WIGTONSHIRE WILD RICE. 



WIGTONSHIRE a county occupying tlie 

 south-western extremity of Scotland, forming the 

 western part of the ancient district of Galloway. 

 It is bounded on the east by the stewartry of Kirk- 

 cudbright, or Eastern Galloway, also by Wigton 

 bay; the Irish sea limits it on the south and west: 

 and it has Ayrshire on the north. The shire ex- 

 tends between twenty-eight and twenty-nine miles 

 from north to south, and between thirty and thirty- 

 one miles from east to west. In this extent is com- 

 prehended the large bay of Luce, which indents it 

 throughout an extent of fifteen miles on the south- 

 ern side ; and Loch Ryan, an arm of the sea, indents 

 it on the northern side eight and a half miles. The 

 bay of Luce, by so deeply indenting the land, forms 

 two peninsulae, and these projections have been long 

 known by the Celtic name of the Rhinns of Gal- \ 

 lowaif. The peninsula on the east receives the lo- 

 cal name of the Mockers. The superficial contents 

 may be deemed about 309,760 statute acres. 



The shire of Wigton rests upon a southern expo- 

 sure : and its waters generally desceiid to the Irish 

 sea. The climate is moist, with winds from the 

 south-west, which prevail during the greatest part 

 of the year, and usually bring with them rains ; yet 

 when proper attention is used by the agriculturist, 

 the moisture of the climate is but seldom injurious 

 to the products of the earth. Snows seldom lie 

 long ; and frosts are not usually severe, or of long 

 endurance. This shire is one of the lowest dis- 

 tricts in Scotland ; and its diminutive hills are ge- 

 nerally pretty free from the obtrusion of rocks. 

 The best lands lie near the shore ; the inland divi- 

 sions being more elevated and largely mixed with 

 heath and moss. The shire has no considerable 

 rivers. The chief are the Cree, the Bladenoch, 

 nd the Tarf, with a few of smaller size. The 

 greatest part of the soil of the district is of a hazel 

 colour ; and is of that species, which is sometimes 

 termed a dry loam, though often it inclines to a 

 gravelly nature. It principally lies upon a bed of 

 scliixtus, and primary strata. In the northern part 

 of the Rhinns, sandstone occurs. Quarries of slate 

 have been found of different qualities. There is 

 no coal, at least for any useful purpose ; and al- 

 though there is plenty of iron ore, it is of little 

 value from the absence of coal. Lead mines were 

 formerly wrought with the greatest success. 



Wigtonshire comprehends seventeen parishes, and 

 three royal burghs, Wigton, Whithorn, and Stran- 

 raer, with several thriving villages and burghs of 

 barony, as Newton-Stewart, Garliestown, Glenluce, 

 Port-Patrick, &c. It has a number of small sea- 

 ports or natural harbours, chiefly in the western 

 peninsula. It likewise possesses a number of splen- 

 did mansions, the seats of its nobility and gentry. 

 IP 1821, the population was 15,837 males, and 

 17,603 females; total 33,240: in 1841, 18,290 

 males, and 20,9l'5 females ; total 39, 195. 



WIGWAM ; a name given by the English to 

 the huts or cabins of the North American Indians. 

 This word, as we learn from Eliot's Indian Gram- 

 mar (printed in 1666), is a corruption of the In- 

 dian compound wekuwom-ut, which signifies, in his 

 house. The corresponding word in the Delaware 

 language is written by the German missionary Mr 

 Zeisberger, tcikwam. 



WILBERFORCE, WILLIAM, a distinguished 

 philanthropist, whose exertions to procure the abo- 

 lition of the slave-trade, give him a high rank 

 among the benefactors of the human race, was 

 born at Hull, in Yorkshire, 24th August, 1759, of 



which place his grandfather had been twice mayor. 

 His father died when lie was young, and, in 1774, 

 he was sent to St John's college, Cambridge, whore 

 he formed an intimacy with Mr Pitt. Mr Wil- 

 berforce came into a good fortune, and was elected 

 member of parliament for Hull, in 1780. During 

 this parliament, he did not lake any very active 

 part in politics. He was also elected in 17^4, 

 and, owing to the partiality of the people for Mr 

 Pitt's friends, was also chosen for the county of 

 York : he therefore made his election for that 

 county. In 1787, he brought forward a motion 

 for the abolition of the slave-trade, and presented 

 a great number of petitions in favour of that mea- 

 sure. The minister spoke in favour of the aboli- 

 tion, but suffered the motion to be lost. The next 

 year, Mr Wilberforce being ill, Mr Pitt brought 

 on the motion, and the question was carried with- 

 out a division ; but it went no further. It was a 

 singular circumstance, that Mr Pitt, whose power 

 was then at its zenith, could carry every measure 

 but this. Mr Wilberforce had much to contend 

 with before he completed his object ; and all he 

 could do was to procure some regulations favour- 

 able to the slaves during their passage. The con- 

 dition of the slaves in the West Indies was, how- 

 ever, greatly improved. While Mr Pitt was minis- 

 ter, every trick was tried to avoid the question, 

 till Mr Fox and his friends succeeded to power, 

 when, to their honour, he and his friends carried 

 the measure. The influence of Mr Wilberforce in 

 the house of commons was extraordinary ; and, at 

 one time, during the French war, an appearance of 

 defection on the part of Wilberforce and his friends 

 induced Pitt to open a treaty with France. In 

 1812, after having sat for Yorkshire in six parlia- 

 ments, he withdrew from the representation ; and, 

 until 1825, when he retired from parliament, he sat 

 for the borough of Bramber, as the nominee of his 

 kinsman, lord Carrington. From the time of his 

 retirement, he lived principally at Highwood Hill, 

 a small estate near London. About 1831, heavy 

 losses, sustained through the commercial disappoint- 

 ment of his eldest son, compelled him, with his 

 wife, to seek an asylum in the parsonages of two 

 of his sons, who were both in the church. He died 

 on the 28th July, 1833, shortly after the govern- 

 ment plan for the total abolition of slavery in the 

 British colonies had passed in the house of Com- 

 mons. His remains were interred in Westminster 

 abbey, and his funeral was attended by distinguish- 

 ed men of all parties. In 1838, his memoirs were 

 published by his sons, in 5 vols., 12mo., containing 

 extracts from his diaries, journals, and letters. Du- 

 ring his lifetime, Mr Wilberforce published a Prac- 

 tical View of the prevailing Religious Systems of 

 Professed Christians in the higher and middle classes 

 of the Country contrasted with real Christianity 

 (1797) ; an Apology for the Christian Sabbath 

 (1799) ; a Letter on the Abolition of the Slave- 

 Trade (1807); and Substance of his Speeches on 

 the bill for promoting the Religious Instruction 

 of the Natives of British India (1813). 



WILD RICE (zizania aquatica) ; a large kind 

 of grass, which grows in shallow water or miry situa- 

 tions, in many parts of North America. The stem 

 is seven or eight feet high ; the leaves broad and scat- 

 tering ; and the flowers disposed in a large terminal 

 panicle, spreading at the base and spiked at the sum- 

 mit. The female flowers are awned, upright, and 

 form the terminating spike, while the male are nod- 

 ding, and placed at the extremities of the spreading 



