Superstition 
regarding 
Bourne flows. 
Earliest record 
Warkworth’s 
*¢ Chronicle.” 
Bourne flow, 
XIII. King 
Edward IV., 
1472 or 1473 
2 
recorded in other places than Croydon may mean that 
a Bourne was taking place at Croydon at the same 
period. 
All Bourne flows in earlier periods were viewed by 
some persons with much superstition, while other per- 
sons had a clear knowledge as to their cause. 
The earliest record the author has found referring 
directly to the Croydon Bourne flow is in Wark- 
worth’s “Chronicle,” which is a chronicle of the first 
thirteen years of the reign of King Edward IV. (who 
began to reign on 4th March, 1461), by John Wark- 
worth, D.D., Master of St. Peter’s Vollege, Cambridge. 
This “¢ Chronicle ” was published by the Camden Society 
in 1839, and the following is a quotation from pages 
93 and 24 referring to Bourne flows: 
‘6 In the same yere (XIII. of King Edward the 4th 
1473)* Womere watere ranne hugely, withe suche 
abundaunce of watere, that nevyr manne sawe it renne 
so moche afore this tyme. Womere is callede the woo 
watere: for Englyschmen, whenne thei dyd fyrst 
inhabyde this lond, also sone as thei see this watere 
renne, thei knewe wele it was a tokene of derthe, or of 
pestylence, or of grete batayle ; wherefor thei called it 
Womere; (for we as in Englysche tonge woo, and 
mere is called watere, whiche signyfieth woo-watere; ) 
for alle that tyme thei sawe it renne, thei knewe welle 
that woo was comynge to Englonde. And _ this 
Wemere is vij myle frome Sent Albons, at a place 
callede Markayate ; and this Wemere ranne at every 
felde afore specifyede, and nevere so hugely as it dyd 
this yere, and ranne stylle to the xiij day of June next 
yere folowynge. Also ther has ronne dyverse suche 
* 1472 old style, 1473 new style 
