THE JOURNAL OF WILLIAM SCHELLINKS' TRAVELS IN ENGLAND 1661-1663 Translated from the Dutch, and edited. by MAURICE EXWOOD and H. L. LEHMANN CAMDEN FIFTH SERIES Volume LONDON OFFICES OF THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY. UNIVERSITY COI I. EGE LONDON, GOWER STREET, WCIE 6BT 1993 28 JULY — 12 AUGUST t 661 43 At 5 o'clock in the morning of the 5th his Princely Highness Count Maurits went on board an English packet boat; a salvo was fired from the two castles and the little fort. On the 6th we were merrily entertained by the younger Sir Arnold Braems with French wine and light refreshments. On the 7th Mr. J. Thierry rode with his party to the seat of Monsr Nevu outside Dover and was, with other invited guests, well entertained, In the afternoon of the 8th we had a farewell dinner in our lodgings with some friends and acquaintances and left Dover at 3 o'clock in a carriage, which Sir Arnold Braems had sent to take us to his delightful residence at. Bridge, one hour's walk from Canterbury and 12 miles from Dover. Along a very pleasant road all the way, we passed Bethlen-i Church (?), Northfield (?) and saw Sandown Castle and the Downs below us on the right, and Whitfield on the left, passed through Waldershare and Womenswold, then past Barham up on the hill and through Kingston and Bishopsbourne in the valley, on to the estate of Sir Arnold Braems, also down in the valley. We arrived there at 8 o'clock in the evening to a friendly welcome and were magnificently entertained, and drank quite a few good healths with sack. On the 9th we played on the bowling green on the hill near Sir Arnold Braems's place. On the loth we saw a hart shot with a crossbow in, the deerpark of Sir Arnold Braems; everybody, especially the ladies, washed their hands in the warm blood, to get white hands. The hart was immediately gutted and cut up into quarters. On the i ith a venison pie and other dishes of the hart were on the menu. After the meal I walked to Canterbury and explored the town. On the 12th we rode in two carriages with Sir Arnold Braerns and Mr. Adriaens of London and several ladies to Canterbury and went to the cathedral to hear the canons sing, the prayers and looked at the sepulchres or gravestones of kings, bishops, and other notables, some very old and much ravaged by age and war. in the recent troubles between the king and parliament, Oliver Cromwell had here, as elsewhere throughout the country, everything which looked like popery, such as glass, statues, crosses and the like, in and on churches and other public buildings, torn down and broken to pieces. Jan Maurits (1604-79), a nephew of Willem the Silent: was a soldier and naval commander, governor of Brazil for the. Dutch West Indies Company, etc., since 1647 also in Brandenburg diplomatic service. Founder of the Maurits House and art collection at the Hague. 2 SEPTEMBER - II SEPTEMBER 1661 63 a collection of rare antique curiosities, costumes of various nations and strange weapons, also fishes, plants, horns, shells, and many other things. Our Departure from London Thursday, the 8th, we took our leave at our lodgings and went over the Bridge to the Bear Inn, where some of our friends came and we had a farewell meal with them and drank some merry rounds. This place is at the corner of the bridge and has at the back a very pleasant view over the river. A fine decked barque lay there ready with six or seven oarsmen. At half past two in the afternoon we went on board with a large company, and so went, from London down the river to Gravesend, where 12 or 13 warships were lying in the roadstead. We arrived there at half past six and went to stay at the Hen and Chickens; where we made good cheer, with our friends deep into the night.. The 9th at 8 o'clock in the morning some of our friends took their leave, and we went by coach, and some of our friends on horseback, to Rochester and from there to Sittingboume, where we .had our midday meal at the White Hart. We continued our journey to Canterbury and in the evening took our lodgings there in the Lily, where many friends and acquaintances of Mr. J. Thierry, his correspondents, came to see him. All were entertained with a great meal, and rounds of farewells and healths were drunk into the night. Meanwhile word was sent to Sir Arnold Braems to let him know that we had arrived. On the loth September Sir Arnold came to our lodgings to welcome Mr. J. Thierry, and we had our breakfast with Mr. du Bois, a relation of Braems. We went on to Bridge, where we were sumptuously entertained in his great hall by Sir Arnold Braems with a large company of friends, ladies and gentlemen, and, spent the afternoon in making good cheer and other pastimes, and left in the evening at 6 o'clock by coach for Dover. When we got there we were again merrily entertained by Mr. Walter Braems, the son of Sir Arnold Braems. We waited there till midnight for the tide to turn, when Mr. Thierry and his servant boarded the packet boat for Ostend, with the brother of Thomas Hill and the son of Voster, the postmaster of Dover. They had a strong favourable wind and arrived at Ostend early the next morning. The itth ditto, Sunday, the weather was bad and rainy all day. We went to the French Church, and at 5 o'clock in the afternoon Mr. by him to Oxford, where they formed the foundation of the Ashmolean Museum. The tomb of John Ashmole the Elder is at St Mary's Church, Lambeth (see 'Ark to Ashmoltan', Ashmolean Museum and Tradescant Trust). 64 JOURNAL OF WILLIAM SCHELLINKS IN ENGLAND Thomas Hill and Mr. W. de Peyster left for London, having come all the way to see Mr. J. Thierry off. On the 12th Mr. Jan Bollen, who had so far travelled with Mr. Jacques Thierry, rode at I I o'clock in the • morning, to Rye, 30 miles from Dover, so we too left in the afternoon for Bridge, and safely arrived in the evening to a friendly welcome. Sir Arnold Braems gave us a room where we both could 'stay as long as we remained there, in fact we stayed for three months. t This estate of Sir Arnold Braems lies in a valley of outstanding beauty; it contains, in addition to his own fine residence, a large number of rooms, chambers, halls, and other good apartments; there is also a large deerpark with many deer and does, woods, a rabbit warren in the hills, and very beautiful, well kept pleasure grounds with fruit trees, well watered by a fast flowing, fresh sparkling stream of wonderfully clear sweet water. This splits up into several branches and rivulets, also some fishponds, in which a certain kind of fish called trout is bred, which is very similar to a large carp, and, prepared in the English manner, tastes very delicious. There are also some vineyards round the house and gardens, producing yearly two to three hogshead of wine. There is a dovecot like a chapel, in which are at all times so many young pigeons that throughout the whole summer and longer 12 to 14. dozen can be taken out every week to put into pies or prepared otherwise. His people go out hunting every day and catch a lot of partridges and pheasants, which we had every day on the table, besides a choice of other delicate food, all with the most delicious English sauces; there is an ample supply of drinks, different kinds of wine and perry, which is made from pears. He also has his own brewery, bakery, wine press, hop garden, barns, stables, oxen, cows, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks, corn and fruit, everything that one can desire in such an establishment. And because he is, with all this, so kind and hospitable, and keeps such a princely table, he has so many visits from noblemen, gentlemen and ladies, so that his table is always surrounded by his own people and outside guests. The church stands not far from his house, and he has the right to nominate a minister of his choice for it. He has planted a fine avenue of lime trees from his house to the church, under which one is protected from rain and sun. His lands and his annual income, which amounts to a considerable sum, had suffered much damage in the war between the king and parliament, but is now all restored to hirniAs we now had the freedom of the place we went walking and clawing every day in the countryside and in the villages in the neighbourhood as far as Canterbury. Sir Arnold Braems and his lady and others often went out hunting or driving in a carriage to visit friends in the neighbourhood, and Mr. Jacobi Thierry often went with them for his pleasure. II SEPTEMBER - 8 NOVEMBER 1661 65 On the 6th October a general muster of seven or eight companies of the militia was held on the hill above Bishopsbourne, which lies at the bottom of the valley, each company 200 men strong. They were brought on and off, skirmishing in one or two groups, firing spiritedly at each other, commanded by numerous officers on horseback and on foot. They started in the morning, but had to stop it all towards evening because of strong winds and oncoming rain. All the men get a drink allowance to refresh themselves. This muster usually takes place about once a year. Every parish and household has to supply and arm as many men as it is able. Our Journey from Bridge to London to see the election and show of the New Lord Mayor Monday, the 7th November, at half past five in the morning we went in Sir Arnold Braems's coach from Bridge to Canterbury, and at 7 o'clock by the ordinary coach from there to Gravesend; we got to Sittingbourne at I o'clock and had our midday meal and refreshed ourselves. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon we passed through Rochester and arrived at half past six at Gravesend, where we found that almost all boats, barges, tiltboats, and lighthorsemen had gone taking people to London. We just managed to get the same waterman who had taken us to Margate and to London before, and went to the King's Head to refresh ourselves with mulled wine. We left at 8 o'clock in a prevoor, in bright moonshine and a favourable wind and tide, but soon the weather turned dirty and it started to rain. We arrived at London at o'clock in the night, landed at Billingsgate and stayed at the Swan. The next day, the 8th November, we went at 7 o'clock in the morning to Mr. de Peyster and then to Sir Arnold Braems, whom we found still in bed, and then to Mr. Thomas Hill, who went with us to the river, and from there by boat to Paul's Wharf to a house with a view over the river, from where we could see all the elegant barges and everything which went on on the river. To get a still better view we took a rowing boat and had ourselves rowed through the crowd of all kinds of large and small craft up and down towards Westminster, and back again to Paul's Wharf; there was heavy rain in the morning, but the weather cleared up by 9 o'clock.