WALPURGA WALSINGHAM. 



873 



WALPURGA, WALBURGA, OR WALPUR- 

 GIS; a saint, born in England, sister of St Willi- 

 bald, first bishop of Eichstadt, in Germany, and 

 niece of St Boniface, the apostle of the Germans. 

 She went, like her uncle and brother, to Germany 

 as a missionary, and became, about the middle of 

 the eighth century, abbess of a convent at Heiden- 

 heim, in Franconia. She must have been a learned 

 woman, as she was considered the author of a Latin 

 description of the Travels of St Willibald. After 

 her death (776 or 778), she received the honours 

 of a saint, was believed to work many miracles, and 

 chapels in honour of her were built in many places. 

 From the circumstance that in German almanacs 

 the name Walpurgis has been accidentally placed, 

 sometimes alone, sometimes together with the 

 names of the apostles Philip and James, against the 

 first of May, the night previous to the first day of 

 May, so famous, in German legends, for the assem- 

 bling of the witches, has been called Walpurgis 

 night. The first of May is an important day for the 

 German cultivator : many contracts are made at 

 this time ; the labours of the field assume new ac- 

 tivity, &c. It is not strange that, on so important 

 a day, the devil and the witches were supposed to 

 be more active than usual, and to assemble in a par- 

 ticular place to organize the work of evil. This 

 superstition, however, may have had its origin in 

 the ancient German mythology. Hence straw was 

 burned in many places, on the Walpurgis-night, 

 with a view of dispersing the malignant beings a 

 custom still preserved in some places. The chief 

 convocation of the witches was considered to take 

 place on the Brocken. Many customs connected 

 with the first of May, in Germany, originated in 

 this superstition. 



WALRUS (trichecus rosmarus) ; a marine quad- 

 ruped, resembling the seals in the structure of the 

 feet, but differing in the teeth and digestive system. 

 It is large and unwieldy, sometimes attaining the 

 weight of 2000 pounds, and inhabits unfrequented 

 coasts in the arctic seas. The head is oval, short, 

 small, and flat in front : the flat portion of the face 

 is set with very strong bristles, which are pellucid, 

 about a span in length, and twisted ; the orifices 

 of the ears are very small, but the sense of smelling 

 appears to be exceedingly acute ; the incisors are 

 four in the upper jaw, but the two middle ones are 

 shed as the animal advances in age ; the upper 

 canines are large, elephant-like tusks, directed 

 downwards ; the feet are very short, and the toes 

 are connected by a membrane, and armed with 

 strong nails ; the tail is short. Formerly, vast herds 

 of these animals frequented the shores of the islands 

 between Northern Asia and America, Davis* straits 

 and Hudson's bay, in lat. 62, and even as far south 

 as the Magdalen islands, in the gulf of St Lawrence, 

 between lat, 47 and 48 ; but, at present, the 

 walrus is no where numerous, except on the icy 

 shores of Spitzbergen and the remotest northern 

 coasts of America. Voyages were once made to 

 procure its tusks and oil, and it is said that 1200 

 or 1500 individuals have been sometimes killed at 

 once out of a herd. The walrus is slow and clumsy 

 while on land, but quick and active in the water. 

 It often comes on shore, and the female brings forth 

 her young there in the spring. It is fearless and 

 inoffensive, unless disturbed, and strongly attached 

 to its mate and young, but becomes fierce and for- 

 midable when attacked, especially if the young are 

 present, furiously endeavouring to sink the boats 

 by rising and hooking its tusks over their sides ; 



] and frequently the violence of its blows is sufficient 

 I to stave the planks of small boats. Its principal 

 food, it is said, consists of shell-fish. The tusks 

 grow to the length of ten or twenty inches, or 

 sometimes even three feet, weighing from five to 

 ten pounds. They are worked like ivory, but turn 

 yellow in a shorter time. The skin is about an 

 inch in thickness, and is used for a variety of pur- 

 poses. 



WALS ALL ; a market town and parish of Eng- 

 land, in the county of Stafford, 116 miles from 

 London ; population, 20,852. By the reform act 

 of 1832, Walsall was constituted a borough, return- 

 ing one member to parliament. The chief trade 

 of the place is the making of saddlery. 



WALLSEND, so called, as being the spot where 

 the celebrated wall of Severus terminated on the 

 northern bank of the Tyne, a few miles below 

 Newcastle, has in modern times been chiefly known 

 as the site of a colliery yielding the most valuable 

 description of coal. So important, indeed, is the 

 appellation in the market, that although the high 

 main seam which afforded the original coal has long 

 been worked out, the designation has not only con- 

 tinued to be applied to some one or other sort, as 

 the best, but to several sorts which the dealers wish 

 to recommend. 



WALSINGHAM, THOMAS OF, an English 

 chronicler of the fifteenth century, was a Benedic- 

 tine monk of the abbey of St Alban's, where he 

 held the office of precentor; and he also styles 

 himself royal historiographer. His works are, His- 

 toria Brevis, containing the annals of England, from 

 the end of Henry Ill's, reign, forming a continua- 

 tion to the history of Matthew Paris ; and Hypo- 

 digma Neustrice, giving an account of the occur- 

 rences in Normandy, from the time of Rollo to 

 the sixth year of Henry V. These pieces were 

 published by Archbishop Parker, (London, 1574, 

 folio.) 



WALSINGHAM, SIB FRANCIS, an English 

 statesman, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, de- 

 scended of an ancient family, was a native of Chi- 

 selhurst in Kent. He was educated at King's col- 

 lege, Cambridge, and, at an early age, travelled on 

 the Continent, and acquired a knowledge of the 

 languages, manners, and policy of foreign nations. 

 His first employment was that of ambassador to the 

 court of France, whence he returned in 1573, and, 

 being appointed one of the principal secretaries of 

 state, and a member of the privy council, received 

 the honour of knighthood. In the important situa- 

 tion which he filled he rendered great services to 

 his sovereign, and contributed, by his policy, to the 

 stability of her government. The means which he 

 adopted, however, for the attainment of his pur- 

 poses, were not of the most honourable description. 

 Lloyd, in his State Worthies, says, " Sir F. Wal- 

 singham outdid the Jesuits in their own bow, and 

 over-reached them in their equivocation and mental 

 reservation ; never settling a lie, but warily draw- 

 ing out and discovering the truth. Few letters 

 escaped his hands, whose contents he could read and 

 not touch the seals. He had the wonderful art of 

 weaving plots, in which busy people were so en- 

 tangled that they could never escape, but were 

 sometimes spared upon submission ; at others, hang- 

 ed for example. He would cherish a plot for years 

 together, admitting the conspirators to his own 

 and the queen's presence familiarly, but dogging 

 them out watchfully." Such was the policy ot 

 this statesman, who is stated to have maintained 



