A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain III

A TOUR THROUGH THE WHOLE ISLAND OF GREAT BRITAIN III

The principal trade of the town is making malt, oatmeal, and tann’d leather; but the poor people mostly support themselves by working bone-lace, which of late has met with particular encouragement, the children being maintain’d at school to learn to read, and to work this sort of lace. The cloathing trade was formerly follow’d in this town, but Leland tells us, that even in his time it was very much decay’d.

They have several fairs, but one more especially remarkable, called the Mart, beginning about nine days before Ascension Day, and kept in a street leading to the Minster Garth, called Londoners Street, for then the Londoners bring down their wares, and furnish the country tradesmen by wholesale.

About a mile from Beverly to the east, in a pasture belonging to the town, is a kind of spaw, though they say it cannot be judg’d by the taste whether or no it comes from any mineral; yet taken inwardly it is a great drier, and wash’d in, dries scorbutick scurf, and all sorts of scabs, and also very much helps the king’s evil.

It is easie to conceive how Beverley became a town from this very article, namely, that all the thieves, murtherers, house-breakers and bankrupts, fled hither for protection; and here they obtained safety from the law whatever their crimes might be.

After some time, the town growing bigger and bigger, the church was also enlarged; and though it fell into the king’s hands, King Henry VIII. having done by this as he did by others; and the monks of Beverley were suppress’d, yet the town continues a large, populous town; and the River Hull is made navigable to it for the convenience of trade.

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I remember, soon after the Revolution, when the late King William hired six thousand Danish auxiliaries to assist him in his wars in Ireland, they landed at Hull, and, marching from thence for West-Chester, in order to embark for Carrickfergus, they came thro’ this town, and halted here a few days for refreshment. Here two of their foot soldiers quarrelled and fought a duel, in which one of them was kill’d. The other being taken, was immediately tried and sentenced to a court marshal of their own officers, and by the rules of war, such as were in force among them, was sentenced and put to death, and was then buried in the same grave with the man he had kill’d; and upon their grave is set up a stone with an English inscription thus: Under this stone two Danish soldiers lie.

There are other lines mentioning the story, as above, but I do not remember them, it being some years since I made this observation. But to return to St. John of Beverley, and King Athelstan’s merry grant, which I shall make speak English as well as I can; it is as follows:

The Charter of Privileges granted by King Athelstan to St. John of Beverley, in the Year of Our Lord 925

Yat witen alle yat ever been,

Yat yis Charter heren and seen,

Yat j ye King Adelstan,

Has yaten and given to Seint John

Of Beverlike; yat sai know

Tol and theam, yet wit ye now,

Sok and sake over all yat land

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Yat is given into his hand:

On ever ilks kinges gai,

Be it all free yon and ay.

Be it almousend, be all free

Wit ilke man, and ekke wit mee.

Yat will j (be him yat me scop)

Bot till an ercebiscop,

And til ye seven minstre prestes,

Yat serves God ther Saint John restevs

Yat give j God and Saint John,

Her before you ever ilkan,

All my herst corn in eldeel,

To uphold his minstre weel;

Ya four threve (be Heven kinge)

Of ilka plough of Estriding.

If it swa betid or swa gaas, Yat ani man her again taas, Be he baron, be he erle, Clare, prest, parson, or cherel; Na, be he na yet ilke gome,

I will forsaye yat he come: (Yat wit ye weel, (or and or) Tul Saint John minstre dor.

And yar i will (swa Christ me red) Yat he bet his misdeed,

Or he be cursed for on on. Wit at yat ser vis Saint John. Yit hit swa betid and swa es,

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Yat ye man in mansing es,

J say, you over fourty daghes, Swilke yan be Saint John laghes, Yat the Chapitel of Beverlike Till ye Scirif of Everwike.

Send yair writ son anon, Yat yis man sed man becan. Ye the scirif yan say I ye, Witout en any writ one me,

Sal minen him (swa Christ me red) And into my prison lede

And hald him, (yat is my will) Till he bet his misgilt.

If men rise new laghes

In any oyer kinges daghes, Be yay framed, be yay yemed,

Wit yham of the mynstree demed, Ye mercy of the misdeed,

Gif j Saint John (swa Crist me red) Yif man be cald of limes or lif,

Or men challenges land in strife, Wit my bodlack wit writ of right, Y will Saint John have ye might,

Yat man yer for nought fight in feeld, Now yet wit staf no with sheeld;

Bot twelve men will j yat it telle, Swo sail it be, swo her ibelle.

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And he yat him swo werne may Overcomen be he ever and ay, Als he in feeld war overcomen. Ye cravantise of him be nomen, Yat yat j God, and Saint John; Her before iow ever ilkon.

If men be founden than I drunkened, Sterved on Saint John, rike his agmen men.

Without en swike his akkend bailife make ye sight, Nad oyer coroner have ye might:

Swa milkel freedom give I ye, Swa hert may think, or eghe see, Yat have j thought and forbiseen, Y will yat yar ever been, Samenyng, and mynstre life.

Last follike witout en strife. God helpe alie that ilk men Yat helpes to ye thowen. Amen.

The same in modern English:

Let all men know that e’er have been,

That this Charter have heard and seen;

That I, King Athelstan,

Have taken and given to Saint John

Of Beverley, I say again (or now)

Toll and team, that know ye too,

Sok and sake o’er all that land

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That is given into his hand; As ever as any kings whatever,

It shall be all free then and for ever As my alms are all free;

Witness every man, and witness me.

I will also (in spite of any that shall hinder me), That as well an archbishop

As seven ministers of priests orders,

Shall serve God there where Saint John lies; And that I give to God, and to Saint John, Here, in all your presence ever one,

All my last crop of corn in Erdale, To maintain his ministers very well,

And four trave1 (by the King of Heaven) Of every plough land in the East Riding.

If it shall happen, or so fall out,

That any man with-holds it, or takes it away, Be he lord, or be he earl,

Clerk, priest, parson, or layman; Nay, be he never so great a person, I will forbid that he shall touch it: (That pray observe over and over)

Till St. John’s ministers have their due: And moreover I will (so Christ hear me) That he shall pay for the trespass,

Or be he curs’d from son to son; Know ye this all that serve St. John,

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(Witness all you servants of St. John). If it should so happen, or so is,

That any man is secured in or fled to a house, I command, that in forty days,

According to St. John’s laws, That the Chapter of Beverley

Shall send out his writ with all speed To the Sheriff of Everwick,

That the man may be apprehended: And to the sheriff I hereby say, Without any farther warrant from me, Shall carry him (so Christ me bless) Into my prison directly;

And shall keep him there, such is my will, Till he make satisfaction for the trespass.

If other men make other laws, In any other king’s reign;

Be they made or intended to be made, Witness those then in trust,

The amends or fines of every such trespass I give St. John (as Christ me help).

If any man be accused for life or limb, Or titles of land be disputed at law, Taken in execution or legal process;

I will, that St. John shall have the decision;

And no man shall combat for any cause whatever Neither with weapon, or with armour,

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But twelve men shall decide the cause, That so it shall be well and fairly tried; And he that is cast by their sentence Shall be so for ever,

As much as if he were overcome in fight: And the estate shall be called his

As if ’twas given him by Me, God, and St. John, In presence of you every one.

If any man be found kill’d, or dead with drink,

Or starv’d with hunger, or cold in St. John’s bounds, His next doers shall be told thereof;

Ye shall have no other coroner to judge. As much freedom give I to you,

As heart can think, or eye can see. That I have thought or have foreseen; I will also that there shall always be, Peaceable and quiet living among ye, To the last, without any strife.

And God help every man

That gives to you his help. Amen.

From Beverley I came to Hull, distance six miles. If you would expect me to give an account of the city of Hamburgh or Dantzick, or Rotterdam, or any of the second rate cities abroad, which are fam’d for their commerce, the town of Hull may be a specimen. The place is indeed not so large as those; but, in proportion to the dimensions of it, I believe there is more business done in Hull than in any town of its bigness in

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Europe; Leverpool indeed of late comes after it apace; but then Leverpool has not the London trade to add to it.

In the late war, the fleets from Hull to London were frequently a hundred sail, sometimes including the other creeks in the Humber, a hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty sail at a time; and to Holland their trade is so considerable, that the Dutch always employ’d two men of war to fetch and carry, that is, to convoy the trade, as they call’d it, to and from Hull, which was as many as they did to London.

In a word, all the trade at Leeds, Wakefield and Hallifax, of which I have spoken so justly and so largely, is transacted here, and the goods are ship’d here by the merchants of Hull; all the lead trade of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, from Bautry Wharf, the butter of the East and North Riding, brought down the Ouse to York: The cheese brought down the Trent from Stafford, Warwick and Cheshire, and the corn from all the counties adjacent, are brought down and shipp’d off here.

Again, they supply all these countries in return with foreign goods of all kinds, for which they trade to all parts of the known world; nor have the merchants of any port in Britain a fairer credit, or fairer character, than the merchants of Hull, as well for the justice of their dealings as the greatness of their substance or funds for trade. They drive a great trade here to Norway, and to the Baltick, and an important trade to Dantzick, Riga, Narva and Petersburgh; from whence they make large returns in iron, copper, hemp, flax, canvas, pot-ash- es, Muscovy linnen and yarn, and other things; all which they get vent for in the country to an exceeding quantity. They have also a great importation of wine, linen, oil, fruit, &c. trading to

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Holland, France and Spain; the trade of tobacco and sugars from the West-Indies, they chiefly manage by the way of London. But besides all this, their export of corn, as well to London as to Holland and France, exceeds all of the kind, that is or can be done at any port in England, London excepted.

Their shipping is a great article in which they outdo all the towns and ports on the coast except Yarmouth, only that their shipping consists chiefly in smaller vessels than the coal trade is supplied with, tho’ they have a great many large vessels too, which are employed in their foreign trade.

The town is situated at the mouth of the River Hull, where it falls into the Humber, and where the Humber opens into the German Ocean, so that one side of their town lies upon the sea, the other upon the land. This makes the situation naturally very strong; and, were there any occasion, it is capable of being made impregnable, by reason of the low situation of the grounds round it.

King Charles II. on occasion of the frequent Dutch wars in that reign, had once resolved to appoint a station for a squadron of men of war here; with a yard and dock, for building men of war (ships) in the Humber; and, on this occasion, resolved to make the place strong, in proportion to the necessity of those affairs; upon which a large citadel was marked out on the other side the river; but it was never finished.

The greatest imperfection, as to the strength of Hull in case of a war, is, that, lying open to the sea, it is liable to a bombardment; which can only be prevented by being masters at sea, and while we are so, there’s no need of fortifications at all; and so there’s an end of argument upon that subject.

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