BED 



397 



BED 



Bedford- 

 shire. 



63 of the parishes are vicarages, and the great tithes 

 of these are pri Mpally in lay hands, as the possessions 

 of the suppressed religious houses. 



Bedfordshire probably contains about 275,200 

 acres ; its greatest length is about 36 miles, and 

 greatest width about 22 miles. In the year 1801, 

 when the population returns were made to parliament, 

 this county had 11,888 houses which were inhabited, 

 and 18.3 which were empty : the number of families 

 was 13,980; the number of persons chiefly employed 

 in agriculture was 18,766 ; persons chiefly employed 

 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, 13,816 ; and 

 persons to whom no occupation was assigned, and 

 children, 28,789 ; the total number of resident indivi- 

 duals being 63,393, of whom 30,523 were males, and 

 32,870 females. It is supposed that -^ more of the 

 people of Bedfordshire are serving in the army, militia, 

 navy, marines, and merchants' service ; and, from the 

 annual registers of baptisms, it has been calculated^ 

 that in 1700 the total population belonging to this 

 county, was 48,500; in 1750, 53,900; and in 1801, 

 65,500 persons. Whence it appears, that there are 

 in Bedfordshire 5y persons, and 22^ acres to each 

 inhabited house very nearly. There is more than 4^- 

 acres to each person : and the persons employed in 

 cultivating the soil, .are 1 in every 3|- of the whole 

 population ; and in trade, manufactures, and handi- 

 craft, 1 in l- r " T nearly. 



From the returns made to parliament in 1776, 1784, 

 and 1803, it appears, that the amount of poor-rates 

 raised in this county, at the first period, was 18,193 

 9:4; in the second, 22,638 : 1 : 10 ; and in the 

 latter, 47,484 : 6 : 7^ per annum, making then a 

 rate of about 3s. 9|d. in the pound, on a rental of 

 248,600, or 14s. 9*Jd- a head on the whole popula- 

 tion. Out of the sum raised in 1803, 1175 was 

 expended in removals of paupers, and suits at law re- 

 specting their settlements, with the expenses of over- 

 seers and other parish officers : also 8430 in county 

 rates and militia expenses, and for the repairs and ex- 

 penses of the churches, the expenditure by the con- 

 stables, and the special rates for the repair of the high- 

 ways, but not including the statute duty or corpora- 

 tion money paid in lieu thereof. The total expendi- 

 ture for the poor being 38,070, of which 37,91 ! 

 was distributed to 7276 persons, being parishioners of 

 the county, or to 1 in every 8^- of the individuals be- 

 longing to it, their average allowance being 5 : 4 : 5^ 

 annually, or 2s. per week. Of these paupers, 674 were 

 wholly maintained in workhouses, at the expense of 

 8440, average 12 : 10 : 5| each, or 4s. 9d. per 

 week each person. Besides the above, 761 persons 

 were relieved, who were not parishioners, at the ex- 

 pense of 76, as is supposed. There were at that 

 time 2730 persons associated in 75 friendly societies, 

 or box clubs, in the county, 16 only of which had 

 entered their rules at the quarter sessions, and made 

 their funds disposable by the magistrates of the 

 county ; a circumstance which may perhaps be ac- 

 counted for, from the few among the landed proprie- 

 tors who here act as magistrates, and the important 

 duties of that office being suffered, in a great mea- 

 sure, to fall into the hands of the clergy. Eight 

 parishes in this county had schools of industry, in 

 which 1.96 children were taught to work. In Eaton 



Socon, Risley, and Clophill parishes, the poor were 

 farmed, or maintained by contract. 



Formerly it should seem, that wood was cultivated 

 in this country, but it is so long since, that the name 

 is now hardly known among the inhabitants. On the 

 husbandry and state of rural affairs in this county, 

 much valuable information will be found in Thomas 

 Batchelor's Agricultural Report on Bedfordshire, 

 printed in 1S08. A very Small portion of Bedfordshire 

 now remains in the state of common or uninclosed. 

 An agricultural society was established at Bedford 

 in the fear 1801, but which seems rather on the de- 

 cline since 1803. 



Mr Benjamin Bevan of Leighton-Busard has for 

 some years kept a meteorological journal, which, with 

 some account of the rain which falls about Woburn, 

 will be found in the volumes of the Monthly Maga- 

 zine. There is a book society at Bedford, and per- 

 haps some others, but there is not in the county any 

 scientific institution. 



Bedfordshire, in common with Buckinghamshire 

 and Hertfordshire, formed the habitation of the Cat- 

 tieuchlani, a British tribe, whose chief was Cassivel- 

 launus, at the time of the Roman invasion under Ju- 

 lius Cassar^ After the division of this island into five 

 provinces, by the Emperor Constantine, about the 

 year 310, Bedfordshire fell into the province called 

 Flavia CiEsariensis. At the establishment of the 

 Mercian kingdom it was included therein, and so 

 continued until the year 827, when, in common with 

 the rest of the kingdom, it became subject to Egbert 

 king of the west Saxons. Upon the subdivision of the 

 kingdom into shires, hundreds, and tithings,thiscounty 

 was formed as it at present remains. It is crossed by 

 two Roman roads, the Watling Street, which enters 

 it at Dunstable, and leaves it between Heath and 

 Potsgrave ; and the Ichnild way, which enters it in 

 Eaton Bray, and leaves it south-west of Barton. At 

 Sandy, near Potton, is a Roman encampment called 

 Salens; and Maiden Bower, north west of Dunstable, 

 is said to be another. At Totternhoe, near this, are 

 two hills which have been fortified, and another at 

 Ridgemont. See Britton's Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. i ; Lyson's Magna Britannia, vol. i; and 

 Batchelor's Agricultural Report on Bedfordshire. 



(?) 



BEDOUINS, or Bedowans, the wandering tribe? 

 of Arabs that inhabit the deserts c: Arabia, and other 

 uncultivated parts of Asia and of Africa, which have 

 been peopled from the original Arabian stock. Their 

 name, which in Arabic is Bedouai, denotes wander- 

 ers, or inhabitants of the desert, being derived from 

 bid, a desert. They are supposed to be descended 

 from Ishmael, and are the legitimate representatives 

 of the Aral/es Scenilcc, or tented Arabians of the 

 ancients. They never dwell in houses, but pitch 

 their tents on spots of the desert which have springs 

 and a little pasturage, sufficient to support their 

 herds of camels, goats, sheep, or horses ; and mi- 

 grate from place to place, as their wants and inclina- 

 tion prompt them, taking care, however, not to en- 

 croach upon the district belonging to other tribes of 

 the desert. 



Although the Bedouins are divided into indepen- 

 dent tribes r communities, which are frequently 



Bedford- 

 shire, 

 Bedouins. 



