Bray

Bray, a small Berkshire parish, near Maidenhead, of which Simon Aleyn was vicar from 1540 to 1588, during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. He kept his vicarage by changing his faith according to that of the state for the time being, becoming a Protestant with Henry, Catholic again in the reign of Mary, and Protestant again on the accession of Elizabeth. His principle was to live and die vicar of Bray, and to it he adhered. The modern ballad, In Good King Charles's Golden Days, makes the versatile vicar live in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., Anne, and George I.