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the merchants and his own profit. He also took from the citizens their
rights of fishing in the river, and oppressed them in various ways. Some
years later Edward Courtenay, nephew of Hugh, still further blocked the
waterway by erecting two other weirs, under the pretext of building some
mills. Many complaints were made to the king, and various writs were
issued against the earls, but no one dared to enforce them. For four
hundred years the feud continued over what was apparently the
destination of a kettle of fish, although in later days there is no
doubt that the earls' motives were to increase the income of their own
port of Topsham at the expense of Exeter. On the receipt of Queen
Elizabeth's charter in 1560 the citizens at length decided to construct
a canal to Topsham. This was begun in 1564 and completed in 1697, and it
is one of the earliest examples of canal navigation in the country.
Topsham is now a little port, whose shipping trade is confined to small
coasting schooners and fishing smacks. The Church of St. Margaret is
very large, and, with the exception of the tower, has been almost
entirely rebuilt. Near Topsham the Exe is joined by the little River
Clyst, and just below the confluence the Exe expands until it is more
than a mile in width. From the Clyst many villages take name, as Clyst
St. Lawrence, Broad Clyst, Honiton Clyst, Clyst St. Mary, and Clyst St.
George. The last two are near Topsham and were the scene of a struggle
during the Prayer Book Riots. In Devon the insurrection started on
Whit-Monday, 1549, at Sampford Courtenay, the day following that on
which the Act altering the Church service came into force. The people of
the village insisted on the priest saying the usual mass instead of the
prayers given in the appointed Book of Common Prayer. The rebellion
spread rapidly, and ten thousand men marched on Exeter, with a good
sprinkling of old Devon families in their ranks; but they were
undisciplined and were quickly dispersed by Lords Grey and Russell.
Although demoralized, the rebels assembled at Clyst St. Mary, which they
fortified. From here they sent word to the king demanding the
continuance of their former Church services, but the king's reply was an
army under the command of Lord Russell, and after a brief resistance
Clyst St. Mary was burned to the ground and the rebels scattered, to be
again beaten and their leaders taken on Clyst Heath. The vicar of St.
Thomas's Church, Exeter--at t