S T 0 
612 S T O 
STOUTING, a parish of England, in Kent; 7 miles from 
Ashford. 
STOU'TLY, adv. Lustily; boldly; obstinately. 
The general and his wife are talking of it, 
And she speaks for you stoutly. Skalcspeare. 
STOUTNESS, s. Strength; valour. Boldness; forti¬ 
tude.—His bashfulness in youth was the very true sign of his 
virtue and stoutness after. Ascham. —Obstinacy; stub¬ 
bornness. 
Come all to ruin, let 
Thy mother rather feel thy pride, than fear. 
Thy dangerous stoutness: for I mock at death 
With as stout heart as thou. Shakspeare. 
To STOW, v. a. [ptop, Sax.; stoe, old Frisick, a place; 
stowen, Dutch, to lay up.] To lay up; to reposit in order ; 
to lay in the proper place..—Foul thief! where hast thou 
stow'd my daughter. Shakspeare. 
STOW, or Stoe. Whether singly or jointly, are the 
same with the Saxon ptop, a place. 
STOW (John), an industrious antiquarian and historian, 
was the son of a merchant tailor in London, and born about 
the year 1525. About the year 1560 he formed the design 
of composing annals of the English history, and to this ob¬ 
ject he sacrificed his trade and domestic concerns; travel¬ 
ling on foot to several cathedrals and other public establish¬ 
ments, in order to examine records, charters, and ancient 
documents. He also purchased, as far as he was able, old 
books, manuscripts, parchments, &c., of which he made a 
large collection. But wanting patrons, and pressed by 
necessity, he was obliged to intermit his favourite pursuits, 
and to renew his application to business with a property 
that had been much lessened. Benefactions, however, from 
Dr. Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, enabled him to pro¬ 
secute his studies; but being suspected of an attachment to 
popery, an information against him was laid before the 
council, in 1568, as a dangerous person, and as having 
possession of many pernicious books of superstition. His 
study was searched by order of Dr. Grindal, bishop of Lon¬ 
don, and many popish books were found in it; which dis¬ 
covery fixed upon his character the reproach of a suspected 
person; and two years after, an unnatural brother, who hav¬ 
ing defrauded him of his goods, was desirous of taking away 
his life, preferred against him above 140 articles before the 
ecclesiastical commission. But the infamous character of 
the witnesses who were engaged to prove the charges, caused 
him to be acquitted. His first work, undertaken at the re¬ 
quest of the powerful favourite, Robert Dudley, earl of 
Leicester, had been already published: and as it had been 
dedicated to the said nobleman, his countenance was of 
service to him in his present circumstances. This was “ A 
Summarie of Englishe Chronicles,” first printed in 1565, 
and several times reprinted. This book contained an ac¬ 
count of the reign of every English king from the era of the 
fabulous Brute, down to his own time, with a list of all the 
principal magistrates of London from the Conquest. It was 
afterwards continued by Edmond Howes, who printed seve¬ 
ral editions, so that the work must have been popular. In 
1575 he lost his best patron, archbishop Parker; but his 
mind was so ardently engaged in his antiquarian studies, 
that he prosecuted them with unintermitting diligence and 
zeal, amidst all the inconveniences and distresses of penury. 
In 1585 he presented a petition to the lord mayor and 
court of aldermen, stating, that for 25 years he had been em¬ 
ployed in compiling and publishing divers summaries, re¬ 
cording the memorable acts of famous citizens, and that he 
contemplated the publication of a larger summary, and 
soliciting encouragement and assistance: and four years 
after he presented another petition, requesting a pension, or 
some other benefaction; but it does not appear whether or 
not he succeeded in his solicitations. 
To the improvement of the second edition of the Chro¬ 
nicles published by Hollingshed in 1587, Stow largely con¬ 
tributed ; and he also supplied corrections and notes for two 
editions of Chaucer. His “ Survey of London, &c." on 
which he had been long employed, appeared in 1598, and a 
second edition was presented to the public before his death. 
It was several times reprinted, with successive improvements, 
and has been the basis of all the subsequent histories of the 
metropolis. For his large Chronicle or History of Eng¬ 
land he had been for 40 years collecting materials; but he 
only lived to print an abstract of it in 1600, entitled “ Flores 
Historiarum, or Annals of England,” 4to., dedicated to arch¬ 
bishop Whitgift. Edmond Howes published from his papers 
a folio volume, entitled “ Stow’s Chronicle;” but this does 
not seem to contain that “ far larger work,” mentioned by 
Stow, and which he left in his study fairly written out for 
the press. It is said to have come into the possession of Sir 
Symonds Dewes, but is not found among his MSS. in the 
British Museum. Stow having spent his patrimony, and 
acquired no certain income, sunk into wretched penury in 
his old age, and was under a necessity of applying for public 
charity: and James I., “ by one of the meanest acts of his 
very mean reign,” granted a licence, authorizing him, then 
in his 78th year, “ to repair to churches, or other places, to 
receive the gratuities and charitable benevolence of well-dis¬ 
posed people.” Of the amount of this bounty, we may 
from some conjecture from the collection in the parish 
of St. Mary Woolnoth, which reached the sum of 7s. 6d.! 
The city of London was not more liberal than the 
sovereign of the country; and it must reflect no small 
degree of reproach upon it, that it could not extend its libe¬ 
rality towards its own historian. Stow, oppressed by poverty 
and painful diseases, obtained a release in the year 1605, at 
the age of 80 years. His aspect is said to have been cheer¬ 
ful, and his behaviour mild and courteous. 
“ In his writings,” says one of his biographers, “ he dis¬ 
played a sincere love of truth, and great diligence in in¬ 
vestigating it, with the moral feelings of a worthy man. 
His brother antiquarians speak of him with respect; and if 
he ranks, in point of style and matter, with the inferior class 
of his historians, he may claim the praise of humble utility.” 
Gen. Blog. 
STOW. 1. A parish of Scotland, in the southern part 
of Mid-Lothian, and comprehending a small part of Selkirk¬ 
shire ; it extends 15 miles in length, and is on an average 5 
miles in breadth.—2. A village in the above parish, situated 
on the east bank of Gala water.—3. A parish of England, in 
Cambridgeshire; 5 miles from Cambridge.—4. A parish in 
Huntingdonshire; 2| miles north-by-east of Kimbolton.—5. 
A parish in Lincolnshire, supposed to be the ancient Sid- 
nacest.er. The church, which is an ancient and very large 
fabric, was founded by one of the Bishops of Dorchester, 
and rebuilt by the first Bishop of Lincoln. In the park are 
to be traced the foundation of its abbey, which was after¬ 
wards the bishop’s palace; 8 miles south-east of Gains¬ 
borough.—6. The remains of another parish in Lincolnshire, 
near Market Deeping, now united with Bardholm.—7. A 
hamlet in Oxfordshire; 4 miles ’north-east of Oxford.—8. A 
parish in Salop, near Bishop’s Castle.—9. A post township 
of the United States, in Middlesex county, Massachusetts; 
30 miles west of Boston.—10. A post township of the United 
States, in Portage county, Ohio. 
STOW, Bardolph, a parish of England, in Norfolk ; 2 
miles north-north-east of Market Downham. Population 
677. 
STOW, Bydon, a parish of England, in Norfolk; 4 
miles south-east-by-south of Watton. 
STOW CREEK, a river of the United States, in New 
Jersey, which runs into the Delaware. Lat. 39. 38. N. long. 
75. 26. W. 
STOW, Langtoft, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 8 
miles east-south-east of Bury St. Edmund’s. 
STOW, Market, a market town of England, in the 
county of Suffolk, situated on the river Orwell, almost 
in the centre of the county. It is a thriving town, and con¬ 
tains many good and even handsome houses, especially 
about the market-place. The church is a large and beautiful 
building, with a square tower, surmounted by a steeple 120 
feet high, which is of wood, yet has a light and elegant ap¬ 
pearance. 
