The present state of Denmark and reflections upon the ancient state thereof. Together with a particular account of the birth, education, martial atchievements and brave performances of His Royal Highness Prince George, only brother of His present Majesty of Denmark. / By G. Pierreville Gent. Secretary to the King's Minister at the Court of Denmark.

ZALAND.

LAland, or Lawland, so called from its low Situation, is disjoyned from Seeland by a little narrow Straight, called Gronesendt, and is about Thirty two English Miles in length, and two in breadth. This is a very Fruitful Coun∣trey, hath good store of Rich Pasturage, and affords such great Plenty of Corn and Chesnuts, that Ships full Freighted with them are sent Yearly hence.

It contains four Herets or Lordships, and as many Cities. The great Towns or Cities are, 1. Naschaw, or Nashscouw; which (together with the adjoyning Mo∣nastery) was Stormed, Taken, and Burnt by the Lubeckers in the Year 1510. 2. Sas∣coping. 3. Newstadt, once Famous for a Noble Monastery Built there A. D. 1286. 4. Lavingscoping. Besides these, the Nun∣nery of Marioebo or Mariboane, was as Considerable and Remarkable a Place as any in the whole Island.

The other Islands in the Baltique now belonging to the Dane, worth the taking Notice of, are,

1. Falster, a considerable Island, ad∣joyning to Laland. It is not above Six∣teen English Miles in length, but affords Plenty of Corn Yearly to some Neigh∣bouring Islands, and to the very Conti∣nent. The Principal Towns of this Isle are,

• 1. Nicoping, which, for the Elegancy of the Place, and the Pleasantness of the Situation, is by Dr. Heylin styled, The NAPLES of Denmark. 2. Stubcopen, or Stabcoping, has some Trade upon the Account of its being the Ordinary Passage between Seeland and Germany.
• 2. Langeland, a narrow Island betwixt Funen and Laland, seven Dutch Miles in length; in which, besides many Villages and Gentlemens Houses, and sixteen Pa∣rish Churches, is the Town of Rudcoping, and the Impregnable Castle of Traneker, which is admirably well provided with all manner of Military Ammunition.
• 3. Mona, or Meun, a Chalky Island to the North-East of Falster: It serves for a good Land-mark to the German Vessels that Trade in those Seas. The only Town of Consequence in it is Stege, which bravely withstood the Lubeckers in the Year 1510, and forced them at last to Retreat.
• ...

• 4. Alsen, another little Island, called in Latin, Elysia, opposite to the Gulph or Bay of Flensburg, in the Dukedom of Sleswick, of which it is a part, and therefore only Subject to the King of Den∣mark as Dukes of Sleswick. Some Danish Antiquaries do think the Elesii, Arii, and Manimi, mentioned by Tacitus, were the Ancient Inhabitants of this Island Ar and Meun; and that these three Isles have the same Names at this day (with some small alteration) which they had when Tacitus writ his Annals. It is well stored with Beasts for Profit, and Game for Pleasure; and so Populous, that several Thousands of stout Fighting Men have been Raised in a very short time out of its four Towns and Thirteen Parishes. The Principal place of the Island, is the Town and Castle of Sunderburg, was heretofore one of the Ordinary Residences of the Dukes of Sleswick, and Honoured with the Birth of many of their Princes of the Royal Family, and is at this day one of the strongest Holds which the King of Denmark stands possessed of.
• 5. Femeren, or Fimbriu, is a small Island on the Coast of Wagerland, from which it is separated by a very narrow Channel. This Plot of Ground has ever

• been look'd upon as one of the most Con∣siderable Keys of Denmark. This Crown thinking it of that Importance; as to suf∣fer the Germans to run over all Holstein, and both Juitlands, rather than they should possess themselves of this Isle. And therefore in the Year 1628, King Christian the Fourth took care to put strong Gari∣sons into every place of Moment in it, and to Fortifie the Old Castles and Towns which his Predecessors had suffered to decay and slighted. Towns of any Note in it, are Derborch, Stabul, and Pitters∣dorp.
• 6. Hucen, or Wcen, commonly called by the English the Scarlet Island, as is said upon the account of a Bargain between Queen Elizabeth and the King of Den∣mark, she being to have the Island for as much Scarlet Cloth as would cover it. In this Island did Tycho Brache, a Danish Noble-Man, make most of his Admi∣rable Observations in Astronomy. King Frederick the Second giving him it as a place remote from all Troubles, and fit for a Students Retirement. Here Tycho about the Year 1575 Built his Ʋraniburg, (an Observatory Built like a Castle, and Fenced round with Regular Fortifications) which he Adorned with a Collection of

• the most exact Mathematical Instruments that could possibly be made or procured. This Tycho, amongst other his Admirers, had the Honour of a Visit from King James, in his return from the Consum∣mation of his Marriage with Queen Ann.

As for the other little inconsiderable Islands, they are not worth the trouble of Describing, nor of the Readers Con∣sideration. Wherefore we will pass on to the Kingdom of Norway.