But to leaue this lamentable discourse of so notable and gréeuous an inconuenience, growing (as I said) by incroching and ioining of house to house, and laieng land to land, whereby the inhabitants of manie places of our countrie are deuoured and eaten vp, and their houses either altogither pulled downe or suffered to decaie by litle and litle, although sometime a poore man peraduenture dooth dwell in one of them, who not being able to repare it, suffereth it to fall downe, & thereto thinketh himselfe verie friendlie dealt withall, if he may haue an acre of ground assigned vnto him whereon to kéepe a cow, or wherein to set cabbages, radishes, parsneps, carrets, melons, pompons, or such like stuffe, by which he and his poore household liueth as by their principall food, sith they can doo no better. And as for wheaten bread, they eat it when they can reach vnto the price of it, contenting themselues in the meane time with bread made of otes or barleie: a poore estate God wot! Howbeit what care our great incrochers? But in diuers places where rich men dwelled sometime in good tenements, there be now no houses at all, but hopyards, and sheads for poles, or peraduenture gardens, as we may sée in castell Hedingham, and diuerse other places. But to procéed.

It is so, that our soile being diuided into champaine ground and woodland, the houses of the first lie vniformelie builded in euerie towne togither with stréets and lanes, wheras in the woodland countries (except here and there in great market townes) they stand scattered abroad, each one dwelling in the midst of his owne occupieng. And as in manie and most great market townes, there are commonlie thrée hundred or foure hundred families or mansions, & two thousand communicants, or peraduenture more: so in the other, whether they be woodland or champaine, we find not often aboue fortie, fiftie, or thrée score households, and two or thrée hundred communicants, whereof the greatest part neuerthelesse are verie poore folkes, oftentimes without all maner of occupieng, sith the ground of the parish is gotten vp into a few mens hands, yea sometimes into the tenure of one, two or thrée, whereby the rest are compelled either to be hired seruants vnto the other, or else to beg their bread in miserie from doore to doore.

There are some (saith Leland) which are not so fauourable when they haue gotten such lands, as to let the houses remaine vpon them to the vse of the poore; but they will compound with the lord of the soile to pull them downe for altogither, saieng that if they did let them stand, they should but toll beggers to the towne, therby to surcharge the rest of the parish, & laie more burden vpon them. But alas these pitifull men sée not that they themselues hereby doo laie the greatest log vpon their neighbors necks. For sith the prince dooth commonlie loose nothing of his duties accustomable to be paid, the rest of the parishioners that remaine must answer and beare them out: for they plead more charge other waies, saieng; I am charged alreadie with a light horsse, I am to answer in this sort and after that maner. And it is not yet altogither out of knowledge, that where the king had seuen pounds thirteene shillings at a taske gathered of fiftie wealthie householders of a parish in England: now a gentleman hauing three parts of the towne in his owne hands, foure housholds doo beare all the aforesaid paiment, or else Leland is deceiued in his Commentaries lib. 13. latelie come to my hands, which thing he especiallie noted in his trauell ouer this Ile. A common plague & enormittie, both in the hart of the land and likewise vpon the coasts. Certes a great number compleine of the increase of pouertie, laieng the cause vpon God, as though he were in fault for sending such increase of people, or want of wars that should consume them, affirming that the land was neuer so full, &c: but few men doo sée the verie root from whence it dooth procéed. Yet the Romans found it out, when they florished, and therefore prescribed limits to euerie mans tenure and occupieng. Homer commendeth Achilles for ouerthrowing of fiue and twentie cities: but in mine opinion Ganges is much better preferred by Suidas for building of thrée score in Inde, where he did plant himselfe. I could (if néed required) set downe in this place the number of religious houses and monasteries, with the names of their founders that haue béene in this Iland: but sith it is a thing of small importance, I passe it ouer as impertinent to my purpose. Yet herein I will commend sundrie of the monasticall votaries, especiallie moonkes, for that they were authors of manie goodlie borowes and endwares, néere vnto their dwellings, although otherwise they pretended to be men separated from the world. But alas their couetous minds one waie in inlarging their reuenues, and carnall intent an other, appéered herin too too much. For being bold from time to time to visit their tenants, they wrought off great wickednesse, and made those endwares little better than brodelhouses, especiallie where nunries were farre off, or else no safe accesse vnto them. But what doo I spend my time in the rehearsall of these filthinesses? Would to God the memorie of them might perish with the malefactors! My purpose was also at the end of this chapter to haue set downe a table of the parish churches and market townes thorough out all England and Wales: but sith I can not performe the same as I would, I am forced to giue ouer my purpose: yet by these few that insue you shall easilie see what order I would haue vsed according to the shires, if I might haue brought it to passe.

Shires.Market townes.Parishes.
Middlesex. 373
London within the walles, and without. 120
Surrie.6140
Sussex.18312
Kent.17398
Cambridge.4163
Bedford.913
Huntingdon.578
Rutland.247
Barkeshire.11150
Northhampton.10326
Buckingham.11196
Oxford.10216
Southhampton.18248
Dorset.19279
Norffolke.26625
Suffolke.25575
Essex.18415

OF CASTELS AND HOLDS.
CHAP. XIV.

It hath béene of long time a question in controuersie, and not yet determined, whether holds and castels néere cities or anie where in the hart of common-wealths, are more profitable or hurtfull for the benefit of the countrie? Neuertheles it séemeth by our owne experience that we here in England suppose them altogither vnnéedfull. This also is apparent by the testimonie of sundrie writers, that they haue béene the ruine of manie a noble citie. Of Old Salisburie I speake not, of Anwarpe I saie nothing more than of sundrie other, whereof some also in my time neuer cease to incroch vpon the liberties of the cities adioining, thereby to hinder them what and wherin they may. For my part I neuer read of anie castell that did good vnto the citie abutting theron, but onelie the capitoll of Rome: and yet but once good vnto the same, in respect of the nine times whereby it brought it into danger of vtter ruine and confusion. Aristotle vtterlie denieth that anie castle at all can be profitable to a common wealth well gouerned. Timotheus of Corinthum affirmeth, that a castle in a common wealth is but a bréeder of tyrants. Pyrhus king of Epire being receiued also on a time into Athens, among other courtesies shewed vnto him, they led him also into their castell of Pallas, who at his departure gaue them great thanks for the fréendlie intertainment; but with this item, that they should let so few kings come into the same as they might, least (saith he) they teach you to repent too late of your great gentlenesse. Caietanus in his common-wealth hath finallie no liking of them, as appéereth in his eight booke of that most excellent treatise. But what haue I to deale whether they be profitable or not, sith my purpose is rather to shew what plentie we haue of them, which I will performe so far as shall be néedfull?

There haue béene in times past great store of castels and places of defense within the realme of England, of which some were builded by the Britons, manie by the Romans, Saxons, and Danes, but most of all by the barons of the realme, in & about the time of king Stephan, who licenced each of them to build so manie as them listed vpon their owne demeasnes, hoping thereby that they would haue imploied their vse to his aduantage and commoditie. But finallie when he saw that they were rather fortified against himselfe in the end, than vsed in his defense, he repented all too late of his inconsiderate dealing, sith now there was no remedie but by force for to subdue them. After his decease king Henrie the second came no sooner to the crowne, but he called to mind the inconuenience which his predecessour had suffered, and he himselfe might in time sustaine by those fortifications. Therefore one of the first things he did was an attempt to race and deface the most part of these holds. Certes he thought it better to hazard the méeting of the enimie now and then in the plaine field, than to liue in perpetuall feare of those houses, and the rebellion of his lords vpon euerie light occasion conceiued, who then were full so strong as he, if not more strong; and that made them the readier to withstand and gainesaie manie of those procéedings, which he and his successours from time to time intended. Herevpon therefore he caused more than eleuen hundred of their said castels to be raced and ouerthrowne, whereby the power of his nobilitie was not a little restreined. Since that time also, not a few of those which remained haue decaied, partlie by the commandement of Henrie the third, and partlie of themselues, or by conuersion of them into the dwelling houses of noble men, their martiall fronts being remooued: so that at this present, there are verie few or no castels at all mainteined within England, sauing onelie vpon the coasts and marches of the countrie for the better kéeping backe of the forren enimie, when soeuer he shall attempt to enter and annoie vs.

The most provident prince that euer reigned in this land, for the fortification thereof against all outward enimies, was the late prince of famous memorie king Henrie the eight, who beside that he repared most of such as were alreadie standing, builded sundrie out of the ground. For hauing shaken off the more than seruile yoke of popish tyrannie, and espieng that the emperour was offended for his diuorce from quéene Catharine his aunt, and thereto vnderstanding that the French king had coupled the Dolphin his sonne with the popes neece, and maried his daughter to the king of Scots (whereby he had cause more iustlie to suspect than safelie to trust anie one of them all as Lambert saith) he determined to stand vpon his owne defense, and therefore with no small spéed, and like charge, he builded sundrie blockehouses, castels, and platformes vpon diuerse frontiers of his realme, but chieflie the east and southeast parts of England, whereby (no doubt) he did verie much qualifie the conceiued grudges of his aduersaries, and vtterlie put off their hastie purpose of inuasion. But would to God he had cast his eie toward Harwich, and the coasts of Norffolke and Suffolke, where nothing as yet is doone! albeit there be none so fit and likelie places for the enimie to enter vpon, as in those parts, where, at a full sea they may touch vpon the shore and come to land without resistance. And thus much brieflie for my purpose at this present. For I néed not to make anie long discourse of castels, sith it is not the nature of a good Englishman to regard to be caged vp as in a coope, and hedged in with stone wals, but rather to meet with his enimie in the plaine field at handstrokes, where he maie trauaise his ground, choose his plot, and vse the benefit of sunne shine, wind and weather, to his best aduantage & commoditie. Isocrates also saith that towres, walles, bulworkes, The best kéepers of kingdomes. soldiers, and plentie of armour, are not the best kéepers of kingdomes; but freends, loue of subiects, & obedience vnto martiall discipline, which they want that shew themselues either cruell or couetous toward their people. As for those tales that go of Beston castell, how it shall saue all England on a daie, and likewise the brag of a rebellious baron in old time named Hugh Bigot, that said in contempt of king Henrie the third, and about the fiftith yeare of his reigne:

If I were in my castell of Bungeie,

Vpon the water of Waueneie,