B A N 



of tlie King's county, in tlic province of Leintler, in Ireland, 

 which, bfiorf the union, returned two members to the 

 houfe of commons. Here aue an excellent cndowinent for a 

 fchool, and an ancitnt bridge over the Shannon, on which 

 river it is iitnated, brit it is a very iiiconfidcrablt town. Its 

 diftance well from Dublin is 65? Ir I', miles. 



BANAMATAPA, a town cf Africa, in l!;e country of 

 Monomotapa. 



BANANA, in Botmy. See Musa. 



BANAN'A BisD o'' Jamaica, in Ornithology, the name 

 under which the or'wlis iilerns of Scopoli and Gmclin is 



figured in Brown's Nat. Hift. Jamaica ; and Aibin's Birds. 



T!ie banana warbler of Latiiam, is the motactUa banani-jora 

 of G.nelin, and lanamfie of BufFon. 



BANARxA, in Botany, a fnall tree in Cayenne. Lin. g. 

 Schreb. 809. AuLl. 217. Jnff. 253. ChSi, rhdccondria 

 monogyma. Nat. Ord. Column'ifer,!. — Tiliacea:, Jiilf. Gen. 

 Char. Cal. perianth one-leafed, iix-parttd, permanent ; parts 

 ovate. C'jr. p.tals fix, roundilh, concave, fpicading, three 

 times larger than the calyx, infertcd into the receptacle. 

 S'am. filaments fifteen and 'more, capillary, length of the 

 corolla, inferted irto a i^'andule fnrromdiii t the njerm ; an- 

 thers roundilh. Pyi. germ fomewhat globofe, feated in a 

 glandule; llyle filiform of the height of the ftamens ; ftig- 

 ma headed. Per. berry globofe, but little fncculent, one- 

 celled, crowned by the permanent ftyle. Seeds numerous, 

 very fmall, cornered, llriatcd. 



Eff. Gen. Char. Cal. fix-parted, permanent. Cor. fix- 

 petalled ; germ feated on a imall gland ; lligma headed ; 

 berry globofe, onc-ctlled, manv-feedcd. 



Species, I. Tj. ^i/ianenjis. Aubl. Giiian. 548. t. 2 17. ^ 

 tree growing about ten or more feet high, and about feven 

 inches in diameter. Its bark is grayiih, and its wood whit- 

 ifh and light. Leaves alternate, ovate-oblong, toothletted, 

 fharp, green and fniooth on the upper furface, pale, and 

 flightly tomentofe on the lower ; petioles (hort, with two 

 fmall deciduous ftipules at the bafe of each. The largtft 

 leaves are five inches long and two broad ; flowers yellow, 

 in axillary and terminal racemes, with a fingle brafte to each 

 pedicel ; berry black.. A native of the iflaad of Cayenne, 

 flowering in May. 



BANASA, or Banassa, in ylndent Geography, a Ro- 

 man colony eltablifhed in Africa, in Mamatania Tiniritai.a. 

 It was feated on the river of Subur, at a confiderable diitance 

 northerly from Gontiana. 



BANAURIDES, inandsof the Tyrrhenian fea, fo called 

 from Banaurns, fon of jEas. Steph. Byz. 



BANAW, in Geo^rajihy, a river of Pruffia, which runs in- 

 to the Frifch Haffe, two miles \V. N. W. of Heiligenbeil. 



BANAZ, a town of Afialic Turkey, thirty miles N. W. 

 of Karahifar. 



BANBURY, a town of Oxfordiliire, in England, lies on 

 the river CharwtU, at the diitance of 17 miles north of Ox- 

 ford, and about 74 miles well from London. This town 

 is fuppofed to occupy the fite of the Roman llation named 

 Brariavis, as many coins, and a Roman ahar, have been found 

 here. The latter was placed in a niche under the fign of 

 an inn, which was called from thence the Altar-(lone-inn ; 

 but this has been converted into a private houfe, and the 

 altar is probably demoliflied. A callle was built in this 

 town by Alexander bifhop of Lincoln, foon after his confe- 

 cration, which occurred in 1 123. This building was pre- 

 ferved as one of the diocefan palaces from the above date till 

 the firll of Edward VI. when bifhop Holbech conveyed it, 

 with about thirty other manors, to the king and his courtiers. 

 The cftate was afterwards piven bv queen Elizabeth to the 

 bifhopric of Oxford in exchange for oth#r lands. In the 

 time ol Henry VIII. 1534, it was valued at 14I. 13s. lod. 

 but at the time of the above exchange it was cftimated at 



Vol. IIL 



BAN 



49I. iRs. 5d. a year. This place was made a borough by- 

 queen Mary, who being pUafed with the inhabitants for 

 their fupport of her againft lady Jane Grey, granted them a 

 charter, and mvefted the town with fevcral privik-ges. Thii 

 charter was altered by Jsir.es I., who appointed the govern- 

 mcnt cf the town to conlifl of a mayor, twelve aldermen, and 

 fix capital burgefTes. A new charter was granted by 

 George J. A.D. 1718, and the town is now governed by a 

 mayor, high fteward, recorder, fix capital burgciTes, and 

 thirty afliltants, a town-cleik, and two ftrjeants at ir.acc. 

 Tiie church, which is a large handfome ftvufture, was built 

 by the above bifhop Alexander, who is fuppofed to lAvc 

 been buiied in the chancel under a tomb, on which is a re- 

 cumbent mutilated figure. 'I'he outer walls of the church 

 are ornamented with a number of carved heads of men and 

 animals. Banbury has been particularly noted for the num. 

 ber of Puritanic inhabitants, v\ho have been figiialifcd bj 

 Ben Johnfon, and other dramatic writers. Camden fpeaks 

 of it as famous for caiej and ale ; and when Holland tranf- 

 lated his Britannia, he changed the latter word, and printtd 

 it^ cakes and zeal. Here are a frec-fchocl, two charily 

 fchools, and a workhoufe. 



Many military tranfaftions and battles have taken place 

 in this town and neighbourhood; and the caftle cf Banbury 

 is often mentioned by hifloriajis as the fcene of repeated 

 fnges and retreats. In the time of Edward IV. the earl of 

 Pembroke and lord Stafford entered this town witi. their 

 army, when a battle was ft nght between them and an army 

 under the command of the earl of Warvrick. After the 

 battle of Edge-hill, the parliament had a garrifon of 8co 

 foot and a troop of horfc in the caftle, wl^ieh was furren- 

 dered to the king in a few days, who gave it up with other 

 garnfons to the Scots general. 



The navigable canal from Coventry to Oxford pafles by 

 this town, and at the diftance of about five miles it is conveyed 

 through a hill by a tunnel three quarters of a n.ile in hngth. 

 In the grounds adjviining the Ram inn is a well of ful- 

 phurated water ; and at a fliort diftance from the town it 

 another fpring of chalybeate water. ThePyrites-aureus, or 

 golden fire ftone, is often found here in digging wells. A 

 number of the inhabitants are employed in the manufadory 

 of plufh and (hag cloth ; great quantities of which are an- 

 nually made here, and fent to London and Portugal. Ban- 

 bury has a weekly market on Thurlday, and feven annual 

 fairs; one of which is appropriated for the hiring of fervants, 

 and is provincially called a mop. The principal feati in the 

 ncighbcurhood are, Wroxton-houfc or priory, btlcnging to 

 the earl of Guildford; and Broughton caille, the propt-rty 

 of lord Say and Scle. The firft. was a prior)' of Augufliue 

 canons, founded by Michael Belet, an eeclefiaftic, m the 

 reign of king John. Banbury fends one member to parlia- 

 ment, contanis 525 houf.s, and 2755 inhabitants. Bray'» 

 Sketch of a Tour into Derbyfliire, &c. 



BANC, Bancus, or Bank, '\n La-w, denotes a feat or 

 bench of judgment. Set Court. Juj Ban:t, or the pri- 

 vilege of having a bench, was anciently only allowed to the 

 king's judges, qui finnmam adm'unjirant jiijliliam. Inferior 

 courts, as courts baron, hundred coiiits, &c. were not al- 

 lowed that prerogative; and even at this day the hundred 

 court at Freibridge in Norfolk is held \inder an oak at 

 Gey wood; and that of Woolfrcy, in Hcrcfordfhiie, under 

 an oak, near Afliton in that county, calkd Hundred-oak. 



BANCA, in Geography, an iflnnd of the Ealt Indies, ex- 

 tending from S. lat. 3° 15', to S. lat. 1^50', and from E. 

 long. 107° 5', to E.long. 105° 25'. The latitude of Capt. 

 Marchand's anchcrage at three leagues didar.ce from the 

 northern coaft, deduced by the dead reckoning, was i" 23', 

 S. and long. 103° 27', E. from Pans. It lies on the ealt 

 fide of the iilaud of Sumatra, oppofite to the river Palam- 

 3 Z bang 



