233 



SHIP OF FOOLS SHOT. 



the highest class of merchant vessels. A ship, in 

 the strict application of the term, 1ms three masts; 

 a brig has only two, but it is square-rigged like a 

 ship. A schooner has two masts; but though it 

 has top-sails and top-sail yards, it is not, in general, 

 square-rigged like a brig. A lugger is a small kind 

 of vessel, but which carries three masts and a run- 

 ning bow-sprit. Its sails are of a description called 

 lug-ails. A sloop has but one mast, and is gener- 

 ally employed on the coasting trade. There are, 

 however, sloops of war, which carry ten or twelve 

 guns. A brigantine is a brig which can either be 

 sailed or rowed. A xebec is a light swift-sailing 

 vessel, of three masts and a long prow, peculiar to 

 the ports of the Mediterranean. A galley is another 

 vessel peculiar to the ports of the Mediterranean. 

 It is low-built and carries two masts, but depends 

 chiefly upon being rowed with oars. Galleys were 

 formerly much used by the Barbary pirates. A 

 yacht is a small vessel with one deck, designed 

 either for state or pleasure. A wherry is a small 

 kind of yacht, used chiefly by fishermen. 



SHIP OF FOOLS. See Brandt. 



SHIRAZ. Schiraz. 



SHIRE; a Saxon word, signifying division; the 

 old Saxon name for the larger districts into which 

 England was divided, and which has been, in a 

 great measure, superseded by the Latin term county. 

 ( See County.) Hence the name sheriff given to the 

 chief officer of the shire, and shire-gemote (Saxon, 

 g emote, meeting), to the sheriff's tourn or county 

 court. (See Courts.) The English county mem- 

 bers of the house of commons are called knights of 

 the shire. 



SHIRLEY, JAMES, a poet and dramatic writer, 

 was born in London about 1594, educated at 

 Merchant Tailors' school, and thence removed to 

 St John's college, Oxford. He became a favourite 

 with Doctor Laud, who discountenanced his entry 

 into the church, on account of a large mole upon 

 his cheek, which he deemed a disqualification by 

 deformity, according to the canons. On removing 

 to Cambridge, he met with no difficulty on this 

 score, and obtained a curacy near St Alban's. He 

 soon after went over to the church of Rome, and, 

 giving up his curacy, sought to establish a gram- 

 mar-school in the same town. Failing in this en- 

 deavour, he removed to London, became a writer 

 for the stage, and acquired a reputation which 

 caused him to be taken into the service of queen 

 Henrietta Maria. His first comedy is dated 1629, 

 and he wrote nine or ten between that year and 

 1637, when he accompanied the earl of Kildare to 

 Ireland. He returned the following year, and when 

 the civil war broke out, he left London, with his 

 wife and family; and, being invited by the earl of 

 Newcastle, he accompanied that nobleman to the 

 wars. On the decline of the king's cause, he re- 

 turned to London, and, the acting of plays being 

 prohibited, resumed his school. In 1666, he was 

 forced, with his wife, by the great fire, from his 

 house in St Giles's parish; and, being extremely 

 affected by the loss and terror that the fire occa- 

 sioned, they both died, October 29, within twenty- 

 four hours. Besides thirty-seven tragedies and 

 comedies, he published a volume of poems, some 

 specimens of which may be found in Ellis's Collec- 

 tion. 



SHISHAC OR SESAC; an Egyptian king, men- 

 tioned by the Hebrew writers, who made an incur- 

 sion into Judea in the reign of Jeroboam, and pil- 

 laged the temple (about B. C. 791). He has been 



commonly supposed to be the same as Sesosiris 

 (q. v.); but Champollion has proved (Precis da 

 Systdme hicroglyphique, pp. 255 257) that he is the 

 Sesonchis of the Greeks, or Sheshonk; and an in- 

 scription at Karnac represents him as carrying into 

 captivity the king of the Jews. 



SHIUMLA. See ChoumJa. 



SHOCK. See Choc. 



SHORE, JANE; the wife of a rich goldsmith of 

 London, in the fifteenth century, and mistress of 

 Edward IV., whose favour, which she entirely pos- 

 sessed, she never abused to any man's hurt, but 

 often employed to many a man's relief. After the 

 death of Edward, in 1482, she seems to have been 

 the paramour of lord Hastings. (See Edward IV.) 

 Richard III. partly to revive among the citizens the 

 memory of his brother's licentiousness, and partly 

 on account of her connexion with Hastings, whom 

 he accused of being "the chief abettor of that 

 witch Shore," determined to expose her to public 

 ignominy. Laying bare his arm, all shrivelled and 

 decayed from his birth, he declared before the coun- 

 cil, that the incantations and witchcraft of Jane 

 Shore and her associates had reduced him to that 

 condition. He then had her summoned to answer 

 against a charge of sorcery; but, unable to effect 

 his purpose in this manner, he directed her to be 

 tried for adultery and lewdness by the spiritual 

 court, and she was obliged to do penance in a white 

 sheet, at St Paul's, before the whole people. She 

 is supposed to have died at an advanced age in the 

 reign of Henry VIII. Her story has been conse- 

 crated by the muse of Shakspeare (Richard III.) 

 and Rowe, and has been introduced upon the French 

 stage, in the tragedies of Liadieres (Jane Shore, 

 1824) and Lemercier (Richard III. et Jane Shore). 



SHORT-HAND. See Stenography. 



SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS. See Optics. 



SHOT; a missive weapon, discharged by the 

 force of ignited powder from a fire-arm in battle. 

 Of these there are various kinds. Round-shot or 

 bullets are balls or globes of iron, whose weight is 

 in proportion to the bore of the cannon. Double- 

 headed, or bar-shot, are formed of a bar, with a 

 round head at each end, which fits the muzzle of 

 the cannon. The middle is sometimes filled with 

 a composition, and the whole covered with linen 

 dipped in brimstone, so that the cannon, in firing, 

 inflames the combustibles or composition of this 

 ball, which sets fire to the sails of the enemy. One 

 of the heads of this ball has a hole to receive a fuse, 

 which, communicating with the charge of the can- 

 non, sets fire to the bullet. Chain-shot consists of 

 two balls chained together, being principally de- 

 signed to annoy the enemy by cutting sails, rigging, 

 &c. Grape-shot is a combination of balls strongly 

 corded in canvass upon an iron bottom, so as to 

 form a sort of cylinder, whose diameter is equal to 

 that of the ball which is adapted to the cannon. 

 Case-shot, or canister-shot, are composed of a great 

 number of small bullets, put into a cylindrical tin 

 box. They are principally used, when very near, 

 to clear the decks of the enemy. Besides these, 

 there are others of a more pernicious kind, used by 

 privateers, pirates, &c. ; such are langrage-shot, star- 

 shot, fire-arrows, &c. Star-shot consists of four 

 pieces of iron, whose bases, when separate, form 

 the quadrant of a circle; so that the whole, being 

 joined, forms a cylinder equal to the shot of the 

 cannon. Each of these pieces is furnished with an 

 iron bar, the extremity of which is attached to a 

 sort of link, as keys are strung upon a ring. Being 



