997 



FARNBOROUGH. 



FAROE. 



908 



of each month, and an annual horse fair on the 13th of February- 

 Petty sessions and a county court are held in the town. 



FARNBOROUGH, Hampshire, a village and the seat of a Gilbert 

 Poor-Law Incorporation, in the parish of Farnborout*h, is situated in 

 51 17' N. lat, 44' W. long.; distant 40 miles N.E. by N. from 

 Southampton, 32 miles S.W. from London by road, and 33 miles by 

 the South- Western railway. The population of the parish in 1851 

 was 477, inclusive of 46 inmates of the workhouse. The living is a 

 rectory in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester. Farnborough 

 Gilbert Incorporation contains four parishes, with an area of 12,222 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 2336. Farnborough is a small 

 agricultural village, close to the Surrey border. It has stations of the 

 South-Western and the Reading, Guildford and Reigate railways. The 

 parish church is an ancient structure in the decorated style : the 

 doorways north and south are Norman. Schools in the village are 

 supported by two of the neighbouring proprietors. 



(Warner, Hampshire; Communication from Famborouyli.) 



FARNBOROUGH. [KENT.] 



FARNE ISLAND. [NORTHUMBERLAND.] 



FAKNHAM, Surrey, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Farnham, is situated near the right bank of the 

 river Wey, in 51 13' N. lat., 0' 48' W. long. ; distant 10 miles W. by 

 S. from Guildford, 38 miles S.W. by W. from London by road, and 

 41 miles by the South-Western railway. The population of the 

 town of Farnham in 1851 was 3515. The living is a vicarage in the 

 archdeaconry of Surrey and diocese of Winchester. Farnham Poor- 

 Law L'uion contains five parishes and one chapelry with an area of 

 29,824 acres, and a population in 1851 of 11,804. 



FaruLam was a place of some importance at a very early period, 

 and at one time returned members to Parliament. The manor of 

 Farnham was given by Ethalbald, king of the West Saxons, to the see 

 of Winchester, to which it has ever since belonged. On the north 

 side of the principal street, and on the summit of a hill, formerly 

 stood a castle, built by Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, and 

 bishop of Winchester. After the Restoration Dr. Morley, bishop of 

 Winchester, expended a considerable sum in erecting the present 

 castle, which is of brick, covered with stucco, embattled, and of a 

 quadrangular form. Adjoining the castle is an extensive park, 

 through which the river Loddon flows. On the borders of the park 

 is Waverley Abbey, a neat modern mansion, which derives its name 

 from a monastery of Cistercian monks, the ruins of which arc in the 

 vicinity. 



Faruharn consists chiefly of one street, running east and west. It 

 is lighted with gas. Tito parish church was formerly a chapel of ease 

 to Waverley Abbey. Some portions of the building are of the 12th 

 century; other portions are of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Indo- 

 uta have a chapel, and there are National and Infant schools, and 

 a savings bank. The Grammar school, founded about 1611, had 

 fallen into decay, but was recently revived as a Commercial school. 

 The income from endowment in 1837 was 22<. a year. The number 

 of scholars in 1853 was 25. A county court is held in the town. 

 Farnham is noted for its hop plantations. The great mart for the 

 Farnham hops is Weyhill fair. The market-day is Thursday. Three 

 fairs in the year, for horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, are held 



(Stevenson, Survey of Surrey; Manning and Bray, History of Surrey; 

 Brayley, Surrey ; Communication from Farnkam.) 



FAKNINGHAM. [KENT.] 



FARNWORTH. [LANCASHIRE.] 



FARO in Italian and Spanish, pharut in Latin, phare in French, 

 is the name given to lighthouses in the Mediterranean. The first 

 lighthouse is said to have been that raised by Sostratus of Cnidus 

 B.C. 283, on the island of Pharos at the entrance of the new harbour of 

 Alexandreia. [ALEXANDRIA.] The name pharot became afterwards an 

 appellative for lighthouses, and in some instances it has been given 

 to the towns near which a lighthouse was built. Such, for instance, 

 is the town of Faro in Algarve. Torre di Faro, a lighthouse on Cape 

 Pelorua, in Sicily, has given its name to the Strait of Messina at the 

 entrance of which it is placed, between Calabria and Sicily, and 

 which the Italians call Faro di Messina. The Kingdom of the Two 

 Sicilies is divided, with regard to its administration, into Domiuj di 

 qua del Faro, or ' dominions on this side of the Faro ' (speaking as 

 from Naples) meaning the continental part, and Dominj di la del 

 Faro, or ' dominions on the further side of the Faro,' that is to say, 

 the island of Sicily. 



FARO. [ALGARVE.] 



FAROE, FEROE, or FAROERNE ISLANDS, a group of islands 

 twenty-two in number, seventeen of which are inhabited ; they are 

 about 300 miles W. of the coast of Norway, and about 200 miles 

 N.W. of the Shetland Isles, between 61 and 63 N. lat,, and 8 and 

 i', W. long. They were discovered between the years 858 and 868 by 

 some Norwegians, in the time of Harold Harfager, king of Norway, 

 and at present belong to Denmark. Their whole area is estimated at 

 about 4'J5 square miles. The population in 1850 was 8150. 



These islands mostly consist of steep rocks, some of them rising 

 gradually from the sea, by two or more sloping terraces, covered with 

 a thin stratum of earth, which produces grass. Close to the sea the 

 land coiir.;. ! of perpendicular cliffs, from 1200 to 1SOO feet 



in height. The most westerly island is Myggcnaes, the most southerly 



is Suderoe, the most easterly are Svinoe and Fugloe, and tho most 

 northerly are Kalsoe and Videroo. Tho interior is composed of hills, 

 jisually separated only by narrow ravines, in which there are brooks 

 or rivulets which are in general so swollen in the rainy season as to 

 become impassable : there are no valleys of any extent. The greatest 

 elevations in these islands are the basalt mountain Skaellingfield, 

 2430 feet high, in the south part of the largest of them, Stromoe, 

 which is nearly the central island of the group, and divided by 

 narrow straits from Vaagoe and Osteroe ; and the Skattaretinel ill 

 Osteroe, which is said to attain an elevation of 2864 feet. There 

 are several lakes, among which the largest are the Soorvagsvatn 

 in Vaagoe, which is three miles long, and the Sandsvatu iu Saudoe : 

 and there are some falls of water, the most considerable of which is 

 the Fosaa in Stromoe, which has a double fall, nearly 200 feet iu 

 height. Among the mineral springs the most esteemed is that of 

 Vannakielde in Osteroe. The climate is bleak, and the summer lasts 

 only through the months of July and August : yet it seldom freezes 

 more than one month in the year, nor are the harbours ice-locked 

 except in very severe winters. Violent storms prevail at all seasons, 

 which prevent the growth of any large trees, aud compel the inhabit- 

 ants to fix their dwellings between the hills. The soil is stony, and 

 iu many parts covered with earth only four inches deep. Iu some 

 islands there are majestic groups of basalt formation, similar to the 

 caves of Stafla. Neither the soil nor climate admits of any extended 

 tillage ; and the sudden variations in tbe temperature induce the 

 cultivator frequently to gather in his crops in a half-ripe state, aud 

 dry them by artificial heat. They consist principally of barloy and 

 rye, the growth of which is scarcely adequate to the consumption ; 

 potatoes, parsnips, turnips, and carrots are also raised; but it is 

 extremely difficult to raise any other vegetable. Laudt states the 

 proportion of the cultivated to the uncultivated land to be about 1 to 

 60, aud that the corn-fields are not more than from 8 to 12 feet iu 

 breadth. The pasture-lands are luxuriant, and the chief wealth of 

 the islanders consists in their flocks, often containing from 300 to 500 

 sheep, which graze in the open air the whole year round, and yield 

 wool of good quality. Horses of small stature, but strong, swift, and 

 sure-footed, are bred in considerable numbers : the horned cattle are 

 also diminutive, yet become exceedingly fat. Few swine are fed. 

 Seal-catchiug, and the whale, cod, herring, and other fisheries are 

 another main resource of the people. Independently of domestic 

 animals, the islands contain only rats and mice. There is an immense 

 number of wild-fowl, such as eider-ducks, swans, geese, pigeons, solan- 

 geese, puffins, cormorants, plovers, &c. The feathers of the wild-fowl 

 are among the articles exported. 



There is no timber on the islands. Turf is used for fuel. Beds of 

 coal were discovered in the islaud of Suderoe iu 1709, and some mines 

 have been opened from time to time ; but the coal is of inferior 

 quality. Copper is found in the island of Nolsoe. Jasper and opal 

 are met with here and there. 



The inhabitants are of Norman (or Norwegian) descent, and speak 

 the Norwegian language with a Danish accent. Their food consists 

 of milk, fish, mutton, poultry, wild-fowl, und barley groats ; bread 

 aud salt are considered luxuries. Their clothing is of coarse woollen, 

 woven by their own hands. They are either hereditary proprietors 

 of the soil which they cultivate, or farm lands under grant from the 

 crown, from which circumstances they have the respective appella- 

 tions of Odelsbonde or Kongsboude. They profess the Lutheran 

 faith. The amtmann, or bailiff, is at the head of civil affairs : in 

 judicial matters the landvoigt, or judge, is assisted by sidesmen from 

 each parish. 



Ship-building is carried on with success. Woollen-yams, cloths, 

 and stockings are manufactured ; aud there are a few tanneries. The 

 exports consist of hose and trowseriugs, fish, feathers, skins and 

 hides, butter, tallow, train-oil, &c. : the imports, of grain, bread, malt, 

 brandy, salt, hemp, iron, timber and deals, linen, &c. 



The larger islands are Stromoe, 27 miles long aud about 7 miles 

 in breauth, population about 2000 : its capital Thorshavu, on the 

 south-east side of the island, is the seat of government, and has a neat 

 wooden church, a Latin school, a fort, and about 750 inhabitants. 

 The streets are exceedingly narrow. Osteroe, to the east of Stromoe, 

 is in length about 20 miles, and in its greatest breadth about 10 miles : 

 population, 1700. Ithas two fresh- water lakes, aud several deep fjords, 

 or inlets of the sea, on the eastern side. A curious basaltic hill about 

 420 feet high, consists of pentagonal and octagonal columns, on a 

 foundation of trap 300 feet in height. At the north-north-west point 

 of the island there are two rocks, with tho appearance of colossal 

 statues, which are called Risin aud Kiedlingen, and are 240 feet high. 

 On the south-west side is a safe harbour, the Kougshavn. Sandoe, to 

 the south of Stromoe, is about 13 miles long and one and a half mile 

 broad : population, 500. It has a large lake called Sandsvath which 

 abounds in trout, five villages, three churches, and is the residence of 

 the Amtspropst, who is the head ecclesiastical authority. Suderoe, 

 lying south of the preceding, is about 17 miles iu length and 5J miles 

 in its greatest breadth, and contains ten villages, six churches, and 

 upwards of 1000 inhabitants. It is full of rocks and precipices. 

 Punthavu, its port, is almost the only spot where there is a safe 

 lauding. Vaagne, to the west of Stromoe, is nearly 13 miles long and 

 about 5 miles broad : population, 600. Its principal lake, Soorvaag, is tho 



