The first of these extracts evidently show, that a market and fair was granted to Weymouth, by the desire of the Prior of St. Swithin of Winchester, and the second is a regrant of the same, probably with an increase of privileges.

The market is still in existence, and is held on Friday, as the Tuesdays it appears by the Inquisitiones ad quod damnum, was granted to Melcombe, 8th Edward II.

The fair no longer exists, but most probably was removed by Henry VI. to Poole, when he removed the Newfoundland trade there.

Hutchins observes, "that in his time, 1739, the inhabitants had a tradition, that one did formerly exist, called Putridge, which lasted a week, to which all sorts of merchandize from various parts of the continent were brought;" but the remembrance of this is now quite obliterated, neither can I procure any authentic documentary or oral testimony to corroborate it; probably it might refer to the market and fair, granted to Weymouth, at the solicitation of Lionel, duke of Clarence. 40th Edward III.

The market dues were let November 21st, 1828, for the ten months, for £225, and in 1827, for the

year, £295. It appears from Bond's chronology, that in 1607, there was a dreadful plague at Weymouth and Melcombe; 37 individuals who had expired under the ravages of this pestilential scourge, were buried in Radipole churchyard; and 6 were buried in Melcombe common: this was at the same time when it visited London, where it carried off a fourth part of its inhabitants.

The Jerseymen it appeared, very much annoyed this part of Dorset, with their vessels, plundering and pirating wherever they could. 17th October, 1651, Colonel John Heane, who then held the command at Weymouth and Sandsfoot garrisons, sailed from here to reduce that island.

In 1666. there was a brief granted for both towns; this I am inclined to believe, was to repair the damage and other injuries sustained during the civil wars.

Again, there appears another brief in 1695, but whether this was to repair the injuries occasioned by the attacks of the French, or by fire, I have not been enabled to ascertain.

1673, September, 13th Car. II. A lamentable fire nearly destroyed the town, as the houses were then, all thatched; the king who happened to be at Weymouth, granted a brief for collecting the sum of £3000, towards rebuilding some of the houses.

In a chamber belonging to the Old Rooms, is a beautiful, carved mantle-piece of oak, with allegorical figures, and in

D

one part of an escutcheon, is the date 1618, this might have been the residence of Thomas Gyer Esq. Mayor for that year, and M. P. for Weymouth, 21st Jac. I., and 3rd and 15th Car. I. It already betokens the want of care, and a few more years will, if not prevented, probably assist in forming an Hecatomb to Vesta.

Till lately, there were several houses extant, which bore in their fronts practical proofs of the battering the town sustained during the siege, in the civil wars; several were perforated by the balls fired from St. Nicholas's Chapel, and even now, balls are occasionally found, in the repairing of old houses.

The great difficulty of correctly defining the exact limits of the corporate body, and the landed proprietor, have frequently occasioned altercations, each party claiming certain lands; in June, 1822, the corporation inclosed a piece of ground near the Watch-House, (which formerly was a fine umbrageous walk,) the next day the agent for the Johnstone family, ordered it to be pulled down,--this is very far from being a solitary instance.

Tuesday, November 23rd, 1824, the sun arose, and exhibited to the inhabitants, Weymouth nearly destroyed, by the tempestuous ravages of a raging insetting sea; vast rolling surges rushed furiously onwards, and billows, gigantic in their rage, frowned horribly; which, with the terrific roar of the tempest, the shrill yells of the sea birds,—the look of unutterable anguish, the piteous moan of the ingulphed mariner, the horrid crash of nature's warfare,-and death, in all its tremendous majesty,-combined to render a scene, at áll times grand-now, sublimely awful.

"An universal hubbub wild,

Of stunning voices, and sounds all confused-
Borne through the hollow dark, assault the ear
With loudest vehemence.".

The towns of Weymouth and Melcombe suffered severely, the piers, the quays, wharfs, and the beautiful esplanade, were all swept away; boats swam where fair ones walked, and in all human probability, these towns would have been all destroyed, but gradually the sea retired; the yelling roar was stilled, and all nature was hushed;—the inhabitants willingly came forward with their mites, and the destruction was soon repaired.

The neighbouring villages suffered in a same ratio. Fleet church and village were destroyed; at Chiswell, 36 houses were demolished, 100 rendered uninhabitable, 100 families deprived of their all, and 25 persons drowned, and loss of

property amounted to £15,000; several vessels were wrecked in that vortex of destruction, the West Bay, and their crews numbered with the dead.

Weymouth itself consists chiefly of one long street, running through its centre, the rear of which still shews the numerous flights of steps for reaching the Catholic Chapel of St. Nicholas; there are several that branch off from this, but the appearance of the houses betoken them to be the abode of the poor and needy, though a few of them, from their spacious apartments and extensive premises, evince that they were chiefly adapted for commercial and mercantile conveniences, which has been proved in the early account of the town, to have been considerable; but the various concurrent circumstances, the devastation by fires, the French, its own internal discord, &c., proved very detrimental to the commerce of the town, of which a complete stagnation at one time ensued; its merchants were obliged to discontinue importing goods, as no purchasers could be found, and until the revival of the town under the novel name of a watering place, its inhabitants were merely a few fishermen and smugglers, but "nîl desperandum," upon the visit of the royal family, and their natural followers, the rich and fashionable, the drooping hopes of its forlorn occupiers revived, houses on a different construction were erected, ship building was encouraged, a stimulus was given to trade, which once more returned to its old channel

The first public rooms for balls, assemblies, &c., were opened here, (though this from a more recent erection at Melcombe, is now called the Old Rooms,) and Mr. Plomer who then officiated as M. C. for Bristol, was elected for this place, which he kept till his decease; when Melcombe rose from a fishing hamlet, to its present height of pre-eminence, Weymouth slightly retrograded, but still conjointly participates in some of its advantages, its increase of population, the inclosing an arm of the harbour at Mac Saunder's Hole, the conversion of fields, (for the purpose of votes,) into small gardens, have all rendered it necessary to build on the summit of the hill, houses are starting up with nearly the same rapidity as those of "The Foresters" in every direction, whole rows of them are erected, and soon possess 66 a local habitation and a name ;" and what will moreover tend to increase the respectability of the town, handsome villas have been erected in the suburbs.

Weymouth and Melcombe are generally speaking of a very healthy temperature, the number of individuals who exceed the age of man, (three score and ten,) are considerable, the healthinspiring breezes with which the neighbourhood abounds, the

absence of marsh miasmata, and the attention paid to the economy of the town, all tend to make a residence at it desirable.

Thus has the historical account of this ancient town of Waye-u-been deduced to the present period, during which lapse of ages, it has been in the possession of the goodly abbots and their fraternity of Milton and Winton, its shoresrcone-its river,-rdným of Waye-its saltpans,realdern-and its wear,-pene-all provided food and sustenance for the gastronomists of those monasteries; it then became the property of the earls of Clare, the earls of March, the dukes of York; those powerful barons whose connection with the crown, frequently shook "the throne from its centre;" eventually it fell to the crown; and from them, it since has been ruled by individuals, "who nodded their will" to their dependant vassals, just as the court wished; it now is considered merely as a dependancy of Melcombe, which though of more modern origin, obliges this town to follow in its wake, though as a shadow of its former greatness, it still takes precedence of Melcombe, in all official papers.

The Manor.

THE MANOR Of Weymouth is but of very limited dimensions consisting of, besides the ground on which the closely packed town stands, four or five small fields only, situated at the western extremity. There is abundant evidence to prove that the parish was of considerable larger extent than it is now, at present; in the survey of Doomesday Book, (vide page 8.) it is taxed for four hundred acres, which without doubt included a portion of that land, which is now considered as appertaining to the adjoining parish of Wyke Regis, more especially as both manors were frequently granted to, and were held by, the same individuals, and being moreover under the same ecclesiastical dominion, their several precincts were not kept with any degree of exactness.

Having deduced the antiquity of the town from the earliest annals extant, it will be necessary to refer to them in the historical part, and commence the manor, from the time when it was found in the possession of the church of Winton, incidental notices of which have been made.

It is rather curious that it appears to have been considered at one time as a dependancy of Wyke, (vide page 24.) and again as appertaining to Portland, (vide page 30.) In the early part of the tumultuous and chequered reign of Henry III., it evidently was held by the church of Winchester, as appears from former extracts from the Chartarum Rotulorum Calendarium or Charter Rolls, and again it appears to have been granted to the elect Bishop of Winchester, who was the king's nephew, viz. Henry de Blois, and brother to king Stephen, and legate for the Pope.

This is the entry referring to it, viz. ;

35to Henric III.

"A. Wynton Elect. Portelond maner, Wyk maner, juxta Portelond, Waymuth villa, Helewell terra."

The manors of Portland and of Wyke near Portland, the Vill of Waymouth, and lands at Hellwell, were granted to the elect Abbot or Bishop of Winchester.