The natural history of Stafford-shire by Robert Plot ...

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF Stafford-shire .

CHAP. I. Of the Heavens and Air.

1. HAVING already in the Introduction to my Natural History of Oxford-shire prescribed my self a Method , whereof I have no reason to repent me a a Nat. Hist. of Oxford-sh . Chap. 1. §. §. 1 , 2 , 3. , I shall forbear all further Preface to this , than to acquaint the Reader in short , that I intend the same again , not only in the Whole , but in the particular Chapters ; and that I shall make all Relations ( as formerly ) in a plain familiar Stile , without the Ornaments of Rhetorick , least the matter be obscured by too much illustration ; and with all the imaginable brevity that perspicuity will bear ; it being an indisputable truth , that an Author by enlargeing to the utmost compass of his Theme , sometimes advances his Papers to so disproportionable a Bulk , that by writing too much , He had almost as good have writ nothing , Experience convincing us that voluminous Works have but few Buyers , and much fewer Readers .

2. Upon this account too , I have industriously set my self this irrepealable Law , to remain inviolable in all other Histories I shall write of this kind : That whatever I meet with in one County , already described in another , shall be only just mentioned as found , seen , or heard of , at such or such a place , always referring the Reader for the Description , or Philosophical account of it , to the former Book ; unless the thing differ in some considerable circumstance , or be but imperfectly described : thus whatever Curiosity either of Nature or Art ( be it of the greatest moment ) that I have met with in Stafford-shire , if sufficiently described already in Oxford-shire , shall be but barely mention'd here , reference being made to the Chapter and Section of that History , where it has been discoursed on before : Nor need I doubt but the Stafford-shire Nobility and Gentry ( Learning and Ingenuity being so frequent amongst them ) will allow me this privilege , without the least imputation of detracting from their Country , since hereby I avoid all vain repetitions , and yet shall amply repay them again , if I live to write the History of any other County , by referring in like manner as much or more to theirs ; which 't is manifold odds , but I shall certainly do , if I ever meet hereafter with the like noble encouragement , that they have so plentifully and generously afforded me .

3. To come then forthwith to the subject in hand , the Natural History of the County of Stafford ; the first thing I met with relating to the Heavens , and one of the first too that I heard of after I set to work in earnest , was a pretty rural observation , of late years made by some of the Inhabitants of the Town of Leek in the Moorelands , of the setting of the Sun in the Summer Solstice , near a Hill called the Cloud , about six miles distant , in the confines of Stafford-shire and Cheshire ; which appearing almost perpendicular on the Northern side , to such persons as are standing in Leek Church-yard , the Sun seems so nicely at that time of year to cut the Edg of it at setting , as in Tab. 1. Fig. 1. that notwithstanding what is taught by Astronomers , that the Sun whilst it occupies that Cardinal point , appears Stationary for some time without giving any sensible increase or decrease to the length of the days ; they can plainly perceive by the help of this Hill , that no two days are equal , but that there is a sensible difference every day : just as at the Temple of Tentiris in Egypt where there are as many Windows as days in the year , so placed , that the Sun rising in a different degree of the Zodiac every day , it also sends in its beams every day into a distinct Window from the day before b b H. Vanslebius's present State of Egypt chap. ult. p. 246. .

For when the Sun comes near the Solstice , the whole disk of it at first sets behind the Hill , after a while the Northern Limb first appears , and so every night gradually more , till at length the whole Diameter comes to set Northward of it , for about three nights ; but the middle night of the three , very sensibly more remote , than the former or the following , when beginning its recess from the Tropic , it still continues more and more to be hidden every night , till at length it descends quite behind it again .

4. Which Phaenomenon though worth notice for its own sake alone , yet might be render'd of much more use to the Publick , would the Curious that for the most part reside thereabout , make annual and more strict observations for the future by suitable Instruments , noteing every year the day precisely , that the Limb of the Sun first cuts the edge of the Hill , and how many Digits or parts of Digits , of its own Diameter , it daily advances ; also carefully noteing the nearest distance 'twixt the edge of the Hill , and the Rim of the Sun , on the very day of the Solstice , and lastly the Mean between both : For by this means in time the Suns greatest Northern Declination ( which Astronomers say is less now than heretofore c c Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Almagestum Nov. Lib. 3. Chap. 27. ) may be gradually adjusted , and at length perhaps limited ; Which I take to be an Experiment of so valuable a Consideration , that I cannot but recommend it to my worthy friends the Worshipful Thomas Rudyerd of Rudyerd Esquire , Mr. Parker , and Mr. Thomas Gent ; at least that they would take care in some one year or other , when there is least of Refraction upon account of the Atmosphere , from some fixt point , so to adjust the distance betwixt the Hill and the Sun on the day of the Solstice by an Azimuthal Quadrant , the new Micrometer , or some other agreeable Instrument , that future Ages however ( if it cannot be in this ) may see the difference .

5. Next the true and genuine , the Spurious or Mock-Suns that have been frequent in this County fall under consideration , so frequent indeed ( their causes already having been hinted in Oxford-shire d d Nat. Hist. of Oxford-sh . Chap. 1. §. 5. ) that they scarce deserve any ; at most but bare mentioning : Such were the Parelia seen about twenty years since , by that great Example of Valour and Fidelity to his Prince , the Worshipful Collonel John Lane and Mr. Persehowse of Nether Gournall ; as they were walking between Bentley and Willingsworth ( near Darlaston ) they appear'd in the West , the Sun not above half an hour high standing in a line parallel to the Horizon ; and so did the Mock-Sun seen July 12. 1678. by the virtuous , learned , and most ingenious Gentleman the Worshipful Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esquire , and Mr. Fisher Dilke as they were walking on Hopton Heath . I was also informed by the same ingenious Gentleman Mr. Fisher Dilke that on August the 28. 1679. He saw much such another at or near Haselour , neither of them having any Circle of light about them , or passing through the Disks of Mock or true Sun , as is usual , and both of them of so strong and even a light , as hard to be distinguished from the true Sun ; only differing in this , that the first Mock-Sun appear'd about ten degrees to the South of the true one , and the latter to the North , but both of them in Almicantars or lines parallel to the Horizon .

6. And thus it seems they generally do , nec supra ipsum nec infra , says Pliny , sed ex obliquo , neither above nor beneath the true Sun , but on either side ; nec noctu , sed aut Oriente aut Occidente e e Nat. Hist . Lib. 2. Chap. 31. , nor in the night season , but when the Sun either riseth or setteth , only once indeed he says in the same Chapter , that such were reported to have been seen at noon day in Bosphoro f f Ibidem . ; and we are informed by the learned Monsieur Hevelius that near Marienburg in Borussia Feb. 5.1674 . He saw in the Evening the true Sun sending forth very long reddish rays tapering gradually upward for 40 or 50 degrees toward the Zenith , and under it a Mock-Sun nearer to the Horizon of the same bigness ( to sense ) with the true one , and in the same Vertical or Azimuth line g g Philos. Transact . Numb. 102. p. 26 how this may be , see Des Cartes Meteororum Lib. 10. §. 5. .

7. Which though instances amongst Authors so very rare , that we hear of but these two , now in sixteen hundred years , yet one of them seems to have happened so very lately as Dec. 4. 1680. and to have been carefully observed , by my worthy , learned , and most ingenious friend , the Worshipful Francis Wolferstan of Statfold Esquire , who riding between his own house and Clifton Campvill , as near as he could guess about twelve at noon , His Man first espyed somewhat unusual in the Heavens , which not without amazement quickly shewing to his Master , He presently perceived about the Azimuth or hour line of two ( viz. two hours before the Sun or thereabout ) a more than ordinary brightness of the same altitude with the Sun , which through the tenuious clouds that were passing over it , appear'd for a while not unlike another Sun , the true Sun shining at the same time .

8. But immediately after ( the clouds passing away ) there appeared in the same place the usual colours of the Solar Rainbow , somewhat of an oval form , with smaller beams issuing from each side , and a larger white ray or stream of light darting downward from the bottom , as in Tab. 1. fig. 2. most remarkably differing from the Phaenomenon of Hevelius , the ray of light in his issuing from the true Sun and tending upward , this from the Mock-Sun ( for I can call it no less ) and tending downward : Its colours whilst it continued in that form were strong and beautiful , but languishing by degrees , it became at length a small portion or Segment of a Solar Iris as in Tab. 1. fig. 3. which because so notoriously imperfect , and thus irregularly posited in the Heavens , may deserve perhaps as much or more of our admiration , as was given the imperfect Iris drawn by the great Master Aristides h h C. Plin. 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 35. Cap. 11. , beyond what would have been afforded to the most perfect one he could have painted : not only because appearing in the South contrary to the known rule amongst the Meteorologists , nullae ad Austrum pinguntur Irides , but for overthrowing in a manner the whole doctrine of Rainbows . As first that the Center of the Sun , the Rainbow , and the Eye of the Beholder , must be in one right line ; secondly the Spectator between the Sun and the Rainbow ; and thirdly the horns or shanks of the Bow always terminating in the Horizon : whereas this , being but 30 degrees from the Sun , the Concave toward it , and the Convex Westward from it , and consequentially the Cornua one above another in the same Vertical , can be no way agreeable to any such Axioms .

9. Nor yet was this Phaenomenon so very irregular , but that somwhat of this kind seems to have happen'd before , for says Fortunius Licetus , bis jam vidimus Irides in Meridiano ad Austrum , i i Fort. Licet . de novis Astric & Cometis , Lib. 6. cap. 2. that He had twice seen Rainbowes in the South ; And Cornelius Gemma acquaints us that on the 25 of September in the morning Anno 1560. He saw a Rainbow of a like in the whole , though quite contrary position to ours in the parts , Stabat enim convexa parte Solem versus , concava vero versus cujusdam Parhelli subobscurum typum , qui quasi ad Circium annuebat k k Corn. Gemm . Cosmocrit . Lib. 2 cap. 1. Cornua igitur , says Fromondus , non in Terram spectabant , sed aversa ab exoriente Sole , directe in Occidentem intendebantur l l Lib. Fromond . Meteorolog . Lib. 6. cap. 1. Art. 1. : For it stood , says He , with its Convex part toward the Sun , and its Concave toward a somwhat obscure representation of a Mock-Sun to the Southward ; whence Fromondus rightly concluded , that the Horns could not respect the Earth , but being averse from the rising Sun , must needs be stretched to the Westward . And what comes yet nearer to the business , Gisbertus ab Isendoorn saw two exactly of the same kind with ours at the same time Apr. 8. 1645. both of them standing with their Concavities to the Sun clasping it on each side at equal distance , whereof He has given us a Diagramme in his Medulla Physicae Lib. 2. cap. 5.

10. To these add an Iris seen about nine years since , at the Parish of Tresle by Mr. William Barnesley , a good old Gentleman , whose assistance in riding about and shewing me the Country ( notwithstanding his Age ) must by no means be forgotten , which though perfect indeed in figure , was yet irregular in position ; the Horns of the Bow terminating in the Horizon , the Centers of it and the Sun , and the Eye of the Beholder being also in the same right line ; But the Spectator not between the Sun and the Rainbow : for it appear'd it seems in the Clouds on the same side of the Hemisphere with the Sun it self , and not on the opposite ; so that the Sun and Spectator were the two extreams , and the Iris in the middle , and not the Beholder : A Phaenomenon ( if not a Segment of some vast Halo * * Coronam si diviseris Arcus erit L. An. Senecae Nat. Quest. Lib. 1. cap. 10. ) I think not very easy , if at all to be parallel'd : But I am inclined indeed to believe it was only so , for though Seneca acquaints us with certain Graecians that deny'd there could be any such Circle about the Sun m m Ibid. Lib. 1. cap. 2. sub finem . ; to whom Epicurus also seems to give his assent , only mentioning them to happen about the Moon n n Diogenis Laertii Lib. 10. in Epist. Epicuri ad Pythoclem 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . ; and though Aristotle himself ( who allowes them indeed to both Planets ) is positive that they still appear of a uniform white colour , and not adorn'd with the colours of the Solar Rainbow o o Aristotelis 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Lib. 3. cap. 3. : yet so frequently has there appear'd such about the Sun ( not to mention those two eminent instances of Seneca and Cardan , to be met with almost in all writers on this Subject ) that Gassendus alone professes he had seen them himself at least an hundred times p p Pet. Gassendus in Lib. 10. Diogenis Laertii de Meteorologia Epicuri , Tom. 2. p. 1129. : And that they are many times large enough for such a purpose , especially when the Sun is near seting , is also evident from the joynt concurrence of all Authors , who assert the Diameters of these Circles to take up usually 45 degrees , an eighth part of the Heavens .

11. And such a large Halo as one of these it was , that was seen about the Sun May 17. 1681. at Edingall in this County , by the above mention'd curious and observing Gent. the Worshipful Francis Wolferstan Esquire , and many others , having the lively colours of the Solar Rainbow , and extending its Diameter as near as he could guess ( for he had no Instrument with him ) about 40. degrees ; which yet was not so remarkable in these respects , as for the unusual form it appear'd in , for though the colours were apparent in all the parts , yet the Circle was not every where ( as commonly they are ) equally broad , but narrower on each side to the East and West , and much broader above and below the Sun , toward the Zenith and Horizon as in Tab. 1. fig. 4. And in this form it moved along with the Sun from half an hour past ten in the Morning , to as much past one in the Afternoon : what should occasion this Phaenomenon indeed is hard to determine , yet certainly it must arise from some peculiar position of a rorid cloud or vapor , whose parts were made up of small threds ( as 't is also in Parelia's and Rainbows ) having the figure of equilateral triangular Prismes which cause the colours , that must accompany the Sun for all that time ; for should it be ascribed to the Sun it self , we should certainly before now have heard of others of the kind : I know it is the opinion of the ancient Philosophers , that the motion of this Meteor is not true but apparent , i. e. that the same Halo does not continue , but that a new one is still generated , as the Sun holds on its course * * Lib. Fromondi Meteorolog . Lib. 6. cap. 2 Art , 2. , as may sometimes be seen by some faint remains of the old ones left behind in the Clouds which the Sun has deserted ; yet certainly in this case of ours it must be granted to be otherwise , unless we shall groundlesly allow that the same Cloud , of the same make and position did stretch it self before the Sun for 45. degrees together ( for that the Halo continued in this form no less than three hours ) which seems to lye under so great an improbability , that it can hardly be admitted .

12. But that which seems to put all out of doubt , on the Tuesday sevenight following May 24. being Whitsun-Tuesday , either the same , or another of the like kind , was seen again by the same worthy person , which appeared also for several days in the following week , and was seen not only in Stafford-shire , but at Oxford , and Rochester in Kent by my worthy friend Robert Conny M. B. of Magd. Coll. Oxon. Whence it plainly appears probable , not only that the same Cloud did accompany the Sun for some time at least ; but also that notwithstanding the ancient Philosophers , have restrain'd the Clouds to the middle Region , viz. that they never transcend the tops of Mountains , yet they are sometimes mounted much higher , being strongly attracted by the Rays of the Sun , and then easily upheld , and thus carryed about with it for some considerable time ; for otherwise how could such a Halo be seen at so far distant places as Stafford-shire and Kent , at the same time .

13. From the Sun , both Nature and my Method direct me , to descend to the Moon , and the Accidents attending Her , which are much of the same kind with those of the Sun , though they happen not so frequently , such as Irides Lunares whereof ( though Aristotle professes that He could see but two in above fifty years q q Meteor . Lib. 3. cap. 2. I. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest Lib. 1. cap. 3. ) there have as many been seen here in less than two years ; One at Tunstall near Wolverhampton in October 1678. by Mr. Franc. and Mr. Jo. Wightwick ; and another the very next year following Aug. 6. 1679. by the ingenious and every way accomplisht Gentleman the Worshipful Thomas Broughton of Broughton Esquire , who in the way between Lichfield and Ashinbrook in company with six other persons , about Nine at Night , the Moon then wanting five days of the full , and at that time of night possessing the S. S. W. part of the Hemisphere , saw an Iris Lunaris of a faint whitish colour , entire and well determined , which after a quarter of an hours time spent in beholding it , they left as strong and compleat as they found it , not knowing how long it had been there before they saw it , or how long it continued .

14. Which is not the first time that two of these have happen'd in so few years , for Willebrordus Snellius in his description of the Comet in November Anno 1618. tells us of two that were seen in the same space , one in December 1617. and another the day before the Calends of January 1618 r r Willebrordi Snellii Descrip. Cometae Anno 1618. cap. 5. p. 33. : That which is most remarkable is , that the increasing Moon presently upon her entrance into the second quarter ( being then but 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 and of a weak light ) five days before the full , and so near her Southing , should cause such an Iris , for they have always hitherto been thought never to happen , but at , or very near to the full of the Moon , and when few degrees above the Horizon . And yet Albertus gives us an instance almost equal to this viz. that He saw such a Lunar Iris , when the Moon was 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , in her decrease , and possessing at that time the very point of the Meridian , the Bow being in the North s s Lib. Fromondi Meteorolog . Lib. 6. cap. 1. Art. 16. . Which shall suffice at present for Lunar Irides the nature of them , and why not adorned with those beautiful colours we see in Solar Rainbows , having been already discoursed of in the History of Oxford-shire t t Nat. Hist. of Oxford-sh . Chap. 1. § 7. .

15. Next to these impressions made in the clouds , I descend to others made from them , such as the amazing and sometimes deplorable effects of Thunder and Lightening , which though they most commonly happen together , yet because the Lightening first affects the Sense , I give it the precedence as is usual amongst Naturalists . That Lightening should happen in the Winter-quarter has been always accounted a great rarity ; yet not only this , but a more unusual accident ( perhaps not to be met again in many Ages ) was shewed me at Statfold , by the foremention'd worthy Gentleman the Worshipful Francis Wolferstan Esquire , who having built a new Gate before his house Anno 1675. and placed fair Globes of the finest and firmest stone over the Peers of it ( whereon He depicted with his own hand two Globe Dials in oyl colours , and on the terrestrial the several Empires and Kingdoms of the World , that He might see how day and night succeeded in each of them ) in January 1677. had them both struck with lightening in the same point ( where the great Meridian of the World , and the North part of the Polar circle meet ) there appearing first a little hole just in that place , and cracks radiating from it to all parts on that side , and the stone it self swelling forth so far as the cracks went , and quickly after dropping from the rest of the Globes ( the parts coming away being as soft and as much disjoyned as moist Sand ) as in Tab. 1. Fig. 5.

16. Yet the Globe on the left hand the gate going forth , seemed to have been stricken first , and the other not till the day following ; which if so , the accident was so much the more strange , that they should be stricken exactly in the same point at different times : But doubtless they both received these impressions the same instant , and that by Lightening too , which being of a very subtile nature ( Des Cartes thinks like Aqua fortis * * Ren. Des Cartes Meteoror . Cap. 7. §. 9. ) and solvent of the parts of bodies to that degree that it is said by the Ancients , to melt Swords in their Scabberds u u Quod contigit M. Antonio Mureto Romae . , and Mony in mens pockets w w L. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest. Lib. 2. cap. 31 , & cap. 52. Vid. etiam Plutarchum Sympos . Lib. 4. Quaest. 2. , did doubtless dissolve the parts of the stone ( all being made of Salt and Sulphur ) by consuming the Sulphureous parts , which knit the Saline ones of the stone together ; as it happens in the burning of Lime where the Sulphureous parts of the Lime-stone being burnt away , the Saline parts separate and swell to a greater bulk upon the access of moisture ; as I suppose these Globes did , being exposed to the rains and mists , that frequently happen at that time of year .

17. And here perchance by the way it may be no great digression , to enquire into the nature and efficient cause of those Rings we find in the grass , which they commonly call Fairy circles : Whether they are caused by Lightening ? or are indeed the Rendezvouzes of Witches , or the dancing places of those little pygmy Spirits they call Elves or Fairys ? And the rather , because 1. a Question ( perhaps by reason of the difficulty ) scarce yet attempted , and 2. because I met with the largest of their kind ( that perchance were ever heard of ) in this County : one of them shewed me in the grounds between Handsworth Church and the Heath being near forty yards Diameter ; and I was told of another by that ingenious Gent. ( one of the most cordial encouragers of this work ) the Worshipful Sir Henry Gough Knight , that there was one in his grounds near Pury-Hall but few years since ( now indeed plowed up ) of a much larger size , he beleived near fifty , whereas there are some of them not above two yards Diameter ; which perhaps may be near the two extremes of their Magnitude .

18. Nor is their difference only in the extent of their Diameters , they varying also in divers other respects , though not proportionably so much : for I have always observed that the Rims of these Circles , from the least to the bigest , are seldom narrower than a foot , or much broader then a yard ; some as bare as a path way in many parts of them , others of a russet singed colour ( both of these having a greener grass in the middle ) and a third sort of a dark fresh green , the grass within being of a browner colour ; the first kind seldom less than five or six yards Diameter , and the other two of various Magnitudes ; And all these parts of a Circle , others being Semicircular ; some of them Quadrants , and others not above Sextants of their respective Circles .

19. Now that Wizards and Witches have sometimes their field Conventicles , and that they dance in such rings , we have ample Testimony from divers good Authors , some of them Judges , who received it in confession from the Criminals themselves condemned by them , all agreeing ( if to be beleived ) that their dances were always circular , but that as they served a different Master , so they performed this exercise in a different manner from other Mortals ; Porro circulares esse omnes Choros qui sic agitantur , atque ab aversis saltatoribus tripudiari affirmant , says Nicholaus Remigius x x Nich. Remigii Demonolatriae Sag. Lib. 1. cap. 17. , i. e. that they affirmed all their dances to be circular , their faces being turned away from one another ; for which he alledges the Confessions of Achen Weher , Johanna Gerardina , Dominicus Petronius , Hennel Armentaria , Anna Ruffa , Zabella the Wife of John Deodat , Odilla Gaillarda , and many others ; to which Sybilla Morelia it seems added another circumstance , that the Circle was always led to the left hand , as Pliny observes the ancient Gaules did , though they danced single , totum corpus circumagendo , quod in Laevum fecisse , Galliae religiosius credunt y y Nat. Hist . Lib. 28. cap. 2. vid. etiam Lucanum Belli Civilis Lib. 1. v. 450. .

20. Which Relations ( especially if compared together ) being somwhat obscure may in part at least be cleared out of Baptista Codronchius , who speaking in like manner of the same Conventicles and dancings , which they call Dianae ludos , the sports of Diana ; Choreas , says He , à nostris penitus absimiles ducunt ; foeminae namque post dorsum masculis in haerentes retrocedendo saliunt , terga dando inclinant , caputque non ante , sed retro , &c. z z Bapt. Codronchii de Morb. Venef . Lib. 3. cap. 8. that the dances they lead are quite unlike ours , for the Womens faces standing to the Mens backsides , they dance retrograde , bowing their bodies forward , and their heads backward , as the same Codronchius says they worship the Devil , non faciem , sed terg a illi obvertentes , caput que non in pectus , sed in scapulas inclinantes a a Ibidem . , not turning their faces , but their backs towards Him , and bowing their heads not downward toward their brests , but backwards upon their shoulders : which though it pretty well explain the phrase of Remigius [ ab aversis saltatoribus , ] yet how this posture can agree with leading the Ring always to the left hand according to Sybilla Morelia's information , I freely confess I do not understand .

21 But to come close to the business , let us return again to the forecited Remigius , who was a Judg in Lorrain , and perhaps the best skill'd in matters of this nature that the world has yet known ( having had the Examinations , Confessions and Condemnations of no less than nine hundred Wizards and Witches in fifteen years time ) who , to omit many others of the like kind , gives us a most remarkable relation of such a Conventicle , and no less suitable ( if true ) to our present purpose . On the eighth of the Calends of August ( says He ) An. 1590. one Nicolaea Lang-Bernhard having been grinding at a Quern not far from Assenuncuria , and returning about noon , as she walked by a hedg side , saw in an adjoyning field , an assembly of Men and Women dancing in a Ring , but in a quite different manner from the usual practice of others : for says my author , aversi terga ostendentes id faciebant , i. e. that they did it turning their backs upon one another ; but at length viewing them more attentively , she perceived some amongst them to have cloven feet like Oxen and Goats , at which being sore astonished , and almost dead with fear , and calling upon the auxiliary name of Jesus to help her well home , they forthwith all vanisht except one Petter Gross-Petter , whom quickly after she saw snatcht up into the Air , and to let fall his Maulkin ( a stick they make clean Ovens withal before they set in their bread ) and Her self was also driven so forcibly with the wind , that it made her almost lose her breath , and when she was got home to keep her bed no less than three days .

22. The fame of which matter being quickly spread by her self and Relations through the whole Village , this Petter at first brought an action of slander against Nicoloea , but knowing his own guilt , and fearing to proceed too far , he desisted again ; which breeding suspition in the Judg , upon enquiry into his life and manners , he was at length apprehended , and at last freely confest the whole matter , and discovered others of his Companions , as Barbelia the wife of Johannes Latomus , Mayetta the wife of Laurence Super Major , both which though examined a part , yet confest expresly in the same words , de saltato à se aversis una cum intermediis Cornupedibus choro , &c. i. e. that they had danced intermixt with those cloven footed creatures at what time Petter was amongst them .

23. And for further evidence of the business John Michael Herdsman did also confess that while they thus danced , he plaid upon his crooked staff moving his fingers upon it , as if it had been a Pipe , sitting upon a high bough of an Oak ; and that as soon as Nicolaea called upon the name of Jesus , he tumbled down headlong to the ground but was presently catcht up again with a whirlwind and carryed to Weiller Meddows , where he had left his herds a little before : Add hereunto ( which is most of all to the purpose ) that there was found in the place where they danced a round circle , wherein there were the manifest marks of the treading of Cloven feet , as plain as are made by Horses that run the Ring , as was testifyed by Nickel Clein , Desiderius Vervex , Gasper Sutor , and divers others that had been to see it , and were examined by the Judg as Witnesses upon it : which circle remained from the day after Nicolaea had discover'd the business , till the next winter when the Plow cut it out b b Nich. Remigii Daemonolatria Sag. Lib. 1. cap. 14. .

24. And a the Devils and Witches do sometimes leave the lively marks of their dancings after they have held such Conventicles , so Athanasius Kircher expresly acquaints us from the informations of Cysatus and Schulzius , that the Viruli or Virunculi montani , little Pygmy Spirits that infest the Mines of Helvetia and Hungary , do sometimes also leave the prints of their feet in the moist sand and soft tenacious earth of the Mines , about the bigness of the feet of Children of three years old c c Athonas . Kirch . Mundi subterr . Tom. 2. Lib. 8. §. 4. cap. 4. : whence some men perhaps may think it probable enough , that some few of these Circles ( especially the bare ones that have but little grass ) may sometimes indeed be made by the forementioned mixt dances of Devils and Witches , and others by those little dwarf Spirits , we call Elves and Fairies .

25. Not that there are any Creatures of a third kind distinct from Men and Spirits of so small a stature , as Paracelsus fancied , which he was pleased to stile non-Adamical Men ; but that the Devils as they are best pleased with the sacrifices of young Children ( which are frequently offered by Midwife-Witches in some Countries , their fat being the chief ingredient wherewith they make the Oyntment indispensably necessary for their transportation to their Field-Conventicles d d Bapt. Codronchii de Morb. Venef . Lib. 3. cap. 8. & Joh. Bodini Mag. Daemonomaniae . Lib. 2. cap. 5. ) so it seems they delight themselves chiefly in the assumtion of the shapes of Children of both Sexes , as we are credibly informed by sober Authors , such as Georgius Agricola e e Geo. Agricola de Animantibus subterraneis sub finem . , Wierus f f Joh. Wieri de praestigiis Daemonum Lib. 1. cap. 22. , and others ; who affirm them so frequent , especially in the German , Hungarian , and Helvetian ( Mr. Bushell seems also to hint the same in our Welsh Silver g g Bushell's Remonstrance of his Majesties Mines Royal in Wales An. 1642. see also Mr. Hooks Lecture de Potentia Restitut . p. 41. ) Mines , that they have given them divers names in their respective places , as in Germany those in the shapes of Men they call Cobalos , and those in the shapes of Women , Trullas , and Sibyllas albas ; so in Italy they call them Folletos and Empedusas , and in other places Screlingeros , Gutelos , Bergmanlin , &c. h h Athanas . Kircheri Mund. subterr . Tom. 2. Lib. 8. §. 4. cap. 4. & Lib. 10. §. 4. cap. 11. More particularly such were the Annebergius and Snebergius of Agricola , and the Hutgin of Trithemius . Nay so frequent has been the appearance of these Demunculi ( as some report ) in the more Northern parts of the world , that perhaps it has given the occasion to the stories of Pygmies mentioned by Olaus Magnus i i Olai Magni de mira natura Rerum Septentr . Lib. 1. cap. 11. and the antient Geographers , Ctesias having given them a most agreeable colour making them all Negroes , and placing them in the midst of India , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 are his very words , i. e. that in the midst of India there are a sort of black men called Pygmies which are very little ones k k Ex Ctesiae Indicis excerptae Historiae a Photio p. 681. Edit. Steph. An. 1592. : For 't is hard to believe there is , or ever was , any such dwarfish sort of people considering them nationally , and not as rare and single instances ; notwithstanding the Testimonies of the ancient Poets and Historians ; or now of late , of Van Helmont , who would perswade us from the Relation of a Canarie Merchant , that there were formerly of them in those Islands l l Joh. Bapt. Van Helmont Demonstr. Thes. p. 432. Edit. Venet. An. 1651. ; or of Marcus Marci who belyes Pigafetta making him say that he saw Pygmies in the Isle Aruchet near the Molucca's m m Joh. Marc. Marci Idearum Operatr . Idea , cap. 6. de Pygmais & Gigantibus . ; whereas indeed he only says , that an old Pilot of the Molucco's told his Company of such , that lived in Caverns there , and had so very long Ears that they slept upon one , and cover'd themselves with the other ; but that the wind and stream being against them thither , and his Men distrusting the relation , would not go to see them n n Viaggio de'l Sign Ant. Pigafetta atorno il Mondo . tra gli Viaggi raccolti da Gio. Bart. Remusio p. 368. Stanpat . Venet. An. 1588. . Which makes me also suspect that he may also abuse the two Oderici , whom also he cites to have found such in their Travels .

26. And not only the bad but the good Genii also appear in the shapes of young Children , if we may credit the relation of a pious man an acquaintance of Bodinus , who had constantly the assistance of such a guardian Angel , which indeed he never saw but once , and that when he was in great danger of his Life , it appearing to him in the likeness of a Child , clad in white rayment somewhat inclining to purple , of a most lovely visage and delicate forme o o Joh. Bodini Mag. Daemonomaniae Lib. 1. cap. 2. . And to come nearer home if we may believe the story of Anne Bodenhom the Witch of Fisherton Anger in the County of Wilts , set forth at large by Edmund Bower , and the Reverend and Learned Hen. More D. D. The Spirits which she raised ( as confest by Anne Stiles who was frequently at her Conjurations ) always appear'd in the shape of little ragged boys , who ran round the house where the Witch had drawn her Staff , her Dog and Cat dancing with them , &c p p Dr. More 's Antidote against Atheism , Lib. 3. chap. 7. . Some of the Witches also executed at Exeter An. 1682. unconstrainedly confest , that the Devil appeared to them like a short black Man about the length of one 's Arme. All which put together seems not a little also to favour the opinion that such Demunculi may be the Fairies so much talk't of , and that they may indeed sometimes occasion such Circles ; but herein every Man is left to choose his own Creed .

27. For my part though my faith be but weak in this matter , ( notwithstanding it cannot be deny'd but the bad as well as good Angels may be Ministring spirits and converse with Mankind ) yet if I must needs allow them to cause some few of these Rings , I must also restrain them to those of the first kind , that are bare at many places like a path-way ; for to both the others more natural causes may be probably assigned : As first according to the opinion of the ingenious Mr. Lister , that at least some of them may be occasioned by the working of Moldwarps , which however for the most part irregular they may be , yet may have a time when perhaps by instinct of nature they may work in Circles ; as 't is certain fallow Deer do in the time of Rutting , treading the same Ring for many days together : indeed the strange fertility of these green Circles , even upon the most barren Heaths , beyond any place else about them , doth argue some extraordinary dung or compost , which he supposes to be the Excrements of Moles , or Moldwarps : others have fetcht their Origin from the dung and urin of Cattle fed in winter time at the same pout of hay , for their heads meeting at the Hay as the center , and their bodies representing as it were so many radii , has made some imagin that such Circles are described by their dung and urin falling always from them in due distance , and fertilizing the ground in a more than ordinary manner by the largeness of the quantity . Others again have thought them described by the water and some of the Hay it self , falling plentifully in wet weather from the Eaves of round hay-stacks , that have been situate within them , which rotting into dung thus fertilizes the Earth in a circular manner ; and indeed 't is possible that some of them may be made either of these ways .

28. But for the Circles mentioned §. 17. of this Chapter of 30 , 40 , and 50 yards Diameter ( too too large for the situation of any Hay-rick , or to be described by Cattle feeding at a hay-pout ) and some of them running through hedge and ditch as shall be shewn in fit place , we must seek for other causes : In order whereunto ( having good opportunity in New-Parks near the City of Oxford , where there is always plenty of them ) I thought fit to examin the nature of the Soile under the Rims of them , especially how it differd from the adjoyning earth , and found by digging up several , that the ground under all of them , was much looser and dryer than ordinary , and the parts interspersed with a white hoar or vinew much like that in mouldy bread , of a musty rancid smell , but to tast insipid , and this scarce any where above six inches deep , the earth again below being of its due consistence and genuin smell , agreeable to the rest of the soils thereabout .

29. Whence it being equally plain that I was no longer to enquire for the origin at least of these larger Circles , either from any thing under or upon the ground ; it remained that I should look for some higher principle , and indeed after a long and mature deliberation , I could think of none nearer than the middle region ; viz. that they must needs be the effects of Lightning , exploded from the Clouds most times in a circular manner ; perhaps for this very reason by the ancient Naturalists called fulmen discutiens : which though of a viscous sulphureous consistence , yet taking fire and violently breaking the Cloud wherein it was pent , must naturally expand it self every way obliquely , for the most part in a uniform conical manner so as at due distance to become a Circle as in Tab. 1. Fig. 6. and in that forme to strike the Earth as may be seen sometimes in arable grounds , but chiefly in wide and open pastures , whether Meddows or Vplands , where Trees and Hedges interrupt least .

30. And not only in a single , but sometimes in a double and treble Circle one within another , as was lately shewn me by my Worthy and Ingenious friend John Priaulx M. A. of Vniversity Colledge in the field between St. Giles's Church near Oxon and the garden called Jericho : They are rarely also seen of a quadrangular forme , encompassed with another larger of the Circular kind , as in Tab. 1. Fig. 7. whereof there were shewn me no less than two examples by my Ingenious and observing friends John Naylor and Hugh Todd M. M. A. A. and Fellows of Vniversity Colledge in the same St. Giles's fields : which yet may all be reconciled to the same Hypothesis ; the former proceeding from three different flashes , the second widening the orifice of the Cloud more than the first , and the third than the second , and so consequently the Circles ; the latter from the Clouds breaking first in a quadrangular , and after in a wider Circular forme as in the same Tab. 1. Fig. 7. All these Rings and Squares being greater or less in proportion to the distance of the Cloud from the Earth , and tenaciousness of the matter , and all appearing at first of a russet colour , the grass just then being singed with the Lightening ; but the year following of a dark luxuriant green , the earth underneath having been highly improved with a fat sulphureous matter ( received from the Lightening ) ever since it was first striken , though not exerting its fertilizing quality till some time after .

31. Yet we must not esteem this improvement by Lightening to be so natural and genuin , as what is made by our ordinary Compost , for these only stimulat the principles of vegetation , whereas in this case the bonds of the natural mixtion seem to be dissolved , the parts of the body opened , and the true spirit of vegetation flying away , the Salt also and Sulphur ( having lost the spirit which was their common vinculum , and preserved the temperament ) endeavour a divorce , get into exaltation , and joyning with the adventitious sulphur of the Lightening , seem unnaturally to enforce this luxuriant vegetation , leaving behind them in the dry effete earth , that hoary white substance , of a musty soure smell , which I take to be the faeces of both sulphurs ; in which opinion I am the rather confirm'd for that the Cattle which feed in these pastures , unless driven to it by extream drought , will never touch this rank sort of grass , it not having the genuin tast of the rest .

32 And hence it is that so many Borasco's , or stormes of Thunder and Lightening have such effects upon liquors , as to make them stink and acquire a soureness viz. by opening the bodies of them , and leting flye that spirit that before secured the temperament , by restraining the Sulphur ; which being also of a volatil nature and the principle of odours , geting into exaltation ( in this dissolution or rather corruption of the Compositum ) endeavours the like divorce and causes the stink ; as the Salt in like manner freed from the bonds of the Sulphur , gets at length the dominion and causes the sourness ; which no question they likewise did under the Rims of these Circles , for having kept some of this earth by me but a natural day , it smelt just like the soure tappings of dead beer in a Cellar .

33. Yet that this is the true Philosophical account of them , I will not be so confident as firmly to pronounce ; but for the matter of fact that they are caused by Lightening , I take it to be most certain , haveing not only observed them my selfe after Thunder and Lightening to be first russet and afterwards of a dark luxuriant green ; but received it also from divers other sober persons of indisputable credit : more especially we may relye on the faithful testimony of one Mr. Walker a man eminent not only for his skill in Geometry but in all other accomplishments , who by chance one day walking in a Meddow amongst Mowers ( with whom he had been but a little before ) after such a storme of Lightening presently espyed one of these Rings about five yards diameter , the Rim whereof was about a foot broad , newly burnt bare as the colour and brittleness of the grass roots did plainly testify , which the year following came more fresh and verdant in the place burnt , than in the middle , and at mowing time was much taller and ranker grass than any in the Meddow q q Communicated in a Letter from the ingenious Mr. Jessop of Broom-hall in York-shire , to my Learned and Ingenious Freind Martin Lister Physician at York , Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 117. p 394. .

34. If it be objected ; that if Lightening causes these Circles , it must also be allowed that it descends vertically ; which we know to be seldom or never seen . And that secondly if their origin be ascribed to Lightening , they must always remain of the same magnitude , never enlargeing themselves to a greater diameter than they had at first ; which yet we cannot but acknowledge some of them certainly doe ; having not only took notice of the thing my self , but had it from others of unquestionable fidelity , that remarked the same in two of the Circles mention'd §. 17. of this Chapter : That at Handsworth having been observed for divers years by the Reverend Mr. Ange Rector of the place , who seriously told me that when he first knew it , it exceeded not 4. yards diameter at most , whereas when I measured it Anno 1680. it was increased almost to 40. haveing run through the hedg into another field : As that other at Pury-Hall , being in a field near the River ( as I was informed by the aforementioned Sr. Henry Gough ) so increased from a smaller to a larger extent , till at length it came to be of near 50. yards diameter , and to run into the water . If I say these matters be objected ,

35. It must be answered first , that though it be true , that Lightening indeed seldom descends vertically , yet that it is as seldom found too that any of these Rings are Mathematically round , ( unless they happen to be on Hils or Banks sides , which may be obverted in right Angels to any point of the Heavens between the Zenith and Horizon ) most of them being rather of a parabolical figure , coming so much the nearer to a round , or receding farther from it , in proportion as the Lightening comes forth nearer or more remote from the Zenith : whence also it comes to pass that when Lightening is exploded ( as most frequently it is ) in an oblique Line , these Circles are imperfect , and that there are more Semicircles , Quadrants , and Sextants amongst them , than any other , according to the aforesaid proportion as the Lightening breaks forth of a Cloud more remote from the Zenith , or nearer to the Horizon ; thus if it proceed from a Cloud not above 15. degrees above the Horizon the lower part only of the circular explosion will brush the surface of the Earth as in Tab. 1. Fig. 8. and will make perhaps but the Sextant of a Circle ; if 22. degrees and ½ above it , a Quadrant ; if 45 , a Semicircle ; if 67 ½ , three fourths of a Circle , and so proportionably more or less in the intermediat degrees .

36. And as to their growth , though it press much harder than the former , yet the difficulty appeareth not so insuperable , but that it may be replyed , that as the Explosion of Lightening when it first breaks the Cloud presses equally outward on every side , so 't is like it may retain the same tendency after it has striken the Earth in such Rings as are intire , such being supposed to be made by streams of lightening descending in a Conical figure , and to strike the Earth in oblique lines on every side pointing all outwards , which possibly too infecting the Earth ( for I look on them as a disease ) with some noxious quality that may have somewhat of the nature of the Herpes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a sort of Shingles which Sennerius describes to be Morbus , qui una parte sanescente , in proxima serpit , or Malum ubi medium sanescit , extremis procedentibus r r Dan. Sennerti Oper. Tom. 3. Lib. 5. part 10. cap. 17. , i. e. a Disease that creeps on in the out parts , the middle growing well ; these Circles I say being infected thus at first from the Clouds with something of this nature , may continually perhaps extend themselves in the like manner .

37. Wherein I am the more confirmed , having observed some of the imperfect Segments of these Circles , especially the Semicircles , and such as obtain three parts of a Circle , to grow inward in the middle , where the Lightening hath struck the Earth strongest , much faster than elsewhere , so as to render them on that side irregular and crooked , as in Tab. 1. Fig. 9. which had they not done might have been an unanswerable objection against this Hypothesis it being impossible indeed that such as these , made by a circular explosion of Lightening , that only brushes the earth on the lower side , the upper part vanishing in the thin Air should extend themselves otherwise . And thus much for these Circles , and enough too perhaps may the Reader say to break my promise so solemnly made in the first § . of this Chapter , of not enlarging to the utmost compass of my theme ; but herein I do not doubt but he will easily give me pardon ( as in all other subjects of the like kind ) it haveing scarce ever been treated on before , by any other Author that I could either meet with , or hear of .

38. Next Lightening I proceed to the effects of Thunder that have sometimes happened in this County , which though not quite so deplorable as many mentioned by Authors , yet being as wonderful in operation as any of them , are therefore no less remarkable : That Thunder now and then proves mortal to Animals , where the bolt has fallen any thing near though it never touch them , is evident from what happened at the Town of Vttoxater Anno 1678. at the House of the worthy and most courteous Gent. the Worshipful Thomas Kinnersley Esq where the bolt piercing the roof of his new Stable and cleaving the Timber in several places , and passing through two floores , and so through a Saddle that hung by the Walls into the pavement , though it never touched Mr. Wodenoth's horse of Rocester then in the Stable ( that could be perceived by any mark upon him ) yet kill'd him out right : But that Thunder should mortally affect Animals at a great distance , and not near any probable fall of a bolt , is a much greater difficulty ; and yet even this we find asserted from long experience , as I was informed by the forementioned worthy Gentleman the ingenious Thomas Broughton of Broughton Esq who June the 14th 1680. haveing 15. dosen of Crevices brought him by a poor man that made it his business to catch them , and finding the better half of them dead , made enquiry of him what the reason might be ; to whom the Man gave this ready reply , that the late Thunder had done it , and that he had observed it to have the same effect on them divers times before ; wherein I am very much inclined to believe him , haveing found it also at Queenborough in the Isle of Shepey in Kent , to kill their Lobsters in the like manner , and more especially those of the larger sise , a fish so altogether analogous to a Crevice , that they seem only to differ in magnitude , and place of abode .

39. Now that the Horse was kill'd by the pestilential sulphureous steam that the bolt brought with it ( as I suppose all other Animals are in the like Circumstances ) is plain from the Testimony of the Groome , who had he not been near the door had hardly escaped it : But how the Crevices should be thus secretly destroyed where no such stench is perceptible , at least to human sense ? is a much harder problem ; nor can it be resolved but in such general termes , as that the Air is certainly indued by the Thunder with a peculiar quality that pestilentially affects the juices of these Animals so as to destroy their temperament ; perhaps in the same manner as in §. 32. of this Chapter , which yet may not be perceptible to other Animals : Nay it has sometimes fallen out that a certain Individual of the same species of Animals ha's had a temperament so peculiar as to be violently moved by Thunder , though at a great distance , others of the same kind being wholly indisturbed , as is avouched to us by the Learned Dr. Nathaniel Fairfax , concerning one Mrs. Raymond of Stow-Mercat in the County of Suffolk , who when ever she hears Thunder even a farr off , begins to have a bodily distemper seize on her , growing faint , sick in her stomach , and ready to vomit , &c s s Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 29. see more of the secret operations of Thunder Numb. 127. .

40. After Thunder , that which next falls under consideration , are other more uncommon Meteors , that have been observed here ; such as that seen at a place called Broad-heath in the parish of Seighford between that and Ranton Abbey about seven at night near Michaelmass time Anno 1676. by Mr. John Nas● the worthy Vicar there ; which at a distance ( he told me ) appeared like a great fire , but coming nearer , its forme and motion were plainer to him , it being of a globular figure , moveing by jerks and makeing short rests , at every one of them letting fall drops of fire , which were part of its body , for it decreased in magnitude the farther it went , and the oftner it dropt , so that it wholly disappeared at about 3 quarters of a mile's distance : which upon computation of time , and other circumstances , I take to be the very same mentioned in our Philosophical Transactions that was seen in so many distant places of England , Sept. 20. 1676. about the same time of night , viz. in Kent , Essex , Sussex , Surry , Hamp-shire , Devon-shire , Sommerset-shire , Glocester-shire , Oxford-shire , Northampton-shire , Worcester-shire , and ( 1 believe I may add ) Stafford-shire ; whereof there being already so large an account given by the Reverend and Learned Dr. John Wallis Savilian Professor of Geometry in the Vniversity of Oxford * * Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 135. p. 863 , 864. , I shall add little more concerning it .

41. But that , notwithstanding it appear'd at Oxford and Seighford in somewhat a different shape , and motion ; at Oxford somewhat long with a round knob at the end , and moveing equally swift ; at Seighford globular , and makeing short rests ; yet it still might be the same individual Meteor , which ( not to mention the mistakes perhaps occasioned through the inadvertency of the surprized Relators ) might possibly alter a little in so great a distance : However the thing were , it was certainly no other than one of the Meteors called Caprae Saltantes , for I find them both of a round and long figure , and to be so called , not from any thing they have of a goat , but their moveing by jerks , somewhat like the lascivious leaps of that Animal , and the little languets of fire that hang at , and sometimes fall from them , which antiquity ha's been pleased to fancy like the beard , or locks of a Goats wool : These frequently fly so high ( notwithstanding they seem very low ) that Meteorologists have placed them in the upper Region , but have not so firmly fixt them there , but that they allow the like also in the middle , and lower : How high this might be is not easy to determin , but certainly it could not be very low , it being seen at so many distant places both in Longitude , and Latitude , so near the same time ; which I presume that an ordinary Meteor in the lower Region could by no means be , though we allow its motion never so swift . Such a Capra it was that was seen about the bigness of the Moon , when Paulus Aemilius waged War against Perseus King of Macedon , Nos quoque vidimus ( says Seneca ) non semel flammam ingentis pilae specie , quae tamen in ipso cursu suo dissipata est , i. e. that he also had seen a flame in the form of a great ball which disperst it self in its flight : such another he says was seen upon the departure of Augustus ; another upon the Tragedy of Sejanus ; and that the death of Germanicus was signaliz'd by another t t L. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest. Lib. 1. cap. 1. .

42. To which add another Meteor also of a globular figure , seen Nov. 22 , Anno 1672. about 12. or one at night , not in motion but stationary , against the West door of Wednesbury Church , by the Ingenious Mr. Miller Vicar there , and two others in his Company ; which shon so bright , that it gave them light ( though a very dark night ) at half a miles distance ; where it continued for about ⅛ of an hours space , and then of a sudden disappeared ; whereupon there immediately followed a great storme of Hail and Rain : And of such as these we have also plenty of parallel Examples in ancient Histories , Si minore vi mittuntur ignes , defluunt tantum & insident , non feriunt , nec vulnerant , says Seneca , i. e. that many times these fiery Meteors only slide down and rest upon fit subjects , such as the Masts of Ships at Sea , the Spears and Ensignes of Soldiers at land ; Gylippo Syracusas petenti , visa est stella super ipsam lanceam constitisse ; in Romanorum castris visa sunt arderepila , ignibus &c. in illa delapsis , says the same Seneca u u Ibidem . , that there was a fiery Meteor in the shape of a Star that sate upon the spear of one Gylippus as he was marching to Syracuse , and that the like were sometimes seen , to be fix't upon the Javelins , amongst the Tents of the Romans .

43. Nor want there instances of the like kind near our own times , for Fromondus informes us that such another fire sate quietly upon the Standard of the valiant Collonel William Verdug before the decisive battle of Prague Anno 1620. All which , together with this of ours at Wednesbury , I take only to be the Helena of the Ancients foretelling great stormes and ensuing devastations , such as the Rape of the Lady whose name they bear , brought upon Greece ; the Physical reason whereof perhaps may be assigned right enough by the Ancients , viz. that while the Meteor remains compact and indisperst , it is a signe that the matter of the ensuing tempest is no where spent , as it proved in this of ours at the Church of Wednesbury , a great storme of hail and rain immediatly following it ; whereas when such Meteors are divided , the prognostic is quite different , it being thence presumed that the matter of the tempest is weak and broken , the parts whereof antiently were called Castor and Pollux , Deities it seems so favourable to Seamen , their appearance always boding a prosperous voyage , that they usually made them the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Ships , as we find them on the Ship of Alexandria in which St. Paul sailed from Melita to Syracuse w w Acts 28. v. 11. .

44. Nor have the Heavens and Air only presented the Eye with unusual Objects , but also the Ear has sometimes been as much surprized from them : for not to mention some unknown noises pretended to have been heard about Alrewas , nor the shreeks as it were of persons about to be murdered said to be heard about Frodley : We need go no farther for an instance than the same Town of Wednesbury , where the Colyers will tell you that early in the morning as they go to their work , and from the Cole-pits themselves , they sometimes hear the noise of a pack of bounds in the Air , which has happened so frequently that they have got a name for them , calling them Gabriels hounds , though the more sober and judicious take them only to be Wild-geese , making this noise in their flight ; which perhaps may be probable enough , for upon consulting the Ornithologists I find them one of the gregarious migratory kind , to fly from Country to Country in the night , noctu trajiciunt says Aldrovandus of them x x Ulys . Aldrovandi Ornithologiae Lib. 19. cap. 18. , and to be very obstreperous either when wearye with flying , or their order is broken , they flying ordine literato after the manner of Cranes .

45. And this perhaps may be the Musick that was heard in the Air by Francis Aldridg of Hammerwich a sober person about two in the morning near Michaelmas An. 1668. though he described it to be a sort of whistling in the Air , and the tune more melodious to him than any he ever heard in his life time , before or since ; it being performed he said ( as he judged ) by some winged creatures , for he could hear their wings beat the Air , though he could not see any thing by reason of the darkness : Though some will needs have it a consort of Angels transporting some blessed Soul that expired hereabout at that time , from grace to glory , haveing the unquestionable Testimony of St. Augustin , Nicephorus , Gregory the great , and divers others , that such things have happened ; for he sayd they seemed to take the tune from one another , as if they bore different parts in the same Antiphone for a quarter of an hour together ; much after the same manner as Johannes Herbinius reports it happen'd upon the death of Christopher Suessenbach Pastor of Bicine in Silesia , where such a Consort was heard also for a quarter of an hour together , all the Town over ; some thinking it in the Tower of the Church , others in the Town-house , others upon the Walls ; nay so distinctly was it heard , that the Organist of the Town being present , attempted to prick it down as a celestial pattern for all Church Musick , but all to no purpose , it so far transcended his skill y y Joh. H●rbinii de Cryptis Kijoviensibus cap. 6. §. 8. com . 7. .

46. More common are the noises of Storms and Tempests whether of Hail , Rain , or Wind , though sometimes too , these happen to be very extraordinary , as at Chebsey the Sunday before St. James tide An. 1659. there fell a storm of Hail , the stones near as big as pullets eggs , which beat the young apples and leaves from the trees , and the Cabbage leaves from the stalks so that they appeared naked ; nay so violent was it that it raised a steam in the street so thick that they could not see cross it ; and yet falling perpendicular it broke none of their windows ; as did another storme of Hail that on June 16. An. 1676. fell at the Village of Dunstall in the Parish of Tatenhill , which as I was informed by my worthy friend Mr. John Bott also cut the stalks of the Wheat and Barley ( then in spindle ) quite asunder , and so the very grass it self ; the stones being some of them near four inches about , and most of them of unequal various figures . It spoiled also the Peas that were then upon the ground , yet they came so well again as to be fit for fodder ; the Barley also sprang again so well that they had little less than they expected , only some of it was lighter and not so fit for Mault : Both which stormes were but of small extent , the former of the two being circumscribed every way within a furlong of the Towne ; and the latter ( as appear'd by the mischief it did ) not above a quarter of a mile broad ; and about a mile , or a mile and ½ long .

47. Hither also must be referr'd all unusual sorts of Rain , whereof the Ancients have transmitted to us some very prodigious ones , as of Milk , Blood , Flesh , Iron , Wool , Tiles , bricks , and great Stones z z C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist . Lib. 2. cap. 56.58 . ; to which Munster , and others add Rats , Mice * * Vid. Olaum Wormium , Musaei . Lib. 3. cap. 23. , and Froggs , the latter whereof ha's been thought by some to have happen'd in this County at the Parish of Tixall , at the house of the right Honorable Walter Lord Aston , and more especially about the Bowling-green , where after a showre of Rain they have appear'd so thick , that it has been found difficult not to tread on them in walking : Nor will it suffice to say that they came out of their holes where they lay hid before , upon tast of the sweetness of the celestial distillattion as some have fancied ; for as I was told by that severely inquisitive Gent. the Worshipful Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq a near neighbour to the place , they have been sometimes found in great numbers upon the Leds of the stately Gate-House there ; whither how they should be brought otherwise , ha's been thought equally strange , as that they should come thither by rain ; it being very improbable that they should either crawle up the walls , or leap up the stairs ( could they come at them ) they being always but small , and all of a Size ; which too seems to imply that these are not produced in the ordinary course of Nature , for then we should have had them of different sizes , according as the Spawne came to perfection sooner or later ; so that Cardan's opinion seems almost necessary to be embraced , that the Spawn or Seed of Frogs may be either blowne from the tops of Mountains , or drawn up with the vapours out of uliginous places , and be brought to perfection in the Clouds , and discharged thence in Showers .

48. And indeed I think we must have acquiest in it , but that the same difficulty seems to press this opinion , as the former ; for why should they not fall from the Clouds , as well as come forth of their caverns , in different sizes ? Besides in all likelyhood we should find them all bruised against the ground , trees , or building , and half dead with their fall , should they come from thence ; than which nothing less : Much rather therefore should I think them produced upon the surface of the earth . and tops of houses where they are first found , by a fermentation excited in the dust ( which in some places may have a peculiar disposition for it ) by the fall and commixtion of rain water with it , in hot soultry weather . The ingenious Mr. Bohun Fellow of New-Coll . Oxon , acquaints us that Sr. Thomas Roe in his East-India Voyage met with a sort of rain , that accompanies the Tornado blasts of that Country , so noisome that it made their cloaths who stirred much in it , to stink upon their backs ; and that the water of those hot and unwhosome showers , would presently bring forth worms , and other offensive Animals a a R. Bohun's discourse concerning Winds : pag. 240. 241. : And we are told that the rain that falls in the plain called Magotti Savanna in the Isle of Jamaica , as it settles upon the seams of any Garment ( where dust , if any where , usually lodges ) turns in half an hour to Maggots b b Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 27. p. 500. .

49. Now if some rains or earths be disposed for the production of worms and Maggots , why may not others for frogs ? especially since the opinion seems to be strengthen'd by the concurrent Testimonies of Scaliger and Fallopius : Nos complutam terram sola aqua ( says the former ) sine ranis , Gyrinulis tamen post semihoram scatere totam vidimus , i.e. that he had seen the ground wet only with water at first , and no frogs appearing , which yet within half an hour has abounded with imperfect ones c c Jul. Scaligeri de Subtilitat . Lib. 15. Exercit. 191. : To whom agrees the latter . vidi inquit aliquando cecidisse guttas quasdam magnas in pulverem , & statim abortas esse ranulas , that he had sometimes seen great drops of water fall into dust , and presently after frogs to spring thence d d Gabr. Fallopii Tract. de Metall . cap. 9. . Which solves all the difficulties of their being found on the tops of houses , as well as below on the ground , that they are all of a size , &c , it being allowable enough , that an agreable dust for such a purpose may be carryed with the wind , or otherwise , to such high places , where meeting with rain also well disposed for the same purpose , may produce such animals there , as well as below . And thus I suppose it comes to pass for the most part , that some places on a sudden are thus infested with frogs ; I say for the most part , for if it be true what the ingenious Author of Mercurius Centralis delivers to us viz. that there is one at this time living , that walking through a low marish ground in England a foggy morning had his hat almost covered with little frogs that fell on it as he walked e e Mercurius Centralis p. 24. 25. ; we must allow Cardan's opinion at least sometimes to be true .

50. As to such rains as are usual and frequent amongst us , I met with nothing observable concerning them , but an uncommon prognostick when they should happen , communicated to me by the learned and ingenious Gent. Edwin Skrymsher of Aqualat Esq who had it from one Samuel Taylor a person belonging to the Severne , but imployed by Mr. Skrymsher in making his boats for the large , deep , and most pleasant Meer that stretches it self before his house for above a mile in length ; who foretold them by the Winds backing to the Sun as he call'd it , i. e. opposing its course ; viz. the Sun moving from East by South to West and North and so to East again ; and the wind from West by South to East and North and so to West again : Ex. gr . suppose the wind now in the North , if it shift thence to the East agreeable to the Suns course , it most times proves fair ; but if it back to the Sun and shift Westerly and thence Southerly , &c. so as to oppose its motion , it seldom fails of bringing rain * * Vid. Camdens Britannia in Staffordsh . and chap. 2 , §. 15. of this History . ; and so in all the other Cardinal and intermediat points : The reason whereof may be , that the Sun by the same power by which at first it raised the vapours ( of which Clouds consist ) now drawing them along with it from East to West , and the Westerly winds compressing the contrary way , does so condense the spungy parts of them upon meeting in the South , that thereby they become aqueous , too weighty for the Sun any longer to sustain , to preponderate the subjacent Air , and so to descend in showers or rain : whereas when the winds accompany the motion of the Sun imprest upon the Clouds , as they doe from the East , they attenuat and disperse them , and force a serenity ; which seems to be the thing that Virgil intends by his Juppiter Densans and Rarefaciens .

— Et Juppiter humidus Austris Densat erant quae rara modo , & quae densa relaxat f f Pub. Virgilii Georglc . Lib. 1. v. 418.

51. Much more accurat and certain was the same Samuel Taylor in predicting the winds , than the rains that attend them , though even in this too he made use of the Clouds themselves , which when ever he perceived to rise in the form of the letter V , jagg'd on each side , and therefore called by the water-men the Harts-head ; he forth with concluded infallibly that the next point of the Compass to which the wind should shift , would be either the opposite one to the most patulous part of the V or Harts-head ( which though happens but seldom ) or the point to which the acute angle of the same Harts-head seems nearest to direct it self , and this most frequently happens , always one of the two ; which I am told is a truth that no water-man whatever that sailes the Severne will call into question : And indeed I do not doubt but the latter of the two must needs be most frequent , since we see in Aeolipiles , Winde-Guns and all other explosions of Air , that it still spreads as it proceeds from the terminus à quo ; well therefore may it be concluded that the wind must proceed from that quarter , whence the Clouds appear more patulous and open ; as the Ancients observed it in Halo's , which if intire and well defined argued a calm season , but if rent or broken on any side , they expected a wind from that point of the Heavens , on which the Cirque of the Halo was interrupted : Inde ventum Nautici expectant , unde contextus Coronae perit , says Seneca g g L. An. Senecae Nat. Quest. Lib. 1. cap. 2. , that the Mariners expected a wind from that quarter of the world on which the parts of the Circle were discontinued : with whom agrees my Lord Verulam , who amongst his prognosticks numbering this , quâ parte is Circulus se aperuerit , expectetur ventus says he h h Hist. de Ventis inter prognostica ad Artic. 32. § , 8. , let the wind be expected from that point of the Horizontal arch , where the Circle opens it self .

52. Which perhaps indeed may be some of the most certain prognosticks we can hope for of winds , but then we must restrain them to such as have their origin in the middle Region , from the rarefaction of vapors by the Sun , either before or after their coalition into Clouds : which rarefaction making a greater repletion , and consequently a protrusion that way where the Medium is most yeilding , causes a wind from such or such a peculiar point of the Compass rather than any other , and is certainly shewn by the opening of the more loose and floating Clouds ( those whence we expect wind being not so dense or opacous as those pregnant with showers ) which are sensible of the impression for some time , before the Air here below is assimulated to the motion begun at so great a distance ; where nothing intervening to controul or interrupt its course , it is propagated in a right line , and is much more certain than any wind generated either from the Aeolian caverns of the Earth , or the lower Region , which are obnoxious in great measure to the situation of the Countries through which they pass , making Maeanders , deflections and undergoing various repercussions , according as they meet with Forrests , Promontories , Mountains , or winding Valleys betwixt them , in their way ; though indeed in the wide Seas , and open level Countries , these winds are near as regular , as those that blow aloft ; as they really would be every where , were the terraqueous Globe of a uniform superficies .

53. Nor heard I of any thing more relating to winds , but that not long since betwixt Offley-hay and Slindon , there happen'd a Typhon or Tornado-wind , which though not above forty yards broad ( as appeared by the mischief it did ) or extending it self in length above three or four Miles , yet was so powerful as it pass't through a Coppice near Sr. John Pershal's house of great Sugnal that it tore up the greatest Okes by the roots and made as it were a Vista through it , as was shewed me by the courteous and obliging Gent. Mr. Bosvile of Byanna , which I take to have been done by a dip of wind , express't obliquely from a narrow passage betwixt two Clouds as in Tab. 1. fig. 10. which meeting with some cross wind or denser part of the Atmosphere at A , was thrown violently towards the ground at B which take for Offley-hay , was strongest at C which suppose to be Sugnal , and rose again at D which may pass for Slindon , and so mounted into the Air again to E , out of all distance for doing any further harm , curleing it self into a Helix after the manner of Tornado's , as Mr. Bohun in his discourse of the Origin of Winds has ingeniously express't it i i R. Bohun of Winds . p. 19. : whence 't is easy to collect both the reason of the narrowness and brevity of this wind , and why the greatest force must be needs in the middle . As also of the narrow and short storm of Hail that happen'd at Dunstal , mention'd §. 46. of this Chapter .

54. And now having so long entertained the Reader with the serious and sometimes Melancholy effects , let me refresh him a little with the Sports , of Nature ; such as a new discourse with the Nymph Echo , a Mistris notwithstanding what is discover'd in Oxfordshire , yet has new intrigues , and must farther be courted , before she will throughly be understood ; not but that I think the distribution and admeasurement of Echo's is rightly and fully assigned in that History ; but that I have met with some here , that though they may all be reduced to some one or other of the species there mentioned * * Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . cap. 1. §. 14. , yet differ from them all in some considerable circumstances , by no meanes to be past by without observation : And such is the Echo near the Church at the parish of Tatenhill , which will return four or five syllables at least , though spoken almost with as low a voice as we ordinarily use in our common discourse ; the object of which Echo or the Centrum phonocampticum , is certainly enough the Tower of the Church , and the place of the speaker or centrum phonicum an opposit Hill due Westerly from it , upon the bank side under the Hedg , whence a line being drawn to the Tower , directly falls upon it at right angles ; the distance between the two Centers being not above 70. yards or thereabout , which is the thing wherein this Echo is extraordinary : for whereas Blancanus will not admit that any one syllable can be return'd clear and distinctly under 24. Geometrical paces , 120 feet , or 40 yards distance from the object k k Jos. Blancani Echonometria Theorem . 5. ; and Mersennus by no meanes under 69 feet or 23 yards : this returnes a syllable in 42 feet or 14 yards . i. e. five syllables at least in 210 feet or 70 yards accounting modestly ( for I believe it will returne more if spoken quick ) which is the most by far in so little a space , that I ever yet read or heard of .

10.

Offley Hay . o o Slindon .

To the learned and ingenious Gent. FRANCIS WOLFER STAN of STATFOLD Esq This first Table consisting cheifly of ●uch matters as relate to his owne objecvations , in memory of his asai●tance is gratefully dedicated by R. P. L. L. D.

Burgh . sculp .

56. Other Echo's there are none so very different from those of Oxfordshire as the three above mentioned , nor indeed are there any of the same kind , so very considerable as that of Woodstock l l Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 1. §. 15. ; the best polysyllabical articulat Echo's we have in this County , are 1. that of Dunston in a field west of the Chappel , where in the path way at due distance from it , you may have a return of seven or eight syllables ; and so you may 2. From Elmhurst-Hall in a Meddow to the South-East of it . But 3. that which comes nearest to Woodstock , and indeed is the best of the kind in the County , is that at Norbury , North-easterly from the Manor near a little bank under the wood side about 80. poles or 440. yards distant , which in a still day will repeat 10. or a 11. syllables distinctly , or 12. or 13 , if spoken quick ; the Object whereof must needs be the Manor for there can be none nearer whatever there may be further off , and yet in this , as at Woodstock ( however it was at Tatenhill ) if we take the Manor for the object , there will go 120 feet or 40 yards to each syllable , or if further off ( for the voice methinks seems to pass by the Manor , to the trees on the left hand of it ) perhaps twice as much ; which instructs us we must allow a much greater Latitude in these matters ; though of the same kind , than has hitherto been thought of .

57. But as for Tautological polyphonous Echo's , such as return a word or more often repeated from divers objects by simple reflection , there are as good here , or perhaps better than any in Oxfordshire ; there being one at Beaudesart in the little Park about the middle of the path that leads from the pale to the House , that from a treble object answers distinctly three times : And another near Hampsted ( The seat of the much honored and my truly noble Patron , the right worshipful Sr. John Wyrley Kt. ) on the bank side in a field South-easterly from the house , that from a quadruple Object , answers as distinctly four times , though the objects indeed be as obscure as the matter of fact is plain und evident ; which perhaps may be as good an one of this kind , as one shall easily meet with , all the objects and returnes being still more remote , and weaker , than one another ; the second than the first , the third than the second , and the fourth than the third , and so onward ; so that after four returns , the fift is most commonly out of the reflex action of the voice .

58. Unless in such Echo's as have divers objects placed so near together , and near at hand , that though they scarce will admit of a Dissyllable , yet by numerous reflections to and froe from one object to another , will return a Hum or clap with the hands much more quick and frequently , perhaps some of them ten or a dosen times or more , the voice or clap fadeing as it were , or dying away by degrees in a trembling manner , rateably to the remoteness and weakness of the reflections . And such a tremulous Echo there is ( for I cannot fit it with a better Epithet ) at Elmhurst-Hall on the tarras walk in the Garden behind the house , where the various windings and angles of the walls , return a hum or clap with the hands ( the weather being calm ) ten or a dosen times , so thick and close that it admits of nothing articulat unless we may account a monosyllable so . Which was shewn me by the Worshipful Michael Biddulph Esq the Proprietor of the place , whose favours have been so signal in promoting this work , that I could do no less in gratitude than represent the House in Sculpture Tab. 2. it being one of the chief seats of the Family , and as uniform , splendid , and commodious a building as most in the County .

To the Wor●p the generous and much honored Gent. MICHAEL BIDDULPH of ELMHURST Esq This 2 nd . Table Shewing the N. E. Front of ELMHURT HALL as a pledg of my Gratitude for recevi'd favours is humbly dedicated by , R. P. L. L. D.

MBurghers detin . et sculp . depiction of Elmhurt Hall

60. To conclude , these are all the observations I could make my self , or hear of from others relating to the Heavens and Air , and to this County ; unless I should have taken upon me to have given some account of the late prodigious Comet in Dec. 80. which I might indeed have done from the accurat observations of my worthy Friend the worshipful Francis Wolferstan of Statfold Esq but having lodged them in a much better hand than my owne for that purpose , and the Comet it self relating as well to other Countries and Kingdoms as this , I choose rather to pass it by , only taking notice that they generally happen in Winter ; upon or after considerable Frosts ; and ( with Gaffarel ) that they occasion great droughts , which inflame Mens blood and drive them into Frensies n n J. Gaffarel 's unheard of Curiositys Part. 4. §. 11. ( witness this following year 81 ) and as my Lord Bacon well observes , that those droughts bring an open beginning of winter , the former heat still bearing the sway , and yet hindering a sufficient multiplication of vapours o o Nat. Hist . Cent. 9. Experim . 814. . All which having happen'd precisely after this , will I hope procure our observation of them , after another Comet .

CHAP. II. Of the Waters .

1. THe learned , and therefore truly Noble Philosopher , my Lord Viscount St. Albans , in his History of Life and Death , or prolongation of Life ; as well considering the consumption of the body of Man , as reparation of it ; the one being as much to be prevented , as the other promoted ; in the former of these makes the ambient Air of eminent concern ; some sorts of it being as predatory and wastful of the body , as others again are comfortable and refreshing : Whence it is that Persons of plentiful Estates , that have ( as we say ) the world at will , and are not tyed to a single Seat ; either build or make choise of one for their most common residence , that is situat in a good and wholsome Air : where by Air they intend not the simple Element of the Ancients , for in this sense all Air ( if there be any such thing ) is equally pure ; but that somwhat grosser substance that immediatly incompasses the terraqueous Globe , wherein we daily breath , live , and have our being ; which is commonly fill'd with all sorts of Exhalations , and is comparatively good or bad , healthy or otherwise ; as it partakes more or less , of wholsome or noxious , vapors or fumes ; exhaled either from quick liveing streams , or stagnant pooles and uliginous boggs ; from dry wholsome Soils , or mineral Earths . Which seeming indeed the more immediat causes of sickness or health than the pure Air , that being only the vehicle of diseases , and not fundamentally good or bad , but by participation , as was hinted in Oxfordshire a a Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 1. §. 32. ; 't is plain that the consideration of the health of this County , rather belongs to this place , and the following Chapter , than to the former of Air.

2. But that the Reader may not only be amused with generalls , let us treat of this matter more distinctly than usual , and strictly examin whether this Air we breath in , do indeed so much affect the body of Man as is commonly pretended ; and if so , which it is that comforteth and conserveth it most , and which most preyeth upon it , so as to hasten its consumption ; that certainly being to be esteemed the most healthy , that prolongeth ; and that the most unhealthy , that abridgeth its duration : Wherein I shall not need to trouble the Reader with any of the nice Experiments of the Air-Pump , whereof some not unfitly might have been reduced to this subject ; nor with a profound explication of the flammula Cordis , or what ever else it is that continually gives accension to our blood , and is cherish't by the gentle refocillations of the Air : It being sufficient for my purpose , and evident even to rural Observators ; first that the Air , impregnated with vapors and fumes ( such as is the Atmosphere wherein we breath ) doth sensibly affect the body of Man ; witness the common fumigations made in hysterical diseases to recall the Spirits , and the too too common Experiment of Drunkenness ; with which no question it s more inartificial operations bear some proportion , though they are not so sensible .

3. It being plain then that the Air as it may be variously qualifyed does affect the Spirits and humors , and consequently the whole Crasis of the body : it remains secondly that we shew which Airs they be , that most refresh and preserve it ; and on the contrary which prey upon it , so as either to consume it gradually , or destroy it on a sudden : for the clearer disquisition of which matter I must premise some postulata , which I need not to doubt ( I think ) but will be easily granted , since they are such only as are universally agreed on : As first that the blood principally , and other humors ; are the subjectum in quo , or vehicle of the spirits by which the Animal operations of the body are performed ; and 2. that the more the spirits , flammula , or heat do prey upon the humors , or the humors oppress the spirits , so much the shorter is the continuance of that body ; and that therefore 3. in order to a lasting duration , the spirits ought to be kept in such a moderate temper , that ( as the Lord Bacon well observes b b Hist. of Life and Death , Intent . 1. Operat . 1. Numb. 10. ) they should be in their substance ; dense , not rare : in Quantity ; sufficient for the offices of life , not redundant or turgid : in heat ; strong , not eager : in motion ; sedate , not fluttering and unequal : And 4. that the humors should also be moderatly dense ; not thick , or too fluid : sufficient ; and not multiplyed to excess , so as either to clog or extinguish the spirits : all which being granted ( and I think no body will deny them ) it will naturally follow

4. That Air too much heated either by the reflex beams of the Sun , or by Mineral fumes ( above the heat of the ambient Air of the Clime ) must be none of the healthiest : for ( to omit the inflamed scorching Air on the banks of Euphrates that sometimes suddenly stifles passengers , and the burning-winds of Arabia and Persia , in their Annals there call'd Bad Semum c c Bohuns disc. of the Origine of Winds . p. 177 , 178 , 180. ) this even in Europe frequently exalts the spirits to such a redundancy , that they become eager and violent in their motion , so as to occasion Feavors , Frensies , Calentures ; which do not sip , but rather carouse upon the juices , till at length they are all exhausted , and the body brought to a final Arefaction : Or at least so opens the pores , and rarefies the spirits that some of them fly away , which thickens the blood and humors by a sort of Evaporation , and so gradually desiccates them , and at length brings the body to an early old Age , as it happens in Africa amongst the Negroes , whose lives , says Leo , are are very short d d Leo Afer his description of Africa . Lib. 1. , their bodies undergoing through the heat of their Clime so quick an arefaction , that as Crescentiensis reports , they are old at thirty e e Petri Crescentiensis de Agricultura , Lib. 1. cap. 5. To prevent these depredations of over heated Air , even in this temperat Zone , the Ancients were so careful , that they declined not either the trouble or charge , of anointing their bodies all over with Oile , thereby filling up the pores , and preventing both the flight of the spirits , and all manner of other injuries from the external Air.

5. Thus Pollio Romulus ( and Johannes de temporibus , as my Lord Verulam also acquaints us f f Hist. of Life and Death . Intent . 1. Operat 2. Numb. 13. , ) who was above a hundred years old , preserved it seems his body to that extream old Age ; for being ask't by Augustus ( who then lodg'd at his house ) what means he had used to maintain that vigor of body and mind , he saw , he enjoy'd ; answer'd intus mulso , foris oleo g g C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist. Lib. 22. cap. 24. ; i. e. that he used Metheglin within , and Oile without : which , says Roger Bacon upon the place , in the MS. Preface before his book de Retardatione Senectutis ( which was never printed with the book it selfe ) was an Oile mentioned in the Chapter de his quae naturalem virtutem excitant , whither I refer the Reader for satisfaction about it h h In Praefat. ad Libellum de Retardatione senect MS. in Bib. Bodl. . The same Roger Bacon also further acquaints us that a certain British Lady whom he calls Dominam de Tormeri i i Alias de Nemore in Epist. Baconi ad Parisiensem , cap. 7. found an oyntment wherewith her Woodward having anointed himself all but the soles of his feet , lived three hundred years without any pain but in his feet k k In Libello , de mirabili potestate Artis & Naturae , di●to . . The ancient Britans painted their bodies with woad and were exceeding long lived ; and some have thought the Picts had their name from hence ; 't is certain the Brasilians paint themselves at this day , and are very long liv'd ; as if painting did preserve the living body , as oile colours and varnish do dead wood and Iron .

6. Yet much worse is this Air if both heated by the Sun , and fill'd with noisom stinking vapors , exhaled from stagnant waters , Moores or Boggs , nothing more quickly or certainly induceing putrefaction than the concurrent operations of excessive heat and moisture ; the former procuring a more easy access for the vapors judicial than the primary ones could have possibly been without them ; such Foggs and Steams stagnating in the valleys and amongst trees , and heating much more there than in any plain , the rays of the Sun being contracted and strengthened in these hollowes , much after the manner we see they are by a Concave glass ; whereas if either happen in an open Country , or upon riseing ground , without woods or groves within a competent distance , there is seldom such a calme , but that the Wind at least will ventilate , if not strongly disperse them , so that they can be little prejudicial to the adjacent Inhabitants : And therefore says Petrus Crescentiensis , qui loca elegit habitabilia , cognoscere debet quommodo ejus exislit dispositio secundum altitudinem & profunditatem , discooperturam & cooperturam — & si sit ventis exposita , aut in terra profunda p p Pet. Crescentiensis de Agricult . Lib. 1. cap. 5. i. e. That whoever makes choise of a seat , must be satisfyed how 't is situat , whether on a Hill or in a Vale ; open , or close covered ; whether exposed to the winds , or in a deep hollow Country : whereof which is the better , is determined both by Varro q q M. Ter. Varronis de re Rustica , Lib. 1. cap. 12. and Baptista Porta r r J. Bapt. Portae , Villae Lib. 1. cap. 22. , potius in sublimi loco aedificet , qui quod perflatur , &c. rather let him build , say they , in a high place that is continually ventilated , where if any thing incommode him it will easily be disperst by the brisk piercing gales . Which naturally brings me next

9. To the consideration of that acute purifying air , which being neither heated above the usual constitution of the Clime , nor fill'd with moist thick slimy vapors , but rarify'd by the Sun to a useful serenity , and sharpened by an agreeable portion of Niter , so cooles and cherishes both the spirits and humors by a gentle ventilation ( carrying off the fuligines arising from the accension of the blood whether in the Lungs or Heart ) that both are kept in due temper ; neither prevailing , but both mutually preserving each other to a most lasting duration : And this it is we may justly call healthy Air , that ha's heat enough to cherish that Platonic flame s s Ignis ille qui 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , Lumen & splendor nuncupatur , qui lucct , sed non ardet . Plato in Timaeo . in the blood , so as to make it shine , but not burne ; and moisture enough to help to conserve that gentle fire , but not drown or extinguish it ; all which seems most evidently made out to be thus indeed by the Aerial Noctiluca of the Honourable Mr. Boyle , and by the solid Phosphorus of my ingenious Friend Frederick Slare M. D. made for the most part out of Vrine , and might as well ( He thinks ) have been out of blood , could it have been procured in as great quantities , since Vrine is its Recrement separated by the Kidneys ; which whenever exposed to the air in its ordinary temper ( as I saw it in Nov. 1681. ) only shines illustriously , but if held to the fire , breaks out into a violent flame , and if immerged into water , is presently restinguisht .

10. And this , I say this , is that subtile refined air , that refrigerates the spirits , that cherishes the humors , and gives them both their due condensation ; neither exalting the one or the other so far , as that the spirits either fly away or prey upon the humors ; or the humors overwhelm or drown the spirits ; that renders a Man long-liv'd , most healthful and free from all manner of infirmities both of body and mind ; that keep him sound , lusty , vegete and nimble ; and makes him cheerful , quick , witty , subtile , and what not ? Which whoever would enjoy in the highest perfection , must ascend the dry gravelly barren hills , and place his seat there , as the Emperor Constantine advises , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 t t Constantini Caesaris Pogonati dict. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . . We ought to build , says he , in high places where there is a delicate prospect , where one may see all over the Country ; where the reflected beams of the Sun are but of small force , at least not strong enough to make the air any thing predatory by reason of heat ; or of moisture , upon account of the drought or barrenness . I know

11. Cato and Columella commend a rich fruitful Soile whereon to place their Villa u u Columellae de re Rustica Lib. 1. cap. 2. M. Porcii Catonis de re Rustica , Lib. 1. cap. 1. ; but they describe the Farme , where indeed the commodity is commonly more regarded , than health ; and not the Hall or Manor ( as the Gentlemans seat is usually call'd in this County ) which ought to be situat , not upon or near the best Soile which commonly yields the worst air , but on a dry riseing ground at least , if not on a Hill , where there are no standing Waters or Mines in the valleys below , to occasion vapors or fumes , nor thick woods or groves to hinder the dispersing them , whenever they do ( if at any time ) happen , or preclude the pleasure of a far and wide prospect . Where by the way , let the Reader take notice , that I only exclude stagnant Waters , Mines in low and close valleys and thick woods ; and not so far mistake me , as if I thought plenty of waters and mines , or large woods and groves a dishonour to a County ; for in these consist both the pleasures and riches of it ; where the waters flow from quick and living springs , the Mines are work't on high or open Countrys , and the woods lye disperst at due distance , and if any thing large , have lawnes or vista's cut through them ; as they are usually found all over this County , as shall be shewn of each in their respective places .

12. Though it be true indeed that those places that are situate highest , and enjoy the fewest waters , mines and woods , must undoubtedly be the healthiest , in proportion as they are free from one , more , or all of them ; Upon which account I take Swynerton , the Village of Beech and all the Hill Country betwixt that and Trentham ( being void of most , if not all of these ) to be the healthiest spot of Ground in all the County , which seems amply to be made out by an observation they have there , viz. that they have three Christenings for one Buryal : Nor comes the Town of Wolverhampton far behind it , being situat high and where they have but four weak Springs to supply that large Town , which too rise all together behind the Cock-Inn ( so that they may be esteemed but as one ) having different names appropriated to their respective uses , as the Pudding-well , the Horse-well , the Washing-well , and the Meat-well , from which last they fetch all the water they use for Meat or Drink all over the Town in great leather Budgets or Boraccia's laid cross a horse with a tunnel at the top whereby to fill them , such as they use much in Spain , and some other Towns in England as York , Worcester , &c. bringing to the other three , their Tripes , Horses and Linnen . From which scarcity of waters and high situation it is , that notwithstanding the adjacent Cole-mines they enjoy a more setled health than most of their Neighbors , as breathing a more subtile and refined Air , and that too so lyable to ventilation that if at any time fumes do arise from the Mines , they are quickly disperst : Whence perhaps it comes to pass , that the Plague ha's scarce ever been known in this place , but the small Pox frequently , both signes of salubrity as ha's been shewn in Oxford-shire w w Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . cap. 2. §. 9. .

13. To which may be added the Parish of Cannock ( vulgarly Cank ) and all the dry hills and gravelly plains of Cank-wood , as Tropically so call'd as Lucus à non lucendo , now the woods are most destroyed , and the Wind and Sun admitted in so plentiful a manner between the Coppices , which at due distance now only crown the summits of some few hills , such as Gentle-Shaw , Stile-Cop , &c. and afford a most pleasant prospect to Passengers : the Plains or Hays below in great part being covered only with the purple odoriferous Ling , as that excellent Poet , Mr. Masters of New College in his Iter Boreale is pleased to call it , who ( having past by Cank town ) thus most exquisitly describes it x x Tho. Masteri Iter Boreale , pag. 5. . Hinc mihi mox ingens Ericetum complet ocellos , Sylva olim , passim Nymphis habitat a ferisque : ( Condensae quercus , domibus res nata struendis , Ornandoque foco , & validae spes unica classis ) Nunc umbris immissa dies ; Namque aequore vasto Ante , retro , dextra , laeva , quo lumina cunque Verteris , una humili consurgit vertice planta , Purpureoque Erice tellurem vestit amictu , Dum floret , suaves & naribus adflat odores : Haec ferimus saltem amissae solatia sylvae . The Parish of Aldridge in the confines of Cank seems also to partake of the like dry gravelly constitution , lying high , and solo sicco as Hippocrates would have it y y Hippocrat . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . ; and Mr. Burton seems to commend the Parish of Hanbury in the Margin of Needwood for such a lofty situation z z Anatomy of Melancholy , Part. 2. Sect. 2. Memb. 3. sub finem . ;

14. Both which no doubt enjoy a fresh , pleasant air , though I must confess I should have liked them considerably better , had they been thinner beset with trees and inclosures ; unless the buildings had surmounted the tops of them all , so as to have been more exposed to the ventilations of the Air , as at Dudley Castle whose magnificent ruins as well as habitable part ( built on a lofty rock ) notwithstanding the shrubbs and trees all about it , are mounted so high above them all , as not only to afford a most wholsom air , but a delicat prospect over the County below it , as the Reader cannot but be satisfyed it must needs do from the Sculpture of it Tab. 3. which notwithstanding its ruins ( the marks of its Loyalty in the late Civil war ) yet remains the Seat of the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward Baron of Birmingham , a person of most exemplary fidelity to his Prince , and a most noble encourager of this Work , and is therefore here represented wrought off a Copper plate , that I might gratefully render his Lordships munificence as immortal as the brass . Had , I say , Aldridg or Hanbury thus lifted themselves up above the trees and inclosures , their Situations had certainly been much better ; and therefore I much wonder that the observing Mr. Burton should omit the Situation of Tutbury Castle , being so near a neighbor , mounted on a hill toping all the trees and buildings near it , and overlooking Darbyshire and all the Country round to the East , West and North , like Acrocorinthus the old Castle of Corinth , whence Greece , Peloponnesus , the Ionian and Aegean Seas were semel and simul at one view to be seen . Abbots , alias Apwood Castle in the Confines of Shropshire has much such another situation , overlooking that County to the South and West to a vast distance : But that which excells them all for a prospect is the old Castle hill above Beaudesart , which is elevated so high above all the Country near , that it commands the Horizon almost all round , whence 't is said may be seen the nine several Counties of Stafford , Darby , Leicester , Warwick , Worcester , Salop , Chester , Montgomery and Flint .

15. And indeed this County is full of such high situations that must needs be happy in a cool , serene air , as Bentley , Bradwal , Aulton and Stone Lodges , and many others ; but such as these most commonly having too little water , and somtimes ( in winter ) too much Wind , for the coldness of our Clime : Others have thought more expedient to build their Seats somwhat lower , still provided on a dry and gravelly Soil , as Gerards Bromley , Trentham , Drayton Manor , &c. of which more in due place : or else at most but on the sides of hills , for the more conveniency of water and shelter from the wind when in some points of the Compass , as Beaudesart and Ingestre-Hall ; which is also agreeable to the Emperor Constantines directions , for says he 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 a a Constantini Caesaris Pogonati dict. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . . The most healthy places are both on the tops and descents of hills faceing the North , the winds from thence blowing cool and dry , whereas those from the South are hot and moist , and therefore unwholsome : Yet Baptista Porta on the contrary will by all means have the front of a house to stand to the South b b Joh. Baptist . Pertae , villae , Lib. 1. cap. 22. , to whom agrees Stephanus a Frenchman , approving especially the descent of a hill to the South or Southeast , with trees to the North c c Praedii rustic . Lib. 1. cap. 4. ; which indeed may both be true or false , according to the different Clime for which each opinion was calculated , the Emperors being most agreeable to the Southern , and the other to the more frigid Northern regions , especially where the East and South wind which in other places usually brew rains , bring fair weather ; as Mr. Camden observes they do in this County , unless ( as was observed chap. 1. §. 50. ) when the wind turns from West to South .

16. For the South , says Porta , is not every where unhealthy d d Auster non ubique insalubris . Ibidem . , but as Palladius also accounts it , most comfortable in the Winter and cool in the Summer , and therefore advises , Totius fabricae tractus unius lateris longitudine in quo frons erit meridianam partem respiciat , in primo angulo excipiens or tum solis hyberni , & paululum ab occidente avertatur hyemali ; ita proveniet ut per hyemem sole illustretur , & calores ejus aestate non sentiat e e Rutilii Pallad●● de re Rustica , cap. 8. de Adificio . , i. e. that the tract of the whole building all the length of that side in which the front is designed , be placed to the South , so as at the first corner or end to receive the rays of the riseing Sun in winter , and that it be turned a little away from the winter West ; whence it will come to pass that it shall enjoy the Sun all winter , and the shade all Summer . To which last prescriptions there are two Seats in this County viz. Ingestre and Enfield Halls , so exactly conformable , that neither Stephanus or Palladius themselves , had they had the building them , could have possibly contrived them more to their own minds ; both being situat upon declivities , fronting the South and open to the East , and fenced to the West ( as all agree buildings ought to be , the western winds being the most pernicious of any ) with trees that are also fit for shade in the Summer , and both well water'd ; which perhaps may be two as agreeable patterns for an English situation , as can any where be met with .

17. For whatever the ancients have written in commendation of the lofty , dry , and open situations ( which perhaps may be best in hotter Climes ) ours in England ought neither to be without trees for shade , which may be Oak , Ash or Elm planted pretty thick and close to the building to the West and North , that they may serve too for shelter against the injuries of those Quarters ; and if it shall seem good to have any for walks or other ornaments to the East or South they ought to be set further off , and had best either be trimm'd Cypress or Yew , or best of all Firrs , these being most pervious to the wind , as at Ingestre Hall : Nor ought the English situation to be altogether dry , but water'd if possible with a quick and clear stream as at Enfield Hall ; wherein these two delicat seats mutually excell one another : there being little danger of foggs riseing at all , much less of their continuance , where the trees are planted sparsim and always capable of ventilations , and the Currents be swift as they are generally in this County . which brings me next to

18. A more close consideration of waters , wherein perhaps it may be expected that I should determin also their goodness and badness , as before of Air ; but the healthyness and unhealthyness of the Air depending so much upon the goodness and badness of the waters as has been shewn above , it seems so far to have been performed already , that it may well suffice here to add in general ( which perhaps may pass for an Aphorisme ) that as that air is counted best that comes nearest the pure Aether , and that the worst which is fill'd most with Exhalations and comes nearest water ; so that is to be esteemed the best water which comes nearest air , and that the worst which is stagnant , muddy , and fill'd with terrestrieties , and comes nearest Earth : In a word , wouldest thou have a wholsom water indeed for thy common use ? choose that which has neither colour , tast , or smell , from Salts or Sulphurs , or as little of them as may be ; for these will some way or other affect thy meats or drinks , or whatever else thou employest them about , otherwise than thou did'st intend they should . that is to say choose those that will receive heat , and coole sooner than others ; into which a glass Hydrometer or water-Gage , or any other natant weighty body will sink deepest ; or which will cause least refraction ; all which argue a freedom from Salts and Sulphure , wherewith waters are somtimes so highly sated , that an ordinary fire will scarce stir them ; that they will bear an Egg , and much magnify and refract an object seen through them :

19. Whereas the waters that are thin , clear , and void of these , and come any thing near the nature of air , quickly boile ; are less buoyant ; and scarce will shew any sensible refraction ; whereof Vitello gives us an eminent example of one that he saw in the subterranean cavity of a Mountain at a place called Cubalus between Padua and Vincentia that was so very thin and clear , that what ever was put in it , would appear of the same figure and magnitude to sense , as if only air interposed f f Vitellonis Opticae , Lib. 10. Theorem . 42. : And we are told that the water of the River Silos in India , is so rare and tenuious that it will not support the weight of Ships g g Lib. Fromondi Meteorolog . Lib. 5. cap. 3 , artic. 3. . Both which no question , and all others that come near them , must needs be excellent for all common uses , being so indifferent to all ; having few or no Salts or Sulphurs whereby to introduce any extraneous unagreeable tasts or odors : I say for all common uses relating to meats or drinks , or other houshold affairs ; all the Saline and Sulphurious waters having also their uses , variety of mixture commending the Medicinal , as much as purity does the ordinary springs : of both which in their order .

20. And first of those of more common use ; whereof though there be none indeed that come very near , much less equal those of Cubalus and Silas ; yet I am confident there are as many , perhaps more clear limpid Springs , as free from forraigne qualities , that rise in this County , as in any part of England , of the like quantity of ground : For besides that the great and profluent river of Trent ( which says Camden is justly reputed the third River of England h h Camdens Britannia in Staffordsh . ) riseth in this County , out of New-poole ( belonging to the right worshipful and ingenious Gent. Sr. John Bowyer Baronet one of the noblest Promoters of this designe ) and two other Springs near Mole Cop , and Horton Hay ; it s subservient branches of Sow , Penk , Tame , Dove , Churnet , Blithe , Tene , Manyfold , Hans or Hamps , Rewle , Black-brook , Lyme , Swarbourn , Dunsmoore , Endon , and innumerable other Rindles that fall into them , also rise within the County , and most of them within less than thirty miles of the Western Sea ; yet all make Eastward , and discharge themselves with Trent into Humber , and so at length into the German Ocean , near an hundred miles from their first rise . Whence the learned and ingenious Sr. Simon Degg Knight ( whose assistances I must always gratefully acknowledge ) has some thoughts that the Eastern , may be much lower than the Western Sea ; the descent of Trent through Staffordshire , Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire seeming much greater , than the Dane , and some other branches of the River Wever , that rise about Biddulph , Talk on the hill , Audley , Betley , and Madeley , can possibly have through the level County of Chester into the Irish Sea . Of which perhaps more hereafter in due time and place * * Vid. §. §. 84 , 85 , 86. of this Chapter . .

21. Nor has Trent only and Wever these great supplies of water from the fountains of this County , but many branches of the Severn ( the second River of England ) have their rise here also , as the Terne , Smestal , Flashbrook , and the others that come forth Aqualat and Snowdon poole : To which add that the Meese , Stour , and Severn it self ( the only navigable River in it ) also pass through this County : All which summ'd up together , we find at the foot of the account , that it is water'd with no less than 24. Rivers of name , though a Mediterranean County ; besides the endless number of anonymous Rindles and small brooks that must needs attend them ; a number perhaps that very few Countries of the like extent can be found to surpass , if any that equals , it . And some of these too of so rank precipitant streams especially the Dove and Dane ( there being here and there in them , near the fountain heads some small Cascades ) that in time of floods they break down Bridges , and remove stones of immense magnitude , and the Dove sometimes will change its channel ; which I suppose ha's been the cause that a part of Staffordshire in the parish of Mathfield lyes on Derbyshire side the River , and a little below ( near the bridge you pass over to Snelston ) a part of Derbyshire on the Staffordshire side : Nay so very sharp too are some of the lesser brooks upon sudden rains ; that , as I was seriously told by that ingenious Gent. Mr. Philip Hollins of Moseleie , the little Rivulet called Cowms brook that runs betwixt his house and Basford , into Churnet ; once removed a stone of three or four Tun , at least a bows shoot .

22. The Currents also of most of the other Rivers are rapid enough , but some of them indeed muth quicker then others , as the Trent than Sow , and Sow than Penk ; yet all of them so swift , as to prevent any vapid noisom vapors from ascending thence to infect the Air , though it must needs indeed be rateably better or worse , according as their streames be swifter or flower . Beside the Rivers , the Meers and Pools of this County are many and large , whereof that at Aqualat is 1848 yards long , and 672 yards broad , which it holds within a trifle more or lesse , almost from one end to the other ; and Ladford poole is said to contain about threescore Acres ; to which add Cockmeer , Eccleshall Castle pooles , New-poole , the poole at Mare , with divers others : All which either having Rivulets that continually pass through them , or being fed with liveing Springs , and plentifully stock't with Fish which perpetually move the Waters , they are always kept so clear and free from stagnation , that in a manner they send up as few noxious exhalations as the Rivers themselves .

23 Amongst which we must not forget the Poole or Lake mentioned by Mr Camden out of Gervase of Tilbury , who in his Otia Imperialia to Otho the fourth , says that in the Bishoprick of Coventry and County of Stafford , at the foot of a Hill , which the inborn people of the Country have named Mahull , there is a water spread abroad in manner of a Meere , in the territory of a Village which they terme Magdalea ; in which Meer , or Marsh there is a most clear water , which hath such an effectuall virtue in refreshing of bodies , that so often as Hunters have chased staggs , and other Deere untill their Horses be tired , if in the greatest heat of the scorching Sun they tast of this water , and offer it unto their horses for to drink , they recover their strength of running again which they had lost , and become so fresh as one would think they had not run at all . i i Camden's Britannia in Staffordshire sub finem . . But where about this should be , says Mr Camden , I cannot yet learn , nor indeed could I hear of any such Hill , though that at Heyley Castle having a great poole at the foot , seems agreeable enough to it , being near also to the village of Madeley , perhaps anciently called Magdalea ; which I so little doubt will refresh a Horse if he drink thereof after he is tired with running , that I firmly beleive all the pooles in the County , will doe the very same , being generally clear & brisk ; and but few flat or vapid .

24 T is true indeed in the Moorelands where they burn much Peat , their pits are usually fill'd by the frequent rains brought by the Tropaean winds from the Irish Seas in which the water being sated with a crude Sulphur , and stagnating besides , must needs emitt contagious vapors ; yet are not these neither so bad as some have fancyed the water is of the black-Meer of Morridge , which I take to be nothing more than such as those in the peat-pits ; though it be confidently reported that no Cattle will drink of it , no bird light on it , or fly over it ; all which are as false as that it is bottomlesse ; it being found upon measure scarce four yards in the deepest place , my Horse also drinking when I was there as freely of it as I ever saw Him at any other place , and the fowle so far from declining to fly over it , that I spake with several that had seen Geese upon it ; so that I take this to be as good as the rest , notwithstanding the vulgar disrepute it lyes under .

25. Though indeed they are all unwholsome enough in themselves , and would be so to the Inhabitants , but that the Moorelands is an open Country lying high , and the Hills cloathed neither with woods or groves , so that being lyable to the smallest brises of wind , the noxious exhalations whenever they arise ( except in deep Calmes which are every where unwhosom ) are always dispersed ; which is so soveraign a remedy , that the Mooreland Country notwithstanding their Boggs , is really as healthy perhaps as the best part of the County ; if the great Age and constant health of the Inhabitants , that have been lately , and are now living there , may pass ( as sure they ought ) for sufficient proof of the matter , of both which , were I put upon it , I could no where find such pregnant instances ; The Worshipful Mr. Biddulph of Biddulph ( as I was informed by divers ) having not long since had twelve Tenants all living at a time within the two Parishes of Biddulph and Horton , whose Ages put together made up a thousand years : And the Worshipfull William Leveson Gower of Trentham Esq having now four Tenants all living at Cocknage in the edge of the Moorelands that one with another make 360 years ; which I take for such cogent and insuperable Evidences ( to omit many others of the like kind ) that nothing more need be added in this place ; the Longevity of persons belonging to another .

26. And so much for the waters of more common use , as they are ordinarily found in Pooles , Springs , or Rivers ; come we next to consider those that have somwhat unusual in them , whether in their Exit , course , or saturation with Sulphurs or Mineral Salts , or howsoever remarkable upon any other account : And first of the Pooles ; whereof there is one at Penford , which though a standing Lake yet is seldom dry , and tolerably clear in setled fair weather , only against rain it becomes troubled , riseing full of bubbles , and in a little time thickening at the top into a yellow Scum , which presently as it rains vanishes away , and the water recovers again its former colour and clearness : All which has frequently been observed and found to be true by the worthy Mr. Fowler an inhabitant of the place , who freely confest that he had often been admonisht by it in time of harvest to fetch in his Corne , and at other times made the same use of it , as we do of weather-glasses or other Hygroscopes , so that as to the matter of fact I doubt not at all , though I had not opportunity of makeing Experiment of it .

27. But how this should come to pass is the great question ? in order to the solution whereof I could not but call to mind that upon the approach of Rain there are few standing pooles that do not rise in bubbles , which some have attributed to the Eeles or other fish , which they would have to be as sensible of approaching stormes as we dayly see birds and beasts are , and perhaps so they may : whether this Poole were stock't with fish or no I did not enquire , nor matters it much whether it be or no , since I am sure the same happens where there are none ; beside , that it would be somwhat unaccountable too , how they should raise a yellow Scumme : It seems therefore in my judgment much more probable , that the pores of the Earth being at such times unlock't ( bodies much more compact also yeilding and expanding themselves against rain as we see it in our wainscots , in the boards of Mr. Conniers's k k Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 127. and 129. , and coards of the Sieur Grillet's new Hygrometer l l Weekly Memorials , Numb. 1. p. 8. ) many steams breath forth , which being as various as the earths from whence they proceed , produce as different fermentations in the mud and water , which thicken it and occasion those bubbles to ascend ; whence passing into the Air , and repelling its pressure , they may be as likely too , to cause the falling of the Quicksilver in our Barometers , as any thing perhaps that has hitherto been thought of .

28. The ascent of these steams that thus disturb the Mud &c. I take also to be the occasion that Ducks and other water fowle clap their wings and rejoyce upon approaching rains , and are after so busy with their heads under water , I suppose , to see what they can catch by the way : Which if true in the general , let us now come home to the particular case in hand , and see how it comes to pass that such a yellow scumme should be sent up thus to cover the face of the water . Wherein though it cannot very well be expected that I should allege very many , or very probable reasons , being unhappily prevented of seeing the place , by ill weather and approach of night ; yet perhaps I may not over much miss of the mark , if I guess it may be done by the ascent of Niter or some nitrous fume , that mixing with a Sulphur in the bottom of the Lake , and sharply corroding and separating its parts , may thus send them up to the surface of the water , which may be repell'd or disperst again upon the descent of the rain : in which conjecture I am not a little confirm'd , because at Codsall not far off there is sulphur enough in the earth as shall be shewn in due place , which yet I am not sollicitous should longer pass for the reason , than till a better can be brought to supply its roome .

29. And as this foretells Rain , so there are several other Pooles that prognosticat a dearth , either by riseing , or overflowing : such is the Moss poole near Mearton in the parish of Forton ; and Drudemeer in the parish of Aldridge ; the riseing of the former , and exundation of the latter , ( which generally at other times is near dry ) being taken for certain signes of a dearth of Corne : and perhaps so they may indeed not without reason , our dearths here in England being most frequently the consequents of great Rains. But that which excells all the rest in this feat is Hungry pit , situat in a field below the old fortification not far from Billington , but in the parish of Seighford , so called I suppose , for that contrary to the rise of Nile upon the pillar of Mikias in the Isle Roud or Garden m m F. Vanslebius his present State of Egypt . Cap. of the Pillar Mikias . which brings plenty , this predicts scarcity by its rise upon sticks , set upright in the mud , which the people place there every one for their own particular observations ; forejudging the rise or fall of corne in the Mercats , by the rise or fall of the water on these sticks , and so either keeping or vending it accordingly : wherein it so little reguards the quality of the weather , that it overflowes sometimes in the greatest droughts ( as I saw it do in the dry Spring Anno. 1680. ) and as often has nothing in it after great falls of rain ; as was testifyed to me from the frequent observations of divers sober persons now living thereabout : who also assured me that the remarks made upon it had been so profitable to some ( whether by casualty or not , they could not tell ) that they had advanced their fortunes considerably by it .

30. How many concurrent causes and circumstances attending them , may unite in produceing of such an effect , though it be hard to determin , yet thus much I think we may pronounce for certain , that it must needs be done by the mediation of Springs : into which opinion I am the rather induced , because I find the same intermissions in many fountains , particularly in the Well South of Whittington Church , which though it want not water at any time whatever , yet overflowes ( they say ) extreamly against a dearth of Corne : But in the Church field not far from thence , in a piece of ground call'd Hunger-moore-slade belonging to Mr. Nicholas Harvey of Whittington , there is a Spring that breaks forth ( according to the opinion of the people ) only before a time of great dearth , being at all other times dry though at the wettest seasons , as I found it in Autumn An. 1680. after a full Moneths rain : And when it does break forth ( which for the most part happens not in several years * * Nonnulli [ fontes ] ad multum tempus cessant effluere , deinde rursus emergunt . Geo. Agricolae de Natura Eorum quae effluunt ex terra Lib. 3. it then seldom runs above thirty poles , at which distance it sinks into the Earth again .

31. Near Ashwood bridg in the parish of Kings-Swinford and not far from Swyndon , I was shewed another Spring with a small Lake before it , by my worthy friend Mr. John Paston Rector of Himley , somwhat agreeable to this , commonly called Hunger-wall , because it is usually either quite dry , or at most stagnats and runs not at all , but ( as the vulgar will have it ) against a dearth of Corne : which how true it may be I shall not here dispute , but most certain it is , it does not always run ; and when it does , it sometimes they say comes forth with such a noise , that it ha's frightened people , that have then happen'd to be near it , as particularly they will tell you it did some Rabbit-stealers , that were not far off , when it once thus happen'd to burst out : much after the same manner I suppose as at that celebrated Spring in the Peak of Derbyshire called Weeding Well , which as my worthy , learned , and most ingenious friend , the Worshipful Charles Cotton of Beresford Esq in his historical Poem of the wonders of the Peak , also acquaints us , sends forth a hollow murmering noise n n Wonders of the Peak , p. 26. , before the approach of the waters , that it emitts in like manner but at certain times ; and that too at such inequal periods , that 't is a hard matter to hit the time of its flowing ; so untruly is it said to keep correspondence with the Sea , so as to observe its Tides ; and so abusively for that reason do some call it Tides-well ; for says the ingenious Mr. Hobbs Fons hic temporibus nec tollitur ( ut mare ) certis ; Aestibus his nullam praefigit Ephemeris horam o o Thomae Hobbs de mirabilibus Pecci Carm. .

32. And quickly after he tells us , that it is so uncertain , that it ebbs and flows sometimes thrice in an hour , and sometimes again not above once in a Moneth ; which frequency of ebbing and flowing he ascribes to the rains , and the infrequency to droughts , to whom the ingenious Mr. Cotton objects , Though here it might be said if this were so It never would but in wet weather flow ; Yet in the greatest drought the Earth abides It never fails to yeild less frequent Tides , Which always clear and unpolluted are , And nothing of the wash of Tempest share p p Wonders of the Peak p. 29. so wholy independent thinks that ingenious Gentleman this Spring to be of the temper of the season , though it has not indeed the repute of foretelling dearths , and other strange Revolutions , as this of ours has ; for which very reason and its breaking forth with a noise , I take it to be the Lake of Alexander Neckham , to which he ascribes the very same qualities , and expresly says it is in this County , the Title of his Poem concerning it being De Lacu Staffordiae . Rugitu Lacus est Eventus praeco futuri , Cujus aquae fera se credere nulla solet , Instet odora Canum virtus , mors instet acerba , Non tamen intrabit exagitata Lacum q q Camden in Staffordsh . sub finem . of which other quality , that no wild beast will in any wise enter it , though I must confess I heard nothing , yet this being the most agreeable to it of any I could hear of in the County , must either be it , or perhaps ( which is more probable ) there is none such at all .

33. Walter of Hemingburgh tells us of such intermitting prophetic waters called Vipse's , which Gulielimus Neubrigensis says were in the Province of Deira near the place of his birth , and that he knew them from his childhood to run but now and then against a time of dearth , non quidem jugiter sed annis interpositis , several years being interposed wherein they were dry , which drought too they esteemed as a certain signe of plenty r r Guliel . Nubrigensis Rerum Angl. Lib. 1. cap. 28. . And I was told of such a Spring near Spot-Grange not far from Hilderston that breaks forth only against a dearth , which had then been dry for three or four years . The little fountain in Cank-wood so much observed by the right Worshipful Sir Brian Broughton Bar t. may also be reckoned another of this kind ; it running as well in dry , as wet weather , and sometimes in neither : All which put together : with some others hereafter to be mention'd , may pass I suppose for evidence enough , that there are indeed in the World such intermitting springs , that have no dependance at all upon the weather : but whither there be any such connexion between the profluence of these , and dearths , wars , plagues , and many other like prodigious Events as are said to follow them , I am very diffident , and want confidence either to assert , or insert them here .

34. For quite contrary to these I find St. Hellens well at Rushton Spencer so plentiful a spring that joyned with another but of equal force , they supply an overshot Mill not far distant from their rise , for many years together ; yet so sometimes it comes to pass that this well will grow dry , after a constant profluence perhaps of eight or ten years , and this not by degrees , but altogether of a sudden ; as well in wet , as dry years ; and always about the begining of May when the springs are commonly esteemed highest , and so usually continues , as I was credibly informed by the Worshipful the ingenious Robert Wilmot of Eardley Esq till about Martin mass following : And this the vulgar too imagin , never happens but before some stupendous Calamity , of dearth , Warrs , or other grand Revolution : thus they will tell you it grew dry before the last Civil-warr ; again before the Martyrdom of K. Charles the first of ever blessed memory ; again about 10 years since before a great dearth of Corne ; and lastly in An. 79. upon our late disturbances . Now that the same things should be portended , by the contrary operations of the same cause , upon the same Subject , seems prety hard , that I say not unreasoneable , to be allowed ; so that I fear there is more of Casualty and credulity in the matter , than of any dependence that can probably intercede , the flowing and dry'th of these Springs , and such deplorable Events .

35. Much better therefore will it be , and much more instructive to the Reader ; wholy to wave all consideration of these rustick opinions , imposed gratis on the incurious Multitude , and apply my self closely to a further consideration of these temporary Springs ; and the rather , because they seem to conduce not a little ( together with some others hereafter to be mention'd ) to the illustration of the Question so much controverted by the Learned , viz. Whether the Springs are supplyed with that great Expence of water , that we see they dayly vent , from Rains , Mists , Dews , Snows , Haile &c. received into the Spungy tops of Mountains and sent forth again at the feet of them , or somwhere in their declivities ; or whether they are furnish't from the Sea through subterraneous passages , as from the great Treasury of the waters , and are return'd again thither by the Rindles , Brooks , and Rivers ? Or in short , whether they have their Origine from the Sea by a superior Circulation through the Clouds ; or by an inferior , through Channels in the bowells of the Earth ? or from both ? which though it be stated by so very many Authors , and so fully too , as that some of them have written whole Treatises about it , so that one would think there should nothing material remain unsaid upon this Subject , Yet having seen in my travels great variety of Springs , and observed many particulars in this County relating to them perhaps altogether unknown , at least not minded by others ; I make bold to produce them , since it must be of concern that any thing can be added , to a Subject that has so fully been enlarg'd upon already .

36. And this that I might doe with as much brevity as may be , I have excluded all the wild extravagant opinions of Nicholas Papin and others , in the very proposal of the Question ; supposing all others that have any tolerable pretence may be reduced to one or other of it's branches , without much force or constraint : To come then close to the matter without further preface , let us first consider ( that we may do 't too with perspicuity ) how many sorts of fountains we have to treat of , for by this means it will be evident , whether all sorts of Springs belong either to this , or that Member of the Question ? or wherher some to the one , and the rest to the other ? which upon weighing the whole matter as they stand related to this Problem I find best distinguish't by the manner of their Exits , time of duration , and their saturation with mineral Salts , sulphurs , or bitumen's ; from which Topics they naturally divide themselves , into Springs that are Either Temporary , such as have no constant flux , and these again are either Regular , and these too are either uncertain , which yet constantly follow Rains. certain and periodical , that constantly observe a certain time of the year . Irregular , which too are either annual , that happen every year , but at uncertain times of that year . septennial , decennial , &c. that run or stop in 7 , 8 , or 10 years . Perennial , that have a constant flux , and these again are either Pure clear water , which too are either weak , and weeping . strong , and profluent . Mixt , and these are either Saline , whereof some are Hot , as in Bathes . Cold , as in the Salt-works , and some medicated waters . Sulphureous . Bitumenous . under some of which heads I suppose there is no sort of fountain whatever but may be most comodiously reduced without straining of Courtesie , at least none in Staffordshire , which whether they all come from rains , mists , dews , & c ? or all from the Sea ? or some from one , & some from the other ? is the Question to be debated .

37. In the decision whereof , I think I may be peremptory that amongst the Springs that have no constant flux , those which in the Summer time are commonly dryed up , but after plentiful falls of rain , or competent moist weather , are constantly either profluent , or have a moderat stream ; in short , that the temporary regular uncertain Springs , must certainly depend on rains , dews , &c. And I beleive most of those perennial Springs that are near the tops of Hills ( whereof I have had the opportunity of viewing many ) which I generally find to be but weak and weeping rather than runing , such as that upon the Bruff hill in the Parish of Mare , in all probability too must either come from rains , or the mists that we see usualy hang on the Summits of them , when it is clear and dry weather below in the valleys : And not only these , but as Vitruvius , Peter Martyr , Cardan , Molina , Bernard Palissy , Gassendus , Le Pere Iean Francois , and another Anonymus French Author , Printed at Paris An. 1674. Mr. Ray , Mr. Hook , &c. are of opinion , all other Springs and runing waters whatever , owe their origine and continuation chiefly to rains , dews , &c. The probability whereof they insinuat principally by the following reasons , which I shall here repeat as faithfully and as succinctly as may be .

38. First because great inundations or overflowing of Rivers manifestly proceed either from the rain that immediatly falls , or from the melting of Snow or Ice that hath formerly fallen upon the more eminent parts of Mountains . 2 , Because many Springs quite fail in dry Summers , and generally all abate considerably of their waters . 3 , Because no Springs break out either on the top of a hill , or so near the top , but that there is always earth enough above them to afford a supply , considering the condition of high Mountains which are almost continually moistened with Clouds , and on which the Sun beams have but little force . 4 , Because 't is observed that there are no Springs rise in any plain , unless there be hills so near that one may reasonably conclude they are fed from thence . 5 , Because in Clay Grounds into which water sinks with difficulty , we seldom find any Springs , whereas in sandy , gravelly , rocky , stony , or other grounds into which rain can easily make its way , we seldom fail of them . 6 , Because we are assured by those that have experimented and calculated it , that communibus annis & locis there falls water enough from the Heavens in actual rain , mists , dews , snow or hail , upon the surface of any Country , to supply all the water that runs into the Sea by the rivers of that Country . 7 , Because they who would have Fountains to arise from , and to be continnually fed from the Sea , have not as yet given any satisfactory account ,

39. First , that there are any such Caverns or subterraneous passages in the Earth that come from the Sea ; or 2. If there be , how water can ascend to the tops of Mountains and have its efflux there , since the Sea can have no such protuberances or elevated parts above the rest , as the earth ha's ; and that no water will ascend above its owne Level . or 3 , How the water ( if from the Sea ) should become thus fresh , since it seems so far from being done by transcolation , that it cannot be so done by distillation though frequently repeated , but it will retain a brackish tast ; for that sea-water , as Varenius asserts , ha's a volatil as well as a fixt salt , which latter though it can be separated either by percolation or distillation , yet the volatil cannot , it being so spirituous that it will ascend with the most rarifyed water . Nor 4. do they give any satisfactory account , why the passages through which these percolations are made ( if the salt be continually left behind in them ) are not long since stopt up with the salt that ha's perpetually been left behind in them from the begining of the World. Nor 5. why the Sea is not long before this become all fresh , since we cannot but suppose that the whole mass of water ha's once at least past through the body of the earth since the Creation of the World , if not many more times than there are years since the begining , as those that do hold the contrary opinion do freely admit . And these are the chief reasons ( nor are they slight ones ) upon which the Authors above mention'd have grounded their opinion , which is the most applauded one too , and most universally received ; in relation whereof I have been so far from abateing any thing of their strength , that I think I have proposed some of them with more advantage than the Authors themselves .

40. And yet this opinion seems to be prest with more , and more insuperable difficulties than the other of Homer , Plato , Aristotle , Virgil , Seneca , Pliny , the Philosophers of Conimbra , Scaliger , Dobrzenzki , Van Helmont , Lydiat , Pierre Davity , Des Cartes , Du Hamel , Le Pere Schottus , M. Jaques Rohault , Petrus Barbay , and the Reverend and Learned Dr. Stillingfleet Dean of St. Pauls , who all hold with little difference that some Springs at least are furnish't from other waters in the bowels of the Earth , which most of them agree too must be supplyed from the Sea by subterraneous passages , and that they are returned again thither by the Rindles , Brooks , and Rivers , by the inferior Circulation : It is prest I say with far more inexplicable difficulties , than that of Homer , Plato , &c. for beside that 't is altogether unreasonable to admit that any of those temporary irregular Springs mention'd in the § § 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34. of this Chapter , ( considering their circumstances ) should by any means possible come from rains , dews , &c. though the waters they send forth indeed are but few and inconsiderable ; it is altogether as improbable ( that I say not impossible ) that the temporary regular periodical Springs should have their origine thence : for besides that they constantly observe their terms whether in wet or dry weather , some of them happen at least ( if not so directed by some unknown secret operation of Nature ) either to flow only in the dry Summer quarter , or to be most profluent then , though in an extream drought .

41. Thus the famous horary Fountain Lers , that rises out of a vast deep Cave in the mountains of Foix , near Belestat in Languedoc , and waters the Mazerean plains near Tholouse , Hic ( says Emanuel Maignan ) per aestatem singulis horis , quadrante paulatim succrescit , non sine multo aquarum immugientium fragore , mox quadrante in uberrimum fluvium exundat ; deinde alio quadrante subsidet , ac demum quadrante etiam inter quiescens , aret s s Emanuelis Maignan Tol●sati Perspectivae horariae Lib. 1. Prop. 1. §. 3. . i. e. that this Spring in Summer ( which Du Bartas says holds for four Months , Gassendus but three , and that it first breaks forth in May , June , or July ) ebbs and flowes every hour , riseing and increasing with a great noise the first quarter , and flowing plentifully the second ; then subsideing again the third quarter , and growing dry the fourth : in both which excesses it is so considerable , that as Du Bartas testifies , for one half hour one may pass it dryshod , and the next scarce at all ; part of whose Poem upon it , Gabriel Lermeus ha's thus translated , Per menses aliquot dum Sol utramque revisit Thetida , sex quater ille vices oriturque caditque ; Nunc siccis pedibus siccae calcantur arenae , Nec mora dimidiae spatium uix fluxerit horae , Ecce tibi subito ruit impete Lersus abundans Spumeus , & Cursus magnarum imitatur aquarum * * Gassendus tells us of another of this kind , which he calls Fontem Collis Martiensis , that Ebbs and Flows 8. times in an hour . Phys. Sect. 3. Memb. pr. Lib. 1. cap. 7. And Dr. Merret acquaints us with one near Kilken in Flintshire that ebbs and flows 4 times in an hour , Pinax Rerum Nat. p. 222. .

42. Amongst these temporary regular periodical waters , we may also reckon those of Niger , Ganges , and Rio de la Plata , these having their rise at stated times , as well as those of the great River Nile , which begining its decrease on the 24 of September , and so continuing till May following , is then so low and weak , that it seems rather to stagnat than run ; but precisely about Sun riseing on the 12 of June or Baoni of the Copties , which is the 17th of ours , in the height of Summer , it begins to increase , and so continues till the 17 of their September which is our 24th , in the mean time overflowing and strangely fertilizing the whole Country of Egypt : The Origine of which increase the learned Vanslebius ( who lived there some years and carefully observed it ) thinks chiefly to proceed from the fall of certain drops , somewhat like dew , that mixing with the waters cause such a fermentation and corruption in them , that they expand themselves and swell to a great height , long before it can any way be possibly effected by the great rains in Habessia , which according as Ludolfus was informed by the Habessian Abbot Gregory do not fall till their winter , which begins not till the 25 of June t t Jobi Ludolfi Hist. Aethiop . Lib. 1. cap. 5. §. 34. , and must have some time did they precisely fall on that day ( and were not stopt by the Cataracts ) to run that vast tract of Land between Goiam ( where the Nile rises ) and Egypt ; though Vanslebius says they fall not till July , August , and September , so that they can neither be the first nor sole cause of its increase u u Vanslebius's present State of Egypt , Chap. of the River Nile . .

43. During this rise , occasion'd by the fermentation , there is a green kind of Scumme superinduced upon the water , which endures betwixt twenty and forty days , more or less according as the great rains fall sooner or later in Habessinia , which when they come down into Egypt turne the River red , being so tinged with the earth by the way before they come thither , the Soil of Egypt being black and therefore unlikly to do it . The learned Cambraeus as cited by Gassendus thinks this fermentation to be caused by Niter , wherewith the Country and especially the Channel of the River is acknowledged to abound , which being heated by the Sun , thus dilates it self and makes the River to swell w w Petri Gassendi Physicae Sect. 3. Memb. pr. cap. 3. & 5. : Wherein if he intend that sort of Niter which we call Borax ( I mean the natural and not the factitious ) otherwise call'd Chrysocolla , described by Rulandus and others to be a green sort of Earth x x Mart. Rulandi Lexicon Alchemiae in verbo Chrysocolla . , and that every body knows ( though we have none but the factitious ) huffs and swells with heat , I readily subscribe to him : And the rather because we find it mention'd to be plentiful in Egypt , and that the waters in the Rivers cause an itching over the body , as Vanslebius informes us upon its first increase y y Vanslebius 's prejent State of Egypt , Chap , of the River Nile , , which seems also to argue that the pungent particles of Niter , or perhaps of the Natron of Egypt , which too is a species of Niter * * Observations Sur les Eaux Minerales par le Sieur Du Clos. p. 83. , are then very active : And thirdly because hence we can give some rational account of the green scumme , which I take to be nothing but the froth of the fermentation made by the heat of the Sun whilst it works on the Borax or green Earth , which says Wormius is the better , by how much the nearer it comes to the colour of a true Smaragd z z Musei Wormiani . Lib. 1. Sect. 3. cap. 10. . Not but that I know too that common Niter in its detonation or alcalisation with coales , acquires a green colour , which perhaps it may also yield , upon the excessive heats of the Sun , in that Country .

44. Nor is the River only lyable to this remarkable fermentation , but the Ponds and Lakes too any where near it , and they are also covered with the same green Scumme , which Vanslebius says in the year 72. was thicker than it had been known to be , for many years before ; more particularly the waters of the Well of Argenus or Gernus a Monastery of the Copties near Benhese a Towne in the middle of Egypt , is observ'd to be sensible of the fall of the drops or dew , and to rise the very same night , and in the same manner with the River , which having no possible communication with the rains in Habessia , shews evidently that the increase of the water in the River , comes partly at least from another cause , and most likely from the fermentation made by the Niter , which however it comes to pass seems to leave its owne pits ( whereof there are abundance in Egypt ) at the time of the increase and goe into the River ; Pliny saying expresly that whilst Nile rises and flows , all their Niter pits are dry , and that when it falls again and returns within its channel , then they yield their nitrous juice again for 40. days together . b b Excedente Nilo siccantur , decedente madent succo Nitri . Nat. Hist. Lib. 31. cap. 10 Which too is further confirmed by this one very strange , but true Experiment viz. that if you take of the Earth of Egypt adjoyning to the River ; and preserve it carefully , that it never come to be wet , nor any way wasted , and weigh it dayly , you shall never find it more or less heavy till the 17. of June , at which day it begins to be more ponderous , and augmenteth with the increase of the River , whereby they have as infallible knowledg of the state of the future Deluge , as by the River it selfe : the humidity of the Air no question having recourse through all passable places and mixing with the same Niter in the Earth , increaseth the same as it does the water , as was confirm'd to Alpinus from the frequent Experiments seen of it , by Paulus Marianus Venetus the French Kings Consul there , Bapt: Elianus a Jesuit , Franciscus Saxus , Franciscus Bonus , and one John Varot an English Gentleman c c Prosp. Alpini de Medicina Aegyptiorum . Lib. 1. cap. 8. ; which has put me upon deliberation whether there may not fall such diurnal as well as annual dews ( that may also vary with the changes of the Moone ) which in some measure may cause the flux & reflux of the green Sea ( in proportion to the parts of the World where the Tides are great , small , or none at all ) by such fermentations .

45. Nor less unlikely are the wonderful periodical waters of the Zirchnitzer see , or rather Lake of Carniola , to depend upon rains ; of which though Georgius Wernerus has written at large , * * Geo. Wernerus de admirandis Hungariae aquis . sub finem . and made a Map of the Lake ; yet the learned and ingenious Dr. Edward Browne has much better , and I believe more truly described it : Which He says is about 2 German miles long , and one broad ; unequal in the bottom , being in some places but 4 foot , but in the Valleys ( whereof there are 7 more eminent that have names ) twenty yards deep ; in these valleys there are many fish as Carps , Tench , Eeles &c. which together with the water , some time in the Month of June , all descend annually under ground through many great holes at the bottom ; the Earth while the waters are thus sunk , makeing a speedy production of grass yielding food for their Cattle in the Winter season : which in the Month of September following , as certainly return again by the same holes , the waters springing or mounting up to the height of a Pike , and runing and overspreading the whole place again ( as Wernerus describes it ) with that velocity , that they will overtake a swift Horseman . It being remarkable too , that this recess of water ( as the rise of Nile ) is foreknown to them by a stone there is in it , called the Fishers stone ; the Prince of Eckenberg , whose Lake it is , giveing all people Liberty then to take the fish , which they do by standing in the water by the holes , and intercepting their passage † † Dr. Brown's account of his Travels into Hungary , &c. p. 127 , 128. .

46. But we need not run so far either as France , Egypt , or Carniola , to find out intermitting periodical waters that have no dependence on weather , for ( though I find none in Staffordshire ) goe we but to Lambourn in Berks & there we have a Rivulet as remarkably such , as any of the foremention'd , as I have been inform'd by many , but more particularly by the ingenious J. Hippisley Esq an Inhabitant of the place , and late high Sheriff of the County , who ha's been pleased to favour me with divers Letters concerning it ; importing chiefly that the Rivulet there called Lambs-bourn , which very likely as Mr Camden thinks gives name to the Towne , runs much more plentifully in the Summer than Winter , and that the Springs in the Towne it selfe are sometimes so low in the latter Season , that they are commonly forced to digg their Wells deeper for want of Water : And expressly writing to Him to know how the Springs held the last great drought in 81 , He sent me word that they were so far , from fayling , that ( if there were any sensible difference ) the Springs and Rivulet then were rather higher than ordinary , and fayled not till about the middle of September ( the usual time ) before which there had fallen rain enough , yet then not a drop to be seen in the Channel , till about the middle of Febr. when the springs as customarily , began to recover themselves again .

47. Nor has this been only observed of late , but admired and celebrated also in former Ages , though by none so signally as the Poet Sylvester in his Translation of Du Bartas , who lived long at Lambourn in a house now of Mr. Hippisleys , in quality of a Steward to the antient family of the Essexes , which for many Generations flourish't there ; where He compares it to the foremention'd Lers of Du Bartas , and describes its Qualities as followeth , And little Lambourn though thou match not Lers , Nor had'st the Honor of Du Bartas verse ; If mine have any thou must needs pertake , * * See Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 2. §. 17. Both for thy owne , and for thy Owners d d Sr. William Essex . sake , Whose kind Excesses thee so nearly touch , That yearly for them thou dost weep so much , All Summer long ( while all thy Sisters shrink ) That of thy tears a million dayly drink , Besides thy Waast ; which then in hast doth run To wash the feet of Chaucers Donnington e e Dennington Castle upon this Rivulet , once a seat of Sr. Geofry Chaucer's , our famous English Poet. . But ( while the rest are full unto the top ) All Winter long thou never show'st a drop Nor send'st a doit of needless subsidie To Cram the Kennet's wantless Treasury . Before her stores be spent and Springs be staid : Then , then alone , thou lend'st a liberal aid , Teaching thy wealthy neighours ( mine of late ) How , when , and where , to right participate Their streams of comfort , to the poor that pine , And not to grease still the too greasy Swine : Neither for fame nor forme ( when others doe ) To give a morsel or a mite or two , But severally , and of a selfly motion , When others miss , to give the most devotion f f Sylvester's Translation of Du Bartas the third day of the first Week . p. 55. .

48. I know Mr. Ray says that the Rivers which flow from the Alps run lowest in the Winter , and abound most with water in the Summer time , so that sometimes they overflow in the hotest Months when no rain falls ; and that He testifies the same of the River Rhodanus ; but attributes it wholy to the melting of the Snows at that time of Year , which lye thick on those Mountains for 6 months together , no rain falling on them all the winter Season ( excepting the lower parts ) but only Snow , and perhaps indeed it may be so g g Observations Topogrophical , &c. p. 103. : I know also that Gassendus alleges the same cause for the flowing of the Lers in the Summer Months h h Pet. Gassendi Physicae §. 3. Memb. pr Lib. 1. cap. 7. : However it may be with those , I am sure there is no pretence for the same cause at Lambourn , for having strictly enquired , as there are no Hills thereabout considerable enough to preserve Snow on their tops any longer than in other parts of England , nor large Clefts or Caverns in them that might conserve it so long as to be melted only in Summer , and then to make this copious flux ; So could I not hear of any other known means whereby this might be done , More than for the great River of St. Francis the chief of Pharnambuck , which as Piso acquaints us , by some hidden cause in Nature overflowes in this manner in the Summer time when all other Rivers are lowest i i Guil. Pis●nis de Med. Brasil . Lib. 1. p. 7. : Or for the fountain near Pesquera in Spain which as Cardan informes us begins to run in the Spring , overflowes in the Summer , begins to fail in Autumn , and is quite dry in Winter k k Hieron . Cardani de subtilitate , Lib. 2. sub finem . . To which let me add the Gips upon the Woolds in Yorkshire , which says the Worshipful Edward Leigh of Rushall Esq in the drought of Summer , when all other Springs seem to be dryed up , burst out and rise up five or six yards in height and so fall into the Dales and make a little River , by which the Townes near refresh their Cattle , when the Valley Springs fail l l England described by Edw. Leigh , in Yorkshire , p. 219. .

49. Of which sort of Springs and Rivers there are so many in the World that the day will scarce serve me to recount them all : The wells near the Lake Ascanius says Agricola , Hyeme siccari , aestate usque ad labra repleri solent , i. e. that they use to be dry in winter , but in summer full to the very brim ; he tells us also of the Valesian Spring ad calidas Lucenses that runs plentifully all the summer from May to September but then grows dry * : And Varenius acquaints us that at the Towne of Villa nova in Portugal there is a fountain that flows only from the Kalends of May , to the Kalends of November , and then growes dry ; and of another in Wallisland near the bathes of Leuckerbad that ceases to run in Autumn , and begins not again till the May following ; Another of this kind he says there is in Spain 2 miles from Valladolid ; and another near the Church of St. Iean d' Angely somewhere in Aquitan in France † † Bernh . Varenti Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 17. : To which Wernerus adds one at Psevers a towne of the Grisons , which constantly failes in October , and springs forth not again till May ; and another in Switzerland that always becomes dry in August , and runs no more till June following ¶ ¶ Geo. Wernerus de admirandis Hungariae Aquis sub finem . ; with many others that I omit , least I hurt the patience of the Reader .

50 And as it is improbable that any of these Temporary Springs ( Except such as never run but after rains , and fail upon all droughts ) so it is altogether as unlikely that Constant waters that abate not at all in the greatest siccity , should wholy depend upon so uncertain principles as Rains Snows &c whereof there are plenty in this County ; particularly of a sort of fountains which Agricola mentions , Qui semper abundant Aqua , sed nunquam effluunt m m Geo. Agricolae de natura Eorum quae effluunt ex terra , Lib. 3. , that are always full of water but never overflow so as to make any streame ; such are those pits of water in the moorish ground near Eccleshall Castle , which they will tell you are bottomless because always full and never failing , yet never runing over : There are * * Geo. Agricolae de natura Eorum quae effluunt ex terra , Lib. 3. much such wells too in Dunsmoore Meddowes near the village of Rudyerd over against Heracles in the parish of Leek , which all stand equally full in the greatest drought and the wettest season ; when I was there in July 79 they were all brim full , though the Rivulets near them were in a manner dry ; they are 8 or 10 in number , and all very deep , yet none of them empties it self into the River , but the bigest which my worthy friend Mr. Thomas Gent found by the plummet to be but 9 or 10 yards deep , though they had always before been esteemed bottomless . And

51. Dr. Boat informes us that the Springs in Ireland ( where there are very many ) for the most part of them are of this fashion , like to a small pit full of water to the brim , and runing forth at the lower side , without noise or bubling n n Ger. Boat 's Nat. Hist. of Ireland , Chap. 7. Sect. 1. , as the biggest of those at Dunsmoore does ; and another of this kind on Alrewas Hays near the North-West Angle of the Plate course , which thus always overflowes , and by the vulgar is falsly reputed bottomless ; though indeed it be not inconsiderable , that being 4 foot square at the top , which it holds for as many foot deep , and after turning into a round of two foot and ½ diameter , and situat in a fine plain almost level , without any thing deserving the name of a hill to assist it , the forementioned ingenious Mr. Wolferstan found the plummet to descend in it 42 foot , before it reacht the bottom : For if the greatest rains as Seneca asserts sink into the Earth never above ten foot o o L. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest. Lib. 3. cap. 7. , or if as the Anonymous French Author believes , who seems to have taken a great deal of care in this matter , they never wet above a foot and a half p p De L'Origine des fontains Partie seconde , p. 167. ; and if as the same Author thinks all rains that fall upon plains are spent in the nourishment of Plants , &c. I see not how this sort of Springs , whether they run or not , that lye so deep , and are constantly full if they do not run , as well in droughts as wet weather , should have their supply from rains , snows , &c. or from any other place , but some Magazine of waters in the bowels of the Earth .

52. But it may be it will be objected that though these Springs are constant , yet they are but weak , and some of them never profluent , so that a very small supply even from the superficies of the Earth may keep them so ; which though scarce to be granted , yet let us admit for once that it may be so ; but what then shall we say to those mighty perennial Springs that constantly throw forth great quantities of water , without sensible abatement in what season soever ? whereof there is one near Acton Trussel , and Forwel Spring in Cank wood may pass for another , that do constantly so ; but those which excell all the rest of this County ( as well upon this , as other accounts hereafter to be mention'd ) are the Springs at Willowbridge , belonging to the Right Honorable the Virtuous and most Accomplish't Lady , Jane Lady Gerard Baroness Gerard of Gerards Bromley , the first actual Encourager of this Designe , the Prospect of whose Paternal Seat , is here most deservedly added , Tab. 4. whereof there is one , that ( notwithstanding it is opprest with a vast weight of water always lying upon it ) throws out constantly at least 6 cubick Inches of water ( and so does the Spring at the foot of Berry bank near the Village of Darlaston ) beside 60 more great and small ( that yield from six to one cubic Inch of water ) which all rise beside it , within less than 20 yards square ; and yet no considerable Hills near , like to receive rain enough to supply these waters ; that from the Wells to the Lodg being but an easy ascent , and those 'twixt Madley Park and Mare , and of Ashley heath , at too great a distance ; and ( if they do contribute any thing ) supplying the Expence of other Rivulets either flowing from them , or runing between them and these Springs , as the River Tern does between Willowbridge , and all the Hills near Madeley and Mare .

53. I know that the right Worshipful the Learned Sr. Christopher Wren the now worthy President of the Royal Society ha's contrived a Rain-bucket to measure the quantity of Rain that falls , which as soon as 't is full , empties it self into a Cistern , and so receives more ; which how often it performs is recorded by a Weather Clock , as may be seen in the Repository of the R. Society at Gresham College q q Hist. of the Royal Society part. 2. sub finem . , by which it might easily be computed whether sufficient rain falls communibus annis upon the declivities of ground toward any Spring , to supply the constant flux of it ; which yet I think ha's never been duely observed for a whole year round : But the forecited anonymous French Author ha's been so industrious and curious in this point , that he computed the rise of rain-water in a Conservatory for divers years , and found the mean rise to amount to 19 Inches and 2⅓ lines ; He made also an Estimat of the course of the River Seine from the spring head to Ainay le Duc , 3 miles off ( where there enters another Rivulet that swells it ) with the declivities of the ground for a mile on each side , which was all he could reasonably think might contribute to its flux , and this space of three miles long and two broad , he made the Conservatory of the rain-water to furnish the River for a whole year : Upon which Tract of ground , being six miles square in surface , supposeing that during a whole year , there have fallen rain to the height of 19 Inches and 2⅓ lines as aforesaid , it amounts he says to 280 Millions 899942 Muids of water .

54. Now that he might give a gross Estimat ( for he pretends not at all to be precise in it ) of the Quantity of the water runing away in this River , compared with the quantity of rain that fell upon that tract of ground before mention'd , he computed ( from comparison made with the River of the Gobelines near Versailles where it hath 50 Inches of water by measure ) that this River could not have above 1000 or 1200 Inches of water always runing , compensating the lesser quantity that it hath at its source , with the greater that it hath towards Ainay le Duc : And following those that make profession of governing and conveying spring waters . , he judg'd that a cubick Inch of water yielded in 24 hours 83 Muids , agreeing with those that say that a cubical vessel whose side is two foot Paris measure holds one Muid of water : Or ( which is the same thing ) that a vessel which contains 83 Muids of water will make an Inch of water run continually for 24 hours ; so that for a whole year ( which is near 366 times as much ) there will be required 30378. Muids to make an inch water flow constantly : which 83 Muids ( to put them into English measure ) make 68 Hogsheads and 42 Gallons , Ale or Beer measure ; every French Muid containing 16777 216/1000 cubic Inches English , which is 59 49●/1000 or 59 Ale or beer Gallons and ½ proxime ; so that accounting 72 Gallons to the Hogshead , the Muid contains scarce 5/6 of a Hogshead .

55. These particulars being granted him , he concludes that if one Inch of water require 83 Muids for a day , then 1200 Inches require 99600 Muids , wherefore for a whole year , which is near 366 times as much , there , will be required 36453600 Muids ; which being deducted from the 280899942 Muids , which he supposed to fall annually upon the Conservatory or tract of Land of six miles square that he judg'd might contribute to the flux of that river , there remains 244446342 Muids , i. e. 'twixt 6 and 7 times as much as was spent in the maintenance of the River : which he thinks so abundantly exceeds what is ordinarily required for other occasions and losses , such as the nourishment of Plants , supply for vopors , extraordinary swellings of the River whil'st it rains , and deviations of the water other ways , that there needs but the sixt , at most but the fift part of the rain and snow water that falls , to make a River run the whole year r r De L' Origine des Fontains seconde partie . from pag. 198. to pag. 207. . Which indeed is so vast a disproportion , that one would think at first sight that the question were determin'd ; and there is no question but it had been so , did all the Conservatories and Springs in the world hold such a disproportion , though it were less by one half .

56. But let us see what this Author must very likely have concluded in case he had considered such Springs as those above mention'd at Willowbridge § 52 , where the bigest constantly throws out ( without any sensible abatement ) at least six cubick Inches of water , beside 60 more that yeild other different proportions , from 6 inches down to one , and all these within ( perhaps little more ) than 10 yards square so that they may all without difficulty be esteem'd as one ; Had , I say , this Author but lighted on such Springs as these , whose Conservatory too must be very narrow , for the River Tern running close by them , cuts of all contribution from one side , and receives in great measure what else might have been supposed to come from the other , he had found perhaps near as great a disproportion between the Spring and the Conservatory , as he did before between the Conservatory and the Spring : For granting Willowbridg Park to be the Conservatory for these Springs , whose surface we will also allow to be a mile square , and that the rain annually falling upon its superficies doth amount to 19 Inches and 2⅓ lines , yet supposing too ( what cannot be reasonably denyed ) that great part of the water that this tract of ground contributes is received all along into the River both above and below the Springs , it cannot well be thought ( the whole Conservatory being but ⅙ part of that for the Seine ) that it can furnish 1/100 part of water in 10 yards square , for which the French Author allowed no less than three miles in length .

57. But we will grant notwithstanding the differences of the latitudes of the Consetvatories , and of the longitudes for the issues of the waters , that the waters of the Conservatory of Willowbridg do so concenter ( which is very improbable ) as to furnish ●/10 part within that little space , of what the French Authors did in 3 miles in length , that is 28089994 Muids of water in a whole year , yet the disproportion will be great between these Springs and their Conservatory : For the greatest of these Springs alone ( at the rate of 83 Muids for every cubic Inch ) vents 2988. Muids or 2469 Hogsheads dayly ; that is , 1093608 Muids , or 903654 Hogsheads yearly ; to which add the other 60 Springs venting different proportions from 6 cubic Inches down to one , the mean whereof will be each 3 cubic inches , they vent each 546804 Muids , or 451827 Hogsheads yearly ; that is all of them together 32808240 Muids , or 27109620 Hogsheads ; which 32808240 Muids being added to the 1093608 Muids of the greatest Spring , amounts to 33901848 Muids , which is 4811854 Muids more then 't was supposed the Conservatory could furnish in a year : without allowance made for the great quantities that must needs be spent in the nourishment of Trees and other Plants , and the much greater in Exhalations : For if we may believe experience , the vapors that are exhaled into the Air for Clouds and distill again in rains , come not so much from the Seas , as from the moisture of the Earth ; thus we see that in uliginous boggy Countrys ( such as Ireland ) the rains are frequent , whereas in the Sandy deserts of Afric and Arabia they have no rains at all : Not to mention with what difficulty salt waters do evaporat , or that our most lasting rains come from the East and South i. e. from the Landward and not from the Sea : to which add that the greatest rains obstruct the pores of the Earth by filling them with dirt , so that they cannot descend above a foot and ½ ( which is owned by this Author ) and are therefore for the most part carryed away in floods : Whence 't is yet plainer how unlikely it is that such mighty Springs as these should be maintained by rains falling on such a Conservatory .

58. And yet how inconsiderable are these Springs at Willowbridg , in comparison of some others there are in the world , and particularly of one in the French Authors owne Country , the fountain head of the River la Sorgue in the County of Venaissin ; which says Gassendus , ab ipsa statim scaturigine evadit navigabilis , i.e. that comes from so great a Spring , that it is navigable presently at its very rise s s Pet. Gassendi Phys. Sect. 3. Memb. pr. Lib. 1. cap. 3. near Blawbeher in the Dukedom of of Wurt●mberg in Schwabenland is much such another , that vomits up water in so great abundance that the River at the mouth of it is a furlong broad , Joh. Herbinii de Cataractis . Lib. 1. cap. 11. : whereof had he delivered us so nice an account as he ha's done of the other , he had certainly given himself and the world better satisfaction . But for clearer evidence of the matter in hand , because the Conservatories for single Springs are always as uncertain as they are unequal , let us consider the immense quantities of water that are disembogued into the Sea by all the Rivers , and make an estimat whether an annual rise of 19 inches and 2 ⅓ lines over the whole face of the Earth will suffice for them ; the question seeming to be rendred much less difficult , by how much 't is enlarged , there being now but one , an t'other , to be consider'd , whereas before every little Spring was a new question . To come then quick and close to the business ,

59. I will found my computation upon that of Ricciolus in his Almagestum novum , where he tells us that the Eridanus or Po being but 1000 paces broad , and 15 foot or 3 paces deep ( a very inconsiderable River in respect of some others ) pours forth into the Adriatic 18000000 of cubical paces of water every hour ( supposeing it to run but six miles in that time ) that is 432000000 per diem , which is near 15552000000 of cubic paces per Annum t t Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Almagesti novi , Lib 2. cap. 13. , and yet I take this to be a River of the third and lowest Class of great Rivers , scarce so big as the Thames or Severn in England , or the Rhosne in France , whereof there may perhaps be above a hundred in the world ( as well as these ) not thought considerable enough to be numbred by Varenius in his second Class : In which he places the Rhine , the Elve , Euphrates , Tanais , Borysthenes , Petzora , Pesida , Tabab , Yrtiis &c , to the number of twenty : And in his first , the Nile , Niger , Danow , Oby , Ganges , Jeniscea , Parana , Rio de la Plata , Orellana , Maragnon , Omaranna , Canada or of St. Laurence , Jansu , Volga , &c. to the number of 16 or 17 v v Bernh . Varenit Geograph . General . Lib. 1. cap. 16. Prop. 27. : The last whereof [ the Volga ] alone ( as the same Varenius ha's computed it ) throws forth water sufficient within a year into the Caspian Sea to cover the whole Earth w w Ibid. Prop. 5. ; which allowing for the depth of the innumerable Valleys , will amount at least to as much as the 19 inches and 2⅓ lines can come too : Nor surely can that of St. Laurence pour forth less , it runing as the same Author informs us 600 German miles , and being broad at the mouth as Ricciolus declares , no less than 60 ( I suppose he means Italian ) miles x x Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Geograph . & Hydrograph . reformatae , Lib. 6. cap. 19. .

60. Now if the Po do vent into the Adriatic Sea 15552000000 of cubic paces in a year , the River of St. Laurence being 60 times as broad ( not to mention the likelyhood of its being much deeper ) must vent at least nine hundred thirty three thousand , one hundred and twenty Millions of cubical paces of water , which ( to depend upon Varenius's supputation , and the near equality of the two rivers , to avoid multiplicity of Arithmetic ) must either of them expend water enough to cover the superficies of the whole Earth to the height at least of 19 Inches and 2⅓ lines : But if neither of these will be thought sufficient to do it , certainly it cannot be denyed to the Argyropotamus or Rio de la Plata otherwise call'd St. Christophers which I take to be the bigest River in the World , the same Ricciolus expresly asserting that Nilus , Ganges , and Euphrates put all together will not equal it ; its mouth being 90 miles broad , and runing with such violence into the Sea , that it makes it fresh for 200 miles forward y y Ibidem . . Yet if any Man will be so unreasonable as to grant it to neither of these , nor to all three together , surely it will be difficult to find one , that will be so hardy as to deny it these , and 1000 more at least that there are in the World of all magnitudes , which put together , in my weak judgment cannot but exceed the 19 Inches &c. upon a modest account less than three , if not five hundred times over : Whence the Reader may be satisfyed that a Conservatory of water over the surface of the Earth of such a height , is not like to supply all the Rivers of the World.

61. And if the cold fresh water Rivers be not furnish't from rains , much less sure can the hot , Salt , or bitter ones have their origine thence ; for such we find there are in very good Authors : Whereof Peter Martyr says there is one in Cuba so large that it is navigable , and yet so hot that one can hardly endure to touch it z z Sommario de L' Indie Occidentali del S. Don Pietro Martire cap. 7. p. 6. Stamp . Venet. L' Anno 1565 , ; and there is a Spring in Ireland that is as hot as water can possibly be made with fire ; and in Japan another yet much hotter , it retaining heat as Caronius writes 3 times longer than other water heated with fire a a Bernh . Varenti Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. Prop. 7. : As unlikely too are the Salt or bitter Rivers such as Exampeus near Callipadum in Asia minor b b Ibid. prop. 9. , to have their maintenance from rains ; or any Bathes , Saltworks , or other Medicated waters ; nay so far are they from it , that by the fall of rains , they are all much prejudic'd , if not rendered wholy useless by them , at least for sometime ; the Bathes being cooled , the brine weakened by the mixture with the freshes , and all Medicinal Springs so diluted , that they become thence ineffectual , till these rain waters are carryed off again .

62. Not that the rains descend so low as where the waters are heated by fermentations or otherwise , or made salt by the Mineral glebes they pass through ; but by mixing with them here above at their exit : for it is plain that most of the rain-waters ( as shall be further proved hereafter ) which are not presently carryed away by the Rivulets , stand in ponds , high-ways , or other hollows in the ground , till the Sun exhales them into Clouds again ; and never descend into the solid Earth ( which is sufficient for the nourishment of all sorts of Plants ) above ten foot at most ; whereas the heats for the Bathes lie very deep : For who ever met with any near the surface of the Earth sufficient to make waters so hot as they are here in England at the Bath , or St. Vincents rock , or at Porcet near Aken in Germany , where they have a little hole in the street which they call Hell cover'd with a moveable Grate , the water whereof is so hot , that the neighbours round about in the Summer time , when they have no fire , boyle their Eggs in it ( letting them down in a Net ) which it will do to hardness , in a little space c c Lod. Rowzce M. D. Treatise of Tunbridg waters . cap. 4. : Or whoever met with any rocks of natural salt so near the day ( as they call it ) like to make such brine as they have at the saltworks in Cheshire , or at the Brine pits in the Parish of Weston in this County : The Medicated waters indeed are very weak in comparison of these , yet being spoiled with rains as well as the rest , 't is probable at least that none of them come from rains , dews , &c.

63. Further add that if it be so unlikely that the cold or hot , fresh or Salt Springs come from rains where there fall plenty of them ; more improbable is it still ( that I say not impossible ) that the Springs in such Countrys where there falls little rain should be supplyed from it : and yet we are credibly informed that the Springs in such places flow as plentifully as elsewhere . In the Isle Mayo ( one of those of Cape Verd ) which lyeth in the Torrid Zone 13 degr. and 30 m. North of the Aequator , it never rains but 3 weeks in July in the whole year , yet there rises a Spring of pure fresh water , makeing a Rivulet about 14 foot wide and two deep in the middle of the Island , before it has run above half way to the Sea ; of which dimensions it was found by the ingenious Mr. James Young of Plimouth after ten months drought ; nor could he perceive by the banks that it could run much larger after the showers in July , than it did then after so long a want of them d d Lecturae Cutlerianae de potentia Res● itutiva p. 28. : Whence 't is evident there may continue a constant large flux of water for ten or eleven months together without recruits from rains . Which being so remarkable a case , I cannot but recommend it to the examination of our curious French Author , desireing him to let us know , after allowance made for what the dry and parched Earth doth drink up of the showers ( the Island being sithat in the Torrid Zone ) how many Inches there will be left ( and lines too , for I know he must be critical ) to supply such a Current . And after he has done with that , let him next consider another at Rotunda in the West Indies where it rains in like manner but once a year , which though a very small Island , has a Spring riseing in the middle of it , so very profluent , that as we are told the whole Island would be short in proportion for a Conservatory sufficient to supply it , though it rain'd there constantly all the year round e e Ibid. p. 32. . As perhaps might the Strophades , which as the learned and ingenious Sr. George Wheeler tells us , are Islands judg'd distant about fifty miles from Zant and thirty from the Morea , lying very low , and the biggest not above five miles in circuit ; nevertheless they report ( says he ) that there is such plenty of fresh water there , that one cannot thrust a stick into the ground but the water gushes out in the place . Much less still would the rock in the Thracic Bosphorus , on which stands the Sconce call'd the Maiden-Tower , be sufficient for this purpose , which , as the same worthy Author also tells us , though not above 30 yards about , and encompassed with a deep Sea , yet has a fountain of fresh water springing from it * * Sr. Geo. Wheelers ●●●ages p. 45 , 46. and 208. vide etiam ●ardanum de varietate Lib. 1. cap. 6. in initio , ubi d● 〈◊〉 du●cis aquae in Maris scopulo : of which ●ee § 77. of this Chapter . .

64. And as there are Springs where there is little or no rain , so in many places in the World there are no Springs at all , though there fall rain enough , and all other requisites in being that this Hypothesis demands , such as lose pervious Earth to receive , Mountains to contain , and a well luted bottom to support ; as the same ingenious Mr Iames Young observed at Lipari an Isle near Sicily where all these concurred , and yet there Springs in it not one drop of water f f Ibidem . p. 30. ; whence it manifestly appears ( whatever is pretended ) how unapt rains are to cause Springs , though they may and doe sometimes accidentally increase them : But we need not goe so far as the fruitfull Isle of Lipari for satisfaction in this point , it being plainly so in a large tract of ground in the County of Kent , there riseing not one Spring all along between the Dover road to London and the ridge of hills above Charing , Lenham , and Maidstone ; from Ospringe to the banks of the River Medway ; which I take to be about 17 miles in length , and about 5 in bredth , and yet the Earth in all this Country is bibulons enough of rain , and has Hills ( if they be so requisit ) for Cisterns to contain it , and a close firm bed of Chalk at 10 or 15 foot distance underneath to support it , that it sink not too deep into the Earth : Underneath which Chalk 't is true there are plentiful Springs enough ; but no man that knows the place , or is well inform'd about it , can imagin that these can come from the rains ; the bed of Chalk underneath the uppermost mould , being altogether impervious , and sometimes threescore , but very seldom less than ten or twenty fathom thick : which too certainly must be the reason that the Sea Springs doe not rise here as in other places , the bed of Chalk being as impenetrable to them below , as to the Rains from above .

65. Thus haveing made it probable at least that most Springs doe not so much depend upon rain as some would have us beleive , let us proceed from negative to positive arguments , and see whether we cannot prove that the Springs are actually furnish't by subterraneous passages from the Sea , or that there is really such an inferior Circulation of waters between them , as that the Rivers never fail , nor the Sea ever grows full . That some Springs are maintained immediatly from the Sea , I take to be so certain , that there is scarce a maritime Towne in any nation but will readily subscribe it , their waters being generally brackish , but more or less according as they are nearer , or more remote from the Sea : Putei effossi quo magis à mari distant , eo minus sunt salsi says Cardan g g Hieron . Cardani de subtilitate Lib. 2. p. 166. Edit. Basil . An. 1582. , and so the aforesaid Mr. James Young found it at Plimouth h h Lect. Cutlerian . de potentia restitut . p. 31. , and thus I know it to be upon most of the Sea-coasts of England ; thus Caesar in his distress at Alexandria , digging on the Shores found great quantities of fresh water springing into his pits in one nights time i i A. Hirtii Pansae Commentar. Lib. de Bello Alexandrino cap. 9. ; and the same Mr. Young tells us , that the River at the Isle Mayo disembogueing it self into the Sea , remote from the Roads at an inconvenient place for boats , the Mariners are constrained to dig wells in a bank of sand , which though between the Ocean and the pickle of a Salt pond that lyes between this bank and the Island , yet in 24 hours they can get 3 or 4 foot in depth of clear water , which visibly trickles through the sand and cannot possibly be other than Sea water , by reason of the situation of the bank and Well ; yet tasting so little of Salt , that it is drinkable , and fit to boile meat in k k Lectur . Cutler . de potentia restitut . p. 29. & 32. : From all which I think 't is pretty manifest in the first place , that Salt water will gradually become fresh by transcolation .

66. So that it only remains to shew , that it may and does convey it self to great distances not only by this means , but by mighty indroughts , which perhaps are after divided into smaller passages , that at length diminish ( before they come very near the Spring head ) into capillaries , and lastly being somwhat more obstructed , become the Calenders themselves ; which that it really does , it is more than probable , from the sudden stoppage , and intermissions of Rivers without mention of droughts , and from the change of fresh water Rivers into Salt ones : For how should such Rivers as the great River Trent that rises in this County become dry of a sudden as it was observed to be at Nottingham ( and no question was so at other places ) An. 1110. temp. H. 1. from the morning till 3 in the afternoon as Knighton informs us l l Hen. Knighton Canonici Leycestrensis de Eventibus Angliae Lib. 2. , had not its Springs been supplyed by such subterraneous passages , which being casually stopt by the fall of Earth , could not furnish water till such time as it could work its way again , through that fallen Earth , or find some other passage . Four years after on the sixt of the Ides of Octob. An. 1114. as Simeon Dunelmensis and John Bromton acquaint us , the River Medway in Kent for several miles together did so fail of water , that for two whole days the smallest vessels could not pass upon it m m Simeon Dunelmensis Hist. de gestis Regum Ang. & Chronicon Joh. Bromton . in Anno 1114. : The same Authors also tell us that the River Thames suffer'd the same lack of water at the same time , but Matthew Paris says expressly it was on the fourth of the Kalends of April half a year before , when he relates it was so dry for two days that the Sea it self also failed of reaching the shore for 12 miles forward , also for the same two days n n Matth. Paris Hist. Ang. in Hen. 1. An. 1114. ; the other Authors adding , that Children could wade over between the Bridg and the Tower , and that it was not above the knee under the Bridg it self .

67. And yet they give us no account of any drought that occasion'd any of these ; nor indeed was it likely since their durance was so short ; they must most probably therefore happen upon some stoppage of the great master Pipes that supplyed them , which lye deep in the Earth , so that they could not run again till they had forced their passage : which perhaps may be also the true natural cause of the sudden standing of the Rivers Elva , Motala , and Gulspang in Sweden sometimes for 2 or 3 days , which Biazius , Herbinius , and Loccenius tell us , happen'd in the years 1566. 1632 o o Joh. Loccenii Historiae Suecanae Lib. 7. p. 370. & Lib. 8. p. 606. Edit. Franc. & Lipsiae An. 1676. . 1638 , 1639 p p Joh. Biazai Senioris Historiae Eccles. Su●c . Lib. 8. cap. 14. . 1665 q q Joh. Herbinii de admirandis mundi Cataractis Lib. 4. Dissert. 8. cap. 17. . For we cannot well suppose that such mighty things should happen from any stoppage of the small ductus's of rains and dews , which are many , and lye disperst at great distances , and cannot in any likelyhood be stopt thus together : whereas upon the obstruction of any of the great Canales that lye deep and come immediatly from the sea ; it is easy to apprehend how the capillary Tubes proceeding from them may be all stopt together . And as the Communication between the springs and sea seems probable from the obstructions of the passages between them , so it seems to be manifest from the too much opening of them : Whence it is that sometimes fresh water springs have turned to salt ones ; the sea water which supplyed them ( having gotten a wide open Channel ) being upon this account not sufficiently percolated , and so remaining salt : as it happen'd once in Caria as Pliny reports , where the River near the Temple of Neptune which was known before to be fresh and potable , turned all upon a sudden into salt water * * C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist. Lib. 31. cap. 5. , which it could hardly have done ( I think ) had it been supplyed by rains .

68. But these subterraneous communications appear yet more manifest , from the many Springs in the World that ebb and flow with the Sea , such as that mentioned by Camden in the Cantred of Bichan in Caermarthinshire , upon the Hill where Careg Castle stood r r Camden in Caermarthynsh . ; that of Marsac in Gascony , which says Varenius exactly observes the Tides of the Garonne at Burdeaux s s B. Varenii Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 17. ; and another that Gassendus mentions in a little Island at the mouth of the River Timavus t t Pet. Gassendi Phys. §. 3. Memb. pr. Lib. 1. cap. 7. : But these are inconsiderable in comparison of that on the top of a high Mountain in the Province of Connaght in Ireland which though it punctually observe the motions of the Sea , yet we are told is a Spring of fresh water ; and so is that call'd Lou-Zara among the mountains of Cabret in Gallaecia in Spain , which also ebbs and flowes , though it be distant no less than 20 leagues from the Sea v v Bern. Varenii Geogr. Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 17. ; To which let me add ( what exceeds all the rest ) that on the top of that part of the Mount Erminius in Portugal , which lifts it self up above all the rest in the manner of a Pyramid , ( which part the Inhabitants for distinction call Mount Cantari ) summo in cacumine in the very top of this says Vasconcellius , there is a Lake ( many paces about ) that most accuratly observes the reciprocation of the Sea w w Ant. Vasconcellii Descriptio Regni Lusitan . cap. 5. . Which I suppose may be enough to justify my sentence , should I pronounce it for certain , that there are such communications between the Springs and Seas .

69. Yet for further Evidence it must not be omitted , that there are many Lakes in the World of Salt water , that have no superterraneous Vents into the Sea , and some of them full of Sharks and other Sea fish ; as that in the Valley of Cajovani in the Province of Baeinoa in Hispaniola called Haguygabon , which says Peter Martyr is 30 miles long and 12 broad , and though it swallow no less than 24 Rivers of fresh water that flow from the Mountains , yet such mighty quantities of sea waters sometimes boyle into it ( which bring Sharks and other sea fish along with them ) that it is salt notwithstanding ; And as it somtimes throws forth , so at other times again it ingulfes the waters with that mighty violence , that it often draws in the Fishermen , boats and all , which it never throws up again upon the shoars , as things usually are that are swallowed by the sea . He tells us also of another of this kind in the same Island , that answers the former in all respects , but in greatness x x Petri Martyris Anglerii de Orbe novo Dec. 3. cap. 8. . And Varenius informs us that there is another in the Isle Cuba two leagues round , that is also salt , and has sea fish in it , though it likewise receive fresh Rivers . He tells us also of another in Peru ; another in Madagascar ; and the Lake Asphaltites , though it receive the fresh water River of Jordan , is not sweet ; and may pass for another y y Bernh . Varenii Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 15. prop. 7. .

70. To which add the vast Lake or rather Caspian Sea , which though it take in all the waters of the Volga which as has been said before throws into it enough in a year to cover the whole Terraqueous globe , beside many other great Rivers ; yet is salt water , has Sea fish in it , and never overflowes ; No more than the Mediterranean sea it self , which in regard it never vents it self into the sea , but receives water from it at both ends , from the Atlantic by the straights of Gibraltar , and from the Euxin through the Thracic Bosphorus , as it were from two Rivers ; may pass too for a Lake : and yet I say though this Sea perpetually receives those vast influxes of water , it never overflowes so much as the low Country of Egypt . Hither too may be referred all Rivers that are swallowed by the Earth and never rise again , such as those in the Province of Caizimu in Hispaniola , where there are several , that after they have run fourscore and ten miles , fall all into a great Cave , under the root of a very high Mountain z z Petri Martyris Anglerii de novo Orbe Decad. 3. cap. 7. . Now how these Lakes should come at all to be salt , or how Sea fish should be brought into them ? or what should become of the mighty quantities of water received into such vast Lakes as the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas that never overflow , or into that great Cave in the Province of Caizimu ? unless there are such cummunications between the Seas and such Lakes , for the conveyance of salt waters and fish , and for expence of the others , in supplying of Rivers ; will be difficult I am afraid to be resolved to satisfaction .

71. Again that there are such passages is further evident , from the many heterogeneous bodies belonging to the sea , that are many times found by diging in the bowels of the Earth , such as the shells of Sea fish , Masts , Anchors , parts of Ships &c. such were the subterraneous Cockle , Muscle , and Oyster shells found in the diging of a Well at Sr. William D'Oylies in Norfolk many foot under ground , and at considerable distance from the sea , of which the ingenious Author of Mercurius Centralis has given us an account ; and such was the Mast He mentions dug out of the top of a high hill in Greenland with a pulley hanging to it a a Mercurius Centralis . p. 74. : But the most prodigious story that we have of this kind , is that of Baptista Fulgosus , Ludovicus Moscardus , and Theodorus Moretus , who tell us that at the village of Bern in Switzerland An. 1460. in a Mine 50 fathoms deep , there was dug up a whole Ship , with its Anchors and broken Masts , in which were the Carcases of 40 Mariners , together with their Merchandise : which Fulgosus more particularly tells us , as a thing done in his owne time , and seen by many grave and sober men , from whom ( qui in repraesentes fuere ) He says He received a personal account of it b b Bapt. Fulgosi Dict. & Fact. Mem. Collect. Lib. 1. c. 6. Museo di Lud. Moscardo , Lib. 2. cap. 111. Theo. Moreti Tract. de Aestu maris cap. 21. §. 275.278 . . And yet this will not seem so very strange neither , if we consider what mighty Charybdes there are in the World , whereof Andreas Moralis informes us He met with one upon the coast of Hispaniola ( which no doubt was it that supplyed the Lake aforemention'd §. 69. of this Chapter ) where the water was drawn with that violence into the Earth , that notwithstanding their utmost endeavours , the Ship hardly escaped being sucked into it c c And. Moral . Decad. 7. cap. 8. .

72. But that which exceeds all the rest in the world ( to omit that on the coast of Sicily , that in the River Somme in Picardy betwixt Amiens and Abbeville d d Bernh . Varenii Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 16. Prop. 28. , and that of Paulus Warnefridus e e Pauli Warnefridi de gestis Longobardorum Lib. 1. cap. 6. ) is the fluxus Moschonius , the Moskoestroome or Maalstroome , between the Isles of Moskoe , Weroe , Roest and Loufouden , on the coast of Norway , now by some called the Mousk ; but antiently 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 by Homer f f Homeri Odyss . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 v. 50. ; umbilicus Maris by Paulus Diaconus ; anhelitus Mundi , by Mela ; Nares Mundi by Solinus ; Acheron by Suidas , and Orpheus in his Argonautics ; and 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 by Plato and Aristotle ; Which as Ortelius describes it , is no less than 40 miles round , and upon the Tides comeing in , swallowes in a manner the whole sea with an incredible noise , drawing in Ships , Whales , or whatever else comes within its compass , and dashing them to pieces against the sharp rocks , that there are in the descent of this dreadfull Hiatus ; and then upon the Ebb throwing them out again with as prodigious a violence , in so much that some have attributed the whole flux and reflux of the sea ( and not without some reason ) to this vast Vorago g g Abrah. Ortelii Thesaur . Geogr. in verbo Umbilicus . . Now though indeed it be unlikely that the Ship found at Bern should be drawn in here , and carryed underground to so great a distance , all things suck't in here being supposed to be thrown out again as Peter Clausson and the learned and ingenious Olaus Rudbeck have described it , who think too with Brinckius that there is no bottomless subterraneous passage * * Olai Rudbeck Atlanticae Lib. 8. §. 1. , though 't is hard to think what less could receive such a prodigious Mass of waters h h vid. Rationes Joh. Herbinii de Cataractis marinis Lib. 2. Dissert. 4. cap. 9. ubi etiam Mappae hujus Voraginis . ; Yet who knows what vast Indraughts there may be in the Mediterranean ( if not done by that near Sicily ) that may be sufficient to perform it ? For that there must be such passages and immense ones too , must be taken for evident from the constant consumption of the waters that are so constantly thrown in , unless any Man can shew us which way else they are disposed off .

73. I know it hath been conjectur'd that the waters received into the Mediterranean and the Baltic ( to which also the water always sets inward through the Sound ) are carryed forth again by an under current in the straights leading into those seas : and it must not be denyed but there may be such a thing as a contrary motion of water in the same channel : thus the Watermen at London will all tell you , that at the turning of the water in the river Thames , it will be tide of ebb by the shore for some time , when it is yet flood in the middle ; and so vice versa , flood by the shore , when yet ebbing in the middle . So in the Downes they will tell you , where the Sea runs tide and half tide ( as they call it ) it will be ebbing water , or flood upon the shore , three hours before it is so in the offing , 1 e. off at Sea : which it may be cannot well be conceived without an under , as well as upper Current . Though these home Experiments , I say , cannot well be denyed , yet I find it little more than gratis dictum , or founded at most upon conjecture or slender authority , that it is so in the Sound , or straights of Gibraltar : But admit it should ; I am still at a loss which way the under current should goe that carryes away the water that comes into the Mediterranean from the Euxin Sea , unless carryed away by the same under current which carryes away that which comes in through the straights of Gibraltar ; and if so , the under current must be at last 3 times bigger than the upper one , makeing allowance for the waters that increase this vast store from the Rivers of Europe , Asia , & Afric , that flow into the Mediterranean on this side the Hellespont : which if ever well made out I shall rest satisfyed as to that particular . Yet still this will not account either for such Lakes as ebb and flow with the Sea ; or that have salt water in them and sea fish , yet have no superterraneous communication with the Sea ; that receive great numbers of fresh water rivers into them yet never overflow , such as the Caspian Sea , Lacus Asphaltites , Haguygabon , &c. mentiond §§. 69 and 70 of this Chapter .

74. Hitherto from Philosophy and profane History having made it probable at least that few Springs come from rains , Snows , &c , and manifest that many of them ( if not all that are considerable doe come form the Sea through subterraneous passages : Let us next add ( what should put all out of doubt with a Christian Reader ) the constant uniform concurrence , of Holy Writ ; where they are expressly called the Springs of the Sea i i Job . 38. v. 16. Amos . 9. v. 6. , and the fountains of the Deep k k Gen. 8. v. 2. ; the whole Circulation whereof is more fully declared by the Wise Man in Ecclesiastes , where He says , that all Rivers run into the Sea , yet the Sea is not full , unto the place from whence the Rivers come , thither they return again l l Eccles. 1. v. 7. . Which Text , if well considered , seems to include a Problem , and in the latter part , the Wise-Man's answer ; The Question in the first part being , How it comes to pass , that all the Rivers runing into the Sea , yet the Sea is not full ? To which He plainly answers ; unto the place from whence the Rivers come , thither they return again . i. e. that there is a perpetual motion or circulation of the waters through the Globe of the Earth , and that the Sea sends as much forth again for the supply of the Rivers as it received from them ; which manifestly shews us why the Sea is not full . I know that Mr Ray would have this performed by the superior Circulation through the Clouds , and not by subterraneous passages , that is , that the Sun exhales water out of the Sea , which being poured down again from the clouds upon the Earth from part thereof falling upon and soaking into the higher grounds , He would have the Springs and Rivers arise ; and that this way , whence the Rivers come , they should return again m m Joh. Ray his Observations Topographical &c. p. 300. .

75. But I can by no means allow this for a solution , since it manifestly infringes the whole Analogy of the Scriptures ; for beside that we find there issued a River from the Earth , as the Vulgar Latin and Septuagint translate it ( which in all probability was thesame that went out of Eden ) before God had caused it to rain upon the Earth n n Gen. 2. v. 5.6 . , the Deep is plainly said to send forth Her Rivers o o Ezekiel 31. v. 4. ; And God Himself expressly distinguishes between the waters of the Deep ( whence Spring the fountains ) and the waters of the Clouds , intimating their different origines and motions : For when God destroyed the world by the flood , the same day were all the fountains of the great Deep broken up , and the Windows of Heaven were opened p p Gen. 7. v. 11. , most manifestly hinting that the waters of the former were to move as violently upwards ; as the latter , downwards : Again , when this dreadfull Judgement was overpast , the fountains of the deep , and the Windows of heaven are said to have been stopped q q Gen. 8. v. 2. : God is said also to establish the Clouds above , and to strengthen the fountains of the Deep r r Prov. 8. v. 28. : Likewise Jacob blessed Joseph with the blessings of heaven above ( the dews s s Deut. 33. v. 13. ) and with the blessings of the deep that lyeth under t t Gen. 49. v. 25. , So that unless one could conceive a thing to operat before it had being , or could reconcile Contrarieties , and make things the same which God himself has distinguish't , by so many repeated and so different expressions , the abovementioned solution can be no way admitted .

76. Agreeable to which Dictates of the Word of God , and particularly that of Solomon ( which says Ricciolus we are not to esteem as a saying of the vulgar , but an Aphorisme of the divine wisdom u u Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Almagesti novi Lib. 2. cap. 13. ) we find the Sentiments of most of the Ancients ; who generally thought the Springs and Rivers to have their Origine from an Abyss or great Deep , which Homer calls — 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 w w Homeri iliad . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 v. 195. . the great power of the Ocean , out of which flow all the Rivers , all Seas , all Fountains , and all deep wells ; which he at another place , some other of the Poets , Plato , &c. call also Barathrum and Tartarus : Only by these , 't is plain they did not so much intend the Sea , as a vast collection of waters within the bowells of the Earth , derived from the Sea through a prodigious gulf ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , into which hiatus or gulf , says Plato , all the Rivers flow , and from which again they disperse themselves abroad x x Plato in Phaed. p. 112. Edit. Hen. Steph. An. 1578. . And 't is plain from Aristotle and Seneca that many more of the Ancients were of this opinion y y Aristot . Meteorolog . Lib. 1. cap. 13. & 14. L. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest . Lib. 3. cap. 4.5 . , and so were most of the Authors ( with little difference ) mention'd § 40 of this Chapter : Which too being agreeable to holy Writ , the Deep and the Sea being distinginsh't in Job , the Deep saith it is not in me , and the Sea saith it is not in me z z Job Chap. 28. v. 14. ; we cannot but subscribe , and allow it for authentic ; and be induced to think , that by the word deep , the Scripture does most times intend not so much the Sea , as such a vast provision of waters in the Caverns of the Earth ; and that where the fountains are called the Springs of the Sea , the mediation of the Deep ought to be understood ( as perhaps it also should through the whole State of the Question ) & when Solomon says , unto the place whence the Rivers come , thither they return again ; there ought to be understood the mediation of the Sea .

77. Which being the Summe of what I have to say for this part of the Question , let us next see whether the objections brought against it §§ 38 and 39 of this Chapter , may not more easily be solved , than the arguments for it perhaps are like to be : The first whereof , that great Inundations &c a a See § 38. of this Chapter . , I judg to be so very inconsiderable , that it seems rather to make for , what it designes to overthrow , than any thing against it : For if the great rains , and the meltings of snow and Ice , goe away in floods ; thence should I rather argue that these could not be the causes of Springs , there being so little left for the Supply of them ; an allowance for exhalations , and the nourishment of plants , being also to be deducted . And to the second I answer that for such Springs that quite fail in summer we have already granted them § 37 to depend wholy on rains ; though with the Reverend and learned Dr. Stillingfleet I might justly perhaps have rather imputed this failure to the Suns exhaling by his continual heat , those moist vapors in the Earth that should constantly have supplyed these Springs , than meerly to the want of rain b b Stillingfleeti Origin . Sacr. Lib. 3. cap. 4. ; And for such as considerably abate of their

78. To the third , which infers that Springs must needs be from rains , because they are never found on the tops of Hills , which otherwise sometimes they might be , at least where the Hills exceed not the surface of the Sea in height ; it may plainly be replyed , that we are well assured from very good hands , that there are Springs on the tops of high Mountains , such as the fountain head of the River Marsyas which says Q. Curtius rises e summo montis cacumine , out of the very summit of the Mountain c c Q. Curtii Rufi Historiarum Lib. 3. in initio . : and Cardan acquaints us that there is another does the like in the Isle of Bonicca near Hispaniola d d Hieron . Cardani de subtilitate Lib. 2. p. 92. edit . Basil . An. 1582. : He tells us also that from the very top of the highest rock of the Isle of May in the Fyrth of Forth upon the coast of Fife in Scotland , there Springs a fountain of fresh water , though the whole rock or Isle be scarce two miles about e e Hieron . Cardani de rerum Varietate Lib. 1. cap. 6. in initio . , which might also well have been considered § 63 of this Chapter : As might too what I find amongst the remarks of the Honorable Mr. Boyle , who traversing the maritim Country of Warterford in the Kingdom of Ireland , saw a Mountain from whose higher parts there ran precipitously a pretty broad River , that within but two or three years , before first broke forth without any manifest cause from a great Bog that had been immemorially at the top of that Mountain , and hath supplyed the Country with a River ever since ; which had it proceeded from rains or Snows , I suppose would have been there long before . Beside we are assured by Scaliger that in a field near his owne house , there issues forth a spring from the top of a Hill , than which there is no ground higher any where near : who also further adds that there is a Lake with liveing springs in it , in a plain upon the top of mount Cinis , amongst the Cottian Alps between Savoy and Piedmont , than which very high and spacious Level there is no place higher f f Jul. Scaligeri de Subtilitate Lib. 15. Exercit. 46. , to afford any such supply as is suggested in the Objection .

79. Which too partly might have past for a tolerable answer to the fourth Objection , which concludes in like manner ( as the other from Hills ) that all springs must needs be from rains , because there is none rise in plains : But the ingenious Dr. Boat expressly informes us , that in Ireland which is a place very full of springs , they frequently rise in flat and champain Countries ; that sort of fountains , which forcibly burst out of a rock , or the foot of a Mountain , being rare to be found in that Kingdom g g G. Boate 's Nat. Hist. of Ireland chap. 7. §. 1. : Nor are springs riseing in plains only found there , but in many other Countries , some of the greatest Rivers in the World having their Origine in plains ; thus Pyramus in Cappadocea , which though Strabo calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 navigabile flumen , yet he says it breaks out 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 h h Strabonis rerum Geograph . Lib. 12. p. 536 , edit . Paris . An. 1620. in the middle of a plain field : And Agricola tells us that the great River Tanais rises in campestri planicie Moscoviae in the champain fields of Muscovy i i Geo. Agricolae de natura Eorum quae effluunt ex terra Lib. 3. in initio . : To which add Danubius the greatest River in Europe , whose fountain head says Cluverius ( notwitstanding it is perennial and so capacious that it takes up 26 foot in length and 18 in bredth is in humo plana at que aperta in plain ground in the village of Eschingen or Donasching ; or as Jornandes will have it , in arvis Alemanicis , and not as Herodotus , Tacitus , Pliny , and Marcellinus say , at the foot of a hill or great Mountain k k Phil. Cluverii Vindeliciae & Noric . chap. 6. . To the fift it may be answered , that the reason why we find few springs in stiff Clays , is not so much that rains cannot sinke into them , as that the springs cannot force themselves from below up through them , as the ingenious Mr. Young found it at Lipari l l Lecturae Cutlerianae de potentia Restitut . p. 34. , and as was further hinted in the bed of Chalk § 64 of this Chapter . And the Sixt seems to have been sufficiently enervated Ibidem , in all the Paragraphes from the 56. to the 60th .

80. Though it may be further added that the rains , Snows , &c. are so far from supplying all the water that runs into the sea by the Rivers , that bateing what is spent in the nourishment of Plants ; most , if not all the rest , is exhaled again into vapors for the supply of rains and dews ; whence it is , that dry and barren Countries have but litle rain , and that the draining of bogs and fens , and cuting downe woods and groves ( which cause the Air to stagnat , and so ingender moisture , and preserve it by their shade ) will so alter the very temper of the Heavens , that the Country which before was cold and wet , shall become warme and temperatly dry . Thus Pliny tells us of old , that the Country about Philippi , being made dry by sluces , and artificial trenches , the whole disposition of the Air and weather was thereby altered , and the very habit of the heavens above their heads changed m m C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist. Lib. 17. cap. 4. . And thus we are credibly informed that in our forreigne Plantations by destroying the woods , and laying all open to the sun , the rains are much abated , there being not half the rains now in Barbadoes , that there were heretofore ; and that the rains still diminish in Jamaica , as they extend their Plantations n n Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 27. p. 497. ; As I am told they have also in Ireland , and in Lincolnshire and Cambridgshire in England , upon draining the bogs and fens in those Countries .

81. And lastly to the Seventh and its several branches , viz. that those who would have the fountains supplyed from the Sea , have not satisfyed the world , first that there are such Caverns or subterraneous passages that come from it ; I think I may safely say they have had full satisfaction from §§. 67.68.69.70.71 and 72 above written . And to the second , that if such Caverns should be allowed , it does not yet appear , how water should ascend to the tops of Mountains , &c. I answer first , that in case it should be admitted , that the Sea , can have no such elevated parts , as to be the cause of any Spring on the top of a Mountain , yet this hinders not but it may be of those in the Valleys ( these being as much below the surface of the sea , as the Mountains are above it ) which is as much as we contend for , it having been readily granted §. 37 that the Springs on , or near the tops of hills , if weak and weeping , may proceed from rains : But indeed if such as those mention'd § 77 ( especially that from the rock in the Isle of May , which cannot well be supposed to come from rains ) be intended in the argument , the case is more difficult , and requires secondly a more strict and direct answer ; for if all water compose it self to a Level , above which it will never ascend in a Tube or other passage , how it should thus be conveyed to the tops of Mountains , is a Question indeed worthy of Solution : which yet we find not so insuperable , but that it may be said ,

82. First , that notwithstanding it is true , that water continuing in an equal state , and vessel , ascends not naturally above its owne Level ; yet that when there is an unequal weight between the water descending and the water ascending , as there is between the salt water of the sea , and the fresh of fountains ; the former descending in large passages , and the latter ascending in tapering Tubes , diminishing into capillaries ; the sea water being presst too with a vast weight of Air which is always incumbent upon its spacious superficies : I see no reason ( these circumstances being well weighed ) but that such water may well ascend above its owne Level , so far as to issue forth from the top of the highest Mountain ; just as the Quicksilver ascends in the Tube of a Barometer by the pressure of the Air upon the stagnant poole of Mercury below . To which 2. let me add the great assistance afforded toward the performance of this work , by the constant heat in the lower Regions of the Earth , which warming the streames as they run along , there are continually riseing some vapors , or little particles of water which nimbly pass through the pores of the Earth , till they come toward its superficies in the Caverns of the Mountains , which being invironed with cold , these vapors are there condensed again into perfect water as in the head of a Cucurbit or Still ; and as Des Cartes and Dr. Stllingfleet learnedly observe , being now more gross , cannot descend again through the same pores , through which they ascended when vapors o o Ren. Des Cartes Princip. Philosoph . Part. 4. § 64. & Stillingfleeti Origin . Sacr. Lib. 3. cap. 4. , and therefore seek out some wider passages near the surface of the Earth or Mountains , through which descending obliquely , and uniting in the way with all other vapors arrested in like manner , they grow at length into a considerable body of waters , which finding a fit vent at the foot of a Mountain or any declivity , they become at length a Spring , that is perpetually maintained , by the like as perpetual Evaporations and Condensations .

83. Now that there are such hypogeal heats or Estuaries in the third Region of the Earth , which that most acute Philosopher the Honorable Robert Boyle upon good grounds places lowest , and to commence at about 80 or 100 fathom deep , is evident from the testimony of Morinus and other ingenious persons cited by the same noble Author ; who visiting the deep Hungarian mines , at the orifice of the Grooues found them temperatly warme , much as the Air above , but descending lower they felt it considerably cold , till they came to 80 or 100 fathom ; which being past , they came by degrees to warmer regions , which still increased in heat as they went deeper and deeper p p Mr. Boyles tract of the temperature of Subterraneal regions . cap. 2. : in some of these Mines Dr. Browne also acquaints us that He found it so hot at bottom , that to refresh Himself he was constrained to goe with his brest naked , though he had only Linnen cloathes on , for which reason too the Workmen , he says , were also forced to work naked q q Dr. Brownes account of his Travels into Hungary , &c. p. 90. : But I have met with such heats at a far lesser depth as may be seen in the Nat. Hist . of Oxfordshire r r Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire chap. 6. §. 61. whence I am induced to beleive that there is a great latitude to be allowed in this matter , and that the heats lye deeper or nearer the surface , according as the principles doe , from whence they proceed ; which whether from fermentations or subterraneous fires , being indifferent to my purpose , I shall not dispute ; wanting time indeed , as perhaps the Reader may patience , to attend the decision of so nice a point .

84. Moreover 3. there may be subjoyned another social cause that may contribute not a little to the elevating water above its owne Level , I meane the vast quantities of Sand , Gravel &c. through which the Sea water is percolated in the Earth , in which 't is plain from the Experiment of Magnanus , that water will ascend above its own Level s s De L' Origine des Fountains premier partie p. 125. : wherein the Reader may satisfye Himself , if he take a glass tube of an inch , or ½ inch bore or thereabout , and fill it with sand , being first stopt at bottom with a clout , and set it in a bason of water ; He shall presently see the water gradually ascend in the Sand , at least a foot higher than its superficies in the Bason , the grains of Sand wetting one another by approximation , as the threds in a filtre ; which I have found true upon frequent Experiment of it : But then indeed , as the forecited French Author objects , though I made an orifice 4 or 5 inches above the water in the Tube , and affixt a slender pipe to it , into which I also put a filtre already wet , yet I could not by these , or any other means I could think of , procure the water to make any signes of droping forth t t Ibidem seconde partie , p. 154 , 155. ; though I doe not doubt but it would , could the Experiment be so ordered as that the water might ascend in vapor , and be condensed again above , so as not to be capable of returning , as the process was shewn above , to be performed in the Earth . Not to mention that the water may ascend of it self in the ductus's of the Earth when they become capillary without further help , as we see it naturally does in capillarie Tubes * * De quibus vide Joh. Christopheri Sturmii Collegium Experiment . Tentamine 8. ; or like the sap in trees , and descend again , so as to flow forth , as in the wounded Birch .

85. But 4. waveing all that ha's hitherto been said , if the Seas at some places be higher than at others ; or at some places and times , be violently throwne up as high as any Mountains that have Springs upon them , there will be no need of makeing use of any of the former allegations , of the unequal weight of the Sea water , pressure of the Air , hypogeal heats &c. for either of these being proved , the Axiom in Hydrostaticks [ that water ascends not above its owne Level ] needs not at all be infringed , to convey water to the top of the highest Mountain , for if one Sea be not high enough to performe the feat , another may : Now that Seas at some places are higher than at others , seems not only probable from what was alleged § 20. of this Chapter to prove our Western , higher than our Eastern Sea ; but from the judgment of many ancient Mathematicians and Philosophers , such as the Grecian Architects , who affirming , as Eratosthenes relates it in Strabo , the Corinthian Sinus , to be higher than that [ the Saronic ] at Cenchreae , diverted Demetrius Poliorcetes from cutting the Corinthian Isthmus u u Strabonis rerum Geograph . Lib. 1. pag. 54. edit . Paris . An. 1620. ; Which very consideration also , that the Ionian was higher than the Aegean Sea , caused Julius Caesar , C. Caligula , and Nero , who all attempted the same thing , to desist in like manner , least the City Aegina should thereby have been drowned w w Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Geograph . & Hydrograph . Reformatae Lib. 1. cap. 16. .

86. It was upon this account too that Sesostres King of Egypt , Darius the Persian , Ptolomaeus ; and since them , the Sultans of Egypt , and the Emperors of Turky , each in their respective raignes , proceeded not in their cuting the Arabian Isthmus between the red Sea , and the Mediterranean , or Nile ; for that the red Sea being found by the Egyptian Mathematicians , to be three cubits higher than the land of Egypt , they feared an irrecoverable inundation over that Country x x Ibidem , & C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist. Lib. 6. cap. 29. . Nor have the Ancients alone been of this opinion ; for Cabaeus informes us that 't is evident even to sight , that the Ligustic Sea or Mar di Genova , is much higher than the Adriatic , to any body that stands on the mount la Bocchetta , where it is plain it seems , that the Ligustic Sea is level with a place called Serraval , whence there continues a descent to Tortona , thence lower to Pavia , and thence yet lower to Venice y y Cabaei Meteor . Lib. 1. text . 9. q. 9. & text . 73. . and Ricciolus tells us that the Fathers of the Society of Jesus informed Him , that standing upon the Mountains of the Isthmus of Panama , where they could see both the Northern and Southern Seas of America ; it was plain to them that the former near Nombre de Dios , was much higher than the latter near Panama z z Joh. Bapt. Riccioli Geog. & Hydrog . reform . Lib. 1. cap. 16. .

87. The reason of all which is , that the Bottoms of some Seas are higher than others , which is so far from a new observation , that it was taken notice of as long ago as Aristotle , who not only names several Seas that are higher than one another ( though I think Him out in his Method ) but expressly asserts the most waters to come from the North , because the Earth is highest there of any part of the World a a Aristot . Metecrolog . Lib. 2. cap. 1. : For which very reason too , both Fromondus and Van Helmont owne the Tides to run swifter from North to South , than any other way , etiam adverso vento , though the Wind be against them b b Libert . Fromondi Meteorologic . Lib. 5. cap. 1. Art. 5. ; Nay so peremptory is Van Helmont in this point , that though He allowes the Corpus Terraqueum to be round from East to West , yet He scruples not upon this account to deny it to be so from North to South , and proves it rather to be Parabolical , from the Observations of such as have sayled far North , who affirmed to Him , that they saw the Sun there a whole Month sooner than they should have done , had this united body of Earth and Sea been perfectly round ; which so much exceeding the effect of a Crepusculum , He seems justly to ascribe it to the excessive height of the Northern Regions and Seas above the more Southern , instancing particularly in the Mediterranean , and Countries about it , which He thinks to be the lowest of any c c Joh. Bapt. Van Helmont Ortus Medicinae Cap. Aqua . pag. 34.35 . edit . Venetiis An. 1651. : And perhaps indeed they may be so , the Northern Seas flowing into the Atlantic , and the Atlantic into the Mediterranean , as the Volga ( if the Caspian have any Subterraneous passage into the Euxine Sea ) Danubius , Tanais , and Boristhenes also doe , which runing through vast tracts of Land from the North , and descending all the way , most evidently demonstrate it a much lower place than the Northern Countries are , whose Seas too being so high , may well furnish the more Southern highest Mountains with Springs enough .

88. But admitting the sublunary world to be Globular , yet if its Center of Gravity be never so little removed from the Center of Magnitude , by reason of the lightness of the water on one side the Globe , in comparison of the much more weight of the Earth on the other ; the water on that side will so much exceed the highest Mountain on the other , in altitude ; i. e. will be so much further distant from the center of gravity than the top of any mountain can be , that I cannot see what should hinder but the water should ascend naturally ( waveing all other helps ) to the top of the most elevated Mountain in the World , its level being higher , i. e. more remote from the Center of gravity , than the top of any Mountain . Now if we seriously consider the terraqueous globe , we shall indeed find such an unequal distribution of Sea and land , that the Center of its gravity must needs be removed from the Center of Magnitude at least as much ( though I might say more ) as between the surface of Mare del Zur or the Pacific Sea , and the bottom of it ; that sea , if we begin on the coast of China at the 150 degree of Longitude and number to the 260th , containing very near one third part of the Globe , and the Earth the other two : so that admitting that there are but as many depths or inequalities at the bottom of this sea , as there are Mountains on the Earth opposite to it , it may easily be apprehended how it may send water to the tops of any of those Mountains .

89. Nor can it be objected that if the Center of gravity were thus removed from the center of Magnitude , the Pacific sea ( to bring them together by an equal libration ) must necessarily overflow a great part of Asia and America : for the shoars of all seas being dry sand , beach , or rocks , and somwhat higher than the rim or selvege , though lower than the gibbous bulk of its waters further off in the Main , ( not to use herein the aid of the Omnipotent power of God , who ha's set a bound to the waters that they turne not again to cover the Earth d d Psal. 104. v. 9. , and has said to the sea , hither shalt thou come and no further e e Job . 38. v. 11. ) not I say to make use of this supernatural restraint , the shoars being dry , and a little elevated above the rim of the sea , may contain it ( without violence offerd to nature ) notwithstanding its protuberance in alto mari , just as water or other liquor will be contained within the dry brims of a glass , though it be as much elevated above it , or perhaps in proportion more , than the sea need be above its shoars , to send water to the top of the highest Mountains .

90. And if the Sea considered in its quiet state ( as it has been hitherto ) may doe this , much more sure may it , in its disturb'd condition ; when the waters of it are gather'd together in a heap f f Psal. 33. v. 7. , when God works his wonders in the deep , when He raiseth the stormy wind , which lifts up the waves thereof , so that they mount up to Heaven , and goe downe again to the depths g g Psal. 107. v. 24 , 25 , 26. ; as the profane as well as inspired Poet , has also exprest it , in the midst of his troubles Me miserum quanti montes volvuntur aquarum ! Jamjam tacturos sidera summa putes . Quantae diducto subsidunt aequore valles ! Jamjam tacturas tartara nigra putes h h Pub. Ovidii Nasonis Tristium Lib. 1. Eleg. 2. . in which condition , it is very frequently in the gulfe of Lione , and the gulf de las Yeguas between Spain and the Canaries , in the Bay of Biscay , the Japan and China Seas , and near the cape of Good Hope i i Joh. Ba●t . Riccioli Geograph . & Hydrograph . reformat . Lib. 10. cap. 1. , which alone might supply water enough for the Springs on the tops of Mountains , they being but few , at least till there happen new stormes , though possibly they may have them interchangeably , which solves the difficulty better . But the Sea indeed is never at rest , haveing always its flux and reflux ; and at some places boyling up , by the ascent of hot subterraneous exhalations , like a seething pot : by one , more , or all which ways together , or else by some other yet unthought of ( useing more of them , or less , according to the condition of the place ) the Sea conveys its waters to the tops of Mountains .

91. For that Salt water some way or other does ascend in the Earth above its owne Level , I am perfectly convinced from some wells that I am assured we have in England near the sea side , which being situat on so elevated ground that their bottoms lye not near so deep as the surface of the sea , yet by some means or other are constantly supplyed with brackish water ; a thing that could hardly be , unless the salt water did ascend above its Level : Which being matter of fact is not to be disputed , though we cannot infallibly assigne the Method whereby it is done . I say is not to be disputed , at least not by such Adversaries , as allow that the sea water exhaled by the sun , is really separated not only from its fixt Salt , but volatile too , before it descends again in rain , meerly because matter of fact , though they can no more tell how nature performs it in the Air , than we can , how she does it in the Earth . Which may pass for an answer to the third branch of the Seventh Argument , which equally concludes against our Adversaries , as us ; for if it be done in the Air by a celestial distillation alone , though it cannot by an artificial ; much more should I think it might , by a subterraneous percolation and evaporation too ; it being absurd to think , says Aristotle , and the learned Lydiat , that the same thing should not as well be performed under ground as above it , by the same principles [ the power of heat k k Tho. Lydiati Disquisit . Physiolog . de origine fontium Cap. 2. in initio . ] whereof if they can give us no tolerable account , there is little reason they should expect it from us ; though 't is easy to imagin how it must needs be done , if one reflect on the many thousands of percolations and evaporations that water may receive in its passage through a mass of Earth of four or five , or perhaps of six or seven thousand miles thick .

92. And to the fourth branch of the same Argument , which requires satisfaction , why the passages through which these percolations have been made from the beginning of the world , are not long since stopt up ? it may briefly be answered that in all probability they are so far from being stopt , that 't is next to certainty that they dayly grow wider ; it being found by sad experience amongst Seamen , who when they want fresh water , sometimes percolate salt water through a Tub of Sand or earth , that though at first the water comes tolerably fresh , yet upon repeated transcolations , the passages grow so enlarged , that at last it comes forth again but little alter'd : Whence we cannot but conclude these passages in the Sea ( where the great Voragines are ) must needs by this time be so very large , that they are altogether unlikely to be any way stopt : Yet granting they should ; there is no salt , and but little Earth of so close a texture , but it will admit of percolation : Some few Clays indeed there are , and some other Earths perhaps there may be , whose parts are so fast and united that nothing will pass through them , nor is there any necessity it should , for few of these indraughts here and there intersperst , will ( and I suppose doe ) serve for this purpose ; whence it is that Springs , as the learned Dr. Stillingfleet very well observes , are not indifferently every where to be found , but only in the paticular channels wherein they are included like the blood in an Animal , which if prick't in some parts sends forth blood immediatly , but if the incision happen between the sinews , or in the more callous parts , the blood either comes not at all , or not till it be made very deep l l Stilling flecti Origin . Sacr. Lib. 3. cap. 4. .

93. Thus if you dig in some places incredibly deep , you shall hardly meet with water , whereas at another , though but a coyts cast distant , you shall find it plentifully , and near the day too ; whereof I have met with several considerable instances in this and other Countries ; particularly that at Barlaston near New castle under Lyme is very remarkable , where in the South Chancell of the Church belonging to the worthy Mr. John Bagnal , there rises a Spring whenever they have occasion to dig a grave ( notwithstanding it is always shelter'd from rains ) that quickly fills it with water ; whereas if they dig in any other part of the Church or Church-yard round about it , they find the Earth as dry as in most other places ; whereof the same Mr. Bagnal gave me a very cogent though uncomfortable Testimony from his owne Well hard by , which though 22 yards deep , had scarce any water in it in winter , much less in Summer . Thus at Tetnall also in Staffordshire upon the Hill above the Church , the Springs rise within 3 yards of the surface , whereas the Wells near the Church 20 yards below , are all betwixt 20 and 30 yards deep ; so that the Springs on the Hill , lye at least 40 yards higher than those in the Vale , though they are not distant above 200 yards . So at Longdon as well within the Church as Churchyard , though upon higher ground , the Springs lye so near , that many times the Coffins are cover'd with water , when they put them in their Graves ; whereas at the Parsonage House that stands on a much lower ground , and but just without the Church-yard wall , the well is 30 yards deep at least , and sometimes wants water . And in the Church and Churchyard of St. Michael at Lichfield , is found the same thing , though the Church stand on the very summit of a Hill ( the ground falling every way from it ) and that no small one neither .

94. But the most eminent Instance of this kind , that ever I met with in all my Travells , is at Blounts Court in the Parish of Rotherfield Pypard in the County of Oxon : where though they dug a Well on one side of the House ( as I received the account from that great Encourager of all ingenious designes , the Worshipfull Tho. Stonor of Stonor Esq Proprietor of the Place ) above 60 yards deep , yet could procure no water , it remaining a dry well to this day , 48 yards deep , 12 yards and upwards being since fill'd up with Timber and other Rubbish thrown into it ; whereupon attempting another but on the other side the House , 43 yards distant , upon higher ground , they found so plentifull a spring at 15 foot deep , that it sometimes stands ( as the forecited worthy Gent. lately sent me word ) 12 foot deep in water , though situat in a high , fast , & stony Country . Nor is the water of springs only conveyed in particular Channels , but as the blood in the veins of Animals also ascends in them , whereof we have a very remarkable inflance at Tixall in this County , where the Spring near the Church , which serves the Towne whith water , has been sometimes exsiccated , ( as I was informed by the learned and observing Gent. Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq ) when the right Honorable Walter Lord Aston has had occasion to cleanse some of the ditches in his grounds below , betwixt the River and the Towne , the water being thereby intercepted in the way , which could by no means be , unless the water did ascend thence , in such ductus's or channels up to the Towne .

95. Lastly to the fift , which requires of us , how it comes to pass that since we allow that the whole mass of Sea water may perhaps have annually past through the body of the Earth , that the Sea is not long since become fresh ? it is obvious to reply , that upon the many percolations of the Sea water through the sands and other Earths in the bottom of the Sea , the salt and grosser parts of it must needs in great measure be left immediatly there ; by which , together with the many and great rocks of natural Salt , that are here and there latent in the Sea , as well as land , and perpetually washt by its fluxes and refluxes ; all the waters poured into the Sea by the Rivers , are sated again with Salt as fast as they arrive : by the immense quantities of Salt , I say , left in the bottom of the Sea , which cannot be dissolved by the Sea water , because sufficiently impregnated with it already , but may by the freshes . Now that there is indeed such a vast quantity of Salt more in the bottom of the Sea than near the surface , is more than probable , from the much greater coldness of the Sea water at the bottom ( unless in some few places where there are hot Springs or subterrestrial Exhalations ) than near the top , as is universally verifyed by all Vrinators that have had occasion to descend thither to recover goods lost by Shipwrack , or to fish for pearl or Corall ; the cold still increasing with the depth m m Mr. Boyle of the temperature of Submarine regions Chap. 3. and 4. ; which I take as certainly to proceed from the greater quantity of Salt , as that by the help of it , every Rustic can shew the Experiment , of freezing a pot by the fire : Nor is this only found true in the lower region of the Sea , but also in our inland Salt-works , where the water is also coldest at the bottom of the pits , insomuch that when the Briners goe to cleanse them , they cannot abide in them above half an hour , though for all that time , they drink nothing but strong waters n n Philos. Transact . numb . 53. and in Mr. Collins's discourse of Salt and fishery p. 9. .

96. Beside the great quantities of Salt left at the bottom of the Sea by means of percolations , it is as certain that there are also vast rocks of natural Salt which contribute not a little to the Saltness of the Sea , and will perpetually doe so , whatever quantities of freshes may be poured into it to the end of the World : Thus the Rivers Ochus , and Oxus , as Pliny tells us , are made Salt , by great pieces or fragments of rock Salt that fall into them from the adjoyning mountains o o C. Plinii 2li , Nat. Hist. Lib. 31. cap. 7. : and all our inland brines no question are thus made by the passage of waters through inexhaustible rocks of mineral Salt , which doubtless are as frequent in the Sea , as Land ; whereof the Isle Ormus is so eminent an Example that I need add no more , it being nothing else ( as Du Hamel informes us ) but a rock of white Salt p p Joh. Bapt. Du Hamel Phys. part . 2. Tract. 2. cap. 4. , a few such instances being sufficient for the purpose , notwithstanding the boundless extent of the Sea , especicially if we consider that the Sea water is not not so salt as some imagin ; 5 or 6 gallons of it not yelding so much Salt , as one of Cheshire brine . And thus I have as breifly as so difficult a point would bear , given the grounds of my present opinion concerning the Origine of Springs , which as I have not assumed meerly out of a spirit of contradiction to other worthy Authors , but upon mature deliberation ; So I shall always be as ready , when the reasons I have brought be solidly answer'd , and more cogent ones urged to the contrary , retract it again : For I would have the Reader take notice that I write nothing dogmatically in any part of this Work ; but cum animo revocandi whenever I shall be better instructed , either by my owne , or the more accurate Observations of Others .

97. Hitherto having treated of the waters of this County , only as they have some way or other related to the matters of health , or origine of Springs : let us next consider the Rivers of this County , and then the fountains , that have any thing otherwise unusuall attending them . Amongst the former whereof , the Rivers Manyfold , and Hans alias Hamps ( two branches of the Dove ) have this remarkable in them , that they are not only ( like the Nile in Aethiopia , Tigris in Armenia q q Geo. Agricolae de Ortu & Causis subterraneorum Lib. 1. , Ganges in India r r See the map of Ganges in the English Atlas of East India . , the Rhine above Bon in Germany , the Danow in the upper Pannonia , the Po in Italy , Anas in Spain s s Geo. Agricolae de natura Eorum quae effluunt ex terra , Lib. 3. , and divers others mention'd by Seneca t t L. An. Senecae Nat. Quaest. Lib. 3. cap. 26. , Agricola , and Pictorius u u Geo. Pictorius de fluminibus miraculoses . ) swallowed up , and run under ground for about 3 miles , but have also these other peculiarities : 1. That each of them have , not one , but many Inlets ; the first that receives the Manyfold being near Wetton Mill , and the first that swallows Hamps a little below the water Houses , on the River side betwixt Waterfall and Cauldon ; both of them , when they swell so high that the first will not receive them , having divers others below at no great distances that usually doe it all the Summer . 2. That though for the most part they run under ground all the Summer , yet they doe not so in Winter ; for when their waters are so high , that all the Inlets will not suffice to swallow them , then they have Channels ( which lye dry all the Summer ) wherein like other Rivers they are conveyed above ground meeting near Beeston Torr , about ½ a Mile North of Throwley , and so runing on to Ilam , joyning the Dove a little below , North of Blore Park . And 3. though in Summer they fall into the ground at 2 miles distance , yet as above in Winter , so below in Summer , they joyne again somewhere under the great Hills through which they pass ; for we find but one exit for them both , which is a little below Mr. Ports House near Ilam Church ; unless we shall rather say , that either , or both of them , never come forth again at all , and that the Spring at Ilam may have no dependance on them ; which may be easily tryed , were Feathers thrown into the water at the Indraught of one , and Chaff ( or some other agreeable materialls ) at the other : But having no opportunity of making the Experiment my self , I recommend it to the ingenious Charles Cotton Esq and the worthy Mr. Port , next neighbours to them , who joyntly may try it with little trouble .

98. Beside , there is a Rivulet comeing from West of Broughton Chappel , and runing by Fair-oak , that two meddows below the houses , falls into the ground within Blore Park , belonging to the right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Lichfield , which but two Meddows beyond , rises again under a slat stone before it comes to Blore Pipe : This 't is true is but inconsiderable , it being but a small Rindle , and runing underground but a little way , and not very deep ; yet the greatest flood ( as I was told ) never causing it to run above ground , as Hamps and Manyfold doe , I thought it worth mentioning . To which let me add some other such waters , which though not constant , yet in all Landfloods run violently from the Hills , and are received below into rocky subterraneous passages , whereof there are two under Cauldon Low , but whither they convey the water no man knows ; and there is another such Indraught at the foot of Ribden that also swallows the Land floods , which 't is believed come out again at Criftage , but not certain ; however it be , the water that comes from Criftage , certainly falls in under a rock at the foot of Reeden , and what becomes of it after , no man knowes : of which no more , but that Ribden , Reeden &c. under which these Cryptae lye , are Hills between Ramsor and Pantons in the Dale . Nor have I more to add concerning Rivers or Rivulets but that the Manyfold is fuller of windeings ( whence doubtless it has its name ) than Maeander it self , if its turnings are no where thicker than about Palatsha , whereof the learned and ingenious Sr. Geo. Wheler ha's given us a draught w w Whelers Voyages Lib. 3. pag. 186. and 268. ; and that there are two branches of the Trent and Dane , that though they run quite contrary ways yet have their Origine from the same Spring in New poole belonging to the right worshipfull Sr. John Bowyer Baronet , one of the most chearfull Encouragers of this work , it emptying it self when full at both ends , and supplying in part both those Rivers . Which brings me next

99. To the Springs that have any thing peculiar belonging to them , whereof there is one at Park-hall in the parish of Caverswall , belonging to the Worshipfull and most obligeing Gent. William Parker Esq which not only sends so full and uninterrupted a stream , that it drives a Mill within less than a bows shoot , but also makes such a noise in its Exit , that it may be heard at some distance without any difficulty ; these Springs the Germans call Bolderbourns , whereof because I have given an account already in the Hist. of Oxfordshire x x Nat. Hist. of Oxford sh. Chap. 2. §. 21. with the reason of the noise , I forbear it here . And proceed to another Spring of a more unusual kind , which riseing very plentifully from under a rock in the ground of Mr. Tho. Wood between over and nether Tene , on the West side of the River , and called the Well in the Wall , produces all the year round , except in July and August ( as I was assured by the Proprietor of it ) small bones of different sorts and sizes , most of them like the bones ( as the people will have it ) of young Sparrows or very young Chicken , some of them like pinneon bones , others like thigh bones near two inches long , but of these but few ; most of them being but an inch , or inch and halfe long ; some few indeed there are like rib bones , but these also very rare : they break like bone , being all of them ( except those like ribs ) hollow , and seeming to have had marrow in them ; and are sometimes so plentifull ( about the fall of the leaf ) that as Mr. Wood seriously told me , He had often seen near half a peck of them at a time .

100. Mr. Camden in his Britannia tells us of just such another Well near Richards Castle in the County of Hereford , which is always full , says He , of litle fishes bones ; or as some rather think , of small frog bones , though they be from time to time drawn ●●●te out of it y y Mr Camdens Britannia in Herefordshire . , whence it has justly merited the name of Bone-well , as ours might as well have done , from the multitude of such bones most times found in it . What bones they should be , whether of frogs or other Animals I could not indeed presently determin , because the Bones of the other parts , of the head , back &c. were here wanting , nor could I imagin the reason of it , nor what should have become of them ; till comeing in Aug. An. 1681. to the Worshipfull Leveson Gower's at Trentham Esq I found several Frogs , in the Fountain in the Garden lying dead at the bottom of the Bason , and the fleshy parts of most of them so consumed that there was nothing left but the Skeletons of them ; the Cartilaginious parts of the head &c. in some of them yet remaining , but in others quite consumed ; which comparing with the bones , I had from Tene , I not only found them to be frogs bones , but also quickly apprehended the whole process of Nature in the manage of the business , viz. that Frogs in July and Aug. being in a declining condition , doe creep into such Caverns of rocks , as whence this Spring comes , and are there kill'd by the excessive coldness of the water ; and not only their fleshy but gristley parts too , there consumed as soon at least as the ligaments that hold the leg and rib bones together , which are the only parts solid enough to resist the dissolving power of the water : Whence it is that we meet only with these at the mouth of the Spring , and no others , brought out by the violence of the water , and in the most plentifull manner about the fall of the leaf , quickly after the death and dissolution of these Animals ; which being taken away , there come forth gradually fewer every Month all the year after , the whole stock being usually spent about 2 Months before the return of the year , which is the occasion that there are none , or very few , to be found there in the Months of Iuly and August .

101. Another sort of Springs I have met with in this County , that have this yet more surprizing Quality with them ; that though they are all cold , yet never will freez in the hardest weather ; such is the Spring that feeds the Millpool at Overholm near Leek , and the Spring which serves the Mill at Tittensor , whence it is that the Mills of both those places , never fail of goeing in the severest frosts : There are Springs also about Hynts that doe not freez , nor will the standing pooles that have these Springs in them : Thus Clayers pool in the Corner of the Park at Enfield never freezes in the hardest winter , being fed by a Spring ( comeing out of a spout ) called Shadwell , under which though cold ( as I was seriously inform'd by a very worthy person ) if you set a vessel of water frozen , it will certainly thaw it . Of this sort both Cardan and Varenius inform us , there is not only a River but a great Lake too in Scotland , that have this strange quality . In Scotia Lacus est & fluvius Nessa , qui calidus quidem non est , nunquam tamen frigore congelatur z z Bernh . Verenii Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 7. ; and the waters of the Chalybeat Spring I mention in my Hist: of Oxfordshire that did not freez in the hard winter An. 1676 ( when all the Rivers were frozen up ) but continued open and smoking all the time , was as cold notwithstanding as any water whatever . Now what these waters should have in them , that should thus prevent freezing 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , none but the industrious shall ever find . Cardan I know attributes the not freezing of the River and Lake Nessa , to the great abundance of bitumen ( which He says is hotter than salt ) found in those waters ; which if true , perhaps indeed may solve the difficulty in that instance , for Experience teaches us that no oleagenous substances will easily freez , and some of them never a a Hieron . Cardani de rerum Varietate . Lib. 1. cap. 7. :

102. But I doe not remember I must confess that any of the Staffordshire or Oxfordshire waters seemed to carry with them any signe of a Bitumen , or any other oily substance : Much rather therefore should I think them accompanied with some fine insensible fumes of Spirit of Niter or other Salt , prepared by a more subtile Chymistry in the bowells of the Earth , that might doe this feat ; for we find that the Spirits of Niter and Salt will neither of them freez b b Mr. Boyle's Hist. of Cold , Tit. 3. ; and that their fumes are not hot c c Mr. Boyle's Tract of the temperature of Subterraneal Regions chap. 9. . Or else that their freezing is p●●●●ented by some unknown fermentation ( made by some cer●●●n salts ) which may produce coldness , as others doe heat : For that there are cold fermentations as well as hot , is evident from a mixture of the Honorable Robert Boyle's , that emitted steams plentifully enough ; of whose being rather of a cold than hot nature , He says there was this ( though he might have said more than ) probability , that the mixture whence they ascended , even whilst its component ingredients were briskly acting on one another , was not only sensibly , but considerably cold . Which too has been made most evident by my worthy Friend Dr. Fred. Slare , by mixing a volatile Salt of human blood , and Spirit of Verdigrease ; which though they make so high an ebullition , that they take up much more room than before , and will not be contain'd in shallow vessels , yet produce a cold sensible to the touch , and most conspicuous on the weather glass d d Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 150. . And as these will not freez by reason of a cold fermentation there may be in them , so there are others that will not upon account of a hot one ; whence it is that our Bathes are always open , for that ' t is most probable they are all heated by fermentations , I think is sufficiently evinced by Monsieur de Rochas and the ingenious du Hamel e e Joh. Bapt. Du Hamel de Fossilibus Lib. 2. cap. 3. : But of these there are none here very considerable ; a little Spring there is indeed near Beresford house ( which though dry in the Summer ) in the winter time flowes forth briskly , is repid , and in the Extremity of frost and Snow smoaks like a Pot , upon which account I suppose ' t is , they call it Warm-wall . And I was told of another at Hynts by the Worshipfull Matthew Floyer Esq that in the Winter Season was sensibly Warme . But these being so mean and inconsiderable in their kind , that 't is not worth while to give an account here what salts or other Minerals they be , that most likely may cause fermentations sufficient to produce such heats as we find in some waters , I therefore pass them by ( though I think I know them pretty well ) and proceed next

103. To the salts that make the salt-springs in divers parts of this County , ; Amongst which the most considerable are those at the Brine-pits in the parish of Weston , belonging to the right Honorable Robert Lord Ferrers Baron of Chartley not far distant ; which ancient seat of the Ferrers's of Chartley , his Lordships great and noble Ancestors , is here justly placed Tab. 5. as a thankfull remembrance of his Lordships munificence in promoting this work . The Salt Springs I say that are most worthy notice , are those of the Brine-pits , made so no doubt by a Mineral Salt there is , that their waters pass through not long before their Exit : Which though not very strong ( by reason of the poverty or hardness of the glebe of salt , or it s somwhat too great a distance from the Pits ; so that either the water cannot easily dissolve it , or if it doe , its weakned again by the way ) yet they make as good white salt for all uses perhaps as any is in England , though not to so great advantage indeed as in Worcestershire and Cheshire ; where at Vpwich and Middlewich the brine is so strong , that they yield a full fourth part of Salt ; and at Northwich and Namptwich a sixth f f Philosoph . Transact . Numb . 53. & 142. ; whereas here in Staffordshire it affords but a ninth ; three Hogsheads of brine ( without giving it the advantage of the brine left in the bottom of a former Pan , which is commonly done to make it work the better ) scarce yielding a strike of salt ; but with the help of that brine at first , and five times filling the Pan , they usually procure nine strike , i. e. 15 Hogsheads of brine , makes nine strike of salt , which is 16 hours in evaporating away .

104. The Pit from whence they pump this brine , is nine yards deep , and two square , that which comes from the bottom being much the stronger both in Saltness and stink , and of a clearer complexion ; that on the top having contracted a yellowishness , I suppose from the freshes that now and then break into it notwithstanding all care : And the Pans wherein they boyle it are three in number , made of forged Iron , 2 yards ¾ long , and , 1 yard ¾ broad , and their fuel Pit-coale ; whereof when the Pans are all kept going , they spend two Tuns to a drawing . Dureing the boyling of the brine the salt is cleared from sand , of which there is some ( at least will be after it has exhaled for some time ) in all brines whatever ; which is thrown off ( the fire acting most violently upon the middle of the Pan ) towards the Corners of it , where are placed small square Iron pans to receive it , this brine which is evaporating so long , yielding ordinarily from the five fillings , 10. Pans of Sand , each of them weighing ten pounds , i. e. in all 100 pounds of sand ; which is above one fourth of as much sand as salt , allowing a bushel of salt to weigh about 50 pounds . About 3 hours before the Evaporation is finish't , i. e. before they begin to draw ( at the fift filling ) they clarify the brine with the white of one Egg , which being broken into a bucket , and mixt both with cold , and some of the hot brine ; by the motion of the hand is brought into a Lather , and gently sprinkled all over the Pan ; Where upon there presently appears a scum , that thickens by degrees as the impurities rise , which thus catch't and detained , I suppose by the viscosity of the white of the Egg ; before the brine boiles again , is drawn over the side of the Pan with a thin oblong square board , fixt to a staff or handle , call'd a Loot or Lute .

105. After the scum is taken off , they boile it again gently till it begin to Corne , which that they may have done according to desire , if they intend a large Corne , and have but little time to let it corne by a gentle fire of it self , they put into it about the quantity of a quart of the strongest and stalest Ale they can get , which cornes it greater or smaller according to the degree of its staleness : Or if they would have it finer than it usually cornes of it self , they either draw it with a quick fire , which will break the cornes small , or sprinkle the surface of the brine with fine wheat floore , which will make the salt almost as sine as the sand which comes from it ; which being both the finest and whitest that I ever saw any , it gives me reason to suspect that it may be of admirable use in the makeing of glass . But ( to return again to the matter in hand ) during the time of its corning they generally slacken their fire , supplying the furnace now , rather with the Sinder of the Coale ( which is the smaller sort of it fallen into the Ashes and gotten from them with a Seive ) than the coal it self ; this giving the brine a gentle heat without flame , and corning it better than a forcible fire , which ( as I said above ) breaks it small : Quickly after it has spent some time in corning , they begin to draw , ie , to take the corned salt from the rest of the brine with their Loot or Lute , which they put into wicker baskets they call Barrows , made in a Conical form , and set the bottom upwards , each containing a bushell ; through these being set in the Leach-troughs , the salt drains it self dry in 3 hours time , which draining they call their Leach-brine , and choicely preserve it here to be boiled again , it being stronger brine than any in the Pit.

106. This draught of the corned Salt continues here for about six houres , and is performed gradually , the Salt-workers getting first about two bushells or Barrows full , then by a gentle fire they corne it again , in half an hour , for the three first pair of Barrows , but afterwards not under an hour , the brine being then thinner , and the Pan cooler : They doe not evaporate all the brine out of the Pan , but leave some in the bottom towards the next filling ; which together with the addition of the Leach brine , heightens the weak liquor , and much advances and facilitates the following operation . After the Barrows are fully drained , they are removed into the hot-house , behind the Saltern to dry , and are set over the brick conveyance of the flame from under the Pans to the tunnel of the Chimney ( which passage for that purpose is made about six or seven yards long ) where after they have continued for 24 hours , the Salt will become so dry , that it is fit for carriage , or publick sale .

107. And this is the tedious process of making of Salt in this County , which though much more chargeable than in Worcestershire or Cheshire , where they spend not ordinarily above half the time or fire ( nor need they above a quarter ) of what the great quantity of brine they must use here , necessarily requires for its evaporation ; yet it s being always clarifyed with Eggs , and not with bullocks blood , as it is most commonly in Cheshire , which gives the Salt an ill colour and savour ; and its being better cleared from Sand by long boiling than either Cheshire or Worcestershire Salts are ; have given it such a reputation amongst considering Men , that the Vndertaker is incouraged still to prosecute the work : Which perhaps might be improved to better advantage , were the brine either ripen'd on Clay before boyling , or laved on hovels cover'd with Mats , made of reeds straw or flaggs , as they serve a weak brine they have at Halle in Saxony ; which by being ventilated in the Air , and percolated through the Mats , as we are assured by the Honorable Robert Boyle Esq g g Mr Collins's discourse of Salt and Fishery . p. 7. is so beneficially exhaled and enrich't by the Sun , that were ours served so , no doubt a great part of the Expence of coales ( if not time ) might be saved .

108. Beside the salt above mention'd , they have another sort , that dureing the Operation grows to the bottoms of the Pans , which they are forced to scale thence with an instrument call'd a picker : This at the Seals at Droyt-witch they term Clod-salt , and is there the strongest salt of all , being used to salt Bacon and Neats tongues , which it makes redder that any other salt , and renders the fat of Swine close and firm , though fed with Mast : The Women also put it in their Runnet pots , it makeing ( as they say ) the best Cheese : And upon the scales of it laid upon the coales , the Brine-men and others will broil their meat h h Ibidem p. 9. But I could not find it put to any of these uses at this Staffordshire work , nay so insignificant was it here , that they had no name for it , nor told they me any thing concerning it , but that once in three weeks or thereabout they scaled it off their Pans ; and indeed it seems here to deserve little more , for whatever it may be in Worcestershire , upon examination I found it here very weak , and to consist much more of sand than salt , which doubtless is the cause that it will not dissolve in fresh water , though it ha's salt in it .

109. And thus I had done with the Brine pits of this County , but that upon a hint given me by the worthy Mr Collins in his accurate discourse of Salt and Fishery , that the great quantities of sand which we find in all brines , is not in the brine before it is boiled , but produced by a sort of petrification dureing the Evaporation i i Ibidem p. 52. , I thought not fit to pass by so odd a Phaenomenon , but to examin whether this ( as He says all brines may ) could be strained through a most pure fine Holland of eight foldings , and yet no symptoms of any sand left behind in the Filtre : Wherein ( being now at a great distance my self ) I was bold to request the most ready assistance of that carefull Observer the Learned Walter Chetwind of Ingestre Esq who together with his ingenious Chaplin Mr. Charles King M. A. and Student of Ch. Ch. were so strict and nice in makeing the Experiment that to the eight folds of fine Holland , they added as many more of fine Cambrick , through which though they strained a whole bottle full of brine , yet found nothing left in this very close Colander , but a little black dust ; which they imputed only to the foulness of the water , it appearing nothing like sand , either to the touch , or in the Microscope .

110. Yet notwithstanding this Experiment , upon further tryal , they had good grounds given them strongly to suspect , that the sand must needs be in the brine before , and not produced in the boiling ; For having carefully observed it with an excellent Microscope before they strained it , though they mist of the sand , yet they found ( what they expected not ) a great multitude of very minute Animals ( much smaller than those that are in pepper water ) swiming about in it , and withall a very many small transparent plates , some of them a little bigger , and some less than the insects , and all of them of a rectangular oblong figure : Yet both these and the Animalcules so very small , that they all pa'st through the Holland and Cambrick though of 16 folds . For viewing the brine again after it was strane d , they found them swiming as thick in it then , as before : But at this they did not wonder , because the pores of the Holland did appear in the Microscope ( though it was extreamly fine ) to be at least twenty times greater than either the Animalcules or plates ; yet these they judged to be the component particles both of the Sand and Salt , which as the brine exhaled in boiling , only gather'd together , and made greater cornes of each .

111. Wherein they were confirmed by looking with the Microscope upon some of the strong brine that dropt from the Barrows when the Salt was first put in , which appearing full of those oblong particles , as they looked upon them they could sensibly perceive them to gather together , and club to make greater bodies , till at last they appear'd as the water dryed off the glass , as bigg and not unlike a large Table-diamond : Which made them think that the Sand too , might probably be produced after the same manner , it being very white , and seeming nothing else to them ( pardon the expression ) but an insipid Salt , whose parts are not so sharp and pointed as the other , but rounder and blunter , and consequently not so pungent on the Tongue . To clear which point I endeavourd to dissolve some of the sand again in fair water , to see whether I could discover any of its principles , but without success , the parts of the Sand being so inseparably fixt that it would by no means dissolve ; I also tryed the Salt , which though it dissolved , yet would not render it self again into plates : so that I can only add , that as it seems to be pretty certain that the Salt is made out of the oblong plates , so it is very agreeable to the Method of Nature , in the production of the gravelly Caddis-houses in the Nat. Hist . of Oxfordshire k k Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap. 7 §. 25. , that the Sand should also be produced of those minute bubbles ( that move like Animals in pepper water , yet perhaps are nothing so ) which being of a glutinous nature and sit to receive the Terrestrieties of the brine , may be easily harden'd into sand , by the power of heat .

112. Beside the Salt Springs above mention'd there are other weak brines that gently rise out of the earth about Enson , St. Thomas , and in the parish of Ingestre , in a ground called the Marsh belonging to the much Honored Walter Chetwynd Esq where the brine of it self breaks out above ground , and not only frets away the Grass , but the very earth also , so that it lies in a plash half a foot lower than the turf all about it , just as a sort of weak brine is said to do in some boggy places at Nantwich and Droytwich l l Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 53 & 142. : Now if such weak brines spontaneously issuing forth of the earth , are indicative ( as good reason they should ) of much stronger , deeper in the earth , as they are at the Townes above mention'd : what might one suspect in the Marsh at Ingestre ? where the subterraneous brine is so strong , that the Cattle standing in it in Summer time and throwing it on their backs with their tails , the Sun so candies it upon them that they appear as if covered with a hoar frost . In Pensnet Chase South from Dudley about a mile and half there is another weak brine belonging to the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward , of which his Lordship once attempted to make Salt ; but the brine proving to weak , He thought fit to desist , though possibly it might have been advanced to profit by the Art of tunnelling much used in Cheshire to keep out the freshes . In Newbold grounds about midway between Burton and Braunston there are also Salt-Springs , where one Mr. Fownes about 10 years since ( then owner of the Lands ) attempted to make Salt ; but the mixture of the freshes proved so univoidable to Him , that his laudable endeavours were also frustrated .

113 Between blew-Hills and Clusterburyedg , about ½ a mile from Over-Holm in the parish of Leek , I met with a stream comeing out of a Sough belonging to the Coale-Mine in blew-Hills , as Salt as any of these , tingeing the stones and earth all along as it runs of a rusty colour , and the button moulds of the poor people ( who employ themselves here much in making of buttons ) of a black colour ( especially if made of Oak ) in half an hours time : with the least infusion of powder of Galls , it presently turned as black as Ink : all which shewed it to be a strong Vitriolic water . Yet endeavouring to evaporat severall Gallons of it away in a Iron pot , I could procure no Salt ; which beside the tincture it gave the stones , evidently convinced me that it held some quantity of the mineral of Iron ; it being certain that a Salt water which contains any Metall in it , cannot be sodden to Salt in a vessel of the same Metall which it self contains , except Vitriol in Copper Vessels m m Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 7. p. 128. : Wherefore procuring about the quantity of six wine-quarts , by the assistance of the Worshipfull Tho. Rudyerd Esq Proprietor of the place , to be boyled away in an agreeable Vessel , there remained about ¾ of an ounce of a strong vitriolic ferrugineous salt ; though I cannot but think it must also contain somwhat of Copper ; for after solution , filtration , and evaporation , so far only as to be set to shoot , it would tinge my knife , being put into it , of a copper colour , just like Hungarian or Cyprian Vitriol , which our common English Vitriol , though sated with Iron , will by no meanes doe .

114. That Petrifications arise from the coalition of minute , though obutse parts of salt , having been fully shewed already in Oxfordshire , with the several Species and Methods nature uses in the production of them n n Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire chap. 2. from §. 23. to 31. ; I shall add no more here but that they belong to this place : Nor indeed do the waters of this County that have this quality deserve any great matter of consideration , those in Cunsall woods , and below the Iron Mills on the River Churnet , and that in Pensnet Chase about ½ a mile eastward from Bromley in the parish of Kingswinford , onely incrustating sticks and the fibers of moss with a gravelly kind of stone : The best of this kind being performed by a sulphureous sort of water ( as I believe most are ) in some grounds of the right Honorable Robert Lord Ferrers , about midway betwixt Sandon and Gayton , where the branches of the Moss are so delicatly petrifyed , that its forme is preserved even in the capillary parts . The best I say , unless the hard stone found in Church-Eyton Lordship , by my hospitable Friend Mr. Walter Jennings , Rector of the place ( which pretty well shews indeed the grain of the wood ) should be a petrification , it being beside two inches thick , and must be ( if at all ) a petrification per minima .

115. Having done with the salt , and Petrifying waters ; come we next to those of Medicinal use ; that have , are , or may be taken inwardly , or applyed outwardly , for the prevention or cure of divers distempers : such was anciently the water of the Well of St. Erasmus ( to begin with the sulphureous oleagenous waters ) in the grounds of the Worshipful Walter Chetwynd Esq which was of so great esteem for merly , that there was a Chappel built near it , and I think endowed by some of that ancient Family ; where the offerings were so considerable that the Rector of Ingestre ( in whose parish it is ) yet pays at this day for the Dismes of them , more than for the profits of the whole parish beside , notwithstanding its Revenew with all other such Lands given to pious uses , were taken into the Kings hands at the Reformation , and the Chappel be now demolished , and all applications thither long since ceased . Though I doubt not but the water remains as good and might be as beneficial as ever it was ; for notwithstanding it lyes now wholy neglected , and overgrown with weeds , yet the water is still clear , and so exactly of the colour of Sack , that compared with it ( in the judgment of several Honourable persons that were at the tryal ) they were indistinguishable to the Eye , which is its only Characteristic wherein it sensibly differs from other waters , it having no very eminent either smell or tast : So that what should be the ingredients to give it this colour , proved hard to be found , without the tryal of many , and those very nice Experiments .

116. For having assayed it with the infusion of powder of Galls , the solutions of Vitriol , Tartar , and sublimat ; the Spirits of Niter , Vrin , &c. ( as well alcali's as acids ) yet none of them would either stir it or change its colour , but a solution of Saccharum Saturni , and Syrup of Violets ; whereof the former did precipitat its yellow colour to the bottom , leaving the water above , white and limpid ; and the latter changed the amber to a grass-green colour . Beside upon distillation of about 3 pints of it in a glass body and head , when about a moyety of it was come over in clear water , in the remainder there plainly appeared to the naked Eye an ineffable number of blewish shining films or plates flooting about in it , which were of so thin and curious a substance , that they could not by any means be so separated from the water , as to remain visible upon any other body , nor indeed had I then any other means whereby to examin them .

117. But since the ingenious contrivance of those sort of Microscopes whereby we see the Animals in pepper water , and by the help whereof the worthy Mr. Chetwynd hath so happily discovered such thin plates in the brine of the Salt-works not far from this well , I am inclined to believe these come from Salt too , and that the Minerals wherewith this water is impregnated , are Salt and Sulphur , notwithstanding the little tast or smell it has ; and the rather because the brine that spontaneously issues forth above ground in the Marsh aforementioned §. 111. is but a little way from it in the same Gentlemans Estate ; and why may there not as well be a sulphureous glebe too ? which being fretted away by the incisive particles of the Salt , may be brought away with them in the waters , as invisible as the particles of any Metall dissolved in its proper Menstruum , only imparting the colour , as Gold does to the water , in the preparation of the Crocus or Tincture of Gold o o N. Lemery's Course of Chymistry . chap. 1. : Which Salt and Sulphur in all probability do so involve one another , that their mutual embraces hinder the exertions of each others vertues , i. e. the Sulphur by its viscidity , does so flatten the edges , and so sweeten the pungency of the Salt ; and the Salt on the contrary so condense and lock up the volatility of the Sulphur , that notwithstanding the great quantity of both in this water , yet it sends forth no very smart , either smell or tast .

118. Which may also be the reason that though Salt and Sulphur be both Acids , yet this water seems impregnated with an alcalizat Salt ; the acrimony of its Salt being so close lock't up by the viscous particles of the Sulphur , and render'd so dull and unactive , that it seems to have nothing of the power of an acid : Whence it came to pass that it lather'd well with Soap , and would not turn milk ; having not pungency enough to insinuat it self into the pores of the alcalizat Salt in the Soap , nor astringency so to compress the pores of the Milk , as thereby to cause any precipitation . Whence also it came to pass , that having put on the vizor of a fixt Alcali , with Syrup of Violets it gave a green tincture ; and its yellow colour was precipitated by a solution of Saccarum Saturni , the acidity of the distill'd Vinegar ( used in the preparation of that Salt ) acting upon the Salt of this water as an Alcali , and so opening its parts , as to force it to let go the sulphur it so closely embraced ; and yet no other acid ( I could think of ) would doe it but this ; whence we may reasonably conclude that the edges of all acids are not alike , but some better fitted for the opening of one body , and some of another .

119. Near Codsall-wood there is such another Sulphur well , but the Salt and Sulphur not so equally mixt in the water , for though the Sulphur have so sufficiently rebated the acidity of the Salt , as to render it wholy as unactive as an Alcali , so that it lathers well with Soap , will not turn milk , and gives a green tincture with Syrup of Violets ; yet the salt is too weak to lock up or restrain the volatility of the Sulphur ; for it always emits a sulphureous smell ; but in winter , and sometimes against rain , the odour is so strong , that with advantage of the wind , one may smell it now and then at least 20 yards off : nay so volatile is it , and so little restrained , that set over the fire , it flyes away so fast , that the water quickly looses its smell , I tryed it with Galls and Oke leaves , with the solutions of sublimat and Tartar , and with severall Acids ; but none of them would either throw downe the Sulphur , or change its colour , but spirit of Vrin ; which turned it of a faint redish colour like Champane wine : perhaps a solution of Saccarum Saturni might have made a precipitation ; had I any with me , or known the secret .

120. The water of this well is much clearer then that at Ingestre , and yet is most certainly sated with sulphureous particles ; for about 40 or 50 years since , some persons hereabout curious of knowing whence such waters should come , both dug and boared the ground near adjoyning , and met with a sort of mineral Earth that crash't in the boaring ( as some of the described it ) like rotten wood ; which being carryed to London was found sulphureous , and I suppose must needs be the native sulphur , depauperated of its richest particles by the incisive atoms of the Salt , and left so spungy that ( as some of them told me ) it would swim on the water . This water was accounted in ancient times ( when Leprosies were frequent ) a soveraign Remedy for such as were troubled with that foule distemper , for whose better accommodation , there was a house built near it , which retains to this day the name of the Leper-house ; and is in use at present against Scabs and Itch , both in Man and Beast , purging both by Seige and urin , and not only raking the body within , but most effectually driving forth all ill humors ; It also sometimes vomits according to the constitution of the Patient : They commonly drink about 3 quarts at a time , less scarce working ; except by vomit , where it meets with weak stomacks . The Inhabitants hereabout brew their drink with this water , especially at that they call the Brimstone Alehouse ; and boyle their meat with it ; upon which 't is observed , that none of them are ever troubled either with Scabs or Itch , or such like Cuticular diseases .

121. But the water that carrys with it the most rectifyed Sulphur is that of the well in Willowbridg Park , it being hardly visible in the water it self , which appears ( not like others ) of a yellow , but a clear Chrystalline colour , only on the sides of the glasses , after they have been used a while , one my perceive ( with good attention ) a bright oilyness , which is so volatile that upon distillation it came over before the water , as volatile Spirits do , and then ( being embodyed ) was of a bright yellow : to which putting a few drops of solution of sublimat , it presently turned of a deep Sack-colour , whereby it seemed like the other waters ( the Salt being rebated by the viscosity of the Sulphur ) to have somewhat of a Lixiviat Salt with it ; but so very weak , that it made this deep yellow instead of the Orange tauny precipitat . Upon which account it was too ( that like the other Sulphur waters ) it latherd well with Soap , would not turn milk , nor would the crude water with Syrup of Violets turn either of the red or green colour , though we know there is an acid in it , that puts on the Nature of an Alcali ; Nor could I procure the least signe of any Salt , though I evaporated divers Gallons of it away , so subtile are the Salt and sulphur , wherewith this water is impregnated .

122. The crude water indeed would answer to nothing but the infusion of solution of saccharum Saturni , which inclined me to think it of the same nature with the sulphur water of Ingestre , only impregnated with much finer and more subtile steams ; though the effect in this was quite different from that : for instead of precipitating the sulphureous particles , this only turned the whole body of the water , first of much such a blew-yellowish colour as is made by the infusion of the chips or shaving of Nephritic wood in common water , which after a while faded into a muddy white . A Phaenomenon I must confess much more unaccountable , than the means whereby it cures so many diseases , which most certainly it performes by its balsamic virtue , and great subtilty and volatility , easily permeating the closest texture , and most unaccessible parts of the body , when once heated by the stomack if taken inwardly , or but by the external heat of the skin if applyed outwardly by way of Bath ; for so sensible is it of the least heat ( as I plainly saw in distilling it in a glass body and head ) that its oil or sulphur came over the Helm upon the first heat , and was all in the Recipient before the least drop of water appear'd . How extensive its sanative virtue may be , indeed is hard to determin , but I dare pronounce it proper , wherever the syrup of Diasulphur of the famous Dr. Willis has been so successfully administered ; though if one might take an estimat from the many attested Cures it has done , it comes as near a Panacea as any Medicin in the World p p Fons Sanitatis , from p. 9. to 36.

123. Of which water there is so great plenty , that I computed no less than 60 springs of it , of a most uninterrupted profluence ( whereof enough §. 57 of this Chapter ) all riseing within the space of 10 yards square , in Willow-bridg Park , the Propriety of the right Honorable Digby Lord Gerard of Gerards Bromley , a most noble Patron of this Work ; whose stately Seat at Bromley within two Miles and ½ , the most magnificent Structure of all this County , is here gratefully placed Tab: 6. The Property I say of these Wells is in this Noble Lord , but at present they are held in Ioynture by His most accomplisht Mother , the right Honorable Jane Lady Gerard Baroness Gerard of Gerards Bromley , by whose most exquisite sagacity and perspicacious insight into the most hidden recesses of Nature , the restorative virtues of these waters were first discovered ; and at whose charitable expence , several of the Springs have been inclosed with squared stone , to preserve them pure and fit both for bathing and drinking ; and divers appartments built for lodging the poorer sort of diseased impotent people : So that 't is hard to determin whether the World stands more indebted to this Honorable Lady's Philosophical , or Theological virtues ? Whether to Her knowledg as first finder , or Her Piety , as founder of these Sanative Wells .

124. I say Sanative Wells , for ( whatever some may talk ) most certain it is that divers strange unaccountable Cures have been here performed ; and more there might be , were these waters attended ( as some others are ) with a skillful Physitian , to prepare the body before hand , direct the use of the waters , and how to order the body after drinking or bathing : The success of useing Medicinal waters depending much upon Method , as my Lord Bacon well observes it is with some other Medicines , which unadvisedly administer'd will doe no Cures , but orderly applyed , produce geat ones q q Nat. Hist. Cent 1. Experiment 60. . Nor let any Man wonder that there should be any such thing as a cold Sulphur Bath ( as some have done ) since Baccius informes us of divers such in Italy , and elswhere r r Andr. Baccii de Thermis Lib. 4. cap. 15. ; and Wernherus tells us that there are salutares frigidae in the Kingdom of Hungary s s Geo. Wernberus de admirandis Hungariae aquis p. 69. ; Much less that there should be waters holding an oily substance and salt together , as this , and the two other mention'd above are said to doe . Since Cardan teaches us that Sal Terrae , by which I suppose he means mineral salt ( such as which perhaps this water may wash in its passage ) does always partake of sulphur , and holds much oile in it , and that in some parts of the Indies they procure their oile from salt : Whence he concludes too , that it comes to pass , that the Olive Tree flourishes best near the sea side , salsum enim solum non leviter pingue est , for that a saltish soil most commonly is fat and unctuous t t Hieron . Cardani de subtilitate Lib. 5. p. 285 , 286. edit . Basil. 1582. .

125. With whom also agrees our great Master Aristotle 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. e. that fatness always accompanys a salt juice , whereof ( says he ) we have this certain signe , that in hot weather an oile may be separated from it u u Aristotelis Preblematum Sect. 23. quaest. 9. . Again , that the sea-water yields an oile , we have also the testimony of the same great Philosopher , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . i. e. that oile is gotten out of sea brine w w Ibidem , quaest. 15. . Nay so frequently are oiles found joyned with salts , that none of them will mix with water per minima ( as they doe in those above mentioned ) without a fixt salt , as we see it does not in soap , from which as soone as ever the salt is sequester'd , the oil , parts from the water , and swims at top ; whereas whil'st joyned with it , Salt exercises so absolute a dominion over oile , that it will carry it along with it through all the parts of water , and therefore is said by the Philosopher 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , to be as it were a subject to it x x Ibidem , quaest. 32. . Which is all can well be said concerning this matter , and I hope the Reader expects no more : I shall only therefore add that such oily springs are not so very rare , but that there are of them , in Italy , Sicily , Zante , Saxony , Schwabenland , and in divers other places mentioned by Pliny y y Plinii Nat. Hist . Lib. 31. cap. 2. , Baccius z z Baccii de Thermis , Lib. 5. cap. 15. , Cardan a a Hieron Cardani de subtilitate , Lib. 2. p. 176. , and Varenius b b Bernh . Varenii Geograph . Gen. Lib. 1. cap. 17. prop. 8. , and as Paulus Venetus tells us near Arzinga in Armenia , and as Athenaeus , at Nissa in the Province of Megaris in Greece , upon the Saronic sinus .

126. Beside these , there are other sulphur waters at many other places in this County , though not so clear and well concocted as these ; being generally thick , of a blewish colour , and emitting unpleasant fetid odours , like the sulphur well at Knarsbrough in Yorkshire ; because proceeding I suppose rather from a crude Bitumen , than a well digested sulphur : Such is that at Tatenhil on the high way side near the pound , which in the summer time ( if undisturbed by fowle ) has been observed to lay downe a sediment almost of all sorts of colours ; and might possibly have the same use that other stincking spaws have , were it but kept clean . And so might that stinking water which crosses Watlingstreet way , not far from Horsebrook , and another of this kind betwixt Willenhall and Bently , could it be kept from a mixture with other water . There is another of these in a watery Lane not far from Eccleshall , and I was told of another near Hartley green , beside that , which also petrifyes , between Sandon and Gayton mentioned §. 113 of this Chapter . And there is another at Butterton in the parish of Mathfield by How-brook side , which like the Baths of Banca in Hungary will tinge silver of a blackish colour in an hours time c c Dr. Brownes travells into Hungary , &c. p. 87. .

127. There are other sulphur waters in this County that have a Vitriol joyned with them , whereof there is one in a ditch in the Park Meddow under Broughton Park pale , and another at Monmoore green near Wolverhampton , both which will strike with Galls , of so deep a red , that they become after a while of a blewish , and at last almost of a blackish colour . And I was shewed another at Grindlestone edge about a quarter of a mile Eastward of Horton Church , that though it turned red both with Galls and Oak-leaves , yet took Soap well enough , whence it plainly appear'd though it were impregnated with an Acid , yet its edges were so flattened by the viscosity of some sulphur , that it could not act its part upon Soap , as such . Nor indeed met I with any water purely Vitriolic , but only one in Needwood-Forrest , about a mile and ½ South easterly from Hanbury , which with Oak-leaves or powder of Galls turned of a faint red like Champane wine , and seemed to be much like that at Astrop in Northamptonshire , and Worton in Oxfordshire , only scarce so strongly impregnated with the mineral . I was told ( I must confess ) of another at Burslem near Newcastle under Lyme , but finding upon tryal that it would not strike with Galls , though several that stood by , testifyed they had seen it do it , at another time ; yet I choose to pass it by : Or at most can but refer it to that sort of water mentioned in Oxfordshire , that in winter time will turne with Galls , but not in summer , whither I also refer the Reader ( if it be found to doe so ) for the reason of the thing d d Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire , Chap. 2. §. 62. .

128. Hither also must be referr'd all milky waters , as holding somwhat of a Vitriol in them , whereof because at large in the Hist. of Oxfordsh . e e Ibidem Chap. 2. §. 64. . I shall only mind the Reader here that the water of the Well at Hampsted , the Seat of the right Worshipful Sr. John Wyrley Knight , whose most cordial furtherance of this work must by no means be forgotten , seems to be such an one ; And so forthwith shall proceed next to the aluminous waters , which though they will not strike with Galls , yet will coagulate milk , will not take Soap , and with spirit of Vrin , turn of a milky colour : of these the most remarkable are at Draycot in the Clay , in the Parish of Hanbury , and near Hore-Cross Westerly from the Hall , by a brook side in a ground call'd Broadfield , belonging to the Worshipful Robert Howard Esq. The water of the Well at Hore-Cross Hall the Seat of the same most obligeing Gent. seems also of this kind , for though it will not turn milk , or strike with Galls , yet it takes not Soap , and discolours the meat reddish , that is boyled in it , both signes of an acid , though it seems not strong enough to compress the pores of milk ; whence 't is plain that the tryal of waters with Soap , is much more nice than with milk . The well water of the house of Mr. John Cumberlege now Mayor of Walsall , is also aluminous ; and so is the fountain head of the Rivulet call'd Stichbrook between Lichfield and Elmhurst ; which is so apparently such , that the very Alum slat may be seen sticking in the bank side , whence the water issues .

129. Beside these , there are many other waters , not apparently ( at least to sense ) of any mineral virtue , that will not answer these Experiments , yet no doubt carry with them some more subtile steams whereby they performe unaccountable Cures : such is the water of the well near Gawton stone in Knypersley Park , which has some reputation for cure of the Kings-evill , and so has the Spring called Salters wall , near Newcastle under Lyme ; And such is the water of the three wells near Shuston house , and of St. Ediths well , both in the Parish of Church Eyton , of the two St. Modwen's wells , at Burton and Cannal , and all the Holy-wells in the Country ; which the people still adorn at some certain times of the year , with green boughs and flowers , in grateful memory of the good they have formerly done . And amongst these must be reckon'd all sorts of Eye-waters , such as that of Elder well betwixt Blymhill and Brineton , and many others of the kind all over the Country . And so must the Spring in a narrow Lane about mid way betwixt Wolverhampton , and a house called Sea-wall , which was anciently of such repute that it still retains the name of the Spaw . Which are all the waters of note in this County ; for as for the Colepit waters , especially those they call Canker'd waters , that kill all the fish wherever they fall into the Rivers , I hold them not worthy to have any place in this History .

CHAP. III. Of the Earths .

1. STaffordshire , bounded on the North with Cheshire , East with Derbyshire and Leicestershire , on the West with Shropshire , and on the South with Worcester and Warwickshires ; is divided by the Trent into the North , and South , or rather into the North-East and South-West parts ; And the North-East , as Mr. Erdeswick and some others will have it , subdivided again into the Moorelands , and Woodlands a a Mr. Sampson Erdeswick's view of Staffordshire in princip. ; which latter lying between the Trent , Tene , and Dove , others choose rather to call the middle part of Staffordshire : Whereof the Moorelands are the more Northerly mountanous parts , lying between Trent and Dove , from the three shire heads Southwardly , to Draycot in the Moores , yielding Coal , Lead , Copper , Rance Marble , and Mill-stones ; and the Woodlands the more Southerly level part of that Country , from Draycot , to Whichnor , Burton , &c. between the aforesaid Rivers ; including Needwood Forrest with all its Parks , also the Parks of Whichnor , Hore-Cross , Bagots , Chartley , Loxley , Birchwood , and Paynsley ( which anciently I suppose were all but as one Wood that gave it the denomination ) produceing Salt , black Marble , and Alabaster , beside great quantities of very good Timber ; and both Moorelands and Woodlands , as goodly Cattle , large and fair spread , as Lancashire it self , and such as the Grasiers say will feed better ; the warm Lime-stone Hills of the very Moorelands producing a short , but a fine sweet grass , and large Oxen , though in an open cold Country , as Drayton in his Polyolbion , speaking of the Moorelands , also plainly testifies ; She from her chilly site , as from her barren feed , For body , horn , and hair , as fair a Beast doth breed As scarcely this great Isle can equal b b Mich. Drayton's Poly●lbion , Song the 12. —

2. And if amongst the mountains of the Moorelands , much more can they breed and feed Cattle too , in the rich Meddows that adorn the banks of Trent , Blithe , Tene , Churnet , Hamp●x all ●●anyfold , all in this quarter of the Countrey ; and more especially still upon the famous Dove-bank , esteemed by many , the best feeding land of England ; which lying upon a Limestone as Mr. Camden imagins , sucks such fertility from it ( though I think with the right Worshipful and most worthy Loyal Gent. Sr. Rowland Okeover of Okeover Knight , it rather proceeds from the Soil , especially the Sheeps dung , thrown down into the Meddows from the Hills in great rains ) that in the very midst of winter the Meddows are adorn'd with a pleasant verdure ; and if the River happen , as it does frequently ( holding its course all along betwixt great Hills , which give it a sudden rise ) to overflow them in the spring , it enriches them as the River Nile does Egypt , and makes them so fruitful , that the Inhabitants thereabout upon such occasions , usually chante this joyful Ditte , In April , Doves flood , is worth a Kings good c c Camden's Britannia in Staffordsh . . whereof the forecited Michael Drayton renders this very good reason , — Because the dainty grass That grows upon its bank , all other doth surpass d d Mich. Drayton's Polyolbion Song the 12. . as he saith the land of Needwood ( wherein truly I think he is not mistaken ) doth the land of all other Forrests in England . — Needwood doth surmount In excellency of Soil , by being richly plac't 'Twixt Trent and battening Dove , and equally embrac't By their abounding banks , participates their store ; Of Britans Forrest's all ( from th' less unto the more ) For fineness of her Turf surpassing e e Ibidem . —

3. From which Limestone hills , and rich Pastures and Meddows , the great Dairys are maintained in this part of Staffordshire , that supply Vttoxater Mercat with such vast quantities of good butter and cheese , that the Cheesmongers of London have thought it worth their while to set up a Factorage here , for these Commodities , which are brought in from this , and the neighbouring County of Derby , in so great plenty , that the Factors many Mercat days ( in the season ) lay out no less than five hundred pounds a day , in these two commodities 〈◊〉 . The butter they buy by the Pot , of a long cylindrical form , made at Burslem in this County of a certain size , so as not to weigh above six pounds at most , and yet to contain at least 14. pounds of butter , according to an Act of Parliament made about 14 or 16 years agoe , for regulateing the abuses of this trade , in the make of the Pots , and false packing of the butter ; which before sometimes was layed good for a little depth at the top , and bad at the bottom ; and sometimes set in rolls only touching at the top , and standing hollow below at a great distance from the sides of the pot : To prevent these little country Moorelandish cheats ( than whom no people whatever are esteemed more subtile ) the Factors keep a Surveyor all the summer here , who if he have ground to suspect any of the pots , tryes them with an instrument of Ion made like a Cheese-Taster , only much larger and longer , called an Auger or Butterboare , with which he makes proof ( thrusting it in obliquely ) to the bottom of the pot : so that they weigh none ( which would be an endless business ) or very seldom ; nor do they bore it neither , where they know their Customer to be a constant fair dealer : But their Cheese , which comes but little , if any thing short of that of Cheshire , they sell by weight as at other places .

4. Nor comes this Northern part of Staffordshire much behind the South in breeding of Sheep , which indeed are but small , have generally black noses , and their wool but course ; Nor ( now of late years ) in the production of Corn : for though the land imployed for tillage for the most part indeed be naturally but mean , yet where the industry of the Husbandman ha's any thing shewed it self , in marling , limeing , or mixing lime with Ess ( as they doe commonly in the Moorelands ) and so laying them together on their heathy grounds , as shall be shewen hereafter in fit place ; it produces Corne of all sorts ( according to the condition of the ground ) plentifully enough . The black moorish and gouty grounds of the Moorelands , with the best helps are fit indeed only for Oates and Barley ; but the arable lands about Marchington , Draycot in the Clay , Rolleston , Horninglow , and some other Townes about Needwood , are of so rich a Clay ; that they produce as good Hard-corne ( i. e. Wheat and Rye ) Peas , Beanes , &c. as any in the South , though not so much ; the quantity of arable land there , being much greater than 't is in the North : the Sheep too of the South , bear somewhat a finer fleece , and it produces more and better Coale , and Iron stone ; of each of which , hereafter in their proper places .

5. Beside Wool , for the supply of the Cloathing trade and Felting , which are chiefly exercised about Tamworth , Burton , and Newcastle under Lyme ; they sow both Hemp and Flax all over the Country in small proportions , whereby they are furnish't too , in some measure with Linnens : so that all things considered this seems to be terra suis contenta bonis , a Land that can as well subsist of it self , without the help , either of any domestick , or forraigne Countries , as any in the Kingdome ; yielding Lead , Copper , Iron , Marble , Alabaster , Millstones , Coale , Salt , Cattle and Corne of all sorts , both Linnen and Woolen , and what not ? and yet a third part at least , if not half this County , must be confest when all 's done , to be barren heathy , and gorsy grounds , and woodland : which yet are so far from being any disparagement to it , that these yield some of the chief profits , as well as pleasures of the Country ; for though the surface be barren , yet the subterranean riches ( which are considerable here ) I mean the Mines , are usually found in such uncultivated places ; and of this sort of Land is the Chase of Canck-wood , and most of the Warrens and Parks of the Nobility and Gentry , whereof before the late unhappy Civil War , there were near 50 in this County stock't with Deer , and about 33 or 34 yet remaining ; so great plenty is there of this kind of Land , stored not only with Mines , but with all sorts of Game both for Hound and Hawk ; so happily are the profits of the Gentry of this County , mixt with their pleasures , Vtile dulci.

6. This heathy , broomy , gorsy , barren sort of Soile , for the most part too is a gravelly fast land , whence it is that in Canck-wood , and most of their Parks , they have so pleasant and secure pursuit of their Game . Hence 't is too , that their high-ways are so universally good , except in the most Northerly parts of the Moore-lands , where between the three shire heads , and Longnor , the Hills and Boggs are such , that a Horse can scarce pass between those two places ; and indeed many of the Mountains of that part of the Country , which they call Roches , Clouds , Torrs , Edges , Cops , Heads , &c. are hardly passable , some of them being of so vast a height , that in rainy weather I have frequently seen the tops of them above the Clouds ; particularly those of Narrow-dale , are so very lofty , that the Inhabitants there for that quarter of the year , wherein the Sun is nearest the Tropic of Capricorn , never see it at all ; and at length when it does begin to appear again , as at Lanthony in Monmouth-shire f f Camden's Britannia in Monmouth-shire , in initio . , they never see it till about one by the clock , which they call thereabout , the Narrowdale noon ; useing it proverbially when they would express a thing done late at noone . Such Mountains as these I say are hardly passable , but these are but in a little skirt of the Country , the most of it being as level as most other Countries usually are , and the earth so fast , and the ways so good ( except where now and then they pass through a Marle , and a little about Wednesbury , Sedgley , and Dudley , where they are uncessantly worn with the carriage of coale ) that 't is reported King James , speaking jocularly of this County , should say , 't was fit only to be cut out into thongs , to make high-ways for the rest of the Kingdom .

7. And thus much in general of the Lands of Stafford-shire : Let us next consider such particular Earths , as have any thing remarkable belonging to them : And first , before we begin to break the turf ; of such Soils as have any thing peculiar in their surface . Amongst which those which induce upon the teeth of Cattle a golden Armature ( though they be pretty common ) are not altogether unworthy our consideration ; and such are some grounds at Aston near Stone , belonging to the Worshipful Walter Heveningham Esq , who having killed a Cow just before I came thither of his owne feeding , its teeth were found tinged ( on the outside chiefly ) with a golden or rather a brasen colour ; which the ingenious Mr. Lister Physitian at York , imagins might proceed from its feeding on some plants , of the Erica kind ; or rather the viola lutea grandiflora montana C. B. which he observes to be a great part of the food for their Cattle in May and June , in the mountanous pastures of Westmorland , where such guilded teeth are every where met with : Whether any such plants did grow hereabout , I must confess I observed not ; however I rather guess that this was superinduced the same way , the like Armature was , over the Cornua Ammonis mentioned in the History of Oxfordshire g g Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 5. § §. 88 , 89. , by some urinous kind of Salt in the juice of the grass , which in some plants is so great , that as Virgil acquaint us , it may sometimes be tasted in the very milk of the Cattle . Et Salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem h h P. Virgilii Georgic . Lib. 3. v. 397. . with which guilding quality , the Lago di Rieti in Vmbria is so strongly impregnated , that the hoofs of the Cattle that goe into it , are covered with such a shineing brasen Armature i i Geo. Pi●lorius de paludibus & stagnis . .

8. It must also be ascribed to the Saltness of the Soile and Grass , that if any Horned Cattle of never so deep a black or other colour , be put to feed in a place called the Clots in Newbold grounds , in the Parish of Tatenhill , about a mile East of Dunstall , they will certainly change the colour of their coat to a whitish-dun ( like a Daws head ) in a Summers runing ; and so they will if put upon Tatenhill Common ; or into Buck-slew , another parcel of Newbold grounds : Nor does only the Grass , but the Hay of these grounds , will also turn Cattle to this whitish-dun , which 't is said they recover not in two or three years time , though put into grounds that have nothing of this quality . As for Horses , they are improved upon these grounds , at a great rate ; only they make them dappled , be they of what colour soever . All which proceeds no doubt from the Saltness of the Soile , that not only communicates it self to the grass but to all the waters thereabout , makeing them brackish at least , as was shewn above Chap. 2. §. 111. Salt being of a hot nature , drying up , and so restraining the succus nutritius , that none or very little can be afforded for the hair , which ( as it does in old age ) upon defect of moisture turns white , justly called by my Lord Bacon , for this very reason , the penurious colour k k Nat. Hist . Cent. 1. Num. 93. . Pliny , indeed and Pictorius , tell us of divers Rivers that will effect the same , and yet they doe not say that any of them are Salt , or so much as brackish , but certainly they must be impregnated with some such thing , which they lick from the Earth as they pass along , at least if it be true , that Melas and Cephyssus , comeing forth the same Lake , doe make Sheep of quite contrary colours l l C. Plinii secundi Nat. Hist. Lib. 2. cap. 103. vid. etiam Pictorium de fontibus & fluviis miraculosis . .

9. Another Earth there is at Ranton Abbey , the Seat of the virtuous Madam Anne Cope , that is also eminent for giving a colour , which it does at divers places , but more remarkably under a Closet that hangs over that corner of the Cloyster which is next the Steeple ; where I was shewn on the ground , a reddish place , that looked much as if a calfe or sheep had been kill'd there ; upon which the water falling whenever it rains , is presently turned of the colour of blood . This at first I thought might proceed from the nature of the soile , or stones , or covering of the House ; but upon strict examination by diging the Earth , I found it a hasle mould , very unlikely to give the water any such tincture ; the stones of a light gray , and the House cover'd with Shingles , both as unlikely as the Soile ; so that at present I judg'd it a thing unaccountable : But since having more fully consider'd the matter , I have thought that the Shingles being made of Oak , may first give the water a gallish tincture , which falling upon an Earth that may possibly be vitriolic , the water may come to turn of this blood-red tincture ; just as vitriolic waters doe , upon infusion of powder of galls , which are but the fruit of an Oak , and have both of them the same astringent qualities .

10. It is also worth notice that one of Occamsley pits ( whereof there are about 16 upon the Watlingstreet way , betwixt Knaves-Castle and Frog-Homer ) never contains any water , or has any seen in it , for the least moment of time , after the most sudden shower , or most durable rain ; though all the neighbouring pits at the same time are fill'd to the brim : of which truth I had an excellent opportunity ( to my sorrow ) of makeing an Experiment , for after above a Months constant rain , I found that one pit , as dry and hard , as the highest gravelly ground in the street-way , the weight both of my selfe and Horse , not makeing any visible impression in the bottom of it , though all the rest about it , stood then brim-full of water ; and to all appearance lying higher i. e. not being so deep as this , and nothing interceding but a spungy heathy soil ; which I must confess to this day remains unaccountable to me : Unless it be sufficient to suspect , that the bottom of the dry pit ( though hard and sound ) yet may be a very loose open gravel , through which the water may presently descend ; and the sides and bottoms of the rest , either a stiff clay , or some other Earth at least fit to hold water .

11. That the Earth is informed at least with a vegetative Soule , was the opinion of the Pythagoreans , Platonists , and Stoics : amongst whom says Plotinus 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. e. that any one may be convinced that the earth has a vegetative Soule by those things which are produced by it m m Plotini Operum Ennead . 4. Lib. 4. cap. 22. : Yet seeing it seems not to be nourish't by any aliment internally received , or to have any offspring of its own Species , more viventium , it may well indeed be doubted , whether it be indued with vegetation , in a strict sense . But that the Earth in many places does receive augmentation , is very evident from all old buildings , whose very windows ( which certainly were never built so at first ) are now level with the ground ; more especially in great Townes , such as Lichfield and Newcastle , which 't is very plain stand on higher ground now , than they did formerly ; other pavements being many times found about a yard below these they now use , when they have occasion to sink Wells or dig Cellars : which I suppose may have come to pass upon rebuilding these Towns after some general conflagration . It is also likely , if not certain , that all valleys rise by atterration i. e by Earth continually brought down from the tops of mountains by rains and Snows , whence all Mountains are become lower than they were formerly , and the Valleys risen higher ; So that in time all the Mountains ( except the rocky , such as the Roches in the Moorelands ) will by great shoots of rain be quite washed away , and the whole earth levelled :

12. Whereof the ingenious Mr. Ray gives us a very pertinent confirmation from the steeple of Craich in the Peak of Derbyshire , which in the memory of some old men yet liveing , could not have been seen from a certain hill lying between Hopton & Werksworth , whereas now not only the steeple , but a great part of the body of the Church may be seen thence , which without doubt comes to pass by the deterration or sinking of a hill between the Church , and place of view n n Mr Rays observations Topograph &c. p. 8. : And I am told of just such another example of a hill between Sibbertoft and Hasleby in Northampt. by my worthy Friend Mr. Maurice Wheeler , whence yet we may only inferr , that the parts of the earth doe change their Situation , giveing as much increase ( in proportion ) at one place , as it takes away at another , without any augmentation , or diminution in the whole . But we are told by the Learned Sr. George Makenzie his Majesties Advocat for the Kingdom of Scotland , that near his dwelling house , and at another farm of his 20 miles distant , He has two plots of ground out of which for these many years he has dug a stiff , clayish , moist earth ( used there for a soile to barley land ) which in two years time , though dug a foot deep , will grow up again and fill the excavated place o o Philosoph . Transa●t . Num. 117. p. 396. : And the banks of the black Meer in the parish of Norbury in this County , doe yearly grow forward upon the surface of the water , 3 or 4 yards in seven years , the water standing under them ; perhaps the Moss near Hixon may have been such a Meer too , now grown totally over from the bank side as 't is supposed this would be , were not the banks cut away to prevent the loss of Cattle , which ha's frequently happen'd here by reason of these hollow banks . In which two last instances , there being an increase of bulk , without deterration from any other place , possibly some may conclude somewhat of a genuine vegetation : For my part I think the same of them , I doe of the peat pit earths of Oxfordshire , which will grow up again in some years p p Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap 3. §. 41. , by virtue of the stringy roots that are always found in them , and are perpetually putting forward , which no more argues any vegetation in the earth it self , than any other plant does that growes upon it .

13. Of such kind of stringy bituminous earths ( roots and oily substances being very boyant ) the floating Island , so much talk'd of , and admired in many parts of the world are most certainly constituted , whereof there are two about 20 foot broad , but about 30 or perhaps 40 foot long , in Kinson poole , belonging to the courteous , and most obligeing Gent. Walter Fowler of St. Thomas Esq which An : 1680 began in March to move from under the Hill on the N. W. side of the poole , and came together like the Symplegades , first to the S. W. corner , where after they had continued about 3 weeks , they began to move again , and were come in May ( when I was there ) to the S. E. corner , lying just in the passage of the water out of the poole toward the Mill : I was told also of such in Aqualat Meer , which 't is like at first might be nothing but a kind of Scum upon the water mixt with a few weeds , cover'd over above in part , with dust brought by the winds , and supplyed at the same time underneath , with other viscous terrestrieties , elevated by the vapors from the bottoms of the pooles ; and so in process of time becomeing a fungous sort of earth , bearing weeds , dwarf willows , and such kind of trash , and floating above water . And from such small beginnings as these , the floating Island in the Lake Loumund in Scotland q q Hieron . Cardani de Rerum Varietate Lib. 1. cap. 7. , others in the Lago di Bassanello , the great Tarquinian Lake , and divers other Lakes in Italy , mention'd by Pliny and Baccius r r C. Plinti 2 di Nat. Hist. Lib. 2. cap. 95. & Andr. Baccii de Thermis Lib. 4. cap. 15. , may have also their Rise ( for ought I know ) as well as these .

14. Having done with the Soiles in general , and the peculiarities attending some of them in their very surface , come we next to break the turf , which they cut in the Moorelands in the Spring time with an instrument call'd a push-plow , being a sort of spade , shod somewhat in the form of an arrow , with a wing at one side , and having a cross piece of wood , and the upper end of the helve , after the manner of a Crutch , to which they fasten a pillow , which setting to their thigh and so thrusting it forward , they will commonly dispatch a large turf at two cuts ; and then turn it up to dry ; which in good weather is done on one side in eight , on the other , in 4 or 5 days at most : when dryed , if they intend them for fuel in winter , they pile them up round in manner of a Hay-rick 10 or 12 foot high , and let them stand all Summer : But if for manuring their land , they heap it up round a good quantity together on the ground , and set it on fire , which it will take of it self , if it be dry ; otherwise they give it the assistance of wood : These heaps they will keep burning sometimes 3 weeks together , still covering them over with new turf , as the old ones burn away , only giving them vent by Air-holes , which they make with a stick : The Ashes of these turfs they call Ess , which laid on their Meddows , Rye , or Barley lands , some are of opinion goes further than dung or Lime . And these are all the uses they put their turf too ; only as in Oxfordshire ( beside for bowling-greens , and grass-walks in Gardens ) they use it frequently to ridg and head their meaner houses , and sometimes wholy thatch them with it s s Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap. 3. §. 40. .

15. Under the uppermost turf , in their moorish boggy grounds , they also digg peats , which because they order much after the same manner , as has already been described in Oxfordshire t t Ibid. § 41. , I pass them over , and proceed to another black , moist , and rotten sort of Earth , that lyes just under the turf in heathy soiles , such as Archer moore near Beresford , and upon a hill called the Gun above Rudyerd-Hall , where , as I was seriously told by the Worshipful and most ingenious Charles Cotton Esq Tho Rudyerd of Rudyerd Esq & Mr Gent of Ashbourn , if one ride in a dark night in so wet a season that a Horse breaks through the turf , and throws up this black , moist , spungy sort of earth , He seems to fling up so much fire , which lyes shineing upon the ground like so many Embers ; by the light whereof one Horse may trace another , though at some distance , and it be never so dark ; it continuing light upon the ground , and being gradually dying away , for near a quarter of an hour . To which let me add another agreeable relation , whereof I was informed by that worthy Loyal Gent. Capt. Tho. Lane of Bentley Esq who endeavouring to help a friend and Kinsman of His ( one Mr. Jones ) who casually fell into a ditch in Bescot grounds in the night time , and having stirred the mud and dirt pretty much in performing that good office ; they presently found their gloves , bridles , and horses , as fas as the water or dirt had touch't them , all in a kind of faint flame , much like that ( as He described it ) of burnt brandy , which continued upon them for a miles rideing .

16. Of which odd Phaenomena , though I might be reasonably excused from giving any account , having seen neither of them my self , the Gent: above mentioned having also been too incurious of the circumstances , to afford me any more than a bare relation : Yet that the Reader might not be left wholy in the dark concerning these matters , let us consider how many things there are beside fire ( for we may well presume this to be none ) that give any light ; and in what state and condition they are , whilst they doe so ; and then whether the shining of the earths and mud above mentioned , may not be reduced to some one , or more of them , at least so far forth as that a tolerable conjecture may be raised from the comparisons . First then upon enumeration of such luciferous bodies , that send forth a light , and yet have strictly nothing of the nature of fire , I find some of them to be animate , and others inanimate : As to the animate , 't is evident that our English Glow-wormes , as well as the American , or flaming-flyes v v Sr. Tho. Brownes Enquiryes into Vulgar Errors Lib. 3. cap. 27. , have a luminous juice in their tailes which shines in the dark : And 't is as certain if we may beleive the learned Monsieur Auzout , that the clammy moisture of Oysters that shines in the dark of a violet colour , comes from luciferous wormes that have their holes in the shells , whereof He distinguishes no less than three sorts w w Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 12. p. 204. .

17. It is as true also , as 't is a common experiment , that a Cat rub'd upon the back in the dark against the hair , sends forth luminous sparks . And there is a Master of Arts of this Vniversity that when He shifts Himself , emits such sparks so violently that they have been heard to crackle like the sparks of fire : all which ( with other instances that might be brought ) seem mightily to confirme that there are such accensions , or Platonic flames in the juices of Animals , which shine only , and doe not burn , as were hinted and proved , from the Aerial Noctiluca , and solid Phosphorus mentioned §. 9 of the second Chap. And as for the inanimate luciferous bodies , beside the Bononian and Balduinian stones ; the Phosphori , Smaragdinus and Fulgurans , and of Dr. Kunkelius : Every body knowes that rotten wood , and loaf Sugar scraped , shine in the dark , and that the Salt water of the Sea , more especially when the wind is South East , or in any point 'twixt South and East , gives so great a light , that being dash't with Oars , it seems to run off them , just like liquid-fire ; Nay it has been observed at some places to be so very luminous in strong gales of wind ( near the Isles of Cape-verd ) that Passengers have seen the very Keel of their ship by it , and fishes playing underneath it x x Ligon's Hist. of the Barbadoes p. 7. .

18. Secondly , as to the state and condition these luciferous bodies are in , whether animate or inanimate , during the time of their shineing ; it is plain that ( as fire it self ) they shine only while they are in motion , upon expence , or both : Thus all the Phosphori spend themselves , and some of them shine most ( that I say not burn ) when any violence is offer'd them : Sugar sparkles not , but when it is scraped : Nor doth the Sea water appear like liquid flame , but when dash't together by stormes , or striken against Ships , rocks , or with Oars . The Cat sends not forth its luminous spirits , but upon rubing against the hair , and opening the pores , whereby no doubt there is some expence of them too , as there is also of that Gentlemans , that emits them so freely . As for the Glow-wormes whether English , or those of Iamaica , and the worins on Oysters , they shine no longer than whilst they are living , and their luminous humors are kept in motion . My Lord Bacon indeed confesses that they doe continue their shineing a little after their death y y Nat. Hist. Cent. 4. Num. 352. : Dr. Stubbs informes us that those of Jamaica will also hold their light for some days after z z Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 36. : and the learned and most ingenious Sr. Thomas Browne ownes that its true that a Glow-worme will afford a faint light , almost a days space after many conceive it dead : But then ( says He ) this is but a mistake in the compute of death , and term of disanimation ; for indeed it is not then dead , but if it be distended will slowly contract it self again , which when it cannot doe , it ceaseth to shine any more a a Sr Tho. Brown's Enquiries into Vulgar Errors Lib. 3. cap. 27. . Beside in case it would not thus contract it self , it would be too peremptory notwithstanding to determin an Insect to be dead , when it ceases to move ; for that many times they are not so , though they afford not the visible evidences of life , as may be observed in flyes , which when they appear even quite forsaken of their formes ; by virtue of the Sun , or other warmth , quickly convince us , by their motion , they had never lost them .

19. Now though it be possible indeed that there may be small subterraneous Animals , such as the Oyster wormes &c. that may be bred and live in such black , bituminous , moist , rotten earths , or the mud of ditches , and upon sudden commotions may send forth such lights as were at large above mention'd ; Yet me thinks they may rather proceed from some salino-sulphureous mixtures that may be in those Earths and Mud , which being smartly moved as in the ditch , or violently striken with the Horses feet , as the Sea-water with Oars ( which is also salino-sulphureous as was plainly shewn above Chap. 2. §. 124 ) may more likely occasion such lights from the same principles ( howsoever they operate ) as in the Salt water of the Sea , though others more probably may think ( both earths and mud seeming in a state of putrefaction ) that they may become luciferous by the same means , that rotten-wood and stinking fish are so : which yet shine not so much upon account of their rottenness as they doe of their moisture ( as it is in these Earths , and the liveing tree in Jamaica , which shines most vividly after a shower of raine * * Trapham's Hist. of Iamaica Chap. 2. p. 29. , ) both of them ceasiing to shine rateably as they become dry . Nor can it be objected that these are neither in motion or expence , since putrefactions are nothing else but gradual consumptions , haveing all of them also an inward motion in them , as well as fire or light .

20. At Pipe-hill in a hallow Lane S. W. from Mr. Bulls house , about two bow-shoots down the Lane on the left hand , in the side of the bank which seems to be of anorange colour'd clay , I found a nother shineing sort of Earth ( but not in the dark as the former ) also of an orange colour , though made up in great part , with silver colour'd Laminae , somwhat weighty , very unctuous , and guilding the hands if rub'd upon them ; of which I was inform'd by my most worthy Friend , Sebright Repington of Ammington Esq who though a Warwickshire Gent. yet so zealous was He for the promoting this work that He became none of the least Encouragers of it : I was shewn the same again at the signe of the Starr at the foot of Brereton Hill , by the Worshpfull William Chetwynd of Rugeley Esq where in digging a Cellar they found great quantities of it . These at first I thought might be the Mica arenosa of the Naturalists , which the Germans call Catsilver or Glimmer , for being dryed it became friable ; but bringing it to a fiery triall in a Crucible , I found it of so obstinat a nature , that it would neither change its colour or substance by it , which all the sorts of Micae are said to doe b b Geo. Agricola in Bermanno . . Then I tryed it with the strongest acids I could get , and divers other things , but it would not stir or make Ebullition with any of them ; so that I presently concluded it to be a sort of Talc , which says Caesalpinus , in igne perennis est , neque enim funditur , neque comburitur , neque colorem amittit , and therefore by the Ancients called Argyrodamas , quasi argentum indomitum , it remaining invincible even to fire it self c c Andreae Caesalpini de Metallitis Lib. 2. cap. 59. : Whence the Chymists find it so difficult to draw an oile of Talc , which yet in this sort seems already done to their hands , for between the fingers it feels as soft and oily as butter , though it have somewhat too of the nature of the Schistus , its Laminae lying all the same way so as to give it a grain ; but they are not so large , but it may be easily broken contrary to it : nay when dryed it becomes so very friable , that it serves very well in stead of sand to strew upon Letters , like the Ammochrysos mollis friablis of Caesalpinus d d Ibidem . and Kentman c c Io. Kentmani Nomenclaturae rer. foss . tit. 4. , which is the only use I can yet find it has , though I have made many tryalls with it in relation to guilding , painting &c.

21. Amongst the underturf Earths , the next that present themselves , are the arable soiles , which to mention more particularly than above , are either Clay , marly , sandy , gravelly , light mould , black-land , moorish and gouty land ; each of which they fit with their most agreeable grains and manures , but the due application of them belonging to the Chapter of Arts , I shall consider only here the severall sorts of Marles , which though manures to other lands , yet being Earths too themselves , they plainly appertain to this place . Whereof I find in Staffordshire about four or five sorts . 1. a red fat earthy sort , having some veins of blew ( which is the most common ) found upon the Trent side about Ingestre , Tixall , Heywood &c , lyeing generally about 18 inches or two foot under the surface , though sometimes it lyes so ebb ( as they call it ) that they plow up the head of it , otherwise that which covers it , is a hungry clay , which yet makes them this recompence , that it holds the Marle so together above , that undermining it , they can have a fall of seven or eightscore loads at a time , which could not be , were this taken away , beside being commonly blended with 3 or 4 yards depth of good marle underneath , it is hardly seen , much less doth any hurt . 2 About Swynnerton , and the more Northerly parts of the Country they have a stiff blewish sort Marle with red veines ; and 3 another sort mixt for the most part blew and red , that is not so stiff , much better for corne ; both which ( like the former ) will fall with undermining , & are commonly dug for 4 shillings 6 pence the hundred load , each load containing 12 measures : And 4 the learned and inquisitive Sr. Simon Degg told me of another blew Marle , somewhere about Kinston , much like Fullers earth , which but that it differs in colour , I should otherwise have thought to have been the Gischromargon of Pliny f f Plinii Nat. Hist . Lib. 17. cap. 8. .

22. Beside these , about Charnes , Broughton , Swynerton , Beech , Ellarton , and Heywood , they have harder , stony , slatty sorts of Marles , at some places called Slat , at others Dice-Marle ; which will not be got by falling like the former , but must be dug with pick and Crow , and costs at some places 8 or 9s the hundred getting , it riseing sometimes in great stones as much as two Men can load : of this sort there is white , red , and blew ; the latter whereof perhaps may be the Columbine Marle of Pliny , rather than any of of the rest , by reason of its colour , though they all equally fall under his definition , being fetcht out of the ground in clots or lumps g g Ibidem . : Which though most of them very hard , yet by the help of frosts , Sun , and rains , they dissolve like Lime , and spread well enough upon the ground in a little time , though at some places for expedition they apply a little Iron mallet . And these last are the Marles preferr'd by the Husbandmen much before the Clay earthy Marles , which bind and stiffen their lands upon long tillage ; whereas these loosen the stiffest clay , and make it yeild much better grass than otherwise it would . In short these seldom are known to faile the expectation of the Husbandman , upon whatsoever sort of land they have occasion to lay them , whether for corne or grass : Besides , these are accounted more beneficial than the others , because spending themselves but gradually and lasting longer upon the ground , though the other 's t is like may fatten it sooner ; according to that of Agricola , Quanto quaeque marga est pinguior , tanto magis ea pinguescunt arva ; quo durior , eo plures annos durat antequam solvatur . which is all I can think off at present coucerning Marles as they relate to Husbandry , only in general that they seem amongst Earths , to be analagous to the fat in Animals ; and that they are commonly reputed the better , the deeper they are dug ; which t is like may be true enough , because their Salts in the uppermost parts in all probability may indeed be spent in the production of Plants .

23. But beside the use of Marle in matters of Husbandry , they have another use of them here in order to building , very good bricks being made of the reddish clay marle , whereof I saw great quantities at Mr. Chetwynd's at Ingestre , and many other places : They have very good brick-earth likewise about Ricarscot near Stafford , and on a bank by the way side , betwixt Newcastle and Keele , I met with a peculiar sort of brick-earth , which when burnt became all over blew , those bricks only which were placed furthest from the fire , having any redness in them : The Romans seem to have made use of some such Clay as this for makeing their Vrns , those found at St. Albans , and near Newington in Kent being many of them blew ; Whence we may reasonably conclude that there must be such clay in many other places , were they so well searched out elswhere , as they have been in Yorkshire , by that curious Observer Martin Lister Esq who informes me that such clay is found in many places amongst the mountains of that County . Beside for the Bricklayers , there are Earths also usefull in many other Trades found in Staffordshire , such as Terra Saponaria Fullers earth , whereof I met with some , much like that of Wobourn , near Statfold , but in no great quantity ; what there might be found , were search made , remains uncertain ; However it may not be amiss for the ingenious Proprietor of that Estate , upon this hint , to be mindfull whenever He ha's occasion to digg thereabout , what sorts of Earths are thrown up ; for could He meet with a quantity of this , I need not acquaint , what would be the advantage .

24. As for Tobacco-pipe clays they are found all over the County , near Wrottesley House , and Stile Cop in Cannock-wood , whereof they make pipes at Armitage and Lichfield , both which though they are greyish clays , yet burn very white ; There is Tobacco-pipe clay also found at Darlaston near Wednesbury , but of late disused , because of better and cheaper found in Monway-field betwixt Wednesbury and Willingsworth , which is of a whitish colour , and makes excellent pipes : as doth also another of the same colour dug near the Salt water poole in Pensnet Chase , about a Mile and ½ South of Dudley . And Charles Riggs of Newcastle makes very good pipes of three sorts of Clay , a white and a blew , which He has from between Shelton and Hanley green , whereof the blew clay burns the whitest , but not so full as the white , i. e. it shrinks more ; but the best sort He ha's from Grubbers Ash , being whitish mixt with yellow , it is a short britle sort of Clay , but burnes full and white , yet He sometimes mixes it with the blew beforementioned . But the Clay that surpasses all others of this County , is that at Amblecot , on the bank of Stour , in the parish of old Swynford yet in Staffordshire , in the lands of that judicious and obliging Gent. the Worshipfull Harry Gray of Enfield Esq whose beautifull Mansion , perhaps the best situat of any in the County , is here represented Tab. 7. I say the most preferrable clay of any , is that of Amblecot , of a dark blewish colour , whereof they make the best pots for the Glass-houses of any in England : Nay so very good is it for this purpose , that it is sold on the place for sevenpence the bushell , whereof Mr. Gray has sixpence , and the Workman one penny , and so very necessary to be had , that it is sent as far as London , sometimes by Waggon , and sometimes by Land to Beaudley , and so down the Severn to Bristol , and thence to London : the goodness of which clay , and cheapness of coal hereabout , no doubt has drawn the glass-houses , both for Vessells and broad-glass , into these parts ; there being divers set up in different formes here at Amblecot , old-Swynford , Holloways-end and Cobourn brook .

25. Other Potters-clays for the more common wares , there are at many other places , particularly at Horsley-Heath in the parish of Tipton ; in Monway-field abovemention'd , where there are two sorts gotten , one of a yellowish colour mixt with white , the other blewish ; the former stiff and weighty , the other more friable and light ; which mixt together , work better than apart : of these they make divers sorts of Vessels at Wednesbury , which they paint with Slip , made of a reddish sort of Earth gotten at Tipton . But the greatest Pottery they have in this County , is carryed on at Burslem near Newcastle under Lyme , where for making their severall sorts of Pots , they have as many different sorts of Clay , which they dig round about the Towne , all within half a miles distance , the best being found nearest the coale , and are distinguish't by their colours and uses as followeth . 1. Bottle clay , of a bright whitish streaked yellow colour . 2. Hard-fire clay of a duller whitish colour , and fuller intersperst with a dark yellow , which they use for their black wares , being mixt with the 3. Red blending Clay , which is of a dirty red colour . 4. White-clay , so called it seems though of a blewish colour , and used for making yellow-colour'd ware , because yellow is the lightest colour they make any Ware of . all which they call throwing clays , because they are of a closer texture , & will work on the wheel ;

26. Which none of the three other clays , they call Slips , will any of them doe , being of looser and more friable natures ; these mixed with water they make into a consistence thinner than a Syrup , so that being put into a bucket it will run out through a Quill , this they call Slip , and is the substance wherewith they paint their wares ; whereof the 1. Sort is called the Orange Slip , which before it is work't , is of a greyish colour mixt which orange balls , and gives the ware ( when annealed ) an orange colour . 2. The white Slip , this before it is work't , is of a dark blewish colour , yet makes the ware yellow , which being the lightest colour they make any of , they call it ( as they did the clay above ) the white Slip. 3. The red Slip , made of a dirty reddish clay , whcih gives wares a black colour . neither of which clays or Slips must have any gravel or Sand in them ; upon this account , before it be brought to the wheel they prepare the clay by steeping it in water in a square pit , till it be of a due consistence ; then they bring it to their beating board , where with a long Spatula they beat it till it be well mix't ; then being first made into great squarish rolls , it is brought to the wageing board , where it is slit into flat thin pieces with a Wire , and the least stones or gravel pick't out of it ; This being done , they wage it , i. e. knead or mould it like bread , and make it into round balls proportionable to their work , and then 't is brought to the wheel , and formed as the Workman sees good .

27. When the Potter has wrought the clay either into hollow or flat ware , they are set abroad to dry in fair weather , but by the fire in foule , turning them as they see occasion , which they call whaving : when they are dry they stouk them , i.e. put Ears and Handles to such Vessels as require them : These also being dry , they then Slip or paint them with their severall sorts of Slip , according as they designe their work , when the first Slip is dry , laying on the others at their leasure , the Orange Slip makeing the ground , and the white and red , the paint ; which two colours they break with a wire brush , much after the manner they doe when they marble paper , and then cloud them with a pensil when they are pretty dry . After the vessels are painted , they lead them , with that sort of Lead-Ore they cal Smithum , which is the smallest Ore of all , beaten into dust , finely sifted and strewed upon them ; which gives them the gloss , but not the colour ; all the colours being cheifly given by the variety of Slips , except the Motley-clour , which is procured by blending the Lead with Manganese , by the Workmen call'd Magnus . But when they have a mind to shew the utmost of their skill in giving their wares a fairer gloss than ordinary , they lead them then with lead calcined into powder , which they also sift fine and strew upon them as before , which not only gives them a higher gloss , but goes much further too in their work , than Lead-Ore would have done .

28. After this is done , they are carryed to the Oven , which is ordinarily above 8 foot high , and about 6 foot wide , of a round copped forme , where they are placed one upon another from the bottom to the top : if they be ordinary wares such as cylindricall Butter-pots &c. that are not leaded , they are exposed to the naked fire , and so is all their flat ware though it be leaded , haveing only parting-shards . i. e. thin bits of old pots put between them , to keep them from sticking together : But if they be leaded hollowwares , they doe not expose them to the naked fire , but put them in shragers , that is , in course metall'd pots , made of marle ( not clay ) of divers formes according as their wares require , in which they put commonly 3 pieces of clay called Bobbs for the ware to stand on , to keep it from sticking to the Shragers ; as they put them in the shragers to keep them from sticking to one another ( which they would certainly otherwise doe by reason of the leading ) and to preserve them from the vehemence of the fire , which else would melt them downe , or at least warp them . In 24 hours an Oven of Pots willl be burnt , then they let the fire goe out by degrees which in 10 hours more will be perfectly done , and then they draw them for Sale , which is cheifly to the poor Crate-men , who carry them at their backs all over the Countrey , to whome they reckon them by the piece , i. e. Quart , in hollow ware , so that 6 pottle , or 3 gallon bottles make a dosen , and so more or less to a dosen , as they are of greater or lesser content ; The flat wares are also reckon'd by pieces and dosens , but not ( as the hollow ) according to their content , but their different bredths .

29. Having done with the Smectic and figuline Earths , come we next to such as are used in colouring and painting ; amongst which we may reckon the yellow and red Ochres , sometimes met with ( but in small quantities ) near Stansop in the parish of Allstonfield ; the yellow Ochre found upon Willenhall green about a yard deep , which they beat up upon boards , and separate from gravel , & then make into oval Cakes which they sell abroad for 4 pence per dosen for the Glovers use ; as they doe also a sort of blew clay found at Darlaston near Wednesbury amongst the Iron stone , which beat up after the same manner and made into cakes , are sold also to the Glovers , to give their wares an ash-colour . Ruddle or Red-Ocher they dig very good at the parish of Ipston , which they observe to lye cheifly in their best lands . I was told there was of it also about Dilhorne , and at Kingswood poole , within Wrottesley park . And I was informed of a sort of black Chalk found between the beds of Chirts , and the beds of gray Marble , sometimes a finger thick , and sometimes less , in Langley Close near Stansop ( but in the parish of Wetton ) belonging to the right Honorable William Earle of Devon. To which add a sort of fine reddish Earth , which I found under a rock where the Springs came forth near Himley Hall , belonging to the right Honorable the Lady Dudley , that when dry , proved near as good a red Chalk , as any we have from France . As for Medicinal Earths I met with but few in this Country , the most likely to be such is a red sort of Earth , near Tennal Hall in the parish of Harborn by the way side , which discolours the hands , and strongly adheres if put to the tongue , like the Bolus Armenus ; but whether as usefull as that , I left to the tryal of the learned and ingenious Sr. Ch: Holt a near Neighbour to it , whereof I have not yet had the favour to hear . I was told also at Treasle by Mr. William Barnesley , that they had thereabout a sort of white pebbles containing a mealy substance within them , that perhaps may be the Agaricus mineralis of the Naturalists , of which because at large in my History of Oxfordshire h h Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire , Chap. 3. §§. 26. and 30. , no more of it here .

30. And these are all the Earths strictly so call'd ( amongst all those 179001060 different sorts of Earths reckon'd up by such as have written de Arte combinatoria ) that I could find of use in this County ; yet I must not conclude this Chapter here neither , the other media Mineralia such as Sulphurs , Bitumens , &c. of a middle nature betwixt stones and Metalls , being also taken in under this head , by most ( if not all ) the Geoponic writers . Upon which account the History of Pit-coal , otherwise called Sea-coale ( though in this inland Country , and seldom carryed by water , much less by Sea ) belongs to this place : Whereof there being great plenty of divers kinds found here , I shall first give an account of the severall Species of them . 2. of their dipping , basseting or cropping , and their Rows or Streeks , 3. of the measures or floores there are of them , their partings or Lamings , with the terms of Art for them in different places , 4. of the damps that attend them , by what means they seem to be occasiond , and how cured , 5. how the coal-pits come so many of them to take fire , and 6. of their several ways of finding and working them , which last though more properly belonging to the Chapter of Arts , yet the right understanding them for the most part so intimatly depending on some of the particulars just preceding , I thought fit rather to misplace them here , as I did the Art of Pottery above , than render either of them the less intelligible to the Reader : And the rather too that this chapter might bear some proportion with the rest , the Arts relating to Earths being sufficient beside , to fill up a competent share of their owne Chapter .

31. But first of the several Species's or rather sorts of Coale ; which though they differ some what in all pits , nay in the several measures of the same pit , yet none of them so signally as to obtain a distinct name , except the Cannel-coal , and the Peacock-coale , from the common pit coal of Wednesbury and other parts ; which yet all come under the common Genus of Lithanthrax or Stone-coale , they being all of a competent hardness , and seem to be nothing else but Bitumen indurated by subterraneal heats , though not equally ; the Cannel-coal being the hardest , and of so close a texture , that it will take a passable polish ; as many be seen in the Choir of the Cathedral Church of Lichfield , which in great part is paved Lozengy , black and white ( as other Churches with Marble ) with Cannel-coale for the black , and Alablaster for the white , both plentifully found in this Country ; which when kept clean , so well represent black and white Marble , that to an incurious heedless Eye , they seem to be the same : It turnes like Ivory into many pretty knacks , such as Ink-boxes , Candlesticks &c. They cut it also into Salts , Standishes , and carve Coats of Armes in it , witness that of the right Honorable William Lord Paget , in the Gallery of his stately Seat at Beaudesart , which as a thankfull memorial of the Encouragement He so readily afforded this Work , is here represented Tab. 8. And the rather here because this Coale is dug in the Park adjoyning , also belonging to his Lordship , about 20.30 . or sometimes 40 fathoms deep , lyeing between other beds of a softer kind , and is the best in Staffordshire , or any where else that we know of , except that in Lancashire , which ( they say ) has no grain , and therefore not cleaving as this will doe , upon which account esteemed somwhat better for makeing such Vtensills as were mention'd above .

32. And yet this at Beaudesart will work so very well , that the Kings Majesties head is said to have been cut in it by a Carver at Lichfield resembleing Him well : In the working whereof especially turning it , they use no edg'd tooles , it presently rebating them ; but at first they use rasps , then finer files , and last Seal-skin and Rushes , these giveing the ultimat gloss , which is sometimes so high , that it ha's been thought to be the lapis Obsidianus of the ancients ; but its non performance of the office of the Basanitis in touching gold and silver , as Caesalpinus asserts the Obsidian stone will doe , gives full satisfaction it cannot be so : much rather could I afford it to be a Species of the Gagates Lapis , which all agree to be nothing else but indurated Naphtha or Petroleum , and to take fire like this , only this has not that Electricity of drawing straws and chaff , which Rulandus and others say that Jeat ha's ; so that they must not be allowed to be the same , though they agree in their original principles , colour , and curious politure . Notwithstanding which , the cheifest use they make of this coale , is for fireing , wherein they much observe the grain of the coale , for if they would have it burn slow ( as the poorer and thriftier sort of people are best pleased it should ) they lay it slat ways upon the fire , as it lay before in the bed or measure ; but if they would have it burn quick and flame clear ( as the Gentry commonly will ) they surbed it , i. e. set it edgways , the cleaving way next the fire , by which means it so easily admits it , that it presently flames as bright as a Candle , whence parhaps not unlikely it may receive its name Canwyll in the British tongue signifying a Candle , from Cann , candidus ; and Gwyll , tenebrae ; eo quod albere , h. e. lucere faciat tenebras , says the learned Dr. Davies in his British Dictionary .

33. The Peacock-coal dug at Hanley-green near New-Castle under Lyme , is much softer than the Cannel , not exceeding the common sorts of other pits in hardness , the blocks of both being divided into much more sensible plates or Scaiae , of about a ¼ of an inch thick , which appear to the naked Eye ; whereas the Cannel though it have a grain , yet the joynts are not visible ; upon which account this is no more capable of politure than the common coal , yet is more gay to the sight , than if it were ; it most vividly representing all the colours of the most glorious feathers in a Peacoks trayne ( whence it borrowes its name ) and that not emphatically , like the colours in a glass Prisme , or of variable silk , which are evanid at lest , if not fantastical : but solidly & genuinly , the colours remaining fixt in all manner of obversions of the coal , though not so vivid when turn'd from the light . Whence 't is plainly deducible that this coal has great variety in its texture , and that its parts and pores are not all of a shape , as 't is probable they are for the most part in the Cannel , and the common coal of other pits , which appear uniformly black in all parts alike ; diversity of colours in opacous bodies ( such as this of the peacock-coal is ) seeming to arise from the various figure , situation , and order of the inunmerable superficieculae that are differently obverted to the Eye , and to one another , whereof some reflect the light mingled with more , others with less shade * * There is much such a Coalmine bordering upon Mendip which they call there by the same name , that Mr. Beaumont thinks receives it's resplendency from a sulphury tincture , and so perhaps may ours . Philosoph . Collect. Numb. 1. . Nor must it be objected that the superficies of this seems as smooth and polite as any other coal : for howsoever it may apear to our dull sight and touch , it is certainly only so in a popular , or at most a physical ; but by no means in a rigid Geometrical sense . From which great variety of protuberancies it is , that the body of this coal must needs be of an open texture , whence 't is like it comes to pass that it burns so swift , and is therefore better for Smithy's , than Kitchin fires .

34. Which are much better supply'd by the common coal of the Country , especially that of Wednesbury , Dudley , and Sedgley ; which some stick not to preferr even to the Cannel it self ; the texture and other qualities thereof being , such viz. that it is a fat shineing coal , having a pretty open grain , lying seldom in a level with the plane of the Horizon but most times some what inclining to it ( according to which it cleaves into blocks at the discretion of the Workman ) that it burns away with a sweet bright flame , and into white ashes , leaving no such Cinder as that from New-Castle upon Tine . Of which sort there is so great plenty in all parts of the County ( especially about the three aboue-mention'd places ) that most commonly there are 12 or 14 Colerys in work , and twice as many out of work , within 10 miles round ; some of which afford 2000 tuns of coal yearly , others three , four , or five thousand Tuns , the upper or topmost beds above the Iron-stone , lying sometimes ten , eleven , or twelve yards thick : nay I was told by Mr. Persehouse of nether Gournall , that in his grounds at Etingsall in the parish of Sedgley , in a place call'd Moorefields , the bed of coal lyes 14 yards thick ; in so much that some acres of ground have been sold hereabout for a 100 pound per acre ; I was inform'd of one acre , sold for 150 pound , and well indeed it might be so , since out of one single shaft there have sometimes been drawn 500 pounds worth of coal . Nor indeed could the Country well subsist without such vast supplies , the wood being most of it spent upon the Iron-works , for it is here ( as well as other Countries that fetch their winter stores from hence ) thought not only fit for the Kitchin , but all other offices , even to the parlour and bedchamber .

35. And not only in privat Families , but now too in most , if not all the Mechanic professions ( except the Iron-works ) that require the greatest expence of fewell ; witness the glass-houses , and Salt-works , brick-making , and maulting ; all which were heretofore performed with wood or charcoal , especially the last , which one would think should hardly admit of the unpleasant fumes of such fireing : nor indeed does it , no more than of wood ; for they have a way of Charring it ( if I may so speak without a solecisme ) in all particulars the same as they doe wood , whence the coal is freed from these noxious steams , that would otherwise give the mault an ill odour . The coal thus prepared they call Coaks , which conceives as strong a heat almost as charcoal it self , and is as fit for most other uses , but for melting , fineing , and refining of Iron , whch it cannot be brought to doe , though attempted by the most skillfull and curious Artists . In the glass-houses , Salt-works , and Brick-clamps , they use the raw coal as brought from the pit ; in the former whereof , as to the proportion , I am not so certain ; but in the Staffordshire Salt-works , they spend two Tuns to a drawing ; and for burning a Clamp of 16000 bricks , they use about 7 Tunns of coal . The last effort that was made in this Country for making Iron with pit-coal , was also with raw coal , by one Mr. Blewstone a high - German who built his furnace at Wednesbury , so ingeniously contrived ( that only the flame of the coal should come to the Oare , with severall other conveniencies ) that many were of opinion He would succeed in it . But experience that great baffler of speculation shewed it would not be : the sulphureous vitriolic steams that issue from the Pyrites , which frequently , if not always , accompanies pit-coal , ascending with the flame , & poysoning the Ore , sufficiently to make it render much worse Iron , than that made with char-coal , though not perhaps so much worse , as the body of coal it self would possibly doe .

36. In digging all sorts of coal ( that appears not to the day , as the Miners speak ) after the Soil or arable , and the gravel , Sand , grit , and clays are removed , which keep no course ; all the Bass , Freestone ( of what sort soever ) Clunches , Bats , and Partings lye one above another , and keep a regular course ; wherein the things most observable are their rise , croping or basseting ; their diping ; and the row or streek ; which after the Species or sorts of coal , were the next things proposed to our consideration . In the handling whereof I must first acquaint the Reader , that coal generally in this , as in all other Countrys , lyes in the earth obliquely i. e. neither in plano Horizontis , nor perpendicular ; but riseing one way toward the surface of the Earth , till it comes within a foot or two , sometimes a yard or more , of the superficies , which the workmen in this Country generally call basseting , others croping ; and diping into the earth the other way so deep , that it is seldom or never followed to the end , or indeed any thing near it ( except where a Mine lips or crops up again , as sometimes it does , as well in the dip as the row ) by reason the Workmen are either prevented by waters , or too deep a draught . This basseting , and diping of coal is various , sometimes greater and sometimes less , sometimes approaching to a perpendicular , cutting the superficies almost at right angles , which sort they call a rearing Mine , whereof I was told there was one at Biddulph that runs down perpendicularly . Others are again that come so near to a plane of the Horizon that they dip not above one foot in 10 , 20 or sometimes 30 foot : these they call flat Mines by reason of their even and almost level course . The open works at Wednesbury seem to be of this kind , where there being but little earth lying over the measures of coal , the Workmen rid off the earth , and dig the coal under their feet and carry it out in wheel-barrows , there being no need for these , of windless , roap , or carf , whence these sort of Coale-works are commonly call'd Foot-ridds , or Footrills .

37. Though there are too of these , in the third and most common sort of coal , that dips one foot in three , or one in five , which they call hanging coal ; but they cannot be made but where the coal is found to rise in proportion to the ascent of a Hill ; in which case indeed the Coaliers can work a cuniculus into the side of the Hill , according to the course of the row or streek of the coal , for some hundreds of yards in a direct line upon a level , through which they bring forth the coal as easily altogether as in a flat open work ; as they doe at the Footerill at Apedale belonging to the right Worshipfull Sr. John Bowyer Baronet one of the most noble promoters of this work , of which more in due place , when I come to treat of the ways of working of coal . Yet from that little has been said , 't is easy for the Reader to conceive , how perferable these are to the other more common hanging mines , in which they are forc't to follow the coal to a great depth , to be at the expence and labour of drawing all up by hand , and sometimes of freeing the Mine from water , both which are saved in this sort of hanging Mine , as well as in the flat open works . And that yet they fall short of the latter , in regard it is a long time ( if ever ) in these , before the Colliers can reach so far forward as to be hinderd in their work either by want of Air or any long draught , and so are longer workable ; whereas the former riseing with the Hill ( though 't is true they may work a vast way forward ) before they want Air , yet haveing but one way to work beside viz. by making setings up with the croping of the coal , they must work out at last , and cannot hold on so long , as where they may work every way round them , and perhaps further forward than the others can too .

38 However these are as preferable to other hanging Mines , as those are to the rearing ones , which are the worst of all : the Colliers quickly reaching to their utmost workable depth every way ; though it must not be denyed but that the coal of these , and the common hanging Mines , is most times more firm , and better for burning , than that of the others ; it being certainly true as well in coal as stone , that the deeper it is fetch 't the harder and better ; and the nearer they come to the surface , the softer and worse ; till at last they are converted , if stone , most commonly to a little better than sand ; and if coal , to a shale , smut , or dross , that will not burn . Which is all I could hear of concerning the rise and diping of coal ; but that sometimes it will alter its dip to a rise , and crop to the same point of the compass it dipt before , which the Workmen call leaping . Nay so sportive sometimes does nature seem to be in this matter , that the coal which has cropt to the same point of its first diping , as in the foremention'd example ; before it has reach't the surface and cropt out , has taken another dip agreeable to the first , and then again another crop agreeable to the former ; but these are but rarities not often to be met with .

36. Nor does it leap only in the diping , but also in the row or streek , as I was inform'd by Mr. Poole of Hardingswood a person very skillfull in these matters ; which as it leaps the Workmen accordingly follow , till ( as sometimes it does ) it leaps down again into the same range it lay at first . The rows of coal lye ordinarily one under another at certain distances , yet seldom so near , as that ever any body dug through one row down to another , though sometimes they will draw much nearer together at one place than another , as the same Mr. Poole informed me they doe at Hardingswood , where the row or streek lyeing to North and South , they draw together to the Northward and spread to the South to a good distance , and then run parallel . Of which there is little more worth notice , but this general rule ( I think without exception ) that to what points soever the rise & dip direct their course , the row , side basset or streek , lyes quite contrary : as supposeing a Coalery dip East , the two points that the dip and rise respect , must be East and West : whence it necessarily follows that the row must run ( as it does here at Hardingswood , about New-Castle , and as some are of opinion , it most times does ) North and South , and so in all the intermediat points of the compass ; as about Chedle where the coal dips S. W. and by S. or as the Miners call it to the two a Clock-Sun , there the rise must be to the N. E. and by N. and the row or streek must lye N. W. and by N. and S. E. and by S. the two courses of the diping and row , always cuting the compass into right angles , proxime ; not Geometrically such , but such as are passable enough , in so gross a body as a coal-Mine is .

40. Hitherto we have considered this mineral of Coal , in two of its dimensions , viz its longitude and latitude ; it remains that we now treat of the third , its profundity , or thickness as it lyes between the roof and the warrant or pavement ; which are most times bass or freestone above , and Ironston or earth , below ; or what ever else the substances be , that lye above the coal , or below it . wherein we shall give account of the measures , or floors ; and the partings or lamings which the coal has in it self ; which was the third thing to be discour'st on : all coale-Mines beside the separation they have from all other bodies by their roofs and pavements , haveing divers partitions in the body of the coal it self , made by thin substances called partings or lamings ; which are sometimes no thicker than ½ a crown or a crown , but sometimes 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. or 5 inches thick ; each division differing somewhat in texture and goodness : whence amongst the Workmen they obtain different names , which are not the same all over the Countrey , but vary almost in every Coalery , though but 3 or 4 miles distant . For example at Wednesbury , upon the surface they meet first with earth and stone , 2. blew clunch , and in the 3 place , coale . which they divide into an upper and nether coal : in the upper coal there are the following divisions , with their respective depths , and different denominations . 1. The top or roof floor , 4 foot thick . 2. The overslipper floor , 2 foot . 3. The gay floor , 2 foot . 4. The Lam-floor , 2 foot . 5. The Kit floor , 1 foot thick . 6. The bench floor , 2 foot and ½ 7. The spring floor , 1. foot . 8. the Lower slipper Floor , 2 foot and ½ . then a bat between 1 and 3 yards thick , which being past they come next to the nether coal , wherein there are the like divisions , with their respective depths , and different names . 1. The slip floor , 1. foot . 2. The lam floor , 2 foot . 3. The Oary floor , 1 foot . 4. The bench floor , 1 foot . 5. The spring Floor , 2 foot . 6. The slipper Floor , 2 foot . between every one of which floors , both in the upper and nether coal , there are substances call'd partings of the thickness above mention'd , of consistence between an earth and a coal , or soft bat , then below the nether coal before they come to the ironstone , they have 1. Earth , 1. foot . 2. The Mee Floor , 1 foot . 3. Bat , 1 foot and ½ . 4. The Omfry floor , 2 foot , and ½ . 5. Iron stone Earths , of divers thicknesses . 6. Iron stone . In all from the surface 22 different partitions : whence it appears as was hinted in Oxfordshire i i Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 3. §. 14. , how much the earth here , as also in the following instances , seems to be of a bulbous nature ; several folds of divers consistencies still including one another , after the manner of the coats of a pearl , or an onyon .

41 , At Amblecot in this County where the coal lyes deep , they have first the top earth , 7 yards thick . 2 a rock of 14 yards . 3 an earth called blew-clunch , 3 yards . 4 stones parted with earth , call'd the three frogs . 5 catch-earth , 1 yard thick , mixt with wild Iron-stone , which covers or lyes upon 1. The white , or top coal . 2. Heath , or tough coal . 3. Fine coal , or sea coal . 4. The veins . 5. The long-coal . 6. Rough coal . 7. Spin coal . 8. Top of the suder height . 9. Bottom Bench. 10. Back-stone . 11. Iron-stone , 3 yards thick earth and all . 12. Heathen coal . between every one of which measures of coal , lyes a laming or parting of various thicknesses . About Dudley as I find it in the Metallum Martis of Dud. Dudley Esq k k Metallum Martis p. 38. ; the three uppermost measures , are call'd the white measures , from the white Arsenical substance contain'd in them . 4. the shoulder coal . 5 the toe caol . 6 the foot coal . 7 the yard coal . 8. the slipper coal . 9 the sawyer coal . 10 the frisley coal , all which 10 measure of coal make up one with another 10 yards in thickness . Next them lye the severall measures of Iron stone ; and then coal again 2 yards thick , call'd the bottom , or heathen coal . These if they lye close & firm together , as generally they doe in this County , and the coal it self and partings , but tolerably clear of the Pyrites , and arsenical mixtures , are workt so much the more free from danger : not only upon account that if the coal be full of rifts , it is so much the more apt to colt in upon the Workmen , but from the natural fitness that such clefts have to admit either corrupted Air , or the poysonous vapours of such minerals ; mortal to all Animals ( except the Rat ) which they call .

42. Damps , the fourth thing promised to be treated on relating to this mineral , which though they happen not so frequently in this County , as in some others , by reason ( as I sayd ) of the firmness and closeness of the measures of most coal there ; yet because they doe sometimes fall out , and the knowledg of the means whereby they seem to be occasion'd , may not perhaps be thought less profitable to the Philosopher , than the cure of them to the Collier : I have thought fit to give some account of all the Species of them I have yet heard of , with their respective Cures . The Species of them naturally divide themselves into . Damps Subterraneal Positive Simple , Air alone corrupted . Compound Invisible Smoak-damps . Peas-blossom-damp . Visible Form'd , the Globe-damp , in shape of a foot-bal . Not form'd , the Fire , or Fulminating damp . Privative , want of Air. Superterraneal , in the open Air above ground . All which , whether super or subterraneal , I take in general to proceed from stagnations in the subterranel Vaults of the Earth , for want of due Ventilations , and commerce betweene the inferior and superior Air. The material causes 't is true may be various , either simple or compound : as the meer corruption of the simple Air alone upon a long stagnation in the Coal-rooms , and the rifts and clefts of the rock of coal it self , may be its material cause indeed , but the causa sine qua non of such a damp , I take to be the want of motion in those cavities , without which , the Air would never have corrupted ; no more than water which never corrupts till it stagnates , when indeed like the Air it becomes poysonous , though possibly not to that degree , the Air being a body much finer , and conveyed to the more tender parts of the body .

43. Whence it is that in the old works , wherein there has been no digging for a long time , no laveing , drawing , or pumping of water , all which keep the Air in motion , and the water from canckering , these damps are most frequent and most dangerous . Whence it is too that the Works where the bed of coal is thin , and admits of but few or no such rifts or clefts for the Air to stagnat or corrupt in , are seldom or never troubled with them . Upon which account 't is likewise that though a bed of coal have many of these rifts , and large ones too ; yet as long as there is a profluence of water through them , there is no danger of their entertaining such damps ; which as soon as made dry by a Sough or free-Level , the same Mine shall become much more lyable to them ; the wholsom Air that was in them whilst kept in motion by the flux of the water ( having little or no communication with that above ground ) now stagnating and corrupting to that degree , that it not only extinguishes the glowing heat of coales , and the flame of candles , torches &c. but the flammula vitae too in most living creatures , so that the Animal which respires it , some times expires with it too . And as it is in simple damps made out of corrupted Air only , so it is in the compound ones of one or more minerals , whether visible or invisible ; whether ariseing from the smoak of coale it selfe , or as some will have one of them , from the scent of vegetables , or 2 from the steams of the Workmens breath , and sweat of their bodies , together with the smoak of the candles they work by ; or 3 from sulphureous , arsenical , nitrous , or other such mineral steams that may be incident to Coal-works : for to all these they ascribe a particular sort of Damp.

44. The first sort whereof , which arises from the smoak of coal it self , is said to happen only in such grooves where they make use of great fires to soften the rocks to make them yeild to the pick-Axe , which sending up with the smoak a sulphureous or perhaps an arsenical vapour , in probability may so infect the quiet Air in such deep caverns , as to render it unfit for respiration : it haveing been long indeed observed that such mines are seldom or never free from damps . And of this sort perhaps are the damps of the coalworks about Chedle ; where above the Mines they have a rock of a greyish colour , call'd Pox-stone , so very hard , that where they doe not luckily meet with a cleft , they are forced to put fire to it , which in some time will make it flaw , or at least so soften it , that the pick-axes will enter it , which otherwise would not work away so much in a day , as will fill a hat . And yet these damps are neither visible nor noisome , nor will they take fire , but are so gross & moist that they extinguish it & are suddenly mortal . Nor is the peas blossom damp ( whereof we have an account from the learned Martin Lister Physitian at York l l Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 117. ) either visible or noisom , it being so call'd , as they say , because it smells like the blossoms of peas , though they fancy it proceeds from the multitude of red trifoyle flowers , with which the Lime stone meddows of the Peak ( where they have this sort of damp ) doe much abound : and as it is not noisom , so neither was it ever heard that this was mortal to the Workmen , the scent perhaps freeing them from the danger of a surprize . Of this sort I enquired in the east part of Staffordshire , where the Moore-lands bound upon the Peak-Country of Darbyshire , and found it not only there , but as far as I could learn , to be the most common damp in the Country , it making their candles first to diminish , to burn round , and at length to goe out , perfuming the Stauls at the same time with a faint sweet smell , as those in Darbyshire doe , only with this difference , that here they are said to be sometimes visible , shewing like a thin smoak , which may be seen not only in the grooves , but fuming out at the top of the pit . But here they are wiser ( where they goe for their coal 40 or 50 yards deep , and have no such thing as trefoil ; for many miles , and yet have this damp ) than to think it proceeds either from peas or trefoil ; it being rather apprehended to arise from the Workmens breath and sweat , mixt with the steams of the golden Marchasite or brass lumps , than any thing else .

45. Not much unlike that ( only in its fatality ) we call the Globe-damp , thought to be compounded of the Workmens breath &c. and sweat of their bodies , together with the smoak of the candles they work by , which ascending to the uppermost parts of the grooves , there condense so much , that they become visible in the form and bigness of a foot ball , seeming to be cover'd with a skin , of of the thickness and colour of a Cobweb . These if by any casualty they come to be broken , they immediatly disperse themselves , and suffocat all the company , being altogether as mortal though not so violent ; as the fulminating damps mention'd by the same worthy Gent. and the ingenious Mr. Jessop of Broomhall in Yorksh : to have happen'd not long since at Hasle-berg-hills , and at Wingersworth within two miles of Chesterfield An. 1675 m m Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 117. and 119. . where the vapours takeing fire at the candles of the Workmen , they found themselves presently inviron'd with flames , their faces , hands , hair , and cloaths in great part , being very much burnt , and one of them having his armes and leggs broken , and the rest of his body strangely distorted : the now enflamed damp of one of them goeing forth of the mouth of the pit like a clap of Thunder , shooting off the Turn or Windeless , and shakeing the very earth so much , that a Workman in another Bink hard by , fear'd the roof would have fallen in upon Him and buryed Him. The ingenious Mr Beaumont tells us they have this sort of Damp too , in some Coal-works bordering upon Mendip hills n n Philosoph . Collect. Numb. 1. , and that in the most Easterly ones of them , they are so very frequent , that scarce a pit fails of them , many Men of late years having been there kill'd , many others lam'd , and a multitude burnt : many having been blown up at the works mouth , and the turn beam which hangs over the shaft , thrown off the frame by the force of it . It is also said to be in Scotland by Mr. Geo. Sinclar in a land call'd Werdy , West of Leith o o G. Sinclar's Miscellan. Observ . p. 292. 293. ; which they there from its effects ( that are very much like ours ) are please'd to call Wild-fire , thinking it to proceed from a fat sort of coal , wherein there is a certain fire resembling an Ignis fatuus , which even in the day time is sometimes seen in the Coalworks in little holes shining like kindled sulphur , which uniting in the night when the workmen are gon home , if it meet with any fire at their return , it breaks out which such violence that it kills whomsoever it finds in its way .

46. Yet neither of these were comparably strange to the fire-damp that happend at Mostyn in Flintshire in the Coalworks there , belongeing to the right Worshipfull Sr. Roger Mostyn Kt. Lord of that Manor p p Philosoph . Transact . Num. 136. , in the same year with that at Wingersworth ; which upon making a Witchet , for drawing down the Spring that hinder'd their further wining of Coal , as soon as they were scanted of Air , the fire-damp appear'd in the crevisses or slits of the coal , ( where water had been before ) in a small blewish flame , which whil'st the Colliers continued their work , was not so troublesom , as upon the intermission of 48 hours , within which time it got so much strength , that the Workmen looking into the Pit , could see it shooting from side to side like sword blades , cross one another , so that none durst venture to go downe into it . Upon this they took a pole and bound candles to it , which they no sooner put over the Eye of the pit , but the Damp would fly up at them with a long sharp flame , and put them out , leaving a foul ill scented smoak behind it . But finding this would not doe , they tyed many candles to the end of a hook fastend to a roap , and lowerd them down a little way into the pit , when up came the damp immediatly , and blew them all out , burnt their hair , beards , and clothes , struck down one of them , in the mean time making a noise like the roaring of a Bull , but louder , leaving a stink behind it worse than the former ; so heating the water that though drawn out of another distant pit , it was blood-warm at least . After 3 days cessation more , the Steward going down with some others to contrive conveyance of Air , one of them unadvisedly puting his candle over the Eye of the pit , the damp immediatly fired at it , burnt and tore their clothes from their backs , and flew to and fro all over the hollows with a great roaring ; carrying most of the Men 15 or 16 yards from their first station , and one of them out of the pits Eye above 30 yards high , with a noise like a Cannon , only somewhat shriller , which was heard no less than 15 miles off : it also forcibly drove up the buckets and rope , with the Trunk or barrel that wound them up , of a 1000 weight , and tore it to pieces , though fasten'd to a strong frame with locks and bolts , and bound about with Iron .

47. What should be the material causes of such prodigious effects as these , though it be hard to determin , yet I think I may be positive that the cause assigned by Mr. Geo Sinclar is insufficient q q G. Sinclar's Mistellan . Observ . p. 293. , though it may indeed be allowed to be a social cause : the oyliness and fatness of the coal may be necessary indeed for its so quik takeing fire , but this will not account for its violence and noise : there must therefore certanly be somewhat of Niter , joyn'd with the bitumen and sulphur in the coal , to perform this feat . That bitumen must be a concurrent cause of such damps , I take to be evident indeed from hence , that in the relation at large of the fire damp above , it is said that it would play upon the surface of the water of a rainbow colour ; and that Sulphur must also be an ingredient , I take to be as plain , for that in the same relation , it is expressly said , that in working the roach of coal 5 yards thick , when they came near the bottom , where the water was not mixt with sulphureous and brassy Metalls , the fire-damp was neither seen or heard of ; and that Niter must also have a share in such dreadfull Scenes as these , I take to be as manifest as the facts themselves , since no such explosions can be made without it , and that the smoak that follows the fireing such damps , is on all hands confest to have the smell and colour of Gunpowder . But of this matter further , when I come to consider , how it comes to pass that so many of the coal-pits take fire of themselves .

48. There is another sort of damp they call want of Air. i. e. want of Air sufficient for the breathing of Animals , and burning of Candles . This sort of damp ( improperly so call'd ) is that they commonly meet with in long Soughs for conveyance of water from the coale ; or when to avoid charge they run in their work as far underground as possible , for wining of coal , without leting down a new shaft . The cause of which sort of damp is cetainly nothing else , but the want of communication with the Air above ground , it being found by experience that the further a Man goes , into one of these coal-levels , the flame of his candle will gradually grow less and less , till it goes quite out , and his difficulty of breathing greater and greater , till he cannot breathe at all , & vice versa in his return . And so I found it in my entrance into the above mention'd Footerill at Apedale , where before we came 200 yards into it , 2 of the 3 candles I had in with me , went quite out , and the third was just expiring , in so much that I was forc't to make a retreat . This sort of damp is nothing so dangerous as some of the former , because not surprising , but comeing so gradually , that a man may releive Himself at pleasure , though it be true enough too , that this will kill Animals , as well as extinguish coales or candles , if they be far enough removed from the Air above ground , and continue long enough there .

49. And these seven ( including one that 's to follow ) are all the Species of damps I have hitherto met with , which as so many diseases , have their respective cures , known by most Coalyers : amongst which that of the first , or smothering damp , is the most difficult of any , it being sudden and surprising , comeing upon them unawares when they little think on 't , and then too not always equally pernicious , the uncertainty whereof the most sagacious Workmen say depends upon the Wind ; which if it sit toward the face of the work ( as they call it ) there is no danger , the subterraneal Air complying with that above , and by this means rather pressing the corrupted Air in the rifts and clefts , further into the coal-Wall , then bringing it forth : Whereas if it sit toward the old Wasts , the Air in the coal-rooms also presses that way , and as it were leads the corrupted Air forth , every thing naturally moving that way , where there is the ●east resistance . And therefore the prudent Coalyer that knows his work lyable to these inconveniencies , always minds the Wind , which is the only way they have to avoid this sort of damp . The second sort of damp occasion'd by smoak , they dispel either by water , where they have no Air pits , and in winter time ; but cheifly by fire , which they let down in an Iron cradle , they call their Lamp , into the shaft or by pit next to that they intend to work , which making a great draught of Air from the bottom of the works , the smoak-damp must necessarily come away , and fresh Air from above come down the other pit , where the Workmen went down , and the Coal is drawn forth . Which very way they use about Chedle , and 't is a secure one too , but very chargeable ; the charge of one of these shafts , by reason sometimes of the hardness of the rocks , vastness of the depth , drawing water &c. often equalling , if not exceeding the ordinary charge of the whole Work : to remedy which , I think the expedient divised and practised about Luyck or Leigh , communicated to the Royal Society by Sr Robert Murray , seems preferable to all others , for efficacy , ease , and cheapness r r Philosoph . Transact . Num. 5. .

50. As for the peas blossom damp , the scent most times frees them from danger of a surprise , which 't is likely indeed is the occasion ( more than the innocency of the thing ) we seldom hear that this is mortal : but if the Workmen at any time through too much rashness , do happen to be striken with it , they presently bring them up into the open Air , dig a hole in the ground , and lay them flat upon their belleys , with their faces in the hole , which ( if not too far gone ) infallibly recovers them . And for the pestilential damp that appears in the roofs of the coal-works in form of a foot ball , Mr Lister s s Ibid. Num. 117. tells us they have a way by the help of a stick and a long roap , of breaking it at a distance ; which done , they purify the place well by fire , and then enter it again without much scruple . Much after the same manner as they also avoid the fire or fulminating damp , which says Mr Sinclar t t G. Sinclar's Miscellan. Observ . p. 294. , in Scotland is prevented by a person that enters before the Workmen , who being cover'd with wet sackcloath , when He comes near the coal-wall where the fire is feared , He creepeth on his belly with a long pole before him , having a lighted candle on the top on 't , with whose flame the wild-fire meeting , it breaketh with violence , and runing along the roof , goeth out with a noise at the mouth of the sink ; the person that gave fire escaping by creeping on the ground , and keeping his face close to it , till it be over past . Iust as they did at first with the fire damp at Mostyn v , where the workmen every morning before they went down into the pit , used to send a resolute Coalyer before , whose manner was to put on the worst raggs He had and wet them in water , and as soon as He came within danger of it , He fell groveling down upon his belly , and went in that manner forward , holding in one hand a long rod or pole to which he tyed candles burning , & reached them by degrees towards it , then the damp would fly at them , and if it mist of puting them out , it would quench it self with a blast , leaving a noisom ill scented smoak behind it .

51. The privative damp or want of Air , is best cured the same way the smoaky damp is , by setting down a shaft to the adit , as soon as the candles begin to burn orbicular and to lessen , and the Workman is any thing sensible of a difficulty of breathing ; which infallibly cures it . And these are the peculiar remedies for each respective damp , most whereof may plainly be reduced to motion , u u Philosoph . Transact . Num. 136. which I take to be the catholic remedy of all damps , which confirms me in my first opinion that the causa sine qua non of all damps , is want of motion : for come they either from corruption of Air alone ; from smoak ; from the scent of vegetables ; from the sweat or breath of Mens bodies ; from the steams of noxious minerals &c. though never so mortal ; or from want of Air ; yet grant but a circulation of Air in the coal-chamber , or let the waters that commonly annoy such Mines , be drawn thence , not by a Sough , or free natural course , but by force , as by laving , buckets , pumps &c. either of them shall be so broken , disperst , and at length gradually brought ( with the motion of all other things that way ) through the Eye of the Pit into the open Air , that they shall have little or nothing of the effect , which if sufferd to unite ( through cessation of labour or otherwise ) they would certainly have . Whence it is that Coal-works that are wet , and always require a forcible drain ; are much more wholsom , than those made dry , by a free course of water , as by a Sough , which by a constant unforc't descent , quickly exhausts the rifts of a coal-work , and fits them for the reception of corruptible Air. Whence 't is also that in Mines not draind by a Sough , when the Springs are low , and fill not up the passages in the coal , nor require so prepetual and forcible a drain as they use to doe ; that then , at that time of the year , at the latter end of Summer , the coal-works are most lyable to poysonous damps , that the Air stagnates in the void spaces and corrupts , and is quietly impregnated with noxious mineral steams .

52. Which are sometimes so very strong , that they force their way through the pores of the earth , where there hath never been any Sough or shaft set down to give them vent , and are very noisom though in the open Air above ground , which may pass I think for a seventh sort of damp , though the same materially with some of the former : whereof there are two manifest instances in this Connty , near the same place ; one , under the bank of the South side of Tettenhall wood , where passengers sometimes in mornings and evenings , meet with a very offensive troublesom damp , of which they can give no account , which yet no question must come from some such principles as were the causes of the foremention'd subterraneal damps , though I have not heard that any met with here , have proved mortal , as another of this kind ( for I cannot imagin it any think else ) which in the year 1671 in a house in Tettenhall , struck 5 men and no more , of 200 that were then present at the monthly meeting of Iustices , whereof 3 dyed quickly after , the other two recoverd in some measure , but are still troubled with vertigo's or disyness in the head , which I take to be some remains of the first poison . But how it should affect the●●●● and no more , in so great a crowd , is hard to determin , unless we may think that it shot like a ray of light or Sun-bean through a cloud , and so only struck those five within its narrow compass : which fancy of mine ( to call it no more ) I am the more willing to favour , because the fire-damp at Mostyn , it seems affected that figure ; it being said to shoot from one side of the pit to the other , like sword blades , cross one another ; and that it would fly up at a candle in a long sharp flame w w Ibidem .

53. These things being premised , an answer to the question how it comes to pass that so many of the coal pits take fire , which was the sift thing to be consider'd , is easily had . For if it be true ( as it seems to be ) what Caesalpinus relates concerning Bitumen , Peculiare est in bitumine accendi aqua x x Andr. Caesalpim de Metallicis Lib. 1. cap. 31. ; which Pliny also asserts of the Thracian stone y y C Plin. 2di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 33. cap. 5. , by some translated pit-coal ; and that the fire-damp at Mostyn did appear in the watery crevisces of the rocks , and shine upon the surface of the water in the bottom of the pit , of a rainbow colour ; if too the same fire-damp were found only where the water was mixt with sulphureous and brassy Metalls , and that these subterraneal fires were found actually kindled without any cooperation of Man z z Philosoph . Transact Num. 136. , as Mr. Geo. Sinclar also asserts they are in like manner found in some cole mines in Scotland a a G. Sinclar's Miscel Observ . p. 293. , and as Mr. Beaumont ownes he heard one Colemine did , in or near Mendip b b Philosoph . Collect. Num. 1. p. 8. ; to which add that it has always been observ'd , that heat and moisture , doe highly promote all sorts of damps : All these things ( I say ) being put together , what can there else be concluded but that some Coal-pits may and doe take fire of themselves ; as 't is unanimously agree'd they doe at Wednesbury ( where the coal-works now on fire take up eleven Acres of ground ) Cosley , Etings all , and Pensnet in this County , as Mr. Camden will have it , whereas indeed the place He mentions then on fire c c Camden's Britannia in Staff. , was Broadhurst on Pensnet in the Parish of Dudley and County of Worcester , where He says a Colepit was fired by a Candle through the negligence of a Groover ; and so possibly it might ; but as for the rest ( which are in Staffordshire ) 't is agree'd they all fired natural of themselves , as they expect the shale and small-coal in the hollows and deads of all the old works , will doe and have done , beyond all memory .

54. Which they say is occasion'd by a mixture of the Laming ( that lyes between the measures of the coal ) and the sleck ( more especially when very much mixt with brass lumps ) which lying together in the old cancker'd waters of the pits , heat to that degree , that they fire the small coal left there , which continues burning till it 's all spent , and then goes out of it self as soon as it comes to the rock of coal , which if it have no rifts or clefts in it , admits it not : insomuch that the inhabitants of these places are not concern'd at it , nor have half the dread upon them for it , that those have that live remote , far enough out of its reach . The Worshipfull Dud. Dudley in his Metallum Martis d d Metall . Martis p. 37. says that small coal with sleck thrown moist together ( not mentioning any thing of Laming ) by reason of its sulphurousness , will doe the same thing ; which I am inclined to believe since I find amongst Dr. Powers observations that the Pyrites aureus being exposed to the moist Air , or sprinkled with water , will smoak and grow exceeding hot , and if many be laid in a heap and water'd , will turn red hot of themselves , as He says He had seen them Himself . whereof He acquaints us with a very unhappy example , that fell out at Ealand a neighboring Town to Him in Yorksh . where one Wilson having piled up many Cartloads of them in a barn of his ( for some secret purpose of his owne ) the roof being faulty , and admitting rain water to fall copiously in amongst them , they first began to smoak , and at last to take fire and burn like red hot coales , so that the Town was in an uproar about the quenching of them e e Dr. Po●●er's Microscop . Observ . p. 62 , 63. . Now if the golden Marchasit or brass lumps alone will thus take fire , much more will they sure when mixt with small coal : whereby as Dr. Jorden assures us whole heaps of coals mixt with this sort of Pyrites ( call'd metall coals ) have taken fire at Puddle wharfe in London , and at New-Castle , and been burnt before their time f f Jorden of Mineral waters chap. 14 in fine . .

55. Whence 't is plain how likely it is that the Coal pits at Wednesbury &c. take fire of themselves , in which there is so much Sulphur which sublimes by the heat of the fire from the pyrites in the coal , that there lyes great quantities of it upon the burnt surface of the earth a fire underneath , in its true colour fixt to the Cinders and poxstone , all striated , I suppose by the ascent of the heat and smoak : out of which , if not already so much burnt , as to be become effete , possibly some advantage might be made , either by casting it , as it is into rolls or Magdaleons , by makeing great quantities of flowers of brimstone , or oile of Sulphur per Campanam : with which , where there is mixt a due proportion of Niter , there is the true natural Gunpowder in all probability produced , that when fir'd , has much greater sorce and noise than the artificial : for 't is this no question when fir'd , and pent up within the earth , that puts it into those convulsions we call Earthquakes ; such as happen'd in this County in the Christmass time An. 1677 about 11 at night which came with a noise plainly to be heard before the shaking : it was considerable about Willenhall near Wolverhampton , but very short , giving the earth but one shock , and moving ( as they thought by the noise ) from South to North. The same Earthquake was felt also at Hanbury upon the confines of Darbyshire , but as Mr. Villiers of that Town , a sober grave Gent. assured me , it happen'd there about 8 in the evening , which argues its motion must be from East to West , and very slow ; or else not the same earthquake ; neither whereof can certainly be coucluded , for that no body knows in what Maeanders , the caverns of the earth run ; nor with what obstacles it might meet by the way , to retard and prolong the time of its motion .

56. Nov: 4. 1678 there happend another Earthquake in this County , it was most dreadfull of any place I could hear of , about Brewood , whither it came with a noise , not like a clap , but a flat rumbleing distant Thunder , yet so great that it wakened people in their beds , at 11 a clock by the night , about what time it began , and continued till towards two in the morning ; the earth moving very sensibly three times , at about ½ an hours distance , each motion from the other . The night following there happen'd another , but not so great , yet not without noise , as I suppose very few doe ; if any , it must be where the fire damp kindles so deep in the earth , that the explosion cannot be heard through so dense a body as it may be thence to the superficies , though the convulsion may be sensible . That which was felt at Oxon : about 7 in the morning Sept: 17. 1683 , was also accompanied with a noise like distant Thunder , the murmuring sound ( as it appeard to me ) preceding the shock about two Seconds of time . Octob : 9th in the same year , about eleven at night there happen'd another in Stafford-shire and all the adjoyning Counties , which as I have it from good hands , was not without a noise neither ; whence I conclude that few or none happen without , and that all of them have their origin from the kindling and explosion of fire-damps ; though I doe not remember I must confess that the earthquake at Bushbury , that fell out there ( they will tell you upon opening the Friars Tomb ) within the memory of man ( for I spake with one that remember'd it well ) had any that attended it , though it was so considerable as 'to make the pewter clatter in their houses , and the great pot they boyled their meat in , at Bushbury hall , to leap up from the ground : but this indeed needed not any great explosion , for it was so very peculiar , that it did not extend beyond the bounds of the parish ; nor was it valuable any where , but about the Church .

57. If it be objected that Air is so necessary to the being and duration of fire , that a subterraneal one , though actually kindled , could hardly continue long without extinction , and surely much less be kindled there . And secondly that if these noises which attend earthquakes , proceed from the kindling and explosion of natural Gunpowder made up of coal , Sulphur , and niter , as the artificial is ; we should find it some where , or some time or other , break forth of the earth and shew it self , which yet we hear little or nothing of . And thirdly that earthquakes many times happen , where one at least , if not more of these materials , were never known to be ; as at Oxford above mentiond ; and that therefore in such places however , it is by no means likely , that earthquakes should proceed from the assigned causes . To the first I answer , that Air is so unnecessary to that sort of fire kindled from the principles , and in the circumstances abovemention'd , that we find it in the relation of the fire damps at Mostyn , they never began to appear till the Workmen perceiv'd a want of Air , that being esteemed a great nourisher , as the immission of Air , from above , a destroyer of them g g Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 136. p. 897. and 898. . Which may give an account in some measure for the perpetual Lamps of the ancients shut close up in Tombs or other subterraneal Cells , which could have no communication with external Air , and were preserved by it , the oile perhaps being somewhat of this kind , all Histories agreeing that they were all extinguish't presently upon the least immission of external Air. Not to mention that our hot Bathes may be also accounted for , this way , this sort of fire heating water as well as any other , as was plain at Mostyn , and as it is at Mount Hecla or Hecklefield in the cold Country of Ice-land , which sometimes throws forth scolding hot water , and from whence 't is they have springs so hot in that Country , that in a quarter of an hour they will sufficiently boyle great pieces of beef h h Mr Collins's account of Iceland . p. 78. .

58. And to the second it may be replyed , that though in most cold regions , where the Earth is not so plentifully stored with Minerals as 't is in the hot ; and where the pores of it are shut in the time of earthquakes , which commonly happen here toward winter , and most commonly upon frosts , these fires seldom or never break out , but in all probability are extinguish't after some time with their owne filthy smoak : yet that in forraigne Countreys of a warmer Climat , where the earth is commonly replenish't with Minerals , and the pores of it always open with heat ; there is nothing a more certain attendant of an earthquake , than an eruption of fire somewhere within its verge . The earthquakes that so frequently ( that I say not always ) precede the eruptions of flaming Mountains , make good this ; whereof Pliny who was of this opinion , and compares Earthquakes to thunder i i C. Plinii 2di . Hist. Nat. Lib. 2. cap. 79. , gives us an extraordinary instance which fell out near Rome , Lucius Martius and Sex. Julius being Consuls ; when two Mountains were seen to assault one another with a very great noise , smoak and fire issuing from between them at their congress and regress , a multitude of Roman Knights , their servants , and Travellers , looking on the while from the Aemylian way k k Ibid. Lib. 2. cap 83. . And all Vulcano's indeed upon their greatest eruptions have earthquakes preceding them , as whoever consults those of Vesuvius or Aetna , whether ancient or modern , will always find them prefaced with such passages as these ; praecedente horrido terraeinotu : post ingentes terrae concussiones : whereof there fell out a very terrible example March 8. 1669 , when Eatna took fire after a most dreadfull earthquake . l l Ioh. Alphons . B●relli de Incendiis Aetnae cap. 4. . The like happen'd not long after in the Isle de la Palma , one of the Canary's Nov. 13. 1677. where about a ¼ of an hour before Sun set , an earthquake began which continued to the 17th with a thundering noise in the bowels of the earth , more especially in the plain call'd the Canios ; where , and in divers other places , the earth open'd several mouthes , to the number of 18. whence with the same thundering noise , issued fire and smoak , melted rocks , and fiery stones , which it threw so high into the Air , that the people lost sight of them m m Lectio Cutler . de potent . restit . p. 52.53 . . Mount Hecla too , which is always burning more or less , has also in proportion as constant an earthquake attends it , as Martineir informs us , who with his companion and two guides traveld up it about half a league , when it was reckon'd prety quiet , yet found it then to tremble so under their feet , and heard such a strange crashing and rumbleing within , that they were glad to get back again as fast as they could , for fear of being swallowed n n Martineir's Northern voyage p. 134. ; and if it trembled in this manner in its quietest condition , what must it doe when it burns with its greatest vehemence ? when , as we find it in the Geologia Norwegica , it makes a terrible rumbleing like loud thunder , whereas in other Counties where there is less exuberance of matter , these explosions ( which are ratably weaker ) must be stricktly pent up to make an earthquake , which let loose through any ductus into the open Air , would cause no such matter , and this I take to be the reason why we have no such fiery eruptions upon earthquakes here , as they have abroad .

59. T is true indeed that about Oxford we have no such matter as coal that yet we know of , and yet have earthquakes now and then which was the third objection ; and is answer'd already by Dr. Power § 54 , where He says that the golden Marchasit or brass lumps moistned with water , are sufficient to produce heats and actual fire without coal ; to which add niter , of both which there is plenty about Oxford , and we have sufficient materials to supply for an earthquake , and the noise too , that commonly attends them . Beside the pyrites or Marchasits about Oxford lye generally , if not always , in a dark blew clay , which after further concoction of many Ages perhaps many come to be coal : however as it is , it seems to be somewhat like the laming that lyes between the measures of coal , which according to one opinion § 54 was look't upon as one of the materials as productive of heat and fire , as any of the rest : which if so , this blew clay perhaps may supply the place of coal in the process of nature for begetting an earthquake , as perfectly and well , as if coal were at hand , though I must confess were there any other circumstances favorable , this would induce one to think coal could not be far off . Which brings me

60. Lastly , to the signes whereby they find coal , and the methods they use in finding and diging them ; which though they properly indeed belong to the Chapter of Arts , yet for the reasons above mention'd , I shall treat of them here . For finding of coal , if in a place where never any have bin discover'd , they first consult the springs if any near , to see whether they can find any coal water i. e. an acid water having a Car , or yellow sediment : above ground they look for a smut as they call it , i. e. a friable black earth : when they meet with either of these , they reckon themselves under circumstances tolerably good for the finding of coal , which prompt them next either to boar or sink a pit ; the former whereof if they think the coal lyes shallow , is the better of the two ; but if it lye deep , it becomes almost as expensive as sinking a pit , the drawing the rods of the Augre expending very much time , in reguard they are many , and that it must be done frequently ; besides its leaving the Searcher under great uncertainties , in respect of the course of the coal , the draining it , its goodness and thickness ; all which are very considerable in the search of coal . Whereas by sinking , all these uncertainties are removed , only the charge is certain , for that in all virgin grounds where the coal lyes intire and untouch't , there is always a great affluence of water , which many times brings the unfortunat inquisitor , not only under a necessity of a great expence for drawing of water , but sometimes too , to let Himself know that the work can never turn to account : However of the two , this is reekon'd the better , for the reasons above mentiond .

61. As it is also where search is made , where coal is already known to be , either by their appearing to the day any where , as by Rivers fides , or having been dug not far of : the ranges of the Metalls already known , and their distances , with their diping , and the rise of ground above them , giving directions almost infallibly where they shalt set down their pit . For these being known , 't is no great difficulty to judg whereabout they 'l crop out ; that which lyes lowest , comeing forth furthest ; and that which uppermost , nighest to the place foreknown : So that supposeing the worst that can befal the Searcher in the use of this Method , that He should find Himself mistaken in seting down his Pit , and meet either with a Metall that lyes above , or under the coal ; in the first case all He has to doe , is to move in proportion so much backward , and in the latter so much forward , and He sinks his pit just upon it . In finding of coal the most skillfull Workmen give much heed to the roof , whereby they will not only tell what mine they are over , but the quality of the coal too , as to its goodness or badness ; a roof of loose rotten stone without any certain beding or diping , being a certain Index of ill rotten coal ; as a firme roof , vice versa , is of a good one .

62. When the coal is found , they work it according to the greater or lesser diping : if it be a rearing mine or edg-coal as some call it , cuting the superficies of the earth at right angles , if yet of a sufficient thickness to be thought worth working at all , they sink a pit as deep as the water will give leave , and work along the row or streek as far as they think convenient : if it rise or crop with the ascent of a hill , and is fit for a footrill , as at Apedale , they follow the row or side basset of the coal , as far as the want of Air will permit them , and at due distances make setings up acoording to the croping of the coal , i. e. as other Coal works are dug with a side dip , so these in an up dip . The footrill at Apedale is driven in thus upon a level about 200 yards , in which space there are 12 setings up , haveing pillars at each side which they call ribs , between which they must carry up their work , though the coal hath leiths or joynts in it that run otherways , according to which yet they cannot work it as they doe in the Flat and hanging mines ; which they divide into partitions or wallings as they call them , more or less in number according as the mine dips : if but little , which they call a flat mine , the wallings are so many the more , in regard it is workable a great way , before either the Mine will dip to the water , or crop to the grass : if a hanging mine , so many the less , in proportion likewise to the diping .

63. I went down into one of these hanging mines at Hardingswood belonging to the aforemention'd Mr. Poole of this County , where He shewed me a level of 35 yards of roach as it lay in an oblique diping line above the water , which came to 35 foot perpendicular , diping one foot to every yard : in this Level He had five wallings or Stauls , out of which they dug the coal in great blocks ; between the wallings there were ribbs left , and passages through them called thurlings , which give convenience of Air , and passage for the coal out of one walling into another , which in all coal mines stand thick or thin , partly according to the substance of the coal ; most commonly thiner in the lower wallings , which are therefore consequently wider ; and thicker in the upper wallings , which must be therefore narrower , the coal of the upper wallings being generally nasher ; i. e. softer and more friable then that of the lower wallings , which are more firme and solid : whence they compare the coal of the upper wallings to brush wood , as burning swifter , sweeter , and clear from soot ; and that of the lower wallings to hard wood , as being more solid and lasting , though making more soot . But in this point they mind not so much the coal as the roof , the wallings or staules being made narrower or wider , according as that is found better or worse , which sometimes being nothing but a bass , full of joynts ; and perhaps soluble in the Air , they are forced then to leave a yard of coal that lyes next under it for a roof , and make their wallings narrow : whereas on the contrary where there is a strong rock next the coal , and no bass , they will then venture their roof so far sometimes as to make their wallings 8 or 9 yards wide , which roof of rock puts me in mind that t is time to shut up this tedious discourse of coal , and proceed to the succeding Chapter of Stone .

64. But before I enter on it , perhaps it may not be amiss to add a word or two concerning the Methods they use in laying their coales dry , when any thing troubled with water , which because they are not so frequently , or so much , as in some other Countrys , they are not forced upon such variety of expensive Engines . The ordinary ways they use are by Sough or by Gin. The former when they have the advantage of fall of ground enough , which they try by the Level , and then either dig a trench open to the surface , like a great ditch as deep as the coale , or drive in a cuniculus about a yard diameter to the pavement ( if they can ) of the lowest dip , of the lowest measure of coale , which without more adoe will lay all the coal so dry , toward the Crop , that it may be workt without difficulty . But when they have no fall , they draw it up by Gin , which is made either bigger , or less , according to the exigence of the work ; the less they call a Iack , which is either turned by Men , as requiring less strength ; or by Horses , according as the Owner thinks most fit . But the Gin is always work't by Horses , which likewise is two-fold , either by chain , or by barrells : the chain is made with leather suckers upon it at lit le distances , which bring up water , and discharge themselves into a trough set near the Eye of the pit , whence t is carryed off by a small trench . The Gin by Barrells , whereof always one goes up as the other goes downe , will also void great quantities of water , provided they be constantly followed day and night , else upon the least neglect , the water will get such head , that much time will be spent before it can be master'd again , which Engines being so common , and so easy of apprehension , as not to deserve a Cut , or the Readers view ; I have saved my self the expence , and Him the trouble , both of the one and th' other .

CHAP. IV. Of Stones .

1. IN the two preceding Chapters , having run through the Mineralia media ; the Earths , Salts , Sulphurs , and Bitumens ; the order of Nature next requires me to descend to the Stones and Metalls , the two remaining species of the Mineral Kingdom , which will be both absolv'd in this , and the following Chapter . How all stones were chiefly made out of Salts with a mixture of earths and sulphurs , was shewn in generall , in the History of Oxfordshire a a Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 2. §. 25. , I shall only add here the particular Method nature seems to use in the production of them , and then consider the several species worthy notice in this County . It has been an opinion that challenges no great seniority , that Stones are coagulations of Salts and earths , which if finely mixt , sublim'd and percolated by the means of heat , and after condensed by cold , make a transparent stone ; and if but grosly mixt with little or no percolation , an opake one ; wherein though I cannot deny but there may be some-what of truth , yet I think it will be more particular , and more home to the business , if we further add , that this coagulum or petrification is rather made upon the meeting of the solutions of acid and Alcalizat salts ; and that these doe compound transparent , semiopake , and opake stones , according as they are more or less mixt with sulphurs , and earths , of different finenesses and purifications .

2. And this I take to be very probable , because we know of no things in nature that unite so strictly as these two doe , makeing a coagulum in bodies that at first sight seem very unlikly to performe any such matter ; witness the offa alba of Helmont , a thick gross substance , far from the nature of a liquid , made out of the spirits of wine and urin highly rectify'd ; and another such like Offa made of the spirits of Vitriol and Salt , by a solution of Saturne made with distill'd Vinegar b b Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 117. pag. 408. ; to which add the coagulum made out of equal quantities of spirit of Sal Armeniac and spirit of Wine mixt , and shaken together in a Viol ; and all these upon union of the acids , alcali's , and sulphurs , or whatever other principles they be , that constitute these bodies . Thus transparent stones having little or nothing of those terrestrieties the opake ones have ; seem to be made of pure solutions of such like salts , and transparent Sulphurs , or Ambers , all purifyed by filtrations through the closest colanders , and then fixt upon meeting . Thus a calcarious or Tartarious Salt meeting with a pure solution of Sal gemmae , and white-ambrine Sulphur or bitumen , 't is like produces an Adamant or Diamond . The same alcali's meeting with a pure solution of native Cinnaber make a Ruby , with a solution of blew vitriol ( for there is a natural blew Vitriol as well as an artificial ) a Saphir , with solution of green vitriol a Smaragd or Emrauld , with solution of Orpiment a Topaz , and so for stones of all other intermediat colours , or mixt of these in proportion as they partake more or less of one or the other . But such stones as these I shall have little occasion to trouble the Reader with in particular , there being but few transparent found in this County ; I shall therefore in the first place consider the opake ones , and especially such first as hold any of these principles more signally than others : then 2. such as serve to supply the necessities of Mankind : and lastly such , whether opake or transparent , that serve for the ornament or delight , either of his person , or buildings .

3. On the banks of the River Stour between Prestwood and Stourton Castle ( a place remarkable for the birth of Cardinal Poole ) now both of them the Seats of the virtuous and much honored Philip Foley of Prestwood Esq both here represented in Prospect Tab. 9. as a gratefull recognition of his eminent favours : On the banks I say of that river , about mid-way between the aforesaid places , I was shewn a large rock at the foot of a hill , at which it has been observed that birds doe lye frequently pecking and licking it , and 't is supposed for the salt they find in it : that many birds delight in licking of Salt , especially pidgeons , is very certain , but that there is any in this rock I must confess I could not find , though I endeavour'd it nicely , perhaps they may rather come for a sort of gravel in this rock , that may be fitter than ordinary for breaking the corn they have eaten , which in such Animals as these that have no teeth , is perform'd in the gizzard by the help of gravel : yet neither can I conclude that there is no salt in the rock , because I could not tast it , for I very well know that most other animals are nicer in their Senses ( having no way debauch't them ) than Mankind is , so that nothing hinders but the birds may be sensible of a salt in the rock , though I was not : if there be such a salt , in all probability it must be a good fire-stone , such as they use for the Hearths of their Iron furnaces ; and if so , were the Iron-works at that height in this Country , they were formerly , this rock could have never fallen into a better hand , than its present Proprietor .

4. For there is nothing in nature , except Talc and Amiantus , that supports the force of fire equally to Salts , whence 't is that some sorts of stones endure fire much better than others , when they are well sated with Salts , and have but little sulphur , and the parts of those salts well adapted to one another without cavities ; for wherever there are iuterstices betwixt the parts , there must be rarefactions upon the advent of fire , whence follows flawing at least , if not flying of the stone ; neither of which can be endured in a furnace . The stone most prized for this purpose , of any I could hear of all over the County , is a sort they dig on Whiston moor , not far from Chedle , in the Moorlands ; and at Huntington upon the edg of Cank-wood ; these they trye first in their Forge fires , to see whether they will flaw or fly or no , and if the stone of any quarry pass two or three tryals , they then conclude upon the whole , and take it thencforward for good , without further tryal : which is all concerning it : but that the best stone for this purpose , is generally observed to lye in Clay ; and that if the texture of it happen not to be close and firme , it is apt to run upon frosts and moist weather ; of which sort I take the stone to be , call'd Glum-metall , about Bradwall in the Moorelands , which as I was told by the ingenious Ralph Sneyd Esq though as hard to digg as any rock ; yet the Air , rains , and frosts , will mollify it so ; that it will run as if it were a natural Lime , and no question would they use it , must be good for land . And this brings me next to consider .

5. The Limestone rocks , whereof to their great benefit they have plenty enough almost in all parts of the Country , it being a sort of stone not so much usefull here for their buildings , as for fertilizing their heathy , gorsy , and broomy lands ; for though when burnt , it part with most of its sulphur , yet at the same time it admits fiery particles , which upon moisture , together with its salt now clear'd from the bonds of Sulphur , it freely dispenses to the cold poor ground , giving it at the same time warmth , and saltness , the cheif principles of vegetation ; forceing the ground to exert it self to so prodigious a rate ( which is its only fault ) that it sometimes beggers it for ever after : wherein they say marling is to be preferr'd before it , that cherishing and improveing the innate strength of the Land , and continuing so to doe for a long time ; this only hightening the present vigour , but preying upon it ( like brandy upon the Spirits of an Animal ) and quite extinguishing it in a little time . However it must needs be good for their cold , moist , black , bituminous earths ; whereof there is great quantities in the Moors of this Country , which without it would scarce produce any thing at all .

6. It is dug in great plenty upon the banks of Dove , from Beresford downward , and ha's been reputed to give the ●●ddows on that river their great fertility , but I think it can doe but little before 't is burnt , its salts being then clog'd and fetter'd with Sulphur , a better and truer cause of that fertility having been assigned before , Chap. 2. § 2. of this book .

6. At Waterfall also on this side the Country , it rises in tables or slats about two inches thick , of so very fine a grain and close texture that it polishes like Marble , whereof in the arbours up and down the Country I found tables made of it : but it is so far from a wonder that Lime-stone should be marble ; that most marble ( that I say not all ) will burne to Lime , and is consequently a Limestone , though all Limestone be not marble . They dig Limestone also at Madeley on the other side the Moorelands in the Lordship of the Worshipfull Iohn Offley Esq beside good coal , and Marle , which should have been mention'd before : but the best of all is said to be in the Southern parts of the County , in Hurstfield within the Manor of Sedgley belonging to the Honorable William Ward Esq and in the old Park near Dudley Castle belonging to the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward ; and all about Walsall , particularly at Rushall , in the lands of the learned Henry Legh Esq

7. Where it lyes in beds for the most part Horizontally , and is broken up with Iron wedges knockt in at the partitions with great sledges , and prized up with great leavers with rings round them , to stay the feet of the Workmen who get upon them , whereof some weigh at least 150 pounds : Notwithstanding which vast force the stones will not rise , unless softened by fire , which upon that account they are constrain'd to make on it . When they have gotten the stone , they burn it in oblong pits , made in the ground , about seven yards long , 3 wide , and but 6 or 7 foot deep at the but of the pit : wherein first they lay a little wood or gorse to keep the coal from the ground , which is laid under the stone , the first stratum but thin , not above 3 inches thick ; then a stratum of stone about 6 inches deep ; the next floor of coal they make 10 inches thick , and the layer of stone above that , 18 inches : the next of coal above that , is usually about a foot thick , and the floor of stone over it double the thickness ; then the 4 layer of coal is but 10 inches , and the 4 of stone but 18 ; then above all another stratum of coal about 2 or 3 inches , which they cover with parget or mortar , made with slak't lime and water to keep in the heat : the coal laid in this manner with the stone S. S. S. burning it gradually into Lime in about a weeks time . Which sort of Lime pit ha's this peculiar convenience above all others I ever yet saw , that they can take away the Lime that is first burnt while the rest is on fire , and can make up the but of the pit , whilst t is yet burning at the mouth .

8. Beside , in this Method and manner of burning of Limestone , the Workmen seem not to run the hazard other Lime-burners doe , who burn it with wood after the common practise of other Countries ; who if they keep not their fire still forward as they call it , but suffer it to slacken never so little before the stone is quite calcined , shall never after be able to make Lime of them at all : for if the flame which has once open'd the pores of the stone be but checkt a little before the work is finisht , the pores will some way or other so close themselves up , and the whole matter so sink into a lump , that twenty times the fewel that would have kept them open , and the mass of stone asunder , will never recover them so as admit the flame again , which cannot now rise amongst the stones , there being none of those interstices now left either in the body of the stone it self , or between them , for it to pass through as before . Whereas in this way of Lime burning , by stratification , as it seems morally impossible for the Workman to be so negligent as to slacken a fire which still burns on of it self ; so it seems naturally so , that a mass of stone should ever so fall down into a lump , being thus divided by coal , as either way to be render'd uncapable of being made into Lime .

9. Next the stones holding a signal quantity of Salt , I proceed to such as have a mixture of Sulphur , and such are all that with a steel , or by a quick attrition with any other fit body , will strike fire , or kindle its parts into sparks , all which by the Naturalists are aptly enough stiled pyrites ; under which genus we may reckon Sands , pebbles , and Marchasits , of each of which , as many as I find any way remarkable , as breifly as may be . And first of sands , which says Ferrante Imperato are the least form of a stone c c Dell' Hist. naturale Lib. 1. cap. 21. sub finem . ; whereof I met with a sort at Bilston or Bilson that I think is so indeed , so very fine that it is hardly palpable , it is of a deep orange colour , and is sent for by Artists living at a great distance , and used by them as a spaud to cast Metalls with . Other sands of use I met with none , but sands for the glass-houses , whereof I was told of one that excell'd the rest , dug somewhere near West Bromwich ; and a sort of sand they have at Gaston in the parish of Ipston , which being first wash't from the dirt , then dryed and sifted from the smaller sand , and in another sieve from the pebbles it has amongst it , they then use it , being strewed upon a greasy boar'd , as an excellent sand to whet their Sithes , whence it has the denomination of Sithe-Sand . Unless we may reckon a sort of friable stone of a deep yellow colour found sparsim in lumps amongst the stiffest and fattest Marles at Eardley in the parish of Audley , amongst the sands : which I think I need not scruple much to doe , since I find them to crumble between the fingers , yet so very fine are its parts that at the same time they give a colour , and as the ingenious Robert Wilmot of Eardley Esq in whose grounds they are found , sent we word , are some sorts of them used by the painters , and by the workmen all call'd by the general name of Rosemary-stones .

10. What these should be , and how come to be produced in a substance of so quite a different nature from them , as a stiff sat Marle ; was a problem that at first sight gave me some trouble : till remembring that in Oxfordshire I met with much such yellow lumps growing sparsim here and there amongst the Chalk in most of the pits of the Chiltern Country , there call'd Iron moulds d d Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 3. § 51. ; and that the learned Martin Lister Esq mentions the same found in Chalk by the name of Rust balls near Foulmore in Cambridg-shire , and in the Woolds in Yorkshire , which upon due calcination would apply to the Magnet e e Mart. Lister de font . Med. Angl. cap. 2. §. 9 . Calling these things to mind , and that chalk was a substance as quite different from the Rust balls and Iron moulds , as Marle could be from these Rosemary stones , and as unlikely to produce any such effect : I resolved to trye both the one and the other , according to the prescription of Agricola cited by Mr. Lister ; which I did with that success , that I found within an hour that both the Iron moulds and Rosemary stones did acknowledg the Magnet ; whence 't is plain that notwithstanding they were all found in beds of such dissimilar substances , that yet they are all certainly Iron-Ores , and these our Rosemary stones , of the arenaceous kind ; part whereof upon ignition being made into Iron , owned it self such upon application of the Magnet .

11. That pebbles as well as sands are also pyrites , beside their strikeing fire , we have this further evidence , that some pebbles at least are made out of Sand ; wherefore if sands themselves are pyrites , the pebbles made of them must be so too . Now that some pebbles are made of sand , I was amply satisfyed at Bentley hall the seat of the Worshipfull Tho: Lane Esq ( of which more hereafter ) where I was shewn a large sort of oval pebbles of a reddish colour , dug up with the brick-earth near the dog-kennel poole , whose outward coats were hard and smooth , but within containing only a bulk of sand equal to the intended bigness of the stone ; some of them having little more than an outward shell ; others harden'd half way ; others ¾ stone , and sand only at the center ; and some quite petrifyed ; the induration seeming to increase gradually inward in process of time , till at length the petrification is completed in the Center ; just as I found it in the round flints in Oxfordshire f f Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 180. , which contain chalk within , and have coats thicker and thiner according to the seniority of their induration . As I suppose also those white pebbles have , that contain a mealy substance in them , found about Treasle , which I take to be the Geodes of Dioscorides , or Aetites Plinii , 4 ti generis , Taphiusius dictus g g C. Plinii 2. di . Hist. Nat. Lib. 36. cap. 21. . Nor are these the only Examples that I have seen of this kind , for I have now a stone by me of a dark reddish colour , brought out of Northamptonshire and given me by the learned Dr. Robert Pit fellow of Wadham College and of the Royal Society , that has a firme coat without , yet is fill'd up within , with nothing but a loose sand ; which whether a pebble or no , though I cannot safely say , yet I think verily I may , that it must be produced after the same manner .

12. Yet Nature does not seem to use the same process , in production of stones though of the same kind and colour , for in a ground call'd Castle-croft Northward of Nether-Pen in a red clay , the pebbles sensibly grow of the same colour with the earth about , but always commence their induration at the center , being gradually softer toward the out side , ending in a substance nearer to a liquid than the earth at some distance , which is more agreeable to the Hypothesis of all stones having been once liquids , and of their augmentation by juxta position . The latter whereof seems to be strongly confirmed , by a firm pebble that was shewn me by my worthy friend the Worshipfull Francis Wolferstan Esq having a smooth hole through it about the bigness of a Rye straw , out of which He pick't the intire rind of some sort of wood which was rotted away , whence He rationally collected that the pebble must have grown round it . The same worthy Gentleman still prosecuting the same argument , sent me not long after another pebble with an incrustation of clay and sand mixt , adhering to it ; whereby it was plain that stones doe contract other substances to them , and gradually convert them into their owne kind ; and hence He most ingeniously shewed too , how it comes to pass , that even the pebble ( as this was ) is frequently diversify'd with different colours , these being the stones of all others most lyable to be removed from place to place , whence they contract matter to them of different textures and qualities , and so consequently thence , are of various colours .

13. Whence in all probability the opake pebbles on Satnall hills , and all over Cank-wood have their variety of colours , these being places of great action , and so the stones the more likely to have frequent disturbance ; than which I never sawany more plesantly variegated , or fitter for Cabinets , hafts of knives , or other Lapidaries work . Of this sort I was shewn severall finely polisht by the virtuous and most ingenious Iane Lady Gerard ; and had others given me by the hopefull young Gent. Francis Wolferstan jun. and his virtuous Sister Ms. Ann , of their owne gathering about Statfold ; I had also another presented me with blewish veins , by a fair Lady at Lyswis : which all took so specious and elegant a gloss , that they seem'd at least to equal , if not surpass the Achat . But no more of these here , they being so very fine that they should rather have been reckon'd amongst the stones of Ornament . Nor have I more to add concerning this sort of stones , but that in the hollow way between the hills on Weeford heath , as you pass between Swynfen and Cannel yate , there lye divers little heaps of them , and one great one at the top of the hill at Weeford Park corner , which according to the tradition of the Country , was placed there in memory of a Bishop of Lichfield , who rideing thither with a large attendance , was set upon by Robbers ; and Himself and all his men being slain , that these heaps of stones were layd where each dead body was found : whence by the Country people and travellers they are call'd the Bishops stones . But this is merely a fable of them , the truth follows , as I received it from the learned and judicious Antiquary Sr. Willam Dugdale Kt. Garter King at Armes .

14. About the later end of the raigne of King Henry the 8. or shortly after , John Vessy then Bishop of Exeter , a man of a publick spirit , and borne close by , at Sutton Cofield in Warwick shire , resolving with himself to become a benefactor to that place and the parts adjacent , procured for that towne not only a Mercat and fairs , but got it also incorporated by the name of a Warden and fellowship , building also a great number of houses upon the large wasts of that parish , intending to set up the manufacture of Kerseys there , as it was practised in Devonshire where he was Bishop : during these transactions at Sutton Cofield the good Bp. was frequently thereabout , and finding the road above mention'd much annoyed with these rolling pebbles , which frequently occasion'd travellers horses to stumble and sometimes to fall , amongst others of his works of Charity , He hired poore people to gather them out of the way , and lay them thus on heaps ; and this is the true reason they are call'd the Bishops stones . Which relation was given in , and testifyed for truth , in King James's time , by a woman that lived at Black-brook hard by , who was examind upon a commission out of Chancery , then executed by one Mr. John Brandreth of Weeford , and others , concerning the extent of Common of the Parishes adjacent .

15. Hither also may be referr'd the Micae , aurea and nigra , if all that strike fire belong to this place ; whereof the former was found in the Fold-yard near Statfold house , and given me by the Worshipfull Francis Wolferston Esq and the latter on the banks of Aqualat mear , and on Seasdon heath , which may otherwise be call'd the rock Mica , it having been found so great in bulk , and so very hard , that they have made Mill stones of it . This , as I am inform'd from the Cabinet of the learned Martin Lister , is also to be met with at Arncliff in Yorkshire h h Vid. Scrinium Listeri in Musaeo Ashmolian . Loculo 14. ; which though it seem to be a white marble fill'd with black sparks , He is pleas'd to demominat Talcum aureum , because after calcination these black sparks turn of a golden colour as ours also doe , and some of them owne the Magnet ; whence 't is clear they carry somewhat of an Iron-Ore with them , as well as a sulphur ; and may the rather upon that account be reckond amongst the Pyrites aurii , though they carry not so much either of the one or the other as the golden Marchasite or pyrites aureus strictly so call'd , or the pyrites argenteus ; the former whereof is found in every coal pit , and has so much sulphur , that 't is the principal ingredient that sets them on fire ; the latter 't is true is more rare in this County and has less sulphur , but I met with it at Sedgley in the hands of Mr. Ievon of that parish , who gave me a peece of it which was found , as He told me , somewhere there about : both which calcined apply to the Magnet , and conf●●s themselves in part to be the Ores of Iron , and lead me next to consider

16. The other Iron Ores of Staffordshire , they being all of them stones , and so falling under this chapter : which lye in some places but thin , others thicker , and as the coal is , divided into measures of different donominations . In Tunstall field , in the Royalty of the right Honorable Digby Lord Gerard , in diging for Iron-stone , they meet first with a small bass , then a strong bass , then a sort of stone from its colour call'd blew-cap , good for nothing ; and after that the Iron-stone of a darkish blew colour , which ordinarily lyes here not above two foot in thickness . On Mear-heath they observe in digging for Iron stone , that if they meet with roches , sand , gravel , and clay , that the head of the mine is quickly eaten out ; especially the last , which so keeps downe the head that it comes to nothing presently , all which they count bad , the works being thinner and more chargeable to dig : but if they meet with Mine-earth ( as they call it ) which is white , then they promise themselves good mines both of Iron stone and coal , which as at most other places lye here together , the stone above the coale , between four fingers and ½ a foot thick , having bass above and below it ; in which sometimes they also meet an Iron Ore , they call ball-stones , distinct from the vein ; and then indeed 't is thicker : this where the Iron stone and coal lye together , they call the deep mine which is not the best , the chalky-Mine , and the little-Mine being preferr'd before it ; yet they are all work't by Mr. Foley of Longdon a village hard by .

17. About Dudley where the Iron-stone lyes , under the ten yards thickness of coal , and above the heathen coal , of a considerable thickness ; it is divided , as I said the coale was , into divers measures of different denominations ; which take as follows 1. The Black-row-grains , 2. The Dun row-grains , 3. The White-row-grains , all so called from Earths of those colours in which they lye 4. The Rider-stone , 5. The Cloud-stone , 6. The Bottom-stone 7. The Cannoc or Cannot Stone . at Walsall and Rushall they also divide their Iron-Ore into several sorts , such as 1. Black bothum , 2. Gray bothum , 3. Chatterpye , being of the colour of a Magpye , 4. Gray measure , 5. Mush , 6. White measure . the two first whereof are seldom made use of , they are so very mean ; the two middle sorts but indifferent ; the two last the principal sorts ; but Mush the best of all , some of it being a small combystone , other some round and hollow , and many times fill'd with a briske sweet liquor which the Workmen drink greedily , so very rich an Ore that they say it may be made into Iron in a common Forge . Also at many other places , as at Cheslinhay , Red street , Ape-dale , Wednesbury , Darlaston &c. they digg Iron-stone , the several measures whereof have also obtained different names , though gotten but at little distance from one another , which I forbear to enumerat , those above mentioned being sufficient , for a specimen of them .

18. And thus I had finish't my account of the Iron-Ores found in this County , but that I think the sweet liquor that attends some of them , may deserve a little further consideration , whereof I received a most accurat account from the Worshipfull Henry Legh of Rushall Esq in whose lands , particularly in the Mill-meddow , near the furnace in the Park ; in the Moss-close near the old Vicaridg-house ; and in the furnace piece or Lesow : it is frequently met with amongst the best sort of Iron-stone call'd Mush ; in round or oval blackish and redish stones , sometimes as big as the crown of ones hat , hollow and like a hony-comb within , and holding a pint of this matter ; which according to the colour of the comb within ( whatever the stone be without ) is either red , or white , and whether the one or the other , of a sweet sharp tast , very cold , and cuting , yet greedily drank by the Workmen . The whitish sort whereof was also met with at Sherriff-Hales in this County , by the ingenious George Plaxton Rector there , especially in that sort of Mine , the Country people call the White Mine , which yeilds the best Iron-stone , where the Workmen commonly upon breaking a stone find it inclosed in the Center , sometime to the quantity of a Hogs-head in one cavity , of a sweetish tast , but accompanyed with a Vitriolic or Iron like twang i i Philosoph . Transact . Num. 100. .

19. The same , as we find in that Letter of the inquisitive Mr. Iessop of Bromhall in Yorkshire communicated to the Royal Society by the learned Martin Lister , seems also to have been met with in a coal-Mine in Darbyshire 49 yards deep , by one Captain Wain a diligent and knowing person in Mines , who sent Mr. Iessop a whitish liquor , resembling cream both in colour and consistence , found there in great quantities k k Ibidem . . Mr. Webster also acquaints us that an experienced Miner found it in a hard stone , by his direction , in the Lead-mines of Darby-shire , which was of a whiteish colour and some of it very thin and liquid , and some of it soft like butter l l Webster's Hist of Metalls chap. 3. p. l 51. . What this substance should be , or whence it should come , none of the workmen or others that I discour'st about it , could give me satisfaction , and indeed it is hard to determin any thing in these secrets of Nature : but if I may have liberty to give my opinion which is not altogether groundless , I take it to be the Gur of the Adeptists , i. e. the matter of Metalls before it be coagulated into a Metallic form , or the Metalla in suis principiis : for taking some of this white liquor found in the Iron-stone at Rushall which I brought away with me and was now dryed pretty hard , and burning it in a Crucible , it was quickly maturated into Iron , and applyed to the Magnet ; as I beleive that would have done which was found at Sherriff-Hales , and in the Coal-mine and Lead-Mine of Darby-shire , for though found in Mines of a different denominations , yet every body knows how frequently Iron-stone accompanys coale , out of which it might issue ; and that possibly the stone in which this matter was inclosed in the Lead Mine might be an Iron-stone too , it being usuall for Metalls to be found mixt ; though I must not deny neither , but that it might be the Gur of Lead , that being affirm'd to be of much the same colour and consistence .

20. Of the above mentioned Ores they make severall sorts of Iron , differing in goodness according to the richness or poverty of the Ores , and haveing names somewhat agreeable to the qualities of each Metall . The first and meanest whereof , they call yellow share an ill sort that runs all to dirt and is good for nothing , and such is the Iron made of the Cannock or Cannot stone , the lowest measure of Iron Ore about Dudley , which is so very sulphureous and terrestiall , that it s not fit to make Iron : this sort some others are please'd to call Redshare , because says Dud. Dudley in his Metallum Martis m m D. Dudley's Metallum Martis p. 41. , if a Workman should forge out a sheare of this for a plough , it is so brittle it would crack in the red-heat , so unfit is it to make a Husbandmans sheare . The second sort of Iron they stile coldshear which though it will not break when red hot , yet in hot heat or cold , the biggest bar of it may be broken with a small blow upon an Anvil , if it be perfect coldsheare Iron ; the Ore for this Iron the have at Cheslin-hay , Redstreet , and Apedale , the worst and leanest being that from Cheslin-hay , the next from Redstreet being a red stone , and the best of the three from Apedale , being of a blewish colour , and call'd Boylom ; yet these three are commonly mixt together , and sometimes with others stones to make them better or worse : the only uses that I could hear of for this sort of Iron , being to make small nailes not above two penny , and sheering nailes for ships having broad heads and short shanks , to keep the timber from being eaten by grubs .

21. The third sort of Iron they make in this County they call blend-metall , of which they make nailes from three shillings to ten shillings , and all sorts of heavy ware , such as Hammers &c. and in some Countries Horshooes ; for which they have the Ore from Wednesbury and Darlaston . The fourth and best sorts of Iron they call tough-Iron of which they make all sorts of the best wares , there being nothing so good but may be made of this , for which thy have their Ore cheifly at Rushall in the grounds of the Worshpfull Hen: Legh Esq They have some also from Walsall but not so good , whereof the several measures were enumerated above . Of the Iron made of these ( I say ) they make their best wares , either mediatly or immediatly , the best Iron of all being made out of the fileings and pareings of the Locksmiths , which they make up into balls with water , and dry them by the fire into hard balls ; then they put it into the fire and melt it by blast , licking it up with a rodd of Iron as they doe glass at the glas-houses , and then beat it into a barr , which they use cheifly for keys , and other fine works .

22. When they have gotten their Ore , before 't is fit for the furnace , they burn or calcine it upon the open ground , with small charcoal , wood , or sea-cole , to make it break into small pieces , which will be done in 3 days , and this they call annealing it , or fiting it for the furnace . In the mean while they also heat their furnace for a weeks time with charcoal without blowing it , which they call seasoning it , and then they bring the Ore to the furnace thus prepared , and throw it in with the charcole in baskets vicissim , i. e. a basket of Ore , and then a basket of coal S. S. S. where by two vast pair of bellows placed behind the furnace , and compress'd alternatly by a large wheel turned by water , the fire is made so intense , that after 3 days time the metall will begin to run , still after increasing , till at length in fourteenights time they can run a Sow and piggs once in 12 hours , which they doe in a bed of sand before the mouth of the furnace , wherein they make one larger furrow than the rest , next the Timp ( where the metall comes forth ) which is for the Sow , from whence they draw two or three and twenty others ( like the labells of a file in Heraldry ) for the piggs , all which too they make greater or lesser according to the quantity of their Metall : into these when their Receivers are full they let it forth , which is made so very fluid by the violence of the fire , that it not only runs to the utmost distance of the furrows but stands boiling in them for a considerable time : before it is cold , that is when it begins to blacken at top , and the red to goe off , they break the Sow and pigs off from one another , and the sow into the same length with the pigs , though in the runing it is longer and bigger much , which is now done with ease ; whereas if let alone till they are quite cold , they will either not break at all , or not without difficulty .

23. In melting of Iron-ore some have great regard to the make of the furnace , and placeing of the bellows ; which that the Reader may the better apprehend , He must be inform'd , that the hearth of the furnace into which the Ore and coal fall , is ordinarily built square , the sides descending obliquely and drawing near to one another toward the bottom , like the Hopper of a Mill : where these oblique walls terminat , which they term the boshes , there are joyned four other stones , but these are commonly set perpendicular , and reach to the bottom stone , makeing the perpendicular square that receives the Metall ; which four walls have the following names ; that next the bellows , the tuarn or tuiron wall ; that against it , the wind-wall or spirit-plate ; that where the Metall comes out , the Timp or fore plate ; that over against it , the back-wall : and these according as they may be pitch't less transhaw , or more borrow ; will mend , they say , or alter the nature of the Iron ; if transhaw or transiring from the blast , the Iron will be more coldshear , less fined ; more indeed to the Masters profit , but less to him that has the manufactorage of it , and to him that useth it : whereas the Iron made in a borrow work , is much more tough and serviceable . Nor is the ordering of the bellows of less concern , which have usually their entrance into the furnace between the bottom of the Hopper or boshes , and the bottom stone , and are placed nearer or farther off according as the Ore and Metall require . T is also of importance in melting of Iron Ore , that there be five or six soughs made under the Furnace ( as it is at Mare ) in parallel lines to the stream that turns the wheel which compresses the bellows , to drain away the moisture from the furnace , for should the least drop of water come into the Metall , it would blow up the furnace , and the Metall would fly about the Workmens ears ; from which soughs they must also have a conical pipe about 9 inches at bottom , set to convey the damps from them into the open Air , which too otherwise would annoy the Workmen even to death .

24. From the Furnaces , they bring their Sows and pigs of Iron when broken asunder , and into lengths , to the Forges ; which are of two sorts , but commonly ( as at Cunsall ) standing together under the same roof ; one whereof they call the Finery , the other the Chafery : they are both of them open hearths , upon which they place great heaps of coal , which are blown by bellows like to those of the Furnaces , and compressed the same way , but nothing near so large . In these two forges they give the Sow and piggs 5 severall heats before they are perfectly wrought into barrs . First in the Finery they are melted down as thin as lead , where the Metall in an hour thickens by degrees into a lump or mass , which they call a loop , this they bring to the great Hammer raised by the motion of a water-wheel , and first beat it into a thick square , which they call a half bloom . Then 2ly they put it into the Finery again for an hour , and then bring it again to the same Hammer , where they work it into a bloom , which is a square barr in the middle , and two square knobs at the ends , one much less then the other , the smaller being call'd the Ancony end , and the greater the Mocket head . And this is all they doe at the Finery . Then 3. the Ancony end is brought to the Chafery , where after it has been heated for a quarter of an hour , it is also brought to the Hammer , and there beat quite out to a bar , first at that end ; and after that , the Mocket head is brought also 4. to the chafery , which being thick , requires two heats , before it can be wrought under the Hammer , into bars of such shapes and sizes as they think fittest for Sale.

25. Whereof , those they intend to be cut into rodds , are carryed to the slitting Mills , where they first break or cut them cold with the force of one of the Wheels into short lengths ; then they are put into a furnace to be heated red hot to a good height , and then brought singly to the Rollers , by which they are drawn even , and to a greater length : after this another Workman takes them whilst hot and puts them through the Cutters , which are of divers sizes , and may be put on and off , according to pleasure : then another lays them straight also whilst hot , and when cold binds them into faggots , and then they are fitting for sale . And thus I have given an account of the Iron works of Staffordshire from the Ore to the slitting Mills , as they are now exercised in their perfection ; the improvement whereof we shall find very great , if we look back upon the Methods of our Ancestors who made Iron in foot blasts or bloomeries , by Mens treading the bellows , by which way they could make but one little lump or bloom of Iron in a day , not 100 weight ; leaving as much Iron in the Slag as they got out . Whereas now they will make two or three tuns of cast Iron in 24 hours : leaving the Slag so poore , that the Founders cannot melt them again to profit . Not to mention again the vast advantage they have from the new Invention of slitting Mills , for cutting their barrs into rodds , above what they had anciently .

26. Thus I say the Iron-works are exercised in their perfection , and all their prncipal Iron undergoes all the foremention'd preparations ; not but that for several purposes , as for the backs of Chimneys , Garden-rolls , and such like ; they use a sort of cast-Iron which they take out of the Receivers of the Furnaces , as soon as it is melted , in great Ladles , and pour it into moulds of fine sand , in like manner as they cast the other softer Metalls . Thus the ingenious Will . Chetwynd of Rugeley Esq at Madeley furnace , cast Iron-Rolls for gardens , hollow like the Mills for Sugar Canes , of 5 , 6 , 7 or 800 weight a piece ; the hollows whereof being fill'd with timber , and wedg'd up close , the other Iron-work of the Roll , is fastned to the wood in the same place as in other rolls , which are weightyer and more substantial than any other rolls I have elswhere seen . For such purposes as these , this serves well enough , but for others it will not , for it is so brittle , that being heated , with one blow of a hammer it will break all to pieces .

To the Worsp . ●● the learned & most ingenious Gent CHARLES COTTON of BERESFORD Esq

This 10 Table , Shewing the Designe of a forraigne Engin , used formerly near Him , in memory of his favours is gratefully dedicated by . R. P. L. L. D.

MBurghers sculp . diagrams

28. The Copper Ores of this County must also be referr'd hither , not only as they are Stones , but also as they include much Sulphur , whereof there has been dug divers sorts , out of Ecton Hill in the Parish of Wetton , belonging to the right Honorable William Earl of Devon : there is of it too about Beresford , near the most ingenious Mr. Cottons ; and at upper Elkston , and some think at Madeley , both in the Lands of the Worshipful John Offley Esq but none were ever thought worth diging but at Ecton Hill , where the Mine was workt several years by my Lord of Devon himself , Sr. Richard Fleetwood , and some Dutch men , but they had all left it off , before I came into the Country as not worth their while ; Copper comeing cheaper from Sweden than they could make it here ; so that the workmen being disperst I could learn little more concerning it , but that the veins lay from eight , to fifty yards deep , but all dipt North-Easterly ; that they broke the rocks with Gunpowder , and got 3 sorts of Ore ; 1. a black sort which was the best ; 2. a yellow sort , the worst ; and 3. a mixt sort of both ; which they Smelted at Ellaston not far off , where they had Mills &c. for the purpose ; but all was out of order before I came thither , and the famous wooden bellows that had no leather about them , carryed away to Snelston in Darby-shire whither I went to see them ; where though so laid up in an out house with other cumbersom matters upon them , that I could not take them downe , so as to examin them strictly , yet I could see so much of them that by the help of a smaller pattern in the Repository of the Royal Society , I have made shift to give a draught , and some tolerable account of them , as in Tab. 10. where ,

Fig , 1. Represents the whole Instrument as it appears on the out side ; the Cover a.b.c.d. being lifted up at every blast , and compress't with the water wheele , as is usual in other furnace bellows , and turning upon the pin , e.

Fig. 2. Is the lower part of the bellows which stands always fixt , and is covered by Fig. 3. a. b. c. d. e. f. g. are square sticks which lye loose , being only thrust under the hooks of Iron marked h. i. k. l , m. n. o , two ends being staid by one hook or hold-fast , every one of which sticks , hath a spring of Iron on the inside marked p. q. r. s. which keep them still close to the inside of the outward Cover , Fig. 3. and so keep in the Air. The valve in the bottom board is marked T. and the prickt lines shew the hole under it , to let in the Air.

Fig. 3. is to be whelmed upon Fig. 2. so that A. in Fig. 3. touch A. in Fig. 2. and then they appear as in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4. Is the valve or door , which when the Air enters in rises at b. and dips at a. and when it goes out , dips at b. and falls upon a woolen list tackt round the hole in the bottom board , and rises at a. turning upon the pin , at c.

29. After the Copper , come we next to the Lead-Ores of this County , which also belong to this place ; for beside that they cannot be said to be Earths , it is dug here in a yellowish stone , with Cawk and Spar , in Fowns field belonging to one Townley on the side of Lawton park ; where the workmen distinguisht it into three sorts , viz. round Ore , small Ore , and Smithum ; the two last whereof are first beaten to pieces with an instrument called a Knocking-bucker , and the Ore separated from the stone with another call'd a Limp . and then washt in a Sieve made with Iron-wyer ; yet further to clear it from terrestrieties : which done , it is sold to the Potters at Burslem for 6 or 7 pound per Tun , who have occasion for most that is found here for glaseing their Pots . There has been Lead-ore also dug at Ecton-Hill ; where , some of it , lyes so near the day , that it was first found by the plough : Here also they distinguish't it into three sorts , but under different names from the former ; the best being call'd Bing ; the middle sort , Bowse ; and the Lead dust , Smithum . And there was Lead-Ore dug formerly by the right Honorable the Earle of Shrewsbury at Ribden , but none of these works were ever very considerable , nor is it likely any such should ever be found here , it being observed that wherever there is much coal , there is so much the less Lead , its sulphureous spirit being too strong for the production of that Metall : upon which account , when near Mendip there was found 2 or 300 weight of very good Lead-Ore growing to a vein of Coal , it was lookt upon by all , as a very great rarity o o Philosoph . Collect. Num. 1. .

30. But nothing so great , as what was told me lately concerning this Metall , by the Worshipful Philip Foley of Prestwood Esq viz. that notwithstanding amongst Metalls , Lead holds the third place after Gold and Quicksilver , it being lighter than Gold about a third part , and heavier than Silver about a fourth ; yet that Anno 1682. there was a Leaden-Coffin , of one of the Honorable family of Skeffington of Fisherwick , laid in the Vault of St. Micheals Church at Lichfield ( which as I noted before is frequently floated ) that swam so cleverly in 9 inches water , that one might thrust it to and fro with a common walking stick ; which he told me too , was actually done , by that judicious Gent. Mr. Swinfen of Swinfen . This , by the vulgar being look't upon as little less than a Miracle , I thought it concern'd me , having occasion to spake of this Metall , not wholy to pass it by , but to let them know that it is so far from a wonder , that if the Coffin were so thin , and the body so consumed ( as no question they were ) as to be lighter than that quantity of water which is equal to the bulk of the Coffin , the rules of Hydrostaticks require it must be so , and could no more be otherwise , than that a lighter body should not give place to a heavyer , which would have been a wonder indeed : No bodies whatever sinking deeper in water , than to that point , where the immerst part of the floating body becomes equal in bulk , to as much water as is equal in weight , to the whole body .

31. Having done with the Stones holding Salts , Sulphurs , and Metalls , the next that offer themselves to my consideration , are such as only supply the necessities of Mankind in some peculiar manner ; such as he diggs forth the Quarries for building , for grinding stones , Mill-stones , &c. of the former whereof there is plenty almost every where , within little distance , which for the most part as in Oxfordshire is gotten and workt easy , yet endures the weather so well , that it improves in it , to a competent hardness : There are several sorts of it differing in grain and colour ; some finer , some courser ; some reddish , some white ; some mixt of both those colours ; and some streak't with black : about Lichfield they build chiefly with a reddish sort of stone , and so about Newcastle , and at Leek ; at which last place they cleave it with wedges as they see the grain run , which is not always agreeable to the plane of the Horizon , or a little declining from it , but sometimes perpendicular to it . They have also a whiter harder stone , that is a good weather , but not a good fire stone , made of a finer grit , ( as most white stones are than red ) and working to a finer Arris . Much of this colour and consistence is the stone of the Quarry betwixt Ingestre and Salt , and about Beech ; pretty white and hard , but not without a cast of redness here and there , and sometimes mark't with a yellowish sort of veine . The whitest and freest from any of those stains , being that dug at Fulford and Chappel Charlton , which are purely white , and of a fine grain enough .

32. But it would be endless to enumerat the Quarries of this County , should I continue to prosecute such as those above mention'd ; wherefore I shall now restrain my self only to such as are some way or other more remarkable than others : amongst which I think I may reckon the Quarry at Penford in the Lands of Mr. Fowler , which lies in depth 14. or 15. yards as has been seen by many , some of the workmen assert it at least 20. yards thick , indeed they certainly know no bottom ; the deeper they go the finer the grit ; and for colour it is whitish at the top , then redish to 10. or 12. yards , and then whiter than at top , for 5. or 6. yards more ; it being all of it good weatherstone , but not enduring the fire . As the stone of the Quarry in Purton park will , which is both a good weather and fire stone too , and so free from clefts , that a stone may be had of any Magnitude , as big as any of the Guglia's at Rome , nay I was told by one of the Masons that he could undertake to get a stone at this Quarry fifty yards long , and that but two or three years before I came thither , they actually had gotten one ( though they had no occasion for any such ) about fifty foot long : of these large stones there are very good examples in Purton house belonging to the right Worshipful Sr. Walter Wrottesley Baronet , a Person of that great reputation in his Country , that his memory will never dye ; till Loyalty and Integrity , Prudence and Ingenuity , be overborn by Faction , Impudence and Ignorance , and become unregarded , and of no esteem amongst us .

33. The Quarry at Bilston is also very remarkable , it lying in beds in plano Horizontis , one under another , 12 beds deep ; every bed being thicker then that above it , an inch or more ; so that the lower bed is about a yard thick of which they make troughs , cisterns &c. Some of the Tables of stone rising so large and even , that Mr. Hoo of Bradeley got one here 8 yards long , naturally so very even , that in the whole length it did not bevel , or depart from a true level , above an inch . Some of the stone dug at this Towne is also curiously streaked black , whereof there are elegant patterns , in the Garden at the right worshipful Sr. Henry Gough's at Pury-Hall . I met likewise with a white stone thus mark't black , used in the building of the new Dormitory at Kingston Church by the right Worshipful Sr. Simon Degg Knight , but whereabout it was dug I must confess I forgot to ask , but suppose it could not be very far off .

34. The stone of the Quarry above mention'd at Purton serves also for Grinding stones , which gives me occasion to treat of them next : which I find are esteemed so much the better , by how much they are made of a finer Grit : whence it is that the Grinding-stones dug near Biddulph-Hall of a red larger grit are not accounted so good as those dug at Heaton , a Village between Swithamley and Rushton Spencer , which are of a grayish colour , and of a fine small grit . But not so fine as those dug at Bilson , which are of so small a grit , that they are useful only for fine thin edg'd tooles , such as Knives , Cissers , Razers , &c. and are better than the Grinding-stones brought out of Derby-shire , which are used chiefly for thicker edg'd tooles , such as Axes , Hatchets , Chisells , Adds , Twy-bills , &c. Or those lately found , about 5 years since , at Over Arley , near the Parsonage house , and in the manor of Heck-stones adjoyning to the glebe land , which yet serve for most sorts of Sithe-grinders , Smiths , or Cutlers wares , especially for those of the thicker edges , so that the trade to Darby shire for such Grinde-stones is quite ceased in these parts . Also in the lands of Mr. Persehouse at Cotwall-end they dig excellent grindingstones , as good as those at Bilson for thin edge tooles ; and on the Windmill-bank at nether-Gournall in the same parish of Sedgley , they dig others for thick edg'd tooles , which must be of a grit both harder and courser ; whereof some have proved as good as the Darby stones . Whether they dig any Grinde-stones now at Braunston or noe ? I did not hear ; though Mr. Erdeswick informes us it was anciently famous for them p p Mr Sampson Erdeswicks view of Staffordsh . M. S. in Braunston .

35. Another sort of Grinding stones are those wee call Milstones , the Grit whereof need not be so fine , provided it be hard and doe not sweat in moist weather , which would both prejudice the Meale and clog the Mill. Of these some are made out of great loose stones , others dug out of Quarries . Of the former there have many been made out of great round pebbles found on Braden heath between Sherriff Hales and Blymhill , and so there has at Seasdon , where on the Heath there lye some pebbles so vastly great , that as I was told , there have 3 Mill-stones been made out of one of them . These Mill-stones out of Pebbles they use for grinding wheat , and some think them not short of the Colen stones . At Mole Cop in this County they dig them as in a Quarry , which they cleave from the rock with a great number of small wedges , driven with as small stroaks , least the stone should crack or flawe ; when they have got it from the rock , they presently binde it round with a joynted hoop of Iron , which they call a Rivet-hoop , and this they straighten hard about it also with wooden wedges , driven in between it and the edg of the stone , that it breake not in the working .

36. Which it so frequently does notwithstanding their utmost care , that there is but very few of them that are not made up of two or three pieces , thus bound together with a hoop ; nay so very subject is it to crack and flaw , that whenever it happens that they finish one intire , yet it must be bound about thus with an Iron hoop to remain upon it even in the Mill , to preserve it from falling asunder in the motion . Nor is it any wonder that it should be thus , since it consists of a large angular shining grit , so knit together , that there are interstices between the parts , which are fill'd with a kind of mealy substance ; this some people fancy tasts like meale , and amongst the Workmen the stone that ha's most of this ( as it were by way of signature ) is counted the best , though no question it must needs be so much the weaker . and yet as weak as it is , it lyes well enough in building , the parish Church of Biddulph , which is a reasonable fair one , being built with it . These are seldome used for grinding of Wheat , because these grind Bran and Meal altogether , whereas the blew stones only bruise the husk from the floore ; but chiefly for Rye , Barley , and Mault , or for shaling of Oates : nor doe they ever use two of these stones together , but always pair them with a white sort of Mill-stone brought out of the Peak ; the Molecop-stone being always the runner , and the Darby-shire stone , the Legier .

37. Which is all concerning stones of any peculiar use , unless that I may have liberty to suspect , that at Rowley Regis , in the corner of a ground formerly part of the lower Moores , adjoyning to grounds call'd Freebody's , there must be that miracle of Nature , we call the Loadstone : For that , one Mr Deeley about 10 year agoe being appointed to measure the lands there , for the right honorable Edward Lord Ward , found that in that place his Needle varyed so very much , that his work was out of order , which put Him to no small trouble , till He began to suspect what must needs be the matter . Sept: the 23. 1680 for further satisfaction , having procured the company of the same Mr. Deeley , I was willing to make the experiment over again , wherefore seting up a stick with a hand-kerchif on it at one end of the ground , and goeing to the other with my Compass , I found the hand-kerchief to bear upon such a point of it ; but removeing the hand-kercheif and Compass interchangeably , when I came to view the hand-kercheif upon the opposite point to that upon which I had seen it before , I found it wide of the mark by six degrees . So that upon consideration of the matter , I could not imagine how this should come to pass otherwise than by the Magnet , unless by some old Armour that might be buryed hereabout in the late civil War : Which might easily be determined , and at which end of the field this matter lyes , whatever it be , that thus affects the Needle ; were the true Meridian of the place first taken , and a touch't Needle hung upon a thred and carryed about : for whether it be a Loadstone mine that occasions this difference ; or such Armour , or other Iron , that may lye hid hereabout ; the Needle will discover it by diping , whenever it comes over it , or any where near it .

38. After the stones of a restrained peculiar use , let us next consider those of no use at all , at least that are put to none ; which yet possibly may not altogether be unworthy our admiration , though no tolerable account , can be given of the condition , or present state they are in : and such are the vast Rocks or Roches as they call them , that bear no grass , but here and there a turf in some cleft or hollow , but standing as bare as a stone wall ; some of them kissing the clouds with their tops , and running along in mountanous ridges for some miles together . The first of these I met with was on Wetley Moore , which at a distance I took for some prodigious ruins , these representing them as much bigger than truth , as the Florentine stones doe it , less : but when I came to Leeke , and saw the Hen-Cloud , and Leek Roches , I was quickly undeceived , though my admiration was still heighten'd to see such vast rocks and such really stupendous Prospects , which I had never seen before , or could have beleived to be , any where but in picture : and that which yet further increast my wonder , was how they should come thus bare , having no turf upon them , or earth to produce one : which whether so from the Creation , or uncoverd by the flood , or the perpetual deterrations which have happend since upon rain , to all Mountanous parts , as was not irrationally conjectur'd Chap. 3. §§ 11. 12. of this History , is hard to account for . Though possibly too , some of them may come to be thus , first by cutting the turf from them which they use for feuel much in this Country , and then the deterrations by rains , will easily answer for the rest .

39. And yet so far are these Roches from any further diminution , that I think some of them carry such evident marks of growth , that I cannot avoid beleiving it so . For in such rocks as these , as you pass through the hollow way at little Sandon ; and in another cut in the rock , about mid-way betwixt Draycot and Chedle ; there are pebble stones plainly included in the body of the rocks , and so there are in the rocks near Alveton Lodg by the way side as you pass thither from Wooton : whence it must be concluded that these pebbles must have had a being before the rocks , and that the rocks themselves grew to be such , since that time . But the most indisputable evidence of the growth of such stone , we have from the ingenious Mr. John Beaumont , who tels us that at Daulton on the South side of Mendip , the Workmen sawe out of great blocks of stone of four or five Tun weight , dug in the Quarrys there , large pieces of fair cleft Oak included in the midst of them q q Philosoph . Collect. Num. 2 This I say is as indisputable a proof as any I have met with , except one at New-Castle under Lime in this County , where at a place called the Gallow-tree ( the ancient place for the execution of the Malefactors of that Towne ) there was found , within memory , in a firm block of stone dug out of the Quarry there , an intire Skull of a Man with the teeth in it , &c. whereof Mr. Weever an Alderman of the Town , told me he had one , long in his possession : which place when used for executions , 't is like might be nothing else but sandy Land wherein they used to bury the executed bodies , which in process of time has thus turned into stone .

40. The variety of Caverns and great clefts in these Roches , are also worthy my recounting , and the Readers notice , whereof some are dry , and others receive water : to the former of these belong the Caverns at Holloway in this County , near Stourbridg in Worcester shire , cut out of the living rock into divers partitions and offices , with holes forth at the top instead of Chimneys ; wherein several people of meaner rank have their constant habitations , much after the manner of the Aethiopian Troglodites , who are a subterranean Common-wealth bordering upon the Arabian Sinus and the Empire of Habessia . But we need not run so far for Examples of this kind ; for we are told of such in Italy near Viterbo , at Buschet in the Isle of Malta ; r r Athanasii Kircheri Mundi subter . Tom. 1. Lib. 8. §. 4. cap. 3. and at Nottingham here in England . Near Peakstones in the parish of Alveton , under long-Hurst hill , there is also a hollow in the rock call'd the Thurse-house , where a family now lives , and wherein about 4 or 5 years since lived one Helen Millard a widdow woman of about 115 years old , who had she not chanced to dye a violent death by fire , might have lived much longer . There is also another Thurshouse or Thursehole , sometimes call'd Hob-hurst Cave , near Wetton mill ( where the Manyfold falls first into the ground , on the Easterly side of the dry Chanell , ) which goes into a great Mountain , from the mouth to the further part , about 44 yards and is in the middle , as near as I could guess , about 30 foot high , the roof being supported by a rough natural pillar , which also in a manner divides it into several partitions or rooms : where I was shewed in the roof , the natural effigies of a Man with a curled beard , looking out of a hole , not very unlike what it was said to represent , though I suppose wholy casuall , and never designed by nature ,

41. But a little way from this , on the Westerly side on the same dry Chanell in the Lordship of Grindon , belonging to his Grace the Duke of Albemarle , there is a great hole through Yelpersley Tor , that goes from the bottom to the top , at least 40 , if not 50 yards high . Under Kinfare edge there is also a hole going into the rock , wide at first , but after low and narrow , call'd Mag a Fox-hole , for that foxes here use to shelter themselves ; & at Kinfare Towne , by the River side near the bridg , there goe another hole into the rock a great way , call'd whirleyhole , from the Eddy of water the River makes at the mouth of it ; how far either of these holes goe is very uncertain , but 't is the tradition of the Towne , that though their mouths are at a long miles distance , yet that they meet under ground . And now I am come to Caverns that receive water , I must not forget those that receive the Rivers Manyfold and Hans , especially those under Yelpersley Tor , which are very large ones , that will receive a Man standing upright ; nor the rocky indraughts under Cauldon Low , Ribden , and Reeden , that swallow the waters of the land floods , that run violently from the Hills thereabout , though mention'd before Chap. 2. §§ 97 , 98. of this History . To which let me add , the stupendous cleft in the rock between Swithamley and Wharnford commonly call'd Lud-Church , which I found by measure 208 yards long , and at different places 30 , 40 , or 50. foot deep ; the sides steeped and so hanging over , that it sometimes preserves Snow all the Summer , whereof they had signal proof at the Town of Leek on the 17 of July their Fair day , at which time of year a Wharnford Man brought a Sack of Snow thence , and poured it down at the Mercat Cross , telling the people that if any body wanted of that commodity , he could quickly help them to a 100 load on 't .

42. Beside the Stones that serve the necessities of Mankind , there are others in this County that will serve to adorn , both his Buildings and Person ; such as Alabaster , wherewith the Chore at Lichfield , joyntly with Cannel-coal ( as I noted before ) is delicatly paved in imitation of Marble s s Chap. 3. §. 31. : as well indeed it may , rather with this , than any thing else ; Alabaster being accounted amongst many of the Naturalists to be Marmor incoctum sive imperfectum , quod si cultro scindi possit , gypsum rectius dixeris , says Job . Scroder t t Joh. Schroderi Pharmacop . Medico-Chym . Lib. 3. cap. 8. §. 2. Of the latter sort whereof , I could hear of none in this County , that dug near Frodswell Hall ( where there is a small vein fit only for flooring rooms , not thought worth the pursueing ) and in Heylinds park , where too it was anciently gotten ; being , as I was inform'd , as hard , as that which is gotten South of Marchington Church , which being likewise but of a courser kind , is prepared for making plaister for floors , seelings , and the walls of Needle-work houses , in this Method : First they lay on the ground a stratum of wood ( which is best ) or a load of wood and coal mixt together , upon which they pile as much rough Alabaster ; then fireing the wood they let it burn together till 't is out , which makes the Alabaster so soft and brittle , that it needs only thrashing to reduce it to powder , the greater parts whereof being separated from the smaller by a seive , the former mixt with water are used for flooring , and the finer for seeling and walling of Houses .

43. When they lay their floors whether for dwelling , or Mault-houses , they wet a whole tub full and throw it down together ; but when they seel or parge with it , they wet it by degrees , which they call gageing ; and in both cases lay it on , and spread it as fast as they can , for it hardens , ( as Plaister of Paris ) in a very little time : the Walls and Seelings made with it having this convenience , that they are presently sweet , having nothing of the ill smell , of those made with Lime and hair ; and the walls of their houses enduring like stone , if the plaister fall not out from between the Timber , as it sometimes does for want of grooving it round within side before the plaister be laid on ; which if done , it enters the grooves whilst it is soft , and cannot any way fall out of them , when once it is hardened .

44. This sort of Alabaster , but yet of a courser sort , is found also at Coton under Hanbury , and there has of it been dug at Draycot in the clay : indeed the whole bank of red Marle between the Forrest or Chase of Needwood , and the River Dove , from Marchington to Tutbury , has Alabaster in it ; but that at Castle-Hays is incomparably the best , of which they make Grave-stones , Tables , Paving-stones , Chimney-pieces , &c. and in smaller things , Mortars and Salts : they torne it also into Candle-sticks , Plates , and Fruit dishes , or whatever else the buyer desires : in some of it there are veins of a dirty red colour , which yet are not very unsightly ; but they have a sort which is harder and stronger than the rest , bearing a better polish , and finely water'd with a blewish colour , much esteemed by Artists , it making as good work almost as Marble , upon which account it is carryed hence at a great charge , and made use off in some of the choisest works , in many parts of the Nation .

45. Nor have they only in this County imperfect Marble , but the perfect too , and that of different kinds ; some of them exceeding any of their Species ( as I have been inform'd by Artists ) that we yet know of , that have been brought from beyond Seas ; whereof too , there is so very great quantities ( were there but tolerable portage ) that it would have sufficed , I dare say , to have rebuilt London : there being whole Mountains of it in the Lordship of Grindon belonging to his Grace the Duke of Albemarle . It is a Rance Marble i. e. of a white , hard , shining grit , striped red ; Yelpersly Torr ( as one may see where the River Manyfold enters it ) and most of the Hills thereabout , seeming to be all of this Marble ; which receives so good a polish , that it ha's been thought fit for Chimney pieces , Monuments &c. though I scarce think any has been made use of for this purpose , since I first discover'd it . And at Stansop , not far off , in the parish of Alstonfield , I was shewed a grey marble not inferior in its kind , by Mr. Jackson of that Village , who told me there were also quantities of it for any purpose , though never yet made use of .

46. Add to these a very hard black shining stone found at Powke-hill near Bentley Hall belonging to the Worshipful Thomas Lane Esq which upon polishing proved a tolerably fair black Marble , all the fault that the Artists could find with it , being a hard pin as they call'd it , which renders it scarce worth the labour to work it : However burnt and pouder'd it makes a very good Emery , as I was certainly informed by the ingenious Jonas Grosvenor of Wolverhampton Esq which way possibly it may turn to a better account , than to be workt as Marble . At Rowley Regis in the lands of the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward , I met with the same stone again , and scattered here and there all over the Towne : whereof yet there is one more remarkable than the rest , about ½ a mile N. W. of the Church ; as big , and as high , on one side , as many Church Steeples : at the bottom of which on the highest side , if one stamp with ones foot , it returns a hollow sound as if there were a Vault , which made me suspect that some great person of ancient times might be buryed here , under this natural Monument ( for I scarce think so great a thing could be put here by art , it much exceeding those of Stonehenge or Aubrey in Wilts ) but diging down by it as near as I could ( where the sound directed ) I could find no such matter .

47. In and about the second Inlet of Manyfold , under Yelpersley Tor , I was shewed by the ingenious Charles Cotton Esq many of the block stones which they call Crow-stones , sometimes intire of themselves , and sometimes growing on the Limestone ; some of them wholy black , and some streaked white ; which polisht so well , that I have seen them set in Rings , and have been taken at least for the black Achat or Melanoleucus of Aldrovand u u Ulys . Aldrovandi Musaei Metall . Lib. 4. cap. 1. . And I had given me at Wolverhampton by Mr. Richard Cumberlege , a reddish semiopake Flint , found somewhere there about , so very agreeable to the description of the Sardachates of the Lithographers , that I have been inclined without fear to pronounce it the same . Which brings me next to treat , of the transparent stones ; whereof the two finest and best I met with in this County , were in the same Town , one set in a Ring of Mr. Jonas Grosvenour's , of an excellent luster , being part of a large transparent pebble found on Coven heath ; and the other worne also in a ring by Mr. Henry Bracegirdle , Sacrist of the Collegiat Church of Wolverhampton , of an Amethystine violaceous colour , and a genuin luster , which was found at Barrow-hill in Pensnet Chace , where there have many other transparent stones been heretofore dug of an dodecaedrous figure , cut off at the top much like natural Chrystal , but somewhat harder . At Fetherston the ingenious Mr. John Huntbach , was pleased to bestow on me , a transparent pebble of a peculiar form ; and the Worshipful Tho. Broughton of Broughton Esq shewed me another of the same kind , but different forme , which belong not to this place ; but are only mention'd here , to give me an apposite transition to the next Chapter , of form'd Stones .

CHAP. V. Of Formed Stones .

1. ALL inform'd Stones whatever , being upon no slight grounds , thought chiefly to have their Origin from the mixture of Salts , it may much more certainly be concluded of those which are formed ; for as much as all figure ( as has fully been shewn elsewhere a a Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 2. §. 23 , 24 , 25. and chap. 5. §. 124 , 125 , 126. &c. ) seems wholy to be attributed to that principle : the mineral Salts in the Earth being no less busy and luxuriant in production of formed bodies there ; than the volatile ones in the air , in the pleasant figurations they make in the Snow , as has been shewn by Des Cartes b b Des Cartes Mete●ror . cap. 6. , Mr. Hook c c Mr. Hook's Micrograph . Obs . 14. Schem . 8. , but much more fully by my worthy Friend the Learned and Ingenious Mr. William Cole , Surveyor of his Majesties Customs in the Port of Bristol , who 't is hoped will speedily oblige the World with his curious remarks upon that Subject , and many others . The mineral Salts , I say , are no less exercised in the curious formation of bodies in the bowels of the Earth and rocks , than the volatile ones in the Heavens ; for it sufficeth it them not to represent only sublunary things , but celestial ones too , either by reflection , or in solid ; as in the Selenites and Asteriae , both which though rarely found in this County , yet those which I have met with here of each kind , are quite different from those , I ever met with elsewhere .

2. The Selenites so called , not that it corporally contains the figure of the Moon , but only by representation , if obverted to it in right angles , as it were in a glass ; as it will the Sun as well , and therefore otherwise more rationally call'd lapis specularis ; is so very rare in this County , that I could heare of it but in two places , viz. at Hartley green and the village of Slindon , where it is dug in the Marle-pits : from the latter of which places I had a piece given me by Mr. J. Serjeant of Mill-Meese of a different figure from all those in Oxfordshire : for the Stone Selenites though it have nothing of the shape of the Moon in any of its phases , yet it is commonly found in some certain figure always agreeable to the Salts of the body wherein it grows , as it does at Slindon in a Cubico-Rhomboideal form , all the pieces of it being constantly Hexaedra of equal obliquangular sides , or oblique angled Parallelepipeds , as in Tab. 11. Fig , 1. and upon that account as was conjectured in Oxfordshire either formed by a Tartarious Salt in the Earth d d Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 130. , or as the learned Dr. Lister perhaps would rather conclude , out of an immature vitriolic one , having found the Chrystals of that Salt somewhat of this figure e e Martini Listeri M. D. de fontibus Med. Angl. Exercitat . pr. cap. 5. . As for texture , these of Slindon seem to have much the same , with the Selenites of Oxfordshire , and upon slitting ( like them ) briskly to represent the vivid colours of the Solar Rainbow , only the Scaiae of these are much more strongly cohering , and not so easily divisible , or into so thin plates , and therefore not so fit for many of the uses it was antiently put to , mention'd in the History of Oxfordshire , whither to avoid repetition I referr the Reader .

3. But the forme of the Selenites is not so different from that of the Moon , but the figure of the Asteria is on the contrary as agreeable to that of a Star , as we commonly paint them ; all of them being branched with 5 principal Rays , of equal length , shape , and make ; all issuing from a Center , which is either solid or hollow , where they joyn in angles of 72 degrees . Of these , as of the Selenites , I met with very few , and but at two or three places , viz. at Beresford near the Seat of the most ingenious Mr. Cotton in the rocks by the Dove side ; in Willmon-field , betwixt Heatley and Bagots Bromley ; and on Newton-hurst , and Harley field , near Abbots-Bromley ; and these all of them differing in somewhat or other , from all those described in my History of Oxfordshire , and by the most accurat Dr. Lister in the Philosophical Transactions f f Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 112. : for though they are found here heapt upon one another in Columns , all seeming to be fragments , and no intire bodies , some having 3 , some 4 , and some 12 , or more joynts as in Tab. 11. Fig. 2.3.4 . every joynt consisting of 5 angles , and issuing from a Center : yet none of them seem to be made up of lamellae or plates lying obliquely to the Horizontal position of the Star , as those in Oxfordshire ; and some of them having their angles so very sharp , and consequently their sides deep channell'd , that they seem , most of any thing , to represent the rowel of a Spur , not admitting any Sculpture , or indented suture ; and those that doe , of a quite different kind from any yet described .

4. The first kind whereof is carefully represented Tab. 11. Fig. 2. standing in a quinquangular case in a flinty sort of stone * * Like the Pentagonus of Lachmund 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 §. 3. cap. 18. , the Rays issuing from a solid Center , of a coal black colour , not bigger than an ordinary pin , yet plainly a flat quinquangle , the angles of this inner one , not pointing against the sharp Rays of the outer , but against the deep channels between them , both being smooth joynted , without any hatching or engravement . The second exhibited Fig. 3. is indeed a flat , not hollow-sided piece , such as represented to us by Dr. Lister * * This worthy Gent. since the printing the begining of this History , upon account of his extraordinary Merit , had a Diploma sent him for his Doctors degree in the Faculty of Physick , from the University of Oxford , ex mero motu , without his knowledge or seeking . in the Philosophical Transactions Numb. 112. Tab. 2. Fig. 5.8.11 . but the hatchings of it are very different from all his , and any I have yet elsewhere seen , as the Reader may see exprest Tab. 11. Fig. 3. where there is one principal radius extending it self from the Center to the extremity of each angle , with oblique lines issuing from it upwards , so that it not unnaturally represents so many boughs of a Tree . The third described Fig. 4. is also flat-sided , but the joynts or internodia all unequal , one being always more protuberant than his neighbour , and so alternatly through the whole column of them ; which though a pretty large and long one , consisting of 12 joynts , the hollows of each angle are neither hatch't on the top , nor is the column bent , or the least inclining , as commonly those are which have any considerable length . Concerning which , I have little more to add to what is said in Oxfordshire , but that their admired quality of moving in Vinegar , seems to have been known to Roger Bacon near 400 years agoe , who in one of his Epistles ad Parisiensem , mentions a Stone that would run in Vinegar * * Ad Parisiensem . Epist. 6. .

5. Next the formed stones relating to the heavenly bodies ( in the handling whereof though in a particular Chapter , I shall observe the method of the whole Essay ) I descend next , to such as are thought at least , to come from the inferior heaven , to be generated in the Air amongst the Clouds , and discharged thence in thunder showers , whence they are termed by Authors Brontiae and Ombriae : whereof I met with one in this County , in the hands of the Worshipful Thomas Broughton Esq ( which cannot be so well referr'd to any other Species of natural bodies that I yet know of ) that though it have no Vmbelicus , Modiolus , or Center ; or rays made up of points ; or transverse lines ; or points surrounded with single , or double Annulets ; as those in Oxfordshire : yet is a much finer stone than any of them : it being a regular solid Hemisphere ( which may be apprehended well enough without a Cut ) as transparent as Chrystall ; and much harder , most likely , of any sort , to be of the pebble-kind . As I think I must also reckon a more oblong sort of transparent Ombriae , of a triangular form , near two inches long , and an inch broad ; the bottom and sides not flat , but protuberant , and carryed up round at the ends , till meeting with the top ridge ; the angles not sharp like the Prismaticall glass , nor representing any of those vivid colours though held to the Eye in the due posture ; but more obtuse , as engraven Tab. 11. Fig. 5. which was found near Fetherston in this County , and given me by the ingenious and most oblieging Gent. Mr. John Huntbach of the same Village . These transparent pebbles are sometimes also found in a globular forme , whereof the most exquisitly transparent , without any blemish , was shewn me by the virtuous young Lady Madam Ann Bowes of Elford in this County , in whose Closet I take it ( amongst many others ) to be a principal rarity .

6. I saw another of these express't Fig. 5. found near Lichfield , in the hands of Mr. Zach. Babington of Whittington , and there are many of them in the Ashmolean Musaeum at Oxford , and in that of the Royal Society at Gresham College London . They are not found in digging , either amongst Gravel , or in Quarries , as most other form'd stones , but upon the surface of the earth , as the ingenious Mr. Beaumont also says they are in Somersetshire and Glocestershire , in the roads , where the earth is bare ; and produced , as he thinks , in clear Evenings by a coagulation of dew falling on nitrous steams , as the hexangular Chrystalls are observed to be , by M. Antonino Castagna , and P. Francisco Lana , at a place called Mezzane in the Val Sabbia in Italy , only in certain dry places , naked and bare of all greens g g Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 83. : and perhaps as those octaedrous Chrystalls are , mention'd by Scheffer to grow upon the dry rocks in Lapland , which the people of that Country use instead of flints to strike fire with h h Joh. Scheffer's Hist. of Lapland Chap. 33. . Whether this be the true method nature uses in the production of these stones , though I dare not pronounce ; yet it moves me not a little , that the hexangular Chrystalls of the Val Sabbia being all gather'd from those bare and steril places overnight , there will be others found next morning , whenever there happens to be a serene and dewy Sky . Howbeit , they still come from the inferior heaven , and are placed here for a much better reason than ever was thought of before ; and most commodiously have afforded me an apt transition from the heavens , into the Atmosphere or inferior Air.

7. Which though thought incapable till now of giving any figure to stones , yet ha's many of its Inhabitants in part , if not in whole , represented in them ; which before I descend to those belonging to the waters , I think ought to be consider'd here . Whereof that which deserves the first place , is a Perdicites , which I gather'd in the Horse-way near Hollingbury-Hall , the Seat of the truly Loyal and Valiant Gent. Captain Richard Minors , a person of approved courage , from his youth upwards , both at Sea and Land ; which I call a Perdicites , not for the same reason other Authors doe , for this has nothing of the colour of the feathers on a Partridges brest i i Vid. Joh. Kentmanni nomenclat . rer. fos . tit. 5. cap. de Avibus . , but that in solido it represents a Partridges Skull , in the true shape and bigness , having the Eyes and short beak , and hollowed behind , just as if the brains had been taken out , as most faithfully exhibited Tab. 11. Fig. 6. To which I must annex another pretty stone , belonging also to the feather'd Kingdom , found near Church-Eyton , and bestowed on me by the Schole-Master there , which from its most accurate resemblance of a Pullets heart , with the fat near the basis of it , and the Coronary Vessels descending from it , as most exactly delineated Tab , 11. Fig. 7. I think I must call Alectoricardites , this being a more restrained name than the Anacardites of Aldrovand k k Uyss . Aldrovandi Mus. Metall . Lib. 4. . Both which also seem to be of the pebble kind , but whether they ever were the designes of nature , or but casualties only , there being no more of their kind , I shall not dispute ; but leave them wholy to the determinations of each Readers judgment .

8. As some stones have their figures from aerial waters , or dews , falling on nitrous steams , so there are others as likely formed by such steams and subterraneal waters ; and such I take the Chrystals to be , found in diging in Barrow-hill in Pensnet-Chase , belonging to the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward , which I have not scrupled to stile Chrystalls , because many of them are composed of two hexagonal Pyramids , & an intermediat Column , likewise hexagonal as in Tab. 11. Fig. 8. which according to Steno , is the very definition of a Chrystall l l Nich. Stenon . Prodrom . de Chrystallo . p. 53. . Some indeed of them seem only to be dodecaedrums , having only one hexagonal Pyramid , and the hexagonal Column ; the other hexagonal Pyramid being hid in the rock wherein it grew , and left there , when the rest was broken off ; which were the stones mention'd § . ult. of the former Chapter ; but they are all ( I believe ) really octodecaedral when gotten intire , and true Chrystals : whenever therefore they appear otherwise , they may be suspected to be imperfect , and broken either in the getting or some other way . They are sometimes stained with a violacious colour , and perhaps may admit other tinctures sometimes , though it was not my fortune to meet with any of them ; but they are ordinarily found of their own Chrystalline colour , the planes both of the pyramids , and Columns , being all naturally polish't .

9. From the same Origin I think I must also deduce ( because not able to assigne any better ) another sort of formed Chrystals , shewen me by the same noble Lord , though shooting forth of his Limestone rocks , near Dudley Castle ; whereof his Lordship was pleased to favour me with that large pattern , described Tab. 11. Fig. 9. in which though the Chrystalls are set very confusedly , yet they are all strictly of the same figure , with that engraven a part , Fig. 10. made up as it were of 12. Pyramids joyn'd in base , all cut obliquely off at the top , makeing two hexagonal hedrae there , and 12 Trapeziums , which are so joyned by pairs at their broader ends , in the middle of each Chrystall , where they are consequently biggest ; that the acute Angles of one combination , meet with the obtuse ones of the opposite pair , and divide each Chrystall with an indented ridg , as is evident to view in the forecited figure . Which though plentifull enough in the Limestone rocks here , yet is not mention'd , that I know of , by any Author .

10. But though these Chrystalls may be supposed to have been made out of water , congealed by the steams of niter rather than any other Salt , because of its hexagonal shooting ; yet I could never hear that any of these , were ever found to include any water in the Center of them uncongealed , as some have been said to doe . But there are a round or oval sort of blackish or reddish stones , hollow and like a hony-comb within , found amongst the Iron Ore at Rushall , not to be past by here , because of their constant forme , though mention'd before Chap. 4. §. 18. that always hold a red or white liquor fluctuating within them , of a sweetish tast , greedily drank by the workmen ; of which the Poet Claudian , might with as much admiration enquired , as he did of the Chrystall , Lymphae , quae tegitis cognato carcere lymphas , Et quae nunc estis , quaeque fuistis aquae ; Quod vos ingenium junxit ? qua frigoris arte , Torpuit & maduit prodigiosa silex ? Non potuit toto mentiri corpore gemmam Sed medio mansit proditor orbe latex . Sollers lusit hyems , imperfectoque rigore Nobilior , vivis gemma tumescit aquis . Auctus honor , liquidi crescunt miracula saxi , Et conservatae plus meruistis aquae m m Cl. Claudiani Epigram. 6 , 7 , 8. . in which verses the very Poet seems to intimate , the true cause of these Enhydri ( of which kind I must needs esteem them ) viz. that they are as it were but the imperfect works of nature , which ha's not yet perform'd its utmost ; the included matter of these stones ( as was fully proved in the place above cited ) being nothing else but the matter of the Iron Ore , not yet coagulated into a Metallic forme . Which is all concerning form'd stones that purely relate to liquids , unless one may take a verrucose stone found near a petrifying Spring ( of which more anon ) in some lands of the right Honorable Robert Lord Ferrers between Sandon and Gayton , to be a sort of Stalagmites , generated of pearles of dew &c. as in the Hist. of Oxfordshire , whereof also there is a Cut so exactly representing this of Staffordshire , as well as those of that County Tab. 3. Fig. 8. that it would be nauseous to repeat either of them here again . Yet I must not pass so by another of this kind , in the possession of the right Honorable Walter Lord Aston , which being of a very fine texture , almost as white as Ivory , and the best of the kind I ever yet saw , I have caused it to be represented here Fig. 11.

11. After Stones made out of waters and resembling inanimate figures , come we next to such as represent the formes of Animals , the Inhabitants of that Element ; whether Fishes of the marine , or fresh-water kind : of the latter whereof ( as in Oxfordshire ) I met with only one , and that of the same species , but of a different colour ; it being a reddish yellow stone , found somewhere about Clifton Camvill by the Worshipful Francis Wolferstan of Statfold Esq not unaptly resembling the middle part of a Barbel ; like that mention'd in Oxfordshire , and exprest there in sculpture Tab. 3. Fig. 11. But as for stones found like Sea-fish , though in this Mediterranean County , I have met with many , and of many sorts ; but chiefly resembling Shell-fish of the testaceous kinds , both univalves and bivalves ; and of the former of these , some not turbinated , and others again of the turbinated kind . Of the first sort whereof , viz. Stones representing univalves not turbinated , I had two bestowed on me by the curious Observer the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq so altogether unlike any of the living Shell-fish , that alone they are sufficient to convince any unprejudiced person , that all these formed stones cannot be shaped in Animal molds .

12. The Shell-fish that comes nearest them is the Nautilus , or Coquille de Porcellain , or as Rondelet calls it the testaceous Polypus , as may be seen by their draughts Tab. 11. Fig. 12. and 13. the place of the head being in the utmost curle of the stone , and the taile in the center , but so hidden and cover'd with the common coat , that the first turne is only visible , as 't is in the Nautilus : the largest of the two , seems also to have three or four obscure joynts cuting the large outer turne in right angles , as some of the Shells of that Fish seem likewise to have ( the texture of them all running that way ) and the lesser , two cavities or orifices ; one , on each side the first turne as it passes under the place of the head toward the center , and striated from a straight line on the ridge of that turn , toward the place of the head , somewhat like a feather , neither of which agree to the Nautilus : nor is that part for the head near patulous enough in either of our patterns , to give sufficient ground for any body to think them , ever to have been the spoils of that fish ; not to mention how much they fall short of the magnitude of the Nautilus , the biggest of the stones not exceeding a fair Nutmeg , and the least scarce equalling an ordinary field pea .

13. Yet if any body will be so obstinat , as to hold me to it , that these may , and must be reduced to the Nautilus ; he shall and must excuse me then , from ever yielding that the Ophiomorphites , or Cornua Ammonis , can owe their figuration to that fish , the turnes and ribbs of all these being numerous and protuberant , and visible from the place of the head to the center , neither of which are found in the Nautilus , whereof I have met with an Arch of one sort , amongst several other intire ones , found in the Lime-stone rocks near Dudley Castle , given me by the right Honorable Edward Lord Ward , quite different from any of those mention'd in Oxfordshire n n Nat Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. from §. 87. to 95. , and therefore engraven Tab. 11. Fig. 14. its ribbs on each side joyning in large protuberances near the inner part of the Arch , and tending obliquely toward the convex part where they terminat in as large and distinct protuberances , but not right against one another , but the protuberance of one ribb , pointing between two others on the opposite side of the stone , and so alternately on each side : and these protuberances not separated at the back , with a riseing ridg as usual , but with a deep furrow as express't in the figure : whereof I have since met with another Sample , but not in this County , it having in proportion to the stone as deep a furrow in the back , though not interceding near so large protuberant ribbs . And these are all the Stones representing Vnivalves , except the large Strombites , or turbinated Univalve , of Georgius Agricola o o Agricolae de natura fossilium , Lib. 7. , of a plain superficies , found somewhere in this County and readily bestowed on me by the generous Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq which because already described in Oxfordshire p p Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 63. , is omitted here .

14. But for such as resemble the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or bivalvular Conchae there are great plenty here , as well of kinds as individualls , such as Cockles , Escallops , Oysters , &c. whereof there are some curiously lineated , and others plain , with but few or no such Ornaments ; and some of them found always single with their shells a part , and some of them joyn'd . And all these ( except a Pectinites or stone representing a Escallop shell , found in Ingestre field , and at Beresford * * M. List●ri Cochlitarum Angl. part. 2. memb. 2. cap. 1. tit. 50. , and another resembling the Concha fasciata of Rondelet q q Gul. Rondelet●i de Testaceis . Lib. 1. cap. 33. , or rather the Tellina of Buonanni , found too somewhere thereabout , and most accuratly express't by his 44 Fig. r r F. Buonanni osservation' delle Chiocciole Parte seconda classe seconda . ) quite different from all those described in Oxfordshire , and from any of the shells I have yet met with , either in the Ashmolean Musaeum , my owne small collection , or any where else : So little seems Nature to have needed Animal molds for these productions . Witness first a sort of Ostracites or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 shewn me by the ingenious Mr. Cotton in the rocks near his house at Beresford by the Dove side , which though as large and shaped somewhat like Oysters , yet certainly were never such , their striae not being bent to the commissure as those of all oysters are , but descending quite contrary from the commissure to the rim as in Tab. 11. Fig. 15. having 3 or 4 Lacunae or furrows much larger and deeper than the rest , including 4 or 5 , and sometimes 7 or 8. of the lesser Striae , that descending from the commissure through the middle of the stone being always the biggest .

15. These are always found single with their shells a part , striated without as in the aforemention'd figure , and some of them within too , having a deep depression in the middle , in form of a heart , as in Fig. 16. But others there are somewhat of this kind , having always the deep Lacuna descending from the commissure over the middle of the stone , and only that large one , beside the common smaller ones , found always with their two shell-like stones conjoyned like large Cockles , but the commissure never close , having a large striated furrow between the rostra of the shells , as in Fig. 17. to which I can find nothing like amongst the Bivalves , but the 73 or 80 of Filippo Buonanni s s Ibidem . , and the Concha 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Fab. Columna t t Fab. Columnae Purpura . cap. 11. , but then neither of those , have that deep furrow cuting the middle of their shells , as these of stone have . Upon which account too , and because they have no manner of shew of ever having had Ears , of both , or one side ; though their Striae are equally spread from the commissure to the rim , they cannot be reduced to the Pectines or Pectunculi , i. e. to any sort of Escallop-shells ; nor can they be referr'd to the Chamae Striatae Pectiniformes of Aldrovandus u u Ulyss . Aldrovandi de Testaceis Lib. 3. cap. 69. or the Pectunculi of Belonius , ( which he expressly says have no Ears ) nor the Conchae Striatae , or streaked Cockle-shells ; because neither of an oblong figure , as all the former are ; or bearing more toward the one , than the other side , as the Conchae Striatae doe : but spreading themselves to so great a circumference that they almost absolve a semicircle ; the two uppermost striae wanting but little of meeting in a right angle at the commissure , which I doe not find agreeable to any sort of bivalves .

16. The most critical Observer Mr. Chetwynd of Ingestre , gave me some others of this kind , much less than the former , scarce striated at all , or having any other perfect furrow , but that descending through the middle of the stone , graven of its natural fife Fig. 18. which I can no more parallel with any sort of Shell-fish , than those above mention'd . Nor with any yet described formed stone ; that which comes nearest them of any thing I have yet met with , is the Pectunculites anomius 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Fabius Columna w w Fab. Columnae Purpura , cap. 15. , and Dr. Lister x x M. Listeri Cochlitarum Angliae part. 2. memb. 2. cap. 2. tit. 57. , whereof I had two presented me by the worshipfull Fran. Woolferstan of Statfold Esq about two inches round , so exactly answering those described by Columna in their colours ( one being wholly of a yellow , and the other of a blewish near the commissure , but more obscure and yellowish toward the sides ) that he had not , I believe , two more agreeable patterns , when he made that description . These , I think indeed , have some small resemblance of the stones above mention'd , yet so far are they still from seeming ever to have been cast in Animal molds , that ( as the worthy Dr. Lister freely own 's y y Ibidem . ) neither can these be match't amongst the living Conchilia , no more than the others .

17. I met with the same also at Dudley Castle , found in the Lime-stone rocks , but these very small , not exceeding the Rouncival pea in bigness ; and yet still less about Ingestre , some whereof not so bigg as the smallest Vetch ; yet all consisting of two anomalous valves , of which ( contrary both to Columna and Dr. Lister ) I take the most protuberant , though hid at the commissure by the rostrum of the other , to be the bigger ; that having two long Lobes , and but one short one : and the more depressed valve , the less ; it having but one long one , and two short ones : which shut into one another alternatim , as the teeth of the smaller striae doe , also betwixt one another : two straight lines passing between the three longer Lobes as may be seen in the Cutt , Fig. 19. and 20. which I have caused to be graven , notwithstanding they are to be found both in Columna and Dr. Lister z z Locis supra citatis . , those books being in but few hands , and almost as rare as the stones themselves , beside , not well designed in either of them .

18. To which add two Chamae , or Couchites striati , found somewhere about Ingestre , and given me by the most ingenious Walter Chetwynd Esq Lord of the place ; whereof one ha's both valves conjoyned , one of them being convex , and the other not flat but a little concave , as in Fig. 21. and both striated from the commissure to the rim , somewhat like the Pectunculus of Bellonius a a Gesneri de Aquatilibus Lib. 4. p. 813. ; only I doe not remember , that I ever met with any shell-fish whose flat shell was thus excavated ; much less whose protuberant shell was striated within-side as that above mention'd fig. 16. and our other Conchites or Chamites striatus , given me by Mr. Chetwynd which was found single , set in a hard pebble , as exactly represented fig. 22. on which yet I lay not so much stress , as upon any of the rest ; because the convex side being hid by the pebble , it may be argued , that this is only the bed of a petrifyed Chama , though I could not learn , that any such thing lept forth it , upon the breaking the pebble .

19. Having done with the form'd stones relating to the waters , I hasten on ( according to the Method I prescribed my self in the begining of this Chapter ) to such as bear any similitude to terrestrial bodies , and amongst them , first of such as belong to the mineral Kingdom ; some of the Ores both of the noble & viler Metalls , having been found shot into certain figures : thus as I was told by Mr Persehouse of nether Gournall , a parcell of Silver Ore that was found in the hard rock in digging a well in his Garden ( of the Metall whereof He shewed me a tooth-pick ) was all figur'd like the shells of Escallops ; nor need we much to wonder at it , if we reflect upon a relation of Peter Martyr Counsellor to Charles the fift , who expressly tells us that in Hispaniola , not only the Ore , but pure native Gold it self , is found so naturally form'd , that it is thought to be a living Tree springing and spreading from a root through the soft pores of the Earth , and puting forth branches even to the day it self ; shewing beautifull colours instead of flowers , round stones of golden earth instead of fruit , and thin plates instead of leaves : some of the branches being as small as threds , and others as bigg as a Mans finger , according to the largeness or straightness of the rifts or clefts of the earth or rocks , wherein it grows b b Petri Martyris Anglrii de Orbe novo . Decad. 3. cap. 8 .

10.

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To that if right Worsp ●● . the much honored & judicious Gent.

SWALTER WROTTESLEY Bar.

This itth . Table of formed Stones , in acknowledgment of his many & eminent favour● is gratefully dedicated by R. P. L. L. D.

MBurghers delin et sculp . depictions of stones

21. The same is also asserted by Munster of native Silver , which He tells us has been found naturally shot in the form of Trees , rodds , twiggs or hairs d d Munsteri Geograph . Lib. 1. cap. 9. , whereof I have seen my self a tolerable pattern : But not such an one as Wormius was possest of , given Him by the Lord Stenon Beck the Kings Treasurer , which was an elegant Mass of native silver 12 Ounces weight , that imitated a Vine with all its branches variously spread abroad , and embraceing one another , growing thick toward the root , and gradually tapering into the slenderest twiggs and claspers e e Musaei Wormiani Lib. 1. § 3. cap. 3. : Or that other branched piece of of Silver of two Ounces weight growing out of a Specular stone , of a leaden colour without , but white within , also resembling a Vine , brought Him out of the Mines of Norway by Nicholaus Fossius f f Ibidem . . Now if Metallic substances doe thus usually take upon them the form of Vegetables ; why not sometimes may they not of Animals too , as well as other stones ? though we doe not very often find Histories of it : let that of Valehius in his Commentary upon the Klein Baur mention'd by Mr Boyle serve for all ; who tells us that at Maria Kirch near Strasburg , a Miner upon opening the hollow of a rock , found a Mass of pure Silver of 500 pound weight standing upright in form of an Armedman g g Mr Boyles Scept . Chym. p. 365 , 366. : a much stranger thing than that Silver Ore , should shoot in the form of Escallops .

22 And as the Ores of the perfect and more noble Metalls sometimes take upon them the formes of Vegetables and Animals ; so those of the baser and more imperfect kinds , doe sometimes shoot too into certain formes , but much more simple ones ; which I have found true in this County , in the Ores both of the hard & soft Metalls . In the hard , which require ignition before fusion ( not to mention again the Iron Ore impregnated with the milky liquor found at Rushall , which is mostly , if not always , of an oval figure without , and like a honycomb within h h vid. supra chap. 4. §. 18. and chap. 5. §. 10. ) In the Lime-work call'd Radley also in the parish of Rushall , and in those North of Dudley Castle , in the very body of the stone they sometimes find the pyrites aureus ( which if torrefy'd according to Agricola & Dr. Listers i i Geo. Agricolae de re Metallica . Lib. 7. p. 194. & M. Lasteri de fontibus med. Angl. Exercit. pr. cap. 2. directions prove all Iron Ores ) not only granulated , but sometimes formed in oblong squares , or right angl'd parallelpipeds set irregularly in a common bed of Limestone , as in Tab. 12. fig. 1. which very pattern was found at Radley-work , & kindly bestowed on me by Mr William Strong of Harding alias Hawarden , and is the third of Gesner , which He calls pyrites quadratus altera parte longior in opposition to the cubic one k k Conr. Gesneri de figuris Lapid . cap. 1. ,

23 Which too in the Limestone hills of the Moorelands in this County , is frequently met with , about ¾ of an inch square , of a purpleish colour , mixt with yellow shining parts without , but wholy gold-like ones within , such are also found upon the Woolds in Yorkshire , and reckon'd by Dr Lister amongst the Iron-Ores l l M. Listeri de fontibus Med Angl. Exercit. pr. cap. 2. . Wormius also tells us they have them at Osterdale in Norway , but reputed there to be the Ore of Copper m m Musaei Worm . Lib. 1. §. 3. cap. 5. . Whether ours be one , or th' other , I shall not dispute , it being sufficient to justify it's being placed here , if it hold either Metall . However they seem to be the true Ludus Paracelsi , which says Helmont is so termed , quod tali , tessarae , aut Cubi formâ semper eruatur n n J. Bapt. Helmanti● de Lithiasi cap. 7. n. 22.23 . , there being no other stone I have ever yet met with , near so agreeable : which pulveriz'd calcin'd , and mixt with a circulated Salt , and then set in a coole moist place to run per deliquium , and after digested gr. 2. till the Ludus swims like a thick oyl , upon the water contracted from the moist Air of the Cellar o o Ibidem . , is the great Arcanum against the Duelech or lapis spongiosus , generated in human bodies , of a middle nature between a Tartar , and the ordinary Calculus humanus .

24. The Ores of the softer Metalls , which have fusion before ignition , doe also sometimes shoot into a certain figure , witness a sort of Lead-Ore given me by the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq but found in Ecton hill near Warslow , and sent him , I think , by the ingenious Mr Cotton , of an Octaedrous form , made up of eight solid triangles , as in Tab. 12. Fig. 2. one of the acuminated parts being somewhat blunt where fixt to the rock . The ingenious Mr. John Beaumont jun. of Stony-Easton in Sommerset-shire , informes us that Lead-Ore is often found in that County in a pyramidal form , much like the Sparrs that hang from the roofs of many Grotto's p p Philosoph . Transact . Num. 129. p 734. . He also further adds in the same discourse , that the rust which often lyes there over the veins of Lead-Ore , shoots up pyramidally in many places , and is bounded round with six angles and sometimes with five ; and that not only the rust , but the Lead-Ore it self , often shoots also pyramidally with rough irregular lines round it , and in some places bounded round very regularly with 4 angles , and in other places branched like a plant q q Ibid. p. 736. . But I doe not find him or any other Author , that it was ever found before in this form , unless that which he says ascends in 4. regular angles , be the same which ours , the other inferior 4 angles being hid in the rock .

25. After the form'd stones of the Mineral , I proceed next to those relating to the vegetable Kingdom , whereof there are some that resemble intire plants , and such is a fungites or Tuberoides which I found near Hedgford in the forrest of Canck , much such another as that described & engraven in the Hist. of Oxfordshire r r Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 132. , & therefore not repeated here . To which add the fungi lapidei coralloides of Fabius Columma , which He honestly ownes , never to have had their origin , ex fungorum cadaveribus , sed propria vegetatione ortum ducere ; that they were never fungus's and now petrifyed , but lapides sui generis , that have their growth & form , from another principle of their owne s s Fab. Columnae dissertatione de Glossopetris . p. 39. ; and this He seems to prove , for that they have their striae , in the upper part , and not the lower as the terrestrial ones have ( and therefore perhaps by Bauhinus call'd fungi pileolo inverso t t Joh. Bauhin , in paralipom . in fine Hist. admirabilis . fontis Bollensis . ) the pedicle being smooth ( says He ) as Clusius has drawn themn. In which particular only , ours differ from His ; ours being most of them , striated from the lower part of the pedicle , to the very cup , and some of them further adorn'd with transverse protuberant circular edges , as may be seen in the fig. 3. & 4. which were freely bestowed on me amongst many others ( wherof some are about an inch , others about 3 , others 6 inches in compass ) by the same worthy Gent. Walter Chetwynd Esq who had them from about Beresford , and the fields about Heatley , and Bagots Bromley .

26. These , says the same Columna w w dissertatione de Glossopetris p. 39. , have their vegetability the same way , with the porous species of Coral , of Ferrante Imperato , which He calls Madreporae x x dell' Hist. Naturale di Ferrante Imperato Lib. 27. Cap. 4. , whereof too I had an elegant pattern given me by the ingenious Ch. King M. A. and Student of Ch. Ch. Chaplain to Mr. Chetwynd , which was found at — in this County , and the most of any vegetable resembles a stoole of reeds or rushes cemented together by some lapedescent juice ; but that this too u u Lib. 6. Exot. must be a stone of its owne kind , is evident from its being striated like the fungi coralloides at the top of every cylindrical branch , from a very promanent sharp center , as in fig. 5. which the inner parts of reeds or rushes , neither of them are ; the former being hollow , all but the joynts ; and the latter having a pith altogether inform'd . So far are these stones from being petrifications , or ever having borrowed their form from plants . As some stones , on the other side , as evidently doe : witness the petrify'd moss or rather Equisetum mention'd before Chap. 2. § 114 of this book , and represented here fig. 6. which is so certainly nothing else but a petrification of Equisetum coralloides foliis mansu arenosis ( whose leaves are always full of sand and therefore of excellent use for scouring of Glasses ) that in the boggy ground above mentioned betwixt Sandon and Gayton , some of it may be had half petrify'd , and half remaining still verdant .

27. Amongst the stones that have the shape of whole plants , we must also reckon one , found on Hall's furlong , at the village of Stansop , in the parish of Alstonfield , and kindly sent me thence by Mr. Rich. Hall , to whom I am indebted for many other favours , so exactly resembling the muscus pyxidatus , or Cup-moss as in fig. 7. that possibly it may once have been really so , as well as the Equisetum in the preceding paragraph . But I have another sent me by Capt. Jackson of the same Village , a person curious in such natural observations , that though it ascend from a common root tapering upwards branching it self forth from several internodia as in fig. 8. so that it may not unfitly be reckon'd amongst the flores arborescentes internodiis distincti ; yet it seems not at all probable that it ever was a plant , not only for that it would be a difficult task , to find to what species to referr it , but to account also for its being thus inclosed in a stone : much rather therefore should I conclude it , to have been heretofore some petrifying juice , that following the hollows of the rock , which casually were before of this figure , might naturally give it self this forme in the concretion , just as in a mold ; though we see nature without any such help , does performe more excellent pieces of work than this ; so that I must not deny neither but she might doe it , from an internal principle , as well as an external .

28. Hither also must be referr'd a most excellent Specimen of Mineral Corall , given me by the learned Walter Chetwynd Esq much like that of Mr. Beaumont mention'd and engraven in the Philosophical Transactions y y Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 150. , only the branches are not ruled up as his is : but what is more remarkable , they seem all to be joynted , as Mr. Ray informs us some of it is , as in fig. 9. very much resembling the Corallium Tubulatum of Ferrante Imperato z z Historia Naturale di Ferrant . Imperato Lib. 27. cap. 4. : which whether ever made in a corralline mold in this inland County , or a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 sui generis , out of principles of its owne , let the Reader determin . Somwhere about High-Offley , they have the fresh-water Adarce such as that described and engraven in the Nat. History of Oxfordshire a a Nat Hist. of Oxfordshire Lib. 5. §. 139. Tab. 6. Fig. 10. , which was bestowed upon me by the right Honorable Lady , Jane Lady Gerard of Gerards Bromley , but this being rather an incrustation of an intire plant , or rather a plant sheathed within a stone , having its form ab alio , and not from any internal principle of its owne ; I pass it by , as not properly a rock-plant , though perhaps not improperly mention'd in this place .

29. Other stones there are that only represent the parts of plants , such as the Stelechites , that are , or should be , like trunks of Trees ; whereof there lyes one indeed near Dudley , betwixt Merryhill and Clyers-lane which they call a Pox-stone , i. e. a stone scarce vincible by fire ; that so well resembles wood petrifyed , that I really thought it at first sight the stump of a Tree . But the Stelechites stibii facie of Aldrovand b b Musaei Metallici Lib. 1 cap. 9 , whereof there are many in the rocks at Beresford , and Stansop , and the rubble stones that lye loose above ground in the fields , near Heatley and Bagots-Bromley , seem not to deserve the name half so well ; they being a sort of annular stones regularly joynted , and as regularly striated at top and bottom as in Tab. 12. Fig. 10. and therefore both as unlike the trunk of a Tree ( though some of them are branched ) or having the striae of Antimony ( which are commonly irregular ) as a thing can well be ; nor can they indeed any way reasonably be compared to the trunk or stalk of any plant whatever . Wherefore the ingenious Mr. Ray ha's more rationally thought them , to be the Spinae dorsales or tail-bones of Fish petrify'd c c Mr. Rays Observation Topograph . &c. p. 116. , they consisting for the most part of several plates or pieces sticking together like so many Vertebrae of the back-bone of some Fish ; though at the same time he most ingeniously acknowledges , that these pieces are much shorter and thinner than the Vertebrae of any fish he had then observed . I am sure ours are so , the thickest of them scarce exceeding ⅛ of an Inch , some not a 1/24 : though Dr. Lister tells us , he found some about Stock in Yorkshire full a quarter of an Inch thick d d Philosoph . Transact . Numb 100. .

30. Many of these being perforated some with a round , others with foliated or asterial inlets of 6 or 7 points , anciently when found single or but double or treble as in Fig. 11 they were strung like beads , particularly by St. Cuthbert , which gave occasion to their other name of St. Cuthberts beads : and because thick set with small raies drawn from these perforated Centers or modioli to the rim , like the spokes of a wheel , by Agricola e e Geo. Agricolae de Nat. fossilium Lib. 5. , and after him by Gesner f f Conr. Gesneri , de figuris Lapidum , cap. 5. , Boetius g g Boetii de Boot , de lapidibus & gemmis Lib. 2. cap. 227. , Kentman h h Johan . Kentmanni rerum fossilium Catalog . tit. 4. , Wormius i i Musaei Wormiani Lib. 1. §. 2. cap. 10. , and Lachmund k k Fred. a Lachmund . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . §. 3. cap. 16. , aptly enough call'd Trochitae ; and if compounded or piled upon one another , as in Fig. 12. Entrochi , or wheels within wheels ; the rilieve raies of one Trochite , always lying in the intagli or furrows between two protuberant raies of the other , as in the Sutures of a Skull . As for the species of them we find at the places above mention'd , most of those described and engraven by Dr. Lister and Mr. Beaumont in the Philosophical Transactions l l Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 100.129.150 . ; with all the varieties of their length , greatness , joynts , cements , bores or piths , lineations , indentures , smoothness of some , ridges , knots , and branches of others ; with all the accidental injuries that have befallen them : all seeming to have been dejected and broken ; many of them depress't and crush't ; and some of them having their very Trochit's dislocated .

31. I met too with some few of them , which had every second , third , or fourth joynt , larger than the intermediat ones ; and with one of those tapering at both ends , and swelling in the middle like a barrel , marked with but obscure raies , as most of the old Authors say they generally are . But as for the Summitates ( by Lachmund call'd lapides figura penis absque praeputio m m Fred. Lachmundi 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . §. 3. cap. 16. , ) the Radixes , and the several varieties of pentagonous , and hexagonons plates , supposed to incrustate them , found at Braughton , Stock , and Bugthorp in Yorkshire , at Wansford-bridge in Northamptonshire , and in the Mendip hills in Somersetshire , by Dr. Lister and Mr. Beaumont ; whereof we have great variety in the Ashmolean Musaeum n n Vid. Scrinium Listeri in Musaeo Ashmoleano . ; I met with none of them here , though possibly there may be enough , had I had time to have searched narrowly . However I have caused neither the one or the other to be engraven here , that have been done already , by either of the aforesaid worthy Authors , in the forecited places : but shall content my self to proceed upon such matters only relating to them , which either they have wholy omitted , or but imperfectly described .

32. And first as to their texture , though Agricola and the rest after him , have observed that they are made out of Lamellae or little thin Spar-like plates as the lapis Judaicus , running 3 different ways , as that stone is described in the History of Oxfordshire o o Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 136. : yet none of them have taken notice that the raies inscribed on the top of these stones , are made out of the edges of one of these courses of Lamellae set obliquely like a pack of Cards , end ways or edgways , according as the striae appear long or short ; and that the raies of the following Trochite are made also out of the edges of such Lamellae set obliquely too , but quite contrary to those of the former Trochite , and so alternatly ; as may be seen in the edges of each Trochite , in the Entrochus graven fig. 13. though in some of them again the courses of the Lamellae seem not to be terminated within the verge of every Trochite , but ( which is very surpriseing ) though the whole Entrochus seem without side regularly divided into Trochit's , and radiated on the top ; yet the courses of the plates pass sometimes undivided through several of them , so that they will not break off in the joynts , as I have made tryal upon divers ; but in deep indentures passing through two or three Trochit's . Nor have they remarked , that upon breaking or scraping them , they emit a fetid nauseous odour , like the Wolf stone of Sweden , which the Lapis Judaicus of Oxfordshire or Palestine will neither of them doe ; which is a probable argument that notwithstanding they appear outwardly to have the same texture of parts , yet that they must arise from far different principles .

33. Also in the radiation of them I have met with one sort , given me by the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd Esq that I doe not remember any where noted before , it having a double order of raies ; the first reaching from the modiolus or Center ( which is in the form of a cinquefoil ) about half way to the peripherie , where they are cut off with a deep hollow trench , taking up about half the remaining distance to the rim , the other moyety being striated again as in fig. 14. I have another too procured me by the right Worshipfull the generous , and very obligeing Gent. Sr Walter Bagot of Blithefield Baronet , that has four very near equidistant raies , much greater and more prominent than any of the rest , as in fig. 15. And I had another sent me by Capt. Jackson of Stansop , that has an invecked Line running through the raies near the periphery of the Trochite , as in fig. 16. Which are all the differences I have found in the Entrochi of Staffordshire , relating to the raies , only that some of them , have ridges within side as well as without , with deep furrows between them , that are also striated from an open pentagonous bore , as in fig. 17. which too is a sort of center or pith , no where mention'd , that I know of by any of the aforesaid Authors .

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To the right 〈◊〉 Sr. IOHN ●OW●●● of KN●●●● 〈◊〉 . This 12. Table . of 〈…〉 a● a gr●●t●full N●m●●r of 〈◊〉 recei●d 〈◊〉 your● 〈◊〉 hu●●●●● offer'd by RP . LL. D.

depictions of stones MBurghers delin et sculp●●t .

35. But both at Beresford , & Stansop ; & about Heatley , and Bagots Bromley , they have another form'd stone , that seems withoutside , to be made up of thick Trochit's that have no bore at all ; nor have they any raies on the top issuing from any solid Center as in fig 18. which I wonder not at , since upon breaking and cuting them , I doe not find they are compounded of such plates as the others are ; nor doe they upon scraping or breaking send forth an odor : which different properties have induced me to beleive , that these may be rather the Columnettae of Imperato p p Historia Naturale di Ferrante Imperato Lib. 24. cap. 22. , than Entrochi composed of Trochit's , though like them , they will rather break in the joynts , than any where else . Another sort they have too at all the aforesaid places , that seem to be made up of joynts as the Entrochi are , but neither do the Trochit's appear round or square in their utmost rims , but sharp like the edg of a screw tapering from the place of their joyning , whence too they are only striated as in Tab. 13. fig. 1. so that the raies of one , doe not enter into the furrows of the other , neither doe the Trochit's or raies joyn with the modiolus or center ( which in these is a large cylinder of black flint ) in right angles , as the former doe .

36. Neither are these all of them cylindrical as the former , some of them tapering upwards from a broad basis , the lower most rings being the greatest , and so gradually in the ascent decreasing in magnitude , as in fig. 2. And so far are they from having suffer'd any accidental injuries ( scarce any of them seeming to be crush't or dislocated , much less broken & imperfect ) that they are generally , if not always substantially terminated at each end , & skreen'd as it were from harms by a cavity of hard stone , in which they are commonly found as in fig. 3. so that 't is hard to conceive they were ever otherwise , since they shew not the least signe either of a root or top . Nay so very different are these from the former , that some of them have also a thin striated plate passing from the edg of each annulet , to the sides of the Cylindrical concave , as in fig. 4. so that there appears a fair cavity betwixt each ring . And some again have others included in them as in that represented fig. 5. inclosed , says Dr. Lister , like a pair of screws : how His might be I cannot tell , but ours are so far from the nature of a screw ( more than in the riseing of the edges , from which reason only the Country people call them screw-stones ) that they run not helically , but stand like annulets parallel to one another : nor doe the protuberant edges of the one , enter into the furrows of the other , as the male and female screws doe .

37. There are divers others too found in the same places , and given me by the same worthy Gent. that stand fenced thus in cavities , some of them in the form of five columns barely joyn'd , as in Tab. 13. fig. 6. others bound together by thin annulets , not striated , standing prety thick and equidistant , as in fig. 7. Some again knit together by the same sort of rings , but by pairs , some distance interceding each pair , as in fig. 8. And others by four in like manner , as in fig. 9. To these add another sort fenced the same way , that are some of them cylindrical , of equal bigness from the bottom to to the top , curiously wrought with small rings , first with two at some distance , then four close together , then two again , and so 2 & 4 alternatly , the whole length of the stone , as in fig 10. and others wrought in the same manner , but bigger both at top & bottom , in form of a pillar with pedestal & capitel as in fig. 11. Lastly there are some very small ones that stand in such cavities , like straight smooth pillars , only purled with a row of knobbs on each side ; & others there are that look like so many buttons piled upon one another : but many of these seem rather to be dacayed great ones than any thing else , the hollows in which some of them stand , being as large as the rest , though the pillars very small .

38. Other stones there are formed like the fruits of trees , whereof I had one bestowed on me by the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq in form and bigness , most exquisitly resembling the bell or King-pear ; in all points the same with that described & engraven in the History of Oxfordshire q q Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire chap. 5. §. 134. Tab. 6. fig. 3. ; only this is a pebble , and that a black flint ; and this but 9 inches about , whereas that was eleven : but not differing at all in form , I have forborne to give any sculpture of it . And I had a stone given me , by a poore man of the Towne , found on Whittington heath , tho not so very like the stone of an Almond , as some one would wish , it having 4 or 5 ribbs running the length of the stone as in Tab. 13. fig. 12. yet it being very agreeable to the Amygdaloides of Aldrovand r r Ulyss . Aldrovandi Musaeum Metall . Lib. 4. cap. 1. , and not easily referrable any whither else , I have ventur'd ( with favour ) to give it place here . And I must beg the same licence for another of this kind , though one of the greatest curiosities of this nature I ever met with , for notwithstanding it represents in general the true shape of the bicapsular seed vessel of Digitalis ferruginea , or of some of the Verbascum's , as may plainly be seen fig. 13. having that patilous fissure at the top , that the seed-vessel of that plant naturally ha's when it is ripe : yet in the most protuberant part near the bottom , it is perforated with a small hole , round which there are several striae or lineations bent ( not equidistant ) but according as the form of the stone does permit , which indeed are not found in the seed-vessels of that plant , but in all other matters it truly resembles them , both in shape and magnitude : which being all concerning the lapides 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but that this last was found at Beresford , and given me by the worthy Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esquire ,

39. I proceed next to the stones relating to Animals , and first to those of the Insect kind , whereof I have one sent me by Capt. Iackson of Stansop , so accuratley representing the combs of Bees , that the orifices of each cavity are all hexangular as in fig. 14. just as hony-combs are . Others there are that seem to have been Reptiles petrify'd , of which some , found at the same place , & bestowed on me by the same worthy Gent. have the true resemblance of landsnailes ; which because already described and express't in Sulpture in the History of Oxfordshire s s Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire chap. 5. §. 140. Tab. 6. fig. 11. , are omitted here . And I saw part of a stone found amongst others in a Marle-pit between Aqualat house and the Park , that prettily represented a Mole or Want both in head and tail , but more especially in the foot , which was so very exact , that it was divided into claws , & was like the foot of that Animal in all particulars . The learned & ingenious Edwyn Shrymsler Esq Proprietor of the place , told me also that there was found in the same pit , a stone resembling a dog couped about the reins , with nose and eyes so very perfect , and the hair standing up , as when that Animal is anger'd , yet without leggs ; but this I did not see , it being some way disposed of , before I came thither . The same worthy Gent. gave me divers other stones found in the same pit ; some Vmbilical , having the form of a Navil , as in fig. 15. others in odd unaccountable shapes , yet having enough to shew Nature was designing somewhat . All which , in their consttutive parts , seem to be nothing else but a sort of petrify'd Marle , having all of them a small hole peirceing them in some part or other , whereby I suppose they received the Mineral steams , or whatever else it is that gives them form and augmentation , as the ingenious Mr. Beaumont observes the rock Plants doe in Mendip hills t t Philoseph . Transact . Num. 12● . .

40. Amongst the stones that any way shew the parts of Animals ( to pass by the impressions of the Cow and Calves feet , on the great pebble , lying in the middle of the street at little On , with the fable belonging to them ) I think we may reckon the Orchites , or Lapides testiculares , for I know not what else to term them , found near Rudyerd Hall at the Conygrey there , which are much more proportionable to those parts in Animals , than those mention'd in Oxfordshire u u Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire chap. 5. §. 144. Tab. 7. fig. 5.6 . but then we find them hear much more extravagant in their combinations ; for hear you may gather not only the Diorchis and Triorchis , of Aldrovand w w Ulyss . Adrovandi Musaeum Metall . Lib. 4. cap. 1. ; but the Tetrorchis , Pentorchis , Hexorchis , and Heptorchis , such as described , figures the 16.17.18 . and 19. The Monorchis too ( if I may so call it , because found together with the rest ) or single round stone , is plentifull here , all of them granulated as shewn in the figures , and lapides sui generis , never cast in any Animal mold . To which add a Thrichites , so calld because composed of short filaments like the hair of beasts , found in the bottom of the Marle-pits in the grounds of my worthy friend Mr. John Bott of Dunstall in a place call'd the Riddings in Barton-liberty , much like that of Oxford-shire x x Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . chap. 5. §. 145. Tab 6. fig. 7. , only it is of a whiter colour , and neither channell'd or joynted ; however may so well be apprehended by that , that there needs no new representation of it .

41. Of stones that are strictly like the parts of Men , I have met with only two in this County , one found at Whittington near Lichfield , and given me by Mr Babbington , and the other at Drayton Basset , both so well resembling the foot of a child , that both may well enough be termed Andrapodites , and expressed in the same sculpture , fig. 20. they both seem to be of the pebble kind of a murrey colour , each between 4 & 5 inches long , but differing somewhat in bigness , yet so exactly of the shape of a childs foot , that I doubt not they might serve well enough for lasts , for childrens first , and second shooes . Nor has Nature been content to imitate the parts of Men in stone , but to delight Him with the representations of many Vtensills of Art relating to Him , such as a Pipe for his Tobacco , found in the same Marle-pit near Aqualat abovemention'd ; which as the worthy Mr. Skrymsher seriously told me , so well resembled that instrument both in the boll and heel ( but broken off at about an inch long in the shank ) that it needed nothing of the strength of imagination to help it .

42. In the same Pit , was found another stone of a greenish-blew colour , with a bore through the middle , and furrowed from each orifice round the sides , like a Cloak button , as in fig. 21. which most certainly would really serve for a button mold of that form . Nor has Nature only provided Man with buttons to his cloathes , but with a barrell too , for his drink , as appears from a slone ( were it hollow ) found at Alrewas , and sent me by the worshipfull Iohn Turton Esq swelling in the middle and tapering at both ends , divided with such equidistant lineations the whole length of the stone , as are usually made by the staves of a barrell , as in fig. 22. but having no hoops : however perhaps it may well enough deserve the name of a Cadites . She seems also to have furnish't Him with a Saddle for his Horse , if the Ephippites of Aldrovand , such as are frequently found in the Mountains near Bononia y y Ulyss Ald●ovandi Musaeum Metall . Lib. 4. cap. 1. , will serve his turn ; ours , found about Walstanton of a slinty substance , being exactly like his , only it has not the lists round it , which contribute little to the name : how ever it being somewhat different , and but rarely met with it , I have caused it to be engraven fig. 23.

43. But amongst all the things of Art imitated by Nature , there seem none to be so surprizing , as the rings of stone , Iron , and Copper , found about the stalks of Gorse , in the lands of the right Honorable Iane Lady Gerard of Gerards Bromley ; which I doubted not at all , when She gave me the first relation of it , were so shewen to her Ladyship , but always feared an imposition by some waggish hand : till I met with parallel Histories from other Countries , of what had been found of the like nature both in stones and Metalls . The former whereof is amply confirm'd from Iamaica by the ingenious Mr. Stubbs , where He says they find plants with stony accretions about their boughs , which are often loose and moveable , as beads upon a string z z Philoseph . Transact . Numb. 36. p 701. . And Bobuslaus Balbinus in his History of Bohemia , tells us that'tis so frequent in that Country for the perfect Metalls to conform themselves to the nature of the things among which they grow , that Gold and Silver is found in stalks amongst Corn , in threads about Vines , and sometimes growing in the insides of Trees about their pith * * Mr. Beaumonts Weekly Mem. Numb. 4. p. 29. . Now if so , why may not these imperfect Metalls ( in a Country fruitfull of them ) grow in rings without side the stalks of Gorse , as well as the perfect both without and withinside other plants , in other Countries . However , these Examples of natural rings growing about Shrubs , Trees &c. afford me a fair introduction to the next Chapter of Plants .

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To the right Hon.ble THOMAS Lord LEIGH of STONESEY & HAMSTALL RIDWARE in the County of STAFFORD This 13 Table of Formed stones in memory of his favours is gratefully dedicated by RP . LL. D.

MBurghers delin . et sculp . depictions of stones

CHAP. VI. Of Plants .

1. Having done with the Mineral , the order of Nature directs me next to consider the Vegetable Kingdome , the Plants of this County , whether Herbs , Shrubbs , or Trees ; amongst which ( as in Oxfordshire ) I shall only treat of such as are Either 1. wholy underscribed by any Author we yet know of , or described but imprefectly . 2. that have not been found by the learned Mr. Ray to be Indigenae of England . 3. that have never till now been found to be Mediterranean plants . 4. that have any unusuall accidents attending them . 5. that are not commonly cultivated in the fields , where by the way , some of the Agriculture of the Country . in which order , I shall consider all the aforesaid three Species of Plants , as far as each of them will bear it , and then proceed to the Animal Kingdom . And first of the Herbs ; such as have a carnous substance , and will never become lignous ; of which those that are indigenous , & wholy undescribed , or described but imperfectly , are these that follow .

2. Muscus multiformiter pyxidatus , capitibus sive apicibus coccineis . Which beautifull Scarlet-headed Cup or Chalice-Moss , in its flourishing condition , is of an ash-colour , sometimes darker according to the season of the year , and grows thick upon mole hills in in Cank-wood , about Wildmoore Hollies , Fair Oak , and Wolselypark , of the sise , and sometimes of the figure of a Clove ; the Calix now and then being square at the top , and sometimes round , and oval ; never very deep but always set round or purled with scarlet eminencies about the bigness of small pins heads as in Tab. 14. fig. 1. which was first discover'd to me by the learned . and judicious Edward Brych of Leacroft Esq and is so certainly an undescribed plant that I find nothing like it in any of the books : yet I cannot number this , nor any other Cup-moss amongst the plants properly so call'd as other Authors doe , neither of them produceing either flowers or seeds , that have been yet discover'd ; wherefore I rather chuse to reckon it among the fungus's , which ushers in another undescribed fungus , that perhaps may not unfitly be stiled ,

3. Fungus ramosus candidissimus ceranoides , sive digitatus minimus , nonnunquam corniculatus . This white branched finger formed Mushrom , whereof some of the blades are curled round , divided and jagged like the Spellers of a Bucks-head , as in Tab. 14. fig. 2. found plentifully both in Chartley and Ingestre Parks , ascends from a conjunction of many small branches at the bottom , about 3 or 4 inches high , commonly straight and somwhat flat , each blade ( especially the greatest ) channell'd near the top . The most like of any plant yet described to the Digitatus of Parkinson a a Parkinson's Theatrum Bo●●tanicum . Tribe 14. chap. 63. , only none of the blades of his are divided or horned , which perhaps may be accidental ; yet it cannot be either his major , or minor , or the Digitelli of the Italians : which though a diminutive terme , are so large notwithstanding , that one of the white fingers ( says he ) will suffice a man for a meal . It remains therefore , that it must be an undescribed Fungus ; and so must the

4. Fungus pulverulentus , cute membranaceà , substantia intus spongiosa , pediculo brevi crassiori , in oras fere ducto . Which sort of fungus found near Packington , and first observed by Mr. Walter Ashmore of Tamworth , and after on Alrewas-hays near the deep spring mention'd Chap. 2. § 51. by Francis Wolferstan Esq is very large , somtimes 4 or 5 inches diameter , and near two inches thick , and rises from a short thick pedicle , narrow at bottom , and extending it self broader almost to the brims of the fungus , like an inverted Cone as in Fig. 3. somewhat like the fungus tuberosus esculentus albus , fusco permixtus of J. Bauhin b b I Bauhini Hist. Plantarum Lib. 40. cap. 16. : and the fungus durus Arborum sive igniarius of Parkinson c c Parkinson's Theatrum Botanicum Tribe 14. chap. 94. . But can be nether of them , this being soft , and cover'd with a tough membranaceous skin , and the substance within much resembling a Spunge both in texture and colour ; the Cavities whereof when it is ripe , are fill'd with just the same dust or fine powder , which flyes from the Lupi crepitus or Fuss-ball upon which account I chuse to referr it to that kind of fungus , though it differ much from any yet described in the pedicle , and carnous substance ; which as Mr. Ashmore orders some of it , is much like Spunk , or the downy part of Artimesia Aegyptiaca , and I beleive if boiled in Niter , like the fungus igniarius , might be render'd as usefull ad ellychnia , as any fungus whatever .

5. At Bentley in the park and lanes there about , at Oldfallings , & almost any where within 3 or 4 miles of Wolverhampton , the Fungus phalloides , or phallus Holandicus of Hadr. Iunius , is frequently found in old dry ditch banks ( about the middle of Iuly and sometimes if a warm Autumn , as late as Michaelmass . They are ordinarily betwixt 8 or 9 Inches long , and seem to be made up of 3 ditinct parts : the Volva or round bagg at the bottom representing the Scrotum ; the Coles or body ; and the Capitulum Glandiforme , or nut of the yard ; of which in their order . The Volva which is sometimes bigger than a Tennis-Ball ( and seems to draw its nourishment by one or two small fibres , which are so tough that a man must pluck pretty hard to break them ) is cover'd with a whitish tough membrane , which contains a thin pellucid gelley of an amber colour ; under which there is another very white tunicle , that includes a dirty green farinaceous matter , which Bauhinus compares to the tunica elytroeides of the testicles ; d d J. Bauhini Hist. Plantarum Lib. 40. cap. 60.61 . and then a third , smooth on the inside next the cavity in the center of the Volva , and faviginous like a hony-comb or tripe , without ; out of which last membrane , both the body and nut of the yard , seem to grow ; the whole length of the scapus or coles being faviginous without , and hollow within ( the Cavity tapering at both ends , and growing wider in the middle in proportion as the scapus does ) and the capitulum glandiforme also smooth underneath and faviginous without , the Cavities whereof are fill'd with that dirty green substance , that lay next it in the Volva ; which corrupting becomes liquid , and sends forth that fil thy stink , by the help whereof they are commonly found ; though often too pass't by , upon that very account , many thinking it to be Carrion , lying hid somewhere near , and so heeding it no further .

6 All which may be clearly and fully understood by the exemplification of it Tab. 14. fig. 4 , which I have caused to be engraven , because none of the Cuts either in Bauhinus or elsewhere , seem agreeable to ours : wherein a. Shews the exterior membrane of the Volva . b. The pellucid gelley within it . c. The second tunicle , including the farinaceous matter . d. The third membrane , faviginous without , and smooth within . e. The hollow under it . f. The Veretrum , faviginous without . g. The hollow within , tapering at both ends . b. The capitulum glandiforme , smooth underneath . i. Faviginous without , in the Cavities wherof lyes the stinking gelley , which is of the consistence of Tarr , first of a dark greenish colour , growing sadder by degrees as the plant decays , till it approaches a black . Standing in the Sun or rain it seems to admit of no alteration from either ; all it has , proceeding from its self , which is very quick ; its whole duration ( after they begin to stink , till which time they are seldom found ) seeming not to be above 3 or 4 days . Near the phallus here described , were found two other baggs , full of the same sort of matter as the Volva , joyned together with a tough fibre , having other roots or fibres issuing from it , as in fig. 5. which I take to be two distinct Volvae , that had not yet sent forth their phalli , and not at all belonging to the intire phallus , but upon what account thus knit together , I must freely confess I doe not understand .

7. Which are all the indigenous plants either wholy undescribed , or described but imperfectly , that I met with in this County ; and these too , only fungus's , plants improperly so call'd , having neither flowers or seeds , that we yet know of . Nor doe I much wonder at it ; the most ingenious & most industrious Mr John Ray having lived so many years in the confines of this County , and no doubt searched it diligently . However I heard of one growing on the paper-Mill dam poole in Heywood park , though described by other Authors , yet not noted by that worthy person to be of English growth , viz. Tithymalus Characias Monspeliensis , or sweet wood - Spurge , the Eighth of Gerard e e Gerard's Hist of Plants enlarged by Johnson Lib. 2. chap 139. ; or great French wood-Spurge , the Second of Parkinson f f Parkinson's Theatrum Botamcum Trib. 2. chap. 16. , which seem by the Cuts to be much the same , and are so well described by both those Authors , that I shall supersede any here .

8. And as for such as were never found till now to be Mediterranean plants , my worthy friend Mr. Charles King , Student of Ch. Ch. Oxon : and Chaplin to Mr. Chetwynd , shewed me the Turbith of Serapio , the Tripolium vulgare minus , or at least the Tripolium minus Germanicum , the Sea Starr-wort of Germany , well described , and whereof there seems to be a good Cut in Johnsons enlargement of Gerards History of Plants . Which though generally said to grow upon the Sea-coasts , especially in Salt marshes where the tide ebbeth and floweth , as Lobel saith the Tripolium vulgare minus doth at the mouth of the River Po g g Matthiae de Lobel Plantarum & Stirpium Hist. pag. 158. , and Johnson at the foot of the fort at Gravesend , in the Isle of Sheppey , and near Sandwich in Kent , all near to Salt marshes k k Johnson upon Gerard Lib. 2. chap. 93. ; yet here it is found in an inland Country , at least 50 miles from the Sea , in the grounds of the worthy Mr. Chetwynd of Ingestre , within two miles of Stafford ; and yet not much to be wonder'd at neither : for though found thus in a Mediterranean Country , so far from the Sea , it seems not at all to have been out of its natural aboad : for it grows here in a ground call'd the Marsh , mentiond before in this Hist. Chap. 2. §. 112. near the place where the brine of it self breaks out above ground , frets away the grass , and makes a plash of Salt-water . Just as Cordus saith the Tripolium minus Germanicum , or Anthyllis , groweth in the Salt Marshes , that are nigh unto a Lake of brackish water , near Staffurt in Germany , which in all probability too is an inland Towne i i Val. Cordi Variar . Observat . Sylvâ p. 222. ; as if this plant were confin'd to grow in places of the like situation and name , though in inland Countries , and far remote from the places of its usual growth .

9. As for extraordinary Accidents , that have happen'd amongst the indigenous herbaceous plants I have met with but few ; and those I suppose arising cheifly , either from the soile ; or from the season wherein the seed of them was sowne ; or from some other external accidents . From the first whereof , it most certainly comes to pass , that plants sometimes produce flowers of different colours from what they usually doe ; as I have reason to suspect a Digitalis or Fox-glove that I found by the way side near Norton in the Moors might possibly doe , from the poverty of the Soile there about , which ordinarily produces a preternatural whiteness , as was fully shewn in the Nat. Hist . of Oxfordshire k k Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 6. §. §. 17 , 18 , 19 , 20. and 38. . Or else that the seed of this plant by some casualty or other , was not committed to the Earth in due time , which experience ha's taught us will make the same alteration in the colour of flowers as was found by that most skillfull Botanist Mr. Jacob Bobart of Oxford , who seriously told me He once sowed stock-Gillo-flower seeds in the Spring which produced red flowers , and others again three months after , out of the same paper of seeds , which brought all white ones : so very nicely doth the colour of flowers depend , upon the agreeableness of the season , as well as soile .

10. Nay so very unaccountable are the colours of the flowers of plants , that as the same worthy person told me more than once , from the seeds of the same Anemone , which was all of the same colour , and sowne in the same place , were produced Anemone's of as great variety of colours , as if He had sown a mixt seed from divers : to which I can further add , that flowers of two different colours shall sometimes grow upon the same stalk , which may well be presumed to come from the same individual seed ; as I was shewn it by an excellent Florist at Bescot in this County in the Caryophyllus hortensis , where there grew a red one and a white , on the same stalk : which whether to be attributed to the seed , or soil , seems to be an insuperable difficulty . Much more certain is it , that the thickness of the husks of the Corn of this County , which is another accident , proceeds solely from the soile it being held here for a certain Rule , that the colder any Country is , the thicker will the husk of any sort of grain be ; as if Nature defigned to fence it against the severity of the Clime .

11. And these are all the accidents relating to Herbaceous Plants , I met with in this Country ; except we may reckon untimely flowring , and bearing of fruit , for one ; such as happended in the garden of one Mr. Jobber of Acton-Trussell , who had once Strawberrys fresh and fragrant three dayes before Christmass : the same I once saw in Merton College garden in the University of Oxford . The reason whereof because not so commonly known , has the rather induced me to mention it here , and to let the Reader know that this may come to pass no less then two ways . 1. By Nipping the Budds before they come to Flower , and so putting them so far back , that they cannot recover this injury so as to produce their Fruit before the season above mention'd . Or else 2. By Transplantation , which is much the better and surer way , if one designe to have Fruits out of season ( for the Budds nip't , sometimes will never make a second attempt , ) thus Strawberrys transplanted before they Flower , and transplanted again in Autumn , if the Winter prove mild and temperate ( which is absolutely necessary in both cases , ) they may and doe perhaps , more frequently then noted , produce their Fruit about that time of year .

12. Of unusual Herbaceous Plants now cultivated in the fields , the Vicia Sylvestris , sive Cracca , the wild Vetch , here call'd Tar-grass has been observed in some parts to doe so well in Meddows , that it advances all starven weak Cattle above any thing yet known . And the Pisum album majus or garden - Rouncival has been sown in the common fields in the Parish of Millwich , which notwithstanding their great length , were found to run upon the ground without inconvenience , and to kern well . This as I was informed was first attempted by Matthew Philips of Coton in that Parish , with such success , that at first he sold these Peas for ten Shillings the Bushell in many other places in the Vicinage , to such Neighbours as were satisfyed with the advantage of his good husbandry .

13. At Mr. Traffords of Swythamley in the most Northerly Moorelands , I was first told ( but found them almost every where else , ) of a sort of red-Oate sowne thereabout , which upon examination I found indeed quite different from any sort of Oate any where cultivated in the South of England , the grain being redder , larger , and fuller of Flower , and requiring a stronger Soile then other Oats doe , of which they make their best oaten bread in that Country . And at Burton upon Trent I was shewed by one Mr. Tomlinson the Avena nuda or naked Oat , sown there by Him that very year , which grows in all points like other Oates , saving that they are much smaller , without husk , and are indeed perfect gritts naturally , requiring no Mill to make them into Oatemeal , as all other Oates doe .

14. To which I may add Zeopyrum , Tritico-speltum , or Hordeum nudum , naked barley , which I found sown at Brocton and Ellarton grange , where they otherwise call it Bare-barley , I suppose because without husk ; and Wheat-barley , because though its Eare be shaped like barley , its grain is like Wheat , without any husk . For which very reason the Latins have termed it Tritico-speltum , it having the stalk , joynts , and bearded Eare of the true Zea or Spelt of Lugdunensis l l Gul. Rovilii Lugdimens . Hist. Plantarum Lib. 4. cap. 4. , though the Corn be like Wheat , and not husked , as all Spelt is . At Rowley in the Parish of Hamstall Ridware where it is also sown , they call it French-barley , because so like that which we buy in the shops under that name . In short it is a plant between wheat and barley , in goodness as well as form ; it giving a flower , as worse then wheat , so better then barley ; and is therefore sown that it may be used instead of wheat ( for bread , ) in a scarcity , and by the poorer sort at any time . It runs to malt as well as other barley , and makes a good sort of drink : but the great advantage lyes in the increase , it producing sometimes in an agreeable soile near twenty fold .

15. Yet a more improper sort of wheat then that above mention'd , is sown in the barren hungry lands of this County , viz. Ocymum Cereale sive Tragopyrum , commonly call'd Buck-wheat , not that it has any likeness either in the herbage or grain to any sort of wheat , but I suppose because the Seed of it serveth among the meaner sort for the same use , for making of bread . It is sown either alone , or mixt with other corn , as I saw it mixt with barley on Heyley-Castle hill , and so it is made into bread and eaten ; which though less nourishing then Wheat , Rye , or barley , yet more then Millet , or Panick ; and that nourishment good : for the Country People of divers places in Germany and Italy feed only upon this , and yet are strong and fit for the hardest labour . It digests easily and fattens quickly , especially Cattle and Poultry , which if not speedily kill'd after they are thus fatted , 't is said , will dye of themselves , suffocated with their own fat .

16. Triticum multiplex or double-eard wheat , described in Oxfordshire m m Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 6. §. 27. , has been also sown at Rowley Regis in this County by Hen. Warrant tenant to Mr. Amphlet of N. Clent . And in Worcestershire and the S. W. parts of this County , Triticum Polonicum , sive Triticum spica albicante aliqualiter aristata , glumis foleaceis sive folliculis avenaceis , granis rufescentibus , has been sometimes sown : and I was told by one at Hilderstone An. 1681. That he intended to sow it there the year following . This sort of wheat generally received by the name of Poland , is presumed originally to have come from thence ; which rising from a fibrous root , grows 4 or 5 foot high more or less according to the quality of the land , with a larger stalk , and leaves , then other wheats usually have ; bearing at the top a long Eare , with long spreading foleaceous husks , each about an Inch long ; amongst which about the bottom grows the grain , which is longer and thicker then any other wheat ; and is ordinarily some of it found to divide its Ear into smaller ones toward the lower part , somewhat like Triticum multiplex . Which being no where described that I yet know of , I have here caused to be graven Tab. 14. Fig. 6. And should have been numbred amongst the undescribed plants in the beginning of this Chapter , but that it is no native of England , and only cultivated here .

17. After the herbaceous plants I should have proceeded next to the undescribed Shrubbs , had I met with any in the County , but having failed therein , I immediatly apply my self , to those not noted by Mr. Ray , to be of English growth : whereof I met only the Sambucus fructu albo , growing plentifully in the hedges near the Village of Combridg , which differs not at all from the common Elder , in the growth , pith , scent , leaves , or flowers ; only in the colour of the fruit and rind ; which last in this , is also somewhat whiter . This says Parkinson , was first found by Tragus , in the Woods of Germany , not so much as imagining it grew any where in England : but I hear it grows also somewhere near Maidstone in Kent , as well as here at Combridg . The accidents attending shrubbs , also are not many , nor very considerable ones neither . At the Honorable Harry Grays of Enfield Esq there grows a Woodbine in the garden 6 or 7 foot high , having several substantial branches , altogether independent of any support . And at Millwich at the South end of the Vicaridg house , grows an Ivy Bush which ascending to the top of the roof and twisting it self about a wooden pinnacle there , and having no higher support , after spreads into branches like an Oak or Elm , and carrys a fine round top standing of its self like the Cissos of Pliny n n C. Plinis 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 16. cap. 34. : which I could not but note as extraordinary in these two plants , they usually elswhere requiring dependance .

18. Much more remarkable is it that happen'd to a Vine in the garden at Aqualat , which formerly bore a red Muscadel , now a very pleasant sweet white Grape . That flowers will change their colour from red to white upon the penury of the Soil , has been fully shewn in this , and the History of Oxfordshire o o Vid. Supra §. 9. of this Chap. and Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 6. §. 38. Chap. 7. §. §. 13.14.15 . : but that fruits should also doe it , is new to us ; and yet that this must be the reason seems to be more then probable , because this very Soile that has so changed the colour of the Grapes , has changed flowers too ; both whereof have been noted by the prudent and carefull observer Edwyn Skrymsher Esq the Proprietor of the place , who could not well be deceived , having frequently eaten Grapes from it of both colours , and the Vine standing by it self , free from all others .

19. Thus having dispatch't both herbs and Shrubbs , I come at length to the Trees ; amongst which some will needs have St. Bertram's Ash , that growes over a spring which bears the name of the same Saint , in the Parish of Ilam , to be of a different undescribed species from all others ; and indeed it has a narrower sharper leaf , then ever I saw any : but whether this may not be ascribed to the age and decay of the tree , I much suspect . However it be , 't is certain the common people superstitiously beleive , that t is very dangerous to break a bough from it ; so great a care has St. Bertram of his Ash to this very day . And yet they have not so much as a Legend amongst them , either of this Saints miracles , or what he was ; onely that he was Founder of their Church , where they shew you his Monument ; of which I shall endeavour some account in the Chapter of Antiquities .

20. Much rather should I think the yellow Yew near Smethwick Hall to be an undescribed Tree , which has some branches with all the leaves of a bright yellow - colour : this I though at first might proceed from some disease , or that those branches might have been wounded ; but upon examination I found them all found : Nay so far was this part of the tree from weakness , that it had berrys on it , when the green part had none ; and yet it differing from other Yew-trees only in colour , and not in any of the Essentials ; I can neither afford to pronounce it a distinct species , not allow it for an undescribed plant ; the difference seeming but accidental , though perhaps hard enough to be accounted for .

21. As I suppose the spots may be upon the leaves of a birch in the Copice South of Ranton Abbey , which in the spring time are as red and shining as if fresh blood had fallen on them ; upon which account it is reasonably enough call'd the bloody Birch : in August indeed when I was there , the spots were of a somewhat darker hue ; and the tree standing under an Oak , I suspected they might be caused from the dropping thence : but the hasells , and other underwood standing close by it , having no such matter on them ; unless there be some secret quality betwixt an Oak and a birch that produces this dye , I cannot conceive how it should come to pass . However this is certain , that here is no sufficient ground to multiply the species .

22. No more then there is for a sort of thorn that grows in a hedgrow Westerly from Whichnor Chappel twixt that and the Park , which produces leaves in the Spring some years , of a brisk yellow or straw colour , which seemed to me , the leaves being less then of other thorns , and recovering their greeness ( as was confest , ) by St. James-tide , rather to be the effects of a disease ; or the frequent cutting it for presents , then any thing else . Nor can I multiply the species for the sake of a Black-Cherry , growing in the Court before the house of the Honorable Harry Gray of Enfield Esq - of so peculiar a vinous tast , that there are no others like them any where in the County ; nor will they if transplanted to a competent distance , preserve the same goodness : which argues they have this quality from the agreeableness of the Soil , as the Kentish Cherrys have , which transplanted from that part of the Country which is eminent for them , all degenerate more or less according to the qualitie of the Soil .

23. As for trees not noted to be of English growth by the learned Mr. Ray , the Sorbus pyriformis is not the only one I met with here , which grows wild in the Moorelands at many places , and is sometimes transplanted into their gardens : it is described by L'Obelius , Mathiolus and Bauhin , who unanimously place it in France , Italy and Germany : but the first that ever found ( at least noted , ) it to be a Native of England that ever I heard of , was the skillfull Botanist Mr. Edmund Pitt Alderman of Worcester , who met with it in a Forrest of that County and sent this description of it to the Royal Society . It resembles ( says he , ) the Ornus or Quicken-tree , only the Ornus bears the flowers and fruit at the end , this on the sides of the branch : next the Sun the fruit hath a dark red blush , and is about the bigness of a small Jeneting pear ; in September of so harsh an astringent tast , that it almost strangles one , but being then gather'd and kept till October it eats as well as a Medlar p p Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 139. . Which description being agreeable , and very sufficient , I forbear any other .

24. This I say is not the only tree not observed by Mr. Ray to be of English growth , that I met with in this Country , for though he mention the Firrs that grow near Worton in the Estate of the right Worshipfull Sr. Charles Skrymsher of Norbury , yet he makes them to be the Abies conis deorsum spectantibus , which is our common firr or Picea Dodonaei alba s . faemina C. Bauhini , whose leaves are round , all over green , and thick set on all sides of the branches : whereas indeed these are the Abies conis sursum spectantibus of J. Bauhin , the Abies legitima vel mas Bellonii , or the Abies of Parkinson , whose cones or apples always stand upright , the leaves flat , of a fresh green on the upper side , and white underneath , thick set on the branches only on two sides , so that they appear flat , and shew ( as Parkinson will have it , ) like the teeth of a comb . Adding withall that they grow every where in Muscovy , Poland , Denmark , and Germany , in some parts of Italy and Greece , and as some say in Scotland ; but not in Ireland or England , saving where planted q : giving up the Question , whether there were ever any growing naturally in England at any time heretofore ?

25. In all which I fear ( through the inadvertency of the Age , and his owne ill luck in not lighting upon these , ) he will appear mistaken : for beside that there is no doubt that these firrs ( which are 36 in number , for I told them often , ) stood in the hedges and fields where they now grow , when he wrot ; in all probability they are natives of the place too ; which I gather , not only from their disorderly natural situation , and excessive natural height , to which planted trees seldom arrive ; but cheifly from the stooles or stumps of many trees , which I suspect to have been firrs found near them , in their natural position , in the bottoms of mosses and pooles ( particularly of Shebben poole , ) some of the bodies whereof are daily dug up at Laynton , and in the old pewet poole in the same Parish where these now grow : so that I am apt to beleive , that these are only some remaines of the old naturall stock that grew here anciently , of which more hereafter .

26. As for the accidents attending trees we find none more remarkable than the excesses of them , and particularly in their growth , where they happen to be planted in an agreeable soil ; a Specimen whereof we have in the walks befor Fisherwick house , whose front is here engraven Tab. 15. it being the seat of the right Honorable John Lord Viscount Massereen , Baron of Lough-Neagh , &c. one of the noblest Patrons of this work : where the trees planted but few years since ( I think not much above 20 , ) are grown to a magnitude ( for so many together , ) almost b b Parkinson's Theatrum Botanicum , Trib. 16. Chap. 96. beyond beleif . Yet if we descend to single instances , I was told of two ( I think , ) that exceed these : one growing of an acorn set in a hedg-row between Colton and Blithefield by one Ralph Bate , which he lived to see a stout Oak bearing 2 foot square at the butt-end , whereof the first ten foot which was sawed into boards ( it being lately cut down for building , ) contained near a Tun. The other was an Ash that grew in Elford Church-yard about ten years since , which though planted within the memory of man , about 80 years before , had a body 7 or 8 foot in diameter , i. e. 7 or 8 yards in the girth , the timber of it being valued at thirty pound .

27. But if we step higher to trees sans date , scarce any County e're produced such Monsters as this ; to which the great Oak at Norbury that grows 'twixt the Mannor and the Windmill , that is six yards in the girth ; and the fair-Oake now standing in Cankwood , which is nine and ½ ; are but dwarfs in comparison : whereof there lyes one ( the trunk of an Oak cut off at the bole , ) near the Lodg-House in Ellenhall park , of so vast a bulk , that my Man upon a horse of 15 hands high , standing on one side of it , and I also on horsback on the other , could see no part of each other : nay so far were we from it , that we judged the two tallest men in the County upon horses of 15 hands could scarce have don it . What this tree might be in girth we could not measure , the under part of it being buryed in the ground , but I judg it may be just such another Oak ( only the trunk of that grew as it were triangular , ) as was fell'd about 20 years since in Wrottesley park , which as the worthy Sr. Walter Wrottesley ( a man far either from vanity or imposition , ) seriously told me , was 15 yards in the girth , and lay so high when fell'd that two men on Horsback on each side the tree could not see one another .

28. Bohuslaus Balbinus tells us he measured the body of an Oak in the parish of Chodow in Bohemia just of the same bigness , viz. 45 foot in compass r r Bohust . Balbini Miscell . Hist. Regni Bohemia . : how many Tunns these trees might contain is not related , but I scarce think either of them held so many , as the prodigious Witch-Elm that grew at Field in this County , and was fell'd within memory by Sr. Harvey Bagot , which according to an original paper put into my hands by the right Worshipfull Sr. Walter Bagot Baronet the present Proprietor , and as I had it from the mouth of Walter Dixon yet living , who was surveyor of the work , was so very great and tall ,

That two able workmen were 5 days in stocking or felling it down .

That it fell 120 foot or 40 yeards in length .

That the Stoole was 5 yards 2 foot diameter , i. e.

That the tree at the butt-end was 17 yards in circumference .

That it was 8 yards and 18 inches , i. e. 25 foot ½ about by girth measure in the middle .

That 14 loads of Fire-wood , each as much as 6 Oxen could draw to the house at Field , being not above 300 yards distant , broke off in the fall .

That there was 47 loads more of Fire-wood ( as large as the former , ) cut from the top .

That they were forced to piece 2 Saws together , and put 3 men to each end , to cut the body of it in sunder .

That there was cut out of it 80 pair of Nathes for Wheels , and 8000 foot of sawn timber in boards , and planks , after six score per Cent. Which at 3s per Cent. came to 12 pounds .

All which is attested ( as a thing , I suppose , they foresaw in a little time would otherwise become incredible , ) under the hands of Sr. Harvey Bagot . William Cowper Steward Roger Shaw Baylif Walter Dixon Surveyor Lawrence Grews Cutters . Humphry Chettom Cutters . Francis Marshall Stockers . Thomas March Stockers .

29. And as to the number of Tunns according to the scantlings first above mentioned , they computed it to contain ( after their gross Country way of measure , ) 96 Tuns of timber ; a vast quantity indeed for one tree , and well requiring ample testimony to render it credible : but whoever will take the pains to cast it nicely and more artificially , according to the above mentioned scantlings , will find that it must contain a 100 Tuns at least of neat Timber , a fift part ( which is sufficient in such large batts , ) being allow'd for the wast of rind , chipps , &c. For supposing that this tree did taper regularly from such a base , to such a length ; multiplying the area of the base , by a third part of the length , a 100 Tuns will be found a very modest account , all allowances for wast being granted that can reasonably be desired .

30. How much less in bigness and number of Tuns the Oak might be that grew in the new-park at Dudley , and made the table now lying in the old Hall in Dudley Castle is not remembred , much less can it now be computed , but certainly it must be a tree of prodigious height and magnitude , out of which a table , all of one plank , could be cut 25 yards 3 inches long , and wanting but two inches of a yard in bredth for the whole length ; from which they were forced ( it being so much too long for the Hall at Dudley , ) to cut off 7 yards 9 inches , which is the table in the hall at Corbins-hall hard by , the ancient seat of the Corbins , of which family my worthy Friend Tho. Corbin Esq is the present Survivor . What this might want in bigness ( I say , ) of the former tree , is hard now to determine , but sure it could not want much in height ; for the tree that could bear near a yard diameter at 75 foot high , may well be presumed to run up at least forty foot higher .

31. But whether this equall'd it or no , the Firr-trees above mention'd now standing in that part of Warton which is in the parish of Norbury , 't is likely may ; severall of them being presumed to be about 40 yards high ; but one there is amongst them , which though but 6 yards about , above the spurrs ; yet runs up to 47 yards ½ , at least 7 yards higher then the aforesaid Witch-Elm , as was agreed upon by the admeasurement of it by three several persons at distinct times : out of which perhaps as wonderfull a piece of timber might be cut , as was out of the Larch-tree mentioned by Pliny , brought to Rome with other timber for rebuilding the bridg Naumachiaria in Tiberius Caesars time , that contained in length 40 yards or 120 foot , and carryed in thickness every way two foot from one end to the other ; which the Emperor would not use , but commanded it to be laid in a publick place in open view as a singular and miraculous Monument to all posterity , where it remained intire , till the Emperor Nero built his stately Amphitheater s. And yet neither of these seem to equal the Firrs that Chabraeus mentions were growing in his time in the wood call'd Thannen-wald in the Territory of Bern , whereof some were 230 foot , i. e. above 76 yards high , exceeding the tallest of these in Stafford-shire by near 100 foot , or full 33 yards t t Dominici Chabraei Stirp . Schiagraph . in Appendice ad Classem 8vem . p. 608. .

32. Beside the excesses of the Witch-Elm and other trees in the growth of their Trunks , the excess of their force also in that growth , is not altogether unworthy our consideration ; it not being the privilege of the Palm alone , crescere sub pondere : whereof we have a very eminent instance , in an old Witch-Elm growing on Powk-Hill near Bentley-Hall , that has embraced and lifted up from the ground with the growth of its root a great Stone of at least 200 weight . But we need not so much wonder at this , since we have all seen the roots of trees undermine buildings , ( particularly those of the tender Ivy , ) which could otherwise have withstood not only the batteries of time , but also of the greatest attillery , with small or no damage : so great is the force of insensible motion , in vegetation , as well as Art. Pliny tells us of Stones thus embraced and inclosed within Trees ; and that carryed about C. Plinii 2 di Nat. Hist. Lib. 16. cap. 40. women with Child , they prevent abortions , and help them to goe out their full time u ; which I thought fit to note , that if any body in this Country have faith enough to believe it , they might know whither , upon occasion , to apply themselves for a remedy .

33. Many other accidents there are beside the aforementioned that have befallen the Trunks of trees in their growth ; such as that trees of different species should grow so united , as to seem to be the same , at least to grow from the same root : whereof we have a very remarkable Specimen in the broad-Lesow near Chartley , of an Oak and an Ash that thus grow together ; and in Sr. Walter Bagots park there are many hollies that grow thus conjoyned at the root with Oaks . Other trees there are again that though they grow from different roots , are more strangely conjoyned some height above ground ; and these both of the same , and different Species's : such are the two Ashes in the way betwixt Gnosal and Walton-grange , which though they issue out of the ground about 8 foot asunder , yet are joyned by a cross piece passing between them about 4 foot from the ground ; much after the same manner , and caused I suppose by the same means , as the Gallow-tree mentioned in the History of Oxford-shire w w Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 〈…〉 78. . Thus there is also an Ash and an Elm near great-Sugnall , though of different species's , and issuing from different roots , yet joyned together about a foot above ground ; and at Drayton Basset , in the walk before the Manor , the seat of the right Honorable Thomas Viscount Weymouth , there grows an Oak that so intimately clasps a Thorn , that the Thorn seems to pass through it at several places . The Oak is certainly a very old tree , yet the thorn must be older , for that having the lesser body by much , it could never pass through the greater , but must rather be inclosed by it , whence we may conclude ( though we know little of the Age of trees , ) that a thorn will stand as long , if not longer then an Oak . But these are not so remarkable as the former , because their roots not so far distant .

34. Other trees there are that grow so conjoyned , that they seem ( after the manner of some sort of Animals , ) to prey upon one another : whereof I was shewn a very remarkable instance by the ingenious William Chetwynd of Rugeley Esq in a pasture ground in the parish of Longdon , but by the way side leading from Hansacre to Brereton , where there grows a very fair holly on the bole of an Oak ; and so there does much such another in the way betwixt Womborn and Himly near beggers bush ; and in Womborn town near the brook side , there growes a Yew thus on the top of an Ash . But the most signal example of this kind , is the large C. Plinii 2 di Nat. Hist. Lib. 16. cap. 39. fair birch , about the bigness of ones thigh , that grows on the bole of Oak , in the Lane leading South from Adbaston Church , which has sent down its roots in six branches perpendicularly through the whole length of its trunk , and fastened them in the ground , which might be seen at a hole cut in the bottom of the Oak ; having eaten out the bowells of the old tree ( as all the rest will doe , ) that first gave it life , and then support . All which are occasion'd no doubt by the seeds of those trees dropt by birds in the mould on the boles of the others , that lyes commonly there , and is made of the annual r●ttings of their own leaves .

35. But of all the accidents that ever befell the trunks of trees , there is none more unaccountable than their being found in divers Countries buryed under ground ; as in many of the maritim parts of Holland , Zealand , Friesland , and Groningland x x Mart. Scoockii Tract. de Turffis cap. 12. : so on the coasts of England , in Suffolk near Dunwich y y Mr Ray's Observat . Topograph &c. p. 7. ; in the fenns of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire , particularly in the Isle of Axholm z z Sr W● . Dugdales Hist. of Inbanking and drayning the Fenns chap. 27. ; and on the coast of Pembroke-shire in Wales a a Camdens Britannia in Pemb. . And not only on the Sea shores , but also in divers inland , and sometimes up-land Countries too , as near Bruges in Flanders ; where , as Boetius de Boot relates it , they find at ten or twenty ells deep , whole woods of trees , with their trunks , boughs and leaves so distinctly appearing , that one may plainly discern the several kinds of them , and the series of leaves which have fallen yearly * * Boetii de Boot de Lapid . & Gemm . Lib. 2. cap. 158. . Much after the same manner as Scoockius informes us they find them in the territory of Peland near Bois le Duc in the province of Brabant b b Mart. Scoockii Tract. de Turffis , cap. 12. . And as Wormius acquaints us , in the highest and most craggy mountains of Iceland , where no body dares venture to them , but such as have been trained up to climb precipices from their youth , where too they must digg some ells deep , before they come to them c c Musaei Wormiani Lib. 2. cap. 16. .

35. In England we have them too in many places far enough from the Sea , as in Chatmoss in Lancashire , several parts of Yorkshire and Cheshire , and here in many parts of Staffordshire : viz. at Laynton above mentioned , and the old Pewit pool in the parish of Norbury ; in Shebben-pool in the parish of High Offley ; in the mosses near Eardley : in the parish of Audley ; and near the town of Betley : and all these in the high Country of the Moorelands . They are found too in the lower more Southerly parts ( but these still further from the Sea ) in Cranmoor near Wrottesley ; in rotten-Meddow under Wednesbury-hall ; on Doreley Common in the parish of Gnosall ; in a place call'd Peatmoore in the lands of my worthy Friend Mr. Rowland Frith of Thorns ; and in the Moores of Handsworth : and all these in an in land County , the nearest part whereof is at least thirty , and some of the places above mentioned , above fifty miles from the Sea .

37. Now what sort of trees these are , whether mineral or vegetable ? and if vegetable , of what Species of trees ? and if of this or that species , by what means thus buryed ? are great difficulties that have disturb'd many mens thoughts , and are the points I shall endeavour to make as clear as I can . That there is a mineral substance call'd lignum fossile found in the earth representing the stumps , and parts of the trunks of Trees which never grew above ground like other vegetables is very certain ; whereof Agricola mentions some found in the Bishoprick of Hildesheim d d Geo. Agricolae de natura Fossilium Lib. 7. ; and Pet. Gassendus in the life of Peireskius tells us of more found at Aqua Spartana in Italy An. 1637 e e Petr. Gassendi vitae Peireskii Lib. 5. ad An. 1637. . which are those I suppose Franciscus Stellatus Lynceus has written a whole treatise of ; Aqua Spartana being in Vmbria in Italy , where his was found , of some parts whereof he has given us figures in sculpture ; and Scoockius is of opinion that many of the stumps and trunks of trees found in Holland , Zealand , and Friesland , are of this mineral sort of wood ; for which He brings divers reasons , the cheif whereof are , that most of them are found without roots or knots ; without the marks of any boughs cut off ; and that if ever these subterraneous trees had grown in woods ( as is presumed by their numbers ) their would have been some others found beside Firrs and the Picea , especially in the Low-Countries , where neither of these trees were ever known to grow f f Martini Scoockii Tract. de Turffis cap. 12. .

38. For which very reasons , but cheifly for the last , He would have us to believe that the trees we find here ( which indeed are most like Firrs ) in the mosses of England , are also nothing else but mineral trees : and the rather here in England than Holland it self , because Caesar ( says He ) in his Commentaries expresly tells us , that there was no firr in Britan. But by Scoockius's favour these arguments of his , much less any of the rest alleged in the same place , are not sufficient to bring us over to his opinion : for beside that we find several of these trees with their roots joyned to them , and the stumps of their branches issuing from them ; the timber of them swims in water , which lignum fossile will not doe , and is still as lyable to the Axe , Chisel , Saw , or Plane , as any wood whatever : so far are these trees found in our mosses here from being mineral substances , and so well satisfyed are we that they were once vegetables . Much less still doth the second argument drawn from Caesars Commentaries prevail upon us ; for were that conclusive , by a parity of reason we should have no beech in England : for in the very same place Caesar also tells us , speaking of Britan , that there was there , Materia cujusq generis , ut in Gallia , praeter abietem et fagum g g Jul. Caesar . Commentar. de bello Gal. Lib. 5. sub initium . , than which last , there is no other wood more plentifull ; so little heed is there to be given to that testimony of Caesar .

39. Yet so far has this , with the present unlikelyhood that firrs were ever natives of England , prevail'd upon some ; that being fully satisfyed that these subterranean trees were once vegetables , and the most likely of any sort to be the trunks of firrs ; they have rather fancyed ( than that ever they grew here ) that they were brought hither from forraign parts by some vast deluge , and particularly that of Noah , and laine here ever since in these low mosses , whence the water went off last , when God stopped the windows of heaven , and the fountains of the deep , and caused a wind to pass over the earth , that the waters were asswaged h h Gen. chap. 8. v. 1. . Nor seems it very impossible they should lye so long , since the plenty of bitumen wherewith these mosses abound , may well be presumed to have preserved them as well , as it has the dead carcases of the Aegyptians for thousands of years . But that which renders it unlikely , that I say not impossible , they should be brought from forraign parts by Noah's flood is , that we should then have found them indifferently in all vales alike , in the South as well as North of England , than which nothing less : for who ever heard of them in the vales of Evesham or Aylesbury ? in the vales of white or red horse ? though as fit for their reception as any of the mosses aforemention'd .

40. Beside such of these trees as are met with without their roots , appear either to have been burnt asunder near the ground , or are found with the marks of the Axe still remaining upon them whereby they were sever'd from their stooles , which are also found now standing in the same posture of growth as when the trees stood upon them , as may plainly be seen in Shebben pool in a dry Summer when the waters be low , where are the stumps of several , which upon examination I found to be the same wood with that of the trees found at Laynton and the old Pewit pool above mention'd . And Mr Skrymsher of Aqualat also told me he had of these stooles in the black Lake near Aqualat meer in the same posture ; and so they are found in the Isle of Axholm i i Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 67. ; which are no slight arguments that these trees were not farr fetch 't , of whatsoever kind they may be , nor required such a flood as that of Noah to bring them hither .

41. Which has driven others , who are better satisfy'd that this moss-wood ( as some call it ) grew not farr from where found , than they are that 't is Firr , to think it must rather be the timber of Birches or Alders , trees that delight to grow in such moist places , which being soak't so many years in a bituminous turf , may become at length so well impregnated , as to imitate Firr both in the smell and burning ; which too are more agreeable to the sizes of these subterranean trees than Firrs are , there being few of them found above a foot diameter at the butt-end , whereas Firrs sometimes grow here in England ( as may be seen at Norbury ) to be two yards in diameter . To which it may be answer'd , that one reason why these subterranean trees are found so small , may be , that all what we now find , is only the heart of the tree , which was much bigger before the sapp was consumed ; which too may be the reason that though they are commonly found small , yet they are very long , several having been taken up in the Isle of Axholm in Lincolnshire 30 yards long ; and one not many years since by Robert Brown of Haxey 36 yards in length beside the top , lying very near its root which stood as it grew , from which it was burnt asunder and not cut from it k k Philosoph Transact . Numb. 67. and Sr William Dugdale's Hist. of Inbanking and draining the Fenns Chap. 27. , as many in this County seem also to have been .

42. The very length of which trees seems conclusive enough ( whatever may be thought of ours in Staffordshire ) that they never were the trunks of Birches or Alders : though I have an argument too perhaps altogether as cogent , that some of ours in Staffordshire must also have been Firrs as well as they , there having been one of them taken up in Peatmoore by Mr Brown of Footerley and sent to Captain Lane ( who also well remembers the thing ) that had its branches issuing from it in a circular form at annual distances , as all Firrs have , but birches and alders never . Not to mention again that in Staffordshire firrs yet seem to grow naturally ( as was shewn § . the 25 of this Chapter ) not far from Laynton and the old Pewit poole , where they are found underground ; which perhaps might be young trees not worth notice , when the others were cut down , and have remained since untouch't to this very day .

43. It being plain then that these trees thus found under-ground , are neither lignum fossile , Birches , or Alders ; and that 't is unlikely they should be left in the places they now are , by Noah's , or any other flood whatever : it remains only that we shew the most probable cause of their being thus buryed in divers parts of the Nation . Which that I may doe with all brevity and clearness , I must distinguish between those found near the Sea coasts , and those in the inland Countries ; the former no doubt being overthrown and covered , either by the violent encroachments of the Sea if near the shoar , as those on the coast of Pembrok-shire l l Camden in Pembr . ; and the wood that ancient writings mention was a mile and ½ to the East of Dunwich , which is now so farr in the Sea , and may possibly some time or other be discover'd again in succeeding ages by some raking storm m m Mr. Ray's Observat . Topograph . &c. p. 7. as those in Pembrok-shire were , in the time of Hen. 2. Or else if further within land in a flat Country such as the fenns of Lincoln-shire , such effects may follow from the stoppage of the mouths of Rivers ( as the learned Sr. William Dugdale conjectures ) by vast quantityes of Mudd and Sand brought into them by Tides , so that the waters recoyling and overwhelming such flat Countries , may easily so loosen the roots of the trees by overmuch moisture , that the next wind must needs overthrow them , and bury them at length in the filth which the Rivers and Sea have joyntly contributed ever since and mix'd with the stagnant water , to make such Fenns n n Sr. William Dugdale's Hist. of Inbanking and drayning the Fenns . Chap. 37. . And thus I suppose the woods of Holland and Brabant might be cover'd anciently by the choaking of the Rhine near the Arx Britannica , and so in some of the Mosses and Fenns of England .

44. But where they are found in inland Countryes fenced from the Sea with hills ; or in Mountainous parts , such as those of Iceland ; the case must needs be different : whether Firrs are found alone , as 't is commonly in Stafford-shire ; or mixt with other timber , as in some parts of York-shire ; whether burnt , or cut off at the Kerf , as in both places , the stumps still remaining in the same posture they grew in the firm Earth below the moores . That Firrs should be found any where alone , seems indeed somewhat odd , there being other timber enough near all the places I have yet seen , where they are so found : but if a relation be true that I met with in my travells , which as I was told had foundation too in some ancient writings in the hands of the right Honorable the Lord Visc . Gormanston first Viscount of Ireland , the case is not difficult ; only admitting that these Firrs were never Natives of England , but planted here ( as the story informes us ) by the Danes and Norwegians . Who when they had gotten good footing in the Land , as they had for many years ; like other Conquerors endeavoured to make this as like their own Country as they could , and planted these Firrs . Which after they had grown for about 200. years , either upon the total destruction of them throughout England in a day , in the time of King Ethelred o o Joh. Speed's Hist. of great Britan. Book 7. Chap. 44. ; or their final loss of all dominion here , after the death of Hardi-Canute ; that no memorial whatever might remain of them , the trees they had planted were also cut down , and as many of them as grew in low moist lands ( lying inconvenient for portage , ) neglected , and so thus cover'd in process of time by atterration ; those cut down upon the hills and higher grounds ( lying readyer at hand , ) having been spent in divers uses , many ages agoe .

45. For the better understanding of which new doctrine , let the Reader take notice , that the low grounds where these trees are now found , when they stood and flourish't , in all probability were tolerably dry land ; for the trees whilst growing ( notwithstanding the moisture shot into the valleys then , as now , ) continually spent it in their nourishment , and their as constant exhalations ; which when cut down , there being no expence for it , the valleys at length grew into pooles ; the waters whereof being thickend with perpetuall deterrations , or Earth brought from the hills and higher grounds by showers in wet , and winds in dry weather , they came at last to be Mosses or Fenns thus covering the trees as we now find them : which I take to be the first original of many of our Mosses , though afterwards they increase by new grass and sedg annually growing upon the rottings of the old of the former year , and so onward .

46. Other Mosses there are too made upon the stoppage of springs by the like deterrations , or falls of Earth , and the annual rottings of the grass , sedg , &c. growing upon it . Now that there are such deterrations or perpetual diminutions of all hills ( except the rocky , ) by every shower and wind , so that they all grow lower , and the valleys higher ; we have a remarkable instance ( beside those above mention'd Chap. 3. § §. 11 , 12 , ) near the City of Glocester , where there was a hill that within memory interposed it self to that height 'twixt it and Churcham , that People were wont to goe up into the upper roomes of Churcham Manor house to see the pinnacles of the Cathedral of Glocester ; whereas after some few years they could see them on the ground : and as I was inform'd by the Reverend Dr. Gregory , Rector there , and Prebend of Glocester , whereas about 12 years since they could see out of the Church-yard at Churcham but down to the top of the upper windows of the Steeple , they can now An. 1684. plainly see the leads of the Isles of the Church , with most other Churches , and some houses in the Town . So great have been the deterrations from this hill in a few years , and no question are so from all others , in proportion to the qualities of their respective soiles .

47. Whether the History above mention'd ( it supposing firrs no natives of England , ) or the method dame Nature seems to use in making Mosses and burying timber , gain belief of the Reader , shall not concern me much , for if they serve only for his diversion I am abundantly satisfyed : there being many other causes assignable of such wast of timber , and the sepulture of it ; such as making room for Agriculture , which was done in the inland parts of Kent no longer agoe then our Grandfathers days , where they cut it downe and made trenches by the side of each tree , and so tumbled it in , its sale not being worth the portage even there , so few years agoe p p Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 6. §. 56. . So they cut and burn it down ( for the greater expedition , ) at this day in Muscovy for the very same reason , as I guess some of this might be , several of the trees still appearing to have been burnt , though they have lain so long in these Mosses ; or else if cut down for uses , warrs might come on ( which were anciently very frequent , ) and prevent what 't was design'd for , either by the death of a single person , or ruin of a Family ; so the timber still lying where 't was first fell'd , might quickly be overgrown , and at length forgotten .

48. Which how soon it will be done , and how fast these Mosses grow , we have a clear evidence in a parcell of timber cut down near Bishops-Castle in the County of Salop by Sr. Robert Howard in the late civil Warr , which as the Reverend and learned Mr. Obadiah Walker Master of Vniversity College told me , being neglected by reason of the warr , in six years time was half overgrown by such a moss where it lay : though by the way it must be noted , that such weighty bodys as timber , sink much more in proportion the first years , than ever they doe after : for it is probable from another instance , communicated by the same worthy person , that these mosses doe not rise much above an inch in a year , from a lump of Coynes of Edward the fourth of England ( supposed to be lost in a purse or cloth now rotted away , ) taken up in such a moss in Yorkshire 18 foot deep , which being about 200 years since , whoever pleases to compute it , will find that this moss grew but about one foot in eleven years , i. e. But one inch per annum and 1/12 proxime .

To the right Worsp ● . Sr. JOHN WYRLEY of HAMSTEAD R. This 14 Table of Undescribed Plants in memory of his Beneficence is gratefully dedicated by RP . LLD.

Mburg . delin . et sculp . depictions of plans

50. Wherein I shall be short , the main having been discoverd already by Dr. Edmund King ( who had such Cartrages sent him in a piece of old Willow by Sr. John Bernhard of Northamptonshire , ) and Francis Willoughby Esq who had them shewn him by one Mr. Snell near Astrop in the same County , also in old willow ; who unfolding the leaves and examining the inside of the Cartrages , found in the concave end of some of them , white maggots , in others great numbers of mites , &c. By which maggots , being kept till Summer , they found the whole operation to have been performed by bees , to secure their eggs , and such provision as is necessary for the Nymphae ( i. e. when they become maggots , ) in winter ; which in Summer all turned to bees , eat their way forth , and so took their flight r r Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 65. . Of the corruption of which bee-maggots or Nymphae , when they happen to miscarry , are bred ( says Mr. Willoughby ) 1. Little hexapodes , 2. Maggots which produce flyes ; 3. mites , which produce perhaps millipedes , Xylopthori or vermes arborei , or Scolopendrae , such as were indeed found in this rotten Crabb-tree by Mr Wolferstan , and thought to be the operators of these Cartrages s s Ibid ; but had he kept any to their due time , he would have found some of the Nymphae turned to bees , and some of them corrupted into mites , &c. As I after did , as in the Cartrage at f. These having all stings like other bees Dr. King thought no other then the common bee ; but Mr. Willoughby more nicely considering their shape and forcipes , would not allow them to be the common hony-bee , yet does not assigne of what species it is , which I wonder at , since upon an ordinary search he might have quickly found it to be the Musca apiformis , which indeed is of a larger sise than the common bee , has a sort of sting , but a very imperfect one , less virulent by much than those of hony-bees : which being all I have to add ( above the necessary description , ) more than what has been discoverd by Dr. King , Dr. Lister , and Mr. Willoughby in the Philosophical Transactions t t Philosoph . Transact . Num. 65.74.160 . , and the Journal des Scavans u u Journal des Scavans June 22. 1682. , I referr the Reader thither for further intelligence .

51. Yet more strangely than these have other Animals been found in the body of a tree somewhere near Biddulph , where two workmen sawing the body of a solid Oak , one of them at length perceived blood to follow the Saw , which though it startled them not a little , yet resolving to goe on and see the issue , when they had cut on to the end of the batt , they split it asunder , and found the Saw had past through the body of a Hardishrew or Nursrow ( as they here call them , ) i. e. a field-mouse , two others that lay by it , escaping away alive as soon as the tree was split , which being examin'd and found in all parts sound , the case remains an inexplicable riddle to all thereabout to this very day . But me-thinks to any one that considers the superstitious Custom they have in this Country of making Nursrow-trees for the cure of unaccountable swellings in their Cattle , the thing should not seem strange . For to make any tree , whether Oak , Ash , or Elm ( it being indifferent which ) a Nursrow-tree , they catch one or more of these mice ( which they fancy bite their Cattle , and make them swell , ) and having bored a hole to the center in the body of the tree , they put the mice in , and then drive a pegg in after them of the same wood , where they starving at last , communicat forsooth such a virtue to the tree , that Cattle thus swoln being whipt with the boughs of it , presently recover : of which trees they have not so many neither ( though so easily made , but that at some places they goe 8 or 10 miles to procure this remedy .

52. Now though it may be improbable enough that the swellings of their Cattle arises from the bites of these mice , but rather from the Sting of the Buprestis or Burst-cow ; the Pityocampe of Dioscorides w w Dioscorid . de Material . Medicina . Lib. 6. cap. 8. ; the staphylinus of Aristotle x x Aristot . de Hist. Animal . Lib. 8. cap. 24. ; or those red Phalangious spiders like Cantharides mention'd by Moufet y y Tho. Moufeti Insect . Theatri Lib. 2. cap. 12. ; all which have been observed to be pernicious to Cattle : yet what hinders ( since 't is apprehended that these mice do it , ) but one may well imagin , that some person not farr distant might according to the superstitious custom of the Country make this Oak ( unknown either to the owner or workmen ) a Nursrow-tree but a little before it came to be cut down and sawn asunder , by pegging in these mice : Just as the Irish serve the Connough worm ( a sort of Catterpiller ) which they think poysons their Cattle , though it have no poyson in 't , which they shut up in a hole thus bored in a tree , where when the worm is dead , the bark & leaves of that tree bruised and steeped in water , and given to the Cattle they apprehend thus poysoned , ever after gives them an infallible cure z z Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 168. . To which let me add the superstitious veneration that some People give in this Country , especially in the Moorelands amongst the ancienter sort , and sometimes those of pretty good fashion too , to the Fraxinus sylvestris or Quicken-tree , which they firmly believe will certainly preserve them from all fascinations , and evill spirits ; upon which account many are very carefull to have a walking staff of it , and will stick the boughs of it about their bedds . But of these trifles , I fear , more than enough .

53. Which is all concerning whole trees and their trunks , but that in generall the timber of this Country ( though much of it has been destroyed of late years ) is as large and good perhaps as in any part of England ; witness the very great quantity of very good timber in the park of the right Worshipfull Sr. Walter Bagot , amongst which the Queche-Oaks are very remarkable : But the timber that surpasses all in the County , both for quantity , greatness , and goodness , is that in the park at Madeley-Manor , the seat of that courteous and generous Gentleman John Offley Esq which in memory of his many and signal favours , is here engraven Tab. 16. where in the first place , there is so much , that as it has been computed by indifferent judges , the whole has been thought worth 20000 pounds sterling ; out of which might be culled 1000 trees , worth 8000 pounds ; and out of these again 100 , that scarce would be sold for 1500 pounds ; Not to mention the great quantities of excellent timber , to be seen in many other parks all over the County .

54. Beside the unusual accidents of whole trees and their trunks , there are some also which have happen'd to their branches , fruits , and leaves ; amongst which I cannot but reckon a great parcell of Matrices or Insect-husks of the purple-Kermes kind , adhering not only to the underside as usually , but set quite round a branch of Thorn , found ( and given me by the Worshipfull Capt. Tho. Lane of Bentley Esq ) at great Sarden : which are not the excrescencies , much less the fruit or berries of any tree , as the Scarlet-Kermes has been too long beleived to be of the Ilex , but artificial things contiguous to the plants , made there by Insects to preserve their Eggs and nourish their young , as has been clearly demonstrated by the learned Dr. Lister a a Philosoph . Transact . Num. 71 , 72 , 73. , a man wonderfully happy both in natural discoveries , and imposing suitable names , as he has done to these of Patellae Kermi-formes , from their form , and manner of sticking to the branches of many sorts of Vegetables , just as patellae do to rocks ; and their giving a purple or murrey tincture ; which they performe best when the Insect is in vermiculo : for when the Insect comes to maturity , the Husk grows dry , and the dye seems to be spent , as it was in these of Sarden before I had them , so that I could neither tell what colour they yeilded , nor what Insect they might be made by ; if by the bee-kind , it must be a wonderfull small one . the patellae of ours being much smaller , than any of those described by Dr. Lister .

55. Yet the same Dr. Lister as fortunate as he has been in the above mention'd discovery ; as himself confesses , could never discern ( whatever diligence he used ) any Eggs in the center of that by-fruit that grows on the leaves of the Oak , which we call Galls , or Oak-balls ; but a worm constantly , even at their very first appearance b b Philosoph . Transact . Num. 75. ; not doubting however but that diligence would some time or other discover the Eggs themselves : which was indeed happily done An. 1680 by that curious Observer Walter Chetwynd Esq now high-Sherriff of the County and his ingenious Chaplain Mr. Charles King Student of Ch. Ch. who by the help of a Microscope observed several minute Eggs in a small Oakball , taken from the ribbe on the back side of an Oak-leaf gather'd in the field below Ingestre house ; whence it plainly appears that though it be true that these by-fruits doe grow up together with their respective worms in them , from small beginings till they arrive at their perfection ; and that these worms are furnished with food in , and from them : yet that neither the plants on which they grow , nor their excrescensces , doe any way contribute to the generation of these insects , as Redi imagin'd c c Franc. Redi de generat . Insectorum pag. 234. ; but that they have their origin from a parent-Insect which first fix'd its Egg , where the Gall rose and included it .

56. As the accidents attending the leaves of herbs and shrubbs , were cheifly in their variation from the ordinary colour , so it is in trees ; and I suppose may be met with , one where or other , in almost all kinds of them . Near Hammerwich in the high-way growing over a pond , I found a Holly-shrub bearing leaves prettily edg'd with yellow ; and was told of others near little-Aston striped with the same colour , whereof we have plenty here at the Physick-garden at Oxon ; and in the fine gardens at Ingestre , the lesser Maple grows thus curiously striped . Nor doe these stripings only affect the inferior sorts of trees , but timber trees also , as may be seen in a large Ash that grows in the hedg row ( by the high-way side ) of the same close where the great witch-Elm abovemention'd formerly grew , near Field-hall , whose leaves are some of them all white , ( whence it enjoyes the name of the white-Ash ) others striped both white and green . And in the Park of the right Worshipfull Sr. Walter Bagot Baronet , one of the noblest promoters of this designe , whose ancient and well situat house at Blithefield is here annext Tab. 17. there growes an Oak near the Hill-stile with just such leaves as his Ash at Field , part of them all white , and part white and green : which how it comes to pass that plants thus vary in the colours of their leaves , has been so often taught already that it would be nauseous to repeat it , therefore no more of it here d d Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 6. §. 38. and Chap. 7. §§ . 13 , 14 , 15. .

57. After the Timber , I proceed next to the Fruit-trees of this County that have any thing extraordinary either in their growth , flowers , or fruit ; for the first whereof , there is an appletree within the moat of the Parsonage house at Leigh , that spreads from boughs end to boughs end 1● or 18 yards , in circumference supposing them to spread uniformly , 54 yards ; shading in dry weather , and dropping in wet , upon 244 square yards of ground ; under which , allowing 3 square yards for a horse to stand on ( 3 yards long , and one broad , seeming a competent proportion ) and 4 square feet for a Man ; above eighty Horsemen , or 549 Footmen may be sheltered from the injuries either of Sun or rain : a vast number for an Appletree ; yet the quantity of fruit it sometimes bears , seems equally to demonstrate the excess of its greatness , it having born some years no less then 50 strike of apples . To which let me add the odd growth of an old pear-tree in that part of Warton which is in the Parish of Forton in the Hortyard of Edward Low of that village , which though fallen flat on the ground , has 6 or 7 young trees sprung perpendicularly out of the body of it , in right angles , as it lyes in plano Horizontis ; each , one with another a foot in diameter , and most of them 40 foot high .

58. As for trees that have any thing remarkable in their flowering , the Peartree at Colmoore at the house of the heirs of Mr. Thomas Hawe , seems to be very extraordinary , which ( like Glastonbury thorn ) though in frost and snow , puts forth blossoms at Christmass : and soe does a peartree in the gardens belonging to the Castle here at Oxford : now what should occasion the early flowering of this tree , so long before other trees of its kind , is hard to determine , this overforwardness seeming rather to argue an excess of vigor , than an effect of weakness ; though it be worthy notice that all striped trees , which are sick and diseased , doe put forth their leaves and blossoms sooner , than others of their kind : but should we rather grant it to be an excess of strength , it may nevertheless ( as all extremes are ) be a vice in the tree , it being commonly found in many other trees , that are over early and luxuriant in their production of flowers , that they bear little fruit , as I have ground to suspect neither of these doe .

59. Quite contrary to a peartree I saw at one Jane Arnolds at Hamstall Ridware , that blossoms and also bears twice in a year ; When I saw it in June An. 1680. it had large pears on it , and the blossoms at the same time for the second Crop , which they told me would not be ripe till about Michaelmass , and thus it does every year , like those mentioned in Oxfordshire e e Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap. 6. §. 86. : which how it should come to pass , I can no way divine , unless it should arise from a strange unaccountable mixture which may sometimes happen betwixt the woods of the graft and the stock ; when either an early fruit is grafted upon a late stock ; or a late fruit upon an early stock ; the woods whereof growing up joyntly together , yet so as not to mix Sapvessells , may both produce fruit in their respective seasons : as I have seen the same tree doe Oranges , and Limmons together , and not only upon the same branch , but in the same individual fruit , part of it being an Orange and part a Limmon : wherein I am the more confirm'd , the first and second crop of such trees as these , seeming most commonly of different species's , at least are of quite different sizes , the last Crop being always less than the first .

60. And this had been all concerning fruit-trees , but that I think it worthy notice that all sorts of fruits both in Hortyards and Gardens are cultivated here of late years , much more than anciently they were , and at some places to that height , that they seem to endeavour to equal the best planted Counties . For Apples I shall instance in the parish of Arley , where all the grounds and hedges are planted , much after the manner of Worcester-shire ( into which indeed it runs with a long nook ) there being scarce a Cottage that has not some proportionable plantation belonging to it , having all sorts of Pippins of the best , and so of other fruit ; the Red-streak indeed thrives not over well with them , but the Jennet Moyle exceedingly , insomuch that 't is thought that were not their fruit sold abroad , they could make in this parish at lest 200 Hogsheads of Cider per Annum , whereof I drank some that was excellent in its kind , at the right Worshipfull Sr. Henry Lyttleton's Baronet , a worthy Patron of this work .

61. And for Cherries , the plantations at Packington upon the estate of the Worshipfull — Gage Esq are so very extraordinary , that they seem even to vye with Kent it self ; the Trees being all planted in the Quincunx order , thriveing well , and producing fair and well tasted fruit ; and this not for a little spot or two , but in as large gardens as I have seen any where , there being one wholy of Cherries , of 23 Acres . And for fruits of the Parterre or House-Gardens , there are as choise at Ingestre , as in most gardens of the South ; though I think the greatest variety of all kinds is to be found in the Gardens of the Worshipfull Rowland Okeover of Okeover Esq one of the noblest Encouragers of this work , whose ancient Seat is here represented Tab. 18. where there are now growing 60 different sorts of Apples ; 20 sorts of Pears ; 16 sorts of Cherries ; 35 sorts of Apricots , and other plumms ; and 7 sorts of Nectrons and Peaches ; of all which I have Catalogues by me : but haveing already ( I fear ) tired the Reader with too tediouse a travell through the vegetable Kingdom , I forbear their recitall , and proceed with all speed to the Animal-one .

CHAP. VII . Of Brutes .

1. UNder the title of Brutes I comprehend ( as in Oxfordshire ) all Animals whatever that have sense and locomotion , except the rational ; whether they are the inhabitants of the Air , Water , or Earth ; such as Birds , Insects , Fishes , Reptiles , and Quadrupeds : in the handling whereof as in the Chapter of formed Stones , I shall persue the Method of the whole work , and treat first of such as have their abode in the Air ; then descend to the Inhabitants of the Waters ; and lastly conclude with the terrestrial Animals ; and in each of these species ( as in the former Chapter ) I shall consider only such , as are 1. either wholy undescribed , by any Author I have yet met with ; or 2. have not been noted by the learned Mr. Willughby or Mr. Ray to be indigenae of this County ; or 3. have had very extraordinary accidents attending them . Which if sufficient for a Chapter in the small County of Oxford , there is no great danger but they may be so in this , without addition of what relates to rational Animals , which I shall therefore reserve for the succeeding Chapter . And first of the Birds of this County .

2. Which have been so nicely inquired into , by the learned and indefatigable Mr. Willughby and Mr. Ray , that I have met with but two that I can safely say are wholy undescribed ; which are 1. a sort of Swan they have upon the Trent near Rugeley , whose leggs are never black , or rather of that leaden colour which other Swans are ; but of a blushy red like those of a tame Goose , whence I think I may take the boldness to give it the Epithet of Cygnus Anseroides . These at first indeed I thought might be Hoopers or wild-Swans whose feet are not black , but of a dusky yellow ; but when I understood that they were as large and white as the tame Swan , which the wild-Swan is not ; and as the ingenious Mr. Chetwynd of Rugeley told me , that the Cygnets of some of these were as white as the old ones ; I could not then but conclude , but it must be a different kind from any yet described in any Author I can find . To which perhaps I might add another whole-footed water fowle that they have about Amerton , which they call French geese , and no question they are of the Goose kind , differing in nothing from the common , but in the bill which is black , and in the noise it makes , which is like that of a Bittern : But in all probability it is the Anser Cygnoides Guineensis a a Mr. Willughby's Ornithology . Book . 3 Sect. 6. Memb. 1. Chap. 2. §. 5. , so call'd I suppose from the blackness of its bill , though I do not find in Authors it has the voice of a Bittern .

3. Much more sure am I that a cloven-footed water-fowle , a sort of Loone or Doucker shewn me by my worthy Friend Francis Wolferstan Esq in his Parlour at Statfold , but killd at Combeford , is an undescribed bird : for though it agree with other Loons , in having a narrow straight sharp-pointed bill , no tail , small short wings disproportionable to the body , and the leggs set on so near the rump , and so far from the center of gravity in the bird , that it can neither fly , nor conveniently walk ; but seems wholy contrived for quick swiming and easy diving ; which is also further evident from its broad flat leggs and finned toes , which though not webb'd together , yet have lateral membrans all along both sides of them , and broad claws like human nails : though I say in all these it agree with the cloven-footed , fin-toed Douckers that want tailes ( for there are some that have them ) yet it differs in the head from all others I ever saw , or could meet in the books ; it not being only crested , and horned , with two long tuffts of feathers , set on about the crown of the head ; but adorned also underneath the throat with two as remarkable tuffts hanging down like an old fashion'd divided beard as in Tab. 22 Fig. 1. whence it may justly claim the name of Colymbus cristatus cornutus barbatus , it being quite different , if we may beleive the Cut , from the crested Loon of Aldrovand b b Ulyss . Aldrovand . Ornothol . lib. 19. cap. 52. ; and the horned one of Mr. Willughby c c Willugh●y's Ornithol●gy Tab. 61. , which has longer wings ; and leggs not set on so near the rump , as this has .

4. But of unusual Birds not noted by Mr. Willughby to be indigen●e of this County , there are several that have , and are dayly met with , whereof some of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or greater rapacious diurnal kind , witness the Eagle in Beaudesart Hall kill'd in the park : some of the lesser rapacious kinds , have been also found here ; such as the Lanius or Collurio , suspected to be the Tyrannus of Aristotle , the Butcher-bird or Wierangel , here called the Shriek or French-Pye , whereof there was one killd at Sierscot in the parish of Tamworth , in the estate of the right Honorable the Lord Visc . Massereen . There is of them also in Needwood , and in Bramshall park , they are of the colour and bigness of a Thrush , and most commonly seed upon Insects ; yet often they prey not only upon small birds , but even Thrushes themselves , upon which account they have sometimes been reclaymed by Falconers to fly at small game . And for birds with streighter , or less hooked bills , of the poultry kind , that feed on leaves and berries ; the Vrogallus minor , the Heath-cock , Grous , or black-game , is frequent here amongst the mountains in the Moorlands ; and so is the Lagopus altera Plinii , in some places call'd the Gorcock , here the red-game , which lye on the very tops of the mountains , but are not quite so common , whence more esteemed than the former : said only to be found here , in the Peak of Darby , and mountains of Wales ; but Mr. Willughby says they have them too , in Westmorland and Yorkshire d d Ornithology Book . 2. Sect. 1. chap. 12. §. 7. .

5. Of unusual small birds here are also several , both of the soft and slender , and the short hard beak'd kinds ; such as the Hirundo apus or black Martin , here call'd the Martlet , which I beleive indeed is the bird intended by that name in Heraldry , and not the Hirundo agrestis sive rustica Plinii , it having so very long wings , and so short leggs and small feet , that it cannot easily rise from the ground unless it be very plain , and free from grass ; wherefore it either always flyes , or sits upon the tops of Churches , Towers , or else hangs on other ancient buildings by its sharp claws , from which it falls and so takes flight : of these I saw at Share shall , near Hilton , and Beaudesart ; where too in a Quarry near the house , I saw the Hirundo riparia or ground Martin , of a dark-dun or Mouse-colour , which is the least of all the Swallow kind , and makes holes into the sides of banks and cliffs about a yard forward in plano Horizontis , where it builds its nest . To which add the Fringilla montana sive Montifringilla , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 of Aristotle , the Brambling or mountain Chaffinch , of the short hard beak'd kind ; found plentifully about Venice , and described by Mr Willughby e e Ibid. Book . 2. Sect. 2. memb. 2. Chap. 6. §. 2. , but rarely in England ; this I have , was kill'd and given me by the ingenious Mr. Miller Vicar of Wednesbury near the Vicaridg house . Nor must the Coccothraustes or Gross-beak be forgotten , a bird says Mr. Willughby rare in England f f Ibid. Book . 2. Sect. 2 Memb. 2. Chap. 1. §. 1. , yet found and kill'd somewhere about Madeley-Manor , and now in the possession of the virtuous Madam Offley , a Lady that has an excellent artifice in preserving birds .

6. And of unusual birds frequenting the water , here are also divers kinds , some of them cloven footed and piscivorous , though they build their nests on the tops of trees ; as the Ardea cinerea or common Heron or Heronshaw , whereof I saw divers siting on the tops of the highest trees in Norbury park . Bellonius indeed denyes that they breed in England , but there are many other instances whereby he may be confuted beside this , in divers parts of the Nation , though this I think is the best in this County . The Colymbus major the great Loon or Arsfoot is also found in this County , whereof I had one given me by the Honorable Lady Jane Leveson Gower , kill'd somewhere near Trentham , in all parts corresponding with the cloven-footed fin-toed Loones without tailes , described as above §. 3. of this Chapter . Of whole footed water fowle the Avosetta Italorum or Recurvirostra , is also found here , as well as in the Eastern parts of Norfolk and Suffolk , there having been of them kill'd at the black - Lakes near Aqualat , eight of them being seen first in the morning , and but six at night when they shot ; which needs no other description , but that its bill is reflext upward , which is peculiar to this bird , ending in a thin slender weak point , somewhat of the consistence and strength of a Whale-bone of the same size .

7. But the strangest whole-footed water fowle that frequents this County is the Larus cinereus Ornithologi , the Larus cinereus tertius Aldrovandi , and the Cepphus of Gesner and Turner g g Cour. Gesneri de Avibus Lib. 3. ; in some Counties call'd the black-Cap , in others the Sea or Mire-Crow , here the Pewit ; which being of the migratory kind , come annually to certain pooles in the Estate of the right Worshipfull Sr. Charles Skrymsher Knight to build and breed , and to no other Estate in , or neer the County , but of this Family , to which they have belong'd ultra hominum memoriam , and never moved from it , though they have changed their station often . They anciently came to the old Pewit poole above mentiond h h Vid. supra Chap. 6. §. 36.40.42 . , about ½ amile S. W. of Norbury Church , but it being their strange quality ( as the whole Family will tell you , to whom I referr the Reader for the following relation ) to be disturb'd and remove upon the death of the head of it , as they did within memory , upon the death of James Skrymsher Esq to Offley-Moss near Woods-Eves , which Moss though containing two Gentlemans land , yet ( which is very remarkable ) the Pewits did discern betwixt the one and the other , and build only on the Land of the next heir John Skrymsher Esq so wholy are they addicted to this family .

8. At which Moss they continued about three years , and then removed to the old pewit poole again , where they continued to the death of the said John Skrymsher Esq which happening on the Eve to our Lady-day , the very time when they are laying their Eggs , yet so concern'd were they at this Gentlemans death , that notwithstanding this tye of the Law of Nature , which has ever been held to be universal and perpetual , they left their nest and Eggs ; and though they made some attempts of laying again at Offley-Moss , yet they were still so disturb'd that they bred not at all that year . The next year after they went to Aqualat , to another Gentlemans Estate of the same family ( where though tempted to stay with all the care imaginable ) yet continued there but two years , and then returned again to another poole of the next heir of John Skrymsher deceased , call'd Shebben poole in the parish of high Offley where they continue to this day , and seem to be the propriety , as I may say ( though a wild-fowle ) of the right Worshipfull Sr. Charles Skrymsher Knight , their present Lord and master .

9. But being of the migratory kind , their first appearance is not till about the latter end of February , and then in number scarce above six , which come as it were as harbingers to the rest , to see whether the Hafts or Islands in the pooles ( upon which they build their neasts ) be prepared for them ; but these never so much as lighten , but fly over the poole scarce staying an hour : about the sixth of March following , there comes a pretty considerable flight , of a hundred or more , and then they alight on the hafts , and stay all day , but are gon again at night . About our Lady-Day , or sooner in a forward Spring , they come to stay for good , otherwise not till the beginning of April , when they build their nests , which they make not of sticks , but heath and rushes , making them but shallow , and laying generally but 4 eggs , 3 and 5 more rarely , which are about the bignes of a small Hen-egg . The Hafts or Islands are prepared for them between Michaelmass and Christmass , by cutting down the reeds and rushes , and putting them aside in the nooks and corners of the hafts , and in the valleys to make them level ; for should they be permitted to rot on the Islands , the Pewits would not endure them .

10. After three weeks sitting the young ones are harch't , and about a month after are almost ready to flye , which usually happens on the third of June , when the Proprietor of the poole orders them to be driven and catch'd , the Gentry comeing in from all parts to see the sport ; the manner thus . They pitch a Rabbit-net on the bank side , in the most convenient place over against the hafts , the Net in the middle being about ten yards from the side , but close at the ends in the manner of a bow ; then six or seven Men wade into the poole beyond the Pewits , over against the Net , with long staves , and drive them from the hafts , whence they all swim to the bank side , and landing run like Lapwings into the Net , where people standing ready , take them up , and put them into two penns made within the bow of the Net , which are built round , about 3 yards Diameter , and a yard high or somwhat better , with small stakes driven into the ground in a circle , and interwoven with broom and other raddles , as in Tab. 19. at the bottom whereof is represented in Sculpture , the poole , and whole method of taking these Pewits ; and Norbury Manor at the top , the seat of the Proprietor , a most generous Encourager of this work .

11. In which manner there have been taken of them in one morning 50 dosens at a driving , which at 5s per dosen ( the ancient price of them ) comes to twelve pounds ten shillings : but at several drifts that have been anciently made in the same morning , there have been as many taken as have been sold for thirty pounds , so that some years the profit of them ha's amounted to fifty or threescore pounds , beside what the generous Proprietor usually presents his Relations , and the Nobility and Gentry of the County withall , which he constantly does in a plentifull manner , sending them to their houses in Crates alive , so that feeding them with livers , & other entrals of beasts , they may kill them at what distance of time they please , according as occasions present themselselves , they being accounted a good dish at the most plentifull Tables .

12. But they commonly appoint 3 days of driving them , within fourteen days or thereabout , of the second or third of June ; which while they are doing , some have observed a certain old one that seems to be somewhat more concern'd than the rest , being clamorous , and striking down upon the very heads of the Men ; which has given ground of suspicion that they have some Government amongst them , and that this is their Prince , that is so much concern'd for its Subjects . And 't is further observed that when there is great plenty of them , the Lent-Corn of the Country is so much the better , and so the Cow-pastures too , by reason they pick up all the worms , and the Fern-flyes , which though bred in the Fern , yet nip and feed on the young corn and grass , and hinder their growth .

13. Other birds there are here that are more commonly seen , and doe not only breed , but remain constantly in the Country , and are therefore call'd perennial ; which yet many of them have had something extraordinary either in their colours , limbs , eggs or time of production , that has render'd them remarkable . At hill-Ridware I was told of a white Poppinjay ; and at Apedale near the house of one John Middleton , for three or four years together , there were white Crows hatch't in the same neast with black ones , whereof some they sold as rarities for half crownes a piece : which in all probability must come to pass , by a hen-crow of an ordinary colour , being trod by a cock of the Royston-breed , or from Norway , or Greenland where they are commonly white , or vice versa ; as we see it often falls out in doggs and other Animals . Which is further confirm'd to me by a white Sparrow kill'd at Aldrich , which built about Mr. Jourdans house there , and produced young ones , some white , some gray , and others speckled with white and the usual colour , of other Sparrows .

14. And in their beaks and leggs , I met with so many deformities , and unusual excesses , that it would be endless to recount them : the cheif are these . In the Hall at Bentley there is a Ravens head whose bill is crook't both ways , the Mandibles crossing one another , like those of the Shell-Apple or Cross-bill , the lower chap turning upwards , and the upper downwards . And in the Coffee-house at Lichfield , I was shown another Ravens head , whose upper mandible turned downward , and crossed the lower ; but the under one straight , only much longer than the upper as in Tab. 22. Fig. 2. At great Bridgford there was a Pidgeon produced with two heads ; and there was a Pewit catch't at Norbury with 4 leggs . Not to mention a Goose , I was told , was hatch't at Shelfield with three leggs , the third issuing from about the rump , and hanging loose , being of no use to the Animal , as indeed few of these excesses of nature are : which perhaps may arise , as Fabricius thinks , either from Ova Gemellifica , that is , Eggs with two Yolks , two Whites , two Chalazae or treddles , two Cicatriculae &c. i. e. that have every thing double i i Hieron . Fabricii ab Aquapedente de formatione Ovi & pulli . p. 19. ; or as Harvey rather thinks , when two Yolks are included within one white ; and are so joyn'd , that the Cicatriculae expanded , make but one colliquamentum k k Gul. Harvei de Generat . Animalium Exercit. 23. de Ovis gemellificis . : which latter indeed seem much the likelyer of the two .

15. Which brings me next to consider the Eggs of birds , and their time of hatching , wherein I also met with divers Anomalies of Nature : the ingenious Mr. Miller vicar of Wednesbury amongst his tithe-Eggs , met with one whose Yolk was as perfectly white , as that we usually call soe , the separation betwixt them remaining as distict as in ordinary Eggs i. e. He met with an Egg with two whites including one another , such as Aristotle calles imperfect , improlific Eggs , which will never produce Chicken , and Hieronymus Fabricius , Ova centenina l l Hieron . Fabr. ab Aquapend . de format. Ovi & pulli . p. 10. ; they being a sort of Eggs ( as he would have us beleive ) which hens lay at last , after they have excluded a hundred before ; or the last they lay , after they have made an end of laying for that year ; which whether true , or no , depends upon the credit of the Author : But that such Eggs as these ( as Aristotle says ) must be imperfect and barren , is certain enough ; the Yolk in an Egg being equally necessary for the production and maintenance of a chick as the white , & vice versa m m Gul. Harvei de Generat . Animalium Exercit. 35. : for which reason too , the Eggs mentioned by Aristotle , that were all Yolk ( which the Augurs look't upon as very wonderfull ) must also be number'd amongst the imperfect Eggs n n Aristot . de Hist. Animal . Lib. 6. cap. 2.

16. As to the frequency of Hen's laying their Eggs , Dr Harvey tells us that some there be in England that will lay an Egg every day , yet that these are not the most fruitfull ; which for the most part lay an Egg for two days together ( in the morning of the first day , and toward evening the second ) and rest the third o o Gul. Harvei de Generat . Animal . Exercitat . 12. . But as I was inform'd by the ingenious Tho. Broughton of Broughton Esq there was a Hen then belonging to Ann Biddulph of Edgiall , when I was travelling this County , that would ordinarily lay 3 Eggs in a natural day , or 24 hours ; and that the same thing in a manner had been found in Ducks , at Mr. Noble's of Charley , where eight Duckes being shut up all night ; sometimes layd 9 , sometimes 10 , and once no less than 12 Eggs in a night ; which was look't on by the good-housewives as very extraordinary : and yet little less than this we find was observ'd as long agoe as Aristotle , who not only tells that the Hadrianic hens lay'd every day , but that there were some tame Hens lay'd twice per diem ; but then that the former ordinarily broke their Eggs , and so destroy'd their young ; and the latter themselves , by their over much fruitfullness p p Aristot . de Hist. Animalium Lib. 6. ; which whether either of ours have been lyable too , I neither enquired , nor heard .

17. The time of hatching their Eggs , by some sort of fowle , has also been noted here in some places , to be very extraordinary : Thus the worthy Mr. Chetwynd in his park at Ingestre observed young Ravens to goe to bough on Newyears day , which therefore must be hatch't in the winter near Christmass ; as some also were in Ashmers Park near Wolverhampton , An. 1665 , by a Raven that constantly built there for many years . Thus as Cardan acquaints us , in the 16 year of the raign of David King of Cardan acquaints us , in the 16 year of the raign of David King of Scots , which was An. 1347. the sheep in that Country brought forth no young ; nor the Crows and Daws in the Summer , but all in the Winter , which he observes that year was a very warm one , and fit to promote fruitfullness in oviparous Animals , as ( he says ) has been long since noted by the best housewives , who if they would have Hens lay plentifully in Winter , always shut them up in a warm roome q q Hieron . Cardan de Varietate Rer. Lib. 2. cap. 13. . Which 't is probable might be the occasion that the Ducks at Charley laid so many Eggs more than usual , being shut up all night in a warm house , which had they been left abroad perhaps they might not have done .

18. But before we take leave of the Inhabitants of the air , let us next consider what flying Insects there be , worthy our notice , which I put after birds , because they fly ordinarily lower , contenting themselves for the most part with the air most immediatly circumambient of the terraqueous globe : amongst which , that which justly claims the first place , both for rarity & strangeness , is the Lampyris or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; otherwise from its shining in the night 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; and because the light arises from two small specks on the under side of the taile , near the end , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ; in Latin Cicindela , from cis and candeo ; in opposition to the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the Cucujus or Indian Glow-fly of Moufet ; and Pyragonus of Aristotle ; in English the flying Glow-worm , or Lanthorn-fly , because it can shew or cover its light at pleasure , haveing as it were the command of a natural dark-Lanthorn . Of which there have been several seen near Bradwall in this County by the learned and ingenious Ralph Sneyd Esq about the year 1678 ; but first noted to be in England from the testimony of an Eye-witness by Mr. John Ray r r Mr. Ray's Observations Topograph . &c. p. 409.410 . ; since that met with again about Midsummer in the years 1680 and 1684 at Northaw in Hertfordshire by the ingenious Richard Waller Esq fellow of the Royal Society , who has given us accurate Cut , and I think the best account we have had of it yet s s Philisoph . Transact . Num. .

19. For I find him to have determined two or three controversies amongst Authors , concerning this Insect ; as first that there are femal flying-glow-worms as well as males , which he asserts also to have been known to Julius Scaliger , but I doe not find it in my edition of his Exercitations , the expression there being ; Primum scito , Cicindelam à me cum suo mari deprehensam in coitu , without the Epithet , volantem t t Jul. Caes . Scaligeri Exercitat . Lib. 15. Exercit. 191. ; it suffices however that he himself catch't both male and female coupled , betwixt which he could perceive no difference but in the Size ( the female being a little the larger ) both having wings alike : whereas it was always supposed before by Moufet u u Th. Moufet . de Insectis cap. 15. Tho. Bartholin w w Tho , Bartholini de Luce Animalium Lib. 2. cap. 12. and Mr. Ray x x J. Ray's Observat . Topograph . p. 409. 410. that these winged Glow-worms were nothing else , but the males of the common creeping unwinged ones , we see so commonly shining in the bottoms of hedges . Nor does the testimony of Fabius Columna , brought by Mr. Ray ( which I cannot find neither in my edition ) viz. that Carolus Vintimiglia of Palermo saw a flying Glow-worm couple with many unwinged ones , one by one , after the manner of Silk-worms ; hinder but there may be also winged females : for how often doe we see , different species of more perfect animals than these , couple together ; and yet we doe not hence conclude , that one of these Species must therefore needs be the female to the other , and that they have none beside .

20. He asserts too , that the male as well as female , he saw coupled , both shined alike , and that when the tailes of one of them was cut off , it continued to shine but a very little while ( no longer he supposed than life remained in that part ) but sensibly decayed till at last it went out : whereas Mr. Ray upon the credit of an Eye-Witness asserts , that the males doe but rarely , if at all shine with us y y Ibid . And Scaliger brings in Cardan asserting ( though I cannot find it in him ) Marem alatum hic quoque esse , sed non lucere , i. e. that the winged Cicindela does not shine z z Jul. Cas. Scaligeri Exercitat . Lib. 15. Exercit. 194. And as for their shining after death Fabius Columna is express , that the tailes of his Cicin felae continued to shine after they were cut off , as long as they had any moisture in them a a Fab. Columnae , Aquatil . & Terrestr . Observat . cap. 17. ; and Dr Stubbs is as positive , that the fire-flyes of Jamaica doe continue their light some days after they are dead b b Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 36. ; Sr. Tho. Brown also grants that a glow-worm will give a faint light for near a days time after 't is conceived to be dead : but then he answers himself , and the former Authors too , by suspecting that this is by a mistake in the computation of death , for that the parts of Insects ( as Mr. Waller also observes ) doe live a long time after they are separated , though they shew not any visible evidences of life c c D. Thomae Brown Pseudodoxiae Epidemicae Lib. 3. cap. 27. ; so that as long as the luminous moisture in these Insects ha's the least motion given it from any life left in them ( though insensible to us ) we may afford them to exert their shining quality , but not after .

21. Amongst the winged Insects it is also worth notice , that at Throwley , the Seat of the right Honorable the Countess of Ardglass , I was shewn by the most ingenious Charles Cotton Esq the forficula or Ear-wigg of a milk white colour , which are ordinarily of a Chesnut . And it is very considerable that another curious Observer of this County , opening a small flye de genere 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 sive vaginipennium , by the help of a Microscope , saw two living Insects come out from within it , both alive , exactly alike , and very nimble , which in this state most resembled Cheese-mites of any thing he knew ; only they were somthing bigger and had longer hornes , but wanted bristles and were of a reddish colour , which by a strong reflection of light from their backs , and the variety of colours caused thereby , he could perceive they were of the crusty or sheath-winged kind , which yet had been observed before by the learned Dr. Lister , tho' not publish't till in June 84 d d Philoph . Transact . Numb. 160. . So that this observation seems as well to be this Gentlemans , as Dr. Listers , who are altogether unknown to one another .

22. The same worthy person opening another Insect next dore to flying ( it being called a flea , as some would have it , a verbo to flye , quia adeo celeriter saltat , ut volare videatur ) found in those of them of a reddish colour , not only Eggs of an ellypticall form , but in one that he open'd ( by the help of a Microscope ) a young flea compleatly formed in all its parts , of a whitish colour , wherein it seems they not only agree with the Moores in being viviparous Animals , but also in that they produce their young white , though they become black after , which too hang to the old ones for some time after they are excluded , whence 't is so frequent to catch an old flea and a young at the same time . From which two instances , Jacobaeus may be instructed , that the Scorpion is not the only insect that brings forth its young alive and perfect , without laying eggs e e Tho. Bartholmi Act. Med. & Philosoph . Hafn. vol. 5. , the Flea laying none : for who ever saw any nits of a flea , any where excluded , as those of a louse are , upon hair , cloth , & c ?

23. There are another sort of insects too de genere 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , which in some sence also may be allowed to fly , such are all Spiders ( except those long-legged ones we call Shepherds , which never spin any thred ) which in October cheifly , will turn up their tailes and project one or more threds with that violence , that they shall reach cross roomes over rivers , and be fastened betwixt trees , in plano Horizontis , at several fathoms distance ; and sometimes will dart them into the Air to such a length , that the Spiders leaping up after them , will be carryed into the air , and there saile at the end of these threds to a great height and distance : by which means it is that the trees , hedges , stubble , and the air it self , is so fill'd with these threds , some single and some complicated , as we frequently see they are at that time of year . The discovery whereof seems to have been made much about the same time both by Dr. Lister and Dr. Hulse as plainly appears in the Philosophical Transactions f f Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 50. and 65. . Since which , the same thing has also been observed by divers others , particularly in this County by the ingenious Mr. King , Chaplain to Mr. Chetwynd , from whose notes I shall only add such matter , as was not so fully observed by the aforementioned Authors .

24. As first , that in their projecting a thred cross a roome in plano Horizontis ( which they doe for their easier and more direct passage ) they raise themselves on their leggs as high as they can , setting them very straight and stiff , and turning their hinder parts up higher than usual , they will shoot out a thred to a great distance , which when fastened where they would have it , with their fore leggs they will winde up the thred shorter till it is very straight , as the Funambuli strain their roaps , and then like them too , will get upon it , and run from one end to the other . And as to their sailing at the ends of these threds , he further observed , not only that they sailed much swifter , than any wind then stirring could carry them , but that at the same time they constantly sailed all the same way , which was not directly with , but as he once noted at 8 points distance , as it were with a side-winde ; which plainly shews that they doe not only row , but steer too , with the motion of their feet , according as directed by some secret instinct they have in them .

25. Having done both with the Insects that really flye , and that doe so only in a larger sence , I proceed next to such as live in the waters ; whereof my worthy friend Francis Wolferstan Esq sent me one , out of many , he found swiming about in filthy water , that stood a yard deep , in the bottom of a large hollow Elme ; which I cannot find after long search , but is wholy undescribed : the bodies of them being better than an inch long , and ¼ of an inch diameter ; full , white , and round ; and the outer Skin upon back and belly made up from head to taile of protuberant Ridges , those under the belly at a not shooting right against those on the back or sides , but against the furrows between them , which counterchanging of the ridges make the the indentures on the sides ; the head striated , with antennae issuing from a flat roundish face ; the body fill'd with so thin a white matter , that they are in a manner transparent , in so much that a sort of peristaltick motion may sometimes be perceived in them ; having 14 short feet ( 7 on each side ) much like those of a Maggot two being placed in the ends of every other semicircle of the belly ; & a joynted tapring taile four or five inches long as in Tab. 22. Fig. 3. which they can contract to an inch , and extend it again at pleasure to its full length . Whence 't is plain that it is a sort of Eruca , but such an one as I find not described , which perhaps may not unfitly be stiled eruca glabra caudata aquatico-arborea , but I tye not up the Reader from his better choise , of a more agreeable name , if hereafter from further knowledg of the nature of the Animal , he can impose a better on it .

26. Thus being come to the waters , and having done with the Insects ; nature directs me next to proceed to the Fishes , the most frequent Inhabitants of that element : which , here in this inland Country , being only fresh , such as is contain'd in Rivers , Lakes , and Pooles , nothing must be expected concerning fish here , but such only as are either 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 usually living in Rivers ; 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 commonly found in Lakes ; or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that are kept in ponds or Stews ; or in one , more , or all of these . Of which kinds there are so many in this County , that some have fancyed no less than thirty sorts in the River Trent , as if a corrupt name by contraction from triginta ; but this I take but for the imagination of some fond Etymologist : however I think there may be as many here of all these kinds , as in any other such inland County , where there can be none of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that for certain intervalls of time live both at Sea , and in rivers : and yet I could hear of but one amongst them all , that I think undescribed , and that one of the smooth sort , without Scales , and for its solitary way of living , of the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , there having not above four of them been catch't , that I could hear of , within memory , and these all single without any company , no not so much as of their own kind .

27. Whereof this represented here in Sculpture Tab. 22. Fig. 4. was taken in the river Tame in the damm near Fasely bridg , by Goodyer Holt Free-Mason , as he was repairing it Aug. 11.1654 . who presented it to Colonell Comberford of Comberford , who caused it to be drawn to the life , and placed it in his Hall , where it still hangs , and whence this draught was taken in a less proportion : its length in the picture being 20 inches long , from the fore finn on the back to the belly 4 inches , of a greenish-ash colour , powdered all over with small round yellowish spots ; the Iris of the Eye of a blewish colour ; having two small Cirri or wattles issuing out of the nose near the mouth , and one larger one out of the jaw ; and four finns near the gills , the two smaller placed foremost , and the larger hindmost ; with a straight line running from the upper part of the gills to the setting on of the taile ; having also under the belly , a fin reaching from the exit of the excrement , almost to the taile , with another on the back somwhat longer , and a fore-fin preceding it , the taile roundish , not at all forked ; in all which particulars it agrees pretty well with the Mustella vulgaris of Rondelet g g Gul. Rondeletii de Piscibus marinis . Lib. 9. cap. 15. but not in the broadness of the head ; largness and roundness of the finns at the gills ; nor smoothness of those both on the back and belly ; which in Rondelet's Mustella , are prickly like those of a Perch , and which is more than all , the Mustella a Sea , and this a fresh-water Fish .

28. Nor yet must we call it the Mustella fluviatilis , or Lota of Rondelet h h Gul. Rondeletii Lib. de piscibus lacustribus cap. 19. which though found in rivers and lakes ; having most of the things common with ours , that the Mustella vulgaris has ; yet remarkably differs , in that its head is not near so broad ; being a squammous fish ; having but one barb or wattle under the lower jaw , none in the upper ; the tail sharp ; and as thick powdered with black spots , all over the body , as ours is with yellow . The most like it of any that I have met with in Authors is the Mustela fluviatilis of the Lake of Constance , by Gesner call'd the Gwell fish , which is of the smooth kind , and in the general , shape of body and head answers ours well enough ; only like the Lota it has no wattles comeing out of the Nose ; the two smaller fins at the gills being also divided , whereas ours are round ; and as thick marked all over with black spots as ours is with yellow i i Conr. Gesneri de Aquatilibus Lib. 4. cap. de Mustela . So that either this is not the same fish , or else so ill described by Gesner , that there was need enough of a new one . However we may allow it to be a Mustela fluviatilis , though in Staffordshire by some , it is call'd a Burbot or bird-bolt , perhaps from that sort of Arrow rounded at head , somewhat like this fishes ; by others , from the oddness of the shape , and rarity of meeting them , the Nonsuch ; there having never but four ( that I could hear of ) been found within memory ; this at Faseley-bridg ; another at Willeford near Fisherwick ; a third near Colton Mill ; and a fourth near Alrewas : which either were not at all , or never till now at lest well described , and so will be found by any , that can give themselves leasure to consult the ancient Ichthyographers .

29. But though I heard only of this single fish that I think undescribed ( for that there are a sort of Crevices in the stream that passes by Overend and Longdon , that will not boile red , is only accidental , as was shewn before in Oxfordshire k k Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. §. 31. ) yet I was informed of divers very unusual observations , concerning scaled , as well as smooth fish , relating either to their breeding , habitation , feeding , or magnitude ; perhaps worthy knowledg : such as their breeding and living in Coal-works , whereof there is an indisputable instance , in the drowned Coal-pit-open-works S. W. of Wednesbury , into which Pike , Carp , Tench , Perch , &c. being put for breed , they not only lived , but grew and thrived to as large a magnitude , as perhaps they would have done any where else , and were to the palate as gratefull : so that though the canckerd waters that are long stagnant in the hollows of the old works , will destroy fish , as was hinted in the end of the second Chapter of this Book l l Chap. 2. § 129. , yet it is not so in waters that fill up the open-works , which constantly enjoy the ventilations of the Air , and the sweet influences of the heavens both night and day .

30. There are other fish too , both of the scaled and shell'd kinds , that will live and breed in places very uncommon to their species : thus Gudgeons and Crevices live well and breed in the pooles at Bentley , and thrive to a just magnitude , but then these ponds are always fedd with Springs . Others there are again , that though they will live in unsuitable places , yet will never spawn there ; and such were the Carps the right Honorable the Lord Ferrers took forth the poole at Drineton , whose spawn still lyeing in their bodies and increasing yearly , distended their bellys into such various ill shapes , that they appear'd monstrous , the spawn when boyled being of the colour and consistence of red wax ; and yet the fish as good meat as others of the kind . Other waters again are so very disagreeable , that though fish may live in them , yet they will not thrive , but rather pine away , as Mr. Chetwynd found it in a parcell of roaches he put into a pond in his park at Ingestre , whence after some time being taken forth again , they were all grown slenderer than when first put in , and become almost of the shape of herrings .

31. But for breeding , and living , there is no fish so wonderfull amongst all the scaly or shelly kinds , as there is one amongst the smooth ones , viz. the common Eele ; which is not only viviparous , as may be easily found in the Month of May , as has been observ'd by the ingenious Walter Chetwynd Esq by cutting open the red and swell'd fundaments of the females , whence the young Eeles will then issue forth : but will live , and sometimes take journeys in arido , passing over land from Lakes and Pooles they doe not like , to others they like better : by this means many times stocking waters of themselves , which were not so before . Thus 't is said the waters of the Coal-pit-open-works S. W. of Wednesbury were stockt with Eeles ; and so I was told was the poole at Bescot the seat of the ancient family of Mountfort ; never any Eeles having been put into either of them , for breed , or otherwise . Insomuch that some have imagined upon such accounts as these ( never so much as dreaming they could be night walkers ) that Eeles are many times produced of a peculiar dew ( no melt or spawn being ever found in them ) falling in May and June upon the blades of the grass , whereof turffs being cut , and the grassy sides clapt together , and then laid on the warmest side of a well-promising poole , thence by the Suns heat in a few hours will spring a competent number of young Eeles by Equivocal generation . In which Experiment Abrah. Myllius m m Abrah. Mylii de origine Animalium Lib. 10. and G. Marhofius n n D. G. Marhofii de Metallorum ●r●●mutatione p. 38.39 . , seem so well satisfyed , that they give the process of this affair , as practised by the Dutch , who use this Method with success , to stock their fish-ponds with Eels .

32. Now though I dare not pronounce either that Lakes or pooles , are impossible to be stock't after this Belgic manner ; yet I think it much more probable of the two , that it may be done the travelling way : for most certain it is that Eeles are such night-walkers , as was suggested above , having been actually catch't in the very fact near Bilston , creeping over the Meddows like so many Snakes from one ditch to another , by Mr. Moseley of Moseley , who seriously told me they not only did it for bettering their station , but as he apprehended , also for catching of Snails in April and May , the best time of year for them . Which yet I could have hardly believed ( though the Gent. gave me licence to quote him for it ) but that I have since met with so many Authorities both ancient and modern , that seem to render the thing probable , if not almost certain . Insomuch that Seneca amongst the rest , makes it a pleasant wonder , that any body should doubt it : Quid est autem ( says he ) quare pisces in terram non transeant , cum nos maria transimus o o L. An. Senecae Nat. Quest. Lib. 3. cap. 17. ? Now there are indeed so very many fishes that will doe this , that M. Aurel. Severinus has writ a whole Treatise of them , which he stiles , de Piscibus in sicco viventibus , being a Commentary upon Theophrastus Eresius , on the same subject p p Impres. Neapoli . 1655. : where the Reader amongst the rest will find the Eele , which as Pliny notes will live for six days out of the water q q C. Plinii 2 di . Hist. Nat. Lib. 9. cap. 21. ; well therefore may they bear travelling over a few Meddows , for a nights time or so .

33. That they will make them holes in the banks of Rivers , which the people in Somersetshire ordinarily discover by the hoar frosts not lying over them , as elswhere , and so dig them out in heaps r r Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 129. ; as they also doe the fossile fish in Lancashire s s Camden in Lancashire . ; and the Prides in Oxfordshire t t Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap. 7. §§ 27.28 . ; seems not reach our business : but that which fully answers , and amply confirms it , is that of Albertus as quoted by Gesner , who expressly says that An. 1125 , it being a very cold winter , a parcell of Eeles got out of the water into a Meddow upon the dry land , and there went into a Hay-stack , where they were found bedded in arido , to preserve themselves from cold u u Conr. Gesneri de Aquatilibus Lib. 4. cap. de Anguilla . : now if for one convenience they can doe this , why not for another ? such as bettering their habitation ; and for necessary aliment ; both which equally tend to self-preservation , with their provision for themselves , against the violence of a frost . Thus as Rondelet acquaints us , the Oraena or polypus is frequently found at land embracing the Olive with its long winding claws , and sometimes the Figg-trees that grow near the Sea , and eating the fruit w w Gul. Rondeletti de piscibus marinis Lib. 17. cap. 7. : nay they have been known to leave the Sea , and to pass over land to robb the Fish-mongers stews of fish , whereof Pliny tells us a most remarkable story x x C. Plinii 2 di Nat. Hist. Lib. 9. cap. 30. . The Exocaetus will lye and bask it self in the Sun , and sleep a shoar , whence it has its name y y Gul. Rondeletii de piscibus Marin . Lib. 6. cap. 15. . And Aristotle discovered that the Cerean and Paphlagonian fishes , wander'd up and down on the dry sands , and so ran back to Sea again z z Aristot . in Lib. de mirabil . Auscult . . As Geo. Pictorius asserts certain fishes of Cherati a River of India also usually doe * * Geo. Pictorius de fluminibus miraculosis . . All which , both Eeles , and those other fish , perform ( as Rondelet thinks ) by the benefit of the narrowness of the rima of their gills ; all fishes living a longer or shorter space out of the water , according as their gills are more narrow or patulous : the fishes that have wide and open gills being too much opprest with the free amd sudden appulses of the Air a a Gul. Rondeletii de Piscibus . Lib. 4. cap. 9. , and so dying presently .

34. There are very many fishes too that take a great latitude in the variety of their feeding , as well as habitation ; which too amongst some of them is very unusual and surprising . Mr. Fisher Dilk An. 1679 laying a Dace-bait for a Pike near Salters bridg in the river Tame , catch't a large Barbel with it ; and the same Mr. Dilk found a good trout in Stafford Castle choak't with a Crevice ; which it seems they will not Perch , for Mr. Morse Vicar of the Collegiat Church of Stafford , catch't several of these in July with Crevices in their bellies ; the same Mr. Morse once catch't a Trout in Dunsmoore river , with Neuts , Efts , or Askers in its belly ; and the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq in a pit near the high way in Heywood field , catch't large Chubbs , with Toads in their gorges . The ravenous Pike too , will not only swallow venomous toads and froggs without being harmed by them , but will devour things somtimes bigger and longer than his gorge will receive , swallowing one part , and letting the other remain in his mouth till the former is digested , and then taking in more , and so putting it over by degrees b b Is . Walton's compleat Angler . chap. 8. .

35. Nor doth this fresh-water Wolf only seize Froggs and fish , but upon fowle , and other Animals not of that Element . Thus in the moat at Himley , the Jacks are so bold with the young Ducks , that as the Reverend Mr Paston Rector of the place seriously inform'd me , a whole brood of young ducks had been destroyed there by them in a days time ; and this the larger Jacks will doe , even when these ducks are grown near as bigg as the old ones : whereof one was catch't ( having taken in such a duck the wrong way ) that could not gorge it so farr , but that the Ducks head hung out of his mouth ; in which posture both Jack and Duck , were hung up in the Hall of Himley house , to be admired , as long as the stench would permit . Which very well agrees with what Gesner affirms ( though it come not quite up to it ) that a Polish Gentleman of Cracow did faithfull assure Him , that He had seen two young Geese at one time in the belly of a Jack c c Conr. Gesneri de Aquatilib . Lib. 4. 〈◊〉 de Ia●●to . . Nay of so bold and greedy a devouring disposition is this Tyrant of the Rivers , when He is in the height of his hunger , that as Mr Walton acquaints us , there have been instances of it , that a large Pike has bit at , and devoured a dogg , that ha's been swimming in the water d d Is . Walton's compleat Argler . Chap. 8. .

36. Neither yet need we wonder much at this , if we consider what Gesner further adds concerning the excessive boldness of this fish , who tells us of a Man going to water his Mule in the River Rhodanus , that had one fastned so boldly on the lips of the Mule , where He hung so close , that the Mule could not otherwise but draw Him out of the water , by which means his Master got the Pike e e Conr. Gesneri de Aquatilib . Lib. 4. cap. de Lucio . . To which the same Gesner yet further subjoynes , that a maid in Poland had her foot bit by a Jack as she was washing cloaths in a fish pond f f Ibid. . And Mr Walton , tells us he heard , that the same once happend to a woman in a pond near Killingworth in Warwickshire g g Is . Walton's compleat Angler . Chap. 8. . Which though wonderfull Examples of the ravenous disposition of this Animal , yet 't is plain that many times they doe not so much as kill the prey they swallow , with their teeth by the way ; whereof I met with two signal instances that fell out lately in this County .

37. One at the Black-Lake near Aqualat , where Mr. Skrymsher having catch't a Jack , that his Cosin Skrymsher of Norbury , who was present at the fishing , suspected might have a Carp in his belly , upon opening his mouth found he had gotten one so large , and so very lately , that they could visibly perceive the tail of it stirr , which Mr Skrymsher of Aqualat by stroaking him on the belly , quickly made Him disgorge , there remaining so much life in him ( the digestion having only a little touch't his Eyes ) that being put into the water , after some time , it swam away leasurably as if not at all disturbed . And the other at Rugeley , where Mr Chetwynd of Ingestre being fishing with his Cosin Chetwynd of the same town , amongst many other fish they catch't a Jack with somewhat a bigg belly , which being open'd , they found divers fishes had been swallowed by it , and amongst the rest a Roach so intire ( the end of its nose being only a little touch't with the concoction ) that being put into a Cistern , it shewed quickly so much life , that after a while being put into the River it swamm briskly away .

38. Lastly , as for the unusual magnitude of fishes , those which have exceeded most of any I heard of ; are , 1. a large sort of Gudgeons in the black-brook ; whereof some have been taken in the Lordship of Hynts , belonging to the courteous Mr. Matthew Floyer , from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail 7 inches long , and 4 inches about . 2ly . Carps ; of which kind there are vast ones in the Meer at Aqualat , but two there were taken ( as I was punctually informed by the learned and ingenious Proprietor of the place Edwyn Skrymsher Esq a most generous promoter of this History , whose pleasant seat is here represented Tab. 20. ) more remarkably great : One , a Melter 33 inches long and 19½ inches about , weighing 15 pounds . And the other a Spawner , which though not above two foot 6 inches long or thereabout , yet was 20½ inches round , weighing 14 pounds , and sold for 14 shillings ; the Scales of each being near as broad , as one of our mill'd half Crownes . And 3ly . Jacks ; whereof there hangs a picture of one in Cumberford hall taken in the River Tame , Dec. 16 , 1673 , an Ell and 2 inches long when first taken , but as drawn there in the picture but a yard and ¼ and ½ an inche from the tip of the nose , to the fork of the tail ; and there are of them in the moat at Himley a yard and half long . And yet even these would be found but of an inconsiderable magnitude , if compared with the Pikes of the Lake of Geneva , where they sometimes catch them of 80 pounds weight , reckoning too ( according to the account of Geneva ) 18 ounces to the pound h h Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 86. .

39. Which is all I met worthy notice relating to fishes ; and yet I have not done neither with the inhabitants of the waters ; for though I come next to treat of the Quadrupeda 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , digitated Quadrupeds , there being some of them oviparous , as almost all fishes are ; and sometimes at least frequenting the same Element ; I must in all reason first dipatch what I have remarkable concerning such Animals , before I proceed to others that are purely terrestrial . Amongst which the Toad must be reckon'd as one ; which though living both at land , and in the water , is sometimes most wonderfully excluded from both , having been frequently found close imprison'd within the middle of solid blocks of Stone , without any perceivable rift or cleft , either whereby they were first admitted , or were supplyed with Air , during their abode there ; a thing so frequent in this County , that I met with instances of it in divers places : and first at Horton , at the house of Mr. Edg , where in his barn wall , he shewed me a hollow Stone which being clove by the Mason had a live Toad included in it ; this he told me he saw himself , and that it dyed quickly , after it was taken forth .

40. The same happen'd again at Knypersley near by , at the right Worshipfull Sr. John Bowyers Baronet ; at Ingestre at Mr. Chetwynds ; and as I was told by Mr. Launder , at the Village of Brocton ; the learned Dr. Pierce Physician at Bath , in a Letter to the ingenious Mr. William Musgrave Secretary of the Philosophical Society of Oxford , sent us lately an account also of such a Toad found in the Center of a hard lime-stone , laid as a step-stone for passengers in the middle of a Cartway between two rills that ran of each side it ; where a croaking noise being a long time heard , and the parts near search't and nothing found , this stone at length was resolved should be broke , where in a cavity near the middle , a large Toad was found as bigg as a mans fist , which hop't about as briskly , as if it had been bread in a larger room ; but for how long time he does not say i i Letter Book of the Philosoph . Society of Oxon. Mar. 17. 1684 / 5 ; . and Apr. 11. 1685. . But the Toad that was found in the most astonishing manner , certainly that ever was heard of , was that at Statfold , if the tradition they have of it there be true , where as the story goes , the Steeple being to be taken down to prevent falling , the top-stone of the Spire or Pinnacle being taken off , was thrown down whole into the Church-yard , but breaking in the fall , there appear'd a living Toad in the Center of it , which ( as most of the rest are said to doe ) dyed quickly after it was exposed to the Air.

41. Nor has this sort of imprisonment of Toads in solid Stones , been only observed of late years , but in many ages backward ; for Gulielmus Neubrigensis relates , that a Toad was found thus included in a stone in his time , which was near 500 years agoe ; and the publisher of that Edition of him , printed at Heidelberg An. 1587. upon that place notes , that in the Coal-mines near Leigh , there are oftentimes found hard round smooth flints , with living toads in them , without any visible cleft or passage for Air k k Gul. Neubrigensis Rerum Angl. Lib. 1. cap. 28. . In the same manner Johnston assures us , they are found at Tholouse in a reddish sort of freestone ; also that a Stone-cutter of Antwerp met with one thus inclosed in hard marble ; and Agricola writes ( as quoted by Johnston ) that they are sometimes found in the Quarries of Mill-stone l l Joh. Johnstoni Hist. Nat. de Quadruped . Lib. 4. cap. 1. Art. 2. punct. 1. in fine . . Certum est ( says Fortunius Licetus ) inter viva saxa contineri quandoque bufones m m Fort. Liceti Litheosphor . cap. 54. ; and of later days , my Lord Verulam pronounces it for certain , that Toads have been found in the middle of Freestone n n Nat. Hist. Cent. 6. Experim . 570. . And not only within Stones , but

42. They are also sometimes met with in this County as closely included in the bodies of firm trees : thus out of a great Oak that grew at Lapley of about 6 Tunns of timber , brought to Elmhurst , by the right Worshipfull Sr. Theophilus Biddulph Baronet for the new bulding the house , represented above in Tab. 2. there was a great Toad sawn forth of the middle of the tree , in a place which when growing , was 12 or 14 foot from the ground ; the tree being sound and intire in all parts quit round , saving just where the Toad lay , it was black and corrupted , and crumbled away like Saw-dust . Also at Bently there was another sawn out of a solid tree , in that part of it , that when growing , might be about a yard from the ground ; the tree sound underneath next the root , and in all other parts , only where the toad lay , there was a hollow about the bigness of the crown of ones hat , which ( as those inclosed in Stone ) also presently dyed , as soon as exposed to the Air. Now how these Animals should come at all to be thus included , in the middle of such intire and solid substances ? and when inclosed , how maintained either with breath , or aliment ? and how long they may have been presumed , to have continued there ? seem questions indeed worthy the consideration of the most profound Philosopher ; whome that I may honestly provoke to give a better , I shall here offer the Reader some account of my owne , which though a slender one enough , yet may serve his turne , till he can get a better , and in some measure to evince the probability of the thing .

43. To come then close to the business , upon presumption that the matter of fact is indisputable ; 't is easy to apprehend how Toads creep into the clefts and hollows of rocks and trees ( which they always doe in August , when they are in a declining condition ) to preserve themselves i' th winter : where during their rest for about eight months , they grow somwhat bigger , and the clefts or holes of the rocks or trees , as much less ; so that at the return of the year ( like the Fox in the Fable ) they cannot get out , where they came in , and so are forced to remain where they are , in that solitary condition , as long as they live ; the clefts and holes of the rocks and trees in the mean time growing quite up , and inclosing them in an intire and solid case . And thus I suppose these animals may come to be inclosed in the rocks and trees , upon or near the surface of the earth . But how that Toad in the tree at Lapley , should come to be thus imprisoned 12 or 14 foot high ? is a difficulty yet harder , and that requires yet nicer considerations .

44. For the Solution whereof , we must either suppose that the Toad was produced in a hole at that height when the tree was young , of an agreeable dust , brought thither by the wind and a sort of rain as well disposed for the same purpose ; like the worms and maggots bred of dust , and the rains that accompany the Tornado blasts , and fall in the Maggoti Savanna in Jamaica , by equivocal generation , as was shewn in Chap. 1. § §. 48 , 49. of this book : or else according to the opinion of Cardan , generated of the seed of a Toad blown from the top of the some Mountain ; or drawn up by the Sun into the Clouds , and so discharged thence in a shower , and lodg'd in the bole of this tree whilst young : whence fearing to leap in the Summer , and creeping down low in the dust , usually lodg'd in the boles of all trees , in the Winter , and there keeping its Station for a long Season ; the wood of the tree in a little time might thus grow over it , so that the tree being trimm'd up , and a taller body given it , the Toad at length thus appear'd to be inclosed in the body of the tree at that height .

45. Nor is it at all improbable that the Spawne of Toades , or indeed that Toades themselves , should be thus drawn up by the Suns heat , since we see what vast quantities of water it supports in those wonderfull exhalations they call Spouts at Sea , in which there are such mighty weights of water , that they overwhelme the best Shipps , if any thing near them , and disturb the whole Sea for a good distance , with the violence of their fall : in these Spouts together with the water , the fish many times in the Sea thereabout are also lifted up , which sometimes being carryed by the winds over land before their fall , has often occasion'd the wonderfull raining of fish , as it did Whitings , at Stansted in the parish of Wrotham in the County of Kent Anno. 1666. o o Letter Book of the Philosophical Society of Oxon. Mar. 27. 1685. ; and herrings in the South of Scotland , Anno 1684. as his most Sacred Majesty King JAMES the Second most Judiciously determined the Problem there . Now most certainly the force that could elevate these , may very well be allowed to attract the Spawne of Toads , or large Toads themselves , which being carryed by the wind ( that bloweth where it listeth ) to any place whatever , may also be let fall as well in any the like indeterminat place , and so possibly upon the bole of a tree as well as any where else .

46. Thus having shewn the most probable means whereby these Animals are thus inclosed in solid Stones and trees , both near the surface of the Earth , and at some height above it ; it remains that I proceed to the second difficulty ; how , when thus imprisoned in so narrow a Cell , they are supplyed with the necessaries of Air and Aliment . to which I answer , that these Animals require very little of either , to support them : not of Air , as is plain from their long continuance under water without it , nor of other Sustenance from ones living in a Glass above a Month without any at all , it being the property of Animals that have but a weak heat included in cold viscous juices , and doe not perspire , to retain the Spirits of life a long time without any foraigne maintenance ; for where the heat is too weak to master the tough juices , there can be no rarefaction or separations of parts , and consequently no transpiration or consumption . Thus the Tortois , Porcupine p p Journal des Scavans Jul. 24. 1681. , and some sorts of birds that are 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , live at least half a year without meat ; and thus ( as de Laet will have it ) live a sort of Solenes ( which the Venetians call Cape longe , and the English Pirot ) all their time , they being a kind of Shell-fish deep bedded in a solid rock , in which are no clefts , holes , or moisture to be found , but what is in the fish it self ; nor can they have any nourishment conveyed to them , except the dews of Heaven , which as de Laet thinks , the rocks imbibe , and transmit to the fish q q Joh. de Laet de Gemmis & Lapidibus Lib. 2. cap. 7. .

47. Which if all they have , and that sufficient to support them ; our Toads included in Stones and trees , may pretend to the same , and perhaps somewhat more ; for I doe not conceive them wholy deprived ( tho' so close prisoners ) either of Air or Aliment : for the cavities they are lodg'd in , are generally somewhat bigger than themselves , and they have the Salts of the Stones , and juices of the trees , to suck and lick , which together with the transcolation of such fine dews , may very well support an Animal of so slender a dyet ; that no way spends it self in perspiration ; and is † † D. Abercromby's discourse of Wit . §. 5. absolutely shut up from all other expence of its juices or Spirits , in swimming , travelling , generation , or otherwise . And by the same means no question lived the two Animals somewhat like Evets or Newts , but as big as Ratts , being a spanlong , of a very yellow colour , whereof we had an account from the same Dr Pierce of Bath above mention'd , which were found embraceing one another head to head , and belly to belly , in the hollow of a solid Free-stone , somewhat bigger than themselves , dugg up 2 foot and ½ , or 3 foot under ground , which being enlarged crawled about , and were kept alive some time r r Letter Book of the Philosoph . Society of Oxford . Mar. 17. 1684/5 and Apr. 11. 1685. . But of these no more , because I am unwilling to prevent the ingenious Mr. Beaumont , now most laudably designing the Natural History of Somersetshire , wherein I heartily wish him all imaginable encouragement .

48. Also by this means these Animals seem not only to be precluded from all injuries they might otherwise receive from forraigne Enemies , and from the changes of the seasons of the year , they remaining always as it were in an equal state , without any change either of Air or dyet , things no doubt on 't that conduce not a little , to the prolongation of life ; but to what period of time , in Animals thus imprison'd , and secluded from observation , is not easy to conceive , much less to determine ; though I believe one may venture in general to pronounce it a pretty long one : for upon supposition that the Toad in the tree at Lapley was dropt on the bole of it when young , or otherwise generated in some hole or cleft it might then have ; it must necessarily have continued there a long time , the tree when fell'd carrying a full yard square where the Toad lay , which it could not arrive to , in a few years . And if the story of the Toad in the top Stone of the Steeple at Statfold , may be allowed to be true , we must then perhaps afford them some hundreds of years , to have continued in this State ( the Steeple being grown so old , that they took it down to prevent falling ) which too in all probability would have been prolong'd to a much greater period , had it never been found and exposed to the Air.

49. After the oviparous digitated quadrupeds that sometimes frequent the waters ; I come next to consider the others , that are also oviparous and digitated , but wholy terrestrial ; whereof I had one sent me by my worthy friend Francis Wolferstan Esq plowed up in his grounds at Statfold , where too they are sometimes seen in frosty weather on the Sunny-side of old hedges , in the bottoms whereof they have their holes , which they recover so nimbly , that 't is a hard matter to surprize them . In the length , and general make of their body , they most of any thing resemble a Newt : but in some things are so different from that and all others of the Lizard-kind that I can find in Authors , that either it must be wholy or but imperfectly described , though we allow it a place under the Genus of Lizards . For beside that it differs in colour from all the Newts or Ascars that ever I saw , being of a dirty yellow on the back and taile , and blue under the throat , and most part of the belly ; it has a round tail , skipping like a Squirrel and strongly raising up its head when it runns : whereas the tailes of Newts , Evets , or Ascars , are always flat , lying still when discovered or crawling but little .

50. And whereas the back of the Evet or Newt is covered with a tough membran , these both back and tail are Scaled all over ; the Scales , especially those on the tail , lyeing in oblong squares like the tiles or shingles of a house , only they have wider joynts at some certain distances than else where , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 5. in which it pretty well agrees with the green Lizard or Liguro of Bononia s s Joh. Jonstoni Nat. Hist. de Quadruped . Tab. 76. , only in the colour , and magnitude , it is quite different ; so that the fittest description I can think of for it , is , the Lacerta terrestris lutea squammosa Anglica , which whether agreeable , to the land Ascar ( as Dr. Lister thinks it may ) or not agreeable , is indifferent to me , even that being only named , and not described , in any Author that I can find .

51. Amongst the viviparous digitated Quadrupeds though I met none undescribed , yet some there were attended with so very unusual accidents , that they must not be past by ; and such was the Rabbit taken in Salt warren , that had two teeth growing out of the lower jaw , that turned round over the nose above the upper jaw , with that length and compass , that they almost touch't the forehead in the return , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 6. which surely must so incommode the animal in feeding , that I see not which way it could performe to it self , that most necessary good office , unless by licking in its food on each side the mouth : but this inconvenience it seems was not so great , as what it met with at last upon account of these teeth , by which it was taken , and kill'd , being hang'd by them in a hedge ; so that though they did not occasion it's death by starveing , it did it as effectually another way . And yet for a Rabbit to have such teeth as these , is not so very extraordinary , but there have been others seen like it at other places , particularly as I was told by the Lady Offley , at Sr. John Crew 's at Vtkinton in Cheshire , tho' not thus suffering death by the misfortune of them .

52. Another as uncommon an Accident , as perhaps ever befell any of the viviparous digitated Quadrupeds , or that one shall hear of in an Age ; was found in a Hare , about the year of our Lord 1667 by Sr. Willoughby Aston , John and Tho. Offley Esq's Mr. Clayton of Onneley and divers others , who goeing a coursing for an Easter Hare , kill'd one on Birch-hill 'twixt Madeley Manor , and Onneley , which being opened and her entralls taken out was hung upon a beating pole at one of their Servants backs ; where as she was carryed , Sr. Willoughby Aston espyed a protuberance in her flank , which he haveing a curiosity to open , there was found in it a young Hare , with the furr on , that could see , which was taken out by Mr. Tho. Offleys man , and kept a live nine days after with milk ; the most remarkable circumstance being this , that it was out of due place , and no rupture that could be perceived offerd , either in the killing , or opening the old Hare : it is rememberd also that it had a ductus to its navel , but where it terminated in the old Hare , they were too incurious to observe .

53. Which how it should come to pass is hard to conceive , otherwise than either by the stoppage of the Cornua Vteri by the corruption of the Faetus of some former impregnation ; or a too long stay of the Egg in the Ovarium , where it acquired a growth too great before it fell , to pass the Tube into the Womb : in both which cases the Embryo must necessarily continue and be formed in the Testicle , whence by the extension in its growth , it must also as necessarily force its way through it , into some part of the Abdomen . As it was in the case of a hound Bitch of the right Honorable James Earl of Abbington , which being with whelp , by an unfortunate blow , had her Faetus dyed in her , whereof she discharged a great part in putrid matter and flesh by the Pudendum , and was afterward able to run again in the pack : but the bones , firmer muscles , and thicker Skins of the Embryos yet remaining within her , so stufft up the horns of her Womb , that the Eggs upon a second impregnation , finding no passage there , were forced back into divers parts of the Abdomen , whereby ( her belly being distended into very ill shapes ) she after some time dyed . Being dead , his Lordship being very curious , and knowing her to have been twice with Puppy and never to have whelp't , he sent her over to his skillfull Chirurgeon Mr. Pointer of Oxford , who opening her carefully in the presence of divers Physicians , found the Cornua Vteri so stufft as above mention'd , and several whelps i● divers parts of the Abdomen : whereof the Reader may see a more full account in the Philosophical Transactions t.

54. As he also may of the other case where the Egg stayed so long in the Ovarium , and grew there so great before it fell , that it could not pass the Fallopian Tube : this happen'd in a human Faetus of Madam de St. Mere a French Lady , which staying in this manner , as was supposed , so long in the Testicle ( for in this case neither the Womb or Tube were stop't with the remains of any dead Embryo ) at length extended it self to that greatness in its growth , that it broke the Ovarium long-ways and in the middle of the side ( as was found by Monsieur de S. Maurice M. D. her Physician who was present at the opening her body after she was dead ) and forced its way into the right flank , whence it was taken forth so perfectly formed , that they could manifestly discover in it the Sex of a Boy u u Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 150. . And this last was most likely the the case of the Hare , though it be very strange it should be taken forth alive , after such a course , and death of its damm ; or that it had not kill'd her long before , which certainly it must have done in a little time , it being very unlikely that the damm could have any way litter'd it , so as either to have preserved her young one , or self .

55. Which is all I met worthy notice concerning viviparous digitated Quadrupeds , but two doggs ( which are also reckon'd amongst these ) indeed so curious and strange , that I thought not amiss even to represent them in Sculpture . Tab. 22. Fig. 7. and 8. the former whereof , begotten I suppose between a Guinea Dog and an English Spaniel , was English in his foreparts , and Guinea in his hinder , so that he always naturally appear'd as if newly trimm'd , with single tuffts left on his back and the end of his tail , as is usually done to trimmed Spaniels . This former belong'd to Mr. Chetwynd of Ingestre and was call'd Guiney , not I think so much for the sake of the Countrey whence he had a moyety of himself , as for the price he cost his Master ; and the latter to Mr Pargiter of Mavesyn Ridware , which descended I suppose from the same stock with the former , though not so equally divided betwixt the two Countries , this being curiously spotted , and for the most part naked , his head only adorned with an English Peruque , and his tail with a single tufft at the end .

56. Next the viviparous digitated , the Quadrupeda 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 the cloven-footed Quadrupeds , fall under consideration ; whereof some , neither chew the Cudd , nor are horned ; others , doe chew the Cudd , but have no horns ; and others again , both . Of the first Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 147. kind of these , are reckon'd only Swine ; and the Hippopotamus , no where found in these parts of the world ; but of the former they have a race in some places in this County , much larger than ordinary : of which I saw , and measured a Bore , at the right Worshipfull Sr. Brian Broughton's of Broughton Baronet ( whose beautifull Seat is here annext Tab. 21. ) 4 foot and one inch , i. e. 'twixt 12 and 13 hands high , the bristles prest down on his back ; from the tip of the nose to the setting on of the tail , 7 foot 2 inches ; and the tail it self 15 inches long : a stature not much short , if not fully equalling the great Hogg of upper-Tadmerton in the County of Oxon w w Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. § 37. . They have of these large sized Hoggs also about Statfold in this County , one of the teeth whereof ( if one may guess by the bigness ) was sent me by Mr. Wolferstan , which has another little one growing out of it , much like the smaller Ears of Triticum multiplex out of the great one , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 9. And Mr. Inge of Thorp-Constantine sent me at the same time , an irregular bone taken out of the Omentum or Caul of a female Swine of one of his Tenants which they call a Gilt , which grew just against the place where she had been spay'd , the form whereof is exactly represented Tab. 22. Fig. 10. which being single Enormities of Nature , are hardly to be accounted for .

57. Of Animals that chew the Cudd , but have no horns , there are none in this County , this Species being so narrow , that only Dromedaries , Camels , and Camelopardi , are found of it ; unless we should reckon the Ews and Weathers , that indeed Chew the Cudd , & have no horns , under this Species : but the Ews of some places being horned like the Ramms , and seeing the Weathers all would be so , if not prevented in some by cutting , they are reasonably enough all counted cornigerous . Where by the way perhaps it may not be altogether unworthy the enquiry , or the Readers knowledge ; how it comes to pass , that there is so great a connexion between the Testicles and the horns of some Quadrupeds , ut se mutuo ponant & tollant ; as it is in some Sheep , and all red and fallow deer , whose doucets if taken away , whilst calves or fawns , before they come to be Knibbers or Prickets , i. e. before they have hornes , will never have any at all : whereas in Oxen it is quite contrary , whose hornes are much larger than they would have been , had they remained Bulls , or never been castrated . A Question scarce started before , that ever I could hear of , much less consider'd or stated , amongst the Philosophers , or Georgical writers .

58 , Which that I may doe in some tolerable manner , rather to incite others to doe it better , than out of any hopes I have to determine the thing : let it be noted , first that all Animals ( as well as plants ) doe always throw off some 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or superfluous juices , and that out of these [ in Animals ] spring , horns , nails , hoofs , hair , wool , scales , feathers , &c. as Leaves , moss , fungus's , &c. doe out of Trees . Secondly , that horns , hair , wooll , &c. ( though in respect of the body on which they grow , they may in some sense be said to be excrementitious ) yet having once acquired vegetation , and growing out of the Skin as out of their proper earth , not by apposition , but extending themselves organically , in their cavities , length , bredth , and thickness , and in all these proportionably ; they cannot I think but ( without a Metaphor ) be referr'd suo modo to the family of plants ; as has been most fully made out by the learned Dr. Glisson x x Fran. Glissonii Tractat. de partibus continentibus , cap. 6. § §. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , & 6. . And thirdly , that horns , hair , and wool , though they seem so different , yet as trees in some measure partake of the Soile in which they grow , so all these seem to be constituted of the same common matter with the Skin it self , and to be of the same lineage or family , and so all the membrans , nerves , and nervous fibres , wheresoever in the body : which most evidently appears in their being exposed to the fire , all shrivelling up after the same irregular manner , breathing the same fetid odour , and being of the same Medical use : qualities that never are found in things of different Species's .

59. Thus horns , wool , or hair , exposed to the flames , are furled up , and send forth the same nauseous sent ; so that hair , and wool , seem to be nothing else but imperfect horne , or the fibres of horn seperated , and not fasciated together as they are in intire horns and hoofs , and as the stalks of some plants are , when there is an exuberancy of matter : haire , wool , or weak hornes being then produced , when the Juices whence they spring , are some way depauperated ; and strong horns , when they abound and are vigorous . Whence it is that Bulls whose blood and seminal juices , are spirituous , hot , and plentifull ; have thick , short , and strong horns , in proportion to the hair of Men of robust Constitutions , which is commonly short , course , and curled : whereas Oxen , whose blood and juices by castration is in great measure enervated , produce but a thin , weak , and long horn , in proportion to the hair of women , which is generally longer , finer , and less curled , than that of Men. But in some Sheep , and all deer , whose blood and seminal juices are much less vigorous than that of Bulls , the superfluous juices that give both birth and augmentation to horns , are so diminisht and weaken'd in them by castration , that they can afford no supply for the production of them at all , but only of wool or hair which as I said before are an imperfect sort of horn ; whence it comes to pass that Weathers ( these superfluous juices being now wholy spent in the production of wool ) are said to have greater fleeces than other sheep ; and that Staggs and Bucks if gelt , never mew their heads like other deer , there being now no new matter to cause a new horn to put up , and thrust off the old one .

60. Yet in some sort of Sheep these superfluous juices are so very plentifull and strange , that they produce 4 or 6 , and sometimes eight horns upon the head of the same Sheep ; whereof there are plenty with four in this County , at Gnosall , Knightley , Blore , and Ingestre parks ; and as I was told there were of them formerly in the park at Loxley ; Johnston gives us a Cutt of one of them , calling it Hircus Cotilardicus with six horns y y Joh. Johnstoni Nat. Hist. de Quadruped . Tab. 27. ; and Dietericus Brinckius , tells us there are of them in the Isle of Loufouden on the coast of Norway , with eight z z Dieter . Brinckii Prodrem . è Norwegia cap. 8. . Dr. Grew in his Catalogue of the Rarities in the Musaeum of the Royal Society at Gresham College , calls these Moscovy Ramms , and perhaps not amiss , the description of which Animals , or their hornes , he says he could meet no where a a Neh. Grew . Musaei Reg. Societ . part . 1. Chap. 2. : But had he consulted the Natural History of Oxfordshire printed 7 years before his Edition of that Catalogue , he might have found some account , and Cutts of them too : there having been of them living many years before my travelling that County in the right Honorable the Earl of Abbingtons park at Ricot , and in divers other parts both of England and Wales b b Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. §. 39. Tab. 10. Fig. 10 , 11. . Now whether castration of these , whose juices are so strong , will wholy take away , or any way diminish the number or magnitude of their hornes , as in some other Sheep ; or augment them as in Oxen ? perhaps may be another Question yet undecided , and worthy the observation and communication of the Naturalist .

61. Sheep then being reckon'd amongst the cornigerous Quadrupeds , as seldom being otherwise but upon accident only ; let us return again after this long , but I hope not impertinent digression , to such uncommon accidents as have been found to attend them in this County . For I account it but accidental , that they have in the Moorelands a peculiar sort of them , that have all black noses , which thrive well enough on the barrennest Soile , and produce pretty good wool , yet too long for the use of the Felt-makers of New-Castle , unless for childrens hatts , which they attribute wholy to the Limestone rocks on which it is bred ; the best being produced upon dry Sandy Soils , such as Beech , Swynnerton , Mare , Chedleton , and Drayton , of which ( being pretty short and fine ) they make some use ; but cheifly of the wools of Shropshire , and Lemster : most of the shortest and finest wools of this County being ordinarily sold into Warwick and Glocester shires ; and their longest , which are bred in the moister Soiles , which they otherwise call broad-wools , into York-shire and Lancashire , where they make courser clothes .

62. It being ordinary for Sheep to breed but once in a year , it may perhaps be remarkable , what was told me by the worthy Mr Bott of Dunstall , viz. that he had a Sheep about 12 years agoe , that brought him one Lamb at Christmass , and another at St. James tide after ; and another Ewe that had two Lambs about three weeks before Christmass , a third about a week after Midsummer , and a fourth upon twelft day following ; so that within thirteen months she brought 4 Lambs at three yeanings : the latter whereof were both superfetations , occasioned no question by goeing to Ramm at so many distant times . Whence 't is plain that such Animals as these will admit of coition after impregnation as well as Mares and Women ; in the former whereof though Aristotle allows no superfetations to have ever happen'd , yet in the latter he affords us several Examples : more particularly of an Adulteress , who was delivered of one child like her husband ; and of another after , like the Adulterer ; and of two others that had two children at a birth , and a third five months after c c Aristotelis Hist. Animal . Lib. 7. cap. 4. & Plinii Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 11. . And of later years Dr. Harvey tells us of a Servant Maid gotten with child by her Master , that was sent to London in September to hide her shame , where being brough to bed well , and returning home , had another unexspectedly in December , whereby her own and Masters faults ( before successfully concealed ) were unhappily discovered d d Gul. Harvei Tract. de Partu . p. 261. . And this is all I heard of extraordinary relating to Sheep , but that Ano. 1679 , a Lamb was yeaned at Bentley green with the two hind leggs wreath't together , so that it went per saltum , with the thighs on the ground , drawing the double Leg after it .

63. It is also very remarkable in the breeding of Deer ( which are also reckon'd amongst the horned Animals that chew the Cudd though the females never have any ) that they sometimes cast Fawnes with their lower jaws so short , that they cannot suck , and so consequently all dye ; and it is no less observable , that these short jawed Fawnes are all white ones , as if this were a colour of imperfection in Animals , as well as in Plants e e Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Char. 6. §. 38. and Chap. 7. § §. 13 , 14 , 15. . Of these the worthy Mr. Chetwynd had several cast in his Park at Ingestre An. 1680 ; and so had the right Honorable Robert Lord Ferrers at Stanton in Leicestershire ; the same I also met with long since at Watlington-park , belonging to the Worshipfull Thomas Stonor Esq in my travells thro' Oxfordshire , but looking upon it then as a single accident , I took no notice of it in that History . In the breeding of Deer , it has also been observed at Chartley † † In Novemb. An. 1679. , and elsewhere in this County , that upon killing of them , there has been sometimes found the bones of young Fawnes in the matrix's of the Does , which doubtless have dyed in them upon some unfortunate blow or other accident , as in the case of the bitch above-mention'd §. 53. of this Chapter .

64. The same I have heard has likewise happen'd to a Doe in Woodstock park in the County of Oxon. And at some other places : and in the parke at Ingestre a Hare was kill'd some time since , that had all the bones and furr of a young Hare in her , complicated up together into a round ball : which accidents are so far from always proveing mortal to these Animals , that they may possibly be impregnated after them , and produce other Fawns , or Hares , these bones of the former dead Faetus's still remaining within them : for I know not why a Doe or Hare should not be capable of this , as well as a Cow or Woman : there haveing been a Cow kill'd at Hopton in this County that had an intire perfect calf , and the bones of another found in her ; and Katherine Parry of the parish of Kintbury in Berkshire haveing been deliverd of a child An. 1668 after she had had a human Faetus dyed in her : as appeared from a great quantity of corruption , with several pieces of flesh and skin , that came from her two or three days after her delivery , and from divers bones that she voided with her monthly evacuations , with several parts of a Skull , and some of the larger bones of the body of a Faetus , that work't their way through her flesh above the Os Pubis five years after : within which time she conceived again 3 several times , and had 3 children more at 3 following births , after the last of which only these bones came away f f Journal . Book of the Philosophical Society of Oxon. Session of Octob. 7. in An. 1684. : as the bones of a former child did , from a Citizens wife of Wenden in Livonia , a year after she had been deliver'd of a perfect living child , as was testifyed by a publick instrument under the common Seal of the City * * Tho. Bartholini Histor. Anatom . Cent. 4. Hist. 14 .

65. Beside these unusual accidents in the breeding of Deer , there are many others worth notice that have happen'd to some of them , since their being cast , in relation to their heads : many of the redd deer in Chartley park having no heads at all , others being Vnicorns , and those that have but one horn , that but a dwarf one neither , and commonly very irregular ; the deer notwithstanding being as well grown in their bodies , and as warrantable in their season , as in any of the neighbouring Forrests or Parks , where they put up as fair heads , as in any parts of England . Which abatement therefore of their heads , must needs proceed , either from some defect in the Park ; or some accidental alteration of the soil ; as it happen'd at Cornbury in Oxfordshire , where the stocking the park with Conys only , made all the deer thus abate of their heads , upon what account see the History of Oxfordshire g g Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. §. 45. . But the reason there given having no place here , I can assigne no other so probable as the want of brouse in this park , the underwoods being but inconsiderable in respect of its extent , and the trees most of them dead , as represented in the Map , the leaves and young Cions of plants supplying it seems fitter matter for the heads of deer , than grass or other forrage . But whether this will hold at Wyse-wood in Glocestershire , where I hear there are also Staggs , some with no horns , others with very short ones ; I have yet had no opportunity of learning .

66. Other irregular Bucks-heads I met with at Ingestre and Dudley , and some other places : that in the Hall at Ingestre being a large head of a full grown Buck , which put up all the time from the burrs only two smooth beams , having indeed brow-Antlers , but no back ones , palm , or spellers , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 11. Such another head as this I met with at Tortworth in Glocestershire , in the Hall of the right Honorable the Lady Viscountess Downe ; so that I cannot look upon this as a single accident , but one that happens sometimes , though not frequently . The other at Dudley , is of a living white - Buck , kept within the Castle by the right Honorable the Lord Ward , which puts up annually form the burrs only two beams , without either brow or back-Antlers , palm , or spellers , ascending pretty straight , and adorned at the top with balls or knobbs , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 12.

67. Olearius in his Itinerary tells us of whole heards of such , call'd Ahu deer , he saw in the Province of Mokan in Persia , whose heads had no brow-Antlers , but were smooth to the top like ours , only that they bent backwards like the horns of a Goat h h Voyages of Adam Olearius Book 5. ; which ( beside the unlikelyhood that this should be brought thence ) is enough to shew that it cannot be referr'd to that species of deer : though no body knows whence this came , it being taken alive by the Colliers in an old Coal-work , and brought to the Castle bound in a Wheel-barrow . Contrary to these I met with some other heads spred into three branches , having all their Antlers , palms , and spellers whereof there is one at Chartley , and another ( I think ) in the house at Sandon : and I was told by the Worshipfull Collonel Edward Vernon deputy Lieutenant of that Forrest of Needwood , that there was a buck now living in the Forrest , that had a head spread into 4 branches ; which as the former were defects , are excesses of Nature ; and proceed no question from the exuberancy of Matter that supplys these parts . And so much for Deer .

68. Let us next proceed to Cows , Oxen , and Horses , and so conclude this seventh Chapter : of the former of which , my worthy friend Mr. Bott of Dunstall had one so prolific near 30 years agoe , that she brought him 2 Calves at a time , 3 times together ; and the fourth time three ; so that she had 9 Calves in 3 years time . One Thomas Laurence of Wombourn also had a Heifer , that at two years old brought him 3 Calves , then two , then two more , and at last 3 again ; haveing ten Calves within the same time . Nor hath the fecundity of this Animal been more conspicuous , in the multitude and frequency of its Off-spring , than in the earliness of it ; there having been a Cow-calf at Cannal in this County , the Seat of the right Worshipfull Sr. Francis Lawley , that ( like Mrs. Dunches at Newington in Oxfordshire i i Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. §. 41. ) had another presently after she was eleven Months old , viz. 3 weeks and some odd days , before she was a Twelve-monthing . I have it also from very good hands , that Tho. Bratt jun. of Wolverhampton Butcher , bought a Cow at Tole-end in the parish of Tipton , with a calf by her side , which promising well , he forbore to kill , letting it goe with the Damm till it weaned it self , by reason ( as 't is thought ) the Damm was so far gone with another calf , that it liked not the milk ; or else because gone as far it self with calf , at the same time ; they both calving within a week of each other , the Heifer wanting a fortnight of being 12 Monthes old .

69. Which sort of Cattle goeing nine Months , we must either admitt that these calves took bull at about two Months old ; or that their Damms cast them at first pregnant with others , like the Hungarian Cow mentioned by David Spilinbergerus , which brought forth a Calf with a great belly , wherein was found another with all its limbs perfect k k Miscellan. curi●s . Med. Phys. G●rman . ●●n. 1. observ. 36. ; and as it was in a Lamb of Thomas Grove of Rowley Regis in this County , which he sold to a Butcher , who killing it , found another Lamb in its belly . As it hath also hapened in a human Faetus , and in some other Animals l l Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Cap. 7. §. 42. . Now how such wonderfull productions should come to pass is hard to determine : I am sure Bartholin's conjecture ; [ that Nature in these at first intended only Twinns , and that by some casualty , one of each of these Faetus's might be thrust into the bel●y of the other , over which a Skin might be easily superinduced m m Tho. Fartholini Anatom . Med. rar . Hist. 66. ] seems very improbable : for why should one Faetus tarry in the Womb twice as long as another ? when supposed to be begotten at the same time . Therefore much rather shall I allow in our two cases , that these calves took bull at about the age of two months , since the Goat is said to begin to use coition at 7 days old n n Sr. Th. Brown's Enquiries into vulgar Errors Book . 5. Chap. 20. , upon which account the Emblematists usually exprest fecundity by that Animal .

70. At Frodley in this County , Elizabeth Scofield widdow , had a cow that cast a calf of a monstrous shape , having a horn , the elder , and two leggs of another coming out of its back ; which lived a long time , and as it fill'd it self with sucking or otherwise , so did the calf on its back : so that Nature indeed in this case seemed to have designed two calves , which possibly might be some way thrust into one another , according to the sentiment of Bartholin , as 't is like it might also happen in the instance he mentions of Lazarus Colloredo and his brother Baptist o o Ibid. But this will not reach the case of the Hungarian Cow ; or the Sheep of Mr. Grove of Rowley abovemention'd ; the Spanish Mare of Nierembergius ; or of Joan the wife of Nicholas Peter of Vleslovia in Fionia ; each of which brought forth Animals of their own kind , impregnated with others , duly placed in the Womb p p Nat Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 7. § 42. . The Calves that were cast near Shredicot , and at Rewle , in the same parish of Bradeley , each with 5 leggs , must also be reckon'd amongst the monsters of this Species ; and so must that cast at Roycroft in the parish of Rushall , which was a yard and an inch high at 2 days old , and had horns on its head an inch long , and ( being a Cow-calf ) milk in its elder ; the former whereof perhaps might be occasion'd , as the supernumerary leggs of birds , from ova gemellifica q q Gul. Harvei . de Generat . Animal . exercit . 23. ; and the latter by the Cows goeing beyond her time . It must also be remembred before I have done with the accidents relating to Calves , that there was a Cow at Thorp Constantine about 12 years since , that being observed not to cast her calf in due time , was fatted up , and kill'd ; in whose Matrix ( when open'd ) there was found the Sceleton of a calf , all the bones hanging intirely together as in Tab. 22. Fig. 13. lying in a reddish weighty substance somewhat like red-lead or bole Armeniac the fleshy parts being either wasted by corruption , or dryed up by the heat of the Womb , like the Calf of John Huswig Minister of Fredericks-burg mention'd by Bartholin † † Tho. Bartholini Historiar . Anatom . Cent. 2. Hist. 2. . Which no question had been kill'd by some unfortunate accident , as the Faetus's of the Hare , Doe , and cow above mentioned , the bones still remaining thus within their bodies , though not perhaps in so good order as these .

71. It is a pretty common thing amongst this sort of cattle , to have balls of hair found in their Stomachs cover'd over with a smooth shining coat or shell , occasion'd I suppose by their licking themselves ( which they doe most whilst in proof ) and swallowing the hair that then comes off them in plentifull manner ; of which , elaborated in the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , or reticulum , the first or second ventricle ( where they are most times found r r Geo. Hieron . Vel●●●● 〈◊〉 Med. Philosoph . de Agagropilis p. 8. ) these balls of hair are often formed , and compacted together much after the manner that the wool of a Hat is , by the hand of the workman ; which lying in the Stomack some considerable time , has ordinarily a pretty thick and tough coat superinduced over it , by the plenty of slime it there meets with : if it lye there long , it is usually of a chesnut ; if a lesser time , of an ash-colour ; of the former of which I met with a large fair pattern at Mr. Fowk's of little Worley in the parish of Norton ; and of the latter had one sent me from Mr. Jackson of Stansop in the parish of Alstonfield . But if taken out of the Stomack quickly after 't is elaborated , as it is sometimes in young calves that are kill'd , the hair is not found cover'd with any coat at all , nor complicated like the former , the outer parts of the hair of them standing up loose , but lyeing parallel and winding , like the hair on the crown of a Mans head , which not being so common I have caused to be ingraven Tab. 22. Fig. 14. which was given me by the Worshipfull Jonas Grosvenor of Wolverhampton Esq and taken ( as he told me ) out of the Ventricle of a young calf , not of age I suppose either to spare phlegme from its aliment , or afford time , for the superinducing of such a smooth shining coat or shell , wherein these balls are commonly found included .

72. Which Pliny would have only to be met with in the reticulum , or second ventricle , calling them tophos nigricantes s s C. Pimis 2. Nat. Hist. Lab. 11. cap. 3● . ; and Ferrante Imperato , Topho di Giovenca t t Dell Hest . Naturale ●ab . vigesimo ottavo . cap. 1. in finc . ; whom Wormius follows and stiles tophos Invenci u u Mus●●● Wormian . Lab. 1. § 2. cap. 8. ; but they doe not always stay either in the first or second stomack but sometimes pass on even into the intestines , as Bauhinus also ownes w w Casp . Bauhou de lapide Bezaar . cap. 12. , and are cast forth by Seige : whereof I have one by me found in the dung of a Cow at Statfold in this County and given me by the Worshipfull Francis Wolferstan Esq of a cineritious colour , not shining , and an oval figure , made so perhaps by the compression in its exit . Which is also confirmed by Wierus who tells us of one drawn out of the Colon of a heifer at the City of Pisa x x De praestigus Daemonum Lab. 3. cap. 5. . Nor are they only found in the intestines of cows , but of horses too ; the same Mr. Wolferstan having met with another of them amongst the dung of a Horse at the fame place ; light , exactly sphericall , of a dun colour ; but not so bigg as that cut out of the Horse of Crenkus a Lippa An. 1562 which was as bigg as a goose egg , and two pounds in weight , preserved amongst the rarities of Rudolphus King of Hungary y y Casp . Bauhini de lapide Bezaar . cap. 14. . Scaliger also informes us out of the Commentaries of Moses Kimbi , of a horse that voided many of these tophi by Seige , whereof he had one in his possession z z Jul. Scalig. Lab. 15. de subtilitate Exercit. 125. . And Chilianus Hattomanus of Breslaw in Silesia had a horse that excluded many of them , being at last kill'd by one of an extraordinary Sise , of which we have an account both in Bauhin a a Ibidem . and Schwenckfeld , b b In Thertotrophro Stlefiae . titulo Equus . which they call Hippolithos , and from its supposed virtues Bezoar equinum .

73. There are such balls too found in the Stomacks of horses made up of the slender stalks of Spartum minimum Anglicum or small English mattweed , first discover'd to me by the ingenious Mr. Cole Surveyor of his Majesties Customs at Bristol and by him call'd Spart balls or pilae mansae ; which I found also true in one that I had by me that was taken out of the Maw of a Sheep , and given me by a Country man ( whose name I have lost ) of Stanley in in this County ; there is also a fibrous ball taken out of the Stomack of a Sheep in the Repository of the R. Society at Gresham College London c c Musaeum Reg. Societat . Part 1. cap. 2. in append●ce . ; both much such other things I guess , and perhaps of as much virtue as the balls thus made out of the roots and fibers of plants , that are so commonly found in the Stomacks of the Shamois in the Alpine Countrys , by Bauhin and others call'd the German Bezoar , haveing a gratefull Aromatic smell even before they are opened d d Casp . Bauhini de lapide Bezaar . cap. 13. : which is not so much to be wondered at , being made up of the small roots and leaves of the most odoriferous Alpin plants number'd up by Velschius in his treatise de Aegagropilis e e Geo. Hieron . Velschu dissert. de Agagropilis pag. 35 , 36 , 37 , 38. ( which he thinks the most proper name for these balls ) and not so much of the roots of Doronicum , as Baubin would have them ; the Samois frequenting many parts of the Alps where no Doronicum growes , the roots too of these balls being generally smaller than those of Doronicum ; yet for Bauhin's sake he does not wholy reject them .

74. That such balls should be found in the Stomacks of Animals , is indeed a little odd ; but it would be strange if any such heterogeneous body should be naturally fast lodged in any of the vital parts : and yet even this has been met with at Caldmore in this County , at the house of one Mr. William Hawe ; where about Christmass An. 1679 there was a large bone ( considering the place ) taken out of the heart of a Beeve , of the form and bigness as described in the Cutt , Tab. 22. Fig. 15. just two inches long , and pretty thick at one end ; but there it has holes in it as represented in the figure , which shew it to be hollow and thin , yet it is very hard and solid . Such bones as these are commonly found in the hearts of Staggs , and are thought to be a help for the stronger and more steady motion of the muscles of them f f M●●cum Reg. Se●t●t part. 1 Chap. 2. ; to be a good cordial in Physick ; and very usefull in preventing abortions g g Job . S●r●dr● Pharmac●p . Med. Chy●● Lab ▪ 5. cl●s . 1. ; for all which such a bone as ours out of the heart of an Ox , may perhaps be as well substituted , and as soon trusted .

75. Nor is it less strange what happened at Wasall in this County , relating to one of these Cattle ; where one Richard Nichols a butcher of the Towne killing a bull bred at Rugely , not at all diseased , or any way differing from others of its kind that could sensibly be perceived , its tallow was found to shine so vividly in the dark , that they could see any part of the room by it ; held to the Chimney , they could so plainly see all the joynts of the bricks , that they could number them ; the hand laid upon it might be seen in all its parts ; and others for experiment counted Mony by the light of it ; held up to the ceiling it shon so strongly against it , that it made a circle of light upon it ; continuing thus to shine for about 10 days , notwithstanding much prejudiced by peoples frequent handling it , that came in multitudes dayly to see it . That the flesh of this species both young and old , will sometimes shine in the dark , Mr. Boyle and Dr. Beal have both afforded us ample proof , in two necks of Veal , and a piece of beef ; it hath also been observed by the same worthy persons in a pullet and in hoggsflesh ; and in all these whilst fresh and good , before putrefaction h h Phil●●oph 〈◊〉 Na●● . 89. and 125. : but I have no where found that either the fat , suet , or tallow of any Animal , was ever lyable to this quality , though I see no reason but that they might become luminous upon the same principals that flesh , and many other things sometimes are so , the niter of the Air exciting the oily sulphurs in them , which because discoursed of elsewhere in this work i i Chap 3. §. 19. , I forbear mentioning them here ,

76. And proceed to the most memorable accidents I heard of in this County to have at any time befallen the Solipedous Animals : whereof there was a Mare at a place call'd Broadheath betwixt Sighford and Ranton , that cast a monstrous colt with two hind leggs only . There was also a Mare at Bagnal in this County , in which dame Nature err'd in excess , as in defect in the colt , she having five feet though but four leggs ; the fift coming forth about the fetlock of one of the leggs , and hanging loose and useless ( as most monstrosities of excess doe ) which yet they were forced to shooe as well as the other four , it coming to ground , and therefore requiring the same preservation , the rest did . We may also reckon it an excess in a Mare , to cast two Colts at a time , it being very rare that this sort of Animal produces above one : yet that they sometimes doe we have ample testimony , from the Mare of Mr. Caldwall Minister of Millwich that foled two at a time , which lived and thrived well ; in the rearing whereof this was only observable , that the natural affection of the Mare toward them was so impartial , that she never admitted them to suck but together . To which add a Mare of Mr. Thomas Offleys , that had all its limbs perfect and proportionable , without excess or defect , and was five years old ; yet was but one yard , and three inches high : a stature so inconsiderable , that many who bestrid it , reach't the ground with their feet , so that they seem'd to ride and walk at the same time . Nor must it be forgotten that at Thorp Constantine in the Lordship of Mr. Inge , there was a Mare bred that had a bony substance grew out of the hollow of her Ear , somewhat like to one of the Molar teeth of a Man at the upper end , but no branches or fangs at the bottom , having only a cartilagineous substance there , obtuse at the end , as in Tab. 22. Fig. 16.

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〈…〉 depictions of animals and bones

78. And thus I had done too with all the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Solipedous Quadrupeds , but that I was presented with the lower jaw of some Animal with large teeth in it , dugg up in a marle-pit somewhere in the grounds of the Worshipfull William Leveson Gower of Trentham Esq who hath been so noble a Maecenas in promoting this Work , that I could doe no less than present the Reader with a double Prospect of his magnificent Seat , Tab. 23. and 24. Which jaw upon comparison I find so agreeable with the Elephants Skulls in Mr. Ashmoles Musaeum in the University of Oxford , that I dare not pronounce it any thing else but the jaw of a young Animal of that Species ; and therefore rightly placed here , the Elephant being one of the whole-footed Quadrupeds . All the difficulty is , how it should come hither , this Animal being a rarity even at this day in England : to which we must answer , that it must be the jaw of a young Elephant , either kept for the state or pleasure of some great person hereabout ; or brought hither for Shew , which dyed and was here buried ; as the Dromedary brought into this County within memory for the same purpose , dyed by the negligence of his Keeper and was buryed ( where he dyed ) in Tixall field : whose bones hereafter if ever found , may create as much wonder as this has done .

CHAP. VIII . Of Men and Women .

1. MAN , the Subject matter of the following Chapter , being but a single Species of the Animal Kingdom , and that too which the Logicians call specialissima , whereof there is no variety of inferior Species's that can be hoped to be found , into which it may be subdivided , so as to advance any matter ; one would have thought at first sight should have been so narrow a Theme , that it might well have been consider'd in the former Chapter among the other Animals without danger of prolixity : but Man being appointed by his Creator the Lord of all below , having the ordering and disposing of all things here both in relation to Himself and the inferior Animals ; and not living so much within bounds as he should ; but debauching his constitution with too many sensual delights of all kinds ; has rendred Himself lyable in the manage of all these policies , to so many unusual accidents and distempers in the course of his life ; that I guess I may find the relation of them , together with those of his birth and death that have happen'd but within the narrow verge of this County , sufficient to supply matter for another Chapter . Which I shall treat of ( as I ought at least in a Natural History ) according to the order of Nature : beginning first with such uncommon accidents as have befallen Mankind at or before his birth , then in his course of life , and lastly at his death .

2. But before I enter upon the births of Men and Women , it may be worth notice perhaps that I met with one at Millwich of a 11 years old , the child of one Philips , that seemed to be neither ; the Sex not being to be distinguish't by the usual marks , nothing appearing in the place but an unusual aperture of a raw membrane ; which I guess might be nothing else but the neck of the bladder , the childs urin constantly distilling thence : upon which account of the uncertainty of its Species , being in all other parts perfect and well proportion'd , it was Christened Franc. this being a name in common speech indifferent to both Sexes . But I think they needed not have been so nice in this matter , had they well considered ; for though 't is plain Nature was disappointed in perfecting this child , yet she has done enough to shew what she intended ; the child seeming to have somewhat of a Scrotum below the aperture , though none of the other essentials of Manhood ,

3. All unusuall marriages must also be precedent to the births of children ; and so must the unseasonable times of their Parents getting them ; a Man 't is true may marry at what age he pleases , but he seldom does after eighty years of age ; much less can he get children after that time : wherefore Pliny mentions it as an extraordinary thing that Cato Censorius , and Volusius Saturninus , begat Sons after they were past that age ; and that King Massinissa begat his Son Mathimathnus at eighty six years old ; and for Women he says in general they are past child-bearing at fifty a a C. Plinii 2 ll . Nat. Hist. Lab. 7. cap. 14. ; which seem to be the ultimate limits of time , after which neither Men or Women marry , or can get children . Yet both these fall short of what I met with in this County ( and which is more extraordinary ) in the same marryed couple : one John Best of the parish of Horton a man of a 104 years of age , having not many years agoe marryed a woman of 56. Upon whome he got a Son so very like himself ( as I was told by Mr. Smith of the same parish who was Godfather to the child ) that no body doubted but he was the true father of it . Which is more than what Levinus Lemnius relates from the Testimony of a Master of a Ship worthy of credit , that being at Stockholm in Sweden , he was called by the King himself to be present at the marriage of a Man 100 years old , who taking a wife of 30 , had many children by her b b Levini Lemnis de ●ccult . Nat. ●●irac . Lib. 4. cap. 24. .

4. Before the birth of Children , so powerfull is the Pica or Longing of a Woman , that in case she be not presently supplyed with the object of her unreasonable extravagant appetite , she frequently marks her child with some resemblance of it : whereof we daily see so many examples , that it would be impertinent here to instance in any . But the marks she sometimes gives her child upon a fright , are so very observable , that they must not be pass't over ; these being many times more than Skin deep : as I noted it in a Gentlewoman I once saw at London that had the figure of a Mouse on her cheek standing fourth protuberant in mezzo rilievo with the furr on , given her by her mother upon a fright she received from that Animal , whil'st she went with child of her . Nay so strong impressions doe such frights sometimes make upon women ; that they will break the very Skins of the Faetus in the Womb , as we read in the Transactions of a Souldiers wife that had seen some body sore wounded and disfigured , produced a child wounded after the same manner , pieces of flesh in the shape of Pistol-bullets hanging to its body , &c. as it is there represented Fig. 13 c c Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 160. .

5. But I never met with an instance in all my Travells where any of these impressions were so very strong that they dismember'd the Faetus in the same part the object was , which gave the fright , till I came to Leek , where Elizabeth the wife of Jeremiah Tomkinson having heard that one John Heath a Black-Smith who lived in her house , upon reading that of St. Matthew Chap. 5. v. 30. [ if they right hand offend thee , cut it off ] had repaired to his brothers house a Wood-man of Cunsall , and taken oportunity with one of his brothers instruments to cut off his right hand ; was so affected with it , being then about the time of her conception ( though she saw not the fact , nor heard of it till next day after it was done ) that she brought forth a man child ( whom I saw my self An. 1681 ) without a right hand , couped at the wrist much about the place where John Heath had cut his hand off . Which I take to be almost as strange an instance of the kind , as any of those mention'd by Bapt. Van Helmont : who tells us of a Taylors wife of Mechlin who seeing a Souldier loose his hand in a conflict before her doore , was so terrifyed with it , that she presently was deliver'd of a daughter with one hand , the other being cut off , and the child bleeding to death of it . And that the wife of Mark de Vogeler a Merchant of Antwerp , in the year 1602 seeing a Souldier begging , who had his right Arm shot off by a bullet at the Seige of Ostend , which he carryed about with him bloody , I suppose to move pitty ; was presently brought to bed of a daughter also without a right Arm , who was after marryed to one Hoochcamer a Merchant of Amsterdam , and was living in An. 1638 † † Joh. Bapt. Van. Helmont cap. de injectis materialibus pag. 383. Edit. Venetiis An. 1651. .

6. Also before the birth of Children , so many and so apparent are the usual Symptoms commonly known by Women , about the time of conception ; during their goeing with child ; and when near their travel ; that one would think a woman truly with child , could never be so mistaken , as I was told the wife of Samuel Ward of Mearton in this County really was : who after she had been marryed two years , was brought to bed of a daughter , both her self and husband , so little knowing , or so much as thinking she was ever with child , that growing ill near the time of her labour , they sent for a Physician instead of a Midwife . For one to have all these signes , and yet no child at last , is pretty common amongst women ; nay so farr is it from a miracle that they are sometimes incident to ancient women past the age of child bearing , whereof Mrs. Bromwich of the parish of Newland in the Forrest of Dean in Glocestershire , who had all the Symptoms of a pregnant woman at near 80 years of age , is a most remarkable instance d d Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 172. : but to have a child in this manner , and none of the concomitant signes , is so very rare , that I have not yet met with a parallel History in all my reading .

7. Amongst the unusual accidents in the birth of Man we must reckon the surprizing production of Monsters , whether in excess or defect ; to the former of which the ancient Historians have usually referr'd such as are born with teeth , it having been always look't upon very extraordinary to be so born , children seldom breeding them till the seventh month after their birth . Yet Sarab Wood of Brineton in the parish of Blymhill An. 1670. was thus born with two teeth , which was anciently accounted very unfortunate both to Men and Women , as in the instances of Valeria , and our Richard the third King of England , who were both thus born , and one of them the cause of the ruin of Suessa Pometia a most flourishing City e e C. Plinii 2 l● . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 16. , and the other of a no less flourishing Family . But such observations as these I take to be more beholding to superstition than truth ; for we find that M. Curius ( upon this account surnamed Dentatus ) and Cn. Papyrius Carbo to be both born with teeth , yet came to be very great men , and right honorable personages f f Ibidem . .

8. More deservedly by much are the Monsters of defect , I have met with in this County , referr'd hither ; such as that of Elizabeth the wife of John Bird of Whittington near Lichfield , who An. 1679. was brought to bed of a child without upper lip , nose , or eyes ; the hands turned upon the armes , and the feet upon the leggs , one of the heels extravagantly large , and a hole in the back without any backbone ; it could not suck , but took milk and beer freely enough , whereby it lived 3 days , and then dyed . Which 't is true was a birth imperfect and deformed enough , yet not near so much as that of the wife of one Taylor of great-Heywood , who in January 1684. as I received it in a Letter from my very good Friend Mr. Sampson Birch Alderman of Stafford , beside a a perfect still-born child , was deliver'd of another monstrous body , made up of a large Cystis or bagg about the thickness of a Mans Scrotum , smooth on the out side , and somewhat reddish , fill'd with a liquid slimy matter , but not fetid : in the upper part whereof was a round protuberant bone 3 inches and ½ in compass coverd with a thick fleshy Skin beset with short hairs , in which were placed 8 dentes molares in a circular form , having a small hole in the middle which led not farr : below these in another bone were placed 5 other teeth , also of the molar kind , four of them almost in a straight line , and the fift a little below the two uppermost , which in shape , whiteness , &c. all so well resembled teeth , that they could not be thought to be any thing else .

9. Out of the Skin of the Cystis a little below the uppermost bone , in which the eight teeth are set , grew a large lock of hair of a bright brown colour , whose end was intricate and intangled in a larger quantity fastened in the other end of the Cystis opposite to the eight teeth of a more yellowish colour : all which may be conceived well enough by the figure of it Tab. 25. where it is exactly graven in its just magnitude . Now for a just account of this Embryo or preternatural body though it cannot be expected , yet I think I may pronounce without any great diffidence , 1. that it must come from an Egg that descended from the Ovarium through the Tube to the womb , as well as that of the perfect child ; 2. that Nature in this birth at first intended Twinns ; and 3 that the bony and fleshy parts , out of which grew the hair , and the two setts of teeth , were some rudiments design'd to form a head : but how dame Nature came thus to miscarry in her plastics , whether from some external violence which might break the Egg after it came into the womb ? or whether the Egg it self at first was imperfect or subventaneous , out of which Nature being unable to form a perfect Faetus , made the best of what the matter could afford ? as the learned Dr. Tyson more probably thinks , who has written more at large of it g g Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 150. ; I shall not determin , but leave the Reader freely to use his owne judgment .

To the right Wor●p . Sr. JOHN FLOYER Kt. & Dr. of PHYSJCK This 25. Tab. Representing a very Extraordinary birth that happend in this County with all due respect is humbly offered by RP . LL D.

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11. To whom let me add the most Reverend Father in God Dr Gilbert Sheldon late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury , the most munificent Founder of the Theater in Oxford , who was born at Stanton in this County , where goeing to visit the house of his Nativity , in the very room where he was said to have drawn his first breath , I found these Jambicks . Sheldonus ille praesulum primus Pater , Hos inter ortus aspicit lucem Lares , O ter beatam Stantonis villae casam ! Cui cuncta possunt invidere Marmora .

Which it seems were left there by the right Reverend Father in God Dr John Hacket Ld. Bp. of Coventry and Lichfield , who out of his extraordinary devotion to this great Prelat , had purposely made a journey thither not many years before , to visit the place of his birth , where after he had given God thanks for the great blessings he had afforded the world in that place , he sate him down and wrot those verses .

12. Nor has it only furnish't the Church with Prelates , but the Court with Lawyers ; the famous Thomas Littleton Author of the Tenures ; and Edmund Dudley father to John Duke of Northumberland , one of the Judges of his time , being both presumed to be born in this County k k See Fullers Worthies in Staffordsh . : as William de Shareshull Lord cheif Baron , and cheif Justice of the Common pleas , temp. E. 3 ; Sr. Tho. Bromley Lord cheif Justice and Lord Chancellor of England temp . Eliz. and St. Gilbert Gerard Master of the Rolls more certainly were . The Camp too has been supplyed out of this County with many eminent Souldiers ; such as Ralph F. of Stafford , and Sr. James Audley ; two of the first Knights Companions of the most Noble Order of the Garter , who in all probability were born in this County : as S. Hugh Wrottesley another of the first Knights of the same Order most certainly was l l The Jnstitutions Laws and Ceremonies of the most noble Order of the Garter by E. Ashmole Sect. 3. chap. 26. . We may well too presume that Hugh Kilpeck Lord of the goodly Manor of Norbury as Mr. Erdeswick calls it , and upon account of his tenure of some other lands , the Kings Champion at the Coronation ( from whom it descended to the Marmions and Dymocks ) was a good Soldier , and born in this County m m Erdeswicks view of Staffordshire M S in Norbury . .

13. John Bromley Esq lineally descended from Sr. Walter Bromley of Bromley ( the now seat of the Lord Gerard ) in Com. Stafford Kt. temp. R. Johan . who retook the Standard of Guyen 4. Hen. 5. lost to the French in a fierce charge on that wing which Hugh Stafford Lord Bourchier ( his near Kinsman ) then commanded , for which eminent service he had not only the dignity of Knight-hood conferr'd on him , but many lands and offices in those parts , and the said Standard of Guyen given him for the Crest of his Armes : which is born to this day by his lineal Descendant William Bromley of Baginton in Com. Warw. Esq truely heir of the worth , as well as Estate of his Ancestors n n Dugdales Antiquities of Warwicksh . illustrated p. 153. . This valiant Sr. John Bromley was certainly ( I say ) born in this County . And so 't is like too was John Duke of Northumberland who may be reckon'd a good Captain having frequently given proof of his abilities this way , and with good success in all , saving his last Enterprise for the Crown , after the untimely death of King Edward the sixth .

14. To these Mr. Erdeswick adds Ralph and Nicholas sons of John Bagnall born at New Castle under Lyme in this County , who raised again their sunk ancient Family ( once seated at the village of their own name in this County ) by their valour only , for which they were both graced with the Order of Knight-hood ; one at Mussleborough in Scotland ; the other in Ireland . o o Mr. Sampson Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . M. S. in Bagenhall . . To whom give me leave to subjoyn Coll. John Lane of Bentley Esq ( of whom at large hereafter ) and Collonel William Carlis , born at Bromhall in this County , who for his approved valour under his late Majesty at Worcester , and fidelity to him in his distress after , upon whose lap he rested in the Royal Oke ; had his name changed to Carlos ( which is Charles in Spanish ) and a most suitable and honorable coat of Armes granted him by Letters Patents under the great Seal of England , in perpetuam rei memoriam . viz. in a field Or on an Oke proper a Fess Gu. charged with 3 regal Crowns of the second , by the name of Carlos . And for his Crest , a Civic Crown or Oken garland , with a Sword and Scepter crossed through it Saltir-wise . And for Sea-Captains ( though an inland County ) it has produced some very eminent ; witness Sr. Richard Leveson Vice-Admiral of England ; and Sr. Edward Spragg one of the Rere-Admirals in our days , who as I am credibly inform'd , was born in this County . The Family of the Minors's of Hollingbury-Hall in the parish of Vttoxater seems also to have been peculiarly addicted to the Sea ; whereof one William Minors is said to have sailed to the East-Indies eleven times : whither he has been followed by Captain Richard Minors the present Proprietor of that Seat : who has not only signalized himself in our Engagements at Sea against the Dutch , but at land too , against the Rebells ( more particularly at Colchester ) in the late Civil Warrs .

15. It has also obliged the World with as many learned Writers ( for a County so little provided for it 'h Vniversities as this is ) as can reasonably be expected : whereof the ancientest , are John Stafford a Franciscan Friar , both a Philosopher and Divine , but cheifly a Historian , which he shewed in writing a Latin History , de illustrium Virorum rebus gestis , to the time wherein he flourisht , which was about the year 1380 p p Joh. Pitscus de Illustrib . Angl. Script . in Anno citato . . Thomas Asheburn also born in Stafford , and bred in the University of Oxford , where he was Dr. of the chair : a great opposer of Wicliff's doctrin , against which he not only preached and wrot many books , but caused a Convocation to be call'd at London An. 1382. wherein it was solemnly condemned * * Ibidem in Anno citato . . Which yet was mantained notwithstanding by his contemporary and Country-man Peter Pateshull born I suppose at the Town of his own name in this County , but bred also at Oxford , where he proceeded Dr. and was sometimes Professor of Divinity ; a man of a sharp wit , an acute disputant , and an eloquent preacher . He wrot many things against the Monks and Friars of his time , particularly the Augustins , by whom he was persecuted accordingly : yet was made Chaplin at the same time ( if we may beleive Bale ) to Pope Vrban the 6. by the procurement of Walter Dyss an English Carmelite , his Legat here † † Joh. Balei de Scriptoribus Britanniae Cent. Sept. . William de Lichfield Dr. of Divinity , Rector of Allhallows the great in London , wrot many books in his own faculty both in prose and verse , whereof Pitseus has given us a Catalogue q q Joh. Pitsei Illustr. Angl. Script . Append. Cent. 2. , and was so great a Preacher that as Mr. Stow says , he left behind him when he dyed An. 1447 no less than 3083 Sermons of his own writing , which would have been accounted a prodigious number in this preaching age , but was much more so in that r r Stows survey of London in Down gate ward . .

16. Robert Whittington also born at Lichfield , was a great Grammarian , Poet laureat of Oxford , and Protovates Angliae , as he stiles himself in the title-page of his Grammar printed at London by Wynkyn de Worde An. 1517. He wrot many other books of Schole-Learning the Titles whereof may be seen in Pitseus s s Joh. Pitsei Illustr. Angl. Script . in An. 1530. . Henry Stafford Son of Edward Duke of Buckingham attainted and beheaded 12. Hen. 8. 1521. was likewise born in this County , Vir in melioribus quibusque disciplinis insigniter eruditus , says Pitseus of him t t Idem . in An. 1558. , who to avoid the fate of his Ancestors , was contented with the Barony of Stafford only , and leaving all thoughts of State-affaires , applyed himself to his studies , and wrot many things in Latin politely enough both in verse and prose . John Robyns , first Fellow of All Soules Coll after Canon of Ch. Ch. Oxon and Prebend of Windsor , the greatest Mathematician of his time , also had his Nativity here v ; he wrot a book de portentosis Cometis w w Joh. Pitsei illustr. Angl. Script . Append. Cent. 3. , and being much addicted to the study of Astrology , lest many books on that subject , whereof there are several MSS. in the Bodleyan Library in the Vniversity of Oxford x x MS. Fol. inter Cod. Digby numb . 143. . The famous Thomas Allen of Glocester Hall , a great Antiquary , Philosopher , and Mathematician , was likewise born at Bucknall in this County , being descended of one Alanus de Buckenhall temp. Edw. 2. according to the opinion of Mr. Sampson Erdeswick y y Mr. Samps . Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Bucknall . . Who was also born at Sandon in this County , venerandae Antiquitatis cultor maximus , says Mr. Camden of him z z Mr Camden in Com. Staff. , which he has fully made good in the MS. view of this County , by him written .

17. Of later years , Robert Waring M. A. and Student of Christ-Church , was born at Lea house near Wolver hampton , a great Poet , Orator , and Historian , of the latter whereof he was publick Professor at Oxon. He publish 't several tracts , of which there is an account in the History and Antiquities of the University a a Anth. a Wood Hist. & Antiq. Univers . Oxon. Lib. 2. in Coll. Ch. Ch. . Robert Burton also of Ch. Ch. Oxon , commonly otherwise call'd Democritus junior , the learned Author of the Anatomy of Melancholy , is also generally believed by the Inhabitants thereabout , to be born at Fald in this County , where I was shewn the very house ( as they said ) of his Nativity . And William Burton in the selvedg of his Picture before his description of Leicestershire , ownes himself of Fald in this County . Though Mr. Anth. à Wood in the Antiquities of the Vniversity says they were both born at Lindly in the County of Leicester b b Ibid. . Edward Chetwynd Dr. of Divinity of Exeter Coll. of the ancient Family of Ingestre in this County , is likewise placed here , he was Chaplin to Queen Ann , and Dean of Bristol , a great preacher , and publish't many Sermons beside other Tracts c c Ibid in Coll. Exon. . To these add , Sr. Charles Wolsely Baronet now living , a cordial Encourager of this work , who though a lay-Man , has written many things in Divinity . And the learned and ingenious Charles Cotton of Beresford Esq who beside several Translations , has publish't divers other curious pieces , so well known to all ingenious persons , that they need not be named .

18. Lastly , the Worshipfull Elias Ashmole Esq of Brasen-Nose Coll. Oxon , was born at Lichfield in this County , who for his u u Anth. a Wood Hist. & Antiq. Univers . Oxon. Lib. 2. in Coll. Omn. Anim. general skill in all the politer sorts of Learning , such as Heraldry , Antiquities , Chymistry , Astrology , Natural Philosophy , &c. was made first Windsor Herald , and had the supervising and ordering the Kings Cabinet of Coynes , and made Catalogues of those in the Vniversity of Oxon. Which Vniversity upon account of his extraordinary merit , sent him a Diploma for his Drs degree in the Faculty of Physick , ex mero motu without his knowledg or seeking . He was also honoured in the Jnns of Court with the title and degree of Barrister at Law. Lastly our late dread Soveraigne K. Charles the Second being conscious of his great knowledg , industry , and fidelity , made him Controller of all the Excise in England and Wales . He hath obliged the learned world with many curious books , and lately the Vniversity of Oxford with the best History of Nature , Arts , and Antiquities , to be seen any where in the world ; not in print , or Sculpture , but in a generous donation of the real things themselves ; wherewith they have furnish't the new Musaeum lately there erected , and gratefully stiled it ( as a perpetual memorial of so noble a benefaction ) the Musaeum Ashmoleanum .

19. And as the Naturalists took care to transmit to Posterity the birth-places of Men eminent for any sort of Virtue , so likewise they did too of all numerous Off-springs ; such as that of one Dilk the foot-post of Lichfield , whose wife was so prolific that she brought him 5 children within the year , and these not at one , but two regular births , without any such superfetations as those mention'd above in the former Chapter d d Vid. Chap. 7. § 62. ; or by Pliny in his Examples of numerous births e e C. Plinti 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 11. . Raro nostro seculo Trimelli perfecti sunt aut Vitales , says Thomas Bartholin . i. e. that it seldom falls out that three children are born together either perfect or living * * Tho. Bartholin . Hist. Cent. 4. Hist. 83. ; and yet this happen'd too at Barton in this County , there being one Taylor that lived in a little Cottage near the place where the Chappel now stands that had three Sons at a birth , which being presented as a rarity to King Hen. the 7th as he came that way ( perhaps to hunt in Needwood ) he order'd that care should be taken of them , so as to be put to Schole , &c. who all lived to be men , and as the tradition goes all came to be Doctors , and to good perferment : which 't is like is true enough of the youngest , but 't is certain the eldest did , as appears by several inscriptions both within and without the Chappel , which he gratefully founded there , in the place of their Nativity ; of which more hereafter .

20. There are also in this County some remarkable customs relating to births , that must not be omitted : whereof that of Borow-English at Lapely and Alrewas may pass for one , which is a customary descent of Lands to the youngest Son or Brother , before the elder ; and this in some places is indefinite , but here at Alrewas of the Copy-hold-lands only , not the Fee-Simple . That the younger Son or Brother should thus inherite Lands of any sort , before the elder , may seem indeed to some not a little unnatural , but the famous Littleton renders us this reason why in some places they enjoy this privilege , for that in Law they are presumed the least able to shift for themselves . Upon which account in Kent where the youngest sometimes enjoys the benefit of Gavelkind , though not the whole inheritance ; they have the privilege of the Astre , or herth for fire , in the Mansion house , in their division ; because the youngest being the tenderest have the greatest reason to be kept warm at home f f I● Astre demorra al pune , on al punee . Lambard's Usages and Customs of Kent . p. 5●4 .

21. Which are reasons that appear plausible enough , but I guess the more substantial cause of this custom may rather be , that the places where now Borow-English obtains , were anciently lyable to the same ungodly custom granted to the Lords of Manors in Scotland by King Evenus or Eugenius , whereby they had the privilege of enjoying the first nights lodging with their Tenants brides g g Hecl . Boetu Hist. Scot. Lib. 3. cap. 12. , so that the eldest Son being presumed to be the Lords , they usually setled their lands ( and not without reason ) upon the youngest Son whome they thought their owne ; which being practised a long time , grew at length to a custom . Now that this custom obtained as well in England as Scotland , we may rationally conclude from the Marcheta mulierum ( which King Malcolin orderd the Tenants to give their Lords in liew of it when he took it away h h Gen. Buchanant Rer. Scot. Hist. Lab. ● . 〈◊〉 . ●● . . ) that was anciently paid here as well as there : for which we have the express testimony of Bracton . Tranavit ( says he ) totam Angliam Marcheti hujus pecuniarii consuetudo in mancipiorum filiabus maritandis i i Bra●ton de Legib. & Consuetud . Angl. Lib. 2. tit. 1. cap. 8. num. 2. . i. e. that this custom was spread all over the Nation , &c.

22. Whereof I have seen a particular Record of one Maynard of Berk-shire , who held his lands by this tenure of the Abbot of Abbington , in these words . Willielmus Maynard qui tenuit terras in Heurst , cognoscit se esse Villanum Abbatis de Abbendon ; & tenere de eo in Villenagio , & per villanas consuetudines , viz , per servitium 18 d. per annum , & dandi Maritagium & Marchetum pro filia & sorore sua ad voluntatem ipsius Abbatis , &c k. Nor did it only prevaile in England and Scotland , but as I have heard in the Isle of Guernsey ; and in the Kingdom of Ireland too ; where , as I am told by the Worshipfull Colonel Edward Vernon P●a●na de Banco in die Pasc . 34. Hen. 3. Rot. 20. Berks. ( deputy high Steward of the Honor of Tutbury , and deputy Lievtenant of the Forrest of Needwood ) it is call'd Lohempy .

23. At Terley Castle in this County , the Lordship whereof belongs to the right Honorable the Lord Gerard of Bromley , Sr. Charles Skrymsher Kt. and Richard Church Esq the Lords enjoy another odd custom , or privilege of Lotherwits or Lyerwits at this day ; that is , the liberty of taking a compensation or amercement for bastards got or born within the Lordship , so called from the Saxon Leger or Logher a bed , and wit a penalty ; whence Fleta expounds the word Lierwit to import as much as mulcta Adulteriorum l l Fl●ta . Iab. 1. cap. 47. . Which anciently as the books unanimously inform us , extended only to such as did defile a bond-woman within the Manor without licence . But the Charter of this Manor it seems extends further , for here the delinquent , oath being made that the bastard was begot within the Manor , and paying ten shillings to the Lords , not only avoids the cognisance of the Bishop and all Ecclesiasticall Courts , and discovery of the Father : but also if a bastard child be brought hither from without the Lordship , paying 1lb — 19s — 11d. — ob . to the Lords , they shall have no cognisance of it neither . Nay so great a privilege had a certain Oak in Knoll-wood , 3 miles South of the Castle but within the Lordsh . in this respect , as Sr. Charles Skrymsher told me , to whom the wood belongs , that in case oath were made that the bastard was begot within the umbrage or reach of its boughs , neither the Bishop , or Lords of the Manor themselves could take any cognisance of it .

24. After the births of Men and Women , their Christenings usually follow ; wherein it is remarkable that about New-Castle and in the Moorelands , the mens names are most commonly Ralph or Randal ; and about Stafford and the more Southerly parts , the name of Walter is as common ; these two names prevailing much in number above any other thereabout : occasion'd ( I suppose ) by the great Estates and Authority of the Earls of Chester and Essex , each in their respective Quarters : Ranulph Earl of Chester's name still prevailing in the North ; and Walter Earl of Essex's ( who lived after him at Chartley ) having since carryed it in the South . It is also worthy notice that here are some Familys that have constantly christened their eldest Sons of the same Name for many generations ; thus the Parkers of Audley have been all Richards for many descents ; and the Family of Littleton of Pillaton are so nice in this point , that unless the eldest Son be named Edward they think it cannot live to enjoy the Estate : upon on which account they have been all Sr. Edwards ever since Hen. 6th . time , the present survivor being the ninth of that name . Which custom of christening the Son constantly of the Fathers name , yet Mr. Erdeswick does not approve , upon consideration that if a controversy should arise , wherein a man should be forced to prove his descent , this Identity of Name will so perplex it , that it will be very difficult to distinguish the Donor from the Donee , &c. whereas when the Names are often , or but alternately changed ( as t is common in some familys ) the descent thereby is so obvious , that no man need fear any hazard in pleading it m m Mr. Samps . Erdeswick's M. S. view of Staffordshire . in Burweston . .

25. Thus having done with the births of infants , &c. I proceed next to the most remarkable passages that have happen'd in childhood or youth ; amongst which the imposture of William the Son of Thomas Perry of Bilson or Bilston Yeoman , a boy not above 13 years of age ( but far exceeding it in wit and subtilty ) must not be forgotten : who in An. 1620. 18. Jac. being unwilling to goe to Schole , and instructed by an old Man call'd Thomas that carryed a cradle of glasses at his back , in a close where none could see them , but six times ; yet proved so towardly in these few tryals , that he learned presently to groan , pant , and mourn ; next to roll and cast up his eyes , that nothing but the whites should appear ; to wrest and turn his neck and head both towards his back , and then to gape hideously with his mouth , to grind his teeth , &c. and after that to convey crooked pins , raggs , &c. into his mouth so that he might seem to vomit them up ; he was instructed also that though people should put him to pain by pricking , pinching or whipping , yet that he must indure all patiently ; lastly the old man taught him to say he was bewitched , and advised him to accuse some body ( whom he had heard to be accounted a witch ) to have bewitched him ; and that whenever he heard the 1 verse of the 1. Chap. of St. Johns Gospel repeated , he should fall into these fits : all which he was contented to doe , and undergoe , to avoid going to Schole , and to move compassion in the beholders who brought him many good things out of pity when they resorted to him n n Boy of Bilson , or a true discovery , &c. printed at Lond. for Will . Barret . 1622. . To which he added of his own , as occasion required , a willfull abstinence ; a trick of rolling up his tongue , and so placing it in his throat , that it appear'd hard and swollen ; and mixing Ink with his Vrin , to make people beleive it came so immediatly from him o o Wilsons Hist. of the life and Reign of K. James the first in An. 1617. .

26. In the practise of which instructions of the old Man , and contrivances of his own , he grew in a little time so cunning and expert , that most people ( his own Parents not excepted , who were honest folks of sufficient ability , and altogether ignorant of the practises of their child ) beleived him indeed bewitched : for in his fits he appear'd both deaf and blind , writhing his mouth aside , continually panting and groaning , and although often pinched , prick't with needles , and once whiped with a rod , beside other like extremities ; yet could not be perceived either by shrinking or shreiking to bewray the lest passion of feeling . Out of his fits he took ( as was thought ) no sustenance he could digest , but together with it did void and cast out of his mouth raggs , thred , straw , crooked pins , &c. His belly by his continual and willfull abstinence , was almost as flat as his back ; his throat was swoln and hard , his tongue stiff and rolled up toward the roof of his mouth , so that he seemed always dumb , saving that he would speak once in a fortnight or 3 weaks , and that in but very few words . Of all which he accused one Joan Cock or Coxe a poore old neighboring woman that he said had bewitched , or caused him thus to be possessed ; whom he would cunningly discern , and then fall into a fit , whenever she was brought near the place where he was , though never so secretly , as was once tryed before the Bishops Chancellor at Lichfield p p Ibidem . ; again before the Grand Jury q q Boy of Bilson , &c. ; and a third time before the whole Bench , at the Assizes at Stafford r r Wilson's Hist. of the life and reign of K. James the first . .

27. Where Aug. the 10. An. 1620. She was tryed for a Witch , before the right Worshipfull Sr. Peter Warburton , and Sr. John Davis Knights , then his Majesties Justices of Assize for this County , before whom were brought some slender circumstances vulgarly esteemed strong proofs of Witchcraft , but these appearing to the Judges but fantastical delusions , the woman was freed by the Inquest , and the care , and ( if it might be ) the cure of the boy committed by the Judges to the right Reverend Father in God Dr. Thomas Morton Lord Bishop of the Diocess then and there present . Who after a Months observation of his Actions and temper at Eccleshall Castle , not only suspected , from the easy and equal beating of his pulse in his strongest fits ; his quiet rest and sleep commonly the whole night ; his clear complexion , and spitting forth from him as naturally as any body in perfect health , which could not possibly be done with a tongue turned upwards as was pretended , &c. that he did but counterfiet : but evidently proved it from his falling into fits upon repetition of the 1. verse of the 1. Chap. of St. Johns Gospel [ in the beginning was the word , &c. ] in the presence of his Father , and an Aunt that came to see him in Octob. following s s Boy of Bilson , or a true discovery , &c. .

28. When , being out of his Fit , the Bishop calling for a Greek Testament , said to him ; Boy , it is either thou or the Divel that abhorrest those words of the Gospel : and if it be the Divel , he ( being almost 6000 years standing ) knoweth and understandeth all languages in the world , so that he cannot but know when I receit the same sentence out of the Greek : But if it be thy self , then art thou a most execrable wretch who playest the Divels part , in loathing that portion of the Gospel of Christ , which ( above all other Scriptures ) doth express the admirable union of the Godhead and Manhood in one Christ and Saviour , which union is the cheif pillar of mans Salvation . Wherefore look to thy self , for now thou art to be put to thy tryal , and mark diligently whether it be the same Scripture which shall be read unto thee , at which thou dost seem to be so much troubled and tormented . Then was read unto him the 12. verse of the said 1. Chap. of St. Johns Gospel [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. ] which he supposing to be the first verse , did accordingly as he was wont fall into one of his Agony's . Which being quickly over , next was read unto him in the same language the first verse being indeed the aforesaid Text [ 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. ] yet he suspecting it not the same Text , was not troubled at it t t Ibidem . .

29. By this means was his fraud so far discover'd , that he was not a little confounded ; however stareing still with his Eyes , and casting his head on both sides the bed whereon he lay , that he might cover his disimulation the better , he told the company he was troubled at the sight of two Mice : and that he might be freed from further tryal and sent home to his Father , he complained of extreme Sickness , and by writing , as well as he could , did signify that he had a great pain in his belly , and the morning following making water in a Vrinal , it was found as black as Ink , for there was some that wrot very legibly with it . Two days after he seemed to make water of the same colour again , which that he might the more craftily dissemble , he vehemently groaned at the making of it , whereupon one comeing into the room to him , the boy shewed him his manner of makeing water , whereof a little remain came then from him of the same tincture , which he had purposely reserved within his praeputium , to make it seem as if it came so immediatly from him u u Ibidem . .

30. To find out this too , the Bishop ordered a trusty Servant to watch him through a hole that opened into the chamber towards the bed , which the boy knew not of ; by whose diligent observation , the third day following he was espyed to take out an Ink-horn which he had hid in the straw or Mat of his bed , and to make water in the Vrinal through a piece of the Cotton in his hand , nimbly conveying the Ink-horn into the same place again : whereof as as soon as the Man had acquainted the Bishop , he came to him presently and askt him how he did ? who according to his usuall manner pointed to his water looking ghastly at it ; then the Bishop who now meant to deal roundly with him , told him plainly that he knew he had Ink in his bed-straw , with which he used to black his water , and calling in his Man took the Ink-horn out of the place where he had hid it , the Man justifying at the same time that he saw him make water through the Cotton . Which ( with the Bishops threatening to send him to the house of Correction ) struck him with such a terrour that he rose from his bed , fell upon his knees , and burst out into plentifull tears , confessing all to his own shame and Gods glory , not only what the old Man had taught him , but also what he had contrived of himself w w Wilson's Hist. of the life and reign of K. James the first , &c. .

31. Amongst other things being askt , why he accused the poor old woman of Witchcraft ? he answered that the old Man told him he must lay the cause of his being possest , upon some old woman , and she being knowen unto him , and of a scolding humor , he fixt it on her ; and confest that he was once minded to have made his picture in clay , and to have conveyed it into her house , for the better proof of her bewitching him x x Boy of Bilson , &c. . Then the Bishop asking him how he came to be so sensible of the womans being near him , before she appeared in the room both at her examination and arraignment , his back being toward her ? for the first at Lichfield , he said , he heard some about him whisper [ she is here ] which made him cry out , she comes , she comes : and for the other at Stafford , he said he heard the people remove , and her chains clink as she came , which gave him the signe . Lastly being askt how he made his throat swell ? he shewed it was by thrusting his tongue ( which was very long ) down his throat y y Wilson's Hist. of K. James the first , &c. . After which sincere confession and acknowledgment , he continued at Eccleshall Castle , till he was recover'd of his weakness , and was finally brought again to the following Summer Assize held at Stafford Jul. 26. An. 1621. before Sr. Peter Warburton and Sr. Humphry Winch Knights , his Majesties Justices of Assize , and the face of the whole Country there assembled : where he first craved pardon of almighty God ; then desired the poore woman there also present to forgive him ; and lastly requested the whole Country , whom he had so notoriously and wickedly scandalized , to admit of that his so hearty confession , for some measure of satisfaction z z Boy of Bilson , &c. . After which as Mr. Wilson says he was bound Apprentice by the Bishop , and proved a very honest Man a a Wilson's Hist. of K. James the first , &c. .

32. The strange facility and readiness wherewith this boy of Bilson in a little time could personate all the gestures of one bewitch't or possest , puts me in mind with what impulses or peculiarities of temper some are inclined ( especially in their youth ) to imitate motions and sounds : for which Doterel-quality , I remember a young Scholar of Magd. Coll. Oxon. so very excellent , that he would personat a Changeling ; counterfiet the barking of a Dogg ; the grunting and squeeking of a Sow and piggs ; and divers other gestures and noises so very indistinguishably , that a Stranger , or any other person not privy to it , could not but think them the very same . So in Darby-shire I was shewn a Youth that could most exactly imitate a Hunters horn with his voice only . And I saw one William Creswell an Apprentice to Anthony Bannister of Rugeley in this County , who could whistle so artificially , that scarce any body out of sight , could distinguish his notes from those of a Flagelet . Which imitations being voluntary , at the pleasure of the Agent , perhaps may arise only from the frequent representations of the gestures and sounds their Parents or Nurses accustomed them to , during their infancy , which may possibly have so much influence ( at these years ) in molding the texture of the Brain and Spirits , as to dispose them to the imitation , of such motions and notes , rather than others .

33. But when this imitating quality is so very strong , that it becomes involuntary , as it is in Donald Monro of Scrachbogie in Scotland , who pulls of his hat , and puts it on ; wipes his nose ; wrings his hands ; stretches forth his armes ; and imitates all other actions he sees any man doe , though much against his will , with so much exactness and such a natural and unaffected an Air , that no man can suspect he does it with designe ; and yet with so strong an impulse ( as the Reverend and learned Dr. Garden informs us ) that if his hands be held , he cannot forbeare pressing to get himself free to doe the same thing . Nay so contrary to his mind does he Ape these motions , that to hide his infirmity , he casts down his Eyes when he walks the streets , and turns them away when in company , wherein too 't is hard to make him stay , once he finds himself observed b b Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 129. . When I say this imitating quality is thus so very strong , that it becomes involuntary , the impressions given by parents or nurses seem not sufficient to account for it , it being more probably grounded in some peculiar crasis in the Spirits , or distemper in the imagination , nothing less being adequat to such effects .

34. After those of Children and youths , Method directs me next to consider the uncommon accidents that have at any time attended more adult persons ; and first of such as have befallen the female Sex , which according to the custom of England has always the place : amongst which I take it to be very extraordinary that I met with at little-Worley in the parish of Cannock , where I saw one Mary Eagle who could draw two quarts of milk from her breasts per diem , beside what her child suck't , whereof she could have made ( had there been vent for it ) two pounds of butter per week , ever since she was brought to bed , which was about five Months past , when I was there . She gave me some of the butter , which was made up fresh , without Salt , it needing none ( as she told me ) to preserve it , which she sold to some Apothecaries hereabout at a good rate , it being usefull ( as she said ) in all sorts of swellings , Aches of the head , sore Eyes , &c. but I believe it was so made only at their directions , for I found that she gave me , to grow rancid in a while , and to stink at last . Borellus in his observations tells us of much such another woman , one Mary Caron a Taylors wife of Boulogne , who could afford milk enough every day for the noursing two children , and to make butter beside ; which she also did , at the earnest request of a certain Apothecary , who used it , not against swellings , &c. as here in Staffordshire , but as a great nostrum or secret against Consumptions , for which he thought it the best remedy of any whatever c c Petr. Borelli Histor. & Observ . Medice-Phys . Ce●t . 3. Obs. 82. .

35. Amongst such accidents as these , we may also reckon what befell one Mary Foster of Admaston , now the wife of John Stone of Burton upon Trent , who casually falling into a well was so frighted with it , that for about a fortnight she rested but little , but at length fell into so sound a sleep that she wakened not again in 14 days and nights . About two years after she went to live at Vttoxater , where she slept again ( as I was inform'd ) three days and nights more : but she her self told me it was but two nights and a day . Now though it may seem a little odd that such dreadfull impressions which one would think at first sight should rather keep one waking , should cast a person into so profound a sleep ; yet upon further consideration that nothing disorders and tires the Spirits more than sudden frights and anxieties of mind , me thinks it should not seem any great wonder , if to recruit themselves again , they incline to rest , and dispose the person to sleep a longer or shorter time , in proportion to the expence and disturbance they have had .

36. Which in all probability was also the case of a little girle about 8 years old mention'd by Dan. Ludovicus , who being first beaten by a sever stepmother , and then sent hungry with a bever to her Father in the field who was a poor herdsman , and not forbearing to eat part of it ; when she saw it half gone , fearing more stripes , went no further on her way but turned aside into the next grove or wood , where full of tears and sobbs , she layd her self down covering her face on all sides with leaves and moss , and at last fell into so deep a sleep , that she waked not again in seven days : nor is it likely she had then , had she not been found by some boys , that went thither to set snares for birds , who discovered her to her parents , by whom being carryed to the next house as dead ( without any symptoms of life beside the softness of her flesh , and flexibility of her joynts ) where Ludovicus by chance was in company with a friend : having first wash't from her face a glutinous flegme mixt with the moss and leaves that had cover'd it , with hot water ; and cleared her mouth and nostrills from a viscid substance that had stopt them ; he then gave her a spoonfull of Spirit of Wine , which seeming to pass , upon giving her another she began to groan , and after a third she open'd her Eyes , and so came at length to her self by degrees d d Vid. Miscellanea Curios . Medico-Phys . German An. 8. Observ. 68.

47. Yet these Slept not so long , but there are others in this County that have fasted as wonderfully ; one William Francis of Fisherwick being Melancholy-mad , having once willfully fasted 14 days together , notwithstanding all means used to force him to eat . Which yet was nothing to what was also willfully done by one John Scot a Scotchman , who being cast in a suit of Law , and knowing himself insolvent , took Sanctuary in the Abbey of Halirudhouse , where out of a deep discontent , he abstained from all meat and drink 30 or 40 days together . Publick rumor bringing this abroad , the King himself resolved to have it put to tryal , whereupon he was shut up in a private room in the Castle of Edinburgh , whereunto no man had access , and had a little bread and water set by him , which he was found not to have tasted , in 32 days . This proof of his abstinence being given , he was set at liberty , and went to Rome , where he gave the like proof of it to Pope Clement the seventh ; at Venice ; and in his return , at London ; where inveighing against Hen. 8. for his divorceing Q. Catharin , and his defection from the See of Rome , he was thrust into prison , where he continued also fasting for 50 days together e e Joh. Spotswoad's Hist. of the Church of Scotland . Book 2. in An. 1539. .

38. Not comes the femal Sex much behind in such extraordinary fasting , for I find in the Records of the Tower of London , that in the 31. of Edw. 3 , there is a pardon of execution of Judgment granted to one Cicely de Rygeway , though indicted and condemned for killing her husband , for that she had fasted for forty days together in arcta prisona without meat or drink , which because a very remarkable instance , I care not if I gratify the Reader , with a Copy of the Record .

Ex Rotul . Paten . de Anno regni Regis Edvardi tertii 31o. parte 1a. Membr . 11a. a.

REX omnibus Ballivis & fidelibus suis ad quos , &c. Salutem . Sciatis quod cum Cecilia quae fuit uxor Johannis de Rygeway nuper indictata de morte ipsius Johannis viri sui , & de morte illa coram dilect . & fidelibus nostris Henrico Grove & Sociis suis Justic . nostris ad Gaolam nostram Notyngh . deliberand . assign . allocuta , pro eo quod se tenuit mutam ad paenam suam extitit adjudicata ut dicitur , in qua sine cibo & potu in arcta prisona per quadraginta dies vitam sustinuit via miraculi , & quasi contra naturam humanam sicut ex testimono accepimus fide digno . Nos ea de causa pietate moti ad laudem Dei & gloriosae virginis Mariae matris suae unde dictum miraculum processit ut creditur , de gratia nostra speciali pardonavimus eidem Cecilie executionem judicii praedicti ; volentes quod eadem Cecilia à prisona predicta deliberetur & de corpore suo ulterius non sit impetita occasione judicii supradicti . In cujus , &c. T. R. apud Westm. XXVo. die Aprilis .

per Bre. de privato Sigillo . Convenit cum Record . Laur. Halsted deput . Algern . May mil.

39. These 't is true are as eminent Instances in their kind , and the truth of them back't with as good Authorities , as one could expect or desire : and yet neither of them much exceed the perpetuall fast ( as I may call it ) of one Mary Vaughton of Wigginton in this County , who from her cradle to this day has lived with so small a quantity both of meats and drinks , that all people admire how nature is thus sustained without any sensible exhaustion ; she not eating in a day a piece above the size of half a Crown in bread and butter ; or if meat , not above the quantity of a pidgeons legg at most : she drinks neither wine , ale , or beer ; but only water , or milk , or both mixt ; and of either of these scarce a spoonfull in a day . And yet she is a maiden of a fresh compleplexion , and healthy enough , very piously disposed , of the Church of England , and therefore the less likely to put a trick upon the world ; beside 't is very well known to many worthy persons with whom she has lived , that any greater quantities , or different liquors , have always made her sick .

40 Now to give a satisfactory reason of the long abstinence of these persons , who have lived thus with little , or no food at all ; or to pronounce how it comes to pass that death , or at lest a signal Marasmus or destructive consumption has not insued ; though I dare not pretend : yet I cannot for bear so far to gratify the Reader , as to let him know , that I think the case to be no otherwise with these , than 't is with Leeches , Lizards , Snailes , and the Tortoises , Porcupines , and Toads , abovementioned f f Chap. 7. §. 46. : in all which the natural heat and moisture is either so justly counterpoised ; or else their viscid juices do so overbalance and restrain the activity of their heat , that it is unable to rarify , or seperate the parts of their moisture ; whence there cannot follow any perspiration or consumption ; and so no need of reparation by meats or drinks : upon which account some of them have lived divers months , and others half a year together without any visible supply . Now what frequently is seen in so many Species's , may sometimes fall out too in Individuals , of other Species's , in which 't is not so usually met with , when they happen to be qualifyed with the like constitution , as I suppose these persons were ; who by a peculiarity of temper , without imposture or miracle , might fast as above mention'd .

41. But I have more wonderfull passages relating to Women , than any of these yet to declare , whereof the first and strangest is of one Mary Woodward of Hardwick in the parish of Sandon , who loosing her hearing at about 6 years of age , by her extraordinary ingenuity and strickt observation of the peoples lipps that convers't with her , could perfectly understand what any person said , though they spake so low that the by standers could not hear it : as has been frequently experimented by the right Honorable the Lady Gerard , and divers others of her neighbours now living , with whom she would goe to Church , and bring away as much of the Sermon as the most attentive hearer there : all which she did , not with difficulty , but so much ease and satisfaction , that if one turned aside and spake , that she could not see his lipps , she thought her self much disobliged . Nay so very well skill'd was she in this Art ( which we may call Labiomancy ) as 't is generally beleived ( though I could get no personall testimony of it , some persons being dead , and others removed into Ireland who sometimes lay with her ) that in the night time when in bed , if she might lay but her hand on their lipps so as to feel the motions of them , she could perfectly understand what her bedfellows said , though it were never so dark .

42. For confirmation of the possibility and truth whereof , there are many parallel Histories sent us from abroad , of persons that have done the same in all particulars : of which Borellus affords us one , of a certain Sea-man of Xantoigne who lost his hearing at 5 years old , by the violence of a distemper , that was supplyed by nature with so admirable a Sagacity , that he could apprehend what was spoken with the lowest voice , by the motion of the lipps only , though no sound were made , and give an answer accordingly : tryal whereof was made by Isaac Tho. de Riolet a learned Physitian of that Country who held discourse with him at 25 foot distance , with a voice so low , that he could not hear himself speak . Of which Dialogue Borellus has given us the particulars in his historical Observations g g Pet. Borelli . Histor. & observ. Medice-Phys . Cont. 4. Obs. 23. . As Job a Meek'ren also has , of the like discourse between Gulielmus Piso and another deaf man , who understood in like manner all questions put to him by the motion of the lipps , as appear'd by the answers , though spoke with so low a voice , that they moved the lest imaginable ; till at last Piso speaking Latin , the deaf man then only answer'd , that he spake a language he did not understand : which certainly was as satisfactory , as a direct answer could have been . Nor did he only answer single questions , but like Mary Woodward could understand Sermons h h Jebi a Meek'ren Observ , Medico-Chirurg . cap. 21. , as Petrus a Castro informs us one John Ireunde a Cabinet maker of Salsborn in Silesia can also doe by the motion of the lipps only , understanding better such as whisper to him , than those which speak loud i i Miscellanca Medico Phys. German . An. 1 . ●●●rv 35. .

43. Tulpius likewise tells us of one Simon Didericus a Hollander who was made deaf by a fall from a Tower , that could repeat Sermons he had seen or learn't at Church , by the motion of the Preachers lipps , which he apprehended ratably better or worse according as the speakers lipps were smooth or hairy , lean or fat k k Nic. Tulpii Observat Medic. Lib. 4. cap. 18. . Upon which account he could talk with women , with much greater freedom than he could with men . The like whereof has been seen here in England as the reverend Dr. Meric . Casaubon acquaints us , if we may credit the relations of two grave divines ; one , telling him of a Man ; the other of a Woman ; both , deaf and dumb : who nevertheless at a certain distance by diligent observation of the motion of the mouth and face , could readily tell what was spoken unto them , but the Woman not unles the party speaking was close shaved , or beardless ; which is probable enough , the muscles of the mouth having peculiar motions , according to the variety of the formations of words l l M. Casaubon's Treatise of Enthesiasme Chap. 4. in initio . . And Mr. Carew tells us of one Grisling of Saltash in the County of Cornwall , who was also deaf and dumb , that if one spake deliberatly could doe the same * * Carew's Survey of Cornwall Book . 2. p. 113. .

44. Nor is it much less a wonder that I am now about to relate of Madam Skrymsher of Aqualat , a Lady of much honor and virtue , who having felt for some time a pricking in her Arm , upon her frequent complaint to her tender husband , who pertook of the greif , and was officious to remove it , upon squeesing her Arm he forced thence from about the Basilical vein , first a pins point , then a good part of it appearing , he firmly took hold of it with a pair of Cissers , and immediatly drew it forth all but the head , which came off , and remaining behind in the skin , was there sensible to the touch for some time after . Now beside that the Lady does not remember that ever she swallowed a pin , or if she had , or did otherwise at unawares take it in with her meat , how it should pass the Lacteals , or with the blood through the other small capillaries , though it were never so little , is altogether as unintelligible , as that it should be gotten in any other way without knowledg .

45. Wherefore I much rather beleive that it was some way or other swallowed insensibly , and that it pierced by degrees the coats of the stomack , and so past through the flesh by unknown ways to the place where it came forth , as the Needle did , that was swallowed by Henricus Alvarus at six years old , which as Scultetus informs us came forth again out of one of his thighs when he was twenty four : eighteen years after m m Job . Sculteti Trichiasis admirandae pag. 19. . Or as the brass Bodkin mention'd by Benivenius , which being swallowed by a Woman lay in her stomack a whole year without trouble , after that begining to boare the coats of the Ventricle , it put her to great pain , in which after she had continued ( without help from Physitians ) for about ten years , out dropt the bodkin through a small hole it had made for it self through the stomack , and the outward skin over against it n n Antonit Bemvemi de abditis Morbor . & Sanat . causis cap. 20. .

46. Amongst the unusual accidents that have attended the femal Sex in the course of their lives , I think I may also reckon the narrow escapes they have made from death . Whereof I met with one mention'd with admiration by every body at Leek , that happen'd not far off at the black Meer of Morridg , which though famous for nothing for which it is commonly reputed so , as that it is bottomless ; no Cattle will drink of it ; or birds fly over or settle upon it ( all which I found false ) yet is so , for the signal deliverance of a poor woman , inticed hither in a dismall stormy night by a bloody Ruffin , who had first gotten her with child , and intended in this remote inhospitable place , to have dispatch't her by drowning . The same night ( Providence so ordering it ) there were several persons of inferior rank drinking in an Ale-house at Leek whereof one having been out , and observing the darkness and other ill circumstances of the weather , coming in again said to the rest of his Companions , that he were a stout man indeed that would venture to goe to the black Meer of Morridg in such a night as that ; to which one of them replying , that for a Crown or some such Summe he would undertake it ; the rest joyning their purses said he should have his demand . The bargain being struck , away he went on his journey with a stick in his hand , which he was to leave there as a testimony of his performance ; at length comeing near the Meer , he heard the lamentable cryes of this distressed woman , begging for mercy ; which at first put him to a stan● , but being a man of great resolution and some policy , he went boldly on however , counterfeiting the presence of divers other persons , calling Jack , Dick , and Thom , and crying here are the rogues we look't for , &c. which being heard by the Murderer he left the Woman and fled , whom the other man found by the Meer side almost stript of her cloaths , and brought her with him to Leek , as an ample testimony of his having been at the Meer , and of Gods providence too .

47. Yet much greater was the deliverance of one Margery Mousole of Arley in this County , who being convicted of killing her bastard child , was , much more justly than Ann Green at Oxford , accordingly condemned and executed at Stafford for it , where she was hanged by the neck the usual time that other Malefactors are , yet like Ann Green and Elizabeth the Servant of one Mrs. Cope of Oxford o o Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 8. § §. 12. 20. , she came to life again , as it has been much more common for women to doe in this case , than it has been for men : I suppose for the same reason that some Animals will live longer without Air , than others will , as was showen above p p Chap. 7. §. 46. and Chap. S. §. 40. ; the juices of Women being more cold and viscid , and so more tenacious of the sensitive soul than those of men are . Which appear'd most wonderfully in the case of Judith de Balsham , temp. Hen. 3. who being convicted of receiving and concealing theeves , was condemned and hanged from 9 by the clock on Munday morning , till Sun-rising on Tuesday following , and yet escaped with life as appears by her pardon , which for its rarity I shall here receite verbatim .

Ex Rotulo Paten . de Anno Regni Regis Henrici tertii 48o. membr . 5a.

REX omnibus , &c. Salutem . Quia Inetta de Balsham pro receptamento latronum ei imposito nuper per considerationem Curie nostre suspendio adjudicata & ab hora nona diei Lune usque post ortum Solis diei Martis sequen . suspensa , viva evasit , sicut ex testimonio fide dignorum accepimus . Nos divine charitatis intuitu pardonavimus eidem Inette sectam pacis nostre que ad nos pertinet pro receptamento predicto & firmam pacem nostram ei inde concedimus . In cujus , &c. Teste Rege apud Cantuar. XVIo. die Augusti .

Covenit cum Recordo Lau●● Halsted Deput . Algern . May mil.

How unwillingly the cold viscid juices part with the sensitive soule , appear'd , I say , most strangely in this case : unless we shall rather say she could not be hanged , upon account that the Larynx or upper part of her Wind-pipe was turned to bone , as Fallopius tells us he has sometimes found it q q Gab. Fallopii oper Tom. 1. Observ . Anatom . Tract. 6. , which possibly might be so strong , that the weight of her body could not compress it , as it happened in the case of a Swiss , who as I am told by the Reverend Mr. Obadiah Walker Master of Vniversity College , was attempted to be hanged no less than 13 times , yet lived notwithstanding , by the benefit of his Wind-pipe , that after his death was found to be turned to a bone : which yet is still wonderfull , since the circulation of the blood must be stopt however , unless his veins and arteries were likewise turned to bone , or the rope not slipt close .

48. Thus having done with the Women solitarily considered , I shall next treat of the Men and the accidents that have attended them during the course of their lives in the like manner . And first of the extraordinary perfections of Men whether of body or mind , and then of their defects . As for the perfections of the body , I take that of strength to be one of the cheifest ; wherein I met with some that excell'd so much , that unless I had seen the things done my self , I should have though them incredible : particularly that of one Godfrey Witrings a butcher of New-Castle , whome I saw take a forme , at Robert Launders in the Lane , 6 foot 10 inches long , and 56 pounds weight , by one end in his teeth ( holding his hands behind him , and bearing the leggs of that end next him against his brest ) and lift the other end the whole height of the parlour , striking it 3 times against the boards of the room above . Now supposeing the leggs to stand about 10 inches from the end of the form , towards the middle , or center of gravity , which is near of the distance betwixt the end and the Center ; by computation he lifted thus with his teeth about 168 pounds weight . Which is not so much as what was done by a Juglar Cardan tells us of , who took up the mast of a small boat with his teeth , and threw it first upon one shoulder , whence he removed it to the other , without touching it with his hands * * Hieron . Cardani . de Subtilitate Iab. 11. .

49. Nor so much as was performed by one Nicholas Cooper of Acton-Trussel , who was also a man of so extraordinary strength in those parts , that he could lift a sack of wheat of 4 strike with his teeth ; which accounting but 50 pounds to the strike ( than which searce any weighs less ) amounts to 200 pounds weight , but reckoning at 60 pounds per bushell ( as some wheat weighs ) he lifted 240. But this was not the utmost he could doe neither , for once upon a wager , he took up a man , by a coard tyed round him , of 300 weight , and set him on a Table . Nor was he strong in his teeth only but in the whole frame of his body , having taken up at a time 3 sizeable men , one under each Arm , and a third in his teeth . Which is not much less than that mention'd by Cardan , who saw a man dance with two under his armes , as many upon his shoulders , and one hanging about his neck q q Ibidem . . And formerly being desired to give a specimen of his strength , he set his back under the Axle-tree of a Cart laden with 3 horsload and ½ of coals , and not only lifted it wheels and all , but turned it quite round . The same person having a Lesow quite overrun with well grown broom , near a mans height ; whereas others are forced to stock or root up such broom with Matocks and other instruments ; he pluck't up all his by the roots with his hands , though the ground was 4 Acres . To whom let me add that one Thomas Wall of Wolver hampton was once so strong in his teeth , that he could readily bend a large nail or tenterbook , and set it straight again with them : for the better performance whereof I was told his teeth were molares before , instead of incisores ; but upon examination I found them not so , only indeed his incisores were of an unusual thickness .

50. Not at all inferior to any of these in matters of strength , was one Walter Parsons of West-Bromwich in this County , though his was not so much to be admired as theirs , who were Men but of a middleing ordinary size , whereas Parsons had a stature proportionable to his strength ; being so very tall when he was a young apprentice , that they were forced to digg a hole in the ground for him to stand in up to his knees , when he struck at the Anvil ( for he was first a Black-Smith ) or sawed wood with another , that he might be at a Level with his fellow-workman . At length he became Porter to King James the first , where he behaved himself so generously , that though he had valour equal to his strength , yet he scorned to take advantage to injure any person by it ; upon which account we have but few experiments left us of his great strength , but such as were sportive : as that being affronted by a man of ordinary stature , as he walkt London streets , he only took him up by the wastband of his breeches , and hung him upon one of the hooks in the shambles , to be ridicul'd by the people , and so went his way : and that sometimes by way of merryment , he would take two of the tallest Yeomen of the Guard ( like the Gizard and Liver ) under his Arms , and carry them as he pleased ( in spight of all resistance ) about the Guard Chamber : where ( if I am not misinformed ) that is his picture which hangs at the end next the stairs , leading down into the Court toward White-Hall Gate .

51. There is another picture of him , as I have been told also by some , in the great room at the Popes-head Tavern , in Popes-head Alley : but whether they are the true pictures of him or noe , it being uncertain that they were drawn in the just proportion , I took not the pains to have them measur'd ; chusing rather to collect what his height might be , from a true measure of his hand yet remaining upon a piece of Wainscot at Bentley-Hall : by which it appeare that from the Carpus to the end of the middle finger , it was eleven inches long , and the palm 6 inches broad : which ( abatements being made interchangeably ) is much about the size of the hand of Edmund Malloon a youth of 19 years old , born at Port-Leicester in Ireland , for his extraordinary stature shewn publickly here in Oxford in 1684 , which though from the Carpus to the end of the middle finger it were 12 inches long , yet the palm was no more than five inches broad . i. e. it sell as much short of Parsons's hand in the bredth , as it exceeded it in length .

52. Now the proportion of the stature of Edmund Malloon to this hand , being as 7 and ½ to 1. that is being 7 foot 6 inches high , thence we may rationally conclude that Parsons must also be thereabout ; both much about the height of John Tates born at Schoonhoven in Holland , the length of whose Cubit ( as Mr. Ray tells us ) was 25 inches and ½ the length of his hand to the wrist 11 inches , and his middle finger 7 inches r r Mr. Ray's Observations Topograph , &c. p. 6. All short of the stature of Martin Wierwski a Polander who at the age of 42 years being presented to the Emperor Maximilian the second as a rarity of nature , was found full eight foot high s s Dr. Brownes Travels through Germany . p. 3. And so was one of the Someries ; Baron ( and Founder of the Priory ) of Dudley ; if we may believe either his Statue , or hollow of the stone chest in which his body lay , both which as Mr. Erdeswick testifies measured 8 foot , than which had the body been any thing shorter , it could not with conveniency have been laid there t t Mr. Sampson Erdeswick's view of Staffordshire in Dudley Casta . considering how they anciently cut their stone coffins . Who yet were neither of them so tall as John Middleton , commonly call'd the child of Hale in the County of Lanc: whose hand from the Carpus to the end of his middle finger was 17 inches long , his palm 8 inches and ½ broad , and his whole height 9 foot 3 inches , wanting but six inches of the height of Goliah , if that in Brasen-Nose College Library ( drawn at length , as 't is said , in his just proportion ) be a true piece of him .

53. As for the perfections of the mind , cheifly shewn by good works , though so much in our own choise , they are as rarely acquired to any great eminence , as those of the body are given ; yet some evidences there have been too of such as these , as well here as elsewhere : in the relation whereof , I shall decline the foundations of Religious houses , Hospitals , and Scholes , these having been the subjects of other pens ; and apply my self only to such as have been omitted by others , viz. the founding or rebuilding of Churches and Chappels , which have been so seldom done by private hands , that the contrary to it has grown to a Proverb . There have been some notwithstanding in all ages ( not excepting our owne ) whome God hath raised up for these purposes , whereof the first that I find any memorial of , is one David Kenric born at Ashley in this County , a Souldier under Edward the black-Prince who notwithstanding the little piety that attends the Camp , was the Founder or rebuilder of this Church , where there remains to this day a Statue of him to the shoulders , and against the wall within such a border as are commonly put about the Sentences in Churches , this inscription in perpetuam rei memoriam . Manubias Deo. David Kenricus ( Pietas ejus memoriae ) Hoc virtutis praemiolum dicavit . Mira cano , Pietas saevis reperitur in Armis ; Aedificat bellum sternere quod soleat . Hanc sacram struxit miles memorabilis Aedem , Principe sub nigro , quem meruisse ferunt . David Kenricus , Davide beatior illo , Templum cui superis aedificare nefas .

54. In the year of our Lord 1515. one Thomas Rolleston founded or rebuilt the Tower at least of the Church of Mathfield in this County , as appears by this Inscription over the West doore of the same steeple . Hoc Opus inceptum per Thomam Rollestone An. Dom. 1515. and another over the West window of it . viz. Ainsy et mievix peult estre . i. e. Thus it is , and may be better . Thomas Rollestone petit Orationes . By which it is evident , that this Thomas Rolleston was of the ancient family of the Rollestons of Rollstone , under whose Arms in the Church there I found the same Motto , though the French not so old . Quickly after in Anno 1517. John Taylor Dr. of Laws , Arch-Deacon of Darby and Buckingham , and Master of the Rolls temp. Hen. 8. one of the Trimelli mentioned §. 19. of this Chapter , built the Chappel of Barton upon or near the place where the Cottage stood wherein he was born , as is plain from the Inscriptions in Saxon Characters in rilieve work over every other Pillar of the North and South sides of the Navis of the said Chappel .

I. T. horum trium Gemellorum * * Tr●●●●lorum , it should have been . natu maximus . being over the first pillar , Decretorum Doctor , & sacrorum Canonum Professor . over the third , Archidiaconus , Derbiae & Bukkyngham , nec non & . over the fift , and Magister Rotulorum illustrissimi Regis H. VIII . An. Reg. sui 20. over the seventh .

these Armes , viz. Sa. on a Chev. Arg. 3 violets slipped , the flowers of the second , the stalks and leaves Or. between 3 childrens heads couped at the shoulders also of the second , haired and vested of the third in a cheif of the same , a text T Az. between two Roses gu . seeded of the cheif , being placed interchangeably over the 2.4.6 . and 8th . pillars , there being but eight pillars in all , viz. 4 on each side the Chappel , which is a neat piece of work , somewhat of the form of Hen. the sevenths at Westminster , perhaps so built in honor and imitation of his great Patron , who gave him his Education and perferment afterwards .

55. The ancient Family of Okeover of Okeover have also built them such a beautifull Oratory or house of prayer adjoyning to their Seat ; whereof if the Reader please to look back to Tab. 18. he may have a prospect : which Chappel they have endowed with maintenance for a Chaplin : but exempted it from all ordinary Jurisdiction ( as all Royal Chapples are ) I suppose by Charter from the King : for as the King can create or found a Donative exempt from the visitation of the ordinary ; so he may by his Charter licence any Subject to found such a Church or Chappel , and to ordain that it shall be a donative and not presentable ; and to be visited and regulated by the Founder , and not by the Ordinary t t Lord Cock's Institutes of the Laws of England . Part 1. Lib. 3. Sect. 648. Upon which account the Founder or Lord of this Manor presently upon election of his Chaplin , takes bond of him for the safe keeping the Seales of his Church , that he might not lease out the tithes to his prejudice . Also the worthy Thomas Broughton of Broughton Esq built such another Oratory or Chappel , near their Seat , for the use of that family , at his own charge , only 100 lb. was left by his Unkle Peter Broughton Esq in order to it , who also endowed it with 20 lb. per Annum , towards the maintenance of a Chaplin . And the generous Dr. Pye Anno 1606 comeing to visit some Relations at Darlaston near Wednesbury , upon occasion that some of his Servants going to ring in the old Steeple which was of wood and weak , had been in danger of their lives ; profer'd the Town , that in case they would be at the charge of bringing stone , he would find Workmanship , and build them a Tower , which accordingly he did : in memroy of whose charity , in allusion to his name , they put this inscription on the outside of it . Pietati & Piis Vive pius , & moriere pius

56. But he that has exceeded all in a publick benefaction of this nature , is the worthy Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq who being Patron of the place , and considering that the Church stood very incommodiously , and was so ruinous , that it must be better to rebuild , than repair it : in An. 1672 most generously petition'd the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert by divine Providence Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that he might accordingly rebuild it at a more commodious place . In order whereunto the said Arch-Bishop of Cant. by an instrument bearing date May the second 1672 did Commission Sr. Edward Bagot of Blithefield Baron t. William Chetwynd of Rugeley Esq Richard Harrison B. D. and Canon of Lichfield , and William Jennings Clerk Rector of Church Eyton , all of the County of Stafford ; in his stead to enquire into the state and condition of the said Church ; to judg what might be most expedient in this matter ; and to transmit the same to him under their hands and seals . The 19th . of July following the Commissioners above mention'd upon view of the said Church , within and without , did find it so ruinous , that they judged it rather fit to be pull'd down and wholy demolished , than repaired ; and that the place designed by the said Walter Chetwynd Esq was a much more fit and congruous place ; which they accordingly signifyed under their hands and Seales the 22 of July following .

57. Whereupon the said Arch-Bishop consenting to the religious desire of the said Walter Chetwynd , by an Instrument bearing date at Lambeth Apr. 12. 1673 did grant a faculty to the said Walter Chetwynd to build his designed new Church , and convert the materials of the old one to that use u. The foundation accordingly was lay'd the same year ; mill'd shillings , half pence , and farthings , coyn'd that year , being put into hollow places cut fit for that purpose , in the large corner stones of the Steeple , by Mr. Chetwynd himself and other Gentlemen . And in Anno 1676 it was wholy finisht , being built in the form of a parish-Church , not great , but uniform and elegant ; the out walls being all of squared free-stone , with a well proportiond Tower at the west end , of the same ; adorn'd round the top with rail and ballister , and flowerpots at each corner . The Chancell within paved throughout with black and white marble ; the Windows illustrated with the Armes and matches of the Chetwynds in painted glass ; and the Ceilings with the same in Fretwork ; the side-walls beautifyed with funeral Monuments of the Family , curiously carved in white marble ; and the whole vaulted underneath for a dormitory for it , whither all the bodies belonging to it were removed out of the old Church , and decently deposited .

58. The Navis or body of the Church separated from the Chancell Ez Chartularia Familia de Chetwynd . M. S. penes eundem Walterum Chetwynd Armig. with an elegant skreen of Flanders Oak , garnish't with the Kings Armes , and great variety of other curious carvings ; at the South corner whereof stands the Pulpit , made of the same wood , adorned in like manner with carved work , and the Iron-work about it curiously painted and guilt . The Seats are also made of the same Oak , all of an equal height and goodness through the whole Church ; the Lord himself not sitting in a finer Seat ( only somewhat larger ) than the meanest of his Tenants ; so humble is this truly Wise man , in the midst of all this magnificence . Near the entrance within on the feft hand , stands a curious Font all of white marble , the whole Church too being Ceiled with the finest plaister , garnish't also with deep and noble Fretwork . And over the Entrance without , which is under the Tower , on a small Table of white marble , only this modest Inscription in laid black .

Deo Opt. Max. Templum Hoc à sundamentis extructum WALTERUS CHETWYND ( Walt. fil . Walt. Equ . Aur. nepos ) L. M. D. D. D. Anno Aerae Christianae 1676.

59. The Church being thus finisht at the sole Charge of the said Walter Chetwynd , in August An. 1677 it was solemnly consecrated by the right Reverend Father in God Thomas Lord Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield ; the Dean of Lichfied preaching the Sermon ; and some others of the most eminent Clergy , reading prayers ; baptizing a Child ; Churching a woman ; joyning a couple in Matrimony ; and burying another ; all which offices were also there performed the same day : the pious and generous Founder and Patron offering upon the Altar the tithes of Hopton a Village hard by , to the value of fifty pounds per Annum , as an addition to the Rectory for ever ; presenting the Bishop and Dean at the same time , each with a piece of plate double guilt , as a gratefull acknowledgment of their Service ; and entertaining the Nobility , Clergy , and Gentry , both Men and Women , of the whole County in a manner , which came in that day to see the solemnity performed , with a most splendid dinner at his house near adioyning , which together with the new Church are both here represented , Tab. 26. Where all things were carryed with a Sobriety and gravity suitable to the occasion , concluding the day with hearty prayers for the prosperity of the Church ; and a universal applause of the piety and generosity of the noble Founder ; and the whole manage of the work , from the foundation to the end . A work indeed worthy of his name and Family , and more to be esteemed than all his Gentility and Learning , though both be great : which I seriously wish for the Readers sake and His , may some way or other hereafter be made known to Posterity by a better Pen : by such a Pen ( I mean ) as can make his praise as immortal as his merits , and give the unborn world a compleat pattern of generosity and piety for their perpetual imitation .

60. After the perfections of the bodies and minds of men , Logic directs me next to treat of the imperfections of both : and first amongst those of the body , I think none more deplorable than the want of sight ; which yet by the wonderfull sagacity of some that want it , is so strangely supplyed ; that as some abovemention'd have learned to hear with their Eyes , so others in like manner by their exquisit touch , and nice hearing , have taught themselves to see with their hands and ears . By which means it is that Edward Ingram of Heath-hill in the parish of Sherriff-Hales , though he has been blind from the fourth or fift year of his age , can yet goe to Church by himself , and all about the Country ; he can also mend shooes ; and glase windows ; make his own shirts ; and most sorts of Joyners work ; lays floores , &c. and does almost any kind of handy-Work ; and all only by the help of his Ears and hands .

61. Thus as I am credibly inform'd by the ingenious Joseph Brown of Woodchester in Glocestershire , ( the excellent Graver of the Map of this County ) one Richard Clutterbuck of Rodborough a neighbour of his , though perfectly blind , hath so very curious an Ear , and hand ; that he can hear the sine Sand of an hour-glass fall , by which means he can make a most accurat judgment of many actions and things : and so exquisit is his feeling , that ( like Martin Catelyn mention'd by Guicciardin † † Lud. Guicciardini Comm. de r●bu● Memorab . maxime in Beigin . ) he performes almost any sort of curious work : makes excellent heads for staves or Canes ; and all sorts of string-musical instruments ; which he plays on too by notes , cut in their usual form , and set upon protuberant lines on a board ; he takes a Watch to pieces , and sets it together again ; and so an Organ or Virginals ; and puts them in iune ; and has contrived so many pretty Mechanical devices for divers uses , that it would be tedious to recount them . And yet neither of these come near Van Eyck the Organist of Vtrecht , who though he has been blind from two years old , does every thing as nimbly , as if he carryed his Eyes in his hands ; plays on all sorts of Instruments ; and can tell you in a croud of Virgins and young women , which is the fairest . More yet is performed by Peter of Mastrict , who as Job Meek'ren informs us , though perfectly blind , plays at dice and cards ; and distinguishes the colours of cloth by the touch w w Jobi a Meek'ren Observ . Medico Chirurg cap. 20. .

62. To the imperfections of the body , the unusual distempers and diseases of it , must also be referr'd ; and such no doubt on 't I may reckon a strange Boulimy or rather Pica , that seized one Brian Careswell of the parish of Forton , who would knaw and eat both Linnen and Woollen : nay to that height of a habit . ( or what else I may call it ) was he brought at length in this matter , that he would eat ropes , and the very blankets of the bed whereon he lay ; and this not only waking , but the sheets , and his shirt from his back as he slept . That a woman should have long'd to have done such things as these , had not been so extraordinary , it being usual for them in that condition to desire unreasonable things ; such as to suck the wind out of bellows ; to hear the crackleing of Cinders under their feet x x P●●●●●ph . 〈◊〉 N●●● . 29. ; and ( as Borellus tells us one did ) to eat human Excrements dryed and pouder'd y y Petr. Borelli Hister . & Observ . rar . Medico-Phys . Cent. 4. Observ. 2. ; but that a man should thus long after such uninviting things , I think is rarely heard of . However this alone will serve to shew us , that these distempers doe not always ( as some have thought ) arise from malignant vapors of the Vterus only , which thus mislead the fancy ; but sometimes also from a depravation of the menstruum of the Stomack , which may infect the brain as well , and occasion the like inordinat appetite .

63. It may also be reckon'd amongst the uncommon distempers , that one George Holden a butcher of Walsall was long sick of a periodical Asthma , which constantly came upon him once in 14 or 20 days at most ; of which at last dyeing , and his body being open'd , yet all his Viscera ( the Lungs especially ) were found well and sound , there being no signes left either of Phlegme or viscous humor that had ever affected them ; or of any stagnation of the blood in the veins ; nor was there any thing met with unusual in him ( as the learned Dr. Needham informed Dr. Willis ) but that many stones were found in his Gall-Bladder z z 〈◊〉 Willisii de morbis convulsiv●● cap. 12. Not that these learned Men did think the dyspnaea or disease of the person , was to be ascribed to these stones , but to a convulsion of Nerves about the Lungs , or amongst the Muscles subservient to breathing , which possibly might arise either from severe vellications in the Intestines by sharp humors ; ill separation of the nervous juice in the brain ; or obstruction of them in the nerves themselves ; either of which might cause such a convulsive cough , without any affection of the lungs at all .

64. It may also not unreasonably be accounted a distemper ( provided it be not an effect of temperance ) that some men have not the usual quantity of spittle , that others have ; it being so necessary a concurrent at lest , for the performance of concoction : which how it is performed in those that have none , perhaps may not be unworthy our consideration . Now that there are such , I can instance in one James Plimmer , well known at Roucester , who though a great Tobacconist , never spits in the smoking of ten pipes together , nay some people told me that he never did spit though he smok't never so many , and I spake with a Nephew of his , that lives in the same house with him , who told me he never saw him spit in his life . I am also credibly informed of one Ricarby of Cokermouth in the County of Cumberland a great smoker , &c. that never spit in his life . And Borellus tells us of a certain Physician his familiar acquaintance , though fat and phlegmatic , that never either spit or vented mucus at the nose , yet enjoyed notwithstanding perfect health ; nor was he ever very thirsty , which made Borellus conjecture , that these excrements being obstructed in the nose , &c. were swallowed down the throat , and so bedewed the Larynx , that there was little or no need of any other beverage a a Petr. Borelli Hister . & Observ . rar . Medico-Phys . Cent. 2. Observ. 68.

65. Which I believe in great measure may also be true , of most , if not all of those that don't spit : for though it be certain what Hippocrates asserts , viz. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. i. e. that mucus and Saliva be repletionis indices b b Hippocrat . Coi de Vict. rat . Lib. 3. §. 4. ; & qui parce edunt & parce bibunt nunquam humoralibus tentantur morbis c c Idem , de intern affection . §. 5. ; which I know to be true of a person of Honor of my own acquaintance , that only upon account of his strict temperance does not spit perhaps once in a Month ; upon which account too we may well presume that Antonia the wife of Drusus mention'd by Pliny never spit d d C. Plinii 2 ●● . Hist. Nat. Lib. 7. cap. 19. ; and so perhaps those people he mentions in Aethiopia , who though five Cubits high yet did never spit e e Ibidem cap. 2. . Though ( I say ) there may be many that doe not spit , upon account of their temperance , yet I doe not believe there are any men so wholy free from spiting ; but they have enough to suffice for moistening the Larynx ; for mixing with their food ; and assisting digestion ; though they have no superfluity to throw off in spitle , as those who live plentifully commonly doe .

66. Next the imperfections of the body , follow those of the mind ; which are so much greater as the Soule is more noble than the body : those who are void of understanding being more helpless and miserable ; than such as are either lame , deaf , or blind . Yet even these sometimes have such natural assistances , that they can performe things scarce attainable by the quickest parts or most solid understandings . Whereof Dr. Willis gives us a most remarkable instance , of a certain Foole who having been long used to repeat the strokes of a Clock near which he lived with a loud voice ; comeing after to live where there was none , yet retained so strong impressions of it , that he could exactly distinguish the horary distances , and would personate so many strokes of the Clock with a loud voice as oft as an hour past , successively increasing the number of each hour , according as the time required , from which he could not be diverted , by any sort of business they could set him about : being become in a manner a natural living Clock , so strongly had Custom wrought this upon him .

67. Which impressions as the learned Dr. imagins , were cheifly made upon his Animal spirits ; which having been accustom'd to be excited at such stated times , were brought at length by long imitation , to distinguish those periods of their own accord f f The. Willisii de Anima . Brutorum Part. 1. cap. 16. : by the same means as most people naturally know the usual times of dinner and supper ; and sleep , and wake in the morn about the same time they have usually done , without the help of a Clock . But I was told of a meer Natural , one Richard Morse , kept generally by the Familyes of Draycot and Fowler , at Paynsley and St. Thomas whose strange sagacity in distinguishing times much exceeded that instance , and cannot be solved by any such customary motions of the Animal spirits . For he would not only tell you the changes of the Moon ; the times of Eclipses ; and at what time Easter and Whitsuntide fell ; or any other moveable feast whatever ; but at what time any of them had , or should fall , at any distance of years , past or to come . Which is so great a wonder , that had I not received it from very sober hands , and of the best quality ; I could no more have believed it , than I am now able to resolve the Reader , by what natural meanes it could possibly be done : only that in general it could not be performed by any thing that relyes upon the force of Custom ; these Feasts being movable : and that therefore it must be referr'd , to some other more remote unknow impressions ( unless he had been taught some easy rule for it ) intimately and purely seated in the soule it self .

68. Many of the Vices of Men may also be reckon'd , imperfections purely of the soule it self , whereof there have been some as extraordinary here , as any of the Virtues above mentioned , were they as fit to be related . I shall only instance in one ; which because lately done , and most wonderfully punish't , may possibly be beneficial in deterring others from committing the like wickedness , which brought down so dreadfull a Judgment upon one John Duncalf a strong lusty young man of about 22 years of age , born at Codsal in this County , but bound apprentice to Tho. Gibbons wheelwright of Kings-Swinford ; who though he could write and read , yet for a long time having wholy neglected all manner of service and worship of God , and given himself up to Idleness , Stealing , Lyeing , Cursing , Swearing , drunkeness , &c. amongst many other villanies , he at length stole a Bible , at the house of Humphry Babb of the Grangemill , whilst his wife drew him some small drink that he begged of her ; which he sould to a maid living near the Heathforge , not fare from the place where he had lately stole it : by which means Goodwif Babb quickly heard of her bible , and by whome it was stole . This being noised about the Country and comeing to his ears , he not only denyed it with great fierceness , but execrated and cursed himself , wishing his hands might rot off , if the thing were true .

69. After this he went and wrought with one Thomas Osborn a Joyner of Dudley about a fortnight , but his flesh begining to grow black at the wrists , within few days after he made the execration , and his whole body weak and feeble , he endeavour'd to return toward his acquaintance again : but finding himself in the way not able to goe further , he laid himself down in the barn at Purton , the seat of the right Worshipfull Sr. Walter Wrottesly , where being found after two days and nights or thereabout , he was kept at the charge of the parish of Tettenhall , til the next monthley meeting of the Justices of Peace , when it being found upon examination that the parish of Kings-Swinford was the last place of his aboad he was carryed thither , and committed to the care of one John Bennet of Wall-Heath-side g g Mr. Illingworth's Narrative of this sad Judgment . . By this time his hands and leggs , being both deprived of all sense and motion , look't blackish and dyeing ; a Circle as it were like a Ligature ( as was observed by an ingenious neighbouring Gentleman ) compassing each wrist and knee at the joynt ; dividing the sound from the dying parts , and prohibiting any nourishment to pass those bounds ; so that the blood and spirits being wonderfully stopt in their circulation , it necessarily followed , that the parts thus deprived of their wonted supply , must wither and dye as as a leafe in Autumn : which sad progress they made till both hands and leggs , from the wrists and knees , became dead and dryed , black and hard like Mummy , before they fell off at the joynts , which at length they did insensibly to the poor man h h Observations of an ingenious Neighbouring Gentleman . , who perceived it not , till his keeper told him , and shewed them him , holding them up in his hands .

70. Above the forementioned Circles the flesh at first both at his wrists and knees rose in great tumors or knots , which after a while began to break and run ; the nourishing juice ( designed by nature to have fed the lower parts ) emptying it self by those corrupted sores in a quitture or Sanies , so insupportably stinking that few of his visitants ( though they were many thousands ) could endure the room without some strong odoriferous defensative . Shortly after the flesh began to shrink from the bones at those places where the putried matter came forth , many little wormes issuing from the rotten flesh : but when the dead limbs were dropt off , the joynts and flesh above look't pretty well and healthy , seeming free of the former mortification ; the flesh indeed still being raw , but sweet ; and so quick and sensible , that he complained grievously upon the lest touch : insomuch that many were induced to believe , that an easy cure might have been made of it ; for the stinking ichorous humor was once quite gone ; whereof the poore man himself was also perswaded ; saying , that now the execration wherewith he had cursed himself was fully come to pass ( in that his hands were rotted off ) he was perswaded now it would goe no further . But the poor creature wanting all assistances both of Art & good Medicines , save what the application of the leaves of Mullein afforded , which were used by his Keeper to defend the raw parts ; after some weeks there issued again the like thin stinking humor as before , so that his flesh began to wast and his spirits to fail , which soon put a period to his miserable life . i i Mr. Ja. Illingworth and Mr Jonath . Newey's Narratives of this deplorable Case . .

71. The wonderfull escapes of death that some men have made in this County must also be reckon'd amongst the remarkable accidents that have attended them in the course of their lives . Amongst which it was a very fortunate one , that happen'd to John Dawe of Lapley in this County , who as I was told upon the place , being a Souldier in the Garrison there for the King in the late Civil warr , and commanded out upon a Salley , or as a Scout , found a horshooe by the way which he stuck in his girdle so wonderfull happily , that in a skermish he fell into not long after , he received a shot just upon the horshooe , which had it not been there , in all probability he had lost his life : whereby he as evidently made good the Proverb , that a little Armour well placed is as good as a whole suit , as the Gentleman did in the unhappy expedition into the Isle of Ree , who haveing but one Jacobus in his pocket , which luckily lay flat-ways against his belly , received a shot likewise just upon it , that bent it quite round , yet prevented any entrance into his body , and so saved his life k k Ja Howell's familiar historical Letters . .

72. Men have also been strangely preserved in the Coal-pits of this Country , whereof at Wednesbury I was told of two remarkable instances ; one , of a Man of Castle-Bromwich who comeing to Wednesbury coal pits very early in the morning , two hours before day , having mist his way , and guiding his fore-horse by the head , unluckily fell horse and all ( the geers or harness breaking off ) down into a Coal-pit 20 yards deep : yet had so little harme , that both horse and man were drawn out again so well , that the horse drew his part of the load , and the man ( after 3 houres rest in a bed , whereby he recoverd that little distraction the fall had given him ) waited on his team home the same night . The other instance is of one Dashfield a Coalier of Wednesbury , who being searching for coal in some old hollows , and wanting Air , repaired to an old shaft that had been fill'd up some years before , where loosening some earth at the bottom , in hopes it would crack to the top , and give him Air ; it so suddenly coped or colted down upon him , that being on every side inviron'd with it , he could not return , insomuch that all people concluded him smotherd . But he ( whil'st they debated how to get him out ) by the help of his Maundrill , by degrees so wrought away the earth over head , and getting it under his feet so raised himself still higher and higher , that at length he came out above ground safe and sound , having work't thus upwards at lest 9 yards in an houres time : which even the people thereabout who understand these works , look upon to this day as so strange performance , that the Man ( now living ) is still call'd Witch Dashfield .

73. But of all the preservations of the life of Man that ever happen'd in this County , or perhaps any where else , wherein the providence of God appear'd most miraculously , was that of his sacred Majesty of ever blessed memory King Charles the second , and of many of his followers that came along with him from the battle of Worcester : who though he first allighted about break of day at White-Ladies in Shropshire , whither he was conducted by Mr. Charles Giffard a Gent. of the ancient family of Chillington in this County , yet as soon as he was disrobed of his Princely Ornaments , and had otherwise disguised himself by a Country habit of one of the Penderells ; cuting off his hair : and rubbing his hands against the back of the Chimney , and with them his face ; he was conducted first by Richard Penderel out at a back door , into the obscurest part of Rinshaw wood or spring Coppice in this County , where he was shelter'd from the rain ( the Heavens weeping bitterly at these calamities ) sitting upon a blanket borrowed of Francis Yates , under one of the thickest trees in the wood , which not being well noted has lost the honor , that was after given the Oak near Boscobel house ; whither ( after an unfortunate journey to Madeley in order to pass the Severn , and so into Wales ) his Majestie removed two days after , and sate in the Oak ; which though in the County of Salop yet even there he rested in the Lap of a Staffordshire Gent. Collonel William Carlis of this Neighborhood , who having constantly followed his Majesties fortunes , with much difficulty had also made his escape from Worcester .

74. Having rested at Boscobel two days , one in the Oak ; the night in a privacy behind the Chimney in one of the Chambers ; and the other in the house and garden ; the night following he removed to Moseley to the house of the loyal Mr. Thomas Whitgreave of this County , where he was better accomodated with Linnen , and attended by Mr. Whitgreave Mr. Huddleston and my Lord Wilmot who met him there : the several passages during his stay here were many of them remarkable , whereof I received an account from Mr. Whitgreave himself , which being punctually the same with those in the book call'd Boscobel , or Claustrum Regale reseratum . I remit the Reader thither m m Boscobel , or Claustrum Regale reserat . part. 1. . Hence after two days stay he was removed to Bentley by the most loyal and faithfull Collonel John Lane , pursuant to a resolution taken up , that it was most expedient his Majesty should move Westward ( the Rebells most probably pursueing him Northward ) which they had contrived should be done , under protection of a pass , accidentally procur'd before by the Collonels Sister Mrs. Jane Lane , for her self and a man to goe beyond Bristol , to see Mrs. Norton her special friend , then near her time of lyeing in .

75. Being now come to Bentley , whither my Lord Wilmot had removed before , and was now ready to receive him ; after his Majesty had eaten , and conferr'd with my Lord and the Collonel about his intended journey toward Bristol next morning ; he went to bed ; where he rested not long being call'd up by the Coll. by break of day , who takeing away his leather doublet and patch't green breeches , now cloathed him with a Suit and Cloak of Country grey cloath like a farmers son , puting 20 pounds in his pocket to bear the charges of the journey m m Ex Chartularia familiae de Lane MS. penes Tho. Lane Armig. Being thus accoutred , after he had refresht himfelf and taken leave of the Lord Wilmot , he was conducted by the Coll. a back way into the stable , where after a few instructions how to act the part of a Tenants son ( which they thought a quality more convenient for their intention , than that of a direct servant ) he brought the horse to the gate with his hat under his arme , having assumed the name of William Jackson , and took up Mrs. Jane Lane behinde him ; and so in company with Mr. Henry Lassels and Mr. Peter and his wife the Collenels Sister , who were then accidentally at his house and were now goeing homewards , they took their journey toward Stratford upon Avon , taking leave of Bentley ; which having been the Royal Asylum of so great a Prince in his extremest distress , and now the Seat of the Worshipfull Tho. Lane , Esq ( one of the noblest Patrons of this work ) son of that great example of fidelity and loyalty Coll. John Lane , is here represented Tab. 27. in a copper Cut , that the memory of it might be made as lasting as the brass .

76. For which signal services his Majestie upon his wonderfull restoration to his Kingdoms in An. 1660. did not only remunerat all persons concern'd in his miraculous preservation with Royal pensions , payable out of the Exchequer , proportionable to each mans quality and service : but honored this Gent. more especially ( as he did Coll. Carlos ) even after his death with a Royal badg or acknowledgment , of his loyalty and fidelity , by adding to his coat Armour a Canton of England , to be set up and used in memory of them by his Posterity for ever ; and out of his singular gratitude to him , would have had his body buryed amongst the Kings at Westminster , had not this Heroe before his death most modestly refused it . All which appears from the Letters Patents and warrants of the King ; Earl Marshal ; Kings and Heralds at Armes ; and the Epitaph upon his stately Tomb at Wolverhampton , set up by the Worshipfull Tho. Lane Esq son and heir of his virtues as well as Estate : which for the singularity and further notoriety of the thing are here annext .

TO all and singular to whom these presents shall come . We the Kings , Heralds , and Pursuivants of Armes , send greeting . Whereas the right Honorable Henry Earl of Peterborrow , Deputy with his Majesties approbation to the right Honorable Henry Earl of Norwich Earl Marshall of England , hath under his hand and Seale of the Earle Marshalls office , signifyed unto us his Majesties royal will and pleasure touching an Augmentation to the paternal Armes of John Lane of Bentley in the County of Stafford Esq lawfully issued , in these words .

WHereas the Kings most excellent Majesty hath under his Signet and Signe Manual , signifyed unto me Henry Earle of Peterborow , Deputy ( with his Majesties approbation ) to the right Honorable Henry Earle of Norwich Earl Marshall of England his Royal pleasure touching an Augmentation to the paternal Coat of the descendants lawfully issued from the body of John Lane of Bentley in the County of Stafford Esq in these words ;

CHARLES R. To our right trusty and right well beloved Cosin and Councellor Henry Earl of Peterborow , Deputy to our right trusty and right well beloved Cosin Henry Earl of Norwich Earle Marshall of England , greeting .

We calling to mind the great and signal service performed to us by John Lane of Bently in the County of Stafford deceased : in his ready concurring to the preservation of our Royal person after the battle of Worcester , at which time contemning the threatnings publisht by the murtherers of our Royal Father against any who should conceal or assist us , and disdaining the rewards proposed to such as should be instrumental in the discovery and destruction of our Person , and not valueing any hazard his Family might run : with the duty of an unspotted Allegiance , did by his great prudence and fidelity so conduct us , that we were able at length to retire to places of safety beyond the Seas ; have therefore of our own free will and proper motion given and granted unto the descendants lawfully issued from the body of the said John Lane this Honorable remuneration as a notable mark or badge of his constant fidelity : that is to say , henceforth they shall bear in augmentation to their paternal Armes , three Lyons passant guardant Or in a Canton Gu. and our will and pleasure is that you doe require and command our Servants the Kings and Officers of Armes to marshall and set up in all proper places , and upon all occasions the paternal Armes of the said John Lane with the Augmentation aforesaid ; and that you also direct and require the Register of our College of Armes to cause this our Concession to be duly enter'd upon Record in our said College . Given under our Royal Signet and signe Manual this 12 day of July An. 1677. and in the 29 year of our Reigne .

By his Majesties Command . J. WILLIAMSON .

THese are therefore according to his Majesties Royal will and pleasure , signifyed to me by his said receited Grant , to will & require you the Kings and other Officers of Armes and every of you , to doe and perform from time to time as occasion shall require all and every the dutyes and services , which by his Majestie in and by his said grant are signifyed and appointed to be done by you or any of you , for or on the behalf of the descendants lawfully issued from the body of the said John Lane : and for your so doeing these shall be to you and every of you a sufficient warrant . Dated under my hand and the Seal of the Earle Marshalls Office , this 18th. day of July 1677. and in 29 of his Majesties reign .

PETERBOROW .

KNow ye therefore that in pursuance thereof , we have caused the same to be Registered in the Records of our Colledg , and have Marshalled the said Augmentation with the paternal Armes of their Family viz. party per Fess Or and Azure a Cheveron Gu. betwixt 3 Mullets counterchanged of the field . Given under the common Seal of the College of Armes this 21 day of July in the 29 year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second , Annoque Domini 1677.

Which Armes are set up , together with the Augmentation , upon a noble Monument erected in his memory in the North Isle of the Collegiat Church of Wolverhampton amongst others of the Family , with the following Epitaph . Mortales Exuviae Praevalidi Johannis Lane Armigeri Faeliciter reanimari expectantes hic repositae . Vir supra Titulos , vel cujus meritis Tituli desunt . In turbis nuperis intestinis sub Rege Car , 1 Et deinde in bello Batavo sub Rege Car. 2. Tribuni militum dignissime officio fungebatur . Regis & Patriae Liberator . Nempe cum Car. 2. e praeliis Vigorniis Aegerrime elapsnm & undique insectatum Summa pietate , summa fide , summa virtute , ultimo denique Capitis periculo , Iniquis Tyranni usurpantis , & suorum insidiis Fortiter eripuit . Factum inter praeclarissima praeclarissimum ; Vt ipse Monarcha etiam non tacite agnovit Cum Augmentatione Regali ex insigniis Regiis Ad insignia antiqua nobilis LAN. Familiae Filium THO. LANE ( digni Patris dign. Haer. ) In loco defuncti decoravit & retribuit . Cujus ossa insuper Rex gratus & pius In Mausoleis Basilicis Westmonast . Amoris ergo munifice condi voluit Ni ipse Heros moriens istis honoribus Modeste obstetisset . Natus est VIII Kal. April . Ao. MDCIX . Et prid . Kal. Sept. Ao. MDCLXVII . Mortem obiit comploratam .

77. Many of his Majesties followers were also wonderfully preserved by the great prudence aod fidelity of some of the Inhabitants of this part of the County : particularly the Lord Wilmot narrowly escaped at Brewood Forge , and Coven brook , by the care and conduct of John Penderel and William Walker , and was after faithfully conceal'd at Brinsford at Mr. Huntbaches house , and so at Mr. Whitgreaves at Moseley , and lastly at Bentley where he parted with the King when he went Westward . The Duke of Buckingham , Lord Leviston , Collonel Blague , Mr. Marmaduke Darcy , and Mr. Hugh May , likewise found great fidelity in Blore-park whither they betooke themselves by a by-way after they had quitted their Horses , and received refreshment at an obscure house of Mr. Geo. Barlow's , the Duke changing habit with an honest workman he met in an adjoyning wood , in which disguise by the assistance of Mr. Barlow and his wife , after some days he was conveyed by one Nicholas Matthews a Carpenter , into Nottinghamshire . At the same time the Lord Leviston , Coll. Blague , Mr. Darcy , and Mr. May , also disguised themselves and severally shifted away ; only Coll. Blague remained at Mr. Barlows house at Blore-pipe , where with Mrs. Barlows privity and advice he hid his Majesties George under a heap of dust and chips , whence it was conveyed through the trusty hands of Mr. Robert Milward of Stafford to Mr. Isaac Walton , who conveyed it to London to Coll. Blague then in the Tower ; whence escaping not long after , he carryed it with him beyond Seas , and restored it to his Majesties own hands .

78. Having done with Men solitarily considered , come we next to treat of such unusuall things as concern more than one of them ; Pliny in his Natural History has a large chapter , of examples of Men extreamly alike , where he instances in many that strangely resembled one another , though no way related in consanguinity or affinity n n C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 12. : but I have long observed that it falls out most commonly in brothers and sisters , and then most indistinguishably when they happen to be Twynns , such as Matthew and Thomas Seal of Edingale in this County , whom ( if cloathed alike ) as I am credibly informed , it is hard to distinguish . Yet scarce so difficult neither , as the Reverend Henry Fairfax DD. and fellow of Magdalen College Oxon. and his Twynn brother , who as he told me himself were so very like one another ; that their nearest relations , nay not their Parents themselves , even when grown Men , could any way distinguish them : insomuch that he ha's received considerable guifts from some of them , intended for his brother ; and a dispute would have been raised ( had an elder brother to them both , dyed without issue ) which should have succeeded in the Estate ; the Midwife , Nurses , &c. having not well observed which was born first .

79. What concerns Men and Women joyntly together also belongs to this place , upon which account their marriages purely considered may be referr'd hither : amongst which perhaps it may not be unworthy our notice , nor much beside our purpose , that William Overton Bishop of this Diocess marryed two wives , which lye buryed with him under the same Tomb in Eccleshal Church : which how agreeable to the 1. Tim. 3.2 . let the divines determin . All I shall say concerning it is , that the Apostle seeming here to intimate that a Bishop should be chast in a higher degree than other Christians , it cannot well be understood that a Bishop here is only forbid to marry another wife after divorce from a former , which our Saviour forbids all Christians whatever under the penalty of Adultery : but that it was not expedient at lest , he should marry a second wife after the death of the first , though allowable in others . Which being consonant to the 17 and 18 Apostolical Canons o o Vid Canones Sanct. Apost. Canon . 17.18 . ; and the third Canon in Trullo p p Vid Canones Concilii Sexti in Trullo . Canon . 3. ; seems to be the sense of the Church too in this matter . Theodoret 't is true did ordain Irenaeus Bishop of Tyre though a Digamist in this sense , which action he defended in an Epistle to Domnus Patriarch of Antioch , where he names one Diogenes , and Domninus Bishop of Caesarea , that had been thus ordained though under the same circumstances q q B. Theodorets Operum Tom. 3. Epist. 110. . Tertullian also ownes that the Canons concerning Digamy were not always observed , mentioning a Bishop of Vthina at that time , that was a Digamist r r Q. Sept. Flor. Tertulliani de Monogomia cap. 12. vel. 13. . which possibly Bishop Overton thought were instances sufficient to justifie Him. Yet it was not even then the Judgement of the Church , the Emperor Theodosius causing the same Irenaeus to be deposed for suspicion of Nestorianisme , and Bigamy , as having been ordained against the Canons of the Church s s Caes . Baronii Annalium Eccles. Tom. 5. in An. 431. . And Tertullian at the same time he owned that the Canons in this point had not been observed , confessing it seem'd contrary to the doctrine of the Apostle . Quot enim & Digami praesident apud vos , insultantes utique Apostolo ; certe non erubescentes , &c. t t Vide supra loco citato . . being his very words .

80. Hither also must be referr'd what concerns whole families , whereof I was told that at Wheaten-Aston there were ten or twelve , all of a name [ all Sawyers ] hard to be distinguish't at Lapley Court , of which many of them hold ; and at Blymhill there are many of the name of Blackmoore and Turner , who either upon account of consanguinity , or interchangeable marriages , are most of them some way or other akin . I am also informed by the reverend and learnd Dr. John Wallis , Professor of Geometry and President of the Philosophical Society of Oxford , that at Thingdon in Northamptonshire ( whence he is originally descended ) there were not long since no less than 13 families of his owne name , who by marriages or otherwise , are all thus related . Yet I find not that these are so strict in their marriages , that they care not to marry out of their own kinred , as I have heard of a place in Spain where all the inhabitants are thus related , that by no means will marry out of their own Town ; and I am certainly informed by Mr. John Hough fellow of Magd. Coll. Oxon , and Chaplin to his Grace the Duke of Ormond , that in the Barony of Forth in the County of Wexford in Ireland , the inhabitants ( who are English and have resided there , ever since the conquest of Ireland by Hen. 2. still retaining their now unintelligible English ) are so strict in this point , that they will not marry out of their own district , for the greatest advantage .

81 Townes being made out of families , and the whole County out of Towns , all unusual matters relating to either , as odd Customs , &c. most naturally follow : such as that of the parish of Gnosall , where the Minister and Church-wardens , annually chuse a Jury of 12 Men or more , who not only joyn with them and the side-men in making the presentments to the Officiall ( in being a peculiar ) but are impannell'd , and bring in their Verdict in all Ecclesiasticall causes that fall out amongst them for the year following . Which is the only instance where a Civil-Law Judg determins according to the Verdict of a Jury , that ever I heard of ; except in the case of Pyracy or robbing by Sea , it being provided by act of Parliament , cheifly because Mariners and Shippmen ( which were commonly the only witnesses in these cases ) by reason of their frequent voyages doe not stay long on shore , and so could not easily be had , to the great damage of the Prosecutors ; that in all Treasons , Felonies , robberies , &c. committed upon the Sea , or any Creek or place within the Admiralls Jurisdiction , shall be tryed and judged in such shires and places of the Realm , as shall be limited by the Kings Commission directed to the Admiral or his deputy , and 3 or 4 other substantial persons to be appointed by the Lord Chancellor , who shall enquire and determine of such offence or offences , by the oaths of 12 good and lawfull inhabitants of the Shire limited in the Commission , in such like manner and form , as if such offences had been commited on the land , in the same shire v v Ferd. Pulton's Collect. of Statutes 28. Hen. 8. chap. 15. .

82. At Walshall in this County , they have also at this day , an unusual ( 't is true ) but a very good custom , of distributing annually a certain dole of one peny and no more on Twelfth Eve to all persons then residing within the Town or Burg of Walshall ; and in all the Villages and Hamlets belonging thereunto ; viz. Walshall-wood , Shellfield , great and little Bloxwich , Harding , Goscot , Woodend , Caldmoore , Bescot , the Pleck , and Burch-hills , which they call the forraigne : and not only to the constant Inhabitants of these places , but to all Strangers too then found in this Town , or within any of the aforesaid Villages within the Liberties of it ; whether young or old , rich or poor , Men women or children , of what quality or condition soever they be . This dole-penny is also given to all persons then residing in the parish of Rushall under the same circumstances , which upon this account is thought to have been formerly part of the forraigne of Walshall . Which general benevolence they call Moseley's dole , being given by one Thomas Moseley an Inhabitant of this Town ( who lived , as is supposed , at a house now one Mr. Sheppards , where they will shew you the heads of Moseley and his wife ) as tradition goes upon this account , viz. That the said Tho. Moseley walking the streets of this Town on the Eve of Epiphany , heard a child crying for bread which raised his charity to such a strain , that he presently vowed that no person hereafter of what condition soever , should ever want bread in that Town or Liberties on that day again : whereupon he immediatly setled his Manor of Bascot in Warwickshire upon the Corporation for ever , for the use abovemention'd .

83. But the truth of the matter seems rather to be , that this settlement ( which he made by deed of feoffment dated on St. Nicholas day 30 of Hen. 6. granting it to William Lyle and Thomas Magot for the use of the Town w w Sr. Willam Dugdales Antiquities of Warwickshire illustrated in Bascot . ) was for maintenance , in part at lest , of an obit for his soule and the soule of his wife Margaret , to be celebrated in the Parish-Church here , and in the Abbey of Hales-Owen : it appearing by the accounts of Tho. Nowell 30 Hen. 8. one of the Masters of the Guild of St. John Baptist ( whereof there were three ) who received the Rents and kept the Courts at Bascot , but made their accounts to the Major ; that he claymed an allowance of 13s. 4d. upon his account for that Dole , paid to Sr. John Dudley possessor of the Ecclesiastical rights of the Monastery of Hales-Owen to procure an Anniversary to be performed by the religious men of that house , for the soules of Thomas Moseley and Margaret his wife ; and that he claimed allowance of 15s. 4d. for the like Anniversary in the parish Church of Walsall , which seems to have been all was paid out of it , though another paper also mentions nine marks paid annually to the Abbey of Hales-Owen x x Ex ipsis Augtog . penes Majorem & Burgens . de Walshall . , the rest of the Income wholy accrewing to the benefit of the Town , which they since converted to the maintenance of this yearly benevolence , there being no such dole given or instituted by Moseley either by will or Feoffment , nor any mention made of it till the 30 of Hen. 8. when 7lb. 10s. 9d. discharged it all .

84. However the Corporation by way of Gratitude , he having indeed given the Estate which maintain'd it , call'd it Moseleys Dole , sending the Bell-man about the Town that day , to excite the people to repair to Church to pray for the souls of Thomas Moseley and Margaret his wife , upon which account it was quickly after seized by the Crown , as all other lands were , esteemed any way to be put to superstitious uses ; where it continued to the 28 of Q. Elizabeth ( yet was still rented by the Town for the use of the dole ) when it was given by the Queen to Sr. Jacob Crofts Controller of her houshold , who sold it to one Shaw and Headock Esq and they again to the Mayor and Communalty of Walshall , who possess it to this day , and put as much of it to the same use , as the number of persons both in the Burg and Foraigne , and parish of Rushall , require , which commonly now amounts to about two or three and twenty pounds , the whole manor yeilding them a hundred pounds per Annum , or thereabout y y Ibidem .

85. To these add the Cusioms relating to the County , whereof they have one , of admitting Men into the Society of Free-masons , that in the moorelands of this County seems to be of greater request , than any where else , though I find the Custom spread more or less all over the Nation ; for here I found persons of the most eminent quality , that did not disdain to be of this Fellowship . Nor indeed need they , were it of that Antiquity and honor , that is pretended in a large parchment volum they have amongst them , containing the History and Rules of the craft of masonry . Which is there deduced not only from sacred writ , but profane story , particularly that it was brought into England by St. Amphibal , and first communicated to S. Alban , who set down the Charges of masonry , and was made paymaster and Governor of the Kings works , and gave them charges and manners as St. Amphibal had taught him . Which were after confirmed by King Athelstan , whose youngest son Edwyn loved well masonry , took upon him the charges and learned the manners , and obtained for them of his Father a free-Charter . Whereupon he caused them to assemble at York , and to bring all the old Books of their craft , and out of them ordained such charges and manners , as they then thought fit : which charges in the said Schrole or Parchment volum , are in part declared : and thus was the craft of masonry grounded and confirmed in England . It is also there declared that these charges and manners were after perused and approved by King Hen. 6. and his council , both as to Masters and Fellows of this right Worshipfull craft z z Ex Rotulo . membranaceo penes Camentariorum Societatem . .

86. Into which Society when any are admitted , they call a meeting ( or Lodg as they term it in some places ) which must consist at lest of 5 or 6 of the Ancients of the Order , whom the candidats present with gloves , and so likewise to their wives , and entertain with a collation according to the Custom of the place : This ended , they proceed to the admission of them , which cheifly consists in the communication of certain secret signes , whereby they are known to one another all over the Nation , by which means they have maintenance whither ever they travel : for if any man appear though altogether unknown that can shew any of these signes to a Fellow of the Society , whom they otherwise call an accepted mason , he is obliged presently to come to him , from what company or place soever he be in , nay tho' from the top of a Steeple , ( what hazard or inconvenience soever he run ) to know his pleasure , and assist him ; viz. if he want work he is bound to find him some ; or if he cannot doe that , to give him mony , or otherwise support him till work can be had ; which is one of their Articles ; and it is another , that they advise the Masters they work for , according to the best of their skill , acquainting them with the goodness or badness of their materials ; and if they be any way out in the contrivance of their buildings modestly to rectify them in it ; that masonry be not dishonored : and many such like that are commonly known : but some others they have ( to which they are sworn after their fashion ) that none know but themselves , which I have reason to suspect are much worse than these , perhaps as bad as this History of the craft it self ; than which there is nothing I ever met with , more false or incoherent .

87. For not to mention that St. Amphibalus by judicious persons , is thought rather to be the cloak , than master of St. Alban ; or how unlikely it is that St. Alban himself in such a barbarous Age , and in times of persecution , should be supervisor of any works ; it is plain that King Athelstan was never marryed , or ever had so much as any natural issue ; ( unless we give way to the fabulous History of Guy Earl of Warwick , whose eldest son Reynburn is said indeed to have been marryed to Leoneat the supposed daughter of Athelstan a a Joh. Rowse's Hist. of Guy E. of Warw. , which will not serve the turn neither ) much less ever had he a lawfull son Edwyn , of whom I f●●d not the least umbrage in History . He had indeed a Brother of that name , of whom he was so jealouse though very young when he came to the crown , that he sent him to Sea in a pinnace without tackle or oar , only in company with a page , that his death might be imputed to the waves and not him ; whence the Young Prince ( not able to master his passions ) cast himself headlong into the Sea and there dyed . Who how unlikely to learn their manners ; to get them a Charter ; or call them together at York ; let the Reader judg .

88. Yet more improbable is it still , that Hen. the 6. and his Council , should ever peruse or approve their charges and manners , and so confirm these right Worshipfull Masters and Fellows as they are call'd in the Scrole : for in the third of his reigne ( when he could not be 4 years old ) I find an act of Parliament quite abolishing this Society . It being therein ordained , that no Congregations and Confederacies should be made by masons , in their general Chapters and Assemblies , whereby the good course and effect of the Statutes of Labourers , were violated and broken in subversion of Law : and that those who caused such Chapters 〈◊〉 Congregations to be holden , should be adjudged Felons ; and those masons that came to them should be punish't by imprisonment , and make fine and ransom at the Kings will b b Ferd. Pulton's Collect. of Statutes . 3. Hen. 6. Chap. 1. . So very much out was the Compiler of this History of the craft of masonry , and so little skill had he in our Chronicles and Laws . Which Statute though repealed by a subsequent act in the 5 of Eliz c c Lord Cooks Institutes of the Laws of Engl. part. 3. chap. 35. . whereby Servants and Labourers are compellable to serve , and their wages limited ; and all masters made punishable for giving more wages than what is taxed by the Justices , and the servants if they take it &c. d d Ferd. Pulton's Collect. of Statutes . 5. Eliz. chap. 4. , Yet this act too being but little observed , 't is still to be feared these Chapters of Free-masons do as much mischeif as before , which if one may estimate by the penalty , was anciently so great , that perhaps it might be usefull to examin them now .

89. They have also a Custom in this County which I observed on holy-Thursday at Brewood and Bilbrook , of adorning their wells with boughs and flowers : this it seems they doe too at all Gospell-places , whether wells , trees , or hills : which being now observed only for decency and custom sake , is innocent enough . Heretofore too it was usual to pay this respect to such wells as were eminent for cureing distempers , on the Saints day whose name the well bore , diverting themselves with cakes and ale , and a little musick and danceing ; which , whil'st within these bounds , was also an innocent recreation . But whenever they began to place Sanctity in them , to bring alms and offerings , or make vows at them , as the ancient Germans e e Phil. Cluverii Germania Antiq. Lib. 1. cap. 34. and Britans f f Joh. Seldem Marmora Arundel . in notis ad Auctorioli V. did , and the Saxons and English were too much inclined to , for which St. Edmunds well without St. Clements near Oxford , and St. Laurence's at Peterborough were famous heretofore g g In Registro Sutton , in Officio Registrarii Ecclesiae Lincoln . fol. 8. : I doe not find but they were forbid in those times , as well as now , this superstitious devotion being call'd 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 which Somner rightly translates well-worship h h Gul. Somneri Dictionarium Saxonico-Angl in verbo . , and was strictly prohibited by our Anglican Councills as long agoe as King Edgar i i 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Lambardi in Canonibus sub . Edgaro . Canon 16. ; and in the reign of Canutus k k Hen. Spelmani Conciliorum Tom. 1. inter Leges Eccles. Canuti Regis part. 2. cap. 5. ; not long after again in a Councill at London under St. Anselm Arch-Bishop of Cant. An. 1102 l l Phil. Labbei Conciliorum Tom. 10. ad An. Chr. 1002. . as it was also particularly at those two wells near Oxford , and at Peterborough by Oliver Sutton Bishop of Lincoln m m Vide locum supra citatum . .

90. Thus having run through the many and most uncommon passages that I could find to have attended Mankind in this County , at or before his birth ; and during the course of his life ; both separatly , and in consort : I should immediatly in the next place have proceeded to those of death and the grave , but that I must not forget a certain forerunner of them , Extreme old age : which whether not much abated now in the wane of the world , has been a Question much controverted in these latter ages . In the stating whereof , I think I may fairly exclude the Antidiluvian Patriarchs , and those after the flood , till about Jacobs time , whose lives no question God did protract to a much greater length than ours are now , for the first peopleing of the world , and replenishing it again after its destruction : which being done , the common age of Man seems to have been limited to the standard , of threescore years and ten , or thereabout ; and if by reason of strength [ some ] came to fourscore years , yet their strength [ then ] was but labour and sorrow n n Psal. 90. v. 10. ; as it continues to this day . Some indeed there were then that exceeded that period , and so there have been still in all times and Nations down even to this last age , that have outrun it as much as ever the ancients did , since Jacobs days , as will be found by the agreement of the Hislories of our forefathers , whether sacred or profane , with what I have met with relating to this subject in our days ; though I confine my self within the narrow bounds , cheifly of this , and two or three other English Counties .

91. In the collation of which instances , I shall give the civility of precedence as heretofore to the Women , notwithstanding the holy Penmen seem to have neglected their ages , not so constantly setting them down , as those of Men. Sarah 't is true is recorded to have been 127 years of age o o Gen. 23. v. 1. , but she was the Grandmother of Jacob , and so not within the time since when we affirm , there has been no abbreviation of the Longevity of Man : however I think we shall be able to bring a parallel even to her within memory . Anna the Prophetess , as may be collected from St. Luke , seems to have arrived to a hundred and six years of age , or thereabout p p Luke 2. v. 36.37 . . And in profane History we find it noted that Helena the mother of Constantine the great , was fourscoure years old * * Lord Bacons Hist. of life and death p. 17. ; and that Pliny thought it worthy remark , that Livia the wife of Rutilius lived to 97 ; and Statilia a noble Roman Lady to 99 years of age q q C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48. ; which yet both are exceeded by one Mrs. Swynbourn of Yoxall in this County , who was living when I was there , and upwards of an hundred ; as they were also by a long Catalogue of Italian Women ( as well as men ) reckoned up by Phlegon , who all reach't an hundred r r Phlegont is Tralliani Lib. de Longaevis cap. 1. . So much were they out , who fixt the great Climacterical 63 ( or Androclan of the Egyptians ) as the ultimate term of human life s s Censorini Lib. de die Natali . cap. 14. ; and so were Plato , who thought it consummated in 81 being the square of 9 t t Ibidem . ; and Staseas in 84 u u Ibidem . , which Herodotus also calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 w w Herodoti Historiar . Lib. 3. ; to whom add Hesiod x x C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48. , and after him Ausonius who advanced it to 96 , which period of years they thought none could surpass y y Dec. Ansonii Idyllio 10. vel. 18. .

92. Nor were the Egyptians of Alexandria z z Censorini Lib. de die Natali cap. 17. & Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 11. cap. 37. , or Gaius the Civilian a a ff● de usufructu . Leg. Ususfrucius . five D. Lib. 7. Tit. 1. Leg. 56. , who thought no person could exceed 100 years , less deceived than the former : for beside that Phlegon has collected so many ( whereof part are women ) who survived that date , that their very names fill a whole Chapter b b Phleg. Trall . Lib. de Longaev . cap. 2. ; there was one Mrs. Hill of Kidlington in Oxfordshire , that was born and lived there above 100 years c c Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 2. § 3. ; Ann Scot of Ashley in this County was above 100 when I was there , and Dr. Lister acquaints us that one Frances Woodworth of Charlton in Yorkshire , dyed in 1662 of the age of 102 , and some odd months d d Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 160. ; not wanting much of the age of Terentia the wife of Cicero who was 103 ; or of Galeria Copiola an actress on the stage in the days of Pompey , who was 104 e e C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap 48. ; who yet both fell short of one Elizabeth Payne of Gnosall in this County , who was 105 and living when I was there in 1680 , and perhaps by this time may have arrived to near the age of Anna the Prophetess ; who was not so old as Mary Allenson of Thorley in the parish of Skipton in Yorkshire , who dyed as the same Dr. Lister informs us in 1668 aged about 108 f f Philos. Trans . loco . supra citat . ; to which very year one Demetrius in Plutarch , that he might include the longevity of such persons as these , yet inlarged the limits of human life ; appointing 54 for the increase of strength , and as many for its declension , founding his notion upon this , that each 54 was compounded , ex unitate , primis duobus planis , duobus quadratis , & duobus cubis g g Apud Plutarchum 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . , which possibly might be 1 , 4 6 , 4 4 , 8 27 , these making up the number , though some of them may not be so properly assigned .

93. But this seems altogether as insufficient a boundary as any of the rest : for I was told of one Goodwife Nip that lived near Gentle-Shaw in this County that was 109 ; and I know one Goodwife George of the City of Oxon now living , who is of the same age ; but one year younger than Munantia Procula , and Polla Donata of Bononia noted by Phlegon h h Phlegontis Trall . Lib. de Longaevis cap. 2. , or Samula mentioned by Pliny out of Asconius Paedian●s that all lived to 110. Who also acquaints us , that Clodia the wife of Ofilius arrived to 115 i i Loco supra citato . , in which very year of her age Katharin Millard abovemention'd k k Chap. 4. §. 40. , unfortunatly dyed in the Thrushouse near Peakstones in this County , where she might otherwise in all probability have lived somewhat longer . To take in such Macrobians as these , Berosus yet advanced the term of mans life to 117 l l C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. , but to as little purpose as the former : for Phlegon mentions one Julia Modestina living in his time at Bressello in the Dukedom of Modena 120 years old m m Lib. de Longaevis cap. 3. ; of which very age I saw one Ann Harvey at Okeymoor ( but born at Ellasion ) in this County ; and I was told of one Goodwife Estwick of one of the Oultons , who had not been dead above 2 years before I came there , that was of the same age .

94. Upon account of such instances as these , certain Mathematicians mention'd by Trebellius Pollio enlarged the period to 120. Doctissimi Mathematicorum ( says he ) centum viginti annos homini ad vivendum datos judicant , neque amplius cuiquam concessum dicunt n n Treb. Pollio in vita Divi Claudit ad Constantium . . With whom agreed the Oracle of Sybilla Eythraea according to Phlegon , in whose tract de Longaevis I find these verses . Viginti & centum revolutis protinus annis Quae sunt humanae longissima tempora vitae o o Lib. de Longaev . cap. 4. .

both whom I find yet were also deceived as well as the rest : for I heard of a maid that lived at Stafford-green , whose diet was cheifly scraped cheese , sugar , and brown bread , that lived to the age of 122. the very year to which Epigenes the Astrologer affirm'd ( as Pliny tells us ) it was not possible for any body to live p p C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. . Wherefore Petosiris and Nesepsos , grounding their calculation upon their Tetartemorion or Quadrant , more wisely determin'd that human life might be protracted to 126 years , but not further q q Ibidem . : which yet we see confuted in the life of Sarah , who was 127 r r Gen. 23. v. 1. ; and of Marsli Stent of LLansilin in Denbyshire , who as I am credibly informed dyed lately about 1680. aged 132. And Pliny himself tells us of a woman of Faventia who lived to 132 ; and of another named Tertulla who was known ( he says ) to be 137 years of Age s s Loco supra citato . .

95. Wiser yet was Asclepiades and his Sect of Astologers , who tho they affirmed the length of human life did depend on the' influence of the starrs , yet touching the utmost term thereof would set down nothing definitively ; lest it should be exceeded some time or other , by some rare example of human Longevity t t Ibidem . : as all hitherto mention'd have been , by the old Countess of Desmond , who as St. Walter Raleigh says ( who knew her well ) was marryed in Edward the fourths time , and lived to the year 1589 , and many years after v ; and was reputed ( as my Lord St. Alban's further acquaints us ) 140 years old w w Lord Visc St. Albans Nat. Hist. Cent. 8. Experim . 755. . How old Mary Cooper was of Kings Bromley in this County , not long since dead , I could not certainly learn , but sure she must be a very old woman , for she lived to be a Beldam , that is to see the sixt generation , and could say the same I have heard reported of another viz. Rise up daughter , and goe to thy daughter , for thy daughters daughter hath a daughter : whose eldest daughter Elizabeth now living is like to doe the same , there being a female of the fift generation near marriageable , when I was there . Which is much the same that Zuingerus reports , of a Noble Matron of the family of the Dalburges , descended of the Camerarii or Chamberlains of Worms , in the Arch-Bishoprick of Ments , who could thus speak to her daughter , as the same Zuingerus gives it us in a Latin distic . 1 Mater ait 2 natae , dic 3 natae filia , 4 natam Vt moneat , 5 natae plangere 6 filiolam y y Theodori . Zuingeri Theatri humanae vitae vol. 3. pag. 1057. that is , the Mother said to her daughter , daughter bid thy daughter tell her daughter , that her daughters daughter crys .

96. Nor have these limits of human life been less transgresst by Men , in all times and nations , than they have by women ; which will easily be made appear also , by a short comparison of the ages of men taken out of the sacred and profane Histories since Jacobs days , with those of our own time . For first , if we look into the Scriptures begining as low as Solomon , and runing up as high as Jacob , which takes in about 700 years ; we shall find that Solomon , tho' his age cannot be certainly determind by holy writ , yet those that assigne him the greatest number of years , think that he pass't not above 50 or 60 at most : yet it is said of him when he was old , that his wives turned away his heart after other Gods z z 1. Kings . 11.4 . . And as Dr. Hakewill u u St. Walter Raleighs Hist. of the World , Book 1. part . 1. Chap. 5. §. 5. x x Ric. Verstegan's restitution of decayed Antiquities Chap. 10. p. 253. notes , of all the Kings of Judah and Jerusalem who succeeded him , the greatest part came not to 50 , very few to 60 , none full home to 70 a a Dr. Hakewill's Apologie , Lib. 3. Sect. 4. . King David indeed was threescore and ten when he dyed b b 2. Sam. 5.4 . , upon which account he was stiled old ( as men are now at that age ) striken in years c c 1. Kings 1.1 . , and full of days d d 1. Cheon 29.28 . , insomuch that when they cover'd him with cloathes he gat no heat . And his good Subject Barzillai , whom the Scriptures term a very aged man , yet even he , by his own confession , was but fourscore years old e e 2. Sam. 19. v. 32.35 . . Joshuah , and Joseph each lived 110 f f Judges . 24.29 . and Gen. 50.26 . , and Moses and Aaron each 120 g g Deutr. 34.7 . , Levi brother to Joseph h h Exod. 6.16 . , and Amram father to Moses and Aaron were both 137 i i Exod. 6.20 . . And Jacob himself was but 147 years old k k Gen. 47.28 . .

97. Which ages if compared with those above 1000 years after , and those of the present times , we shall find matters standing then and now ( as to this particular ) in much the same posture : the days of our years ( as Moses says ) being still threescore and ten , which when any by reason of strength have exceeded , they have always been noted ( just as Barzillai ) for very old men . Thus it hath been recorded as remarkable , that Solon the Law giver ; Anacreon the Poet , and the Emperor Gordian the elder ; arrived to 80 years ; Plato the Athenian to 81 ; Valerian , and Anicius Justinian the Emperors to 83 ; St. Luke the Evangelist to 84 ; Anastatius Dicorus to 88 ; Protagoras of Abdera , old Simeon in the time of our Saviour , St. Hierom and Dionysius Areopogita , to 90 ; and St. John the beloved disciple of our Lord , to 93. Which are ages so common even now , that as my Lord Bacon affirmes , there is scarce a village in England , that is tolerably populous , but it affords a man or woman of 80 , or upwards l l Lord . Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 20 , ; and Mr. Carew in his survey of the County of Cornwall assures us upon his own knowledg that fourscore , and fourescore and ten years of age , is ordinary there almost in every place m m Carew's survey of Cornwall , Book . 1. p. 63. . Wherefore I have not cited my Authors for the ages above mention'd , the present ages of men rendering them so credible , that it seems altogether needless .

98. To proceed therefore to men of yet greater Longevity , Zeno of Citium , Isocrates the Athenian n n Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 16. , and Marcus Perpenna according to Pliny , lived 98 years ; and Marcus Valerius Corvinus 100 complete o o C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48. ; and so did a great number of others , Italians only , reckond up by Phlegon p p Phleg. T●all . Lib. d. Longaev . cap. 1. . Pliny further adding that in the last taxation , numbering , or review of the Provinces , taken under the Caesars Vespasians Father and Son , both Emperors and Censors , there were six men all of the town of Velleiacium , that brought in certificats that they had lived 100 years apiece ; and that in the review taken of the eighth region of Italy only , there were found no less than 54 persons 100 years of age q q C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7 cap. 49. . In my travells through Oxfordshire I met with one Geo. Green of Woodstock , and William Carter of Curbridg in the parish of Witney just of that age r r Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 2. §. 3. and Chap. 8. §. 54. , with many others near it ; and in Staffordshire so many that I thought them not worth noting . Polycarpus Bishop of Smyrna , and Appollonius Tyaneus both exceeded a hundred s s Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death p. 18.19 . ; and Thuanus has recorded it , that one Robert Constantine born at Caen in Normandy lived to 103 t t Jac. Aug. Thuant Historiarum Tom. 5. Lib. 134. ad An. 1605. ; of which very age one Brian Stephens dyed lately at Woodstock u u Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 2. §. 3. . Gartius Aretinus great grandfather to Petrarch w w Dr. Hakewill's Apologie Lib. 3. Sect. 7. , and Hippocrates Cous the famous Physician lived each of them to 104 x x Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 19. . In which year of his age John Best of Horton , as was said above § 3 , found himself so strong , that he marryed a wife and got her with child tho' a woman of 56. St. Anthony the first founder or restorer of Monks lived to 105 y y Ibid. p. 18. ; and so did an old man I heard of at Rushton Spencer in this County ; at which years Cardinal Bellarmin also tells us he himself knew an old man so lusty and strong , that he was likely to live many years longer * * Disputationum Roberti Bellarmini Tom. 1. Lib. 1. de verbo dei . cap. 7. sub finem . . Mr. Carew acquaints us that in the County of Cornwall , one Beuchamp arrived to 106 z z Carew's Survey of Cornw. loco supra citato . ; to which very year , William Cox , and William Ketley of Womborn in this County , both attain'd before they dyed ; and the Reverend Dr. Hakewill says he was credibly informed , that William Pawlet Marquess of Winchester , and Lord high Treasurer of England , who was born in the last year of Hen. 6 , and dyed in the 10th . of Q. Eliza. having lived in 9 Kings and Queens raignes , was near a hundred and seven a a Loco supra citato . .

99. To advance yet higher , Gorgias a Rhetorician lived to 108 b b Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 15. ; and so did Thomas Wiggen of Carlton in Yorkshire , as Dr. Lister tells us , and some months over c c Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 160. ; wanting but little of Democritus of Abdera who reached 109 d d Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 16. Carew's Survey of Cornw. Book 2. p. 131. . There lived one Parke in Cornwall as Mr. Carew informs us , that was 110 e ; and in the reivew of the eighth region of Italy above mentioned , they found no less than 57 that had arrived to the same f f C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. in which year of their ages Joseph and Joshua dyed . T. Purennius Tutus , as Phlegon informs us , was 111 g g Phleg. Trall . de Longaev . cap. 3. ; and Josias Pierce late of Witney in Oxfordshire ; and J. Sagar of Burnley of Lancashire , lived to 112 ; yet both fell short of L. Antistichus Soterichus who was 113 , and of L. Petrus Corneliensis , and Richard Clifford of Bolscot in the County of Oxon , who reach't 114. Johannes Temporarius in his Chronological demonstrations speaks of a poore man he knew , that got his living by his labour , of 116 h h Joh. Temporarii Chronolog. demonst. Lib. 1. cap. 4. sub finem . , which was older than Paul the Hermit who advanced but to 115 i i Disputationum Rob. Bellermini Tom. 1. Lib. 1. cap. 7. sub finem . ; but not so old as William Postell a Frenchman who held out almost to 120 k k Dr. Hakewill's Apologie Lib. 3. Sect. 7. . At the taxation aforemention'd under the Vespasians , there were three found at Parma that had compleated that age l l C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. , and so did Simeon the son of Cleophas Bishop of Jerusalem m m Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death p. 18. : Arganthinus King of Cadiz n n C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48. , Romuald of Ravenna a famous Hermit o o Fran. Petrarchae Epist. Rerum Senilium , Lib. 16. Ep. 2. , and Brawn the beggar of Cornwal p p Carews Survey of Cornw. Book . 1. p. 63. , who were all as old as Moses and Aron , 120 apiece .

100. Which was an age thought so attainable An. 1553 , that one Thomas of Ravenna writ a book printed at Venice , which he didicated to Julius the third then Pope of Rome : de vita hominis ultra 120 annos protrahenda , prefixing this title to his 5 Chapter . Qui aevo nostro praesenti ultra annos 120 supervixere . Where he numbers up several that had then exceeded it . In the review abovemention'd of the eighth region of Italy , there were 2 persons found of 125 q q C. Pl nii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. ; and one at Bressello at the taxation of the Vespasians ; and another at Placentia that was elder by a year , i. e. 126 r r Ibidem . . Felix Platerus late Professor at Basil also reports that his Grandfather was 126 s s Felcis Plateri Quaestion . Medicarum parodox , & eudox . Quaest. 74. ; and Dr. Lister says he spoke with one Robert Montgomery living at Skipton in Yorkshire , but born in Scotland , of the same age t t Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 160. ; who yet were both exceeded by Ralph Lees of Totmonslow a sheapard of this County who numbered 127 years ; yet could give no account beside the providence of God , of what might conduce to his Longevity ( as he told my worthy Friend Dr. Richard Morton who saw and discoursed him ) but that he never took Tobacco , nor Physick in his life , nor drank between meals , always alleviating his thirst by rolling pebbles in his mouth : which what satisfaction these reasons could give , let the Reader judg , he being an old man before ever Tobacco came into common use ; and never so sick in his life as to want Physick ; nor sure could the last conduce much , there being many that thus never drank between meals , that scarce arrived to the moyety of this mans age .

101. Who yet was not so old as one Polzew of Cornwall , who as Mr. Carew tell us extended his age to 130 u u Loco supra citato . ; and so did the old man of Eversden in Bedfordshire mention'd by Dr. Willet , who dyed in An. 1600 yet could remember Bosworth field at the comeing in of King Hen. 7. being then as he said about 15 years old w w Dr. Andrew Willet's Hexapla in Gen. Chap. 5. v. 5. ; of which very age , in the aforesaid review of the eighth region of Italy they found no less than four , as they did also that had arrived to 135 x x C. Plin●i 2 ●● . Nat Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 49. . L. Tertius of Bononia as Phlegon reports was likewise of that age ; and he says he saw one Faustus a servant to Caesar who was 136 y y Phleg. Trall . Lib. de Longaev . cap. 4. . In the same review just now mention'd , there were also found four of 137 z z Loco supra citato . ; in which year of their age Levi the brother of Joseph , and Amram the father of Moses and Aaron , both dyed ; falling short of James Sands of Harbourn in this County who dyed Dec. 6. 1588 a a Ex Registro Ecclesiae de Harbourn . , having attained to the age of 140 , and outlived 5 Leases of 21 years each , made him after his marriage ; and Dr. Lister tells us of an old man summon'd as a Witness in a cause out of Dent in Craven to the Assize at York An. 1664 , that wanted not half a year of the same age , yet could make fish hooks as small as would take a trout with a single hair * * Philosop . Transact . Numb. 160. . Which yet is not so much as is told us by Buchanan of a certain Scotchman , quicentesimum quadragesimum annum agens , saevissimo mari in sua navicula piscatum prodibat b b Geo. Buchanni Rerum Scotic . Hist. Lib. 1. in ipso fine . . who at sevenscore years of age was able to goe out a fishing in tempestuous weather in his own little boat : tho' he wanted not much of Jacob himself who was but 147.

102. L. Terentius of Bononia , and M. Apponius of Ariminum , as appear'd by the taxation of the Caesars Vespasians both reckon'd 150 years ; to which age many of the inhabitants of the mountain Tmolus , anciently call'd Tempsis ( as Mutianus testifies ) ordinarily lived ; at which age also Titus Fullonius , of Bononia , likewise entr'd his name into the subsidie book , at the time that Cl. Caesar held the general tax c c C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48 , 49. ; Arganthonius King of the Tartessians according to Phlegon was also 150 d d Phleg. Trall . Lib. de Longaev . cap. 4. ; and Franciscus Alvares saith he saw Albuna Marc cheif Bishop of Ethiopia , who was of the same age e e Rich. Verstegan's restitution of decayed Antiq. cap. 10. p. 253. . Who yet all were exceeded by our famous Thomas Parr who was 151 , being born at Winnington in Shropshire , Anno 1483 the last of Edward 4 , and living to 1634 the 9th . of Charles the first , 10 Kings and Queens reigns ; and Epimenides the Gnossian , as Theopompus affirms lived to 157 f f C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 7. cap. 48. . Which is probable enough , since Roger Bacon tells us , pluries experti sumus nostris temporibus , quod homines rurales sine consilio Medicorum vixerunt centum sexaginta annos g g Rog. Bacon de mirab . Potest . Art. & Nat. p. 511. 512. edit Basil. 1593. . i. e. that they had frequent examples in his days of Country Swayns that without the help of Physicians reach't 160. But so have Princes too , for as Pliny tells us Cynaras King of the Cyprians was of the same Age * * Loco supra citato . . Which I suppose may be enough sufficiently to demonstrat , that for above 3000 years downward , the length of mans age is nothing abated ; not to mention the fabulous improbable longevities , of Johannes Buttadaeus the wandering Jew h h De Quo vid. Guidon . Bonati Astronomiae part . 1. Tract. 5. Consul . 141. ; Artesius the Philosopher ; or the German mention'd by Roger Bacon , who by the help of Art ( as appear'd by the Papal credentials ) had prolong'd his life to 500 years i i Loco supra citato . : in comparison of whom , the Paracoussy of Florida ; Xequepeer of Bengala ; and the other old Man mention'd by Ferdinand Lopes of Castegned ; though all about 300 , were but young men k k Dr. Hak●will's Appologie Lib. 3. Sect. 7. .

103. Beside the remarkable Longevity of Men and Women solitarily considered , we find it sometimes attending them joyntly and in consort , both Man and Wife being met with now and then of extraordinary ages . Thus as Thuanus informs us , one Demetrius and his wife in the Low-Countries , one being 103 and the other 99 years of age , having been marryed threescore and fifteen years , dyed within 3 hours space of one another , and were both buryed at the same time at Delft in Holland l l Jac. Aug. Thuani Historiar . Tem. 5. Lib. 134. ad An. 1605. : just like one William May and his wife Joyce of Longdon in this County , who dyed so near together that they were both buryed in a day , being brought to Church on the same Bier and lay'd in the same grave , he being 108 , and she 98 years old : not forgetting that the wife of James Sands of Harbourn above mention'd ( who was 140 ) lived also to 120 years of age ; which is more than what is reported of Aquila and Priscilla , who lived together in such a happy wedlock , but till they were a 100 each m m Lord Bacon's Hist. of life and death . p. 18. .

104. Nor has extraordinary Longevity only attended marryed Couples : but sometimes too ( tho' perhaps a little more rarely ) whole Families together , whereof several Generations have been living at a time : thus as Thomas Ravenna informs us , there was a Seaman in his time in the Venetian fleet , who tho' threescore years of age , yet had his Father , Grand-father , and great Grand-father still living , the eldest whereof was not 120 n n Tho. Rav. de vitâ hominis ultra 120. annos protrahenda Cap. 5. . To which tho' it be hard to bring a parallel instance , yet I met with one of the kind that is somewhat remarkable , in the person of one Mr. Doody of Hanchurch in this County , who was a Grand-father and a Grand-child at the same time , i. e. he became a Grand-father himself before his own Grand-father dyed , there being five generations living together . Which is much the same thing that happen'd in the family of the right illustrious Princess the Lady Letice Countess of Leicester , Eue , and Essex , Viscountess of Hereford , Baroness of Denbigh , and Ferrars of Chartley ; Sister to William Lord Knolles of Greys , Viscount Wallingford and Earl of Banbury Kt. of the Garter , who had the happiness to see living the Grand-children of her Grand-children ; as is declared in her Stemm at the Manor of Drayton o o Ex Chartulariâ honoratissimi D ni . Thomae Vicecomitis de Weymouth D ni . Manerii de Drayton .

105. Now that there should be five generations living at a time , as in the present examples ; or six , as in the instance of Mary Cooper above mentioned , is not indeed so wonderfull ; since if People marry young enough , it may well be so : as in the case of my Lady Child in the County of Salop , who as I was credibly informed being marryed at 12 , had a Child in the 13th . year of her age ; which Child being marryed as young , had another also at 13 , so that this Lady was a Grand-mother at 27 , and might possibly have been a great Grand-mother at 40 , a great-great-Grand-mother at 53 , and a Beldam at 66 : but the marriages in our instances being not so early , the cases are the more remarkable . However this case of my Lady Child , compared with that of the Venetian Soldier mention'd by Ravenna will serve to shew how many generations 't is possible may be existent at the same time : for if there may be six generations whereof the eldest need not be above 66 , and that 4 generations have been living at a time , whereof the youngest has been 60 , and the eldest not 120 , ( which how much longer they continued we have no account ) it is plainly possible , that 9 generations may be existent together , as will plainly also appear by dividing 120 by 13. Or in case a man should live to 160 , as Roger Bacon says 't was common for Country men to doe in his time p p Loco supra citato . : by the same rule 't is evident , provided such a Mans off-spring all marry so young , that 't is possible 12 generations of men may be all contemporaries .

106. Nor have many generations of the same family been only living at the same time dispersedly here and there , but some times several of them in the same house : thus at Horton-hay in this County , at one Goodman Stantons , there were 4 generations all living together , just like the matchless family of the Fairfaxes of Barford within two miles of Warwick , whereof there were also 4 generations , and 3 of them double , that for divers years dwelt in the same house together , and eat at the same table , the pariculars whereof are put into Latin verse by Tho. Dugard Rector of the place q q See England described by Edw. Leigh in the Preface . And not only Familys , but some Villages and parishes have also been remarkable for Longevity , there having been 4 buryed at Horton not many years since that made up sixteenscore , and 7 or 8 at Ashley all above fourscore . The Worshipfull William Leveson Gower Esq ( as was mention'd above r r Chap. 2. §. 25 ) having 4 Tenants all living at Cocknage when I was there , that one with another made up 360 ; nor is it long since that Mr. Biddulph of Biddulph had 12 Tenants all living at a time in the adjoyning parishes of Biddulph and Horton , whose ages put together made 1000 years . Which comes pretty near the Morris-dance of Herefordshire mentioned by my Lord Bacon performed by 8 men , temp. Jac. 1. whose ages computed together made 800 years s s Lord Bacons Hist. of life and death p. 20. ; or that other temp. Car. 1. performed in the same County by 5 Men and 5 Women , whose ages joyntly together amounted to 1000 ; what some of them wanted of 100 , in both instances , being supplyed by others that exceeded it as much .

107. Beside extreme old age , we must not forget to reckon amongst the forerunners of death , those signal warnings that some families have , before the approaches of it , such as the knocking before the death of any of the family of Captain Basil Wood mention'd in Oxfordshire t t Nat. Hist. of Oxfordshire Chap. 8 , § § 33 , 34 , 35 , 36. , which has not only been further confirmed since my writing that History , by the like signal given before the death of the said Captain Wood himself : but from its attendance in like manner upon the family of Cumberford of Cumberford in this County ; three knocks being always heard at Cumberford-Hall , before the decease of any of that family , tho' the party dyeing be at never so great a distance . Thus I was told also at Ammington by the Worshipfull Sebright Repington Esq that a noise somewhat like a Drumm was heard about 8 or 9 a Clock at night , for 6 or 8 weeks together in a stack of Chimneys of his house at the death of his first Lady , which they say is always heard upon departure of any of the family of Burdet , whence that Lady came . And thus as I was informed concerning another family in this County , there is also a noise of bees heard in one of the farmes belonging to it , before the death of any of them , of which 't is common for the Tenants to give them notice when perhaps there is none of the family ill , yet in a little time some of them certainly dye ; as those of the family of Oxenham in the County of Devon likewise infallibly doe , upon the appearance of a bird with a white brest fluttering about their bedds u u Epist. Hoelianae , Vol. 1. Sect. 6. Epist. 9. .

108. In the very article of death I have met with nothing observable , nor indeed any thing in the grave it self , but certain bones of an extraordinary make and size : at Tamworth in the Charnel house , I was shewn a great collection of Skulls , amongst which there were many , that had a Suture that came downe from the Coronalis through the middle of the forehead to the top of the nose : these as the Clerk told me were all Womens skulls , and that this was a certain Characteristick whereby one might know a Womans skull from a Mans : but by his favour I guess they might as well be Mens as theirs , provided they dyed young : for I find this frontal suture is but a continuation of the Sagittalis , which in all children till two or three years old , and in some till eight or ten ( more rarely in adult persons ) is thus continued ( cutting the Coronalis ) down to the very ridg of the nose ; seldom any footsteps of it appearing after those ages w w Isbr. Diemerbroeck Anatom . Corpor. human . Lib. 9. cap. 4. : tho' Diemerbroeck acquaints us that he had a skull by him of a person that dyed at 50 , wherein this frontal suture was very perfectly to be seen , but then the Coronalis and Hypsiloides were both grown up x x Ibidem . .

109. In the digging open a Low on Ecton hill near Warslow in this County , there were found mens bones as I was told of an extraordinary Size , which were preserved for some time by one Mr. Hamilton Vicar of Alstonfield ; and I was inform'd of the like dugg up at Mare in the foundation of the Tower ; but these being buryed again , or otherwise disposed of before I came there , I can say little to them . Yet that sometimes men are produced of unusual statures as well in excess as defect , I received a certain proof from Mr. William Feak Alderman of Stafford , who gave me the jaw bone of a Man or Woman , with a tooth yet remaining in it , near double the magnitude of those men ordinarily have , which was found in the South Chancel of the Collegiat Church of St. Marie in Stafford , where now lyes the grave-stone of Ann the wife of Humphry Perry ; which is enough to shew that Mankind is no more abated in stature than it is in age , the world still affording us a Goliah now and then , as well as of old ; as was more fully proved above y y § §. 50 , 51 , 52. .

110. And thus I had finisht the eighth Chapter , but that I must begg leave first to acquaint the Reader that since the printing the 12 § . of it , I have sound that one Sr. Robert de Broc who was Marshal of England and Forester of Cannoc temp. Ric. 1. might well have been numbered amongst the men of Valour of this County z z Sr. William Dugdal's Antiquities of Warwicksh . Illust. p. 374. especially if this were the man ( as some think ) who was so hardy in those days , as in disgrace of Thomas Becket Arch-Bishop of Cant. to cut of his horses taile as he past through Stroud near Rochester in Kent according to Polydore Virgil , or at Canterbury it self as the Quadriloge of his life : for which he amongst others was publickly excommunicated on Christmas day by the Arch-Bishop himself , and all the Off-springs of his Abettors curst with tailes to posterity * * Ranulfi de Diceto Ymagines Historiarum in An. 1171. See also Mr. Lambards Perambulation of Kent , in Stroud . . Whence some think it hath come to pass that all the Inhabitants of Kent , and all English-men abroad , by way of Mockery are call Sileni or long-tailes to this day . And that it should have been remembred amongst the Lawyers , that John Taylor Dr. of Laws abovemention'd §. 54. born at Barton in this County , was Mr. of the Rolls temp. Hen. 8. that Sr. Peter Warburton father to Mr. Warburton of Abbots-Bromley , was one of the Justices of the Kings bench temp. Eliz. & Jac. And that Richard Weston Esq grandfather to the present Mr. Weston of Rugeley was one of the Barons of the Exchequer temp. Car. 1.

CHAP. IX . Of Arts.

1. BEfore I enter upon considering any particular Art , it may not perhaps be unnecessary to acquaint the Reader , that Arts are not treated of here as a 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , appendix , or accession to the Work , but as properly falling under a Natural History ; Art being nothing else but Nature restrained , forced , or fashioned , in her matter or motions : things of Art ( as my Lord Bacon well observes ) not differing from those of Nature in forme or essence , but in the efficient only a. In the handeling whereof I shall still pursue my foremention'd Method , and treat first of such . Arts as relate to the Heavens and Air ; then of fire and water-works , and thirdly such as tend to the improvement or better management of Earths , Stones , or Plants ; and lastly of such as any way respect Men or Women ; under which I comprehend the new invention or advancement of any Mechanick or other Art ; which I doubt not may suffice for the following Chapter .

2. And first in relation to the Heavens and Air , I have met with nothing new here , either concerning a further discovery of the Magnitudes , or determination of the Motions of any of the heavenly bodies ; unless a new sort of Dyal ( such an one at lest as was so to me ) that I met with at the house of the Worshipfull Alexander Harcourt Esq of Ranton in this County ; made of three boards representing a book open'd , six inches deep ; with some of the middle leaves standing up between the Covers and some other leaves at six inches distance on each hand , all faceing the South , and so elevated as to stand parallel with the Axis of the World. Upon the East side of which middle leaves , the hour lines of 4 5 6 and 7 were drawn at their due distance to one another , the leaves and cover of the East side of the book being the Gnomon , to them ; and on the West leaves and covers , the hour lines of 8 , 9 , 10 , 11. the middle leaves of the book , elevated as above being their Gnomon ; till the Sun comeing to the Meridian and striking them at right angles , casts no shade at all , which gives the hour of 12 as in other dyalls . Thence the Sun now having cut the Meridian ( these middle leaves becoming De Augm. Scient. Lib. 2. cap. 2. the Gnomon again ) throws the shade upon the Eastern leaves of the book ; and there describes the hours 1 , 2 , 3 , 4. and thence on the West side of the middle leaves 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. the Western covers being the Gnomon to them . Which sort of dyall being easy and pretty , and I think new ( at least not commonly known ) I thought worthy the mentioning .

3. As I should also have done a most compendious , instrument first invented and made by the Worshipfull Francis Wolverstan of Statfold Esq which he most properly calls a dyall Quadrant ; whereby he not only obtains with speed , ease and exactness , the declination of all planes , with their verticals whether inclining , reclining , or declining , without giving himself the usual trouble of observing the obliquity or irregularity of them : but with great facility and accuracy also marks out the Center and substile of the designed dyall , with the several hourlines , and parts of hours , that the plane will admit . In short by this instrument he performs all sorts of dyalling with much less trouble than was anciently used . Which I should ( I say ) more particularly have described , but that it hath been printed already though surreptitiously in An. 1668 by one A. M. under his own name , without either the acquaintance or consent of the first Contriver ; and that the like has since also been publish't by divers other Authors . Which is all concerning the Heavens and Air : but that my worthy frind Mr. Walter Jennings Rector of Church-Eyton shewed me a very easy and cogent Experiment , proving the force of the rarefaction of the latter , by the Sand of an Hour-glass , which running very freely , was stopt by holding a coal to the lower part of the glass ; which as soon as withdrawn , the Sand ran again freely , and so toties quoties .

4. It being very improbable , that there is any other fire but such as that we call Culinary ( that in the Concave of the Moon being a meer fancy of the Ancients ) the Arts relating to the fire , must follow those of the Air. Amongst which it is not of the least consequence , that they improve their land here much by the help of fire , burning their turf first to ashes , either in their houses , or after the manner as described Chap. 3. §. 14 , which they call Ess , and then laying them on their Meddow , Rye , or Barley grounds , which as some are of opinion bring more profit to the husbandman , than any other dung or soil whatever : the steril juices according to Virgil being destroyed in these , — Omne per ignem Excoquitur vitium , atque exsudat inutilis humor b b Georgic . Lib. 1. v. 87 , 88. : and the fertil salts only remaining , which dispose the land principally to the production of Seed , whereas the dung of beasts and most other Soils , tend more to the sending up a rank straw or haum , and breeding of weeds . Upon which account says the same Virgil. Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros , Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis c c Ibid. v. 84 , 85. . and Palladius in his Chapter de Sterquilinio , numbering up the several composts , concludes at last , porcinum pessimum , Cineres optimi d d Pallad. Rutilii de re Rustica Lib. 1. Tit. 33. .

5. Upon these ashes , especially in windy weather , to prevent their blowing away , 't is a common thing to cast parings of the earth near by , upon the most flaming parts , then turf or stubble again , then earth , and so stratum super stratum , and this they call burn-beating , and in some places Denshiring their land . Which I guess was also in use anciently , Virgil also asserting that they did in his time , Effaetos cinerem immundum jactare per agros e e Georgic . Lib. 1. v. 81. . And in a close about high-On , I saw them add to their ashes and earth , all the bushes , furse , broom , fern and other rubbish , they could find about the ground , which burnt together , so calcined the earth above and below , carrying away the cold steril juices , and substituting in its room such fertil Salts , that it yeilded thereupon an increase far exceeding the charge and labour bestowed on it , and so I was told it would continue to doe , if layd upon dry land for 7 years together : but if upon moist washy land not above two . They also mix their ashes sometimes with Lime , which also belongs to this place being prepared by fire , which is so good a compost for their poor heathy land , that they often think it worth while to carry it twenty miles for this purpose : but of this no more , because of the manner of preparing it , its qualities , &c. at large elsewhere f f Chap. 4. sect ; §. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8. .

6. Nor doe they only burn their turf , earth , bushes , and fern , to improve their land , but the latter of these in June when green , for another use : which that they may perform the better , they most commonly doe it on the side of a hill ( as I saw them near Marbrook ) lyeing to a fresh gale of wind . I was told they burnt it green , that the ashes might not fly away during the operation , which they certainly would doe , if the fern were suffer'd first to wither before it is burnt : but I guess the true reason may rather be , that whil'st it is green , it hath an oilyness in it which doth not quite consume , but remaining mixt with its ashes , makes them the fitter for the use they are ordinarily put to ; these made up into balls of about 3 inches diameter by the poorer sort of people with warm water , being sold at 5 or 6 a penny to wash their buckings with , all the year about ; wood ashes not being easy to be had , in a Country where their fewel is so generally coal , as it is in this .

7. The Art of making Fryingpans may also be referr'd hither , the Secret in great measure consisting in the regulating the heat , that is given the plates whereof they are made , before they are brought to the Anvil . Which together with other matters relating to the trade being found so difficult , that a Novice many times is little the better though he serve a double Apprenticeship to it ; and so ingenious and indeed wonderfull , that I thought it incredible , what I heard related of it ; I shall not scruple to give the Reader the full process thereof . First then in order to them , there are flat round plates hammer'd out of barrs at a forge for that purpose at the parish of Keel in this County , not far from the fair Mansion of the Worshipfull and iudicious William Sneyd Esq a worthy Benefactor to this work , which is here represented Tab. 28. the forge little differing from those of other Iron-works carrying a hammer of about 500 weight . In hammering of this flatwork they beat the plates first one by one , then two , three , or four together as they grow broader and thinner , which stick not together , having not a heat given them sufficient for that : yet such an one they have , as will continue longer ( the plates being forged many of them together ) than if each plate had been forged single with a much higher heat , by which means the work is done not only with greater expedition , but profit too ; the plates in this manner not only mutually preserving their heat , but keeping each other also from scaleing , or being beaten too much away into Cinders or wast .

8. When the flat-work is thus finish't at the Forge at Keel , they are then brought to another forge at New-Castle under Lyme , where John Holland , who is Maste● of both forges , works them into shape , nine fryingpan-plates being commonly laid upon one another , and claspt together by turning up 4 Labells which are ordinarily fixt to the lower plate , and so turned one within another like a nest of Crucibles or Boxes , the lowermost being always the biggest , and the uppermost the least ; the whole nine , being turned nine times sooner than one single Pan : for the nine together mutually preserve their heat so long , that they are all turned during one heat ; whereas one single pan will coole so fast , that it will require at least nine heats , before it can be forged , nor will it then be a good fryingpan neither : for it will so Scale away in the heating and forgeing , that it will at last be but a thin infirm Pan. Now that which renders this Art of making fryingpans so difficult , is not only the bringing them to a just heat , which shall hold a sufficient time and yet not make them lyable to stick in the hammering ; but the number of hammers used in this work , which are not less than twenty of several sorts : which so few know how to manage , or are capable of learning ; that there are but two Master Frying-pan makers ( as I am credibly inform'd ) in the whole Kingdom : one , here at New-Castle , and another at Wansworth in Surrey . They make also Dripping-Pans at these Forges , the plates being work't at the former , and the pans turned at the latter : but these being forged singly , and not in nests like the frying-pans , there is not the same difficulty , and consequently not the same ingenuity required , in the fabricating of them .

9. Also at New-Castle under Lyme , the Tiles burnt in a Kill the usual way being found not to last : one Mr. Thomas Wood of the same Towne first contrived to burn them ( which we may look upon as an Art relating to fire ) in a Potters Oven : wherein he made them so good and lasting , that notwithstanding they have been put to the hardship of dividing the parts of Garden-knots , to endure not only the perpetual moisture of the earth , but frost , snow , and all sorts of weather : yet they few of them decay , scarce 5 Tiles in 500 having failed in 20 years time ; so that now he has been followed by all the Country thereabout . It may also be look't upon as an Art not altogether forraigne to fire , that Prince Rupert shewed at Stafford in the time of the Civil-warr temp. Car. 1. where standing in Captain Richard Sneyd's garden at the high-house there , at about 60 yards distance , he made a shot at the weather-cock upon the Steeple of the Collegiat Church of St. Mary with a screw'd Horsmans pistol , and single bullet , which pierced its taile , the hole plainly appearing to all that were below : which the King then present judging as a Casualty only , the Prince presently proved the contrary by a second shoot to the same effect : the two holes through the weather-cocks taile ( as an ample testimony of the thing ) remaining there to this day .

10. To the fire-works succeed the Arts relating to waters ; whereof some are for profit only , others for pleasure : amongst the former of these , the way of making a firme substantial Mill-damm is not of the least consideration : which they doe here especially if they meet with a quick running sand by laying the foundation with unslaked Lime , which upon slaking amongst such sand turns as hard as stone , and so gives a sure foundation . But such as will not be at this charge , lay it first with water clay , and then a stratum of Moss , then clay again , and then Moss , and so S. S. S. yet ramming them together so close that they become as it were a mixture . The superstructure next the water they face with turf , which again they face with a thatch of heath or ling , that enduring the water the best of any thing ; then they lay gravel next , except near the Floodgate , where it must be clay . In the middle they lay a Key of clay , and gravel again toward the back of the damm , and then face it there too with turf , but not with ling , because the water beats not on it there , though sometimes they mend a breach also behind with it . Which is all relating to Mills ; but that at Hamsted Hall there is a Corn-mill that pumps water up into a lofty house near it , whence all the Offices of the Hall are served , the Pump working as the Mill-wheele goes to grind the Corn ; much after the same manner as at the Water-house near the bridg at London . And that at Mr. Parker's of Park-hall in the parish of Caverswall , I was shewed an Oat-Mill , that husk't the Oats and winnow'd them , and then ground them to meal : the last Mill that ground them , being not turned immediatly by the water , but by two wheels , whereof one was fastened to the runner of the first Mill , and the second to the runner of the grinding-Mill , a great rope interceding .

11. This , I say had been all relating to Mills , except we may add , ( as I think we may ) that at the Honorable Harry Gray's at Enfield Hall , the Spits in the Kitchin are turned with a Mill , the water being let through a Cock of above an inch bore into a little wheel of wood , made with Ladles to receive it exactly after the manner of an overshot Mill , which being placed without at the back of the Kitchin Chimney , turns a spindle of Iron that passes through the brick-wall , at the end whereof is a round wooden box which receives a Jack-line , that goes also through another box which turnes a second spindle above in the Chimney , that also carryes a box at the other end next the Mantle-tree , in which goe the lines that turne the spitts : all which the Reader may readily apprehend by Tab. 32. Fig. 1. where a. represents the Cock whence the water runs . b.b. the Mill-wheel that receives it . c.c. the Spindle that passes through the Chimney , and turnes the first box at the end of it . d. the lines that pass between the boxes of the first and second Spindle . e.e. the lines that pass between the boxes of the second Spindle , and those of the Spitts .

12. But before we leave the Arts belonging to the waters , we must also remember they have an Art in this County of makeing good Ale : which being a liquid , and nothing else but boyl'd water impregnated with mault , must be referr'd hither . In the management whereof they have a knack of fineing it in three days time to that degree , that it shall not only be potable , but as clear and palatable as one would desire any drink of this kind to be : which though they are unwilling to owne it , I guess they doe by putting Alum or Vinegar in to it whil'st it is working , which , as Dr. Willis asserts , will both stop the fermentation and precipitate the Lee , so as to render it as potable , as when it has stood a competent time to ripen g g Tho. Willisii Diatrib . de Febribus cap. 3. The former whereof , as I am also informed by my ingenious firiend Mr. William Elward Rector of Bignor [ anciently Bykenore ] in Kent , is made use of at Frinsted in that County , to fine their water , where they have little but that of ponds , which is ordinarily muddy : and that it is a most effectual remedy for curing Cider of a flying Lee which sometimes attends it , and cannot be removed by ordinary means ; as he has found by experience , having cured such Cider so successfully thereby , that it has been drank with good credit amongst competent judges .

13. As for the Water-works of pleasure , there are none very extraordinary in this County . In the Court of my Lord Ferrers's house at Chartley there is a fair ancient fountain , whereof the the Reader may have a view if he please to look back to Tab. 5. And in the curious garden South of Trentham Hall there is another that sends up a large Column of water falling into a bason of 10 yards diameter , which from the parlour ( the folding doores opening just against it ) yeilds a pleasant prospect : but much better would it be , were it made to toss a golden ball ( as easily it might ) and the designed Vista were cut through the adjoyning wood ; which lying upon a riseing ground , and taking up a mile in length must necessarily give it a great advantage . But the best Water-works here , and the greatest variety of them , are at Sr. Richard Ashleys at Pateshull in this County , where within a large Rotundo fenced about with a high wall of brick , opening with fair Gates of Iron-work against the Front of the house , there is a curious large fountain that throws up a column of water near an inch diameter much higher than the former , which falls into a bason underneath , also proportionably larger , yeilding a most gratefull prospect not only toward the house , but to the walks above it . And in a garden on the left hand of the passage to the house is a Cock to which belongs another Instrument , to be put on or taken off at pleasure , that turns after the manner that the pipe does in our common water Engines , which will cast water any way according to the discretion of him that governs it . In the garden North of the house the water passes through a barrell into the Cistern in the Bird-cage , into which were there put as occasion should serve , now and then a piece of Turnsole ; it would prettily represent a vessel of Claret always runing . And Eastward of the house is a long fair Canale , walled about with squared stone , at the South end whereof is a delicat Grotto design'd , which when finish't will add much to the perfection of this Seat , of which more hereafter .

14. Next the waterworks , follow the Arts belonging to Earths , which cheifly respect the tillage , or formation of them ; matters according to some scarce worth consideration : but I must crave leave to informe them , that Agriculture was ever of high esteem , having exercised the pens of many learned Men , and challenges our attention not only in point of profit , but difficulty too : the products of the earth being the most universally beneficial , and its true culture requiring as nice and critical a judgment , as any Art whatever : which made Columella declare , illud procul vero quod plerique crediderint , facillimam esse ac nullis acuminis Rusticationem , that it was a great mistake that there was no difficulty or cunning in Agriculture h h Jun. Moder . Columellae de re Rusticâ in praefat ad . Silvinum . in fine . : the true manner of preparing the several sorts of land ; fitting them with their proper manures and Seeds ; and curing them of their diseases ; quid recuset collis , quid compestris positio , quid Sylvester ager , quid humidus & graminosus , quid siccus & spurcus ; asking so long an uninterrupted a study , that the same Columella tells us he feared , ne supremus ante Se dies occupet , quam universam disciplinam ruris possit cognoscere i i In cadem praesatione non longe a fine . . That his whole life would not suffice to acquire it .

15. 'T is true indeed that in his time , as well as now , this rural learning turpi consensu ( as he is pleased to phrase it ) was in a manner neglected : the good man complaining , and not without reason , that in all other Enterprises , every body did consultissimum Rectorem adhibere , take advice of the most skillfull in the matter in hand . Sola res rustica , quae sine dubitatione proxima , & quasi consanguinea sapientiae est ; tam discentibus egeat , quam magistris . And a little after , Agricolationis neque Doctores qui se profiterentur , neque discripulos cognovi k k Idem in câdem praefat. sub . initium . . i. e. that he neither knew any Professors of Agriculture , nor Scholars that learn't it . Which yet was the fault of those times , as well as of these : for no question , we might as well and perhaps more reasonably give a Guinea or more according to the length of the journey , to a Land-Doctor to instruct us how to manage or cure the diseases of a piece of ground ; as to a Physitian to direct the health of our bodies ; or to a Lawyer for his advice in our plaints or defences . I say more reasonably , for that such Doctors as these ( as the same Author argues ) seem the more usefull and necessary to a Common Walth : Nam sine Medicis , atque etiam sine Causidicis olim satis felices fuere , futuraeque sunt urbes : At sine Agricultoribus nec consistere mortales , nec ali posse manifestum est . For that Citys have flourish't well enough either without Physitians or Lawyers ; but that they cannot subsist without good Husbandmen is plain and evident l l Ibidem . .

16. It being clear then that the best methods of Cultivating , appropriating Seeds and manures , and cureing the diseases of land , are of consideration ; it remains that we give a particular account how each of these are managed here , whether the lands are Clay , Marly , Sandy , Gravelly , light mould ; or Heathy , Broomy , Gorsy , Gouty , Boggy , or Cold black-land . And first of Clay ground : which if it lye in common field as generally it does in this County , they have it always in tillage , sowing it two years , and letting it lye fallow the third : they lay it in ridges , or otherwise according to the temper of the land , and make their fallows about the latter end of March or begining of April . After this a little before the second tilth or plowing , which is commonly about the middle of June , they give it its manure , which is generally Cow or Horse-dung , unless when folded with Sheep , and then immediatly spread it , and cast it under furrow with the plow , lest the rain and Sun should weaken it . About the latter end of August they plow it again to kill the weeds , and turn up the manure , that so they may return it again to their seed at the last plowing when they sow , which is usually the week before or after Michaelmass .

17. The land being thus prepared , they sow it with wheat , which is its most proper grain , and if a strong stiff clay , or cold land , with red Lammas , or bearded wheat ; otherwise , with white Lammas ; and sometimes with both mixt , it yeilding ( as some think ) the best that way ; allowing of either two strike to an Acre , whereof if they have twenty strike per Acre again , they think it a good increase . The next grain they sow in their common feilds after a crop of wheat , if the land be in good heart , are usually Beans , the French white and red , or horse-beans ; according to that of Cato , Fabam in locis validis non calamitosis serito . i. e. that beans ought to be sown in the strongest healthiest land m m M. Catonis Lib. de re Rustica tit. 35. . But if otherwise Peas , either white or gray , or peas and beans mixt ; for these they plow at Candle-mass , and sow in the decrease of the Moon , having found ( as they say ) by long experience that they Codd much better , and are not so apt to run into straw : for seed they allow four strike of peas , and five of beans to a statute Acre , whereof if they have again 20 strike of the former , and 30 of the latter per Acre , they reckon they have had a competent Crop. And this is the manner of tillage that is also given light or hasel mould as well as Clay , wherever it is found and lay'd in common field : both also lyeing fallow the third year , for wheat again .

18. But if either Clay , or light-mould , lye out of the common-field , so that they may be till'd at the pleasure of any single Proprietor , they are also both capable of improvement by marle , especially by the dice or slat-marle ; which with rain runs like lime , and never bindes the stiffest Clay ; but rather loosens it so , that after it has afforded eight or nine cropps , it will yeild very good grass : whereas clay-marle layd on the same , so bindes the surface of them ; that though they will not fail indeed of giving seven or eight crops of Corn , yet they are renderd hereby ill disposed at lest for grass : unless the ground after all be well muck't , or manured with muck and lime mix't together , which some lay upon a fallow , others when they plow for corn ; either of which ways it will yeild 2 or 3 crops more , and so mollifie the binding quality of this marle , that the land will yeild as good grass as if otherwise improved . If it be a mixt sort of land , either of Clay and Gravel , or Clay and Sand , which is not often very rich , they give it also much the same tillage they doe their Clay and light-mould , by marleing it , &c. only they sow it with Muncorn or Miscellane in the place of wheat : and this is that sort of land they call in the Moorelands their Main-land , which is indeed the best they have , there being little wheat sown there , because no clay-land , such as at Heywood , Hixon , Marchington , Rolleston , Wheaten-Aston , &c.

19. And as for pure Sandy gravelly ground , such as about Swinerton , Hatton , and Beech ; which will naturally bear nothing but Rye , French-wheat , or Oats , nor these neither unless well muck't , and then not above three years together , but it must rest again ; by the help of these marles ( used as above ) lime , and good muck , they are made as good for all sorts of corne , bearing as many crops , as any land whatever : which marles they lay on either upon the green turfe , or upon fallows , which at some places at lest they make in December and January , but they account it the best of the two , to lay it on the turfe , quite contrary to Pliny , who says that all ground must be plowed first , before any sort of marle be laid on it , that it may be the sooner impregnated n n C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 17 cap. 8. : which they say here is of so ill consequence ( it being the nature of marle to work downward ) that if you have not a skillfull plow-man , you may loose all your marle in two crops whereas if you lay it on the green sword , it incorporates with your land but gradually , and is so much better preserved . Nor is it any objection , that by this way of manage they loose their grass that year ; for if they spread their marle as soon as lay'd on , the grass immediatly springs through it : but admitting they loose a little grass the first year , yet upon account they will have double the quantity the next , and much the better , this way is still the more preferable .

20. But whether soever way of these they chuse to marle their land , they make their fallow ( as I sayd ) in order to sowing in December or January : and in the lataer end of June or begining of July they stirr their fallows , and then ( if new-broken ground ) they cagel it with harrows to break the turf , and then plow it again to lay it in order against September , when they sow it with wheat , which they doe in the begining of the Month , if their land be cold , with red-Lammas , or Pollard-wheat , that enduring cold best : but if it be warm sound land , they let it alone to the latter end of the Month , and then sowe it with white-Lammas or Poland-wheat , sowing them both under furrow , and allowing of each two strike to an Acre , as in the common-fields . After their wheat is off the land , they plow in the stubble in December , and if the weather proves frosty to mellow it , they seldom plow again till April , when they sow it next with barley , and amongst the several sorts of that grain , if the land be any thing rank , with sprat barley ; but if otherwise , with the long-ear'd or common barley ; whereof the former is esteemed the bolder grain , and makes better mault : but the latter yeildeth a better increase : though some think they yeild best when sown mixt . For Seed , they allow three strike to an Acre , which generally yeilds them about thirty again .

21. The next grain they sowe on their marled lands after Barley , are usually peas , for which they plow but once , viz. in the begining of February , and sowe then too : allowing for seed three strike to the Acre . And next after peas ( if they intend for six cropps ) they sowe wheat again , upon the brush ( as they call it ) i. e. upon the peas stubble ; sowing their wheat first , and then plowing it in under furrow , which many times proves as good a crop , as the first . The fift year they sowe barley husbanded as before : and then for the last Croop , red Oats : and so lay it down again . Not but that they could , and doe many times , take two or three cropps more , intermixing cropps of beans , and sometimes Vetches according as discretion directs them ; but that they think it better to leave their land in some tolerable heart , which will then bear such grass after it is laid down , as will feed beef and mutton to a good mercatable fatness .

22. For the heathy-land of this County , it is seldom inclosed ; but when they intend it for tillage , which is never for above five years neither , and then it is throwne open to the Commons again . But when they doe inclose any part of it for this purpose , they generally proceed in the manner following . First they stock up the heath with mattocks , &c. and then fallow it in Winter , and in the Summer ensuing give it its proper manure , which is Lime prepared as before described Chap. 4. allowing four loads to each Statute Acre , each load containing four quarters of Lime : which when slaked or quenched , is spread on the ground with shovels , and plowed in under furrow about the middle of September ; and in the latter end of it , or begining of October , the land being thus prepared , sowed with Rye , allowing for seed two strike to the Acre , which if it yeild them twenty five strike again , as commonly it does , they reckon they receive a competent increase .

23. After Rye , they sowe Barley upon this heathy sort of Land , in order to which they make their fallows about Candlemass , and give it another plowing in April and then sowe it , affording for seed three strike to an Acre , which generally yeilds them thirty again . And next Barley , white peas ; for which they plow but once , and that is in March ; and then sowe them , allowing three strike to an Acre . Fourthly after peas , they sowe Oates on this land , either red , or white , if it be in good heart ; but if poor and week , black-oats ; for either of which one plowing is sufficient ( which generally is in March ) and so are 4 strike of Corn for seed . Lastly , they sowe oats again ( for their common heathy grounds will seldom afford above one Crop of barley ) and then their inclosures are thrown open to the commons again .

24. In the Moorelands they sometimes Lime this heathy sort of land three or four years before they plow it , I suppose for the same reason that some lay their marle on the green-sword , Lime also working downward : others plow in the heath it selfe under furrow , only harrowing the surface of the reverse of the turfe , then sowing , and then harrowing it again : and the year following harrowing and sowing as before : letting the heath in the mean time still remain under , to be fully kill'd and rotted , and enjoying two cropps from one plowing , which has been often done at Ipston in this County . But the best way in most mens opinions hereabout to manage this land , is to digg the turf and burn it upon the place in May , and to blend the Ess with Lime before Michaelmass , and then plowe it , and sowe the spring following : for this way their land will last 4 years , and give them 4 cropps in this order ; first a crop of Barley , then Oats , then Rye , and then Oats again ; and then lay'd down as long , may be plowed again , which they doe but once for any grain whatever all over the Moorelands .

25. Their broomy , gorsy or fursy , hot Sandy land , they first clear of those incumbrances , either by stocking them up with the Mattock , or drawing them up by the roots by a certain instrument ( which is much the quicker way ) that I saw at the Red-Lyon at Brereton in this County , made like a strong Lever , armed at about 18 inches or two foot from the greater end , with an iron hook or demi-pheon ingrail'd within , as they are commonly in Heraldry ; having on the other side , but not diametrally opposite , also another hook fixt , like our barbarous figure of 7 , as in Tab. 32. Fig. 2. with which , putting the greater hook under the branches of broom , furses , or bushes , and if stronger than ordinary , returning them under the second hook to prevent slipping , and then setting their shoulder under the further end ( the instrument being about 3 yards long ) they easily prize up bushes , furses , or broom by the very roots . This being done they then manure it with marle , which doth not only so fertilize it , as that it shall yeild the husbandman 7 or 8 cropps , but as some conceive frees it from the annoyance of these plants for ever after : tho' for my part I beleive it is rather the long tillage that usually follows this manure , than the marle that does it : for let such land be till'd but for 4 or 5 cropps , and then be laid downe , this trumpery will certainly return again ( especially the gorse ) tho' not so full as before .

26. The manure being laid on , they plow and sow this as the heathy lands are , only in some places the broomy hot sandy land , they first sowe with French or Buck wheat , for which they make their fallows in winter , and stirr them May ensueing , allowing one strike to the Acre , which generally affords them sixty again , and so brings their land in order for Rye , that they sowe it upon it after once plowing , allowing the same quantity of seed as above , and expecting the same return . Their gouty , moorish , peaty , cold black land , they husband also much after the same manner they doe the heathy lands in the Moorelands , only they burne the earth to a greater depth ; yet these will bear little else but Oats ; white Oats upon the gouty ; and black , upon the moorish and cold black lands ; these being the terrae cariosae , the moist spungy lands that Cato warns all people to be well aware of . Terram cave cariosam tractes o o M. Catonis . Lib. de re Rustica , tit. 34. .

27. Having done with the methods of ordering their lands , let us next consider their manures and seeds a little more particularly in their quantites and choise . As to the former whereof , I find they use a great latitude , especially in their Cow , horse , or mixen dung ; which Men many times lay on not so much according to their judgment , as according to the stock they have of it . Nor is the condition of the soile altogether to be unreguarded : for I find ( for Example in marling their lands ) that upon their sound grounds whether Clay or Gravelly , they seldom lay above eight or nine score , or two hundred loads on an Acre : whereas if it be cold black land ; loose and sandy ; or loose wormey ground ; they will commonly lay on three , nay I was told of some that laid on four hundred loads : and indeed for such land as that , it cannot be over-marled . Where by the way let it be noted , that tho' I say they lay on 400 loads , yet I intend no more than on the Statute Acre , and not the customary Acre they have in some places amongst their Copy-hold lands , which is of no certain quantity ; it containing sometimes at lest 7 Statute Acres , and at other places again perhaps not above one .

28. But tho' there is little danger of overmarling such sorts of lands , yet of some others there may : and therefore in some places they always observe the thickness of their mold above the Catbrain ( as they call it ) i. e. a sort of barren clay and stone mixt ; which if they find but thin , they marle that land proportionably less ; but if thick , they also marle it accordingly : for to lay a great deal of marle upon thin land , will produce but a mean , if any cropp at all . In short , this sort of improvement howsoever variously used , stands recommended to us , not only from it's long and continual use here amongst us , ever since the days of Pliny , who expressly says , that the Britans used it in his time ; but from its keeping the ground in heart beyond all other composts ; Pliny asserting that it will hold for 50 years together p p C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 17. cap. 7. . We find indeed now that it doth not last to any great effect above 8 or 9 cropps , yet I beleive the land may be the better for it for so long time : for this always in some measure keeps up the heart of the soil , and does not eat it out after the manner of Lime . They generally marle their lands in May and June , but for no other reason , but that they have most leasure then , it being betwixt seed-time , and harvest .

29. Beside the manures above mentioned , there are several others I met with in the Country that must not be past by : such as dung , lime , and mould , rotted together , which laid upon arable land makes a good improvement . At another place I was told by an experienced Farmer , that he caused all the Chamber lye made in his house to be thrown on his dunghill , which he profest he found to be very beneficial . Another told me he had laid drift-Sand taken out of the roads on his low black land to very good effect . But the oddest sort of manure that ever I met with , was at Harbourn in this County , where they sometimes sow Vetches upon their poorest land , with no designe to reap them , but to plow them in under furrow before they are kidded , meerely as a manure , where rotting away they so fertilize the land , that it certainly brings a good cropp the next year . This at first I must confess I thought a strange piece of husbandry , but upon consultation found it to be no new thing ; Varro and Palladius both acquainting us of old , that they did not only Viciam pabularem , but also Lupinum , cum necdum siliculam cepit , ac nonnunquam fabalia , si ager macrior est , pro stercore inarare q q M. Terent. Varronis de re Rusticâ Lib. 1. cap. 24. & Palladii Rutilii de re Rustic . Lib. 1. tit. 5. . i. e. that they did not only plow in Vetches to fertilize their land , ( as I found it here at Harbourn ) but also Lupins , and sometimes beans , for the same purpose . At other places in like manner , on their poore light shallow land , that will neither bear hard-corn nor barley , they sowe a small white pea , which when ripe they never reap , but turn in as many hoggs as they think the piece will fatten , and there let them lye day and night ; whose dung will so enrich it , that it will bring a good sword , which being continually stock't , and grased afterward , will remain so many years .

30. As to the quantities of Corn sown on the Statute Acre , and the increase they ordinarily yeild , having spoken above : it remains only that we recount the varieties of each kind sown here ; and by what rules they are guided in the choise of their seed : there being as many sorts used here , and perhaps more , than in some richer Counties . For beside the white-flaxen , and bright red-wheat ( which are the ordinary grains of the Country ) they now and then sow the Triticum Multiplex or double-eard wheat ; Triticum Polonicum or Poland wheat ; and Tragopyrum , Buck or French-wheat ; all described above Chap. 6. And for barleys ; beside the common long-eard , and sprat-barley , which are most used ; they sow sometimes the Tritico-speltum or naked barley , of which also above Chap. 6. And amongst the Oats : beside the white , black , and red Oats ; at Burton upon Trent I found they also sowed the Avena nuda or naked Oat ; described , Ibidem .

31. About Swinerton , Yarnfield , and Shelton under Harley , beside the little white and gray peas ; they sowe the white Rouncival , the bigg-brended pea , and the early ripe pea . And beside the Summer and Winter Vetches ; the Vicia Sylvestris , sive Cracca , the wild Vetch or Tarr-grass is sown in some places , but these only in Meddows . Contrary to that of Cato , Viciam & faenum Graecum quamminime herbosis locis serito ; that one ought not to sowe Vetches or Fenu-Greek in grass grounds r r M. Catonis Lib. de re Rustic . tit. 35. . About Weeford they also sowe dills or Lentills on their poorest land , which serve to feed sheep and other cattle in winter ; they sow hemp , and flax too , in some places , in small proportions ; and for mixed grains , beside their Muncorn , or wheat and Rye mixt ; they sow white and red wheat , common and sprat barley , both mixt , as was hinted above ; and upon their poorer lands , barley and French wheat mixt , as I saw it at Heyley Castle ; and barley and red Oats mixt , as at Swinerton and elsewhere .

32. In the choise of their seed ( here as in Oxfordshire ) they have a double respect ; first , to the grain it self ; and secondly , to the land it grew on . As to the former of these , they take little care , especially in their seed-wheat , how small or shrank it be , so it be even corn , and free from smut and seeds : for as strong and fair seed may sometimes degenerate and produce that which is small and lean ; so vice versa , that which is thin and shrank ( as they call it ) will more ordinarily produce that which is fair and full breasted : contrary to that of Columella , quod vero protinus exile natum sit , nunquam robur accipere manifestum est s. that lean seed , can never produce a fair full Corn. Little more reguard have they of their seed-wheat , in respect of the soil ; for they matter not how poore or hungry the land be their seed comes off , tho' to be sown on their strongest rankest soile : in general they chuse corn for seed that grew on land of a quite different temper , from that it is to be sown upon ; thus they almost constantly chuse their seed-barley that is to be sown on their clay-lands , from the sandy ; and their seed-barley that is to be sown on the sandy-lands , from the Clay .

33. And upon this account it is , that in the Southern parts of the County , they sometimes send for their seed-wheat out of the Moorelands ( the corn that grew Northerly , thriving naturally better in a warmer Clime ) and so doe the Moorelanders out of the South : not only for that the corn that is fetch 't afarr off , sucks a somewhat different juice , and so is a better seed than that possibly can be that grew there before : but also because if they should sow seed that grew in the Moorelands , it would degenerat in few years , in that wet moorish Country , into corn little worth : and therefore here they always supply themselves with the fairest fullest corn they can get from the South . Which is very agreeable to the advice of Palladius , who after he has told us that all seeds doe locis humidis citius quam siccis degenerare , immediatly adds , quare subinde succurrat electio t t Pallad. Rutilii de re Rustic . Lib. 1. Tit. 6. , that they must therefore often help themselves by a new choise . For should they still goe on to sowe the degenerate seed of their own Country , it would certainly come at last to be very bad corne ; not to say that it would turn into another species : which tho' a point one would not easily be brought to yeild to , yet there being so many Examples of such transmutations of wheat into Rye upon such accounts as these , alledged by so many good Authors , I cannot but recommend the Experiment of it , to the Worshipfull Rowland Okeover , Charles Cotton , and Thomas Rudyerd Esq rs ; their habitations lying most convenient of any for this purpose .

34. For whose incouragement herein , I take leave to acquaint them , that one grain will sometimes bring forth others of a quite different species ; as is testifyed not only by our own Country-man the famous Mr. Goodyer , who in An. 1632 found three or four perfect grains of Oats , in the middle of an ear of white-wheat u u Gerard's History of Plan. enlarged by Johnson Lib. 1. chap. 46. : but also by Olaus Wormius who had an ear of barley , found and given him by the Revd. Michael Biturp Rector s s Jun. Moder . Columellae de re . Rustic . Lib. 2. cap. 9. of the Churches of Greffue and Kildebrond , that contained in it a moyety of Rye ; the whole ear being made up of 4 rowes of corne , whereof one was of barley , and the other of Rye , alternatly w w Olai Wormii Musaei Lib. 2. cap. 7. . Nor have we only instances of such partial transmutations , but also in tota specie ; which tho' very strange , yet there being so many saith Theophrastus that have found it true by wofull experience , it can hardly be denyed : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Many as they say having sowne wheat and barley , and yet reapt nothing but darnel x x Theophrast . Eresii de Causis Plant. Lib. 4. cap. 6. : with whom Virgil in his Eclogs seems fully to agree , Grandia saepe quibus mandavimus hordea sulcis , Infaelix Lolium , & steriles dominantur avenae y y Pub. Virg. Eclog. 5. v. 36 , 37. . intimating hereby , that barley did not only degenerate into Rye or darnel , but sometimes into Oats too .

35. Which transmutations as Theophrastus acquaints us , most frequently happen amongst such sorts of plants as are pretty near akin . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as it has also fallen out ( says he ) in spelt and Oats z z Theophrasti Eresii de Causis Plant. Lib. 4. cap. 6. : but most commonly of all betwixt Wheat and Rye : wheat not only degenerating in moist spungy land into Rye : but Rye also in strong and good fertile land , being improved into wheat . Whereof Pet: Laurembergius from the testimony of one Manlius gives us two pregnant Examples that happen'd at Witteberg , and in Thuringia ; at the first of which places , and at Leipsick , if you dig ( says he ) a pit , and return the same earth again into it , that was taken thence , it will not fill it ; a certain signe of a light lean soile : on the contrary in Thuringia if you dig a ditch , and fill it again with its own earth , there will always remain an overplus ; as certain an argument of a strong and close soile : in the former whereof wheat being sown , in three years time it degenerated into Rye ; and Rye sown in Thuringia in the same space of time , improved it self into wheat a a P●t . Laurembergii Horticulturae . Lib. 1. cap. 2. §. 3. & Lib. 1. cap. 13. §. 1. . Now whether any where in the Moorelands there can be found such an Earth so hollow and spungy , as not to fill its own pit , as at Witteberg and Lipsick , I also recommend to the tryal of the same worthy persons .

36. That wheat will thus degenerat and turn into Rye , I find also confirmed by Columella and Palladius , Authors of unquestionable credit in these Georgical matters , both unanimously asserting , Omne tritcum solo uliginoso post tertiam sationem converti in siliginem b b Jun. Mod. Columellae de re Rusticâ Lib. 2. tit 9. & Pallad Rutilii de re Rustic . Lib. 1. tit. 6. But that Rye on the contrary should be improved into wheat , I can only allege the Authority of Manlius for it : though that most skillfull Botanist Mr. Bobart of Oxford , gives us an instance that comes pretty near up to it , from his own experience ; having improved the seed of primula veris or common wild primrose to that height , that it has produced the primula polyanthos or Oxlip , which falls out not much short of the former instance . These strange transmutations of one species into another , Theophrastus ascribes only to the great diversities of Airs and Soiles c c Theophrasti Eresu de Causis Plant. Lib. 4. cap. 6. : But Varro will needs add ( and perhaps as truly ) that the same will come to pass upon defects in the seeds , particularly instancing in the seeds of Coleworts , which 't is reported says he , if sown older than they should be , will change the species , and produce rapes or turneps , and so vice versa will rape-seed coleworts d d M. Terent. Varronis de re Rustic . Lib. 1. cap. 39. . which if true are instances more remote , and consequently more wonderfull than any of the former : tho' their union in the Coli-rape seems to argue a probability .

37. If their Lands be subject to blasting , smutting , Meldews , or birds , they endeavour to prevent them either in the preparing , or choise of their seed before sowing ; or after their corn is come to seed again . To avoid blasting , and smutting , they steep their grain in brine before they sowe it , which they esteem a very probable , if not a certain remedy for this desease of corn : it having been found by experience , that part of a field of wheat , the seed whereof was brined , has been clear of blast and smutt ; whereas the other part where the seed was sown without brineing ; has suffered much by both . To prevent Meldewing , the most pernicious of all the annoyances , that inclosures and rich lands are lyable to , Thomas Cartwright parish Clerk of Womburn in this County , either mixes his corn with soot before he sowes it , or sowes soot upon it after the wheat 's in the ground : by which means he has preserv'd the corn from being Meldewed , in lands always observed to have been lyable to it , and this not for one or two , but for ten years together : the more soot he has mixt or sown , proving so much the better , tho of the two , he finds mixing to succeed the best . Which being matter of fact , and the cure considerable , because the disease is so ; it may be worth while perhaps to look into the causes of this annoyance , and how it comes to pass that this proves a Medicin for it .

38. First then , as to the causes of Meldews , some have thought them much occasioned , by an unseasonable time of sowing , and therefore have sown very early , as judging corn most subject to this desease when sown late : but this cause is certainly but ill grounded , some land meldewing at what time soever they are sown . Others again have placed the origin of meldewing in making small inclosures , corn not being so lyable to this evil in the common open fields : which tho' it must be confest in part , yet this can be but an accidental cause at most ; for let the inclosures be never so small , so the land be poore , the corn that it bears shall rarely be meldew'd . It remains therefore that the adequat original cause of this malady , must be in the richness of the soile , especially if not naturally , but made such by dung , which fattening it , and sending up a moist viscous steam , that upon congelation in the Air falls down upon the corn again in a dew of the sweetness and consistence of hony , and there sticking to the straw , and further harden'd by the Sun , so binds up the pores of it , that the nourishing juice in great measure is prevented thereby , ascending to the ear : whence the grain becoms shrank , as we commonly see it in all corn affected with this distemper . And this I take to be the true origin , and process of Meldewing .

39. Now if this steam when ascended , be any way hindered , being dispersed by the wind , or shaken off the stalks of the corn , when fallen on them , by the height or narrowness of inclosures , it must be owned that they are thus farr an accidental social cause of Meldews : but for their true original I beleive it to be nothing else but that viscous steam rais'd by the heat of the Sun out of the fattness of the dung , which if suck't up , or kept down by any dry adust matter , that it cannot ascend at all , as I suppose it is by the soot , the annoyance thereby is fully prevented : and any other such matter what ever else it be that may hereafter be found out that will doe this , may also very well be thought a proper remedy for this distemper . If it be objected that this medicin is to narrow for the disease , there not being quantities of soot to be had in proportion to the lands that are lyable to meldews : I answer that this hinders not but that it is a true antidote as farr as it will goe ; and that where this cannot be had plentifully enough , other remedies must be used , such as sowing bearded wheat , whose ailes catching the dew , do prevent in great measure its falling on the straw , and doeing the mischeif abovemention'd .

40. But if there be any such land that lyes so untowardly ( as perhaps there may some ) that neither of these can be conveniently had or used ; my advice is then , that the order of sowing it be wholy inverted ; that is , that they doe not immediatly sow wheat after the dunging such land , but first barley , then peas , and wheat last : because by this means the stock of matter in the dung that occasions these Mildews , will be spent in the time of the barley and peas that are not , before the corn comes to be sown that is , lyable to them . To prevent any grain's being destroyed by birds , presently as soon as sown , both limeing , and mixing it with soot as above , have been found effectual : but when come to seed again ( I mean whilst in the ear ) I met with no device here that would secure it from them , only in a hemp plat in the way betwixt Whitemore and Ashley I found empty egg-shells hung upon most of the stalks of the seed-Hemp , which they told me was a contrivance to preserve them from the birds , which being a very odd one , I could not without injury to the Readers diversion , but take notice of it .

41. Thus having given some account of the tillage of this County , their several manures , the quantities and choise of seeds , and the methods of preventing the annoyances of corn : I proceed to the Instruments they use in their tillage . And first of the ploughs , which are generally the same here , with those of other Counties , nor met I with any thing uncommon relating to them , any where but at Frodswell , where one Mr. Fernyhough shewed me an instrument of Iron of his own invention set through the plow-beam behind the Coulter , and through the plow-head , steeled with an edg forward , of excellent use in plowing new stock't grounds , it cuting roots asunder as bigg as ones arm without prejudice to the plough ; which were it not for the strength that is also given it by this Irons goeing through the plow-beam and head , must needs quickly be torn in pieces with such work as that . Yet now I remember Mr. Ashmore of Tamworth also sent me an account of much such a plow with two sharp wings of iron made fast to the plow-share , and following the Coulter on each side , that he had likewise contrived for the same purpose . They also draw their ploughs here both with Oxen and Horses ; but at many places rather with the former than latter , because of their turning to a more certain profit , and having less of hazard in them : Oxen always increasing in price with their fatness ; and if sick , or comeing to any mischance , yet may be kill'd to some profit , which a Horse cannot be . They generally plough with their Oxen in pairs , but with their Horses in a string , to prevent poching the land : and so they doe in some places with their Oxen too , in very wet seasons , being furnish't with half yoaks for that very purpose .

42. After their Corn is sown they cover it with Harrows , not much differring from those of other Countries ; only in the Moorelands I observed they were somewhat less than ordinary , but very strong ones . But in the Moorelands they never roll their barley , I suppose because they mow none , and therefore have no such instrument as a Roll among them . When their Corn is come up ( especially their Oats and Barley ) if sown on a binding land , and it prove a dry time ; at and about Church-Eyton they sometimes harrow them again , to break the clodds and loosen the earth , which will make them flourish much the better : for tho' it may pluck some up , yet it making more spring by half than it destroyes , they account it advantagious . After the Corn is in the blade , if it grow too ranck , as at some places they eat it off with Sheep : at Alrewas in this County they mow off the topps of it before it spindles , which they doe with a reaping-hook , not a Sithe . And before their Corn is ripe , about the latter end of May or beginning of June , they weed their Wheat , Rye , and Barley , and sometimes Oats , with an Iron digger , and another instrument like a pair of Smiths-tonges jagged like a Rasp on the inner sides to take the firmer hold ; with which they pluck up the weeds by the roots , which being perennial plants , springing annually anew , I look upon as much a better instrument , than the hooks of other Countries , which only cut them off above ground , so that if weeded early , they grow up again before the Corn's ripe , at lest the next year , from the same root .

43. When time of harvest is come , they reap their wheat and bind it after the manner of other Counties , and so they doe their Rye ; when bound they gather nine sheaves together , and set them upon their butt-ends , and cover them with three , and so let them stand ten or twelve days , according as the weather proves , before they carry them ; the Corn thrashing the better , the longer it stands . Their barley they mow with the Sithe and Cadar in the South parts of the County , and in some places where the land was never roll'd , especially where light and easily clodded ; but in the Moorelands as they roll not , so they never mow their barley , but reap it with hooks , the land being generally so grasy there , that they would loose half their Corn should they goe about to mow it , especially should there happen a wett season , for that it could hardly then be ever got dry again . In the Southern parts if clean and free from weeds , they bind and cock it as they doe Wheat and Rye : but if grasy or have weeds in it ; they let it lye to wither two or three days , then rake it together and cock it as in the Moorelands , letting it stand five or six days before they carry it . Their Oats they harvest much after the same manner they doe their barley . But their beans and peas they seldom mow , but reap them with hooks , letting them lye in reaps 12 or 14 days , and never turning them but once , viz. the day before they carry them .

44. For Waynes , Carts , and Waggons , they use the very same for carriage of their Corn , and other matters , that they doe in other Counties ; only some of them I met with that had certain pecularities that I never saw elsewhere ; particularly betwixt Normacot and Weston Coyney I met with a Cart that had its floats supported , with standards erected upon the ends of the Axles without the nathes of the wheels ; which seeming much firmer than the usual ones resting on the out timbers of the bedd of the Cart , I thought them worth mentioning . And at Pillaton-Hall the Seat of the Worshipfull Edward Littleton Esq I was shewn a sort of carriage indifferently serving for a Cart or a Tumbrel , the Cart-ladder or thripple both before and behind being to be taken off at pleasure , and the Tumbrel to be made fast to , or loosed from the Thilles ; like the Whiplade of Oxfordshire e e Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 9. §. 105. . But the oddest carriage of all I saw at Dimsdale near Wolstanton ( used cheifly I suppose for the portage of Hay ) made only of two strong pieces of timber dragging on the ground , and a thripple behind , with which they could carry a pretty parcel of Hay , or any such like commodity .

45. When they have carry'd their Corn , tho' they lodg it in a barn , it is yet subject to the dammage of mice and ratts ; to free themselves of which Vermin many have been the contrivances of ingenious men : but none that I know of so clear of inconveniencies , as what was reported to me by Mr. Alsager of Standon , who seriously told me there was nothing would more infallibly drive these mischeivous Animals ( especially the Ratts ) from a house or barn , than laying bird-lime in their haunts : for tho' they are nasty enough in other respects , yet being very curious of their furr , if but dawb'd with this stuff , it is so troublesome to them , that they will even scratch their skins from their own backs to get it off , and tho' he thinks not they ever destroy themselves upon this account , yet they will never abide the place where they have suffer'd in this manner . If they have not room to imbarn their Corn , they commonly set it up in ricks upon staddles as they doe in Oxfordshire , and thatch it with broom or heath to preserve it from rain , laying at the bottom next the timbers that lye on the staddles , a range of furse-faggots , which perhaps prevent the ascent of mice and ratts better than the staddles themselves . Which is all concerning Corn whilst in the blade or straw , but that at some places they still thrash it , after the ancient manner sub dio , as I saw them upon the pavement in the open streets at Burton upon Trent . And that they drye their Oats in great measure with their own husks , which thrown upon turf set archwise as in Tab 32. Fig. 3. burn freely enough .

46. As for Meddow and grass-grounds , the County being so well water'd as has been shewn above Chap 2. § § 20 , 21. as they must be numerous , so they are most of them very fertile , being not only made so by the land-floods , but ( as on Dove-bank , and many other places ) by the sheeps dung wash't down from the hills adjacent to them , which of all cattle next that of Asses is esteemed the best f f Palladii Rutilii de re rustic . Lib. 1. tit . 33. & Jun. Mod. Columellae de re Rustic Lib. 2. cap. 15. . So that as such lands as these want no other improvement , the Reader must not expect any Methods or Rules whereby they receive any : nor of the cure of any diseases incident to them , such as Mosses , Rushes , Sedges , &c. for that I found upon enquiry , they were little subject to them . But such grounds they have too as well as other places , their boggy , peaty , and cold-black-lands producing all these , which they cure by draining , and manuring with ashes : Thus Mr. Jobber of Acton Trussel having a piece of wet ground overrun with Moss , by cutting of trenches , and spreading it all over with the ashes of Pit-cole destroyed all the Moss the first year , wherein he agrees with Columella , who in his Chapter , quemadmodum prata colantur prescribes the same Method , quorum neutrum tantum prodest , quantum si cinerem saepius ingeras , ea res muscum enecat . i. e. that nothing is so good to lay upon Meddows as ashes , for that they kill the Moss g g Jun. Mod. Columellae de re Rustic . Lib. 2. cap. 18. . Which I guess they doe upon the same principle , that soot prevents Meldews , imbibing the steril juices that produce such trumpery , and substituting good wholesom clover in the room ; which not only the ashes of coal , but of wood , and fern too , are all observed to doe ; whereof about 30 strike serve an Acre , which they chuse to lay on in the spring , rather than Winter , for that the rains wash them away and destroy their virtue .

47. But tho' such trenching and ashes will perform this cure , yet if it be but barely trenched , there is danger of a relaps , because such trenches as these in a little time will swell , and fill up of themselves , and then the cold steril juices will return again , destroy the Medicin , & quickly produce the same disease . To prevent which inconveniency , Mr. Astley of Tamhorn drains such Grounds much after the manner as described in Oxfordshire h h Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 9. §. 82. , digging his trenches deep , and laying pebbles or other stones in the bottoms of them , and over them Heath-faggots to prevent the earth's falling in 'twixt the interstices of the stones ; and then covering all with earth , the whole remains an everlasting Sough : the heath enduring the wet , and supporting the earth , till such time as 't is settled again into firm land . And this way of trenching one would think were sufficient to all intents and purposes ; yet Mr. Sylvester of Weeford seems further to have improved it , by the invention of an instrument to make such a Sough without breaking the ground , but at some certain distances ; being much like a shovel about 4 foot long , with which he first diggs a hole deep and large enough to receive a Man , together with his instrument ; then he excavates the hollow-black-earth as far as his instrument will reach both ways , i. e. eight foot beside the diameter of the hole , leaving the upper turf a yard thick above it ; then at the same distances on a line , from eight foot to eight foot , he makes other holes , and so still on as the work requires : and then putting in Alders ( whereof they have commonly great plenty in all moorish grounds ) or other fit materialls , as brush-wood , &c. to keep the earth from falling in and choaking the Sough , it will drain the ground to that rate , that many times it will sink a yard or more : which he after improves with all sorts of Ashes laid on dry as above ; which kills the Moss , &c. produces the Meddow-trefoile , and brings it at last to be good Meddow-ground .

48. Nor are such boggy , peaty , and cold-black-lands , that bear little else but rushes , &c. only improved by draining and laying them dry by Soughs : but where there is conveniency also , by being artificially water'd or overflown . The best instance whereof that I met with in this County , was at Drayton park belonging to the right Honorable the Lord Visc . Weymouth , a most noble Patron of this work ; where his Lordship having the advantage of the black-brook passing through it , tho' esteemed but a lean hard water , yet by cutting a fleme or main carriage 18 foot broad and scarce a yard deep , on the upper side of about 35. Acres ( at one place ) of such land ; and smaller carriages or trenches 40 or 50 yards asunder , not above 4 foot wide , all issueing from the said main fleme ; each of these smaller carriages having a yet smaller drain of a foot wide , to carry off the water again at discretion , as it was brought on by the greater : his Lordship by this means has so improved this land , tho' the water but bad , ( yet much better it seems than that steril juice that it had before , which is hereby drawn off ) that in 2 years time , whereas it was thought to be dear of three , it became worth at lest 30 shillings an Acre . The 35 Acres in An. 1682 bearing 40 loads of good Hay , the grass after being worth 10 or 12 pounds beside . Another improvement of this sort of Land , if it be full of Mossy , Sedgy , Heathy Hillocks , as many times it is ; is by levelling them by a short strong Sithe about 2 foot ½ long , fitted with a strong Snead , with which a man at three blowes , can cut up a Hillock a yard and ½ , or 2 yards wide ; and will doe as much in a day as 4 Men can of the same work , in the same time , with their shovels .

49. And thus having shewn the several Methods of preserving both arable and pasture grounds from their inbred Enemies , let us see what other uncommon Arts have been used to secure them from those without , such as spoile by cattle , Hunters , &c. that is , what extraordinary sorts of fencing have been found out here , for preserving of their grounds unusual elsewhere . Amongst which for a living-fence , I met with none so artificial and serviceal as those , made by the planching of Quicksets i. e. cuting them half through , and laying them cross the ditch upon the adverse bank , and laying some earth upon them to keep them down , first hacking each branch to make them sprout , by which means there may be made as many hedges , one within another as shall be thought fitting , all still proceeding from the first roots . And for a dead-fence , none certainly better ( where the grounds afford them ) than those heathy-turf walls made by Mr. Ashmore on Packington heath , which he orders thus : the turf being quickly cut by a strong plow , the Workmen then have little more to doe in order to them , but to cut the plowed turf into suitable pieces of two foot long ; which , laying the rough side outmost , and filling up every course close , with such mould or sand as the place affords , will make walls so firm ( notwithstanding they will shrink near a quarter part , which must be allow'd for in the making ) that with little repairs 't is beleiv'd may stand at lest 20 years , if well made at first , especially if betwixt Michalemass and Christmass , for then a great part of the turf will grow for several years , so that these are not absolutely dead-fences neither : however they are found of singular use , especially for sheltering Sheep from cold storms and blasts , which they doe to that effect , that Sheep will now abide that heath and feed upon Ling all the hardest winter , which they could never be made to do , before this contrivance .

50. Having done with the tillage and productions of the Earth , I should have come next to the Arts of forming them into divers shapes for their respective uses : but having treated already of the whole Art of Pottery i i Chap. 3. from §. 25. to §. 28. inclusive . , I have little to add , but that Charles Riggs of New-Castle , has a sort of Engin I never saw elsewhere , with which he punches the bolls of his Tobacco-pipes much quicker and truer than others of his trade , unacquainted with this instrument ; which being invented as he told me in the Kingdom of Ireland , in justice to the Country I forbear more of it here . And proceed to a sort of arched-Bricks they make about Wednesbury , bent round to sit the Eyes of their Cole-pits , which are generally about 2 yards in diameter , by which they are secured from colting in , much better than by timbers , as I saw some pits near that Town , thus wall'd up with them for two yards deep , there being no necessity of doeing it lower there , the clay being after stiff enough to uphold it self . To which we may add that their Quadrells of peat , are made into that fashion by the spade that cutts them , which is nothing else but a thin iron plate bent to a right angle with equilaterial sides , so that it makes the half of an oblong right-angled parallelepiped cut diagonally . being somewhat like the composing stick of a Printer , which at two cuts brings out one of these Quadrells , which they set to dry , as described in Oxfordshire . k k Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 3. §. 41 .

51. Next these , follow the Arts relating to Stones , whereof having already given an account at large of the Ores of Mettalls ( which are generally Stones ) the ways of smelting and refining them , hammering , slitting , &c. I have little more to account for of this kind , but what relates to Architecture , the buildings of this County being for the most part Stone . One house indeed I past by 'twixt Chedle and Okeymoore , built only of turf in a Conical manner , much like the houses of the Indians near the straights of Magellan l l See Sr. John Norbury's Map. of the faid Straights . : but for the buildings of any note , they are either of brick or squared stone , whereof some are privat , others publick ; and the latter , either civil or Ecclesiastical ; and may all be considered either in the whole , or parts . Of the private structures , the most eminent in the County , are those whose prospects , the Reader has or will find engraven in this Work , wherefore I shall forbear so much as nameing them here . Yet it must not be deny'd but there are as fine buildings not represented in Sculpture , as any that are ; such as the Seat of the right Worshipfull Sr. Thomas Wilbraham at Weston under Lyzard , the Front whereof I could have gladly engraven , but that forbidden by the Proprietor , ( though a generous contributor to this work ) whether out of modesty , or any other privat respects , I pretend not to know .

52. The Seat of the right Worshidfull Sr. Richard Astley at Pateshull built all of squared Stone , which if taken altogether with the Gardens and Waterworks , the Vista's and Walks , set with double rows of trees for number length and bredth exceeding all in the County ; not forgetting the many stately gates of iron-work curiously painted and guilt , leading into them ; with the Mounts and places of Repose at the ends : which , I say , if taken all together , is certainly the most accomplish't and delicious Mansion in the whole County , should also have been exhibited in tail-douce . And so indeed it was intended , but that the Designe of the Graver fell so very much short of the real thing it self ( the many trees , gates , and buildings hiding each other ) that it had been an abatement or disparagement to its true worth to have given the Prospect of it . The Seats of the right Worshipfull Sr. Walter Wrottesley , at Wrottesley and Purton ; of Sr. Henry Littleton of over Arley Baronet ; of Sr. John Pershall of great Sugnall Baront ; of Sr. Francis Lawley of Cannal Baront ; of Sr. Henry Gough of Pury-Hall Kt. of Sr. Thomas Whitgreave of great Bridgford Kt ; of Ralph Sneyd of Bradwall Esq of Thomas Kinnersley of Loxley and Vttoxater Esq and divers others ; doe all likewise shew a great deal of present , or past magnificence : and yet in all these eminent private Gentlemens Seats , could I find little or nothing extraordinary in the whole .

53. But in the parts of several of them there are divers things observable : particularly the Gate-House of Tixall-Hall , the Seat of the right Honorable Walter Lord Aston an eminent Encourager of this designe , is a curious piece of Stone-work , well worthy notice ; and is here presented together with the house , to the Readers view , Tab. 29. it is remarkable also that the windows of the house , tho' very numerous , are scarce two alike ; and so 't is at Chillington , the Seat of the ancient family of the Giffards . It is observable likewise that the tunnells of the Chimneys in both these houses are very numerous , the Hall Chimney at Chillington having no less than 8 tunnells to one hearth ; the fretwork of the tunnels also in both these Seats being so very various , that scarce two agree : whence 't is easy to collect that the beauty of a structure in those days ( which seemes to be temp. Hen. 8 ) did not consist , as now , in uniformity ; but in the greatest variety the Artist could possibly shew .

54. The Stone-rail upon the wall built about the Green-court before Trentham house , is a pretty piece of work , it being supported with Roman Capital Letters instead of ballisters , containing an Inscription not only setting forth the name of the ancient Proprietor and builder of this Seat , but the time when it was done : the Numeral Letters put together making up the year of our Lord , when it was finish't viz. An. 1633 , which will appear by the Numerals , set in Roman Capitals , in the Inscription here annext : the other Capitals being all set in Italick . CAROLO BRITANIAE REGE RICARDVS LEVESON EQVES BALNEI AEDES HASCE HIC FIERI VOLVIT . there being two D Ds ; four C C C C ˢ ; four L L L Ls ; five V V V V V ˢ ; and eight I I I I I I I I ˢ ; which make up that Date . And the conveyance away of the water which commonly comes in under outer doores of houses that lye open to the weather , which I saw in the Summer-house of the Garden at Aqualat was effectually done by a groove cut in the Stone-Threshold just under the doore , and a hole from it through the body of the Stone to let out the water , is a usefull contrivance . Which is all I met with remarkable in Stone-work , unless it be worth notice , that they sometimes make their Ovens in the Moorelands of this County ( which are often of Stone as well as brick ) at a distance from their houses ; whereof I saw one near Madely park-pale , the remotest of any , but for what conveniency so placed , there being no body at home , I could not learn.

55. Of publick buildings whether Ecclesiastical or Civil , the most eminent in the County is certainly that of the Cathedral of Lichfield , it challenging a due observance at a great distance by three such lofty Spires , procul veluti salutantes advenas , as no Church in England can boast the like ; and reverence near at hand , being finely adorned with Studds and carved work : ut juxta intuentibus ( as Erasmus says of the Church of Canterbury ) religionem incutiat m m Desid . Erasim Rot. Colloq. de peregrinatione Religionis ergo . . The tracery in the Stone-work of the West-window , as well as the glasing , the gift of his present most Sacred Majesty King JAMES the second , is a curious piece of Art , and commands due attention : and so doth the Imagery at the West end of the Church , which falls little short of that of Wells in the number , tho' the Stone not so good . In short , the Architecture of this Church if taken all together , tho' most highly commendable ; yet there is one thing in it , that seems not so artificial , it not being placed due East , and West , as other Churches are , but declining no less than 27 degrees from the true points ; as I casually found by my Compass when I was upon the battlements of the middle Steeple , to take the manner of its bearing to other places in order to my Mapp : the East end declining so much to the North , and the West end to the South . Which as it shews how ignorant they were in those times , as to matter of accuracy , even in the meanest parts of Mathematics ; so it seems to instruct us on the other hand at what time of the year the Church was founded .

56. For whether the Compass were first brought in use in this Western part of the World , by Paulus Venetus , who as some beleive learned the secrets of it in China , and brought it into Europe An. 1260 n n Gul. Gilberti de Magnete Lib. 1. cap. 1. ; Or was first invented by John Goia a Citizen of Malfi in the Kingdom of Naples An. 1300 o o Ibidem . ; yet both these being long after the foundation of this Church , they could have no help from this Instrument to guide them in the placing it . So that it is very probable all the direction they had in those elder times , was from the Sun it self ; which rising in the Summer more or less to the Northward , and in Winter proportionably to the Southward , of the Equinoctial-East ; in all likelyhood might occasion so many Churches not to respect the due East , and West points , but to decline from them more or less , according to the early or late season of the year , wherein they were founded . Which if granted ( as I cannot see why it should not ) this Church must be begun either on the 27 of April , the Sun then possessing the 17 degree of ♉ , in its access to the Summer Solstice ; or on the 30 of July the Sun then being in the 17 of ☊ in its recess from it ; the Sun in the respective degrees of both those Signes being exactly removed 27 degrees from the Equinoctial East , Northward .

57. For which very reason also the Church of Alveton in this County , which declines in like manner from the true East 32 degrees Northward , seems to have been founded either on the 3d. of May , the Sun being then in the 22 of ♉ , in its access to the Tropic of ♋ ; or on the 23d. of July , the Sun being then in the 10 of ☊ , in its recess from it ; the Sun in the mentioned degrees of both those Signes , being distant from the Equator ( Northward ) just 32 degrees . And so vice versa , may the foundations of the Churches that decline Southward , be computed according to the distance of their respective recesses . If it be objected that the foundation of the Church of Lichfield is faithfully Recorded , and that it agrees not at all with the above mentioned Conjecture ; the Cronicle of Lichfield expressly acquainting us , that it was founded on the 2 of the Calends of January , An. 700 p p Ex Vet. Codice M S. Chronicon Lichfeldense , nuncupat . in Bibliotheca Cottoniana . . It must be answer'd that the Church mention'd in the Chronicle , is not the Church now standing , there having been two before this ; one , built by Jormannus the immediat predecessor of St. Ceadda An. 666 q q Fran. Godwini de Praesulibus Angl. inter Coventr . & Lichfeldenses . . and the second by Hedda , Bishop of Lichfield and Legecester , who translated the body of St. Ceadda into it , which is the Church that was founded the second of the Calends of January as above alleged : this now standing being built by Roger de Clinton who was made Bishop of this See , An. 1128. temp. Hen. 1. Qui. Ecelesiam Lichfeldiae erexit tam in fabrica , quam in honore r r Ex eodem vet. Codice M S. supra citat . . which , as I guess by the standing of it , he began about one of the times above specifyed .

58. Now whether the declination of Churches from the Equinoctial East , ought to be esteemed any diminution to them , or noe ? depends wholy upon the reasonableness of the usual preference of that quarter of the World , in this respect , before the rest ; which remains to be considered . In the examination whereof I find it plain , from the ancientest Records of time whatever , that the Deity was ever thought to have a more special presence in the Eastern parts , as well amongst heathens , as the Worshippers of the true God. 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ( says the great Philosopher ) 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . i. e. that the first Mover must necessarily be either in the Center , or Circumference , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 but motions are most rapid near the first impression , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . therefore the Mover must be there s s Aristot. Physicorum Lib. 8. cap. 15. text . 24. . Now we all know by the motions of the Starrs , that the Heavens move swiftest in the very Equator , therefore the first Movers place must be in that Line . Nor did the Philosopher think neither , that he was present alike to all parts of that line , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but that all motion was more especially accommodated to that part 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , whence the motion did begin t t Aristot . de Coelo . Lib. 1. cap. 2. text 5. : which to such as imagin'd the Earth to be a rotundum planum terminated by the Horizontal Segment of the visible Heavens , could not appear any other than the Eastern part , where the Sun arose . Upon which account Aben Rush'd or Averroes also bears us witness , quasdam Leges adorasse Deum versus Orientem u u Avirrois Cordub . in Physi . Aristot . Lib. 2. text . 3. . And Porphyrius acquaints us 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that the habitations of the Gods were in the Eastern parts w w Porphyrii Philosophi de Antro Nympharum Lib. 13. p. 182. Edit. Rom. 1630. . Which is the reason given by Cinnius Capito , as quoted by Mr. Gregory ( who it seems spake like an Astronomer looking Southward ) why the left , or Eastern Omens , were always esteem'd more prosperous than the South x x J. Gregory's Observat . upon some passages of Scripture Chap. 18. .

59. Also the Jews ( God having planted Paradise , Eastward in Eden , and the tree of life in the East part of that Garden , as appears by the Cherubims , and flaming-sword , placed there to keep the way of it ) always shewed the greatest reverence to this quarter of the World , and worshiped that way ; as the Hebrews deliver Adam himself did , nor is their tradition unreasonable : for it cannot be imagined upon what other account it was , that when he gave names to things by divine institution , he should call the East , Kedem , which is before the face ; and the West , Achor , i. e. the back part ; and consequently the North , Smol , that is the left ; and the South , Teman , or the right hand y y Ibidem . Nor did God only shew a particular reguard to this quarter , presently after the Creation ; but took occasion all along , in after ages , in the times of the Prophets , to shew it to be the place of his more special presence . Thus in the Visions of the Temple , we read , that the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East z z Ezekiel 43. v. 2. , and entred the Temple through the Eastern gate ; wherefore this gate was shut up , that no man might enter by it , because the Lord God of Israel had entered in by it a a Ezekiel 44. v. 2. . Nor indeed could it be otherwise , since it seems plain enough that the throne of God is placed in this part of the heavens ; David in his exhortation to praise God for his wondrous works , expressly bidding us , to Sing unto him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens Eastward b b Psalm . 68. v. 32 , 33. , as the LXX rightly read it , the same word Kedem being used here as in Gen. 2 v. 8. where God is said to have planted Paradise in Eden , Eastward , not [ which was of old ] as t is render'd in our common English Bible , which would have been very incongruous . To which add that when Lucifer exalted himself above the starrs of heaven , he said in his heart , He would sit in the sides of the North c c Isaiah 14. v. 13. that is says Magius in the left side of the North or Eastern part of heaven , where the throne of God is thought to be d d Hieronimi Magii de Mundi exustione Lib. 5. cap. 9. .

60. Upon which account not only Adam , but the whole world beside , till about Abrahams time , for the space of 3328 years , worshiped toward the East , as the learned Mr Gregory tells us from the testimony of Rabbi Maimon , the great St. Ephrem and others , in the Arabic Catena : which original principal , and ( as it ought to have been ) everlasting Ceremony , by an error of the Persian and Caldean Worshippers degenerating into an Idolatry of the Sun ; Abraham ( saith the same Rabbi Maimon ) by the instinct of God , appointed out the West for the Hebrew worship after e e Mr. Gregory's Observations upon some passages of Scripture . Chap. 18. : and that therefore the Temple and Tabernacle were placed that way , and that all their sacrifices were offerd up Westward ; as all the ordinary services and devotions of the Temple were in Aarons time f f Ibidem . , except that solemn Anniversary of Lev. 16. v. 34. in performance whereof , he placed himself notwithstanding , as the same Rabbins say , on the wrong or backside of the Ark , and sprinkled ( as he was commanded ) the blood of the Bullock and Goat upon the mercy seat Eastward , to make an attonement for the sins of himself and people g g Levitieus 16. v. 14 , 15. : whereby he prefigured him , who by his owne blood entered in once into the holy place , and obtained eternal redemption h h Hebrews 9. v. 12. , whose name God the Father was pleased to admit should be called the East i i Zach. 6. v. 12. : so peculiarly appropriated was this part of the world to the divine presence .

61. Nay God vouchsafed himself to call his beloved Son by that Name . Adducam Ego ( says he by the Prophet Zacharie ) Servum meum Orientem . Behold I will bring forth my Servant the East , as it should be render'd k k Zach. 3. v. 8. . Again says the same Prophet , Ecce Vir , behold the man whose name is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Tsemach , that is , the East l l Zach. 6. v. 12. : which I am not ignorant Mr Poole and other learned men , render Germen , a branch , and so our English version now in use m m Vid. Matt. Poli. Synopsin Criticorum , in Loca . : but as Scaliger and Mr Gregory both well observe , not so rightly , the Prophecie being to be read , as translated by the LXX . 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . behold the Man whose name is the East . Which being the very 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 that is referred to by St. Luke , where he says that our Saviour is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 n n Luke . 1. v. 78.79 . , it cannot well be rendered Germen , it immediatly following , to give light to them that sit in darkness o o Mr. Gregory's Observat . upon some passages of Scripture Chap. 18. . And thus as it is plain that God vouchsafed our Saviour should be called by the name of the East , so it seems as evident , that this was the place from whence he was to come : and therefore says Baruch 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , &c. Look about thee O Jerusalem toward the East , and behold the joy that cometh unto thee from God p p Baruch . 4. v. 36. : 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , i. e. says Severus and Olympiodorus , as quoted by Mr. Gregory 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 q q Mr. Gregory , loco supra citato . toward our Lord Jesus Christ the Sun of righteousness , who was to come down from heaven and be made Man . Who is also the righteous man the Prophet Isaiah prophetically says , God raised , that is , would raise , from the East to rule over Kings r r Isaiah 41. v. 2. ; and was to be the ravenous bird , God said he would call from the East , to execute his counsell upon the unrighteous s s Ezech. 46. v. 11. , yet should rise with healing in his wings unto such as feared his Name t t Malachi 4. v. 2. ; and the righteous East of Jeremiah , that God promised he would raise unto David , to reigne , and execute judgment and justice in the Earth u u Jeremiah 23. v. 5. .

62. Nor is it less remarkable , that at the time of his birth , his starr appeared in the East w w Matthew . 2. v. 2. and 9. , and brought the Wise Men thence too x x Matthew . 2. v. 1. ; neither must it be omitted that the Angels sent from God with the Gospel of this Nativity , came also from the East , as Mr. Gregory informes us , from the Nubian Geographer y y Mr. Gregory's Observations , loco supra citato . ; it is observable likewise that he was born in the Eastern parts of the world ; and as our Country-man Venerable Bede acquaints us out of Adamannus , in quodam naturali semiantro in Orientali angulo Civitatis Betheleem , in a kind of natural Cave in the Eastern part of Bethlehem z z Bedae Presbyteri Ecclesiast. Hist. Lib. 5. cap. 17. . Also at the time of his death as Durandus testifies , Dominus crucifixus ad Orientem respiciebat , he was crucifyed with his face toward the East a a Gul. Durandi Rational . Divin . Officior . Lib. 5. cap. 2. ; and after his death at his resurrection according to the most ancient traditions of the Church , he ascended again from whence he came , into the eastern part of heaven , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 saith Damascen , when he was received into heaven he was carryed up Eastward b b Joan. Damasceni Orthodoxa fidei Lib. 4. cap. 13. ; with whom agrees Origen , in Coelum post resurrectionem ad Orientem ascendit , that at his resurrection he ascended into heaven toward the East . As he was seen after by John the Divine , having the Seal of the living God , the Angel that ascended from the East ( or rising of the Sun ) being pronounced by some of the best of the ancients , to be Christ himself * * Revelat. 7. v. 2. . Under which name it was , as Tacitus informs us ( tho' altogether unacquainted with the meaning of the thing ) that , not many years after his resurrection , he triumphed over the Jews in the destruction of Jerusalem ; expressly saying that many were perswaded antiquis Sacerdotum literis contineri , that it was found at that time amongst the ancient Records kept by their Priests , eo ipso tempore ut invalesceret Oriens , that about that time the East should prevail c c C. Corn. Taciti Historiar . Lib. 5 : .

63. And if he ascended toward the Eastern part of heaven , we need not much doubt but he will return the same way , at his second coming : which is not only made good saith Paulus de Palacio ( as quoted by Mr. Gregory ) by the common consent of all Christians , Credentium quod in Oriente humanitas Christi sedeat , ab eo ergo loco veniet ubi nunc est , beleiving that our Saviour as to his human nature sitteth in the East , and that thence therefore he shall come d d Mr. Gregories Observat . loco supra citat . ; and more particularly by Damascen , who not only asserts that he ascended Eastward , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , but that the Apostles also pray'd to him the same way , and that he should return in like manner , as they had seen him goe into heaven e e Joan Damasceni , loco supra citat . ; but seems most amply confirmed by the Scriptures themselves , he himself having said , that as the Lightening cometh out of the East , and shineth in the West , so should his coming be f f Matthew 24. v. 27. ; and the Galathians being admonish't , that he should come in like manner , as they had seen him goe into heaven g g Acts. 1. v. 11. : which texts compared together , prove as well that he ascended , as that he shall come again Eastward : from the place where the thrones of the living God : and the Lamb are ; from the heavenly Paradise or place of abode of the Soules of just men made perfect ; which as Irenaeus tells us , he received it , ab Apostolorum discipulis , was in the Eastern part of the third heaven , whither St. Paul was catch't up , and heard unspeakable things h h D. Irenaei Lugdunens . Episc. adversus Gnostic . Haeres . Lib. 5. cap. 5. . Which glorious place the scholiast Pletho most aptly calls 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , the all enlightened recess of Souls i i Vid. Plethonis Scholia in Oracula Magic . Zoroastri . in princip. ; and Psellus yet more agreeably , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , a Choir of divine powers encircleing the Father k k Vid. Pselli Scholia in Oracula Zoroastri Caldaica . p. 87. edit . Paris An. 1599. Matthew 24. v. 36.42 . and Mark. 13. v. 32. ; where he seems to reside in a more special manner , together with the Son , from whence he shall come to judg both the quick and the dead : for tho' it be true that God is in all places , and in some respects in all places alike ; yet it is certain he is otherwise in heaven , than hell : and so in all likelyhood , in one part of heaven , than another ; and tho' it be said of the hour of the day of Judgment no man knoweth l , yet it is not so of the place from whence he shall come to it .

64. All which being considered , the Christans as well as Jews , seem to have had very good reason to make their addresses that way , they were so well assured the divine Majesty had his chief abode : as indeed they were appointed to doe by the Apostolical Constitutions , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . Then rising up unanimously , and turning toward the East , let them pray unto God which sitteth upon the heaven of heavens in the Eastern part m m 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . : whence it is plain that the more special presence of the Deity , that was anciently beleived to be in that part of the world , was the true Original of this Christian custom ; notwithstanding what is alleged by Durandus , that Pope Vigilius instituted this practise , to distinguish the Christans , from other Sects ; the Mahometans worshiping toward the South , and the Jews toward the West n n Gul. Durandi Rational divin . offic. Lib. 5. cap. 2. . Nor did the Christans only pray toward the East , but upon this account also built their Churches , and placed their Altars , suitable to this purpose : which Belethius thought of so great concern , that he judg'd it absolutely necessary , & omnino quoque necessarium est ut aedificaretur uersus Orientem , hoc est , versus solis ortum Aequinoctialem , nec vero contra aestivale solstitium , ut nonnulli & volunt & faciunt , i. e. that it was altogether necessary that a Church should be built to the Equinoctial East , and not toward the Summer Solstice , as some say and doe o o D. Job . Belethii divin . offic. Explicat . cap. 2. in fine . . And thus we find Patiens Bishop of Lyons , as Sidonius acquaints us , built his new Church .

Aedes celsa nitet , nec in sinistrum , Aut dextrum trahitur , sed arce Frontis Ortum prospicit Aequinoctialem p p Apollin . Sidenii . Epistol. Lib. 2. Ep. 10.

65. Which having been the practise of the ancient Church , and by how much no question the more accuratly done , by so much always esteemed the better , I cannot but allow , that this great declination of the Church of Lichfield from the Equinoctial East ( especially if examined by the ancient rule ) must be some blemish to it : unless it may be thought , that its pious founder Roger de Clinton , upon reading the 14 and 13 of Isaiah , with Hieronymus Magius q q Vid. Hieron . Magium de mundi exustione , Lib. 5. cap. 9. , did rightly expound the sides of the North , not to be due East , but some distance from it Northward , and that the throne of God might be placed there , and for this cause set his Church industriously so . However it were , I am sure his Successor Walter Langton , who founded our Lady's Chappel beyond the Choir , 150 years after , thought it ill placed , having rectifyed the mistake of his predecessor , and built it pointing more Eastward , whence it is that the walls of the Chappel stand quite bevil to those of the Church , as may easily be perceived even by an incurious Eye . The Church notwithstanding deserves its due praise , and should have been here represented in Sculpture , but that it has been done already in two other Histories , once by Dr. Fuller at the charge of Mr. Ashmole r r Dr. Fullers Church History of Britan , Lib. 4. §. 2. Cent. 15. , and again by Sr. William Dugdale in his Monasticon Angl s s D. Gulielmi . Dugdale . Monastici Angl. Vol. 3. pag. 216. . Wherefore I have chose rather to give the prospect of it , together with that of the loyal City of Lichfield , which the Reader may here view , Tab. 30.

66. To which let me add in mitigation of the dishonour of this Churches declination from the Equinoctial East , that the Ancients did not think that praying that way , much less setting their Churches or Altars , Eastward ( tho' they usually did both ) so essential to their devotion , but that upon valuable considerations , one , or both might be alter'd : for we find that Pope Leo the first of that name , to distinguish the Christians , from the Manichees who adored the Sun , forbid them to worship toward the East , reproving all such , qui priusquam ad Basilicam beati Petri perveniant , superatis gradibus quibus ad suggestum arae superioris ascenditur , converso corpore ad nascentem Solem se convertant , & curvatis cervicibus in honorem splendidi Orbis inclinent , which he spares not to call spiritum paganitatis , & damnandam perversitatem ; that upon the stepps before they came to St. Peters Church turned themselves about to the rising Sun , and bowed their necks in honour of it , which he spares not to call the Spirit of Paganisme , and a most damnable perversness t t Sti. Leonis mag. Serm. 26. seu . in Nativ . Dom. Serm. 7. cap. 4. .

67. Which prohibition continued till after 1300 , above eight hundred years , about which time Cardinal Stephanesco Nephew to Boniface 8. ( as Casalius notes ) hired Giotto the famous painter to make that St. Peters ship which was after removed into the Palace by Vrban 8 , of Mosaic work , and to set it in such a place , as when they worship't toward the East their adoration might be towards it u u Joh. Bapt. Casalii de Vet. Sacr. Christianor ritib. cap. 3. . Since which time the Church seems to have been more indifferent , both in directing their worship toward the Equinoctial East , and in setting their Churches or altars that way , some of them being placed so as to point toward Jerusalem ( in honour of our Saviour's having suffered there ) and upon that account ( here in our Northern part of the world ) not set parallel to the Equator , but declining from it Southward , as ( if I mistake not ) the Metropolitical Church of Canterbury does . Others not placed toward the East at all , as Paulinus testifies : Prospectus vero Basilicae , non ut usitatior mos est ad Orientem spectat . i. e. that the Church he there speaks of did not , as usually , point to the East . w w S ti . Paulini Episc. Nolan . Episcolar . Lib. 2. Ep. 4. . Others again being set directly West , and having their Altars placed there , as I am told both St Clements and St Martins , the two oldest Churches in Rome , and St Peters it self , the seat of the Papacy , all of them doe . Nor seem our Chappells Royal at Westminster , at all to reguard the Equinoctial East . so that , whatever it might be formerly , the declination of a Church from that point , seems no dishonour now .

68. The body of the Church of Pateshull lately rebuilt at the sole charge of its munificent Patron the right Worshipfull Sr Richard Astley Kt and Baront , whose exemplary Piety should have been commemorated above Chap. 8. is a good piece of Stone-work ; and for other parts of Ecclesiastical buildings , the tower of the Church of Dilhorn ( anciently Dulvern x x Ex munimentis Copwoodi Hollin S Gent. ) is somewhat remarkable , it being built eight square ; and so is the tower of the Collegiat Church of St Marys in Stafford , which was once adorn'd with a lofty Spire thought to be one of the highest in England , which being blown down at twice ( part I suppose at one time , and part at another ) An. 1593 , beat down the Church likewise on every side , which yet was repair'd again at great charge An. 1594 y y Ex ipsis Autogr. penes Majorem & Burgens . de Stafford . . as appears by the date engraven in a stone , on the N. W. side of the battlements of the steeple , just under the spout . But the most unusual piece of Stone-work , and the most extraordinary of any piece of Ecclesiastical building , that I have any where met with , is the Stair-case in the S. W. corner of the steeple of the Collegiat Church of Tamworth ; being made of a double Cochlea within the same Cylinder , both winding about the same pillar or Newel , over one another , so that the floor of one is the roof to the other , having two entrances , one within the Church , the other in the Church-yard , and two exits at the top ; by which two Men may ascend or descend together , and never see one another all the way ; or one may ascend and another descend at the same time , and never meet .

69. For the better understanding of which curious piece of Architecture , the courteous Reader may be pleased to consult Tab. 32. Fig. 4. where the said double Cochlea is represented in a diagramm , divested of the exterior Cylindrical wall within which it is built , as contrived and given me by the Reverend Mr Langley Minister of the place : wherein aa . shew the small pillar or Newel , about which both the Cochleae wind ; b , the entrance within the Church ; c , that in the Church-yard ; d 1 at the bottom ; and 10 u at the top , the widness of the cylinder within the walls , which is 6 foot ; so that the widness of each Cochlea from the newel to the out walls , is 3 foot or a yard . Now if a Person enter within the Church at b , he ascends first ( winding about the pillar or newel , aa ) to d ; thence ( which must be conceived on the backside this plane where the prick't lines are ) to e ; thence to f ; thence to g ; thence to h ; thence to i ; thence to k ; thence to l ; thence to m ; and thence out at n , at the top . Another person entring at c , winding about in like manner the same Newel , first to the figure 1 ; thence to 2 ; thence to 3 ; thence to 4 , &c. coming out at 10 at the top ; the Cochlea's being floores and roofes to each other interchangeably all the way up : the floor 1.2 being the roof to b d ; and the floor e f to the roof 1.2 ; and so 3.4 to e f ; and g b to 3.4 ; & sic vicissim to the top . The use whereof I guess might be , that the Decani , Copiatae , or 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , that took the care of ringing the bells and burying the dead , the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 , as Epiphanius calles them z z S ti . Epiphanii contra Haeres . Lib. 3. , in English the Sextons ; and the Diaconi or Sacristae , the Deacons or Sacrists , that made the responses , and took care of the Vestments and Vtensills of the Church ; might doe their duties apart ; each having by this means the power of the steeple , without disturbing the other . Or else that the Clock-keeper might execute his office , without troubling either of them . Which conveniencies 't is possible might be the occasion of building this stair-case thus .

70. Nor could I perceive any inconveniency it it , but that the staires were somewhat deeper , and the ascent somewhat more steep , than ordinary , as indeed the nature of the thing requires : for it being necessary that the floors and roofs should be distant at lest a mans height , one must needs ascend in a single revolution of the Cochlea or spiral , as much as between d and f , i. e. twice the height of a man ; whereas had there been but a single pair of stairs , the ascent need not have been but from d to 2 , a single mans height , and so in each revolution . Whence 't is easy to conclude that tho' there may be made as many of these helical stairs , winding round the same Newel , as the Architect pleases ; yet more than these , by reason of the necessary steepness that must follow , would scarce be tolerable . Nay I have not yet heard of another Example of such a double Cochlea , built within the same Cylinder , any where in England ; perhaps beyond Seas , there may be others of the kind , there being a Model of much such a stair-case as this , in the Repository of the Royal Society of London , the entrances whereof are opposite to each other , and the Cochleae making a paralel ascent within the same Cylinder , agreeing with ours in all things but the Newel , which in this is hollow and built with long apertures , to convey light from candles placed at the bottom , and in the sides of the Newel , into both Cases a a Musai Regalis Societat . part . 4. §. 2. : whereas ours at Tamworth , is enlightened from without , by apertures made in the Cylindrical case . Yet I am told this Model was sent hither from Hamborough as a new Invention , and so not unlikely it might be to them , this not being the first time , that the same thing has been reinvented : I am sure it cannot be very new with us , for tho' I find not certainly how old this Church is , yet it being made Collegiat by one of the Marmions Lords of the Castle here b b John Speed's Hist. of great Britan. Book 9. chap. 21. , the last whereof dyed temp. Edw. 1 c c See Sr William Dugdales Antiquities of Warwicksh . illustrated , in Tamworth Castle . . it must be so old at lest .

71. Which I think is all I met with worthy of remarke relating to Churches , but that the Church-yard of St Michaels in the City of Lichfield , is the largest of the kind that ever I saw , it containing within its limits as near as I could guess at lest 6 or 7 Acres of good pasture ground . And that in the Church of Wolverhampton are seven bells rung together in peal , which how immusical it must needs be , the Reader may easily judg : for whether he considers them as the first seven , or the last of Eight ; the sound they make can never be gratefull : for if the former , they must needs end in a flat third ; or if the latter ( which if I mistake not they seem to be ) they must then begin with four whole notes together ; either of which is very inharmonious : beside that their number excludes them , from ever being brought , either into common or treble-time , which also must needs be unagreeable . And as for civil publick buildings , the most beautifull that I know of any where in the County , is the Town-hall of Stafford built all of Squared Stone , the whole being supported with a curious Portico of archwork , which gives not only shelter from the Rain and Sun at the Assizes , Sessions , and Market days ; but to the Towns people at all times : the front whereof is here deservedly offered to the Readers view Tab. 31.

72. But the most notorious piece of work of a civil publick building , in this County , or any where ( of the kind ) perhaps in England , is the great bridg at Burton upon Trent , built in the time of Bernard Abbot of Burton ( as Mr Erdeswick proves at large d d Mr Samps . Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Burton . , who dyed in An. 1175. the 21. of Hen. 2 e e D. Gulielmi Dugdali Monastici Augl . vol. 1. in Abbatia de Burton . ) all of squared free-stone , strong and lofty , and containing in length as I found it by measure , near about 515 yards as the Cart goes , i. e. a quarter of a mile and better than ⅓ of a furlong more , the River Trent , over which it stands , dividing it self there into three Channels , as may be seen in the Map , and passing under it through 34 arches whereof 33 had water running under them when I were there : that betwixt Shutborow and great-Heywood not being near so long though it have more arches , these ( it being but a horse-bridg ) being but small in comparison . Which tho' 't is likely may be longer than any bridg in England , yet is very inconsiderable if put in competition with the bridg of stone built by the Emperour Adrian over the Danube described by Dion , which was near 7 furlongs or ⅞ of a mile in length : and yet more inconsiderable still if compared with that of wood at Mursa or Essec , built partly over the Drave , and partly over the Fenns , which as Dr Brown tells us , is at least five miles long f f Dr. Browns Travells thro' Hungary , &c. p. 5. .

73. Nor is this all yet belonging to stones : for the Ores of Metalls being generally such , the Arts relating to them , at lest after they are refined , also belong to this place , those only of smelting and refining them , having been treated of already in the Chapter of Stones : and these will cheifly reguard the making up of some of the Metalls into wares , in order to their retail . Amongst which I shall first consider the Arts , either unusual or curious , that some way respect the working of Iron ; which for some of their finest work , they commonly harden in order to their receiving a better polish , according as the subject matter in hand requires : and this they performed anciently with the hooves , and horns of Cattle , Sand , and Salt , whereof Sea-Salt , ( or Bay-Salt ) has been always preferr'd , which they formerly used to put into a Coffin made of Clay , fitted to the Iron intended to be hardened , and so committed to the fire . But of late they have used divers other materials for this purpose , and after a different manner ; it being done at Wolver hampton , with burnt hoofs , and hornes , fountain and bay-salt , sublimat , Vrin , old burnt leather , and Tartar , all mix't together , and reduced into pouder , in which rolling their Iron first made red hot , it will stick to it , and is thus returned into the fire again to receive its hardening , which it does not quite through the whole body of the Iron , but only on the outside for about the thickness of a shilling at most , which is highly sufficient to receive a polish .

74. But out of these , and some few other materials , they have observed that two sorts of hardening arise , viz. tough-hardening , and brittle-hardening ; the former whereof they perform with old-shoos burnt , Vrin , and Wood-soot , with which when any Iron is hardened it will not scale in the lest ; and the latter , with old shoos , tupps horns , bay-salt , and Argal or Tartar ; which harden Iron to the height , and give the brightest polish , tho' they render it brittle : but I was told by others that the toughest-hardening was made , by the juice of nettles , Mans urin , and Linseed-oyle ; and the highest , by quenching red hot Iron in the juice of Mouseare ; which processes are understood by most Smiths in the County : and so they were most of them anciently , as may plainly be seen in Baptista Porta , de re ferraria g g Joh. Bapt. Portae Magiae . Nat. Lib. 13. cap. 4 , 5 , 6. . Yet the matter of fact in these operations being not known to so many , but the reason of it is unknown to more : it remains that I render some Philosophical account of it , which I conjecture may be this : viz. that all these being Alkali's , doe kill and destroy the acid-Vitriolic salt of the Iron that kept its pores open , and so condensing its parts , makes it more compact . If it be objected that fountain and bay-salt , sublimate , &c. are themselves acids , and therefore unlikely to destroy the Vitriol of Mars in the pores of the Iron : it must be aswered , that tho' the aforementioned Salts are indeed acids , and are always so reckon'd , if considered simply ; yet if compared with Vitriol may be esteemed alkali's , the points of these being much grosser then those of Vitriol , and so consequently will break and destroy them , as we see they doe in divers Chymical preparations , such as the white precipitate , and the precipitation of Lead dissolved in Vinegar , &c. wherein the common-salt acting the part of an alkali , destroys the Chrystalls of Niter and Vinegar , which before had dissolved the Mercury and Saturn , in order to these preparations .

75. Beside the aforesaid hardenings , which are only superficial ; at the Tile-house at Bromley in the parish of Kings-Swinford , one John Heydon hardens whole barrs of Iron quite through , i. e. makes them into Steel , which he does not out of English , but Spanish or Swedish barrs , here called bullet-Iron ; the manner thus . He has a round Oven built of brick , not unlike those used by Bakers at the top , having a grate in the bottom near the middle , about a foot and ½ or 2 foot wide , where he lays the coal ; on each side whereof , and at the end beyond it , he lays his Iron inclosed in Cossins made of Amblecot-clay to keep it from melting ; the Coffins being proportioned to the barrs of Iron , which are broken into lengths , of between 3 and 4 , or 4 and 5 foot long ; the longest being placed at the end of the Oven , and the shortest on each side ; each Coffin containing about half a Tun of Iron . When the fire is put to it , it is constantly tended day and night till the operation is performed , which according to the goodness or badness of the coal is done in a longer or shorter time , sometimes in 3 days and 3 nights , other times in 4 , and sometimes not under a weeks time , the critical-minute in which the operation is finisht being the great secret of the Art of making Iron into steel . Which when done , they cut it into narrower barrs about half an inch over , & then break it into short pieces of an inch , or two inches long , call'd Gadds , whereby the buyers may see whether it be good or bad ( for there may be both in the same barr ) otherwise they care not to buy it .

76. And this is the Method they proceed in here to make steel , which seems somewhat agreeable to the practise in Aristotles time , it being then performed by frequent ignition h h Aristot . Meteorolog . Lib. 4. cap. 6. , as it is now by a long one ; whereby the Vitriolic-Salt of the Iron being thus strongly press't by the Violence of the fire for so long a time , is forced out of the pores of it , wherein it was lodg'd ; and rises in vapours as in the distillation of the acid spirit of Vitriol , and flyes quite away , leaving the Iron wholy void of all Salt to the center , and diminishing its bulk , in proportion to the parts that are thus carryed off . Whereas in the former operations , the Vitriol of Mars was only superficially destroyed , either by the superinduction of an opposit-Salt , or dipping it red hot ( whilst the parts are open ) in some peculiar juices , which also superficially dissolve the Salts , and so take them away , as common-water it self will likewise doe , tho' perhaps not so well as some of the juices there mention'd ; those being certainly the best , that are highest impregnated with some alcalizate Salt : as I have reason to suspect the waters of Bilbao and Taracona in Spain , Sulmo and Como in Italy , are ; which places tho' they yeild no Iron-Ores of their own , yet have always been esteemed ( upon account of their waters ) famous for this Metall i i C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 34. cap. 14. Which additions of so many various materials beside heating the Iron for superficial hardening , makes me suspect that there must be some other applications for the central hardening or making of steel , beside what John Heydon was willing to impart , it being evident that heating of Iron only , and letting it coole in the fire , does rather soften then harden it , as we plainly see in the annealing of Wyer , and other Irons ; which often heated , and suffered to coole in the fire as it goes out of it self ( provided it be not hammer'd ) will thereby be much softened * * Joh. Bapt. Portae . Magiae . Nat. Lib. 13. cap. 2. .

77. For which knack of softening , they have also frequent occasion , in order to their Iron works , as well as for hardening ; which they doe too with oyl , wax , suet , butter , Asa-foetida , sulphur , and indeed with any fat unctuous body ; it seeming to amount almost to an Aphorisme , in re ferraria , durum pinguibus remollescere : the Iron being daubed over with any of these , and then heated red hot , and suffer'd after to coole in the fire by degrees , as it goes out of it self . Thus I find in the Journal of the Philosophical Society of the University of Oxford , that an ingenious Smith of that City usually softens his Iron , first heating it moderatly , then daubing it all over with tallow , and after heating it red hot , and letting it coole in the fire as it gradually goes out k k Journal Book of the Philosophical Society of Oxon. Sess. of Octob. 26. 1683. . The Iron thus prepared , is used both by the White and Black-Smiths of this County , according as the condition of their wares require ; it being forged by the former , into Sithes , Reaping-books , Axes , Hatchets , Bills , &c. ( for each whereof they give their Iron a different heat and temper ) which being ground at the blade-mills to a bright edg ( whereof there is one at Himley , another near Swindon , and others on all the little-waters thereabout ) they have given this sort of Artisans that make them , the name of White-Smiths . And by the latter , it is wrought into plow , cart , and fire irons , into horse-locks and shoes , bolts , and hinges for doors , barrs for windows , squares for trunks and coffins , staff-heads , buckles , and nailes ; for making the last of which there are so prodigious numbers here , that in the parish of Sedgley alone , there are thought to be no less than 2000 of the trade , reckoning boys as well as men .

78. But the greatest excellency of the Black-Smiths profession , that I could hear of in this County , lyes in their making locks for doores , wherein the Artisans of Wolverhampton seem to be preferr'd to all others , where they make them in Sutes , six , eight , or more in a sute , according as the Chapman bespeaks them ; whereof the Keys shall neither of them open each others lock , yet one Master-key shall open them all : so that these locks being set upon the doores of a house , and the inferior Keys kept by distinct servants , tho' neither of them can come at each others charge , yet the Master can come at them all . Beside the Master turning his key in any of the Servants locks but once extraordinary , the Servants themselves cannot come at their charge , neither shall the Servant spoil his key or the lock in endeavouring it ; for his , after the Master-key has given the lock a second turn , will only run round in it backward and forward , without either stopping at , or prejudiceing it any thing . Nay so curious are they in Lockwork ( indeed beyond all preference ) that they can contrive a Lock , so that the Master or Mistris of a family sending a Servant into their Closets , either with the Master Key , or ( if they permit an inferiour-Key ) with their own , can certainly tell by the Lock how many times that Servant has been in , at any distance of time ; or how many times the Lock has been shot for a whole year together : some of them being made to shew it 300 , 500 , or 1000 times ; nay one of the cheif Workman of the Town told me ( might he have Workmans wages ) he could make one should shew it to 10000 times . Farther yet , I was told of a very fine Lock made in this Town , sold for 20 pounds , that had a set of Chimes in it , that would goe at any hour the Owner should think fit . And these Locks they make either with brass or iron boxes so curiously polish't , and the keys so finely wrought , that 't is not reasonable to think they were ever exceeded , unless by Tubal-Cain the inspired Artificer in Brass and Iron l l Gen. 4. v. 22. .

79. Nor are they less curious in their Iron works as the Town of Walsall , which cheifly relate to somewhat of Horsemanship , such as Spurrs , Bridles , Sturrups , &c. in the two former whereof they are so very nice , that neither of them are perfected without the joynt concurence of several Artisans : as in the making of a Spurr , there is first the Head or Spurr-maker that makes the body of the Spurr , which he makes either plain , joynted , broad , narrow , wyer , &c. and these with swan-necks , feather-necks , rough-necks ; or long , short , or middle-necks ; and all these again either white , sanguine , or inlaid with some Metall . Secondly the Hook or Button-maker . Thirdly the Spurr-Buckle maker , who makes the buckle , the chape , tongue , and roll . And lastly the Rowell maker , who makes the 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , or 10 pointed rowells , of iron or steel , which he cuts in a mould at one stroke , making a great many of them in a little time , and then files them , They make also great variety of bridles , both Snaffles and Bitts : such as the wheel and joynted Snaffle , the neck-Snaffle , wreath-Snaffle , prick-Snaffle , &c. to the ends or sides whereof belong these fashions , viz. the Rippon , acorn , spoon , trumpet , bobbing , and knob'd end . They make likewise Colt-snaffles and trenches , Cabbinsons and Musrolls ; which are all commonly made too by different persons , tho' sometimes the same makes them all himself . And of Bitts , they make the Canon or port bitt , the Million Mouth'd bitt , the snaffle mouth'd bitt , the half check't bit , the Coach bit , and watering bit , which are made by one workman ; and the Harness to them , viz. the curbb , watering-chain , bolts , and rings , by another .

80. Of Stirrups they also make these several sorts , the swivel , barr'd , Rippon , and plain stirrop , and these either with broad or narrow bottoms . They make also all the Iron work belonging to a Saddle , viz. sivels , barrs , plates , the two former being made by one workman , the latter by another : also the great variety of buckles that belong to the pack and hackney-Saddles , such as setts , black or oyl'd buckles , sanguine buckles , crupper buckles , brest-plate buckles , and sussingle buckles : and all sorts of shooe , and garter buckles , whether round , square , oval , or cut buckles , which too are all or most of them made by different Tradesmen . There are divers other buckles also made promiscuously amongst these , such as the Hester buckle , plain and knobb'd , for the white bridle ; and the open and plain crown buckles , for the black ; and so the Poland buckle , the pease buckle , chased buckles , Dutch and Irish buckles , which are brass , and made by the Coppersmith . Who also makes bosses of all sorts , pendants , starrs , and Labells , coach nailes , studds , &c. Also they cast in this Town , Iron , Copper , and brass potts of all sizes ; in perfecting of which wares , as also of their spurs , bridles , stirrups , &c. they use a great deal of Tin which they superinduce over them , to give a better luster , and preserve some of them from rusting ; and prevent others from giving a tast of the Metalls to things boyled in them .

81. For the performance whereof they use such Methods and materials , as each Metall requires ; viz. for Iron they proceed in this manner : they melt in a pan a parcel of Tin proportionable to their work , and a ratable quantity of yellow Rosin mix't , which will swim above the Tin to the thickness of a Crown piece ; into which , the wares being first soaked in old sharp clarifyed Whey to cleanse them from all filth , and duely heated , and then dip't into this mixture and shaken about , by mediation of the Rosin they become Tin'd all over . And for tinning other smaller brass commodities , they observe this method ; they put them all together in an earthen pot , and heat them over the fire to a due proportion , then they put in a suitable quantity of Tin , to which when melted , they cast in as much as will suffice for the purpose of Sal Ammoniac or Armeniac ( by the mediation whereof the brass admitts the Tin ) which when shaken together the work is finish't , only they cast them immediatly into a pan of cold water to wash off the faeces of the Sal Ammoniac , and to cool them quickly to preserve their colour , which they will not keep , if long in cooling . But in tinning greater brass Vessels such as potts , kettles , &c. first they give the vessel its due heat , then they sprinkle the Sal Ammoniac in dust all over it , and then they apply a rod of Tin cold to it ( the vessel being hot enough to melt it down ) which when done in a proportionable quantity to the vessel , they then brush it all over it with hurds or combings of hemp ( which licks not up the Tin as any thing else will ) and the work is finish't .

82. In tinning of Copper whether small or great vessels , they use the Methods as above , only instead of Sal Ammoniac they apply black-Rosin ( which I am told is nothing else but the yellow refin'd ) to unite the Metalls , with which they rub the vessel all over first , and then apply the tin , and so proceed ut supra . The matter of fact of which operations , viz. that the matters are so , all the Workmen know ; but why these materials rather than any other , should performe these feats ? is a Question perhaps that has scarce yet been proposed , much less determin'd : nor shall I pretend it . But if the Reader please to accept of a conjecture , till such time as he can meet with a more satisfactory account ; let him take notice first , that Iron , Copper , and Brass , all hold Vitriols of their respective kinds , and that Tin is a very open porous body and of a rough superficies : now as for Sal Ammoniac every body knows it to be an Alkali , and to seize upon acids where ever it finds them , and so likewise upon Tin , as is plain by the sublimation of Jupiter by it m m Nich. Lemery's course of Chymistry . part . 1. Chap. 3. ; whence it seems very probable that the Sal Ammoniac unites the tin and brass , by seizing and destroying the Vitriol of Venus , and so inserting one end of its Chrystalls into the pores of the Brass where the Vitriol was , and the other into the open void pores of the Tin. In like manner as the glutinous Rosins doe , which are nothing else but the sediments of Clarify'd Turpentine that also carry an Alcalizat Salt with them , whose points destroying the Vitriols both of Mars and Venus in the Iron and Copper , easily lodg themselves in the place , and so in the patent pores of the Tin , and thus with assistance of the concomitant Viscosity , unites them so strictly as we see they usually are .

83. And these are all the Arts that I found remarkable here , attending the Earths and Metalls : only that for preserving some of their finish't Iron-works from rust , such as Sword-hilts , Shoo-buckles , Armour , &c. they use Litharge pounded and searced fine , mixt with oyle of Spike , and so layd on with a feather : or if they have occasion to lay by any of these curious wares for a considerable time , such as their curious thorough work't Keys , buckles , &c. they commonly bury them in Lime powder'd , which being a strong Alcali , repells the relenting of the Vitriol of Mars , which seems to be the only thing that occasions this Metall to contract rust . Next these , I proceed to treat of such Arts as belong to plants , or the dependants on them , whereof the first that present themselves are those that concern the herbaceous kind . Of which sort we may reckon two ingenious contrivances and profitable ones also , that I met with in this County relating to hemp and rushes , whereof they make ropes ; which I found about Tamworth ( especially those they had for their Wells ) were not made of Hemp alone , but mixt with hair : the advantage whereof above those of hemp only , they told me was this , that the ends of the hair sticking roughly out beyond the hempen strands , did so cast off the water , that these ropes were preserved from rotting , and lasted much longer , than any others did ; which seems probable enough . And at Parke-hall in the parish of Caverswall I was shewn a rope , that past between the runners of the Oat-mill above mention'd § 10. made only of the pillings or rinds pull'd off the pith of the juncus laevis panicula sparsa major , or juncus laevis vulgaris * * Vid. Joh. Raii . Catalog . Plantar . Angliae & Joh. Parkins . Theat. Botan . Trib. 13. cap. 30. , both which it seems are Candle-rushes , which they told me would not only last a year , i. e. longer than one of hemp , but that it would not stretch as hempen ones doe , which it seems is a great convenience in the working of such a Mill. Which are all the Arts that any way concern herbs , but that about Shenston , as I was inform'd by the worthy Mr Erith of Thorns , they frequently used the Erica vulgaris , heath or ling instead of hopps to preserve their beer , which as he also told me gave it no ill tast . And that they sometimes here make mault of Oats , which mixt with that of barley , is call'd Dredg-mault , of which they make an excellent fresh quick sort of Drink .

84. Having done with the herbs , the Arts relating to the Shrubs and Subfrutices naturally follow , whereof I was told of one , by the right Worshipfull Sr Walter Bagot of Blithefield Baronet , of very good use , viz. that Acorns are best sown for the propagation of timber with the genista spinosa , i.e. gorss or furs , amongst which they will grow securely out of all danger , wanting no other fence , and when they come to top them , will quickly shade , and so kill them . At the Worshipfull Thomas Kinnersley's of Vttoxater Esq I saw an attempt for a hedg of the same plant , how it has succeeded since , I have not been informed ; but it being so hardy a plant , I suppose there need be no great doubt made , either of its growing , or admitting of formation by the Gardiners sheers . Hither also must be referr'd what concerns the Vine , which has been improved by the right Worshipfull Sr Henry Lyttleton to that advantage at Over-Arley , which is situate low and warm , being surrounded with hills , that he has made wine so good there , that it has been altogether undistinguishable from the best French wines by the most judicious palates : but this I suppose was done only in some favourable over hot Summer , tho' if the Vines were placed very advantageously 't is possible it might be done in an indifferent year , the Reverend and Learned Dr Ralph Bathurst , President of Trinity College and Dean of Wells , having made as good Claret here at Oxon. An. 1685 , which was a very mean year for that purpose , as one would wish to drink . Which is so farr from wonder that we are informed they planted vinyards , and made wines anciently all over the Kingdom ; for tho' Tacitus says it bore all sorts of fruits , praeter oleam & Vitem n n Corn. Taciti . de vita Julii Agricola Cap. 12. , yet we find in Vopiscus that the Emperor Probus for some good service done , permitted the Britans to plant them vinyards , which had been no great favour , could they not have made wines o o Flav. Vopiscus Syracus . in vita Probi . .

85. As to the Arts used here in the ordering of trees , they may be distinguisht first either into such as concern Timber , or Fruit trees ; and the former again either into such as are applyed to them during their vegetation , or when fell'd , and disposed of for uses , as timber ; Under the first of which conditions , the Planter and Gardiner make them into pleasant walks and Topiary works ; for the latter whereof Laurembergius notes that the English are as expert as most Nations , quoting Hampton-Court as remarkable for them p p Petri Laurembergii Horticultura Lib. 1. cap. 29. & 37. : and so is Brewood-Hall the Seat of Mr Ferrers Fowk of this County , where in the whitethorn hedg between the Garden and Court before the house , there are several Animals , Castles , &c. formed arte Topiaria , not unlike those ingraven by Laurembergius q q Locis supra citatis . The Wrens-nest in the Hort-yard is a neat piece of work , cut in that form likewise out of a whitethorn , and capacious enough to receive a man to sit on a seat made within it for that purpose . And in the Garden there is a Yew tree that from divers branches issuing out of it about a yard from the ground , formes a fair spacious Arbour of a square figure , each side without measuring about 5 yards , but within not exceeding above ten foot ; cut on the top with loop and crest , like the battlements of a Tower , adorn'd at each corner with a pinnacle , over which is wrought a Canopy out of the middle branches about 2 yards diameter , which is carryed up again first to a lesser gradation , and then terminates at the top in a small pinnacle . There is also near the pale inclosing the Hortyard a fine Yew-tree cut up gradually from greater to lesser rounds to the number of twenty ; in which sort of Ornament the people of this County seem to take great delight , there being others of them at Mear , Aspley , Moreton , and Willbrighton , of 21 , 22 , 23 stories high .

86. In the Garden of the worthy Mr Scot of great Barr , there is a Yew-tree cut conically like the Spire of a Steeple , 8 or 9 yards high . And for plantations of Trees and Walks there are very fair ones at the right Honorable the Lord Visc . Massereens at Fisherwick ; and at the right Worshipfull Sr Francis Lawleys at Cannal ; there are also fine young ones of the Silver Firr at Mr Chetwynds at Ingestre ; but of all I met with in the County there are none that are comparable either for bredth or length to those above mention'd at Sr Richard Astley's at Pateshull r r See § 52. of this Chap. some of them being 11 and 14 yards broad , and 148 or 150 yards long , curiously planted on each side with double rows of Elmes . In many of their parks and woods in this County , they much affect cutting vista's or pleasant Lawns here and there through them , whereof the most eminent are those in Littewood , which may be seen about the Country at a great distance , and afford pleasure to the travellor a farr off , as well as near ; and there are very fine ones designed , East of Pateshull house . The manage of the Woods in this County also belongs to this place , which if Vnderwood , in the Moorelands they order thus ; the brush they use for brewing , and heating the Oven where they have it ; and where there are Rivers ( if needfull ) they preserve the banks with it : but if of bigger growth , they generally charr it for the Iron Mills , in the manner as described by the learned Mr Evelyn s s Joh. Evelyn's discourse of Forrest trees Chap. 31. .

87. And so they doe the loppings of their timber trees , which they extend even to Oakes , not sparing to lop them when young , at some distance from the tree , which in process of time will be cover'd again with the bark , in which they think they give advantage to the Vnderwood in its growth ( as doubtless they doe ) and hurt not the timber at all : tho' they are of opinion , if they should , that the Vnderwood will pay them better for its growth , than their Timber ever would : which yet they let grow to as vast a bigness here , as was shewn above , as in any part of England t t See Chap. 6. § § 27.30 . and 53. . In the felling whereof they have this very good custom , that they flaw it standing about the beginning or middle of May , which I first observed in some fences near Norton in the moores , Milton , Badiley , &c. where there were several Oakes stood naked , divested of their bark , which they told me would not be fell'd till Michaelmass following at soonest , or perhaps not till mid Winter , or the ensueing Spring . which I take to be a way of so valuable a consideration , that perhaps it may deserve the debate of a Parliament , whether it might not be worth while to inforce this custome to be strictly observed all over the Nation ? for tho' by a reserve in the Act for due felling Oaken timber , it may be done at any time for building or repairing Houses , Ships , and Mills ; yet for any other uses none may fell it ( in consideration of the tan ) where bark is worth but two shillings per load , over and above the charges of barking and pilling , but between the first of April and last of June u u Jos. Keeble's Statutes at large . An. 1o Jac. 1. Chap. 22. § 20. , when the sap is up , and the bark will run ; which causes the out side of the timber to rott away quickly , and to grow worm-eaten : whereas these being felld in or near the winter , and having stood naked all the Summer drying in the Sun , become in a manner as hard and sound without as within , being as it were all heart , and not so subject to worms : by which means there would be a great deal of good timber saved , and no other could be used ; nor would the use of the bark be lost to the Tanner , as I suppose is presumed in the present Act it would , should it have admitted felling Oakes in the Winter season , when the bark will not run .

88. Their Timber when fell'd they dispose of for divers uses , as in other places , some being cleft into pales which they make use of here , not only for fencing , but to lay their thatch on , instead of laths , as I observed about Hanford and great Fenton , which I take to be a strong and very good way . It may be reckon'd amongst the Arts too relating to Timber , that there have been very long structures made in this County out of short pieces of Timber : I shall not compare them with the floores , roofs , &c. made of the like in Oxfordshire w w Nat: Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 9. §. 148. , having not seen the thing it self I am about to mention : but it is certainly true that there was a large bridg standing within memory over the Castle ditch at Tutbury ( for I spake with one there that remember'd it pull'd down ) that was made of pieces of Timber whereof none were much above a yard in length , and yet was not supported underneath either with pillars or archwork , or any other prop whatsoever . Which yet is not so curious a piece of Art , but that it seems to have been known as long agoe as Fryar Bacon , who amongst other stupendous artifices , seems to mention such an one : Infinita alia , says he , possunt fieri , ut Pontes ultra flumina sine columna , aut aliquo sustentaculo , & Machinae & ingenia inaudita x x Rog. Bacon de mirabilib . Artis & Naturae Epist. 4. , i. e. that Bridges were made over Rivers unsupported either by pillars or any other prop , with many other such Machines , and unheard of Curiosities . It is remarkable also that in the Hall at Chartley the Shuffle-board table tho' ten yards , 1 foot , and an inch long , is made up of about 260 pieces , which are generally about 18 inches long , some few only excepted , that are scarce a foot ; which being laid on longer boards for support underneath , are so accuratly joynted , and glewed together , that no shuffle-board whatever is freer from rubbs , or casting .

89. There is a joynt also in the Shuffleboard at Madeley Manor exquisitely well done . But of all the Joyners work I met with in this County , there is none comparable to that of the new dining room at Sr Charles Wolseley's at Wolseley , the carved work whereof is also very good , both done by one Pierce ; and the Prebends Stalls at Lichfield ( which perhaps may be the best of their kind in England ) are no mean piece of work , being lately rebuilt most of them at the charge of the Gentry of the County , each Stall bearing the Armes of the Benefactor that gave it : but the most difficult piece of wood work , that was shewn me here , was a Book-desk at the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynd's Esq said to be the original of the kind now dispersed over the nation , made by Mr John Ensor of Tamworth out of a solid piece of wood with a turning joynt to raise it higher or lower as conveniency shall require , which joynt yet is cut so even and close , that it moves not without a strong screaking pressure of the parts , the thinnest groat not being to be thrust betwixt the Commissures of it . And for Turners work , I have seen nothing equal to that of the same person , who hath contrived an Engine to turne wreath work such as that represented Tab. 32. Fig. 5. which he sent me as one of the meanest pieces of his Art , in comparison of what he can doe of this kind ; being able to make such not only of two , but of 3 or 4 twists , or more if he pleaseth ; and that in so little time , that he can turn 20 of these , whilst one is cut or rasp't , the only ways they could make such at London and Oxford , that I could by any means hear of . He also cuts wreath'd pillars with the same Engine ( that are not through-work ) which plainly demonstrate that he does turn the other , the furrows whereof are so very deep and narrow , that it is impossible they should be cut by any other toole , but by some Engine for turning , whereof there is a Specimen in the leggs of the Altar in Vniversity College Chappel , in the Vniversity of Oxford .

90. Of the Arts they use here in ordering their Fruit trees , some concern them whil'st young and tender ; others when grown old : as to the former of these , I observed at Purton in a new plantation of Sr Walter Wrottesleys , where there was earth cast up about each tree in forme of a bason to receive the benefit of the rains and dews , that he had also planted beans upon the same raised earth round every one of them : which he told me did not only prevent other grasses or weeds which would else grow there ; but also preserve the root of the tree from the parching heat of the Sun in a due moisture : which no question may be a way very advantageous to young plantations in great and lasting droughts . And betwixt Wrottesley and Patingeham not farr from Nurton , whereabout they are arrived to that height of planting , that I found some of their hedges set with fruit trees , and divers stocks new grafted : I observed the feathers of Crows and other fowle stuck in the clay which was put round the graffs , to prevent all sorts of birds from lighting on them , especially those of any great bulk , which many times break them with their weight : a device not to be contemn'd , tho' perhaps some may imagine it an over nice provision . For enlivening old trees , the experienced Sr Simon Degg in a paper he sent me concerning improvements , &c. seems to favour the laying Lime to their roots when old , which indeed in all likelyhood may be agreeable enough ; it having this influence upon Cherry-trees as Pliny asserts , that it hastens the ripening their fruit , Caerasos praecoces facit , cogitque maturescere , calx admota radicibus y y C. Plinii 2di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 17. cap. 27. , which I suppose ought to be done in a moderate quantity .

91. And it being an ordinary distemper especially of old trees to be over-run with Moss , which sucks away some of the best of the Sap , and so weakens the tree that it bears little or nothing ; they cure it here as elsewhere , by emuscation , which they doe not with the Marra of Laurembergius z z Pet. Laurembergii Horticulturae Lib. 1. cap. 3. , the wooden instrument , or hair-cloath of Mr Evelyn , after a sobbing rain a a Joh. Evelyn's discourse of Forrest trees . Chap. 27. § 8. : but as they think at least a much better way , viz. as I was told by that prudent Gent. Mr Swynfen of Swynfen , by setting fire to it with a wisp of straw at divers places , which will quickly run all over the tree , and so quite free it of that annoyance . And this they generally chuse to doe about Christmass time , if it prove a dry season , and more particularly at Twelftide to make a shew about the Country , that being also the time they make fires upon the hills in many places in memory of our deliverance from the Danish Yoke , which yet Henry of Huntington expressly says was celebrated elsewhere-on the feast of St Brice , i. e. the 13th of November b b Hen. Huntindoni Historiar . Lib 6. sub . mitium . . This setting fire to the trees they call a blase , and possibly might be the time of keeping the feast of St Blase in this Country , tho' in other places it was observed on the 3d of February c c Minshew's 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 in verbo Hock-tide . : for I find that many of these memorials were celebrated at different times pro more loci , as the deliverance from the Danes above mentioned was ; and so the feast of Hock-tide , as is amply made appeare in the History of Oxfordshire d d Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 8. § §. 26 , 27. .

92. Next the Vegetables , the Arts relating to Brutes fall under consideration , amongst which , first of such as concern the winged Kingdom , under which head I reckon all flying Insects , as well as feather'd fowle , and therefore must account for a sort of Beebives they have in this County , quite different from any used in the South of England , which they make of Osier-twiggs interwoven like a basket , and then plaister'd over with a mixture of Clay and Cow-dung , or as I saw some at Mr Rudyards at the Abbey of Dieu le Cresse , dawb'd over with a composition of Cow-dung and turff-Ess , and over that again with Lime , Which seem only to be the hives of ancient times , still retained here , Virgil , Columella , and Palladius all testifying that they were made of such twiggs in their days , Alvearia vimine texta , and not only of Osiers , but of the ferula , withy , &c e e Pub. Virgil. Georgic . Lib. 4. v. 34. Jun. Moder . Columellae de re Rustic . Lib. 9. cap. 6 & Pallad. Rutilii de re Rustic . Lib. 1. tit. 38. . and as Mr Butler affirms of privet and hasle f f Char. Butlers History of Bees Chap. 3. ; which Pliny too advises should be coated over with Cow-dung , circumlini Alveos fimo bubulo utilissimum g g C. Plinii 2 di . Nat. Hist. Lib. 21. cap. 14. , being his very words ; to which Mr Butler , in the forecited Chapter , adds lime and ashes . Over all this they put a straw hood , as in the Southern Counties , to keep the wax and hony from melting in the Summer , and to cast of the rain and keep the bees warm in winter .

— nam frigore mella Cogit hiems , eademque calor liquefacta remittit , Vtraquevis apibus pariter metuenda * * Pub. Virgilii Georgic . Lib. 4. v. 35 , 36 , 37. —

over which they pegg a square piece of wood at the top , as I saw some in the garden of the Reverend Mr Rhodes Rector of Blithefield , which cast of the rain upon the more spreading part of the hood , which must needs otherwise enter in some measure in at the top of it , where the hollow ends of the straw are open to the weather .

93. And such as these for the most part they use all over the Country , but at the Worshipfull John Whitehall's of Pipe-Ridware Esq who is a most intelligent Bee-Master , I was shewn great variety of hives most of his own contrivance : some being made square , others round , both placed over one another , with drawers of wood between , like the Colony hives described in Oxfordshire h h Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 9. §. 120. : others he had made out of hollow-trees , which were sawn asunder at due distances , which no doubt on 't are as agreeable as any kind whatever , these being the first natural hives for bees , before they were brought under an artificial regimen ; and therefore it was no doubt , that both Columella and Palladius commend them for this purpose , ligno cavatae Arboris fabricentur , let-their hives be made of hollow trees , say both those grave Authors , in their Chapters of Bee-houses i i Locis supra citatis . . And Virgil tells us they delighted to live , exesaeque arboris antro † † Pub. Virgilii Georgic . Lib. 4. v. 44. . But the hives he preferr'd before all the rest , he made of brick , there being several stalls or gallerys of them divided into squares of brick , on three sides , with windows behind and before to see their working ; the fore - South windows in Summer , being cover'd with Matt to preserve the hony . Within these squares of brick he sets his frames of wood , for the bees to work on , which he can take away as they work downward . He makes use notwithstanding both of straw and wicker hives cover'd with Cow-dung and Lime , but neither of them made after the ordinary manner , viz. not conical at top , but cylindraceous , and open at top and bottom , which he places first on the top of the brick-work , and underneath again to receive the bees at last , so as to be conveyed again to the top of the brick-work as at first . Of which brick-hives he has some single , others many together : but the single he counts best , because the most manageable .

94. But the nicest piece of Art that ever I saw , any way relating to the feather'd Kingdom , and indeed the most curious , was an instrument shewn me by the right Worshipfull Sr Richard Astley of Pateshull Baronet , of his own Invention , only to match game-Cocks , discovering their sizes both as to lengh and girth , to so great an accuracy , that there cannot be easily any the least mistake : for the better apprehension of which Instrument I have here annext it Tab. 32. Fig. 6. with a Cock put in it at full stretch ; where the Letter a , shews the Collistrigium or pillory , standing upon a pedestall fixt to the plate of brass below , 24 inches long , which opens by the handles at b , and shutts close of it self by the help of springs fastn'd within the ring ; c , a hollow plate placed also upon a pedestall , but moveable in a groove 'twixt d and e , when drawn by the coard f , wound about the wheel g ; h h , shew the Pedicae or stocks set also upon a movable pedestall opening and shutting as the pillory , which drawn out as farr as the length of the Cock will permitt , by the coard i , that is wound round the wheel k , by a key or winder applyed to the Axis l , ( as the wheel g also is ) both being stopt by the springs m m , which fall into the teeth of the wheels at no , give an exact measure of the length of the Cock to the eighth part of an inch , according to the divisions upon the latter part of the plate . Then for the Size of its body , it is measured by the girth , either by the brass ring described Fig. 7. which may be taken in , or let out , likewise to the eighth part of an inch , according to the divisions on the plate ; or else by a Girdle and buckle , as may be seen upon the cock : all which have been approved by the best Masters .

95. Relating to four-footed beasts , they have a pretty device here , which I first espyed at Over-Bradnup , and near Ashenburst house ( formerly the seat of an ancient family of the same name ) to prevent their hogs from rooting ; which they doe hereabout ( and as I found after in most parts of the County ) not with rings as elsewhere , but with a forked Iron armed at each end with a fin , or half-barb of an arrow , which being thrust through the Selvedg of a hog's nose , can by no means return , the bottom or square part of the fork that lyes upon the nose being also coated with a hollow cylindraceous moveable ring as in Fig. 8. so that he cannot take hold enough to turn up the earth . I also met in this Country with another usefull experiment relating to this sort of Animals at great-Heywood , where I was shewn by Mrs Whitby the virtuous wife of my worthy friend Mr Thomas Whitby ( whose assistance in this work I must ever acknowledg ) the Runnet of Ranton ( so call'd as they told me because thence they first had it ) made of the innermost membran of a Calves Stomack or Mawe , which being wash't clean from all filth , salted , and hung up in brown papers , when they have occasion to use it , they only wash off the Salt , and steep a bit about the bredth of a shilling in 4 or 5 spoonfulls of fair water all night , and this water put to milk ; will turn it to curds , which being so usefull a thing in houswifry , I could not but mention it .

96. Another odd sort of Art I was told of in this County , which must not be omitted , of curing the disease in Cattle they here call the Foule , that proceeds as 't is though from their excessive fatness , which sometimes falling into their leggs and feet , causes such impostumes or cores of putrifyed matter , that they cannot goe farr : upon which account tho' the beef of them be never the worse for the shambles , yet being rendered hereby uncapable of being brought to a profitable Market , their owners are therefore forced to have recourse to some remedy , which is commonly this . They stricktly observe the turf , where the Oxe , Cow , or Heifer that is thus distemper'd , sets his sick foot when he first rises in the morning , upon which they usually find some of the Sanies or matter of the impostume presst out by his weight ; this very turf with the impression upon it , they cut up and hang upon a tree or hedg toward the North wind , which blowing upon it the beast becomes cured in three or four days : and this I was told about Tamworth was frequently practised there with good success to this day . Which as Sr Kenelm Digby thinks seems indeed to be done , by a Sympathetic return of the Spirits of this impostumated matter , now mixt with the cold and dry Atoms of the North wind , to their first source in the ulcerated foot of the Animal ; the malady indeed requiring no other help , than to be well dryed and refresh't , which is effectually doen by the cold nitrous particles of the Air coming from that quarter k k Sr Kenelm Digbys discourse of Sympathetick powder , sub finem . . And these are all the Arts relating to quadrupeds worthy notice here , but that at Pateshull in the stables , I observed the Mangers were somewhat extraordinary , being so placed that the range of them headed the end of the barn , whence the Oats might be put into them through tunnels in the partition , without bringing them round out of the barn into the Stable .

97. Lastly we come to the Arts that respect Mankind , amongst which as elsewhere the civility of precedence must be allowed to the women , and that as well in punishments as favours . For the former whereof , they have such a peculiar artifice at New-Castle and Walsall , for correcting of Scolds , which it does too so effectually , and so very safely , that I look upon it as much to be preferr'd to the Cucking-Stoole , which not only endangers the health of the party , but also gives the tongue liberty 'twixt every dipp ; to neither of which this is at all lyable : it being such a Bridle for the tongue , as not only quite deprives them of speech , but brings shame for the transgression , and humility thereupon , before 't is taken off . Which being an instrument scarce hard of , much less seen , I have here presented it to the Readers view Tab. 32. Fig. 9. as it was taken from the original one , made of Iron , at New-Castle under Lyme . Wherein the Letter a , shews the joynted collar that comes round the neck ; b , c , the loops and staples , to let it out and in , according to the bigness and slenderness of the neck ; d , the joynted semicircle that comes over the head , made forked at one end to let through the nose ; and e , the plate of Iron that is put into the mouth , and keeps down the tongue . Which being put upon the offender by order of the Magistrate , and fastned with a padlock behind , she is lead round the Towne by an Officer to her shame , nor is it taken off , till after the party begins to shew all external signes imaginable of humiliation and amendment . And as for any other Arts that concern this Sex , in one of the lodging rooms at Trentham Hall I was shewn a most delicate linnen suit of hangings , which being made by Nunns , and most artificially done , belong to this place , and must not be omitted ; tho' I must confess my inability to describe them to that advantage they really deserve , the whole consisting all of square panes ; some great , others little , yet preserving uniformity ; the one half plain , the other wrought in cheque with a topiary sort of Needlework of so great variety , that it is hard ( if at all ) to find two alike , tho' they are in number great and small , as well as I could tell them , 3317 Squares .

98. As for the Arts relating to Men , it must not be expected that any great improvements , much less any new Inventions should have been made here in those we call Liberal : but amongst the Mechanics , I met with several usefull and curious things : particularly at a Smiths shop a little South of Mole-Copp , I found an Engine that managed a large Sledg to so great advantage , that it frequently supplyed the defect of a man ordinarily had elsewhere for that purpose , the Sledg being set in an Axis of wood , from whence goes a rodd of Iron fastned to a pallet , that reaches out a little beyond the Anvil , which being drawn down by the foot of the Smith , who keeps time to it with his Hand-Hammer , is returned again by three springs of holly , that clasp the Axis the contrary way . The same I also found at Betley , Caverswall , and elsewhere , but somewhat different from that near Mole-Copp , the Sledg being return'd by two poles above it , like the pole of a turning-lat he , whereas the springs of the former were fastned below it . For the better understanding whereof , and because altogether unknown in the Southern parts , I have caused its figure to be exhibited Tab. 32. Fig. 10. In which the Letter a shews the Sledg fix't in the Axis b , hanging between two jambs or standards c c , d the rodd of Iron that comes down to the pallet e coming out beyond the Anvill , f the place where the Smith sets his foot when he draws down the Sledg , g g the poles above that return it . With which Engine I saw a Smith make a Horse-shooe , as they can also any other smaller sorts of wares , almost as quick as if another had struck the Sledg to him .

99. In the Coopers trade at the right Honorable the Lord Wards at Dudley Castle I was shewn barrells in the Cellar having holes bored in the top of the head just under the rim of them , opposite to the tap holes , to let forth the working of the drink , which seems much better than that at the bung , the Spirits of the drink which naturally fly upward , being hereby preserved ; scarce any of them passing with the froth through this hole ; which when the drink has done working , is closed up with clay , as the bung usually is . And in Cookery at the Worshipfull Walter Chetwynds of Ingestre Esq I tasted potted Otter so artificially order'd by his excellent Cook , that it required a very nice and judicious palat to distinguish it from Venison . And now I am fallen in amongst the meats and drinks ( which are no where better , or more plentifull , than in this County ) I cannot forget a piece of Art , that I found in the Hall of the right Honorable William Lord Paget at Beaudesart , made for punishment of the disorders , that sometimes attend feasting in Christmass time , &c. call'd the finger-Stocks ; into which the Lord of misrule , used formerly to put the fingers of all such persons as committed misdemeanours , or broke such rules , as by consent were agreed on for the time of keeping Christmass , amongst the Servants and others of promiscuous quality : these being divided in like manner as the stocks for the leggs , and having several holes of different Sizes fit for the scantlings of all fingers , as represented in the Table Fig , 11.

To the right Worshipfull S. RICHARD ASTLEY of P●t●●●●ull K ● & Baronet This 32 Table of unusual things of Art where of the 6 & 7 relate to HIMSELF is humbly offerd to his generous Patron●g● by R.P. LL. D.

MBurg De● in et s .

100. And these are all the Arts that concern Mankind , unless it be also worth notice that at the right Honorable the Lord Gerards at Gerards Bromley , there are the pictures of Henry the great of France and his Queen , both upon the same indented board , which if beheld directly , you only perceive a confused piece of work ; but if obliquely , of one side you see the Kings , and on the other the Queens picture , which I am told ( and not unlikely ) were made thus ▪ The board being indented according to the magnitude of the Pictures , the prints or paintings were cut into parallel pieces , equal to the depth and number of the Indentures on the board ; which being nicely done , the parallel pieces of the Kings picture , were pasted on the flatts that strike the Eye beholding it obliquely , on one side of the board ; and those of the Queens on the other ; so that the edges of the parallel pieces of the prints or paintings exactly joyning on the edges of the Indentures , the work was done . To which let me add ( it being a Curiosity much of the same kind ) that Mrs Rebeckah Normansell of Wolverhampton , has so excellent a hand in the management of her Cisers , that she has curiously cut out the Tomb abovementioned l l See Chap. 8. §. 76. of that eminently Loyal Gent. Coll. John Lane with all the Trophies , Inscriptions , &c. in paper : to which I never saw any thing equal ; but some few such pieces in the Musaeum at Oxford m m Vid. Scrinium Listerianum in Musaeo Ashmoleano . , and part of a Greek Chapter I once saw at London cut out of white paper , which laid upon black , was as legible as the same in any printed Greek-Testament .

CHAP. X. Of Antiquities .

1. FOR Satisfaction of the Reader , upon what terms I add this Chapter of Antiquities to my Natural History , it seeming to some altogether forraigne to the purpose : I take leave to acquaint him , before I advance any further , that I intend not to meddle with the pedigrees or descents either of families or lands , knowing a much abler pen now imployed about it * * Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre Esq ; nor of the antiquities or foundations of Religious houses , or any other pious or Civil performances : it being indeed my designe in this Chapter , to omit , as much as may be , both persons and actions , and cheifly apply my self to things ; and amongst these too , only of such as are very remote from the present Age , whether found under ground , or whereof there yet remain any footsteps above it ; such as ancient Medalls , Ways , Lows , Pavements , Vrns , Monuments of Stone , Fortifications , &c. whether of the ancient Britans , Romans , Saxons , Danes , or Normans . Which being all made and fashioned out of Natural things , may as well be brought under a Natural History as any thing of Art : so that this seems little else but a continuation of the former Chapter ; the subject of that , being the Novel Arts exercised here in this present age ; and of this , the ancient ones ; whereof in the same order as in the History of Oxfordshire a a Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. §. 1. .

2. And yet the first thing that offers it self to my consideration , is the original people that inhabited this Country before the coming of the Romans : I know both Ptolomy and Mr Camden joyntly agree , that they were the Cornavii that were spread over this , and Warwic , Worcester , Salop , and Cheshires : but Tacitus mentioning a British people hereabout that were call'd Iceni , who took distast at the Propraetor Ostorius Scapula's blocking up their Country-men between the Rivers Antona and Sabrina b b Corn. Taciti Annalium Lib. ●2 . cap. 31. , I cannot but suspect they belong'd in part to this place : for that the Simeni of Norfolk , &c. whom Mr Camden would have to be the only Iceni , they seem to be too remote to be concerned at such an action ; and so does the River Nen to be the Antona of Tacitus , as both Sr Hen. Savil c c Sr Hen. Savil's Translat . of the 12. Book of Ta●itus's . Annals . §. 8. , and Mr Camden would have it d d Camden in Northamptonshire . , which perhaps may be a corruption through frequent transcribing for one of the Avona's , betwixt which and Severn they might easily be coped up ; but not so betwixt it and the River Nen , which is so far from joyning with it , that it holds a quite contrary course . Beside it seems pretty probable that these Iceni , were neighbours to the Congi or Cangi , against whom the Roman Army was presently lead after the defeat of the Iceni , whose Territories reached , as Tacitus himself also confesses , almost to the Irish Sea e e Corn. Taciti Annalium . Lib. 12. cap. 32. , wherein in a manner he comes up to Ptolomy , who places the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or Promontorium Ganganorum at Ormeshead-point or Lheyn Gogarth in Caernarvonshire f f Claud. Ptolomaei Geograph . Lib. 2. cap. 3. Edit. Bertii . : the Cangi in all likelyhood also held all Denbighshire , and a piece of Cheshire , where the old Condate now Congleton , and Conghull , seem to preserve the Memory of them .

3. But that which moves me most to think there was such a people as the Iceni both in Worcestershire and Staffordshire , is the Roman Consular way which remains to this hour , and passes through both those Counties by the name of Ickenild-street , which how it should come by , but from the people whose Territories it was made through , I cannot imagine . If it be objected that the Iceni , which Tacitus there mentions , must needs be the same with those of Norfolk , &c. for that at the same place he speaks of a Colony of veteran Soldiers posted at Camalodunum , a City of the Trinobantes next neighbours to the Iceni of Norfolk , &c. to repress the rebell Britans upon all occasions , which were drawn out at that time against the Silures g g Corn. Taciti Annalium . Lib. 12. cap. 32 , 33. . I answer that if we may beleive Ptolomy there were two Camalodunums , one in the Country of the Trinobantes , and another in the Territories of the Cornavii or Cangi , about the South parts of Cheshire , whence he might much more probably draw out these Veteran Soldiers , being much nearer to the Silures , than from the Camalodunum of the Trinobantes : not to mention that Ptolomy calls that of the Trinobantes 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 Camudolanum , and not Camulodunum as he does that of the Cangi , which is more agreeable to Tacitus h h Claud. Ptolomaei Geog. loco supra citato . .

4. It being thus made at lest probable , that the original Inhabitants of this County might also be Iceni , as well as those of Norfolk , &c. who though they at first carryed temselves fair to the Romans , yet seeing them use their neighbours in that manner as they did , thus stoutly interposed : let us next take a view of what markes there yet remain , of their places of habitation , defence , &c. to one or both of which I think I cannot but referr that noble antiquity near Wrottesley in this County , where there yet remains , either the foundation of some ancient British City , or other fortification , of great extent ; it including above a moyety of Wrottesley , and part of Pateshull , Pepperhill , and Bonningal parks ; also some parcell of the two Commons of Kingswood and West-bach , the whole containing in circuit about 3 or 4 miles , lyeing part in Staffordshire and part in Shropshire , as mark't out by the shaded line in the Map. Within the limits whereof there are several partitions yet visible , running divers ways like the sides of streets , tho' hard to be fully traced , because interrupted both by the mattock and plow , the foundations being dayly dugg up by the former , to mend high-ways , make inclosures , and pavements ; and then all levell'd by the latter : which together with the large hinges for doores , an antique dagger , that have been found here , and some of the stones squared ; make me rather think it some ruinated City , than a fortification only : otherwise I could have been content to have thought it some such Brittish vallum , or encampment , as Tacitus acquaints us Caractacus made upon a hill in Shropshire , upon the banks of the River Clun , with great stones rudely heap't upon one another , to defend him from the impressions of the Roman Army , i i Corn. Taciti Annalium Lib. 12 , cap. 33 , 34 , 35 , , the remains whereof , saith Camden , are to be seen at this day k k Camden's Britannia in Shropshire . .

5. Such a Rampire as this , I say , I could have easily believed it , there having been just such great stones found hereabout , as we read Caractacus , and other British Princes , were used to fortify withal : whereof I was told of one , that contained 100 loads ; another so great , that after 10 loads of stone were hewed off it , required 36 yoaks of Oxen to draw it , and made the great Cistern in the Mault-house at Wrottesley , which though left very thick both at bottom and sides , is yet so capacious , that it will wet 37 strike of barley at a time . Or at lest I could have thought it some Camp of the Danes , who as Simeon Dunelmensis l l Sim. Dunelmensis Hist. de gestis Reg. Angl. in An. 911. , John Brompton m m Chron. Johan . Brompton Abb. Jornal . in vita Edwardi Sen. , and Florentius Wigorniensis n n Florent . Wigorn Chron. ex . Chron. in An. 911. all testify , were overthrown at Totenhale , Teotenhale , or Theotfanhele , now Tettenhall not farr off * * Vid. §. 36. infra . ; the whole , or greatest part of it , being I think in that parish at this very day : but that the parallel partitions within the out wall , whose foundations are still visible , and represent streets running different ways , put it I think out of doubt , that it must have been a City , and that of the Britans , for that I could hear of no name it ever had , nor have the Inhabitants hereabout any tradition concerning it , of any sort whatsoever , somewhat whereof would have certainly been preserved , had it either been Roman ; or so late as either the Saxon , or Danish conquests of this nation .

6. And this is the only Antiquity that seems to have any pretence of ever having been a British habitation , unless the tradition concerning Willbrighton in this County , viz. that the Romans , when they came against it , termed it Villam Britonum ( which name it still keeps with little alteration ) may pass for one : but there being no footsteps remaining of its ever being tenible , tho' it lyes high , I much question whether this tradition , have not been broached of late years , by some fond Etymologist . Tho' it cannot be deny'd that the Romans had indeed some action hereabout , there being a raised work here at Morton not farr off , which seems to be of their fashion ; and no question the large Meere that lyes just below it , had its name of Aqualat [ quasi aqua lata ] from them ; and the banks on the N. N. E. side of it , the name of Anc's-hills , from some Roman Captain that lay upon them , whose name or at lest praenomen perhaps might be Ancus . Not to mention that all these are in or near the parish of Forton , and that there is a village not farr off also call'd Warton , which are both thought to derive their names from some such actions , as are presumed by the story , to have happen'd hereabout . But I doe by no means prescribe to my Reader in this matter , desiring him to beleive no more than he thinks these grounds will fairly admitt of ; every body being left in this , and all other matters whatever in this History to his own creed .

7. But though I could certainly meet with no other places of habitation of the Britans , either fortify'd with great stones , or otherwise fenced ; yet there are several fortifications made of earth , cast up into high banks , with entrenchments round them , in such manner and form as the places would best admit of , that may be presum'd to be theirs . For that the Britans did fortifie after this manner too , as well as with stones , we have also the testimony of Tacitus , who tells us that the Iceni above-mention'd did chuse a place for fight , septum agresti aggere , aditu angusto , ne pervius equiti foret , fenced with a bank of earth , having a narrow entrance , to keep off the horse o o Corn. Taciti Annalium Lib. 12. cap. 31. : such as that about a quarter of a mile to the Westward of over Stonall , where there is an old fortification situate upon a hill , call'd in ancient writings , relating to the lands hereabout , as I was told by Mr Brown of Footerley hard by , Castle-old-ford , which perhaps should be rather written Castle-old-fort , like the Blaestium of Antonine , in British , Castle-hean , or Castrum vetus p p Camden's Britannia in Herefordshire . , being encompassed with a double trench , in diameter between the entrances ( that seem to have been on the SE and NW sides ) 160 paces . Which I am willing to think to be a British Rampire because of the ancient name , and that I cannot account for any action hereabout of later date : tho' I must confess the spear-heads , and other warlike instruments plow'd up within it , all of Iron , seem to argue it of less standing .

8. For tho' Caesar acquaints us that the Britans had Iron , yet they finding it then by the Sea side only , and in such small quantities , that they made their Mony of it q q C. Jul. Caesaris Commentarior . de bello Gallico Lib. 5. ; we have reason to beleive that for the most part at lest they sharpen'd their warlike instruments rather with stones than metall , especiall in the more Northerly and inland Countries , where they sometimes meet with flints in shape of arrow-heads , whereof I had one sent me by the learned and ingenious Charles Cotton Esq found not far from his pleasant Mansion at Beresford , exactly in the form of a bearded arrow , jagg'd at each side , with a larger stemm in the middle , whereby I suppose it was fix't to the wood , as in Tab. 33. Fig. 1. These they find in Scotland in much greater plenty , especially in the prefectury of Aberdeen , which as the learned Sr Robert Sibbald informs us , they there call Elf-Arrows , Lamiarum Sagittas , imagining they drop from the clouds , not being to be found upon a diligent search , but now and then by chance in the high beaten roads r r D. Roberti Sibbaldi Prodrom . Nat. Hist. Scotiae . part . 2. Lib. 4. cap. 7. ( like the transparent Ombriae , or hexangular Chrystals of Italy above mention'd s s Chap. 5. § §. 5 , 6. ) upon which account it is too , that the noble Veronese Ludovicus Moscardus , calls them Pietre Ceraunie , whereof he has given us several Sculptures , not unlike to ours , as represented above t t Musai Ludovici Moscardi Lib 2. cap. 50. .

9. Nor did the Britans only head their arrows with flint , but also their matarae or British darts , which were thrown by those that fought in Essedis u u C. Jul. Caesaris Commentarior . de bello Gallico Lib. 4. , whereof I guess this is one I had given me , found near Leek , by my worthy friend Mr Thomas Gent , curiously jagg'd at the edges with such like teeth as a Sickle , and otherwise wrought upon the flat , as in Tab. 33. Fig. 2. by which we may conclude , not only that these arrow and Spear-heads , are all artificial , whatever is pretended ; but also that they had anciently some way of working of flints by the toole , which may be seen by the marks , as well as they had of the Egyptian Porphyry : which as the aforesaid worthy Gent. Sr Robert Sibbald thinks they learned of the Romans w w Cl. D. Rob. Sibbaldi Prodromi loco supra citato . , who as Aldrovandus assures us anciently used such weapons made of stones x x Vlyss . Aldrovandi Musaei Motall Lib. 4. cap. 17. . However still it not being hence deducible , but they may be British , they are not ill placed here , whatever original they have had from either Nation . Either the Britans , Romans , or both , also made them Axes of Stone , whereof there was one found on the Wever-hills made of a speckled flint ground to an edg , in the form as described Tab. 33. Fig. 3. and I heard of such another that was met with on the Morridg ; which how they might be fastned to a helve , may be seen in the Musaeum Ashmoleanum , where there are several Indian ones of the like kind , fitted up in the same order as when formerly used .

10. Near Seasdon in this County upon the edg of Shropshire , at a place now call'd Abbots or rather Ape-wood Castle , without all doubt there was a very ancient , and no less considerable fortification ; it standing very lofty on a round Promontory , and having a vast prospect to the South-West into Shropshire , at which very place tho' the entrenchment be but small , yet the whole steep ridg of the bending bank all along 'twixt it and Chasphill , for a mile together , having hollows cut in the ground , over which 't is thought anciently they set their Tents , the whole seems but one continued fortification , the two hills at each end being the principal bastions : which I am also inclined to beleive to have been a British work , for the reasons before alleged in the case of Castle-old-fort : and that the Lows on Womborn heath not farr distant , may have been raised over some eminent Roman Commanders , lost in the conflicts they might have with the Britans hereabout . And for other British antiquities that are any way probably such , I met with none , unless the great stone in a field South of Cannock Church ; and that other of a square figure a little tapering towards the top , 2 yards and an inch high , and near 4 yards about , having two chops in the top of it , so that at a distance it appears a triceps , standing in a leasow near the two Comptons in the parish of Kinfare , by some called Baston , by others Bolt-stone , there being a story that a Gyant threw it from Aston ( a place under Kinfare edg ) hither ; may be accounted such .

11. Which perhaps they may , and not without reason ; whether we esteem them as British Dieties , as the Devil's bolts in York-shire , and Devils coits in Oxford-shire , have been proved to be at large y y Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. from . §. 101. to §. 106. ; or some memorials of battles fought thereabout ; that at Kinfare being also called by the more knowing sort of people , by the name of the battle-stone : the Britans usually erecting such monuments as these , upon a civil , as well as a religious account . Witness Kits-Coty-house in Kent ; Roll-wright in Oxfordshire ; and Stonebenge in Wiltshire ; the two former I think being certainly set up in memory of battles z z Will . Lambard's perambulation of Kent in Aylesford . and Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. § §. 95.96 . : and the latter most probably as some British Forum or Temple , and not of any Roman pagan Diety , as Inego Jones would have it a a Inigo Jones's Stonebenge restored . and Joh. Webb's vindication of Stonhenge restored . : the Romans at that time being skillfull in Architecture , and most other Arts , and therefore no question had they built it , would have made a much more artificial structure , than this appears to have ever been ; nor should it have wanted an inscription ; or being some way or other transmitted in their writings down to all posterity . Nor is it less unlikely , that it should ever be erected for a Danish forum for inauguration of their Kings as Dr Charleton would perswade us b b Walt. Charleton's Chorea Gigantum , or Stonhenge restored to the Danes . ; for then certainly all the Kings of the Danish race had been crowned either there , or else at Rollwright , or some other such like Cirque of stone elsewhere ; whereas we find Canutus crowned at London , Harold Harefoot at Oxford , and Hardi-canute likewise at London c c Sr Richard Baker's Chronicle of the Kings of England in their respective reignes . . Not to mention that the Danish transactions here in England are of so late a date , that our Historians have given us a tolerable account of them from their very first entrance ; and would not certainly have been silent of so considerable a structure , had they been the Authors of it , either as a Forum , or upon any other account .

12. Nor have I more to add of British antiquities but that a ground calld Christianfield near Stitchbrook in this County , is said to be the place where St Amphibalus taught the British Christans converted by the Martyrdom of St Alban , who flying from the bloody persecution of Maximian raised in Britan An. 286 , followed him hither 84 miles , as Ross affirms it , from the place of their conversions d d Ex libro Johannis Rufi MS. de Episcopis Wigorn. ; where the Romans that were sent after them ( some say from Verulam , others from Etocetum now Wall as the tradition goes here ) finding them in the exercise of their Religion , tooke them and carryed them to the place where Lichfield now is , and martyred 1000 of them there , leaving their bodies unburyed to be devowered by birds and beasts e e Ibidem . , whence the place yet retains the name of Lichfield or Cadaverum campus , the field of dead bodies to this very day , the City bearing for their Device , rather than Armes , an Escocheon of Landskip with many Martyrs in it , in severall manners massacred : amongst which yet we must not reckon St Amphibalus , whom they carryed away with them to Verulam , and martyr'd him at Redburn a place between that and Annable which took its name from him f f Vid. Jacob. Vsserium de Britanicar . Ecclesiarum . primordiis . , as Lichfield from his Disciples . And this I take to be the utmost antiquity of that City , which yet seems older than Stafford , tho' it give denomination to the whole County , whereof we hear nothing till about 200 years after in the time of Merlin the British Prophet who flourish't about the year 480 , and wrot that two Kings should dubium praelium committere propter Leenam in Vado Baculi g g Inter collect . Joh. Lelandi MS. in Bib. Bod. NE. F. 11 : 18. , which I know not how to expound , unless he meant they should contend for a Mistriss there . Of the later Antiquities of which two places , the Reader may expect more hereafter .

13. Of the Roman Antiquities yet remaining in this County , the most considerable of any are their publick ways , there being two of the four eminent Basilical stratae , otherwise call'd Praetorian , and sometimes Consular or Military ways , viz. Watlingstreet and Ickenildstreet , yet remaining high and lofty , being but little decay'd , or any way interrupted either by time or the plow : the privileges whereof , and manner of making them , being discoursed of in Oxfordshire h h Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. § §. 19 , 20 , 21. , I shall wave them here , only noting by the way , that they seem not here to have used the same Method prescribed by Statius , i. e. first digging a deep trench till they come to a good bottom , and then raising a high ridg upon a firm foundation of other materials than what they found upon the place i i Papin . Statii Silvar Lib. 4. in viâ . Domition . : these seeming only to be made of gravel dugg all along by the sides of each way , as may be seen upon the Watlingstreet , as you pass betwen Wall and Frog-Homer , Occamsley pitts near Knaves-Castle seeming to have been made upon this account only ; and more plainly upon the Ickenildstreet near little-Aston : the former entering the County at Faseley bridge and running from ESE to WNW as farr as 4 Crosses , where it turns a little , and bears somewhat nearer the West , about W and by N , and so goes into Shropshire at Crackley-bank ; and the latter entring Staffordshire a little to the Westward of Sr Charles Holt's park , and running from S SW to N NE to a little beyond Shenston , where it crosses the Watlingstreet , and then bears away N E and by N , and so enters Darby-shire over the Dove at Monks-bridg : both lyeing within the County in manner and form , and bearing to the Villages placed on each hand , as described in the Mapp perfixt to this Essay by two shaded lines .

14. Now that the former of these is the true Watlingstreet , tho' Holinshead mentions another that passes through Yorkshire k , I think so very evident that there needs no debate : but whether the latter be the true Ickenildstreet , or that mention'd in Oxfordshire l l Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. § §. 22.23 . deserves consideration ; both retaining the same name to this very day , and perhaps for the same reason , as either leading to , or passing through the Countrys of the Iceni , there seeming to have been two Colonies of British people that enjoy'd the same name : those mention'd by Tacitus , who took distast at Ostorius's blocking up the Britans between Antona and Sabrina , being more likely the inhabitants of this County and Worcestershire , than of Norfolk , &c. as was shewn above . So that the Ickenildstreet of Oxfordshire seems to have been so call'd , for that it tends toward the Iceni of Norfolk , Suffolk , Huntington , and Cambridgshires ; and this , for that it was made through the Country of the other Iceni , both being rightly so call'd ; only I look upon this of Staffordshire , as the more remarkable of the two , and so to be that Ickenildstreet which is usually reckoned one of the four basilical or great ways of England , and not that of Oxfordshire : this being raised all along , paved at some places m m Vpon Burton Moore . , and very signal almost wherever it goes ; whereas that of Oxfordshire is not so there , whatever it may be in other Counties ; which also seems to hint that the Iceni of these Counties were a more considerable people too , than those of Norfolk , &c.

15. Upon these Consular , Praetorian , or military ways , the Romans established their Itineraries , Stations , or Mansions at certain distances , which seem to have been the extent of the daily marches of their Soldiers ; the length whereof as they were seldom under ten , so they as rarely exceeded thirty Italian miles . Of which Stations or Mansions I find but two certain , within the limits of this County , and these both upon Raphael Holinshead's Hist. descript. of Britan. Vol. 1. Chap. 19. the Watlingstreet , viz. Etocetum and Pennocrucium , the former whereof Mr Camden computes , and that rightly , to be the village of Wall , about a mile and ½ to the SSW of Lichfield n n Camdens Britannia in Staffordsh . , where just at the same distance that Antonine setts betwixt it and Manuessedum or Mancester in Warwickshire , there remains in the Lane upon the north side of the street-way some small fragments of a wall , which 't is supposed gave the present name to the village , and in the corn-field now call'd the butts between the village and some small cottages on the brook below , I was shewn two pavements one above the another at lest 4 foot , the uppermost ( which lay within 18 inches of the surface ) being made for the most part of Lime and rubble-stone ; and the lowermost , of pebbles and gravel knit together with a very hard cement about 4 inches thick , laid upon a foundation of Roman brick ; and under them boulder-stone of a foot thick more . Above the uppermost of these they often meet with Roman mony , whereof I was shewn 3 pieces , one of Nero , another of Domitian , and a third so eaten with rust , that it could not be distinguisht . On the other side the way in a ground belonging to Chesterfield , there are also antiquities found in digging , amongst which they lately met with the pedestall of an antique broken pillar very well wrought , which lay pretty deep just on the brink of the way , and now remains at the widdow Smiths in Chesterfield , where I took the draught of it , in order to be engraven , as in Tab. 33. Fig. 4.

16. But tho' Mr Camden be right in the situation of the old Etocetum , yet I think him not so , in his placing Pennocrucium at Penkridg in this County : for tho' the name be more agreeable , than of any other place , yet it not lying upon the Watlingstreet , but two miles off it , nor at the distance assigned in the Itinerary of Antonine , I cannot but rather think it to have been at Stretton , so call'd by the Saxons ( quasi the Town upon the street ) after it came into their possession , which lyes just upon the way , and answers the distance very exactly , for tho' it measure but eleven Staffordshire miles , yet they may very well be esteemed 12 Italian ones , which is the just distance assigned by Antonine 'twixt those two Stations o o Antonini Itinerar . Britan. Sec●ndum Ald. Manutium . Jos. Simlerum . Jerom. Suritam . . Nor lyes there any objection against this conjecture , but that no Roman coynes or other antiquities are found thereabout ; to which I have this to reply , that neither are there at Penkridg , either where it now stands , or where it stood anciently , on the other side the River , further off the street way . Upon the Ickenild street there are none of these military stations mention'd by Antonine , yet doubtless there were such , tho' not mentiond in the Tables , these ways being raised for avoiding the trouble and danger of marching in strange Countries , and the Mansions setled on them at convenient distances , for the safe repose of their Armies at night : whereof 't is like Streethey near Lichfield was one : and Streeton near Burton another ; these two being near as farr distant on the Ickenild , as Wall and Streeton on the Watlingstreet .

17. I know that the Reverend Dr. Fulk of Cambridg makes the tenth journey of Antonine , à Glamoventa Mediolano , to pass through this County , as may plainly be seen in the second Edition of the said Itinerary by William Harrison , which he makes run Northwestward from Coventry , which he says is the old Alone , to Galacum which he makes Lichfield , and thence to Bremetonacis which he says was Trentham , and so to Coccium or Congleton in Cheshire p p See Bartons Commentary on Antonines Itinerary , in the 2 Edition of that Itinerary by Will . Harrison . : but there appearing no footsteps ( that I can remember ) of this , he must pardon me if I doe not subscribe to his opinion , till better informed . Beside these Basilical or Consular ways there were others of like erection , tho' less extent , call'd Vicinales , quod in vicos ducebant ; whereof I scarce met with any in this County : unless I may take leave to account the high paved way at Wootton near Eccleshall a part of one of these , which seems not to have been made by reason of any wet or dirty way , it being raised between two other deep ways , which lye dry enough too . Also at Edingal in this County , about a mile E N E of the Towne , there remains a part of such a rais'd way , pointing toward Lullington in Darbyshire , but whether it should tend after , I cannot imagin , unless to the old town of Repandune now Repton , so famous for the burial of the Mercian Kings .

18. Near this way at Edingal there also yet remains a barrow or Low , such as were usually cast up over the bodies of eminent Captains , or other Commanders in the warrs , and commonly placed by the Romans by their military ways , for the reasons alleged in the History of Oxfordshire , whither I referr the Reader for the general account of them q q Nat. Hist. of Oxfordsh . Chap. 10. from §. 40. to §. 48. ; in particular I take this to be a Roman barrow , because thus placed near a street way ; and so perhaps the great tumulus on the Watlingstreet near Hynts , tho' now a Rock of stone , it being possible that a heap of earth as bigg as that , may in process of time be turned into stone , as shall be shewen hereafter * * Vid. §. 34. infra . so the barrow call'd Catts-hill ; also near the Watlingstreet , about mid-way betwixt the Shire-Oaks and Frog-hall ; and so the two Lows on Calves-heath , near the road side that leads from Sommerford to 4 Crosses ; to which add another in some inclosed grounds East of great Sarden . But the most eminent of any upon this way , is that near Swinfen call'd Offlow , which tho' placed very near it , yet for the name sake , I dare not reckon amongst the Roman lows , it being no question the burial place of some eminent Saxon , of whom more anon . Neither must the tumulus upon the Ickenildstreet near Queislet in this County , call'd Kingsstanding , be number'd amongst these , neither of them owning their rise to the Romans , as shall be shewn hereafter .

19. But their being placed on Streetways , is not the only signe of Roman tumuli : for where we find Roman mony , or any of their instruments of warr within or near them , we have also reason to judg them cast up by the Romans , tho' remote from any of their Consular ways : for which reason I shall reckon the Low near Bushbury of Roman erection , a brass head of the bolt of a Catapulta having been found in a wood of that parish call'd the burchen Lesow ; another of this kind was also found near Fetherstone , but in the parish of Brewood by Mr John Huntbach in a ground call'd the Laches , and by him presented to Sr William Dugdale ; a third in the biggest of the three Lows of Morridg ; and a fourth at Handsworth , all of brass , and well enough represented by that one draught , Tab. 33. Fig. 5. Which having the shape of a small Axe , without any Eye for a helve to pass through it , made all people wonder what use it could be off : little imagining it could be any thing of the nature of a bolt : the exact figure whereof I find engraven in the Musaeum Moscardi , the wooden steem being to be fitted into the hollows of each side it , the edg being placed formost for execution , and there declared to have been for that use r r Musai Lud. Moscardi . Lib. 3. cap. 174. . Upon which account I say I cannot but determin that at Bushbury , and those three upon the Morridg , to be Roman Lows ; it being plain by these instruments that all those places , as well where Lows , as not , were sometime visited by the Roman militia , and places of some action .

20. And so for the same reason the parish of Ilam , where was found near the spring call'd St Bertram's well , an instrument of brass , somewhat like ( only larger than ) a Lath-hammer at the edg end , but not so on the other , the forme whereof is here expresst Tab. 33. Fig. 6. which I take to have been the head of a Roman Securis with which the Popae slew their Sacrifices , notwithstanding it have no Eye for the manubrium to pass through , the Securis it self being sometimes only stuck through it , as may be seen at many places amongst the Roman antiquities of Bartolus and Bellorius s s Vid. admiranda Romanar . Antiquitatum vestigia , per Joh. Petr. Bellorium & Petr. Sanct. Bartolum . . The small brass instrument sent me by the Worshipfull Charles Cotton Esq found somewhere near him , here represented Fig. 7. argues also that the Roman armes were advanced even into the Northern parts , it seeming to have been the head of a Roman rest , used to support the Lituus , not that crooked staff used by the Augurs in their divinations , to point out the quarters of the heavens ; but the Trombe-torte , crooked Trumpet or horne-pipe used in the Roman armies , as may be seen in Choul's discourse of the Castrametation of the Romans t t Discorso sopra la Castra metatione di Romani per il . S. Guglielmo Choul . And from the brass head of the Roman Venabulum or hunting spear , found somewhere betwixt Yarlet and the foot of Pyrehill , which is here likewise engraven Fig. 8. one may probably conclude that the Romans had at last some residence here , with leasure to follow such sports , as the Country would afford .

21. Whence it may reasonably be concluded , as also from some Roman mony that has been sometimes found in Dale-close 'twixt Okeover and Mathfield , and a Roman Urn dugg about 10 years agoe out of a bank in Church-towne field in upper Mathfield , &c. that the Lows hereabout , may for the most part at lest be esteemed Roman : particularly Harlow-greave a little mile NW of Mathfield ; and that other in a field near the left hand the way , as you pass between Mathfield and Ellaston near Colwich-common , without name ; and another larger over against it , at the other end of the common , which they call Rowlow , perhaps the Sepulcher of some petty King , Rowlow importing as much as Regale Sepulchrum . To these add the Low in Arbour-close , 2 or 3 bows shoot North-westerly from Okeover Chappel ; the 3 Lows upon the Weever-hills ; and 3 others they call Queen-Low , Gallows knoll , and Castlow-cross ; together with the Lows on Ribden , Reeden , and Cauldon hills ; and so Cocklow and the rest near the town of Leek ; those on the hills near Warslow ; on Ecton hill ; and another on a hill that is a Cow-pasture betwixt that and Oncot : most of which upon examination , as well as those on the Morridg , have been found made of stones , and not gravel or earth , as usually elsewhere ; which

To the right Worsp . S. THOMAS WILBRAHAM of WESTON under SYZARD Baronet This 33d. Table Representing some few of the ANTIOUITIES of STAFFORD SHIRE with the sincerest gratitude is humbly presented by RP . LL. D.

Mburgese de . et sc. depictions of antiquities

yet must not be wonder'd at , because we find they were made also in other Countries of such materials as the places best afforded , particularly ex lapidibus in saxosis locis * * Ol. Wormii Monument . Danicorum . Lib. 1. cap. 7. , such as these are .

22. The Lows near Elford and Wiginton in this County , must also be reckoned amongst the Roman tumuli : for the former of these being opened at my instance Octob. 7 and 8. An. Dom. 1680. at the charge of the generous Madam Bows of Elford , there was found in it level with the surface of the ground about it , a moist blackish sort of earth without any mixture of gravel or stones , about 2 yards diameter , and a foot and half deep in the middle , lyeing much in the same form with the tumulus it self , on the edg whereof , were Ashes and Charcoal in their true colours , and several pieces of bones in the middle of it , so friable that they would crumble betwixt the fingers : the Low it self which coverd these Ashes and black earth , being made of gravel mixt with pebbles , as the soil it self there about is , and so it was also under the said black earth . Whence it could not but be concluded that this tumulus must needs be Roman ( tho' there were no coynes , pieces of Vrns , or Armour found in it ) the bodies buryed under it having been certainly burnt , which I do not find either the Saxons or Danes ever did after their arrival here , whatever they might before . Otherwise I should have thought they might have been cast up , about the year 755 , when Ethelbald King of Mercia being invaded by Cuthred King of the West Saxons ; met and fought him at Segeswald u u Florent . Wigorn. Chron. ex Chron. in An. 755. , Sacchenda w w Matth. Westmonast . Flor. Historiar . in eodem An. , or Secandune x x Joh. Brompton Abb. Jornal . in vita Ethelbaldi . , now Sekindon in Warwicksh . yet hard by ; where the proud King Ethelbald , in arto positus as Brompton tells us y y Ibidem . ( which perhaps should be in arcto ) disdaining to fly was slain by Beornred one of his own Commanders ( as we are inform'd by Malmesbury z z Will . Malmesburienfis de gestis Regum Angl. Lib. 1. cap. 4. ) and his whole Army broken : for tho' the King did not ( who was buryed at Repton ) some of the Nobles notwithstanding might perhaps have sought to save themselves by a swift flight , yet have been slain in the pursuit , and buryed under these Lows here at Elford and Wiginton .

23. Now the reason why such Lows , and warlike instruments , certainly Roman , are so often found remote from their military ways , was I suppose that the Natives drew them frequently off , and skirmish'd with them any where , as occasion presented : upon which account too we find the Romans , to have pitch't their tents in places farr distant from their ways , as one may plainly perceive by the Valla that went round them , which , as Polybius and Vegetius both teach us , being often made square a a Polybii Historiarum Lib. 6. de Castrametatione . & Flav. Vegetii de re militari Lib. 1. cap. 23. , especially , says Stewechius , when they would have their armies appear great b b Godesc . Stewechii Cornment . in Lib. 1. cap. 23. Flav. Vegetii de re militar . ; I have reason to suspect that entrenchment near the bridg upon Ashwood heath , in the parish of Kings-Swinsord , commonly known by the name of Wolverhampton Church-yard , which measures about 140 paces over , has been one of these Roman Castrametations . And so I am willing to beleive those remains of a fortification at the East end of Longdon Church , which 't is plain were also square , the East and South sides being still apparent ; not being able after a long and diligent search , to give a better account of either of them . Tho' it must not be denyed that the Saxons also fortified in a square form , as may be seen at Tamworth and divers other places , of which in due time , so that I must desire the Reader to take special notice , that I am not so positive , but I can yeild it possible they may be Saxon notwithstanding , cast up upon the frequent incursions of Canutus , or the neighbouring Saxons into the Mercian Kingdom , of which more anon : only I think that had they been made so late , we should have had some account of them , whereof because none , I have chose rather to place them in remoter times . However they give me a fair transition .

24. To the Saxon antiquities , amongst which first of such as relate to the Heptarchy , in treating whereof I shall observe as near as may be the order of time , and therefore must begin with the History of Berry-bank ( as they call it ) near the village of Darlaston in the parish of Stone , where on the top of a hill there yet remain the ruins of a large Castle fortifyed with a double vallum and entrenchments about 250 yards diameter , the gate seeming to have been on the west part of it , where the side banks on each hand yet plainly appear : others fancy there was a second gate on the East side too , tho' I could not perceive any probability for it : but on the South side there is a round conical hill , much like a tumulus , cast up higher than all the rest of the work . Which according to the tradition of the Country thereabout , was the Seat of Wlferus King of Mercia , who murthered his two Sons for embracing Christianity , one at Stone hard by , and the other at Burston but a little further off : but I doe not so much depend upon that , as on what Mr Sampson Erdeswic asserts , viz. that he had seen an old writing relating to the foundation of the Priory of Stone that affirms as much c c Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Darlaston . : which perhaps may be that of R. de Suggenhill and Petronil his wife , whereby they gave to the Church of St Mary and St Wlfade of Stone , Messuagium juxta montem qui dicitur Wlferecester in territorio de Derlaston d d D. Gul. Dugdali Monast. Anglican . vol. 2. p. 129. , which indeed proves fully that this was the royal mansion of the said Wlferus , who governd Mercia from the year of Christ 657 to 676 , the Low adjoyning in all probability being the place of his sepulture .

25. Within the limits of whose raigne fall the dates of the foundations as well of Lichfield as Stone : for tho' the place where Lichfield now is , were enobled with the martyrdoms of a 1000 Christians , near 400 years before , yet we hear nothing more of it till Oswy King of Northumberland , having beaten and kill'd Penda King of the Mercians , converted the Country to Christianity , and after a while made this place ( perhaps in memory of these Martyrs ) a Bishops seat , building a Church and nominating one Duina a Scotchman the first Bishop of it e e Matth. Westmonasteriens . Flor. Historiarum in An. 655 , 656 , 657. : which yet 't is like might be a place but of small account ( many of the Bishops seats in ancient times being small villages ) till after the time of St Ceadda , who as Rossus Warwicensis plainly tells us , came at first hither as into a private place , in secretum locum Staffordiensis provinciae ( tho' now a Bishops seat ) where he lived ( as the Legend says ) only upon the milk of a Doe , which being hunted by Wlfade son of Wlfere King of Mercia brought him to the Cell of St Ceadda , who first converted him to the Christian faith , and his brother Ruffine after f f Ex Libro Johannis Rufi . M. S. de Epise. Wigorn. , whilst he lived as it were a Hermitical life , by a Spring side yet remaining by the Church of Stow , near the City of Lichfied : which being too remote from Wlfercester the Seat of their Father , they intreated the holy man to remove a little nearer them , for the easier waiting on him to receive further instruction , and performing their devotions together with him g g D. Gul. Dugdals Manast . Augl . Vol. 2. p. 122. .

26. To which request of the young Princes I find the holy Sr Ceadda readily complyed , and came to another Secret place not farr off them , whither under pretence of hunting , to avoid their fathers anger who was yet a Pagan , they constantly came to him and were instructed accordingly : but being observed by one Werebod one of their fathers evill Councellors , they were quickly found out and accused of Christianity to him , who came from Wlfercester above mention'd , and finding them at their devotions in this new Oratory , in the midst of his wrath slew them both h h Ibidem . pag. 122 , 123. ; one , at Stone , where a Church being erected over the place of his Martyrdom , gave both name and original to that town ; and the other at Burston where there was erected a Chappel which as Mr Erdeswic asserts was but lately standing i i Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Burweston . . In this conjuncture St Ceadda fled away from the fury of the bloody minded King , and returned to his Cell near Lichfield again , where he had not retired long , but King Wlfer was grievously struck with remorse , and being sore afflicted for the fact he had done , according to the councill of his Queen Ermenilda , repaired to St Ceadda , by whom he was converted , and forthwith banished all idolatrous worship out of his dominions k k D. Gul. Dugdali Monast. Angl. locis supra citat . ; and upon the death of Jarumannus which happened quickly after An. 667 , made the holy St Ceadda Bishop of Lichfield , from whom it receiv'd so great honour , that it increased quickly after to a considerable Town , and was not long , before advanced to a Metropolitical See , by the great King Offa , who out of spight to Lambert Arch Bishop of Canterbury , got it exempt from his jurisdiction , obtaining a pall for it of Pope Adrian the first : the Sees of Worcester , Chester , Sidnacester , Hereford , Helmham and Dorchester , being made subject to it : in which state it continued from the year 766 to 797 , in all 31 years , in which time there sate three Arch-Bishops of Lichfield , Ealdulfus , Humbertus , and lastly Higbertus , in whose time the See of Canterbury was restored again to its pristin dignity by Kinulf or Kenwolf also King of the Mercians l l Matth. Westmonast . Flor. Historiar . in An. 766.794.795.797 . .

27. The next Antiquities , that follow in order of time , of Saxon original , are Dudley Castle built upon a lofty hill , and so named by one Dudo an English Saxon about the year of our Salvation 700 * * Camden's Britannia in Staffordsh . . the present prospect whereof was represented above Tab. 3. ad pag. 39. and an old fortification in the parish of Mear or Mere , that they call the Bruff ( which perhaps may be only a corruption of Burgh ) fenced at some places with a double trench and rampire , the agger above the trench seeming at some places to have been made up with stone , the whole being of a very irregular form , according as the figure of the hill would admitt : over against this , on the heath , there is a place they call Camp-hills , where it is supposed there was anciently likewise a Camp , tho' no signes of it now ; only there are two round hills which may pass for harrows , and many other longish hillocks like graves , in which form I find these Sepulchral monuments were also sometimes made m m Ol. Wormii Monument . Danicor . Lib. 1. cap. 7. : betwixt which and the Bruff there is likewise a large round conical hill that they call Coplow , which no doubt was the Sepulchre of some considerable Commander slain here about , when these rampires were made and used . Which tho' at first sight they appear'd difficult to account for , who ? & when ? being very hard questions at this distance of time : yet I think I may safely , and with some confidence answer , that this fortification was here made in the days of the wicked Osrid King of Northumberland , about the year of Christ 705 , who as Henry Huntingdon testifies was slain at Mere ; Osrid vero Rex belli infortunio juxta Mere pugnans interfectus est , being his very words n n Hen. Huntindoniensis Historiar . Lib. 4. cap. 4. : tho' he tells us not by what enemy , nor upon what occasion , yet I suppose it must be Kenred King of Mercia , whom he seems to have invaded , and not his Cosin Kenred who succeeded him , as S. Cressy would have it o o S. Cressy's Church . Hist. of Britan. Book . 21. chap. 26. , there being no foundation that I can find in History , for such an imagination : Cop-low being the tumulus in all probability under which the unfortunate Osrid was buryed , and those other lows and hillocks upon Camp-hills of his inferiour officers : and the Bruff the Castle or strong hold , that Kenred had rais'd against him .

28. About this time the place of Island where the Town of Stafford now stands , anciently call'd Bethnei ( what was said of it before being only prophesy ) began first to be inhabited , by St Bertelline the son of a King of this Country , and Scholar to St Guthlac , with whom he tarryed till his death : after which , tho' now unknown to his Father , he begg'd this Island of him , where he led a Hermits life for divers years , till disturbed by some that envyed his happiness , when he removed into some desert mountanous places , where he ended his life p p Jo. Capgravii nova Legend . Angl. in vita S. Bertellin : ; leaving Bethnei to others , who afterwards built it , and called it Stafford , there being a shallow place in the River hereabout , that could easily be pass't with the help of a Staff only q q Gul. Somneri Dictionar Sax. Lat. Angl. in verbo , . Now whereabout this desart place should be , that St Bertelline went to , tho' Histories are silent , yet I have some grounds to think that it might be about Throwley , Ilam , and Dovedale : and that this was the St Bertram who has a well , an Ash , and a Tomb at Ilam : for if as Capgrave says , the Town of Bertamly in Cheshire took its name from a miracle that St Bertelline did there r r Nova legenda Anglias loco supra citat . , I know not why the people about Ilam , Throwley , &c. might not corrupt his name as much as they in Cheshire , and call him St Bertram instead of St Bertelline . If it be objected that the Tomb here is of too late a date for his time , it seeming by no means above 300 years old ; I must own the thing : but then it must be allowed that such great mens Tombs were often rebuilt , especially if any great occasion were administer'd , as there was by this Saint about that time viz. An. 1386. when there was a wonderfull miracle wrought at his Altar in Stafford , if we may beleive Capgrave s s Ibidem in fine . ; which might possibly give occasion for the rebuilding of it by the people of Stafford in the form it now stands .

29. Near Alveton in this County upon a lofty situation , in the lands of the right Honorable Charles Earl of Shrewsbury , a most noble encourager of this work , there still remains , near the Lodg , just such another fortress , as that near Mear , only much larger , which they call Bunbury , of no regular figure , encompassed with a double and sometimes treble trench , according as the natural situation of the place , seems to have required , on the North , NW , and NE sides , all the rest being naturally inaccessible , the whole including about an hundred acres : which I doubt not to have been made by Ceolred King of Mercia , the successor of Kenred abovementioned , when he was invaded ( in like-manner as Kenred by Osrid ) in the seventh year of his raigne , by the potent Ina King of the West-Saxons , in the year of Christ 716. Cujus anno septimo Ina Rex West-Saxiae , magno Exercitu congregato contra Eum apud Bonebury strenue praeliavit . i. e. that in the seventh year of Ceolreds raigne , Ina King of the West-Saxons having rais'd a great Army fought him stoutly at Bonebury says the Abbot of Jourvall t t Joh. Brompton Abb. Jornallens . in Regno Merciorum . : where yet Ceolred ( by the advantage of this his strong fortification ) so warmly received him , that he was glad to withdraw upon equal termes , neither having much reason to bragg of a victory .

30. Of what antiquity the Town of Tamworth may be , does not plainly appear , but it must certainly have been a place of some repute of very ancient times , tho' we hear nothing of it till An. Dom. 781. when the great King Offa granting lands in Sapie to the Monks of Worcester concludes thus — Hanc autem praescriptam vicissitudinem terrarum & meae donationis pro domino libertatem , ego Offa Rex sedens in Regali palatio in Tamoworthige secundo die nativitatis Domini , concedens donavi An. 781. And after him Ceonulf whose Charter ends thus — Acta est haecdonatio An. 816. in vico celeberrimo qui vocatur Tomoworthig , &c u u Sr William Dugdale's antiquities of Warwicksh . illustrated . p. 816 , 817. . Now if the Mercian Kings had their Palaces here so very early , it must needs have been a Town of some repute long before , and perhaps a fortify'd place ; there still remaining a square trench call'd Kings-ditch of large extent , that in a manner encompasses the whole town , beginning on the bank of the River Tame west of the Lady-bridg , and running up thence in a straight line till it comes NW of the Church , where there seems to have been a mount or a bastion somewhat higher than the rest of the work , in the angle where it joyns to the following line ; which runns straight all along N of the Church till it comes NE of it , where another mount also in the angle ; whence it runns again in a straight line to the banks of the Anker ; inclosing the town on the West , North , and East ; the Rivers securing it Southward : but whether these were made , before , after , or in the days of King Offa , is not easy to determine .

31. Next Tamworth the most ancient place of any in the County , whereof there are any footsteps yet remaining , perhaps may be a large old fortification near the village of Billington in the parish of Bradeley , 300 yards diameter doubly entrenched , as may be seen at divers places , tho' the outmost indeed be fill'd up in some : which I could willingly beleive to have been the place of battle , between Duke Wada and the rest of the murtherers of King Ethelred , and King Eardulf his successor ; which Matthew of Westminister w w Matth. Westmonasteriens . Flor. Historiar . in An. 798. , Roger Hoveden x x Rog. de Hoveden Annalium parte priori . p. 233. , and Simeon Dunelmensis y y Sim. Dunelmens . Hist. de gestis Reg. Ang. in An. 798. all agree , was at a place call'd Billingabo or Billingagoth juxta Wallalega An. Dom. 798. the old Etocetum , by the Saxons call'd Wall , not being farr off : but that it is hard to think that a King of Northumberland or any Conspirators against him , should bring a warr so farr out of their own Country ; or that the valiant Kenulf then King of the Mercians would admitt of it , unless it were done in his absence , when he went into Kent against Eadbert Pren , whom he overthrew , and brought away captive z z Mat. Westmonast . loco supra citat . . Wherefore I shall take leave anon to make another conjecture , concerning the original of this fortification : and in the mean time proceed to the life , martyrdom , and buryal , of the young St Kenelm King of the Mercians , the Scene whereof seems to have layn in this County , of which in their order . Yet I shall relate no more than what is absolutely necessary to understand the remains that I find of them here .

32. Let it therefore suffice that upon the death of King Kenulf An. Dom. 819. the Kingdom of the Mercians fell to his only Son Kenelm a child of 7 years old , whose elder Sister Quendred desirous of rule , practised with the young Kings guardian , one Aschebert , to make him away , as in the Histories of his life written by Matthew of Westminster a a Idem in An. 821. , John Brompton b b Joh. Brompton Abb. Jorn . in Regno Merciorum . , and Capgrave c c Joh. Capgravii nova Legenda Angl. in vita S ●i . Kenelmi . , where the Reader if he please may see the particulars : which that he might doe the more secretly , he had the young King into Clent wood in this Country , under the fair pretense of taking pleasure in hunting , and when he had gotten him into a suitable place , he cut off his head , and buryed him where no man knew but himself , till discovered by a certain Cow of a widdow woman , that would feed no where but beside St Kenelms grave ; and a Scrole dropt by a white Dove upon the altar of St Peter at Rome , as Pope Leo minor or Leo the third was celebrating Mass , containing these words : In Clent kau bathe Kenelin Kinebearn lieth under thorn heaved by reaved : which none of the Romans understanding , it was shewed to the people of the several nations , amongst which an English-man there present , rendered it into Latin , which the Poets of after ages put into this distick . In Clenc sub spina , jacet in convalle bovina , Vertice privatus , Kenelmus rege creatus d d Matth. Westmonast . Flor. Historiar . loco supra citat . Englished thus In Clent in Cow-bach under a Thorn Lyes King Kenelm his head off shorne e e Erdeswicks view of Staffordsh . in Clent . by which means it being understood at Rome ( as some say before it was in Britan ) how he was murthered and where buryed , order was presently sent by the Pope to Wolfred then Arch-Bishop of Canterbury , and the rest of the English Bishops to search and take up his body , which was accordingly done and carryed in great state to the Abby of Winchelcomb in Glocestershire of his Fathers foundation , and there honorably buryed .

33. Now the antiquities that I find yet remaining upon the place relating to this History , are first , Cowbach otherwise Cowdale as Brompton calls it f f Loco supra citato . , so named from the Cow that attended his grave , which remains a pasture-ground to this very day , being situate in a valley , under Warton hill , about half a mile N E of Clent Church , as most of the ancient men of the town agreed ; there being now no thorn , nor had there been any that I could learn , within memory ; so that the exact place where he was buryed is now unknown : nor is there any Spring here , which as the Legend says immediatly gush't out where the body had layne , as soon a 't was taken forth g g Locis supra citatis . ; St Kenelm's well being ½ a mile off , near the Chapell yet standing dedicated to him , in the parish of Hales-Owen and County of Salop ; and not in the parish of Clent or County of Stafford ; so that whether this be the true Cow-bach or noe , the Legend must be false : unless we shall say that the precincts of Clent are contracted since , and that the true Cowbach was , where the spring now is , in the County of Salop : which if so , I have said to much of it already , it being without the pale of the History . However half a mile N N E of Clent Church or there about , there is a list of grass greener than ordinary , call'd St Kenelms-furrow running up to the Knoll-hill a great length , that still remains both in the parish and County , the grass whereof indeed is somewhat more verdant and luxuriant than at other places , which they intend for the furrow made by the Oxen , which run away with the womans plow , and were never again heard of , who in contempt of the feast of St Kenelm would make them work on that day , loosing her Eyes into the bargain , as the Legend says h h Job . Capgravii nova Legenda Angl. in vita Sti . Kenelmi . , but enough of this . I found also 3 Lows on Clent-heath , but these relate nothing to our former history , being raised as I guess on some conflict hereabout , when the fortifications were made on Whichbury-hill , not farr off them , but in the parish of Pedmoore and County of Worcester , which being extra oleas , I am not concern'd either when , or by whom they were made .

34. Beside these , there are other Antiquities here that may be presumed to be Saxon , tho' there can be no particular account given of them , as there has of the former . Such as the old fortification on Kinfare edge of an oblong square figure , about 300 yards long , and 200 over , having an artificial bank cast up round it , fenced with a deep ditch on the N N E and S S W sides ; the edg or hill on the other two sides being naturally inaccessible . Concerning which the tradition of the town is , that it was a Danish fortification : but the name seeming rather to make it a Saxon one , where some King was kill'd from cyne Regium and papan nutare , vacillare or obire i i Vid. Gul Somneri Dictionar . Saxonico-Lat . Angl. in verbis . , importing as much as a royal failure or place where a King had fail'd or dyed , I have rather chosen to place it among the Saxon antiquities . Upon this account too I am inclined to beleive , the Lows on the heath underneath betwixt it and the Comptons are also Saxon ; and so that at the end of Kinfare heath , near the Lane leading to Enfield ; there seems also to be another under Meg a fox-hole ; which tho' now all stone , may possibly have been formerly earth , now turn'd into stone by subterraneal heats ; especially if that be true which is asserted from experiment by Gabriel Plat , viz. that if you half fill a Retort with brimstone , Sea-coale , and other bituminous substances , and the remainder of the neck also half way with pure earth , and set it to distill with a temperate open fire , the earth will be petrifyed or turned to stone k k Gabr. Plat's discovery of subterraneal treasure Chap. 1. ; as it is also by nature , where bituminous substances kindled in the bowells of the earth , send up such vapours , as perhaps they may have done also at Barrow-hill in the parish of Kings-Swinford , where there are two uniforme barrows all rock ; and so at the rocky round hill on the Watlingstreet near Hynts .

35. There are many other Lows too , not placed upon any of the military ways or old fortifications , whereof no such particular account can be given , as there was of the former , which yet seem to have been of Saxon erection , but these upon a civil , not military score : for they oft raised such Lows over considerable men that dyed in peace , as well as in warr ; but then they placed them in Campo plano juxta defuncti praedium sito l l Olai Wormii Monument . Danicor . Lib. 1. cap. 7. , somewhere in a plain beside the Mansion of the deceased . And of this kind I judg that at Stramshall in this County ; and that other in a place call'd Low-field about a quarter of a mile West from Combridg ; amongst these we may also reckon that at Tatenhill wood-Lane , about half a mile westward of Callingswood hall , supposed to be Rudlow , of which more anon ; and so Totmonslow tho' now not extant ; as well as Offlow , which also gives name to the hundred in which it is situate ; which tho' not the Sepulchre of King Offa , who as Florilegus tells us was buryed in Bedfordshire upon the bank of the river Ouse m m Matth. Westmonasterien . Flor. Histor. in An. 797. , yet it must certainly be the monument of some great person of the same name , either buryed here alone , or else in company with divers others perhaps slain with him , this seeming indeed erected , not like the former upon a civil , but a military account ; and yet of Saxon original , as the name testifies , tho' placed near the Watlingstreet : which sort of large tumuli cast up over many slain together , the Danes call'd Voloaster as Wormius informs us n n Olai . Wormii Loco supra citat . . But herein I am not positive .

36. Having hitherto considered such antiquities only , as 〈◊〉 think have been occasion'd by the conflicts of the Saxons amongst themselves : I come next to treat of such as are the deplorable remains of the bloody warrs 'twixt the Saxons and Danes : amongst which the first in order of time , are the ruins above-mentioned in Wrottesley park § §. 4 and 5 of this Chapter , which upon second considerations I am inclined to beleive , if Theotenhall doe import the habitation of heathens as Camden informs us o o Camden's Britannia in Staffordsh . sub . initium . , are no Roman antiquity , but the true remains of the old Theotenhall of the Danes , who I suppose having resided there for some time , built them this City or place of habitation , which in the year of our Lord 907 as Roger Hoveden p p Rogeri de Hoveden Annalium parte priori . , but not till An. 911 as Simeon Dunelmensis , John Brompton , and Florentius Wigorn , in all probability was finally rased by Edward Senior in that signal victory he there obtained over them , whereof we have an account in all those Historians q q In An. 911. but a more particular one in Hen. Huntindon , who makes this battle so terrible , that he spares not to cry out , Quis autem cuneorum horrendos aggressus , ignitas collisiones , formidabiles tinnitus , feras irruptiones , miserabiles occasus , clamores horrisonos , scriptis exequetur r r Hen. Huntindoniens . Historiar . Lib. 5. cap. 5. ? i. e. so very terible , that he thought it could not be fully described by the most exquisite pen.

37. To revenge whose quarrel , another Army of them that possest Northumberland , breaking a league they had formerly made with King Edward , invaded Mercia in the very same year , pillageing the Country wherever they came : against whom king Edward bringing a powerfull Army both of West Saxons and Mercians , overtook them in their return at the village of Wednesfield , not farr from Theotenhall , and overthrew them again in another bloody battle , wherein he kill'd Eowills and Halfden or Hildein two of their Kings , and Ohter and Scurfa two of their Earles , and 9 other Noblemen s s Florent . Wigorn. Chron. ex Chron. in An. 911. & Matth. West . in eodem Anno. . to whom Ethelverdus adds Juvar or Hinguar another of their Kings t t Chronicor . Ethelwerdi Lib. 4. cap. 4. . Of which great slaughter yet there are no more remains but a Low in a ground call'd South Low field , which has lately had a windmill set upon it , the Low being there before as within memory . There is another ground here too call'd North-Low field , which no question heretofore has had also a Low in it , tho' now it be gone . Which doubtless were cast up over some of those kings , or Danish or Saxon nobles , then slain here ; and so 't is like was Stowman's hill on the road betwixt Wolverhampton and Walsall , half a mile S W of the village of Nechels .

38. In the year following 912 dyed the noble Duke Aethelred Vice-Roy of Mercia ; after whom his most renowned Lady Aegelfleda alias Elfleda daughter of King Alfred , governed the kingdom of Mercia with so great conduct , so much to the advantage and increase of her own dominions , and terror of her enemies : ut non solum Domina vel Regina , verum etiam Rex ad laudem & excellentiam à pluribus vocaretur , i. e. that she was not only call'd Lady and Queen , but also King by way of praise and extreme excellence , as the Abbots Ethelred and Brompton affirm u u Ethelredi Abbatis Rieval . Genealog . Regum Angl. & Joh. Brompton Abbat . Jornal . in vita regis Edvard . Sen. . And indeed all things considered she deserved no less ; for she not only subdued the Britans and Danes , and all that opposed her ; but took Darby and Leicester and added them to her Kingdom : building and repairing so many Castles and Townes , that it would be endless to recount them . Wherefore I shall content my self only in relating what she did in this County , remitting the Reader for the rest to the ancient Historians : particularly about the year 916 she fortifyed Weadbirig now Wednesbury in this County w w Florent . Wigorn Chron. ex Chron in An 916. ; and rebuilt Tamworth destroyed by the Danes , where she after dyed in the year 919 x x Matth. Westmonast . Flor. Historiar in An. 919. ; She also built a Castle at the Town of Stafford , on the North side of the River Sow y y Florent . Wigorn in An. 914. , whereof I could not hear of any footstepps remaining ; that upon the hill above the Town , at near a miles distance , the Prospects whereof are both here annext Tab. 34. being built long after by Ranulf or Ralph the first Earl of Stafford : tho' Mr Erdeswick tells us he had a certain deed dated apud Castrum juxta Stafford long before the days of the said Earl Ralph , whence he concludes that he did but reedify the Castle , and not new build it z z Samps . Erdes . wick's view of Staffordsh . in Stafford . , which perhaps may be true : but for my part I conjecture that the first Stafford-Castle mention'd in that deed , might rather stand within the Entrenchment at Billington , which perhaps may be only the remains of this Castle , and not of the battle between King Eardulf and Duke Wada , as was thought above §. 31. in which opinion I am not a little confirmed , the lands wherein these entrenchments are , being not far distant , and still remaining a part of the demesne land of the Barony of Stafford .

39. Of what antiquity the Town of Hampton may be is very uncertain , it not being mention'd in any record that I could either meet or hear of , till the pious Wulfruna the relict of Althelm Duke of Northampton , in the days of King Ethelred ( and not of King Edgar as Mr Erdeswick thought a a Idem in Wolverhampton . ) in the year 996 built and endowed the Church or Monastery there b b D. Gul. Dugdal . Monast. Angl. Vol. 1. p. 988. , in reguard of which pious action of hers , it was ever after call'd Wulfrunes-Hampton , since by corruption of speech Wolverhampton . In which new foundation she placed a Dean and Prebends , or secular Canons , as Mr Erdeswick calls them c c Locosupra citat . , with other suitable Officers , for the increase of Religion : wherein yet it seems she mist of her aime for some time at lest , for before it had stood near 200 years , these Prebends grew so enormous in their lives , as Petrus Blesensis ( who was their Dean ) testifies , ut cantabantur eorum turpitudines in triviis , that their wickedness was made known by Songs in the streets ; which of what kind it was he afterwards tells us , ipsi vero publice & aperte fornicantes praedicabant peccata sua , i. e. that they were not ashamed of publick fornication ; of which when he admonish't them , tho' he did it he says toto charitatis affectu , with all imaginable mildness , yet being as deaf as adders they despised his reproof d d Pet. Blesensis Epistolar. Lib. Ep. 152. ad Innocent 3. .

40. Whereupon complaining to the King and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury , he obtained terrible threatning Letters to them , importing that they would endeavour to perswade the Pope utterly to dissolve them , but still all to little purpose , for they grew hereupon but the more contumacious . Nay he further tells us that they were advanced at last to that height of wickedness , that having marryed interchangeably one anothers daughters and neeces , if upon the death of a Canon he put in an honest man ( for the donation and institution of these Prebends then belong'd to the Dean ) the Son or Nephew of the deceased would challenge notwithstanding the Patrimony , as they call'd it , and flying into the woods would joyn with theeves and robbers , and invade the right of the new Canon . From which evill practises the good Dean being unable to reclaim them , he humbly besought the King and Arch-Bishop , to turn out these Prebends , and place Cistercians in their room ; in order whereunto , being tired out with their incorrigibility , he resigned his Deanry into the hands of the Arch-Bishop , circa An. Dom. 1200 ; and wrot a Letter to Pope Innocent the third , beseeching him that he would further and confirm whatever the Arch-Bishop had done in this matter , who it seems in the mean time had admitted some of the said Order e e Ibidem . . But I suppose either the Pope interposed in this designe , or some other inconvenience not then foreseen , prevented its execution : for there yet remains some umbrage of a Dean and Prebends here to this very day .

41. About this time , the Danes under Swain and his Son Canutus , had got good footing in England , the latter of which , after divers vicissitudes , or fortune of the warrs in the raignes of King Ethelred and Edmund Ironside , obtained the whole Kingdom : during which altercations he made several inrodes into Mercia , especially in the years 1013 and 1016 f f Matth. Westmonast . Flor. Historiar . in dictis Annis . & Florent . Wigorn. Chron. ex Chron. in iisdem . . and amongst other places possest himself of that Forrest or Chase in this County called still by his name Canc or Cannock-wood , quasi Canuti Sylva : upon the edge whereof , in the Park at Beaudesart , W S W of the house , at about half a miles distance , there still remains a large fortification call'd the Castle-hill , encompass't with a double agger and trench , which are in a manner circular , except on the S E side . Which runs pretty straight , so that it seems to hold the figure of a Theater of about 270 paces diameter : and this for name sake only , because within the verge of Canutus's wood , I take leave to presume might be cast up by him , when he made his incursions into this Country , and those horrible divastions mention'd by the Historians in the years above mention'd g g Ibidem . , unless one should rather think it might be cast up by the Mercians , in defence of their Country . The little hill upon Ickenildstreet way must likewise be cast up in all probability about this time , the Danish Kings usually speaking to their Armies from such elevated places , which they most times made of stone , but sometimes of earth , as appears by the little hill without the Forum of stone at Leir in Seland h h Olai . Wormii Monum . Dan. Lib. 1. cap. 5. , and another such like hillock call'd Trollebarolhoy near Lundie in Scania i i Idem . Lib. 1. cap. 12. , it being indifferent whether the King ascended a stone , or mount of earth , so thence he might be seen and heard by the people , either of which they called the Kongstolen , i. e. the Kings-stool , or as here the Kings-standing .

42. Not long after this in the year 1017 , King Edmund Ironside dying at London according to Florentius Wigorniensis , at Oxford according to Matthew of Westminster k k Mat. West . & Florent . Wigorniens . in dicto An. ; Canutus took possession of the whole kingdom , and raigned sole King of England for 20 years : during which time and the raignes of his two successors also Danish Kings of England , many of their Customs and Vtensills , no doubt on 't , obtain'd here , amongst which I guess I may reckon an ancient sort of Almanacks they call Cloggs , made upon square sticks , still in use here amongst the meaner sort of people , which I cannot but think must be some remains of the Danish goverment , finding the same with little difference to have been used also formerly , both in Sweden and Denmarke , as plainly appears from Olaus Magnus l l Olai Magni . de ritu Gent: Sept. Lib. 1. cap. 34. & Lib. 16. cap. 20. and Olaus Wormius m m Olai . Wormii Fast. Danic . Lib. 2. cap. 2 , 3 , 4 , 5. : which being a sort of Antiquity so little known , that it hath scarce been yet heard of in the Southern parts of England , and understood now but by few of the Gentry in the Northern , I shall be the more particular in my account of them . And shall consider 1. the divers names of them ; 2. the variety of materials out of which they have been made ; 3. the kinds of them ; 4. the figures that are inscribed in them ; and 5. the divers uses of those inscriptions : of all which in their order .

43. And first as to the divers names of them , they are here call'd Cloggs , for what reason I could not learn , nor indeed imagin , unless from the English Logg ( a term we usually give to any piece of wood ) or from the likeness of some of the greater sorts of them to the Cloggs , wherewith we usually restrain the wild , extravagant , mischeivous motions of some of our doggs . Secondly from their use they are more properly call'd Almanacks , quasi Al-mon-aght , that is to say Al-mon-heed , viz. the reguar'd or observation of all the Moones : because by these squared sticks , says Verstegan , they could certainly tell , when the new-moons , full moons , and other changes should happen , and consequently Easter , and the other moveable feasts ᵐ : which doubtless is as significant an Etymology of the word , as any can be thought of , tho' perhaps not so true as those of Salmasius o o Claud. Salmasii de An. Climactericis & antiq. Astrolog . p. 605 , 606. Edit. Lugd. Bat. 1648. and Skinner p p Steph. Skinneri Etymolog . in verbo . , deduced from the Persian and Arabick tongues . Thirdly by the Danes they are call'd Rimstocks , not only because the Dominical Letters were anciently express't on them in Runick Characters ; but also for that the word Rimur anciently signify'd a Calendar q q Olai . Wormii Fast . Danic . Lib. 1. cap. 2. , whence the word Rimstock ( denoting likewise the matter of which they were commonly made ) importes no more than a wooden-Almanack , such as ours are .

44. Fourthly , by the Norwegians ( with whom they are still in use ) they are call'd Primstaves r r Ibidem . , and that for good reason too , the principal and most usefull thing inscribed on them , being the Prime or golden number , whence the changes of the Moones are understood , which because usually done amongst them upon the staves they walk with ( whereof there are good Patterns in the Musaeum at Oxon ) they most properly , from both the uses they had of them , call'd them Primstaves . And n n Rich. Verstegan's restitution of decay'd Antiq. chap. 3. lastly by the Swedes , as Olaus Magnus delivers ( who also made them of this form ) they are as significantly termed Baculi annales , with which the Laics being sustained in their long journeys to Church , at their weekly congress did usually debate and conclude from them , the Lunar conjunctions and oppositions , and thence the moveable feasts f f Olai Magni de . ritu Gent. Sept. Lib. 16. cap. 20. & 24. . Tho' they sometimes likewise made them ex asseribus oblongis , of little oblong boards , as Wormius testifies ( whereof we have also a Pattern in the Musaeum ) upon which account he reprehends Olaus Magnus , for giving them the name abovemention'd , as too narrow an appellation t t Olai Wormii Fast . Danic . Lib. 1. cap. 3. : but I think with little reason , it being as proper a name for the kind he there speaks of , as the Primstaf of the Norwegians , which he does not find fault with . And so much for the names .

45. As to the matter of those of them I met with in this County , there are some few of brass , whereof I had one sent me by the most ingenious Charles Cotton of Beresford Esq but the most of them of wood , and these chiefly of box , others there are of Firr , and some of Oak , but these not so frequent . Wormius tells us that in Denmark there are some of them made ex ossibus oblongis tessellatim sectis & colligatis u u Idem Lib. 1. cap. 4. & Lib. 3. in proaem . , and others inscribed in a hollow-bone w w Idem Lib. 2. cap. 3. ; He acquaints us also with some ancient ones , made of horn x x Idem Lib. 1. cap. 17. ; but I met with none of these in this County , tho' all people , no question , made them of such materials , as they thought fittest for their purpose . And thirdly as to the kinds of them ; some are perfect , containing the Dominical Letters , as well as the Prime and marks for the feasts , engraven upon them , and such are our Primestaves in the Musaeum at Oxford . Others imperfect , having only the Prime and the immoveable feasts on them , and such are all those I met with in Staffordshire ; which yet are of two kinds also , some publick , of a larger size , which hang commonly here at one end of the Mantletree of their Chimneys , for the use of the whole family , as Wormius likewise acquaints us they usually doe in Denmark y y Olai Wormii Fast . Danic . Lib. 1. cap. 4. ; and others privat , of a smaller size , which they carry in their pockets ; as we have them now since the invention of printing : some Almanacks being fitted to hang up in our houses , and others for privat use , which we carry about us .

To the Worsp ●● : ELIAS ASHMOLE Esq. This Ancient ALMANACK . yet still in use in his native Country of Stafford shire , in memory of his favours is gratefully dedicated . by RP . LL● .

THE CLOG . or STAFFORD-SHIRE Perpetuall ALMANACK .

almanac ● . Browne sc●● .

47. Which Dominical and other Letters are all engraven in Vlfila's later Gothick Characters , upon all the Danish Rimstocks of Wormius z z Idem . Lib. 2. cap. 2. , and the aforesaid Swedish or Norwegian Primstaves ( which I therefore said were of the perfect kind ) in Olaus Magnus a a Olai Magni de ritu Gent. Sept. Lib. 1. cap. 34. , and the Ashmolean Musaeum ; their Dominicals and week-day Letters being , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 frey , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 ur , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 thor , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 os , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 reid , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 kaun , 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 hagl b b Olai Verelii Runographiae Scandicae Cap. 7. , the first seven of their alphabet , as ours are ; but not answering the powers of our first seven , but of f , u , tzh , o , r , k , h. Which constantly altering , as I said before , upon account that the following year never began on the same day of the week with the former year , but with the following day , & so altering the Dominical and other Letters : Our ancestors I suppose did not think it worth while , to inscribe such moveable Characters at all , upon their Cloggs or Almanacks ( the knowledg of the Cycle of the Sun too , being but of little use to them ) but rather to commit such an easy observation , as the removeal of Sunday or any other day one or two days backward , to the care of their memories : these larger notches being sufficient to intimate , that a seventh part of time must always be allotted ( however it fall out ) for divine services .

48. Over against many of the notches , whether great or small , that stand in the Clogg for the days of each Month , there are placed on the left hand several marks or Symbols denoting the golden number or cycle of the Moon , which number if under 5 , is represented by so many points , and that perhaps as naturally as by so many stroaks ; but if 5 , a line is drawn from the notch or day to which it belongs , with a hook return'd back against the course of the line , that , if cut off at due distance , may be taken for a V , which being the fift vowel , antiquity perhaps has been pleased to make use of , to represent the number 5 , as X for ten , which is nothing else but a composition of two V's turned tail to tail , as the learned Dr Wallis has very well noted c c Joh. Wallisii Arithmeticae cap. 8. : but to proceed , if the golden number be above 5 , and under 10 ; it is then markt out to us by the hooked line , which is five , and with one point , which makes 6 ; or two , which makes 7 ; or 3 , for 8 ; and 4 , for 9 ; the said line being cross't with a stroak patulous at each end , which represents an X , when the golden number for the day , over against which it is put , is ten ; points being added ( as above over the hook for five ) till the number arises to 15 , when a hook is placed again at the end of the line above the X , to shew us that number .

49. Above these , the points are added again till the number amounts to 19 , where the line issuing from the day is cross't with two patulous stroaks ( as if it were 20 ) as may be seen on the Clogg Jan. 5. and so against every day of each month , whose golden number is 19 : in which number of years , the Moone returning again to be in conjunction with the Sun , on the very same day ( tho' not hour ) it was before , as was first observed by Meton the Athenian 431 years before the birth of Christ * * Christoph . Clavii Calendar . Gregor. cap. 8. § 3. , there needs no more numbers than 19 , to express the absolution of its whole Cycle , and therefore we find no more on the Clogg , which why it should be represented by the Symbol of twenty , when it might have been as easily done by its own , I cannot imagin , unless it may pass for a reason , that our ancestors thought , that an even round number did more gracefull set forth , or denote the completion of the Moones cycle , than an odd number could . However hence it appears , that these Symbols are no such Hieroglyphical Characters confusedly placed , as they seem at first sight , but have a more rational orderly texture than the Runae upon the Danish Rimestocks , or the Swedish or Norwegian Primstaves , where the sixteen simple Runae , & the three compound ones in their alphabetical order , stand as well for the golden number of 19 , as the seven first did , for so many Dominical Letters : ש Frey being put for 1. Vr 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 2. Thor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 3. Os 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 4. Reid 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 5. Kaun 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 6. Hagl 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 7. Naud 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 8. Is 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 9. Ar 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 10. Sun 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 11. Tyr 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 12. Biark 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 13. Laugur 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 14. Madur 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 15. Aur 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 16. Aurlaugr 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 17. Twimadur 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 18. Belgtzhor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 for 19. Which three last are compound Characters , and rather Syllables than letters d d Christoph . Clavii Calendar . Gregor cap. 9. : than which ( I say ) the Symbols set on our Cloggs have a more rational texture , these being put to signify numbers ad placitum , whereas ours are as orderly made off from one another , and with as much dependance , as any of our numbers , express't either by the Arabic or barbarous figures , or numeral Letters , now in use .

50. Nor are these numbers set so confusedly against the days of each Month , as they appear at first sight , for they are placed in method , whether we consider them , as they immediatly precede and follow one another , or the distances interceding each figure of the same value or denomination . For proof whereof , let it be observed first , that every following number is made by adding 8 to the preceding , and every preceding number by adding 11 to the following one , and casting away 19 , when the addition shall exceed it : for Example , if to 3 set against the first of Jan. you add 8 , it makes 11 set against the 3d. of the same Month , to which add 8 again , and it makes 19 , whence 8 it self comes to be the following figure , and 16 the next . On the contrary if to 16 you add 11 , it makes 27 , from which if you deduct 19 there remains 8 the number above it , and so onwards e e Christoph . Clavii Calendar . Gregor cap. 9. ; and this I find a rule without exception through the whole distribution of these golden numbers . And for the distances of the numbers of the same denomination , it may also be noted that they stand either 30 or 29 days asunder , and this not at pleasure , but for the most part interchangeably : for Example , after 3 which is set over against the first of Jan. at 30 days stance you will find 3 again on the last of the same Month ; and at 29 days distance on the 1 of March 3 again ; so on the last of March at 30 days distance 3 again , and so of all the rest interchangeably , except where an Embolismal Month is inserted , whereof immediatly in the account I am about to give of the reason of these things .

51. Which that I may doe with all imaginable perspicuity , let it be noted first , that the Sun finishing its course , i. e. returning to the same point in the Zodiac in 365 days , and 6 hours proxime ; and the Moone in 29 days and 12 hours proxime , the Moone must finish her course or pass through the Zodiac 12 several times in every common Iulian solar year ; 29 days and ½ , or 354 days , being so many times to be found in 365 days ; and 11 days over . Now because it was not easy to determine in the Calendar the half days of the Moons , there being as I said 29 days 1 from one New-Moone to another , it was thought convenient ( to ballance the matter ) to make the distances betwixt the New-Moons to be interchangeably 29 and 30 days , and to place the golden numbers accordingly , the Months having 30 days being termed Menses pleni , and those but 29 , Cavi ; the Pleni , or Lunar Months of an even number of days , being ordinarily found in the Solar months that have odd days ; and the Cavi or Lunar-months of odd days , in the Solar months of even days ; according to the old verse .

Impar Luna pari , par fiet in impare Mense .

January , March , May , July , September , and November , being the menses pleni ; February , April , June , August , October , and December , the Cavi ; upon account of which alternate reckoning of the Lunar months , it comes to pass that all the figures on the Clogg ( as I noted above ) doe for the most part interchangeably stand at the distance of 30 , and 29 days asunder .

52. It being thus fully agreed on , the Lunar months should consist of 29 and 30 days apiece , alternatim : that the times of the new-moones might be for ever stated , the Christians of Alexandria , as Dr Newton tells us , An. 323 , two years before the Council of Nice , observing that the new-moon next the Vernal Equinox was upon the 27th day of the Egyptian month Phamanoth , answering to the 23d of our March , placed against that day ( it being the first year of their observation of this Cycle ) the golden Number , 1 , and so again at 29 days distance , the same number , agaist the 26 day of Pharmuthi , answering to our 21 of April , that being the mensis cavus ; and at 30 days distance , the same again opposit to the 26 of the month Phacon , answering to our 21 of May ; and so onward through the whole year f f Newton's Cosmograph . Part. 2. Chap. 2. . Upon which ground by the like progression , are all the golden numbers set also in the margins of the Roman Calendars : the golden number 1. being placed , as I said , against March the 23d , April 21 , May 21 , June 19 , July 19 , Aug. 17 , Sept. 16 , Oct. 15 , Nov. 14 , Dec. 13 , as they are found upon the Clogg . But then because in the following year the golden number was to be 2 , reckoning 30 days from the 13 of Decemb. ( that being ordinarily mensis cavus , and Jan. plenus ) the golden number 2 was therefore set to Jan. 12 , Febr. 10 , March 12 , Apr. 10 , May 10 , June 8 , July 8 , Aug. 6 , Sept. 5. Octob. 4 , Nov. 3 , and Dec. 2. From whence reckoning 30 days as before , the golden number 3 comes in course in the third year to be placed against the first of January .

53. In which year the Fathers of the Nicene Council , being about to settle the time for the Christian observation of Easter , and that ( as the learned Dr Wallis notes ) as near as they could to the time of the Jewish Passover , which was always celebrated on the 14 day of the first month at Even , i. e. according to their computation ( who began their day at Sun set ) at the begining of the 15 day , the day of full moone g g Dr Wallis's Treatise concerning the Paschal Tables in the book of Common Prayer . MS. presented to the R. Society . : they were necessitated for this purpose to settle the golden number or cycle of the Moone , which having been rightly used two years before by the Christians of Alexandria , they thought not fit to alter it , but to goe on from the time of their first having used it , as the Church of England has ever since observed , whence it came to pass that the number 3 is placed against the 1 of Jan. and not the number 1 , which , had the Fathers pleased then to have begun the Cycle , might have as well been done : but not thinking fit ( as I said before ) so to doe , they continued the number 3 in the margins of their Calendars ( as we see it also in the Clogg ) against the 1 of Jan. which number by reckoning 30 and 29 days to each Lunation interchangeably , falls also upon Jan. 31 , Mar. 1 , and 31 , Apr. 29. May 29 , June 27 , July 27 , Aug. 25 , Sept. 24 , Oct. 23 , Nov. 22 , Dec. 21. Whence going on as before , and counting 4 for the golden number of the next year , it will be likewise found on Jan. 20 , Febr. 18 , Mar. 20 , Apr. 18 , May 18 , June 16 , July 16 , Aug. 14 , Sept. 13 , Octob. 12 , Nov. 11 , Dec. 10. And thus , had the Lunar and Solar years been equal , the Rule had held on through the whole Decennovennal Cycle , without exception .

54. But the Lunar falling short of the Solar year full 11 days , it must needs follow , that going on as above , and taking 5 for the golden number in the third year from the settlement by the Council of Nice , that the Moone must have fallen short thrice 11 , or 33 days , so that the Lunar months being run so far backwards as to be almost out of the Solar months , to which they were reputed to belong ; an Embolisme of 30 days or a full Month must needs be made somewhere this year , to bring matters in a tolerable posture again : and for this reason the number 5 is set before Jan. 9 , Febr. 7 , Mar. 9 , Apr. 7 , May 7 , June 5 , July 5 , Aug. 3 , Sept. 2 , and also before the 2 of Octob. and not the first , that so there may be two Lunations together of 30 days , the same number 5 being set notwithstanding to the 31 of the same Octob. to make the Lunation to consist again of 29 days , and to the 30 of Novemb. instead of the 29 , that so a Lunation of 30 may again succeed as it ought . In like manner in the 6 year ( the golden number being 8 ) having gone through the 4th and 5st as common years , the golden number is set opposit to the 5 of Apr. which should have been upon the 4 ; and in the 9th year , the golden number 11 is set to the 2 of Febr. which should have been upon the first ; and so as often as 30 days will arise out of the 11 supernumerary days in the whole Cycle of the 19 years .

55. Now because these 11 days doe in 19 years amount to 209 days , there must needs be 7 Embolismal months , which by a kind of injection or interposition must be somewhere reckon'd within the 19 years , whereof 6 may contain 30 days apiece ( as will be found upon the division ) and one 29 days ; the years in which they are intercalated being stiled Embolismal years , to distinguish them from the common years , which always contain 354 days , whereas 6 of these Embolismal years doe each of them take up 384 days ; and the 7th ( in which the 29 days are reckon'd ) 383 days . Which Embolismal years , had the Nicene Fathers began the Cycle at the time they settled it , and prefixt the golden number 1. to the first of Jan. had been properly these seven 3.6.9.11.14.17.19 h h Dr Newton's Cosmograph . Part. 2. Chap. 2. . But because they thought convenient ( as was shewn above ) to continue what was before begun by the Christians of Alexandria , and to commence their settlement on the 3d. year of the Moones cycle , therefore the Embolismal years in this Cycle are 5.8.11.13.16.19.2 . which according to Robert Grostest Bishop of Linc. Johannes de Sacro Bosco , and most of the ancient Computists ( as quoted by Dr Wallis i i Dr Wallis's treatise concerning the Paschal Tables in the Book of Common Prayer . M S. ) were expresly declared to be thus inserted .

Begining Ending Golden Numb . I. Sept. 2. Octob. 1. 5. II. Mar. 6. April . 4. 8. III. Jan. 3. Febr. 1. 11. IV. Nov. 2. Dec. 1. 13. V. Aug. 2. Aug. 31. 16. VI. Mar. 5. Apr. 3. 19. VII . Dec. 2. Dec. 31. 2.

Which yet in effect are the same ( as the Reverend Dr Newton makes it plainly appear k k Joh. Newton's Cosmog. Part. 2. chap. 2. ) as if they had been inserted according as they should , if the Nicene Fathers had begun the Moons Cycle in the year they settled it , and placed the golden number 1. before the first of January .

56. And this is all worthy notice relating to the distribution of the golden numbers , Embolismal months , &c. but that there is a peculiar reguard in ordering these matters to be had in placing the golden numbers from the 8 of March. to the 5 of Apr. within which compass none of the Lunations must exceed 29 days , because no Paschal Lunation may consist of more ; whence it is that from the 8 of March to the 6 of Apr. ( to both which days the golden number 16 is prefixt ) there are but 29 days ; and from the 9th . of March to the 7. of April . ( to both which days the golden number is 5 ) are also but 29 days ; and so of the rest , till you come to the fift of April , all the Paschal Lunations and golden numbers falling out , and being express't , between those two days . Nor must it be forgot that the 7th and last Embolismal month , which never can consist of above 29 days ( 19 times 11 being but 209 , whereas 210 are requisite for 7 times 30 ) is intercalated notwithstanding as a month of 30 , from Mar. the 5 to Apr. 4. where are two months together of 30 days , in the year when the golden number is 19 , as well as in any of the rest , which could not be unless the intercalation were there : in compensation whereof the Moone for July , which should have been of 30 days , they make this year but of 29 , counting from July 1. to July 30 ; the golden number 19 being put to July the 30 , which should have been set before the 31 : so that here are 3 months together of 29 days , the tricesima Luna , that should have been in July , being skipt over , which they call Saltus Lunae ; which t was absolutely necessary must be somewhere , by reason the intercalatory months were all of 30 days .

57. Thus having shewn the reason of the distribution of the golden number in general , it remains that I give a more particular account how it comes to pass , that the following golden number should be made by adding 8 to the preceding ; and the preceding by adding , 11 to the following : for the first whereof , I take the reason to be , that in 8 Solar years , allowing to each 365 days and 6 h. which are 2922 days , there happen to be 99 Lunations wanting one day , 12 h. 41′ . 15″ 9‴ ; upon which account after 8 years the Lunations doe not begin upon the same day they did 8 years before , but one day and ½ later , proxime ; wherefore after every golden number through the whole Calendar , another is written next it which exceeds it by eight , to shew that after 8 years the New Moons will not fall upon those days , upon which the antecedent golden numbers are written , but upon those to which the numbers are prefix't , that are made off them by eight . And because in twice 8 years , the twice 12 hours and odd minutes make another day and better , therefore the golden numbers are not always immediatly put after each other upon all days of the months , but every third day , for the most part , is left vacant for these twice 12 hours ; so that every two golden numbers have ordinarily 3 days allowed them , otherwise the Lunations in each 16 years time , would be always anticipated one day at lest .

58. And the reason why every preceding golden number is formed of the subsequent by adding 11 is , because in 11 Solar years , in which are 417 days , there are 136 Lunations and one day , 14 h. 8′ . 47″ . 4‴ . for that in 136 Lunations there are required only 4016 days 3 h. 51′ . 12″ . 56‴ . and therefore the New Moones after 11 years , fall not on the same days they did the said 11 years before , but one day and almost half another sooner : upon which account before every golden number , is set another golden number that exceeds it by 11 , to shew that after 11 years , the New Moons will not fall upon those days they did 11 years before , but sooner , viz. upon those to which the numbers are prefixt , that are made off them by the addition of 11. Whence Clavius concludes that Campanus and many others of the ancient Computists , did not rightly set two golden numbers before Decemb 2 l l Christoph . Claevii Calendar . Gregor. cap. 9. §. 8. for that after 11 years the New Moons that fell upon that day ( the golden numbers being 13 or 2 ) will necessarily happen one day and near ½ sooner , as was shewn above ; for evidence whereof , if these were rightly set , there must also be two other golden numbers put the day preceding , viz. 5 and 13. and so two more again for them , and so quite through the Calendar : so that every day that has any , must have two golden numbers as well as this , and two New Moones falling on it within the cycle ; whereas no other day but this even by these Computists is allowed above one , and these sufficient too , to take up all the New-Moons . Upon which account I rather close with Clavius , and place the number 13 upon the first of Decemb. and 2 alone upon the second , as I find them upon several of these Cloggs , tho' not in that represented above , 13 in that being put down to the second , and 2 to the third , in which point I therefore count it defective , nor can I see any inconvenience that will follow hence , but that the Embolismal month ( the golden number being 13 ) must then be reckon'd from Dec. 1. to the 31. as Clavius does m m Idem Calendar . Gregor cap. 17. , which perhaps may be none : but I forbear to lanch further into this controversy , having already I fear tired the Readers patience .

59. And proceed next to the Inscriptions , issuing from the notches , to the right hand of them , some peculiar notches having figures set against them on this hand too , but all of different kinds , and not repeated like the former : which though they are marks or symbols of the festival days , exprest after the Egyptian Hieroglyphical manner , non literis , aut syllabarum compositione as Diodorus tells us n n Diodori Siculi de Aegyptiacis Lib. 4. sed imaginum forma , not with Letters or Syllables , yet they are not set at random , but all carry with them a rational importance , some of them pointing out the offices or endowments of the Saints , before whose festivals they are put ; others the manner of their Martyrdoms ; and others only some eminent action or other matter some way relating to the Saint , or else the work , or Sport , in fashion about the time when the feast is kept . Thus from the Notch which represents the 13 of Jan. or the feast of St Hilary , there issues a Cross or badg of a Bishop such as St Hilary was ; from the first of March a harp , shewing the feast of St David , who used to praise God on that instrument ; against June the 29 the Keys for St Peter , reputed the Ianitor of heaven ; and a pair of shooes against the 25 of Octob. the feast of St Crispin the Patron of the Shoomakers . Of the second kind , are the Axe set against the 25 of January or feast of St Paul , who was beheaded with an Axe ; and a Sword against the 24 of June for St John Baptist's day , who perhaps was beheaded in the prison with such a weapon ; So a Gridiron upon the 10 of August or feast of St Laurence , who suffer'd martyrdom upon one ; and a wheel on the 25 , with a decussated cross on the last of Novemb. for St Catharine and St Andrew , who are said also to have suffered upon such instruments of death .

60. And of the last kind , are the marks against the first of January , somewhat resembling the cutting off of the prepuce , for the Circumcision ; the Starr on the 6 of the same Month to denote the Epiphany ; a true Lovers knot against the 14 of Febr. for Valentines day , importing the time of marryage or coupling of birds ; a bough against the 2 of March for St Ceadda , who lived a Hermits life in the woods near Lichfield ; also a bough on the first of May , such as they usually set up about that time with great solemnity ; and a rake on the 11 of June being St Barnabies day , importing that then it is hay-harvest . So a pot against the 23 of Novemb. for the feast of St Clement , from the ancient custom of going about that night , to begg drink to make merry with ; and for the Purification , Annuntiation , and all other feasts of our Lady , always the figure of a heart , which what it should import relating to Mary , unless because upon the Shepherds relation of their Vision , Mary is said to have kept all these things , and ponder'd them in her heart o o Luke 2. v. 19. , I cannot imagin ; lastly for Dec. 25. or Christmass day , a Horn ; the ancient vessel in which the Danes use to Wassayle , or drink healths ; signifying to us that this is the time we ought to rejoyce and make merry , cornua exhaurienda notans , as Wormius will have it p p Olai Wormii Fastor . Danicor . Lib. 1. cap. 18. . Many such Symbols there are too , for other festivals , which not being so constantly the same as these are , but varying almost upon every Clogg , I forbear any further exposition of them ; only adding that the marks for the greater feasts solemnly observed in the Church have a large point set in the middle of them , and another over against the preceding day , if vigills or fasts were observed before them .

61. Thus having done with the Inscriptions on both sides the notches , it remains only that I shew what were the uses of each : for the former whereof ( I mean the prime or golden number ) its only use anciently before the birth of Christ , was to shew the times the New-Moons would happen : but after his death it was applyed by the Church to an Ecclesiastical use , viz. to shew the true time of celebrating Easter , which it does to this day : that being to be esteemed the Paschal Moone , whose 14th day doth fall upon or after the Vernal Equinox , which in the days of the Nicene Fathers ( as they were informed by the Astronomers of those times ) was upon the 21 of March ; or which comes to the same purpose : that was to be reputed the Paschal Moone , whose Full fell not on , but next after the Vernal Equinox or 21 of March , on which day if Sunday , or else the next Sunday following , Easter was always to be observed . So that the years of the Moons Cycle being settled as above , no body had then , nor has now more to doe , to find the time of Easter , but to consult in their Calendars the golden number for the year within that compass , which shews the time of the Paschal New-Moone , and to count 14 from it ; or to find out the next Full-Moone after the Ecclesiastical Equinox ; upon which day if Sunday ( as I said before ) or the next Sunday after , Easter is to be kept . Whence it is that these numbers are sometimes call'd the Prime , because they doe indicare primas Lunas , and not only near Easter , but through the whole year ; which was esteemed by our ancestors a thing of so excellent use , that they scrupled not to set them in the margins of their Calendars in characters of gold , whence they are stiled to this day , also the golden number .

62. But you will obiect perhaps and say , that upon observing of the New Moones , you find them not now to fall on those days the Prime does direct , but ordinarily four , and sometimes five days before ; which is so great a truth , that in the Breviaries and Missals corrected by Pius quintus , the primes are removed 5 days upwards q q Christoph . Clavii Calendar . Gregorian . cap. 9. §. 12. and so we find them in the Scotch Common Prayer Book printed at Edinborough An. 1637 , which I suppose was done , that the primes might agree with the New-Moons , as they fell at those times , which by reason the Cycle of the Moone is 1 h. 27′ . 31″ . 55‴ . shorter then 19 Julian years , had then gone back since the Council of Nice , near 5 days , this 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 or anticipation , amounting to a day , in 312 years and ½ , as Clavius computes it r. Which remedy of Pius quintus , and the Church of Scotland , had been agreeable enough , had the use of the prime been only to find the Astronomical New Moones . But our Church of England having not yet though fit , to alter the observation of Easter from the time appointed by the Nicene Councel , the primes cannot be so alter'd without great confusion , as the learned Dr Wallis has shewed at large s s Ibidem . cap. 8. §. 4. , but must be still continued where they were then , and still remain on the Clogg : which now rather serve indeed , only for the ready finding of the Ecclesiastical New-Moones , than the Astronomical ; tho' they may be computed too , only by reckoning them to fall about 4 days before ; the Cycle of the Moone having so much anticipated the course of the Sun since the time of that Council . s s Dr. Wallis's Treatise concerning the Paschal Tables in the Books of Common Prayer M S. Which I take to be all the use that the primes are put to ; but that by the following numbers being made by adding 8 to the preceding , and the preceding by adding 11 to the following ; they also understand that every following prime will be in use 8 years after the preceding ; and every preceding 11 years after the following . And as for the Symbols on the right hand the notches , their only use is for finding the immoveable feasts ( as the primes were cheifly for the moveable ) as was hinted above .

63. Nor did the Danish goverment only bring in these Cloggs , but their manner of buryal , which was to erect over the graves of all persons of quality tall pyramidal stones , such as those in the Church yards of Leek , Draycot , and Chebsey , which I took indeed at first to be only the Epistylia of so many Crosses , till coming to Ilam and finding two in the same Church-yard , and three close together at Checkley , I then began to think they must have some other original , and that most probably they might be funeral monuments of the dead ; with which agrees the tradition of theirs at Checkley , the Inhabitants reporting them the memorials of 3 Bishops slain in a battle fought here about ¼ of a mile ENE from the Church , in a place still call'd Naked Fields , for that the bodies lay there naked and unburyed for some time after the fight : what they were funeral monuments , and of Danish original , I am fully confirmed , not only from the like still remaining in Denmark t t Olai Wormii Monument . Danicor . Lib. 5. & 6. inter Ripensia & Norvagica . but here in England too ; the Reverend and Learned William Nicolson Archdeacon of Carlisle , having lately given us an account of much such another as most of ours are , at Beaucastle in Cumberland , with Runic characters still remaining upon it , inclining in figure to a square pyramid or obelisk , with many pictures of Saints in Sacerdotal habits , and a great deal of Chequer-work engraven upon it , which he stiles a notable emblem of the tumuli of the Ancients u u Philosoph . Transact . Numb. 178. .

64. All which ( but the Runic characters ) are also found upon some of ours , as may plainly be seen upon those of Checkley , if the Reader please to look back to Tab. 33. where they are purposely represented for his satisfaction Fig. 9 , 10 , 11. which are the three stones mention'd by Mr Camden w w Camden in Stafford . , whereof the two that stand furthest from the Church , are finely carved into fret-work and imagery , but the next it , plaine ; the tallest ( now not above 6 foot ) is that in the middle , the biggest being that most remote from the Church , but they all seem to have been formerly higher ; I am sure the biggest has , for I could perceive the feet of an image on the top of it , whose head was higher on the stone when whole . That at Leek is much taller than these , and has also much fretwork and some imagery upon it , but I doe not remember any upon the rest . Which are all the Antiquities I found here remarkable that are certainly Danish , unless it be worthy notice , that it is very probable that Leofric Earl of Mercia , husband to the famous Godeva , who rodd through Coventry naked , and obtain'd thereby many large privileges of her husband for them , dyed at his village of Bromleyg x x Henr. de Knyghton Canon of Leycester . de Eventibas Angl. Lib. 1. cap. 12. , or Bromleage as Dunelmensis calls it y y Simeon . Dunelmensis Hist. de gestis Regum Angl. in An. 1057. , in this County , though buryed at Coventry .

65. Yet there are many old Customs in use within memory , of whose originals I could find no tolerable account , that possibly might commence as high as these times ; such as the service due from the Lord of Essington in this County to the Lord of Hilton , about a mile distant , viz. that the Lord of the Manor of Essington ( now one St Johns Esq late Sr Gilbert Wakering ) shall bring a goose every New-years day , and drive it round the fire in the Hall at Hilton , at lest 3 times ( which he is bound to doe as mean Lord ) whil'st Jack of Hilton is blowing the fire . Now Jack of Hilton , is a little hollow Image of brass of about 12 Inches high , kneeling upon his left knee , and holding his right hand upon his head , and his left upon Pego or his veretrum erected , as in Tab. 33. Fig. 12. above mention'd ; having a little hole in the place of the mouth , about the bigness of a great pins head , and another in the back about ⅔ of an inch diameter , at which last hole it is fill'd with water , it holding about 4 pints and ¼ , which , when set to a strong fire , evaporates after the same manner as in an Aeolipile , and vents it self at the smaller hole at the mouth in a constant blast , blowing the fire so strongly that it is very audible , and makes a sensible impression in that part of the fire where the blast lights , as I found by experience May the 26. 1680. After the Lord of Essington , or his Deputy or Bayliff , has driven the goofe round the fire ( at lest 3 times ) whilst this Image blows it , he carrys it into the Kitchin of Hilton-Hall , and delivers it to the Cook , who having dressed it , the Lord of Essington or his Bayliff , by way of further service , brings it to the Table of the Lord paramount of Hilton and Essington , and receives a dish of meat , from the said Lord of Hiltons table , for his own Mess . Which service was performed about 50 years since , by James Wilkinson then Bayliff of Sr Gilbert Wakering , the Lady Townsend being Lady of the Manor of Hilton , Tho. a Stokes and John. a Stokes brothers , both living An. 1680. then being present .

66. At Abbots , or now rather Pagets Bromley , they had also within memory , a sort of sport , which they celebrated at Christmas ( on New-year , and Twelft-day ) call'd the Hobby-horse dance , from a person that carryed the image of a horse between his leggs , made of thin boards , and in his hand a bow and arrow , which passing through a hole in the bow , and stopping upon a sholder it had in it , he made a snapping noise as he drew it to and fro , keeping time with the Musick : with this Man danced 6 others , carrying on their shoulders as many Rain deers heads , 3 of them painted white , and 3 red , with the Armes of the cheif families ( viz. of Paget , Bagot , and Wells ) to whom the revenews of the Town cheifly belonged , depicted on the palms of them , with which they danced the Hays , and other Country dances . To this Hobby-horse dance there also belong'd a pot , which was kept by turnes , by 4 or 5 of the cheif of the Town , whom they call'd Reeves , who provided Cakes and Ale to put in this pot ; all people who had any kindness for the good intent of the Institution of the sport , giving pence a piece for themselves and families ; and so forraigners too , that came to see it : with which Mony ( the charge of the Cakes and Ale being defrayed ) they not only repaired their Church but kept their poore too : which charges are not now perhaps so cheerfully boarn .

67. It seems too , to be pretty certain that the Town or Castle of Chesterton under Lyme , as Mr Camden calls it , given by King John to the last Randall E. of Chester , must be a place of note before the Conquest , it goeing to decay as long agoe as the Reigne of King Hen. 3. when the Earle of Lancaster built another near by , in the midst of a great poole , which he calld the New-Castle , that gave original ( no doubt ) to the Towne of that Name close by it : whereof yet there is now almost as little remaining as of the Walls of Chesterton , which were so firmly built , that as Mr Camden z z Camdens Britannia in Staffordsh . , and Mr Erdeswick both owne , there remain'd so much of the rubbish of them in their days , that it might be perceived thereby , that they were of a marvellous thickness a a Mr Sampson Erdeswick's view of Staffordshire , in Chesterton . : but all was gone before I came there , nothing now being to be seen but some faint footsteps of them , in the place where the mark is set in the Map. Nor is there much more of the New-Castle in the poole , tho' the Town near by be grown considerably large , being govern'd by a Mayor and sending Burgesses to Parliament , and flourishing reasonably well to this very day ; yet had certainly its original from this decayed Castle , there being no account of any such Town , as Mr Erdeswick acquaints us , in Doomsday book b b Ibidem in Newcastle . , or any other writings relating to this County , before the building of that new-Castle .

68. Quickly after the Conquest , Henry de Ferrars a noble man of Normandy ( as Mr Camden stiles him c c Camden's Britannia in Staffordsh . ) who came in with Duke William , and had large possessions allotted him in this County , built Tutbury Castle , upon that hill of Alabaster where it now stands , which continued in his family till Robert de Ferrars Earl of Darby ( after pardon obtain'd for a former rebellion ) revolted a second time and joyned with Simon Montford against King Henry the third , by whom being taken prisoner he was fined for his offence 50000 l Sterling ( a vast Summ in those days ) to be paid simul & semel in uno die , sc. in quindena Joh. Bap. which fine the King gave to his son Edmund Earl of Lancaster ; Earle Robert obliging himself upon non paiment , to forfeit all his lands except Chartley in Staffordshire , and Holbroc in Darbyshire , to the said Edmund d d Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Tutbury . : which ( because such a Summ could then by no means be raised ) was accordingly done ; and so Tutbury came to the family of Lancaster , and at length to be the head seat of the Dutchy , in which it flourish't till the rebellion of Thomas Earle of Lancaster , An. 1322. temp. Edw. 2. who fortifyed it against the King , but could not hold it ; when , as Mr Erdeswick thinks , this first Castle was brought to decay , and not reedifyed till it came into the possession of John of Gaunt , who built the present Castle , walling it on all sides but one , where the hill is so steep that it needed no such fence e e Ibidem . : from whose time it continued in some tolerable condition till the late civil warr , temp. Car. 1. when it was taken and for the most part demolish't by the Rebells , as may be seen by the ruins Tab. 36. it remaining much in the same condition they left it , to this very day .

69. During the time of which ancient Earls and Dukes of Lancaster , who were ever of the blood Royal , great men in their times , had their abode , and kept a liberal hospitality here , at their Honor of Tutbury , there could not but be a general concourse of people from all parts hither ; for whose diversion all sorts of Musicians were permitted likewise to come , to pay their services : amongst whom ( being numerous ) some quarrels and disorders now and then arising , it was found necessary after a while they should be brought under rules , divers Laws being made for the better regulating of them , and a Governour appointed them by the name of a King , who had several Officers under him to see to the execution of those Laws , full power being granted them to apprehend and arrest any such Minstrells appertaining to the said Honor , as should refuse to doe their services in due manner , and to constrain them to doe them : as appears by the Charter granted to the said King of the Minstrells , by John of Gaunt King of Castile and Leon , and Duke of Lancaster , bearing date the 22 of August in the 4 year of the raigne of King Richard the second , entituled , Carta le Roy de Ministralx , which being written in old French f f D. Gulielmi Dugdale Monast. Angl. vol. 2. p. 355. , I have here translated , and annext it to this discourse , for the more universal notoriety of the things , and for satisfaction how the power of the King of the Minstrells and his Officers is founded : which take as follows .

JOHN By the Grace of God King of Castile and Leon , Duke of Lancaster , to all them who shall see or hear these our Letters greeting . Know ye we have ordained constituted and assigned to our well beloved the King of the Minstrells in our Honor of Tutbury , who is , or for the time shall be , to apprehend and arrest all the Minstrells in our said Honor and Franchise , that refuse to doe the Services and Minstrelsy as appertain to them to doe from ancient times at Tutbury aforesaid , yearly on the days of the Assumption of our Lady : giving and granting to the said King of the Minstrells for the time being , full power and commandement to make them reasonably to justify , and to constrain them to doe their Services , and Minstrelsies , in manner as belongeth to them , and as it hath been there , and of ancient times accustomed . In witness of which thing , we have caused these our Letters to be made Patents . Given under our privy Seal at our Castle of Turbury the 22 day of Aug. in the 4th . year of the raigne of the most sweet King Richard the second .

70. Upon this , in process of time the defaulters being many , and the amercements by the Officers perhaps not sometimes over reasonable ; concerning which , and other matters , controversies frequently arising : it was at last found necessary , that a Court should be erected to hear plaints , and determine Controversies , between party and party , before the Steward of the Honor , which is held there to this day on the morrow after the Assumption being the 16th . of Aug. on which day they now also doe all the services mentioned in the above said grant ; and have the Bull due to them , anciently from the Prior of Tutbury , now from the Earle of Devon ; whereas they had it formerly on the assumption of our Lady , as appears by an Inspeximus of King Henry the sixt , relating to the Customs of Tutbury , where amongst others , this of the Bull is mention'd in these words . Item est ibidem quaedam consuetudo quod Histriones venientes ad matutinas in festo assumptionis beatae Mariae , habebunt unum Taurum de Priore de Tuttebury , si ipsum capere possunt citra aquam Dove propinquiorem Tuttebury ; vel Prior dabit eis xld. pro qua quidem consuetudine dabuntur domino ad dictum festum annuatim xxd. i. e. that there is a certain custom belonging to the Honor of Tutbury , that the Minstrells who come to Matins there on the feast of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin , shall have a Bull given them by the Prior of Tutbury , if they can take him on this side the River Dove which is next Tutbury ; or else the Prior shall give them xld. for the enjoyment of which custom they shall give to the Lord at the said feast , yearly xxd d g g Ibidem . .

71. Thus I say ▪ the services of the Minstrells were performed , and Bull enjoyed , anciently on the feast of the Assumption ; but now they are done , and had , in the manner following , on the Court day or morrow of the assumption being the 16 of August , what time all the Minstrels within the Honor come first to the Bayliffs house of the Manor of Tutbury ( who is now the Earl of Devonshire ) where the Steward for the Court to be holden for the King , as Duke of Lancastar ( who is now the Duke of Ormond ) or his deputy meeting them , they all goe from thence to the parish Church of Tutbury , two and two together , Musick playing before them , the King of the Minstrells for the year past walking between the Steward and Bayliff , or their deputies ; the four Stewards or under Officers of the said King of the Minstrells , each with a white wand in their hands , immediately following them ; and then the rest of the company in order . Being come to the Church , the Vicar reads them divine service , chusing Psalms and Lessons suitable to the occasion : the Psalmes when I was there An. 1680. being the 98.149.150 ; the first Lesson 2. Chron. 5. and the second , the 5. chap. of the Epistle to the Ephesians , to the 22 verse . For which service every Minstrel offered one penny , as a due always a paid to the Vicar of the Church of Tutbury , upon this Solemnity .

72. Service being ended , they proceed in like manner as before , from the Church to the Castle-hall or Court , where the Steward or his deputy taketh his place , assisted by the Bayliff or his deputy , the King of the Minstrells sitting between them ; who is to oversee that every Minstrell dwelling within the Honor and making default , shall be presented and amerced : which that he may the better doe , an O yes is then made by one of the Officers being a Minstrel , 3 times , giving notice by direction from the Steward to all manner of Minstrells dwelling within the Honor of Tutbury , viz. within the Counties of Stafford , Darby , Nottingham , Leicester and Warwick , owing suit and service to his Majesties Court of Musick here holden as this day , that every man draw near and give his attendance upon pain and peril that may otherwise ensue , and that if any man will be assigned of suit or plea , he or they should come in , and they should be heard . Then all the Musicians being call'd over by a Court-roll , two Juries are impannell'd , out of 24 of the sufficientest of them , 12 for Staffordshire , and 12 for the other Counties ; whose names being deliver'd in Court to the Steward and call'd over , and appearing to be full Juries , the Foreman of each is first sworn , and then the residue , as is usual in other Courts , upon the holy Evangelists .

73. Then to move them the better to mind their duties to the King , and their own good ; the Steward proceeds to give them their charge : first commending to their consideration the original of all Musick , both Wind and string Musick , the antiquity and excellency of both , setting forth the force of it upon the affections , by divers examples ; how the use of it has always been allowed ( as is plain from holy writ ) in praysing and glorifying God ; and the skill in it always esteemed so considerable , that it is still accounted in the Schooles one of the liberal Arts , and allowed in all Godly Christian Common-wealths ; where by the way he commonly takes notice of the Statute , which reckons some Musicians amongst Vagabonds and Rogues h h Joseph Kebles Statutes at large . 39. of Eliz. chap. 4. §. 2. , giving them to understand that such Societies as theirs , thus legally founded and govern'd by laws , are by no means intended by that Statute , for which reason the Minstrells belonging to the Manor of Dutton in the County Palatine of Chester are expressly excepted in that Act i i Ibidem . §. 10. . Exhorting them upon this account ( to preserve their reputation ) to be very carefull to make choise of such men to be Officers amongst them , as fear God , are of good life and conversation , and have knowledg and skill in the practise of their Art. Which charge being ended , the Jurors proceed to the Election of the said Officers , the King being to be chosen out of the 4 Stewards of the preceding year , and one year out of Staffordshire , and the other out of Darbyshire interchangeably : and the 4 Stewards two of them out of Staffordshire , and two out of Darbyshire ; 3 being chosen by the Jurors , and the 4th by him that keeps the Court , and the deputy Steward or Clerk

74. The Jurors departing the Court for this purpose , leave the Steward with his assistants still in their places , who in the mean time make themselves merry with a banquet , and a noise of Musicians playing to them , the old King still sitting between the Steward and Bayliff as before : but returning again after a competent time , they present first their cheifest Officer by the name of their King ; then the old King arising from his place , delivereth him a little white wand in token of his Soveraignty , and then taking a cup fill'd with Wine drinketh to him , wishing him all joy and prosperity in his Office. In the like manner doe the old Stewards to the new , and then the old King riseth , and the new taketh his place , and so doe the new Stewards of the old , who have full power and authority by virtue of the Kings Stewards warrant , directed from the said Court , to levy and distrain in any City , Town Corporate , or in any place within the Kings dominions , all such fines and amercements as are inflicted by the said Juries that day upon any Minstrells , for his or their offences , committed in the breach of any of their ancient orders , made for the good rule and goverment of the said Society . For which said fines and amercements so distrained , or otherwise peaceably collected , the said Stewards are accountable at every Audit : one moyety of them going to the Kings Majesty , and the other the said Stewards have , for their own use .

75. The Election , &c. being thus concluded , the Court riseth , and all persons then repair to another fair room within the Castle , where a plentifull dinner is prepared for them , which being ended ; the Minstrells went anciently to the Abbey gate , now to a little barn by the Town side , in expectance of the Bull to be turned forth to them , which was formerly done ( according to the Custom above mention'd ) by the Prior of Tutbury , now by the Earle of Devonshire : which Bull , as soon as his horns are cut off , his Ears cropt , his taile cut by the stumple , all his body smeared over with Soap , and his nose blown full of beaten pepper ; in short , being made as mad as 't is possible for him to be ; after Solemn Proclamation made by the Steward , that all manner of persons give way to the Bull , none being to come near him by 40 foot , any way to hinder the Minstrells , but to attend his or their own safeties , every one at his perill : He is then forthwith turned out to them ( anciently by the Prior ) now by the Lord Devonshire or his deputy , to be taken by them and none other , within the County of Stafford between the time of his being turned out to them , and the setting of the Sun the same day : which if they cannot doe , but the Bull escapes from them untaken , and gets over the River into Darbyshire , he remains still my Lord Devonshires bull : but if the said Minstrells can take him , and hold him so long , as to cutt off but some small matter of his hair , and bring the same to the Mercat cross in token they have taken him , the said bull is then brought to the Bayliffs house in Tutbury , and there coller'd and roap't , and so brought to the Bull-ring in the high-street , and there baited with doggs : the first course being allotted for the King ; the second for the Honor of the Towne ; and the third for the King of the Minstrells . Which after it is done , the said Minstrells are to have him for their owne , and may sell , or kill and divide him amongst them , according as they shall think good .

76. And thus this Rustick-sport which they call the Bull-running , should be annually performed by the Minstrells only , but now a days they are assisted by the promiscuous multitude , that flock hither in great numbers , and are much pleased with it , tho' sometimes through the emulation in point of manhood , that has been long cherish't between the Staffordshire and Darbyshire men , perhaps as much mischeif may have been done in the triall between them , as in the Jeu de Taureau or Bull-fighting practised at Valentia , Madrid , and many other places in Spain k k Fran. Willughby's voyage through Spain . p. 499. , whence perhaps this our Custom of Bull-running might be derived , and set up here by John of Gaunt who was King of Castile and Leon , and Lord of the Honor of Tuthury ; for why might not we receive this sport from the Spanyards , as well as they from the Romans , and the Romans from the Greeks ? wherein I am the more confirm'd , for that the 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 amongst the Thessalians , who first instituted this game , and of whom Julius Caesar learned it , and brought it to Rome , were celebrated much about the same time of the year , our Bull-running is , viz. pridie Idus Augusti on the 12 of August l l Humph. Prideaux in notis ad Marmor 〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉〈◊〉 . inter Marmora Oxoniens . ; which perhaps John of Gaunt in honor of the Assumption of our Lady being but 3 days after , might remove to the 15 ; as after ages did ( that all the Solemnity , and Court might be kept on the same day , to avoid further trouble ) to the 16 of August .

77. Nor is this the only remarkable Custom that anciently belong'd to this Honor of Tutbury , for I find that Sr Philip de Somervile 10 of Edw. 3. held the Manors of Whichnovre , Scirescot , Ridware , Netherton , and Cowlee , all in Com. Stafford of the Earles of Lancaster Lords of the Honor of Tutbury , by these memorable Services , viz. By two small fees † † E. Rot. Membr . penes Joh. Turton de Alrewas in Com. Staff. ; That is to say , when other Tenants pay for Reliefe one whole Knight's fee , One hundred Shillings , he the said Sir Philip shall pay but Fifty shillings : and when Escuage is assessed throghe owtt the land ; or to Ayde for to make th' eldest sonne of the Lord , Knyght ; or for to marry the eldest daughter of the Lord , the said Sir Philip shall pay bott the motye of it that other shall paye . Nevertheless , the said Sir Philip shall fynde , meyntienge , and susteingne one Bacon flyke , hanging in his Hall at Whichenovre , redy arrayede all times of the yere , bott in Lent ; to be given to everyche mane , or woman married , after the day and the yere of their mariage be passed : and to be gyven to everyche mane of Religion , Archbishop , Bishop , Prior , or other Religious : and to everyche Preest , after the year and day of their profession finished , or of their dignity reseyved , in forme followyng ; whensoever that ony suche byforenamed , wylle come for to enquire for the Baconne , in there own persone ; or by any other for them , they shall come to the Baillyfe , or to the Porter of the Lordship of Whichnovre , and shall say to them , in the manere as ensewethe ; Bayliffe , or Porter , I doo you to knowe ; that I am come for my self [ or , if he be come for any other , shewing . for whome ] to demaunde one Bacon flyke , hanging in the Halle , of the Lord of Whichenovre , after the forme thereunto belongyng .

After which relacioun , the Baillyffe or Porter shall assign a day to him , upon promyse , by his feythe to retourne ; and with him to bryng tweyne of his neighbours . And , in the meyn tyme , the said Bailliffe shall take with him tweyne of the Freeholders of the Lordship of Whichenovre ; and they three , shall go to the Manoir of Rudlowe , belongynge to Robert Knyghtleye , and there shall somon the forseid Knyghteley or his Baillyffe ; commanding him , to be redy at Whichenovre , the day appoynted , at pryme of the day , withe his Caryage ; that is to say , a Horse and a Sadylle , a Sakke , and a Pryke , for to convey and carye the said Baconne , and Corne , a journey owtt of the Countee of Stafford , at hys costages . And then the sayd Baillyffe , shall , with the sayd Freeholders , somone all the Tenaunts of the said Manoir , to be ready at the day appoynted , at Whichnovre , for to doo and perform the services which they owe to the Baconne . And , at the day assign'd , all such as owe services to the Baconne , shall be ready at the Gatte of the Manoir off Whichnovre , frome the Sonne-rysing to None , attendyng and awatyng for the comyng of hym , that fetcheth the Baconne . And , when he is comyn , there shall be delivered to hym and hys felowys , Chapeletts ; and to all those whiche shall be there : to do their services deue to the Baconne : And they shall lede the seid Demandant wythe Trompes and Tabours , and other maner of Mynstralseye , to the Halle-dore , where he shall fynde the Lord of Whichenovre , or his Steward , redy to deliver the Baconne , in this manere .

78. He shall enquere of hym , whiche demandeth the Baconne , yf he have brought tweyn of hys Neghbors with hym . Whiche must answere ; They be here ready . And then the Steward shall cause thies two Neighbours to swere , yf the seyd Demandaunt be a weddyt man ; or have be a man weddyt : and , yf sythe his Marriage , one yere and a day be passed : And yf he be a freeman , or a villeyn . And yf hys seid neghbours make Othe , that he hath for hym all thies three poynts rehersed ; then shall the Baconne be take downe , and broghte to the Hall-dore ; and shall there be layd upon one halfe a Quarter of Wheatte ; & upon one other of Rye . And he that demandeth the Baconne shall kneel upon his knee ; and shall hold his right hand upon a booke ; which booke shall be layde above the Baconne , and the Corne ; and shall make Othe , in this manere .

Here ye , Sir Philippe de Somervile , Lord of Whichenovre , mayntener and gyver of this Baconne ; That I A. sithe I Wedded B. my wife , and sythe I hadd hyr in my kepyng , and at my wylle by a yere and a day , after our Mariage ; I wold not have chaunged for none other ; farer , ne fowler ; rycher ne pourer ; ne for none other descended of greater lynage ; slepying , ne waking , at noo tyme. And yf the feyd B. were sole , and I sole , I would take her to be my Wyfe , before alle the wymen of the worlde ; of what condiciones soever they be ; good or evylle , as helpe me God ond hys Seyntys ; and this fleshe , and all fleshes .

And hys neighbors shall make Othe , that they trust veraly he hath said truly . And , yff it be founde by his neighbours , before-named , that he be a Free-man ; there shall be delyvered to him half a Quarter of Wheate , and a Cheese . And , yf he be a villeyn , he shall have half a Quarter of Rye , wythoute Cheese . And then shall Knyghtleye , the Lord of Rudlowe Rudlow seems to be that at Taten-hill Wood-Lane near the house of Joseph Sutton as Tenant . A● . 1680. , be called for , to carrye all thies thynges , to fore rehersed : And the said Corne shall be layd upon one horse , and the Baconne above ytt : and he to whom the Baconne apperteigneth , shall ascend upon his Horse ; and shall take the Cheese before hym , yf he have a Horse : And , yf he have none , the Lord of Whichenovre shall cause him have one Horse and Sadyll , to such time as he be passed hys Lordshippe : and so shalle they departe the Manoir of Whichenovre , with the Corne and the Baconne , tofore hym that hath wonne itt , with Trompets , Tabouretts , and other manoir of Mynstralce . And , all the Free-Tenants of Whichenovre shall conduct hym , to be passed the Lordship of Whichenovre . And then shall all they retorne ; except hym , to whom apperteigneth to make the carryage and journey , wythowtt the Countye of Stafford , at the Costys of hys Lord of Whichenover . And , yff the sayd Robert Knightley , do not cause the Baconn and Corne , to be conveyed , as is rehersed ; the Lord of Whichenovre shall do it be carryed , and shall dystreigne the seyd Robert Knyghtley for his defaulte , for one hundred shyllings , in his Manoir of Rudlowe ; and shalle kepe the distres , so takyn , irreplevisable .

79. Moreover , the said Sir Philippe holdeth of his Lorde , th' Erle , the Manoir of Briddeshalle , by thies services ; that , art such tyme , that hys sayd Lorde holdeth hys Chrystemes at Tutbury , the seyd Sir Phelippe shall come to Tutbury , upon Chrystemasse Evyn ; and shall be lodged yn the Town of Tutbury , by the Marshall of the Erlys house : and upon Chrystymesse-day , he himself , or some othyr Knyght ( his Deputye ) shall go to the Dressour ; and shall sewe to his Lordys meese : and then shall he kerve the same mett to hys sayd Lord : And thys service shall he doo aswell at Souper , as at Dynner : and when hys Lord hath etyn ; the said Sir Philippe shall fit downe , in the same place , wheir hys Lord satt : and shalle be served att hys Table , by the Steward of th' Erlys house . And , upon Seynt , Stevyn-day , when he haith dyned , he shall take leve of hys Lorde , and shall kysse hym : and , for hys service he shall nothing take , ne nothing shall gyve . And all thyes services , tofore-rehersed , the seyd Sir Philippe hath doo , by the space of xlviii . yeres ; and hys ancestors byfore hym , to hys Lordys , Erlys of Lancastre . Item , the said Sir Philippe holdeth of his seid Lord , th' Erle , his Manoirs of Tatenhull and Drycotte , en percenerye , by thies services ; that the seid Sir Phelippe , or his Atturney for hym , shall come to the Castell of Tutburye , upon Seynt Petyr day , in August , which is called Lammesse ; and shall shew the Steward , or Receiver , that he is come thither to hunt , and catch his Lord's Greese , at the costages of hys Lorde . Whereupon the Steward or the Receiver shall cause a Horse and Sadylle to be deliveryd to the sayd Sir Phelippe , the price Fifty shillings ; or Fifty shillings in money , and one Hound ; and shall pay to the said Sir Phelippe , everyche day , fro the said day of Seynt Peter , to Holy Roode-day , for hymself Two shillings six pence a day ; and everyche day for his servant , and his Bercelett , during the sayd time twelve pence . And all the Wood-masters of the Forest of Nedewode and Duffelde , withe alle the Parkers and Foresters , shall be commandyd to awatte , and attend upon the sayd Sir Phelippe , while they re Lord's Greese be takyn , in all places of the seyde Forestys , as upon their Master , during the said tyme. And the said Sir Phelippe , or his Attorny , shall deliver to the said Parkers , or Foresters , that shall belonge to their Lordys Lardere ; commandyng them to convey itt to the Erlys Lardyner , abyding at Tutbury : and with the remenant , the seyd Sir Phelippe shall do hys plesoure . And , upon Holy-Rood-day the sayd Sir Phelippe shall returne to the Castell of Tutbury , upon the said Horse , with his Bercelet ; and shall dyne with the Steward or Receyver : and after Dynner he shall delyver the Horse , Sadylle , and Bercelett to the Steward or Receyvour ; and shall kysse the Porter and depart m m Sr. Will , Dugdales Baronage of England , Tom. 2. p. 106 , 107 , 108. .

80. There was much such another Custom as that of the Bacon , also instituted at the Priory of Dunmow in Essex , by Robert Fitzwalter a potent Baron of the Realm Temp. Hen. 3. the Summe whereof was contain'd in this old distic . viz ,

That He that repents him not of his Mariage in a year and a day either sleeping or wakeing ,

May lawfully goe to Dunmow and fetch a gammon of Bacon n n History of Robert Fitzwalter . Lond. 1616. .

or else a flych , as appears by the Register of the said Abbey some enjoyed ; but neither , unless they would swear kneeling upon two hard pointed stones set in the Priory Church-yard for that purpose , before the Prior and Covent , and the whole Towne , in this forme

You shall swear by Custom of Confession , If ever you made nuptial transgression : Be you either married man or wife , By houshold brawles or contentious strife , Or otherwise in bed , or at boord , Offend each other in deed , or word ; Or since the parish Clerk said Amen , You wish't your selves unmarried agen : Or in a twelve moneths time and a day Repented not in thought any way : But continued true and just in desire As when you joyned hands in the holy quire . If to these conditions without all feare , Of your own accord you will freely sweare , A whole Gammon of Bacon you shall receive , And bear it hence with love and good leave . For this is our Custome at Dunmow well known , Though the pleasure be ours , the Bacon's your own o o Ibidem in fine .

81. The next considerable antiquity after the Castle of Tutbury , that I met with in this County , whereof there are yet some footsteps remaining , is Heyley Castle , built upon a lofty rock with the very stone that was dugg forth the ditches , which was given to Henry de Aldithleg , as Mr Camden says , by Harvey Lord Stafford , temp. Regis Johan . when the whole Country seem'd in a manner to conspire to make a great man , as may be seen by the Copy of confirmation made by Hen. 3. of all the Lands contributed by divers great men for the advancement of this family . Which Henry indeed seems to have built this Castle : but upon perusal of the Record , I find they were the heirs of one William de Bettelegh or Betley , qui dederunt totam terram de Heylea cum pertenentiis , i. e. that gave the whole land of Heyley to this Henry ; and that Harvey Lord Stafford gave only the land quae jacet sub Castro de Heleghe , that lay somewhere near under the Castle ; as Nicholas , and not ( as he says ) Theobald Verdun gave Aldithelege it self * * Samps . Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Audley . , where also there seem to be the footsteps of a Castle . built by some of this family , or of the Verduns before them . About this time the advowson of the Church of Penckridg in this County , anciently Pencriz , setled before by King Stephen upon the Church of Lichfield p p D. Guliel . Dugdale Monast. Augl . vol. 3. p. 235. , being endowed with lands , and made Collegiat , by one Hugo Huose , was given by King John in the last of his reigne , to the Arch-Bishops of Dublin , in whose Diocess it remains to this very day ; which being a thing somewhat strange , and known but to few how it came to pass , for their better satisfaction I have here annext a Copy of King Johns Charter taken out of the black book of the said Arch-Bishops Registery at Dublin , and sent me by the Reverend and learned Mr William King Chancellor of St Patricks , which take as follows .

JOHANNES Dei gratia Rex Angl. Dominus Hibernie Dux Normanie & Aquitan . & Com. Andeg. Archiepiscopis , Episcopis , Abbatibus , Comitibus , Baron . Justic . Vicecom. Preposit . & omnibus Ballivis & fidelibus suis salutem . Sciatis nos concessisse & hac presenti carta confirmasse venerabili Patri nostro Henrico Dublin . Archiepiscopo & successoribus suis , terr. & tenement . subscript . que habet ex dono Hugon . Huose ; scil. Manerium de Penkeriz cum villa de Cungrave , & villa de Culega , & villa de Wuolgareston , & villa de Beffecot , & cum terra de Duun cum feria ejusdem ville de Penkeriz , & cum omnibus ad predic . terr. & tenement . pertinen . sicut carta ipsius Hugonis Huose ( quam inde habet ) rationabiliter testatur . Preterea concessimus de dono nostro , intuitu Dei , & prosalute animae nostrae , & antecessorum , & successorum nostrorum regum Angl. dict. Archepiscopo Dublin . & successoribus suis advocationem Ecclesiae de Pencriz cum pertinen . in perpetuum . Ita quod cum dicta Ecclesia vacare contigerit , dictus Archepiscopus & successores sui eam cum pertinen . pro voluntate sua possint ordinare . Quare volumus & firmiter precipimus quod predic . Henric. Dublin . Archiepiscopus , & successores sui habeant & teneant predic . terr. & tenement , & advocationem dicte Ecclesiae cum omnibus pertinentiis suis bene & in pace , libere & quiete , integre & plenarie cum omnibus libertatibus & liberis consuetudinibus , ad predic . terr. & tenement . & predic . advocationem pertinen . sicut predictum est . Testibus , Dominis P. Wynton . W. Coventry , Epis. Magistr . Pando. Norwic. Electo ; & Abbate Cirencest . Huberto de Burgo Justic . nostro Angl ; Wide Cireton ; Ric. de Burgo ; Johanne Russelle . Dat. per man. Magistri Richardi de Marisco Cancellar. nostr. apud Dowvre , tertio decimo die Septembris , Anno regni nostri septimo decimo q q E Libro nigro in Registrar . Reverendis . in Christo Patris D. Franc. Archiep. Dublin . part 1. fol. 116. .

82. In short , the History of this Church stands thus , as well as I can discover it from the Records of Lichfield and Dublin , viz. it was first given , as I said above , to the Church of Lichfield , by King Stephen ; not long after being endowed with the lands mention'd in King Johns Charter , it was made Collegiat , having 4 Chappells , one whereof was strangely lost ( viz. Capella de Canoto , sive Cannock ) tempore Episcopi Hugonis de Novant in the reigne of Hen. 2 r r Ibidem . part. 1. fol. 114. . and not recoverd till the 2 of Edw. 1 s s Ibid. part. 1. fol. 31. latere . 2. . In the mean time being a free Chappel of the Kings , the advowson of it was settled by King John upon the Arch-Bishops of Dublin , and confirm'd to them by Pope Alexander the 4. temp. Edw. 1. the Arch-Bishops of Dublin collating the Prebends as often as they fell , and holding the Deanry themselves , upon account there was then no revenew annext to the Deanry , for the support of any other , they should give it to ; in which posture it stood for 30 years : wherefore the said Pope Alexander upon the petition of the Arch-Bishop then being , by his Bull bearing date at Anagni ( the place of his birth ) Nov. 11. Pontif. sui An. 5. annext this Deanry to the Arch-Bishoprick for ever t t Ibidem . part. 2. fol. 10. . Yet I find afterwards by a taxation of the Prebendaries , and other Officers belonging to this Church , that the Dean did enjoy the benefit of a Prebend : which Taxation , that the number and places of the Prebends , and the names of the persons , that then held them , might be known , I have here annexed .

TaxatioPraebendarum&OfficiorumapudPyncricheexempt. Ib. s. d. Ib. s. d. Imprimis Prebenda Decani 1. 6. 8. 2. 0. 0. Item Prebenda de Copnall — Trygram 7. 0. 0. 10. 13. 4 Item Prebenda de Sharisull-Fr . Symmons 5. 0. 0. 6. 0. 0. Item Prebenda de Sutton-Richards 4. 0. 0. 6. 13. 4. Item Prebenda de Dunstone-Tatton 5. Marks 6. 6. 8. Item Prebenda de Penkrich-Elice 2. 0. 0. 4. 0. 0. Item Prebenda de Congreife-Willowe 5. Nobles 2. 6. 8. Item Prebenda de Longegrigge-Gardon 0. 8. 0. 0. 16. 0. Item Canonicus residentiar . absque Prebenda - Webb 2. 13 4. Item alter Canonicus silicet residentiarius sine Prebenda Gytton . 2. 13. 4 Item Officium Sacriste , Canonicus perpetuum est & Vicarius Decani in mortuariis & aliis casualibus 3. 6. 8. Item Officialis Jurisdictionis peculiaris , & ad visitandum Comissarius specialis prout 1o . subscribitur . Item Vicarii residentes omnium dict. Prebend . quorum salaria sunt bene diminuata u u In eodem Lib. nigro . in Registrar , D. Archiep. Dublin . .

By which Charter and taxation it is easy to conclude , not only how this Church came to be in the Diocess of Dublin , but of what value it was whilst in its flourishing condition . But how the lands came after to be alienated , whether by fee-farmes ( as it seems most of the Irish Bishopricks were ) or otherwise , and how the Iurisdiction neglected ; I list not to declare , it not becoming a Natural Historian either to enquire in titles , or make reflections on Church goverment , wherefore manum de Tabula .

83. Not long after this settlement of the Church of Penckridg , Randall the third , surnamed Blundevill , Earle of Chester , An. 1218.2 . Hen. 3. built the Castle of Chartley * * Tho. Mills Catalogue of Honor. p. 570. , where he lay , says Leland , during the time of his building the Abbey of Dieu la Cress w w Joh. Lelandi Itinerar . vol. 7. ; but this sure could not be , unless it were long in building , that Abbey being founded , as appears in the History of it , An. 1214 x x D. Gul. Dugdali Monast. Angl. vol. 1. p. 890. . before the Castle . And in the reigne of his Son King Edw. 1. Walter de Longton Bishop of Lichfield , and Lord high Treasurer of England , some say built , others repaired , Eccleshall Castle ; and the Manor of Shoubrough or Shuckborough , which before says Leland belong'd to one Shuckborough with the long beard , by whom it was given to the Miter of Lichfield y y Joh. Lelandi . Itinerar . vol. 7. . Quickly after in the beginning of Edw. 2. Alveton Castle seems to have been built by Theobald de Verdun , as may pretty plainly be collected from the Annales of Croxden . And not long after , in the latter end of the same Kings reigne , the goodly Castle of Caverswall ( as Mr Erdeswick calles it ) by Sr William de Caverswall , it being all built of Masonry , and so the damms of the pooles near by it , as was anciently express't upon his monument in the Church , his Epitaph being this . Castri structor eram , domibus fossisque Cemento Vivus dans operam , nunc claudor in hoc monumento z z D. Gul. Dugdali Monast. Angl. vol. 1. p. 913. . which some body rendering in English Sr William of Caverswall here lye I , Who built the Castle , and made the pooles by . as the report goes , was thus burlesqu'd by another hand , Sr William of Caverswall here you lye , Your Castle is down , and your pooles are dry . as indeed they are , all but the deep moat about the Castle , in place whereof a fair house has been since built of squared stone , not altogether unlike a Castellated mansion , the walls about it being flank't with hexangular Towers , as in its prospect here annext Tab. 37. it being at present the seat of that generous Gent. William Jullife Esq a cordial encourager of this work .

84. The original of Terley , and Stourton Castles , I could no where meet with , but beleive them both of good Antiquity ; nor of that treble entrenchment on the South side of the Watlingstreet , near Frogg-Homer , call'd Knaves-Castle , which yet is not all above 40 yards diameter , or 50 at most : in the middle whereof there is a round hill , now excavated , which for what use it has been ( being so very small ) I cannot imagin . The tradition is , that this heath being formerly all wood , and much infested with robberies , here was a watch set to guard strangers over it , for which the passengers allowed some small gratuity . Others say that the Robbers themselves harbour'd here , and that therefore it was call'd Knaves-Castle . Some other such Entrenchments are also here and there still in being , in several parts of the Country , without any building now remaining within them , which I suppose were only the Castellated mansions of some principal families ( which were absolutely necessary during the Barons warrs ) now decayed and gone : such as that call'd the moats near Kinnerston in this County , but anciently Rodbaston , inclosed with a double trench , the inner banks yet remaining very high , of a square figure , each side about 50 paces long , the corners being much higher than the rest , as if there had been round Towers or bastions there : which was only the seat of John de Sandersted , as appears by the entail of the Lordship of Chesterton in the County of Warwick 9. Edw. 3. by the Kings special command , upon him and his heirs , in case John de Warrewyk the possessor of it dyed without issue b b Sr William Dugdales Antiquities of Warwicksh . illustrated . p. 375. .

85. About a quarter of a mile South of Okeover near the park-pale , I was also shewn a deep entrenchment of a square figure , now call'd the Hallsteds , which I suppose might be likewise some castellated mansion in the Barons warrs , the tradition being , that it was anciently the seat of the family of Cockain ; and there are others of the like kind at many other places : but these being but of a late date , in comparison of the former , and scarce deserving the name of Antiquities , I leave them to the consideration of a more modern Historian , and shall content my self with the mention but of one Antiquity more , which is the stone set up upon Blore heath in memory of the fall of James Lord Audley , slain just in that place , in the quarrel of Hen. 6. valiantly fighting for his Soveraigne against the Earle of Salesbury , which fight was long and bloody , no less then 2400 being slain upon the spott , Queen Margaret looking on all the while ( as the tradition goes ) from the tower of Muckleston hard by : whence she fled , says Leland , ( the Victory falling upon the death of the Lord Audley , to the Earle of Salesbury ) to Eccleshall Church , by direction of John Halse , alias Hales Bishop of Lichfield , who caused her to lye there c c Joh. Lelandi Itine●ar . vol. 7. .

86. And this is all I have to offer the Reader , but that it should have been remember'd Chap. 8. §. 54. that Ralph Basset of Chedle was cheif Justice of England An. 2. Hen. 1. his Son Richard An. 4. of the same King Hen. and that his grandchild William was also Justice in Itinere , 22 of Hen. 2. Bertram de Verdun , eodem tempore ; and perhaps Simon de Pateshull 70. Rich. 1. & 10. Johannis d d Mr Samps . Erdeswick's view of Staffordsh . in Blore . vid. etiam D. Gul. Dugdali Orig. Juridic . in Chronica serie Cancellarior . in dictis An. . Nor must it be forgot , that one Thomas Dalton ( as Norton tells us ) had store of the Medicina rubra Philosophorum , or the Elixir of life , which he owned was left him for his service by his Master , who was one of the Canons of Lichfield , that dyed An. 1477. temp. Edw. 4 e e Vid. Ordinale Secretorum Tho. Norton . MS. Laud. in Bib. Bod. K. 61. p. 14. . Which at last ( after many long and tedious journeys ; a large expence of time , and mony ; and many other difficulties undergon in the mean time ) concludes this History of Staffordshire : in the writing whereof , tho' I dare not think , much less can by any means assure the Reader , that I have made no mistakes in any of my Relations ; yet I am inclined to beleive there are none very material , I am sure none willfull : wherefore I hope all Readers will deale so candidly with me , as only to reprove me calmly , for what is done amiss , which sort of Chastisement I shall cheerfully receive ; sincerely promising never to offend in the like manner again , being pretty fully resolved , never to publish any more of these Histories ( tho' I think I was never so fit as now ) unless commanded by a power that I must no resist .