there was a man séene in Aquiteine, whome the king being in those
parties made of his gard, whose height was such, that a man of common
heigth might easilie go vnder his twist without stooping, a stature
[Sidenote: Briat.]
incredible. Moreouer Casanion, a writer of our time, telleth of the
bones of Briat a giant found of late in Delphinois, of 15. cubits, the
diameter of whose scull was two cubits, and the breadth of his
shoulders foure, as he himselfe beheld in the late second wars of
France, & wherevnto the report of Ioan Marius made in his bookes De
Galliarum illustrationibus, where he writeth of the carcase of the
same giant found not farre from the Rhodanus, which was 22. foot long,
from the scull to the sole of the feet, dooth yéeld sufficient
testimonie. Also Calameus in his commentaries De Biturigibus,
confirmeth no lesse, adding that he was found 1556. & so dooth
Baptista Fulgosus, lib. 1. cap. 6. saieng farther, that his graue was
seene not farre from Valentia, and discouered by the violence and
current of the Rhodanus. The said Casanion in like sort speaketh of
the bones of a man which he beheld, one of whose téeth was a foot
long, and eight pound in weight. Also of the sepulchre of another
neere vnto Charmes castell, which was nine paces in length, things
incredible to vs, if eiesight did not confirme it in our owne times,
and these carcases were not reserued by the verie prouidence of God,
to the end we might behold his works, and by these relikes vnderstand,
that such men were in old time in deed, of whose statures we now begin
to doubt. Now to say somwhat also of mine owne knowledge, there is the
thighbone of a man to be séene in the church of S. Laurence néere
Guildhall in London, which in time past was 26. inches in length, but
now it beginneth to decaie, so that it is shorter by foure inches than
it was in the time of king Edward. Another also is to be seene in
Aldermarie burie, of some called Aldermanburie, of 32. inches and
rather more, whereof the symmetrie hath beene taken by some skilfull
in that practise, and an image made according to that proportion,
which is fixt in the east end of the cloister of the same church, not
farre from the said bone, and sheweth the person of a man full ten or
eleuen foot high, which as some say was found in the cloister of
Poules, that was neere to the librarie, at such time as the Duke of
Somerset did pull it downe to the verie foundation, and carried the
stones thereof to the Strand, where he did build his house. These two
bones haue I séene, beside other, whereof at the beholding I tooke no
great heed, bicause I minded not as then to haue had any such vse of
their proportions, and therefore I will speake no more of them: this
is sufficient for my purpose that is deliuered out of the christian
authors.
Now it resteth furthermore that I set downe, what I haue read therof
in Pagane writers, who had alwaies great regard of their credit, and
so ought all men that dedicate any thing vnto posteritie, least in
going about otherwise to reape renowme and praise, they doo procure
vnto themselues in the end nothing else but meere contempt and
infamie. For my part I will touch rare things, and such as to my selfe
doo séeme almost incredible: howbeit as I find them, so I note them,
requiring your Honour in reading hereof, to let euerie Author beare
his owne burden, and euerie oxe his bundle.
[Sidenote: _In vita Sertorij de Antheo._]
Plutarch telleth how Sertorius being in Lybia, néere to the streicts
of Maroco, to wit, at Tingi (or Tanger in Mauritania, as it is now
called) caused the sepulchre of Antheus, afore remembred to be opened:
for hearing by common report that the said giant laie buried there,
whose corps was fiftie cubits long at the least, he was so far off
from crediting the same, that he would not beleeue it, vntill he saw
the coffin open wherein the bones of the aforesaid prince did rest. To
be short therefore, he caused his souldiers to cast downe the hill
made sometime ouer the tombe, and finding the bodie in the bottome
coffined in stone, after the measure therof taken, he saw it
manifestlie to be 60. cubits in length, which were ten more than the
people made accompt of, which Strabo also confirmeth.
Pausanias reporteth out of one Miso, that when the bodie of Aiax was
found, the whirlebone of his knée was adiudged so broad as a pretie
dish: also that the bodie of Asterius somtime king of Creta was ten
cubits long, and that of Hyllus or Gerion no lesse maruelous than the
rest, all which Goropius still condemneth to be the bones of monsters
of the sea (notwithstanding the manifest formes of their bones,
epitaphes, and inscriptions found ingrauen in brasse and lead with
them in their sepulchres) so far is he from being persuaded and led
from his opinion.
[Sidenote: _Philostrate._]
Philostrate in Heroicis saith, how he saw the bodie of a giant thirtie
cubits in length, also the carcase of another of two and twentie, and
the third of twelue.
Liuie in the seauenth of his first decade, speaketh of an huge person
which made a challenge as he stood at the end of the Anien bridge,
against any Romane that would come out and fight with him, whose
stature was not much inferiour to that of Golias, of Artaches (of
whome Herodot speaketh in the historie of Xerxes) who was sixe common
cubits of stature, which make but fiue of the kings standard, bicause
this is longer by thrée fingers than the other. Of Pusio, Secundilla,
& Cabaras, of which the first two liuing vnder Augustus were aboue ten
foot, and the later vnder Claudius of full nine, and all remembred by
Plinie; of Eleazar a Jew, of whome Iosephus saith, that he was sent to
Tiberius, and a person of heigth fiue cubits; of another of whom
Nicephorus maketh mention lib. 12. cap. 13. Hist. eccles. of fiue
cubits and an handfull, I say nothing, bicause Casanion of Mutterell
hath alredie sufficientlie discoursed vpon these examples in his De
gigantibus, which as I gesse he hath written of set purpose against
Goropius, who in his Gigantomachia, supposeth himselfe to haue killed
all the giants in the world, and like a new Iupiter Alterum carcasse
Herculem, as the said Casanion dooth merilie charge and vpbraid him.
[Sidenote: _Lib. 7._]
Plinie telleth of an earthquake at Creta, which discouered the body of
a giant, that was 46. cubits in length after the Romane standard, and
by diuerse supposed to be the bodie of Orion or Ætion. Neuerthelesse I
read, that Lucius Flaccus and Metellus did sweare Per sua capita, that
it was either the carcase of some monster of the sea, or a forged
deuise to bleare the peoples eies withall, wherein it is wonderfull to
see, how they please Goropius as one that first deriued his
fantasticall imagination from their asseueration & oth. The said
Plinie also addeth that the bodie of Orestes was seuen cubits in
length, one Gabbara of Arabia nine foot nine inches, and two reserued
In conditorio Sallustianorum halfe a foot longer than Gabbara was, for
which I neuer read that anie man was driuen to sweare.
[Sidenote: _Trallianus._]
Trallianus writeth how the Athenienses digging on a time in the
ground, to laie the foundation of a new wall to be made in a certeine
Iland in the daies of an emperour, did find the bones of Macrosyris in
a coffin of hard stone, of 100. cubits in length after the accompt of
the Romane cubit, which was then either a foot and a halfe, or not
much in difference from halfe a yard of our measure now in England.
These verses also, as they are now translated out of Gréeke were found
withall,
Sepultus ego Macrosyris in longa insula
Vitæ peractis annis mille quinquies:
which amounteth to 81. yeares foure moneths, after the Aegyptian
reckoning.
In the time of Hadrian the emperour, the bodie of the giant Ida was
taken vp at Messana, conteining 20. foot in length, and hauing a
double row of teeth, yet standing whole in his chaps. Eumachus also in
Perigesi, telleth that when the Carthaginenses went about to dich in
their prouince, they found two bodies in seuerall coffins of stone,
the one was 23. the other 24. cubits in length, such another was found
in Bosphoro Cymmerio after an earthquake, but the inhabitants did cast
those bones into the Meotidan marris. In Dalmatia, manie graues were
shaken open with an earthquake, in diuers of which certeine carcases
were found, whose ribs conteined 16. els, after the Romane measure,
whereby the whole bodies were iudged to be 64. sith the longest rib is
commonlie about the fourth part of a man, as some rouing symmetricians
affirme.
Arrhianus saith, that in the time of Alexander the bodies of the
Asianes were generallie of huge stature, and commonlie of fiue cubits,
and such was the heigth of Porus of Inde, whom the said Alexander
vanquished and ouerthrew in battell.
Suidas speaketh of Ganges, killed also by the said prince, who farre
exceeded Porus; for he was ten cubits long. What should I speake of
Artaceas a capitaine in the host of Xerxes, afore remembred, whose
heigth was within 4. fingers bredth of fiue cubits, & the tallest man
in the armie except the king himselfe. Herod. lib. 7. Of Athanatus
whom Plinie remembreth I saie nothing. But of all these, this one
example shall passe, which I doo read of in Trallianus, and he setteth
downe in forme and manner following.
In the daies of Tiberius th'emperor saith he, a corps was left bare or
laid open after an earthquake, of which ech tooth (taken one with
another) conteined 12. inches ouer at the least. Now forsomuch as in
[Sidenote: A mouth of sixteene foot wide.]
such as be full mouthed, ech chap hath commonlie 16. teeth at the
least, which amount vnto 32. in the whole, needs must the widenesse of
this mans chaps be welneere of 16. foot, and the opening of his lips
fiue at the least. A large mouth in mine opinion, and not to eat
peason with Ladies of my time, besides that if occasion serued, it was
able to receiue the whole bodies of mo than one of the greatest men, I
meane of such as we be in our daies. When this carcase was thus found,
euerie man maruelled at it, & good cause why. A messenger was sent to
[Sidenote: A counterfect made of a monstrous carcase
by one tooth taken out of the head.]
Tiberius the emperour also to know his pleasure, whether he would haue
the same brought ouer vnto Rome or not, but he forbad them, willing
his Legate not to remooue the dead out of his resting place, but
rather somewhat to satisfie his phantasie to send him a tooth out of
his head, which being done, he gaue it to a cunning workeman,
commanding him to shape a carcase of light matter, after the
proportion of the tooth, that at the least by such means he might
satisfie his curious mind, and the fantasies of such as are delited
[Sidenote: This man was more fauorable to this monster
than our papists were to the bodies of the dead who
tare them in peeces to make money of them.]
with nouelties. To be short, when the image was once made and set vp
on end, it appéered rather an huge colossie than the true carcase of a
man, and when it had stood in Rome vntill the people were wearie &
throughlie satisfied with the sight thereof, he caused it to be broken
all to peeces, and the tooth sent againe to the carcase fr[=o] whence
it came, willing them moreouer to couer it diligentlie, and in anie
wise not to dismember the corps, nor from thencefoorth to be so hardie
as to open the sepulchre anie more. Pausan. lib. 8. telleth in like
maner of Hiplodanus & his fellowes, who liued when Rhea was with child
of Osyris by Cham, and were called to hir aid at such time as she
feared to be molested by Hammon hir first husband, whilest she
[Sidenote: Grandiáque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.]
remained vpon the Thoumasian hill, "In ipso loco," saith he,
"spectantur ossa maiora multo quàm vt humana existimari possunt, &c."
Of Protophanes who had but one great and broad bone in steed of all
his ribs on ech side I saie nothing, sith it concerneth not his
stature.
I could rehearse manie mo examples of the bodies of such men, out of
Solinus, Sabellicus, D. Cooper, and others. As of Oetas and Ephialtes,
who were said to be nine orgies or paces in heigth, and foure in
bredth, which are taken for so many cubits, bicause there is small
difference betwéene a mans ordinarie pace and his cubit, and finallie
of our Richard the first, who is noted to beare an axe in the wars,
the iron of whose head onelie weighed twentie pound after our greatest
weight, and whereof an old writer that I haue seene, saith thus:
This king Richard I vnderstand,
Yer he went out of England,
Let make an axe for the nones,
Therewith to cleaue the Saracens bones,
The head in sooth was wrought full weele,
Thereon were twentie pound of steele,
And when he came in Cyprus land,
That ilkon axe he tooke in hand, &c.
I could speake also of Gerards staffe or lance, yet to be seene in
Gerards hall at London in Basing lane, which is so great and long that
no man can beweld it, neither go to the top thereof without a ladder,
which of set purpose and for greater countenance of the wonder is
fixed by the same. I haue seene a man my selfe of seuen foot in
heigth, but lame of his legs. The chronicles also of Cogshall speake
of one in Wales, who was halfe a foot higher, but through infirmitie
and wounds not able to beweld himselfe. I might (if I thought good)
speake also of another of no lesse heigth than either of these and
liuing of late yeares, but these here remembred shall suffice to
prooue my purpose withall. I might tell you in like sort of the marke
stone which Turnus threw at Æneas, and was such as that twelue chosen
and picked men (saith Virgil),
[Sidenote: Vis vnita fortior est eadem dispersa.]
(Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus)
were not able to stur and remooue out of the place: but I passe it
ouer, and diuerse of the like, concluding that these huge blocks were
ordeined and created by God: first for a testimonie vnto vs of his
power and might; and secondlie for a confirmation, that hugenes of
bodie is not to be accompted of as a part of our felicitie, sith they
which possessed the same, were not onelie tyrants, doltish, & euill
men, but also oftentimes ouercome euen by the weake & feeble. Finallie
they were such indéed as in whom the Lord delited not, according to
[Sidenote: _Cap. 3, 36._]
the saieng of the prophet Baruch; "Ibi fuerunt gigantes nominati, illi
qui ab initio fuerunt statura magna, scientes bellum, hos non elegit
Dominus, neque illis viam disciplinæ dedit, propterea perierunt, et
quoniam non habuerunt sapientiam, interierunt propter suam
insipientiam, &c." that is, "There were the giants famous from the
beginning, that were of great stature and expert in warre, those did
not the Lord choose, neither gaue he the waie of knowledge vnto them,
but they were destroied, because they had no wisedome, and perished
through their owne foolishnesse." That the bodies of men also doo
[Sidenote: _4. Esd. cap. 5._]
dailie decaie in stature, beside Plinie lib. 7. Esdras likewise
confesseth lib. 4. cap. 5. whose authoritie is so good herein as that
of Homer or Plinie, who doo affirme so much, whereas Goropius still
continuing his woonted pertinacitie also in this behalfe, maketh his
proportion first by the old Romane foot, and then by his owne, &
therevpon concludeth that men in these daies be fullie so great as
euer they were, whereby as in the former dealing he thinketh it
nothing to conclude against the scriptures, chosen writers and
testimonies of the oldest pagans. But see how he would salue all at
last in the end of his Gigantomachia, where he saith, I denie not but
that od huge personages haue bene seene, as a woman of ten, and a man
of nine foot long, which I my selfe also haue beholden, but as now so
in old time the common sort did so much woonder at the like as we doo
at these, because they were seldome séene, and not commonlie to be
heard of.
OF THE LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN THIS ILAND.
CAP. VI.
[Sidenote: British.]
What language came first with Samothes and afterward with Albion, and
the giants of his companie, it is hard for me to determine, sith
nothing of sound credit remaineth in writing, which may resolue vs in
[Sidenote: Small difference betweene the British
and Celtike languages.]
the truth hereof. Yet of so much are we certeine, that the speach of
the ancient Britons, and of the Celts, had great affinitie one with
another, so that they were either all one, or at leastwise such as
either nation with small helpe of interpretors might vnderstand other,
and readilie discerne what the speaker meant. Some are of the opinion
that the Celts spake Greeke, and how the British toong resembled the
same, which was spoken in Grecia before Homer did reforme it: but I
see that these men doo speake without authoritie and therefore I
reiect them, for if the Celts which were properlie called Galles did
speake Gréeke, why did Cesar in his letters sent to Rome vse that
language, because that if they should be intercepted they might not
vnderstand them, or why did he not vnderstand the Galles, he being so
skilfull in the language without an interpretor? Yet I denie not but
that the Celtish and British speaches might haue great affinitie one
with another, and the British aboue all other with the Greeke, for
both doo appéere by certeine words, as first in tri for three, march
for an horsse, & trimarchia, whereof Pausanias speaketh, for both.
Atheneus also writeth of Bathanasius a capitaine of the Galles, whose
name is méere British, compounded of Bath & Ynad, & signifieth a noble
or comelie iudge. And wheras he saith that the reliques of the Galles
tooke vp their first dwelling about Isther, and afterward diuided
themselues in such wise, that they which went and dwelled in Hungarie
were called Sordsai, and the other that inhabited within the dominion
of Tyroll) Brenni, whose seate was on the mount Brenhere parcell of
the Alpes, what else signifieth the word Iscaredich in British, from
whence the word Scordisci commeth, but to be diuided? Hereby then, and
sundrie other the like testimonies, I gather that the British and the
Celtish speaches had great affinitie one with another, as I said,
which Cesar (speaking of the similitude or likenesse of religion in
both nations) doth also auerre, & Tacitus in vita Agricolæ, in like
sort plainlie affirmeth, or else it must needs be that the Galles
which inuaded Italie and Greece were meere Britons, of whose likenes
of speech with the Gréeke toong I need not make anie triall, sith no
man (I hope) will readilie denie it. Appianus talking of the Brenni
calleth them Cymbres, and by this I gather also that the Celts and the
Britons were indifferentlie called Cymbri in their own language, or
else that the Britons were the right Cymbri, who vnto this daie doo
not refuse to be called by that name. Bodinus writing of the means by
which the originall of euerie kingdome and nation is to be had and
discerned, setteth downe thrée waies whereby the knowledge thereof is
to be found, one is (saith he) the infallible testimonie of the sound
writers, the other the description and site of the region, the third
the relikes of the ancient speech remaining in the same. Which later
if it be of any force, then I must conclude, that the spéech of the
Britons and Celts was sometime either all one or verie like one to
another, or else it must follow that the Britons ouerflowed the
continent vnder the name of Cymbres, being peraduenture associat in
this voiage, or mixed by inuasion with the Danes, and Norwegiens, who
are called Cymbri and Cymmerij, as most writers doo remember. This
also is euident (as Plutarch likewise confesseth In vita Marij) that
no man knew from whence the Cymbres came in his daies, and therfore I
beleeue that they came out of Britaine, for all the maine was well
knowne vnto them, I meane euen to the vttermost part of the north, as
may appeare furthermore by the slaues which were dailie brought from
thence vnto them, whom of their countries they called Daui for Daci,
Getæ for Gothes, &c: for of their conquests I need not make
rehearsall, sith they are commonlie knowne and remembred by the
writers, both of the Greekes and Latines.
[Sidenote: British corrupted by the Latine and Saxon speeches.]
The British toong called Camberaec dooth yet remaine in that part of
the Iland, which is now called Wales, whither the Britons were driuen
after the Saxons had made a full conquest of the other, which we now
call England, although the pristinate integritie thereof be not a
little diminished by mixture of the Latine and Saxon speaches withall.
Howbeit, manie poesies and writings (in making whereof that nation
hath euermore delited) are yet extant in my time, wherby some
difference betwéene the ancient and present language may easilie be
discerned, notwithstanding that among all these there is nothing to be
found, which can set downe anie sound and full testimonie of their
owne originall, in remembrance whereof, their Bards and cunning men
haue béene most slacke and negligent. Giraldus in praising the Britons
affirmeth that there is not one word in all their language, that is
not either Gréeke or Latine. Which being rightly vnderstanded and
conferred with the likenesse that was in old time betwéene the Celts &
the British toongs, will not a little helpe those that thinke the old
Celtish to haue some sauour of the Gréeke. But how soeuer that matter
standeth, after the British speach came once ouer into this Iland,
sure it is, that it could neuer be extinguished for all the attempts
that the Romans, Saxons, Normans, and Englishmen could make against
that nation, in anie maner of wise.
[Sidenote: The Britons diligent in petigrées.]
Petigrées and genealogies also the Welsh Britons haue plentie in their
owne toong, insomuch that manie of them can readilie deriue the same,
either from Brute or some of his band, euen vnto Æneas and other of
the Troians, and so foorth vnto Noah without anie maner of stop. But
as I know not what credit is to be giuen vnto them in this behalfe,
although I must néeds confesse that their ancient Bards were verie
diligent in there collection, and had also publike allowance or
salarie for the same; so I dare not absolutelie impugne their
assertions, sith that in times past all nations (learning it no doubt
of the Hebrues) did verie solemnelie preserue the catalogs of their
descents, thereby either to shew themselues of ancient and noble race,
or else to be descended from some one of the gods. But
Stemmata quid faciunt? quid prodest Pontice longo
Sanguine censeri? aut quid auorum ducere turmas? &c.
[Sidenote: Latine.]
Next vnto the British speach, the Latine toong was brought in by the
Romans, and in maner generallie planted through the whole region, as
the French was after by the Normans. Of this toong I will not say
much, bicause there are few which be not skilfull in the same.
Howbeit, as the speach it selfe is easie and delectable, so hath it
peruerted the names of the ancient riuers, regions, & cities of
Britaine in such wise, that in these our daies their old British
denominations are quite growne out of memorie, and yet those of the
new Latine left as most vncertaine. This remaineth also vnto my time,
borowed from the Romans, that all our déeds, euidences, charters, &
writings of record, are set downe in the Latine toong, though now
verie barbarous, and therevnto the copies and court-rolles, and
processes of courts and leets registred in the same.