miles this side Harborrough: an houre after their foot appear'd. This was about 8 in the morning: by 10 we were dispos'd into a battalia on both sides. Both sides, with mighty shoutes exprest a harty desire of fighting. Having for our parts recommended our cause to God's protection, & recd. the word wch. was "God our Strength." Their's "Queen Mary" our forlorne hopes began the play whiles both sides labour'd for the hill & wynd, wch. in conclusion was as it were equally divided. Our forlorne hope gave back & their right wing of horse fell upon our left wth, such gallantry that ours were immediatly routed. above 1000 ran along with them, but such was the courage & diligence of the right wing backt wth, the foot, that they not only beat back the Enemy from the Traine, but fell in wth. their foot, & after 2 houres dispute won all their feild peces (of wch. some are cañon) most of their baggage, mortar peeces,

boates, 3000 armes; much powder, match, &c., & nigh 4000 prisners. Their nomber was about 12000, some 600 slayne, many Comanders of note, of ours not above 200, our horse are still in pursuit, & have taken many of theirs. Their standard is ours, the King's waggon, and many Ladyes. God Almighty give us thankfull hearts for this great victory, the most absolute as yet obtayned. The Gen. Leift. Gen. Cromwell, and Major Gen. Skippon (who is shott in the side, but not dangerous) did beyond expression gallantly. So did all our other Commanders and soldiers. We have lost but 2 Capt. Tho this come late, be pleased to accept it from your honors most humble servants, HAR. LEIGHTON. THO. HERBERT.

Naseby wher the fight was This Satterday 14 Junij 1645.

Capt. Potter is dangerously wounded, but hopes of his recovery. So is Capt. Cook.t

VOL. I.

+ Id. Cod. Art. 9. In Rushworth's "Historical Collections," vol. vi., Leighton and Herbert are styled "the Committee res siding with the army."

H

of Waltham appears to have been originally founded by Tovi, Stallere or Standard-bearer to Canute the Dane, King of England. This officer built a hunting seat on the forest, near which he formed a village, placing in it threescore and six dwellers," and it was probably after he had completed this settlement that he founded the church. The place was called WALTHAM from the Saxon WEALD-HAM, a dwelling on the forest or wild; and from a Cross, with a figure of our Saviour upon it, said to have been found at Montacute, and brought hither, was derived the adjunct name of HOLY CROSS. In the hands of the priests of Waltham, this crucifix manifested miraculous powers; and among the wonders told, one is, that Harold, the son of Earl Godwin, in consequence of a visit to it was cured of the palsy, whereupon he rebuilt the church, increased the number of canons to twelve, settled on them ample estates, and provided for the establishment of a school of learning at Waltham.*

Farmer, in his “History of Waltham," gives an account of the foundation of this convent somewhat different from the preceding. "Tovi, the original founder of Waltham Abbey, had a son named Athelstan, who proved a prodigal, and quickly spent all the goods and great estates which his father had got together; so that by some transaction this place returned to the crown."-" Edward the Confessor then bestowed Waltham, with the lands thereabouts, on Harold, his brother-in-law, who was then only an Earl, and son to Earl Godwin, who immediately built and endowed there a monastery." It is further stated, by this author, that each of the canons had one manor appropriated for his support, and that the Dean had six; making in all seventeen. From the charter of confirmation granted by Edward the Confessor, it appears, that Harold endowed his new foundation with the manors of Passefeld, Welda or Walde, Upminster, Wahlfara, or Wallifare, Tippedene, Alwartune, Wudeforde, Lambehyth, Nasingam, Brikendune, Melnho, Alrichsey, Wormelei, Nethleswelle or Neteswell, Hicche, Lukintone, and Westwaltham. "All these manors the king granted them with sac, soc, tol, and team, &c., free from all gelds and payments, in the most full and ample manner, as appears by the charter among the records of the tower."+

Harold is commonly stated by historians to have been killed at the battle of Hastings, and interred in Waltham Abbey, where, during a long period, a * Dugdale's "Monasticon.” New Edit. vol. vi. P. i.

p. 56.

† Farmer, p. 13. See also Dugdale, u. a. p. 61, 62.

tomb was shown as the sepulchral monument of the last of our Saxon kings. Gyraldus Cambrensis, indeed, and some other writers relate a tradition importing that Harold escaped alive from the conflict at Hastings, and lived long afterwards in religious seclusion at Chester; and this report has been repeated with some shew of approbation, by Mr. Palgrave, in his recently-published History of England. He seems to have considered the tomb at Waltham, (which he says had on it an effigy, with the inscription--- Hic jacet Harold Infelix,'-as merely a cenotaph; but Fuller, in his "Church History," gives a circumstantial account of the opening of this monument, towards the end of Elizabeth's reign, and the discovery, within it, of the skeleton of a man. Farmer's History contains a copper-plate engraving of a mask sculptured in grey marble, which he says had been one of the ornaments of the tomb, and was then in his own possession.

From a treatise among the Harleian MSS. intituled "Vita et Miracula Haroldi quondam Regis Angliæ," we learn that William the Norman, as might have been expected, shewed no favour to the religious foundation of his vanquished rival. He forcibly took away from the Church of Holy Cross a quantity of valuable plate, gems, and rich vestments; but fortunately for the canons he seems to have left them in possession of all their estates and revenues. It appears, indeed, from the Domesday Book, that the canons of Waltham did not, when that record was compiled, hold all the lands given to them by Harold; for Melnho, or Melehou, and Alrichsey, in Biggleswade Hundred, Bedfordshire, then belonging to the Bishop of Durham, are mentioned as having been the property of the canons of Waltham, in the reign of Edward the Confessor. They might, however, have sold those lands or exchanged them for others. The ScotoSaxon Princess Matilda, the first wife of Henry I., gave to the clerks of Waltham the Mill at that place, then a valuable benefaction; and Adelais, or Adeliza of Lorraine, the second wife of that king, bestowed on them all the tithes of Waltham, as well those of her demesne lands as those of her tenants.

Henry II. utterly dissolved the foundation of dean and eleven canons at Waltham, (as is stated in his charter), on account of the lewdness and debauchery of their lives. "Cum in ea Canonici, Clerique minus religiosè et æqualiter vixissent, ita quòd infamia conversationis illorum multos scandalizásset, visum fuit opus esse pietatis, illis amotis, quos infamiæ nota maculaverat, viros sanctæ conversationis substituere, et opinione laudabiles; ut sic uno eodemque

preparing for a journey into Lincolnshire, to meet the justices itinerant, and said that he would settle the affair at his return. Not satisfied, they went into the pasture, and in driving out the abbot's mares and colts, drowned three worth twenty shillings, spoiled ten more to the value of ten marks, and beat the keepers, who resisted them, even to the shedding of blood. Fearing, however, that they should be prosecuted, on the return of the abbot, they desired a "love day," and offered to pay damages for the injury committed; but instead of doing so they went to London, and accused the abbot to the king, of having wrongfully taken away their common land, and bringing up new customs, adding that he would "eat them up to the bone." The abbot then excommunicated the men of Waltham; and they impleaded him at common law, for appropriating their common land to himself. They were unsuccessful, and after a long suit in the King's Bench, were glad to confess that they had done wrong, and they were amerced twenty marks, which the abbot remitted, and, on their submission, he assoyled them from the excommunication.‡

Not long afterwards the same abbot was engaged in a law suit with Peter, Duke of Savoy, the king's uncle, lord of the manor of Cheshunt, about boundaries. The contest concerned the property of some meadow land between two branches of the river Lea, one asserting that the eastern stream, and the other that the western stream was the main current of the river, dividing the counties of Herts and Essex. An agreement at length was made between Abbot Simon and Duke Peter; but the dispute about the land was often revived afterwards, and was undecided when the last abbot resigned the convent to Henry VIII.* During these unpleasant altercations the monks were

Hist. of Waltham, p. 71, 72.

66

charged by their enemies, with resorting for consolation to the holy sisters in the nunnery at Cheshunt.* Stowe, in his account of the rebellion under Wat Tyler, says the king, Richard II., while it lasted, was now at London, now at Waltham.' In 1444, the Campanile of Waltham Abbey Church was struck by lightning. The last event of importance recorded of Waltham, prior to the Reformation, was the accidental meeting of Thomas Cranmer (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury) with Fox and Gardiner, which ended so remarkably in the advancement of the former, and produced such an important series of (still proceeding) consequences in the affairs both of church and state.t

On the surrender of Waltham Abbey to the king's commissioners in the year 1539, (31st of Henry VIII.) the gross amount of the revenues was £1079. 12s. 1d. annually according to Speed; and the clear income, according to Dugdale, £900. 4s. 3d. Waltham

room from a private closet, and demanded his hundred pounds, which the abbot gave with no small pleasure, and on being much lighter than when he left it a few days before. released returned to his monastery with a heart and pocket

* A ludicrous sample of these tales may be seen in Fuller's "Church History." This author relates, that Sir Henry Colt, of Nether Hall, who was a great favourite with Henry VIII. for his merry conceits, went late one night to Waltham Abbey,

where being informed by his spies, that some of the monks

were indulging in female converse at Cheshunt Nunnery, he determined to intercept their return. With this intent, he had a buck-stall pitched in the narrowest part of the meadow, or marsh, which they had to cross in their way home, and the monks getting into it, in the dark, were inclosed by his serking, who, heartily laughing, declared that "he had often seen vants. The next morning, Sir Henry presented them to the sweeter, but never fatter venison !"--Speaking of the religious inmates of Waltham Abbey, Mr. Farmer (Hist. of Waltham Abbey, p. 35.) says, "These Augustinians were also called Canons Regular; where, by the way, I met with such a nice distinction, which disheartens me from exactness in reckoning up these orders: for thus I find it in Chaucer, in his Plow

Having disguised himself in the dress of one of his guards, he contrived to visit, about dinner-time, the Abbey of Waltham, where he was immediately invited to the abbot's table; a sirloin of beef being set before him, he played so good a part, that the abbot exclaimed, Well fare thy heart, and here's a cup of sack to the health of thy master, I would give a hundred pounds could I feed so heartily on beef as thou dost; but my poor queasy stomach can hardly digest the breast of a chicken." The king pledged him in return, and having dined heartily, and thanked him for his good cheer, he departed. A few days after, the abbot was sent for to London, and lodged in the Tower, where he was kept a close prisoner, and, for some time, fed upon bread and water. At length, a sirloin of beef was set before him, on which he fed as heartily as one of his own ploughmen. In the midst of his meal, the king burst into the

"And all such other Counterfeitoure,

Chanons, Canons, and such disguised,
Been Goddes enemies and traytors;

His true Religion have some despised.

"It seems the h here amounted to a letter so effectual, as to discriminate Chanons from Canons, (though both Canonici in Latin,) but what should be the difference betwixt them, I shall not, nor shall I so much as conjecture."

+ Cranmer, when fellow of Jesus' College, Cambridge, retired to Waltham, (on account of the plague at his university,) to the house of a Mr. Cressy, whose wife was his relation. Whilst there, Edward Fox, the king's almoner, and Stephen Gardiner, his secretary, went fortuitously to the same house, and in conversation with them, on the then much-disputed point of the king's divorce, Cranmer said, that "it would be

Deans of Waltham, upon Harold's Foundation.
Henry in 1144.

Wido, or Guido Rufus, in 1167; resigned in 1177.

Abbots of Waltham.

1. Walter de Gaunt, 1177---1201 died. 2. Richard.

23. Walter, 1408.

24.

William, abbot May 26th, 7 Henry V. as ap

pears from the Pat. Rolls, that year.

25. William de Hertford, received the temporalities, October 12th, 8 Henry V. (1420.)

William was the name of the abbot of Waltham in 1439 and 1444, as appears by the Register of the Bishop of London; and Cole, in his MS. notes on Browne Willis's "History of Abbies," says, mention is made of the Tomb of William Hunte, late abbot, in a will dated 1490. 26. John Lucas, 1460---1475 died.

5. Richard, 1218.

6. Henry, who had been prior, elected in 1229; died 1248.

7. Simon de Seham, or Saham, 1248---1263 died. 8. Adam de Witz, or Wich, 1263---1269 died. 9. Richard de Herewas, or Herges, 1269---1274 died.

10. Reginald de Maidenheth, became abbot in 1273, or rather 1274.

11. Hugh, abbot in 1288.

12. Robert de Elintone, abbot in 1290---1301 died. 13. John de Badburgham, elected March 30th, 30 Edward I.; but the temporalities were not restored to him till February 6th, 1303---1307

died.

14. Richard de Hertford, 1307---1334 died. 15. John.

16. Richard---1345 died.

pidation. Perhaps restored, as Cole says, "in some accounts he is called abbot in 1493 and 1494."

28. Gervase Rose, received the temporalities May 20th, 1488---1497.

1371 died.

18. Nicholas Morys, or Morris, 1371---1389 died. 19. William Neel, had his election confirmed by the king, December 29th, 1390.

20. Michael, 1397.

much better to have this question, Whether a man may marry his brother's wife or no?' discussed and decided by the divines, and the authority of the word of God, than thus from year to year prolong the time, by having recourse to the Pope." This opinion being reported by Dr. Fox to the king, the latter, in his occasional coarse language, vociferated that Cranmer "had the sow by the right ear," and ordering him to court, he commanded him to write on the subject of the divorce, and afterwards rapidly promoted him.

* Probably Wolmersley, or Wymersley, for Cole says, "In Wrangle Church window, county of Lincoln, this:-Tho. de Wyversley Abbas de Waltham me fieri fecit."

script of which was in the possession of the Earl of Carlisle, Fuller, his namesake, (who had been made curate of Waltham by that nobleman, in 1648,) professes faithfully to have compiled almost all the materials for his account of "Waltham Abbey," subjoined to his "Church History of Britain;" which was published in a thick folio, in the year 1656.*

Edward the Sixth, in his first year, (anno 1547) granted the conventual estate at Waltham to Sir Anthony Denny, for thirty-one years, and on the knight's decease within a year or two afterwards, his widow purchased the reversion in fee, of the same

* Among the natives of this parish, of some degree of literary talent, are recorded "Roger de Waltham, canon of St. Paul's, a writer in the thirteenth century; and John de Waltham, keeper of the privy-seal to King Richard II.