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CUMBERLAND CUMNOK. 



CUMBERLAND, duke of; second sou of George 

 II. of England ; born in 1721, and died October 30, 

 1765. At the buttle of Dettingen, he was wounded, 

 when fighting ut the side of his father. At I'ontenoy, 

 he was compelled to yield to the superior experience 

 of marshal Saxe ; but rose in reputation by subduing 

 the insurrection in Scotland, caused by the landing of 

 Charles Edward Stuart (see Culloden and Edward), 

 1745 ; which, however, was more in consequence of 

 the discord and irresolution prevailing in the camp of 

 his brave antagonists, than from any distinguished 

 talent exhibited by him. Charles Edward, when 

 only two days' march from London, commenced his 

 retreat into Scotland from Carlisle (January, 1746), 

 and was completely defeated (April, 1746), at Cullo- 

 den. The duke obscured his fame by the cruel abuse 

 which he made, or suffered his soldiers to make, of 

 Uie victory ; which was the more dishonourable, as 

 the followers of the pretender, on their march through 

 the Scottish lowlands, and in England, had evinced 

 great forbearance. In 1747, Cumberland was de- 

 feated by marshal Saxe, at Lafeld. In 1757, he lost 

 the battle of Hastenbeck, against D'Estrees, and, 

 September 8, concluded the convention at Closter- 

 Seven, upon which he was recalled, and Ferdinand, 

 duke of Brunswick, received the command of the 

 allied army. 



CUMBERLAND, RICHARD, a dramatic and mis- 

 cellaneous writer, son of the reverend Denison Cum- 

 berland, bishop of Clonfert, by the daughter of doctor 

 Bentley, was born in the master's lodge, in Trinity 

 college, Cambridge, February 19, 1732. He received 

 his early education at Westminster, and in his four- 

 teenth year, was admitted of Trinity college, where 

 he studied very closely, and obtained his bachelor's 

 degree at the age of eighteen, and soon after was 

 elected fellow. He became private secretary to lord 

 Halifax, and made his first offering to the press in a 

 small poem, entitled an Elegy written on St Mark's 

 Eve, which obtained but little notice. His tragedy 

 entitled the Banishment of Cicero, was rejected by 

 Garrick,and printed by the author in 1761. In 1769, 

 he was married, and, his patron being made lord 

 lieutenant of Ireland, he accompanied him to that 

 kingdom. When lord Halifax became secretary of 

 state, he procured nothing better for Cumberland 

 than the clerkship of reports in the office of trade 

 and plantations. In the course of the next two or 

 three years, he wrote an opera, entitled the Sum- 

 mer's Tale, and his comedy of the Brothers. His 

 West Indian, which was brought out by Garrick in 

 1771, proved eminently successful. The Fashionable 

 Lover not obtaining the success of the West Indian, 

 he exhibited that soreness of character which exposed 

 him to the satire of Sheridan, in his sketch of Sir 

 Fretful Plagiary, and which induced Garrick to call 

 him the man without a skin. The Choleric Man, 

 the Note of Hand, and the Battle of Hastings, were 

 his next productions. On the accession of lord George 

 Germaine to office, he was made secretary to the 

 board of trade. In 1780, he was employed on a con- 

 fidential mission to the courts of Lisbon and Madrid, 

 which, owing to some dissatisfaction on the part of' 

 the ministry, involved him in great distress, as they 

 withheld the reimbursement of his expenses to the 

 amount of .5000, which rendered it necessary for 

 him to dispose of the whole of his hereditary pro- 

 perty. To add to his misfortune, the board of trade 

 was broken up, and he retired with a very inadequate 

 pension, and devoted himself entirely to literature. 

 The first works which he published, after his return 

 from Spain, were his entertaining Anecdotes of Spa- 

 nish Painters, and the most distinguished of his col- 

 lection of essays, entitled the Observer. To these 

 may be added the novels of Arundel, Henry and 



Jolui de Lancaster, the poem of Calvary, the Exodiad 

 (in conjunction with Sir James Bland Burgess), and., 

 lastly, a poem called Retrospection, and the Memoirs 

 of his own Life. He also edited the London lie- 

 view, in which the critics gave their names, and 

 which soon expired. His latter days were chiefly 

 spent hi London, where he diet!, May 7, 1811. The 

 comic drama was Ins forte ; and, although he wrote 

 much, even of comedy, that was very indifferent, the 

 merit of the West Indian, the Fasliionable Lover, the 

 Jew, and the Wheel of Fortune, is of no common 

 description. His Observer, since his acknowledg- 

 ment of his obligations to doctor Bentley's manu- 

 scripts, no longer supports his reputation as a Greek 

 critic; and as a poet, he was never more than a 

 versifier. 



CUMBERNAULD, a parish of Scotland, forming 

 the eastern limit of Dumbartonshire, seven miles in 

 length, and four in breadth. It abounds in coal, 

 lime, and freestone. The village of Cumbernauld is 

 situated thirteen miles east of Glasgow, and is nearly 

 surrounded by the pleasure grounds of Cumbernauld 

 House, the seat of admiral Fleming. Population of 

 the parish in 1831, 3080. 



CUMBRAY, THE GREATER AND LESSER, tWO 



islands lying in the firth of Clyde, betwixt the isle of 

 Bute and Ayrshire, and belonging to the county of 

 Bute. The Greater Cumbray is two and a half miles 

 in length, and one and a half hi breadth. Most of 

 it is under cultivation. The only town upon it is 

 Milnport, a thriving little place, with a good harbour. 

 The Lesser Cumbray is about a mile in length, by 

 half a mile in breadth. A lighthouse is erected on 

 the western side of it, in lat. 52 43'; long. 4 57' W. 

 Its light is stationary. Population of the Greater 

 Cumbray in 1831, 877; of the Lesser, 17. 



CUMMAZEE, or COOMASSIE; a town of 

 Africa, capital of Ashantee; 120 miles N. N. W. 

 Cape Coast Castle ; Ion. 2 6" W. ; lat 6 3tf N. ; 

 population estimated by Mr Bowdich, in 1818, at 

 15,000 ; stated by the inhabitants at 100,000. It is 

 situated in a vale, surrounded by an unbroken mass 

 of the deepest verdure. Four of the principal streets 

 are half a mile long, and from 50 to 100 yards 

 broad. The houses are low and small, of a square 

 or oblong form, composed of canes wattled together, 

 and plastered with clay and sand. The town has 

 considerable trade. The king's harem is said to 

 contain 3333 women ! 



CUMNOCK, a district of Ayrshire, which an- 

 ciently composed one parish, but was divided into 

 two, in 1650, under the names of Old and New Cum- 

 nock. The parish of Old Cumnock is about ten miles 

 in length, by two in breadth, and is generally well 

 cultivated. The town of Old Cumnock is situated 

 on the Lugar water, about fifteen miles east from 

 Ayr. It is celebrated for the manufacture of wooden 

 snuff-boxes, in which the hinges are so constructed 

 as to be nearly invisible. Many of these boxes are 

 exported to the continent. The parish of New Cum- 

 nock forms the eastern boundary of that of Old 

 Cumnock, and is twelve miles in length by eight in 

 breadth. It is mostly hilly, and appropriated to pas- 

 ture. The Nith has its source here, besides which 

 river and the Afton, several small lakes water the 

 lower ground. Coal and limestone, and a mine of 

 lead ore are worked within the parish. The village 

 of New Cumnock is small, and used to be distin- 

 guished by the remains of an ancient castle, now 

 removed. Population of the parish ef Old Cumnock 

 in 1831, 2763 ; of New Cumnock, 2184. 



CUMNOR, a parish of England, in Berks. Popu- 

 lation in 1831, 1364. In a large monastic building, 

 called Cumnor Place, Amy Robsart, wife of Robert 

 Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and favourite of Queen 



