EXCURSIONS THROUGH SUFFOLK.

SUFFOLK is bounded on the north by Norfolk, on the east by the German ocean, on the south by Essex, and on the west by Cambridgeshire. It is, according to Mr. Hodgkinson's map, an oblong of about 47 miles in length, and 27 in breadth, forming altogether a surface of nearly 1269 square miles; according to Templeman, only 1236: but Mr. Arthur Young computes the superficial contents at about 800,000 acres. These are divided into 22 hundreds, containing 523 parishes. Suffolk has a population of 111,988 males, and 122,223 females, making a total of 234,211 perThe climate of this county has long been noticed as one of the driest in the kingdom; the frosts are also severe, and the north-east winds which prevail in spring are generally sharp. But, though, like the western extremity of this island, Suffolk is not calculated to favour the weak and consumptive stranger, it is upon the whole extremely healthful, especially if we calculate upon the average mortality of the county for ten years, which, compared with the existing population, has been found as one to 54, while the number of births was as one to 30.

sons.

There is in this county a considerable variety of soil, nor is the diversity any where more distinctly marked. The whole, however, may be conveniently divided into four sorts, clay, sand, loam, and fen.

The first sort of soil comprehends the whole midland part of the county, through nearly its whole ex

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tent from east to west, and forms about two-thirds of the land. It consists of a strong or clayey loam; much of it high land, and flat, but occasionally diversified by small vales, the bottoms and sides of which are of a superior quality, being in general composed of rich friable loams. This district is called High Suffolk.

The next sort of soil consists chiefly of sand, and lies in opposite sides of the county. The maritime part, from the Ipswich river to Yarmouth, is chiefly of this description, towards the north inclining to loam. Much of this district is highly cultivated, and one of the most profitable. Mr. Young seems to think it one of the best cultivated in England; but most experienced farmers will now be inclined to give that character to the cultivation of the district called High Suffolk. The rest of the sand district lies on the western side of the county, and comprises nearly the whole north-western angle. It contains few spots of such rich sand lands as we find on the coast, but abounds with warrens and poor sheep-walks. Towards the borders of Norfolk it is very light and blowing.

The third district is that of loam; this is but a small portion of the county, and is chiefly confined to the hundred of Samford, with a small part of Colnies, near the coast. This is not so clearly discriminated as the others; it is composed of a vein of friable, putrid, vegetable mould, of extraordinary fertility.

The remaining division is fen, and is merely the north-west corner, to the left of a line drawn from Brandon to the conflux of the rivers Ouse and Lark, Its surface to some depth is common peat bog, and is in places under water, though much expense has been incurred for draining.

Suffolk is watered by the Stour, which rises on the west side of the county, on the borders of Cambridgeshire; by the Gipping, which has its source near the centre of the county, and falls into the Orwell; by the

Deben, which rises near Debenham; by the Ald, the Ore, the Blythe, and the Larke. The Blythe has its source near Laxfield, and falls into the sea at Southwold. The Ald is a trifling stream, which rises in Knoddishall, and passing through Aldringham, falls into the sea about a mile to the north of Aldeburgh, The Ore rises about Dennington, and passing Framlingham, Aldeburgh, and Orford, falls into Hollesley Bay. The Waveney rises at Lopham Ford, and passing Diss, Harleston, Bungay, and Beccles, falls into the Yar, and forms, through its whole course, the boundaries between the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Little Ouse rises within a very small distance from the source of the Waveney, but takes a contrary direction, and continues the boundary of the two counties till it joins the Larke in the fens.

The roads in every part of Suffolk are excellent, the late improvements in them being almost inconceiva ble. In most directions the cross roads are equal to those that have turnpikes.

Many modern enclosures have been made by acts of parliament, which examples, in favourable times, will no doubt be followed, the success having already been such as to encourage the practice; and as to landed property, there is no estate in Suffolk that can be considered as overgrown.

The cottages are in general warm and convenient, and the comforts of the poor at home are greater than in most counties in England. The amount of the money raised for the poor here is not by any means overwhelming, though the pressure of the late times is still severely felt in some parts of the county; and with respect to the incorporated hundreds, the result of the incorporations has been highly conducive, not only to the diminution of the poor rates, but to the comfort and happiness of the poor themselves.

In the time of the Romans the inhabitants of this

part of the country were called the Iceni, or Cenomanni, and by them it was included in the province of Flavia Cæsarensis. Under the Saxons it formed a part of the kingdom of East Anglia, and was called Suffolk, from Sudfolk, i. e. southern folk, or people. Though the precise period of the establishment of the monarchy of the East Angles, by Uffa, cannot be ascertained, as the history of his successor Titil is involved in total darkness, it is certain that Uffa died in the year 578. In fact, the whole of this and some of the adjacent counties being compelled to yield to a succession of foreign and domestic depredators, knew of little respite till some time after the death of Edward the Confessor. This county, in particular, suffered much from Sweyne, King of Denmark, who spared neither towns nor churches unless redeemed by the people with large sums of money; though to compensate in some measure for this cruelty, Canute, his son and successor, shewed it particular kindness.

But the celebrity of Suffolk, and particularly that of St. Edmund's Bury, was reserved for the time of the Saxons. The history of St. Edmund, which is involved in considerable obscurity, seems to be that of a weak but well-disposed prince, entirely under the influence of an ambitious and designing priesthood. The death of this meek monarch is veiled under equal uncertainty with his life. Our ancient chronicles make him the innocent cause of his own death, and of a more dreadful visitation of the Danes than this country had experienced before. Lodbrog, a king of Denmark, they tell us, was very fond of hawking, and one day while enjoying that sport, his favourite bird fell into the sea. Anxious to save his hawk, Lodbrog leaped into the first boat that presented itself, but this being carried away by a sudden storm, after encountering many dangers, was driven up the mouth of the river Yare, as far as Reedham in Norfolk. Being conducted to

Edmund, who then kept his court at Caistor, near Yarmouth, he was most courteously received, and being fond of hawking, the king ordered Bern, his own falconer, whenever Lodbrog went upon that sport to accompany him. This Bern, being jealous of the stranger's skill, one day took the opportunity of murdering the Dane and burying his body, which was discovered soon after by the running backward and forward of his favourite greyhound. This, and other circumstances, having fixed the guilt of Bern, he was most unaccountably condemned by King Edmund to be turned adrift alone in Lodbrog's boat, without oar or sail. Being wafted in safety to Denmark, Bern was seized, and carried to Inguar and Hubba, the sons of Lodbrog, who questioning him concerning their father, the villain assured them that he had been put to death by Edmund's command. Inflamed with rage, the sons resolved on revenge, and soon raised 20,000 men to invade his dominions. This armament is said to have sailed in the year 865, but landing in the north of England, they do not seem to have reached Suffolk till 870, when Inguar gained possession of Thetford, then King Edmund's capital; and after a sanguinary battle and much negotiation, Edmund resolved to surrender to the superior force sent against him by Hubba and Inguar; but as he still refused, from religious motives, to accede to the terms of his enemies, they bound him to a tree, at Hoxne, pierced his body with arrows, and his head being cut off, it was thrown into a neighbouring thicket, where, after a long search, it was found by some of his faithful subjects, being in the possession of a wolf, who, holding it up between his fore feet, very civilly delivered up his charge, which being immediately joined to the body, the whole was interred at Hoxne, but not without the attendance of the wolf, who afterwards withdrew to his native woods. The apology for reciting these legendary tales is their in