[1] For the word "dune" see DOWN.
DUNFERMLINE, ALEXANDER SETON, 1ST EARL OF (c. 1555-1622), was the fourth
son of George, 5th Lord Seton, and younger brother of Robert, 1st earl
of Winton. He was sent as a boy to Rome, where he studied at the
Jesuits' College with a view to becoming a priest. He turned, however,
to the study of law, and after some years' residence in France was
called to the bar about 1577. He was suspected of Romanist leanings by
the officials of the Scottish kirk, and was temporarily deprived of the
priory of Pluscardine, which had been granted to him by his god-mother,
Queen Mary. In 1583 he accompanied his father, Lord Seton, on an embassy
to Henry III. of France. His promotion was now rapid: he was made
extraordinary lord of session in 1586 as prior of Pluscardine, ordinary
lord of session in 1588 as lord Urquhart, judge in 1593, lord president
of the court session in 1598, Baron Fyvie in 1597 and chancellor in
1604. In 1595 he was one of the commission formed by James VI. to
control the royal finance. The eight commissioners were known from their
number as the Octavians, and were relieved of their functions about two
years later. Urquhart's continued influence was, however, assured, in
spite of the animosity of the kirk, by his appointment as lord provost
of Edinburgh of nine successive years. He showed considerable
independence in his relations with James VI., and dissuaded him from his
intention of forming a standing army in readiness to enforce his claims
to the English crown. He was entrusted with the care of Prince Charles,
afterwards Charles I., after the king's departure for England, and
arranged the details of the union between Scotland and England. He
became chancellor of Scotland in 1604, and on the 4th of March 1605 he
was created earl of Dunfermline. He died at Pinkie House, near
Musselburgh, on the 16th of June 1622.
His son CHARLES, 2nd earl of Dunfermline (c. 1608-1672), was the
offspring of his third marriage with Margaret Hay, sister of John, 1st
earl of Tweeddale. He signed the National Covenant and was one of the
leaders of the Presbyterian party, but as one of the "Engagers" of 1648
he was prevented from holding any public office, and after the execution
of Charles I. he joined Charles II. on the continent. He was made privy
councillor at the Restoration, extraordinary lord of session and lord of
the articles in 1667, and in 1671 lord privy seal. He died in May 1672.
The earldom was then held successively by his sons Alexander (d. 1675)
and James; but at the latter's death, at St Germains on the 26th of
December 1694, the title became extinct.
See G. Seton, _Memoir of Alex. Seton, first Earl of Dunfermline_
(1882); and Sir Robert Douglas, _Scots Peerage_, vol. ii. (1906,
edited by Sir J.B. Paul).
DUNFERMLINE, JAMES ABERCROMBY, 1ST BARON (1776-1858), third son of
General Sir Ralph Abercromby, was born on the 7th of November 1776. He
was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1801, and became a
commissioner in bankruptcy, and subsequently steward for the estates of
the 5th duke of Devonshire. In 1807 he was chosen member of parliament
for the borough of Midhurst, and in 1812 was returned for Calne by the
influence of the 3rd marquess of Lansdowne. He attached himself to the
Whigs, but his chief interest was reserved for Scottish questions, and
on two occasions he sought to change the method of electing
representatives to parliament for the city of Edinburgh. When the Whigs
under George Canning came into power in 1827, Abercromby was made
judge-advocate-general, and became chief baron of the exchequer of
Scotland in 1830, when he resigned his seat in parliament. This office
was abolished in 1832, and Abercromby received a pension of L2000 a
year, and was sent as member for Edinburgh to the reformed parliament.
After being an unsuccessful candidate for the office of speaker he
joined the cabinet of Earl Grey in 1834 as master of the mint. Again a
candidate for the speakership in the new parliament of 1835, Abercromby
was elected to this office after an exceptionally keen contest by a
majority of ten votes. As speaker he was not very successful in quelling
disorder, but he introduced several important reforms in the management
of private bills. Resigning his office in May 1839 he was created Baron
Dunfermline of Dunfermline, and granted a pension of L4000 a year. He
continued his interest in the affairs of Edinburgh, and was one of the
founders of the United Industrial school. He died at Colinton House,
Midlothian, on the 17th of April 1858, and was succeeded in the title by
his only son, Ralph. His wife was Marianne, daughter of Egerton Leigh of
West Hall, High Leigh, Cheshire. He wrote a life of his father, Sir
Ralph Abercromby, which was published after his death (Edinburgh, 1861).
See Spencer Walpole, _History of England_ (London, 1890); _Greville
Memoirs_, edited by H. Reeve (London, 1896); Lord Cockburn's _Journal_
(Edinburgh, 1874).
DUNFERMLINE (Gaelic, "the fort on the crooked linn"), a royal, municipal
and police burgh of Fifeshire, Scotland. Pop. (1891) 22,157; (1901)
25,250. It is situated on high ground 3 m. from the shore of the Firth
of Forth, with two stations on the North British railway--Lower
Dunfermline 16-3/4 m., and Upper Dunfermline 19-1/4 m. N.W. of
Edinburgh, via the Forth Bridge. The town is intersected from north to
south by Pittencrieff Glen, a deep, picturesque and tortuous ravine,
from which the town derives its name and at the bottom of which flows
Lyne Burn.
The history of Dunfermline goes back to a remote period, for the early
Celtic monks known as Culdees had an establishment here; but its fame
and prosperity date from the marriage of Malcolm Canmore and his queen
Margaret, which was solemnized in the town in 1070. The king then lived
in a tower on a mound surrounded on three sides by the glen. A fragment
of this castle still exists in Pittencrieff Park, a little west of the
later palace. Under the influence of Queen Margaret in 1075 the
foundations were laid of the Benedictine priory, which was raised to the
rank of an abbey by David I. Robert Bruce gave the town its charter in
1322, though in his _Fife: Pictorial and Historical_ (ii. 223), A.H.
Millar contends that till the confirming charter of James VI. (1588) all
burghal privileges were granted by the abbots.
In the 18th century Dunfermline impressed Daniel Defoe as showing the
"full perfection of decay," but it is now one of the most prosperous
towns in Scotland. Its staple industry is the manufacture of table
linen. The weaving of damask was introduced in 1718 by James Blake, who
had learned the secret of the process in the workshops at Drumsheugh
near Edinburgh, to which he gained admittance by feigning idiocy; and
since that date the linen trade has advanced by leaps and bounds, much
of the success being due to the beautiful designs produced by the
manufacturers. Among other industries that have largely contributed to
the welfare of the town are dyeing and bleaching, brass and iron
founding, tanning, machine-making, brewing and distilling, milling,
rope-making and the making of soap and candles, while the collieries in
the immediate vicinity are numerous and flourishing.
The town is well supplied with public buildings. Besides the New Abbey
church, the United Free church in Queen Anne Street founded by Ralph
Erskine, and the Gillespie church, named after Thomas Gillespie
(1708-1774), another leader of the Secession movement, possess some
historical importance. Erskine is commemorated by a statue in front of
his church and a sarcophagus over his grave in the abbey churchyard;
Gillespie by a marble tablet on the wall above his resting-place within
the abbey. The Corporation buildings, a blend of the Scots Baronial and
French Gothic styles, contain busts of several Scottish sovereigns a
statue of Robert Burns, and Sir Noel Paton's painting of the "Spirit of
Religion." Other structures are the County buildings, the Public, St
Margaret's, Music and Carnegie halls, the last in the Tudor style,
Carnegie public baths, high school (founded in 1560), school of science
and art, and two hospitals. Several distinguished men have been
associated with Dunfermline. Robert Henryson (1430-1506), the poet, was
long one of its schoolmasters. John Row (1568-1646), the Church
historian, held the living of Carnock, 3 m. to the E., and David
Ferguson (d. 1598) who made the first collection of Scottish proverbs
(not published till 1641), was parish minister; Robert Gilfillan
(1798-1850), the poet, and Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1821-1901), painter
and poet--whose father was a designer of patterns for the damask
trade--were all born here. Andrew Carnegie (b. 1837), however, is in a
sense the most celebrated of all her sons, as he is certainly her
greatest benefactor. He gave to his birthplace the free library and
public baths, and, in 1903, the estate of Pittencrieff Park and Glen,
rich in historical associations as well as natural charm, together with
bonds yielding L25,000 a year, in trust for the maintenance of the park,
the support of a theatre for the production of plays of the highest
merit, the periodical exhibitions of works of art and science, the
promotion of horticulture among the working classes and the
encouragement of technical education in the district. The town is
governed by a provost, bailies and council, and, with Stirling, Culross,
Inverkeithing and Queensferry (the Stirling group), combines in
returning a member to parliament.
Dunfermline Abbey is one of the most important remains in Scotland.
Excepting Iona it has received more of Caledonia's royal dead than any
other place in the kingdom. Within its precincts were buried Queen
Margaret and Malcolm Canmore; their sons Edgar and Alexander I., with
his queen; David I. and his two queens; Malcolm IV.; Alexander III.,
with his first wife and their sons David and Alexander; Robert Bruce,
with his queen Elizabeth and their daughter Matilda; and Annabella
Drummond, wife of Robert III. and mother of James I. Bruce's heart rests
in Melrose, but his bones lie in Dunfermline Abbey, where (after the
discovery of the skeleton in 1818) they were reinterred with fitting
pomp below the pulpit of the New church. In 1891 the pulpit was moved
back and a monumental brass inserted in the floor to indicate the royal
vault. The tomb of St Margaret and Malcolm, within the ruined walls of
the Lady chapel, was restored and enclosed by command of Queen Victoria.
During the winter of 1303 the court of Edward I. was held in the abbey,
and on his departure next year most of the buildings were burned. When
the Reformers attacked the abbey church in March 1560, they spared the
nave, which served as the parish church till the 19th century, and now
forms the vestibule of the New church. This edifice, in the
Perpendicular style, opened for public worship in 1821, occupies the
site of the ancient chancel and transepts, though differing in style and
proportions from the original structure. The old building was a fine
example of simple and massive Norman, as the nave testifies, and has a
beautiful doorway in its west front. Another rich Norman doorway was
exposed in the south wall in 1903, when masons were cutting a site for
the memorial to the soldiers who had fallen in the South African War. A
new site was found for this monument in order that the ancient and
beautiful entrance might be preserved. The venerable structure is
maintained by the commissioners of woods and forests, and private
munificence has provided several stained-glass windows. Of the monastery
there still remains the south wall of the refectory, with a fine window.
The palace, a favourite residence of many of the kings, occupying a
picturesque position near the ravine, was of considerable size, judging
from the south-west wall, which is all that is left of it. Here James
IV., James V. and James VI. spent much of their time, and within its
walls were born three of James VI.'s children--Charles I., Robert and
Elizabeth. After Charles I. was crowned he paid a short visit to his
birthplace, but the last royal tenant of the palace was Charles II., who
occupied it just before the battle of Pitreavie (20th of July 1650),
which took place 3 m. to the south-west, and here also he signed the
National League and Covenant.
See A.H. Millar's _Fife: Pictorial and Historical_ (2 vols., 1895);
and Sheriff Aeneas Mackay's _History of Fife and Kinross_ (1896).
DUNGANNON, a market town of Co. Tyrone, Ireland, in the east
parliamentary division, on an acclivity 8 m. W. of the south-western
shore of Lough Neagh. Pop. of urban district (1901) 3694. It is 103 m.
N.N.W. from Dublin by the Great Northern railway, and a branch line runs
thence to Cookstown. The only public buildings of note are the parish
church, with an octagonal spire, and a royal school founded in 1614 and
settled in new buildings at the end of the 18th century; it is now
managed by the county Protestant Board of Education. Linens, muslin and
coarse earthenware are manufactured, tanning is prosecuted, and there is
trade in corn and timber. The early history of the place is identified
with the once powerful family of the O'Neills, whose chief residence was
here, and a large rath or earthwork north of the town was the scene of
the inauguration of their chiefs, but of the castle and abbey founded by
this family there are no remains. In Dungannon the independence of the
Irish parliament (to which the town returned two members) was proclaimed
in 1782. The town was formerly corporate, and was a parliamentary
borough returning one member to the Imperial parliament until 1885.
DUNGARPUR, a native state of India, in the Rajputana agency, in the
extreme south of Rajputana. A large portion is hilly, and inhabited by
Bhils. Its area is 1447 sq. m. In 1901 the total population was 100,103,
showing an increase of 2% in the decade. The revenue is L15,100, and the
tribute L2276. An annual fair is held at Baneswar. Kherwara is the
headquarters of the Mewar Bhil corps.
The chiefs of Dungarpur, who bear the title of maharawal, are descended
from Mahup, eldest son of Karan Singh, chief of Mewar in the 12th
century, and claim the honours of the elder line of Mewar. Mahup,
disinherited by his father, took refuge with his mother's family, the
Chauhans of Bagar, and made himself master of that country at the
expense of the Bhil chiefs. The town of Dungarpur (pop. 6094 in 1901),
the capital of the state, was founded towards the end of the 14th
century by his descendant Rawal Bir Singh, who named it after Dungaria,
an independent Bhil chieftain whom he had caused to be assassinated.
After the death of Rawal Udai Singh of Bagar at the battle of Khanua in
1527, his territories were divided into the states of Dungarpur and
Banswara, the name of Bagar being still often applied to the tract
covered by these states. Dungarpur fell under the sway of the Moguls and
Mahrattas in turn, and was taken under British protection by treaty in
1818.
DUNGARVAN, a market town and seaport of Co. Waterford, Ireland, in the
west parliamentary division, 28-1/2 m. W.S.W. from Waterford by the
Waterford and Mallow branch of the Great Southern & Western railway.
Pop. of urban district (1901) 4850. It is situated on the south coast,
on the Bay of Dungarvan, at the mouth of the Colligan, which divides the
town into two parts, connected by a bridge of a single arch. The eastern
suburb is called Abbeyside, where the remains of an ancient keep,
erected by the M'Graths, still exist, together with portions of an
Augustinian friary, founded by the same family in the 14th century and
incorporated with a Roman Catholic chapel. In the main portion of the
town a part of the keep of a castle of King John remains. Brewing is
carried on, and there are woollen mills. The exports consist chiefly of
agricultural produce. Dungarvan was incorporated in the 15th century,
was represented by two members in the Irish parliament until the Union,
and returned a member to the Imperial parliament until 1885. It was
fortified with walls by John when the castle was built. A story is told
that Cromwell spared the town from bombardment owing to the wit of a
woman who drank his health at the town-gate.
DUNGENESS, a promontory of the south coast of England, in the south of
Kent, near the town of Lydd. It is a low-lying broad bank of shingle,
forming the seaward apex of the great level of the Romney Marshes. Its
seaward accretion is estimated at 6 ft. annually. Its formation is
characteristic, consisting of a series of ridges forming a succession of
curves from a common centre. It is unique, however, among the great
promontories of the south coast of England, the accretion of gravel
banks falling into deep water contrasting with the cliff-bound headlands
of the North Foreland, Beachy Head and the Lizard, and with the low
eroded Selsey Bill, off which the sea is shallow. A lighthouse (50 deg.
55' N., 0 deg. 58' E.) stands on the ness, which has been the scene of
many shipwrecks, and has been lighted since the time of James I. There
are also here Lloyds' signalling station, coast-guard stations, and the
terminus of a branch of the South-Eastern & Chatham railway.
The name Dungeness has also been applied elsewhere; thus the point on
the north side of the eastern entrance to Magellan Strait is so called,
and there is a town of Dungeness near a promontory on the coast of
Washington, U.S.A. (Strait of Juan de Fuca).
DUNGEON, the prison in a castle keep, so called because the Norman name
for the latter is donjon (q.v.), and the dungeons or prisons (q.v.) are
generally in its lowest storey. (See KEEP.)
DUNKELD, a town of Perthshire, Scotland, on the left bank of the Tay,
15-1/2 m. N.W. of Perth by the Highland railway. Pop. (1901) 586. The
river is crossed by a bridge of seven arches which was designed by
Thomas Telford in 1805 and opened in 1808. The town lies in the midst of
luxuriant trees, and the noble sweep of the Tay, the effectively
situated bridge, the magnificent grounds of Dunkeld House, and the
protecting mountains combine to give it a very romantic appearance. The
town hall is the principal modern building, and the fountain erected in
Market Square to the memory of the 6th duke of Atholl (d. 1864) occupies
the site of the old cross.
As early as 729--some authorities fix the date a hundred and fifty years
before--the Culdees possessed a monastery at Dunkeld, which was
converted into a cathedral by David I. in 1127. This structure stood
until the Reformation, when it was unroofed and suffered to fall into
ruin. The building consists of the nave (120 ft. long, 60 ft. wide, 40
ft. high), aisles (12 ft. wide), choir, chapter-house and tower. The
nave is the most beautiful portion. The Pointed arches rest upon
pillars, possibly Norman, and above them, below the Decorated clerestory
windows, is a series of semicircular arches with flamboyant tracery, a
remarkable feature. The choir, founded by Bishop William Sinclair (d.
1337), has been repaired, and serves as the parish church, a blue marble
slab in the floor marking the bishop's grave. The chapter-house,
adjoining the choir, was built by Bishop Thomas Lauder (1395-1481) in
1469, and the vault beneath is the burial-place of the Atholl Murrays.
Lauder also began the tower, completed in 1501. In the porch of the
church is the most interesting of the extant old tombs, namely, the
recumbent effigy of Alexander Stewart, the Wolf of Badenoch (1343-1405;
the inscription refers his death to 1394, but this is said to be an
error). The most famous of the Bishops was Gavin Douglas (1474-1522),
translator of the _Aeneid_. One of the most heroic exploits in the
annals of warfare is associated with the cathedral. Shortly after the
battle of Killiecrankie (1689), the Cameronian regiment, enrolled in the
same year (afterwards the 26th Foot), was despatched to hold Dunkeld
prior to another invasion of the Highlands. It was under the command of
Colonel William Cleland (b. 1661), a poet of some merit. On the 26th of
August a force of 5000 Highlanders suddenly appearing, Cleland posted
his men in the church and behind the wall of the earl of Atholl's
mansion. Still flushed with their victory under Dundee, and animated by
bitterest hatred of their Whiggamore foes, the Highlanders assaulted the
position of the Covenanters, who were 1200 strong, with the most
desperate valour. Sustained by their enthusiasm, however, the recruits
displayed equal courage, and, at the end of four hours' stubborn
fighting, their defence was still intact. Fearing lest victory, even if
won, might be purchased too dearly, the Highlanders gradually withdrew.
While leading a sortie Cleland was shot dead, and was buried in the
churchyard.
Adjoining the cathedral is Dunkeld House, a seat of the duke of Atholl,
the grounds of which are estimated to contain 50 m. of walks and 30 m.
of drives. On the lawn near the cathedral stand two of the earliest
larches grown in Great Britain, having been introduced from Tirol by the
2nd duke in 1738. The 4th duke planted several square miles of the
estate with this tree, of which he had made a special study.
A mile south of Dunkeld, on the left bank of the Tay, is the village of
Birnam (pop. 389), where Sir John Everett Millais, the painter, made his
summer residence. It lies at the foot of Birnam Hill (1324 ft.), once
covered with a royal forest that has been partly replaced by
plantations. The oak and sycamore in front of Birnam House, the famed
twin trees of Birnam, are believed to be more than 1000 years old, and
to be the remnant of the wood of Birnam which Shakespeare immortalized
in _Macbeth_. The Pass of Birnam, where the river narrows, was the path
usually taken by the Highlanders in their forays. In the vicinity are
the castles of Murthly, one a modern mansion in the Elizabethan style,
erected about 1838 from designs by James Gillespie Graham (1777-1855),
and the other the old castle, still occupied, which was occasionally
used as a hunting-lodge by the Scottish kings.
At Little Dunkeld, almost opposite to Dunkeld, the Bran joins the Tay,
after a run of 11 m. from its source in Loch Freuchie. It is celebrated
for its falls about 2 m. from the mouth. The upper fall is known as the
Rumbling Bridge from the fact that the stream pours with a rumbling
noise through a deep narrow gorge in which a huge fallen rock has become
wedged, forming a rude bridge or arch. Inver, near the mouth of the
Bran, was the birthplace of the two famous fiddlers, Niel Gow
(1727-1807) and his son Nathaniel (1766-1831).
DUNKIRK (Fr. _Dunkerque_), a seaport of northern France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Nord, on the Straits of Dover, 53 m.
N.W. of Lille on the Northern railway. Pop. (1906) 35,767. Dunkirk is
situated in the low but fertile district of the Wateringues. It lies,
amidst a network of canals, immediately to the west and south of its
port, which disputes with Bordeaux the rank of third in importance in
France. The populous suburbs of Rosendael and St Pol-sur-Mer lie
respectively to the east and west of the town; to the north-east is the
bathing resort of Malo-les-Bains. The streets of Dunkirk are wide and
well paved, the chief of them converging to the square named after Jean
Bart (born at Dunkirk in 1651), whose statue by David d'Angers stands at
its centre. Close to the Place Jean Bart rises the belfry (290 ft. high)
which contains a fine peal of bells and also serves as a signalling
tower. It was once the western tower of the church of St Eloi, from
which it is now separated by a street. St Eloi, erected about 1560 in
the Gothic style, was deprived of its first two bays in the 18th
century; the present facade dates from 1889. The chapel of Notre-Dame
des Dunes possesses a small image, which is the object of a well-known
pilgrimage. The chief civil buildings are a large Chamber of Commerce,
including the customs and port services, and a fine modern town hall.
Dunkirk is the seat of a sub-prefect; its public institutions include
tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of
trade-arbitrators, an exchange, a branch of the Bank of France and a
communal college; and it has a school of drawing, architecture and
music, a library and a rich museum of paintings. Dunkirk forms with
Bergues, Bourbourg and Gravelines a group of fortresses enclosed by
inundations and canals. A chain of forts to the eastward is designed to
facilitate the deployment of an army, concentrated within the fortified
region, towards the Belgian frontier.
The harbour of Dunkirk (see DOCK) is approached by a fine natural
roadstead entered on the east and west, and protected on the north by
sand-banks. From the roadstead, entrance is by a channel into the outer
harbour, which communicates with seven floating basins about 115 acres
in area and is accessible to the largest vessels. The port is provided
with four dry docks and a gridiron, and its quays exceed 5 m. in length.
Its commerce is much facilitated by the system of canals which bring it
into communication with Belgium, the coal-basins of Nord and
Pas-de-Calais, the rich agricultural regions of Flanders and Artois, and
the industrial towns of Lille, Armentieres, Roubaix, Tourcoing,
Valenciennes, &c. The roadstead is indicated by lightships and the
entrance channel to the port by a lighthouse which, at an altitude of
193 ft., is visible at a distance of 19 m.
Dunkirk annually despatches a fleet to the Icelandic cod-fisheries, and
takes part in the herring and other fisheries. It imports great
quantities of wool from the Argentine and Australia, and is in regular
communication with New York, London and the chief ports of the United
Kingdom, Brazil and the far East. Besides wool, leading imports are
jute, cotton, flax, timber, petroleum, coal, pitch, wine, cereals,
oil-seeds and oil-cake, nitrate of soda and other chemical products, and
metals. The principal exports are sugar, coal, cereals, wool, forage,
cement, chalk, phosphates, iron and steel, tools and metal-goods, thread
and vegetables. The average annual value of the imports for the years
1901-1905 was L23,926,000 (L22,287,000 for 1896-1900), of exports
L6,369,000 (L4,481,000 for 1896-1900). The industries include the
spinning of jute, flax, hemp and cotton, iron-founding, brewing, and the
manufacture of machinery, fishing-nets, sailcloth, sacks, casks, and
soap. There are also saw- and flour-mills, petroleum refineries and
oil-works. Ship-building is carried on, and the preparation of fish and
cod-liver oil occupies many hands.
Dunkirk is said to have originated in a chapel founded by St Eloi in the
7th century, round which a small village speedily sprang up. In the 10th
century it was fortified by Baldwin III., count of Flanders; together
with that province it passed successively to Burgundy, Austria and
Spain. In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries its possession was disputed
by French and Spaniards. In 1658 Turenne's victory of the Dunes (q.v.)
gave it into the hands of the French and it was ceded to England. After
the Restoration, Charles II., being in money difficulties, sold it to
the French king Louis XIV., who fortified it. By the terms of the peace
of Utrecht (1713) the fortifications were demolished and its harbour
filled up, a sacrifice demanded by England owing to the damage inflicted
on her shipping by Jean Bart and other corsairs of the port. In 1793 it
was besieged by the English under Frederick Augustus, duke of York, who
was compelled to retire after the defeat of Hondschoote.
See A. de St Leger, _La Flandre maritime et Dunkerque_ (Paris, 1900).
DUNKIRK, a city and a port of entry of Chautauqua county, New York,
U.S.A., on the S. shore of Lake Erie, 40 m. S.W. of Buffalo. Pop. (1890)
9416; (1900) 11,616, of whom 3338 were foreign-born; (1910 census)
17,221. The city is served by the Pennsylvania, the Erie, the Lake Shore
& Michigan Southern, the New York, Chicago & St Louis, and the Dunkirk,
Allegheny Valley & Pittsburg railways, by the electric line of the
Buffalo & Lake Erie Traction Co., and by several lines of freight and
passenger steamships. Dunkirk is attractively situated high above the
lake, and has several parks, including Point Gratiot and Washington; in
the city are the Dunkirk free library, the Brooks Memorial hospital
(1891), and St Mary's academy. The city lies in an agricultural and
grape-growing region, and has a fine harbour and an extensive lake
trade; the manufactures include locomotives, radiators, lumber, springs,
shirts, axes, wagons, steel, silk gloves and concrete blocks. The value
of factory products increased from $5,225,996 in 1900 to $9,909,260 in
1905, or 89.6%. Large numbers of food-fish are caught in the lake. The
municipality owns and operates the water works and the electric lighting
plant. Dunkirk was first settled about 1805. It was incorporated as a
village in 1837, and was chartered as a city in 1880.
DUNLOP, JOHN COLIN (1785-1842), Scottish man of letters, was born on the
30th of December 1785. In 1816 he became sheriff of Renfrewshire, and
retained this office until his death at Edinburgh, on the 26th of
January (according to others, in February) 1842. The work by which he is
best known, and which will always hold an honourable place in English
literature, is his _History of Fiction_ (1814; new edition, 1888, with
notes by H. Wilson, in Bohn's "Standard Library"). In spite of the
somewhat contemptuous notices in _Blackwood's Magazine_ (September 1824)
and the _Quarterly Review_ (July 1815), it may be pronounced the best
book on the subject in English. F. Liebrecht, by whom it was translated
into German (1851) with valuable notes, describes it as the only work of
its kind. Dunlop was also the author of _A History of Roman Literature_
(1823-1828), and of _Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV.
and Charles II._ (1834).
DUNMORE, a borough of Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., adjoining
Scranton on the N.E. and about 20 m. N.E. of Wilkesbarre. Pop. (1890)
8315; (1900) 12,583, of whom 3103 were foreign-born; (1910 census)
17,615. It is served by the Erie, the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western,
and the Lackawanna & Wyoming Valley (electric) railways. Its chief
industry is the mining of anthracite coal; the principal establishments
are railway repair shops, which in 1905 gave employment to 48.9% of all
wage-earners engaged in manufacturing. Among the borough's manufactures
are stoves and furnaces, malt liquors and silk. Dunmore is the seat of
the state oral school for the deaf. The town was first settled in 1783
and was incorporated in 1862. Its growth was accelerated by the
establishment here, in 1863, of the shops of the railway from Pittston
to Hawley built in 1849-1850 by the Pennsylvania Coal Company. Dunmore
became a station of the Scranton post office in 1902.
DUNMOW (properly GREAT DUNMOW), a market town in the Epping (W.)
parliamentary division of Essex, England, on the river Chelmer, 40 m.
N.E. by N. from London on a branch of the Great Eastern railway. Pop.
(1901) 2704. The church of St Mary is Decorated and Perpendicular. The
town was corporate from the 16th century until 1886. Roman remains have
been discovered. Two miles E. is the village of LITTLE DUNMOW, formerly
the seat of a priory, remarkable for the custom of presenting a flitch
of bacon to any couple who could give proof that they had spent the
first year of married life in perfect harmony, and had never at any
moment wished they had tarried. In place of the monastic judicature a
jury of six bachelors and six maidens appear in the 16th century. A
rhyming oath, quoted by Fuller, was taken. The institution of this
strange matrimonial prize--which had its parallel at Whichanoure (or
Wichnor) in Staffordshire, at St Moleine in Brittany, and apparently
also at Vienna--appears to date from the reign of John. The first
instance of its award recorded is in 1445, and there are a few others.
But there are references which suggest its previous award in _Piers
Plowman_ and Chaucer. The Chaucerian couplet conveys the idea of an
award to a patient husband, without reference to the wife. A revival of
the custom was effected in 1855 by Harrison Ainsworth, author of the
novel _The Flitch of Bacon_, but the scene of the ceremony was
transferred to the town hall of Great Dunmow. It has since been
maintained in altered form. (For details see Chambers's _Book of Days_,
ii. 748-751; and W. Andrews, _History of the Dunmow Flitch of Bacon
Customs_, 1877.) Close to Little Dunmow is Felsted (q.v.) or Felstead;
and Easton Lodge (with a railway station), a seat of the earl of
Warwick, is in the vicinity.
DUNNE, FINLEY PETER (1867- ), American journalist and humorist, was
born, of Irish descent, in Chicago, Illinois, on the 10th of July 1867.
After a public school education he became a newspaper reporter (1885);
he was city editor of the Chicago _Times_ (1891-1892), a member of the
editorial staff of the Chicago _Evening Post_ and of the Chicago
_Times-Herald_ (1892-1897), and editor of the Chicago _Journal_
(1897-1900). In 1900 he removed to New York city. Although for several
years he had been contributing humorous sketches in Irish brogue to the
daily papers, he did not come into prominence until he wrote for the
Chicago _Journal_ a series of satirical observations and reflections
attributed to an honest Irish-American, Martin Dooley, the shrewd
philosopher of Archey Road, on social and political topics of the day.
These were widely copied by the press of America and England. The first
published collection, _Mr Dooley in Peace and in War_ (1898), was
followed by several others, similar in subject-matter and method,
including _Mr Dooley in the Hearts of his Countrymen_ (1899), _Mr
Dooley's Philosophy_ (1900), _Mr Dooley's Opinions_ (1901),
_Observations by Mr Dooley_ (1902), and _Dissertations by Mr Dooley_
(1906). These books made their author widely known as the creator of a
delightfully original character, and as a humorist of shrewd insight. In
1906 he became associate editor of the _American Magazine_.
DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, a ruined stronghold, on the east coast of
Kincardineshire, Scotland, about 2 m. S. of Stonehaven. It stands on a
rock 160 ft. high, with a summit area of 4 acres, and surrounded on
three sides by the sea. It is accessible from the land by a winding path
leading across a deep chasm, to the outer gate in a wall of enormous
thickness. It is supposed that a fortress stood here since perhaps the
7th century, but the existing castle dates from 1392, when it was begun
by Sir William Keith (d. 1407), great marischal of Scotland. The keep
and chapel are believed to be the oldest structures, most of the other
buildings being two centuries later. It was the residence of the earls
marischal and was regarded as impregnable. Here the seventh earl
entertained Charles II. before the battle of Worcester. When Cromwell
became Protector, the Scottish regalia were lodged in the castle for
greater security, and, in 1651, when the Commonwealth soldiers laid
successful siege to it, they were saved by a woman's wit. Mrs Granger,
wife of the minister of Kinneff, a parish about 6 m. to the S., was
allowed to visit the wife of the governor, Ogilvy of Barras, and when
she rode out she was spinning lint on a distaff. The crown was concealed
in her lap, and the distaff consisted of the sword and sceptre. The
regalia were hidden beneath the flagstones in the parish church, whence
they were recovered at the Restoration. In 1685 the castle was converted
into a Covenanters' prison, no fewer than 167 being confined in a
dungeon, called therefrom the Whigs' Vault. On the attainder of George,
tenth and last marischal, for his share in the earl of Mar's rising in
1715 the castle was dismantled (1720).
DUNOIS, JEAN, COUNT OF (1403-1468), commonly called the "Bastard of
Orleans," a celebrated French commander, was the natural son of the duke
of Orleans (brother of Charles VI.) and Mariette d'Enghien, Madame de
Canny. He was brought up in the house of the duke, and in the company
of his legitimate sons, and it appears that he was present at the battle
of Beauge in 1421 and Verneuil in 1424. His earliest feat of arms was
the surprise and rout in 1427 of the English, who were besieging
Montargis--the first successful blow against the English power in France
following a long series of French defeats. In 1428 he defended Orleans
with the greatest spirit, and enabled the place to hold out until the
arrival of Joan of Arc, when he shared with her the honour of defeating
the enemy there in 1429. He then accompanied Joan to Reims and shared in
the victory of Patay. After her death he raised the siege of Chartres
and of Lagny (1432) and engaged in a series of successful campaigns
which ended in his triumphal entry into Paris on the 13th of April 1436.
He continued to carry on the war against the English, and gradually
drove them to the northward, though his work was to some extent
interrupted by the civil disorders of the time, in which he played a
conspicuous part. Finally in 1450 he completed the reconquest of
northern France, and in 1451 he attacked them in Guienne, taking among
other towns Bordeaux, which the English had held for three hundred
years, and Bayonne. After the expulsion of the English he was constantly
engaged in the highest diplomatic and military missions. In 1465 he
joined the league of revolted princes, but, assuming the function of
negotiator, he was after a time reinstated in his offices. Dunois was
thenceforward in the greatest favour with the court. He died on the 24th
of November 1468.
DUNOON, a police and municipal burgh of Argyllshire, Scotland, on the
western shore of the Firth of Clyde, opposite to Gourock. Pop. (1901)
6779. Including Kirn and Hunter's Quay, it presents a practically
continuous front of seaside villas. The mildness of its climate and the
beauty of its situation have made it one of the most prosperous
watering-places on the west coast. The principal buildings are the
parish church, well-placed on a hill overlooking the pier, convalescent
homes, Cottage and Victoria fever hospitals, and the town house. On a
conical hill above the pier stand the remains of Dunoon Castle, the
hereditary keepership of which was conferred by Robert Bruce on the
family of Sir Colin Campbell of Loch Awe, an ancestor of the duke of
Argyll. It was visited by Queen Mary in 1563, and in 1643 was the scene
of the massacre of the Lamonts by the Campbells. The grounds have been
laid out as a recreation garden. Near the hill stands the modern castle.
Facing the pier a statue was erected in 1898 of Mary Campbell, Burns's
"Highland Mary," who was a native of Dunoon. The town itself is of
modern growth, having been a mere fishing village at the beginning of
the 19th century. There is frequent communication daily by steamer with
the railway piers at Craigendoran and Gourock, and Glasgow merchants are
thus enabled to reside here all the year round. Hunter's Quay is the
yachting headquarters, the Royal Clyde Yacht Club's house adjoining the
pier. Kilmun, on the northern shore of Holy Loch, a portion of the
parish of Dunoon and Kilmun, contains the ruins of a Collegiate chapel
founded in 1442 by Sir Duncan Campbell of Loch Awe and used as the
burial-ground of the Argyll family.
DUNROBIN CASTLE, a seat of the duke of Sutherland, picturesquely
situated on the north-eastern shore of Dornoch Firth, Sutherlandshire,
Scotland, about 2 m. N.E. of Golspie, with a private station on the
Highland railway. The name is said to have originally meant the fort of
Raffu, the "law-man," or crown agent for the district in 1222, but it
was renamed out of compliment to Robert (or Robin), 6th earl of
Sutherland, who died in 1389. The ancient portion, dating from the end
of the 13th century, was a square structure with towers at the corners,
but in 1856 there was added a wing, a main north-eastern tower, and
front, with numerous bartizan turrets, and dormer windows in the roof.
The stately entrance porch recalls that of Windsor Castle, and the
interior is designed and decorated on a sumptuous scale. In April 1746
George Mackenzie, the 3rd earl of Cromarty, thinking that Prince Charles
Edward had prevailed at Culloden, seized the castle in his interests,
but the Sutherland militia surrounded the building and captured the earl
in an apartment which was afterwards called the Cromartie room. The
beautiful gardens contain a wealth of trees, which grow with remarkable
luxuriance for the latitude of 58 deg. N. The 3rd duke of Sutherland
erected a museum in the grounds in which are many specimens of the
antiquities of the shire, such as querns, stone tools and weapons,
silver brooches and the like, found in brochs and elsewhere. There is a
graceful waterfall in Dunrobin glen, through which flows Golspie Burn,
near the left bank of which are remains of Pictish towers. About 1 m.
N.W. of Golspie rises Ben Bhragie (1256 ft.), crowned by a colossal
statue of the 1st duke of Sutherland, by Chantrey.
DUNS, a police burgh and county town of Berwickshire, Scotland. Pop.
(1901) 2206. It is situated 44 m. E.S.E. of Edinburgh by road, with a
station on the branch line of the North British railway from Reston to
St Boswells. The principal buildings are the town-hall, county
buildings, corn exchange, mechanics' institute and the public library.
There is a woollen mill, and stock sales are held at frequent intervals.
The alternative spelling of Dunse seems to have been in vogue from 1740
till 1882. It was on Duns Law (700 ft.) that the Covenanters, under
Alexander Leslie, were encamped in 1639, and the Covenanters' Stone on
the top of the hill has been enclosed to preserve it from relic-hunters.
Duns castle, adjoining the town on the W., includes the Tower erected by
Thomas Randolph, earl of Moray (d. 1332), and about 3 m. S.W. is the
village of Polwarth.
DUNSINANE, a peak of the Sidlaw Hills, in the parish of Collace,
Perthshire, Scotland, 8 m. N.E. of Perth. It is 1012 ft. high, and
commands a fine view of the Carse of Gowrie and the valley of the Tay.
Its chief claim to mention, however, is due to its association with
Birnam Wood (about 12 m. N.W.) in two well-known passages in
Shakespeare's _Macbeth_. An old fort on the summit, of which faint
traces are still discernible, is traditionally called Macbeth's Castle.
DUNS SCOTUS, JOHN (1265 or 1275-1308), one of the foremost of the
schoolmen. His birthplace has been variously given as Duns in
Berwickshire, Dunum (Down) in Ulster, and Dunstane in Northumberland,
but there is not sufficient evidence to settle the question. He joined
the Franciscan order in early life, and studied at Merton College,
Oxford, of which he is said to have been a fellow. He became remarkably
proficient in all branches of learning, but especially in mathematics.
When his master, William Varron, removed to Paris in 1301, Duns Scotus
was appointed to succeed him as professor of philosophy, and his
lectures attracted an immense number of students. Probably in 1304 he
went to Paris, in 1307 he received his doctor's degree from the
university, and in the same year was appointed regent of the theological
school. His connexion with the university was made memorable by his
defence of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, in which he
displayed such dialectical ingenuity as to win for himself the title
_Doctor Subtilis_. The doctrine long continued to be one of the main
subjects in dispute between the Scotists and the Thomists, or, what is
almost the same thing, between the Franciscans and the Dominicans. The
university of Paris was so impressed by his arguments, that in 1387 it
formally condemned the Thomist doctrine, and a century afterwards
required all who received the doctor's degree to bind themselves by an
oath to defend the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. In 1308 Duns
Scotus was sent by the general of his order to Cologne, with the twofold
object of engaging in a controversy with the Beghards and of assisting
in the foundation of a university; according to some, his removal was
due to jealousy. He was received with enthusiasm by the inhabitants but
died suddenly (it was said, of apoplexy) on the 8th of November in the
same year. There was also a tradition that he had been buried alive.
His philosophical position was determined, or at least very greatly
influenced, by the antagonism between the Dominicans and the
Franciscans. Further, while the genius of Aquinas was constructive, that
of Duns Scotus was destructive; Aquinas was a philosopher, Duns a
critic. The latter has been said to stand to the former in the relation
of Kant to Leibnitz. In the matter of Universals, Duns was more of a
realist and less of an eclectic than Aquinas. Theologically, the
Thomistic system approximates to pantheism, while that of Scotus
inclines distinctly to Pelagianism. The doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception was the great subject in dispute between the two parties; it
was strenuously opposed by Aquinas, and supported by Duns Scotus,
although not without reserve. There were, however, differences of a
wider and deeper kind. In opposition to Aquinas, who maintained that
reason and revelation were two independent sources of knowledge, Duns
Scotus held that there was no true knowledge of anything knowable apart
from theology as based upon revelation. In conformity with this
principle he denied that the existence of God was capable of being
proved, or that the nature of God was capable of being comprehended. He
therefore rejected as worthless the ontological proof offered by
Aquinas. Another chief point of difference with Aquinas was in regard to
the freedom of the will, which Duns Scotus maintained absolutely. He
reconciled free-will and necessity by representing the divine decree not
as temporarily antecedent, but as immediately related to the action of
the created will. He maintained, in opposition to Aquinas, that the will
was independent of the understanding, that only will could affect will.
From this difference as to the nature of free-will followed by necessary
consequence a difference with the Thomists as to the operation of divine
grace. In ethics the distinction he drew between natural and theological
virtues is common to him with the rest of the schoolmen. (Cf. AQUINAS.)
Duns Scotus strongly upheld the authority of the church, making it the
ultimate authority on which that of Scripture depends. (See also
SCHOLASTICISM.)
The most important of his works consisted of questions and
commentaries on the writings of Aristotle, and on the _Sentences_ of
Lombard, the so-called _Opus Oxoniense_ or _Anglicanum_. Complete
works, edited by Luke Wadding (13 vols., Lyons, 1639) and at Paris (26
vols., 1891-1895). There is an edition of his _De modis significandi_
or _Grammatica speculativa_, the first attempt to investigate the
general laws of language, by F.M. Fernandez Garcia (Quaracchi,
Florence, 1902).
On Duns Scotus generally, see life by Wadding in vol. i. of the works
(full, however, of legendary absurdities); J. Muller, _Biographisches
uber Duns Scotus_ (progr., Cologne, 1881); W.J. Townsend, _The Great
Schoolmen_ (1881); K. Werner, _Die Scholastik des spateren
Mittelalters_, i. (1881); J.M. Rigg, in _Dictionary of National
Biography_. On his theology: C. Frassen, _Scotus Academicus_ (1744,
new edition, 1900); Hieronymus de Montefortino (Jerome de Fortius),
_Scoti summa theologica_ (1728-1738, new edition, 1900); L.F.O.
Baumgarten-Crusius, _De theologia Scoti_ (1826); R. Seeberg, _Die
Theologie des J. Duns Scotus_ (1900), and in Herzog-Hauck,
_Realencyklopadie fur protestantische Theologie_ (1898), with bibliog.
refs; F. Morin, _Dictionnaire de philosophie et de theologie
scolastiques_ [= J.P. Migne, _Troisieme encyclopedie theologique_,
xxi., xxii., 1857]; C.R. Hagenbach, _History of Doctrines_ (Eng. tr.,
ii., 1880). On his philosophy: E. Pluzanski, _Essai sur la philosophie
de Duns Scot_ (1887); A. Schmid, _Die Thomistische und Scotistische
Gewissheitlehre_ (1859); M. Schneid, _Die Korperlehre des J. Duns
Scotus_--its relation to Thomism and Atomism (1879); P. Minges, "Ist
Duns Scotus Indeterminist?" in _Beitrage zur Geschichte der
Philosophie des Mittelalters_, Bd. v. Heft 4 (1905); W. Kahl, _Die
Lehre vom Primat des Willens bei Augustinus, Duns Scotus, und
Descartes_ (1886).
DUNSTABLE, a municipal borough and market town in the southern
parliamentary division of Bedfordshire, England, 37 m. N.W. of London,
on branches of the Great Northern and London & North-Western railways.
Pop. (1901) 5157. It lies at an elevation of about 500 ft. on the bleak
northward slope of the Chiltern Hills. The church of St Peter and St
Paul is a fine fragment of the church of the Augustinian priory founded
by Henry I. in 1131. The building was cruciform, but only the west front
and part of the nave remain. The front has a large late Norman portal of
four orders, with rich Early English arcading above; the nave arcade is
ornate Norman. The original triforium is transformed into a clerestory,
the original clerestory being lost. The north-west tower has a
Perpendicular upper portion, but the south-west tower is destroyed. The
church contains various monuments of the 18th century. Foundations of a
palace of Henry I. are traceable near the church. The main part of the
town extends for a mile along the broad straight Roman road, Watling
Street; the high road from Luton to Tring, which crosses it in the
centre of the town, representing the ancient Icknield Way. The chief
industry is straw hat manufacture; there are also printing, stationery
and engineering works. The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12
councillors. Area, 453 acres.
There may have been a Romano-British village on this site on the Watling
Street. Dunstable (_Dunestaple_, _Donestaple_) first appears as a royal
borough in the reign of Henry I., who, according to tradition, on
account of the depredations of robbers, cleared the forest where Watling
Street and the Icknield Way met, and encouraged his subjects to settle
there by various grants of privileges. He endowed the priory by charter
with the lordship of the manor and borough, which it retained till its
dissolution in 1536-1537. The Dunstable Annals deal exhaustively with
the history of the monastery and town in the 13th century. In 1219 the
prior secured the right of holding a court there for all crown pleas and
of sitting beside the justices itinerant, and this led to serious
collision between the monks and burgesses. The body of Queen Eleanor
rested here for a night on its journey to Westminster, and a cross, of
which there is now no trace, was subsequently erected in the
market-place. At Dunstable Cranmer held the court which, in 1533,
declared Catherine of Aragon's marriage invalid. At the dissolution a
plan was set on foot for the creation of a new bishopric from the spoils
of the religious houses, which was to include Bedfordshire and
Buckinghamshire with Dunstable as cathedral city. The scheme was never
realized, though plans for the cathedral were actually drawn up.
From the earliest time Dunstable has been an agricultural town. The
Annals abound with references to the prices and comparative abundance or
scarcity of the two staple products, wool and corn. The straw hat
manufacture has flourished since the 18th century. Henry I. granted a
market held twice a week, and a three days' fair on the feast of St
Peter ad Vincula. John made a further grant of a three days' fair from
the 10th of May. A market is still held weekly, also fairs in May and
August correspond to these grants. Dunstable had also a gild merchant
and was affiliated to London. In 1864 the town was made a municipal
borough by royal charter.
DUNSTAFFNAGE, a ruined castle of Argyllshire, Scotland, 3 m. N.N.E. of
Oban. It is situated on a platform of conglomerate rock forming a
promontory at the south-west of the entrance to Loch Etive and is
surrounded on three sides by the sea. It dates from the 13th century,
occupying the site of the earlier stronghold in which was kept the Stone
of Destiny prior to its removal to Scone (q.v.) in 843. The castle is a
quadrangular structure of great strength, with rounded towers at three
of the angles, and has a circumference of about 400 ft. The walls are 60
ft. high and 10 ft. thick, affording a safe promenade, which commands a
splendid view. Brass cannon recovered from wrecked vessels of the
Spanish Armada are mounted on the walls. In 1308 Robert Bruce captured
the fortress from the original owners, the MacDougalls, and gave it to
the Campbells. It was garrisoned at the period of the Jacobite
rebellions of 1715 and 1745, fell into decay early in the 19th century,
and is now the property of the crown, the duke of Argyll being
hereditary keeper. The adjoining chapel, in a very ruinous state, was
the burial-place of the Campbells of Dunstaffnage.
There are other interesting places on Loch Etive, an arm of the sea,
measuring 19-1/4 m. in length and from 1/8 m. to fully 1 m. in width.
Near the mouth, where the lake narrows to a strait, are the rapids which
Ossian called the Falls of Lora, the ebbing and flowing tides, as they
rush over the rocky bar, creating a roaring noise audible at a
considerable distance. In the parish of Ardchattan, on the north shore,
stands the beautiful ruin of St Modan's Priory, founded in the 13th
century for Cistercian monks of the order of Vallis Caulium. It is said
that Robert Bruce held within its walls the last parliament in which the
Gaelic language was used. On the coast of Loch Nell, or Ardmucknish Bay,
is the vitrified fort of Beregonium, not to be confounded with
Rerigonium (sometimes miscalled Berigonium) on Loch Ryan in
Wigtownshire--a town of the Novantae Picts, identified with Innermessan.
The confusion has arisen through a textual error in an early edition of
Ptolemy's _Geography_.
DUNSTAN, SAINT (924 or 925-988),[1] English archbishop, entered the
household of King Aethelstan when still quite a boy. Here he soon
excited the dislike of his young companions, who procured his banishment
from the court. He now took refuge with his kinsman Alphege, bishop of
Winchester, whose persuasion, seconded by a serious illness, induced him
to become a monk. Aethelstan's successor, Edmund, recalled him to the
court and made him one of his counsellors. Through the machinations of
enemies he was again expelled from the royal presence; but shortly
afterwards Edmund revoked the sentence and made him abbot of
Glastonbury. His successor Edred showed him greater favour still. On the
accession of Edwig, however, in 955, Dunstan's fortunes underwent a
temporary eclipse. Having offended the influential Aelfgifu, he was
outlawed and compelled to flee to Flanders. But in 957 the Mercians and
Northumbrians revolted and chose Edgar as their king. The new king at
once recalled Dunstan, who was made a bishop. At first apparently he was
without a see; but that of Worcester falling vacant, he was appointed to
fill it. In 959 he received the bishopric of London as well. In the same
year Edwig died and Edgar became sole king, Dunstan shared his triumph,
and was appointed archbishop of Canterbury. On Edgar's death in 975 the
archbishop's influence secured the crown for his elder son Edward. But
with the accession of Aethelred in 979 Dunstan's public career came to
an end. He retired to Canterbury, and died on the 19th of May 988.
Dunstan is of more importance as a lay than as an ecclesiastical
statesman. The great church movement of his time--the reformation of
English monasticism on Benedictine lines--found in him a sympathizer,
but in no sense an active participant. But as a secular statesman he
occupies a high place. He guided the state successfully during the nine
years' reign of the invalid Edred. Through that of Edgar, he was the
king's chief minister and most trusted adviser; and to him a great share
in its glories must be assigned.
See _Memorials of St Dunstan_, edited by W. Stubbs (London, 1874);
_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, edited by C. Plummer (Oxford, 1892-1899).