John Leland (1) (1503–1552)

Wonderful description of Henry VIII's England compiled by his antiquary. He went mad before completing it so some of it is travel description and some rough notes. This version has modernized language, sometimes jarrng ("attractive" is a favorite adjective) and rearranges the material by counties in alphabetical order, which breaks up the original journeys. However, it still gives a great picture of England at the time. Pints that struck me included how small everything was --places I as an American think of as "far apart" turn out to be only separated by 3 miles or so. There is a village or town every 8 miles or so. Every town had recently had (until the Dissolution of the Monasteries which was ongoing as Leland wrote) a monastic house of some sort, often at least three (monks, nuns or friars, especially friars). It makes clear what a huge change the Dissolution was. I was also struck by the emphasis on bridges, even over what must have been quite small streams, and by the way the specific source of most streams could be identified. There are also many references to the lands and houses of county families, though some of this material is cut bin this version, to my regret.… (mehr)