An Account of Denmark. Robert Molesworth

to himself, and transmitting it to late Posterity, is a Duty he owes to his Country; the right performance of which does in a great measure depend upon a good Education of our Youth, and the Preservation of our Constitution upon its true and natural Basis, The Original Contract. All other Foundations being false, nonsensical, and rotten; derogatory to the present Government, and absolutely destructive to the legal Liberties of the English Nation. Salus populi suprema lex esto.¹⁰

CHAPTER I

       Of the Territories belonging to the King of Denmark, and their Situation

      If we consider the Extent of the King of Denmark’s Dominions, he may with Justice be reckoned among the greatest Princes of Europe; but if we have regard to the importance and value of them, he may be put in Balance with the King of Portugal, and possibly be found lighter.

      His Style is King of Denmark and Norway, of the Goths and Vandals, Duke of Sleswick and Holstein, Stormar, and Ditmarsh; Earl in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst; all which Countries he actually possesses either in whole or in part: so that except that of the Goths and Vandals, which Title both he and the King of Sweden use, and which the Crown of Denmark has retained ever since it was Master of Sweden (as we in England do that of France) all the rest are substantial and not empty Titles.

      My design is to acquaint you with the present State of these Countries, and to offer nothing but what I have either Collected from sensible grave Persons, or what my own Knowledge and Experience has confirm’d to be Truth.

      Since the late Wars between that famous Captain Charles Gustavus of Sweden, and Frederic the Third, which ended in a Peace Anno 1660 Denmark has been forced to sit down with the loss of all its Territories which lay on the other side of the Baltick Sea; Schonen, Halland, and Bleking remaining to the Swedes, notwithstanding frequent Struggles to recover them. These three (especially Schonen) were the best Provinces belonging to Denmark, and therefore are still looked upon with a very envious Eye by the Danes: And for this very reason ’tis reported, that the Windows of Cronenburgh Castle, whose Prospect lay towards Schonen, were wall’d up, that so hateful an Object might not cause continual heart-burnings.

      Denmark therefore, as it is thus clipp’d, is at present bounded on all sides with the Sea, except one small Neck of Land, where it joins to Holstein; the German Ocean washes it on the West and North-west; the entrance into the Baltick, called the Categate on the North, and North-East; the Baltick on the East; and the River Eyder on the South; which having its source very near the East Sea, takes his course Westward, and falls into the Ocean at Toningen, a strong Town of the Duke of Holstein Gottorp’s: So that if a Channel were made of about three Danish Miles from that River to Kiel, ’twould be a perfect Island. I include in this Account the Dutchy of Sleswick as part of Denmark, but not the Dutchy of Holstein; because the former was a Fief of that Crown, the latter of the Empire.

      All Denmark therefore comprehending its Islands, as I have thus bounded it, lies in length between the degrees of 54^gr. 45^min. and 58^gr. 15^min. North Latitude, the breadth not being proportionable; and may at a large Computation be reckoned to amount to the bigness of two thirds of the Kingdom of Ireland.

      Norway, which lies North from Denmark, and is separated from it by that Sea which is usually called the Categate, is a vast and barren Country, full of Mountains and Fir trees; it reaches from 59 to 71 degrees of North Latitude; but is very narrow in respect to its length. It is bounded on the West and North by the Ocean, on the East by Sweden and the Territories belonging to it; on the South by the Sea lying between it and Denmark. The Sea is so deep about it, that there is no Anchorage for Ships; and therefore its Coasts are accounted the most dangerous of any in Europe to run with in the Night, or in a Storm; on which if you chance to be driven, there is no scaping, the Shoar being all along high Rocks, at the very foot of which one may find 200 Fathom Water.

      Holstein, which includes Ditmarsh and Stormar, is bounded by the Dutchy of Sleswick on the North, the Dutchy of Saxe Lawenburg on the South-East, the River Elbe on the South-West, the rest of it is washed by the Ocean and Baltick Sea. It lies between the 54th and 55th degrees of North Latitude.

      Oldenburg and Delmenhorst are two Counties in Germany that lye together, detached from all the rest of the King of Denmark’s Countries; the two Rivers, Elb and Weser, and the Dutchy of Bremen, interposing between them and Holstein. They are bounded on the North-East by the Weser, on the West by East-Friesland and the County of Embden, on the South by part of the Bishoprick of Munster. They are a small Territory of about 35 English Miles in Diameter; the middle of which is in the Latitude of 53 degrees and a half.

      The rest of the King of Denmark’s Territories not mentioned in the enumeration of his Titles, are the Islands of Feroe, and Iceland in the Northern Ocean. St. Thomas, one of the Caribbee Islands in the West-Indies. A Fort upon the Coast of Guinea, call’d Christiansburg; and another in the East-Indies, call’d Tranquebar. He has likewise a Toll at Elfleet upon the River Weser.

      Thus much may serve in general touching the Dominions of that King, which have this great inconveniency, that they are mightily disjoined and separated from each other; it being certain, that a State which is confined by many Principalities is weak, exposed to many dangers, and requires a more than ordinary Expense, as well as Prudence, to preserve it entire: And it is to this principally that the Conquests which the Swedes have gained upon them may be ascribed.

       CHAPTER II

       Of Denmark in particular, and the Island of Zealand

      This being the most considerable, and in value four parts in five of all the Territories belonging to the Crown of Denmark, I shall give a more particular account of it than of the rest. Others, I know, have given us the Genealogies and Succession of its Kings, ancient Names, Inhabitants, Conquests, etc. my business is only to inform how it stands at this day, and to enter no further into the former History, or the Geography of the Country, than is necessary to the understanding the present State of it.

      Denmark then, properly so called, consists of many Islands in the Baltick Sea, and of that part of the Continent which is now called Jutland: The Dutchy of Sleswick, which I reckoned in the former Chapter as part of it, shall be treated of by it self, because it is divided between the King and the Duke of Holstein Gottorp; whereas these above-mentioned are wholly the King’s. Jutland is the biggest and most fertile Country, but the Islands are more considerable in regard of their Situation, especially Zealand; because Copenhagen, the Chief City of Denmark, is seated in it, and the famous passage of the Sound is bordered by its Shoar, where, on the narrowest part the Town of Elsinor stands: wherefore I shall begin with a description of them, and first of Zealand.

      It is almost of a Circular Figure, and contains about 180 English Miles in Circumference; I cannot commend its Fertility, there being no Bread corn growing in any part of it except Rye, which indeed is in good quantity, and whereof most of their Bread is made. There are few Meadows in it, and yet there is no want of good Hay: Most of their Grass, which is short and sweet, grows by the sides of their Corn Fields, or in some scattered spots of Marish Grounds. It has no Rivers, nor above half a score Brooks that are able to turn a Mill; to supply this, there is a great number of fine Lakes sufficiently stored with Fish. The Air is but indifferent, especially in and near Copenhagen; which is occasioned by the frequent Fogs and low Situation; yet Colds of the Lungs are very rare here; this I attribute to the pureness of their firing, which is Beechwood, the only sort of Timber trees which abound in this Island. About one fourth part of it is Forest, lying open for the King’s Hunting and his Game, such as Staggs, Wild-Boars,