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pangs,

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The Muft, of pallid hue, declares the foil
Devoid of spirit: wretched he, that quaffs
Such wheyifh liquors; oft with colic
With pungent colic pangs, diftrefs'd he'll roar,
And tofs, and turn, and curfe th'unwholfome,draught.
But, farmer, look, where full-ear'd fheaves of
Grow wavy on the tilth; that foil felect

55. The muft.]

rye 60

Muft, or new wine, is fo called from the Latin MUSTUM. It is ufed by Milton, P. L. B. v. V. 344.

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From many a berry.

Herefordshire farmers call the refuse of the apples, after they have been completely ground and preft, Cider Muft, poffibly from its having fo much the smell of MUST, or vinous liquor drawn off in its first state from the Prefs.

57.

colic pangs,]

Milton, P. L. xi. 484.

60. But, farmer, look, where full-ear'd fheaves of rye

Grow wavy on the tilth; that soil select

For apples.]

Worlidge and fome of the old writers on Cider recommend a light rye-land as the best foil for Cider-fruits; and Philip feems inconfiderately to have adopted their precept. But there is very little good Cider made from the rye-lands in Herefordshire; and the Parishes most famous for Cider are of a very deep foil. What Virgil has obferved with regard to Vines, is strictly true respecting Cider.

At quæ pinguis humus dulcique uligine læta

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GEORG. ii. 190.

But the rich foil with genial force endu'd,
All green with grafs, with moisture fweet bedew'd,
Ere long will vines of luftieft growth produce,
And big with bounteous Bacchus' choiceft juice.

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GEORG. ii. 93.

By which the faltʼring tongue and stagg'ring feet are try’d.

WARTON.

- Such is the Kentchurch, fuch Dantzeyan ground.] Talem dives arat Capua, &c. &c.

e Kentchurch.]

VIRG. GEORG. ii. 224.

Parish of Kentchurch is not particularly noted for its Cider. must grant a certain licence to Poets writing on a Provincial fubd, while their general precepts are founded in truth, must allow o indulge themfelves in an occafional compliment to private ip or particular refpectability of character.

family of Scudamore of Kentchurch has long poffeffed the greater the property of that parish. Leland, in his Itinerary, fays," The t houfe of the Efcudamore's of Herefordshire was at a place called chirche, on the edge of the dominion or country called Ewis old."

Scudamore, the prefent poffeffor of the eftate at Kentchurch, has nted the City of Hereford in five fucceffive Parliaments.

antzeyan Ground.]

family of Danfey have long poffeffed a good property at Brinfop

near

Such thine, O learned Brome, and Capel fuch,
Willifian Burlton, much lov'd Geers his Marsh,

near Hereford. The poffeffor of it, at the time Philips wrote his Poem, was William Danfey, who married the daughter and heirefs of Sir Francis Ruffell, of Strensham in Worcestershire, whose father, Sir William Ruffell, was ftrongly attached to Charles I. and distinguished himself so much in the civil wars between that Prince and the Parliament, that, being in Worcester when it was furrendered to the Parliament forces in 1645, he alone was exempted from the benefit of the articles of furrender. 68. O learned Brome.]

William Brome, of Ewithington, in the county of Hereford, was, at the fame time with our Poet, a member of Chrift Church in Oxford, where he pursued his ftudies with fo much affiduity and fuccefs, that he was confidered as a principal ornament of his College, which at that time was the refidence of many perfons of very diftinguished Literature. With most of these he lived in habits of the greatest intimacy, and particularly with Mr. Urry, the learned and laborious Editor of Chaucer, who confulted him much in the progrefs of his work. Mr. Brome was intended for holy orders; but, his political principles not allowing him to take the oaths to Government, he gave up the profeffion he was defigned for, and lived in retirement at his manfion-house at Ewithington, in the parish of Withington. Here he formed the plan of writing the Provincial History of his native county, a work for which he was eminently qualified not only by his great and general learning, but as being particularly an excellent Naturalift and Antiquary. After having made a confiderable progress, he abandoned his defign, and, which is ftill more to be lamented, destroyed the valuable materials which he had collected. The parish of Withington is particularly noted for its Cider.

Capel.]

The parishes of King's Capel and How Capel are both famous for their Cider.

69. Willifian Burlton.]

An eftate called Burlton, in the parish of Burghill near Hereford, at the beginning of this century, belonged to Browne Willis, the celebrated Antiquarian, who, together with Mr. Moftyn and Mr. Brome, was alfo the Cotemporary, Fellow-Collegian, and intimate Friend of Philips. The family of Browne Willis, like thofe of the other Friends whom our Poet has here noticed, had distinguished themselves by their line of Politics; as Dr. Willis, his Grandfather, one of the most famous of our English Phyficians, was a Student in the University of Oxford on the breaking out of the Civil War, and, when that City was turned into a Garrifon for the King, together with other scholars, bore arms for his Majefty.

Much lov'd Geers his Marfo.]

The Marsh, an estate and mansion-house in the parish of Bridge Solers, five miles from Hereford, at the time Philips wrote was the property and refidence of Timothy Geers, who married a fifter of Sir Thomas

Cookes

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And Sutton-acres, drench'd with regal blood
Of Ethelbert, when to th' unhallow'd feast
Of Mercian Offa he invited came,

To treat of fpoufals: long connubial joys
He promis'd to himself, allur'd by fair
Elfrida's beauty; but deluded dy'd

In height of hopes.-oh! hardest fate, to fall
By shew of friendship and pretended love!

I nor advise, nor reprehend the choice
́Of Marcle-hill; the Apple no where finds

II

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75

Cookes Winford, of Glafshampton, in the parish of Aftley in Worcesterfhire, and had by her a fon, Thomas Winford Geers, who, together with the Marquis of Carnarvon, reprefented the city of Hereford in the first Parliament of George II, and upon his Uncle, Sir Thomas Winford, giving up to him the Glafshampton eftate, took the firname of Winford only.

70. Sutton Acres.]

In the parish of Sutton (which is fuppofed, together with the adjoining parish of Marden, to produce the best Cider in the county of Hereford), at a place called Sutton Walls, are the remains of a confiderable camp, faid to have been the camp of Offa King of Mercia, and the place where he treacherously murdered Ethelbert King of the Eaft Angles, a young Prince of great merit, who had made fuit to his daughter Elfrida, and whom he had invited there, with all his retinue, to folemnize the nuptials. Hiftorians tell us, that amidst the entertainments given upon that occafion, Ethelbert was feized by Offa, and fecretly beheaded; and although Elfrida, who abhorred her Father's treachery, had time to give warning to the Eaft Anglian nobility, who efcaped into their own country, Offa, having extinguished the Royal Family, got poffeffion of the kingdom.Afterwards, to re-establish his character, he pretended great penitence, and paid much court to the Clergy, giving the tenth of his goods to the Church. He also bestowed rich donations on the Cathedral Church of Hereford, which was thereupon dedicated to St. Ethelbert. See DUGDALE'S MONASTICON, Tom. iii. 180.

79. Marcle Hill.]

A wonder cannot be better related than in the words of an author who delighted to record the marvellous.-The_following_account of the moving of Marcle Hill is given, from SIR RICHARD BAKER'S CHRO

C 2

NICLE,

A kinder mold: yet 'tis unfafe to trust

80

85

Deceitful ground. Who knows but that, once more,
This mount may journey, and, his present site
Forfaking, to thy neighbour's bounds transfer
The goodly plants, affording matter strange
For law-debates? If, therefore, thou incline
To deck this rife with fruits of various tastes,
Fail not by frequent vows t'implore fuccefs;
Thus piteous Heav'n may fix the wand'ring glebe.
But if (for nature doth not share alike
Her gifts) an happy foil should be withheld

; 90

NICLE, where he fpeaks of the CASUALTIES, or wonderful events, in the reign of Q. Elizabeth.

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"In her thirteenth year a prodigious earthquake happened in the caft parts of Herefordshire, at a little town called Kinnafton. On the seven"teenth of February, at fix of the clock in the evening, the earth began 66 to open, and a hill with a rock under it (making at firft a great bel"lowing noife, which was heard a great way off) lifted itself up, and began to travel, bearing along with it the trees that grew upon it, the "fheep-folds and flocks of theep abiding there at the fame time. In the place from whence it was firft moved it left a gaping distance forty "foot broad, and fourfcore ells long. The whole field was about કંદ twenty acres. Paffing along it overthrew a chapel standing in the way, " removeda Yew-tree, planted in the church yard, from the weft to the east: with the like force it thruft before it highways, fheep-folds, hedges, " and trees; made tilled ground pasture, and again turned pasture into tillage. Having walked in this fort, from Saturday evening till Monday noon, it then ftood ftill.”

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Camden fays the hill moved to a higher fituation. But it is very plain that it really moved in a progreffion more confiftent with the laws of gravitation. It was probably one of thofe flips of land which are very common after a wet feafon. The land that moved, according to its prefent appearance, was nearly two acres of ground, and the distance to which it moved feems to have been about a hundred yards. The chapel of Kynafton, a chapelry in Marcle parish, was really deftroyed by it. The Yew-tree which stood in the church yard is still to be seen, and the bell was dug up not long ago.

The parish of Marcle is famous for the Cider it produces.

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