Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Flight of the Earls (Author: Tadhg Ó Cianáin)
section 51
The princes were in Louvain until the eighteenth of the same month. They then went to Mechlin, a famous city in the province of Flanders. Having dined with Sir William Stanley, they crossed the great river which goes from Brussels to Antwerp. They stayed that night in a little town
p.67
close to the river. Mechlin is a famous city of great extent, situated in a very pretty valley. Its houses and well-constructed buildings are very beautiful. There is a good, large river through the city, divided through all the streets of the town, with many bridges and boats. There is a very large cathedral in the centre of the city, built and ornamented with much labour and artistic work, having bright painted altars with beautiful statues, and a belfry, one of the largest and highest in Christendom. There is the tomb of an Irish saint in that church. God performed many wonders and miracles through him. He was the son of the King of Ireland. The people of the city venerate and reverence very much the tomb and image of that saint because of the greatness of the miracles God did through him. There are lighted waxen torches over the tomb both night and day, with divine service continually. There is one of the finest hospitals in the world in the city, where every class of sick person of all nations is admitted at the cost of the King of Spain.