but in its most definite sense a poem in which a short narrative is
subjected to simple lyrical treatment. It was, as indicated by its name,
which is related to the Low Latin _ballare_ and O. French _baller_, to
dance, originally a song accompanied by a dance. The ballad, like the
nursery tales and the _Maerchen_, is probably one of the earliest forms of
rhythmic poetic expression, constituting a species of epic in miniature,
out of which by fusion and remoulding larger epics were sometimes shaped.
Their present form is, of course, relatively recent. As in the folk-tales,
so in the ballads of different nations, the resemblances are sufficiently
numerous and close to point to the conclusion that they have often had
their first origin in the same primitive folk-lore or popular tales. But in
any case, excepting a few modern literary ballads of a subtler kind, they
have been the popular expression of the broad human emotions clustering
about some strongly-outlined incidents of war, love, crime, superstition,
or death. It is probable that in the Homeric poems fragments of older
ballads are embedded; but the earliest ballads, properly so called, of
which we have record were the _ballistea_ or dancing-songs of the Romans,
of the kind sung in honour of the deeds of Aurelian in the Sarmatic war by
a chorus of dancing boys. In their less specialized sense of lyric
narratives, their early popularity among the Teutonic race is evidenced by
the testimony of Tacitus, of the Gothic historian Jornandes, and the
Lombard historian Paulus Diaconus; and many appear to have been written
down by order of Charlemagne and used as a means of education. Of the
ballads of this period, however, only a general conception can be formed
from their traces in conglomerates like the _Niebelungenlied_; the more
artificial productions of the Minnesingers and Meistersingers overlying the
more popular ballad until the fifteenth century, when it sprang once more
into vigorous life. A third German ballad period was initiated by Buerger,
under the inspiration of the revived interest in the subject shown in Great
Britain and the publication of the Percy _Reliques_; and the movement was
sustained by Herder, Schiller, Goethe, Heine, Uhland, and others. The
earlier German work is, however, of inferior value to that of Scandinavia,
where, though comparatively few manuscripts have survived, and those not
more than three or four centuries old, a more perfect oral tradition has
rendered it possible to trace the original stock of the twelfth century.
Of the English and Scottish ballads anterior to the thirteenth century
there are few traces beyond the indication that they were abundant, if
indeed anything can be definitely asserted of them earlier than the
fourteenth century. Among the oldest may be placed _The Little Gest of
Robin Hood_, _Hugh of Lincoln_, _Sir Patrick Spens_, and the _Battle of
Otterbourn_. In the fifteenth century specimens multiply rapidly:
ballad-making became in the reign of Henry VIII a fashionable amusement,
the king himself setting the example; and though in the reign of Elizabeth
ballads came into literary disrepute and ballad singers were brought under
the law, yet there was no apparent check upon the rate of their production.
Except perhaps in the north of England and south of Scotland, there was,
however, a marked and increasing tendency to vulgarization as distinct from
the preservation of popular qualities. The value of the better ballads was
lost sight of in the flood of dull, rhythmless, and frequently scurrilous
verse. The modern revival in Britain dates from the publication of Allan
Ramsay's _Evergreen_ and _Tea-table Miscellany_ (1724-7) and of the
selection _Reliques_ made by Bishop Percy from his seventeenth-century MSS.
(1765), a revival not more important for its historic interest than for the
influence which it has exercised upon all subsequent poetry.
The threefold wave discernible in German, if not in British, ballad
history, is equally to be traced in Spain, which alone among the Latinized
countries of Europe has songs of equal age and merit with the British
historic ballads. The principal difference between them is, that for the
most part the Spanish romance is in trochaic, the British ballad in iambic
metre. The ballads of the Cid date from about the end of the twelfth and
beginning of the thirteenth century; and then followed an interval of more
elaborate production, a revival of ballad interest in the sixteenth
century, a new declension, and finally a modern and still-persisting
enthusiasm.
The French poetry of this kind never reached any high degree of perfection,
the romance, farce, and lyric flourishing at the expense of the ballad
proper. Of Italy much the same may be said, though Sicily has supplied a
great store of ballads; and nearly all the Portuguese poetry of this kind
is to be traced to a Spanish origin. The Russians have lyrico-epic poems,
of which some, in old Russian, are excellent, and the Serbians are still in
the ballad-producing stage of civilization. Modern Greece has also its
store of ballads, published in several collections. In Greece, Russia, and
elsewhere the old habit of improvising song as an accompaniment to dance
still exists.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Professor Child, _English and Scottish Popular
Ballads_; Professor Gummere, _The Beginnings of Poetry_; Sir W. Scott,
_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_ (edited by T. F. Henderson); T. F.
Henderson, _The Ballad in Literature_.
BALLADE (bal-[.a]d'), the earlier and modern French spelling of _ballad_,
but now limited in its use to a distinct verse-form introduced into English
literature of late years from the French, and chiefly used by writers of
_vers-de-societe_. It consists of three stanzas of eight lines each, with
an _envoy_ or closing stanza of four lines. The rhymes, which are not more
than three, follow each other in the stanzas thus: a, b, a, b; b, c, b, c,
and in the envoy, b, c, b, c; and the same line serves as a refrain to each
of the stanzas and to the envoy. There are other varieties, but this may be
regarded as the strictest, according to the precedent of Villon and Marot.
BAL'LANTYNE, James, the printer of Sir Walter Scott's works, born at Kelso
1772, died at Edinburgh 1833. Successively a solicitor and a printer in his
native town, at Scott's suggestion he removed to Edinburgh, where the high
perfection to which he had brought the art of printing, and his connection
with Scott, secured him a large trade. The printing firm of James
Ballantyne & Co. included Scott, James Ballantyne, and his brother John
(who died in 1821). For many years he conducted the _Edinburgh Weekly
Journal_. His firm was involved in the bankruptcy of Constable & Co., by
which Scott's fortunes were wrecked, but Ballantyne was continued by the
creditors' trustee in the literary management of the printing-house. He
survived Scott only about four months.
BALLANTYNE, Robert Michael, writer of books for boys, born at Edinburgh
1825, died in Rome 1894, was a nephew of James Ballantyne, the printer of
Sir Walter Scott's works. He was for some years in North America in the
service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and his experiences there supplied him
with materials for some of his earlier books, especially _Hudson's Bay, or
Life in the Wilds of North America_ (1848); _The Young Fur Traders_; and
_Ungava, a Tale of Eskimo Land_. For many years he continued to produce
popular and instructive boys' books, dealing with scenes and subjects of
the most varied kind; and he also published a volume entitled _Personal
Reminiscences of Book-Making_ (1893).
BALLARAT', or BALLAARAT, an Australian town in Victoria, chief centre of
the gold-mining industry of the colony, and next in importance to
Melbourne, from which it is distant W.N.W. about 60 miles direct. It
consists of two distinct municipalities, Ballarat West and Ballarat East,
separated by the Yarrowee Creek, and has many handsome buildings, and all
the institutions of a progressive and flourishing city, including hospital,
mechanics' institute and library, free public library, Anglican and Roman
Catholic cathedrals, &c. Gold was first discovered in 1851, and the
extraordinary richness of the field soon attracted hosts of miners. The
surface diggings having been exhausted, the precious metal is now got from
greater depths, and there are mines as deep as some coal-pits, the gold
being obtained by crushing the auriferous quartz. There are also foundries,
woollen mills, flour-mills, breweries and distilleries, &c. Pop. 42,252.
BAL'LAST, a term applied (1) to heavy matter, as stone, sand, iron, or
water placed in the bottom of a ship or other vessel to sink it in the
water to such a depth as to enable it to carry sufficient sail without
oversetting. (2) The sand placed in bags in the car of a balloon to steady
it and to enable the aeronaut to lighten the balloon by throwing part of it
out. (3) The material used to fill up the space between the rails on a
railway in order to make it firm and solid.
BALL'ATER, a village and favourite summer resort in Aberdeenshire, on the
Dee, at the terminus of the Deeside Railway, about 43 miles from Aberdeen,
a centre from which Balmoral, Lochnagar, Braemar, &c., are easily reached.
The Pananich chalybeate springs are adjacent. Pop. (1921), 1542.
[Illustration: Ball-cock
1. Cistern with ball-cock attached: _a_, rising main; _b_, supply to house.
2. Outside view of valve (cistern full). 3. Piston with rubber disk. 4.
Section of valve (cistern full). 5. Section of valve with piston pulled
down.]
BALL-COCK, a kind of self-acting stopcock opened and shut by means of a
hollow sphere or ball of metal attached to the end of a lever connected
with the cock. Such cocks are often employed to regulate the supply of
water to cisterns. The ball floats on the water in the cistern by its
buoyancy, and rises and sinks as the water rises and sinks, shutting off
the water in the one case and letting it on in the other.
BAL'LENTYNE, or BELLENDEN, John, a Scottish poet; was a native of Lothian,
and appears to have been born towards the close of the fifteenth century.
He was in the service of James V from the king's earliest years, and at his
request he translated Boece's _Latin History_, which had been published at
Paris in 1526, the translation being printed in 1536. As a reward he was
made Archdeacon of Moray and a canon of Ross. He was a bitter opponent of
the Reformation, and is said to have died at Rome in 1550.
BALLET (bal'[=a]), a species of dance, usually forming an interlude in
theatrical performances, but principally confined to opera. Its object is
to represent, by mimic movements and dances, actions, characters,
sentiments, passions, and feelings, in which several dancers perform
together. The ballet is an invention of modern times, though pantomimic
dances were not unknown to the ancients. The dances frequently introduced
into operas seldom deserve the name ballet, as they usually do not
represent any action, but are destined only to give the dancers an
opportunity of showing their skill. The modern ballet was developed and
perfected in France, and introduced into England in the eighteenth century.
From an artistic point of view, the modern ballet is often a very low-class
entertainment.
[Illustration: Ball-flower]
BALL-FLOWER, an architectural ornament resembling a ball placed in a
circular flower, the three petals of which form a cup round it; usually
inserted in a hollow moulding, and generally characteristic of the
Decorated Gothic style of the fourteenth century.
BALLIA, a town of India, in the United Provinces, on the Ganges, the
administrative head-quarters of a district of the same name. Pop. 16,680.
BALLINA', a town and river-port, Ireland, County Mayo, on both banks of the
Moy, about 5 miles above its mouth in Killala Bay, with a considerable
local and also a little coasting and foreign trade. Pop. 4662.
BALLINASLOE' (-sl[=o]), a town, Ireland, in Galway and Roscommon counties,
15 miles south-west of Athlone, on both sides of the Suck, noted for its
cattle fair, from 5th till 9th Oct., the most important in Ireland. The
town contains remains of a castle of Elizabethan date. Pop. 5170.
[Illustration: Ballista as used by the Romans]
BALLIS'TA, a machine used in military operations by the ancients for
hurling heavy missiles, thus serving in some degree the purpose of the
modern cannon. The motive power appears to have been obtained by the
torsion of ropes, fibres, catgut, or hair. They are said to have sometimes
had an effective range of a quarter of a mile, and to have thrown stones
weighing as much as 300 lb. The ballistae differed from the _catapultae_,
in that the latter were used for throwing darts.
BALLIS'TIC PENDULUM, an apparatus for ascertaining the velocity of military
projectiles, and consequently the force of fired gunpowder. A piece of
ordnance is fired against bags of sand supported in a strong case or frame
suspended so as to swing like a pendulum. The arc through which it vibrates
is shown by an index, and the amount of vibration forms a measure of the
force or velocity of the ball.
BALLISTICS, the science of the motion of projectiles. _Interior ballistics_
deals with the motion of the shot while inside the gun, and with the
results of the explosion of the charge. _Exterior ballistics_ comprises a
study of the trajectory or path of the projectile in the air, and the
causes which affect the shape of this path, such as the density of the air,
shape and weight of the shot, rifling of the barrel, angle of fire and
speed of the projectile. If the air-resistance be neglected, it can be
shown that the trajectory is a _parabola_. This result, given by Galileo,
is of little use in gunnery except when taken along with a knowledge of
air-resistance. Robins, in 1742, first measured the muzzle-speed of the
shot by firing into a ballistic pendulum and noting the swing of the
pendulum. Wheatstone, in 1840, suggested measuring the speed by causing the
shot to cut successive wire screens, each of which formed part of an
electric circuit. The Boulange chronograph is a modern development of this
idea. Rev. F. Bashforth's experiments, carried out between 1865 and 1880,
form the basis of our knowledge of air-resistance. He found that the latter
was proportional to the square of the diameter of the shot, and that,
although the resistance is expressible in terms of a power of the speed,
this power changes with the speed. The air-resistance is a maximum at about
the speed at which sound travels, viz. 1100 feet per second. Artillerists
employ ballistic tables based on the results obtained by Bashforth and
others, by means of which, given the kind of projectile, its initial
velocity, and angle of fire, they can calculate the range and time of
flight of the projectile. See _Gunnery_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Bashforth, _The
Motion of Projectiles_; J. M. Ingalls, _Interior Ballistics_; P.
Charbonnier, _Balistique Exterieure_.
BALLOON-FISH (_Tetra[)o]don line[=a]tus_), ord. Plectognathi, a curious
tropical fish that can inflate itself so as to resemble a balloon.
BALLOONS, the most elementary form of lighter-than-air air-craft,
unprovided with any means of propulsion or steering. Deriving its power of
sustentation from the gas contained in the gas-bag, the free balloon is
spherical in form. It is usually filled with coal-gas, which has a
lifting-force of 35 lb. per 1000 cu. feet. Varying in size from 5000 to
20,000 cu. foot capacity, the gas-bag is covered with a 'net', from which
is hung the 'basket' for the accommodation of the aeronaut, or pilot, and
passengers. The spherical gas-bag has at the bottom an elongation, known as
the 'neck', which is open to the air in order that the gas may escape as it
expands during the rise into the rarefied atmosphere of the upper air. A
'valve' is fitted at the top, which may be opened by a cord from the basket
when it is desired to allow gas to escape in order to descend. Bags
containing sand are carried in order that ballast may be dropped when it is
desired to rise. A free balloon is completely at the mercy of the wind, and
simply drifts where the wind takes it. Balloons are usually constructed of
cotton fabric, though occasionally of gold-beater's skin, in which case
they are commonly filled with hydrogen in place of coal-gas. A 'trail-rope'
is usually carried, with which the practice of 'trailing' may be effected
over open country or the sea. This consists in allowing the end of the
trail-rope to drag on the ground. As the balloon rises it raises more of
the rope off the ground, the additional weight bringing it down again. _Per
contra_, as it falls the weight of the trail-rope is taken by the ground
and so lightens the balloon. This tends to maintain the balloon at a
uniform height. The greatest height ever attained by a balloon is 37,000
feet, reached by Glaisher and Coxwell in Sept., 1862. Both aeronauts nearly
perished from the effects of the cold and rarefaction of the atmosphere. In
1895 Parseval and Siegsfield, two officers of the Prussian army, invented
the 'Drachen-ballon' or 'Kite-balloon' (Fr. _Saucisse_). This consists of a
captive balloon comprising an elongated gas-bag fitted with an automatic
air-chamber, or 'ballonet', for maintaining the pressure, and automatic
stabilizers to prevent yawing off the wind, rolling from side to side, and
pitching horizontally. This was improved upon by Captain Caquot of the
French army, who in 1916 produced an improved type, offering many
advantages, which was used in large numbers by the British, French, and
American armies and navies during the Great European War of 1914-8. See
also _Aeronautics_, _Air-ships_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: _British Military Manual of
Ballooning_; Rev. J. M. Bacon, _The Dominion of the Air_; H. Coxwell, _My
Life and Balloon Experiences_; J. Glaisher, _Travels in the Air_; G.
Tissandier, _Histoire de mes Ascensions_.
BAL'LOT, VOTING BY, signifies literally voting by means of little balls
(called by the French _ballottes_), usually of different colours, which are
put into a box in such a manner as to enable the voter, if he chooses, to
conceal for whom or for what he gives his suffrage. The method is adopted
by most clubs in the election of their members--a white ball indicating
assent, a black ball dissent. Hence, when an applicant is rejected, he is
said to be _blackballed_. The term voting by ballot is also applied in a
general way to any method of secret voting, as, for instance, when a person
gives his vote by means of a ticket bearing the name of the candidate whom
he wishes to support. In this sense vote by ballot is the mode adopted in
electing the members of legislative assemblies in most countries, as well
as the members of various other bodies. In ancient Greece and Rome the
ballot was in common use. In Britain it had long been advocated in the
election of members of Parliament and of municipal corporations, but it was
only introduced by an Act passed in 1872.
BALLYME'NA, a town of Ireland, County Antrim, 22 miles from Belfast, with a
considerable trade in linens and linen yarns, the manufacture of which is
carried on to a great extent. Pop. 11,380.
BALLYMO'NEY, a town of Ireland, County Antrim, 38 miles N.W. of Belfast;
linen, chemicals, tanning, and brewing. Pop. 3100.
BALLYSHAN'NON, a small seaport of Ireland, County Donegal, on the Erne,
about 1 mile from the S.E. shore of Donegal Bay. Pop. 2471.
BALM (baem; _Melissa officin[=a]lis_), a plant, belonging to the Labiatae;,
formerly in great repute for its medicinal virtues. A native of the south
of Europe, it is cultivated in English gardens. It is a herbaceous
perennial, with an erect branching stem about 2 feet high. The leaves arise
with the flower-stems from a thick joint at the extremity of the stalk. The
flowers are whitish; they are produced in a round terminal umbel, and
appear in June. The stems and leaves are slightly stimulating and tonic.
They contain an essential oil of a yellowish colour and with a fragrant
smell, called oil of balm.
BALM OF GILEAD, the exudation of a tree, _Balsamodendron gileadense_, nat.
ord. Amyridaceae, a native of Arabia Felix, and also obtained from the
closely-allied species _Balsamodendron Opobals[)a]mum_. The leaves of the
former tree yield when bruised a strong aromatic scent; and the balm of
Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca or of Syria, is obtained from it by
making an incision in its trunk. It has a yellowish or greenish colour, a
warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and an acidulous fragrant smell. It is
valued as an odoriferous unguent and cosmetic by the Turks. It is
frequently adulterated for market.--The _balm of Gilead fir_, which
produces a turpentine called Canada balsam, is the _Abies balsamif[)e]ra_,
a North American species, whose range is from Virginia to Canada. The name
is derived from _Jeremiah_, viii, 22.
BALMAIN', a populous western suburb of Sydney, N.S.W., with extensive docks
and various industrial works. Pop. 33,000.
BALMER'INO, Arthur Elphinstone, Lord, a Scottish Jacobite, born 1688,
executed 1746. He took part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and fought
at Sheriffmuir. Having joined the young Pretender in 1745, he was taken
prisoner at Culloden, tried at Westminster, found guilty, and beheaded. His
title was from Balmerino in Fife.
BALMOR'AL CASTLE, a private residence of the British sovereign, beautifully
situated on the S. bank of the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, 45 miles W. by S. of
Aberdeen. It stands in the midst of fine and varied mountain scenery, is
built of granite in the Scottish baronial style, mainly in two connected
blocks, and has an imposing appearance. The estate, purchased by the Prince
Consort in 1852 and bequeathed to Queen Victoria, extends to about 40,000
acres, mostly deer forest.
BALNAVES', Henry, of Halhill, a Scottish reformer, was born at Kirkcaldy,
educated at St. Andrews, and became a lord of session and a member of the
Scottish Parliament in 1538. He was one of the commissioners appointed in
1543 to treat of the proposed marriage between Edward VI and Mary. In 1547
he was one of the prisoners taken in the castle of St. Andrews and exiled
to France. Recalled in 1554, he busily engaged in the establishment of the
reformed faith, assisted in revising the _Book of Discipline_, and
accompanied Murray to England in connection with Darnley's murder. He died
in 1579.
BALRAMPUR. See _Bulrampur_.
BALSA, a kind of raft or float used on the coasts and rivers of Peru and
other parts of South America for fishing, for landing goods and passengers
through a heavy surf, and for other purposes where buoyancy is chiefly
wanted. It is formed generally of two inflated seal-skins, connected by a
sort of platform on which the fisherman, passengers, or goods are placed.
BAL'SAM, the common name of succulent plants of the genus Impatiens, family
Balsaminaceae, having beautiful irregular flowers, cultivated in gardens
and green-houses. _Impatiens balsam[=i]na_, native of the East Indies, is a
common cultivated species. _I. noli-me-tangere_ grows wild in Britain, but
is not native. See _Impatiens_.
BALSAM, an aromatic, resinous substance, flowing spontaneously or by
incision from certain plants. A great variety of substances pass under this
name. But in chemistry the term is confined to such vegetable juices as
consist of resins mixed with volatile oils, and yield the volatile oil on
distillation. The resins are produced from the oils by oxidation. A balsam
is thus intermediate between a volatile oil and a resin. It is soluble in
alcohol and ether, and capable of yielding benzoic acid. The balsams are
either liquid or more or less solid; as, for example, the balm of Gilead,
and the balsams of copaiba, Peru, and Tolu. Benzoin, dragon's-blood, and
storax are not true balsams, though sometimes called so. The balsams are
used in perfumery, medicine, and the arts. See _Copaiba_, &c.--_Balsam of
Gilead_ or _of Mecca_, balm of Gilead (q.v.).--_Canada balsam_. See _Canada
balsam_.
BALSAM FIR. See _Balm of Gilead_.
BALSA'MO, Joseph. See _Cagliostro, Count_.
BALSAMODEN'DRON, a genus of trees or bushes, ord. Amyridaceae, species of
which yield such balsamic or resinous substances as balm of Gilead,
bdellium, myrrh, &c.
BALTA, a town in the Ukraine, government of Podolia, on the Kodema, an
affluent of the Bug, 115 miles N.N.W. of Odessa. Pop. 18,450.
BALTIC, BATTLE OF THE. See _Copenhagen_; _Parker, Sir Hyde_.
BALTIC PROVINCES, a term commonly given to the former Russian governments
of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia (q.v.).
BALTIC SEA, an inland sea or large gulf connected with the North Sea,
washing the coasts of Denmark, Germany, Russia, and Sweden; nearly 900
miles long, extending to 200 broad; superficial extent, together with the
Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, 171,743 sq. miles. Its greatest depth is 126
fathoms; mean, 44 fathoms. A chain of islands separates the southern part
from the northern, or Gulf of Bothnia. The water of the Baltic is colder
and clearer than that of the ocean: it contains a smaller proportion of
salt, and the ice obstructs the navigation three or four months in the
year. Among the rivers that enter it are the Neva, Dwina, Oder, Vistula,
and Niemen. Islands: Samsoe, Moen, Bornholm, Langeland, Laaland, which
belong to Denmark (besides Zealand and Funen); Gottland and Oeland,
belonging to Sweden; Ruegen, belonging to Prussia; Dagoe and Oesel,
belonging to Russia; and the Aland Islands. The Sound, the Great and the
Little Belt lead from the Kattegat into the Baltic. The Baltic and North
Sea were long connected by the Eider and a canal from it to the
neighbourhood of Kiel, but this has been superseded by the great ship
canal, starting from the Elbe near its mouth and ending in Kiel Bay.