“_Henry of Huntingdon_, who lived in the reign of king Stephen, describes this fenny country as very pleasant and agreeable to the eye, watered by many rivers which run through it, diversified with many large and small lakes, and adorned with many woods and islands. _William of Malmsbury_ also, who lived till the first year of Henry II, has painted the state of the land round Thorney in the most glowing colours. He represents it as a paradise; the very marshes abounding in trees, whose length, without knots, emulated the stars. The plain there (says he) is as level as the sea, which with the flourishing of the grass allureth the eye; and so smooth that there is nothing to hinder him that runs through it; neither is there any _waste_ place in it; for in some parts there are apple trees; in others vines, which either spread upon the grounds, or run along the poles.” Making every allowance for the florid colouring of the above representations, it is manifest that the level in the times of the above writers must have been in a very flourishing and superior condition to what it was a few centuries afterwards, “when the fens were covered with water, and the inhabitants of many islands in danger of perishing for want of food.” Whatever occasioned the alteration, it clearly appears that attempts at draining were made as early as the reign of Edward I, and have been continued with various success to the present time. The famous _John of Gaunt_, and _Margaret countess of Richmond_ were among the first adventurers who embarked in this undertaking. They were pretty soon succeeded by _bishop Morton_, whose patriotic efforts, as has been already observed, were attended with considerable success. SECTION VII. _Of the Fens from the time of Henry_ VIII, _or rather that of Elizabeth_, _to the Revolution_; _giving an account of the different projects of improvement proposed and carried on during that period_. During the successive reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, little attention appears to have been paid to the state or improvement of the fens. For most of that time, and ever after the dissolution of the abbeys, to which a very great part of these fens belonged, they were, it seems, almost entirely neglected, and soon reduced to a very wretched condition: so little care having been taken by the new possessors to keep the drains open and the banks in repair, compared with what had been done by their wiser predecessors, the abbots and the monks.