857 



BAMEOROUGH. 



BAMPTON. 



Iloyal Bavarian railway enables it to participate largely in the traffic 

 carried on between the north and south of Germany. A railroad 

 already open as far as Schweinfurth is in course of construction 

 westward to Frankfurt-am-Main and will connect Bamberg with the 

 Rhine railway system. The navigation of the Regnitz for the larger- 

 sized river-craft, which commences at Forkheim about 14 miles higher 

 up, is however much impeded by mills and water-wheels. Below 

 Bamberg small steamers ply to Mayence. The environs of Bamberg 

 abound in picturesque sites and present varied attractions to the 

 visiter. The hills about it are richly clothed with orchards, vineyards, 

 and hop-gardens ; and the level land at the base is one vast kitchen- 

 garden yielding an immense quantity of vegetables, cherries, plums, 

 grapes, and other fruits. From a hill about a mile from the city, and 

 crowned with the keep and ruined walls of the old castle of Altenberg, 

 is one of the finest views in all central Germany, commanding the 

 city, the valleys of the Regnitz and the Main, and a vast extent of 

 richly cultivated country. 



BAMBOROUGH, or BAMBURGH, an ancient town on the coast 

 of Northumberland, is situated in 55 36' N. lat., 1 42' W. long., 

 50 miles N. from Newcastle-on-Tyne and 329 miles N.N.W. from 

 London ; it is about 5 miles from the Belford station of the York, 

 Newcastle, and Berwick railway, which is 330 miles from London : 

 the population of the townships of Bamborough and Bamborough 

 Castle in 1851 was 466. The living is a perpetual curacy in the 

 archdeaconry of Lindisfarne and diocese of Durham. 



The Saxon Chronicle under the year 547 states that Ida then began 

 to reign, and was twelve years king of Northumberland, and built 

 Bebbanburgh, which he first inclosed with a hedge and after with a 

 wall. Though now only a small village it was once a royal burgh, 

 and possessed the privilege of returning two members to Parliament. 

 The castle, which is one of the oldest in the kingdom, stands on a 

 perpendicular rock close to the sea, above the level of which it is 150 

 feet. The castle is only accessible on the south-east side. Within 

 the keep was discovered hi 1770 an ancient draw-well 145 feet deep, 

 cut through the solid basaltic rock upon which the keep stands into 

 the sandstone below. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, after the 

 memorable battle of Musselburgh, Sir John Forster, Warden of the 

 Marches, was made governor of Bamburgh Castle. Sir John's grand- 

 son obtained a grant of it, and also of the manor, from James I. His 

 descendant Thomas having joined the rebel troops in favour of the 

 Pretender, his estates were confiscated. They were afterwards pur- 

 chased by Nathaniel Lord Crewe, bishop of Durham, who had married 

 his niece. On the death of this prelate in 1721 the manor of Bam- 

 borough and other estates were bequeathed by him to charitable 

 puqxjses at the discretion of his trustees. 



When the castle of Bamburgh devolved to the trustees it had 

 been for ages an uninhabited ruin, and in all probability would have 

 remained so still if it had not occurred to one of the trustees, Dr. 

 John Sharp, archdeacon of Northumberland and vicar of Hartburn, 

 that the shell of the building might be rendered habitable. With 

 this view he expended many thousand pounds of his private fortune, 

 and left an estate for the perpetual repair and maintenance of the 

 great tower or keep, thinking that the occasional residence of the 

 trustees there would give them an opportunity of looking from tune 

 to time into the state of their farms and personally superintending 

 the schools, dispensary, and provision for the relief of shipwrecked 

 mariners, which he had first suggested to his brother trustees, and 

 with their co-operation had prosperously commenced. 



All these institutions have been maintained and greatly extended 

 by successive trustees ; not because they were bound to do so, but 

 because they approved of the continuation of the charities which had 

 first emanated from the benevolent mind of Dr. Sharp. Various signals 

 are made use of to warn vessels in thick and stormy weather from 

 that most dangerous cluster of rocks called the Fern Islands. A 

 life-boat and all kinds of implements useful in saving crews and 

 vessels in distress are always in readiness, as well as all means to 

 prevent wrecks from being plundered and for restoring them to their 

 owners. This charity has also been judiciously extended to the relief 

 of seamen who may suffer either by shipwreck or otherwise in navi- 

 gating this dangerous coast. By these means many lives are saved 

 and an asylum is offered to shipwrecked persons in the castle for a 

 week or longer if necessary. The bodies of those who are lost are 

 decently interred at the expense of this charity. There are likewise 

 the necessary instruments and tackle for raising vessels which have 

 sunk, and whatever goods may be saved are deposited in the castle. 

 There is in the castle a dispensary, where medicines are supplied 

 gratuitously to the poor twice a week. 



In the year 1778 the then trustees laid the first foundation of a 

 library by the purchase of the entire collection of the Rev. Thomas 

 Sharp, curate of Bamborourgh, then lately deceased. But it was not 

 till after the death of Dr. John Sharp in 1792 that the trust acquir,-<l 

 the largest and most valuable part of their literary treasure. In this 

 munificent donation was comprehended the most valuable part of the 

 library of Dr. John Sli.irp, archbishop of York. It was formed in the 

 latter part of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century, and 

 besides a very OBSnhmtr* selection of the most esteemed works 

 in tlu.-ology and ecclesiastical history, the best editions of all the 

 classic authors, and our own historians, contains a very curious 



assemblage of tracts and pamphlets, chiefly historical and controver- 

 sial, during a period of more than 30 years. The library books are 

 lent free of charge to persons residing within 20 miles of the castle. 

 There are two schools ; one for girls is within the walls of the castle, 

 where are also apartments for a matron and 30 girls who are boarded, 

 clothed, and educated from the age of 9 to 15 years. The school for 

 boys, also formerly within the walls of the castle, has been removed 

 to the village : this school has a master and assistant. 



The funds of the charity are likewise applied in the augmentation 

 of small benefices, in contributions towards the building and enlarging 

 of churches, and the foundation and support of schools, exhibitions 

 to young men going to either of the universities, the binding out of 

 apprentices, annuities and casual donations to distressed individuals, 

 and subscriptions to different charitable institutions. In 1830 the 

 total income of Lord Crewe's estates was 81261. 8s. 8d. 



The church is of unmixed early English style ; cruciform, with a 

 tower at the west end. It is dedicated to St. Aidan, who was bishop 

 of Lindisfarne in the 6th century ; to whom the conversion of the 

 inhabitants of this part of Northumbria is ascribed, and whose 

 adventures are related at some length by Bede ('Hist. Ecc.' iii. 3). 

 The living is in the gift of the trustees of Lord Crewe. 



(Corresjiondent at JJamborouyh.) 



BAMBOUK is a country in Africa extending between 12 and 14 

 N. lat., 8" and 11 W. long. It occupies a part of the declivities 

 with which the extensive system of the Kong Mountains descends 

 towards the northern plain and the great desert of the Sahara. It is 

 very mountainous, its whole surface being covered by extensive ranges 

 and the intervening valleys; only towards the western boundary 

 along the river Ba-Fing the valleys pass into plains of moderate 

 extent. The climate is sultry, particularly during the rainy season, 

 which usually commences in July and continues till November. The 

 mountains afford excellent pasture to numerous herds of horned 

 cattle, and the lower parts of the valleys produce maize, millet, 

 manioc, melons, and rice in abundance. The vine is said to flourish 

 in a wild state. There are extensive forests. The mines yield silver 

 and iron of excellent quality and also a great quantity of gold. The 

 portion of the Kong Mountains which lies to the west of the meridian 

 of Greenwich is a very auriferous region, and by far the greatest 

 part of the gold which is exported to Europe and Asia from Africa is 

 collected in Bambouk and the countries adjacent to it on the east and 

 south. The principal gold mines of Bambouk are situated to the 

 south of the city of Bambouk in the mountains of Tambaoura ; but 

 a greater quantity seems to be obtained by washing the sand which 

 the rivers have carried down from the mountains and imbedded along 

 their courses in the alluvial soil. Part of the gold is converted into 

 ornaments for the women ; but by far the greater part of it is exported 

 by the Moors to Timbuctoo, whence it finds its way to the northern 

 coast of Africa, to Egypt, and to Asia. It is exchanged for other com- 

 modities, but chiefly for salt, the value of which article is very great 

 in these mountainous countries of Africa. Salt is brought from 

 the Sahara. 



Among the wild animals of the woods, with which a great part of 

 the country is covered, lions, leopards, and elephants are mentioned ; 

 ivory is brought hence to the western coast. 



The Ba-Fing, which traverses the eastern districts of Bambouk and 

 divides it from Brooko, is one of the largest tributaries of the 

 Senegal ; Mungo Park looked upon it as the principal feeder of that 

 river. It rises near 11 N. lat., runs in a general direction from 

 south to north, and after uniting its flood with that of numerous 

 tributaries, it waters Bambouk and then joins another large river 

 coming from the west called Kokoro. The river thus formed receives 

 the name of Senegal and runs to the west-north-west. 



The whole mountainous tract which forms the northern declivity 

 of the Kong Mountains is, inhabited by the Mandingoes, a negro race. 

 Some ruined forts which are met with in the district of Bambouk are 

 remains of stations erected by the Portuguese, who obtained a footing 

 here in the 15th and 16th centuries. [AFRICA.] 



(Mungo Park ; Ritter's Africa ; Cailh'6"s Journey from Sierra Leone 

 to Timbuctoo.) 



BAMPTON, Devonshire, a market-town in the parish and hundred 

 of Bampton, is situated chiefly on the left bank of the Batham a 

 feeder of the Exe, about half-way between Exeter and Minehead, in 

 50 59' N. lat., 3 29' W. long., 22 miles N. from Exeter, and 161 

 miles W.S.W. from London : the population of the parish in 1851 

 was 2102. The government of the town is nominally in a port-reeve 

 and bailiffs ; but for many years past they have had no power. The 

 living is a vicarage with the curacy of Petton in the archdeaconry and 

 diocese of Exeter. 



Bampton is a place of considerable antiquity. It is but a small 

 town. The staple trade of the place is lime of which a great quantity 

 obtained from very extensive stone quarries is burnt here. The 

 market day is Wednesday. There are two annual great markets on 

 the last Thursday in March and last Thursday in November, and 

 fairs on Whit-Tuesday and on the hist Thursday of October, at which 

 are sold some of the finest sheep in England. 



The church, St. Michael's, is a spacious edifice of about the 14th 

 century with a tower 70 feet high. It has an old groined roof ; some 

 stained glnH.i is in the north-east window j and thero are mutilated 



