BEL 



lord deputy, and baron of Btlfaft, wlio exerted liimfclf in the 

 fL-ttltmciit of Ulik-r. Through his influence it \vs3 made a 

 borough, and lent two members to the Irilh parliament ; and 

 an Eughdi gentleman, who travelled through part of Ireland 

 in 1^135, and wlicfe manulcript journal is in the poiknion ot 

 general Vallanccy, mentions that lord Chichefter had a ftately 

 palace at Belfali, which was the glory and beauty of the 

 to\-u, and which was his chief refidencc. Through the in- 

 fluence of tliio noMtnian, the cu'lom-houfc was removed 

 from Carrickfcrgus to Btlfall by the earl of Strafford i:i 

 1638, for which a coinpeiifation of 2000I. was paid to the 

 corporation of Carrickfergus. In 164S, Belfall was taken 

 polfeffion of by colonel (alttrwards the celebrated general) 

 Monk, for tlie parliament of England. So late as 1726, 

 when Doatc's Natural Hillory of Ireland was re-piibli(hcd 

 bv Dr. Molyneux, it was a fmall place of little confeqiience. 

 But fuuated in the centre of a populous and indullrious 

 country, it has fuice become one of the moll intcreiUng ob- 

 jeds in Ireland to the political economill. The town is 

 woll-built, molUy of brick, and the flreets are broad and 

 ftraiglit. Tlie bridge over the Lagan is 2560 feet long, 

 with 21 arches; it was built about the time of the revolu- 

 tion, at the joint expence of the counties of Antrim and 

 Down, and coll l2,oool. Eighteen of the arches are in the 

 former, and three ia the latter county. With regard to fize 

 it is the fifth, and with refpe£l to commerce, is generally 

 reckoned the third town in Ireland, being next to Dublin 

 and Cork. VtfTcls of 200 tons half loaded ufed to come to 

 the quay, there bi-ing about t?n feet water at ipring tides ; 

 but now the water at the quays is from nine totliirteen feet 

 deep according to the time of die mocn, having been deepened 

 by the exertions of the ballad corporation. Vefltls which 

 cannot come to the quays lie two miles and a half below the 

 town, where there is verv good anchorage. The Well India 

 trade was confiderable before the late war, and has revived 

 fuice the reftoration of peace. The trade in pork and butter 

 has increafed very much of late years ; and alfo the American 

 trade. The export of linen both to England and America 

 is very confiderable. In 1773, the grofs cullom, according 

 to Mr. Young, amounted only to 64,8001. including thetx- 

 cife upon tobacco and foreign Ipirits. In 1797, it amounted 

 to 87.0 1 61. 63. zd. In the following year it decreafed on 

 account of the dilhirbed (late of the country, but it has fince 

 gradually rifcn ; and in the year endirg 5lh April 1802, 

 a.mouiited 10246,800!. 9s. 4'd. The excife of Belfall in 1796, 

 was only 9097!. 13s. Svd. but previous to the lloppage of 

 the diftilleries it had rifen to 22,1651. 3s. 6d. exclufive of 

 Carrickfergiis and Templepatrick, which walks are included 

 in the famedillrift. T!ie duty on licences in I So i, amounted 

 to 4309I. Though the increafe, an in other places, mufl be 

 partly attributed to the increafe of duties, yet the exteniio 1 

 of trad-' mud alfo have been confiderable. The population 

 of Belfad was taken at different periods by a gentleman who 

 filled the office of high conllable ; but not officially. In 

 1782, the number of inhabitants appeared to be 13,105, and 

 in 1791, 18320, exclufive of 1,208 in Ballymacarret, the 

 fuburbs on the Down fide of the river Lagan. There were, 

 in I "9!, 695 looms, of which 522 were employed in the 

 cotton manufafture, 129 in that of cambrick and linen, 28 

 of failcloth, and 16 of llockiiigs. There are alfo manufac- 

 tories of glafs, fugar, and earthen ware. The public build- 

 ings are not many ; the hnen-hall is large and commodious, and 

 there is a good alTembly-room over the Exchange. There is 

 a barrack which contains about 8co men. The church is a 

 handfome flrudture, but is too fmall for the parifh. Other 

 places of worthip are, four Prefbyterian mceting-houfes, one 

 Seceding, and one Methodift mecting-hovife, and one Roman 



BEL 



Catholic chapel. The charitable inftitutions are, a poor-houfe 

 and infirmary, which maintains and clothes 3000! various ages, 

 and is conducted on the fame plan as the Dublin houfe of induf- 

 try ; a fever-hofpital. adifpenfary,a lying-in hofpital,a charity- 

 fchool forboardinggir!s,aday-fcho')l for boys and girls,a Sun- 

 day-fchool,and a fchool of indullry for the blind; none of them 

 very extenfive, but fullicitntly fo for fucli an indullrious coun- 

 try. It is probable that the tlamburgh plan, defcribed by Mr. 

 Voght, from which fuch unfpeakable benefit has been de- 

 rived, woidd fucceed better in Belfall than in any other tov\'n 

 of Ireland, and from the public fpirit and active difpofition 

 of the iuliabitants, it would, without doubt, be well attended 

 to. In fuch a town as Belfall, many commercial inilitutions 

 ini^'ht be expecled ; and we accordingly find a chamber of 

 commerce, a ballatl office corporation, two infurance offices, 

 &c. There are alfo a library fociety, under the title of the 

 Belfajl Society for Promoting Ktwwk.'ge: and a literary fc- 

 ciety, lately ellablifhed on a plan fimilar to that of other fo- 

 cieties for philofophical and literary purpoics. An academy 

 for the education of the higher clals in this town, was found- 

 ed by the inhabitants in 1786, and has been hitherto under 

 the care of a prefbyterian miiuller, but the advantages of it 

 are not confined to any fe£l. Belfall is fituated 80 miles 

 north of Dublin, and fends one m.ember to the imperial le- 

 giflature. W. long, f 49'. N. lat. j.}." 43'. Variation 

 W. Auguft 8th, 17P9, 11" 15' P.M. 26" 20' Arthur 

 Young's Tour. Dr. Beaufort's Memoir, &c. &c. 



Belfast, a townfhip and bay of America, in Hancock 

 county, and dillrift of iVIaine, both fituate in the Waldo Pa- 

 tent, at the mouth of Penobfcot river, and on its wcfl;ern fide, 

 38 miles N. E. by E. from Hallowell, and 246 N. E. from 

 Boilon. The town contains 245 inhabitants. The bay, 

 on the north-wellern part of which the town fland-:, runs 

 up into the land bv three fhort arms. In the middle of 

 it lies Ificborough ifiand, which forms two channels lead- 

 ing to the mouth of Penobfcot river. 



BELFORD, a market tow^n of Northumberland, Eng- 

 land, is feated on the great poll road from London to 

 Edinburgh, at the dillance of 322 miles from the former. 

 This town, though fmall, is particularly neat, and its houfes 

 are ranged on the ridge of a hill, which commands a 

 view of the north fea. The church was built in 1 700 ; 

 near it are the ruins of an old chapel, and at a "fliort dif- 

 tance are the fofs and vallum of an ancient encampment. 

 Here are a weekly market on Tucfdays, and two annual 

 fairs. The number of houfes in the townfliip is 161, and 

 ot inhabitants 902. 



About four miles eafl from Belford, is Bamborough caf- 

 tle, the origin of which is attributed to king Ida, who be- 

 gan his reign about the year 559. The prefent remains 

 arc confiderable, and appear to be wholly the relics of 

 Norman architecture, though our hiftorians are decidedly 

 of opinion that they occupy the fite of a Saxon fortrefs 

 or palace. This was befieged in the year 642, by Penda, 

 the Pagan king of the Mercians, but without fuccefs. In 

 the year 710, king Ofred, en the death of Alfred his fa- 

 ther, fought refuge here, with Brithric, his tutor or guar- 

 dian, and after a gallant defence, repulfed Edulph and his 

 partizans. In the re'gn of Egbert, this caille was made 

 the prifon of Keuulph, bifhop of Lindisfarm, who was con- 

 fined here from 750 to 780. In many fubfequent pe- 

 riods, it was the fcene of repeated fieges, and fuffered 

 fucceflively by the Danes, by the Normans, and by the 

 Yorkifts. 



BELFORTE, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Parma, 

 19 miles S.S.W. of Parma. 



BULFRY, Belfredus, is ufed by military writers of 

 8 the 



