CS9 



DAVENTRY. 



DEAD SEA. 



Dauphine 1 is one of the most mountainous districts in France; 

 branches from the Alps traverse it, and some of the loftiest summits 

 of that mountain system are close upon or within its boundary : no 

 other part of France has points equally elevated. The country is 

 watered by a number of streams which flow into the Rh6ne, either 

 immediately or by the Isere, Durance, and other tributaries. 



Dauphine^ was formerly divided into Haut (upper) Dauphind and 

 Baa (lower) Dauphind. Haut Danphine comprehended the districts 

 of Les Baronies, Le Gapencois, L'Embrunois, Le Brianjonnois, Le 

 Champsaur, Le Gre'sivaudan, and Le Royanes or Royanez. Bas 

 Dauphine comprehended Le Tricastin, or Tricastinois, Le Valentinois, 

 Le Diois, and Le Viennois. Grenoble, Gap, Embrun, Brian9on, Vienne, 

 and Valence were its chief towns. Dauphine' had a provincial tribunal, 

 or parliament, which held its sittings at Grenoble. This country was 

 inhabited in ancient times by the All<5broges, the Caturiges, and other 

 Celtic nations. In A.D. 734 it was invaded by the Saracens, who were 

 expelled by Charles Martel. In the 9th century it formed part of the 

 kingdom of Aries, and wna governed by its own counts, who took the 

 till.- of Dauphins until 1343, when Count Humbert II. seeing himself 

 without heirs, sold his estates for 100,000 gold florins to Philippe, 

 eldest son of King Philippe of Valois, on condition that the eldest 

 BOD of the kings of' France should thenceforth for ever bear the title 

 of Dauphin. Dauphind was about 124 miles long and 100 broad. 



ppuys-Montlaville, Jfiatoire du Dauphine ; IKctionnairc de la 

 France.) 



DAVENTRY, Northamptonshire, a borough and market-town, and 

 the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Daventry and hundred 

 of Fawsley, is situated in 52 16' N. lat., 1 10' W. long., distant 



1 3 miles W. by N. from Northampton, 72 miles N.AV. from London 

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

 one of whom is mayor. The population of the borough in 1851 was 

 4430. There are two livings, which are perpetual curacies in the 

 archdeaconry of Northampton and diocese of Peterborough. Daventry 

 Poor-Law Union contains 28 parishes and townships, with an area of 

 63,301 acres, and a population in 1851 of 21,926. 



It has been conjectured that the town of Daventry rose from the 

 decay of the British and Roman stations of Bennavenna and Isana- 

 vatia, Bennavenna station was probably on Borough Hill, a short 

 distance east from Daventry, on which is one of the largest ancient 

 camps or forts existing in the island. During the civil war of Charles I. 

 some skirmishes occurred near Daventry. The place has little else of 

 historical interest. The town stands on an eminence, and consists of 

 two principal streets and some smaller ones, which are paved and 

 lighted with gas ; the houses are generally neat and well built. The 

 church is a modern building, consisting of nave, side aisles, and 

 chancel. There are a small chapel of ease ; chapels for Independents 

 and Wesleyan Methodists; a Free Grammar school, which had 



14 scholars in 1851; National and British schools, and a savings 

 bnnk. The chief manufactures are those of shoes for exportation, 

 and of whips. The market is on Wednesday, and there are nine 

 annual fairs, chiefly for horses and cattle. 



The Dissenting academy at Northampton was removed to Daventry 

 on the decease of Dr. Doddridge, 1752, and continued there till 1789, 

 when, on Mr. Belsham's resignation, it was removed to Wymondley. 

 It wns afterwards transferred, under the designation of Coward College, 

 to London, and in 1850 was united with Homerton and Highbury 

 colleges, when the joint institution received the name of New College. 



(Baker, Northamptonthire ; Communication from Daventry.) 



DAVID, ST. [FlFESHIBK.] 



DAVID'S, ST., Pembrokeshire, an episcopal city in the parish of 

 St. David's and hundred of Dewisland, is situated on the little river 

 Alan, in 51 52' N. lat., 5 15' W. long. ; distant 26 miles N.W. from 

 Pembroke and 265 miles W. by N. from London. The population of 

 the parish was 2460 in 1851. The living is a perpetual curacy in the 

 archdeaconry and diocese of St. David's. 



St. David's was in ancient times a large and populous city, and was 

 during the middle ages resorted to by numerous pilgrims. Its present 

 aspect is that of a poor village, the houses generally, except those of 

 the clergy, being mean and almost ruinous. Still it must be regarded 

 with interest as an ancient and once important episcopal city, with a 

 fine cathedral, and the remains of other magnificent buildings devoted 

 to religious uses. Of the three archbishops' seats appointed when 

 Christianity was introduced into England, namely, London (afterwards 

 transferred to Canterbury), York, and Caerleon, that of Caerleon was 

 removed about 519 to Mynyw (called by the Romans Menevia), which 

 afterwards received the name of St. David's, in honour of the arch- 

 bishop and saint by whom the transfer was effected. Hence the 

 appellation of ' Menevensis' assumed by the bishops of this see, which 

 was the metropolitan and archiepiscopal see of Wales until 930, when 

 Sampson, the last of twenty-6ve archbishops, withdrew with his clergy 

 to Brittany, carrying with him his sacred pall of office. The ecelesi- 

 antical buildings occupy a spacious area called the Close, on the south 

 side of the city towards the sea-shore. The cathedral is partly Norman 

 with early English and decorated portions : Bishop Vaughan's chapel 

 i* p'Tpendicular. The cathedral is cruciform, 307 feet long, with a 

 square tower at the west end 124 feet high ; ft nave 124 feet in length; 

 choir, transepts, tide aisles, and lateral chapels, one of which is roofed 

 with tUbf of rrentone. The choir, which in lofty, contains 23 stall* 



oioo. mr. TOT- n. 



and a curious moveable pulpit. The bishop's throne is of exquisite 

 workmanship, resembling that in Exeter cathedral. Numerous anti- 

 quarian relics are preserved in the building. An altar-tomb of the 

 son of Owen Tudor is similar to that of Prince Arthur in Worcester 

 cathedral. The cathedral has recently undergone considerable repairs 

 and restoration. St. Mary's College was founded in 1365 by John of 

 Gaunt for the maintenance of a master and seven fellows. The chapter- 

 house contains a school-room for the instruction of the choristers, 

 and an elegant dining-room, with kitchen and cellars, for the use of 

 the canons when they assemble to audit the accounts of the see. The 

 present episcopal residence is at Abergwilli, near the city of Caer- 

 marthen, in a noble palace rebuilt by Bishop Burgess. The cathedral 

 buildings, named above, are inclosed by a lofty wall about a mile in 

 circumference, having four gates, north, south, east, and west. The 

 principal gate is the eastern, between two massive towera, one of which 

 is 60 feet in height. The little river Alan runs through the area, and 

 was crossed by a marble bridge, worn and polished by the feet of the 

 pilgrims who visited the place. The inhabitants of St. David's are 

 chiefly employed in agriculture. Fairs are held on March 12tli and 

 August 5th. In the neighbourhood, and especially at St. David's 

 Head, a rocky promontory three miles from the city, are numerous 

 cairns, tumuli, holy wells, &c. There is also an oratory, dedicated 

 to St. Justinian, which was erected by Bishop Vaughan for the use 

 of pilgrims who were about to embark for Ramsey Island, which lies 

 off St. David's Head. Ramsey Island forms part of the parish of St. 

 David's. 



The diocese of St. David's comprehends Pembrokeshire, Cardi- 

 ganshire, Brecon, Radnorshire, Caermarthenshire, with a small 

 portion of the counties of Montgomery, Glamorgan, and Hereford. 

 There are 412 benefices. The diocese is divided into the archdea- 

 conries of St. David's, Brecon, Cardigan, and Caermarthen. The 

 cathedral establishment includes besides the bishop a dean, 4 arch- 

 deacons, a chancellor, 2 canons, 12 non-resident canons, 3 minor-canons, 

 3 vicars-choral, &c. The income of the bishop is 4500Z. a year. 



DAVIS STRAIT unites Baffin's Bay to the Atlantic, and extends 

 between Greenland on the east and Cumberland Island on the west, 

 in a northern direction, from Cape Farewell to Disco Island (that is, 

 from 60 to 70 N. lat.). Its narrowest part is near the Polar Circle, 

 where it is about 200 miles across. It is the principal resort of tho 

 whalers, whales being more numerous here than in other seas near 

 the Pole. But the immense icebergs which even in summer line the 

 western coasts of the strait, and the violence of the currents, render 

 the navigation very dangerous. Many of the ioebergs rise some hundred 

 feet above the level of the sea, and the whalers which arrive at the 

 end of April or in the beginning of May find the whole strait blocked 

 up by a barrier of icebergs between Cape Walsingham and the 

 Greenland coast. The current, which runs along the eastern coast of 

 Greenland, turns round Cape Farewell, and continues along the 

 western coast of Greenland nearly up to the Polar Circle, where it 

 crosses the strait to Cape Walsingham, and then continues in a 

 southern direction to Labrador and Newfoundland. By this current 

 the immense icebergs of Davis Strait are carried down to the centre 

 of the Northern Atlantic, where they sometimes are met with as far 

 aa 404 N. lat. The countries on both sides of the strait rise in rocky 

 mountains to a considerable elevation, and exhibit a very scanty 

 vegetation. They are inhabited by Esquimaux. 



DAWLISH, Devonshire, a small town in the hundred of Exminster, 

 lies in a valley running from east to west, about midway between the 

 rivers Exe and Teigu, in 50 35' N. lat., 3 29' W. long., 12 miles S. 

 from Exeter by the South Devon railway, 191 miles S.W. by W. from 

 London by road, and 206 miles by the Great Western and South 

 Devon- railways. The population in 1851 was 2671. The living is a 

 vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of Exeter. 



About fifty years ago Dawlish was merely a collection of fishermen's 

 huts. It is now a fashionable and flourishing watering-place. The 

 situation is exceedingly pleasant. The sea-front lies near the centre 

 of a cove a mile and a half in extent, formed by the projecting cliffs 

 of Langstone on the east and the Parson and Clerk rocks on the west. 

 The climate is warm and equable. The Public Baths, a handsome 

 building of recent erection, is situated on the sands. Tho parish 

 church, about three-quarters of a mile from the beach, was rebuilt in 

 1824 except the tower, which is part of the old church and is of very 

 ancient date. The Independents, Wesleyau Methodists, and Plymouth 

 Brethren have places of worship here. A small but curious and 

 handsome viaduct carries the line of the South Devon railway over 

 the stream which runs through the town. The railway runs betweeu 

 the town and the sea. % 



(Polwhele, Devonshire ; Land We Live In, vol. iii. ; Route Boole of 

 Devon ; Murray's Handbook of Devon.) 



DAX. [LANDES.] 



DEAD SEA, the ancient Lacui Asphaltitcs, is situated in the 

 south-east of the Holy Land, near the borders of Arabia. The point 

 31 30' N. lat., 35 30' E. long., is not very far from its centre. It 

 lies in the deepest known depression on tho surface of tho earth ; 

 the level of this sea being 1312 feet below the level of the Mediter- 

 ranean. The depression in which it lies, called El-Ghor, extends 

 north and south, so as to include the valley of the Jordan, below the 

 Lake of Tiberias, and the wiuly El-Arabah, which rises gradually 



