CHESHIRE,

A part of the country of the Cornavii, CHESTER. commences on the flat beneath this bank. The road is continued 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.

THE acceſs to the city is over a very narrow and dangerous bridge, of ſeven irregular arches, rendered more inconvenient by the antient 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 declin⯑ing the honor of aſſerting it to have been of Britiſh foundation, notwithſtanding I have the authority of Ranulph the Monk, and of Henry Bradſhaw, another religious of this city.

[107]YET this legend does not err greatly from the right name, Caer Lleon, CAER LLEON. the camp of the legion. Caer Lleon, vawr ar ddyfr Dwy, the camp of the great legion on the Dee, being the head quar⯑ters of the twentieth legion, ſtyled alſo Valeria and Victrix. This legion came into Britain before the year 61; for it had 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. Afterwards, 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 this period are not exactly known. It is probable that part at leſt were on the Deva; that he collected a few of his forces, and began his march againſt the enemy from this place; and that, after his ſucceſsful expedition into Mona, MONA, &c. he determined to ſix 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 neigh⯑boring poſts, before he ventured on the diſtant expedition to Scotland, into which he led part, as appears from the inſcrip⯑tions; which prove that a vexillatio of this legion was concerned in building a portion of the Roman wall, In order to encou⯑rage the troops he left behind, he formed here a colony; and the place was ſtyled from them, and from its ſituation,DIVANAS Colonia Devana, as is proved by the coin of Septimus Geta, ſon of Severus, which was thus inſcribed:

[108]IT was alſo called ſimply Deva, AND DEVA. from the river which waſhe [...] one ſide;

THE form of the city evinces the origin to have been Roman, FOURS CHIEF STREETS. being in the figure of their camps; with four gates; four prin⯑cipal ſtreets; and variety of leſſer, croſſing the others at right angles, dividing 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 country, and eſcarpe on every front.

THE ſtructure of the four principal ſtreets is without parallel. They run direct from eaſt to weſt, and north to ſouth; and were excavated out of the earth, and ſunk many feet beneath the ſurface.EXCAVATED The carriages are driven far below the level of the kitchens, on a line with ranges or ſhops; over which, on each ſide of the ſtreets, paſſengers walk from end to end, ſe⯑cure from wet or heat, in galleries (or rowe, [...] 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 ne⯑ceſſary 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 [109] houſes; and were the places where dependents waited for the coming out of their patrons^*, 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:

The ſhops beneath the rows were the cryptae and apothecae, ma⯑gazines for the various neceſſaries of the owners of the Houſes.

The ſtreets were once conſiderably deeper, as is apparent from the ſhops, whoſe floors lie far below the preſent pavement. In digging foundations for houſes, the Roman pavement is often diſ⯑covered at the depth of four feet beneath the modern. The leſſer ſtreets and allies, which run into the principal ſtreets, ſloped to the bottoms of the latter, as is particularly viſible in were Bridge Street; but theſe are deſtiture of the galleries or rows.

IT is difficult to aſſign a reaſon for theſe hollowed ways.GREAT VAULTS, An antient hiſtorian mentions the exiſtence, in his days, of certain vaults and paſſages, of which not a trace, nor even the leſt memory is left, notwithſtanding the moſt diligent ſearch and enquiries have been made. In this cyte, ſays the author of the Poly⯑chronicen, ben ways under erthe, with vowtes and ſtone werke wonder⯑ly wrought; thre chambred werkes. Grete ſtones I grave with olde [110] mennes names therin. There is alſo JULIUS CEZAR'S name wonderly in ſtones grave, and other noble mennes names alſo, with the wrytynge about; meaning the altars and monumental inſcriptions: but he probably miſtakes the name of Julius Caeſar for that of Julius Agricola; to whom, it is reaſonable to ſuppoſe, 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 the place which thoſe antient Souterrains occupied.NEW LO [...]T. None have ever been diſcovered, by the frequent ſinking of cellars for new buildings on the ſite of the old; tradition has delivered no ſuch accounts to us; nor is their exit to be traced beneath 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.

OF the four gates of the city,EAST GATE, ROMAN. one of them, the Eaſt gate, continued till of late years; of Roman architecture, and conſiſt⯑ed of two arches, much hid by a tower, erected over it in the later days. A few years ago it was pulled down, on account of its ſtraitneſs and inconveniency, to give way to a magnifi⯑cent 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 ma⯑ſonry, the Roman appeared full in view.

IT conſiſted of two arches, formed of vaſt ſtones, fronting the Eaſt-gate ſtreet and the Foreſt ſtreet: the pillar between them dividing the ſtreet exactly in two. The accurate repre⯑ſentation

[111]of them by Mr. Wilkinſon, of this city, will give a ſtronger idea of them than words can convey; 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 eſquilina ^*, and the Porte porteſe ^† at Rome, were of this kind. Flores, in his medals of the Roman colonies in Spain ^‡, exhibits one on the coins of Merida, the antient Emerita, particularly on thoſe of Auguſtus; which ſhews, that the coloniſts were proud of their gate; and perhaps 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 architec⯑ture; for at Athens ſtood a Dipylon, or double gate, now demo⯑liſhed^§.

THE gate in queſtion faced the great Watling ſtreet road, and near the place where other military 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, HYPOCY in Bridge ſtreet, is probably ſtill entire; but the only part which can be ſeen, 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 [112] 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 rectangular figure; ſo that both together are an exact ſquare. This was the room allotted for the ſlaves who attended to heat the place; the other was the receptacle of the fuel de⯑ſigned to heat the room above, the concamerata ſudatio ^*, or ſweating-chamber; where people were ſeated, either in niches, or on benches placed one above the other, during the time of the operation. Such was the object of this Hypocauſt; for there were others of different forms, for the purpoſes of heating the waters deſtined for the uſe of the bathers.

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 lead to a large round arch, ſeemingly of Roman workmanſhip. It is now filled with more modern ma⯑ſonry, [113] and a paſſage left through a ſmall arch of a very eccentric form.ANTIENT POS⯑TERN. On the left, within the very paſſage, is the appearance of another round arch, now filled up. This poſtern is called the Ship-gate, or Hole in the Wall.

THIS ſeems originally 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 fording at low, the river here being re⯑markably ſhallow. What reduces this to a certainty is, that the rock on the Hanbridge ſide is cut down, as if for the conveniency of travellers. And immediately beyond, in the field called Ed⯑gar's, are the veſtiges of a road pointing up the hill;ROMAN ROAD. and which we ſhall have hereafter occaſion to ſay, was continued toward bonium, the preſent Bangor.

IN a front of a rock in the ſame field, and facing this relique of the Roman road, is cut a rude figure of the Dea armigera, MINERVA with her bird and altar.SCULPTURE OR MINERVA. This probably was a ſe⯑pulchral 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 antient buildings, whoſe ſite is marked by certain hollows; for the ground (pro⯑bably over the vaults) gave way and fell in within the remem⯑brance 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 build⯑ing, as Doctor Stukeley ſurmiſes; or Saxon, according to the pre⯑ſent notion; or Norman, according to Braun ^*, who, in his antient [114] plan of this city, ſtyles the ruins, then actually exiſting, Ruinoſa domus Comitis Ceſtrienſis. Perhaps it might have been uſed ſucceſ⯑ſively by every one; who added or improved according to their reſpective national modes.

HAVING had occaſion to mention the name of a departed an⯑tiquary, I think fit to acknowlege my obligations for the many hints I have benefitted 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 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, and hollow ways to every part of the city; where ſearch, has been made.

THE beautiful altar,ALTAR. in poſſeſſion of Mr. Dyſon, and the ſoldier in the garden or Mr. Lawton, are the only pieces of detached antiquities now ramaining in this city. The firſt is of great elegance, and was erected by Flavius Longus, tribune of the twentieth victorious legion, and his ſon Longinus, in honor of the emperors [...] and Maximian. 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 cur⯑tain with a feſtoon above. On one of the narrower ſides is a genius with a cornucopia; 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 garland. I fogot to remark, that immediately over the inſcription is a globe overtopped with palm-leaves. If this is not a general compliment to their [115] victories, I ſhould imagine it deſigned to expreſs their particu⯑lar ſucceſſes in Africa, of which the palm-tree was a known emblem.

THIS was found in digging for a cellar near the Eaſt-gate, on the antient pavement, which conſiſted 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. CAES. VESP. AUG. COSS. III. and on the reverſe, 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; allud⯑ing to a genius holding in one hand a ſacrificing bowl, in the other a cornucopia.

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.

THE firſt is the noted altar diſcovered in 1653,ANOTHER. at preſent preſerved at Oxford. It is inſcribed to Jupiter, with the Britiſh epithet Tanarus, or the Thunderer, by the tranſpoſal of the let⯑ters r and n in the word Taran. This appears to have been complimentary to the Britons, by adopting the epithet in their language, inſtead of that of Tonans. The inſcription (approved moſt by Mr. Horſely ^*) runs thus:

THE word Guntic, in the learned Prideaux and Gale ^*, is read Gunethae, as if derived from Gwinedd, one of the Britiſh names of North Wales; 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.

THE next is a ſtatue in poſſeſſion of the late Reverend Mr. Preſcot, STATUE or MI⯑THRAS. with a Phrygian bonnet on his head, a little mantle croſs his ſhoulders, and a ſhort jacket on his body. He is 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 vogue among the Romans in the ſecond and third century^†. An inſcription, DEO SOLI MITRAE, has been diſcovered in Cumberland. The Phrygian bonnet marks him for a foreign deity. The declining torch ſhews the fune⯑brious occaſion of this ſtone.

MR. HORSELY mentions another ſtone, diſcovered in digging a cellar in Water-gate ſtreet, in 1729. The inſcription is ſo im⯑perfect, that he ingenuouſly confeſſes, that without the aid of fancy, it cannot be made out.

[117]A FEW bricks, with the number of the legion ſtationed here, fill the liſt of the Roman antiquities of the place. I ſay nothing of the inſcription DEAE NYMPHAE BRIGANTES, preſerved by Mr. Gale, it being juſtly diſputed whether it belonged to this place.

I MUST not omit the moſt valuable memorial which the Ro⯑mans left,CHEESE-MAKING. 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 coun⯑tries, not excepting that of Italy, the land of their antient maſters.

THE twentieth legion was recalled from Britain before the writing of the Notitia, THE LEGION QUITS THIS STA⯑TION it not being mentioned in that work, which was compoſed^* about the year 445. It is ſuppoſed alſo to have been drawn 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 ſuppoſed to be totally deſerted; it remained oc⯑cupied by the deſcendants of the legionaries, who partook of the ſame privileges, and were probably a numerous body. Num⯑bers 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 government of the Britons, till their conqueſt was entirely effected by the new invaders the Saxons.

[118]BRITAIN,SAXON PERIOD. now left defenceleſs, quickly experienced all the calamities that could be inflicted on it from a oreign and bar⯑barous people. While Hengiſt and Horſa poured in their troop [...] upon the ſouth, another ſet of Banaitli landed in Wales, from their ſettlements in the Orcades and the north of [...]tland. Theſe with their allies the Picts, were defeated near Mold, by the Chriſtian Britons. headed by St. Germanus. I mention this out of courſe, merely to ſhew, that the probable reſt that Deva enjoyed for another century, was owing to this victory, which, obtained ſeemingly in a miraculous manner, diſcouraged for a long ſpace any new attempts.

THE fate of this city was at length decided in 607^*,ETHELFRID, 607. when Ethelfrid king of Northumbria reſolved to add this rich tract to his dominions. He was oppoſed by Brochmail Yſcithroc king of Pa [...]is; who collected haſtily a body of men, probably de⯑pending on the intervention of Heaven, as in the caſe of the victoria allelutanca; BATTLE OF CHES⯑TER. for that end, he called to his aid one thou⯑ſand two hundred religious from the great convent of Banger. and poſted them on a hill in order that he might benefit by the [...] prayers. Ethelfrid fell in with this pious corps, and, finding what their buſineſs was^†, put them to the ſword without mercy. He made an eaſy conqueſt of Brochmail, who, as the Saxon chronicle^† informs us, eſcaped with about fifty men. It appears that Eth [...]d, after pillaging the city, left it to the former owners, and contented himſelf with the territory, till it was wreſt [...]l [...] his kingdom by that of Merita.

[119]WE are left unacquainted with the hiſtory of this city for a long period. The Britons ſeem to have continued in poſſeſſion of it, and it was conſidered to be the capital city of Venedotia, or North Wales, till it was finally wreſted out of their hands by Egbert, EGBERT, 828. about the year 828, during the 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 calamity from the Danes. THE DANES WIN⯑TER HERE, 895. Theſe pirates, the ſcourge of the kingdom, meeting with a ſevere defeat by Alfred the Great, retreated before him; and in their ſlight collecting vaſt numbers of their countrymen, committed the care of their wives, their ſhips, and their booty, to the Eaſt Angles, marched night and day to ſecure quarters in the weſt. They ſeized on Legaceaſter before the king could 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 walls^†. Theſe invaders kept poſſeſſion of the town part of the winter; but, compelled by famine, evacuated it the beginning of 895,EVACUATE THE PLACE and took their courſe through North Wales; which the ſame cauſe obliged them ſuddenly to quit.

AFTER the evacuation of the city by the Danes, it continued in ruins till the year 907 or 908; when the Saxon Chronicle, and all our antient hiſtorians, agree, that it was reſtored by the cele⯑brated Ethelfleda ^‡.

[120]THIS lady is ſo frequently mentioned in the Mercian hiſtory,HER HISTORY. that it will not be impertinent to give a brief account of her. She was the undegenerate 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^*, ſhe ſeparated herſelf from her huſband, and for the reſt of her days, like an Imazen of old, determined on a life of chaſtity, and devoted 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 Mervan earldom, and the command of the army. She became ſo celebrated for her valour, that the effe⯑ [...]inate titles of Lady or Queen were thought unworthy of her. ſhe received in addition thoſe of LORD and KING.

THE heroine appears well to have merited this eulogium. Her abilities and activity were perpetually exerted in the ſer⯑vice of her country. She erected a caſtle at Sceargate; another at Briege, the modern Bridgenorth; a third at Tamweorthige, or Tamworth; a fourth at Staefford; a fifth at Eadeſbyrig, now the chamber in the foreſt in Cheſhire; a fifth at Waeringwic, or War⯑wick; a ſixth at Cyricbyrig, or Chirbury; a ſeventh at Weardbyrig, or Wedſburrow, in Staffordſhire; and an eighth at Rumcof, or Runcorn, in Cheſhire. She took Brecenanmere, or Brecknock, and made its queen priſoner: ſhe ſtormed Deoraby, or Derby; but loſt ſour Thanes within the place: and finally, ſhe reſtored the city of Legerceaſter, after its deſolation by the barbarians; re⯑built the walls; and, as ſome pretend, enlarged the city ſo greatly as to include the caſtle, which before ſtood without the antient precincts. Death put an end to her glorious courſe,DEATH. at Tamworth ^*, 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 Ed⯑ward; [122] for ſhe was as uſeful to that wiſe prince in the cabinet as in the field.

EDGAR made this port one of the ſtations in his annual cir⯑cumnavigation of his dominions.EDGAR, 973. 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 men⯑tioned, perhaps copied from the former, 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 made his eight tributaries row him 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 as to induce the factious and traiterous nobility of England to riſe and favor their deſigns. Edmund, EDMUND IRON⯑SIDES. ſurnamed 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 mentioned among thoſe which ſuffered. Edmund, by the perfidiouſneſs of his own people, was conſtrained to leave both the Mercian and Northumbrian kingdoms in poſ⯑ſeſſion of Canute; CANUTE, 1016. who, in the famous partition of England [123] between theſe rival princes, in 1016, retained thoſe parts for his own ſhare.

ON the reſtoring of the Saxon line, it reverted, with the reſt of the Mercian province, to its old maſters. Leofric, a munifi⯑cent nobleman, was at that time governor of Mercia, and earl of Cheſter. Theſe earls were not created, but merely official. He died 1057,1057. and was ſucceeded by his ſon Alfgar or Algar, a turbulent nobleman; who engaging in rebellion, aided by the Welſh prince Gryffydd ap Llewelŷn, 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 Gryffyd and a Norwegian fleet. He died ſoon after, and was interred in Co⯑ventry, where the earls of Mercia had their principal ſeat.

HIS eldeſt ſon Edwin ſucceeded;NORMAN CON⯑QUEST, 1066 in whom ended the race of earls of Cheſter of Saxon blood. After the battle of Haſtings, he ſled, with his brother Morkar earl of Northumberland, to London, with a view of the crown, vacant by the death of Harold. Be⯑ing diſappointed in his hopes, he took his ſiſter Algytha, widow to the ſlain monarch, and ſent her to Cheſter; and endeavored to eſcape to Malcolm king of Scotland, but was intercepted by the way and ſlain.

ENGLAND now experienced a total change of maſters. The conqueror, in order at once to ſecure his new dominions, and to reward his followers, beſtowed on them the lands of the noble Saxons. He wiſely divided the provinces, which had hi⯑therto 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 duke or [124] earl,POST-CONQUEST EARLS OF CHES⯑TER and ruled by what was called, in the Saxon phraſe, the Merchenlege, received in many caſes a diſtinct maſter. Cheſhire fell to the ſhare of Gherbod, 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 captivity was obliged to reſign them to ano⯑ther. The Conqueror, in his place, appointed Hugh de Aurange, better known by the name of Hugh Lupus; the firſt Norman earl of Cheſter who ever poſſeſſed the county. To him he dele⯑gated 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 here, 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 liberè ad gladium, ſicut ipſe REX tenebat Angliam [...]d coronam. The ſword by which he was inveſted with this dignity is ſtill to be ſeen in the Muſeum, inſcribed Hugo comes Ceſtriae. Another inferior office was alſo held by the earls, by virtue of this ſword; that of ſword-bearer of England at the times of coronation^*.

LUP [...]S inſtantly took poſſeſſion of his dominions. It is probable that he was inveſted in them by William himſelf; for we find the Conqueror at Cheſter in perſon in 1069, where he repelled the Welſh, and finally reduced the Mercian province, which appears to have been in arms to this period^†. At the ſame time reſtored [125] the walls and built the caſtle; the former having either fallen into decay ſince the days of Ethelfreda, or were not thought ſuffi⯑ciently ſtrong for the exigencies of the times.

As ſoon as Lupus was firmly eſtabliſhed, he began to exert his regal prerogatives. He formed his parlement by the crea⯑tion of eight barons, viz. Nigel baron of Halton; Robert, of Montalt; William Malbedeng baron of Nantwich; Vernon, of Shipbrook; Fitzhugh, of Malpas; Hamon de Maſſie Venables, 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 attend⯑ance, 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 with⯑out furniture, in the diviſion of Cheſhire. Their knights and freeholders were to have corſelets and habergeons, and were to defend their lands with their own bodies. Every baron had alſo four eſquires; every eſquire one gentleman; and every gen⯑tleman one valet^*. Each of theſe barons had alſo their free courts of all pleas and ſuits, and all plaints, except what be⯑longed to the earl's ſword. 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 Kinderton's court, and executed in 1597^†.

THE earls had their chamberlain, which ſupplied the place of chancellor; an office continued to this day. The firſt we [126] know of was Philippus Camerarius, 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 conformable 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^*.

IN imitation of regal power, the earls appointed a high con⯑ſtable of Cheſhire, correſpondent to the high conſtable of Eng⯑land; 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 com⯑mander in chief of the forces in Cheſhire, and prime governor of the county under his couſin Hugh Lupus. As his office and rank dropt with him, he is not reckoned among the barons. Probably the office was found unneceſſary, and claſhing with the priveleges of the high conſtable.

THIS ſpecies of government continued from the Conqueſt till the reign of Henry III. a period of about 174 years; when, in 1237, on the death of John Scot (the ſeventh earl of the Norman line) without iſſue male, Henry took the earldom into his own hands, and gave the daughters of the late earl other lands in lieu; unwilling, as we ſaid, that ſo great an inheritance ſhould be parcelled out among diſtaffs. THE EARLDOM RESUMED BY THE CROWN. The king beſtowed the coun⯑ty [127] on his ſon Edward, 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 directions of a mayor and ſheriffs. The mayor ſeems to have been the ſubſtitute for the conſtable; an office which, during the period of the Norman earls, was, under them, ſupreme in all matters military and civil, in both city and county. The ſheriffs ſeem to have been a new name for bailiffs, who acted under the former^*.

AFTER giving 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 chronolo⯑gical account of 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.GUILD MIRCA⯑TORY. It had a guild mercatory ^†, 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 pre⯑cinct. 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 reſpectable citizens, were appointed to maintain the rights of this guild. They re⯑ceived, [128] for the uſe of the city, all the cuſtoms paid by ſtrangers, unleſs at the fairs, which in thoſe days were ſaid to have been held three times in the year. Theſe officers were probably of the ſame nature as the deans of guild in Scotland. It appears alſo from the Doomſday book, that here was a ſupreme officer, called the Prapeſitus Regis, or provoſt, who had the care both of the civil and commercial intereſts.

IT is difficult to ſay at this time what were the articles of ex⯑portation, excepting ſlaves and horſes.EXPORTS. SLAVES. The firſt barbarous traffic was carried on by the Saxons to a great height. The de⯑ſcription of the mart is an exact picture of the negro commerce^* at preſent; ſo little have we emerged from barbariſm in that inſtance.

HORSES were another article;HORSES, HIDES, &c. but their exportation was pro⯑hibited, excepting 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 [129] times of the Romans. Cheſter was, admirably ſituated for ſupplying all theſe articles, excepting 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^*. The rich plains of Cheſhire furniſhed horns and hides; and the Cambrian mines, lead and copper.

CHEESE muſt not be omitted,CHEESE. as a moſt important article; for the Britons made ſo great a progreſs in the arts of the dairy, that even under the Roman reign there was great exportation of cheeſes for the uſe of the Roman armies; in which this county doubtleſsly had the greateſt ſhare.

THE imports were the ſpices and other luxuries of the eaſt,IMPORTS. procured either from Venice, or afterwards from the cities of Piſa and Amalphi ^†, the magazines of the precious Aſiatic com⯑modities.

CLOTH was brought from Flanders, and linen from Germany ^‡ CLOTH. LINEN. RELIQUES.; reliques and eccleſiaſtical finery from Italy ^‖, the ſtaple of ſuper⯑ſtition. Rich armour was another conſiderable article; for war and religion created in theſe ages the moſt important 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 readily expiated by proſtration to the latter; and acceptance was announced by the prieſt in proportion to the value of the offering.

[130]FRANCE and Spain ſupplied them with wine;WIX [...]. and the diſco⯑very made towards the north by Ohthere, under the directions of Alfred, FURS gave us furs, whale-bone, feathers, walruſes teeth, and other articles from that cold region^†. Martins ſkins are twice mentioned in the Doomſday book, among the imports of Cheſter. Ireland might alſo ſupply them with furs, and ſeveral other commodities; this being the channel of communication on that ſide of the kingdom, and the great mart for the Iriſh commo⯑dities. A ſenſible but uncouth poem, about the year 1430, publiſhed in Hakluyt, i. 199, gives us a liſt of its articles of commerce.

It is certain that Cheſter had long been a celebrated port. It appears to have been a ſtation for the Saxon navy; and fre⯑quently 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 Edward the Confeſſor, and at the Conqueſt, muſt be collected from the famous ſurvey the Doomſday book.

[131]IT appears, that in the time of the Saxon monarch here were four hundred and thirty-one houſes which were taxable, beſides fifty-ſix that belonged to the biſhop: that it yielded ten marks of ſilver and a half; two parts to the king, and the third to the earl: that whenever the king came in perſon, he clamed from every plough-land two hundred heſthas, one cuna of ale, and one ruſca of butter^*: that if any perſons made bad ale, they were either to ſit in a chair full of dung, or pay four ſhilings: 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 hide-land in the county to appear; and in caſe of abſence, he was fined forty ſhillings, to be divided between the king and the earl: and that the city was ſo depopulated at the time that Hugh Lupus took poſſeſſion, that there were two hun⯑dred and five houſes fewer than in the time of the Con⯑feſſor.

IT is probable that the city ſoon emerged from its calamities, and felt a conſiderable increaſe under its new maſters, a more poliſhed race; for the Normans affected as much elegance in their dreſs and their buildings, as they did temperance in their meat and drink. The example of a magnificent 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.

[132]ACCORDING to Lucian ^*, a jolly monk who flouriſhed about the time of the Conqueſt, its commerce was very conſiderable. He ſpeaks of the ſhips ‘coming from Gaſcoign, Spain, Ireland, and Germany, who, by GOD'S aſſiſtance, and by the labour and conduct of mariners, repair hither and ſupply them with all ſorts of commodities; ſo that being comforted with the favour of GOD in all things, we drink wine plentifully; for thoſe countries have abundance of vineyards.’

HERE,1159 in 1159, Henry II. and Malcolm the IVth of Scot⯑land had their interview; and the important ceſſion was made to Henry by the latter, of the three counties of Northumber⯑land, Cumberland, and Weſtmoreland, formerly wreſted from the Engliſh crown^†.

BALDWIN, archbiſhop of Canterbury, 1188 in 1188, viſited this place, in his road from Wales, where his zeal led him to recom⯑mend the Croiſade to the mountaneers, aſſiſted by the eloquent and vain Giraldus. All the hiſtorian takes notice of in this re⯑ſpectable city is, that Conſtance counteſs of Cheſter kept a herd of milch hinds, made cheeſes of their milk, and preſented three to the archbiſhop: that he ſaw an animal, a compound of an ox and a ſtag; a woman born without arms, who could ſew as well 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 preſages, it is wondrous he made no uſe of all theſe portents: probably no [133] ſignal event happened in theſe parts in his days, to which they could be applied.

THE next remarkable occurrences were the ravages of Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, 1255. prince of Wales, who carried fire and ſword to the very gates of Cheſter, and deſtroyed every thing around on both ſides of the river; provoked by the cruel injuries his ſubjects ſuſtained from Geffrey Langley, lieutenant of the county under prince Edward ^*.

THIS city ſeems to have been a conſtant rendezvous of troops, and place d'armes for every expedition on this ſide of the kingdom, from the times of the Normans to the conqueſt of Ireland by William III. In 1257, Henry III. ſummons his nobility^† to at⯑tend with their vaſſals at Cheſter on a certain day, in order to invade Wales, and revenge the inroads of the Welſh; and the bi⯑ſhops^‡ were at the ſame time required to appear there on the ſame occaſion.

EDWARD I. in 1275,1275. appointed this city as the place of re⯑ceiving the homage of Llewelyn; to which that high-ſpirited prince deelining to ſubmit^§, brought on the war, which con⯑cluded with the deſtruction of him and his principality.

AND in this city was received,1300. in 1300, the final acknow⯑legement of the Welſh to the ſovereignty of England, by Edward of Caernarvon prince of Wales, when the freeholders of the country did homage and fealtie for their reſpective lands^‖.

[134]RICHARD II.1397. viſited the capital of his favorite and loyal county; and did it the diſtinguiſhed honor of converting it into a principality, and annexing 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 incroached ſo much on the dignity of his ſon as prince of Wales ^*.

HENRY IV. in 1399,1399. ſeized the city and caſtle, in his way to Flint againſt his ill-fated monarch 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 Glendwr, this city was made a rendezvous of the royal forces, and a place d'armes. It does not appear that our countryman ever made any attempt on it, not⯑withſtanding numbers of the gentry of this gallant county favored his cauſe^†. But the country was unhappily divided; and conti⯑nued 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 into the county in 1455, and viſited this city^‡.1455. In 1459,1459. ſoon before the battle of Bloreheath, ſhe made another, and took with her the Meek Uſur⯑per, her huſband Henry VI. and her ſon Edward. She kept a public table wherever ſhe went; and beſtowed on the Cheſhire gentlemen, that eſpouſed her cauſe, little ſilver ſwans, the badge [135] of the young prince, as the cogniſance of the Lancaſtrians ^*. She appointed James lord Audley to command the Cheſhire forces. Michael Drayton gives an animated deſcription of the effects of civil diſcord on this occaſion: he acquaints us that Audley

DANIEL KING tells us, that Edward prince of Wales, ſon to Edward IV. came to Cheſter before Chriſtmas 1475,1475. and was immediately conveyed to the caſtle with great triumph. Ed⯑ward 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 favor were not unfrequent. Henry VII. and his queen came here in 1493;1493. and Henry ſent his ſon Arthur to viſit the place in 1497.1497.

THIS city had alſo its ſhare in the calamitous diſtempers of the times. In 1506,1506. it was viſited by that endemic diſorder the ſweating-ſickneſs, which deſtroyed, in three days, ninety-one houſeholders. The remark, of this deſtroying-angel's reſpect to the female ſex, was verified here; for only four periſhed.

[136]IN 1517,1517. it was followed by the peſtilence, when ſuch num⯑bers died, and ſuch numbers fled, that the ſtreets of the city were overgrown with graſs.

IT appears that the citizens of Cheſter were not leſs celebrated for their dramatic performances than thoſe of Coventry ^*.1529. They exhibited two ſpecies; one formed upon moral romance, the other on ſcriptural hiſtory. In this year they enacted at the high-croſs the play of Robert kyng of Cicyle, or Robert le Dia [...] borrowed from the French morality of that name.

ROBERT, like another Nebuchadnezzar, thought himſelf be⯑yond 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 appointed fool of the hall to the new king; and,

[137]After a very long and ignominious penance, the angel finds Robert effectually cured of his preſumption, quits his miſſion, and reſtores the poor king to his throne.

THE year 1532 reminds me of the religious dramas being per⯑formed in this city.1532. WHITSON PLAYS. Theſe are the famous interludes known by the name of Myſteries, originally compoſed in the years 1327 and 1328, by Randal Higgenet, a monk of Cheſter abby, as this pro⯑logue acquaints us.

RONDAL, it ſeems, firſt compoſed theſe Myſteries in Latin and took true pains to obtain leave to exhibit them in an Engliſh dreſs, having made three journies to Rome for his Holi⯑neſs's permiſſion^*. Others again were the labors of Sir Henry Frances, another monk, as appears by the proclamation for the Whitſon plays in this year, made by the clerk of the Pentice, ſetting forth, that in

THESE plays had probably been dropt for a conſiderable time; which occaſioned the proclamation, in the reign of that pageant-loving prince Henry VIII. Forty-three years had elapſed ſince the laſt performance of this nature, when the Aſſumption of our Lady was played before his brother Arthur, at the abby⯑gates of this city.

THESE Myſteries were the rude origin of the Engliſh theatre. Our drama, as the very ingenious Mr. Warton remarks, was in early times confined entirely to religious ſubjects; and theſe plays were nothing more than an appendage to the ſpecious and mechanical devotion of the age^†. I refer the reader to that gentleman's amuſing hiſtory of the riſe and progreſs of theſe performances; and confine myſelf to a few ſpecimens of the groſs and ridicu⯑lous exhibitions of the times; when the audience liſtened with [139] 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 fulminations of the furious Bonner, and the pious G [...]indal.

THESE plays were twenty-five in number. They were per⯑formed for above three centuries, to the ſtaring audience; who received the unvaried ſubject with the ſame annual pleaſure as the Romans did the farces in their days of honeſt ſimplicity.

They do not appear to us in the words of the original deviſer: but, the language and the poetry being grown obſolete, they were altered to that of the time, for the performance of the year 1600, and were acted by the craftſmen of the twenty-five com⯑panies, 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 in⯑ſtructed:

SHAKESPEAR certainly formed his perſonae dramatis of mechanics, his Quinees, Snugs, Snouts, and Starvelings, in the Midſummer-Night's Dream, from performers of this kind.

2. THE Drapiers enacted the Creation of the World. Adam and Eve appeared literally naked, and were not aſhamed, till after the fall, when they propoſed, according to the ſtage-direction, to make themſelves ſubligacula a foliis, quibus tegamus pudenda, and made their appearance with an apron of fig-leaves, ſticking religiouſly to the account given in the third chapter of Geneſis.

3. THE Water leaders and drawers of the Dee, took, with great propriety, the Hiſtory of the Deluge; which being handled in a very diverting manner, I ſhall tranſcribe as a pattern of the reſt. Their prologue tells them, ‘that Noe ſhall goe into the arke, with all his femylye, his wyfe excepte.’ After the long catalogue of birds, beaſts, &c. which are ſuppoſed to have entered the veſſel, Noah thus calls to his ſpouſe:

4. THE Barbers and Wax-chandlers told how Abraham re⯑turned from the ſlaughter of the four kings, &c.

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 kingdom; for feaſts were held in honor of it. The ſeſta aſinaria, or feaſts of aſſes, were celebrated in France in the beginning of the fifteenth century^*; when the beaſt, covered with a cope, was introduced into church, attend⯑ed by the clergy, and ſaluted with the following hymn:

6. THE Wrights and Slaters reherſed the Beirth of Chriſte. 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 Saviour. 9. The Mercers, the Offerings of the three Kings. 10. The Gold⯑ſmiths the Murder of the Innocents; and give a curious dia⯑logue between the 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 wil⯑derneſs. 13. The Glovers tell of the death of Lazarus. 14. The Corviſors, 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 woman (probably a real character at the compo⯑ſition [145] of this curious drama) whoſe crimes ſhe confeſſes in a long ſpeech:

She is then welcomed by the devils; which cloſes the piece, and all I ſhall relate of thoſe heaps of abſurdities.

THE city had,1542 PUBLIC STEWS. till this time, been indulged with public ſtews or brothels, which, for ſome centuries, were permitted by le⯑giſlative authority, and regulated by wholeſome laws, ordained by the commons, and confirmed by the king and lords. hoſe of Southwark were attended to in a particular manner in 1161, the 8th 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 wo⯑man that hath the perillous infirmity of burning ^*. 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. Notwith⯑ſtanding the keepers were protected in their profeſſion, they were reckoned infamous, were not to be impannelled on any juries, [146] or allowed to hold a tavern^*. 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 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 deeds that marked the reign of the bigotted Mary; 1554. the burning of George Marſh, for his adherence to the Proteſtant faith. I have often been informed 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; favoring 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,1564. probably in compliment to the taſte of the glorious but romantic Queen Elizabeth. In the year 1564, upon the Sunday after Midſummer, in the mayor⯑alty of Sir Lawrence Smith, ‘the hiſtory of Aenecs and queen Dido was played on the Reed'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 armed 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 good Renowme, among the pageantries [147] of Henry ^*; and the Fortreſſe of Beautie, aſſailed by virtuous Deſire, among thoſe of Elizabeth ^†. The aſſailants battered it with noſegays; and the beſieged diſcharged againſt them cannons filled with ſweet powder, or odoriferous waters.

DURING Sir Lawrence's mayoralty, we have an account of ano⯑ther ſpectacle, an annual one, upon the watch of the even of St. John the Baptiſt, for Sir Lawrence and the aldermen and common-council, contract with two painters to have in ‘rea⯑dineſs, with all furniture thereto belonging, 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, accordinge as the ſame have been uſed, &c. ^‡ I am at a loſs to gueſs the end of this preparation: but find that it was ſuppreſſed during the mayoralty of 1599.’

THE virtue of Edward Dutton, 1604. mayor or the city in 1604, muſt not paſs unnoticed. This worthy magiſtrate, like Mar⯑ſeilles' good biſhop, kept his ſtation during the whole time of a dreadful peſtilence;

HIS houſe was infected, and ſome of his children and ſer⯑vants died. The court of exchequer was removed to Tarvin; [148] the [...] aſſizes were held at Namptwich; and the fairs ceaſed during this ſad viſitation.

IN this year the city was honored with the preſence of James I. where he was received with a magnificence that did honor to the place. [...] The mayor. Edward Button, preſented his majeſty with a fair ſtanding cup, with a cover double gilt, and in it a hundred jacobins or gold. He alſo delivered 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 munificence to crowned heads; I find, that in 1583, Robert earl of Leiceſter, chamberlain of the county palatine, met with a moſt honorable reception; was received at the high-croſs by the whole cor⯑poration, entertained by the mayor, and preſented with a cup containing forty angels. The unfortunate earl of Eſſex, in 1598, in his way to Ireland, was ſtill more diſtinguiſhed. He was pre⯑ſented 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 conſi⯑derable ſpace; till the city was involved in the calamities of a ſiege in 1 [...]45-6, in conſequence 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 Boughton; and in conſequence, numbers of houſes were pulled down, to prevent them from giving ſhelter to the enemy. The firſt attempt made on the place by the parlement army was [149] on the 20th of July 1643, when Sir William Brereton gave a violent aſſault on the works; but met with a repulſe. In the ſame year he ſent a ſummons to Sir Abraham Shipman, then go⯑vernor, to ſurrender: the gallant commander bid him come and win it and wear it.

AFTER the repulſe of Lord Biron before Namptwich, the county of Cheſter was almoſt entirely in the hands of Sir Wil⯑liam Brereton, and the city ſuffered from that time a ſort of blockade, from the quarters the enemy poſſeſſed in the neighbor⯑hood, even as near as the village of Chriſtleton. Sallies and excur⯑ſions were frequently made; and, according to the diary of the ſiege with advantage to the loyaliſts.

ON September the 19th 1645, the parlement gained an advan⯑tage 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, immediately after this misfortune, paſſed through Wales, and got into the city, in hopes of animating the garriſon, and was lodged at Sir Francis Gamul's, near the bridge. He ar⯑rived only time enough to be a ſpectator, from the leads of the Phoenix tower, of the fatal battle on Rowton heath, on September 24; when his forces, under Sir Marmaduke Langdale, then on their march to raiſe the ſiege, after a well-diſputed action, ſunk under the ſuperior fortune of general Pointz.

THE king continued that night in Cheſter; and on quitting it the next day, gave orders to the governor, lord Biron, that [150] in caſe there was no appearance of relief within eight days, he was to treat of a ſurrender. The king took the route of Den-high, attended to that town by the three reſpectable citizens, Sir Francis Gamul, alderman Cooper, and captain Thropp. The ſiege was continued with the utmoſt vigour by Sir William Brereton; notwithſtanding which, the gallant garriſon held out for twenty weeks, beyond the expectation of every body: and, after having been reduced to live on horſes, dogs, and cats, yielded, on the 3d of February 1645-6, on terms that did honor 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 inhabi⯑tants periſhed, and the city became almoſt a deſert.

IN order to give a further hiſtory of the military,BRIDGE. civil, and eccleſiaſtical architecture of this antient city, I return to the bridge. This paſſage was prior to the Conqueſt; at which pe⯑riod 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 per⯑ſon 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, Ethelfieda, and after her death completed by her brother Edward. Before that time, the paſ⯑ſage was by a ferry that plied between the poſtern, called the [151] Ship-gate, and Edgar's field. It does not appear to me that any part of the Saxon bridge remains; ſo frequently has it been re⯑paired ſince that diſtant period.

BENEATH the arch next to the city,CAUSEWAY AND MILLS. is a current, which, by means of a great dam or cauſeway that croſſes the river obliquely, ſupplies the city mills with water. Theſe mills and the cauſe⯑way were originally founded by Hugh Lupus ^*, and retained by his ſucceſſors, and afterwards by the earls of Cheſter of the royal line. I find them often leaſed by the crown; Edward the black prince, in particular, in 1355, grants 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 l. ^†. This rent was very conſiderable in thoſe days; and aroſe from the obligation 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 own at Bachpool.

I MUST not omit, that a grant of theſe mills for life was the reward of valor to my countryman Sir Howel y Fwyall, 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 Howel, but allowed a meſs of meat to be ſerved before his battle ax, in memory of the good uſe he made of it in that day; from which he acquired the name of Fwyall, or Howei or the ax^‡.

[152]ON each ſide of the Bridge-gate are two rounders:BRIDGE-GATE. over it are the three feathers, the arms of the princes of Wales. Thoſe were firſt aſſumed by the BLACK PRINCE after the battle of Creſh, 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 Edward, who ſeizing on the creſt, bore from that time both the feathers and the motto I [...]b 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, 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 while he is a child differeth not from a ſervant ^*, an impreſe extremely ſuitable to the characteriſtic modeſty and filial piety of this prince.

THIS and the other city gates were placed under the pro⯑tection of certain great men, who held lands within the county palatine. The earl of Shrewſhury 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 [153] guard; and, notwithſtanding the cauſe has long ſince ceaſed, are ſtill demanded at the Bridge-gate.

ABOVE the gate is a lofty octagonal tower,WATER-WORKS. 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 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 Edward I.^*) fell to decay. In 1692, the works undertaken by Tyrer being found to be ruinous and uſeleſs, John Hopkins and John Hadley, by the encouragement of the corporation, began new works for ſupplying 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 conveniency of placing their engine. The city confirmed 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 receptacle for freſh water.

NEAR the Bridge-gate is one aſcent to the city walls;WALLS. which are the only entire ſpecimen of antient fortification now in Great Britain. They are a mile and three quarters, and a hun⯑dred [154] and one yards in circumference; and, being the principal walk of the inhabitants, are kept in excellent repair, by certain impoſts,MURRACE called murage duties, 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 conſiderably to the fund, be⯑ing nearly two-thirds of the whole: the duty on this article is two pence on every hundred yards. The annual receipt of the different duties, on the average of the laſt ſeven years, is about 1 [...]0l.. An officer, called a murenger, 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 Edward II. there was a grant for two years of a half-penny for every cranock of corn; and a farthing of ale, meal, and malt; and for commodities not expreſſed in the grant, a farthing out of every two ſhillings-worth.

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 forti⯑fications, and of enlarging the city beyond the Roman 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 caſtrametations, where⯑ſoever the nature of the ground would permit. The antiquities which diſtinguiſh their reſidence are not found confined to any one quarter: they are met in digging on every ſide within the walls.

[155]THE military architecture is ſtill entirely on the Roman plan; it is probable, that after their retreat it fell into ruin, in the empoveriſhed, turbulent, and barbarous ages that ſucceeded, yet 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 in 895, and beſieged by Alfred, who ſlew all the banditti whom he found without the walls; and, laſtly, we find it taken by Ethelfleda, by the voluntary ſurrender of the garriſon. All this proves a continuance of the fortifications, probably ruinous, and wanting that reſtoration which they found from that illuſtrious woman.

WE ſee the Roman mode of fortification preſerved to this day, exactly on the antient plan. From each ſide of the gates projects a propugnaculum ^* or baſtion, in order to annoy the ene⯑my who attempted to enter; and 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 caſt 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^†. They alſo [156] are moſtly of a round form, as was recommended by the Roman architects, in order the better to elude the force of battering rams^*.

THE thickneſs of the walls anſwer 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 impe⯑diment.

THE city to this time enjoys the four gates; anſwerable to the principalis dextra & ſiniſtra, praetoria & decumana. The Eaſt-gate, one of the principales, exiſted within my memory.

MY walk leads me beneath the caſtle, to another of the principales, the preſent Water-gate, that opens towards the water⯑ſide, and near which the Dee in former times flowed.

AT the extreme angle of the city, beyond this gate, is a ſalient tower, exactly round,WATER-TOWER. unleſs where interrupted by a ſmall ſquared projection 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 inclo⯑ſures, which alſo are within my remembrance. This tower is at preſent called the Water-tower. It jutted into the antient chan⯑nel or the river, where the ſhips lay, which faſtened their cables [157] to its ſides by the great iron rings infixed in the ſtone. This tower was formerly 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 de Helpſton, maſon, for building quandam turrem rotundum, &c. a round tower ‘of the thickneſs of ten 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 hundred pounds^*.

THE next remarkable outlet is the North-gate, beyond which is a large ſuburb.

THE Phoenix tower ſtands on the angle of the walls beyond this gate. The preſent tower was built in 1613, and was uſed by ſix of the companies 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.EAST-GATE. Here ſtood a lofty ſquare tower, with many apartments, erected (according to tradi⯑tion) by Edward III. This had been a Porta principalis, was the grand entrance into the town, and was the termination of the great Watling-ſtreet road, which croſſed the iſland from Dover, and was the great road from 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 ex⯑pence of Richard lord Groſvenour. Beyond this is a vaſt ſub⯑urb, called the Foreſt-ſtreet; whoſe lower part was defended by a gate, demoliſhed as a nuſance within theſe few years.

[158]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 con⯑tinues the rectangular ſhape of the ſtation.

THE views from the ſeveral parts of the walls are extremely elegant.FINE-VIEWS. The mountains of Flintſhire and Denbighſhire, the hills of Broxton, and the inſulated rock of Beeſton, form the ruder part of the ſcenery, a rich flat gives a ſofter view; and the pro⯑ſpect up the river towards Boughton recalls, in ſome degree, the idea of the Thames and Richmond-bill.

ON the Conqueſt, as has been before related, the king viſited this city in perſon, and reſtored the fortifications, It is probable that he only repaired the walls, but that he entirely re-built the caſtle^* on the Norman model, and en⯑larged it far beyond the dimenſions of that of the 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 great elevation, as was cuſtomary 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 and a lower: each with a ſtrong gate,CASTLE. defended 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 of Norman architecture, ſquare, with ſquare projections at each [159] corner, very ſlightly ſalient. The handſomeſt is that called Ju⯑lius Caeſar's. Its entrance is through a large Gothic door, pro⯑bably of later workmanſhip. The loweſt room has a vaulted roof, ſtrengthened with ordinary ſquare couples. The upper had been a chapel, as appears by the holy-water pot, and ſome figures, almoſt obſolete, painted on the walls. Its dimenſions are nineteen feet four inches, by ſixteen ſix, the height alſo ſix⯑teen feet ſix. The roof is vaulted; but the couples, which are rounded, ſlender, and elegant, run down the walls, and reſt on the cornuted capitals of five ſhort but beautiful round pillars, in the ſame ſtyle with thoſe in the chapter-houſe of the cathe⯑dral; probably the work of the ſame architect. The arſenal, ſome batteries, and certain habitable buildings, occupy the re⯑maining part.

ON the ſides of the lower court ſtands the noble room called Hugh Lupus's hall,LUPUS'S HALL. in which the courts of juſtice for the county are held. The length is very near ninety-nine feet; the breadth forty-five; the height very aweful, and worthy the ſtate-apartment of a great baron. The roof ſupported by wood⯑work, in a bold ſtyle, carved; and placed on the ſides, reſting on ſtout brackets.

THIS magnificent building probably retains its original dimen⯑ſions. 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 Ordericus ^*, ‘not only liberal, but proſuſe. He did not carry a family with him, but an army. [160] He kept no account of receits or diſburſements. He was per⯑petually 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.’

ADJOINING to the end of this great hall is the court of ex⯑chequer,EXCHEQUER or the chancery of the county palatine of Cheſter. The earl of Cholmondely is the preſent chamberlain; Sir Richard Perrin, 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 one of the an⯑tient earl's great officers, and had a fee of twenty-two pounds a year. This very building is ſaid to have been the parlement⯑houſe of the little kings of the palatinate. It ſavors of anti⯑quity 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 great ſeſſions for this county, as for thoſe of the county of Flint. Here is, beſides, an examiner; and a ſeal-keeper, who has the charge of the records.

THE judges have lodgings within the caſtle, during their circuit, by antient cuſtom. Theſe are furniſhed by the ſheriffs of the city. The ſheriffs of the county take care of their horſes; but [161] are allowed the expences when they bring in their accounts at the audit.

THE county jail for felons and debtors is the laſt place to be deſcribed.JAIL I can do little more than confirm the account of it by the humane Howard. Their day-confinement is in a little yard, ſurrounded on all ſides by lofty buildings, imper⯑vious to the air, excepting from above, and ever unviſited by the purifying rays of the ſun. Their nocturnal apartments are in cells ſeven feet and a half by three and a half; ranged on one ſide of a ſubterraneous dungeon; in each of which are often lodged three or four perſons. The whole is rendered more (wholeſomely) horrible, by being pitched over three or four times in the year. The ſcanty air of their ſtreight priſon-yard is to travel through three paſſages to arrive at them: through the window of an adjacent room; through a grate in the floor of the ſaid room into the dungeon; and finally, through the dungeon, through a little grate above the door of each of their kennels. In ſuch places as theſe are the innocent and the guilty permitted to be lodged, till the law decides their fate. I am ſure the humane keeper, Mr. Thomas, muſt feel many a pang at the neceſſary diſcharge of his duty. Mr. HOWARD compares the place to the black-hole at Calcutta. The view I had of it, aſſiſted to raiſe the idea of a much worſe priſon where

The conſtable of the caſtle holds his place for life; is properly the keeper of the priſon; but appoints a deputy. He is ac⯑countable [162] for all priſoners and debtors, and anſwerable for their eſcapes.

WITHIN the walls of this fortreſs, was an inſtance of a felon ſuffering priſon forte et dure, for ſtanding mute on his trial, till he died of hunger.PRISON FORTE IT DURE. One Adam, ſon of John, of the Woodhouſes, was, in 1310, the 4th of Edward II. committed for burning his own houſes, and carrying away the goods. He ſtood mute; a jury, as uſual, was empanelled, who decided, that he could ſpeak if he pleaſed. On this he was committed ad dietam; and after⯑wards John le Morgan, conſtable of the caſtle, teſtified, that the aforeſaid Adam was dead ad dietam ^*. This was the origin of the puniſhment of preſſing to death, or the peine forte et dure, which ſeems a ſort of merciful haſtening of death; for it muſt have been much more horrible, as well as tedious, in the manner preſcribed by the law of the firſt Edward, in whoſe reign it ori⯑ginated. The words of the ſtatute are, ‘Qe les felouns ecriez et que ſont apertement de male fame, et ne ſe voillent mettre en enqueſte des felonies qe lem lui mette devant juſtices a la ſuite le Roy, ſoient mys en la priſon fort et dure, &c.’

THE term ad dietam was ironical, expreſſive of the ſad ſuſte⯑nance the ſufferer was allowed; viz. on the firſt day, three morſels of the worſt bread; on the ſecond, three draughts of water out of the next puddle: and this was to be alternately his daily diet till he died.

MR. RYMER records a ſtrange inſtance of a woman at Not⯑tingham, who underwent this puniſhment, and lived forty days [163] without meat or drink. This happened in 1357, in the reign of Edward III. who, ‘ad laudem Dei et glorioſae virginis MA⯑RLAe matris ſuae, unde dictum miraculum proceſſit, at credi⯑tur ^*,’ granted the ſufferer a free pardon. After mentioning, that it is probable that the miracle was a little aſſiſted by natural means, I muſt obſerve, that, according to this inſtance, the con⯑demned were, in ſome caſes, abſolutely denied any ſpecies of food; in others, it ſeems probable, from the name of the pu⯑niſhment of Adam, that they ſometimes were allowed that wretched diet which was continued when the puniſhment changed into the peine dure et forte.

THERE is a ſingularity in the manner of the treatment of the priſoners who are releaſed by capital puniſhment out of their dreadful cells, which merits mention. They are delivered by the conſtable or his deputy, at a ſtone called Glover's-ſtone, about ninety yards diſtant from the outward gate, into the hands of the ſheriffs of the city; who receive them at that ſtone, which is the extreme limit of the caſtle precincts, and from thence convey them to the place of execution, which they alſo have the charge of. This cuſtom is not accounted for, any more than by tradition, that a felon was formerly reſcued in his way to the gallows by the citizens of Cheſter, and perhaps by the connivance of the magiſtrates, who are ſuppoſed to have had the diſagreeable duty inflicted on them of executing all criminals, whether they are of the county or the city.

[164]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 ap⯑pertance to the ſhire; and has the ſmall outlet of a little ſtreet called Glover's-ſtone, GLOVER'S STONE. which is alſo independent of the city; and in which non-freemen may ſet up any trade unmoleſted by the corporation.

THE caſtle has a governor, lieutenant-governor, and conſtable; and is garriſoned by two companies of invalids.

THE civil government and architecture is next to be taken notice of. I have, in my account of Saxon and Norman CHES⯑TER, given a brief relation 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, not only as it is beyond the power of the travelling topographer to collect the ſame materials as the reſident; but becauſe his curioſity will, it is to be hoped, ſoon be ſatisfied by the publication of the hiſtory of this city by the Reverend Doctor GOWER, which will amply ſupply all my defici⯑encies.

THE firſt royal charter which this city was honored with is that of Henry III;CHARTERS. who confirms all the priveleges beſtowed on them by the Norman earls, and, I imagine, firſt flung the government into the form of a regular corporation; for he grants and confirms to them, that none ſhall buy or ſell mer⯑chandiſe in the city except citizens, unleſs it be in the fairs, under the penalty of ten pounds.

EDWARD I. gave the city of Cheſter, with the appertenances, and all the liberties and priveleges, to its citizens and their heirs, [165] to be holden of him and his heirs for ever, paying annually 100 l; he alſo granted them the election of a coroner, and pleas of the crown; and that they ſhould have ſock^*, ſack, toll, theme, infangthefe, outfangthefe, and freedom throughout all the land and dominion, of toll, paſſage, &c.

EDWARD III. confirmed the paſt grants, and added another, of all the vacant lands within the liberty of the city, with leave for the citizens to build on ſuch vacant ſpots.

EDWARD the black prince preſcribed by particular 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 his favorite city. In conſideration of ſome diſtreſſes it had undergone, he releaſed them 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, for the repairs of the walls. [166] But in the 22d year of his reign, ‘for the furtherance of juſtice in the ſame city, and better execution thereof, he grants unto his ſubjects, majors, ſheriffs, and commonalty of the ſaid city, to hold their courts; and limited what proceſſes they might award in, actions, perſonal felonies, appeals, proceſſes of utlagary, as at common law. Granted under the ſeal of the principality of Cheſter, at Cheſter, May 2, 1398^*.’ This ſeems to have been found neceſſary, in order to ſtrengthen the civil policy of this place, which had four years before been greatly inſulted by a dreadful riot in the abby by Sir Baldwyne 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, confirmed all their former charters and priveleges; and afterwards granted to them the profits of murage and bridge tower, where tolls were collected, durante bene placito.

IN a confirmation of the former charters by Henry VI. we learn the former concourſe of ſtrangers; 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 [167] 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 Owen Glendwr: which 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 perhaps wines, ſpices, and other foreign luxuries; for which they might receive in exchange from the Welſh, cattle of different kinds.

HENRY VII.MEMBERS. in 1506, in conſideration of farther 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 granted it ſeveral of the moſt valuable prive⯑leges which it ſtill enjoys: but being a county palatine, and in the time of Edward I. veſted in the crown, 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 empowered 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,CORPORATION. recorder, two ſheriff s, twenty-four aldermen, and forty common-council. Here are beſide two annual officers, called leave-lookers, whoſe buſineſs was to prevent all perſons who are not free of the city from exer⯑ciſing any trade, or expoſing to ſale any wares or merchandiſe within the liberties. They were accuſtomed to go round the city in order to preſerve theſe its privileges; and ſometimes were uſed [168] to take ſmall ſums, called leave-lookerage, for leave for non-free⯑men to ſell wares by retail; but at preſent the yeoman of the Pentiſe diſcharges this office, and returns the names of ſuch per⯑ſons who are found to offend, in order that actions might be brought againſt them. We find, as early as 1297, that ſimilar officers were elected, under the name of cuſtos guild mercator; and who diſcharged the ſame function^*.

THE places where the mayor and other officers of the corpo⯑ration aſſemble for the diſpatch of buſineſs,PEXTISE. or adminiſtration of juſtice, are two; the firſt is the Pentiſe, an antient building in the center of the city, near the junction of the four principal ſtreets. Mention is made of the north-ſide having been builded in 1497. Here 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 recorder, ſit and determine civil cauſes.

I IMAGINE that this building,PRAETORIUM. St. Peter's church, and a few houſes to the north and weſt, occupy the ſite of the Roman Prae⯑torium; for they not only fill the very ſituation of that part of the old caſtrametations, but account for the diſcontinuance of the Bridge ſtreet, which ceaſes oppoſite to theſe edifices. This alſo is the cauſe why the nearer part of the North-gate ſtreet is thrown out of its courſe, and falls into the Eaſt-gate ſtreet, many yards beyond the mouth of the Bridge ſtreet; for the lower part of the North-gate ſtreet, where the exchange and ſhambles ſtand. [169] points directly towards the former; but is interrupted by the ſpace occupied by theſe buildings. The limit of the Praetorium 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 praetorium, with its attendants, de⯑manded no ſmall ſpace; for, beſides the ſpot poſſeſſed by the general, were the apartments of the imperatoris contubernales, or the young nobility immediately under his care; the augurale, where prayers, ſacrifices, and other religious rites were performed, which 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.

THE courts of juſtice are held in the common hall,EXCHANGE. a large and commodious room over the exchange, adorned with the portraits of ſeveral popular perſons: among them is a full-length of Sir William Williams, recorder of this city, ſpeaker of the houſe of commons in the reign of Charles II. and ſolicitor-general in that of his ſucceſſor. In this place are held a crown-mote court, portmote court, and court of ſeſſions. The mayor, aſſiſted by the recorder, is judge of the crownmote court. He has juriſdiction in all criminal cauſes, treaſon only excepted. He is alſo judge of the portmote court, with the ſame aſſiſtant. This court holds plea in all actions 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 [170] for the government of the city; for managing the public build⯑ings and directing the charities; and finally, the city elec⯑tions of magiſtrates, as well as members, are made in this court.

THE only remains of any hotel, and that of no antient date, ſtood in Old Common-ball 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 chan⯑cellor of England, and deſigned by him for a dwelling-houſe. The ſmall remainder, which faced the lane, and was occupied by a poor family, on the 5th of November 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 a warehouſe beneath, took fire, and blew up three ſtories. Twenty-three people pe⯑riſhed, and eighty-three were much burnt, bruiſed, and received 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 win⯑dows and broken glaſs of ſeveral of the neighboring houſes fell outwards; from which it appears, that they were not broken by the ſhock of the gunpowder, but by the preſſure of the air within the apartments, which ruſhed out into the vacuum oc⯑caſioned by the exploſion. A ſimilar phaenomenon has been remarked from an exploſion from the inflammable vapor of a mine, when the neighboring trees fell towards the blaſt. Howſo⯑ever, [171] where the force of the powder was confined by narrow paſſages, its centrifugal effect took place; for two boys, walk⯑ing along the rows in Water-gate ſtreet, oppoſite to a paſſage leading to the building, were blown, one againſt the rails, the other into the ſtreet; and the roof of a houſe was blown off, op⯑poſite a paſſage into Common-hall lane.

IT is much to be wiſhed, that the eaſy magiſtracy 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 individuals; 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 Murray in Bridge ſtreet, and the houſe, were blown up; and himſelf and a young gentleman killed. Notwithſtanding this double admoni⯑tion, I fear its attention ſtill continues lethargic.

THE ſurviving ſufferers of this calamity were relieved^* in the well-regulated infirmary eſtabliſhed here, and ſupported by the voluntary contributions from the city, county, and neigh⯑boring 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 l. left by Dr. Stratford, commiſſary of Richmond, towards the com⯑mencing of a public hoſpital in this city. Subſcriptions were [172] circulated, and a ſum equal to the deſign ſoon raiſed. Before the preſent building 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 hun⯑dred and thirty-ſix objects of relief. The portrait of the founder is placed in the council-room of the infirmary; a three-quarters piece, ſitting, in a long wig and civilian's gown.

I SHALL now take a ſhort view of the eccleſiaſtical ſtate of this antient city. It is neceſſary firſt to obſerve, that the Mercian kingdom was divided into five biſhopricks; Lichfield, Cheſter, Worceſter, Lydneceſter, and Dorcheſter; which laſt was afterwards removed to Lincoln. Lichfield was made, about the year 785, metropolitan, by order of Offa, and afterwards, for a long ſpace, incorporated into itſelf its ſuffragan, Cheſter. How 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 thouſand 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 the name of Peter, in the year 1075, removed his epiſcopal ſeat to Cheſter; and during his life made uſe of the church of St. John's for his cathedral. This tranſlation was of very ſhort date; for his ſucceſſor eſtabliſhed himſelf in the former dioceſe, and Cheſter continued without a biſhop till the diſſolution of monaſteries; when, in 1541, [173] Henry VIII. reſtored it to its former honor, by creating it one of the ſix^* new ſees formed on that great event; and converted the church of the late abby of St. Werburgh into the ca⯑thedral.

THE firſt of the new biſhops was John Bird, a Carmelite, and provincial of the order; a man ſubſervient to the court; who, by preaching againſt the pope's ſupremacy, ſo recom⯑mended himſelf to the king as to obtain the biſhoprick of Bangor; from whence he was removed to Cheſter, as a fit per⯑ſon to ſuit the rapacity of the times. In 1546, he granted away the whole of the manors and demeſnes of the ſee, and, accepting impropriation inſtead of them, left his ſucceſſors not a ſingle acre, excepting that on which the palace ſtands, and the court before it; another houſe, adjacent; a little orchard called the Woodyard; two houſes near St. John's church; and a few ſmall tenements in the city of York. Notwithſtanding the ſum he amaſſed, he was found, at the acceſſion of Mary, in debt to the crown 1087 l. 18 s. 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.

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 Derwent in Cumberland: comprehending the entire counties of Cheſhire and Lancaſhire; part of Weſtmore⯑land, [174] Cumberland, and Richmondſhire in Yorkſhire; the chapelties of Holt and Iſcoed; the churches of Hawarden, Hanmer, Ban⯑gor, Worthenhury, and the chapelry of Orton Maddoc, in the ad⯑jacent parts or Wales.

THE abby,ABBY. out of which this ſee was formed, was of great antiquity. Hiſtory relates, that it had been originally a nunnery, founded about the year 660, by Wulpherus, king of the Mer⯑cians, 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 Ethelreda; who coha⯑bited for three years with no leſs purity with her firſt ſpouſe Tonberctus, and for twelve with her ſecond, the pious prince Eg⯑frid. St. Werburgh preſided over ſeveral Mercian monaſteries, died at Tricengham, and by her own order was interred at Heanburge; but on the approach of the Danes, in 875, her body was con⯑veyed to Cheſter, as a place of ſecurity from the inſults of thoſe pagans^*.

IT is uncertain how long this community exiſted. It probably was ruined by the ravages of the barbarians in 895, and finally ſuppreſſed; for we are told^†, that from the reign of king Athelſtan, in 925, 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 Ethelſleda; who reſtored the buildings; which afterwards were repaired by earl Leofric, huſband to the famous Go⯑diva. The houſe was richly endowed by the kings Edmund and [175] Edgar, and by Leofric. Edgar's charter begins in a ſtrain equally pious and ſublime^*.

ON the acceſſion of Hugh Lupus to this earldom, he ſuppreſſed the canons ſecular, and eſtabliſhed in their place a colony of his countrymen, Benedictines, from Bec 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. Anſelm, abbot of Bec, and afterwards archbiſhop of Canterbury, regulated the new foundation; and appointed his chaplain Richard to be the firſt abbot. Lupus and his ſucceſſors were very liberal in their endowments^†; and the place flou⯑riſhed till its diſſolution; which was effected by the ſurrender of the laſt abbot, Thomas Clerk; who received in reward the of⯑fice of the new deanry, which he enjoyed only ſix weeks. The revenues of this great abby were, according to Dugdale, 1003 l. 5 s. II d. to Speed, 1073 l. 17 s. 7 d.

ACCORDING to a ſurvey of this abby, preſerved in the Harleian collection, its extent was very conſiderable; ſurrounding the preſent ſquare, and covering ſeveral parts of the adjacent ground. The old abby-court is adorned on two ſides by very handſome modern houſes, built between the years 1750 and 1754, on leaſes granted by the dean and chapter. Another ſide is filled by the new palace; an elegant pile, which roſe under the auſpices of that munificent and hoſpitable prelate Edmund [176] Keen, preſent biſhop of Ely. Its place was before occupied by the houſe of the antient abbots.

THE old gate is yet ſtanding: is a plain but noble entrance; and conſiſts, towards the ſtreet, of two Gothic arches included within a round one, of great diameter; and which appears to have been of far older date. 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 its antient appearance, ſeems to have been externally the ſame building.

THE cloiſters are entire; but conſiſt only of three walks, the court extending on one ſide quite to the church. By the dif⯑ferent arms on the roof, it appears to have been repaired at ſeveral times, from the time of Edward III. to that of W [...]ſey 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;SCHOOL a vaſt room, which 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 dean and chapter: they may continue there four years, if their conduct be regular; but the dean has power to grant a year of grace. No boy (unleſs he be a choiriſter) ought to be choſen before he is nine years old, or after he is fifteen. Two maſters are appointed for their inſtruction, a chief and an under maſter; elected by the dean and chapter.

IN a corner of the eaſt-ſide of the cloiſter, is a paſſage and ſtairs to the dormitory; and the antient prieſts cellars and kitchen. On the ſame ſide is a paſſage, formerly called the Maidens aile,

[177]which leads to the little abby-court, a part of the antient build⯑ing belonging to the prebends.

THE beautiful edifice,CHAPTER-HOUSE. the chapter-houſe, ſtands in the ſame walk, of the cloiſter. The veſtibule is arched, ſupported by four columns, each ſurrounded with eight ſlender pilaſters with⯑out capitals, which converge near the top of the column, and ſpread over the roof. The dimenſions of this room are thirty-three feet four inches, by twenty-ſeven four; the height twelve feet nine. On the ſides is a ſtone-feat for the attendants on the buſineſs of the chapter.

THE chapter-houſe is fifty feet long, twenty-ſix feet broad, end thirty-five feet high; at the upper end is a window, con⯑ſiſting of five lancet-ſhaped diviſions; and on each ſide is ano⯑ther of three. At the height of eight feet and a half from the floor, a narrow gallery runs along three parts of the room, divided from the windows by a triplet of moſt elegant, lofty, ſlender pillars. The roof is of ſtone; the ſprings of the arches which ſecure it, are ſupported by neat pilaſters with palmy capitals.

THE modern book-caſes deform the lower parts of the room, as high as the bottoms of the windows. The walls, 1 conjecture, had been ornamented with pilaſters, and had a ſtone-ſeat like that of the veſtibule. The entrance, 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 was built, in all probability, in the time of Rendle the firſt, earl of Cheſler, who died in 1128, after en⯑joying [178] his earldom eight years. The great earl, Hugh Lupus uncle to Randle, had been interred in the church-yard of the abby: the firſt care of the nephew was to remove the body into this building^*, as the moſt honorable place; a reſpect which would certainly have been payed to it, had this edifice exiſted at the time of his death. Here his remains continued unmoleſted till the year 1724, when, in digging within the chapter-houſe, they were found in a ſtone coffin, wrapped in 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. Other coffins were diſcovered beneath the two rooms, of earls, their counteſſes, or of abbots; but the great leveller death had reduced them to duſt indiſtinguiſhable.

THE earls who were interred here, were Hugh, who died in 1101; Randle the firſt, or de Meſchina, in 1128; Randle the ſecond, or de Gernouns, who was poiſoned in 1155, by William Peverel; Hugh Cyvelioc, who died at Leek in 1181; Randle the third, or de Blundeville, who died at Wallingford in 1232, where his bowels were interred; his heart was buried at the abby of Dieulacres in Staffordſhire, and his body tranſported to Cheſter: finally, John Scot, who, in 1237, underwent the ſame fate as Randle the ſecond. So that every earl of the Norman line were depoſited here, excepting Richard, who periſhed by ſhipwreck; in 1120^†.

[179]OF the abbots, Geofry, who died in 1208, and ſix others, were buried in the chapter-houſe or its veſtibule^*.

THE church bounds the north ſide of the cloiſters. The lower part of the wall has a row of arches, now filled up, and ſavors more of antiquity than any other part, This, and a portion of the north-tranſepts, are the oldeſt parts of the preſent building; but there is no part left at preſent that can boaſt of a remote date. All the labors of the Saxons, and almoſt all of thoſe of its re-founder Hugh Lupus, are now loſt. The abbot, Simon Ripley, who was elected in 1485, finiſhed the middle aile and the tower. The body is ſupported by ſix ſharp-pointed arches. The co⯑lumns are thick, ſurrounded by pilaſters with ſmall rounded capitals. Above is a gallery, with a neat ſtone baluſtrade in the parts where it is entire, and a row of large and broad, pointed windows; which is the general ſtyle.

THE preſent cathedral appears to have been built (excepting the ſlight fragments juſt mentioned) in the reigns of Henry VI. VII. and VIII; but principally in that 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 beau⯑tiful tracery; and the door-caſe enriched with figures and other ſculpture. The deſcent into the church is down a multitude of ſteps; ſo there is reaſon to ſuſpect, that the preſent was on the foundation of the antient church; which had been on a level with the old ſtreets, which we know are many feet higher than they were originally, by the acceſſion of rubbiſh, and other adventitious matter.

[180]THE center beneath the great tower is greatly 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 walls of the n [...]e and its ailes, it appears as if the architect had intended to have vaulted them, in the manner in which St. Mary's chapel and the choiral ailes are done.

THE choir is very neat; and the Gothic tabernacle-work over the ſtalls carved in a light and elegant manner. The arches in the galleries are divided by pretty ſlender pillars; and perhaps were of a date prior to the body of the church; probably the work of abbot Oldham, who was a benefactor, and had a con⯑cern in the building.

IN the chancel are four ſtone-ſtalls for the officiating prieſts; with carved Gothic work above; a receſs or two for the pre⯑ſerving either the reliques or the ſacred utenſils. About the walls are diſperſed the monuments of ſeveral biſhops and church⯑men; but none of any magnificence; and one of Sir William Manwaring, a gallant young man, who ſell 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 carving, 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 la⯑bels, as well as the figures; but the laſt were reſtored about [181] 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 the profits for 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. Werbugh, ST. WERBURCH'S SHRINE as it is po⯑pularly 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, &c. and, ſhould the relique be a head, or limb, the chaſſe is made conformable to the ſhape of the part. Theſe are ſeated uſually conſpicuous on an ele⯑vated place; and are always moveable, in order that they may be carried 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 approach of the holy remains inſtantly proved their ſanctity, by putting an end to its furious deſolation.

BEFORE I take leave of this part of the church,ASSASSINATION. I muſt men⯑tion 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. The church, as [182] uſual, was immediately ſuſpended, till a luſtration in order to purify it from the foul ſtain was performed. The abby was reconciled on St. Werburgh's day; the pariſh-church on that of St. Oſwald ^*.

AN impiety of this kind was committed in the church of Notre Dame at Paris, in 1670^†. The prieſt died of his wound; and expiation was made by order of the archbiſhop: public prayers were offered up for forty hours in all the churches; proceſſions made; a faſt of three days appointed. The whole terminated by a general (reparation) ſatisfaction of the injury by a grand pro⯑ceſſion, in which the whole parlement aſſiſted. The ſtreets were covered with tapeſtry, and the avenues barred up with the chains to keep off the mob; and thus the place was reſtored to the diſcharge of the ſacred offices.

IT is with a kind of horror I read in the zealous Fox, of an outrage of this ſort committed in our own kingdom, in the reign of queen Mary ^‡. The enthuſiaſt was taken, and puniſhed by the ſtriking off the criminal hand, and by being burnt: yet the hiſtorian gives him a place among the more well-meaning ſufferers of that barbarous period.

BEHIND the choir is St. Mary's chapel; and on each ſide is an aile. The monuments in theſe parts are in no wiſe remark⯑able. 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. em⯑peror of Germany, who, according to a legendary tale, was [183] 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 cal [...]mitous prince was ever in our kingdom; but it is very certain be finiſhed his days at Liege ^*, in 1106, and was mag⯑nificently interred in the cathedral of that city.

The tranſepts are of unequal lengths. The north is very large. dedicated to St. Oſwald, and is the pariſh-church of that name. This is ſaid to have ſtood on the firſt church of St. Peter and St. Paul; which was afterwards changed to that of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to the name it now bears. On the re⯑building of the church, this aile was deſignedly enlarged, and allotted by the monks to the neighboring inhabitants, who were for the moſt part their ſervants or tenants. At firſt, the reli⯑gious wiſhed to have the whole to themſelves, and on that ac⯑count built, 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, at the requeſt. of the inhabitants, and by compoſition between the mayor and abbot, about the year 1488, they were reſtored to the uſe of the church of St. Oſwald, which they ſtill retain^†.

THE chapel falling into diſuſe, was purchaſed by the citizens, and converted into their common-hall for diſpatch of buſineſs^‡. In later times, ſince the building of the exchange, it has been [184] converted into a magazine for wool; into a carrier's warehouſe; and part into a theatre, acting under parlementary licenſe.

THIS abby afforded only a temporary ſanctuary to the proſh⯑gate. The privelege which Hugh Lupus granted is particular: he ordered, that no thief or other malefactor, that attended the fair held at the feaſt of St. Werburgh, ſhould be attached, unleſs he committed ſome new offence there^*. This, ſays King, drew a vaſt: concourſe of looſe people together at that ſeaſon, and proved of ſingular advantage to Randle the third, earl of Cheſter; who, in being ſurrounded in the caſtle of Rudland by a nu⯑merous army of Welſh, and in great danger, ſent for relief to his general, Roger Lacy, at that time attending the midſummer-fair. Lacy inſtantly collected a body of minſtrels, fiddlers, 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 the inſtruments of his preſervation, me⯑giſterium omnium lecatorum et meretricam 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 ſervice, to the place where he kept his court. The minſtrels were there examined concerning their lives and converſation; whether any of them played without annual licence from their lord, or whether they had heard any words among their fellows [185] tending to his diſhonor. Theſe priveleges were afterwards devolved by John, ſon of Roger de Lacy, to Hugh de Dutton and his heirs. The proceſſion and courts were held by their ſteward within my memory; but the cuſtom is now dropt. I find alſo, that Dutton and his heirs clamed at the feaſt from the minſtrels, quatuor lagenas vini et unam lancem, four bottles of wine, and one lance; and at the ſame time a fee of four pence halfpenny: and from every Meretrix in Cheſhire, and in the city of Cheſter, officium ſuum exercente, four pence^*.

THE other religious houſes in this city were,CARMELITES. the Carmelites, or White friers, who had a convent in that part of St. Martin's pariſh ſtill called White-friers lane: part of Mr. Marſden's houſe is formed of the remains. The church, as appears by Braun's view of this city in 1581, ſtood a little weſt of it.

BY the charter of Roger Lacy to the abby of Norton, it ap⯑pears, that there was a monaſtery in the pariſh of St. Michael ^† which he grants to the canons of the former. We are left igno⯑rant of the order it was of.

IN Trinity pariſh ſtood a houſe of Franciſcan or Grey friers, which biſhop Tanner conjectures might have been as antient as the time of Henry III. The ſite was granted to one John Cokke. I imagine that this ſtood in the Yatch field, near the place occu⯑pied by the new linnen-hall. By Speed's plan of Cheſter, it ap⯑pears that there was a church there in his time; and to this day painted tiles and painted glaſs, reliques of eccleſiaſtical ſinery, are ſtill dug up.

[186]IN the pariſh of St. Martin's^* was a monaſtery of preach⯑ing 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 in this pariſh, was granted to the ſame John Cokke. Part of this houſe, and its fine vaults, are occupied by Hanry 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 Peter. In an old plan of it appears a houſe called the bi⯑ſhop's.

AT the diſſolution, here was found a dean and ſeven pre⯑bendaries or canons (in the collation of the biſhop of Lichfield); ſeven vicars, two clerks, four choiriſters, ſextons, and other ſervants; moſt of whoſe houſes are diſtinguiſhed in the ſame plan. Their yearly revenue, after repriſals, was only 27 l. 17 s. 4 d. The ſite of the college, and ſome part [187] of the buildings, were granted by queen Elizabeth to John Forteſcue ^*.

ON the eaſt-ſide of the church-yard ſtood the chapel of St. Anne, belonging to the brethren and ſiſters of the fraternity of St. Anne ^†. This in later days was called Cholmondly hall; but is now totally demoliſhed.

ST. JOHN'S, when entire, was a magnificent pile. The tower once ſtood in the center; but falling down in 1574, was never rebuilt. The chancel was probably demoliſhed at the ſame time; but at that end are ſome fine arches, and other remains of antient chapels. Withinſide are curious ſpecimens of the clumſy ſtrength of Saxon architecture, in the maſſy columns and round arches which ſupport the body. The tower is now placed at the weſt-end; and has on one ſide the legend, repre⯑ſented by the figure of a man and a hind.

ON the ſouth-ſide of the church-yard, impending over a high cliff, ſuppoſed to be the Radeclive of the Doomſday book, is a ſmall antient building, probably a chapel, called the Anchori⯑tage, 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. This might have been the place, 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, originated either from the mo⯑naſtery [188] of St. John, or was a relique of one of the old nunneries be⯑longing to St. Werburgh. This, perhaps, may have been the caſe; for, from a charter preſerved by Dugdale, it appears, that Ranale 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^*. I find alſo, that Edward the black 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 4 l. to 1 l. 6 s. 8 d. each. The ſite was granted, in the 33d of Henry VIII. to the Urian Breretons, ſenior and junior. The revenues were, according to Dugdale, 66 l. 18. s. 4 d.; to Speed 99 l. 16 s. 2 d. 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 ſupported in the middle by a row of pillars. The chapel was nine yards by four three-quarters; the cloiſters thirty yards by twenty-one. It ſtood in the nurſery-garden on the weſt-ſide of the city, ſtill called the Nun's garden; where veſtiges of the walls and arches are yet remaining.

[189]WITHOUT the North-gate ſtood a hoſpital dedicated to St. John the Baptiſt, and formerly a ſanctuary, and endowed with great priveleges. The maſterſhip was granted by Edward II. to the prior of Berkinhead and his ſucceſſors; but afterwards diſpoſed of by the crown to ſecular clergy. The houſe, at the diſſolution, conſiſted of a chaplain and ſix poor brethren, whoſe income, after repriſals, was 13 l. 7 s. 10 d ^*. Mention is made by biſhop Tanner ^† of the liberties of the hoſpital of St. Giles being confirmed by Edward III. I am told, that a fragment, ſuppoſed to be part of this charity, is to be ſeen in the Foreſt ſtreet.

THE laſt antient hoſpital was inſtituted for lepers, in the ſuburbs of Boughton, about the beginning of Edward II.'s reign; I think, oppoſite to the place of excution: the burying-ground is ſtill made uſe of by the pariſh of St. Oſwald.

THE number of pariſhes are nine. None of the churches are remarkable, excepting thoſe of St. Peter's and Trinity; which are diſtinguiſhed by their handſome ſpires. The firſt 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^‡.

THE number of inhabitants, including the ſuburbs of Bough⯑ton and Hanbridge, are eſtimated to be fourteen thouſand ſeven hundred and thirteen. The houſes are almoſt entirely ſituated in 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 [190] that the proportion of death among the inhabitants is only as one to thirty-one: whereas I am informed, by my worthy friend Doctor Haggarth of this city, that in Leeds, one in twenty-one; in Northampton and Shrewſbury, 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 outſide of the walls which has been unnoticed, unleſs 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 meadow, long ſince protected againſt its ravages by a lofty dike. I imagine, that it lay open to the tides till about the year 1587, when the corporation (to whom it belongs) demiſed to one Thomas Lyneal, ſervant to Sir Francis 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 water-gate; for which he was at firſt to have two pence for every veſſel paſſ⯑ing by with any lading; but after that, the ſum was encreaſed to four pence: and Lyneal was to pay an annual rent of 20 l. to the city. At firſt he met with ſome obſtructions: Sir Francis therefore interfered, in order that his ſervant might proceed without further interruption^*.

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 [191] ſeen. On this place the luſty youth, in former days, exerciſed themſelves in manly ſports of the age; in archery, running, leaping, and wreſtling; in mock-fights, and gallant and romantic triumphs. From the 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 in ſhoals, furniſhed with lances and ſhields; the younger ſort with javelins pointed, but diſarmed of their ſteel; they ape the feats of war, and act the ſham-fight. Part took the field well mounted. The generous courſers neigh and champ the bit. At length, when the courſe begins, and the youthful combatants are divided into claſſes or parties, one body retreats, and another purſues without being able to overtake them; while, in another quarter, the purſuers overtake the foe, unhorſe them, and paſs them many a length. The elders of the city and the fathers of the parties, and the rich and the wealthy, come into the field on horſeback to behold the exerciſes’ ^*. One would imagine, by what follows, the antient hiſtorian was deſcribing the ſports of Aſcanius and his youthful train on the plains of Sicily:

A STANDARD was the prize of emulation in the ſports cele⯑brated on the Rood-eye ^*: but in the year 1609 the amuſements took a new form; and under the reign of the peaceful James, the youthful cavaliers layed aſide their mimic war, and began that ſpecies of horſemanſhip which the romantic philoſopher, lord Herbert, thought unworthy of a man of honor; "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 ſuppreſſion of the tri⯑umph, were a bell and 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 with great ſolemnity. This ſeems to have been the origin of the plate given by the city, and annually run for on the ſame day, [193] to the preſent time. A bell was a common prize: a little golden bell was the reward of victory in 1607, at the races near York; whence came the proverb for ſucceſs of any kind, to bear the bell.

AT one end of the Rood-eye ſtands the Houſe of Induſtry; POOR-HOUSE. a large and uſeful building, founded in 1757, by money raiſed by the city on life-annuities, for ſeveral improvements within its li⯑berties. Here the poor are provided for in a fit manner, and to the great eaſe of the pariſhes; who are relieved from the bur⯑den of a numerous poor, who were too idle to work, and too proud to enter into this comfortable Aſylum. Thoſe of the pariſh of Hawarden are alſo ſent here, by virtue of an agree⯑ment made between the governors of this charity and the over⯑ſeers of the poor of that pariſh. The inmates contribute, by ſome coarſe linen manufactures, towards their ſupport.

A LITTLE beyond this building are the quays,QUAYS. cranes, ware⯑houses, and other requiſites for carrying on the naval trade of this city. Theſe are oppoſite to the Water-gate, and have been much improved of late years; and the intervening ſpace has not long ſince been filled with a neat ſtreet. Ships of 350 tons burden can now reach the quays, where the ſpring-tides riſe at a medium fifteen feet: the neap-tides, eight. In the year 1674, this port was in ſo deplorable 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 beneath that town. A quay, called the New quay, (now in ruins) was erected near this place in the begin⯑ning [194] ^* of the laſt century, for the conveniency of loading and unloading the veſſels trading with Cheſter; and the goods were carried to and from the city by land. The misfortune of the port of Cheſter at length gave riſe to the proſperity of Le⯑verpool, about this time a very inconſiderable place. It now began to diſcover its own advantages of ſituation; and quickly emerged from its deſpicable ſtate to its preſent flouriſhing con⯑dition.

IN 1674,New Cut. ſome friend to the former prevaled on Mr. Andrew Yarranton, a gentleman extremely 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 chan⯑nel, a ſcheme for recovering from the ſea a large tract of land, and reſtoring the antient navigation even to the preſent quays: and this he got to be preſented to the duke of York, the patron, 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, and facilitate the carriage of coal up to the city^†. Future times had the advantage of his inventive genius. Both plans were brought into execution with⯑out any great deviation 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 approaches the Dee, about two miles below the city, [195] Mr. Yarranton's coal canal was to fall into the Dee near to Flint.

AN act of parlement was obtained for the recovering and preſerving the navigation of the river, for ſettling the duties on ſhips, and for the eſtabliſhing two ferries for the conve⯑niency of travellers into the county of Flint. Other acts were paſſed in the years 1732, 1740, 43, 1752; and the works were begun with vigor. The project was carried on by ſubſcription; and the adventurers were to be rewarded by the lands they were empowered to gain on both ſides, from ‘the white ſands or the ſea from Cheſter; and between the county of Cheſhire, on the north-ſide, and the county of Flint on the fouth-ſide; being ſands, ſoil, and ground not bearing graſs.’ Party conteſts 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 in a little time it was diſcovered to be the madneſs of 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 being bought by perſons of more wealth and foreſight, at length the plan was brought to a conſiderable degree of utility; and a ſine canal formed, guarded by vaſt banks, in which the river is conſined for the ſpace of ten miles; along which ſhips of three hundred and fifty tons burden may ſafely be brought up to the quays. Much land has been gained from the ſea; and good farms now appear in places not long ſince poſſeſſed by the unruly element.

I REMEMBER an almoſt uſeleſs tide flowing about the water-tower, [196] the antient channel of the Dee flowing under Blacon point; and the acceſs to the county of Flint, on this ſide, open only at the receſs of tides, and annually occaſioning the loſs of multitudes of lives. Two ferries are eſtabliſhed at fit places. The lower is the proper paſſage for travellers by Holyhead into the kingdom of Ireland; and calls aloud for the aid of a turn⯑pike, to render it at all times pervious; or the road may be con⯑tinued to Saltney, along the flat, ſo as to fall into the other turn⯑pike on the marſh.

I SHALL now take a ſhort view of the trade of this city,TRADE. as it ſtood in the years 1771 and 1776. I 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 1771, when it appears to have been in its meri⯑dian, ſince the reſtoration of the channel. In that year were entered inwards

297 coaſting-veſſels; 19 of which were laden with groceries, and other goods from London.

526 coaſt ſhips outwards; of theſe 23 came from the port of London, and were laden here with lead, iron cannon, two thouſand tons of cheeſe, and other goods.

IN the ſame year, 95 veſſels were entered inwards from foreign parts; and 216 entered inwards from Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and America.

FROM Norway and the Baltic, are imported timber, flax, tal⯑low, hemp, iron, and deals.

FROM Leghorn, large quantities of kid and lamb ſkins; which are manufactured by the glovers, after being dreſſed here. [197] 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 be⯑ginning 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 Maxwel Eſq a licence to export 18,000 dickers, for the ſame duty, and for twenty-one years; and this was afterwards confirmed to him by Charles I^*. This Maxwel was one of the grooms of the bed⯑chamber to his majeſty; and in the preceding reign, by a piece of inſolence to a gentleman of the inns of court, brought on him the reſentment of the Engliſh; and was obliged to atone for it by making due ſubmiſſion. The firſt grant might be made to him by James, to make amends for the mortifications he had un⯑dergone.

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.

WHILE the trade with America was open, fiſh and oil were brought from Newfoundland; and a ſmall trade was carried on with Caroling.

THE exports this year were upwards of 6000 chaldrons of coal from the Cheſhire and Flintſhire collieries (which lie within this port); 1000 tons of lead; 300 of lead ore; 300 of oak [198] 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 Leverpool, vae! nimium vicina! for the purpoſe of re-ex⯑portation.

IN 1776, 208 coaſting-veſſels were entered inwards, and 619 outwards.

166 ſhips entered inwards from foreign parts, including thoſe trading between Dublin and Parkgate; and 131 outwards. The following table will ſhew the diviſion of the commerce.

2877 chaldrons of coal, 1184 tons of lead, and 168 of lead ore, were ſent abroad; but ſo exhauſted are our oak-trees, that only 18 tons of bark were 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 annnally from hence [...] [199] a magazine) large quantities 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 Midſummer and Michaelmas fairs, upwards of 1000 boxes and packs of linen cloth, containing 25,000 pieces at leſt: beſides 300 boxes or packs imported into Leverpool, and ſent acroſs the Merſey to Ince, from whence they are conveyed in carts to 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 importations continually increaſed till the laſt year of the late war; from which period it has been on a par.

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, pro⯑viſions, and live cattle.

THE number of ſhips belonging to this port ſhew the uncom⯑mercial 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 num⯑ber of men 58: yet the port extends, on the Cheſhire ſide of the eſtuary, as far as the end of Wiral; and on the Flintſhire, to the Ver-rýd, or the mouth of the Clwyd.

THERE was lately a very fair proſpect of adding much to the trade of the city, by an i [...]land navigation,CANAL. which was begun [200] with great ſpirit a few years ago. It was to run through the county beneath Beeſton caſtle, and to terminate near Middlewich. 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 miſcalculation of expence, and by unforeſeen difficul⯑ties occurring in the execution, ſuch enormous charges were in⯑curred, as to put a ſtop for the preſent to all proceedings. The other branch, which was to extend towards Middlewich, was to end within a limited diſtance from the great canal between 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, earthen-ware, and all the manu⯑factures of the internal part of the kingdom within its reach, might have been reaſonably expected.

THE idea of a canal along the dead flat between Cheſter and Ince has been long ſince conceived, by perſons very converſant in the nature of the trade of this city. One mouth might have opened into the Dee in the place of the preſent; another near Ince, which would create a ready intercourſe with Leverpool, 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 connected. [201] This little cut the city might, and ſtill may, enjoy unenvied, un⯑rivalled; and, what is a material conſideration, the diſtance is trifling (ſeven miles^*); the expences ſmall, and the profits to the undertakers great.

ON leaving the city, I repaſſed Hanbridge; and at the may pole 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 antiquity, till it falls into the fields on the left, where its tract is often diſtinguiſhable by certain ridges or ele⯑vated ſpots. The farmer alſo, in digging, often falls on adventi⯑tious matters; ſuch as gravel, and remains of pavements. It points towards Eccleſton, near which are the reliques of a mount; the ſite, perhaps, of a ſmall caſtlet. It paſſes through Eaton park, and croſſes the Dee at Oldford.

THE village of Eccleſton is prettily ſeated near the Dee, ECCLESTON. 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 en⯑virons of Wales, Cheſhire, and part of Shropſhire, forming a n 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 Hag [...] Lupus; before 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 Vernors of Kinder⯑len; and finally, by a late purchaſe, was added by the family of [202] the Groſvenours to their antient property in this pariſh. The church is a rectory dedicated to St. Mary.

A LITTLE farther is Eaton, EATOS. or the hamlet on the water; a name the moſt common of any in England. At the Conqueſt, here was a fiſhery, which employed ſix fiſhermen, and yielded a thouſand ſalmon. This fiſhery has long ſince ceaſed; but dur⯑ing its exiſtence, the miniſter of Eccleſton clamed the twentieth fiſh. The ſeat of the antient family of the Greſvenours lies in this townſhip; a brick houſe, built about the latter end of the laſt century. The Greſvenours 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 Greſvenour. In 1234, Richard le Groſvenour purchaſed and fixed his ſeat at Hulme: but in the reign of Henry VI. by the marriage of Rawlin or Ralph Greſvenour with Jean daughter of John Eaton of Eaton, Eſq it was transferred to this place While chivalry was the paſſion of the times, few families ſhon in ſo diſtinguiſhed a manner: none ſhewed equal ſpirit in vin⯑dicating their right to their honors. Witneſs the famous cauſe between Sir Robert le Greſvenour with Sir Richard le Scrope, plain⯑tiff, about a coat of arms, [...] one land, or; tried before the high conſtable and high marſhal of England, in the reign [...] Richard II. and laſted three years. Kings, princes of the blood and moſt of the [...] bore witneſs in this important affair. The ſentence was conciliating, that both parties ſhould bear the ſame arms; but the G [...]OSV [...]OURS, a [...] une lendure d [...] [...] to the king. The judgment: [203] 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 gerb d'or. He rejected the mortifying diſtinction, and choſe the gerb; which is the family coat to this day.

CROSS the the Dee at Eaton-boat, OLDFORD. leaving on the right Oldford bridge; a neat ſtructure, forming another communication between the two parts of the hundred of Broxton; which, at the time of the Conqueſt, bore the name of Dudeſtan hundred.

AFTER riding along a dirty flat country,FARN. reach Farn or Farn⯑don; a ſmall town on the Dee, called in Doomſday book Ferenton. The church was burnt by the parlement army in 1645, during the ſiege of Holt caſtle; and re-built after the ceſſation of the war. In one window, over the pew of the reſpectable family of Barnſton, is ſome very beautiful 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 different 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 commander are thoſe of Gamul; 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 Groſvenours, the Mainwarings, and the Barndiſtons; three loyaliſts, who ſerved in the ſame cauſe: Roger Groſvenour; Sir William Mainwaring, who was ſlain in defence of Cheſter; and William Barndiſton of Chirton, Eſq who died in 1664.

THE poor reliques of the caſtle are ſeated cloſe to the river; and are inſulated by a vaſt foſs cut through a deep bed of ſoft red ſtone;CASTLE. which ſeems originally to have been thus quarried for the building 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 I met with in the Muſeum, among the Harleian MSS. taken in 1620 by John Norden, when it was entire, will give a true idea of this curious ſtructure. It had been defended in three parts by the great chaſm formed by the quarry; on the fourth by the Dee, into which jutted a great quay, ſtill to be ſeen in very dry ſeaſons; for it has long ſince been covered by the encroachment of the river.

ORIGINALLY this place had been a ſmall out-poſt to Deva. Slopes, and other now almoſt obſolete 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, Conſtantinus, and Conſtantius. I conjecture that the Roman name had been Caſtra Legionis, and the Welſh, Caſtell Llcon, or the caſtle of the legion; becauſe it was garriſoned by a detachment of the legion ſtationed at Cheſter. The Engliſh borderers 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.

[206]THIS country formed part of Powyſland; POWYSLAND. which, when entire, reached in a ſtraight line from Broxton hills in Cheſhire, ſoutherly to Pengwern Powys, or Shrewſbury, including a large tract in both theſe counties; from thence through the eaſtern limits of Montgomeryſhire, comprehending all that county, part of Rad⯑norſhire and Breeknockſhire; then turning northward, included the [...]wmmwds of Mowddwy, Edeyrnion, and Glyndyfrdwy, Merionydd⯑ſhire, and (circuiting part of Denbighſhire) comes along part of the Clwydian hills, to the ſummit of Moel-ſamma, including all Denbighſhire, excepting thoſe parts which at preſent conſtitute the lordſhips of Denbigh and Ruthin; from hence, taking [...] ſouth-eaſterly direction to Broxton hills, aſſerts its right to M [...] ⯑dale, Hopedale, and Maeler in Hintſhire. I have before taken notice, that Offa's encroachment was but temporary, and of ſhort duration. I muſt farther obſerve, that in the articles of pacification^* between Henry III. and our laſt prince Lle [...]. the limits of the principality experienced but a very ſmall d [...] ⯑minution from what it was in Offa's time, when it was agreed, that the Dee ſhould be the boundary from Wirral to Caſtra [...] L [...]num, or Holt; and from thence a direct line to Pengwern Powys.

IT was, perhaps, of much greater extent under the reign 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 the moſt terrible inroads ino each other's domi⯑nions^*, [207] till the time of Offa; who paſſing the Severn with a mighty force, expelled the Britons from their fruitful ſeats on the plains, and reduced the kingdom of Powys to the weſtern ſide of the celebrated ditch ſtill known by his name. The princes of Powŷs were then conſtrained to quit their antient reſidence at Pengwern, or Shrewſbury, and remove it to one not leſs fertile, to Mathraval, in the beautiful vale of Meivod. From this pe⯑riod, their kingdom was called indifferently, that of Powys, or of Mathraval. The plains of Shropſhire became a confirmed part of the Mercian kingdom. The trans-ſabrine portion of Glouceſterſhire 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 Oſweſtry, and the two Maelors, Gymraeg or the preſent Bromſield, and Saeſneg or the preſent Flintſhire Maclor, with many other Cwmmwds, 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 principa⯑lity among his children; to Anarawd he gave NORTH WALES; to Cadell, SOUTH WALES; to Mervyn POWYSLAND. Each wore a Talaith or diadem of gold, beſet with preclous ſtones; whence they were ſtyled Y [...] Tywy [...]g Taleithing, or the three crowned princes.

[208]AFTER the death of Mervyn, Cadell uſurped the portion of his brother. His eldeſt ſon, Howel Dda, or the Good, in 940, again united all Wales into one government. He left four ſons, who divided South Wales and Powys between them; while North Wales was aſſumed, in 948, by Jevaf and Jago, ſons to his predeceſſor Edwal Voel. The confuſion that enſued on this occaſion, prevents me from ſaying any thing with certainty, till Bleddyn ap Cynvyn, who ruled Wales at the time of the Con⯑queſt, re-united the kingdoms of North Wales and Powys. The ſucceſſion to the principality paſſed away from his children; but Powyſland devolved to his ſons; which came at length entire to Meredith, the eldeſt born, after the contentions and ſlaughter uſual after ſuch partitions^*.

MEREDITH 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 Vadog: to Gryſſydd, the portion which was called Gwenwynwyn ^†.

I LEAVE to a future diſquiſition, the account of the remain⯑ing parts of Powyſland. I ſhall only trace the ſucceſſion of the firſt, which belongs more particularly to my ſubject. POWYS VADOG conſiſted, according to the diviſion of the times, of five Cantreſs or hundred townſhips; and theſe were ſubdivided into fifteen Cwmmwds.

• Dinmael ^*, Denbighſhire.
• Edeyrnion, Merionethſhire.
• Glyndyfrdwy, Ibid.

• Yale, or Jâl, Denbighſhire.
• Yſtrad Alun, or Mold, Flintſhire.
• Hope, Ibid.

• Merffordd, in Flintſhire.
• Maelor Gymraeg, or Bromfield, Denbighſhire.
• Maelor Saeſneg, Flintſhire.

• Croes-vaen, and Trefy Waun, or Chirk, in Denbighſhire.
• Croes-oſwallt, or Oſ⯑weſtry, Shropſhire.

• Mochnant-îs-Rhaiadr, Denbighſhire.
• Kynllaeth, &c. Denbighſhire.
• Nan-heudwy, Denbighſhire.
• Whittington, Shropſhire.

Madoc married Suſanna, daughter of Gryffydd ap Conan prince of North Wales, by whom he had two ſons; Gryffydd Maelor, and Owen ap Madoc. To the firſt he gave the two Maelors, Yale, Hopedale, and Nan-heudwy, and Mochnant îs Rhaiadr, &c.: to Owen, the land of Mechain Iſ-coed: and, to his natural ſon Owen Brogyntyn, a young man of great merit, Edeyrnion and Dinmael ^†. Gryffydd married Angharad, the daughter of Owen [210] Gwynedd, and had one ſon named Madoc, in whom the inheritance remained entire.

WE now haſten to the end of the line. Madoc had only one ſon, Gryffydd, commonly called lord of Dinas Brân, be⯑cauſe he made that fortreſs his chief reſidence. He unfortunately became enamoured of Emma, an Engliſh lady, daughter of James lord Audley; who, alienating his affections from his country, made him one inſtrument of its ſubjection, and of the deſtruc⯑tion of his own family. He took part with Henry III. and Edward I. againſt his natural prince. The reſentment of his countrymen was raiſed againſt him; and he was obliged to con⯑fine himſelf in his caſtle of Dinas Brân, where probably grief and ſhame put an end to his life. He left four children under age, Madoc, Llewelyn, Gryffydd, and Owen. EDWARD I. gave the guardianſhip of Madoc, the eldeſt (who was to have for his ſhare the lordſhip of Bromfield and Yale, the caſtle of Dinas Brán, and the reverſion of Maelor Saeſneg, after the death of his mother) to John earl Warren; and of Llewelyn (who was to poſſeſs the lordſhips of Chirk and Nan-heudwy) to Roger Mor⯑timer, ſon of lord Mortimer, of Wigmore. Theſe lords ſoon con⯑ſpired to free themſelves from their charge, and poſſeſs them⯑ſelves of their eſtates: and accordingly cauſed the poor children to be drowned under Holt-bridge. This I diſcovered in a manu⯑ſcript, communicated to me by the Reverend Mr. PRICE, keeper of the Bodleian library. Before that, the manner of their deaths was current in the country, under the fable of two young 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.

[211]HAVING now brought the ſucceſſion to the required period, I ſhall only ſay, that Gryffydd, the third ſon, was ſuffered to enjoy his portion of Glyndyfrdwy; from whom ſprung OWEN, the great revenger of the wrongs of his family: and the fourth ſon, Owen, received for his ſhare, Cynllaeth. This afterwards de⯑volved to Gryffydd, father of Glyndwr.

THE barbarity of the two guardians, ſo far from being pu⯑niſhed by their maſter, was rewarded. Warren had the grant of Dinas Brân and all Bromfield confirmed to him, dated from Rudland, October 7th, 1281^*; Mortimer that of Chirk. The for⯑mer began immediately to ſecure his ill-gotten poſſeſſions by building Holt Caſtle; but dying, left the finiſhing of it to his ſon William. Before this grant, a family of the name of Holt, held this place; I ſuppoſe under its lord paramount. Theſe eſtates continued in the family till 1347, when, on the death of John earl Warren, they devolved to Edward Fitz⯑alan earl of Arundel, in right of his wife Alice, ſiſter to the for⯑mer. Warren had been divorced from his wife Joan de Baars, and had obtained from Edward II. a grant of his Welſh eſtates, and others in Surrey and Suſſex, in favor of John and Thomas, ſons of his by Maud de Nereford, to whom he had been contracted 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^†.

THEY 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 [212] two hundred thouſand marks, and a hundred thouſand marks in coin^*; which, with the fortreſs, were delivered to Bolingbroke, previous to the depoſal 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 ſiſsters, Elizabeth, who had married Thomas Mowbray duke of Norfolk, but then wife to Sir Gerard Uſeflect; and Joan, who had mar⯑ried William B [...]auchamp lord of Abergavenny. This occaſioned a further diviſion of theſe eſtates. Joan's ſhare fell again, by a daughter, to Nevil lord Abergavenny; after which, I loſe fight of the ſucceſſion till the reign of Henry VII. when that prince made a grant of them to Sir William Stanley. On his execu⯑tion, Henry not only reſumed the lordſhip, but ſeized on his vaſt effects; and found in Holt Caſtle, in money and plate, forty thouſand marks, beſides jewels, houſehold 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 of Norfolk and others^‡. He enjoyed his honor but a ſhort time, dying at the age of ſeven⯑teen, in the year 1536.

IN the following reign, I find it in poſſeſſion of Thomas Seymour lord admiral, and turbulent brother to the protector Somerſet. He made the fortreſs at Holt ſubſervient to his ambi⯑tious deſigns; and formed there a great magazine of warlike ſtores^§. His deſerved but illegal execution again flung Brom⯑field into poſſeſſion of the crown.

[213]THE great earl of Leiceſter was in poſſeſſion of Chirk; and, probably, of the whole lordſhip of Bromfield.

IN 1643, Holt Caſtle was in the hands of the crown; but in that year was feized for the uſe of the parlement, by Sir Wil⯑liam Brereton and Sir Thomas Middhton ^*. The royaliſts reco⯑vered the poſſeſſion. In February 1645-6, it was cloſely beſieged by major-general Mytton^†, and vigorouſly defended by the go⯑vernor, Sir Richard Lloyd of Eccluſham near Wrexham, till the beginning of April, when it was ſurrendered on articles; the governor having permiſſion to go beyond ſea, with three hun⯑dred pounds; and his lady, to enjoy his lands, being three hundred pounds a year^‡ 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 Groſvenour family in the reign of Charles I. ſubject to the annual payment of twenty ſhillings. An attempt was made by king William to alienate theſe important do⯑mains in favor of the earl of Portland, and his heirs for ever; but on a vigorous repreſentation of the illegality, but par⯑ticularly on the noble ſpeech^‖ of Robert Price Eſq after⯑wards baron of the exchequer, his majeſty thought fit to with⯑draw the grant already 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 [214] the prince on his acceſſion, in old times, in cattle; 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.

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 Fitzbugh, from Hugh Lupus. 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. What is remarkable, it was held of queen Elizabeth, as of her ma⯑nor 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 explora⯑tory, commanding a great view around. By the name of Stret⯑ton, a neighboring place, I conjecture that a Roman road went this 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 about Worthenbury, Overton, [215] and Bettisfield or 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 Leiceſter, did not happen much later than the reign of Edward III. it is certain theſe places reverted to the deſcendants of the princes of Powis. it ſeems as if it acquired the name of Saeſneg, from its having been the jointure of Emma, widow of Gryffydd ap Madoc, who was an Engliſhwoman. It conſiſts of theſe pariſhes; Worthenbury, Bangor, 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 Denbighſhire. Be⯑ſides theſe pariſhes, are ſeveral ſpots that belong to this hun⯑dred, inſulated by the laſt county, which form nearly a con⯑nection between this and the other part of the hundred. The chain is ſuppoſed to have been once entire; but as many of the links were oſten fields, which (by reaſon of their ſmall⯑neſs) were neglected, and loſt. One of the townſhips of Dutton, in Holt pariſh, is known to have belonged to this hundred; as that of Abenbury Vechan, in that of Wrexham, does at preſent. Oſley and Mereford, the laſt in the pariſh of Gresford, were, 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 Edward I. in the Statutum Walliae.

[216]THE lordſhip or ſuperiority of the hundred was granted (I be⯑lieve) 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 Brerelon; and it has ſince devolved to Sir Walden Hanmer baronet, and Philip Lloyd Fletcher eſquire.

THIS part of Flintſhire is under the ſame government 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 a coroner of its own; but eli⯑gible 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, dedi⯑cated to St. Deiniol; a rectory taken out of Bangor, and 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 Hurdingberie; before the Conqueſt held by earl Edwin.

I TOOK my quarters at Broughton; BROUCHTON. a venerable wooden houſe, in poſſeſſion of my reſpected kinſman Peter Davies Eſq in right of his lady, eldeſt ſiſter to the late Broughton [...] Eſq. The Whiteballs were originally of Staff [...]raſhire; but ſettled here in 1663, by virtue of a marriage between Rowland Whitehall and Elizabeth daughter of John Brouglton. The Broughtons de⯑rived themſelves from the great Weiſh ſtock Tudor Trovor, earl of Hereford, and aſſumed their name from this place, in the reign of Henry VII.

[217]AT the back of this houſe^* lies the noted common of Threap⯑wood, from time immemorial a 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 becauſe it was in the hands of irreligious or careleſs owners, or was ſituated in foreſt or deſert places^†, it never was united to any pariſh. The inhabitants, 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, Threap-wood, derived from the Anglo-Saxon Threapian, to threap (a word ſtill in uſe); ſignifying to perſiſt in a fact or argument, be it right or wrong. It is ſeated between the pariſhes of Malpas, Hanmer, and Worthenbury; but belonged to none, till it was, by the late militia acts, decreed to be in the laſt. Still doubts ariſe about execution of ſeveral laws within this precinct. It is to be hoped, that 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 inha⯑bitants, who want inſtruction in the doctrine of univerſal ſubmiſ⯑ſion to law.

FROM Broughton I made an excurſion to Hanmer, HANMER. diſtant about five or ſix miles: paſſed over part of Threap-wood; and obſerved [218] in the incloſares; ſome venerable oaks, the remains of the antient foreſt. Croſs Sarn-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 ſalt-works. Reach a houſe called Willington-croſs. The country, which hitherto had been uncommonly wet and dirty, now changes to a ſandy ſoil, and becomes broken into ſmall riſings. The part about the little town of Hanmer is extremely beautiful; varied with a lake of fifty acres, bounded on all ſides with ſmall cultivated eminences, 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 ſire of the old houſe of Greddington, another ſeat is pro⯑jected by that eminent lawyer, Lloyd Kenyon, eſquire.

THE church is a very handſome embattled building,CHURCH. of the reign of Henry VII. in whoſe time numbers of churches were re-built alter the long deſolation of civil war. The roof is of wood: that of the Fe [...]s chapel, and of the north aile, are divided in ſmall ſquares, and carved in a moſt elegant ſtyle. In the win⯑dows of the former was ſome painted glaſs, with dates, expreſſing the time of its being made, at the coſt of the Hanmers; who [...] the preſentation of the vicarage granted to them by the abby of Heg [...], near Shrewſbury, in 1424.

ABOUT two miles farther is Bettisſield; BETTISFIELD. an old brick houſe be⯑longing to the ſame family. I obſerved here a head of the late Sir Thomas Hanmer, by Kneller, in a long wig and cravat; an ele⯑gant figure of a lady Hanmer, with a forehead-cloth, in an elegant white undreſs, ſtudying Gerard's herbal; and a ſmall portrait of a lady Warner, a la magdalene, LADY WARNER. with long diſheveled hair, and a ſcull in her hand. She was a daughter of the houſe, and wife to a Sir John Warner; who, not content with quitting the religion of thir parents, determined to quit the kingdom, and embrace the mo⯑naſtic 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, and aſſumed the name of brother Clare; ſhe a poor Clare, of which order ſhe performed the noviciate⯑ſhip with marvellous obedience! I am black, but 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 more fair in the ſight of the LORD. The abbeſs on this ſaid to the 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 inſtructive example to the admiring ſiſters^†!

[220]BETTISFIELD has for centuries belonged to the Hanmers. Before the battle of, [...], a diviſion of their eſtates was made. Jenkin Hanmer, the brother-in-law to the great Glynd [...]r, divided his eſtates among his four ſons. He gave Hanmer, and his lands at Llwyn Derw or Ockenlolt, obtained with his firſt wife Margaret, daughter of Davydd ap Bleddyn Vychan, to their ſon Gryfſydd. By his ſecond marriage, with Eva daughter to Davydd ap Grono ap Jerwerth of Llai, he had John, Edward, and Richard. To John he gave Halghton (a hous;e in this neighborhood) and Llai; to Edward, lands in Fenns, a place likewiſe not remote; and to Richard, lands in Betisfield. Jenkin ſoon after fell, valiantly. fighting, in the field rear Slrewſtury, againſt the uſurper B [...] ⯑breke. John departed from the principles of his father, and em⯑braced the ſide of the houſe of Lancaſter, in the reign of Hen⯑ry VI. John Mowbray duke of Norfolk, and Grey lord [...], carried fire and ſword through his eſates in 1463, and burns his houſe at Halghton; which induced him, the year following to make his ſubmiſſion to the victorious Edward ^*.

ALL theſe eſtates, excepting Halghton, are now united, and in poſſeſſion of Sir Walden Hanmer baronet.

ON leaving Broughton, I took the road towards Banger. On the right lies Emral Hall, the ſeat of the Pul [...]ſton; a family ſeteled here in the time of Edward I. but took their name from Puleydon, a townſhip in Shropſhtre. The firſt who poſſeſſed the place was Roger, a favorite officer of the king; who, after the con⯑queſt of.Wales, appointed him collector of the taxes raiſed towards [221] the ſupport of the war againſt France; but the Welſh, unuſed to theſe levies, ſeized on de Puleſdon and hanged him^*. His ſon Richard was appointed, by the ſame prince, ſheriff of Caernarvon, with a ſalary of forty pounds, and all arrears^†. His ſon, ano⯑ther Richard, held, in the 7th or Edward II. lands in the pariſh of Worthenbury, by certain ſerviccs, & per ammabrogium, or a pe⯑cuniary acknowlegement paid by tenants to the king, or vaſſals to their lord, for the liberty of marrying, or not marrying. Thus Gilbert de Maiſuil gave ten marks of ſilver to Henry III. for leave to take a wife; and Cecily, widow of Hugh Povere, that ſhe might marry whom ſhe pleaſed^‡, It is ſtrange that this ſer⯑vile cuſtom ſhould be retained ſo long. It is pretended, that the Amobyr among the Welſh, the Lyre-wite among the Semons, and the Marcheta mulierum 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 be⯑lieve there never was any European nation (in the periods this cuſtom was pretended to exiſt) ſo barbarous as to admit it. It is true, that the power above cited was introduced into England by the Normans, out of their own country.AMORYR. The Amoryr, or rather Gobr merob, was a Eritiſh cuſtom of great antiquity, paid other for violating the chaſlity of a virgin; or for a marriage of a vaſſal^§, and ſignifies the price of a virgin. The Welſh laws, ſo far from encouraging adultery. checked, by ſevere ſines, even unbecoming liberties^‖. The Amolyr was intended as a preserva⯑tive [222] againſt lewdneſs. If a virgin was deflowered, the ſeducer, or, in his ſtead, her father, paid the fine. If ſhe married, he alſo paid the fine. There is one ſpecies ſo ſingular as to merit men⯑tion: if a wife proved unfaithful to her huſband's bed, the poor cuckold was obliged to pay his ſuperior five ſhillings as long as he did cydgyſgu, [...] ſleep with her; but if he forbore cohabiting with her, and ſhe cydgyſgu'd with her gallant, the fine fell on the offending fair.

THE Saxons had their Lyre-wyte or Lecher-wyte, LYRE-WYTE. for the ſame end that the Welſh had their Amobyr. The crime is mentioned often in the Saxon laws^*: once, with a cruel penalty denounced againſt the offender; and a ſecond time, with a ſtrong dehorta⯑tion from the commiſſion. In general, the crime was expiated by money, according to the degree of the perſon injured. The [...] at this time commute, in certain degrees of offence; but oftener puniſh it with burning, and other excruciating deaths^†.

CONTINUE my journey to Bangor, BANGOR. ſeated on the banks of the Dee; which is here bounded on both ſides by rich meadows. The church has been built at different times; but no part very antient. It is a rectory, dedicated to St. Dinoth abbot of Ban⯑cornaburg or Bangor, in the days of St. Auguſtine. It is in the gift of Philip Lloyd Fletcher Eſq. This place is celebrated for being the ſite of the moſt antient Britiſh monaſtery, or rather ſeminary, which contained two thouſand four hundred monks; who, dividing themſelves into ſeven bands, paſſed their time [223] alternately in prayer and labor^*; or, as another writer^† ſays, 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 diſperſed, after the ſlaughter of their bre⯑thren at the battle of Cheſter, and their houſe overthrown. Wil⯑liam the monk, and librarian of Malmſbury, cotemporary with king Stephen, ſpeaks of the remains 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 for the learn⯑ed, and diſtributed to the poor all ſuperfluities. It ſent forth many thouſands of religious; and its ſame would have been immaculate, had it not produced the celebrated Pelagius, about the year 400, the ſame who is uſually ſtigmatized by the name of the arch-heretic. Two of his tenets, perhaps, in theſe days, may give him many proſelytes: ‘That good works were meri⯑torious; and that unbaptized infants ran no hazard of dam⯑nation.’

[224]THE monks of this community, in common with all the Bri⯑tiſh 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 miſſionary Auguſtine the monk; when he inſiſted on their concurrence with his demands, with ſuch inſolence, that they left him, determined to maintain the original rites of their own church; which re⯑mained pure, and independent of all foreign prelates, for many centuries after that period. Auguſtine threatened the Britons with the reſentment cf the Saxons. How far he inſtigated Edi [...]fred in his invaſion does not appear; but, if BEDE may be depended on, the maſſacre of the monks almoſt immediately followed his menaces^*.

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.

THIS place had been alſo the ſite of the ſuppoſed Bo [...]ium or Bovium, a Roman ſtation. Leland ſays, that in his time Ro⯑man money was found there. I could find neither coins or in⯑ſcriptions, or 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^o 1. has on it the arms of the earls Warren: 2. the ſame, quartered with arms un⯑known to me: 3. is inſcribed Hic jacet ITHEL CADWGAY:

[225]the 4th, inſcribed Hic jacet WILLIAM LE FRENS; probably a perſon of Norman extraction. I find the name in Sir Peter Leiceſter's Cheſhire ^*: one Hugh de Frenos, 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 ancient Britiſh arms) looking to⯑wards the croſs, may ſignify the early embracing of Chriſtianity by the nations of our iſland.

THE antient Britiſh boats, the vitilia navigia of Pliny; the mo⯑dern coracles; are much in uſe in theſe parts for the purpoſes 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 dexterity^†. 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.

[226]ON croſſing the Dee, EYTON. entered into Denbighſhire again; and, turn⯑ing ſhort to the left, after two miles riding, viſited Eyton, the ſeat of Kenrick Eyton Eſq. This houſe was head of a nume⯑rous 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 chan⯑nel is contracted, and the ſtream flows pictureſquely between lofty banks, admirably deſcribed by the inimitable pencil of Mr. SAND [...]Y. This bridge conſiſts of two neat arches, and was firſt built of ſtone by the munificence of Gwenhwyvar, daughter of Jerwerth Ddu of Pengwern, near Llangollen; a maiden lady who reſided at Eyton with her ſiſter Margaret, who was married to Madoc ap Evan Eyton ^*.

OVERTON,OVERTON. or Overton Madoc, the Ovreton of the Doomſday book, is a pleaſant village, ſeated on a high bank, about a mile beyond the bridge, above a rich meadowy flat of a ſemi⯑circular form, varied by the Dee, and bounded in front with fertile and wooded ſlopes; while the lofty and naked mountains ſoar beyond, and cloſe the ſcene.

THIS place was called, at the time of the Conqueſt, Ovre⯑tone; had then a Saxon owner; but was granted to Robert Fitz⯑bugh. I find in 1278, or the 7th of Edward I. that it was in poſſeſſion of Robert de Crevecoeur, 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 perſona⯑lly [227] to Overton, and there to aſſign to the burgeſſes, or ſuch as would become inhabitants, competent land, within the de⯑meſnes of Overton caſtle and wood, to build them burgages with^*. Such encouragement did this wiſe prince give to po⯑pulation, to ſecure the frontiers of his new conqueſt. In 1331, or the 5^th of Edward III. it was granted, with other lands in this Maelor, to Eubule le Strange, baron of Knockyn ^†.

THERE are no reliques of the caſtle; which ſtood in a field ſtill called Caſtlefield, fronting the Dee. Tradition ſays, that it had been the reſidence of Madoc ap Meredydd prince of Powys and lord of Overton; from which the place received the addition of Madoc.

THE church is a handſome building; and the church-yard reckoned among the wonders of Wales, on account of its hand⯑ſome yew-trees. The place is only a curacy, in the pariſh of Bangor, in the dioceſe of Cheſter.

OVERTON 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 determined by parlement in the negative. Han⯑mer, and ſeveral other places, laid in a clame to vote; but it was rejected by the commons in the beginning of this cen⯑tury.

[228]GWERNHAILED,GWERNHAILED. the ſeat of Mr. Fletcher, in this pariſh, muſt not paſs unnoticed. 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 beautiful meadows and varied in the diſtance with numbers of hills; among which thoſe of Caer-gwrle form a moſt noble and conſpicuous maſs.

IN this neighborhood I viſited the fine collection of birds at Bryn y p [...]s, BRYNY PYS. the ſeat of Richard Parry Price Eſq.NEW VULTURE. Among other [...] were a pair of vultures; which I take the liberty of mentioning in this place, as being an undeſcribed ſpecies. They were the ſmallest of the genus, not above half as big again as the kite. Their bill whitiſh, long, and but little hooked; cere bluiſh; orbits naked and fleſh-colored; irides ſtraw-colored; head and neck, contrary to the character of the genus, cloathed with feathers; craw pen⯑dulous; head, neck, back, breaſt, belly, and leſſer coverts of the wings, of a pure white; greater coverts, and primaries, black, the laſt tipt with white; the lower part of the tail black; the end white; legs dirty white, roughened with ſcales.

INHABIT Angola. Were very reſtleſs and querulous; and much more active than is uſual with this ſluggiſh race. They are now dead; but their exuviae, ſtuffed ſo as to mimic life, are placed in the matchleſs Muſeum of ASHTON LEVER Eſq which is f [...]r the moſt inſtructive and elegant of any in Europe; and from which the mere admirer will receive equal pleaſure with the profoundeſt connoiſſeur.

[229]I MUST not leave this neighborhood without obſerving that the little owl^*, that rare Engliſh ſpecies, has been ſhot in ſome adjacent woods. It is very frequent abroad; where they collect in autumn and the ſpring in great flocks, in order to migrate in ſearch of field-mice. Childrey, in 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 multiludes of mice in thoſe times deſtroying the country: but whether they were owls of this ſpecies I cannot 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 conco⯑mitant, being ſo very common there. It is very frequently ex⯑preſſed on the Athenian coins and ſculptures; and I have ſeen it placed on the hand of a ſtatue of hers, in the noble collection belonging to William Weddel Eſq at Newby in Yorkſhire.

WITHIN a ſmall diſtance from Overton, I entered the county of SALOP or SHROPSHIRE, at Trench-lane, once infamous for its depth and badneſs. This county was peopled by the Cornavii; and, till the time of Offa, was divided between the princes of Powys and the Mercian king⯑dom: but Offa, after his expulſion of the Welſh from their an⯑tient ſeat of Pengwern or Shrewſbury, added their part to his dominions. At the Conqueſt, it was poſſeſſed by the brave [230] Edwin, 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 Shrewſbury.

THE country,ELLESMERE. for the greateſt part of the way to Elleſmere, is flat, dirty, and unpleaſing. On the approach to the town, be⯑comes more agreeable; and about it, breaks into moſt beauti⯑ful riſings, fertile, and finely wooded; the bottoms are indeed 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 exhalations, keep ſuch equal pace!

ELLESMERE is a town ſeated on a lake of a hundred and one acres in dimenſions; and whoſe greateſt depth is twenty-ſix yards; well ſtocked with fiſh.

THE environs have two advantages ſuperior to the other lakes. A good town borders on one ſide: the fine park of Ockle, or Ottley, is a great ornament to another. The property of the water is in the duke of Bridgewater.

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 except its ſituation. The principal trade is that of malt; the barley of the neighborhood being remarkably good.

THE caſtle ſtood on a vaſt artificial mount on a riſing ground,CASTLE. with three great ditches on the more acceſſible ſide. At preſent not a veſtige is to be ſeen; the top being formed into a bowl⯑ing-green, that may vie with any in England for the elegance [231] and extent of inland proſpect; of the lake beneath; of the rich country and woods ſurrounding the town. At a diſtance, Cheſter and the Broxton hills; Wrexham and the Caergwrle mountains; Caſtle Dinas Brân, and the Berwyn alps; and ſome of thoſe of Merionethſhire; 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 Edwin 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 for the ſecurity of the kingdom, beſtowed on David ap Owen his natural ſiſter Emma, with the lordſhip of Elleſmere as a portion. This the politic monarch did, in hopes of retaining the affections of David, 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 Owen Gwynedd father to David. 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.

AFTER this, it came a ſecond time into the hands of a prince of Wales. King John, by grant dated from Dover, April 16th 1204, beſtowed it, with Joan, his natural child by Agatha daughter of Robert Ferrers earl of Derby, on Llewelyn ap Jorwerth. It is probable that John hoped, by means of his ſon-in-law, to ter⯑rify [232] the lord marchers into obedience: but the unfortunate mo⯑narch reaped no benefit from the alliance. Joan proved un⯑faithful to our prince's bed; who hanged William de Breos, author of his diſgrace, and turned his arms againſt the Engliſh. This induced John to diveſt Llewelyn of the government of ſo im⯑portant a fortreſs as a frontier caſtle; for, by a writ dated from Warwick, in the tenth year of his reign, he orders the govern⯑nor, 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.

IN the fourth or Henry III. or the year 1219, Roger L'Eſtrange yielded to the king the manors of Colmere 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 con⯑ſequence in the hands of the Welſh. Accordingly, we find him obliging David 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 Ellſmere 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 [...], with a proviſion

[233] out of the eſcheat of the manor, caſtle, and hundred, of a hundred pounds a year. This nobleman took a large ſhare in the barons wars; was excommunicated for his inſolence by the archbiſhop of Canterbury; but returning to his allegiance, was employed in places of truſt, which he diſcharged with the ut⯑moſt fidelity. It is ſaid that he purchaſed the manors of Coal⯑mere 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 per⯑ſons: 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 Lan⯑caſter, appointed Oliver de Ingehan governor of the caſtle. Ed⯑ward III. in 1329, after cauſing the encroachments made on this manor to be reduced, beſtowed the caſtle, and the hamlets of Colmere 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 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 Eliza⯑beth; when William earl of Derby had licence from the queen to alienate them; which he did, to Richard Spencer and Edward Savage; and they, to Sir Thomas Egerton keeper of the great ſeal, and afterwards chancellor of England and baron of Elleſmere. [234] It is now in poſſeſſion of his deſcendant, the duke of Bridgewater, 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 Llewelyn; and Ed⯑ward III. confirmed to their prior the donation. The vica⯑rage is in the gift of the duke of Bridgewater. The chapels of Cockſhute, Dudleſton, 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. The venerable houſe to which this knight belonged, was one of the moſt antient freeholds now in the pariſh; being found to have been the property of e Kynaſtons in 1308, the 2d of Ed⯑ward II. It has been diſtinguiſhed by many eminent perſons; particularly another Sir Francis, eſquire of the body to Charles I. famous for his Latin tranſlation of the Loves of Troilus and Creſ⯑ſida, from the Engliſh of Chaucer.

From Elleſmere I continued my journey towards Oſweſtry. From an eminence called the Perthy, have a moſt extenſive view of the flat part of the county, bounded by the hills of Den⯑bighſhire, 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 intermixed 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, HALSTON. my maternal anceſtry; a good houſe, built about the year 1690, with the advantage of wood and [235] water, managed with excellent taſte by my worthy couſin John Mytton Eſq. The houſe is ſituated on an elevated plot of ground, which riſes out of an extenſive flat, great part of which was ſubject to frequent floods; an inconvenience which has ſince been removed by the preſent owner, at the expence of much trouble and money, in draining conſiderable tracts of low ground; whereby the neighborhood is rendered more healthy and pleaſant. This flat, being well dotted with trees, agree⯑ably foreſhortens the proſpect, till it is bounded by the magni⯑ficent ſcenery of the ſurrounding hills, which diſtinctly form, in various ſhapes, many pleaſing points of view. A very extenſive wood flanks each ſide of the houſe, which is bounded by a fine piece of water, made by extending the banks of the river Perry, and by conveying a branch of it through the lower parts of the wood, incloſing ſeveral iſlands, whoſe ſhores are ſhaded by very large full-grown oaks; which all together forms one of the moſt pleaſing artificial pieces of water that is to be met with. The reſt of the grounds are watered with the river Perry; a ſtream which uſed to abound with excellent pike, perch, trout, dace, gudgeons, cray-fiſh, and eels, till modern luxury gave an additional ſpur to the dexterity of poachers; a grievance complained of, though encouraged, in this as well as in moſt rivers in the kingdom. The Perry riſes in the hills, in the pariſh of Syllatyn, and paſſes through ſeveral moors to the village of Ryton, and afterwards falls into the Severn a little be⯑low Montford bridge.

AT this place was born the famous general Mytton, GENERAL MYT⯑TON. who commanded the parlement forces in Charles I.'s civil wars; by [236] whoſe military proweſs moſt of the caſtles in North Wales were ſubdued; but finding that Cromwell and his party had farther deſigns than the mere defence of liberty (the cauſe in which he engaged) reſigned his command and retired.

HERE is a well-choſen library, and a good collection of pic⯑tures: amongſt which are ſome very capital; particularly, Jacob, and his ſon Reuben ſhewing Joſepb's bloody ſhirt, by Guer [...]; a head, by Raphael; St. Peter, by Guido; king David, by Dominichino. ^*. Mr. William Mytton's curious manuſcripts of the Shropſhire antiquities are preſerved here; a work which he had been many years engaged in with indefatigable attention, but, unfortunately for the public, died before he could complete his deſign. To his labors I owe frequent obligations in this part of the work.

IN Saxon times,ANTIENT OWN⯑ERS. the lordſhip of Halſton belonged to Edric. At that time there were on it two Welſhmen and one French⯑man. After the Conqueſt, it became the property of Guarine, ſheriff of Shropſhire, anceſtor to the Fitzalans earls of Arundel, by marriage with a Mellet Peverel, 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 [237] ſome of the Filzalans. In the 26th of Henry VIII. it was valued at 160 l. 14 s. 10 d. a year^*.

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 Edward Mytton of Habberley; which alienation was confirmed afterwards by queen Elizabeth.

THE chapel is a donative, without any other revenue than what the owner is pleaſed to allow his chaplain; and is of exempt juriſdiction.

THE name imports ſomething of ſanctity, ſignifying the Holy Stone. Probably a croſs or ſtone, the object of ſuperſti⯑tion, 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 Llwyd, deſcended from Hêdd Mol⯑wynog, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, indignant at certain injuries done his country, by the introduction of new laws and new cuſtoms, ſeized ſeveral of the king's officers ap⯑pointed to ſee them executed, and ſlew ſome, and hung others. He fled the rage of his enemies, and took refuge at this place^†.

AT a mile's diſtance from Halſton, WHITTINGTON. I reached Whittington; a village of ninety-four families, ſeated in a pariſh of the ſame name. The number of families in the whole amounts to two hundred 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 for [238] the conveniency of laborers, by the family of the Mytton [...] which evinces the duty and utility of rural reſidence in our gentry, by promoting population, and cheriſhing the induſtrious poor.

MR. LLOYD, in his Archaeologia ^*, imagines this place might have been celebrated under the name of Drév Wen, or the Whe [...]e Town, by Llowarch Hén, a noble bard of the race of the Cum⯑brian 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 invaders:

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 of Tudor Trevor, a Britiſh nobleman who lived in the year 924, and in right of his mother Rhiengar grandaughter and heireſs of Caradoc-Freichfras, ſlain by the Saxons in the battle of Ruddlan ^†, in 795) earl of Hereford; and in the right of his father Ynyr ap Cadvarch, lord of both Maelors, Chirk, Whittington, and Oſweſtry, Ewias, and Urchenfield.

[239] AFTER the Conqueſt, it was held by Roger earl of Shrewſ⯑bury. It is called in the Doomſday book Wititone. It had at that time eight berewicks or corn-farms; twelve bovarii 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 Shrewſbury, it was beſtowed on William, a ſiſter's ſon of Pain Peverel, lord of Whittington; and by the marriage of his ſecond daughter Mellet, with Guarine de Mets, a noble Lorrainer, it became his property, about the year 1083, The deeds of arms, and feats of chivalry, made their progeny the admiration of the times, and the ſubject of high-flown romance. Guarine, then lord of Ab⯑berbury, and ſheriff of the county, hears of the reſolution of Mellet to marry no one but the knight of moſt diſtinguiſhed proweſs. The emulous 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 pecok upon his beualme creſte; overthrows his rivals; car⯑ries off the fair prize; and receives the lordſhip of Whittington 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 Fulk.

THIS warlike race, and their warlike neighbors the Welsſh, 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^*, and carried deſtruction [240] through all the borders. Guarine died in the reign of [...] 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 [...] line.

LOVE was the firſt inducement, in the days of chivalry, to great actions in youthful breaſts. Fulk becomes enamour [...] with Hawiſe, the daughter of his guardian Joos. At her requeſt he relieves the father from moſt eminent danger; and recent her hand in reward.

To him was entruſted by Henry I. the care of the march [...] about the year 1122; from which he was ſtyled Fulco [...], or the lieutenant. It was not long before he found employ for [...] ſword. The brave Gryffydd ap Conan carried his arms [...] the borders; had a perſonal engagement with our hero; [...] ⯑ed a wound in his ſhoulder, and was obliged to ſeek ſafety flight; but the victor did not eſcape unhurt^*. In future en⯑terprizes he was leſs fortunate: the Britiſh prince wreſted from him the lordſhip and caſtle of Whittington; which, by a ſu⯑ceeding treaty with Henry II. in the ſecond year of his reign Owen Gwynedd thought proper to retain; and Fulk was [...] penſated by a grant of the honor of Alſton in Gwynedd⯑ſhire. He died in an advanced age, and was buried at Abberbury.

I MUST not forget, that it is related of this Fulk, that being at the play of cheſs with John, ſecond ſon to Henry II. he received from him a blow with the board, which he returned with ſuch violence, as almoſt to demoliſh the young prince.

[241] THE ſucceeding Fulk did not degenerate from his anceſtors. He rendered himſelf ſo renowned in the wars abroad, that a French romance was compoſed on the actions of himſelf and progenitors; 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 truth with much fiction.

To him was reſtored the caſtle of Whittington and its depen⯑dencies, after ſatisfaction had been made by king John to Wrenoc and Wennen, the ſons of Meyric, on whom the prince of Wales had beſtowed it in the reign of Henry II. Wrenoc received cer⯑tain lands in the neighborhood, which he was to hold by the ſervice of being the king's Latimer, or interpreter, in theſe parts, between the Welſh and the Engliſh ^†. Fulk, notwithſtanding this, fell afterwards from his allegiance to John; and was excommu⯑nicated by name^‡ for his defection from that monarch: but his ſufferings were in the cauſe of liberty; for he was among the glorious band who obtained from John the charter ſo highly prized by every true Briton.

IT appears that he did not neglect, in the following reign, to obtain a confirmation of theſe 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 alſo procured the liberty of a market here on a Wedneſday, and a

[242] fair on St. Luke's day; for which he preſented his majeſty with a palfrey.FAIRS. The firſt is loſt. There are ſtill conſiderable fairs or ſhews of cattle on the laſt 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 Whitting⯑ton had been diſmantled by the Welſh; for Henry gives permiſ⯑ſion to this Fulk to fortify it. The memory of this is ſtill pre⯑ſerved in a room in the gateway, by the figure of a knight on horſeback coarſely painted on the wall, with the following lines, now almoſt obliterated, placed beneath:

DUGDALE informs us, that this baron 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 appeared in the field that day: for, from the time that this Fulk was appointed lieutenant of the marches by Richard I. to that of the battle, ſeventy-five years had elapſed; ſo it is pro⯑bable that he was dead, or at leſt 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 [243] theſe marches, 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 cap⯑tive monarch's power againſt himſelf, obliged him^* to reſign to Llewelyn ap Gryffydd prince of Wales, the hundred of Elleſmere, ſeveral of the border caſtles, and among others that of Whit⯑tington and its appertenances. This writ was dated from Here⯑ford, June 22d 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 Henry, with the homage of the neighboring counties (which were uſually paid to princes anceſtors) in conſideration of 30,000 marks paid by Llewelyn.

IN 1281, Fulk attended Edward I. in his expedition 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 neighbor Richard earl of Arundel; but it was prevented by the interference of the king.

HE died in the reign of Edward II. His ſon was at that time in France, in his majeſty's ſervice; whoſe lady, Alionora, had livery of the manor till her huſband could return to do homage.

IN 1329, or the 3d of Edward III. the new earl was accuſed by Edmund earl of Kent, uncle to the king, of raiſing ſeditious [244] reports, that Edward II. was ſtill alive; and endeavouring to excite 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 vaſſals favored his cauſe: but their lord obtained a pardon for them from Henry IV.

IN 1420, the 8th of Henry V. this illuſtrious race became ex⯑tinct in the male line; the laſt Fulk dying in his non-age, leav⯑ing Elizabeth, his only ſiſter, heireſs to his eſtates. She married Richard Haukford Eſq who dying in 1430, the 9th of Henry VI. left an only daughter Thomaſine. 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 William Albany, and other citizens of London. The laſt releaſed their title to Albany, who forecloſed the eſtate. His great grandaughter, and ſole heireſs, married Thomas Lloyd of Aſton, Eſq in this county.

THE caſtle ſtands on a flat: the gateway,CASTLE. and the ruins of two vaſt round towers, with cruciform ſlips by way of windows, ſtill remain; and the bare veſtiges of two others may yet be traced. It had been ſurrounded by a moat, and ſeveral vaſt ditches, which comprehended ſeveral other works. The moat was filled by a rivulet that riſes near Pentre Pant, in the pariſh of Sela⯑tyn. On entering this pariſh, it is loſt for near a mile, and emerges in the fields on the back of the caſtle.

[245] IT is probable, that this was a place of defence from the time of its earlieſt poſſeſſors. No place on the borders of unfriendly nations could poſſibly remain unfortified; but the architect of the caſtle whoſe ruins we now contemplate, was certainly the great Fitz-warine, granſon of Guarine, founder of the family. Theſe were among the greateſt of the barons called Lord marchers of Wales; of whoſe origin an ample account will be given in the appendix.

THE ſteward of the manor holds annually a court-leet and court-baron in a room in the caſtle;STEWARD. to which the inhabitants are ſummoned, and fined one penny each for non-attendance. Chief-rents are payed to the lord; and a heriot of the beſt beaſt is clamed at the death of moſt of the freeholders within the lordſhip.

THE church,CHURCH. dedicated to St. John the Baptiſt, is a rectory, valued in the king's books at 25 l. 4 s. It is a ſmall building, ſuppoſed to have been originally deſigned as the chapel to the caſtle, and 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 Rich⯑ard 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.

[246] IN the year 1630, a commiſſion was iſſued from the council in the marches of Wales, to John Trevor and Richard Lloyd, gentle⯑men, to make a terrier of the glebe-land, and to return an in⯑ventory 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 right Tre-newydd, a ſeat of Watkin Williams Eſq in right of his mother, heireſs of the place. Her gran⯑father, Edward Lloyd Eſq who died in 1715, was eminent for his learning, and had prepared materials for the hiſtory of this his native country. Continue my journey to OSWESTRY, a conſiderable town, about two miles diſtant from Whittingtion; OSWESTRY. a place celebrated in Saxon hiſtory and legendary piety. On this ſpot, on Auguſt 5th 642^*, was fought the battle between the Chriſtian Oſwald, king of the Northumbrians, and the Pagan Penda, king of the Mercians. Oſwald was defeated, and loſt his life. The barbarian victor cut the body of the ſlain prince into 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:

IT is probable that the Britons beſtowed on the ſpot where the battle was fought, the name of Maes hîr, or the long field, or combat, from the obſtinacy of the conflict. The Saxons, for a conſiderable time, retained the name of the place where the action was fought, with the addition of their own vernacular word feld, or ſelth, a field; as maſerfeld, maſerfelth, and corruptly, maſafeld.

[248]IN after-days, the name became entirely Saxon; and from the fate of the king was ſtyled Oſwald's tree; now Oſweſtry; and by the Welſh rendered Croes-oſwallt. Before this event, and for a long ſpace beyond, this tract was the property of the Bri⯑tons; till it was. conquered by Offa, and brought within the verge of his famous ditch.

A PRINCE ſo dear to the church as Oſwald, and ſo attached to the profeſſors of the monaſtic life, received every poſthumo [...] honor that they could beſtow. He was raiſed to the rank of [...] ſaint; and his ſanctity confirmed by numberleſs miracles. [...] reliques (which were removed the year following by Oſw [...] we [...] efficacious in all diſorders incident to man or beaſt. The [...] ſpot on which his pious corpſe had lain, imparted its virtue [...] the mere contact:MIRACLE. the horſe of a traveller, wearied by exc [...] of labor, ſtopt here, lay down, and, 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 wo⯑man ill of the palſy. He told the adventure of his horſe; per⯑ſuaded her friends to try the ſame remedy; cauſed her to be tranſported there; and ſhe inſtantly found the ſame be⯑nefit^*.

A CHURCH aroſe on the place of martyrdom,CHURCH. dedicated to the ſaint. A monaſtery was founded, which bore the name of [249] Blan [...]-minſter, Candida eccleſia album monaſterium, and White-minſter. It is very ſingular, that no evidences exiſt, either of the time of the foundation or of the diſſolution. The laſt muſt have hap⯑pened in Saxon days; for, immediately after the Conqueſt, the church of St. Oſwald was beſtowed on the abby of Shrewſ⯑bury. 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 foun⯑dation; for he expreſsly ſays, that the cloiſters, with tombs of the monks, remained in the memory of man^†. I am in⯑clined to think it to have been collegiate; a ſpecies of eſta⯑bliſhment very frequent in places of martyrdoms or of aſſaſſina⯑tions, reverential or expiatory, according to the nature of the event. Something of this kind exiſted here toward the [...] end of the reign of Henry II; for Reinerus biſhop of St. [...] (who had a houſe near the place) alienated all the tythes of [...] and corn of this church and its chapels. Theſe ſerved to main⯑tain twelve prieſts; but Re [...]er beſtowed the revenues on the monks of Shrewſhury; and by the papal authority expelled the antient ſeculars^‡. I muſt remark, that moſt of them had law⯑ful wives; for the Welſh clergy, for a long time, reſiſted the im⯑poſition of the church of Rome in the article of celibacy, as well as ſeveral others.

GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS attended the archbiſhop of Cantenbury to this place, in order to incite people to take arms for the [250] purpoſed Cruſade. It is ſingular, that he mentions as little of^* as he does of [...]. He ſays he went from Cheſter towards Album Monaſterium, where he was met by Gryffydd ap Med [...], and [...], and ſeveral other Welſhmen of diſtinction. Some under⯑took the romantic war; and, according to cuſtom, were make [...] with the ſign of the croſs by Rei [...]er. When that buſineſs [...] over, they entered the town. of [...], and were moſt mag⯑nificently entertained by the young earl of earl of Arunded, after the [...] faſhion; which G [...]raldus ſeems to think ſavored too much of laxury.

SOME writers entertain doubts, whether this place was the Al [...]m Monaſterium viſited by Giraldus; and endeavor to fix it [...] W [...]lu [...]ch; but thoſe may be eaſily removed; when it is cer⯑tain that it was in Pow [...]ſ [...]and, a pretenſion that the other has [...] clame to: beſides, Oſw [...]ſ [...]try and [...] are mentioned as diſtinct places in the Rot [...] Wa [...]ae.^† R [...]h, the third earl [...] Ch [...]ter, took the [...] of Blo [...], from being born at the place; and John [...] dates from Alla [...] Monoſterium. In 12 [...]1, a grant of certain lands, which he had made to the [...]ee of St. A [...] ^‡.

AT Preſent,OSWALD'S WELL. there is not a relique of any old building ex⯑cepting of the ruins of a chapel over a remarkably fine [...] that ſtill bears the name of the ſaint: and near the church is [...] ſpot moated round, whoſe houſe is now quite unknown.

[251]I MUST add,CAE-NET. that near the town is a field called Cae-neſ, or Heaven-field, which ſome have imagined to have been the place of his martyrdom. His life and death hath given two places that title; for the Saxon Heafenſeld in Northumberland has the ſame meaning; and received it 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;CHURCH. is ſpacious, and has a handſome plain tower. We learn from a monument in memory of Mr. Hugh Y [...], 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; is a vicarage, under the patronage of the earl of Powys, who is alſo lord of this extenſive manor. Part of this pariſh ſtill uſe the Welſh language; for which reaſon, divine ſer⯑vice is in a certain proportion read by the miniſter.

THE town was fortified with a wall and four gates.WALLS AND GATES That called the Black-gate is demoliſhed; the New-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 [...]-ala [...]s, a lion rampant. It probably was built by Thomas earl of Arundel, in the beginning of the reign of Henry IV. who beſtowed the name on it in honor of his wife Beatrix, natural daughter to the king of Portugal.

OVER the New-gate is the figure of a horſe in full ſpeed, with an oaken bough in his mouth. There is a conjecture, but I will not pretend to ſay how well warranted, that it alluded to the g [...]ous breed of horſes which Po [...]yſland of which this was part [252] was [...] for, [...]ived from fome tine Spaniſh ſtallions, intro⯑ [...] by [...]word B [...]ſme earl of [...]ewſ [...]ury.

[...] were beg [...]n in the year 1277, or the ſixth or Edward I. who granted a [...]rage or [...]o [...]l on the inhabitants of the county, [...] for ſix years; in which time it may be ſuppoſed they [...]. They were about a mile in compaſs, and had [...] on the outſde, capable of being filled with water from the neighboring [...]l [...]ts.

THERE are only a few fragments of the caſtle remaining.CASTLE. It ſtood on an artificial mount, with a great foſs, extending to the Beatrice-gate on one ſide, and on the other to the Willow-gate. Our Welſh hiſtorians attribute the foundation to Mad [...] ap Mer [...] ap B [...]yn prince of Pow [...]s, in 1148^*. Leland ^† gives ſome color to this, by ſayins, that in his time there was a tower called [...]; but the L [...]ſh records place it in poſſeſſion of A [...] a noble N [...]an, who received it immediately from [...] the Conqueror, on his acceſſion. This A [...]n was the ſtock of the Fitz-ala [...] earls of A [...]n [...]el; a potent race, that flouriſhed (with fewer checks than uſual with greatneſs) for near five hundred years.

SIR WILLIAM DU [...]LE^‡ ſays, that there was a caſtle at [...] at the time of the Conqueſt; which I think pre⯑ [...]e. The artificial mount on which it was placed indica [...] to have been earlier than the N [...]rman aer [...]. The Brit [...]ns and the [...] gave their fortreſſes this ſpecies of elevation. The Norm [...]n bulk on the f [...]m and natural ſo [...]l or rock; but often [253] made uſe of theſe mounts, wnich 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 unfrequent) might receive th [...] name of M [...]dor, complimentary either to the ſon of Meredydd, or ſome other great man of the ſame title.

THIS caſtle was the reſidence of the Norm [...]n owners, and had been completely finiſhed. I had its [...] or yard, which compre⯑hended that part or the town ſtill called the Bail [...]y head: its Barbican or outer-gate, where the maimed and blind were com⯑monly 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 ſucceſſors to this place, or the guardians of ſuch who were under age. I will only obſerve, that after the execution of Edmund earl of Aru [...]del, on the reign of Edward II. his queen, to ſhew her predilection to her gentle Mortimer, obtained the poſſeſſion of it for that favorite.

THE town was favored with conſiderable priveleges from its [...]als. Its firſt charter, from its brevity called by the Welſh [...] Gw [...]a, or the ſhort charter^*, was granted by William earl [...], in the reign of Henry II.SHARTA [...] G [...]T [...]. I muſt obſerve here, that [...] [...]parted to the burgeſſes the ſame priveleges with [...] of [...] [...]ury.

[254]THE ſame William, in a ſcutage made in kins; John's ti [...] was not to do ward at any place but Blanc-minſter, for the knights fees held by him: nor to furniſh more than ten ſoldier [...], 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 J [...] who in revenge marched to Oſweſtry in 1216^*, and reduced the town to aſhes. On the death of that prince, he was reconciled to his ſucceſſor, Henry III.FAIR. and in 1227, obtained for his m [...] ⯑nor of Blanc-minſter the grant of a fair, upon the eve, the day, and the day after the feaſt of St. Andrew. He alſo make the bailliffs clerks of the market, with power to impriſon [...] perſons who uſed fraudulent ways in buying or ſelling; [...] which they payed the conſideration of twenty marks. Theſe people frequently abuſed their power: it is therefore no wonder that ſo many of the grievances which the Welſh ſo much com⯑plained of to Edward I. ſhould originate from this place^†.

IN 1233, this unfortunate town experienced a ſecond deſtruc⯑tion, being again burnt by Llewelyn ap J [...]rwerth 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 conq [...] of Wales; therefore thought proper to ſecure this town, [...] of the keys of the country, with proper defence.

IN 1 [...]18, the reign of his unfortunate ſon, Edmund earl of Arundel was commanded to raiſe two hundred foot- [...] [255] diers out of Colne and this neighborhood, to repel the Scots.

IN 1331, Edward III. granted another fair to this town; and in 1346, directed Edmund Fitz-alan to raiſe two hundred of his vaſſals from Clun and Oſweſtry, to attend him in the French wars.

IN 1397, Richard earl of Arundel being attainted and executed, the king, Richard II. ſeized all his lands and manors, and granted them to William le Serope earl of Wiltſhire, one of his fa⯑vorites.FIRST ROYAL CHARTER. He alſo granted to the town the firſt royal charter, incorporating it by the name of the bailiffs and burgeſſes of OSWESTRY infra Palatinatum CESTRIAE in marchid inter ANGLIAM [...]t WALLIAM. This was alſo founded upon the conſſitution of that of Shrewſbury. They were exempted throughout the king⯑dom (the liberty of the city of London excepted) de Theolonio, Laſtugie, Paſſagio, Pontagio, Stallagio de L [...]ne, et de Danegeldis, et S [...]y [...]it, et omnibus allis conſuetudinibus et exactionibus.

ITS new lord, the earl of Wiltshire, fell a victim to the po⯑pular fury,THOMAS EARL OF ARUNDEL. on the depoſal of his royal maſter; and Thomas the ſon of the attainted earl, reſtored in blood. He proved a great benefactor to the corporation: he gave it a releaſe, in 1406, from a hundred pounds that they were indebted to him, in conſidera⯑tion of the diſtreſſes the town ſuffered during the inſurrection of Glyndwr. He alſo obtained a pardon from the king for his vaſſals in Chirk, [...]r [...]field, and this manor, for the ſhare they took in that commotion.

IN the ſame year with the releaſe, he granted a moſt ex⯑tenſive charter to the town, containing many matters that ſhew [256] the cuſtoms of the times; and merits, on that account, a detail of ſome of the particulars. To began with a moſt eſſential one;HIS CHARTER. ‘Neither the lord or his heirs ſhould confiſcate or ſeize the effects of perſons dying with or without will in the corpora⯑tion: THAT no burgeſs ſhould be compelled to be the [...]o [...]d's receiver-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 [...] 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 a [...] his own election, from every manſion-houſe in the town; and a farthing of every cottage on the feaſt of St. Stephen annually THAT the burgeſſes ſhould be freed for the future from [...] exciſe of ale brewed and ſold in the town, which had been hitherto payable, at the rate of ſeven pence for every Br [...] cervi [...] expoſed to ſale: THAT they were to be freed from the duty of Amobr or Lyrewite ^*: THAT whoever lived in the houſe of a burgeſs, and happened to die there, the bur⯑geſs was to have a herlot after his deceaſe; in the ſame man⯑ner as the [...], or freeholders reſiding 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 penalty of ſix ſhillings and eight pence: THAT none of the inhabitants of the lord⯑ [...]hips of Oſweſtry, Mel [...]erl [...]y, Kinardſ [...]ey, Egerley, Ruyton and [257] the eleven towns^*, ſhould drive or carry any cattle, corn, or victuals, or other wares, to any foreign fair or market, before the ſame had been firſt expoſed to ſale in the town of Oſ⯑weſtry, under the penalty of ſix ſhillings and eight pence: THAT none of the lord's tenants ſhould be compelled to pay the redditus advocarii for the ſecurity of the cas;tle, &c. &c.’