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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1149-h.zip b/1149-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..87788ea --- /dev/null +++ b/1149-h.zip diff --git a/1149-h/1149-h.htm b/1149-h/1149-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b7cd9a --- /dev/null +++ b/1149-h/1149-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4373 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>From London to Land's End</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + TD { vertical-align: top; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">From London to Land's End, by Daniel Defoe</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, From London to Land's End, by Daniel Defoe, +Edited by Henry Morley + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: From London to Land's End + and Two Letters from the "Journey through England by a Gentleman" + + +Author: Daniel Defoe + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [eBook #1149] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM LONDON TO LAND'S END*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org</p> +<h1><span class="smcap">from</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">London to Land’s End</span>.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +DANIEL DEFOE.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">and</span></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Two Letters from the</i> +“<i>Journey through England by a Gentleman</i>.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CASSELL & COMPANY, <span +class="smcap">Limited</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap">london</span>, <span +class="smcap">paris</span>, <span class="smcap">new york</span> +& <span class="smcap">melbourne</span>.<br /> +1888.</p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>At the end of this book there are a couple of letters from a +volume of the “Travels in England” which were not by +Defoe, although resembling Defoe’s work so much in form and +title, and so near to it in date of publication, that a volume of +one book is often found taking the place of a volume of the +other. A purchaser of Defoe’s “Travels in +England” has therefore to take care that he is not buying +one of the mixed sets. Each of the two works describes +England at the end of the first quarter of the eighteenth +century. Our added descriptions of Bath, and of the journey +by Chester to Holyhead, were published in 1722; Defoe’s +“Journey from London to the Land’s End” was +published in 1724, and both writers help us to compare the past +with the present by their accounts of England as it was in the +days of George the First, more than a hundred and sixty years +ago. The days certainly are gone when, after a good haul of +pilchards, seventeen can be bought for a halfpenny, and two +gentlemen and their servant can have them broiled at a tavern and +dine on them for three farthings, dressing and all. In +another of his journeys Defoe gives a seaside tavern bill, in +which the charges were ridiculously small for everything except +for bread. It was war time, and the bread was the most +costly item in the bill.</p> +<p>In the earlier part of this account of the “Journey from +London to the Land’s End,” there is interest in the +fresh memories of the rebuilding and planting at Hampton Court by +William III. and Queen Mary. The passing away, and in +opinion of that day the surpassing, of Wolsey’s palace +there were none then to regret.</p> +<p>A more characteristic feature in this letter will be found in +the details of a project which Defoe says he had himself +advocated before the Lord-Treasurer Godolphin, for the settlement +of poor refugees from the Palatinate upon land in the New +Forest. Our friendly relations with the Palatinate had +begun with the marriage of James the First’s eldest +daughter to the Elector Palatine, who brought on himself much +trouble by accepting the crown of Bohemia from the subjects of +the Emperor Ferdinand the Second. As a Protestant Prince +allied by marriage to England, he drew from England sympathies +and ineffectual assistance. Many years afterwards, during +the war with France in Queen Anne’s time, the allies were +unprosperous in 1707, and Marshal Villars was victorious upon the +Rhine. The pressure of public feeling on behalf of refugees +from the Palatinate did not last long enough for any action to be +taken. But if it had seemed well to the Government to +accept the project advocated by Defoe, we should have had a +clearance of what is now the most beautiful part of the New +Forest, near Lyndhurst; and in place of the little area that +still preserves all the best features of forest land, we should +have had a town of Englishmen descended from the latest of the +German settlements upon our soil. Upon the political +economy of Defoe’s project, and the accuracy of his +calculations, and the more or less resemblance of his scheme to +the system of free grants of land in unsettled regions beyond the +sea, each reader will speculate in his own way.</p> +<p>There are interesting notes on the extent of the sheep farming +upon the Downs crossed in this journey. There is high +praise of the ladies of Dorsetshire. There are some +pleasant notes upon dialect, including the story, often quoted, +of the schoolboy whom Defoe saw and heard reading his Bible in +class, and while following every word and line with his eye, +translating it as he went into his own way of speech. Thus +he turned the third verse of the fifth chapter of Solomon’s +Song, “I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? +I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?” into +“Chav a doffed my cooat; how shall I don’t? +Chav a washed my veet; how shall I moil ’em?” +This is a good example of intelligent reading; for the boy took +in the sense of the printed lines, and then made it his own by +giving homely utterance to what he understood.</p> +<p>Defoe tells in this letter several tales of the shorefolk +about the Great Storm of November, 1703, recollection of which +Addison used effectively in the following year in his poem on the +Battle of Blenheim. There was the sweeping away of the +first Eddystone Lighthouse, with the builder, confident in its +strength, who had desired to be in it some night when the wind +blew with unusual fury. There was the story also of the man +and two boys, in a ship laden with tin, blown out of Helford +Haven, and of their hairbreadth escape by counsel of one of the +boys who ran the ship through rocks into a narrow creek that he +knew in the Isle of Wight. The form of the coast has been +changed so much since 1703 by the beat of many storms, that it +may be now impossible to know that little cove as the boy knew +it. It must have been at the back of the island. Were +the storm waves tossing then in Steephill Cove or Luccombe +Chine? Does there survive anywhere a tradition of that +perilous landing? Probably not. Wreck follows upon +wreck, and memory of many tales of death and peril on the +rock-bound coast lie between us and the boy who took the helm +when he spied the well-known creek as the great storm was +sweeping the ship on to destruction. From the next year +after that famous storm, Defoe gives a memory of disaster seen by +himself at Plymouth in the wreck of a little fleet from +Barbadoes. In another part of this letter he tells what he +had seen of a fight at sea between three French men-of-war and +two English with a convoy of two or three trading vessels.</p> +<p>There will be found also in this letter a good story of a +Cornish dog taken from Carew’s “Survey of +Cornwall,” which may pair with that of the London dog who +lately took a wounded fellow dog to hospital.</p> +<p>The writer of this letter speaks of the civil war times as a +friend of monarchy, but when he tells of the landing of William +III. at Torbay, he suggests that the people had good reason for +rejoicing, and throughout the journey he takes note of a great +inequality he finds in distribution of the right of returning +members to Parliament. It is evident that he could propound +a project for a Reform Bill, though he is careful so to describe +England as to avoid giving offence to Englishmen of any +party. The possibility of some change for the better here +and there presents itself; Defoe glances and passes on. His +theme is England and the English; he shows us, clearly and very +simply, what he has seen of the social life and manners of the +people, of the features of the land itself, and their relation to +its industries; traces of the past, and prospects of the future; +shepherds, fishermen, merchants; catching of salmon peel in +mill-weirs, and catching of husbands at provincial assemblies; +with whatever else he found worth friendly observation.</p> +<p style="text-align: right">H. M.</p> +<h2>FROM LONDON TO LAND’S END</h2> +<p>Sir,</p> +<p>I find so much left to speak of, and so many things to say in +every part of England, that my journey cannot be barren of +intelligence which way soever I turn; no, though I were to oblige +myself to say nothing of anything that had been spoken of +before.</p> +<p>I intended once to have gone due west this journey; but then I +should have been obliged to crowd my observations so close (to +bring Hampton Court, Windsor, Blenheim, Oxford, the Bath and +Bristol all into one letter; all those remarkable places lying in +a line, as it were, in one point of the compass) as to have made +my letter too long, or my observations too light and superficial, +as others have done before me.</p> +<p>This letter will divide the weighty task, and consequently +make it sit lighter on the memory, be pleasanter to the reader, +and make my progress the more regular: I shall therefore take in +Hampton Court and Windsor in this journey; the first at my +setting out, and the last at my return, and the rest as their +situation demands.</p> +<p>As I came down from Kingston, in my last circuit, by the south +bank of the Thames, on the Surrey side of the river; so I go up +to Hampton Court now on the north bank, and on the Middlesex +side, which I mention, because, as the sides of the country +bordering on the river lie parallel, so the beauty of the +country, the pleasant situations, the glory of innumerable fine +buildings (noblemen’s and gentlemen’s houses, and +citizens’ retreats), are so equal a match to what I had +described on the other side that one knows not which to give the +preference to: but as I must speak of them again, when I come to +write of the county of Middlesex, which I have now purposely +omitted; so I pass them over here, except the palace of Hampton +only, which I mentioned in “Middlesex,” for the +reasons above.</p> +<p>Hampton Court lies on the north bank of the River Thames, +about two small miles from Kingston, and on the road from Staines +to Kingston Bridge; so that the road straightening the parks a +little, they were obliged to part the parks, and leave the +Paddock and the great park part on the other side the +road—a testimony of that just regard that the kings of +England always had, and still have, to the common good, and to +the service of the country, that they would not interrupt the +course of the road, or cause the poor people to go out of the way +of their business to or from the markets and fairs, for any +pleasure of their own whatsoever.</p> +<p>The palace of Hampton Court was first founded and built from +the ground by that great statesman and favourite of King Henry +VIII, Cardinal Wolsey; and if it be a just observation anywhere, +as is made from the situation of the old abbeys and monasteries, +the clergy were excellent judges of the beauty and pleasantness +of the country, and chose always to plant in the best; I say, if +it was a just observation in any case, it was in this; for if +there be a situation on the whole river between Staines Bridge +and Windsor Bridge pleasanter than another, it is this of +Hampton; close to the river, yet not offended by the rising of +its waters in floods or storms; near to the reflux of the tides, +but not quite so near as to be affected with any foulness of the +water which the flowing of the tides generally is the occasion +of. The gardens extend almost to the bank of the river, yet +are never overflowed; nor are there any marshes on either side +the river to make the waters stagnate, or the air unwholesome on +that account. The river is high enough to be navigable, and +low enough to be a little pleasantly rapid; so that the stream +looks always cheerful, not slow and sleeping, like a pond. +This keeps the waters always clear and clean, the bottom in view, +the fish playing and in sight; and, in a word, it has everything +that can make an inland (or, as I may call it, a country) river +pleasant and agreeable.</p> +<p>I shall sing you no songs here of the river in the first +person of a water-nymph, a goddess, and I know not what, +according to the humour of the ancient poets; I shall talk +nothing of the marriage of old Isis, the male river, with the +beautiful Thame, the female river (a whimsey as simple as the +subject was empty); but I shall speak of the river as occasion +presents, as it really is made glorious by the splendour of its +shores, gilded with noble palaces, strong fortifications, large +hospitals, and public buildings; with the greatest bridge, and +the greatest city in the world, made famous by the opulence of +its merchants, the increase and extensiveness of its commerce; by +its invincible navies, and by the innumerable fleets of ships +sailing upon it to and from all parts of the world.</p> +<p>As I meet with the river upwards in my travels through the +inland country I shall speak of it, as it is the channel for +conveying an infinite quantity of provisions from remote counties +to London, and enriching all the counties again that lie near it +by the return of wealth and trade from the city; and in +describing these things I expect both to inform and divert my +readers, and speak in a more masculine manner, more to the +dignity of the subject, and also more to their satisfaction, than +I could do any other way.</p> +<p>There is little more to be said of the Thames relating to +Hampton Court, than that it adds by its neighbourhood to the +pleasure of the situation; for as to passing by water to and from +London, though in summer it is exceeding pleasant, yet the +passage is a little too long to make it easy to the ladies, +especially to be crowded up in the small boats which usually go +upon the Thames for pleasure.</p> +<p>The prince and princess, indeed, I remember came once down by +water upon the occasion of her Royal Highness’s being great +with child, and near her time—so near that she was +delivered within two or three days after. But this passage +being in the royal barges, with strength of oars, and the day +exceeding fine, the passage, I say, was made very pleasant, and +still the more so for being short. Again, this passage is +all the way with the stream, whereas in the common passage +upwards great part of the way is against the stream, which is +slow and heavy.</p> +<p>But be the going and coming how it will by water, it is an +exceeding pleasant passage by land, whether we go by the Surrey +side or the Middlesex side of the water, of which I shall say +more in its place.</p> +<p>The situation of Hampton Court being thus mentioned, and its +founder, it is to be mentioned next that it fell to the Crown in +the forfeiture of his Eminence the Cardinal, when the king seized +his effects and estate, by which this and Whitehall (another +house of his own building also) came to King Henry VIII. +Two palaces fit for the kings of England, erected by one +cardinal, are standing monuments of the excessive pride as well +as the immense wealth of that prelate, who knew no bounds of his +insolence and ambition till he was overthrown at once by the +displeasure of his master.</p> +<p>Whoever knew Hampton Court before it was begun to be rebuilt, +or altered, by the late King William, must acknowledge it was a +very complete palace before, and fit for a king; and though it +might not, according to the modern method of building or of +gardening, pass for a thing exquisitely fine, yet it had this +remaining to itself, and perhaps peculiar—namely, that it +showed a situation exceedingly capable of improvement, and of +being made one of the most delightful palaces in Europe.</p> +<p>This her Majesty Queen Mary was so sensible of, that, while +the king had ordered the pulling down the old apartments, and +building it up in that most beautiful form which we see them now +appear in, her Majesty, impatient of enjoying so agreeable a +retreat, fixed upon a building formerly made use of chiefly for +landing from the river, and therefore called the Water Galley, +and here, as if she had been conscious that she had but a few +years to enjoy it, she ordered all the little neat curious things +to be done which suited her own conveniences, and made it the +pleasantest little thing within doors that could possibly be +made, though its situation being such as it could not be allowed +to stand after the great building was finished, we now see no +remains of it.</p> +<p>The queen had here her gallery of beauties, being the pictures +at full-length of the principal ladies attending upon her +Majesty, or who were frequently in her retinue; and this was the +more beautiful sight because the originals were all in being, and +often to be compared with their pictures. Her Majesty had +here a fine apartment, with a set of lodgings for her private +retreat only, but most exquisitely furnished, particularly a fine +chintz bed, then a great curiosity; another of her own work while +in Holland, very magnificent, and several others; and here was +also her Majesty’s fine collection of Delft ware, which +indeed was very large and fine; and here was also a vast stock of +fine china ware, the like whereof was not then to be seen in +England; the long gallery, as above, was filled with this china, +and every other place where it could be placed with +advantage.</p> +<p>The queen had here also a small bathing-room, made very fine, +suited either to hot or cold bathing, as the season should +invite; also a dairy, with all its conveniences, in which her +Majesty took great delight. All these things were finished +with expedition, that here their Majesties might repose while +they saw the main building go forward. While this was +doing, the gardens were laid out, the plan of them devised by the +king himself, and especially the amendments and alterations were +made by the king or the queen’s particular special command, +or by both, for their Majesties agreed so well in their fancy, +and had both so good judgment in the just proportions of things, +which are the principal beauties of a garden, that it may be said +they both ordered everything that was done.</p> +<p>Here the fine parcel of limes which form the semicircle on the +south front of the house by the iron gates, looking into the +park, were by the dexterous hand of the head gardener removed, +after some of them had been almost thirty years planted in other +places, though not far off. I know the King of France in +the decoration of the gardens of Versailles had oaks removed, +which by their dimensions must have been above an hundred years +old, and yet were taken up with so much art, and by the strength +of such engines, by which such a monstrous quantity of earth was +raised with them, that the trees could not feel their +remove—that is to say, their growth was not at all +hindered. This, I confess, makes the wonder much the less +in those trees at Hampton Court gardens; but the performance was +not the less difficult or nice, however, in these, and they +thrive perfectly well.</p> +<p>While the gardens were thus laid out, the king also directed +the laying the pipes for the fountains and +<i>jet-d’eaux</i>, and particularly the dimensions of them, +and what quantity of water they should cast up, and increased the +number of them after the first design.</p> +<p>The ground on the side of the other front has received some +alterations since the taking down the Water Galley; but not that +part immediately next the lodgings. The orange-trees and +fine Dutch bays are placed within the arches of the building +under the first floor; so that the lower part of the house was +all one as a greenhouse for sometime. Here stand advanced, +on two pedestals of stone, two marble vases or flower-pots of +most exquisite workmanship—the one done by an Englishman, +and the other by a German. It is hard to say which is the +best performance, though the doing of it was a kind of trial of +skill between them; but it gives us room, without any partiality, +to say they were both masters of their art.</p> +<p>The <i>parterre</i> on that side descends from the +terrace-walk by steps, and on the left a terrace goes down to the +water-side, from which the garden on the eastward front is +overlooked, and gives a most pleasant prospect.</p> +<p>The fine scrolls and <i>bordure</i> of these gardens were at +first edged with box, but on the queen’s disliking the +smell those edgings were taken up, but have since been planted +again—at least, in many places—nothing making so fair +and regular an edging as box, or is so soon brought to its +perfection.</p> +<p>On the north side of the house, where the gardens seemed to +want screening from the weather or the view of the chapel, and +some part of the old building required to be covered from the +eye, the vacant ground, which was large, is very happily cast +into a wilderness, with a labyrinth and <i>espaliers</i> so high +that they effectually take off all that part of the old building +which would have been offensive to the sight. This +labyrinth and wilderness is not only well designed, and +completely finished, but is perfectly well kept, and the +<i>espaliers</i> filled exactly at bottom, to the very ground, +and are led up to proportioned heights on the top, so that +nothing of that kind can be more beautiful.</p> +<p>The house itself is every way answerable on the outside to the +beautiful prospect, and the two fronts are the largest and, +beyond comparison, the finest of the kind in England. The +great stairs go up from the second court of the palace on the +right hand, and lead you to the south prospect.</p> +<p>I hinted in my last that King William brought into England the +love of fine paintings as well as that of fine gardens; and you +have an example of it in the cartoons, as they are called, being +five pieces of such paintings as, if you will believe men of nice +judgment and great travelling, are not to be matched in +Europe. The stories are known, but especially two of +them—viz., that of St. Paul preaching on Mars Hill to the +self-wise Athenians, and that of St. Peter passing sentence of +death on Ananias—I say, these two strike the mind with the +utmost surprise, the passions are so drawn to the life; +astonishment, terror, and death in the face of Ananias, zeal and +a sacred fire in the eyes of the blessed Apostle, fright and +surprise upon the countenances of the beholders in the piece of +Ananias; all these describe themselves so naturally that you +cannot but seem to discover something of the like passions, even +in seeing them.</p> +<p>In the other there is the boldness and courage with which St. +Paul undertook to talk to a set of men who, he knew, despised all +the world, as thinking themselves able to teach them +anything. In the audience there is anticipating pride and +conceit in some, a smile or fleer of contempt in others, but a +kind of sensible conviction, though crushed in its beginning, on +the faces of the rest; and all together appear confounded, but +have little to say, and know nothing at all of it; they gravely +put him off to hear him another time; all these are seen here in +the very dress of the face—that is, the very countenances +which they hold while they listen to the new doctrine which the +Apostle preached to a people at that time ignorant of it.</p> +<p>The other of the cartoons are exceeding fine but I mention +these as the particular two which are most lively, which strike +the fancy the soonest at first view. It is reported, but +with what truth I know not, that the late French king offered an +hundred thousand <i>louis d’ors</i> for these pictures; but +this, I say, is but a report. The king brought a great many +other fine pieces to England, and with them the love of fine +paintings so universally spread itself among the nobility and +persons of figure all over the kingdom that it is incredible what +collections have been made by English gentlemen since that time, +and how all Europe has been rummaged, as we may say, for pictures +to bring over hither, where for twenty years they yielded the +purchasers, such as collected them for sale, immense +profit. But the rates are abated since that, and we begin +to be glutted with the copies and frauds of the Dutch and Flemish +painters who have imposed grossly upon us. But to return to +the palace of Hampton Court. Queen Mary lived not to see it +completely finished, and her death, with the other difficulties +of that reign, put a stop to the works for some time till the +king, reviving his good liking of the place, set them to work +again, and it was finished as we see it. But I have been +assured that had the peace continued, and the king lived to enjoy +the continuance of it, his Majesty had resolved to have pulled +down all the remains of the old building (such as the chapel and +the large court within the first gate), and to have built up the +whole palace after the manner of those two fronts already +done. In these would have been an entire set of rooms of +state for the receiving and, if need had been, lodging and +entertaining any foreign prince with his retinue; also offices +for all the Secretaries of State, Lords of the Treasury, and of +Trade, to have repaired to for the despatch of such business as +it might be necessary to have done there upon the king’s +longer residence there than ordinary; as also apartments for all +the great officers of the Household; so that had the house had +two great squares added, as was designed, there would have been +no room to spare, or that would not have been very well +filled. But the king’s death put an end to all these +things.</p> +<p>Since the death of King William, Hampton Court seemed +abandoned of its patron. They have gotten a kind of +proverbial saying relating to Hampton Court, viz., that it has +been generally chosen by every other prince since it became a +house of note. King Charles was the first that delighted in +it since Queen Elizabeth’s time. As for the reigns +before, it was but newly forfeited to the Crown, and was not made +a royal house till King Charles I., who was not only a prince +that delighted in country retirements, but knew how to make +choice of them by the beauty of their situation, the goodness of +the air, &c. He took great delight here, and, had he +lived to enjoy it in peace, had purposed to make it another thing +than it was. But we all know what took him off from that +felicity, and all others; and this house was at last made one of +his prisons by his rebellious subjects.</p> +<p>His son, King Charles II., may well be said to have an +aversion to the place, for the reason just +mentioned—namely, the treatment his royal father met with +there—and particularly that the rebel and murderer of his +father, Cromwell, afterwards possessed this palace, and revelled +here in the blood of the royal party, as he had done in that of +his sovereign. King Charles II. therefore chose Windsor, +and bestowed a vast sum in beautifying the castle there, and +which brought it to the perfection we see it in at this +day—some few alterations excepted, done in the time of King +William.</p> +<p>King William (for King James is not to be named as to his +choice of retired palaces, his delight running quite another +way)—I say, King William fixed upon Hampton Court, and it +was in his reign that Hampton Court put on new clothes, and, +being dressed gay and glorious, made the figure we now see it +in.</p> +<p>The late queen, taken up for part of her reign in her kind +regards to the prince her spouse, was obliged to reside where her +care of his health confined her, and in this case kept for the +most part at Kensington, where he died; but her Majesty always +discovered her delight to be at Windsor, where she chose the +little house, as it was called, opposite to the Castle, and took +the air in her chaise in the parks and forest as she saw +occasion.</p> +<p>Now Hampton Court, by the like alternative, is come into +request again; and we find his present Majesty, who is a good +judge too of the pleasantness and situation of a place of that +kind, has taken Hampton Court into his favour, and has made it +much his choice for the summer’s retreat of the Court, and +where they may best enjoy the diversions of the season. +When Hampton Court will find such another favourable juncture as +in King William’s time, when the remainder of her ashes +shall be swept away, and her complete fabric, as designed by King +William, shall be finished, I cannot tell; but if ever that shall +be, I know no palace in Europe, Versailles excepted, which can +come up to her, either for beauty and magnificence, or for extent +of building, and the ornaments attending it.</p> +<p>From Hampton Court I directed my course for a journey into the +south-west part of England; and to take up my beginning where I +concluded my last, I crossed to Chertsey on the Thames, a town I +mentioned before; from whence, crossing the Black Desert, as I +called it, of Bagshot Heath, I directed my course for Hampshire +or Hantshire, and particularly for Basingstoke—that is to +say, that a little before, I passed into the great Western Road +upon the heath, somewhat west of Bagshot, at a village called +Blackwater, and entered Hampshire, near Hartleroe.</p> +<p>Before we reach Basingstoke, we get rid of that unpleasant +country which I so often call a desert, and enter into a pleasant +fertile country, enclosed and cultivated like the rest of +England; and passing a village or two we enter Basingstoke, in +the midst of woods and pastures, rich and fertile, and the +country accordingly spread with the houses of the nobility and +gentry, as in other places. On the right hand, a little +before we come to the town, we pass at a small distance the +famous fortress, so it was then, of Basing, being a house +belonging then to the Marquis of Winchester, the great ancestor +of the present family of the Dukes of Bolton.</p> +<p>This house, garrisoned by a resolute band of old soldiers, was +a great curb to the rebels of the Parliament party almost through +that whole war; till it was, after a vigorous defence, yielded to +the conquerors by the inevitable fate of things at that +time. The old house is, indeed, demolished but the +successor of the family, the first Duke of Bolton, has erected a +very noble fabric in the same place, or near it, which, however, +is not equal to the magnificence which fame gives to the ancient +house, whose strength of building only, besides the outworks, +withstood the battery of cannon in several attacks, and repulsed +the Roundheads three or four times when they attempted to besiege +it. It is incredible what booty the garrison of this place +picked up, lying as they did just on the great Western Road, +where they intercepted the carriers, plundered the waggons, and +suffered nothing to pass—to the great interruption of the +trade of the city of London.</p> +<p>Basingstoke is a large populous market-town, has a good market +for corn, and lately within a very few years is fallen into a +manufacture, viz., of making druggets and shalloons, and such +slight goods, which, however, employs a good number of the poor +people, and enables them to get their bread, which knew not how +to get it before.</p> +<p>From hence the great Western Road goes on to Whitchurch and +Andover, two market-towns, and sending members to Parliament; at +the last of which the Downs, or open country, begins, which we in +general, though falsely, call Salisbury Plain. But my +resolution being to take in my view what I had passed by before, +I was obliged to go off to the left hand, to Alresford and +Winchester.</p> +<p>Alresford was a flourishing market-town, and remarkable for +this—that though it had no great trade, and particularly +very little, if any, manufactures, yet there was no collection in +the town for the poor, nor any poor low enough to take alms of +the parish, which is what I do not think can be said of any town +in England besides.</p> +<p>But this happy circumstance, which so distinguished Alresford +from all her neighbours, was brought to an end in the year ---, +when by a sudden and surprising fire the whole town, with both +the church and the market-house, was reduced to a heap of +rubbish; and, except a few poor huts at the remotest ends of the +town, not a house left standing. The town is since that +very handsomely rebuilt, and the neighbouring gentlemen +contributed largely to the relief of the people, especially by +sending in timber towards their building; also their market-house +is handsomely built, but the church not yet, though we hear there +is a fund raising likewise for that.</p> +<p>Here is a very large pond, or lake of water, kept up to a head +by a strong <i>batter d’eau</i>, or dam, which the people +tell us was made by the Romans; and that it is to this day part +of the great Roman highway which leads from Winchester to Alton, +and, as it is supposed, went on to London, though we nowhere see +any remains of it, except between Winchester and Alton, and +chiefly between this town and Alton.</p> +<p>Near this town, a little north-west, the Duke of Bolton has +another seat, which, though not large, is a very handsome +beautiful palace, and the gardens not only very exact, but very +finely situate, the prospect and vistas noble and great, and the +whole very well kept.</p> +<p>From hence, at the end of seven miles over the Downs, we come +to the very ancient city of Winchester; not only the great church +(which is so famous all over Europe, and has been so much talked +of), but even the whole city has at a distance the face of +venerable, and looks ancient afar off; and yet here are many +modern buildings too, and some very handsome; as the college +schools, with the bishop’s palace, built by Bishop Morley +since the late wars—the old palace of the bishop having +been ruined by that known church incendiary Sir William Waller +and his crew of plunderers, who, if my information is not wrong, +as I believe it is not, destroyed more monuments of the dead, and +defaced more churches, than all the Roundheads in England +beside.</p> +<p>This church, and the schools also are accurately described by +several writers, especially by the “Monasticon,” +where their antiquity and original is fully set forth. The +outside of the church is as plain and coarse as if the founders +had abhorred ornaments, or that William of Wickham had been a +Quaker, or at least a Quietist. There is neither statue, +nor a niche for a statue, to be seen on all the outside; no +carved work, no spires, towers, pinnacles, balustrades, or +anything; but mere walls, buttresses, windows, and coigns +necessary to the support and order of the building. It has +no steeple, but a short tower covered flat, as if the top of it +had fallen down, and it had been covered in haste to keep the +rain out till they had time to build it up again.</p> +<p>But the inside of the church has many very good things in it, +and worth observation; it was for some ages the burying-place of +the English Saxon kings, whose <i>reliques</i>, at the repair of +the church, were collected by Bishop Fox, and being put together +into large wooden chests lined with lead were again interred at +the foot of the great wall in the choir, three on one side, and +three on the other, with an account whose bones are in each +chest. Whether the division of the <i>reliques</i> might be +depended upon, has been doubted, but is not thought material, so +that we do but believe they are all there.</p> +<p>The choir of the church appears very magnificent; the roof is +very high, and the Gothic work in the arched part is very fine, +though very old; the painting in the windows is admirably good, +and easy to be distinguished by those that understand those +things: the steps ascending to the choir make a very fine show, +having the statues of King James and his son King Charles, in +copper, finely cast; the first on the right hand, and the other +on the left, as you go up to the choir.</p> +<p>The choir is said to be the longest in England; and as the +number of prebendaries, canons, &c., are many, it required +such a length. The ornaments of the choir are the effects +of the bounty of several bishops. The fine altar (the +noblest in England by much) was done by Bishop Morley; the roof +and the coat-of-arms of the Saxon and Norman kings were done by +Bishop Fox; and the fine throne for the bishop in the choir was +given by Bishop Mew in his lifetime; and it was well it was for +if he had ordered it by will, there is reason to believe it had +never been done—that reverend prelate, notwithstanding he +enjoyed so rich a bishopric, scarce leaving money enough behind +him to pay for his coffin.</p> +<p>There are a great many persons of rank buried in this church, +besides the Saxon kings mentioned above, and besides several of +the most eminent bishops of the See. Just under the altar +lies a son of William the Conqueror, without any monument; and +behind the altar, under a very fine and venerable monument, lies +the famous Lord Treasurer Weston, late Earl of Portland, Lord +High Treasurer of England under King Charles I. His effigy +is in copper armour at full-length, with his head raised on three +cushions of the same, and is a very magnificent work. There +is also a very fine monument of Cardinal Beaufort in his +cardinal’s robes and hat.</p> +<p>The monument of Sir John Cloberry is extraordinary, but more +because it puts strangers upon inquiring into his story than for +anything wonderful in the figure, it being cut in a modern dress +(the habit gentlemen wore in those times, which, being now so +much out of fashion, appears mean enough). But this +gentleman’s story is particular, being the person solely +entrusted with the secret of the restoration of King Charles II., +as the messenger that passed between General Monk on one hand, +and Mr. Montague and others entrusted by King Charles II. on the +other hand; which he managed so faithfully as to effect that +memorable event, to which England owes the felicity of all her +happy days since that time; by which faithful service Sir John +Cloberry, then a private musketeer only, raised himself to the +honour of a knight, with the reward of a good estate from the +bounty of the king.</p> +<p>Everybody that goes into this church, and reads what is to be +read there, will be told that the body of the church was built by +the famous William of Wickham; whose monument, intimating his +fame, lies in the middle of that part which was built at his +expense.</p> +<p>He was a courtier before a bishop; and, though he had no great +share of learning, he was a great promoter of it, and a lover of +learned men. His natural genius was much beyond his +acquired parts, and his skill in politics beyond his ecclesiastic +knowledge. He is said to have put his master, King Edward +III., to whom he was Secretary of State, upon the two great +projects which made his reign so glorious, viz.:—First, +upon setting up his claim to the crown of France, and pushing +that claim by force of arms, which brought on the war with +France, in which that prince was three times victorious in +battle. (2) Upon setting up, or instituting the Order of +the Garter; in which he (being before that made Bishop of +Winchester) obtained the honour for the Bishops of Winchester of +being always prelates of the Order, as an appendix to the +bishopric; and he himself was the first prelate of the Order, and +the ensigns of that honour are joined with his episcopal +ornaments in the robing of his effigy on the monument above.</p> +<p>To the honour of this bishop, there are other foundations of +his, as much to his fame as that of this church, of which I shall +speak in their order; but particularly the college in this city, +which is a noble foundation indeed. The building consists +of two large courts, in which are the lodgings for the masters +and scholars, and in the centre a very noble chapel; beyond that, +in the second court, are the schools, with a large cloister +beyond them, and some enclosures laid open for the diversion of +the scholars. There also is a great hall, where the +scholars dine. The funds for the support of this college +are very considerable; the masters live in a very good figure, +and their maintenance is sufficient to support it. They +have all separate dwellings in the house, and all possible +conveniences appointed them.</p> +<p>The scholars have exhibitions at a certain time of continuance +here, if they please to study in the new college at Oxford, built +by the same noble benefactor, of which I shall speak in its +order.</p> +<p>The clergy here live at large, and very handsomely, in the +Close belonging to the cathedral; where, besides the +bishop’s palace mentioned above, are very good houses, and +very handsomely built, for the prebendaries, canons, and other +dignitaries of this church. The Deanery is a very pleasant +dwelling, the gardens very large, and the river running through +them; but the floods in winter sometimes incommode the gardens +very much.</p> +<p>This school has fully answered the end of the founder, who, +though he was no great scholar, resolved to erect a house for the +making the ages to come more learned than those that went before; +and it has, I say, fully answered the end, for many learned and +great men have been raised here, some of whom we shall have +occasion to mention as we go on.</p> +<p>Among the many private inscriptions in this church, we found +one made by Dr. Over, once an eminent physician in this city, on +a mother and child, who, being his patients, died together and +were buried in the same grave, and which intimate that one died +of a fever, and the other of a dropsy:</p> +<blockquote><p>“Surrepuit natum Febris, matrem abstulit +Hydrops,<br /> +Igne Prior Fatis, Altera cepit Aqua.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>As the city itself stands in a vale on the bank, and at the +conjunction of two small rivers, so the country rising every way, +but just as the course of the water keeps the valley open, you +must necessarily, as you go out of the gates, go uphill every +way; but when once ascended, you come to the most charming plains +and most pleasant country of that kind in England; which +continues with very small intersections of rivers and valleys for +above fifty miles, as shall appear in the sequel of this +journey.</p> +<p>At the west gate of this city was anciently a castle, known to +be so by the ruins more than by any extraordinary notice taken of +it in history. What they say of it, that the Saxon kings +kept their court here, is doubtful, and must be meant of the West +Saxons only. And as to the tale of King Arthur’s +Round Table, which they pretend was kept here for him and his two +dozen of knights (which table hangs up still, as a piece of +antiquity to the tune of twelve hundred years, and has, as they +pretend, the names of the said knights in Saxon characters, and +yet such as no man can read), all this story I see so little +ground to give the least credit to that I look upon it, and it +shall please you, to be no better than a fib.</p> +<p>Where this castle stood, or whatever else it was (for some say +there was no castle there), the late King Charles II. marked out +a very noble design, which, had he lived, would certainly have +made that part of the country the Newmarket of the ages to come; +for the country hereabout far excels that of Newmarket Heath for +all kinds of sport and diversion fit for a prince, nobody can +dispute. And as the design included a noble palace +(sufficient, like Windsor, for a summer residence of the whole +court), it would certainly have diverted the king from his +cursory journeys to Newmarket.</p> +<p>The plan of this house has received several alterations, and +as it is never like to be finished, it is scarce worth recording +the variety. The building is begun, and the front next the +city carried up to the roof and covered, but the remainder is not +begun. There was a street of houses designed from the gate +of the palace down to the town, but it was never begun to be +built; the park marked out was exceeding large, near ten miles in +circumference, and ended west upon the open Downs, in view of the +town of Stockbridge.</p> +<p>This house was afterwards settled, with a royal revenue also, +as an appanage (established by Parliament) upon Prince George of +Denmark for his life, in case he had out-lived the queen; but his +Royal Highness dying before her Majesty, all hope of seeing this +design perfected, or the house finished, is now vanished.</p> +<p>I cannot omit that there are several public edifices in this +city and in the neighbourhood, as the hospitals and the building +adjoining near the east gate; and towards the north a piece of an +old monastery undemolished, and which is still preserved to the +religion, being the residence of some private Roman Catholic +gentlemen, where they have an oratory, and, as they say, live +still according to the rules of St. Benedict. This building +is called Hide House; and as they live very usefully, and to the +highest degree obliging among their neighbours, they meet with no +obstruction or disturbance from anybody.</p> +<p>Winchester is a place of no trade other than is naturally +occasioned by the inhabitants of the city and neighbouring +villages one with another. Here is no manufacture, no +navigation; there was indeed an attempt to make the river +navigable from Southampton, and it was once made practicable, but +it never answered the expense so as to give encouragement to the +undertakers.</p> +<p>Here is a great deal of good company, and abundance of gentry +being in the neighbourhood, it adds to the sociableness of the +place. The clergy also here are, generally speaking, very +rich and very numerous.</p> +<p>As there is such good company, so they are gotten into that +new-fashioned way of conversing by assemblies. I shall do +no more than mention them here; they are pleasant and agreeable +to the young peoples, and sometimes fatal to them, of which, in +its place, Winchester has its share of the mirth. May it +escape the ill-consequences!</p> +<p>The hospital on the south of this city, at a mile distant on +the road to Southampton, is worth notice. It is said to be +founded by King William Rufus, but was not endowed or appointed +till later times by Cardinal Beaufort. Every traveller that +knocks at the door of this house in his way, and asks for it, +claims the relief of a piece of white bread and a cup of beer, +and this donation is still continued. A quantity of good +beer is set apart every day to be given away, and what is left is +distributed to other poor, but none of it kept to the next +day.</p> +<p>How the revenues of this hospital, which should maintain the +master and thirty private gentlemen (whom they call Fellows, but +ought to call Brothers), is now reduced to maintain only +fourteen, while the master lives in a figure equal to the best +gentleman in the country, would be well worth the inquiry of a +proper visitor, if such can be named. It is a thing worthy +of complaint when public charities, designed for the relief of +the poor, are embezzled and depredated by the rich, and turned to +the support of luxury and pride.</p> +<p>From Winchester is about twenty-five miles, and over the most +charming plains that can anywhere be seen (far, in my opinion, +excelling the plains of Mecca), we come to Salisbury. The +vast flocks of sheep which one everywhere sees upon these Downs, +and the great number of those flocks, is a sight truly worth +observation; it is ordinary for these flocks to contain from +three thousand to five thousand in a flock, and several private +farmers hereabouts have two or three such flocks.</p> +<p>But it is more remarkable still how a great part of these +Downs comes, by a new method of husbandry, to be not only made +arable (which they never were in former days), but to bear +excellent wheat, and great crops, too, though otherwise poor +barren land, and never known to our ancestors to be capable of +any such thing—nay, they would perhaps have laughed at any +one that would have gone about to plough up the wild downs and +hills where the sheep were wont to go. But experience has +made the present age wiser and more skilful in husbandry; for by +only folding the sheep upon the ploughed lands—those lands +which otherwise are barren, and where the plough goes within +three or four inches of the solid rock of chalk, are made +fruitful and bear very good wheat, as well as rye and +barley. I shall say more of this when I come to speak of +the same practice farther in the country.</p> +<p>This plain country continues in length from Winchester to +Salisbury (twenty-five miles), from thence to Dorchester +(twenty-two miles), thence to Weymouth (six miles); so that they +lie near fifty miles in length and breadth; they reach also in +some places thirty-five to forty miles. They who would make +any practicable guess at the number of sheep usually fed on these +Downs may take it from a calculation made, as I was told, at +Dorchester, that there were six hundred thousand sheep fed within +six miles of that town, measuring every way round and the town in +the centre.</p> +<p>As we passed this plain country, we saw a great many old +camps, as well Roman as British, and several remains of the +ancient inhabitants of this kingdom, and of their wars, battles, +entrenchments, encampments, buildings, and other fortifications, +which are indeed very agreeable to a traveller that has read +anything of the history of the country. Old Sarum is as +remarkable as any of these, where there is a double entrenchment, +with a deep graff or ditch to either of them; the area about one +hundred yards in diameter, taking in the whole crown of the hill, +and thereby rendering the ascent very difficult. Near this +there is one farm-house, which is all the remains I could see of +any town in or near the place (for the encampment has no +resemblance of a town), and yet this is called the borough of Old +Sarum, and sends two members to Parliament. Whom those +members can justly say they represent would be hard for them to +answer.</p> +<p>Some will have it that the old city of <i>Sorbiodunum</i> or +Salisbury stood here, and was afterwards (for I know not what +reasons) removed to the low marshy grounds among the rivers, +where it now stands. But as I see no authority for it other +than mere tradition, I believe my share of it, and take it <i>ad +referendum</i>.</p> +<p>Salisbury itself is indeed a large and pleasant city, though I +do not think it at all the pleasanter for that which they boast +so much of—namely, the water running through the middle of +every street—or that it adds anything to the beauty of the +place, but just the contrary; it keeps the streets always dirty, +full of wet and filth and weeds, even in the middle of +summer.</p> +<p>The city is placed upon the confluence of two large rivers, +the Avon and the Willy, neither of them considerable rivers, but +very large when joined together, and yet larger when they receive +a third river (viz., the Naddir), which joins them near Clarendon +Park, about three miles below the city; then, with a deep channel +and a current less rapid, they run down to Christchurch, which is +their port. And where they empty themselves into the sea, +from that town upwards towards Salisbury they are made navigable +to within two miles, and might be so quite into the city, were it +not for the strength of the stream.</p> +<p>As the city of Winchester is a city without trade—that +is to say, without any particular manufactures—so this city +of Salisbury and all the county of Wilts, of which it is the +capital, are full of a great variety of manufactures, and those +some of the most considerable in England—namely, the +clothing trade and the trade of flannels, druggets, and several +other sorts of manufactures, of which in their order.</p> +<p>The city of Salisbury has two remarkable manufactures carried +on in it, and which employ the poor of great part of the country +round—namely, fine flannels, and long-cloths for the Turkey +trade, called Salisbury whites. The people of Salisbury are +gay and rich, and have a flourishing trade; and there is a great +deal of good manners and good company among them—I mean, +among the citizens, besides what is found among the gentlemen; +for there are many good families in Salisbury besides the +citizens.</p> +<p>This society has a great addition from the Close—that is +to say, the circle of ground walled in adjacent to the cathedral; +in which the families of the prebendaries and commons, and others +of the clergy belonging to the cathedral, have their houses, as +is usual in all cities, where there are cathedral churches. +These are so considerable here, and the place so large, that it +is (as it is called in general) like another city.</p> +<p>The cathedral is famous for the height of its spire, which is +without exception the highest and the handsomest in England, +being from the ground 410 feet, and yet the walls so exceeding +thin that at the upper part of the spire, upon a view made by the +late Sir Christopher Wren, the wall was found to be less than +five inches thick; upon which a consultation was had whether the +spire, or at least the upper part of it, should be taken down, it +being supposed to have received some damage by the great storm in +the year 1703; but it was resolved in the negative, and Sir +Christopher ordered it to be so strengthened with bands of iron +plates as has effectually secured it; and I have heard some of +the best architects say it is stronger now than when it was first +built.</p> +<p>They tell us here long stories of the great art used in laying +the first foundation of this church, the ground being marshy and +wet, occasioned by the channels of the rivers; that it was laid +upon piles, according to some, and upon woolpacks, according to +others. But this is not supposed by those who know that the +whole country is one rock of chalk, even from the tops of the +highest hills to the bottom of the deepest rivers.</p> +<p>They tell us this church was forty years a-building, and cost +an immense sum of money; but it must be acknowledged that the +inside of the work is not answerable in the decoration of things +to the workmanship without. The painting in the choir is +mean, and more like the ordinary method of common drawing-room or +tavern painting than that of a church; the carving is good, but +very little of it; and it is rather a fine church than finely set +off.</p> +<p>The ordinary boast of this building (that there were as many +gates as months, as many windows as days, as many marble pillars +as hours in the year) is now no recommendation at all. +However, the mention of it must be preserved:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“As many days as in one year there be,<br /> +So many windows in one church we see;<br /> +As many marble pillars there appear<br /> +As there are hours throughout the fleeting year;<br /> +As many gates as moons one year do view:<br /> +Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>There are, however, some very fine monuments in this church; +particularly one belonging to the noble family of Seymours, since +Dukes of Somerset (and ancestors of the present flourishing +family), which on a most melancholy occasion has been now lately +opened again to receive the body of the late Duchess of Somerset, +the happy consort for almost forty years of his Grace the present +Duke, and only daughter and heiress of the ancient and noble +family of Percy, Earls of Northumberland, whose great estate she +brought into the family of Somerset, who now enjoy it.</p> +<p>With her was buried at the same time her Grace’s +daughter the Marchioness of Caermarthen (being married to the +Marquis of Caermarthen, son and heir-apparent to the Lord of +Leeds), who died for grief at the loss of the duchess her mother, +and was buried with her; also her second son, the Duke Percy +Somerset, who died a few months before, and had been buried in +the Abbey church of Westminster, but was ordered to be removed +and laid here with the ancestors of his house. And I hear +his Grace designs to have a yet more magnificent monument erected +in this cathedral for them, just by the other which is there +already.</p> +<p>How the Dukes of Somerset came to quit this church for their +burying-place, and be laid in Westminster Abbey, that I know not; +but it is certain that the present Duke has chosen to have his +family laid here with their ancestors, and to that end has caused +the corpse of his son, the Lord Percy, as above, and one of his +daughters, who had been buried in the Abbey, to be removed and +brought down to this vault, which lies in that they call the +Virgin Mary’s Chapel, behind the altar. There is, as +above, a noble monument for a late Duke and Duchess of Somerset +in the place already, with their portraits at full-length, their +heads lying upon cushions, the whole perfectly well wrought in +fine polished Italian marble, and their sons kneeling by +them. Those I suppose to be the father of the great Duke of +Somerset, uncle to King Edward IV.; but after this the family lay +in Westminster Abbey, where there is also a fine monument for +that very duke who was beheaded by Edward VI., and who was the +great patron of the Reformation.</p> +<p>Among other monuments of noble men in this cathedral they show +you one that is very extraordinary, and to which there hangs a +tale. There was in the reign of Philip and Mary a very +unhappy murder committed by the then Lord Sturton, or Stourton, a +family since extinct, but well known till within a few years in +that country.</p> +<p>This Lord Stourton being guilty of the said murder, which also +was aggravated with very bad circumstances, could not obtain the +usual grace of the Crown (viz., to be beheaded), but Queen Mary +positively ordered that, like a common malefactor, he should die +at the gallows. After he was hanged, his friends desiring +to have him buried at Salisbury, the bishop would not consent +that he should be buried in the cathedral unless, as a farther +mark of infamy, his friends would submit to this +condition—viz., that the silken halter in which he was +hanged should be hanged up over his grave in the church as a +monument of his crime; which was accordingly done, and there it +is to be seen to this day.</p> +<p>The putting this halter up here was not so wonderful to me as +it was that the posterity of that lord, who remained in good rank +some time after, should never prevail to have that mark of infamy +taken off from the memory of their ancestor.</p> +<p>There are several other monuments in this cathedral, as +particularly of two noblemen of ancient families in +Scotland—one of the name of Hay, and one of the name of +Gordon; but they give us nothing of their history, so that we +must be content to say there they lie, and that is all.</p> +<p>The cloister, and the chapter-house adjoining to the church, +are the finest here of any I have seen in England; the latter is +octagon, or eight-square, and is 150 feet in its circumference; +the roof bearing all upon one small marble pillar in the centre, +which you may shake with your hand; and it is hardly to be +imagined it can be any great support to the roof, which makes it +the more curious (it is not indeed to be matched, I believe, in +Europe).</p> +<p>From hence directing my course to the seaside in pursuit of my +first design—viz., of viewing the whole coast of +England—I left the great road and went down the east side +of the river towards New Forest and Lymington; and here I saw the +ancient house and seat of Clarendon, the mansion of the ancient +family of Hide, ancestors of the great Earl of Clarendon, and +from whence his lordship was honoured with that title, or the +house erected into an honour in favour of his family.</p> +<p>But this being a large county, and full of memorable branches +of antiquity and modern curiosity, I cannot quit my observations +so soon. But being happily fixed, by the favour of a +particular friend, at so beautiful a spot of ground as this of +Clarendon Park, I made several little excursions from hence to +view the northern parts of this county—a county so fruitful +of wonders that, though I do not make antiquity my chief search, +yet I must not pass it over entirely, where so much of it, and so +well worth observation, is to be found, which would look as if I +either understood not the value of the study, or expected my +readers should be satisfied with a total omission of it.</p> +<p>I have mentioned that this county is generally a vast +continued body of high chalky hills, whose tops spread themselves +into fruitful and pleasant downs and plains, upon which great +flocks of sheep are fed, &c. But the reader is desired +to observe these hills and plains are most beautifully +intersected and cut through by the course of divers pleasant and +profitable rivers; in the course and near the banks of which +there always is a chain of fruitful meadows and rich pastures, +and those interspersed with innumerable pleasant towns, villages, +and houses, and among them many of considerable magnitude. +So that, while you view the downs, and think the country wild and +uninhabited, yet when you come to descend into these vales you +are surprised with the most pleasant and fertile country in +England.</p> +<p>There are no less than four of these rivers, which meet all +together at or near the city of Salisbury; especially the waters +of three of them run through the streets of the city—the +Nadder and the Willy and the Avon—and the course of these +three lead us through the whole mountainous part of the +county. The two first join their waters at Wilton, the +shiretown, though a place of no great notice now; and these are +the waters which run through the canal and the gardens of Wilton +House, the seat of that ornament of nobility and learning, the +Earl of Pembroke.</p> +<p>One cannot be said to have seen anything that a man of +curiosity would think worth seeing in this county, and not have +been at Wilton House; but not the beautiful building, not the +ancient trophy of a great family, not the noble situation, not +all the pleasures of the gardens, parks, fountains, hare-warren, +or of whatever is rare either in art or nature, are equal to that +yet more glorious sight of a noble princely palace constantly +filled with its noble and proper inhabitants. The lord and +proprietor, who is indeed a true patriarchal monarch, reigns here +with an authority agreeable to all his subjects (family); and his +reign is made agreeable, by his first practising the most +exquisite government of himself, and then guiding all under him +by the rules of honour and virtue, being also himself perfectly +master of all the needful arts of family government—I mean, +needful to make that government both easy and pleasant to those +who are under it, and who therefore willingly, and by choice, +conform to it.</p> +<p>Here an exalted genius is the instructor, a glorious example +the guide, and a gentle well-directed hand the governor and +law-giver to the whole; and the family, like a well-governed +city, appears happy, flourishing, and regular, groaning under no +grievance, pleased with what they enjoy, and enjoying everything +which they ought to be pleased with.</p> +<p>Nor is the blessing of this noble resident extended to the +family only, but even to all the country round, who in their +degree feel the effects of the general beneficence, and where the +neighbourhood (however poor) receive all the good they can +expect, and are sure to have no injury or oppression.</p> +<p>The canal before the house lies parallel with the road, and +receives into it the whole river Willy, or at least is able to do +so; it may, indeed, be said that the river is made into a +canal. When we come into the courtyards before the house +there are several pieces of antiquity to entertain the curious, +as particularly a noble column of porphyry, with a marble statue +of Venus on the top of it. In Italy, and especially at Rome +and Naples, we see a great variety of fine columns, and some of +them of excellent workmanship and antiquity; and at some of the +courts of the princes of Italy the like is seen, as especially at +the court of Florence; but in England I do not remember to have +seen anything like this, which, as they told me, is +two-and-thirty feet high, and of excellent workmanship, and that +it came last from Candia, but formerly from Alexandria. +What may belong to the history of it any further, I suppose is +not known—at least, they could tell me no more of it who +showed it me.</p> +<p>On the left of the court was formerly a large grotto and +curious water-works; and in a house, or shed, or part of the +building, which opened with two folding-doors, like a +coach-house, a large equestrian statue of one of the ancestors of +the family in complete armour, as also another of a Roman Emperor +in brass. But the last time I had the curiosity to see this +house, I missed that part; so that I supposed they were +removed.</p> +<p>As the present Earl of Pembroke, the lord of this fine palace, +is a nobleman of great personal merit many other ways, so he is a +man of learning and reading beyond most men of his +lordship’s high rank in this nation, if not in the world; +and as his reading has made him a master of antiquity, and judge +of such pieces of antiquity as he has had opportunity to meet +with in his own travels and otherwise in the world, so it has +given him a love of the study, and made him a collector of +valuable things, as well in painting as in sculpture, and other +excellences of art, as also of nature; insomuch that Wilton House +is now a mere museum or a chamber of rarities, and we meet with +several things there which are to be found nowhere else in the +world.</p> +<p>As his lordship is a great collector of fine paintings, so I +know no nobleman’s house in England so prepared, as if +built on purpose, to receive them; the largest and the finest +pieces that can be imagined extant in the world might have found +a place here capable to receive them. I say, they +“might have found,” as if they could not now, which +is in part true; for at present the whole house is so completely +filled that I see no room for any new piece to crowd in without +displacing some other fine piece that hung there before. As +for the value of the piece that might so offer to succeed the +displaced, that the great judge of the whole collection, the earl +himself, must determine; and as his judgment is perfectly good, +the best picture would be sure to possess the place. In a +word, here is without doubt the best, if not the greatest, +collection of rarities and paintings that are to be seen together +in any one nobleman’s or gentleman’s house in +England. The piece of our Saviour washing His +disciples’ feet, which they show you in one of the first +rooms you go into, must be spoken of by everybody that has any +knowledge of painting, and is an admirable piece indeed.</p> +<p>You ascend the great staircase at the upper end of the hall, +which is very large; at the foot of the staircase you have a +Bacchus as large as life, done in fine Peloponnesian marble, +carrying a young Bacchus on his arm, the young one eating grapes, +and letting you see by his countenance that he is pleased with +the taste of them. Nothing can be done finer, or more +lively represent the thing intended—namely, the gust of the +appetite, which if it be not a passion, it is an affection which +is as much seen in the countenance, perhaps more than any +other. One ought to stop every two steps of this staircase, +as we go up, to contemplate the vast variety of pictures that +cover the walls, and of some of the best masters in Europe; and +yet this is but an introduction to what is beyond them.</p> +<p>When you are entered the apartments, such variety seizes you +every way that you scarce know to which hand to turn +yourself. First on one side you see several rooms filled +with paintings as before, all so curious, and the variety such, +that it is with reluctance that you can turn from them; while +looking another way you are called off by a vast collection of +busts and pieces of the greatest antiquity of the kind, both +Greek and Romans; among these there is one of the Roman emperor +Marcus Aurelius in basso-relievo. I never saw anything like +what appears here, except in the chamber of rarities at Munich in +Bavaria.</p> +<p>Passing these, you come into several large rooms, as if +contrived for the reception of the beautiful guests that take +them up; one of these is near seventy feet long, and the ceiling +twenty-six feet high, with another adjoining of the same height +and breadth, but not so long. Those together might be +called the Great Gallery of Wilton, and might vie for paintings +with the Gallery of Luxembourg, in the Faubourg of Paris.</p> +<p>These two rooms are filled with the family pieces of the house +of Herbert, most of them by Lilly or Vandyke; and one in +particular outdoes all that I ever met with, either at home or +abroad; it is done, as was the mode of painting at that time, +after the manner of a family piece of King Charles I., with his +queen and children, which before the burning of Whitehall I +remember to hang at the east end of the Long Gallery in the +palace.</p> +<p>This piece fills the farther end of the great room which I +just now mentioned; it contains the Earl of Montgomery, ancestor +of the house of Herbert (not then Earls of Pembroke) and his +lady, sitting, and as big as life; there are about them their own +five sons and one daughter, and their daughter-in-law, who was +daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, married to the elder Lord +Herbert, their eldest son. It is enough to say of this +piece, it is worth the labour of any lover of art to go five +hundred miles to see it; and I am informed several gentlemen of +quality have come from France almost on purpose. It would +be endless to describe the whole set of the family pictures which +take up this room, unless we would enter into the roof-tree of +the family, and set down a genealogical line of the whole +house.</p> +<p>After we have seen this fine range of beauties—for such, +indeed, they are—far from being at an end of your surprise, +you have three or four rooms still upon the same floor, filled +with wonders as before. Nothing can be finer than the +pictures themselves, nothing more surprising than the number of +them. At length you descend the back stairs, which are in +themselves large, though not like the other. However, not a +hand’s-breadth is left to crowd a picture in of the +smallest size; and even the upper rooms, which might be called +garrets, are not naked, but have some very good pieces in +them.</p> +<p>Upon the whole, the genius of the noble collector may be seen +in this glorious collection, than which, take them together, +there is not a finer in any private hand in Europe, and in no +hand at all in Britain, private or public.</p> +<p>The gardens are on the south of the house, and extend +themselves beyond the river, a branch of which runs through one +part of them, and still south of the gardens in the great park, +which, extending beyond the vale, mounts the hill opening at the +last to the great down, which is properly called, by way of +distinction, Salisbury Plain, and leads from the city of +Salisbury to Shaftesbury. Here also his lordship has a +hare-warren, as it is called, though improperly. It has, +indeed, been a sanctuary for the hares for many years; but the +gentlemen complain that it mars their game, for that as soon as +they put up a hare for their sport, if it be anywhere within two +or three miles, away she runs for the warren, and there is an end +of their pursuit; on the other hand, it makes all the countrymen +turn poachers, and destroy the hares by what means they +can. But this is a smaller matter, and of no great import +one way or other.</p> +<p>From this pleasant and agreeable day’s work I returned +to Clarendon, and the next day took another short tour to the +hills to see that celebrated piece of antiquity, the wonderful +Stonehenge, being six miles from Salisbury, north, and upon the +side of the River Avon, near the town of Amesbury. It is +needless that I should enter here into any part of the dispute +about which our learned antiquaries have so puzzled themselves +that several books (and one of them in folio) have been published +about it; some alleging it to be a heathen or pagan temple and +altar, or place of sacrifice, as Mr. Jones; others a monument or +trophy of victory; others a monument for the dead, as Mr. Aubrey, +and the like. Again, some will have it be British, some +Danish, some Saxon, some Roman, and some, before them all, +Phoenician.</p> +<p>I shall suppose it, as the majority of all writers do, to be a +monument for the dead, and the rather because men’s bones +have been frequently dug up in the ground near them. The +common opinion that no man could ever count them, that a baker +carried a basket of bread and laid a loaf upon every stone, and +yet never could make out the same number twice, this I take as a +mere country fiction, and a ridiculous one too. The reason +why they cannot easily be told is that many of them lie half or +part buried in the ground; and a piece here and a piece there +only appearing above the grass, it cannot be known easily which +belong to one stone and which to another, or which are separate +stones, and which are joined underground to one another; +otherwise, as to those which appear, they are easy to be told, +and I have seen them told four times after one another, beginning +every time at a different place, and every time they amounted to +seventy-two in all; but then this was counting every piece of a +stone of bulk which appeared above the surface of the earth, and +was not evidently part of and adjoining to another, to be a +distinct and separate body or stone by itself.</p> +<p>The form of this monument is not only described but delineated +in most authors, and, indeed, it is hard to know the first but by +the last. The figure was at first circular, and there were +at least four rows or circles within one another. The main +stones were placed upright, and they were joined on the top by +cross-stones, laid from one to another, and fastened with vast +mortises and tenons. Length of time has so decayed them +that not only most of the cross-stones which lay on the top are +fallen down, but many of the upright also, notwithstanding the +weight of them is so prodigious great. How they came +thither, or from whence (no stones of that kind being now to be +found in that part of England near it) is still the mystery, for +they are of such immense bulk that no engines or carriages which +we have in use in this age could stir them.</p> +<p>Doubtless they had some method in former days in foreign +countries, as well as here, to move heavier weights than we find +practicable now. How else did Solomon’s workmen build +the battlement or additional wall to support the precipice of +Mount Moriah, on which the Temple was built, which was all built +of stones of Parian marble, each stone being forty cubits long +and fourteen cubits broad, and eight cubits high or thick, which, +reckoning each cubit at two feet and a half of our measure (as +the learned agree to do), was one hundred feet long, thirty-five +feet broad, and twenty feet thick?</p> +<p>These stones at Stonehenge, as Mr. Camden describes them, and +in which others agree, were very large, though not so +large—the upright stones twenty-four feet high, seven feet +broad, sixteen feet round, and weigh twelve tons each; and the +cross-stones on the top, which he calls coronets, were six or +seven tons. But this does not seem equal; for if the +cross-stones weighed six or seven tons, the others, as they +appear now, were at least five or six times as big, and must +weigh in proportion; and therefore I must think their judgment +much nearer the case who judge the upright stones at sixteen tons +or thereabouts (supposing them to stand a great way into the +earth, as it is not doubted but they do), and the coronets or +cross-stones at about two tons, which is very large too, and as +much as their bulk can be thought to allow.</p> +<p>Upon the whole, we must take them as our ancestors have +done—namely, for an erection or building so ancient that no +history has handed down to us the original. As we find it, +then, uncertain, we must leave it so. It is indeed a +reverend piece of antiquity, and it is a great loss that the true +history of it is not known. But since it is not, I think +the making so many conjectures at the reality, when they know +lots can but guess at it, and, above all, the insisting so long +and warmly on their private opinions, is but amusing themselves +and us with a doubt, which perhaps lies the deeper for their +search into it.</p> +<p>The downs and plains in this part of England being so open, +and the surface so little subject to alteration, there are more +remains of antiquity to be seen upon them than in other +places. For example, I think they tell us there are +three-and-fifty ancient encampments or fortifications to be seen +in this one county—some whereof are exceeding plain to be +seen; some of one form, some of another; some of one nation, some +of another—British, Danish, Saxon, Roman—as at Ebb +Down, Burywood, Oldburgh Hill, Cummerford, Roundway Down, St. +Ann’s Hill, Bratton Castle, Clay Hill, Stournton Park, +Whitecole Hill, Battlebury, Scrathbury, Tanesbury, Frippsbury, +Southbury Hill, Amesbury, Great Bodwin, Easterley, Merdon, +Aubery, Martenscil Hill, Barbury Castle, and many more.</p> +<p>Also the barrows, as we all agree to call them, are very many +in number in this county, and very obvious, having suffered very +little decay. These are large hillocks of earth cast up, as +the ancients agree, by the soldiers over the bodies of their dead +comrades slain in battle; several hundreds of these are to be +seen, especially in the north part of this county, about +Marlborough and the downs, from thence to St. Ann’s Hill, +and even every way the downs are full of them.</p> +<p>I have done with matters of antiquity for this county, unless +you will admit me to mention the famous Parliament in the reign +of Henry II. held at Clarendon, where I am now writing, and +another intended to be held there in Richard II.’s time, +but prevented by the barons, being then up in arms against the +king.</p> +<p>Near this place, at Farlo, was the birthplace of the late Sir +Stephen Fox, and where the town, sharing in his good fortune, +shows several marks of his bounty, as particularly the building a +new church from the foundation, and getting an Act of Parliament +passed for making it parochial, it being but a chapel-of-ease +before to an adjoining parish. Also Sir Stephen built and +endowed an almshouse here for six poor women, with a master and a +free school. The master is to be a clergyman, and to +officiate in the church—that is to say, is to have the +living, which, including the school, is very sufficient.</p> +<p>I am now to pursue my first design, and shall take the west +part of Wiltshire in my return, where are several things still to +be taken notice of, and some very well worth our stay. In +the meantime I went on to Langborough, a fine seat of my Lord +Colerain, which is very well kept, though the family, it seems, +is not much in this country, having another estate and dwelling +at Tottenham High Cross, near London.</p> +<p>From hence in my way to the seaside I came to New Forest, of +which I have said something already with relation to the great +extent of ground which lies waste, and in which there is so great +a quantity of large timber, as I have spoken of already.</p> +<p>This waste and wild part of the country was, as some record, +laid open and waste for a forest and for game by that violent +tyrant William the Conqueror, and for which purpose he unpeopled +the country, pulled down the houses, and, which was worse, the +churches of several parishes or towns, and of abundance of +villages, turning the poor people out of their habitations and +possessions, and laying all open for his deer. The same +histories likewise record that two of his own blood and +posterity, and particularly his immediate successor William +Rufus, lost their lives in this forest—one, viz., the said +William Rufus, being shot with an arrow directed at a deer which +the king and his company were hunting, and the arrow, glancing on +a tree, changed his course, and struck the king full on the +breast and killed him. This they relate as a just judgment +of God on the cruel devastation made here by the +Conqueror. Be it so or not, as Heaven pleases; but +that the king was so killed is certain, and they show the tree on +which the arrow glanced to this day. In King Charles +II.’s time it was ordered to be surrounded with a pale; but +as great part of the paling is down with age, whether the tree be +really so old or not is to me a great question, the action being +near seven hundred years ago.</p> +<p>I cannot omit to mention here a proposal made a few years ago +to the late Lord Treasurer Godolphin for re-peopling this forest, +which for some reasons I can be more particular in than any man +now left alive, because I had the honour to draw up the scheme +and argue it before that noble lord and some others who were +principally concerned at that time in bringing over—or, +rather, providing for when they were come over—the poor +inhabitants of the Palatinate, a thing in itself commendable, +but, as it was managed, made scandalous to England and miserable +to those poor people.</p> +<p>Some persons being ordered by that noble lord above mentioned +to consider of measures how the said poor people should be +provided for, and whether they could be provided for or no +without injury to the public, the answer was grounded upon this +maxim—that the number of inhabitants is the wealth and +strength of a kingdom, provided those inhabitants were such as by +honest industry applied themselves to live by their labour, to +whatsoever trades or employments they were brought up. In +the next place, it was inquired what employments those poor +people were brought up to. It was answered there were +husbandmen and artificers of all sorts, upon which the proposal +was as follows. New Forest, in Hampshire, was singled out +to be the place:—</p> +<p>Here it was proposed to draw a great square line containing +four thousand acres of land, marking out two large highways or +roads through the centre, crossing both ways, so that there +should be a thousand acres in each division, exclusive of the +land contained in the said cross-roads.</p> +<p>Then it was proposed to send out twenty men and their +families, who should be recommended as honest industrious men, +expert in, or at least capable of being instructed in husbandry, +curing and cultivating of land, breeding and feeding cattle, and +the like. To each of these should be parcelled out, in +equal distributions, two hundred acres of this land, so that the +whole four thousand acres should be fully distributed to the said +twenty families, for which they should have no rent to pay, and +be liable to no taxes but such as provided for their own sick or +poor, repairing their own roads, and the like. This +exemption from rent and taxes to continue for twenty years, and +then to pay each £50 a year to the queen—that is to +say, to the Crown.</p> +<p>To each of these families, whom I would now call farmers, it +was proposed to advance £200 in ready money as a stock to +set them to work; to furnish them with cattle, horses, cows, +hogs, &c.; and to hire and pay labourers to inclose, clear, +and cure the land, which it would be supposed the first year +would not be so much to their advantage as afterwards, allowing +them timber out of the forest to build themselves houses and +barns, sheds and offices, as they should have occasion; also for +carts, waggons, ploughs, harrows, and the like necessary things: +care to be taken that the men and their families went to work +forthwith according to the design.</p> +<p>Thus twenty families would be immediately supplied and +provided for, for there would be no doubt but these families, +with so much land given them gratis, and so much money to work +with, would live very well; but what would this do for the +support of the rest, who were supposed to be, to every twenty +farmers, forty or fifty families of other people (some of one +trade, some of another), with women and children? To this +it was answered that these twenty farmers would, by the +consequence of their own settlements, provide for and employ such +a proportion of others of their own people that, by thus +providing for twenty families in a place, the whole number of +Palatinates would have been provided for, had they been twenty +thousand more in number than they were, and that without being +any burden upon or injury to the people of England; on the +contrary, they would have been an advantage and an addition of +wealth and strength to the nation, and to the country in +particular where they should be thus seated. For +example:—</p> +<p>As soon as the land was marked out, the farmers put in +possession of it, and the money given them, they should be +obliged to go to work, in order to their settlement. +Suppose it, then, to be in the spring of the year, when such work +was most proper. First, all hands would be required to +fence and part off the land, and clear it of the timber or +bushes, or whatever else was upon it which required to be +removed. The first thing, therefore, which the farmer would +do would be to single out from the rest of their number every one +three servants—that is to say, two men and a maid; less +could not answer the preparations they would be obliged to make, +and yet work hard themselves also. By the help of these +they would, with good management, soon get so much of their land +cured, fenced-off, ploughed, and sowed as should yield them a +sufficiency of corn and kitchen stuff the very first year, both +for horse-meat, hog-meat, food for the family, and some to carry +to market, too, by which to bring in money to go farther on, as +above.</p> +<p>At the first entrance they were to have the tents allowed them +to live in, which they then had from the Tower; but as soon as +leisure and conveniences admitted, every farmer was obliged to +begin to build him a farm-house, which he would do gradually, +some and some, as he could spare time from his other works, and +money from his little stock.</p> +<p>In order to furnish himself with carts, waggons, ploughs, +harrows, wheel-barrows, hurdles, and all such necessary utensils +of husbandry, there would be an absolute necessity of +wheelwrights or cartwrights, one at least to each division.</p> +<p>Thus, by the way, there would be employed three servants to +each farmer, that makes sixty persons.</p> +<p>Four families of wheelwrights, one to each +division—which, suppose five in a family, makes twenty +persons. Suppose four head-carpenters, with each three men; +and as at first all would be building together, they would to +every house building have at least one labourer. Four +families of carpenters, five to each family, and three servants, +is thirty-two persons; one labourer to each house building is +twenty persons more.</p> +<p>Thus here would be necessarily brought together in the very +first of the work one hundred and thirty-two persons, besides the +head-farmers, who at five also to each family are one hundred +more; in all, two hundred and thirty-two.</p> +<p>For the necessary supply of these with provisions, clothes, +household stuff, &c. (for all should be done among +themselves), first, they must have at least four butchers with +their families (twenty persons), four shoemakers with their +families and each shoemaker two journeymen (for every trade would +increase the number of customers to every trade). This is +twenty-eight persons more.</p> +<p>They would then require a hatmaker, a glover, at least two +ropemakers, four tailors, three weavers of woollen and three +weavers of linen, two basket-makers, two common brewers, ten or +twelve shop-keepers to furnish chandlery and grocery wares, and +as many for drapery and mercery, over and above what they could +work. This makes two-and-forty families more, each at five +in a family, which, is two hundred and ten persons; all the +labouring part of these must have at least two servants (the +brewers more), which I cast up at forty more.</p> +<p>Add to these two ministers, one clerk, one sexton or +grave-digger, with their families, two physicians, three +apothecaries, two surgeons (less there could not be, only that +for the beginning it might be said the physicians should be +surgeons, and I take them so); this is forty-five persons, +besides servants; so that, in short—to omit many tradesmen +more who would be wanted among them—there would necessarily +and voluntarily follow to these twenty families of farmers at +least six hundred more of their own people.</p> +<p>It is no difficult thing to show that the ready money of +£4,000 which the Government was to advance to those twenty +farmers would employ and pay, and consequently subsist, all these +numerous dependants in the works which must severally be done for +them for the first year, after which the farmers would begin to +receive their own money back again; for all these tradesmen must +come to their own market to buy corn, flesh, milk, butter, +cheese, bacon, &c., which after the first year the farmers, +having no rent to pay, would have to spare sufficiently, and so +take back their own money with advantage. I need not go on +to mention how, by consequence provisions increasing and money +circulating, this town should increase in a very little time.</p> +<p>It was proposed also that for the encouragement of all the +handicraftsmen and labouring poor who, either as servants or as +labourers for day-work, assisted the farmers or other tradesmen, +they should have every man three acres of ground given them, with +leave to build cottages upon the same, the allotments to be upon +the waste at the end of the cross-roads where they entered the +town.</p> +<p>In the centre of the square was laid out a circle of twelve +acres of ground, to be cast into streets for inhabitants to build +on as their ability would permit—all that would build to +have ground gratis for twenty years, timber out of the forest, +and convenient yards, gardens, and orchards allotted to every +house.</p> +<p>In the great streets near where they cross each other was to +be built a handsome market-house, with a town-hall for parish or +corporation business, doing justice and the like; also shambles; +and in a handsome part of the ground mentioned to be laid out for +streets, as near the centre as might be, was to be ground laid +out for the building a church, which every man should either +contribute to the building of in money, or give every tenth day +of his time to assist in labouring at the building.</p> +<p>I have omitted many tradesmen who would be wanted here, and +would find a good livelihood among their country-folks only to +get accidental work as day-men or labourers (of which such a town +would constantly employ many), as also poor women for assistance +in families (such as midwives, nurses, &c.).</p> +<p>Adjacent to the town was to be a certain quantity of +common-land for the benefit of the cottages, that the poor might +have a few sheep or cows, as their circumstances required; and +this to be appointed at the several ends of the town.</p> +<p>There was a calculation made of what increase there would be, +both of wealth and people, in twenty years in this town; what a +vast consumption of provisions they would cause, more than the +four thousand acres of land given them would produce, by which +consumption and increase so much advantage would accrue to the +public stock, and so many subjects be added to the many thousands +of Great Britain, who in the next age would be all true-born +Englishmen, and forget both the language and nation from whence +they came. And it was in order to this that two ministers +were appointed, one of which should officiate in English and the +other in High Dutch, and withal to have them obliged by a law to +teach all their children both to speak, read, and write the +English language.</p> +<p>Upon their increase they would also want barbers and glaziers, +painters also, and plumbers; a windmill or two, and the millers +and their families; a fulling-mill and a cloth-worker; as also a +master clothier or two for making a manufacture among them for +their own wear, and for employing the women and children; a dyer +or two for dyeing their manufactures; and, which above all is not +to be omitted, four families at least of smiths, with every one +two servants—considering that, besides all the family work +which continually employs a smith, all the shoeing of horses, all +the ironwork of ploughs, carts, waggons, harrows, &c., must +be wrought by them. There was no allowance made for inns +and ale-houses, seeing it would be frequent that those who kept +public-houses of any sort would likewise have some other +employment to carry on.</p> +<p>This was the scheme for settling the Palatinates, by which +means twenty families of farmers, handsomely set up and +supported, would lay a foundation, as I have said, for six or +seven hundred of the rest of their people; and as the land in New +Forest is undoubtedly good, and capable of improvement by such +cultivation, so other wastes in England are to be found as +fruitful as that; and twenty such villages might have been +erected, the poor strangers maintained, and the nation evidently +be bettered by it. As to the money to be advanced, which in +the case of twenty such settlements, at £1,000 each, would +be £80,000, two things were answered to it:—</p> +<p>1. That the annual rent to be received for all those +lands after twenty years would abundantly pay the public for the +first disburses on the scheme above, that rent being then to +amount to £40,000 per annum.</p> +<p>2. More money than would have done this was expended, or +rather thrown away, upon them here, to keep them in suspense, and +afterwards starve them; sending them a-begging all over the +nation, and shipping them off to perish in other countries. +Where the mistake lay is none of my business to inquire.</p> +<p>I reserved this account for this place, because I passed in +this journey over the very spot where the design was laid +out—namely, near Lyndhurst, in the road from Rumsey to +Lymington, whither I now directed my course.</p> +<p>Lymington is a little but populous seaport standing opposite +to the Isle of Wight, in the narrow part of the strait which +ships sometimes pass through in fair weather, called the Needles; +and right against an ancient town of that island called Yarmouth, +and which, in distinction from the great town of Yarmouth in +Norfolk, is called South Yarmouth. This town of Lymington +is chiefly noted for making fine salt, which is indeed excellent +good; and from whence all these south parts of England are +supplied, as well by water as by land carriage; and sometimes, +though not often, they send salt to London, when, contrary winds +having kept the Northern fleets back, the price at London has +been very high; but this is very seldom and uncertain. +Lymington sends two members to Parliament, and this and her salt +trade is all I can say to her; for though she is very well +situated as to the convenience of shipping I do not find they +have any foreign commerce, except it be what we call smuggling +and roguing; which, I may say, is the reigning commerce of all +this part of the English coast, from the mouth of the Thames to +the Land’s End of Cornwall.</p> +<p>From hence there are but few towns on the sea-coast west, +though there are several considerable rivers empty themselves +into the sea; nor are there any harbours or seaports of any note +except Poole. As for Christchurch, though it stands at the +mouth of the Avon (which, as I have said, comes down from +Salisbury, and brings with it all the waters of the south and +east parts of Wiltshire, and receives also the Stour and Piddle, +two Dorsetshire rivers which bring with them all the waters of +the north part of Dorsetshire), yet it is a very inconsiderable +poor place, scarce worth seeing, and less worth mentioning in +this account, only that it sends two members to Parliament, which +many poor towns in this part of England do, as well as that.</p> +<p>From hence I stepped up into the country north-west, to see +the ancient town of Wimborne, or Wimborneminster; there I found +nothing remarkable but the church, which is indeed a very great +one, ancient, and yet very well built, with a very firm, strong, +square tower, considerably high; but was, without doubt, much +finer, when on the top of it stood a most exquisite +spire—finer and taller, if fame lies not, than that at +Salisbury, and by its situation in a plainer, flatter country +visible, no question, much farther; but this most beautiful +ornament was blown down by a sudden tempest of wind, as they tell +us, in the year 1622.</p> +<p>The church remains a venerable piece of antiquity, and has in +it the remains of a place once much more in request than it is +now, for here are the monuments of several noble families, and in +particular of one king, viz., King Etheldred, who was slain in +battle by the Danes. He was a prince famed for piety and +religion, and, according to the zeal of these times, was esteemed +as a martyr, because, venturing his life against the Danes, who +were heathens, he died fighting for his religion and his +country. The inscription upon his grave is preserved, and +has been carefully repaired, so as to be easily read, and is as +follows:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“In hoc loco quiescit Corpus S. Etheldredi, +Regis West Saxonum, Martyris, qui Anno Dom. DCCCLXXII., xxiii +Aprilis, per Manos Danorum Paganorum Occubuit.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>In English thus:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Here rests the Body of Holy Etheldred, King +of the West Saxons, and Martyr, who fell by the Hands of the +Pagan Danes in the Year of our Lord 872, the 23rd of +April.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>Here are also the monuments of the great Marchioness of +Exeter, mother of Edward Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, and last +of the family of Courtneys who enjoyed that honour; as also of +John de Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his wife, grandmother of +King Henry VII., by her daughter Margaret, Countess of +Richmond.</p> +<p>This last lady I mention because she was foundress of a very +fine free school, which has since been enlarged and had a new +benefactress in Queen Elizabeth, who has enlarged the stipend and +annexed it to the foundation. The famous Cardinal Pole was +Dean of this church before his exaltation.</p> +<p>Having said this of the church, I have said all that is worth +naming of the town; except that the inhabitants, who are many and +poor, are chiefly maintained by the manufacture of knitting +stockings, which employs great part indeed of the county of +Dorset, of which this is the first town eastward.</p> +<p>South of this town, over a sandy, wild, and barren country, we +came to Poole, a considerable seaport, and indeed the most +considerable in all this part of England; for here I found some +ships, some merchants, and some trade; especially, here were a +good number of ships fitted out every year to the Newfoundland +fishing, in which the Poole men were said to have been +particularly successful for many years past.</p> +<p>The town sits in the bottom of a great bay or inlet of the +sea, which, entering at one narrow mouth, opens to a very great +breadth within the entrance, and comes up to the very shore of +this town; it runs also west up almost to the town of Wareham, a +little below which it receives the rivers Frome and Piddle, the +two principal rivers of the county.</p> +<p>This place is famous for the best and biggest oysters in all +this part of England, which the people of Poole pretend to be +famous for pickling; and they are barrelled up here, and sent not +only to London, but to the West Indies, and to Spain and Italy, +and other parts. It is observed more pearls are found in +the Poole oysters, and larger, than in any other oysters about +England.</p> +<p>As the entrance into this large bay is narrow, so it is made +narrower by an island, called Branksey, which, lying the very +mouth of the passage, divides it into two, and where there is an +old castle, called Branksey Castle, built to defend the entrance, +and this strength was very great advantage to the trade of this +port in the time of the late war with France.</p> +<p>Wareham is a neat town and full of people, having a share of +trade with Poole itself; it shows the ruins of a large town, and, +it is apparent, has had eight churches, of which they have three +remaining.</p> +<p>South of Wareham, and between the bay I have mentioned and the +sea, lies a large tract of land which, being surrounded by the +sea except on one side, is called an island, though it is really +what should be called a peninsula. This tract of land is +better inhabited than the sea-coast of this west end of +Dorsetshire generally is, and the manufacture of stockings is +carried on there also; it is called the Isle of Purbeck, and has +in the middle of it a large market-town, called Corfe, and from +the famous castle there the whole town is now called Corfe +Castle; it is a corporation, sending members to Parliament.</p> +<p>This part of the country is eminent for vast quarries of +stone, which is cut out flat, and used in London in great +quantities for paving courtyards, alleys, avenues to houses, +kitchens, footways on the sides of the High Streets, and the +like; and is very profitable to the place, as also in the number +of shipping employed in bringing it to London. There are +also several rocks of very good marble, only that the veins in +the stone are not black and white, as the Italian, but grey, red, +and other colours.</p> +<p>From hence to Weymouth, which is 22 miles, we rode in view of +the sea; the country is open, and in some respects pleasant, but +not like the northern parts of the county, which are all fine +carpet-ground, soft as velvet, and the herbage sweet as garden +herbs, which makes their sheep be the best in England, if not in +the world, and their wool fine to an extreme.</p> +<p>I cannot omit here a small adventure which was very surprising +to me on this journey; passing this plain country, we came to an +open piece of ground where a neighbouring gentleman had at a +great expense laid out a proper piece of land for a decoy, or +duck-coy, as some call it. The works were but newly done, +the planting young, the ponds very large and well made; but the +proper places for shelter of the fowl not covered, the trees not +being grown, and men were still at work improving and enlarging +and planting on the adjoining heath or common. Near the +decoy-keeper’s house were some places where young decoy +ducks were hatched, or otherwise kept to fit them for their +work. To preserve them from vermin (polecats, kites, and +such like), they had set traps, as is usual in such cases, and a +gibbet by it, where abundance of such creatures as were taken +were hanged up for show.</p> +<p>While the decoy-man was busy showing the new works, he was +alarmed with a great cry about this house for “Help! +help!” and away he ran like the wind, guessing, as we +supposed, that something was catched in the trap.</p> +<p>It was a good big boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, +that cried out, for coming to the place he found a great fowl +caught by the leg in the trap, which yet was so strong and so +outrageous that the boy going too near him, he flew at him and +frighted him, bit him, and beat him with his wings, for he was +too strong for the boy; as the master ran from the decoy, so +another manservant ran from the house, and finding a strange +creature fast in the trap, not knowing what it was, laid at him +with a great stick. The creature fought him a good while, +but at length he struck him an unlucky blow which quieted him; +after this we all came up to see what the matter, and found a +monstrous eagle caught by the leg in the trap, and killed by the +fellow’s cudgel, as above.</p> +<p>When the master came to know what it was, and that his man had +killed it, he was ready to kill the fellow for his pains, for it +was a noble creature indeed, and would have been worth a great +deal to the man to have it shown about the country, or to have +sold to any gentleman curious in such things; but the eagle was +dead, and there we left it. It is probable this eagle had +flown over the sea from France, either there or at the Isle of +Wight, where the channel is not so wide; for we do not find that +any eagles are known to breed in those parts of Britain.</p> +<p>From hence we turned up to Dorchester, the county town, though +not the largest town in the county. Dorchester is indeed a +pleasant agreeable town to live in, and where I thought the +people seemed less divided into factions and parties than in +other places; for though here are divisions, and the people are +not all of one mind, either as to religion or politics, yet they +did not seem to separate with so much animosity as in other +places. Here I saw the Church of England clergyman, and the +Dissenting minister or preacher drinking tea together, and +conversing with civility and good neighbourhood, like Catholic +Christians and men of a Catholic and extensive charity. The +town is populous, though not large; the streets broad, but the +buildings old and low. However, there is good company, and +a good deal of it; and a man that coveted a retreat in this world +might as agreeably spend his time and as well in Dorchester as in +any town I know in England.</p> +<p>The downs round this town are exceeding pleasant, and come up +on, every side, even to the very streets’ end; and here it +was that they told me that there were six hundred thousand sheep +fed on the downs within six miles of the town—that is, six +miles every way, which is twelve miles in diameter, and +thirty-six miles in circumference. This, I say, I was +told—I do not affirm it to be true; but when I viewed the +country round, I confess I could not but incline to believe +it.</p> +<p>It is observable of these sheep that they are exceeding +fruitful, the ewes generally bringing two lambs, and they are for +that reason bought by all the farmers through the east part of +England, who come to Burford Fair in this country to buy them, +and carry them into Kent and Surrey eastward, and into +Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire north; even our +Banstead Downs in Surrey, so famed for good mutton, is supplied +from this place. The grass or herbage of these downs is +full of the sweetest and the most aromatic plants, such as +nourish the sheep to a strange degree; and the sheep’s +dung, again, nourishes that herbage to a strange degree; so that +the valleys are rendered extremely fruitful by the washing of the +water in hasty showers from off these hills.</p> +<p>An eminent instance of this is seen at Amesbury, in Wiltshire, +the next county to this; for it is the same thing in proportion +over this whole county. I was told that at this town there +was a meadow on the bank of the River Avon, which runs thence to +Salisbury, which was let for £12 a year per acre for the +grass only. This I inquired particularly after at the +place, and was assured by the inhabitants, as one man, that the +fact was true, and was showed the meadows. The grass which +grew on them was such as grew to the length of ten or twelve +feet, rising up to a good height and then taking root again, and +was of so rich a nature as to answer very well such an +extravagant rent.</p> +<p>The reason they gave for this was the extraordinary richness +of the soil, made so, as above, by the falling or washing of the +rains from the hills adjacent, by which, though no other land +thereabouts had such a kind of grass, yet all other meadows and +low grounds of the valley were extremely rich in proportion.</p> +<p>There are abundance of good families, and of very ancient +lines in the neighbourhood of this town of Dorchester, as the +Napiers, the Courtneys, Strangeways, Seymours, Banks, Tregonells, +Sydenhams, and many others, some of which have very great estates +in the county, and in particular Colonel Strangeways, Napier, and +Courtney. The first of these is master of the famous +swannery or nursery of swans, the like of which, I believe, is +not in Europe. I wonder any man should pretend to travel +over this country, and pass by it, too, and then write his +account and take no notice of it.</p> +<p>From Dorchester it is six miles to the seaside south, and the +ocean in view almost all the way. The first town you come +to is Weymouth, or Weymouth and Melcombe, two towns lying at the +mouth of a little rivulet which they call the Wey, but scarce +claims the name of a river. However, the entrance makes a +very good though small harbour, and they are joined by a wooden +bridge; so that nothing but the harbour parts them; yet they are +separate corporations, and choose each of them two members of +Parliament, just as London and Southwark.</p> +<p>Weymouth is a sweet, clean, agreeable town, considering its +low situation, and close to the sea; it is well built, and has a +great many good substantial merchants in it who drive a +considerable trade, and have a good number of ships belonging to +the town. They carry on now, in time of peace, a trade with +France; but, besides this, they trade also to Portugal, Spain, +Newfoundland, and Virginia; and they have a large correspondence +also up in the country for the consumption of their returns; +especially the wine trade and the Newfoundland trade are +considerable here.</p> +<p>Without the harbour is an old castle, called Sandfoot Castle; +and over against them, where there is a good road for ships to +put in on occasions of bad weather, is Portland Castle, and the +road is called Portland Road. While I was here once, there +came a merchant-ship into that road called Portland Road under a +very hard storm of wind; she was homeward bound from Oporto for +London, laden with wines; and as she came in she made signals of +distress to the town, firing guns for help, and the like, as is +usual in such cases; it was in the dark of the night that the +ship came in, and, by the help of her own pilot, found her way +into the road, where she came to an anchor, but, as I say, fired +guns for help.</p> +<p>The venturous Weymouth men went off, even before it was light, +with two boats to see who she was, and what condition she was in; +and found she was come to an anchor, and had struck her topmasts; +but that she had been in bad weather, had lost an anchor and +cable before, and had but one cable to trust to, which did hold +her, but was weak; and as the storm continued to blow, they +expected every hour to go on shore and split to pieces.</p> +<p>Upon this the Weymouth boats came back with such diligence +that in less than three hours they were on board them again with +an anchor and cable, which they immediately bent in its place, +and let go to assist the other, and thereby secured the +ship. It is true that they took a good price of the master +for the help they gave him; for they made him draw a bill on his +owners at London for £12 for the use of the anchor, cable, +and boat, besides some gratuities to the men. But they +saved the ship and cargo by it, and in three or four days the +weather was calm, and he proceeded on his voyage, returning the +anchor and cable again; so that, upon the whole, it was not so +extravagant as at first I thought it to be.</p> +<p>The Isle of Portland, on which the castle I mentioned stands, +lies right against this Port of Weymouth. Hence it is that +our best and whitest freestone comes, with which the Cathedral of +St. Paul’s, the Monument, and all the public edifices in +the City of London are chiefly built; and it is wonderful, and +well worth the observation of a traveller, to see the quarries in +the rocks from whence they are cut out, what stones, and of what +prodigious a size are cut out there.</p> +<p>The island is indeed little more than one continued rock of +freestone, and the height of the land is such that from this +island they see in clear weather above half over the Channel to +France, though the Channel here is very broad. The sea off +of this island, and especially to the west of it, is counted the +most dangerous part of the British Channel. Due south, +there is almost a continued disturbance in the waters, by reason +of what they call two tides meeting, which I take to be no more +than the sets of the currents from the French coast and from the +English shore meeting: this they call Portland Race; and several +ships, not aware of these currents, have been embayed to the west +of Portland, and been driven on shore on the beach (of which I +shall speak presently), and there lost.</p> +<p>To prevent this danger, and guide the mariner in these +distresses, they have within these few months set up two +lighthouses on the two points of that island; and they had not +been many months set up, with the directions given to the public +for their bearings, but we found three outward-bound East India +ships which were in distress in the night, in a hard extreme gale +of wind, were so directed by those lights that they avoided going +on shore by it, which, if the lights had not been there, would +inevitably happened to their destruction.</p> +<p>This island, though seemingly miserable, and thinly inhabited, +yet the inhabitants being almost all stone-cutters, we found +there were no very poor people among them, and when they +collected money for the re-building St. Paul’s, they got +more in this island than in the great town of Dorchester, as we +were told.</p> +<p>Though Portland stands a league off from the mainland of +Britain, yet it is almost joined by a prodigious riff of +beach—that is to say, of small stones cast up by the +sea—which runs from the island so near the shore of England +that they ferry over with a boat and a rope, the water not being +above half a stone’s-throw over; and the said riff of beach +ending, as it were, at that inlet of water, turns away west, and +runs parallel with the shore quite to Abbotsbury, which is a town +about seven miles beyond Weymouth.</p> +<p>I name this for two reasons: first, to explain again what I +said before of ships being embayed and lost here. This is +when ships coming from the westward omit to keep a good offing, +or are taken short by contrary winds, and cannot weather the high +land of Portland, but are driven between Portland and the +mainland. If they can come to an anchor, and ride it out, +well and good; and if not, they run on shore on that vast beach +and are lost without remedy.</p> +<p>On the inside of this beach, and between it and the land, +there is, as I have said, an inlet of water which they ferry +over, as above, to pass and re-pass to and from Portland: this +inlet opens at about two miles west, and grows very broad, and +makes a kind of lake within the land of a mile and a half broad, +and near three miles in length, the breadth unequal. At the +farthest end west of this water is a large duck-coy, and the +verge of the water well grown with wood, and proper groves of +trees for cover for the fowl: in the open lake, or broad part, is +a continual assembly of swans: here they live, feed, and breed, +and the number of them is such that, I believe, I did not see so +few as 7,000 or 8,000. Here they are protected, and here +they breed in abundance. We saw several of them upon the +wing, very high in the air, whence we supposed that they flew +over the riff of beach, which parts the lake from the sea, to +feed on the shores as they thought fit, and so came home again at +their leisure.</p> +<p>From this duck-coy west, the lake narrows, and at last almost +closes, till the beach joins the shore; and so Portland may be +said, not to be an island, but part of the continent. And +now we came to Abbotsbury, a town anciently famous for a great +monastery, and now eminent for nothing but its ruins.</p> +<p>From hence we went on to Bridport, a pretty large corporation +town on the sea-shore, though without a harbour. Here we +saw boats all the way on the shore, fishing for mackerel, which +they take in the easiest manner imaginable; for they fix one end +of the net to a pole set deep into the sand, then, the net being +in a boat, they row right out into the water some length, then +turn and row parallel with the shore, veering out the net all the +while, till they have let go all the net, except the line at the +end, and then the boat rows on shore, when the men, hauling the +net to the shore at both ends, bring to shore with it such fish +as they surrounded in the little way they rowed. This, at +that time, proved to be an incredible number, insomuch that the +men could hardly draw them on shore. As soon as the boats +had brought their fish on shore we observed a guard or watch +placed on the shore in several places, who, we found, had their +eye, not on the fishermen, but on the country people who came +down to the shore to buy their fish; and very sharp we found they +were, and some that came with small carts were obliged to go back +empty without any fish. When we came to inquire into the +particulars of this, we found that these were officers placed on +the shore by the justices and magistrates of the towns about, who +were ordered to prevent the country farmers buying the mackerel +to dung their land with them, which was thought to be dangerous +as to infection. In short, such was the plenty of fish that +year that the mackerel, the finest and largest I ever saw, were +sold at the seaside a hundred for a penny.</p> +<p>From Bridport (a town in which we see nothing remarkable) we +came to Lyme, the town particularly made famous by the landing of +the Duke of Monmouth and his unfortunate troops in the time of +King James II., of which I need say nothing, the history of it +being so recent in the memory of so many living.</p> +<p>This is a town of good figure, and has in it several eminent +merchants who carry on a considerable trade to France, Spain, +Newfoundland, and the Straits; and though they have neither creek +or bay, road or river, they have a good harbour, but it is such a +one as is not in all Britain besides, if there is such a one in +any part of the world.</p> +<p>It is a massy pile of building, consisting of high and thick +walls of stone, raised at first with all the methods that skill +and art could devise, but maintained now with very little +difficulty. The walls are raised in the main sea at a good +distance from the shore; it consists of one main and solid wall +of stone, large enough for carts and carriages to pass on the +top, and to admit houses and warehouses to be built on it, so +that it is broad as a street. Opposite to this, but farther +into the sea, is another wall of the same workmanship, which +crosses the end of the first wall and comes about with a tail +parallel to the first wall.</p> +<p>Between the point of the first or main wall is the entrance +into the port, and the second or opposite wall, breaking the +violence of the sea from the entrance, the ships go into the +basin as into a pier or harbour, and ride there as secure as in a +millpond or as in a wet dock.</p> +<p>The townspeople have the benefit of this wonderful harbour, +and it is carefully kept in repair, as indeed it behoves them to +do; but they could give me nothing of the history of it, nor do +they, as I could perceive, know anything of the original of it, +or who built it. It was lately almost beaten down by a +storm, but is repaired again.</p> +<p>This work is called the Cobb. The Custom House officers +have a lodge and warehouse upon it, and there were several ships +of very good force and rich in value in the basin of it when I +was there. It might be strengthened with a fort, and the +walls themselves are firm enough to carry what guns they please +to plant upon it; but they did not seem to think it needful, and +as the shore is convenient for batteries, they have some guns +planted in proper places, both for the defence of the Cobb and +the town also.</p> +<p>This town is under the government of a mayor and aldermen, and +may pass for a place of wealth, considering the bigness of +it. Here, we found, the merchants began to trade in the +pilchard-fishing, though not to so considerable a degree as they +do farther west—the pilchards seldom coming up so high +eastward as Portland, and not very often so high as Lyme.</p> +<p>It was in sight of these hills that Queen Elizabeth’s +fleet, under the command of the Lord Howard of Effingham (then +Admiral), began first to engage in a close and resolved fight +with the invincible Spanish Armada in 1588, maintaining the +fight, the Spaniards making eastward till they came the length of +Portland Race, where they gave it over—the Spaniards having +received considerable damage, and keeping then closer +together. Off of the same place was a desperate engagement +in the year 1672 between the English and Dutch, in which the +Dutch were worsted and driven over to the coast of France, and +then glad to make home to refit and repair.</p> +<p>While we stayed here some time viewing this town and coast, we +had opportunity to observe the pleasant way of conversation as it +is managed among the gentlemen of this county and their families, +which are, without reflection, some of the most polite and +well-bred people in the isle of Britain. As their +hospitality is very great, and their bounty to the poor +remarkable, so their generous friendly way of living with, +visiting, and associating one with another is as hard to be +described as it is really to be admired; they seem to have a +mutual confidence in and friendship with one another, as if they +were all relations; nor did I observe the sharping, tricking +temper which is too much crept in among the gaming and +horse-racing gentry in some parts of England to be so much known +among them any otherwise than to be abhorred; and yet they +sometimes play, too, and make matches and horse-races, as they +see occasion.</p> +<p>The ladies here do not want the help of assemblies to assist +in matchmaking, or half-pay officers to run away with their +daughters, which the meetings called assemblies in some other +parts of England are recommended for. Here is no Bury Fair, +where the women are scandalously said to carry themselves to +market, and where every night they meet at the play or at the +assembly for intrigue; and yet I observed that the women do not +seem to stick on hand so much in this country as in those +countries where those assemblies are so lately set up—the +reason of which, I cannot help saying, if my opinion may bear any +weight, is that the Dorsetshire ladies are equal in beauty, and +may be superior in reputation. In a word, their reputation +seems here to be better kept, guarded by better conduct, and +managed with more prudence; and yet the Dorsetshire ladies, I +assure you, are not nuns; they do not go veiled about streets, or +hide themselves when visited; but a general freedom of +conversation—agreeable, mannerly, kind, and good—runs +through the whole body of the gentry of both sexes, mixed with +the best of behaviour, and yet governed by prudence and modesty +such as I nowhere see better in all my observation through the +whole isle of Britain. In this little interval also I +visited some of the biggest towns in the north-west part of this +county, as Blandford—a town on the River Stour in the road +between Salisbury and Dorchester—a handsome well-built +town, but chiefly famous for making the finest bone-lace in +England, and where they showed me some so exquisitely fine as I +think I never saw better in Flanders, France, or Italy, and which +they said they rated at above £30 sterling a yard; but I +suppose there was not much of this to be had. But it is +most certain that they make exceeding rich lace in that county, +such as no part of England can equal.</p> +<p>From thence I went west to Stourbridge, vulgarly called +Strabridge. The town and the country around is employed in +the manufacture of stockings, and which was once famous for +making the finest, best, and highest-prize knit stocking in +England; but that trade now is much decayed by the increase of +the knitting-stocking engine or frame, which has destroyed the +hand-knitting trade for fine stockings through the whole kingdom, +of which I shall speak more in its place.</p> +<p>From hence I came to Sherborne, a large and populous town, +with one collegiate or conventual church, and may properly claim +to have more inhabitants in it than any town in Dorsetshire, +though it is neither the county-town, nor does it send members to +Parliament. The church is still a reverend pile, and shows +the face of great antiquity. Here begins the Wiltshire +medley clothing (though this town be in Dorsetshire), of which I +shall speak at large in its place, and therefore I omit any +discourse of it here.</p> +<p>Shaftesbury is also on the edge of this county, adjoining to +Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, being fourteen miles from Salisbury, +over that fine down or carpet ground which they call particularly +or properly Salisbury Plain. It has neither house nor town +in view all the way; and the road, which often lies very broad +and branches off insensibly, might easily cause a traveller to +lose his way. But there is a certain never-failing +assistance upon all these downs for telling a stranger his way, +and that is the number of shepherds feeding or keeping their vast +flocks of sheep which are everywhere in the way, and who with a +very little pains a traveller may always speak with. +Nothing can be like it. The Arcadians’ plains, of +which we read so much pastoral trumpery in the poets, could be +nothing to them.</p> +<p>This Shaftesbury is now a sorry town upon the top of a high +hill, which closes the plain or downs, and whence Nature presents +you a new scene or prospect—viz., of Somerset and +Wiltshire—where it is all enclosed, and grown with woods, +forests, and planted hedge-rows; the country rich, fertile, and +populous; the towns and houses standing thick and being large and +full of inhabitants, and those inhabitants fully employed in the +richest and most valuable manufacture in the world—viz., +the English clothing, as well the medley or mixed clothing as +whites, as well for the home trade as the foreign trade, of which +I shall take leave to be very particular in my return through the +west and north part of Wiltshire in the latter part of this +work.</p> +<p>In my return to my western progress, I passed some little part +of Somersetshire, as through Evil or Yeovil, upon the River Ivil, +in going to which we go down a long steep hill, which they call +Babylon Hill, but from what original I could find none of the +country people to inform me.</p> +<p>This Yeovil is a market-town of good resort; and some clothing +is carried on in and near it, but not much. Its main +manufacture at this time is making of gloves.</p> +<p>It cannot pass my observation here that when we are come this +length from London the dialect of the English tongue, or the +country way of expressing themselves, is not easily +understood—it is so strangely altered. It is true +that it is so in many parts of England besides, but in none in so +gross a degree as in this part. This way of boorish country +speech, as in Ireland it is called the “brogue” upon +the tongue, so here it is called “jouring;” and it is +certain that though the tongue be all mere natural English, yet +those that are but a little acquainted with them cannot +understand one-half of what they say. It is not possible to +explain this fully by writing, because the difference is not so +much in the orthography of words as in the tone and +diction—their abridging the speech, “cham” for +“I am,” “chil” for “I will,” +“don” for “put on,” and +“doff” for “put off,” and the like. +And I cannot omit a short story here on this subject. +Coming to a relation’s house, who was a school-master at +Martock, in Somersetshire, I went into his school to beg the boys +a play-day, as is usual in such cases (I should have said, to beg +the master a play-day. But that by the way). Coming +into the school, I observed one of the lowest scholars was +reading his lesson to the usher, which lesson, it seems, was a +chapter in the Bible. So I sat down by the master till the +boy had read out his chapter. I observed the boy read a +little oddly in the tone of the country, which made me the more +attentive, because on inquiry I found that the words were the +same and the orthography the same as in all our Bibles. I +observed also the boy read it out with his eyes still on the book +and his head (like a mere boy) moving from side to side as the +lines reached cross the columns of the book. His lesson was +in the Canticles, v. 3 of chap. v. The words +these:—“I have put off my coat. How shall I put +it on? I have washed my feet. How shall I defile +them?”</p> +<p>The boy read thus, with his eyes, as I say, full on the +text:—“Chav a doffed my cooat. How shall I +don’t? Chav a washed my veet. How shall I moil +’em?”</p> +<p>How the dexterous dunce could form his month to express so +readily the words (which stood right printed in the book) in his +country jargon, I could not but admire. I shall add to this +another piece as diverting, which also happened in my knowledge +at this very town of Yeovil, though some years ago.</p> +<p>There lived a good substantial family in the town not far from +the “Angel Inn”—a well-known house, which was +then, and, I suppose, is still, the chief inn of the town. +This family had a dog which, among his other good qualities for +which they kept him (for he was a rare house-dog), had this bad +one—that he was a most notorious thief, but withal so +cunning a dog, and managed himself so warily, that he preserved a +mighty good reputation among the neighbourhood. As the +family was well beloved in the town, so was the dog. He was +known to be a very useful servant to them, especially in the +night (when he was fierce as a lion; but in the day the gentlest, +lovingest creature that could be), and, as they said, all the +neighbours had a good word for this dog.</p> +<p>It happened that the good wife or mistress at the “Angel +Inn” had frequently missed several pieces of meat out of +the pail, as they say—or powdering-tub, as we call +it—and that some were very large pieces. It is also +to be observed the dog did not stay to eat what he took upon the +spot, in which case some pieces or bones or fragments might be +left, and so it might be discovered to be a dog; but he made +cleaner work, and when he fastened upon a piece of meat he was +sure to carry it quite away to such retreats as he knew he could +be safe in, and so feast upon it at leisure.</p> +<p>It happened at last, as with most thieves it does, that the +inn-keeper was too cunning for him, and the poor dog was nabbed, +taken in the fact, and could make no defence.</p> +<p>Having found the thief and got him in custody, the master of +the house, a good-humoured fellow, and loth to disoblige the +dog’s master by executing the criminal, as the dog law +directs, mitigates his sentence, and handled him as +follows:—First, taking out his knife, he cut off both his +ears; and then, bringing him to the threshold, he chopped off his +tail. And having thus effectually dishonoured the poor cur +among his neighbours, he tied a string about his neck, and a +piece of paper to the string, directed to his master, and with +these witty West Country verses on it:—</p> +<blockquote><p> “To my honoured master, +--- Esq.<br /> +“Hail master a cham a’ com hoam,<br /> +So cut as an ape, and tail have I noan,<br /> +For stealing of beef and pork out of the pail,<br /> +For thease they’v cut my ears, for th’ wother my +tail;<br /> +Nea measter, and us tell thee more nor that<br /> +And’s come there again, my brains will be flat.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>I could give many more accounts of the different dialects of +the people of this country, in some of which they are really not +to be understood; but the particulars have little or no diversion +in them. They carry it such a length that we see their +“jouring” speech even upon their monuments and +grave-stones; as, for example, even in some of the churchyards of +the city of Bristol I saw this excellent poetry after some other +lines:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“And when that thou doest hear of thick,<br +/> +Think of the glass that runneth quick.”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>But I proceed into Devonshire. From Yeovil we came to +Crookorn, thence to Chard, and from thence into the same road I +was in before at Honiton.</p> +<p>This is a large and beautiful market-town, very populous and +well built, and is so very remarkably paved with small pebbles +that on either side the way a little channel is left shouldered +up on the sides of it, so that it holds a small stream of fine +clear running water, with a little square dipping-place left at +every door; so that every family in the town has a clear, clean +running river (as it may be called) just at their own door, and +this so much finer, so much pleasanter, and agreeable to look on +than that at Salisbury (which they boast so much of), that, in my +opinion, there is no comparison.</p> +<p>Here we see the first of the great serge manufacture of +Devonshire—a trade too great to be described in miniature, +as it must be if I undertake it here, and which takes up this +whole county, which is the largest and most populous in England, +Yorkshire excepted (which ought to be esteemed three counties, +and is, indeed, divided as such into the East, West, and North +Riding). But Devonshire, one entire county, is so full of +great towns, and those towns so full of people, and those people +so universally employed in trade and manufactures, that not only +it cannot be equalled in England, but perhaps not in Europe.</p> +<p>In my travel through Dorsetshire I ought to have observed that +the biggest towns in that county sent no members to Parliament, +and that the smallest did—that is to say that Sherborne, +Blandford, Wimborneminster, Stourminster, and several other towns +choose no members; whereas Weymouth, Melcombe, and Bridport were +all burgess towns. But now we come to Devonshire we find +almost all the great towns, and some smaller, choosing members +also. It is true there are some large populous towns that +do not choose, but then there are so many that do, that the +county seems to have no injustice, for they send up +six-and-twenty members.</p> +<p>However, as I say above, there are several great towns which +do not choose Parliament men, of which Bideford is one, Crediton +or Kirton another, Ilfracombe a third; but, those excepted, the +principal towns in the county do all choose members of +Parliament.</p> +<p>Honiton is one of those, and may pass not only for a pleasant +good town, as before, but stands in the best and pleasantest part +of the whole county, and I cannot but recommend it to any +gentlemen that travel this road, that if they please to observe +the prospect for half a mile till their coming down the hill and +to the entrance into Honiton, the view of the country is the most +beautiful landscape in the world—a mere picture—and I +do not remember the like in any one place in England. It is +observable that the market of this town was kept originally on +the Sunday, till it was changed by the direction of King +John.</p> +<p>From Honiton the country is exceeding pleasant still, and on +the road they have a beautiful prospect almost all the way to +Exeter (which is twelve miles). On the left-hand of this +road lies that part of the county which they call the South Hams, +and which is famous for the best cider in that part of England; +also the town of St.-Mary-Ottery, commonly called St. Mary +Autree. They tell us the name is derived from the River +Ottery, and that from the multitude of otters found always in +that river, which however, to me, seems fabulous. Nor does +there appear to be any such great number of otters in that water, +or in the county about, more than is usual in other counties or +in other parts of the county about them. They tell us they +send twenty thousand hogsheads of cider hence every year to +London, and (which is still worse) that it is most of it bought +there by the merchants to mix with their wines—which, if +true, is not much to the reputation of the London vintners. +But that by-the-bye.</p> +<p>From hence we came to Exeter, a city famous for two things +which we seldom find unite in the same town—viz., that it +is full of gentry and good company, and yet full of trade and +manufactures also. The serge market held here every week is +very well worth a stranger’s seeing, and next to the Brigg +Market at Leeds, in Yorkshire, is the greatest in England. +The people assured me that at this market is generally sold from +sixty to seventy to eighty, and sometimes a hundred, thousand +pounds value in serges in a week. I think it is kept on +Mondays.</p> +<p>They have the River Esk here, a very considerable river, and +principal in the whole county; and within three miles, or +thereabouts, it receives ships of any ordinary burthen, the port +there being called Topsham. But now by the application, and +at the expense, of the citizens the channel of the river is so +widened, deepened, and cleansed from the shoal, which would +otherwise interrupt the navigation, that the ships come now quite +up to the city, and there with ease both deliver and take in +their lading.</p> +<p>This city drives a very great correspondence with Holland, as +also directly to Portugal, Spain, and Italy—shipping off +vast quantities of their woollen manufactures especially to +Holland, the Dutch giving very large commissions here for the +buying of serges perpetuans, and such goods; which are made not +only in and about Exeter, but at Crediton, Honiton, Culliton, +St.-Mary-Ottery, Newton Bushel, Ashburton, and especially at +Tiverton, Cullompton, Bampton, and all the north-east part of the +county—which part of the county is, as it may be said, +fully employed, the people made rich, and the poor that are +properly so called well subsisted and employed by it.</p> +<p>Exeter is a large, rich, beautiful, populous, and was once a +very strong city; but as to the last, as the castle, the walls, +and all the old works are demolished, so, were they standing, the +way of managing sieges and attacks of towns is such now, and so +altered from what it was in those days, that Exeter in the utmost +strength it could ever boast would not now hold out five days +open trenches—nay, would hardly put an army to the trouble +of opening trenches against it at all. This city was famous +in the late civil unnatural war for its loyalty to the king, and +for being a sanctuary to the queen, where her Majesty resided for +some time, and here she was delivered of a daughter, being the +Princess Henrietta Maria, of whom our histories give a particular +account, so I need say no more of it here.</p> +<p>The cathedral church of this city is an ancient beauty, or, as +it may be said, it is beautiful for its antiquity; but it has +been so fully and often described that it would look like a mere +copying from others to mention it. There is a good library +kept in it, in which are some manuscripts, and particularly an +old missal or mass-book, the leaves of vellum, and famous for its +most exquisite writing.</p> +<p>This county, and this part of it in particular, has been +famous for the birth of several eminent men as well for learning +as for arts and for war, as particularly:—</p> +<p>1. Sir William Petre, who the learned Dr. Wake (now +Archbishop of Canterbury, and author of the Additions to Mr. +Camden) says was Secretary of State and Privy Councillor to King +Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, and +seven times sent ambassador into foreign countries.</p> +<p>2. Sir Thomas Bodley, famous and of grateful memory to +all learned men and lovers of letters for his collecting and +establishing the best library in Britain, which is now at Oxford, +and is called, after his name, the Bodleian Library to this +day.</p> +<p>3. Also Sir Francis Drake, born at Plymouth.</p> +<p>4. Sir Walter Raleigh. Of both those I need say +nothing; fame publishes their merit upon every mention of their +names.</p> +<p>5. That great patron of learning, Richard Hooker, author +of the “Ecclesiastical Polity,” and of several other +valuable pieces.</p> +<p>6. Of Dr. Arthur Duck, a famed civilian, and well known +by his works among the learned advocates of Doctors’ +Commons.</p> +<p>7. Dr. John Moreman, of Southold, famous for being the +first clergyman in England who ventured to teach his parishioners +the Lord’s Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments in the +English tongue, and reading them so publicly in the parish church +of Mayenhennet in this county, of which he was vicar.</p> +<p>8. Dr. John de Brampton, a man of great learning who +flourished in the reign of Henry VI., was famous for being the +first that read Aristotle publicly in the University of +Cambridge, and for several learned books of his writing, which +are now lost.</p> +<p>9. Peter Blundel, a clothier, who built the free school +at Tiverton, and endowed it very handsomely; of which in its +place.</p> +<p>10. Sir John Glanvill, a noted lawyer, and one of the +Judges of the Common Pleas.</p> +<p>11. Sergeant Glanvill, his son; as great a lawyer as his +father.</p> +<p>12. Sir John Maynard, an eminent lawyer of later years; +one of the Commissioners of the Great Seal under King William +III. All these three were born at Tavistock.</p> +<p>13. Sir Peter King, the present Lord Chief Justice of +the Common Pleas. And many others.</p> +<p>I shall take the north part of this county in my return from +Cornwall; so I must now lean to the south—that is to say, +to the South Coast—for in going on indeed we go +south-west.</p> +<p>About twenty-two miles from Exeter we go to Totnes, on the +River Dart. This is a very good town, of some trade; but +has more gentlemen in it than tradesmen of note. They have +a very fine stone bridge here over the river, which, being within +seven or eight miles of the sea, is very large; and the tide +flows ten or twelve feet at the bridge. Here we had the +diversion of seeing them catch fish with the assistance of a +dog. The case is this:—On the south side of the +river, and on a slip, or narrow cut or channel made on purpose +for a mill, there stands a corn-mill; the mill-tail, or floor for +the water below the wheels, is wharfed up on either side with +stone above high-water mark, and for above twenty or thirty feet +in length below it on that part of the river towards the sea; at +the end of this wharfing is a grating of wood, the cross-bars of +which stand bearing inward, sharp at the end, and pointing inward +towards one another, as the wires of a mouse-trap.</p> +<p>When the tide flows up, the fish can with ease go in between +the points of these cross-bars, but the mill being shut down they +can go no farther upwards; and when the water ebbs again, they +are left behind, not being able to pass the points of the +grating, as above, outwards; which, like a mouse-trap, keeps them +in, so that they are left at the bottom with about a foot or a +foot and a half of water. We were carried hither at low +water, where we saw about fifty or sixty small salmon, about +seventeen to twenty inches long, which the country people call +salmon-peal; and to catch these the person who went with us, who +was our landlord at a great inn next the bridge, put in a net on +a hoop at the end of a pole, the pole going cross the hoop (which +we call in this country a shove-net). The net being fixed +at one end of the place, they put in a dog (who was taught his +trade beforehand) at the other end of the place, and he drives +all the fish into the net; so that, only holding the net still in +its place, the man took up two or three and thirty salmon-peal at +the first time.</p> +<p>Of these we took six for our dinner, for which they asked a +shilling (viz., twopence a-piece); and for such fish, not at all +bigger, and not so fresh, I have seen six-and-sixpence each given +at a London fish-market, whither they are sometimes brought from +Chichester by land carriage.</p> +<p>This excessive plenty of so good fish (and other provisions +being likewise very cheap in proportion) makes the town of Totnes +a very good place to live in; especially for such as have large +families and but small estates. And many such are said to +come into those parts on purpose for saving money, and to live in +proportion to their income.</p> +<p>From hence we went still south about seven miles (all in view +of this river) to Dartmouth, a town of note, seated at the mouth +of the River Dart, and where it enters into the sea at a very +narrow but safe entrance. The opening into Dartmouth +Harbour is not broad, but the channel deep enough for the biggest +ship in the Royal Navy. The sides of the entrance are +high-mounded with rocks, without which, just at the first +narrowing of the passage, stands a good strong fort without a +platform of guns, which commands the port.</p> +<p>The narrow entrance is not much above half a mile, when it +opens and makes a basin or harbour able to receive 500 sail of +ships of any size, and where they may ride with the greatest +safety, even as in a mill-pond or wet dock. I had the +curiosity here, with the assistance of a merchant of the town, to +go out to the mouth of the haven in a boat to see the entrance, +and castle or fort that commands it; and coming back with the +tide of flood, I observed some small fish to skip and play upon +the surface of the water, upon which I asked my friend what fish +they were. Immediately one of the rowers or seamen starts +up in the boat, and, throwing his arms abroad as if he had been +bewitched, cries out as loud as he could bawl, “A school! a +school!” The word was taken to the shore as hastily +as it would have been on land if he had cried +“Fire!” And by that time we reached the quays +the town was all in a kind of an uproar.</p> +<p>The matter was that a great shoal—or, as they call it, a +“school”—of pilchards came swimming with the +tide of flood, directly out of the sea into the harbour. My +friend whose boat we were in told me this was a surprise which he +would have been very glad of if he could but have had a day or +two’s warning, for he might have taken 200 tons of +them. And the like was the case of other merchants in town; +for, in short, nobody was ready for them, except a small +fishing-boat or two—one of which went out into the middle +of the harbour, and at two or three hauls took about forty +thousand of them. We sent our servant to the quay to buy +some, who for a halfpenny brought us seventeen, and, if he would +have taken them, might have had as many more for the same +money. With these we went to dinner; the cook at the inn +broiled them for us, which is their way of dressing them, with +pepper and salt, which cost us about a farthing; so that two of +us and a servant dined—and at a tavern, too—for three +farthings, dressing and all. And this is the reason of +telling the tale. What drink—wine or beer—we +had I do not remember; but, whatever it was, that we paid for by +itself. But for our food we really dined for three +farthings, and very well, too. Our friend treated us the +next day with a dish of large lobsters, and I being curious to +know the value of such things, and having freedom enough with him +to inquire, I found that for 6d. or 8d. they bought as good +lobsters there as would have cost in London 3s. to 3s. 6d. +each.</p> +<p>In observing the coming in of those pilchards, as above, we +found that out at sea, in the offing, beyond the mouth of the +harbour, there was a whole army of porpoises, which, as they told +us, pursued the pilchards, and, it is probable, drove them into +the harbour, as above. The school, it seems, drove up the +river a great way, even as high as Totnes Bridge, as we heard +afterwards; so that the country people who had boats and nets +catched as many as they knew what to do with, and perhaps lived +upon pilchards for several days. But as to the merchants +and trade, their coming was so sudden that it was no advantage to +them.</p> +<p>Round the west side of this basin or harbour, in a kind of a +semicircle, lies the town of Dartmouth, a very large and populous +town, though but meanly built, and standing on the side of a +steep hill; yet the quay is large, and the street before it +spacious. Here are some very flourishing merchants, who +trade very prosperously, and to the most considerable trading +ports of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Plantations; but +especially they are great traders to Newfoundland, and from +thence to Spain and Italy, with fish; and they drive a good trade +also in their own fishery of pilchards, which is hereabouts +carried on with the greatest number of vessels of any port in the +west, except Falmouth.</p> +<p>A little to the southward of this town, and to the east of the +port, is Tor Bay, of which I know nothing proper to my +observation, more than that it is a very good road for ships, +though sometimes (especially with a southerly or south-east wind) +ships have been obliged to quit the bay and put out to sea, or +run into Dartmouth for shelter.</p> +<p>I suppose I need not mention that they had from the hilly part +of this town, and especially from the hills opposite to it, the +noble prospect, and at that time particularly delightful, of the +Prince of Orange’s fleet when he came to that coast, and as +they entered into Tor Bay to land—the Prince and his army +being in a fleet of about 600 sail of transport ships, besides 50 +sail of men-of-war of the line, all which, with a fair wind and +fine weather, came to an anchor there at once.</p> +<p>This town, as most of the towns of Devonshire are, is full of +Dissenters, and a very large meeting-house they have here. +How they act here with respect to the great dispute about the +doctrine of the Trinity, which has caused such a breach among +those people at Exeter and other parts of the county, I cannot +give any account of. This town sends two members to +Parliament.</p> +<p>From hence we went to Plympton, a poor and thinly-inhabited +town, though blessed with the like privilege of sending members +to the Parliament, of which I have little more to say but that +from thence the road lies to Plymouth, distance about six +miles.</p> +<p>Plymouth is indeed a town of consideration, and of great +importance to the public. The situation of it between two +very large inlets of the sea, and in the bottom of a large bay, +which is very remarkable for the advantage of navigation. +The Sound or Bay is compassed on every side with hills, and the +shore generally steep and rocky, though the anchorage is good, +and it is pretty safe riding. In the entrance to this bay +lies a large and most dangerous rock, which at high-water is +covered, but at low-tide lies bare, where many a good ship has +been lost, even in the view of safety, and many a ship’s +crew drowned in the night, before help could be had for them.</p> +<p>Upon this rock (which was called the Eddystone, from its +situation) the famous Mr. Winstanley undertook to build a +lighthouse for the direction of sailors, and with great art and +expedition finished it; which work—considering its height, +the magnitude of its building, and the little hold there was by +which it was possible to fasten it to the rock—stood to +admiration, and bore out many a bitter storm.</p> +<p>Mr. Winstanley often visited, and frequently strengthened, the +building by new works, and was so confident of its firmness and +stability that he usually said he only desired to be in it when a +storm should happen; for many people had told him it would +certainly fall if it came to blow a little harder than +ordinary.</p> +<p>But he happened at last to be in it once too +often—namely, when that dreadful tempest blew, November 27, +1703. This tempest began on the Wednesday before, and blew +with such violence, and shook the lighthouse so much, that, as +they told me there, Mr. Winstanley would fain have been on shore, +and made signals for help; but no boats durst go off to him; and, +to finish the tragedy, on the Friday, November 26, when the +tempest was so redoubled that it became a terror to the whole +nation, the first sight there seaward that the people of Plymouth +were presented with in the morning after the storm was the bare +Eddystone, the lighthouse being gone; in which Mr. Winstanley and +all that were with him perished, and were never seen or heard of +since. But that which was a worse loss still was that, a +few days after, a merchant’s ship called the +<i>Winchelsea</i>, homeward bound from Virginia, not knowing the +Eddystone lighthouse was down, for want of the light that should +have been seen, run foul of the rock itself, and was lost with +all her lading and most of her men. But there is now +another light-house built on the same rock.</p> +<p>What other disasters happened at the same time in the Sound +and in the roads about Plymouth is not my business; they are also +published in other books, to which I refer.</p> +<p>One thing which I was a witness to on a former journey to this +place, I cannot omit. It was the next year after that great +storm, and but a little sooner in the year, being in August; I +was at Plymouth, and walking on the Hoo (which is a plain on the +edge of the sea, looking to the road), I observed the evening so +serene, so calm, so bright, and the sea so smooth, that a finer +sight, I think, I never saw. There was very little wind, +but what was, seemed to be westerly; and about an hour after, it +blew a little breeze at south-west, with which wind there came +into the Sound that night and the next morning a fleet of +fourteen sail of ships from Barbadoes, richly laden for +London. Having been long at sea, most of the captains and +passengers came on shore to refresh themselves, as is usual after +such tedious voyages; and the ships rode all in the Sound on that +side next to Catwater. As is customary upon safe arriving +to their native country, there was a general joy and rejoicing +both on board and on shore.</p> +<p>The next day the wind began to freshen, especially in the +afternoon, and the sea to be disturbed, and very hard it blew at +night; but all was well for that time. But the night after, +it blew a dreadful storm (not much inferior, for the time it +lasted, to the storm mentioned above which blew down the +lighthouse on the Eddystone). About mid-night the noise, +indeed, was very dreadful, what with the rearing of the sea and +of the wind, intermixed with the firing of guns for help from the +ships, the cries of the seamen and people on shore, and (which +was worse) the cries of those which were driven on shore by the +tempest and dashed in pieces. In a word, all the fleet +except three, or thereabouts, were dashed to pieces against the +rocks and sunk in the sea, most of the men being drowned. +Those three who were saved, received so much damage that their +lading was almost all spoiled. One ship in the dark of the +night, the men not knowing where they were, run into Catwater, +and run on shore there; by which she was, however, saved from +shipwreck, and the lives of her crew were saved also.</p> +<p>This was a melancholy morning indeed. Nothing was to be +seen but wrecks of the ships and a foaming, furious sea in that +very place where they rode all in joy and triumph but the evening +before. The captains, passengers, and officers who were, as +I have said, gone on shore, between the joy of saving their +lives, and the affliction of having lost their ships, their +cargoes, and their friends, were objects indeed worth our +compassion and observation. And there was a great variety +of the passions to be observed in them—now lamenting their +losses, their giving thanks for their deliverance. Many of +the passengers had lost their all, and were, as they expressed +themselves, “utterly undone.” They were, I say, +now lamenting their losses with violent excesses of grief; then +giving thanks for their lives, and that they should be brought on +shore, as it were, on purpose to be saved from death; then again +in tears for such as were drowned. The various cases were +indeed very affecting, and, in many things, very instructing.</p> +<p>As I say, Plymouth lies in the bottom of this Sound, in the +centre between the two waters, so there lies against it, in the +same position, an island, which they call St. Nicholas, on which +there is a castle which commands the entrance into Hamoaze, and +indeed that also into Catwater in some degree. In this +island the famous General Lambert, one of Cromwell’s great +agents or officers in the rebellion, was imprisoned for life, and +lived many years there.</p> +<p>On the shore over against this island is the citadel of +Plymouth, a small but regular fortification, inaccessible by sea, +but not exceeding strong by land, except that they say the works +are of a stone hard as marble, and would not soon yield to the +batteries of an enemy—but that is a language our modern +engineers now laugh at.</p> +<p>The town stands above this, upon the same rock, and lies +sloping on the side of it, towards the east—the inlet of +the sea which is called Catwater, and which is a harbour capable +of receiving any number of ships and of any size, washing the +eastern shore of the town, where they have a kind of natural mole +or haven, with a quay and all other conveniences for bringing in +vessels for loading and unloading; nor is the trade carried on +here inconsiderable in itself, or the number of merchants +small.</p> +<p>The other inlet of the sea, as I term it, is on the other side +of the town, and is called Hamoaze, being the mouth of the River +Tamar, a considerable river which parts the two counties of Devon +and Cornwall. Here (the war with France making it necessary +that the ships of war should have a retreat nearer hand than at +Portsmouth) the late King William ordered a wet dock—with +yards, dry docks, launches, and conveniences of all kinds for +building and repairing of ships—to be built; and with these +followed necessarily the building of store-houses and warehouses +for the rigging, sails, naval and military stores, &c., of +such ships as may be appointed to be laid up there, as now +several are; with very handsome houses for the commissioners, +clerks, and officers of all kinds usual in the king’s +yards, to dwell in. It is, in short, now become as complete +an arsenal or yard for building and fitting men-of-war as any the +Government are masters of, and perhaps much more convenient than +some of them, though not so large.</p> +<p>The building of these things, with the addition of rope-walks +and mast-yards, &c., as it brought abundance of trades-people +and workmen to the place, so they began by little and little to +build houses on the lands adjacent, till at length there appeared +a very handsome street, spacious and large, and as well +inhabited; and so many houses are since added that it is become a +considerable town, and must of consequence in time draw abundance +of people from Plymouth itself.</p> +<p>However, the town of Plymouth is, and will always be, a very +considerable town, while that excellent harbour makes it such a +general port for the receiving all the fleets of merchants’ +ships from the southward (as from Spain, Italy, the West Indies, +&c.), who generally make it the first port to put in at for +refreshment, or safety from either weather or enemies.</p> +<p>The town is populous and wealthy, having, as above, several +considerable merchants and abundance of wealthy shopkeepers, +whose trade depends upon supplying the sea-faring people that +upon so many occasions put into that port. As for +gentlemen—I mean, those that are such by family and birth +and way of living—it cannot be expected to find many such +in a town merely depending on trade, shipping, and sea-faring +business; yet I found here some men of value (persons of liberal +education, general knowledge, and excellent behaviour), whose +society obliges me to say that a gentleman might find very +agreeable company in Plymouth.</p> +<p>From Plymouth we pass the Tamar over a ferry to +Saltash—a little, poor, shattered town, the first we set +foot on in the county of Cornwall. The Tamar here is very +wide, and the ferry-boats bad; so that I thought myself well +escaped when I got safe on shore in Cornwall.</p> +<p>Saltash seems to be the ruins of a larger place; and we saw +many houses, as it were, falling down, and I doubt not but the +mice and rats have abandoned many more, as they say they will +when they are likely to fall. Yet this town is governed by +a mayor and aldermen, has many privileges, sends members to +Parliament, takes toll of all vessels that pass the river, and +have the sole oyster-fishing in the whole river, which is +considerable. Mr. Carew, author of the “Survey of +Cornwall,” tells us a strange story of a dog in this town, +of whom it was observed that if they gave him any large bone or +piece of meat, he immediately went out of doors with it, and +after having disappeared for some time would return again; upon +which, after some time, they watched him, when, to their great +surprise, they found that the poor charitable creature carried +what he so got to an old decrepit mastiff, which lay in a nest +that he had made among the brakes a little way out of the town, +and was blind, so that he could not help himself; and there this +creature fed him. He adds also that on Sundays or holidays, +when he found they made good cheer in the house where he lived, +he would go out and bring this old blind dog to the door, and +feed him there till he had enough, and then go with him back to +his habitation in the country again, and see him safe in. +If this story is true, it is very remarkable indeed; and I +thought it worth telling, because the author was a person who, +they say, might be credited.</p> +<p>This town has a kind of jurisdiction upon the River Tamar down +to the mouth of the port, so that they claim anchorage of all +small ships that enter the river; their coroner sits upon all +dead bodies that are found drowned in the river and the like, but +they make not much profit of them. There is a good market +here, and that is the best thing to be said of the town; it is +also very much increased since the number of the inhabitants are +increased at the new town, as I mentioned as near the dock at the +mouth of Hamoaze, for those people choose rather to go to Saltash +to market by water than to walk to Plymouth by land for their +provisions. Because, first, as they go in the town boat, +the same boat brings home what they buy, so that it is much less +trouble; second, because provisions are bought much cheaper at +Saltash than at Plymouth. This, I say, is like to be a very +great advantage to the town of Saltash, and may in time put a new +face of wealth upon the place.</p> +<p>They talk of some merchants beginning to trade here, and they +have some ships that use the Newfoundland fishery; but I could +not hear of anything considerable they do in it. There is +no other considerable town up the Tamar till we come to +Launceston, the county town, which I shall take in my return; so +I turned west, keeping the south shore of the county to the +Land’s End.</p> +<p>From Saltash I went to Liskeard, about seven miles. This +is a considerable town, well built; has people of fashion in it, +and a very great market; it also sends two members to Parliament, +and is one of the five towns called Stannary Towns—that is +to say, where the blocks of tin are brought to the coinage; of +which, by itself, this coinage of tin is an article very much to +the advantage of the towns where it is settled, though the money +paid goes another way.</p> +<p>This town of Liskeard was once eminent, had a good castle, and +a large house, where the ancient Dukes of Cornwall kept their +court in those days; also it enjoyed several privileges, +especially by the favour of the Black Prince, who as Prince of +Wales and Duke of Cornwall resided here. And in return they +say this town and the country round it raised a great body of +stout young fellows, who entered into his service and followed +his fortunes in his wars in France, as also in Spain. But +these buildings are so decayed that there are now scarce any of +the ruins of the castle or of the prince’s court +remaining.</p> +<p>The only public edifices they have now to show are the guild +or town hall, on which there is a turret with a fine clock; a +very good free school, well provided; a very fine conduit in the +market-place; an ancient large church; and, which is something +rare for the county of Cornwall, a large, new-built meeting-house +for the Dissenters, which I name because they assured me there +was but three more, and those very inconsiderable, in all the +county of Cornwall; whereas in Devonshire, which is the next +county, there are reckoned about seventy, some of which are +exceeding large and fine.</p> +<p>This town is also remarkable for a very great trade in all +manufactures of leather, such as boots, shoes, gloves, purses, +breaches, &c.; and some spinning of late years is set up +here, encouraged by the woollen manufacturers of Devonshire.</p> +<p>Between these two towns of Saltash and Liskeard is St. +Germans, now a village, decayed, and without any market, but the +largest parish in the whole county—in the bounds of which +is contained, as they report, seventeen villages, and the town of +Saltash among them; for Saltash has no parish church, it seems, +of itself, but as a chapel-of-ease to St. Germans. In the +neighbourhood of these towns are many pleasant seats of the +Cornish gentry, who are indeed very numerous, though their +estates may not be so large as is usual in England; yet neither +are they despicable in that part; and in particular this may be +said of them—that as they generally live cheap, and are +more at home than in other counties, so they live more like +gentlemen, and keep more within bounds of their estates than the +English generally do, take them all together.</p> +<p>Add to this that they are the most sociable, generous, and to +one another the kindest, neighbours that are to be found; and as +they generally live, as we may say, together (for they are almost +always at one another’s houses), so they generally +intermarry among themselves, the gentlemen seldom going out of +the county for a wife, or the ladies for a husband; from whence +they say that proverb upon them was raised, viz., “That all +the Cornish gentlemen are cousins.”</p> +<p>On the hills north of Liskeard, and in the way between +Liskeard and Launceston, there are many tin-mines. And, as +they told us, some of the richest veins of that metal are found +there that are in the whole county—the metal, when cast at +the blowing houses into blocks, being, as above, carried to +Liskeard to be coined.</p> +<p>From Liskeard, in our course west, we are necessarily carried +to the sea-coast, because of the River Fowey or Fowath, which +empties itself into the sea at a very large mouth. And +hereby this river rising in the middle of the breadth of the +county and running south, and the River Camel rising not far from +it and running north, with a like large channel, the land from +Bodmin to the western part of the county is almost made an island +and in a manner cut off from the eastern part—the +peninsula, or neck of land between, being not above twelve miles +over.</p> +<p>On this south side we came to Foy or Fowey, an ancient town, +and formerly very large—nay, not large only, but powerful +and potent; for the Foyens, as they were then called, were able +to fit out large fleets, not only for merchants’ ships, but +even of men-of-war; and with these not only fought with, but +several times vanquished and routed, the squadron of the Cinque +Ports men, who in those days were thought very powerful.</p> +<p>Mr. Camden observes that the town of Foy quarters some part of +the arms of every one of those Cinque Ports with their own, +intimating that they had at several times trampled over them +all. Certain it is they did often beat them, and took their +ships, and brought them as good prizes into their haven of Foy; +and carried it so high that they fitted out their fleets against +the French, and took several of their men-of-war when they were +at war with England, and enriched their town by the spoil of +their enemies.</p> +<p>Edward IV. favoured them much; and because the French +threatened them to come up their river with a powerful navy to +burn their town, he caused two forts to be built at the public +charge for security of the town and river, which forts—at +least, some show of them—remain there still. But the +same King Edward was some time after so disgusted at the townsmen +for officiously falling upon the French, after a truce was made +and proclaimed, that he effectually disarmed them, took away +their whole fleet, ships, tackle, apparel, and furniture; and +since that time we do not read of any of their naval exploits, +nor that they ever recovered or attempted to recover their +strength at sea. However, Foy at this time is a very fair +town; it lies extended on the east side of the river for above a +mile, the buildings fair. And there are a great many +flourishing merchants in it, who have a great share in the +fishing trade, especially for pilchards, of which they take a +great quantity hereabouts. In this town is also a coinage +for the tin, of which a great quantity is dug up in the country +north and west of the town.</p> +<p>The River Fowey, which is very broad and deep here, was +formerly navigable by ships of good burthen as high as +Lostwithiel—an ancient and once a flourishing but now a +decayed town; and as to trade and navigation, quite destitute; +which is occasioned by the river being filled up with sands, +which, some say, the tides drive up in stormy weather from the +sea; others say it is by sands washed from the lead-mines in the +hills; the last of which, by the way, I take to be a mistake, the +sand from the hills being not of quantity sufficient to fill up +the channel of a navigable river, and, if it had, might easily +have been stopped by the townspeople from falling into the +river. But that the sea has choked up the river with sand +is not only probable, but true; and there are other rivers which +suffer in the like manner in this same country.</p> +<p>This town of Lostwithiel retains, however, several advantages +which support its figure—as, first, that it is one of the +Coinage Towns, as I call them; or Stannary Towns, as others call +them; (2) the common gaol for the whole Stannary is here, as are +also the County Courts for the whole county of Cornwall.</p> +<p>There is a mock cavalcade kept up at this town, which is very +remarkable. The particulars, as they are related by Mr. +Carew in his “Survey of Cornwall,” take as +follows:—</p> +<p>“Upon Little Easter Sunday the freeholders of this town +and manor, by themselves or their deputies, did there assemble; +amongst whom one (as it fell to his lot by turn), bravely +apparelled, gallantly mounted, with a crown on his head, a +sceptre in his hand, and a sword borne before him, and dutifully +attended by all the rest (also on horseback), rode through the +principal street to the church. The curate in his best +beseen solemnly received him at the churchyard stile, and +conducted him to hear divine service. After which he +repaired, with the same pomp, to a house provided for that +purpose, made a feast to his attendants, kept the +table’s-end himself, and was served with kneeling assay and +all other rights due to the estate of a prince; with which dinner +the ceremony ended, and every man returned home again. The +pedigree of this usage is derived from so many descents of ages +that the cause and author outreach the remembrance. +Howbeit, these circumstances afford a conjecture that it should +betoken royalties appertaining to the honour of +Cornwall.”</p> +<p>Behind Foy and nearer to the coast, at the mouth of a small +river which some call Lowe, though without any authority, there +stand two towns opposite to one another bearing the name of the +River Looe—that is to say, distinguished by the addition of +East Looe and West Looe. These are both good trading towns, +and especially fishing towns; and, which is very particular, are +(like Weymouth and Melcombe, in Dorsetshire) separated only by +the creek or river, and yet each of them sends members to +Parliament. These towns are joined together by a very +beautiful and stately stone bridge having fifteen arches.</p> +<p>East Looe was the ancienter corporation of the two, and for +some ages ago the greater and more considerable town; but now +they tell us West Looe is the richest, and has the most ships +belonging to it. Were they put together, they would make a +very handsome seaport town. They have a great fishing trade +here, as well for supply of the country as for merchandise, and +the towns are not despisable. But as to sending four +members to the British Parliament (which is as many as the City +of London chooses), that, I confess, seems a little scandalous; +but to whom, is none of my business to inquire.</p> +<p>Passing from hence, and ferrying over Foy River or the River +Foweth (call it as you please), we come into a large country +without many towns in it of note, but very well furnished with +gentlemen’s seats, and a little higher up with +tin-works.</p> +<p>The sea making several deep bays here, they who travel by land +are obliged to go higher into the country to pass above the +water, especially at Trewardreth Bay, which lies very broad, +above ten miles within the country, which passing at Trewardreth +(a town of no great note, though the bay takes its name from it), +the next inlet of the sea is the famous firth or inlet called +Falmouth Haven. It is certainly, next to Milford Haven in +South Wales, the fairest and best road for shipping that is in +the whole isle of Britain, whether be considered the depth of +water for above twenty miles within land; the safety of riding, +sheltered from all kind of winds or storms; the good anchorage; +and the many creeks, all navigable, where ships may run in and be +safe; so that the like is nowhere to be found.</p> +<p>There are six or seven very considerable places upon this +haven and the rivers from it—viz., Grampound, Tregony, +Truro, Penryn, Falmouth, St. Maws, and Pendennis. The three +first of these send members to Parliament. The town of +Falmouth, as big as all the three, and richer than ten of them, +sends none; which imports no more than this—that Falmouth +itself is not of so great antiquity as to its rising as those +other towns are; and yet the whole haven takes its name from +Falmouth, too, unless, as some think, the town took its name from +the haven, which, however, they give no authority to suggest.</p> +<p>St. Maws and Pendennis are two fortifications placed at the +points or entrance of this haven, opposite to one another, though +not with a communication or view; they are very strong—the +first principally by sea, having a good platform of guns pointing +athwart the Channel, and planted on a level with the water. +But Pendennis Castle is strong by land as well as by water, is +regularly fortified, has good out-works, and generally a strong +garrison. St. Maws, otherwise called St. Mary’s, has +a town annexed to the castle, and is a borough sending members to +the Parliament. Pendennis is a mere fortress, though there +are some habitations in it, too, and some at a small distance +near the seaside, but not of any great consideration.</p> +<p>The town of Falmouth is by much the richest and best trading +town in this county, though not so ancient as its neighbour town +of Truro; and indeed is in some things obliged to acknowledge the +seigniority—namely, that in the corporation of Truro the +person whom they choose to be their Mayor of Truro is also Mayor +of Falmouth of course. How the jurisdiction is managed is +an account too long for this place. The Truro-men also +receive several duties collected in Falmouth, particularly +wharfage for the merchandises landed or shipped off; but let +these advantages be what they will, the town of Falmouth has +gotten the trade—at least, the best part of it—from +the other, which is chiefly owing to the situation. For +that Falmouth lying upon the sea, but within the entrance, ships +of the greatest burthen come up to the very quays, and the whole +Royal Navy might ride safely in the road; whereas the town of +Truro lying far within, and at the mouth of two fresh rivers, is +not navigable for vessels of above 150 tons or thereabouts.</p> +<p>Some have suggested that the original of Falmouth was the +having so large a quay, and so good a depth of water at it. +The merchants of Truro formerly used it for the place of lading +and unlading their ships, as the merchants of Exeter did at +Topsham; and this is the more probable in that, as above, the +wharfage of those landing-places is still the property of the +corporation of Truro.</p> +<p>But let this be as it will, the trade is now in a manner +wholly gone to Falmouth, the trade at Truro being now chiefly (if +not only) for the shipping off of block tin and copper ore, the +latter being lately found in large quantities in some of the +mountains between Truro and St. Michael’s, and which is +much improved since the several mills are erected at Bristol and +other parts for the manufactures of battery ware, as it is called +(brass), or which is made out of English copper, most of it dug +in these parts—the ore itself ago being found very rich and +good.</p> +<p>Falmouth is well built, has abundance of shipping belonging to +it, is full of rich merchants, and has a flourishing and +increasing trade. I say “increasing,” because +by the late setting up the English packets between this port and +Lisbon, there is a new commerce between Portugal and this town +carried on to a very great value.</p> +<p>It is true, part of this trade was founded in a clandestine +commerce carried on by the said packets at Lisbon, where, being +the king’s ships, and claiming the privilege of not being +searched or visited by the Custom House officers, they found +means to carry off great quantities of British manufactures, +which they sold on board to the Portuguese merchants, and they +conveyed them on shore, as it is supposed, without paying +custom.</p> +<p>But the Government there getting intelligence of it, and +complaint being made in England also, where it was found to be +very prejudicial to the fair merchant, that trade has been +effectually stopped. But the Falmouth merchants, having by +this means gotten a taste of the Portuguese trade, have +maintained it ever since in ships of their own. These +packets bring over such vast quantities of gold in specie, either +in <i>moidores</i> (which is the Portugal coin) or in bars of +gold, that I am very credibly informed the carrier from Falmouth +brought by land from thence to London at one time, in the month +of January, 1722, or near it, eighty thousand <i>moidores</i> in +gold, which came from Lisbon in the packet-boats for account of +the merchants at London, and that it was attended with a guard of +twelve horsemen well armed, for which the said carrier had half +per cent. for his hazard.</p> +<p>This is a specimen of the Portugal trade, and how considerable +it is in itself, as well as how advantageous to England; but as +that is not to the present case, I proceed. The Custom +House for all the towns in this port, and the head collector, is +established at this town, where the duties (including the other +ports) is very considerable. Here is also a very great +fishing for pilchards; and the merchants for Falmouth have the +chief stroke in that gainful trade.</p> +<p>Truro is, however, a very considerable town, too. It +stands up the water north and by east from Falmouth, in the +utmost extended branch of the Avon, in the middle between the +conflux of two rivers, which, though not of any long course, have +a very good appearance for a port, and make it large wharf +between them in the front of the town. And the water here +makes a good port for small ships, though it be at the influx, +but not for ships of burthen. This is the particular town +where the Lord-Warden of the Stannaries always holds his famous +Parliament of miners, and for stamping of tin. The town is +well built, but shows that it has been much fuller, both of +houses and inhabitants, than it is now; nor will it probably ever +rise while the town of Falmouth stands where it does, and while +the trade is settled in it as it is. There are at least +three churches in it, but no Dissenters’ meeting-house that +I could hear of.</p> +<p>Tregony is upon the same water north-east from +Falmouth—distance about fifteen miles from it—but is +a town of very little trade; nor, indeed, have any of the towns, +so far within the shore, notwithstanding the benefit of the +water, any considerable trade but what is carried on under the +merchants of Falmouth or Truro. The chief thing that is to +be said of this town is that it sends members to Parliament, as +does also Grampound, a market-town; and Burro’, about four +miles farther up the water. This place, indeed, has a claim +to antiquity, and is an appendix to the Duchy of Cornwall, of +which it holds at a fee farm rent and pays to the Prince of Wales +as duke £10 11s. 1d. per annum. It has no parish +church, but only a chapel-of-ease to an adjacent parish.</p> +<p>Penryn is up the same branch of the Avon as Falmouth, but +stands four miles higher towards the west; yet ships come to it +of as great a size as can come to Truro itself. It is a +very pleasant, agreeable town, and for that reason has many +merchants in it, who would perhaps otherwise live at +Falmouth. The chief commerce of these towns, as to their +sea-affairs, is the pilchards and Newfoundland fishing, which is +very profitable to them all. It had formerly a conventual +church, with a chantry and a religious house (a cell to Kirton); +but they are all demolished, and scarce the ruins of them +distinguishable enough to know one part from another.</p> +<p>Quitting Falmouth Haven from Penryn West, we came to Helston, +about seven miles, and stands upon the little River Cober, which, +however, admits the sea so into its bosom as to make a tolerable +good harbour for ships a little below the town. It is the +fifth town allowed for the coining tin, and several of the ships +called tin-ships are laden here.</p> +<p>This town is large and populous, and has four spacious +streets, a handsome church, and a good trade. This town +also sends members to Parliament. Beyond this is a +market-town, though of no resort for trade, called Market +Jew. It lies, indeed, on the seaside, but has no harbour or +safe road for shipping.</p> +<p>At Helford is a small but good harbour between Falmouth and +this port, where many times the tin-ships go in to load for +London; also here are a good number of fishing vessels for the +pilchard trade, and abundance of skilful fishermen. It was +from this town that in the great storm which happened November +27, 1703, a ship laden with tin was blown out to sea and driven +to the Isle of Wight in seven hours, having on board only one man +and two boys. The story is as follows:—</p> +<p>“The beginning of the storm there lay a ship laden with +tin in Helford Haven, about two leagues and a half west of +Falmouth. The tin was taken on board at a place called +Guague Wharf, five or six miles up the river, and the vessel was +come down to Helford in order to pursue her voyage to London.</p> +<p>“About eight o’clock in the evening the commander, +whose name was Anthony Jenkins, went on board with his mate to +see that everything was safe, and to give orders, but went both +on shore again, leaving only a man and two boys on board, not +apprehending any danger, they being in safe harbour. +However, he ordered them that if it should blow hard they should +carry out the small bower anchor, and so to moor the ship by two +anchors, and then giving what other orders he thought to be +needful, he went ashore, as above.</p> +<p>“About nine o’clock, the wind beginning to blow +harder, they carried out the anchor, according to the +master’s order; but the wind increasing about ten, the ship +began to drive, so they carried out their best bower, which, +having a good new cable, brought the ship up. The storm +still increasing, they let go the kedge anchor; so that they then +rode by four anchors ahead, which were all they had.</p> +<p>“But between eleven and twelve o’clock the wind +came about west and by south, and blew in so violent and terrible +a manner that, though they rode under the lee of a high shore, +yet the ship was driven from all her anchors, and about midnight +drove quite out of the harbour (the opening of the harbour lying +due east and west) into the open sea, the men having neither +anchor or cable or boat to help themselves.</p> +<p>“In this dreadful condition (they driving, I say, out of +the harbour) their first and chief care was to go clear of the +rocks which lie on either side the harbour’s mouth, and +which they performed pretty well. Then, seeing no remedy, +they consulted what to do next. They could carry no sail at +first—no, not a knot; nor do anything but run away afore +it. The only thing they had to think on was to keep her out +at sea as far as they could, for fear of a point of land called +the Dead Man’s Head, which lies to the eastward of Falmouth +Haven; and then, if they could escape the land, thought to run in +for Plymouth next morning, so, if possible, to save their +lives.</p> +<p>“In this frighted condition they drove away at a +prodigious rate, having sometimes the bonnet of their foresail a +little out, but the yard lowered almost to the +deck—sometimes the ship almost under water, and sometimes +above, keeping still in the offing, for fear of the land, till +they might see daylight. But when the day broke they found +they were to think no more of Plymouth, for they were far enough +beyond it; and the first land they made was Peverel Point, being +the southernmost land of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire, and +a little to the westward of the Isle of Wight; so that now they +were in a terrible consternation, and driving still at a +prodigious rate. By seven o’clock they found +themselves broadside of the Isle of Wight.</p> +<p>“Here they consulted again what to do to save their +lives. One of the boys was for running her into the Downs; +but the man objected that, having no anchor or cable nor boat to +go on shore with, and the storm blowing off shore in the Downs, +they should be inevitably blown off and lost upon the unfortunate +Goodwin—which, it seems, the man had been on once before +and narrowly escaped.</p> +<p>“Now came the last consultation for their lives. +The other of the boys said he had been in a certain creek in the +Isle of Wight, where, between the rocks, he knew there was room +to run the ship in, and at least to save their lives, and that he +saw the place just that moment; so he desired the man to let him +have the helm, and he would do his best and venture it. The +man gave him the helm, and he stood directly in among the rocks, +the people standing on the shore thinking they were mad, and that +they would in a few minutes be dashed in a thousand pieces.</p> +<p>“But when they came nearer, and the people found they +steered as if they knew the place, they made signals to them to +direct them as well as they could, and the young bold fellow run +her into a small cove, where she stuck fast, as it were, between +the rocks on both sides, there being but just room enough for the +breadth of the ship. The ship indeed, giving two or three +knocks, staved and sunk, but the man and the two youths jumped +ashore and were safe; and the lading, being tin, was afterwards +secured.</p> +<p>“N.B.—The merchants very well rewarded the three +sailors, especially the lad that ran her into that +place.”</p> +<p>Penzance is the farthest town of any note west, being 254 +miles from London, and within about ten miles of the promontory +called the Land’s End; so that this promontory is from +London 264 miles, or thereabouts. This town of Penzance is +a place of good business, well built and populous, has a good +trade, and a great many ships belonging to it, notwithstanding it +is so remote. Here are also a great many good families of +gentlemen, though in this utmost angle of the nation; and, which +is yet more strange, the veins of lead, tin, and copper ore are +said to be seen even to the utmost extent of land at low-water +mark, and in the very sea—so rich, so valuable, a treasure +is contained in these parts of Great Britain, though they are +supposed to be so poor, because so very remote from London, which +is the centre of our wealth.</p> +<p>Between this town and St. Burien, a town midway between it and +the Land’s End, stands a circle of great stones, not unlike +those at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, with one bigger than the rest +in the middle. They stand about twelve feet asunder, but +have no inscription; neither does tradition offer to leave any +part of their history upon record, as whether it was a trophy or +a monument of burial, or an altar for worship, or what else; so +that all that can be learned of them is that here they are. +The parish where they stand is called Boscawone, from whence the +ancient and honourable family of Boscawen derive their names.</p> +<p>Near Penzance, but open to the sea, is that gulf they call +Mount’s Bay; named so from a high hill standing in the +water, which they call St. Michael’s Mount: the seamen call +it only the Cornish Mount. It has been fortified, though +the situation of it makes it so difficult of access that, like +the Bass in Scotland, there needs no fortification; like the +Bass, too, it was once made a prison for prisoners of State, but +now it is wholly neglected. There is a very good road here +for shipping, which makes the town of Penzance be a place of good +resort.</p> +<p>A little up in the county towards the north-west is Godolchan, +which though a hill, rather than a town, gives name to the noble +and ancient family of Godolphin; and nearer on the northern coast +is Royalton, which since the late Sydney Godolphin, Esq., a +younger brother of the family, was created Earl of Godolphin, +gave title of Lord to his eldest son, who was called Lord +Royalton during the life of his father. This place also is +infinitely rich in tin-mines.</p> +<p>I am now at my journey’s end. As to the islands of +Scilly, which lie beyond the Land’s End, I shall say +something of them presently. I must now return <i>sur mes +pas</i>, as the French call it; though not literally so, for I +shall not come back the same way I went. But as I have +coasted the south shore to the Land’s End, I shall come +back by the north coast, and my observations in my return will +furnish very well materials for another letter.</p> +<h3>APPENDIX TO LAND’S END.</h3> +<p>I have ended this account at the utmost extent of the island +of Great Britain west, without visiting those excrescences of the +island, as I think I may call them—viz., the rocks of +Scilly; of which what is most famous is their infamy or reproach; +namely, how many good ships are almost continually dashed in +pieces there, and how many brave lives lost, in spite of the +mariners’ best skill, or the lighthouses’ and other +sea-marks’ best notice.</p> +<p>These islands lie so in the middle between the two vast +openings of the north and south narrow seas (or, as the sailors +call them, the Bristol Channel, and The Channel—so called +by way of eminence) that it cannot, or perhaps never will, be +avoided but that several ships in the dark of the night and in +stress of weather, may, by being out in their reckonings, or +other unavoidable accidents, mistake; and if they do, they are +sure, as the sailors call it, to run “bump ashore” +upon Scilly, where they find no quarter among the breakers, but +are beat to pieces without any possibility of escape.</p> +<p>One can hardly mention the Bishop and his Clerks, as they are +called, or the rocks of Scilly, without letting fall a tear to +the memory of Sir Cloudesley Shovel and all the gallant spirits +that were with him, at one blow and without a moment’s +warning dashed into a state of immortality—the admiral, +with three men-of-war, and all their men (running upon these +rocks right afore the wind, and in a dark night) being lost +there, and not a man saved. But all our annals and +histories are full of this, so I need say no more.</p> +<p>They tell us of eleven sail of merchant-ships homeward bound, +and richly laden from the southward, who had the like fate in the +same place a great many years ago; and that some of them coming +from Spain, and having a great quantity of bullion or pieces of +eight on board, the money frequently drives on shore still, and +that in good quantities, especially after stormy weather.</p> +<p>This may be the reason why, as we observed during our short +stay here, several mornings after it had blown something hard in +the night, the sands were covered with country people running to +and fro to see if the sea had cast up anything of value. +This the seamen call “going a-shoring;” and it seems +they do often find good purchase. Sometimes also dead +bodies are cast up here, the consequence of shipwrecks among +those fatal rocks and islands; as also broken pieces of ships, +casks, chests, and almost everything that will float or roll on +shore by the surges of the sea.</p> +<p>Nor is it seldom that the voracious country people scuffle and +fight about the right to what they find, and that in a desperate +manner; so that this part of Cornwall may truly be said to be +inhabited by a fierce and ravenous people. For they are so +greedy, and eager for the prey, that they are charged with +strange, bloody, and cruel dealings, even sometimes with one +another; but especially with poor distressed seamen when they +come on shore by force of a tempest, and seek help for their +lives, and where they find the rooks themselves not more +merciless than the people who range about them for their +prey.</p> +<p>Here, also, as a farther testimony of the immense riches which +have been lost at several times upon this coast, we found several +engineers and projectors—some with one sort of diving +engine, and some with another; some claiming such a wreck, and +some such-and-such others; where they alleged they were assured +there were great quantities of money; and strange unprecedented +ways were used by them to come at it: some, I say, with one kind +of engine, and some another; and though we thought several of +them very strange impracticable methods, yet I was assured by the +country people that they had done wonders with them under water, +and that some of them had taken up things of great weight and in +a great depth of water. Others had split open the wrecks +they had found in a manner one would have thought not possible to +be done so far under water, and had taken out things from the +very holds of the ships. But we could not learn that they +had come at any pieces of eight, which was the thing they seemed +most to aim at and depend upon; at least, they had not found any +great quantity, as they said they expected.</p> +<p>However, we left them as busy as we found them, and far from +being discouraged; and if half the golden mountains, or silver +mountains either, which they promise themselves should appear, +they will be very well paid for their labour.</p> +<p>From the tops of the hills on this extremity of the land you +may see out into that they call the Chops of the Channel, which, +as it is the greatest inlet of commerce, and the most frequented +by merchant-ships of any place in the world, so one seldom looks +out to seaward but something new presents—that is to say, +of ships passing or repassing, either on the great or lesser +Channel.</p> +<p>Upon a former accidental journey into this part of the +country, during the war with France, it was with a mixture of +pleasure and horror that we saw from the hills at the Lizard, +which is the southern-most point of this land, an obstinate fight +between three French men-of-war and two English, with a privateer +and three merchant-ships in their company. The English had +the misfortune, not only to be fewer ships of war in number, but +of less force; so that while the two biggest French ships engaged +the English, the third in the meantime took the two +merchant-ships and went off with them. As to the picaroon +or privateer, she was able to do little in the matter, not daring +to come so near the men-of-war as to take a broadside, which her +thin sides would not have been able to bear, but would have sent +her to the bottom at once; so that the English men-of-war had no +assistance from her, nor could she prevent the taking the two +merchant-ships. Yet we observed that the English captains +managed their fight so well, and their seamen behaved so briskly, +that in about three hours both the Frenchmen stood off, and, +being sufficiently banged, let us see that they had no more +stomach to fight; after which the English—having damage +enough, too, no doubt—stood away to the eastward, as we +supposed, to refit.</p> +<p>This point of the Lizard, which runs out to the southward, and +the other promontory mentioned above, make the two +angles—or horns, as they are called—from whence it is +supposed this county received its first name of Cornwall, or, as +Mr. Camden says, <i>Cornubia</i> in the Latin, and in the British +“Kernaw,” as running out in two vastly extended +horns. And indeed it seems as if Nature had formed this +situation for the direction of mariners, as foreknowing of what +importance it should be, and how in future ages these seas should +be thus thronged with merchant-ships, the protection of whose +wealth, and the safety of the people navigating them, was so much +her early care that she stretched out the land so very many ways, +and extended the points and promontories so far and in so many +different places into the sea, that the land might be more easily +discovered at a due distance, which way soever the ships should +come.</p> +<p>Nor is the Lizard Point less useful (though not so far west) +than the other, which is more properly called the Land’s +End; but if we may credit our mariners, it is more frequently +first discovered from the sea. For as our mariners, knowing +by the soundings when they are in the mouth of the Channel, do +then most naturally stand to the southward, to avoid mistaking +the Channel, and to shun the Severn Sea or Bristol Channel, but +still more to avoid running upon Scilly and the rocks about it, +as is observed before—I say, as they carefully keep to the +southward till they think they are fair with the Channel, and +then stand to the northward again, or north-east, to make the +land, this is the reason why the Lizard is, generally speaking, +the first land they make, and not the Land’s End.</p> +<p>Then having made the Lizard, they either (first) run in for +Falmouth, which is the next port, if they are taken short with +easterly winds, or are in want of provisions and refreshment, or +have anything out of order, so that they care not to keep the +sea; or (secondly) stand away for the Ram Head and Plymouth +Sound; or (thirdly) keep an offing to run up the Channel.</p> +<p>So that the Lizard is the general guide, and of more use in +these cases than the other point, and is therefore the land which +the ships choose to make first; for then also they are sure that +they are past Scilly and all the dangers of that part of the +island.</p> +<p>Nature has fortified this part of the island of Britain in a +strange manner, and so, as is worth a traveller’s +observation, as if she knew the force and violence of the mighty +ocean which beats upon it; and which, indeed, if the land was not +made firm in proportion, could not withstand, but would have been +washed away long ago.</p> +<p>First, there are the islands of Scilly and the rocks about +them; these are placed like out-works to resist the first +assaults of this enemy, and so break the force of it, as the +piles (or starlings, as they are called) are placed before the +solid stonework of London Bridge to fence off the force either of +the water or ice, or anything else that might be dangerous to the +work.</p> +<p>Then there are a vast number of sunk rocks (so the seamen call +them), besides such as are visible and above water, which +gradually lessen the quantity of water that would otherwise lie +with an infinite weight and force upon the land. It is +observed that these rocks lie under water for a great way off +into the sea on every side the said two horns or points of land, +so breaking the force of the water, and, as above, lessening the +weight of it.</p> +<p>But besides this the whole <i>terra firma</i>, or body of the +land which makes this part of the isle of Britain, seems to be +one solid rock, as if it was formed by Nature to resist the +otherwise irresistible power of the ocean. And, indeed, if +one was to observe with what fury the sea comes on sometimes +against the shore here, especially at the Lizard Point, where +there are but few, if any, out-works, as I call them, to resist +it; how high the waves come rolling forward, storming on the neck +of one another (particularly when the wind blows off sea), one +would wonder that even the strongest rocks themselves should be +able to resist and repel them. But, as I said, the country +seems to be, as it were, one great body of stone, and prepared so +on purpose.</p> +<p>And yet, as if all this was not enough, Nature has provided +another strong fence, and that is, that these vast rocks are, as +it were, cemented together by the solid and weighty ore of tin +and copper, especially the last, which is plentifully found upon +the very outmost edge of the land, and with which the stones may +be said to be soldered together, lest the force of the sea should +separate and disjoint them, and so break in upon these +fortifications of the island to destroy its chief security.</p> +<p>This is certain—that there is a more than ordinary +quantity of tin, copper, and lead also placed by the Great +Director of Nature in these very remote angles (and, as I have +said above, the ore is found upon the very surface of the rocks a +good way into the sea); and that it does not only lie, as it +were, upon or between the stones among the earth (which in that +case might be washed from it by the sea), but that it is even +blended or mixed in with the stones themselves, that the stones +must be split into pieces to come at it. By this mixture +the rocks are made infinitely weighty and solid, and thereby +still the more qualified to repel the force of the sea.</p> +<p>Upon this remote part of the island we saw great numbers of +that famous kind of crows which is known by the name of the +Cornish cough or chough (so the country people call them). +They are the same kind which are found in Switzerland among the +Alps, and which Pliny pretended were peculiar to those mountains, +and calls the <i>pyrrhocorax</i>. The body is black; the +legs, feet, and bill of a deep yellow, almost to a red. I +could not find that it was affected for any good quality it had, +nor is the flesh good to eat, for it feeds much on fish and +carrion; it is counted little better than a kite, for it is of +ravenous quality, and is very mischievous. It will steal +and carry away anything it finds about the house that is not too +heavy, though not fit for its food—as knives, forks, +spoons, and linen cloths, or whatever it can fly away with; +sometimes they say it has stolen bits of firebrands, or lighted +candles, and lodged them in the stacks of corn and the thatch of +barns and houses, and set them on fire; but this I only had by +oral tradition.</p> +<p>I might take up many sheets in describing the valuable +curiosities of this little Chersonese or Neck Land, called the +Land’s End, in which there lies an immense treasure and +many things worth notice (I mean, besides those to be found upon +the surface), but I am too near the end of this letter. If +I have opportunity I shall take notice of some part of what I +omit here in my return by the northern shore of the county.</p> +<h2>TWO LETTERS<br /> +FROM THE “JOURNEY THROUGH ENGLAND BY A +GENTLEMAN.”</h2> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>Published in</i> 1722, <i>but +not by Defoe</i>.</p> +<h3>BATH IN 1722.</h3> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>Bath</i>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> +<p>The Bath lies very low, is but a small city, but very compact, +and one can hardly imagine it could accommodate near the company +that frequents it at least three parts of the year. I have +been told of 8,000 families there at a time—some for the +benefit of drinking its hot waters, others for bathing, and +others for diversion and pleasure (of which, I must say, it +affords more than any public place of that kind in Europe).</p> +<p>I told you in my former letters that Epsom and Tunbridge do +not allow visiting (the companies there meet only on the walks); +but here visits are received and returned, assemblies and balls +are given, and parties at play in most houses every night, to +which one Mr. Nash hath for many years contributed very +much. This gentleman is by custom a sort of master of +ceremonies of the place; he is not of any birth nor estate, but +by a good address and assurance ingratiates himself into the good +graces of the ladies and the best company in the place, and is +director of all their parties of pleasure. He wears good +clothes, is always affluent of money, plays very much, and +whatever he may get in private, yet in public he always seems to +lose. The town have been for many years so sensible of the +service he does them that they ring the bells generally at his +arrival in town, and, it is thought, pay him a yearly +contribution for his support.</p> +<p>In the morning early the company of both sexes meet at the +Pump (in a great hall enrailed), to drink the waters and saunter +about till prayer-time, or divert themselves by looking on those +that are bathing in the bath. Most of the company go to +church in the morning in dishabille, and then go home to dress +for the walks before dinner. The walks are behind the +church, spacious and well shaded, planted round with shops filled +with everything that contributes to pleasure, and at the end a +noble room for gaming, from whence there are hanging-stairs to a +pretty garden for everybody that pays for the time they stay, to +walk in.</p> +<p>I have often wondered that the physicians of these places +prescribe gaming to their patients, in order to keep their minds +free from business and thought, that their waters on an +undisturbed mind may have the greater effect, when indeed one +cross-throw at play must sour a man’s blood more than ten +glasses of water will sweeten, especially for such great sums as +they throw for every day at Bath.</p> +<p>The King and Queen’s Baths, which have a communication +with one another, are the baths which people of common rank go +into promiscuously; and indeed everybody, except the first +quality. The way of going into them is very comical: a +chair with a couple of chairmen come to your bedside (lie in what +storey you will), and there strip you, and give you their dress +without your shift, and wrapping you up in blankets carry you to +the bath.</p> +<p>When you enter the bath, the water seems very warm; and the +heat much increases as you go into the Queen’s Bath, where +the great spring rises. On a column erected over the spring +is an inscription of the first finder-out of these springs, in +the following words: that “Bladud, the son of Lud, found +them three hundred years before Christ.” The smoke +and slime of the waters, the promiscuous multitude of the people +in the bath, with nothing but their heads and hands above water, +with the height of the walls that environ the bath, gave me a +lively idea of several pictures I had seen, of Angelo’s in +Italy of Purgatory, with heads and hands uplifted in the midst of +smoke, just as they are here. After bathing, you are +carried home in your chair, in the same manner you came.</p> +<p>The Cross Bath, which is used by the people of the first +quality, was beautified and inclosed for the convenience of the +late King James’s queen, who after the priests and +physicians had been at work to procure a male successor to the +throne of Great Britain, the Sacrament exposed in all the Roman +Catholic countries, and for that end a sanctified smock sent from +the Virgin Mary at Loretto, the queen was ordered to go to Bath +and prepare herself, and the king to make a progress through the +western counties and join her there. On his arrival at +Bath, the next day after his conjunction with the queen, the Earl +of Melfort (then Secretary of State for Scotland) erected a fine +prophetic monument in the middle of the Bath, as an everlasting +monument of that conjunction. I call it +“prophetic,” because nine months after a Prince of +Wales was born. This monument is still entire and handsome, +only some of the inscriptions on the pillar were erased in King +William’s time. The angels attending the Holy Ghost +as He descends, the Eucharist, the Pillar, and all the ornaments +are of fine marble, and must have cost that earl a great deal of +money. He was second son to Drummond, Earl of Perth, in +North Britain; and was Deputy Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh +when the Duke and Duchess of York came to Scotland, in King +Charles the Second’s time. He was a handsome +gentleman, with a good address, and went into all the measures of +that court, and at all their balls generally danced with the +duchess; who, on their accession to the throne, sent for him up +to London, made him Secretary of State for Scotland, created him +Earl of Melfort, and Knight of the Order of St. Andrew. His +elder brother was also made Chancellor and Governor of +Scotland. And on King James’s abdication, as the two +brothers followed the king’s fortunes, the Earl of Perth +was made governor to the young prince; and Melfort was created a +duke, had the Garter, and was a great man in France to his dying +day.</p> +<p>There is another bath for lepers.</p> +<p>The cathedral church is small but well lighted. There +are abundance of little monuments in it of people who come there +for their health, but meet with their death.</p> +<p>These waters have a wonderful influence on barren ladies, who +often prove with child even in their husbands’ absence; who +must not come near them till their bodies are prepared.</p> +<p>Everything looks gay and serene here; it is plentiful and +cheap. Only the taverns do not much improve, for it is a +place of universal sobriety. To be drunk at Bath is as +scandalous as mad. Common women are not to be met with here +so much as at Tunbridge and Epsom. Whether it is the +distance from London, or that the gentlemen fly at the highest +game, I cannot tell; besides, everything that passes here is +known on the walks, and the characters of persons.</p> +<p>In three hours one arrives from Bath at Bristol, a large, +opulent, and fine city; but, notwithstanding its nearness, by the +different manners of the people seems to be another +country. Instead of that politeness and gaiety which you +see at Bath, here is nothing but hurry—carts driving along +with merchandises, and people running about with cloudy looks and +busy faces. When I came to the Exchange I was surprised to +see it planted round with stone pillars, with broad boss-plates +on them like sun-dials, and coats-of-arms with inscriptions on +every plate.</p> +<p>They told me that these pillars were erected by eminent +merchants for the benefit of writing and despatching their +affairs on them, as on tables; and at ’Change time the +merchants take each their stands by their pillars, that masters +of ships and owners may know where to find them.</p> +<p>Coffee-houses and taverns lie round the ’Change, just as +at London; and the Bristol milk, which is Spanish sherry (nowhere +so good as here), is plentifully drunk.</p> +<p>The city of Bristol is situated much like Verona, in +Italy. A river runs through almost the middle of it, on +which there is a fine stone bridge. The quay may be made +the finest, largest, and longest in the world by pulling down an +old house or two. Behind the quay is a very noble square, +as large as that of Soho in London, in which is kept the Custom +House; and most of the eminent merchants who keep their coaches +reside here. The cathedral is on the other side of the +river, on the top of the hill, and is the meanest I have seen in +England. But the square or green adjoining to it has +several fine houses, and makes by its situation, in my opinion, +much the pleasantest part of the town. There are some +churches in the city finer than the cathedral, and your merchants +have their little country-seats in the adjacent eminences; of +which that of Mr. Southwell hath a very commanding prospect, both +of the city, the River Severn, and the shipping that lies +below.</p> +<p>There are hot springs near Bristol that are also very much +frequented, and are reckoned to be better than the Bath for some +distempers.</p> +<p>A traveller when he comes to the Bath must never fail of +seeing Badminton, belonging to the Dukes of Beaufort; nor +Longleat, belonging to my Lord Weymouth. They are both +within a few miles of the Bath. King William, when he took +Badminton in his way from Ireland, told the duke that he was not +surprised at his not coming to court, having so sumptuous a +palace to keep a court of his own in. And indeed the +apartments are inferior to few royal palaces. The parks are +large, and enclosed with a stone wall; and that duke, whom I +described to you in my letter from Windsor, lived up to the +grandeur of a sovereign prince. His grandson, who was also +Knight of the Garter, made a great figure in the reign of Queen +Anne. The family, which is a natural branch of the house of +Lancaster, have always distinguished themselves of the Tory +side. The present duke is under age.</p> +<p>Longleat, though an old seat, is very beautiful and large; and +the gardens and avenue, being full-grown, are very beautiful and +well kept. It cost the late Lord Weymouth a good revenue in +hospitality to such strangers as came from Bath to see it.</p> +<p>The biggest and most regular house in England was built near +Bristol by the late Lord Stawell; but it being judged by his +heirs to be too big for the estate, they are pulling it down and +selling the materials.</p> +<p>As the weather grows good, I shall proceed through South Wales +to Chester, from whence you shall soon hear from me, who am +without reserve, sir, your most humble, &c.</p> +<h3>FROM CHESTER TO HOLYHEAD.</h3> +<p style="text-align: right"><i>Chester</i>.</p> +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> +<p>I crossed the Severn at the ferry of Ash, about ten miles +above Bristol, and got to Monmouth to dinner through a rugged, +indifferent country. It is a pitiful old town, and hath +nothing remarkable in it; and from thence through a fat fertile +country I got to the city of Hereford at night.</p> +<p>Hereford is the dirtiest old city I have seen in England, yet +pretty large; the streets are irregular and the houses old, and +its cathedral a reverend old pile, but not beautiful; the niches +of the walls of the church are adorned with the figures of its +bishops as big as the life, in a cumbent posture, with the year +of their interments newly painted over. Some of them are in +the twelve hundredth year of Christ. Here they drink +nothing but cider, which is very cheap and very good; and the +very hedges in the country are planted with apple-trees. +About three miles from Hereford in my road to Ludlow I saw a fine +old seat called Hampton Court, belonging to my Lord +Coningsby. The plantations on rising grounds round it give +an august splendour to the house, which consists of an oval court +with suitable offices, not unlike an house belonging to the Duke +of Somerset near London; and from thence in a few hours I arrived +at Ludlow, the capital of South Wales, and where the Princes of +Wales formerly, and since them the Presidents of Wales, kept +their courts.</p> +<p>Ludlow is one of the neatest, clean, pretty towns in +England. The street by which you enter the town is +spacious, with handsome houses sash-windowed on each side, which +leads you by an ascent to the castle on the left of the top of +the hill, and the church on the right, from whence there runs +also another handsome street. The castle hath a very +commanding prospect of the adjacent country; the offices in the +outer court are falling down, and a great part of the court is +turned into a bowling-green; but the royal apartments in the +castle, with some old velvet furniture and a sword of state, are +still left. There is also a neat little chapel; but the +vanity of the Welsh gentry when they were made councillors has +spoiled it by adorning it with their names and arms, of which it +is full.</p> +<p>A small expense would still make this castle a habitable and +beautiful place, lying high, and overlooking a fine country; +there is also a fine prospect from the churchyard, and the church +is very neat. I saw abundance of pretty ladies here, and +well dressed, who came from the adjacent counties, for the +convenience and cheapness of boarding. Provisions of all +sorts are extremely plentiful and cheap here, and very good +company.</p> +<p>I stayed some days here, to make an excursion into South Wales +and know a little of the manners of the country, as I design to +do at Chester for North Wales. The gentry are very +numerous, exceedingly civil to strangers, if you don’t come +to purchase and make your abode amongst them. They live +much like Gascoynes—affecting their own language, valuing +themselves much on the antiquity of their families, and are proud +of making entertainments.</p> +<p>The Duke of Powis, of the name of Herbert, hath a noble seat +near this town, but I was not at it; the family followed King +James’s fortunes to France, and I suppose the seat lies +neglected. From Ludlow in a short day’s riding +through a champaign country I arrived at the town of +Shrewsbury.</p> +<p>Shrewsbury stands upon an eminence, encircled by the Severn +like a horse-shoe; the streets are large, and the houses well +built. My Lord Newport, son to the Earl of Bradford, hath a +handsome palace, with hanging gardens down to the river; as also +Mr. Kinnaston, and some other gentlemen. There is a good +town-house, and the most coffee-houses round it that ever I saw +in any town; but when you come into them, they are but ale-houses +(only they think that the name of coffee-house gives a better +air). King Charles would have made them a city, but they +chose rather to remain a corporation, as they are, for which they +were called the “proud Salopians.” There is a +great deal of good company in this town, for the convenience of +cheapness; and there are assemblies and balls for the young +ladies once a week. The Earl of Bradford and several others +have handsome seats near it; from hence I came to Wrexham, in +Wales, a beautiful market-town; the church is the beautifullest +country church in England, and surpasses some cathedrals. I +counted fifty-two statues as big as the life in the steeple or +tower, which is built after the manner of your Dutch steeples, +and as high as any there. I was there on a market-day, and +was particularly pleased to see the Welsh ladies come to market +in their laced hats, their own hair hanging round their +shoulders, and blue and scarlet cloaks like our +Amazons—some of them with a greyhound in a string in their +hands.</p> +<p>Whitchurch, near it, hath a fine church, built by the Earl of +Bridgwater; and so to Chester, an ancient and large city, with a +commanding castle. The city consists of four large streets, +which make an exact cross, with the town-house and Exchange in +the middle; but you don’t walk the streets here, but in +galleries up one pair of stairs, which keeps you from the rain in +winter, and sun in summer; and the houses and shops, with +gardens, go all off these galleries, which they call rows. +The city is walled round, and the wall so firmly paved that it +gives you an agreeable prospect of the country and river, as you +walk upon it. The churches are very neat, and the cathedral +an august old pile; there is an ancient monument of an Emperor of +Germany, with assemblies every week. While I continued at +Chester, I made an excursion into North Wales, and went into +Denbigh, the capital of that country, where are the remains of a +very great and old castle, as is also at Flint, the capital of +Flintshire. These castles were the frontier garrisons of +Wales before it came under the subjection of England. The +country is mountainous, and full of iron and lead works; and here +they begin to differ from the English both in language and +dress.</p> +<p>From Flint, along the seaside, in three hours I arrived at the +famous cold bath called St. Winifred’s Well; and the town +from thence called Holywell is a pretty large well-built village, +in the middle of a grove, in a bottom between, two hills. +The well is in the foot of one of the hills, and spouts out about +the bigness of a barrel at once, with such force that it turns +three or four mills before it falls into the sea. The well +where you bathe is floored with stone surrounded with pillars, on +which stands a neat little chapel dedicated to St. Winifred, but +now turned into a Protestant school. However, to supply the +loss of this chapel, the Roman Catholics have chapels erected +almost in every inn for the devotion of the pilgrims that flock +hither from all the Popish parts of England. The water, you +may imagine, is very cold, coming from the bowels of an iron +mountain, and never having met with the influence of the sun till +it runs from the well.</p> +<p>The legend of St. Winifred is too long and ridiculous for a +letter; I leave you to Dr. Fleetwood (when Bishop of St. Asaph) +for its description. I will only tell you, in two words, +that this St. Winifred was a beautiful damsel that lived on the +top of the hill; that a prince of the country fell deeply in love +with her; that coming one day when her parents were abroad, and +she resisting his passion, turned into rage, and as she was +flying from him cut off her head, which rolled down the hill with +her body, and at the place where it stopped gushed out this well +of water. But there was also a good hermit that lived at +the bottom of the hill, who immediately claps her head to her +body, and by the force of the water and his prayers she +recovered, and lived to perform many miracles for many years +after. They give you her printed litanies at the +well. And I observed the Roman Catholics in their prayers, +not with eyes lifted up to heaven, but intent upon the water, as +if it were the real blood of St. Winifred that was to wash them +clean from all their sins.</p> +<p>In every inn you meet with a priest, habited like country +gentlemen, and very good companions. At the “Cross +Keys,” where I lodged, there was one that had been marked +out to me, to whom I was particularly civil at supper; but +finding by my conversation I was none of them, he drank and swore +like a dragoon, on purpose, as I imagine, to disguise +himself. From Holywell in two hours I came to a handsome +seat of Sir John Conway’s at Redland, and next day to +Conway.</p> +<p>I do not know any place in Europe that would make a finer +landscape in a picture than Conway at a mile’s +distance. It lies on the side of a hill, on the banks of an +arm of the sea about the breadth of the Thames at London, and +within two little miles of the sea, over which we ferry to go to +the town.</p> +<p>The town is walled round, with thirty watch-towers at proper +distances on the walls; and the castle with its towers, being +very white, makes an august show at a distance, being surrounded +with little hills on both sides of the bay or river, covered with +wood. But when you cross the ferry and come into the town, +there is nothing but poverty and misery. The castle is a +heap of rubbish uncovered, and these towers on the walls only +standing vestiges of what Wales was when they had a prince of +their own.</p> +<p>They speak all Welsh here, and if a stranger should lose his +way in this county of Carnarvon, it is ten to one if he meets +with any one that has English enough to set him right. The +people are also naturally very surly, and even if they understand +English, if you ask them a question their answer is, “Dame +Salsenach,” or “I cannot speak Saxon or +English.” Their Bibles and prayer-books are all +printed in Welsh in our character; so that an Englishman can read +their language, although he doth not understand a word of +it. It hath a great resemblance of the Bas-Bretons, but +they retain the letter and character as well as language, as the +Scots and Highlanders do.</p> +<p>They retain several Popish customs in North Wales, for on +Sunday (after morning service) the whole parish go to football +till the afternoon service begins, and then they go to the +ale-house and play at all manner of games (which ale-house is +often kept by the parson, for their livings are very small).</p> +<p>They have also offerings at funerals, which is one of the +greatest perquisites the parson hath. When the body is +deposited in the church during the service for the dead, every +person invited to the burial lays a piece of money upon the altar +to defray the dead person’s charges to the other world, +which, after the ceremony is over, the parson puts in his +pocket. From Conway, through the mountainous country of +Carnarvon, I passed the famous mountain of Penmaen-Mawr, so +dreadfully related by passengers travelling to Ireland. It +is a road cut out of the side of the rock, seven feet wide; the +sea lies perpendicularly down, about forty fathoms on one side, +and the mountain is about the same height above it on the other +side. It looks dismal, but not at all dangerous, for there +is now a wall breast-high along the precipice. However, +there is an ale-house at the bottom of the hill on the other +side, with this inscription, “Now your fright is over, take +a dram.” From hence I proceeded to a little town +called Bangor, where there is a cathedral such as may be expected +in Wales; and from thence to Carnarvon, the capital of the +county. Here are the vestiges of a large old castle, where +one of the Henrys, King of England, was born; as was another at +Monmouth, in South Wales. For the Welsh were so hard to be +reconciled to their union with England at first, it was thought +policy to send our queens to lie-in there, to make our princes +Welshmen born, and that way ingratiate the inhabitants to their +subjection to a prince born in their own country. And for +that reason our kings to this day wear a leek (the badge of +Wales) on St. David’s Day, the patron of this country; as +they do the Order of the Thistle on St. Andrew’s Day, the +patron of Scotland.</p> +<p>Carnarvon is a pretty little town, situated in the bottom of a +bay, and might be a place of good trade, if the country afforded +a consumption.</p> +<p>The sea flows quite round from Bangor to Carnarvon Bay, which +separates Anglesea from the rest of Wales, and makes it an +island. Beaumaris, the capital of the island, hath been a +flourishing town; there are still two very good streets, and the +remains of a very large castle. The Lord Bulkeley hath a +noble ancient seat planted with trees on the side of the hill +above the town, from whence one hath a fine prospect of the bay +and adjacent country; the church is very handsome, and there are +some fine ancient monuments of that family and some Knights +Templars in it. The family of Bulkeley keep in their family +a large silver goblet, with which they entertain their friends, +with an inscription round relating to the royal family when in +distress, which is often remembered by the neighbouring gentry, +whose affections run very much that way all over Wales.</p> +<p>I went from hence to Glengauny, the ancient residence of Owen +Tudor, but now belongs to the Bulkeleys, and to be sold. It +is a good old house, and I believe never was larger. There +is a vulgar error in this country that Owen Tudor was married to +a Queen of England, and that the house of York took that surname +from him; whereas the Queen of England that was married to him +was a daughter of the King of France and dowager of England, and +had no relation to the Crown; he had indeed two daughters by her, +that were married into English noble families—to one of +which Henry VII. was related. But Owen Tudor was neither of +the blood of the Princes of Wales himself, nor gave descent to +that of the English. He was a private gentleman, of about +£3,000 a year, who came to seek his fortune at the English +court, and the queen fell in love with him.</p> +<p>I was invited to a cock-match some miles from Glengauny, where +were above forty gentlemen, most of them of the names of Owen, +Parry, and Griffith; they fought near twenty battles, and every +battle a cock was killed. Their cocks are doubtless the +finest in the world; and the gentlemen, after they were a little +heated with liquor, were as warm as their cocks. A great +deal of bustle and noise grew by degrees after dinner was over; +but their scolding was all in Welsh, and civilities in +English. We had a very great dinner; and the house (called +The College) where we dined was built very comically; it is four +storeys high, built on the side of a hill, and the stable is in +the garret. There is a broad stone staircase on the outside +of the house, by which you enter into the several +apartments. The kitchen is at the bottom of the hill, a +bedchamber above that, the parlour (where we dined) is the third +storey, and on the top of the hill is the stable.</p> +<p>From hence I stepped over to Holyhead, where the packet-boats +arrive from Ireland. It is a straggling, confused heap of +thatched houses built on rocks; yet within doors there are in +several of them very good accommodation for passengers, both in +lodging and diet.</p> +<p>The packet-boats from Dublin arrive thrice a week, and are +larger than those to Holland and France, fitted with all +conveniences for passengers; and indeed St. George’s +Channel requires large ships in winter, the wind being generally +very boisterous in these narrow seas.</p> +<p>On my return to Chester I passed over the mountain called +Penmaen Ross, where I saw plainly a part of Ireland, Scotland, +England, and the Isle of Man all at once.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">* * * * *</p> +<p style="text-align: center">Printed by Cassell & Company, +Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM LONDON TO LAND'S END***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 1149-h.htm or 1149-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/1/4/1149 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: From London to Land's End + and Two Letters from the "Journey through England by a Gentleman" + + +Author: Daniel Defoe + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: April 16, 2007 [eBook #1149] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM LONDON TO LAND'S END*** + + + +Transcribed from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition by David Price, email +ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + +FROM +LONDON TO LAND'S END. + + +BY +DANIEL DEFOE. + +AND + +_Two Letters from the_ "_Journey through England by a Gentleman_." + +CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: +LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE. +1888. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +At the end of this book there are a couple of letters from a volume of +the "Travels in England" which were not by Defoe, although resembling +Defoe's work so much in form and title, and so near to it in date of +publication, that a volume of one book is often found taking the place of +a volume of the other. A purchaser of Defoe's "Travels in England" has +therefore to take care that he is not buying one of the mixed sets. Each +of the two works describes England at the end of the first quarter of the +eighteenth century. Our added descriptions of Bath, and of the journey +by Chester to Holyhead, were published in 1722; Defoe's "Journey from +London to the Land's End" was published in 1724, and both writers help us +to compare the past with the present by their accounts of England as it +was in the days of George the First, more than a hundred and sixty years +ago. The days certainly are gone when, after a good haul of pilchards, +seventeen can be bought for a halfpenny, and two gentlemen and their +servant can have them broiled at a tavern and dine on them for three +farthings, dressing and all. In another of his journeys Defoe gives a +seaside tavern bill, in which the charges were ridiculously small for +everything except for bread. It was war time, and the bread was the most +costly item in the bill. + +In the earlier part of this account of the "Journey from London to the +Land's End," there is interest in the fresh memories of the rebuilding +and planting at Hampton Court by William III. and Queen Mary. The +passing away, and in opinion of that day the surpassing, of Wolsey's +palace there were none then to regret. + +A more characteristic feature in this letter will be found in the details +of a project which Defoe says he had himself advocated before the Lord- +Treasurer Godolphin, for the settlement of poor refugees from the +Palatinate upon land in the New Forest. Our friendly relations with the +Palatinate had begun with the marriage of James the First's eldest +daughter to the Elector Palatine, who brought on himself much trouble by +accepting the crown of Bohemia from the subjects of the Emperor Ferdinand +the Second. As a Protestant Prince allied by marriage to England, he +drew from England sympathies and ineffectual assistance. Many years +afterwards, during the war with France in Queen Anne's time, the allies +were unprosperous in 1707, and Marshal Villars was victorious upon the +Rhine. The pressure of public feeling on behalf of refugees from the +Palatinate did not last long enough for any action to be taken. But if +it had seemed well to the Government to accept the project advocated by +Defoe, we should have had a clearance of what is now the most beautiful +part of the New Forest, near Lyndhurst; and in place of the little area +that still preserves all the best features of forest land, we should have +had a town of Englishmen descended from the latest of the German +settlements upon our soil. Upon the political economy of Defoe's +project, and the accuracy of his calculations, and the more or less +resemblance of his scheme to the system of free grants of land in +unsettled regions beyond the sea, each reader will speculate in his own +way. + +There are interesting notes on the extent of the sheep farming upon the +Downs crossed in this journey. There is high praise of the ladies of +Dorsetshire. There are some pleasant notes upon dialect, including the +story, often quoted, of the schoolboy whom Defoe saw and heard reading +his Bible in class, and while following every word and line with his eye, +translating it as he went into his own way of speech. Thus he turned the +third verse of the fifth chapter of Solomon's Song, "I have put off my +coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile +them?" into "Chav a doffed my cooat; how shall I don't? Chav a washed my +veet; how shall I moil 'em?" This is a good example of intelligent +reading; for the boy took in the sense of the printed lines, and then +made it his own by giving homely utterance to what he understood. + +Defoe tells in this letter several tales of the shorefolk about the Great +Storm of November, 1703, recollection of which Addison used effectively +in the following year in his poem on the Battle of Blenheim. There was +the sweeping away of the first Eddystone Lighthouse, with the builder, +confident in its strength, who had desired to be in it some night when +the wind blew with unusual fury. There was the story also of the man and +two boys, in a ship laden with tin, blown out of Helford Haven, and of +their hairbreadth escape by counsel of one of the boys who ran the ship +through rocks into a narrow creek that he knew in the Isle of Wight. The +form of the coast has been changed so much since 1703 by the beat of many +storms, that it may be now impossible to know that little cove as the boy +knew it. It must have been at the back of the island. Were the storm +waves tossing then in Steephill Cove or Luccombe Chine? Does there +survive anywhere a tradition of that perilous landing? Probably not. +Wreck follows upon wreck, and memory of many tales of death and peril on +the rock-bound coast lie between us and the boy who took the helm when he +spied the well-known creek as the great storm was sweeping the ship on to +destruction. From the next year after that famous storm, Defoe gives a +memory of disaster seen by himself at Plymouth in the wreck of a little +fleet from Barbadoes. In another part of this letter he tells what he +had seen of a fight at sea between three French men-of-war and two +English with a convoy of two or three trading vessels. + +There will be found also in this letter a good story of a Cornish dog +taken from Carew's "Survey of Cornwall," which may pair with that of the +London dog who lately took a wounded fellow dog to hospital. + +The writer of this letter speaks of the civil war times as a friend of +monarchy, but when he tells of the landing of William III. at Torbay, he +suggests that the people had good reason for rejoicing, and throughout +the journey he takes note of a great inequality he finds in distribution +of the right of returning members to Parliament. It is evident that he +could propound a project for a Reform Bill, though he is careful so to +describe England as to avoid giving offence to Englishmen of any party. +The possibility of some change for the better here and there presents +itself; Defoe glances and passes on. His theme is England and the +English; he shows us, clearly and very simply, what he has seen of the +social life and manners of the people, of the features of the land +itself, and their relation to its industries; traces of the past, and +prospects of the future; shepherds, fishermen, merchants; catching of +salmon peel in mill-weirs, and catching of husbands at provincial +assemblies; with whatever else he found worth friendly observation. + +H. M. + + + + +FROM LONDON TO LAND'S END + + +Sir, + +I find so much left to speak of, and so many things to say in every part +of England, that my journey cannot be barren of intelligence which way +soever I turn; no, though I were to oblige myself to say nothing of +anything that had been spoken of before. + +I intended once to have gone due west this journey; but then I should +have been obliged to crowd my observations so close (to bring Hampton +Court, Windsor, Blenheim, Oxford, the Bath and Bristol all into one +letter; all those remarkable places lying in a line, as it were, in one +point of the compass) as to have made my letter too long, or my +observations too light and superficial, as others have done before me. + +This letter will divide the weighty task, and consequently make it sit +lighter on the memory, be pleasanter to the reader, and make my progress +the more regular: I shall therefore take in Hampton Court and Windsor in +this journey; the first at my setting out, and the last at my return, and +the rest as their situation demands. + +As I came down from Kingston, in my last circuit, by the south bank of +the Thames, on the Surrey side of the river; so I go up to Hampton Court +now on the north bank, and on the Middlesex side, which I mention, +because, as the sides of the country bordering on the river lie parallel, +so the beauty of the country, the pleasant situations, the glory of +innumerable fine buildings (noblemen's and gentlemen's houses, and +citizens' retreats), are so equal a match to what I had described on the +other side that one knows not which to give the preference to: but as I +must speak of them again, when I come to write of the county of +Middlesex, which I have now purposely omitted; so I pass them over here, +except the palace of Hampton only, which I mentioned in "Middlesex," for +the reasons above. + +Hampton Court lies on the north bank of the River Thames, about two small +miles from Kingston, and on the road from Staines to Kingston Bridge; so +that the road straightening the parks a little, they were obliged to part +the parks, and leave the Paddock and the great park part on the other +side the road--a testimony of that just regard that the kings of England +always had, and still have, to the common good, and to the service of the +country, that they would not interrupt the course of the road, or cause +the poor people to go out of the way of their business to or from the +markets and fairs, for any pleasure of their own whatsoever. + +The palace of Hampton Court was first founded and built from the ground +by that great statesman and favourite of King Henry VIII, Cardinal +Wolsey; and if it be a just observation anywhere, as is made from the +situation of the old abbeys and monasteries, the clergy were excellent +judges of the beauty and pleasantness of the country, and chose always to +plant in the best; I say, if it was a just observation in any case, it +was in this; for if there be a situation on the whole river between +Staines Bridge and Windsor Bridge pleasanter than another, it is this of +Hampton; close to the river, yet not offended by the rising of its waters +in floods or storms; near to the reflux of the tides, but not quite so +near as to be affected with any foulness of the water which the flowing +of the tides generally is the occasion of. The gardens extend almost to +the bank of the river, yet are never overflowed; nor are there any +marshes on either side the river to make the waters stagnate, or the air +unwholesome on that account. The river is high enough to be navigable, +and low enough to be a little pleasantly rapid; so that the stream looks +always cheerful, not slow and sleeping, like a pond. This keeps the +waters always clear and clean, the bottom in view, the fish playing and +in sight; and, in a word, it has everything that can make an inland (or, +as I may call it, a country) river pleasant and agreeable. + +I shall sing you no songs here of the river in the first person of a +water-nymph, a goddess, and I know not what, according to the humour of +the ancient poets; I shall talk nothing of the marriage of old Isis, the +male river, with the beautiful Thame, the female river (a whimsey as +simple as the subject was empty); but I shall speak of the river as +occasion presents, as it really is made glorious by the splendour of its +shores, gilded with noble palaces, strong fortifications, large +hospitals, and public buildings; with the greatest bridge, and the +greatest city in the world, made famous by the opulence of its merchants, +the increase and extensiveness of its commerce; by its invincible navies, +and by the innumerable fleets of ships sailing upon it to and from all +parts of the world. + +As I meet with the river upwards in my travels through the inland country +I shall speak of it, as it is the channel for conveying an infinite +quantity of provisions from remote counties to London, and enriching all +the counties again that lie near it by the return of wealth and trade +from the city; and in describing these things I expect both to inform and +divert my readers, and speak in a more masculine manner, more to the +dignity of the subject, and also more to their satisfaction, than I could +do any other way. + +There is little more to be said of the Thames relating to Hampton Court, +than that it adds by its neighbourhood to the pleasure of the situation; +for as to passing by water to and from London, though in summer it is +exceeding pleasant, yet the passage is a little too long to make it easy +to the ladies, especially to be crowded up in the small boats which +usually go upon the Thames for pleasure. + +The prince and princess, indeed, I remember came once down by water upon +the occasion of her Royal Highness's being great with child, and near her +time--so near that she was delivered within two or three days after. But +this passage being in the royal barges, with strength of oars, and the +day exceeding fine, the passage, I say, was made very pleasant, and still +the more so for being short. Again, this passage is all the way with the +stream, whereas in the common passage upwards great part of the way is +against the stream, which is slow and heavy. + +But be the going and coming how it will by water, it is an exceeding +pleasant passage by land, whether we go by the Surrey side or the +Middlesex side of the water, of which I shall say more in its place. + +The situation of Hampton Court being thus mentioned, and its founder, it +is to be mentioned next that it fell to the Crown in the forfeiture of +his Eminence the Cardinal, when the king seized his effects and estate, +by which this and Whitehall (another house of his own building also) came +to King Henry VIII. Two palaces fit for the kings of England, erected by +one cardinal, are standing monuments of the excessive pride as well as +the immense wealth of that prelate, who knew no bounds of his insolence +and ambition till he was overthrown at once by the displeasure of his +master. + +Whoever knew Hampton Court before it was begun to be rebuilt, or altered, +by the late King William, must acknowledge it was a very complete palace +before, and fit for a king; and though it might not, according to the +modern method of building or of gardening, pass for a thing exquisitely +fine, yet it had this remaining to itself, and perhaps peculiar--namely, +that it showed a situation exceedingly capable of improvement, and of +being made one of the most delightful palaces in Europe. + +This her Majesty Queen Mary was so sensible of, that, while the king had +ordered the pulling down the old apartments, and building it up in that +most beautiful form which we see them now appear in, her Majesty, +impatient of enjoying so agreeable a retreat, fixed upon a building +formerly made use of chiefly for landing from the river, and therefore +called the Water Galley, and here, as if she had been conscious that she +had but a few years to enjoy it, she ordered all the little neat curious +things to be done which suited her own conveniences, and made it the +pleasantest little thing within doors that could possibly be made, though +its situation being such as it could not be allowed to stand after the +great building was finished, we now see no remains of it. + +The queen had here her gallery of beauties, being the pictures at full- +length of the principal ladies attending upon her Majesty, or who were +frequently in her retinue; and this was the more beautiful sight because +the originals were all in being, and often to be compared with their +pictures. Her Majesty had here a fine apartment, with a set of lodgings +for her private retreat only, but most exquisitely furnished, +particularly a fine chintz bed, then a great curiosity; another of her +own work while in Holland, very magnificent, and several others; and here +was also her Majesty's fine collection of Delft ware, which indeed was +very large and fine; and here was also a vast stock of fine china ware, +the like whereof was not then to be seen in England; the long gallery, as +above, was filled with this china, and every other place where it could +be placed with advantage. + +The queen had here also a small bathing-room, made very fine, suited +either to hot or cold bathing, as the season should invite; also a dairy, +with all its conveniences, in which her Majesty took great delight. All +these things were finished with expedition, that here their Majesties +might repose while they saw the main building go forward. While this was +doing, the gardens were laid out, the plan of them devised by the king +himself, and especially the amendments and alterations were made by the +king or the queen's particular special command, or by both, for their +Majesties agreed so well in their fancy, and had both so good judgment in +the just proportions of things, which are the principal beauties of a +garden, that it may be said they both ordered everything that was done. + +Here the fine parcel of limes which form the semicircle on the south +front of the house by the iron gates, looking into the park, were by the +dexterous hand of the head gardener removed, after some of them had been +almost thirty years planted in other places, though not far off. I know +the King of France in the decoration of the gardens of Versailles had +oaks removed, which by their dimensions must have been above an hundred +years old, and yet were taken up with so much art, and by the strength of +such engines, by which such a monstrous quantity of earth was raised with +them, that the trees could not feel their remove--that is to say, their +growth was not at all hindered. This, I confess, makes the wonder much +the less in those trees at Hampton Court gardens; but the performance was +not the less difficult or nice, however, in these, and they thrive +perfectly well. + +While the gardens were thus laid out, the king also directed the laying +the pipes for the fountains and _jet-d'eaux_, and particularly the +dimensions of them, and what quantity of water they should cast up, and +increased the number of them after the first design. + +The ground on the side of the other front has received some alterations +since the taking down the Water Galley; but not that part immediately +next the lodgings. The orange-trees and fine Dutch bays are placed +within the arches of the building under the first floor; so that the +lower part of the house was all one as a greenhouse for sometime. Here +stand advanced, on two pedestals of stone, two marble vases or flower- +pots of most exquisite workmanship--the one done by an Englishman, and +the other by a German. It is hard to say which is the best performance, +though the doing of it was a kind of trial of skill between them; but it +gives us room, without any partiality, to say they were both masters of +their art. + +The _parterre_ on that side descends from the terrace-walk by steps, and +on the left a terrace goes down to the water-side, from which the garden +on the eastward front is overlooked, and gives a most pleasant prospect. + +The fine scrolls and _bordure_ of these gardens were at first edged with +box, but on the queen's disliking the smell those edgings were taken up, +but have since been planted again--at least, in many places--nothing +making so fair and regular an edging as box, or is so soon brought to its +perfection. + +On the north side of the house, where the gardens seemed to want +screening from the weather or the view of the chapel, and some part of +the old building required to be covered from the eye, the vacant ground, +which was large, is very happily cast into a wilderness, with a labyrinth +and _espaliers_ so high that they effectually take off all that part of +the old building which would have been offensive to the sight. This +labyrinth and wilderness is not only well designed, and completely +finished, but is perfectly well kept, and the _espaliers_ filled exactly +at bottom, to the very ground, and are led up to proportioned heights on +the top, so that nothing of that kind can be more beautiful. + +The house itself is every way answerable on the outside to the beautiful +prospect, and the two fronts are the largest and, beyond comparison, the +finest of the kind in England. The great stairs go up from the second +court of the palace on the right hand, and lead you to the south +prospect. + +I hinted in my last that King William brought into England the love of +fine paintings as well as that of fine gardens; and you have an example +of it in the cartoons, as they are called, being five pieces of such +paintings as, if you will believe men of nice judgment and great +travelling, are not to be matched in Europe. The stories are known, but +especially two of them--viz., that of St. Paul preaching on Mars Hill to +the self-wise Athenians, and that of St. Peter passing sentence of death +on Ananias--I say, these two strike the mind with the utmost surprise, +the passions are so drawn to the life; astonishment, terror, and death in +the face of Ananias, zeal and a sacred fire in the eyes of the blessed +Apostle, fright and surprise upon the countenances of the beholders in +the piece of Ananias; all these describe themselves so naturally that you +cannot but seem to discover something of the like passions, even in +seeing them. + +In the other there is the boldness and courage with which St. Paul +undertook to talk to a set of men who, he knew, despised all the world, +as thinking themselves able to teach them anything. In the audience +there is anticipating pride and conceit in some, a smile or fleer of +contempt in others, but a kind of sensible conviction, though crushed in +its beginning, on the faces of the rest; and all together appear +confounded, but have little to say, and know nothing at all of it; they +gravely put him off to hear him another time; all these are seen here in +the very dress of the face--that is, the very countenances which they +hold while they listen to the new doctrine which the Apostle preached to +a people at that time ignorant of it. + +The other of the cartoons are exceeding fine but I mention these as the +particular two which are most lively, which strike the fancy the soonest +at first view. It is reported, but with what truth I know not, that the +late French king offered an hundred thousand _louis d'ors_ for these +pictures; but this, I say, is but a report. The king brought a great +many other fine pieces to England, and with them the love of fine +paintings so universally spread itself among the nobility and persons of +figure all over the kingdom that it is incredible what collections have +been made by English gentlemen since that time, and how all Europe has +been rummaged, as we may say, for pictures to bring over hither, where +for twenty years they yielded the purchasers, such as collected them for +sale, immense profit. But the rates are abated since that, and we begin +to be glutted with the copies and frauds of the Dutch and Flemish +painters who have imposed grossly upon us. But to return to the palace +of Hampton Court. Queen Mary lived not to see it completely finished, +and her death, with the other difficulties of that reign, put a stop to +the works for some time till the king, reviving his good liking of the +place, set them to work again, and it was finished as we see it. But I +have been assured that had the peace continued, and the king lived to +enjoy the continuance of it, his Majesty had resolved to have pulled down +all the remains of the old building (such as the chapel and the large +court within the first gate), and to have built up the whole palace after +the manner of those two fronts already done. In these would have been an +entire set of rooms of state for the receiving and, if need had been, +lodging and entertaining any foreign prince with his retinue; also +offices for all the Secretaries of State, Lords of the Treasury, and of +Trade, to have repaired to for the despatch of such business as it might +be necessary to have done there upon the king's longer residence there +than ordinary; as also apartments for all the great officers of the +Household; so that had the house had two great squares added, as was +designed, there would have been no room to spare, or that would not have +been very well filled. But the king's death put an end to all these +things. + +Since the death of King William, Hampton Court seemed abandoned of its +patron. They have gotten a kind of proverbial saying relating to Hampton +Court, viz., that it has been generally chosen by every other prince +since it became a house of note. King Charles was the first that +delighted in it since Queen Elizabeth's time. As for the reigns before, +it was but newly forfeited to the Crown, and was not made a royal house +till King Charles I., who was not only a prince that delighted in country +retirements, but knew how to make choice of them by the beauty of their +situation, the goodness of the air, &c. He took great delight here, and, +had he lived to enjoy it in peace, had purposed to make it another thing +than it was. But we all know what took him off from that felicity, and +all others; and this house was at last made one of his prisons by his +rebellious subjects. + +His son, King Charles II., may well be said to have an aversion to the +place, for the reason just mentioned--namely, the treatment his royal +father met with there--and particularly that the rebel and murderer of +his father, Cromwell, afterwards possessed this palace, and revelled here +in the blood of the royal party, as he had done in that of his sovereign. +King Charles II. therefore chose Windsor, and bestowed a vast sum in +beautifying the castle there, and which brought it to the perfection we +see it in at this day--some few alterations excepted, done in the time of +King William. + +King William (for King James is not to be named as to his choice of +retired palaces, his delight running quite another way)--I say, King +William fixed upon Hampton Court, and it was in his reign that Hampton +Court put on new clothes, and, being dressed gay and glorious, made the +figure we now see it in. + +The late queen, taken up for part of her reign in her kind regards to the +prince her spouse, was obliged to reside where her care of his health +confined her, and in this case kept for the most part at Kensington, +where he died; but her Majesty always discovered her delight to be at +Windsor, where she chose the little house, as it was called, opposite to +the Castle, and took the air in her chaise in the parks and forest as she +saw occasion. + +Now Hampton Court, by the like alternative, is come into request again; +and we find his present Majesty, who is a good judge too of the +pleasantness and situation of a place of that kind, has taken Hampton +Court into his favour, and has made it much his choice for the summer's +retreat of the Court, and where they may best enjoy the diversions of the +season. When Hampton Court will find such another favourable juncture as +in King William's time, when the remainder of her ashes shall be swept +away, and her complete fabric, as designed by King William, shall be +finished, I cannot tell; but if ever that shall be, I know no palace in +Europe, Versailles excepted, which can come up to her, either for beauty +and magnificence, or for extent of building, and the ornaments attending +it. + +From Hampton Court I directed my course for a journey into the south-west +part of England; and to take up my beginning where I concluded my last, I +crossed to Chertsey on the Thames, a town I mentioned before; from +whence, crossing the Black Desert, as I called it, of Bagshot Heath, I +directed my course for Hampshire or Hantshire, and particularly for +Basingstoke--that is to say, that a little before, I passed into the +great Western Road upon the heath, somewhat west of Bagshot, at a village +called Blackwater, and entered Hampshire, near Hartleroe. + +Before we reach Basingstoke, we get rid of that unpleasant country which +I so often call a desert, and enter into a pleasant fertile country, +enclosed and cultivated like the rest of England; and passing a village +or two we enter Basingstoke, in the midst of woods and pastures, rich and +fertile, and the country accordingly spread with the houses of the +nobility and gentry, as in other places. On the right hand, a little +before we come to the town, we pass at a small distance the famous +fortress, so it was then, of Basing, being a house belonging then to the +Marquis of Winchester, the great ancestor of the present family of the +Dukes of Bolton. + +This house, garrisoned by a resolute band of old soldiers, was a great +curb to the rebels of the Parliament party almost through that whole war; +till it was, after a vigorous defence, yielded to the conquerors by the +inevitable fate of things at that time. The old house is, indeed, +demolished but the successor of the family, the first Duke of Bolton, has +erected a very noble fabric in the same place, or near it, which, +however, is not equal to the magnificence which fame gives to the ancient +house, whose strength of building only, besides the outworks, withstood +the battery of cannon in several attacks, and repulsed the Roundheads +three or four times when they attempted to besiege it. It is incredible +what booty the garrison of this place picked up, lying as they did just +on the great Western Road, where they intercepted the carriers, plundered +the waggons, and suffered nothing to pass--to the great interruption of +the trade of the city of London. + +Basingstoke is a large populous market-town, has a good market for corn, +and lately within a very few years is fallen into a manufacture, viz., of +making druggets and shalloons, and such slight goods, which, however, +employs a good number of the poor people, and enables them to get their +bread, which knew not how to get it before. + +From hence the great Western Road goes on to Whitchurch and Andover, two +market-towns, and sending members to Parliament; at the last of which the +Downs, or open country, begins, which we in general, though falsely, call +Salisbury Plain. But my resolution being to take in my view what I had +passed by before, I was obliged to go off to the left hand, to Alresford +and Winchester. + +Alresford was a flourishing market-town, and remarkable for this--that +though it had no great trade, and particularly very little, if any, +manufactures, yet there was no collection in the town for the poor, nor +any poor low enough to take alms of the parish, which is what I do not +think can be said of any town in England besides. + +But this happy circumstance, which so distinguished Alresford from all +her neighbours, was brought to an end in the year ---, when by a sudden +and surprising fire the whole town, with both the church and the market- +house, was reduced to a heap of rubbish; and, except a few poor huts at +the remotest ends of the town, not a house left standing. The town is +since that very handsomely rebuilt, and the neighbouring gentlemen +contributed largely to the relief of the people, especially by sending in +timber towards their building; also their market-house is handsomely +built, but the church not yet, though we hear there is a fund raising +likewise for that. + +Here is a very large pond, or lake of water, kept up to a head by a +strong _batter d'eau_, or dam, which the people tell us was made by the +Romans; and that it is to this day part of the great Roman highway which +leads from Winchester to Alton, and, as it is supposed, went on to +London, though we nowhere see any remains of it, except between +Winchester and Alton, and chiefly between this town and Alton. + +Near this town, a little north-west, the Duke of Bolton has another seat, +which, though not large, is a very handsome beautiful palace, and the +gardens not only very exact, but very finely situate, the prospect and +vistas noble and great, and the whole very well kept. + +From hence, at the end of seven miles over the Downs, we come to the very +ancient city of Winchester; not only the great church (which is so famous +all over Europe, and has been so much talked of), but even the whole city +has at a distance the face of venerable, and looks ancient afar off; and +yet here are many modern buildings too, and some very handsome; as the +college schools, with the bishop's palace, built by Bishop Morley since +the late wars--the old palace of the bishop having been ruined by that +known church incendiary Sir William Waller and his crew of plunderers, +who, if my information is not wrong, as I believe it is not, destroyed +more monuments of the dead, and defaced more churches, than all the +Roundheads in England beside. + +This church, and the schools also are accurately described by several +writers, especially by the "Monasticon," where their antiquity and +original is fully set forth. The outside of the church is as plain and +coarse as if the founders had abhorred ornaments, or that William of +Wickham had been a Quaker, or at least a Quietist. There is neither +statue, nor a niche for a statue, to be seen on all the outside; no +carved work, no spires, towers, pinnacles, balustrades, or anything; but +mere walls, buttresses, windows, and coigns necessary to the support and +order of the building. It has no steeple, but a short tower covered +flat, as if the top of it had fallen down, and it had been covered in +haste to keep the rain out till they had time to build it up again. + +But the inside of the church has many very good things in it, and worth +observation; it was for some ages the burying-place of the English Saxon +kings, whose _reliques_, at the repair of the church, were collected by +Bishop Fox, and being put together into large wooden chests lined with +lead were again interred at the foot of the great wall in the choir, +three on one side, and three on the other, with an account whose bones +are in each chest. Whether the division of the _reliques_ might be +depended upon, has been doubted, but is not thought material, so that we +do but believe they are all there. + +The choir of the church appears very magnificent; the roof is very high, +and the Gothic work in the arched part is very fine, though very old; the +painting in the windows is admirably good, and easy to be distinguished +by those that understand those things: the steps ascending to the choir +make a very fine show, having the statues of King James and his son King +Charles, in copper, finely cast; the first on the right hand, and the +other on the left, as you go up to the choir. + +The choir is said to be the longest in England; and as the number of +prebendaries, canons, &c., are many, it required such a length. The +ornaments of the choir are the effects of the bounty of several bishops. +The fine altar (the noblest in England by much) was done by Bishop +Morley; the roof and the coat-of-arms of the Saxon and Norman kings were +done by Bishop Fox; and the fine throne for the bishop in the choir was +given by Bishop Mew in his lifetime; and it was well it was for if he had +ordered it by will, there is reason to believe it had never been +done--that reverend prelate, notwithstanding he enjoyed so rich a +bishopric, scarce leaving money enough behind him to pay for his coffin. + +There are a great many persons of rank buried in this church, besides the +Saxon kings mentioned above, and besides several of the most eminent +bishops of the See. Just under the altar lies a son of William the +Conqueror, without any monument; and behind the altar, under a very fine +and venerable monument, lies the famous Lord Treasurer Weston, late Earl +of Portland, Lord High Treasurer of England under King Charles I. His +effigy is in copper armour at full-length, with his head raised on three +cushions of the same, and is a very magnificent work. There is also a +very fine monument of Cardinal Beaufort in his cardinal's robes and hat. + +The monument of Sir John Cloberry is extraordinary, but more because it +puts strangers upon inquiring into his story than for anything wonderful +in the figure, it being cut in a modern dress (the habit gentlemen wore +in those times, which, being now so much out of fashion, appears mean +enough). But this gentleman's story is particular, being the person +solely entrusted with the secret of the restoration of King Charles II., +as the messenger that passed between General Monk on one hand, and Mr. +Montague and others entrusted by King Charles II. on the other hand; +which he managed so faithfully as to effect that memorable event, to +which England owes the felicity of all her happy days since that time; by +which faithful service Sir John Cloberry, then a private musketeer only, +raised himself to the honour of a knight, with the reward of a good +estate from the bounty of the king. + +Everybody that goes into this church, and reads what is to be read there, +will be told that the body of the church was built by the famous William +of Wickham; whose monument, intimating his fame, lies in the middle of +that part which was built at his expense. + +He was a courtier before a bishop; and, though he had no great share of +learning, he was a great promoter of it, and a lover of learned men. His +natural genius was much beyond his acquired parts, and his skill in +politics beyond his ecclesiastic knowledge. He is said to have put his +master, King Edward III., to whom he was Secretary of State, upon the two +great projects which made his reign so glorious, viz.:--First, upon +setting up his claim to the crown of France, and pushing that claim by +force of arms, which brought on the war with France, in which that prince +was three times victorious in battle. (2) Upon setting up, or +instituting the Order of the Garter; in which he (being before that made +Bishop of Winchester) obtained the honour for the Bishops of Winchester +of being always prelates of the Order, as an appendix to the bishopric; +and he himself was the first prelate of the Order, and the ensigns of +that honour are joined with his episcopal ornaments in the robing of his +effigy on the monument above. + +To the honour of this bishop, there are other foundations of his, as much +to his fame as that of this church, of which I shall speak in their +order; but particularly the college in this city, which is a noble +foundation indeed. The building consists of two large courts, in which +are the lodgings for the masters and scholars, and in the centre a very +noble chapel; beyond that, in the second court, are the schools, with a +large cloister beyond them, and some enclosures laid open for the +diversion of the scholars. There also is a great hall, where the +scholars dine. The funds for the support of this college are very +considerable; the masters live in a very good figure, and their +maintenance is sufficient to support it. They have all separate +dwellings in the house, and all possible conveniences appointed them. + +The scholars have exhibitions at a certain time of continuance here, if +they please to study in the new college at Oxford, built by the same +noble benefactor, of which I shall speak in its order. + +The clergy here live at large, and very handsomely, in the Close +belonging to the cathedral; where, besides the bishop's palace mentioned +above, are very good houses, and very handsomely built, for the +prebendaries, canons, and other dignitaries of this church. The Deanery +is a very pleasant dwelling, the gardens very large, and the river +running through them; but the floods in winter sometimes incommode the +gardens very much. + +This school has fully answered the end of the founder, who, though he was +no great scholar, resolved to erect a house for the making the ages to +come more learned than those that went before; and it has, I say, fully +answered the end, for many learned and great men have been raised here, +some of whom we shall have occasion to mention as we go on. + +Among the many private inscriptions in this church, we found one made by +Dr. Over, once an eminent physician in this city, on a mother and child, +who, being his patients, died together and were buried in the same grave, +and which intimate that one died of a fever, and the other of a dropsy: + + "Surrepuit natum Febris, matrem abstulit Hydrops, + Igne Prior Fatis, Altera cepit Aqua." + +As the city itself stands in a vale on the bank, and at the conjunction +of two small rivers, so the country rising every way, but just as the +course of the water keeps the valley open, you must necessarily, as you +go out of the gates, go uphill every way; but when once ascended, you +come to the most charming plains and most pleasant country of that kind +in England; which continues with very small intersections of rivers and +valleys for above fifty miles, as shall appear in the sequel of this +journey. + +At the west gate of this city was anciently a castle, known to be so by +the ruins more than by any extraordinary notice taken of it in history. +What they say of it, that the Saxon kings kept their court here, is +doubtful, and must be meant of the West Saxons only. And as to the tale +of King Arthur's Round Table, which they pretend was kept here for him +and his two dozen of knights (which table hangs up still, as a piece of +antiquity to the tune of twelve hundred years, and has, as they pretend, +the names of the said knights in Saxon characters, and yet such as no man +can read), all this story I see so little ground to give the least credit +to that I look upon it, and it shall please you, to be no better than a +fib. + +Where this castle stood, or whatever else it was (for some say there was +no castle there), the late King Charles II. marked out a very noble +design, which, had he lived, would certainly have made that part of the +country the Newmarket of the ages to come; for the country hereabout far +excels that of Newmarket Heath for all kinds of sport and diversion fit +for a prince, nobody can dispute. And as the design included a noble +palace (sufficient, like Windsor, for a summer residence of the whole +court), it would certainly have diverted the king from his cursory +journeys to Newmarket. + +The plan of this house has received several alterations, and as it is +never like to be finished, it is scarce worth recording the variety. The +building is begun, and the front next the city carried up to the roof and +covered, but the remainder is not begun. There was a street of houses +designed from the gate of the palace down to the town, but it was never +begun to be built; the park marked out was exceeding large, near ten +miles in circumference, and ended west upon the open Downs, in view of +the town of Stockbridge. + +This house was afterwards settled, with a royal revenue also, as an +appanage (established by Parliament) upon Prince George of Denmark for +his life, in case he had out-lived the queen; but his Royal Highness +dying before her Majesty, all hope of seeing this design perfected, or +the house finished, is now vanished. + +I cannot omit that there are several public edifices in this city and in +the neighbourhood, as the hospitals and the building adjoining near the +east gate; and towards the north a piece of an old monastery +undemolished, and which is still preserved to the religion, being the +residence of some private Roman Catholic gentlemen, where they have an +oratory, and, as they say, live still according to the rules of St. +Benedict. This building is called Hide House; and as they live very +usefully, and to the highest degree obliging among their neighbours, they +meet with no obstruction or disturbance from anybody. + +Winchester is a place of no trade other than is naturally occasioned by +the inhabitants of the city and neighbouring villages one with another. +Here is no manufacture, no navigation; there was indeed an attempt to +make the river navigable from Southampton, and it was once made +practicable, but it never answered the expense so as to give +encouragement to the undertakers. + +Here is a great deal of good company, and abundance of gentry being in +the neighbourhood, it adds to the sociableness of the place. The clergy +also here are, generally speaking, very rich and very numerous. + +As there is such good company, so they are gotten into that new-fashioned +way of conversing by assemblies. I shall do no more than mention them +here; they are pleasant and agreeable to the young peoples, and sometimes +fatal to them, of which, in its place, Winchester has its share of the +mirth. May it escape the ill-consequences! + +The hospital on the south of this city, at a mile distant on the road to +Southampton, is worth notice. It is said to be founded by King William +Rufus, but was not endowed or appointed till later times by Cardinal +Beaufort. Every traveller that knocks at the door of this house in his +way, and asks for it, claims the relief of a piece of white bread and a +cup of beer, and this donation is still continued. A quantity of good +beer is set apart every day to be given away, and what is left is +distributed to other poor, but none of it kept to the next day. + +How the revenues of this hospital, which should maintain the master and +thirty private gentlemen (whom they call Fellows, but ought to call +Brothers), is now reduced to maintain only fourteen, while the master +lives in a figure equal to the best gentleman in the country, would be +well worth the inquiry of a proper visitor, if such can be named. It is +a thing worthy of complaint when public charities, designed for the +relief of the poor, are embezzled and depredated by the rich, and turned +to the support of luxury and pride. + +From Winchester is about twenty-five miles, and over the most charming +plains that can anywhere be seen (far, in my opinion, excelling the +plains of Mecca), we come to Salisbury. The vast flocks of sheep which +one everywhere sees upon these Downs, and the great number of those +flocks, is a sight truly worth observation; it is ordinary for these +flocks to contain from three thousand to five thousand in a flock, and +several private farmers hereabouts have two or three such flocks. + +But it is more remarkable still how a great part of these Downs comes, by +a new method of husbandry, to be not only made arable (which they never +were in former days), but to bear excellent wheat, and great crops, too, +though otherwise poor barren land, and never known to our ancestors to be +capable of any such thing--nay, they would perhaps have laughed at any +one that would have gone about to plough up the wild downs and hills +where the sheep were wont to go. But experience has made the present age +wiser and more skilful in husbandry; for by only folding the sheep upon +the ploughed lands--those lands which otherwise are barren, and where the +plough goes within three or four inches of the solid rock of chalk, are +made fruitful and bear very good wheat, as well as rye and barley. I +shall say more of this when I come to speak of the same practice farther +in the country. + +This plain country continues in length from Winchester to Salisbury +(twenty-five miles), from thence to Dorchester (twenty-two miles), thence +to Weymouth (six miles); so that they lie near fifty miles in length and +breadth; they reach also in some places thirty-five to forty miles. They +who would make any practicable guess at the number of sheep usually fed +on these Downs may take it from a calculation made, as I was told, at +Dorchester, that there were six hundred thousand sheep fed within six +miles of that town, measuring every way round and the town in the centre. + +As we passed this plain country, we saw a great many old camps, as well +Roman as British, and several remains of the ancient inhabitants of this +kingdom, and of their wars, battles, entrenchments, encampments, +buildings, and other fortifications, which are indeed very agreeable to a +traveller that has read anything of the history of the country. Old +Sarum is as remarkable as any of these, where there is a double +entrenchment, with a deep graff or ditch to either of them; the area +about one hundred yards in diameter, taking in the whole crown of the +hill, and thereby rendering the ascent very difficult. Near this there +is one farm-house, which is all the remains I could see of any town in or +near the place (for the encampment has no resemblance of a town), and yet +this is called the borough of Old Sarum, and sends two members to +Parliament. Whom those members can justly say they represent would be +hard for them to answer. + +Some will have it that the old city of _Sorbiodunum_ or Salisbury stood +here, and was afterwards (for I know not what reasons) removed to the low +marshy grounds among the rivers, where it now stands. But as I see no +authority for it other than mere tradition, I believe my share of it, and +take it _ad referendum_. + +Salisbury itself is indeed a large and pleasant city, though I do not +think it at all the pleasanter for that which they boast so much +of--namely, the water running through the middle of every street--or that +it adds anything to the beauty of the place, but just the contrary; it +keeps the streets always dirty, full of wet and filth and weeds, even in +the middle of summer. + +The city is placed upon the confluence of two large rivers, the Avon and +the Willy, neither of them considerable rivers, but very large when +joined together, and yet larger when they receive a third river (viz., +the Naddir), which joins them near Clarendon Park, about three miles +below the city; then, with a deep channel and a current less rapid, they +run down to Christchurch, which is their port. And where they empty +themselves into the sea, from that town upwards towards Salisbury they +are made navigable to within two miles, and might be so quite into the +city, were it not for the strength of the stream. + +As the city of Winchester is a city without trade--that is to say, +without any particular manufactures--so this city of Salisbury and all +the county of Wilts, of which it is the capital, are full of a great +variety of manufactures, and those some of the most considerable in +England--namely, the clothing trade and the trade of flannels, druggets, +and several other sorts of manufactures, of which in their order. + +The city of Salisbury has two remarkable manufactures carried on in it, +and which employ the poor of great part of the country round--namely, +fine flannels, and long-cloths for the Turkey trade, called Salisbury +whites. The people of Salisbury are gay and rich, and have a flourishing +trade; and there is a great deal of good manners and good company among +them--I mean, among the citizens, besides what is found among the +gentlemen; for there are many good families in Salisbury besides the +citizens. + +This society has a great addition from the Close--that is to say, the +circle of ground walled in adjacent to the cathedral; in which the +families of the prebendaries and commons, and others of the clergy +belonging to the cathedral, have their houses, as is usual in all cities, +where there are cathedral churches. These are so considerable here, and +the place so large, that it is (as it is called in general) like another +city. + +The cathedral is famous for the height of its spire, which is without +exception the highest and the handsomest in England, being from the +ground 410 feet, and yet the walls so exceeding thin that at the upper +part of the spire, upon a view made by the late Sir Christopher Wren, the +wall was found to be less than five inches thick; upon which a +consultation was had whether the spire, or at least the upper part of it, +should be taken down, it being supposed to have received some damage by +the great storm in the year 1703; but it was resolved in the negative, +and Sir Christopher ordered it to be so strengthened with bands of iron +plates as has effectually secured it; and I have heard some of the best +architects say it is stronger now than when it was first built. + +They tell us here long stories of the great art used in laying the first +foundation of this church, the ground being marshy and wet, occasioned by +the channels of the rivers; that it was laid upon piles, according to +some, and upon woolpacks, according to others. But this is not supposed +by those who know that the whole country is one rock of chalk, even from +the tops of the highest hills to the bottom of the deepest rivers. + +They tell us this church was forty years a-building, and cost an immense +sum of money; but it must be acknowledged that the inside of the work is +not answerable in the decoration of things to the workmanship without. +The painting in the choir is mean, and more like the ordinary method of +common drawing-room or tavern painting than that of a church; the carving +is good, but very little of it; and it is rather a fine church than +finely set off. + +The ordinary boast of this building (that there were as many gates as +months, as many windows as days, as many marble pillars as hours in the +year) is now no recommendation at all. However, the mention of it must +be preserved:-- + + "As many days as in one year there be, + So many windows in one church we see; + As many marble pillars there appear + As there are hours throughout the fleeting year; + As many gates as moons one year do view: + Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true." + +There are, however, some very fine monuments in this church; particularly +one belonging to the noble family of Seymours, since Dukes of Somerset +(and ancestors of the present flourishing family), which on a most +melancholy occasion has been now lately opened again to receive the body +of the late Duchess of Somerset, the happy consort for almost forty years +of his Grace the present Duke, and only daughter and heiress of the +ancient and noble family of Percy, Earls of Northumberland, whose great +estate she brought into the family of Somerset, who now enjoy it. + +With her was buried at the same time her Grace's daughter the Marchioness +of Caermarthen (being married to the Marquis of Caermarthen, son and heir- +apparent to the Lord of Leeds), who died for grief at the loss of the +duchess her mother, and was buried with her; also her second son, the +Duke Percy Somerset, who died a few months before, and had been buried in +the Abbey church of Westminster, but was ordered to be removed and laid +here with the ancestors of his house. And I hear his Grace designs to +have a yet more magnificent monument erected in this cathedral for them, +just by the other which is there already. + +How the Dukes of Somerset came to quit this church for their +burying-place, and be laid in Westminster Abbey, that I know not; but it +is certain that the present Duke has chosen to have his family laid here +with their ancestors, and to that end has caused the corpse of his son, +the Lord Percy, as above, and one of his daughters, who had been buried +in the Abbey, to be removed and brought down to this vault, which lies in +that they call the Virgin Mary's Chapel, behind the altar. There is, as +above, a noble monument for a late Duke and Duchess of Somerset in the +place already, with their portraits at full-length, their heads lying +upon cushions, the whole perfectly well wrought in fine polished Italian +marble, and their sons kneeling by them. Those I suppose to be the +father of the great Duke of Somerset, uncle to King Edward IV.; but after +this the family lay in Westminster Abbey, where there is also a fine +monument for that very duke who was beheaded by Edward VI., and who was +the great patron of the Reformation. + +Among other monuments of noble men in this cathedral they show you one +that is very extraordinary, and to which there hangs a tale. There was +in the reign of Philip and Mary a very unhappy murder committed by the +then Lord Sturton, or Stourton, a family since extinct, but well known +till within a few years in that country. + +This Lord Stourton being guilty of the said murder, which also was +aggravated with very bad circumstances, could not obtain the usual grace +of the Crown (viz., to be beheaded), but Queen Mary positively ordered +that, like a common malefactor, he should die at the gallows. After he +was hanged, his friends desiring to have him buried at Salisbury, the +bishop would not consent that he should be buried in the cathedral +unless, as a farther mark of infamy, his friends would submit to this +condition--viz., that the silken halter in which he was hanged should be +hanged up over his grave in the church as a monument of his crime; which +was accordingly done, and there it is to be seen to this day. + +The putting this halter up here was not so wonderful to me as it was that +the posterity of that lord, who remained in good rank some time after, +should never prevail to have that mark of infamy taken off from the +memory of their ancestor. + +There are several other monuments in this cathedral, as particularly of +two noblemen of ancient families in Scotland--one of the name of Hay, and +one of the name of Gordon; but they give us nothing of their history, so +that we must be content to say there they lie, and that is all. + +The cloister, and the chapter-house adjoining to the church, are the +finest here of any I have seen in England; the latter is octagon, or +eight-square, and is 150 feet in its circumference; the roof bearing all +upon one small marble pillar in the centre, which you may shake with your +hand; and it is hardly to be imagined it can be any great support to the +roof, which makes it the more curious (it is not indeed to be matched, I +believe, in Europe). + +From hence directing my course to the seaside in pursuit of my first +design--viz., of viewing the whole coast of England--I left the great +road and went down the east side of the river towards New Forest and +Lymington; and here I saw the ancient house and seat of Clarendon, the +mansion of the ancient family of Hide, ancestors of the great Earl of +Clarendon, and from whence his lordship was honoured with that title, or +the house erected into an honour in favour of his family. + +But this being a large county, and full of memorable branches of +antiquity and modern curiosity, I cannot quit my observations so soon. +But being happily fixed, by the favour of a particular friend, at so +beautiful a spot of ground as this of Clarendon Park, I made several +little excursions from hence to view the northern parts of this county--a +county so fruitful of wonders that, though I do not make antiquity my +chief search, yet I must not pass it over entirely, where so much of it, +and so well worth observation, is to be found, which would look as if I +either understood not the value of the study, or expected my readers +should be satisfied with a total omission of it. + +I have mentioned that this county is generally a vast continued body of +high chalky hills, whose tops spread themselves into fruitful and +pleasant downs and plains, upon which great flocks of sheep are fed, &c. +But the reader is desired to observe these hills and plains are most +beautifully intersected and cut through by the course of divers pleasant +and profitable rivers; in the course and near the banks of which there +always is a chain of fruitful meadows and rich pastures, and those +interspersed with innumerable pleasant towns, villages, and houses, and +among them many of considerable magnitude. So that, while you view the +downs, and think the country wild and uninhabited, yet when you come to +descend into these vales you are surprised with the most pleasant and +fertile country in England. + +There are no less than four of these rivers, which meet all together at +or near the city of Salisbury; especially the waters of three of them run +through the streets of the city--the Nadder and the Willy and the +Avon--and the course of these three lead us through the whole mountainous +part of the county. The two first join their waters at Wilton, the +shiretown, though a place of no great notice now; and these are the +waters which run through the canal and the gardens of Wilton House, the +seat of that ornament of nobility and learning, the Earl of Pembroke. + +One cannot be said to have seen anything that a man of curiosity would +think worth seeing in this county, and not have been at Wilton House; but +not the beautiful building, not the ancient trophy of a great family, not +the noble situation, not all the pleasures of the gardens, parks, +fountains, hare-warren, or of whatever is rare either in art or nature, +are equal to that yet more glorious sight of a noble princely palace +constantly filled with its noble and proper inhabitants. The lord and +proprietor, who is indeed a true patriarchal monarch, reigns here with an +authority agreeable to all his subjects (family); and his reign is made +agreeable, by his first practising the most exquisite government of +himself, and then guiding all under him by the rules of honour and +virtue, being also himself perfectly master of all the needful arts of +family government--I mean, needful to make that government both easy and +pleasant to those who are under it, and who therefore willingly, and by +choice, conform to it. + +Here an exalted genius is the instructor, a glorious example the guide, +and a gentle well-directed hand the governor and law-giver to the whole; +and the family, like a well-governed city, appears happy, flourishing, +and regular, groaning under no grievance, pleased with what they enjoy, +and enjoying everything which they ought to be pleased with. + +Nor is the blessing of this noble resident extended to the family only, +but even to all the country round, who in their degree feel the effects +of the general beneficence, and where the neighbourhood (however poor) +receive all the good they can expect, and are sure to have no injury or +oppression. + +The canal before the house lies parallel with the road, and receives into +it the whole river Willy, or at least is able to do so; it may, indeed, +be said that the river is made into a canal. When we come into the +courtyards before the house there are several pieces of antiquity to +entertain the curious, as particularly a noble column of porphyry, with a +marble statue of Venus on the top of it. In Italy, and especially at +Rome and Naples, we see a great variety of fine columns, and some of them +of excellent workmanship and antiquity; and at some of the courts of the +princes of Italy the like is seen, as especially at the court of +Florence; but in England I do not remember to have seen anything like +this, which, as they told me, is two-and-thirty feet high, and of +excellent workmanship, and that it came last from Candia, but formerly +from Alexandria. What may belong to the history of it any further, I +suppose is not known--at least, they could tell me no more of it who +showed it me. + +On the left of the court was formerly a large grotto and curious water- +works; and in a house, or shed, or part of the building, which opened +with two folding-doors, like a coach-house, a large equestrian statue of +one of the ancestors of the family in complete armour, as also another of +a Roman Emperor in brass. But the last time I had the curiosity to see +this house, I missed that part; so that I supposed they were removed. + +As the present Earl of Pembroke, the lord of this fine palace, is a +nobleman of great personal merit many other ways, so he is a man of +learning and reading beyond most men of his lordship's high rank in this +nation, if not in the world; and as his reading has made him a master of +antiquity, and judge of such pieces of antiquity as he has had +opportunity to meet with in his own travels and otherwise in the world, +so it has given him a love of the study, and made him a collector of +valuable things, as well in painting as in sculpture, and other +excellences of art, as also of nature; insomuch that Wilton House is now +a mere museum or a chamber of rarities, and we meet with several things +there which are to be found nowhere else in the world. + +As his lordship is a great collector of fine paintings, so I know no +nobleman's house in England so prepared, as if built on purpose, to +receive them; the largest and the finest pieces that can be imagined +extant in the world might have found a place here capable to receive +them. I say, they "might have found," as if they could not now, which is +in part true; for at present the whole house is so completely filled that +I see no room for any new piece to crowd in without displacing some other +fine piece that hung there before. As for the value of the piece that +might so offer to succeed the displaced, that the great judge of the +whole collection, the earl himself, must determine; and as his judgment +is perfectly good, the best picture would be sure to possess the place. +In a word, here is without doubt the best, if not the greatest, +collection of rarities and paintings that are to be seen together in any +one nobleman's or gentleman's house in England. The piece of our Saviour +washing His disciples' feet, which they show you in one of the first +rooms you go into, must be spoken of by everybody that has any knowledge +of painting, and is an admirable piece indeed. + +You ascend the great staircase at the upper end of the hall, which is +very large; at the foot of the staircase you have a Bacchus as large as +life, done in fine Peloponnesian marble, carrying a young Bacchus on his +arm, the young one eating grapes, and letting you see by his countenance +that he is pleased with the taste of them. Nothing can be done finer, or +more lively represent the thing intended--namely, the gust of the +appetite, which if it be not a passion, it is an affection which is as +much seen in the countenance, perhaps more than any other. One ought to +stop every two steps of this staircase, as we go up, to contemplate the +vast variety of pictures that cover the walls, and of some of the best +masters in Europe; and yet this is but an introduction to what is beyond +them. + +When you are entered the apartments, such variety seizes you every way +that you scarce know to which hand to turn yourself. First on one side +you see several rooms filled with paintings as before, all so curious, +and the variety such, that it is with reluctance that you can turn from +them; while looking another way you are called off by a vast collection +of busts and pieces of the greatest antiquity of the kind, both Greek and +Romans; among these there is one of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in +basso-relievo. I never saw anything like what appears here, except in +the chamber of rarities at Munich in Bavaria. + +Passing these, you come into several large rooms, as if contrived for the +reception of the beautiful guests that take them up; one of these is near +seventy feet long, and the ceiling twenty-six feet high, with another +adjoining of the same height and breadth, but not so long. Those +together might be called the Great Gallery of Wilton, and might vie for +paintings with the Gallery of Luxembourg, in the Faubourg of Paris. + +These two rooms are filled with the family pieces of the house of +Herbert, most of them by Lilly or Vandyke; and one in particular outdoes +all that I ever met with, either at home or abroad; it is done, as was +the mode of painting at that time, after the manner of a family piece of +King Charles I., with his queen and children, which before the burning of +Whitehall I remember to hang at the east end of the Long Gallery in the +palace. + +This piece fills the farther end of the great room which I just now +mentioned; it contains the Earl of Montgomery, ancestor of the house of +Herbert (not then Earls of Pembroke) and his lady, sitting, and as big as +life; there are about them their own five sons and one daughter, and +their daughter-in-law, who was daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, +married to the elder Lord Herbert, their eldest son. It is enough to say +of this piece, it is worth the labour of any lover of art to go five +hundred miles to see it; and I am informed several gentlemen of quality +have come from France almost on purpose. It would be endless to describe +the whole set of the family pictures which take up this room, unless we +would enter into the roof-tree of the family, and set down a genealogical +line of the whole house. + +After we have seen this fine range of beauties--for such, indeed, they +are--far from being at an end of your surprise, you have three or four +rooms still upon the same floor, filled with wonders as before. Nothing +can be finer than the pictures themselves, nothing more surprising than +the number of them. At length you descend the back stairs, which are in +themselves large, though not like the other. However, not a +hand's-breadth is left to crowd a picture in of the smallest size; and +even the upper rooms, which might be called garrets, are not naked, but +have some very good pieces in them. + +Upon the whole, the genius of the noble collector may be seen in this +glorious collection, than which, take them together, there is not a finer +in any private hand in Europe, and in no hand at all in Britain, private +or public. + +The gardens are on the south of the house, and extend themselves beyond +the river, a branch of which runs through one part of them, and still +south of the gardens in the great park, which, extending beyond the vale, +mounts the hill opening at the last to the great down, which is properly +called, by way of distinction, Salisbury Plain, and leads from the city +of Salisbury to Shaftesbury. Here also his lordship has a hare-warren, +as it is called, though improperly. It has, indeed, been a sanctuary for +the hares for many years; but the gentlemen complain that it mars their +game, for that as soon as they put up a hare for their sport, if it be +anywhere within two or three miles, away she runs for the warren, and +there is an end of their pursuit; on the other hand, it makes all the +countrymen turn poachers, and destroy the hares by what means they can. +But this is a smaller matter, and of no great import one way or other. + +From this pleasant and agreeable day's work I returned to Clarendon, and +the next day took another short tour to the hills to see that celebrated +piece of antiquity, the wonderful Stonehenge, being six miles from +Salisbury, north, and upon the side of the River Avon, near the town of +Amesbury. It is needless that I should enter here into any part of the +dispute about which our learned antiquaries have so puzzled themselves +that several books (and one of them in folio) have been published about +it; some alleging it to be a heathen or pagan temple and altar, or place +of sacrifice, as Mr. Jones; others a monument or trophy of victory; +others a monument for the dead, as Mr. Aubrey, and the like. Again, some +will have it be British, some Danish, some Saxon, some Roman, and some, +before them all, Phoenician. + +I shall suppose it, as the majority of all writers do, to be a monument +for the dead, and the rather because men's bones have been frequently dug +up in the ground near them. The common opinion that no man could ever +count them, that a baker carried a basket of bread and laid a loaf upon +every stone, and yet never could make out the same number twice, this I +take as a mere country fiction, and a ridiculous one too. The reason why +they cannot easily be told is that many of them lie half or part buried +in the ground; and a piece here and a piece there only appearing above +the grass, it cannot be known easily which belong to one stone and which +to another, or which are separate stones, and which are joined +underground to one another; otherwise, as to those which appear, they are +easy to be told, and I have seen them told four times after one another, +beginning every time at a different place, and every time they amounted +to seventy-two in all; but then this was counting every piece of a stone +of bulk which appeared above the surface of the earth, and was not +evidently part of and adjoining to another, to be a distinct and separate +body or stone by itself. + +The form of this monument is not only described but delineated in most +authors, and, indeed, it is hard to know the first but by the last. The +figure was at first circular, and there were at least four rows or +circles within one another. The main stones were placed upright, and +they were joined on the top by cross-stones, laid from one to another, +and fastened with vast mortises and tenons. Length of time has so +decayed them that not only most of the cross-stones which lay on the top +are fallen down, but many of the upright also, notwithstanding the weight +of them is so prodigious great. How they came thither, or from whence +(no stones of that kind being now to be found in that part of England +near it) is still the mystery, for they are of such immense bulk that no +engines or carriages which we have in use in this age could stir them. + +Doubtless they had some method in former days in foreign countries, as +well as here, to move heavier weights than we find practicable now. How +else did Solomon's workmen build the battlement or additional wall to +support the precipice of Mount Moriah, on which the Temple was built, +which was all built of stones of Parian marble, each stone being forty +cubits long and fourteen cubits broad, and eight cubits high or thick, +which, reckoning each cubit at two feet and a half of our measure (as the +learned agree to do), was one hundred feet long, thirty-five feet broad, +and twenty feet thick? + +These stones at Stonehenge, as Mr. Camden describes them, and in which +others agree, were very large, though not so large--the upright stones +twenty-four feet high, seven feet broad, sixteen feet round, and weigh +twelve tons each; and the cross-stones on the top, which he calls +coronets, were six or seven tons. But this does not seem equal; for if +the cross-stones weighed six or seven tons, the others, as they appear +now, were at least five or six times as big, and must weigh in +proportion; and therefore I must think their judgment much nearer the +case who judge the upright stones at sixteen tons or thereabouts +(supposing them to stand a great way into the earth, as it is not doubted +but they do), and the coronets or cross-stones at about two tons, which +is very large too, and as much as their bulk can be thought to allow. + +Upon the whole, we must take them as our ancestors have done--namely, for +an erection or building so ancient that no history has handed down to us +the original. As we find it, then, uncertain, we must leave it so. It +is indeed a reverend piece of antiquity, and it is a great loss that the +true history of it is not known. But since it is not, I think the making +so many conjectures at the reality, when they know lots can but guess at +it, and, above all, the insisting so long and warmly on their private +opinions, is but amusing themselves and us with a doubt, which perhaps +lies the deeper for their search into it. + +The downs and plains in this part of England being so open, and the +surface so little subject to alteration, there are more remains of +antiquity to be seen upon them than in other places. For example, I +think they tell us there are three-and-fifty ancient encampments or +fortifications to be seen in this one county--some whereof are exceeding +plain to be seen; some of one form, some of another; some of one nation, +some of another--British, Danish, Saxon, Roman--as at Ebb Down, Burywood, +Oldburgh Hill, Cummerford, Roundway Down, St. Ann's Hill, Bratton Castle, +Clay Hill, Stournton Park, Whitecole Hill, Battlebury, Scrathbury, +Tanesbury, Frippsbury, Southbury Hill, Amesbury, Great Bodwin, Easterley, +Merdon, Aubery, Martenscil Hill, Barbury Castle, and many more. + +Also the barrows, as we all agree to call them, are very many in number +in this county, and very obvious, having suffered very little decay. +These are large hillocks of earth cast up, as the ancients agree, by the +soldiers over the bodies of their dead comrades slain in battle; several +hundreds of these are to be seen, especially in the north part of this +county, about Marlborough and the downs, from thence to St. Ann's Hill, +and even every way the downs are full of them. + +I have done with matters of antiquity for this county, unless you will +admit me to mention the famous Parliament in the reign of Henry II. held +at Clarendon, where I am now writing, and another intended to be held +there in Richard II.'s time, but prevented by the barons, being then up +in arms against the king. + +Near this place, at Farlo, was the birthplace of the late Sir Stephen +Fox, and where the town, sharing in his good fortune, shows several marks +of his bounty, as particularly the building a new church from the +foundation, and getting an Act of Parliament passed for making it +parochial, it being but a chapel-of-ease before to an adjoining parish. +Also Sir Stephen built and endowed an almshouse here for six poor women, +with a master and a free school. The master is to be a clergyman, and to +officiate in the church--that is to say, is to have the living, which, +including the school, is very sufficient. + +I am now to pursue my first design, and shall take the west part of +Wiltshire in my return, where are several things still to be taken notice +of, and some very well worth our stay. In the meantime I went on to +Langborough, a fine seat of my Lord Colerain, which is very well kept, +though the family, it seems, is not much in this country, having another +estate and dwelling at Tottenham High Cross, near London. + +From hence in my way to the seaside I came to New Forest, of which I have +said something already with relation to the great extent of ground which +lies waste, and in which there is so great a quantity of large timber, as +I have spoken of already. + +This waste and wild part of the country was, as some record, laid open +and waste for a forest and for game by that violent tyrant William the +Conqueror, and for which purpose he unpeopled the country, pulled down +the houses, and, which was worse, the churches of several parishes or +towns, and of abundance of villages, turning the poor people out of their +habitations and possessions, and laying all open for his deer. The same +histories likewise record that two of his own blood and posterity, and +particularly his immediate successor William Rufus, lost their lives in +this forest--one, viz., the said William Rufus, being shot with an arrow +directed at a deer which the king and his company were hunting, and the +arrow, glancing on a tree, changed his course, and struck the king full +on the breast and killed him. This they relate as a just judgment of God +on the cruel devastation made here by the Conqueror. Be it so or not, +as Heaven pleases; but that the king was so killed is certain, and they +show the tree on which the arrow glanced to this day. In King Charles +II.'s time it was ordered to be surrounded with a pale; but as great part +of the paling is down with age, whether the tree be really so old or not +is to me a great question, the action being near seven hundred years ago. + +I cannot omit to mention here a proposal made a few years ago to the late +Lord Treasurer Godolphin for re-peopling this forest, which for some +reasons I can be more particular in than any man now left alive, because +I had the honour to draw up the scheme and argue it before that noble +lord and some others who were principally concerned at that time in +bringing over--or, rather, providing for when they were come over--the +poor inhabitants of the Palatinate, a thing in itself commendable, but, +as it was managed, made scandalous to England and miserable to those poor +people. + +Some persons being ordered by that noble lord above mentioned to consider +of measures how the said poor people should be provided for, and whether +they could be provided for or no without injury to the public, the answer +was grounded upon this maxim--that the number of inhabitants is the +wealth and strength of a kingdom, provided those inhabitants were such as +by honest industry applied themselves to live by their labour, to +whatsoever trades or employments they were brought up. In the next +place, it was inquired what employments those poor people were brought up +to. It was answered there were husbandmen and artificers of all sorts, +upon which the proposal was as follows. New Forest, in Hampshire, was +singled out to be the place:-- + +Here it was proposed to draw a great square line containing four thousand +acres of land, marking out two large highways or roads through the +centre, crossing both ways, so that there should be a thousand acres in +each division, exclusive of the land contained in the said cross-roads. + +Then it was proposed to send out twenty men and their families, who +should be recommended as honest industrious men, expert in, or at least +capable of being instructed in husbandry, curing and cultivating of land, +breeding and feeding cattle, and the like. To each of these should be +parcelled out, in equal distributions, two hundred acres of this land, so +that the whole four thousand acres should be fully distributed to the +said twenty families, for which they should have no rent to pay, and be +liable to no taxes but such as provided for their own sick or poor, +repairing their own roads, and the like. This exemption from rent and +taxes to continue for twenty years, and then to pay each 50 pounds a year +to the queen--that is to say, to the Crown. + +To each of these families, whom I would now call farmers, it was proposed +to advance 200 pounds in ready money as a stock to set them to work; to +furnish them with cattle, horses, cows, hogs, &c.; and to hire and pay +labourers to inclose, clear, and cure the land, which it would be +supposed the first year would not be so much to their advantage as +afterwards, allowing them timber out of the forest to build themselves +houses and barns, sheds and offices, as they should have occasion; also +for carts, waggons, ploughs, harrows, and the like necessary things: care +to be taken that the men and their families went to work forthwith +according to the design. + +Thus twenty families would be immediately supplied and provided for, for +there would be no doubt but these families, with so much land given them +gratis, and so much money to work with, would live very well; but what +would this do for the support of the rest, who were supposed to be, to +every twenty farmers, forty or fifty families of other people (some of +one trade, some of another), with women and children? To this it was +answered that these twenty farmers would, by the consequence of their own +settlements, provide for and employ such a proportion of others of their +own people that, by thus providing for twenty families in a place, the +whole number of Palatinates would have been provided for, had they been +twenty thousand more in number than they were, and that without being any +burden upon or injury to the people of England; on the contrary, they +would have been an advantage and an addition of wealth and strength to +the nation, and to the country in particular where they should be thus +seated. For example:-- + +As soon as the land was marked out, the farmers put in possession of it, +and the money given them, they should be obliged to go to work, in order +to their settlement. Suppose it, then, to be in the spring of the year, +when such work was most proper. First, all hands would be required to +fence and part off the land, and clear it of the timber or bushes, or +whatever else was upon it which required to be removed. The first thing, +therefore, which the farmer would do would be to single out from the rest +of their number every one three servants--that is to say, two men and a +maid; less could not answer the preparations they would be obliged to +make, and yet work hard themselves also. By the help of these they +would, with good management, soon get so much of their land cured, fenced- +off, ploughed, and sowed as should yield them a sufficiency of corn and +kitchen stuff the very first year, both for horse-meat, hog-meat, food +for the family, and some to carry to market, too, by which to bring in +money to go farther on, as above. + +At the first entrance they were to have the tents allowed them to live +in, which they then had from the Tower; but as soon as leisure and +conveniences admitted, every farmer was obliged to begin to build him a +farm-house, which he would do gradually, some and some, as he could spare +time from his other works, and money from his little stock. + +In order to furnish himself with carts, waggons, ploughs, harrows, wheel- +barrows, hurdles, and all such necessary utensils of husbandry, there +would be an absolute necessity of wheelwrights or cartwrights, one at +least to each division. + +Thus, by the way, there would be employed three servants to each farmer, +that makes sixty persons. + +Four families of wheelwrights, one to each division--which, suppose five +in a family, makes twenty persons. Suppose four head-carpenters, with +each three men; and as at first all would be building together, they +would to every house building have at least one labourer. Four families +of carpenters, five to each family, and three servants, is thirty-two +persons; one labourer to each house building is twenty persons more. + +Thus here would be necessarily brought together in the very first of the +work one hundred and thirty-two persons, besides the head-farmers, who at +five also to each family are one hundred more; in all, two hundred and +thirty-two. + +For the necessary supply of these with provisions, clothes, household +stuff, &c. (for all should be done among themselves), first, they must +have at least four butchers with their families (twenty persons), four +shoemakers with their families and each shoemaker two journeymen (for +every trade would increase the number of customers to every trade). This +is twenty-eight persons more. + +They would then require a hatmaker, a glover, at least two ropemakers, +four tailors, three weavers of woollen and three weavers of linen, two +basket-makers, two common brewers, ten or twelve shop-keepers to furnish +chandlery and grocery wares, and as many for drapery and mercery, over +and above what they could work. This makes two-and-forty families more, +each at five in a family, which, is two hundred and ten persons; all the +labouring part of these must have at least two servants (the brewers +more), which I cast up at forty more. + +Add to these two ministers, one clerk, one sexton or grave-digger, with +their families, two physicians, three apothecaries, two surgeons (less +there could not be, only that for the beginning it might be said the +physicians should be surgeons, and I take them so); this is forty-five +persons, besides servants; so that, in short--to omit many tradesmen more +who would be wanted among them--there would necessarily and voluntarily +follow to these twenty families of farmers at least six hundred more of +their own people. + +It is no difficult thing to show that the ready money of 4,000 pounds +which the Government was to advance to those twenty farmers would employ +and pay, and consequently subsist, all these numerous dependants in the +works which must severally be done for them for the first year, after +which the farmers would begin to receive their own money back again; for +all these tradesmen must come to their own market to buy corn, flesh, +milk, butter, cheese, bacon, &c., which after the first year the farmers, +having no rent to pay, would have to spare sufficiently, and so take back +their own money with advantage. I need not go on to mention how, by +consequence provisions increasing and money circulating, this town should +increase in a very little time. + +It was proposed also that for the encouragement of all the handicraftsmen +and labouring poor who, either as servants or as labourers for day-work, +assisted the farmers or other tradesmen, they should have every man three +acres of ground given them, with leave to build cottages upon the same, +the allotments to be upon the waste at the end of the cross-roads where +they entered the town. + +In the centre of the square was laid out a circle of twelve acres of +ground, to be cast into streets for inhabitants to build on as their +ability would permit--all that would build to have ground gratis for +twenty years, timber out of the forest, and convenient yards, gardens, +and orchards allotted to every house. + +In the great streets near where they cross each other was to be built a +handsome market-house, with a town-hall for parish or corporation +business, doing justice and the like; also shambles; and in a handsome +part of the ground mentioned to be laid out for streets, as near the +centre as might be, was to be ground laid out for the building a church, +which every man should either contribute to the building of in money, or +give every tenth day of his time to assist in labouring at the building. + +I have omitted many tradesmen who would be wanted here, and would find a +good livelihood among their country-folks only to get accidental work as +day-men or labourers (of which such a town would constantly employ many), +as also poor women for assistance in families (such as midwives, nurses, +&c.). + +Adjacent to the town was to be a certain quantity of common-land for the +benefit of the cottages, that the poor might have a few sheep or cows, as +their circumstances required; and this to be appointed at the several +ends of the town. + +There was a calculation made of what increase there would be, both of +wealth and people, in twenty years in this town; what a vast consumption +of provisions they would cause, more than the four thousand acres of land +given them would produce, by which consumption and increase so much +advantage would accrue to the public stock, and so many subjects be added +to the many thousands of Great Britain, who in the next age would be all +true-born Englishmen, and forget both the language and nation from whence +they came. And it was in order to this that two ministers were +appointed, one of which should officiate in English and the other in High +Dutch, and withal to have them obliged by a law to teach all their +children both to speak, read, and write the English language. + +Upon their increase they would also want barbers and glaziers, painters +also, and plumbers; a windmill or two, and the millers and their +families; a fulling-mill and a cloth-worker; as also a master clothier or +two for making a manufacture among them for their own wear, and for +employing the women and children; a dyer or two for dyeing their +manufactures; and, which above all is not to be omitted, four families at +least of smiths, with every one two servants--considering that, besides +all the family work which continually employs a smith, all the shoeing of +horses, all the ironwork of ploughs, carts, waggons, harrows, &c., must +be wrought by them. There was no allowance made for inns and ale-houses, +seeing it would be frequent that those who kept public-houses of any sort +would likewise have some other employment to carry on. + +This was the scheme for settling the Palatinates, by which means twenty +families of farmers, handsomely set up and supported, would lay a +foundation, as I have said, for six or seven hundred of the rest of their +people; and as the land in New Forest is undoubtedly good, and capable of +improvement by such cultivation, so other wastes in England are to be +found as fruitful as that; and twenty such villages might have been +erected, the poor strangers maintained, and the nation evidently be +bettered by it. As to the money to be advanced, which in the case of +twenty such settlements, at 1,000 pounds each, would be 80,000 pounds, +two things were answered to it:-- + +1. That the annual rent to be received for all those lands after twenty +years would abundantly pay the public for the first disburses on the +scheme above, that rent being then to amount to 40,000 pounds per annum. + +2. More money than would have done this was expended, or rather thrown +away, upon them here, to keep them in suspense, and afterwards starve +them; sending them a-begging all over the nation, and shipping them off +to perish in other countries. Where the mistake lay is none of my +business to inquire. + +I reserved this account for this place, because I passed in this journey +over the very spot where the design was laid out--namely, near Lyndhurst, +in the road from Rumsey to Lymington, whither I now directed my course. + +Lymington is a little but populous seaport standing opposite to the Isle +of Wight, in the narrow part of the strait which ships sometimes pass +through in fair weather, called the Needles; and right against an ancient +town of that island called Yarmouth, and which, in distinction from the +great town of Yarmouth in Norfolk, is called South Yarmouth. This town +of Lymington is chiefly noted for making fine salt, which is indeed +excellent good; and from whence all these south parts of England are +supplied, as well by water as by land carriage; and sometimes, though not +often, they send salt to London, when, contrary winds having kept the +Northern fleets back, the price at London has been very high; but this is +very seldom and uncertain. Lymington sends two members to Parliament, +and this and her salt trade is all I can say to her; for though she is +very well situated as to the convenience of shipping I do not find they +have any foreign commerce, except it be what we call smuggling and +roguing; which, I may say, is the reigning commerce of all this part of +the English coast, from the mouth of the Thames to the Land's End of +Cornwall. + +From hence there are but few towns on the sea-coast west, though there +are several considerable rivers empty themselves into the sea; nor are +there any harbours or seaports of any note except Poole. As for +Christchurch, though it stands at the mouth of the Avon (which, as I have +said, comes down from Salisbury, and brings with it all the waters of the +south and east parts of Wiltshire, and receives also the Stour and +Piddle, two Dorsetshire rivers which bring with them all the waters of +the north part of Dorsetshire), yet it is a very inconsiderable poor +place, scarce worth seeing, and less worth mentioning in this account, +only that it sends two members to Parliament, which many poor towns in +this part of England do, as well as that. + +From hence I stepped up into the country north-west, to see the ancient +town of Wimborne, or Wimborneminster; there I found nothing remarkable +but the church, which is indeed a very great one, ancient, and yet very +well built, with a very firm, strong, square tower, considerably high; +but was, without doubt, much finer, when on the top of it stood a most +exquisite spire--finer and taller, if fame lies not, than that at +Salisbury, and by its situation in a plainer, flatter country visible, no +question, much farther; but this most beautiful ornament was blown down +by a sudden tempest of wind, as they tell us, in the year 1622. + +The church remains a venerable piece of antiquity, and has in it the +remains of a place once much more in request than it is now, for here are +the monuments of several noble families, and in particular of one king, +viz., King Etheldred, who was slain in battle by the Danes. He was a +prince famed for piety and religion, and, according to the zeal of these +times, was esteemed as a martyr, because, venturing his life against the +Danes, who were heathens, he died fighting for his religion and his +country. The inscription upon his grave is preserved, and has been +carefully repaired, so as to be easily read, and is as follows:-- + + "In hoc loco quiescit Corpus S. Etheldredi, Regis West Saxonum, + Martyris, qui Anno Dom. DCCCLXXII., xxiii Aprilis, per Manos Danorum + Paganorum Occubuit." + +In English thus:-- + + "Here rests the Body of Holy Etheldred, King of the West Saxons, and + Martyr, who fell by the Hands of the Pagan Danes in the Year of our + Lord 872, the 23rd of April." + +Here are also the monuments of the great Marchioness of Exeter, mother of +Edward Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, and last of the family of Courtneys +who enjoyed that honour; as also of John de Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, +and his wife, grandmother of King Henry VII., by her daughter Margaret, +Countess of Richmond. + +This last lady I mention because she was foundress of a very fine free +school, which has since been enlarged and had a new benefactress in Queen +Elizabeth, who has enlarged the stipend and annexed it to the foundation. +The famous Cardinal Pole was Dean of this church before his exaltation. + +Having said this of the church, I have said all that is worth naming of +the town; except that the inhabitants, who are many and poor, are chiefly +maintained by the manufacture of knitting stockings, which employs great +part indeed of the county of Dorset, of which this is the first town +eastward. + +South of this town, over a sandy, wild, and barren country, we came to +Poole, a considerable seaport, and indeed the most considerable in all +this part of England; for here I found some ships, some merchants, and +some trade; especially, here were a good number of ships fitted out every +year to the Newfoundland fishing, in which the Poole men were said to +have been particularly successful for many years past. + +The town sits in the bottom of a great bay or inlet of the sea, which, +entering at one narrow mouth, opens to a very great breadth within the +entrance, and comes up to the very shore of this town; it runs also west +up almost to the town of Wareham, a little below which it receives the +rivers Frome and Piddle, the two principal rivers of the county. + +This place is famous for the best and biggest oysters in all this part of +England, which the people of Poole pretend to be famous for pickling; and +they are barrelled up here, and sent not only to London, but to the West +Indies, and to Spain and Italy, and other parts. It is observed more +pearls are found in the Poole oysters, and larger, than in any other +oysters about England. + +As the entrance into this large bay is narrow, so it is made narrower by +an island, called Branksey, which, lying the very mouth of the passage, +divides it into two, and where there is an old castle, called Branksey +Castle, built to defend the entrance, and this strength was very great +advantage to the trade of this port in the time of the late war with +France. + +Wareham is a neat town and full of people, having a share of trade with +Poole itself; it shows the ruins of a large town, and, it is apparent, +has had eight churches, of which they have three remaining. + +South of Wareham, and between the bay I have mentioned and the sea, lies +a large tract of land which, being surrounded by the sea except on one +side, is called an island, though it is really what should be called a +peninsula. This tract of land is better inhabited than the sea-coast of +this west end of Dorsetshire generally is, and the manufacture of +stockings is carried on there also; it is called the Isle of Purbeck, and +has in the middle of it a large market-town, called Corfe, and from the +famous castle there the whole town is now called Corfe Castle; it is a +corporation, sending members to Parliament. + +This part of the country is eminent for vast quarries of stone, which is +cut out flat, and used in London in great quantities for paving +courtyards, alleys, avenues to houses, kitchens, footways on the sides of +the High Streets, and the like; and is very profitable to the place, as +also in the number of shipping employed in bringing it to London. There +are also several rocks of very good marble, only that the veins in the +stone are not black and white, as the Italian, but grey, red, and other +colours. + +From hence to Weymouth, which is 22 miles, we rode in view of the sea; +the country is open, and in some respects pleasant, but not like the +northern parts of the county, which are all fine carpet-ground, soft as +velvet, and the herbage sweet as garden herbs, which makes their sheep be +the best in England, if not in the world, and their wool fine to an +extreme. + +I cannot omit here a small adventure which was very surprising to me on +this journey; passing this plain country, we came to an open piece of +ground where a neighbouring gentleman had at a great expense laid out a +proper piece of land for a decoy, or duck-coy, as some call it. The +works were but newly done, the planting young, the ponds very large and +well made; but the proper places for shelter of the fowl not covered, the +trees not being grown, and men were still at work improving and enlarging +and planting on the adjoining heath or common. Near the decoy-keeper's +house were some places where young decoy ducks were hatched, or otherwise +kept to fit them for their work. To preserve them from vermin (polecats, +kites, and such like), they had set traps, as is usual in such cases, and +a gibbet by it, where abundance of such creatures as were taken were +hanged up for show. + +While the decoy-man was busy showing the new works, he was alarmed with a +great cry about this house for "Help! help!" and away he ran like the +wind, guessing, as we supposed, that something was catched in the trap. + +It was a good big boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, that cried +out, for coming to the place he found a great fowl caught by the leg in +the trap, which yet was so strong and so outrageous that the boy going +too near him, he flew at him and frighted him, bit him, and beat him with +his wings, for he was too strong for the boy; as the master ran from the +decoy, so another manservant ran from the house, and finding a strange +creature fast in the trap, not knowing what it was, laid at him with a +great stick. The creature fought him a good while, but at length he +struck him an unlucky blow which quieted him; after this we all came up +to see what the matter, and found a monstrous eagle caught by the leg in +the trap, and killed by the fellow's cudgel, as above. + +When the master came to know what it was, and that his man had killed it, +he was ready to kill the fellow for his pains, for it was a noble +creature indeed, and would have been worth a great deal to the man to +have it shown about the country, or to have sold to any gentleman curious +in such things; but the eagle was dead, and there we left it. It is +probable this eagle had flown over the sea from France, either there or +at the Isle of Wight, where the channel is not so wide; for we do not +find that any eagles are known to breed in those parts of Britain. + +From hence we turned up to Dorchester, the county town, though not the +largest town in the county. Dorchester is indeed a pleasant agreeable +town to live in, and where I thought the people seemed less divided into +factions and parties than in other places; for though here are divisions, +and the people are not all of one mind, either as to religion or +politics, yet they did not seem to separate with so much animosity as in +other places. Here I saw the Church of England clergyman, and the +Dissenting minister or preacher drinking tea together, and conversing +with civility and good neighbourhood, like Catholic Christians and men of +a Catholic and extensive charity. The town is populous, though not +large; the streets broad, but the buildings old and low. However, there +is good company, and a good deal of it; and a man that coveted a retreat +in this world might as agreeably spend his time and as well in Dorchester +as in any town I know in England. + +The downs round this town are exceeding pleasant, and come up on, every +side, even to the very streets' end; and here it was that they told me +that there were six hundred thousand sheep fed on the downs within six +miles of the town--that is, six miles every way, which is twelve miles in +diameter, and thirty-six miles in circumference. This, I say, I was +told--I do not affirm it to be true; but when I viewed the country round, +I confess I could not but incline to believe it. + +It is observable of these sheep that they are exceeding fruitful, the +ewes generally bringing two lambs, and they are for that reason bought by +all the farmers through the east part of England, who come to Burford +Fair in this country to buy them, and carry them into Kent and Surrey +eastward, and into Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire +north; even our Banstead Downs in Surrey, so famed for good mutton, is +supplied from this place. The grass or herbage of these downs is full of +the sweetest and the most aromatic plants, such as nourish the sheep to a +strange degree; and the sheep's dung, again, nourishes that herbage to a +strange degree; so that the valleys are rendered extremely fruitful by +the washing of the water in hasty showers from off these hills. + +An eminent instance of this is seen at Amesbury, in Wiltshire, the next +county to this; for it is the same thing in proportion over this whole +county. I was told that at this town there was a meadow on the bank of +the River Avon, which runs thence to Salisbury, which was let for 12 +pounds a year per acre for the grass only. This I inquired particularly +after at the place, and was assured by the inhabitants, as one man, that +the fact was true, and was showed the meadows. The grass which grew on +them was such as grew to the length of ten or twelve feet, rising up to a +good height and then taking root again, and was of so rich a nature as to +answer very well such an extravagant rent. + +The reason they gave for this was the extraordinary richness of the soil, +made so, as above, by the falling or washing of the rains from the hills +adjacent, by which, though no other land thereabouts had such a kind of +grass, yet all other meadows and low grounds of the valley were extremely +rich in proportion. + +There are abundance of good families, and of very ancient lines in the +neighbourhood of this town of Dorchester, as the Napiers, the Courtneys, +Strangeways, Seymours, Banks, Tregonells, Sydenhams, and many others, +some of which have very great estates in the county, and in particular +Colonel Strangeways, Napier, and Courtney. The first of these is master +of the famous swannery or nursery of swans, the like of which, I believe, +is not in Europe. I wonder any man should pretend to travel over this +country, and pass by it, too, and then write his account and take no +notice of it. + +From Dorchester it is six miles to the seaside south, and the ocean in +view almost all the way. The first town you come to is Weymouth, or +Weymouth and Melcombe, two towns lying at the mouth of a little rivulet +which they call the Wey, but scarce claims the name of a river. However, +the entrance makes a very good though small harbour, and they are joined +by a wooden bridge; so that nothing but the harbour parts them; yet they +are separate corporations, and choose each of them two members of +Parliament, just as London and Southwark. + +Weymouth is a sweet, clean, agreeable town, considering its low +situation, and close to the sea; it is well built, and has a great many +good substantial merchants in it who drive a considerable trade, and have +a good number of ships belonging to the town. They carry on now, in time +of peace, a trade with France; but, besides this, they trade also to +Portugal, Spain, Newfoundland, and Virginia; and they have a large +correspondence also up in the country for the consumption of their +returns; especially the wine trade and the Newfoundland trade are +considerable here. + +Without the harbour is an old castle, called Sandfoot Castle; and over +against them, where there is a good road for ships to put in on occasions +of bad weather, is Portland Castle, and the road is called Portland Road. +While I was here once, there came a merchant-ship into that road called +Portland Road under a very hard storm of wind; she was homeward bound +from Oporto for London, laden with wines; and as she came in she made +signals of distress to the town, firing guns for help, and the like, as +is usual in such cases; it was in the dark of the night that the ship +came in, and, by the help of her own pilot, found her way into the road, +where she came to an anchor, but, as I say, fired guns for help. + +The venturous Weymouth men went off, even before it was light, with two +boats to see who she was, and what condition she was in; and found she +was come to an anchor, and had struck her topmasts; but that she had been +in bad weather, had lost an anchor and cable before, and had but one +cable to trust to, which did hold her, but was weak; and as the storm +continued to blow, they expected every hour to go on shore and split to +pieces. + +Upon this the Weymouth boats came back with such diligence that in less +than three hours they were on board them again with an anchor and cable, +which they immediately bent in its place, and let go to assist the other, +and thereby secured the ship. It is true that they took a good price of +the master for the help they gave him; for they made him draw a bill on +his owners at London for 12 pounds for the use of the anchor, cable, and +boat, besides some gratuities to the men. But they saved the ship and +cargo by it, and in three or four days the weather was calm, and he +proceeded on his voyage, returning the anchor and cable again; so that, +upon the whole, it was not so extravagant as at first I thought it to be. + +The Isle of Portland, on which the castle I mentioned stands, lies right +against this Port of Weymouth. Hence it is that our best and whitest +freestone comes, with which the Cathedral of St. Paul's, the Monument, +and all the public edifices in the City of London are chiefly built; and +it is wonderful, and well worth the observation of a traveller, to see +the quarries in the rocks from whence they are cut out, what stones, and +of what prodigious a size are cut out there. + +The island is indeed little more than one continued rock of freestone, +and the height of the land is such that from this island they see in +clear weather above half over the Channel to France, though the Channel +here is very broad. The sea off of this island, and especially to the +west of it, is counted the most dangerous part of the British Channel. +Due south, there is almost a continued disturbance in the waters, by +reason of what they call two tides meeting, which I take to be no more +than the sets of the currents from the French coast and from the English +shore meeting: this they call Portland Race; and several ships, not aware +of these currents, have been embayed to the west of Portland, and been +driven on shore on the beach (of which I shall speak presently), and +there lost. + +To prevent this danger, and guide the mariner in these distresses, they +have within these few months set up two lighthouses on the two points of +that island; and they had not been many months set up, with the +directions given to the public for their bearings, but we found three +outward-bound East India ships which were in distress in the night, in a +hard extreme gale of wind, were so directed by those lights that they +avoided going on shore by it, which, if the lights had not been there, +would inevitably happened to their destruction. + +This island, though seemingly miserable, and thinly inhabited, yet the +inhabitants being almost all stone-cutters, we found there were no very +poor people among them, and when they collected money for the re-building +St. Paul's, they got more in this island than in the great town of +Dorchester, as we were told. + +Though Portland stands a league off from the mainland of Britain, yet it +is almost joined by a prodigious riff of beach--that is to say, of small +stones cast up by the sea--which runs from the island so near the shore +of England that they ferry over with a boat and a rope, the water not +being above half a stone's-throw over; and the said riff of beach ending, +as it were, at that inlet of water, turns away west, and runs parallel +with the shore quite to Abbotsbury, which is a town about seven miles +beyond Weymouth. + +I name this for two reasons: first, to explain again what I said before +of ships being embayed and lost here. This is when ships coming from the +westward omit to keep a good offing, or are taken short by contrary +winds, and cannot weather the high land of Portland, but are driven +between Portland and the mainland. If they can come to an anchor, and +ride it out, well and good; and if not, they run on shore on that vast +beach and are lost without remedy. + +On the inside of this beach, and between it and the land, there is, as I +have said, an inlet of water which they ferry over, as above, to pass and +re-pass to and from Portland: this inlet opens at about two miles west, +and grows very broad, and makes a kind of lake within the land of a mile +and a half broad, and near three miles in length, the breadth unequal. At +the farthest end west of this water is a large duck-coy, and the verge of +the water well grown with wood, and proper groves of trees for cover for +the fowl: in the open lake, or broad part, is a continual assembly of +swans: here they live, feed, and breed, and the number of them is such +that, I believe, I did not see so few as 7,000 or 8,000. Here they are +protected, and here they breed in abundance. We saw several of them upon +the wing, very high in the air, whence we supposed that they flew over +the riff of beach, which parts the lake from the sea, to feed on the +shores as they thought fit, and so came home again at their leisure. + +From this duck-coy west, the lake narrows, and at last almost closes, +till the beach joins the shore; and so Portland may be said, not to be an +island, but part of the continent. And now we came to Abbotsbury, a town +anciently famous for a great monastery, and now eminent for nothing but +its ruins. + +From hence we went on to Bridport, a pretty large corporation town on the +sea-shore, though without a harbour. Here we saw boats all the way on +the shore, fishing for mackerel, which they take in the easiest manner +imaginable; for they fix one end of the net to a pole set deep into the +sand, then, the net being in a boat, they row right out into the water +some length, then turn and row parallel with the shore, veering out the +net all the while, till they have let go all the net, except the line at +the end, and then the boat rows on shore, when the men, hauling the net +to the shore at both ends, bring to shore with it such fish as they +surrounded in the little way they rowed. This, at that time, proved to +be an incredible number, insomuch that the men could hardly draw them on +shore. As soon as the boats had brought their fish on shore we observed +a guard or watch placed on the shore in several places, who, we found, +had their eye, not on the fishermen, but on the country people who came +down to the shore to buy their fish; and very sharp we found they were, +and some that came with small carts were obliged to go back empty without +any fish. When we came to inquire into the particulars of this, we found +that these were officers placed on the shore by the justices and +magistrates of the towns about, who were ordered to prevent the country +farmers buying the mackerel to dung their land with them, which was +thought to be dangerous as to infection. In short, such was the plenty +of fish that year that the mackerel, the finest and largest I ever saw, +were sold at the seaside a hundred for a penny. + +From Bridport (a town in which we see nothing remarkable) we came to +Lyme, the town particularly made famous by the landing of the Duke of +Monmouth and his unfortunate troops in the time of King James II., of +which I need say nothing, the history of it being so recent in the memory +of so many living. + +This is a town of good figure, and has in it several eminent merchants +who carry on a considerable trade to France, Spain, Newfoundland, and the +Straits; and though they have neither creek or bay, road or river, they +have a good harbour, but it is such a one as is not in all Britain +besides, if there is such a one in any part of the world. + +It is a massy pile of building, consisting of high and thick walls of +stone, raised at first with all the methods that skill and art could +devise, but maintained now with very little difficulty. The walls are +raised in the main sea at a good distance from the shore; it consists of +one main and solid wall of stone, large enough for carts and carriages to +pass on the top, and to admit houses and warehouses to be built on it, so +that it is broad as a street. Opposite to this, but farther into the +sea, is another wall of the same workmanship, which crosses the end of +the first wall and comes about with a tail parallel to the first wall. + +Between the point of the first or main wall is the entrance into the +port, and the second or opposite wall, breaking the violence of the sea +from the entrance, the ships go into the basin as into a pier or harbour, +and ride there as secure as in a millpond or as in a wet dock. + +The townspeople have the benefit of this wonderful harbour, and it is +carefully kept in repair, as indeed it behoves them to do; but they could +give me nothing of the history of it, nor do they, as I could perceive, +know anything of the original of it, or who built it. It was lately +almost beaten down by a storm, but is repaired again. + +This work is called the Cobb. The Custom House officers have a lodge and +warehouse upon it, and there were several ships of very good force and +rich in value in the basin of it when I was there. It might be +strengthened with a fort, and the walls themselves are firm enough to +carry what guns they please to plant upon it; but they did not seem to +think it needful, and as the shore is convenient for batteries, they have +some guns planted in proper places, both for the defence of the Cobb and +the town also. + +This town is under the government of a mayor and aldermen, and may pass +for a place of wealth, considering the bigness of it. Here, we found, +the merchants began to trade in the pilchard-fishing, though not to so +considerable a degree as they do farther west--the pilchards seldom +coming up so high eastward as Portland, and not very often so high as +Lyme. + +It was in sight of these hills that Queen Elizabeth's fleet, under the +command of the Lord Howard of Effingham (then Admiral), began first to +engage in a close and resolved fight with the invincible Spanish Armada +in 1588, maintaining the fight, the Spaniards making eastward till they +came the length of Portland Race, where they gave it over--the Spaniards +having received considerable damage, and keeping then closer together. +Off of the same place was a desperate engagement in the year 1672 between +the English and Dutch, in which the Dutch were worsted and driven over to +the coast of France, and then glad to make home to refit and repair. + +While we stayed here some time viewing this town and coast, we had +opportunity to observe the pleasant way of conversation as it is managed +among the gentlemen of this county and their families, which are, without +reflection, some of the most polite and well-bred people in the isle of +Britain. As their hospitality is very great, and their bounty to the +poor remarkable, so their generous friendly way of living with, visiting, +and associating one with another is as hard to be described as it is +really to be admired; they seem to have a mutual confidence in and +friendship with one another, as if they were all relations; nor did I +observe the sharping, tricking temper which is too much crept in among +the gaming and horse-racing gentry in some parts of England to be so much +known among them any otherwise than to be abhorred; and yet they +sometimes play, too, and make matches and horse-races, as they see +occasion. + +The ladies here do not want the help of assemblies to assist in +matchmaking, or half-pay officers to run away with their daughters, which +the meetings called assemblies in some other parts of England are +recommended for. Here is no Bury Fair, where the women are scandalously +said to carry themselves to market, and where every night they meet at +the play or at the assembly for intrigue; and yet I observed that the +women do not seem to stick on hand so much in this country as in those +countries where those assemblies are so lately set up--the reason of +which, I cannot help saying, if my opinion may bear any weight, is that +the Dorsetshire ladies are equal in beauty, and may be superior in +reputation. In a word, their reputation seems here to be better kept, +guarded by better conduct, and managed with more prudence; and yet the +Dorsetshire ladies, I assure you, are not nuns; they do not go veiled +about streets, or hide themselves when visited; but a general freedom of +conversation--agreeable, mannerly, kind, and good--runs through the whole +body of the gentry of both sexes, mixed with the best of behaviour, and +yet governed by prudence and modesty such as I nowhere see better in all +my observation through the whole isle of Britain. In this little +interval also I visited some of the biggest towns in the north-west part +of this county, as Blandford--a town on the River Stour in the road +between Salisbury and Dorchester--a handsome well-built town, but chiefly +famous for making the finest bone-lace in England, and where they showed +me some so exquisitely fine as I think I never saw better in Flanders, +France, or Italy, and which they said they rated at above 30 pounds +sterling a yard; but I suppose there was not much of this to be had. But +it is most certain that they make exceeding rich lace in that county, +such as no part of England can equal. + +From thence I went west to Stourbridge, vulgarly called Strabridge. The +town and the country around is employed in the manufacture of stockings, +and which was once famous for making the finest, best, and highest-prize +knit stocking in England; but that trade now is much decayed by the +increase of the knitting-stocking engine or frame, which has destroyed +the hand-knitting trade for fine stockings through the whole kingdom, of +which I shall speak more in its place. + +From hence I came to Sherborne, a large and populous town, with one +collegiate or conventual church, and may properly claim to have more +inhabitants in it than any town in Dorsetshire, though it is neither the +county-town, nor does it send members to Parliament. The church is still +a reverend pile, and shows the face of great antiquity. Here begins the +Wiltshire medley clothing (though this town be in Dorsetshire), of which +I shall speak at large in its place, and therefore I omit any discourse +of it here. + +Shaftesbury is also on the edge of this county, adjoining to Wiltshire +and Dorsetshire, being fourteen miles from Salisbury, over that fine down +or carpet ground which they call particularly or properly Salisbury +Plain. It has neither house nor town in view all the way; and the road, +which often lies very broad and branches off insensibly, might easily +cause a traveller to lose his way. But there is a certain never-failing +assistance upon all these downs for telling a stranger his way, and that +is the number of shepherds feeding or keeping their vast flocks of sheep +which are everywhere in the way, and who with a very little pains a +traveller may always speak with. Nothing can be like it. The Arcadians' +plains, of which we read so much pastoral trumpery in the poets, could be +nothing to them. + +This Shaftesbury is now a sorry town upon the top of a high hill, which +closes the plain or downs, and whence Nature presents you a new scene or +prospect--viz., of Somerset and Wiltshire--where it is all enclosed, and +grown with woods, forests, and planted hedge-rows; the country rich, +fertile, and populous; the towns and houses standing thick and being +large and full of inhabitants, and those inhabitants fully employed in +the richest and most valuable manufacture in the world--viz., the English +clothing, as well the medley or mixed clothing as whites, as well for the +home trade as the foreign trade, of which I shall take leave to be very +particular in my return through the west and north part of Wiltshire in +the latter part of this work. + +In my return to my western progress, I passed some little part of +Somersetshire, as through Evil or Yeovil, upon the River Ivil, in going +to which we go down a long steep hill, which they call Babylon Hill, but +from what original I could find none of the country people to inform me. + +This Yeovil is a market-town of good resort; and some clothing is carried +on in and near it, but not much. Its main manufacture at this time is +making of gloves. + +It cannot pass my observation here that when we are come this length from +London the dialect of the English tongue, or the country way of +expressing themselves, is not easily understood--it is so strangely +altered. It is true that it is so in many parts of England besides, but +in none in so gross a degree as in this part. This way of boorish +country speech, as in Ireland it is called the "brogue" upon the tongue, +so here it is called "jouring;" and it is certain that though the tongue +be all mere natural English, yet those that are but a little acquainted +with them cannot understand one-half of what they say. It is not +possible to explain this fully by writing, because the difference is not +so much in the orthography of words as in the tone and diction--their +abridging the speech, "cham" for "I am," "chil" for "I will," "don" for +"put on," and "doff" for "put off," and the like. And I cannot omit a +short story here on this subject. Coming to a relation's house, who was +a school-master at Martock, in Somersetshire, I went into his school to +beg the boys a play-day, as is usual in such cases (I should have said, +to beg the master a play-day. But that by the way). Coming into the +school, I observed one of the lowest scholars was reading his lesson to +the usher, which lesson, it seems, was a chapter in the Bible. So I sat +down by the master till the boy had read out his chapter. I observed the +boy read a little oddly in the tone of the country, which made me the +more attentive, because on inquiry I found that the words were the same +and the orthography the same as in all our Bibles. I observed also the +boy read it out with his eyes still on the book and his head (like a mere +boy) moving from side to side as the lines reached cross the columns of +the book. His lesson was in the Canticles, v. 3 of chap. v. The words +these:--"I have put off my coat. How shall I put it on? I have washed +my feet. How shall I defile them?" + +The boy read thus, with his eyes, as I say, full on the text:--"Chav a +doffed my cooat. How shall I don't? Chav a washed my veet. How shall I +moil 'em?" + +How the dexterous dunce could form his month to express so readily the +words (which stood right printed in the book) in his country jargon, I +could not but admire. I shall add to this another piece as diverting, +which also happened in my knowledge at this very town of Yeovil, though +some years ago. + +There lived a good substantial family in the town not far from the "Angel +Inn"--a well-known house, which was then, and, I suppose, is still, the +chief inn of the town. This family had a dog which, among his other good +qualities for which they kept him (for he was a rare house-dog), had this +bad one--that he was a most notorious thief, but withal so cunning a dog, +and managed himself so warily, that he preserved a mighty good reputation +among the neighbourhood. As the family was well beloved in the town, so +was the dog. He was known to be a very useful servant to them, +especially in the night (when he was fierce as a lion; but in the day the +gentlest, lovingest creature that could be), and, as they said, all the +neighbours had a good word for this dog. + +It happened that the good wife or mistress at the "Angel Inn" had +frequently missed several pieces of meat out of the pail, as they say--or +powdering-tub, as we call it--and that some were very large pieces. It +is also to be observed the dog did not stay to eat what he took upon the +spot, in which case some pieces or bones or fragments might be left, and +so it might be discovered to be a dog; but he made cleaner work, and when +he fastened upon a piece of meat he was sure to carry it quite away to +such retreats as he knew he could be safe in, and so feast upon it at +leisure. + +It happened at last, as with most thieves it does, that the inn-keeper +was too cunning for him, and the poor dog was nabbed, taken in the fact, +and could make no defence. + +Having found the thief and got him in custody, the master of the house, a +good-humoured fellow, and loth to disoblige the dog's master by executing +the criminal, as the dog law directs, mitigates his sentence, and handled +him as follows:--First, taking out his knife, he cut off both his ears; +and then, bringing him to the threshold, he chopped off his tail. And +having thus effectually dishonoured the poor cur among his neighbours, he +tied a string about his neck, and a piece of paper to the string, +directed to his master, and with these witty West Country verses on it:-- + + "To my honoured master, --- Esq. + "Hail master a cham a' com hoam, + So cut as an ape, and tail have I noan, + For stealing of beef and pork out of the pail, + For thease they'v cut my ears, for th' wother my tail; + Nea measter, and us tell thee more nor that + And's come there again, my brains will be flat." + +I could give many more accounts of the different dialects of the people +of this country, in some of which they are really not to be understood; +but the particulars have little or no diversion in them. They carry it +such a length that we see their "jouring" speech even upon their +monuments and grave-stones; as, for example, even in some of the +churchyards of the city of Bristol I saw this excellent poetry after some +other lines:-- + + "And when that thou doest hear of thick, + Think of the glass that runneth quick." + +But I proceed into Devonshire. From Yeovil we came to Crookorn, thence +to Chard, and from thence into the same road I was in before at Honiton. + +This is a large and beautiful market-town, very populous and well built, +and is so very remarkably paved with small pebbles that on either side +the way a little channel is left shouldered up on the sides of it, so +that it holds a small stream of fine clear running water, with a little +square dipping-place left at every door; so that every family in the town +has a clear, clean running river (as it may be called) just at their own +door, and this so much finer, so much pleasanter, and agreeable to look +on than that at Salisbury (which they boast so much of), that, in my +opinion, there is no comparison. + +Here we see the first of the great serge manufacture of Devonshire--a +trade too great to be described in miniature, as it must be if I +undertake it here, and which takes up this whole county, which is the +largest and most populous in England, Yorkshire excepted (which ought to +be esteemed three counties, and is, indeed, divided as such into the +East, West, and North Riding). But Devonshire, one entire county, is so +full of great towns, and those towns so full of people, and those people +so universally employed in trade and manufactures, that not only it +cannot be equalled in England, but perhaps not in Europe. + +In my travel through Dorsetshire I ought to have observed that the +biggest towns in that county sent no members to Parliament, and that the +smallest did--that is to say that Sherborne, Blandford, Wimborneminster, +Stourminster, and several other towns choose no members; whereas +Weymouth, Melcombe, and Bridport were all burgess towns. But now we come +to Devonshire we find almost all the great towns, and some smaller, +choosing members also. It is true there are some large populous towns +that do not choose, but then there are so many that do, that the county +seems to have no injustice, for they send up six-and-twenty members. + +However, as I say above, there are several great towns which do not +choose Parliament men, of which Bideford is one, Crediton or Kirton +another, Ilfracombe a third; but, those excepted, the principal towns in +the county do all choose members of Parliament. + +Honiton is one of those, and may pass not only for a pleasant good town, +as before, but stands in the best and pleasantest part of the whole +county, and I cannot but recommend it to any gentlemen that travel this +road, that if they please to observe the prospect for half a mile till +their coming down the hill and to the entrance into Honiton, the view of +the country is the most beautiful landscape in the world--a mere +picture--and I do not remember the like in any one place in England. It +is observable that the market of this town was kept originally on the +Sunday, till it was changed by the direction of King John. + +From Honiton the country is exceeding pleasant still, and on the road +they have a beautiful prospect almost all the way to Exeter (which is +twelve miles). On the left-hand of this road lies that part of the +county which they call the South Hams, and which is famous for the best +cider in that part of England; also the town of St.-Mary-Ottery, commonly +called St. Mary Autree. They tell us the name is derived from the River +Ottery, and that from the multitude of otters found always in that river, +which however, to me, seems fabulous. Nor does there appear to be any +such great number of otters in that water, or in the county about, more +than is usual in other counties or in other parts of the county about +them. They tell us they send twenty thousand hogsheads of cider hence +every year to London, and (which is still worse) that it is most of it +bought there by the merchants to mix with their wines--which, if true, is +not much to the reputation of the London vintners. But that by-the-bye. + +From hence we came to Exeter, a city famous for two things which we +seldom find unite in the same town--viz., that it is full of gentry and +good company, and yet full of trade and manufactures also. The serge +market held here every week is very well worth a stranger's seeing, and +next to the Brigg Market at Leeds, in Yorkshire, is the greatest in +England. The people assured me that at this market is generally sold +from sixty to seventy to eighty, and sometimes a hundred, thousand pounds +value in serges in a week. I think it is kept on Mondays. + +They have the River Esk here, a very considerable river, and principal in +the whole county; and within three miles, or thereabouts, it receives +ships of any ordinary burthen, the port there being called Topsham. But +now by the application, and at the expense, of the citizens the channel +of the river is so widened, deepened, and cleansed from the shoal, which +would otherwise interrupt the navigation, that the ships come now quite +up to the city, and there with ease both deliver and take in their +lading. + +This city drives a very great correspondence with Holland, as also +directly to Portugal, Spain, and Italy--shipping off vast quantities of +their woollen manufactures especially to Holland, the Dutch giving very +large commissions here for the buying of serges perpetuans, and such +goods; which are made not only in and about Exeter, but at Crediton, +Honiton, Culliton, St.-Mary-Ottery, Newton Bushel, Ashburton, and +especially at Tiverton, Cullompton, Bampton, and all the north-east part +of the county--which part of the county is, as it may be said, fully +employed, the people made rich, and the poor that are properly so called +well subsisted and employed by it. + +Exeter is a large, rich, beautiful, populous, and was once a very strong +city; but as to the last, as the castle, the walls, and all the old works +are demolished, so, were they standing, the way of managing sieges and +attacks of towns is such now, and so altered from what it was in those +days, that Exeter in the utmost strength it could ever boast would not +now hold out five days open trenches--nay, would hardly put an army to +the trouble of opening trenches against it at all. This city was famous +in the late civil unnatural war for its loyalty to the king, and for +being a sanctuary to the queen, where her Majesty resided for some time, +and here she was delivered of a daughter, being the Princess Henrietta +Maria, of whom our histories give a particular account, so I need say no +more of it here. + +The cathedral church of this city is an ancient beauty, or, as it may be +said, it is beautiful for its antiquity; but it has been so fully and +often described that it would look like a mere copying from others to +mention it. There is a good library kept in it, in which are some +manuscripts, and particularly an old missal or mass-book, the leaves of +vellum, and famous for its most exquisite writing. + +This county, and this part of it in particular, has been famous for the +birth of several eminent men as well for learning as for arts and for +war, as particularly:-- + +1. Sir William Petre, who the learned Dr. Wake (now Archbishop of +Canterbury, and author of the Additions to Mr. Camden) says was Secretary +of State and Privy Councillor to King Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen +Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, and seven times sent ambassador into foreign +countries. + +2. Sir Thomas Bodley, famous and of grateful memory to all learned men +and lovers of letters for his collecting and establishing the best +library in Britain, which is now at Oxford, and is called, after his +name, the Bodleian Library to this day. + +3. Also Sir Francis Drake, born at Plymouth. + +4. Sir Walter Raleigh. Of both those I need say nothing; fame publishes +their merit upon every mention of their names. + +5. That great patron of learning, Richard Hooker, author of the +"Ecclesiastical Polity," and of several other valuable pieces. + +6. Of Dr. Arthur Duck, a famed civilian, and well known by his works +among the learned advocates of Doctors' Commons. + +7. Dr. John Moreman, of Southold, famous for being the first clergyman +in England who ventured to teach his parishioners the Lord's Prayer, +Creed, and Ten Commandments in the English tongue, and reading them so +publicly in the parish church of Mayenhennet in this county, of which he +was vicar. + +8. Dr. John de Brampton, a man of great learning who flourished in the +reign of Henry VI., was famous for being the first that read Aristotle +publicly in the University of Cambridge, and for several learned books of +his writing, which are now lost. + +9. Peter Blundel, a clothier, who built the free school at Tiverton, and +endowed it very handsomely; of which in its place. + +10. Sir John Glanvill, a noted lawyer, and one of the Judges of the +Common Pleas. + +11. Sergeant Glanvill, his son; as great a lawyer as his father. + +12. Sir John Maynard, an eminent lawyer of later years; one of the +Commissioners of the Great Seal under King William III. All these three +were born at Tavistock. + +13. Sir Peter King, the present Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. +And many others. + +I shall take the north part of this county in my return from Cornwall; so +I must now lean to the south--that is to say, to the South Coast--for in +going on indeed we go south-west. + +About twenty-two miles from Exeter we go to Totnes, on the River Dart. +This is a very good town, of some trade; but has more gentlemen in it +than tradesmen of note. They have a very fine stone bridge here over the +river, which, being within seven or eight miles of the sea, is very +large; and the tide flows ten or twelve feet at the bridge. Here we had +the diversion of seeing them catch fish with the assistance of a dog. The +case is this:--On the south side of the river, and on a slip, or narrow +cut or channel made on purpose for a mill, there stands a corn-mill; the +mill-tail, or floor for the water below the wheels, is wharfed up on +either side with stone above high-water mark, and for above twenty or +thirty feet in length below it on that part of the river towards the sea; +at the end of this wharfing is a grating of wood, the cross-bars of which +stand bearing inward, sharp at the end, and pointing inward towards one +another, as the wires of a mouse-trap. + +When the tide flows up, the fish can with ease go in between the points +of these cross-bars, but the mill being shut down they can go no farther +upwards; and when the water ebbs again, they are left behind, not being +able to pass the points of the grating, as above, outwards; which, like a +mouse-trap, keeps them in, so that they are left at the bottom with about +a foot or a foot and a half of water. We were carried hither at low +water, where we saw about fifty or sixty small salmon, about seventeen to +twenty inches long, which the country people call salmon-peal; and to +catch these the person who went with us, who was our landlord at a great +inn next the bridge, put in a net on a hoop at the end of a pole, the +pole going cross the hoop (which we call in this country a shove-net). +The net being fixed at one end of the place, they put in a dog (who was +taught his trade beforehand) at the other end of the place, and he drives +all the fish into the net; so that, only holding the net still in its +place, the man took up two or three and thirty salmon-peal at the first +time. + +Of these we took six for our dinner, for which they asked a shilling +(viz., twopence a-piece); and for such fish, not at all bigger, and not +so fresh, I have seen six-and-sixpence each given at a London +fish-market, whither they are sometimes brought from Chichester by land +carriage. + +This excessive plenty of so good fish (and other provisions being +likewise very cheap in proportion) makes the town of Totnes a very good +place to live in; especially for such as have large families and but +small estates. And many such are said to come into those parts on +purpose for saving money, and to live in proportion to their income. + +From hence we went still south about seven miles (all in view of this +river) to Dartmouth, a town of note, seated at the mouth of the River +Dart, and where it enters into the sea at a very narrow but safe +entrance. The opening into Dartmouth Harbour is not broad, but the +channel deep enough for the biggest ship in the Royal Navy. The sides of +the entrance are high-mounded with rocks, without which, just at the +first narrowing of the passage, stands a good strong fort without a +platform of guns, which commands the port. + +The narrow entrance is not much above half a mile, when it opens and +makes a basin or harbour able to receive 500 sail of ships of any size, +and where they may ride with the greatest safety, even as in a mill-pond +or wet dock. I had the curiosity here, with the assistance of a merchant +of the town, to go out to the mouth of the haven in a boat to see the +entrance, and castle or fort that commands it; and coming back with the +tide of flood, I observed some small fish to skip and play upon the +surface of the water, upon which I asked my friend what fish they were. +Immediately one of the rowers or seamen starts up in the boat, and, +throwing his arms abroad as if he had been bewitched, cries out as loud +as he could bawl, "A school! a school!" The word was taken to the shore +as hastily as it would have been on land if he had cried "Fire!" And by +that time we reached the quays the town was all in a kind of an uproar. + +The matter was that a great shoal--or, as they call it, a "school"--of +pilchards came swimming with the tide of flood, directly out of the sea +into the harbour. My friend whose boat we were in told me this was a +surprise which he would have been very glad of if he could but have had a +day or two's warning, for he might have taken 200 tons of them. And the +like was the case of other merchants in town; for, in short, nobody was +ready for them, except a small fishing-boat or two--one of which went out +into the middle of the harbour, and at two or three hauls took about +forty thousand of them. We sent our servant to the quay to buy some, who +for a halfpenny brought us seventeen, and, if he would have taken them, +might have had as many more for the same money. With these we went to +dinner; the cook at the inn broiled them for us, which is their way of +dressing them, with pepper and salt, which cost us about a farthing; so +that two of us and a servant dined--and at a tavern, too--for three +farthings, dressing and all. And this is the reason of telling the tale. +What drink--wine or beer--we had I do not remember; but, whatever it was, +that we paid for by itself. But for our food we really dined for three +farthings, and very well, too. Our friend treated us the next day with a +dish of large lobsters, and I being curious to know the value of such +things, and having freedom enough with him to inquire, I found that for +6d. or 8d. they bought as good lobsters there as would have cost in +London 3s. to 3s. 6d. each. + +In observing the coming in of those pilchards, as above, we found that +out at sea, in the offing, beyond the mouth of the harbour, there was a +whole army of porpoises, which, as they told us, pursued the pilchards, +and, it is probable, drove them into the harbour, as above. The school, +it seems, drove up the river a great way, even as high as Totnes Bridge, +as we heard afterwards; so that the country people who had boats and nets +catched as many as they knew what to do with, and perhaps lived upon +pilchards for several days. But as to the merchants and trade, their +coming was so sudden that it was no advantage to them. + +Round the west side of this basin or harbour, in a kind of a semicircle, +lies the town of Dartmouth, a very large and populous town, though but +meanly built, and standing on the side of a steep hill; yet the quay is +large, and the street before it spacious. Here are some very flourishing +merchants, who trade very prosperously, and to the most considerable +trading ports of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Plantations; but +especially they are great traders to Newfoundland, and from thence to +Spain and Italy, with fish; and they drive a good trade also in their own +fishery of pilchards, which is hereabouts carried on with the greatest +number of vessels of any port in the west, except Falmouth. + +A little to the southward of this town, and to the east of the port, is +Tor Bay, of which I know nothing proper to my observation, more than that +it is a very good road for ships, though sometimes (especially with a +southerly or south-east wind) ships have been obliged to quit the bay and +put out to sea, or run into Dartmouth for shelter. + +I suppose I need not mention that they had from the hilly part of this +town, and especially from the hills opposite to it, the noble prospect, +and at that time particularly delightful, of the Prince of Orange's fleet +when he came to that coast, and as they entered into Tor Bay to land--the +Prince and his army being in a fleet of about 600 sail of transport +ships, besides 50 sail of men-of-war of the line, all which, with a fair +wind and fine weather, came to an anchor there at once. + +This town, as most of the towns of Devonshire are, is full of Dissenters, +and a very large meeting-house they have here. How they act here with +respect to the great dispute about the doctrine of the Trinity, which has +caused such a breach among those people at Exeter and other parts of the +county, I cannot give any account of. This town sends two members to +Parliament. + +From hence we went to Plympton, a poor and thinly-inhabited town, though +blessed with the like privilege of sending members to the Parliament, of +which I have little more to say but that from thence the road lies to +Plymouth, distance about six miles. + +Plymouth is indeed a town of consideration, and of great importance to +the public. The situation of it between two very large inlets of the +sea, and in the bottom of a large bay, which is very remarkable for the +advantage of navigation. The Sound or Bay is compassed on every side +with hills, and the shore generally steep and rocky, though the anchorage +is good, and it is pretty safe riding. In the entrance to this bay lies +a large and most dangerous rock, which at high-water is covered, but at +low-tide lies bare, where many a good ship has been lost, even in the +view of safety, and many a ship's crew drowned in the night, before help +could be had for them. + +Upon this rock (which was called the Eddystone, from its situation) the +famous Mr. Winstanley undertook to build a lighthouse for the direction +of sailors, and with great art and expedition finished it; which +work--considering its height, the magnitude of its building, and the +little hold there was by which it was possible to fasten it to the +rock--stood to admiration, and bore out many a bitter storm. + +Mr. Winstanley often visited, and frequently strengthened, the building +by new works, and was so confident of its firmness and stability that he +usually said he only desired to be in it when a storm should happen; for +many people had told him it would certainly fall if it came to blow a +little harder than ordinary. + +But he happened at last to be in it once too often--namely, when that +dreadful tempest blew, November 27, 1703. This tempest began on the +Wednesday before, and blew with such violence, and shook the lighthouse +so much, that, as they told me there, Mr. Winstanley would fain have been +on shore, and made signals for help; but no boats durst go off to him; +and, to finish the tragedy, on the Friday, November 26, when the tempest +was so redoubled that it became a terror to the whole nation, the first +sight there seaward that the people of Plymouth were presented with in +the morning after the storm was the bare Eddystone, the lighthouse being +gone; in which Mr. Winstanley and all that were with him perished, and +were never seen or heard of since. But that which was a worse loss still +was that, a few days after, a merchant's ship called the _Winchelsea_, +homeward bound from Virginia, not knowing the Eddystone lighthouse was +down, for want of the light that should have been seen, run foul of the +rock itself, and was lost with all her lading and most of her men. But +there is now another light-house built on the same rock. + +What other disasters happened at the same time in the Sound and in the +roads about Plymouth is not my business; they are also published in other +books, to which I refer. + +One thing which I was a witness to on a former journey to this place, I +cannot omit. It was the next year after that great storm, and but a +little sooner in the year, being in August; I was at Plymouth, and +walking on the Hoo (which is a plain on the edge of the sea, looking to +the road), I observed the evening so serene, so calm, so bright, and the +sea so smooth, that a finer sight, I think, I never saw. There was very +little wind, but what was, seemed to be westerly; and about an hour +after, it blew a little breeze at south-west, with which wind there came +into the Sound that night and the next morning a fleet of fourteen sail +of ships from Barbadoes, richly laden for London. Having been long at +sea, most of the captains and passengers came on shore to refresh +themselves, as is usual after such tedious voyages; and the ships rode +all in the Sound on that side next to Catwater. As is customary upon +safe arriving to their native country, there was a general joy and +rejoicing both on board and on shore. + +The next day the wind began to freshen, especially in the afternoon, and +the sea to be disturbed, and very hard it blew at night; but all was well +for that time. But the night after, it blew a dreadful storm (not much +inferior, for the time it lasted, to the storm mentioned above which blew +down the lighthouse on the Eddystone). About mid-night the noise, +indeed, was very dreadful, what with the rearing of the sea and of the +wind, intermixed with the firing of guns for help from the ships, the +cries of the seamen and people on shore, and (which was worse) the cries +of those which were driven on shore by the tempest and dashed in pieces. +In a word, all the fleet except three, or thereabouts, were dashed to +pieces against the rocks and sunk in the sea, most of the men being +drowned. Those three who were saved, received so much damage that their +lading was almost all spoiled. One ship in the dark of the night, the +men not knowing where they were, run into Catwater, and run on shore +there; by which she was, however, saved from shipwreck, and the lives of +her crew were saved also. + +This was a melancholy morning indeed. Nothing was to be seen but wrecks +of the ships and a foaming, furious sea in that very place where they +rode all in joy and triumph but the evening before. The captains, +passengers, and officers who were, as I have said, gone on shore, between +the joy of saving their lives, and the affliction of having lost their +ships, their cargoes, and their friends, were objects indeed worth our +compassion and observation. And there was a great variety of the +passions to be observed in them--now lamenting their losses, their giving +thanks for their deliverance. Many of the passengers had lost their all, +and were, as they expressed themselves, "utterly undone." They were, I +say, now lamenting their losses with violent excesses of grief; then +giving thanks for their lives, and that they should be brought on shore, +as it were, on purpose to be saved from death; then again in tears for +such as were drowned. The various cases were indeed very affecting, and, +in many things, very instructing. + +As I say, Plymouth lies in the bottom of this Sound, in the centre +between the two waters, so there lies against it, in the same position, +an island, which they call St. Nicholas, on which there is a castle which +commands the entrance into Hamoaze, and indeed that also into Catwater in +some degree. In this island the famous General Lambert, one of +Cromwell's great agents or officers in the rebellion, was imprisoned for +life, and lived many years there. + +On the shore over against this island is the citadel of Plymouth, a small +but regular fortification, inaccessible by sea, but not exceeding strong +by land, except that they say the works are of a stone hard as marble, +and would not soon yield to the batteries of an enemy--but that is a +language our modern engineers now laugh at. + +The town stands above this, upon the same rock, and lies sloping on the +side of it, towards the east--the inlet of the sea which is called +Catwater, and which is a harbour capable of receiving any number of ships +and of any size, washing the eastern shore of the town, where they have a +kind of natural mole or haven, with a quay and all other conveniences for +bringing in vessels for loading and unloading; nor is the trade carried +on here inconsiderable in itself, or the number of merchants small. + +The other inlet of the sea, as I term it, is on the other side of the +town, and is called Hamoaze, being the mouth of the River Tamar, a +considerable river which parts the two counties of Devon and Cornwall. +Here (the war with France making it necessary that the ships of war +should have a retreat nearer hand than at Portsmouth) the late King +William ordered a wet dock--with yards, dry docks, launches, and +conveniences of all kinds for building and repairing of ships--to be +built; and with these followed necessarily the building of store-houses +and warehouses for the rigging, sails, naval and military stores, &c., of +such ships as may be appointed to be laid up there, as now several are; +with very handsome houses for the commissioners, clerks, and officers of +all kinds usual in the king's yards, to dwell in. It is, in short, now +become as complete an arsenal or yard for building and fitting men-of-war +as any the Government are masters of, and perhaps much more convenient +than some of them, though not so large. + +The building of these things, with the addition of rope-walks and mast- +yards, &c., as it brought abundance of trades-people and workmen to the +place, so they began by little and little to build houses on the lands +adjacent, till at length there appeared a very handsome street, spacious +and large, and as well inhabited; and so many houses are since added that +it is become a considerable town, and must of consequence in time draw +abundance of people from Plymouth itself. + +However, the town of Plymouth is, and will always be, a very considerable +town, while that excellent harbour makes it such a general port for the +receiving all the fleets of merchants' ships from the southward (as from +Spain, Italy, the West Indies, &c.), who generally make it the first port +to put in at for refreshment, or safety from either weather or enemies. + +The town is populous and wealthy, having, as above, several considerable +merchants and abundance of wealthy shopkeepers, whose trade depends upon +supplying the sea-faring people that upon so many occasions put into that +port. As for gentlemen--I mean, those that are such by family and birth +and way of living--it cannot be expected to find many such in a town +merely depending on trade, shipping, and sea-faring business; yet I found +here some men of value (persons of liberal education, general knowledge, +and excellent behaviour), whose society obliges me to say that a +gentleman might find very agreeable company in Plymouth. + +From Plymouth we pass the Tamar over a ferry to Saltash--a little, poor, +shattered town, the first we set foot on in the county of Cornwall. The +Tamar here is very wide, and the ferry-boats bad; so that I thought +myself well escaped when I got safe on shore in Cornwall. + +Saltash seems to be the ruins of a larger place; and we saw many houses, +as it were, falling down, and I doubt not but the mice and rats have +abandoned many more, as they say they will when they are likely to fall. +Yet this town is governed by a mayor and aldermen, has many privileges, +sends members to Parliament, takes toll of all vessels that pass the +river, and have the sole oyster-fishing in the whole river, which is +considerable. Mr. Carew, author of the "Survey of Cornwall," tells us a +strange story of a dog in this town, of whom it was observed that if they +gave him any large bone or piece of meat, he immediately went out of +doors with it, and after having disappeared for some time would return +again; upon which, after some time, they watched him, when, to their +great surprise, they found that the poor charitable creature carried what +he so got to an old decrepit mastiff, which lay in a nest that he had +made among the brakes a little way out of the town, and was blind, so +that he could not help himself; and there this creature fed him. He adds +also that on Sundays or holidays, when he found they made good cheer in +the house where he lived, he would go out and bring this old blind dog to +the door, and feed him there till he had enough, and then go with him +back to his habitation in the country again, and see him safe in. If +this story is true, it is very remarkable indeed; and I thought it worth +telling, because the author was a person who, they say, might be +credited. + +This town has a kind of jurisdiction upon the River Tamar down to the +mouth of the port, so that they claim anchorage of all small ships that +enter the river; their coroner sits upon all dead bodies that are found +drowned in the river and the like, but they make not much profit of them. +There is a good market here, and that is the best thing to be said of the +town; it is also very much increased since the number of the inhabitants +are increased at the new town, as I mentioned as near the dock at the +mouth of Hamoaze, for those people choose rather to go to Saltash to +market by water than to walk to Plymouth by land for their provisions. +Because, first, as they go in the town boat, the same boat brings home +what they buy, so that it is much less trouble; second, because +provisions are bought much cheaper at Saltash than at Plymouth. This, I +say, is like to be a very great advantage to the town of Saltash, and may +in time put a new face of wealth upon the place. + +They talk of some merchants beginning to trade here, and they have some +ships that use the Newfoundland fishery; but I could not hear of anything +considerable they do in it. There is no other considerable town up the +Tamar till we come to Launceston, the county town, which I shall take in +my return; so I turned west, keeping the south shore of the county to the +Land's End. + +From Saltash I went to Liskeard, about seven miles. This is a +considerable town, well built; has people of fashion in it, and a very +great market; it also sends two members to Parliament, and is one of the +five towns called Stannary Towns--that is to say, where the blocks of tin +are brought to the coinage; of which, by itself, this coinage of tin is +an article very much to the advantage of the towns where it is settled, +though the money paid goes another way. + +This town of Liskeard was once eminent, had a good castle, and a large +house, where the ancient Dukes of Cornwall kept their court in those +days; also it enjoyed several privileges, especially by the favour of the +Black Prince, who as Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall resided here. +And in return they say this town and the country round it raised a great +body of stout young fellows, who entered into his service and followed +his fortunes in his wars in France, as also in Spain. But these +buildings are so decayed that there are now scarce any of the ruins of +the castle or of the prince's court remaining. + +The only public edifices they have now to show are the guild or town +hall, on which there is a turret with a fine clock; a very good free +school, well provided; a very fine conduit in the market-place; an +ancient large church; and, which is something rare for the county of +Cornwall, a large, new-built meeting-house for the Dissenters, which I +name because they assured me there was but three more, and those very +inconsiderable, in all the county of Cornwall; whereas in Devonshire, +which is the next county, there are reckoned about seventy, some of which +are exceeding large and fine. + +This town is also remarkable for a very great trade in all manufactures +of leather, such as boots, shoes, gloves, purses, breaches, &c.; and some +spinning of late years is set up here, encouraged by the woollen +manufacturers of Devonshire. + +Between these two towns of Saltash and Liskeard is St. Germans, now a +village, decayed, and without any market, but the largest parish in the +whole county--in the bounds of which is contained, as they report, +seventeen villages, and the town of Saltash among them; for Saltash has +no parish church, it seems, of itself, but as a chapel-of-ease to St. +Germans. In the neighbourhood of these towns are many pleasant seats of +the Cornish gentry, who are indeed very numerous, though their estates +may not be so large as is usual in England; yet neither are they +despicable in that part; and in particular this may be said of them--that +as they generally live cheap, and are more at home than in other +counties, so they live more like gentlemen, and keep more within bounds +of their estates than the English generally do, take them all together. + +Add to this that they are the most sociable, generous, and to one another +the kindest, neighbours that are to be found; and as they generally live, +as we may say, together (for they are almost always at one another's +houses), so they generally intermarry among themselves, the gentlemen +seldom going out of the county for a wife, or the ladies for a husband; +from whence they say that proverb upon them was raised, viz., "That all +the Cornish gentlemen are cousins." + +On the hills north of Liskeard, and in the way between Liskeard and +Launceston, there are many tin-mines. And, as they told us, some of the +richest veins of that metal are found there that are in the whole +county--the metal, when cast at the blowing houses into blocks, being, as +above, carried to Liskeard to be coined. + +From Liskeard, in our course west, we are necessarily carried to the sea- +coast, because of the River Fowey or Fowath, which empties itself into +the sea at a very large mouth. And hereby this river rising in the +middle of the breadth of the county and running south, and the River +Camel rising not far from it and running north, with a like large +channel, the land from Bodmin to the western part of the county is almost +made an island and in a manner cut off from the eastern part--the +peninsula, or neck of land between, being not above twelve miles over. + +On this south side we came to Foy or Fowey, an ancient town, and formerly +very large--nay, not large only, but powerful and potent; for the Foyens, +as they were then called, were able to fit out large fleets, not only for +merchants' ships, but even of men-of-war; and with these not only fought +with, but several times vanquished and routed, the squadron of the Cinque +Ports men, who in those days were thought very powerful. + +Mr. Camden observes that the town of Foy quarters some part of the arms +of every one of those Cinque Ports with their own, intimating that they +had at several times trampled over them all. Certain it is they did +often beat them, and took their ships, and brought them as good prizes +into their haven of Foy; and carried it so high that they fitted out +their fleets against the French, and took several of their men-of-war +when they were at war with England, and enriched their town by the spoil +of their enemies. + +Edward IV. favoured them much; and because the French threatened them to +come up their river with a powerful navy to burn their town, he caused +two forts to be built at the public charge for security of the town and +river, which forts--at least, some show of them--remain there still. But +the same King Edward was some time after so disgusted at the townsmen for +officiously falling upon the French, after a truce was made and +proclaimed, that he effectually disarmed them, took away their whole +fleet, ships, tackle, apparel, and furniture; and since that time we do +not read of any of their naval exploits, nor that they ever recovered or +attempted to recover their strength at sea. However, Foy at this time is +a very fair town; it lies extended on the east side of the river for +above a mile, the buildings fair. And there are a great many flourishing +merchants in it, who have a great share in the fishing trade, especially +for pilchards, of which they take a great quantity hereabouts. In this +town is also a coinage for the tin, of which a great quantity is dug up +in the country north and west of the town. + +The River Fowey, which is very broad and deep here, was formerly +navigable by ships of good burthen as high as Lostwithiel--an ancient and +once a flourishing but now a decayed town; and as to trade and +navigation, quite destitute; which is occasioned by the river being +filled up with sands, which, some say, the tides drive up in stormy +weather from the sea; others say it is by sands washed from the +lead-mines in the hills; the last of which, by the way, I take to be a +mistake, the sand from the hills being not of quantity sufficient to fill +up the channel of a navigable river, and, if it had, might easily have +been stopped by the townspeople from falling into the river. But that +the sea has choked up the river with sand is not only probable, but true; +and there are other rivers which suffer in the like manner in this same +country. + +This town of Lostwithiel retains, however, several advantages which +support its figure--as, first, that it is one of the Coinage Towns, as I +call them; or Stannary Towns, as others call them; (2) the common gaol +for the whole Stannary is here, as are also the County Courts for the +whole county of Cornwall. + +There is a mock cavalcade kept up at this town, which is very remarkable. +The particulars, as they are related by Mr. Carew in his "Survey of +Cornwall," take as follows:-- + +"Upon Little Easter Sunday the freeholders of this town and manor, by +themselves or their deputies, did there assemble; amongst whom one (as it +fell to his lot by turn), bravely apparelled, gallantly mounted, with a +crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand, and a sword borne before him, +and dutifully attended by all the rest (also on horseback), rode through +the principal street to the church. The curate in his best beseen +solemnly received him at the churchyard stile, and conducted him to hear +divine service. After which he repaired, with the same pomp, to a house +provided for that purpose, made a feast to his attendants, kept the +table's-end himself, and was served with kneeling assay and all other +rights due to the estate of a prince; with which dinner the ceremony +ended, and every man returned home again. The pedigree of this usage is +derived from so many descents of ages that the cause and author outreach +the remembrance. Howbeit, these circumstances afford a conjecture that +it should betoken royalties appertaining to the honour of Cornwall." + +Behind Foy and nearer to the coast, at the mouth of a small river which +some call Lowe, though without any authority, there stand two towns +opposite to one another bearing the name of the River Looe--that is to +say, distinguished by the addition of East Looe and West Looe. These are +both good trading towns, and especially fishing towns; and, which is very +particular, are (like Weymouth and Melcombe, in Dorsetshire) separated +only by the creek or river, and yet each of them sends members to +Parliament. These towns are joined together by a very beautiful and +stately stone bridge having fifteen arches. + +East Looe was the ancienter corporation of the two, and for some ages ago +the greater and more considerable town; but now they tell us West Looe is +the richest, and has the most ships belonging to it. Were they put +together, they would make a very handsome seaport town. They have a +great fishing trade here, as well for supply of the country as for +merchandise, and the towns are not despisable. But as to sending four +members to the British Parliament (which is as many as the City of London +chooses), that, I confess, seems a little scandalous; but to whom, is +none of my business to inquire. + +Passing from hence, and ferrying over Foy River or the River Foweth (call +it as you please), we come into a large country without many towns in it +of note, but very well furnished with gentlemen's seats, and a little +higher up with tin-works. + +The sea making several deep bays here, they who travel by land are +obliged to go higher into the country to pass above the water, especially +at Trewardreth Bay, which lies very broad, above ten miles within the +country, which passing at Trewardreth (a town of no great note, though +the bay takes its name from it), the next inlet of the sea is the famous +firth or inlet called Falmouth Haven. It is certainly, next to Milford +Haven in South Wales, the fairest and best road for shipping that is in +the whole isle of Britain, whether be considered the depth of water for +above twenty miles within land; the safety of riding, sheltered from all +kind of winds or storms; the good anchorage; and the many creeks, all +navigable, where ships may run in and be safe; so that the like is +nowhere to be found. + +There are six or seven very considerable places upon this haven and the +rivers from it--viz., Grampound, Tregony, Truro, Penryn, Falmouth, St. +Maws, and Pendennis. The three first of these send members to +Parliament. The town of Falmouth, as big as all the three, and richer +than ten of them, sends none; which imports no more than this--that +Falmouth itself is not of so great antiquity as to its rising as those +other towns are; and yet the whole haven takes its name from Falmouth, +too, unless, as some think, the town took its name from the haven, which, +however, they give no authority to suggest. + +St. Maws and Pendennis are two fortifications placed at the points or +entrance of this haven, opposite to one another, though not with a +communication or view; they are very strong--the first principally by +sea, having a good platform of guns pointing athwart the Channel, and +planted on a level with the water. But Pendennis Castle is strong by +land as well as by water, is regularly fortified, has good out-works, and +generally a strong garrison. St. Maws, otherwise called St. Mary's, has +a town annexed to the castle, and is a borough sending members to the +Parliament. Pendennis is a mere fortress, though there are some +habitations in it, too, and some at a small distance near the seaside, +but not of any great consideration. + +The town of Falmouth is by much the richest and best trading town in this +county, though not so ancient as its neighbour town of Truro; and indeed +is in some things obliged to acknowledge the seigniority--namely, that in +the corporation of Truro the person whom they choose to be their Mayor of +Truro is also Mayor of Falmouth of course. How the jurisdiction is +managed is an account too long for this place. The Truro-men also +receive several duties collected in Falmouth, particularly wharfage for +the merchandises landed or shipped off; but let these advantages be what +they will, the town of Falmouth has gotten the trade--at least, the best +part of it--from the other, which is chiefly owing to the situation. For +that Falmouth lying upon the sea, but within the entrance, ships of the +greatest burthen come up to the very quays, and the whole Royal Navy +might ride safely in the road; whereas the town of Truro lying far +within, and at the mouth of two fresh rivers, is not navigable for +vessels of above 150 tons or thereabouts. + +Some have suggested that the original of Falmouth was the having so large +a quay, and so good a depth of water at it. The merchants of Truro +formerly used it for the place of lading and unlading their ships, as the +merchants of Exeter did at Topsham; and this is the more probable in +that, as above, the wharfage of those landing-places is still the +property of the corporation of Truro. + +But let this be as it will, the trade is now in a manner wholly gone to +Falmouth, the trade at Truro being now chiefly (if not only) for the +shipping off of block tin and copper ore, the latter being lately found +in large quantities in some of the mountains between Truro and St. +Michael's, and which is much improved since the several mills are erected +at Bristol and other parts for the manufactures of battery ware, as it is +called (brass), or which is made out of English copper, most of it dug +in these parts--the ore itself ago being found very rich and good. + +Falmouth is well built, has abundance of shipping belonging to it, is +full of rich merchants, and has a flourishing and increasing trade. I +say "increasing," because by the late setting up the English packets +between this port and Lisbon, there is a new commerce between Portugal +and this town carried on to a very great value. + +It is true, part of this trade was founded in a clandestine commerce +carried on by the said packets at Lisbon, where, being the king's ships, +and claiming the privilege of not being searched or visited by the Custom +House officers, they found means to carry off great quantities of British +manufactures, which they sold on board to the Portuguese merchants, and +they conveyed them on shore, as it is supposed, without paying custom. + +But the Government there getting intelligence of it, and complaint being +made in England also, where it was found to be very prejudicial to the +fair merchant, that trade has been effectually stopped. But the Falmouth +merchants, having by this means gotten a taste of the Portuguese trade, +have maintained it ever since in ships of their own. These packets bring +over such vast quantities of gold in specie, either in _moidores_ (which +is the Portugal coin) or in bars of gold, that I am very credibly +informed the carrier from Falmouth brought by land from thence to London +at one time, in the month of January, 1722, or near it, eighty thousand +_moidores_ in gold, which came from Lisbon in the packet-boats for +account of the merchants at London, and that it was attended with a guard +of twelve horsemen well armed, for which the said carrier had half per +cent. for his hazard. + +This is a specimen of the Portugal trade, and how considerable it is in +itself, as well as how advantageous to England; but as that is not to the +present case, I proceed. The Custom House for all the towns in this +port, and the head collector, is established at this town, where the +duties (including the other ports) is very considerable. Here is also a +very great fishing for pilchards; and the merchants for Falmouth have the +chief stroke in that gainful trade. + +Truro is, however, a very considerable town, too. It stands up the water +north and by east from Falmouth, in the utmost extended branch of the +Avon, in the middle between the conflux of two rivers, which, though not +of any long course, have a very good appearance for a port, and make it +large wharf between them in the front of the town. And the water here +makes a good port for small ships, though it be at the influx, but not +for ships of burthen. This is the particular town where the Lord-Warden +of the Stannaries always holds his famous Parliament of miners, and for +stamping of tin. The town is well built, but shows that it has been much +fuller, both of houses and inhabitants, than it is now; nor will it +probably ever rise while the town of Falmouth stands where it does, and +while the trade is settled in it as it is. There are at least three +churches in it, but no Dissenters' meeting-house that I could hear of. + +Tregony is upon the same water north-east from Falmouth--distance about +fifteen miles from it--but is a town of very little trade; nor, indeed, +have any of the towns, so far within the shore, notwithstanding the +benefit of the water, any considerable trade but what is carried on under +the merchants of Falmouth or Truro. The chief thing that is to be said +of this town is that it sends members to Parliament, as does also +Grampound, a market-town; and Burro', about four miles farther up the +water. This place, indeed, has a claim to antiquity, and is an appendix +to the Duchy of Cornwall, of which it holds at a fee farm rent and pays +to the Prince of Wales as duke 10 pounds 11s. 1d. per annum. It has no +parish church, but only a chapel-of-ease to an adjacent parish. + +Penryn is up the same branch of the Avon as Falmouth, but stands four +miles higher towards the west; yet ships come to it of as great a size as +can come to Truro itself. It is a very pleasant, agreeable town, and for +that reason has many merchants in it, who would perhaps otherwise live at +Falmouth. The chief commerce of these towns, as to their sea-affairs, is +the pilchards and Newfoundland fishing, which is very profitable to them +all. It had formerly a conventual church, with a chantry and a religious +house (a cell to Kirton); but they are all demolished, and scarce the +ruins of them distinguishable enough to know one part from another. + +Quitting Falmouth Haven from Penryn West, we came to Helston, about seven +miles, and stands upon the little River Cober, which, however, admits the +sea so into its bosom as to make a tolerable good harbour for ships a +little below the town. It is the fifth town allowed for the coining tin, +and several of the ships called tin-ships are laden here. + +This town is large and populous, and has four spacious streets, a +handsome church, and a good trade. This town also sends members to +Parliament. Beyond this is a market-town, though of no resort for trade, +called Market Jew. It lies, indeed, on the seaside, but has no harbour +or safe road for shipping. + +At Helford is a small but good harbour between Falmouth and this port, +where many times the tin-ships go in to load for London; also here are a +good number of fishing vessels for the pilchard trade, and abundance of +skilful fishermen. It was from this town that in the great storm which +happened November 27, 1703, a ship laden with tin was blown out to sea +and driven to the Isle of Wight in seven hours, having on board only one +man and two boys. The story is as follows:-- + +"The beginning of the storm there lay a ship laden with tin in Helford +Haven, about two leagues and a half west of Falmouth. The tin was taken +on board at a place called Guague Wharf, five or six miles up the river, +and the vessel was come down to Helford in order to pursue her voyage to +London. + +"About eight o'clock in the evening the commander, whose name was Anthony +Jenkins, went on board with his mate to see that everything was safe, and +to give orders, but went both on shore again, leaving only a man and two +boys on board, not apprehending any danger, they being in safe harbour. +However, he ordered them that if it should blow hard they should carry +out the small bower anchor, and so to moor the ship by two anchors, and +then giving what other orders he thought to be needful, he went ashore, +as above. + +"About nine o'clock, the wind beginning to blow harder, they carried out +the anchor, according to the master's order; but the wind increasing +about ten, the ship began to drive, so they carried out their best bower, +which, having a good new cable, brought the ship up. The storm still +increasing, they let go the kedge anchor; so that they then rode by four +anchors ahead, which were all they had. + +"But between eleven and twelve o'clock the wind came about west and by +south, and blew in so violent and terrible a manner that, though they +rode under the lee of a high shore, yet the ship was driven from all her +anchors, and about midnight drove quite out of the harbour (the opening +of the harbour lying due east and west) into the open sea, the men having +neither anchor or cable or boat to help themselves. + +"In this dreadful condition (they driving, I say, out of the harbour) +their first and chief care was to go clear of the rocks which lie on +either side the harbour's mouth, and which they performed pretty well. +Then, seeing no remedy, they consulted what to do next. They could carry +no sail at first--no, not a knot; nor do anything but run away afore it. +The only thing they had to think on was to keep her out at sea as far as +they could, for fear of a point of land called the Dead Man's Head, which +lies to the eastward of Falmouth Haven; and then, if they could escape +the land, thought to run in for Plymouth next morning, so, if possible, +to save their lives. + +"In this frighted condition they drove away at a prodigious rate, having +sometimes the bonnet of their foresail a little out, but the yard lowered +almost to the deck--sometimes the ship almost under water, and sometimes +above, keeping still in the offing, for fear of the land, till they might +see daylight. But when the day broke they found they were to think no +more of Plymouth, for they were far enough beyond it; and the first land +they made was Peverel Point, being the southernmost land of the Isle of +Purbeck, in Dorsetshire, and a little to the westward of the Isle of +Wight; so that now they were in a terrible consternation, and driving +still at a prodigious rate. By seven o'clock they found themselves +broadside of the Isle of Wight. + +"Here they consulted again what to do to save their lives. One of the +boys was for running her into the Downs; but the man objected that, +having no anchor or cable nor boat to go on shore with, and the storm +blowing off shore in the Downs, they should be inevitably blown off and +lost upon the unfortunate Goodwin--which, it seems, the man had been on +once before and narrowly escaped. + +"Now came the last consultation for their lives. The other of the boys +said he had been in a certain creek in the Isle of Wight, where, between +the rocks, he knew there was room to run the ship in, and at least to +save their lives, and that he saw the place just that moment; so he +desired the man to let him have the helm, and he would do his best and +venture it. The man gave him the helm, and he stood directly in among +the rocks, the people standing on the shore thinking they were mad, and +that they would in a few minutes be dashed in a thousand pieces. + +"But when they came nearer, and the people found they steered as if they +knew the place, they made signals to them to direct them as well as they +could, and the young bold fellow run her into a small cove, where she +stuck fast, as it were, between the rocks on both sides, there being but +just room enough for the breadth of the ship. The ship indeed, giving +two or three knocks, staved and sunk, but the man and the two youths +jumped ashore and were safe; and the lading, being tin, was afterwards +secured. + +"N.B.--The merchants very well rewarded the three sailors, especially the +lad that ran her into that place." + +Penzance is the farthest town of any note west, being 254 miles from +London, and within about ten miles of the promontory called the Land's +End; so that this promontory is from London 264 miles, or thereabouts. +This town of Penzance is a place of good business, well built and +populous, has a good trade, and a great many ships belonging to it, +notwithstanding it is so remote. Here are also a great many good +families of gentlemen, though in this utmost angle of the nation; and, +which is yet more strange, the veins of lead, tin, and copper ore are +said to be seen even to the utmost extent of land at low-water mark, and +in the very sea--so rich, so valuable, a treasure is contained in these +parts of Great Britain, though they are supposed to be so poor, because +so very remote from London, which is the centre of our wealth. + +Between this town and St. Burien, a town midway between it and the Land's +End, stands a circle of great stones, not unlike those at Stonehenge, in +Wiltshire, with one bigger than the rest in the middle. They stand about +twelve feet asunder, but have no inscription; neither does tradition +offer to leave any part of their history upon record, as whether it was a +trophy or a monument of burial, or an altar for worship, or what else; so +that all that can be learned of them is that here they are. The parish +where they stand is called Boscawone, from whence the ancient and +honourable family of Boscawen derive their names. + +Near Penzance, but open to the sea, is that gulf they call Mount's Bay; +named so from a high hill standing in the water, which they call St. +Michael's Mount: the seamen call it only the Cornish Mount. It has been +fortified, though the situation of it makes it so difficult of access +that, like the Bass in Scotland, there needs no fortification; like the +Bass, too, it was once made a prison for prisoners of State, but now it +is wholly neglected. There is a very good road here for shipping, which +makes the town of Penzance be a place of good resort. + +A little up in the county towards the north-west is Godolchan, which +though a hill, rather than a town, gives name to the noble and ancient +family of Godolphin; and nearer on the northern coast is Royalton, which +since the late Sydney Godolphin, Esq., a younger brother of the family, +was created Earl of Godolphin, gave title of Lord to his eldest son, who +was called Lord Royalton during the life of his father. This place also +is infinitely rich in tin-mines. + +I am now at my journey's end. As to the islands of Scilly, which lie +beyond the Land's End, I shall say something of them presently. I must +now return _sur mes pas_, as the French call it; though not literally so, +for I shall not come back the same way I went. But as I have coasted the +south shore to the Land's End, I shall come back by the north coast, and +my observations in my return will furnish very well materials for another +letter. + + + +APPENDIX TO LAND'S END. + + +I have ended this account at the utmost extent of the island of Great +Britain west, without visiting those excrescences of the island, as I +think I may call them--viz., the rocks of Scilly; of which what is most +famous is their infamy or reproach; namely, how many good ships are +almost continually dashed in pieces there, and how many brave lives lost, +in spite of the mariners' best skill, or the lighthouses' and other sea- +marks' best notice. + +These islands lie so in the middle between the two vast openings of the +north and south narrow seas (or, as the sailors call them, the Bristol +Channel, and The Channel--so called by way of eminence) that it cannot, +or perhaps never will, be avoided but that several ships in the dark of +the night and in stress of weather, may, by being out in their +reckonings, or other unavoidable accidents, mistake; and if they do, they +are sure, as the sailors call it, to run "bump ashore" upon Scilly, where +they find no quarter among the breakers, but are beat to pieces without +any possibility of escape. + +One can hardly mention the Bishop and his Clerks, as they are called, or +the rocks of Scilly, without letting fall a tear to the memory of Sir +Cloudesley Shovel and all the gallant spirits that were with him, at one +blow and without a moment's warning dashed into a state of +immortality--the admiral, with three men-of-war, and all their men +(running upon these rocks right afore the wind, and in a dark night) +being lost there, and not a man saved. But all our annals and histories +are full of this, so I need say no more. + +They tell us of eleven sail of merchant-ships homeward bound, and richly +laden from the southward, who had the like fate in the same place a great +many years ago; and that some of them coming from Spain, and having a +great quantity of bullion or pieces of eight on board, the money +frequently drives on shore still, and that in good quantities, especially +after stormy weather. + +This may be the reason why, as we observed during our short stay here, +several mornings after it had blown something hard in the night, the +sands were covered with country people running to and fro to see if the +sea had cast up anything of value. This the seamen call "going +a-shoring;" and it seems they do often find good purchase. Sometimes +also dead bodies are cast up here, the consequence of shipwrecks among +those fatal rocks and islands; as also broken pieces of ships, casks, +chests, and almost everything that will float or roll on shore by the +surges of the sea. + +Nor is it seldom that the voracious country people scuffle and fight +about the right to what they find, and that in a desperate manner; so +that this part of Cornwall may truly be said to be inhabited by a fierce +and ravenous people. For they are so greedy, and eager for the prey, +that they are charged with strange, bloody, and cruel dealings, even +sometimes with one another; but especially with poor distressed seamen +when they come on shore by force of a tempest, and seek help for their +lives, and where they find the rooks themselves not more merciless than +the people who range about them for their prey. + +Here, also, as a farther testimony of the immense riches which have been +lost at several times upon this coast, we found several engineers and +projectors--some with one sort of diving engine, and some with another; +some claiming such a wreck, and some such-and-such others; where they +alleged they were assured there were great quantities of money; and +strange unprecedented ways were used by them to come at it: some, I say, +with one kind of engine, and some another; and though we thought several +of them very strange impracticable methods, yet I was assured by the +country people that they had done wonders with them under water, and that +some of them had taken up things of great weight and in a great depth of +water. Others had split open the wrecks they had found in a manner one +would have thought not possible to be done so far under water, and had +taken out things from the very holds of the ships. But we could not +learn that they had come at any pieces of eight, which was the thing they +seemed most to aim at and depend upon; at least, they had not found any +great quantity, as they said they expected. + +However, we left them as busy as we found them, and far from being +discouraged; and if half the golden mountains, or silver mountains +either, which they promise themselves should appear, they will be very +well paid for their labour. + +From the tops of the hills on this extremity of the land you may see out +into that they call the Chops of the Channel, which, as it is the +greatest inlet of commerce, and the most frequented by merchant-ships of +any place in the world, so one seldom looks out to seaward but something +new presents--that is to say, of ships passing or repassing, either on +the great or lesser Channel. + +Upon a former accidental journey into this part of the country, during +the war with France, it was with a mixture of pleasure and horror that we +saw from the hills at the Lizard, which is the southern-most point of +this land, an obstinate fight between three French men-of-war and two +English, with a privateer and three merchant-ships in their company. The +English had the misfortune, not only to be fewer ships of war in number, +but of less force; so that while the two biggest French ships engaged the +English, the third in the meantime took the two merchant-ships and went +off with them. As to the picaroon or privateer, she was able to do +little in the matter, not daring to come so near the men-of-war as to +take a broadside, which her thin sides would not have been able to bear, +but would have sent her to the bottom at once; so that the English men-of- +war had no assistance from her, nor could she prevent the taking the two +merchant-ships. Yet we observed that the English captains managed their +fight so well, and their seamen behaved so briskly, that in about three +hours both the Frenchmen stood off, and, being sufficiently banged, let +us see that they had no more stomach to fight; after which the +English--having damage enough, too, no doubt--stood away to the eastward, +as we supposed, to refit. + +This point of the Lizard, which runs out to the southward, and the other +promontory mentioned above, make the two angles--or horns, as they are +called--from whence it is supposed this county received its first name of +Cornwall, or, as Mr. Camden says, _Cornubia_ in the Latin, and in the +British "Kernaw," as running out in two vastly extended horns. And +indeed it seems as if Nature had formed this situation for the direction +of mariners, as foreknowing of what importance it should be, and how in +future ages these seas should be thus thronged with merchant-ships, the +protection of whose wealth, and the safety of the people navigating them, +was so much her early care that she stretched out the land so very many +ways, and extended the points and promontories so far and in so many +different places into the sea, that the land might be more easily +discovered at a due distance, which way soever the ships should come. + +Nor is the Lizard Point less useful (though not so far west) than the +other, which is more properly called the Land's End; but if we may credit +our mariners, it is more frequently first discovered from the sea. For +as our mariners, knowing by the soundings when they are in the mouth of +the Channel, do then most naturally stand to the southward, to avoid +mistaking the Channel, and to shun the Severn Sea or Bristol Channel, but +still more to avoid running upon Scilly and the rocks about it, as is +observed before--I say, as they carefully keep to the southward till they +think they are fair with the Channel, and then stand to the northward +again, or north-east, to make the land, this is the reason why the Lizard +is, generally speaking, the first land they make, and not the Land's End. + +Then having made the Lizard, they either (first) run in for Falmouth, +which is the next port, if they are taken short with easterly winds, or +are in want of provisions and refreshment, or have anything out of order, +so that they care not to keep the sea; or (secondly) stand away for the +Ram Head and Plymouth Sound; or (thirdly) keep an offing to run up the +Channel. + +So that the Lizard is the general guide, and of more use in these cases +than the other point, and is therefore the land which the ships choose to +make first; for then also they are sure that they are past Scilly and all +the dangers of that part of the island. + +Nature has fortified this part of the island of Britain in a strange +manner, and so, as is worth a traveller's observation, as if she knew the +force and violence of the mighty ocean which beats upon it; and which, +indeed, if the land was not made firm in proportion, could not withstand, +but would have been washed away long ago. + +First, there are the islands of Scilly and the rocks about them; these +are placed like out-works to resist the first assaults of this enemy, and +so break the force of it, as the piles (or starlings, as they are called) +are placed before the solid stonework of London Bridge to fence off the +force either of the water or ice, or anything else that might be +dangerous to the work. + +Then there are a vast number of sunk rocks (so the seamen call them), +besides such as are visible and above water, which gradually lessen the +quantity of water that would otherwise lie with an infinite weight and +force upon the land. It is observed that these rocks lie under water for +a great way off into the sea on every side the said two horns or points +of land, so breaking the force of the water, and, as above, lessening the +weight of it. + +But besides this the whole _terra firma_, or body of the land which makes +this part of the isle of Britain, seems to be one solid rock, as if it +was formed by Nature to resist the otherwise irresistible power of the +ocean. And, indeed, if one was to observe with what fury the sea comes +on sometimes against the shore here, especially at the Lizard Point, +where there are but few, if any, out-works, as I call them, to resist it; +how high the waves come rolling forward, storming on the neck of one +another (particularly when the wind blows off sea), one would wonder that +even the strongest rocks themselves should be able to resist and repel +them. But, as I said, the country seems to be, as it were, one great +body of stone, and prepared so on purpose. + +And yet, as if all this was not enough, Nature has provided another +strong fence, and that is, that these vast rocks are, as it were, +cemented together by the solid and weighty ore of tin and copper, +especially the last, which is plentifully found upon the very outmost +edge of the land, and with which the stones may be said to be soldered +together, lest the force of the sea should separate and disjoint them, +and so break in upon these fortifications of the island to destroy its +chief security. + +This is certain--that there is a more than ordinary quantity of tin, +copper, and lead also placed by the Great Director of Nature in these +very remote angles (and, as I have said above, the ore is found upon the +very surface of the rocks a good way into the sea); and that it does not +only lie, as it were, upon or between the stones among the earth (which +in that case might be washed from it by the sea), but that it is even +blended or mixed in with the stones themselves, that the stones must be +split into pieces to come at it. By this mixture the rocks are made +infinitely weighty and solid, and thereby still the more qualified to +repel the force of the sea. + +Upon this remote part of the island we saw great numbers of that famous +kind of crows which is known by the name of the Cornish cough or chough +(so the country people call them). They are the same kind which are +found in Switzerland among the Alps, and which Pliny pretended were +peculiar to those mountains, and calls the _pyrrhocorax_. The body is +black; the legs, feet, and bill of a deep yellow, almost to a red. I +could not find that it was affected for any good quality it had, nor is +the flesh good to eat, for it feeds much on fish and carrion; it is +counted little better than a kite, for it is of ravenous quality, and is +very mischievous. It will steal and carry away anything it finds about +the house that is not too heavy, though not fit for its food--as knives, +forks, spoons, and linen cloths, or whatever it can fly away with; +sometimes they say it has stolen bits of firebrands, or lighted candles, +and lodged them in the stacks of corn and the thatch of barns and houses, +and set them on fire; but this I only had by oral tradition. + +I might take up many sheets in describing the valuable curiosities of +this little Chersonese or Neck Land, called the Land's End, in which +there lies an immense treasure and many things worth notice (I mean, +besides those to be found upon the surface), but I am too near the end of +this letter. If I have opportunity I shall take notice of some part of +what I omit here in my return by the northern shore of the county. + + + + +TWO LETTERS +FROM THE "JOURNEY THROUGH ENGLAND BY A GENTLEMAN." + + +_Published in_ 1722, _but not by Defoe_. + + + +BATH IN 1722. + + +_Bath_. + +SIR, + +The Bath lies very low, is but a small city, but very compact, and one +can hardly imagine it could accommodate near the company that frequents +it at least three parts of the year. I have been told of 8,000 families +there at a time--some for the benefit of drinking its hot waters, others +for bathing, and others for diversion and pleasure (of which, I must say, +it affords more than any public place of that kind in Europe). + +I told you in my former letters that Epsom and Tunbridge do not allow +visiting (the companies there meet only on the walks); but here visits +are received and returned, assemblies and balls are given, and parties at +play in most houses every night, to which one Mr. Nash hath for many +years contributed very much. This gentleman is by custom a sort of +master of ceremonies of the place; he is not of any birth nor estate, but +by a good address and assurance ingratiates himself into the good graces +of the ladies and the best company in the place, and is director of all +their parties of pleasure. He wears good clothes, is always affluent of +money, plays very much, and whatever he may get in private, yet in public +he always seems to lose. The town have been for many years so sensible +of the service he does them that they ring the bells generally at his +arrival in town, and, it is thought, pay him a yearly contribution for +his support. + +In the morning early the company of both sexes meet at the Pump (in a +great hall enrailed), to drink the waters and saunter about till prayer- +time, or divert themselves by looking on those that are bathing in the +bath. Most of the company go to church in the morning in dishabille, and +then go home to dress for the walks before dinner. The walks are behind +the church, spacious and well shaded, planted round with shops filled +with everything that contributes to pleasure, and at the end a noble room +for gaming, from whence there are hanging-stairs to a pretty garden for +everybody that pays for the time they stay, to walk in. + +I have often wondered that the physicians of these places prescribe +gaming to their patients, in order to keep their minds free from business +and thought, that their waters on an undisturbed mind may have the +greater effect, when indeed one cross-throw at play must sour a man's +blood more than ten glasses of water will sweeten, especially for such +great sums as they throw for every day at Bath. + +The King and Queen's Baths, which have a communication with one another, +are the baths which people of common rank go into promiscuously; and +indeed everybody, except the first quality. The way of going into them +is very comical: a chair with a couple of chairmen come to your bedside +(lie in what storey you will), and there strip you, and give you their +dress without your shift, and wrapping you up in blankets carry you to +the bath. + +When you enter the bath, the water seems very warm; and the heat much +increases as you go into the Queen's Bath, where the great spring rises. +On a column erected over the spring is an inscription of the first finder- +out of these springs, in the following words: that "Bladud, the son of +Lud, found them three hundred years before Christ." The smoke and slime +of the waters, the promiscuous multitude of the people in the bath, with +nothing but their heads and hands above water, with the height of the +walls that environ the bath, gave me a lively idea of several pictures I +had seen, of Angelo's in Italy of Purgatory, with heads and hands +uplifted in the midst of smoke, just as they are here. After bathing, +you are carried home in your chair, in the same manner you came. + +The Cross Bath, which is used by the people of the first quality, was +beautified and inclosed for the convenience of the late King James's +queen, who after the priests and physicians had been at work to procure a +male successor to the throne of Great Britain, the Sacrament exposed in +all the Roman Catholic countries, and for that end a sanctified smock +sent from the Virgin Mary at Loretto, the queen was ordered to go to Bath +and prepare herself, and the king to make a progress through the western +counties and join her there. On his arrival at Bath, the next day after +his conjunction with the queen, the Earl of Melfort (then Secretary of +State for Scotland) erected a fine prophetic monument in the middle of +the Bath, as an everlasting monument of that conjunction. I call it +"prophetic," because nine months after a Prince of Wales was born. This +monument is still entire and handsome, only some of the inscriptions on +the pillar were erased in King William's time. The angels attending the +Holy Ghost as He descends, the Eucharist, the Pillar, and all the +ornaments are of fine marble, and must have cost that earl a great deal +of money. He was second son to Drummond, Earl of Perth, in North +Britain; and was Deputy Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh when the Duke +and Duchess of York came to Scotland, in King Charles the Second's time. +He was a handsome gentleman, with a good address, and went into all the +measures of that court, and at all their balls generally danced with the +duchess; who, on their accession to the throne, sent for him up to +London, made him Secretary of State for Scotland, created him Earl of +Melfort, and Knight of the Order of St. Andrew. His elder brother was +also made Chancellor and Governor of Scotland. And on King James's +abdication, as the two brothers followed the king's fortunes, the Earl of +Perth was made governor to the young prince; and Melfort was created a +duke, had the Garter, and was a great man in France to his dying day. + +There is another bath for lepers. + +The cathedral church is small but well lighted. There are abundance of +little monuments in it of people who come there for their health, but +meet with their death. + +These waters have a wonderful influence on barren ladies, who often prove +with child even in their husbands' absence; who must not come near them +till their bodies are prepared. + +Everything looks gay and serene here; it is plentiful and cheap. Only +the taverns do not much improve, for it is a place of universal sobriety. +To be drunk at Bath is as scandalous as mad. Common women are not to be +met with here so much as at Tunbridge and Epsom. Whether it is the +distance from London, or that the gentlemen fly at the highest game, I +cannot tell; besides, everything that passes here is known on the walks, +and the characters of persons. + +In three hours one arrives from Bath at Bristol, a large, opulent, and +fine city; but, notwithstanding its nearness, by the different manners of +the people seems to be another country. Instead of that politeness and +gaiety which you see at Bath, here is nothing but hurry--carts driving +along with merchandises, and people running about with cloudy looks and +busy faces. When I came to the Exchange I was surprised to see it +planted round with stone pillars, with broad boss-plates on them like sun- +dials, and coats-of-arms with inscriptions on every plate. + +They told me that these pillars were erected by eminent merchants for the +benefit of writing and despatching their affairs on them, as on tables; +and at 'Change time the merchants take each their stands by their +pillars, that masters of ships and owners may know where to find them. + +Coffee-houses and taverns lie round the 'Change, just as at London; and +the Bristol milk, which is Spanish sherry (nowhere so good as here), is +plentifully drunk. + +The city of Bristol is situated much like Verona, in Italy. A river runs +through almost the middle of it, on which there is a fine stone bridge. +The quay may be made the finest, largest, and longest in the world by +pulling down an old house or two. Behind the quay is a very noble +square, as large as that of Soho in London, in which is kept the Custom +House; and most of the eminent merchants who keep their coaches reside +here. The cathedral is on the other side of the river, on the top of the +hill, and is the meanest I have seen in England. But the square or green +adjoining to it has several fine houses, and makes by its situation, in +my opinion, much the pleasantest part of the town. There are some +churches in the city finer than the cathedral, and your merchants have +their little country-seats in the adjacent eminences; of which that of +Mr. Southwell hath a very commanding prospect, both of the city, the +River Severn, and the shipping that lies below. + +There are hot springs near Bristol that are also very much frequented, +and are reckoned to be better than the Bath for some distempers. + +A traveller when he comes to the Bath must never fail of seeing +Badminton, belonging to the Dukes of Beaufort; nor Longleat, belonging to +my Lord Weymouth. They are both within a few miles of the Bath. King +William, when he took Badminton in his way from Ireland, told the duke +that he was not surprised at his not coming to court, having so sumptuous +a palace to keep a court of his own in. And indeed the apartments are +inferior to few royal palaces. The parks are large, and enclosed with a +stone wall; and that duke, whom I described to you in my letter from +Windsor, lived up to the grandeur of a sovereign prince. His grandson, +who was also Knight of the Garter, made a great figure in the reign of +Queen Anne. The family, which is a natural branch of the house of +Lancaster, have always distinguished themselves of the Tory side. The +present duke is under age. + +Longleat, though an old seat, is very beautiful and large; and the +gardens and avenue, being full-grown, are very beautiful and well kept. +It cost the late Lord Weymouth a good revenue in hospitality to such +strangers as came from Bath to see it. + +The biggest and most regular house in England was built near Bristol by +the late Lord Stawell; but it being judged by his heirs to be too big for +the estate, they are pulling it down and selling the materials. + +As the weather grows good, I shall proceed through South Wales to +Chester, from whence you shall soon hear from me, who am without reserve, +sir, your most humble, &c. + + + +FROM CHESTER TO HOLYHEAD. + + +_Chester_. + +SIR, + +I crossed the Severn at the ferry of Ash, about ten miles above Bristol, +and got to Monmouth to dinner through a rugged, indifferent country. It +is a pitiful old town, and hath nothing remarkable in it; and from thence +through a fat fertile country I got to the city of Hereford at night. + +Hereford is the dirtiest old city I have seen in England, yet pretty +large; the streets are irregular and the houses old, and its cathedral a +reverend old pile, but not beautiful; the niches of the walls of the +church are adorned with the figures of its bishops as big as the life, in +a cumbent posture, with the year of their interments newly painted over. +Some of them are in the twelve hundredth year of Christ. Here they drink +nothing but cider, which is very cheap and very good; and the very hedges +in the country are planted with apple-trees. About three miles from +Hereford in my road to Ludlow I saw a fine old seat called Hampton Court, +belonging to my Lord Coningsby. The plantations on rising grounds round +it give an august splendour to the house, which consists of an oval court +with suitable offices, not unlike an house belonging to the Duke of +Somerset near London; and from thence in a few hours I arrived at Ludlow, +the capital of South Wales, and where the Princes of Wales formerly, and +since them the Presidents of Wales, kept their courts. + +Ludlow is one of the neatest, clean, pretty towns in England. The street +by which you enter the town is spacious, with handsome houses +sash-windowed on each side, which leads you by an ascent to the castle on +the left of the top of the hill, and the church on the right, from whence +there runs also another handsome street. The castle hath a very +commanding prospect of the adjacent country; the offices in the outer +court are falling down, and a great part of the court is turned into a +bowling-green; but the royal apartments in the castle, with some old +velvet furniture and a sword of state, are still left. There is also a +neat little chapel; but the vanity of the Welsh gentry when they were +made councillors has spoiled it by adorning it with their names and arms, +of which it is full. + +A small expense would still make this castle a habitable and beautiful +place, lying high, and overlooking a fine country; there is also a fine +prospect from the churchyard, and the church is very neat. I saw +abundance of pretty ladies here, and well dressed, who came from the +adjacent counties, for the convenience and cheapness of boarding. +Provisions of all sorts are extremely plentiful and cheap here, and very +good company. + +I stayed some days here, to make an excursion into South Wales and know a +little of the manners of the country, as I design to do at Chester for +North Wales. The gentry are very numerous, exceedingly civil to +strangers, if you don't come to purchase and make your abode amongst +them. They live much like Gascoynes--affecting their own language, +valuing themselves much on the antiquity of their families, and are proud +of making entertainments. + +The Duke of Powis, of the name of Herbert, hath a noble seat near this +town, but I was not at it; the family followed King James's fortunes to +France, and I suppose the seat lies neglected. From Ludlow in a short +day's riding through a champaign country I arrived at the town of +Shrewsbury. + +Shrewsbury stands upon an eminence, encircled by the Severn like a horse- +shoe; the streets are large, and the houses well built. My Lord Newport, +son to the Earl of Bradford, hath a handsome palace, with hanging gardens +down to the river; as also Mr. Kinnaston, and some other gentlemen. There +is a good town-house, and the most coffee-houses round it that ever I saw +in any town; but when you come into them, they are but ale-houses (only +they think that the name of coffee-house gives a better air). King +Charles would have made them a city, but they chose rather to remain a +corporation, as they are, for which they were called the "proud +Salopians." There is a great deal of good company in this town, for the +convenience of cheapness; and there are assemblies and balls for the +young ladies once a week. The Earl of Bradford and several others have +handsome seats near it; from hence I came to Wrexham, in Wales, a +beautiful market-town; the church is the beautifullest country church in +England, and surpasses some cathedrals. I counted fifty-two statues as +big as the life in the steeple or tower, which is built after the manner +of your Dutch steeples, and as high as any there. I was there on a +market-day, and was particularly pleased to see the Welsh ladies come to +market in their laced hats, their own hair hanging round their shoulders, +and blue and scarlet cloaks like our Amazons--some of them with a +greyhound in a string in their hands. + +Whitchurch, near it, hath a fine church, built by the Earl of Bridgwater; +and so to Chester, an ancient and large city, with a commanding castle. +The city consists of four large streets, which make an exact cross, with +the town-house and Exchange in the middle; but you don't walk the streets +here, but in galleries up one pair of stairs, which keeps you from the +rain in winter, and sun in summer; and the houses and shops, with +gardens, go all off these galleries, which they call rows. The city is +walled round, and the wall so firmly paved that it gives you an agreeable +prospect of the country and river, as you walk upon it. The churches are +very neat, and the cathedral an august old pile; there is an ancient +monument of an Emperor of Germany, with assemblies every week. While I +continued at Chester, I made an excursion into North Wales, and went into +Denbigh, the capital of that country, where are the remains of a very +great and old castle, as is also at Flint, the capital of Flintshire. +These castles were the frontier garrisons of Wales before it came under +the subjection of England. The country is mountainous, and full of iron +and lead works; and here they begin to differ from the English both in +language and dress. + +From Flint, along the seaside, in three hours I arrived at the famous +cold bath called St. Winifred's Well; and the town from thence called +Holywell is a pretty large well-built village, in the middle of a grove, +in a bottom between, two hills. The well is in the foot of one of the +hills, and spouts out about the bigness of a barrel at once, with such +force that it turns three or four mills before it falls into the sea. The +well where you bathe is floored with stone surrounded with pillars, on +which stands a neat little chapel dedicated to St. Winifred, but now +turned into a Protestant school. However, to supply the loss of this +chapel, the Roman Catholics have chapels erected almost in every inn for +the devotion of the pilgrims that flock hither from all the Popish parts +of England. The water, you may imagine, is very cold, coming from the +bowels of an iron mountain, and never having met with the influence of +the sun till it runs from the well. + +The legend of St. Winifred is too long and ridiculous for a letter; I +leave you to Dr. Fleetwood (when Bishop of St. Asaph) for its +description. I will only tell you, in two words, that this St. Winifred +was a beautiful damsel that lived on the top of the hill; that a prince +of the country fell deeply in love with her; that coming one day when her +parents were abroad, and she resisting his passion, turned into rage, and +as she was flying from him cut off her head, which rolled down the hill +with her body, and at the place where it stopped gushed out this well of +water. But there was also a good hermit that lived at the bottom of the +hill, who immediately claps her head to her body, and by the force of the +water and his prayers she recovered, and lived to perform many miracles +for many years after. They give you her printed litanies at the well. +And I observed the Roman Catholics in their prayers, not with eyes lifted +up to heaven, but intent upon the water, as if it were the real blood of +St. Winifred that was to wash them clean from all their sins. + +In every inn you meet with a priest, habited like country gentlemen, and +very good companions. At the "Cross Keys," where I lodged, there was one +that had been marked out to me, to whom I was particularly civil at +supper; but finding by my conversation I was none of them, he drank and +swore like a dragoon, on purpose, as I imagine, to disguise himself. From +Holywell in two hours I came to a handsome seat of Sir John Conway's at +Redland, and next day to Conway. + +I do not know any place in Europe that would make a finer landscape in a +picture than Conway at a mile's distance. It lies on the side of a hill, +on the banks of an arm of the sea about the breadth of the Thames at +London, and within two little miles of the sea, over which we ferry to go +to the town. + +The town is walled round, with thirty watch-towers at proper distances on +the walls; and the castle with its towers, being very white, makes an +august show at a distance, being surrounded with little hills on both +sides of the bay or river, covered with wood. But when you cross the +ferry and come into the town, there is nothing but poverty and misery. +The castle is a heap of rubbish uncovered, and these towers on the walls +only standing vestiges of what Wales was when they had a prince of their +own. + +They speak all Welsh here, and if a stranger should lose his way in this +county of Carnarvon, it is ten to one if he meets with any one that has +English enough to set him right. The people are also naturally very +surly, and even if they understand English, if you ask them a question +their answer is, "Dame Salsenach," or "I cannot speak Saxon or English." +Their Bibles and prayer-books are all printed in Welsh in our character; +so that an Englishman can read their language, although he doth not +understand a word of it. It hath a great resemblance of the Bas-Bretons, +but they retain the letter and character as well as language, as the +Scots and Highlanders do. + +They retain several Popish customs in North Wales, for on Sunday (after +morning service) the whole parish go to football till the afternoon +service begins, and then they go to the ale-house and play at all manner +of games (which ale-house is often kept by the parson, for their livings +are very small). + +They have also offerings at funerals, which is one of the greatest +perquisites the parson hath. When the body is deposited in the church +during the service for the dead, every person invited to the burial lays +a piece of money upon the altar to defray the dead person's charges to +the other world, which, after the ceremony is over, the parson puts in +his pocket. From Conway, through the mountainous country of Carnarvon, I +passed the famous mountain of Penmaen-Mawr, so dreadfully related by +passengers travelling to Ireland. It is a road cut out of the side of +the rock, seven feet wide; the sea lies perpendicularly down, about forty +fathoms on one side, and the mountain is about the same height above it +on the other side. It looks dismal, but not at all dangerous, for there +is now a wall breast-high along the precipice. However, there is an ale- +house at the bottom of the hill on the other side, with this inscription, +"Now your fright is over, take a dram." From hence I proceeded to a +little town called Bangor, where there is a cathedral such as may be +expected in Wales; and from thence to Carnarvon, the capital of the +county. Here are the vestiges of a large old castle, where one of the +Henrys, King of England, was born; as was another at Monmouth, in South +Wales. For the Welsh were so hard to be reconciled to their union with +England at first, it was thought policy to send our queens to lie-in +there, to make our princes Welshmen born, and that way ingratiate the +inhabitants to their subjection to a prince born in their own country. +And for that reason our kings to this day wear a leek (the badge of +Wales) on St. David's Day, the patron of this country; as they do the +Order of the Thistle on St. Andrew's Day, the patron of Scotland. + +Carnarvon is a pretty little town, situated in the bottom of a bay, and +might be a place of good trade, if the country afforded a consumption. + +The sea flows quite round from Bangor to Carnarvon Bay, which separates +Anglesea from the rest of Wales, and makes it an island. Beaumaris, the +capital of the island, hath been a flourishing town; there are still two +very good streets, and the remains of a very large castle. The Lord +Bulkeley hath a noble ancient seat planted with trees on the side of the +hill above the town, from whence one hath a fine prospect of the bay and +adjacent country; the church is very handsome, and there are some fine +ancient monuments of that family and some Knights Templars in it. The +family of Bulkeley keep in their family a large silver goblet, with which +they entertain their friends, with an inscription round relating to the +royal family when in distress, which is often remembered by the +neighbouring gentry, whose affections run very much that way all over +Wales. + +I went from hence to Glengauny, the ancient residence of Owen Tudor, but +now belongs to the Bulkeleys, and to be sold. It is a good old house, +and I believe never was larger. There is a vulgar error in this country +that Owen Tudor was married to a Queen of England, and that the house of +York took that surname from him; whereas the Queen of England that was +married to him was a daughter of the King of France and dowager of +England, and had no relation to the Crown; he had indeed two daughters by +her, that were married into English noble families--to one of which Henry +VII. was related. But Owen Tudor was neither of the blood of the Princes +of Wales himself, nor gave descent to that of the English. He was a +private gentleman, of about 3,000 pounds a year, who came to seek his +fortune at the English court, and the queen fell in love with him. + +I was invited to a cock-match some miles from Glengauny, where were above +forty gentlemen, most of them of the names of Owen, Parry, and Griffith; +they fought near twenty battles, and every battle a cock was killed. +Their cocks are doubtless the finest in the world; and the gentlemen, +after they were a little heated with liquor, were as warm as their cocks. +A great deal of bustle and noise grew by degrees after dinner was over; +but their scolding was all in Welsh, and civilities in English. We had a +very great dinner; and the house (called The College) where we dined was +built very comically; it is four storeys high, built on the side of a +hill, and the stable is in the garret. There is a broad stone staircase +on the outside of the house, by which you enter into the several +apartments. The kitchen is at the bottom of the hill, a bedchamber above +that, the parlour (where we dined) is the third storey, and on the top of +the hill is the stable. + +From hence I stepped over to Holyhead, where the packet-boats arrive from +Ireland. It is a straggling, confused heap of thatched houses built on +rocks; yet within doors there are in several of them very good +accommodation for passengers, both in lodging and diet. + +The packet-boats from Dublin arrive thrice a week, and are larger than +those to Holland and France, fitted with all conveniences for passengers; +and indeed St. George's Channel requires large ships in winter, the wind +being generally very boisterous in these narrow seas. + +On my return to Chester I passed over the mountain called Penmaen Ross, +where I saw plainly a part of Ireland, Scotland, England, and the Isle of +Man all at once. + +* * * * * + +Printed by Cassell & Company, Limited, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM LONDON TO LAND'S END*** + + +******* This file should be named 1149.txt or 1149.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/1/4/1149 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Price +ccx074@coventry.ac.uk, from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition. + + + + + +From London to Land's End + + + + +Sir, + +I find so much left to speak of, and so many things to say in every +part of England, that my journey cannot be barren of intelligence +which way soever I turn; no, though I were to oblige myself to say +nothing of anything that had been spoken of before. + +I intended once to have gone due west this journey; but then I +should have been obliged to crowd my observations so close (to +bring Hampton Court, Windsor, Blenheim, Oxford, the Bath and +Bristol all into one letter; all those remarkable places lying in a +line, as it were, in one point of the compass) as to have made my +letter too long, or my observations too light and superficial, as +others have done before me. + +This letter will divide the weighty task, and consequently make it +sit lighter on the memory, be pleasanter to the reader, and make my +progress the more regular: I shall therefore take in Hampton Court +and Windsor in this journey; the first at my setting out, and the +last at my return, and the rest as their situation demands. + +As I came down from Kingston, in my last circuit, by the south bank +of the Thames, on the Surrey side of the river; so I go up to +Hampton Court now on the north bank, and on the Middlesex side, +which I mention, because, as the sides of the country bordering on +the river lie parallel, so the beauty of the country, the pleasant +situations, the glory of innumerable fine buildings (noblemen's and +gentlemen's houses, and citizens' retreats), are so equal a match +to what I had described on the other side that one knows not which +to give the preference to: but as I must speak of them again, when +I come to write of the county of Middlesex, which I have now +purposely omitted; so I pass them over here, except the palace of +Hampton only, which I mentioned in "Middlesex," for the reasons +above. + +Hampton Court lies on the north bank of the River Thames, about two +small miles from Kingston, and on the road from Staines to Kingston +Bridge; so that the road straightening the parks a little, they +were obliged to part the parks, and leave the Paddock and the great +park part on the other side the road--a testimony of that just +regard that the kings of England always had, and still have, to the +common good, and to the service of the country, that they would not +interrupt the course of the road, or cause the poor people to go +out of the way of their business to or from the markets and fairs, +for any pleasure of their own whatsoever. + +The palace of Hampton Court was first founded and built from the +ground by that great statesman and favourite of King Henry VIII, +Cardinal Wolsey; and if it be a just observation anywhere, as is +made from the situation of the old abbeys and monasteries, the +clergy were excellent judges of the beauty and pleasantness of the +country, and chose always to plant in the best; I say, if it was a +just observation in any case, it was in this; for if there be a +situation on the whole river between Staines Bridge and Windsor +Bridge pleasanter than another, it is this of Hampton; close to the +river, yet not offended by the rising of its waters in floods or +storms; near to the reflux of the tides, but not quite so near as +to be affected with any foulness of the water which the flowing of +the tides generally is the occasion of. The gardens extend almost +to the bank of the river, yet are never overflowed; nor are there +any marshes on either side the river to make the waters stagnate, +or the air unwholesome on that account. The river is high enough +to be navigable, and low enough to be a little pleasantly rapid; so +that the stream looks always cheerful, not slow and sleeping, like +a pond. This keeps the waters always clear and clean, the bottom +in view, the fish playing and in sight; and, in a word, it has +everything that can make an inland (or, as I may call it, a +country) river pleasant and agreeable. + +I shall sing you no songs here of the river in the first person of +a water-nymph, a goddess, and I know not what, according to the +humour of the ancient poets; I shall talk nothing of the marriage +of old Isis, the male river, with the beautiful Thame, the female +river (a whimsey as simple as the subject was empty); but I shall +speak of the river as occasion presents, as it really is made +glorious by the splendour of its shores, gilded with noble palaces, +strong fortifications, large hospitals, and public buildings; with +the greatest bridge, and the greatest city in the world, made +famous by the opulence of its merchants, the increase and +extensiveness of its commerce; by its invincible navies, and by the +innumerable fleets of ships sailing upon it to and from all parts +of the world. + +As I meet with the river upwards in my travels through the inland +country I shall speak of it, as it is the channel for conveying an +infinite quantity of provisions from remote counties to London, and +enriching all the counties again that lie near it by the return of +wealth and trade from the city; and in describing these things I +expect both to inform and divert my readers, and speak in a more +masculine manner, more to the dignity of the subject, and also more +to their satisfaction, than I could do any other way. + +There is little more to be said of the Thames relating to Hampton +Court, than that it adds by its neighbourhood to the pleasure of +the situation; for as to passing by water to and from London, +though in summer it is exceeding pleasant, yet the passage is a +little too long to make it easy to the ladies, especially to be +crowded up in the small boats which usually go upon the Thames for +pleasure. + +The prince and princess, indeed, I remember came once down by water +upon the occasion of her Royal Highness's being great with child, +and near her time--so near that she was delivered within two or +three days after. But this passage being in the royal barges, with +strength of oars, and the day exceeding fine, the passage, I say, +was made very pleasant, and still the more so for being short. +Again, this passage is all the way with the stream, whereas in the +common passage upwards great part of the way is against the stream, +which is slow and heavy. + +But be the going and coming how it will by water, it is an +exceeding pleasant passage by land, whether we go by the Surrey +side or the Middlesex side of the water, of which I shall say more +in its place. + +The situation of Hampton Court being thus mentioned, and its +founder, it is to be mentioned next that it fell to the Crown in +the forfeiture of his Eminence the Cardinal, when the king seized +his effects and estate, by which this and Whitehall (another house +of his own building also) came to King Henry VIII. Two palaces fit +for the kings of England, erected by one cardinal, are standing +monuments of the excessive pride as well as the immense wealth of +that prelate, who knew no bounds of his insolence and ambition till +he was overthrown at once by the displeasure of his master. + +Whoever knew Hampton Court before it was begun to be rebuilt, or +altered, by the late King William, must acknowledge it was a very +complete palace before, and fit for a king; and though it might +not, according to the modern method of building or of gardening, +pass for a thing exquisitely fine, yet it had this remaining to +itself, and perhaps peculiar--namely, that it showed a situation +exceedingly capable of improvement, and of being made one of the +most delightful palaces in Europe. + +This her Majesty Queen Mary was so sensible of, that, while the +king had ordered the pulling down the old apartments, and building +it up in that most beautiful form which we see them now appear in, +her Majesty, impatient of enjoying so agreeable a retreat, fixed +upon a building formerly made use of chiefly for landing from the +river, and therefore called the Water Galley, and here, as if she +had been conscious that she had but a few years to enjoy it, she +ordered all the little neat curious things to be done which suited +her own conveniences, and made it the pleasantest little thing +within doors that could possibly be made, though its situation +being such as it could not be allowed to stand after the great +building was finished, we now see no remains of it. + +The queen had here her gallery of beauties, being the pictures at +full-length of the principal ladies attending upon her Majesty, or +who were frequently in her retinue; and this was the more beautiful +sight because the originals were all in being, and often to be +compared with their pictures. Her Majesty had here a fine +apartment, with a set of lodgings for her private retreat only, but +most exquisitely furnished, particularly a fine chintz bed, then a +great curiosity; another of her own work while in Holland, very +magnificent, and several others; and here was also her Majesty's +fine collection of Delft ware, which indeed was very large and +fine; and here was also a vast stock of fine china ware, the like +whereof was not then to be seen in England; the long gallery, as +above, was filled with this china, and every other place where it +could be placed with advantage. + +The queen had here also a small bathing-room, made very fine, +suited either to hot or cold bathing, as the season should invite; +also a dairy, with all its conveniences, in which her Majesty took +great delight. All these things were finished with expedition, +that here their Majesties might repose while they saw the main +building go forward. While this was doing, the gardens were laid +out, the plan of them devised by the king himself, and especially +the amendments and alterations were made by the king or the queen's +particular special command, or by both, for their Majesties agreed +so well in their fancy, and had both so good judgment in the just +proportions of things, which are the principal beauties of a +garden, that it may be said they both ordered everything that was +done. + +Here the fine parcel of limes which form the semicircle on the +south front of the house by the iron gates, looking into the park, +were by the dexterous hand of the head gardener removed, after some +of them had been almost thirty years planted in other places, +though not far off. I know the King of France in the decoration of +the gardens of Versailles had oaks removed, which by their +dimensions must have been above an hundred years old, and yet were +taken up with so much art, and by the strength of such engines, by +which such a monstrous quantity of earth was raised with them, that +the trees could not feel their remove--that is to say, their growth +was not at all hindered. This, I confess, makes the wonder much +the less in those trees at Hampton Court gardens; but the +performance was not the less difficult or nice, however, in these, +and they thrive perfectly well. + +While the gardens were thus laid out, the king also directed the +laying the pipes for the fountains and JET-D'EAUX, and particularly +the dimensions of them, and what quantity of water they should cast +up, and increased the number of them after the first design. + +The ground on the side of the other front has received some +alterations since the taking down the Water Galley; but not that +part immediately next the lodgings. The orange-trees and fine +Dutch bays are placed within the arches of the building under the +first floor; so that the lower part of the house was all one as a +greenhouse for sometime. Here stand advanced, on two pedestals of +stone, two marble vases or flower-pots of most exquisite +workmanship--the one done by an Englishman, and the other by a +German. It is hard to say which is the best performance, though +the doing of it was a kind of trial of skill between them; but it +gives us room, without any partiality, to say they were both +masters of their art. + +The PARTERRE on that side descends from the terrace-walk by steps, +and on the left a terrace goes down to the water-side, from which +the garden on the eastward front is overlooked, and gives a most +pleasant prospect. + +The fine scrolls and BORDURE of these gardens were at first edged +with box, but on the queen's disliking the smell those edgings were +taken up, but have since been planted again--at least, in many +places--nothing making so fair and regular an edging as box, or is +so soon brought to its perfection. + +On the north side of the house, where the gardens seemed to want +screening from the weather or the view of the chapel, and some part +of the old building required to be covered from the eye, the vacant +ground, which was large, is very happily cast into a wilderness, +with a labyrinth and ESPALIERS so high that they effectually take +off all that part of the old building which would have been +offensive to the sight. This labyrinth and wilderness is not only +well designed, and completely finished, but is perfectly well kept, +and the ESPALIERS filled exactly at bottom, to the very ground, and +are led up to proportioned heights on the top, so that nothing of +that kind can be more beautiful. + +The house itself is every way answerable on the outside to the +beautiful prospect, and the two fronts are the largest and, beyond +comparison, the finest of the kind in England. The great stairs go +up from the second court of the palace on the right hand, and lead +you to the south prospect. + +I hinted in my last that King William brought into England the love +of fine paintings as well as that of fine gardens; and you have an +example of it in the cartoons, as they are called, being five +pieces of such paintings as, if you will believe men of nice +judgment and great travelling, are not to be matched in Europe. +The stories are known, but especially two of them--viz., that of +St. Paul preaching on Mars Hill to the self-wise Athenians, and +that of St. Peter passing sentence of death on Ananias--I say, +these two strike the mind with the utmost surprise, the passions +are so drawn to the life; astonishment, terror, and death in the +face of Ananias, zeal and a sacred fire in the eyes of the blessed +Apostle, fright and surprise upon the countenances of the beholders +in the piece of Ananias; all these describe themselves so naturally +that you cannot but seem to discover something of the like +passions, even in seeing them. + +In the other there is the boldness and courage with which St. Paul +undertook to talk to a set of men who, he knew, despised all the +world, as thinking themselves able to teach them anything. In the +audience there is anticipating pride and conceit in some, a smile +or fleer of contempt in others, but a kind of sensible conviction, +though crushed in its beginning, on the faces of the rest; and all +together appear confounded, but have little to say, and know +nothing at all of it; they gravely put him off to hear him another +time; all these are seen here in the very dress of the face--that +is, the very countenances which they hold while they listen to the +new doctrine which the Apostle preached to a people at that time +ignorant of it. + +The other of the cartoons are exceeding fine but I mention these as +the particular two which are most lively, which strike the fancy +the soonest at first view. It is reported, but with what truth I +know not, that the late French king offered an hundred thousand +LOUIS D'ORS for these pictures; but this, I say, is but a report. +The king brought a great many other fine pieces to England, and +with them the love of fine paintings so universally spread itself +among the nobility and persons of figure all over the kingdom that +it is incredible what collections have been made by English +gentlemen since that time, and how all Europe has been rummaged, as +we may say, for pictures to bring over hither, where for twenty +years they yielded the purchasers, such as collected them for sale, +immense profit. But the rates are abated since that, and we begin +to be glutted with the copies and frauds of the Dutch and Flemish +painters who have imposed grossly upon us. But to return to the +palace of Hampton Court. Queen Mary lived not to see it completely +finished, and her death, with the other difficulties of that reign, +put a stop to the works for some time till the king, reviving his +good liking of the place, set them to work again, and it was +finished as we see it. But I have been assured that had the peace +continued, and the king lived to enjoy the continuance of it, his +Majesty had resolved to have pulled down all the remains of the old +building (such as the chapel and the large court within the first +gate), and to have built up the whole palace after the manner of +those two fronts already done. In these would have been an entire +set of rooms of state for the receiving and, if need had been, +lodging and entertaining any foreign prince with his retinue; also +offices for all the Secretaries of State, Lords of the Treasury, +and of Trade, to have repaired to for the despatch of such business +as it might be necessary to have done there upon the king's longer +residence there than ordinary; as also apartments for all the great +officers of the Household; so that had the house had two great +squares added, as was designed, there would have been no room to +spare, or that would not have been very well filled. But the +king's death put an end to all these things. + +Since the death of King William, Hampton Court seemed abandoned of +its patron. They have gotten a kind of proverbial saying relating +to Hampton Court, viz., that it has been generally chosen by every +other prince since it became a house of note. King Charles was the +first that delighted in it since Queen Elizabeth's time. As for +the reigns before, it was but newly forfeited to the Crown, and was +not made a royal house till King Charles I., who was not only a +prince that delighted in country retirements, but knew how to make +choice of them by the beauty of their situation, the goodness of +the air, &c. He took great delight here, and, had he lived to +enjoy it in peace, had purposed to make it another thing than it +was. But we all know what took him off from that felicity, and all +others; and this house was at last made one of his prisons by his +rebellious subjects. + +His son, King Charles II., may well be said to have an aversion to +the place, for the reason just mentioned--namely, the treatment his +royal father met with there--and particularly that the rebel and +murderer of his father, Cromwell, afterwards possessed this palace, +and revelled here in the blood of the royal party, as he had done +in that of his sovereign. King Charles II. therefore chose +Windsor, and bestowed a vast sum in beautifying the castle there, +and which brought it to the perfection we see it in at this day-- +some few alterations excepted, done in the time of King William. + +King William (for King James is not to be named as to his choice of +retired palaces, his delight running quite another way)--I say, +King William fixed upon Hampton Court, and it was in his reign that +Hampton Court put on new clothes, and, being dressed gay and +glorious, made the figure we now see it in. + +The late queen, taken up for part of her reign in her kind regards +to the prince her spouse, was obliged to reside where her care of +his health confined her, and in this case kept for the most part at +Kensington, where he died; but her Majesty always discovered her +delight to be at Windsor, where she chose the little house, as it +was called, opposite to the Castle, and took the air in her chaise +in the parks and forest as she saw occasion. + +Now Hampton Court, by the like alternative, is come into request +again; and we find his present Majesty, who is a good judge too of +the pleasantness and situation of a place of that kind, has taken +Hampton Court into his favour, and has made it much his choice for +the summer's retreat of the Court, and where they may best enjoy +the diversions of the season. When Hampton Court will find such +another favourable juncture as in King William's time, when the +remainder of her ashes shall be swept away, and her complete +fabric, as designed by King William, shall be finished, I cannot +tell; but if ever that shall be, I know no palace in Europe, +Versailles excepted, which can come up to her, either for beauty +and magnificence, or for extent of building, and the ornaments +attending it. + +From Hampton Court I directed my course for a journey into the +south-west part of England; and to take up my beginning where I +concluded my last, I crossed to Chertsey on the Thames, a town I +mentioned before; from whence, crossing the Black Desert, as I +called it, of Bagshot Heath, I directed my course for Hampshire or +Hantshire, and particularly for Basingstoke--that is to say, that a +little before, I passed into the great Western Road upon the heath, +somewhat west of Bagshot, at a village called Blackwater, and +entered Hampshire, near Hartleroe. + +Before we reach Basingstoke, we get rid of that unpleasant country +which I so often call a desert, and enter into a pleasant fertile +country, enclosed and cultivated like the rest of England; and +passing a village or two we enter Basingstoke, in the midst of +woods and pastures, rich and fertile, and the country accordingly +spread with the houses of the nobility and gentry, as in other +places. On the right hand, a little before we come to the town, we +pass at a small distance the famous fortress, so it was then, of +Basing, being a house belonging then to the Marquis of Winchester, +the great ancestor of the present family of the Dukes of Bolton. + +This house, garrisoned by a resolute band of old soldiers, was a +great curb to the rebels of the Parliament party almost through +that whole war; till it was, after a vigorous defence, yielded to +the conquerors by the inevitable fate of things at that time. The +old house is, indeed, demolished but the successor of the family, +the first Duke of Bolton, has erected a very noble fabric in the +same place, or near it, which, however, is not equal to the +magnificence which fame gives to the ancient house, whose strength +of building only, besides the outworks, withstood the battery of +cannon in several attacks, and repulsed the Roundheads three or +four times when they attempted to besiege it. It is incredible +what booty the garrison of this place picked up, lying as they did +just on the great Western Road, where they intercepted the +carriers, plundered the waggons, and suffered nothing to pass--to +the great interruption of the trade of the city of London, + +Basingstoke is a large populous market-town, has a good market for +corn, and lately within a very few years is fallen into a +manufacture, viz., of making druggets and shalloons, and such +slight goods, which, however, employs a good number of the poor +people, and enables them to get their bread, which knew not how to +get it before. + +From hence the great Western Road goes on to Whitchurch and +Andover, two market-towns, and sending members to Parliament; at +the last of which the Downs, or open country, begins, which we in +general, though falsely, call Salisbury Plain. But my resolution +being to take in my view what I had passed by before, I was obliged +to go off to the left hand, to Alresford and Winchester. + +Alresford was a flourishing market-town, and remarkable for this-- +that though it had no great trade, and particularly very little, if +any, manufactures, yet there was no collection in the town for the +poor, nor any poor low enough to take alms of the parish, which is +what I do not think can be said of any town in England besides. + +But this happy circumstance, which so distinguished Alresford from +all her neighbours, was brought to an end in the year -, when by a +sudden and surprising fire the whole town, with both the church and +the market-house, was reduced to a heap of rubbish; and, except a +few poor huts at the remotest ends of the town, not a house left +standing. The town is since that very handsomely rebuilt, and the +neighbouring gentlemen contributed largely to the relief of the +people, especially by sending in timber towards their building; +also their market-house is handsomely built, but the church not +yet, though we hear there is a fund raising likewise for that. + +Here is a very large pond, or lake of water, kept up to a head by a +strong BATTER D'EAU, or dam, which the people tell us was made by +the Romans; and that it is to this day part of the great Roman +highway which leads from Winchester to Alton, and, as it is +supposed, went on to London, though we nowhere see any remains of +it, except between Winchester and Alton, and chiefly between this +town and Alton. + +Near this town, a little north-west, the Duke of Bolton has another +seat, which, though not large, is a very handsome beautiful palace, +and the gardens not only very exact, but very finely situate, the +prospect and vistas noble and great, and the whole very well kept. + +From hence, at the end of seven miles over the Downs, we come to +the very ancient city of Winchester; not only the great church +(which is so famous all over Europe, and has been so much talked +of), but even the whole city has at a distance the face of +venerable, and looks ancient afar off; and yet here are many modern +buildings too, and some very handsome; as the college schools, with +the bishop's palace, built by Bishop Morley since the late wars-- +the old palace of the bishop having been ruined by that known +church incendiary Sir William Waller and his crew of plunderers, +who, if my information is not wrong, as I believe it is not, +destroyed more monuments of the dead, and defaced more churches, +than all the Roundheads in England beside. + +This church, and the schools also are accurately described by +several writers, especially by the "Monasticon," where their +antiquity and original is fully set forth. The outside of the +church is as plain and coarse as if the founders had abhorred +ornaments, or that William of Wickham had been a Quaker, or at +least a Quietist. There is neither statue, nor a niche for a +statue, to be seen on all the outside; no carved work, no spires, +towers, pinnacles, balustrades, or anything; but mere walls, +buttresses, windows, and coigns necessary to the support and order +of the building. It has no steeple, but a short tower covered +flat, as if the top of it had fallen down, and it had been covered +in haste to keep the rain out till they had time to build it up +again. + +But the inside of the church has many very good things in it, and +worth observation; it was for some ages the burying-place of the +English Saxon kings, whose RELIQUES, at the repair of the church, +were collected by Bishop Fox, and being put together into large +wooden chests lined with lead were again interred at the foot of +the great wall in the choir, three on one side, and three on the +other, with an account whose bones are in each chest. Whether the +division of the RELIQUES might be depended upon, has been doubted, +but is not thought material, so that we do but believe they are all +there. + +The choir of the church appears very magnificent; the roof is very +high, and the Gothic work in the arched part is very fine, though +very old; the painting in the windows is admirably good, and easy +to be distinguished by those that understand those things: the +steps ascending to the choir make a very fine show, having the +statues of King James and his son King Charles, in copper, finely +cast; the first on the right hand, and the other on the left, as +you go up to the choir. + +The choir is said to be the longest in England; and as the number +of prebendaries, canons, &c., are many, it required such a length. +The ornaments of the choir are the effects of the bounty of several +bishops. The fine altar (the noblest in England by much) was done +by Bishop Morley; the roof and the coat-of-arms of the Saxon and +Norman kings were done by Bishop Fox; and the fine throne for the +bishop in the choir was given by Bishop Mew in his lifetime; and it +was well it was for if he had ordered it by will, there is reason +to believe it had never been done--that reverend prelate, +notwithstanding he enjoyed so rich a bishopric, scarce leaving +money enough behind him to pay for his coffin. + +There are a great many persons of rank buried in this church, +besides the Saxon kings mentioned above, and besides several of the +most eminent bishops of the See. Just under the altar lies a son +of William the Conqueror, without any monument; and behind the +altar, under a very fine and venerable monument, lies the famous +Lord Treasurer Weston, late Earl of Portland, Lord High Treasurer +of England under King Charles I. His effigy is in copper armour at +full-length, with his head raised on three cushions of the same, +and is a very magnificent work. There is also a very fine monument +of Cardinal Beaufort in his cardinal's robes and hat. + +The monument of Sir John Cloberry is extraordinary, but more +because it puts strangers upon inquiring into his story than for +anything wonderful in the figure, it being cut in a modern dress +(the habit gentlemen wore in those times, which, being now so much +out of fashion, appears mean enough). But this gentleman's story +is particular, being the person solely entrusted with the secret of +the restoration of King Charles II., as the messenger that passed +between General Monk on one hand, and Mr. Montague and others +entrusted by King Charles II. on the other hand; which he managed +so faithfully as to effect that memorable event, to which England +owes the felicity of all her happy days since that time; by which +faithful service Sir John Cloberry, then a private musketeer only, +raised himself to the honour of a knight, with the reward of a good +estate from the bounty of the king. + +Everybody that goes into this church, and reads what is to be read +there, will be told that the body of the church was built by the +famous William of Wickham; whose monument, intimating his fame, +lies in the middle of that part which was built at his expense. + +He was a courtier before a bishop; and, though he had no great +share of learning, he was a great promoter of it, and a lover of +learned men. His natural genius was much beyond his acquired +parts, and his skill in politics beyond his ecclesiastic knowledge. +He is said to have put his master, King Edward III., to whom he was +Secretary of State, upon the two great projects which made his +reign so glorious, viz.:- First, upon setting up his claim to the +crown of France, and pushing that claim by force of arms, which +brought on the war with France, in which that prince was three +times victorious in battle. (2) Upon setting up, or instituting +the Order of the Garter; in which he (being before that made Bishop +of Winchester) obtained the honour for the Bishops of Winchester of +being always prelates of the Order, as an appendix to the +bishopric; and he himself was the first prelate of the Order, and +the ensigns of that honour are joined with his episcopal ornaments +in the robing of his effigy on the monument above. + +To the honour of this bishop, there are other foundations of his, +as much to his fame as that of this church, of which I shall speak +in their order; but particularly the college in this city, which is +a noble foundation indeed. The building consists of two large +courts, in which are the lodgings for the masters and scholars, and +in the centre a very noble chapel; beyond that, in the second +court, are the schools, with a large cloister beyond them, and some +enclosures laid open for the diversion of the scholars. There also +is a great hall, where the scholars dine. The funds for the +support of this college are very considerable; the masters live in +a very good figure, and their maintenance is sufficient to support +it. They have all separate dwellings in the house, and all +possible conveniences appointed them. + +The scholars have exhibitions at a certain time of continuance +here, if they please to study in the new college at Oxford, built +by the same noble benefactor, of which I shall speak in its order. + +The clergy here live at large, and very handsomely, in the Close +belonging to the cathedral; where, besides the bishop's palace +mentioned above, are very good houses, and very handsomely built, +for the prebendaries, canons, and other dignitaries of this church. +The Deanery is a very pleasant dwelling, the gardens very large, +and the river running through them; but the floods in winter +sometimes incommode the gardens very much. + +This school has fully answered the end of the founder, who, though +he was no great scholar, resolved to erect a house for the making +the ages to come more learned than those that went before; and it +has, I say, fully answered the end, for many learned and great men +have been raised here, some of whom we shall have occasion to +mention as we go on. + +Among the many private inscriptions in this church, we found one +made by Dr. Over, once an eminent physician in this city, on a +mother and child, who, being his patients, died together and were +buried in the same grave, and which intimate that one died of a +fever, and the other of a dropsy: + + +"Surrepuit natum Febris, matrem abstulit Hydrops, +Igne Prior Fatis, Altera cepit Aqua." + + +As the city itself stands in a vale on the bank, and at the +conjunction of two small rivers, so the country rising every way, +but just as the course of the water keeps the valley open, you must +necessarily, as you go out of the gates, go uphill every wry; but +when once ascended, you come to the most charming plains and most +pleasant country of that kind in England; which continues with very +small intersections of rivers and valleys for above fifty miles, as +shall appear in the sequel of this journey. + +At the west gate of this city was anciently a castle, known to be +so by the ruins more than by any extraordinary notice taken of it +in history. What they say of it, that the Saxon kings kept their +court here, is doubtful, and must be meant of the West Saxons only. +And as to the tale of King Arthur's Round Table, which they pretend +was kept here for him and his two dozen of knights (which table +hangs up still, as a piece of antiquity to the tune of twelve +hundred years, and has, as they pretend, the names of the said +knights in Saxon characters, and yet such as no man can read), all +this story I see so little ground to give the least credit to that +I look upon it, and it shall please you, to be no better than a +fib. + +Where this castle stood, or whatever else it was (for some say +there was no castle there), the late King Charles II. marked out a +very noble design, which, had he lived, would certainly have made +that part of the country the Newmarket of the ages to come; for the +country hereabout far excels that of Newmarket Heath for all kinds +of sport and diversion fit for a prince, nobody can dispute. And +as the design included a noble palace (sufficient, like Windsor, +for a summer residence of the whole court), it would certainly have +diverted the king from his cursory journeys to Newmarket. + +The plan of this house has received several alterations, and as it +is never like to be finished, it is scarce worth recording the +variety. The building is begun, and the front next the city +carried up to the roof and covered, but the remainder is not begun. +There was a street of houses designed from the gate of the palace +down to the town, but it was never begun to be built; the park +marked out was exceeding large, near ten miles in circumference, +and ended west upon the open Downs, in view of the town of +Stockbridge. + +This house was afterwards settled, with a royal revenue also, as an +appanage (established by Parliament) upon Prince George of Denmark +for his life, in case he had out-lived the queen; but his Royal +Highness dying before her Majesty, all hope of seeing this design +perfected, or the house finished, is now vanished. + +I cannot omit that there are several public edifices in this city +and in the neighbourhood, as the hospitals and the building +adjoining near the east gate; and towards the north a piece of an +old monastery undemolished, and which is still preserved to the +religion, being the residence of some private Roman Catholic +gentlemen, where they have an oratory, and, as they say, live still +according to the rules of St. Benedict. This building is called +Hide House; and as they live very usefully, and to the highest +degree obliging among their neighbours, they meet with no +obstruction or disturbance from anybody. + +Winchester is a place of no trade other than is naturally +occasioned by the inhabitants of the city and neighbouring villages +one with another. Here is no manufacture, no navigation; there was +indeed an attempt to make the river navigable from Southampton, and +it was once made practicable, but it never answered the expense so +as to give encouragement to the undertakers. + +Here is a great deal of good company, and abundance of gentry being +in the neighbourhood, it adds to the sociableness of the place. +The clergy also here are, generally speaking, very rich and very +numerous. + +As there is such good company, so they are gotten into that new- +fashioned way of conversing by assemblies. I shall do no more than +mention them here; they are pleasant and agreeable to the young +peoples, and sometimes fatal to them, of which, in its place, +Winchester has its share of the mirth. May it escape the ill- +consequences! + +The hospital on the south of this city, at a mile distant on the +road to Southampton, is worth notice. It is said to be founded by +King William Rufus, but was not endowed or appointed till later +times by Cardinal Beaufort. Every traveller that knocks at the +door of this house in his way, and asks for it, claims the relief +of a piece of white bread and a cup of beer, and this donation is +still continued. A quantity of good beer is set apart every day to +be given away, and what is left is distributed to other poor, but +none of it kept to the next day. + +How the revenues of this hospital, which should maintain the master +and thirty private gentlemen (whom they call Fellows, but ought to +call Brothers), is now reduced to maintain only fourteen, while the +master lives in a figure equal to the best gentleman in the +country, would be well worth the inquiry of a proper visitor, if +such can be named. It is a thing worthy of complaint when public +charities, designed for the relief of the poor, are embezzled and +depredated by the rich, and turned to the support of luxury and +pride. + +From Winchester is about twenty-five miles, and over the most +charming plains that can anywhere be seen (far, in my opinion, +excelling the plains of Mecca), we come to Salisbury. The vast +flocks of sheep which one everywhere sees upon these Downs, and the +great number of those flocks, is a sight truly worth observation; +it is ordinary for these flocks to contain from three thousand to +five thousand in a flock, and several private farmers hereabouts +have two or three such flocks. + +But it is more remarkable still how a great part of these Downs +comes, by a new method of husbandry, to be not only made arable +(which they never were in former days), but to bear excellent +wheat, and great crops, too, though otherwise poor barren land, and +never known to our ancestors to be capable of any such thing--nay, +they would perhaps have laughed at any one that would have gone +about to plough up the wild downs and hills where the sheep were +wont to go. But experience has made the present age wiser and more +skilful in husbandry; for by only folding the sheep upon the +ploughed lands--those lands which otherwise are barren, and where +the plough goes within three or four inches of the solid rock of +chalk, are made fruitful and bear very good wheat, as well as rye +and barley. I shall say more of this when I come to speak of the +same practice farther in the country. + +This plain country continues in length from Winchester to Salisbury +(twenty-five miles), from thence to Dorchester (twenty-two miles), +thence to Weymouth (six miles); so that they lie near fifty miles +in length and breadth; they reach also in some places thirty-five +to forty miles. They who would make any practicable guess at the +number of sheep usually fed on these Downs may take it from a +calculation made, as I was told, at Dorchester, that there were six +hundred thousand sheep fed within six miles of that town, measuring +every way round and the town in the centre. + +As we passed this plain country, we saw a great many old camps, as +well Roman as British, and several remains of the ancient +inhabitants of this kingdom, and of their wars, battles, +entrenchments, encampments, buildings, and other fortifications, +which are indeed very agreeable to a traveller that has read +anything of the history of the country. Old Sarum is as remarkable +as any of these, where there is a double entrenchment, with a deep +graff or ditch to either of them; the area about one hundred yards +in diameter, taking in the whole crown of the hill, and thereby +rendering the ascent very difficult. Near this there is one farm- +house, which is all the remains I could see of any town in or near +the place (for the encampment has no resemblance of a town), and +yet this is called the borough of Old Sarum, and sends two members +to Parliament. Whom those members can justly say they represent +would be hard for them to answer. + +Some will have it that the old city of SORBIODUNUM or Salisbury +stood here, and was afterwards (for I know not what reasons) +removed to the low marshy grounds among the rivers, where it now +stands. But as I see no authority for it other than mere +tradition, I believe my share of it, and take it AD REFERENDUM. + +Salisbury itself is indeed a large and pleasant city, though I do +not think it at all the pleasanter for that which they boast so +much of--namely, the water running through the middle of every +street--or that it adds anything to the beauty of the place, but +just the contrary; it keeps the streets always dirty, full of wet +and filth and weeds, even in the middle of summer. + +The city is placed upon the confluence of two large rivers, the +Avon and the Willy, neither of them considerable rivers, but very +large when joined together, and yet larger when they receive a +third river (viz., the Naddir), which joins them near Clarendon +Park, about three miles below the city; then, with a deep channel +and a current less rapid, they run down to Christchurch, which is +their port. And where they empty themselves into the sea, from +that town upwards towards Salisbury they are made navigable to +within two miles, and might be so quite into the city, were it not +for the strength of the stream. + +As the city of Winchester is a city without trade--that is to say, +without any particular manufactures--so this city of Salisbury and +all the county of Wilts, of which it is the capital, are full of a +great variety of manufactures, and those some of the most +considerable in England--namely, the clothing trade and the trade +of flannels, druggets, and several other sorts of manufactures, of +which in their order. + +The city of Salisbury has two remarkable manufactures carried on in +it, and which employ the poor of great part of the country round-- +namely, fine flannels, and long-cloths for the Turkey trade, called +Salisbury whites. The people of Salisbury are gay and rich, and +have a flourishing trade; and there is a great deal of good manners +and good company among them--I mean, among the citizens, besides +what is found among the gentlemen; for there are many good families +in Salisbury besides the citizens. + +This society has a great addition from the Close--that is to say, +the circle of ground walled in adjacent to the cathedral; in which +the families of the prebendaries and commons, and others of the +clergy belonging to the cathedral, have their houses, as is usual +in all cities, where there are cathedral churches. These are so +considerable here, and the place so large, that it is (as it is +called in general) like another city. + +The cathedral is famous for the height of its spire, which is +without exception the highest and the handsomest in England, being +from the ground 410 feet, and yet the walls so exceeding thin that +at the upper part of the spire, upon a view made by the late Sir +Christopher Wren, the wall was found to be less than five inches +thick; upon which a consultation was had whether the spire, or at +least the upper part of it, should be taken down, it being supposed +to have received some damage by the great storm in the year 1703; +but it was resolved in the negative, and Sir Christopher ordered it +to be so strengthened with bands of iron plates as has effectually +secured it; and I have heard some of the best architects say it is +stronger now than when it was first built. + +They tell us here long stories of the great art used in laying the +first foundation of this church, the ground being marshy and wet, +occasioned by the channels of the rivers; that it was laid upon +piles, according to some, and upon woolpacks, according to others. +But this is not supposed by those who know that the whole country +is one rock of chalk, even from the tops of the highest hills to +the bottom of the deepest rivers. + +They tell us this church was forty years a-building, and cost an +immense sum of money; but it must be acknowledged that the inside +of the work is not answerable in the decoration of things to the +workmanship without. The painting in the choir is mean, and more +like the ordinary method of common drawing-room or tavern painting +than that of a church; the carving is good, but very little of it; +and it is rather a fine church than finely set off. + +The ordinary boast of this building (that there were as many gates +as months, as many windows as days, as many marble pillars as hours +in the year) is now no recommendation at all. However, the mention +of it must be preserved:- + + +"As many days as in one year there be, +So many windows in one church we see; +As many marble pillars there appear +As there are hours throughout the fleeting year; +As many gates as moons one year do view: +Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true." + + +There are, however, some very fine monuments in this church; +particularly one belonging to the noble family of Seymours, since +Dukes of Somerset (and ancestors of the present flourishing +family), which on a most melancholy occasion has been now lately +opened again to receive the body of the late Duchess of Somerset, +the happy consort for almost forty years of his Grace the present +Duke, and only daughter and heiress of the ancient and noble family +of Percy, Earls of Northumberland, whose great estate she brought +into the family of Somerset, who now enjoy it. + +With her was buried at the same time her Grace's daughter the +Marchioness of Caermarthen (being married to the Marquis of +Caermarthen, son and heir-apparent to the Lord of Leeds), who died +for grief at the loss of the duchess her mother, and was buried +with her; also her second son, the Duke Percy Somerset, who died a +few months before, and had been buried in the Abbey church of +Westminster, but was ordered to be removed and laid here with the +ancestors of his house. And I hear his Grace designs to have a yet +more magnificent monument erected in this cathedral for them, just +by the other which is there already. + +How the Dukes of Somerset came to quit this church for their +burying-place, and be laid in Westminster Abbey, that I know not; +but it is certain that the present Duke has chosen to have his +family laid here with their ancestors, and to that end has caused +the corpse of his son, the Lord Percy, as above, and one of his +daughters, who had been buried in the Abbey, to be removed and +brought down to this vault, which lies in that they call the Virgin +Mary's Chapel, behind the altar. There is, as above, a noble +monument for a late Duke and Duchess of Somerset in the place +already, with their portraits at full-length, their heads lying +upon cushions, the whole perfectly well wrought in fine polished +Italian marble, and their sons kneeling by them. Those I suppose +to be the father of the great Duke of Somerset, uncle to King +Edward IV.; but after this the family lay in Westminster Abbey, +where there is also a fine monument for that very duke who was +beheaded by Edward VI., and who was the great patron of the +Reformation. + +Among other monuments of noble men in this cathedral they show you +one that is very extraordinary, and to which there hangs a tale. +There was in the reign of Philip and Mary a very unhappy murder +committed by the then Lord Sturton, or Stourton, a family since +extinct, but well known till within a few years in that country. + +This Lord Stourton being guilty of the said murder, which also was +aggravated with very bad circumstances, could not obtain the usual +grace of the Crown (viz., to be beheaded), but Queen Mary +positively ordered that, like a common malefactor, he should die at +the gallows. After he was hanged, his friends desiring to have him +buried at Salisbury, the bishop would not consent that he should be +buried in the cathedral unless, as a farther mark of infamy, his +friends would submit to this condition--viz., that the silken +halter in which he was hanged should be hanged up over his grave in +the church as a monument of his crime; which was accordingly done, +and there it is to be seen to this day. + +The putting this halter up here was not so wonderful to me as it +was that the posterity of that lord, who remained in good rank some +time after, should never prevail to have that mark of infamy taken +off from the memory of their ancestor. + +There are several other monuments in this cathedral, as +particularly of two noblemen of ancient families in Scotland--one +of the name of Hay, and one of the name of Gordon; but they give us +nothing of their history, so that we must be content to say there +they lie, and that is all. + +The cloister, and the chapter-house adjoining to the church, are +the finest here of any I have seen in England; the latter is +octagon, or eight-square, and is 150 feet in its circumference; the +roof bearing all upon one small marble pillar in the centre, which +you may shake with your hand; and it is hardly to be imagined it +can be any great support to the roof, which makes it the more +curious (it is not indeed to be matched, I believe, in Europe). + +From hence directing my course to the seaside in pursuit of my +first design--viz., of viewing the whole coast of England--I left +the great road and went down the east side of the river towards New +Forest and Lymington; and here I saw the ancient house and seat of +Clarendon, the mansion of the ancient family of Hide, ancestors of +the great Earl of Clarendon, and from whence his lordship was +honoured with that title, or the house erected into an honour in +favour of his family. + +But this being a large county, and full of memorable branches of +antiquity and modern curiosity, I cannot quit my observations so +soon. But being happily fixed, by the favour of a particular +friend, at so beautiful a spot of ground as this of Clarendon Park, +I made several little excursions from hence to view the northern +parts of this county--a county so fruitful of wonders that, though +I do not make antiquity my chief search, yet I must not pass it +over entirely, where so much of it, and so well worth observation, +is to be found, which would look as if I either understood not the +value of the study, or expected my readers should be satisfied with +a total omission of it. + +I have mentioned that this county is generally a vast continued +body of high chalky hills, whose tops spread themselves into +fruitful and pleasant downs and plains, upon which great flocks of +sheep are fed, &c. But the reader is desired to observe these +hills and plains are most beautifully intersected and cut through +by the course of divers pleasant and profitable rivers; in the +course and near the banks of which there always is a chain of +fruitful meadows and rich pastures, and those interspersed with +innumerable pleasant towns, villages, and houses, and among them +many of considerable magnitude. So that, while you view the downs, +and think the country wild and uninhabited, yet when you come to +descend into these vales you are surprised with the most pleasant +and fertile country in England. + +There are no less than four of these rivers, which meet all +together at or near the city of Salisbury; especially the waters of +three of them run through the streets of the city--the Nadder and +the Willy and the Avon--and the course of these three lead us +through the whole mountainous part of the county. The two first +join their waters at Wilton, the shiretown, though a place of no +great notice now; and these are the waters which run through the +canal and the gardens of Wilton House, the seat of that ornament of +nobility and learning, the Earl of Pembroke. + +One cannot be said to have seen anything that a man of curiosity +would think worth seeing in this county, and not have been at +Wilton House; but not the beautiful building, not the ancient +trophy of a great family, not the noble situation, not all the +pleasures of the gardens, parks, fountains, hare-warren, or of +whatever is rare either in art or nature, are equal to that yet +more glorious sight of a noble princely palace constantly filled +with its noble and proper inhabitants. The lord and proprietor, +who is indeed a true patriarchal monarch, reigns here with an +authority agreeable to all his subjects (family); and his reign is +made agreeable, by his first practising the most exquisite +government of himself, and then guiding all under him by the rules +of honour and virtue, being also himself perfectly master of all +the needful arts of family government--I mean, needful to make that +government both easy and pleasant to those who are under it, and +who therefore willingly, and by choice, conform to it. + +Here an exalted genius is the instructor, a glorious example the +guide, and a gentle well-directed hand the governor and law-giver +to the whole; and the family, like a well-governed city, appears +happy, flourishing, and regular, groaning under no grievance, +pleased with what they enjoy, and enjoying everything which they +ought to be pleased with. + +Nor is the blessing of this noble resident extended to the family +only, but even to all the country round, who in their degree feel +the effects of the general beneficence, and where the neighbourhood +(however poor) receive all the good they can expect, and are sure +to have no injury or oppression. + +The canal before the house lies parallel with the road, and +receives into it the whole river Willy, or at least is able to do +so; it may, indeed, be said that the river is made into a canal. +When we come into the courtyards before the house there are several +pieces of antiquity to entertain the curious, as particularly a +noble column of porphyry, with a marble statue of Venus on the top +of it. In Italy, and especially at Rome and Naples, we see a great +variety of fine columns, and some of them of excellent workmanship +and antiquity; and at some of the courts of the princes of Italy +the like is seen, as especially at the court of Florence; but in +England I do not remember to have seen anything like this, which, +as they told me, is two-and-thirty feet high, and of excellent +workmanship, and that it came last from Candia, but formerly from +Alexandria. What may belong to the history of it any further, I +suppose is not known--at least, they could tell me no more of it +who showed it me. + +On the left of the court was formerly a large grotto and curious +water-works; and in a house, or shed, or part of the building, +which opened with two folding-doors, like a coach-house, a large +equestrian statue of one of the ancestors of the family in complete +armour, as also another of a Roman Emperor in brass. But the last +time I had the curiosity to see this house, I missed that part; so +that I supposed they were removed. + +As the present Earl of Pembroke, the lord of this fine palace, is a +nobleman of great personal merit many other ways, so he is a man of +learning and reading beyond most men of his lordship's high rank in +this nation, if not in the world; and as his reading has made him a +master of antiquity, and judge of such pieces of antiquity as he +has had opportunity to meet with in his own travels and otherwise +in the world, so it has given him a love of the study, and made him +a collector of valuable things, as well in painting as in +sculpture, and other excellences of art, as also of nature; +insomuch that Wilton House is now a mere museum or a chamber of +rarities, and we meet with several things there which are to be +found nowhere else in the world. + +As his lordship is a great collector of fine paintings, so I know +no nobleman's house in England so prepared, as if built on purpose, +to receive them; the largest and the finest pieces that can be +imagined extant in the world might have found a place here capable +to receive them. I say, they "might have found," as if they could +not now, which is in part true; for at present the whole house is +so completely filled that I see no room for any new piece to crowd +in without displacing some other fine piece that hung there before. +As for the value of the piece that might so offer to succeed the +displaced, that the great judge of the whole collection, the earl +himself, must determine; and as his judgment is perfectly good, the +best picture would be sure to possess the place. In a word, here +is without doubt the best, if not the greatest, collection of +rarities and paintings that are to be seen together in any one +nobleman's or gentleman's house in England. The piece of our +Saviour washing His disciples' feet, which they show you in one of +the first rooms you go into, must be spoken of by everybody that +has any knowledge of painting, and is an admirable piece indeed. + +You ascend the great staircase at the upper end of the hall, which +is very large; at the foot of the staircase you have a Bacchus as +large as life, done in fine Peloponnesian marble, carrying a young +Bacchus on his arm, the young one eating grapes, and letting you +see by his countenance that he is pleased with the taste of them. +Nothing can be done finer, or more lively represent the thing +intended--namely, the gust of the appetite, which if it be not a +passion, it is an affection which is as much seen in the +countenance, perhaps more than any other. One ought to stop every +two steps of this staircase, as we go up, to contemplate the vast +variety of pictures that cover the walls, and of some of the best +masters in Europe; and yet this is but an introduction to what is +beyond them. + +When you are entered the apartments, such variety seizes you every +way that you scarce know to which hand to turn yourself. First on +one side you see several rooms filled with paintings as before, all +so curious, and the variety such, that it is with reluctance that +you can turn from them; while looking another way you are called +off by a vast collection of busts and pieces of the greatest +antiquity of the kind, both Greek and Romans; among these there is +one of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in basso-relievo. I never +saw anything like what appears here, except in the chamber of +rarities at Munich in Bavaria. + +Passing these, you come into several large rooms, as if contrived +for the reception of the beautiful guests that take them up; one of +these is near seventy feet long, and the ceiling twenty-six feet +high, with another adjoining of the same height and breadth, but +not so long. Those together might be called the Great Gallery of +Wilton, and might vie for paintings with the Gallery of Luxembourg, +in the Faubourg of Paris. + +These two rooms are filled with the family pieces of the house of +Herbert, most of them by Lilly or Vandyke; and one in particular +outdoes all that I ever met with, either at home or abroad; it is +done, as was the mode of painting at that time, after the manner of +a family piece of King Charles I., with his queen and children, +which before the burning of Whitehall I remember to hang at the +east end of the Long Gallery in the palace. + +This piece fills the farther end of the great room which I just now +mentioned; it contains the Earl of Montgomery, ancestor of the +house of Herbert (not then Earls of Pembroke) and his lady, +sitting, and as big as life; there are about them their own five +sons and one daughter, and their daughter-in-law, who was daughter +of the Duke of Buckingham, married to the elder Lord Herbert, their +eldest son. It is enough to say of this piece, it is worth the +labour of any lover of art to go five hundred miles to see it; and +I am informed several gentlemen of quality have come from France +almost on purpose. It would be endless to describe the whole set +of the family pictures which take up this room, unless we would +enter into the roof-tree of the family, and set down a genealogical +line of the whole house. + +After we have seen this fine range of beauties--for such, indeed, +they are--far from being at an end of your surprise, you have three +or four rooms still upon the same floor, filled with wonders as +before. Nothing can be finer than the pictures themselves, nothing +more surprising than the number of them. At length you descend the +back stairs, which are in themselves large, though not like the +other. However, not a hand's-breadth is left to crowd a picture in +of the smallest size; and even the upper rooms, which might be +called garrets, are not naked, but have some very good pieces in +them. + +Upon the whole, the genius of the noble collector may be seen in +this glorious collection, than which, take them together, there is +not a finer in any private hand in Europe, and in no hand at all in +Britain, private or public. + +The gardens are on the south of the house, and extend themselves +beyond the river, a branch of which runs through one part of them, +and still south of the gardens in the great park, which, extending +beyond the vale, mounts the hill opening at the last to the great +down, which is properly called, by way of distinction, Salisbury +Plain, and leads from the city of Salisbury to Shaftesbury. Here +also his lordship has a hare-warren, as it is called, though +improperly. It has, indeed, been a sanctuary for the hares for +many years; but the gentlemen complain that it mars their game, for +that as soon as they put up a hare for their sport, if it be +anywhere within two or three miles, away she runs for the warren, +and there is an end of their pursuit; on the other hand, it makes +all the countrymen turn poachers, and destroy the hares by what +means they can. But this is a smaller matter, and of no great +import one way or other. + +From this pleasant and agreeable day's work I returned to +Clarendon, and the next day took another short tour to the hills to +see that celebrated piece of antiquity, the wonderful Stonehenge, +being six miles from Salisbury, north, and upon the side of the +River Avon, near the town of Amesbury. It is needless that I +should enter here into any part of the dispute about which our +learned antiquaries have so puzzled themselves that several books +(and one of them in folio) have been published about it; some +alleging it to be a heathen or pagan temple and altar, or place of +sacrifice, as Mr. Jones; others a monument or trophy of victory; +others a monument for the dead, as Mr. Aubrey, and the like. +Again, some will have it be British, some Danish, some Saxon, some +Roman, and some, before them all, Phoenician. + +I shall suppose it, as the majority of all writers do, to be a +monument for the dead, and the rather because men's bones have been +frequently dug up in the ground near them. The common opinion that +no man could ever count them, that a baker carried a basket of +bread and laid a loaf upon every stone, and yet never could make +out the same number twice, this I take as a mere country fiction, +and a ridiculous one too. The reason why they cannot easily be +told is that many of them lie half or part buried in the ground; +and a piece here and a piece there only appearing above the grass, +it cannot be known easily which belong to one stone and which to +another, or which are separate stones, and which are joined +underground to one another; otherwise, as to those which appear, +they are easy to be told, and I have seen them told four times +after one another, beginning every time at a different place, and +every time they amounted to seventy-two in all; but then this was +counting every piece of a stone of bulk which appeared above the +surface of the earth, and was not evidently part of and adjoining +to another, to be a distinct and separate body or stone by itself. + +The form of this monument is not only described but delineated in +most authors, and, indeed, it is hard to know the first but by the +last. The figure was at first circular, and there were at least +four rows or circles within one another. The main stones were +placed upright, and they were joined on the top by cross-stones, +laid from one to another, and fastened with vast mortises and +tenons. Length of time has so decayed them that not only most of +the cross-stones which lay on the top are fallen down, but many of +the upright also, notwithstanding the weight of them is so +prodigious great. How they came thither, or from whence (no stones +of that kind being now to be found in that part of England near it) +is still the mystery, for they are of such immense bulk that no +engines or carriages which we have in use in this age could stir +them. + +Doubtless they had some method in former days in foreign countries, +as well as here, to move heavier weights than we find practicable +now. How else did Solomon's workmen build the battlement or +additional wall to support the precipice of Mount Moriah, on which +the Temple was built, which was all built of stones of Parian +marble, each stone being forty cubits long and fourteen cubits +broad, and eight cubits high or thick, which, reckoning each cubit +at two feet and a half of our measure (as the learned agree to do), +was one hundred feet long, thirty-five feet broad, and twenty feet +thick? + +These stones at Stonehenge, as Mr. Camden describes them, and in +which others agree, were very large, though not so large--the +upright stones twenty-four feet high, seven feet broad, sixteen +feet round, and weigh twelve tons each; and the cross-stones on the +top, which he calls coronets, were six or seven tons. But this +does not seem equal; for if the cross-stones weighed six or seven +tons, the others, as they appear now, were at least five or six +times as big, and must weigh in proportion; and therefore I must +think their judgment much nearer the case who judge the upright +stones at sixteen tons or thereabouts (supposing them to stand a +great way into the earth, as it is not doubted but they do), and +the coronets or cross-stones at about two tons, which is very large +too, and as much as their bulk can be thought to allow. + +Upon the whole, we must take them as our ancestors have done-- +namely, for an erection or building so ancient that no history has +handed down to us the original. As we find it, then, uncertain, we +must leave it so. It is indeed a reverend piece of antiquity, and +it is a great loss that the true history of it is not known. But +since it is not, I think the making so many conjectures at the +reality, when they know lots can but guess at it, and, above all, +the insisting so long and warmly on their private opinions, is but +amusing themselves and us with a doubt, which perhaps lies the +deeper for their search into it. + +The downs and plains in this part of England being so open, and the +surface so little subject to alteration, there are more remains of +antiquity to be seen upon them than in other places. For example, +I think they tell us there are three-and-fifty ancient encampments +or fortifications to be seen in this one county--some whereof are +exceeding plain to be seen; some of one form, some of another; some +of one nation, some of another--British, Danish, Saxon, Roman--as +at Ebb Down, Burywood, Oldburgh Hill, Cummerford, Roundway Down, +St. Ann's Hill, Bratton Castle, Clay Hill, Stournton Park, +Whitecole Hill, Battlebury, Scrathbury, Tanesbury, Frippsbury, +Southbury Hill, Amesbury, Great Bodwin, Easterley, Merdon, Aubery, +Martenscil Hill, Barbury Castle, and many more. + +Also the barrows, as we all agree to call them, are very many in +number in this county, and very obvious, having suffered very +little decay. These are large hillocks of earth cast up, as the +ancients agree, by the soldiers over the bodies of their dead +comrades slain in battle; several hundreds of these are to be seen, +especially in the north part of this county, about Marlborough and +the downs, from thence to St. Ann's Hill, and even every way the +downs are full of them. + +I have done with matters of antiquity for this county, unless you +will admit me to mention the famous Parliament in the reign of +Henry II. held at Clarendon, where I am now writing, and another +intended to be held there in Richard II.'s time, but prevented by +the barons, being then up in arms against the king. + +Near this place, at Farlo, was the birthplace of the late Sir +Stephen Fox, and where the town, sharing in his good fortune, shows +several marks of his bounty, as particularly the building a new +church from the foundation, and getting an Act of Parliament passed +for making it parochial, it being but a chapel-of-ease before to an +adjoining parish. Also Sir Stephen built and endowed an almshouse +here for six poor women, with a master and a free school. The +master is to be a clergyman, and to officiate in the church--that +is to say, is to have the living, which, including the school, is +very sufficient. + +I am now to pursue my first design, and shall take the west part of +Wiltshire in my return, where are several things still to be taken +notice of, and some very well worth our stay. In the meantime I +went on to Langborough, a fine seat of my Lord Colerain, which is +very well kept, though the family, it seems, is not much in this +country, having another estate and dwelling at Tottenham High +Cross, near London. + +From hence in my way to the seaside I came to New Forest, of which +I have said something already with relation to the great extent of +ground which lies waste, and in which there is so great a quantity +of large timber, as I have spoken of already. + +This waste and wild part of the country was, as some record, laid +open and waste for a forest and for game by that violent tyrant +William the Conqueror, and for which purpose he unpeopled the +country, pulled down the houses, and, which was worse, the churches +of several parishes or towns, and of abundance of villages, turning +the poor people out of their habitations and possessions, and +laying all open for his deer. The same histories likewise record +that two of his own blood and posterity, and particularly his +immediate successor William Rufus, lost their lives in this forest- +-one, viz., the said William Rufus, being shot with an arrow +directed at a deer which the king and his company were hunting, and +the arrow, glancing on a tree, changed his course, and struck the +king full on the breast and killed him. This they relate as a just +judgment of God on the cruel devastation made here by the +Conqueror. Be it so or not, as Heaven pleases; but that the king +was so killed is certain, and they show the tree on which the arrow +glanced to this day. In King Charles II.'s time it was ordered to +be surrounded with a pale; but as great part of the paling is down +with age, whether the tree be really so old or not is to me a great +question, the action being near seven hundred years ago. + +I cannot omit to mention here a proposal made a few years ago to +the late Lord Treasurer Godolphin for re-peopling this forest, +which for some reasons I can be more particular in than any man now +left alive, because I had the honour to draw up the scheme and +argue it before that noble lord and some others who were +principally concerned at that time in bringing over--or, rather, +providing for when they were come over--the poor inhabitants of the +Palatinate, a thing in itself commendable, but, as it was managed, +made scandalous to England and miserable to those poor people. + +Some persons being ordered by that noble lord above mentioned to +consider of measures how the said poor people should be provided +for, and whether they could be provided for or no without injury to +the public, the answer was grounded upon this maxim--that the +number of inhabitants is the wealth and strength of a kingdom, +provided those inhabitants were such as by honest industry applied +themselves to live by their labour, to whatsoever trades or +employments they were brought up. In the next place, it was +inquired what employments those poor people were brought up to. It +was answered there were husbandmen and artificers of all sorts, +upon which the proposal was as follows. New Forest, in Hampshire, +was singled out to be the place:- + +Here it was proposed to draw a great square line containing four +thousand acres of land, marking out two large highways or roads +through the centre, crossing both ways, so that there should be a +thousand acres in each division, exclusive of the land contained in +the said cross-roads. + +Then it was proposed to since out twenty men and their families, +who should be recommended as honest industrious men, expert in, or +at least capable of being instructed in husbandry, curing and +cultivating of land, breeding and feeding cattle, and the like. To +each of these should be parcelled out, in equal distributions, two +hundred acres of this land, so that the whole four thousand acres +should be fully distributed to the said twenty families, for which +they should have no rent to pay, and be liable to no taxes but such +as provided for their own sick or poor, repairing their own roads, +and the like. This exemption from rent and taxes to continue for +twenty years, and then to pay each 50 pounds a year to the queen-- +that is to say, to the Crown. + +To each of these families, whom I would now call farmers, it was +proposed to advance 200 pounds in ready money as a stock to set +them to work; to furnish them with cattle, horses, cows, hogs, &c.; +and to hire and pay labourers to inclose, clear, and cure the land, +which it would be supposed the first year would not be so much to +their advantage as afterwards, allowing them timber out of the +forest to build themselves houses and barns, sheds and offices, as +they should have occasion; also for carts, waggons, ploughs, +harrows, and the like necessary things: care to be taken that the +men and their families went to work forthwith according to the +design. + +Thus twenty families would be immediately supplied and provided +for, for there would be no doubt but these families, with so much +land given them gratis, and so much money to work with, would live +very well; but what would this do for the support of the rest, who +were supposed to be, to every twenty farmers, forty or fifty +families of other people (some of one trade, some of another), with +women and children? To this it was answered that these twenty +farmers would, by the consequence of their own settlements, provide +for and employ such a proportion of others of their own people +that, by thus providing for twenty families in a place, the whole +number of Palatinates would have been provided for, had they been +twenty thousand more in number than they were, and that without +being any burden upon or injury to the people of England; on the +contrary, they would have been an advantage and an addition of +wealth and strength to the nation, and to the country in particular +where they should be thus seated. For example:- + +As soon as the land was marked out, the farmers put in possession +of it, and the money given them, they should be obliged to go to +work, in order to their settlement. Suppose it, then, to be in the +spring of the year, when such work was most proper. First, all +hands would be required to fence and part off the land, and clear +it of the timber or bushes, or whatever else was upon it which +required to be removed. The first thing, therefore, which the +farmer would do would be to single out from the rest of their +number every one three servants--that is to say, two men and a +maid; less could not answer the preparations they would be obliged +to make, and yet work hard themselves also. By the help of these +they would, with good management, soon get so much of their land +cured, fenced-off, ploughed, and sowed as should yield them a +sufficiency of corn and kitchen stuff the very first year, both for +horse-meat, hog-meat, food for the family, and some to carry to +market, too, by which to bring in money to go farther on, as above. + +At the first entrance they were to have the tents allowed them to +live in, which they then had from the Tower; but as soon as leisure +and conveniences admitted, every farmer was obliged to begin to +build him a farm-house, which he would do gradually, some and some, +as he could spare time from his other works, and money from his +little stock. + +In order to furnish himself with carts, waggons, ploughs, harrows, +wheel-barrows, hurdles, and all such necessary utensils of +husbandry, there would be an absolute necessity of wheelwrights or +cartwrights, one at least to each division. + +Thus, by the way, there would be employed three servants to each +farmer, that makes sixty persons. + +Four families of wheelwrights, one to each division--which, suppose +five in a family, makes twenty persons. Suppose four head- +carpenters, with each three men; and as at first all would be +building together, they would to every house building have at least +one labourer. Four families of carpenters, five to each family, +and three servants, is thirty-two persons; one labourer to each +house building is twenty persons more. + +Thus here would be necessarily brought together in the very first +of the work one hundred and thirty-two persons, besides the head- +farmers, who at five also to each family are one hundred more; in +all, two hundred and thirty-two. + +For the necessary supply of these with provisions, clothes, +household stuff, &c. (for all should be done among themselves), +first, they must have at least four butchers with their families +(twenty persons), four shoemakers with their families and each +shoemaker two journeymen (for every trade would increase the number +of customers to every trade). This is twenty-eight persons more. + +They would then require a hatmaker, a glover, at least two +ropemakers, four tailors, three weavers of woollen and three +weavers of linen, two basket-makers, two common brewers, ten or +twelve shop-keepers to furnish chandlery and grocery wares, and as +many for drapery and mercery, over and above what they could work. +This makes two-and-forty families more, each at five in a family, +which, is two hundred and ten persons; all the labouring part of +these must have at least two servants (the brewers more), which I +cast up at forty more. + +Add to these two ministers, one clerk, one sexton or grave-digger, +with their families, two physicians, three apothecaries, two +surgeons (less there could not be, only that for the beginning it +might be said the physicians should be surgeons, and I take them +so); this is forty-five persons, besides servants; so that, in +short--to omit many tradesmen more who would be wanted among them-- +there would necessarily and voluntarily follow to these twenty +families of farmers at least six hundred more of their own people. + +It is no difficult thing to show that the ready money of 4,000 +pounds which the Government was to advance to those twenty farmers +would employ and pay, and consequently subsist, all these numerous +dependants in the works which must severally be done for them for +the first year, after which the farmers would begin to receive +their own money back again; for all these tradesmen must come to +their own market to buy corn, flesh, milk, butter, cheese, bacon, +&c., which after the first year the farmers, having no rent to pay, +would have to spare sufficiently, and so take back their own money +with advantage. I need not go on to mention how, by consequence +provisions increasing and money circulating, this town should +increase in a very little time. + +It was proposed also that for the encouragement of all the +handicraftsmen and labouring poor who, either as servants or as +labourers for day-work, assisted the farmers or other tradesmen, +they should have every man three acres of ground given them, with +leave to build cottages upon the same, the allotments to be upon +the waste at the end of the cross-roads where they entered the +town. + +In the centre of the square was laid out a circle of twelve acres +of ground, to be cast into streets for inhabitants to build on as +their ability would permit--all that would build to have ground +gratis for twenty years, timber out of the forest, and convenient +yards, gardens, and orchards allotted to every house. + +In the great streets near where they cross each other was to be +built a handsome market-house, with a town-hall for parish or +corporation business, doing justice and the like; also shambles; +and in a handsome part of the ground mentioned to be laid out for +streets, as near the centre as might be, was to be ground laid out +for the building a church, which every man should either contribute +to the building of in money, or give every tenth day of his time to +assist in labouring at the building. + +I have omitted many tradesmen who would be wanted here, and would +find a good livelihood among their country-folks only to get +accidental work as day-men or labourers (of which such a town would +constantly employ many), as also poor women for assistance in +families (such as midwives, nurses, &c.). + +Adjacent to the town was to be a certain quantity of common-land +for the benefit of the cottages, that the poor might have a few +sheep or cows, as their circumstances required; and this to be +appointed at the several ends of the town. + +There was a calculation made of what increase there would be, both +of wealth and people, in twenty years in this town; what a vast +consumption of provisions they would cause, more than the four +thousand acres of land given them would produce, by which +consumption and increase so much advantage would accrue to the +public stock, and so many subjects be added to the many thousands +of Great Britain, who in the next age would be all true-born +Englishmen, and forget both the language and nation from whence +they came. And it was in order to this that two ministers were +appointed, one of which should officiate in English and the other +in High Dutch, and withal to have them obliged by a law to teach +all their children both to speak, read, and write the English +language. + +Upon their increase they would also want barbers and glaziers, +painters also, and plumbers; a windmill or two, and the millers and +their families; a fulling-mill and a cloth-worker; as also a master +clothier or two for making a manufacture among them for their own +wear, and for employing the women and children; a dyer or two for +dyeing their manufactures; and, which above all is not to be +omitted, four families at least of smiths, with every one two +servants--considering that, besides all the family work which +continually employs a smith, all the shoeing of horses, all the +ironwork of ploughs, carts, waggons, harrows, &c., must be wrought +by them. There was no allowance made for inns and ale-houses, +seeing it would be frequent that those who kept public-houses of +any sort would likewise have some other employment to carry on. + +This was the scheme for settling the Palatinates, by which means +twenty families of farmers, handsomely set up and supported, would +lay a foundation, as I have said, for six or seven hundred of the +rest of their people; and as the land in New Forest is undoubtedly +good, and capable of improvement by such cultivation, so other +wastes in England are to be found as fruitful as that; and twenty +such villages might have been erected, the poor strangers +maintained, and the nation evidently be bettered by it. As to the +money to be advanced, which in the case of twenty such settlements, +at 1,000 pounds each, would be 80,000 pounds, two things were +answered to it:- + +1. That the annual rent to be received for all those lands after +twenty years would abundantly pay the public for the first +disburses on the scheme above, that rent being then to amount to +40,000 pounds per annum. + +2. More money than would have done this was expended, or rather +thrown away, upon them here, to keep them in suspense, and +afterwards starve them; sending them a-begging all over the nation, +and shipping them off to perish in other countries. Where the +mistake lay is none of my business to inquire. + +I reserved this account for this place, because I passed in this +journey over the very spot where the design was laid out--namely, +near Lyndhurst, in the road from Rumsey to Lymington, whither I now +directed my course. + +Lymington is a little but populous seaport standing opposite to the +Isle of Wight, in the narrow part of the strait which ships +sometimes pass through in fair weather, called the Needles; and +right against an ancient town of that island called Yarmouth, and +which, in distinction from the great town of Yarmouth in Norfolk, +is called South Yarmouth. This town of Lymington is chiefly noted +for making fine salt, which is indeed excellent good; and from +whence all these south parts of England are supplied, as well by +water as by land carriage; and sometimes, though not often, they +send salt to London, when, contrary winds having kept the Northern +fleets back, the price at London has been very high; but this is +very seldom and uncertain. Lymington sends two members to +Parliament, and this and her salt trade is all I can say to her; +for though she is very well situated as to the convenience of +shipping I do not find they have any foreign commerce, except it be +what we call smuggling and roguing; which, I may say, is the +reigning commerce of all this part of the English coast, from the +mouth of the Thames to the Land's End of Cornwall. + +From hence there are but few towns on the sea-coast west, though +there are several considerable rivers empty themselves into the +sea; nor are there any harbours or seaports of any note except +Poole. As for Christchurch, though it stands at the mouth of the +Avon (which, as I have said, comes down from Salisbury, and brings +with it all the waters of the south and east parts of Wiltshire, +and receives also the Stour and Piddle, two Dorsetshire rivers +which bring with them all the waters of the north part of +Dorsetshire), yet it is a very inconsiderable poor place, scarce +worth seeing, and less worth mentioning in this account, only that +it sends two members to Parliament, which many poor towns in this +part of England do, as well as that. + +From hence I stepped up into the country north-west, to see the +ancient town of Wimborne, or Wimborneminster; there I found nothing +remarkable but the church, which is indeed a very great one, +ancient, and yet very well built, with a very firm, strong, square +tower, considerably high; but was, without doubt, much finer, when +on the top of it stood a most exquisite spire--finer and taller, if +fame lies not, than that at Salisbury, and by its situation in a +plainer, flatter country visible, no question, much farther; but +this most beautiful ornament was blown down by a sudden tempest of +wind, as they tell us, in the year 1622. + +The church remains a venerable piece of antiquity, and has in it +the remains of a place once much more in request than it is now, +for here are the monuments of several noble families, and in +particular of one king, viz., King Etheldred, who was slain in +battle by the Danes. He was a prince famed for piety and religion, +and, according to the zeal of these times, was esteemed as a +martyr, because, venturing his life against the Danes, who were +heathens, he died fighting for his religion and his country. The +inscription upon his grave is preserved, and has been carefully +repaired, so as to be easily read, and is as follows:- + + +"In hoc loco quiescit Corpus S. Etheldredi, Regis West Saxonum, +Martyris, qui Anno Dom. DCCCLXXII., xxiii Aprilis, per Manos +Danorum Paganorum Occubuit." + + +In English thus:- + + +"Here rests the Body of Holy Etheldred, King of the West Saxons, +and Martyr, who fell by the Hands of the Pagan Danes in the Year of +our Lord 872, the 23rd of April." + + +Here are also the monuments of the great Marchioness of Exeter, +mother of Edward Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, and last of the +family of Courtneys who enjoyed that honour; as also of John de +Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his wife, grandmother of King Henry +VII., by her daughter Margaret, Countess of Richmond. + +This last lady I mention because she was foundress of a very fine +free school, which has since been enlarged and had a new +benefactress in Queen Elizabeth, who has enlarged the stipend and +annexed it to the foundation. The famous Cardinal Pole was Dean of +this church before his exaltation. + +Having said this of the church, I have said all that is worth +naming of the town; except that the inhabitants, who are many and +poor, are chiefly maintained by the manufacture of knitting +stockings, which employs great part indeed of the county of Dorset, +of which this is the first town eastward. + +South of this town, over a sandy, wild, and barren country, we came +to Poole, a considerable seaport, and indeed the most considerable +in all this part of England; for here I found some ships, some +merchants, and some trade; especially, here were a good number of +ships fitted out every year to the Newfoundland fishing, in which +the Poole men were said to have been particularly successful for +many years past. + +The town sits in the bottom of a great bay or inlet of the sea, +which, entering at one narrow mouth, opens to a very great breadth +within the entrance, and comes up to the very shore of this town; +it runs also west up almost to the town of Wareham, a little below +which it receives the rivers Frome and Piddle, the two principal +rivers of the county. + +This place is famous for the best and biggest oysters in all this +part of England, which the people of Poole pretend to be famous for +pickling; and they are barrelled up here, and sent not only to +London, but to the West Indies, and to Spain and Italy, and other +parts. It is observed more pearls are found in the Poole oysters, +and larger, than in any other oysters about England. + +As the entrance into this large bay is narrow, so it is made +narrower by an island, called Branksey, which, lying the very month +of the passage, divides it into two, and where there is an old +castle, called Branksey Castle, built to defend the entrance, and +this strength was very great advantage to the trade of this port in +the time of the late war with France. + +Wareham is a neat town and full of people, having a share of trade +with Poole itself; it shows the ruins of a large town, and, it is +apparent, has had eight churches, of which they have three +remaining. + +South of Wareham, and between the bay I have mentioned and the sea, +lies a large tract of land which, being surrounded by the sea +except on one side, is called an island, though it is really what +should be called a peninsula. This tract of land is better +inhabited than the sea-coast of this west end of Dorsetshire +generally is, and the manufacture of stockings is carried on there +also; it is called the Isle of Purbeck, and has in the middle of it +a large market-town, called Corfe, and from the famous castle there +the whole town is now called Corfe Castle; it is a corporation, +sending members to Parliament. + +This part of the country is eminent for vast quarries of stone, +which is cut out flat, and used in London in great quantities for +paving courtyards, alleys, avenues to houses, kitchens, footways on +the sides of the High Streets, and the like; and is very profitable +to the place, as also in the number of shipping employed in +bringing it to London. There are also several rocks of very good +marble, only that the veins in the stone are not black and white, +as the Italian, but grey, red, and other colours. + +From hence to Weymouth, which is 22 miles, we rode in view of the +sea; the country is open, and in some respects pleasant, but not +like the northern parts of the county, which are all fine carpet- +ground, soft as velvet, and the herbage sweet as garden herbs, +which makes their sheep be the best in England, if not in the +world, and their wool fine to an extreme. + +I cannot omit here a small adventure which was very surprising to +me on this journey; passing this plain country, we came to an open +piece of ground where a neighbouring gentleman had at a great +expense laid out a proper piece of land for a decoy, or duck-coy, +as some call it. The works were but newly done, the planting +young, the ponds very large and well made; but the proper places +for shelter of the fowl not covered, the trees not being grown, and +men were still at work improving and enlarging and planting on the +adjoining heath or common. Near the decoy-keeper's house were some +places where young decoy ducks were hatched, or otherwise kept to +fit them for their work. To preserve them from vermin (polecats, +kites, and such like), they had set traps, as is usual in such +cases, and a gibbet by it, where abundance of such creatures as +were taken were hanged up for show. + +While the decoy-man was busy showing the new works, he was alarmed +with a great cry about this house for "Help! help!" and away he +ran like the wind, guessing, as we supposed, that something was +catched in the trap. + +It was a good big boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, that +cried out, for coming to the place he found a great fowl caught by +the leg in the trap, which yet was so strong and so outrageous that +the boy going too near him, he flew at him and frighted him, bit +him, and beat him with his wings, for he was too strong for the +boy; as the master ran from the decoy, so another manservant ran +from the house, and finding a strange creature fast in the trap, +not knowing what it was, laid at him with a great stick. The +creature fought him a good while, but at length he struck him an +unlucky blow which quieted him; after this we all came up to see +what the matter, and found a monstrous eagle caught by the leg in +the trap, and killed by the fellow's cudgel, as above. + +When the master came to know what it was, and that his man had +killed it, he was ready to kill the fellow for his pains, for it +was a noble creature indeed, and would have been worth a great deal +to the man to have it shown about the country, or to have sold to +any gentleman curious in such things; but the eagle was dead, and +there we left it. It is probable this eagle had flown over the sea +from France, either there or at the Isle of Wight, where the +channel is not so wide; for we do not find that any eagles are +known to breed in those parts of Britain. + +From hence we turned up to Dorchester, the county town, though not +the largest town in the county. Dorchester is indeed a pleasant +agreeable town to live in, and where I thought the people seemed +less divided into factions and parties than in other places; for +though here are divisions, and the people are not all of one mind, +either as to religion or politics, yet they did not seem to +separate with so much animosity as in other places. Here I saw the +Church of England clergyman, and the Dissenting minister or +preacher drinking tea together, and conversing with civility and +good neighbourhood, like Catholic Christians and men of a Catholic +and extensive charity. The town is populous, though not large; the +streets broad, but the buildings old and low. However, there is +good company, and a good deal of it; and a man that coveted a +retreat in this world might as agreeably spend his time and as well +in Dorchester as in any town I know in England. + +The downs round this town are exceeding pleasant, and come up on, +every side, even to the very streets' end; and here it was that +they told me that there were six hundred thousand sheep fed on the +downs within six miles of the town--that is, six miles every way, +which is twelve miles in diameter, and thirty-six miles in +circumference. This, I say, I was told--I do not affirm it to be +true; but when I viewed the country round, I confess I could not +but incline to believe it. + +It is observable of these sheep that they are exceeding fruitful, +the ewes generally bringing two lambs, and they are for that reason +bought by all the farmers through the east part of England, who +come to Burford Fair in this country to buy them, and carry them +into Kent and Surrey eastward, and into Buckinghamshire and +Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire north; even our Banstead Downs in +Surrey, so famed for good mutton, is supplied from this place. The +grass or herbage of these downs is full of the sweetest and the +most aromatic plants, such as nourish the sheep to a strange +degree; and the sheep's dung, again, nourishes that herbage to a +strange degree; so that the valleys are rendered extremely fruitful +by the washing of the water in hasty showers from off these hills. + +An eminent instance of this is seen at Amesbury, in Wiltshire, the +next county to this; for it is the same thing in proportion over +this whole county. I was told that at this town there was a meadow +on the bank of the River Avon, which runs thence to Salisbury, +which was let for 12 pounds a year per acre for the grass only. +This I inquired particularly after at the place, and was assured by +the inhabitants, as one man, that the fact was true, and was showed +the meadows. The grass which grew on them was such as grew to the +length of ten or twelve feet, rising up to a good height and then +taking root again, and was of so rich a nature as to answer very +well such an extravagant rent. + +The reason they gave for this was the extraordinary richness of the +soil, made so, as above, by the falling or washing of the rains +from the hills adjacent, by which, though no other land thereabouts +had such a kind of grass, yet all other meadows and low grounds of +the valley were extremely rich in proportion. + +There are abundance of good families, and of very ancient lines in +the neighbourhood of this town of Dorchester, as the Napiers, the +Courtneys, Strangeways, Seymours, Banks, Tregonells, Sydenhams, and +many others, some of which have very great estates in the county, +and in particular Colonel Strangeways, Napier, and Courtney. The +first of these is master of the famous swannery or nursery of +swans, the like of which, I believe, is not in Europe. I wonder +any man should pretend to travel over this country, and pass by it, +too, and then write his account and take no notice of it. + +From Dorchester it is six miles to the seaside south, and the ocean +in view almost all the way. The first town you come to is +Weymouth, or Weymouth and Melcombe, two towns lying at the mouth of +a little rivulet which they call the Wey, but scarce claims the +name of a river. However, the entrance makes a very good though +small harbour, and they are joined by a wooden bridge; so that +nothing but the harbour parts them; yet they are separate +corporations, and choose each of them two members of Parliament, +just as London and Southwark. + +Weymouth is a sweet, clean, agreeable town, considering its low +situation, and close to the sea; it is well built, and has a great +many good substantial merchants in it who drive a considerable +trade, and have a good number of ships belonging to the town. They +carry on now, in time of peace, a trade with France; but, besides +this, they trade also to Portugal, Spain, Newfoundland, and +Virginia; and they have a large correspondence also up in the +country for the consumption of their returns; especially the wine +trade and the Newfoundland trade are considerable here. + +Without the harbour is an old castle, called Sandfoot Castle; and +over against them, where there is a good road for ships to put in +on occasions of bad weather, is Portland Castle, and the road is +called Portland Road. While I was here once, there came a +merchant-ship into that road called Portland Road under a very hard +storm of wind; she was homeward bound from Oporto for London, laden +with wines; and as she came in she made signals of distress to the +town, firing guns for help, and the like, as is usual in such +cases; it was in the dark of the night that the ship came in, and, +by the help of her own pilot, found her way into the road, where +she came to an anchor, but, as I say, fired guns for help. + +The venturous Weymouth men went off, even before it was light, with +two boats to see who she was, and what condition she was in; and +found she was come to an anchor, and had struck her topmasts; but +that she had been in bad weather, had lost an anchor and cable +before, and had but one cable to trust to, which did hold her, but +was weak; and as the storm continued to blow, they expected every +hour to go on shore and split to pieces. + +Upon this the Weymouth boats came back with such diligence that in +less than three hours they were on board them again with an anchor +and cable, which they immediately bent in its place, and let go to +assist the other, and thereby secured the ship. It is true that +they took a good price of the master for the help they gave him; +for they made him draw a bill on his owners at London for 12 pounds +for the use of the anchor, cable, and boat, besides some gratuities +to the men. But they saved the ship and cargo by it, and in three +or four days the weather was calm, and he proceeded on his voyage, +returning the anchor and cable again; so that, upon the whole, it +was not so extravagant as at first I thought it to be. + +The Isle of Portland, on which the castle I mentioned stands, lies +right against this Port of Weymouth. Hence it is that our best and +whitest freestone comes, with which the Cathedral of St. Paul's, +the Monument, and all the public edifices in the City of London are +chiefly built; and it is wonderful, and well worth the observation +of a traveller, to see the quarries in the rocks from whence they +are cut out, what stones, and of what prodigious a size are cut out +there. + +The island is indeed little more than one continued rock of +freestone, and the height of the land is such that from this island +they see in clear weather above half over the Channel to France, +though the Channel here is very broad. The sea off of this island, +and especially to the west of it, is counted the most dangerous +part of the British Channel. Due south, there is almost a +continued disturbance in the waters, by reason of what they call +two tides meeting, which I take to be no more than the sets of the +currents from the French coast and from the English shore meeting: +this they call Portland Race; and several ships, not aware of these +currents, have been embayed to the west of Portland, and been +driven on shore on the beach (of which I shall speak presently), +and there lost. + +To prevent this danger, and guide the mariner in these distresses, +they have within these few months set up two lighthouses on the two +points of that island; and they had not been many months set up, +with the directions given to the public for their bearings, but we +found three outward-bound East India ships which were in distress +in the night, in a hard extreme gale of wind, were so directed by +those lights that they avoided going on shore by it, which, if the +lights had not been there, would inevitably happened to their +destruction. + +This island, though seemingly miserable, and thinly inhabited, yet +the inhabitants being almost all stone-cutters, we found there were +no very poor people among them, and when they collected money for +the re-building St. Paul's, they got more in this island than in +the great town of Dorchester, as we were told. + +Though Portland stands a league off from the mainland of Britain, +yet it is almost joined by a prodigious riff of beach--that is to +say, of small stones cast up by the sea--which runs from the island +so near the shore of England that they ferry over with a boat and a +rope, the water not being above half a stone's-throw over; and the +said riff of beach ending, as it were, at that inlet of water, +turns away west, and runs parallel with the shore quite to +Abbotsbury, which is a town about seven miles beyond Weymouth. + +I name this for two reasons: first, to explain again what I said +before of ships being embayed and lost here. This is when ships +coming from the westward omit to keep a good offing, or are taken +short by contrary winds, and cannot weather the high land of +Portland, but are driven between Portland and the mainland. If +they can come to an anchor, and ride it out, well and good; and if +not, they run on shore on that vast beach and are lost without +remedy. + +On the inside of this beach, and between it and the land, there is, +as I have said, an inlet of water which they ferry over, as above, +to pass and re-pass to and from Portland: this inlet opens at +about two miles west, and grows very broad, and makes a kind of +lake within the land of a mile and a half broad, and near three +miles in length, the breadth unequal. At the farthest end west of +this water is a large duck-coy, and the verge of the water well +grown with wood, and proper groves of trees for cover for the fowl: +in the open lake, or broad part, is a continual assembly of swans: +here they live, feed, and breed, and the number of them is such +that, I believe, I did not see so few as 7,000 or 8,000. Here they +are protected, and here they breed in abundance. We saw several of +them upon the wing, very high in the air, whence we supposed that +they flew over the riff of beach, which parts the lake from the +sea, to feed on the shores as they thought fit, and so came home +again at their leisure. + +From this duck-coy west, the lake narrows, and at last almost +closes, till the beach joins the shore; and so Portland may be +said, not to be an island, but part of the continent. And now we +came to Abbotsbury, a town anciently famous for a great monastery, +and now eminent for nothing but its ruins. + +From hence we went on to Bridport, a pretty large corporation town +on the sea-shore, though without a harbour. Here we saw boats all +the way on the shore, fishing for mackerel, which they take in the +easiest manner imaginable; for they fix one end of the net to a +pole set deep into the sand, then, the net being in a boat, they +row right out into the water some length, then turn and row +parallel with the shore, veering out the net all the while, till +they have let go all the net, except the line at the end, and then +the boat rows on shore, when the men, hauling the net to the shore +at both ends, bring to shore with it such fish as they surrounded +in the little way they rowed. This, at that time, proved to be an +incredible number, insomuch that the men could hardly draw them on +shore. As soon as the boats had brought their fish on shore we +observed a guard or watch placed on the shore in several places, +who, we found, had their eye, not on the fishermen, but on the +country people who came down to the shore to buy their fish; and +very sharp we found they were, and some that came with small carts +were obliged to go back empty without any fish. When we came to +inquire into the particulars of this, we found that these were +officers placed on the shore by the justices and magistrates of the +towns about, who were ordered to prevent the country farmers buying +the mackerel to dung their land with them, which was thought to be +dangerous as to infection. In short, such was the plenty of fish +that year that the mackerel, the finest and largest I ever saw, +were sold at the seaside a hundred for a penny. + +From Bridport (a town in which we see nothing remarkable) we came +to Lyme, the town particularly made famous by the landing of the +Duke of Monmouth and his unfortunate troops in the time of King +James II., of which I need say nothing, the history of it being so +recent in the memory of so many living. + +This is a town of good figure, and has in it several eminent +merchants who carry on a considerable trade to France, Spain, +Newfoundland, and the Straits; and though they have neither creek +or bay, road or river, they have a good harbour, but it is such a +one as is not in all Britain besides, if there is such a one in any +part of the world. + +It is a massy pile of building, consisting of high and thick walls +of stone, raised at first with all the methods that skill and art +could devise, but maintained now with very little difficulty. The +walls are raised in the main sea at a good distance from the shore; +it consists of one main and solid wall of stone, large enough for +carts and carriages to pass on the top, and to admit houses and +warehouses to be built on it, so that it is broad as a street. +Opposite to this, but farther into the sea, is another wall of the +same workmanship, which crosses the end of the first wall and comes +about with a tail parallel to the first wall. + +Between the point of the first or main wall is the entrance into +the port, and the second or opposite wall, breaking the violence of +the sea from the entrance, the ships go into the basin as into a +pier or harbour, and ride there as secure as in a millpond or as in +a wet dock. + +The townspeople have the benefit of this wonderful harbour, and it +is carefully kept in repair, as indeed it behoves them to do; but +they could give me nothing of the history of it, nor do they, as I +could perceive, know anything of the original of it, or who built +it. It was lately almost beaten down by a storm, but is repaired +again. + +This work is called the Cobb. The Custom House officers have a +lodge and warehouse upon it, and there were several ships of very +good force and rich in value in the basin of it when I was there. +It might be strengthened with a fort, and the walls themselves are +firm enough to carry what guns they please to plant upon it; but +they did not seem to think it needful, and as the shore is +convenient for batteries, they have some guns planted in proper +places, both for the defence of the Cobb and the town also. + +This town is under the government of a mayor and aldermen, and may +pass for a place of wealth, considering the bigness of it. Here, +we found, the merchants began to trade in the pilchard-fishing, +though not to so considerable a degree as they do farther west--the +pilchards seldom coming up so high eastward as Portland, and not +very often so high as Lyme. + +It was in sight of these hills that Queen Elizabeth's fleet, under +the command of the Lord Howard of Effingham (then Admiral), began +first to engage in a close and resolved fight with the invincible +Spanish Armada in 1588, maintaining the fight, the Spaniards making +eastward till they came the length of Portland Race, where they +gave it over--the Spaniards having received considerable damage, +and keeping then closer together. Off of the same place was a +desperate engagement in the year 1672 between the English and +Dutch, in which the Dutch were worsted and driven over to the coast +of France, and then glad to make home to refit and repair. + +While we stayed here some time viewing this town and coast, we had +opportunity to observe the pleasant way of conversation as it is +managed among the gentlemen of this county and their families, +which are, without reflection, some of the most polite and well- +bred people in the isle of Britain. As their hospitality is very +great, and their bounty to the poor remarkable, so their generous +friendly way of living with, visiting, and associating one with +another is as hard to be described as it is really to be admired; +they seem to have a mutual confidence in and friendship with one +another, as if they were all relations; nor did I observe the +sharping, tricking temper which is too much crept in among the +gaming and horse-racing gentry in some parts of England to be so +much known among them any otherwise than to be abhorred; and yet +they sometimes play, too, and make matches and horse-races, as they +see occasion. + +The ladies here do not want the help of assemblies to assist in +matchmaking, or half-pay officers to run away with their daughters, +which the meetings called assemblies in some other parts of England +are recommended for. Here is no Bury Fair, where the women are +scandalously said to carry themselves to market, and where every +night they meet at the play or at the assembly for intrigue; and +yet I observed that the women do not seem to stick on hand so much +in this country as in those countries where those assemblies are so +lately set up--the reason of which, I cannot help saying, if my +opinion may bear any weight, is that the Dorsetshire ladies are +equal in beauty, and may be superior in reputation. In a word, +their reputation seems here to be better kept, guarded by better +conduct, and managed with more prudence; and yet the Dorsetshire +ladies, I assure you, are not nuns; they do not go veiled about +streets, or hide themselves when visited; but a general freedom of +conversation--agreeable, mannerly, kind, and good--runs through the +whole body of the gentry of both sexes, mixed with the best of +behaviour, and yet governed by prudence and modesty such as I +nowhere see better in all my observation through the whole isle of +Britain. In this little interval also I visited some of the +biggest towns in the north-west part of this county, as Blandford-- +a town on the River Stour in the road between Salisbury and +Dorchester--a handsome well-built town, but chiefly famous for +making the finest bone-lace in England, and where they showed me +some so exquisitely fine as I think I never saw better in Flanders, +France, or Italy, and which they said they rated at above 30 pounds +sterling a yard; but I suppose there was not much of this to be +had. But it is most certain that they make exceeding rich lace in +that county, such as no part of England can equal. + +From thence I went west to Stourbridge, vulgarly called Strabridge. +The town and the country around is employed in the manufacture of +stockings, and which was once famous for making the finest, best, +and highest-prize knit stocking in England; but that trade now is +much decayed by the increase of the knitting-stocking engine or +frame, which has destroyed the hand-knitting trade for fine +stockings through the whole kingdom, of which I shall speak more in +its place. + +From hence I came to Sherborne, a large and populous town, with one +collegiate or conventual church, and may properly claim to have +more inhabitants in it than any town in Dorsetshire, though it is +neither the county-town, nor does it send members to Parliament. +The church is still a reverend pile, and shows the face of great +antiquity. Here begins the Wiltshire medley clothing (though this +town be in Dorsetshire), of which I shall speak at large in its +place, and therefore I omit any discourse of it here. + +Shaftesbury is also on the edge of this county, adjoining to +Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, being fourteen miles from Salisbury, +over that fine down or carpet ground which they call particularly +or properly Salisbury Plain. It has neither house nor town in view +all the way; and the road, which often lies very broad and branches +off insensibly, might easily cause a traveller to lose his way. +But there is a certain never-failing assistance upon all these +downs for telling a stranger his way, and that is the number of +shepherds feeding or keeping their vast flocks of sheep which are +everywhere in the way, and who with a very little pains a traveller +may always speak with. Nothing can be like it. The Arcadians' +plains, of which we read so much pastoral trumpery in the poets, +could be nothing to them. + +This Shaftesbury is now a sorry town upon the top of a high hill, +which closes the plain or downs, and whence Nature presents you a +new scene or prospect--viz., of Somerset and Wiltshire--where it is +all enclosed, and grown with woods, forests, and planted hedge- +rows; the country rich, fertile, and populous; the towns and houses +standing thick and being large and full of inhabitants, and those +inhabitants fully employed in the richest and most valuable +manufacture in the world--viz., the English clothing, as well the +medley or mixed clothing as whites, as well for the home trade as +the foreign trade, of which I shall take leave to be very +particular in my return through the west and north part of +Wiltshire in the latter part of this work. + +In my return to my western progress, I passed some little part of +Somersetshire, as through Evil or Yeovil, upon the River Ivil, in +going to which we go down a long steep hill, which they call +Babylon Hill, but from what original I could find none of the +country people to inform me. + +This Yeovil is a market-town of good resort; and some clothing is +carried on in and near it, but not much. Its main manufacture at +this time is making of gloves. + +It cannot pass my observation here that when we are come this +length from London the dialect of the English tongue, or the +country way of expressing themselves, is not easily understood--it +is so strangely altered. It is true that it is so in many parts of +England besides, but in none in so gross a degree as in this part. +This way of boorish country speech, as in Ireland it is called the +"brogue" upon the tongue, so here it is called "jouring;" and it is +certain that though the tongue be all mere natural English, yet +those that are but a little acquainted with them cannot understand +one-half of what they say. It is not possible to explain this +fully by writing, because the difference is not so much in the +orthography of words as in the tone and diction--their abridging +the speech, "cham" for "I am," "chil" for "I will," "don" for "put +on," and "doff" for "put off," and the like. And I cannot omit a +short story here on this subject. Coming to a relation's house, +who was a school-master at Martock, in Somersetshire, I went into +his school to beg the boys a play-day, as is usual in such cases (I +should have said, to beg the master a play-day. But that by the +way). Coming into the school, I observed one of the lowest +scholars was reading his lesson to the usher, which lesson, it +seems, was a chapter in the Bible. So I sat down by the master +till the boy had read out his chapter. I observed the boy read a +little oddly in the tone of the country, which made me the more +attentive, because on inquiry I found that the words were the same +and the orthography the same as in all our Bibles. I observed also +the boy read it out with his eyes still on the book and his head +(like a mere boy) moving from side to side as the lines reached +cross the columns of the book. His lesson was in the Canticles, v. +3 of chap. v. The words these:- "I have put off my coat. How +shall I put it on? I have washed my feet. How shall I defile +them?" + +The boy read thus, with his eyes, as I say, full on the text:- +"Chav a doffed my cooat. How shall I don't? Chav a washed my +veet. How shall I moil 'em?" + +How the dexterous dunce could form his month to express so readily +the words (which stood right printed in the book) in his country +jargon, I could not but admire. I shall add to this another piece +as diverting, which also happened in my knowledge at this very town +of Yeovil, though some years ago. + +There lived a good substantial family in the town not far from the +"Angel Inn"--a well-known house, which was then, and, I suppose, is +still, the chief inn of the town. This family had a dog which, +among his other good qualities for which they kept him (for he was +a rare house-dog), had this bad one--that he was a most notorious +thief, but withal so cunning a dog, and managed himself so warily, +that he preserved a mighty good reputation among the neighbourhood. +As the family was well beloved in the town, so was the dog. He was +known to be a very useful servant to them, especially in the night +(when he was fierce as a lion; but in the day the gentlest, +lovingest creature that could be), and, as they said, all the +neighbours had a good word for this dog. + +It happened that the good wife or mistress at the "Angel Inn" had +frequently missed several pieces of meat out of the pail, as they +say--or powdering-tub, as we call it--and that some were very large +pieces. It is also to be observed the dog did not stay to eat what +he took upon the spot, in which case some pieces or bones or +fragments might be left, and so it might be discovered to be a dog; +but he made cleaner work, and when he fastened upon a piece of meat +he was sure to carry it quite away to such retreats as he knew he +could be safe in, and so feast upon it at leisure. + +It happened at last, as with most thieves it does, that the inn- +keeper was too cunning for him, and the poor dog was nabbed, taken +in the fact, and could make no defence. + +Having found the thief and got him in custody, the master of the +house, a good-humoured fellow, and loth to disoblige the dog's +master by executing the criminal, as the dog law directs, mitigates +his sentence, and handled him as follows:- First, taking out his +knife, he cut off both his ears; and then, bringing him to the +threshold, he chopped off his tail. And having thus effectually +dishonoured the poor cur among his neighbours, he tied a string +about his neck, and a piece of paper to the string, directed to his +master, and with these witty West Country verses on it:- + + +"To my honoured master,--Esq. +"Hail master a cham a' com hoam, +So cut as an ape, and tail have I noan, +For stealing of beef and pork out of the pail, +For thease they'v cut my ears, for th' wother my tail; +Nea measter, and us tell thee more nor that +And's come there again, my brains will be flat." + + +I could give many more accounts of the different dialects of the +people of this country, in some of which they are really not to be +understood; but the particulars have little or no diversion in +them. They carry it such a length that we see their "jouring" +speech even upon their monuments and grave-stones; as, for example, +even in some of the churchyards of the city of Bristol I saw this +excellent poetry after some other lines:- + + +"And when that thou doest hear of thick, +Think of the glass that runneth quick." + + +But I proceed into Devonshire. From Yeovil we came to Crookorn, +thence to Chard, and from thence into the same road I was in before +at Honiton. + +This is a large and beautiful market-town, very populous and well +built, and is so very remarkably paved with small pebbles that on +either side the way a little channel is left shouldered up on the +sides of it, so that it holds a small stream of fine clear running +water, with a little square dipping-place left at every door; so +that every family in the town has a clear, clean running river (as +it may be called) just at their own door, and this so much finer, +so much pleasanter, and agreeable to look on than that at Salisbury +(which they boast so much of), that, in my opinion, there is no +comparison. + +Here we see the first of the great serge manufacture of Devonshire- +-a trade too great to be described in miniature, as it must be if I +undertake it here, and which takes up this whole county, which is +the largest and most populous in England, Yorkshire excepted (which +ought to be esteemed three counties, and is, indeed, divided as +such into the East, West, and North Riding). But Devonshire, one +entire county, is so full of great towns, and those towns so full +of people, and those people so universally employed in trade and +manufactures, that not only it cannot be equalled in England, but +perhaps not in Europe. + +In my travel through Dorsetshire I ought to have observed that the +biggest towns in that county sent no members to Parliament, and +that the smallest did--that is to say that Sherborne, Blandford, +Wimborneminster, Stourminster, and several other towns choose no +members; whereas Weymouth, Melcombe, and Bridport were all burgess +towns. But now we come to Devonshire we find almost all the great +towns, and some smaller, choosing members also. It is true there +are some large populous towns that do not choose, but then there +are so many that do, that the county seems to have no injustice, +for they send up six-and-twenty members. + +However, as I say above, there are several great towns which do not +choose Parliament men, of which Bideford is one, Crediton or Kirton +another, Ilfracombe a third; but, those excepted, the principal +towns in the county do all choose members of Parliament. + +Honiton is one of those, and may pass not only for a pleasant good +town, as before, but stands in the best and pleasantest part of the +whole county, and I cannot but recommend it to any gentlemen that +travel this road, that if they please to observe the prospect for +half a mile till their coming down the hill and to the entrance +into Honiton, the view of the country is the most beautiful +landscape in the world--a mere picture--and I do not remember the +like in any one place in England. It is observable that the market +of this town was kept originally on the Sunday, till it was changed +by the direction of King John. + +From Honiton the country is exceeding pleasant still, and on the +road they have a beautiful prospect almost all the way to Exeter +(which is twelve miles). On the left-hand of this road lies that +part of the county which they call the South Hams, and which is +famous for the best cider in that part of England; also the town of +St.-Mary-Ottery, commonly called St. Mary Autree. They tell us the +name is derived from the River Ottery, and that from the multitude +of otters found always in that river, which however, to me, seems +fabulous. Nor does there appear to be any such great number of +otters in that water, or in the county about, more than is usual in +other counties or in other parts of the county about them. They +tell us they send twenty thousand hogsheads of cider hence every +year to London, and (which is still worse) that it is most of it +bought there by the merchants to mix with their wines--which, if +true, is not much to the reputation of the London vintners. But +that by-the-bye. + +From hence we came to Exeter, a city famous for two things which we +seldom find unite in the same town--viz., that it is full of gentry +and good company, and yet full of trade and manufactures also. The +serge market held here every week is very well worth a stranger's +seeing, and next to the Brigg Market at Leeds, in Yorkshire, is the +greatest in England. The people assured me that at this market is +generally sold from sixty to seventy to eighty, and sometimes a +hundred, thousand pounds value in serges in a week. I think it is +kept on Mondays. + +They have the River Esk here, a very considerable river, and +principal in the whole county; and within three miles, or +thereabouts, it receives ships of any ordinary burthen, the port +there being called Topsham. But now by the application, and at the +expense, of the citizens the channel of the river is so widened, +deepened, and cleansed from the shoal, which would otherwise +interrupt the navigation, that the ships come now quite up to the +city, and there with ease both deliver and take in their lading. + +This city drives a very great correspondence with Holland, as also +directly to Portugal, Spain, and Italy--shipping off vast +quantities of their woollen manufactures especially to Holland, the +Dutch giving very large commissions here for the buying of serges +perpetuans, and such goods; which are made not only in and about +Exeter, but at Crediton, Honiton, Culliton, St.-Mary-Ottery, Newton +Bushel, Ashburton, and especially at Tiverton, Cullompton, Bampton, +and all the north-east part of the county--which part of the county +is, as it may be said, fully employed, the people made rich, and +the poor that are properly so called well subsisted and employed by +it. + +Exeter is a large, rich, beautiful, populous, and was once a very +strong city; but as to the last, as the castle, the walls, and all +the old works are demolished, so, were they standing, the way of +managing sieges and attacks of towns is such now, and so altered +from what it was in those days, that Exeter in the utmost strength +it could ever boast would not now hold out five days open trenches- +-nay, would hardly put an army to the trouble of opening trenches +against it at all. This city was famous in the late civil +unnatural war for its loyalty to the king, and for being a +sanctuary to the queen, where her Majesty resided for some time, +and here she was delivered of a daughter, being the Princess +Henrietta Maria, of whom our histories give a particular account, +so I need say no more of it here. + +The cathedral church of this city is an ancient beauty, or, as it +may be said, it is beautiful for its antiquity; but it has been so +fully and often described that it would look like a mere copying +from others to mention it. There is a good library kept in it, in +which are some manuscripts, and particularly an old missal or mass- +book, the leaves of vellum, and famous for its most exquisite +writing. + +This county, and this part of it in particular, has been famous for +the birth of several eminent men as well for learning as for arts +and for war, as particularly:- + + +1. Sir William Petre, who the learned Dr. Wake (now Archbishop of +Canterbury, and author of the Additions to Mr. Camden) says was +Secretary of State and Privy Councillor to King Henry VIII., Edward +VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, and seven times sent +ambassador into foreign countries. + +2. Sir Thomas Bodley, famous and of grateful memory to all learned +men and lovers of letters for his collecting and establishing the +best library in Britain, which is now at Oxford, and is called, +after his name, the Bodleian Library to this day. + +3. Also Sir Francis Drake, born at Plymouth. + +4. Sir Walter Raleigh. Of both those I need say nothing; fame +publishes their merit upon every mention of their names. + +5. That great patron of learning, Richard Hooker, author of the +"Ecclesiastical Polity," and of several other valuable pieces. + +6. Of Dr. Arthur Duck, a famed civilian, and well known by his +works among the learned advocates of Doctors' Commons. + +7. Dr. John Moreman, of Southold, famous for being the first +clergyman in England who ventured to teach his parishioners the +Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments in the English tongue, +and reading them so publicly in the parish church of Mayenhennet in +this county, of which he was vicar. + +8. Dr. John de Brampton, a man of great learning who flourished in +the reign of Henry VI., was famous for being the first that read +Aristotle publicly in the University of Cambridge, and for several +learned books of his writing, which are now lost. + +9. Peter Blundel, a clothier, who built the free school at +Tiverton, and endowed it very handsomely; of which in its place. + +10. Sir John Glanvill, a noted lawyer, and one of the Judges of +the Common Pleas. + +11. Sergeant Glanvill, his son; as great a lawyer as his father. + +12. Sir John Maynard, an eminent lawyer of later years; one of the +Commissioners of the Great Seal under King William III. All these +three were born at Tavistock. + +13. Sir Peter King, the present Lord Chief Justice of the Common +Pleas. And many others. + +I shall take the north part of this county in my return from +Cornwall; so I must now lean to the south--that is to say, to the +South Coast--for in going on indeed we go south-west. + +About twenty-two miles from Exeter we go to Totnes, on the River +Dart. This is a very good town, of some trade; but has more +gentlemen in it than tradesmen of note. They have a very fine +stone bridge here over the river, which, being within seven or +eight miles of the sea, is very large; and the tide flows ten or +twelve feet at the bridge. Here we had the diversion of seeing +them catch fish with the assistance of a dog. The case is this:- +On the south side of the river, and on a slip, or narrow cut or +channel made on purpose for a mill, there stands a corn-mill; the +mill-tail, or floor for the water below the wheels, is wharfed up +on either side with stone above high-water mark, and for above +twenty or thirty feet in length below it on that part of the river +towards the sea; at the end of this wharfing is a grating of wood, +the cross-bars of which stand bearing inward, sharp at the end, and +pointing inward towards one another, as the wires of a mouse-trap. + +When the tide flows up, the fish can with ease go in between the +points of these cross-bars, but the mill being shut down they can +go no farther upwards; and when the water ebbs again, they are left +behind, not being able to pass the points of the grating, as above, +outwards; which, like a mouse-trap, keeps them in, so that they are +left at the bottom with about a foot or a foot and a half of water. +We were carried hither at low water, where we saw about fifty or +sixty small salmon, about seventeen to twenty inches long, which +the country people call salmon-peal; and to catch these the person +who went with us, who was our landlord at a great inn next the +bridge, put in a net on a hoop at the end of a pole, the pole going +cross the hoop (which we call in this country a shove-net). The +net being fixed at one end of the place, they put in a dog (who was +taught his trade beforehand) at the other end of the place, and he +drives all the fish into the net; so that, only holding the net +still in its place, the man took up two or three and thirty salmon- +peal at the first time. + +Of these we took six for our dinner, for which they asked a +shilling (viz., twopence a-piece); and for such fish, not at all +bigger, and not so fresh, I have seen six-and-sixpence each given +at a London fish-market, whither they are sometimes brought from +Chichester by land carriage. + +This excessive plenty of so good fish (and other provisions being +likewise very cheap in proportion) makes the town of Totnes a very +good place to live in; especially for such as have large families +and but small estates. And many such are said to come into those +parts on purpose for saving money, and to live in proportion to +their income. + +From hence we went still south about seven miles (all in view of +this river) to Dartmouth, a town of note, seated at the mouth of +the River Dart, and where it enters into the sea at a very narrow +but safe entrance. The opening into Dartmouth Harbour is not +broad, but the channel deep enough for the biggest ship in the +Royal Navy. The sides of the entrance are high-mounded with rocks, +without which, just at the first narrowing of the passage, stands a +good strong fort without a platform of guns, which commands the +port. + +The narrow entrance is not much above half a mile, when it opens +and makes a basin or harbour able to receive 500 sail of ships of +any size, and where they may ride with the greatest safety, even as +in a mill-pond or wet dock. I had the curiosity here, with the +assistance of a merchant of the town, to go out to the mouth of the +haven in a boat to see the entrance, and castle or fort that +commands it; and coming back with the tide of flood, I observed +some small fish to skip and play upon the surface of the water, +upon which I asked my friend what fish they were. Immediately one +of the rowers or seamen starts up in the boat, and, throwing his +arms abroad as if he had been bewitched, cries out as loud as he +could bawl, "A school! a school!" The word was taken to the shore +as hastily as it would have been on land if he had cried "Fire!" +And by that time we reached the quays the town was all in a kind of +an uproar. + +The matter was that a great shoal--or, as they call it, a "school"- +-of pilchards came swimming with the tide of flood, directly out of +the sea into the harbour. My friend whose boat we were in told me +this was a surprise which he would have been very glad of if he +could but have had a day or two's warning, for he might have taken +200 tons of them. And the like was the case of other merchants in +town; for, in short, nobody was ready for them, except a small +fishing-boat or two--one of which went out into the middle of the +harbour, and at two or three hauls took about forty thousand of +them. We sent our servant to the quay to buy some, who for a +halfpenny brought us seventeen, and, if he would have taken them, +might have had as many more for the same money. With these we went +to dinner; the cook at the inn broiled them for us, which is their +way of dressing them, with pepper and salt, which cost us about a +farthing; so that two of us and a servant dined--and at a tavern, +too--for three farthings, dressing and all. And this is the reason +of telling the tale. What drink--wine or beer--we had I do not +remember; but, whatever it was, that we paid for by itself. But +for our food we really dined for three farthings, and very well, +too. Our friend treated us the next day with a dish of large +lobsters, and I being curious to know the value of such things, and +having freedom enough with him to inquire, I found that for 6d. or +8d. they bought as good lobsters there as would have cost in London +3s. to 3s. 6d. each. + +In observing the coming in of those pilchards, as above, we found +that out at sea, in the offing, beyond the mouth of the harbour, +there was a whole army of porpoises, which, as they told us, +pursued the pilchards, and, it is probable, drove them into the +harbour, as above. The school, it seems, drove up the river a +great way, even as high as Totnes Bridge, as we heard afterwards; +so that the country people who had boats and nets catched as many +as they knew what to do with, and perhaps lived upon pilchards for +several days. But as to the merchants and trade, their coming was +so sudden that it was no advantage to them. + +Round the west side of this basin or harbour, in a kind of a +semicircle, lies the town of Dartmouth, a very large and populous +town, though but meanly built, and standing on the side of a steep +hill; yet the quay is large, and the street before it spacious. +Here are some very flourishing merchants, who trade very +prosperously, and to the most considerable trading ports of Spain, +Portugal, Italy, and the Plantations; but especially they are great +traders to Newfoundland, and from thence to Spain and Italy, with +fish; and they drive a good trade also in their own fishery of +pilchards, which is hereabouts carried on with the greatest number +of vessels of any port in the west, except Falmouth. + +A little to the southward of this town, and to the east of the +port, is Tor Bay, of which I know nothing proper to my observation, +more than that it is a very good road for ships, though sometimes +(especially with a southerly or south-east wind) ships have been +obliged to quit the bay and put out to sea, or run into Dartmouth +for shelter. + +I suppose I need not mention that they had from the hilly part of +this town, and especially from the hills opposite to it, the noble +prospect, and at that time particularly delightful, of the Prince +of Orange's fleet when he came to that coast, and as they entered +into Tor Bay to land--the Prince and his army being in a fleet of +about 600 sail of transport ships, besides 50 sail of men-of-war of +the line, all which, with a fair wind and fine weather, came to an +anchor there at once. + +This town, as most of the towns of Devonshire are, is full of +Dissenters, and a very large meeting-house they have here. How +they act here with respect to the great dispute about the doctrine +of the Trinity, which has caused such a breach among those people +at Exeter and other parts of the county, I cannot give any account +of. This town sends two members to Parliament. + +From hence we went to Plympton, a poor and thinly-inhabited town, +though blessed with the like privilege of sending members to the +Parliament, of which I have little more to say but that from thence +the road lies to Plymouth, distance about six miles. + +Plymouth is indeed a town of consideration, and of great importance +to the public. The situation of it between two very large inlets +of the sea, and in the bottom of a large bay, which is very +remarkable for the advantage of navigation. The Sound or Bay is +compassed on every side with hills, and the shore generally steep +and rocky, though the anchorage is good, and it is pretty safe +riding. In the entrance to this bay lies a large and most +dangerous rock, which at high-water is covered, but at low-tide +lies bare, where many a good ship has been lost, even in the view +of safety, and many a ship's crew drowned in the night, before help +could be had for them. + +Upon this rock (which was called the Eddystone, from its situation) +the famous Mr. Winstanley undertook to build a lighthouse for the +direction of sailors, and with great art and expedition finished +it; which work--considering its height, the magnitude of its +building, and the little hold there was by which it was possible to +fasten it to the rock--stood to admiration, and bore out many a +bitter storm. + +Mr. Winstanley often visited, and frequently strengthened, the +building by new works, and was so confident of its firmness and +stability that he usually said he only desired to be in it when a +storm should happen; for many people had told him it would +certainly fall if it came to blow a little harder than ordinary. + +But he happened at last to be in it once too often--namely, when +that dreadful tempest blew, November 27, 1703. This tempest began +on the Wednesday before, and blew with such violence, and shook the +lighthouse so much, that, as they told me there, Mr. Winstanley +would fain have been on shore, and made signals for help; but no +boats durst go off to him; and, to finish the tragedy, on the +Friday, November 26, when the tempest was so redoubled that it +became a terror to the whole nation, the first sight there seaward +that the people of Plymouth were presented with in the morning +after the storm was the bare Eddystone, the lighthouse being gone; +in which Mr. Winstanley and all that were with him perished, and +were never seen or heard of since. But that which was a worse loss +still was that, a few days after, a merchant's ship called the +Winchelsea, homeward bound from Virginia, not knowing the Eddystone +lighthouse was down, for want of the light that should have been +seen, run foul of the rock itself, and was lost with all her lading +and most of her men. But there is now another light-house built on +the same rock. + +What other disasters happened at the same time in the Sound and in +the roads about Plymouth is not my business; they are also +published in other books, to which I refer. + +One thing which I was a witness to on a former journey to this +place, I cannot omit. It was the next year after that great storm, +and but a little sooner in the year, being in August; I was at +Plymouth, and walking on the Hoo (which is a plain on the edge of +the sea, looking to the road), I observed the evening so serene, so +calm, so bright, and the sea so smooth, that a finer sight, I +think, I never saw. There was very little wind, but what was, +seemed to be westerly; and about an hour after, it blew a little +breeze at south-west, with which wind there came into the Sound +that night and the next morning a fleet of fourteen sail of ships +from Barbadoes, richly laden for London. Having been long at sea, +most of the captains and passengers came on shore to refresh +themselves, as is usual after such tedious voyages; and the ships +rode all in the Sound on that side next to Catwater. As is +customary upon safe arriving to their native country, there was a +general joy and rejoicing both on board and on shore. + +The next day the wind began to freshen, especially in the +afternoon, and the sea to be disturbed, and very hard it blew at +night; but all was well for that time. But the night after, it +blew a dreadful storm (not much inferior, for the time it lasted, +to the storm mentioned above which blew down the lighthouse on the +Eddystone). About mid-night the noise, indeed, was very dreadful, +what with the rearing of the sea and of the wind, intermixed with +the firing of guns for help from the ships, the cries of the seamen +and people on shore, and (which was worse) the cries of those which +were driven on shore by the tempest and dashed in pieces. In a +word, all the fleet except three, or thereabouts, were dashed to +pieces against the rocks and sunk in the sea, most of the men being +drowned. Those three who were saved, received so much damage that +their lading was almost all spoiled. One ship in the dark of the +night, the men not knowing where they were, run into Catwater, and +run on shore there; by which she was, however, saved from +shipwreck, and the lives of her crew were saved also. + +This was a melancholy morning indeed. Nothing was to be seen but +wrecks of the ships and a foaming, furious sea in that very place +where they rode all in joy and triumph but the evening before. The +captains, passengers, and officers who were, as I have said, gone +on shore, between the joy of saving their lives, and the affliction +of having lost their ships, their cargoes, and their friends, were +objects indeed worth our compassion and observation. And there was +a great variety of the passions to be observed in them--now +lamenting their losses, their giving thanks for their deliverance. +Many of the passengers had lost their all, and were, as they +expressed themselves, "utterly undone." They were, I say, now +lamenting their losses with violent excesses of grief; then giving +thanks for their lives, and that they should be brought on shore, +as it were, on purpose to be saved from death; then again in tears +for such as were drowned. The various cases were indeed very +affecting, and, in many things, very instructing. + +As I say, Plymouth lies in the bottom of this Sound, in the centre +between the two waters, so there lies against it, in the same +position, an island, which they call St. Nicholas, on which there +is a castle which commands the entrance into Hamoaze, and indeed +that also into Catwater in some degree. In this island the famous +General Lambert, one of Cromwell's great agents or officers in the +rebellion, was imprisoned for life, and lived many years there. + +On the shore over against this island is the citadel of Plymouth, a +small but regular fortification, inaccessible by sea, but not +exceeding strong by land, except that they say the works are of a +stone hard as marble, and would not seen yield to the batteries of +an enemy--but that is a language our modern engineers now laugh at. + +The town stands above this, upon the same rock, and lies sloping on +the side of it, towards the east--the inlet of the sea which is +called Catwater, and which is a harbour capable of receiving any +number of ships and of any size, washing the eastern shore of the +town, where they have a kind of natural mole or haven, with a quay +and all other conveniences for bringing in vessels for loading and +unloading; nor is the trade carried on here inconsiderable in +itself, or the number of merchants small. + +The other inlet of the sea, as I term it, is on the other side of +the town, and is called Hamoaze, being the mouth of the River +Tamar, a considerable river which parts the two counties of Devon +and Cornwall. Here (the war with France making it necessary that +the ships of war should have a retreat nearer hand than at +Portsmouth) the late King William ordered a wet dock--with yards, +dry docks, launches, and conveniences of all kinds for building and +repairing of ships--to be built; and with these followed +necessarily the building of store-houses and warehouses for the +rigging, sails, naval and military stores, &c., of such ships as +may be appointed to be laid up there, as now several are; with very +handsome houses for the commissioners, clerks, and officers of all +kinds usual in the king's yards, to dwell in. It is, in short, now +become as complete an arsenal or yard for building and fitting men- +of-war as any the Government are masters of, and perhaps much more +convenient than some of them, though not so large. + +The building of these things, with the addition of rope-walks and +mast-yards, &c., as it brought abundance of trades-people and +workmen to the place, so they began by little and little to build +houses on the lands adjacent, till at length there appeared a very +handsome street, spacious and large, and as well inhabited; and so +many houses are since added that it is become a considerable town, +and must of consequence in time draw abundance of people from +Plymouth itself. + +However, the town of Plymouth is, and will always be, a very +considerable town, while that excellent harbour makes it such a +general port for the receiving all the fleets of merchants' ships +from the southward (as from Spain, Italy, the West Indies, &c.), +who generally make it the first port to put in at for refreshment, +or safety from either weather or enemies. + +The town is populous and wealthy, having, as above, several +considerable merchants and abundance of wealthy shopkeepers, whose +trade depends upon supplying the sea-faring people that upon so +many occasions put into that port. As for gentlemen--I mean, those +that are such by family and birth and way of living--it cannot be +expected to find many such in a town merely depending on trade, +shipping, and sea-faring business; yet I found here some men of +value (persons of liberal education, general knowledge, and +excellent behaviour), whose society obliges me to say that a +gentleman might find very agreeable company in Plymouth. + +From Plymouth we pass the Tamar over a ferry to Saltash--a little, +poor, shattered town, the first we set foot on in the county of +Cornwall. The Tamar here is very wide, and the ferry-boats bad; so +that I thought myself well escaped when I got safe on shore in +Cornwall. + +Saltash seems to be the ruins of a larger place; and we saw many +houses, as it were, falling down, and I doubt not but the mice and +rats have abandoned many more, as they say they will when they are +likely to fall. Yet this town is governed by a mayor and aldermen, +has many privileges, sends members to Parliament, takes toll of all +vessels that pass the river, and have the sole oyster-fishing in +the whole river, which is considerable. Mr. Carew, author of the +"Survey of Cornwall," tells us a strange story of a dog in this +town, of whom it was observed that if they gave him any large bone +or piece of meat, he immediately went out of doors with it, and +after having disappeared for some time would return again; upon +which, after some time, they watched him, when, to their great +surprise, they found that the poor charitable creature carried what +he so got to an old decrepit mastiff, which lay in a nest that he +had made among the brakes a little way out of the town, and was +blind, so that he could not help himself; and there this creature +fed him. He adds also that on Sundays or holidays, when he found +they made good cheer in the house where he lived, he would go out +and bring this old blind dog to the door, and feed him there till +he had enough, and then go with him back to his habitation in the +country again, and see him safe in. If this story is true, it is +very remarkable indeed; and I thought it worth telling, because the +author was a person who, they say, might be credited. + +This town has a kind of jurisdiction upon the River Tamar down to +the mouth of the port, so that they claim anchorage of all small +ships that enter the river; their coroner sits upon all dead bodies +that are found drowned in the river and the like, but they make not +much profit of them. There is a good market here, and that is the +best thing to be said of the town; it is also very much increased +since the number of the inhabitants are increased at the new town, +as I mentioned as near the dock at the mouth of Hamoaze, for those +people choose rather to go to Saltash to market by water than to +walk to Plymouth by land for their provisions. Because, first, as +they go in the town boat, the same boat brings home what they buy, +so that it is much less trouble; second, because provisions are +bought much cheaper at Saltash than at Plymouth. This, I say, is +like to be a very great advantage to the town of Saltash, and may +in time put a new face of wealth upon the place. + +They talk of some merchants beginning to trade here, and they have +some ships that use the Newfoundland fishery; but I could not hear +of anything considerable they do in it. There is no other +considerable town up the Tamar till we come to Launceston, the +county town, which I shall take in my return; so I turned west, +keeping the south shore of the county to the Land's End. + +From Saltash I went to Liskeard, about seven miles. This is a +considerable town, well built; has people of fashion in it, and a +very great market; it also sends two members to Parliament, and is +one of the five towns called Stannary Towns--that is to say, where +the blocks of tin are brought to the coinage; of which, by itself, +this coinage of tin is an article very much to the advantage of the +towns where it is settled, though the money paid goes another way. + +This town of Liskeard was once eminent, had a good castle, and a +large house, where the ancient Dukes of Cornwall kept their court +in those days; also it enjoyed several privileges, especially by +the favour of the Black Prince, who as Prince of Wales and Duke of +Cornwall resided here. And in return they say this town and the +country round it raised a great body of stout young fellows, who +entered into his service and followed his fortunes in his wars in +France, as also in Spain. But these buildings are so decayed that +there are now scarce any of the ruins of the castle or of the +prince's court remaining. + +The only public edifices they have now to show are the guild or +town hall, on which there is a turret with a fine clock; a very +good free school, well provided; a very fine conduit in the market- +place; an ancient large church; and, which is something rare for +the county of Cornwall, a large, new-built meeting-house for the +Dissenters, which I name because they assured me there was but +three more, and those very inconsiderable, in all the county of +Cornwall; whereas in Devonshire, which is the next county, there +are reckoned about seventy, some of which are exceeding large and +fine. + +This town is also remarkable for a very great trade in all +manufactures of leather, such as boots, shoes, gloves, purses, +breaches, &c.; and some spinning of late years is set up here, +encouraged by the woollen manufacturers of Devonshire. + +Between these two towns of Saltash and Liskeard is St. Germans, now +a village, decayed, and without any market, but the largest parish +in the whole county--in the bounds of which is contained, as they +report, seventeen villages, and the town of Saltash among them; for +Saltash has no parish church, it seems, of itself, but as a chapel- +of-ease to St. Germans. In the neighbourhood of these towns are +many pleasant seats of the Cornish gentry, who are indeed very +numerous, though their estates may not be so large as is usual in +England; yet neither are they despicable in that part; and in +particular this may be said of them--that as they generally live +cheap, and are more at home than in other counties, so they live +more like gentlemen, and keep more within bounds of their estates +than the English generally do, take them all together. + +Add to this that they are the most sociable, generous, and to one +another the kindest, neighbours that are to be found; and as they +generally live, as we may say, together (for they are almost always +at one another's houses), so they generally intermarry among +themselves, the gentlemen seldom going out of the county for a +wife, or the ladies for a husband; from whence they say that +proverb upon them was raised, viz., "That all the Cornish gentlemen +are cousins." + +On the hills north of Liskeard, and in the way between Liskeard and +Launceston, there are many tin-mines. And, as they told us, some +of the richest veins of that metal are found there that are in the +whole county--the metal, when cast at the blowing houses into +blocks, being, as above, carried to Liskeard to be coined. + +From Liskeard, in our course west, we are necessarily carried to +the sea-coast, because of the River Fowey or Fowath, which empties +itself into the sea at a very large mouth. And hereby this river +rising in the middle of the breadth of the county and running +south, and the River Camel rising not far from it and running +north, with a like large channel, the land from Bodmin to the +western part of the county is almost made an island and in a manner +cut off from the eastern part--the peninsula, or neck of land +between, being not above twelve miles over. + +On this south side we came to Foy or Fowey, an ancient town, and +formerly very large--nay, not large only, but powerful and potent; +for the Foyens, as they were then called, were able to fit out +large fleets, not only for merchants' ships, but even of men-of- +war; and with these not only fought with, but several times +vanquished and routed, the squadron of the Cinque Ports men, who in +those days were thought very powerful. + +Mr. Camden observes that the town of Foy quarters some part of the +arms of every one of those Cinque Ports with their own, intimating +that they had at several times trampled over them all. Certain it +is they did often beat them, and took their ships, and brought them +as good prizes into their haven of Foy; and carried it so high that +they fitted out their fleets against the French, and took several +of their men-of-war when they were at war with England, and +enriched their town by the spoil of their enemies. + +Edward IV. favoured them much; and because the French threatened +them to come up their river with a powerful navy to burn their +town, he caused two forts to be built at the public charge for +security of the town and river, which forts--at least, some show of +them--remain there still. But the same King Edward was some time +after so disgusted at the townsmen for officiously falling upon the +French, after a truce was made and proclaimed, that he effectually +disarmed them, took away their whole fleet, ships, tackle, apparel, +and furniture; and since that time we do not read of any of their +naval exploits, nor that they ever recovered or attempted to +recover their strength at sea. However, Foy at this time is a very +fair town; it lies extended on the east side of the river for above +a mile, the buildings fair. And there are a great many flourishing +merchants in it, who have a great share in the fishing trade, +especially for pilchards, of which they take a great quantity +hereabouts. In this town is also a coinage for the tin, of which a +great quantity is dug up in the country north and west of the town. + +The River Fowey, which is very broad and deep here, was formerly +navigable by ships of good burthen as high as Lostwithiel--an +ancient and once a flourishing but now a decayed town; and as to +trade and navigation, quite destitute; which is occasioned by the +river being filled up with sands, which, some say, the tides drive +up in stormy weather from the sea; others say it is by sands washed +from the lead-mines in the hills; the last of which, by the way, I +take to be a mistake, the sand from the hills being not of quantity +sufficient to fill up the channel of a navigable river, and, if it +had, might easily have been stopped by the townspeople from falling +into the river. But that the sea has choked up the river with sand +is not only probable, but true; and there are other rivers which +suffer in the like manner in this same country. + +This town of Lostwithiel retains, however, several advantages which +support its figure--as, first, that it is one of the Coinage Towns, +as I call them; or Stannary Towns, as others call them; (2) the +common gaol for the whole Stannary is here, as are also the County +Courts for the whole county of Cornwall. + +There is a mock cavalcade kept up at this town, which is very +remarkable. The particulars, as they are related by Mr. Carew in +his "Survey of Cornwall," take as follows:- + +"Upon Little Easter Sunday the freeholders of this town and manor, +by themselves or their deputies, did there assemble; amongst whom +one (as it fell to his lot by turn), bravely apparelled, gallantly +mounted, with a crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand, and a +sword borne before him, and dutifully attended by all the rest +(also on horseback), rode through the principal street to the +church. The curate in his best beseen solemnly received him at the +churchyard stile, and conducted him to hear divine service. After +which he repaired, with the same pomp, to a house provided for that +purpose, made a feast to his attendants, kept the table's-end +himself, and was served with kneeling assay and all other rights +due to the estate of a prince; with which dinner the ceremony +ended, and every man returned home again. The pedigree of this +usage is derived from so many descents of ages that the cause and +author outreach the remembrance. Howbeit, these circumstances +afford a conjecture that it should betoken royalties appertaining +to the honour of Cornwall." + +Behind Foy and nearer to the coast, at the mouth of a small river +which some call Lowe, though without any authority, there stand two +towns opposite to one another bearing the name of the River Looe-- +that is to say, distinguished by the addition of East Looe and West +Looe. These are both good trading towns, and especially fishing +towns; and, which is very particular, are (like Weymouth and +Melcombe, in Dorsetshire) separated only by the creek or river, and +yet each of them sends members to Parliament. These towns are +joined together by a very beautiful and stately stone bridge having +fifteen arches. + +East Looe was the ancienter corporation of the two, and for some +ages ago the greater and more considerable town; but now they tell +us West Looe is the richest, and has the most ships belonging to +it. Were they put together, they would make a very handsome +seaport town. They have a great fishing trade here, as well for +supply of the country as for merchandise, and the towns are not +despisable. But as to sending four members to the British +Parliament (which is as many as the City of London chooses), that, +I confess, seems a little scandalous; but to whom, is none of my +business to inquire. + +Passing from hence, and ferrying over Foy River or the River Foweth +(call it as you please), we come into a large country without many +towns in it of note, but very well furnished with gentlemen's +seats, and a little higher up with tin-works. + +The sea making several deep bays here, they who travel by land are +obliged to go higher into the country to pass above the water, +especially at Trewardreth Bay, which lies very broad, above ten +miles within the country, which passing at Trewardreth (a town of +no great note, though the bay takes its name from it), the next +inlet of the sea is the famous firth or inlet called Falmouth +Haven. It is certainly, next to Milford Haven in South Wales, the +fairest and best road for shipping that is in the whole isle of +Britain, whether be considered the depth of water for above twenty +miles within land; the safety of riding, sheltered from all kind of +winds or storms; the good anchorage; and the many creeks, all +navigable, where ships may run in and be safe; so that the like is +nowhere to be found. + +There are six or seven very considerable places upon this haven and +the rivers from it--viz., Grampound, Tregony, Truro, Penryn, +Falmouth, St. Maws, and Pendennis. The three first of these send +members to Parliament. The town of Falmouth, as big as all the +three, and richer than ten of them, sends none; which imports no +more than this--that Falmouth itself is not of so great antiquity +as to its rising as those other towns are; and yet the whole haven +takes its name from Falmouth, too, unless, as some think, the town +took its name from the haven, which, however, they give no +authority to suggest. + +St. Maws and Pendennis are two fortifications placed at the points +or entrance of this haven, opposite to one another, though not with +a communication or view; they are very strong--the first +principally by sea, having a good platform of guns pointing athwart +the Channel, and planted on a level with the water. But Pendennis +Castle is strong by land as well as by water, is regularly +fortified, has good out-works, and generally a strong garrison. +St. Maws, otherwise called St. Mary's, has a town annexed to the +castle, and is a borough sending members to the Parliament. +Pendennis is a mere fortress, though there are some habitations in +it, too, and some at a small distance near the seaside, but not of +any great consideration. + +The town of Falmouth is by much the richest and best trading town +in this county, though not so ancient as its neighbour town of +Truro; and indeed is in some things obliged to acknowledge the +seigniority--namely, that in the corporation of Truro the person +whom they choose to be their Mayor of Truro is also Mayor of +Falmouth of course. How the jurisdiction is managed is an account +too long for this place. The Truro-men also receive several duties +collected in Falmouth, particularly wharfage for the merchandises +landed or shipped off; but let these advantages be what they will, +the town of Falmouth has gotten the trade--at least, the best part +of it--from the other, which is chiefly owing to the situation. +For that Falmouth lying upon the sea, but within the entrance, +ships of the greatest burthen come up to the very quays, and the +whole Royal Navy might ride safely in the road; whereas the town of +Truro lying far within, and at the mouth of two fresh rivers, is +not navigable for vessels of above 150 tons or thereabouts. + +Some have suggested that the original of Falmouth was the having so +large a quay, and so good a depth of water at it. The merchants of +Truro formerly used it for the place of lading and unlading their +ships, as the merchants of Exeter did at Topsham; and this is the +more probable in that, as above, the wharfage of those landing- +places is still the property of the corporation of Truro. + +But let this be as it will, the trade is now in a manner wholly +gone to Falmouth, the trade at Truro being now chiefly (if not +only) for the shipping off of block tin and copper ore, the latter +being lately found in large quantities in some of the mountains +between Truro and St. Michael's, and which is much improved since +the several mills are erected at Bristol and other parts for the +manufactures of battery ware, as it is called (brass), or which is +made out of English copper, most of it duct in these parts--the ore +itself ago being found very rich and good. + +Falmouth is well built, has abundance of shipping belonging to it, +is full of rich merchants, and has a flourishing and increasing +trade. I say "increasing," because by the late setting up the +English packets between this port and Lisbon, there is a new +commerce between Portugal and this town carried on to a very great +value. + +It is true, part of this trade was founded in a clandestine +commerce carried on by the said packets at Lisbon, where, being the +king's ships, and claiming the privilege of not being searched or +visited by the Custom House officers, they found means to carry off +great quantities of British manufactures, which they sold on board +to the Portuguese merchants, and they conveyed them on shore, as it +is supposed, without paying custom. + +But the Government there getting intelligence of it, and complaint +being made in England also, where it was found to be very +prejudicial to the fair merchant, that trade has been effectually +stopped. But the Falmouth merchants, having by this means gotten a +taste of the Portuguese trade, have maintained it ever since in +ships of their own. These packets bring over such vast quantities +of gold in specie, either in MOIDORES (which is the Portugal coin) +or in bars of gold, that I am very credibly informed the carrier +from Falmouth brought by land from thence to London at one time, in +the month of January, 1722, or near it, eighty thousand MOIDORES in +gold, which came from Lisbon in the packet-boats for account of the +merchants at London, and that it was attended with a guard of +twelve horsemen well armed, for which the said carrier had half per +cent. for his hazard. + +This is a specimen of the Portugal trade, and how considerable it +is in itself, as well as how advantageous to England; but as that +is not to the present case, I proceed. The Custom House for all +the towns in this port, and the head collector, is established at +this town, where the duties (including the other ports) is very +considerable. Here is also a very great fishing for pilchards; and +the merchants for Falmouth have the chief stroke in that gainful +trade. + +Truro is, however, a very considerable town, too. It stands up the +water north and by east from Falmouth, in the utmost extended +branch of the Avon, in the middle between the conflux of two +rivers, which, though not of any long course, have a very good +appearance for a port, and make it large wharf between them in the +front of the town. And the water here makes a good port for small +ships, though it be at the influx, but not for ships of burthen. +This is the particular town where the Lord-Warden of the Stannaries +always holds his famous Parliament of miners, and for stamping of +tin. The town is well built, but shows that it has been much +fuller, both of houses and inhabitants, than it is now; nor will it +probably ever rise while the town of Falmouth stands where it does, +and while the trade is settled in it as it is. There are at least +three churches in it, but no Dissenters' meeting-house that I could +hear of. + +Tregony is upon the same water north-east from Falmouth--distance +about fifteen miles from it--but is a town of very little trade; +nor, indeed, have any of the towns, so far within the shore, +notwithstanding the benefit of the water, any considerable trade +but what is carried on under the merchants of Falmouth or Truro. +The chief thing that is to be said of this town is that it sends +members to Parliament, as does also Grampound, a market-town; and +Burro', about four miles farther up the water. This place, indeed, +has a claim to antiquity, and is an appendix to the Duchy of +Cornwall, of which it holds at a fee farm rent and pays to the +Prince of Wales as duke 10 pounds 11s. 1d. per annum. It has no +parish church, but only a chapel-of-ease to an adjacent parish. + +Penryn is up the same branch of the Avon as Falmouth, but stands +four miles higher towards the west; yet ships come to it of as +great a size as can come to Truro itself. It is a very pleasant, +agreeable town, and for that reason has many merchants in it, who +would perhaps otherwise live at Falmouth. The chief commerce of +these towns, as to their sea-affairs, is the pilchards and +Newfoundland fishing, which is very profitable to them all. It had +formerly a conventual church, with a chantry and a religious house +(a cell to Kirton); but they are all demolished, and scarce the +ruins of them distinguishable enough to know one part from another. + +Quitting Falmouth Haven from Penryn West, we came to Helston, about +seven miles, and stands upon the little River Cober, which, +however, admits the sea so into its bosom as to make a tolerable +good harbour for ships a little below the town. It is the fifth +town allowed for the coining tin, and several of the ships called +tin-ships are laden here. + +This town is large and populous, and has four spacious streets, a +handsome church, and a good trade. This town also sends members to +Parliament. Beyond this is a market-town, though of no resort for +trade, called Market Jew. It lies, indeed, on the seaside, but has +no harbour or safe road for shipping. + +At Helford is a small but good harbour between Falmouth and this +port, where many times the tin-ships go in to load for London; also +here are a good number of fishing vessels for the pilchard trade, +and abundance of skilful fishermen. It was from this town that in +the great storm which happened November 27, 1703, a ship laden with +tin was blown out to sea and driven to the Isle of Wight in seven +hours, having on board only one man and two boys. The story is as +follows:- + +"The beginning of the storm there lay a ship laden with tin in +Helford Haven, about two leagues and a half west of Falmouth. The +tin was taken on board at a place called Guague Wharf, five or six +miles up the river, and the vessel was come down to Helford in +order to pursue her voyage to London. + +"About eight o'clock in the evening the commander, whose name was +Anthony Jenkins, went on board with his mate to see that everything +was safe, and to give orders, but went both on shore again, leaving +only a man and two boys on board, not apprehending any danger, they +being in safe harbour. However, he ordered them that if it should +blow hard they should carry out the small bower anchor, and so to +moor the ship by two anchors, and then giving what other orders he +thought to be needful, he went ashore, as above. + +"About nine o'clock, the wind beginning to blow harder, they +carried out the anchor, according to the master's order; but the +wind increasing about ten, the ship began to drive, so they carried +out their best bower, which, having a good new cable, brought the +ship up. The storm still increasing, they let go the kedge anchor; +so that they then rode by four anchors ahead, which were all they +had. + +"But between eleven and twelve o'clock the wind came about west and +by south, and blew in so violent and terrible a manner that, though +they rode under the lee of a high shore, yet the ship was driven +from all her anchors, and about midnight drove quite out of the +harbour (the opening of the harbour lying due east and west) into +the open sea, the men having neither anchor or cable or boat to +help themselves. + +"In this dreadful condition (they driving, I say, out of the +harbour) their first and chief care was to go clear of the rocks +which lie on either side the harbour's mouth, and which they +performed pretty well. Then, seeing no remedy, they consulted what +to do next. They could carry no sail at first--no, not a knot; nor +do anything but run away afore it. The only thing they had to +think on was to keep her out at sea as far as they could, for fear +of a point of land called the Dead Man's Head, which lies to the +eastward of Falmouth Haven; and then, if they could escape the +land, thought to run in for Plymouth next morning, so, if possible, +to save their lives. + +"In this frighted condition they drove away at a prodigious rate, +having sometimes the bonnet of their foresail a little out, but the +yard lowered almost to the deck--sometimes the ship almost under +water, and sometimes above, keeping still in the offing, for fear +of the land, till they might see daylight. But when the day broke +they found they were to think no more of Plymouth, for they were +far enough beyond it; and the first land they made was Peverel +Point, being the southernmost land of the Isle of Purbeck, in +Dorsetshire, and a little to the westward of the Isle of Wight; so +that now they were in a terrible consternation, and driving still +at a prodigious rate. By seven o'clock they found themselves +broadside of the Isle of Wight. + +"Here they consulted again what to do to save their lives. One of +the boys was for running her into the Downs; but the man objected +that, having no anchor or cable nor boat to go on shore with, and +the storm blowing off shore in the Downs, they should be inevitably +blown off and lost upon the unfortunate Goodwin--which, it seems, +the man had been on once before and narrowly escaped. + +"Now came the last consultation for their lives. The other of the +boys said he had been in a certain creek in the Isle of Wight, +where, between the rocks, he knew there was room to run the ship +in, and at least to save their lives, and that he saw the place +just that moment; so he desired the man to let him have the helm, +and he would do his best and venture it. The man gave him the +helm, and he stood directly in among the rocks, the people standing +on the shore thinking they were mad, and that they would in a few +minutes be dashed in a thousand pieces. + +"But when they came nearer, and the people found they steered as if +they knew the place, they made signals to them to direct them as +well as they could, and the young bold fellow run her into a small +cove, where she stuck fast, as it were, between the rocks on both +sides, there being but just room enough for the breadth of the +ship. The ship indeed, giving two or three knocks, staved and +sunk, but the man and the two youths jumped ashore and were safe; +and the lading, being tin, was afterwards secured. + +"N.B.--The merchants very well rewarded the three sailors, +especially the lad that ran her into that place." + +Penzance is the farthest town of any note west, being 254 miles +from London, and within about ten miles of the promontory called +the Land's End; so that this promontory is from London 264 miles, +or thereabouts. This town of Penzance is a place of good business, +well built and populous, has a good trade, and a great many ships +belonging to it, notwithstanding it is so remote. Here are also a +great many good families of gentlemen, though in this utmost angle +of the nation; and, which is yet more strange, the veins of lead, +tin, and copper ore are said to be seen even to the utmost extent +of land at low-water mark, and in the very sea--so rich, so +valuable, a treasure is contained in these parts of Great Britain, +though they are supposed to be so poor, because so very remote from +London, which is the centre of our wealth. + +Between this town and St. Burien, a town midway between it and the +Land's End, stands a circle of great stones, not unlike those at +Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, with one bigger than the rest in the +middle. They stand about twelve feet asunder, but have no +inscription; neither does tradition offer to leave any part of +their history upon record, as whether it was a trophy or a monument +of burial, or an altar for worship, or what else; so that all that +can be learned of them is that here they are. The parish where +they stand is called Boscawone, from whence the ancient and +honourable family of Boscawen derive their names. + +Near Penzance, but open to the sea, is that gulf they call Mount's +Bay; named so from a high hill standing in the water, which they +call St. Michael's Mount: the seamen call it only the Cornish +Mount. It has been fortified, though the situation of it makes it +so difficult of access that, like the Bass in Scotland, there needs +no fortification; like the Bass, too, it was once made a prison for +prisoners of State, but now it is wholly neglected. There is a +very good road here for shipping, which makes the town of Penzance +be a place of good resort. + +A little up in the county towards the north-west is Godolchan, +which though a hill, rather than a town, gives name to the noble +and ancient family of Godolphin; and nearer on the northern coast +is Royalton, which since the late Sydney Godolphin, Esq., a younger +brother of the family, was created Earl of Godolphin, gave title of +Lord to his eldest son, who was called Lord Royalton during the +life of his father. This place also is infinitely rich in tin- +mines. + +I am now at my journey's end. As to the islands of Scilly, which +lie beyond the Land's End, I shall say something of them presently. +I must now return SUR MES PAS, as the French call it; though not +literally so, for I shall not come back the same way I went. But +as I have coasted the south shore to the Land's End, I shall come +back by the north coast, and my observations in my return will +furnish very well materials for another letter. + + + +APPENDIX TO LAND'S END. + + + +I have ended this account at the utmost extent of the island of +Great Britain west, without visiting those excrescences of the +island, as I think I may call them--viz., the rocks of Scilly; of +which what is most famous is their infamy or reproach; namely, how +many good ships are almost continually dashed in pieces there, and +how many brave lives lost, in spite of the mariners' best skill, or +the lighthouses' and other sea-marks' best notice. + +These islands lie so in the middle between the two vast openings of +the north and south narrow seas (or, as the sailors call them, the +Bristol Channel, and The Channel--so called by way of eminence) +that it cannot, or perhaps never will, be avoided but that several +ships in the dark of the night and in stress of weather, may, by +being out in their reckonings, or other unavoidable accidents, +mistake; and if they do, they are sure, as the sailors call it, to +run "bump ashore" upon Scilly, where they find no quarter among the +breakers, but are beat to pieces without any possibility of escape. + +One can hardly mention the Bishop and his Clerks, as they are +called, or the rocks of Scilly, without letting fall a tear to the +memory of Sir Cloudesley Shovel and all the gallant spirits that +were with him, at one blow and without a moment's warning dashed +into a state of immortality--the admiral, with three men-of-war, +and all their men (running upon these rocks right afore the wind, +and in a dark night) being lost there, and not a man saved. But +all our annals and histories are full of this, so I need say no +more. + +They tell us of eleven sail of merchant-ships homeward bound, and +richly laden from the southward, who had the like fate in the same +place a great many years ago; and that some of them coming from +Spain, and having a great quantity of bullion or pieces of eight on +board, the money frequently drives on shore still, and that in good +quantities, especially after stormy weather. + +This may be the reason why, as we observed during our short stay +here, several mornings after it had blown something hard in the +night, the sands were covered with country people running to and +fro to see if the sea had cast up anything of value. This the +seamen call "going a-shoring;" and it seems they do often find good +purchase. Sometimes also dead bodies are cast up here, the +consequence of shipwrecks among those fatal rocks and islands; as +also broken pieces of ships, casks, chests, and almost everything +that will float or roll on shore by the surges of the sea. + +Nor is it seldom that the voracious country people scuffle and +fight about the right to what they find, and that in a desperate +manner; so that this part of Cornwall may truly be said to be +inhabited by a fierce and ravenous people. For they are so greedy, +and eager for the prey, that they are charged with strange, bloody, +and cruel dealings, even sometimes with one another; but especially +with poor distressed seamen when they come on shore by force of a +tempest, and seek help for their lives, and where they find the +rooks themselves not more merciless than the people who range about +them for their prey. + +Here, also, as a farther testimony of the immense riches which have +been lost at several times upon this coast, we found several +engineers and projectors--some with one sort of diving engine, and +some with another; some claiming such a wreck, and some such-and- +such others; where they alleged they were assured there were great +quantities of money; and strange unprecedented ways were used by +them to come at it: some, I say, with one kind of engine, and some +another; and though we thought several of them very strange +impracticable methods, yet I was assured by the country people that +they had done wonders with them under water, and that some of them +had taken up things of great weight and in a great depth of water. +Others had split open the wrecks they had found in a manner one +would have thought not possible to be done so far under water, and +had taken out things from the very holds of the ships. But we +could not learn that they had come at any pieces of eight, which +was the thing they seemed most to aim at and depend upon; at least, +they had not found any great quantity, as they said they expected. + +However, we left them as busy as we found them, and far from being +discouraged; and if half the golden mountains, or silver mountains +either, which they promise themselves should appear, they will be +very well paid for their labour. + +From the tops of the hills on this extremity of the land you may +see out into that they call the Chops of the Channel, which, as it +is the greatest inlet of commerce, and the most frequented by +merchant-ships of any place in the world, so one seldom looks out +to seaward but something new presents--that is to say, of ships +passing or repassing, either on the great or lesser Channel. + +Upon a former accidental journey into this part of the country, +during the war with France, it was with a mixture of pleasure and +horror that we saw from the hills at the Lizard, which is the +southern-most point of this land, an obstinate fight between three +French men-of-war and two English, with a privateer and three +merchant-ships in their company. The English had the misfortune, +not only to be fewer ships of war in number, but of less force; so +that while the two biggest French ships engaged the English, the +third in the meantime took the two merchant-ships and went off with +them. As to the picaroon or privateer, she was able to do little +in the matter, not daring to come so near the men-of-war as to take +a broadside, which her thin sides would not have been able to bear, +but would have sent her to the bottom at once; so that the English +men-of-war had no assistance from her, nor could she prevent the +taking the two merchant-ships. Yet we observed that the English +captains managed their fight so well, and their seamen behaved so +briskly, that in about three hours both the Frenchmen stood off, +and, being sufficiently banged, let us see that they had no more +stomach to fight; after which the English--having damage enough, +too, no doubt--stood away to the eastward, as we supposed, to +refit. + +This point of the Lizard, which runs out to the southward, and the +other promontory mentioned above, make the two angles--or horns, as +they are called--from whence it is supposed this county received +its first name of Cornwall, or, as Mr. Camden says, CORNUBIA in the +Latin, and in the British "Kernaw," as running out in two vastly +extended horns. And indeed it seems as if Nature had formed this +situation for the direction of mariners, as foreknowing of what +importance it should be, and how in future ages these seas should +be thus thronged with merchant-ships, the protection of whose +wealth, and the safety of the people navigating them, was so much +her early care that she stretched out the land so very many ways, +and extended the points and promontories so far and in so many +different places into the sea, that the land might be more easily +discovered at a due distance, which way soever the ships should +come. + +Nor is the Lizard Point less useful (though not so far west) than +the other, which is more properly called the Land's End; but if we +may credit our mariners, it is more frequently first discovered +from the sea. For as our mariners, knowing by the soundings when +they are in the mouth of the Channel, do then most naturally stand +to the southward, to avoid mistaking the Channel, and to shun the +Severn Sea or Bristol Channel, but still more to avoid running upon +Scilly and the rocks about it, as is observed before--I say, as +they carefully keep to the southward till they think they are fair +with the Channel, and then stand to the northward again, or north- +east, to make the land, this is the reason why the Lizard is, +generally speaking, the first land they make, and not the Land's +End. + +Then having made the Lizard, they either (first) run in for +Falmouth, which is the next port, if they are taken short with +easterly winds, or are in want of provisions and refreshment, or +have anything out of order, so that they care not to keep the sea; +or (secondly) stand away for the Ram Head and Plymouth Sound; or +(thirdly) keep an offing to run up the Channel. + +So that the Lizard is the general guide, and of more use in these +cases than the other point, and is therefore the land which the +ships choose to make first; for then also they are sure that they +are past Scilly and all the dangers of that part of the island. + +Nature has fortified this part of the island of Britain in a +strange manner, and so, as is worth a traveller's observation, as +if she knew the force and violence of the mighty ocean which beats +upon it; and which, indeed, if the land was not made firm in +proportion, could not withstand, but would have been washed away +long ago. + +First, there are the islands of Scilly and the rocks about them; +these are placed like out-works to resist the first assaults of +this enemy, and so break the force of it, as the piles (or +starlings, as they are called) are placed before the solid +stonework of London Bridge to fence off the force either of the +water or ice, or anything else that might be dangerous to the work. + +Then there are a vast number of sunk rocks (so the seamen call +them), besides such as are visible and above water, which gradually +lessen the quantity of water that would otherwise lie with an +infinite weight and force upon the land. It is observed that these +rocks lie under water for a great way off into the sea on every +side the said two horns or points of land, so breaking the force of +the water, and, as above, lessening the weight of it. + +But besides this the whole TERRA FIRMA, or body of the land which +makes this part of the isle of Britain, seems to be one solid rock, +as if it was formed by Nature to resist the otherwise irresistible +power of the ocean. And, indeed, if one was to observe with what +fury the sea comes on sometimes against the shore here, especially +at the Lizard Point, where there are but few, if any, out-works, as +I call them, to resist it; how high the waves come rolling forward, +storming on the neck of one another (particularly when the wind +blows off sea), one would wonder that even the strongest rocks +themselves should be able to resist and repel them. But, as I +said, the country seems to be, as it were, one great body of stone, +and prepared so on purpose. + +And yet, as if all this was not enough, Nature has provided another +strong fence, and that is, that these vast rocks are, as it were, +cemented together by the solid and weighty ore of tin and copper, +especially the last, which is plentifully found upon the very +outmost edge of the land, and with which the stones may be said to +be soldered together, lest the force of the sea should separate and +disjoint them, and so break in upon these fortifications of the +island to destroy its chief security. + +This is certain--that there is a more than ordinary quantity of +tin, copper, and lead also placed by the Great Director of Nature +in these very remote angles (and, as I have said above, the ore is +found upon the very surface of the rocks a good way into the sea); +and that it does not only lie, as it were, upon or between the +stones among the earth (which in that case might be washed from it +by the sea), but that it is even blended or mixed in with the +stones themselves, that the stones must be split into pieces to +come at it. By this mixture the rocks are made infinitely weighty +and solid, and thereby still the more qualified to repel the force +of the sea. + +Upon this remote part of the island we saw great numbers of that +famous kind of crows which is known by the name of the Cornish +cough or chough (so the country people call them). They are the +same kind which are found in Switzerland among the Alps, and which +Pliny pretended were peculiar to those mountains, and calls the +PYRRHOCORAX. The body is black; the legs, feet, and bill of a deep +yellow, almost to a red. I could not find that it was affected for +any good quality it had, nor is the flesh good to eat, for it feeds +much on fish and carrion; it is counted little better than a kite, +for it is of ravenous quality, and is very mischievous. It will +steal and carry away anything it finds about the house that is not +too heavy, though not fit for its food--as knives, forks, spoons, +and linen cloths, or whatever it can fly away with; sometimes they +say it has stolen bits of firebrands, or lighted candles, and +lodged them in the stacks of corn and the thatch of barns and +houses, and set them on fire; but this I only had by oral +tradition. + +I might take up many sheets in describing the valuable curiosities +of this little Chersonese or Neck Land, called the Land's End, in +which there lies an immense treasure and many things worth notice +(I mean, besides those to be found upon the surface), but I am too +near the end of this letter. If I have opportunity I shall take +notice of some part of what I omit here in my return by the +northern shore of the county. + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of From London to Land's End by Defoe + diff --git a/old/lndle10.zip b/old/lndle10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ae39d8e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lndle10.zip |