The celebrated Bow Bridge crosses the Lea about two miles to the cast of London : it was !milt in the time of Henry I. and is supposed to have taken its name from being the first Lev; or arched bridge erected in this coun ty : In the time of [lefty).- IT I. a singular toll was granted, by which every person carrying across it a dead .1m. was obliged to pay eight-pence.
There are several singular customs, of great antiquity, still existing in Essex : the most extraordinary is the well-known custom of the manor of little Dunmow, by hich a gammon, or flitch of bacon, is delivered to any married couple, who would take a prescribed oath, the substance of which is given in the Spectator. The ear liest delivery of the bacon, on record, was in the 23d of [enry VI. The last persons who received it, established their right in 1731. A very singular custom prevails in the manor of Roehford ; this is the holding of what is called the Lawless Court : it is held in the open air, on the midnight of the first Wednesday after Michaelmas day ; all the business is transacted in whispers, and the minutes are made with coal instead of pen and ink. The steward opens the court in as low a voice as possible ; those tenants'who neglect to answer are heavily fined, and every absentee forfeits double his rent for every hour's absence : the time of assembling is from 12 till cockcrow. In Chingford parish, there is an estate held in a singular tenure from the rector ; on every alienation, the owner, with his wife, man-servant, and maid-servant, comes to the parsonage, where he pays homage in the following manner : He blows three blasts with a horn; carries a hawk on his fist, and his servant has a grey hound, both for the rector ; he receives a chicken for his hawk, a peck of oats for his horse, and a loaf of bread for his greyhound. They all dine, after which he blows three blasts with his horn, and they depart. The cus tom of the manor of Woodford is that called borough English, by which the younger son inherits.
Several men of considerable celebrity have been na tives of Essex ; among whom may be mentioned, Phila mon Holland, called the translator general of his age ; he was born at Chelmsford in 1551. Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor of England, in the reign of Henry VIll. Samual Purchas, who enlarged and republished Hack luyt's Collection of Voyages and Travels : it is well known under the title of" Purchas' Pilgrimage ;" and Sir Tho mas Boe, the first English ambassador to the East : the celebrated Alexandrian i\1S. of the Greek Testament
was brought by him into this country. Nor must Ed ward Bright, a shop-keeper of Maldon, be forgotten ; few men have reached a greater size and weight than he ; at the age of 12 he weighed 144 pounds. The last time he was weighed, about a year before he died, his weight was 584 pounds ; his body, round the chest, was five feet six inches ; round the belly six feet 11 inches ; he died at the age of 29.
The Trinobautes inhabited Essex at the time of the Roman invasion : They had two considerable fortified stations—one of which was at Colchester. It is said that one of their princes invited Caesar into Britain, in conse quence of disputes among his tribe. When the Romans divided the country, Essex was included in that part called Flavia C;tsariensis ; the five principal stations of the conquerors were all seated on the road which formed the filth her, from London to Yenta Icenorum. During a certain period of the Saxon Heptarchy, Essex formed a separate kingdom, called East Scaxa ; Erkenwin is supposed to have been the first king in 527. Essex is less noticed by ancient historians than any other of the kingdoms of the heptarchy. William the Conqueror de prived 90 land-owners, of this county, of their lands; and the Norman barons constructed numerous castles, and tyrannised over the inhabitants. In the civil wars be tween the houses of York and Lancaster, Essex suffered much from the interference of the De Vcres ; and also in Charles I. time, during the long siege of Colchester. Formerly there were 12 castles in this county, four of which were denominated royal castles: there are two remaining, Languard Fort and Tilbury Fort ; in the neighbourhood of the latter, Queen Elizabeth reviewed the army, which she had assembled to oppose the Spa nish armada.
The population of Essex, in the year 1700, was 159,200 ; in 1750, 167,800; and in 1801, 234,000. On an average of several years, it is found that there has been one baptism to 33 persons ; one burial to 44 per. sons ; and one marriage to 128 persons. In 1810, the baptisms of males' were 3792 ; of females 3678 ; total 7470 : the burials of males 2807 ; of females 2531 ; total 5338 : the number of marriages 1892.
The following further details on this subject are taken from the population returns for 181 1 See Young's Agriculture of Essex ; Morant's History of Essex ; Lyson's Environs of London, vol. iv. ; Beau ties of England, vol. v. (w.