B £ A 



B E A 



BEACHY-HEAD, is a hold promontoty wLicli projei^s 

 iiito the Englifh channel on the SufTcx coaft, between 

 Haftin""S and Shoreham. Tnis commanding headland 

 confiils of alternate ftrata of chalk and flint ; thou<Th 

 the latter is only feen in thin layers or veins. " It is elleem- 

 ed," fays Camden, " the highcll cliff of all the foiith coaft 

 of Enoland ;" and on its fouth fide is a lar^te femicircular 

 intrenchment. It is divided into feven cliffs, and fo called 

 by feamen. The coafl; round this head is very dangerous in 

 ftormy weather, particularly when the wind fets in from 

 S. S. E. or S.W. From this promontory to Arundel, the 

 country along the coaft rifes into high hills, which are known 

 bv the nztme of South-downs, and celebrated for their Ihecp 

 walks. Beachy-head is memorable for the defeat of the 

 Englilh and Dutch fleets near it by a fuperior force of the 

 French, June 30th 1690. N. lat. 50" 44' 30". E. long, o'' 

 l9'4o". See Eastbourne. 



Beachy-head, lies alfo on the eaflern coaft of South 

 America, in Patagonia, about S.S.W.from Port Jidian, and 

 N.N.E. from cape Fairwtather. S. lat. 50° 2 i'. ^\'■. long. 



BEACON, a fignal for the better fecuring the king- 

 dom againft foreign ins-afion. 



Different methods have been taken in different coun- 

 tries, both anciently and of later ages, to conv.-y the no- 

 tice of any impending danger to diftant places with the 

 greatcft expeditijjn. But no kind of flgnals has more gc- 

 ucrally prevailed than that of fires in tlie night. That 

 this was pradifed among the Jews we learn from the fa- 

 cred writers. Hence the prophet Ifaiah, in allufion to 

 that cullom, threatens them that they fliould be left " as 

 a Beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an enfigu 

 OB a hill." (chap. XXK. 17.) And in the like manner Je- 

 remiah alarms them by faying, " Set up a fign of fire 

 in Bcth-haccerem, for evil appeareth out of the north, and 

 great deftrudion ;" (chap. vi. i.) And as to other coun- 

 tries, Ariftotle (de Mundo) informs us, that thefe fignals 

 were fo difpofed on tov.'ers through all the territories of 

 the king of Perfia, that in the fpace of twenty-four hours 

 he could receive advice at Sufa and Ecbatana, his two 

 capital cities, of any commotions or diftuibances that 

 might be laifed in the moft diftant parts of his dominions. But 

 the Greeks, as Tiiucydides relates, made ufe of torches 

 for fignals, which by a different management ferved either 

 to ^ive notice of tlie approach of an enemy or the arrival 

 of a friend to ths'r affiftance. For as the fclioliaft fays, 

 in the former cafe '• the torches were fliook by thofe 

 wjio held them, and in the latter they were kept lltady." 

 (lib. xi. c. xciv. lib. iii. c. xxii.) Among the Greeks they 

 were called CfUy.rm ; and their ufe is particularly defcribed 

 in tlie Agamemnon of VEfchylus. The like cullom of 

 nodurnal fires obtained alfo among the Roman?, as ap- 

 pears from Cicero, where fpeaking of the mifconducl of 

 Verres, when governor of Sicily, he fays, " Non enim 

 ficut antea confuetudo erat predonum advcntum fignifica- 

 b.it ignis e fpecula fublatus ; fed flamma ex ipfs) incen- 

 dio naviuni, ec calamitatem acccptam et periculnm veliqu- 

 um nuntiabat : (lib. v. in Verrem, ^91.) Wherefore fignals 

 of this fort are called by Pliny " ignes proenuntiativi" (N.it. 

 Hift.lib. xi. § 73.) which he diftingnilhes from tlie P!iari, or 

 lifht houfcs that were placed upon the coafts for the direc- 

 tion of fiiips ; the latter of which wereconftant, but the for- 

 mer only occafional. 



Eliablidud fignals were repeated, fays Charnock, in his 

 " Marine Architecture", by meaiis of beacons or light- 

 houfes erected in proper pofitions, from mountain to moun- 

 tain, through a chain of ftations, which are laid to have com- 

 reaiidcd an extent of more than 500 milca ; fo that even the 



inhabitants of Co-.iftantinople v^ere capable of being in&rta- 

 ed, within the f.-.oit fpace of a few hours, of any motions 

 that might be attempted by their Saracen enemies in Tar- 



fu5. 



In our own cour.try, the name of beacon is derived from 

 the A'lglo-Saxon Inr.ian, to (hew by Cgn or beckon. It 

 was iifuallv placed upon a hi^;h ground, and fametimes on a 

 tumulus. From Lord Coke wc learn (Fourth Infl.it. c.xxv. 

 p. 1*^4-) that bef'jre the reign of Edward the third, bcaco- s 

 v.-ere but ftacks of wood fet up on high places, v.-hich were 

 fired when the coming of an enem.y was defcried ; but in 

 his reign pitched boxes were fet up inttcad of them. fi> 

 time of danger a watch was kept at them, and horfemea 

 called hobbelars were llatioued by mofl of them to give no- 

 tice of an cnem.y's a'^proach. 



Beacons are alfu marks and figns ercfled on the coafls, 

 for the guidance and prefervation of mariners at fea by night 

 as well as by day. The erection of beacons, light houles, 

 and fca-marks, both for alarming the country in cafe of tiie 

 approach of an enemy, and for the dircftion and fafety of 

 (hips, is a branch of the royal prerogative. For this pur- 

 pofe the king hath the exclufive power, by commiffion un- 

 der his great feal, to caiife them to be erefted in fit and 

 convenient places, as well as upon the lands of the fubjedt as 

 upon the demefnes of the crown ; which power is ufually 

 vefted by letters patent in the office of lord high adm.iral. 



Neverthelefs it mull be underftood that the power of 

 erecting beacons was occafionally given to individuals, and 

 limited by grants from the crown, wheiic;, or for fotr.e at- 

 chievements performed in times of danger, the beacon is wcra 

 as a creft in the arms of feveral families, as Belknap, Bulier, 

 Mountford, Sudley, and Shelly of Mithell Grove, one or 

 two of whom obtained efpecial grants which empowered 

 them to ereft and maintain beacons at their own expence. 



The care of thefe when ereded by the crown, was com- 

 mitted to one or more of the adjacent liundreds ; and the 

 money due or payable for their maintenance, called beconagi- 

 um, was levied by the Sheriff of the county upon each hun- 

 dred. { Archxologia, vol. i. parti. Hutchin's, Hift. of 

 Dorfet, vol. i. p.lix. Camd. Brit. Edit. 1609. p. 196.) 



By flat. 8 Ehz. c. 13. the corporation of the Trinity 

 houfe are empowered to fet up any beacons or fea-mark» 

 wherever they fliall think them neceffary : and if the owner 

 of the land or any other perfon fliall deftroy them, or fliall 

 take down any fteeple, tree, or other known fea mark, he 

 fliall forfeit 100/. or in cafe of inability to pay it, ffiall be 

 ipfo fade outlawed. 



BEACONAGE, money paid towards the maintenance 

 of a beacon. A fuit for beaconage of a beacon (landing on 

 a rock in the fea may be brought in the court of admiralty, 

 the admiral having an original jurifdidion over beacons. 

 I Sid. 15'^. 



BEACON Hill, in Geography. See Harwich. 



BEACONSFIELD, a fmall m.arket town of Bucking- 

 hamlhire, in England, at the diftance of 23 miles N. W. 

 from London. The town is built on high ground, whence 

 fome antiquaries have inferred, that it derived its name from 

 a beacon formerly occupying this fpot. The fubftratura on 

 which it ttands is chiefly gravel, and the houfes are built 

 with flints or brick, there being no ftone quarries in this 

 part of the county. Beaconsfield has little claim to popi:- 

 lar attention, there being no particular hiftorical events or 

 antiquities attached to it. Here are a fmall weekly market 

 on Wediiefdays, and two annual fairs. Seated on the great 

 public road between London and Oxford, it derives fome 

 advantages from travellers ; but it has been particularly 

 noted in the literary annals ot this country, by the con- 

 ti^ucusrctidcncei of Edmund Waller the post, aadjidmund 



G 2 Burke 



