Names of Places. Number of Miles from Dist. Popu 9 Aglionby 22 Aighton 43 Aikber 46 Aike.. 9 Aikton 24 Ailsby 28 Ailsworth County. ..to Cumberland Carlisle ....3| Brampton 309 .6 Penrith ..to Lancaster.. Clitheroe...6 Blackburn...7 Preston ..to N. R. York. Middleham .5 Richmond...6 Bedale ...to E. R. York. Beverley ...6 M. Weighton 9 Gt. Driffield .7 190 ..to & pa Cumberland Wigton ..4 Carlisle.....9 Abbey-holm. 7 ....pa Lincolnshire Gt. Grimsby 4 Caistor... ..9 Barton.....15 165 .ham Northamp.. Peterboro ..4 M. Deeping. 9 Stamford ....9 43 Ainderby Myers. ..to N. R. York. Catterick...3 Richmond...4 Middleham..7 222 43 Ainderby Quernhow to N. R. York. Thirsk ....6 Northallerton8 Ripon 7 217 43 Ainderby Steeple to&pa N. R. York. Bedale 5 .2 Darlington. .12 223 9 Ainstable pa Cumberland Penrith .11 Carlisle .11 Kirk Oswald 5 dis W. R. York. .to N. R. York. W. R. York. .to Lancaster .to Cumberland to Lancaster .. .to W. R. York. 46 Ainstie 43 Aiskew. 44 Aismondersly. 22 Ainsworth. 9 Ainthorn 22 Aintree.. .. 44 Airton. Bedale .18 302 107 1980 .4 234 43 86 753 Ripon.. .1 Aldborough..5 Masham ....7 212 .3 Bolton Wigton....10 Carlisle ..12 Gretna Green 8 Borobridge .6 Ripon. .....6 Thirsk 232 First 4772 known as an exhibi erset House, has got the frame for nothing, and that is worth £2." "D....it, so he has," cried Opie-"I'll go back and knock at the door, and ask for the St. AGNES frame; D....it, I will." He was actually about to put his resolve into execution, till dissuaded by the Doctor. Popularity naturally followed this notice of royalty. The ladies, however, soon deserted him, as his likenesses were not flattering; for where Nature had been niggardly, Opie refused to be liberal. He afterwards became better acquainted with the art of pleasing them; a change which has been attributed to Mrs. Opie, who used to stand over him, and endeavour to make him sensible of the graces of the female form. It was in the year 1786, that Mr. Opie became known as an exhibitor at Somerset House; soon after which he aspired to academical honours, and ultimately attained the rank of Royal Academician, and afterwards succeeded Fuseli, in the tor at Somprofessorship of painting. He was twice married, but at what period his first hymeneal union occurred we are not informed-it was inauspicious. His second marriage, which took place on May 8, 1798, was more fortunate; and in the society of the late Mrs. Opie, the amiable author of many beautiful and interesting literary compositions, he enjoyed a delightful relief from the toilsome duties of his profession. Mr. Opie was in the daily acquisition of wealth and fame, and rapidly advancing to the very zenith of popularity, when his mortal career was suddenly closed by death, on Thursday, April 9, 1807, in the Died in 1807 forty-sixth year of his age. "As a portrait painter he has great claims to praise, particularly in his men, which are firm, bold, and freely delineated, and occasionally well coloured. His women are heavy, inelegant, and chiefly accompanied with a hardness that destroys all beauty. * St. ALBANS is situated on the river Ver, or Muss, and consists of Originally three parishes; parts of two of which, extend beyond the limits of the the British borough. It is said to have been the site of the ancient British metro- metropolis. polis of Cassibelanus, and is very near that of the ancient Roman Verulam, mentioned by Tacitus, being the same as the Saxon Watlingceaster, so called because seated on the road called Watling-street. It was here that Queen Boadicea made her celebrated assault on the Romans, and failed, after an immense slaughter of seventy thousand men. In 795, Offa, king of Mercia, erected an abbey here, in memory of St. King Offa's extraordi nary vision, which in duced him to build the abbey. ..pa Norfolk .pa Oxford . ST. ALBANS Alban, the British protomartyr, who was born here in the third century. He served in the Roman army, but was converted to Christianity by a monk, named Amphilabus, and suffered during the Dioclesian persecution, A. D. 303. The abbey subsequently obtained great privileges, and became very rich, the revenues at the dissolution amounting to upwards of £2500. per annum. Monastic foundations had their origin in this country, about the time of St. Augustine, who came from Rome, to convert the Pagan Saxons to Christianity; and when Offa ascended the throne of Mercia, about twenty great monasteries had been founded in England, and about the same number of episcopal sees established. Offa's zeal prompted him to do what many of his crowned predecessors had done; but being undetermined whom to select as the patron saint of his establishment, it is recorded that, while at the city of Bath, an angel appeared to him in the silence of the night, desiring him to raise out of the earth the body of Alban, the first British martyr, and place his remains in a suitable shrine. Even the memory of Alban had been lost for three hundred and forty years; but the king assembling his clergy and people at Verulam, an active search was made for his body with prayer, fasting, and alms; when it is said a ray of light was seen by all to stand over the place of burial, similar to the star that conducted the magi to Bethlehem. The ground was therefore St. Alban's opened, and, in the presence of the king, the body of Alban was found. body found Offa is said to have placed a golden circle round the head of the after a lapse of 494 years; deceased, with an inscription, to signify his name and title, and immedia golden cir- ately caused the remains of the saint to be conveyed to a small chapel, cle placed without the walls of Verulam, as the town was then called, until a more round his head. noble edifice could be raised for its reception. This is said to have occurred on the 1st day of August, 791, four hundred and ninety-four years after the martyrdom of Alban. Offa afterwards made a journey to Rome, and obtained the desired privileges of his intended foundation, with great commendations for his zeal and piety, from the pope, when he undertook to build a stately church and monastery, to the memory of St. Alban. From this abbey the town originated, which early obtained considerable importance. The abbey church, which claims particular attention for its size, beauty, and antiquity, is constructed of Roman brick, to which age has given the appearance of stone. A stone screen, erected before the communion table, in 1461, is much admired for the richness and lightness of its sculpture. The tombs of the founder, Offa, and that of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, are shown here; and, not many years ago, the leaden coffin, containing the body of the latter, found near- was opened, and the corpse found nearly entire. The Roman antiquities discovered on the site have been very numerous. The effect of the venerable abbey, when seen from a distance, is extremely imposing; situated upon an eminence, its massive towers rise majestically above the houses of the ancient town, which is well,known to have derived its first importance from the Romans, since which, it has increased chiefly under the protecting influence of successive abbots. of this rich and powerful monastery. The prospect of its mouldering ruins, forces upon the mind a melancholy train of reflection on the instability of all human institutions. Duke of Gloucester's body ly entire. Market, Saturday.-Fairs, March 25 and 26; October 10 and 11, for horses, cows, sheep, and hiring servants.-Inns, Angel, and White Hart.-Mail arrives 10.15 P. M. Departs 4.30 A. M. A Roman of antiquity • ALCESTER is situated at the confluence of the two small rivers, Alne and Arrow, having a bridge over each. It is supposed to have been a Roman station; Roman coins, urns, and similar relics, station. having been frequently found here. The Roman way of Icknield Street also passed through it, and from its situation it is deemed the Alana Many relics of Richard of Cirencester. It was anciently a borough by pre- found. scription, and of some note in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. when it became the property of the Beauchamps, and afterwards of the Grevilles. The church is a fine gothic structure; the market is well supplied with corn; and the manufacture of needles is very extensive. Here is a Free School, founded by Walter Newport, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and various alms-houses and small charities, originating in different benefactors. Traces of the site of Traces of an an abbey, founded in the reign of King Stephen, to the north of the founded by town, are still visible. abbey King Market, Tuesday-Mail arrives 9 A.M., departs 8 P.M.-Inn, Angel.-Fairs, March Stephen. 20, June 23, Tuesday before April 5, May 18, 2nd Tuesday in July, for cheese + ALDBOROUGH. Fair, September 4. ALDBOURN. Market, Tuesday. sketch of § ALDEBURGH is pleasantly situated in the valley of Slaughton, and bounded on the eastern side by the sea, which has made considerable encroachments, and nearly washed a street away. The river Ald runs on the south side, and forms a convenient quay. The town is mean in construction, and chiefly inhabited by fishermen and seafaring people. Soles, lobsters, and other fish are abundant. It is remarkable as the birth-place of the late Rev. George Crabbe, emphatically styled Birth place the Poet of the Poor, who was born December 24, 1754. His of the Rev. father was an officer in the Customs, and at first gave him an educa-George Crabbe, the tion, merely suitable to follow the same pursuit; but when his prospects poet Biobrightened, he removed his son to a classical seminary, where he graphical was instructed for a surgeon and apothecary, to which profession his life. he was in due time apprenticed, but relinquished all views of establishing himself in practice. At a very early period he became a versifier; and among his precocious attempts was a prize poem, on Hope, which was inserted in the Lady's Magazine, then published by Mr. Wheeble. Crabbe came to London, in 1778, with £3. in his Crabbe's pocket, and made versification his chief study. His first published arrival in work was The Candidate, a poem, in quarto, which came into the 1778. world anonymously, in 1780, and was favourably received. A short time afterwards, his poverty and poetry induced him to seek the patronage of Edmund Burke, to whom he submitted a large quantity of miscellaneous composition; he had no introduction to Mr. Burke, excepting his own letter, stating his circumstances; no recommendation but his distress, and yet his application was attended with success. His patron introduced him to some of the first men in the country, and soon London, His first published work well received. |