_Cambridge and Ireland._--In the first volume of the _Pictorial History of
England_, p. 270., it is stated that--
"Martin skins are mentioned in _Domesday Book_ among the commodities
brought by sea to Chester; and this appears from other authorities to
have been one of the exports in ancient times from Ireland. Notices are
also found of merchants from Ireland _landing at Cambridge_ with
cloths, and exposing their merchandise to sale."
The authority quoted for this statement is Turner, vol. iii. p. 113.
On referring to Turner's _Anglo-Saxons_, I find it stated:
"We read of merchants from Ireland _landing at Cambridge_ with cloths,
and exposing their merchandise to sale."
Mr. Turner refers to Gale, vol. ii. p. 482.
I do not know to what work Mr. Turner refers, unless to Gale's _Rerum
Anglicarum Scriptores {271} Veteres_; on examining this I can find no
passage at the page and volume indicated, on the subject.
Can any of your readers state where it is to be found? It appears
remarkable that the merchants from Ireland should land at the inland town
of Cambridge, and it seems a probable conjecture that Cambridge is a
mistake for Cambria.
William of Malmesbury speaks of a commerce between Ireland and the
neighbourhood of Chester, and it seems much more probable that the
merchants of Ireland landed in Wales than in Cambridge.