This famous and important naval victory was won off the town of Dover by
the ships of the Cinque Ports on the 21st of August 1217, during the
minority of King Henry III. The barons, who were in arms against his
father King John, had called Louis, son of Philip Augustus, king of the
French, to their aid. Having been recently defeated in Lincoln, they
were hard pressed, and reinforcements were sent to them from Calais in a
fleet commanded by a pirate and mercenary soldier called Eustace the
Monk. His real name is uncertain, but according to the chronicle of
Lanercost it was Matthew. He passed the Straits of Dover with a numerous
flotilla laden with military machines and stores, and also carrying many
knights and soldiers. The Monk's fleet was seen from Dover, where the
regent, Hubert de Burgh, lay with a naval force of the Cinque Ports,
said to have been very small. Sixteen vessels of large size for the
time, and a number of smaller craft, is said to have been their total
strength. But medieval estimates of numbers are never to be trusted, and
the strength of the Cinque Port squadron was probably diminished to
exalt the national glory. It put to sea, and by hugging the wind gained
the weather gage of the French adventurer. Eustace is said to have been
under the impression that they meant to attack Calais in his absence,
and to have derided them because he had left the town well guarded. When
they were to windward of his fleet the Cinque Port ships bore down on
the enemy. As they approached they threw unslaked lime in the air and
the wind blew it in the faces of the French. This form of attack, and
the flights of arrows discharged by the English (which flew with the
wind), produced confusion in the crowded benches of the French vessels,
which in most cases must have been little more than open boats. It is
further said that in some cases at least the English vessels were
"bearded," that is to say, strengthened by iron bands across the bows
for ramming, and that they sank many of the French. The Monk was
certainly defeated, and his fleet was entirely scattered, sunk or taken.
His own vessel was captured. Eustace, who had concealed himself in the
bilge, was dragged out. In answer to his appeals for quarter and
promises to pay ransom, he was told by Richard, the bastard son of King
John, that he was a traitor who would not be allowed to deceive more
men. His head was struck off by Richard, and was sent round the ports on
a pike. The Cinque Port seamen returned in triumph, towing their prizes,
after throwing the common soldiers overboard, and taking the knights to
ransom according to the custom of the age.
The political importance of the battle was very great, for it gave the
death-blow to the cause of the barons who supported Louis, and it fixed
Henry III. on the throne. But the defeat and death of the Monk was widely
regarded as in a peculiar sense a victory over the powers of evil. The man
became within a few years after his death the hero of many legends of
piracy and necromancy. It was said that after leaving the cloister he
studied the black art in Toledo, which had a great reputation in the
middle ages as a school of witchcraft. A French poem written seemingly
within a generation after his death represents him as a wizard. In a prose
narrative discovered and printed by M. Francisque Michel, it is said that
he made his ship invisible by magic spells. A brother wizard in the
English fleet, by name Stephen Crabbe, detected him while he was invisible
to others. The bold and patriotic Crabbe contrived to board the bewitched
flagship, and was seen apparently laying about him with an axe on the
water--which the spectators took to be a proof either that he was mad, or
that this was the devil in his shape. At last he struck off the head of
Eustace, upon which the spell was broken, and the ship appeared. Crabbe
was torn to pieces--presumably by the familiar spirits of the Monk--and
the fragments were scattered over the water. Saint Bartholomew, whose
feast is on the 21st of August, came to encourage the English by his
presence and his voice.
[Illustration: Dover]
Ascertainable fact concerning Eustace is less picturesque, but enough is
known to show that he was an adventurous and unscrupulous scoundrel. In
his youth he was a monk, and left the cloister to claim an inheritance
from the count of Boulogne. Not having received satisfaction he became a
freebooter on land and sea, and mercenary soldier. He is frequently
mentioned in the Pipe, Patent and Close Rolls. For a time he served King
John, but when the king made friends with the count of Boulogne, he fled
abroad, and entered the service of the French prince Louis and his
father Philip Augustus. Chroniclers lavish on him the titles of
"archipirata," "vir flagitiosissimus et nequissimus," and poets made him
an associate of the devil.
The evidence concerning Eustace is collected by Herren Wendelin
Forster and Johann Trost, in their edition of the French poem
"Wistasse le moine" (Halle, 1891). See for the battle Sir N. Harris
Nicolas, _History of the Royal Navy_ (London, 1847).
DOVER, a city and the county seat of Strafford county, New Hampshire,
U.S.A., on the Cochecho river, at the head of navigation, 10 m. N.W. of
Portsmouth. Pop. (1890) 12,790; (1900) 13,207, of whom 3298 were
foreign-born; (1910 census) 13,247. Land area, 26.4 sq m. It is at the
intersection of two branches of the Boston & Maine railway, and is
served by several interurban electric lines. The street plan is
irregular. Dover has a fine city hall of red brick and freestone; a
public library containing (1907) 34,000 volumes, the Wentworth hospital;
the Wentworth home for the aged, a children's and an orphans' home. The
Strafford Savings Bank is said to be the largest and oldest savings
institution in the state. Dover has long had a considerable commerce,
both by rail and by water, that by water being chiefly in coal and
building materials. The navigation of the Cochecho river has been
greatly improved by the Federal government, at a cost between 1829 and
1907 of about $300,000, and in 1909 there was a navigable channel, 60-75
ft. wide and 7 ft. deep at mean low water, from Dover to the mouth of
the river; the mean range of tides is 6.8 ft. The Cochecho river falls
31-1/2 ft. within the city limits and furnishes water-power for
factories; among the manufactures are textiles, boots and shoes, leather
belting, sash, doors and blinds, carriages, machinery and bricks. In
1905 Dover ranked fourth among the manufacturing cities of the state,
and first in manufactures of woollens; the value of the city's total
factory product in that year was $6,042,901. Dover is one of the two
oldest cities in the state. In May 1623 a settlement was established by
Edward Hilton on Dover Point, about 5 m. S.E. of the Cochecho Falls; the
present name was adopted in 1639, and with the development of
manufacturing and trading interests the population gradually removed
nearer the falls; Hilton and his followers were Anglicans, but in 1633
they were joined by several Puritan families under Captain Thomas
Wiggin, who settled on Dover Neck (1 m. above Dover Point), which for
100 years was the business centre of the town. As the settlement was
outside the jurisdiction of any province, and as trouble arose between
the two sects, a plantation covenant was drawn up and signed in 1640 by
forty-one of the inhabitants. Dissensions, however, continued, and in
1641, by the will of the majority, Dover passed under the jurisdiction
of Massachusetts and so remained for nearly half a century. The town,
between 1675 and 1725, suffered greatly from Indian attacks,
particularly from that of the 28th of June 1689 at Cochecho Falls. Dover
was first chartered as a city in 1855. Within the original territory of
the town were included Newington, set off in 1713, Somersworth (1729),
Durham (1732), Medbury (1755), Lee, set off from Durham in 1766, and
Rollinsford, set off from Somersworth in 1849.
See Jeremy Belknap, _History of New Hampshire_ (Philadelphia,
1784-1792); and _Rev. Dr A. H. Quint's Historical Memoranda of Persons
and Places in Old Dover, N.H._, edited by John Scales (Dover, 1900).
DOVER, a town of Morris county, New Jersey, U.S.A., on the Rockaway
river and the Morris canal, about 40 m. by rail W.N.W. of Hoboken. Pop.
(1900) 5938, of whom 947 were foreign-born; (1905) 6353; (1910) 7468.
The area of the town is 1.72 sq. m. Dover is at the junction of the main
line and the Morris & Essex division of the Delaware, Lackawanna &
Western railway (which has large repair shops here), and is also served
by the High Bridge branch of the Central of New Jersey, and by an
electric line connecting with neighbouring towns. The town is situated
about 570 ft. above sea-level. Building stone, used extensively for
railway bridges, and iron ore abound in the vicinity. The river
furnishes good water-power, and the town has various manufactures,
including stoves and ranges, boilers, bar iron, rivets, steel castings,
rock drills, air compressors, silk hose and underwear, organzine or
thrown silk, and overalls. The waterworks are owned by the town, water
being obtained from wells varying in depth from 193 to 213 ft. Dover was
settled as early as 1748, and was separated from Randolph township and
incorporated as a town in 1869.
DOVERCOURT, a watering-place in the Harwich parliamentary division of
Essex, England, immediately S.W. of Harwich, with a station between
Parkeston Quay and Harwich town on the Great Eastern railway, 70 m. N.E.
by E. from London. Pop. (1901) 3894. The esplanade and sea-wall front
the North Sea, and there is a fine expanse of sand affording good
bathing. There is also a chalybeate spa. The scenery of the neighbouring
Orwell and Stour estuaries is pleasant. The church, which stands inland
in the old village distinguished as Upper Dovercourt, is Early English
and later; it formerly possessed a miraculous rood which became an
object of pilgrimage of wide repute. It is said to have been stolen and
burnt in 1532, three of the four thieves being subsequently taken and
hanged.
DOW, LORENZO (1777-1834), American preacher, noted for his
eccentricities of dress and manner, was born at Coventry, Connecticut,
on the 16th of October 1777. He was much troubled in his youth by
religious perplexities, but ultimately joined the Methodists, and in
1798 was appointed a preacher "on trial" in a New York circuit. In the
following year, however, he crossed the Atlantic and preached as a
missionary to the Catholics of Ireland, and thereafter was never
connected officially with the ministry of the Methodist Church, though
he remained essentially a Methodist in doctrine. Everywhere, in America
and Great Britain, he attracted great crowds to hear and see him, and he
was often persecuted as well as admired. In 1805 he visited England,
introduced the system of camp meetings, and thus led the way to the
formation of the Primitive Methodist Society. Dow's enthusiasm sustained
him through the incessant labours of more than thirty years, during
which he preached in almost all parts of the United States. His later
efforts were directed chiefly against the Jesuits; indeed he was in
general a vigorous opponent of Roman Catholicism. He died in Georgetown,
District of Columbia, on the 2nd of February 1834. Among his
publications are: _Polemical Works_ (1814); _The Stranger in Charleston,
or the Trial and Confession of Lorenzo Dow_ (1822); _A Short Account of
a Long Travel; with Beauties of Wesley_ (1823); and the _History of a
Cosmopolite; or the Four Volumes of the Rev. Lorenzo Dow's Journal,
concentrated in One, containing his Experience and Travels from
Childhood to 1814_ (1814; many later editions); this volume also
contains "All the Polemical Works of Lorenzo." The edition of 1854 was
entitled _The Dealings of God, Man, and the Devil as exemplified in the
Life, Experience and Travels of Lorenzo Dow_.
DOW, NEAL (1804-1897), American temperance reformer, was born at
Portland, Maine, on the 20th of March 1804. His parents were Quakers and
he was educated at the Friends' School in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He
subsequently became a merchant in his native city and rose to a position
of importance in its business and political life. His chief interest,
however, was in the temperance question, and he early attracted
attention as an ardent champion of the prohibition of the sale of
intoxicating drinks. He drafted the drastic Maine prohibitory law of
1851. He was mayor of Portland in 1851 and in 1855, and was a member of
the Maine legislature in 1858-1859. Early in the Civil War he became
colonel of the 13th Maine Volunteer Infantry. He served in General B. F.
Butler's New Orleans expedition, was commissioned brigadier-general of
volunteers in April 1862, and subsequently commanded for a time the
department of Florida. He was twice wounded in the attack on Port
Hudson, on the 27th of May 1863, and was taken prisoner, remaining eight
months in Libby and other prisons before he was exchanged. After the war
he devoted a great part of his time and energy to the extension of the
prohibition movement in America and England. Through his exertions the
prohibitory amendment was added to the Maine constitution in 1884. In
1880 he was the candidate of the National Prohibition Party for
president, polling 10,305 votes. He died at Portland on the 2nd of
October 1897.
His _Reminiscences_ were published at Portland in 1898.
DOWAGER (from the Old Fr. _douagiere_, mod. _douairiere_), strictly, a
widow in the enjoyment of dower. "Dowager" is also applied to widows of
high rank to distinguish them from the wives of their sons, as
queen-dowager, dowager-duchess, &c. The title was first used in England
of Catherine of Aragon, widow of Arthur, prince of Wales, who was styled
princess dowager till her marriage with Henry VIII. By transference the
word is used of an elderly lady.
DOWDEN, EDWARD (1843- ), Irish critic and poet, son of John Wheeler
Dowden, merchant and landowner, was born at Cork on the 3rd of May 1843,
being three years junior to his brother John, who became bishop of
Edinburgh in 1886. His literary tastes were shown early, in a series of
essays written at the age of twelve. His home education was continued at
Queen's College, Cork, and Trinity College, Dublin; at the latter
university he had a distinguished career, becoming president of the
Philosophical Society, and winning the vice-chancellor's prize for
English verse and prose, and the first senior moderatorship in ethics
and logic. In 1867 he was elected professor of oratory and English
literature in Dublin University. His first book, _Shakespeare, his Mind
and Art_ (1875), was a revision of a course of lectures, and made him
widely known as a critic, being translated into German and Russian; and
his _Poems_ (1876) went into a second edition. His _Shakespeare Primer_
(1877) was also translated into Italian and German. In 1878 he was
awarded the Cunningham gold medal of the Royal Irish Academy "for his
literary writings, especially in the field of Shakespearian criticism."
Later works by him in this field were his _Shakespeare's Sonnets_
(1881), _Passionate Pilgrim_ (1883), _Introduction to Shakespeare_
(1893), _Hamlet_ (1899), _Romeo and Juliet_ (1900), _Cymbeline_ (1903),
and his article (_National Review_, July 1902) on "Shakespeare as a Man
of Science," criticizing T. E. Webb's _Mystery of William Shakespeare_.
His critical essays "Studies in Literature" (1878), "Transcripts and
Studies" (1888), "New Studies in Literature" (1895) showed a profound
knowledge of the currents and tendencies of thought in various ages and
countries; but it was his _Life of Shelley_ (1886) that made him best
known to the public at large. In 1900 he edited an edition of Shelley's
works. Other books by him which indicate his interests in literature are
his _Southey_ (in the "English Men of Letters" series, 1880), his
edition of _Southey's Correspondence with Caroline Bowles_ (1881), and
_Select Poems of Southey_ (1895), his _Correspondence of Sir Henry
Taylor_ (1888), his edition of _Wordsworth's Poetical Works_ (1892) and
of his _Lyrical Ballads_ (1890), his _French Revolution and English
Literature_ (1897; lectures given at Princeton University in 1896),
_History of French Literature_ (1897), _Puritan and Anglican_ (1900),
_Robert Browning_ (1904) and _Michel de Montaigne_ (1905). His devotion
to Goethe led to his succeeding Max Muller in 1888 as president of the
English Goethe Society. In 1889 he became the first Taylorian lecturer
at Oxford, and from 1892 to 1896 was Clark lecturer at Trinity College,
Cambridge. To his sagacity in research are due, among other matters of
literary interest, the first account of Carlyle's "Lectures on periods
of European culture"; the identification of Shelley as the author of a
review (in _The Critical Review_ of December 1814) of a lost romance by
Hogg; description of Shelley's "Philosophical View of Reform"; a MS.
diary of Fabre D'Eglantine; and a record by Dr Wilhelm Weissenborn of
Goethe's last days and death. He also discovered a "Narrative of a
Prisoner of War under Napoleon" (published in _Blackwood's Magazine_),
an unknown pamphlet by Bishop Berkeley, some unpublished writings of
Hayley relating to Cowper, and a unique copy of the _Tales of Terror_.
His wide sympathies and scholarly methods made his influence on
criticism both sound and stimulating, and his own ideals are well
described in his essay on "The Interpretation of Literature" in his
_Transcripts and Studies_. As commissioner of education in Ireland
(1896-1901), trustee of the National Library of Ireland, secretary of
the Irish Liberal Union and vice-president of the Irish Unionist
Alliance, he enforced his view that literature should not be divorced
from practical life. He married twice, first (1866) Mary Clerke, and
secondly (1895) Elizabeth Dickinson West, daughter of the dean of St
Patrick's.
DOWDESWELL, WILLIAM (1721-1775), English politician, was a son of
William Dowdeswell of Pull Court, Bushley, Worcestershire, and was
educated at Westminster school, at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the
university of Leiden. He became member of parliament for the family
borough of Tewkesbury in 1747, retaining this seat until 1754, and from
1761 until his death he was one of the representatives of
Worcestershire. Becoming prominent among the Whigs, Dowdeswell was made
chancellor of the exchequer in 1765 under the marquess of Rockingham,
and his short tenure of this position appears to have been a successful
one, he being in Lecky's words "a good financier, but nothing more." To
the general astonishment he refused to abandon his friends and to take
office under Lord Chatham, who succeeded Rockingham in August 1766.
Dowdeswell then led the Rockingham party in the House of Commons, taking
an active part in debate until his death at Nice on the 6th of February
1775. The highly eulogistic epitaph on his monument at Bushley was
written by Edmund Burke.
DOWER (through the Old Fr. _douaire_ from late Lat. _dotarium_,
classical Lat. _dos_, dowry), in law, the life interest of the widow in
a third part of her husband's lands. There were originally five kinds of
dower: (1) at common law; (2) by custom; (3) _ad ostium ecclesiae_, or
at the church porch; (4) _ex assensu patris_; (5) _de la plus belle_.
The last was a conveyance of tenure by knight service, and was abolished
in 1660, by the act which did away with old tenures. Dower _ad ostium
ecclesiae_, by which the bride was dowered at the church porch (where
all marriages used formerly to take place), and dower _ex assensu
patris_, by the father of the bridegroom, though long obsolete, were
formally abolished by the Dower Act 1834. Dower is governed in the
United Kingdom, so far as women married after the 1st of January 1834
are concerned, by the Dower Act 1834, and under it only attaches on the
husband's death to the lands which he actually possessed for an estate
of inheritance at the time of his death. It must be claimed within
twelve years of the time of its accrual, but only six years' arrears are
recoverable. The wife is also entitled to dower out of equitable
estates, but joint estates are exempt. By the act the wife's dower is
placed completely under her husband's control. It does not attach to any
land actually disposed of by him in his lifetime or by his will, nor to
any land from which he has declared by deed his wife shall not be
entitled to dower. He may also defeat her right, either as to any
particular land or to all his lands, by a declaration in his will; while
it is subject to all the deceased husband's debts and contracts, and to
any partial estates which he may have created during his life or by his
will. A widow tenant in dower may make leases for twenty-one years under
the Settled Estates Act 1878. Free-bench is an analogous right in regard
to copyhold land; it does not fall within the Dower Act 1834, and varies
with the custom of each manor. At common law, and prior to the act of
1834, dower was of a very different nature. The wife's right attached,
while the husband was still living, to any land whereof he was solely
seised in possession (excluding equitable and joint estates) for an
estate of inheritance at any time during the continuance of the
marriage, provided that any child the wife might have had could have
been heir to the same, even though no child was actually born. When once
this right had attached it adhered to the lands, notwithstanding any
sale or devise the husband might make; nor was it liable for his debts.
In this way dower proved an obstacle to the free alienation of land, for
it was necessary for a husband wishing to make a valid conveyance to
obtain the consent of his wife releasing her right to dower. This
release was only effected by a fine, the wife being separately examined.
Often, by reason of the expense involved, the wife's concurrence was not
obtained, and thus the title of the purchaser was defective during the
wife's lifetime. The acceptance of a jointure by the wife before
marriage was, however, destructive of dower, if after marriage she was
put to her election between it and dower. By the ingenuity of the old
conveyancers, devices, known as "uses to bar dower" (the effect of which
was that the purchaser never had at any time an estate of inheritance in
possession), were found to prevent dower attaching to newly purchased
lands, and so to enable the owner to give a clear title, without the
need of the wife's concurrence, in the event of his wishing, in his
turn, to convey the land. All this was, however, swept away by the Dower
Act 1834, and a purchaser of land no longer need trouble himself to
inquire whether the dower of the wife of the vendor has been barred, or
to insist on her concurrence in a fine. (H. S. S.)
DOWIE, JOHN ALEXANDER (1848-1907), founder of "Zionism," was born in
Edinburgh, and went as a boy to South Australia with his parents. He
returned in 1868 to study for the Congregationalist ministry at
Edinburgh University, and subsequently became pastor of a church near
Sydney, Australia. He was a powerful preacher, and later, having become
imbued with belief in his powers as a healer of disease by prayer, he
obtained sufficient following to move to Melbourne, build a tabernacle,
and found "The Divine Healing Association of Australia and New Zealand."
In 1888 he went to America, preaching and "healing," and in spite of
opposition and ridicule attracted a number of adherents. In 1896 he
established "The Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion," with
himself as "First Apostle"; and in 1901, with money liberally
contributed by his followers, he founded Zion City, on a site covering
about 10 sq. m. on the west shore of Lake Michigan, with a central
temple for the Zionist church. In 1903 and 1904, in the course of a
visit to the branches of the Zionist movement throughout the world, he
appeared in London, but was mobbed. In April 1906 a revolt against his
domination took place in Zion City. He was charged with peculation and
with practising polygamy, and was deposed, with the assent of his own
wife and son. A suit brought by him in the United States district court
to recover possession of the Zion City property, valued at two millions
sterling, was unsuccessful, and his defalcations were fully proved.
Dowie was now broken in health and unmistakably insane; he was struck
with paralysis and gradually becoming weaker died in Zion City in March
1907.
DOWLAS, the name given to a plain cloth, similar to sheeting, but
usually coarser. It is made in several qualities, from line warp and
weft to two warp and weft, and is used chiefly for aprons, pocketing,
soldiers' gaiters, linings and overalls. The finer makes are sometimes
made into shirts for workmen, and occasionally used for heavy
pillow-cases. The word is spelt in many different ways, but the above is
the common way of spelling adopted in factories, and it appears in the
same form in Shakespeare's _First Part of Henry IV._, Act III. scene 3.
The modern dowlas is a good, strong and closely woven linen fabric.
DOWN, a maritime county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, occupying
the most easterly part of the island, bounded N. by Co. Antrim and
Belfast Lough, E. and S. by the Irish Sea, and W. by Co. Armagh. The
area is 607,916 acres, or nearly 950 sq. m. The coast line is indented
by several loughs and bays. The largest of these is Strangford Lough, a
fine sheet of water studded with 260 islets, 54 of which have names. All
are well wooded or rich in pasturage. The lough runs for 10 m.
northwards, and the ancient castles and ruined abbeys on some of the
islets render the scene one of singular interest and beauty. Farther
south Dundrum Bay forms a wider expanse of water. In the south-west
Carlingford Lough separates the county from Louth. There are no lakes of
importance. Between Strangford and Carlingford loughs the county is
occupied by a range of hills known in its south-western portion as the
Mourne Mountains, which give rise to the four principal rivers--the
Bann, the Lagan, the Annacloy and the Newry. This mass includes, several
striking peaks, of which the principal is Slieve Donard, rising finely
direct from the sea to a height of 2796 ft., which is exceeded in
Ireland only by one peak in the Wicklow range, and by the higher reeks
in Killarney. Several other summits exceed 2000 ft.
Holy wells and mineral springs are numerous in Co. Down. These are both
chalybeate and sulphurous, and occur at Ardmillan, Granshaw, Dundonnell,
Magheralin, Dromore, Newry, Banbridge and Tierkelly. Those of Struell
near Downpatrick were accredited with miraculous powers by the natives
until recent times, and religious observances of an extravagant nature
took place there.
_Geology._--The foundation of this county is Silurian rock throughout,
the slates and sandstones striking as a whole north-east, but giving
rise to a country of abundant small hills. The granite that appears
along the same axis in Armagh continues from Newry to Slieve Croob,
furnishing an excellent building stone. South of it, the Eocene
granite of the Mournes forms a group of rocky summits, set with scarps
and tors, and divided by noble valleys, which are not yet choked by
the detritus of these comparatively youthful mountains. Basalt dykes
abound, being well seen along the coast south of Newcastle. At the
head of Strangford Lough, the basalt, possibly as intrusive sheets,
has protected Triassic sandstone, which is quarried at Scrabo Hill. A
strip of marine Permian occurs on the shore at Holywood. The
north-west of the county includes, at Moira, a part of the great
basaltic plateaux, with Chalk and Trias protected by them. The
haematite of dehomet near Banbridge is well spoken of. Topaz and
aquamarine occur in hollows in the granite of the Mournes. The Mourne
granite is quarried above Annalong, and an ornamental dolerite is
worked at Rosstrevor.
_Industries._--The predominating soil is a loam of little depth, in most
places intermixed with considerable quantities of stones of various
sizes, but differing materially in character according to the nature of
the subsoil. Clay is mostly confined to the eastern coast, and to the
northern parts of Castlereagh. Of sandy soil the quantity is small; it
occurs chiefly near Dundrum. Moor grounds are mostly confined to the
skirts of the mountains. Bogs, though frequent, are scarcely sufficient
to furnish a supply of fuel to the population. Agriculture is in a
fairly satisfactory condition. The bulk of the labouring population is
orderly and industrious, and dwell in circumstances contrasting well
with those of others of their class in some other parts of Ireland.
Tillage land declines somewhat in favour of pasture land. Oats, potatoes
and turnips are the principal crops; flax, formerly important, is almost
neglected. The breed of horses is an object of much attention, and some
of the best racers in Ireland have been bred in this county. The native
breed of sheep, a small hardy race, is confined to the mountains. The
various other kinds of sheep have been much improved by judicious
crosses from the best breeds. Pigs are reared in great numbers, chiefly
for the Belfast market, where the large exportation occasions a constant
demand for them. Poultry farming is a growing industry. The fisheries,
of less value than formerly, are centred at Donaghadee, Newcastle,
Strangford and Ardglass, the headquarters of the herring fishery. The
chief industries in the county generally are linen manufacture and
bleaching, and brewing.
_Communications._--The Great Northern railway has an alternative branch
route to its main line by Portadown, from Lisburn through Banbridge to
Scarva, with a branch from Banbridge to Ballyroney and Newcastle. Newry
is on a branch from the Dublin-Belfast line to Warrenpoint on
Carlingford Lough. The main line between Lisburn and Portadown touches
the north-western extremity of the county. The eastern part of the
county is served by the Belfast & County Down railway with its main line
from Belfast to Newcastle to Dundrum Bay, and branches from Belfast to
Bangor, Comber to Newtownards and Donaghadee, Ballynahinch Junction to
Ballynahinch, and Downpatrick to Ardglass and Killough. The Newry Canal
skirts the west of the county, and the Lagan Canal intersects the rich
lands in the Lagan valley to the north.
_Population and Administration._--The population (219,405 in 1891;
205,889 in 1901) decreases slightly. The population in 1891 on the area
of the county before the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was
224,008, for in this case the figures for part of the county borough of
Belfast were included. This is worth notice from the comparative point
of view, since, whereas emigration to foreign ports is considerable, a
large portion of the moving population travels no farther than the
metropolis of Belfast. About 39% of the population is of the
Presbyterian faith, about 31% Roman Catholic, among whom, as usual,
education is in the most backward condition; about 23% are Protestant
Episcopalians.
The following are the principal towns:--Newry (pop. 12,405), Newtownards
(9110), Banbridge (5006), Downpatrick (2993; the county town), Holywood
(3840), Gilford (1199), Bangor (5903), Dromore (2307), Donaghadee
(2073), Comber (2095) and Warrenpoint (1817). Other small towns are
Portaferry, Rathfryland, Killyleagh, Kilkeel, Ballynahinch, Dundrum, a
small port, and Hillsborough, near Dromore, where the castle is the seat
of the marquesses of Downshire. There are several popular
watering-places on the coast, notably Newcastle, Donaghadee, Ardglass
and Rosstrevor. On the shore of Belfast Lough are many pleasant
residential villages and seats of the wealthy class in Belfast. The
county is divided into fourteen baronies, and contains sixty-four
parishes. The assizes are held at Downpatrick, and quarter-sessions at
the same town and at Banbridge, Newry and Newtownards. The county is in
the Protestant diocese of Down, and the Roman Catholic dioceses of Down
and Dromore. Down returns four members to parliament--for the north,
south, east and west divisions. The borough of Newry returns a member.
Previous to the act of Union the county returned fourteen members to the
Irish parliament.
_History and Antiquities._--The period at which Down was constituted a
county is not certain. A district, however, appears to have borne this
name before the beginning of the 14th century, but little is known of it
even later than this. However, when in 1535 Sir John Perrot undertook
the shiring of Ulster, Down and Antrim were excepted as already settled
counties. That some such settlement would have been attempted at an
early period is likely, as this coast was a place of Anglo-Norman
colonization, and to this movement was due the settlement of the
baronies of Lecale, the Ards and others.
The county is not wanting in interesting remains. At Slidderyford, near
Dundrum, there is a group of ten or twelve pillar stones in a circle,
about 10 ft. in height. A very curious cairn on the summit of Slieve
Croob is 80 yds. in circumference at the base and 50 at the top, where
is a platform on which cairns of various heights are found standing. The
village of Anadorn is famed for a cairn covering a cave which contains
ashes and human bones. Cromlechs, or altars, are numerous, the most
remarkable being the Giant's Ring, which stands on the summit of a hill
near the borders of Antrim. This altar is formed of an unwrought stone 7
ft. long by 6-1/2 broad, resting in an inclined position on rude pillars
about 3 ft. high. This solitary landmark is in the centre of an
enclosure about a third of a mile in circumference, formed of a rampart
about 20 ft. high, and broad enough on the top to permit two persons to
ride abreast. Near Downpatrick is a rath, or encampment, three-quarters
of a mile in circumference. In its vicinity are the ruins of Saul Abbey,
said to have been founded by St Patrick, and Inch Abbey, founded by Sir
John de Courcy in 1180. The number of monastic ruins is also
considerable. The most ancient and celebrated is the abbey or cathedral
of Downpatrick. Dundrum Castle, attributed to the de Courcy family,
stands finely above that town, and affords an unusual example (for
Ireland) of a donjon keep. The castle of Hillsborough is of Carolean
date. There are three round towers in the county, but all are
fragmentary.
DOWN, a smooth rounded hill, or more particularly an expanse of high
rolling ground bare of trees. The word comes from the Old English
_dun_, hill. This is usually taken to be a Celtic word. The Gaelic and
Irish _dun_ and Welsh _din_ are specifically used of a hill-fortress,
and thus frequently appear in place-names, e.g. Dumbarton, Dunkeld, and
in the Latinized termination--_dunum_, e.g. Lugdunum, Lyons. The Old
Dutch _duna_, which is the same word, was applied to the drifted
sandhills which are a prevailing feature of the south-eastern coast of
the North Sea (Denmark and the Low Countries), and the derivatives, Ger.
_Dune_, modern Dutch _duin_, Fr. _dune_, have this particular meaning.
The English "dune" is directly taken from the French. The low sandy
tracts north and south of Yarmouth, Norfolk, are known as the "Dunes,"
which may be a corruption of the Dutch or French words. From "down,"
hill, comes the adverb "down," from above, in the earlier form "adown,"
i.e. off the hill. The word for the soft under plumage of birds is
entirely different, and comes from the Old Norwegian _dun_, cf.
_aedar-dun_, eider-down. For the system of chalk hills in England known
as "The Downs" see DOWNS.
DOWNES [D(O)UNAEUS], ANDREW (c. 1549-1628), English classical scholar,
was born in the county of Shropshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury and
St John's College, Cambridge, where he did much to revive the study of
Greek, at that time at a very low ebb. In 1571 he was elected fellow of
his college, and, in 1585, he was appointed to the regius professorship
of Greek, which he held for nearly forty years. He died at Coton, near
Cambridge, on the 2nd of February 1627/1628. According to Simonds d'Ewes
(_Autobiography_, ed. J. O. Halliwell, i. pp. 139, 141), who attended
his lectures on Demosthenes and gives a slight sketch of his
personality, Downes was accounted "the ablest Grecian of Christendom."
He published little, but seems to have devoted his chief attention to
the Greek orators. He edited Lysias _Pro caede Eratosthenis_ (1593);
_Praelectiones in Philippicam de pace Demosthenis_ (1621), dedicated to
King James I.; some letters (written in Greek) to Isaac Casaubon,
printed in the _Epistolae_ of the latter; and notes to St Chrysostom, in
Sir Henry Savile's edition. Downes was also one of the seven translators
of the _Apocrypha_ for the "authorized" version of the Bible, and one of
the six learned men appointed to revise the new version after its
completion.
DOWNING, SIR GEORGE, Bart. (c. 1624-1684), English soldier and
diplomatist, son of Emmanuel Downing, barrister, and of Lucy, sister of
Governor John Winthrop, was born in England about 1624.[1] His family
joined Winthrop in America in 1638, settling in Salem, Massachusetts,
and Downing studied at Harvard College. In 1645 he sailed for the West
Indies as a preacher and instructor of the seamen, and arrived in
England some time afterwards, becoming chaplain to Colonel John Okey's
regiment. Subsequently he seems to have abandoned his religious vocation
for a military career, and in 1650 he was scout-master-general of
Cromwell's forces in Scotland, and as such received in 1657 a salary of
L365 and L500 as a teller of the exchequer. His marriage in 1654 with
Frances, daughter of Sir William Howard of Naworth, and sister of the
1st earl of Carlisle, aided his advancement. In Cromwell's parliament of
1654 he represented Edinburgh, and Carlisle in those of 1656 and 1659.
He was one of the first to urge Cromwell to take the royal title and
restore the old constitution. In 1655 he was sent to France to
remonstrate on the massacre of the Protestant Vaudois. Later in 1657 he
was appointed resident at The Hague, to effect a union of the Protestant
European powers, to mediate between Portugal and Holland and between
Sweden and Denmark, to defend the interests of the English traders
against the Dutch, and to inform the government concerning the movements
of the exiled royalists.
He showed himself in these negotiations an able diplomatist. He was
maintained in his post during the interregnum subsequent to the fall of
Richard Cromwell, and was thus enabled in April 1660 to make his peace
with Charles II., to whom he communicated Thurloe's despatches, and
declared his abandonment of "principles sucked in" in New England, of
which he now "saw the error." At the Restoration, therefore, Downing was
knighted (May 1660), was continued in his embassy in Holland, was
confirmed in his tellership of the exchequer, and was further rewarded
with a valuable piece of land adjoining St James's Park for building
purposes, now known as Downing Street.[2] Considering his past, he
showed a very indecent zeal in arresting in Holland and handing over for
execution the regicides Barkstead, Corbet and Okey. Pepys, who
characterized his conduct as odious though useful to the king, calls him
a "perfidious rogue," and remarks that "all the world took notice of him
for a most ungrateful villain for his pains."[3] On the 1st of July 1663
he was created a baronet. Downing had from the first been hostile to the
Dutch as the commercial rivals of England. He had strongly supported the
Navigation Act of 1660, and he now deliberately drew on the fatal and
disastrous war. During its continuance he took part at home in the
management of the treasury, introduced the appropriation of supplies,
opposed strongly by Clarendon as an encroachment on the prerogative, and
in May 1667 was made secretary to the commissioners, his appointment
being much welcomed by Pepys.[4] He had been returned for Morpeth in the
convention parliament of April 1660, a constituency which he represented
in every ensuing parliament till his death, and he spoke with ability on
financial and commercial questions. He was appointed a commissioner of
the customs in 1671. The same year he was again sent to Holland to
replace Sir William Temple, to break up the policy of the Triple
alliance and incite another war between Holland and England in
furtherance of the French policy. His unpopularity there was extreme,
and after three months' residence Downing fled to England, in fear of
the fury of the mob. For this unauthorized step he was sent to the Tower
on the 7th of February 1672, but released some few weeks afterwards. He
defended the Declaration of Indulgence the same year, and made himself
useful in supporting the court policy. He died in July 1684. Downing
Street, London, is named after him, while Downing College, Cambridge,
derived its name from his grandson, the 3rd baronet. The title became
extinct when the 4th baronet, Sir Jacob G. Downing, died in 1764.
Downing was undoubtedly a man of great political and diplomatic ability,
but his talents were rarely employed for the advantage of his country
and his character was marked by all the mean vices, treachery, avarice,
servility and ingratitude. "A George Downing" became a proverbial
expression in New England to denote a false man who betrayed his
trust.[5] He published a large number of declarations and discourses,
mostly in Dutch, enumerated in Sibley's biography, and wrote also "A
True Relation of the Progress of the Parliament's Forces in Scotland"
(1651), _Thomason Tracts_, Brit. Mus., E 640 (5).