latter was slain, and after his interment his body was taken from the grave, and beheaded, as was his uncle, the Earl of Worcester. Richard, Duke of York, and George Plantagenet, sons of Edward IV., were born in Shrewsbury. Oswestry (corrupted from _Oswaldstree_) was conspicuous as a border town, and frequently became the scene of contest, first, between the Saxons and Britons, and afterwards between the latter and the Normans: the remains of its ancient castle, even in their present ruined state, are sufficient to attest its original prodigious strength. In the great civil war of the seventeenth century, Shropshire was the scene of much violence and bloodshed. In 1651, when Charles II. was fleeing, after the disastrous issue of the battle of Worcester, he, on the 4th of October, took refuge in White Ladies’ Priory, on the eastern side of the county; from that place he was conducted to Boscobel House, and, the day after his arrival there, was concealed, in company with Colonel Careless, in the ‘Royal Oak,’ in an adjoining wood, from whence he removed to a more secure hiding-place in Staffordshire. The last hostile movement made in the county was an ineffectual attempt, in 1654, by Sir Thomas Harris and others, to surprise the castle of Shrewsbury for the king. SOIL, CLIMATE, and AGRICULTURAL, &c. PRODUCE.—Few counties possess a greater variety of SOIL, or are more diversified in appearance: divided into nearly two equal parts by the Severn, its south and west portions assume the mountainous character exhibited by the counties of Montgomery and Denbigh; whilst the northern half approaches the resemblance of a level, agreeably relieved by a few single hills and romantic valleys, finely wooded. The meadows on the side of the Severn are remarkably fertile, being occasionally enriched by the overflowing of that river, which is navigable throughout its whole course. The famed _Wrekin_ mountain, celebrated for the magnificent and extensive prospects which it commands, rears itself singly out of the plain to the height of nearly 1,200 feet above the level of the Severn, near which it rises. To the east of the Wrekin, and on the eastern border of the county, lies the coal district of Coalbrookdale, which extends, from north-east to south-west, about eight miles in length and two in breadth. The CLIMATE is considered highly salubrious; the air is pure, although in many situations sharp and piercing. The PRODUCTIONS of the county are various and valuable; the breed of cows and sheep deserve particular notice—the former yielding abundant quantities of milk, while the sheep, fed upon its hilly tracts, afford some of the finest fleeces obtained in the kingdom. The whole county is in general well cultivated, furnishing liberal supplies of grain; its southern border produces excellent hops, agreeably varied with fine healthy orchards. The crops most common in Shropshire are wheat, barley, oats, peas, and turnips. Rye was formerly