Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
drawn, known - and therefore colonised. The island is set within a frame, with the west coasts
of England and Scotland at the lower edge, bearing their respective flags. The title, formally
given in Latin for an educated readership, can be translated as 'Hibernia, an island not far
from England, in the common tongue called Ireland'. It is set in a fretwork cartouche, flanked
by the cross of St George, and by a crowned harp denoting the kingdom of Ireland. All of this
served to locate Ireland in the world of knowledge familiar to English government.
Drawn just off the Welsh coast, a scale bar surmounted by dividers indicates that the map
was drawn at a scale of about 1 inch to 16 miles. Scale was a relatively new concept in map-
ping at that time, and its inclusion on this map together with degrees of latitude and longitude
around the outer edge shows that the mapmaker wanted to give an impression of being fa-
miliar with the latest developments. This man was John Goghe, who signed his name in the
lower right hand corner, but about whom nothing else is known.
Goghe's map includes details of interest to the English: the location of castles and forts,
names of settlements, difficult terrain for armies such as mountains and lakes, the holdings
of Irish earls and strategic islands and river crossings. Sea was the main means of transport
at that time, and there is fine drawing of the coast, harbours and rivers. The sea is decorated
with ships in full sail, some with guns ablaze, while huge fish and sea monsters suggest a
sense of danger.
There is evidence that the map was used not just to inform those in power, but also as a
working document to help form defence strategy and influence decisions at the highest levels
of government. Inked additions in a sketchier hand containing information about extra places
and persons of note were made by Sir William Cecil, who became Lord Burghley, one of
Queen Elizabeth I's most influential ministers. Maps such as this one were one of the tools of
defence and colonisation, along with the written survey and the gun.
