WALLASKA ISLAND. 



WALSINGHAM. 



1000 



are rich mines of rock-salt. 



Tb *r*at roa4 ' uklmn-i.t leads through Romnik. 



I* partly in Moldavia: population, 2j,000. 

 [You ' S36.] 



/AaMtea/f The majority of th.- iuhabitauU are WalUchiaus, 

 b**idr* wi.piu tl tbl't number of gipsies, and some 



Armenians, and Greeks. Besides the Wallachs of WallachU, 

 re many of the same people spread over Moldavia, south-webtern 

 Russia. Transylvania, Hungary, the Bukowino, Thraoc. 

 Thwly. and Kplrus. As the Wallachian language is derived from 

 the LUn, it is generally supposed that the Wallachians are d 

 ants of the Roman colonists aent by Ti I > icia ; and to this 



day they call themselves no other name tl. Uumaui, or 



Romans. The name Wallachs, which is given to tho inhabitants of 

 WalUrlda by foreigners, belonged to some people in Thrace, Mae. 

 and Thesaaly. a we know from the liy/.antine historians, who fre- 

 qni-ntly mention the Vlachi (BAcJxoi), who lived chiefly in the country 

 round Mount Pindu*. In the 12th century a part of the Vlachi, who 

 weie oppressed by tho emperor Manuel, concluded an alliance with 

 the Bulgarians and the Cumaiii, who inhabited Bulgaria and Dacia, 

 and. commanded by two brothers, Asan and Peter, left Thrace and 

 settled north of the Danube. 



Three cms** seem to have contributed to induce tho Vlachi to 

 settle north of the Danube the oppression of tho Greek en 

 and nobles, the invasion* of tho Turks, and the opportunity if 

 acquiring fertile lauds and liberty in n country beyond the reach of 

 the emperor* and the Turks. Thus the inhabitants of Wallachia, 

 Moldavia, and a great part of Transylvania and Hungary must be 

 considered as descended from the Vlachi in Thrace, a Christian nation, 

 belonging to the Greek Church, and who in the 12th century used a 

 kind of Roman language, whieh the Kutzo-Wallachians (or that part 

 of the race which remained in the more southern provinces of Turkey- 

 in-Kuropc) still do. The name 'Vloch,' or 'Wloch,' is said to be 

 Slavonic for ' Italian,' or ' Roman ; ' and thus Wallach is equivalent to 

 the native name Kouiani. In Stritter's ' Memorise Populorum,' vol. i., 

 Thrace is S|*>ken of a-*, " Provincia Latiuorum qui illo tempore Romaui 

 vocabantur, modo vero Morovlachi, hoc et Nigri Latini vocantur." 



Slavonic tribes spread all over the European provinces of the 

 empire south of the Danube, even to the remotest parts of the 

 Peloponnesus in the 7th century, and no doubt mingled with tho races 

 already in possession of tho soil. That the Wallachs are principally 

 descended from Romans or a Romanised people is clear from their 

 angnaee, customs, costume, and name. The language shows a con- 

 siderable admixture of Greek and Slavonic, with some Turkish aud 

 Albanian roots; but the auxiliary verbs, the pronouns, the greater 

 part of the prepositions, and the adverbs of place and time, as well 

 as the numerals, the declensions, and the conjugations, are all Latin, 

 and so is federally the groundwork of the language. 



The Wallachians use the Cyrilliau alphabet, which consists of forty- 

 two letters, and was invented by Bishop Cyrillns about 870, when 

 he first wrote in the old Slavonic language in Servia. They have 

 always had a written language, and the number of their chronicles, 

 anuaU, and ecclesiastical works is considerable, but only n few of 

 them are printed. Newspapers are published in the Wallachian 

 language at Kukharcst and Yassy. 

 WALLASEA ISLAND. [Esssx.] 

 WAI.LASKV. [CHESHIRE.] 



WALLKNSTAliT, LAKE. [GALL, ST.; SWITZERLAND.] 

 WAI.LlNCiKOKl), Berkshire, a market-town, municipal and parlia- 

 mentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated on 

 the richt bank of the Thames, in 51 36' N. lat., 1 7' W. long., distant 

 46 miles W. by N. from London by road, and 50 miles by the Great 

 Western railway. The population of the municipal borough ol 

 Wallin-jford in 1851 was 2819; that of the parliamentary borough 

 was 8064. The borough is governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, 

 of whom one is mayor ; and returns one member to the Imperial 

 Parliament The livings are in tho archdeaconry of Berks and 

 diocese of Oxford. Wallineford Poor-Law Union contains 28 parishes 

 and townships, with an area of 40,860 acres, and a population in 1851 

 of 14.112. 



Wallingford was probably a Roman station. [BERKSHIRE.] There 

 was a castle here at the time of tho Conquest belonging to Wigod, a 

 Saxon noble. In 1067 Robert D'Oyley, a Norman baron, who bar 

 married Wigod's only daughter, built a strong castle at Wallingford 

 In 1)53, Henry, son of the Empress Maud, besieged a fort which 

 Stephen had erected at Crowuiarsh, on the opposite side of the 

 Tbatne, ami Stephen coming to its relief, a peacj was concludec 

 between the rival parties. In tho civil war of Charles I., the castle 

 ws* retarded as a post of importance : near the close of the war i 

 surrendered to Fairfax, and was afterwards demolished. Scarceli 

 any portion of the buildings remains. In the town are portions o 

 several ancient ln.ildings. A Benedictine priory was founded here in 

 Ui- i. ik-n ..f William I. 



n a remarkably neat and respectable appearance 

 The i r.-cts are paved, and lighted with gas. The ston 



bridge, which here crosses the Thames, connects the town with Crow 

 aanh-stret. There are three churches, St. Mary's, St. Leonard's 

 and St. Peter's, St. Mary's, the principal church, is an ancient struc- 



ure of early Euglith. character. St. Leonard's was rebuilt intuit 

 [egrce after tha si. i i whieh it jury ; 



t has recently been restored and this church 



:i of Nuriuau arc' iva-t also ruined i 



i id remained iu ruins mum than a criitury; i; has a spire of 

 .-.il.ir firm, creeled at the expense of Sir 'William Blackstone, 

 ho author of the ' Commentaries,' when the church was restored about 

 10 years back. Sir \V. Black^tono is buried in tho church. There 

 ir Independents, Baptists, and Primitive Methodists. 

 . ,.:s institute, and a savings bank. Tho chief 

 he place is in com, flour, malt, and coal. Friday ia tho 

 narkot-day ; a fair is hold yearly on September 29th. A county court 

 s held. Walliugford is a borough by prescription. 



WALLIS ISLANDS* a small island in the Pacific, the centre of 

 whii-h is in 13 18' S. lat., 176 20' W. long. It is 5 miles long and 

 2 miles wide. The interior of thn island is rather high, but 

 low and rocky. The island is surrounded bv 

 about two miles from the shore. In a break in the reef on the 

 side of the i-land a vessel may anchor iu eight fathoms water. Th : 

 sland is covered with trees to the water's edge, ami many of them 

 ire of large sue. In some parts there aro plantation* of cocoa-nuts. 

 There aro several rills of water in the island. Tho inhabitants go 

 laked. 



WALLOOSLOOCK, RIVER. [CANADA.] 



WALLOP, NETHER. [HAIII-SUIRK.] 



WALLS I-'. XD. [NoimiuiiBEBLAXD.] 



WALMER, [DKAL.] 



WALMKUSLEY. [LANVASIIIBE.] 



WALl'OLK ST. VKTKI!. [Xui.iuLK.] 



WALSALL, Staffordshire, a market-town, municipal and parlia- 

 mentary borough, and the s 'at of a Poor-Law Union, iu tho parish of 

 WaUill, ia situated in 52 35' N. lat., 1 5S' W. long., distant 17 <. 

 S.S.E. from Stafford, 121 miles N.W. from London by road, an 

 miles by the London and North-Western and South Staffordshire 

 railways. The population of the municipal and tho parliamentary 

 boroughs, which are co-extensive, was 25,630 iu 1S51. The borough 

 is governed by 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, of whom one is mayor ; 

 and returu3 one member to the Imperial Parliament. The living ia 

 a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Stafford and diocese of Lichfield. 

 Walsall Poor-Law Union contains eight parishes and townships, with 

 an area of 21,603 acres, and a population iu 1851 of 43,044. 



The town of Walsall is irregularly laid out, but contains numerous 

 i;ood houses. The parish church of St. Matthew is in the centre and 

 highest part of tho town. The tower is of fine proportions, and is 

 surmounted with a lofty spire. St. Paul's chapel, a handsome Grecian, 

 building, was erected by tho trustees of the grammar school # There 

 are chapels for Wedeyau Methodists, Baptists, Independents, and 

 Roman Catholics, a Free Grammar school, National schools, and an 

 Infant school. There are an old town hall, a small borough jail, and 

 a handsome public library and news-room, with a Doric colonn 



Walsall is situated on the eastern border of the South Stafford- 

 shire coal-field, and of the Warwickshire aud Staffordshire iron district. 

 Many of the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of guns, 

 gas-tubes, chains, locks, keys, spades, shovels, hinges, screws, files, edge- 

 tools, buckles, stirrup-irons, bridle-bits, and machinery. There are 

 brass- and iron-foundries ; and in the vicinity are coal-pits and free- 

 stone quarries. A market is held on Tuesday. There are three yearly 

 fairs. A county court is held. Races are held about Michaelmas. 



WALSHAM. [NORFOLK.] 



WALSINGHAM, LITTLE or NEW, Norfolk, a town, and the seat 

 of a Poor-Law Union, iu tho parish of New Walsingham, is situated 

 on both sides of the river Stiffkey, in 52 54' N. lat., 54' E. long., 

 distant 28 miles N.W. from Norwich, and 113 miles N.N.E. from 

 London by road. The population of the parish iu 1S51 waa 1207. The 

 living is a perpetual curacy iu the archdeaconry aud diocese of Norwich. 

 Walsingham Poor- Law Union contains 50 parishes aud townships, with 

 an area of 86,503 acres, and a population iu 1851 of 21,857. 



Great or Old Walsingham, aud Little or New Walsiugham, adjoin 

 each other. Geoffrey de Favarches, in the reign of William the Con- 

 queror, founded here a monastery for Augustiniau or Black Canons. 

 An image of the Virgin, belonging to this foundation, was held in tho 

 very highest regard ; pilgrimages to the chapel or suriue of ' Our Lady 

 of Walaiughaui ' were even more frequent than those to the shrino of 

 St. Thomas a Becket, and the possessions of the priory were augmented 

 by large endowments and costly presents. There are some fine remains 

 of tho convent : a richly-ornamented lofty arch, supposed to have 

 formed the east end of tho conventual church ; the western entrance- 

 gateway to the monastery, having a broad flattened arch ; and other 

 interesting portions, yet remain. The principal part of these ruins is 

 included iu the pleasure-grounds of Walsiugham Abbey, the seat of 

 the lord of tho manor. There was a house of Franciscan or Gray 

 Friars at Little Walsiugham ; there was also a lozar-house, founded in 

 1492, fur two leprous persons. This lazar-house has been enlarged, 

 and is used as a bridewell. The parish church contains an ancient font 

 of perpendicular character ; its carving is among the richest iu England, 

 u ting the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, aud 

 the Crucifixion. There are chapels for Wesleyau Methodists, Inde- 

 pendents, aud Baptists a Free Grammar school, and National schools. 



