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Almighty Joue, quod he [Hyarbas kyng], qubam to feil syis
On brusit beddis hie feist and sacrifyce

Of Maurusia the pepill hantis thus,
Offering to the the honour of Bacchus,

Consideris thou this? Or quhidder, fader, gif we
For nought the dredis quhen thou lattis thunder fle?
Douglas, book iv. p. 107.
Almighty God, whom the Moores nacion
Fed at rich tables presenteth with wine
Seest thou these thinges? or feare we thee in vain
When thou lettest flye thy thonder from the cloudes?
Or do those flames with vaine noyse us affray?

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Surrey. Ib.

When through the skies the pealing thunders roar?

Pitt. Ib.

Greete and woundirful ben thi werkis, Lord God Almyghti, this weies ben iust and trewe lord kyng of worldis.

Wiclif. Apocalips, chap. xv. Gret and maruelous are thy workes: Lorde God Almightye, iust and true are thy wayes, thou kyng of sainctes.

Bible, 1539. Ib. Sleep'st thou, companion dear? What sleep can close Thy eye-lids? and remember'st what decree Of yesterday, so late hath pass'd the lips Of Heaven's Almighty. Milton's Par. Lost, book v. Whence comest thou, Satan? and he said, from compassing of the earth. For though an enemy of God, and hater of all truth, his wisdom will hardly permit him to falsifie with the All-mighty. Brown's Vulgar Errours,

In the glorious lights of heaven, we perceive a shadow of his divine countenance; in his merciful provision for all that live, his manifold goodness; and lastly, in creating and making existent the world universal, by the absolute art of his own word, his power and AlRaleigh's Hist. of the World.

nightiness.

The Almighty discovers more of his wisdom in forming such a vast

In highest heav'n
Vengeance in storins and tempests sits ensurin'd,
Vested in robes of lightning, and there sleeps,
Unwak'd but by the incens'd Almighty's call.
Mason's Elfrida.

ALMIRANTE BAY, in South America, on the coast of Veragua. It was discovered by Columbus in his fourth voyage, on which occasion he narrowly escaped shipwreck on the numerous hidden rocks which are found near its entrance. It is also the name of a river in the province of Florida, which runs into the bay of Pensacola.

ALMISSA (anciently Peguntium), a small sea-port of Dalmatia, at the mouth of the river Cetina, once celebrated for its piracy. It stands in a strong natural situation, on a rock between two mountains, and is now an episcopal see. It contains 1,000 inhabitants, and is 16 miles E. of Spalatro. E. lon. 18°, 40′. N. lat. 43°, 52'.

ALMO, or ALMOR, in Ancient Geography, a river of Italy, falling into the Tiber near Rome. It was consecrated to the worship of Cybele; in its stream the statue of the goddess was annually washed on the 25th of March. It is at present called the Rio d'Appio, "The River of Appius," from its crossing the Appian way. STAT. Sylv.; MART. Epig.

AL

MIGHIT

ALMOR

ALMODOVAR, a small town in the province of Alentejo, in Portugal, containing about 1,900 inhabitants. ALMODOVAR DEL CAMPO, a town of Spain, in the neighbourhood of the Sierra Morena, and province of La Mancha. Its situation is romantic, and it has an old castle; population about 3,000. It is 18 miles S. of Ciudad Real.

ALMODOVAR DEL PINAR, a town of Spain, in the province of Cuença.

ALMODOVAR DEL RIO, a town of Andalusia, on the Guadalquiver, in the district of Cordova.

HEDES

ALMOEHEDES, or ALMOEDES, an Arabian sect and dynasty, which displaced the Almoravides in Morocco, in the beginning of the twelfth century. The founder, Abdallah, like that of the Almoravides, first commenced his career as a teacher of religion, and assumed the title of Mohdi, or Mohedi, the leader of the orthodox. The number of his followers inspired him with the daring hope of seizing the sovereignty, and having defeated Al Braham, the last of the Almoravides, in a pitched battle, in 1140, he quickly secured the capital. Abdolmumen another chief of the sect, pursued the ill-fated Braham to Fez and to Oran, who leaped down a precipice in despair, in the neighbourhood of the last-mentioned place, leaving unobstructed the path of Abdallah to the throne. His reign, however, was short, and was principally accupied with making some remarkable regulations or the maintenance of his party in their new power.

He ap

multitude of different sorts of creatures, and all with admirable and pointed a council of forty teachers of the sect, who

irreproveable art, than if he had created but a few.

Ray, on the Creation.

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were to regulate all the public concerns of the state, and maintain their doctrines by itinerant preaching; to these were added sixteen assistants, as secretaries. Out of the former class, the supreme heads of the sect were to be elected, and to unite the regal and pontifical power. Abdolmumen, his former general, or coadjutor, however, seems to have anticipated this mode of succession rather prematurely. Returning towards Morocco, after the death of Braham, he over

MOND

REE.

MOE ran the kingdom of Tremecen, and arrived at the seat of EDES. Abdallah's empire just after his death. He was now declared the head of the party and of the state, by the title of chief, or emperor of the true believers; and commenced his reign by strangling, with his own hands, Isaac, the son of Al Braham, the only surviving male branch of the Almoravides. During these revolutions, the states of Barbary were first diverted into those of Tripoli, Kairwan, Tunis, Algiers, Tremecen, and Bujeya, each of which established itself into a petty Sovereignty. Abdolmumen, however, finally united Tunis, Tremecen, the ancient Numidia, and the greater part of Mauritania, and Tingitana, to his dominions; he drove the Christians from Moheida, their chief city in Africa, and made several conquests on the opposite shores of Spain and Portugal. He was succeded by Yusuf, Yakub, Mohammed, surnamed Al Nakir, and Zayed Arrax, the first of whom united the whole northern coast of Africa under his sway, from Tripoli to Morocco, a territory of 1,200 leagues in length. But in 1220, this dynasty met its downfal, in an immense battle fought on the plains of Tholasa, in Spain, where Al Nakir is said to have brought into the field 300,000 foot and 120,000 cavalry, but, according to some writers, the battle was fought in 1212. Returning to Morocco, this chief died of chagrin at his defeats; his grandson, who succeeded him, was assassinated by Gamarazan Ebn Zeyen, of the Zenetian tribe, and thus

terminated one of the most formidable and successful of the Arabian sovereignties which preceded the present race of lawless depredators on the African shores. ALMON, or ALEMETII, in Scripture Geography, a city of Benjamin, Jos. xxi. 18; probably, says Calmet, the Alemeth given to Aaron's family, 1. Chron. vi. 60. ALMONBURY, an extensive town and parish, consisting of several townships, in the neighbourhood of Huddersfield, Yorkshire. It stands on the slope of a hill, terminating, about a mile above, in a lofty precipice on three sides, and overlooking a great extent of country around. The advantage of this site, for the purposes of defence, has not been overlooked. The crown of the hill was once strongly fortified by a double wall and trenches. The area within was subdivided into an outer and inner enclosure from the gate. The remains of mortar and stones, almost vitrified, prove, beyond all controversy, that the place has been destroyed by fire. Camden, but on no sufficient grounds, conjectures that this was the Cambodunum of Antonine's Itinerary. It is, however, unquestionably of Saxon origin. The castle, which, in the reign of the Confessor, was in ruins, was rebuilt by the Lacils; and it is probable that the present church owes its origin to that circumstance. There was a dungeon here in the time of Edw. II. It is distant from Huddersfield about a mile, and 186 miles from London; containing a population of 4,613 inhabitants.

ALMOND, the name of two rivers of Scotland, one of which rises in Lanarkshire, and enters the Frith of Forth at Cramond, five miles from Edinburgh; and the other in the Grampian hills, which runs into the Frith

of Tay.

ALMOND, in Commerce, a Portuguese measure used for oil; it is equal to about four gallons and a half, and twenty-six of these almonds make a pipe of oil.

ALMOND-TREE, in Botany. See AMYGDALUS. The wood, blossoms, and fruit of this tree have each

66

66

ALMORA

been made emblematical of scripture truth. Pliny, ALMOND Nat. Hist. lib. xvi. cap. 25. says, Floret prima omnium TREE. amygdala, mense Januario, Martio vero pomum maturat; and Dr. Shaw, in his Travels, speaks of it as VIDES. the most early bearing fruit in Barbary. Its Hebrew root 7pw, signifies to watch or waken; and when the prophet Jeremiah was first commissioned to deliver the will of God to the Jews, he was shewn "a rod of an almond tree," for by pw, "I am hastening," it was said, or am watching, or waking over my word to perform it." The rods of the chief of the tribes seem each to have been made of this wood, as emblematical of the vigilance required in their duties, Numb. xvii. 6-8, and Aaron's rod distinguished him as God's peculiar servant, by miraculously bringing forth this fruit. Solomon, alluding perhaps both to its early appearance and white blossom, describes the approach of old age by the phrase, "the almond-tree shall flourish." "The almond-tree flourished around Smyrna," says Hasselquist, in his Travels," February 12, on bare boughs." The bowls of the golden candlestick were made of the graceful shape of this fruit, and here the light was never to be suffered to decline.

ALMONDSBURY, a village in Gloucestershire, about ten miles from Bristol, where Almond, the father of Egbert, the first sole monarch of England, is said to have been interred. It has a ruined Saxon fortification, which commands a fine view of the Severn.

ALMONER, or ALMNER, eleemosynarius, in English Customs, an officer of great distinction, belonging to the king's household, whose duty it is to distribute his majesty's alms daily; to admonish the king to bestow alms on saints' days, &c. and who anciently disposed of the king's meat, immediately after it came from table, to twenty-four poor persons of the parish in which the palace stood, whom he selected at the courtgate. Deodands, and the goods of a felo de se, fel! to the lord almoner, for the purpose of relieving such as he judged proper objects of charity. In France, the grand almoner was formerly the highest church dignity of the kingdom. He bestowed the sacrament on the king, and said mass before his majesty on state occasions. All hospitals and houses of charity were under his superintendance. See ALMS.

ALMORA, a town and district of Kemaon, in the north-east of Hindostan, separated from the British territories by a lofty range of hills. It is subject to the rajah of Nepaul, and situate in E. lon. 79°, 40'. N. lat. 29o, 35′.

ALMORAVIDES, in Arabian History, a tribe of political religionists, founded on the coast of Africa, in 1051, by Abubeker Ben Omar, according to the Spanish historians called Abu Texefien, an Arab of the Zinhagian tribe. This sect first affected to retire from the corruptions of the world, to devote themselves to the more rigid observation of the rules and discipline of the Koran. Their leader took the title of Amir al Minnim, or chief of the faithful, and the people assumed the name of Morabites, afterwards, with the addition of the article al, corrupted to Almoravides. Driving the feeble inhabitants of Numidia and Lybia before them, they seized, under Yusuf, or Joseph, their second leader, the whole district of the Morocco states, and founded the city of Morocco as their capital. They shortly after depopulated the settlements of the Zeneti in Tremecen, and seized upon Fez and Tunis.

VIDES.

ALMS.

ALMORA- Under Yusuf this tribe passed over into Spain, and over-ran the kingdoms of Cordova, Granada, Murcia, and Juen. They afterwards ravaged Andalusia, and part of Portugal, and penetrated as far as Lisbon, which they subdued to their arms; but having lost Gibraltar and Alguazir in the interim, and being defeated by sea on their return, they were for awhile made tributary to Spain. Attempting to shake off this yoke, they defeated the Spaniards in a celebrated battle, called the battle of the Seven Counts, near Toledo, but were so exhausted by the victory, as never more to assume their former attitude of conquerors. Yusuf was succeeded by Ali, who was defeated by Alphonso, king of Arragon, with the loss of 30,000 men, in the sixth year of his reign, and in his son, Al Abraham, this tribe was finally expelled from the Morocco throne by Ali Mohedi, who founded the tribe of the ALMOHEDES, which see.

ALMOST'. adv. All and most (i. e.) most part of all, or of the whole; quod enim fere perfectum est, a toto (i. e.), a complemento suo parum abest. Skinner. Douglas, book v. p. 132.

And in the sabot suynge almest al the citee cam togidre to beere,
the word of God.
Wiclif. Dedis, chap. xiii.
And ye nexte Saboth daye came almoste ye whole citie together,
Bible, 1539. Ib.
O King Agrippa, beleuest thou the Prophetes? I knowe that

to heare the worde of God.

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Id. p. 526.

Reufol he was to neody men, of hys almesse large & fre. K. Gloucester, p. 330. Vor his deth he made deol inou, and vor is soule he let do Almes dede mani on, & mani masse al so. For freres of þe croice, & monk & chanoun Haf drawen in ovoice his feez to per almojn, þorgh whilk draubt his seruise is lorn & laid doun. R. Brunne, p. 239. And yet he geueth almesse, And fasteth ofte and hereth messe. Gower. Con. A. book i. And lo a man stood bifore me in a whyt clooth and seide, Cornelie thi preier is herd, and thin almesdedes ben in mynde in the sight of God. Wiclif. The Dedis of Apostlis, c. x.

And behold, a man stode before me in bryght clothynge, and sayd: Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, ad thyne almesdedes are had in remembrancei n the syght of God.

Bible, 1539, Ib.

[This was] A man that had been long in office vnder dyuers of the kynges almoygners, to whom the goodes of such men as kyll themselfe be appoynted by the lawe, and hys office, as deodandes to be geue in almes. Sir Thomas More's Workes,p. 235, c. 2.

As if I lone my brother, and he haue nede of me, & be in po- ALMS. uertie, loue will make me put myne hand into my purse or almory, and to geue him some what to refresh him The Workes of W. Tyndall, &c. fol. 225, col. 1.

CLOT. You sinne against

Obedience, which you owe your father, for

The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
One, bred of almes, and foster'd with cold dishes,
With scraps o' th' court. Shakespeare's Cymb, act ii.
Richard Rich was a mercer, and founded almes-houses at Hodsden
dowed; though now the almes-houses are as poor as the almes-folk,
in Hartford-shire, which no doubt were by him competently en-
the one needing repairing, as much as the other relieving.
Fuller's Worthies. London.

The second was an almner of the place:
His office was the hungry for to feed,
And thirsty give to drinke; a work of grace:
He feard not once himselfe to be in need.

Spenser's Faerie Queene, book i. can. x.
He feeds yon alms-house, neat, but void of state,
Where age and want sit smiling at the gate.

Pope's Man of Ross.

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Arthur Yeldard, born at Houghton-Strother, near the river Tyne, in the county of Tindall, in Northumberland. He was educated in grammar and singing, as a boy of the almonry, or chorister, in the Benedictine convent, now the dean and chapter of Durham.

T. Warton's Life of Sir T. Pope. App. No. xxv. ALMS, in an ecclesiastical sense, were, in ancient times, the principal, and, in some instances, the only subsistence of the clergy. Those of the primitive Christians were divided into four parts; one of which was reserved for the poor and for the repairing of churches, the other three were distributed amongst the bishops, priests, and deacons.

In process of time, that which was originally a fruit of benevolence became enforced by ecclesiastical laws, and all the powerful stimulants which an artful priestconvenient doctrine of the apocryphal book of Tobit, hood could educe from eternal hopes and fears. The that "It is better to give alms than to lay up gold; for alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sins," was universally inculcated, until the riches of the world were poured into the lap of the church. Hence arose the sounding titles of great and grand almoner, lord almoner, lord high almoner, &c. offices which, in France, sometimes conferred the highest ecclesiastical dignity. See ALMONER.

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"Oh, excellent alms-giving!' says Edgar. Oh, worthy reward of the soul! Oh, salutary remedy of our sins! It was usual," observes Mr. Fosbrooke, in his Monasticon, "to recommend this as a means of liberation from guilt. The sick were taught to expect cures by the same mode. It was a general opinion, that persons who had no issue should give alms and found charitable institutions. They (the rich), as well as their inferiors, used to put a written schedule of their sins under the cloth which covered the altar of a favourite saint, accompanied by a donation, and a day or two after re-examined the schedule, which the virtues of the saint converted to a blank!" It is not, however, to be forgotten, that many of the monastic establishments which became surreptitiously enriched

I.

S. were afterwards the sources of the most effectual charity to the poor; and are found to this day, in various parts of Catholic Europe, distinguished for the useful exercise of this Christian virtue. In the Romish church the term is still used, as including all gifts to the church and the poor.

The Mahometan theology represents ALMS as needful to make the prayers of the faithful to be heard above; and a saying of one of their caliphs has been often quoted amongst them with approbation, "Prayer carries us half-way to God, fasting to the door of his palace, but alms introduce us to his presence chamber." The general disposition of liberality to the distressed is certainly amongst the best features of the Mahometan church, which has produced many shining examples of this species of charity.

ALMS OF THE KING, or ALMS OF ST. PETER, were names sometimes given to the Peter-pence.

ALMS OF PLOUGHED LAND, eleemosyna pro aratis, or eleemosyna carucarum, was a tax upon each piece of ploughed land, anciently levied for the benefit of the poor.

ALMS PASCHAL, eleemosyna paschales, were those distributed, with certain ceremonies, at Easter. Alms Reasonable, eleemosyna rationalis, certain portions of the effects of intestate persons set aside for the use of the church and the poor.

wars.

Mahometans divide their alms into voluntary and legal; the former, denominated sadakat by the Arabs, are left to the discretion of the donor, though the kind of things which are to be given is prescribed; the latter, called zacat, were originally imposed by the prophet himself (averaging about the amount of a tythe), and were first devoted to the support of his government and Latterly, they have been left by his successors to the consciences of the faithful, and other and more regular imposts substituted for the public service. ALMS-BOX, OF CHEST (called by the Greeks Kiẞario), a box in which the alms of the church were collected, both in public and private assemblies. By 27 Henry VIII. and the injunction of the canons, a small chest, or coffer, is to be placed in a convenient situation in every parish church of England and Wales, and the produce of it distributed to the poor. It is generally secured, by three keys, which are kept by the minister and churchwardens.

ALMS-HOUSE, a name commonly given to houses, or inferior hospitals, left for the benefit of the poor.

ALMUCANTARS, in Astronomy, an Arabic term designating the circles which are supposed to be drawn parallel to the horizon and to pass through every degree of the meridian.

ALMUCANTAR STAFF, in Astronomy, an instrument that has been used in the science, to take observations of the sun at its rising or setting, for the purpose of finding the amplitude and variation of the compass.

ALMUCIA, or ALMUCIUM, in Old Customs, a cap worn chiefly by the clergy, made of goats' or lamb skins; the part covering the head was square, and behind it covered the neck and shoulders. It is probable this square form of the cap was the origin of the one now worn in our universities.

ALMUGGIM, or ALMIGGIM, a valuable kind of wood, mentioned in Scripture as imported by Solomon from Ophir, and of which he made pillars or rail-work

GIM.

ALNE

for the temple, &c. and musical instruments. Hence, ALMUGperhaps, the Septuagint renders it wrought wood. The Vulgate calls it lignum thyinum. The rabbins think it was coral, ebony, or pine; others the citron, (known WICK. to the ancients as the thyinum, and much esteemed). Calmet, detaching the al as an article, considers it to have been the tree which produces gum Arabic, and the same with the shittim of the Pentateuch. Dr. Shaw observes, that the wood of the cypress is still used in Italy and other warm climates for violins and stringed instruments generally, and conjectures that this was the almug-tree of Scripture. From the testimony of Josephus, it seems to have been white and shining, as well as remarkably light.

ALMUNECAR, a small sea-port town of Spain, on the Mediterranean, in the province of Granada. It has a commodious harbour and an ancient castle, and contains about 2,000 inhabitants; 35 miles S. W. of Granada. W. lon. 3°, 54'. N. lat. 36, 42'.

ALMUNIA, a town of Arragon, in Spain, 22 miles from Saragoza. Inhabitants about 3,000.

ALNAGER, or AULNAGER (from aulne, French, an ell), in Old Customs, a public officer of the king, sworn to measure cloths by the ell, to fix their assize throughout the kingdom, and put his seals on them in token of his approval. The aulnage-duty was a tax on cloth collected by him; his fees were properly regulated, and he incurred the punishment of the forfeiture of his office and of the value of the goods, by affixing seals falsely. He had his power by stat. 25 Edw. III. and several succeding ones.

ALNE, a river of Northumberland, which rises in the hills W. of " Alnham Towne." It has given names to Alnham, Halne, Alnwick, and Alnemouth, all which are seated on its banks. At the last of these towns, the Alne enters the German ocean.

ALNEMOUTH, or ALNMOUTH, a small sea-port, in the parish of Lesbury, Northumberland, 315 miles distant from London. It has suffered by the encroachments of the sea, and appears to have been the scene of several of those skirmishes with which the history of the Scottish borders so greatly abounds. The harbour is both small and inconvenient, although safe for small vessels and fishing-craft. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth this town was taken by the French, who fortified it.

ALNEWICK, or ALNWICK, a market town and borough of Northumberland, on the banks of the river Alne, 308 miles from London, and 34 from Newcastle upon Tyne. It contains a population of 5,426 inhabitants, and about 800 houses, and is the county town of Northumberland. The market is held on Saturdays. It has four annual fairs, for shoes, hats, and pedlary; and for horses and horned cattle. There is an ancient and immemorial custom in proclaiming these fairs: on the eve of the day on which they are held, the bailiff is joined by the representatives of several neighbouring townships, who, after the proclamation, disperse themselves over the different parts of the town and keep watch all night; one of the most perfect remains of the old custom of watch and ward in England. There is a respectable town-house, where the quartersessions and county-courts are held, and the members of parliament for the county are elected. The Percy family derives the title of baron from this borough. Alnwick is a very ancient town, standing advantageously

ALNE for its defence on the side of a hill. It was at one time WICK. fortified, as appears from the vestiges of a wall and three gates, which still remain, It is governed by four chamberlains, who are chosen, once in two years, out of twenty-four common-councilmen, and a bailiff nominated by the duke of Northumberland, his authority being derived from the obsolete office of constable of Alnwick castle. Persons are admitted to the freedom of this borough on St. Mark's day, by a whimsical ceremony,enjoined in the charter, in consequence,as it is said, of an accident that befel King John, when travelling in this neighbourhood. Being compelled to leave the high-road, because of its neglected state, his horse sunk into a bog adjoining; and as a mode of punishing the inhabitants of the town for not keeping the roads in better order, he appended to their charter this condition that the freemen, on their admission, should pass through a well, or pool, near the spot, now called Freeman's well. This is said to be nearly twenty feet across, to be from four to five feet deep in many places, and formerly had much pains taken with it to make the bottom uneven and the mud abundant, for the occasion; an officer, living near, having a perquisite of five shillings on the admission of each freeman into the pond. After this ceremony (to whatever degree it is now practised) is over, the new-made freemen ride round the bounds of the moor, attended by the two oldest inhabitants as guides, and each of them, alighting from his horse every quarter of a mile, casts a stone upon the boundary cairns, or kirocks. This road, which is about twelve miles, is over many dangerous precipices.

The noble castle of Alnwick stands on the northern brow of the eminence on which the town is situated, and is the principal seat of his grace the duke of Northumberland. It is a very ancient and strong building, "believed," says Grose, "to have been founded by the Romans; for when a part of the castle-keep was taken down to be repaired, some years ago, under the present walls were discovered the foundations of other buildings, which lay in a different direction from the present, and some of the stones appeared to have Roman mouldings. The zig-zag fretwork round the arch leading to the inner court, is evidently of Saxon architecture, and yet this was probably not the most ancient entrance, for under the flag-tower (before that part was taken down and rebuilt by the present duke) was the appearance of a gateway that had been walled up, directly fronting the present gateway into the town." This was a fortress of great strength in the eleventh century, and resisted a powerful siege in the year 1093, when Malcolm III. king of Scots, coming into England to concert an alliance with William Rufus, was offended at his cold reception, and raised an army on his return, with which he ravaged all the country as far as Alnwick. The garrison of Alnwick castle was about to surrender, when a soldier promised to deliver Malcolm the keys on the point of his spear; but, on his advancing to receive them, the soldier ran his spear into his body and killed him. In the year 1774, her grace the duchess of Northumberland (lineally descended from Malcolm) erected a cross on the spot where he fell it is now called Malcolm cross. The son of Malcolm, Prince Edward, also fell before this fortress. Alnwick castle likewise held out against William III. king of Scotland, in 1174, whose forces were obliged to raise the siege, after the king

ALOEUS

had been taken prisoner here. In the year 1216, King ALME John burnt the castle down; but it was afterwards WICK repaired. Henry II. confirmed the castle and barony to Eustace Fitz John, whose posterity took the name of Vesey; and, after many successions, William de Vesey becoming heir, and dying, in 1297, without legitimate issue, empowered Anthony Beck, bishop of Durham, to preserve this barony and divers lands for his natural son, who was then in Ireland, and under age; but the bishop, on some pretence, sold the castle and honours of Alnwick to Henry Percy, from whom the dukes of Northumberland are descended. The last duke but one greatly enlarged and improved the castle. It now consists of three wards; and contains within its outer walls an area of five acres, flanked with fifteen embattled towers, ornamented with various figures of warriors, connected with the history of its long line of princely possessors. The avenue forming the approach to the mansion is exceedingly magnificent; three noble gateways lead through the two outer courts into the one immediately under the walls of the citadel. A grand staircase conducts the stranger to the range of apartments inhabited by the family, in which the grandeur and general keeping of this ancient structure has been most admirably preserved and intermingled with the conveniencies and elegancies of modern times. The saloon, the drawing-room, and dining-room, are of noble size, and contain several good portraits of the family. The chapel is ceiled like that of King's college, Cambridge, and the walls gilt and embellished in imitation of the great church of Milan. This town is also remarkable for the remains of the first abbey of Premonstratensian canons, founded in England who settled here in the year 1147. The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and, in 1375, Lord Percy granted it the hospital of St. Leonard, in the town of Alnwick. At the time of the dissolution of monasteries, it was valued, according to Dugdale, at 1897. 15s. and, according to Speed, at upwards of 1977. The Brandling family occupied it as their country seat; and after them the Doubledays, by whose heirs it was ultimately sold to the duke of Northumberland. Very little of the original building now remains, but the chronicle of this abbey is still shown, in the library of King's college, Cambridge.

ALNEY, a small island in the river Severn, near Gloucester, remarkable only for being the site on which a compromise of their interests in the crown of England took place between Edmund Ironside and Canute the Dane. Some say this was effected by single combat.

ALNUS, in Botany, the alder. See BETULA, CONOCARPUS, and BOTANY, Div. ii.

ALOA, in Grecian Antiquity, a feast held at Athens in honour of Bacchus and Ceres. The oblations were fruits of the earth. From this festival Ceres is sometimes surnamed Aloas, or Alois. MEURSIUS, Græc. Eleus.

ALOE, in Botany, a genus of plants belonging to the class Hexandria, and order Monogynia.

ALOE, in Medicine, the inspissated juice of the various sorts of aloes. It acts as a purgative, both when applied externally and taken inwardly.

ALOEUS, in Mythology, one of the giants, the son of Titan and Terra; by others said to have been the offspring of Neptune and Canace, or Canape. His wife Iphimedia, had two sons by Neptune, whom Aloeus

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