that the complete subjugation of Wales would lead to a curtailment of their own authority, and, therefore, they did not always co operate sincerely with the crown on these occasions. This particularly appeared when the last Prince of Wales was subdued by Edward I.: for after the death of Llewelin, "a note was found concealed in his sleeve, couched in obscure terms, and with feigned names, from which it might be plainly gathered, that several noblemen on the borders of Wales were not well pleased with the king's proceedings." But having fully succeeded in his design, Edward divided Wales into counties, and introduced many of cur English laws and customs throughout the principality.

The marches not being included in this division, became afterwards the scene of much irregularity and outrage. A court of judicature was, therefore, instituted for that particular district; and several noblemen and others successively resided at Ludlow Castle, in Shropshire, as Lords President of the Marches, in all the splendour of royalty, until the dissolution of the court by act of parliament in the first year of the reign of William and Mary. The preamble to the act stated, that the powers of the Lords President had been much abused, and that the institution "had become a great grievance to the subject." Amongst these grievances, were the mal-practices of the attornies and inferior officers of the court, "whereby," as the record states, "justice had lacked due execution, and the inhabitants had been sundry ways most grievously vexed and molested, as also by long delays of suits, and new exactions of fees, greatly impoverished, so that the court, which was in the beginning erected for the ease and relief of the inhabitants, was become to them, through such abuses, most grevious and intolerable."

The superior members of the court were, a lord president, a vicepresident, a chief justice, and council, among whom were many of the nobility resident in the several counties bordering on the Marches: subordinate officers were, a clerk of the council, clerk of the signet, keeper of the castle, gentleman porter, serjeants at arms, messengers, and a variety of others.'

We think that the industry of Mr. Duncumb would not have been ill directed, had it been employed in collecting and ascertaining the nature and extent of the jurisdiction exercised by these dread magistrates; and particularly those of the court at Ludlow, which was not abolished till after the revolution, long subsequent to the creation of the regular Welsh jurisdictions by the act of Henry VIII.

The curious record of the return made by Herefordshire on the demand by Henry I. of the feudal aid for the marriage of his daughter, is judiciously inserted in this part of the work. It throws great light on the state of property in the county at that period.

Chapter IV. brings the account to our own times; and. here we meet with a very interesting document, namely a copy of the return made by the sheriff, of the levy of ship

money

money in this county: stating, under the classification of the Hundreds, the name of every parish, and the sum at which it was assessed. We are next furnished with short sketches of the persons who have derived title from the capital of the county; the Fitzosbornes, the Milos, the Bohuns, the Plaztagenets, the Staffords, and the Devreuxs: with the high fame and exploits of many of whom, our early history is replete. To the parts which dwell on the geography and natural history of the county, and its domestic economy and scenery, as containing less of novelty, we shall be contented with merely referring our readers. The author has incorporated with his account, the interesting facts and conclusions which he found in the writings of Mr. T. A. Knight.

Remote from the court of England, separated in the direct line of communication from its other dominions by a ridge of lofty hills, and cut off from all intercourse with Wales by difference of language, and a spirit of fierce hostility, this insulated state would, it is natural to suppose, retard the advances of the human mind; and we believe that facts which warrant this inference are not wanting: but the author, fair and candid as we admit him to be, yet being resident if not born within its precincts, cannot be expected to be very alert in his search of them, nor very forward to point them out. His report, however, of its peculiar customs, not a little countenances the view of the matter here taken.

Among other practices of the common people, Mr. D. mentions that of Visiting Wells: on which he observes that

:

The heathens are known to have paid adoration to wells and fountains the Roman Catholic church also adopted this practice, and hence many wells are still termed Holy Wells, or retain the name of some saint to whom they were dedicated. St. Ethelbert's Well, in the city of Hereford, and many others in different parts of the county are still in some repute for their supposed medicinal qualities. A well in the parish of Dindor excites much emulation on each New-year's Day, in a contest for the first pail full of water, which is termed the cream of the well, and is presented to some neighbour as a mark of respect, and a pledge of good fortune; a pecuniary compliment is expected in return. This custom appears harmless; but it would be difficult, perhaps, to point out any useful or laudable purpose resulting from it.'

Another custom is thus stated:

On Twelfth Eve thirteen small fires are lighted on the growing wheat, and cakes and liquor distributed on the spot, amidst the loud invocations of the party, for the prosperity of the owner, and a plentiful produce of grain on his lands. This custom is well known under the name of wassalling, or wishing health, (from the Saxon language,) and is of great antiquity. It probably arose from the Roman feasts

offered

offered to Ceres, the goddess of corn, whose favour was thus invoked. A kind of divination is also practised on these occasions: a cake is placed on the horn of a favourite ox; the health of the animal is then toasted, and if the cake is thrown in one direction, it becomes the property of the principal servant, or otherwise that of the lowest.'

Descending now to particulars, Mr. D. begins with the capital, and details its military and civil history. He supposes it, though placed on a different site, to have sprung from the ruins of Magna Castra, and not to have been built before the settlement of the Saxons. We read of a synod held at it in A. D. 680. Offa, we have seen, resided in a palace in its vicinity. Athelstan, who negotiated a treaty with the Britons in this city, is supposed to have begun its fortifications; which Harold is conjectured to have repaired and strengthened during the expedition which he made into these parts, in consequence of the ravages committed by Gryflyth Prince of Wales, and Algar Earl of Chester. It is also imagined that Harold

built its castle.

In alluding to the commencement of the reign of Edward III. the author observes that the castle now began to be neglected; and in the time of Henry VIII. it fell into almost total decay having formerly, according to Leland, been "one of the fayrest, largest, and strongest castels in England." By means of a MS. in the collection at Hom Lacy, Mr. Duncumb has been able to throw considerable light on the dastardly surrender of this place to Sir William Waller, at the beginning of the civil wars, which is left unexplained in the histories of the period; as well as on the state of the king's affairs in general in these parts. He also inserts interesting original details of the gallant defence which it made when besieged by the Scotch under the Earl of Leven. From the statement transmitted to their employers by the Commissioners of Parliament, who were sent in 1652 to take a survey of the possessions of the crown in this county, it appears that the remains of this once important edifice were then valued at only 851. • The keep, (adds Mr. D.) has since been levelled, and no part of the walls remain; but the site of those which enclosed the larger ward is now converted into a public walk, and as such is deservedly admired.'

Treating of the civil history of this city, the author observes that it was the scene of that trial, the record of which has been given to the public by Dr. Hickes as an instance of the Saxon mode of proceeding. This relique is of far less value than we might at first suppose: since it serves for little else than to esta blish the fact of such a constituted jurisdiction, and to shew the Jude state of the times. The Bishop, the Earl, the Earl's son, 1 and

8

and another, constitute the tribunal; two persons appear as officers of the crown; and the sheriff, and three others, whose names are inserted in the record, and all the freemen of the county, are said to have been present. The plaintiff, the son, demanded a decree for transferring to him certain lands held by the defendant, his own mother; on which the court asked whether any person appeared for the defendant; and one of the officers of the crown, who was also her son-in-law, answered that he should stand forwards, if any ground for the present action should be stated. Three of her neighbours, then in court, were sent to the defendant, to inquire respecting her right to the estates in question; and they reported from her that she held no estates to which her son had any claim; and that in the presence of the messengers, she had disinherited her son the plaintiff, and had devised her property, both real and personal, to her daughter, the wife of her advocate. On this bare denial of her son's the plaintiff's right, by the defendant, at the prayer of her advocate, the court decreed in her favour, and ratified the devise: the whole was then enrolled.

The Bishops of Hereford, in addition to their spiritual functions, were invested with important temporal rights:

In the jurisdiction which has prevailed in the city of Hereford, the bishops appear to have retained a more than common share of the civil authority; the extent and progress of which shall now be explained. Nearly half of the city, together with a considerable portion of the suburbs, form a district, entitled the Bishop's Fee; within this district the successive prelates have enjoyed very considerable privileges, and, on particular occasions, their authority has altogether superseded that of the civil magistrate, by extending over the whole city. As lords of this fee, they exercised the ancient rights denominated (from the Saxon) infangenethef and utfangenethef, by which they administered justice within their limits, and committed offenders to the custody of their own officers in their own peculiar prison, which was situated within the walls of the episcopal palace. By Chal and Cheam, or Theame, they restrained and judged bondmen and villeins, with their children, goods and chattels; and by Sac and Soke their tenants were excused from the payment of customary burdens and impositions. They also held an annual fair, for the sale of merchandize, within their fee; during its continuance their power extended to all parts of the city; the markets were transferred from the usual places to that appointed by the bishop, and a porter was sworn A bailiff at each of the city gates, to collect the tolls for his use. was annually elected by a jury, together with a serjeant at mace, leather searchers, and aleconners. They regulated the assize of bread and beer; and courts baron, leet, and piepoudre were held; and presentments and other usual business formally transacted.'

All the charters, down to that of James inclusive, recognize these rights; and a subsequent one, that of William III, though

it does not recite them, still does not revoke them, and therefore they are valid to this day. As, however, the exercise of many of them would be inconvenient, and of little benefit to the claimants, it has been long discontinued.

Very minute accounts of the corporate government of this city, certified by its bailiffs at the request of several Welsh corporate towns, are to be found in this volume; and they exhibit, in a very favourable light, our antient municipal administrations. They are translations, supposed by the author to have been made from original documents, or other authentic sources: but we should have been glad to have been furnished with satisfactory proofs, or even with reasonable presumptions, of their being genuine.

The author enumerates the religious foundations which antiently stood within the precincts of Hereford, and sketches biographical notices of those of its natives who rose to distinction. The founder of the noble family of Boyle came from its vicinity; the city itself gave birth to the famous Nell Gwyn; and a claim is substantiated in its behalf in the following passage, which has sometimes been questioned:

Widemarsh-street extends from the market place, or High Town, towards the north, and was bounded in that direction by Widemarshgate. In this street was born the celebrated David Garrick, the unrivalled Roscius of his age. His reputation and merits are generally known and acknowledged; but as other places have contended for the honour of giving him birth, the following extract is given from the register of the parish of All-Saints, in this city:

"David son of Peter and Arabella Garrick was baptized 28th February, 1716.-H. Lewis, Minister."

Mr. Garrick's father was a French refugee, and had a lieutenant's commission in a regiment of horse then stationed in Hereford. His quarters were at an inn called The Angel, and David Garrick was born there. His father was afterwards promoted to a troop in the same regiment.'

Davies, in his life of Garrick, properly stated this fact. See M. Rev. Vol. Ixiii. p. 207.-This city also boasts of a man of science at the early period of the reign of Henry II. in the person of Roger de Heriford; and it produced in later years a writer who still ranks at the head of his class, in John Gwillim, the celebrated Herald, nat. 1565. ob. 1621. Among its bishops, in antient times, stand most distinguished Robert Lozing, a great scholar in his day, and the founder of the cathedral, Breton, author of a legal treatise still esteemed by lawyers; and Cantilupe the saint. In more modern days, Godwin, Hoadley, and its last deceased prelate, of whom we have the following notice:

John