[20] This city is called in the Flemish tongue Veuren.
[21] Parkgate had been a seaport of Cheshire for several years; it is situated at the mouth of the river Dee, ten miles distant from Chester, and one hundred and ninety-four from London. It has now ceased to be a port, the entrance to the harbour being choked by sand banks.
[22] This circumstance, as detailed above, actually occurred at Parkgate several years ago.
[23] Or Corvorant, the Pelicanus Carbo of Linneus.
[24] "In England (according to Willoughby) the cormorants were hood-winked in the manner of the falcons, until they were let off to fish, and a leather thong was tied round the lower part of their necks in order to prevent them swallowing the fish." Whitlock also mentions, that he had a cast of them manned like hawks, which would come to hand. He took much pleasure in them, and observes, "that the best he had was one presented to him by Mr. Wood, Master of the Corvorants to King Charles I."
[25] Paradise Lost, Book IV.
[26] The Via Appia which is noticed by Horace in his journey to Brundusium, "Minus est gravis Appia tardis."
[27] "The piece of ground without the walls, on which the annual horse-races of Chester are run, cannot well be passed over in silence. The Dee, after quitting the contracted pass at the bridge, flows beneath an incurvated clayey cliff, and washes on the right a fine and extensive meadow, long since protected against its ravages by a lofty dike: it is called Rood-eye.
"The name of this spot is taken from Eye, its watery situation, and Rood, the cross which stood there, whose base is still to be seen. On this place the lusty youth of former days exercised themselves in the manly sports of the age, in archery, running, leaping, and wrestling; in mock fights, and gallant and romantic triumphs.
"A standard was the prize of emulation in the sports celebrated on the Rood-eye. But in the year 1609 the amusements took a new form; and under the reign of the peaceful James the youthful cavaliers laid aside their mimic war, and horse-racing commenced.