“Also, if any smith holder, or any other be debtor, for mine to a miner, the which smith holder or other be within, then the miner is bailiff in every place (except his own close), to take the horse of the debtor, if he be saddled with a work saddle, and with no other saddle; and be it that the horse be half within the door of the smith, so that the miner may take the tail of the horse, the debtor shall deliver the horse to the miner. And if he so do not, the miner shall make and levy hue and cry upon the said horse, and then the horse shall be forfeit to the king for the hue and cry made and levied, and yet the miner shall present the debtor in the Mind Law, which is the court for the mine.”
“And the debtor before the constable and his clerk, the gaveler and the miners, and none other folk to plead the right, only the ministers shall be there, and hold a stick of holly, and the said miner demanding the debt, shall put his hand upon the said stick, and none other with him, and he shall swear by his faith, that the said debt is to him due; and the prove made, the debtor, in the same place, shall pay the miner all the debt proved, or else he shall be brought to the castle of St. Briavells till grace be made, and also he shall be amerced to the king in two shillings.
“Also the miner hath such franchises to inquire the mine in every soil of the king’s of which it may be named, and also of all other folk, without withsaying of any man.
“And also if any be that denieth any soil, whatsoever it be, be it sound or no, or of what degree it may be named, then the gaveler, by the strength of the king, shall deliver the soil to the miners, with a convenient way, next stretching to the king’s highway, by the which mine may be carried to all places and waters that lean convenient to the said mine, without withsaying of any man.”
The Forest of Dean plays a conspicuous part in the wars of Monmouthshire, serving as a natural outwork for the county. The following transaction is described by Sanderson, the historian of Charles I.:—“After Sir William Waller,” says he, “had refreshed his men, he advanced towards Monmouthshire, invited by some gentlemen to reduce these parts. At his coming to the town of Monmouth, the garrison of the lord Herbert retired, leaving a naked place to Sir William; where he found small success of his parties, sent abroad for supplies of money. He marches to Usk, and spending some time to no purpose in that county, he returns, the stream of the people affording him no welcome, being all universal tenants of that county to the earl of Worcester.
“In this time Prince Maurice enters Teuxbury, with a brigade of horse and foot added to the lord Grandeson, resolving to make after Waller, or to meet his return out of Wales. A bridge of boats wafts him over the Severn, with a body of two thousand horse and foot. Waller was nimble in his retreat, not to be catcht in a noose or neck of Wales; but, by a bridge of boats, came back at Chepstow, with his foot and artillery, and himself, with his horse and dragoons, passed through the lowest part of the Forest of Dean, near the river side of Severn; and ere the prince had notice, sends forth two parties to fall upon two of the Prince’s quarters, which was performed, while Waller’s main body slipped between both, and a party was left also to face them, and make good the retreat, which came off but disorderly, with loss of some soldiers. It was held a handsome conveyance, and unexpected, to bring himself out of the snare by uncouth ways.”
Gloucestershire, of which the Forest of Dean forms a part, although still boasting one of the richest soils in England, is no longer a wine country. “The ground,” according to William of Malmesbury, “spontaneously produces fruit in taste and colour far exceeding others, many of which will keep the year round, so as to serve their owners till others come in again. No county in England has more or richer vineyards, or which yield greater plenty of grapes, and of a more agreeable flavour. The wine has not a disagreeable sharpness to the taste, as it is little inferior to that of France in sweetness.” On this Camden remarks, that it is more owing to “the indolence of the inhabitants than to the alteration in the climate,” that in his time wine was no longer a production of the county.
Vines were introduced into Britain by the Romans, and the hills of South Wales became more especially famous for their vineyards. They were mentioned in the Domesday Book, before the time of William of Malmesbury; and tithes of wines are frequently alluded to in the records of cathedrals.
CHAPTER VI.
Iron furnaces of the Wye—Lidbroke—Nurse of Henry V.—Coldwell Rocks—Symond’s Yat—New Weir—Monmouth.
The woods rising amphitheatrically on the left bank, just before reaching Ruerdean, are called Bishop’s Wood; and there will be observed, for the first time of their presenting themselves conspicuously, the iron furnaces, which form a very striking characteristic of the river.
The iron furnaces on the Wye rather add to than diminish the effect of the scenery. This is caused by the abundance of wood in the furnace districts, which conceals the details, while it permits the smoke to ascend in wreaths through the trees, and float like a veil around the hills. These works, however, are merely a modern revival of a species of industry which extends backwards beyond the reach of history. The heaps of cinders which are discovered on the hills of Monmouthshire are the production either of bloomeries, the most ancient mode of fusing iron, or of furnaces of a very antique construction. The operation of smelting was performed in both of these by means of charcoal; and after the lands were cleared, the want of fuel led to the decline of the iron works. About eighty years ago, in consequence of the discovery of the mode of making pig iron, and subsequently even bar iron, with coal instead of charcoal, this branch of industry suddenly revived; although on the Wye charcoal is still burnt, and made upon the spot, where, instead of vulgarising the district, it adds a very remarkable feature to the picturesque.
At Lidbroke, on the same side, the commoner sympathies of life come into play, and the vulgar occupations of men serve at once to diversify the scene, and even to give it a new character of the picturesque. The lower passage has hitherto been chiefly distinguished by a romantic grandeur, both in the forms of nature, and the associations of history; and even the iron furnaces, from the circumstances we have mentioned, have added a charm congenial to the character of the picture. At Lidbroke, the new adjunct is nothing more than a wharf, with little vessels lying near it,—boats passing and repassing,—horses, carts, men, women, and children stirring along the banks: but the whole, in such a spot, forms an assemblage which adds, by contrast, to the general effect.