At Portsmouth and Cowes there lay three Fleets; first, a Fleet of Transports and Tenders, who with Admiral Dilks brought the Forces from Ireland that were to accompany the King of Spain to Lisbon; secondly, a great Fleet of Victuallers, Tenders, Store-ships, and Transports, which lay ready for the same Voyage, together with about 40 Merchant-ships, who lay for the benefit of their Convoy; and the third Article was, the Remainder of the Grand Fleet which came in with Sir Cloudsly Shovel; in all almost 300 Sail, great and small.
In Plymouth Sound, Falmouth and Milford Havens, were particularly several small Fleets of Merchant-ships, driven in for Shelter and Harbour from the Storm, most homeward bound from the Islands and Colonies of America.
The Virginia Fleet, Barbadoes Fleet, and some East India Men, lay scatter'd in all our Ports, and in Kinsale in Ireland there lay near 80 Sail, homeward bound and richly laden.
At Bristol about 20 Sail of home-bound West India Men, not yet unladen.
In Holland, the Fleet of Transports for Lisbon waited for the King of Spain, and several English Men of War lay at Helvoet Sluice; the Dutch Fleet from the Texel lay off of Cadsandt, with their Forces on Board, under the Admiral Callenberge. Both these Fleets made 180 Sail.
I think I may very safely affirm, That hardly in the Memory of the oldest Man living, was a juncture of Time when an Accident of this nature could have happen'd, that so much Shipping, laden out and home, ever was in Port at one time.
No Man will wonder that the Damages to this Nation were so great, if they consider these unhappy Circumstances: it shou'd rather be wonder'd at, that we have no more Disasters to account to Posterity, but that the Navigation of this Country came off so well.
And therefore some People have excus'd the Extravagancies of the Paris Gazetteer, who affirm'd in Print, that there was 30000 Sea-men lost in the several Ports of England, and 300 Sail of Ships; which they say was a probable Conjecture; and that considering the multitude of Shipping, the Openness of the Roads in the Downs, Yarmouth, and the Nore, and the prodigious Fury of the Wind, any Man would have guess'd the same as he.
'Tis certain, It is a thing wonderful to consider, that especially in the Downs and Yarmouth Roads any thing shou'd be safe: all Men that know how wild a Road the first is, and what Crowds of Ships there lay in the last; how almost every thing quitted the Road, and neither Anchor nor Cable would hold; must wonder what Shift or what Course the Mariners could direct themselves to for Safety.
Some which had not a Mast standing, nor an Anchor or Cable left them, went out to Sea wherever the Winds drove them; and lying like a Trough in the Water, wallow'd about till the Winds abated; and after were driven, some into one Port, some into another, as Providence guided them.
In short, Horror and Confusion seiz'd upon all, whether on Shore or at Sea: No Pen can describe it, no Tongue can express it, no Thought conceive it, unless some of those who were in the Extremity of it; and who, being touch'd with a due sense of the sparing Mercy of their Maker, retain the deep Impressions of his Goodness upon their Minds, tho' the Danger be past: and of those I doubt the Number is but few.
OF THE EFFECTS OF THE STORM
The particular dreadful Effects of this Tempest, are the Subject of the ensuing Part of this History: And tho' the Reader is not to expect that all the Particulars can be put into this Account, and perhaps many very remarkable Passages may never come to our Knowledge; yet as we have endeavour'd to furnish our selves with the most authentick Accounts we could from all Parts of the Nation, and a great many worthy Gentlemen have contributed their Assistance in various, and some very exact Relations and curious Remarks; so we pretend, not to be meanly furnish'd for this Work.
Some Gentlemen, whose Accounts are but of common and trivial Damages, we hope will not take it ill from the Author, if they are not inserted at large; for that we are willing to put in nothing here common with other Accidents of like nature; or which may not be worthy of a History and a Historian to record them; nothing but, what may serve to assist in convincing Posterity that this was the most violent Tempest the World ever saw.
From hence 'twill follow, that those Towns who only had their Houses until'd, their Barns and Hovels levell'd with the Ground, and the like, will find very little notice taken of them in this Account; because if these were to be the Subject of a History, I presume it must be equally voluminous with Fox, Grimston, Holinshead or Stow.
Nor shall I often trouble the Reader with the Multitude or Magnitude of Trees blown down, whole Parks ruin'd, fine Walks defac'd, and Orchards laid flat, and the like: and tho' I had, my self, the Curiosity to count the Number of Trees, in a Circuit I rode, over most part of Kent, in which being tired with the Number, I left off reckoning after I had gone on to 17000; and tho' I have great reason to believe I did not observe one half of the Quantity; yet in some Parts of England, as in Devonshire especially, and the Counties of Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford, which are full of very large Orchards of Fruit-Trees, they had much more mischief.
In the Pursuit of this Work, I shall divide it into the following Chapters or Sections, that I may put it into as good Order as possible.
We had design'd a Chapter for the Damages abroad, and have been at no small Charge to procure the Particulars from foreign Parts; which are now doing in a very authentick manner: but as the World has been long expecting this Work, and several Gentlemen who were not a little contributing to the Information of the Author, being unwilling to stay any longer for the Account, it was resolved to put it into the Press without any farther Delay: and if the foreign Accounts can be obtain'd in time, they shall be a Supplement to the Work; if not, some other Method shall be found out to make them publick.
I. Of the Damages in the City of London, and Parts adjacent
Indeed the City was a strange Spectacle, the Morning after the Storm, as soon as the People could put their Heads out of Doors: though I believe, every Body expected the Destruction was bad enough; yet I question very much, if any Body believed the Hundredth Part of what they saw.
The Streets lay so covered with Tiles and Slates, from the Tops of the Houses, especially in the Out-parts, that the Quantity is incredible: and the Houses were so universally stript, that all the Tiles in Fifty Miles round would be able to repair but a small Part of it.
Something may be guest at on this Head, from the sudden Rise of the Price of Tiles; which rise from 21 s. per Thousand to 6 l. for plain Tiles; and from 50 s. per Thousand for Pantiles, to 10 l. and Bricklayers Labour to 5 s. per Day: And tho' after the first Hurry the Prices fell again, it was not that the Quantity was supply'd; but because,
1st, The Charge was so extravagant, that an universal Neglect of themselves, appear'd both in Landlord and Tenant; an incredible Number of Houses remain'd all the Winter uncovered, and expos'd to all the Inconveniences of Wet and Cold; and are so even at the Writing of this Chapter.
2. Those People who found it absolutely necessary to cover their Houses, but were unwilling to go to the extravagant Price of Tiles; chang'd their Covering to that of Wood, as a present Expedient, till the Season for making of Tiles should come on; and the first Hurry being over, the Prices abate: and 'tis on this Score, that we see, to this Day, whole Ranks of Buildings, as in Christ Church Hospital, the Temple, Asks-Hospital, Old-street, Hogsden-Squares, and infinite other Places, covered entirely with Deal Boards; and are like to continue so, perhaps a Year or two longer, for Want of Tiles.
These two Reasons reduc'd the Tile-Merchants to sell at a more moderate Price: But 'tis not an irrational Suggestion, that all the Tiles which shall be made this whole Summer, will not repair the Damage in the covering of Houses within the Circumference of the City, and Ten Miles round.
The next Article in our Street Damage was, the Fall of Chimneys; and as the Chimneys in the City Buildings are built in large Stacks, the Houses being so high, the Fall of them had the more Power, by their own Weight, to demolish the Houses they fell upon.
'Tis not possible to give a distinct Account of the Number, or particular Stacks of Chimneys, which fell in this fatal Night; but the Reader may guess by this Particular, that in Cambray-House, commonly so called, a great House near Islington, belonging to the Family of the Comptons, Earls of Northampton, but now let out into Tenements; the Collector of these Remarks counted Eleven or Thirteen Stacks of Chimneys, either wholly thrown in, or the greatest Parts of them at least, what was expos'd to the Wind, blown off. I have heard Persons, who pretended to observe the Desolation of that terrible Night very nicely; and who, by what they had seen and enquired into, thought themselves capable of making some Calculations, affirm, They could give an Account of above Two Thousand Stacks of Chimneys blown down in and about London; besides Gable Ends of Houses, some whole Roofs, and Sixteen or Twenty whole Houses in the Out-Parts.
Under the Disaster of this Article, it seems most proper to place the Loss of the Peoples Lives, who fell in this Calamity; since most of those, who had the Misfortune to be killed, were buried, or beaten to Pieces with the Rubbish of the several Stacks of Chimneys that fell.
Of these, our Weekly Bills of Mortality gave us an Account of Twenty One; besides such as were drown'd in the River, and never found: and besides above Two Hundred People very much wounded and maim'd.
One Woman was kill'd by the Fall of a Chimney in or near the Palace of St. James's, and a Stack of Chimneys falling in the new unfinish'd Building there, and carried away a Piece of the Coin of the House.
Nine Souldiers were hurt, with the Fall of the Roof of the Guard-house at Whitehall, but none of them died.
A Distiller in Duke-Street, with his Wife, and Maid-servant, were all buried in the Rubbish of a Stack of Chimneys, which forced all the Floors, and broke down to the Bottom of the House; the Wife was taken out alive, though very much bruised, but her Husband and the Maid lost their Lives.
One Mr. Dyer, a Plaisterer in Fetter-Lane, finding the Danger he was in by the shaking of the House, jumpt out of Bed to save himself; and had, in all Probability, Time enough to have got out of the House, but staying to strike a Light, a Stack of Chimneys fell in upon him, kill'd him, and wounded his Wife.
Two Boys at one Mr. Purefoy's, in Cross-Street Hatton-Garden, were both kill'd, and buried in the Rubbish of a Stack of Chimneys; and a third very much wounded.
A Woman in Jewin-Street, and Two Persons more near Aldersgate-Street, were kill'd; the first, as it is reported, by venturing to run out of the House into the Street; and the other Two by the Fall of a House.
In Threadneedle-Street, one Mr. Simpson, a Scrivener being in Bed and fast a-sleep, heard nothing of the Storm; but the rest of the Family being more sensible of Danger, some of them went up, and wak'd him; and telling him their own Apprehensions, press'd him to rise; but he too fatally sleepy, and consequently unconcern'd at the Danger, told them, he did not apprehend any Thing; and so, notwithstanding all their Persuasions, could not be prevailed with to rise: they had not been gone many Minutes out of his Chamber, before the Chimneys fell in, broke through the Roof over him, and kill'd him in his Bed.
A Carpenter in White-Cross-Street was kill'd almost in the same Manner, by a Stack of Chimneys of the Swan Tavern, which fell into his House; it was reported, That his Wife earnestly desir'd him not to go to Bed; and had prevail'd upon him to sit up till near two a Clock, but then finding himself very heavy, he would go to Bed against all his Wife's Intreaties; after which she wak'd him, and desir'd him to rise, which he refus'd, being something angry for being disturb'd; and going to sleep again, was kill'd in his Bed: and his Wife, who would not go to Bed, escap'd.
In this Manner, our Weekly Bills gave us an Account of Twenty One Persons kill'd in the City of London, and Parts adjacent.
Some of our printed Accounts give us larger and plainer Accounts of the Loss of Lives, than I will venture to affirm for Truth; as of several Houses near Moor-Fields levell'd with the Ground: Fourteen People drowned in a Wherry going to Gravesend, and Five in a Wherry from Chelsey. Not that it is not very probable to be true; but as I resolve not to hand any thing to Posterity, but what comes very well attested, I omit such Relations as I have not extraordinary Assurance as to the Fact.
The Fall of Brick-Walls, by the Fury of this Tempest, in and about London, would make a little Book of it self; and as this affects the Out-Parts chiefly, where the Gardens and Yards are wall'd in, so few such have escap'd; at St. James's a considerable part of the Garden Wall; at Greenwich Park there are several pieces of the Wall down for an Hundred Rods in a Place; and some much more, at Battersey, Chelsey, Putney, at Clapham, at Deptford, at Hackney, Islington, Hogsden, Wood's Close by St. John's Street, and on every side the City, the Walls of the Gardens have generally felt the Shock, and lie flat on the Ground twenty, thirty Rod of walling in a Place.
The publick Edifices of the City come next under our Consideration; and these have had their Share in the Fury of this terrible Night.
A part of her Majesty's Palace, as is before observ'd, with a Stack of Chimneys in the Centre of the new Buildings, then not quite finished, fell with such a terrible Noise as very much alarm'd the whole Houshold.
The Roof of the Guard-house at Whitehall, as is also observ'd before, was quite blown off; and the great Vane, or Weather-Cock at Whitehall blown down.
The Lead, on the Tops of the Churches and other Buildings, was in many Places roll'd up like a Roll of Parchment, and blown in some Places clear off from the Buildings; as at Westminster Abby, St. Andrews Holbourn, Christ-Church Hospital, and abundance of other Places.
Two of the new built Turrets, on the Top of St. Mary Aldermary Church, were blown off, whereof One fell upon the Roof of the Church; of Eight Pinnacles on the Top of St. Albans Woodstreet, Five of them were blown down; Part of One of the Spires of St. Mary Overies blown off; Four Pinnacles on the Steeple of St. Michael Crooked Lane blown quite off: The Vanes and Spindles of the Weather-Cocks, in many places, bent quite down; as on St. Michael Cornhil, St. Sepulchres, the Tower, and divers other Places.
It was very remarkable, that the Bridge over the Thames received but little Damage, and not in Proportion to what in common Reason might be expected; since the Buildings there stand high, and are not sheltered, as they are in the Streets, one by another.
If I may be allow'd to give this Philosophical Account of it, I hope it may not be absurd; that the Indraft of the Arches underneath the Houses giving Vent to the Air, it past there with a more than common Current; and consequently relieved the Buildings, by diverting the Force of the Storm: I ask Pardon of the ingenious Reader for this Opinion, if it be not regular, and only present it to the World for Want of a better; if those better furnished that Way will supply us with a truer Account, I shall withdraw mine, and submit to theirs. The Fact however is certain, that the Houses on the Bridge did not suffer in Proportion to the other Places; though all must allow, they do not seem to be stronger built, than other Streets of the same sort.
Another Observation I cannot but make; to which, as I have Hundreds of Instances, so I have many more Witnesses to the Truth of Fact, and the uncommon Experiment has made it the more observ'd.
The Wind blew, during the whole Storm, between the Points of S.W. and N.W., not that I mean it blew at all these Points, but I take a Latitude of Eight Points to avoid Exceptions, and to confirm my Argument; since what I am insisting upon, could not be a natural Cause from the Winds blowing in any of those particular Points.
If a Building stood North and South, it must be a Consequence that the East-side Slope of the Roof must be the Lee-side, lie out of the Wind, be weather'd by the Ridge, and consequently receive no Damage in a direct Line.
But against this rational way of arguing, we are convinced by Demonstration and Experiment, after which Argument must be silent. It was not in one Place or Two, but in many Places; that where a Building stood ranging North and South, the Sides or Slopes of the Roof to the East and the West, the East-side of the Roof would be stript and untiled by the Violence of the Wind; and the West Side, which lay open to the Wind, be sound and untouch'd.
This, I conceive, must happen either where the Building had some open Part, as Windows or Doors to receive the Wind in the Inside, which being pusht forward by the succeeding Particles of the Air, must force its Way forward, and so lift off the Tiling on the Leeward side of the Building; or it must happen from the Position of such Building near some other higher Place or Building, where the Wind being repuls'd, must be forc'd back again in Eddies; and consequently taking the Tiles from the lower Side of the Roof, rip them up with the more Ease.
However it was, it appear'd in many Places, the Windward Side of the Roof would be whole, and the Leeward Side, or the Side from the Wind, be untiled; in other Places, a high Building next the Wind has been not much hurt, and a lower Building on the Leeward Side of the high One clean ript, and hardly a Tile left upon it: this is plain in the Building of Christ Church Hospital in London, where the Building on the West and South Side of the Cloyster was at least Twenty Five Foot higher than the East Side, and yet the Roof of the lower Side on the East was quite untiled by the Storm; and remains at the Writing of This covered with Deal Boards above an Hundred Foot in Length.
The blowing down of Trees may come in for another Article in this Part; of which, in Proportion to the Quantity, here was as much as in any Part of England: Some printed Accounts tell us of Seventy Trees in Moorfields blown down, which may be true; but that some of them were Three Yards about, as is affirmed by the Authors, I cannot allow: above a Hundred Elms in St. James's Park, some whereof were of such Growth, as they tell us they were planted by Cardinal Woolsey; whether that Part of it be true or not, is little to the Matter, but only to imply that they were very great Trees: about Baums, commonly call'd Whitmore house, there were above Two Hundred Trees blown down, and some of them of extraordinary Size broken off in the middle.
And 'twas observ'd, that in the Morning after the Storm was abated, it blew so hard, the Women, who usually go for Milk to the Cow-keepers in the Villages round the City, were not able to go along with their Pails on their Heads; and One, that was more hardy than the rest, was blown away by the Fury of the Storm, and forced into a Pond, but by strugling hard got out, and avoided being drowned; and some that ventured out with Milk the Evening after, had their Pails and Milk blown off from their Heads.
'Tis impossible to enumerate the Particulars of the Damage suffered, and of the Accidents which happened under these several Heads, in and about the City of London: The Houses looked like Skeletons, and an universal Air of Horror seem'd to sit on the Countenances of the People; all Business seem'd to be laid aside for the Time, and People were generally intent upon getting Help to repair their Habitations.
It pleased God so to direct things, that there fell no Rain in any considerable Quantity, except what fell the same Night or the ensuing Day, for near Three Weeks after the Storm, though it was a Time of the Year that is generally dripping. Had a wet Rainy Season followed the Storm, the Damage which would have been suffered in and about this City to Houshold Goods, Furniture and Merchandise, would have been incredible, and might have equall'd all the the rest of the Calamity: but the Weather prov'd fair and temperate for near a Month after the Storm, which gave People a great deal of Leisure in providing themselves Shelter, and fortifying their Houses against the Accidents of Weather by Deal Boards, old Tiles, Pieces of Sail-Cloth, Tarpaulin, and the like.
II. Of the Damages in the Country
As the Author of this was an Eye-witness and Sharer of the Particulars in the former Chapter; so, to furnish the Reader with Accounts as authentick, and which he has as much cause to depend upon as if he had seen them, he has the several Particulars following from like Eye-witnesses; and that in such a manner, as I think their Testimony is not to be question'd, most of the Gentlemen being of Piety and Reputation.
And as a Publication was made to desire all Persons who were willing to contribute to the forwarding this Work, and to transmit the Memory of so signal a Judgment to Posterity, that they would be pleas'd to send up such authentick Accounts of the Mischiefs, Damages, and Disasters in their respective Counties that the World might rely on; it cannot, without a great breach of Charity, be suppos'd that Men mov'd by such Principles, without any private Interest or Advantage, would forge any thing to impose upon the World, and abuse Mankind in Ages to come.
Interest, Parties, Strife, Faction, and particular Malice, with all the scurvy Circumstances attending such things, may prompt Men to strain a Tale beyond its real Extent; but, that Men shou'd invent a Story to amuse Posterity, in a case where they have no manner of Motive, where the only Design is to preserve the Remembrance of Divine Vengeance, and put our Children in mind of God's Judgments upon their sinful Fathers, this would be telling a Lye for God's sake, and doing Evil for the sake of it self, which is a step beyond the Devil.
Besides, as most of our Relators have not only given us their Names, and sign'd the Accounts they have sent, but have also given us Leave to hand their Names down to Posterity with the Record of the Relation they give, we would hope no Man will be so uncharitable to believe that Men would be forward to set their Names to a voluntary Untruth, and have themselves recorded to Posterity for having, without Motion, Hope, Reward, or any other reason, impos'd a Falsity upon the World, and dishonour'd our Relation with the useless Banter of an Untruth.
We cannot therefore but think, that as the Author believes himself sufficiently back'd by the Authority of the Vouchers he presents, so after what has been here premis'd, no Man will have any room to suspect us of Forgery.
The ensuing Relation therefore, as to Damages in the Country, shall consist chiefly of Letters from the respective Places where such things have happen'd; only that as all our Letters are not concise enough to be printed as they are, where it is otherwise the Letter is digested into a Relation only; in which the Reader is assur'd we have always kept close to the matter of fact.
