586 
work, similar to the author’s former pro- 
ductions en the history of Stamford and 
Mansfield. The great bulk of the col- 
lections for it have been of course de- 
rived from Mr. Nichols’s History of Lei- 
cestershire: but abundance of anecdotes 
and details are introduced more pccu- 
liarly loca!. Mr. Harrod, we believe, 1s 
a printer and bookseller of the place. A. 
brief account is subjoined of remarkable 
seats and towns in the vicinity. 
Among the works in this class also, 
we have to notice two “ Topographical 
Dictionaries.” One, “ A Topographical 
Dictionary of England only,” 10 two vo- 
lumes quarto, by Mr. Nicnoras Car- 
LISLE; another by Mr. Capper, entitled, 
“ A Topographical Dictionary of the 
United Kingdom, containing Geographi- 
cal, Topographical, and Statistical ac- 
counts of every District, Object, and 
Place, in England, Wales, Scotland, Ire- 
lend, and the various small Islands depen- 
dant on the British Empire.” 
“Mr. Carlisle’s reason for not including 
even Wales in Ais dictionary, is given at 
the close of the preface. ‘“* The ortho+ 
graphy of the names and appellations in 
that part of the kingdom, 1s so irregular 
that the author could not prevail on him- 
self to throw them into alphabetical form, 
without having attained some knowledge 
of the language and of the country.” 
We shall transcribe from both dic- 
tionaries, as specimens, the article Bep- 
ForD; leaving a gap in that part of Mr. 
Carlisle’s account, which contains the 
names of the different parishes, their 
value in the king’s books, patrons, resi- 
dent population in 1801, money raised 
by the parish rates in 1803, and at what 
rate i the pound; because these are all 
gaven in a table, which cannot be intro- 
duced into the pages of our retrospect. 
Mr. Carlisle, “ Bedford, within the 
ancient half hundred of the same, Co. 
of Bedford : a cerporate town, in.which 
are the following parishes, viz. 
“Tr is ifty miles north-west from Lon- 
don. ‘The markets are on Tuesday and 
Saturday. ‘The fairs are on the first 
Tuesday in Lent, April 21, July 5, Au- 
gust 21, October 11, and December 19. 
This town sends two members to par- 
liament: the mayor, and two bailiffs, are 
the returning ofhcers. The corporation, 
according to the charter of Charles Il. 
consists of a mayor, recorder, deputy- 
recorder, town-clerk, two bathiffs, thir- 
teen common councu-men, and an uncer- 
tain number of alderuren ; because, who- 
1 
Retrospect ef Domestic Literature—Aniiquities. 
ever has been a mayor here, is always 
after reputed an alderman, But these 
ave, however, limited to twelve., The 
mayor and bailiffs are chosen annually 
out of the freemen. The sessions are 
holden separately for the town. The 
juries are summoned within its liberties, 
for the dispatch of the town business; 
and the inhabitants are very rarely sum- 
moned ou any business for the county. 
Here is a free school. ‘The assizes are 
always holden here. Here seems to have 
been a monastery pretty early in the 
Saxon times. But who was founder, te 
what saint it was dedicated, or when and 
by whom it was destroyed, I have not 
yet met with any account. Before the 
conquest also, there was a- collese of 
prebendaries in the church of St. Paul 
here, who were changed into , regular 
canons by Roisa, wife of Pain Beau- 
¢liamp, emp. Henry LI. and by their son 
Symon de Beauchamp, removed almost 
a mile down the river to a place after- 
wards called Newenham. A priory, or 
hospital, in the south part of the town, 
built and endowed by some townsman 
as early as King Edward the IL. reign, 
to the honour of St. John Baptist. Ithad, 
26 lienry VIII. a yearly income of twenty- 
one pound and eight-pence, ( Dugd. 
Speed 5, and still continues ; consisting of 
a master, who is rector of the parish 
church of St. John adjoining, and ten 
poor men; the patronage is in the mayor, 
aldermen, bailiffs, and common council 
of Bedford. Here were also an hospital 
dedicated to St. Leonard; and a house 
of Franciscan friars.’ Tanner’s Not. Mon. 
Mr, Capper, “ Bedford, the county 
town of Bedfordshire, ten miles from - 
Olney, and _filty from London; containing 
five parishes, seven hundred and eighty- 
three houses, and three thousand pine 
hundred and forty-eight inhabitants; be- 
ing one thousand seven hundred and 
twelve males, and two thousand two 
hundred and thirty-six females, ef whom 
two thousand two hundred and twenty= 
one were returned as being employed in 
various trades and manufactures. This 
town is generally supposed to have been 
the place where a battle was fought be- 
tween Cuthwulf and the Britons, in 572; 
and is said to have been the burial-place 
of Offa, king of the Mercians. The Da- 
nish army was repulsed by the townsmen 
of Bedford, in 921; but in 1010 they 
were more successful and burnt the 
place. King William Rufus. gave the 
barony of Bedford to Pain de Beau- 
champ, who built a strong ‘castle ad- 
joining 
