Venour, and Richard Iler-tcombe, and their heirs: but after his attainder, by act of parlement 7th Henry IV. they became forfeited to the king. 1411. In 1411 it was granted, by patent from Henry " Carfe, ii. 195. » Dngdale, Baron, i. r)27. HAWAEDEN. 123 IV. to his second son Thomas duke of Clarence; but in 1414, the 2d oi Henry V. Thomas earl of Salisbury, '^ son to John, petitioned for annuUing the former sentence; his suit was referred to ano- ther parlement, and then dismissed. Henry then made to Clarence another grant, in which the former was declared to be invalid. In this the advowson of the living is also given. Clarence was slain at the battle of Baugy, 1420. in 1420, and died without issue. Ha war den re- verted to Henry V. and from him to his son Henry VI. who, in 1440, granted it to Sir Thomas Stan- To Sir ley, comptroller of his houshold, and to the heirs t;,.,^jjyj,,y^ male of his body: but in 1450, it was resumed; and in the next year granted, together with Mold, to Edward prince of Wales. On this occasion John Hertcombe claimed Ha warden, as hen- to the last survivor of the four feoffees : be alledging that John earl of Salisbury was not possessed of Ha- warden at the time of his forfeiture; and on this plea obtained a privy seal to enquire into it. An inquisition was taken; his plea was found to be good; and restitution was made. This John Hertcombe levied a fine to Sir Richard Strange- ways knight, &c. and John Needliam, to the use of John Needliam and his hems. In 1454, a fine was levied to Richard Nevill earl of Salisbury, and Alice his wife (daughter to Thomas Montacute, the great earl of Salisbury) 124 HAWAKDEN. and Sir Thomas Stanley knight, afterwards lord Stanlei/", to the use of Thomas Stanley and the heirs male of his body; on condition, that if Tho- inas Stanley do sell, or suffer discontinuance, or if lie die without issue male, it is lawful for the said Richard earl of Sah'shury, or the heirs of Alice his wife, to re-enter. On the death of lord Stanley, the fee descended to his son and heir Thomas, afterwards earl of Derby; and after his decease, to his second wife, Margaret countess of liich- mond, and mother to Henry VII. That monarch, in 1495, honoured the place with a visit, and made some residence here for the amusement of stag- hunting: but his primary motive was to soothe the earl her husband, after the ungrateful execu- tion of his brother Sir William Stanley. Ox the death of Margaret, Hawaixlen de- scended to Thomas earl of Derby, grandson to the late earl; and continued in his family till the exe- cution of the gaUant James earl o^ Derby, in 1651: soon after his death, it was purchased from the agents of sequestration, by serjeant Glynnei^). On ^ He had married Eleanor, daugher oi Richard e&vl of Warivicl-. (1) The manors of Haioarden, Mold&ndi Hope, were purchased from "the Trustees for the sale of Delinquents' lands" bj Sir Jolm Trevor, Colonel George Twisleton, and Captain Andrew Ellis, who had pre- viously agreed with Charles earl of Derby, to purchase the three manors in trust for him. The purchase money with interest was to be repaid within a year. This agreement was witnessed by sergeant (Jhjiiiv', and Sii- (Jrlaiuh) Uridijeman. On the failure of the earl to HAWARDEN. 125 the Restoration, the Lords made an order, on tlie 17th of July 1G60, that the earl of Derhija, and the estates of several other lords, which had been sold in the late nsnrpation, without their consent, should be repossessed by them without molesta- tion". This induced Glynne to make an oifer to the earl, of the surrender of Haivarden, for a lease of three lives'\ The proposal was either rejected, or not immediately accepted: the consequence of which was, the loss of the whole to the Derhij family. The Lords, resentful of the indignities their order had experienced in the late troubles, began with an attempt to obtain reparation to one of the OTeatest sufferers. In the December of the same year, they sent down to the Commons a private bill, for restormg to Charles earl of Derby, all the manors, lands, dc. which belonged to liis late father. This was strongly opposed; and tlie bill was laid aside, without ever coming to a second reading^ The eail was then glad to compound witli the Serjeant for the property of this place, and granted it to him and his heirs, in whom it still remains. repay the purchase money, a series of negotiations took place be- tween the earl, the sergeant, and the purchasers, and Haivarden was eventually conveyed to Glynno, apparently with the full concurrence of the carl of Derby. The attempt to recover possession, which is described in the text, was therefore scarcely efjuitable. t. r. <= Drake's I'arlcni. Hist. xxii. 384. •^ Account communicated to me by the late Sir John Glynne. * Drake, xxiii. 53. i26 HAWAKDEN. It appears by these proceedings, as if the par- lement was fearful of the consequences of even an act of justice; foi-, during the long troubles, there had been such vast cliange of property, eftected by such variety of means, that it was apprehended, that the enquiry into the causes, and the dispos- session of numbers who had quietly enjoyed such property from their fatliers, might be attended with the most inflammatory consequences. It is like- wise probable, that many of the members might be interested in the event; therefore they were determined to stop at once any proceeding that might tend to affect the fortunes of themselves or friends. Numbers of sales were made by the loyalists, under the mfluence of fear. They were content to receive a trifle for the j^urchase, rather than lose the whole by violence; for there were very few who had not incurred a premunire under the ruling powers, which they were glad to get clear of by a seeming voluntary sale. When they were thus disappointed in the hope of re-enjoy- ment of their fortunes, they laid the blame on the king, and invented the calumny of his rejecting this bill, after it had been passed unanimously by both houses. During the civil wars, this castle suffered the usual vicissitudes of fortune. It was early pos- sessed by the parlement, being betrayed by the governor, a neighboring gentleman of the name -1 y HAWARDEN. 127 of Rcivenscroft^; and kept for its use till the year 1643, at which time a cessation of arms being ^eseiged in agreed to, -on the part of the king, with the Irish rebels, a number of the forces were drawn from Ireland, and landed at Mostyn in this county, in the month of November. These were immediately employed to reduce the castle of Hawai^den, gar- risoned by one hundred and twenty men of Sir Thomas 3Iiddleto)is regiment. The garrison re- ceived, by a trumpet, a verbal summons; which gave occasion to the following letters between lieu- tenant-colonel Marrow, and John Warren and Alexander Elliot, the coimnanders on the part of the parlement. I omit the immediate answer to the summons, written in the rehgious strain af- fected by the party; which Man^oiv replies to hke a true Cavalier. * Gentlemen, * It is not for to hear you preacli that I am ' sent here; but in his majesties name to demand ' the castle for his majestie's use: as your alle- ^ giance binds you to be true to him, and not to ^ enveigle those innocent souls that are within ' with you; so I desire your resolution, whether "' you will deliver the castle or no?' The rejoinder from the castle was to this effect: ' Life of the Dale, of Onnond, ii. 471; iii. -IM. 128 HAWARDEN. ' Sir, ' We have cause to suspect yonr disaffection to ' 2^reaching, in regard we find you thus employed. ' If there be innocent souls here, God will re- ' quire their blood of them that shed it. We can ' keep our allegiance and the castle too; and ' therefore you may take your answer, as it was ' in English ] )lain enough before : we can say no ' more, but God's will be done^.' These letters had at the time but little weight. Captain Thomas Sandford, leader of the Firelocks, determined to frighten them into submission by the terror of his name, or persuade them to terms by the powers of his pen; and thus addresses the obstinate commandants: ' Gentlemen, ' I PRESUME you very well know, or have heard ' of, my condition and disposition; and that I ' neither give nor take quarter. I am now with ' my Firelocks (who never yet neglected oppor- ' tunity to correct rebels) ready to use you as I * have done the Irish: but loth I am to spill my ' countrymen's blood; wherefore, by these I advise ' you to your feilty and obedience towards his ' majesty; and shew yourselves faithful subjects, ' by delivering the castle into my hands for his K Rushvjorth, II. part iii. 300. HAWAEDEN. 129 majesty s use; in so doing, you siiall be received into mercy, dc. otherwise, if you put me to the least trouble or loss of blood to force you, expect no quarter for man, woman, or child. I hear you have some of our late Irish army in your company: they very well know me; and that my Firelocks use not to parley. Be not unad- vised; but think of your liberty; for I vow all hopes of relief are taken from you; and our intents are not to starve you, but to batter and storm you, and then hang you all, and follow the rest of that rebellious crew. I am no bread- and-cheese rogue, but, as ever, a loyaHst, and will ever be, while I can write or name ' Nov'. 28, ' Thomas Sandford, * 1 G 43. ' Captain of Firelocks. * I EXPECT your speedy answer this Tuesdrnj ' niglit, at Broad-Lane Hall, where I am now, ' your near neighbor.' ' To the officer commanding in chief at Hawarden castle, and his concerts there.' All this eloquence would have been flung away, had not more forces on the side of the king, and want of provisions on that of the garrison, co- operated witli this vahant epistle. So, as Rush- worth says, ' after a fortnight's siege, and nnich ' ink and httle blood spilt, the castle being in want ' of jjro\isions, was surrendered to Sir Michael VOL. I. K 130 IIAWAKDEN. * EarnJet/, on condition to maicli out with half ' arms and two pair of colors, one flying, and the * other furled; and to have a convoy to Wem or ' Nantwyche.' The royalists kept possession of the castle till after the surrender of Chester to Sir William Again in Brereton in 1645; when, on March l7th, O. S. it was taken by major-general Mytton, after a month's siege. At that time Sir William Neal was governor, who declined to give it up till he had obtained his majesty's permission^ On the 22d of Decemher it was by vote of parlement or- DisMANTLED. dered to be dismantled, with four other castles in this part of North Wales"^. These orders ex- tended only to the rendering it untenable ; but the farther destruction was effected by the owner. Sir William Glynne, the first baronet of the name, between the years 16G5 and 1G78. Described. The remains are a fine circular tower or keep, on the summit of a mount. This alone is pretty entire. Nothing except this, and a few walls, and the foundations of some rooms, exist at present; which Sir John Glynne^ has, with great pains, laid open by the i-emoval of the rubbish. In one place was discovered a long flight of steps, at the bottom of which was a door, and formerly a draw- bridge, which crossed a deep long chasm (nicely ^ MS. at Mosti/H. ' Whiteloel; 231. ^ Grandfather to the present possessor. Ed. ' fm /4/fi0///-/U/y^// FlLAK (DT lELi"V^'"AlR]D]ErT CASXJLi:. HAAVAEDEX. 131 faced with freestone) to another door leadmg to two or three small rooms. Probably they were places of "confinement, where prisoners might be lodged with the utmost security, after pulling up the bridge over the deep chasm that intervened between them and open day. The several parts of this fortress seem to have been built at different times. It is surrounded Avith deep fosses, now filled with trees. In 1GG5, the timber of the park and demesne was valued at five thousand pomids, and was sold in that cen- tury; but the late owner ^ has had the merit of restormg it many fold to tlie next, by his vast plantations. The living is in the gift of the lord, wlio pre- sents; and the bishop of Chester inducts. The rector does all episcopal acts, except those of ordi- nation and confirmation ; and has a peculiar exempt jurisdiction: grants licences, registers and proves wills; and has his court and proctors. The living is at present eleven™ hundred poiu:ids a year; and, in proportion as the subjacent lands ai'e cultivated, will experience a far greater im- provement. The church is a plain but handsome building, kept in neat and decent repair. Tlie parsonage- house is new, and suitable to the revenue. The ^ The baronet mentioned above. Ki>. '" Now increased to full three thousand. Ed. Rectory. 132 HAWAEDEN. garden is very prettily laitl out, upon a high and commanding ground. Parocuial "^^^ parish receives tAvo hundred a year from tjevi-.mti:. ^i^g ^.'^y^^. j)^,^, company. This was granted by act of parlement, in consideration of eight hundred acres of land, belono-ino- to Ilawarden, mclosed on the north side of the river, for the use of the ad- venturers in the navigation. This sum is to be payed to the lord of the manor and other trustees ; and is applicable to any uses which any fiAe (with the consent of the lord) shall agree on. Pictures, In the mansion-house'', built by the late Sir John Ghjnne in 1752, are four pictures of great merit, part of the collection of Sir Kenelm Dighi/. Tliey i:epresent the evangelists with their respect- ive attributes; seemingly the production of Va- lentine, a Frenchrnaif , who studied tlie style of Caravaggio. These are in his best manner. The attitudes are fine; and the lights and shadows most admirably disposed. They are lialf lengths; a size that his great model excelled in. Among the family portraits, are two of the chief justice Glynne, the able, jDolitical lawyer of " The present worthy owner, Sir Stephen Glynne, hy diverting a piibhc road and throwing the antient castle into his pleasure .c^iounds, has added very considerably to the beauties of his resi- dence. The approaches from Clioster and Mold are peculiarly striking, Ed. " He died 1632, A gentleman well skilled in prints tells me,, that these four pictures were engraven by Roussclet. CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. 133 the reign of Charles I. and the succeeding usurpa- tion. He was of the house of Ghjnllivon in Caernar- vonshire; which derives itself from Cihuin-Troed- (hhi, or Cihniii with the black foot, one of the fif- teen tribes, and cotemporary with, and nephew to Merfyn Frych, prince of Wales in the year 818. Sir John Glynne was born at Gh/nUivon, in Chief , Justice the year 1602; his father was Sir William Glynne Glynxe. knight; his mother a Gritfith of Caernarvon. His education was after the best mode. His school was that of the college at Westminster; his aca- demic learning was instilled into him at Hart-hall, Oxford; and his knowledge of the law at Lincolrts- Inn, where he became a bencher. His abilities were immediately discovered by the popular party, by whose influence he was made steward of TT^c^.v^- minster, recorder of London, and twice elected member for the former, in the two j^arlements of 1640. He was, next to Pym, the most active manao-er agfainst the earl of Strafford. The un- fortunate peer remarked, that Glynne and May- nard treated him like advocates; Palmer and Whiteloch like gentlemen; and yet omitted no- tliing material that could be urged against liim^'. The author of Iludihras seems to catch at this -part of the character of tliese two great lawyers: Did not the learned Gljnne aud Majjnard, To make good subjects traitors, strain hanl? '' Wlutelock, 43. 134 CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. In the case of Strafford, and in tliat of the im- peachment of the twelve bishops, they acted on principle. This appears evident from the prose- cution they afterwards underwent, for the noble- stand they made against the ruin of the constitu- tion, planned, and afterwards eflPected by the army. On September the 8tli 1G47, they were expelled the house, committed to the Tower, and had a charge of high- treason brought against them'^. Glynne soon determined to submit tO' the rising powers. In the next year, he was re- stored to his place in the house; appointed one of the ten commissioners for carrying on the treaty with the king in tlie isle of Wiglit; and voted by the house to be a serjeant at law in the new call it thought fit to make. He, as well as the artful WhitelocJc, evaded all concern in the trial of the king : but afterwards temporised fully with the powers in being. Cromwel soon made him one of his council. In 1654, he was constituted cliam- berlain of Chester: in the following year, was (on tlie refusal of the chief justice Holies) sent intO' the west with a commission to try colonel Pen- ruddock, and the other insurgents". Holies lost liis place for his scruples; and in his room the serjeant was rewarded with the office of lord chief justice of the upper bench. He was grateful to 1 Parliament, /list. xvi. 294. nia. '■ Athemc Oxon. ii. ;)8f!. CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. 135 his patron; for, being appointed of the committee to receive the protector's scruples about being made "king, he urged the acceptance with the utmost zeal. It is amusing to compare the change of sentiment, from the year 16 48, when the kingly office was voted to be unnecessary, burthensome, and dangerous, with the opinion of 1657, when the learned serjeant tells Cromwcl, that it is essential to tlie settlement of the nation^ Not- Avithstanding the usurper did not dare to assume the name, he mimicked the powers; and lionored his advocate with calling him up by writ into his liouse of peers ; that motley assembly of the year 1657. The prudent lawyer maintained his ground till the year of the Restoration, wlien, by a master- piece of cunning, he published in octavo, the argu- ments he had used to prevail with his former master to mount the throne, under the title of Monarchy asserted to he the hest, the most an- tient, and legal form of government. Hov/ flat- tering must this have been to the rightful prince, to find the antient mode acknowledged as most eligible (even after the long abuse of it in his fa- mily) by one of the ablest supporters of the pro- tectorate ? Whether this recommended bim to the new government, or whether he had made bis peace before, is not certain. He was received by CliorJes * Parliament. IlUt. xxi. "Jd. 136 BROUGIITON. SALTNEY. ■vvith distil igiiislied marks of favor, who not only knighted him, but bestowed on him the honor of prime serjeant, and e\en created his eldest son a Ijaronet. In tlie e()n\ention parlement, he was elected for the county of Caernarvon; and was ajjpointed one of the committee for examining the acts passed during the late usurpation, which were inconsistent with the present government; and how the many fines, recoveries, &g. made in the late courts of law, might be confirmed and ren- dered good. He had likewise a concern in the act of general pardon, and in all others in which the assistance of an able lawyer was requisite^ But he had a merit superior to all these, that of establishing the first precedent reported in the books, of granting a new trial, on account of ex- cessive damages given by the jury. He retired from the house in the following par- lement; and lived till the year 166G, when he died in London, and was interred in his own vault, beneath the altar of St. Margaret's church, Westminster. From Hawarden the land begins to slope to- wards the Dee. At the bottom, between the fifth and sixth stone from Chester, lies Broughton, formerly the property of the Raveiiscrofts, and afterwards that of the Hopes. At the Conquest it was called Brochetune; and was held of Hugh ^ Drakes Parlem. Hint. xxii. 41(1. Saltnky. SALTNEY. 137 Lupus, by Robert de Roelent, or Rliuddland. Levenot, a freeman, possessed it before. Robert also haR a manor here, once held by a Saxon of the name of Uhner. Close to the village (^f Breton, lies the large marsh of Saltney, which reaches within about a mile of Chester. It is at present divided by a most" excellent road, by whose side runs a small canal, cut by Sir John Ghjnne, for the conveyance of his coal into the Dee near the city. This tract was formerly granted by Robert lord of Mold, to the monks of Basing werk, for pasturage; he also gave them the same privilege in Hawarden, and the liberty of cutting rushes for thatching their buildinofs^ The principal part of this common lies in Flintshire. The boundary is marked by a stone near the east end. It extends considerably on both sides. From the I'ight flows the Leeches, a small brook, rising a little beyond Doddleston. That village lies out of my route; yet I mention it, as the place of interment of the lionest chan- cellor Egerton lord EUesmerey who preferred it out of aftection to his first wife Elizabeth, daugh- ter of TJiomas Ravenscrqft, esq.; of Breton. His mother had been a servant maid in the parish; " An epithet it far from merits in 1809. Tlie canal is disused. Ed. » Ilarleian ^fS. X" 200;). !>. 138 SALTNEY. but was the daughter of one Sparks, of Bickerton, I have heard this remarkable anecdote of her, and the fortunate child. The mother had been so much neglected by Sir Richard Egerton of Ridley, the father of the boy, that she was reduced to beg for support. A neighboring gentleman, a friend of Sir Richard, saw her asking alms, followed by her child. He admired its beauty, and saw in it the evident features of the knight. He immediately went to Sir Richard, and layed before him the disgrace of suffering his own offspring, illegitimate as it was, to wander from door to door. He was affected with the reproof, adopted the child, and by a proper education, layed the foundation of its future fortune. Another circumstance leads me to name this parish, humiliating as it is to a Welchman; for at Balderton bridge our countrymen met with a cruel defeat from Hugh Cyvelioc earl of Chester; who, by way of trophy, made a rampart of their heads. At the extremity of Saltney, within a mile of Cltestev, the land rises suddenly. On the left hand of the ascent are considerable hollows, with correspondent elevations: one has the appearance of a round bastion; which makes me conjecture, that they might have been works designed to command this pass into the country of the Ordovices; for it points towards Varis, Conoviitm, and Segordium. CHESTEI;. 139 CHESHIRE A part of the country of the Cornavii, commences Chester. on the flat beneath this bank. The road is con- tinued along the small common of Over-Jeigh, and ends at Han-hridge, the suburbs of Chester, on this side of the river, belonging to the parish of St. Mary. The approacli to the city is over a very narrow and dangerous bridge, of seven irregular arches, till of late rendered more inconvenient by the an- tient gateways at each end, formerly necessary enough, to prevent the inroads of my countrymen, who often carried fire and sword to these suburbs; which were so frequently burnt, as to be called by the Britons Tre-hoetli, or the burnt town. I SHALL begin my account of this respectable city, by declining the honor of asserting it to have been oi British foundation, notwithstanding I have the authority oi Ranulph the Monk, and oi Henri/ Brachhaiv, another religious of this city. The fouuder of this city, as saith Pob/chronicon, Was Leon Gaure, a mighty strong gyant; "Who builded caves and dungeons many a one, No goodly building, ne proper, ne pleasant. But king Lcir, a Britain fine and valiant, Was founder of Chester by pleasant building, And was named (Juer-lier by the king''. '• Life of St. Werbu7'cf. 140 ROMAN CHESTER. Caer Lleon. Yet this legend does not err greatly from tlie right name, Caer Lleon, the camp of the legion. Caer Lleon faivr ar Ddyfrdwy, the camp of the great legion on the Dee, being the head quarters of the twentietli legion, styled also Valeria and Victrix. This leuion came into Britain l^efore the year G 1 ; foi- it had a share in the defeat of Boadicea by Suetonius. After this victory, the Roman forces were led towards the borders of North Wales, probably into this county. After- wards, by reason of the relaxed state of discipline, a wing had been cut off l^y the Ordovices, just before the arrival of Agricola; but the quarters of these troops at that period are not exactly known. It is probable that part at least were on the Deca; that he collected a few of his forces, and began his march against the enemy from this place; and that, after his successful expedition into Mona, he determined to fix here a garrison, as the fittest place to bridle the warlike people he was about to leave behind him. In consequence, he fixed part of the legion here, and detachments in tlie neighboring posts, l^efore he ventured on the distant expedition to Scotland, into w^iich he led a body of liis troops, as appears from the in- scriptions found in the country; Avhich prove that a vexillatio of this leo-ion was concerned in build- ing a portion of the Ro}nan wall. In order to en- courage tlie troops he left behind, he formed here CHESTEK. 141 a colony; and the place was styled from them, and from its situation, ColonlaDcvana, as is proved by the— coin of Septimiiis Geta, son of Sevcrus, which was tlms inscribed: Col. Devaxa leg. xx. Victrix. It was also called simply Dent, from the river and Deva. which washed one side; The autient hallowed Dice. The form of the city evinces its origin to have fouk Chief been Roman, being in the %ure of their camps; ^^^ets. with four gates; four principal streets; and a va- riety of lesser, crossing the others at right angles, so as to divide the whole into lesser squares. The walls, tlie precincts of the present city, mark the limits of the antient. No part of the old walls exist ;(^) but they stood, like the modern, on the soft freestone rock, high above the circumjacent country, and escarpes on every front. The structure of the four principal streets is without parallel. They run direct from east to (1) Roman masonry may be still recognized in the walls, particu- larly on the north side, between the Phmiix tower and the north- gate, and on the west side along the Roodcyc. The rconian city v/as less extensive than the area now inchided within the walls. The southern wall cut across the present city, running from a point near the distance chair in the Race-course, till it joined the well on the eastern side, a little to the north c f "the wishing steps." But the "shipgate" (now removed,) described by Peiiaant, and a Roniaii arch, still remaining, which impinges upon Cicsars tower, attest the exist- ence of some outwork overhanging the i-ivcr, and intended probably to protect the passage. T.i'. 14-2 CHESTER. Excavated, west, aiid north to south; and were excavated out of the earth, and sunk many feet beneath the sur- face. The carriages drive far below the level of the kitchens, on a line with ranges of shops; over which, on each side of the streets, passengers walk from end to end, secure from wet or heat, in gal- The Rows, leries (or rows, as they are called) purloined from the first floor of each house, open in front and balustraded. The back-courts of all these houses are level with the rows; but to go into any of those four streets, it is necessary to descend a flight of several steps. These rows appear to me to have been the same with the antient vestibules; and to have been a form of building preserved from the time that the city was possessed by the Romans. They were built befoie the doors, midway between the streets and the houses; and were the places where dependents waited for the coming out of their pa- trons'", and under which they might walk away the tedious minutes of expectation. Plautus, in tlie third act of his Mostella, decribes both their situation and use : Viden' vestibulum ante leJes, et ambulacram ejusmodi? The shops beneath the rows were the cryptce and apotliecce, magazines for the various necessaries of the owners of tlie houses. * De signif. vocab. Vitruv. CHESTER. VAULTS. 1 1: The streets were once considerably deeper, as is apparent from the shops, whose floors lie far below the present pavement. In digging founda- tions for houses, the Roman pavement is often •discovered at the depth of four feet beneath the modern. The lesser streets and alleys, which run into the principal streets, sloped to the bottoms of the latter, as is particularly visible in Loiver Bridge Street; but these are destitute of the galleries or rows. It is difficult to assign a reason for these hol- lowed ways. An antient historian mentions the existence, in his days, of certain vaults and pas- (Jrevt sages, of which not a trace, nor even the lest me- ^ aults. mory is left, notwithstanding the most diligent search and enquiries have been made. In this cyte, says the author of the Folychronicon^, hen tvays under erthe, tvith vowtes and stone-iuerJce ivonderly tvrought; thre chamhred werkes. Grete ■Stones I grave tvith olde mennes names therin. There is also Julius Cezar's name ivonderly in stones grave, and other nohle mennes names also, tvith the ivrytynge about; meaning the altars and monumental inscriptions; but lie probably mis- takes the name oi Julius Ca'sar for that o^ Jidius Agricola; to whom, it is reasonable to suppose, some grateful memorial was erected. Unless these hollowed streets were formed by the void '' Fol. xlvii. ^•o^v LOST. lit EOMAN CHESTER. DOUBLE GATE. left after the destruction of these great vaults, I can no more account for their formation, than for the place which those antient Soutcrxeins occu- pied. None have ever been discovered, by the frequent sinking of cellars for new buildings on the site of the old; tradition has delivered no such accounts to us; nor is their exit to be traced be- neath the walls in any part of their circumference. The only ^'aults now known, are of a middle age, and which belonged either to the hotds of the great men, or to the religious houses dispersed through the city. The East Of the four gates of the city, one of them, the East gate, continued till of late years; o{ Roman architecture, and consisted of two arches, much hid by a tower, erected over it in later days. A few years ago it was pulled down, on account of its straitness and inconveniency, to give way to a magnificent gate, which rose in its place by the munificence of lord Grosveuor. I remember the demolition of the antient structure; and on the taking down the more modern case of Norman masonry, the Roman appeared full in view. It consisted of two arches, formed of vast stones, fronting the East-gate street and the Forest street: the pillar between them dividing the street exactly in two. The accurate repre- sentation of tliem by Mr. Wilkinson, of this city. GATE, Ho 51 AX •Mil! la «2 HYPOCAUST. 145 will give a stronger idea than words can convey; as also of tlie figure of the Roma a soldier, placed between the tops of the arches facing the Forest street. This species of double gate was not unfrequent. The Porta esquillna^, and the Porte portese" at Rome, were of this kind. Flo res, in his medals of the Roman colonies in Spa'uf, exhibits one on the coins of Merida, the antient E merit a, parti- cularly on those of Augustus, which shews, that the colonists were proud of their gate ; and per- haps not ^vithout reason, as it appears to have been the work of the best age. I must conclude that the mode seems to have been derived from the Grecian architecture; for at Athens stood a Dipijlon, or double gate, now demolished ^ The gate in question faced the great Watling street road, and near the place where other mili- tary ways united. Through this was the greatest conflux of people; wliich rendered the use of the double portal more requisite. The Roman bath beneath the Feathers Lm, in HvPocAUbT. Bridge street, is probably still entire; but the only part which can be seen, hj reason of the more modern superstructures, is the llypocaust. This '' Montfaucon, III. part ii. p. 177. •= Nardini, Roina Antica, p. 37. '• P. 384. tab. xxi. xxii. xxiii. "= As I have been informed by my friend 'My. Stuart. VOL. I. L UG CHESTER. HYPOCAUST. is of a rectangular figure, supported by thirty- two pillars, two feet ten inches and a half high, and about eiixhteen inches distant from each other. Upon each is a tile eighteen inches square, as if designed for a capital ; and over tliem a perforated tile two feet square. Such are continued over all the pillars. Above these are two layers; one of coarse mortar, mixed with small red gravel, about three inches thick; and the other of finer materials, between four and five inches thick : these seem to have been the floor of the room above. The pillars stand on a inortar-floor, spread over the rock. On the south side, between the middle pillars, is the vent for the smoke, about six inches square, which is at present open to the height of sixteen inches. Here is also an ant i- chamber, exactly of the same extent with the Ili/pocaust, with an opening in the middle into it. This is sunk near two feet below the level of the former, and is of the same rectangular figure; so that both foim an exact square. This was the room allotted for the slaves who attended to heat the place ; the other was the receptacle of the fuel designed to heat the room above, the coucamerata sudatio\ or sweating- chamber; where people were seated, either in niches, or on benches placed one above the other, during the time of the operation. Such was the object of this Hypocaust; for there were others of ' Vitruvius, lib. v. c. 11. HYPOCAUST. . 147 different forms, for the jDurposes of heating the -waters destined for the use of the bathers. Ix di2f2:in2r the foundations for the new houses in Water-gate street, in January 1779, was dis- covered another Hypocaust, but seemingly of greater extent. It contained two sudatories; one smaller, having only ten pillars on two sides, and a vacant space in the middle. Adjoined to it was a small apartment, with the walls plaistered, which probably was the room in which the slave stood, who supphed the place with fuel. Before these was a large chamber, with a tessellated pavement of black, white, and red tiles, about an inch square. On the further side was a subterraneous passage, possibly a dram. Adjoining to this is a sudatory, resembhng that beneath the Feathers Inn; and beyond that is a small apartment, floored with tiles, four inches and a half by two and a half, set edge-ways. The large perforated tiles for con- veying the steam, and the layers of mortar, the pillars, and other particulars, were found here as in the former. All which are now in the posses- sion of Philip Er/ertoii, esq; of Oulton Park. I MUST now descend towards the brido-e, in searcli of the few further reh(j[ues of the antient colonists. After passing through the gate, on the right, near some skinners houses, is a small flight of steps, which leads to a large round arch, seem- ingly of Roman workmanship. It is now filled 148 POSTERN. ROMAN ROAD. with more modern masonry, and a passage left throngh a small arch of a ^•ery eccentric form. AxTiEXT On the left within the very passajre, is the ap- pearance of another ronnd arch, now filled up. This postern is called the Slilp-gate, or Hole in tJie Wall. This seems originally to have been designed for the common passage over the Dee, into the country of the Ordovices, either by means of a boat at high water, or by a ford at low, the river here being remarkably shallow. What reduces this to a certainty is, that the rock on the Han- hridge side is cut down, as if for the conveniency of travellers. And immediately beyond, in the field called Edgar'n, are the vestiges of a road EoMAx pointing up the hill; and which we shall have EoAD. hereafter occasion to say, was continued toward Bonium, the present Bangor. Ix the front of a rock in the same field, and facing this relique of the Roman road, is cut a rude figure of the Dea annigera, Minerva with ScuLnuRE ^^®^' ^-"^^'^ ^^^^ altar. This prol^ably was a sepul- OF Minerva. ci-^i^al monument; for such were very usual on the sides of highways; but time or wantonness has erased all inscription. Edgar's p \- Beyond this stood, })ast all memory, some an- LACE. tient buildmgs, whose site is marked by certain liollows; for the ground (probably over the vaults) gave way and fell in within the remembrance of persons now alive. Tradition calls the spot the EDGAR'S PALACE. 149 site of the palace of Edgar. Nothing is now left, from which any judgment can be formed, whether it had been a Roman building, as Dr. StukeJef/ surmises; or Saxon, according to the present no- tion; or Herman, according to Braiur, who, in his antient plan of this city, styles the ruins, then actually existing, Rmiiosa domus Comitis Ces- triensis. Perhaps it might have been used suc- cessively by one of them; who added or improved according to their respective national modes. Having had occasion to mention the name of a departed anticpiary, I think fit to acknowledge my obligations for the many hints I have benefited by, from the travels of that great and lively ge- nius; but at the same time lament, that I must say, I often find hixn. plus heau que ?avERiTe. His rapid fancy led him too frequently to paint things as he thought they ought to be, not what they really were. In the subject before us, this asser- tion may be suj)ported, by his giving three arches to the antient East-gate^, and hollow ways to every part of the city, where search has been made. The beautiful altar, in possession of Mr. Dijson, Altar. and the soldier in the garden of Mr. Laivton, are the only pieces of detached antiquities now re- maining in this city. The first is of great ele- t' Cicitates Orbis, iii. pi. 3. This work was published in l^TO. ^ Stulcelej Itii). Cur. tab.G"). 15.0 CHESTER. ALTAES. gauce, and was erected by Flavins Longus, tri- bune of the twentieth victorious legion, and by his son Longinus, in honor of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. The father and son, who thus expressed ther gratitude, were of Samosata, a city of Syria. On one side is the inscription, on the opposite is a curtain witli a festoon above. On one of the narrower sides is a genius with a cor- nucopia; and on the otlier is a pot with a plant of the supposed acanthus, elegantly leaved. On the summit is a head included in a circular gar- land. I forgot to remark, that immediately over the inscription is a globe overtopped with palm- leaves. If this is not a general compliment tO' their victories, I should imagine it designed to express their particular successes in Africa, of' which the palm.-tree was a known emblem. This was found in digging for a cellar near the East-gate, on the antient pavement, which con- sisted of great stones. Around it were found the marks of sacrifice; heads, Jiorns, and bones of the ox, roe-buck, d'C. and with them two coins; one of Vespasian in brass, with his head, inscribed Imp. C^s. Vesp. Aug. Coss. III. and on the re- verse, Victoria Augusti S. C. and a winged Victory standing. The other was of copper, in- scribed round the head of Constantius, Fl. Val. CoNSTANTius NoB. C; and on the other side,. Genio Populi Romani; alluding to a genius^ A-ILTA.1R S F 'DXTI^B AT C H E S TE JH . ALTAES. 151 holding in one hand a sacrificing bowl, in the other a cornuco}na. In 1779, near to the Ilijpocaust discovered in axothee. that year, was found a beautiful altar, addressed by the family and freemen of a certain person, FoRTUX.E Beduci et ^Esc'qlapio. The inscrip- tion is much defaced. On the sides are the emblems of those deities, and various sacrificial in- struments'. This is also in possession of Philip Egerton, esq. In the same field were found a gold coin, with the laureated head of Nero, inscribed IMP. NERO CAESAE AVGVSTVS; on the re- verse, Jupiter seated, with a thunderbolt in one hand, and a sceptre, inscribed IVPITER CYS- TOS: a brass coin of Domitian, of Vespasian, Victorinus, and Constantine. The other antiquities discovered here are now dispersed; w^hich obliges me to have recourse to books, in order to place them in one point of view. The first is the noted altar discovered in 1653, Another. at present preserved at Oxford. It is inscribed to Jupiter, with the British epithet Taranus, or the Thunderer, by the transposal of the letters r and n in the word Taran. This appears to have been complimentaiy to the Britons, by adopting the epithet in their language, instead of that of Tonans. The inscription (approved most by Mr. Horslei/) runs thus : * See Moses O'rijith'a ten supplemental plates, ^ Tab. G7. N" iii. 152 ALTARS. STATUE. ANTIQUITIES. Jovi Optimo maximo Tauaro Titus Elupiun (I'ahrla Prsesens Guntia, Pi'imipilus Legionis vicesiraa? Valentis. Victricis Commotio et Laterano Coiisulibus votuin solvit Lubens merito. The word Guntia, in the learned Prideaux and (jrctle^, is read (jrunethw, as if derived from Gwjjii- edd, one of tlie British names of North Wales; over which they suppose Elupius had presided. This might account for his preference of the word Tauaro, as highly flattering to the vanity of those he governed. .Statue of The next is a statue, in possession of the late iieverend Mr. Frescot, with a Phrygian bonnet on his head, a little mantle across his shoulders, and a short jacket on his body. He is placed stan- ding, with a torch in his hands declining. This is supposed to have been Mithras, or the sun; a deity borrowed from the Persians, and much in vogue among the Romans in the second and third century^ An inscription, Deo Soli Mitr.«, has been discovered in Ciunherland. The Phrygian bonnet marks him for a foreign deity. The de- chning torch shews the funebrious occasion of this stone. Mr. Horsely mentions another stone, dis- covered in digging a cellar in Water-gate street, ^ Gale's, Comm. 53. ^ Ilorsehj, Cumberland, 2.")9. STATUE. ANTIQUITIES. 153 in 1729. The inscription is so imperfect, that he ingenuously confesses, that without the aid of fancy, It cannot be made out. In 1738 was discovered, in digging the founda- tion of a house, a fragment of a slaty stone, on which was cut the figure of a Retiarius; a species of gladiator, who fought furnished with a trident and a net; with the last he entangled his adver- sary, with the trident slew him. Movet ecce tridentem Postquam vibrata pendentia retia dextra Nequicquaui effudit ™. His antagonist was called Secutor. He was armed with a long shield, and a dagger: and seems to have been sure of victory, in case the Retiarius missed his throw. The stone is so mutilated, that -only part of the shield of the Secutor is preserved. A FEW bricks, with the number of the legion stationed here, fill the list of the Roman antiquities of the place. I say nothing of the inscription DEiE Nymph.e Brigantes, preserved by Mr. Gale, it bemg justly disputed whether it belonged to this place. I MUST not omit the most valuable memorial Cheese- which the Romans left, in a particular manner, to this county; the art of cheese-making: for we are ™ Juvenal, Hat. viii. lin. 203. — The manner of figliting is given among the prints of the Antiquarian society. I have a cast in plas- ter from the stone. MAKING. 154 CHESTER. ANTIQUITIES. quits this Statiox. expressly told, that the Britons were ignorant of it till the arrival of the Romans. The Cestrians have improved so highly in this article, as to excel all countries, not excepting that of Italy, the land of their antient masters. The Legion The twentieth legion was recalled from Britain before the writing of the Notitia, it not being men- tioned in that work, which was composed" about the year 445. It is supposed also to have been w^ithdrawn from Chester before the retreat of the Romans from this island, its name being found at Bath among some of the latest mscriptions we haA^e°. The city must not at that period be sup- posed to have been totally deserted; it remained occupied by the descendants of the legionaries, who partook of the same privileges, and were pro- bably a numerous body. Numbers likewise, who had married with the native islanders, and em- braced civil employs, in all likelihood stayed behind after the final abdication of Britain by the legions in 448. After this, the city fell under the govern- ment of the Britons, till their conquest was entirely effected by the new invaders the Saxons. Britain, now left defenceless, quickly expe- rienced all the calamities that could be inflicted on it from a foreign and barbarous people. While Hengist and Horsa poured in their troops upon Saxon Period. " Ilorsloj, 473. " Ibid. 8."), SAXON CHESTER. 155 the south, another set of banditti landed in Wales, from theu' settlements in the Orcades and the north of Scotland. Tliese, with tlieir allies the Picts, were defeated near Mold, by the Christian Britons, headed by St. Gennanus. I mention this out of course, merely to shew, that the probable rest that Deva enjoyed for another century, was owing to this victory, which, obtained seemingly in a miraculous manner, discouraged for a long space of time any new attempts. The fate of this city was at length decided in ethelfiud, 607 ^, Avhen EtheJfrid king of Northumhria resolved to add this rich tract to his dominions. He was opposed by Brochwel Yscytliroc king of Powys, who collected hastily a body of men, probably de- pendmg on the intervention of Heaven, as in the case of the victoria alleluiatica; for that end, he battle oj- called to his aid one thousand two hundred re- ^'f^'^^'^'^^- ligious from the gTeat convent of Bangor, and posted them on a hill in order that he might bene- fit by their prayers. Ethel/rid fell in with this pious corps, and, finding what their business was"*, put them to the sword without mercy. He made an easy conquest of Brochwel, who, as the Saxon chronicle'^ informs us, escaped Avith about fifty men. It appears that Etlielfrid, after pillaging the city, left it to the former owners, and con- P Sax. Chron. 2."). i Dcdce Hist. ii. c. i. " P. 25. 15G CHESTER. tented himself with the territory, till it was wrested from his kingdom hj that of Mercia. We are left unacquainted with the history of Chester for a long period. The Britons seem to have continued in possession of it, and it was con- sidered to be the capital city of Venedotia, or North Wales, till it was finally wrested out of their Egbert S28.1i^iids by Egbert, about the year 828, during the reign of the British prince Mervyn and his wife Esi/UW; which contracted the limits of Wales, during the remainder of its independent existence. The Danes Jx a few years after, it underwent a heavy cala- WINTER . "^ . "^ HERE, 895. mity from the Danes. These pirates, the scourge of the kingdom, meeting with a severe defeat by Alfred the Great, retreated before him; and in their flight collecting vast numbers of their coun- trymen, committed the care of their wives, their ships, and their booty to the East Angles, and marched night and day to secure quarters in the west. They seized on Legaceaster before the king could overtake them. He besieofed them about two days, destroyed all the cattle he could find about the town, partly burnt, and partly caused the standing corn to be destroyed by his cavalry, and slew all the Danes whom he found without the walls*. These invaders kept possession of the town part of the winter; but, compelled by famine, » Powel, 27. t ,9rt.';. Chr. H)2.—Flores Hist, anno 908. p. 269. ETHELFLEDA. 157 evacuated it the begimiiiig of 895, and took their Evacuate TTTF" T^T ACT*' course through North Wales, which the same cause obliged them suddenly to quit. After the evacuation of the city by the Danes, it continued in rains till the year 907 or 908; when the Saxon Chronicle, and all our antient his- torians agree, that it was restored by the cele- brated Ethelfleda'\ This lady is so frequently mentioned in the her His- Mercian history, that it will not be impertinent to '^^^^' mve a brief account of her. She was the undeo-e- nerate daughter of the great Alfred, and the wife of Ethelred earl of Mercia, under his brother-m law Edward king of England. On the birth of her first child'', she separated herself from her hus- band, and for the rest of her days, like an Amazon of old, determined on a life of chastity, and devot- ed herself to deeds of arms. She kept on the best terms with her husband ; they united in all acts of mmiificence and piety; restored cities, founded abbies, and removed to more suitable places the bones of long- departed saints. After the death of her husband, in 912, she assumed the government of the Mercian earldom, " Ranrdf. Illgden in (Jalc, iii. 260. " Pariendo suam sobolem primain difficultatem perpessa, tanta indignatione cai-nalem coacubituin abhorruit, ut nuiiquaiu deiiiceps ad viri sui thorutn redicns, se ca)lebatu castissimo continerct. In- giiJphi Hid. 871. 158 ETHELFLEDA. and the command of the army. She became so celebrated for her \'alour, that the efteminate titles of Lady or Queen were tliought unworthy of her: she received in addition those of Lord and King. Elfleda. potens, terror virgo vironun Victrix uatura3, nomine digua viri. Tu quo splendidior fieres, iiatura puellam, Te probitas fecit iiotueu habere viri. Te mutare decet, sed solum nomine sexus, Tu Regina poteus, Rexque trophsea parans, Xec jam Ccesarei tantum meruere triumphi, Ciesare splendidior virgo virago vale ^'. Elfleda, terror of mankind I Nature, for ever unconfin'd, Stampt thee in woman's tender frame, Tho' worthy of a hero's name. Thee, thee alone, the Muse shall sing, Dread Empress and victorious King! E'en Cc'Jsar^s conquests were out-done By thee, illustrious Amazon/ R. W. The heroine appears well to have merited this eulogium. Her abilities and activity were per23e- tually exerted in the service of her country. She erected a castle at Sceargate; another at Bnege, the modern Brldgenorth; and a third at Tamweor- thige, or Tamworth; a fourth at Stcefford; a fifth at Eadesbyrig, now the chamber in the forest in Cheshire; a sixth at Wceringwlc, or Warwick; a seventh at Cyrichgrig, or Chirhitry; an eighth at Weardhyrig, or Wedsburrow, in Staffordshire; y Henry ITuntiagdon, lib. v. p. 35 i. SAXON CHESTEE. 159 and a ninth at Riuncof, or Runcorn, in Cheshire. She took Brecenanmerc, or Brecknock, and made its queen prisoner; she stormed Deorahij, or Derby, but lost four Thanes within the place: and finally, she restored the city of Legerceaster, after its desolation by the barbarians; rebuilt the walls; and, as some pretend, enlarged the city so greatly as to include the castle, which before stood without the antient precincts. Death put an end Death. to her glorious course, at Tamworth\ in the sum- mer of 922, from whence her body was translated to Gloucester. Her loss was regretted by the whole kingdom, and by none so sensibly felt as by her brother Edward; for she was as useful to that wise prince in the cabinet as in the field. Edgar made this port one of the stations in his Edg-vu, ;)70. annual circumnavigation of his dominions. The year 973 is noted for the league he made here with six petty kings, who engaged to assist him by sea and by land in all his undertakings. This is the fact, as related by the Saxon Chronicle"'. The same is mentioned, perhaps copied from the former, by Henri/ of Huntingdon; but Higden, the monk of St. Werhurg, to do greater honor to his native city, makes the number of Reguli eight; and adds, that, in token of superiority, Edgar, one day en- tering his barge, assumed the helm, and made his eight tributaries row him from the palace, which '■ Sax. Clir. 109. " P. Vl^.—lknnj 11 untlmjdon, 3.jG. IGO SAXOX CHESTER. stood in the field which still bears his name, up the DeCy to the chtirch of St. John, and from thence back to his palace '\ In the following century, the invasions of the Danes were conducted with so much policy as to induce the factious and traitorous nobility of Eng- Edmuxd j^^^^^i ^Q ^,-gg ^j^^ favor their desio^ns. Edmund, sur- named Ironside, took arms to relieve his distres- sed country, and carried the war into the northern counties, among which lay the principal partizans of the invaders, whose country lie ravaged, in re- sentment of their treason. This city is mentioned among those which suffered. Edmund, by the perfidiousness of his own people, was constrained to leave both the Mercian and Northumbrian ^ioi(i^^' kingdoms in possession of Canute; who, in the fa- mous partition of England between these rival princes, in 1016, retained those parts for his own share. On the restoration of the Saxon line, it rever- ted, with the rest of the Mercian province, to its old masters. Leofric, a munificent nobleman, was at that time governor of Mercia, and earl of Ches- ter. These earls were not created, but merely 105- ofEcial He died 1057, and was succeeded by his son Alfgar or Algar, a turbulent nobleman; who engaging in rebellion, aided by the Welsh prince ^ rohjchron. in Gale, iii. 2GT. SAXON CHESTER. NORMAN CHESTER. 161 Grijffijdd ap Llewelyn, was twice deprived of his earldom, and was once pardoned. After his se- cond deprivation, he obtained again the province by dint of arms, assisted by Gryffijdd and a Nor- ivegian fleet. He died soon after, and was inter- red in Coventry, where the earls of Mercia had their principal seat. His eldest son Edwin succeeded; in whom xorman ended the race of earls of Chester of Saxon blood. ^'^i^J;^^^^^ ' After the battle of Hastings, he fled, with his brother Morcar earl of Northumberland, to Lon- don, with a view of obtainmg the crown, vacant by the death oi Harold. Being disappointed in his hopes, he took his sister Algitha, widow to the slain monarch, and sent her to Chester; and en- deavored to escape to Malcolm king of Scotland, but was intercepted by the way and slain. England now experienced a total change of masters. The Conqueror, in order at once to secure his new dominions, and to reward his fol- lowers, bestowed on them the lands of the noble Saxo7is. He wisely divided the provinces, which had hitherto been ruled by a few great men, into lesser portions; and by this means broke the power which before often braved the throne. Mer- cia, heretofore under the government of a duke or earl, and ruled by what was called, in the Saxon post-con- phrase, the Merchenlege, received in many cases ^^^^^^'^^^^^ distinct master. Cheshire became the share of VOL. I. M 162 NORMAN CHESTER. Glierhod, a valiant Fleming. By misfortune he fell into the hands of his enemies (being called into Flanders) soon after he had taken posses- sion of his new territories, and by reason of a long captivity was obliged to resign them to another. The Conqueror, in liis place, appointed Hugh de Aurcmge, better known by the name of Hugh Lu- pus; the first Norman earl of Chester who ever possessed the county. To him he delegated a ful- ness of power; made his a county palatine, and gave it such a sovereign jurisdiction, that the an- tient earls kept their own parlements; and had their own courts of law, in which any offence against the dignity of the sword of Chester was as cognizable, as the like offence would have been at Westminster against the dignity of the royal crown; for William allowed Lupus to hold this county tarn lihere ad gladium, sicut ipse Rex teue- hat Angliam ad coronam. The sword by which he Avas invested with this dignity is still to be seen in the Museum, inscribed Hugo comes Cestrice. Another inferior office was also held by the earls, by vu-tue of this sword; that of sword-bearer of England at the times of coronation''. Lupus instantly took possession of his domi- nions. It is probable that he was invested in them by Williain himself; for we find the Conqueror at « Leicester, 105. XOEMAX CHESTER. 163 Chester in person in 1069, where lie repelled the Welsh, and finally reduced the Mercian province, which ""appears to have been in arms to this period''. At the same time he restored the walls and built the castle; the former having either fallen into decay since the days of Etheljiedu, or not being thought sufficiently strong for the exi- fifencies of the times. As soon as Lupus was firmly established, he be- gan to exert his regal prerogatives. He formed his parlement by the creation of eight barons, viz. Nigel, baron oi Halton; Rohert, of Montalt; Wil- liam Malhedeng, baron of Nantwich; Vernon, of Shiphrooh; Fitzhugh, of Malpas; Hamon de Mas- sie; Venahles, of Kinderton; and Nicholas, of Stockport. These were to assist the earl with their advice : Ego comes Hugo et mei Barones, was the form of his wiits. They were obliged to pay him attendance, and to repair to his court to give it the greater dignity. They were bound, in time of war with Wales, to find for every knight's- fee a horse with caparison and furniture, or two without furniture, in the division of Cheshire. Then- knights and freeholders were to have corse- lets and habergeons, and were to defend their lands witli their own bodies. Every baron liad also four • esquires; every esquire one gentleman; and every •^ Ordericus Vitalis, lib. iv. p. ."ilO. 1G4 NOKMAX CHESTER. gentleman one valets Each of these barons had also their free courts of all pleas and suits, and all plaints, except Avhat belonged to the earl's sword. They liad besides power of life and death. The last instance of the exertion of this power was in the person of Hugh Stringer, who was tried for murder in the baron of Kinderton's court, and executed in 1597^ The earls had their chamberlain, wdio supplied the place of chancellor; an office continued to this day. The first we know of was Philippiis Came- rarius, who took his name from his office, in the time o^ Ran die Gernouns earl of Chester. Here is a baron of the exchequer, and other officers con- formable to those of the crown at Westminster : also justices, before whom the causes wdiich of their nature should otherwise belong respectively to the courts of king's-bench and common-pleas, are tri- able". In iixiitation of regal power, the earls appointed a high constable of Cheshire, correspondent to the high constable of England; which was held in fee by the baron of Halton, who by virtue of this office took place of the other barons; and the baron of Montalt had precedency (after him) by virtue of his office in fee, of high steward. ® Erdesiviclc^s JI&'S. quoted by Doctor Goiver, p. 22. f Doctor Gower's, Materials, &c. p. 22. s Leicester, 152. NOEMAN CHESTER. 165 Robert de Rothelent was another baron, who was commander in chief of the forces in Cheshire, and prime governor of the county under his cousin Hugh Lupus. As his office and rank dropt with liim, he is not reckoned among the barons. Pro- bably the office was found unnecessary, and clashing with the priveleges of the high constable. This species of government continued from the Conquest till the reign of Henry III. a period of about 174 years; when, in 1237, on the death of John Scot (the seventh earl of the Norman line) ^ ^, witliout issue male, Henry took the earldom into dom resu- his own hands, and gave the daughters oi the late Crown. earl other lands in lieu; unwilling, as he said, that so great an inheritance should he parcelled out among distaffs. The king bestowed the county on his son Ediuard, who did not assume the title; which he afterwards bestowed on his son Edward of Caernarvon, first English prince of Wales. After the resumption of the earldom by the crown, the government of the city assumed a new form; for in the year 1242, the 26th oi Henry III. it appears to have first been under the direction of a mayor and sheriffs. The mayor seems to have been the substitute for the constable; an office which, during the period of the Norman earls, was, under them, supreme in all matters military and civil, in both city and county. The CATORY. IGG NORMAN CHESTER. GUILDS. sheriffs seem to lia\'e been a new name for bailiff's,, who acted under the forme^^ After ofiPermg a general Idea of the state of this place and comity to the time of Henri/ III. I shall return to the time of Hiujh Lupus, and give, to the best of my power, a brief chronological account of its history; leaving the ecclesiastical part to be treated apart. In the days of that potent earl, and probaljly long before he was possessed of this city, it enjoyed Guild IMer- ^7 prescription divers priveleges. It had a guild mercatorif, analogous to a modern corporation; so that no person who was not of that society could exercise any trade or carry on any commerce within its precinct. Such was the state in which the Normans found it, which the earls afterwards confirmed under their seals. Two overseers, selected out of the most respect- able citizens, were appointed to maintain the rights oi \h\^ guild. They received, for the use of the city, all the customs paid by strangers unless at the fairs, which in those days were said to have been held three times in the year. These officers were probably of the same nature as the deans of guild in Scotland. It appears also from the Doomsday book, that here was a supreme officer, ^ Vale roijal, HJl. ' Vulc royal, Vu. CHESTER. EXPORTS. 167 called the Prcepositus Regis, or provost, who had the care both of the civil and commercial interests. It is difficult to say at this time what were the Exports. articles of exportation, excepting slaves and horses, slaves The first barbarous traffic was carried on by the Saxons to a great height. The description of the mart'' is an exact picture of the negro commerce at present; so little have we emerged from barba- rism in that instanced Horses were another article; but then* expor- tt tation was prohibited, except they were designed Hides, &c. for presents, by a law of Atlielstan. But these, as well as several others, such as metals, hides dogs, and chalk, were probably still exported, as in the times of the Romans. Chester was admir- ably situated for supplying all these articles, ex- cepting the last. The frequent wars carried on ^ There is a town called Brichstou (Bristol) opposite to Ireland, and extremely convenient for trading with that country. Wulfstan induced them to drop a barbarous custom, which neither the love of God nor the king could prevail on them to lay aside. This was the mart for slaves, collected from all parts of Enqland; and particularly young women, whom they took care to provide with a pregnancy, in order to enhance their value. It was a most moving sight to see, in the public markets, rows of young people of both sexes tied together with ropes; of great beauty, and in the flower of their youth, daily prostituted, daily sold. Execrable fact! wretched disgrace! Men, unmindful even of the affection of the brute creation! delivering into slavery their relations, and even their very offspring. Vita S. Wulj- stua, in Anglia Sacra ii. 258. Wulfstan was bishop of Worcester, and died in 1095. ^ A national reproach from which England is now most happily exempt. Ed. 1G8 CHESTER. IMPORTS. Cheese, Imports. Cloth, Li- jiEN. Re- I/IQUES, with the Welsh, furnished them with slaves; if those were wanting, their neighbors of the Northumbrian kingdom were ready to dispose of their nearest relations™. The rich plains of CAes/iiVe furnished horns and hides; and the Cam- hrian mines, lead and copper. Cheese must not be omitted, as a most im- portant article; for the Britons made so consider- able a progress in the arts of the dairy, that even un- der the Roman reign there was great exjDortation of cheeses for the use of the Roman armies; in which this county doubtlessly had the greatest share. The imports were the spices and other luxuries of the east, procured either from Venice, or after- wards from the cities of Pisa and Amalji"^, the magazines of the precious Asiatic commodities. Cloth was brought from Flanders, and linen from Germany"; reliques and ecclesiastical finery from Italy^, the staple of superstition. Ptich armour was another considerable article; for war and religion created in these ages the most im- portant commerce of the state. The warriors and the sainted images were the beaux of the time; the crimes of the former were supposed to be rea- dily expiated by prostration to the latter; and " Willielm. Maliiiesb. in script, post Bedam, p. 17. " Anderson, i. 58, 59. Anderson, i. 52. p Bedce Hist. Abb. Were/nouth. 295, 297. CHESTER. IMPORTS. 169 acceptance was announced by the priest in propor- tion to the value of the offering. France and Spain sup^Dlied them Avith wine; Wink. and the discovery made towards the north by Ohthere, under the directions of Alfred, gave us furs, whale-bone, feathers, walruses teeth, and other articles from that cold region''. Martins skins are twice mentioned in the Doomsday book, among the imports of Chester. Ireland might also supply them with furs, and several other commodities; this being the channel of commu- Furs. nication on that side of the kingdom, and the great mart for the Irish commodities. A sensible but uncouth poem, about the year 1430, published in Hakluyt, i. 199, gives us a list of its articles of commerce : Hides and fish, salmon, hake, berringe, Irish wooll, and linnen cloth, faldiuge. And marterns good be her marcliandie, Hertes hides and other of venerie. Skinnes of otter, squirrel, and Irish hare Of sheepe, lanibe, and foxe, is her chaftare, Felles of kiddes, and conies great plentie. It is certain that Chester had long been a cele- brated port. It appears to have been a station for the Saxon navy, and frequently the seat of the court of the Mercian kingdom, both during the Heptarchy, and after it became a province at the general union under Egbert. 1 Translation of Orosius, by the honorable Daines Barringtox, .9, 12, 13. 170 CHESTER AT THE CONQUEST. The state of this city, in the time of Edward the Confessor, and at the Conquest, must be col- lected from the famous survey the Doomsday book. It appears, that in the time of the Saxon monarch here were four hundred and thirty-one houses which were taxable, besides fifty-six that belonged to the bishop : that it yielded ten marks of silver and a half; two parts to the king, and the third to the earl : that whenever the king came in person, he clamed from every plough-land two hundred hesthas, one ciina of ale, and one rusca of butter"" : that if any persons made bad ale, they were either to sit in a chair full of dung, or pay four shillings: that there were twelve judges in the city, and seven mint-masters: that whenever re- pairs were wanting for the walls or the bridge, notice was given for one man out of every hideland in the county to appear; and in case of absence, he was fined forty shillings, to be divided between the king and the earl: and that the city was so depopulated when Hugh Lupus took possession, that there were two hundred and five houses fewer than in the time of the Confessor. It is probable that the city soon emerged from its calamities, and felt a considerable increase '■ Hestha is supposed to be a capon; cuna a brewing tub or vat. I do not find rusca explained. Rusca is a tub or barrel, thus Rusra hutyai signifies a firkin of batter. Ed, CHESTER. 171 under its new masters, a more polished race; for the Normans affected as much elegance in their dress and their buildings, as they did temperance in their meat and drink, T he example of a mag- nificent warrior, such as the new earl, was quickly copied. His court, and that of his successors, rendered it the most considerable place in these parts. According to Lucicui\ a jolly monk who flou- rished about the time of the Conquest, its com- merce was very considerable. He speaks of the ships ' coming from Gascoign, Spain, Ireland, and ' Germany, who, by God's assistance, and by the ' labour and conduct of mar iners, repair hither and ' supply them with all sorts of commodities; so * that beino' comforted with the favour of God in o * all things, lue drink wine plentifully; for those ' countries have abundance of vineyards.' Here, in 1159, Henry II. and Malcolm the ii-^^- IVth of Scotland had their interview; and the important cession was made to Henry by the latter, of the three counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, formerlv wrested from the English crown \ Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1188, iiss. visited this place, in his road from Wales, where his zeal led him to reconnnend the Croisade to the " Quoted by Camden, i. G72. ' Fordun, i. 441). 172 CHESTER. inountaneers, assisted by the eloquent and vain Giraldus. All the liistorian takes notice of in this respectable city is, that Constance countess of Chester kept a herd of milch hinds, made cheeses of their milk, and presented three to the arch- ])ishop : that he saw an animal, a compound of an ox and stag; a woman born without arms, who could sew as well with her feet as others of her sex did with their lingers; and finally, that he lieard of a litter of whelps begotten by a monkey". As Giraldus was a great dealer in presages, it is wondrous he made no use of all these portents: probably no signal event happened in these parts in his days, to which they could be applied. The next remarkable occurrences were the ra- vages of Llewelyn ap Grijffydd, prince of Wales, who carried fire and sword to the very gates of Chester, and destroyed every thing around on both sides of the river; provoked by the cruel injuries liis subjects sustained from Geffrey Langley, lieu- tenant of the county under prince Edivard^. This city seems to have been a constant rendez- vous of troops, and 'place d'armes for every ex- pedition on this side of the kingdom, from the times of the Normans to the conquest of Ireland by William III. In 1257, Henry III. summoned " Itiii. Cambr. c. xi. p. 87. ^ WaUiiigham, p. 407; who places this eveut iu 1255. 1255. CHESTER. 173 his nobilitv^ to attend with their vassals at Clies- ter on a certain day, in order to invade ^Vales, and revenge the inroads of the Wdsli; and the bishops^ were at the same time required to appear there on the same occasion. Edward I. in 1275, appointed this city as the 1275. place of receiving the homage of Llewelyn, to which that high-spuited prince declining to sub- mit, brought on the war, which concluded with the destruction of him and his principality. And in this city was received, in 1300, the final 1300. submission of the Welsh to the sovereignty of England, by Edward of Caernarvon prince of Wales, when the freeholders of the country did homage and fealtie for their respective lands^'. Richard II. visited the capital of his favorite i37f). and loyal county; and did it the distinguished honor of converting it into a principality, and an- nexing to it the castle of Holt, the lordship of Bromejield and Yale, ChirMand, and several other places in Wales and on the borders. But Ilenrij IV. in his fourth year, rescinded an act that in- croached so much on the dignity of his son as prince of Wales'". Henry IV. in 1399, seized the city and castle, i-^'^'>- in his way to Flint against his ill-fated sovereigri >■ Rymcr, i. 635. '^ Idem, ()30. " Powel, 333. Rymer, ii. 53. G8. ^ Fowel, 382. "= Statutes at Large, 21 Rich. II. c. '.). 174 CHESTER. RicJiard II. and on his return secured him for one night in the fortress, and barbarously put to death Sir Perhin a Lc(jJi, and other gentlemen, whom he took with their unfortunate master. During the insurrection of Glyndivr, this city was made a rendezvous of the royal forces, and a place d'armes. It does not appear that our coun- tryman ever made any attempt on it, notwith- standing numbers of the gentry of this gallant county favored his cause'l But the country was unhappily divided; and continued so during the civil wars that raged between the houses of York and Lancaster. The spirited Margaret, in order to keep up the interest of her party, made a pro- 1455. gress into the county in 1455, and visited this 1459. city^ In 1459, soon before the battle oi Blore- lieatli, she made another, and took with her the Meek Usurper, her husband Henry VI. and her son Edward. She kept a public table wherever she went; and bestowed on the Cheshire gentle- men, that espoused her cause, little silver swans, the badge of the young prince, as the cognisance of the Lancastrians^ She appointed James lord Audley to command the Cheshire forces. Michael Drayton gives an animated description of the effects of civil discord on this occasion: he ac- quaints us that Audley ^ Ryraer, viii. 333. « Yale ro»jal, 185. * Speed's Hist. 858. CHESTER. 175 So labourVl, till that he had brought That t'half of one house 'gainst the other fought. So that two men arising from one bed FaUiog to talk, from one another fly; This wears a white rose, and that wears a red ; And this a York, that Lancaster doth crj : He wish'd to see that Audley well had sped; He prays again to prosper Sal'sbury. And for their farewel, when their leaves they take, They their sharp swords at one another sbake^. Daniel King tells us, that Edtvard prince of Wales, son to Edward lY. came to Chester before Christmas 1475, and was immediately conveyed 147."). to the castle with great triumph. Edward must have designed this only as a compliment to his friends in these parts, his son being at this time a child of four years of age. Such marks of royal favour were not unfrequent. Henry YII. and his queen came here in 1493; and Henry sent his 1493. son Arthur to visit the place in 1497. 1497. This city had also its share in the calamitous distempers of the times. In 150G, it was visited isog. by that endemic disorder the sweating -sickness, which destroyed, iji three days, ninety-one house- holders. The remark, of this destroying-angel's respect to the female sex, was verified here ; for only four perished. In 1517, it was followed by the pestilence, when 1517. such numbers died, and such numbers fied, that the streets of the city were overgrown with grass. B The Miseries of Queen Margaret, part iv. 176 CHESTER. 1529. It appears that the citizens of Chester were not less celebrated for their dramatic performances than those of Coventr}f\ They exhibited two species; one formed upon moral romance, the other on scriptural history. In 1529 they enact- ed at the high-cross the play of Robert kyng of Cicf/le, or Rohert le Diahle, borrowed from the French morality of that name. Here is of kyng Rohert of CicT/le, Hou pride did him beguile'. Robert, like another Nehuchadnezzar, thought himself beyond the power of any being, divine or human. Heaven, in order to humble him, causes a deep sleep to fall on him in church : when the congregation is dismissed, an angel assumes his form, and deceives his attendants, who follow the angelic king into the jDalace, where he takes Rohert^^ place. Robert awakes; runs to his palace; is disowned; seized as an impostor, and at last appointed fool of the hall to the new king; and, Cloathed in lodly'^ garnement With ffoxes tayles raony aboute Men mihte him kuowen in the route. After a very long and ignominious penance, the angel finds Robert effectually cured of his pre- 1' Dugdale, i. 249. ' J//'. Warton'^ Hist. Poetry, i. 184. Daniel Kiaj calls it the play of Rohert Cecill. ^ Loathsome. WHITSON PLAYS. 177 sumption, quits his mission, and restores the poor king to his throne. THE^year 1532 reminds me of the religious 1^32, dramas being performed ni this city. These are Plays. the famous interhides known by the name of Mys- teries, originally composed in the years 1327 and 1328, by Randal Higgenet, a monk of Chester abby, as this prologue acquaints us. Reverend lords and ladyes alle, That at this tyme assembled be; By this messuage uuderstond you shall, That some tymes ther was mayor of this citie Sir John Aniway, knight; who most worthilye Contented himselfe to set out in playe The devise of one Done Randall, moouke of Chester abbey. PvOXDAL, it seems, first comj)Osed these Myste- ries in Latin, and took true pains to obtain leave to exhibit them in an English dress, having made three journies to Rome for his Holiness's permis- sion'. Others again were the labors of Sir Henrij Frances, another monk, as appears by the procla- mation for the Whitson plays in this year, made by the clerk of the Pentice, setting forth, that in ' Oulde tyme, not only for the augmentation and ' increes of the holy and catholick faith, and to ex- ' ort the minds of the common people to good ' deuotion and holsome doctrine, but also for the * commonwelth of this citty, a play and declaration 1 Ilarleian MSB. 2124. VOL. I. N 178 WHITSON TLAYS. ' of divers sfcoiyes of the Bible, beginning witli tlie ' creacion, and fall of Lucifer, and ending witli ' the generall judgement of the world, to be de- ' clared and played in the Whitsonae weeke, was ' devised and made by Sir Henry Frances, some- ' tyme moonke there; Avho gat of Clement, then ' bushop of Rome, 1000 dayes of pardon, and of ' the bushop of Chester at that tyme, 40 dayes of ' pardon, to every person resorting in peaceable ' manor to heare the sayd playes; which were in- ' stituted to the honor of God by Jolin Arnwaij, • then major of Chester, his brethren and whole ' cominalty thereof; to be brought forth, de- ' clared, and played, at the cost and charges of the ' craftesmen and occupations of the sayd citty, (&c. These plays had probably been dropt for a considerable time; which occasioned the procla- mation, in the reign of that pageant-loving prince Henry VIII. Forty-three years had elapsed since the last performance of this nature, when the As- sumption of our Lady was played before his brotlier Arthur, at the abby-gates of this city. These Mysteries were the rude origin of the English theatre. Our drama, as the very ingenious Mr. Warton remarks, was in early times confined entirely to religious subjects; and these plays were " Ilarhian JISS. 2013. WHITSON PLAYS. 170 nothing more than an appendage to the specious and mechanical devotion of the age°. I refer the reader^ that gentleman's amusing history of the rise and progress of these performances; and con- line myself to a few specimens of the gross and ridiculous exhibitions of the times; when the au- dience listened with the fullest admiration and devotion to what would at present fill a theatre with laughter from the gay, at the alDSurdity, or ■scandalize the serious part, with the (unintentional) impiety. I shall only premise, that the scene of action was the church, in defiance of the fulmina- tions of the furious Bonner, and the pious Grindal. These plays were twenty-five in number. They were performed for above three centuries, to the staring audience, who received the unvaried sub- ject with the same annual pleasure as the Romans did the farces in their days of honest simplicity. Tandemque reJit ad pulpita iiotum Exodium, cuin persoiioe palleatis hiatum 111 greraio matris formidat rusticiis infans. Juv. Sat. iii. Lib. I. The same rude soug returns upon the crowd, And by tradition is for wit allow'd, The mimic yearly gives the same delights, And in the mother's arms the clownish infant frischts. DUYDEN". They do not appear to us in the words of the ori- ginal deviser : but, the language and the poetry " History of English Poetri/, i. 237. 180 WHITSON PLAYS. being grown obsolete, tbey were altered to that of the time, for the performances of the sixteenth century, and were acted by the craftsmen of the twenty-five companies, who were all dressed in suitable habits. 1. The Tanners performed the play or pageant of the Fall of Lucifer; and in the course of the prologue are thus instructed : NowE, you worshippfull Tanners, that of custome olde The fall of Lucifer did sette out: Some writers a warraute, your matter therfor be shoulde Craftelye to playe the same to all the rowtte; Your authour his auther hath : your shewe let it be Good speech, fyne players, with apparrill comelye. Shakespeae, certainly formed liis personoe dra- matis oi mechanics, his Quinces, Snugs, Snouts, and Starvelings, in the Midsummer-Night's Dream, from performers of this kind. 2. The Drapiers enacted the Creation of the World. 3. The Water leaders and drawers of the Dee, took, with great propriety, the History of the Deluge; which being handled in a very diverting manner, I shall transcribe as a pattern of the rest. Their prologue tells them, 'that Noe shall goe into the arhe, with all his famylye, his wyfe excepte.' After the long catalogue of birds, beasts, (&c. which are supposed to have entered the vessel, Noalv thus calls to his spouse: WHITSOX PLAYS. 181 No YE". Wyfe, come in, whie stands thou there I Thou art ever froward, that sure I sweare; Come in on God's half, tyme it were, For feare lest that wee drowue. NoYE'sWief. You Sir, sett up your sayle. And rowe forth with evill hayle; For, withouteu land fayle, I will not out of this grove. But I have my gossopes evry ech one, One fote further I will not gone; They shall not drown, by Saint Jolm, An I maye save ther lyves. They loved me full well by Christ; But thou wilt lett them into thie chest, Ellis row forth maye when thou liste, And get thee another wief. NOYE. Sem, Sonne, nowe thie mother is war o woe, By God faith another I doe not knowe. Seji. Father, I shall fetch her in, I trow, Withouteu aine faile. ' Mother, my father after thee sends. And biddes thee into yonder ship wends; Look upe and see the winds. For we bene readie to sayle. Noye's Wief. Sonne, go agayue to him, and saye, I will not come thei'ein to daye. NOYE. Come in, wief, in twentie devill waye. Or allis stand there without. This is copied from the MS. in the Bodleian Library. 182 . WHITSON TLAYS. Cham. Shall we all fetch her in ? XovK. Yea, sonnes, in Christ's, blessing and mine, I would ye hied yea be tyme; For of this flood I stand in doubt. The good Gossopes. The flood comes fleeting in apace, One every side it spredeth full fare; For feare of drowning I am agast, Good gossopes, let us draw neare, And let us drink are we depart; For ofte tymes we have done so: For at a draught thou drinks a quart, And so will I doe or I goe. Here is a pottell, ful of malmesay good and strong; It will rejoyce both hart and tong; Though ^Voy think us never so long, Yet wee will drink a tyte. Jai'het. Mother, we pray you altogether; For we are here your owne children; Come into the sliip for feare of the wedder. For his love that you bought. Noye's Wief. That I will not fiir all your call, • But I have my gossopes all. Se.m. In faith, mother, yet you shall, "Whetherjyou will or mongst. NOE. "Well me wief into this boate. Noe's Wyfe. Have you that for thie note. [Oives Noah a box in the ear.] WHITSON PLAYS. 183 NOE. A ha, Mary', this is whote; It is good for to be still. ■■"" A, children! methiuks my boat reraeves; Our tarrying here heughly me graves: On the land the water spreads: God doe as he will. 4. The Barbers and Wax- chandlers told how Ahraham returned from the slaughter of tlie four kings, ttc. 5. The Cappers and Lhien-drapers took up the story of Balaam and his ass; and make the pro- phet accost his beast in terms too low and ludi- crous to be repeated. This animal had far greater respect paid it in a neighboring kingdom; for feasts were held in honor of it. The festa asina- ria, or feasts of asses, were celebrated in France m the beginning of the fifteenth century^'; when the beast, covered with a cope, was introduced into church, attended by the clergy, and saluted with the following hymn: Orieiitis partibus Saltu vincit hinnulos Adventavit asinus Dagmas et capreolos, Pulcher et fortissimus Super Dromedarios Sarcinis aptissimus. Velox Madianeos. He, sire Ane, he. He, sire Ane, lie. Hie in CoUibus sicsen Aurum de xirahia Enutritus sub Reuben Thus et myrrham do ^Saba Transiit per Jordanern, Tulit in ecclesia Saliit in Bethleem Virtus asinaria. He, sire Ane, he. He, sire Ane, he. p Menioircs, . iv. p. r>i-l. 206 CHESTEU. CASTLE. JAIL. Under the vice-cliamberlain is a baron, wlio holds a Aveekly court, in which appearances are entered for brino^ino- causes to a trial. Writs and subpoenas are also here made out, as well for the great sessions for this county, as for those of the county o{ Flint. Here is, besides, an examiner, and a seal-keeper, who has the charge of the records. The judges have lodgings within the castle, during their circuit, by antient custom. These are furnished by the sheriffs of the city. The sheriifs of the county take care of their horses, but are allowed the expences when they bring in their accounts at the audit. Jails. The county jail for felons and debtors is the last place to be described. I can do little more than confirm the account of it by the humane Howard. Their day-confinement is in a httle yard, surround- ed on all sides by lofty buildings, impervious to the air, excepting from above, and ever unvisited by the purifying rays of the sun. Their nocturnal apartments are in cells seven feet and a half by three and a half, rano^ed on one side of a subterra- neous dunofeon; in each of which are often lodo^ed three or four persons. Tlie whole is rendered more (wholesomely) horrible, by being pitched •over three or four times in the year. The scanty •air of the streight prison-yard is to travel through three passages to arrive at them: through the vwindow of an adjacent room; through a grate in CHESTER. CASTLE. 207 tlie tloor of the said room into the clunofeon : and finally, from the dungeon, through a little grate above the door of each of their kennels. In such places as these are the innocent and the guilty j3er- mitted to be lodged, till the law decides their fate. I am sure the humane keeper, Mr. Thomas, must feel many a pang at the necessary discharge of his duty. Mr. Howard compares the place to the black-hole at Calcutta. The view I had of it, as- sisted to raise the idea of a much worse prison; where No light, but rather darkness vi^sible, Served only to discover sights of woe". The constable of the castle holds his place for life; is properly the keeper of the prison; but appoints a, deputy. He is accountable for all prisoners and debtors, and answerable for their escapes. Within the walls of this fortress, was an in- stance of a felon suffering prison forte et dure, for standing- mute on his trial, till he died of huno-er. ^^^^- One Adam, son of John of the Woodhouscs, was, in 1310, the 4th of Edward II. committed for burning his own houses, and carrying away the goods. He stood mute; a jiuy as usual was em- pannelled, who decided that he could speak if he ° It will be gratifying to the humane traveller to contrast the miseries so pathetically described, with the convenient and sahi- •brious disposition of the courts and apartments of the present place •of confinement. Ed, Prisox FORTE ET 208 CHESTER. CASTLE. })leasecl. On this he was committed ad dietam; and afterwai'ds John le Morgan, constable of the castle, testified, that the aforesaid Adam was dead ad dietaiif. This was the origin of the punish- ment of pressing to death, or the 'peine forte et dure, which seems a sort of merciful hastening of death ; for it must have been much more horrible, as well as tedious, in the manner prescribed by the law of the first Edward, in whose reign it origi- nated. Tlie words of tlie statute are, ' Qe les * felouns ecriez et que sont apertement de male ' fame, et ne se voillent mettre en enqueste des * felonies qe lem lui mette devant justices a la ' suite le Roy, so'ient rays en la prison fort et ' dure,' kc^\ The term ad dietam was ironical, expressive of the sad sustenance the sufferer was allowed; viz. on the first day, three morsels of the worst bread; on the second, three draughts of water out of the next puddle: and this was to be alternately his daily diet till he died. Mr. E-ymer records a strange instance of a woman at Nottingham, who underwent this pun- ishment, and lived forty days without meat or drink. This happened in 1357, in the reign of ° IlarUian MSS. N" 2079. G3. p By the Statute of the 12th of George 3, cap. 20. persons arraigned for piracy or felony, standing mute, shall be convicted of such felony or piracy. Ed. CHESTER. CASTLE. 209 Edward III. wlio, ' ad laudem Dei et ofloriosoe ' virginis Marine matris suae, unde dictum mira- ' culunt processit, ut creditur'^,' granted the sufferer a free pardon. After mentioning, that it is pro- bable that the miracle was a little assisted by na- tural means, I must observe, that according to this instance, the condemned were, in some cases, ab- solutely denied any species of food; in others, it seems probable, from the name of the ^^unishment of Adam, that they sometimes Avere allowed that wretched diet, which was continued when the punishment changed into the peine dure et forte. There is a singularity in the manner of the treatment of the prisoners who are released by capital punishment out of their dreadful cells, which merits mention. They are delivered by the constable or his deputy, at a stone called Glover's- stone, about ninety yards distant from the outward gate, into the hands of the sheriffs of the city, who receive them at that stone, which is the ex- treme limit of the castle precincts, and from thence convey them to the place of execution, which they also have the charge of This custom is not ac- counted for, any more than by tradition, that a felon was formerly rescued in his way to the gal- lows by the citizens of Chester, and perhaps by the connivance of the magistrates, who are supposed 1 The woman's name was Ccecilia, indicted for tiie murder of her husband, John de liidrjeway. Rymer^s Fcedera, vi. 13. VOL. I. V >10 CHESTER CASTLE. CHARTERS. to have had the disagreeable duty inflicted on them of executing all criminals, whether they are of the county or the city. The city was separated from the castle, and made a county of itself, by the charter of Henrij VII.: the castle was left as an appertenance to the shire, and has the small outlet of a little street Glover's called Glover s-stone, which is also independent of the city; and in which non-freemen may set up any trade unmolested by the corporation. The castle has a governor, lieutenant governor, and constable; and is garrisoned by two compa- nies of invalids. The civil government and architecture is next to be taken notice of I have, in my account of Saxon and Normcm Chester, given a brief rela- tion of the government of the city in those periods. I shall at present only mention the principal char- ters; and flatter myself, that the reader will excuse my brevity, as it is beyond the power of the tra- velling topographer to collect the same materials as the resident. Charters. The flrst royal charter which this city was ho- nored with is that of Henri/ III.; who conflrms all the priveleges bestowed on it by the Norman earls, and, I imagine, first flung the government into the form of a regular corporation; for he grants and confirms to them, that none shall buy or sell mer- CHESTER. CHAETEES. 211 cliandise in the city except citizens, unless it be in the fairs, under the penalty of ten pounds. Edward I. gave the city of Chester, with the appertenances, and all the liberties and priveleges, to its citizens and their heirs, to be holden of him and his heu's for ever, paying annually 100/.; ho also granted them the election of a coroner, and pleas of the crown; and that they should have sock'', sack, toll, theme, infangthefe, outfangtliefe, and freedom throughout all the land and dominion, of toll, passage, &c, Edward III. continued the past grants, and added another, of all the vacant lands within the liberty of the city, with leave for the citizens to build on such vacant spots. Edward the black prince prescribed by parti- cular names the boundaries of the city, beginning at the Iron-hriclge, and from thence to Saltneij, the Port-pool, FlukersbrooJc, Bowjhton, &c. PtiCHARD II, was particularly kind to this his "^ Sock, he who i:s invested with this has power to hold courts within his own lauds. Sack, power of deciding complaints and [uarrels, and applying to his own use the fines resulting from such •lecisions within his own territory. Toll, needs no explanation. Theme, the right to dispose of all his bondsmen, their children and goods. IxFANiiTHEFE, the power of apprehending, in his own lands, thieves, whether they be his own people or those of another lord. <)ui"FANGTHEFE, is the power of seizing, in any person's land, a vassal of his own, who has committed a robbery within his juiusdiction, and bringing him to trial to his own court. Vide S/:eae, cle verb, siyiiijl). and *S'o?nii<3/''s Gloss. i>12 CHESTER. CHARTERS. favorite city. In consideration of some distresses it had undergone, he released the citizens from the payment of seventy- three pounds ten shilhngs and eight-pence arrears of rent due to the crown: he gave them the profits of the ferry towards the re- building and repairing of Dee bridge: he made them two grants of the murage, the first for four years, the second for five, towards the repairs of the walls. But in the 22d year of his reign, ' for the ' furtherance of justice in the same city, and better ' execution thereof, he granted unto his subjects,. ' majors, sheriffs, and commonalty of the said city, ' to hold their courts; and limited what processes ' they might award in, actions, personal felonies, ' appeals, processes of utlagary, as at common law. ' Granted under the seal of the principality of ' Chester, at Chester, May 2, 1398'.' This seems to have been found necessary, in order to strengthen: the civil policy of the place, which had four years before been greatly insulted by a dreadful riot in the abby by Sir Bald'wyiie, of Rathjngstone, sup- ported by Sir John of Stanley with eight hundred men. A sheriff was killed, and many other ex- cesses committed*. After the revolution which happened in 1309, the mayor and citizens continued to favor the cause of then- deposed master; and after his death, gave « Kinff ii. l.-)9. ' Harhkin MSS. No 2057. 34. CHESTER. CHARTERS. 213 all the assistance in their power to Harry Percij. On his defeat, they obtained the royal pardon, and in-order to conciliate their affections, young Henry, prince of Wales, and earl of Chester, con- firmed all their former charters and priveleges; he afterwards granted to them the profits of murage and bridge tower, \vhere tolls were collect- ed durante bene placito. Ix a confirmation of the former charters by Henry VI. we learn the former concourse of stran- gers; the greatness of the commerce of Chester, by reason of the goodness of its port; and the great trade carried on in provisions into and out of Wales. It farther recites the melancholy change -of aftaii's; the conflux of foreign merchants bemg put a stop to by the choaking of the creek with sands; and the intercourse with Wales destroyed, since the insurrection of Owen Glenclwr: w^hich considerations moved the king to remit ten pounds of the antient fee-farm rent. The provisions alluded to were probably cheeses, on the part of the citizens of Chester; and per- haps wines, spices, and other foreign luxuries; for which they might receive in exchange from the Welsh, cattle of difterent kinds. Henry VII. in 150G, in consideration of far- .Mi.;Mut;Rs. ther distresses of the city, not only remitted eighty pounds of its annual rent, but granted it a new TIOX. 2H CHESTER. CORPOKATION. cliarter, by which he separated it from tlie county,, and added several of the most vahiable priveleges- which it still enjoys: but being a county palatine,, and in the time of Edward I. vested in the crown, it never received summons, either for county or city, to return members to parlement, till the reign of Henry YIII. wlien the county, in 1543, was em- powered to send two knights, and the city twO' citizens. The electors of the last are the freemen of the city; the returning officers the sheriffs. Corpora- The corporation consists of a mayor, recorder,, two sherifts, twenty-four aldermen, and forty com- mon-council. Here are beside two annual officers,, culled leave-loohers, whose business is to prevent all persons who are not free of the city from exer- cising any trade, or exposing to sale any wares or merchandise within the liberties. They were ac- customed to go round the city in order to preserve these its priveleges; and sometimes were used tO' take small sums, called Jeavc-looheraye, for leave for non-freemen to sell wares by retail; but at pre- sent the yeoman of tlie Pentise discharges this office, and returns the names of such persons who- are found to offend, in order that actions might be brought against them. We find as early as 1297,. that similar officers were elected, under the name of custos guild mercator; and who discharged the same function". " King, ii. 107. CHESTER. PE.ETORIUM. 215 The places where the major and other officers of the corporation assemble for the dispatch of business; or administration of justice, are two; the first is the Pentise^, an antient buildmg in the cen- Pextise. ter of the city, near the junction of the four prin- cipal streets. Mention is made of the north-side having been built in 1497. Here all busiiiess within the cognizance of a justice of the peace is transacted; the aldermen that have past the chair being empowered to act as long as they Avear the gown. Here also the sheriffs, assisted by the re- corder, sit and determine civil causes. I IMAGINE that this building, St. Peter's church, and a few houses to the north and west, occupy the site of the Roman Prcptorium; for they not PRiCTORiuM. only fill the very situation of that part of the old castrametations, but account for the discontinuance of the Bridge street, which ceases opposite to these edifices. This also is the cause why the nearer part of the North-gate street is thrown out of its course, and falls into the East-gate street, many yards beyond the mouth of the Bridge street; for the lower part of the North-gate street, where the exchange and shambles stand, points directly to- wards the former; but is interrupted by the space occupied by these buildings. The limit of the Frretoriinn on the east, was the narrow portion of '' This building, which contracted the entrance into the Water- gate street, was removed in 1803. Ed. >1G CHESTER. EXCHANGE. North-gate street; on the south, part of the present Bridge, East-gate, and Water-gate streets; on the west Goss lane; and on the north, the space now- occupied by the fish-market. The Prcetorium, with its attendants, demanded no small space ; for, besides the spot possessed by the general, were the apartments of the imperatoris contubernales, or the young nobility immediately under his care; the augurale, where prayers, sacrifices, and other religious rites were performed, might have stood on the site of the modern church; and the gene- ral might have had his tribunal on the very spot where the worshipful corporation at present sit for the redress of grievances. Exchange. The courts of justice are held in the common hall, a large and commodious room over the ex- change, adorned with the portraits of several po- pular persons.''^ In this place are held a crown- mote court, portmote court, and court of sessions. The mayor, assisted by the recorder, is judge of the crownmote court. He has jurisdiction in all cri- mmal causes, treason only excepted. He is also judge of the portmote court, with the same assist- ant. This court holds plea in all actions real, per- sonal, and mixed. In the court of sessions, the * The full length portrait described in the last edition of this work, p. 175, as that of Sir William Williams, Speaker of the House of Commons, has since been ascertained to represent one of the Oros- vmor family. Ed. CHESTER. COMMON HALL. 217 •aldermen above the chair try petty-larcenies, and determine upon inferior offences. In this place the body corporate hold their assemblies for ma- king bye laws for the government of the city; for managing the public buildings and directing the •charities; and finally, the city elections of magis- trates, as well as of members, are made in this -court. The only remains of any hotel, and that of no antient date, stood in Old Common-hall lane; which, when entire, surrounded a square, and communicated with Water-gate street. It was founded by Sir Thomas Egerton, chamberlain of Chester, afterwards lord chancellor of England, and designed by liim for a dwelling-house. The small remainder, which faced the lane, and was •occupied by a poor fa,mily, on the 5th of November 1772, was the scene of a dreadful calamitv. The first floor was engaged by a puppet-show man; and at the moment he was exhibiting to a very full audience, by some unknown accident 800 pounds weight of gunpowder, ^vhich was lodged in a warehouse beneath, took fire, and blew up three Explosiox. stories. Twenty- three people perished, and eighty - three were much burnt, bruised, and received bro- ken and dislocated limbs; of which number only three died, and those with locked jaws. The re- medy found most efHcacious for the burnt, was Ooulard'fi extract of lead. 2 IS CHESTEK. EXPLOSION. The external eftects of this explosion were these: the windows and broken glass of several of the neighboring houses fell outwards; from, which it appears, that they were not broken by the shock of the gunpowder, but by the pressure of the air within the apartments, which rushed out into the vacuum occasioned by the explosion. A similar phfenomenon has been remarked from an explosion from the inflammable vapor of a mine, when the neighboring trees fell towards the blast. Howso- ever, where the force of the powder was confined by narrow passages, its centifrugal effect took place; for two boys, walking along the rows in Water-gate street, opposite to a passage leading to the building, Avere blown, one against the rails, the other into the street ; and the roof of a house was blown off, opposite to a passage into Common-hall lane. It is mucli to be wished, tliat the easy magis- tracy of this city would, from this dire accident,, take into consideration the safety of the whole, in preference to the conveniency of a few lazy indi- viduals; and either compel them to keep by them only the legal quantity, or at their session appoint proper places for lodging gunpowder. This is the second tremendous warning of the same nature which the city hath been visited with. On the first of April 1726, the shop of Mr. Thomas Mur- ray, in Bridge street, and the liouse, were blown CHESTER. INFIRM ART. 219 up; and himself and a young gentleman killed. Notwithstanding this double admonition, I fear its attention still continues lethargic. The sufferers who survived this calamity were Infirmary. relieved-' in the well regulated infirmary estabhshed here, and supported by the voluntary contributions from the city, county, and neighboring parts of Wales. It is a handsome building, in an airy situation, and detached from the streets. This charity was founded in 175G, and originated from a bequest of 300/. left by Dr. Stratford commissary oi Richmond, towards the commencing of a public hospital in this city. Subscriptions were solicited, and a sum equal to the design soon raised. Before the present building could be ready for the recep- tion of patients, a temporary infirmary was pre- pared for them, in 175G, in Nortli-gate street. The new infirmary was opened on the 17th of March 17G1; and has been supported with a spirit that does lienor to the environs ; which has enabled the managers to receive, since its institution, not fewer than thirteen thousand six hundred and thirty six objects of relief ^ The portrait of the founder is placed in the council-room of the infirmary: a y Six hundred and thirty pounds were immediately collected from the humane inhabitants of the city, in be distributed among these miserable maimed objects. '^ The total, including in and out patients, who have received be- nefit from this institution to the present time (1809) amounts to eighty thousand nine hundred and seventy three. Ed. :220 CHESTER. BISHOPKICK. tliree-qLiiarters piece, sitting in a long wig and a civilian's gown. EccLEsiASTi- J ^jj^LL now take a short view of the ecclesi- XJAL State. astical state of this antient city. It is necessary first to observe, that the Mercian kingdom was divided into five bishopricks; Lichfield, Chester, Worcester, Lydnecester, and Dorchester ; which last was afterwards removed to Lincoln, Lich- field was made, about the year 785, metropolitan, by order of Ofi^<(, and afterwards, for a long time, incorporated into itself its suffragan, Chester. How greatly the last flourished is evident from an ac- count of its annual payment to the pope in very •early times; for, when Lichfield payed only three thousand florins, our see advanced five thousand. No wonder that its jealousy should be excited! Very little is known of the state of this cliurch in the Saxon period. Let it suflice to say, that a bishop oi Lichjleld, of the name of Peter, in the year 1075, removed his episcopal seat to Chester; and during his life made use of the church of St. John^s for his cathedral. This translation was of very short date; for his successor established him- self in the former diocese, and Chester continued without a bishop till the dissolution of monasteries; when in 1541, Henry VIII. restored it to its for- mer honor, by creating it one of the six" new sees " Westminster, Oxford, Bristol, Gloster, Peterborough, and Chester. The first was suppressed in the reign of queen Mar^j. CHESTER. BISHOPRICK. 221 formed on that great event; and converted the church of the late abby of St. Werhurgh into the cathedi'aL The first of the new bishof)s was John Bird, a Carmelite, and provincial of the order; a man sub- servient to the court ; who, by preaching against the pope's supremacy, so recommended himself to the king as to obtain the bishoprick of Bangor; from whence he was removed to Chester, as a fit per- son to suit the rapacity of the times. In 154G, he granted away the whole of the manors and de- mesnes of the see, and, accejDting impropriation instead of them, left his successor not a single acre, excepting that on which the palace stands, and the court before it; another house, adjacent; a little orchard, called the Woodyard; two houses near St. John's church; and a few small tenements in the city of York. Notwithstanding the sum he amassed, he was found, at the accession of Mary^ in debt to the crown 1087/. 18. v. for tenths and subsidies; a vast sum for the times! His interest with bishop Bonner still would liave saved him, had he not committed (in those days) the heinous crime of matrimony, for which he was deprived in 1554. He left his diocese one of the lest in value, yet greatest in extent, of any in England; for it reaches from Hawarden in Flintshire, to the river •->•■}•■) CHESTER. ABB 7. Denvciiti^) iwCnuibcdaiid: comprelieiidiiig the en- tire comities of Chester and Lancaster; part of Westmoreland, Cmnherland; Richmond in Yorh- shire; the chapeh'ies of Holt and Iscoed; the churches of Hawarden, Hanmer, Bangor, Wor- thenhiinj, and the chapehy of Overton Madoc, in the adjacent parts of Wales. Abby. The abby, out of which the see was formed, was of great antiquity. History relates, that it had been originally a nunnery, founded about the year 660, by Widpheru.^, king of the Mercians, in favor of his daughter's indisposition to a married life. This was the celebrated St. Werhurgh, who took the veil after living immaculate for three years with her husband Coelredas, after the example of her aunt, the great Ethelreda; who cohabited for tln-ee years with no less purity with her first spouse Tonherctiis, and for twelve with her second, the pious prince Eg/rid. St. Werhurgh presided over several Mercian monasteries, died at Triceng- ham, and by her own order was interred at Hean- hurge; but on the approach of the Danes, in 875, her body was conveyed to Chester, as a place of secu- rity from the insults of those pagans \ It is uncertain how long this community exist- ed. It probably was ruined by the ravages of the (1) This reminds one of the bounJaries of the old Kymi-ic proviuce of Teyrnllwg, as defiued in the 'lolo MSS.' p. 86. j.h. " Ilicfdcn in Gale, iii. 240. CHESTER. ABBY. 223 *fDarbarians in 895, and finally suppressed; for we .are told", that from the reign of king Athelstan, in 925, tc^ the coming of the Normans, a set of canons secular were established in the place of the nuns. This pious deed was that of Ethdjieda, who restored the buildings ; which afterwards were repaired by earl Leofric, husband to the famous Godiva. The house was richly endowed by the kings Edmund and Edgar, and by Leofric. Edgars charter l^egins in a strain equally [)ious and sublime '\ On the accession of Hugh Lupus to this earl- dom, he suppressed the canons secular, and esta- blished in their place a colony of his countrymen, Benedictines, from Bee in Normandy; for probably he did not care to trust his salvation to the pray- ers of the Saxon religious. It is said, that this piece of piety was owing to a tit of illness which the earl was seized with; when lie took the usual way in those days of soothing a troubled con- science. He sent for Anselm, abbot of Bee, and afterwards archbishop of Canterhury, who regu- lated the new foundation; and ajipointed his chap- lain Richard to Ije the first abbot. Lupus and Ms successors were very liberal in their endow- ments''; and the place flourished till its dissolu- tion; whicli was effected by tlie surrender of the •^ Hlgden in Gale, iii. 24(». ^ Dugdale, Momst. i. 200. « Ibid. i. 985, (.(jc. 224 CHESTER. ABBY. last abbot, Thomas Clerk; who received in reward the office of the new deanry, which he enjoyed only six weeks. The revenues of this great abby were, according to Dugdale, 1003/. 5^. lid.; to Speed, 1073/. 17,s\ 7d. According to a survey of this Abby, preserved in the Harleian collection, its extent was very considerable; surrounding the present square, and covering several parts of the adjacent ground. The old abby-court is adorned on two sides by very handsome modern houses, built between the years 1750 and 1754, on leases granted by the dean and chapter. Another side is filled by the new palace; an elegant pile, which rose under the auspices of the late munificent and hospitable pre- late Edmund Keene, afterwards bishop o^ Ely. Its place was before occupied by the house of the antient abbots. The old gate is yet standing: it is a plain but noble entrance, and consists, towards the street, of two Gothic arches included within a round one of great diameter; and which appears to have been of far older date. On one side was the j^orter's. lodge; on the other, a place called St. Thomas s court. A chapel, dedicated to the same saint, stood where the present deanry is; and, from its antient appearance, seems to have been externally the same building. The cloisters are entire; but consist only of CHESTER. SCHOOL. CHAPTER HOUSE. 225 tliree walks, the court extending on one side quite to the church. By the different arms on the roof, it appears to have been repaired at several periods, from the time of Edward III. to that of Wolsei/, whose arms, with those of the see of Yoi'Jc, with the cardinal's cap, are also to be seen here. On one side stood the fratry; a vast room, which is used as a free-school, founded by Henri/ School. VIII. in the 3Gth year of his reign, for twenty- four boys, who are appointed by the dean and chapter: they may continue there four years, if their conduct be regular; but the dean has power to grant a year of grace. No boy (unless he be a choirister) ought to be chosen before he is nine years old, or after he is fifteen. Two masters are appointed for their instruction, a chief and an under master, elected by the dean and chapter. In a corner of the east-side of the cloister, is a passage and stairs to the dormitory; and the antient priests cellars and kitchen. On the same side is a passage, formerly called the Maidens aile, which leads to the little abby- court, a part of the antient building belonging to the prebendaries. The beautiful edifice, the chapter-house, stands Chapter- in the same walk of the cloister. The vestibule is arched, supported by four columns, each sur- rounded with eight slender pilasters without capi- tals, which converge near the top of the column, and spread over the roof The dimensions of this VOL. I. Q HOUSE. 22G CHESTER. CHAPTER-HOUSE. room are thirty-three feet four inclies, by twenty- seven feet four; the height twelve feet nine. On the sides is a stone seat for the attendants on the business of the chapter. The chapter-house is lifty feet long, twenty-six feet broad, and thirty-five feet high; at the upper end is a window, consisting of five lancet-shaped divisions, and on each side is another of three. At the height of eight feet and a half from the floor, a narrow gallery runs along three parts of the room, divided from the windows by a triplet of most elegant, lofty, slender pillars. The roof is of stone; the springs of the arches which secure it, are supported by neat pilasters with palmy capitals. The modern book-cases deform the lower parts of the room, as high as the bottom of the windows. The walls, I conjecture, had been ornamented with pilasters, and had a stone seat hke that of the ves- tibule. The entrances, both from the cloisters and between the vestibule and the chapter-house, are Gothic; but apparently of a later species of archi- tecture than either of those rooms. The chapter-house is said to have been built in the time of Randle the first, earl of Chester, who died in 1128, after enjoying his earldom eight years. The great earl, Hugh. Lupus, uncle to Randle, had been interred in the church-yard of the abby: the first care of the nephew was to re- CHESTER. CHAPTER-HOUSE. 227 move the body into this building^, as the most honorable place; a respect which would certainly ]iave been payed to it, had this edifice existed at the time of his death. Here his remains continued unmolested till the year 1724, when, in digging within the chapter-house, they were found In a stone coffin, v/rapped in gilt leather, with a cross on the breast; and at the head of the cofhn a stone in shape of a T, with the wolf's head, the allusion to his name, engraven on it. Immediately over his breast Avas a very singular covering, made of paper nicely platted, so as to form most elegant little squares of black and white". Other coffins were discovered beneath the two rooms, of earls, their countesses, or of abbots; but the great level- ler death had reduced them to dust indistinguish- able. The earls who were interred here, were Hurjh, who died in 1101; Randle the first, or de Mes- chines, in 1128; Randle the second, or de Ger- nouns, who was poisoned in 1155, by William Pevercl; Hugh Cijvelioc, who died at Leek in 1181; Handle tJie third, or de Blundeville, who died at Wallingford in 1232, where liis bowels were in- terred; his heart was buried at the abby of Diea- lacres in Sta^ordshire, and liis body transported ^ Leicester'' s Hist. Antiq. 121. K A piece of it, set in a ring, is in the possession of Philip Egerton, Esq. of Oultoa. ^» CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. to Chester; finally, John Scot, Avho, in 1237, under- went the same fate as Randle the second. So that every earl of the Norman line was deposited here, excepting Richard, who perished by shipwreck in 1V20\ Of the abbots, Geofrjj, who died in 1208, and six others, were buried in the chapter-house or its vestibule'. The church bounds the north side of the clois- ters. The lower part of the wall has a row of arches, now filled up, and savors more of antiquity than the rest. This, and a portion of the north- transepts, are the oldest parts of the present build- ing; but there are no remains now left than can boast of a remote date. All the labors of the Saxons, and almost all those of its refounder Hugh Lupus, are now lost. The abbot, Simon Ripley, who was elected in 1485, finished the middle aile and the tower. The body is supported by six sharp-pointed arches. The columns are thick, sur- rounded by pilasters with small rounded capitals. Above is a gallery, with a neat stone balustrade in the parts where it is entire, and a row of large and broad pointed windows ; whicli is the general style. The present cathedral appears to have been ^ The particulars of the deaths of this illustrious line may be seen. in Leicester; or in Dugdale's Baronage, i. 32, c£v;. ' ^yms'» Cathedrals, i. 323. CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. 229 built (excepting the slight fragments just mention- ed) in the reigns of Henry VI. VII. and VIII.; but piincipally in those of the two last. The beau- tiful west end was begun in 1508, and the hrst stone laid with much ceremony. The window over the door is filled with elegant tracery; and the door-case enriched with figures and other sculp- ture. The descent into the church is down a mul- titude of steps; so there is reason to suspect, that the present was on the foundation of the antient church, and on a level with the old streets, which we know were many feet lower than the modern, Avhich have been raised, by the accession of rub- bish, and other adventitious matter. The center beneath the great tower is much injured by a modern bell-loft, which conceals a crown-work of stone, that would have a good effect was the loft destroyed. From the sprmgs of arclies that appear in the walls of the nave and its ailes, it seems as if the architect liad intended to have vaulted them in the manner in which St. J/ary's chapel and the choral ailes are done. The choir is very neat; and the Gothic taber- nacle-work over the stalls carved in a light and ele- gant manner. The arches in the galleries are di- vided by pretty slender pillars, which perhaps were of a date prior to the body of the church; 230 CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. probably the Avork of abbot Oldhaui, who was a benefactor, and had a concern in the buildmg. In the chancel are fonr stone stalls for the offi- ciating priests, with carved Gothic work above; a; recess or two for preserving either the reliques or the sacred utensils. About the walls are dispersed the monuments of several bishops and churchmen ; but none of any magnificence; and one of Sir Wil- llam Maintraring, a gallant young man, who fell in the defence of the city during its long siege. The bishop's throne stands on a stone base^ as remarkable for its sculpture as its original use. Its form is an oblong square; and each side most richly ornamented with Gothic carvings, arches, and pinnacles. Around the upper part is a range of little images, designed to represent the kings and saints of the Mercian kinofdom. Each held in one hand a scroll with the name inscribed. Fana- tic ignorance mutilated many of the labels, as well as the figures; the last were restored about the year 1748; but the workman, by an unlucky mis- take, has placed female heads on male shoulders,, and given manly faces to the bodies of the fair-sex. At first, there were thirty-four figures: four are- lost; the remainder are faithfully described, and the history of each monarch and saint accurately given, in a little pamphlet, published in 1749, by the worthy Doctor William Cooper, w^ho dedicated the profits to the use of the blue-coat hospital in CHESTER. ASSASSINATIOX. 231 this city. I bee- leave to dissent from the notion of this having been the shrine of St. Werlnirgh, as burgh's it is }Topularly called. It certainly was nothing- more than the pedestal on which the real shrine, or, as the French call it, la chasse, stood, which contained the sacred reliques. These are made of gold, silver, vermeil, i. e. silver gilt, or some pre- cious materials, and often enriched with gems of great value. They are of different forms, such as churches, cabinets, ct'C. and, should the relique be a head, or limb, the cJiasse is made conformable to the shape of the part. These are seated usually conspicuous on an elevated place; and are always moveable, in order that they may be carried in procession, either in honor of the saint, or to di- vert some great calamity. Thus, in 1180, the shrine of St. Wevhurgh was brought out to stop the rage of a fire in the city, which for a long time was invincible by every other means; but the ap- proach of the holy remains instantly proved their sanctity, by putting an end to its furious desola- tion. Before I take leave of this part of the church, Assassina- I must mention an impious outrage committed at the high altar in 1492, by a gentleman of Wales, who wounded almost to death one Patrick Filling, I suppose the officiating priest. Divine service, as usual, was immediately suspended, till a lustra- tion was performed in order to purify the church 232 CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. from the foul stain. The abby was reconciled on St. WerhurgJis day; the parish-church on that of St. Oswald^. An impiety of this kind was committed in the church of Notre Dame at Paris, in 167 0\ The priest died of his wound; and expiation was made by order of the archbishop; public prayers were offered up for forty hours in all the churches; and a fast of three days appointed. The affair termi- nated by a general (reparation) satisfaction of the injury by a grand procession, in which the whole parlement assisted. The streets were covered with tapestry, and the avenues barred up with chains to keep off the mob; and thus the place was restored to the discharge of the sacred offices. It is with a kind of horror I read in the zealous Fox, of an outrage of this sort committed in our own kingdom, in the reign of queen Mary"^. The enthusiast was taken, and punished by the striking off the criminal hand, and by being burnt : yet the historian gives him a place among the more well- meaning sufferers of that barbarous period. Behind the choir is St. Marys chapel; and on each side is an aile. The monuments in these parts are in no wise remarkable. In its north aile is a tomb with a flowery cross, that of an abbot ; ^ King, ii. 189.^ 1 Felibien Hist. Paris, ii. 1500. Pieces Justif. iii. 212. ™ Martyrs, iii. ST. NICHOLAS'S CHAPEL. 233 and another of an altar-form, ascribed to Henri/ IV. emperor of Germany, who, accordmg to a le- gendary tale, was said to have escaped from his troubles, and to have resided in Godstall lane, in this city; to have died there; and to have been interred in the abby. It is very uncertain whether this great but calamitous prince w^as ever in our kingdom; but it is well known that he finished his days at Liege'', in HOG, and was magnificently interred in the cathedral of that city. The transepts are of unequal lengths ; the south is very large, dedicated to St. Oswald, and is the parish-church of that name. This is said to have stood on the site of the first church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which was afterwards changed to that of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to tlie name it now bears. On the rebuilding of the church, this aile was designedly enlarged, and allotted by the monks to the neighbouring inhabitants, who were for the most part their servants or tenants. At first, the religious w^ished to have the whole to themselves, and on that account built, at a dis- tance from this aile, a chapel called St. Nicholas's and endowed it with a vicamge, for the use of the laity; but afterwards, the inhabitants at their own request, and by composition between the mayor and abbot, about the year 1488, were restored to " Modern Univ. Hist, xxxix. 95. 234 CHESTER. COMMON-HALL. the use of the church of St. Osirahl, whicli they still retain". The chapel falling into disuse, was j)urchased by the citizens, and converted into their common- hall for the dispatch of business '='. In later times, since the building of the exchange, it has been converted into a magazine of wool ; into a carrier's warehouse; and part into a theatre, acting under parlementary licence. This abby afforded only a temporary sanctuary to the profligate. The privelege which Hugh Lupus granted is particular: he ordered, that no thief or other malefactor, that attended the fair held at the feast of St. Werhurgh, should be at- tached, unless he committed some new offence there '^ This, says King, drew a vast concourse of loose people together at that season, and proved of singular advantage to Randle the third, earl of Chester; who, being surrounded in the castle of Rhuddland by a numerous army of Welsh, and in great danger, sent for relief to his general, Roger Lacy, at that time attending the midsummer-fair. Lacij instantly collected a body of minstrels, fid- dlers, and idle people, who were assembled here on account of this privelege; marched with them " King, ii. 39. p It is probable that there had been a more autient coinmon-hall; a lane in this city still retains the name of Old Common-hall lane. 1 Leicester, 119. CHESTER. SINGULAR CHARTER. 235 into Wah'ii, and relieved the^eai-1 from his distress. Randle, on his return, immediately rewarded Lacy with a fn.ll power over all the instruments of his preservation, magisterium omnium lecatoriim et meretricum totius Cestreshiee. By this grant he was empowered to require the attendance of all the minstrels and musicians of the county on the anniversary of the exploit. They Avere to play before him and his heirs for ever, in a procession to the church of St. John; and, after divine ser- vice, to the place where he kept his court. The minstrels were there examined concerning their lives and conversation; whether any of them played without annual licence from their lord, or whether they had heard any words among their fellows tending to his dishonor. These priveleges were afterwards devolved by John, son of Roger de Lacy, on Hugh dc Dutton and his heirs. The procession and courts were held by their steward within my memory; but the custom is now dropt. I find also, that Dutton and his heirs clamed at the feast from the minstrels, quatuor lagenas vlni et imam lancem, four bottles of wme, and one great dish; and at the same time a fee of four- pence halfpenny: and from every Meretrix in Cheshire, and in the city of Chester, ojjicium siium exercente, four-pence". The other religious houses in this city were, the "■ Leicester, 142. 23G CHESTER. CARMELITES. Oakmelites. Carmelites, or White friers, who had a convent in that part of St. Martin'^ parish still called White- friers lane: part of Mr Marsdeii's house is formed of the remains. The church, as appears by Braun's view of this city in 1581, stood a little west of it. By the charter of lior/er Laci/ to the abby of Norton, it appears, that there was a monastery in the parish of St. Michael'', which he grants to the canons of the former. We are left ignorant of the order it was of Ix Trinity parish stood a house of Franciscan or Grey friers, which bishop Tanner conjectures might have been as antient as the time of Henry III. The site was granted to one John Cokke. I imagine that this stood in the Yatch field, near the place occupied by the new linen-hall. By Speed's plan of Chester, it ajopears that there was a church there in his time; and to this day painted tiles and painted glass, reliques of ecclesiastical linery, are still dug up. Ix the parish of St. Martin^s^ was a monastery of preaching or Black friers, said by Speed to have iDeen founded by a bishop of Chester, meaning (as Tanner observes) of Lichfield. This, as well as the other religious house of this parish, was granted to the same John Cokke. Part of this ^ Dugdalc Monast. 185. * Rather in that of Trinity; 9a'. 2,\d. is paid at the audit for the site of it. CHESTER. ST. JOHN. 237 house, and its fine vaults, are occupied by Hennj Hesketh, esquire. St. John's, which hes without the walls on the St. John's. east side of the city, w^as once a collegiate church, reputed to have been founded by king Ethelred in 689, on being admonished by a vision to build it on the spot where he should find a white hind. After the ruin of the city by the Danes, the church was restored by his namesake, earl of Mercia, in 90 G, and was in the next century repau^ed and endowed by earl Leofvic. A monastery was also founded here; for historians record, that king Edgar was rowed from his palace to the monastery of St. John. The Doomsday book also mentions the monastery of St. Mary near the same church. This, besides, was the cathedral during the short time the see was removed from Lichjield by bishop Peter. In an old plan of it appears a house called the bishop's. At the dissolution, here was found a dean and seven prebendaries or canons (in a collation of the bishop of Liclijield); seven vicars, two clerks, four choiristers ; sextons, and other servants; most of whose houses are distinguished in the same plan. Their yearly revenue, after reprisals, was only 27L 175. 4c/. The site of the college, and some j^art of the buildings, were granted by queen Elizabeth to John Fortescue'^. " Tanner, 59. 238 CHESTER. ST. JOHN'S. Ox the east side of the church-yard stood the chapel of St. Anne, belonging to the brethren and sisters of the fraternity of St. Anne\ This in later days was called Cholmondehj hall, but is now to- tally demolished. St. John's, when entire, was a magnihcent pile. The tower once stood in the center; but fallinof down in 1574, was never rebuilt. The chancel was probably demolished at the same time; at that end are still some fine arches, and other remains of antient chapels. Withinside are curious specimens of the clumsy strength of Saxon architecture, in the massy columns and round arches which support the body. The tower is now placed at the west-end, and has on one side the legend, represented by the figure of a man and a hind. Ox the south side of the church-yard, impend- ing over a high cliff, supposed to be the Radeclive of the Doomsday-book, is a small antient building, probably a chapel, called the Anchoritage, placed over the retreat of some holv hermits. This mio^ht have been their place of sepulture; for in the live rock were found two bodies deposited in coffin- shaped cavities; it might also have been the spot, where legend says that Harold, the last Saxon king, ended his days; for it was long believed by the English, that he escaped from the battle of Hastings, and finished his life in retirement. ^ Harleian JLSS. N° 1994. G9. CHESTER. ST. MARY'S NUXXERY. 239 Doctor Tanner supposes, that the convent of Benedictine nuns, dedicated to St. Manj, origi- nated either from the monastery of St. John, or was a relique of one of the old nunneries belonging to St. Werhurgh. Tiiis, perhaps, may have been the case; for, from a charter preserved by Dug- dale, it appears, that Randle the second, earl of Chester, had obtained for the nuns of Chester, certain crofts from Hugh Fitzoliver, for them to build a church and convent on; which implies that there had been nuns in the city previous to ]iis grant ^'. I tind also, that Edivard the black prince had been a benefactor; for there is mention of a charter of his to the nuns, granted in the 3 2d of his father's reign ^ This was suppressed (with the other religious houses) in 1537. At that time Elizabeth Grosvenour was prioress, who made a surrender of the house, and had a pension for life of twenty pounds; and eleven of the sisters had also pensions, from 4d. to ll. Qs. Sd. each. The site was granted, in the 33d of Henri/ YIII. to the Urian Breretons, senior and junior. The revenues were, according to Dugdale, GGl. I8s. 4c?.; to Speed, 99/. 166'. 2 cZ. I have a ground-plot of this nunnery; by which it appears to have been a compact but small building. The church was y Sciatis me dedisse, et in perpetuam eleiuosyuain concessisse Deo et sanctfe Marke et Monialibus Cestrice, &o. Jfo)ias£i:o)i, i. 507. == JIarleian MSS. X° 2057. 36. 2ty CHESTER. HOSPITAL. twenty-two yards long and fifteen broad; and sup- ported in the middle by a row of pillars. The chapel was nine yards by four three-quarters; the cloisters thirty yards by twenty-one. It stood in the nursery-garden on the west side of the city, still called the Nuns (jarden, where vestiges of the walls and arches are yet remaining. That beautiful bird, the rose-coloured ouzel'', was, a few years ago, shot in this garden. Hospital, WITHOUT the North-gate stood a hospital dedi- cated to St. John the Baptist, and formerly a sanc- tuary, and endowed with great priveleges. The mastership was granted by Edivard II. to the prior of Berhinhead and his successors; but afterwards disposed of by the crown to secular clergy. The house, at the dissolution, consisted of a chaplain and six poor brethren, whose income, after reprisals, was 13?. 7s. 10'/.''. Mention is made by bishop Tanner'' of the liberties of the hospital of St. Giles being confirmed by Edward, III. I am told, that a fragment, supposed to be a part of this edifice, is to be seen in the Forest street. The last antient hospital was instituted for lepers, in the suburbs of Boughton, about the be- ginning o? Edward 11. 's reign; I think, opposite to the place of execution: the burying-ground is still made use of by the parish of St. Osivald. « Br. Zoo!. 11. 027. App. " Tanner, 04. « lb. 05. CHESTER. PARISHES. 241 The number of parishes are nine. None of tlie Parishes. churches are remarkable, excepting those of St. Peter's lind Trinity, distinguished by their hand- some spires. The first '^ was finished in 1481); when the parson and otliers signaHzed themselves by eating part of a goose on it, and flinging the rest into the four streets^ The number of inhabitants^, including the sub- Population. urbs of Bougliton and Hanbridge, are estimated to be fourteen thousand seven hundred and thir- teen. The houses are almost entirely situated on a dry sand-stone rock. Whether it be owing to that, the clearness of the air, and the purity of the water, it is certain that the proportion of deaths among the inhabitants is only as one to thirty-one; whereas I am informed, by my worthy friend Doctor Haygarth^ of this city, that in Leech, one in twenty-one; in Northampton and Shrewshury, one in twenty-six; and in London, one in twenty and three-fourths, annually pay the great tribute of nature. I DO not recollect any thing remarkable on the Rood-eye. outside of the walls which has been unnoticed, un_ less it be the Rood-eye, and the adjacent places. •^ St. Feter^s spire, which formed a beautiful termination to BriJje street, was taken down a few years ago. Eu. " King, i. TO. f In the general return of 1801, the population of Chester was stated at 15,052 souls. It is now said to approach nearly to 15.5(10. Eu. s Now practising at Bath. Ed. VOL. I. R 242 CHESTER. EOOD-EYE. The Dee, after quitting the contracted pass at the bridge, flows beneath an incur vated clayey chff, and washes on the right a fine and extensive mea- dow, long since protected against its ravages by a lofty dike. I imagine, that it lay open to the tides till about the year 1587, when the corporation (to whom it belongs) demised to one Thomas Lyneal, servant to Sir Francis Walsimjham, this pasture for tlie term of twenty- one years, together with as much land as he could gain to it from the sea. He was also to make at his own costs a quay for boats and barks to unload at full sea, near the water- gate; for which he was at first to have two-pence for every vessel passing by with any lading; but after that, the sum Avas encreased to four-pence; and Lijneal was to pay an annual rent of 20/. to the city. At first he met with some obstructions: Sir Francis therefore interfered, in order that his servant might proceed without further interrup- tion''. The name of this spot is taken from eye, its watery situation, and rood, the cross which stood there, whose base is still to be seen. On this |)lace the lusty youth, in former days, exercised themselves in the manly sports of the age; in archery, runnmg, leaping, and wrestling; in mock- fights, and gallant and romantic triumphs. From hints dropt by Daniel Kinrj, I imagine them to ^ Harleian 3/SS. N° 20S2, 31. 34. CHESTER. ROOD-EYE. 343 liave been of the same nature with tliose practised by the young men of the metropolis, described by Fitz-Stephen, a writer cotemporary with Henry II. ^ The lay sons of the citizens rush out of the gates ' in shoals, furnished with lances and shields ; the- ' younger sort with javelins pointed, but disarmed ' of their steel ; they ape the feats of war, and act ' the sham-figlit. Part take the field well mounted. ' The generous coursers neigh and champ the bit. ^ At length when the course begins, and the ' youthful combatants are divided into classes or ' parties, one body retreats, and another pursues ' without being able to overtake them; while, in \ another quarter, tlie pursuers overtake the foe, ^ imhorse them, and pass them many a lengtli. * The elders of the city and the fathers of the ' parties, and the rich and the wealthy, come into ' the field on horseback to behold the exercises'.' One would imagine by what follows, the antient liistorian was describing the sports of Ascanius and his youthful train on the plains o£ Sic ill/: Postquam oniuem kuti consessum, oculos(iae suonuu Lustravere in e^ was the reward of victory in 1607, at the races near Yorh; whence came the proverb for success of any kind, to hear the hell. At one end of the Rood-eye stands the House o/" Poor-house. Industry; a large and useful building, founded in 1757, by money raised by the city on life -annuities, for several improvements within its liberties. Here the indigent are provided for in a fit manner, and to the great ease of the parishes; wliich are reheved from the burden of a numerous poor, who are too idle to work, and too proud to enter into this comfortable Asylum. Those of the parish of Hawarden are also sent here, by virtue of an -agreement made between the governors of this charity and the overseers of the poor of that pa- rish. The inmates contribute by some coarse linen manufactures, towards their support. A LITTLE beyond this building are the quays, quays. cranes, warehouses, and other requisites for car- rying on the naval trade of the city. These are •opposite to the Water-gate; and have been much improved of late years, and the intervening space tilled with a neat street. Ships of 350 tons bur- den can now reach the quays, where the spring- tides rise at a medium fifteen feet : the neap-tides, eiglit. In the year 1674, this port was in so de- plorable a state, and so choaked witli sands, that a vessel of twenty tons could not arrive here; but 246 CHESTER. QUAYS. NEW CUT. the ships were obHgecl to lie under Nekton, ten miles distant; which gave rise to the assemblage of houses called Parkgatc, built on the shore be- neath that town. A quay, called the Neiv quay, (now in rums) was erected near this place in the beginning^ of the seventeenth century, for the conveniency of loading and unloading the vessels trading with Chester; and the goods were carried to and from the city by land. The misfortune of the port of Chester at length gave rise to the pros- perity of Liverpool, about this time a very incon- siderable place. It now began to discover its own advantages of situation; and quickly emerged from its despicable state to its present flourishing con- dition. New Cut. I^' 1G74, some friend to the former prevaled on Mr. Andrew Yarranton, a gentleman extremely conversant in the commercial advantages of this island, to mtike a survey of the river Dee and its estuary. He drew a plan, formed the project of a new channel, a scheme for recovering from the sea a large tract of land, and restoring the antient navigation even to the present quays: and this he got to be presented to the duke of Yorh, the patron, at that time, of all useful undertakings. He also suo-o-ested the idea of a canal from the collieries at Aston near Haivarden ; which was 1 Harleian MSS. N" 2003. 31). CHESTER. NE\y CUT. 247 to drop into this new channel, and facihtate the carriage of coal up to the city™. Future times had the advantage of his inventive genius. Both plans were brought into execution without any great de- viation from Mr. Yarrantons project. His new cut was to end opposite to Flint; the present opens opposite to Wepra, on this side of Flint. Sir John Glynne'a little canal" approaches the Dee, about two miles below the city. Mr. Yarrantoufi coal canal was to fall into the Dee near to Flint. An act of parlement was obtained for the re- covering and preserving the navigation of the river, for settling the duties on ships, and for the esta- blishing two ferries for the conveniency of travel- lers into the county of Flint. Other acts were passed in the years 1732, 1740, 1743, 1752; and the works were begun with vigor. The pro- ject was carried on by subscription; and the ad- venturers were to be rewarded by the land they were empowered to gain on both sides, from 'the ' white sands or the sea from Chester; and between ' the county of Cheshire, on the north side, and the ' county of Flint, on the south side; being sands, ' soil, and ground not bearing grass.' Party con- tests at first filled the subscriptions : zeal for the liouse of Hanover was at that time mixed, in this "• Mr. Andrew Vaminion'H L'iic'land\: rinprovement8 by Sea and Land, tCc. 4to, London, 1677. His plan for that of the Bee, is at j). 102. " This canal is no longer used. Ed. 248 CHESTER. NEW CUT. city, with zeal for its commercial interest; but it was soon discovered to he the madness of manii, hut the gain of few. The expences proved enormous; multitudes were obliged to sell out at above ninety per cent, loss; and, their shares be- ing bought l)y persons of more wealth and fore- sight, at length the plan was brought to a consi- derable degree of utility; and a fine canal formed, guarded by vast banks, in which the river is con- fined for the space of ten miles ; along which ships of three hundred and fifty tons Ijurthen may safely be brought up to the quays. Much land has been gained from the sea; and good farms now appear in places not long since possessed by the unruly element. I REMEMBER an almost useless tide fiowino- about the water-tower, the antient channel of the Dee passing under Blacon point; and the access to the county of Flint, on this side, open only at the recess of tides, and annually occasioning the loss of multitudes of lives. Two ferries are estab- lished at fit places. The lower is the proper passage for travellers by Holyliead into the king- dom of Ireland; and calls aloud for the aid of a turnpike, to render it at all times pervious; or the road may be continued to Saltney, along the flat, so as to fall into the other turnpike on the marsh. Trade. I SHALL now take a short view of the trade" of " A compai'ative statement of the trade of Chester in 178G, 179(5, and 1806, will be found in the Appendix. Ed. CHESTER. TRADE. '249 this city, as it stood in the years 1771 and 177G. I bring the last into sight, in order to shew how far this 'port has l^een atiected by the commotions of om^ American subjects; and oppose it to the commerce of 1771, when it appears to have been in its meridian, since tiie restoration of the chan- nel. In 1771 were entered inwards 297 coasting vessels; 10 of which were laden with groceries, and other goods from Jjjit- don. 526 coast ships outwards; of these 23 came from the port of London, and were laden here with lead, iron cannon, two thousand tons of cheese, and other goods. In the same year, 95 vessel were entered in- wards from foreign parts; and 216 entered out- wards from Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and America. FnoM Norway and the Baltic, are imported timber, flax, taUow, hemp, iron, and deals. From Leghorn, large quantities of kid and lamb -skins; which are manufactured by the glovers, after being dressed here. This, in fact, is the only inanufacture which the city can boast of. I find, tliat in the reigns of queen Elizabeth, James I. iind the beginning of that of Charles I. here was a vast trade in calves skins. In tlie first of those monopolizing times, the queen grants one Arthur 250 CHESTER. TRADE. BaUano a licence to export (5000 dickers of leather of calves skins, ten dozens to every dicker, for seven years, paying five shillings per dicker. James I. granted to James Maxwel esq. a licence to export 18,000 dickers, for the same duty, and for twenty- one years; and this was afterwards con- firmed to him by Charles V. This Maxwel was one of the grooms of the bed-chamber to his majesty; and in the preceding reign, by a piece of insolence to a gentleman of the inns of court, brought on him the resentment of the English; and was obliged to atone for it by making due submission. The first grant might be made to him by James, in amends for the mortifications he had inidergone. From Spain, and Portugal are imported great quantities of cork, fruit, oil of olives, nuts, harilla ashes, and raisins; and several hundred tons of wine from Portugal; which last form the greatest foreign import of this city. While the trade with America was open, fish and oil Avei^e brought from Newfoundland; and a small trade was carried on with Carolina. The exports this year were upwards of 6000 chaldrons of coal from the Cheshire and Flintshire collieries (which lie within this port); 1000 tons of lead; oOO of lead ore; 000 of oak bark; all p Ilarhian MSS. N" 2004. 4, T), in. CHESTER. TRADE. 251 these to foreign parts. Besides 3470 tons of lead, and 431 of lead ore, sent coast ways; that is, to the ports of London and Liver j)ool, vce! nimium vidua! for the purpose of re-exportation. Ix 177G, 208 coasting vessels were entered in- wards, and 619 outwards. 160 ships entered inwards from foreign parts, including those trading between Diihlin and Parlc- gate; and 131 outwards. The following table will shew the division of the commerce, at that period : Inwards. Outwards. America, - - - - '2 - 5 France, --_- — - h Flanders, - - - - — - 1 Holland, - - - - — - 1 Ireland, - - - - 140 - 104 Isle of Mm, - - - 3> - 4 Portugal, - ~ - - 3 - 3 Spain, ----- 4 - — Italy, - - . - - 3 - 1 Norway, Russia, and \ ^r. i Prussia, ) 2877 chaldrons of coal, 1184 tons of lead, and 168 of lead ore, were sent abroad; but so exhausted are our oak-trees, that only 18 tons of bark were si lipped. 281 3 tons of lead, and 431 of lead ore, were sent coastways. :252 CHESTER. TRADE. From the table of entries it appears, that the great trade of this city is with Ireland; which re- ceives annually from hence (as a magazine) large quantities of hops, woollen cloths, worsted stiifts, hosiery, fustians, Manchester goods, cheese, wrought iron, iron great guns, hardware, bound and un- bound books, carpets, flint glass, wrought silks, and great quantities of foreign goods sent from London by land, and sliipped from this port. In return, it imports from Ireland, at the Mid- SKinmer and Jlichaclmas fairs, upwards of 1000 boxes and packs of linen cloth, containing 25,000 pieces at lest: besides 300 boxes or packs im- ported into Liverpool, and sent across the Mersey to Ince, from whence they are conveyed in carts to Chester. These form all too^ether a million of yards each fair. This trade began no longer ago than tlie year 1736, in which 449,654 yards were imported. The imjDortation continually increased till the last year of the late war; from which ]:>e- riod it has been on a par'^. Ireland also sends considerable quantities of lamb-skins, wool, linen and bay yarn, tallow, hides, 1 Irish Linen imported at Chester. In Packs. Chests. Boxes. Bales. Cases. Parcels. Biuul. 1786 1684 14 988 20 16 6 8 1796 582 — 808 4 — — — 1806 327 — 936 _____ The "By Goods" imported at Liverpool, or brought IVoui Jfuu- chester, &c. may be averaged at 60 packs and 740 boxes each year. Ed. CHESTER. CANAL. 25a butter, feathers, and quills, ox bones and hoofs, glue, sheep and cat guts; calve-velves, provisions, and live cattle. The number of ships belonging to this place shew the uncommercial genius of its inhabitants ; there being only twenty-two in the foreign trade, containing in all 1449 tons, and 169 men: and 13 in the coast trade, whose tonnage is 680 tons, and number of men 58: yet the port extends, on the Cheshire side of the estuary, as far as the end of Wired; and on the Flintshire, to the Vor-ryd, or the mouth of the Clwijd. This, properly speaking, is only a division of the great port of Chester, whicli reaches one way as far as Barmouth in Meireoneddshire, and another way to the ex- tremity of Lancashire. In those tracts are several other ports, all subordinate to the comptroller of Chester; and even Liverpool, in the patent, is styled a creek of the port of Chester, There was lately a very fair prosjDect of adding Cakal. much to the trade of the city, by an inland navi- gation, whicli was begun with great spirit a few years ago. It was to run through the county beneath Beeston castle, and to terminate near Middle wich. Another" branch was to extend to NamptwicJi. One mouth opens into the Dee, below the water-tower. A fine bason is formed, ■^ This branch is executed, and produces a trifling trade in conse- (juence of its commnnication with the Ellesmere canal, Ed. 254 CHESTER. CANAL. into which the boats are to descend, by means of five successive locks, beneath the northern walls of the city, cut in the live rock. A few miles of this design are completed: but, by an unhappy mis- calculation of expence, and by unforeseen difficul- ties occuring in the execution, such enormous charges were incurred, as to put a stop for the pre- sent to all proceedings. The other branch, which was to extend towards Mlddleivich, was to end within a limited distance from the great canal be- tween the Trent and Mersey navigation. The great objects were the salt and cheese trade; and coal for the supply of the interior parts of Cheshire fi-om the vast collieries in Staffordshire. Share also in the exportation of hard-ware, earthen-ware, and all the manufactures of the internal part of the kiugdom within its reach, might have been reasonably expected. The idea of a canal along the dead flat between Chester and ""Ince has been long since conceived, by persons very conversant in the nature of the trade of this city. One mouth might have opened into the Dee in the place of the present; another near Lice, which would create a ready intercourse with Liverpool, the Weever, and the salt-works and great dairies on that river; with Warrington, .and with the flourishing town of Manchester, and * A desiga recently carrieil into effect, and proving of infinite ser- vice to the commercial interests of Chester. Ed. ECCLESTON. 255 a numerous set of places within reach of the Jler- sei/, and of the canal belonging to that useful Peer, the duke of Bridgewater, to which the greatest of our inland navigations is connected. This little cut the city might, and still may, enjoy unenvied, unrivalled; and, what is a material consideration, the distance is trifling (seven miles'), the expences small, and the protits to the undertakers great. On leaving the city, I repassed Hanhridge; and at the maypole took the left-hand road, which is a continuation of the Roman road from the river. The strait direction is the only proof of its anti- quity, till it falls into the fields on the left, where its track is often distinguishable by certain ridges or elevated spots. The farmer also, in digging, often falls on adventitious matters; such as gravel, and remains of pavements. It points towards Eccleston, near which are the reliques of a mount ; the site, perhaps, of a small castlet. It passes through Eaton park, and crosses the Dee at Old- ford. The village of Eccleston is prettily seated near Eccleston. the Dee, and commands a view of the towers and spires of Chester rising above the wooded banks. The most extensive prospect is from a bench on Eccleston hill, on the road-side; which takes in the vast environs of Wales, Cheshire, and part of Shropshire, forming an admirable composition of ' According to Burdefs map. 256 EATON. rich cultivation, bounded by hills of various forms. EccLESTOX retains the same name which it had at the Conquest. It was held at that time by Gilbert de Venahhs, from Tliujh Lupus; before that event, by Edwin a freeman. On the demesne land were two servants, four ^411eyns, and a boor, a boat and a net. Part of the place afterwards fell to the Vcrnons of Kindcrton ; and finally, by a late purchase, was added by the family of the Grosvenors to their antient property in this parish. The church is a rectory dedicated to St. Mary. Eatox. a little farther is Eaton, or the hamlet on the water; a name the most common of any in Emj- land. At the Conquest, here was a fishery, which employed six fishermen, and yielded a thousand salmon. This fishery has long since ceased; but during its existence, the minister of Eccleston clamed the twentieth fish. The" seat of the antient family of the Grosvenors lies in this town- shi]3; a brick house built about the latter end of the seventeenth century. The Grosvenors came in with the Conqueror, and took their name from the ofiice they held in the Norman court, that of grand huntsman. Their first settlement in this " Eaton Hall has been recently rebuilt by Robert Earl Grosvenor, in the richest stile of Gothic architecture, after the designs of the ingenious Mr. Porden. The munificence of that worthy nobleman, and the skill of the same architect, have been shewn in the erection of a new parish church at Ecdaton. Ed. EATON. 257 county was Over LostocJc, bestowed by Hiujh Lupus on his great nephew Robert le Grosvenour. Ix 1234", Richcird le Grosvenour purchased and fixed his seat at Hulme: but in the reign of Henry YI. by the marriage of Rmvlin or Ralph Grosvenour mth Joan daughter of Jolin Eaton of Eaton, esq. it was transferred to this place. While chivalry was the passion of the times, fe^^' families shone in so distinguished a manner: none shewed equal spirit in vindicating their right to their honors. Witness the fomous cause between Sir Robert le Grosvenour with Sir Richard le Scrope, plaintiff, about a coat of arms, azttre one bend, or; tried before the high constable and high marshal of England, in the reign of Richard 11. which lasted three years. Kings, princes of the blood, and most of the nobility, bore witness in this important affair. The sentence was conciliat- ing, that both parties should bear the same arms; but the Grosvexours avec nne bordure d'argenf. Sir Robert resents it; appeals to the king. The judgment is confirmed: the choice is left to the defendant, either to use the bordure, or to bear the arms of their relations, the antient earls of Chester, azure a gerbe d'or. He rejected the mortifying distinction, and chose the gerbe; which is the family coat to this day. Cross the Dee at Eaton-boat, leaving on the right Old ford bridge; a neat structure, forming Oldford. VOL. I. s 258 FARN. another communication l^etween the two parts of the hundred oi Broxton; which at the time of the Conquest, bore the name of Dudestan hundred. After riding along a dirty flat country, reach Farx. Fani, or Farndon; a small town on the Dee, called in Doomsday book Fercnton. The church was burnt by the parlement army in 1645, during the siege of Holt castle ; and re-built after the cessation of the war. In one window, over the pew of the respectable family o^ Barnston, is some very beauti- ful painted glass, of a commander in his tent, with a truncheon in his hand, surrounded with the military instruments in use during the reign of Charles I. Around these are sixteen elegant flexures of differ- ent ranks of soldiery, as low as the drummer, with their respective badges. Over the heads of the officers are coats of arms; over that of the com- mander are those of Gamid; and seem intended to preserve the memory of Sir Francis Gamul baronet, the active mayor of Chester during the civil wars. Over the heads of three others are the arms of the Grosvenors, the Mainivarings, and the Barndistons; three loyalists, who served in the same cause: Roger Grosvenor; Sir William Maiii- loaring, who was slain in defence of Chester; and William Barndiston of Chirton, esq. who died in 1064. This town is separated from HOLT. 259 DENBIGHSHIRE "by an antieiit stone bridge of ten arches, with the vestiges of a guard-house in the middle; the date, 1345, was preserved, tiU very hitely, on a stone over the arch called the Lachjs arch. Holt, Holt. another small town, stands on an eminence on the Welsh side, an antient borough and corporation, •consisting of a mayor, two bailiffs, and a coroner. The inhabitants, with those of Ruthin and Denbigh, enjoy the privelege of contributing towards sending a burgess to parlement. This town was incorpo- rated by charter, granted by Thomaa earl oi Arua- Charter. del, dated from his castle of Lyons 1410. The grant is very partial, running in this form. To the burgesses of our town, and to their heirs and suc- cessors, 6(3iVi^ Englishmex. This might arise from the hatred of the lord marchers to the Welsh, on account of the insurrection of Glyndwr, at that time scarcely suppressed. This instilled into the inhabitants a spirit, retained, perhaps, to this mo- m.ent; for within these few years they Avere the most irascible and pugnacious of all the neighbourhood. This town is in the parish of Gresford, but in the ■diocese of Chester. It is the only appertenance remaining on this side of the Dee, of the vast grant made by Edward the Confessor to that see, of all 2G0 HOLT CASTLE. the land on the othei- side of the river; which he. first gixve and then took from our prince Gryffydd ap Lleivelyn^. The church is a very handsome building; yet no more than a chapel to the former: it is in the gift of the dean and chapter of Win- chester, and has its parish officers hke other places. On the font are the arms of the Warrens; in a window, those of the Stanleys, former owners of the place. Castle. The poor reliques of the castle are seated close to the river; and are insulated by a vast foss cut through a deep bed of soft red stone ; wdiicli seems originally to have been thus quarried for the build- ing of the castle. This fortress consisted of five bastions, and the work cut into tliat form, to serve as a base to as many towers. An antient survey I met with in the Museum, among the Ilarleian MSS. taken in 1G20 by John Nor den, when it was entire, will give a true idea of this curious structure. It had been defended in three parts by the great chasm formed by the quarry; on the fourth by the Dee, into which jutted a great quay,, still to be seen in very dry seasons ; for it has long- since been covered by the encroachment of the river. Originally this place had been a small outpost to DeiKL Slopes, and other now almost obselete '^ Doomsday Bool in Leicester, 405. « -J — 121 k .— 3 '/^ ^f*' '--^5. ^3^-^:2?^^g^'-:^^^^''^'^r^^ fe^lgSS£gS^ ^--^*^^ liO Li'£ CAKlL'jLK Lu. xtjio. Q 3 HOLT. POWi^SLAND. 2G1 '*vorks, may be seen near the castle, and on the opposite side of the water; and coins have been found hei'e, that put the matter out of doubt. I have seen some of Antoninus, GaUeniis, Constan- ilnus, and Coustantius. I conjecture that the Roman name had been Castra Legionis, and the Welsh, Castell Lleon, or the castle of the legion; because it was garrisoned by a detachment of the legion stationed at Chester. Tlie English bor- derers might easily mistake Lleon for the plural of Llew, which signifies a lion, and so call it the castle of Lions; as we find it styled when it came into possession of earl Warren and his successors. This country formed part of Powysland; which, Powysland. when entu-e, readied in a strait line from Broxton liills in Cheshire, southerly to Pengwern Powys, or Shrewsbury, including a large tract in both these counties; from thence through the eastern limits of Montgomeryshire, comprehending all that coun- ty, part of Radnorshire and BrechiocJcshire; then tiu'ning northward, including the cwmmwds of Mowcldwy, Edeirnion, and Glyndyfrdwy, Meirion- eddshire, and (circuiting part of Denhighshire) came along part of the Ch'ujdian hills, to tlie sum- mit of Moel-famma, including all Denhighshire, ■xcepting those parts which at present constitute the lordships of Denhigh and Ruthin; from hence, taking a south-easterly direction to Broxton hills, asserted its right to Molesdale, liopedale, and 2G2 POWYSLAND. Maelor, in Flintshire. I liave before taken notice^ that Offas encroachment was but temporary, and of short duration. I must farther observe, that in the article of pacification^ between Henry III. and our last prince Llewelyn, the limits of the princi- pality experienced but a very small diminution from what it was in Offan time, when it was agreed, that the Dee should be the boundary from Wired to Castriun Leoiium, or Holt; and from thence in a direct line to Pengwern Fowys. It was, 23erhaps, of much greater extent under the reign of Brochwel Yscjytlirog, who was defeated by the Saxons at the battle of Chester. After this event, the borders became a scene of rapine; the Welsh and the Mercians alternately making the most terrible inroads into each other's dominions^ till the time of Off a; who passing the Severn with a mighty force, expelled the Britons from their fruitful seats on the plains, and reduced the king- dom of Fowys to the western side of the celebra- ted ditch still known by his name. The princes of Fowys were then constrained to quit their antient residence at Fengwern, or Shrewsbury, and re- move it to one not less fertile, to Matlbraval^ in the l)eautiful vale of Meivocl. From this period, their kingdom was called indifferently, that of Fowys, or of Mathraval. The plains of Shropshire y Poivel's notes on Girald. Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. 11. p. 875. ^ Bed.e Hist. lib. ii. c. -2. p. 80. Sax. Chr. 25. POWYSLAND. 263 became a confirmed part of the Mercian kingdom. The trans- sahri lie portion of Gloucestershire and Worcestei^shire, and the county of Hereford, sub- mitted to the yoke; but, after some time, the tract which forms the country above Croes Oswallt, or Oswestry, and the two Maelors Ci/mraeg or the present BromJiehJ, and Saesneg or the present Flintshire Maelor, with many other Cwmmwds, relapsed to its natm-al masters. Such was its state till 843, the reign of Roderic the Great prince of all Wales; who, in his mother's right, possessed North Wales; in that of his wife, South Wales ; and by that of his grand-mother JVest, sis- ter and heiress to Congen ap Cadell king of Powys, he added Powysland to his dominions'". He, ac- cording to the destructive custom of gavelkind, divided his principality among his children; to Anarawd he gave North Wales; to Cadell, South Wales; to Merfyn, Powysland. Each Avore a Talaith or diadem of gold, beset with pre- cious stones; whence they were styled Y Tri Tyu'ysog Taleithiog, or the three crowned princes. After the death of Merfyn, Cadell usurped the portion of his brother. His eldest son, Ilowel Dda, or the Good, in 940, again united all Wales into one government. He left foui- sons, wlio di- vided South Wale^ and Powys between them; while North Wales was assumed, in 948, by Jevaf * Poiccl, 3"). 264 POWYSLAND. and Jago, sons to liis predecessor Edwal Voel. The confusion that ensued on this occasion, pre- vents me from saying any thing with certainty, till Blcddyn ap Cijnfyn, who ruled Wales at the time of the Conquest, re-united the kingdoms o^ North Wales and Powys. The succession to the prin- cipality passed away from his children ; but Poicys- laiid devolved to his sons; wliich came at length entire to Meredydd, tlie eldest born, after the con- tentions and slaughter usual on such partitions^'. Meredydd made the division which finally destroyed the power of this once potent kingdom. To his eldest son Madoc, he gave the part which bore afterwards the name oi Poirys Fadoc: to (-rryf- fydd, the portion which was called Gweiiwynwyn". I LEAVE to a future disquisition, the account of the remaining parts of Powydand. I shall only trace the succession of the first, which belongs more particularly to my subject. Powys Fadoc consisted, accordinsf to the division of the times, of live Cantrefs or hundred townships; and these were subdivided into fifteen Cuimmcds. iDinmael^, Denbighshire. Edei/rnion, Iferionethsh ire. Ghjndyfrdivy, Ibid. iYale, or JCd, Denbighshire. Ystrad Alun, or Mold, Flintshire. Hope, Ibid. '' Poivel, notes upon Girald. Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. 12. « I'ovel, 211. ^ Llangwra Dinmael, Cerreg y Druidion, &c. POWYSLAND. 265 ( Merffordd, in Flintshire. TT J Maelor Giimracq, or ) r» i i i • CaNTREF UWCHNANT,.J ^,^,,,^,;j^ ^' j i).>u6ic/A./a;-6'. ' Maelor Saesneg, Flintshire. ( Croes-vaen, and ) . r\ i i i • \ m J-- If- r^i 7 ( 111 Denbiqlishire. ,-, rn J Tret y naim.or Chirk, \ ^ ' J Vroes (Jswatlt, or t>»'- / r,; ; . { loestrtj, ) '■ i Mochnant -7s- Rhaiadr, j ) Kynllaeth, &c. > DenhighsJure. H heudcy, ) ittington, Shropshire. (.ANTREF KHAIADR, ^^y^^^^^^^^^^„^^ j Madoc married Susannah, daughter of Gryffydd ap Cynan prince of North Wales, by whom he had two sons; Gryffydd Maelor, and Owen ap Madoc. To the first he gave the two Maelors, Yale, Hope- dale, and Nan heiidwy, and Mochnant Is Rhaiadr, kc: to Oireii, the land of Mecha'tn Is-coed: and, to his natural son Oiven Brogyntyn, a young man of great merit, Edeyrnion and Dinmael". Gryf- fydd married Angliaixid, the daughter of Owen Gwynedd, and had one son named Madoc, in whom the inheritance remained entire. We now hasten to the end of the line. Madoc had only one son, (iryffydd, commonly called lord of Diiias Bran, because he made that fortress his chief residence. He unfortunately became enamoured of Emma, an Englisib lady, daughter of James lord Audley: ^vllo alienating his affec- tions from his country, made liim one instrument of its subjection, and of t lie destruction of his own * Powel, 211. 2Gi5 POWYSLAND. HOLT. famih . He took part with Henri/ III, and J^d- ivard I. against his natural prince. The resentment of his countrymen was raised against him; and he was obliged to confine himself in his castle oi Dinas Bran, where probably grief and shame put an end to his life. He left four children, Madoc, Llewelyn, Grijffijdd, and Owen. Historians^ have been mis- taken, in supposing that the two first had been mur- dered in their childhood, for the sake of their estates, by John earl Warren, and Roger son of lord Morti- mer of Wigniore. But it appears that they were arrived at the state of manhood before the death of their father, which happened in 1270. We find all the four sons witnesses to the settlement made by Gryffijdd on their mother Emma; and after his death, we find the four joining in a renewal and confirmation of their father's settlement, and in making to it considerable additions^; all which could not have been the acts of infants. The children who were murdered, were the sons of Madoc, eldest son of Gryfftjdd. Edward I. had given the guardianship of one (who was to have had for his share the lordship of Bromfield and Yale, the castle o^ Dinas Bran, and the reversion of Maelor Saesneg, after the deatli of his mother) to John earl Warren; and of the other (who was f Pou-el, 212. ^ These settlements I found among the manuscripts which Sir Jii/rii Sehri/dons (now extinct in the male line) sprung from Richard Roydon, of Kent, who came into Bromfield with the commissioners of lord Aberga- vennij, lord of the moiety of Bromfield, 20th Henry VI. HANMER. 277 part of Threap- ivood; and observed in the inclo- sures some venerable oaks, the remains of the antient forest. Cross Sarn-hndge, over the Wich- hrook, which rises about two miles above, in part of the parish of Malpas, but in the county of Flint, near the Wiclies; where are brine-springs and salt-works. Reach a house called Willington- cross. The country, which hitherto had been un- commonly wet and du^ty, now changes to a sandy soil; and becomes broken into small risings. The part about the httle town of Hamner is extremely beautiful; varied with a lakeof fifty acres, bounded on all sides with small cultivated eminencies, embellished with Avoods. The town, church, and the chief seat of the family of the Hanmers, a modern brick house, adorn one part; and on the opposite side of the water, on the site of the old house of Gredington, another seat is projected by that eminent lawyer Lloyd Kenyon esquire^, who is descended paternally from an antient family in > This distinguished character was created a peer of Oreat Britaiii iu 1788, and iu the same year was appointed Chief Justice of llie King's Bench, the duties of which important office he discharged in times of trouble and difficulty with unrivalled firmness, integrity, and abilities. — A friend to the rights of the crown and the liberties of the people, he was never biassed by the politics of the day, or iiUowed attachment to a party to direct his judgment, — The stern supporter of morality, his decisions may be said in some degree to liave influenced the manners of the age : he repressed vice if he could not subdue it. A large mansion has recently been erected at Gre- dington, by his son and successor. Ed. 278 HAN.AIEK. Lanccislihe; and by his mother, from the Lloijih of Bryn, of the house of Tudor Trevor. The chnrcli is a very handsome embattled building-, of the reign of Henry YII. m whose time numbers of churches were re-built after the long desolation of civil war. The roof is of wood : that of the Fenn.^ chapel, and of the north aile, are divided mto small squares, and carved in a most elegant style. In the windows of the former Avas some painted glass, with dates, expressmg the time of its being made, at the cost of the Hanmers, who had the presentation of the vicarage granted to them by the abby of Haghmon, near Shrews- h/iry, in 1-1:24. Here is a neat tablet with a fe- male figure kneeling and leaning on a sarcophagus^ erected by Fenn Cnv.on esq. and his sisters, in memory of their grandmother widow of WiUiam Hanmci- esq. who died Oct. 2, 1777, tet 77. In the church-yard, within some iron rails, repose Liih' and Catherine Lloyd of the Bryn, who lived man and wife sixty-eight years. In the Hanmer chapel are two mural monu- ments in memory of two most distinguished person- ages ; both the inscriptions are in Latin. The first to Sir Thomas TIanraer, baronet, knight of the shire for the county of Flint, Avho died in 1678, after an amiable and useful life of 66 years. The other commemorates the late Sir Thomas Hanmer, speaker of the house of commons in the 12tli of BETTISFIELD. 279 Queen Anne; and famous for his magnificent edi- tion of SkaJcespeare; he died 3/ay 7th, 1746. AboXJT two miles farther is BettisJielcV; an old Bettisfield, brick house belonging to the same family, I ob- served here a head of the late Sir Thomas Hanmev, Portraits. by Kneller, in a long wig and cravat. Isahella dutchess of Grafton, and in right of her father Henry Bennet, countess of Arlington. This cele- brated beauty was first married to Henrij, duke of Grafton, who was slain in 1690, at the seige of Cork. In 1698, she was married to the last Sir Thomas Hanmer, and died without issue in Fe- hniary 1723. Her picture is among the beauties in Hampton court. She is here represented in a loose dress, with a long lock. A very fine head of Sir Thomas Hanmer, second baronet, and M.P. for Flintshire, who died at an advanced age in 1678; in a black dress, with white ornaments, and white turn-over. Head of his second wife Susan, daughter of Sir Williani Hervey of Ickiuorth in Suffolk; her liead-dress ornamented with flowers. Portrait by Cornelius Jansen, dated 1631, of a man in a black dress, slashed and puffed with wliite ; his hair curled and bushy, with a slender love-lock. Henry earl of Derhy, with very short hair, beard and whiskers, in black with an upright ruff, a gold chain and George pendant from it; » Considerable additions have been made to tliits house by the present baronet. Y.U, 280 BETTISFIELD. Sir Thomas Hanmer had attended the earl when he went embassador to France in the '27th of Elizabeth. Sir William Herveij of Ichvorth, knight, bald, with short greyish hair, beard, and whiskers; dressed in black, with a turn-over. Very fine full length of Sir Thomas Hanmer in his robes, as speaker, by Kneller. Small highly- finished head of Charles I. in his robes, with hat and feathers. Three quarter lengths of the same prince, and of his queen Henrietta Mai^ia. In one room is an elegant figure of lady Hanmer, with a foreliead-cloth, m an elegant white undress, study- ing Gerard's Herbal ; and a small portrait of a lady *^ner/^^ T^or/ier a la Magdalene, with long disheveled hair, and a scull in her hand. She was a daugh- ter of the house, and wife to a Sir John Warner; who not content with abjuring the religion of their parents, determined to quit the kingdom, and em- brace the monastic hfe. Their friends applied to the king (Charles 11.) to divert them from their resolution. His majesty, with his wicked wit, told them, that if Sir John had a mind to make himself one of God Almighty s fools, tlieij must have pa- tience. Sh- John became a Jesuit, and assumed the name of brother Clare; she a poor Clare, of which order she performed the noviciateship with marvellous obedience! / am black, but comely, was tlie text of a preacher, one day exhorting her (in what is called a cloathing sermon) to humility; BETTISFIELD. 281 expressing that she must make herself black (allu- ding to the habit) in the eyes of the world, to be- 'Come fair in the sight of the Lord. The abbess on this said to the poor novice, You also, sister Clare, must black yourself. On which she went instantly into the kitchen, where she blacked her face and hands with the soot of the chimney; and thus became an instructive example to the admir- ing sisters^! Bettisfield has for centuries belonged to the Hanmers. Before the battle of Shrewshuri/, a ]Dar- tition was made of their property. Jenhin Han- mer, the brother-in-law to the great Glyndtvr, di- vided his estates among his four sons. He gave Hanmer, and his lands at Lwyn Derw, or Oaken- holt, obtained with his first wife Margaret, daugh- ter of Dafydd ap Bleddyii Vycliau, to their son Gryffydd. By his second marriage, with Eva, •daughter to Dafydd ap Grono ap Jerivcrth of JJai, he had JoJin, Edward, and Rlcliard. To John he gave Haughton or Halghton (a house in this neighbor! I ood) and Llai; to Edward, lands in Feniis, a place likewise not remote ; and to Ricliard, lands in Bcttlsjidd. Jenkin soon after fell, va- liantly fighting, in the field near Shrewshury, against the usurper Bollnghvoke. John departed from the principles of his father, and embraced the " Vide Life of Ladij Wamer, p. 108, London, 1096. She was daughter to the first Sir Thomas Hanmer. 282 BETTISFIELD. side of the liouse of Lancaster, in the reign of Henry YI. Join) Mowbray duke of Norfolk, and Gi-ey lord Fowis, carried fire and sword through his estates in 14G3, and burnt his house at Haugh- ton; which induced him, the year following, to make his submission to the victorious Edwayxl". All these estates are now united, and in pos- session of Sir Thomas Hanmer, baronet. Writers differ about tlie origin of this great family. Collins i. 412, derives it from a Sir John Machfel, who had a son, John, constable of Caer- narvon castle in the reign of Edward 1. The Salesbury Pedigree, }>. 118, makes John Upton'^, clerk, parson of the church of Hanmer, to be the first of the family, Avho married Hawys, ferch Anian ap Gwillem ap Gryffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, and had by her three sons, Owen, David, and Philipj. Philip) succeeded to the fortunes of his brothers; married Annes, daughter and heir of Dafydd ap lyrid ap Yniyr ap Yowas, of Penley in this hundred, and by her had Sir Dafydd. Han- mer, one of the judges of the Kings Bench in the time o? PicJiard II. and father-in-law to Glendwr. Ox leaving Broughton, I took the road towards Emral. Bangor. On the right lies Emral Hall, the seat <= Salesbury Pedigree. "1 From the family pedigree, and various records, it appears that John de Ilanmere, erroneously called Upton, was not a priest; he lived in the reign of Edward I. Ed, \ \ \ EMEAL. 283 of tlie Pidestons; a family settled here in the time of Edward I. but which took its name from Pidesden, a township in SJiropshirc. The first who possessed the place was Roger, a favorite officer of the king; who, after the conquest of Wales, appointed him collector of the taxes raised towards the support of the war against France; but tlie Welsh, unused to these levies, seized on de Pulesdon and hanged him°. His son Richard was appointed, by the same prince, sheriff of Caernarvon, with a salary of forty pounds, and all arrears^. His son, another Richard, held, in the 7th oi Edward II. lands in the parish of Wor- thenhury, by certain services, <& per ammahi'ogium, or a pecuniary acknowledgement paid by tenants to the king, or vassals to their lord, for the liberty of marrying, or not marrying. Thus Gilbert de Maisnil gave ten marks of silver to Ilenri/ III. for leave to take a wife; and Cecily, widow of Hugh Revere, that she might marry whom she pleased". It is strange that this servile custom sliould be retained so long. It is pretended that the Amohyr among the Welsh, the Lyre-ivyte amono' the Saxons, and tlie March eta midierum among the Scots, were fines paid by the vassal to the superior, to buy off his right to the first night's lodging with the bride of the person who held from = Pou-el, 380. ' Ayloff's Hot. Wallia; 101. 8 Madox. Antiq. Ext-heq. i. W'k 'I. 284 AMOBYR. LYRE-WYTE. him : but I believe there never was any European nation (in tlie periods in which this custom was pretended to exist) so barbarous as to admit it. It is true, that the power above cited was intro- duced into England by the Normans, out of their Amobyr. own country. The Amohyr, or rather Gohr mercJi, was a British custom of great antiquity, paid either for violating the chastity of a virgin, or for a marriage of a vassal^; and signifies the j^^^icf^ of a virgin. The Welsh laws, so far from encour- aging adultery, checked by severe fines, even un- becoming liberties'. The Amohyr was intended as a preservative against lewdness. If a virgin was deflowered, the seducer, or, in his stead, her father paid the tine. If she married, he also paid the fine. There is one species so singular as to merit mention. If a wife proved unfaithful to her husband's bed, the poor cuckold was obliged to pay his superior five shilling as long as he did cydgysgic, i. e. sleep with her; but if he forbore cohabiting with lier, and she cydgysgud with her gallant, the fine fell on the ofiending fair. Lyre-wyte. The Saxons had their Lyre-ioyte or Lecher- wyte, for the same end that the Welsh had their Amohyr. The crime^is mentioned often in the Saxon laws'"; once, with a cruel penalty denoun- ced against the offender; and a second time, with ^ Leges WaUicos,[d2. cD Glossar. 554. i Leges Wallicce, 78. ^ Leges Saxon. 40. 132. BANGOR. 285- a strong dehortation fi'om the commission. In general, the crime was expiated by money, ac- cording to the degree of the person injured. The Hindoos at this tune commute, in certain decrees of offence; but oftener punish it with burning, and otiier excruciating deaths \ Continue my journey to Bangor, seated on Bangok. the banks of the Dee; which is here bounded on both sides by rich meadows. The church has been built at different times; but no part is very antient. It is a rectory, dedicated to St. Dinoth abbot of Bancornaburg or Bangor in the days of St. Augustine, and is in the gift of Philip Lloyd Fletcher, esq. This place is celebrated for being the site of the most antient British monastery, or rather seminary, which contained two thousand four hundred monks; who dividing themselves into seven bands, passed their time alternately in prayer and labor °^, or, as another writer says", a hundred (by turns) j)assed one hour in devotion; so that the whole twenty four hours were emjDloyed in sacred duties. This pious community was dis- persed, after the slaughter of their brethren at the battle of Chester, and their house overthrown. William the monk, and librarian of Malmshnrij, cotemporary with king Stephen, speaks of the re- mains in his days; saying that no place could shew ' Gentoo Laws, 268, chc. "■ Bed^: Hist. Eccles. ii. c, 2, p. 8(i. " Camdes. i. (JG;3. 286 BANGOR. greater remains of lialf-demolislied churches, aui multitudes of other ruins that were to be seen in his tinie°. Mention is made of two gates of the precincts, that were a mile distant, with the Dee running between them; one was called Forth Clais, the other PortJi Wur king of England afterwai-ds him baron made, and lorded. 312 AVniTTINGTON. DuGDALE informs us, that tins baron was drowned in a river at the battle of Lewes, fio-htmcir in behalf of the king; but Mr, Mijtton reasonably supposes, that it must have been his son who ap- peared in the field on that day: for, from the time that this Fidh was appointed lieutenant of the ■marches hj Richard I. to that of the battle, seven- ty-five years had elapsed; so it is probable that he was dead, or at least unable to act the warrior. His son, therefore, must have been the person who fell in that fatal action; followed by a body of hardy soldiers, raised in these marches, and inured to war by their frequent conflicts with the Welsh. Immediately on the defeat, the rebel victor, MoRtfort earl of Leicester, appointed Peter de Montfort, a creature of his own, governor of this castle; and soon after, making use of the captive monarch's power against himself, obliged him" to resign to Lleivehjn ap Gri/Jftjdd prhice of Wales, the hundred of Ellesmere, several of the border castles, and among others that of Whittington and its ap- pertenances. This writ was dated from Hereford, June 22d 12G5. Henry also ceded to him the sovereignty of Wales, and homage of all the WeJsli barons, and the lord of Whittington. These grants were afterwards confirmed to him by Henry, witli the homage of the neighboring counties " Bi/mer, i. 814. WHITTIXGTOX. 313 (which were usually paid to prmces ancestors) in consideration of 30,000 marks paid hy LIeweJ)/n. Ix 1281, Full- attended Edward I. in his expe- dition against the Wehh; and was rewarded by the grant of free-warren on his lands in this manor. In 1300, he had a feud with his potent neigh- bor Richard earl o^ Arundel; but it was accom- modated by the interference of the king. He died in the i-eign of Edtrard XL His son was at that time in France, in his majesty's ser- vice; whose lady, Alionora, had livery of the manor till her husband could return to do homage. Ix 1329, or the 3d of Edward III. the new earl was accused by Edmund earl of Kent, uncle to the king, of raising seditious reports, that Ed- ward II. was still alive; and endeavouring to ex- cite a rebellion. For this offence the castle of Wkittington was seized; but, by the intercession of his peers, restored to him tlie following year. Ix the insurrection of Owen Glyndwr, the vas- sals favored his cause: but their lord obtained a pardon for them from llennj IV. In 1420, the 8th of Hcnrij Y. this illustrious race became extinct in the male line; the last Fidk dying in his non-age, leaving Elizabeth, his only sister, heiress to his estates. She married Richard Ilaulford, who dying in 1 430, the 0th of Henri/ VI. left an only daughter Thoniasine. lU WIIITTINGTON. She married Sir WilUam Bourchicr, created, on that account, lord Fitz-warine. A descendant of his, Jolni earl o^ Bath, exchanged this manor with Henry VIII. for other lands. Edward VI. granted it to Henrij Grey duke of Suffolk: and Marij, on his attainder, bestowed it on Henry last earl o? Arundel of the name o? Fitz-alan. It was by him mortgaged to one William Albany, and other citizens of London. The last released their title to Albany, who foreclosed the estate. His great grand- daughter, and sole heiress, married Thomas Lloyd of Aston, esq. in this county. Castle. The castle stands on a flat : the gateway, and the ruins of two vast round towers, with cruciform slips by way of windows, still remain; and the bare vestiges of two others may yet be traced. It had been surrounded by a moat, and several vast ditches, which comprehended several other works. The moat was filled by a rivulet that rises near Pent re Pant, in the parish of Sellafyn, which on entering this parish, is lost for near a mile, and emerges in the fields at the back of the castle. It is probable, that this was a place of defence from the time of its earliest possessors. No place on the borders of unfriendly nations could possibly remain unfortified; but the architect of the castle whose ruins we now contemplate, was certainly the great Fitz-iuarine, grandson of Giiarine, found- er of the family. These were among the greatest AVHITTINGTOX. 315 of the barons called Lord marchers of Wales; of whose origin an ample account will be given in the appendix. The steward of the manor holds annually a Steward, court -leet and court-baron in a voom'' in the cas- tle; to which the inhabitants are summoned, and fined one penny each for non-attendance. Chief- rents are payed to the lord; and a heriot of the best beast is claimed at the death of most of the freeholders within the lordship. The church^, dedicated to St. JoJui the Baptist, Church. is a rectory, valued in the king's books at 25/. 4x. It is a small building, supposed to have been originally designed as a chapel to the castle, and made out of the refuse materials of that fortress by its founder. Accordino- to the tradition of the place, he was buried in the porch, it being an act of devotion, in those days, for all persons, on their entrance into churches or religious houses, to pray for the souls of the founders and benefactors. " A modern additiou, which Mr. JJo/jd, of Aston, the present lord of the manor, is now rebuilding in a stile more congenial with the rest of the anticnt edifice. l*2i). '• The church was rebuilt in ISDG under the direction of its worthy minister the reverend Whitehall Davies. Towards the expence, amounting to about 1500^. two briefs produced A2l. 2s, Id. By a reference to Burn's ecclesiastical law, art. Brief, it appears that the charge upon each brief is SSO^, 16s. (id. consequently that a sum of no less amount than scren hundred and three pounds, Jlf teen shillings, one penny, must have been raised in order to benefit the parish of Whittington, Forty-two Pounds, two Shillings, one Penny. Ed. 316 OSWESTRY. Ftdh Fitz-warine, seventh of the name, who had the greatest revenue of any of the family, hj will, dated the 15th of Richard II. directed that his body should be buried in tlie chancel. The largest part of his estates were in other counties ; but he gave this place the preference as the autient seat of the family. In the year 1680, a commission was issued from the council in the marches of Wales, to 'ToJnt 'Tre- vor and Richctrd Lloyd, gentlemen, to make a ter- rier of the glebe-land, and to return an inventory of the furniture belonoino- to it: amono;' which were found three pair of armour, furnished with two pikes and two head-pieces. These seem to have been designed for the use of the rector, for the defence of the castle, in case of any sudden inroad of the Welsh. After leavino* the villao-e, in the road towards Oswestrij. I observed on the left Tre-newydd, a seat of Wathiii W'dlianis esq. in the right of his mo- ther, heiress of the place. Her grandfather, Ed- ward Lloyd esq. who died in 1715, was eminent for his learning, and had prepared materials for the history of this his native county. Continue my journey to OSWESTRY, Oswestry, a considerable town, about two miles distant from Whittington; a place celebrated in Saxon histoiy OSWESTIiY. 317 and legendary piety. On this spot, on August 5tli 642'', wasfoug'ht the battle between the Chris- tian Osivcdd, king of the XortJiumhrians, and the Pagan Penda, king of the Mercians. Oswald, ^yas defeated, and lost his life. The barbarian victor cut the body of the slain prince in pieces, and stuck them on stakes dispersed over the field, as so many trophies; or, according to the antient verses that relate the legend, his head and hands only were thus exposed: Cujus et abscissum caput abscissosque lacertos, Et tribus affixes palis pendere cruentos Penda ]whQt: per quod reliquis exempla reliuquat TeiToris mauifesta sui, Eegem(|ue beatum Esse probet miserum: sed causatn fallit utramque, Uitor enim fratris minime timet Osivius ilium Immo timere facit. Nee rex miser, immo beatus Est, qui fonte boni fruitur semel, et sine fine. ' Three crosses, rais'd at Feiida'a dire commands, ' Bore Oswald's, royal head and mangled hands: ' To stand a sad example to the rest, ' And prove him wretched who is ever blest. ' Vain policy! for what the victor got, ' Prov'd to the vanquish'd king the happier lot: ' For now the martyr'd saint in glory views ' How Ostv)j with success the war renews: ' And Penda scarcely can support his throne, ' "Whilst Osicald wears a never-failing crown.' It is probable that the Britons bestowed on the spot where the battle was fought, the name of Maas hir, or the Jong Jield, or combat, from the obsti- '1 Sax. Chron. ;31. ;18 OSWESTRY. nacy of the conflict. The Saxons, for a considera- ble time, retained the name of the place where the action was fought, with the addition of their own vernacular word /e^r/, or felfh, a field; as maser- felcl, inaserfclfh, and corruptly, masa/eld. Campus Mesafeld sanctorum canduit ossa'". The bones of saints at Mesafeld were bleach'd. In after-days, the name became entirely Saxon; and from the fate of the king was styled Oswald's tree; now Oswestry; and by the Welsh rendered Croes-oswallt. Before this event, and for a long time after, this tract was the property of the Britons; till it was conquered by Offa, and brought within the verge of his famous ditch. A PRiisrcE so dear to the church as Oswald, and so attached to the professors of the monastic life, received every posthumous honor that they could bestow. He was raised to the rank of a saint; and his sanctity confirmed by numberless miracles. His reliques (which were removed the year following by Oswy) were efficacious in all disorders incident to man or beast. The very spot on which his pious corpse had lain, imparted Miracle, its virtue by mere contact : the horse of a traveller, wearied by excess of labor, stopt here, lay down, and, rolling about in agony, luckily tumbled on the place where Oswald, fell. No sooner had he ^ Henri) ai Hmitiwjdon, lib. iii. p. 331. OSWESTRY. 319 touched the ground, than he sprung up in full vigor. His master, a man of great sagacity! marked the spot; mounted his nag, and soon reached his inn. There he found a young woman ill of the palsy. He told the adventure of his horse; persuaded her friends to try the same re- medy; caused her to be transported there; and she instantly found the same beneflt^ A CHURCH arose on the place of martyrdom, de- church. dicated to the saint. A monastery was founded, which bore the name of Blanc -minster, Candida ecclesia, Album monasterium, and WJiiteminster. It is very singular, that no evidences exist, either of the time of the foundation or of the dissolution. The last must have happened in Saxon days; for, immediately after the Conquest, the church of St. Oswald was bestowed on the abby of Shrewshiirt/. Bishop Tanner doubts whether there ever was a monastery here*: but the authority of Leland puts this much out of the question— -that there once stood here some sort of religious foundation; for he expressly says, that the cloister, with tombs of the monks, remained in the memory of man", I am inclined to think it to liave been collegiate; a species of establishment very frequent in places of martyrdom or of assassination, reverential or ex- » Bedoe IJid. ErrU-s. lib. iii. c. '», lo, 11, 12, 13, are all luplctc with tales of this kind. ' Jfonasti'.oii, 44"). " Jlui. v. :5i». 320 OSWESTRY. o pititury, according to tlie nature of tlie event. Something of this kind existed liere toward the latter end of the reign of Hern-)/ II.; for Reinerus bishop of St. AsapJi (who had a house near the place) alienated all the tythes of hay and corn of this church and its chapels. These served to maintain twelve priests; but Heine f bestowed the revenues on the monks of Shreirsbunj, and by the papal authority expelled the antient seculars^ I must remark, that most of them had lawful wives; for the WclsJt clergy, for a long time, re- sisted the imposition of the church of Rome in the article of celibacy, as well as m several others. GiRALDUS Cambrensis attended the archbishop of Canterhury to this place, in order to incite people to take arms for the purposed Crusade. Oswalds ^x present there is not a relique of any old buildings, excepting of the ruins of a chapel over a remarkably line spring, that still bears the name of the saint ; and near the church is a spot moated round : the use of which is now quite unknown. I MUST add, that near the town is a field called Cae-nei.\ Cae-nef, or Heave a-jield, which some have una- gined to liave been the place of his martyrdom. His life and death have given two places that title ; for the Saxon lleafenfeld in Northumherland has the same meaning; which it received on account '^ PoioeVa note on (Jlrald. Camhr. Itin. ST7. O'oodwin de Prcesid. Ari'jl. 657. OSWESTRY. 321 of the victory lie obtained there over the Cumhriwi prince; Oswald attributing his success solely to the intervention of Heaven. The present church is of no great antiquity; it Church. is spacious, and has a handsome plain tower. We learn from a monument in memory of Mr. Hugh Ytde, that the old church was demolished in 161G. I su^^pose that the present immediately rose on the ruins. It stands quite out of the town, in a suburb without the New-gate, and is a vicarage, under the patronage of the earl of Powis, who is also lord of this extensive manor. Part of this parish still uses the Welsli language; for which I'eason, divine service is in a certain proportion read by the mmister in that tongue. The town was fortified with a wall and four gates. That called the Black-gate is demolished: the New-gate, the Willoio-gate, and the Beatrice- gate, still remain. The last is a handsome build- ing, with a guard-room on both sides; and over it the arms of tlie Fitz-alaus, a lion rampant. It probably was built by Thomas earl of Arundel, in the beginning of the reign of Henry IV. who be- stowed the name on it in honor of his wife Beatrijc, natural daughter to the king of Portugal. Over the New- gate is the figure of a horse in full speed, with an oaken bough in liis mouth. There is a conjecture, but I will not pretend to say how well warranted, that it alluded to the generous Walls and Gates. VOL. I. W 322 OSWESTRY. breed of horses wliicli Powysland (of which this was part) was famous for, derived from some tine Spanish stalhons, introduced by Rohert de Belesme earl of Shrewshui'y. The walls were begun in the year 1277, or the sixth of Edward I. who granted a murage or toll on the inhabitants of the county, which lasted for six years; in which time it may be supposed they were completed. They were about a mile in com- pass, and had a deep ditch on the outside, capable of beino' filled with water from the neio-hborinof rivulets. Castle. There are only a few fragments of the castle remainmg. It stood on an artificial mount, Avith a great foss, extending to the Beatrice-gSite on one side, and on the other to the Willow-gsite. Our Welsh historians attribute the foundation to Madoc ap Meredydd ap Bleddyn prince of Powys, in 1148^. LdaiKp gives some colour to this, by saymg, that in his time there was a tower called Madoc^s; but the English records place it in pos- session of Alan, a noble Norman, who received it immediately from William the Conqueror, on his accession. This Alan was the stock of the Fitz- alans earls of Arundel; a potent race, that flou- rished (with fewer checks than are usual with greatness) for near five hundred years. Sir William Dugdale* says, that there was y Powel, 20 L '■ Itin. v. 39. » Baronage. OSWESTKY. 323 a castle at Osicaldster at the time of the Con- quest; which I think probable. The artificial mount *on wliich it was placed indicates it to have been earlier than the Norman sera. The Britons and the Saxons gave their fortresses this species of elevation. The Normans built on the firm and natural soil or rock; but often made use of these mounts, which they found to have been the site of a Saxon castle. I believe this to have been the case with that in question. A Fitz-alan repaired or re-built, and added to that which he met with Iiere: a tower also (as is not unfrequent) might receive the name of Madoc, complimentary either to the soil of Meredijdd, or some other great man of the same title. This castle was the residence of the Norman owners, and had been completely finished. It had its hallium or yard, which comprehended that part of the town still called the Bailey head : its Bar- hican or outer-gate, where the maimed and blind were commonly relieved; a mount on the outside of the great ditch was the site of this building; and, from the use, bears to this day the name of Cripple-gate. Lastly, it had its chapel, placed at a little distance, dedicated to St. Nicholas, and was in the gift of the earls of Arundel. I will not the the reader with a dry list of suc- cessors to this place, or the guardians of such who were under age. I will only observe, that nfter 324 OSWESTRY. the execution of Edmund earl of Anuidcl, in the reign of Edward II. his queen, to shew her predi- lection to her gentle Mortimer, obtained the pos- session of it for that favorite. The town was favored with considerable prive- les'es from its lords. Its first charter, from its Shautar bi-evity called by the Welsli Shartar Giutta, or the short charter'', was granted by Wdliam earl of Arundel, in the reign of Henry II. I must ob- serve here, that it imparted to the burgesses the same priveleges with those of Shrewsbury. The same Wdliam, in a scutage made in king John's time, was not to do ward at any place but Blanc-minster, for the knight's fees held by him : nor to furnish more than ten soldiers, horse, or foot, within the county of Salop; nor more than five out of it. His son John took part with the barons against king John; who in revenge marched to Oswestry in 1210", and reduced the town to ashes. On the death of that prince, he was reconciled to his suc- cessor, Henry III. and in 1227, obtained for his Fatk. m.?inor of Bl an c- mi aster the grant of a fair, upon the eve, the day, and the day after the feast of St. Andrew. He also made the bailiffs clerks of the market, with power to imprison any persons who used fraudulent ways in buying or selling; for b Harlcian MSS. N° 1881. G. ^ Wijnn'^ IHsf. Wcdcs, 242. OSWESTRY. 326 wliicli they paid the consideration of twenty marks. These people frequently abused their power : it is therefore no wonder that so many of the griev- ances which the Welsh so much complained of to Edward I. should originate from this place'\ In 1233, this unfortunate town experienced a second destruction, being again burnt by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth prince of Wales'". Provision was now ]nade against future insults; for, in the next reign, that of Edward I. the town was surrounded with walls. This happened when that politic monarch meditated the conquest of Wales; therefore thought proper to secure this town, one of the keys of the country, with proper defence. In 1318, in the reign of ]iis unfortunate son, Edmund earl oi Arundel was commanded to raise two hunch'ed foot-soldiers out of Colne and this neighborhood, to repel the Scots. In 1331, Edwaixl III. granted another fair to this town; and in 134G, directed Edmund Fitz- alan to raise two hundred of his vassals from Chtn and Oswesti'i/, to attend him in the French wars. In 1397, Richard earl of Arundel being at- tainted and executed, the king, Richard II. seized all his lands and manors, and granted them to William le Scrope earl of Wiltshire, one of his favorites. He also granted to the town the first lomsr aoyAj. royal charter, incorporating it by the name of the ^'"'^^^^er. ^ rowel, 362. « Idem, 288. 3 -'6 OSWESTRY. bailiffs and burgesses of 0>swestry infra Falati- natum Cestri.e in marohid inter Angliam ef Walliam. This was also founded upon the constitution of that of Shrewsbury. They were exempted throughout the kingdom (the liberty of the city of London excepted) de Theolonio, Las- ttigio, Pas.sagio, Pontagio, Stallagio de Lene, et de Danegeldis, et Saynit, et omnibus aliix coiisue- tudinibus et exoctionibus. Richard II. with the committee of parlement, in this town determined that the great dispute be- tween the duke of Hereford, and Moivbray duke of Norfolk, should be decided by single combat at Coventry; both dukes having appeared before the king at Oswestry, after the dissolution of the parlement held at Shrewsbury\ Tho. Eari, irps new lord, the earl of Wiltshire, fell a victim OF ARUXDEf.. . , to the popular fury, on the deposition of his royal' master; and Thomas the son of the attainted earl, was restored in blood. He proved a great bene- factor to the corporation : he gave it a release, in 1406, from a hundred pounds that they were in- debted to 1 lim, in consideration of the distresses the town suffered during the insurrection of Ghjndivr. He also obtained a pardon from the king for his vassals in CJiir/r, Bron field, and this manor, for the share they took in that commotion. f Dral-e'a Parliam. Hist. i. T)!'.). TER. OSWESTEY. 327 In the same year A\dtli the release, he granted a most extensive charter to the town, containing many matters that shew the customs of the times ; which merits, on that account, a detail of some of the particulars. To begin with a most essential one : ' Neither the lord or his heirs should con- Hi^ Char- ' fiscate or seize the effects of persons dying with ' or without mil in the corjDoration : That no biu-- ' gess should be compelled to be the lord's re- ' ceiver-general ; but only collector of the issues ' arising within the borough : That the burgesses ' should be discharged from all fees demanded by ' the constable of the castle, or any of his menial ' servants, for any felonies or trespasses committed ' out of the same liberties, when brought to the ' prison of the castle; saving, that the constable ' might receive one penny at his own election, ' from every mansion-house in tlie town; and a ' farthing of every cottage on the feast of St. ' Stephen annually: That the burgesses should ' l^e freed for the future from all excise of ale ' brewed and sold in the town, which had been ' hitherto payable, at the rate of seven-pence for ' every Bracena cervisiie exposed to sale: That ' they were to be freed from the duty of ^mo?>?/?' or ' Lyreivite^: That whoever lived in the house of ' a burgess, and happened to die there, the burgess ' was to have a heriot after his decease; in the K Vide page 284. 328 OSWESTRY. ' same manner as the Ucliclwtjr, or freeholders re- ' sidino' on the hinds of the lord in the hundred of ' Oswestry: That no Slirewsbury ale should be ' sold in the town without license, while any ale ' brewed in the town was to be had, under the pe- ' nalty of six shillings and eight pence: That ' none of 'the inhabitants of the lordships of Os- ' tvestri/, Melverley, Kinardsley, Egerley, Ruytoii, ' and the eleven towns ^, should drive or carry any ' cattle, corn, or victuals, or other wares, to any ' foreign fair or market, before the same had been ' first exposed to sale in the town of Oswestry, ' under the penalty of six shillings and eight pence: ' That none of the lord's tenants should be com- ' pelled to pay the redditus advocarii for the secu- ' rity of the castle, &c. dc' iQiAUD AT Until the time of the above mentioned chartei-, the lord's Welsh tenants of the hundred of Oswestry were accustomed by their tenure to keep watch and ward for three days and three nights at the four gates of the town, during the fair of St. A)i- drew and St. Oswcdd, with a certain number of men called Kcnes: but these treacherously, witli others, ravaged and plundered the place. On this the tenants were compelled to pay a sum of mo- ney as wages to a sufficient number of English- men, as the burgesses should think convenient, for '' Old Ruyton, Cotton, Shelcoke, Shottaton, Wijlcey, Eardeston, Ted-^^- mere, Rednall, Hanghtoa, Sutton, aud Felton; which form a manor in Osirestrj hundred. THE Gates. OSWESTRY. 329 the custody of the four gates; and the WelsJimen were for ever to be discharged from that duty. The" vassals of the earls of Arundel in these parts were of a mixed nature; either descendants of the Norman followers of their ancestor Alan, or of the native Wehh, who were most numerous, and bore an hereditary dislike to the co-tenants of foreign stock. The Welsh part was called Wal- clieria, and lay in the upper part of the manor. This charter of earl Thomas was confirmed by his several successors, to the time of Henry VIII. Cliarles 11. granted another; in which a mayor, twelve aldermen, fifteen common-council, a high- .steward, and recorder, composed the l^ody cor- porate. Oswestry was o-arrisoned for the kino- in the beginning of the civil wars, but was taken in June 1644 by the earl of Denbigh^ and general Mijtton. The governor had fortified it very strongly; and least the enemy should annoy it from the steeple, pulled it down to the body of the church, part of which he also demolished. The attack was made against the new gate, which was soon demolished by the cannon; when a bold and daring young man, named George Cranage, went with a hatchet and cut down the chains of the drawbridge. The parlement forces then entered, and the royahsts retired into the castle. Cranage was then j)er- ' Whitelodc, !)2. OLD OSWESTRY. suaded to hang a Buttar (Petard) at the castle gate. After being well anhnated with sack, he undertook this desperate attempt ; crept with the engine from house to house, till he got to that next to the castle; fastened it to the gate, set fire to it, and escaped unhurt. The gate was burst open, and the place taken *". Notwithstanding the town was captured in this manner, the commanders re- strained the soldiers from plundering, and gratified them with five hundred pounds. The following month, colonel Marrow at- tempted to re-take the place; but was attacked by Sir Thoma>i Micldleton, and obliged to retire with considerable loss\ After the death of the king, the castle was demolished. (j'^}'^. About a mile from Oswestry, in the parish of Sellatyn, lies a fine military post, on an insulated eminence of an oblong form, which has been for- tified with much art. The top is an extensive area, containing fifteen acres, three roods, and eight perches, of fertile ground, surrounded with two ramj^arts and fosses of great heights and depths. At a distance from these, at the foot of the hill, is another deep foss, which surrounds the whole, and ends (as do the two others) at the two entrances; which are placed diagonally opposite to each other. On the slope of the hill, on both sides of one en- ^ Tilr. Edwards's MSS. i Whitelod; 94. OLD OSWESTRY. WATT'S DIKE. 331 trance are a range of deep oblong trenches, run- ning transversely between the second ditch and another, which seems to be designed for their im- mediate protection ; for the first extends no farther than these trenches; the other, to no great dis- tance beyond them. This place is called Old Osiuestry, Hen Ddinas, and antiently Caer Ogyrfan, from Ogyrfan a hero co-existent with Arthur. There is no certainty of the origin of it : some ascribe it to Oswald or to Penda, and imagine that it was possessed, before the l^attle of Maserfeldt, by one of those princes. Others think it to have been the work of the an- tient Britons; to which opinion I inchne. The strength and the labor in forming it, evince that it was not a sudden operation, like that of a camp. Its construction, even to the oblong trenches, is British; for example, that of Bryn y Clawddiau, on the Cl'wydian hills, which divide Flintshire from the vale of Clivyd, is a similar work. A GREAT dike and foss, called TFai's, is continued Wat's Dike, from each side of this post. This work is little known, notwithstanding it is equal in depth, though not in extent, to that of Offa. We shall here trace the course of each. Wat'a can only be discovered on the southern part to Maesbury mill, in Oswestry parish, wliere it is lost in morassy ground : from thence it takes a northern direction to Hen-ddinas, and hy Pentrer Clawdd to Gohowen, the site of a 332 WAT'S AND OFFA'S DIKES. small fort, called Bnjn y CastcU, in the parish of Whittington : then crosses Prys Henlle common, in the parish of St. Martin: goes over the Ceiriog between Brynldnallt and Pont y Blew forge, and the Dee below Nant y Bcla; from whence it passes through Wynnstay park, by another Pentrer Claivdd, or township on the ditch, to Erddi/mer, i. 227. VOL. I. X 338 SIR JOHN OWEN. Sir John) had been secretary to the great Walsing- liam, and made a fortune of ten thousand pounds; a sum. perhaps despised by modern secretaries, but a vast one in those days. His master did not take such good care of himself, for he did not leave suf- ficient to defray his funeral expenses. Here is preserved the portrait of Sir John, a strenuous supporter of the cause of Charles I.; a colonel in the army, and vice-admiral of North Wales. He greatly signahzed himself at the siege of Bris- tol, when it was taken by prince Rupert, and was desperately wounded in the attack. Congenial qualities recommended him to his highness; who, superseding the appointment of archbishop W'd- liams to the government of Conwij castle, in 1645, constituted Sir Jolm commander in his place. This fortress was soon given up to general Myt- ton, by the contrivance of the prelate, and the power of his friends : and the knight retired to his seat in the distant parts of the county. In 1648, he rose in arms to make a. last effort in behalf of his fallen master, probably in concert with the royalists in Kent and Essex. He was soon at- tacked by William Lloyd, sheriff of the county, whom he defeated, wounded, and made prisoner. He then laid siege to Caernarvon; but hearing that certain of the parlement forces, under the colonels Carter and Ttvisleton, were on their march to at- tack him, he hastened to meet them, and took th e SIR JOHN OWEX. 339 sheriff with him on a Utter. He met with his enemies near Llaiidegai: a furious rencontre en- sued, in which Sir 'John had at first the advantao-e : but falHng in with their reserve, fortune declared against him: in a personal contest with a captain Taylor, he was pulled off his horse, and made pri- soner; his troo23s, disheartened by the loss of their commander, took to flight. The sheriff died the same day. The victory was esteemed of such consequence, that captain Taylor, who was the messenger of the news to the parlement, received a reward of two hundred pounds out of Sir Johns estate*. Sir Johx was conveyed to WintUor castle, where he found four noblemen under confinement for the same cause. On the 10th of November, a vote passed for his banishment, and that of the •lords Goring, Loughhorough, Capel, the earl of JJollancl, and major general Laiighern"; but after the execution of then- royal master, sanguinary measures took place. The duke of JJarniltoii, the earl of Holland, and the lords Goring and Capel, were put upon their trials. Sir Johi shewed a spirit worthy of his country. He told his judges, that ' he was a plain gentleman of Wales, who had ' been always tauglit to obey the king; that he * had served him honestly during the war; and, * Rushworth, ii. part iv. 114G. " Wlutelock, 348. 340 SIR JOHN OWEN. * finding many honest men endeavoured to raise * forces, whereby he might get him out of prison, ' he did the Hke;' and concluded like a man who did not much care what they resolved concerning him. In the end he was condemned to lose his head; for which, with a humorous intrepidity, he made the court a low reverence, and gave his humble thanks. A by-stander asked what he meant : he replied aloud, ' It was a great honor to ' a poor gentleman of Wales to lose his head with ' such noble lords; for by G — , he was afraid * they would have hanged him.' SiE, John, by mere good-fortune, w^as disap- pointed of the honor he was flattered with; being, as his epitaph says, Famce i^lus quam vitce solicito. He neither solicited for a pardon, nor was any petition ofiered to parlement in his favor; which was strongly importuned in behalf of his fellow- prisoners. IrctoR^ proved his advocate, and told the house, ' That there w^as one person for whom ' no one spoke a word: and therefore requested, * that he might be saved by the sole motive and ' goodness of the house.' In consequence, mercy ^ Mrs. Ilatrldnson, in her interesting 'Memoirs*,' says that Sir J. Owen entirely owed his life to the humanity and exertions of her husband and of Ireton, ' that his keepers had brought a petition to ' the clearks of the house; but the man had not found any one that * would interest themselves for him, thinking the lords lives of so * much more concernment than this gentleman's.' Ed. * Page 306.]; SIR JOHN O.WEN. SELLATYN CHURCH. 341 was extended to liim ; and, after a few months imprisonment, he was, on his petition, set at liberty/' He retired again into his country, where he died in 1666; and was interred in the church of Penmorfa in Caernarwnsliire, where a small monument preserves the following epitaph. M. s. JoHANNis Owen de Clenneiieij iu Co. Carnarvoii luilitis, viri in patriam amoris ardentissimi : in regem (beatissimum marfcyrem Carolum I"™) indubitatte fidelitatis clari; qui ad sacrosanctara majestatein a perduelliouum rabie eripiendam, sumnia pericula, lubeutissime obivit, Hostium copias non semel fudit, ac fregit; religioiiem vindicavit: Donee, infelici soi-te in perditissimorum hociiuuui manus, Regali jam sanguine imbutas, incident Dux prtestantissimus: Unde supplex sese obsessum redimerat nisi quod Heroi consuinmatissimo Fama; plus, quam vitae solicit©, tale Xwrpoj/ displicuit. Collo igitur imperterritc oblato, securis aciem retudit divina vis; volucrisque fati tardavit alas, donee senex Itetissimus Carolum 2'*"™ et sibi et suis restitutuni viderat. Ao Do"' 16G6, et .Etatis sua3 66. plaeide expiravit. From Porhlngton, I ascended to the parish- Sellattji church. The legend of the foundation is, that a noble Briton being engaged in the chace, found in ii thicket on this spot a white hind; which deter- jnined him (after the example of Ethelred king of the Mercians, in the instance of St. John's church 1 1 •-> 42 SELLATYN CHURCH. SACHEYEREL. Chester) to dedicate it to sacred uses. He ac- cordingly translated to this place the antient church, which, tradition says, stood before on a spot still called Bnjn lim EgJwys, or the hill of the old church. Within is the following elegant epitaph in me- mory of Sir Robert Owen, knight, son, as I think, of the celebrated hero Sir John. H. s. E. RoBERTUS Owen de Porlinton Eques auratus Ex autiquo Hivfce ap Gyndddw Et regio Oeni Gwyneth stemmate Oriundus Probitate et fortitudine clarus. Nulli infestus, Plurimis amicus, Bonis omnibus chai-us. Dum vixit amatus, Desideratus dum obiit, Stic Kaleudarnm Aprilis, M. DC. XCVIII. In the same church was deposited the body of a Welsh prelate, John Hamner bishop of St. Asaph, who died at his seat of Pentrepant in this parish in the year 1629. Doctor That high-church meteor, that party-tool, Doc- Sacheverel. ^^^, Sacheverel, was, in 1709, presented to this living; not so much on account of its value, as to give him a pretence of making a progress through a great extent of the kingdom; and of trying the inclinations of the people in the rich and populous CHIRK. 343 counties he was to pass through. He was met on the confines of this by 5000 horsemen, among whom Vere men of the first fortunes of Shropshire. He received respect, in every town, Httle short of adoration. The crowd in Oswestry was so great, that a good old woman could see only a small part of the holy man; yet consoled herself with having a sight of his ever-blessed wig as he rode along. From hence I hastened towards Chirk castle, keeping a lower road between the two dikes. On approaching the village of Chirk , is a very deep valley^, consisting of fertile meadows, watered by the brook Ceiriog, and finely bounded by lofty wooded banks. On the very verge of that next to Chirk, stands an artificial mount; and, I think, the vestige of another, on the other side of the road which goes between them. These were explora- tory, and probably designed also for defence; and might liave had on them a small fort for the pro- 5' At the upper end of the valley appears a magnificent stone a([ueduct of ten arches, which serves to convey the Ellesmcre canal fruin bank to bank; its length including the abutments is one hun- dred and ninety-six feet, its height to the usual surface of the water sixty-five feet. From hence the canal passes in a long tunnel through an intervening hill, and when it again emerges, is carried across the vale of the Dee near Pont y Cysyllte, fii'st along a stupendous mound, and then is suspended in iron troughs, supported by pillars of beau- tiful masonry, at an elevation of one hundred and twenty-six feet above the bed of the river. The length of the embankment is fifteen hundred feet, of the iron troughs one thousand. The pillars which sa[)port this aerial canal are eighteen in number. Ed. 344 BATTLE OF CROGE>T. tection of the pass. I imagine these mounts to have been Saxon, and coeval with the great labor of O^ct, which runs at a small distance from them. IUttle of Jjj^ ^i^jg deep valley which winds alone; the foot Crogen. . of the vast Berwijn mountains, was a bloody con- flict between part of the forces of Ilenv]) II. and the Welsh, in 11 05. Henry had determined once m.ore to attempt the subjection of Wales, and to revenge the ravages carried through the borders by its gallant prince Owen Gwijnedd; for that end, he assembled a vast army at Oswestry. Owen, on the contrary, collected all his chieftains, with their dependants, at Corwen. The king, hearing that his antagonist was so near, resolved to bring the matter to a speedy decision. He marched towards him; and in this valley, finding himself intangled in impenetrable woods, and recollecting his ill-fortune among the forests of Eulo, directed his vanguard to make the passage clear by cutting down the trees, in order to secure himself from ambuscade. The pikemen, and flower of his army, were posted to cover the workmen. The spirit of the common soldiers of the Welsh army grew in- dignant at this attemj)t; and, without the know- ledge of their ofiicers, fell with unspeakable fury on these troops. The contest was violent; num- bers of brave men perished; in the end, the Welsh retired to Corwen. Henry gained the summit of the Berwyn; but was so distressed by dreadful BATTLE OF CROGEN". CHIRK CHURCH. 345 rains, and by the activity and prudence of Owen, who cut him off from all supplies, that he was obhged to return ingloriously, with great loss of men and equipage^ This conflict is sometimes called the battle of Cor wen; but with more propriety that of Crogen; for it happened beneath Castelh Crogen, the pre- sent Chirk castle; and the place still called Adwyr Beddau, or the pass of the graves of the men who were slain here. The church of Chirki^) is dedicated to St. Mary; Church of and was formerly an impropriation (-) belonging to the abby of Valle Critcis. Witliin is a profusion of marble, cut into human forms, memorial of the later lords of the place, or their ladies. The best is a bust of Sir Thomas Mlddleton, with a peaked :\Ionuments. beard, long hair; armed: and by him is another of his lady, a Napier of Luton. Sir Thomas was a successful and active commander on the side of the parlement during the civil wars. Towards the end of his life, he found that he had undesignedly established a more intolerable tyranny than that '• Poicel, 221. (1) Chirk is called in "Welsh Eglwys y Waeu, that is to say the Church of the Moor, aud Chirk seems to be merely a dialectic variety of the word whence church itself comes, and to stand between it and the Scotch kirk: compare Birkenhead with hirkoi instead of birchen, and the Southwalian pore for the measure more usually called a. perch or pole in English, j.r. (2) The distinction between impropriation and appropriation is not observed here. x.r. 346 CHIEK CHURCH. which he had formerly opposed. In 1G59, he took arms, m conjunction with Sir George Booth, in order to restore the antient constitution. Sir George was defeated by the vigilant Lcmihert; and Sh- Thomas forced to take refuge in his castle, where, after two or three days shew of defence, he was constrained to surrender on such conditions as the conqueror was pleased to dictate. The family pedigree says that the castle was commanded by his son (afterwards Sir Thomas) when Lambert came before it. The other monuments are composed of large and very ill-executed figures of lady Middleton, wife to Sir Thomas Middleton baronet, son of the former. She was daughter of Sir Thomas Wilhra- ham of Woodhey; and died at the early age of twenty- two, in the year 1675. Sir Richard Middleton, and his lady, Frances daughter of Sir Thomas Whitmore of Buildas. He died in 1716; she in 1694. At their feet lies their son Sir Wdliam, the last Imronet, who survived his father only two years, dying at the age of twenty-four. On a small mural monument, is an elegant epi- taph on Doctor Walter Balcanqual, a Scotch divine of distinguished character. In 1617, he was ap- pointed master of the Savoy hospital, which he soon resigned in favour of the able but desultory Marc Antonio di Dominis, archbishop of Spalatro, CHIRK CASTLE. 347 in reward for his conversion to Protestantism. In 1618, he was sent to represent his country in the famous synod of Dort. He was promoted to the deanery of Rochester; and, in 1G39, to that of Durham; by his great loyalty, haviDg rendered himself hated by his countrymen, he was, in 1G45, obliged to take refuge in Chirk castle; but, sinking under the fatigue of the journey, and severity of the weather, he died on Christmas-daj. The epitaph was composed by Dr. Pearson bishop of Chester, at the request of Sir Thomas Aliddleton, by whom the monument was erected. The castle lies about a mile from the village, in castle, the course of Offa's dike, on the summit of a lofty hill, projecting from the great mass of the Berivyn mountains. Before the foundation of the present castle, stood another, called Castell Crogen; and the territory around bore the name of Tref y Waun, the property of the lords of Dinas Bran. It con- tinued in their possession till the death of Gryffijdd ap Madoc, a strenuous jDartizan of Henry III. and Edward I. Edward, on tlie decease of Gryffydd, rewarded two of his favorites with the guardian- ship:) of the two eldest sons of Gryffydd: he en- trusted iliacZoc to J'o/m earl Warren; and Llewelyn to Roger Mortimer, son of Roger baron of Wig- more: who, as before related, quickly dispatched the unhappy youths, and possessed themselves of their fortunes. Earl Wan-en seized on the lord- 348 CHIRK CASTLE. ships of Bromfield and Yale; Mortimer on those of the present Chirk and Naii-lieudwy. He became the founder of the castle. It continued in his family but a short time, being sold by his grandson John to Richard Fitz-akm earl of Arundel. The Fitz-alans possessed it for three generations; after which it passed to Thomas Mowhray duke of Nor- folk, and justice of North Wales, Chester, and Flint, in rio-ht of his wife Elizabeth, elder sister to Thomas earl of Arundel. On the disgrace and exile of Mowhray, in 1397, it probably was resumed by the crown; and granted again to William Beauchamp lord of Abergavenny, who married the other sister ; and by the marriage of his grand- daughter, sole heiress of Richard Beauchamp earl of Worcester, witli Edward Nevil (afterwards lord Abergavenny) was conveyed into that family, in the reign of Henry YI.* The next possessor which occurs to me, is the unfortunate Sir William Stanley, who, as Leland says, 'repayred it welle.' After his ungrateful execution, it became forfeited to his rapacious master; and, as I conjecture, was bestowed, in 1534, along with Holt Castle (another of Sir WU- liam's castles) by Henry VIII. on his natural son Henry Fitz-roy duke of Richmond and Somerset^. By his early death it reverted again to the crown. In the followino^ reign, I imagine it to have been " Poioel, 213. • King's Vale-royal, 195. CHIEK CASTLE. 349 granted to Thomas lord Seymour, brother to the protector Somerset; for I find him in possession of Ilolf, to which it was an appendage. Elizabeth granted it, with the same lord- ships, to her worthless favourite Dudley earl of Leicester. On his death Chirk Castle became the property of lord St. John o? Blctso; whose son, in 1595, sold it to Sir TJiomas Middletoii knight, mayor of London in 161 4. In the year 1642, Charles I. by an order from Oxford, directed colonel Robert Ellyce, colonel of a regiment of foot, to possess himself of Chirk Castle, and to apply any money or plate he found there to the payment of his regiment, and then to deliver it to Sir Thomas Hanmer, whom his ma- jesty had appointed governor. This gentleman was of Givesnewydd near Wrexham, but descended from the Lloyds of Bodidris in Yale. He had served under Gustavus Adolphiis, and was highly trusted by Charles. He had first a regiment of six hundred men, which being much weakened, he had a new commission, dated November 1643, for the raising of twelve hundred. Lord Ca^oel also did him the honor of appointing him commander in chief (under him) of the counties of Denbigh and Flint. This exalted pile has much to boast of in its vast view into seventeen counties, a most elegant " Dugdale Baron, ii. 368. 350 CHIRK CASTLE. and varied extent! The castle is square, and has five rounders uncommonly clumsy and heavy. Lord Clarendon and others speak of the entire demolition of this fortress after its reddition to Lamhert. Only one side, with three towers, were pulled down, Avhich Sir Thomas Middleton lived to re-build in one year. The chief apartments are a saloon, fifty-six feet by twenty-seven; and a drawing room within: a gallery, a hundred feet by twenty-two, filled with portraits. Among them are those of the duke of Onnond, and his son lord Ossory; the most virtu- ous characters, and the greatest ornaments of the vicious age of Charles II. admired, revered, unimi- tated. Ossorij died before his father; who bore his loss with the firmness of a Roman, founded on the certain hopes of a Christian. I can scarcely say whether he passed a finer eulogy on his son, or sath^e on the times, by declaring, he luould not change his dead son for any living one in Europe. Lord keeper Sir Orlando Bridgeman, keeper of the great seals, in his robes, and with lank hair. He presided over two courts of justice with the most amiable character; and lost the seals for his refusal, in 1G72, to aftix them to the king's insi- dious declaration of liberty of conscience. Lady Bridgeman, second wife to Sir Orlando, and mother to Charlotte wife to Sir Thomas Mid- dleton. BARBAROUS CUSTOM. 351 Sir Thomas Middleton in armour; grey beard, and long black hair. The same gentleman who is mentioned in the account of the tombs. His daughter, countess of Warwick, dowager to Edward Rich earl of Warwich, and afterwards wife to Mr. Addison, and the reputed cause of his intemperance. The usual appertenance to antient castles, the dungeon, must not be forgotten. The descent is by forty-two steps; but, according to the laudable usage of its present lord, the captives endure but a short and easy confinement; and even that passes imperceptibly, amidst the good cheer and generous liquors bestowed on them by the kind warder, to w^iose custody they are committed. E;E-PASSIXG through the castle gate, I recollect a barbarous barbarous privelege, retained longer in this country Custom. than in any other part of Britain, that of exempt- ing from capital punishment even the most atro- cious assassin, by payment of a certain fine. This was practised by the lord marchers of these parts in the fifteenth century; and continued in Mowddwij in Meirioneddshire till it was abolished in the 27th of Henry VHP. This custom was derived from the antient Ger- mans, who accepted a fine of cattle as a compen- sation for murder; this satisfied the relations, and was not detrimental to the public, which could not ^ Qwydir family, 107. 352 WERE-GELD. GWEETH. fail being injured by the extension of private re- venge°. Were-geld. The SaxoRS continued the custom under the name of Wcre-geld; and accordingly set a price on every rank, from the king to the peasant'. The head of the king was valued at thirty thousand tknjmses, or 4,500^.; half to be paid to his rela- tions, and half to the kingdom for the loss it had sustained : that of a countryman was esteemed at two hundred and sixty-six, or 39/. 186'. The Were-geld of a Welshman was very low; for, unless he had pro|)erty enough to be taxed for the king's use, his life was not reckoned of higher price than seventy thrymses, or ten guineas. The money or fine was distributed, as in the time of the antient German.'^, among the relations of the de- ceased; and oftentimes a part went to the lord of the soil, as a compensation for liis loss. GwERTH. Xhe WcIsIl had in like manner their Galanas and Gwerth, of the same nature with the former; but our fine was usually paid in cattle, the wealth of the country. The Gwerth was not only a compensation for murder or homicide, but for all species of injuries. To cuckold the prince was expiated at a very high rate^; the offender was fined in a gold cup and •= Tacitus de mor. Germ. c. 2, ' Wilkin's Leges Sax. 71. e Leges Wallice, 199. GWERTH. 353 cover, as broad as his majesty's face, and as thick as a ploughman's nail who had ploughed nine years; and a rod of gold as tall as the king, and as tliick as liis Httle finger; a hundred cows for every cantrefhe ruled over, with a white bull with differ- ent colored ears to every hundred cows. The recompence to a virgin who had been se- duced is very smgular: On complaint made that she was deserted by her lover, it was ordered by the court, that she was to lay hold of the tail of a bull three years old, introduced through a wicker- door, shaven, and well greased. Two men were to goad the beast : if she could by dint of strength retain the bull, she was to have it by way of sa- tisfaction; if not, she got nothing but the grease that remained in her hands^'. I fear by this, and other penalties for the same offence, that the crime was not held by my countrymen to be of a very deep dye. Welsh, Saxons, and Normans, had each their j)ecuniary atonements for lesser injuries. A Welsh- man, for the loss of his finger, received one cow and twenty pence ; of liis nose, six oxen and a hun- dred and twenty pence; and for being pulled by the hair, a penny for every finger, and two-pence for tlie thumb, the instruments of the insult'. The Saxons had sunilar fines^; and the Normans, like ^ Leges Wallicce, 82. * The same, 278. ^ WiUins's Leqes Saxon. 44. VOL. I. Y 354 STEADY ASSASSINS. persons of nice honor, provided a penalty of five sous for a lug by the nose, and ten j^our uii coup cm derriereK The Scotch liad also similar compensations for homicides and injuries; which, in their old laws, passed under the name of Cro, Gaines, and Kel- cliyn"^ : and lastly, the Irish had their JEric, or satisfaction for blood". In fact, it prevailed over all parts of Europe, with variations conformable to the several complexions of the country. I CANNOT but relate the occasion of this digres- sion. Two villains, who had committed a most horrid murder" in the remote parts of Wales, lied into this neighborhood for protection, about the latter end of the fifteenth century. Two families at that time divided the country with their feuds; the Kyffiiis and the Trevors: who were ready at any tune to receive under their protection, any banditti that were recommended to them by their remote friends, when their villanies rendered it unsafe for them to remain at home. The Trevors at this time gave asylum to these murderers. The friends of the person they had slain wished for revenge: being at that time in league with the ' MS. notes to my copy of Les Coustumes cle Xormandie. ™ Recfiam Majestatem, 74. ° Da vies, Hist. Ireland, 109. " They had killed a poor parson, at the instigation of their chieftain, because his wife had preferred the nursing another great man's child to his. STEADY ASSASSINS. 355 Kyffins, a plot was laid to surprise the assassins. JevcDi ap Meredydcl, a gentleman of Caernarvoa- .sliire] who was most anxious to obtain redress for the injury, came over with six men, and v/as di- irected to keep himself concealed lest the Trevors should be alarmed, and frustrate his design. He accordingly kept within all day, and watched all night: at length the villains fell into his hands. The Trevors instantly pursued him; Avhen he was told by the Kyffins, that if he was overtaken, and the offenders rescued, he would lose his revenge; for, according to the custom of the country, they would be carried before the gate of Cliirh castle, :and be instantly cleared, on the payment of five pounds. This determined Jevan to order his fol- lowers to strike off their heads on the spot. One of them executed his order but faintly; when the • criminal told him, that if he had his neck under *his sword, he would make it take a better edgef. I wish the cause had been better, that applause might have been given to this contempt of death; but such assassins as tliese could scarcely be ani- mated with that prospect of immortality; which made their remote ancestors, inspired by the Druid songs, think it disgraceful to preserve a life that vwas so soon to return. The same consideration influenced the antient P Gwijdir faraihj, 107. Sr.G. BRYNKINALLT. Danes; a warrior feJl"^, Jawjhed, and dieih Thus, was the end of the Scandinavian hero, Agnerus. Herculc nemo illo visus mihi fortior unquam; Semivigil subsedit enim cubitoque reclinis Ridendo excepit lethura, mortemque cachimio Sprevit: et Ebisium gaudens successit in orbem. Magna viri virtus, qure risu calluit uno Supremam celare necem, summumque dolorem Corporis ac mentis Ireto corapescere vultul Saxo Gkamm. p. ;)(). 1. ±\). Ne'er did I yet such fortitude behold I By the stem king of terrors uncontrol'd The hero fell. Upon his arm reclin'd, Serene his features, and compos'd his mind. Th' Ely dan fields just op'ning to his view. To Odin's hall with eager haste he flew: AVith joy, with triumph, he resign'd his breath, And smii'd away the agonies of death. E. AV. From CJiirJc, I made an excm'sion to Brynh- ^^^^!^.y nallt, about a mile below the village. This had I. ALL I. ' ^ been the seat of the Trevors, descended from Ednyfed Gam, a descendant of Tudor Trevor. The house' is of brick, built in 1G19. In it is a good portrait of Sir John IW'vor, master of the rolls, in the robes of his office, sitting. He en- joyed that place both in the reign of James II. and of William III. He was able, dexterous, and en- //aniri/^s praise; Still the disdainful, haughty fair, Laughs at my pain, and my despair. What though thine eyes, as black as sloes, Vie with the arches of thy brows; Must thy desponding lover die, Slain by the glances of thine eye? Pensive, as Trystan^, did I speed To Bran, upon a stately steed : Fondly I gaze: but hard's my doom. Oh fairer than the cherry's bloom ! Thus at a distance to behold Whom my fond arms would fain enfold. How swift on Albciii^ steed, I flew. Thy dazzling countenance to view! Though hard the steep ascent to gain. Thy smiles were harder to obtain. y This knight and lady seem to ha\e been the same with %/• Oaretk and Damoysell Lynet, celebrated in the viith book of the Storye of the most worthy kynge Artlmr. Sir Gareth loved and was beloved by the fair Lyones, sister to Lynet. Their passion exceeded the bounds of discretion; but Lynel, to save their honor, by enchant- ment prevents their loves, till they are joined together iu holy matrimony. '• Trystan was another famous knight. His sorrow seems to have arose from bis being deserted by a lady, who, as the history relates. f()i'sof>k him for Syr Bkoberys. ' A Scotch horse. 3<34 MYFANWY VECHAN. Thy peerless beauties to declare W'as still thy zealous lover's care, O fairer thou, aud colder too, Than new fall'ii snow on Aran's'^ brow! O, lovely flow'r of Trevor's race, "\ Let not a cruel heart disgrace > The beauties of that heavenly face ! ) Thou art my daily thought; each night Presents Mufaaioij to my sight; And death alone can draw the dart Which love has fixed in my heart. Ah! canst thou, with ungentle eye. Behold thy faithful Hoioel die \ For thee my verse shall ever run. Bright rival of the mid-day sun ! Shou'dst thou demand thy lover's eyes, Gladly to thee I'd sacrifice ^ly useless sight, that only shews The cruel author of its woes. Refulgent in her golden bower. As morning in her eastern tower. Thy name the echoing vallies round. Thy name a thousand hills resound, Mufo.nvjij Vechan, maid divine! No name so musical as thine; And every bard with rapture hung On the soft music of my song. For thee I languish, pine, and rave, White as Divrdwtj's curling wave. Alas! no words can speak my pain. While thus I love, but love in vain! Wisdom, and Reason, what are they. What all the charms of Poiisy, Against the fury of thy darts, Thou vanquisher of human hearts ] • Two lofty mountains in Mcirioneddshire. This poem is taken from the collection formed by the learned and ingenious Mr. Evuii Evans. The original was found written on parchment in the castle •of Diiias Bran. Sebright Col. EHIWABON. 305 "NVhea firbt I saw thee, princely maid I In scarlet robes of state array "d, Thy beauties set my soul on fire, Aud every motion fann'd desire; The more on thy sweet form I gaz'd, The more my frantic passion blaz'd. Xot half so fine the spider's thread That glitters on the dewy mead, As the bright ringlets of thy haii-. Thou beauteous object of my carel But ah! my sighs, my tears, are vain! The cruel maid insults my pain! And canst thou, without pity, see The victim of thy cruelty — Pale with despair and robb'd of sleep, "Whose only business is to weep ? — Behold thy bard, thy poet, languish ? Oh ! ease thy bard's, thy poet's, anguish ; And for Heaven's sake some pity shew, Ere to the shades of night I go! 0, fairer than the flowers adorning The hawthorn in a summer's morning! While life remains, I still will sing Thy praise, and make the mountains ring With fair Myfamvy^s, tuneful name! And from misfortune pui'chase fame; Nor ev'n to die shall I repine. So Jfoivd's name may live with thine. E.A\'. After a short repose, on my descent from the Ehiwabon. castle, I made an excursion to Rliitvahon, a few miles from Lhnigollen. For some tune the ride was along the sides of the Dee, which ^Mitered a beautiful narrow vale. The hills at length apj^roxi- mate so nearly, as only to leave room for a most picturesque passage, shaded with trees. Cross a bridge called the New hridrje, and ascend for some 36G KHIWABOX. space, leavmg on the left considerable pits both of coal and canal: reach the village of Rliiwahou, which takes its name from the Avon i^), or little river on which it lies. ■Church. The church is dedicated to St. Marij. It has been lately litted up in a very neat manner, chiefly at the expence of Sir WatVin Williams Wyiiii, who bestowed on it an organ, and a small font; the last, on occasion of the christening of his eldest son° in 1772, is of white marble, supported by a tripod of distinguished elegance. Monuments. Xhe monument to his first wife, lady Harriet Some7^set (-) , who died July 24, 1769, is in a fine taste. The figure of Hope reclines on an urn, and is attended with her usual emblem of an anchor. A serpent with its tail in its mouth, ex- [)ressive of eternity, includes the inscription on one side of the pedestal. As a contrast to this excellent performance of Mr. Nollel'eii, is placed against the wall a great monument of Henry Wyiiii esq. tenth son of old Sir John Wymi of Gwedyr, who died in 1G71. (}) This cannot of course be right, as the name ought then to have been Rhiwafou; the derivation is Rhiw-fabon, and Mabon was the name of a character in Welsh legends, probably a degraded god of the Celts. As to the ellision of/ in this name, compare Bod-organ (for Bod-Forgan) in Anglesey, j.r. *= The present baronet. Ed. (-) Lady Harriet Somerset should be "Henrietta." t.p. RHIWABOX. 367 His attitude is that of a fanatical preacher; and his dress a full-buttoned coat, short skirts, and square shoes; a most unhappy subject for tlie sculptor. On one side kneels Sir John Wynn of Wynn-staij, baronet; and on the other, Jane his wife, daughter to Eyton Ecans, by whom he ac- quired the estate. He died at the age of ninety- one, in 1718; and left his fortune to Sir W. W. Wynn, who was nearly related to him; Sir John being descended by the male. Sir Watkin by the female Hne from the great Gwedyr stock. His mother being the daughter and sole heiress of Edward Thelwal esq. of Plds y tvard, by Sydney Wynn only daughter of William Wynn esq. pro- thonotary of North Wales, and seventh son of the old baronet. Sir John is represented blind: this accident (in his extreme age) is mentioned in his •epitaph as a benefit, since his inward perceptions were improved by this bodily defect. It reminds me of two lines of Waller, in which the same idea is much better expressed : The soul's dark cottage batter'd and decay'd Lets iu new light, thro' chinks which time hath made. In the same chapel is an antient tomb, of tlie altar fashion, with monkish pleiireurs on the sides, and angels holding shields of now defaced arms. On the top are recumbent two figures; an armed man with a collar of SS, and a lady lying on a 363 EIIIWABON. cloak ; at their feet a lion, with a monk sitting od it, with his head reclined on one hand. Around the edges of the tomb is this inscrip- tion ; Orate pro anima Joliannis ap Elis Eyton, armigeri, qui obiitvices- simo octavo die mensis tSeptembris, anno Domini 152U; et pro auima Elizabeth Ca7j/e>/, uxoris ejus, qute obiit xi. die mensis Junii, anno- Domini 1524; quorum animabus propitietur Deus. Amen. This gentleman joined Henry VII. before the battle of ^06^(TOr^//; and for his good services had considerable grants of land in these parts. He was of the house of Eyton before mentioned. His grandfather was twice married to the same lady; who, on some pretence of consanguinity, had been divorced from him after bearing him a son of the name oi Ellis: but, obtaining a chspensation, they were re-united in form. After the second mar- riage, were born other children. A division of the estates was then made: Rhiivahon and Wat- stay fell to the share of Ellis; and Eyton to Johnj the first of the second brood '\ On the other side of the altar is a noble monu- ment to the first Sir Wathin Williams Wynn, whose virtues are still fresh in the minds of his countrymen. A fall from his horse, on September 2Gth 1749, deprived the world of a useful citizen. Ryshixich has preserved his figure in a graceful at- titude. The late Doctor King of St. ilicM'?/-haIL thus expressed the qualities of his mind : ^ Eyton Pedigree. WYNN-STAY. SG& Adsertori Libertatis Pcblic^:. H. S. E. Wat KIN Williams Wynx Baronettiis. Qui ab illustri Britannorv.m veterum stirpe oriundus, majoribus suis se dignissimum semper prajbuit, et non modo nomine, sed virtute et fide homiuem vere Britaanum. Admodum juvenis in senatum electus confestim cunctis innotuit gravitate et judicio: Postquara vero et ipse de republica cccpit disputare, et libertatis patrocinium ac defensionem suscipere, incredibilem animi magni- tudinem, atque ejus constantiam omnes ita suspexeruut, ut, cum seuatus priuceps turn patrifo pater merito haberetur. Tam rectis studiis et ea singulari bouitate fuit prceditus, ut non posset fieri, quin maximam sibi gratiam et veneratiouem compararet vir innocen- tissimus, idemque prudentissimus paterfamilias, contiuentissimus maritus, benignissimus hospes, optimus literarum patronus, et assi- duus Dei et CHRiSTiANiE veritatis cultor. Ad hoec quam suavis et jucundus fuit in convictu! Quanta fides ejus sermonibus! Qualis in ore probitas et decor! Qaa3 mensaj reverential Qua? in cultu moderatio! Qua) in omni vita modestia, elegantia, comitas, liber- alitas! Talis tantique viri immaturo interitu quam grave damnum fecit Britannia; t[uum cuncti qui ejus virtutes cognoverint (cognovit penitiis qui hsec mccreus scripsit) eo erepto, miserorum omnium perfugium, bonorum omnium delicias, doctorum omnium prassidium, Wallice suce decus et ornamentum, et clarissimum reipublicaj lumen ereptum et extiuctum esse fateantur! Obiit 26°. die Scpteriihris 1749. .Ebatis sua3 57°^°. The park of Wijnn-staij reaches to the village Wi-nn-stay. of Rhiwahon; and is most advantageously situated. The grounds well wooded; the views distinct and extremely elegant; especially those towards the Berivyn mountains, and the august breach made into them beyond Llawjollen, by the rapid Dee, through the country of the irregular and ivilcl Glyndwr. Nant y Bele, or the Dingle of the Martin, NantyBele. VOL. I. z 370 WYXN-STA^. lies about a mile from hence, and merits a visit from every traveller. From a rock at its extremity, is a magnificent view of the Dee, rolling awefully in a deep chasm fringed with woods ; at last termi- nating sullenly in a black and still pool. Towards the north is a great view of the conic mountain, and the rude fortress of Dlnas Bran, rising amidst a fertile vale, and bounded by the barren Alps. The house has been built at various times. The most antient part is a gateway *" of wood and plais- ter, dated 1616. On a tower within the court, is this excellent distich, allusive to the name of the house : — Wynn stay, or rest satisfied with the good things Providence has so liberally showered on Cui domus est victiisque decens, cui patria dulcis, Sunt satis ha3c vitce, ctetera cura, labor. Struxit Johannes Wijnn miles et baronettus, A. D. 170G. The former name of the place was Wat-stay, from its situation on the famous dyke; but was changed to the present by Sir John Wynn, out of respect to his own name. It was originally called simply Rhiwahon, and had been the residence of Madog ap Gryffydd Maelor, founder of Valle Crucii. The new part, built by the first Sir Watldn, is This has beea recently taken down. Ed. ' Eyton Pedigree. WYNX-STAY. 371 of itself a good house ;(^) yet was only a portion of a more extensive design. It is finished in that substantial yet neat manner becoming the seat of an honest English country gentleman; adapted to the reception of his worthy neighbors, who may experience his hospitality without dread of spoiling the frippery ornaments, becoming only the assem- bly rooms of a town house, or the villa of a great city. The present owner" meditates the re-building of the old part; and, as he has already shewn such good judgment in a noble room, in which simplicity is joined with grandeur, there is little doubt but he will preserve a style of local propriety throughout the whole. Adjoining to the house is a most beautiful small theatre, in which tlie munificent owner an- nually enlivens the gloomy season with dramatical entertainment^' during a wliole week, and in a most princely manner treats the whole country with a most rational and eleo-ant amusement. The present set of pictures belonging to the house are portraits of tlie families of Wynii and Williams. Here is a very fine three quarters of (^) The house described by Pennant, together with most of the pic- tures, was destroyed by fire, March (ith, ISoS. t.p. E The late Sir IF. W. W^nn. Ed. •" The present baronet has exchanged these amusements for an annual agricultural meeting, at which prizes are distributed witli liberality, and the numerous visitors hospitably entertained. Ed. 372 WYNN-STAY. the old Sir John Wynn oi Gtcedyr, in a high hat, and with a vast white beard, and in the dress of the times of James I. I reserve further mention of him till I arrive at his antient seat. His son. Sir John Wynn knight, is drawn half- length ; a yomig man, with whiskers and a peaked beard; dark hair; great flat ruff; black vest ; white girdle, stuck with points ; a white flowered baldric. Sir John died on his travels, at Lucca, and was succeeded by his brother Richard. A most ex- quisite head of Sir Richard, by Vandych, is pre- served here. He was gentleman of the privy- chamber to Charles I. when prince of Wales, and attended him in the romantic journey he took into Spain, in 1623, to visit his designed bride. Sir Richard drew up an admirable account of hi:3 travels, which is printed among other scarce tracts, by *Mr. Tliomas Hearne. On the accession of Charles to the throne, he was appointed treasurer to the queen; and, dying without issue, was suc- ceeded by his brother Owen. A HALF-LENGTH of Henry Wynn esq. before mentioned, representative of the county of Meirio- neth, in the last parlement of James I. He is painted in black hair, a great turn-over, and a letter in his hand. Here is also a portrait of an- other brother, a captain of a man of war, in the same dress : both of them good performances. THE GARTHEN. 373 Here are, besides, several more modern por- traits; such as of the two late dukes of Beaufort in their robes. A composition, with Charles duke of Beaufort leanmg on the late Sir WatJdii^ shoulder, looking at the horse called Legacy. This iigure of Sir Wathiii is the strongest resemblance to him of au}^. Two portraits of the late owner of this place, and his first lady, by Dahl. His full wig and dress give a very disadvantageous idea of him. The fashion is equally the misfortune of the artist and his employer. A THREE-QUARTERS length of Sir Jolui Wynn, baronet, with a full wig and cravat. The same whose monument we have before mentioned. Two very fine full-lengths of Charles II. and liis queen, close this short list. Ox my return to Rhiwahoii, I passed through the tiirnpike towards Wrexham. On the road I distressed a little to the left, to visit a o'reat Caer in this parish, called the Garthen, i.e. Cccr-ddin, (Jarthen. seated on a summit of a hill commanding a most extensive view around, of the fine and fertile coun- try of Maelor Cymraeg, or Broriifield; and a part of Maelor Saesneg, or English Maelor, mostly iiat and wooded. This Caer contains about four acres of ground, protected in some parts by one, in others with two very strong dikes and deep 374 ERDDIG. ditches. The inner dike is made of loose stones, with a wall of vast thickness on the top. Within the area are many vestiges of buildings, the habi- tations of the old possessors. It lies two hundred yards from OJfas dike. Part of the turnpike - road is formed for a considerable way along the top of the dike, which shews its prodigious thick- ness. A fierce battle was fought near this place between Otven CyfeUiog prince of Powys and the English, attended with victory to the antient Britons; which gave rise to a beautiful poem called HirJas Owain, or the Drinking Horn of Owain, composed by the prince himself'. I PURSUED the track of Wat's dike, passed near Pentre Bijclian, the seat of Mere- Erddig, deth esq. and soon reached Erddig, the ele- gant seat of Philip Yorke esq. a place where nature has been lavish of beauties, and improved by the excellent taste of the worthy owner\ Two little vales bound his lands, watered by a pretty stream, and bordered with hanging woods. Along one side of the bank runs the dike; and at the end between the two vales, impending over them, are small but strong intrenchments. One sur- ' See ]Mr. Evan Evanses, Collection of Wclsli Poems, p. 1, and the elegant Translation, by the Eeverend Richard Williavis, in the suc- ceeding volume of this Tour. ^ Philip Yorke esq. died in 1804, and was succeeded by his son Simon Yorlc esq. Ed. SONTLEY HOUSE. CADWGAN HALL. 375 rounds a work of a pentagon form; beyond which, at the very verge, is a mount that seems to have been a dernier ressort to the garrison, in case they had been beaten out of the former. These com- pose what is called the Roman fort; but there are neither coins or any thing else to confirm the con- jecture of its having been one. A fragment of wall cemented with mortar is all that remains of this castelet. Erddig originally belonged to an old Welsh family of the same name, descended, I think, from Tudor Trevor. The estate was purchased by John Edishury of Pentre Clawd, whose son Joshua built the j)resent house in 1678. They were of Cheshire descent. The place was sold, under a decree in chancery, in 1715, to John Metier, of the family of Meller Chapel in Derhijshire, master in chancery, who bequeathed it to his nephew (son to his eldest sister) Simon Yorke esq. first cousin to the lord chancellor, earl of Hardwick, and father to the present worthy owner. In this neighborhood is the very antient house of Sontley, once possessed by a family of the same house. name', a branch of the Fjijions of Eyton. And still more distant, towards the hills, is Cadivgan hall. Hall, a very large old house. This place, with a considerable property, was owned by the Jones's, ' III old writings called 8ouU>j or Sullie. 37G WREXHAM. of the stock of Tudor Trevor. Edward Jones esq. the last possessor, was most unfortunately made acquainted by his dearest friend Thomas Salishury esq, of Lleivenl, with a design of a foreign invasion, an attempt to restore the Roman Catholic religion, and to effect the deliverance of Mary queen of Scots, part of the Bahlngton conspiracy. Neitlier of them seem to have had the lest knowledge of the plan for assassinating Elizahetli. On the dis- covery of the plot Salisbury called at Cadwgan hall, and was assisted by his friend in his escape. Jones lent him a horse, and changed cloaths with his priest, in order likewise to secure his safety. Salisbury fled into Cheshire, but was soon taken. Both friends suffered together in London, September 21, 1586. Each died with true penitence: and Jones to his last breath declared that he owed his death to his fidelity to Salisbury, whom he liad often tried to dissuade from his rash design™. WREXHA>r. Wrexham lies at a small distance from Erddig. This is the largest town in North Wales, and the parish the most populous. It appears by the an- tient name to have been of Saxon origin; being ™ Camden's Life of (^men Elizabeth, in Keiinet, ii. 517,518, State Trijcds, i, 112, 120. 122. — Jones's estate was forfeited. The house, and part of the estate, were, by the bounty of the Queen, restored to the right heir, whose daughter and heiress Anne married captain Roger Middletoa, second son of Ri'^hard, eldest son and heir of Richard Middleton of Denhhjh. It is now the property of Mr. Middleton of Chirk castle. WREXHAM. CHURCH. 377 called WrigJitesham, and Wr'ujlitelesham. I can trace it no farther back than the time of the last earl Warren, who had a grant of it^ Leland speaks of it as a place where there were some mer- chants and good buckler-makers". The parish is at this time noted for a manufactory of instruments of war; but altered for those of offence, instead of defence. Near the place is a great foundery for cannon, under the direction of Mr. WiVdnson, who supplies many parts of Europe with this ratio ultima regiim; and in the late war between the Russians and Turks, furnished both parties with this species of logic. These forges are not far from Ecclusliam, a house and estate belonging to the Llojjds of that place and Dylassij. The heiress of the last of these, Sir Richard Lloyd, governor of Holt castle, conveyed it by marriage to Sir Henry Conway bart. of Bod- rhyddan. It fell afterwards to Sir Thomas Longue- cille, by marriage with a daughter of Sir John Conivay, and was after that sold to John Humher- ■ston esq. and by him to Sir Watkin Williams Wyini bart. The church of Wrexham is the glory, not only Church. of the place, but of North Wales. The inside of the cliurch is very spacious ; and consists of a nave, two ailes, and a chancel. Above the pillars is " DagdaU Baroa. i. 82. ° Itia. v. ?A. 378 WREXHAM. abundance of grotesque carving, in ridicule of the regular clergy, and the female religious, abbesses and nuns; and over the arches of the nave, are many of the arms of the old British and Saxon Tombs. princes. The tombs are numerous. The most antient is of a knight all armed: at his feet is a dog, and beyond that a dragon, whose tail termi- nates in a serpent's head. On his shield is a lion rampant. Around is an inscription; but all I could make out was Hie jacet ''' '"" '"' '"" "" ''• '" "' ^^' * ap HoweP. This had been dug up, and is now reared against the steeple. That of Hugh Bellot vicar of Gresford, and afterwards bishop of Bangor and of Chester, is the next. He lies in his robes recumbent, near the altar. It was his request to be interred in the parish where he died. His death happened at Berse, near this town, in 1596. His funeral was celebrated at Cliestcr, and his body deposited here. It is reported that he had so strict a veneration for the celibacy of the priesthood, as never to permit a woman to inhabit or lie in his house'^. Almost opposite the prelate is a magnificent monument, in memory of Mrs. Mary Middleton,. daughter of Sir Richwxl Middleton of Chirk castle\ p The letters are KEH. (or R) EVEHIRE. 1 Willis's Cathedr. i. 332. ^ She died Ap-il 8th, 1747, aged 59. WREXHAM. 37^ She is represented rising out of her tomb in all the fullness of youth and beauty. She died a very withered woman; but I like the thought of the sculptor, allusive to the sublime passage in the burial service: Tlte trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall he raised incorruptible, and we shall he changed. Above is a shattered pyramid, and, Avhat might have been well excused, the gross re- presentation of the angelic beings sounding the awakening- call. In the corner of one aile is a small but elegant monument of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Middleton, and his wife Arabella Hacker, by Roubiliac. Their faces are in profile on a medallion, with a curtain lightly hanging on one side. Among the epitaphs are some to every taste. That to a worthy usher, my earliest instructor, in the school of this town, merits preservation. Febr. 28, 1743, obiit Rev. GuLiEL. Lewis, Vir eruditus, afFabilis, et benevokis, Qui nil turpe vel in se admisit Vel fovit in aliis. That in the church-yard, on Elihu Yale of Plas Gronw esq. near Erddig, expresses an uncommon Tariety of fortune : Born in Aiaerica, in Europe bred, ) In Afric travell'd, and in Asia wed, ^ Where long be liv'd, and tbriv'd; at Loixdon dead. \ 3S0 WREXHAM. Much good, some ill, he did; so hope all's even, And that his soul, through mercy's gone to heaven. You that survive, and read, take care For this most certain exit to prepare: For only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. He was interred July 2 2d, 1721. He bestowed on the church the altar-piece, with the picture of the institution of the sacrament, which he brought from Rome; also the picture of king Dacid. He had been governor of Madras, and most probably a very arbitrary one, for he hanged liis groom for riding out with his horse, for two or three days to take the air, without his leave : for which Yale suf- fered severely in England\ He married a Jero- nima de Paibia, who, with her only son Charles Yale, hes buried at the Ca2:>e of Good IIope\ » Jlarris's Coll. Voy. i. 07. * Their epitaph, as copied by the late Governor Lotea, runs thus: Hie jacet in tumulo Carolus Yale, _ filius IJomini Yale, quonda gubernator Ifadrassapatamue, nee non jERONiMyE de Paibia, juvenis admodum inclytus vii*- -tute, et etiam elegans, unigeni- -tus sua3 matris, et sui patris fili- -us unions: Vivens ab omnibus amatus, nunc mortuus deplo- -ratus: natus fuit in Madran- -sapatamia, et hie obiit Jan''J vicesimo tertio, anno retatis su;e vicesimo secundo, aunoque Domini Vi-^ WREXHAM. 3M Of the following the first is simple; the second, what the Spectator calls light, hut nervous; and the third informs you, that the deceased had lived, but not that he died. Here lies a churchwardea A choyce flower iu that garden, Joseph Critchley by name, Who lived in good fame : Being gone to his rest, Without doubt he is blest. Died loth of MarcJi 1G7;5— 4. Here lies interr'd beneath these stones. The beard, the flesh, and eke the bones, Of Wrexham clerk, old Daniel Jones. 1GG8. Here lies John Shore, ' . I say no more; Who was alive In sixty-tive. October 9th. Ox the outside of the church is a great variety of ludicrous and gross sculpture. The steeple is a Steeple, fine tower, richly ornamented on three sides with rows of saints placed in rich gothic niches. Among them is St. Giles, the patron saint of the church, with the hind which miraculously nourished him in the desert. At each corner is a light turret witli a winding stair-case, twenty-four feet high: Sepulta etiam est liic mater ejus jERONIJtA DE PaIBIA, quce pro amore sui filii reli- ([uit Tndiam, ut cum illo hie jaceret. 3S2 WREXHAM. the whole height of the steeple is a hundred and thirty-five feet. Two casualties . are recorded to have befallen this building. The steeple was blown down on St. Catherine's day, 1331; and the church was burnt about the year 1457. In order to rebuild it, an indulgence of forty days, for five years, was granted to every contributor to so pious a work. It was finished a little before the year 1472; and, accord- ing to an account I received from a friend, was in that year glazed with glass from Normandy. The steeple, as appears by a date on it, was not finished till 150G. The fine brazen eagle, which serves as a reading-desk, was the gift of John ap Gryffijdd ap Dafijdd of Ystivan, in this neigh- borhood, in the year 1524. Its price was six pounds". The church is a vicarage, formerly an impro- priation, belonging to the abbey of Valle Crucis; but on a dispute between ^;i{a«, the second bishop of St. Asaph, was restored to the see\ This great cure is assisted by two chapels; Minera, or Mwyn clawdd, the Mine upon the ditch, from that of Ojfa running by it: this is a rich mineral tract, in the mountanous part of the parish. The other " Ilahton MSS. ^ See the accouat of Valle Crucis, iu the further progress of this work. WEEXHAM. 38-* o •chapel is that of Berse, or Bersham, a recent foundation. The free-school is endowed with ten pounds a year, paid by the mayor of Chester, being the be- quest of Valentine Broughton, alderman of that city, for the instruction of twelve boys. The western part of this parish is hilly and mineral. Part of the mines on the waste are the :mines. property of lord Grosvenov, and some belong to the corporation of Chester. Brijmho, another township on the heights, produces coal. In this place the inhabitants of Holt had, by the charter granted to them in 1410, by Thomas earl of Arun- del, the liberty of digging for turf and coals. The house of Bri/mho is a good antient seat, once the property of the Griffiths; then, by marriage, of the Claytons of Shropshire; and at present of AsJiton Smith esq. in right of his mother, youngest daugh- ter of Mr. Clayton. The far greater part of the parish is either flat, or composed of gentle risings, extremely fertile and pleasant, inhabited by a numerous gentry, who still preserve the character left of their predecessors, by honest Churchyard, the simple swan of the reign of Elizaheth. Tbeye are the joye aud gladuesse of the poore, That dayly feede the hungrie at their doore: In any soyle where gentlemen are found, Some house is kept, and bountie doth abound. 3S4 ACTOX. CHANCELLOR JEFFRIES. Fkom Wrexham I made an excursion to Gi'es- AcTON. /ore?, and on my road called at Acton, the seat of my good friend Ellis Yonge esq. by purchase from the trustees of the late John Robinson o{GwersiH,(^) esq^. This place was formerly the property of the Jeffrtes, a race that, after running uncontaminated from an antient stock'', had the disgrace of produc- Jeffries, ing m the last century LTeorge Jeffries, chancellor of England; a man of first-rate abilities in his- profession, but of a heart subservient to the worst of actions. His portrait" is a fine full-length, in his baron's robes, painted by Sir God/re}/ Kneller. Charles II. sat to this great painter; who survived to draw George I. and to receive from him the dignity of baronet. Jeff)'ies was sixth son of (1) Johii Robinson, grandson of the Colonel of that name, married the eldest daughter of Sir Griffith Jeffreys, of Acton, the nephew of the Chancellor. Sir Griffith, who died in 1693, left a son Robert, who died young, and three daughters, viz. Elizabeth, the wife of John Robiuson; Margaret, who died unmarried, and Frances, the wife of Philip Egerton, of Oulton. Mr. and Mrs. Egerton had no children, and Acton thus became the property of the Robinson'^. I^ady Doro- thij, the widow of Sir Griffitit, survived her husband many years. She was a daughter of Robert Plcydell, of Ilolyrood Amneif, in Glou- cestershire, Her will contains several charitable bei^uests in favour of Wrexham, and other parishes, where she is still remembered as '^Dame Dorothy Jeffrey s^ t.p. y Acton Park was purchased in 1785 from Mr. Yonge's trustees, by Sir Foster Cunliff'e bart. who has enlarged the house and embel- lished the grounds with distinguished taste and judgement. Ed. '■ From Kynric ap Rhiwallon, great grandson of Tudor Trevor. * This portrait and that of his brother are removed to Erddig. Ed. CHANCELLOR JEFFRIES. 385 John Jeffries, and Margaret daughter to Sir Tliomas Ireland of Beausey, near Warrington. Here- is preserved a good portrait of the old gen- tleman, in black, sitting: it was drawn in the 8 2d year of his age, m 1690. George had his first education at the free-school at Shrewsburif , from which he Avas removed to that of Westminster. He never had an academic education, but was placed immediately in the inner temple, where he was chiefly supported by his grand-mother. He was never regularly called to the bar. The acci- dent of the plague in the neighborhood of London first introduced him into his profession; for, in 1666, he put on a law-gown, and pleaded at the Kingston assizes, where few counsel chose to at- tend; he from that time acted without any notice being taken of his obstrusion. About this time, he made clandestine addresses to the daughter of a wealthy merchant; in which he was assisted by a young lady, the daughter of a clergyman. The affair was discovered, and the conjidante turned out of doors. Jeffries, with a generosity unknown to him in his prosperous days, took pity and married her. She proved an excellent wife, and lived to see him lord chief justice of England. On her death he married the widow of Mr. Jones of Montgomeryshire, and daughter to Sir Thomas Blodivorth. ** Hist. Shrewsbury, 128. VOL. T. 2 A 386 CHANCELLOR JEFFEIES. His first preferment from the court was that of a Welsh judge. In 1680, he was made chief justice of Chester; and a baronet in 1681. After this, he rose with great rapidity; and, as is well known, fell as suddenly. His conduct, as chan- cellor, was ui)right and able; as a politician, unre- stramed by any principle; devoted to the worst measures of an infatuated court. He was ex- tremely given to tlie bottle; and paid so little re- spect to his character, that one day having drank to excess with the lord treasurer and others, they were going to strip, and get upon a sign-post to drink the king's health, had not they been pre- vented". He died in the tower on the 18th of April 1689, either from hard drinking or a broken heart, and so was preserved from the infamy of public execution. He was buried privately in the tov\rer, by an order from the king to his re- lations. Here is another fine full length of one of his brothers, Sir Thomas Jeffries, a knight of Alcan- tara: and, for the honor of the descendants of Tudor Trevor, from whom the Jeffries have sprung, the proofs of his descent were admired even by the proud Spaniards, among whom he had long resided as consul, at Alicant and Madrid. He had ren- dered himself so acceptable to the Spanish mini- " Reresbi/'s Memoirs, 231.' GRESFORD. CHURCH. 38; stiy, as to be recommended to our court to suc- ceed lord Landsdowne, as British envoy; but the Revolution put a stop to the promotion. He has over his coat a long white cloak, with the cross of the order on it. Anotliei- brother was dean of RocheMer, and died on his road to visit his brother the chancellor, wlien under confinement in tlie tower. Gresford, or Croes-ff'ordd,{^) the road of the Gresford, cross, lies about two miles further. The church is seated on the l)row of a lofty eminence, over a beautiful little valley, which opens into the vast expanse of the vale royal of C/ieshire; and exhi- bits a view of uncommon elegance. The church Church, is extremely handsome; but less ornamented than that of Wrexham, though built in the same reign. On the top of the tower are images of the apostles. On one side, in a niche, is another of Henr)/ VII. The neat reparation of the inside, is owing to the (') The Welsh name which became Gresford was iu full, not Croes- ffordd, but Y Groes-ffordd, tho Cross-road, in which the Welsh article causes the mutation of the initial consonant when the noun happens to be feminine. So in many other cases the Welsh name appears with the softer initial, though the article has been omitted. Hut the country people have not translated the article in this case, as they do not call the place the Gresford, though the neighbouring village is always called the Rosset, for Welsh Y Rhosydd, as 1 aui told. J.R. 38S GRESFOUD. direction and excellent judgment of the reverend Mr. Newcome, the present vicar'l Tombs. Here are two antient monuments: one, much hid by a pew, a flat stone, with a shield and other sculpture. The arms on the shield are three mul- lets on a bend. Tliese shew the deceased to have been one of the later posterity of Ithel ap Ednyfed, whose father had the townships of Grei>ford and Allington bestowed on him for services done to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, in the wars against the Eng- lish. Ithel inherited also Lleprog Faivr, Lleprog Fechan, and Trcfnant in Englefield. Many of his offspring were buried here^ In the north aile is a tomb of a warrior armed in mail. On his shield is a lion rampant: and round the verge. Hie jacet Madoc ap Llewelin ap Gruff. (^) He was of Eyton, Erllsham, and Rhi- 'wabon. He was buried on St. Mathiass day 1331. The Tre- Here are, besides, some mural monuments of the Trevors of Trevahjn. The family was de- ^ Deceased, Ed. ' Salushury Pedigree. Q-) The real name is Griffri. A few years ago on pulling down a wall at Pantiocyn, an old mansion not far from Gresford, several stones were found which had evidently been carried there from a church. One of these is a portion of a tombstone, and has a shield with a lion rampant on it, and the inscription, Hie jacet Griffri, in excellent preservation. This stone has been removed to Gresford Church, where in all probability it was placed originally, t.p. VORS. GRESFORD. 389 scenclecl from that of Brijnkincdt, and possessed this place by the marriage of Richard, fourth son of John Trevor, to Mcdlt, daughter and sole heiress to Jenkin ap Dafydd ap Gryffydd of Ahjnton, i. e, Trevcdyn. In after times, Thoma.^, a second son of the house, and an eminent lawyer, was created baron Trevor of Bromham\ a title now lost in the new creation of viscount Hampden. The first is of John Trevor esq. placed in armour, in a reclin- ing posture, with an inscription in Welsh, on a tablet concealing half his body. It signifies, that he died in London in June 1589; and that his son, Sir Richard, caused his bones to be removed to this place. Sm Richard erected his own monument in 1G38, In the 80lh year of his age, representing himself in armour, kneeling: and his wife Cathe- rine, daughter of Rohert Pideston esq. of EmraJ, by him. The inscription informs us, that it was chiefiy in memory of his lady that he caused this n^emorial to be erected. He served many years in the Irish wars; was governor of Newry, and the counties of Down and Ardmagli; council of the marches, and vice-admiral of North Wales; and lived (as he tells us) to see his children's chil- dren's children. There is another monument to his lady, who is placed kneeling with her five daughters. f Derember 31, 1711. 390 THE KOFTS. Trefalyx. ^t their neighboring seat of Treoahjn, is a sin- gular portrait of Sir Richard, dressed in black. Above hang his arms, with i\\Q words So then: beneath are some medicines, and Noir tlius: alhi- sive to his former and present state. In this parish lived tlie Aylmerx, now extinct. They were descended from Ei/ni/dd ap Giverngwy, one of the fifteen tribes, on whom Bleddyn dp Cyiifijn bestowed great possessions in these parts; amongst others Aylmer, from wliich place, John, one of his descendants, took his surname. A fa- mily of the name of Langford had likewise pro- j)erty in this parish. At the extremity of the lofty slope that impends over the plains, and affords an almost boundless \dew to the north and north-east, is a peninsulated The Rofts, field, called the Rofti^, that formed, in old times, a strong British post. It is defended by three strong dikes and fosses, cut across the narrow isth- mus that connects it to the liigher parts of the parish. On two sides it is inaccessible by reason of tlie steepness of the declivity; and on the fourth, which fronts Cheshire, and is of easier ascent, it had been protected by two or three other ditches, now almost levelled by the plougli. In one corner of this post is a vast exploratory mount. This seems to have been an important station; an out- guard to our country against invaders; wliicli made LOWER GWERSILT. 391 an artilicial elevation quite necessary, in order to observe the motions of an enemy. It lies, I think in the manor of Merford; which, with that of IIoi'seli/,Q) was by act of parlement, in the reign of Henry VIII. flung into the county of Flint; but whether they extend to the parish of Hope, in Flintshire, or are surrounded by DejihigJishirc^ I am uncertain. In the neighbourhood of Gresford, stood the Lower GiversiU,C-) a house burnt down April the Lower GWERSILT. 20th, 1738, by which the country lost the worthy and respectable family of the Slmherlies, who set- tled there soon after the restoration. They were originally of Sliaherhj in Lancashire, but removed to this place almost immediately on the return of the royal family. Colonel (aftewards Sir Jeffry) ShaJcerly Avas a distinguished loyalist, and had the command of a regiment of horse under Charles I. During his service ho contracted a great friendshij) wth colonel Rohinson, owner of the Upper Gwer- silt; which induced him, soon after the year 1G60, to purchase this estate from ca})tain Sutton, an old (') Mcr/orU and Jlosdcy— not Horfcely — are surrounded by Dcn^ highshire. T.r, (2) Gwcrsilt is more usually written Gwersyllt; it is one of tlio forms of a word which means a camp, the more common one being gwersyll, with the t discarded or assimilated. J.n. 392 UPPER GWERSILT. cavalier, descended IVoni Tudor Trevor, and ruined in the royal cause. This the colonel did, not only to re-place a considerable estate he had been obli- ged to sell in Kent, in support of the cause, but to be near his friend and fellow -soldier. No men- tion is made of him in any of the histories of our civil commotions, notwithstanding he was engaged in most of the actions of any note. The account of v/hat preceded the battle of liowton- Heath, near Chester, is extremely curious, and merits preserva- tion; which I deliver in the Appendix ^ in the manner I received it, by the favor of his grandson, the late Peter Shakerlen, esq. Upper Just above the Lower stands the Upper Giver- GWERSILT. -^ *■ silt, the seat of John Cawley Humherston Cawley esq'. The views, from the grounds, of the Hope mountains, and Caergivrle castle, are very fine; and the walks beneath, by the side of the Alyii, are singularly romantic and beautiful. This es- tate belonged to colonel Rohinson, a distinguished royalist, who on the death of Charles I. was obliged to fly the country. He left his house in a most ruinous condition; but on the restoration returned and repossessed himself of it, and had ^ Appendix, Xo, IV. « Sold by him to Atherston esq. Ed. MARCHWIEL. 393 the satisfaction of finding it well rebuilt by some usurping hand''. I RETURNED through Wrexhcun, and visited the Marchwiel. small church of Marchwiel, about three miles dis- tant from the town. In it is a small eleefant mo- nument, in memory of Miss Yoi-kc of Erddig, who, in the early spring, and opening into bloom, was snatched away in 1770, in her sixteenth year. Contemplation, in form of a female figure, in a loose dress and clasped hands, hangs sorrowing over a rose bush, a bud of which, expressive of the subject, is fallen within the circle of a serpent denoting eternity. Marchwiei.-iiall lies at a small distance from the church. It was long possessed by a younger branch of the Broughtons o^ Brouglitoii. Just 1)e- fore the restoration, Edward Brougliton, esq. hap- pened to be confined in the Gate-Jiouse for his loyalty. He fell in love with the daughter of the keeper, one Wike, and bound himself to her by a bond' of the most uncommon imprecations. He married her, and dying without issue, bequeathed his estate to his wife's brother, the descendants of whom enjoyed it till within these twenty years. ^ Sou the culuucr^ cpitapli iu the AppcudiA, Xu. \'. ' Seu Appendix, No. VI. 3D4 LLANDYSILIO. Fkom hence I returned by the same road to my quarters at Llangollen. In the morning I took a ride to view the coun- try that hes to the south-west. The road lay on the same side of the river with the town : I as- cended a hill cloathed in many parts with birch. From the summit was a most elegant view ; one way, of the antient castle on its conic hill, and the mural ranges of the Glisseg rocks in various tiers behind. Beneath, on the other side, lies the ^^'lio^''^' liouse of Llandysilio, the seat of Thomas Jones esq. in a pretty vale, watered by the Dee, that winds along the bottom, after passing between two rocky promontories, that barely give it a channel. The former possessors of Llandysilio were the Cwpers or Cuppers, styled even so early as the time of Henry II. the antient Cuppers of the North''', who had settlements in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Shropshire. One of them pur- chased this estate, and his daughter and sole heiress conveyed it into the present family, by marriage with Mr. Jones, then of Llanhothian in the county of Montgomery. Chuhch. The church is dedicated to St. Tysilio, prince oi' Fowys, Hon of Brochivel Ysgithrog, hy Arddun ^ Guilder A Pediyrcc at Llandijsilio. YALE. 395 Benasgcll, or Arcldim with the winged head, daughter of St. Pabo post Pnjdain, or the pillar of Britain. This parish is in the hundred of Yale ; ^'^^e. which contains, besides, those of Bryn Eglwys, Llandegia, Llanarmon, and Llanferres. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. DEC 2 9 1965 INTERLIBRARY FOUR vtJEfi n^oM NON-RENEWABLE . ^ LOAMS m (? Ar.'i 4 Oh htcw« . BAY 18 IfeiC 7 1990 OKION '^ idgo 4 :.. ill 2 c Form L9-50m-7,'54 (5990) 444 WTf Illljllll y \ SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY See Spine for Barcode Number ^tTw'a.S i . "t:. V^**Ki 1.