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<DATE>2010-09-22</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<P>SVVETHLAND and Poland VVarres.</P>
<P>A Souldiers returne out of Sweden, and his Newes from the Warres: OR, <HI>Sweden and Poland vp in Armes.</HI> And the entertainement of Engli&s;h Souldiers there: with the fortunes and &s;ucce&s;&s;e of tho&s;e 1200. men that lately went thither.</P>
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<P>At London printed for <HI>Nathaniell Butter.</HI> 1610.</P>
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<HEAD>To the Reader.</HEAD>
<P>_COuntrymen, I haue for your &s;akes drawne a Picture, both of my owne, and other Eng|li&s;hmens mi&s;eries: You may in halfe an hower runne ouer the&s;e afflictions, which I and the re&s;t (that &s;marted by them) were many months enduring. I know it &s;hall be a plea&s;ure to you, to reade what wee haue &s;elt; and as great a happine&s;&s;e to me (who haue publi&s;hed this:) if the Story of a poore Souldiers trauels, can bring you any contentment, let me finde at your handes (I intreate you) the &s;elfe &s;ame loue which Sicke-men receiue from their friendes, when they begin to recouer; And that is a kinde vi&s;itation and reioycing, to &s;ee a crazed and weake body reduced to his former &s;trength: Mine (I thanke God) is now &s;o, and &s;hall grow
<PB REF="4">more and more into health, by how much the more you pittie my misfortunes: you cannot pittie them, vnle&s;&s;e you know them, you can|not know them vnle&s;&s;e you reade this ouer which I &s;ende you; and I would not willingly haue you read, vnle&s;&s;e you buy, becau&s;e you &s;hould pay for the Warres &s;omewhat as well as I: not doubting therefore of the one, becau&s;e I hope you de&s;ire the other: I wi&s;h your owne wi&s;hes to you: and &s;o farewell.</P>
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<P><FIGURE>
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<HEAD>A Souldiers Returne out of Swe|den, and his Newes from the Warres.</HEAD>
<P>_THe Oliue Tree of Peace (vpon which groweth the happine&s;&s;e, wealth and pro&s;peritie of euerie Kingdome) hath flouri&s;hed (e|uen vp to his full height) &s;o long in <HI>England,</HI> that other Coun|tries and Kingdomes neighbou|ring by her, beholding the ble&s;|&s;ings, benefits and contentation which <HI>England</HI> hath gathered by ta&s;ting the fruites of Peace, haue gotten &s;ome braunches of that Tree, and (by our example) planted the &s;ame in their owne Do|minions. In doing of which, the French haue filled their Coffers with Trea&s;ures, which before were ope|ned by violence, empried by &s;editious Leagues, and wa&s;ted to nothing by the mi&s;eries of a tedious and inte|&s;tine warre: the Spani&s;h haue likewi&s;e with the &s;ame &s;treame &s;afely returned from the Mines of both Indies, and richly vnladed their Argozies of Indian golde, vp|on their owne &s;hoares, of which golde (before Peace in|habited among&s;t them) they were euer lea&s;t &s;aue when they approached neare&s;t home, as the bringers of it from thence hither, and the loo&s;ers of it there, did in tho&s;e
<PB REF="6">times (the one with ioy, the other with madnes and &s;or|row) openly te&s;tifie.</P>
<P>So that the&s;e fires (whether of Ambition, of Zeale, or of Rage, I knowe not) which for many late y&eacute;eres haue named in the Low Countries, had not bin kindled there, I thinke the very name of Warre had bin almo&s;t forgot|ten, and the right pronunciation of it vnknowne to the&s;e parts of chri&s;tendome. The violent heate of which Bel|gicke fires was &s;o la&s;ting, and burned &s;o high, that it &s;er|ued as a Beacon on the top of a hill, to call vnto their help other forren nations (who before were but lookers on) and inticed them (through the thir&s;t of glory, honour and fame which are gotten in the fires) to become partners and &s;harers in the variable fortunes of tho&s;e Battelles of the Dutch and Spani&s;h. In&s;omuch that the Drumme being vnbraced h&eacute;ere, and hung vp by the walls (as hauing no v&s;e of &s;uch thunder among&s;t vs, vnle&s;&s;e it were for plea|&s;ure,) and mo&s;t of our men of Action and of the Sword hearing the &s;ound of theirs, and being drawne thither, I thinke it was then, and is now &s;til po&s;&s;ible to call together 20000. of our engli&s;h nation into one place, and among&s;t them all not to find or picke out one Souldier, when in o|ther forren realmes (vext continually with vproares) it hath hin, and to this day is hard to call together <HI>100000.</HI> and to cull out of them any other per&s;on but a Souldier.</P>
<P>The Schoole of Warre decaying, and being throwne downe in one kingdome, hath from time to time bin exec|ted in another. And as men who profe&s;&s;e other Arts and Sciences, will (if they loue them truely) trauell ouer the world to enrich their bo&s;omes with the perfit knowledge of tho&s;e things with which their &s;oules are inflamed: So the militarie Scholler (who&s;e be&s;t learning is Practi&s;e,) accounteth euery Land his owne country where this pro|fe&s;&s;ion of Armes is held in honor: and no loue of parents, wife, children, kinred or friends hath power to k&eacute;epe him from tho&s;e glorious paths of danger.</P>
<P><PB REF="6">
By this meanes, many Engli&s;hmen that were borne ob&s;curely, and might (otherwi&s;e) haue died forgotten, haue by their noble aduentures and &s;eruices in forren realmes (farre hence remoted) not onely won eternall honours to their owne names, but al&s;o crowned their nation and na|tiue country with neuer dying glories: And in de&s;pite of Enuy &amp; Obliuion (&s;worne enemies to virtue) who would beat downe the memorie of &s;uch high &s;pirits, by throwing them into ba&s;e and vnknowne graues, Fame does euer|more build vp tombs for them in her immortal chronicles.</P>
<P>While&s;t all men here at home &s;ate playing with the Sun-beames of Quietnes, and that all the low Country &s;torms began likewi&s;e to be laid downe calme, &s;o that the Engli&s;h &s;ouldier had no place to retire to, but to come and lie idlely on the bo&s;ome of his own country; behold, a fre&s;h Allarum awakes and calls him from hence into <HI>Sweden.</HI> In the warres of which kingdome what hath bin done lately, I meane only, for&s;omuch as I, who was a &s;eruitor in them, and am now the trumpet to proclaime mine own fortunes there, haue had triall, you &s;hall now (d&eacute;ere coun|trimen) receiue afaithfull and hone&s;t relation.</P>
<P>Wherein I vow by the honor of a &s;ouldier, and by the loue, obedience and loyaltie which I owe to no other than my owne natiue countrey, I will &s;et downe nothing but that of which (for the mo&s;t part) I haue bin <HI>Oculatus te|&s;tis</HI> (an eie-witnes.) And albeit in this relation the truth mu&s;t compell me to deliuer &s;uch matter, as happily may terrifie tho&s;e that neuer bare Armes, nor followed the for|tunes of a Souldier, from euer going into <HI>Sweden</HI> and to &s;erue in tho&s;e warres: farre are my thoughts (God beares record of them) from any &s;uch di&s;&s;wa&s;ion, &s;ithence all men that know what belongs to the field, can tell, that he who vndertakes the life and condition of a Souldier, mu&s;t en|dure wor&s;e and greater mi&s;eries, than I or any Engli&s;h|man &s;ent thither can vndergo in <HI>Sweden.</HI> Omitting ther|fore the ground of their quarrell, and not &s;o much as once
<PB REF="7">touching the fire that hath now &s;o &s;ately kindled warres betw&eacute;ene the kings of <HI>Sweden</HI> and <HI>Poland,</HI> becau&s;e the hearthurnings of kingdomes one again&s;t an other are di&s;|ea&s;es of State, and not fit to be medled with by me, being beyond my cure, I will write a Storie of my owne for|tunes there only, which begins as followeth.</P>
<P>About a fortnight before Mid&s;omer, which was <HI>1609.</HI> a company of Voluntaries to the number of <HI>1200.</HI> &s;oul|diers, were at &s;eueral times &s;hipped from <HI>England</HI> to pa&s;&s;e into <HI>Sweden,</HI> to aide the King of that Countrey in his warres again&s;t the king of <HI>Poland.</HI> To which aid diuers other nations did likewi&s;e re&s;ort, as <HI>Frenill, High Dutch, &amp;c</HI> of all whom (as occa&s;ion mini&s;treth) mention &s;hable made in their due places. Of the Engli&s;h companies that went thither, the fir&s;t was commaunded by one <HI>Caluine</HI> a Scot; who by appointment was made lieutenant Co|lonell and chiefe of the other Captaines ouer the footmen. The names of which Captaines are in this following Di&s;cour&s;e &s;et downe.</P>
<P>After the fir&s;t company was gone, a &s;econd number of <HI>300.</HI> men (of which I the relater of this, was one) were put into one &s;hippe belonging to <HI>Swoden,</HI> and came from thence for vs. We being thus aboord, &s;ailes were pre&s;ent|ly hoi&s;ted, anchors weighed, and by the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of God, wherewith the dexteritie of the mariners was furthered, in a &s;hort time had we gotten into the maine &s;ea and with a pro&s;perous gale went forward on our voiage. But mans &s;ecurity oft-times changeth Gods fauors into &s;odaine in|dignation; for when euery one at the parting from his owne country had a mery and fearele&s;&s;e heart to runne to the certaine dangers that &s;tood ready to m&eacute;et him in ano|ther forren region: Behold (to put vs all in minde, that God was the God of Ho&s;tes, and that whether we went foorth to fight, or laied vs downe to &s;l&eacute;epe, whether we were on the &s;eas, or on the land, our &s;afeties and dangers lay all in his di&s;po&s;ing) behold, I &s;ay, in the height of all
<PB REF="7">our iolity, &s;&eacute;eing &s;o prowd a &s;aile &s;welling with the winds to carry vs) the heauens on a &s;odaine altered their lookes, &s;torines fell vpon the waters, the waters threatned de|&s;truction to our &s;hip, and we that were in her, &s;tood wauer|ing betw&eacute;ene the hopes of an vncertaine life, &amp; the dread|full terrors of a mo&s;t iminent death. In this horror of the &s;eas, were we lo&s;&s;ed &s;o long, that all our victualles wers almo&s;t &s;pent: the mi&s;ery of which, threw vs into more de&s;perate feares: now were we a&s;&s;aulted by double deaths (Famine or Shipwracke) what cour&s;e to take for our re|liefe no man pre&s;ently knew. Continue without foode it was impo&s;&s;ible, and as impo&s;&s;ible was it for vs to reco|uer the land in any &s;hort time, without the a&s;&s;ured de&s;tru|ction of vs all. At this &s;ea&s;on, our commanders were the&s;e. <HI>viz</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Lieutenant Ben&s;on.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Lieutenant Walton,</HI> who was Prouo&s;t Martiall of the field.</ITEM>
<ITEM>And an Ancient of the Colonels company.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>The&s;e our Commanders were by our ra&s;hne&s;&s;e droue into wor&s;s feares than tho&s;e were that laid hold vpon our &s;elues; for whereas they were re&s;olued (blow the winds how they could) to continue &s;till at &s;ea, and not to land, till they &s;et footing at their appointed &s;hores, the cemmon Souldiers had on the contrary part vowed and re&s;olued to compell the mariners (&s;eeing the pre&s;ent mi&s;eries. and no hopes promi&s;ing better) to &s;et vs all on &s;hore vpon the fir&s;t land that could be di&s;couered. Our Commaunders did what they could by di&s;&s;wa&s;ion to alter this general re|&s;olution, becau&s;e they feared it would be the lo&s;&s;e of the greate&s;t part of our Companies, if they came once to be &s;cattered: and be&s;ides, they knew that it would re|dound to their di&s;honour and &s;hame, if they &s;hould not di&s;|charge the tru&s;t impo&s;ed vpon them by our Captaines, which tru&s;t was to conduct vs &amp; land vs before, whil&s;t our
<PB REF="8">Chieftaines remained a while behind in <HI>England,</HI> to take vp the re&s;t of our Companies. Yet all this notwith&s;tan|ding, Land being di&s;couerd, there was no eloquence in the world able to k&eacute;ep vs aboord our &s;hip, but euery man &s;wore if the ma&s;ter of the &s;hip would not &s;et vs on the &s;hore, the &s;ailes &s;hould be taken into our own hands, and what was re&s;olued vpon (touching pre&s;ent landing) &s;hould in de&s;pite of danger be effected. Vpon this, the ma&s;ter of the &s;hip and the mariners told vs, that if we put to land in that place, we &s;hould all either peri&s;h for want of victualles, which were not to be had in that country or el&s;e &s;hould haue our throates cut by the people. But the dangers in which we were, and which we felt, being more certaine (as we ima|gined) than any other could be, of which we had yet no &s;ence or f&eacute;eling, &amp; our hopes per&s;wading vs that we could not fall into wor&s;e, than tho&s;e we ta&s;ted already: be&s;ides, all of vs con&s;truing the words of the mariners, as not &s;po|ken by them, but as if they had bin &s;et on to do &s;o by our commanders in the &s;hip, who by all means fauored to k&eacute;ep vs all aboorde: At the la&s;t we re&s;olued rather to try our bad fortunes on the land, and to fami&s;h there (if that kind of death mu&s;t n&eacute;edes attend vpon vs) than to peri&s;h on the &s;eas, which we knew could affoord vs no &s;uch mercie as the land was likely to lend vs. So that in the end, we got &s;o neare the &s;hore &s;ide, as the &s;ailes dur&s;t venter with|out dauger to the &s;hip: and there ca&s;ting anchor, our &s;mall boat was hoi&s;ted out, &amp; on &s;hore we went, as fa&s;t as po&s;&s;i|bly we could. When our Officers &s;awe, that there was no remedy, nor force to detaine vs aboord, they then di&s;|heartned vs no longer, but to our great comforts told it, that the ma&s;ter of the &s;hip (which thing he him&s;elfe like|wi&s;e openly confe&s;&s;ed) knew both the Land and the Go|nernour thereof (as ind&eacute;ed we proued afterwards he did:) and therefore de&s;ired they all our companies not to mi&s;&s;e|behaue them&s;elues toward the people, for that it was an Iland called <HI>Iuthland,</HI> vnder the dominion of the king of
<PB REF="8"><HI>Denmarke,</HI> but &s;ubtect to the command of a Lord, who vn|der the king (as his &s;ub&s;titute) was the gouernor.</P>
<P>And that we might be the better drawne to a ciuill be|hauiour towards thinhabitants, our officers further told vs, that they would repaire to the Lord Gouernour of the country, and acquaint him with the cau&s;e of our vnexpec|ted landing there; vpon which we all promi&s;ed to offer no violence to the people; neither was that promi&s;e violated, becau&s;e we found the inhabitants tractable, and as quiet towards vs, as we to them: yet the greater numbers of them ran away with feare, at the fir&s;t &s;ight of vs, becau&s;e (as afterward they reported) it could not be remembred by any of them, that they euer either beheld them&s;elues, or euer heard any of their ance&s;torsreport, that any &s;tra~ge people had landed in tho&s;e places and partes of the Iland: for they thought it impo&s;&s;ible (as they told vs) y^e any &s;hip &s;hould ride &s;o n&eacute;ere the &s;hore, as ours did, by rea&s;on of the dangerous Sands.</P>
<P>Our officers &s;o &s;oone as they were at land, went to the gouernor of the Iland, whil&s;t the &s;ouldiers (who &s;taid be|hind them) ran to the hou&s;es of the Ilanders, of purpo&s;e to talke with the people, and at their hands to buy victu|alls for a pre&s;ent reliefe: but when we came among them, they could neither vnder&s;tand vs, nor we them; &s;o that the market was &s;poiled, and we could get nothing for our mo|ney: yet by &s;uch &s;ignes as we could make, they vnder&s;tood our wants, pittied them, and be&s;towed vpon vs (fr&eacute;ely) a little of &s;uch things as they had. Yet in the end, a happie means of our reliefe was found out by a &s;ouldier among&s;t vs, who was a <HI>Dane</HI> by birth, but his educatio~ hauing bin in <HI>Engl.</HI> no man knew him to be other than an engli&s;hma~.</P>
<P>This <HI>Dane</HI> made v&s;e of his owne natiue language, to the good both of him&s;elfe, and vs, certifying the people (who the rather bel&eacute;eued him becau&s;e he &s;pake in their knowne tongue) of the cau&s;e that compelld vs to land vp|on their cea&s;t, and that we intended no mi&s;chiefe, violence,
<PB REF="9">or mony: to which report of his they giuing credit, &s;tood in le&s;&s;e feare of vs than before, and thereupon furni&s;hed vs with all &s;uch nece&s;&s;aries, as the countrey affoorded to &s;u&s;taine our wants. The food which we bought of them was only fi&s;h, and a kind of cour&s;e bread, exc&eacute;eding cheap. Of which food there was &s;uch plentie, that for the value of <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">. d. we had as much fi&s;h as xx. men could eate at a meale, and yet none of the wor&s;t &s;orts of fi&s;h, but euen of the ve|ry be&s;t and daintie&s;t, as Mackrels and Lob&s;ters, and &s;uch like. In which our trading with the poore &s;imple people, we found them &s;o ignorant, that many, yea mo&s;t of them regarded not whether you gaue them a counter, or a &s;hil|ling; for the bigger the p&eacute;ece was, the more fi&s;h they would giue for it: but be&s;ides fi&s;h w&eacute;e could get no other &s;u&s;te|nance from them, or at lea&s;t, could not vnder&s;tand that they had any other. But ob&s;erue what happened in the meane time that we were thus in trafficke with the I|landers for victualls, our Officers as before is &s;aid) be|ing gone to the lord Gouernor, who lay about xij. engli&s;h miles from the &s;ea &s;ide, the mai&s;ter of our &s;hip on a &s;ud|den hoi&s;ed vp &s;ailes, and away he went, leauing one of his owne men at &s;hore, who accompanied our Officers as their guide, through the Iland. The cau&s;e of the &s;hips departure, did &s;o much the more amaze vs, by rea&s;on it was &s;o vnexpected, &amp; the rea&s;on thereof vnknowne to vs: But we imagind the ma&s;ter of the &s;hip and mariners fea|red to receiue vs into the ve&s;&s;el again, becau&s;e &s;ome of our men at their being at &s;ea, threatned the &s;ailers, and offred the~ abu&s;es before they could be brought to &s;et vs on land.</P>
<P>On the next day following the Lord Gouernor of the Iland came to vs, bringing our Officers along with him, yet not being &s;o confident of vs, but that (for auoiding of any dangers that might happen) he came &s;trongly guarded with a troope of Hor&s;emen well armed. And (vpon his fir&s;t approach) demaunding where our Ship was, it was folde him in what &s;trange manner it &s;tole away and for|&s;ooke
<PB REF="9">vs: he then a&s;ked what w&eacute;e intended to doe, to which w&eacute;e all an&s;wered that we would b&eacute;e ruled by our Offi|cers: hereupon hee inquired of them what they would haue him to doe in their behalfes, they reque&s;ted nothing el&s;e at his handes, but onely his fauorable Pa&s;&s;e through the Country, and a Ship to cary vs forward into <HI>Sweden:</HI> to which reque&s;t h&eacute;e made an&s;wer, that he could grant no &s;uch licence vntil he had made the king of <HI>Denmarke</HI> ac|quainted with our being there, for the Iland belongd to the King he &s;ayd, and he was no more but an Officer or Sub&s;titute vnder him. Yet in con&s;ideration that our Ship had &s;o left vs in a &s;trange land, h&eacute;e promi&s;ed to do all that lay in his power to effect our good: but withal told vs that the people had inward feares and were po&s;&s;e&s;&s; with &s;u&s;pitions, that our intents of landing vpon &s;uch a coa&s;t (were not as w&eacute;e our &s;elues affirmed, onely to get foode, but rather to make &s;poyle of the poore inhabitants. And therefore to remoue all &s;uch feares and Ielo&s;ies out of the peoples hearts, he held it mo&s;t conuenient for the gene|rall &s;afeties of both parties, to &s;eperat our numbers, and to &s;pread vs abroad in the Country, one and one in a hou&s;e, where it was agr&eacute;ede that we &s;hould receiue both a lodg|ing, and meate, and drinke, vntill he had &s;ent to the King of <HI>Denmarke,</HI> &s;ome of his owne men with our Officers, to vnder&s;tand his Maie&s;ties plea&s;ure and what &s;hould be|come of vs.</P>
<P>To this we all agr&eacute;ed, and accordingly for that purpo&s;e, were by the Lord Gouernor, &s;afely by this Armed hor&s;e|men which were his guard, conducted to his owne hou&s;e. To that place were all the people of the Iland &s;ummond together, they came at the appointed day to the number of fiue or &s;ixe hundred, circling vs rownd with Bills Hol|berds two-hand &s;words and diuers other weapous: And at the fir&s;t &s;ight of vs grew into &s;uch rage, that pre&s;ent|ly they would haue cutt all our throates, and hewed vs to pieces but that the Authority, of the gouernor kept them
<PB REF="10">from offring violence, yet was he fayne &s;o v&s;e the fayre&s;t meanes of per&s;wation to allay their fury. For they would not belieue but that our ariuall there was to de&s;troy them, their wiues and children and make a conque&s;t at la&s;t of their Iland, Yet the Gouernor &s;hewed vnto them all our number, which was but <HI>300.</HI> men, and tho&s;e all vn|weaponed, and &s;o con&s;equently, neither likely, nor able to vndertake any mi&s;chie&s;e again&s;t them.</P>
<P>Then &s;toode vp &s;ome bolder than the re&s;t, and teaching the re&s;t to be more cruell by &s;wearing to haue our blouds ere they &s;tirred from thence, becau&s;e (as they alleadged) our y&eacute;elding to be di&s;armed, was done but in policy to be|guile them, with &s;ecurene&s;&s;e, whereas they rather doub|ted that &s;ome &s;econd &s;upplies were not farre behinde vs, that would likewi&s;e land on their coa&s;ts, and ioyne in the &s;ame conque&s;t. But the Gouernor looking vpon the con|dition of men &s;o mi&s;erable as we appeared, with an ete of clearer iudgement and pitty, than the common people could, who were euen blinded with their owne fury, in&s;s|lence and madne&s;&s;e, &s;hewed the true nature of a wi&s;e ma|gi&s;trate, by mingling threats with milde &s;peaches, charg|ing the vnruely multitude, vpon paine of death, not to touch the lea&s;t fluger of vs, but to diuide vs equally into &s;euerall villages, as it thould &s;&eacute;eme be&s;t vnto them, and to be&s;tow kind and louing entertainment vpon vs til they heard farder from him, which command of his they accor|dingly performed.</P>
<P>Inimediatly vpon this &s;etling of them and vs in quiet|ne&s;&s;e, one of our officers with two of the Gouernors men, were &s;ent away to the king of <HI>Denmarke,</HI> to vnder&s;tand his Highne&s;&s;e plea&s;ure, which Menengers were no &s;oo|ner di&s;patched about the bu&s;ines, but the Ilanders grow|ing more and more &s;u&s;pitious, came againe to the Gouer|nor and neuer would cea&s;e or giue ouer troubling him, vn|till they had gotten him to make proclamation (in hearing of vs all) That if any of vs would fr&eacute;ely di&s;couer the true
<PB REF="10">cau&s;e of our landing vpon that coa&s;t, and reueale the plots of any daungerous enterpri&s;e intended again&s;t them, he &s;hould not onely be rewarded with great &s;tore of money, and haue new apparell to his backe, but al&s;o &s;hould with|out tortures, impri&s;onment, or death be &s;et fr&eacute;e, and &s;ent backe againe into his owns countrey This proclamation &s;trucke vs all with feare and a&s;toni&s;hment. becau&s;e albeit we to our &s;elues were not guiltie of any plot, or villanie intended to the place or people, yet we knew this might be a meanes to endanger all our liues, how innocent &s;oe|uer. Our &s;u&s;pition of daunger fell out according to our feares, for one <HI>Thomas Griffyn</HI> a Welch man, one of our owne company, but a per&s;on as it appeared, of a ba&s;e and diuelli&s;h condition, being tempted with the baite of gold, re&s;olued to enrich him&s;elfe, albeit it were by the &s;he|ding of innocent bloud: And thereupon like a fal&s;e traitor to all the re&s;t of his fellowes, he went and kn&eacute;eled before the Gouernor, and with a face counterfeiting a guiltines and fearefull de&s;truction, told him, that if he might be for|giuen for his part, and haue his life warranted, he would di&s;couer &s;uch a &s;ecret, that the opening of the &s;ame &s;hould be good to all the Country, and the concealing thereof the Ilands vtter ruine, with the confu&s;ion of the people. The Gouernor being glad of this di&s;couery &s;o promi&s;ed, a&s;&s;u|red <HI>Griffyn</HI> both of his life, and of the reward, willing him not to feare any danger, but boldly, and with a con&s;tant bo&s;ome to lay open what he knew: vpon which wordes, the traiterous <HI>Iudas</HI> told him for certaine, that we came thither onely and for no other purpo&s;e than to &s;urpri&s;e the Iland, kill the inhabitants, make &s;poile of their wiues and goodes and hauing &s;et fire of their townes and villages to flie to &s;ea againe. Yet for all this would not the Gouer|nor bel&eacute;eue him, celling him it was a matter very vnlike|ly, that &s;o &s;mall a number, &s;o di&s;tre&s;&s;ed for want of food, &s;o weather-heaten and &s;o di&s;armed, &s;hould venture vpon an enterpri&s;e &s;o full of dangerous euents, but the villaine re|plied,
<PB REF="11">that all the&s;e complaints of want, were but &s;ongs to beguile the people, for that vpon the lea&s;t Allarum gi|uen, other &s;hippes that lay houering at &s;ea, and furni&s;hed both with men and armor, would on the &s;odaine, and that very &s;hortly land for the &s;ame de&s;ire of &s;poile, as the&s;e their fellows had done, and therefore councelled the Gouernor to preuent &s;uch imminent mi&s;chiefes betimes.</P>
<P>The Gouernour being thus farre vrged, pre&s;ently cal|led before him lieutenant <HI>Walton,</HI> who&s;e lodging was appointed in his hou&s;e, and hauing related to him all that <HI>Griffin</HI> had di&s;couered, and withall, demaunding of lieu|tenant <HI>Walton</HI> what he could &s;ay to this matter of trea|&s;on and con&s;piracy: the lieutenant at the fir&s;t &s;tood ama|zed, and vtterly denied any &s;uch intended villany, prote|&s;ting by the faith of a Souldier, that this report of the Welch man proc&eacute;eded fom the rancour of a vile traitors heart, and therefore on his kn&eacute;es intreated the Gouer|nor, not to giue credite to &s;o ba&s;e a villaine (who for the gr&eacute;edine&s;&s;e of alittle money, went about to &s;ell all their liues) and to make all thinhabitants of the Iland become murderers:) adding further, that if the Gouernor would but giue him leaue, he would make the treacherous &s;laue before his face there pre&s;ently confe&s;&s;e that he had belyed his fellowes, and that there was no &s;uch Con&s;piracie a|mong&s;t them. The Gouernor gaue him authority to v&s;e his be&s;t meanes to trie a traytor, becau&s;e it was not he &s;aid, his de&s;ire to haue the bloud of any Chri&s;tians, &s;head wrongfully: but if he &s;hould find the Welch mans words to be true, he could do no otherwi&s;e than apprehend vs as traitors to his King and the Country and to lay &s;uch pu|ni&s;hment vpon vs, as &s;hould be &s;ound due by their lawes. But lieutenant <HI>Walton</HI> earne&s;tly intreating the Gouer|nor, that if he had any &s;uch ill thought of vs, he would be plea&s;ed to hold him in &s;etters as pri&s;oner for vs all, till the trueth might be found out: And that traiterous vil|laine <HI>Thomas Griffyn</HI> being oppo&s;ed face to face with the
<PB REF="11">lieutenant &s;till continuing in his fir&s;t re&s;olution, and mo&s;t boldely per&s;euering in his accu&s;ations again&s;t his poore countrymen that lay &s;cattred in &s;euerall hou&s;es about the Iland, not hearing of any &s;uch matters: Behold how all that <HI>Griffyn</HI> had di&s;couered, were by a &s;trange accident &s;trongly confirmed to pa&s;&s;e for currant, and what&s;oeuer lieutenant <HI>Walton</HI> had vttered in oppo&s;ition of <HI>Griffyns</HI> &s;launders, were held as vntruths, and traps to betray the Country. For, iu&s;t as the traitor had told the Gouernor, that more &s;hips were not farre off, but were ready to &s;e|cond vs vpon our arriuall, it chanced that in the very heat of this bu&s;ine&s;&s;e, and their feares of daunger where none was, two other &s;hips full of armed &s;ouldiers came to the &s;ame place of the Iland where our &s;hip put in: The&s;e two &s;hips had brought &s;ouldiers out of the lowe Countries (a ce&s;&s;ation of warres being there) and were going into <HI>Swethland,</HI> as we were, but by cro&s;&s;e windes and fowle weather, lay &s;o long at &s;ea, that wanting victualls, they were driuen in hither for &s;uccour. Who&s;e &s;odaine approch and ariuall being &s;ignified to the L. Gouernor, the welch mans words were then thought true; all the fland was pre&s;ently vp in Armes to re&s;i&s;t the &s;trength and fucie of a mo&s;t dangerous &s;uppo&s;ed enemy: and &s;o &s;ecretly did the Inhabitants put on Annes that we who were kept like pri&s;oners among&s;t them knew nothing of the&s;e vproares. But night approaching, the Generall gaue &s;peciall charge that &s;ecret watch &s;hould be &s;et and kept ouer euery &s;oul|dier that lodged in any mans hou&s;e which by the common people was as narrowly performed, for they did not only watch vs as the Gouernor commaunded, but among&s;t them&s;elues a &s;ecret Con&s;piracie was made, that in the dead of night, when we &s;hould be fa&s;t a&s;leepe they &s;hould come and take vs in our beds, and there to binde vs with cords: it being an ea&s;ie thing to do &s;o, when our company were diuided one from another ouer the whole Iland. At the houre agr&eacute;ed vpon, the plot was put in force, for they
<PB REF="12">entred our Chambers, and bound euerie Souldier as he lay, making them all ready like &s;o many &s;h&eacute;epe, marked out for the &s;laughter. For mine owne part, I had fiue men and thr&eacute;e women to binde me, who &s;o cunningly ty|ed me fa&s;t with cordes, whil&s;t I &s;lept, and felt nothing, nor dreamt of any &s;uch matter, that with a twitch onely I was plucked &s;tarke naked out of my bed, and laide vp|on the colde earth vnderneath a Table, with my armes bound behinde me, &s;o extreamely hard, as foure men could drawe them together, my f&eacute;ete tied to the foote of the Table, and my necke bound to the vpper part or boord of the Table.</P>
<P>In the&s;e mi&s;erable tortures lay I, and all the re&s;t (in &s;euerall hou&s;es) all that night, and the mo&s;t part of the next day, our armes and legges being pinched and wrung together in &s;uch pittile&s;&s;e manner, that the verie bloud gu&s;hed out at the &s;ingers ends of many.</P>
<P>The enduring of which torments was &s;o much the more grieuons, becau&s;e none knew what we had done that could incen&s;e them to this &s;o &s;trange and &s;pitefull cru|elty, neither could we, albeit we inquired, learne of our tormentors the cau&s;e, becau&s;e we vnder&s;toode not their language. But to me whil&s;t I &s;tood thus vpon the racke, the old woman mine Ho&s;te&s;&s;e came often running in and cryed in her language to me <HI>Traue vp Ie&s;us,</HI> which was as much to &s;ay, Pray to Ie&s;us: by which wordes of her I perceiued they meant to kill me: And &s;till &s;he mumbled out a &s;torie, which I could not interpret, of one <HI>William,</HI> who lay at the next hou&s;e I knew, &s;o that I gue&s;&s;ed her meaning was, that <HI>William,</HI> and all the re&s;t of our com|pany were in fetters too, like my &s;elfe. Yet my priuate thoughts fr&eacute;ed all the re&s;t, becau&s;e I was per&s;waded they had doue nothing to de&s;erue &s;uch tyrannous handling: Mary of my &s;elfe, and my neighbour <HI>William</HI> I &s;toode &s;omewhat in a perillous doubt, that they puni&s;hed vs for a knauerie committed the very &s;elfe &s;ame euening, after
<PB REF="12">which we were intangled in the net, and could by no &s;trugling get out. And that was this</P>
<P>I happened that night, when this coniuring was to binde vs like wicked &s;pirites in &s;uch damnable circles, to &s;uppe with the &s;aid <HI>William</HI> at his lodging: and while&s;t we &s;ate merrily at our meate, not mi&s;tru&s;ting what Spi|ders were weauing ouer our heades, to catch vs like flies in their cob-webs, and then to kill vs, into our rowme comes &s;tumbling a pedlar, with a packe and a boxe at his backe: We hauing &s;o fit an Anuile to breake iea&s;ts vpon, forgot our &s;elues where we were, and brganne to growe merry in Engli&s;h with Seignior Mountebanke our Med|lar, but he gabling in his language to vs, as fa&s;t as we did in ours to him, both laughed at one another, yet knew not for what. At la&s;t downe throws he his packe and box on the Table, and being a merry lad, and a cu&s;tomer to the hou&s;e, went out of our rowme to vi&s;ite the hou&s;hold. In the meane time my pew fellow <HI>William</HI> &s;pying his op|portunity. opened the Pedlars box, which he thought had bin crammed with &s;w&eacute;ete meates, but in &s;tead of Sugar plummes he &s;onnd nothing there but Sope, the purcha&s;e of which &s;cowring booty, make <HI>Williams</HI> heart leape for ioy, for (quoth he) my linnen thou &s;&eacute;e&s;t is fowle, and this Sope &s;hall make me to morrow a cleane gentleman. And thereupon like a con&s;cionable Chaundler tooke out &s;ome halfe a pound and gaue great weight: the one halfe of which prize I &s;hared in, becau&s;e I had as much n&eacute;ede as he to be wa&s;hed, yet none of vs both had n&eacute;ede of the &s;hauing which we mette withall an one afterwards. But note how iu&s;tly I was plagued: The &s;elfe &s;ame Peolar was one of the men that helped to binde me; the knaue was le&s;&s;e mercifull in tying his knottes than a Beadle or Hang-man, and more nimble to bind my hands behind me, than to binde vp his packe. I &s;eeing what ware the Pedlar made of my body, and how villainou&s;ly the re&s;t of his Con&s;ort played vpon the&s;e hempen &s;trings, that
<PB REF="13">were wownd vp about my armes, legges, and necke, thought verily that he and his crew had found me guilty for his Sope, and &s;o conuemning me behinde my backe, came likewi&s;e to puni&s;h me both behind my backe, and to my face.</P>
<P>But crying out to them, becau&s;e I &s;aw they iea&s;ted not with me, that the Soape was in my pecket, all the pittifull &s;ignes I could deui&s;e were made, to &s;hew I had thru&s;t it there, but they for all the noi&s;e I made, plyed their tru&s;&s;ing me vp in halters wor&s;e than fiue hangings, neither regarding the cries of the poore, imitating therein many worldly rich men, nor vnder&s;tanding whether I cur&s;ed them to the pit of Well, for &s;o hard binding me, or whether I prayed them to vnloo&s;e me, neither did Mon|&s;ieur Pedlar mi&s;&s;e his halfe pound of Sope, &s;o that I was worried by a &s;ort of curres, I knew how, and where, but I knew not why.</P>
<P>While&s;t thus the whole Iland was full of the cries of wretched men, and that euery hou&s;e &s;&eacute;emed a &s;hambles, ready to haue Innocents there butchered the next day, and that euery Ilander had the office of a common cutte|throate or executioner, Gods wonderfull working tur|ued the &s;treame of all their cruelty: For the two &s;hippes that came out of the Lowe Countries, and who&s;e ar|riuall draue &s;o many mi&s;erable &s;oules almo&s;t vpon the rockes of de&s;truction, hauing in that dolefull and ruinous night, gotten &s;ome proui&s;ion aboord, weighed Anchor, and departed towards <HI>Swethland.</HI></P>
<P>Which happy News b&eacute;eing &s;erued vp at breakefn&s;t to the Lord Gouernour betimes in the morning, and that the Shippes had offerd no violence to the Country, but had payd for what they tooke: About eleauen of the clocke the very &s;ame day at noone, w&eacute;e were all like vnto &s;o ma|ny dead men cutt downe, and bidden to &s;tand vpon our legges, although very few had &s;carce legges that could &s;tand.</P>
<P><PB REF="13">
Of one accident more that befell, I thinke it not a|mi&s;&s;e to take note, which began merily, but ended tragi|cally, and in bloud; and that was this: Foure of our company being lodged in one village, and they being bound to the peace, as you may perceiue the re&s;t were; it happened that an hon&s;t where one of them lay, had tippled hard, and gotten a hor&s;es di&s;ea&s;e, called the <HI>Staggers:</HI> In comes he &s;tumbling to the roome where the poore Eng|li&s;hman was bound to the table, hand and foote: which thing the drunken Sot beholding, drew his Hatchet, which he wore at his girdle, according to the fa&s;hion of the country, and becau&s;e he would be &s;ure his pri&s;oner
<FIGURE>
</FIGURE> &s;hould not e&s;cape; with his hatchet he cleft his head And thin|king
<PB REF="14">in that drunken murderous humor, he had done a glorious act, away he r&eacute;eles out of his owne hou&s;e to that hou&s;e where the other thr&eacute;e Souldiers lay bound, where beating at the doores and windows, and the hoa&s;t a&s;king what he meant to make &s;uch a damnable noy&s;e, he told him &s;o well as he could &s;tammer it out, that the Lord Gouernour had &s;ent him thither to put the thr&eacute;e Engli&s;h
<FIGURE>
</FIGURE>
<PB REF="14">men to death. Vpon this the diuell and he (hand in hand) were let in, the one &s;tanding &s;o clo&s;e at the others elbow, that he neuer left him till he had cleft two of their heads, that lay bound: and being then weary (it &s;hould &s;&eacute;eme) with playing the butcher, he neuer cea&s;ed &s;wearing and &s;taring, and flouri&s;hing with his bloudy axe about their heads, till the people of the hou&s;e had hung the third man vpon a beame in y^e roome. But they hauing le&s;&s;e cunning in y^e Hang-mans trade, then will to practi&s;e it, tyed not y^e halter &s;o fa&s;t about his neck, as to &s;trangle him: &s;o that after he had hung an houre, he was cut downe, reuiued, againe, was well, and afterwards was &s;laine in Ru&s;&s;ia.</P>
<P>This bloudy fea&s;t being thus ended, and all &s;tormes as we well hoped, being now blowne ouer to our fr&eacute;e|dome, and &s;itting at liberty from our tormentors; on the necke of the&s;e former mi&s;eries fell a mi&s;chiefe more dan|gerous to vs then all the re&s;t: for tidings were brought to the Gouernour, that our Ancient, who trauailed with the Gouernours two men to the King, had traiterou&s;ly murdered tho&s;e his guides, and then ran away him&s;elfe: vpon this rumor, nothing but thundring and lightening flew from the common peoples mouthes: there was no way now with vs but one, and that one was, to haue all our throats cut, or our heads cleft with their axes. But the gouernour pittying our mi&s;fortunes, laboured both by his authority, and by faire &s;p&eacute;eches, to k&eacute;epe that many-headed dogge (the multitude) from barking. And in the end, when he &s;aw nothing but the bloud of vs poore Engi&s;hmen would &s;ati&s;fie their thir&s;t, becau&s;e they &s;till held vs in &s;u&s;pition and feare, he mo&s;t nobly, and like a vertuous Magi&s;trate, pawned to the inhumane Ra&s;|cals, (to my knowledge) his honour, all that euer he was worth, yea his very life vnto them, that within thr&eacute;e dayes the me&s;&s;engers &s;ent to the King, &s;hould returne home, and that during tho&s;e thr&eacute;e dayes we &s;hould b&eacute;e of good behauiour to the I&s;landers: and be&s;ides that
<PB REF="15">they did not returne in &s;uch a time, that then he would deliuer vs vp into their hands, to be v&s;ed (or rather mi&s;&s;e-v&s;ed) in what manner they be&s;t de&s;ired.</P>
<P>But God (who&s;e helpe is mo&s;t ready, when wretched man hath mo&s;t need of him) put foorth a hand of mercy, and pre&s;erued vs: for our Ancient with the Gouernors two men, came home vpon the third day, to the Gouer|nours hou&s;e, and brought from the King of <HI>Denmarke</HI> his licence, to carry vs not onely through the country, but commanding that we &s;hould be allowed &s;hipping al&s;o, at connenient place, to carry vs to <HI>Sweueland,</HI> whither we were to go: And according to this lycence the Gouer|nour cau&s;ed vs to be called all together the very next day; at which time, <HI>Thomas Griffin</HI> the Wel&s;h <HI>Iudas,</HI> who had all this while lyen fea&s;ting in the hou&s;e of the Lord Go|uernour, began to tremble and to repent him of his villan|ny, begging mo&s;t ba&s;e forgiuene&s;&s;e on his kn&eacute;es, both from the Gouernour, and vs his countrimen and fel|low Souldiers, prote&s;ting that what he did came out of his feare to &s;aue his owne life. But our Officers (vpon hearing him &s;peake thus) had much adoe to k&eacute;epe the companies from pulling downe the hou&s;e whore <HI>Griffin</HI> lay, becau&s;e they would in that rage haue hewed the vil|laine in p&eacute;eces.</P>
<P>But leauing him and all &s;uch betrayers of mens bloud to the hell of their owne con&s;ciences, let vs &s;et forward out of this infortunate Iland, &amp; not &s;tay in any place el&s;e, till in &s;mall boates we come by water to <HI>Elzinore</HI> in <HI>Denmarke,</HI> where wee ioyfully got aboard once more; and are hoy&s;ing vp &s;ailes for <HI>Sweueland.</HI> Yet euen in this &s;un-&s;hine day a &s;torme falles vpon vs too: for our Officers not hauing &s;ufficient money to fur|ni&s;h vs with victuals, we were enforced to pawne our Ancient and Lieftenant <HI>Walton,</HI> for the &s;afe returne of the &s;hip, with condition that they &s;hould not be relea&s;ed vntill a &s;ufficient &s;umme of money was &s;ent to defray all
<PB REF="15">charges. So that we left our Officers behinde vs; but the King of <HI>Sweueland</HI> did afterwards relea&s;e them, and then they came to vs. But before their comming, we hauing a good winde, landed at a place called <HI>Newleas</HI> in <HI>Sweue:</HI> and from thence were carryed to <HI>Stockholme,</HI> (the Kings &s;eate) and there was the King at the &s;ame time: betw&eacute;ene which two places it was a dayes march on hor&s;ebacke.</P>
<P>Vpon this our arriuall at <HI>Stockholme,</HI> we met with the re&s;t that had gone before vs, and with diuers others of our countrymen, that came out of the <HI>Low-countries,</HI> as before is related. In this place we lay &s;o long, and had &s;uch poore meanes, that wanting money to buy &s;oode, we wanted foode to maintaine life, and &s;o a number of vs were ready to &s;terue: till in the end, our mi&s;eries ma|king vs de&s;perate, we fell together by the eares with the <HI>Burgers</HI> of the towne: in which &s;cambling confu&s;ion and mutiny, euery man got one thing or other, of which he made pre&s;ent money to relieue his body withall: yet lay we at the walles of the citty, crying out continually for money, money, till our throates grew hoar&s;e with bal|ling, but the &s;tones of the walles gaue more comfort to vs, then the inhabitants. One day (aboue all the re&s;t) we heard, that the King was to ride a hunting; and w&eacute;e imagining that all the abu&s;es, wrongs, and mi&s;eries, which we endured, proc&eacute;eded from &s;ome vnder-hand hard dealing, and packing of our Captaines and Officers, re|&s;olued to gather about the King at his comming forth, &amp; to cry out for mony: but the King being angry (as we &s;uppo&s;ed) came riding among&s;t vs, drawing his pi&s;toll from the &s;addle bow, as if he purpo&s;ed to haue &s;hot &s;ome of vs: but &s;eeing none of vs to &s;hrinke from him, nor to be di&s;maied, he rode backe againe, we following him, &amp; de&s;iring; he would either giue vs money, or el&s;e to kill vs out-right; one among&s;t the re&s;t (who&s;e name was <HI>William Attane</HI>) &s;pake to the King aloud, thus: <HI>I hold it
<PB REF="16">honor to dye by the hands of a King, but ba&s;ely to &s;terue to death, I will neuer &s;uffer it.</HI> Vpon the&s;e our clamors, the King looking better vpon our nece&s;&s;ities, &s;ent money the next day, and immediatly after gaue vs a moneths meanes in mony, and two mone ths meanes in cloath, to make vs apparrell.</P>
<P>Of the cloath we receiued &s;ome part, but the money being paid, was by our Captaines &s;ent into England, to their wiues; no part of it euer comning to the poore com|mon Souldiers hands: for pre&s;ently vpon this, we were commanded aboord the &s;hips, with promi&s;e that when we were aboord we &s;hould haue our money. But being in y^e &s;hips vnder hatches, away were we carryed with proui|&s;ion onely of one moneths victuals, when by rea&s;on of the weather we were forced to lye eight w&eacute;ekes at &s;ea: in all which time we had nothing but pickelled herrings, and &s;alt &s;tremlings, with &s;ome &s;mall quantity of hard dryed meates: by which ill dyet, many of our men fell &s;icke and dyed. In the &s;hip wherein I was, w&eacute;e liued fouret&eacute;ene dayes without bread, all our be&s;t foode being &s;alt herrings, which we were glad to eate raw; the be&s;t of vs all hauing no better &s;u&s;tenance.</P>
<P>At the la&s;t it plea&s;ed God to &s;end vs to a place called <HI>Vfra&s;ound</HI> in <HI>Fynland,</HI> where we landed, (<HI>Fynland</HI> be|ing &s;ubiect to the King of <HI>Sweueland.</HI>) From <HI>Vfra&s;ound</HI> we were to goe to <HI>Weyborough,</HI> a chiefe towne in the country of <HI>Fynland:</HI> where we no &s;ooner arrriued, but our Souldiers ran &s;ome one way, and &s;ome another, &s;o long that the Captaines were left alone with the &s;hips. This running away of them, being done onely to &s;&eacute;eke foode, &s;o great was their hunger.</P>
<P>By this carele&s;&s;e di&s;per&s;ing them&s;elues, they lo&s;t the command of the whole country, which they might ea&s;ily haue had, if they had bene vnited together: and not one|ly were depriued of that benefite, but of hor&s;es al&s;o which were allowed by the King for them to ride vpon.</P>
<P><PB REF="16">
So that, what by the rea&s;on of the tedious iourney, (which we were to trauell, being foure&s;core leagues) and what by rea&s;on of the extreme cold, being a moneth be|fore Chri&s;tmas, at which time the &s;now fell, and neuer went off the ground vntill Whit&s;ontide following, but all the raine and all the the &s;now that fell, fr&eacute;ezing continually, diuers of our men were &s;terued to death with the fro&s;t.</P>
<P><FIGURE>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>Some lo&s;t their fingers, &s;ome their toes, &s;ome their no&s;es, many their liues: in&s;omuch that when wee all met at <HI>Weyborough,</HI> we could make no make no more but <HI>1400.</HI> able men; and yet when we were landed at
<PB REF="17"><HI>Vfra&s;ound</HI> we were <HI>2000.</HI> &s;trong, the extremity of the cold country hauing killed &s;o many of our Souldiers in &s;o little time.</P>
<P>At our landing at <HI>Weyborough</HI> we had good hopes to receiue better comforts, both of money and victuals: for the inhabitants told vs, the King had allowed it vs, and in that report they &s;pake truth: yet contrary to our ex|pectation, we lay there about <HI>14.</HI> dayes, and had no|thing but a little Rice, of which we made bread, and a little butter, which was our be&s;t reliefe. Drinke had we none, nor money: our Captaines gaue vs certaine le|therne pelches onely made of &s;h&eacute;eps &s;kinnes, to k&eacute;epe vs from the cold.</P>
<P>At this place we receiued Armes to defend vs again&s;t the enemy, and &s;ixe companies that were allowed by the King for hor&s;emen, receiued hor&s;es there. From thence we were to march into Ru&s;&s;ia, where our enemies con|tinued. But the iourney was long and vncomfortable: for we marched from Newyeares day vntill Whit&s;on|tide, continually in &s;now, hauing no re&s;t, but onely a lit|tle in the nights. So that the mi&s;eries and mi&s;-fortunes which we endured vpon the borders of <HI>Fynland,</HI> were al|mo&s;t iu&s;ufferable, by rea&s;on the number of them &s;&eacute;emed infinite. For all the people had for&s;aken their hou&s;es long before wee came, becau&s;e they were euermore op|pre&s;&s;ed by Souldiers: by which meanes wee could get neither meate nor drinke, but were glad to hunt cats, and to kill them, or any bea&s;t wee could lay hold on, and this we baked, and made them &s;erue for dayly &s;u&s;te|nance.</P>
<P>The greate&s;t calamity of all was, we could get no wa|ter to drinke, it had bene &s;o long frozen vp, and the &s;now &s;o d&eacute;epe, that it was hard to &s;ay, whether we marched o|uer water, or vpon land. So that we were compelled to digge vp &s;now, and with &s;tones red hot, to melt in tubs. and then to drinke it.</P>
<P><PB REF="17">
This affliction continued about <HI>12.</HI> or <HI>14.</HI> dayes, till we came into Ru&s;&s;ia. Vpon our very fir&s;t entrance into which kingdome, we marched ouer an Arme of the Sea, that was <HI>8.</HI> leagues ouer, many of vs &s;teruing to death in that pa&s;&s;age, by the cold fr&eacute;ezing winds that blew the &s;ame day. In which fro&s;ty iourney, I &s;aw &s;o much bread as a man might buy for twelue pence, &s;old away in little bits for the value of forty &s;hillings.</P>
<P>But this mi&s;ery ended the next day, at our &s;etting foot into Ru&s;&s;ia, where we found plenty both of corne and cattle; onely the people of the country ran away, leauing all their goods behinde them, but &s;o cunningly hidden, that the be&s;t pollicy of ours could hardly finde them out.</P>
<P>By this meanes of the peoples running away, w&eacute;e were glad to play the Millers, and to grinde all our corne our &s;elues, to bake our bread, and to dre&s;&s;e our owne vi|ctuals. Then marched we vp to <HI>Nouegrade,</HI> (a chiefe citty in Ru&s;&s;ia) where we were to receiue all our meanes y^e re&s;ted behind vnpayed: but our Captains beguiled vs, and kept it for them&s;elues: yet to &s;t op our mouthes, they told vs we &s;hould go into <HI>Mu&s;couy,</HI> and there all recko|nings &s;hould be made euen.</P>
<P>W&eacute;e had &s;carce marched aboue thr&eacute;e dayes towards <HI>Mu&s;couy,</HI> but that newes came, how a certaine number of our enemies lay in a &s;conce by the way; the &s;trength of them was not perfectly knowne, but it was thought they were not aboue <HI>700.</HI> And y^e we mu&s;t v&s;e &s;ome &s;trat agem to expell them fro thence: vpon which relation, our Cap|tains drew forth to the number of <HI>300.</HI> Engli&s;h hor&s;men, and <HI>200.</HI> French hor&s;emen: &s;o that in all we were about <HI>500.</HI> that were appointed to &s;et vpon the &s;uppo&s;ed <HI>700.</HI> Polanders (our enemies) that &s;o lay in&s;conced: vpon whom we went. Our chiefe Commander in that &s;eruice was <HI>Mon&s;ieur La Veile,</HI> a French man, who &s;o valiantly led vs on, that the enemy hearing of our comming, fled o|uer a water that was by the &s;eonce; yet not with &s;uch
<PB REF="18">&s;p&eacute;ede, but that we &s;lew to the number of <HI>400.</HI> of their &s;ide, and lo&s;t onely thr&eacute;e men of our owne: but we tooke the &s;conce.</P>
<P>About the &s;conce &s;tood a faire towne called <HI>Arioua,</HI> with a riuer called the <HI>Volga,</HI> running through the middle, but no bridge ouer it: onely a few boates and &s;loates, (made &amp; cut out of tr&eacute;es) were there, to carry the people ouer from the one halfe of the towne to the other.</P>
<P>This &s;conce furm&s;hed vs not only with great &s;tore of riches, but al&s;o with a number of Poli&s;h hor&s;es: and as many armes as &s;erued to arme <HI>500.</HI> men, our want of that commodity being as much as of any thing be&s;ides: for of tho&s;e fiue hundred men that went vpon the &s;eruice, there were not <HI>300.</HI> fixed armes; yet through the hand of him that deales victories, or ouerthrows, as it plea&s;eth hun be&s;t, the day was ours.</P>
<P>Ouer this riner <HI>Volga</HI> the enemies were neuer driuen before, either by the Emperour of <HI>Ru&s;&s;ia,</HI> or by the King of <HI>Sweueland:</HI> for which cau&s;e (as afterward we heard) the next day when they departed from the other &s;ide of the riuer, they burnt that halfe of the town on which &s;ide they were them&s;elues, and in mo&s;t bloudy, barbarous, &amp; cruell manner, made hauock both of men, women, &amp; chil|dren, albeit (not aboue halfe a yeare before, y^e inhabitants on that &s;ide had reuolted from their owne Emperour, &amp; turned to the~. In which tyrannical vprore, their cu&s;tome was, to fill a hou&s;e full of people, &amp; then (the doores being locked vpon them, that none might i&s;&s;ue forth) the hou&s;e was fired about their eares: and oftentimes were yong children taken by the h&eacute;eles, and ca&s;t into the midde&s;t of y^e &s;lames. This inhumane tyrranny being practi&s;ed not onely, by the Poles, that were our enemies, but euen by tho&s;e Ru&s;&s;es that were traytors to their owne Empe|perour, &amp; &s;erued vnder the Poles, and were called <HI>Ca&s;|&s;akes,</HI> who&s;e cruelty farre exc&eacute;eded the Poli&s;h.</P>
<P>The towne being thus burnt to y^e earth, all the <HI>6000.</HI>
<PB REF="18">(which as I &s;aid before, fled ouer y^e riuer, out of y^e &s;conce, &amp; were by vs &s;uppo&s;ed to be but <HI>700.</HI>) came down in full battalion to y^e riuers &s;ide with &s;uch fiercene&s;&s;e, as if pre|&s;ently they and their hor&s;es would haue &s;wom ouer, to fight with vs, which being perceiued, our poore <HI>500.</HI> &s;tood ready to re&s;i&s;t them. But whether they feared our num|bers to be greater then they were, and y^e we had &s;ome o|ther &s;ecret forces, I know not: but away they marched, y^e &s;elfe &s;ame day in which they came downe in that brauery not doing any thing; of which we for our parts, were not much &s;orry; becau&s;e if the battailes had ioyned, we knew our &s;elues farre vnable to with&s;tand them. And this was the &s;eruice of the mo&s;t note that we went vpon.</P>
<P>Two or thr&eacute;e other &s;conces &amp; towns we tooke from our enemies, they not once daring to re&s;i&s;t vs, becau&s;e they knew nothing of our numbers &amp; force. But the di&s;hone&s;t dealings of our Captaines, made the whole army di&s;con|tent; in&s;omuch y^e our Souldiers would often times deny to go forth vpon &s;eruice, becau&s;e they had b&eacute;ene almo&s;t a yeare in the land, and had receiued no more but one <HI>Rub|ble,</HI> (amounting to the value of <HI>10.</HI> s~. Engli&s;h.) So that vpon the&s;e di&s;contents, <HI>50.</HI> of our men ran away to the e|nemy at one time, &amp; di&s;couered to them our &s;trength. Af|ter which we dur&s;t not be &s;o bold as before we had b&eacute;ene.</P>
<P>The fire of a new con&s;piracy was likewi&s;e kindling, but it was perceiued, and quenched with the bloud of y^e con&s;pirators, of which the chiefe were hanged. On there|therefore w&eacute;e went: when w&eacute;e came within <HI>40.</HI> leagues of <HI>Mu&s;couy,</HI> newes was brought that the enemy had be|leaguerd <HI>7000.</HI> Ru&s;&s;es that were our friends, and that vnle&s;&s;e we forced the &s;iege to breake vp, the <HI>7000.</HI> Ru&s;&s;es would euery man bee &s;terued where they lay. This &s;ad report, (albeit w&eacute;e had re&s;olued neuer to go vpon any more &s;eruice, vntill w&eacute;e had our pay) &s;o wrought in our hearts, that we much pittyed the mi&s;eries of others, be|cau&s;e we our &s;elues had ta&s;ted of the like.</P>
<P><PB REF="19">
Our Generall (who&s;e name was <HI>Euerhorne</HI>) was a Fynlander, and with a company of Fynland blades (as they tearme them,) well appointed on hor&s;ebacke, was by the King of <HI>Sweueland,</HI> &s;ent after vs, as our Conuoy, vntil we &s;hould come to <HI>Pontus le Guard,</HI> who was chiefe Generall ouer the whole army of &s;trangers that came into the land: &s;o that according as he was &s;ent and char|ged by the King, he ouertooke vs before we came to <HI>Ari|oua.</HI> By the intreaty therefore of this Fynlander, and the flattering promi&s;es of our owne Captaines, we were contented to go vpon this &s;eruice, and to deliuer the Ru&s;|&s;es, or to dye our &s;elues in the action. Yet with conditi|on, that (as they promi&s;ed to vs) wee &s;hould by the way, m&eacute;ete our chiefe Generall <HI>(Pontus le Guard)</HI> who with certaine numbers of Engli&s;h, French, &amp; Dutch, (which the yeare before were come into the land) was vpon a march out of <HI>Mu&s;couy,</HI> not onely to m&eacute;ete vs, but to ioyne with vs, and pay vs all our money which remai|ned good to vs; prouided likewi&s;e, that &s;o &s;oone as euer we &s;hould relea&s;e the <HI>7000.</HI> Ru&s;&s;es, our money &s;hould be payed downe. On the&s;e conditions (I &s;ay) we y&eacute;elded to to go vpon the bu&s;ine&s;&s;e.</P>
<P>At length <HI>Pontus le Guard</HI> met vs (according to the promi&s;e:) and with him was money brought to pay vs, and his word giuen that pre&s;ently wee &s;hould receiue it. But the lamentable e&s;tate, in which the poore be&s;ieged Ru&s;&s;es were (within the &s;conce) being at the point of death for want of food, required rather &s;p&eacute;edy execution, then deliberation: &s;o that the nece&s;&s;ities of their hard for|tunes crauing ha&s;te, on we went, hauing about <HI>19.</HI> or <HI>20000.</HI> Ru&s;&s;es, that were people of the &s;ame country, ioyned to our army, to aide them in this enterprize. But as we all were vpon a march, the enemy hauing receiued intelligence of our approaching, &s;et forward to the num|ber of <HI>8000.</HI> Lanciers and more, to intercept vs by the way: and being within one dayes march of the place to
<PB REF="19">which we were likewi&s;e going, they &s;et fire vpon thr&eacute;e or foure villages hard by the place where we lay at gca&s;&s;e with our hor&s;es, for a token that they were comming. And this was done vpon Mid&s;ommer day la&s;t in the morning, by breake of day. Then came they thundring with &s;houts and cryes to &s;et vpon vs: but no &s;ooner was the Alarum giuen, when the greate&s;t part of tho&s;e <HI>19.</HI> or <HI>20000.</HI> Ru&s;&s;es, that were ioyned to vs as our aide, fled mo&s;t ba&s;ely, before any blow was ginen. This &s;odaine cowardize of theirs, &s;omewhat amazed vs: but the houre being now come, wherein we were not to talke of dan|gers, but to go m&eacute;ete dangers, with our &s;ixe companies of Engli&s;h hor&s;e, we brauely re&s;i&s;ted the Holanders, and with great hurt to them, but with little lo&s;&s;e vpon our part, charged them thr&eacute;e &s;euerall times.</P>
<P>At la&s;t <HI>Pontus le Guard</HI> (our chiefe Generall) tooke his h&eacute;eles and fled too, leauing vs vtterly de&s;titute of all di|rection: which much a&s;toni&s;hed vs, as not well vnder|&s;tanding what to do: for our greate&s;t &s;trength (being by their flight) taken from vs, none but we &s;trangers were left in the field, and of vs there was not in all, aboue two thou&s;and, and of that number there were aboue &s;ixe hun|dred French hor&s;emen, who &s;&eacute;eing both the Generall gone, and the Ru&s;&s;es fled, turned their backes vpon vs, and ran away too mo&s;t valiantly, yet not out of the field, but to the enemy.</P>
<P>Then were we not aboue twelue or rouret&eacute;ene hun|dred at the mo&s;t left to re&s;i&s;t eight thou&s;and at the lea&s;t: vpon whom notwith&s;tanding, our &s;ixe companies of Engli&s;h hor&s;emen, charged thr&eacute;e &s;euerall times, with|out any great lo&s;&s;e, but with much honour: And at the fourth time, for want of powers to &s;econd them (which the French &s;hould haue done) all our &s;ixe companies were &s;cattered and ouerthrowne with the lo&s;&s;e of few of our colours. The captaines ouer the&s;e &s;ixe companies of hor&s;e, were the&s;e.</P>
<P><PB REF="20">
<HI>Viz.</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Crale,</HI> of who&s;e company I was.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Kendricke.</HI></HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Ben&s;on.</HI></HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Carre.</HI></HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Colbron.</HI></HI></ITEM>
<ITEM><HI>Captaine <HI>Creyton.</HI></HI></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>Which &s;ixe Captaines had not in all their companies, aboue <HI>500.</HI> men.</P>
<P>In this battaile, Captaine <HI>Creyton</HI> was &s;laine in the field; Captaine <HI>Cr&agrave;le</HI> was &s;hot in the kn&eacute;e, and within a &s;hort time after, dyed of that wound; not aboue twelue of his company e&s;caping. Captaine <HI>Kendricke</HI> was wounded in diuers places of the head, and dyed. Cap|taine <HI>Ben&s;on</HI> was &s;hot in the hand, and wounded in the head, and yet e&s;caped, and liued: onely Captaine <HI>Carre</HI> and his Cornet e&s;caped, but all his company &s;cattered &amp; lo&s;t. Diuers other Officers were &s;laine, who&s;e names I cannot remember.</P>
<P>Thus were all our Engli&s;h hor&s;emen di&s;per&s;ed and o|uerthrowne, to the number of <HI>500.</HI> and vpwards: Our Generall <HI>Euerhorne</HI> with his companies of <HI>Fynland,</HI> or <HI>Fyn&s;co</HI> blades, were al&s;o put to retraite: &s;o that there was not left in the field, aboue <HI>6.</HI> or <HI>700.</HI> which were foot|men. And of the&s;e, one halfe was Engli&s;h, one halfe Dutch, who kept onely a certaine place by a wood &s;ide, barricadoed about with Wagons, hauing with them foure field p&eacute;eces, with which they did great &s;poyle to the enemy. But their number being but few, neither dur&s;t they venture on the enemy, nor dur&s;t the enemy enter vpon them, but kept them &s;till (as it were be&s;ieged) in that place only, becau&s;e they could no wayes e&s;cape. The inconuenience of which cooping vp in &s;o narrow a roome, being looked into, and the dangers on euery &s;ide well con|&s;idered, it was held fitte&s;t for &s;afety, to &s;ummon the ene|my to a parl&eacute;e. In which parley, the enemy offered, that if they would y&eacute;eld, and fall to their &s;ides, they &s;hould
<PB REF="20">haue good quarter kept. And if any man had de&s;ire to go for his owne country, he &s;hould haue liberty to go with a pa&s;port, from the King of Poland. Or if any would &s;erue the King of Poland, he &s;hould haue the allowance of ve|ry good meanes duly paid him. Vpon thie&s;e compo&s;itions they all y&eacute;elded, and went to the enemy; only Captaine <HI>Yorke</HI> &amp; his Officers, with &s;ome few of their Souldiers, went backe into the country, and came not to the enemy; as the re&s;t had done: who from thence marched vp to y^e Poli&s;h Leaguer, being ten miles di&s;tant from the place, and there they continued. But &s;uch as de&s;ired to tra|uaile to their owne ceuntries, were &s;ent to the King of of Polands Leaguer, which lay at that time, at a place called <HI>Smolen&s;co,</HI> and there accordingly had their Pa&s;&s;e, to the number of <HI>100.</HI> of which number I my &s;elfe was one. What became of the re&s;t, I know not: but I with fiue more, held together in trauaile, vn|till we came to <HI>Dantzicke,</HI> a great towne in Pru&s;&s;ia, being di&s;tant from <HI>Smolen|&s;co,</HI> one hundred leagues.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
