i for tie foKndingvf aCo&gefmtt/ifa Colony" • E*HI3IBJfflBr • ¦^n-kfllp i®ll§f§§ 'Wri'ftfppi%P .. -¦?¦.-:¦'.-'¦¦'¦ '-; HWU~ --®- fiiiH' ytm rnni A 4. C^8 WkSSL •'; WW % WttmMmamm Wy,m8i I ¦IPm^^pfiJHKSlnSflHBIHl #^£r pinj}? Hep weed- sculp . THOMAS PEIWAST ESQ1 Fu3flzshe& Jime> r fzSu?. bp White k Ge. bo. TOURS IN WALES, BY THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ. WITH NOTES. VOL. I. LONDON; PRINTED FOR WILKIE AND ROBINSON; J. NUNNJ WHITE AND COCHRANE; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME; VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE J CADELL AND DAVIES ; J. HARDING ; J. RICHARDSON J J. BOOTH; J. MAWMAN J AND J. JOHNSON AND CO. 1810. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE AUTHOR, REFERRING TO THE FIRST I^ART. XHESE 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 vo lume, the wild and romantic scenery will be pre sented, intermixed with the rich valleys so fre quently interspersed. To which will be added an Appendix, containing the subjects referred to in this volume, with variety of other matter. I im plore 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 Denbighshire, and all parts of the four remaining counties of our principality, are still to be de scribed. 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. vi ADVERTISEMENT. Among the gentlemen I am chiefly indebted to for information respecting the present work, I cannot pass unthanked, Philip Yorke Esq; of Erddig* ; John Mytton Esq; oi Halston]- ; Thomas Mostyn Esq; of the house of Trelacre * ; Peter Davies Esq; of Broughton; Keniuck Eyton Esq; of Eytonf; Paul Panton Esq; of Bagilt*; Lloyd Ken yon Esq; of Gredingt on* ; Mr. Roger Ken yon, of Cefn* ; To Owen 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 Fron, I am highly obliged for his poetical trans lations, marked R. W., and for the elegant version of the ode on Owen Glyndzvr, 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 com merce of that city. * This mark denotes those who have died since the publi cation of the last edition of this Tour. Ed. t Now deceased. ADVERTISEMENT. The reverend Mr. Edwards* rector of Llan- Jechan, favored me with some excellent accounts of the parishes of Oswestry, Sellatyn, and Hope. I received several historical facts respecting the parish of Whittington, from the reverend Mr. Roberts *, rector 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 Caer- tvys, my worthy and constant attendant in all my excursions, was most severely] felt and most sincerely lamented. None equalled him for variety of information, winch his great know ledge 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 flatter ing the living) I found an alleviation of my loss in the acquaintance of the reverend Henry Parry, a cheerful and amiable companion, endowed- with much knowledge of the history of our country, and with much classical read ing. I speak with gratitude of the goodness of our worthy prelate in attending to my recom mendation of Mr. Parry to the vicarage of viii ADVERTISEMENT. " Llanasaph, one, who by his mirthful turn, and " innocent conviviality, often soothed the waning " evening of my life*." Mr. Wilkinson!, painter in Chester, obliged me with many materials relative to that city. To Mr. CalverlyI, 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 performances of a worthy servant whom I keep for that purpose. The candid will excuse any little imperfections they may find in them ; as they are the works of an untaught 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 purchase of the late publica tions of the admirable Mr. Paul Sandby, in whose labours fidelity and elegance are united. * This additional paragraph was probably written by Mr. Pennant in 1798, the year in which his valuable life ter minated. The prelate to whom he expresses his obligation was the amiable Levis Bagot. Ed. THOMAS PENNANT. Downing, February 1, 1778. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE AUTHOR, referring to the second part. J_ HIS journey is the continuation of my Tour in Wales. Another part will appear with all con venient speed, and comprehend the remainder of Caernarvonshire, 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 princi pality; for indolence, the forerunner of age, be gins to check every new attempt. This book contains a journey from my own house to the summit of Snowdon, 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. ADVERTISEMENT. I thank my friends for variety of information, and must present my particular acknowledge ments to Sir John Sebright, baronet, for his liberal communication of several of the late Mr. Edward Llwyd's manuscripts, which have flung great light on several parts of our history. THOMAS PENNANT. Downing, March I, 1?81. ADVERTISEMENT OF THE EDITOR. AFTER an interval of more than thirty years from the time of its first publication, a new edition of Mr. Pennanfs Tour in Wales is now offered to the world, with some additions by its lament ed and admirable author. To these are sub joined 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 observations : 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 escaped his notice, and of the vast improvements which have of late years taken place in the principality. The Editor feels it a duty to state, that he has taken the liberty of omitting a few pas- xii ADVERTISEMENT. sages which he was satisfied the author, from his known candour and regard for accuracy, would have expunged ; he has also, with the utmost 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 Mr. Pennant com posed whatever he wrote. In other respects the original Tour has been faithfully reprinted. The engravings are after the drawings of the same ingenious artist, the untaught Moses Grif fith, whose pencil embellished Mr. Pennanfs 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 talents were ever dedicated to the amusement, the instruction, the service of his fellow-creatures ! May 10, isio. THE EDITOR. ITINERARY. VOLUME I. Llangellen fage 379 Rhiwabon 386 PART I. Gresford 408 Marchwiel 413 DowningBasingwerk Page 5 32 LlangollenLlandysilio 414415 Holywell 41 > Flint 58 — . a— Halkin 100 Northop 113 Hawarden 122 vol. n. Chester 145 Farndon 271 Valle Crucis S Holt 272 Bwlch y Rhiw Velyn 12 Bangor 299 Llandegla 15 Overton 304 Llanarmon 17 Ellesmere 309 Llanferres 28 Whittington .321 Mold 31 Oswestry 333 Caergwrle 40 Sellatyn «i 360 Kilken 59 Chirk 364 Caerwys 77 XIV ITINERARY. Page Page PART II. Pistil! Cain - 255 Castell Prysor - 259 Downing - 109 Barmouth - 260 Newmarket - Ill Corsegydol - 268 Llanasaph 112 Drws Arduddwy - 272 Prestatyn - 115 Cwm Bychan - 275 Diserth - 116 Harlech - 282 Rhuddlan - 129 Llyn Tegwyn - 290 St. Asaph - 132 Tan y Bwtch - 291 Tremeirchion - 139 Festiniog - 393 Bod fari - 143 Llyn Conwy - 296 Denbigh - 157 Yspytty - 297 Henllan - 176 Falls of the Conwy - 299 Llansannan - 179 Bettws y Coed - 300 Gwytherin - ibid. Pont y Pair -. 310 Denbigh - 184 Dolwyddelan castle - 302 Llanrhaiadr - ibid. Rhaiadr y Wenol - 305 Ruthin - 187 Llanrwst - 309 Llanruth - 197 Trefriw - 315 Corwen - 201 Snowdonia Cynwydd - 204 Llyn Geirionydd - 316 Llandrillo - 296 Capel Curig - 320 Llandderfel - 207 Glyder Bach - - 321 Bala - 210 Llyn Ogwen - 323 Kerrig y Druidion - 218 Cwm Idwal - 324 Llanuwchllyn 221 Glyder Fawr - 325. Llan y Mowddwy - 227 Llyn y Cwn - 327 Mallwyd - 231 Nant Beris 328 Dolgelleu - 237 Snowdon 332 Cader Idris - 238 Gorphwysfa - 347 Towyn - 245 Cwm Dyli - 348 Tai y Llyn - 247 Llyn Dyli - 348 Llanelltyd - 251 Llyn Llydaw - ibid. Cymmer abbey - 252 Ffynnon Las - 349 Nant Gwynan Dinas Emris - Bedd Kelert Llyn Cawellyn y Dywarchen Drws y Coed Bedd Kelert - Pont Aberglas Lyn Traeth Mawr Penmorfa Criekaeth PwllheliAberdaron Bardscye isle - Nefyn Tre'r Caeri ClynnogDinas Dinlle Caernarvon VOL. III. Anglesey Newborough Llanddwyn AberfFrawLlanidan Tre'r Dryw Moel y Don Porthaethwy Beaumaris ITINERARY. Page 350 Priestholm Isle 351 Plasgwyn 354 Llan Jestyn 358 * Penmynnydd ibid. Tregarnedd - 359 Parys Mountain 360 Amlwch 361 The Skerries 363 Holyhead 359 Llantrissant 374 Bangor 377 Penrhyn castle 380 Llandegai ibid. Carnedd Llewelyn 389 Carnedd Dafydd 393 Aber 396 Penmaenmawr 401 Conwy 403 Caer Hen Bodscallan Llandudno - \ Llandrillo Abergeleu Rhuddlan 1 ibid. 5 7 8 1 10 16 Downing 23 Ruthin 26 Corwen PART III. Page 38 43454651 59 67 69 7278 80 87 100 105 107 110 113 122 136 139 149153 115 165 169 107 171 XVI ITINEh Page „AKY. Page Milltir Gerrig 171 Llanidlos - 196 Llangynog 172 Bettws - 198 Pennant Melangell - 174 Chirbury - 200 Pistill Rhaiadr 177 Montgomery - 202 Llanfyllin 178 Powys castle 209 Meifod 179 Welsh Pool - 214 Mathrafal 183 Llanymynach - 216 Cregynnog 184 Shrawardine - 227 Newtown 189 Shrewsbury - 232 Carno 194 Longnor - 265 Llandinam 195 Caer Caradoc - 271 LIST OF PLATES. VOL. L I. Portrait of Thomas Pennant Esq. before the title. II. Maen Achwynfan - Page 18 III. The Whiff - 29 IV. St. Wenefrede's well and chapel - 41 V. Roman antiquities - 93 VI. Roman antiquities - 97 VII. Tombs at Northop - 114 VIII. Part of Haw arden castle - 132 IX. Plan of Hawarden castle - 136 X. Roman gate at Chester * • 151 XI. Altars found at Chester - 156 XII. Chester castle in 1777 - 213 XIII. Holt castle in 1610 - 273 XIV. Plan of Holt castle - 274 XV. Coffin lids found at BaNgor - 302 XVI. The Angola vulture a 307 XVII. Old Oswestry - 347 VOL. II. XVIIL Pistill Mawddach (described p. 225) Frontispiece XIX. Pillar of Eliseg - - Page 7 XX. Frontispiece to Part II. - - 107 Pistill Caen (described p. 255) vol. i. b LIST OF PLATES. XXI. Cader Idris XXII. Pass of Drws Arduddwy XXIII. Harlech castle ... 282 XXIV. Torques - - - 286 XXV. Pulpit Hugh : - - 293 XXVI. Falls of the Conwy - " 2" XXVII. Snowdon from Capel Curig 320 XXVIII. Trevaen, andparfof LlynOgwen - 322 XXIX. Nantberris, with part of the Glyder and Crib Goctf , - 328 XXX. Snowdon from Cwm y Glo - 332 XXXI. LlynGv^ynaw - - - 350 XXXLT. Llyn Dinas and Moel Hedog > - '351 VOL. III. ,i XXXIII. Llanfair church and Plasnewydd (described p. 22) , . Frontispiece XXXIV. Porthaethwy ferry - . T - ,. v23 XXXV.~ Puffin Awk - .-'"' - ' .-40 XXXVI. Holyhead church - -i -.,..; 72 XXXVII. Bangor cathedral .-,. ,.,-.. 80 XXXVIII. Plan of Conwy town and castle , . -,. -, , 123 XXXIX. Part of Conwy castle - ... , 1^5 XL. Powys castle in 1777 - . - ,209 XLI. Old Welsh bridge at Shrewsbury . , 243 XLII. Oratory at Shrewsbury - . , *-24&- ' XLIII. Porbeagle, and Beaumaris sharks - 424 XLIV. Plan of Kiln at Parys mine 442 LIST OF ERRATA, &c. VOL. I. Page 49, 1. 8, " in the plate ;" refers to plate vi. vol. i. of the former edition. Page 276, 1. 19, for gran-mother, read grandmother. Page 281, 1. 2, for Gryffyd, read Gryffydd. Page 293, 1. 4, Reference to note (a) should be transferred to line 5. — — , 1. 22, and p. 294, 1. 7, for Jckworth, read Ickworlh. Page 384, note, 1. \,far mountains Meirioneddshire, read mountains in, &e. VOL. II. Page 2, note (b) 1. \,for inserted Appendix, read inserted in the, &c. Page 40, 1. 10, page 51, 1. 8, 9, 14, for Dqfidd, read Dafydd. Page 45, 1. 10, for Sir John Gwillim, read Sir St. John Givittim. Page 46, 1. 3, for them arriage, read the marriage. Page 55, 1. 24, for torror, read terror. Page 177- Addition to note (q). On the death of Mr. Leo, in March 1810, the Llanerch estates reverted to the family which had so long possessed them, most happy in its representative the reverend Whitehall Davies. Page 181, 1. 25. The " supplemental plates" here referred to, were, on examination, found too much worn to supply impressions for this work. Page 197, note (x) 1. 3, for Crriviat, read Ereiviat. Page 206, 1. 11, for Milltir Yerrig, read Millter Gerrig. PART I. FROM DOWNING THROUGH CHESTER, HOLT, BANGOR, OVERTON, ELLESMERE, , ' WHITTINGTON, OSWESTRY, CHIRK, LLANGOLLEN, WREXHAM, GLYNDUWRDWY, LLANARMON, MOLD, AND CAERWIS TO DOWNING. VOL. I. B THE, ':¦*'¦ TOUR IN NORTH WALES, MDCCLXX.III. A 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 slaughter of their legions \ 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. When 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 Dcva, or the mo dern Dee, and by another river of the name of Dyfib. The one flows into the Irish sea below Chester, the other into the same sea on the borders of Cardiganshire. * Vita Agricola. k Mr. Llwyd'm Camden II. 778. B2 OF WALES. FLINTSHIRE. The spirit which the people shewed at the be ginning, did not desert them to the last. Notwith 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 rocns, 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 was but temporary ; for we possessed Chester, the capital of the Cornavii, 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 English 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 Flint. 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 Ptolemy. The land rises suddenly from the shore in fine 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, iilled 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 places, raises more than is sufficient for, the use of the inhabitants. It is extremely populous ; and in the mineral parts cornposed of a mixed people, whose fathers and grandfathers, ihad resorted here for the sake of employ out of the English mine counties ; many of whose children^ born of Welsh 6 - CEANGI. mothers, have quite lost the language of their fathers. A lofty range of mountains rises on the Avest, and forms a bold frontier. Our county is watered by several small rivers; such as the Alyn, the Terrig; and the Wheler ; part of its western boundary by the Clwyd >• and Maelor, a disjoined part of the county, by the-Dee. We are ignorant of the classical name of this little province. The . Ordovicese. of which, all to the west of Cheshire was a part, Were subdivided in the time of the Romans, in all probability, as the rest of the country was. •• They had Reguli, or Lords, who ruled 'over little districts, and united under' a common leader whentheexigencies of the time required. These factions weakened the state, separated its interest, and facilitated its conquest by the first invaders: : ,.'¦-. 1 The names of these districts are. now unknown. Gwyneiid As the most antient we are acquainted with for the country of North Wales... The por tion I inhabit was^ called Tegangle, which con> tprehends the three modern hundreds of Coleshill^ Prestatyn, and Rhuddhm - The narrie is preserved in the mouotanous parts of Whitefwa\ and- of some other parishes, to this day called .Mynydd Tegang. I reject the 'translation of Tegengle into •Fair 3ngMnd, as- a mongrel compound. The LANGUAGE. word is of a rnuch more antient date; it being ^derived from Cangi or Ceangi,, a set *)f people, according -to the learned Baxter, belonging to every British nation; who . attended. , the herds aad resided with them in different graaiqg grounds at different times of the year,. The neighbouring: Cornami had their Ceangi who Wintered in Wiral, and took their, summer residence- m ?T,egangle;: a ivord to be properly derived onthat account from Teg, fair; Cang, the nanae of the people; and Lk, a .place: p i Tx» corroborate; which; at ithis very day is a plain in tbe parashraf . Cderjwys, al<5a»tsif ithe old Tegangle, adjdkni^JtQelilias m^ retains the title, of Maesican hwvoa\ fifr th?^ijaifi eflthe hundred «urnrai£ir i residepetes.'A $fai5$?iforea7i son I presume to daffefc»rf»om3>Mi\ Bastffloffl ihift notion of tthe summer. -reawtenoe of rtfeetfe Qsd^tj He ;pkces : it near . the i GamgeEnlbnum; iP/PfftntffltQn num, or, Bmicn y pwlio.headniv CmrmxiiMshi^ }. but those were the Cangi^\h^ ih!dsmms\ ^^ of the Cornatii. )-.¦ ¦.> country pre-? served its own lalnguagei/ and the conqiirtrojjs e,v$en deigned- to adopt the names of the British towns ajjd people, latinizing them, from the ;original words. Thus Londinium from Lundein.c, i. e. Llon.g c Another 'derivation,- namely, LLYN-Ditf, or 'the' ciiy'on LANGUAGE. din or dinas, the city of ships d, from its con siderable commerce; Deva from its situation on the river Deva'; Dunmonii from Dun-mwyn, or the hill of ore; Brigantes from Brig, choice or chief men; Coritani, or rather Coitani, from Coed, a wbodf. On the retreat of their Ro man masters, the latinized names were dropped, ex cept in a very few instances, and their own re sumed; but the rest of the Briton^, who sub mitted to the Saxon yoke, universally received with it the names of places from their conquerors. The whole of Flintshire was subdued1 by the Saxons immediately after the taking of Chester by Egbert. ' It was an open country, and, unlike the rest of Nopth 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 of Pennard Ldg, or Halawg ; Mold by that of Wyddgryg; and Hope by that of Estyn; which (with the con tinuance of our language to this day) proves that even at that time it mixed but little with that of the lake, is given by Mr. Pennant, in his Account of London, p. 14. Ed. .. * Camden I. 370. « Or Dyfi. f Mr. Pegge. DOOMSDAY BOOK. u our conquerors. Numbers of Saxons were settled among us, who held their lands from the Mercian governors or earls : we find in the Doomsday book many of the names of those who had possessions in this tract ; such as Ulbert, Osmer, and Elmer. The first notice of any subdivision of the tract Doomsday called Flintshire, appears in the Doomsday book. When that survey was taken, it was made a part of Cheshire, to which it was considered as an ap pendage, by conquest. Old records affirm, that the county of ¥ lint appertaineth to the dignity of the szvord of Chester. It was soon subdued by Robert de Rothelent, commander in chief under Hugh Lupus, who carried his arms far into Wales; and secured his conquests in the marches by build ing, or rather by adding new works to the castle of Rhuddland, which he had wrested from one of our princes. The tract from Chester to the Clwyd was then considered as a hundred of Cheshire, and called in the Doomsday book Atiscros hundred. Num bers of places still existing are mentioned in it, disguised often by the Norman spelling. White ford, the place in question, is called Widford; no tice is also taken of some of the present townships, such as Tre-mostyn, Tre-bychton, and Merton, under the names of Mostone, Putecaine, and Mereione, Mostone was then a pbugh-land, terra 10 WHITEFORD PARISH. miius Caruece. It had on it four villeyns and eight boors, bordariis ; a wood a league long, and forty perches, perticatce, broad, which was valued at twenty shillings. Widford is joined with Putecaine : the first seems to have ^comprehended our present Trelan, or the place where the church village now stands. These had* one plough-land, two villeyns, and twelve others ' between men arid maidservants, fisheries, and a wood half a mile h long anrb forty perches broad:; the value was \the same with that of Mostone. i'3 ¦,;¦', With Meretone is joined the third part of Wid ford ; arid the Berewicha or hamlet ofCkldecote, the last at present a township of the > parish of Holywell. In this division was a presbyter, ¦ a church, and six; villeyns. Here Was a wood $Vklilf a mile long and twenty perches broad. OfiefjCfcjfofe held these of the earl. At the time of the conquest, all this tract of Flintshire, which was called 'by the Saxons) Engle- field, andafterwards by the Nortnans, Aii$cros;w3k * . .... 8 Borda signifies a cottage, with a small piece of land an nexed, held by the service of finding for the lord, poultry, eggs, &c. for his bierdd, or table. h For an explanation of leuca, see Dugdale's WarwicksMfe, I. 46. Spelman's Gloss. 355.6. WHITEFORD PARISH. 11 in possession of Edwin, the last earl of Menem ;¦ and on his defeat and forfeiture, was bestowed, with' the earldom of Chester, ou Hugh Lupus. The whole> was in a manner depopulated and re duced to a waste, I imagine by the two inroads* made into thosepartslfoy Harold, at the. command of Edzvard the confessor, to revenge on Gryffydd ap Llewelyn the insult offered himj, by -giving pro tection to Algar, one of ihis^rebellious; subjects1. •., It is observable, that- there nwerfij onlyjseyen churches at that time, in the whole hundred: 1. Haordine, the present Hazvarden ; % Widford; 3. Bissard, E&tmuaral,, and. ^Riiagor ;*4. Inglt- ctqft, Brunfar, and yAlehene ; 5. Danfrand,: Cal- ston, and Wesbie ¦; 6. fPfestetone and Raesioch ; and finally, the 7th zX- Roeland ; besides> one that lay waste at Gancarndean, and cWkenescol. Pa rochial "divisions had Inot.yet taken place. Mr. Agard-, a writer in: the latter end of the sixteenth century, remarks,: that! the; .old historians make no mention of either :parishes); p\arslon]%; vicars, incum bents, or curates k • The people ^attended in those days, either the cathedral churches, or the: con ventual : which were served by the prelates or monks, and those s often assisted by presbyters, clerks, and deacons. As piety gained strength, ¦ Powell, 100. k Antiquary Discourses, I. 194. 12 TRE-MOSTYN. other churches, for the conveniency of the devout, were erected by the nobility and men of property, who were desirous of spiritual assistance within their precincts; and to this were owing the churches, which, at the period in question, were so sparingly scattered over the land. The places which enjoyed this advantage had the title of Llan prefixed ; as that of Tre, which signifies primitively a habitation, is to the townships. Tre-mostyn. Thus in the parish of Whiteford is Tre-mostyn\ remarkable for the antient seat of the family of the same name, which acquired it by the marriage of Jevan Vychan, of Pengwern near Llangollen, and of the line of Tudor Tretfor earl of Hereford, with Angharad, heiress of Howel ap Tudor ap Itkel Vychan of Mostyn, in the reign of Richard II. Howel derived his descent from Edwyn lord of Tegengle, or Englefield. His grandfather Ithel was a person of great possessions, at the time of the conquest of the principality, and did homage at Chester, in 1301, to Edward prince of Wales, for his lands at Northop and Mostyn. The great gloomy hall is of very old date, fur- 1 For an ample description of Mostyn, and of whatever relates to this and the adjoining parish, the reader is referred to Mr. Pennant's History of Whiteford and Holywell, >4to. 1796. Ed. TRE-MOSTYN. 13 nished with the high Dais, or elevated upper end, and its long table for the lord and his jovial com panions ; and another on the side, the seat of the inferior partakers of the good cheer. The walls are adorned, in a suitable manner, with antient militia guns, swords, and pikes ; with helmets and breast plates ; with funereal atchievements ; and with a variety of spoils of the chace. A falcon is nailed against the upper end of the room, with .two bells hung to each foot. With these incumbrances it flew from its owner, a gentleman in the county of Angus, on the morning of the twenty-fourth of September 1 77% and was killed near this house on the morning of the twenty-sixth. The precise. time it reached our country is not known ; there fore we are uncertain whether this bird exceeded in swiftness the hawk which flew thirty miles in an hour in pursuit of a woodcock; or that which made a flight out of Westphalia into Prussia in a day : instances recorded m by the learned Sir Thomas Brown. The adjacent kitchen is overlooked by a gallery leading to the antient apartments of the lady of the house, at a period when the odours of the pot and spit were thought no ill savours. At one end of the gallery is a great room, remarkable for a singular event. During the time that Henry m Miscellany Tracts, Tr. V. p. 38. 14 TRE-MOSTYN. earl of Richmond was secretly laying the founda tion of the overthrow of the house of York, he passed concealed from place to place, in order to form an interest among the Welsh, who favoured his cause on account of their respect to his grand father, Owen Tudor, their countryman. While he was at Mostyn, a party attached to Richard III. arrived there to apprehend him. He was then about to dine; but had just time to leap out of a back window, and make his escape through a hole, which to this day is called the King's. Richard ap Howel, then lord of Mostyn, joined. Henry at the battle of Bosworth, and after the victory, received from the king, in token of grati tude for his preservation, the belt and sword he wore on the day: he also pressed Richard greatly to follow him to court ; but he nobly answered, like the Shunamitish woman, " / dwell among " mine ozon people." The sword and belt were preserved in the house till within these few years. It is observable, that none of our historians ac count for a certain period of Henrys life, pre vious to his accession. It is very evident, that he passed the time when he disappeared from Britany in Wales. Many cotemporary bards, by feigned names, record this part of his life, under those of the Lion, the Eagle, and the like, which were to restore the empire to the Britons-: for the TRE-MOSTYN. 15 inspired favourers of the house of Lancaster did not dare to deliver their verses in other than terms allegorical, for fear of the reigning prince. There is little more remarkable about the house than what is \common to others built at different times. Here are two curious portraits; one of Sir Roger Mostyn, knight, with a white beard and locks, in black, with great breeches stuck round the waist-band with points. This piece of magnificence gave rise to a very coarse proverb, applied to inferior people ambitious of acting beyond their station. The other portrait is of his lady, Mary, eldest daughter of Sir John Wynne of Gwedir, baronet. Both are full lengths, dated 1034, and I think painted by Mytens. Here is another picture, not less remarkable for its ridiculous composition, than for the distin guished person painted in it. A kit-cat length of Sir Roger Mostyn, the first baronet ; in a strange long flaxen wig, a breast-plate, buff skirts, and an tique Roman sleeves ; a black holding his helmet; his lady reading, with one hand on a scull ; and by her husband a lap-dog. This gentleman was the most eminent loyalist of our county : raised a regi ment in support of the crown, consisting of fifteen hundred men, in twelve hours time", mostly col- * Whitelock, 78. 16 TRE-MOSTYN. Busts; Library. liers; and garrisoned his house, which, in Sep* tember 1643, was surrendered to the parlement-, ary forces, with four pieces of cannon and some arms °. The busts collected in Italy deserve mention. That of the elder Brutus is particularly fine, as if formed in the instant that the love of his country got the better of paternal affection ; when with a steady voice he was delivering to the lictors his Titus and Tiberius, to receive the reward of their treasons. A beautiful head of a young faun in a Phry* gian bonnet, on a modern female body. A fine head of one of the Cornelii. An Homer, and an Hippocrates. A Seleucus, with two wings fastened to an imperial diadem ; symbols of dis patch and expedition. Two busts in brown ala baster of a male and female faun, with the fiam- meum on their heads: both are of hideous de formity; but well executed. Here are besides a few small monumental marbles, with inscriptions, from Narbonne. In the library' is a most elegant collection of the classics, containing a variety of the most antient and rare editions ; a numerous collection of books relating to the Greek and Roman antiquities, espe- • Whittlock, 78. * Hist, of Whiteford, &c. p. 78. TRE-MOSTYN. 17 cially those which comprehend the medallic history ; a variety of manuscripts, mostly on vellum, and many of them richly illuminated. In a few words, scarcely any private library can boast of so valuable an assemblage ; which remain indisputable evi dences of the taste and judgment of that excellent man, its accomplished founder, the late Sir Thomas Mostyn. The family are besides possessed of other very valuable antiquities ; such as the cake of copper found at Caer-Mn in Caernarvonshire ; the Torques*; discovered near Harlech; and the silver harp which the family had the power of be stowing on the most skilful minstrel, rythmer, or bard, at the Eisteddfodpor assembly held for trials of their several merits. Each of these shall be spoken of in their proper places. Before I quit the house, I must take notice, that Thomas ap Richard ap Howel ap Jevan Vychan, Lord of Mostyn, and his brother Piers, founder of the family of Trelacre, were the first who abridged their name; and that on the follow ing occasion. Rowland Lee, bishop of Lichfield, and president of the marches of Wales, in the reign of Henry VIII. sat at one of the courts on a « This very curious antiquity is engraven in a subsequent volume, with an abridged account of it drawn up by my learned countryman Lhoyd. VOL. 7. c 18 MAEN ACHWYNFAN. Welsh cause, and, wearied with the quantity of ops in the jury, directed that the panel should assume their last. name, or that of; their residence; and that Thomas ap Richard ap Howel ap Jevatk Vychan, should for the future be reduced to the poor dissyllable Mostyn; no doubt to the great mortification of many an antient line. Maen Ach- In the higher part of this township stands the wynfan. curjous crogs cane(i Maen Achwynfan, or the stone of lamentation ; because penances were often finished before such sacred pillars, and concluded with weeping and the usual marks of contri tion : for an example, near Stafford stood one called the weeping cross, a'narae analogous to ours. This is of an elegant form and sculpture : it is twelve feet high, two feet four inches broad at the bottom, and ten inches thick. The base is let into another stone : the top is round, and includes, in raised work, the form of a Greek cross : beneath, about the middle, is another in the form of St. Andreias ; and under that, a naked figure, with a spear in his hand,: close to that, on the side of the cohimniis represented some animal : the rest is covered with very beautiful fret-work, like what may be^ seen on other pillars of antient date in severa| parts of Great Britain. I do not presume (after! the annotator on Camden has given up the point) to attempt a guess at the age, but shall observe, VoU.Fi MjLjEin Anrwmo'AX, GELLL 19 that it must have been previous to the reign of gross superstition among the Welsh, otherwise the sculptor would have employed his chizzel in strik ing out legendary stories, instead of the elegant knots and interlaced work that cover the stone. Those, who suppose it to have been erected in memory of the dead slain in battle on the spot, draw their argument from the number of adjacent tumuli, containing human bones, and sculls often marked with mortal wounds ; but these earthy se pulchres are of more antient times than the elegant sculpture of this pillar will admit. Thi£ likewise (from the crosses) is evidently a Christian monu ment. The former were only in use in Pagan There is likewise, near to it, an antient chapel, Gblli. now a farm-house, called Gellfr, the name of an ad jacent tract This might have relation to the cross : as well as a place: for the performance of divine ser vice belonging to the abbot of Basingwerk, who had a house at no great distance, in one of our town ships still called Tre-r-abbot, or the abbot's habi tation. This tract (mis-spelt by the English, Getely*), with the wood (at that time on it) was granted by Edward I. to the abbot and convent, r Hist, of Whiteford. PI. xii. 2. s Aylqfe's Rotuli Walling, 64, 72, 95. C2 20 TRE-BYCHTON. on the tenth of November, at Westminster, before the death of our last prince. He also gave him power to grub up the wood, which, by the present nakedness of the place, appears to have been done effectually. From the summit of Garreg, a hill in this parish,, the traveller may have an august foresight of the lofty tract of Snowdon, from the crooked Moel Siabod sA. one end, to the towering Pen- maen- mawr at the other : of the vast promontory of Llandudno, and part of the isle of Anglesea, with the great bay of Llanddulas, forming an extensive crescent ; of the estuaries of the Dee and the Mer sey: and to the north (at times) of the isle of Man and the Cumberland Alps, the sure presages of bad weather. Tre-Bych- I will descend now to Tre-Bychton, another of our maritime townships, where stands my pa ternal house', attended with (what was very fre quent in our principality) a summer-house, at a very small distance, and a cellar beneath ; used as a retreat for the jolly owners and their friends, tfl enjoy, remote from the fair, their toasts and noisy merriment., This, and the other lower parts of the parish, are finely wooded with oaks ; which grow so spontaneously, that, was the place depopulated, 1 Hist, of Whiteford, p. 27. Frontispiece. TON. TRE-LAN. MERTON. EDNOWAIN. 21 it would in a very few years relapse into an impe netrable forest. In Tre-lan is the parish-church", dedicated to Tre-lan. Saint ^Mary. The rectory is a sinecure, which, with the vicarage, is in the gift of the Bishop of St. Asaph. The church, I imagine, retains the antient site it had at the time of the conquest. The pre sent building consists of a nave and one aile. The last was built by a Bkddyn Draw, of the house of Mostyn, to whom that part belongs. The two Mertons, Uch-glari and Is-glan, are Merton. adjacent townships. In the reign of Edward I. (before his conquest) the lands of the men of Mer- ton, to the amount of sixteen plough-lands, were taken from them, and bestowed on the abbot and convent of Basingzverk, against the laws of Wales, and the custom of the country; and contrary to the peace between the King and Prince Llewelyn%. This violent act was done by Reginald de GreyY, justice of Chester, probably by connivance of the King, to provoke the Welsh to commit some out rage that would give color to the English to break the truce. In the township of Ednowain was one of the Ednowain. seats of Ednowain Bendew, or Ozven the strong- a Hist, of Whiteford, p. 99, PI- xii. 1. y Dugdale's Baron. I. 713. x Fowl, 360. 22 FOLEBROC. headed, lord of Tegengle in 1079, and one of the fifteen tribes or nobility of North Wales. The Pierces of this parish, now extinct, were descended from him : and several other respectable families, ' mostly extinct at this time, were derived from the same stock. Possibly some account of these tribes may hereafter be given*. Folebroc Folebrog, or Feilebroc, belonged to the monks of Basingwerk, and is mentioned in the confirma tion of the grants to that convent by Henry II. and again in the charters renewed to it by Llewelyn dp Jorwerth, and David ap Llewelyn, princes of North Wales. The monks had a grange on it, and right of pasturage on the mo'untain, in common with the neighboring inhabitants3. The products of this parish are corn of every sort, excepting rye. Little cheese or butter is made for sale, as the grass is chiefly consumed by horses ; for the farmers are greatly employed ifl carrying the minerals of the country : the same may be said of the shire in general. Every cot tager has his potatoe garden, which is a great support; and was a conveniency unknown fifty z Since published in Mr. Pennant's History of the Parishes of Whiteford and Holywell. Ed. a Dugdale's Monast. k 720, 721. COLLIERIES, 23 years ago. The lower parts are well wooded ; and much timber is at times sold to Liverpool and other places, at good prices ; much is also used at home in the mines. The collieries of Mostyn and Bychton have Coal. been worked for a very considerable time ; and in the lastb century supplied Dublin and the east ern side of Ireland with coals. They were disr covered in the township of Mostyn, as early as the time, of Edward I. as appeal's by an extent of that place, in the twenty -third year of his reign c. -They are at present but in a low state ; partly from the rise of the works at Whitehaven, but more from the loss of the channel of the Dee; which in the beginning of this century flowed so close to our shore, that ships of two hundred tons lay under this parish, with their cables twisted round the trees. At present, vessels of sixty or seventy tons can not approach nearer than two miles, the Dee now b The reader is requested throughout the wliole of this work to consider the last century as the seventeenth, the present as the eighteenth. To alter the dates wouJd haw destroyed the originality it has been the wish of the ieditor to preserve. Ed. c Sebright, MS. — This valuable collection of manuscripts, Which had become the property of Sir W. W. Wynri by pur chase, was unfortunately destroyed at a book-binder's, in the fire, which consumed the thestiv olCoweM Garden in 1808. Ed. COLLIERIES. flowing under the opposite shore. Still we load a few vessels for Ireland and some parts of North Wales. Much is also consumed by the neighboring smelting-houses and the inland parts of Denbigh shire. The improvement of land by lime has of late occasioned a great consumption of cOal by the farmer, and by the persons who burn it for sale. The coal d is of different thickness, from three quarters to five yards., The beds dip= from one yard in four to two in three. They immerge be neath the estuary of the Dee; are discovered again on the south side of Wiral in Cheshire, as if corre sponding with some of the Flintshire: they remain as yet lost, on the northern part of the same hun dred; but are found a third time in vast quantities in Lancashire, on the opposite side of the Mersey. Their extent from west to east, in this county; may be reckoned from the parish of Llanasa, through those of Whiteford, Holywell, Flint, Nor- thop, and Hawarden. Our coal is of different .qualities, suited to the variety of demands of- the several sorts of founderies in. the neighborhood. Beds of canal are met with ; inferior indeed in ele gance to those of Lancashire, but greatly coveted by the lime-burners. Sometimes is also found the Peacock-coid of Doctor Plote, remarkable for the * Hist, of Whiteford,p. 133, Ed. e Hist. Staffordshire, 126. COLLIERIES. 25 beauty of its surface, glossed over with the change able brilliancy of the colors ¦ of that beautiful bird. i Coals were known to the Britons before the arrival of the Romans, who had not even a name for them : yet Theophrastus f describes them very accurately, at least three centuries before the time of Ccesar : and even says that they were used by workers in brass.. It is highly probable that the Britons made use of them. It is certain they had a primitive name for this fossil, that of Glo; and as a farther proof, I may add, that a flint-ax, the instrument of the Aborigines of our island, was discovered stuck in certain veins of cOal, ex posed to day in Craig y Pare in Monmouth shire z; and in such a situation as to render it very accessible to the inexperienced natives, who were incapable of pursuing the veins to any great depths. The artless smelters of antient times made use of wood only in their operations, as we find among the reliqu.es of their hearths, as shall be observed hereafter. A very useful species of ash-colored greasy clay is discovered over one of the beds. It resists the fire remarkably well; and has been used with sreat success in the mineral smelting furnaces. ' f In his book on stones. * Ph. Tr. N° 335. p. 500. 26 STONES. Freestone. beds of sandstone and of excellent free-Stone are frequent in the lower parts of the parish, and reach within half a mile of the mountain, when the stratum , changes : first to a blapkish shale, soon dissoluble by exposure to the air; after that to a whitish limestone, or to a hard chert. Both are found in strata of vast thickness : Lime, the first is burnt into excellent lime, and is also used as a flux for lead ores. The common sort Of houses are built with it; for which it is less proper by reason of its excessive dampness at change of weather. In the township of Tre-Mostyn, near tlie shore, is a cliff of a very singular appearance, looking like the semi-vitrified lava of a volcano. The stratum is in front universally changed in its disposition, and run into a horrible mass of red and black, often porous, but in all parts very hard. In it is a hollow, a vein in which was probably lodged the pyritical matter that took fire, and caused tbe phenomenon h. Its fury chiefly raged towards the front, and diminished gradually in the internal part of the bed ; which, at some distance within land, 1 Similar to that which occurred at Charmouth, Phil. Trans. 1761. vol. 32. p. 119: and which is amply described by the Bishop of Llandqff, in his entertaining " Chemical Essays." Ed. ORES. £7 appears only discolored. The strata are of shale and of sandstone of the common sort1. Chert is the petrosilex of the later writers. It Chert. is of a siliceous nature, and is the only stone that resembles flint in our county. The annotator on Cronstedt justly remarks, that the true flint abounds in chalk, which is an absorbent earth, as chert does in tlie neighborhood of limestone, which is also calcareous. As yet, this species of stone has not been found of any use. I suspect, that in case it was burnt and ground, it might prove serviceable in making a coarse stone warek as the nodular flints are in making the finer. The hilly part of our parish has been for a long Ores. succession of years rich in mines of lead and cala mine. Some years ago, about seventeen hundred weight of copper ore was discovered ; but none since, notwithstanding it has been diligently search ed after. I shall postpone farther enquiry after these and other minerals and fossils of this tract, till I am about to leave the part of Flintshire pro ductive of these sources of wealth. I shall here » Da Costa's Fossils, 133. k Great quantities of chert, since the publication of this Tour, have been exported to Staffordshire for that purpose, and to form stoto to grind and comminute calcined flints. Ed, 2B VEGETABLE. PROSPECTS. only take notice of a vegetable, rare in other places, which grows on certain parts of the mountain in plenty ; and in May makes a pretty appearance with its white flowers; this is the Arenaria verna, or mountain chickweed. Here is also a scarlet kind of mushroom1, unnoticed by Linnteus; but . described by Mr. Ray, p. 18. N° 5. of his Synopsis of British Plants. Mr. Ligktfoot discovered in my woods, in the month of May, what was supposed to be a variety of the anemone nemorosa, Sp. PL 762, with the leaves dotted on the back"1, like the fructifications of a polypody, precisely corresponding with the figure of a supposed Fern, recorded in Mr. Ray's Synopsis, 124, after N° 24. and fig. I. t'-b. iii. at p. 128. < In my road to the next parish south of this, I follow the shore ; and pass by the antient smelt- ing-house of Llanerch y mor, which is still in use for fusing of lead ore, and extracting of silver. The "sea, or the estuary, of the Dee, lies at a small distance to the left, a verdant marsh inter vening. The hundred of Wiral, a portion of Cheshire, is seen on the other side; a hilly tract, woodless and dreary, chequered with corn-lands 1 Peziza epidendra. Sowerbt/s Fungi. Tab. 13.— •£». 01 The Mddium Fuscmt. lb. Tab. 53.— Ed. 1=1 w TISH. 29 and black heaths; yet formerly so well, cloathed* as to occasion this proverbial distich : From Blacon point to Hilbree A squirrel might leap from tree to tree. The view of this branch of the sea terminates on one end with Chester, and the rock of Beeston ; On the other with the two little islands of Hilbree ¦ or Ilbre. On one, had been a cell of Benedic tines, dedicated to our lady, and dependent on Chester. This possibly was the hermitage called Hilburghy, which, in the second of Edzvard III. received ten shillings, a-year from ah old charity belonging to the castle at Chester*. The tides recede here so very far, as to deny Fish. us any variety of fish. The species most plentiful are of the flat kind ; such as flounders, a few plaise, small soles, and rays. Dabs visit us in Novem ber ; and in the last year was taken that rare species of flounder the whiff". The weever is very common here: other species are taken accidentally. Herrings in this sea are extremely desultory. At times they appear in vast shoals, even as high as Chester ; they arrive in the month of Novem- " Tanner, 63. JO BIRD, NUT-BREAKER. ber, continue till February, and are followed by multitudes of small vessels, which enliven the channel. Great quantities are taken and salted ; but they are generally shotten and meagre. It is now about ten years since they have paid us a visit. NuT- Excepting the Caryocatactes or nut-breaker", Breaker I do not recollect any very uncommon bird to have visited this parish : one of this species was killed in the garden at Mostyn in October 1753. Its native country is Savoy, Switzerland, Lor raine, and some parts of Germany. These birds do not regularly migrate, but at a certain period quit their usual habitations ; for example, in Oc tober 1754, multitudes appeared in Burgundy, andiOther parts of France. The one that visited us was probably a strayed bird out of some flock that had quitted its native land. It is a species of some beauty, yet without variety or richness of colors; being spotted with triangular marks of pure white in rusty brown. In size it is somewhat inferior to a jackdaw : the bill very strong, sharp", and fitted for the piercing of trees, which makes it very destructive to timber. It inhabits the vast • Corvus Caryocatactes, Lin. Syst. 157.— De Buffon, III. 122. — Gesner Av. 244. — Scopoli, 37- — Kramer, 334. — Br. Zool. II. 531. OFFA'S DIKE. . 31 forests of firs ; from which it has been styled Pica abietum guttata. Like the jackdaws, it also nestles in lofty towers; and like them is very noisy. It feeds on nuts, which it breaks with its bill, on the cones of firs, on acorns, berries, and insects. From the first circumstance, the Ger mans have called it nuss-br -etcher, a name adopted in the British Zoology. On passing a little rill beneath the banks, I enter the parish of HOLYWELL: And very soon after cross its noted stream, near its discharge into the estuary of the Dee. On the right ascend to the site of the abby and castle of Basingwerk, a place of importance in the wars between the English and the Welsh. The land towards the sea is steeply sloped. The west side was protected by a deep gully, formed by- the - river; the south-east by the vast ditch, which has hitherto been universally supposed to have been that made by Offa, king of the Mercians. I owe the detection of that mistake to Mr. John Evans of Llwyn y Groes, who proves it to be one termi nation of another stupendous work of, the same kind, known by the name of Wafs ditch ; of which a full account will be given in some of the follow- 32 BASINGWERK CASTLE. ing pages, with remarks on the mounts, and Other works that lie near its course. Basingwerk Vestiges of this fortress p appear in the founda- Castle. t«on of a w&^ on the ed^ of Q^a's ditch, and on the road-side, near the turnpike gate, opposite to the ruins. Lord Lyttelton q says, that the founder was an earl of Chester. I imagine that it must have been Richard, son of Hugh Lupus, and se cond earl of Chester ; and that the abby was for tified on the following occasion ; for even religious institutions had no exemption, tempore necessitatis belli, licitum est, hospitari et incastellari in ecclesia ' . Accordingly, the first notice I find of it is in the life of St. Werburg, by Bradshaw ; who in forms us, that Richard, on his return out of Nor mandy, where he had been educated, began his reign with an act of piety. He attempted, in 1 1 19, a pilgrimage to the well of St. Wenefrede; but either in going or returning, was attacked by the Welsh, and obliged to take shelter in Basing- zverk. He applied to St. Werburg for relief; who miraculously raised certain sands between Flint* t Hist, of Whiteford, p. 192. « Hist. Henry II. 3d edit. ii. 383. * Innocentius de immunitate'ecclcsiee, quoted in Coll. Curi ous Discourses, I. 102. BASINGWERK CASTLE. shire and Wiral, and thus gave means to his con stable to pass to his assistance : which sands, from that time were called the Constables Sands. Bradshazo styles the place of his retreat an abby ; a proof that here had been a religious community before the time usually assigned for the foundation of this house. I must also draw from Lord Lyt- telton's authority (for I can find no other), that this castle was demolished by the Welsh in the reign of Stephen*. Henry II. in 1157, after his escape from the ambuscade of Eulo, left Basingwerk restored, well fortified, and manned \ in order to secure a retreat on any future disaster. He did the same by the castle of Rhuddlan. In his days the inland parts of our county were a dangerous wild of forest. After his defeat he never trusted himself among our woods ; but made his marches along the open shores. The same monarch left another species of gar rison"; for he established here a house of knights tenlplars, a military order introduced into Eng land in the preceding reign. They were first in stituted in the Holy Land for the protection of pilgrims; and possibly Henry might have the same view in fixing them here, to secure the Eng- i ' Hist. Henri/ IL * M. Paris, 129. u Pou/et, 208. VOL. I. D 34 BASINGWERK ABBY. lish devotees in performing their vows to our neighboring saint, who seems about this time to have come into reputation. It is singular, that these religious knights were allowed at their in- stitution only one horse between two ; yet so greatly did they flourish, that about the year 1240, or a hundred and fifty years after their institution/ the order had acquired, in different parts of Christ endom, nineteen thousand manors. This castle was but of very short duration; for in 1165, the gallant prince Owen Gzvynedd laid siege to it, took" and levelled it to the ground; after which the name occurs no more as a for tress. I think at this period it belonged to Hugh de Bello Campo, or Beauchamp, on whom this and Rhuddlan castle had been bestowed by the English monarch 7. Abby. The abby ', of which there are considera ble remains, was founded in 1131 (according to the opinion of Bishop Tanner) by Randal the se cond earl of Chester: according to Bishop Fleet- zvood, by Henry II. For my part, I believe it to have been of greater antiquity; but do not pretend to ascertain its origin. No light on the subject can -x'Powel, 223. r Annates Waverleienses, 159. z Called also by the Welsh, Maes-glas, or Greenfield. Hist. of Whiteford, p. 194. BASINGWERK ABBY. 35 be collected from the charters preserved by Sir William Dugdale. There are three of them, either serving to confirm the antient, donations, or confer new: in each is mention of the earl as a benefactor; but there is not the lest hint of his having Tjeen the founder. I must attribute that honour to one of the princes of Wales; for both Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, and his son Datid, in their respective charters, recite, that they give and con firm the several donations to God, St. Mary, the monastery of Basingwerk, and the monks, which had been bestowed on them by their predecessors for the salvation of their souls. Randal was certainly a great benefactor; for it appears, that before his days the monks had only a chapel here. From that period the abby became considerable ; and about that time part of the present buildings were erected, for the conve- niency of its inhabitants, who were of the Cistercian order. The architecture is mixed. Here appears what is called Saxon; having the round arches and , short columns in some parts ; and the Gothic nar row slips of high-pointed windows in others. The first species- had not fallen out of use, and the last was coming into fashion, in the days of the first great benefactor. The church lay on the east side; but is now p2 5€ BASINGWERK ABBY. totally destroyed. The refectory is pretty entire; and on one side has a great recess. Above were the cells for the lodgings of the monks, with a small window to each. The chapel of the knights templars is a spa cious building. The windows are long, narrow, and pointed ; the pilasters between them on the inside slender and elegant. There are some remains of offices, used at present by a tanner. Within less than fifty years, much of the habitable part was standing; and sometimes used by the worthy family, the Mostyns of Trelacre: a lady now living was born within the walls. During the preparations for the conquest of Wales by Edward I. the abby was under the pro tection of the English. There are extant two orders for the purpose, providing that they had no commerce with what are styled the Welsh rebels4. I imagine that the convent was firmly attached to the victor ; for I have been informed b that there are, among the lists of summons in the Tower, writs for calling the abbot to parlement, in the 23d, 24th, 28th, 32d, and 34th of Edzvard I. » Jyloffe's Rotuli Wallia, 68, 82. b By the kindness of Samuel Lysons, Esq. the correctness of 'this statement has been confirmed. — Ed. BASINGWERK ABBY. 37 By the valuation of its revenues in 1534, the gross sum at the dissolution was, according to Dugdale, 150/. 7s. 3d.; to Speed, 157/. 15*. 2d. In 1553, there remained in charge 4/. in an nuities c. The particular endowments, as I collect from Dugdaled, were these : Henry III. by charter, grants and confirms ten librates in Longenedale in Derbyshire, 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, Fulbrook, the chapel of Basingwerk, the antient residence of the monks, with the mills and their appertenances; likewise Holes, and a moiety of Lecche, and one hundred shillings of the revenues of Chester, the gift of the said earl. Colder s with its inhabitants, and finally, Kethlenedei, the gift of Robert Bandstre. Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, prince of Wales, and cotemporary with Henry III. confirms all the donations of his ancestors; particularly the site of their house, the mill before their gate, and the land before their doors ; which last was granted c Willis's Abbies, I, 312. * Monastkon, I. 720, &c. 3$ BASINGWERK ABBY. to them by Ranulphus, and his brother JEneas. The same grant gives them also the land of Mere-. dydd Wazvor in Holywell; Fulbrook; a community of pasturage on the mountains ; Hanoi de le Wecch, and Creicgrqft, with all their appertenances. His son and successor David, by another charter, con firms the donations of his father, and adds the lands of Huttred, brother to Meredydd Wazvor of Holyzvell ; the grange of Fulbrook ; the church of Holyzvell, and the chapel of Colsul ; and the land and pasturage of Gelli, before granted by his father. He likewise 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 Wenhezvm, with all its in habitants and appertenances, being the gift of Hozven de Porkenton, and Confirmed by Helyso. He at the same time confirms the lands and pas turage in Pentlin, the gift of his father. This charter is dated from Coleshill'm 1240, and is witnessed by Hugh bishop of St. Asaph, by his chancellor, the famous Ednyfed Vychan^ and others. Tanner* mentions the tithes of Blackbrook, e Notitia, 711. BASINGWERK ABBY. 39 and the wood of Langdon; lands in Chanclesworth ; the manor of WestKirJtby in Cheshire; the silver mine near Basingzverk ; free warren in Gethli, Menegrange, Ouregrange, Beggerburgh, and Ho lywell. , 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 f. The revenues of the abbot amounted in the whole, reckoning those arising from the mills, lands, cows, and sheep, to 461. lls.s. In 1540, the house and lands in the neighbor hood were granted to Henry ap Harry, of the tribe of Ednozvain 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 CANNOtt recover the names of more than two of the abbots. Thomas ap Dqfydd Pennant presided over the house in the time of Guttun r Dugdale's Warwickshire, I. 197. s Willis's St. Asaph, 176. In the grant to the abby of Ba singwerk* of the lands in the peak of Derbyshire, there is a clause, reserving 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 MSS. 4a BASINGWERK ABBY. Ozoain, a bard who flourished in the year 1480, and celebrates the hospitality 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 wine. Er bwrw yno, aur Brenin Ef a roes, deufwy a'r win. 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 1 148. He and Tudor Aled, another noted bardh, speak not only of his works of utility; of the water and of the wind mills he erected; of his having enlarged and beautified the abby; but also compliments him on his prowess in battle. Neither is Guttun silent on a subject, pleasing to every Weigh ear, the pedigree of his patron, whom he derives from Edzvin, 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 h Sebright MSS. IV ==»S2S»ESeK5 Taiiwjfiiiff'tfr BTHiyr jeiifyi STWE.>M':>,M,..: .(.-„¦ ST. WENEFREDE'S WELL. 41 of ' Penrhyn m 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 called the abbot's, and ,is supposed to be his co- temporary. The road from hence is remarkably picturesque, along a little valley, bounded on one side by hang ing woods, beneath which the stream hurries to-. wards the sea, unless where interrupted by the fre quent manufactories. Its origin is discovered at the foot of a steep hill, beneath the town of Holy well, or Treffynnon, to which it gave the name. Well The 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. Wenefrede, on a pendent projection, with the arms of England at the bottom. Numbers of fine ribs * 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 Warburton; who, by her grand-mother, is also descended from the house oi Penrhyn. Lord Penrhyn died in 1808. Ed. St. Wene« frede's 42 ST. WENEFREDE'S WELL. 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 Henry 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 of Chester: it is inclosed in a garter, in respect" to Sir WilUam Stanley, knight of that order, who had been chamberlain of that city, and justiciary of North J Vales. The tun with the plant issuing out of it, is a rebus, 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 Arr agon, widow to prince Arthur, and afterwards the unfortunate wife of his brother Henry VIII. was a benefactress ST. WENEFREDE'S WELL. 43 to this building; at lest her arms appear here: three pomegranates in a shield, surmounted with a crown ; the badge of the house of Granada, in memory of the expulsion of the Moors, by her father Ferdinand*. The eagle seems also to be long to her, being one of the supporters of the arms of her family. Oyer one of the lesser arches, on each side of the well, 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 Henry VII. as a badge of the house of Tudor, which derived itself from Cad- zvalader, last king of Britain, who bore on his en sign a red dragon. Henry, in imitation of him, at the battle of Boszvorth 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 pre sent 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. k Sandford 's Geneal. 475. 44 ST. WENEFREDE'S CHAPEL. 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- zvick, widow to the great Richard Beauchamp, left to St. IVenefrede, in 1439, her gown of russet velvet1. Chapei,. 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 III.'s time, the abbot and convent had from the crown ten marks yerely,for the sustentacione and salarie of a priest e, at the chappelle of St. Wyncfridem. The chapel is the property of * John Davies esquire of Llanerch. The following order, for putting the chapel over the well into possession of a clergyman of the church of Rome, was addressed to Sir Roger Mostyn baronet, by the queen of James II. Sir Roger Mostyn. It having pleased the king, by his royall grant, t® bestow upon me ye antient chappell adjoining to 1 Dugdale's Warwickshire, I. 414.. » Hartyan MSS. N* 433, 338. » Now of Mr. Leo. Ej». ST. WENEFREDE'S CHAPEL. 45 St. Winifride's well; these are to desire you t'o give present possession, in my name, of the said chappell, to Mr. Thomas Roberts, who will deliver this letter into yr 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 desire, shall be very kindly remembered by Your good frind, May ye 8th, 1687". Mary : ReGINA. 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 knight, and John Eldred; chancellor Ellesmere 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 46 OF ST. WENEFREDE. " the petitioner, and his heirs and assigns, the " benefit of the stream and watercourse, with the " appertainances. " There are two different opinions 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, deliver their tale thus : Of Saint jn tne seventh century lived a virgin of the Wenefrede. j , r- -C i name of Wenefrede, of noble parents ; her fathers name was Thewith, a potent lord in the parts where Holyzvell 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 little spot at the foot of the hill on which he resided, erected on it a church, and took under his 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. Cradocus instantly received OF ST. WENEFREDE. 4? the reward of his crime : he fell down dead, and the earth opening, swallowed his impious corpse. Higden, in his Polychronicon adds, that even the descendents of this monster were visited with horrible judgments, to be expiated only by a visit to this well, or to the bones of the saint at Salop. Ad Basingwerk foftsoritur In signum sacri sanguinis, Qui satis vulgo dicitur. Quem Venefred;e virginis Et tantis bullis scaturit Guttur truncatum fuderat. Quod mox injecta rejicit. Qui scelus hoc patraverat, Tam magnum flumen procreat Ac nati, ac nepotuli Ut Cambria: sufficiat. Latrant ut canum catuli iEgri qui dant rogamina Donee sanctse suffragium Reportant medicamina. Poscant ad hunc fonticulum : Rubro guttatos lapides Vel ad urbem Salopia. In scatebris reperies 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 call ed Sych nant, now lost its name. A spring of uncommon size burst from the place where the head rested. The moss on its sides diffused a fragrant smell p. Her blood spotted the stones, • Gale's Script, III. 190. p Life of St. Wenefrede, from which the materials for this part are mostly taken. 48 OF ST. WENEFREDE. which, like the flowers of Adonis, annually com memorate the fact, by assuming colors unknown to them at other times. Luctus monumenta manebunt Semper, Adoni, mei : repetitaque mortis imago Annua plangoris peraget simulamina nostri. 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"1, or that of St. Adelbertus, who, in Ike circumstances, swam across the Vistula. To conclude: St. Wenefrede survived her de collation fifteen years. She died at Gwytherin in 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 thfr q Histoire de l'abbaye de St. Denys, 76. OF ST. WENEFREDE. 49 two great events* that of her first death is cele brated on the 22d of June: that of her translation the 3d of November. A fraternity and gild was established in honor of our saint at Shrtzsosbury . It had its com mon seal, which, through the kindness of my friend, Mr. Henry Levingston; is how 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 1 459, and died in 1499, a period in 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 of ten 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- oneth, and Anglesey, composed the four ancient shires of North Wales, formed by Edward I, FLINT. 59 immediately after the conquest of our princi pality. I cannot assign any derivation of the word : our country is totally destitute of the fos sil usually so called. I can only remark, that it is purely Saxon j 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 Colsul or Coleshill. I can find no other site for the chapel of Colsul, granted by David ap Llewelyn to the abby of Basingwerk. The present Flint probably went at this period under both names. There is no trace of any chapel in the neighborhood ex cepting this ; nor any other place of conse quence enough to tempt our princes to live at. It was called in the Doomsday book Coleselt ; and was possessed by Robert of Rhuddlan. Ed win held it from him, 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 sub dued, and who had submitted reluctantly to a foreign yoke. The town is formed on the prin ciple of a Roman encampment, being rectangu lar, and surrounded with a vast ditch and two great ramparts, with the four regular porta, as 60 FLINT. usual with that military nation. I shall here after offer a conjecture of the probability of its having been a Roman station. The public buildings within this precinct are the church, the town-hall, and the jailfc : not one of which is any ornament to this little capital. The church, or rather chapel, is dedicated to St. Mary ; and is only a perpetual curacy under k A new gaol was erected in 1785, in the castle yard, after a plan of the ing nious architect, the late Mr. Joseph Turner, oi Chester. The following inscription over the gateway was written by Mr. Pennant, whose activity and benevolence ma terially contributed to the substitution of the present edifice for the former abode of wretchedness.— Ep. "In the Twenty fifth year of his Majesty Geo: III In the Sheriffalty of Sir Thomas Hanmer Bt. this prison was erected instead of the antient 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. FLINT. dl Northop. I imagine this to have been the capella ¦ de Colsul ', belonging to t-he abby of Basingwerk^ mentioned in the charter of David ap Llewelyn. Flint, in that time, was probably comprehended under the name of Colsul. The castle stands on alow 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 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 lar ger than the rest. This, is called the double tower. It had. been joined' to the castle by a drawbridge, and is of great thickness. It' has a'circular gal lery1 beneath, vaulted, with four arched openings into a Central area, a little 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 communication with an upper gallery. 1 DugMe • Itfbnast.l. 721. 62 FLINT. This was the Keep, or strong part of the castle, and the same that the French call le Don jon; to which, as Froissart informs us, the unfortunate Richard II. retired, as the place.of greatest security, when he was taken by Bolingt broke. 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 historian"1 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 Edward 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 Edward greatly enlarged and strengthened it. They complain ed, " that the noblest and best of the countriebe. " injured : for that the king builded the castel! " of Flynt upon their ground: , and the king " commanded 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 n Lord Lyttelton. FLINT. 63 " other lands 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 j and the same " was afterwards done through Cheshire, and the cantreds of Wales. By a writ preserved by Rymer, it appears that Edzvard 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. 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 Flint on the 8 th of September : it was con firmed again in the 2d and Sd years of Philip and Mary, and afterwards in the 12th of William III. In 1283, the burgesses also received a grant frona Edward, of timber out of the woods of Northop, Ledebroke the greater and lesser, Kel- dreston, Wolfynton, Wiper, and Sutton, in order to smelt their lead ore ; and at the same time a right of pasturage in the same woods. In 1290, there is an order for superintending " Powel, 36 : I ° Renter's Ftedera, IX. 86. 64 FLINT. the works of this castle, and those of Rhuddlan and Chester ; places of the first importance, on the borders of a new-conquered country p. 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, surprized the place *;. at - the same time that David, brother of Lleivelyn, took Hawarden; aud Rees the son of Maelgwyn, and Griffith ap Meredeth ap Owen, seized the castle, of Aberyst- zuyth'. Here, in 1311, the infatuated son of our con queror received from exile his imperious favour ite Piers Gaveston, who. had landed at Caernar von from Ireland*. From this period I finduothing remarkable relating to this fortress, till the year 1335, the 9th of Edward 111. 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 7th year, had by charter granted to his gallant son the castles of Chester, Beestm, Rhuddlan, and Flint, and all his lands there ; and also the cantred and lands of Englefield, with all r Rotuli Wallia:, 98. i Idem, 76. r Poiuel, 337. s Stow, 214. * Rotulx Scotia, 165. DEPOSITION OF RICHARD IL their appertenances, to have and to hold to him and his heirs, kings of England*. In this dollorous cast ell, as Hallex styles it, was deposed the unfortunate monarch Richardll. To this place he was inveigled by Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, with the assurance that Bolingbroke wished no more than to be restored to his own property; and to give to the kingdom a parlement. Northumberland, with a small train, first met Richard at Conzvy, 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 fidelity. The king fell into the snare; proceeded with the earl for some time, till he perceived, about the precipice of Pen- maen Rh6s, a large band of soldiers with the Percy banners. The king would have then retired ; but Northumberland, 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 judgment5'. He caused the king to dine at Rhuddlan, 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 u Dodridge, 125. * Int. Fol. iii: ? Carte, II. 63 1. VOL. I- V 66 DEPOSITION OF RICHARD II. the sands: they soon surrounded the castle. The prince descended from the Keep2, to meet Bolirig- broke; who fell on his knees, and for a short time assumed a respectful appearance: but he soon fluflg off 'the mask; for, 'with a high sharpe voyce,' says Stow 'the duke badde bring forth the kings ' horse's; and then two little nagges, not worth ' forty franks, were brought forth; the king was 1 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 delivered to the 1 duke of Glocester's sonne, and to the earle of ' Arundefs sonne, that loved him but a little; for ' he had put their fathers to death; who led him ' strait to the castle3.' If Froissart may be credited, Richard did not experience the pang of ingratitude from man alone: by a stratige infection, it seized the most faithful of the brute creation; for his very dog deserted him, and fawned on his rival Bolingbroke, as if :he -un derstood and predicted the 'misfortunes of his old master. The story is so' singular, that -I'shaU're- z This place, in-old writers, is called' the Dodgeon,ox -Bargm: according to Skinner, Turris> mtlnitissima' propugnaculi ad til- timum recepium; but the word -being now entirely applied to the miserable hole in which captives are confined, I shall still retain the term Keep. * Stow's Annals, 322. SAGACITY OF A GREHOUND. 67 late it in the words of his noble translator Sir John Bouchier, .lord Bernersh; who, speaking of the transactions in Flint castle, says, ' And as it was enfourmed me, kyng Richarde ¦had a grayhounde called Mathe who alwayes wayted upon the kynge, and woulde knowe no man els. For whan so eventhe kynge dyd ryde, he that kepte the grayhounde dyd lette hym lose, and he wolde streyght runne to the kynge.and fawne uppon him, and leapewith 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 le.ape upon the kynge, left the kynge and came to the erle of Derby,, duke of La?icastre, 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 kynge What the grayhounde wolde do. Cosyn, quod the kynge, it is a great good token. to you, and anevyll sygne to me. -Sir, howe knoweyou 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 k Fol. eccxii. FLINT. • wyll folowe you and forsake mee. The duke ' understoode well those wordes, and cheryshed the ' grayhounde, who wolde never after folowe kynge ' Richarde, but folowed the duke of Lancastre.' - In. the insurrection of Ozven Glyndzvr, 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 country man0. 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 besieged by Sir William Brereton and Sir Thomas Middleton; and was defended by the governor till all provisions, even to .horses, failing, he surrendered upon ho norable terms. 'This colonel Mostyn,' says Whitelocke 'is ' my 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 kingd.' - c Harleian MSS. N° 2099. * Whitelock, 76. FLINT. 69 I may add, that after a long imprisonment in the castle of Conwy, towards the conclusion of the war, his circumstances were so reduced, having spent sixty thousand pounds in the service of the crown, that he was obliged to desert his family- seat, and live 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 inclina ble 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 IVelsh 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 con tinues. The crown governs it bv a< constable, who is likewise mayor of Flint. These offices are at present filled by my friend Owen Brereton, esquire g. The town, in conjunction with Caerwys, Rhud- c Rushworth,!. part iv. 136. r Idem, ibid. 456. * Deceased. Ed. 70 . FLINT. dlan, Cadrgzvrky, and Overton, sends a nieni&er to parlement. The election is made by the inha bitants paying 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 Coleshillfazvr, in the parish of Holyzvell. 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 appendage1 to the earldom of Chester. The following sche dule8 gives us their revenues, as they stood in the 50th year of Edzvard III. £ s. i. The profits of the manor of Hope and Hopedale, 6% 0 0 of the manor of Eulo, and the coal mines, 6 0 0 of the' office of constable oi Rhuddlan, whereof he was accountable, 8 14 0 of the rent of the town of Flint, 56 0 0 of the town of Coleshill, 4 7 10 of the town ofCaefwis, 22 6 J of Bagherge, 14 3 * of Veyvoll (Veynoll), 13 6 8 ot Rhuddlan, 72 '3 2 ot Mostyn, 15 6 8 Carried over, £215 14 I * Dodridge, p. 129. ATIS-CRQSS. 71 Brought over, £p5 14 4 The profits of the office of escheator ot Englefield, 56 0 0 The Bloglot of the county of Flint, which con sisted of the profits of the hundred courts within the said county, 72 1.1 9 The profits of the perquisites of the session of Flint, 30 0 9 of the escheator of the said county, ... 8 0 0 Total, £. 442 6 1 About a mile from the town, on the lower road to Chester, stood a cross, whose pedestal I re member, which was called Atis-cross, and, the land Atis-cross. 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 remark able 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 adjoining parish of Northop. These have of late been found to contain such quantities of lead, as 7* ANTIENT SMELTING. 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 and* quity of smelting in these parts ; but this etymo logy was never confirmed, till by means of these recent discoveries. In page 60 I mentioned my suspicion, that tbe precinct of Flint town once served to inclose a small Roman station : I am confirmed in my opinion, from the multitudes of Roman coins, Fibulce, and variety of antique instruments, lately discovered by the workmen in the old washes of this and the next parish ; which prove that the Romans made this their port for exporting the metal, after it was fused from the ore of the adjacent mountains. Here might be placed a small garrison to protect the antient smelters, or to collect the duties, or to receive the tribute of metal. Previous to the set tlement of the Romans in Britain, Strabo 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 !l Lib. iv. p. 281. ANTIENT MINING. 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 apply 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 found near the common soilk; and in such quantities, that in Pliny's time (who died in the year 79) there was a law (as there is at present in respect to black lead) limiting the annual produce '. Chance was the general detector of metallic riches in early times. The gold mines of Galicia were discovered by the plough m : those of India by the casting up of hillocks by the pismires n : 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 Halkin was discovered by ditching: that at Llan- gynnog in Montgomeryshire, by the slip of a wo- 1 Strabo, lib. iii. p. 240. k Plinii, Hist. Nat. xxxiv. c. 17. 1 Idem. Ibid. m Justin, lib. xliv. c. 3- " Strabo, lib. xv. p. 1000f * Diod. Siciilus, lib. v. c. 2. '»> ,.'-ti! >.-c-: :..,iu 0 Th e ruder Britons, before -their conquest 'fayjlbq Roman's, had- a very siKnplg process of smeltkigl They placed the ore in a- hole in the ground, and mixed.'it with wood ; which beingfired', proved suf ficient to melt the lead out of the soft and kindly okb of this country; a small gutter communicated wiil c Camden, I. 83.—Horsely, 328. f Strabo, lib. iii. p. 19»- MINES, AND SMELTING. &3 a second hole, into which th$, metal ran ffojnthe first-. These artless Sjlag-hea.Eths are very frequent in, the dfeglejs of q\^r county, and are discovered by the quantity i of scoriq, mixed with , charcoal. Sornei of our-, modern smelters have endeavoured to extract the r(enpai!ning part of the metal from these slag£, but, in vajnj ; the antient smelters having suc ceeded sp effectually, as not to have left behind sufficient to pay theexpenc.es of a second opera tion': the mosfc that CQUjld; be procured from a, ton of slags, amounting only to about a hundred ;and fifty pounds; weight. . I cannot tell what user the Bintons. made of the metalj excepting as, an article of commerce. I must not dare to assent to the tale of >the vene rable Bede g, who says, that the stakes driven into the Thajmeil, to obstruct the passage of Casav,. 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 covering 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, frorn the time of the Romans to the present, at every period in which the civil commotions, would permit * Lib; i. o. 2. p. 4-2. 84 MINES WORKED BY THE SAXONS. 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 Lindisfarnh was roofed with lead by its bishop Eadberct, about the year 6\52 ; that of York was covered with the same metal by its great prelate Wilfrid1, in 669; and after that, Egelric, who was elected abbot of Growland in 975, roofed the infirmary and chapel of that famous abby in a similar manner k. 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 Hazoardat) and at present there is one in use in each of them. I shale take this opportunity of mentioning incidentally the other minerals of Great Britairij 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 h Bede, Hist. lib. iii. c. 25. p. 131. 1 Eddii Vit. Wilfridi, in Gale, iii. 59. k Ingulphi Hist, apud Camdeni Script, post Bedato, 88S. TIN. 85 commerce ; and which originally led to the dis covery of Great Britain by the Romans. The mercantile Phoenicians traded to the Scilly- 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 Phoenician vessel ; but the master, faithful to the interest of his country, voluntarily run his 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 public immediately com pensated his loss out of its treasury. This did but make the Romans more eager for the disco very ; and after many trials they succeeded. Pub lius Crassus (father of Marcus Crassus the Tri umvir) 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 proofs of their having been a stationary people in 1 Strabo, lib. iii. p. 210. 86 TIN. -COPPER. those parts"1; and ithaft Dunrndnium extended even to the Belerian promontory, or the Land Vend; and was not, as some writers imagine, limited hy the western parts of Somersetshire. It is not to be imagined, that they could neglect a corner df our island, productive of a metal so useful in me chanics as tin, and which it yielded in isuoh 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 sgavoir 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, whicli 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 Massyliam, and the town of Narbonne n. Copper. Did not Ccesar and Strabo agree in their ac- count, I should never have believed it posfeibk that the Britons could have neglected their- rich m Borlase, Antiq. Cornwall, p. 27 8 to 309. " Diodorus Siculus. ed. Wechel, 1604. pp. 209,218. COPPER. 37 mines of copper, and havefoeeBi obliged atrfirstto import that metal. Perhaps the ore was less accessible, and the art '-. of :fusian unknown ; for islands, from their very situation, must remain longer ignorant of arts than continents ; especially ours, which lay far to the west of the origin of all science. Strabo 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 Yorkshire and in Essex0, together with cinders, and lumps of melted metal ; which evinde the place of a forge. The Romans had ifheir foun- deries of icopper in our island ; and cast the metal into regular forms. A mass was found at Caer hin, the antient Conovium, four miles above Conzvy, which probably was smelted from the ore of the Snowdon hills ; whepe 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 Rom^e ; 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 " Borlase, Anliq. '256, 206. 88 CALAMINE. IRON. 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 Romje, to his partner at Rome. The weight of this antiquity is forty-two pounds ; the 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 stone-Cadmia of Strabo', abounds in the mineral parts of this island. The Romans knew its uses in making of brass ; therefore 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 Szveden; 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 CwnberlflHA was renewed. Our county abounds with it; but, till within these sixty years, we were so ignorant of its value, as to mend our roads with it. Iron. C^esar and Strabo* allow that we had iron, p Tab. VI. This curious antiquity is preserved at Mostyn- i Lib. xxxiv. c. 10. r Lib. iii. 224. ' Ctesar. Com. Bell. Gall. Lib. v. c. xii. Strabo, lib. iv. p. 279- GOLD AND SILVER. *.9 The first says that it was rare ; for bits of it passed for money by weight. In Strabds 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 Monmouthshire; another was discovered near Miskin, 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 Yorkshire u, also accompanied with coins : all which evince the frequency of iron-founderies dur ing the period of the Roman reign in Britain. These cinders are not half exhausted of their metal ; for the Romans knew only the weak powers of the foot-blast. They are now worked over again, and yield a more kindly metal than what is produced from the ore. These beds are sup posed to be almost inexhaustible ; a proof of the vast founderies of early times. Gold and silver are enumerated x 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 4 Archaolog. ii. 14. * Yarranton's Improvements, 51. — Leland, Itin. i. 1 44, vi. 102. Camden, ii. 722. * Strabo, lib. iv. p. 279. 90 GOLD AND SILVER. our conquest. Jgricola, in his oration to his soldiers before the battle Df the Grampian moun tain, excites them to victory, by reminding them of our riches, the reward of valor. Fert Britan- nia aurwm et argentum, et alia met alia pretium victoria y. These metals have, in later times, been got iii quantities sufficient to prove, that they might,, at an earlier period, have been an abject worthy of conquest. In the reigns of James IV. and V. vast wealth was procured in the Lead HiUs, from the 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 ipiece of thirty ounces weight was found. Much was also ob tained in the time of the Regent Morton z. 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. or* Gold is to this day found in .Cornwall, mked 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 y Vita Agr. z Tour in Scotland, ii. '130. iii. 414. 1 Borlase, Nat. Hist. Cornwall, 213, 214. GOLD AND SILVER. c Cornish gold which proved the lirre to tlie Ro mans; for it was impossible they or the Phccni- cites >could> be ignorant of it, who had such long commerce; iwith the country, and who were ac quainted with the 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 sort called Eluiia ° (which a Garnish man would call stream tin), being washed from the vein by water, and, gathered up in baskets along with the gold c. Strabo and Tacitus agree, that, we had mines Silver, of silver. In the reigns of Edward I. and IIJ. there were very considerable works at Combmar- t in in Devonshire d : three hundred and, thirty- seven miners sent for out of Derbyshire, were em ployed iin them .; and the produce was so .great as to assist Edward the Third to carry on the war with France. In the heginning of this century, much native silver was found on the estate of Sir John Erskine, in the county of Stirling ; but the vein was soon exhausted. >• Alluvial. Ed. c Lib. xxxiv. c. IS. 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. 6 f-amden, i. 47. 92 ANTIENT COINS. 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 Carnbre in Cornzoall, and the coins of Cassivelaunus. 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 Cassivelaunus, cotemporary with Caesar. 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 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 frM[._...S«w£.-.:.;.t;-a.r j JitTh.-fi^--^-' ^-- ¦¦-rrr--IiTfrt' B, OMAK INTI Q T ITIE S ANTIQUITIES. 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 lelonged to the bracelet or necklace (it is uncer tain 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 f. 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; part of a vase. Glass was among the earlier im- e Borlase's Antiq. Cornwall, 242. tab. xix, f Tom. iii. 312. tab. lxxxr. 04 ANTIQUITIES. ports into Britain s, when the wild natives were as much captivated with toys as the Indiansiiof new-discovered, countries are at present. At first they received these, and all their other" vitreous commodities, by means of the Phmnickmst, 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 Britem of stone. I have such a one in my cabinet.-' I have seen another in possession of the Hevereif 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 affixed to iron. Perhaps this was .one' of j the Sigillaria, or little images sold at thei fairs^ and presented usually to children11: , thei faira where these toys were sold went by the same E Strabo, Lib. iv. p. 281. h Non cognoscis me ? ego suAl Felicia, cui salebas sigillaria afferre. Seneca, Epist. 12. ANTIQUITIES.* 95 name. At learned friend also supposes these to be miniature likenesses, which friends presented to each other as memorials,, ' N° .5. is >a. Stylus, Or instrument for. writing, on the cerates, tabelld, or waxen tablets ; wihich were raadfc jof thin, leaves, oft lead,, brassi, or ivory, and covered :wiflbr a. thin coat of wax. The pen, if I, may call, lit, SA,; was, usually of brass; one ehd pointed, in order to write ;. the other flat, in order to^effaee, what wa-Si. Wrong,, by smoothing or closing the: wax. , Horace, .gives every- writer most excel lent, advice, .in alluding to this/ practice : Saepe -Stylum vertas, iterum- quse digha'Iegi sint, Scripturus. Oftrturn your style, when you intend, to writei , Things worthy to. be read. N° 6. is an instrument of very singular use : a/ narrow species of spoon, destined to collect, at funerals, the tears of the. relations of the deceased, in order to deposit them in the little phials which were placed with the asltels; in the urn, memorials Of their grief. Such; are. very frequently found: but the custom is far highear than that of classical antiquity,; for the Psalmist, in expressing his sorrows, alludes to it; Thou tellest my fittings; put my tern's into thy bottle. ;N? 7. is an instrument seemingly designed for the- purpose of dressing the wicks of lamps. > 98 ANTIQUITIES. N* 8. may possibly be destined for the same uses. N" 9. is a brazen bodkin: N" 10. is a fibula or brotche, gilt, and enameled with deep blue in front. N° 11; 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 common fibula. The front of this is ena meled with deep blue. ,N° 13. is another, of a very different form. This has also lost its fibula ; 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 for 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 unbecom ing 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 VoLIFf, //JM?C^£P ;R()> MA^ ASTICirrH.KS, ANTIQUITIES. 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 extremity of the longer instrument is formed into a spoon, for the purpose of putting the frankincense into the censer. According, to the uncertainty that reigns re specting the uses of the antient instruments, I may hazard another conjecture,, that they have been chirurgical instrurnents. The rounded ends were the probes ; , the hollow end of the longer, the spoon by which the balm was poured into ,the wound, The metal of which these instruments were made being brass, proves, as. count Caylus remarks1, that the, Romans had ho apprehensions of1 its dangerous qualities. It, is probable, that they had 'the art of tempering the metal so as to prevent the noxious effects. , , N° 16. is a brass nail. Antiquaries may re joice thai; the .Romans preferred this metal to mouldering iron, which has preserved to them many a, deliciou3. 'morsel. Nff 17,.' fab. yi. is one of those Bulla, or amulets, Vailed 'ithyphatlus, "m, form of a heart, with a figure (in which decency was' little con sulted) on the upper part. These were suspended from the necks of children, and originally designed 1 Recueil d'Antiquites.iv. 16.9. . VOL. I. H 98 ANTIQUITIES. to preserve them from the effects of envy; after- wards from all kinds of evil\ I cannot help thinking, that the good nurses had another view, that of attracting (in years of maturity) the affect tions of the fair towards their little favorite. ' Hunc optehtgemertrrh Rex et Regina ; puellse Hunc rap^arit. Quicquid calcaverit hic, Rosa flat. ' J Wherever he treads let there rise up arose, •'• Arid the ladiesdie for him wherever he goes. ¦ '¦'•''' Ppr it is well known, the obscene god, in all timesj had his votaries among both sexes. ,. Th^se amulets also represented the god Fasti- nus; synonymous with that Deity. Pliny ' relates, that he, wag not only the guardian of infants, but of the emperors themselves ; that the very vestals worshipped him ; and the victors . placed him (the physician of Envy) beneath their triumphal cars. TST'0 18. is a. locket with a hole at one end, in order to suspend it round the neck, or fastenrt to the wrist. This, perhaps, was designed to hold a charm; and the. holes on one side intended that the contents should transpire, and reach the object of fascination ; whether of foVe ; .whether of am bition. ' k Pueris tui-picula res in collo quaedam suspenditur, he quid obsit bonas scaava; causa. Vabro de Ling. Lat. vi. 1 Lib. xxviii. c. 4. FINE PROSPECT. 90 • Na ' 19. a key ; which gives no very high, idea of the elegance of the Roman- locksmiths. N°'20. is. one, of a nicer fwmi and which served both for a. ring and key. , It possibly was designed for the cabinet of a Rwftan lady, or some Bellus homo. :.>:>! ..- ,N° SI. two rings ; one of brass, the other of silver wire. . , ,>i N° 221.' a brazen weight .belonging to a (mason's levelling instrument, 'answerable to a modern plummet. m N?J3. another^ of lead,; belonging to a fishing- net., iod & ¦: .. .. • -, ,.¦;.. N? 24.- the tongue of aia ordinary j?imfa>,,-uy ,A\ .These are the subjects I thought most. worthy of engraving; there were -.multitudes df ; other things found in the same placed but almost all of them so mutilated or injured by time,. as, to be rendered quite unintelligible. . On leaving Flint, I took the road to Halkin ; Fine and immediately on quitting the town, began to ascend the/ steep, slope of the county, fertile, and inclosed to the very edge of the mountain, which was parallel with, the shore. The prospect, im proves the whole way ; and from: the heights ex pands to the north-east and south, into a view almost boundless. The estuary of the Dee ap pears beneathy with the'city of Chester at itsex- ioo HALKIN. tremity. The peninsula of Wiral, a naked con trast to Flintshire, limits the eastern side of the Dee, and the western of the Mersey, rich in the commerce of Leverpool ; beyond which stretches the great county of Lancaster, diversified with plains and hills. The mountains of Yorkshire and Derbyshire unite to bound the vale royal of England; and the rich and wooded tract about Northop and Hawarden, with its- neighboring mountains; brings relief to the eye, tired with' the contemplation of the far remote views. This. is but part of the magnificent terrace formed by the public road, that is continued froitf Hazcarden to Clynnog in Caernarvonshire, vary ing: continually with matchless changes of scenery. TiiE^first place of any note which occurs in the Halkin. parish of Halkin\ is a collection of a number of houses, called the Pen-tre, or hamlet; a name in JVales common to all such assemblages; of dwell ings, where there is no church.; to distinguish it from Llan, whterethe place of devotion -stands,' This took its rise in the present: century, and was much increased by the concourse of miners, on the discovery of a rich vein in. the adjacent fields'. -; Almost contiguous, lies Halkin mountain; a vast tract, in the parish of the same name,, and in' thoseof NorthoppS-keiviog, and HdlyzyelL < mie The surface i& common: the mineral the pro- .' i: MINERAL PROPERTY. 101 perty of lord Grosvenor, by virtue of a grant, made in* 1634, to his ancestor, Sir Richard Gros venor knight, by Charles I. of all the mines of lead or rakes of lead, within the hundreds of Cole shill and Rhitddla'nm. /These tracts were before set on leases for a certain term of years. Thus James I. grants that term to Richard Gzpynne, on payment of the annual acknowledgment of sixty- six shillings and eight pence ; and a new one was granted in 1629, by a warrant from lord treasurer West/on, to Richard Grosvenor, Esq ; Roger Gros venor his son, and Mr. Thomas' Gamul, for their joint lives, paying the usual rent, and a fine of ten pounds ".' I apprehend that this grant, and another similar, of the minerals in Bromfield and Yale, made to the same gentleman, are the first aliena tions of this nature from the Crown ° ; which, for many centuries after the Conquest, assumed the entire claim of all mines and minerals, by virtue of the royal prerogative. Sir John Pett us p has preserved a series of grants, from the reign of- Edward 1. to that 'of Henry VII. which empower m Harleian MSS. N°2002. 9. " Ibid. • Unless (as a friend suggests) the grant of the Duchy of Cornwall and its revenue to the heir apparent of the crown, made by Edward IU. may be termed so. Ed. p Fodinte Regales, from p. 11 to 19. 10q MINERAL PROPERTY. different persons to search for ore. Some of them are confined to particular counties, others to the kingdom in general : and the only prohibi tion is that of working beneath castles or houses ; in gardens or meadows ; the owners of which were. to be indemnified in all damages they might sustain. Richard II. is the first prince who. makes a general allowance. In his letters patent to Richard Wake, clerk, for searching for mines of gold and silver in the county of Devon for ten years, the adventurer had power to dig (paying damage, to the owner of the ground) as we'll within liberties as without ; and to pay one-tenth of the profit to the Holy Church, and a ninth into the exchequer. This is not the first instance of the application of the tithe of ore to religious uses : Edward I. directs the same proportion to be payed to the parochial churches in Wales, out of the neighbor ing mines q. The abby of Basingwerk had also a revenue arising from the same source". I cannot find that the owner of the ground, in case the mine was discovered in private pro perty, was permitted to have any share of the profit, till the fifth of Henry VI. (1426) ; when * Rotuli Wallia: (Sir Joseph Ayloffe's) 15. 7 Tanner's Notit. Monast. 711. MINERAL PROPERTY. 103 the duke of Bedford, regent of France, received a ten years lease of all the mines of gold and silver in the kingdom of. England, paying to Holy Church a tenth, to the king a fifteenth, and to the lord of the soil a twentieth part. This allotment, though small, is a proof of the justice and moderation that guided the actions of the protector of Henrys infant years. These regal grants were for every species xrf 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, wa% 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 s, to prevent s Rymer's Fmdera, xi. 6S. 128. 24-0. 309. Henry IV. had passed an act, that " none shall use to mul* " tiply gold or silver, nor use the craft of multiplication : and " if any the same do, that he incur penalty of felony." This was aimed at persons, 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 104 MINERAL PROPERTY. them from being interrupted in their operations : for certain malevolent people supposed they used unlawful arts, i. e. 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 malice of their enemies. The metals were not to be transmuted, but transubstantiated" ; for they bad great reason to imagine, that the believers of the word in the religious 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 hmiofrugi ; A pious, holy, and religious man, One1 free from mortal sin, a very virgin u. 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 1476, we1 find that Edzvard IV. gave the same encouragement to one David Beaupe and John Marchaunt, to have for four 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. * Ibid. u Ben Jonson's Alchemist. MINERAL PROPERTY. ye&vsfacultatem et seientiam philosophia artificia- lem naturalem generations a mercurio in aurum faciendo, et simili modo a mercurio in argentum : the liberty of changing mercury into gold and silver x. We hear no more of these impostures till the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. when they were most successfully revived y. Edward continued the mineral grants to se veral great men ; among others to the earl of Warwick, the earl of Northumberland, and his brother Richard earl of Gloster. The farm was now encreased ; they were to pay the king an eighth neat profit, the lord of the soil the ninth, and the curate of the place the tenth. In the short and turbulent reign of Richard III. no attention was paid to concerns of this kind ; but his successor, Henry VII. in his very first year; discovered his ruling passion, avarice, by immediately appointing Jasper duke of Bed ford, and several other persons of distinction, to be .governors ' of all his mines in England and in Wales, paying fo the king the fifteenth z of the pure gold and silver, and to the lord of the soil the eleventh, as it grozos. x Rymer, xii. 28. * Vide Life of Doctor Dee ; Ben JOnson's Alchemist, &c. z Moses Stringer, author of Opera Mineralia explicata, calls it the fifth, which suits better the character of that monarch. 10(5 MINERAL PROPERTY. Elizabeth was the first of our princes who laid the foundation, for our mineral success, and for all the vast manufactures that arose in conse quence. I read, that in 1452, Henry VI. a (pos sibly on discovery 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 immediately after, frustrated this wise measure. Elizabeth resumed it, beingtoo quick-sighted not to perceive the defects and wants of her kingdom. She not only adopted but im proved on the plan. Our knowledge of minerals was almost extinguished, and of course the manu factures 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. The first step taken by this politic princess, was to forbid the importation of these and several other articles, from parts beyond sea b : the next was to invite into her kingdom foreign miners, foreign smelters, and foreign artificers of metallic pro ductions. 1 Rymer, xi. 317. b Statute 5th Elizabeth, c. 7. MINERAL PROPERTY 107 She next formed a corporation, under the title Of THE SOCIETY FOR THE MINES ROYAL. The first governor was William earl of Pembroke : se veral men of rank were joined in the commission as assistants, and several citizens, and some foT reigners of known experience in these matters. She likewise framed the same members into an other corporation, which naturally depended on the former, viz. the society for the minerals and battery works. These corporations were founded on May the 28th 1 567. 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 Houghsetter: in 1564, she had made another grant to Cornelius Devosse ; and a third in the same year, more comprehensive than all, to Chris- , topher Shutz, of all mines, minerals, and subter raneous treasures, (except copperas and alum) which shall be found in all other parts of England (not mentioned 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 calaminaris; and all manner of " ewres or oares," simple or pure, mixt or compounded for latten wire or steel, &c. To each of these pa tentees an Englishman was joined. 108 MINERAL PROPERTY. 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 William Hunfrey and Christopher Shutz is worded in the most unlimited manner; for it not only gave them power to sink shafts wheresoever they pleased (gardens, &;c. 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 North umberland, first withstood this invasion of his right. He contested with the crown the title to the copper mines in his manor of Keszvick ; but the lawyers decided against him, alleging, that although the crown had a power to grant away its MINERAL PROPERTY. 109 manors, 'it p.ad not the power to alienate the nnV neral, 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 anetal but what holds sorhe 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 ' thei 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 'metal as the gold and silver in it, belong to the ' prerogative of the crown V v :'•. .(sior Such was the state of ;the royal'daim ; so dis couraging to the industry of the subject, till the great event'of the Revolution; when the crown, in the first year of William and Mary, fully gave up all pretensions to the mines of copper, tin, • .' ;¦ ,. : \p c This opinion was given in 164-0, 1641, and subscribed by Maynard, Glanvillc, and others, the first lawyers of the time. 110 MINERAL PROPERTY. 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 purchasing11, within thirty days after raising, all ores made mer chantable, at the following rates : copper at 16/. per ton, tin. at 40/. lead at 91- > 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 owmersiwere not discouraged from working mines, : through a fear jthat they, may be claimed. as royal; neither does, the king idepart from: the just rights-] offals revenue, since he hi&y hayfe all the precious1 metal contained- in the: ore, paying :fib morfefemfc than the) frame of the base metal :< ia supposed td'bei; to whichJbase metal the land-owner isby/reastoand, law entitled.- ¦-•,-.. x, .., . ¦ ,•>. ; Some account of the ores; and fossils of the. mi neral tract, which gave rise to this digression*, will be given wheri I cross it again in. the course of my journey. ..'.<¦¦ :j'cuhp: , ¦ :: vii; ¦> From P entre Halkin,'. I pursued my! jounaey d This right of pre-emption has been reserved by the kings of England and dukes of Cornwall, in all their charters of li berties granted to, the tin-men of: Cornwall.. Ed. , ,j,' e Commentaries, 4to, i. 294. ' .' LLAN-HALKIN. LLYS EDWIN. ill along the Chester road : and passed by the Lion. Llan- s ,- . . Halkin. 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 Alchem, front which the -'< present name is taken, Brynford, a town ship now in the parish of Holyzvell, and a place called, Inglecroft,, at .that time were joined to it. J)!0(jms!day-feODk says* that here was a- church and a presbyter, and three /boors y a-mill of five shillings annual value ; and a wood half a league- long, and forty\ perches-, bro&d ; the whole -valued ' at \en shillings.}' 1:.,; ,l:.cn 'hIj is. '<¦ *-;i;g. ib'i:\if .1>C:{ T^E .! old (British name of thislplaee (still re tained j Joy the Welsh) l is "Lugdn," froin a saint; knowh, I believe, only in the Welsh calendar. About two or'three. miles farther,4n a woody morass on the left hand, are the foundations of an antient.^ pile, called Llys Edzmn, w .Llys Llan E&rgam, originally, the seat of Edzoitis or' Engle- field ap Gnotyzv, lord, or king, as he was styled, of Tegengle.. ' He was great grandson to Howel Ddd; Princes of Wales,, 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 112 MOEL Y GAER. life in the cause of Glyndwr ; when his ^forfeited estates were bestowed by Henry IV. . on one Bryan Caxton. His posterity possessed them till the 17th of Henry VI. who granted them to Sir John Stanley, groom of the bedchamber f. They afterwards became the property of a younger branch of the Stanleys, aiid 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 VII. who probably was owner of this place... t./r/ i • :¦:; gTeiJ - * must. not pass unnoticed a strong; British post, which soars above the road, about two mile's to the righk It lies ion. the summit of 'a; hill, and is surrounded wjth a great foss and dike of a circu: lar form,: with an\ entrance, as- usual tosuch places; and a, small artificial mount within the precinct; a tribunal Cespititium, ; frdtm . whence our antient heroes might driver, their ardiih or allocittio, to animate their followers against 1 the invading strangers. -That it was In use among, our} leaders, is evident; for our boasted Baadicea harangue! her troops from a turfy mount, \\ This v, post is called Mod. y Gaer, or the hill of the fortress; a 1 History of the house oi Stanley, 28. 8 Collins' s Peerage, ii. 4-53. NORTHOP. 113 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 Clzvydian hills, from that next to the sea, to the remote and internal parts. Our ancestry 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 numerous 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 Glyndzvr. Hozvel Gwynedd (whom we lately mentioned) was surprized in a negligent hour, within this post, and there be headed, Northop, a little town, lies next on the road. Northop. It bears the addition of North, to distinguish it from the other Hope. The British name is Llan Eur gain, from St. Eur gem, daughter of Malgzvyn Gwynedd, ap Caszoallon Law-hir, ap Einion Yrth, ap Cunedda Wkdic, &c. who died in 586. William Parry, LL. D. and member for Queens- vol. r. i 1U NORTHOP. borough, was born at Northop. He was executed before the door of the parlement-house, in 1584, for designing the death of Queen Elizabeth:. -He had before rendered himself obnoxious, for having had 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 Conzvy, of 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 parents, and that his father was a publican of tbia village, of the name of Harry ap Dqfyddt^ Be that as it may, his abilities were considerable ; but his 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 de ceive both sides ; so fell a just victim to his ar tifices. 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 his shield is a cross pattie, charged in the middle with a mullet between four others. The inscrip- 11 NORTHOP. 115 tion is thus, Hic jacet Ith. Vach. ap Bledd Vach. I suspect him to have been a captain of Englefield, mentioned in the pedigree of the Humphreyses of Bodlezvyddan, 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 Lleuci Llzoyd, a celebrated beauty of that period ; perhaps the same who was beloved by a noted bard, who coming to . visit her after long absence, met with the same shock as the .Chevalier de Ranch did ; for each found their be loved 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 au sterities. Northop is a sinecure, annexed to the bishopric of St. Asaph, in the 6th of Queen Anne, in order . to compensate for the mortuaries due to the bishop on the death of every beneficed clergyman in the diocese. From an account taken in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the following were customary : Imprimis, His best gelding, Item, His best coat, jerkin, horse, or mare. doublet, and breeches. Item, His best gown. Item, His hose, or nether Item, His best cloak. stockings, and garters 12 no EULO CASTLE. 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 h. Item, His surplice. Eulo Between the eighth and ninth stone, about a quarter of a mile out of the Chester road, are the Castle, ruins of Eulo castle, placed on the edge of a deep 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 strong wall at some distance from it : an oblong yard, with the remains of a circular tower at its extremity, forms the other part. The towers are now finely over-grown with ivy, and command the view of three wooded glens, deep and darksome, forming 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 Henry II. in 1157, from his camp on Saltney, was surprized and defeated by David and Conan, the sons of Owen Gzeynedd, sent by their father with a strong party from his camp near Ba singwerk. They suffered the enemy to march along the streights of the country, till their forces h Willis's St. Asaph, 280. Battle. BATTLE OF COLESHILL. 117 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 pected : the slaughter dreadful; and the pursuit carried even to Henrys encampment1. This proved but a prelude to the English of a second defeat. The king, with an intent to repair the disgrace, inarched forward with his whole army; and at Coleshill, near Flint, suffered himself to be engaged Battle of . . ° ° Coleshill. in the same difficulties which his detachment ex perienced before. His forces were again defeated ; and Eustace Fitz John, a baron first in rank, wealth, and abilities among the English, and Robert de Courci, another great baron, with num bers of others, were slain. Henry de Essex, here ditary 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 k ! 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 his army, and encamp in a secure sta tion. He afterwards attempted to Cut off the retreat of Owen Gwynedd, by marching along the 1 Powel, 207. k Guil. Neubrig, lib. ii. c. 5. This is the author whom the Welsh c^\\ Gwillim Bach. Brompton, 1048. 118 BATTLE OF COLESHILL. shore, and getting between him and the moun tains; but the wise prince, penetrating into his views, retired to a plain near St. Asaph, still called Cil-Owen, or Owens Retreat ; and from thence to a strong post, named Bryn y Pin, defended by great ramparts and ditches. This camp lies in the parish of St. George, on a lofty rock above the church, and is now called Peny Pare. Bryn Dychwelwch1, or the eminence, on which Ozven pronounced the order, retreat! by its name preserves the memory of the circun> stance. It lies over P entre Bagillt,. below Gadlys, and is supposed to have been the spot from which he retired to Cil-Ozven. In this neighbourhood are two very lofty; arti ficial mounts, the site of buildings long since de stroyed. One is near GW/jfa,smeltiiig-works,- and might. have been the seat of one of our princes, as the name expresses ; Gadlys signifying Palatiwiii Castrense, or Royal Head Quarters m. About a mile above Flint stands the other*, called Bryny Cwn,, or the Hill of Dogs, which possibly might have been an hunting seat. A circumstance, consequential of this battle, i ! Bryn, a hill ; Dychwelwch, return. m This- should not destroy the tradition, that it" was the place on which Henry encamped after his retreat. EULO CASTLE. proves, that the report of Edgar's having extir pated the race of wolves out of the principality, 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 n. There is no sort of tradition about the' founder of the castle of Eulo. Whether it was built by one of the lords of Tegangle, 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, ' belonging to Hoele, a gentleman of Flyntshire, s that by auncient accustume was wont to give the ' bagge of the sylver harpe to the besteharpir of , ' North Walys, as by a privelege of his ances- ' tors V 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 Thomas ap Richard ap Hozvel, lord of ' Mostyn, in whose family that privilege was long invested ; that gentleman having beencotem- porarv with Leland. " Girald. Cambr. Itin. lib. ii. c. 10. p. 873. 0 Leland Itin, v. 56. 12o EULO CASTLE. Manor. The manor of Eulo war reckoned an apperte- nance to the manor of Montalto, or Mold. It was in the crown in the 26th of Henry VIII. who granted it to Peter Stanley esquire^ gentleman of his houshold, with the tolls of the market of Flint'. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, it was held by Edzvard Stanley, by payment of 20/. 10,?. a year q. At present' it is in possession e-f Jdkn Davies esquire, of Llanerch. — In Spxtaris map of Flintshire, is a place called Yozvly Hall; and I find the arms of the family of Eulo, the antient owners; in the Salesbury pedigree book. But there is not at present the least tradition of them. Potteries. Within this lordship are very considerable potteries of coarse earthen ware; such as pahs,' 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 Welsh coast ; par^ ticularly to' Szcansea. There are besides six other, works, for the making of ¦ fire-bricks ; few clays being better fitted for the purpose of resisting the p Harleian MSS. N° 1968. 10. "! Harleian MSS. N° 1970. 7. r Now of Bryftn Cooke, Esq. in right of his wife. Ed. EULO. 121 intense heat of the smelting-furnaees. These are imade . of different sizes ; and some which are called bearers weigh two hundred pounds. Great quantities of tiles for barn-flborSj 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 unburnt clay, in stead of mortar. I must not leave the parish of Northop with 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 j Lead-brook, Normanhed into Lathroc, from the Anglo-Saxon Lad, 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 Rhuddlan. Ulfmiltone was another, now known by the name of Golftyn. Wepee, another township, was held by William de Malbedeng, from the church of Chester. It is J 22 HAWARDEN. twice noticed in Doomsday-book ; and it is said to have had on it a wood a league and a half long. In one place mention is made of two' villeyns and two boors : in another, of one villeyn and a radr 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 com pany 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 of adverse winds. Hawarden. From hence I ascended to Hawarden, a small town. I shall speak first of the manor and castle. The last forms a most picturesque- object, soaring above the woods. This place, like most others in our ' county; bears two names, Penndrd hakzvg, perhaps corrupted from Pen y Llwch, or the head land above the lake; Saltriey, and the other sub jacent marshes; having, once been covered by the sea. The Other name is Saxon, as we find it written in Doomsday-book, Haordine ; -at which time it was a lordship ; had a church, two-Cdructe or ploughlands, half of one belonging to the; latter; half an acre of meadow ; a wood two leagues, long and half a league broad. The whole was valued at forty shillings ; yet on all this were but four villeyns, six boors, and four slaves : so low was the state of population. HAWARDEN. 123 It isj-probable, that this place had been a British Roman. post, opposed to the country of the Cornavii, and to the invading Romans. To the west of the church, in a field adjoining to the road, is a mount called Truman's hill, > within a piece of ground which appears to have been squared, and nicely sloped. This: evidently had been a small camp, whose figure has been much obliterated by the frequency of agriculture. It stood on the brow- of the hill, and commanded a full view of the coun try. Another mount, called Connas H6, is to.be seen near Hazvarden castle, , The Roft, an emi nence (overlooking another flat) with fosses, and an exploratory mount, lying in the parish of Gresford, was another ; and at Caer-Estyri, a fourth. We shall find occasion to speak more of these in the course of our journey. The' Saxons possessed themselves of every Saxon. strong hold which the Britons or the Romans had deserted. Some they retained, others they ne glected, as the policy of the new invaders, and the necessity of the situation, required. This, before the Conquest, was a chief manor, and the capital • one of the hundred of Atiscross. On the invasion of William, it was found in the possession of the gallant Edzvin, and probably was one of the places of his residence. It was a cover to his Mercian dominions against the Britons, the natural and in veterate enemies of the Saxon race. 124 HAWARDEN. Norman. Ceded to Llewelyn ap Gryf- fydd. On the Conquest, it was comprehended in the vast grant made to Hugh Lupus. It afterwards devolved to the barons of Montalto, or Mold, which they held by stewartship to the earls' of Chester, and who made it their residence '. Genealogists s tell us, that Roger Fitz- valerine, son of one of the noble adventurers who followed the fortunes of William the conqueror, possessed this castle ; and having frequent con tests with the Welsh, often saved himself by re treating to it; and from that circumstance it was" called Hozvard's Den. But, with high respect to all the blood of all the Hozoards, it does not ap pear 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 Howard or Hozvard, 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, parcelled out among distaffs, this, as well as the other fortresses, were resumed by the crown. In 1264, Llewelyn, prince of Wales, had a conference at this* place' with Simon de Montfort, the potent earl of Leicester, where they established peace between Cheshire * Camden, ii. 826. * Collins' s Peerage, i. 48. 1 Annates Cestrenses, quoted by Carte, ii. 151. HAWARDEN. 12.3 and Wales, 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 Welsh prince, not only of this fortress ", but of the absolute sove reignty of Wales, and the homage of its barons, heretofore paid to Henry. After the suppression of Leicester's rebellion, Hazvarden reverted to the Reverts to crown. I must observe, that in 1267, in the pa- THE Crowh cification brought about by the Pope's legate Ottoboni, between 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 Hawarden, 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 bor ders. The castle must soon have been rebuilt ; for I find in 1280 it was styled Castrum Regis. That year was distinguished by the general in surrection of the Welsh; under their prince Llewelyn and his brother David; the great effort of our gallant countrymen to preserve their liberties and and antient mode of government. The attempt was begun by David (at that time newly recon- n Rymer, i. 314. x Idem, i. 845. 126 HAWARDEN. Surprized cileci to his brother), March 22d, on Palm-Sun* byDavidap . ' . . Gryffydd. cay, in a stormy night, which favoured his design. He surprized this castle; put the garrison .to the sword, and wounded and took prisoner Roger de Clifford, justiciary of Chester. After the death of Llewelyn, and the subjection of Wales, David suffered for this in a most severe and distinguished manner; being the first in England who died as a traitor in the way in use at this time. He was a prince of a most unamiable character, equally perfidious to his brother, his country, and to Ed* zvard, his benefactor and protector. In the writ for his trial (which was before the whole baronage of England) Edward enumerates his kindnesses to him in this pathetic manner : ' Quem suscepe- ' ramus exulem, nutriveramus orphanum,ditave- ', ramus de propriis terris nostris, et sub alarum 1 nostrarum chlarnide foveravimus, ipsum inter- ' major es nostri palatii collocavimus7.' The last proved his greatest misfortune. He might have pleaded exemption from the English jurisdiction, and flung a strong odium on the tyranny, of the conqueror, had he not accepted 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 y Rymer, ii. 248. HAWARDEN. 127 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 place of execution, as a traitor to the king who had made him a knight ; to be hanged for murdering Fulk Trigald, and other knights, in this castle; 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 2. We find nothing more of this place till the year 1327, the first of Edward III. % when Robert, the last baron of Montalt (for want of issue) passed this manor, and his other great possessions, to Isabel the queen -mother ; but on her disgrace, it fell again to the crown. In 1337, the king granted the stewartship of Granted to „ THE EARL °F Chester, with Hawarden, It was early pos sessed by the parlement, being betrayed hy the governor, a neighbouring gentleman of the name of Ravenscrofti ; and kept for its use till the year ^Besieged in 1643, at which time a cessation of arms being 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 Hawarden, gar risoned by one hundred and , twenty men of Sir Thomas Middletoris regiment.; The garrison re ceived, by a trumpet, a verbal summons ; whkh gave occasion to the following letters between lieu tenant-colonel Marrozv, and John Warren and Alexander Elliot, the commanders on the part of the parlement. I omit the immediate answer to the summons, written, in the religious strain af fected by the party ; which Marrow replies to like a true Cavalier. { Life of the Duke of Ormond, ii. 471 ; iii. 204. HAWARDEN. 133 ' Gentlemen, ' It is not for to hear you preach that I am ' sent here ; but in his majestie's 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 deli ver. the castle or no r' The rejoinder from the castle was to this effect : Sir, ' We have cause to suspect your disaffection to ' preaching, 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 1 therefore you may take your answer, as it was ' in English plain enough before: we can say no ' more, but God's will be done8.' 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 : "-M e,- -*¦¦ " Rushworth, II. part iii. 300. 134 HAWARDEN. ' 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 ; ahd shew yourselves faithful subjects, by delivering the castle into my hands for his majesty's use ; in so doing, you shall be received into mercy, &?c. 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 unaaY 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 breads and-cheese rogue, but, as ever, a loyalist, and will ever be, while I can write or name ' Nov1. 28, ' Thomas Sandford, ' 1643. ' Captain of Firelocks. : I expect your speedy answer this Tuesday HAWARDEN. 135 ' night, at Broad- Lane Hall, where I am now, ' your near neighbour.' ' 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 with this valiant epistle. So, as Rush- worth says, ' after a fortnight's siege, and much ' ink and little blood spilt, the castle being in want ' of provisions, was surrendered to Sir Michael ' Earnley, on condition to march out with half ' arms and two pair of colors, one flying, and the ' other furled ; and to have a convoy to JVem or ' Nantzoyche.' The royalists kept possession of the castle till after the surrender of Chester to Sir William Brereton in 1645; when, on March 17th, O. S. Again in 1645. 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 h. On the 22d of December it was by vote of parlement or dered to be dismantled, with four other castles in Dismantled. this part of North Wales1. These orders ex- h MS. at Mostyn. '' Whitelock, 231. 156 ' HAWARDEN. 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 1665 and 1678. 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 removal 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, \\ hich crossed a deep long chasm (nicely faced with freestone) to another door leading te 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 It is surrounded with deep fosses, now filled with trees. In 1665, the timber of the park and demesne was valued at five thousand pounds, and was sold in that cen tury ; but the late owner1 has had the merit of re- k Grandfather to the present possessor. Ed. ! The baronet mentioned above. Ed. 'JLAST OF I1WARDIS €ASTLF HAWARDEN. 137 storing it many fold to the next, by his vast plan tations. The living is in the gift of the lord, who pre- Rectory. sents ; and the bishop of Chester inducts. The rector does all episcopal acts, except those of ordi nation and confirmation ; and has a peculiar ex empt jurisdiction: grants licences, registers and' proves wills ; and has his court and proctors. The living is at present eleven m hundred pounds a year ; and, in proportion as the subjacent lands are cultivated, will experience a far greater im provement. The church is a plain but handsome building, kept in neat and decent repair. The parsonage- house is new, and suitable to the revenue. The . garden is very prettily laid out, .upon a, high and commanding ground. The parish receives two hundred a year from Parochial the river Dee company. This was granted by act of parlement, in consideration of eight hundred acres of land, belonging to Haxvarden, inclosed on the north side of the river, for the use of the ad venturer's 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 five (with the consent of the lord) shall agree on. '" Now increased to full three thousand. En. Revenue. 138 HAWARDEN. Pictures. Chief Justice Glynne. In the mansion-house n, built by the late Sir John Glynne. in 1752, are four pictures of great merit, part of the collection of Sir Kenelm Digby. They represent the evangelists with their respect* ive attributes; seemingly the production of Va>- lentine, a Frenchman", who studied the style of Caravaggio. These are in his best manner. The attitudes are fine; and the lights and shadows most admirably disposed. They are half lengths;' a size that his great model excelled in. Among the family portraits, are two of the chief justice Glynne, the able, political lawyer of the reign of Charles I. and the succeeding usurpa tion. He was of the house of Glynllivon in Caer narvonshire; which derives itself from Cilmin< Troed-ddu, or Cilmin with the black foot, one of the fifteen tribes, and cotemporary with, and nephew to Merfyn Frych, prince of Wales in the year 818. Sir John Glynne was born at Glynllivon, in " The present worthy owner, Sir Stephen Glynne, by divert ing a public road and throwing the antient castle into his plea sure grounds, has added very considerably to the beauties of his residence. The approaches from Chester and Mold are peculiarly striking. Ed. ° He died 1632. A gentleman well skilled in prints tells me, that these four pictures were engraven by Rousselet. CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. 139 the year 1 602 ; his father was Sir William Glynne knight ; his mother a Griffith 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 Lincoln s- Inn, where he became a bencher. His abilities were immediately discovered by the popular party, by whose influence he was made steward of West minster, recorder of London, and twice elected member for the former, in the two parlements of 1640. He was, next to Pym, the most active manager against the earl of Strafford. The un fortunate peer remarked, that Glynne and May nard treated him like advocates ; Palmer and Whitelock like gentlemen ; and yet omitted no thing material that could be urged against him p. The author of Hudibras seems to catch at this part of the character of these two great lawyers : Did not the learned Glynne and Maynard, To make good subjects traitors, strain hard ? , i- In the case of Strafford, and in that 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 p Whitelock, 43. 140 CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. \ stand they made against the ruin of the constitu tion, planned, and afterwards effected by the army. On September the Sth 1647, they were expelled the house, committed to the Tower, and had a charge of high-treason brought against them9. 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 the isle of Wight ; 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 Whitelock, evaded all concern in the trial of the king : but afterwards temporized fully with the powers in being. Cromwel soon made him one of his council. In 1654, he was constituted cham berlain of Chester: in the following year, was (on the refusal of the chief justice Rolles) sent into the west with a commission to try colonel Pen- ruddock, and the other insurgents r. Rolles lost his 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 his patron ; for, being appointed of the committee to receive the protector's scruples about being made king, he urged the acceptance with the ' Parlianifnt Hi.-.!, xvi. Z'Oi. 512. r Athena, Oxem. ii. 3Sfi. CHIEF JUSTICE GLYNNE. utmost zeal. It is amusing to compare the change of sentiment, from the year 1648, when the kingly office was voted to be unnecessary, burthensome, and dangerous, with the opinion of. 1657, when the learned serjeant tells Cromzvel, that it is essential to the settlement of the nation s. Not withstanding the usurper did not dare to assume the name, he mimicked the powers ; and honored his advocate with calling him up by writ into his house of peers ; that motley assembly of the year 1657- The prudent lawyer maintained his ground till the year of the Restoration, when, 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 be the best, the most an tient, and legal form of government. How 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 him to the new government, or whether he had made his peace. before, is not certain. He was received by Charles with distinguished marks of favor, who not only * Parliament. Hist, xxi, 90. 142 BROUGHTON. SALTNEY. knighted him, but bestowed on him the honor of prime serjeant) and even created his eldest son a baronet. In the , convention parlement, he was elected for the county of Caernarvon ; and was appointed 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, 8$c. 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 tbe 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 1666, 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 Ravenscrofts, and afterwards that of the Hopes. At the Conquest it was called Brocheticne; and was held of Hugh 1 Drake's Partem. Hist. sxii. 4-16. SALTNEY. 143 Lupus, by Robert de Roelent, or Rhuddland: Levenot, a freeman, possessed it before. Robert also had a manor here, once held by a Saxon, of the name of Ulmer. Close to the village of Breton, lies the large Saltney. 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 Glynne, 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 Basingwerk, for pasturage ; he also gave them the same privilege in Hawarden, and the liberty of cutting rushes for thatching their buildings*. 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 right 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 honest chan cellor Egerton lord Ellesmere, who preferred it out of affection to his first wife Elizabeth, daugh ter of Thomas- Ravenscrqft, esq; of Breton. His " An epithet it far from merits in 1809. The canal is dis used Ed. *¦ Harleian MS. N° 2099. 9. 144 SALTNEY. mother had been a servant maid in the parish; 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 Rid ley, 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/fol lowed 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 off spring, 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 JVelchman; 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. Atf the extremity of Saltney, within a mile of Chester, 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 CHESTER. 145 this pass into the country of the Ordovices; for it points towards Varis, Conovium, and Segontium. 1 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-leigh, and ends at Han-bridge, the suburbs of Chester, on this side of the river, belonging to the parish of St. Mary. i • The approach to the city is over a very narrow and dangerous bridge, of seven irregular arches, til! 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-boeth, or the burnt town. I shall begin my account of this respectable city, by declining the honor of asserting it to have been of British foundation, notwithstanding I have the authority of Ranulph the Monk, and of Henry Rradshaw, another religious of this city. The founder of this city, as saith Polychronicon, Was Leon Game, a mighty strong gyant ; Who builded caves and dungeons many a one, No goodly building, ne proper, ne pleasant. VOL. I. L 14(1 ROMAN CHESTER. But king Leir, a Britain fine and valiant, Was founder of Chester by pleasant building, And was named Guer-lier by the king z. CaerLleon. Yet this legend does not err greatly from the right name, Caer Lleon, the camp of the legioa Caer Lleon fawr ar Ddyfrdzvy, the camp of the great legion on the Dee, being the headquarters of the twentieth legion, styled also Valeria and Victrix. This legion came into Britain before the year 61 ; for 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 by 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 Deva ; that he collected a few of his forc$f 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 the neighboring posts, before he ventured on z Life of St. Werburg.. CHESTER. 147 the distant expedition to Scotland, into which he led a body of his troops, as appears from the in scriptions found in the country ; which -prove that a vexillatio of this legion was concerned in build- . ing a portion of the Roman wall. In order to en courage the troops he left behind, he formed here a colony ; and the place was styled from them, and from its situation, Colonia Devana, as is proved by the coin of Septimius Geta, son of Severus, which 'was thus inscribed : Col. Devana leg. xx. Victrix. » It was also called simply Deva, from'theriver andDeva. which washed one side ; The antient hallowed Dee. The form of the city evinces its origin to have Four chiet Streets been Roman, being in the figure of their camps; 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, the 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 coun try, and escarpes on every front. The structure of the four principal streets is without parallel. They run direct from east to 12 148 CHESTER. Excavated, west, and 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. ieries (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 these 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 before the doors, midway between the streets and the houses ; and were the places where dependents waited for the coming out of their pa trons a, and under which they might walk away the tedious minutes of expectation. Plautus, in the third act of his Mostella, describes both their situation and use : Viden' vestibulum ante sedes, et ambulacrum ejusmodi? The shops beneath the rows were toe crypto; and apothecx, magazines for the various necessaries of the owners of the houses. 1 De signif. vocal). Vkruv. CHESTER. VAULTS. 149 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 Lozver Bridge Street ,- but these are destitute of the galleries or rows. It is difiicult to assign a reason for these hol lowed ways. An antient historian mentions the existence, in his days, of certain vaults and pas- Great gages, of which not a trace, nor even the lest me mory is left, notwithstanding the most diligent search and enquiries have been made. In this cyte, says the author of the Polychronicon b, ben ways under erthe, zvith vozvtes and stone-zverke zvonderly wrought ; thre chambred zverkes. Grete stones I grave zvith olde mennes names therin. There is also Julius Cezar's name zvonderly in stones grave, and other noble mennes names also, with the zvrytynge about ; meaning the altars and monumental inscriptions : but he probably mis takes the name of Julius Cccsar for that of Julius Agricola ; to whom, it is reasonable to suppose, » Fol. xlvii. VAULTS. 150 ROMAN CHESTER. DOUBLE GATE. some grateful memorial was erected. Unless these hollowed streets were formed by the void left after the destruction of these great vaults, I can no more account for their formation, than for now lost, the place which those antient Souterreins occu pied. None have ever been discovered, by the frequent sinking of cellars for new buildings on tbe site of the old ; tradition has delivered no such accounts to us ; nor is their exit to be traeed be neath the walls in any part of their circumference. The only vaults now known, are of a middle age, and which belonged either to the hotels 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 man.' East gate, continued till of late years ; of 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 Grosvenor. 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 mm-ism^st i. <£ HYPOCAUST. 151 the street exactly in two. The accurate repre sentation of them by Mr. Wilkinson, of this city, will give a stronger idea than .words can con vey ; as also of the figure of the Roman soldier, placed between the tops of. the arches facing the Forest street. This species of double gate was not unfrequent. The Porta esquilinab, and the Porte portese e at Rome, were, of this kind. Flores, in his medals of the Roman colonies in Spain d, exhibits one on the c_oins of Meridaf the aiitient Emerita, parti cularly on those of Augustus, "which shews, that the colonists were proud of their gate ; and per haps not without 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 Dipylon, 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 ; which rendered the use of the double portal more requisite. The Roman bath beneath the Feathers Inn, in Hypocaust, b Montfaucon, III. part ii. -p. 177. c Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 37. i P. 3S4-. tab. xxi. xxii. xxiii. c As I have been informed by my friend Mr. Stuart. 152 CHESTER. HYPOCAUST. Bridge street, is probably still entire; but the only part which can be ceen, by reason of the more modern superstructures, is the Hypocaust This is of a rectangular figure, supported by thirty- two pillars, two feet ten inches and a half high, and about eighteen inches distant from each other. Upon each is a tile eighteen inches square, as if designed for a capital ; and over them 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 mortar-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 anti-chamber, exactly of the same extent with the Hypocaust, 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 rectangu* lar figure ; so that both form an exact square. This was the room allotted for the slaves who at tended to heat the place; the other was the re ceptacle of the fuel designed to heat the room above, the concamerata sudatio1, or sweating- f Vitruvius, lib. v. c. II. HYPOCAUST. 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 different forms, for the purposes of heating the waters destined for the use of the bathers. In digging 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 supplied 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 drain. Adjoining to this is a sudatory, resembling 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 Egerton, esq ; of Oulton Park. 154~ POSTERN. ROMAN ROAD. AntientPostern. RomanRoad. Sculpture or Miner va. I must now descend towards the bridge, in search of the few further reliques 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, seen> ingly of Roman workmanship. It is now filled with more modern masonry, and a passage left through a small ar6h of a very eccentric form. On the left, within the very passage, is the ap pearance of another round arch, now filled up. This postern is called the Ship-gate, or Hole in the 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- bridge side is cut down, as if for the conveniency of travellers. And immediately beyond, in the field called Edgars, are the vestiges of a road pointing up the hill ; and which we shall have hereafter occasion to say, was continued toward Bonium, the present Bangor. In 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 arrtiigera, Minerva with her bird and altar. This probaBly was a sepul- EDGAR'S PALACE: 155 chral monument ; for such were very usual on the sides of highways ; but time or wantonness has erased all inscription. Beyond this stood, past all memory, some an- Edgar's pA- tient buildings, whose site is marked by certain LACE" hollows ; for the ground (probably over the vaults) gave way and fell in %vithin. the remembrance of persons now alive. Tradition calls the spot the 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. Stukeley ¦surmises ; or Saxon, according to the present no tion ; or Norman, according to Braun %, who, in his antient plan of this city, styles the ruins, then~ actually existing, Ruinosa domus Comitis Ces- ¦triensis. Perhaps it might have been used suc- cessivelyjby one of them ; who added or improved according to their respective national modes. 4 Having -had occasion to mention the name of P adeparted antiquary, I think fit to acknowledge my obligations for the many hints I have benefited by, from the travels of that great and lively genius; but at the same time lament, that I must say, I often find him plus beau que la verite. His rapid fancy led him too frequently to paint things s Civitates Orbis, iii. pi. 3. This work was published in 1576. 156 CHESTER. ALTAR. as he thought they ought to be, not what they really were. In the subject before us, this asser tion may be supported, by his giving three arches to the antient East-gate h, and hollow ways to every part of the city, where search has been made. Altar. The beautiful altar, in possession of Mr. Dyson, and the soldier in the garden of Mr. Lawton, are the only pieces of detached antiquities now re maining in this city. The first is of great ele gance, and was erected by Flavius Longus, tri bune of the twentieth victorious legion, and by his son Longinus, in honor of the emperors Diocletian and Ma.vimian. The father and son, who thus expressed their gratitude, were of Samosata, a city of Syria. ' On one side is the inscription, on the ' opposite is a curtain with a festoon above. On one of the narrower sides is a genius with a cor nucopia ; and on the other 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 h Stukeley Itin. Cur. tab. 65. XI „. ,. ., fl", lips'- ' it JH ajfflfflmm AJLTTATR.S nFOTTTI^IS -A-T CrfEfTl*. ALTARS. 157 East-gate, on the antient pavement, which con sisted of great stones. Around it were found the marks of sacrifice; heads, horns, and bones of the ox, roe-buck, &;c. and with them two coins; one of Vespasian in brass, with his head, inscribed Imp. Cms. 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 holding in one hand a sacrificing bowl, in the other a cornucopia. In 1 779, near to the Hypocaust discovered in that Another. year, was found a beautiful altar, addressed^ by the family and freemen of a certain person, Fortune PiEduci et jEsculapio. The inscription is much defaced. On the sides are the emblems of th6se deities, and various sacrificial instruments'. 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 CAESAR AVGVSTVS; on the reverse, Jupiter seated, with a thunderbolt in one hand, and a sceptre, inscribed IVPITER CVSTOS : a brass coin of Donation, of Vespasian, Victorinus, and Constantine. ' See Moses Griffith's ten supplemental plates. 158 CHESTER. ALTARS. The other antiquities discovered here are now dispersed ; which obliges me to have recourse to books, in order to place them in one point of view. , Another. The first is the noted altar discovered in l&53;s at present preserved at Oxford. It is inscribed to Jupiter, with the British epithet Tanarus, or the Thunderer, by the transposal of the letters r andn in the word Taran. This appears to have been com plimentary to the Britons, by adopting the epithet in their language, instead of that of Tonans. The in. scription (approved most by Mr. Horsky) funs thus : Jovi optjmo maximo Tanaro Titus Elupius Galeria Prassens Guntia, Primipilus Legionis vicesimae Valentis. Victrieis Commodo et Laterano Consulibus votum solvit Lubens merito. The word Guntia, in the learned Prideaux and Galek, is read Gunethce, as if derived from Gwy nedd, one of the British names of North Wahi% over which they suppose Elupius had presided, This might account for his preference of the word Tanaro, as highly flattering to the vanity of those he governed. i Tab. 67. N° iii. k Gale's Comm. 5S< STATUE. ANTIQUITIES. 159 The next is a statue, in possession of the late ^IA™EEAS°_F Reverend Mr. Prescot, with a Phrygian bonnet on his head, a little mantle across his shoulders, and a short jacket on his body. He js placed standing, 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 yogue among the Romans in the second and third century1. An inscription, Deo Soli Mitrse, has been discovered in Cumberland. The Phrygian bonnet marks him for a foreign deity. The declin ing torch shews the funebrious occasion of this stone. Mr. Horsely mentions another -stone, dis covered in digging a cellar in Water-gate street, in 1729. The inscription is so imperfect, that he in; genuously 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 Nequicquam effudit™. 1 Horsely, Cumberland, 259. m Juvenal, Sat. viii. Un. 203. — The manner of fighting, is 1(50 CHESTER. ANTIQUITIES. 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 pre served. A few bricks, with the number of the legion sta tioned here, fill the list of the Roman antiquities of the place. I say nothing of the inscription Deje Nymph^e Brigantes, preserved by Mr. Gale, it being justly disputed whether it belonged to this place. Cheese- I must not omit the most valuable memorial which the Romans left, in a particular manner, to this county; the art of cheese-making: for we are 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 QUITS this Station. 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 given among the prints of the Antiquarian society. I have a cast in plaster from the stone. ' Horsely, 473. CHESTER. SAXON PERIOD. j6l withdrawn from Chester before the retreat of the Romans from this island, its name being found at Bath among some of the latest inscriptions we have °. The city must not at that period be suppos ed to have been totally deserted ; it remained oc cupied by the descendants of the legionaries, who partook of the same privileges, and were probably a numerous body. Numbers likewise, who had married with the native islanders, and embraced 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 en- , tirely effected by the new invaders the Saxons. ¦ Britain, now left defenceless, quickly expe- Saxon Period, ¦ 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 the south, another set of banditti landed in Wales, from their settlements in the Orcades and the north erf Scotland. These, with their allies the Picts, were defeated near Mold, by the Christian Britons, headed by St. Germanup. 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 0 Horsely, 85. VOL. 1, ' »t 162 SAXON CHESTER. miraculous manner, discouraged for a long space of time any new attempts. ET6o7F1U"' The fate of this city was at length decided in 607 p, when Ethelfrid king of Northumbria resolv ed to add this rich tract to his dominions. He was opposed by Brochwel Yscythroc king of Powys, who collected hastily a body of men, pro bably depending on the intervention of Heaven,: as Battle of jn tne case 0f tne yicf0ria alleluiatica. ; for that Chester. + end, he called to his aid one thousand two hundred religions from the great convent of Bangor, etisA posted them on a hill in order that he might hene- fit by their prayers. Ethel/rid fell in with .this pious corps, and, finding what their, business was1, -put them to the sword without mercy. He made \ an easy: conquest of Brochzvel, who, as the Saxon. chronicle1 informs us, escaped with about fifty men. It appears, that Ethelfrid, after pillaging the city, left it to the former owners, and content* ed himself with the ; territory, till it was wrested from his kingdom by that of Mercia. . ¦ > We are left unacquainted with the history .of Chester for a long period. The Britons seem, to have continued io. 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 * Sax. Citron. 25. s Bedce Hist. ii. c. 2. r P. 25.' '' SAXON CHESTER. 16S hands by Egbert, about the year 828-, during the Egbert, 828, reign of the British prince Mervyn and his wife Esylht'; which contracted the limits of Wales, during the remainder of, its independent existence. - In a few years after it underwent a heavy cala- The Danes J ; J winter mity from the Danes. These! pirates,, the scourge here, 895. 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 Inarched night and day to secure quarters in the west. They seized on Legaceaster before the king bould overtake them. He besieged 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 walls1. . These invaders kept possession of the town part of the winter ; but, compelled by famine; evacuated it the beginning of 895, and took their Evacuate course through North Wales, which the same 1 cause obliged them suddenly to quit. .' After the evacuation of the city by the Danes, it continued in ruins till the year 907 or 908 ; s when the Saxon Chronicle, and all our antient his- ' Powel, 27. l Sax. Chr. 102.— Flores Hist, anno 908. p. 269» m2 . / TORY. 164 ETHELFLEDA. torians agree, that it was restored by the cele brated Ethelfleda u. Her His- This lady is so frequently mentioned in the Mercian history, that it will not be impertinent to give a brief account of her. She was the undege- nerate daughter of the great Alfred, and the wife of Ethelred earl of Mercia, under his brother-in. law Edward king , of England. On the birth of her first child x, 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 munificence 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, and the command of the army. She became so celebrated for her valour, that the effeminate titles of Lady or Queen were thought unworthy of her: she received in addition those of Lord and King. " Ranulf. Higden in Gale, iii. 260. x Pariendo suam sobolem primam difficultatem perpessai, tanta indignatione carnalem concubitum abhorruit, ut nun-< quam deinceps ad viri sui thorum rediens, se caelebatu castis- simo cantineret. Ingulphi Hist . 871. ETHELFLEDA. 165 O Elfleda potens, O terror virgo virorum Victrix naturae, nomine digna viri. Tu quo splendidior fieres, natura puellam, Te probitas fecit nomen habere viri. Te mutare decet, sed solum nomine sexus, Tu Regina potens, .Reargue troph sea parans, Nec jam Casarei tantum meruere triumphi, Cxsare splendidior virgo virago vale *. Elfleda, terror of mankind! 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 Ctesar'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 perpe tually exerted in the service of her country. She erected a castle at Sceargate j another at Briege, the modern Bridgenorth; a third at Tamweor- thige, or Tamworth ; a fourth at Stafford; a fifth at Eadesbyrig, now the chamber in the forest in Cheshire ; a sixth at Wceringwic, or Warwick ; a seventh at Cyricbyrig, or Chirbury ; an eighth at Weardbyrig, or Wedsburrow, in Staffordshire ; and a ninth at Rumcof or Runcorn, in Cheshire. y Henry Huntingdon, lib. v. p. -354-. 106 ' SAXON CHESTER. She took Brecenanmere, or Brecknock, and made its queen prisoner ; she1 stormed Deoraby, 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 , Death. without the antient precincts. Death put an end to her glorious course, at Tamworth x, in the summer 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 Edzvard; for she was as useful to that wise prince in the cabinet as in the field. Edgar, 973. Edgar made this port one-of the stations in his 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 for mer, by Henry of Huntingdon ; but Higden, the monk of St. Werburg, to do greater honor to his native city, makes the number of Reguli eight; and adds, that, in token of superiority, Edgar, one day entering his barge, assumed the helm, and * Sax< Chr. 109. « P. 122^-Henry Huntingdon, 356. SAXON CHESTER. . 167 made his. eight tributaries row hjm from the palace, which stood in the field which still bears his name, up the Dee, to the church 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 a? to induce the factious and traitorous nobility of Eng land to rise and favor their designs. Edmund, sur- Edmund named Ironside, took arms to relieve his distressed country, and carried the war into the northern counties, among which lay the principal partizans of the invaders, whose country he ravaged, in resentment Of their treason. This city is men tioned among those which suffered. Edmund, by the perfidiousness of his own people, was con strained to leave both the Mercian and Northum brian kingdoms in possession of Canute ; who, in Canute, the. famous partition of England between these rival princes, in 1016, retained those parts for his own share. On the restoration of the Saxon line, it reverted, with the rest of the Mercian province, to its old r masters. Leofric, a munificent nobleman, was at that time governor of Mercia, and earl of Chester. These earls were not created, but merely official. He died 1057, and was succeeded by his son Alf 1057. b Polychron. in Gale, iii. 267, 168 SAXON CHESTER.- NORMAN CHESTER. gar or Algar, a turbulent nobleman ; who engag ing in rebellion, aided by the Welsh prince Gryf- fydd ap Llewelyn, was twice deprived of his earl dom, and was once pardoned. After his second deprivation, he obtained again the province by dint of arms, assisted by Gryffydd and a Nor wegian fleet. He died soon after, and was inter red in Coventry, where the earls of Mercia had their principal seat. Norman His eldest son Edwin succeeded ; in whom1 Conquest, . 1066. ended the race of earls of Chester of Saxon blood. After the battle of Hastings, he fled, with his brother Morcar earl of Northumberland, to Lon don, with a view of obtaining the crown, vacant by the death of 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 $ 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 Saxons. 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. Mercia, heretofore under the government of a NORMAN CHESTER. 169 duke or earl, and ruled by what was called, in the Post-con- Saxon phrase, the Merchenlege, received in many ©^Chester! cases a distinct master. Cheshire became the share of Gherboa\ a valiant Fleming. By misfortune he fell into 'the hands of his enemies (being called into Flanders) soon after he had taken possession of his new territories, and by reason of a long cap tivity was obliged to resign them to another. The Conqueror, in his place, appointed Hugh de Au- runge, better known by the name of Hugh Lupus ; the, first Norman earl of Chester who ever pos sessed the county. To him he delegated a fulness of power ; made his a county palatine, and gave it such a sovereign jurisdiction, that the antient 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 tam libere ad gladium, sicut ipse Rex tenebat Angliam ad coro nam. The sword by which he was invested with this dignity is still to be seen in the Museum, in scribed Hugo comes Cestrics. Another inferior office was also held by tbe earls, by virtue of thjs sword; that of sword-bearer of England at the j times of coronation c. * Leicester, 105. 170 NORMAN CHESTER. Lupus instantly took possession of his domi nions. It is probable that he was invested in them by William himself; for we find the Conqueror at Chester in person in 106*9, where he repelled the Welsh, and finally reduced the Mercian province,- which appears to have been in arms to this period d. At the same time he restored the walls and built the castle ; the former having either fallen into decay since the days of Ethelfleda, or not being thought sufficiently strong for the exi gencies of the times. As soon as Lupus wa's firmly established, he be gan to exert his regal prerogatives. He formed;. his parlement by the creation of eight barons, viz. Nigel baron of Halt on; Robert, of Mont alt; William Malbedeng baron of Nantwich ; Vernon,: of Shipbrook ; Fitzhugh, of ' Malpas ; Hamon de Massie; 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 writs. . 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* d Ordericus Vitalis, 1 ib. iv. p. 5 1 6. NORMAN CHESTER. 171 Their knights and freeholders were to havecorse- lets and habergeons, and were to defend their lands with their own bodies. Every baron had also four enquires ; every esquire one gentleman ; and every gentleman one valet c. Each of these barons bad also their free courts of all pleas and suits, and all plaints, except what belonged to the earl's szcord. They had 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 Kinder tons court, and executed in 1597f. The earls had their chamberlain, who supplied the place of chancellor; an office continued to this day. The first we know of was Philippus Came- rarius, who took his name from his office, in the time of Randle 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 which of their nature should otherwise belong respectively to the courts of king's-bench and common-pleas, are triable g. In imitation of regal power, the earls appointed a high constable of Cheshire, correspondent to the ' c Erdeswicke's MSS. quoted by Doctor Gower, p. 22. f Doctor Gower's Materials, l$c. p. 22. s Leicester, 1 52. 172 NORMAN CHESTER* 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. Robert de Rothelent .was another baron, who was commander in chief of the forces in Che. shire, and prime governor of the county under his cousin Hugh Lupus. As his office and rank dropt with him, he is not reckoned among the barons! Probably the office was found unnecessary, and clashing with the priveleges of the high constable./ j 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) without issue male, Henry took the earldom into his own hands, and gave the daughters of the late The Earl- earl other lands in lieu ; unwilling, as he said, that DOM RESUM- ... ii,, ,7 7 ed by the so great an inheritance should be parcelled out among distaffs. The king bestowed the county on his son Edzvard, 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 Of Henry. III. it appears to have first been under the direction NORMAN CHESTER. GUILD. 173 of a mayor and sheriffs. The mayor seems to , have been the substitute for the constable ; an Ibfrice which, during the period of the Normarii earls, was, under them, supreme in all matters military and civil, in both city and county. The sheriffs seem to have been a new name for bailiffs, who acted under the former h. After offering a general idea of the state of this place and county to the time of Henry III. I shall return to the time of Hugh Lupus, and give, to the best of my power, a brief chronological ac count pf its history ; leaving the ecclesiastical part to be treated apart. In the days of that potent earl, and probably long before he was possessed of this city, it enjoyed by prescription divers priveleges. It had a guild Guild Mer- r m CATQKY. mercatory1, 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 of th\s\ guild. They received, for 'the use of the city, all the customs paid by strangers unless at , h Vale royal, 161. l Vale royal, 157. 174 CHESTER. EXPORTS. the fairs, which in those days were said to haveg 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 officers! called the Propositus Regis, or provost, who had l the care both of the civil and commercial interests*! Exports. It is difficult to say at this time what, were the Slaves, articles of exportation, excepting slaves and horses. The first barbarous traffic was carried on by the ' Saxons to a great height. The description of the martk is an exact picture of the negro commerce at present; so little have we emerged from barba^ rism in that instance '. k There is a town called Brichstou (Bristol) opposite to Ireland, and extremely convenient for trading with that coun try. 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 England; 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 toge1 ther wi,th 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. Wulfstan, in Anglia Sacra, ii. 25S. Wulfstan was bishop of Worcester, and died in 1095. 1 A national reproach from which England is now most hap pily exempt. Ed. L PX.AH ©T II ©TLT CASTJiJK CHESTER. IMPORTS. 175 '¦: Horses were another article; but their expor- Horses, . .• ' 1 M • 1 1 HIDES, &e. tation .was prohibited, except they were designed for presents, by a law of Athelstan. 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 -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 m. The rich plains of Cheshire furnished horns and hides ; and the Cam- Irian mines, lead and copper. Cheese must not be omitted, as a most im- Cheese. portant article ; for the Britons made so consider able a progress in the arts of the dairy, that even under the Roman reign there was great exporta tion 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 Imports. of the east, procured either from Venice, or after wards from the cities of Pisa and Amalfi", the magazines of the precious Asiatic commodities. m Willielm. Malmesb. in script, post Bedam, p. 1 7. * Anderson, i. 58, 59. 176 CHESTER. IMPORTS. Cloth. Lin- Cloth was brought from Flanders, and linen en. Re- ". . hques. from Germany" ; reliques and ecclesiastical finery from Italy9, the staple of superstition. Rich 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 acceptance was announced by the priest in proport tion tp the value of the offering. V7ine. France and Spain supplied them with wine ; and the discovery made towards the north by Ohthere, under the directions of Alfred, gave us Furs. furs, whale-bone, feathers, walruses teeth, and other articles from that cold region 5. Martins skins are twice mentioned in the Doomsday bool$ among the imports of Chester. Ireland might also supply them with furs, and several other commodities; this being the channel of commiK 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 : • Anderson, i. 52. * BedxHist. Abb. Weremouth. 295, 297.' ? Translation of Orosius, by the honorable Daines Bak- rington,9, 12, 13. CHESTER AT THE CONQUEST. 177 Hides and fish, salmon, hake, herringe, Irish ^ wooll, and linnen cloth, faldinge, And marterns good be her marchandie, Hertes hides and other of venerie. Skinnes of otter, squirrel, and Irish hare Of sheepe, lambe, and foxe, is her chaffare, 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. The state of this city, in the time of Edzvard the Confessor, and 'at the Conquest, must be collected from the famous survey the Doomsday book. 'IT appears,' that in the time of the Saxon mo narch 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 cuna of ale, and one rusca of butter': that if any persons made bad ale, they * Hestlia is supposed to tie a capon ; cuna a brewing tub or vat. I do not frnd'rusca explained. Rusca is a tub or barrel, thus Rusca butyai signifies a firkin of butter. Ed. VOL. i. N 17* CHESTER AT THE CONQUEST. 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 repairs 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 depo pulated when Hugh Lupus took possession, that there Avere two hundred and five houses fewer than in the time of the Confessor. It is probable that the city soon emerged from its calamities, apd felt a considerable increase under its new masters, a more polished race; for the Normans affected as much elegance in thei? dress and their buildings, as they did temperance in their meat and drink. The 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 Lucian", a jolly monk who flou rished about the time of the Conquest, its con> merce was very considerable. He speaks, of the ships ' coming from Gascoign, Spain, Ireland, 1 and Germany, who, by God's assistance,, apd 5 Quoted by Camden, i. 672. CHESTER. * by the labour and conduct of mariners, repair ', hither and supply them with all sorts of commo- ' dities ; so that being comforted with the favour •' of God in all things, we drink zvine plentifully ; 1 for those countries have abundance of vine- ' yards.' Here, in 1159, Henry II. and Malcolm the nsg. IVth of Scotland had their interview ; and the important cession was made to Henry by the lat ter, of the three counties of Northumberland, Cum berland, and Westmoreland, formerly wrested from the English crown '. Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1188, nss. Visited this place, in his road from Wales, where his zeal led him to recommend the Croisade to the mountaneeris, assisted by the eloquent and vain Giraldus. All the historian 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 bishop : that he saw an animal, a compound of an ¦ox and a stag; a woman born without arms, who •could sew as we'll with her feet as others of her sex did with their fingers; and finally, that he heard of a litter of whelps begotten by a monkey ". As Giraldus was a great dealer , in presagesj it is ' Fordun, i. 44-9. u Itin. Cambr. c. xi. p. 87. N 2 179 180 CHESTER. 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. 1259. The next remarkable occurrences were the ra vages of Llervelyn ap Gryffydd, prince of Wales, who carried fire and sword to the very gates of Chester, arid destroyed every thing around on both sides of the river ; provoked by the cruel injuries his subjects sustained from Geffrey Langley, lieu tenant of the county under prince Edward'1. *¦ This city seems to have been a constant ren dezvous of troops, and place d 'armes for every ex pedition on this side pf< the kingdom, from the times of the Normans to the conquest of Ireland by William III. In 1257, Henry III. summoned his nobility/ to attend with their vassals at Chester on a certain day, in order to invade Wales, and revenge the inroads of the Welsh ; and the bishops z were at the same time required to appear there on the same occasion. - < 1275. Edward I. in 1275, appointed this city as the place of receiving the homage of Llewelyn, to which that high-spirited prince declining to submit*, brought on the war, which concluded with the de struction of him and his principality. x Walsingham, p. 467; who places this event in 1255. r Rymer, i. 635. * Idem, 636. 1 Powel, 333. Rymer, it. 5-3. 68. CHESTER. 181 And in this city was received, in 1 300, the final 130°- submission of the Welsh, to the sovereignty of England, by Edzvard of Caernarvon prince of Wales, when the freeholders of the country did homage and fealtie for their respective lands b. Richard II. visited the capital of his favorite 1379- 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 Bromefield and Yale, Chirkland, and several other places in Wales and on the borders, But Henry IV. in his fourth year, rescinded an act that in- croaehed so much on the dignity of his son as prince of 'Wales c. Henry IV. in 1399, seized the city and castle, 13g9= in his way to Flint against his ill-fated sovereign Richard II. and on his return secured him for one night in the fortress, and barbarously put to death Sir Perkin a Legh, and other" gentlemen, whom he took with their unfortunate master. During the insurrection of Glyndzor, 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, notwithstand ing numbers of the gentry of this gallant county favored his cause d. But the country was un- * Powel, 382. c Statutes at Large, 21 Rick II. C. 9. * Rymer,\m. 333. 182 CHESTER. happily 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 progress 1455. into the county in 1455, and visited this city c. 1459. In 1459, soon before the battle of Bloreheath, she made another, and took with her the Meek Usurp er, her husband Henry VI. and her son Edward. She kept a public table wherever she went ; and bestowed on the Cheshire gentlemen, that espouse ed hee cause, little silver swans, the badge of the young prince, as the cognisance of the Lancas trians*. She appointed James lord Audley to command the Cheshire forces. Michael Drayton gives an anirtiated description of the effects of civil discord on this occasion : he acquaints us that Audley So labour'd, till that he had brought That t'half of one house 'gainst the other fought- So that two men arising from one bed ' Falling to talk, from one another fly 5 This wears a white rose, and that wears a red ; And this a York, that Lancaster doth cry : He wish'd to see that Audley well had sped ; He prays again to prosper Salisbury. And for their farewel, when their leaves they take, They their sharp swords at one another shake &. ' Vale-royal, IRS. { Speed's Hist. 858. 5 The Miseries of Queen Margaret, part iv. CHESTER. 183 Daniel King tells us, that Edzvard prince of Wales, son to Edward IV. came to Chester before Christmas 1475, and was immediately conveyed 1475. 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 VII. 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 1506, it was visited 'isoe. by that endemic disorder the sweating-sickness, which destroyed, in three days, ninety-one house holders. The remark, of this destroying-angels 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 fled, that the streets of the city were overgrown with grass. It appears that the citizens of Chester were 1529 not less celebrated for their dramatic performances than those of Coventry*. 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 l> Dugdale, i. 249. 184 CHESTER. Cicyle, or Robert le Diable, borrowed from the French morality of that name. Here is of kyng Robert of Cicyle, Hou pride did him beguile1. Robert, like another Nebuchadnezzar, 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 palace, where he takes Robert's place. Robert awakes ; runs to his palace ; is disowned ; seized as an impostor, and at last appointedjfoo/ of the hall to the new king; and, Clothed in lodly k garnement With ffoxes tayles mony aboute Men mihte him knowen in the route. After a very long and ignominious penance, the angel finds Robert effectually cured of his pre sumption, quits his mission, and restores the poor king to his throne. * Mr. Warton's Hist. Poetry, i."l84. Daniel King calls it the play oi Robert Cecil!. k Loathsome. ITSON'LAYS. WHITSON PLAYS, 185 * The year ,1532 reminds me of the religious 1632- Iramas being performed in this city. These are-Wp the famous interludes known by the name of Mys teries, originally composed in the years 1327 and 1328, by Randal Higgenet, a monk of Chester $bby, as this prologue acquaints us. Reverend lords and ladyes alle, That at this tyme assembled be ; By this messuage understond you shall, ¦' That some tymes ther was mayor of this citie Sir John Arwway, knight ; who most worthilye , Contented himselfe to set out in playe The devise of one Done Rondall,mooake of Chester abbey. N Rondal, it seems, first composed 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 l. Others again were the labors of Sir Henry 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 Harleian MSS. 2124. J86 WHITSON PLAYS. '- of divers storyes of the Bible, beginning with the ' creacion, and fall of Lucifer, and ending with ' the generall judgement of the world, to be de- ' clared and played in the Whitsonne weeke, was ' devised and made by Sir Henry Frances, some- ' tyme moonke there ; who 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 ' maner to heare the sayd playes ; which were in- ' stituted to the honor of God by John Arnzcay, ' then major of Chester, his brethren and whole ' coniinaltv thereof; to be brought forth, declar- ' ed, and played, at the cost and charges of the ' craftesmen and occupations of the savd citty, fyc. < &;c. " These plays had probably been dropf 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 bro ther Arthur, at the abby-gates of this city. These Mysteries were the rude origin of the EngUsh theatre. Our drama, as the very ingeni ous Mr. Warton remarks, was in early times con fined entirely to religious subjects ; and these plays • Harleian MSS. 2013. WHITSON PLAYS. 187 were nothing more than an appendage to the spe cious and mechanical devotion of the age". I refer the reader to that gentleman's amusing his tory of the rise and progress of these performances ; and confine myself to a few specimens of the gross and ridiculous exhibitions of the times ; when the audience listened with the fullest admiration and devotion to what would at present fill a theatre with laughter from the gay, at the absurdity, 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 unva ried subject with the same annual pleasure as the Romans did the farces in their days of honest sim plicity. Tandemque redit ad pulpita notum Exodium, cum personas pallentis hiatum In gremio matris formidat rusticus infans. Juv. Sat.'iii. Lib. 1. The same rude song returns upon the crowd, And by tradition is for wit allow'd, n History of English Poetry, i. 237. J8S WHITSON PLAYS. The mimic yearly gives, the same delights, And in the molher's arms the clownish infant frights, Dryden, They do not appear to us in the words of the ori ginal deviser : but, the language and the poetry being grown obsolete, they were altered to that of the time, for the performances of the sixteenth cen tury, 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 ; Kowe, you worshippfull Tanners, that of custome olde The fall of Lucifer did sette out : Some writers a warrants, 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. Shakespear certainly formed his persona; dramatis of mechanics, his Quinces, S?iugs, Snouts, , and Starvelings, in the Midsummer-Night's j Dream, from performers of this kind. 2. The Drapiers enacted the Creation of the World. ! / 1 3. THE Water leaders and drawers of the Bee, took, with great propriety, the History of the De- WHITSON PLAYS'. 189 luge ; which being handled in a very diverting man ner, I shall transcribe as a pattern of the rest. Their prologue tells them, ' that Noe shall goe into the arke, with all his famylye, his wyfe ex cepted After the long catalogue of birds, beasts, 8$c. which are supposed to have entered the vessel, 'Noah thus calls to his spouse: Noye0. ' Wyfe, come in, whie stands thou there ? Thou art ever fro ward, that sure I sweare; Come in on God's half, ;tyme it, were, For feare lest that wee drpwne. Noye's Wief. You Sir, sett up your sayle, * And rowe forth with evill hayle ; For, withouten 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 John, An I maye save ther ly ves. 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. 0 This is copied from the MS. in the Bodleian Library. 190 WHITSON PLAYS. ' Sem. Father, I shall fetch her in, I trow, VVithouten anie 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 agayne to him, and saye, I will not come therein to daye. Noye. Come in, wief, in twentie devill waye, Or aliis stand there without. Cham. Shall we all fetch her in ? Noye.. 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, full of malmesay good and strongj It will rejoyce both hart and tong ; WHITSON PLAYS. 191 Though Noy think us never so long, Yet wee will drink a tyte. Japhet. Mother, we pray you altogether ; For. we are here your owne children ; Come into the ship for feare of the wed der, For his love that you bought. Noye's Wief. That I will not far all your call, ¦ / But I have my gossopes all. Sem. In faith, mother, yet you shall, Whether you will or mongst. Noe. Well me wief into this boat*. ' '; Noe's Wyfe. pi|i Have you that for thie note. [Gives Noah c box in the ear."] Noe. A ha, Mary .' this is whote : • Itis good for to be still. A, children !. methink my boat remeves ; Our tarrying here heughly me greves : On the land the water spreads : God doe as he will. 4. The Barbers and Wax-chandlers told how Abraham returned from the slaughter of the four kings, cjr. m WHITSON PLAYS. 5. The Cappers and Linen-drapers took up the story of Balaam and his ass ; and make the prophet accost his beast in terms too low and ludicrous to be repeated. This animal had far greater respect paid it in a neighboring king dom ; for feasts were held in honor of it. The festa asinaria, or feasts of asses, were celebrated in France in the beginning of the fifteenth century p; when the beast, covered with a cope, was intro duced into church, attended by the clergy, and saluted with the following hymn : Orientis partibus Adventavit asinus Pulcher et fortissimus Sarcinis aptissimus. He, sire Ane, h&. Hic in Collibus sicsen Enulritus sub Ruben Transiit per Jordanem, Saliit m-Bcihleem. He, sire Ane, he. Saltu vincit hinnulos Dagmas etcapreolos, Super Dromedarios Vclox Dladianeos. He, sire Ane, he. Aurtlm de Arabia,' ' ' Thus et myrrham de Saba Tuli^jn ecclesia, ^ Virtus asinaria. ' - He, sire Ane, he. Dum trahit vehicula Multa cum sarcinula, Illius mandibula, Dura terit pabula. ;. . ' He, sire; Ane, he. Cum aristis hordeum Comedit et carduum Triticum a palea Segregat in area. He, sire Ane, he. f Memoires, §c. de la Fete des Four, 1 4. See also more of it in Mr. Warton' s History of Poetry, i. 246. WHITSON PLAYS. 193' Amen dicas, Asine, Jam satur ex gramine, Amen, amen, itera, Aspernare Vetera, He, sire Ane, he. 6. The Wrights and Slaters rehearsed the Beirth ofChriste. 7. The Painters and Glaziers, the Appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds. 8. The Vintners, the Departure of the Wise men, or three Kings of the east, in search of our Savi our. 9. The Mercers, the Offerings of the three Kings. 10. The Goldsmiths, the Murder of the Innocents; and give a curious dialogue between fhe soldiers and the women. [11. The Black smiths shew how Christ disputed with the doctors in the temple. 12. The Butchers, how he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. 13. The Glo vers tell of the death of Lazarus. 14. The Conu sors, of Jesus and the Lepers. 15. The Bakers, of the last Supper. 16. The Fletchers, Bowyers, Coopers, and Stringers, chose the History of the Passion. 17. The Ironmongers, the Crucifixion. 18. The Cooks relate the descent of Christ into Hell, and what he did there ; which concludes with our Saviour redeeming out of Purgatory all the saints, and leaving behind only one poor wo man (probably a real character at the composition voi. r. o. 194 WHITSON PLAYS. of this curious drama) whose crimes she confesses in a long speech : Some time I was a tavernere, A gentel gossepp, and a tapstere Of wine and ale a trusty brewer, Which woe hath me bewrought. Of canns I kepe no true measure ; My cuppes I solde at my pleasure, Deceavinge many a creature, Tho' my ale were noughte. She is then welcomed by the devils ; which closes the piece. ., Mr. Clarke, in his Letters on the Spanish nation, after giving some account of the state of its stage, entertains us with that part of its drama which is analogous to our antient mysteries. " In process of time, and after some scenes had " passed -which were long, tiresome, uninteresting, " and full of fustian and bombast, the grand scene " approached ; an actor, dressed in a long purple " robe, appeared in the character of Jesus Christ, ' or the Nuestro Seiior, as they call him; im- " mediately he was blindfolded, buffetted, spit 4 " upon, bound, scourged, crowned with thorns, " and compelled to bear the cross ; when he knelti " down, and cried, Padre mio ! Padre mio! 'My " '-Father! My Father ! why hast thou for-" " ' saken me ?' After this he placed himself against WHITSON PLAYS. 195 f« the wall, with his hands extended, and there " imitated the expiring agonies of his dying Lord. " And what think you, my friend, was the conclu- " sion of this awful and solemn scene? Why, " really, one everyway suitable to the dignity and " seriousness of. the occasion : one of the actresses " immediajtely unbound Christ, divested him of his " crown and scarlet robes; and when he had put " on his wig and coat again, he immediately joined " the rest of the actors, and danced a sequedilios. Spectatum admissi, risum teneatis, amici ? ! " As to the sequedilios, or dance, it is little bet- " ter, upon the Spanish stage, than gently walking " round one another; though when danced in its " true spirit, in private houses, it much resembles " the English hay. After this one of the actresses, " in a very long speech, explained the nature, end, " and design of the sacraments : you must know " also, that the Spaniards admit a great number " of soliloquies, full of tiresome and uninteresting " declamation, into their plays. In the last scene "Christ appeared in a ship triumphant ; and thus ";the play concluded. I forgot to tell you, that " Christ, before his passion, preached to the four " quarters of the world, in their proper dresses, t upon the stage : Europe and America heard " him gladly, and received the faith ; but Asia o2 196 PUBLIC STEWS. " and Africa remained incorrigible." See Let ter VI. * This is all I shall relate of those heaps of ab surdities. 1542. The city had, till this time, been indulged with Stews? public stews or brothels, which, for some centuries, were permitted by legislative authority, and regu lated by wholesome laws, ordained by the com mons, and confirmed by the king and lords; Those of Southzvark were attended to in a parti cular manner in 1161, the Sth of Henry II. One article affords reason to believe, that a certain disease had a much earlier date than the siege of Naples; for it prohibits the stew-holders from keeping any woman that hath the perillous infirmity of burning q. Their houses were distinguished by having the fronts whitewashed, by having signs, not hung out, but painted against the walls. Among the signs, I observe the singular one of the cardinal's hat. Notwithstanding the keepers were protected in their profession, they Were reckoned infamous, were not to be impannelled on any juries, or allowed to hold a tavern r. The women that frequented them were forbidden the rites of the church, as long as they exercised their profession, and were excluded from Christian burial, if they * Stoiv's Hist. London, II. book iv. 7. * Drake's Partem. Hist. ii. 233. TRIUMPHS.. 197 were not reconciled before their death. Henry VIII. suppressed the Surry houses in 1537 ; those in this city in 1542. This year was distinguished by one of the cruel 1554. deeds that marked the reign of the bigotted Mary ; the burning of George Marsh, for his adherence to the Protestant faith. I have often been in formed by the worthy Doctor William Cooper, that when Marsh was brought to Boughton, the place of execution, by the sheriffs Amory and Cooper, the last, an ancestor of the Doctor, favor ing the religion of the sufferer, attempted his rescue; but being overpowered by his brother- officer, was obliged to fly till better times, when he returned, and discharged the office of mayor in 1561. . , Festive times now took place again,- probably is64, in compliment to the taste of the glorious but roman tic Queen Elizabeth., In the year 1564, upon the Sunday after Midsummer, in the mayoralty of Sir Lawrence Smith, 'the history of JEneas and Queen f Dido was played on the Rood's eye, set forth by ' William Croston, gent, and Mr. Man; on ' which triumph was made two forts, and shipping * on the water, besides many horsemen well arm- ¦' ed and appointed.' The forts and shipping seem to have been pageants, to carry on some deeds of chivalry. We hear of the ship Fame, laden with 198 PESTILENCE. good Renowme, among the pageantries of Henry ' ; and the Fortresse of Beautie, assailed by virtuous Desire, among those of Elizabeth \ The assailants battered it with nosegays ; and the besieged dis charged against them cannons filled with sweet powder, or odoriferous waters. During Sir Lazvrence's mayoralty, we have an account of another spectacle, an annual one, upon the watch of the even of St. John the Bap- ¦ tist ; for Sir Lawrence, and the aldermen and common-council, contract with two painters to have in ' readiness, with all furniture thereto be- ' longing, viz. four gyants, one unicorne, one ' dromedarye, one luce, one camell, one asse, one * dragon, six hobbye horses, and sixteen naked ' boyes; and the same being in readines, shall ' beare or carry, or cause to be borne and carryed, ' duringe the watche, from place to place, accord* ' inge as the same have been used,' Sgc. ". I am at a loss to guess the end of this preparation : but find that it was suppressed during the mayoralty of • 1599- l6o4 The virtue of Edward Dutton, mayor of the city in 1604, must not pass unnoticed. This worthy magistrate, like Marseilles' good bishop, r " Holinshed, 809. l Idem, 1318. B Harleian MSS. N° 1961. JAMES I. AT CHESTER. 199 kept his station during the" whole time of a dread ful pestilence : When nature sicken'd, and each gale was death. His house was infected, and some of his children and servants died. The court of exchequer was removed to Tarvin; the Michaelmas, .assizes were held at Namptwich ; and the fairs' ceased during this sad visitation. In this year the city was honored with the pre- 1617. sence of James I. where he was ' received with a toagnificence that did honor to the place. The mayor, Edzvard Button, presented his majesty , with a fair standing . cup, with a cover double gilt, and in it a hundred jacobins of gold. He also de livered the city's sword to the king, who returning it, the mayor bore it before him on horseback. His worship was offered the honor of knighthood, but declined it. The city did not confine its mu- inificence to crowned heads : I find, that in 1583, ' Robert earl of Leicester, chamberlain of the coun ty palatine, met with a most honorable reception ; .was received at tlie high-cross by the whole corpo ration; entertained by the mayor, and presented with a cup containing forty angels. . The unfortu nate earl of Essex, in 1598, in his way to Ireland, was still more distinguished. He was presented 200 - SIEGE OF CHESTER. with the like sum ; but in a cup of the same kind as that which was afterwards presented to James. From 1617, I discover nothing very particular for a considerable time ; till the city was involved in the calamities of a siege in 1 645-6, in consej quence of its unshaken loyalty to Charles I. At the beginning of the civil war, immediate attention was paid to this important city, by the royal party. The fortifications were put into the best repair, and outworks extended from the alcove on the north part of the walls, to the brink of the river near Bough-ton; and in consequence, numbers of houses were pulled down, to prevent them from giving shelter to the enemy . The first attempt on the place by the parlement army. was on the 20th of July 1643, when Sir William Brereton made a violent assault on the works, but met with a repulse^ In the same year he sent a summons to Sir Abraham Shipman, then governor, to surren der : the gallant commander bid him come and win it and wear it. After the repulse of Lord Biron before Nampt- zcich, the County of Chester was almost entirely in the hands of Sir William Brereton, and the city suffered from that time a sort of blockade, from the quarters the enemy possessed in the neighborhood, *ven as- near as the village of Christ leton. Sallies SIEGE OF CHESTER. 201 and excursions were frequently made; and, ac cording to the diary of the siege, with advantage to the loyalists. On September the 19th 1645, the parlement gained an advantage irrecoverable by the besieged. Colonel Jones and adjutant-general Lothian, who were employed in the reduction of Beeston castle, drew from before that place, in a secret manner, a large body of forces, and in the night stormed the outworks, and made themselves masters of every thing, even to the city walls, His majesty, imme diately after this misfortune, passed through Wales, and got into the city, in hopes of animating the l garrison, and was lodged at Sir Francis Gamuts, near the bridge. He arrived only, time enough to be a spectator, from the leads of the Phoenix tower, of the fatal battle on Rozvton heath, on ¦September 24; when his forces, under Sir Mar- maduke Langdale, then on their inarch to raise i the siege, after a well-disputed action, sunk under the superior fortune of general Pointz. The king continued that night in Chester ; and on i quitting it the next day, gave orders to the ; governor, lord Biron, that in case there was no ^appearance of relief within eight days, he was to treat of a surrender. The king took the route of Denbigh, attended to that town by the three re spectable Citizens, Sir Francis Gamul alderman 302 CHESTER. BRIDGE. Cooper, and captain Thropp. The siege was con tinued with the utmost vigour by Sir William Brereton; notwithstanding which, the gallant gar rison held out for twenty weeks, beyond the expec tation of every body : and, after having been re duced to live .oh. horses, dogs, and cats, yielded, on the 3d of February 1 645-6, on terms that did ho-' nor to the spirit of the besieged. The city was evacuated by the royalists, and received from the parlement, as governor, colonel Jones. But the miseries of the citizens did not terminate with the siege: a dreadful pestilence broke out in 1647". two thousand inhabitants perished, and the city became almost a desert. Bridge. In order to give a further history of the military, civil, and ecclesiastical architecture of this antient city, I return to the bridge. This passage was prior to the Conquest ; at which period it seems to have been either destroyed, or found to be so much out of repair, that I find in Doomsday book an or der for the provost to summon one man from each hide of land in the county, in order to re-build the bridge and the walls; and, in case of neglect of appearance, the lord of the person so summoned was to forfeit to the king and earl forty shillings* According to a MS. quoted by Mr. Grose, it was begun by the great restorer of the city, Ethel- feda, and after her death completed by her bro- CHESTER. BRIDGE. MILLS. 203 ther Edward. Before that time, the passage was by a ferry that plied between the postern, called the Ship-gate, and Edgars field. It does not ap pear to me that any part of the Saxon bridge re mains; so frequently has it been repaired since that distant period. Beneath the arch next to the city, is a current, Causeway .... r -i , AND Mills which, by means ot a great dam or causeway that crosses the river obliquely, supplies the city mills with water. These mills and the causeway were originally founded by Hugh Lupus *, and retained ; by Liis successors, and afterwards by the earls of Chester of the royal line. I find them often leased by the crown ; Edzvard the black prince, in parti cular, in 1 355, granted them, the fishing, suit, court, and calsey, for three years, to Robert of Bredone, parson of St. Peter of Chester, and others, at the annual rent of 190/. Y. This rent was very consi derable in those days ; and arose from the obliga tion every inhabitant of the city then lay under to grind at these mills, excepting the tenants of the abbot and monks of St. Werburgh, and, in after times, those of the dean and chapter, inhabiting without the North-gate, who had a. mill of their ow;n at Bachpool. * Harleian MSS. 2082. 10. 2003. 41. 4-3. ' Idem, S081. 21. C04 CHESTER. MILLS. BRIDGE-GATE. I must not omit, that a grant of these mills for life was the reward of valor to my countryman Sir Howel y Fzvyall, for his bravery in taking prisoner John king of France, in the battle of Poitiers. This grant was also made by the Black Prince, who not only knighted Hozvel, but allowed a mess of meat to be served before his battle-ax, in me mory of the good use he made of it in that day, from which he acquired the name of Fwyall, or Howel of the ax z. Bridge-gate. On each side of the old Bridge-gate were two rounders : over it the three feathers, the arms of the princes of Wales. Those were first assumed by the Black Prince after the battle of Cressi, in 1346 : our historians assert, that they were the three ostrich-feathers which the king of Bohemia bore that day in his coronet ; and that he was slain by Edzvard, who seizing on the crest, bore from that time both the feathers and the motto Ich dien, I serve. I am unwilling to sully the honor of our gallant prince, by supposing that he would stain his sword in so unequal an encounter. The king was blind with age ; and, finding the battle go against his allies, was led, by his .own orders, into the rage of the combat, determined to die in the cause of France. Our brave prince, probably, z Hist. Gioedir Family-. Fifteen Tribes of N. Wales, CHESTER. WATER-WORKS. 205 might assume this royal cognizance in memory of the glorious day, and add to it his own motto, Ic dien, the old English for I serve, allusive to the Scriptural verse, The heir xohile he is a child dif- fereth not from a servant a ; an imprese extremely suitable to the characteristic modesty and filial piety of this prince. This and the other city gates were placed under the protection of certain great men, who held lands within the county palatine. The earl of Shrews bury had the care of the Bridge-gate ; the earl of Oxford, of the East-gate ; the earl of Derby, of the Water-gate. But the North-gate, belonging peculiarly to the city, was intrusted only to its chief magistrates. Tolls were exacted at entrance, from all strangers, for the support of the guard ; and, notwithstanding the cause has long since ceased, are still demanded at the Bridge-gate. Above the gate stood a lofty octagonal tower, SA™*' begun in 1600, by permission of the corporation, by John Tyrer of this city, containing the works which for a long time raised water out of the Dee to a cistern in the top, whence it was conveyed in pipes to almost all parts of the city. Possibly these did not answer their purpose effectually; for in 1622, Tyrer had a new grant of a tower erected a Camden's Remains, 344. 206 CHESTER. WATER-WORKS. WALLS. for a water-work and a well-place, ten feet square, near Spittle Boughton, with full powers for the conveyance of the water to the cistern or conduit near the high-cross. This work (which was first begun by the black friers in the time of Edzvard P.) fell to decay. In 1692, the works undertaken by' Tyrer being found to be ruinous and useless, John Hopkins and John Hadley, by the encourage ment of the corporation, began new works for sup plying the city with water from the river Dee : for this purpose, they purchased the grant made to Tyrer, and also one of the corn-mills, for the con- veniency of placing their engine. The city con firmed to them all the powers formerly vested in Tyrer, and particularly that of setting up a cistern opposite to the abby court, as a constant recepta cle for fresh water. The old Bridge-gate, and the octagonal tower, were pulled down above two years ago. An ele gant arch, from a plan by Mr. Joseph Turner-, at present supplies the place of the former. Walls. Near the Bridge-gate is one ascent to the city walls ; which are the only entire specimen of antient fortification now in Great Britain. They are a mile and three quarters, and a hundred and b De aquaeduetu per ipsos (the black friers) faciendo a fonte. prope furcas. Vide Tanner, 65. CHESTER. WALLS. 207 one yards in circumference ; and, being the princi pal walk of the inhabitants, are kept in excellent repair by certain imposts, called murage duties, Murage. collected at the custom-house, -upon all goods and merchandize brought into the port of Chester from parts beyond the seas, belonging to persons not freemen of the city. The Irish linen adds consi derably to the fund, being nearly two-thirds of the whole : the duty on this article is two pence on every hundred yards. The annual receipt0 of the different duties, on the average of the last seven years, is about 120/. An officer, called a muren- ger, is chosen out of the body of the aldermen, to inspect the repairs ; generally an old member, to whom the duty affords amusement and health. This fund is now permanent : in old times, the murage was only occasional. Thus, in the 14th of Edzvard II. there was a grant for two years of a half-penny for every cranock of corn ; -and a far- I thing of ale, meal, and malt; and for commodities not expressed in the grant, a farthing out of every two shillings-worth. The average amounted £-. s. d. in 1786 to 293 0 0 in 1796 to 122 0 lOf in 1806 to 61 4 9 E». 20* CHESTER. WALLS. I cannot discover any vestige of the original walls, such as those which are said to have been restored by the warlike Ethelfleda. I would not willingly, detract from the lady's merit ; but I must deny her that of being the foundress of the fortifi cations, and of enlarging the city beyond the Ro man precincts. The form at present is so entirely Roman, that any addition she could make would have destroyed the peculiar figure that wise people always preserved in their stations or castrameta- tions, wheresoever the nature of the ground would permit. The antiquities which distinguish their residence are not found confined to any one quar ter : they are met in digging on every side within the walls. The military architecture is still entirely on the Roman plan : it is probable, that after their retreat it fell into ruin, in the impoverished, turbulent, and barbarous ages that succeeded ; yet it never was so totally demolished, but that it might still yield a defence to the possessors. We find it wrested out of the hands of the Britons by Egbert, in 828 : we again see it possessed by the Danes'm 895, and besieged by Alfred, who slew all the ban-' ditti whom he found without the zvalls; and, lastly, , we find it taken by Ethelfleda, by the voluntary- surrender of the garrison. All this proves a conti nuance of the fortifications, probably ruinous, and CHESTER. WALLS. 209 wanting that restoration which they found from that illustrious woman. We see the Roman mode of fortification preserv ed to this day, exactly on the antient plan. From each side of the gates projects a propugnaculum d or bastion, in order to annoy the enemy who attempted to enter; between them; in the very entrance, was the cataracta or portcullis, ready to be dropt in case they forced the gates ; so that part of them might be caught within the walls, and the rest excluded. Should it happen that they set the gates on fire, there were holes above, in order to pour down water to extinguish the flames. The walls are in many parts, especially on the north and east sides, guarded by towers, placed so as not to be beyond bow-shot of one another, in order that the archers might reach the enemy who attempted to attack the intervals e. They also are mostly of a round form, as was recommended by the Roman architects, in order the better to elude the force of battering rams f. A Vegelius, lib. iv. c. 4. e'Intervalla autem turrium ita sunt facienda ut ne longias t alia ab alia sagittse intermissione, fyc. Vitruvius, lib. i. ,5. f Turres itaque rotunda; aut polygenic sunt faciendse, qua- V0L. I. P TOWER. 210 CHESTER. WALLS. TOWER. The thickness of the walls answers to the breadth prescribed by Vitruvius ; only two persons can walk abreast, excepting where the ground adjacent gives a larger expanse. The great architect directs, that they should be of such a breadth, that two armed men may pass each other without any impediment. My walk leads me beneath the castle, to one of the four Portce principales, the present Water gate, that opens towards the water-side ; and near which the Dee in former times flowed. Water- At the extreme angle of the city, beyond this gate, is a salient tower, exactly round, unless where interrupted by a small squared projectioa at the entrance. This tower is joined to the walls by a deep open gallery, embattled on each side ; beneath is a large arch for the passage of the tide, before the late inclosures, which also are within my remembrance. This tower is at present called the Water-tower. It jutted into the antient channel of the river, where the ships lay, which fastened their cables to its sides by the great iron rings infixed in the stone. This tower was formerly dratas enim machinaa celerius dissipant, $c. Vitruvius, lib. I. c. 5. Turres sunt projiciendae in exteriorem partem, uti cum ad munira hostis impetu velit appropinquare, a turribus, fa Ibid. CHESTER. TOWER. EAST-GATE. 211 called the new, yet was founded in 1320; for there exists a contract for that purpose, between the mayor and citizens of Chester and one John- tie Helpston, mason, for building quandam turrem rotundam, &c. a round tower 'of the thickness ' often yards and a half, with a cavity within; ' twenty four yards high, and so strong as to be ' defensible ;' and all this for the sum of one hun dred pounds g. The next remarkable outlet is the North- North-gate. gate h, beyond which is a large suburb. The Phcenix tower stands on the angle of the Phcenix walls beyond this gate. The present tower was built in 1613, and was used by six of the compa nies of the city as a chamber for business. It took its name from the fabulous bird, the crest of the painter-stainers company, which was placed in front. The East-gate is the next entrance. Here East-gate. stood a lofty square tower, with many apartments, erected (according to tradition) by Edward III. This had been a Porta principalis, was the grand entrance into the town, and was the germination of the great Wat ling-street, which crossed the island from Dover, and was the great road from f Harleian MSS. N° 2046. 10. ,. * This, the last of the antient gates, was taken down in 1 808. pother is to be erected on its site. Ep. P2 212 CHESTER. VIEWS. that port to this place. In 1769, this gate, being found too narrow and inconvenient, was pulled down, and a magnificent arch arose in its room, at the sole expence of Richard lord Grosvenor. Beyond this is a vast suburb, called the > Forest- street, the lower part of. which was defended by a gate, demolished as a nuisance within these few years. After passing the East-gate, the traveller will observe, without the walls, a vast foss cut through the live rock, now a common road to the- water; but which appears to me to have been a work of the Romans, as a defence on this side, and which continues the rectangular shape of the statiooli'j Fine Views. The views from the several parts of the ; walls are extremely fine. The-mountains of Flintshire and Denbighshire, the hills of Broxton; and:the in sulated rock of Bee&ton,, form the ruder part of the scenery; a rich flat gives a softer view; and the prospect up the river towards Boughton1 recalls, in some degree, the idea of the Thames and Rich- mond-hill. ' •-. On the Conquest, as has been before' related, the king visited this city in person, and restored the fortifications. It is probable^ that he notjonly repaired the walls, but that he entirely rebuilttlie eastle i on the Norman model, and enlarged- it far ' Ordericus Vitalis, 516. CHESTER. CASTLE. 21.': beyond the dimensions of that of tbe Saxons, which occupied the summit of the mount or little hill on which the fortress' stands. That part is artificial, in order to give a greater elevation, as was custom ary in the Saxon keeps ; and the portion so flung up appears here to have been a mixture of stones , and exceedingly hard clay. The castle is composed of two parts, an upper Castle, and a lower : each with a strong gate, defended i by a round bastion on each side, with a ditch, and [formerly with draw-bridges. Within the precincts of the upper Ballium are to be seen some towers k of Norman architecture, square, with square pro jections at each corner, very slightly salient. The handsomest is that called Julius Casar's. Its en trance is through a large Gothic door, probably of later workmanship. The lowest room has a vault- edroof, strengthened with ordinary square couples. The upper had been a chapel, as appears by the holy-water pot, and some figures, almost obsolete 5 painted on the walls. Its dimensions are nineteen feet four inches, by sixteen six ; the height also sixteen feet six. The roof is vaulted ; but the couples, which are rounded, slender, and elegant, run down the walls, and rest on the cornuted ca pitals of five short but beautiful round pillars, in k The gates, walls, and towers are now destroyed. Ed. 214 CHESTER. CASTLE. the same style with those in the chaptev-house of the cathedral; probably the work of the same architect. The arsenal, some batteries, and cer tain habitable buildings, occupy the remaining part. Lupus's On the sides of the lower court stands the noble room called Hugh Lupus's hall ', in which the courts of justice for the county are held. The length of it is near ninety nine feet; the breadth forty-five ; the height very aweful, and worthy the state apartment of a great baron. The roof sup ported by wood-work, in a bold style, carved ; and placed on the sides, resting on stout brackets. This magnificent building probably retains its original dimensions. The character of the first Norman earl required a hall suited to the greatness of his hospitality; which was confined to no bounds. ' He was,' says Ordericusm, not only li- ' beral, but profuse. He did not carry a family 1 The antiquary, and perhaps the man of taste, will regret the demolition of this venerable edifice. A new court of jus tice, in the form of a Grecian theatre, has been erected on its site, to which is attached an immense gaol and other buildings, after the design of Mr. Harrison. Its front occupies one side of a spacious area, to the left is the arsenal, and opposite to that a corresponding edifice intended to contain the Exche quer Court, barracks, Sfc. The fourth side is open. Ed. m Lib. iv. p. 522. CHESTER. CASTLE. 215 ' with him, but an army. He kept no account of ' receits or disbursements. He was perpetually ' wasting his estates : and was much fonder of ' falconers and huntsmen, than of cultivators of ' the land and holy men : and by his gluttony he ' grew so excessively fat, that he could hardly ' crawl about.' Ai'joiNiNG to the end of this great hall is the Exchequer. court of exchequer, or the chancery of the county palatine of Chester. The earl of Cholmondely is the present chamberlain; Sir Richard Perryn, my worthy countryman, sits and discharges the office of vice-chamberlain. In respect to matters of equity, he here acts as lord chancellor. The chamberlain was bne of the antient earl's great officers, and had a fee of twenty-two pounds a year. This very building is said to have been the parle- ment-house of the little kings of the palatinate. It savors of antiquity in the architecture; and * within are a number of seats described by Gothic arches and neat pillars ; at the upper end are two; one for the earl, the other for the abbot. The eight others were allotted to his eight barons, and occupy one side of the room. Under the vice-chamberlain is a baron, who holds a weekly court, in which appearances are entered for bringing causes to a trial. Writs and subpoenas are also here made out, as well for the >n The woman's name was Cacilia, indicted for the murder of her husband, John de Ridgeway. Rymer's Fcedera, vi. 13. 220 CHESTER. CASTLE. CHARTERS. Glover'sStoke. that a felon was formerly rescued in his way to the gallows by the citizens of Chester, and per haps by the connivance of the magistrates, who are supposed to have had the disagreeable duty inflicted on them of executing all criminals, whe ther 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 Henry VII. : the castle was left as an appertenance to the shire, and has the small outlet of a little street called Glovers-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 Norman Chester, given a brief rela tion of the government of the city in those periods. I shall at present only mention the principal charters ; and flatter myself, that the reader will excuse my brevity, as it is beyond the power of the travelling topographer to collect the same ma terials as the resident. Charters. The first royal charter which this city was ho-' nored with is that of Henry III. ; who confirms all the priveleges bestowed on it by the Norman CHESTER. CHARTERS. 22L 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 merchandise in the city except citizens, un less 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 heirs for ever, paying annually 100/. ; he also granted them the election of a coroner, and pleas of the crown ; and that they should have sock1, sack, toll, theme, infangthefe, outfangthefe, and freedom throughout all the land and dominion; of toll, passage, fyc. Edward III. confirmed the past grants, and added another, of all the vacant lands within the r Sock, he who is invested with this has power to hold courts within his own lands. Sack, power of deciding com plaints and quarrels, and applying to his own use the fines resulting from such decisions within his own territory. Toll, needs no explanation. Theme, the right to dispose of all his bondsmen, their children, and goods. Infangthefe, the power of apprehending, in his own lands, thieves, whether they be his own people or those of ajiother lord. Outfang thefe, is the power of seizing, in any person's land, a vassal of his own, who has committed a robbery within his jurisdic tion, and bringing him to trial to his own court. Vide Skene, iticrb, signific. and Somner's Gloss. 222 CHESTER. CHARTERS. 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-bridge, and from thence to Saltney, the Port-pool, Flukersbrook, Boughton, &c. Richard II. was particularly kind to this his fa vorite city. In consideration of some distresses it had undergone, he released the citizens from the payment of seventy-three pounds ten shillings 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 bet ter execution thereof, he granted unto his sub jects, 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 com mon law. Granted under the seal of the princi pality of Chester, at Chester, May 2, 1398 s.' This seems to have been found necessary, in order to strengthen the civil policy of the place, which « King, ii. 159. CHESTER. CHARTERS. 223 had four years before been greatly insulted by a dreadful riot in the abby by Sir Baldzvyne of Radyngstone, supported by Sir John of Stanley with eight hundred men. A sheriff was killed, and many other excesses committed (. After the revolution which happened in 1399, the mayor and citizens continued to favor the cause of their deposed master; and after his death, gave all the assistance in their power to Harry Percy. 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, where tolls were collect ed, durante bene placito. In 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 affairs ; the conflux of foreign merchants being put a stop to by the choaking of the creek with sands ; and the intercourse with Wales destroyed, since the insurrection of Ozoen Glendwr: which « Harleian MSS. N" 2057. 34. 224 CHESTER. CHARTERS. CORPORATION. Members. Corpora tion. 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 JVelsh, cattle of different kinds. Henry VII. in 1506", in consideration of far ther distresses of the city, not only remitted eighty pounds of its annual rent, but granted it a new charter, by which he separated it from the county, and added several of the most valuable 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 VIII. when 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. The corporation consists of a mayor, recorder, two sheriffs, twenty-four aldermen, and forty com mon-council. Here are beside two annual officers, called leave-lookers, whose business is to pre vent all persons who are not free of the city from exercising any trade, or exposing to sale any wares or merchandise within the liberties. They were accustomed to go round the city in order to pre- CHESTER. PENTISE. PR^ETORIUM. 225 serve these its priveleges; and sometimes were used to take small sums, called leave-lookerage, for leave for non-freemen to sell wares by retail; but at present the yeoman of the Pentise dis charges this office, and returns the names of such persons who are found to offend, in order that ac tions 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". The places where the mayor and other officers of the corporation assemble for the dispatch of business, or administration of justice, are two; the first is the Pentise x, an antient buildingsin the cen- Pentise. 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. Sere all business 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 wear the gown. Here also the sheriffs, assisted by' the re corder, sit and determine civil causes. I imagine that this building, St. Peters church, and a few houses to the north and west, occupy the site of the Roman Pratorium ; for Pr/etorium. ir King,\\. 167. x This building, which contracted the entrance into the Water-gate street, was removed in 1803. Ed. VOL. I. Q 92S CHESTER, PR^TORIUM. ¦ they not only fill the very situation of that part of the old eastrametations, but account for the dis continuance of the Bridge street, which ceases opposite to these edifices. This also is the cause why the nearer part of the North-gate stmt 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 towards the for mer; but is interrupted by the space occupied by these buildings. The limit of the Pratoriwak on the east, was the narrow portion of 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 Pretorium} with its attendants, demanded no small space; for, besides the spot possessed by the general, were the apartments of the irnperatoris contubermksi 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 general 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 CHESTER. COMMON HALL. 227 hall, alargeand commodious room over the ex change, adorned with the portraits of several popu lar persons* In this place are held a crownmote court, poftmote court, and court of sessions. The mayor, assisted by the recorder, is judge of the crownmote court. He has jurisdiction in all cri minal causes, treason only excepted. He is also judge of the portmote court, with the same assist ant. This court holds plea in all action's real, personal, and mixed. In the court of sessions, the aldermen above the chair try petty-larcenies, and determine upon inferior offences. In this place, the body corporate hold their assemblies for making bye laws for the government of the city ; for ma naging the public buildings and directing the chari ties ; and finally, the city elections of magistrates, 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 him for a dwelling-house. The small remainder, which faced the lane, and was * 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 Grosvenor family. Ed. q2 228 CHESTER. EXPLOSION. occupied by a poor family, on the 5th of Novem ber 1772, was the scene of a dreadful calamity. 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, which was lodged in Explosion, a warehouse beneath, took fire, and blew up three stories. Twenty-three people perished, and eighty-three were much burnt, bruised, and receiv ed broken and dislocated limbs ; of which number only three died, and those with locked jaws. The remedy found most efficacious for the burnt, was Goulard's extract of lead. The external effects 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 with in the apartments, which rushed out into the va cuum occasioned by the explosion. A similar^ phasnomenon has been remarked from an explp-, sion from the inflammable vapor of a mine, when the neighboring trees foil towards the blasts Howsoever, where the force of the powder was confined by narrow passages, its centrifugal effect took place ; for two boys, walking along the rows in Water-gate street, opposite to a passage lead- ing to the building, were blown, one against the CHESTER. EXPLOSION. INFIRMARY. 229 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 much to be wished, that the easy magi stracy • 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 house, were blown 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 y in the well regulated infirmary establish ed here, and supported by the voluntary contribu tions, 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 1756, and originated from a bequest of 300/. left by Dr. Stratford com- v Six hundred and thirty pounds were immediately collected from the humane inhabitants of the cityi to be distributed Wieng these miserable maimed objects. 230 CHESTER. INFIRMARY. BISHOPRICK. missary of Richmond, towards the commencing of a public hospital in this city. Subscriptions were solicited, and a sum equal to the design soon rais ed. Before the present building j could be ready for the reception of patients, a temporary infirmary was prepared for them, in 1756, in North-gate street. The new infirmary was opened on the 17th of March 1761; and has been supported with a spirit that : does - honor 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 threer.quarters piece, sitting in a long wig and civilian's gown.: ; - Ecclesiasti- j shall now take a short: view of the ecclesi- cal State. astical state of this antient city. It is neceSsaryi first to observe, that the Mercian- kingdom was : divided into five bi^hopricks ; Lichfield, ChestiAr, Worcester, Lydnecester, .and Dorchester ; which last was afterwards removed to Lincoln. Lich field was made, about the year 785, metropolitan, by order of 'Off a, and afterwards, for a long time, incorporated into itself its suffragan, Chester. How > r- The total, including in and outpatients, who have receiv- ' cd benefit from this, institution to the present time (18Q9) amounts to eighty thousand nine hundred, and seventy three,. Ed. CHESTER. BISHOPRICK, X 23i t greatly the last flourished is evident from an account of its annual payment to the pope in very early times ; for, when Lichfield payed only three thou- sand florins, our see advanced five thousand. No wonder that its jealousy should be excited ! Very little is known of the state 'Of this church in the Saxon period. Let it suffice to say, that a bishop of Lichfield, of tbe name of Peter, in the year 1075, removed his episcopal seat to Chester' j arid during his life made use of the church of St. ^John's for his cathedral. This translation was-; of very abort date; for his successor established himself in the former diocese, andi Chester continued1 with out 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 formed ion that great event-; and converted the tihurch of the late abby of St. Werburgh into the cathedral. --, The first of the new bishops was John Bird, & Carmelite, and provincial of the order ; a ntan 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 BaWgof ; from whence he was removed to Chester,, as a fit per- ¦x'Westmin$ter, Oxford, Bristol, Gloster, Peterborough, and Chester. The first was suppressed in the reign of queen Mary. 232 CHESTER.: BISHOPRICK. > ABBY. son to suit the rapacity of the times. In 1546, he granted;.away the .whole of the manors and de mesnes of the see, and, accepting \ 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 housed near St,, Johns church); and a few small tenements in the city of York. Notwithstanding .the. sum he amassed., he was found, at the accession of Marty]. in debt, to the crown; 1087/. 18*. for tenths and subsidies''; a vast sum for the times !; His interest with bishop Bonner still would have saved him, had he not committed: (in those days) the heinous crime of matrimony, for which he was deprived in 1554.- : "j il '¦ i. e < / - '.';> 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 Deriiientx in Cumberland.: comprehending the en tire counties, of Chester- and Lancaster; part of Westmoreland, Cumberland; Richmond in York'. shire ; the, chapelries df Holt . and Iscoed; the churches of Hawarden, Hanmer, Bangor, Woh thenbury, and the'chapelry of QvertonMadoc, in the adjacent parts of Wales. Abbt. The abby, out of which the see was formed, was of great ^antiquity. History; relates, that it bad CHESTER. ABBY. 233 been originally a nunnery, founded about the year 660, by Wulpherus, king of the Mercians, in favor of his daughter's indisposition to a married life. This was, the celebrated St. Werburgh, who took the veil after living immaculate for three years with her husband Ceolredus,, after the example of her aunt, the great Ethelneda ; who: cohabited for three years with no less purity with her first spouse Tonberctus,' and for twelve with her second, the pious prince Egfrid. St. Werburgh presided over several Mercian monasteries, (died at Tricengham, and^by her own order was interred at Heanburge ; but on ithe. approach of the Danes, in 875, her body was conveyed to Chester, as a'place of secu rity from, the insults of those pagans b. It is uncertain how. long this community exist ed. It probably was ruined by the ravages of the barbarians in, 895, and finally suppressed ; for we Sire told c, that from the reign of king Athelstan, in 9§5, to the coming of the Normans, a set of canons secular were established, in the place of the nuns. , This pious deed was that of Ethelfleda, who restored the buildings ; which afterwards were repaired by earl Leqfric, husband' to the famous Godiva. The house was richly endowed by the kings Edmund and: Edgar, and by; Leqfric. » Higden in Gale, iii. 240. € Ibid. 234 CHESTER. ABBY. Edgar's charter begins in a strain equally pious and sublime d. 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 pro bably he did not care to trust his salvation to the prayers of the Saxon religious. It is said, that this piece of piety was owing to a fit of illness which the earl was seized with ; when he took the usual way in those days of soothing a troubled conscience. He sent for Anselrn, abbot of Bee, and afterwards archbishop of Canterbury, who regulated the new foundation ; and appointed' his chaplain Richard to be the first abbot. Lupus and his successors were very liberalin their endow ments*; and the place flourished till its dissolu tion ; which was effected by the surrender of the 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 Dwgdale, 1003/. 5s. lid.; to Speed, 10751: 17s. 7d. According to a survey^of this Abby, preserved in the Harleian collection, its extent was very con siderable; surrounding the present square, and i Dugdale, Monast. i. 200. « Ibid. i. 935, %c. CHESTER. ABBY. SCHOOL. 235 covering several parts, of- the adjacent ground. The old abby-court is adorned on two sides by very handsome modern houses, built betweemthe years 1750 and 1754, on lea.ses 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 Echfrmnd K eene, afterwards bishop of 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^ oftwoOothic arches "included within a round one of great diameter ; and which appears to have been of far older date. Q' On one side was the porter'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 i its antient appearance, seems to have been externally the>§arne building. < "< The > cloisters are entire; but consist only iof three "walks, the court extending on one side qirite 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 Wolsey\ whose arms, with those of the see of York, with the^ cardinal's cap, are also to be seen here. On one side stood the fratry; a vast room, School. CHESTER. SCHOOL. CHAPTER-HOUSE. vuhich is used as a free-school, founded by Henry VIII. in the 36th year of his reign, for twenty- four boys, who are appointed by the deah 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 beja ehoirister) 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. ji;In a corner of the east-side of the cloister, is a passage and stairs; to the dormitory ; and the an tient priests cellars and kitchen,. On the. same side is a passage, formerly called; the Majdens aile, which, leads to the little abby-court, a part, of the - antient building belonging to the prebendaries. Chatter- p The beautiful edifice, the chapter-house, stands in the same walk of the cloister. The vestibule is arched, supported by four columnsj eaeh, sur^ rounded with eight slender pilasters without capi tals^ which converge near the top of the column, arid spread over thereof. aThe dimensions of this room are thirty-three feet four inches, 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 fifty feet long, twenty-sis feet broad, and thirty-five feet high ; at the upper HOUSE. CHESTER. CHAPTER-HOUSE. 237 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 harrow 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 ;i the springs of the arches which secure it,. are 'Supported by neat pilasters with palmy ca pitals. The modern bookcases 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 like that of the vestibule. The entrances, both from the cloisters and between the vestibule and the chapter-houSe, are Gothic ; but apparently of a later species of architecture 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. Tbe 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 remove the th0dy into this building f, as the most honor able place ; a respect which would certainly have been payed to it, had this edifice existed at the ' Leicester's Hist. Antiq. 127. 238 CHESTER. CHAPTER-HOUSE. 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, wrapped in gilt leather, with a cross on the breast ; and at the head of the coffin a stone in shape of a T, with the wolf's head, the allusion ¦ to his name, engraven on it. Immediately over his breast was a very singular covering, made of paper nicely platted, so as to form most elegant little squares of black and white E. 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 Hugh, 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 Peverel; Hugh Cyvelioc, who died at Leek in 1181; Randle the third, or de Blundcdille, who v died at Wallingford in 1232, where his bowels were interred ; his heart was buried at the abby of Dieulacres in Staffordshire, and his body trans ported to Chester: finally, John Scot, who, in 1237, "underwent the same fate as Randle the se- 8 A piece of it, set in a ring, is in the possession of Philip Egerton, Esq. of Oulton. '¦ , : CHESTER.^ CATHEDRAL. 239 cmd. So that every earl of the Norman line was deposited here, excepting Richard, who perished by shipwreck in 1120h. Of the abbots, Geqfry, who died in 1208, and six others, were buried in the chapter-house or its vestibule V • 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 that can boast of a remote date. All the labors of the, Saxons, : and almost all those of its re-founder Hugh Lupus, are now lost. The abbot, Simon Ripley,yvho was elected in 1485, -finished the mid dle aisle and the tower. The body is supported by six sharp-pointed arches. The columns are thick, surrounded, by pilasters with small rounded capitals, Above is a gallery, with a neat stone balustrade .ui the parts where it is entire, and a row of large and broad pointed windows ; which is .the general style. ..Tbie present cathedral appears to have been bui}|; (excepting the slight fragments just mention- h The particulars of the deaths of this illustrious line may be seen hi'Leicester; or in Dugpale's Baronage, i. 32, frc. ' Willis's Cathedrals J\. 323. 240 CHESTER. CATHEDRAL, ed) in the reigns of Henry VI. VII. and VIII. ; but principally in those of the two last. The beau tiful west end was begun in 1508, and the first 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 fhe old streets, which we know were many feet lower than the modern, which 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, springs of arches that appear in the i walls of the nave and its ailes, it seems as if the : architect had intended to have vaulted them m the : manner in which St. Marys chapel and the cho ral ailes are done. TiiEchoiris very neat; and the Gothic taberna- 1 cle-work over the stalls carved in a light and elegant ¦• manner. The arches in the galleries are divided by pretty slender pillars, which perhaps were of a, date prior to the body of the church ; probably the CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. 241 work of abbot Oldham, who was a benefactor, and had a concern in the building. In the chancel are four 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 dhurchmen; but none of any magnificence ; and one of Sir Wil liam Mainzvating, 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 kingdom. Each held in one hand a scroll with the name inscribed. Fanatic 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 mistake, 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, who dedicated vol. i. R 24a ST. WERBURGH'S SHRINE. St. Wer- bur-gh'sShrine. Assassina tion. the profits to the use of the blue-coat hospital in this city. I beg leave to dissent from the notion of this having been the shrine of St. Werburgh, as it is popularly 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 precious materials, and often enriched with gems of great value. They are of different forms, such as churches, cabinets, 8gc. and, should the relicjue be a head, or limb, the chasse is made conformable to the shape of the part. These are seated usual ly conspicuous on an elevated place; and are always moveable, in order that. they may be, car ried in procession, either in honor of the saint, or to divert some great calamity. Thus, in 1180, the shrine of St. Werburgh 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, 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 ser- CHESTER. ASSASSINATION. 243 Vice, as usual, was immediately suspended, till a lustration was performed in order to purify the church from the foul stain. The abby was recon ciled on St. WerburgKs day; the parish-church on that of St. Oszvaldk. An impiety of this kind was committed in the church of Notre Dame at Paris, in 16701. The priest died of his wound ; aud 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 m. 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. k King, ii. 189. 1 Felibien Hist. Paris, ii. 1500. Pieces Justif. iii. 2 1 2. m Martyrs, iii. R 2 244 CHESTER. CATHEDRAL. 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 ; and another of an altar-form, ascribed to Henry IV. emperor of Germany, who, according to a legendary 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 was ever in our kingdom ; but it is well known that he finished his days at Liege ", in 1106, and was magnificently interred in the cathedral of that city. The transepts are of unequal lengths ; the south is very large, dedicated to St. Oszvald, 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 chang ed to that'of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to the name it now bears. On the rebuilding of the church, this aile was designedly enlarged, and allotted by the monks to the neighboring inha bitants, who were for the most part their servants or tenants. At first, the religious wished to have the whole to themselves, and on that account built, n Modern Univ. Hist, xxxix. 95, ST. NICHOLAS'S CHAPEL. 245 at a distance from this aile, a chapel called St. Nicholas's and endowed it with a vicarage, 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 the use of the church of St. Oszvald, which they still retain °. The chapel. falling into disuse, was purchased by the citizens, and converted into their common- hall for the dispatch of business p. 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 Wld at the feast of St. Werburgh, should be at tached, unless he committed some new offence there q. 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 "King, ii. 39. p It is probable that there had been a more antient coin- mon-hall ; a lane in this city still retains the name of Old Common-hall lane. ' Leicester, 119. 24,6 CHESTER. SINGULAR CHARTER. 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-fain Lacy instantly collected a body of minstrels, fid dlers, and idle people, who were assembled here on account of this privelege ; marched with them into Wales, and relieved the earl from his distress. Randle, on his return, immediately rewarded Lacy with a full power over all tbe instruments of his preservation, magisterium omnium lecatorum et meretricum totius Cestreshire. 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 were 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 thenr lives and conversation ; whether any of them play ed 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 de Dutton and his heirs. The procession and courts were held by tbeir steward within my memory ; but the custom is now dropt. I find also, that Dutton and his heirs clamed at CHESTER. CARMELITES. 247 the feast from the minstrels, quatuor lagenas vini tt unam lancem, four bottles of wine, 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, offcium mum exercente, four-pence r. The other religious houses in this city were, the Carmelites. Carmelites, or White friers, who had a convent in that part of St. Martins parish still called White- friers lane: partofMr. Marsden s house is formed of the remains. The church, as appears by Brauris view of this city in 1581, stood a little west of it. By the charter of Roger Lacy 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. In Trinity parish stood a house of Franciscan or ^Grey friers, which Jbisbop 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 appears that there was a church there in his time ; and to this day painted * Leicester, 142. 9 Dugdale Monast. ii. IS 5. 248 CHESTER. ST. JOHN'S. tiles and painted glass, reliques of ecclesiastical finery, are still dug up. In the parish of St. Martin's l was a monastery of preaching or Black friers, said by Speed to have been 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 house, and its fine vaults, are occupied by Henry Hesketh, esquire. St. John's. St. John's, which lies without the walls on the east side of the city, was 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 906, and was in the next century repaired and endowed by earl Leofric. 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 Lichfield by bishop 'Rather in that of Trinity; 9s. 'l\d. is paid at the audit for the site of it. CHESTER, ST. JOHN'S. 249 feter. 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 the collation of the bishop of Lichfield) ; seven vicars, two clerks, four ichpiristers ; sextons, and other servants ; most of1 whose houses are distinguished in the same plan. Their yearly revenue, after reprisals, was only 9,71. I7s.}4rchitectpre, 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 i u Tanner, 59. * Harleian MSS. N° 1994.69. 250 CHESTER. ST. MARY'S NUNNERY. legend, represented by the figure of a man and a hind. On the south side of the church-yard, impend ing over a high cliff, supposed to be the Radeclive of the Doomsday-book, is a smallantient building, probably a chapel, called the Anchoritage, placed - over the retreat of some holy hermits. This might 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. Doctor Tanner; supposes, that the convent of Benedictine nuns, dedicated to St. Mary, originat ed either from the monastery of St. John, or was a relique of one of the old nunneries belonging^ to St. Werburgh. This, 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 his grant y. I find also, that Fdzvard the black y Sciatis me dedisse, et in perpetuam elemosynam conces- ST. MARY'S NUNNERY. HOSPITAL. 251 prince had been a benefactor ; for there is mention of a charter of his to the nuns, granted in the 32d 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 41. to ll. 6s. 8d. each. The site was granted, in the 33d of Henry VIII. to the ' Urian Breretons, senior and junior. The revenues were, according to Dugdale, 661. 18s. U; to Speed, 991. 16s. Id. I have a ground-plot of this nunnery ; by which it appears to have been a compact but small building. The church was 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 doisters thirty yards by twenty-one. It stood in the nursery-garden on the west side of the city, still called the Nun's garden, 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. Without the North-gate stood a hospital de- Hospital. dicated to St. John the Baptist, and formerly a sisseW et sanctse Marim et Monialibus Cestrim, &c. Mo- tosticon.i. 507. Harleian MSS. N° 2057. 36. a Br. Zool. II. 627. App. 252 CHESTER. HOSPITAL. PARISHES. sanctuary, and endowed with great priveleges. The mastership was granted by Edward II. to the prior of Berkinkead and his successors ; but after wards disposed of by the crown to secular clergy. The house, at the dissolution, consisted of a chap lain and six poor brethren, whose income, after reprisals, was 13/. 7s. 10d.\ Mention is made by bishop Tanner c 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 of Edward II. 's reign ; I think, opposite to the place of execution : the burying-ground is still made use of by the parish of St. Oszvald. Parishes. The number of parishes are nine. None of the churches are remarkable, excepting those of St. Peter's and Trinity, distinguished by their hand some spires. The first d was finished in 1489; when the parson and others signalized themselves by eating part of a goose on it, and flinging the rest into the four streets e. "- h Tanner, 64. <= lb. 65. d St. Peter's spire, which formed a beautiful termination ts Bridge street, was taken down a few years ago. Ed. e King, i. 76. CHESTER. POPULATION. ROOD-EYE. 25J The number of inhabitants f, including the sub- Population. urbs of Boughton 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 Hay garth s of this city, that in Leeds, one in twenty-one ; in Northampton and Shrezvsbury, 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 Piood-eye, outside of the walls which has been unnoticed, un less it be the Rood-eye, and the adjacent places. The Dee, after quitting the contracted pass at the bridge, flows beneath an incurvated clayey cliff, 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 ' f In' the general return of 1801, the population of Chester vwstated at 15052 souls. It is now said to approach nearly to 1.5500. Ed. 1 Now practising at Bath. Ed. 254 CHESTER. ROOD-EYE. whom it belongs) demised to one Thomas Lyneal servant to Sir Francis Walsingham, this pasture for the 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 wafer- gate ; for which he was at first to have two-pence for every vessel passing by with any lading; but after that, the sum was encreased to four-pence; and Lyneal was to pay an annual rent of £0/. 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 place the lusty youth, in former days, exercised themselves in the manly sports of the age; in! archery, running, leaping, and wrestling ; in mock-; fights, and. gallant and romantic triumphs. From '' hints dropt by Daniel King, I imagine them to have been of the same nature with those 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 k Harleian MSS. N°2082. 31. 34. CHESTER. ROOD-EYE. 255 1 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 1 the sham-fight. Part take the field well mount- ' ed. 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 pur- ' sues without being able to overtake them ; while, ' in another quarter, the pursuers overtake the foe, ' unhorse them, and pass them many a length. ,' The elders of the city and the fathers of the 1 parties, and the rich and the wealthy, come into 'the field on horseback to behold the exercises V Qne would imagine by what follows, the antient historian was describing the sports of Ascanius *nd his youthful train on the plains of Sicily: Postquam omnem laeti consessum, oculosque suorum Lustravere in equis, &c. Now round the ring, before their fathers, ride The.boys in all their military pride ; Till the loud lash resounding from afar GiTes the glad signal for the mimic war ; - '$,) Straight in three bands distinct they break away, 5,,, Pivide in order, and their ranks display : 1 Vide Pits-Stephen's Descr. Lond. translated by an anti quary, 1772. 46. 7, 8. } 256 CHESTER. ROOD-EYE. Swift at the summons.they return, and throw At once their hostile lances at the foe : Then take a new excursion on the plain ; Round within round, an endless course maintain ; And now advance, and now retreat again; With well-dissembled rage their rivals dare, And please the crowd with images of war. Alternate now they turn their backs in flight, Now dart their lances, and renew the fight ; Then in a. moment from the combat cease, Rejoin their scatter'd bands, and move in peace. Pitt, A standard was the prize of emulation in the sports celebrated on the Rood-eye k : but in the year 1 609 the amusements took a new form ; and under the reign of the peaceful James, the youthful cava liers layed aside their mimic war, and began that species of horsemanship which the romantic philosopher, lord Herbert, thought unworthy of a man of honour; ' for,' says he, 'the exercise I do ' not approve, is the running of horses, there being ' much cheating in that kind.' The first prizes we hear of, after the suppres sion of the triumph, were a bell and a bowl, to be run for on St. George's day ; which were provided in 1609 by Mr. Robert Amery, formerly sheriff of the city, and were brought down to the Rood-eye k Which was won in 1578 by sheriff Montford on Shrove- Tuesday. CHESTER. POOR-HOUSE. QUAYS. 257 with great solemnity. This seems to have been the origin of -the plate given by the city> and annu ally fun for. on the same day, to the. present time. A bell was a common prize: a little- golden bell was the reward of victory in 1 607, at the races near York ; whence came the -proverb for success of any kind, to bear t he. belt :\ * .V 'i '• -uof ¦< At one end of the Rood-eye stands the House Poor-house. of Industry ; a large and useful building, founded in 1757, by. money raised, by the city on life-'an- nuities, for several improvements within! its liber- > ties. Here the indigent are provided for in a fit manner, and to. the. great ease of the parishes'; which are relieved from the burden of a numerous poor, who are too idle to work, arid too proud to enter into this comfortable nAsylum.': Those of the parish of Hawarden are also sent here,? by virtue of an agreement made, between the' govern ors of this charity and the overseers of the poor, of that parish. The inmates contribute\by some >1U'i v,.--,:: coarse linen manufactures,' towards their ^support. k A little beyond' this building are. the , quays/ Quays. cranes, warehouses, and other' requisites for cai> ryingon.the. naval trade of the city. ' \ These are, opposite to the Water-gate ; and have been much improved of late years, and the intervening ispace filled with a neat street. Ships of 350 tons bur den can now reach the quays, where the spring- vol. i. s 258 CHESTER. QUAYS. NEW CUT. tides rise at a medium fifteen feet : the neap-tides, eight. In the year 1674, this port was in so de plorable a state, and so choaked with sands, that a vessel of twenty tons could not arrive here ; but the ships were obliged to lie under Neston, ten miles distant; which gave rise to the assemblage of houses called Parkgate, built on the shore be neath that town. A quay, called the New quay, (now in ruins) was erected near this place in the beginning1 of the seventeenth century, for the con- veniency of loading and unloading the vessels trad ing 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 prosperity; of Liverpool; about this time a very inconsiderable place. It now began to discover its own advant ages of situation j and quickly emerged from its despicable state to its present flourishing condi tion. New Cut. In 16*74, some friend to the former prevaled on Mr. Andrezo Yarranton, a gentleman extreme-* ly conversant in the commercial advantages of this island, to make 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 1 Harleian MSS. N»2003. 39. CHESTER. NEW CUT. 259 flavigation even to the present quays : and this he got to be presented to the duke of York, the pa tron, at that time, of all useful undertakings. He also suggested the idea of a canal from the collieries at Aston near Hawarden; which was to drop into this new channel,Nand facilitate the carriage of coal up to the city m. Future times had the advantage of his inventive genius. Both plans were brought into execution without any great de viation from Mr. Yarranton's project. His new cut was to 'end opposite to Flint ; the present opens opposite to Wepra, on this side of Flint. Sir John Glynne 's little canal n approaches the Dee, about two miles below the city. Mr. Yarranton's 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 lands they • Mr, Andrew Yarranton's England's Improvements by Sea tod Land, *<•. 4to, London, 1677. His plan for that of the fe.isatp. 192. * This canal is no longer used. En. sS 860 CHESTER. NEW CUT. 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 house of Hanover was at that time mixed, in this city, with zeal for its commercial interest; but it was soon discovered to be the madness qf many, but 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 by 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 burthen 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 lunruly element. I remember an almost , useless tide flowing; 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 t loss of multitudes of lives. Two ferries are esta-8 CHESTER. TRADE. 261 lished at fit places. The lower is the proper passage for travellers by Holyhead 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. 1 shall now take a short view of0 the trade of Trade. this city, as it stood in the years 1771 and 1776. 1 bring the last into sight, in order to shew how far this port has been affected by the commotions of our American subjects ; and oppose it to the commerce of 177 1, when it appears to have been in its meridian, since the restoration of the channel. In 1771 were entered inwards ' 8,97 coasting vessels ; 19 of which were laden with groceries, and other goods from Lon- ¦, i don. 526 coast ships outwards; of these 23 came from the port of London, and were laden '.Mi here, with lead, iron cannon, two thousand tons of cheese, and other goods. In the same year, 95 vessels were entered in wards from foreign parts; and 2 16 entered out wards from Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and America. * A comparative statement of the trade of Chester in 1786, 1796, and 1 806, will be found in the Appendix. Ed. 262 CHESTER. TRADE. From Norway and the Baltic, are imported timber, flax, tallow, 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 manufacture which the city can boast of. I find, that in the reigns of queen Elizabeth, James I. and the beginning of that of Charles I. here was a vast trade in calves skins. In the first of those monopolizing times, the queen grants one Arthur Balsano a licence to export 6000 dickers of leather of calves skins, ten dozens to every dicker, for seven years, paying five shillings per dicker. James I. granted to James Maxwet 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 I p. This Maxzvel 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 undergone. f Harleian MSS. N° 2004. 4, 5, 16. CHESTER. TRADE. S63 From Spain and Portugal are imported great quantities of cork, fruit, oil of olives, nuts, barilla ashes, and raisins ; and several hundred tons of wine from Portugal; which last form the greatest foreign import of this city. Whiee the trade with America was open, fish and oil were 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) ; 1 000 tons of lead ; 300 of lead ore ; 300 of oak bark ; all these to foreign parts. Besides 3470 tons of lead, and 431 of lead ore, sent coastways ; that is, to the ports of London and Liverpool, veel nimium vicina ! for the purpose of re-exportation. In 1776, 20S coasting vessels were entered in wards, and 619 outwards. '166 ships entered inwards from foreign parts, including those trading between Dublin and Park- gate; and 131 outwards. The following table will shew the division of the commerce, at that period : Inwards. Outwards. America, - - - - 2 - 5 France, ---- — - 11 Flanders, - - - - — 1 Holland, - - - - — - 1 Inwards. Outwards - 140 104 3 4 - 3 3 - 4 — - 3 1 'I 10 1 264 CHESTER. TRADE. Ireland, - - Isle of Man, - Portugal, Spain, - - Italy, - - Norzvay, Russia, and \ Prussia, 2877 chaldrons of coal, 1184 tons of lead, and 168 of lead ore, were sent abroad; but so ex hausted are our oak-trees, that only 1 8 tons of bark were shipped. 2813 tons of lead, and 431 of lead ore, were sent coastways. From the table of entries it appears, that the great trade of this city is with Ireland; which receives annually from hence (as a magazine) large quanti ties of hops, woollen cloths, worsted stuffs, hosiery, fustians, Manchester goods, cheese, wrought iron, iron great guns, hardware, bound and unbound books, carpets, flint glass, wrought silks, and great quantities of foreign goods sent from London by land, and shipped from this port. In return, it imports from Ireland, at the Mid summer and Michaelmas 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. TRADE. 265 Chester. These form all together a million of yards each fair. This trade began no longer ago than the year 1736, in which 449,654 yards were imported. The importation continually increased till the last year of the late war ; from which period it has been on a par9. Ireland also sends considerable quantities of lamb-skins, wool, linen and bay yarn, tallow, hides, butter, 'feathers, and quills, ox bones and hoofs, glue;; sheep and cat guts ; calve-velves, provisions, and live cattle. THEJflflimber 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 Wital ; and on the Flintshire, to the Vor-ryd, or the mouth of the Clzvyd. This, properly speaking, 9 Irish Linen imported at Chester. In Packs. Chests. Boxes. Bales. Cases. Parcels. Bund. 1786 1684 14 988 20 16 6 8 1796 582 — SOS 4 — — — 1806 327 — 936 — — — — The " By Goods" imported at Liverpool, or brought from Manchester, &c. may be averaged at 60 packs and 740 boxes each year. Ed. 266 CHESTER. CANAL. is only a division of the great port of Chester,. which 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. Canal. There was lately a very fair prospect of adding much to the trade of the city, by an inland navi gation, which was begun with great spirit a few years ago. It was to run through the county beneath Beeston castle, and to terminate near Middlezvich. Another ' branch was to extend to Namptwich. One mouth opens into the Dee, below the water-tower. A fine bason is formed, 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- 1 ties occurring in the execution, such enormous : charges were incurred, as to put a stop for fhe pre- , sent to all proceedings. The other branch, which was to extend towards Middlewich, was to end ¦ within a limited distance from the great canal be- ' This branch is executed, and produces a trifling trade in " consequence of its communication with the Ellesmere canal. Ed. CHESTER. CANAL. 267 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, from the vast collieries in Staffordshire. Share also in the exportation of hard-ware, earthern-ware, and all the manufactures of the internal part of the kingdom within its reach, might have been reasonably expected. . The idea of a canal along the dead flat be tween Chester and s Ince has been long since con ceived, 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 pre sent; another near Ince, 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 numerous set of places within reach of the Mersey, and of the canal belonging to that useful Peer, the duke of Bridgewater, to which the greatest of our inland navigations is con nected. This little cut the city might, and still may, enjoy unenvied, unrivalled ; and, what is a material consideration, the distance is trifling (seven ' A design recently carried into effect, and proving of in finite service to the commercial interests oi Chester. Ed. 268 ECCLESTON. miles'), the expences small, and the profits to the undertakers great. On leaving the city, I repassed Hanbridge; 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 Eccles- ton, 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 Oldford. Eccleston. 'j,HE vinage 0f Eccleston is prettily seated near 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 rich cultivation, bounded by hills of various forms. Eccleston retains the same name which it had at the Conquest. It was held at that time by Gilbert de Venables, from Hugh Lupus; before 1 According to Burdet's map. EATON. S69 that event, by Edwin a freeman. On the demesne land were two servants, four villeyns, and a boor, a boat and a net. Part of the place afterwards. fell to the Vernons of , Kinder ton ; and finally, by a late 'purchase, was added by the, i family of the Grosvenors to their antient property in this parish, The church is a rectory dedicated to St. Mary.:.y .A little farther is Eaton, or the hamlet on the Eaton. water; a name the most common of any in Eng-. hnd. 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 aiitient family of the Grosvenors lies in this town4 ship; 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 office they held in the- Norman court, that. of grand huntsman. ; Their, first settlement in this county was, Over Lostock, bestowed by Hugh Lupus on his great nephew Robert le Grosvenour. * Eaton'Hall has been recently rebuilt byEofertEarl Gros- imor, 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 ia the erection.of a new parish church at Eccleston. Ed. S70 EATON. OLDFORD. In 1234, Richard le Grosvenour purchased and fixed his seat at Hulme : but in the reign of Henry VI. by the marriage of Razvlin or Ralph Grosvenour with Joan daughter of John Eaton of Eaton, esq. it was transferred to this place; While chivalry was the passion of the times,, few families shone in so distinguished a manner : none shewed equal spirit in vindicating their: right to their honors. Witness the famous cause between Sir Robert le Grosvenour with Sir Richard" le Scrope, plaintiff, about a coat of arms, azure one bend, or ; tried before the high constable and high marshal of England, in the reign of Richard II. 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 Grosvenours avec une bordure d'argent. 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 Ike at Eaton-boat, leaving on the Oldford. right Oldford bridge; a neat structure, forming another communication between the two parts of FARN. 271 the hundred of BrOeVton ; which, at the time of the Conquest, bore the name of Dudestan hundred. After riding along a dirty flat country, reach Farn. Farn, or Farndon ; a small town on the Dee, called in doomsday book Ferenton. The church was burnt by the parlement army in 1645, durino- the iegeof Holt castle ; and rebuilt after the cessation of the war. In one window, over the pew of the respectable family of Bariiston, 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 figures 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 Gamut ; 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 Mainzvarings, and the Barndistons; three loyalists, rwho served in the same cause : Roger Grosvenor ; Sir William Mainwaring, who was slain in defence of Chester; and William Bamdiston of Chirton, esq. who died in 1664. • This town is separated from HOLT. DENBIGHSHIRE by an antient stone bridge of ten arches, with the vestiges of a guard-house in the middle; the date, 1345, was preserved, till very lately, on a stone' Holt. over the arch called the Lady's arch: Holt, another small town, stands on an eminence on the Welsh side, an antient borough and corpo ration,* 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 Thomas', earl of Arun del, dated: from his castle . of Lyons 1410. The Charter, grant is very partial, running in this, form* To the burgesses of our tozvn, and to their heirs and suc cessors; beings Englishmen. This mightj 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 ment; for within these few years they were the roost irascible and pugnacious ; of all the neighborhood. 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 HOLT. 273 made by Edward the Confessor to that see, of all the land on the other side of the , river ; which he first gave and then took from our prince Gryffydd apLlewelynx . The church is a very handsome build ing; yet no more than a chapel to the former : it is in the gift of the dean and chapter of Winchester, and has its parish officers like other places. On the font- are the arms of the Warrens ; in a win dow, those of the Stanleys, former owners of the place. ¦-. The poor reliques of the castle are seated close Castle. fo the river ; and are insulated by a vast foss cut through a deep, bed of soft red stone ; which 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 that form, to serve as a base to as many towers. An antient survey 1 met with in the Museum, among the Harleian MSS. taken' in 1620 by John Nor den, when it was entire, will give a true idea ofcthis curious structure. It had been defended in three parts by the great chasm formed by the quarry ; on the ffturth 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. * Doomsday Book in Leicester, 405. VOL, I. T 874 HOLT. POWYSLAND. Originally this place had been a small out post to Deva. Slopes, and other now almost ob solete works, may be seen near the castle, and on the opposite side of the water ; and coins have been found here, that put the matter out of doubt. I have seen some of Antoninus, Galienus, Constam, tinus, and Constantius. I conjecture that the Roman name had been Castra Legionis, and the Welsh, Cast ell Lleon, or fhe castle of the legion ; because it was garrisoned by a detachment of the legion stationed at Chester. The 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. Powysland. This country formed part of Pozvysland; which; when entire, reached in a strait line from Broxton hills in Cheshire, southerly to Pengzvern Pozvys, or Shrewsbury, including a large tract in both these counties ; from thence through the eastern limits of Montgomeryshire, comprehending all that county, part of Radnorshire and Brecknockshire; then turning northward, included the cwmmwds of Mewddwy, Eddmion, and Glyndyfrdzvy, Meiri oneddshire, and (circuiting part of Denbighshire) came along part of the Clzvydian hills, to the sum mit of Moel-famma, including all Denbighshire, excepting those parts which at present constitute FOWYSLAND, aM> the lordships of Denbigh -and Ruthin; from hence, taking a south-easterly direction to .Bray- to hills, asserted its right to Moksdale, Hopedale, mdMaelor, in Flintshire. I. have before taken notice, that Offa's encroachment was but tempo rary, and of short duration. I must farther, ob serve, that in the articles of pacification T between Henry III. and our last prince Llewelyn, the limits of the principality experienced but a very small diminution from what it was in Offa's time, when it was agreed, that the Dec should be the boundary from Wiral to Castrum Leonum, or Soit ; and from thence in a direct line to Pens^ \Wn Pozvys. t It was, perhaps, ofmuchgreater extent under the #ign of Brochwel Ysgythrog, 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 z, 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 Pozvys to the western side of the celebrat- . ed ditch still known by his name. The princes of y Powel's notes on Girald. Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. 11. p. 875. 1 Bed« Hist. lib. ii. c 2. p. 80. Sax. Chr. 15. tS 276 POWYSLAND. Powys were then constrained to quit their antient residence at Pengzvern, or Shrewsbury, and re move it to one not less fertile, to Mathraval, in the beautiful vale of Meivod. From this period, their kingdom was called indifferently, that of Powys, or of Mathraval. The plains of Shrop shire became a confirmed part of the Mercian. kingdom. The trans-sabrine portion of Glomes-, tershire and Worcestershire, and the county of Hereford, submitted to the yoke ; but, after some time, the tract which forms the country above Croes Oswallt, or Oszvestry, and the two Maelors. Cymracg or the present Bromfield, and Saesneg or the present Flintshire Maelor, with many other,. Czvmmzvds, relapsed to its natural 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 gran-mother. Nest, sister and heiress to Congen ap Cadell king of Powys, he added Powysland to his'dominions *. He, according to the destructive custom of gavel kind, divided his principality among his children; to Anarazvdhe gave North Wales; to Cadell,, South -Wales ;< to Merfyn, Powysland. Each wore a Talaith or diadem of gold, beset with » Powel, 35. POWYSLAND. 277 precious stones ; whence they were styled Y Tri aTyzvysog Taleithiog, or the three crowned princes. ¦ '¦After the death of Merfyn, Cadell usurped thfe portion of his brother. His eldest son, Howel Dda, orthe Good, in £40, again united all Wales into one government. He left four sons, who di vided South Wales and Pozvys between them ; While North Wales was assumed, in 948, by Jevaf and Jago, sons to his predecessor Edzval Voel. The confusion that ensued on this occasion, pre vents me from saying any thing with certainty, till Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, who. ruled Wales at the time of the Conquest, re-united the kingdoms of North Wales and Powys. The succession to the prin cipality passed away from his children; but ¦Pozvysland devolved to his sons .: which came at length entire to Meredydd, the. eldest born, after the contentions and slaughter usual on such parti tions b. f 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 of Powys Fadoc : tq , Gryffydd, the portion which was calLed Gzc en* wynwyn c. : b Powel, notes upon Girald. Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. 12. c Potvel, 211. S73 POWYSLAND. I leave to a future disquisition, the account of the remaining parts of 'Powysland. I shall only trace the succession of the first, which belongs more par ticularly to my subject. Powys Fadoc consists ed, according to the; division of the times, of five Cantrefs or hundred townships ; and these were subdivided into fifteen Czvmmwds. CDinmael d, Denbighshire. ¦¦¦¦ Cantkef . Y Barwn, < Edeyrriion, Merionethshire. ( Glyndyfrdwy, Ibid. .!•;¦•¦ C Yale, or Jed, , ' • Denbighshire. Cantref y Rhiw, 3 YstradAlun, or Mold, Flintshire. (Hope,, - ..' "Ibid. - , ¦ ¦ CMprffordd,, A ,, ^Flintshire... Cantref' '. Uwchnan.t, 1 ^^J^**' ™ }D^ighshire^ , , . , . ' Maelor Saesneg, . Flintshire, .._. ¦ CCroes-vhen, and : 7 • f. ,. , ,-ij' CANTREF Tmfred, jTrefyfVaun^Chirk,^ P ^Cr0^allt,o,Os-^shrml.^;( ...... , ¦ ,. . f, MocJinant-U-Rliai- 1 Cantref Rhaiadr, | «*' *&»»«<*. &<=. j Denbighshire. \ Nan heudwy, ) , . (^ Whittington, Shropshire. Madoc married Susannah, daughter of Gryffydd dp Cynan prince of JVWA 1 Vales, by whom he had two sob's ; Gryffydd Maelor, and Owera ap Madoc. To the first he gave the two Maelors, Yale, Hope- dale, and Nan heudzvy, and Mochnant is Rhaiadr, &c. : toOzven, the land of Mechain Is-coed: and, * Llangwm Dinmael, Cerregy Druidion, &c. POWYSLAND. HOLT. a?9 * to his natural son Owen Brogyntyn, a young man of great merit, Edeyrnion and DinmaeV. Gryf fydd married Angharad, the daughter of Ozcen Bzvynedd, and had one son named Madoc, in whom the inheritance remained entire. imIWebow hasten to the. end of the line. Madoc had only one son, Gryffydd, commonly called lord of Dinas Bran, because he made that fortress his chief residence. He unfortunately became enamoured of Emma, an English lady, daughter d James lord Audley : who alienating his affec- tfons from his country, made him one instrument of its subjection, and of the destruction of his own .family. He took part with Henry III. and, Ed' Wrdl. against his natural prince. The resentment of-his countrymen was raised against him; and he W obliged to confine himself in his castle of Dinas Bran, where probably grief and shame put an, end to his life. He left four children, Madoc, Llewelyn., Gryffydd, and Owen. Historians f have been mis taken, in supposing that the two first had been mur dered in their childhood, for the sake of their estates, h)John earl Warren, and Roger son of lord Morti* iter of Wigmore. But it appears that they were arrived at the state of manhood before the death of their father,- which happened in 1270- We find ' Powel, 211- f Ibid. 212. 280 POWYSLAND. HOLT. all the four sons witnesses to the settlement, made by Gryffydd 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 g ; all which could not have been the acts of infants. The children who were murdered, were the sons of Madoc, .eldest son of Gryffydd. Edward I. had given the guardianship of one (who was to have had for his share the lordship of Bromjkld: and : Yale, the castle of Dinas Bran, and the reversion of Maelor Saesneg,. after the death of his mother) ; to John earl Warren; and of the other (who was to have possessed, the lordships of Chirk and Nan- heudwy) to Roger Mortimer, son of lord. Mortimer, ofWigmore. These lords soon conspired tofreethetn* selves. from their charge, and possess themselves ©f" their estates: and accordinglycaused the poor child- 1 ren to be drowned under Holt bridge. This I dis covered in a manuscript, comm unicated to me by the ;. Reverend John Price, keeper of the Bodleian)}h- : brary. Before that, the manner of their deaths was ; current in the country, under the fable1 of two young i fairies, who had been destroyed . in that manner,, and in the same place.; but the foundation of the; tale was, till very lately, totally lost. & These settlements I found among the manuscripts which Sir John Sebright was so obliging as to lend to me. HOLT CASTLE. a81 -Having now brought the succession to the re quired period, I shall only say, that Gryffyd, the third son, was suffered to enjoy his portion of Glyndyfrdzvy ; from whom sprung Owen, the great avenger of the wrongs of his family : and the fourth son, Ozven, received for his share, Cynl- ¦beth. This afterwards devolved to Gryffydd, Jffttber of Glyttdzvr. ,. The (barbarity of the two guardians, so far from being punished by their master, was rewarded. Warren -.had the grant of. Dinas Bran and all Cornfield confirmed to him, dated from Rhudd land, October 7th, 1281 h; Mortimer, that of Chirk. The former, began. immediately to secure his ill-gotten possessions by building Holt Castle'; hut dying) left the finishing of it to his son William. Mote thie grant, a family of the name of Holt, held; this place; I suppose under its lord para mount. :. These estates continued in the family till 1347, when, on the. death of John .earl Warren, they devolved to. Edzvard Fitzalan earl of Ariin- iel, in right of his wife Alice, sister to the former* fVarren had been divoreed from his wife Joan de •Baars, and had obtained from-; Edward II. a grant of his Welsh- estates, and others in Surrey Mid.SusseeV, in favor, of John and Thomas, his sons h Ayloff's Rotuli Wallia, 8 1 . 282 HOLT CASTLE. by Maud de Nereford; to whom he had been con tracted before his marriage with Joan. These children, probably, died without issue ; the estates reverting, as he had in such a case provided, to his own right heirs '. "These estates continued with the Fitzalans during three generations. Richard II. probably seized on them after the execution of Richard earl of Arundel ; for we find that unhappy prince had lodged in Holt Castle, during his Irish expedition, ¦ jewels to the value of two hundred thousand marks, and a hundred thousand marks in coin k; which, with the fortress, were delivered, to Bolingbroke^ previous to the deposition of Richard. Thomas; the son of Richard, was restored in blood in the following reign. He died in 1416, without issue ; and his unsettled estates fell to his sisters, Eliza beth, who had married Thomas Mowbray duke of Norfolk, but then wife to Sir Gerard Usefleet ; and Joan, who had married William Beauchamp lord of Abergavenny. This occasioned a further division of these estates. Joans share fell again, by a daughter, to Nevil lord Abergavenny; after which, I lose sight of the succession till the reign of Henry VII. when that prince made a grant of them to Sit William Stanley. On his execution, Henry 1 Dugdale's Baron, i. 82. k Itolinshed. HOLT CASTLE. £83 not only resumed the' lordship, but seized on bis vast effects ; and found in Holt Castle, in money and plate, forty thousand marks, besides jewels, househbld goods, and cattle on his ground '. - Henry VIII. bestowed this lordship on his natural son Henry Fitzroy duke of Richmond; and had possession given him at its capital of Holt, in 1534,' by the duke df Norfolk and others™. He enjoyed his honor but a short time, dying at the age of seventeen, in the year 15 36*,! >!j In tbe following reign, I find it in possession of Thomas Seymour lord admiral, and turbulent bro^ thereto- the protector Somerset. He made the fortress at Holt subservient to his ambitious de- sighs ; arid formed there a great magazine of war like stores ". His deserved but illegal execution again flung Broivfield into possession 'of the crown. The great earl of Leicester was in possession d Chirk ; and probably, of the whole lordship of Bromjield.'i- • In 16"43, Holt 'Castle was in the hands of the crown ; but in that year was seized for the use of the parlement, by Sir William Brereton and Sir Thomas Middleton °. The royalists recovered the 1 , Leicester, 371. m King, ii. 1 95 . ¦ Dugdale's Baron, ii. 368. " Whitelock, 77 . Idem, 192.201. 284 HOLT CASTLE. possession. In February 1645-6, it was closely besieged by major-general Mytton9, and vigorous ly defended by the governor, Sir Richard Lloyd of Ecclusham near Wrexham, till the beginning of April, when it was surrendered, on articles,- to colonel Pope, in the absence of the major-general, according to agreement. The governor having permission to go beyond, sea, with three. hundred pounds ; and his. lady, to enjoy his lands, being three hundred pounds a year q. Immediately after the parlement got possession, it was ordered to be demolished. The lordship is at present in the crown, under the direction of the steward of Bromfield and Yale; an office in his majesty's, disposal : but a grant of the minerals (the far more valuable part): was made to the Grosvenor family, in the reign of Charles I. subject to the annual payment of twenty shillings. An attempt was made by. king William to alien ate these important domains in favor of the earl of Portland, and his heirs for ever ; but on a vigorous representation of the illegality, and par ticularly on the noble .speech r , of Robert Price esq. . afterwards baron of the. exchequer, his ma jesty thought fit to withdraw the grant already p Drake's Partem. Hist.xlw. 356. *' Whitelock, 231, ' British Biogr. vii. app. 141. HOLT CASTLE. S3* made out in the treasury., The whole rents at that time resulting to the crown, amounted only to a thousand a year, besides mises, reliefs, and other contingent profits. The mise was, in Wales, a " customary present made to the prince on his ac cession, in old times, in cattle or corn ; but after its conquest, changed into money. It amounted to about five thousand pounds. It was payed thrice in the time of James I. ; first, at his coming to the crown ; secondly, on the creation of his son Henry, prince of Wales ; thirdly, on the creation of Charles. Elizabeth, ever attentive to her pre rogatives, clamed the mise on her accession, in November 1558. She appointed a commission for the receit ; but met with opposition in the town of Caermarthen, by the inhabitants, who alledged, that greater sums had been raised in their county, in the reigns, of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. than was answered to the prince. Several were imprisoned for their resistance, but afterwards released ; and on their petition a compromise was made, that whenever a subsidy was granted to the prince, no mise should be given; and the reverse when a mise was received s. ' Strype's Annals, i. — Introduction p. 14. he says, that com and wine, to support the prince's family, on his accession were originally given. 286 SHOCKLACH CASTLE. On leaving Holt, I returned over the bridge; and passing along a portion of CHESHIRE, in a flat country, with a pleasing view of the Broxton hills on the left, I reached the site of Shocklach castle. This, with great part of the antient hundred of Dudestan, was held after the Conquest by Robert Fitzhugh, from Hugh Lu pus. It belonged to the barony of Malpas ; but on the division of it, one part came to John de Sutton baron of Dudley, the other to Urien de Sancto Petro. It was held of queen Elizabeth, * as of her manor of East Greenwich. Nothing* excepting a foss, marks the place of this fortress. On the opposite side of the road is a vast mount, probably of far greater antiquity than the castle; and exploratory, commanding a greatview around. By the name of Stretton, a neighbouring place, I conjecture that a Roman road w§ntthis way; but my time did not permit me to search after it. At a small distance from Shocklach castle, I entered Maelor Saesneg, a hundred of FLINTSHIRE, disjoined from the rest of the county. At the time of the making of the Doomsday book, the lands MAELOR SAESNEG. 2*7 about Worthenbury, Overton, and Bettisfieldor the present parish of Hanmer, belonged to the hundred of Dudestan. But long before the forming of the new hundreds, which, according to Sir Peter Lei- cester, did not happen much later than the reign of Edzvard III. it is certain these places reverted to the descendants of the princes of Pozvys. It seems as if it acquired the name of Saesneg, from its having been the jointure of Em?na, widow of Gryffydd ap Madoc, who was an Englishwoman. It consists of these parishes ; Worthenbury, Ban gor, Hanmer, and the chapelry of Overton, on this- side of the Dee ; of Erbistock on the other side, opposite to Overton ; and of Hope in the other portion of the county of Flint \ Part only of Erbistock is in Flintshire ; the rest in Denbigh shire. Besides these parishes, are several spots that belong to this hundred, insulated by the last county, which form nearly a connection between this and the other part of the hundred. The chain is supposed to have been once entire ; but many of the links were often fields, Which (by reason of their smallness) were neglected and lost. One of the townships, Dutton, in Holt parish, is known to have belonged to this hundred ; as that of Aben- 1 Parts in the other parishes are, Is-coed in Malpas, Penley in Ellesmere, and Bodidris in JJanarmon. 2S8 MAELOR SAESNEG. bury Fechan, in that of Wrexham, does at present. Osley and Mereford, the last in the parish of Gresford,werc, by the 33d of Henry VIII. added to Flintshire, and assist to continue the chain towards Hope, the distant portion of this hundred. These were but recently made parts of Flintshire, in comparison of the rest of Maelor Saesneg ; which was declared to constitute part of the county by Edzvard I. in the Statutum Wallia. The lordship or superiority of the hundred was granted (I believe) by Henry IV. to Sir John Stanley knight, and continued in his family till the 41st of Elizabeth ; when William earl of Derby devised it to Sir Randle Brereton ; and it has since devolved to Sir Thomas Hanmer baronet, and Philip Lloyd Fletcher esquire. This part of Flintshire is under the same go vernment as the rest; excepting the obligation of attending the county courts, which is dispensed with by reason of its distance from the towns where they are held. It has also occasionally a coroner of its own; but eligible by the county at large. The limit between this part of the hundred and Cheshire is Flannen Brook : about a mile beyond is the village and church of Worthenbury ; the last, a new, and neat brick building, dedicated to St. Deiniol; a rectory taken out of Bangor, and BROUGHTON. THREAP-WOOD. 289 made a separate parish by an act of the second of William and Mary; in the presentation of the family of ' Emral. The name in the Doomsday book is Ilurdingberie ; before the Conquest held by earl Edzvin. I took up my quarters at Broughton; a vene- Broughton. rable wooden house, in possession of my respected kinsman Peter Davies esq. in right of his lady, eldest surviving sister to the late Broughton White hall esq. The IVhitehalls were originally of Staf fordshire; but settled here in 1663, by virtue of a marriage between Rozvland, Whitehall and Eliza beth daughter of John Broughton. The Brough- tons derived themselves from the great Welsh stock Tudor Trevor, earl of Hereford, and assumed their name from this place, in the reign of Henry VII. At the back of this house lies the noted com mon of Threap-zvood, from time immemorial a -ffo^f place of refuge for the frail fair, who make here a transient abode, clandestinely to be freed from the consequences of illicit love. Numbers of houses are scattered over the common for their reception. This tract, till of late years, had the ill-fortune to be extra-parochial ; at first, either be cause it was in the hands of irreligious or careless owners, or being situated in a forest or desert places", never was united to any parish. The inha- u Blackstone, 4to, i. 113. VOL. I. u 290 THREAP-WOOD. HANMER. bitahts, therefore, considered themselves as be yond the reach of law, resisted all government, and even opposed the excise laws, till they were forced to submit; but not without bloodshed on the occasion. The very name of the place speaks the manners of the dwellers. Thrcap-zvood, deriv ed from the Anglo-Saxon Tkreapian, to threap (a word still in use), signifying to persist in a fact or argument, be it right or wrong. If is seated be tween the parishes of Malpas, Hanmer, and Wor thenbury; but belonged to none, till it was, by the late militia acts, decreed to be in the last, for the purpose of the militia only ; but by the mutiny acts it is annexed to the parish of Malpas. Still doubts arise about the execution of several laws within this precinct. It is to be hoped, that the legislature will take an opportunity of rendering the magisterial power as valid here as in other places ; especially when it is to be considered, that there are to the amount of two hundred and sixty- seven inhabitants, who want instruction in the doctrine of universal submission to law. Hanmer. From Broughton I made an excursion to Han mer", distant about five or six miles ; passed over * Not far from Hanmer is Iscoed, long the seat of the Roy- dons (now extinct in the male line) sprung from Richard Roy- don, of Kent, who came into Bromfield with the commissioners of lord Abergavenny, lord of the moiety of Bromfield, 20th Henry VI. HANMER. 29l part of Threap-zvood ; and observed in the inci sures some venerable oaks, the remains of the antient forest. Cross Sam-bridge, over the Wich- brook, which rises about two miles above, in part of the parish of Malpas, but in the county of Flint, near the Wiches ; where are brine-springs and saltworks. Reach a house called Willington- cross. The country, which hitherto had been un commonly wet and dirty, now changes to a sandy soil; and becomes broken into small risings. The part about the little town of Hanmer is ex tremely beautiful ; varied with a lake of fifty acres, bounded on all sides with small cultivated eminen ces, embellished with woods. 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 esquire7, This distinguished character was created a peer oi Great foitain in 1788, and in the same year was appointed Chief Justice -of the King's Bench, the duties of which important office he discharged in times of trouble and difficulty with un rivalled 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 allowed attachment toa party to direct his judgment. — The stern supporter of mo rality, his decisions may be said in some degree to have influ enced the manners of the age : he repressed -vice if he could not subdue it. A large mansion has recently been erected at Gredington, by his son and successor. Ed. TJ 2 292 UANMER. who is descended paternally from an antient family in Lancashire; and by his mother, from the Lloyds of Bryn, of the house of Tudor Trevor. The church is a very handsome em battled building, of the reign of Henry VII. in whose time numbers of churches were re-built after the long desolation of civil war. The roof is of wood : that of the Fenns chapel, and of the north aile, are divided into small squares, and carved in a most elegant stvle. In the windows of the former was some painted gla?s, with dates, expressing 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 bury, in 1424. Here is a neat tablet with a fe male figure kneeling and leaning on a sarcophagus, erected by Penn Curzon esq. and his sisters, in memory of their grandmother widow of William Hanmer esq. who died Oct. % 1777, £et. 77' In the church-yard, within some iron rails, repose Luke and Catherine Lloyd of the Bryn, who lived man and wife sixty-eight years. \s 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 Hanmer, baronet, knight of the shire for the county of Flint, who died in 1678, after an amiable and useful life of 66 years. The BETTISFIELD. 293 other commemorates the late Sir Thomas Hanmer, speaker of the house of commons in the 12th of Queen Anne ; and famous for his magnificent edi tion of Shakespeare ; he died May 7th, 174S\ 'About two miles farther is Bettisfield; an old Bettis- brick house belonging to the same family. I ob served here a head of the late Sir Thomas Hanmer, Portrait*. by Kneller, in a long wig and cravat. Isabella dutchess of Grafton, and in right of her father Henry Bennet, countess of Arlington. This ce lebrated beauty was first married to Henry duke of Grafton, who was slain in 1690, at the siege of Cork. In 1698, she was married to the last Sir Thomas Hanmer, and died without issue in Fe bruary 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 William Hervey of Jekzvorth in Suffolk ; her head-dress ornamented with flowers. Portrait by Cornelius Jansen, dated 163], of a man in a black dress, slashed and puffed with 1 Considerable.additions have been made to this house by the present baronet. Ed. 294 BETTISFIELD. white ; his hair curled and bushy, with a slender love-lock. Henry earl' of Derby, with very short hair, beard and whiskers, in black with an upright ruff, a gold chain and George pendant from it ; sir Thomas Hanmer had attended the earl when he went embassador to France in the 27th of Elizabeth. Sir William Hervey of Jekworth, 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-finish ed head of Charles I. in his robes, with hat and feathers. Three quarter lengths of the same prince, and of his queen Henrietta Maria. In one room is an elegant figure of lady Hanmer, with a forehead-cloth, in an elegant white undress, stu dying Gerard's Herbal; and a small portrait of a lady Warner a la Magdalene, with long dishe veled hair, and a scull in her hand. She was a daughter of the house, and wife to a Sir John Warner ; wbo not content with abjuring the reli gion of their parents, determined to quit the king dom, and embrace the monastic life. Their friends applied to the king {Charles II.) 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, they must have patience. Sir John became a Jesuit, Lady War mer. BETMSFIELD. 205 and assumed the name of brother Clare ; she a poor Clare, of which order she performed the npviciateship with marvellous obedience! / arn black, hut comely, was the text of a preacher, one day exhorting her (in what is called a cloathing sermon) to humility ; expressing that she must make herself black (alluding to the habit) in the eyes of the world, to become fair in the sight of the Lord. The abbess on this said to tlie poor novice, You also, sister Clare, must black your self. 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 in structive example to the admiring sisters M Bettisfield has for centuries belonged to the Hanmers. Before the battle of Shrewsbury, a par tition was made of their property. Jenkin Han mer, the brother-in-law to the great Glyndzvr, 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 Bleddyn Vychan, to their sop Gryffydd. By his second marriage, with Em, daughter to Dqfydd ap Grono ap Jerzcerth of Llai, he had John, Edzvard, and Richard. To b Vide Life of Lady Warner, p. 1 08, London 1 696. She was daughter to the %st Sir Thomas Hanmer. 296 BETTISFfELD. John he gave Haughton or Halghton (a house in this neighborhood) and Llai ; to Edzvard, lands in Fenns, a place likewise not remote ; and to Richard, lands in Bettisfield. Jenkin soon after fell, valiantly fighting, in the field near Shrews bury, against the usurper Bolingbroke. John departed from the principles of his father, and embraced the side of the house of Lancaster, in the reign of Henry VI. John Mozvbray duke of Norfolk, and Grey lord Powis, carried fire and sword through his estates in 1463, and burnt his house at Haughton; which induced him, the year following, to make his submission to the victorious Edward*. All these estates are now united, and in pos session of Sir Thomas Hanmer, baronet. Writers differ about the origin of this great family. Collins, i. 412, derives it from a Sir John Mackfel, who had a son, John, constable of Caer narvon castle in the reign of Edzvard I. The Salesbury Pedigree, p. 113, makes John Upton", clerk, parson of the church of Hanmer, to be the first of the family, who married Hawy's, ferch Anian ap Gwillem ap Gryffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, c Salesbury Pedigree. ' From the family pedigree, and various records, it appears that John de Hanmere, erroneously called Upton, was not a priest ; he lived in the reign of Edward I.* Ed. EMRAL. 29? and had by her three sons, Owen, David, and Philip. Philip succeeded to the fortunes of his brothers ; married Annes, daughter and heir of Dafydd ap lyrid ap Ymyr ap Yozvas, of Penley in this hundred, and by her had Sir Dafydd Han mer, one of the judges of the King's Bench in the time of Richar d II. and father-in-law to Glendwr. On leaving Broughton, I took thei road towards Emral. Bangor. On the right lies Emral Hall, the seat of the Pulestons ; a family settled here in the time of Edzvard I. but which took its name from Rulesdon, a township in Shropshire. 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 the Welsh, unused to these levies, seized on de Pulesdon and hanged hime. His son Richard was appointed, by the same prince, sheriff of Caernarvon, with a salary of forty pounds, and all ari^ars f. His son, another Richard, held, in the 7th of Edward II. lands in the parish of Wor thenbury, by certain services, &; per ammabrogium, 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 e Powel, 380. f Ayloff's Rot. Wallice, 101. 293 AMOBYR. Maisnil gave ten marks of silver to Henry III. for leave to take a wife; and Cecily, widow of Hugh Pevere, that she might marry whom she pleased s. It is strange that this servile custom should be retained so long. It is pretended that the Amobyr among tlie Welsh, the Lyre-zvyte among the Saxons, and the Marcheta mulicrum 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 him : but I believe there never was any European nation (in the 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 own country. The Amobyr, or rather Gobr Amobyr. n^erch, 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 price of a virgin. The Welsh laws, so far from encour aging adultery, checked by severe fines, even un becoming liberties \ The Amobyr was intended as a preservative against lewdness. If a virgin was deflowered, the seducer, or, in his stead, her s Madox. Antia. Excheq. i. 465. 6. h Leges Wallicx, 92. & Glossar. 554. 1 Leges Wallica, 78. LYRE-WYTE. BANGOR. 299 father paid the fine. 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 cydgysgu, i. e. sleep with her ; but if he forbore cohabiting with her, and she cydgysgu'd with her gallant, the fine fell on the offending fair. Ti-ie Saxons had their Lyre-zvyte or Lecher- Lyre-wyte.. wyte, for the same end that the Welsh had their Amobyr. The crime is mentioned often in the Saxon laws k ; once, with a cruel penalty denoun ced against the offender ; and a second time, with a strong deobrtation from the commission. In general, the crime was expiated by money, ac cording to the degree of the person injured. The Hindoos at this time commute, in certain degrees of offence ; but oftener punish it with burning, and other excruciating deaths '. Continue my journey to Bangor, seated on Bangor. the hanks of the Dee ; which is here bounded on hoth sides by rich meadows. The church has heen built at different times ; but no part is very antient. It is a rectory, dedicated to St. Dlnoth abbot of Bancornaburg or Bangor in the days of St. Augustine, and is in the gift of Philip Lloyd k Leges Saxon. 40. 132. ' Gentoo Laws, 268, <5fc. 300 BANGOR. 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 m, or, as another writer says n, a hundred (by turns) passed one hour in devotion ; so that the whole twenty-four hours were employed 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 Malmsbury, cotemporary with king Stephen, speaks of the re mains in his days ; saying that no place could shew greater remains of half-demolished churches, and multitudes of other ruins that were to be seen in his time". Mention is made of two gates of the precincts, that were a mile distant, with the Dee running between them ; one was called Porth Clais, the other Porth Wgan. The name of the first is retained in that of a place called Clai ; of the other in a house called Hogan. The precincts must have been large, as the monks maintained themselves by the labor of their own hands. The simple and unlearned provided meat and cloathing m Bed*: Hist. Eccles. ii. c. 2. p. 80. n Camden, i. 663. ° Script, post Bedam, 294. BANGOR. 301 for the' learned, and distributed to the poor all superfluities. It sent forth many thousands of religious ; and its fame would have been immacu late, had it not produced the celebrated Pelagius,. about the year 400, the same who is usually stigma tized by the name of the arch-heretic. Two of his tenets, perhaps, in these days, may give him many proselytes : ' That good works were meritorious ; ' and that unbaptized infants ran no hazard of ' damnation.' The monks of this community, in common with all the British clergy, were strenuous opposers of the usurpation of the church of Rome. Seven, bishops, and a great number of learned men, were deputed from Bangor to meet the famous mission ary Augustine the monk ; when he insisted on their concurrence with his demands, with such in solence, that they left him, determined to maintain the original rites of their own church : which re mained pure, and independent of all foreign pre lates, for many centuries after that period. Au gustine threatened the Britons with the resent ment of the Saxons. How far he instigated Edil- fred in his invasion does not appear ; but, if Bede may be depended on, the massacre of the monks almost immediately followed his menacesp. t Beds: Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. c. 2. p. 80. 302 BANGOR. I could discover no remains of this once noted place; but was informed, that squared stones have been often ploughed up in a field called the Stanyards; probably the site of some of the antient buildings. Bangor had been also the site of the sup posed Bonium or Bovium, a Roman station. Le land says, that in his time Roman money was \ found there. I could find neither coins or in scriptions, nor any thing of higher antiquity than four stone coffin-lids, engraven in the annexed plate, and an antient cross; all dug up in the church-yard. N° 1. has on it the arms of the earls Warren : 2. the same quartered with arms unknown to me: 3. is inscribed, Hic jacet Ithel Cadwgan : the 4th, inscribed, Hic jacet Wil liam le Frens ; ^probably a person of Norman extraction. I find the name in Sir Peter Leicester's Cheshire*: one Hugh de Frenes, who married Alice, daughter of Lacy earl of Lincoln, and widow of Thomas earl of Lancaster, beheaded 1321. The cross is far the most antient. The ingenious herald, Mr. Wilkinson, imagines, that the gryphon; and the lion (which are both antient British arms) looking towards the cross, may signify the early embracing of Christianity by the nations of our island. 1 275. Voll- jjt. coiFEf Lids F QUITO AT BAWG-OK. BANGOR. EYTON. 80.7 The antient British boats, the vitilia riavigia of Pliny; the modern coracles; are much in use Coracles. in these parts for the purpose of salmon fishing. They have now lost the cause of their name, being no longer covered with coria or hides, but with strong pitched canvas. They hold only a single person, who uses a paddle with great dex terity. The Britons had them of large size, and even made short voyages in them, according to the accounts we receive from Lucan. The bridge is a beautiful light structure, and consists of five arches. A learned schoolmaster, in the following inscription, has commemorated the time of its reparation. MVND. 5607. DENB. CC C0NCIT. KEPARAT. AN. CHRIST. 1 658. SVMP. E C0MIT. LIB. M. A. HEGYR. ioa6. FLINT. C On crossing the Dee, entered into Denbighshire again : and, turning short to the left> after two miles riding, visited Eyton, the seat of Kenrick Eytox. Eyton esq. This house was head of a numer ous race of gentry, that took their name from the place, so called from its situation. The Dee rolls beneath, and forms a long and solemn reach, overshadowed by hanging woods. At Overton bridge, which lies about a mile beyond Eyton, the channel is contracted, and the stream flows pictu resquely between the lofty banks, admirably de- 304 EYTON. OVERTON. scribed by the inimitable pencil of Mr. Sandbv. This bridge consists of two neat arches, and was first built of stone by the munificence of Gzven- hwyvar, daughter of Jerwith Ddu of Pengzvern, near Llangollen ; a maiden lady who resided at Eyton with her sister Margaret, who was mar ried to Madoc ap Evan Eyton'. Overton Overtox, or Overton Madoc, the Ovreton of the Doomsday book, is a pleasant village, seated on a high bankj about a mile beyond the bridge, above a rich meadowy flat of a semicircular form, varied by the Dee, and bounded in front with fer tile and wooded slopes ; while the lofty and naked mountains soar beyond, and close the scene. . This place was called, at the time of the Con quest, Ovretone ; had then a Saxon owner ; but was granted to Robert Fitzkugh. I find in 1278, or the 7th of Edward I. that it was in the posses sion of Robert de Crevecozur, who obtained for it a weekly market on a Wednesday*. In the 21st of the same reign, the king directed Reginald de Grey, justice of Chester, to go personally to Over ton, and there to assign to the burgesses, or such as would become inhabitants, competent land, within the demesnes of Overton castle and wood, r Eyton Pedigree. ¦ Dugdale Baron, i. 592. OVERTON. 30.5- to build them burgages with1. Such encourage ment did this wise prince give to population, to secure the frontiers of this new conquest. In 1331, or the 5th of Edward III. it was granted, with other lands in this Maelor, to Eubule le Strange, baron of Knockyna. There are no reliques of the castle, which stood in a field still called Castlefield, fronting the Bee. Tradition says, that it had been the resi dence of Madoc ap Meredydd prince of Pozvys and lord of Overton; from which the place re ceived the addition of Madoc. The church is a handsome building; and the church-yard reckoned among the wonders of Wales, on account of its handsome yew trees. The place is only a curacy, in the parish of Bangor, in the diocese of Chester. Overtop is one of the contributory boroughs which send a member for that of Flint ; which is done by the inhabitants of Overton-foreign and Knolton, paying scot and lot. This right had been settled in the years 1728 and 1737; but a doubt arising whether payment of taxes by the landlord was sufficient, in 1741, it was deter mined by parlement in the negative. Hanmer, and several other places, laid in a claim to vote, « Harleian MSS. N° 2074. 45. u Dugdale Baron. \. 66s. VOL. I. X 306 GWERNHAILED. but it was rejected by the commons in the begin ning of this century". An extent was made in the twenty-eighth of Edward I. at Overton, before Richard de Mascy, justice of Chester, by which it appears, that the king had a mill there worth twelve pounds a year, and a fishery worth twenty ; which shows the greatness of the value of the latter in those days. The; only fish worth attending to, must have beer* salmon. It was an important article, not only in private families,, but, in those days, for the sup port of armies. In Rymer is an order for three thousand dried salmon, issued by Edward II. in 1308,, in order to enable him to set his troops in motion, to wage war against Scotland. A certain spot near Soddylt, near this village^ divides England and Wales— the provinces of Canterbury and York — the dioceses of Litchfield and Coventry,, Chester,, and St Asaph — the counties, of Salop, Flint, and Denbigh — the hun dreds of Oswestry, Maylor, and Bvomfield — the parishes of Elles,)iffire,, Overton, and Erbistock — the townships of Duddleston, Knolton, and Erbis tock. , ; Gwerjjhail- Gwernhailed, theseatof Philip Lloyd Fletcher esquire,, in this parish, must not pass unnoticed. x The eighteenth, Ei>. ED, ^ BRYN Y PYS. NEW VULTURE. 307 Few places'command so rich a view ;' and few have' been more judiciously improved. It stands on the lofty brow that skirts the country. Beneath runs the Dee; bounded on the opposite side by most beautifnl meadows, and varied in the distance with numbers 'of hills; amOtig which those of Cae'r- gzvrk form a most noble and conspicuous mass. rti In this neighborhood I visited the fine collec- Bry* yPys. fito of bird's at Bryn y Pys, the sekt of Richard Party Pt ice, esq. Among others, was a pair of Pirates'; which I take the liberty of mentioning New Vul- in" this place, as being an undescribed species. TURE' ; They'were the smallest of the gemis, not above half as Uig agaih as the kite. Their trill whitish, long, and But little hooked; cere bluish; orbits naked and flesh-colored ; irides straw- colored ; head and neck, cbntrairy to the 'character of the genus; elbathed with feathers ; craw pendulous ; head, lieck, back/ breast, belly, and leaser coverts of the wings, of a pure white; greater coverts, and pri maries, black, the last tipt with white; the lower* part Of the tail black ; the end white; legs dirty tvHite, roughened with scales. Inhabit Angola. Were very restless and que rulous ; and much toore active than is usual with this sluggish race. They are npw dead ; but one of their exuvid, stuffed so as to mimic life, is placed in the matchless Museum of Sir Ashton x 2 308 LITTLE OWL. Lever, which is by far the most instructive and elegant of any in Europe ; and from which the mere admirer will receive equal pleasure with the profoundest connoisseur. I must not leave this neighborhood without observing that the little owl (Br. ZooL i. N° 70-) that rare English species, has been shot in some adjacent woods. It is very frequent abroad ; where it collects in autumn and the spring in great flocks, in order to migrate in search of field- mice. Ckildrey, pp. 1 4. and 1 00. of his Britannia Baconica, mentions two instances of armies of strange painted owls, that came in 1580, and in 1648, into Essex, and waged war against the multi tudes of mice in those times destroying the country : but whether they were owls of this species, I can not determine. I am assured by Mr. Stuart, that this kind visits Attica in vast flocks every spring, and breeds there. It is no wonder that the Athenian goddess should have this bird as her concomitant, being so very common there. It is very frequently expressed on the Athenian coins and sculptures ; and I have seen it placed on the hand of a statue of hers, in the noble collection belong ing to William Weddel, esq. at Newby in York shire. Within a small distance from Overton, I entered the county, of ELLESMERE. 809 SHROPSHIRE, at Trench-lane, once infamous for its depth and badness. This county was peopled by the Cor navii; and, till the time of Off a, was divided between the princes of Ptfwys and the Mercian kingdom : but Offa, after his expulsion of the Welsh from their antient seat of Pengzvern, or Shrewsbury, added their part to his dominions. At the Conquest, it was possessed by the brave Edzvin, the last earl of Mercia. On his death, it was bestowed by the Conqueror on Roger de Montgomery, a potent Norman, the first earl of Arundel and Shrezosbury. The country, for the greatest part of the way to Ellesmere, is flat, dirty, and un pleasing. On Ellbsme.rji. the approach to the town, becomes more agreeable ; and about it, breaks into most beautiful risings, fertile, and finely wooded ; the bottoms are in deed destitute of rivers ; but frequently filled with little lakes, called here meres, elegantly bordered by the cultivated hills. It is Singular that none of them are the parents of streams ; their encrease from rains and springs, and their loss by exhala tions, keep equal ! Ellesmere is a town seated on a lake of a hundred and one acres in dimensions; and whose 310 ELLESMERE. greatest depth is twenty-six yards ; well stocked with fish. The duke of Bridgezvater owns this fine water. The environs have two advantages superior to the other lakes. A good town borders on one Ottley side : the fine park of Ockle, or Ottley, with the Park. . venerable wooden house y, is a great ornament to the other. This is one of the most antient free holds in the parish. It had long been the pro perty of the Ottleys, but by the marriage of Eli zabeth, daughter and heiress of Richard Ottley, with Humphry Kynaston of Stoke, in the 11th of Henry V.?, was transferred into the present family, which is of Welsh descent, derived from Bleddyn ap Cynfyn prince of Pozvys. Madoc, son of Philip ap Gryffydd, was the first who took the name of Kynaston. The park is covered with trees of great size and antient growth. A vast lime tree, of the small leaved variety, is particularly conspicuous. ' The ground is finely broken into several risings, and the views of the town, of the mere, and of the two others, Whitemere and Colemere, render this a first-rate situation. y The house, which has externally been most unfortunately modernised, and the property appertaining to it, descended" lo Mrs. Vavghan, who bequeathed it to the late reverend Charles Maimvaring. Ed. z Shropshire Visitcuion, 173. ELLESMERE. - SU The town is of Saxon origin, and takes its name from the water ; which was called Aelsmere, or the greatest mere, being the chief in this part of the county. The place has little to boast of ex cept its situation. The principal trade is that of malt; the barley of the neighborhood being re markably good. The castle stood on avast artificial mount on a Castle. rising ground, with three great ditches on the more accessible side. At present not a vestige is to be seen ; the top being formed into a bowling-green, that may vie with any in England for the elegance and extent of inland prospect ; of the lake be neath; of the rich country and woods surrounding the town. At a distance, Chester and the Broxton hills; Wrexham and the Caergwrle mountains; Castle Dinas Bran, and the Berwyn alps ; and some of those of Meirioneddshire ; Llanymynach hill, the Breyddin, Pimhill, Cleehill, and the noted Wrekin. I cannot trace the founder of the castle, nor yet the time of its destruction. The place was possessed, as I before said, by Edzvin immediately before the Conquest; and, on that event, by Roger de Montgomery. In 1177, it was transferred to a prince of North Wales. Henry II. in that year, assembled a council at Oxford, and among other regulations 31ft ELLESMERE. for the security of the kingdom, bestowed on Dafydd ap Owen his natural sister Emma, with the lordship of Ellesmere as a portion. This the po litic monarch did, in hopes of retaining the affec tions of Dafydd, and to prevent a breach with the Welsh ; who gave him such great disturbance, and so often baffled his greatest endeavors to subdue them during the reign of Ozven Gwynedd father to Dafydd. This alliance answered his purpose ; for the English remained unmolested during the life of that prince. After his decease, Robert Lupus held, by his bailiff, this manor. It then came a second time into the hands of a. prince of Wales. King John, by grant dated from Dover, April \6th 1204, bestowed it, with Joan, his natural child by Agatha daughter of Robert Ferrers earl of Derby, on Llewelyn ap Jorzveth. It is probable that John hoped, by means of his son-in-law, to terrify the lord mar chers into obedience: but the unfortunate mo narch reaped no benefit from the alliance. Joan proved unfaithful to our prince's bed ; who hanged William de Breos, author of his disgrace, and turned his arms against the English. This in duced John to divest Llewelyn of the government of so important a fortress as a frontier castle ; for, by a writ dated from Warwick, in the tenth year of ELLESMERE. S13 his reign, he orders the governor, Bartholomew Turol, to deliver it instantly to William earl of Salusbury and Thomas of Endinton. But still left the revenues of the lands to his daughter. Llewelyn in revenge afterwards burnt the town. In .the fourth of Henry III. or the year 1219, Roger -D Estrange yielded to the king the manors of Colemere and Hampton; but received them again, together with the hundred of Ellesmere and its castle ; but for life only. In 1236, or the 21st of the same monarch, it appears that John L' Estrange was governor of the castle. Four years after this, Henry determined no longer to leave a place of this consequence in the hands of the Welsh. Accordingly, we find him obliging Dafydd ap Llewelyn to make a formal renunciation of this territory, which he cedes for ever. The treaty was dated from Alnet on the Elwy, on the feast of the decollation of St. John the Baptist, in 1240. In 1252, the 37th of Henry III. the manor and castle of Ellesmere were committed to John de Grey, paying an annual fine of ten shillings. In the 43d year, or 1258, Peter de Montfort was governor of the castle. In the 51st, the manor, castle, and hundred, were granted to Hamon L 'Estrange and his heirs, with a provision out of the escheat of the manor, castle, and hun- 314 ELLESMERE. dred, of a hundred pounds a year. This noble man took a large share in the barons wars ; was excommunicated for his insolence by the arch bishop of Canterbury ; but returning to his allegi ance, was employed in places of trust, which he discharged with the utmost fidelity. It is said that he purchased the manors of Colemere and Hampton from Peter de Montfort, which he left to his brother Sir Roger L' Estrange. Edward I. in the fourth year of his reign, on the surrender of the grant of Hamon (which was to him and his heirs) confirmed it anew, on condition he would receive the castle and hundred of Ellesmere for life, and the remainder to the king in fee. This Roger, by the king's warrant, granted several parcels of the manor to different persons : and about the- same time, the wastes and commons were inclosed and converted into freeholds. In 1320, Edward II. on the insurrection of the earl of Lancaster, appointed Oliver de Ingehan governor of the castle. Edzvard III. in 1329, after causing the encroachments made on this manor to be reduced, bestowed the castle, and the hamlets of Colemere and Hampton, on Sir Eubule L' Estrange, younger son of baron L' Estrange of Knockin. They continued in his line till 1477, the 17th of Edward IV. ; when, by the marriage of Joan, daughter of the last male heir, with ELLESMERE. 315 George Stanley, eldest son to Thomas first earl of Derby, they were conveyed to that great house, which was possessed of them till 1549, the 42d of Elisabeth ; when William earl of Derby had licence from the queen to alienate them ; which he did, to Richard Spencer and Edzvard Savage; and they, to Sir Thomas Egerton, keeper of the great seal, and afterwards chancellor of England and baron of Ellesmere, It is now in the possession of his de scendant, the duke of Bridgezvater, who has vast property about the town; but no seat, except a very mean one, called Birch. The church antiently belonged to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. It was granted to them by Llezvelyn ; and Edzvard III. confirmed to their prior the donation. The vicarage is in the gift of the duke of Bridgezvater. The chapels of Cock- shute, Dudkston, and Penley, are dependent on it. In the church is an alabaster figure of Sir Francis Kynaston of Ottley; and another of his lady, much mutilated. He died in 1590. Ano ther Sir Francis, esquire of the body to Charles I. was particularly distinguished for his Latin trans lation of the Loves of Troilus and Cressida, from the English of Chaucer. A remarkable circumstance, which put a 316 ELLESMERE. stop to much cruelty exercised by ordinance of par lement against the native Irish, who served in England in the royal army during the civil wars, happened at this place. Prince Rupert, in one of his marches across this country, halted at Ellesmere, and determined, by retaliation to re venge the deaths of the Irish sufferers ; thirteen of that kingdom had lately been executed by the par lement army in cool blood. Here the prince or dered the prisoners, whom he had in his possession, to cast lots for their lives on the drum-head ; and the thirteen on whom the fatal destiny fell, to be hanged. The die was cast, and the unfortunate men selected. While preparation was making for their execution, one of them (Philip Littleton) who had been park-keeper to Robert Corbet esq. of Stanzvardine, saw Sir Vincent Corbet of More- ton Corbet ride by, who was in the prince's army. Littleton * told a soldier, that he was sure if Sir Vincent knew he was there, he would intercede for him. The soldier, with great humanity, ran to the knight, and informed him of the case ; who imme diately obtained his pardon. The rest were ex ecuted ; and after this, no more Irish were put to death in this kingdom. From Ellesmere I continued my journey to wards Oswestry. From an eminence called the ELLESMERE. HALSTON. 317 Perthy, have a most extensive view of the flat part of the county, bounded by the hills of Denbigh shire, Montgomeryshire, and Shropshire. Amidst them appear the vast gaps, through which the Severn and the Dee rush upon the plains out of their mountanous confinement. This tract is in termixed with woods, fertile land, and moors of great extent. After a ride of two or three miles along the flat, reach HALSTON, the seat of the Myttons, my maternal ancestry ; Halston. a good house, built about the year I69O, with the advantage of wood and water, which were mana ged with excellent taste by my worthy cousin John My tton esq. The house is situated on an elevated plot of ground, which rises out of an ex tensive flat, great part of which was subject to fre quent. floods; an inconvenience which has since been removed by the present3 owner, at the ex- pence of much trouble and money, in draining considerable tracts of low ground ; whereby the neighborhood is rendered more healthy and » So rapid has been the succession, that Halston is now in possession of the grandson of the person here mentioned. Ed. 318 HALSTON. pleasant. This flat, being well dotted with trees, agreeably foreshortens the prospect, till it is bound ed by the magnificent scenery of the surrounding hills, which distinctly form, in various shapes, many pleasing points 6f view. A very extensive wood flanks each side of the house, which is bounded by a fine piece of water, made by extend ing the banks of the river Perry, and by convey ing a branch of it through the lower parts of the wood, inclosing several islands the shores of which are shaded by very large full-grown oaks; the whole forming one of the most pleasing artificial pieces of water that is to be' met with. The resfi of the grounds are watered with the river Perry ; a stream which used to abound with excellent pike, perchj trout, dace, gudgeons, cray-fish; and eels, till modern luxury gave an additional spur to the dexterity of poachers ; a grievance complained of, though eneouraged, in this as well as in most rivers in thei kingdom. The Perry rises in the hills, in the parish of Sellatyn,, passes through several moors to the village of Ryton, and after wards falls into the Severn a little below Montford- bridge. At this place was born the famous general General Thomas Mytton, a most able, active, and success- fui commander, on the part of the parlement during the civil wars. The scene of his- actions HALSTON. 3JQ was chiefly in North Wales. By. his military: prowess most of the castles in North Wales were subdued, and he greatly distinguished himself in ieveral battles: but, finding that Cromzvell and' his party had farther designs than the mere defence of liberty (the cause. in which he engaged), resigned bis command, and retired.. He was born in 1608 ;' married, in 1629, a daughter of Sir Napier Qf Luton, baronet; died in London in 1656, and was interred in the church of St. Chad; in Shrezvs- hry, on the 29th of November. At Halston is a , well-chosen library, and a good collection of pictures : amongst which are some very capital ; particularly, Jacob, and his son Reuben shewing Joseph's, bloody shirt, by Guercina; a* head,, by Raphael; St. Peter by Guido ; king David, by Dominichitio". Mr.- Wil liam Myttons. curious manuscripts of the Shrop shire antiquities are preserved here ; a work which b Here is preserved a carving, much resembling, that .men tioned by Mr, Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, ii. 42. It is the portrait oi'CIiarles I. full-faced, cut on a peach stone : above is a crown.- His. face and cloaths, which are- the Van- tyek dress, are painted. On the reverse is an eagle trans fixed with an arrow ; and round is this motto, I feathered- this arrow. The whole is most admirably executed; and is set in gold with a crystal on each side. It probably was the work of Nicolas Briot, a great graver of the mint in the time of Charles I. S20 HALSTON. he had been many years engaged in with indefa tigable attention, but, unfortunately for the public, died before he could complete his design. To his labours I owe frequent obligations in this part of my work. Antient jn Saxon times, the lordship of Hals ton be- OwNkRS. longed to Edric. At that time there were on it two Welshmen and one Frenchman. After the Conquest, it became the property of Guarine, sheriff of Shropshire, ancestor to the Fitzalans' earls of Arundel, by marriage with a Mellet Pe verel, who received this as part of her fortune. Afterwards it became a commandery belonging to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, bestowed on them by some of the Fitzalans. In the 26th of Henry VIII. it was valued at 160/. 14*. lOd. a yearc. At the dissolution, Henry VIII. empowered, by his letters patent, John Sewster esq. to dispose of this manor to Alan Horde, who did homage for it; and afterwards exchanged it for other lands, with Edzvard Mytton of Habberley, the antient patrimony of the family in this county ; which alienation was confirmed by queen Eliza beth. The chapel is a donative, without any other c Tanner, 457. HALSTON. WHITTINGTON. 321 revenue than what the owner is pleased to allow his chaplain; and is of exempt jurisdiction. The name imports something of sanctity, signi fying the Holy Stone. Probably a cross or stone, the object of superstition, might once have stood here ; but that and its legend are quite lost. That it had been a sanctuary is evident. In the reign of Richard I. Meyric Llzvyd, descended from HMd Molwynog, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, indignant at certain injuries done his coun try, by the introduction of new laws and new cus toms, seized several of the king's officers appointed to see them executed, slew some, and hung others. He fled from the rage of his enemies, and took refuge at this place d. At a mile's distance from Halston, I reached Whitting- Whittington; a village of e ninety-four families, seated in a parish of the same name. The num ber of families in the whole amounts to two hun dred and seventy-five. The population has of late encreased pretty much. The addition to the numbers in the parish have chiefly been confined to the village, owing to the several houses built d Davies' a Display of Heraldry, 45. e The baptisms in Wldttington from 1788 to 1807, both years inclusive, were 823 ; the burials for the same period, 491 ; the marriages, 170. In the census of 1801 the population of the parish is stated to be 1 398 ; the number of families 299. Ed. VOL. I. Y WHITTINGTON. for the conveniency of labourers, by the family of the Myttons ; which evinces the duty and utility of rural residence in our gentry, by promoting po pulation, and cherishing the industrious poor. Mr; Lloyd, in his Archceologia1, imagines this place might have been celebrated under the name of Drtv Wen, or the White Tozvn, by Llozvarch Hin, a noble bard of the race of the Cumbrian Britons, who flourished in the year 590. Here, says he, was slain CondolanuS, a chieftain of his country, in an attempt to expel a set of Irish in vaders : Y Drh> Wen ym mron y coed : Yseu yw y hevras eiryoed : Ar wyneb y gwelht y gwaed. Y Drev Wen yn yd hymyr Y hevras y glas vyvyr Y gwaed y dah. draed y gwyr. Some part of this is too obsolete to be translated. It expresses in general the rage of a battle ; and that the grass under the feet of the warriors was stained with blood. Our bards also make this place the property and chief seat of Tudor Trevor, a British noble man who lived in the year 924, and in right of his f P. 260. WHITTINGTON. 3-23 nother Rhiengar (grandaughter and heiress of Caradoc-Freichfras, slain by the Saxons in the battle of Rhudxllan%, in 795) earl of Hereford; and in right of his father Ynyr ap Cadfarch, lord of both Maelots, Chirk, Whittington, and Os westry,- Ewias, and Urchenfield. Tudor, Edwin lord of Tegengl, and Ednowain Bendew, proved most fertile stocks ; the offspring of which are to be met with in most parts of Denbighshire and Flintshire. After the Conquest, it was held by Roger earl of Shrewsbury: It is called in the Doomsday book Wititone. It had at that time eight bere- wkks or corn-farms; twelve bovaria or ox-stalls; and a league of wood. The mill yielded five shillings, and the Welsh residents there paid twenty shillings. On the forfeiture of the cruel Robert earl of Shrezvsbury, it was bestowed on William, a sister's son of Pain Peverel, lord of Whittington ; and by the marriage of his second1 daughter Mdle4, with Guarine de Mets, a noble Lorrainer, it be-^ came his property about the year 1083. Thfe deeds of arms, and feats of chivalry, made their progeny the admiration of the times, and the sub ject of high-flown romance. Guarine, then lord E Powel, 20. Collins' S Baronets, iii. 129. Y 2 324 WHITTINGTON. of Abberbury, and sheriff of the county, hears of the resolution of Mellet to marry no one but the knight of most distinguished prowess. The emu lous youths were to assemble at Peverel's place, or the castle in the Peak, there to approve their worth. Our knight appears among the rest, with his sylver shelde, and a proude pecock upon his heualme creste ; overthrows his rivals ; carries off the fair prize ; and receives the lordship of Whit tington as her dower. His posterity assumed the name of Fitz-warine ; continued lords of this place for near four hundred years ; and every heir, for nine descents, preserved the Christian name of FulL This warlike race, and their warlike neighbors the Welsh, had perpetual feuds : their spirits were too congenial to enjoy peace. Guarine and the prince of Wales instantly attacked each other. The son of Conan had the advantage h, and carried de struction through all the borders. Guarine died in the reign of Henry I. and left behind him a son, the first Fulk Fitz-warine, one of the great glories of his race, who shone pre-eminent in the heroic line. Love was the first inducement, in the days of chivalry, to great actions in youthful breasts. Fulk becomes enamored with Hawise, the daugh- « h Dugdale Baron, i. 443. WHITTINGTON. S25 ter of his guardian Joos. At her request, he re lieves the father from most imminent danger ; and receives her hand in reward. To nim was entrusted by Henry I. the care of the marches, about the year 1 122 ; from which he was styled Fulco vicecomes, or the lieutenant. It was not long before he found employ for his sword. The brave Gryffydd ap Conan carried his arms into the borders ; had a personal engagement with our hero ; received a wound in his shoulder, and was obliged to seek safety in flight ; but the victor did not escape unhurt1. In future enterprizes he was less fortunate : the British prince wrested from him the lordship and castle of Whittington ; which, by a succeeding treaty with Henry II. in the second year of his reign, Owen Gwynedd thought proper to retain ; and Fulk was compen sated by a grant of the honor of Alston, in Glou cestershire. He died in an advanced age, and was buried at Abberbury. I must not forget, that it is related of this Fulk, that when playing at chess with John Lackland, son to Henry II. he received from him a blow with the board, which he returned with such vio lence, as almost to demolish the young prince. The succeeding Fulk did not degenerate from 1 Dugdale Baron, i. 443. 320 WHITTINGTON. his ancestors. He rendered himself so renowned in the wars abroad, that a French romance was composed on the actions of himself and progeni tors; and translated into English, under the title of the Gestes of Guarine and his sonnes*. It consists, as in the, case of most writings of this. nature, „ of a, mixture of some trufh with much, fiction. ; ,fi ,. Ta him was restored the castfe; of Whittington and its dependencies, after satisfaction, had been made by king John tp, Wrtenoc and Wennen, the sons of Meyric, on whom the, prince of Wales had bestowed it in thg, reign of Henry IL Wrenoq received certain lands hi the neighborhood, whicli he was to hold ,by the service of being the king's. Latipiep,pr interpreter, in these parts, between the. Welsh 9-nd the English '. : Fulk, notwithstanding this, fell afterwards from his/allegiance to John; and was. excommunicated by name™ for his defec tion from that monarch : but his sufferings were in the cause of liberty ; for he was amopg the glo rious band who obtained frpip John the charter so highly prized by every Jxue Briton. It appears that he, did not neglect, jn the fol lowing reign, to obtain a confirmation of these k Much of it is preserved in the first volume of Leland' s Col lectanea, p. 230. 1 Blunt' s Antient Tenures, 17. < m Rymer. WHITTINGTON. 327 estates, and to secure them to all posterity. He obtained in 1219 from Henry III. a grant of Whittington to him and his heirs; for which he gave the king two hundred and sixty-two pounds, and two coursers. He ateo procured the liberty of a market here on a Wednesday, and a fair on St. Luke's day ; for which he presented his majesty with a palfry. The first is lost. There are still considerable fairs or shews of cattle on J&e last Fairs. Thursdays in April, July, and September. From another favor bestowed on him by the same monarch, in the year 1220, it appears, that probably the castle of Whittington had been dis mantled by the Welsh; for Henry gives permis sion to this Fulk to fortify it. The memory of this is still preserved in a room in the gateway, by the figure of a. knight on horseback coarsely paint ed on the wall, with the following lines, now al- niost obliterated, placed beneath : This was Sir Foulk Eitz-tvarren, late a great and valiant knight, Who kept the Britons still in awe, and oftimes put to flight. He of this castle owner was, and held it by command Of Henry, late surnamed the third, then kipg of all this land. His grandfather, a Lorrainer, by fame was much befriended, Who Peverley's daur took to wife, from whom this Foidk de scended. His antient feats of chivalry in annals are recorded, Our king of England afterwards him baron made, and lorded. 328 WHITTINGTON. Dugdale informs us, that this ba'ron was drowned in a river at the battle of Lewes, fighting in behalf of the king ; but Mr. Mytton reasonably supposes, that it must have been his son who ap peared in the field on that day : for, from the time that this Fulk was appointed lieutenant of the marches by 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, Montfort 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 n to resign to Llewelyn ap Gryffydd prince 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 2£d 1265. Henry also ceded to him the sovereignty of Wales, and homage of all the Welsh barons, and the lord of Whittington. These grants were afterwards confirmed to him by ¦ Rymer. i. 814. WHITTINGTON. 329 Henry, with the homage of the neighboring counties (%Jjich were usually paid to princes ancestors) in consideration of 30,000 marks paid by Llezvelyn. • In 1281, Fulk attended Edzvard I. in his expe dition against the Welsh ; 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 of Arundel; but it was accom modated by the interference of the kins. He died in the reign of Edzvard II. 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 ho mage. In 1329, or the 3d of Edzvard 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 his castle of Whittington was seized; but, by the intercession of -his peers, restored to him the following year. In the insurrection of Owen Glyndwr, the vas sals favored his cause-: but their lord obtaindd a pardon for them from Henry IV. In 1420, the Sth of Henry V. this illustrious race became extinct in the male line; the last Fulk dying in his non-age, leaving Elizabeth, his only sister, heiress to his estates. She married 330 WHITTINGTON. Richard Haukford, who dying in 1430, the 9th of Henry VI. left an only daughter Thomasjne. She married Sir . William Bourchier, created, on that account, lord Fitz-warine. A descendant of his, John earl of Bath, exchanged this manor with Henry VIII. for other lands. Edward VI. granted, it to Henry Grey duke of Suffolk: and Mary, on his; attainder, bestowed it on Henry last earl of Arundel of the name of Fitz-alan. It was by him: mortgaged to one JVielliam Albany, and ojther citizens of London. The last released their titfo fo Albany, who foreclosed, the estate. ; His great grandaoghter, and sole heiress, married Tho mas Lloyd of Aston, esq. in this county. Castle. The cast\e 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 vestjges qf two others. may yet be traced. It f)ad been surrounded hy a rnoat, and several vast ditches, which comprehended several other works. The, moat was filled by a rivulet that rises near Pentre Pant, in the parish, of Sellfityn, 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 WHITTINGTON. 331 whose ruins we now contemplate, was certainly tbe great Fitz-warine, grandson of Guarine, found er of the family. These were among the greatest Of the barons called Lord marchers of Wales ; of whpse origin an ample account will be given in the appendix. The steward of the manor holds annually a, Steward, CQurt-leet and court-baron in a room" in the cas tle; to which the inhabitants are summoned, and finqd 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 ehurch p, dedicated to St. John the Bap- Church. tist, is a rectory, valued in the king's books at 25/. &s. It is a small building, supposed to have been Originally designed as a chapel to the castle, and 8 A modern addition, which lyir. Lloyd, of Aston, the pre sent lord of the manor, is now rebuilding in a stile more con genial with the rest of the antient edifice. Ed. ' The chiirch was rebuilt in 1806 under the direction of its worthy minister the reverend Whitehall Davies. Towards the expence, amounting to about 1 500/. two briefs produced 42/. 2s.](f. By a reference to Burn's ecclesiastical law, art. Brief, it appears that the charge upon each brief is 330/. 16s. 6d, consequently that a sum of no less amount than seven hundred md three pounds, fifteen shillings, one penny, must have been raised in order to benefit the parish of Whittington, Forty-two Pounds, two Shillings, one Penny. Ep. 532 WHITTINGTON. made out of the refuse materials of that fortress by its founder. According 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. Fulk Fitz-warine, seventh of the name, who had the greatest revenue of any of the family, by will, dated the 15th of Richard II. directed that his body should be buried in the chancel. The largest part of his estates were in other counties ; but he gave this place the preference as the antient seat of the family. In the year 1630, a commission was issued from the council in the marches of Wales, to John Tre vor and Richard Lloyd, gentlemen, to make a ter rier of the glebe-land, and to return an inventory of the furniture belonging to it; among 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 leaving the village, in the road towards Oswestry, I observed on the left Tre-newydd, a seat of JVatkin Williams esq. in right of his mo ther, heiress of the place. Her grandfather, Ed ward Lloyd esq. who died in 1715, was eminent OSWESTRY. 333 for his learning, and had prepared materials for the history of this his native county. Continue my journey to ' OSWESTRY, a considerable town, about two miles distant from Oswestrt. Whittington ; a place celebrated in Saxon history and legendary piety. On this spot, on August 5th 642 q, was fought the battle between the Chris tian Oswald, king of the Northumbrians, and the Pagan Penda, king of the Mercians. Oszvald was 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 affixos palis pendere cruentos Penda jubet: per quod reliquis exempla relinquat * Terroris manifesta sui, Regemque beatum Esse probet miserum : sed causam fallit utramque, Ultor enim fratris minime timet Oswius ilium Immo timere facit. Nec rex miser, immo beatus ,: . Est, qui fonte boni fruitur semel, et sine fine. i Sax. Citron. 31. 334 OSWESTRY. ' Three crosses, rais'd at Penda's dire commands, ' Bpre 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 Osivy with success the war renews : ' And Penda scarcely can support his throne, ' Whilst Oswald wears a never-failing crown.*' It is probable that the Britons bestowed on the spot where the battle was fought, the name of Maes hir, or the long field, or combat, from the obsti 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 feld, or felt k, a field; as maser- feld, maserfelth, and corruptly, masafelA. Campus Mesafeld sanctorum canduit ossar. 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 Oszvald's tree ; now Oswestry ; and by the Welsh rendered Croes-oszeallt. Before this event, and for a long time after, this tract was the property of the r Henry oi Huntingdon, lib. iii. p. 331. OSWESTRY. 335 Britons; till it was conquered by Offa, and brought within the verge of his famous ditch. A prince so dear to the church as Osrvald, 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 its virtue by mere contact : the horse of a traveller, wearied by excess of labor, stopt here, lay down, arid, rolling about in agony, luckily tumbled on the place where Oswald fell. No sooner had he 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 benefit s. A, church arose on the place of martyrdom, dedicated to the saint. A monastery was founded, Miracle. Church. 5 Bedce Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. are all replete with tales of this kind. 336 OSWESTRY. which bore the name of Blanc-minster, Candida ecclesia, Album monasterium, and JVhiteminster. 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. Oszoald was bestowed on the abby of Shrewsbury. 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 cloisters, with tombs of the monks, remained in the memory of man". I am inclined to think it to have been collegiate ; a species of establishment very frequent in places of martyrdom or of assassination, reverential or ex piatory, according to the nature of the event. Something of this kind existed here toward the latter end of the reign of Henry II. ; for Reinerus bishop of St. Asaph (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 Reiner bestowed the revenues on the monks of Shrewsbury, and by the papal authority expelled the antient seculars". ' Monasticon, 445. ¦ Itin. v. 39. x Powel's note on Girald. Cambr. Itin. 877. Goodwin de Prcesul. Angl. 657. OSWESTRY. 337 I must remark, , that most of them had lawful wives ; for the Welsh clergy, for a long time, re sisted the imposition of the church of Rome in the artiqle of celibacy, as well as in several others. Giraldus Cambrensis attended the arch bishop of Canterbury to this place, in order to in cite people to take arms for the purposed Crusade. At present there is not a relique of any old Oswald's i • i i • t Vv RT T 'buildings, excepting of the ruins of a chapel over a remarkably fine 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-nef. Cae-nef or Heaven-field, which some have ima gined to have been the place of his martyrdom. His life and death have given two places that title ; for the Saxon Heqfenfeld in Northumberland has the same meaning ; which it received on account of the victory he obtained there over the Cumbrian 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 Yale, that the old church was demolished in 1616. I suppose 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, vol. i. z 338 OSWESTRY. under the patronage of the earl of Pozvis; who is also lord of this extensive manor. Part of this parish still -uses the Welsh language; for which reason, divine service is in a certain proportion read by the minister in that tongue. Walls and The town was fortified with a wall and four GrATES. gates. That called the Black-gate is demolished : the Nezv-gate, the Willow-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 the Fitz-alans, 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 Beatrix, natural daughter to the king of Portugal. Over the Nezv-gate is the figure of a horse in full speed, with an oaken bough in his mouth. There is a conjecture, but I will not pretend to say how well warranted, that it alluded to the ge nerous breed of horses which Pozvysland (of which this was part) was famous for, derived from some fine Spanish stallions, introduced by Robert de Belesme earl of Shrezvsbury. The walls were begun in the year 1277, or the sixth of Edzvard 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- OSWESTRY. 339 pass, and had a deep ditch on the outside, capable of being filled with water from the neishboring rivulets. 'There are only a few fragments of the castle Castle. remaining. It stood on an artificial mount, with a great foss, extending to the Beatrice-gate on one side, and on the other to the Willozv-g&te. Our Welsh historians attribute the foundation to Madoc ap Meredydd ap Bleddyn prince of Powys, in U48y. Leland z gives some, colour to this, by- saying, 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 great ness) for near five hundred years. Sir William Dugdale * says, that there was a castle at Oszvaldster at the time of the Con quest; which I think probable. The artificial mount on which 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 y Pavel, 201 . z Itin. v. 39. * Baronage. z 2 340 OSWESTRY. 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 here : a tower also (as is not urifrequent) might receive the name of Madoc, complimentary either to the son of Meredydd, 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 ballium or yard, which comprehended that part of the town still called the Bailey head : its Bar bican 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 tire 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 after the execution of Edmund earl of Arundel, 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 leges from its lords. Its first charter, from its OSWESTRY. 341 hrevity called by the Welsh Shartar Gzvtta, or Shartar the short charter15, was granted by William 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 William, 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 1216% and reduced the town to ashes. Oh the death of that prince, he was reconciled to his suc cessor, Henry III. and in 1227, obtained for his manor of Blanc-minsfer the grant of a fair, upon Fair. 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 which they paid the consideration of twenty marks. These people frequently abused their power : it is therefore no wonder that so many of the griev- •> Harleian MSS. N° 1881. 6. c Wynn's Hist. Wales, 242. 342 OSWESTRY. ances which the Welsh so much complained of to Edward I. should originate from this placed. In 1233, this unfortunate town experienced a second destruction, being again burnt by Llewelyn ap Jorzverth prince of Wales'. Provision was now made 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 nis unfortunate son, Edmund earl of Arundel was commanded to raise two hundred foot-soldiers out of Colne and this neighborhood, to repel the Scots. In 1331, Edzvard III. granted another fair to this town ; and in 1 346, directed Edmund Fitz- alan to raise two hundred of his vassals from Clun and Oszvestry, 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 First royal favorites. He also granted to the town the first C^H A RTF H royal charter, incorporating it by the name of the d Powel, 362. e Idem, 2S8. OSWESTRY. 343 bailiffs and burgesses of Oswestry infra Palati- natum Cestrije in marckid inter An gli am et Wa i.li am. 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- tugio, Passagio, Pontagio, Stallagio de Lene, et de Danegeldis, et Saynit, et omnibus aliis consue- tudinibus et exactionibus. , Richard II. with the committee of parlement, in this town determined that the great dispute be tween the duke of Hereford and Mowbray duke of Norfolk, should be decided by single combat dl ^Coventry ; both dukes having appeared before the king at Oszvestry, after the dissolution of the parlement held at Shrewsbury1^ Its new lord, the earl of Wiltshire, fell a victim to the popular fury,, on the deposition of his royal master ; and Thomas the son of the attainted earl, Tho. Earl was restored in blood. He proved a great bene- 0F factor to the corporation : he gave it a release^ in 1406, from a hundred pounds that they were in debted to him, in consideration of the distresses the town suffered during the insurrection of Glyndzvr. He also obtained a pardon from the king for his "'f Drake's Parliam. Hist. i. 519. ter. 344 OSWESTRY. vassals in Chirk, Bromfield, and this manor, for the share they took in that commotion. In the same year with 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 His Char- one : ' Neither the lord or his heirs should con- ' fiscate or seize the effects of persons dying with ' or without will in the corporation : That no bur- ' 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 the town ; and a f farthing of every cottage on the feast of St. ' Stephen annually : That the burgesses should ' be freed for the future from all excise of ale ' brewed and sold in the town, which had been f hitherto payable, at the rate of seven-pence for ' every, Bracena cervisiae exposed to sale: That •' they were to be freed from the duty of Amobyr or OSWESTRY. GUARD. 345 ', Lyrewite%: 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 1 same manner as the Uchelzvyr, or freeholders re- ' siding on the lands of the lord in the hundred of ' Oswestry : That no Shrewsbury 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- ¦ zvestry, Melverley, Kinardsley, Egerley, Ruy- ' ton, and the eleven townsh, 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 Qszvestry, ' under the penalty of six shillings and eight pence : 'That none of the lord's tenants should becom- Spelled to pay the redditus advocarii for thesecu- ' rity of the castle, #c. #c.' Until the time of the above-mentioned charter, Guard at r , , i i r s\ THE Gates. 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 fairs of St. An- * Vide page 299. h Old Ruyton, Cotton, Shehoke, Shottaton, Wykey, Eardes- \ ton, Tedsmere, Rednall, Haughton, Sutton, and Feltm; which i form a manor in Oswestry hundred. 346 OSWESTRY. drew and St. Oszvald, with a certain number of men called Kaies : but these treacherously, with 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 the custody of the four gates ; and the Welshmen 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 Welsh, who were most numerous, and bore an hereditary dislike to their co-tenants of foreign stock. The Welsh part was called Wal- cheria, 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. Charles II. granted another ; in which a mayor, twelve aldermen, fifteen common-council, a high- steward, and recorder, composed the body cor porate. Oswestry was garrisoned for the king in the beginning of the civil wars, but was taken in June 1644 by the earl of Denbigh1 and general Mytton. The governor had fortified it very strongly; and least the enemy should annoy it from the steeple, ' Whitelock, 92. mww/ fior mm '•*• © 50 / ^i^ §s OLD OSWESTRY. 347 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 royalists retired into the castle. Cranage was then per suaded to hang a Buttar (Petard) at the castle gate. After being well animated^ 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 Marrozv at tempted to re-take the place ; but was attacked by Sir Thomas Middleton, and obliged to retire with considerable loss1. After the death of the king, the castle was demolished. About a mile from Oszvestry, in the parish of Old rt „ ,. ~ ... -ii Oswestry. Sellatyn, lies a nne military post, on an insulated k Mr. Edwards's MSS. l Whitelock, 94. S48 OLD OSWESTRY. 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 ramparts 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 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 OldOszvestry, 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 Oszvald or to Penda, and imagine that it was possessed, before the battle of Maserfeldt, by one of those princes. Others think it to have been the work of the an tient Britons ; to which opinion I incline. 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 OLD OSWESTRY. WAT'S DIKE. 349 British ; for example, that of Bryn y Clawddiau, on the Clwydian hills, which divide Flintshire from the vale of Clzvyd, is a similar work. ,.,.A great dike and foss, called Wat's, is con- Wat's Dike. tinued 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's can only be discovered on the southern part to Maesbury mill, in '¦ Oszvestry parish, where it is lost in rriorassy ground : from thence it takes a northern direction to: Hen-ddinas, and by P entre r Clazvdd to Gb- bmven, the site of a small fort, called Bryn y Cas- tell, in the parish of Whittington: then crosses Prys Henlle common, in the parish of St. Mar tin : goes over the Ceiriog between Brynkinallt and Pont y Blezv forge, and the Dee below Nant y Bela ; from whence it passes through Wynn- stay park, by another Pentre'r Clawdd, or town- ' ship on the ditch, to Erddig, the seat of Philip Yorke esq. where there was another strong fort on its course : from Erddig it goes above Wrexham, near Melin Puleston, by Dolydd, Maesgwyn, Rhos-ddu, Croes-oneiras, Mr. Shakerley's Gwer>- syllt ; crosses the Alyn, and through the township of Llai, to Rhydin, in the county of Flint; above which is Caer-estyn, a British post : from hence it runs by Hope church, along the side of 350 WAT'S AND OFF AS DIKES. Molesdale, which it quits towards the lower part, and turns 'to Mynydd Sychdyn, Monachlog near Northop, by Northop mills, Bryn-moel, Coed y . Llys, Nant y Flint, Cefn y Coed, through the Strand fields, near Holyzvell^ to its termination below the abby of Basingwerk. I have been thus minute in giving its course; because it is so often confounded with Offa's ditchj which attends the former at unequal distances, from five hundred yards to three miles, till the latter is totally lost. Offa'sDike. , Offa's ditch extended! from the river Wye, along the counties of Hereford and Radnor; into that of Montgomery, where I shall take it up at its entrance into North Wales, at Pzvll y Piod, an ale-house - on the road between Bishop 's-castle and Nezvtown ; from thence it passes northward, near Mellington-hall, near which is an encamp ment called Caer-din, by Brompton mill, where there is a mount ; Linor park1 near Montgomery, Forden heath, Nant-cribba, at the foot of an antient fortress, Layton-hall, and Buttington church. Here it is lost for five miles ; the channel of the Severn probably serving for that space as a con tinuation of this famous boundary; which, just below the conflux of the Bele and the Severn, ap pears again, and passes by the churches of Llan dysilio and Llanymynech, to the edge of the vast precipitous limestone rock in the last parish : from WATS AND OFFA'S DIKES. 351 this place it runs by Tref y Clawdd, over the horse-course on Cefn y Bwch, above Oswestry, then above Sellatyn; from whence it descends to the Ceiriog, and thence to Glyn, where there is a large breach, supposed to be the place of inter ment of the English who fell in the battle of Cro- gen, hereafter to be mentioned: it then goes by Chirk-castle; and, below Cefn y IVern, crosses the Dee, and the Rhizvabon road near Plas Ma doc, forms part of the turnpike-road to Wrexham, ' to Pentre Bychan, where there is a mount ; then by P Ids Bower to Adwyr Clawdd, near Miner a ; by Brymbo, crosses Cegidog river, and through a little valley on the south side of Bryn Yorkyn mountain, to Coed Talwrn and Cae-dwn, a farm near Treyddin chapel, in the parish of Mold (point ing towards the Clzvydian hills); beyond which there can no farther traces be discovered. Cae Dwn, or rather Cae Tzvn, according to doctor Davies, signifies fractura, than which no thing can be more expressive of the ending of this famous Work, which, as I have not long since Ob served, terminates in a fiat cultivated country, on the farm of Cae Twn, near Treyddyn chapel, in the parish of Mold. The termination is remote from any hill, or place of strength : it is therefore reasonable to imagine, that this mighty attempt 352 WAT'S AND OFFA'S DIKES. was here suddenly interrupted by some cause, of which we must ever remain ignorant. No reason appears why its course was not continued from sea to sea. It seems probable that Offa imagined that the Clzvydian hills, and the deep valley that lies on this side at their base, would serve as a continuance of his pro hibitory line : he had carried his arms over most part of Flintshire, and vainly imagined, that his labors would restrain the Cambrian in roads in one part, and his orders prevent any in cursions beyond these natural limits, which fie had decreed should be the boundaries of his new con quests. The weakness of this great work appear ed on the death of Offa : the Welsh, with irre sistible fury, despised his toils, and carried their ravages far and wide on the English marches. Superior 'force often repelled our. countrymen. Sanguinary laws were made by the victorious Harold against any that should transgress the limits prescribed by Offa. The Welshman that was found in arms on the Saxon side of the ditch, was to' lose his right-hand"1. It is observable, that in all parts the ditch is on m Leland Collect, iii. 230. Joannes Sarisburiensis, as quoted by Camden, 698. SELLATYN. 353 the Welsh side; and that there are numbers of small artificial mounts,. the sites of small forts, in many places along its course. These were garri soned, and seem intended for the same purposes as the towers in the famous Chinese wall, to watch the motions of the neighbors, and to repel the hostile incursions. It is remarkable, that Wat's dike should have been overlooked, or confounded with that of Offa, by all writers, except by Thomas Churchyard the poet ", who assigns the object of the work : that the space intervening between the two was free ground, where the Britons and Saxons might meet with safety for all commercial purposes. From Oswestry I took the -road to Sellatyn, a Sellatyn. parish Consisting of the single township of Porking- ton, and containing about six hundred ° inhabitants. Its register, which commences in 1557, was for tunately saved from the great wreck of such re cords by Mr. Wilding, an Oliverian rector in the civil wars. It appears from it, that the state of population in the first and last twenty years was as follows : Vide Churchyard's Wortldnes of Wales, originally printed in 1587 ; reprinted by Thomas Evans, 1776. 0 In 1801 the number amounted to 701. Ed. VOL. I. 2 A 354. TON. First. li XVi. Last. Encrease. Baptisms, 258 - 410 - 152 Weddings, 29 - 98 - 69 Funerals, 189 - 9,57 - 68" This happy disproportion of encrease between births and burials, seems to arise from the hilly situation of the parish ; which slopes down to the moory flats of those of Oswestry and Whittington^ without partaking the lest of their nature. The improvements in agriculture contribute much to retain numbers of the inhabitants, by finding them a wholesome and innocent employ : the want of which exiles multitudes, in many places, to the vice and disease of great cities. Porking- In Sellatyn parish is Porkington, the seat of my kinsman Robert Godolphin Ozven esq *. This place takes its name from a singular entrenchment in a neighboring field, called Castell Brogyntyn, a fort belonging to Owen Brogyntyn, a natural son to Madoc ap Meredydd prince of Pozvys Fa- P Between 1788 and 1807. Baptisms, - - - 538 Weddings, - - - 100 Funerals, .... 298. Ed. ' Now of his niece, the daughter of the late Owen Ormsby esq. Ed. PORKINGTON. SIR JOHN OWEN. 355 dog r. It is of a circular form, surrounded with a vast earthen dike, and a deep foss. It appears, by an old drawing in Mr. Mytton's collection, to have had two entrances, pretty close to each other, projecting a little from the sides, and diverging ; the end of each guarded by a semi-lunar curtain. These are now destroyed. The name of the house was soon altered to one very nearly resembling the present. In 1218, Henry III. in an address to Llewelyn prince of Wales, informs him, that among others, Bleddyn Filius Oeni de Porkinton s had performed to Ms majesty the service he owed. Sir John Owen, the famous royalist, was of Sm J°h* this house, but not of the family of Ozven Brogyn tyn. He was descended from Hwfa ap Cynddelzv, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales. Before Sir John Owen's family enjoyed the place, it had been long possessed by the Lacons. It passed from them to Sir William Morris, of Clenenny, in | taernarvonshire, by virtue of his marriage with the I daughter of William Wynne Lacon, esq. and was i conveyed into the family of the present owner by the \ marriage of the grand -daughter of that match with John, fourth son of Robert Ozven, of Bodsilin, in Anglesea. This gentleman (who was father of ' Powel, 212. • Rymer, i. 227. 2 A 2 SIR JOHN OWEN. §ir John) had been secretary to the great Walsing- ham, 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 expences. 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 signalized 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 Wil liams to the government of Conzvy castle, in 1645, constituted Sir John 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 Twisleton, were on their march to at- SIR JOHN OWEN. 357 tack him, he hastened to meet them, and took the sheriff with him on a litter. He met with his enemies near Llandegai : a furious rencontre en sued, in which Sir John had at first the advantage ; but falling 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 troops, 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 affeward of two hundred pounds out of Sir John's estate '. Sir John wa| conveyed to Windsor castle, where he found four noblemen under confinement for the same cause. On the 10th of November, a vote past for his banishment, and that of the lords Goring, Loughborough, Capel, the earl of Holland, and major general Langhern u ; but after the execution of their royal master, sanguinary measures took place. The duke of Hamilton, the earl of Holland, and the lords Goring and Capel, were put upon their trials. Sir John shewed a spirit worthy of his country. He told his judges, t Rushworth, ii. part iv. 1146. « Whitelock, 348. 358 SIR JOHN OWEN. that ' he was a plain gentleman of Wales, who had ' been always taught to obey the king ; that he ' had served him honestly during the war; and, ' finding many honest men endeavoured to raise ' forces, whereby he might get him out of prison, ' he did the like;' 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 hahged him.' ,, Sir John, by mere good-fortune, was disap pointed of the honor he was flattered with ; being, as his epitaph says, Fama plus quam vita? solicito. He neither solicited for a pardon, nor was any petition offered to parlement in his favor ; which was strongly importuned in behalf of his fellow- prisoners. Ireton * proved his advocate, and told x Mrs. Hutchinson, in her interesting ' Memoirs*/ says that Sir J. Owen entirely owed his life to the humanity and ex ertions 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, * P. 306. SIR JOHN OWEN. the house, ' That there was 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 was extended to him ; 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 Caernarvonshire, where a small monument preserves the following epitaph. M. S. Johannis Owen de Clenneney in Co. Carnarvon militis, viri in patriam amoris ardentissimi : in regem (beatissimum martyrem Cakolum lm) indubitatae fidelitatis clari ; qui ad sacrosanctam majestatem a perduellionum rabie eripiendam, summa pericula, lubentissime obivit, Hostium copias non semel fudit, acfregitj religionem vindicavit: Donee, infelici sorte in perditissimorum hominum manus, Regali jam sanguine imbutas, incident Dux praestantissimus : Unde supplex sese' obsessum redimerat nisi quod Heroi consummatissimo Famae plus, quam vitse solicito, tale \vT§ ov displicuit. ' thinking the lords lives of so much more concernment than ' this gentleman's.' Ed. 560 SELLATYN CHURCH. Collo igitur imperterrite oblato, securis aciem retudit divina vis ; volucrisque fati tardavit alas, donee senex laetissimus Cakolum 2dum et sibi et suis restitutum viderat. A? Don; 1666. etJEtatis sua? 66. placide expiravit. Sellatyn From Porkington, I ascended to the parish- C^H TJR fH church. The legend of the foundation is, that a noble Briton. being engaged in the chace, found in a thicket on this spot a white hind ; which deter mined him (after the example of Ethelred king of the Mercians, in the instance of St. John's church 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 Bryn Mn Eglzvys, or the hill of the old church. Within is the following elegant epitaph in me mory of Sir Robert Ozven, knight, son, as I think, of the celebrated hero Sir John. H. S. E. Robertus Owen de Porkinton Eques auratus Ex antiquo Hwfx ap Cynddelw Et regib Oeni Gwyneth stemmate Oriundus. Probitate et fortitudine clarus. Nulli infestus, SELLATYN CHURCH. SACHEVEREL. 36i Plurimis amicus, Bonis omnibus charus. Dum vixit amatus, Desideratus dum obiit, Stio Kalendarum Aprilis, M. DC. XCVIII. In the same church was deposited the body of a Welsh prelate, John Hanmer bishop of St. Asaph, who died at his seat of Pentrepant in this parish in the year 1629. That high-church meteor, that party-tool, Doc- c Doctor oACHEVEREL, tor 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 counties he was to pass through. He was met on the confines of this by 5000 horsemen, among whom were men of the first fortunes of Shropshire. He received respect, in every town, little short of adoration. The crowd in Oszvestry 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 362 CHIRK.\ BATTLE OF CROGEN. valley7, consisting of fertile meadows, watered by the brook Ceiriog, and finely bounded by lofty wooded bapks. 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 have had on them a small fort for the pro tection of the pass. I imagine these mounts to have been Saxon, and coeval with the great labor of Offa, which runs at a small distance from them. Battle of \^ this deep valley, which winds along the foot Crogen. . of the vast Benvyn mountains, was a bloody con flict between part of the forces of Henry II. and the Welsh, in 1165. Henry had determined once more to attempt the subjection of Wales, and to revenge the ravages carried through the borders by v At the upper end of the valley appears a magnificent stone aqueduct of ten arches, which serves to convey the Ellesmere eanal from bank to bank ; its length including the abutments is one hundred 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 Cysylte, first along a stupendous mound, and then is sus pended in iron troughs, supported by pillars of beautiful ma sonry, 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 support this aerial canal are eighteen in number. Ed. BATTLE OF CROGEN. its gallant prince Owen Gzvynedd; for that end, he assembled a vast army at Oszvestry. 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 attempt; and, without the know ledge of their officers, 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 rains, and by the activity and prudence of Ozven, who cut him off from all supplies, that he was obliged to return ingloriously, with great loss of men and equipage2. This conflict is sometimes called the battle of Corzven; but with more propriety that of Crogen: for it happened beneath Castelh Crogen, the pre- z Powel, 221. 364, CHIRK CHURCH. sent Chirk castle ; and the place still called Adwyr Beddau, or the pass of the graves of the men who were slain here. Church of The church of Chirk is dedicated to St. Mary; and was formerly an impropriation belonging to the abby of Valle Crucis. Within is a profusion of marble, cut into human forms, memorial of the later lords of the place, or their ladies. The best Monuments, is a bust of Sir Thomas Middleton, with a peaked 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 which he had formerly opposed. In 1659, he took arms, in conjunction with Sir George Booth, in order to restore the antient constitution. Sir George was defeated by the vigilant Lambert ; and Sir Thomas forced to take refuge in his castle, where, z 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, CHIRK CHURCH. wife to Sir Thomas Middleton baronet, son of the former. She was daughter of Sir Thomas Wilbrd- 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 17 16; she in 1694. At their feet lies their son Sir William, the last baron et, 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 Bdlcanqual, 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, in reward for his conversion to Protestantism. In 161 8, he was sent to represent his country in the famous synod of Dort. He was promoted to the deanery of Rochester ; and, in 1639, to that of Durhayn ; by his great loyalty, having rendered himself hated by his countrymen, he was, in 1645, obliged to take refuge in Chirk castle ; but, sinking under the fatigue of the journey, and severity, of the weather, he died on Christmas-day. The epitaph was composed by Dr. Pearson bishop of Chester, at the request of Sir Thomas Middleton, by whom the monument was erected. 366 CHIRK CASTLE. Castle. The castle lies about a mile from the village, in the course of Offa's dike, on the summit of a lofty hill, projecting from the great mass of the Berzvyn mountains. Before the foundation of the present castle, stood another, called Castell Cro gen ; and the territory around bore the name of Tref y Waun, the property of the lords of Dinas Bran. It continued in their possession till the death of Gryffydd ap Madoc, a strenuous par- tizan of Henry III. and Edward I. Edward, on the decease of Gryffydd, rewarded two of his favo rites with the guardianship of the two eldest sons of Gryffydd: he entrusted Madoc to John earl War ren; and Llezvelyn to Roger Mortimer, son of Roger baron of Wigmore: who, as before related, quickly dispatched the unhappy youths, and possessed themselves of their fortunes. Earl Warren seized on the lordships of Bromfield and Yale ; Mortimer on those of the present Chirk and Nan-heudwy. He became the founder of the castle. It conti nued in his family but a short time, being sold by his grandson John to Richard Fitz-alan earl of Arundel. The Fitz-alans possessed it for three generations; after which it passed to Thomas Mowbray duke of Norfolk, and justice of North Wales, Chester, and Flint, in right of his wife Elizabeth, elder sister to Thomas earl of Arundel. On the disgrace and exile of Mowbray, in 1397, CHIRK CASTLE. 3(57 it probably was resumed by the crown; and granted again to William. Beauchamp lord of Aber gavenny, who married the other sister; and by the marriage of his grand-daughter, sole heiress of Richard Beauchamp earl of Worcester, with Ed ward Nevil (afterwards lord Abergavenny) was conveyed into that family, in the reign of Henry yi.a 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 Wil liam's castles) by Henry VIII. on his natural son Henry Fkz-roy duke of Richmond and Somerset \ By his early death, it reverted again to the crown. In the following reign, I imagine it to have been granted to Thomas lord Seymour, brother to the protector Somerset ; for I find him in possession of HolV, to which it was an appendage. Elizabeth granted it, with the same lord ships, to her worthless favourite Dudley earl of aLeicester. On his death, Chirk Castle became the property of lord St. John of Bletso ; whose son, » Powel, 213. b King's Vale-royal, 195. 4 Dugdale Baron, ii. 368. 368 CHIRK CASTLE. in 1595, sold it to Sir Thomas Middleton knight, mayor of London in 1614. 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 Gwesnezvydd near Wrexham, but descended from the Lloyds of Bodidris in Yale. He had served under Gustavus Adolphus, 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 Capel 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 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 Lambert. Only one side, with three towers, were pulled down, which Sir Thomas Middleton lived to re-build in one year. f CHIRK CASTLE. /it 369 ei 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 Ormond, and his son lord Ossory; the most virtu ous characters, and the greatest ornaments, of the vicious age of Charles 11. admired, revered^: unimi- tated. t Ossory died before, his father; 'who bore his loss with the firmness of a Roman, founded oft the certain hopes of a Christian. I can scarcely say whether he passed a finer eulogy, on. his;Son, or satire on the times, by declaring,' he zeoulfl .not change his dead son for any living one >in-. Among the walks on the banks of the Dee, the venerable remains of the neighboring abby, and the arduous ascent of Castell Dinas Bran, are so en gaging, that I. believe no traveller of taste will think a repetition of them tedious. ThE church of Llangollen is dedicated to St. Church. Collen ap Gzvynnazvg, ap Clydawg, ap Cowrda, ap , / . Caradog Freichfras, ap Llyr Merim, ap Einion Yrthfap Curicdda Wledig, by Ethni Wyddeles, 380 BRIDGE. CASTELL DINAS BRAN. Bridge. Castell Dinas Bran. daughter to Matholwch lord of Cwl in the kingdom of Ireland ; which saint was buried here; and has left behind him a legend worthy of the Coran itself. In the church had formerly been a recumbent figure in alabaster, of a ' churchman, which was vulgarly called that of St. Collen. The bridge, which was founded by the first John Trevor bishop of St. Asaph", who died in 1357, is one of the Tri Thlws Cymru, or three beauties of Wales : but more remarkable for its situation than structure. It consists of five arches; the widest of which does not exceed twenty-eight feet in diameter. The river usually runs under only one ; where it has formed a black chasm of vast depth, into which the water pours with great fury, from a high broken ledge, part of the smooth and solid rock, which composes the whole bed of the river. The view through the arches, either upwards or downwards, is extremely picturesque. Near the foot of the bridge, opposite to the town, begins the ascent tp Castell Dinas Bran, whose remains nearly cover the summit of a vast conoid hill, steeply sloped on every side. The form is oblong: the materials the coarse stone of the country, with here and there a few free-stone " Willis's St. Asaph, 52. 285. CASTELL DINAS BRAN. moldings. The side, which is less steep, is de fended by deep trenches, cut through the solid rock. This was one of our primitive Welsh castles. The founder is unknown. I dare not attribute its origin and name to Brennus king of the -Gauls, who besieged the capitol; and who is fabled to have come into these parts to fight with his brother BeUnus : nor yet do I derive it from Bryn, a hill, nor Bran, a crow; but from the mountain river Bran, that runs down its side. It had been the chief seat of the lords of Jdl, or Yale; and probably was founded by one of them. In the reign of Henry III: it was the re treat of Gryffydd ap. .M.adog, who ^traiterously siding with the English, , against his countrymen, was obliged to secure himself in this aerial fast- ness. , , . ¦ On the death of Gryffydd, Edzvardl. ungrate fully bestowed on John earl Warren, the ward ship of the eldest son of his old partizan; as he did that of the second on Roger Mortimer. Both the guardians understood the meaning of the favor; and accordingly made away with the poor children and received full possession of their estates x, as before related. From the Warrens it passed by - Rotuli Wallia, 8 1 . 382 MYFANWY VECHAN. marriage to the Fitz-alans, and followed the suc cession of the lords of Bromfield. The time of its ruin is unknown. Leland speaks of it as a demolished place; and adds, that an eagle built annually in the neighboring rocks; that a person was wont to be lowered down in a basket to take the young; and was obliged to have another basket over his head, to save him from the fury of the old birds. Myfanwy jn ] 390 this castle was inhabited by a cele- Vechan. , * brated beauty, descended from the house'of Tudor Trevor, and whose father probably held the castle under the earls of Arundel. The name of the lady was Myfanwy Vechpn; she made a conquest of Howel ap Einion Lyglizv, a celebrated bard, who composed the following ode addressed to her; which an ingenious friend was pleased to favour me with in an English dress. Neud wyf ddihunwyf, hoen Creirwy hoywdeg, ' A'm hudodd, &c. Sorrowing I strike the plaintive string; Deign, cruel maid, to hear me sing; And let my song thy pride controul, Divine enchantress of my soul ; Sure Creirwy's charms must yield to thine. And Garwy'sf sufferings to mine. f This knight and lady seem to have been the same with MYFANWY VECHAN. 383 Far from Myfanwy's marble tow'rs, I pass my solitary hours. O thou that shinest like the sky, Behold thy faithful Howel die ! In golden verse, in flowery lays, Sweetly I sang Myfanwy'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 z, 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 Alban* steed, I flew, Thy dazzling countenance to view ! Though hard the steep ascent to gain, Thy smiles were harder to obtain. Syr Gareth and Damoysell Lynet, celebrated in the viith book of the Storye of the most worthy kynge Arthur. Sir Gareth loved and was beloved by the fair Lymes, sister to Lynet. Their passion exceeded the bounds of discretion ; but Lynet, to save their honor, by enchantment prevents their loves, till they are joined together in holy matrimony. * Trystan was another famous knight. His sorrow seems to have arose from his being deserted by a lady, who, as the history relates, forsook him for Syr Bleoberys. * A Scotch horse. } 384 MYFANWY VECHAN. Thy peerless beauties to declare Was still thy zealous lover's care, O fairer thou, aud colder too, Than new fall'n snow on Aran's b 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 Myfanwy 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 Howel die? For thee my verse shall ever ru,n, Bright rival of the mid-clay sun ! Shou'dst thou demand thy lover's eyes, Gladly to thee I'd sacrifice, ,,j My useless sight, that paly shews The cruel author of its woes,u Refulgent in her golden, bower, , As morning in her eastern tower. Thy name the echoing vallies. round, Thy name a thousand hills resound, Myfanwy Vechan, maid divine! No name so musical' as thine1; And every bard with' rapture hung On the soft music of my'sOng. ¦ ; For thee I languishj pine, and rave, White as Dwrdioy's curling wave. b Two lofty mountains Meirioneddshire. . This poem is taken from the collection formed by the learned and ingenious Mr. Evan Evans. The original was found written on. parchment in the castle of Dinas Bran. Sebright Col. MYFANWY VECHAN. 085 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 Poesy, Against the fury of thy darts, Thou vanquisher of human hearts? When first I saw thee, princely maid ! In scarlet robes of state array'd, Thy beauties set my soul on fire, And every motion fann'd desire ; The more on thy sweet form I gaz'd, The more my frantic passion blaz'd. Not half so fine the spider's thread, That glitters on the dewy mead, As the bright ringlets of thy hair,. Thou beauteous object of my care ! 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 ! O, 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 Myfanwy's tuneful name ! And from misfortune purchase, fame ; VOL. I. S C 386 BHIWABON. Nor ev'n to die shall I repine, So Howel' s name may live with thine. R.W. Rhiwabon^ After a short repose, on my descent from the castle, I made an excursion to Rhizvabon, a few miles ¦ from Llangollen. For some time the ride was along the sides of the Dee, which watered a beautiful narrow vale. The hills at length approx imate so nearly, as only to leave room for a most picturesque passage, shaded with trees. Cross, a bridge called the New bridge, and ascend for some space, leaving on the left considerable pits both of coal and canal : reach the village of Rhi- * wabon, which takes its name from the Avon, or little river on which it lies. Church. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. It has been lately fitted up in a very neat manner, chiefly at the expence of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, who bestowed on it an organ, and a small font ; the last, on occasion of the christening of his eldest sonc in 1772, is of white marble, supported by a tripod of distinguished elegance. Monuments. The monument to his first wife, lady Harriet Somerset, who died July 24, 1769, is in a fine c The present baronet. Ed. RHIWABON. , 387 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 pressive of eternity, includes the inscription on one side of the pedestal. As a contrast to this excellent performance of Mr. Nolleken, is placed against the wall a great -monument of Henry Wynn esq. tenth son of old Sir John Wynn of Gwedyr, who died in 1671. 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 the sculptor. On one side kneels Sir John Wynn of Wynn-stay, baronet ; and on the other, Jane his wife, daughter to Eyton Evans, 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 line from the great Gwedyr stock. His mother being the daughter and sole heiress of Edward Thehval esq. of Plas y zvard, by Sydney Wynn only daughter of WiUiam Wynri 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 0 r 0 388 RHIWABON. 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 in new light, thro' chinks which time hath made. In the same chapel is ah antient tomb, of the altar fashion with monkish pleureurs 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 cloak; at their feet a lion, with a monk sitting on it, with his head reclined on one hand. Around the edges of the tomb is this inscrip tion: Orate pro anima Johannis ap Elis Eyton, armigeri, qui obiit vicessimo octavo die mensis Septembris, anno Domini 154J6 ; et pro anima Elizabeth Calfley, uxoris ejus, quae obiit xi. die mensis Junii, anno Domini 1524; quorum animabus propi- tietur Deus. Amen. This gentleman joined Henry VII. before the battle of Bpsworth ; 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 RHIWABON. S89 name of Ellis : but, obtaining a dispensation, they were re-united in form. After the second mar riage, were born.^ other children. A" division of the estates was then made : Rhiwabon and Wat- stay fell to the share of Ellis; and Eyton to John, the first of the second brood d. On the other side of the altar is a noble monu ment to the first Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, whose virtues are still fresh in the minds of his country men. A fall from his horse, on September 26th 1749, deprived the world of a useful citizen. Rysbrack has preserved his figure in a graceful at titude. The late Doctor King of St. Mary -ha\\ thus expressed the qualities of his mind : Adsertori Libertatis Publics;. H. S. E. Watkin Williams Wynn Baronettus. Qui ab illustri Britannorum veterum stirpe oriundus, majo- ribus suis se dignissimum semper praebuit, et non modo no mine, sed virtute et fide hominem vere Britannum. Admodum juvenis in senatum electus confestim cunctis innotuit gravitate et judicio: Postquam vero et ipse de republica ccepit dispu- tare, et libertatis patrocinium ac defensionem suscipere, incre- dibilem animi magnitudinem, atque ejus constantiam omnes ita suspexerunt, ut, cum senatus princeps tum patriae pater merito haberetur. Tam rectis studiis et ea singulari bonitate fuit prseditus, ut non posset fieri, quin maximam sibi gratiam d Eyton Pedigree. 590 WYNN-STAY. et venerationem compararet vir innocentissimus, jdemque pru- dentissimus paterfamilias, continentissimus maritus, benignissi- mushospes,optimusliterarumpatronus,etassiduusDEietCHRis- tianb veritatis cultor. Ad hose quam .4-iavis et jucundus fuit in convictu ! Quanta fides ejus sermonibus ! Qualis in ore pro- bitas et decor ! Quae mensae reverentia ! Quas in cultu mode- ratio! Quos in omni vita modestia, elegantia, comitas, liber* alitas ! Talis tantique viri immaturo interitu quam grave damnum fecit Britannia; quum cuncti qui ejus virtutes cog- noverint (cognovit penitus qui haec mcerens scripsit) eo erepto, miserorum omnium perfugium, bonorum omnium delicias, doc- torum omnium prassidium, Wallia suae decus et ornamentum, et clarissimum reipublicas lumen ereptum et extinctum esse fateantur ! Obiit 26°. die Septembris 1749. Matis suae 57m0. Wynn-stay. The park of Wynn-stay reaches to the village of Rhiwabon; and is most advantageously situated. The grounds well wooded ; the views distinct and extremely elegant; especially those towards the Berwyn mountains, and the august breach made into them beyond Llangollen, by the rapid Dee, through the country of the irregular and wild Geyndwr, Nanty Nant t Bele, or the Dingle of the Martin, 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 sullenlyin a black and still pool. Towards the north is a great view of the conic mountain, and the WYNN-STAY. 391 rude fortress of Dinas Brdn, 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 e 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 you. Cui domus est victusque decens, cui patria dulcis, Sunt satis hasc vitas, caetera cura, labor. Struxit Johannes Wynn miles et baronettus, A. D. 1706. 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 Rhiwabon, and had been the residence of Madog ap Gryffydd Maelor, founder of Valle Crucis f . The new part, built by the first Sir Watkin, is 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 e This has been recently taken down. Ed. ( Eyton Pedigree. 39$ WYNN-STAY. 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 ownerg 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 the munificent owner an nually enlivens the gloomy season with dramatical entertainment11 during a whole week, and in a most princely manner treats the whole country with a most rational and elegant amusement. The present set of pictures belonging to the house are portraits of the families of Wynn and Williams. Here is a very fine three-quarters of the old Sir John Wynn of Gwedyr, 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. * The late Sir W. W. Wynn. Ed. j h The present baronet has exchanged these amusements for an annual agricultural meeting, at which prizes are distributed with liberality, and the numerous visitors hospitably enter tained. Ed. WYNN-STAY. 393 His son, Sir John Wynn knight, is drawn half- length ; a young 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 Vandyck, 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 his travels, which is printed among other scarce tracts, by Mr. Thomas 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 Ozven. 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. 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 leaning on the late Sir Watkins 394 THE GARTHEN. shoulder, looking at the horse called Legacy. This figure of Sir Watkin is the strongest resemblance to him of any. 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 John 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 his queers close this short list. On my return to Rhiwabon, 1 passed through the turnpike towards Wrexham. On the road I digressed a little to the left, to visit a great Caer Garthen. in this parish, called the Garthen, i. e. Caer-ddin, seated on a summit of a hill commanding a most extensive view around, of the fine and fertile coun try of Maelor Cymraeg, or Bromfield; and a part of Maelor Saesneg, or English Maelor, mostly flat 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 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 ERDDIG. 395 yards from Offa's 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 Ozvain Cyfeiliog prince of Powys and the EngUsh, attended with victory to the antient Britons; which gave rise to a beautiful poem called Hbdas Ozvain, or the Drinking Horn of Ozvain, composed by the prince himself1. I pursued the track of Wat's dike, passed near P entre Bychan, the seat of — Mere- deth esq. and soon reached Erddig, the ele- Erddig. • gant seat of Philip Yorlze esq. a place where nature has been lavish of beauties, and improved by the excellent taste of the worthy owner k. 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 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 1 See Mr. Evan Evans's Collection of Welsh Poems, p. 1. and the elegant Translation, by the Reverend Richard Williams, in the succeeding volume of this Tour. k Philip Yorke esq. died in 1 804, and was succeeded by his son Simon Yorke esq. Ed. 396 SONTLEY HOUSE. CADWGAN HALL. SOSTLEYHouse.CadwganHall. 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 Edisbury of Pentre Clawd, whose son Joshua built the present house in 1678. They were of Cheshire descent. The place was sold, under a decree in chancery, in 1715, to John Meller, of the family of Meller Chapel in Derbyshire, 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 name1,, a branch of the Eytons of Eyton. And still more distant, towards the hills, is Cadwgan Hall, a very large old house. This place, with a considerable property, was owned by the Jones's, of the stock of Tudor Trevor. Edward Jones esq. the last possessor, was most unfortunately made 1 In old writings called Scully or Sullie. WREXHAM. 397 acquainted by his dearest friend Thomas Salisbury esq. of Lleweni, 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 Babington conspiracy. Neither of them seem to have had the lest knowledge of the plan for assassinating Elizabeth. On the dis covery of the plot Salisbury called at Cadzvgan 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 had often tried to dissuade from his rash design™. Wrexham lies at a small distance from Erddig. Wrexham. 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 U1 Camden's Life of Queen Elizabeth, in Kennel, ii. 517. 51 ft. State Try als, 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 Middleton, second son of Richard, eldest son and heir of Richard Middleton of Denbigh. It is now the property of Mr. Middleton of Chirk castle. 393 WREXHAM. called Wrightesfiam, and Wrightelesham. I can trace it no farther back than the time of the last earl Warren, who had a grant of it n. 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. Wilkinson, who supplies many parts of Europe with this ratio ultima regum; and in the late war between the Russians and Turks, furnished both parties with this species of logic. THESEforges are notfar from Ecclusham, ahouse and estate belonging to the Lloyds of that place and Dylassy. 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 Longiie- ville, by marriage with a daughter of Sir John Conzvay, and was after that sold to John Humber- ston esq., and by him to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn bart. Church. The church of Wrexham is the glory, not only of the place, but of North Wales. The inside of the church is very spacious ; and consists of a nave, " Dugdale Bfiron. i. S2. ° Itin. v. 34. WREXHAM. 599 two ailes, and a chancel. Above the pillars is abundance of grotesque carving, in ridicule of the regular clergy, and the female rehgious, abbesses and nuns ; and over the arches of the nave, are many of the arms of the old British and Saxon princes. The tombs are numerous. The most Tombs. 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 Hic jacet ********** ap Howel p. 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. Me 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 Chester, 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 q. Almost opposite to the prelate is a magnificent monument, in memory of Mrs. Mary Middleton, p The letters are REH. (or R) EVEHIRE. 1 Willis's Cathedr.i, 332, 400 WREXHAM. daughter of Sir Richard Middleton of Chirk cas* tie7. 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 : The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Above is a shattered pyramid, and, what 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 benevolus, Qui nil turpe vel in se admisit Vel fov.it in aliis. That in the church-yard, on Elihu Yale of Plas Gronzv esq. near Erddig, expresses an uncommon variety of fortune: * She died April 8th, 1747, aged 50. WREXHAM, 401 Born in America, in Europe bred, ' In Afric travell'd, and in Asia wed, Where long he liv'd, and thriv'd ; at London dead. 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 Fbr this most certain exit to prepare : For only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the dust. He was interred July 22d, 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 David. He had been governor of Madras, and most probably a very arbitrary one, for he hanged his 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 England3. He married a Jero- nirna de Paibia, who, with her only son Charles Yale, lies buried at the Cape of Good Hope '. s Harris's Coll. Voy. i. 97. ' Their epitaph, as copied by the late Governor Loten, runs thus : Hic jacet in tumulo Carolus Yale, filius Domini Yale, quonda gubernator Madrassapatamix, nec non Jeronim* de Paibia, VOL. I, 2D 402 WREXHAM. Of the following, the first is simple ; the second, what the Spectator calls light, but nervous ; and the third informs you, that the deceased had lived, but not that he died. Here lies a churchwarden A choyce flower in that garden, Joseph Critchley by name, Who lived in good fame : Being gone to his rest, Without doubt he is blest. Died 10th o{ March 1673-4. Here lies interr'd beneath these stones, The beard, the flesh, and eke the bones, Of Wrexham clerk, old Daniel Jones. 1668. juvenis admodum inclytus vir- -tute, et etiam elegans, unigeni- -tus suae matris, etsui patris fili- »us unicus : Vivens ab omnibus amatus, nunc mortuus deplo- -ratus : natus fuit in Madras- -sapatamia, et hic obiit Jan"j vicesimo tertio, anno aetatis suae vicesimo secundo, annoque Domini 17-JI-. Sepulta etiam est hic mater ejus Jeronima de Paibia, quae pro amore sui filii reli- quit Indium, ut cum illo hic jaeeret. WREXHAM. 403 Here lies John Shore, I say no more ; Who was alive In sixty-five. October 9th. On 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 with a winding stair-case, twenty-four feet high : 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 1506. The fine brazen eagle, which serves as a reading-desk, was the gift of John ap Gryffydd ap Dafydd of Ystivan, in this neigh- 2 d 2 404 WREXHAM. 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 Anian, the second bishop of St. Asaph, was restored to the see x. This great cure is assisted by two chapels ; Miner a, or Mzvyn clazodd, the Mine upon the ditch, from that of Offa running by it : this is a rich mineral tract, in the mountanous part of the parish. The other 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 Mines, mineral. Part of the mines on the waste are the property of lord Grosvenor, and some belong to the corporation of Chester. Brymbo, another township on the heights, produces coal. In this place the inhabitants of Holt had, by the charter granted to them in 1410, by Thomasjearl of Arun del, the liberty of digging for turf and coals'. The u Halston MSS. x See the account of Valle Crucis, in the further progress of this work. ACTON. CHANCELLOR JEFFRIES. 405 house of Brymbo is a good antient seat, once the property of the Griffiths; then, by marriage, of the Claytons of Shropshire ; and at present of Ashton 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 Elizabeth. Theye are the joye and gladnesse 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. From Wrexham I made an excursion to Gres- ford, and on ray road called at Acton, the seat of Acton. my good friend Ellis Yonge esq. by purchase from the trustees of the late John Robinson of Gwersilt, esq y. This place was formerly the property of the Jeffries, a race that, after running uncontaminated - from an antient stock*, had the disgrace of produc ing in the last century George Jeffries, chancellor jfFp^sLL0R V Acton Park was purchased in 1785 from Mr. Yonge's trustees, by Sir Foster Cunliffe bart. who has enlarged the house and embellished the grounds with distinguished taste and judgement. Ed. z From Kynricap Rhiwallon, great grandson of Tudor Trevor. 406 CHANCELLOR JEFFRIES. of England; a man of first-rate abilities in his profession, but of a heart subservient to the worst of actions. His portrait a is a fine full-length, in his baron's robes, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Charles II. sat to this great painter; who survived to draw George I. and to receive from him the dignity of baronet. Jeffries was sixth son of John Jeffynes, and Margaret daughter to Sir Thomas Ireland of Beausey, near Warrington. Here is preserved a good portrait of the old gen tleman, in black, sitting : it was drawn in the 82d year of his age, in I69O. George had his first education at the free-school at Shrezvsbury b, from which he was 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 grandmother. He was never regularly called to the bar. The accident of the plague in the neighborhood of Lon don first introduced him into his profession ; for, in 1666, he put on a haw-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 aThis portrait and that of his brother are removed to Erddig. Ed. fc Hist. Shrewsbury, 128, CHANCELLOR JEFFRIES. 407 wealthy merchant ; in which he was assisted by a young lady, the daughter of a clergyman. The affair was discovered, and the confidante turned out of doors. Jeffries, with a generosity unknown to him in his prosperous days, took pity and mar ried her. She proved an excellent wife, and lived to see him lord chief justice of England. On herdeath he married the widow of Mr. Jones of Montgome ryshire, and daughter to Sir Thomas Blodzvorth. 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 upright and able; as a politician, unre strained by any principle ; devoted to, the worst measures of an infatuated court. He was ex tremely given to the 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 I689, either from hard drinking or a broken heart, and so was preserved from the infamy of c Reresby's Memoirs, 231. 408 GRESFORD. CHURCH. public execution. He was buried privately in the tower, by an order from the king to his relations. 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 are 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 stry, as to be recommended to our court to suc ceed lord Landsdozvne, 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. Another brother was dean of Rochester, and died on his road to visit his brother the chancellor, when under confinement in the tower. Gresford. Gresford, or Croes-ffordd; the road of the cross, lies about two miles further. The church is seated on the brow of a lofty eminence, over a beautiful little valley, which opens into the vast expanse of the vale royal of Cheshire; and exhi- CHURcft. bits a view of uncommon elegance. The 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. GRESFORD. 409 On one side, in a niche, is another of Henry VII. The neat reparation of the inside, is owing to the direction and excellent judgment of the reverend Mr. Newcome, the present vicar d. Here are two antient monuments: one, much Tombs. 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. These shew the deceased to have been one of the later posterity of Ithel ap Ednyfed, whose father had the townships of Gresford and Allington bestowed on him for services done to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, in the wars, against the Eng lish. It kef inherited also Lleprog Fawr, Lleprog Fechan, and Tref nant in Englefield. Many of his offspring were buried here e. In the north aile is a tomb of a warrior armed in mail. On his shield is a lion rampant : and round the verge, Hic jacet Madoc ap Llewelin ap Gruff. He was of Eyton, Erlisham, and Rhi- wabon. He was buried on St. Mathias's day, 1331. Here are, besides, some mural monuments ofTHETRE- the. Trevors of Trevalyn. The family was de scended from that of Brynkinalt, and possessed this place by the marriage of Richard, fourth son of John Trevor, to Mallt, daughter and sole heiress d Deceased. Ed. e Salusbury Pedigree. 410 GRESFORD. to Jenkin ap Dafydd ap Gryffydd of Alynton, i. e. Trevalyn. In after times, Thomas, a second son of the house, and an eminent lawyer, was created baron Trevor of Bromham f, 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 ; ancl that his son, Sir Richard, caused his bones to be removed to this place. Sir Richard erected his own monument in 1638, in the 80th year of his age, representing himself in armour, kneeling : ancl his wife Cathe rine, daughter of Robert Puleston esq. of Emral, by him. The inscription informs us, that it was chiefly in memory of his lady that he caused this memorial to be erected. He served many years in the Irish wars; was governor of Newry, and the counties of Dozvn and Ardmagh ; council of the marches, and vice-admiral of North Wales ; and lived (as he tells us) to see his children's children's children. There is another monument to his lady, who is placed kneeling with her five daughters. Trufalyn. At their neighboring seat of Trevalyn, is a sin gular portrait of Sir Richard, dressed in black. f December 31, 1711. THE ROFTS. 411 Above hang his arms, with the words So then: beneath are some medicines, and Now thus : allud- sive to his former and present state. In this parish lived the Ayhners, now extinct. They were descended from Eynydd ap Gwerngzvy, one of the fifteen tribes, on whoni Bleddyn ap Cynfyn bestowed great possessions in these parts ; amongst others Aylmer, from which place, John, one of his descendants, took his surname. A fa mily of the name of Langford had likewise pro perty in this parish. At the extremity of the lofty slope that impends over the plains, and affords an almost boundless view to the north and north-east, is a peninsulated field, called the Rofts, that formed, in old times, The Rofts. a strong British post. It is defended by three strong dikes and fosses, cut across the narrow isth mus that connects it to the higher parts of the parish. On two sides it is inaccessible by reason of the 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 plough. 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; which made an artificial elevation quite necessary, in order to Gwersilt. 412 LOWER GWERSILT. observe the motions of an enemy. It lies, I think in the manor of Merf ord ; which, with that of Horsely, 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 Denbighshire, I am uncertain. In the neighbourhood of Gresford, stood the Lower Lozver Gwersilt, a house burnt down April the 20th, 1738, by which the country lost the worthy and respectable family of the Shakerlies, who set tled there soon after the restoration. They were originally of Shakerly in Lancashire, but removed to this place almost immediately on the return of the royal family. Colonel (afterwards Sir Jeffry) Shakerly was a distinguished loyalist, and had the command of a regiment of horse under Charles I. During his service, he contracted a great friendship with colonel Robinson, owner of the Upper Gzver- silt ; which induced him, soon after the year 1660, to purchase this estate from captain Sutton, an old cavalier, descended from 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 UPPER GWERSILT. MARCHWIEL. 413 civil commotions, notwithstanding he was engaged in most of the actions of any note. The account of what preceded the battle of Rowton-Heath, near Chester, is extremely curious, and merits preserva tion; which I deliver in the Appendix11, in the man ner I received it, by the favor of his grandson, the late Peter Shaker ley, esq. Just above the Lower stands the Upper Gwer- Upper silt, the seat of John Cawley Humberston Cawley GwERSILT> esq \ The views, from the grounds, of the Hope mountains, and Caergzvrle castle, are very fine; and the walks beneath, by the side of the Alyn, are singularly romantic and beautiful. This estate belonged to colonel Robinson, 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 the satisfaction of finding it well rebuilt by some usurping handk. I returned through Wrexham, and visited the small church of Marchwiel, about three miles di- Marchwiel. stant from the town. In it is a small elegant mo nument, in memory of Miss Yorke of Erddig, who, in the early spring, and opening into bloom, was h Appendix, No. IV. 1 Sold by him to Atherston esq. Ed. k See the colonel's epitaph in the Appendix, No. V. 414 MARCHWIEL. 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. MARCHWiEL-HALLlies at a small distance from the church. It was long possessed by a younger branch of the Broughtons of Broughton. Just before the restoration, Edward Broughton esq. happened to be confined in the Gate-house 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. From hence I returned by the same road to my quarters at Llangollen. In the morning I took a ride to view the country that lies to the south-west. The road lay on the same side of the river with the town : I ascended 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. 1 See Appendix, No. VI. LLANDYSILIO. 415 Beneath, on the other side, lies the house of Llan- Llandysi- dysilio, the seat of Thomas Jones esq. in a pretty vale, watered by the Dee, that winds along the bottom, after passing between two rocky promon tories, that barely give it a channel. The former possessors of Llandysilio were the Cupers or' Cup pers, styled even so early as the time of Henry II. the antient Cuppers of the Northm, who had settle ments in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Shropshire. One of them purchased this estate, and his daugh ter and sole heiress conveyed it into the present family, by marriage with Mr. Jones, then of Llan- bothian in the county of Montgomery. The church is dedicated to St. Tysilio, prince Church. of Powys, son of Brochwel Ysgithrog, by Arddun Benasgell, or Arddun with the winged head, daughter of St. Pabo post Prydain, or the pillar of Britain. This parish is in the hundred of Yale ; Yale. which contains, besides, those of Bryn Eglwys, Llandegla, Llanarmon, and Llanferres. m Cupper's Pedigree at Llandysilio. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.