Certes euerie small occasion in my time is enough to cut downe a great wood, and euerie trifle sufficeth to laie infinit acres of corne ground vnto pasture. As for the taking downe of houses, a small fine will beare out a great manie. Would to God we might once take example of the Romans, who in restreint of superfluous grasing, made an exact limitation, how manie head of cattell ech estate might kéepe, and what numbers of acres should suffice for that and other purposes. Neither was wood euer better cherished or mansion houses mainteined, than by their lawes and statutes. Such also was their care in the maintenance of nauigation, that it was a great part of the charge of their consuls, yéerelie to view and looke vnto the hilles whereon great timber did grow, least their vnnecessarie faults for the satisfaction of the priuat owner, and his couetous mind might prooue a preiudice vnto the common wealth, in the hinderance of sufficient stuffe for the furniture of their nauie. Certes the like hereof is yet obserued in Venice. Read also I praie you what Suetonius writeth of the consulship of Bibulus and Cesar. As for the wood that Ancus Martius dedicated toward the maintenance of the common nauie, I passe it ouer, as hauing elsewhere remembred it vnto another end. But what doo I meane to speake of these, sith my purpose is onlie to talke of our owne woods? Well, take this then for a finall conclusion in woods, that beside some countries are alreadie driuen to sell their wood by the pound, which is an heauie report: within these fortie yéeres we shall haue little great timber growing aboue fortie yéeres old; for it is commonlie séene that those yoong staddles which we leaue standing at one & twentie yéeres fall, are vsuallie at the next sale cut downe without any danger of the statute, and serue for fire bote, if it please the owner to burne them.
Marises and fennes. Marises and fennie bogges we haue manie in England, though not now so many as some of the old Roman writers doo specifie, but more in Wales, if you haue respect vnto the seuerall quantities of the countries. Howbeit as they are verie profitable in the summer halfe of the yeere, so are a number of them which lie lowe and néere to great riuers, to small commoditie in the winter part, as common experience dooth teach. Yet this I find of manie moores, that in times past they haue béene harder ground, and sundrie of them well replenished with great woods, that now are void of bushes. And for example hereof, we may sée the triall (beside the roots that are dailie found in the déeps of Monmouth, where turfe is digged, also in Wales, Aburgauennie, and Merioneth) in sundrie parts of Lancashire, where great store of firre hath growen in times past, as I said, and the people go vnto this daie into their fens and marises with long spits, which they dash here and there vp to the verie cronge into the ground. In which practise, (a thing commonlie doone in winter) if they happen to smite vpon anie firre trées which lie there at their whole lengths, or other blocks, they note the place, and about haruest time, when the ground is at the driest, they come againe and get them vp, and afterward carieng them home, applie them to their vses. The like doo they in Shropshire with the like, which hath beene felled in old time, within 7 miles of Salop. Some of them foolishlie suppose the same to haue lien there since Noies floud: and other more fond than the rest, imagine them to grow euen in the places where they find them, without all consideration that in times past, the most part, if not all Lhoegres and Cambria was generallie replenished with wood, which being felled or ouerthrowne vpon sundrie occasions, was left lieng in some places still on the ground, and in processe of time became to be quite ouergrowne with earth and moulds, which moulds wanting their due sadnesse, are now turned into moorie plots. Wherby it commeth to passe also, that great plentie of water commeth betwéene the new loose swart and the old hard earth, that being drawen awaie by ditching and draines (a thing soone doone if our countrie-men were painfull in that behalfe) might soone leaue a drie soile to the great lucre and aduantage of the owner. We find in our histories, that Lincolne was somtime builded by Lud brother to Cassibelan, who called it Cair Ludcoit, of the great store of woods that inuironed the same: but now the commoditie is vtterlie decaied there, so that if Lud were aliue againe, he would not call it his citie in the wood, but rather his towne in the plaines: for the wood (as I heare) is wasted altogither about the same. The hilles called the Peke were in like sort named Mennith and Orcoit, that is, the wooddie hilles and forrests. But how much wood is now to be séene in those places, let him that hath béene there testifie, if he list; for I heare of no such store there as hath béene in time past by those that trauell that waie. And thus much of woods and marises, and so far as I can deale with the same.
OF BATHS AND HOT WELLES.
CHAP. XXIII.
As almightie GOD hath in most plentifull maner bestowed infinit, and those verie notable benefits vpon this Ile of Britaine, whereby it is not a little inriched: so in hot and naturall baths (whereof we haue diuerse in sundrie places) it manifestlie appéereth that he hath not forgotten England. There are sundrie baths therefore to be found in this realme, of which the first is called saint Vincents, the second Halliewell; both being places (in my opinion) more obscure than the other two, and yet not seldome sought vnto by such as stand in need. For albeit the fame of their forces be not so generallie spread, yet in some cases they are thought to be nothing inferior to the other, as diuerse haue often affirmed by their owne experience and triall. The third place wherein hot baths are to be found is néere vnto Buxston, a towne in Darbishire, situat in the high Peke, not passing sixtéene miles from Manchester, or Markechesterford, and twentie from Darbie, where, about eight or nine seuerall welles are to be séene; of which thrée are counted to be most excellent: but of all, the greatest is the hotest, void of corruption, and compared (as Iones saith) with those of Summersetshire, so cold indéed, as a quart of boiling water would be made if fiue quartes of running water were added therevnto; whereas on the other side, those of Bath likened vnto these, haue such heat appropriated vnto them, as a gallon of hot water hath when a quart of cold is mixed with the same. Herevpon the effect of this bath worketh more temperatlie and pleasantlie (as he writeth) than the other. And albeit that it maketh not so great spéed in cure of such as resort vnto it for helpe: yet it dealeth more effectuallie and commodiouslie than those in Summersetshire, and infer with all lesse greeuous accidents in the restreining of naturall issues, strengthening the affeebled members, assisting the liuelie forces, dispersing annoious oppilations, and qualifieng of sundrie griefes, as his experience hath oft confirmed. The like vertues haue the other two, but not in such measure: and therefore their operation is not so speedilie perceiued. The fourth place where baths are, is kings Newnam, and within certeine miles of Couentrie, the water wherof (as it is thought) procéedeth from some rocke of allume, and this I vnderstand by diuerse glouers which haue béene there, and also by mine owne experience, that it hath a tast much like to allume liquor, and yet nothing vnplesant nor vnsauorie in the drinking. There are thrée welles in all, but the chiefest and best of them riseth out of an hill, and runneth toward the south, & from thence infinit plentie of water without anie notable diminution of the spring is dailie caried into sundrie parties of the realme, & droonke by such as haue néed to occupie the same. Of the other two, one is reserued for such as be comelie personages and void of lothsome diseases: the other is left common for tag and rag; but clensed dailie as the other is, whereby it becommeth the wholesomer. Manie diseases also are cured in the same, as the palsie, dimnesse of sight, dulnesse of hearing, but especiallie the collike and the stone, old sores and gréene wounds; so that I suppose there was neuer anie compound medicine of greater and more spéedie force in these behalfes, than the vse of this simple liquor is to such as doo frequent it. The said water hath a naturall propertie also following it which is rare, for if a leafe, or sticke of ash, oke, &c: doo fall into the same, within a short space, such store of fine sand (comming no doubt out of the earth with the water) will congeale and gather about it, that the forme being reserued, and the inner part not lightlie altered, it will seeme to become an hard stone, and much like vnto that which is ingendred in the kidneis of a man, as I haue séene by experience. At the first entrance it is verie cold, but after a season it warmeth the goer in, casting him into an indifferent heat. And this is furthermore remembred of it, that no man hath yet susteined anie manner of impeachment through the coldnesse of the same. The vertue thereof was found 1579 about Whitsuntide, by a man who had wounded himselfe, & comming by the same water, thought onelie to wash the blood from his hand therewith, and so to go home and séeke for helpe by surgerie: finallie finding the paine well asswaged, & the wound faire clensed, he departed, and misliking his vsuall medicins, he eftsoones came againe, and so often indéed vnto the said water till his hand was healed outright without anie other practise. By this meanes also he became a counsellor to other being hurt or in paine, that they should trie the vertue of this spring, who finding ease also, gaue out such commendation of the said water, that now at this present their fame is fullie equall, and the resort vnto them nothing inferior to that of the old baths. Beside this, the cures of such diseases as their forces do extend vnto, is much more speedie than we may haue at the other; and this is one commoditie also not smallie to be considered of. The fift place of baths or medicinable welles is at an hamlet called Newton, a little from saint Neots, or (as we pronounce it) saint Needs, which is ten or twelue miles from Cambridge, where two springs are knowne to be, of which the one is verie sweet and fresh, the other brackish & salt; this is good for scabs and leaperie (as it is said) the other for dimnesse of sight. Verie manie also doo make their repaire vnto them for sundrie diseases, some returning whole, and some nothing at all amended, bicause their cure is without the reach and working of those waters. Neuer went people so fast from the church, either vnto a faire or market, as they go to these wels, and those neere Rugbie, both places being discouered in this 1579 of Grace. I heare of another well to be found also about Ratcliffe néere London, euen at the same season. But sith rumors are now spred almost of euerie spring, & vaine tales flie about in maner of euerie water, I surcease to speake at all of anie other, till further experience doo trie whether they be medicinable or not: and yet I doubt not but most of these alredie mentioned haue heretofore bin knowne & remembred also, though confusedlie by the writers of old time; & yet in processe of time either neglected or forgotten, by meanes of sundrie troubles and turmoiles made in this realme by Danes, and other outward enimies, whereby their manifold benefit hath woonderfullie béene missed.
The last place of our baths, is a citie in Summersetshire, which taketh his name of the hot waters there to be séene and vsed. At the first it was called Cair Bledud, and not Cair Bledune, as some would haue it, for that is the old name of the ancient castell at Malmesburie, which the Saxons named Yngleburne. Ptolomie afterward called it Thermæ, other Aquæ solis, or Scamannia, or Acmancester, but now it hight generallie Bath in English, and vnder that name it is likelie to continue. The citie of it selfe is a verie ancient thing, no doubt, as may yet appeare by diuerse notable antiquities ingraued in stone, to be séene in the wals thereof; and first of all betweene the south gate and the west, and betwixt the west gate and the north.
The first is the antike head of a man, made all flat, with great locks of haire, much like to the coine that I haue seene of Antius the Romane. The second betweene the south and the north gate is an image, as I take it, of Hercules, for he held in each hand a serpent, and so dooth this. Thirdlie there standeth a man on foot with a sword in his one hand, and a buckler stretched out in the other. There is also a branch that lieth folded and wreathed into circles, like to the wreath of Alcimedon. There are moreouer two naked images, whereof the one imbraceth the other, beside sundrie antike heads, with ruffled haire, a greiehound running, and at his taile certeine Romane letters, but so defaced that no man liuing can read them at this present. There is moreouer the image of Lacaon, inuironed with two serpents, and an other inscription, and all these betwéene the south and the west gates, as I haue said before.
Now, betweene the west and north gate are two inscriptions, of which some words are euident to be read, the residue are cleane defaced. There is also the image of a naked man, and a stone in like sort, which hath "Cupidines & labruscas intercurrentes," and a table hauing at each hand an image vined and finelie florished both aboue and beneath. Finallie (sauing that I saw afterward the image of a naked man grasping a serpent in each hand) there was an inscription of a toome or buriall, wherein these words did plainelie appeare, "Vixit annos xxx" but so defusedlie written, that letters stood for whole words, and two or thrée letters combined into one. Certes I will not saie whether these were set into the places where they now stand by the gentiles, or brought thither from other ruines of the towne it selfe, and placed afterward in those wals, in their necessarie reparations. But howsoeuer the matter standeth, this is to be gathered by our histories, that Bladud first builded that citie there, and peraduenture might also kindle the sulphurous veines, of purpose to burne continuallie there in the honour of Minerua: by which occasion the springs thereabout did in processe of time become hot & not vnprofitable, for sundrie kinds of diseases. Indeed the later Pagans dreamed, that Minerua was the chéefe goddesse and gouernesse of these Chap. 25. waters, bicause of the néerenesse of hir temple vnto the same. Solinus addeth furthermore, how that in hir said temple, the fire which was continuallie kept, did neuer consume into dead sparkles; but so soone as the embers thereof were cold, they congealed into clots of hard stone: all which I take to be nothing else than the effect of the aforesaid fire, of the sulphurous veine kindled in the earth, from whence the waters doo come. That these baths or waters are deriued from such, the The Pyritis is found almost in euerie veine of mettall in great plentie, diuersities and colour, and somtimes mixed with that mettall of whose excrements it consisteth. marchasites, which the Grecians call Pyritis, per antonomasiam (for being smit with the iron, it yéeldeth more sparkes than anie flint or calcedonie, and therefore seemeth to deserue the name aboue the rest) and besides these other stones mixed with some copper, and dailie found vpon the mounteins thereabouts will beare sufficient witnesse, though I would write the contrarie. Doctor Turner also the father of English physicke, and an excellent diuine, supposeth that these springs doo draw their forces from sulphur: or if there be anie other thing mingled withall, he gesseth that it should be salt peter, bicause he found an obscure likelihood of the same, euen in the crosse bath. But that they participate with anie allume at all, he could neuer till his dieng daie be induced to beléeue. I might here (if I thought it necessarie) intreat of the notable situation of the citie, which standeth in a pleasant bottome, inuironed on euerie side with great hils, out of the which come so manie springs of pure water by sundrie waies vnto the citie, and in such abundance, as that euerie house is serued with the same by pipes of lead, the said mettall being the more plentious and lesse of value vnto them, bicause it is not had far off from those quarters. It should not be amisse also to speake of the foure gates, number of parish churches, bridges, religious houses dissolued, and their founders, if place did serue therefore: but for so much as my purpose is not to deale in this behalfe, I will omit the mention of these things, and go in hand with the baths themselues, wherof in the title of this chapiter I protested to intreat.
There are two springs of water (as Leland saith) in the west south west Crosse bath. part of the towne, whereof the biggest is called the crosse bath, of a certeine crosse that was erected sometime in the middest thereof. This bath is much frequented by such as are diseased with leaprie, pockes, scabs, and great aches: yet of it selfe it is verie temperate and pleasant, hauing eleuen or twelue arches of stone in the sides thereof, for men to stand vnder, when raine dooth ought annoie them.
Common bath. The common bath, or as some call it, the hot bath, is two hundred foot, or thereabout from the crosse bath, lesse in compasse within the wall than the other, and with onelie seauen arches, wrought out of the maine inclosure. It is worthilie called the hot bath, for at the first comming into it, men thinke that it would scald their flesh, and lose it from the bone: but after a season, and that the bodies of the commers thereto be warmed throughlie in the same, it is more tollerable and easie to be borne. Both these baths be in the middle of a little stréet, and ioine to S. Thomas hospitall, so that it may be thought that Reginald bishop of Bath made his house néere vnto these common baths, onelie to succour such poore people as should resort vnto them.
Kings bath. The kings bath is verie faire and large, standing almost in the middle of the towne, at the west end of the cathedrall church. It is compassed about with a verie high stone wall, and the brims thereof are mured round about, where in be two and thirtie arches for men and women to stand in separatlie, who being of the gentrie for the most part, doo Hot houses in some countries little better than brodels. resort thither indifferentlie, but not in such lasciuious sort as vnto other baths and hot houses of the maine, whereof some write more a great deale than modestie should reueale, and honestie performe. There went a sluce out of this bath, which serued in times past the priorie with water, which was deriued out of it vnto two places, and commonlie vsed for baths, but now I doo not thinke that they remaine in vsage.