86 



WODENWOLCOT. 



me of the dyer, they require a further preparation. 

 They are beaten with wooden mallets, on a brick 

 or stone floor into a gross powder, which is heaped 

 up in the middle of the room to the height of four 

 feet, a space being left for passing round the sides. 

 The powder, moistened with water, ferments, grows 

 hot, and throws out a thick fetid fume. It is 

 shovelled backwards and forwards, and moistened 

 every day for twelve days, after which it is stirred 

 less frequently, without watering, and, at length, 

 made into a heap for the dyer. The powder thus 

 prepared gives only brownish tinctures, of different 

 shades, to water, to alcohol, to ammonia, and to 

 fixed alkaline lixivia. Hubbed on paper, it com- 

 municates a green stain. On diluting the powder 

 witli boiling water, and, after standing for some 

 hours in a close vessel, adding about one twentieth 

 its weight of lime newly slacked, digesting in a 

 gentle warmth, and stirring the whole together 

 every three or four hours, a new fermentation be- 

 gins : a blue froth rises to the surface, and the li- 

 quor, though it appears itself of a reddish colour, 

 dyes woollen of a green, which, like the green from 

 indigo, changes, in the air, to blue. This is one 

 of the nicest processes in the art of dyeing, and does 

 not well succeed in the way of a small experiment. 



WODEN, OK ODIN ; one of the most powerful 

 deities in northern mythology. Some have derived 

 him from the Indian Buddha. The ancient Saxons 

 and Thuringians honoured him as their god of war; 

 and the former solemnly vowed, in their war with 

 Charlemagne, to sacrifice to him all their prisoners. 

 (See Northern Mythology.} The Romans recog- 

 nised their Mars in this northern god. 



WOFFINGTON, MARGARET, an actress, highly 

 distinguished for her beauty and talents, was born 

 at Dublin, in 1719. Her father kept a huckster's 

 shop ; and she commenced her theatrical career as 

 the pupil of madame Violante, an exhibitor of feats 

 of activity on the tight rope, who, about 1728, 

 formed a company of Lilliputian actors. In these 

 exhibitions little Woffington, then in her tenth year, 

 attracted much notice as the representative of Mac- 

 heath in the Beggar's Opera. A few years after, 

 she procured an advantageous engagement at one 

 of the regular Dublin theatres, where she acquired 

 so much reputation, that she was invited to Lon- 

 don ; and, in 1740, she made her appearance at 

 Covent garden, in the character of Sylvia, in the 

 Recruiting Officer. She then took up the part of 

 sir Harry Wildair, in which she was extremely suc- 

 cessful. In comic characters, from the finished 

 coquette or haughty lady of high rank and fashion, 

 to the affected old maid, or vulgar termagant, she 

 displayed a truth and facility of personification 

 which has rarely been exceeded. Her attractions 

 in private life were widely felt and acknowledged, 

 and her society sought by persons of rank and ta- 

 lents. She was president of the weekly beef-steak 

 club, held in the green room of Covent garden 

 theatre. At length the derangement of her health 

 induced her to retire from the stage in 1759 ; and 

 her death took place in 1760. 



WOHLGEMUTH, MICHAEL, an old German 

 painter, born in 1434, died in 1519, was the teacher 

 of Albert DQrer. There is a large altar piece by 

 him in Nuremberg, his native city. There are 

 also fine pictures by him in the galleries of Vi- 

 enna, Munich, and other cities, and those of pri- 

 vate persons. Some have also thought the beauti- 

 ful Last Judgment at Dantzic to be from his pen- 

 cil. Like other painters of his time, he was also 



an engraver on copper and wood. The Chronicle 

 of Nuremberg, published in 1493, contains wood- 

 cuts by him. 



WOIWODE ; a Sclavonic word, which signifies 

 leader in war, and is a compound of the two Scla- 

 vonic words, win', troops, and wodif, to lead. The 

 princes of Walachia and Moldavia were called woi- 

 wodes before they received from the Greek empe- 

 rors, with whom they were in some degree con- 

 nected ( 1439), the title of despot ; instead of wliirh 

 they adopted, at a later period, the title of hospo- 

 dar, which signifies lord. At present, woiwode sig- 

 nifies a Turkish fanner-general of the taxes of a 

 district. In the old kingdom of Poland, woiwodes 

 were governors of the districts (woiwodeships) into 

 which the kingdom was divided. They admini- 

 stered justice, had charge of the police, and formed 

 the first class of the temporal estates of the king- 

 dom. In the time of war, when the nobility were 

 called to march, each woiwode commanded the no- 

 bility of his woiwodesbip. 



WOLCOT, JOHN, M.D., a poet and satirist, 

 was born at Dodbrock, in the county of Devon, in 

 1738, educated at the free school .of Kingsbridge, 

 in the same county ; after which he visited France, 

 and, on his return, was articled to an uncle, an 

 apothecary at Fowey. He early showed an attach- 

 ment to poetry, as also to drawing, in which he 

 became a considerable proficient. He subsequently 

 visited London, to attend the hospitals, and, in 

 1767, obtained the degree of doctor of physic from 

 Scotland, and accompanied Sir William Trelavvney 

 to Jamaica, of which the latter was appointed gover- 

 nor. Here meeting but little encouragement as a 

 physician, he obtained orders, and became rector of a 

 living in the gift of his patron, which, being attend- 

 ed exclusively by a black congregation, received 

 little of his attention. On the death of Sir Wil- 

 liam Trelawney, he returned with his widow to 

 England ; and, on the decease of his uncle, who left 

 him the principal part of his property, he settled as 

 a physician, first at Truro, and afterwards at Hel- 

 stone, in Cornwall. While in this situation, he had 

 the merit of discovering the talents of the late cele- 

 brated painter Opie, then a mere youthful miner, with 

 whom, (in 1780), he came to London. Here he soon 

 rendered himself conspicuous by those satirical com- 

 positions which he published under the name of Pe- 

 ter Pindar, and which, for the drollery and great 

 peculiarity of their humour, became, in the highest 

 degree, popular. His attacks were, in the first in- 

 stance, chiefly levelled at the royal academicians ; 

 but, ultimately, the harmless singularities of George 

 III., his consort, and family, formed the principal 

 field for his wit. So much was thought of his 

 talents, that a negotiation was at one time entered 

 into with him, by the under secretary of the trea- 

 sury, to become either silent, or to direct his satire 

 against the opponents of administration, which, 

 however, came to nothing, owing to his backward- 

 ness to write on that side of the question. Hav- 

 ing obtained an annuity from his booksellers of 

 250 per annum, and being otherwise in easy cir- 

 cumstances by the sale of his productions, he passed 

 the close of his life in ease and convivial enjoyment, 

 interrupted, however, in the sequel, by blindness 

 and other maladies. His death took place in So- 

 mers Town, in 1819, in the eighty-first year of his 

 age. As a man, doctor Wolcot assumed much li- 

 cense, and may be regarded as an epicurean of the 

 coarser class. As a poet, he exhibits freshness, 

 naivete, and a portion of humour, singularly made 



