in the mechanical part of poetry. The elasticity of his mind, and the versatility of his talents, enabled him to arrive at eminence in different departments of composition. His allegorical poems display a rich and fertile invention; and he is equally distinguished for his His diction is often powers of description and satirical humour. remarkable for its terseness and forcible simplicity; but it is not always free from the vicious and pedantic phraseology with which the "It is evident," English poetry of that period is so deeply infected. says Dr. Drake, "that a union of talents of this wide range must necessarily be of rare occurrence; nor can we wonder that a century should elapse before a poet in any high degree approaching the genius. Not indeed until of Chaucer made his appearance in our island. Dunbar arose in the sister kingdom, had we another instance of the combination of first-rate abilities for humour and comic painting, with an equally powerful command over the higher regions of fiction and imagination." The Thistle and the Rose, a poem in celebration of the nuptials of James IV. and Margaret Tudor, opens with the following stanzas:
Quhen Merche wes with variand windis past,
And Appryll had with hir silver shouris
Tane leif at nature with ane orient blast,
And lusty May, that muddir is of flouris,
Had maid the birdis to begyn thair houris
Amang the tendir odouris reid and quhyt,
Quhois harmony to heir it wes delyt;
In bed at morrow sleiping as I lay,
Methocht Aurora with her cristall ene
In at the window lukit by the day,
And halsit me with visage paile and grene;
On quhois hand a lark sang fro the splene,
Awalk, luvaris, out of your slemering,
Se how the lusty morrow dois upspring.
Methocht fresche May befoir my bed upstude,
In weid depaynt of mony diverse hew,
Sober, benyng, and full of mansuetude,
In bright atteir of flouris forgit new,
Hevinly of color, quhyt, reid, brown, and blew,
Balmit in dew, and gilt with Phebus bemys,
Quhyl all the house illumynit of her lemys.
Slugart, scho said, awalk annone for schame,
And in my honor sumthing thow go wryt:
The lark hes done the mirry day proclame,
To rais up luvaris with comfort and delyt,
Yet nocht incress thy curage to indyt,
Quhois hairt sumtyme hes glaid and blissfull bene,
Sangis to mak undir the levis grene. †
The Celtic language still prevails in some extensive districts of the United Kingdom. One of its most cultivated dialects is the Welsh, which comprises some very ancient and curious reliques of
* Drake's Mornings in Spring, vol. ii.
+ Hailes's Ancient Scottish Poems, p. 1.
YY 4
Lond. 1828. 2 vols. 8vo.
Edinb. 1770, 12mo.
literature. It is frequently mentioned as a remarkable fact in the history of the affinity of nations and languages, that the Welsh soldiers who served at the siege of Belleisle in the war of 1756, found little difficulty in making their speech intelligible to the people of Bretagne. A dialect of the Celtic tongue continues to be spoken in the Isle of Man, and is known by the name of the Manks language. Another dialect of it was long current in Cornwall. "This language," says Mr. Boucher, "was the current speech of Cornwall till the reign of Henry VIII.: but then innovations took place, and fashionable preachers began to affect to perform the service of the church in English, and, at the Reformation, are said to have very generally expressed their preference of the English service. However, some old-fashioned folks still clung to their paternal tongue with patriotic pertinacity; and the last sermon ever delivered in Cornish was in 1678. Mr. Ray, in 1662, says he could find only one person who could write it; and, in 1768, Mr. Barrington could find only one old woman who could scold in it."† In Scotland, a dialect of Celtic is spoken by a race of men who inhabit no small proportion of the territory, but whose number probably does not exceed one sixth of the general population. Nor is the Gaelic commonly spoken in every part of the Highlands. Even in Caithness, the most northern county of Britain, it is not the current speech. The inhabitants, like those of Orkney and Zetland, are chiefly descended from the Norwegians, and speak a dialect of Scottish. The Scottish Celts are descendants of the Irish, and speak a dialect which still continues to be so similar to theirs, that the people of the two countries can, to a great extent, make themselves intelligible to each other. In the Irish tongue many manuscripts have been preserved, some of which are of an early date; but in the Gaelic there is none that can plausibly pretend to any considerable antiquity.
* See Mr. Turner's Vindication of the Genuineness of the Ancient British Poems of Aneurin, Taliesen, Llywarch Hen, and Merdhin. Lond. 1803, 8vo.
Boucher's Introduction to his Glossary of Obsolete and Provincial Words, p. xxxvi. This work, which is now in the progress of publication, we strongly recommend to our readers as a rich and curious storehouse of philological and antiquarian information.
ABERDEENSHIRE, i. 301.
Absentees, Irish, i. 522.
Accidents in coal mines, i. 7.
Acres, number of, contained in England and
Wales, i. 4-7. Number of, in Scotland, 233.
Number of, in Ireland, 327. Number of, for
each person, family, and house, 404. 423. 437.
Enclosed for growth of timber, 525, Number
of, in tillage, 531. Average rent per acre, 534.
Actions, real, personal, and mixed, ii. 155.
Method of proceeding in, ib. Demurrer to
evidence, 157. Arrest of judgment, 159. New
trial, ib. Writ of error, 161. Removal of
causes from inferior courts, ib.
Acts of parliament, procedure in passing, ii. 108.
Private, 110. Statistics of, 118.
Adjutant-general, ii. 432.
Admirals, classification of, ii. 453. Are all flag
officers; relative rank with officers of the
army, ib. Promotion of, 454. Pay of, 455.
Half-pay of, 458. Pensions to widows of, ib.
Admiralty, Board of, ii. 452.
Admiralty, Court of, origin of, ii. 144. Consti-
tution of, 192. Jurisdiction of, ib. Division
of, into the, Instance Court and the Prize
Court, ib.
Advocate, Lord, the public prosecutor in Scot-
land, ii. 233.
African settlements, statistics of, ii. 518.
Ages, in England and Wales, of persons buried,
i. 414. Proportion of, to the population, 418.
Of persons in Glasgow, &c. 427. Of persons
in Scotland, ib. Of persons in Ireland, 49.
Of persons in the woollen factories, 641. In
the cotton factories, 66%. In the linen manu.
facture, 680. Of offenders committed for trial
in 1835, ii. 472, 473.
Agricultural departments of England, six, i. 441.
The northern; the western, 442. The mid-
land; the eastern; the southern, ib.; the
south-western, 443. Principal counties for
tillage, ib. Dairy counties, ib. Districts for
breeding and fattening cattle, ib. Of Scot-
land, 477. Of Ireland, 509.
Agriculture of the Channel Islands, i. 227.
Agriculture of England and Wales; Tenures,
i. 440. Magnitude of estates; number of pro-
prietors, 441. Agricultural departments, ib.
Size of farms, 444. Occupancy by tenants;
advantage of leases, 447. Conditions as to
management, 448. Payment of rent, 450. Re-
duction of rents, 451. Objections to the con-
tract of lease, ib. Duration of leases, 452.
Letting by fine, 453. Entry to farms, 454. Bur-
dens falling on the tenant, 455. Property in
leases, ib. Farm buildings, 456. Cottages, 457.
Enclosures and fences, ib. Implements, 458.
Ploughs, ib. Waste of labour in ploughing, 460.
Thrashing machine, 461. Horse and ox la-
bour, 462. Tillage husbandry; fallows, 462.
Alternation of crops, 463. Crops cultivated;
wheat, 464. Rye, 465. Barley, 467. Oats, 468.
Bean; pea; tare, 469, 470. Buckwheat; clo-
ver; sainfoin, 470. Lucerne; potatoes, 471.
Capacity of the potato to support population, ib.
Turnips, 472. Cole, or rape, 475. Cabbage, ib.
Carrot, parsnip; flax and hemp, 474.
The
hop, ib. Apples, cider, &c. 475. Table of
average product of crops, 476. Dairy; milk,
490. Butter, 491. Cheese, 492. Sheep, ib.
Wool, 495. Produce of timber, 526. Quantity
and value of agricultural produce, 530. Num-
ber of acres in tillage, 531. Distribution of
tillage land, ib. Quantity and value of crops,
532. Produce of grass lands, ib. Rental, 533.
Statistics, 584, 535. Rise of rents, 536. Mode-
rate rent of land, ib. Proportion of rent to
the produce, 537. Proportion of the gross to
the real rent, 538. Distribution of rent, 539.
Agricultural capital, ib. Its insufficiency, ib.
Profit of farmers, 540. Slow progress of im
provements in, 551. Historical sketch, 552,
553. Advance of, since 1815, 557.
Agriculture of Ireland, i. 501. Implements and
operations, 504. Farm-houses, offices, &c. 505,
Agricultural departments, 509. Average pro-
duce per acre, 513. Crops; wheat, 514. Bar-
ley, oats, &c. 515. Potato, ib. Flax and
hemp, ib. Grazing, 516. Dairy, 517. Sheep,
518. Hogs, ib. Causes of the depression
of, ib. Law as to leases; division of land, 519.
Subletting Act, 521. Absentees; middlemen,
522. Partnership tenures, 523. Tithes, 524.
Improvement of Ireland, ib. Timber, 526.
Cultivated and uncultivated land; rent, &c.
545. Statistics, 516, 547. Distribution of land;
quantity and value of produce, 548. Deduc
tions from the rent, 549. Price of land, ib.
Number of agriculturists, 550.
Agriculture of Scotland, i. 477. Grand charac-
teristics of, ib. Agricultural departments, ib.
Buildings, 478. Fences, ib. Implements, 479.
Crops, ib. Grasses, ib. Dairy, 490. Timber,
528. Cultivated and uncultivated land, 541,
542. Distribution of land; quantity and
value of produce, 541. Rental, 543. Rise of
rent, 544. Statistics, 545. Distribution of
rent, ib. Number of farmers; size of farms,
550. Historical notice of its progress, 559.
Present state of, 567.
Agriculturists, number of, in England, i. 446.
Profits of, 540. Number of, in Scotland, 541.
550. Total number of, in England and Wales,
ib. In Ireland, ib.
Air, the, retention of moisture in, i. 87. Amount
of evaporation, ib.
Albata, articles manufactured of, i. 697.
Albion, origin of the name, i. 63.
Alderman, office of, ii. 195.
Alderney, Isle of, i. 228.
Alternation of crops, i. 463.
America, exports of cotton from, i. 649.
Anabaptists, ii. 284.
Anchors, exports of, i. 583.
Anglo-Saxon literature, relics of, ii. 674.
Angus, or Forfarshire, i. 298.
Animals, distribution of, in the British Isles, i.
112. Extinct species, 115. The bear; the
wolf, 116. The wild boar, ib. The urus, 117.
The beaver,118. Extinct varieties of birds, 119.
Probable extermination among fishes; and
insects, 120. List of domestic animals, 121.
Wild cats, 122. Scientific arrangement of in-
digenous quadrupeds, 128. Carniverous, 129.
Herbivorous, 130. Granivorous, ib.
Annuities, Savings' Bank, nature of, ii. 671.
Negotiable through savings' banks, ib. Prin.
ciples of, unsound, ib.
Antrim, county of, i. 387.
Arable husbandry, where chiefly pursued, i. 443.
Archbishops of England, ii. 204. Of Ireland,
Archdeacons of England, ii. 270. Of Ireland, 305.
Arches, Court of, ii. 186.
Argyleshire, i. 294.
Armagh, county of, i. 385.
Army, the, ii. 430. Origin of the standing, 431.
Government, 432. Organisation, 433. Ap-
pointment of officers, 434. Enlistment, ib.
Prices of commissions, 435. Number of troops,
437. How apportioned, 438. Ordnance, 439.
Estimates of, for 1836-37, ib. Pay of troops,
ib. Pay of officers; statistics, 442. Pay of
non-commissioned officers, &c.; statistics, ib.
Half-pay; new and old rates, 443. Of medi-
cal officers; statistics, ib. Pensions to offi-
cers' widows; soldiers' pensions, 444. Chelsea
Vo-
Hospital; statistics, 445. Militia, 446.
lunteers; yeomanry, ib. Police, 447. Table
of mortality in, 553. Proportion of sickness
in, ib.
Arrest, freedom from, of members of parlia-
ment, ii. 102. Also of peers, ib.
Arson, crime of, i. 463.
Artillery, regiment of, ii. 434.
Assessed Taxes, ii. 402. Statistics of, for 1833,
34, 35. 415-417.
Assize, courts of, ii. 153.
Atmosphere, the humidity of, i. 93.
Attorneys, ii. 137.
Australia, Western, statistics of, ii. 518.
Bank of England, privileges of, ii. 28.
of, a legal tender, ib. Contraction of the cur-
rency; Peel's Act, 29. Cash payments, 30.
Loan of, to government, 34. Renewal of the
charter to 1854, 35. Is the government bank,
ib. Transmits weekly accounts of cash and
bullion in her coffers, ib. Gives no interest on
deposits, ib. Affairs of, in 1832, 36. Notes in
circulation, ib. Deposits, ib. Securities, ib.
Bullion, ib. Rest, or surplus capital, ib.
Quarterly account of liabilities and assets,
1834-38, 37. Notes and Bank post bills in
circulation, ib.
Banks, of circulation, ii. 26. Of deposit, ib.
English, 27. Scotch, 35. Irish, 36. Joint
stock, 37.
Bankruptcy, Court of, institution of, ii. 144.
Three subdivisions of, 182. Court of Review,
ib. Subdivision Courts, 185. Courts of the
Commissioners, ib. Mode of proceeding in
each, ib.
Baptisms, defective register of, i. 407. Propor-
tion of, to the population, 408. Total of, re-
gistered from 1801-1830, 410. Proportions
of, in each county, 411. In Scotland, register
of, 425. Number of, in Glasgow, 426 No
return of, for Ireland, 438.
Baptists, ii. 285.
Barley, number of consumers, i. 467.
demand for, in manufactures of beer, porter,
and spirits, ib. Used for fattening black cattle,
hogs, and poultry, ib. Important crop in ro-
tation, ib. Principal counties for, ib. Mode
of culture, and produce of, ib.
Two species,
with several varieties, ib. Time of harvest;
practice of mowing, 468. Produce, ib. Sta
tistics of average produce, 476. Crops of, ìn
Ireland, 514.
Baron, courts, ii. 73. 154.
Barrack-master general, ii. 433.
Barristers, ii. 137. Number of, 133.
Barrow, river, i. 335.
Bastardy laws of, offered temptation to crime,
ii. 614. Abolition of, proposed by the com-
missioners, 615. Recommendation as to the
child, and as to the mother, ib. Also as to
the putative father, ib. Suggestions mostly
adopted, ib.
Bays, i. 44. Sole, 45. Robin Hood's, 47. Kil-
bride, 48. Morecambe, 49. St. Bride's, 51.
Caermarthen; Swansea, ib. Mount's, 52
Cawsand, 54. Biscay, ib. Swanage; Stud-
land, 55. Trissanton, 56.
Bays of Ireland; Tralee, i. 340. Brandon; Din-
gle; Ballynaskellig; Bantry, 341. Dunmanus;
Baltimore; Ross; Clonakilty: Courtmas-
cherry, 342. Dungarvan; Tramore, 343.
Dublin, 344. Dundrum, $45. Donegal; Kil
lybegs; Sligo, $47. Killala; Blacksod; Clew;
Roundstone; Birterbay; Kilkerrin, 348.
Galway, 349.
Bays of Scotland; St. Andrew's, i. 251. Sin-
clair's, 252. Luce, 255. Wigtown, ib. Kirk-
cudbright, ib.
Beans, i. 469. Order in the rotation of crops, ib.
Time of the harvest; produce, ib. Statistics
of the average produce, 476.
Bear, the, extirpation of, from this country,
i. 115.
Beaver, the extirpation of, i. 118.
Bedford Level, i. 24.
Bedfordshire, i. 183.
Beer, quantity made, i. 726. Duty on, repealed,
727.
Belfast Royal Academical Institution, il. 388.
Benefices, three sorts of, ii. 276. Distribution
of the patronage of, 277. Statistics of their
value, 277, 278.
Benefit Societies, proportion of sickness among,
ii. 546.
Ben Nevis, situation and altitude of, i. 236.
Berkshire, i. 210.
Berwickshire, i. 285.
Bill of Rights, ii. 83.
Bills of mortality, ii. 523.
Bills in parliament, procedure of, through the
house, ii. 108. Private, 110. Originate indif-
ferently in either house, ib. But the initiative
of those for restitution of honours claimed by
the Lords, ib. Money bills must first pass the
Commons, 111. General pardon bill must
emanate from the Crown, ib.
Birds, native, extinct varieties, i. 120. Domes.
ticated, 121. Chiefly introduced from Asia,
123. Peacock, ib. Wild turkey, ib. Domes-
tic fowl, 125. Guinea hen, ib. Pheasant, ib.
Aquatic, 126. The swan, ib. Naturalisation
of foreign, desirable, 128. The gigantic cock;
Curassow family, ib. Scientific arrangement,
Birmingham, grand seat of the hardware manu-
facture, i. 694. Its proximity to coal and iron,
ib. List of articles produced at, 695. The
Soho works, 696. The "toy-shop of Europe,"
- 697. Capitals employed, 698. Value of manu.
factures, 699. Local statistics, ib.
Births, proportion of, to the population, i. 407-
Bishops, right of, to sit in parliament, i. 87.
Of England, 264. Extent of sees, and nett
revenue of, 266. Of Ireland, 303.
Black lead, found in Borrowdale, i. 590. Best
material for making pencils, ib. Former
monopoly of; is now imported, ib. Mode of
obtaining, ib. Difference in the quality, ib.
Preparation of the manufacture, ib.
Blackwater, river, i. 333. 343.
Blankets, manufacture of, i. 632. 634.
Blasphemy, punishment for, ii. 460.
Blood, deaths from diseases of the, ii. 583. 585.
Boar, the wild, extinction of, i. 116.
Bobbin net, manufacture of, i. 660, 661.
Bogs of Ireland, the, i. 351.
Bombasins, manufacture of, introduced into
Norwich by refugees, i. 631.
Bone manure, introduction of, into Scotland,
beneficial, i. 568.
Books exported, drawback on, i. 723.
Boroughs, derivation of the term, ii. 193. Sig-
nify towns existing by charter or prescription,
ib. Municipal government of, emanated
from the Romans, 194. Remodelled by the
Saxons, ib. Destroyed by the Danes, ib.
And revived by the Saxons, ib. Particulars
of, in Domesday Book, ib. May hold fairs
and markets, ib. Have internal jurisdiction,
Local exemptions which constitute a bo-
rough, ib. Each has a court leet, 195 Go-
vernment of; officers, ib. Subject to baronial
jurisdiction, tenure of lands, ib. Revenue of;
gabel, ib. Offices of, remodelled, 196. Grant
of charters; immunities and privileges, ib.
Free, ib. Custom of borough-English, ib.
Distinction between a borough and a city,
ib. Some erected into counties, ib.
of the parliamentary franchise, ib. Admis.
sion of burgesses, 197. Regulations and re-
strictions, ib. The guild merchant, ib. The
title freeman used in lieu of burgess, ib. In
whom the grant of the freedom vested,
ib. Freedom of, transmissible by descent:
hence its acquisition by marriage, 198.
ers prior to Hen. VI. did not regulate the
internal constitution of, ib. Consequent
usurpations, ib. Parliamentary franchise in,
monopolised, ib. See Corporations.
Borough-English, custom of, ii. 196.
Borough-reeve, or port reeve, ii. 195.
Botany of Great Britain, i. 100. National
affinity of the vegetation, ib. Striking and
ornamental native plants, 101. Woody region,
102. Products of Ireland, 103. Lowlands of
Scotland, ib. Plants peculiar to Scotland, 104.
British Islands rich in cryptogamous plants,
ib. Phænogamous plants, 105.
Liliacea;
coniferous family, 106. Nettle tribe, ib. Eu-
phorbiaceous family, ib. Daphne; buck.
wheat; Oxyria; Chenopodia, ib. Salsolas
and salicornias, ib. Labiata; Scrofularia;
narcotic tribe, ib. Gentian family, 107. Apo-
cyneous order; olive tribe, ib. Compositæ,
ib. Fuller's teasel, ib. Rubiaceous plants;
umbelliferous tribe, ib. Rosaceous plants;
Acerinæ; malvaceous plants; Coniferæ, ib.
Exotics, ib. Cedar, 108. Cactus; American
aloe, ib. Phormium tenax, ib. Oranges;
vine and olive; rice and maize, 109. Tabacco,
ib. Bread-corns, ib. Wheat; barley; rye,
ib. Maize, ib. Fruit trees; kitchen gardens,
110. Liquorice; madder; beans; field pea,
111.
Bottoms, the, a manufacturing district of Glou-
cester, i. 631.
Bounties, granted in the herring fishery, i. 600.
Impolicy of the measure, 601. Discontinued
in 1830, ib. In the whale fishery, 609. Dis-
continued in 1834, ib. On the exportation of
linen, 679.
Brain, deaths from diseases of the, ii. 583, 585.
Brandy, quantity manufactured, 1. 728. Pro-
ceeds of duty, ib.
Brass manufacture of Birmingham,i. 696. Ex-
ports of, 705.
Bread-corns, mostly exotics, i. 109. Wheat;
barley; rye, ib. Maize, ib.
Breweries, i. 724. Statistics of, ib. 727.
Bricks, houses in English towns mostly built of,
i. 594. Small consumption of, in Scotland, ib.
Produce of the excise duty, ib. Statistics of
manufacture, ib. Rates of duty, ib. Nett re-
venue from, ib.
Britannia metal, articles manufactured of, i.
697.
British Isles, the, i. 1. Great Britain and Ire-
land, ib. Statistics of, treated separately, ib.
Latitude and longitude of, 2. Advantages of
their insular position, ib. Zoology of, 111.
Population of, 439. Colonies and dependencies,
ii. 518. Vital statistics of, 521.
Broad cloths, of Saddleworth, i. 628. Quantity
manufactured in Yorkshire, 60.
Broad silks, manufacture of, ii. 682.
value of, ib.
Buckinghamshire, i. 181.
Buckles, extinction of the manufacture of, i.
697, 698.
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Cambridge, University of, ii. $30-337. Disci-
pline and government, 350. Peculiar charac-
teristic, 551. Routine of duties; examinations,
ib. Smith's prizes, 353. Statutes and officers,
354. Professors and degrees, ib. St. Peter's
College, 355. Clare Hall, ib. Pembroke Col-
lege, ib. Gonville and Caius, ib. Trinity
Hall, ib. Corpus Christi College, ib. King's
ib. Queen's, 356. Catherine Hall, ib. Jesus
College, ib. Christ's, ib. St. John's, ib. Mag-
dalen, ib. Trinity, ib. Emanuel, 357. Sidney
Sussex, ib. Downing, ib. Number of stu-
dents on the books, ib.
Camomile, i. 474.
Canals, introduction of, ii. 54.
Of England, ib.
The Bridgewater, 55. The Grand Trunk, ib.
Junction of, with others, ib. Progress of in-
ternal navigation, 56, The Aire and Calder,
ib. Communication by, of the Thames and
Severn, 188. Kennet and Avon, ib. Extent
of navigation by, ib. Of Scotland, 57. The
Forth and Clyde, ib. Statistics of, ib. The
Union, ib. The Crinan, 58. The Caledonian,
ib. The Don and Dee, ib. The Monkland, ib.
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