Donegal. 



DON 4 



grain is sold, is held in a spacious area farther to the 

 north. The two annual fairs are kept on the 5th of 

 April and the 5th of August, for horned cattle, sheep, 

 horses, and coarse woollen cloth. 



The corporation of Doncaster possesses an annual re- 

 venue of L.7000, which has always been munificently 

 expended, for promoting the prosperity of the town, 

 and the comfort of its inhabitants. The corporation 

 consists of a mayor, a recorder, a town-clerk, twelve 

 aldermen, and 21 common councillors. 



As Doncaster contains a great number of opulent fa- 

 milies, and of genteel families of small fortune who 

 have selected it as a desirable and cheap place of resi- 

 dence, the means of education are numerous. There 

 are no fewer than eleven large boarding-schools for 

 youth of both sexes. 



The race-ground of Doncaster, and the great stand 

 for the accommodation of the company, are the finest 

 in the kingdom. The race-ground is enclosed by a 

 beautiful railing; and the races are among the finest 

 and the best attended in the country. 



Doncaster was a Roman station, and is the Danum of 

 Antoninus, the Caer-daun of Nennius, the Dona-cercfn 

 of the Saxons, and the Doncastle of the Scots. For a 

 particular account of its history and antiquities, we 

 roust refer the reader to Miller's History of Doncaster. 



The following is an abstract of the population return 

 for the borough of Doncaster, for 1811. 



Number of inhabited houses, 1438 



Number of families that occupy them, 1557 



Houses building, 28 



Uninhabited houses, 42 



Families employed in agriculture, 173 



Do. in trade, manufactures, &c 833 



Do. not comprised in these classes, 551 



Number of males, 3110 



Number of females, 3825 



Total population in 1811, 6935 



Do. in 1801, 5697 



Increase since 1801, 1238 



See Miller's History of Doncaster and its Vicinity, 

 Doncaster, 180t, which is a very valuable work; and 

 Bigland's Beauties of England and Wales, vol. xvi. p. 

 819, &c. (*) 



DONDRA HEAD, or DOXDRE HEAD, called by the 

 natives Dcn-it/ium, Deixunder Head, or Devi-noor, is 

 the most southern extremity of the Island of Ceylon. 

 It is a low point, having a grove of tall cocoa nut trees 

 n its extremity. The populous village of Dondra, in 

 its neighbourhood, was at one time a place of great note, 

 and was much frequented on account of a magnificent 

 Hindoo temple in its vicinity, which is now in ruins. 

 The fort of Matura was built by the Portuguese and 

 Dutch from the stones of that edifice. Another tem- 

 ple much resorted to by the Cingalese, still exists. It 

 is about 12 feet high, and 150 in circuit. A bell-sha- 

 ped stone rises from the centre, so as to make the whole 

 height about 30 feet. A full account of this edifice 

 will be found in Perceval's Account of Ceylon, p. 155. 

 Dondra Head is situated in 80 43' of East Long, and 

 5 55' of North Lat. ( T ) 



DONEGAL, a county of Ireland, and the largest in 

 the province of Ulster. It formerly went under the 

 name of Tyrconnel ; and was a separate principality, 

 with powerful chieftains over it, to late as the time of 



5 DON 



Queen Elizabeth. It is situated on the northwest ex- Donegal, 

 tremity of the island ; and is bounded by Londonderry 

 and Tyrone on the east, by Fermanagh on the south, 

 and by the Atlantic Ocean on the north and west. Its 

 general aspect is bleak and forbidding. Though its 

 shores are finely indented by the sea, though it has 

 many rivers, and much hilly ground, yet it presents 

 very little either of grand or of beautiful scenery. 

 With the exception of a few spots, in which taste and 

 enterprise have combined to supply the want of local 

 advantages, or to improve those which already existed, 

 there is nothing to gratify a traveller's eye. Nature 

 has not been liberal, and art has been almost wholly 

 idle. The most attractive scenes and prospects are 

 those at Brownhall, near Ballyshannon ; Donegal bay, 

 and the bridge of Imber in its neighbourhood ; Woed- 

 hill, the approach to Major Nesbit's of Glentis ; Horn- 

 head, where there is a remarkable cavern ; the Ards, 

 the seat of Mr Stewart ; Mount- Alt, from the summit 

 of which the views are truly magnificent ; Ramelton, 

 near which is the residence of Sir James Stewart ; 

 the Bishop of Derry's seat at Faun, in the barony of 

 Inishoen, from which the views of Lough Swilly are 

 exceedingly grand. 



This county, with respect to soil, is, upon the whole, So' 1 * n & 

 remarkably rugged. The proportion of good and fer- c l" natc - 

 tile land in it is inconsiderable, and is to be found in 

 the vallies, in some parts of the coast, and along the 

 banks of the rivers. The mountainous districts are 

 very extensive ; the best of them afford very poor 

 pasture ; and the worst of them are absolutely barren, 

 consisting of masses of granite, which are emphatically 

 called " bad mountain," and producing no vegetable 

 substance whatever. There is also no small extent of 

 bogs and mosses, which carry nothing but sedges and 

 rushes. The climate is most unfavourable to vege- 

 tation of every kind. It is cold, rainy, and tempestu- 

 ous. 



From the nature of the soil and the climate, agricul- Agricul- 

 ture cannot be supposed to be in a flourishing state. *"; 

 And when, besides these untoward circumstances, it 

 is recollected that the farmers are poor and unskilful, 

 that they have no proper stimulus to exertion, and no 

 encouragement from the proprietors, almost all of whom 

 are non-resident, it is easy to believe that the husban- 

 dry of Donegal is wretched and unproductive. To this 

 general remark there are some pleasing exceptions; 

 and in certain quarters, for instance in the neighbour- 

 hood of Raphoe, great improvements have lately taken 

 place. Hills, and the steep sides of mountains, which 

 formerly produced nothing, are beginning to be co- 

 vered with oats, potatoes, and flax. The most impro- 

 ved part of the country is the part adjoining Tyrone, 

 where there is a district about 17 miles long and nine 

 miles broad, with a good soil under tolerable manage- 

 ment, and yielding crops proportionate to these advan- 

 tages. Still, however, the great proportion of the land 

 is either not cultivated .it all, or cultivated in the most 

 slovenly way. Very little wheat is grown in this coun- 

 ty. Some peas are to be seen ; but the great quantity 

 of rain that falls renders tliis a precarious and ungainful 

 crop. Barley is cultivated all along the coast, and 

 forms a regular branch in the rotation. Oats, potatoes, 

 and flax, also are raised to a considerable extent. Clo- 

 ver is almost unknown; The florin grass is approved 

 of by some, but not much used. 



In the following Table, the reader will see the ave- 

 rage of the seed and produce of different crops : 



