10 



FRIT 



FRITILLARY 



countship of Holland, though not without a most 

 stubborn resistance on the part of the Frisians, a 

 resistance which had not wholly died out by the 

 end of the 15th century. In fact in 1457 the 

 Emperor Frederick III. recognised their immediate 

 dependence upon the empire. And it was only in 

 1498 that their staunch love of liberty was finally 

 crushed by Albert of Saxony, whom Maximilian 

 had appointed hereditary imperial governor of 

 Frisia. From 1523, when the governorship fell to 

 Charles V., Frisia became virtually a part of the 

 Netherlands, and from that time onwards shared 

 their destiny. 



The Frisian language is a member of the Low 

 German family, coming intermediate between Old 

 Saxon and Anglo-Saxon. Its most striking 

 peculiarity is the modification of k and g into ts 

 before the letters e and i. The oldest existing 

 specimens of the language do not go back beyond 

 the 14th and 15th centuries, and consist principally 

 of the old law codes and similar official documents 

 (collected in Richthofen, Friesische Rechtsquellen, 

 1840). The celebrated Lex Frisiomim, although it 

 belongs probably to the period of Charlemagne, is 

 composed in Latin, and contains a very meagre 

 sprinkling of Frisian terms. At the present day 

 pure Frisian is spoken only by the peasantry in the 

 west of Dutch Friesland and in one or two isolated 

 districts of Prussian East Friesland, and is 

 cultivated by a small coterie of men of literary 

 taste in Holland. Corrupt forms are spoken in 

 Heligoland and in parts or Jutland and bleswick. 

 (Jysbert Japicx occupies the first place amongst 

 Frisian writers, having published in 1668 a volume 

 of poems entitled Friesche Rijmlerye. Other books 

 held in great esteem by the Frisians are a comedy, 

 Waatze Gribberts Brilloft, dating from the begin- 

 ning of the 18th century, and the popular work, 

 It Libben fen Aaptje Ijsbrants (1827). Het Oera 

 Linda Bok, of which an English edition appeared 

 in 1877, though purporting to be of vast antiquity, 

 was really written by a ship-carpenter, Over de 

 Linden (1811-73). Besides these, quite modern 

 works have been written by E. and J. H. 

 Halbertsma, Salverda, Posthumus, Windsma, 

 Dykstra, Deketh, Van der Veen, Van Assen, and 

 others. The most important production in northern 

 Frisian, the corrupt dialect of Jutland and Sles- 

 wick, is Hansen's comedy De Gidtshals. A society 

 was founded at Franeker in 1829 for the study of 

 the Frisian language and history. 



The most complete accounts of Frisian literature are 

 perliaps to be found in Mone, Uebtrsicht der nieder- 

 landischen Volkslitteratur dlterer Zeit ( 1838), and 

 Wmklor, Allfiemeen nederduitsch en friesch Dialecticon 

 (1872). For the study of the language, see grammars 

 by Eask, Grimm, Heyne, and A. H. Cummins (2d ed. 

 Lond. 1888), grammars, dictionaries, &c. by Richthofen 

 (1840), J. Halbertsma (1874), Cadovius Miiller (died 

 ]725), Ten Doornkaat-Koolman (1877-85), Dirksen 

 (1889), Outzen (1837), Bendsen (1860), and Johansen 

 (1862). 



Frit (Chlorops frit), a small black Dipterous 

 corn-fly, common in North Europe, not known in 

 Britain, doing great damage especially to barley 

 (see CORN INSECTS). 



Frith. See FIRTH. 



Frith, JOHN, reformer, was born about 1503 at 

 Westerham, Kent, and from Eton passed to King's 

 College,' Cambridge, whence in 1525 Wolsey sum- 

 moned him to his new foundation at Oxford. A 

 twelvemonth later, however, suspicion of heresy 

 drove him a fugitive to the young Protestant uni- 

 versity of Marburg, and during his five years' stay 

 here he saw much of Tyndale and Patrick Hamilton, 

 and wrote several Protestant treatises. Venturing 

 back to England in 1532, he was seized and lodged 

 in the Tower, and on 4th July 1533 was burned at 



Smithfield. He has been called the author of the 

 Anglican doctrine of the Eucharist. 



Frith, WILLIAM POWELL, R.A., was born at 

 Aldfield, Yorkshire, on the 9th January 1819. He 

 studied art at Sass's Academy, London, and in 

 the schools of the Royal Academy ; and in 1840 

 exhibited his ' Othello and Desdemona ' in the 

 British Institution. He painted portraits, and his 

 early subject-pictures were scenes from the English 

 and French classics. His ' Coming of Age in the 

 Olden Time ' first brought its painter into notice, 

 and his celebrity was increased by ' Piamsgate 

 Sands' (1854); 'The Derby Day'' (1858); and 

 'The Railway Station' (1862). His later works 

 include ' Charles II. 's Last Sunday' (1867); 

 'Before Dinner at Boswell's Lodgings' (1868), 

 which in 1875 sold for 4567 ; the gambling sub- 

 jects entitled ' The Road to Ruin ' ( 1878) ; and 'A 

 Private View, a Scene at the Royal Academy ' 

 (1883). His produc- 

 tions, while desti- 

 tute of the finer art- 

 istic qualities, have 

 been extremely popu- 

 lar on account of the 

 interest of their sub- 

 jects and their obvi- 

 ous dramatic point, 

 and have become 

 widely known by 

 means of engravings. 

 He was elected A. R. A. 

 in 1846, R.A. in 1852, 

 and put on the retired 

 list in 1890. His popu- 

 lar picture, The Rail- 

 way Station, sold for 

 5250, was resold in 

 1890 for 315. His 

 Autobiography (3 vol- 

 umes) was published 

 in 1887-88. 



Frithiof. See 



TEGNER. 



Fritillary (Fri- 

 tillaria), a genus of 



the Liliaceae, closely allied to the lily and tulip, 

 are herbaceous and bulbous-rooted plants. About 



Common Fritillary 

 (Fritilhiria mcleayris). 



Crown Imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) : 

 a, flower enlarged. 



twenty species are known, all palsearctic. All of 

 them have drooping flowers ; some of them are 



