I pressed Mr. Bertram to get the manuscript into his hands, if possible; which at length, with some difficulty, he accomplished; and, on my sollicitation, sent to me in letters a transcript of the whole; and at last a copy of the map, he having an excellent hand in drawing.
Upon perusal, I seriously sollicited him to print it, as the greatest treasure we now can boast of in this kind of learning. In the mean time, I have here extracted some account of the Treatise, for your present entertainment, as I gave it to Dr. Mead, and to my very worthy friend Mr. Gray of Colchester, some time past, at their request.
Ricardi monachi Westmonasteriensis commentariolum geographicum, de situ Brittaniæ, et stationum quas in ea insula Romani ædificaverunt.
Cap. I. Of the name and situation of the island.
Cap. II. Of the measure. He quotes Virgil, Agrippa, Marcianus, Livy, Fabius Rusticus, Tacitus, Ptolemy, Cæsar, Mela, Bede.
Cap. III. Of the inhabitants; their origin: he mentions reports of Hercules coming hither. Of their manners; chiefly from Cæsar’s Commentaries. Of the military of the Britons; chiefly from Cæsar’s Commentaries.
Cap. IV. Of the Druids authority and religion: in time of invasion all the princes chose a Dictator to command: chiefly from Cæsar.
Cap. V. Of the fertility of Britain, its metals, &c.
Cap. VI. Of the division of the island into seven provinces; Britannia Prima, Secunda, Flavia, Maxima, Valentia, and Vespasiana: these were all under the Roman power. Caledonia is additional to the former, being the north-west part of Scotland, the highlands, beyond Inverness. We never had a true notion of the division of these provinces before, nor that the Romans possessed all the country to Inverness.
This chapter is very long: but as to the matter of it, it is an invaluable curiosity to the inquirers into Roman Britain. He gives us an exact and copious chorography of the whole island; its boundaries, rivers, mountains, promontories, roads, nations, cities, and towns, in the time of the Romans. It is accompanied with an accurate map of faciei Romanæ, as the author terms it.