783 
PETERBOROUGH. 
feoffees, who, much to their credit, in the year’ 1790, 
undertook a thorough repair of the fame. An a 61 pafled 
about the fame time for the paving, lighting, and other- 
wife improving, the city. 
Here is a plentiful market on Saturday, which is well 
ftored with the beft of meats, fifli, and fowl, wild and 
tame, and at more reafonable prices than many neigh¬ 
bouring markets. Fruit is in general plentiful and 
cheap 5 as is firing, coals being feldom higher than 305, 
a-chaldron. There are two chartered fairs; the firft by 
king Richard, upon the feaft of St. Peter, for eight days, 
but now contrafted to two, on the 10th and nth of July, 
which is noted for home-fpun cloth, beaft, horfes, wood, 
liaberdafhery, and toys : the fecond fair, chartered by 
Henry VI. is called Brigg-fair, holden on the ad and 3d 
of Octobers confiderable fums are then turned in the 
articles of wood, cheefe, cabinet-goods, haberdafhery, 
upholftery, braziery, Sec. 
There is a charity-fchool in this city, founded by 
Thomas Deacon, efq. who endowed it with a freehold 
eftate of a hundred and fixty pounds per annum. A very 
Itately monument is ere6led on the fouth-eaft of the altar 
in the cathedral, facred to the memory of that pious and 
benevolent man. 
Mr. Wortley, who was formerly one of the re prefen ta- 
tives of this city, gave a very good houfe, with extenfive 
grounds, as a workhoufe for the poor. Their chief em¬ 
ploy is fpinning of wool, which is fent to Norwich and 
there manufactured. There being no manufafture in 
the city or neighbourhood, the number of idle and aban¬ 
doned children was immenfe; but, fince the excellent 
inftitution of funday-fchools, the morals of the lower 
clafs of children are much mended. 
By the cenfus of 1801, Peterborough was Hated to con¬ 
tain 727 houfes, and 3449 inhabitants ; in 1811, the num¬ 
bers are given at 900 houfes, and 3614 inhabitants; but 
the increafe in the laft ten years is very great indeed if 
our figures are corredt, for the number of inhabitants in 
1821 is noted as 8558 ; this perhaps includes feme ham¬ 
lets not numbered in the preceding returns. 
Sytnon Gunton, authored the Hiftory of the Cathedral 
which we have quoted, was a native of this place, refided 
here the greateft part of his life, and died here in 1676. 
At Helpftone, near this place, lives John Clare, called 
the Northampton (hire Peafant, who has publiflied a vo¬ 
lume of Poems. He was born July 13, 1793, of parents 
who are in a ftate of great poverty. He himfelf has parta¬ 
ken of their penury, and ftill continues a day-labourer, 
for low wages. By extra work, and helping his father 
early and late at threfhing, he earned fufficient to pro¬ 
cure for himfelf the benefit of being taught to read, and 
then procured a few books, among’which he was peculiarly 
delighted with Thomfon’s Seafons. Through the a Alli¬ 
ance of a kind friend, he at length learned writing and 
arithmetic. His pafiion for poetry appeared very early, 
and flourifhed in fpite of the difeouragement of poverty 
and negleft. A Angular accident led to the publication 
of the poems. In December 1818, Mr. Edward Drury, 
bookfeller, of Stamford, met with a “Sonnet to the 
Setting Sun,” written on a piece of paper in which a 
letter had been wrapped up, and figned J. C. Having 
afeertained the name and refidence of the writer, he went 
to Helpftone, where he faw fome other poems, with which 
he was much pleafed. At his requell Clare made a col- 
le6lion of the pieces he had written, and added fome 
others to them. They were fent to London, and the 
publiftiers felefled thole which form the prefent volume. 
They have been printed with the ufual corredlions only 
of orthography and grammar, in fuch inftances as allowed 
of its being done without changingthe words: the proofs 
were then revifed by Clare, and a few alterations made at 
his defire. 
In mentioning a peafant-poet, we immediately remem¬ 
ber Burns: but Clare rauft nor be ranked with him 
whofe talents would bear a companion with the nobleft 
intellefls of modern times, and whofe compofitions, 
though perpetually enriched with illuftrations from the 
beauties of nature, were filled with the deeped and 
trueft fentiment, or lighted up with the moll brilliant 
wit. Clare, moreover, pofiefies but a fmall (hare of the 
acquirements of Burns, whofe mind was well ftored with 
much ufeful knowledge. 
The laft notice of Clare informs us, that he was living 
with his parents, working for any one who would employ 
him, without any regular occupation. His father is a 
helplefs cripple, and a pauper, receiving 5s. a-week from 
the pari fir of Helpftone. (Gent. Mag. Feb. 1820.) 
Fotheringay-caftle is fituated on a branch of the Nen> 
famous for the imprifonment and decollation of the un¬ 
fortunate Mary queen of Scots. It fee ms to have been 
very ftrong, and it had a high mount or keep, environed 
with a deep ditch ; it is moftly demoliftted, and the mate¬ 
rials carried oft’; fome fay it was deftroyed by order of 
king James 1 . in revenge of his mother’s fufferings. They 
pretend to fiiow the ruins of the hall where that princefs 
was beheaded. It was the feat of Edmund Langley duke 
of York, whofe body was buried in the collegiate church 
here; a very neat building, founded by Edward duke of 
York, likewife interred here. The chancel, in which 
they were buried, was entirely demoliftted at the fuppref- 
Aon; but thefe monuments were rellored by queen 
Elizabeth, The church-windows are filled with hand- 
fotne painted glafs, faved by a fum of money in the civil 
war, and reprefent St. Denys, St. Guthlac, Archbiftiop 
Scrope, See. 
Earl Fitzwilliam has a feat at Milton, about three 
miles from Peterborough, on the right of the road to 
Stamford. About one mile from Milton is Thorp-houfe, 
once fir Robert Barnard’s, but now the property of earl 
Fitzwilliam alfo. At this feat, in the year 1720, a 
Mofaic pavement was found. This was undoubtedly 
a villa of fome Roman of diftinflion. In the garden are 
fome fine antique marble ftatues, from the Arundel coi- 
leftion, which fuffer more from the weather than from 
age. In the middle is a Livia of a Coloflean proportion : 
in the four quarters, Diana, Amphion, an Orator, and a 
Gladiator: upon the terrace, an admirable Flercules 
killing the Hydra : over moll of the doors of the houfe 
are placed bulls of Balianus, Caracalla, and others; and, 
in the court, are two equeftrian figures in copper, Henry 
IV. of France, and Don John of Auftria. 
Caller, a village three miles from Peterborough, 
and one from the river Nen, is fuppofed, from the che¬ 
quered pavements found there, together with the Roman 
copper coins and urns, to have been part of the ancient 
city called by the Romans Durobrivee, and by the Saxons 
Dormancliefter. The Roman highway, called Erming- 
flreet, goes from hence to Lincolnfhire. Its church, 
which appears to have been confecrated in 1174, Hands on 
a hill where the callle Hood which was the refidence of 
the Roman governor. Some Roman difeoveries have 
recently been made at Caftor, by Mr. Artis of Milton. 
The feene of his labours is an ifofceles triangle, two fides 
being about two miles long, the third about a mile and 
half, and the church-yard of Caftor the vertex. In the 
church-yard and adjoining hill he has fatisfaflorily traced 
fifty-fix rooms in a villa which appears to have covered 
between five and fix hundred feet fquare. In Mill-field, 
at the fouth-eaft angle of the triangle, is another villa, 
about 300 feet long by 230 feet wide, containing twenty- 
two rooms; and at the fouth-weft angle is a third villa, 
about 300 feet fquare, with thirty-feven rooms. In the 
portions of the intermediate fpace which have been 
explored, tefielated pavements, foundations of fmall 
houfes, and a variety of mifcellaneous curiofities have 
been brought to light. Between the bafe of the line and 
the river, probably the fuburbs of a city, feveral ficeletons 
have been dug up. Mr. A. purpofes publishing by fuh- 
feription, in numbers, a feries of plates illuftrative of his 
difeoveries, confifting of plans and fe6lions of the build- 
4 - ings 
