Old Hampshire Mapped
Introduction
Drayton's Hampshire 1613The map is fantastical; a true product of its age alongside more serious cartography - tho' perhaps it was regarded just as seriously. All that is delineated are the woods and streams. These are boldly drawn and each is decorated with a figure: a naked nymph is the goddess of each stream; a scantily clad dryad with a spear or bow, a huntress, is the goddess of each wood. The larger islands: Portsea, Hayling, and Thorney each has a naked nymph, with wig or headdress, hands held aloft - perhaps dancing? The Isle of Wight has a more imposing wench, clothed with a little drapery. Relief is hardly shown - tho' this is part of Drayton's objectives. Presumably there are no hills in Hampshire that he feels worth drawing; some hills are mentioned in his song. Although there is mention of Hurst and Calshot Castles in the song that accompanies the map, they are not shown on the map.
The map was published alongside a poem, 'Polyolbion'; the second song in the work belongs to the map of Hampshire and Dorset. The author's introduction makes his intentions and his appreciation of the importance of his work quite clear. It is, by turns, hilarious and boring to our 20th century educated ears; the verse is worse, the descriptions of streams and woods nonsense.
