THE DOCTOR, &c.
[Illustration: a tetrahedron]
VOL. II.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN AND LONGMAN.
1834.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. NICOL, CLEVELAND-ROW, ST. JAMES'S.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXIII. P. I.—p. 1.
DONCASTRIANA. THE RIVER DON.
Rivers from bubbling springs
Have rise at first; and great from abject things.
MIDDLETON.
CHAPTER XXXIV. P. I.—p. 11.
MORAL INTEREST OF TOPOGRAPHICAL WORKS. LOCAL ATTACHMENT.
Let none our Author rudely blame
Who from the story has thus long digrest;
But for his righteous pains may his fair fame
For ever travel, whilst his ashes rest.
SIR WILLILAM DAVENANT.
INTERCHAPTER III.—p. 20.
THE AUTHOR QUESTIONS THE PROPRIETY OF PERSONIFYING CIRCUMSTANCE,
DENIES THE UNITY AND INDIVISIBILITY OF THE PUBLIC, AND MAY EVEN BE
SUSPECTED OF DOUBTING ITS OMNISCIENCE AND ITS INFALLIBILITY.
_Ha forse
Testa la plebe, ove si chiuda in vece
Di senno, altro che nebbia? o forma voce
Chi sta più saggia, che un bebù d'armento?_
CHIABRERA.
CHAPTER XXXV. P. I.—p. 24.
DONCASTRIANA. POTTERIC CARR. SOMETHING CONCERNING THE MEANS OF
EMPLOYING THE POOR, AND BETTERING THEIR CONDITION.
Why should I sowen draf out of my fist
When I may sowen wheat, if that me list?
CHAUCER.
CHAPTER XXXVI. P. I.—p. 32.
REMARKS ON AN OPINION OF MR. CRABBE'S. TOPOGRAPHICAL POETRY. DRAYTON.
Do, pious marble, let thy readers know
What they and what their children owe
To Drayton's name, whose sacred dust
We recommend unto thy trust.
Protect his memory, and preserve his story;
Remain a lasting monument of his glory;
And when thy ruins shall disclaim
To be the treasurer of his name,
His name that cannot fade shall be
An everlasting monument to thee.
EPITAPH IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
CHAPTER XXXVII. P. I.—p. 37.
ANECDOTES OF PETER HEYLYN AND LIGHTFOOT, EXEMPLIFYING THAT GREAT
KNOWLEDGE IS NOT ALWAYS APPLICABLE TO LITTLE THINGS; AND THAT AS
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME, SO IT MAY WITH EQUAL TRUTH SOMETIMES BE SAID
THAT KNOWLEDGE ENDS THERE.
A scholar in his study knows the stars,
Their motion and their influence, which are fix'd,
And which are wandering; can decypher seas,
And give each several land his proper bounds:
But set him to the compass he's to seek,
Where a plain pilot can direct his course
From hence unto both the Indies.
HEYWOOD.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. P. I.—p. 43.
THE READER IS LED TO INFER THAT A TRAVELLER WHO STOPS UPON THE WAY TO
SKETCH, BOTANIZE, ENTOMOLOGIZE OR MINERALOGIZE, TRAVELS WITH MORE
PLEASURE AND PROFIT TO HIMSELF THAN IF HE WERE IN THE MAIL COACH.
_Non servio materiæ sed indulgeo; quæ quo ducit sequendum est, non quo
invitat._
SENECA.
INTERCHAPTER IV.—p. 54.
ETYMOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES CONCERNING THE REMAINS OF VARIOUS TRIBES OR
FAMILIES MENTIONED IN SCRIPTURAL HISTORY.
All things are big with jest; nothing that's plain
But may be witty, if thou hast the vein.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER XXXIX. P. I.—p. 58.
A CHAPTER FOR THE INFORMATION OF THOSE WHO MAY VISIT DONCASTER, AND
ESPECIALLY OF THOSE WHO FREQUENT THE RACES THERE.
My good Lord, there is a Corporation,
A body,—a kind of body.
MIDDLETON.
CHAPTER XL. P. I.—p. 73.
REMARKS ON THE ART OF VERBOSITY. A RULE OF COCCEIUS, AND ITS
APPLICATION TO THE LANGUAGE AND PRACTICE OF THE LAW.
If they which employ their labour and travail about the public
administration of justice, follow it only as a trade, with
unquenchable and unconscionable thirst of gain, being not in heart
persuaded that justice is God's own work, and themselves his agents in
this business,—the sentence, of right, God's own verdict, and
themselves his priests to deliver it; formalities of justice do but
serve to smother right; and that which was necessarily ordained for
the common good, is through shameful abuse made the cause of common
misery.
HOOKER.
CHAPTER XLI. P. I.—p. 77.
REVENUE OF THE CORPORATION OF DONCASTER WELL APPLIED. DONCASTER RACES.
Play not for gain but sport: who plays for more
Than he can lose with pleasure, stakes his heart;
Perhaps his wife's too, and whom she hath bore.
HERBERT.
INTERCHAPTER V.—p. 84.
WHEREIN THE AUTHOR MAKES KNOWN HIS GOOD INTENTIONS TO ALL READERS, AND
OFFERS GOOD ADVICE TO SOME OF THEM.
I can write, and talk too, as soft as other men, _with submission to
better judgements,—and I leave it to you Gentlemen. I am but one, and
I always distrust myself. I only hint my thoughts: You'll please to
consider whether you will not think that it may seem to deserve your
consideration._—This is a taking way of speaking. But much good may do
them that use it!
ASGILL.
CHAPTER XLII. P. I.—p. 89.
DONCASTER CHURCH. THE RECTORIAL TITHES SECURED BY ARCHBISHOP SHARP FOR
HIS OWN FAMILY.
Say ancient edifice, thyself with years
Grown grey, how long upon the hill has stood
Thy weather-braving tower, and silent mark'd
The human leaf in constant bud and fall?
The generations of deciduous man
How often hast thou seen them pass away!
HURDIS.
CHAPTER XLIII. P. I.—p. 94.
ANTIQUITIES OF DONCASTER. THE DEÆ MATRES. SAXON FONT. THE CASTLE. THE
HELL CROSS.
_Vieux monuments,—
Las, peu à peu cendre vous devenez,
Fable du peuple et publiques rapines!
Et bien qu'au Temps pour un temps facent guerre
Les bastimens, si est ce que le Temps
Oeuvres et noms finablement atterre._
JOACHIM DU BELLAY.
CHAPTER XLIV. P. I.—p. 101.
HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES CONNECTED WITH DONCASTER. THOMAS, EARL OF
LANCASTER. EDWARD IV. ASKE'S INSURRECTION. ILLUSTRIOUS VISITORS. JAMES
I. BARNABEE. CHARLES I. CHURCH LIBRARY.
They unto whom we shall appear tedious, are in no wise injured by us,
because it is in their own hands to spare that labour which they are
not willing to endure.
HOOKER.
CHAPTER XLV. P. I.—p. 109.
CONCERNING THE WORTHIES, OR GOOD MEN, WHO WERE NATIVES OF DONCASTER,
OR OTHERWISE CONNECTED WITH THAT TOWN.
_Vir bonus est quis?_
TERENCE.
INTERCHAPTER VI.—p. 115.
CONTINGENT CAUSES. PERSONAL CONSIDERATIONS INDUCED BY REFLECTING ON
THEM. THE AUTHOR TREMBLES FOR THE PAST.
_Vereis que no hay lazada desasida
De nudo y de pendencia soberana;
Ni a poder trastornar la orden del cielo
Las fuerzas llegan, ni el saber del suelo._
BALBUENA.
CHAPTER XLVI. P. I.—p. 120.
DANIEL DOVE'S ARRIVAL AT DONCASTER. THE ORGAN IN ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH.
THE PULPIT. MRS. NEALE'S BENEFACTION.
_Non ulla Musis pagina gratior
Quam quæ severis ludicra jungere
Novit, fatigatamque nugis
Utilibus recreare mentem._
DR. JOHNSON.
CHAPTER XLVII. P. I.—p. 132.
DONCASTRIANA. GUY'S DEATH. SEARCH FOR HIS TOMB-STONE IN INGLETON
CHURCH-YARD.
Go to the dull church-yard and see
Those hillocks of mortality,
Where proudest man is only found
By a small hillock on the ground.
TIXALL POETRY.
CHAPTER XLVIII. P. I.—p. 137.
A FATHER'S MISGIVINGS CONCERNING HIS SON'S DESTINATION. PETER
HOPKINS'S GENEROSITY. DANIEL IS SENT ABROAD TO GRADUATE IN MEDICINE.
Heaven is the magazine wherein He puts
Both good and evil; Prayer's the key that shuts
And opens this great treasure: 'tis a key
Whose wards are Faith and Hope and Charity.
Wouldst thou prevent a judgement due to sin?
Turn but the key and thou may'st lock it in.
Or wouldst thou have a blessing fall upon thee?
Open the door, and it will shower on thee!
QUARLES.
CHAPTER XLIX.—p. 142.
CONCERNING THE INTEREST WHICH DANIEL THE ELDER TOOK IN THE DUTCH WAR,
AND MORE ESPECIALLY IN THE SIEGE AND PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERY OF LEYDEN.
Glory to Thee in thine omnipotence,
O Lord who art our shield and our defence,
And dost dispense,
As seemeth best to thine unerring will,
(Which passeth mortal sense)
The lot of Victory still;
Edging sometimes with might the sword unjust;
And bowing to the dust,
The rightful cause, that so such seeming ill
May thine appointed purposes fulfil;
Sometimes, (as in this late auspicious hour
For which our hymns we raise,)
Making the wicked feel thy present power;
Glory to thee and praise,
Almighty God, by whom our strength was given!
Glory to Thee, O Lord of Earth and Heaven!
SOUTHEY.
CHAPTER L. P. I.—p. 149.
VOYAGE TO ROTTERDAM AND LEYDEN. THE AUTHOR CANNOT TARRY TO DESCRIBE
THAT CITY. WHAT HAPPENED THERE TO DANIEL DOVE.
He took great content, exceeding delight in that his voyage. As who
doth not that shall attempt the like?—For peregrination charms our
senses with such unspeakable and sweet variety, that some count him
unhappy that never travelled, a kind of prisoner, and pity his case
that from his cradle to his old age he beholds the same still; still,
still, the same, the same!
BURTON.
CHAPTER LI. P. I.—p. 158.
ARMS OF LEYDEN. DANIEL DOVE, M. D. A LOVE STORY, STRANGE BUT TRUE.
_Oye el extraño caso, advierte y siente;
Suceso es raro, mas verdad ha sido._
BALBUENA.
CHAPTER LII. P. I.—p. 163.
SHEWING HOW THE YOUNG STUDENT FELL IN LOVE—AND HOW HE MADE THE BEST
USE OF HIS MISFORTUNE.
_Il creder, donne vaghe, è cortesia,
Quando colui che scrive o che favella,
Possa essere sospetto di bugia,
Per dir qualcosa troppo rara e bella.
Dunque chi ascolta questa istoria mea
E non la crede frottola o novella
Ma cosa vera—come ella è di fatto,
Fa che di lui mi chiami soddisfatto.
E pure che mi diate piena fede,
De la dubbiezza altrui poco mi cale._
RICCIARDETTO.
CHAPTER LIII. P. I.—p. 169.
OF THE VARIOUS WAYS OF GETTING IN LOVE. A CHAPTER CONTAINING SOME
USEFUL OBSERVATIONS, AND SOME BEAUTIFUL POETRY.
Let cavillers know, that as the Lord John answered the Queen in that
Italian Guazzo, an old, a grave discreet man is fittest to discourse
of love-matters; because he hath likely more experience, observed
more, hath a more staid judgement, can better discern, resolve,
discuss, advise, give better cautions and more solid precepts, better
inform his auditors in such a subject, and by reason of his riper
years, sooner divert.
BURTON.
CHAPTER LIV. P. I.—p. 176.
MORE CONCERNING LOVE AND MARRIAGE, AND MARRIAGE WITHOUT LOVE.
Nay Cupid, pitch thy trammel where thou please,
Thou canst not fail to catch such fish as these.
QUARLES.
CHAPTER LV. P. I.—p. 183.
THE AUTHOR'S LAST VISIT TO DONCASTER.
_Fuere quondam, hæc sed fuere;
Nunc ubi sint, rogitas? Id annos
Scire hos oportet scilicet. O bonæ
Musæ, O Lepôres—O Charites meræ!
O gaudia offuscata nullis
Litibus! O sine nube soles!_
JANUS DOUZA.
CHAPTER LVI. P. I.—p. 189.
A TRUCE WITH MELANCHOLY. GENTLEMEN SUCH AS THEY WERE IN THE YEAR OF
OUR LORD 1747. A HINT TO YOUNG LADIES CONCERNING THEIR GREAT
GRANDMOTHERS.
Fashions that are now called new,
Have been worn by more than you;
Elder times have used the same,
Though these new ones get the name.
MIDDLETON.
CHAPTER LVII. P. I.—p. 195.
AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO REMOVE THE UNPLEASANT IMPRESSION PRODUCED UPON
THE LADIES BY THE DOCTOR'S TYE-WIG AND HIS SUIT OF SNUFF-COLOURED
DITTOS.
So full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.
TWELFTH NIGHT.
CHAPTER LVIII. P. I.—p. 199.
CONCERNING THE PORTRAIT OF DR. DANIEL DOVE.
The sure traveller
Though he alight sometimes still goeth on.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER LIX. P. I.—p. 204.
SHOWING WHAT THAT QUESTION WAS, WHICH WAS ANSWERED BEFORE IT WAS
ASKED.
_Chacun a son stile; le mien, comme vouz voyez, n'est pas laconique._
M^E. DE SEVIGNEˊ.
CHAPTER LX. P. I.—p. 208.
SHOWING CAUSE WHY THE QUESTION WHICH WAS NOT ASKED OUGHT TO BE
ANSWERED.
Nay in troth I talk but coarsely,
But I hold it comfortable for the understanding.
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER.
CHAPTER LXI. P. I.—p. 215.
WHEREIN THE QUESTION IS ANSWERED WHICH OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN ASKED.
_Ajutami, tu penna, et calamaio,
Ch' io hò tra mano una materia asciutta._
MATTIO FRANZESI.
CHAPTER LXII.—p. 222.
IN WHICH IS RELATED THE DISCOVERY OF A CERTAIN PORTRAIT AT DONCASTER.
Call in the Barber! If the tale be long
He'll cut it short, I trust.
MIDDLETON.
CHAPTER LXIII.—p. 228.
A DISCUSSION CONCERNING THE QUESTION LAST PROPOSED.
_Questo è bene un de' più profondi passi
Che noi habbiamo ancora oggi tentato;
E non è mica da huomini bassi._
AGNUOLO FIRENZUOLA.
CHAPTER LXIV.—p. 234.
DEFENCE OF PORTRAIT-PAINTING. A SYSTEM OF MORAL COSMETICS RECOMMENDED
TO THE LADIES. GWILLIM. SIR T. LAWRENCE. GEORGE WITHER. APPLICATION TO
THE SUBJECT OF THIS WORK.
_Pingitur in tabulis formæ peritura venustas,
Vivat ut in tabulis, quod perit in facie._
OWEN.
CHAPTER LXV.—p. 242.
SOCIETY OF A COUNTRY TOWN. SUCH A TOWN A MORE FAVOURABLE HABITAT FOR
SUCH A PERSON AS DR. DOVE THAN LONDON WOULD HAVE BEEN.
Be then thine own home, and in thyself dwell;
Inn any where;
And seeing the snail, which every where doth roam,
Carrying his own home still, still is at home,
Follow (for he is easy paced) this snail;
Be thine own Palace, or the World's thy jail.
DONNE.
CHAPTER LXVI.—p. 251.
MR. COPLEY OF NETHERHALL. SOCIETY AT HIS HOUSE. DRUMMOND. BURGH. GRAY.
MASON. MILLER THE ORGANIST AND HISTORIAN OF DONCASTER. HERSCHEL.
All worldly joys go less
To the one joy of doing kindnesses.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER LXVII.—p. 257.
A MYTHOLOGICAL STORY MORALIZED.
_Il faut mettre les fables en presse pour en tirer quelque suc de
verité._
GARASSE.
CHAPTER LXVIII.—p. 270.
ECCENTRIC PERSONS, WHY APPARENTLY MORE COMMON IN ENGLAND THAN IN OTHER
COUNTRIES. HARRY BINGLEY.
Blest are those
Whose blood and judgement are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for Fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please.
HAMLET.
CHAPTER LXIX.—p. 282.
A MUSICAL RECLUSE AND HIS SISTER.
Some proverb maker, I forget who, says, “God hath given to some men
wisdom and understanding, and to others the art of playing on the
fiddle.”
Professor PARK'S Dogmas of the Constitution.
CHAPTER LXX.—p. 288.
SHEWING THAT ANY HONEST OCCUPATION IS BETTER THAN NONE, BUT THAT
OCCUPATIONS WHICH ARE DEEMED HONOURABLE ARE NOT ALWAYS HONEST.
_J'ai peine à concevoir pourquoi le plûpart des hommes ont une si
forte envie d'être heureux, et une si grande incapacité pour le
devenir._
VOYAGES DE MILORD CETON.
CHAPTER LXXI.—p. 295.
TRANSITION IN OUR NARRATIVE PREPARATORY TO A CHANGE IN THE DOCTOR'S
LIFE. A SAD STORY SUPPRESSED. THE AUTHOR PROTESTS AGAINST PLAYING WITH
THE FEELINGS OF HIS READERS. ALL ARE NOT MERRY THAT SEEM MIRTHFUL. THE
SCAFFOLD A STAGE. DON RODRIGO CALDERON. THISTLEWOOD. THE WORLD A
MASQUERADE, BUT THE DOCTOR ALWAYS IN HIS OWN CHARACTER.
This breaks no rule of order.
If order were infringed then should I flee
From my chief purpose, and my mark should miss.
Order is Nature's beauty, and the way
To Order is by rules that Art hath found.
GWILLIM.
CHAPTER LXXII.—p. 313.
IN WHICH THE FOURTH OF THE QUESTIONS PROPOSED IN CHAPTER II. P. I. IS
BEGUN TO BE ANSWERED; SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON ANCESTRY ARE INTRODUCED,
AND THE READER IS INFORMED WHY THE AUTHOR DOES NOT WEAR A CAP AND
BELLS.
Boast not the titles of your ancestors,
Brave youths! they're their possessions, none of yours.
When your own virtues equall'd have their names,
'Twill be but fair to lean upon their fames,
For they are strong supporters; but till then
The greatest are but growing gentlemen.
BEN JONSON.
CHAPTER LXXIII.—p. 318.
RASH MARRIAGES. AN EARLY WIDOWHOOD. AFFLICTION RENDERED A BLESSING TO
THE SUFFERER; AND TWO ORPHANS LEFT, THOUGH NOT DESTITUTE, YET
FRIENDLESS.
Love built a stately house; where Fortune came,
And spinning fancies, she was heard to say
That her fine cobwebs did support the frame;
Whereas they were supported by the same.
But Wisdom quickly swept them all away.
HERBERT.
CHAPTER LXXIV.—p. 324.
A LADY DESCRIBED WHOSE SINGLE LIFE WAS NO BLESSEDNESS EITHER TO
HERSELF OR OTHERS. A VERACIOUS EPITAPH AND AN APPROPRIATE MONUMENT.
Beauty! my Lord,—'tis the worst part of woman!
A weak poor thing, assaulted every hour
By creeping minutes of defacing time;
A superficies which each breath of care
Blasts off; and every humorous stream of grief
Which flows from forth these fountains of our eyes,
Washeth away, as rain doth winter's snow.
GOFF.
CHAPTER LXXV.—p. 331.
A SCENE WHICH WILL PUT SOME OF THOSE READERS WHO HAVE BEEN MOST
IMPATIENT WITH THE AUTHOR, IN THE BEST HUMOUR WITH HIM.
There is no argument of more antiquity and elegancy than is the matter
of Love; for it seems to be as old as the world, and to bear date from
the first time that man and woman was: therefore in this, as in the
finest metal, the freshest wits have in all ages shewn their best
workmanship.
ROBERT WILMOT.
CHAPTER LXXVI.—p. 337.
A STORY CONCERNING CUPID WHICH NOT ONE READER IN TEN THOUSAND HAS EVER
HEARD BEFORE; A DEFENCE OF LOVE WHICH WILL BE VERY SATISFACTORY TO THE
LADIES.
They do lie,
Lie grossly who say Love is blind,—by him
And Heaven they lie! he has a sight can pierce
Thro' ivory, as clear as it were horn,
And reach his object.
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER.
CHAPTER LXXVII.—p. 346.
MORE CONCERNING LOVE AND THE DREAM OF LIFE.
Happy the bonds that hold ye;
Sure they be sweeter far than liberty.
There is no blessedness but in such bondage;
Happy that happy chain; such links are heavenly.
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER.
THE DOCTOR, &c.
CHAPTER XXXIII. P. I.
DONCASTRIANA. THE RIVER DON.
Rivers from bubbling springs
Have rise at first; and great from abject things.
MIDDLETON.
How would it have astonished Peter Hopkins if some one gifted with the
faculty of second sight had foretold to him that, at the sale of Pews
in a new Church at Doncaster, eighteen of those Pews should produce
upwards of sixteen hundred pounds, and that one of them should be
bought at the price of £138,—a sum for which in his days lands enough
might have been purchased to have qualified three men as Yorkshire
Freeholders! How would it have surprized him to have been told that
Doncaster races would become the greatest meeting in the North of
England; that Princes would attend them, and more money would annually
be won and lost there than might in old times have sufficed for a
King's ransom! But the Doncaster of George the fourth's reign is not
more like the Doncaster of George the second's, than George the fourth
himself, in manners, habit, character and person is like his royal
Great Grandfather;—not more like than to the Doncaster of the United
States, if such a place there be there; or to the Doncaster that may
be in New South Wales, Van Diemen's or Swan-river-land. It was a place
of considerable importance when young Daniel first became an
inhabitant of it; but it was very far from having attained all the
advantages arising from its well-endowed corporation, its race-ground,
and its position on the great north road.
It is beyond a doubt that Doncaster may be identified with the Danum
of Antoninus and the Notitia, the Caer Daun of Nennius, and the
Dona-cester of the Saxons: whether it were the Campo-Donum of Bede,—a
royal residence of the Northumbrian Kings, where Paulinus the Romish
Apostle of Northumbria built a Church, which with the town itself was
burnt by the Welsh King Cadwallon, and his Saxon Ally the Pagan Penda,
after a battle in which Edwin fell,—is not so certain; antiquaries
differ upon this point, but they who maintain the affirmative appear
to have the strongest case. In the charter granted to it by Richard
Cœur de Lion the town is called Danecastre.
The name indicates that it was a Roman Station on the river Dan, Don
or Dun, “so called,” says Camden, “because 'tis carried in a low deep
channel, for that is the signification of the British word Dan.” I
thank Dr. Prichard for telling me what it was not possible for Camden
to know,—that Don in the language of the Ossetes, a Caucassian tribe,
means water; and that in a country so remote as New Guinea, Dan has
the same meaning. Our Doctor loved the river for its name's sake; and
the better because the river Dove falls into it. Don however, though
not without some sacrifice of feeling, he was content to call it, in
conformity to the established usage. A more satisfactory reason to him
would have been that of preserving the identity of name with the Don
of Aberdeenshire and of the Cossacks, and the relationship in
etymology with the Donau, but that the original pronunciation which
was, as he deemed, perverted in that latter name was found in Danube;
and that by calling his own river Don it ceased to be homonymous with
that Dan which adds its waters, and its name to the Jor.
But the Yorkshire Don might be liked also for its own sake. Hear how
its course is described in old prose and older verse! “The River Don
or Dun,” says Dodsworth in his Yorkshire collections, “riseth in the
upper part of Pennystone parish near Lady's Cross (which may be called
our Appennines, because the rain water that falleth sheddeth from sea
to sea;) cometh to Birchworth, so to Pennystone, thence to
Boleterstone by Medop, leaveth Wharncliffe Chase (stored with
roebucks, which are decayed since the great frost) on the north
(belonging to Sir Francis Wortley, where he hath great iron works. The
said Wharncliffe affordeth two hundred dozen of coal for ever to his
said works. In this Chase he had red and fallow deer and roes) and
leaveth Bethuns, a Chase and Tower of the Earl of Salop, on the south
side. By Wortley to Waddsley, where in times past Everingham of
Stainber had a park, now disparked. Thence to Sheffield, and washeth
the castle wall; keepeth its course to Attercliffe, where is an iron
forge of the Earl of Salop; from thence to Winkebank, Kymberworth and
Eccles, where it entertaineth the Rother; cometh presently to
Rotherham, thence to Aldwark Hall, the Fitzwilliams' ancient
possession; then to Thriberg Park, the seat of Reresbyes Knights; then
to Mexborough, where hath been a Castle; then to Conisborough Park and
Castle of the Earls of Warrens, where there is a place called Horsas
Tomb. From thence to Sprotebrough, the ancient seat of the famous
family of Fitzwilliam who have flourished since the conquest. Thence
by Newton to Donecastre, Wheatley and Kirk Sandal to Barnby-Dunn; by
Bramwith and Stainforth to Fishlake; thence to Turnbrig, a port town
serving indifferently for all the west parts, where he pays his
tribute to the Ayre.”
Hear Michael Drayton next, who being as determined a personificator as
Darwin himself, makes “the wide West Riding” thus address her favorite
River Don;
Thou first of all my floods, whose banks do bound my south
And offerest up thy stream to mighty Humber's mouth;
Of yew and climbing elm that crown'd with many a spray,
From thy clear fountain first thro' many a mead dost play,
Till Rother, whence the name of Rotherham first begun,
At that her christened town doth lose her in my Don;
Which proud of her recourse, towards Doncaster doth drive,
Her great and chiefest town, the name that doth derive
From Don's near bordering banks; when holding on her race,
She, dancing in and out, indenteth Hatfield Chase,
Whose bravery hourly adds new honors to her bank:
When Sherwood sends her in slow Iddle that, made rank
With her profuse excess, she largely it bestows
On Marshland, whose swoln womb with such abundance flows,
As that her battening breast her fatlings sooner feeds,
And with more lavish waste than oft the grazier needs;
Whose soil, as some reports, that be her borderers, note,
With water under earth undoubtedly doth float,
For when the waters rise, it risen doth remain
High, while the floods are high, and when they fall again,
It falleth: but at last when as my lively Don
Along by Marshland side her lusty course hath run,
The little wandering Trent, won by the loud report
Of the magnific state and height of Humber's court,
Draws on to meet with Don, at her approach to Aire.
Seldon's rich commentary does not extend to that part of the
Polyolbion in which these lines occur, but a comment upon the supposed
rising and falling of the Marshland with the waters, is supplied by
Camden. “The Don,” he says after it has passed Hatfield Chase “divides
itself, one stream running towards the river Idel which comes out of
Nottinghamshire, the other towards the river Aire; in both which they
continue till they meet again, and fall into the Æstuary of Humber.
Within the island, or that piece of ground encompassed by the branches
of these two rivers are Dikemarsh, and Marshland, fenny tracts, or
rather river-islands, about fifteen miles round, which produce a very
green rank grass, and are as it were set round with little villages.
Some of the inhabitants imagine the whole island floats upon the
water; and that sometimes when the waters are encreased 'tis raised
higher; just like what Pomponius Mela tells us of the Isle of Autrum
in Gaul.” Upon this passage Bishop Gibson remarks, “as to what our
author observes of the ground being heaved up, Dr. Johnston affirms he
has spoke with several old men who told him, that the turf-moor
between Thorne and Gowle was so much higher before the draining,
especially in winter time, than it is now, that before they could see
little of the church steeple, whereas now they can see the church-yard
wall.”
The poet might linger willingly with Ebenezer Elliott amid
——rock, vale and wood,—
Haunts of his early days, and still loved well,—
And where the sun, o'er purple moorlands wide,
Gilds Wharncliffe's oaks, while Don is dark below;
And where the black bird sings on Rother's side,
And where Time spares the age of Conisbro';
but we must proceed with good matter of fact prose.
The river has been made navigable to Tinsley, within three miles of
Sheffield, and by this means Sheffield, Rotherham and Doncaster carry
on a constant intercourse with Hull. A cut was made for draining that
part of Hatfield Chase called the Levels, by an adventurous Hollander,
Cornelius Vermuyden by name, in the beginning of Charles the first's
reign. Some two hundred families of French and Walloon refugees were
induced to colonize there at that time. They were forcibly interrupted
in their peaceful and useful undertaking by the ignorant people of the
country, who were instigated and even led on by certain of the
neighbouring gentry, as ignorant as themselves; but the Government was
then strong enough to protect them; they brought about twenty-four
thousand acres into cultivation, and many of their descendants are
still settled upon the ground which was thus reclaimed. Into this new
cut, which is at this day called the Dutch river, the Don was turned,
its former course having been through Eastoft; but the navigation
which has since proved so beneficial to the country, and toward which
this was the first great measure, produced at first a plentiful crop
of lawsuits, and one of the many pamphlets which this litigation
called forth, bears as an alias in its title, “the Devil upon Don.”
Many vestiges of former cultivation were discovered when this cut was
made,—such (according to Gibson's information) as gates, ladders,
hammers and shoes. The land was observed in some places to lie in
ridges and furrows, as if it had been ploughed; and oaks and fir trees
were frequently dug up, some of which were found lying along, with
their roots still fastened; others as if cut, or burnt, and severed
from the ground. Roots were long to be seen in the great cut, some
very large and standing upright, others with an inclination toward the
east.
About the year 1665 the body of a man was found in a turf pit, some
four yards deep, lying with his head toward the north. The hair and
nails were not decayed, and the skin was like tanned leather; but it
had lain so long there that the bones had become spongy.