HARDING.

JOHN HARDING, armiger, was nobly descended, and born somewhere in the north of England; though the particular time of his birth is not specified by Bale, who is my authority for these few particulars. He first served, in his military capacity, under Robert Umfreville; then under the duke of York, afterwards Edward IV. of England. The precise time of his death seems to be also unknown; but he was living, an old man, about the beginning of Edward's reign, or in 1461.

He was author of a metrical history of England, from its fabulous origin to the commencement of the reign of that prince, to whom it was dedicated. His narrative is very succinct to the time of Henry IV. but afterwards becomes more copious. The work was

printed by Grafton, in 1543, with a continuation in prose, (whether by himself does not appear,) to the close of the reign of Henry VII. with the following title: "The Chronicle of John Harding, from the first beginning of England, unto the reign of king Edward IV. where he made an end of his Chronicle; and from that time is added a continuation of the story in prose, to this our time. Now first imprinted, gathered out of divers and sundry authors that have written of the affairs of England. Mense Januarii."

This Chronicle should perhaps have been arranged in Edward IV.'s reign, in which it seems at least to have been finished, and particularly as I have selected a short extract from the metrical, rather than the prose narrative. But there, it would have somewhat interfered with the books printed by Caxton, and the prose continuation belongs decidedly to this reign.

The following brief specimen of this historical versifier, has some antiquarian curiosity, as many readers will be able to connect it with local associations:

Chap. 41.

Lud, king of Britain, builded from London Stone to Ludgate, and called that part Lud's Town; and after, by process, was called London, by turning of tongues.

This son and heir was Lud of much might,
Then crowned by all baronage;

His cities all eke his heritage, castles wight
He did repair that were his heritage.

And where was worthy his service and homage

To him was done, in lands all about
Was none withstood, so was he dread and dout.

With walls fair, and towers fresh about,
His city great of Troynovant full fair,
Full well he made and battelled thoughout,
And palace fair for royals to appear;
Amending other defective and unfair,
From London Stone to his palace royal,
That now Ludgate is knowen over all.

Between London Stone and Ludgate forthright,
That called was then for his name Ludstone,
He made men build, that London so then hight.
His palace fair, then made he there anon,
With towers high, both of lime and stone,
Beside Ludgate; and his temple near thereby,
His God to serve, and him to glorify.

When he had reigned by forty year all out,
He died so, and in his temple fair
Entombed was, with stories all about.
Androgens was then his son and heir,

Passing of sight and July fair;
Tenancius, his younger son of age,
Which were too young to rule the heritage.

Cassibalayn, their uncle, then was king,
And found his nephews full honestly and well,
And nurtured them while they were children ying;
And at their age when they could reason feel,
He them avanced right worshipfully and well.
Androge he made and created duke of Kent,
Of Troynovant also by whole entent.

0997

The immediate predecessor of Lud, was

Hely, who

The isle of Hely made;

His palace gay that might right well suffice,
He builded there, that was both long and brade,
Wherein he dwelled much and most abide.

The continuation commences, (as before observed,) with the reign of Edward IV. and terminates with that of Henry VII. though there are two pages with the title of "Reign of Henry VIII." which speak generally of the principal acts of that prince; and particularly of his

dissolving and suppressing all counterfeit sects and false religions;" so that the continuation must have been written late in this reign.

Harding had an inveterate enmity to the Scots, against whom he had carried arms in several expeditions. He was anxious to prove their ancient vassalage to the crown of England, and with this view ransacked all the old Chronicles he could meet with. Not content with this, hearing of the existence of an ancient record in Scotland, which placed the mat