ELHAM. 



ELIS. 



903 



MZO. Kingston is the chief ship-building; station on the Moray Frith. 

 Losiiemouth, or Stotfieldhead Harbour, in the parish of Drainy, is the 

 chief sea-port for Elgin, the county town, which lies 5.J miles inland. 

 A new harbour was completed in 1839. It has two inner basins. 

 The depth at its entrance at low water spring tides is under 4 feet ; 

 the rise of tide at springs is 11 feet; at neaps, 8 feet, and sometimes 

 10 feet. There are many residences of proprietors and mansions dis- 

 persed throughout Elginshire, as Dalvey, Brodie, Sloy, and Kincorth 

 on the Findhorn ; Sanquhar House, Invererne, Grangehall, Lea Park, 

 and Drumdran, in the vicinity of Forres ; Elchies, and Orton House 

 on the Spey ; and Innea House, Duffus House, Gordonston, Grant 

 Lodge, Milton Brodie, Bromoriston, Westerton, Pitgavenuy, Findrassie, 

 Palmercross, Inverugie, and Newton in the neighbourhood of Elgin. 



Divisions, <tc. The whole county is included in, and forms part of, 

 the Synod of Moray. According to the ' Census of Religious Worship 

 and Education,' taken in 1851, it appears that, BO far as was ascer- 

 tained, there were then in the county 64 places of worship, of which 

 25 belonged to the Established Church, 20 to the Free Church, 8 to 

 the United Presbyterian Church, 4 to the Independents, 3 to Episco- 

 palians, 2 to Baptists, and 2 to Roman Catholics. In 62 of these 64 

 places of worship the number of sittings is stated at 28,293. The 

 number of day schools in the county was 96, of which 65 were public 

 schools, with 4649 scholars, and 31 were private schools, with 1077 

 (scholars. Of Sabbath schools there were 61, with 4213 scholars. Of 

 these schools 22 were connected with the Established Church, 18 with 

 the Free Church, and 8 with the United Presbyterian Church. 



Hiitory, Antiquities. The names of many places in the county are 

 'ic origin. The situation and climate of Elginshire caused it to 

 be early visited and occupied by the Scandinavian tribes, who, under 

 their sea kings, roamed over the north-west of Europe. The early 

 history of Moray is closely connected with their inroads and settle- 

 ments, which have no doubt largely contributed to mark the distinc- 

 tion which Elginshire, along with the eastern counties, shows in the 

 language, features, names, and habits of its population, as contrasted 

 with those of the central and southern parts of Scotland. About 

 1160 Malcolm IV. entered the province of Moray, and subdued the 

 rebellious spirit of its inhabitants, transferring many of them, it is 

 said, to other parts of his dominions. Subsequent to this there is 

 little in the provincial history distinct from that of Scotland. 



Among the antiquities of Elginshire the ruins of Elgin cathedral 

 hold the first place. [ELGIN.] The Priory of Pluscarden, situated 

 seven miles west of the town of Elgin, was founded in 1230 for 

 Cistercian monks. In 1460 the priory was assigned to another 

 order of the regular clergy. The ruins, which are very picturesque, 

 stand in a well-wooded glen. The Abbey of Kinloss, two miles X.E. 

 from Forres, once a noble structure, now exhibits but a few scattered 

 ruin*. This establishment was largely endowed, and was presided 

 over by a mitred abbot. The oldest ecclesiastical building in the 

 ''unity of which there are any remains is the church of Birnie. 

 Standing on a small isolated knoll this structure appears to have 

 been raised prior to 1224, when the first Elgin cathedral was built. 

 It is of early Norman style. Some of the earliest of the bishops of 

 Moray are buried in it. It is still used as the parish church. The 

 Bi.shop's Palace at Spynie, his town house, close by the cathedral, and 

 the ruins of the Grayfriars, are of interest to the antiquary. The 

 other objects of antiquity in Elginshire are Randolph's Hall, in 

 Darnaway Castle, a room 89 feet long by 35 feet broad, with its lofty 

 roof of oak, which was built by Randolph, Regent of Scotland, in 

 the time of David Bruce : in it Queen Mary held her court in 1564 ; 

 the castles of Old Duffus, Dallas, Rothes, and Dunphail ; and the 

 towera of Burgie, Blervie, Aslisk, and Coxton. 



Industry. The inhabitants of Elginshire are chiefly dependent on 

 agriculture. The land is cultivated either by the tenant and his 

 family, or by servants, male and female, engaged every six months. 

 The only factory, properly so called, is one in the vicinity of Elgin, 

 where about 50 of the population of the town are employed in the 

 fabrication of tweeds, tartans, plaids, &c. One of the chief manufac- 

 tures of the county is that of whisky, there being seven distilleries in 

 constant work. Two breweries at Elgin and one at Forres carry on an 

 extensive trade. Elgin ale and table-beer have been long in repute. 

 At Elgin there are a foundry, a tannery, and two rope works. A brick 

 and tile work is carried on near the Loch of Spynie. In 1851 there 

 were two savings banks in the county, at Elgin and Forres. The amount 

 owing to depositors on 20th November 1851 was 28,540k Os. 8d. 



ELHAM, Kent, a small town and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in 

 the parish of Elham, is situated on a feeder of the Stour, in 51 10' 

 N. lat., 1 6' E. long., distant 10 miles S. by E. from Canterbury, and 

 65 miles S.E. by E. from London. Tho population of the parish of 

 Elham in 1851 was 1207. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry 

 and diocese of Canterbury. Elham Poor-Law Union contains 20 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 36,928 acres, and a population 

 in 1851 of 18,680. The parish church is a handsome and commodious 

 edifice; the body of the church is of the transition from the Norman 

 to the early English styles; the clerestory, the roof, and the east 

 window of the chancel are perpendicular; the tower is decorated. 

 There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists aud Bryanites ; National 

 aud British schools; and a Free school, founded in 1727. 



(Handed, Kent ; Communication from Elham.) 



ELIMBERIS. [Aura.] 



ELIS or ELBA, a district of the Peloponnesus, included between 

 Achaia, Arcadia, Messeuia, and the Ionian Sea. Its coast-lino 

 extended from the river Larassus in the promontory Araxus on the 

 north to the mouth of the river Neda on the south : on the cast it 

 was bounded by the Arcadian Mountains, on the west by the sea. 

 Elis was originally divided into three parts, the northern called 

 hollow Elis (KOI'AJJ T H\is), the middle called Pisatis, and the southern 

 Triphylia. The earliest inhabitants of this territory were the Epeans 

 and Pylians, who occupied the whole western coast of the Pelopon- 

 nesus from Araxus to Taygetum, the line of demarcation between 

 these two tribes being on a line with Cape Ichthys. (Leake's ' Morea,' 

 ii. p. 182.) The chief towns of the Epeans were, in the time of 

 Homer, Elis and Buprasium. (' Iliad,' B. 615, T 630.) The Eleans 

 were the first people in the Peloponnesus who experienced the effects 

 of the Dorian, invasion, as their territory was the landing-place of 

 the invaders, and was assigned by t 1 em to their ally the jEtolian 

 Oxylus, who claimed to be descended from jEtolus, the son of 

 Endymion, a mythical king of the Epeans. Oxylus and his new 

 subjects conquered Pisa and Olympia, where the Olympian games 

 were established about B.C. 1104, though they were not regularly 

 celebrated till Corcobus gained the prize in B.C. 776. Those games 

 exercised a most important influence on the subsequent destinies of 

 Elis. The reverence with .which the Greeks in general regarded this 

 festival was extended to the country in which it took place, aud the 

 districts in the neighbourhood of the cities of Olympia aud Elis were 

 always free from the ravages of war so long as the games maintained 

 their respectability. In the earlier periods the Pisatans sometimes 

 presided over the celebration of the games ; but the wars between 

 Messenia aud Sparta enabled the Eleans to form a very intimate 

 connection with the Spartans, which ended in a tacit understanding 

 that the intervening sea-coast should be divided between the two 

 powers ; the resistance of the Pisatans only brought upon them the 

 destruction of their city, B.C. 572, which from this time disappears 

 from history, and the annexation of all Pisatis and Triphylia to Elis. 

 The harmony between Elis aud Sparta continued uninterrupted 

 during the Peloponnesian war till the peace of Nicias B.C. 421, when 

 the Spartans assisted the Lepreatse in their revolt against the Eleans, 

 and the latter endeavoured to avenge this interference by excluding 

 the Spartans from the Olympic games. After some years of mis- 

 understanding, they were compelled to return to the Spartan alliance 

 by the invasion of Agis, which deprived them of the greater part of 

 their political importance. In B.C. 365 they were engaged in a war 

 with the Arcadians, which deprived them of almost all their southern 

 territories. The Eleans were firm supporters of the >35tolians during 

 the social war, and never joined the Achojau league. Under the 

 Romans Elis continued to possess a measure of prosperity, until 

 the suppression of the Olympic games by Theodosius in A.D. 394. 

 In 396 the country was laid waste by Alaric. In the middle ages 

 the country was occupied by Gottfried of Villehardouin and other 

 military adventurers, who built several fortresses, around which 

 small towns grew up. Elis subsequently passed into the hands of 

 the Venetians, under whom it continued to flourish for a considerable 

 period. It has now lost nearly all its ancient prosperity, and is a 

 poor and thinly peopled district ; the only place of any importance 

 in it being the small town of Pyrgos, which has an appearance of 

 considerable industry and activity, it being the mart from which 

 the produce of the country is exported and European goods aro 

 received. 



The coast of Elis is an almost unbroken sandy level ; the only 

 protection for vessels being such as is afforded by the promontories of 

 Araxus, Chelonatas, and Ichthys. From the nature of the coast the 

 numerous small streams are prevented by narrow sand-banks from 

 entering the sea and form shallow stagnant lagoons, which produce 

 constant malaria and render the coast almost uninhabitable. During 

 the summer months openings are made in the sand-banks, and the 

 lagoons become speedily filled with fish, which are readily taken : 

 this kind of fishing is believed to have been also practised hero in 

 ancient times. The fish are salted and cured on the spot, and largely 

 exported. The principal sea-port of Elis was Cylleue, which Colonel 

 Leake supposes to be the modern C'larenza. (' Travels in the Morea,' 

 ii. p. 174.) The surface of the country is considerably diversified, 

 but has a general elevation from the coast westward; the country 

 consisting in fact of the eastern slopes of the Arcadian Mountains. 

 Towards the coast the soil is sandy, in the valleys and meadows it is 

 argillaceous, or a rich mould ; and stone is found only in the 

 mountains. (Leake, ii. p. 179.) The territory was more fertile than 

 any other in the Peloponnesus, and very populous, and is said to have 

 been the only one in Greece which produced flax ; for which indeed 

 the plain of Gastuni is still celebrated. A great quantity of finn 

 timber, especially oak, still grows in Elis ; wheat and cotton are 

 cultivated. Horses, cattle, and oxen were reared in large numbers 

 in ancient Elis. The principal rivers are the Alpheius (Rofea), which 

 flows along a broad and fertile valley through the centre of Elis, and 

 the Peneius (Gastuni). Its chief mountain, Pholoe, was celebrated in 

 ancient poetry and mythology. This name appears to have been 

 given to all the highlands of Elis north of the river Alpheius. 



Tho plains of Elis were interspersed with numerous unwalled 



