Part 27 (2/2)
Bessingham pa
Aylesham 8
116
137
27
Besthorpe pa
Wymondham 6
95
542
30
Besthorp to
Saxilby 9
132
322
22
Beswick to
Bolton 12
183
248
46
Beswick chap
Hornsea 13
190
205
37
Betchworth pa
Leatherhead 7
26
1100
21
Bethersden pa
Smarden 4
54
973
+--+------------------+-------------------------+-----+--------+
[A] BESSELSLEIGH, is a small village, in the hundred of Hormer. The manor formerly belonged to the family of Legh, from which it pa.s.sed, by a female heir, to that of Besils, or Blesells, which flourished there for several centuries. ”At this Legh,” says Leland, ”be very fayre pastures and woodes. The Blesells hathe bene lords of it syns the tyme of Edwarde the First, or afore, and ther they dyd enhabite. The place is all of stone, and stondithe at the west end of the paroche churche. The Blesells cam out of Provence in Fraunce, and were men of activitye in feates of armes, as it appearith in monuments at Legh, how he faught in Listes with a strange knighte that chalengyd hym, at the whiche deade the Kynge and Quene at that tyme of England, were present. The Blesells were countyd to have pocessyons of 400 marks by the yere.” In the year 1516, the estates of the Blesells were carried, by the marriage of an heiress, to the Fettiplaces, a respectable Berks.h.i.+re family, one of whom Besil Fettiplace, Esq., was High Sheriff in the 26th of Queen Elizabeth.
The manor of Besselsleigh was purchased of the Fettiplaces, by William Lenthall, Esq., Speaker of the Long Parliament, whose descendants now reside at Burford, in Oxfords.h.i.+re.
[Sidenote: The Blessell's family.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+---------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+ 25
Bethnal Green[A] pa
Middles.e.x
Popular 2
Stratford 2
35
Betley pa
Stafford
Newcastle 7
Nantwich 8
12
Bettes...o...b.. pa
Dorset
Lyme Regis 6
Axminster 5
53
Bettesfield
Flint
Whitchurch 6
Ellesmere 6
21
Betteshanger pa
Kent
Sandwich 4
Deal 4
33
Betton ham
Salop
Drayton 2
Adderley 4
33
Betton ham
Salop
Shrewsbury 3
Ch. Stretton 11
33
Bettws pa
Salop
Knighton 7
Bis. Castle 11
49
Bettws pa
Carmarthen
Llandillo 7
Camarthen 18
52
Bettws-Yn-Rhos[B] pa
Denbigh
Abergeley 4
Aberconway 9
54
Bettws pa
Glamorgan
Bridgend 5
Pyle 5
55
Bettws to
Merioneth
Bala 2
Corwen 11
26
Bettws pa
Monmouth
Newport 3
Careleon 4
26
Bettws ham
Monmouth
Abergavenny 5
Lanthony 7
56
Bettws pa
Montgomery
Newtown 4
Montgomery 7
51
Bettws Bleddrws[C] pa
Cardigan
Lampeter 2
Tregaron 9
58
Bettws Clyro pa
Radnor
Hay 4
Kington 8
58
Bettws Diserth pa
Radnor
New Radnor 8
Builth 6
+--+---------------------+----------+-------------+---------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+---------------------+------------------------+-----+---------+ 25
Bethnal Green[A] pa
Clapton 3
1
62018
35
Betley pa
Keel 5
157
870
12
Bettes...o...b.. pa
Charmouth 5
146
65
53
Bettesfield
Oswestry 14
173
359
21
Betteshanger pa
Wingham 5
67
20
33
Betton ham
Woore 6
155
33
Betton ham
Wenlock 11
159
33
Bettws pa
Ludlow 22
164
389
49
Bettws pa
Neath 13
211
830
52
Bettws-Yn-Rhos[B] pa
Denbigh 11
214
912
54
Bettws pa
Neath 13
186
362
55
Bettws to
Llandrillo 7
195
26
Bettws pa
Pontypool 7
151
95
26
Bettws ham
Crickhowel 8
151
56
Bettws pa
Llanfair 7
175
51
Bettws Bleddrws[C] pa
Llandovery 20
211
235
58
Bettws Clyro pa
Glasbury 7
160
58
Bettws Diserth pa
Rhayader 15
173
141
+--+---------------------+------------------------+-----+---------+
[A] BETHNAL GREEN. There is a curious legend relating to this place, of which Henry de Mountfort, son of the ambitious Earl of Liecester, who was slain with his father at the memorable battle of Evesham, is the hero. He is supposed to have been discovered among the bodies of the dying and the dead (by a young lady) in an almost lifeless state, and deprived of his sight by a wound which he had received during the engagement. Under the fostering hand of this ”faire damosel” he soon recovered, and afterwards marrying her, she became the mother of the celebrated ”Besse,” the heroine of the popular ballad of the beggar's daughter of Bethnal-green, written in the reign of Elizabeth. Fearing least his rank and t.i.tle should be discovered by his enemies, he is said to have disguised himself as a beggar, and taken up his residence at Bethnal-green. The beauty of the daughter attracted many suitors, and she was at length married to a n.o.ble knight, who, regardless of her supposed meanness and poverty, had the courage to make her his wife: her other lovers having deserted her on account of her low origin. At Bethnal-green is an old mansion, which the inhabitants, with their usual love of traditionary lore, a.s.sign as the palace of the blind beggar. The tradition, though with very little grounds for its foundation, is still preserved on the sign posts of several public houses in the neighbourhood. On the 19th September, 1826, the parish officers of Bethnal-green waited on the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and stated that a lawless gang, of 500 or more, thieves infested that neighbourhood and committed the most dreadful outrages nightly, upwards of fifty persons having been robbed and beaten in the course of a week; the secretary ordered forty men mounted, to patrole the parish, and aid the local authorities in bringing the offenders to justice. The hospital called the Trinity House, founded in the year 1695, for twenty-eight ancient seamen, who have been masters of s.h.i.+ps, and their widows, is in this parish. The funds arising from the ballast-offices, lighthouses, buoys, beacons, &c. are appropriated by parliament to this corporation.
Each of the inmates receives 16s. a month, 20s. a year for coals, and a new gown every second year. Many of the streets of this parish are almost wholly occupied by the operative silk-weavers.
[Sidenote: The blind beggar of Bethnal-green.]
[Sidenote: Gang of 500 thieves, in 1826.]
[B] BETTWS-YN-RHOS. _Fairs_, February 20, May 8, August 15, and November 20.
[C] BETTWS BLEDDRWS. In this neighbourhood there exists a curious custom relating to marriage, called a bidding, which takes place about a week previous to the day of ceremony. The banns are published as in England.
A bidder goes from house to house, with a long pole and ribbons flying at the end of it, and standing in the middle floor in each house, he repeats a long lesson, with great formality. He mentions the day of the wedding, the place, the preparations made, &c. The following is a specimen:--Speech of the Bidder in 1762. ”The intention of the bidder is this; with kindness and amity, with decency and liberality for Einion Owain, and Llio Elys, he invites you to come with your good will on the plate; bring current money; a s.h.i.+lling, or two, or three, or four, or five; with cheese and b.u.t.ter we invite the husband and wife, and children, and men-servants, from the greatest to the least. Come there early, you shall have victuals freely, and drink cheap, stools to sit on, and fish if we can catch them; but if not, hold us excuseable; and they will attend on you when you call in upon them in return. They set out from such a place to such a place.” The gwahodder, or bidder, has eight or ten s.h.i.+llings for his trouble. Sat.u.r.day is always fixed on as the day of marriage, and Friday is allotted to bring home the furniture of the woman, consisting generally of an oak chest, a feather bed, clothes, &c. The man provides a bedstead, a table, a dresser and chairs.
The evening is moreover employed in receiving presents of money, cheese, and b.u.t.ter, at the man's house, from his friends, and at the woman's house from her friends. This is called purse and girdle, it is an ancient British custom. All these presents are set down minutely on paper. If demanded, they are to be repaid. On Sat.u.r.day, the friends of the man come all on horseback, from the number of eighty to a hundred, and have bread and cheese, and ale at his cost, making at the same time their presents, or pay pwython, i.e. the presents that have been made at their weddings. From ten to twenty of the best mounted go to the intended bride's house to demand her. The woman with her friends are expecting the summons, but she appears very uncomplying, and much Welsh poetry is employed by way of argument; one party being within the house, the other without, abusing each other much. Several persons then deliver orations on horseback, with their hats off, demanding the daughter from the father, who were answered by persons appointed for the business. At length the father appears, admitting and welcoming his guests. They alight, walk in, take some refreshments, and proceed to church. The girl mounts behind her father, mother, or friend, upon the swiftest horse that can be procured. Her friends then pretend to run away with her, riding like mad folks, in any direction. During this time, the girl has no pillion, sitting upon the crupper, and holding by the man's coat, at last the horse is tired, or the bride growing impatient consents to go, using only some feints to get out of the road, till they arrive at the church. The ceremony being over, they return to the married couple's house, eating at free cost, but finding their own liquor. Sunday being come, the married pair stay at home receiving good will and pwython. On Monday the drink is exhausted, and the cheese, &c. is sold, frequently making, with the money presented, a sum of 50 to 60. On the following Sunday, most of the company attend the young pair to church, and the ceremony closes. Among the eminent natives of this neighbourhood, was David ap Gwylim, of Bro Ginin, whose works appeared in a large volume, in the year 1789. He nourished from about the year 1330 to 1370. In early life he enjoyed the munificent patronage of Ivor the generous, an ancestor of the Tredegar family. Under the influence of a pa.s.sion for the fair Morvudd he composed 147 poems. Their loves were mutual, but her friends induced her to accept a wealthy connection, named Rhys Gwrgan, an officer of the English army, who served at the battle of Cressy, 1346; Dab Gwilym persuaded Morvudd to escape with him, during the absence of her husband in France; in consequent of which he was imprisoned, but liberated through the influence of his friends. It is from the poems of this author, that the modern literary dialect has chiefly been formed.
_Fairs_, August 17, and September 23 and 27.
[Sidenote: Curious marriage customs.]
[Sidenote: A Welsh poet.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+-------------------+----------+------------+-------------+ 50
Bettws Garmon pa
Carnarvon
Carnarvon 5
Beddgelart 7
+--+-------------------+----------+------------+-------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+-------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+ 50
Bettws Garmon pa
Llanberris 6
230
128
+--+-------------------+-----------------------+-------------+
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+-------------------------+----------+-----------+--------------+ 55
Bettws Gwerfyl Goch[A] pa
Merioneth
Corwen 5
Bala 11
51
Bettws Jevan pa
Cardigan
Newcastle 7
Cardigan 10
51
Bettws Lleuce pa
Cardigan
Lampeter 8
Tregaron 6
26
Bettws Newydd pa
Monmouth
Usk 4
Abergavenny 7
50
Bettws-Y-Coed[B] pa
Caernarvon
Llanrwst 5
Bangor 20
30
Bevercoates pa
Nottingham
Tuxford 3
Ollerton 5
42
Beverege isl
Worcester
Worcester 2
Droitwich 5
46
Beverley[C] m.t. & bo
E.R. York
Hull 9
Scarborough 35
+--+-------------------------+----------+-----------+--------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+-------------------------+----------------------+-----+--------+ 55
Bettws Gwerfyl Goch[A] pa
Ruthin 12
199
273
51
Bettws Jevan pa
Llanarth 9
236
386
51
Bettws Lleuce pa
Aberystwith 16
217
381
26
Bettws Newydd pa
Monmouth 12
142
890
50
Bettws-Y-Coed[B] pa
Corwen 23
217
348
30
Bevercoates pa
E. Retford 7
140
51
42
Beverege isl
Bewdley 12
113
46
Beverley[C] m.t. & bo
York 28
183
8302
+--+-------------------------+----------------------+-----+--------+
[A] BETTWS GWERFYL.--_Fairs_, March 16, June 22, August 12, September 16, and Dec. 12.
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