A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia... by Thomas Hariot (1588), published with illustrations by Theodore de Bry (1590)

Notes used with the gracious permission of Dr. Paul Royster.

Notes

1.7.1 English Colony there seated] The colony was established on Roanoke Island, which lay between the mainland (present-day Dare County, North Carolina) and the barrier islands of the outer banks; the island is south of Albemarle Sound and north of Pamlico Sound, about 40 miles north of Cape Hatteras. The colony consisted of 108 men who remained at Roanoke from June 1585 until June 18, 1586, when they abandoned the settlement and re-embarked for England with Sir Francis Drake.

1.7.2 Sir Richard Greinuile ] Sir Richard Grenville (1542–1591) commanded the fleet of seven ships that delivered the colonists to Virginia in June 1585 and in August sailed on a privateering voyage. He had been an investor in Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s New World voyages in 1578 and 1583, and was a partner in Sir Walter Ralegh’s Virginia enterprises. Gilbert also commanded the supply fleet that arrived at Roanoke in July 1586, several weeks after the colonists had left.

1.8 Rafe Lane ] Ralph Lane (d. 1603) was a soldier and royal official in Ireland from the mid-1570s. Ralegh recruited him to be military leader of the colony, and he commanded the settlement from August 1585 until June 1586. Relations between Lane and Grenville were often strained, but after Grenville’s departure, Lane finished the settlement’s fort, maintained military discipline, led parties that explored the Chowan and Roanoke rivers and Chesapeake Bay, and foiled a native attempt to overrun the colony.

1.10-11 SIR WALTER RALEIGH ] (1554 –1618) Courtier, soldier, explorer, seaman, poet and author. Born in Devon, he served with Huguenot forces in France in 1569–70, studied at Oxford 1572–74, and was admitted to the Middle Temple 1575. He joined the exploring expedition led by his half-brother Humphrey Gilbert 1578–79 as captain of the ship Falcon. He served in the army in Ireland in 1580–81, when he returned to court and caught the attention of Queen Elizabeth. He was knighted in 1585 and appointed vice-admiral and Lord Warden of the Stanneries, giving him judicial and military power over Cornwall. He secured a patent for settlement of Virginia in 1584, and worked with Thomas Hariot and the Hackluyts to prepare for and publicize the attempt. Leadership of the expedition was entrusted to Ralegh’s cousin, Sir Richard Grenville. Ralegh also sponsored the 1587 settlement attempt under John White, and probably aided in the publication of Hariot’s Brief and True Report.

After the attempted settlements in Virgina, Ralegh continued to invest in privateering, organize military defenses, and undertake diplomatic commissions. However, in 1592 his secret marriage to one of the queen’s maids of honor, Elizabeth Throckmorton (1565–1647), was discovered, and he was stripped of his honors and, along with his wife, imprisoned in the Tower for several months. He was banned from the court until 1597. He was elected to Parliament in 1593, and again in 1597 and 1601. In 1595 he financed and led an expedition that sacked the Spanish colony at Trinidad and explored the Orinoco River. On his return he published The Discoverie of the Large, Rich and Bewtiful Empire of Guiana. In 1596 he helped command the successful assault on Cadiz, and was wounded in the action. In 1597, he served under the Earl of Essex in an expedition against Spain and commanded the capture of Fayal in the Azores. In 1600 he was appointed governor of the isle of Jersey. He was in London February 8, 1601, where he helped quell the rebellion of Essex, and he officiated at his execution later that month. After the death of Elizabeth in 1603, Ralegh was stripped of his titles and estates by James I, and imprisoned in the Tower for his alleged participation in the Main plot. He remained in the Tower 13 years, until released in 1616 to lead an expedition to discover and claim gold mines on the Orinoco. This expedition failed to find any gold, and the Spanish settlement at San Thomé was stormed and burnt in January 1618, endangering the temporary peace with Spain. On his return to England, Raleigh was again charged with treason and imprisoned in the Tower, and was executed October 29, 1618.

1.18 Thomas Hariot ] sometimes spelled Harriot (c.1560–1621),colonist, cartographer, mathematician, and natural philosopher. He was born in Oxford, attended the college at St Mary Hall, and was awarded a BA degree in 1580. He was employed by Sir Walter Ralegh to teach mathematics and navigation to Ralegh and his sea captains in London. He learned the rudiments of the Algonquian language from two Indians brought back from an exploratory voyage to Virginia in 1584. He was a member of the first English colony that settled at Roanoke Island in June 1585 and returned to England with Sir Francis Drake in June 1586.

After the publication of this account of Virginia, Hariot participated briefly in Ralegh’s Irish colonization attempts before returning to London. In the mid-1590s, he settled at Syon, on an income endowed by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. There he engaged in mathematical, astronomical, and scientific researches, but, although he corresponded with many leading European men of science, he never published any of his discoveries. His surviving papers established his reputation as a pioneer in the development of calculus, optics, and astronomical observation.

1.21 Imprinted at London 1588. ] R. G. Adams has identified the printer (on the basis of the ornament) as Robert Robinson, although there is no entry in the Stationers’ Register for the publication.

5.14 this last yeare of 1587 ] The second colonizing attempt,led by John White, also occupied Roanoke Island. White returned to England for supplies in the fall, but was prevented from returning, first by the Spanish Armada, and then by bad weather, until 1590. He found the settlement deserted and the settlers, including his daughter and granddaughter (Virginia Dare, the first English child born in America) disappeared.

5.21-22 other voyage ... sixe weekes ] In 1584, Ralegh had sent two ships, commanded by Philip Amadis and Arthur Barlow, who explored the coastal regions of present-day North Carolina during July–August, claimed the lands in the name of the queen, traded with the native inhabitants, and brought back two Algonkians, Manteo and Wanchese.

9.24 Silke of grasse ] This probably refers to bear grass (Yucca flaccida), or possibly the spoon-leaf yucca (Y. filamentosa), Spanish bayonet (Y. aliofolia), or mound-lily yucca (Y. gloriosa), also common in the region.

10.13 Grogan ] Gragram or grosgrain: a coarse fabric woven of silk, wool, mohair, or a mixture of these.

10.14 Worme Silke ] Silkworms were not native to North America, and Hariot may be describing various tent caterpillars or web-worms.

10.27 Flaxe and Hempe ] Several species of wild flax (Linum virginianum and L. medium) are found in the region, but hemp is not native to eastern North Carolina.

11.12 Roche Allum ] rock alum or alum de rocca

11.14-15 White Copresse, Nitrum, and Alumen plumeum ] white copperas: protosulphate of zinc; nitre: sodium carbonate (natron) or potassium nitrate (saltpeter); alumen plumeum: plume or feather alum.

11.17-18 Wapeih ... terra Sigillata ] The native term suggests white clay; the Latin is a term for Lemnian earth.

11.20 Chirurgeons ] surgeons

12.5 Monardus ] Nicholas Monardes; the work was a 1577 translation by John Frampton of La historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales que se siruen en medicina (Seville, 1574).

12.9 virginalles ] a keyed musical instrument resembling a spinet without legs

12.31 weares ] weirs, also weels: traps, usually for taking fish

13.1 Marterne ] obs. form of marten

13.4 Luzarnes ] lucernes, lynxes

13.11 Ciuet cattes ] The scent glands of the African civet cat were a valuable commodity used in the manufacture of perfume. Hariot’s context suggests that the animal here referred to is the skunk. No commercial applications of skunk scent have yet been developed.

14.5 Testrone ] The teston of Henry VIII, a sixpence coin

15.6-1 Wasewówr ] The native term suggests shiny seeds; one possibility is the berry of the pokeweed (Phytolacca americana), used for purple dye.

15.62 Cháppacor ] New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americana) and dogwood (Cornus florida) have been suggested as possibilities.

15.8 Tangomóckonomindge ] perhaps bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).

15.19 Oade ] Woad: blue dye made from Istatis tinctoria

15.25 Madder ] Rubia tinctoria, or various other plants yielding red dye

18.22 dowishe ] i.e., dough-ish

18.31 Melden ] Dutch for plants of the spinach family

18.33 Orage ] Orache or orach: plants of the genus Atriplex; also known as goosefoot.

19.9 spanne ] distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip ofthe little finger; about 9 inches (22 cm)

19.9-10 Planta Solis ] sunflowers

20.21 pearches ] perch: a rod of 5 1/2 yards (16 1/2 feet) used in measuring land; the measures mentioned are standard for an English acre

20.22 ofcome ] offcome (obs.)—product or produce

22.4 fleame ] phlegm

23.2 Openauk ] probably the ground nut (Apios tuberosa)

23.8 Okeepenauk ] probably wild potato or man-root (Ipomea pandurata)

23.17 Kaishúcpenauk ] probably arrow-head or duck potato (Sagittaria latifolia)

23.23 Tsinaw ] probably a native pronunciation of China; the plant was probably woody smilax.

24.9 Cosúshaw ] The natives used two species—the arrow arum (Peltranda virginica) and the golden club (Orontium aquaticum)—that fit this description.

24.25-1 Habascon ] possibly the cow parsip (Heracleum lanatum)

24.25-2 hoat ] obs. form of hot

25.20 Medlars ] The Eurasian medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) bears a fruit resembling the crab-apple; Hariot refers here to the persimmon.

25.27 Metaquesúnnauk ] prickly pear cacti

26.1 Cochinile ] red dye made from dried crushed bodies of an insect parasite of the nopal cactus

26.12 Hurts or Hurtleberries ] Whortleberries were not native to America; probably blueberries, huckleberries, or cranberries are meant.

26.14 Sacquenúmmener ] possibly arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) or pepper-vine (Ampelopsis arborea or A. cordata)

26.21 reed ... seed ] probably wild rice (

Zizania aquatica

)

27.26 flue ] down or fluff

27.28 Saquenúckot & Maquówoc ] possibly raccoons, opossums, or muskrats

28.12 caleeuers ] calibers or firearms

29.9 also published ] Hariot’s longer account of the colony and the country was never published and has not survived among his papers.

29.30 wear ] weir; see note to 12.31

30.13 Creuises ] crayfish or lobsters

30.14 Seékanauk ] the horseshoe crab or king crab (Limulus polyphemus), known in several native languages along the Atlantic as sekonk

31.23 Rakíock ] The native word suggests soft wood, possibly the tulip or cypress tree.

33.23 Iles of Tenet and Shepy ] in Kent, England

45.1 champions ] champaigns—open level country

47.31 a Chronicle ] never published; see note to 29.9

Note on the Text [Used in the Making of These Notes]

50.1 Thomas Hariot’s A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia was completed in February 1588 and published in London later that spring in a small (approximately 5 × 7 inches) quarto edition of 48 pages, probably printed by Robert Robinson. Six copies of this edition are known to survive. Richard Hakluyt arranged for the work to be republished by Theodore De Bry, in four languages, with the addition of engravings based on the watercolor drawings done in America by John White, in a large-sized edition published in Amsterdam in 1590. Hariot supplied descriptions or captions (in Latin) for the De Bry plates, which Hakluyt re-translated back into English for the published text.

50.2 Hakluyt also published a third edition of A Brief and True Report in 1600. An extensively annotated modern edition of Hariot’s work is published in The Roanoke Voyages 1584–1590: Documents to Illustrate the English Voyages to North America under the Patent Granted to Walter Raleigh in 1584,Volume I, edited by David Beers Quinn (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1955).

The text of this online electronic edition of Hariot’s A Brief and True Report is based on the first quarto edition of 1588, transcribed from digitized images of the copy in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, accessed in the Early English Books Online series, and collated against the published facsimile edition (1951) of the William L. Clements Library copy. The spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and use of italics in Hariot’s 1588 quarto edition have been preserved in this online electronic text. The typeface used is IM Fell English, originally cut in the late sixteenth century, probably by Christoffel van Dijck (roman & small caps) and Robert Granjon (italic). Electronic versions of the face were digitized and furnished by Igino Marini (http://www.iginomarini.com/fell.html). To accomodate modern users, and to improve searching capacity, the long s (ſ) and its ligatures (ſt, ſi, ſf, ſh, and ſl) have not been used. The ornaments, initials, and headpieces are reproductions or reconstructions of those used in the 1588 quarto. 82.1

Emendations listed in Hariot’s original Faults escaped (printed at the end of the 1588 edition) have been made, as follows:

Page.line

1588 reading

emended to

15.7–8	Tangomóckomíng	Tangomockonomindge
16.7	also be	also may be
24.23	god in taste	good in taste

The following typographical errors have been corrected:

Page.line	1588 reading	emended to
26.2	his plant	this plant
27.1	alter	after
31.24	inhabitans	inhabitants
33.9	bave	have
36.30	Frst	First
37.15	but on	but one
40.31	us,	us.
41.21	ob[/]served	observed

Additionally, in the 1588 edition, the ornamental initial S on page 9, line 24, was printed upside down; it is here placed in its proper orientation.

Paul Royster
	University of Nebraska–Lincoln
	June 25, 2007

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These notes by Dr. Royster are also available online at http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/20/.