Brannon's Picture of The Isle of Wight. George Brannon
the 16th century.
"I have heard," says he, "and partly knowe it to be true, that not only heretofore there was no lawyer nor attorney in owre island, but in Sir George Carey's time [1588] an attorney coming in to settle in the island, was by his command, with a pound of candles hanging att his breech lighted, with bells about his legs, hunted owte of the island; insomuch that owre ancestors lived here so quietly and securely, being neither troubled to London nor Winchester, so they seldom or never went owte of the island; insomuch as when they went to London (thinking it an East India voyage), they always made their wills, supposing no trouble like to travaile."
The extensive downs of the island afford excellent pasture for sheep, whose wool is of a staple not inferior to that produced on the South Downs: and many thousand lambs are annually sent to the London markets. From the improvements effected in Husbandry, there are now nearly sufficient oxen reared and fatted for the use of the inhabitants, instead of the butchers going as formerly, to Salisbury, &c. for their cattle.
The demands of the dock-yards (both here and at Portsmouth,) have greatly thinned the timber of the island, which is principally oak and elm, and is found to grow most luxuriantly in the wooded tract from East Cowes to St. Helen's.
In the time of King Charles II, woods were so extensive, that it is recorded, a squirrel might have run on the tops of the trees from Gurnard to Carisbrooke, and in several other parts for leagues together.
In ZOOLOGY there is nothing very remarkable, except the absence of pole-cats, badgers, and till lately, even foxes: but the poultry-breeders are now indebted for the introduction of the latter to some sparkish amateurs of hunting: many have been killed, but they are still breeding rapidly in the favorable fastnesses of the more rocky and woody districts. Otters too are frequently seen.—Game is abundant, particular attention having been paid to its preservation. "The great plenty of hares and other game is owing to the care of Sir Edward Horsey, governor in 1582, who is reported to have given a lamb for every living hare brought to him from the neighbouring counties."
The Nightingale.—These much-prized birds of passage make the island their early and most favorite resort; and to those visitors from the north who perhaps never heard their unrivaled notes, the opportunity would prove not the least gratifying circumstance in a day's pleasure. On fine evenings in the months of May and June, the woods and groves in every direction resound with the delightful chorus of their inimitable songs.
Astonishing numbers of sea-fowl resort during the summer months to the cliff's of Freshwater and Bembridge: in the latter, the eagle has been known to build its eyry, and in the time of queen Elizabeth they were famous for a breed of hawks, which were so valued, that it was made a capital crime to steal them.
Fish of every kind common to the southern coast of England is caught off the island, but not in that abundance which might be expected, except crabs and lobsters, which are uncommonly large and fine. Mackarel are some seasons extremely plentiful, small, but peculiarly sweet. Numbers of porpoises are seen rolling along in the Solent Sea and Southampton Water; sharks are frequently observed off the back of the island, and sometimes even the grampus pursuing its prey. In 1814, a large whale was taken off the Shingles (west of the Needle Rocks,) having been left aground by the ebbing tide: and in the winter of 1841, another, measuring 75 feet in length, was caught near the same spot.
Local Biography and History.
The following are amongst the most eminent natives of the island:
Sir JOHN CHEEKE, Knt., one of the most distinguished scholars and virtuous men of his time: he was tutor to Edward VI, and a zealous protestant, but being induced during the following reign to make a public recantation, his death, which happened soon after, was supposed to have been hastened by shame of that humiliating exhibition.
Rev. HENRY COLE, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's, a contemporary of the above, was born at Godshill: he shone in divinity and literature, and was a strenuous advocate of the Roman-catholic faith.
THOs. JAMES, D.D., a learned divine and antiquary: was esteemed, from his extensive erudition, a living library, Born at Newport, died 1629.
ROBERT HOOK, M.D., celebrated for his extraordinary inventive powers in almost every branch of art and science, was born at Freshwater anno 1635, and died at an advanced age, in Gresham College.
JOHN HOBSON, rose by his skill and courage from the obscurity of a tailor's parish-apprentice to an admiral's rank in the reign of Queen Anne: he headed Sir George Rooke's squadron in the attack on Vigo harbour, where a numerous Spanish fleet was entirely captured or burned.—The little village of Bonchurch claims the honor of his birth-place.
We shall conclude this general chapter with a brief summary of the local history, though the annals of a small dependent isle like this, cannot be expected to possess any very exciting interest.
[In fact it can boast of no important ancient settlements or records—no valued chronicles of the alternate successes and defeats of ambitious rival princes and their contending armies, or the unpitied sufferings of the sacrificed population: and perhaps it would never have been mentioned in the national history, had it not been for the imprisonment of fallen royalty in the case of Charles I. Its situation certainly exposed it to the attacks of Danish pirates, and subsequently of the French; but these distant events constituting but a broken and unconnected narrative, the ensuing brief sketch will we presume be sufficient for the majority of our readers. We refer those who wish further information on the subject to the valuable work of Sir Richard Worsley—from which this article is partly abridged.]
It was subdued by the Roman troops under Vespasian, A.D. 43; but the conquerors could not have experienced much resistance from the natives, as no remains of their military works have been here discovered. Under the empire, the island was reckoned to contain about 1200 families.
The Saxon kings of the South of England several times attacked the island with their accustomed unsparing ferocity: particularly Cerdic, in 530, who replaced the slaughtered British by a colony of his own countrymen; and Ceadwalla of Murcia, who having seized it in 686, was so incensed at the idolatry of the inhabitants, that he resolved at first to extirpate them, and repeople the island with Christians! but at the intercession of bishop Wilfred, great numbers saved their lives by submitting to be baptized.
In the ninth and following centuries the island suffered, in common with the neighbouring coast, from the predatory visits of the Danes. For a time indeed they were checked by the great Alfred, who wholly captured or destroyed one large fleet, laden with the spoils of Hampshire and the Wight: but under the weak and disordered reigns of his successors, the northern pirates seem to have taken possession of this defenceless spot as often as they pleased; and after making it a depot for the plunder of the adjacent counties, and living freely on the inhabitants, sometimes wantonly burned towns and villages at their departure.
The island was also severely harrassed by some of the rebellious Saxon nobles in the reign of Edward the Confessor; but after the Norman Conquest, its tranquillity was not materially disturbed till the year 1346, when a party of French landed at St. Helen's; they were soon repulsed by the islanders, though the warden, Sir Theobald Russell, was amongst the slain. About this time a variety of excellent regulations were made by the inhabitants for their better security: the landholders were by their tenures bound to defend the castle of Carisbrooke for 40 days at their own charges; the county of Devon sent for its defence 76 men-at arms, and the city of London 300 slingers and bowmen.
Another party of the French seem to have made a more successful attack in the first year of Richard II: indeed the islanders at that time had little besides their own valor to depend on for protection; as there were no forts to obstruct an enemy's landing; Carisbrooke Castle standing in the centre of the island, could only serve for a partial retreat: and serious ravages might be committed ere any assistance arrived from the mainland. This want of domestic security so discouraged the natives, that many families withdrew, when an order was issued to the wardens to seize the lands of