EOS 



470 



Rosetta, 



Roslin. 



built of a dingy red brick, while ail the mosques, mi- 

 narets, and chief houses, are plastered and white- washed. 

 These mosques and minarets are the principal public 

 buildings ; and as the houses have flat roofs, they ap- 

 pear to more advantage, overtopping them with their 

 bold and picturesque architecture. The environs of the 

 town have been long celebrated. Groves of date, ba- 

 nana, sycamore, the palm, and other trees, surround it 

 mi all sides ; and the orange, the lemon, the pome- 

 granate, and the pear trees, contribute their beauties 

 and perfume to the city. The garden of Egypt, as it 

 is called, viz. the richest part of the Delta, is seen on 

 the opposite side of the Nile, clothed with vegeta- 

 tion. 



The chief article of cultivation near Rosetta is rue, 

 which is one of the principal articles of export. 

 Among the branches of commerce peculiar to the town, 

 are spices, cotton dyed red, brought from the adjacent 

 districts, dressed flax, linen clothes, silk dies. There 

 are store houses of natron in Rosetta. The quay is 

 handsome and well built; population about 9000. 

 East longitude 30 28' 20." North latitude 31 25' 0." 

 See the Travels of Savary, Sonini, and Niebuhr. 



ROSLIN, the name of a very small and ugly village 

 in the county of Midlothian, celebrated for the beauty 

 of the scenery in its neighbourhood, and for the castle 

 and chapel of Roslin. The oastle stands on a bold and 

 lofty rock, rising from the banks of the North Esk, 

 which here makes a rapid turn, dashing over its rugged 

 bed round the base of the castle. The entrance to the 

 castle is by a narrow bridge, over a deep dell, which is 

 beautifully wooded, and gives a fine aspect to the masses 

 of ruined wall of which the castle now consists. A 

 comparatively modern building, which is sometimes 

 inhabited, is erected in the middle of tho castle, but it 

 possesses a sufficiently ancient character to harmonize 

 with the adjacent ruins. 



The chapel occupies the summit of a hill above the 

 castle. It was founded in 1446, by William Saint 

 Clair, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, who " causd arti- 

 ficers to be brought from other regions and forraigne 

 kingclomes, and causd dayly to be abundance of all 

 kinde of workmen present.*** and to the end the worke 

 might be more rare, he causd the draughts to be 

 drawn upon Eastland boords, and made the carpenters 

 to carve them according to the draught, and then gave 

 them for patterns to the masons, that they might there- 

 by cut the like on stone."* The architecture of this 

 chapel is exceedingly beautiful and highly ornamented; 

 and, according to Mr. Gandy, it unites the Egyptian, 

 Grecian, Roman, and Saracenian styles," and exhibits 

 the arch " in all its possible forms and principles;" 

 there being, according to Mr. Britton, thirteen varieties. 

 The chapel is 69 feet long inside, 34 broad, and 40 

 high. The vaulted and highly decorated roof is sup- 

 ported by two rows of clustered commns, eight feet 

 high, having the capitals encircled with foliage and 

 various figures representing scenes of Scripture his- 

 tory. The building is supported on the outside by 21 

 buttresses. 



Immediately above Roslin Castle, on the river side, 

 is an extensive bleachfield ; and a little above this the 

 powder mills of Eskhill. 



The uncommon beauty of the scenery on the North 

 Esk, from Roslin Castle to Hawthornden and Lass- 

 wade, makes it a place of great resort in summer, the 

 distance of Roslin from Edinburgh being only seven 



R O S 



miles. See our article CIVIL ARCHITECTURE, Vol. VI. Roslin, 

 p. 559, Col. 2 ; and M/d-LoTHiAN. See also the Statisti- 

 cal account of Scotland. The Beauties of Scotland ; and 

 Britton's Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, 

 Vol. III. 



ROSS, the name of a burgh and markrt town of 

 England in Herefordshire, is delightfully situated on 

 a rock on the east bank of the river Wye. The streets, 

 which are extremely narrow, are chiefly upon a decli- 

 vity, and the houses have the appearance of being hud- 

 dled upon each other. The church, which is hand- 

 some, has a lofty spire at its west end ; and it contains 

 the remains of the benevolent man of Ross, Mr. John 

 Kyrle, who served the office of sheriff of the county in 

 1683, and was celebrated for his beneficence and cha- 

 rities, though his income did not exceed 500 a year. 

 The market house, built of stone, is in a very decayed 

 state, though no older than the time of Charles II. 



There are here two charity schools and an alms- 

 house, to both of which Mr. Kyrle contributed li- 

 berally. Five iron works of considerable extent 

 have been established near the town, but it is princi- 

 pally celebrated for the sale of cyder and wool; and 

 has become a place of great resort to the admirers of 

 the picturesque, who visit the beauties of the Wye, 

 boats being kept there for the purpose. Number of 

 houses 521, population 2347. See the Beauties of 

 England and Wales, Vol. VI. ; and King's Munimenta 

 Antiqua, Vol. III. 



ROSS, NEW. See WEXFORD. 



ROSS-SHIRE, one of the northern counties of Soot- 

 land, extends across the island. On the east coast it 

 terminates in a point ; but extends along the western 

 side about sixty miles directly north and south. This 

 county is deeply indented by arms of the sea ; and, 

 on the west coast, these are surrounded by high moun- 

 tains. The aspect of the whole, except a small portion General as- 

 on the east side, is mountainous ; there being nume- pect. 

 rous glens and straths, but scarcely any thing that can 

 be called a valley. The most northern point of this 

 county on the mainland is in latitude 58 30', and the 

 most southern in 57 and somewhat more. The num- 

 bers are not given as accurate, nor have the extremes 

 of longitude been correctly ascertained, though they 

 are nearly 3 30' and 5* 30'. The great triangles of 

 the ordnance having been completed, it would be 

 useful to publish them on a moderate scale; and it is 

 not probable that we shall know more than we now 

 do of the geography of our country until the ordnance 

 maps are completed. 



The number of square geographical miles contained Extent. 

 in Ross-shire is nearly 2427^, of which the interspers- 

 ed parts of Cromarty-shire form 240. The old county 

 of Cromarty contains only 18|. The island of Lewis 

 belongs to Ross-shire, and contains 431 square miles. 



The number of English acres in the main land is 

 about 2,071,466; in the Lewis 359,093. Of the first 

 number, 220,586 belong to Cromartyshtre, and 5973 to 

 Ferrintosh, which is part of the county of Nairn. 



The county of Cromarty, so much interspersed in Divisions. 

 Ross, is now included in the latter for all purposes 

 of police. Both counties are under the jurisdiction 

 of one sheriff, but each has a lord lieutenant. The 

 vulgar divisions of Ross are, 1st, East Ross, the 

 country of the Rosses ; 2d, Fearndonald, the country of 

 the Munroes ; 3d, West Ross and the Highlands, the 

 country of the Mackenzies. The Black Isle, that pen- 



* Memoir of the House of Douglas, in, the Advocates Library. 



