co\v-iu)V 



COWLEY 



581 



hutched .sooner than those of the rightful owners, 

 which full victim to this lofty form of parasitism. 

 The co\v -bird is almut 7 inches in length, predom- 

 inant l\ brownish Muck in colour, and lias a short 

 l>nt tnarply pointed beak. ' It utters a ]>eculiarly 

 liquid April -mind.' The females are far more 

 numerous than the males, and polygamy is there- 

 fore in vogue. The males have deeper, glossier 

 coals than the females. It is said to damage the 

 fields of sown niai/.e, but feeds largely on insects. 

 The name refers to its habit of frequenting cow- 

 pens for the sake of the attracted insect*. Seven 

 other species of Molothrus are known, occurring 

 from La Plata to the United States. 

 Cow-boy. See RANCHING. 



Cowbrldge* a municipal Imrough of Glamor- 

 ganshire, on the I Maw, 12 miles W. of Cardiff 

 (17 by rail), with which and Llantrissant it returns 

 one member to parliament. It has an old gateway 

 and a grammar-school ( 1678). Pop. ( 1891 ) 1377. 



Cow-catcher, a kind of barred iron cone or 

 beak shaped arrangement, about 6 feet long, pro- 

 jecting from the front of locomotives, close over 

 the railway track, and attached to the butter-beam 

 by strong bolts. It is generally used upon Ameri- 

 can lines where unfenceu. Sometimes it is sheathed 

 with iron plates in winter, when it acts as a snow- 

 plough. Despite its name, it catches no cows, but 

 generally throws any animal struck up on the 

 butter-beam, or clears the line by shoving forward 

 and tossing aside. 



Cowdenknowes. See EARLSTON. 



Cowell, EDWARD BYLES, a learned Sanskrit 

 scholar, was born at Ipswich, January 23, 1826. 

 He was educated at Ipswich grammar-school and 

 Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and in 1856 sailed for 

 Calcutta, to fill the chair of History in the newly- 

 established Presidency College, becoming also soon 

 after principal of the Sanskrit College. He re- 

 turned home in 1864, and was elected in 1867 pro- 

 fessor of Sanskrit at Cambridge, and in 1874 to a 

 fellowship in Corpus Christi College. He has pub- 

 lished a long series of Sanskrit texts and transla- 

 tions, alone or in collaboration with other scholars, 

 and edited Colebrooke's Essays (1873). He was a 

 contributor to this work. 



Cowen, FREDERIC HYMEN, composer, born 

 at Kingston, Jamaica, 29th January 1852, was 

 brought' as a child to England. He early showed 

 decided musical talent, which was cultivated by a 

 course of study under Benedict and Goss, as also 

 at Leipzig and Berlin. Among his works are the 

 operas Pauline (1876), Thorgrim (1890), Signa 

 (1893), and Harold (1895); the cantatas The Rose 

 Maiden, Sleeping Beauty, The Water Lily, and 

 others; two oratorios (including Ruth, 1887); 

 half-a-dozen symphonies, one of which, No. 3 

 (Scandinavian), is esteemed throughout Europe; 

 a number of overtures, pianoforte pieces, and minor 

 works, and over 250 songs. In 1888-92 he was 

 conductor to the Philharmonic Society, in 1896 

 succeeded Halle at Manchester and Liverpool. 



Cowes, a seaport and watering-place in the 

 north corner of the Isle of Wight, 11J miles SSE. 

 of Southampton by water, and 4 N. of Newport 

 by rail. It consists of West and East Cowes, lying 

 on opposite sides of the mouth of the estuary of the 

 Medina, and connected by steam-ferry. Standing 

 on a hill-slope, West Cowes has a striking aspect 

 from the sea, and is the seat of much trade, being 

 the chief port of the island, and the headquarters of 

 the Royal Yacht Club (1815), whose regattas are 

 held here. Their club-house was originally a fort, 

 built by Henry VIII. in 1540. Yacht-building is 

 the great speciality of Cowes, which has a line 

 promenade (1864), excellent hotels, batlis, villas, 



lodging houses, &c. Slutwoodx at Kant Cowea was 

 the birthplace of Dr Arnold, and in the vicinity 

 an- Kiwi Coww CoHtle ( 1798), Norm Castle ( 1799), 

 and Oshorne House (1845). The loot, built by 

 Cubitt a- a marine residence for Queen Victoria, M 

 an Italian edilice, with a Hag-tower 112 feet high, 

 and beautiful grounds. Pop. of West Coww 

 (1851) 4786; (1881) 6772; (1891) 7768; of East 

 Cowes ( 1861 ) 1954 ; ( 1881 ) 2615 ; ( 1891 ) 2880. 



Cowhage, COWAOK, or COWITCH, consist* of 

 short, slender, brittle hairs, which cover the pods 

 of species of Mucuna, a papilionaceous climlier, 

 particularly M. j/ruriens of the West Indies and M. 

 urens of the East. These hairs readily stick in the 

 skin and cause intolerable itching, and were hence 

 formerly used ( as still in their native country ) as a 

 vermifuge. They are administered in syrup, and 

 of course act mechanically. The unripe pods are 

 eaten like kidney-beans. 



Cowl. See BENEDICTINES. 



Cowley, ABRAHAM, in his own day considered 

 the greatest of English poets, was born in London, 

 1618. His father was a stationer in that city, and 

 died before his son's birth. By the exertions of hifl 

 mother, Cowley received a learned education. At 

 an early age he was sent to Westminster School, 

 where he displayed an almost unparalleled pre- 

 cocity. It was by the reading of the Faery Queen, 

 a copy of which lay in his mother's window, that 

 his mind was turned to poetry. He wrote excellent 

 verses at the age of ten, and published a volume of 

 poems at fifteen. In 1637 he proceeded to Cam- 

 liridge, and while here wrote, among many other 

 pieces, a large portion of his epic, the Davideis, on 

 the subject of the life of King David. On the out- 

 break of the Civil War, he was ejected (1644) from 

 Cambridge for refusing to take the oath tendered 

 to all the members of the university. At Oxford, 

 however, the headquarters of the king's party, he 

 continued his studies for other two years. On the 

 queen's flight to Paris, Cowlev followed her, and 

 aid effectual service to the royalist cause by various 

 missions, and by carrying on the secret correspond- 

 ence in cipher between the queen and Charles. In 

 1656 he returned to England, but was arrested and 

 only allowed at large on a bail of 1000. To 

 conciliate the party in power, he qualified himself 

 as a doctor of medicine, by way of proving that he 

 had abandoned all political connections. On Crom- 

 well's death, Cowley again went to Paris, but re- 

 turned to England at the Restoration. He M-as 

 disappointed in the hope of preferment, especially 

 of the mastership of the Savoy, which l>oth Charles 

 and his father had led him to expect. By the gen- 

 erosity of the Duke of Buckingham and Cowley 's 

 lifelong friend the Earl of St Allans, he at length 

 received a comfortable provision. Cowley died at 

 Chertsey, London, 28th July 1667. 



Cowley's most ambitious works are the Darideis, 

 the Pittaariqvt Odex, written in mppOMd imitation 

 of Pindar, and the Mistress, a series of love poems. 

 His fate as a poet is one of the most singular 

 in literature. Deemed unapproachable in his own 

 day. he has ever since sunk steadily in popular 

 estimation. Dr Johnson's explanation is still 

 accepted as the best that can be suggested. Cowley 

 wrote for the court and the reigning taste, and not 

 for the general heart of men. What he is still 

 admired for is his astonishing ingenuity and agility 

 of mind. Moreover, though the bulk of his verse 

 can never again have any living interest, he has not 

 a few passages. characterised by delicacy and power. 

 By his small collection of esaays, C*owley takes 

 rank with Goldsmith and Addison as one of the 

 masters of simple and graceful prose style. It is 

 by these essays that Cowley is now l>est known to 

 modern readers. They are included in Grosart's 



