and, passing the monastic ruin of Crowland Abbey, arrives at its port of Spalding, and falls into the German Ocean. The Glean from Bourne, which joins the Welland in the Fens at the extremity of its course, adorns the extensive domain of Grimsthorpe, belonging to the Duke of ANCASter. The WITHAM rises near a village of that name, about ten miles north of Stamford, and runs by Grantham to Lincoln*, from whence it has a communication with the Trent by means of a navigable canal in extent seven miles, (called the Foss-dyke, cut by HENRY I.†;) after which it is met by the Bain from Horncastle; it then flows to Boston, and just before it reaches that place, the Witham is defended by a curiously constructed Sluice against the inroads it flourished by the immediate protection of the Great. Almost every large Castle or Monastery had its Kitchen-garden, Physicgarden, Orchard, and frequently its Vineyard; and it appears from Evidence we cannot well doubt, that at the period alluded to there was Wine made in ENGLAND in considerable quantity, and of a quality too which at least is not mentioned to its Disparagement. * It is singular that by the DOOMSDAY BOOK, (began in 1080, and finished in 1086,) as quoted by CAMDEN, there appears to have been in LINCOLN, when that Survey was taken, no less than One Thousand and Seventy INNS for Entertainment. What a place for the residence of the late Dr. JOHNSON? Had he lived at this early period, it must have been a Paradise to him, if what his Biographers have stated be true, that this great Man asserted a Tavern Chair was the Throne of Human Felicity. † He was the first English Monarch who probably thought of Inland Navigation. He was surnamed BEAUCLERC from his Attention to Learning. He had heard his Father often say, that, "Illiterate KINGS were little better than Crowned Asses," and was determined not to come under that Description of Potentates, VOL. II. I of the Sea; this is the last of those numerous streams which contribute to form the gulph between this county and Norfolk; it assists to make the Wash of Foss-dyke, which falls into this great gulph considerably northward of that of Cross-Keys. The ANKAM or ANCHOLME is a small river rising in the Wolds of this county, not far from Market Raisin, and flows northward by Glandford-bridge; from whence it is navigable to the Humber, some miles below the junction of the Trent. It is as famous for its Eels as the Witham is for its Pike, and which has given rise to the following proverbial rhyme : Ankham Eel, and Witham Pike, In all England, is none sike. The other rivers produce plenty of Salmon, Perch, Tench, Trout, Pike, and other fish for the Angler's diversion; in some of the waters about Lincoln, the Rud is found. Middleser. THE THAMES, which for its navigation and commerce is said to be unequalled, will be mentioned here. This mighty Monarch of all the British Rivers, superior to most in the known world for beauty, and to all in importance, has had its birth-place almost as much contested as that of HOMER. Like the sources of THE NILE, the position of the original fountain of the Thames has been variously assigned; the dispute, however, is of little consequence, as none of these fountains in their origin differ materially from a common rivulet. The Thames is compounded of two rivers, namely, the Isis and the THAME; the former of these rises near Cirencester, in Gloucestershire, and is by some called the head of the Thames: from that place it runs easterly to Lechlade, in the same county, where it receives the Coln, and becomes navigable for vessels of Fifty Tons, and this at the distance of about a hundred and fifty miles from LONDON; here, with immense expence, a canal has been made to join the SEVERN with the THAMES, perhaps the most important inland navigation of Great Britain, by transporting the influx of foreign as well as internal wealth, to and from the CAPITAL. The Isis flows north-east to Oxford, receiving in its way the Windrush, the Evenlode, and a smaller stream, which forms the great Lake in Woodstock Park, and thus augmented, it washes the ruined walls of Godstow Nunnery, whose Chapel contains the Tomb of the unhappy ROSAMOND. At Oxford the Isis divides itself into various small channels; these quickly reunite, and a little below the ornamented meads of Christchurch, the Cherwell joins it, and flowing through Magdalen Bridge, together with the Isis, almost insulate the city of Oxford; from thence the Isis runs to Abingdon, and the long straggling town of Dorchester, where the Thame, descending from the central parts of Buckinghamshire, (and some of the streams that form it, even from the borders of Hertfordshire,) joins it a little above Shillingford Bridge, and thus uniting their names with their waters, make a beautiful river, which is then known only by the name of THAMES; and which, taking a course by the borders of Berks, Bucks, (where at Great Marlow is the last lock, it requiring no further art to navigate it to the sea,) Middlesex, Surry, Essex, and Kent, and increased by the Kennet at Reading, the Coln near Staines, the Wey below Weybridge, the Mole opposite to Hampton Court, the Brent at Brentford, the Wandle at Wandsworth, the Lea below Stepney, the Roding below Woolwich, the Cray and the Darenth below Crayford and Dartford, rolls on until its junction with the MEDWAY at the Nore, where both Rivers are soon lost in the German Ocean. The Tide of the Thames flows above Richmond, which is more than Seventy miles from the sea, and the water continues fresh as low as Woolwich; and from its mouth to Lechlade (where the Isis is first navigable) the distance is two hundred and thirty miles. The Commercial Importance of the Thames scarcely exceeds its romantic beauty. From the CAPITAL of England, it is a superb Tide river, full of Vessels of every description, and from every Clime; and upon the banks, in its passage to the Sea, are constructed many of those floating Bulwarks, which protect the Trade of Great Britain, and defy all the Efforts of the Universe combined to injure it. To the end of its course the Thames preserves that air of placid dignity which so eminently distinguishes it. From Windsor, it passes into this county about three miles below Colnbrook; and the admirable description of its tributary waters, as given by Mr. PoPE, will probably repay the Reader's patience in the perusal : In ancient times, we read, Old Father THAMES advanced his rev'rend head; WINDSOR FOREST. The THAMES produces Salmon, (though not in abundance,) which are generally taken about Isleworth these bear a most extravagant price in the London markets, having been sold at twelve shillings a pound; eight shillings and half a guinea per pound are frequently given for the whole fish together, and the average price is five shillings, although the quality is probably equalled in other rivers; and there is no super-excellence in the fish beyond their being caught so near the Metropolis, and not losing |