Corineus.
Gomagot. The like doo our histories report of Corineus and Gomagot, peraduenture king of this Ile, who fought a combat hand to hand, till one of them was slaine, and yet for all this no man reputeth Hercules or Corineus for giants, albeit that Hanuile in his Architrenion make the later to be 12. cubits in height, which is full 18. foot, if poeticall licence doo not take place in his report and assertion. But sith (I say againe) it is not my purpose to stand vpon these points, I passe ouer to speake any more of them. And whereas also I might haue proceeded in such order, that I should first set downe by manie circumstances, whether any giants were, then whether they were of such huge and incredible stature as the authours doo remember, and finallie whether any of them haue beene in this our Iland or not, I protest plainlie, that my mind is not here bent to deale in any such maner, but rather generallie to confirme and by sufficient authoritie, that there haue beene such mightie men of stature, and some of them also in Britaine, which I will set downe onelie by sundrie examples, whereby it shall fall out, that neither our Iland, nor any part of the maine, haue at one time or other béen altogither without them. First of all therfore, & to begin with the scriptures, the most sure & certeine ground of all knowledge: you shall haue out of them such notable examples set downe, as I haue obserued in reading the same, which vnto the godlie may suffice for sufficient proofe of my position. Neuerthelesse, after the scriptures I will resort to the writings of our learned Diuines, and finallie of the infidell and pagane authors, whereby nothing shall seeme to want that may confute Goropius, and all his cauillations.

Cap. 6. vers. 5. Moses the prophet of the Lord, writing of the estate of things before the floud, hath these words in his booke of generations. In these daies saith he, there were giants vpon the earth. Berosus also the Chalde Anti. li. 1. writeth, that néere vnto Libanus there was a citie called Oenon (which I take to be Hanoch, builded sometime by Cham) wherein giants did inhabit, who trusting to the strength and hugenesse of their bodies, did verie great oppression and mischeefe in the world. The Hebrues called them generallie Enach, of Hanach the Chebronite, father to Achimam, Scheschai and Talma, although their first originall was deriued from Henoch the sonne of Caine, of whome that pestilent race descended, as I read. The Moabits named them Emims, and the Ammonites Zamsummims, and it should seeme by the second of Deut. cap. 19, 20. that Ammon and Moab were greatlie replenished with such men, when Moses wrote that treatise. For of these monsters some families remained of greater stature than other Nu. cap. 13. verse 33, & 34. vnto his daies, in comparison of whome the children of Israell confessed themselues to be but grashoppers. Which is one noble testimonie that the word Gigas or Enach is so well taken for a man of huge stature, as for an homeborne child, wicked tyrant, or oppressour of the people.

Deut. 3. vers. 11.
Og of Basan. Furthermore, there is mention made also in the scriptures of Og, sometime king of Basan, who was the last of the race of the giants, that was left in the land of promise to be ouercome by the Israelits, & whose iron bed was afterward shewed for a woonder at Rabbath (a citie of the Ammonites) conteining 9. cubits in length, and 4. in bredth, which cubits I take not to be geometricall, (that is, each one so great as six of the smaller, as those were wherof the Arke was made, as our Diuines affirme, especiallie Augustine: whereas Origen, hom. 2. in Gen. out of whom he seemeth to borrow it, appeareth to haue no such meaning directlie) but rather of the arme of a meane man, which oftentimes dooth varie & differ from the standard. Oh how Goropius dalieth about the historie of this Og, of the breaking of his pate against the beds head, & of hurting his ribs against the sides, and all to prooue, that Og was not bigger than other men, and so he leaueth the matter as sufficientlie answered with a French countenance of truth. But see August. de ciuit. lib. 15. cap. 25. & ad Faustum Manich. lib. 12. Ambros. &c. and Johannes Buteo that excellent geometrician, who hath written of purpose of the capacitie of the Arke.

Cap. 17. ver. 4,
5, 6. Goliah. In the first of Samuel you shall read of Goliah a Philistine, the weight of whose brigandine or shirt of maile was of 5000. sicles, or 1250. ounces of brasse, which amounteth to 104. pound of Troie weight after 4. common sicles to the ounce. The head of his speare came vnto ten pound English or 600. sicles of that metall. His height also was measured at six cubits and an hand bredth. All which doo import that he was a notable giant, and a man of great stature & strength to weare such an armour, and beweld so heauie a lance. But Goropius thinking himselfe still to haue Og in hand, and indeuouring to extenuate the fulnesse of the letter to his vttermost power, dooth neuerthelesse earnestlie affirme, that he was not aboue three foot more than the common sort of men, or two foot higher than Saule: and so he leaueth it as determined.

Cap. 21. ver. 16, 17, &c. In the second of Samuel, I find report of foure giants borne in Geth; of which Ishbenob the first, that would haue killed Dauid, had a speare, whose head weighed the iust halfe of that of Goliath: the second called Siphai, Sippai or Saph, 1. Par. 20. was nothing inferiour to the first: the third hight also Goliah, the staffe of whose speare was like vnto the beame of a weauers loome, neuerthelesse he was slaine in the second battell in Gob by Elhanan, as the first was by Abisai Ioabs brother, and the second by Elhanan. The fourth brother (for they were all brethren) was slaine at Gath by Ionathan nephew to Dauid, and he was not onlie huge of personage, but also of disfigured forme, for he had 24. fingers and toes. Wherby it is euident, that the generation of giants was not extinguished in Palestine, vntill the time of Dauid, which was 2890. after the floud, nor vtterlie consumed in Og, as some of our expositors would haue it.

Now to come vnto our christian writers. For though the authorities alreadie alleged out of the word, are sufficient to confirme my purpose at the full; yet will I not let to set downe such other notes as experience hath reuealed, onelie to the end that the reader shall not thinke the name of giants, with their quantities, and other circumstances, mentioned in the scriptures, rather to haue some mysticall interpretation depending vpon them, than that the sense of the text in this behalfe is to be taken simplie as it speaketh. And first of all to omit that which Tertullian Lib. 2. de resurrect. saith; De ciuitate Dei lib. 15. cap. 9. S. Augustine noteth, how he with other saw the tooth of a man, wherof he tooke good aduisement, and pronounced in the end that it would haue made 100. of his owne, or anie other mans that liued in his time. The like Iohannes Boccacius. hereof also dooth Iohn Boccace set downe, in the 68. chapter of his 4. booke, saieng that in the caue of a mountaine, not far from Drepanum (a towne of Sicilia called Eryx as he gesseth) the bodie of an exceeding high giant was discouered, thrée of whose teeth did weigh 100. ounces, which being conuerted into English poise, doth yeeld eight pound and foure ounces, after twelue ounces to the pound, that is 33. ounces euerie tooth.

He addeth farther, that the forepart of his scull was able to conteine manie bushels of wheat, and by the proportion of the bone of his thigh, A carcase discouered of 200. cubits. the Symmetricians iudged his bodie to be aboue 200. cubits. Those teeth, scull, and bones, were (and as I thinke yet are, for ought I know to the contrarie) to be seene in the church of Drepanum in perpetuall memorie of his greatnesse, whose bodie was found vpon this occasion. As some digged in the earth to laie the foundation of an house, the miners happened vpon a great vault, not farre from Drepanum: whereinto when they were entred, they saw the huge bodie of a man sitting in the caue, of whose greatnesse they were so afraid, that they ranne awaie, and made an outcrie in the citie, how there sat a man in such a place, so great as an hill: the people hearing the newes, ran out with clubs and weapons, as if they should haue gone vnto a foughten field, and 300. of them entring into the caue, they foorthwith saw that he was dead, and yet sat as if he had been aliue, hauing a staffe in his hand, compared by mine author vnto the mast of a tall ship, which being touched fell by and by to dust, sauing the nether end betwéene his hand and the ground, whose hollownesse was filled with 1500. pound weight of lead, to beare vp his arme that it should not fall in péeces: neuerthelesse, his bodie also being touched fell likewise into dust, sauing three of his aforesaid teeth, the forepart of his scull, and one of his thigh bones, which are reserued to be séene of such as will hardlie beleeue these reports.

In the histories of Brabant I read of a giant found, whose bones were 17. or 18. cubits in length, but Goropius, as his maner is, denieth them to be the bones of a man, affirming rather that they were the bones of an elephant, because they somwhat resembled those of two such beasts which were found at the making of the famous ditch betwéene Bruxels and Machlin. As though there were anie precise resemblance betwéene the bones of a man and of an elephant, or that there had euer béene any elephant of 27. foot in length. But sée his demeanour. In the end he granteth that another bodie was found vpon the shore of Rhodanus, of thirtie foot in length. Which somewhat staieth his iudgement, but not altogither remooueth his error.

Mat. Westmon. The bodie of Pallas was found in Italie, in the yeare of Grace 1038. and being measured it conteined twentie foot in length, this Pallas was companion with Æneas.

Iohannes Leland. There was a carcase also laid bare 1170. in England vpon the shore (where the beating of the sea had washed awaie the earth from the stone wherein it laie) and when it was taken vp it conteined 50. foot in Mafieus, lib. 14. Triuet. measure, as our histories doo report. The like was seene before in
Mat. West. Wales, in the yeare 1087. of another of 14. foot.

In Perth moreouer a village in Scotland another was taken vp, which to this daie they shew in a church, vnder the name of little John (per Antiphrasin) being also 14. foot in length, as diuerse doo affirme which Hector Boet. haue beholden the same, and whereof Hector Boetius dooth saie, that he did put his whole arme into one of the hanch bones: which is worthie to be remembred.

In the yeare of Grace 1475. the bodie of Tulliola the daughter of Cicero was taken vp, & found higher by not a few foot than the common sort of women liuing in those daies.

Geruasius Tilberiensis. Geruasius Tilberiensis, head Marshall to the king of Arles writeth in his Chronicle dedicated to Otho 4. how that at Isoretum, in the suburbes of Paris, he saw the bodie of a man that was twentie foot long, beside the head and the necke, which was missing & not found, the owner hauing peraduenture béene beheaded for some notable trespasse committed in times past, or (as he saith) killed by S. William.

The Greeke writers make mention of Andronicus their emperour, who liued 1183. of Grace, and was ten foot in height, that is, thrée foot higher than the Dutch man that shewed himselfe in manie places of England, 1582. this man maried Anna daughter to Lewis of France (before assured to Alexius, whome he strangled, dismembred and drowned in the sea) the ladie not being aboue eleuen yeares of age, whereas he was an old dotard, and beside hir he kept Marpaca a fine harlot, who ruled him as she listed.

Zonaras speaketh of a woman that liued in the daies of Justine, who being borne in Cilicia, and of verie comelie personage, was neuerthelesse almost two foot taller than the tallest woman of hir time.

Sir Thomas Eliot. A carcase was taken vp at Iuie church neere Salisburie but of late yeares to speake of, almost fourtéene foot long, in Dictionario Eliotæ.

Leland in Combrit. In Gillesland in Come Whitton paroche not far from the chappell of the Moore, six miles by east from Carleill, a coffin of stone was found, and therein the bones of a man, of more than incredible greatnes. In like sort Leland speaketh of another found in the Ile called Alderney, whereof you shall read more in the chapiter of our Ilands.

Richard Grafton. Richard Grafton in his Manuell telleth of one whose shinbone conteined six foot, and thereto his scull so great that it was able to receiue fiue pecks of wheat. Wherefore by coniecturall symmetrie of these parts, his bodie must needs be of 24. foot, or rather more, if it were The Symmetrie or proportion of the bodie of a comelie man. diligentlie measured. For the proportion of a comelie and well featured bodie, answereth 9. times to the length of the face, taken at large from the pitch of the crowne to the chin, as the whole length is from the same place vnto the sole of the foot, measured by an imagined line, and seuered into so manie parts by like ouerthwart draughts, as Drurerus in his lineall description of mans bodie doth deliuer. Neuertheles, this symmetrie is not taken by other than the well proportioned face, for Recta, orbiculata (or fornicata) prona, resupinata, and lacunata (or repanda) doo so far degenerate from the true proportion as from the forme and beautie of the comelie. Hereby also they make the face taken in strict maner, to be the tenth part of the whole bodie, that is, frō the highest part of the forehead to the pitch of the chin, so that in the vse of the word face there is a difference, wherby the 9. part is taken (I say) from the crowne (called Vertex, because the haire there turneth into a circle) so that if the space by a rule were truelie taken, I meane from the crowne or highest part of the head to the pitch of the nether chap, and multiplied by nine, the length of the whole bodie would easilie appeare, & shew it selfe at the full. In like maner I find, that from the elbow to the top of the midle finger is the 4. part of the whole length, called a cubit: from the wrist to the top of the same finger, a tenth part: the length of the shinbone to the ancle a fourth part (and all one with the cubit:) from the top of the finger to the third ioint, two third parts of the face from the top of the forehead. Which obseruations I willinglie remember in this place, to the end that if anie such carcases happen to be found hereafter, it shall not be hard by some of these bones here mentioned, to come by the stature of the whole bodie, in certeine & exact maner. As for the rest of the bones, ioints, parts, &c: you may resort to Drurerus, Cardan, and other writers, sith the farther deliuerie of them concerneth not my purpose. To proceed therefore with other examples, I read that the bodie Sylvester Gyraldus. of king Arthur being found in the yeare 1189. was two foot higher than anie man that came to behold the same. Finallie the carcase of William Conqueror was séene not manie yeares since (to wit, 1542.) in the citie Constans fama Gallorum. of Cane, twelue inches longer, by the iudgment of such as saw it, than anie man which dwelled in the countrie. All which testimonies I note togither, bicause they proceed from christian writers, from whome nothing should be farther or more distant, than of set purpose to lie, and feed the world with fables.

In our times also, and whilest Francis the first reigned ouer France, there was a man séene in Aquiteine, whome the king being in those parties made of his gard, whose height was such, that a man of common heigth might easilie go vnder his twist without stooping, a stature Briat. incredible. Moreouer Casanion, a writer of our time, telleth of the bones of Briat a giant found of late in Delphinois, of 15. cubits, the diameter of whose scull was two cubits, and the breadth of his shoulders foure, as he himselfe beheld in the late second wars of France, & wherevnto the report of Ioan Marius made in his bookes De Galliarum illustrationibus,where he writeth of the carcase of the same giant found not farre from the Rhodanus, which was 22. foot long, from the scull to the sole of the feet, dooth yéeld sufficient testimonie. Also Calameus in his commentaries De Biturigibus, confirmeth no lesse, adding that he was found 1556. & so dooth Baptista Fulgosus, lib. 1. cap. 6. saieng farther, that his graue was seene not farre from Valentia, and discouered by the violence and current of the Rhodanus. The said Casanion in like sort speaketh of the bones of a man which he beheld, one of whose téeth was a foot long, and eight pound in weight. Also of the sepulchre of another neere vnto Charmes castell, which was nine paces in length, things incredible to vs, if eiesight did not confirme it in our owne times, and these carcases were not reserued by the verie prouidence of God, to the end we might behold his works, and by these relikes vnderstand, that such men were in old time in deed, of whose statures we now begin to doubt. Now to say somwhat also of mine owne knowledge, there is the thighbone of a man to be séene in the church of S. Laurence néere Guildhall in London, which in time past was 26. inches in length, but now it beginneth to decaie, so that it is shorter by foure inches than it was in the time of king Edward. Another also is to be seene in Aldermarie burie, of some called Aldermanburie, of 32. inches and rather more, whereof the symmetrie hath beene taken by some skilfull in that practise, and an image made according to that proportion, which is fixt in the east end of the cloister of the same church, not farre from the said bone, and sheweth the person of a man full ten or eleuen foot high, which as some say was found in the cloister of Poules, that was neere to the librarie, at such time as the Duke of Somerset did pull it downe to the verie foundation, and carried the stones thereof to the Strand, where he did build his house. These two bones haue I séene, beside other, whereof at the beholding I tooke no great heed, bicause I minded not as then to haue had any such vse of their proportions, and therefore I will speake no more of them: this is sufficient for my purpose that is deliuered out of the christian authors.

Now it resteth furthermore that I set downe, what I haue read therof in Pagane writers, who had alwaies great regard of their credit, and so ought all men that dedicate any thing vnto posteritie, least in going about otherwise to reape renowme and praise, they doo procure vnto themselues in the end nothing else but meere contempt and infamie. For my part I will touch rare things, and such as to my selfe doo séeme almost incredible: howbeit as I find them, so I note them, requiring your Honour in reading hereof, to let euerie Author beare his owne burden, and euerie oxe his bundle.

In vita Sertorij de Antheo. Plutarch telleth how Sertorius being in Lybia, néere to the streicts of Maroco, to wit, at Tingi (or Tanger in Mauritania, as it is now called) caused the sepulchre of Antheus, afore remembred to be opened: for hearing by common report that the said giant laie buried there, whose corps was fiftie cubits long at the least, he was so far off from crediting the same, that he would not beleeue it, vntill he saw the coffin open wherein the bones of the aforesaid prince did rest. To be short therefore, he caused his souldiers to cast downe the hill made sometime ouer the tombe, and finding the bodie in the bottome coffined in stone, after the measure therof taken, he saw it manifestlie to be 60. cubits in length, which were ten more than the people made accompt of, which Strabo also confirmeth.

Pausanias reporteth out of one Miso, that when the bodie of Aiax was found, the whirlebone of his knée was adiudged so broad as a pretie dish: also that the bodie of Asterius somtime king of Creta was ten cubits long, and that of Hyllus or Gerion no lesse maruelous than the rest, all which Goropius still condemneth to be the bones of monsters of the sea (notwithstanding the manifest formes of their bones, epitaphes, and inscriptions found ingrauen in brasse and lead with them in their sepulchres) so far is he from being persuaded and led from his opinion.

Philostrate. Philostrate in Heroicis saith, how he saw the bodie of a giant thirtie cubits in length, also the carcase of another of two and twentie, and the third of twelue.

Liuie in the seauenth of his first decade, speaketh of an huge person which made a challenge as he stood at the end of the Anien bridge, against any Romane that would come out and fight with him, whose stature was not much inferiour to that of Golias, of Artaches (of whome Herodot speaketh in the historie of Xerxes) who was sixe common cubits of stature, which make but fiue of the kings standard, bicause this is longer by thrée fingers than the other. Of Pusio, Secundilla, & Cabaras, of which the first two liuing vnder Augustus were aboue ten foot, and the later vnder Claudius of full nine, and all remembred by Plinie; of Eleazar a Jew, of whome Iosephus saith, that he was sent to Tiberius, and a person of heigth fiue cubits; of another of whom Nicephorus maketh mention lib. 12. cap. 13. Hist. eccles. of fiue cubits and an handfull, I say nothing, bicause Casanion of Mutterell hath alredie sufficientlie discoursed vpon these examples in his De gigantibus, which as I gesse he hath written of set purpose against Goropius, who in his Gigantomachia, supposeth himselfe to haue killed all the giants in the world, and like a new Iupiter Alterum carcasse Herculem, as the said Casanion dooth merilie charge and vpbraid him.

Lib. 7. Plinie telleth of an earthquake at Creta, which discouered the body of a giant, that was 46. cubits in length after the Romane standard, and by diuerse supposed to be the bodie of Orion or Ætion. Neuerthelesse I read, that Lucius Flaccus and Metellus did sweare Per sua capita, that it was either the carcase of some monster of the sea, or a forged deuise to bleare the peoples eies withall, wherein it is wonderfull to see, how they please Goropius as one that first deriued his fantasticall imagination from their asseueration & oth. The said Plinie also addeth that the bodie of Orestes was seuen cubits in length, one Gabbara of Arabia nine foot nine inches, and two reserued In conditorio Sallustianorum halfe a foot longer than Gabbara was, for which I neuer read that anie man was driuen to sweare.

Trallianus. Trallianus writeth how the Athenienses digging on a time in the ground, to laie the foundation of a new wall to be made in a certeine Iland in the daies of an emperour, did find the bones of Macrosyris in a coffin of hard stone, of 100. cubits in length after the accompt of the Romane cubit, which was then either a foot and a halfe, or not much in difference from halfe a yard of our measure now in England. These verses also, as they are now translated out of Gréeke were found withall,

which amounteth to 81. yeares foure moneths, after the Aegyptian reckoning.

In the time of Hadrian the emperour, the bodie of the giant Ida was taken vp at Messana, conteining 20. foot in length, and hauing a double row of teeth, yet standing whole in his chaps. Eumachus also in Perigesi, telleth that when the Carthaginenses went about to dich in their prouince, they found two bodies in seuerall coffins of stone, the one was 23. the other 24. cubits in length, such another was found in Bosphoro Cymmerio after an earthquake, but the inhabitants did cast those bones into the Meotidan marris. In Dalmatia, manie graues were shaken open with an earthquake, in diuers of which certeine carcases were found, whose ribs conteined 16. els, after the Romane measure, whereby the whole bodies were iudged to be 64. sith the longest rib is commonlie about the fourth part of a man, as some rouing symmetricians affirme.

Arrhianus saith, that in the time of Alexander the bodies of the Asianes were generallie of huge stature, and commonlie of fiue cubits, and such was the heigth of Porus of Inde, whom the said Alexander vanquished and ouerthrew in battell.

Suidas speaketh of Ganges, killed also by the said prince, who farre exceeded Porus; for he was ten cubits long. What should I speake of Artaceas a capitaine in the host of Xerxes, afore remembred, whose heigth was within 4. fingers bredth of fiue cubits, & the tallest man in the armie except the king himselfe. Herod. lib. 7. Of Athanatus whom Plinie remembreth I saie nothing. But of all these, this one example shall passe, which I doo read of in Trallianus, and he setteth downe in forme and manner following.

In the daies of Tiberius th'emperor saith he, a corps was left bare or laid open after an earthquake, of which ech tooth (taken one with another) conteined 12. inches ouer at the least. Now forsomuch as in A mouth of sixteene foot wide. such as be full mouthed, ech chap hath commonlie 16. teeth at the least, which amount vnto 32. in the whole, needs must the widenesse of this mans chaps be welneere of 16. foot, and the opening of his lips fiue at the least. A large mouth in mine opinion, and not to eat peason with Ladies of my time, besides that if occasion serued, it was able to receiue the whole bodies of mo than one of the greatest men, I meane of such as we be in our daies. When this carcase was thus found, euerie man maruelled at it, & good cause why. A messenger was sent to Tiberius the A counterfect made of a monstrous carcase by one tooth taken out of the head. emperour also to know his pleasure, whether he would haue the same brought ouer vnto Rome or not, but he forbad them, willing his Legate not to remooue the dead out of his resting place, but rather somewhat to satisfie his phantasie to send him a tooth out of his head, which being done, he gaue it to a cunning workeman, commanding him to shape a carcase of light matter, after the proportion of the tooth, that at the least by such means he might satisfie his curious mind, and the fantasies of such as are delited with nouelties. To be short, when the This man was more fauorable to this monster than our papists were to the bodies of the dead who tare them in peeces to make money of them. image was once made and set vp on end, it appéered rather an huge colossie than the true carcase of a man, and when it had stood in Rome vntill the people were wearie & throughlie satisfied with the sight thereof, he caused it to be broken all to peeces, and the tooth sent againe to the carcase frō whence it came, willing them moreouer to couer it diligentlie, and in anie wise not to dismember the corps, nor from thencefoorth to be so hardie as to open the sepulchre anie more. Pausan. lib. 8. telleth in like maner of Hiplodanus & his fellowes, who liued when Rhea was with child of Osyris by Cham, and were called to hir aid at such time as she feared to be molested by Hammon hir first Grandiáque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris. husband, whilest she remained vpon the Thoumasian hill, "In ipso loco," saith he, "spectantur ossa maiora multo quàm vt humana existimari possunt, &c." Of Protophanes who had but one great and broad bone in steed of all his ribs on ech side I saie nothing, sith it concerneth not his stature.

I could rehearse manie mo examples of the bodies of such men, out of Solinus, Sabellicus, D. Cooper, and others. As of Oetas and Ephialtes, who were said to be nine orgies or paces in heigth, and foure in bredth, which are taken for so many cubits, bicause there is small difference betwéene a mans ordinarie pace and his cubit, and finallie of our Richard the first, who is noted to beare an axe in the wars, the iron of whose head onelie weighed twentie pound after our greatest weight, and whereof an old writer that I haue seene, saith thus:

I could speake also of Gerards staffe or lance, yet to be seene in Gerards hall at London in Basing lane, which is so great and long that no man can beweld it, neither go to the top thereof without a ladder, which of set purpose and for greater countenance of the wonder is fixed by the same. I haue seene a man my selfe of seuen foot in heigth, but lame of his legs. The chronicles also of Cogshall speake of one in Wales, who was halfe a foot higher, but through infirmitie and wounds not able to beweld himselfe. I might (if I thought good) speake also of another of no lesse heigth than either of these and liuing of late yeares, but these here remembred shall suffice to prooue my purpose withall. I might tell you in like sort of the marke stone which Turnus threw at Æneas, and was such as that twelue chosen and picked men (saith Virgil),

Vis vnita fortior est eadem dispersa.

were not able to stur and remooue out of the place: but I passe it ouer, and diuerse of the like, concluding that these huge blocks were ordeined and created by God: first for a testimonie vnto vs of his power and might; and secondlie for a confirmation, that hugenes of bodie is not to be accompted of as a part of our felicitie, sith they which possessed the same, were not onelie tyrants, doltish, & euill men, but also oftentimes ouercome euen by the weake & feeble. Finallie they were such indéed as in whom the Lord delited not, according to the saieng of the Cap. 3, 36. prophet Baruch; "Ibi fuerunt gigantes nominati, illi qui ab initio fuerunt statura magna, scientes bellum, hos non elegit Dominus, neque illis viam disciplinæ dedit, propterea perierunt, et quoniam non habuerunt sapientiam, interierunt propter suam insipientiam, &c." that is, "There were the giants famous from the beginning, that were of great stature and expert in warre, those did not the Lord choose, neither gaue he the waie of knowledge vnto them, but they were destroied, because they had no wisedome, and perished through their owne foolishnesse." That the bodies of men also doo dailie decaie in stature, beside 4. Esd. cap. 5. Plinie lib. 7. Esdras likewise confesseth lib. 4. cap. 5. whose authoritie is so good herein as that of Homer or Plinie, who doo affirme so much, whereas Goropius still continuing his woonted pertinacitie also in this behalfe, maketh his proportion first by the old Romane foot, and then by his owne, & therevpon concludeth that men in these daies be fullie so great as euer they were, whereby as in the former dealing he thinketh it nothing to conclude against the scriptures, chosen writers and testimonies of the oldest pagans. But see how he would salue all at last in the end of his Gigantomachia, where he saith, I denie not but that od huge personages haue bene seene, as a woman of ten, and a man of nine foot long, which I my selfe also haue beholden, but as now so in old time the common sort did so much woonder at the like as we doo at these, because they were seldome séene, and not commonlie to be heard of.

OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN THIS ILAND.
CAP. VI.

British. What language came first with Samothes and afterward with Albion, and the giants of his companie, it is hard for me to determine, sith nothing of sound credit remaineth in writing, which may resolue vs in the truth Small difference betweene the British and Celtike languages. hereof. Yet of so much are we certeine, that the speach of the ancient Britons, and of the Celts, had great affinitie one with another, so that they were either all one, or at leastwise such as either nation with small helpe of interpretors might vnderstand other, and readilie discerne what the speaker meant. Some are of the opinion that the Celts spake Greeke, and how the British toong resembled the same, which was spoken in Grecia before Homer did reforme it: but I see that these men doo speake without authoritie and therefore I reiect them, for if the Celts which were properlie called Galles did speake Gréeke, why did Cesar in his letters sent to Rome vse that language, because that if they should be intercepted they might not vnderstand them, or why did he not vnderstand the Galles, he being so skilfull in the language without an interpretor? Yet I denie not but that the Celtish and British speaches might haue great affinitie one with another, and the British aboue all other with the Greeke, for both doo appéere by certeine words, as first in tri for three, march for an horsse, & trimarchia, whereof Pausanias speaketh, for both. Atheneus also writeth of Bathanasius a capitaine of the Galles, whose name is méere British, compounded of Bath & Ynad, & signifieth a noble or comelie iudge. And wheras he saith that the reliques of the Galles tooke vp their first dwelling about Isther, and afterward diuided themselues in such wise, that they which went and dwelled in Hungarie were called Sordsai, and the other that inhabited within the dominion of Tyroll) Brenni, whose seate was on the mount Brenhere parcell of the Alpes, what else signifieth the word Iscaredich in British, from whence the word Scordisci commeth, but to be diuided? Hereby then, and sundrie other the like testimonies, I gather that the British and the Celtish speaches had great affinitie one with another, as I said, which Cesar (speaking of the similitude or likenesse of religion in both nations) doth also auerre, & Tacitus in vita Agricolæ, in like sort plainlie affirmeth, or else it must needs be that the Galles which inuaded Italie and Greece were meere Britons, of whose likenes of speech with the Gréeke toong I need not make anie triall, sith no man (I hope) will readilie denie it. Appianus talking of the Brenni calleth them Cymbres, and by this I gather also that the Celts and the Britons were indifferentlie called Cymbri in their own language, or else that the Britons were the right Cymbri, who vnto this daie doo not refuse to be called by that name. Bodinus writing of the means by which the originall of euerie kingdome and nation is to be had and discerned, setteth downe thrée waies whereby the knowledge thereof is to be found, one is (saith he) the infallible testimonie of the sound writers, the other the description and site of the region, the third the relikes of the ancient speech remaining in the same. Which later if it be of any force, then I must conclude, that the spéech of the Britons and Celts was sometime either all one or verie like one to another, or else it must follow that the Britons ouerflowed the continent vnder the name of Cymbres, being peraduenture associat in this voiage, or mixed by inuasion with the Danes, and Norwegiens, who are called Cymbri and Cymmerij, as most writers doo remember. This also is euident (as Plutarch likewise confesseth In vita Marij) that no man knew from whence the Cymbres came in his daies, and therfore I beleeue that they came out of Britaine, for all the maine was well knowne vnto them, I meane euen to the vttermost part of the north, as may appeare furthermore by the slaues which were dailie brought from thence vnto them, whom of their countries they called Daui for Daci, Getæ for Gothes, &c: for of their conquests I need not make rehearsall, sith they are commonlie knowne and remembred by the writers, both of the Greekes and Latines.

British corrupted by the Latine and Saxon speeches. The British toong called Camberaec dooth yet remaine in that part of the Iland, which is now called Wales, whither the Britons were driuen after the Saxons had made a full conquest of the other, which we now call England, although the pristinate integritie thereof be not a little diminished by mixture of the Latine and Saxon speaches withall. Howbeit, manie poesies and writings (in making whereof that nation hath euermore delited) are yet extant in my time, wherby some difference betwéene the ancient and present language may easilie be discerned, notwithstanding that among all these there is nothing to be found, which can set downe anie sound and full testimonie of their owne originall, in remembrance whereof, their Bards and cunning men haue béene most slacke and negligent. Giraldus in praising the Britons affirmeth that there is not one word in all their language, that is not either Gréeke or Latine. Which being rightly vnderstanded and conferred with the likenesse that was in old time betwéene the Celts & the British toongs, will not a little helpe those that thinke the old Celtish to haue some sauour of the Gréeke. But how soeuer that matter standeth, after the British speach came once ouer into this Iland, sure it is, that it could neuer be extinguished for all the attempts that the Romans, Saxons, Normans, and Englishmen could make against that nation, in anie maner of wise.

The Britons diligent in petigrées. Petigrées and genealogies also the Welsh Britons haue plentie in their owne toong, insomuch that manie of them can readilie deriue the same, either from Brute or some of his band, euen vnto Æneas and other of the Troians, and so foorth vnto Noah without anie maner of stop. But as I know not what credit is to be giuen vnto them in this behalfe, although I must néeds confesse that their ancient Bards were verie diligent in there collection, and had also publike allowance or salarie for the same; so I dare not absolutelie impugne their assertions, sith that in times past all nations (learning it no doubt of the Hebrues) did verie solemnelie preserue the catalogs of their descents, thereby either to shew themselues of ancient and noble race, or else to be descended from some one of the gods. But

Latine. Next vnto the British speach, the Latine toong was brought in by the Romans, and in maner generallie planted through the whole region, as the French was after by the Normans. Of this toong I will not say much, bicause there are few which be not skilfull in the same. Howbeit, as the speach it selfe is easie and delectable, so hath it peruerted the names of the ancient riuers, regions, & cities of Britaine in such wise, that in these our daies their old British denominations are quite growne out of memorie, and yet those of the new Latine left as most vncertaine. This remaineth also vnto my time, borowed from the Romans, that all our déeds, euidences, charters, & writings of record, are set downe in the Latine toong, though now verie barbarous, and therevnto the copies and court-rolles, and processes of courts and leets registred in the same.

The Saxon toong. The third language apparantlie knowne is the Scithian or high Dutch, induced at the first by the Saxons (which the Britons call Saysonaec, as they doo the speakers Sayson) an hard and rough kind of speach, God wot, when our nation was brought first into acquaintance withall, but now changed with vs into a farre more fine and easie kind of vtterance, and so polished and helped with new and milder words, that it is to be aduouched how there is no one speach vnder the sunne spoken in our time, that hath or can haue more varietie of words, copie of phrases, or figures and floures of eloquence, than hath our English toong, although some haue affirmed vs rather to barke as dogs, than talke like men, bicause the most of our words (as they doo indéed) incline vnto one syllable. This also is to be noted as a testimonie remaining still of our language, deriued from the Saxons, that the generall name for the most part of euerie skilfull artificer in his trade endeth in Here with vs, albeit the H be left out, and er onlie inserted, as Scriuenhere, writehere, shiphere, &c: for scriuener, writer, and shipper, &c: beside manie other relikes of that spéech, neuer to be abolished.

The French toong. After the Saxon toong, came the Norman or French language ouer into our countrie, and therein were our lawes written for a long time. Our children also were by an especiall decrée taught first to speake the same, and therevnto inforced to learne their constructions in the French, whensoeuer they were set to the Grammar schoole. In like sort few bishops, abbats, or other clergie men, were admitted vnto anie ecclesiasticall function here among vs, but such as came out of religious houses from beyond the seas, to the end they should not vse the English toong in their sermons to the people. In the court also it grew into such contempt, that most men thought it no small dishonor to speake any English there. Which brauerie tooke his hold at the last likewise in the countrie with euerie plowman, that euen the verie carters began to wax wearie of there mother toong, & laboured to speake French, which as then was counted no small token of gentilitie. And no maruell, for euerie French rascall, when he came once hither, was taken for a gentleman, onelie bicause he was proud, and could vse his owne language, and all this (I say) to exile the English and British speaches quite out of the countrie. But in vaine, for in the time of king Edward the first, to wit, toward the latter end of his reigne, the French it selfe ceased to be spoken generallie, but most of all and by law in the midst of Edward the third, and then began the English to recouer and grow in more estimation than before; notwithstanding that among our artificers, the most part of their implements, tooles and words of art reteine still their French denominations euen to these our daies, as the language it selfe is vsed likewise in sundrie courts, bookes of record, and matters of law; whereof here is no place to make any particular The helpers of our English toong. rehearsall. Afterward also, by diligent trauell of Geffray Chaucer, and Iohn Gowre, in the time of Richard the second, and after them of Iohn Scogan, and Iohn Lydgate monke of Berrie, our said toong was brought to an excellent passe, notwithstanding that it neuer came vnto the type of perfection, vntill the time of Quéene Elizabeth, wherein Iohn Iewell B. of Sarum, Iohn Fox, and sundrie learned & excellent writers haue fullie accomplished the ornature of the same, to their great praise and immortall commendation; although not a few other doo greatlie séeke to staine the same, by fond affectation of forren and strange words, presuming that to be the best English, which is most corrupted with externall termes of eloquence, and sound of manie syllables. But as this excellencie of the English toong is found in one, and the south part of this Iland; so in Wales the greatest number (as I said) retaine still their owne ancient language, that of the north part of the said countrie being lesse corrupted than the other, and therefore reputed for the better in their owne estimation and iudgement. This also is proper to vs Englishmen apt to learne any forren toong. Englishmen, that sith ours is a meane language, and neither too rough nor too smooth in vtterance, we may with much facilitie learne any other language, beside Hebrue, Gréeke & Latine, and speake it naturallie, as if we were home-borne in those countries; & yet on the other side it falleth out, I wot not by what other meanes, that few forren nations can rightlie pronounce ours, without some and that great note of imperfection, especiallie the French men, who also seldome write any thing that sauoreth of English trulie. It is a pastime to read how Natalis Comes in like maner, speaking of our affaires, dooth clip the names of our English lords. But this of all the rest dooth bréed most admiration with me, that if any stranger doo hit vpon some likelie pronuntiation of our toong, yet in age he swarueth so much from the same, that he is woorse therein than euer he was, and thereto peraduenture halteth not a litle also in his owne, as I haue séene by experience in Reginald Wolfe, and other, whereof I haue iustlie maruelled.

The Cornish toong. The Cornish and Deuonshire men, whose countrie the Britons call Cerniw, haue a speach in like sort of their owne, and such as hath in déed more affinitie with the Armoricane toong than I can well discusse of. Yet in mine opinion, they are both but a corrupted kind of Brittish, albeit so far degenerating in these daies from the old, that if either of them doo méete with a Welshman, they are not able at the first to vnderstand one an other, except here and there in some od words, without the helpe of interpretors. And no maruell in mine opinion that the British of Cornewall is thus corrupted, sith the Welsh toong that is spoken in the north & south part of Wales, doth differ so much in it selfe, as the English vsed in Scotland dooth from that which is spoken among vs here in this side of the Iland, as I haue said alreadie.

Scottish english. The Scottish english hath beene much broader and lesse pleasant in vtterance than ours, because that nation hath not till of late indeuored to bring the same to any perfect order, and yet it was such in maner, as Englishmen themselues did speake for the most part beyond the Trent, whither any great amendement of our language had not as then extended it selfe. Howbeit in our time the Scottish language endeuoreth to come neere, if not altogither to match our toong in finenesse of phrase, and copie of words, and this may in part appeare by an historie of the Apocripha translated into Scottish verse by Hudson, dedicated to the king of that countrie, and conteining sixe books, except my memorie doo faile me.

Thus we sée how that vnder the dominion of the king of England, and in the south parts of the realme, we haue thrée seuerall toongs, that is to saie, English, British, and Cornish, and euen so manie are in Scotland, if you accompt the English speach for one: notwithstanding that for bredth and quantitie of the region, I meane onelie of the soile of the maine Iland, it be somewhat lesse to see to than the other. For in the The wild Scots.
Redshanks.
Rough footed Scots. north part of the region, where the wild Scots, otherwise called the Redshanks, or rough footed Scots (because they go bare footed and clad in mantels ouer their saffron shirts after the Irish maner) doo inhabit,
Irish Scots.
Irish speech. they speake good Irish which they call Gachtlet, as they saie of one Gathelus, whereby they shew their originall to haue in times past béene fetched out of Ireland: as I noted also in the chapiter precedent, and wherevnto Vincentius cap. de insulis Oceani dooth yéeld his assent, saieng that Ireland was in time past called Scotia; "Scotia eadem (saith he) & Hibernia, proxima Britanniæ insula, spatio terrarum angustior, sed situ fœcundior; Scotia autem à Scotorum gentibus traditur appellata, &c." Out of the 14. booke of Isidorus intituled Originum, where he also addeth that it is called Hybernia, because it bendeth toward Iberia. But I find elsewhere that it is so called by certeine Spaniards which came to seeke and plant their inhabitation in the same, wherof in my Chronologie I haue spoken more at large.

In the Iles of the Orchades, or Orkeney, as we now call them, & such coasts of Britaine as doo abbut vpon the same, the Gottish or Danish speach is altogither in vse, and also in Shetland, by reason (as I take it) that the princes of Norwaie held those Ilands so long vnder their subiection, albeit they were otherwise reputed as rather to belong to Ireland, bicause that the verie soile of them is enimie to poison, as some write, although for my part I had neuer any sound experience of the truth hereof. And thus much haue I thought good to speake of our old speaches, and those fiue languages now vsuallie spoken within the limits of our Iland.

INTO HOW MANIE KINGDOMS THIS ILAND HATH BEENE DIUIDED.
CAP. VII.

Gwinhed. In the begining it was diuided into two kingdoms onelie, that is to saie, Venedotia or Gwynhedh (otherwise called Deheubarth) and Demetia, for which we now vse most cōmonlie the names of South & Northwales. But in a short processe of time a third sprung vp in the verie middest betwéene them both, which from thence-foorth was called Powisy, as shalbe shewed hereafter. For Roderijc the great, who flourished 850. of Christ, and was king of all Wales (which then conteined onlie six regions) leauing thrée sons behind him, by his last will & testament diuided the countrie into thrée portions, according to the number of his children, of which he assigned one vnto either of them, wherby Morwing or Morwinner had Gwynhedh or Northwales, Cadelh Demetia or Southwales, and Anaralt Powisy, as Giraldus and other doo remember. Howbeit it came to passe that after this diuision, Cadelh suruiued all his brethren, and thereby became lord of both their portions, and his successors after him vntill the time of Teuther or Theodor (all is one) after which they were contented to kéepe themselues within the compasse of Demetia, which (as I said) conteined 29. of those 49. cantreds before mentioned, as Powisy did six, and Gwinhedh fourtéene, except my memorie doo faile me.

Venedotia. The first of these thrée, being called (as I said) Northwales or Venedotia (or as Paulus Iouius saith Malfabrene, for he diuideth Wales also into thrée regions, of which he calleth the first Dumbera, the second Berfrona, and the third Malfabrene) lieth directlie ouer against Anglesei. the Ile of Anglesei, the chiefe citie whereof stood in the Ile of Anglesei and was called Aberfraw. It conteineth 4. regions, of which the said Iland is the first, and whereof in the chapter insuing I wille Arfon. intreat more at large. The second is called Arfon, and situate betweene
Merioneth. two riuers, the Segwy and the Conwy. The third is Merioneth, and as it
Stradcluyd or Tegenia. is seuered from Arfon by the Conwy, so is it separated from Tegenia (otherwise called Stradcluyd and Igenia the fourth region) by the riuer Cluda. Finallie, the limits of this latter are extended also euen vnto the Dée it selfe, and of these foure regions consisteth the kingdome of Venedotia, whereof in times past the region of the Canges was not the smallest portion.

Powisy. The kingdome of Powisy, last of all erected, as I said, hath on the north side Gwinhedh, on the east (from Chester to Hereford, or rather to Deane forest) England, on the south and west the riuer Wy and verie high hilles, whereby it is notablie seuered from Southwales, the chiefe citie thereof being at the first Salopsburg, in old time Pengwerne, and Ynwithig, but now Shrowesburie, a citie or towne raised out of the ruines of Vricouium, which (standing 4. miles from thence, and by the Saxons called Wrekencester and Wrokecester, before they ouerthrew it) is now inhabited with méere English, and where in old time the kings of Powisy did dwell and hold their palaces, till Englishmen draue them from thence to Matrauall in the same prouince, where they from thencefoorth aboad. Vpon the limits of this kingdome, and not far from Holt castell, vpon ech side of the riuer, as the chanell now runneth, stood sometime Bangor. the famous monasterie of Bangor, whilest the abated glorie of the Britons yet remained vnextinguished, and herein were 2100. monkes, of which, the learned sort did preach the Gospell, and the vnlearned labored with their hands, thereby to mainteine themselues, and to sustaine their preachers. This region was in like sort diuided afterward Mailrosse. in twaine, of which, the one was called Mailor or Mailrosse, the other reteined still hir old denomination, and of these the first laie by south, & the latter by north of the Sauerne.

Fowkes de Warren. As touching Mailrosse, I read moreouer in the gests of Fowkes de Warren, how that one William sonne to a certeine ladie sister to Paine Peuerell, the first lord of Whittington, after the conquest did win a part of the same, and the hundred of Ellesmore from the Welshmen, in which enterprise he was so desperatlie wounded, that no man hight him life; yet at the last by eating of the shield of a wild bore, he got an appetite and recouered his health. This William had issue two daughters, Helene.
Mellent. to wit, Helene maried to the heir of the Alans, and Mellent which refused mariage with anie man, except he were first tried to be a knight of prowesse. Herevpon hir father made proclamation, that against such a daie & at such a place, whatsoeuer Gentleman could shew himselfe most valiant in the field, should marrie Mellent his daughter, & haue with hir his castell of Whittington with sufficient liueliehood to mainteine their estates for euer. This report being spred, Fowkes de Warren came thither all in red, with a shield of siluer and pecocke for his crest, whereof he was called the red knight, and there ouercomming the kings sonne of Scotland, and a Baron of Burgundie, he maried the maid, and by hir had issue as in the treatise appeareth. There is yet great mention of the red knight in the countrie there about; and much like vnto this Mellent was the daughter sometime of one of the lord Rosses, called The originall of Fitz Henries. Kudall, who bare such good will to Fitz-Henrie clarke of hir fathers kitchen, that she made him carie hir awaie on horssebacke behind him, onlie for his manhood sake, which presentlie was tried. For being pursued & ouer taken, she made him light, & held his cloke whilest he killed and draue hir fathers men to flight: and then awaie they go, till hir father conceiuing a good opinion of Fitz-Henrie for this act, receiued him to his fauour, whereby that familie came vp. And thus much (by the waie) of Mailrosse, whereof this may suffice, sith mine intent is not as now to make anie precise description of the particulars of Wales; but onelie to shew how those regions laie, which sometime were Demetia. knowne to be gouerned in that countrie. The third kingdome is Demetia, or Southwales, sometime knowne for the region of the Syllures, wherevnto I also am persuaded, that the Ordolukes laie in the east part thereof, and extended their region euen vnto the Sauerne: but howsoeuer that matter falleth out, Demetia hath the Sauerne on hir south, the Irish sea on hir west parts, on the east the Sauerne onelie, and by north the land of Powisy, whereof I spake of late.

Cair Maridunum. Of this region also Caermarden, which the old writers call Maridunum, was the chéefe citie and palace belonging to the kings of Southwales, vntill at the last through forren and ciuill inuasions of enimies, the princes thereof were constrained to remooue their courts to Dinefar (which is in Cantermawr, and situate neuerthelesse vpon the same riuer Tewy, wheron Caermarden standeth) in which place it is far better defended with high hils, thicke woods, craggie rocks, and déepe marises. In this region also lieth Pembroke aliàs Penmoroc shire, whose fawcons haue béene in old time very much regarded, and therein likewise is Milford hauen, whereof the Welsh wisards doo yet dreame strange toies, which they beleeue shall one daie come to passe. For they are a nation much giuen to fortelling of things to come, but more to beléeue such blind prophesies as haue béene made of old time, and no man is accompted for learned in Wales that is not supposed to haue the spirit of prophesie.

Pictland.
Scotland.
Picts.
Scots. That Scotland had in those daies two kingdoms, (besides that of the Orchades) whereof the one consisted of the Picts, and was called Pightland or Pictland, the other of the Irish race, and named Scotland: I hope no wise man will readilie denie. The whole region or portion of the Ile beyond the Scotish sea also was so diuided, that the Picts laie on the east side, and the Scots on the west, ech of them being seuered from other, either by huge hils or great lakes and riuers, that ran out of the south into the north betwéene them. It séemeth also that at the first these two kingdoms were diuided from the rest of those of the Britons by the riuers Cluda and Forth, till both of them desirous to inlarge their dominions, draue the Britons ouer the Solue and the Twede, which then became march betweene both the nations. Wherefore the case being so plaine, I will saie no more of these two, but procéed in order with the rehersall of the rest of the particular kingdoms of this our south part of the Ile, limiting out the same by shires as they now lie, so néere as I can, for otherwise it shall be vnpossible for me to leaue certaine notice of the likeliest quantities of these their seuerall portions.

Kent Henghist. The first of these kingdoms therefore was begunne in Kent by Henghist in the 456. of Christ, and thereof called the kingdome of Kent or Cantwarland, and as the limits thereof extended it selfe no farther than the said countie (the cheefe citie whereof was Dorobernia or Cantwarbyry now Canturburie) so it indured well néere by the space of 400. yeares, before it was made an earledome or Heretochie, and vnited by Inas vnto that of the West Saxons, Athelstane his sonne, being the first Earle or Heretoch of the same. Maister Lambert in his historie of Kent dooth gather, by verie probable coniectures, that this part of the Iland was first inhabited by Samothes, and afterward by Albion. But howsoeuer that case standeth, sure it is that it hath béen the onelie doore, whereby the Romans and Saxons made their entrie vnto the conquest of the region, but first of all Cæsar, who entred into this Iland vpon the eightéenth Cal. or 14. of September, which was foure daies before the full of the moone, as he himselfe confesseth, and then fell out about the 17. or 18. of that moneth, twelue daies before the equinoctiall (apparant) so that he did not tarrie at that time aboue eight or ten daies in Britaine. And as this platforme cannot be denied for his entrance, so the said region and east part of Kent, was the onelie place by which the knowledge of Christ was first brought ouer vnto vs, whereby we became partakers of saluation, and from the darkenesse of mistie errour, true conuerts vnto the light and bright beames of the shining truth, to our eternall benefit and euerlasting comforts.

Southsax.
Ella. The second kingdome conteined onelie Sussex, and a part of (or as some saie all) Surrie, which Ella the Saxon first held: who also erected his chéefe palace at Chichester, when he had destroied Andredswald in the 492. of Christ. And after it had continued by the space of 232. years, it ceased, being the verie least kingdome of all the rest, which were founded in this Ile after the comming of the Saxons (for to saie truth, it conteined little aboue 7000. families) & within a while after the erection of the kingdome of the Gewisses or Westsaxons, notwithstanding that before the kings of Sussex pretended and made claime to all that which laie west of Kent, and south of the Thames, vnto the point of Corinwall, as I haue often read.

Eastsax.
Erkenwiin. The third regiment was of the East Saxons, or Tribonantes. This kingdome began vnder Erkenwijn, whose chéefe seat was in London (or rather Colchester) and conteined whole Essex, Middlesex, and part of Herfordshire. It indured also much about the pricke of 303. yeares, and was diuided from that of the East Angles onlie by the riuer Stoure, as Houeden and others doo report, & so it continueth separated from Suffolke euen vnto our times, although the said riuer be now growne verie small, and not of such greatnesse as it hath béene in times past, by reason that our countriemen make small accompt of riuers, thinking carriage made by horsse and cart to be the lesse chargeable waie. But herin how far they are deceiued, I will else-where make manifest declaration.

Westsax. The fourth kingdome was of the West Saxons, and so called, bicause it laie in the west part of the realme, as that of Essex did in the east,
Cerdiic. and of Sussex in the south. It began in the yeare of Grace 519. vnder Cerdijc, and indured vntill the comming of the Normans, including at the last all Wiltshire, Barkeshire, Dorset, Southampton, Somersetshire, Glocestershire, some part of Deuonshire (which the Britons occupied not) Cornewall, and the rest of Surrie, as the best authors doo set downe. At the first it conteined onelie Wiltshire, Dorcetshire, and Barkeshire, but yer long the princes thereof conquered whatsoeuer the kings of Sussex and the Britons held vnto the point of Cornewall, and then became first Dorchester (vntill the time of Kinigils) then Winchester the chéefe citie of that kingdome. For when Birinus the moonke came into England, the said Kinigils gaue him Dorchester, and all the land within seauen miles about, toward the maintenance of his cathedrall sea, by meanes whereof he himselfe remooued his palace to Winchester.

Brennicia, aliàs Northumberland. The fift kingdome began vnder Ida, in the 548. of Christ, and was called Northumberland, bicause it laie by north of the riuer Humber. And from
Ida. the comming of Henghist to this Ida, it was onlie gouerned by earls or Heretoches as an Heretochy, till the said Ida conuerted it into a kingdome. It conteined all that region which (as it should séeme) was in time past either wholie apperteining to the Brigants, or whereof the said Brigants did possesse the greater part. The cheefe citie of the same in like maner was Yorke, as Beda, Capgraue, Leyland, and others doo set downe, who ad thereto that it extended from the Humber vnto the Scotish sea, vntill the slaughter of Egfride of the Northumbers, after which time the Picts gat hold of all, betweene the Forth and the Twede, which afterward descending to the Scots by meanes of the vtter destruction of the Picts, hath not béene sithens vnited to the crowne of England, nor in possession of the meere English, as before time it had béene. Such was the crueltie of these Picts also in their recouerie of the same, that at a certeine houre they made a Sicilien euensong, and slew euerie English man, woman and child, that they could laie hold vpon within the aforesaid region, but some escaped narrowlie, and saued themselues by flight.

Deira. Afterward in the yeare of Grace 560. it was parted in twaine, vnder Adda, that yeelded vp all his portion, which lay betweene Humber and the Tine
Ella. vnto his brother Ella (according to their fathers appointment) who called it Deira, or Southumberland, but reteining the rest still vnto his owne vse, he diminished not his title, but wrote himselfe as before king of all Northumberland. Howbeit after 91. yeares, it was revnited againe, and so continued vntill Alfred annexed the whole to his kingdome, in the 331. after Ida, or 878. of the birth of Jesus Christ our Sauiour.

Eastangles Offa, à quo Offlingæ. The seauenth kingdome, called of the East-Angles, began at Norwich in the 561. after Christ, vnder Offa, of whom the people of that region were long time called Offlings. This included all Norfolke, Suffolke, Cambridgeshire, and Elie, and continuing 228. yeares, it flourished onelie 35. yeares in perfect estate of liberte, the rest being consumed vnder the tribut and vassallage of the Mercians, who had the souereigntie thereof, and held it with great honour, till the Danes gat hold of it, who spoiled it verie sore, so that it became more miserable than any of the other, and so remained till the kings of the West-saxons vnited it to their crownes. Some saie that Grantcester, but now Cambridge (a towne erected out of hir ruines) was the chéefe citie of this kingdome, and not Norwich. Wherein I may well shew the discord of writers, but I cannot resolue the scruple. Some take this region also to be all one with that of the Icenes, but as yet for my part I cannot yeeld to their assertions, I meane it of Leland himselfe, whose helpe I vse chéefelie in these collections, albeit in this behalfe I am not resolued that he doth iudge aright.

The 8. & last was that of Mertia, which indured 291. yeares, and for greatnesse exceeded all the rest. It tooke the name either of Mearc the Saxon word, bicause it was march to the rest (and trulie, the limits of most of the other kingdomes abutted vpon the same) or else for that the Mertia. lawes of Martia the Queene were first vsed in that part of the Iland. But as this later is but a méere coniecture of some, so the said Creodda. kingdome began vnder Creodda, in the 585. of Christ, & indured well néere 300. yeares before it was vnited to that of the West-saxons by Alfred, then reigning in this Ile. Before him the Danes had gotten hold thereof, and placed one Ceolulph an idiot in the same; but as he was soone reiected for his follie, so it was not long after yer the said Alfred (I saie) annexed it to his kingdome by his manhood. The limits Limits of Mertia. of the Mertian dominions included Lincolne, Northampton, Chester, Darbie, Nottingham, Stafford, Huntington, Rutland, Oxford, Buckingham, Worcester, Bedford shires, and the greatest part of Shropshire (which the Welsh occupied not) Lancaster, Glocester, Hereford (alias Hurchford) Warwijc and Hertford shires: the rest of whose territories were holden by such princes of other kingdomes through force as bordered vpon the same. Moreouer, this kingdome was at one time diuided into south and north Mertia, whereof this laie beyond and the other on this side of the Trent, which later also Oswald of Northumberland did giue to Weada the sonne of Penda for kindred sake, though he not long inioied it. This also is worthie to be noted, that in these eight kingdomes of the Saxons, there were twelue princes reputed in the popish Catalog for saints or martyrs, of which Alcimund, Edwine, Oswald, Oswijn and Aldwold reigned in Northumberland; Sigebert, Ethelbert, Edmond, and another Sigebert among the Estangels; Kenelme and Wistan in Mertia; and Saint Edward the confessor, ouer all; but how worthilie, I referre me to the iudgement of the learned. Thus much haue I thought good to leaue in memorie of the aforesaid kingdomes: and now will I speake somewhat of the diuision of this Iland also into prouinces, as the Romanes seuered it whiles they remained in these parts. Which being done, I hope that I haue discharged whatsoeuer is promised in the title of this chapter.

The Romans therefore hauing obteined the possession of this Iland, diuided the same at the last into fiue prouinces, as Vibius Sequester Britannia prima. saith. The first whereof was named Britannia prima, and conteined the east part of England (as some doo gather) from the Trent vnto the Twede. Valentia. The second was called Valentia or Valentiana, and included the west side, as they note it, from Lirpoole vnto Cokermouth. The third hight Britannia secunda. Britannia secunda, and was that portion of the Ile which laie Flauia Cæsariensis. southwards, betwéene the Trent and the Thames. The fourth was surnamed Flauia Cæsariensis, and conteined all the countrie which remained betweene Douer and the Sauerne, I meane by south of the Thames, and wherevnto (in like sort) Cornewall and Wales were orderlie assigned. Maxima Cæsariensis. The fift and last part was then named Maxima Cæsariensis, now Scotland, the most barren of all the rest, and yet not vnsought out of the gréedie Romanes, bicause of the great plentie of fish and foule, fine alabaster and hard marble that are ingendred and to be had in the same, for furniture of houshold and curious building, wherein they much delited. More hereof in Sextus Rufus, who liued in the daies of Valentine, and wrate Notitiam prouinciarum now extant to be read.