" He describes the town as consisting of one street, about
a quarter of a mile long, "a pretty street or ever I enterd," and "this
street, as I remember, is called Dirtey."
~Birmingham in 1586.~--Camden in his "Britannica," published this year,
speaks of "Bremicham, swarming with inhabitants, and echoing with the
noise of anvils, for the most part of them are smiths."
~Birmingham in 1627.~--In a book issued at Oxford this year mention is
made of "Bremincham inhabited with blacksmiths, and forging sundry kinds
of iron utensils."
~Birmingham in 1635.~--As showing the status the town held at this date
we find that it was assessed for "ship money" by Charles I. at L100, the
same as Warwick, while Sutton Coldfield had to find L80 and Coventry
L266.
~Birmingham in 1656.~--Dugdale speaks of it as "being a place very
eminent for most commodities made of iron."
~Birmingham in 1680-90.~--Macaulay says: The population of Birmingham
was only 4,000, and at that day nobody had heard of Birmingham guns. He
also says there was not a single regular shop where a Bible or almanack
could be bought; on market days a bookseller named Michael Johnson
(father of the great Samuel Johnson) came over from Lichfield and opened
a stall for a few hours, and this supply was equal to the demand.
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