A. D. 1253. 403 



moftly confine^' to the coarfe fabrics, and that the quantity was trifling, 

 the fupply of t e greateft quantity, and efpecially of tlie bcfl fabrics, 

 being procured from Flanders, where the Hnen nianufadure was carried 

 to perfection with native materials of the beft quality. It appears, how- 

 ever, that fome finer linens were made in England at, or before, this 

 time, efpecially in Wilt-fhire and Suflex, and we find orders fent by the 

 king to the fhirrefs of thofe two {hires, direding each of them to pur- 

 chafe 1,000 ells of fine hnen (' lineee telse pulchrse et delicatae') in his 

 fhire for the royal wardrobe. [Madox's Hift. of the excheq. c. 10, § 12.] 

 Many other infiances of linen bought for the king occur in the records ; 

 but we are ignorant whether it is foreign or home-made. 



The manufacture of linen muft have alfo been pretty generally efla- 

 bliflied in "Wales at this time, as we find foon after (in 1314) that the 

 men. of that country were moftly clothed in linen. [^Barber's Life of 

 Robert Bruce, p. 276, ed. 1758.] 



King Henry having ordered all the velTels in England, foreign as well 

 as Englifh, to be feized for his ufe in an expedition againft the mal- 

 content barons of Gafcoigne, the number of them was found to be 

 above a thoufand, whereof three hundred were diftinguiflied as large 

 Ihips. [M. Paris, p. 868.] 



1254 — The people of Yarmouth fitted out a large and beautiful fhip, 

 manned with thirty ikilful feamen, to carry Edward prince of England 

 over to the continent. Thofe of Winchelfea had alfo fitted out fome 

 fhips to carry over the queen ; but none of their vefi"els being comparable 

 for beauty or magnitude to that of Yarmouth, they were fo enraged at 

 her fuperiority, that, according to the fierce and lawlefs manners of the 

 age, they attacked her, and killed fome of her men, for which grofs 

 outrage they had no provocation but mere envy *. [Af. Paris, p. 889.] 



King Henry expended in his fruitlefs expedition to Gafcoigne above 

 two millions feven hundred thoufand pounds of filver, more money, 

 fays the hiftorian, than any prudent man would give for the two pro- 

 vinces of Gafcoigne and Poictou : and at the fame time he gave thirty 

 thoufand marks, befides. landed eftates, to his foreign uterine brothers, 

 Thefe fums, though reported by a very refpedable hiftorian, feem fcarce- 

 ly credible. [M. Paris, p. 890.] 



About the beginning of this year fome large and elegant ftiips, well 

 found in naval ftores, arms, and provifions, and alfo carrying arms fuf- 

 ficient for an army, were driven by ftrefs of weather upon the Englifli 

 coaft near Berwick, and feized by the wardens of the coaft. The fight 

 of fome other ftrange fhips induced the wardens to let them go in peace, 

 left they fhould be found more cruel than tempefts, and left the quarrel 



* Hoftilities between Yarmouth and tlie Cinque with repeated proofs of the barbarifm of the 

 ports, of which Winche'.ka was one, were frc- people and the inefSciency of -vernment in thof<: 

 (juent : but It is not iieceifary to ftain thefe pages ages. 



3 E 2 



