Edward Wedlake Brayley the Beauties of England and Wales – Kent Published in Parts, 1806–7
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Edward Wedlake Brayley The beauties of England and Wales – Kent published in parts, 1806–7 405 <July 1806> KENT. KENT is one of the most interesting counties in England; whether considered in respect to the advantages of its situation for trade and commerce, its extent, the general fertility of its soil, the important events that have been transacted within its limits, the peculiar division of its lands, its numerous antiquities, the acknow- ledged bravery of its inhabitants, the ecclesiastical pre-eminence of its chief city, its produce, or its proximity to the Continent, to which, many learned antiquaries suppose it was originally united by a narrow isthmus, extending between Dover and Calais./1 The arguments advanced in support of the idea of Great Britain having anciently formed part of the Continent, are principally de- rived from the great resemblance which the cliffs of Dover have to those of Boulogne and Calais, on the opposite coast of France. On both shores, these cliffs consist of chalk, with flints intermixed: their faces are rugged and precipitous, appearing as if they had been rent asunder by violence; and their length on both coasts is similar, it bemg about six miles. In the strait immediately be- tween them, the sea is also much shallower than on either side; and to this may be added, that a narrow ridge of sand, with a stony bottom, called the Rip-rapps, extends between Folkstone and Boulogne, its distance from the former being about ten miles, and its length the same: this ridge, at low spring tides, is covered with only fourteen feet water; and another ridge, called the Vane, about six miles off Dover, has scarcely more water on it at the same times, though immediately on each side of both ridges, which are but narrow, the depth increases to twenty-five fathoms. Whatever may be the fact, however, history is silent as to any /1 Among those who uphold this opinion, are Camden, Wallis, Somner, Burton, Twine, Verstegan, Harris, and Hasted. 406 isthmus that might once have united Great Britain with the Con- tinent; and all that can be offered to establish the supposition, rests only on the basis of probability. “Time,” observes the great Camden, “has not yet stripped this county of its ancient name: but as Caesar, Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, Ptolemy, and others, call it Cantium, so the Saxons, as Nennius tells us, named it Cant-guar-lantd, or, in other words, the country of the people inhabiting Cantium.” This name our au- thor conjectures to have been derived from the old Gaulish language, and to be descriptive of the angular form of Kent on the eastern side, or that towards France. In this, however, he appears to be mistaken: Caint is a British word, and is still the name of this county in Welsh, as it is also written in the most ancient British manuscripts; and the name of Caer Gaint, occurs in Nennius for Canterbury, in his list of British cities. The term Caint is descrip- tive of a country abounding with clear, fair, or open downs, and this is the general characteristic of Kent. The British Tryads re- cord, that, after the Island was first settled by the Cymry, three other colonies came here by sufferance; of these two were from Gaul; the one from Belgium, the other from the country about the mouths of the Loire river. The Belgae most probably peopled Kent, and afterwards lost their proper name in the word Cantii, from the name of the county. In the Domesday Book, it is written thus, Chenth. At the period of the Roman Invasion, the inhabitants of this district were in a more advanced state of civilization than those of the more inland parts, through their vicinity to the Continent, and continued intercourse with it. If Caesar’s pretext for engaging in the cconquest of Britain be true, viz. ‘that its inhabitants furnished the enemies of the Commonwealth with continual supplies during his wars with the Gauls,’ it was probably the men of Kent that had most offended, and it is certain that they were the first suf- ferers; for Caesar having determined on the invasion, embarked his forces at Boulogne, in the 699th year after the foundation of Rome, and fifty-five years before the birth of Christ; and about one o’clock in the morning of the twenty-sixth of Angust, accord- 407 ing to Dr. Halley’s computations,/1 made sail for the coast of Bri- tain. The Britons, who had been apprised of his design, had not been backward in preparing to assert their independence; and on Caesar’s arrival off Dover, about ten the same mormng, he found the cliffs covered with armed men, and their advantageous position convinced him that he could not attempt a landing at that point without great loss. He therefore again made sail at three in the afternoon, and proceeded about eight miles further, bringing up his ships on a plain, open shore; which, according to Horsley, Gale, and other eminent antiquaries, must have been near Rich- borough, or Rutupiae. The Britons, who had sent forward their horsemen and chariots, now followed with the rest of their army, to oppose his descent; and, during some time, had the advantage; for the larger Roman ships could not lie near the shore; and the Roman soldiers being encumbered with heavy armour, and forced, at the same time, to contend with the waves, and with their enemy, were thrown into some disorder, which Caesar perceiving, gave orders for the gallies to advance before the rest of the fleet, and to assail the Britons from their slings, and other missive weapons. This movement proved of service; the Britons were alarmed at the sight of military engines, to which they had not been accustomed, and fell back; while the Roman soldiers, encouraging each other, leaped boldly into the sea, and pressed forward. The conflict, however, was still sharply maintained; and the Romans, not being able to keep their ranks, and being unacquainted with the ground, were in danger of complete discomfiture, till the boats and pin- naces of the Roman fleet were filled with fresh troops, and dis- patched, by Caesar, to the relief of those who were most pressed. Tbe Britons were at length driven back; and the Romans forming upon dry gromid, succeeded in maintaining their advantage, but could not pursue their retreating enemy for want of cavalry. The Britons, apparently with the view of gaining time to assem- ble a greater force, soon afterwards sent messengers to demand peace; and Caesar having upbraided them for their breach of pro- /1 Philosophical Transactions, No. 193. 408 mise to submit to the Roman Empire, consented to make a treaty, but demanded hostages for its fulfilment; some of which were im- mediately given, and others promised to be sent in a few days. In the mean time, Caesar appears to have continued in his camp, waiting the arrival of his cavalry, which, on the fourth day, ap- peared in sight, in eighteen vessels; yet, before they could reach the coast, they were dispersed by a sudden storm, and again obliged to bear away for the Continent. On the same night, the moon being at full, the water rose so high with the spring tide, that the whole of the Roman vessels, some of which were at anchor, and the others drawn up on shore, were greatly damaged, and several of them entirely destroyed. As soon as the British chiefs who had been assembled to per- form their agreement with Caesar, knew of this, and that the Ro- mans were without horses, ships, and provisions, they determined to break their late engagements; and privately withdrawing from the camp, begun to assemble their forces in secrecy and haste. Caesar, who suspected some design of this kind from the delay in the delivery of the remaining hostages, and other circumstances, sought assiduously to repair his ships, and to furnish his camp with provisions. While thus employed, the out-guards of his camp gave him notice, that they observed a great cloud of dust rising in that part of the country where the seventh legion had been sent to forage. Apprehensive of what proved to be the real cause, he quitted the camp with two cohorts, and giving orders for the rest of his army to follow, advanced to the relief of his foragers, who had been surprised while reaping corn; and some of them being slain, the remainder were surrounded by the horses and chariots of the Britons, and were in great danger of entire defeat. On Caesar’s arrival, the Romans recovered from their panic; and the Britons drew off, but did not disperse; yet Caesar thinking it imprudent, at that time, to risk a general engagement, retreated to his camp. Emboldened by this event, the Britons sent messengers to all parts, to give information of the smallness of the Roman army, and to invite others to their assistance, by displaying the glory and booty that would result to them from vanquishing the invaders in 409 their own entrenchments. By these efforts, they increased their forces greatly; and, on the clearing up of the weather, which had for some days prevented any hostile attempts, they advanced to attack the Romans in their camp. Caesar, who penetrated their design, judged it most prudent to prevent it, which he did by drawing out his legions in front of the works; and when the battle joined, the discipline and valor of the Roman soldiers prevailed over the numbers of their assailants, who were routed, and pur- sued to some distance, with considerable slaughter.