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Description of England and Ireland under the Restoration (Author: Albert Jouvin)

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Description of England and Ireland after the Restoration

by Jorevin de Rocheford

Chester lies at the mouth of the river Dee, where it enlarges itself into the form of a gulf, in which by the assistance of the tide vessels come up to the town. On this account it may be reckoned among the good sea-ports, since it is the ordinary passage of the packet-boat, messengers and merchandise, going from England to Ireland.

The plan is nearly formed by two great streets, which cross each other in the middle, and as they are very broad at this crossing, they make a fine and spacious area, which serves for the market-place, in which is the town house. Turning on the right hand, the way leads to the great church, where I saw a tomb worth remarking. The wall on the bridge is very agreeable; the gate which shuts it in is like


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a strong little castle; there is then a suburb. Chester is esteemed one of the strongest towns in England, on account of its fine high walls, the many towers by which it is defended, and its strong castle, standing in the highest part of the town, which it commands. It has been much damaged during the late wars. Under the usurpation of Cromwell the town was almost entirely ruined, after having sustained a long siege. The first thing I did on my arrival at Chester was to learn when the packet-boat would sail for Dublin; it had set off some days before; but I found a trading vessel laden with divers merchandises, in which I took my passage for Ireland. This vessel was at anchor in the gulf, near the little village of Birhouse,3 eight miles from the town. Here are some large storehouses for the keeping of the merchandise to be embarked for Ireland, as is generally done every month from hence to Ireland, and reciprocally from Ireland to England, from whence all the letters, the messengers, and vessels that are to pass go first to the village of Holeyd,4 which is in the island of Mona or Anglesey, as a place of rendezvous, there being a very good harbour, from whence a boat commonly sets out for Dublin.

I embarked, then, in this vessel, which set sail at four in the afternoon, the weather bad and rainy; on account whereof, after we got out of the gulf and the mouth of this river, within sight of the town of Flint and its strong castle, we chose not to expose ourselves much to the sea, when the wind was so furious and so contrary that it split all our sails, and obliged us to put out all our anchors, one of which broke as the storm augmented. This, together with the horrid spectacle of surrounding rocks, which seemed to threaten our destruction, threw us into great terrors, the sea seeming opening to swallow us up, without any resource. This lasted all the night, but the dawn of day brought us a stark calm, attended with rain, which ceased when the wind became fair, although this did not last long; for as we could not, for want of depth of water, pass the straits that lie between the land and the Isle of Anglesey, we turned round


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about to go to the village of Holeyd, distant from Chester more than sixty miles, to embark the merchandise and passengers, who come to this place as a rendezvous from England to go to Dublin, the capital town of Ireland. We anchored in this port; during which time we went to walk in the village and about the island, which seemed fruitful in corn. We saw the post arrive, who gave his packet to the captain of our ship. There were a good many persons who waited for a passage to Ireland. Among them was a young man who spoke a little French; he was a clockmaker, and had worked in the galleries of the Louvre in Paris; with whom, entering into some discourse, touching the skill and valour of the English, he said he should not fear two Frenchmen. ‘It would not be,’ said I (in answer to him), ‘a man of your sort that could terrify me sword in hand,’ when all on a sudden he drew his sword, crying out, ‘Defend yourself.’ Whilst I learned to fence at Rome, there were several English with whom I practised, whose faults I easily discovered; and, in fine, observing this young man assaulted me precipitately, by keeping always on the defensive, and considering his default, I retired a long way, which caused this young, giddy-headed fellow to throw himself almost out of all kind of guard. He had a sword of the French fashion, long and slender, that would not cut, which is the ordinary way of using the sword in England. Stopping, then, all on a sudden, I gave him a thrust in the under part of the right arm, which made him cry out to me, in the presence of many persons, who prevented me from killing him in the rage I was then in at being attacked by such a young coxcomb. I broke his sword on a rock, after having disarmed him, and he was blamed by all for having attacked me without cause. This did not prevent our embarking with a very favourable wind, which carried us that day to Dublin, a distance of fifty miles.